Éves which reason and religion should teach you to despise and

renounce.

Thirdly, You should join prayer with study. On this head, nothing can be more applicable to your present circumstances, than the advice of St. Vincent Ferrer to young persons employed in studious pursuits: "If you desire," says he, "to study with advantage, let devotion accompany your studies: consult God more than your books, and ask him with humility to make you understand what you read and learn. Interrupt your application by short ejaculatory prayers: never begin or end your studies but by prayer: science is a gift of the Father of Lights; do not, therefore, consider it as the fruit of your own intellect or industry." It is unnecessary to add any thing to this most excellent admonition: attend to it, and you will soon perceive the benefit that will result learning and virtue will mutually assist each other, your efforts will be more successful, for God's particular blessing will not be refused to such studies as are pursued in a Christian manner. Be careful to accompany interiorly the following offering of your studies, which is made aloud in your class, and to renew through, out the day, by frequent aspirations, the sentiments it contains.

Prayer.

I OFFER, O my God! in union with the adorable actions and sufferings of Jesus Christ during his mortal life, the duties I am now.going to perform for thy love, and in obedience to thy most holy will. I most humbly beg thy divine blessing, and the light of thy holy Spirit, that all my studies, and various duties, may tend to thy greater glory and my eternal salvation; as likewise to the service and edification of my neighbour. Amen.

On the holy Sacrifice of the Mass.

To assist devoutly and reverently at the adorable sacrifice of the Altar, is the greatest act of religion that man can perform; it is that which most glorifies God, and which most promotes our own eternal interests. Yet it is a melancholy truth, that an opportunity of assisting at mass is so little valued, that the generality of persons confine themselves to hearing Mass on Sundays and holidays, because on those days they are commanded to assist at the divine mysteries; and even at masses of precept, many ale present with sinful distractions and disedifying indevotion.

You may nfortunately witness such conduct here after; but if you ever imitate it you will be highly culpable, because you cannot, as some may, plead by way of excuse, the want of instructions, or early impressions of respect and devotion towards the august and adorable sacrifice of our altars. You should therefore recollect, that at all times the most edifying piety and recollection, in assisting at these tremendous mysteries, will be expected from you, as the fruits of the knowledge you will be known to have acquired of your duty in this respect, and also as the fruits of the happiness you now enjoy in assisting daily at this divine sacrifice. It is therefore of the utmost consequence, that you now endeavour to conceive an exalted idea of the excellency and efficacy of the Mass, as likewise a deep sense of the happiness of assisting at this august sacrifice. Those dispositions will be best acquired by fervour and reverence in hearing Mass now, since the habit of doing so daily and devoutly in your youth, must tend to draw down a blessing on your present and future life. To give solidity and permanency to your devotion in discharging one of the most solemn duties of our holy religion, you should be careful to retain the explanation you received of the types, figures, and ceremonies of the Mass: a knowledge of them, though not absolutely necessary, is at least extremely conducive to devotion, since the most trivial action, ceremony, or even ornament used at Mass, is not without mysterious signification. But you should particularly impress on your mind three points

1st. The nature and efficacy of the Mass. 2dly, The ends for which it is offered.

3dly, The dispositions in which you should be, and the method you should observe to assist worthily at the holy sacrifice.

First, As to the nature of the sacrifice of the Mass, you know from your catechism, that a sacrifice,' in general, is that first and most necessary act of eligion, by which we acknowledge God's supreme

dominion over us, and our total dependence on him." It consists in the oblation of a victim by a lawful minister, and in a change being made in that victim, to acknowledge the supreme dominion of God over all his creatures.-In the Mass, Jesus Christ is the Victim-the Priest makes an oblation of this Victim to the Eternal Father, on behalf of all men; and, finally, it undergoes a change, which shows forth the death of our Redeemer, by the apparent separation of the body from the blood, and the consumption of both by the priest. This most adorable sacrifice is the pure offering which is made to God in every place, from the rising of the sun, even to the going down, according to the prophecy of Malachy, (i. 11.) It is the same in substance with the sacrifice of the cross, because the Priest and the Victim are the same; the difference is only in the manner of offering. Jesus on the cross offered himself a bleeding victim to the justice of God for our redemption— Jesus on the altar offers himself an unbloody victim, to glorify God and sanctify us, by applying to our souls the merits of his passion and death.

Secondly, The ends for which Mass is offered: those ends are four :

1st, To acknowledge the sovereign dominion of the Almighty.

2d, To thank him for his benefits.

3d, To atone for our sins and those of the world. 4th, To implore the blessings and graces of which we stand in need.

In the old law there was a separate sacrifice in stituted for each of those ends; but in the Mass all are included, because it fully answers every end for which sacrifice is offered to God.

The Mass is a holocaust, or sacrifice of adoration, in which Jesus offers himself to his eternal Father wholly and entirely, rendering to him such homage as is due to the Almighty; and which enables us also to acknowledge the majesty and dominion of God in

a manner worthy of the Divinity, which it would otherwise be impossible for any creature to do.

It is a sacrifice of thanksgiving, and one fully ade quate to acknowledge worthily all the blessings and graces, general and particular, which the Almighty bestowed on the world.

It is a victim of expiation, of such value as would suffice to atone for all the iniquities of millions of worlds, and that in a superabundant manner.

Lastly, It is a sacrifice of impetration, that is to say, it is offered to implore from God all the graces, blessings, and assistance, spiritual or corporal, general or particular, which we desire for ourselves and others.

This is the nature, and these are the ends of that adorable Sacrifice, "which," as your Catechism says, was reserved for the New Law, to fulfil the figures of the Old Law, and to give religion its full perfec· tion.". Ah!" cries a great servant of God, speaking on this subject, "how much is it to be wished that we knew the value of the treasure in our possession! happy, infinitely happy' are Christians, if they but feel their happiness! What a source of blessings would this sacrifice be to them! What graces would they draw from it for body and soul, for time and eternity!" It is almost impossible to reflect on the infinite love which Jesus manifests, in thus permitting himself to be offered in sacrifice as often as we wish, without endeavouring to correspond with his love, and manifesting, to the best of our power the most unbounded gratitude for so great a blessing as we possess in this adorable mystery. This you can most effectually do by carefully avoiding sin, which is the great obstacle to your sharing in the blessings and graces that are daily and hourly be stowed on the world, through and by this great sacrifice also by resolving to hear mass every day, and never to let sloth, indifference, or any other such cause, deprive you of the inestimable advantages an

nexed to so holy a practice.-There are, it is true, cases in which duties of obligation may interfere to prevent your assisting at Mass on week days. Such, however, will rarely occur, if the morning be profited of for discharging a duty so well calculated to draw down a blessing on the day. These cases need not be pointed out; you are sufficiently instructed to discern them, and also to know, that when you are absent from Mass on week days, only to perform the more manifest will of God elsewhere, you lose nothing before God, who, in all cases, and under all circumstances, requires the discharge of duty before the gratification of private devotion.

Thirdly, The dispositions with which you should hear Mass, regard your interior sentiments and exterior comportment; as is evident from your Catechism, which directs you to assist at this divine sacrifice "with great recollection and piety; and with every mark of outward respect and devotion." You should therefore always endeavour to assist at Mass with lively faith, contrition, and confidence in the mercy of God; those virtues are the most proper disposition for hearing mass, as well as the natural fruits of that great sacrifice.

Faith is necessary, because without it you would not be enabled to penetrate the wonders which pass before your eyes on the altar.-Contrition for sin is naturally to be expected from every one who considers in the Mass a lively representation and renewal of the Sacrifice of the Cross, which was offered for its expiation;-and Confidence in the infinite mercy of God, is a disposition at all times calculated to obtain great favours from the divine goodness, but it is particularly so at Mass. Endeavour always to excite this sentiment in your heart, when you assist at this august sacrifice, by considering the greatness and infinite value of the victim you then offer to God. Had you been at the foot of the Cross when Jesus Christ inunolated himself in torments for your sake.