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thee, my sovereign good, with my whole heart. I desire to leave all to please thee, my God, who art worthy of infinite love. O discover to me more and more the greatness of thy goodness, that I may love thee more and more, and labour to please thee in all things without reserve.

Thou hast shown thyself enamoured of my soul; and shall I be able to love any other but thee? No, my Lord, from this day forward I desire to live only for thee; I desire to love only thee, who indeed art worthy of all my love. O Eternal Father, I hope through the blood of Jesus Christ, that thou wilt give effect to these my desires by thy holy grace. Thou didst bestow great favours upon me, even when I fled from thee; much greater may I now hope from thee, now that I seek thee, and desire nothing but to love thee. O Mary, my Mother, thou who didst bear in thy sacred womb the God whom I am about to receive this morning, do thou help me to receive him with humility and love.

MEDITATION IV.

WEDNESDAY.

Ipse est propitiatio pro peccatis nostris. 1 Joan, 11. 2. Consider that the punishments due to sin are remitted by the sacrifice of the altar, and immense mercies obtained in favour of poor sinners. What would become of us, if we had not this great sacrifice, by which divine justice is induced not to inflict upon us the chastisements so justly due to our sins! Assuredly all the sacrifices of the old law could never have appeased the anger of God against sin. Numquid placcare potest Dominus in millibus arietum? Mich. vi. 7. Although all the lives of men and angels had been sacrificed, they could not have made an adequate satisfaction to divine justice for a single sin committed by a creature against his Creator. Only Jesus Christ could satisfy for our sins. Ipse est propitiatio pro peccatis nostris. And, on this account, did the Eternal Father send him into this world, that, becoming man, and offering his life in sacrifice upon the cross, divine justice might be appeased for the sins of men. And this Sacrifice is renewed in every Mass that is celebrated.

Consider then, O my soul, how great is thy office that of mediator between God and

man, that of offering to him upon the altar the life and merits of Jesus Christ, in order to move him to bestow upon sinners light and strength to be converted, and to obtain the pardon of their sins. Hujus quippe oblatione placatus Dominus, gratiam et donum pœnitentiæ concedens, crimina et peccata etiam ingentia dimittit. Trid. S. S. 22. c. 2. How much more powerfully does the voice of the innocent blood of our Redeemer plead for mercy in our behalf, than did the blood of Abel for vengeance against his murderer Cain! Accessistis ad mediatorem Jesum, et sanguinis aspersionem melius loquentem. quam Abel. Hebr. xii. 24.

AFFECTIONS.

O sovereign God, thou art angry against sinners, and thou hast but too great reason for being so, seeing they repay with ingratitude the immense love which thou hast shown them. But if the sins of the world are great, much greater is the offering, the gift, which I am this morning about to present to thee. Non sicut delictum, ita et donum. Rom. iii, 15. I am about to offer thee this morning the Sacrifice of thine own Son; that Victim, with which thou art always well pleased, which ever appeases thee, and moves thee to take compassion on all poor

sinners, who either do not know thee, or knowing thee do not love thee, and are deprived of thy grace. Give them light and strength to arise from the miserable state in which they are blindly living.

I beseech thee for all, but especially for myself, who although more favoured by thee than others, have been more ungrateful to thee, and have offended thee more, and disregarded thee more. For the love of Jesus Christ, pardon me, O God, all my sins, mortal and venial; all my impatience, untruths, intemperance, distractions and negligences in Mass, in the Divine Office, and at my prayers; for I am sorry for them all, because they have been offensive to thee, who art infinite goodness and worthy of infinite love from all, but especially from me, a Priest.

I love thee, O infinite goodness, I love thee above all things; and I promise thee rather to die than again wilfully give thee the least offence. Ah, my Jesus, thy death and thy blood are my hope! I beseech thee through thy sacred merits, to grant me, and I hope through them to obtain the grace of ever being faithful in loving thee with my whole heart, and in loving none other but thee. Accompany me, O most holy Mother,

with thy patronage and assistance, while I offer to God this great Sacrifice.

MEDITATION V.

THURSDAY.

In omnibus divites facti estis in illo, 1. Cor. i. 5. Consider, how, by means of the holy Mass, God is induced to listen more favourably to the prayers of the Priesthood. God at all times, whenever he is besought through the merits of Jesus Christ, dispenses his graces; but, says St. John Chrysostom, during the holy Sacrifice of the Mass he dispenses them more abundantly through the prayers of the Priesthood; because these ascend before him rendered meritorious and accompanied by the prayers of Jesus Christ, who is the principal Priest, offering himself in this Sacrifice in order to obtain graces for us.

Secondly, the council of Trent says, that the time of the clebration of Mass is especially the time in which the Lord sits on the throne of grace, to which the Apostle exhorts us to go with confidence in order to obtain mercy and to find grace. Adeamus ergo cum fiducia ad thronum gratiæ, ut misericordiam consequamur, et gratiam inveniamus in auxilio opportuno. Hebr. iv. 6. St. Chrysostom (Hom.

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