them more frequently and more earnestly; and thus nourish and develop those pious and holy dispositions with which it is fitting they should enter on the retreat which will immediately precede the day of First Communion.

This retreat should continue for three days; and as the lasting fruit of the communion will depend very much upon the manner in which these are spent, the zealous pastor will apply himself, with all the energy of his heart and soul, to secure the full and complete success of this holy exercise. He will, of course, be guided very much by his own experience, and his knowledge of the special wants of his hearers, in his selection of the subjects which will form the matter of his instruction during the retreat. It may, however, be useful to suggest a course of lectures to be delivered during this time. The introductory lecture, which will be given on the eve of the retreat, may very properly be upon the great importance of the First Communion, and of the retreat which is one of the principal means of preparing to discharge this holy and tremendous duty well. On the morning of the first day he may speak of the nature and deadly enormity of sacrilegious communion; and in the evening, on the last judgment. On the morning of the second day, he may dwell on the punishments of sin, and in the evening on the love of Jesus Christ to man, as shown in the institution of the blessed Eucharist. His morning instruction on the third day may have for its subject the dispositions necessary for the communicant, and in the evening he cannot do better than deliver an earnest exhortation on the motives of contrition.

This exhortation should precede the confession, which the children will, when it is possible, make on the eve of their First Communion. In addition to these instructions, the pastor will, during the days of retreat, prescribe and conduct such other practices of piety and devotion as his own experience may suggest.

Whether we consider the solemnity of the act itself, or its influence upon their whole after-career for time and eternity, the day of their First Communion is undoubtedly the most important of their lives; and, hence, the pastor will surround it with all the pomp and grandeur of religious ceremonial which he can command, that thus he may impress the memory of it more indelibly on the minds of the children. He will summon all the resources of nature, science and art, music and flowers, and costly vestments to his aid. He will, by these external and natural things, impress upon the minds of the children the firm conviction that he, their pastor, considers this day as one worthy of his highest efforts to render it honorable and beautiful before God and man. On the morning itself, he will not distract the minds of the children by any very long or wearisome exercises, but will content himself with a few burning words which he will address to them immediately before and after holy communion. And, if he only know how to do it—if his heart do but burn within him at this solemn breaking of bread, this communion of the Lord's Body and Blood, he will, perhaps, do more by these few words to convince his hearers of the awful grandeur, and of the tremendous reality, of the sacred action in which they are engaged, than by all his previous lectures, or

his more laboured instructions. Years ago it was the great privilege of him who writes these lines to assist at the Mass of a holy servant of God, and he can truly say that the tones in which the touching words, "Domine, non sum dignus," were uttered, were the most striking, the most powerful, and the most convincing argument to which he ever listened, on the Real Presence of Jesus Christ in the adorable sacrament of the altar.

Finally, on the evening of this great day, after an appropriate discourse on the nature and meaning of the acts which they are about to perform, the pastor will conduct these dear children to the foot of the altar of the Mother of God, which should be adorned with its choicest decorations, and there each one, with a taper in his hand, and in presence of the holy Gospel, should renew his baptismal vows, and make his act of consecration to the Virgin Mother. The pastor will also do well, where it is practicable, to conclude the exercises of the day with a solemn Te Deum and Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament. He should endeavour, too, to secure the attendance of the children at a Mass of thanksgiving on the morning after that of their First Communion, and take advantage of this opportunity to instruct them on the means of preserving the great grace which they have received; and, as one of the surest means of securing this happy result, he will earnestly exhort them to enter what is called the class of the Catechism of Perseverance, and to enrol themselves in some of those confraternities which the zealous pastor takes care to establish in his parish, and which have for their object regular attendance at religious duties, works of charity

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and mercy, and the promotion of faith, of morality, and good manners. By these means alone can they hope to nourish and preserve unsullied the great grace which has been given to them; a grace with which they can trifle only at the risk of their own eternal interests; and which, once lost and cast away, they may never recover again. It is a dangerous and a fearful thing to trifle with the grace of God; most dangerous and most fearful of all to trifle with that grace of graces, the communion of the Body and Blood of the Lord.

SECTION V.

THE CATECHISM OF PERSEVERANCE-GREAT IMPORTANCE OF THIS CLASS-MEANS OF ENSURING ITS SUCCESS-SUNDAYSCHOOLS, CONFRATERNITIES, ETC., ETC.

“Proh dolor! quàm multi parochi pariunt in nonnullis Christum et statim eorum curam omittunt! et quæ hæc impietas est! nec bestia hoc faciunt, quæ partus suos lactant, fovent, nutriunt et ab adversis quibuscumque tutantur. . . et tu tenellum sic deseris! quandò magis insudasse oportuerat, otio tepescis! . . . magna culpa, fratres, et hæc magna segnities, imò magna sævities. . . non dormit, fratres, non dormit dæmon, sed insidiatur continuò. . . . Ideò nos continuâ sollicitudine angi debemus et quod peperimus custodire."St. Charles Borromeo.

It is a lamentable fact, and one never sufficiently to be deplored, that many children who, during the tender years of youth, have been models of virtue and piety

begin, soon after their First Communion, to fall away, seduced by evil companions, overcome by the influence of the world, or the growing power of their own passions. To some extent, at least, may we not apply to ourselves the eloquent words of the learned Bishop of Orleans, speaking on this subject: "Let us not deceive ourselves on this point," he says. "Is it not too true that the majority of our youth slip from our hands the day after their First Communion? Those whom we save, and who persevere in virtue, are truly, to use the comparison of Holy Writ, but the ears of corn gleaned after the harvest. The harvest is gathered by the devil, by vice and impiety, whilst we have to content ourselves with securing the stray ears which escape them."" In all our great towns how frequently does it not happen that immediately, or, at all events, not very long, after their First Communion, the pastor begins to lose sight of the children whom he instructed with so much zealous care, and to whom he administered, with such heartfelt and earnest devotion, that sacred rite. The fault may rest to some extent with himself. It may be that, having laboured, with all his heart and soul, to prepare his children for their First Communion, the pastor then begins to relax his efforts, thinking that all is done, and their religious training complete. However, no matter what the cause may be, the fact remains, and the fact is as we have stated it. The evil is as melancholy and disastrous as it is indisputable. For this evil there is, to use once more the words of the same

1 Entretiens sur la Prédication Populaire.