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TUESDAY

OF THE SECOND WEEK OF LENT.

THE Station is in the Church of St. Balbina. This holy virgin of Rome was the daughter of the Tribune Quirinus, and suffered martyrdom during the pontificate of Alexander the First, in the second century. She consecrated her virginity to God, and led a life rich in good works.

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ut pascat te. Surrexit et abiit in Sarephta. Cumque venisset ad portam civitatis, apparuit ei mulier vidua colligens ligna, et vocavit eam, dixitque ei: Da mihi paululum aquæ in vase, ut bibam. Cumque illa pergeret ut afferet, clamavit post tergum ejus, dicens: Affer mihi, obsecro, et buccellam panis in manu tua. Quæ respondit: Vivit Dominus Deus tuus, quia non habeo panem, nisi quantum pugillus capere potest farinæ in hydra, et paululum olei in lecytho: en colligo duo ligna ut ingrediar et faciam illud mihi et filio meo, ut comedamus, et moriamur. Ad quam Élias ait: Noli timere, sed vade, et fac sicut dixisti : verumtamen mihi primum fac de ipsa farinula subcinericium panem parvulum, et affer ad me: tibi autem et filio tuo facies postea. Hæc autem dicit Dominus Deus Israël: Hydria farinæ non deficiet, nec lecythus olei minuetur usque ad diem in qua Dominus daturus est pluviam super faciem terræ. Quæ abiit, et fecit juxta verbum Eliæ; et comedit ipse, et illa, et domus ejus et ex illa die hydria farinæ non defecit, et lecythus olei non est imminutus, juxta verbum Domini, quod locutus fuerat in manu Eliæ.

woman there to feed thee. He arose, and went to Sarephta. And when he was come to the gate of the city, he saw the widow woman gathering sticks, and he called her, and said to her: Give me a little water in a vessel that I may drink. And when she was going to fetch it, he called after her, saying: Bring me, also, I beseech thee, a morsel of bread in thy hand. And she answered: As the Lord thy God liveth, I have no bread, but only a handful of meal in a pot, and a little oil in a cruse; behold I am gathering two sticks, that I may go in and dress it for me and my son, that we may eat it, and die. And Elias said to her: Fear not, but go, and do as thou hast said; but first make for me of the same meal a little hearth cake, and bring it to me: and after, make for thyself and thy son. For thus saith the Lord the God of Israel: The pot of meal shall not waste, nor the cruse of oil be diminished, until the day wherein the Lord will give rain

upon the face of the earth. She went, and did according to the word of Elias; and he ate, and she, and her house: and from that day the pot of meal wasted not, and the cruse of oil was not diminished, according to the word of the Lord, which he spoke in the hand of Elias.

The instruction of the Catechumens is continued by means of the Gospel facts, which are each day

brought before them; and the Church reads to them the prophecies from the Old Testament, which are to be fulfilled by the rejection of the Jews, and the vocation of the Gentiles. Elias, who is our faithful companion during Lent, is represented to us to-day as foreshadowing, in his own conduct, the treatment which God is one day to show towards his ungrateful people. A three years' drought had been sent upon the kingdom of Israel; but the people continued obstinate in their sins. Elias goes in search of some one that will provide him with food. It is a great privilege to entertain the Prophet; for God is with him. Then, whither will he go? Is it to any family in the kingdom of Israel? Or will he pass into the land of Juda? He neglects them both, and directs his steps towards the land of the Gentiles. He enters the country of Sidon; and coming to the gates of a city called Sareptha, he sees a poor widow ; it is to her that he transfers the blessing which Israel had rejected. Our Lord himself has taken notice of this event in the Prophet's life, which portrays, in such strong colours, the justice of God towards the Jews, and his mercy towards us Gentiles: In truth I say to you, there were many widows in the days of Elias in Israel: and to none of them was he sent, but to Sareptha of Sidon, to a widow woman.1

So, then, this poor woman is a figure of the Gentiles, who were called to the faith. Let us study the circumstances of this prophetic event. The woman is a widow; she has no one to defend or protect her: she represents the Gentiles, who were abandoned by all, and had no one that could save them from the enemy of mankind. All the mother and her child had to live upon, was a handful of meal and a little oil it is an image of the frightful dearth of truth, in which the pagans were living at the time that the

1 St. Luke, iv. 25, 26.

Gospel was preached to them. Notwithstanding her extreme poverty, the widow of Sareptha receives the Prophet with kindness and confidence; she believes what he tells her, and she and her child are saved: it was thus that the Gentiles welcomed the Apostles, when these shook the dust from their feet, and left the faithless Jerusalem. But what mean the two pieces of wood, which the widow holds in her hands? St. Augustine, St. Cesarius of Arles, and St. Isidore of Seville, (who, after all, are but repeating what was the tradition of the early Church,) tell us, that this wood is a figure of the Cross. With this wood, the widow bakes the bread that is to support her: it is from the Cross that the Gentiles receive life by Jesus, who is the Living Bread. Whilst Israel dies of famine and drought, the Gentile Church feeds abundantly on the heavenly Wheat, and on the Oil, which is the symbol of strength and charity. Glory then be to Him who hath called us out of darkness into his marvellous light of faith! But, let us tremble at witnessing the evils which the abuse of grace has brought upon a whole people. If God's justice has not spared a whole nation, but cast it off; will he spare me or you, if we dare to resist his call?

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they shall say to you, observe and do; but according to their works, do ye not; for they say, and do not. For they bind heavy and insupportable burdens, and lay them on men's shoulders; but with a finger of their own they will not move them. And all these works they do to be seen of men for they make their phylacteries broad, and enlarge their fringes. And they love the first places at feasts, and the first chairs in the synagogues, and salutations in the market-place, and to be called by men, Rabbi. But be not you called Rabbi; for one is your master, and all you are brethren. And call none your father upon earth; for one is your Father, who is in heaven. Neither be ye called masters; for one is your Master, Christ. He that is the greatest among you, shall be your servant. And whosoever shall exalt himself shall be humbled; and he that shall humble himself, shall be exalted.

dixerint vobis, servate et facite : secundum opera vero eorum nolite facere: dicunt enim et non faciunt. Alligant enim onera gravia, et importabilia, et imponunt in humeros hominum: digito autem suo nolunt ea movere. Omnia vero opera sua faciunt ut videantur ab hominibus: dilatant enim phylacteria sua, et magnificant fimbrias. Amant au

tem primos recubitus in cœnis, et primas cathedras in synagogis, et salutationes in foro, et vocari ab hominibus Rabbi. Vos autem nolite vocari Rabbi. Unus est enim Magister vester, omnes autem vos fratres estis. Et patrem nolite vocare vobis super terram: unus est enim Pater vester, qui in cœlis est. Nec vocemini magistri: quia Magister vester unus est, Christus. Qui major est vestrum, erit minister vester. Qui autem se exaltaverit, humiliabitur: et qui se humiliaverit, exaltabitur.

The doctors of the law were sitting on the Chair of Moses; therefore, Jesus bids the people abide by their teachings. But this Chair,-which, in spite of the unworthiness of them that sit on it, is the Chair of truth,-is not to remain long in Israel. Caiphas, because he is a High Priest for the year, will prophesy; but his crimes have rendered him unworthy of his office; and the Chair, on which he sits, is to be taken away and set in the midst of the Gentiles. Jerusalem, which is preparing to deny her Saviour,

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