to you loaded with the favors of heaven. Let us not imitate those cold and indevout Christians; it is not from them, but from the Church of Jesus Christ that we must learn the true way of profiting by the holy sacrifice, and of assisting becomingly at it; let us then hear her teaching. Before Mass commences, become piously recollected, repel from your hearts every temporal and worldly thought, conceive a great idea of the grandeur and sublime sanctity of the august mysteries at which you are about to assist; then follow faithfully, and step by step, the priest at the altar; unite your prayers with his, make with him, at the feet of your God, an humble confession of your sins, opening your hearts to repentance, and begging of the Almighty grace and forgiveness. At the Gospel, make the sign of the cross on your forehead, 'on your mouth, and on your breast, and remember that the true Christian believes firmly the truths of the Gospel; professes, before the world, and in spite of the world, the divine doctrine of Jesus Christ, and conforms his life to his faith. At the Offertory, uniting your attention with that of the celebrant, offer to the Lord all that you have, and all that you are; consecrate yourselves to His service and glory. At the solemn moment of Consecration, fall on your knees, prostrate in body and in heart, humbly adore your God, concealed under the appearances of bread and wine, and, filled with a holy compunction, acknowledge that it was your sins that nailed Him to the cross. At the Communion of the priest, form a true desire of receiving also into your heart, Jesus Christ, present on the altar, and of nourishing your soul with His body and blood, which are the pledge of eternal life. Receive, with respect and devotion, the benediction of the minister of the Lord, a benediction which calls down upon you the grace of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost. The Mass is finished: you have assisted at the adorable sacrifice, the same as that of the cross; retire, but let it be like the centurion mentioned in the Gospel, who everywhere published loudly the glory of the Son of God, and like the blessed Virgin and St. John, whose love for Jesus increased in proportion to the sorrows which they beheld Him suffer. Live in the love of God and of your neighbor,-in the hatred of sin; live as you would have lived on the day of the crucifixion of the Man-God, if you had been present at His adorable sacrifice on Calvary. You are also

descending the holy mountain,-you have assisted at the same immolation, the same sacrifice; let your love then for Jesus become like theirs, more lively and more persevering.

To sanctify the days which are consecrated to Thee, and those which are established to honor Thy most holy Mother and Thy saints, Thou willest, O Lord! that we should assist at the august Sacrifice of the Mass with respect, with modesty, with fervor and attention. On this condition, Thou hast promised us Thy graces and benedictions. Yes, my God, henceforth, and every time that we shall have the happiness of assisting at these sacred and awful mysteries, we will not cease to think of Thee,-of Thy goodness,Thy infinite mercy,-the boundless love which Thou hast for all men; we will never cease to occupy our minds with the holy and salutary thought of Thy incarnation, Thy passion and death, which are renewed every day on our altars, and we will pray with confidence, attention and fervor. Such is the resolution which we form at Thy feet. Give us grace to be faithful to it, that having been united in Thy house on earth, for the purpose of partaking of the fruits of the holy sacrifice, we may be united again one day in heaven, to partake of Thy happiness and glory.-AMEN.

SERMON LXVI.

THIRD AND FOURTH PRECEPTS OF THE CHURCH.

CONFESSION-EASTER COMMUNION.

Let a man prove himself; and so let him eat of that bread, and drink of the chalice."-1 CORINTHIANS, ix: 28.

To sanctify the Sundays and festivals, days specially consecrated to the Lord, to His holy Mother and the saints, we must assist at Mass with piety, attention and devotion; we must be present in body and in mind, and pray with fervor, if we wish that the bless

ings of our bountiful Saviour should descend into our souls. This is what I explained to you in our last instruction. To-day, let us learn what is required of us by those two precepts of the Church, viz: "To confess our sins at least once a year; to receive worthily the blessed Eucharist at Easter, or within the time appointed."

Experience teaches us that the first use which man makes of his reason, is almost always to abuse it, by offending the God of goodness, who has granted it to him. This is why the Church commands all the faithful who have attained the age of discretion, once a year, at least, to confess the sins which stain their souls. She leaves to the option of each of her children the selection of the day on which he will satisfy this important obligation; but she expressly commands all to approach the holy table during the Easter time; it is proper for us, therefore, to confess our sins at the same time, that we may be in a state to make a good and worthy communion.

If you have had the misfortune to communicate unworthily, after having made a bad confession, do you satisfy the precepts of the Church? No; for what the Church requires of us, is a good and salutary confession, and a worthy communion. What! you leave the sacred tribunal more guilty than you were before you entered it; you receive your God into a criminal heart, where sin prevails; "you eat your own condemnation;" you do not satisfy the laws of the Church,-on the contrary, you have immensely increased your guilt! Hasten anew to the feet of the priest, and be reinstated in favor with God by a sincere confession of your sins, and particularly of the double sacrilege which you have committed; then only will you have complied with the will of the spouse of Jesus Christ,-fulfilled the precept, and been worthy of the graces and blessings of the Lord.

My Brethren, there is a very dangerous and a very common error about these precepts existing in the minds of men. Many people imagine that we are not obliged to go to confession and communion more than once a year, because the Church prescribes but one annual confession and communion! The Church, my Brethren, desires to see us often purifying our conscience in the waters of penance, and fortifying our souls by partaking of the "living bread that came down from heaven;" but she knows the hardness of our hearts, our indolence and lukewarmness; hence she is content with

saying to us: "at least once a year, confess your sins" and purify your conscience; "at Easter or within the time appointed," humbly approach the table of the Lord. But if you have a true and sincere desire to sanctify your souls, you will not be satisfied with going but once, your confessions and communions will be frequent.

Moreover, do you not endanger your soul,-your salvation, by approaching but once a year the sacred tribunal of penance and the table of the Lord? My Brethren, I do not hesitate to assert, that whoever is in the habit and disposition of going to confession only once a year, is but little prepared to perform well this one confession; for it is difficult to perform well what a man seldom performs. A good confession necessarily supposes a constant and firm resolution to live better for the time to come, to correct our faults and keep the commandments: it also necessarily supposes a fixed determination of going to confession from time to time, because, without this means, there is but little hope that a person will be able to execute his good resolutions.

I may add, that the longer a man puts off his confession, the greater is his desire to defer it, and the more numerous are the excuses he feigns for not complying with this duty; for the longer confession is deferred, the more do bad habits increase and grow strong, and the more difficult is it for a person to free himself from them. The longer confession is deferred, the more sins are multiplied, and the more the sinner is accustomed to view them without dread and commit them without remorse. See then your

soul for whole years in sin, at enmity with God, ever suspended over the eternal abyss by the slender thread of human life! Out of the twelve months of the year, you pass eleven of them, perhaps, in a state of reprobation! Alas! your soul is in the greatest danger, and you have no wish to escape! Is this what you call taking care of your salvation?

There is no doubt about it, my Brethren, God, our Lord Jesus Christ and His Church entreat you, and the welfare of your soul makes it a duty for you to go often to the sacred tribunal of penance, and to approach frequently the holy table of the Lord. It is there that you receive graces, light, and strength to resist temptation, to struggle successfully against the enemies of your salvation, to know and detest the enormity of sin, to appreciate and love the beauty of

virtue, and to persevere to the end in the avoidance of evil and the practice of good works.

The Gospel informs us that the first Christians daily partook of the body and blood of Jesus Christ. Hence, in the early ages of the Church, we count almost as many saints as there were Christians. But, alas! this zeal for the sacred mysteries was not of long duration. The love of salvation always diminishing because corruption was continually increasing its sway over men's hearts, the time came when some remained for many years without approaching the sacraments; while others, to escape the just reproaches of their own pastors, went to confess their sins to strangers, and received the holy Communion elsewhere than in their parish churches. To apply an effectual remedy to this two-fold irregularity, the Church commanded that each of the faithful who had attained the age of discretion, should confess all his sins to his own priest, that is, to his own pastor, and should reverently receive, at least at Easter, the sacrament of the Eucharist, under pain of being excluded from the Church of God while living, and of being deprived of Christian burial after death. Nevertheless, my Brethren, the present discipline of the Church allows the faithful, in some places, to choose for their annual confession, any one among the confessors approved by the bishop; but they must not make their Easter communion out of their parish, without the permission of their pastor.

It is right that the children of the same family should assemble around the same table, to eat the pascal Lamb. It is meet to range each flock under its pastor, that he may know his sheep. Love therefore to place yourself under the eyes of your own priest; put your confidence in him, no one loves you more than he does, no one has a greater desire for your salvation and sanctification. Give him the opportunity of knowing your souls, for which he must one day answer before God. If he knows them not, how can he give you the advice and counsel you need to enable you to practice virtue? How can he point out to you the means that you are to employ to work out your salvation? It is your pastor who will visit you on your death-bed, and if he does not know you, what can he do, and what can he tell you to prepare you well for the great passage from time to eternity? Moreover, why do people go in search of other confessors? Because they dread the exactness,