our vocation in this world. But it is from God that the desire and

the strength to accomplish it must come. Let us, therefore, pray with fervor and with perseverance; let us ask, and it will be given us; God will be with us, and every day we will feel the truth of these words of the royal prophet: "hope in the Lord and do good, and all things will turn to your advantage."-AMEN.

SERMON VIII.

FIRST ARTICLE OF THE CREED-(CONTINUED.)

THE WORLD AND THE ANGELS.

"All ye works of the Lord, bless the Lord: 0 ye Angels of the Lord, bless the Lord."-DANIEL, iii: 57.

We have had the happiness of meditating on the Lord, our God, and we know what are His adorable perfections. We will adore Him and love Him, for He is the supreme majesty, whose power is without limits, whose knowledge is infinite, whose goodness is unbounded. We will have confidence in the providence of our God, for whatever it does, and whatever it ordains is good, holy and adorable. We know now that the blessings which heaven bestows upon us, and the evils wherewith we are afflicted, all proceed from the love of God for us, the love of a father for his children; our last instruction convinced us of this. Let us then continue the explanation of the first article of our Creed, and let us speak to-day of the creation of the World and of the Angels. To create is to make out of nothing, to call into existence, to give being to that which was not, to cause a being to exist from nothing and by a single act of the will. "I believe in God, the Father Almighty, Creator of heaven and earth;" that is to say: I believe, I confess, I acknowledge that in the beginning, whilst there was nothing, and when there was neither heaven nor earth, God, who is from all eter

nity, called from nothing every thing which exits, both heaven and earth, and every thing which they contain. To create all things, He required neither matter nor instruments; He is himself the sole principle of all things, even of matter from which He made all things else. The general of an army says: let the army march, and forthwith the army marches; let it make such an evolution, and the evolution is made. A whole army is put in motion at the command of one man, by the simple motion of his lips: Feeble image of the power of God! The Almighty has no lips to move; His word is not like that of man, it is not a mere vibration of air which strikes the ear; the word of God is His will. He spoke, that is to say, He willed. He has only to will in himself, and every thing which He wills, must be fulfilled as he willed it, and at the time which He marked out. "Look upon heaven and earth, and all that is in them, and consider that God made them out of nothing." He made all things in six days. It was not through disability or weakness that God distributed the works of creation into six different days, neither was it through fatigue that He rested when He had completed it. But He wished, by dividing them, to make us more attentive to His wonders, and in some manner to adapt them to our capacity, by showing them to us in parts; He wished, moreover, to teach us that we ought to labor during six days of the week, but that the seventh should be spent in holy rest.

Every thing which God created, was good and even perfect. "He saw all the things which He had made," says the inspired writer, "and they were very good." Nevertheless, there were some of His creatures that far surpassed the others in excellence and perfection. These privileged creatures were Angels and men.

We are unable to say precisely on what day or in what instant of the creation of the World, it pleased God to create the Angels; the Holy Scriptures do not mention it. No doubt, it was in the beginning; for the Lord says in the book of Job: "When the morning stars praised me together, and all the sons of God made a joyful melody." They were certainly created before man received existence, since Eve was deceived by the devil, the chief of the fallen Angels, who took the form of a serpent in order to seduce her.

* 2 Machabees, vii: 28.

+ Job, xxxviii; 7.

The Angels are pure spirits, endowed with a high degree of intelligence, and having neither body nor figure. They are not such as they are represented to us. We see them painted young, because spirits or pure intelligences, never grow old; and with wings, to show the speed and quickness wherewith they execute the orders of God, for "they are all spirits appointed to be the ministers of the will of the Lord."* They were created in the state of grace and sanctity, enjoyed the friendship of God, were embellished with all the gifts of grace necessary and sufficient for their perseverance in good, and were appointed to merit by their perseverance the happiness of never falling. But the Angels were free, and like us, they had to merit by their fidelity, the happiness of being confirmed in grace. All were not faithful; there were some among them who abused their liberty; who had the audacity to rise in rebellion against God, and revolt against their sovereign Master. But they lost for ever the ineffable happiness of seeing and of praising, of adoring and of loving God in heaven. God did not pardon these rebellious and prevaricating Angels; "but having cast them down into the place of torments, delivered them into the chains of hell to be tormented, to be reserved unto judgment." Thus it was, that God confounded the pride of these rebel spirits, who in the person of Lucifer, their chief, had the audacity to say: "I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars, and I will be like the Most High." See how they were hurled into the bottom of the abyss, which had been prepared for them, or scattered in the air, but bearing always within themselves the hell which burns them.

It is the doctrine of all authors, the Apostolic doctrine, as St. Jerome and St. Augustine tell us, that the air, which is between heaven and earth, is full of bad Angels. "Our wrestling is not against flesh and blood," says St. Paul; "but against principalities and powers; against the rulers of the world of this darkness; against the spirits of wickedness in high places." The demons hate us, for jealousy gnaws their proud hearts, as they know that an exceedingly great promise was made to us, and that we have it in our power, to attain those thrones in heaven which they have lost. Hence they spare no pains, but labor continually to drag us into

Hebrews, i. † 2 Peter, ii: 4.

Isaias, xiv: 13. § Ephesians, vi: 12.

sin, that they may thereby wrest us from God. Wherefore, says the Holy Ghost, "be sober, and watch; because your adversary, the devil, as a roaring lion, goeth about, seeking whom he may devour."*

No doubt, the devil is full of craft and malice; still, he can only entice and tempt, but he can not offer you violence. "He is like a chained dog," says St. Augustine; "he can bark, but he can not bite any, except those who go near him, and rashly expose themselves to his teeth." The fault then always rests with ourselves, if we fall into sin; for it is always possible for us, with the aid and the grace of God, to resist the most violent temptations. Great is the hatred of the devil, furious the envy which gnaws his heart; far beyond that of men is his power; and yet he can not hurt your souls, if you preserve in your heart a firm resolution of living well, if you place your confidence in God, if you pray, and follow the counsel of the good Angels who remained faithful to the Lord.

But while on one side, the spirits of the abyss and the powers of darkness struggle with all their might to injure us, and make us unfaithful to the holy law of God, that we may one day suffer and blaspheme with them in hell; on the other, the Angels of heaven are always ready to help us with their powerful assistance, to protect us, and defend us against the suggestions and temptations of our enemies. In fact, it is not only that they might honor, praise and adore Him in heaven, that the Almighty created the Angels; but also that they might minister to those who were to possess the inheritance of salvation, "and He hath given His Angels charge over thee to keep thee in all thy ways."* Yes, these holy Angels, faithful to the divine command, constantly walk at our right hand and discover to us the snares which the devil lays for us. They are unceasingly occupied inspiring us with a holy fear of God, and with a lively and constant love of virtue. O! who can tell the charity of these happy spirits! their sympathy for our misfortunes, their attention to our wants! their patience in supporting our weakness! Certain of their own salvation, they have no uneasiness but for us. It is, therefore, that they manifest such great joy in heaven when a sinner is converted, and does penance; hence they pray for us with such

great fervor. Hence comes that attention which they still have in presenting before the throne of the Lord, our supplications and our vows.

We will never depart from the way of wisdom and of duty, my Brethren, but will ever advance toward perfection and happiness, if we keep closely united to these holy Angels, listen attentively to their good counsels, follow their salutary inspirations, and correspond to the care they take to conduct us to heaven. Let us do this, let us always do this, my Brethren, and thus guided, we are sure to pass safe and sound, through the dangerous desert of this life, and we shall infallibly reach the sublime goal, which the Lord hath marked out for us; we shall reach heaven, for which the paternal hand of God formed us.-AMEN.

SERMON IX.

FIRST ARTICLE OF THE CREED.-(CONTINUED.)

CREATION AND SIN OF THE FIRST MAN.

"Let us make man to our image and likeness."-Genesis, i: 26.

Of all creatures that are in heaven or on earth, the angels and men are the most noble, because being endowed with the gift of reason, they bear a greater likeness to God. The angels were crearemain faithful to the

ted in sanctity and justice, but all did not Lord. Many of them were ruined through pride, and were driven by the justice of God from heaven. These rebellious spirits, jealous of the happiness to which the bounty of the Lord calls us, endeavor by every possible means to deprive us of this happiness by rendering us unworthy of it. But, if the bad angels seek our ruin, on the other hand, the good angels protect us, discover to us the snares of our enemy, and teach us how to avoid them. Such was the im portant matter which I unfolded to you in our last instruction