sents himself to the world, as the most perfect model of the most exalted virtues! Yes, divine Jesus, you alone can say: "I came that you may have a model." Jesus was humble: I came, says he, to serve, and not to be served. Often did He forbid the miracles He wrought to be published, and he imposed silence on the demons, who were forced to cry out that He was truly the Son of God. In a transport of admiration, the people were about to make Him their king, and Jesus retires and hides himself from their pressing solicitation. He asks not His own glory, but that of His Father. Jesus was meek and bountiful,-He rejected, He repulsed no one. The Apostles wished to drive away the little children that were brought to Him for His blessing, and He said to them: "Suffer the little children, and forbid them not to come unto me; for the kingdom of heaven is for such; ... unless you be converted, and become as little children, you shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven." Two of His disciples ask that fire should come from the heavens, to destroy a city which had refused to receive Him. You know not, He says to them, of what spirit you are; I came not to destroy men, but to save them. When they sought to make Him pronounce sentence of death against the woman taken in adultery; "he that is without sin among you," He says, "let him first cast a stone at her." He bore with patience the rudeness of the Apostles, and the importunities of the sick. What do I say? He invited them to Him. "Come," He says, "come all you that labor and are heavy laden, and I will refresh you." Jesus was tender and full of compassion. He wept for the death of Lazarus, His friend; He shed tears over Jerusalem, and beholding that unfortunate city, He exclaimed: "Jerusalem, Jerusalem, how often would I have gathered together thy children, as the hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and thou wouldst not!" He beheld the tears of the poor widow of Nain, and hastened to console her by restoring her dead son to life. He received with benignity the sinners who desired to turn from their evil ways, and He rebuked only those who were hardened in vice; therefore it was that He denounced so severely the proud Pharisee and the hypocritical doctor of the law. His sole business was the glory of God and the salvation of men ; and He frequently spent whole nights in prayer, after having employed the day in doing good to all, in glorifying His Father, extolling the

happiness of seeing and of loving Him, and in traveling about, on foot, under the burning rays of a scorching sun, in quest of His lost sheep. He was, in truth, the good shepherd, who laid down His life for His flock. He lived in great poverty, and well might He say to the Jews: "The birds of the air have their nests, and the fox its den, but the Son of Man hath not whereon to lay His head." O Son of God, Master, and Lord of heaven and earth, Thou wast rich, and Thou hast made Thyself poor, to teach us that there are no true riches, but the riches of eternity; and that all the wealth of this earth is nothing but vanity. Thou hast said: "Woe to the rich! blessed are the poor!" because Thou wouldst have us know that riches too frequently are the fatal thorns which stifle in our hearts the good seeds of salvation.

Behold, my Brethren, what the life our divine Saviour was while on earth: "He spent it doing good." How different from the conqueror, who estimates his days by his victories, that is to say, by the evils which he causes and the sorrow he increases ;-Jesus, on the contrary, the meekest of the children of men, reckons his days by His blessings. In the towns, the market-places and the cities, there are no blind, nor sick, nor lepers, because Jesus of Nazareth hath passed that way. Yes, He is the Holy of Holies, and He manifested His divinity as the Divinity is accustomed to manifest itself by acts of patience, of charity, and of love; and yet notwithstanding all His blessings and wonderful virtues, He was hated by the world, by those corrupt men to whom He declared the truth which condemned them. Some of them, carnal men, who expected a Messias who should subdue the nations of the earth to his empire, would not acknowledge the Saviour of Israel, in the person of the poor and humble Jesus, whom they called with contempt, "the son of the carpenter." Others, and above all, the Scribes, the Pharisees, the priests and the senators persecuted Him, calumniated Him, and despised Him, because He censured their pride, their avarice, their hypocrisy, and the numberless other vices which made these men like whited sepulchres, fair indeed without, but within, full of dead mens' bones and of all corruption. They hated Jesus, and yet they had nothing wherewith to reproach Him, for they observed silence when he publicly challenged them to convict Him of sin. Often did they try to surprise Him in His words, but in vain; He always

detected their malice and ignorance, and confounded them by His answers. When the true Israelites,-whose hearts were right,-at sight of Jesus exclaimed: Blessed is He who comes to us in the name of the Lord, the hatred of the wicked, on hearing those praises and acclamations, knew no bounds, and they resolved to put to death, the Just One, the Saviour of the world, the Son of God. I will speak to you, in our next instruction, of the chalice of sorrows which our divine Saviour was compelled to drink, even to the dregs.

I conclude, my Brethren, by repeating to you the words which our Saviour addressed to His disciples: "I come, that you might have a model." Yes, Jesus came to redeem us and to be our model. Let us therefore act, let us always conduct ourselves, in,a manner conformable to that which this good Master has taught us. He was humble, meek, patient and charitable; let us therefore be humble, meek, patient and charitable. He labored for His Father's glory in procuring our salvation; let us coöperate with the glory of God by advancing in the practice of good works, and let us do this with the more zeal and perseverance, as it is only by following this path, that we can arrive at heaven, where Jesus our Saviour reigns, to whom be all glory, honor and power forever and ever.-AMEN.

SERMON XIV.

FOURTH ARTICLE OF THE CREED.

SUFFERINGS OF JESUS CHRIST.

"He was obedient unto death, even the death of the cross."-PHILIPPIANS, ii: 8

"AND the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us: and we saw His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father."* He came to recall us from the ways of error,-to reëstablish us in

* St. John, i: 14.

the path of truth. He has made known to us the God of heaven, and in our God He has revealed to us a Father and the most tender of Fathers. He showed us the worship we ought to pay to God, that of the spirit and of the heart. He revealed to us the sublime destiny which awaits us in eternity; that immortal life, filled with inexpressible delights, when we shall see God face to face, such as He is in himself, and to which we can attain by the practice of the truths which He taught and of the precepts He imposed. To confirm the truth of His heavenly doctrine, Jesus performed great miracles, prodigies of His power, and still more prodigies of charity and mercy. He was the most amiable, the meekest, the holiest of the children of men, and yet He had enemies. To-day, I will speak to you of the chalice of sorrows which they made Him drink, even to the dregs.

Jesus Christ had foretold to His Apostles that He would be delivered into the hands of wicked men,-the scribes and chief priests; that they would pronounce against Him the sentence of death; that He would be contemned and mocked, scourged and crucified. The time has now come when this divine Saviour is about to consummate His sacrifice, and to lay down His life for the salvation of the world. Accompanied by His Apostles, He proceeds to the place wherein He had appointed to take His last supper, and eat His last passover with them. Before, however, He would depart out of this life, He wished to leave them the most precious pledge of His love and tenderness,-He desired to institute the adorable sacrament of His body and blood. He then "took bread, and blessed, and broke, and gave it to His disciples, and said: Take ye and eat: this is my body which is given for you. . . . And taking the chalice, He gave thanks; and gave it to them saying: Drink ye all of this, for this is my blood of the new testament, which shall be shed for many for the remission of sins. Do this in commemoration of me."* Many more things He said with the the most tender affection to His dear disciples. Seeing them oppressed by a weight of sadness, He consoled them, by promising not to leave them orphans, and to send them the Holy Ghost, who would be with them all days, and would make them understand all

St. Matthew, xxvi,-St. Luke, xxii.

that He had taught them. He recommended them to the all-powerful protection of His Father, whom He besought with all His soul to preserve them, to defend them against the temptations of the enemy, to maintain among them perfect union of hearts, to the end that not one of them might be lost, but that all might be with Him in the eternal happiness of heaven. We can not doubt, my Brethren, that it was not for the Apostles alone our bountiful Saviour addressed this fervent prayer to His heavenly Father, but also for us, who, converted by their preaching, have had the happiness of being called to the knowledge of the truth through the grace of Jesus Christ.

Having sung a hymn, Jesus went with His Apostles to the mount of Olives, where He was accustomed to pray. Here He represented to Himself all He was about to suffer, during His painful passion, and giving way to the feelings of nature, was seized with fear and excessive sadness. Thrice did He prostrate himself on the ground, and pray: My Father, if it be possible, let this chalice pass away from me; yet not as I will, but as Thou wilt. A bloody sweat flows in large drops from every part of His body to the earth, while reduced almost to His agony, Jesus but perseveres the more in prayer. Then an angel from heaven appeared to strengthen Him: rising up, Jesus went to His disciples and said to them: "Watch ye, and pray that you enter not into temptation. Behold, he is at hand that will betray me." As He yet spoke, Judas, whom the money of the scribes and Pharisees had seduced, and who betrayed His divine Master, arrived, followed by a large body of soldiers. But Jesus, knowing all that was about to happen, said to them: "Whom seek ye? they answered, Jesus of Nazareth: Jesus says to them, I am He; at which word they all immediately went back and fell to the ground." No doubt, my Brethren, the Son of God could have escaped the fury of His enemies, for a word from His mouth was enough to prostrate them to the earth; but He loved us, He wished to save us, and to reconcile us to His Father, He chose to die. Hence He permitted His enemies to seize His divine person, to load Him with chains, to drag Him, as a vile criminal, before the tribunal of the high-priest, Caiphas. Lying witnesses accused Him, and He spoke not. But when the highpriest bid Him, in the name of the living God, say, whether He