ble feeling towards all men: five things.

504. What does faith do for us when we come to the Sacrament ?

Faith enables us to "discern the Lord's body"; to realise His holy presence there (Acts xvii. 27; Exod. iii. 5). 505. Why does a communicant need a thankful remembrance of Christ's death?

A communicant needs a thankful remembrance of Christ's death, because (a) the Holy Communion specially shows forth Christ's death; and (b) it is the Eucharist, or Service of Thanksgiving.

506. Why must a communicant be in charity with all men ?

A communicant must be in charity with all men because (a) an unforgiving spirit shuts us out from receiving grace from God; and (b) the Holy Communion is a sacred bond of union between Christians (1 Pet. iv. 8; St. Matt. v. 23, 24).

507. Which of Christ's parables does this part of the Catechism call to mind? This part of the Catechism calls to

mind the Parable of the Marriage of the King's Son, to which many would not come, and one came in a wrong way (St. Matt. xxii. 2—14).

508. Say words of the Prayer Book which advise us what to do if we cannot quiet our own conscience before coming to the Holy Communion.

'If any cannot quiet his own conscience herein, but requireth further comfort or counsel, let him come to . . some discreet and learned minister of God's Word, and open his grief; that by the ministry of God's Word he may receive the benefit of absolution, together with spiritual counsel and advice."

509. Who are they that should keep away from Holy Communion?

They only who will not give up sin should keep away from Holy Communion.

510. Who enables us to prepare for Holy Communion?

The Holy Ghost enables us to prepare for Holy Communion: "The preparation of the heart is from the Lord" (Prov. xvi. 1).

In a church in Kent, by the sanctuary, where people kneel to receive Holy Communion, there is a picture of this parable (the Marriage of the King's Son) painted on the wall, with the man which had not on the wedding garment. Why the picture there? (1) Sacrament reminds us of the marriage feast. (2) To it many refuse to come. (3) From it are to be warned off those who might come in an unfit state (1 Cor. xi. 28-30).

(i.) Christ tells of the marriage feast.

Find another parable a little like it— St. Luke xiv. 16, 17. "Certain man"; "great supper"; here it is a king, his heart full of the marriage to be celebrated, his only son's marriage; everything splendid, palace, music, rich fare, flowers, perfumes, lights; lasting for days; great honour to be invited; nothing would be wanting to make guests happy; their beautiful dress, their happy faces. Name another parable about a wedding. Ten Virgins (St. Matt. xxv. 1-13). Picture the bride, surrounded by her bridesmaids, waiting; the procession when bridegroom arrives; torches, music, on the way to the splendid feast; all so joyful, except the "five" unfit, unready ones, left outside (ver. 10-12). Why did Christ thus speak

of wedding scenes? Himself the King's Son; the Church, He loved so truly, His bride. The joy in store for His people is pictured as a marriage feast. (Illust.-Moon still shining at early morning; sun rises in glory; moon pales and fades; spiritual joys much greater than joys earth gives; as the sun to the pale moon.) In Holy Communion there should be a little taste of this peace and joy; God wills to give it, it depends on our fitness; sun shining on a metal vessel; the more the vessel prepared and polished, the more the shining will be seen (Rev. xix. 7—9).

(ii.) Christ tells of the invited guests. From what He tells us we may put these into three sets :

(a) Those who refused to come. The King's Son did not refuse to join the poor feasts here, though He was often treated with unfriendliness (St. Luke xiv. 1). See what was said at one of these feasts (ver. 15). The Parable of the Great Supper was the Lord's reply. What the point of that parable? (ver. 18, 19.) How little the invitation was cared for; excuses for not coming. So with those invited to this great feast (ver. 4-7); king longed to have them all; sent again lest they might have overlooked the invitation. Some "made light of it," thought it not worth

thians seems to have been lack of faith, so that they failed to "discern" the sacramental nature of the Eucharist, the awe and blessedness of the Presence; and lack of brotherly love, so that each well-to-do member selfishly ate the provisions he had brought without a care for the needy; and lack of selfrestraint, so that the feast became a "senseless orgy." Dean Stanley comments on I Cor. xi. 16-34:-" The time was come when the secular and spiritual had to be disentangled one from the other. . . . The question arose whether the majesty, the tenderness, the awe of the feast should be lost in a senseless orgy; and it is (humanly speaking) by means of the verdict of the Apostle against the Corinthian Church that the form of the primitive practice was altered, in order to save the spirit of the original institution."

2. I Cor. xi. 28-32 should read thus: "But let a man prove himself, and so let him eat of the bread and drink of the cup, for he that eateth and drinketh, eateth and drinketh a judgment to himself if he does not discern the Body (for this cause many among you are weak, and sick, and some sleep); but if we would discern ourselves we should not be judged; but being judged we are chastened by the Lord, in order that we may not be finally condemned with the world."-(Bishop Ellicott's Commentary.) This shows the meaning of the threatening clauses in the long exhortation in our Office of Holy Communion: "We eat and drink our own damnation," &c.

3. "With this answer (What is required,' &c.) may be compared the following passage from the exhortation in the Office for Holy Communion : 'Judge therefore yourselves, brethren, that ye be not judged of the Lord; repent you truly for your sins past; have a lively and steadfast faith in Christ our Saviour; amend your lives, and be in perfect charity with all men ; so shall ye be meet partakers of these holy mysteries.' These requirements for Holy Communion are in reality no other than those of the three great Christian vows to renounce, believe, and obey-of which we were taught in the beginning of the Catechism. Progress in holiness consists not in learning things that are new, but in a more full understanding and more faithful fulfilment of the earliest lessons."—(Rev. Arthur W. Robinson.)

4. "A lifeless body has no power of

assimilating food. A feeble, living body can only assimilate a little, administered by degrees. But a body with the pulses of life beating strong and quick within it, a hungry and craving body, can assimilate it thoroughly and easily, and grow thereby. And the soul resembles the body. With a feeble, spiritual pulse we can apprehend Christ but feebly in the Holy Communion; but if there be a strong hunger and thirst after righteousness, a strong craving for the Bread of life, a strong sense of spiritual poverty and indigence, a strong resolve formed in reliance on God's grace, a strong faith which pierces the veil of things sensible and material, great will then be the comfort received from this Holy Communion, and in the strength of that meat we shall go forward, like Elijah of old, to the mount of God, the end and goal of our pilgrimage."(Dean Goulburn.)

5. "Charles Simeon passed to King's College, Cambridge. Very shortly after his coming to Cambridge, the provost of King's told him that, according to the rules of the College, 'he must attend the Lord's Supper.' 'Conscience told me,' says Simeon, 'that if I must go, I must repent and turn to God unless I chose to eat and drink my own damnation. From that day I never ceased to mourn and pray till I obtained progressive manifestation of God's mercy in Christ, and subsequently perfect peace.' From that memorable date Simeon's life was consecrated to God." -(Dean Spence.)

6. "The story is well known of the younger infidel, in the days of Voltaire, inquiring of his more hardened and older friend how to get rid of the prickings of conscience by which he was even still assailed. Take the Sacrament,' replied the hoary sinner. The advice was followed. He went to the altar with a wicked mind, and God's Spirit strove no more with that man.' (Neale, quoted by the Rev. W. Frank Shaw.)

7. Teachers who have in their classes those who are of age for Holy Communion will doubtless consider it their duty to ask whether such scholars have, and use, any little book of preparation. These books in the present day are almost numberless; but it is advisable carefully to examine them before giving them to the young. The writer of these Lessons knows nothing more simple and useful than a little book of "Simple Preparation" by "Fidelis," published

by Longmans, for twopence. Bishop Walsham How's books are, of course, well known, and, as thousands will testify, are most helpful.

8. The following, which beautifully illustrates the spirit in which to approach Christ in the Eucharist, comes from the Bishop of Caledonia. Sheuksh, chief of the Kitkatla Indians, the subject of the narrative, had long been one of the stoutest opponents of Christianity: "When nearly all the members of the tribe were at home Sheuksh summoned the men to his house. He was arrayed in a scarlet robe, bedecked with mother-of-pearl and curious embroideries, and when all were assembled he rose and said, 'I wear the outward sign of former ignorance and of ancient customs that never changed until the white man's faith was preached. I thought I ought to keep them, for I am not wiser than the ancients who kept them and did great deeds. I loved them. So did you. I have struggled to maintain them. I have defied the

Queen's officers. They threatened me as late as this last springtide with prison and disgrace. I told them I would not avoid them. I also resisted the Bishop, and suffered not his teachers to land. I concealed not the wish of my heart. You know to what lengths I went. Most of you approved my But the end has come.

doings.

Let

the waves tell the story of our fathers. Our children's lips will form no fit

words. Where do dead things go? This goes with them.' Here he threw off his scarlet robe and the other insignia of a heathen chief. 'I am

round it.

I am

naked, but can clothe my body with the white man's clothes.' This he there and then proceeded to do. 'What will cover my heart? I can wrap nothing God sees it, and He knows all the past and the present. He knows I am ignorant and sinful. He has this summer made me know it. I am now dressed like a Christian. Those tokens of the dark past I will never touch again. What shall I do next? too old to go to school. I cannot read. I am like a child, knowing little, but wanting to learn. Will Jesus Christ have me? Will He help me? I will never turn back. I give myself to God. Now pray for me-pray, pray! I want to know what will please Him. I must know. Begin at once to pray!' In the scene which followed prayer and praise and Holy Scripture followed in succession for seven hours and a half." 9. Upon coming to the Eucharist :"O God of mercy, God of might, How should pale sinners bear the sight, If, as Thy power is surely here, Thine open glory should appear? Oh, agony of wavering thought, When sinners first so near are brought: 'It is my Maker-dare I stay? My Saviour-dare I turn away?'" (Rev. J. Keble.)

:

Collect of Nineteenth Sunday after Trinity.

God will help us; Holy Communion is one great way by which He does this (St. Matt. ix. 13).

513. What is the answer for those who say, "I do not come to Holy Communion because it would be worse for me if I sinned afterwards"?

It is always grievous to sin; but we are less likely to sin if we are earnest communicants, for new strength is given to us, and we are more on our guard (Jude 24).

514. What is the answer for those who say, "I do not come to Holy Com