CD
CO
CO
JOHN M. KELLY LIBRARY
Donated by
The Redemptorists of
the Toronto Province
from the Library Collection of
Holy Redeemer College, Windsor
University of
St. Michael s College, Toronto
V.
HOLY REPECMER ufc$|Y, WINDSOR
NEW AND OLD
(SERMONS),
A MONTHLY REPERTORY OF CATHOLIC PULPIT ELOQUENCE
EMBRACING
TWO SERMONS FOR EACH SUNDAY
AND
HOLY-DAY OF OBLIGATION
OF THE
ECCLESIASTICAL YEAR.
EDITED,
(IN CONJUNCTION WITH MANY OTHER CLERGYMEN,) ,
BY
Rev. AUGUSTINE WIRTH, O.S.B.
ELIZABETH, N. J.
VOL. I. Fourth Edition.
FEINTED BY
HERMANN BAETSCH, 54 BEEKMAN STREET, NEW YORK.
Copyrighted, 1885,
BY
REV, AUGUSTINE WIRTH, O. S. B.
FIRST SUNDAY OF ADVENT.
THE LAST JUDGMENT.
"And then they shall see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with great power
and majesty" Luke xxi: 27.
Shall I tell you without reserve of what I wish to speak to-day ? Shall
I tell you that being struck with terror at the mere thought of the judg
ments which God will inflict upon the last day, I must endeavor to
communicate that terror to your hearts; to arouse sinners, as it were,
by a cry of alarm; and, if possible, to rescue them from their fatal leth
argy, before they shall find it changed into the sleep of everlasting death?
Yes, learn it, you who hear me, it is not with a view of astonishing your
imaginations with unmeaning pictures, not with the view of producing
feeble and transient emotions in your hearts, but in the hope of effect
ing your conversion and salvation, that I shall exhibit to your spiritual
vision the most sublime, the most awful spectacle that religion can offer
to the eye of faith. Unite with me in contemplating this last and fear
ful scene, the bare thought of which, in former times, filled the deserts
with solitaries, and forced St. Jerome, although exhausted with works
of piety and austerity, and St. Hilarion, though emaciated by fasts,
disciplines, and vigils, to tremble in the inmost depths of their solitudes.
But, perhaps, you may say, since every one of us at the hour of death
is destined to receive an irrevocable sentence, which must then decide
our fate for eternity, is it not that private and particular judgment which
we ought chiefly to fear ? And why should we suffer our minds to be
so much engrossed by thoughts of that other and later judgment which
will be nothing more, after all, than a solemn promulgation and
confirmation of the preceding one ? These questions I propose
to answer to-day by showing you how much the general judgment must
add to the severity of the particular one; and by explaining to you how
it fills up the measure of the divine vengeance, and effects the complete
abandonment of the sinner. Among the awful events which shall char
acterize that great day of justice, I select these leading circumstances
to which I beg leave to direct your undivided attention.
/. The resurrection of the body ,
//. The manifestation of consciences , and
2 FIRST SUNDAY OF ADVENT.
jf II. The final decree which will establish an eternal separation between
the elect and the reprobate.
I. The resurrection of the body will be an aggravation of the punish
ment of the sinner. Cast into the dark prison of hell, from the moment
he expired, he endures inexpressible torments in the midst of those fires
which shall never be extinguished. It would seem that his misery has
already reached its height, but no, his entire being does not yet
suffer. His soul, alone, is the prey of those devouring flames. His
body, insensible and inanimate, is in the grave. In the midst of her
torments that unhappy soul remembers the companion once so dear to
her, with whom she had been united during the most blissful period of
their joint existence. How great was the happiness she enjoyed in that
society! Alas! her misery has dated its commencement from the sad
period of their separation. She knows that the revolution of years and
of ages is destined to bring about a day, which is known to God alone y
a day on which that union, which had been once so agreeable, must be re
newed, never more to be interrupted. With anxious impatience she
longs for that day, when she may experience some alleviation of her tor
tures. This last of days at length arrives. The stars in the firmament
have already lost their light, the world has been purified by fire; the sound
of the fatal trumpet suddenly reaches to the very bowels of the earth and
summons the dead of every generation to return to life once more. All
nature is at once thrown into confusion; the whole creation is in
travail to bring forth the human race, which is about to be born anew.
The dust of the tomb is put in motion; the scattered ashes are amalga
mated; the bones are formed and joined together; flesh covers them at
once; the myriad bodies of the children of men appear with all their
limbs, but they are as yet motionless and inanimate. At this decisive
moment, the souls hasten from their tenements to be united to their
bodies, and to restore them again to life. Hell permits its victims to
escape. The reprobate soul rushes from her dismal prison, and is
transported with the rapidity of lightning to the spot where her long
lost body, the object of so many regrets and of so much affection, is
about to be restored to her. In what condition will she find that body?
Let us consult the Sacred Scriptures. What do we read in the In
spired Word of God? That at the last day each one shall reap what he
has sown during life; that he who has lived in the corruption of sin,
shall never be released from the corruption of death; that the just
shall arise again to a new and eternal life, but that the resurrection of
the wicked will be a second death, worse than the first; that their bod
ies will become the living food and never-dying prey of rottenness and
worms. If you have ever beheld a dead, decaying body in the coffin,
figure to yourself now that melancholy and hideous object; that livid
FIRST SUNDAY OF ADVENT. 3
paleness, those distorted features, that horrible dissolution, those worms
that gnaw and consume their disgusting prey; such is the condition in
which this body presents itself to the criminal soul, whose idol it had
been, the treasure she had long desired, with such ardent wishes and so
many sighs, to possess again. "What," she exclaims, "is this that por
tion of my being which has been so dear to me? Is this my old associ
ate in my labors and my pleasures, in whom I found so much grace and
beauty, whom I took so much care to decorate, whose inclinations were
my sovereign law?"
"The very same,"replies an awful voice. "Recognize it, and renew
that alliance which once possessed so many attractions for you." Alas!
she shudders, she recoils, she is unable to endure either the sight of this
carcass, or the infection which exhales from it. She desires to plunge
again into the depths of the dark abyss whence she came, that she may
be delivered from so detestable a union. But an invincible power pre
vents her escape, and thrusts her forward towards that odious object,
to which she must again be united by ties that can never more be
severed. In the excess of her anguish and despair, she exclaims: "Oh,
wretched being! thou wert destined to be the cause of what is more in-
tolerable to me than even hell itself! This then is the place of my rest,
for ever and ever! This is the habitation which I have prepared for my
self, which I have deliberately chosen: this is what I have preferred to
my God, to my conscience, to a never-ending happiness; this is the
abominable flesh with which I was willing to identify myself during life!"
In the midst of all these groans and lamentations she enters that body
of death, and again endows it with life, to the mutual torment of both
flesh and spirit. The flames by which the soul is devoured, communi
cate themselves instantaneously to the body; they eagerly seize upon
tlvir new victim: they encircle it; they permeate it; they rush like a
toriv?nt through every vein, through the entrails, through the very mar
row ^( the bones, and the soul endures multiplied torments from every
part o. this burning body. How is it possible to describe those eyes,
blazing with the fire of hell, or the rueful looks which they cast around
on every side? Those scalding tears which shall never cease to flow;
that hideous mouth, and its terrible gnashing of teeth, which begins,
never more to end; that countenance on which a ray of divine beauty
formerly shone, but which, in its monstrous deformity, now bears are-
semblance to the very devils; those frightful members and the intoler
able stench of death which they diffuse all around them? Whithersoever
this animated carcass turns its footsteps, there is a universal dispersion
and flight, as at the approach of some spectre, or disgusting monster.
Oh, what a change! Perhaps this horrible apparition was once a great
man, about whose person, when upon earth, numbers eagerly pressed to
obtain the honor of a glance or a single smile. Perhaps this other fiery
4 FIRST SUNDAY OF ADVENT.
monster was one of those who are so amiable in the eyes of the world;
who form the attraction of every society; who are sought after every
where; out of whose company no real or perfect pleasure can be found.
This hideous female was a celebrated beauty, whose presence was suffi
cient to attract universal attention; who gloried in captivating every
heart; who received incense like a deity. Alas, what a change! Ah!
figure to yourselves two reprobates, after a criminal attachment to each
other here below, meeting in such a plight upon the last day. What
mutual disgust and aversion, what reproaches and imprecations hurled
against each other! With what intense shame are they not overwhelmed
by the recollection of those abominable pleasures which were once the
sole object of their guilty union, the solitary and shameful tie which
bound themtogether! How furious, but how ineffectual is their desire
to tear and to destroy each other!
Do you marvel, therefore, that I entreat you, brethren, to have com
passion, not only upon your souls, but also upon those bodies which you
love with such tender and blind affection? Think of the certain pun
ishment which you are meriting for them by flattering them with such
cowardly and criminal indulgence. They are victims which you are
fattening for the day of wrath. Will you devote them again, by new and
voluntary sins, to a second death, whose consequences must be eternal?
Will you be the executioners and the most merciless enemies of your
selves? What answer can you make, who have yet time to guard against
this danger? Who has promised you to-morrow? Who can promise it
to you; who satisfy you that this very night may not be your last?
II. It might appear that nothing could be wanting to complete the ig
nominy of the sinner after the moment of the particular judgment; when,
freed from the ties of the body, he has been arraigned before the tri
bunal of the Supreme Judge, convicted of his crimes, and branded with
the sentence of eternal reprobation. But, how great soever the con
fusion which overwhelms him may then be, it is unknown by at least
the greater part of his fellow-creatures. Buried in hell, there are no
witnesses to his shame, except the wretched beings who are sharers in
his sufferings. Perhaps the memory of this miserable man is still hon
ored upon earth; perhaps his ashes still repose there, in a magnificent
tomb; perhaps histories are filled with his name, and kingdoms resound
with his praises. It is only on the day of justice that this phantom of
glory will vanish, and leave no trace behind it; it is only then the sinner
shall see himself deprived of even the smallest remnant of honor, repu
tation or regard; then shall he drain the chalice of infamy, even to the
very dregs.
How disgraceful must it not be for the reprobate to appear at that
last Day before the whole world, dragging along a hideous and impure
FIRST SUNDAY OF ADVENT. 5
carcass, which makes him an object of aversion to every eye, and stamps
him so palpably with the seal of hell! Yet this is but a very feeble prel
ude, indeed, to the humiliations which are to follow. God is about to ful
fill the threat uttered by the lips of His prophets: "Perverse man! thou
hast imagined that I would be like thyself, that I would dissemble thy ini
quities; come now, that I may exhibit them in the broad daylight, and
that I may overwhelm thee with the confusion which thou meritest!"
Behold this just and terrible God tearing away every veil which once
covered that corrupt heart, searching with His omnipotent hand into
the very bottom of this abyss of iniquities, and drawing out of its depths
an alarming multitude of monsters and reptiles, that is to say, of dis
orders and crimes, the mere sight of which terrifies the sinner himself.
Among these, there appear many evil thoughts, many filthy imaginations,
many detestable desires, many shameful ideas, many deeds of darkness,
which have succeeded each other almost without interruption during
along series of years. There, envy, jealousy, hatred, revenge, treachery,
black intrigues, falsehood,calumnies, and conspiracies,exhibit themselves.
There may be the sins of infancy, of early youth, of mature years, of
disorderly old age; the sins of every day, of every hour, of every mo
ment; each individual s personal sins, and the sins of others of which he
or she had been the occasion, the instrument, or the cause; sins of
omission, sins which have been unknown or forgotten until then; sins
which those who committed them disguised from themselves, and many
which they elevated into virtues; sins of every kind, of every sense,
of every member of the body; sins of all the powers and faculties of the
soul; enormous sins, and sins which are even nameless, all come forward
and exhibit themselves at the same time, so that out of such a countless
multitude not even a solitary sin can escape the eyes of the whole uni
verse, and not even one of those circumstances which are most humiliat
ing and oppressive to the sinner will be omitted disguised, or exten
uated.
Who will be able to endure this awful manifestation ? Then must the
mask of the hypocrite, and all the audacity of the shameless sinner,
disappear together. What do I hear ? Howlings and imprecations
that make me shudder. What do I see ? I see the victims and accom
plices of that guilty man fall upon him from every side, like avenging
furies, asking him, in accents of despair, to restore to them that soul,
that blissful eternity, which he has caused them to lose forever. It
was you, vile seducer, who plundered me of all that was most precious,
my honor, my virtue ; you who by your base artifices and detestable
passions, have dragged me along with yourself into this abyss of every
woe." "It is you, immodest woman, who, by enkindling an impure fire
within my bosom, have left me a prey to everlasting flames!" "It was
you, unnatural father, barbarous mother, who gave me the first example
FIRST SUNDAY OF ADVENT.
of irreligion and licentiousness; who instead of restraining my growing
passions, on the contrary rather hastened their development, and set
them free from all restraint; behold ! my reprobation is your work."
O who can describe the innumerable multitude of unhappy reprobates
who shall rise up against each other on that great day of justice ?
But among all the voices that shall then cry out against the sinner,
the most violent and most terrible is that which issues from his own
bosom. Yes, his conscience, which he had always stifled during his life
time, which he prevented from groaning or complaining even in secret,
set free at length, and restored to all its rights, enraged and furious,
roars like a lion, and terrifies and subdues him in its turn. This witness
he cannot silence; this inexorable accuser, this furious domestic enemy
audibly rehearses the long catalogue of his iniquities and infamies,
through the very lips of the culprit himself, and paints in the blackest
colors, his hatred of all good, his love of evil, his constant resistance to
the light of his own reason, his invariable contempt and abuse of the
divine graces, his ingratitude and hatred towards the Author of his be
ing. Then it is, that, heaping reproaches and imprecations upon him
self, seeing no monster in the whole universe more detestable than him
self not knowing where to conceal his shame, he invokes death and anni
hilation; he conjures the mountains and hills to fall upon him, and to
bury such a mass of wickedness beneath their ruins. But all in vain; he
must live to see and to detest himself forever, to bear the intolerable
burden of unbounded confusion and disgrace for all eternity. Such,
then, is the excess of disgrace which the sinner must endure from the
manifestation of conscience.
III. The iast act of this great and awful tragedy at length approaches.
The brilliant cloud which bears the Son of Man appears in the firma
ment, and attracts universal admiration. After a short interval of si.
lence,shouts of triumph, hymns of joy, loud acclamations of praise, which
shake the vaults of heaven, ascend from every side. The glorified elect,
beholding for the first time with their corporeal eyes the adorable human-
ity of the Word made flesh, are no longer able to contain their transports
of joy and love. They exult with delight: soaring aloft, at once, like
eagles, in mid-air, they fly into the arms of their Saviour, and, inebri
ated with heavenly delights, take their position at His right hand. Mean
while, the sullen, disconsolate, trembling sinner, with his eyes fixed upon
the dust, is carried along with the vile assemblage of Satan towards the
left. There he hears the virtues proclaimed, and the victory celebrated
of those whom he despised, calumniated, or persecuted upon earth; he
hears the voice of the King of glory, who, in accents full of tenderness
and affection, styles them Blessed of His Father, and invites them to
share His inheritance, and take possession of His kingdom. Dark envy
FIRST SUNDAY OF ADVENT. 7
at that supreme happiness of the elect consumes the sinner, and em-
bitters his punishment. To aggravate his mortification and anguish to
the utmost, he recognizes among them the old associates of his guilt,
who had returned to God in time by a sincere conversion, washed away
their sins in the blood of the Lamb, and, remaining faithful to Divine
grace to the end of their lives, now reigned as happy penitents in that
glorious society of the saints. At such a spectacle he is unable to re
strain his cries and groans. "Ah, unhappy wretch that I am," he says
to himself, "could I not do what has been done by these, my old com
panions of the past, who had the same propensities, the same prejudices,
the same errors, the same habits, and the same vices as myself? Had I
not the same lights, the same remorse, the same graces which have saved
them? Senseless being that I was, instead of following their example,
I have made their conversion the subject of my foolish and indecent
sarcasms; the whole universe applauds their triumphs this day; and here
am I (who scoffed at them) for all eternity, the detestation and the out
cast of all creation!"
Whilst he abandons himself to the anguish of these tormenting
thoughts, the just Judge, having crowned all the Saints, at last turns
towards the reprobate and says: " Depart from Me, ye cursed, I now
break for ever all the ties which united the Creator to rebellious crea
tures, the Father to unnatural children, the holy God to incorrigible
sinners. Depart from Me, who gave you existence and life, who
formed you to My likeness, and destined you to be sharers in My own
happiness from Me, who bore with your ingratitude and insults so long,
who pardoned your crimes so often; from Me, who loved you with
such tenderness as even to offer Myself a victim for your sake, to weep,
to suffer, to die for you, obtaining nothing but your hatred in return;
from Me, the only Author of every blessing, who, rejected by you with
scorn, reject you again in My turn; from Me who am benediction itself,,
but whocurse you this day. Unfortunate man! you have loved male
diction, you have chosen it for your inheritance, may it abide with you
for ever! Begone from Me to the abode of eternal misery, to that place
where the fire is ever burning, yet never consumes; where the never-dy
ing worm devours, yet never destroys. Depart from Me into everlast
ing fire. These frightful prisons have not been created for man, the
beloved work of My Father s hands, but for the rebellious angel, your
enemy and Mine. You were well aware that dark hatred exasperated
him against you; that the damnation of the human race was the only ob
ject of his desires; and you have preferred him to your God. It is but
just that you should share his fate, after having embraced his cause and
performed his work. Depart from Me into everlasting fire which is
prepared for the devil and his associates.
After having pronounced their decree, directing towards those mis-
S FIRST SUNDAY OF ADVENT.
erable oeings a parting glance, in which indignation and pity are alike
portrayed, the Judge turns away from them forever; and having dispelled
the clouds which hang upon His brow, He fixes His eyes upon the
assembly of the just, with a smile full of sweetness and majesty, which
makes heaven and earth rejoice. The never-ending canticle of praise
and thanksgiving immediately begins. At the sound of these concerts,
the heavens throw open their portals, and display their entire magnifi
cence to the enraptured eyes of the elect. They straightway ascend
into the air, and accompanied by Angels, they enter in the train of the
Lamb into the everlasting Jerusalem which resounds with their re-it
erated exclamations of joy and triumph.
Whilst the reprobate contemplate this spectacle in sullen silence, the
^arth gives way beneath and around them, and hell, displaying the
depths of its prisons, demands its victims with expanded jaws. Then
it is that these unfortunate beings, feeling more conscious than ever of the
awful nature of their destiny, which they contrast with the happiness of
the just, can fix no limits to their despair. Strength and courage abandon
them altogether, their hearts are broken; they burst into torrents of tears,
and raising their eyes for the last time towards heaven which they shall
never more behold recognizing among those who now enter it, their
friends, their fellow-citizens, their relatives, looking upon the places which
had been prepared for themselves, but which others now occupy, all the
acuteness and intensity of feeling with which they have ever been en
dued, revives at the moment of this desolating separation. All is con
summated. They sink into the burning prison-house, which groans as it
swallows up its prey. The gates are closed upon them never more to
open. Out of hell there is no redemption.
May the sincerity of your conversion, your faithful co-operation with the
divine grace, and the infinite mercy of God preserve you all from such
an awful destiny! Amen. R ^ McCARTHy> g> ^
FIRST SUNDAY OF ADVENT.
THE WRATHFUL COUNTENANCE OF THE JUDGE WILL BE A TERROR TO
THE SINNER.
" They shall see the Son of Man, coming in a cloud with great power and
majesty" Luke, xxi: 27.
Before the day of the general Judgment there shall be great tribulation,
such as has not been from the beginning of the world until now, neither
FIRST SUNDAY OF ADVENT. 9,
shall be; for "nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against
kingdom," there shall be earthquakes in divers places, and pestilences,
and famines, and terrors from heaven. Christians shall be persecuted,
thrown into prisons, dragged before kings and magistrates, and put to-
death for the name of Jesus; there shall be signs in the sun, and in the
moon and in the stars, and upon earth great distress of nations. For
the powers of heaven shall be moved. Why all this confusion and dev
astation? The Gospel says: "Because these are the days of vengeance."
Luke, xxi: 22. How often would the sun have fallen from heaven rather
than be compelled to look down upon the innumerable crimes that were
committed by God s creatures in broad daylight but then the sun shall
be darkened, and why ? "Because these are the days of vengeance."
How often would the moon have refused to shine upon the shameful crimes
that were boldly committed beneath her beams then that same moon
will refuse to give her light, and why ? "Because these are the days of
vengeance." How often would the very air have suffocated and poisoned
wicked sinners , as with mephitic gases, if it had been permitted but then
the elements will rebel and rage against them, and why? "Because these
are the days of vengeance." All creatures will be enraged and ready to
revenge the insults which ungrateful sinners have offered to their Creator.
"Then they shall see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with great power
and majesty," then He shall come not as. Redeemer but as Judge
with a wrathful countenance. And what effect will this sight have upon
the sinner ? St. John plainly tells us in the Book of the Apocalypse,
where he says : "I saw one like unto the Son of Man," and "His eyes
were as a flame of fire, and out of His mouth proceeded a sharp
two-edged sword," (xix., 12, 15), t( And when I saw Him, I fell at His feet
as dead." i., 17. St. John does not say that he heard the voice of the
Judge one glance at His wrathful countenance was sufficient to pros
trate him to the ground: and thus I have arrived at the point which I
intend to make the subject of our meditation to-day, viz.:
The wrathful countenance of the Judge will be a terror to the sinner.
When a man commits sin, he dreads nothing more than publicity; he
even considers his sin less grievous while it remains secret, and often
avoids sin from no other motive than the fear of the eye of his fellow-
man. This, however, is only a natural motive; we should be more
afraid of the eye of God, who sees us wherever we are, because He is
everywhere. If we are not afraid of that all-seeing God whilst in the
act of sinning, we surely will be afraid of Him after we have sinned.
Thus we read that Adam and Eve hid themselves after their first sin.
From whom did they endeaver to hide themselves ? From the face of
God. But how could they be so silly as to believe that they could hide
themselves from the face of God, who sees everything, even our most
secret thoughts and actions ? In vain did they try to conceal them-
io FIRST SUNDAY OF ADVENT.
-selves amid the trees of Paradise. God had seen them in their state
of innocence, He had seen them eating the forbidden fruit, and He saw
them as clearly in their guilt and shame striving to hide themselves from
His face.
We laugh at the silly endeavor of Adam, and yet we follow in his
footsteps. Cain, the first son of Adam, imbrued his hands in the blood
of his brother, Abel, and when, after his fratricide, God called him to an
account, he broke out into these words: "I shall hide myself from thy
face. 1 We do the very same; it is true we do not say it in so many
words, but we act it. We say to ourselves as those two wicked judges
said to Susanna: "Nobody sees us." But is not God everywhere ? Yes,
He sees us, although we do not see Him; He sees us where no human
eye can penetrate; He beholds us when we are doing good, and when
we are doing evil. Did we firmly believe this, we would avoid many
sins; we would at least refrain from doing in the sight of God what we
should blush to do before man. We cannot see God wi*h our
corporal eyes, because He is a spirit, but we can see Him with
the eye of faith which teaches us that God is everywhere. To
desire to be invisible to the eye of God, is a sin; but not to see God
with the eye of faith, is malice. Since it is impossible for the sinner to
hide himself from the face of God, he forgets His presence, so that he
does not see Him. The royal prophet says: "The ways of sinners
are filthy at all times. * Why are they filthy ? Because God is not be
fore their eyes. The sinner is in the presence of God, but he does not
realize it, and for this reason he heaps sin upon sin, and his ways are
filthy at all times.
But the Lord shall be known when He executes judgment. These words
are of great weight. The Lord shall be known. Is He not known at
present, at least to us who bear the name of Christians, and who call
ourselves members and children of His Church? God is known, and He
is not known; He is known because being Christians, we believe in His
existence and presence; He is not known, whenever we commit mortal
sin, because in that case we do not believe with a living faith, that He
is everywhere. God is everywhere; and yet we boldly commit every
kind of sin, as if He were far from us, as if He could not see us. God
is just; and yet we sin as if He were an indifferent God. He is al
mighty; and we live as if He were powerless. He is a true, living God;
and we behave as if He were a false god or an idol. Thus am I justified in
saying: God is not known in this world, but He shall be known when He
executes judgment; for then we shall find out to our grief that God
heard, saw, and knew all that we were doing during life; and He will
do then what He hathforetold: "I shall Myself manifest to him," that
is to all men.
God Himself explains the manner of His manifestation in a few but
FIRST SUNDAY OF ADVENT. n
very significant words by the mouth of the prophet Jeremiah: "I am the
Judge and the Witness* A double remembrance which will thus terrify
sinners on the last day. That of the Witness who will reproduce and
bring before their minds all their sins and iniquities ; and at the same time,
that of the Judge who will pronounce sentence upon them in His wrath.
In vain will they endeavor on that day to close their eyes, for they shall be
opened against their will. The first thing revealed to the wicked then
and there shall be the face of Christ, as the face of a witness, who shall
show forth all their sins as in a faithful mirror. All sins and crimes, to
gether with the circumstance of time, of place, of person, of number,
manner, and intention, shall be exposed to the eyes of the world. God
said to David: "Thou didst it secretly: but I will do this in the sight
of all Israel and in the sight of the sun." II. Kings, xii.: 12. The all-
seeing Witness shall manifest every detail, which we so artfully concealed,
to the gaze of the whole world.
In the fifth chapter of the book of Daniel we read that Balthasar the
king, made a great feast for a thousand of his nobles. He commanded
his servants to bring the vessels of gold and silver which Nabucha-
donossorhis father had taken from the temple of Jerusalem; and they
drank wine out of them; and in the same hour there appeared the fin
gers, as it were, of the hand of a man writing over against the candle
stick upon the surface of the wall. The king beheld the joints of the
hand that wrote, and his countenance was changed, and his thoughts
troubled him; the joints of his loins were loosed, and his knees struck
against each other. He sent for the wise men, the Chaldeans and
soothsayers, to read for him that writing, but they could neither read
nor explain it to the king. Daniel was sent for, and he read and inter
preted the writing on the wall, saying: "This is the writing that is writ
ten: Mane, Thecel, Phares, and this is the interpretation: Mane:
God has numbered thy kingdom and finished it. Thecel: Thou art
weighed in the balance and art found wanting. Phares: Thy kingdom is
divided and is given to the Medes and Persians." And so it was. Bal
thasar was slain that very night, and Darius, the Mede, succeeded to
his kingdom.
Balthasar beheld only the joints of the hand that wrote and he was
terrified. Ou that day of judgment we shall see not only the hand but
also the face of the God-Man. His eye saw all that we did from the
very moment we attained the use of reason; His hand wrote down all our
thoughts, words, deeds and omissions contrary to the law of God, and
we shall be judged according to the very things which we have done in
the flesh, whether good or evil. Sinners! what answer will you make
when the contents of that book shall be read to you? The hand of the
Write* is not unknown, it is the hand of Him who saw, and that hand
wrote nothing but what the eye beheld. "I am He that has seen it,"
i2 FIRST SUNDAY OF ADVENT.
says the Lord; can you contradict what My hand wrote, can you deny
what Mine eye saw?" Whither then will sinners turn? To the moun
tains and rocks they will cry out: "Fall upon us and hide us from the
face of him who sitteth on the throne."
But the mountains and rocks will te heartless, and will neither hear
nor heed the cry of sinners. They will not fall upon them; they will
remain immovable, for it is not enough for those unhappy souls to see
the face of the Witness, they must also see the face of the Judge, who will
pronounce the sentence which His hand has written. And what sentence
has His hand written ? The same that appeared of old on the palace-
wall of king Balthasar. "Mane, Thecel, Phares." "God has numbered
thy kingdom and finished it, that is He has numbered all your sins.
You are weighed in the balance, and found wanting. The right and
title to the kingdom of heaven, for which you were created, is taken
from you forever, and given to converts from Judaism and Paganism."
This is the interpretation of the Judge Himself, who says in the Gospel
of St. Matthew: "I say unto you, many shall come from the East and
the West and shall sit down with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the king
dom of heaven, but the children of the kingdom shall be cast out into
exterior darkness."
The Judge will execute judgment with a wrathful countenance. His
eyes will be as a flame of fire. Sinners, what terror shall you experi
ence when you behold with your own eyes those fiery eyes of the Judge I
I find a reflex or semblance of this terror in various instances cited in
Holy Writ. After the queen of Sheba had seen the face of Solomon,
there was no more spirit in her, she was astonished above measure. Of
Esther we read that when, contrary to the express prohibition of the
king, she appeared in his presence, she was unspeakably terrified, for
the Scripture says : "He was terrible to behold, and when he had lifted
up his countenance, and with burning eyes had shown the wrath of his
heart, the queen sank down and her color forsook her." When Joseph
of Egypt made himself known to his brethren, saying: "I am Joseph,
your brother, whom you sold into Eygpt," his brethren could not an
swer him, being struck with exceeding great fear. How then will it
be, when the Judge of the living and the dead like Joseph will say: "I
am Jesus, whom you have sold for a trifle ? I am Jesus, who have wit
nessed all your thoughts, words, deeds, and omissions ; I am Jesus, in
whose presence you have sinned, whose justice you have contemned,
whose omnipotence you have ridiculed, whose mercy you have abused.
I am Jesus, the Good Shepherd, who sought you when you strayed away
from the flock, who raised you up when you fell. I am Jesus,
who loved you to such a degree as to shed My blood for you. I
am Jesus, who did all that I could for you. For your sake I have been
scourged, crowned with thorns, and crucified ; and you, by your sins
FIRST SUNDAY OF ADVENT. 13
have unceasingly renewed My wounds and death. I knew you before
you had an existence, but you would not know Me. You would
not look upon Me as your Saviour, now O sinner! behold Me as your
Judge !"
What terror and consternation! How will sinners be able to stand
such a crushing scrutiny? We may well say, that we cannot bear to hear
such words; but whither shall they fly, those listeners, those witnesses
of an outraged Judge? They shall go, but whither? Not being able
to endure any longer the sight of an angry God, they will go into ever
lasting fire. Few words, but words of very great importance. They
shall go into everlasting fire ! They will not be cast into it, but they will
go of their own accord. And what is the reason of their voluntary going
into this terrible fire? It is St. Chrysologus, (and not I,) who gives the an
swer: They will go into everlasting fire, for, in that hour, it will seem
easier to them to suffer the torments of hell than to behold the wrathful
countenance of the Judge.
Who shall see on that day the wrathful countenance of Christ as
Judge and Witness? Whose lot will it be? Let us search for our an
swer in the history of the two wicked judges and Susanna. The wicked
judges suggested to Susanna a thing which never entered her mind even
for a moment, for she was a woman who feared the Lord. Enticing
her to consent to their shameful and sinful proposal, they said: "Behold,
the doors of the orchard are closed, and nobody sees us." What was
Susanna s reply to their criminal language? She said: "I am strait
ened on every side, for if I do this thing it is death to me, and if I do
it not, I shall not escape your hands," (that is, although innocent, you
will accuse and condemn me), "nevertheless it is better to fall into
your hands than to sin in the sight of the Lord." Let us attentively
consider and weigh the difference between these words, that we may come
to see the difference between their effects. The two judges were without
the fear of God; the heart of Susanna was filled with it. To be with
out fear, and to be full of fear, what a difference! And whence does
this difference arise? The two wicked judges said: " Nobody sees us;"
whereby they plainly showed that they had not God before their eyes.
But Susanna with heroic courage said: "All the evil of the world shall
fall upon me, rather than I should sin in the sight of God" professing
thereby that she feared the Lord. Now, to return to our subject:
Who shall see the wrathful countenance of Christ as Judge on the last
day? Those who have not feared Him during life, and have per
ished in their sins. Surely those who, with Susanna, fear the Lord and
have Him always before their eyes will not then behold Him as an
angry Judge, but as a loving Father, and therefore will not be terrified:
but to those who follow in the footsteps of the wicked judges, and walk
not before Him in this world, the Lord will be terrible to behold
14 THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION.
on that day when He shall come to judge the living and the dead.
How shall we, my brethren, who have so often sinned before His all-see
ing eyes venture then to appear in His sight? We fear the eye of man, and
we take no heed of the Omniscient Eye of God. Must we not acknowl
edge that we do not believe in the presence of God with a living faith?
Open our eyes, O Lord, that we may see, and understand, and firmly be
lieve that Thou seest all. We resolve to walk in Thy sight, and to sin
no more. With this holy resolution we beseech Thee, each one of us, in
the words of David: "Cast me not away from Thy face," but grant
that during life fulfilling Thy law, I may see Thy face with a living
faiih, on the day of judgment to behold it with exceeding joy; and
after judgment, to see and enjoy it forever in glory. Amen.
O. S. B.
THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION.
WHAT INDUCED GOD TO PRESERVE MARY FROM THE STAIN OF ORIGINAL
SIN IN HER CONCEPTION.
" Thou art all fair, my love, and there is no spot in thee" Cant., iv.: 7.
In the Old Testament God once gave utterance to a very strange ex
pression. It is the sentence 1 have chosen for my text: "Thou art all
fair, O my love, and there is no spot in thee." Who is that friend of
the Holy Ghost, whose soul is so fair that it is not defiled with the least
spot? All men who come into this world, are contaminated with sin,
though their life should last but an hour. "For behold," says the royal
Prophet, "I was conceived in iniquities; and in sins did my mother con
ceive me," (Ps., 1: 7), that is, all men are born under the ban of origi
nal sin, 01 in the disgrace of God, children of wrath. Who then is that
immaculate friend of the Holy Ghost? It is no other than the Blessed
Virgin Mary, Mother of God. She, alone, is exempt from the universal
sinfulness,from the universal malediction pronounced upon mankind;she
alone, from the very first instant of her existence, en joyed the approving
complacency of the Holy Ghost and of the Most Holy Trinity. For
this reason, the Catholic Church has taught at all times that Mary was
conceived without sin; and in our own days has solemnly raised to an
article of faith, the dogma of the Immaculate Conception of the
Blessed Virgin Mary. But the Blessed Virgin Mary has not been fa
vored with the grace of the Immaculate Conception through any merit
of her own, but only through the infinite mercy of her divine Son. He
THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION. 15
would apply to her the merits of His obedience and sacrifice on the
cross at the very moment of her conception, as He applies to us the
same merits after our birth, therefore, through His most sacred blood,
the same blood which cleanses us in Baptism, He preserved her im
maculate from the very first moment of her conception. But why did
Jesus work this miracle only in favor of Mary? What induced Him to
do so? I answer
/. The honor of His Mother,
II. His own honor.
I. By her Immaculate Conception the Son 01 God honored His
Mother in a truly divine, that is, in an infinite manner, for He thereby
conferred on her
1 . The highest gift vf heaven,
2. The highest prerogative before all men,
3. Tht closest and most perfect similarity to Himself.
1. There are various gifts of heaven, but there is only one which im
parts to the immortal soul of man a true value in the eyes of God, viz.:
Charity, or sanctifying grace. Hear what St Paul thinks about it. He
writes: "If I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, .... and if
I should have prophecy, and should know all mysteries and all knowl
edge; and if I should have all faith, so that I could remove mountains,
and have not charity, I am nothing." Cor., xiii: i, 2. According to
these words of St Paul, the most splendid gifts of heaven, such as the gift
of tongues and of knowledge, the gift of prophecy and of faith, are un
profitable things, yea, as mere nothings, compared with charity. When
God gives to a soul His love, or what amounts to the same, sanctifying
grace, He gives her something more precious and valuable than all the
other gifts of heaven taken together. And just this gift of sanctifying
grace, a gift above every other gift, and above which no higher can be
imagined, was bestowed upon Mary by the Immaculate Conception.
And this grace was imparted to her in the highest possible degree, so
that the Archangel Gabriel could say with perfect justice: "Hail, full
of grace." Thus Jesus honored His Mother in a truly divine manner,
when He imparted to her, at her very conception, the highest gift in
the power of heaven to bestow, viz.: The plenitude of grace.
2. By the Immaculate Conception, the Son of God imparted to the
Blessed Virgin also the highest prerogative before all men. As Mary stands
unique in her wonderful dignity as Mother of God, so that of her,
alone, can be said: " Blessed art thou amongst women" so also a privilege,
unique in its kind, was to be given to her, a privilege with which
jO THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION.
no other mortal had ever been or ever shall be favored: A total
freedom from every sin and a permanent state of sanctifying grace.
We read, indeed, of certain Saints, out of whose souls the Lord blotted
original sin and thus sanctified them before their birth. In the Old
Law we read of Jeremias, the great prophet: "Before I formed thee in
the bowels of thy mother I knew thee; and before thou earnest forth
out of the womb, I sanctified thee. Jer.> i.: 5. And in the New Law
we read of John, the Baptist: "He shall be filled with the Holy Ghost
even from his mother s womb," (Luke, i.: 15.); and it is the pious belief
of the Church that this was the case with the virginal bridegroom of
Mary St. Joseph. But we know of no saint who was conceived without
the taint of this evil. This privilege was reserved to Mary alone; she,
alone was not purified after conception like the holy Saints mentioned;
she was pure at all times; original sin dared not approach her immacu
late soul even for a moment; and by reason of this privilege, she was ex
alted above all others, even the most highly favored Saints of God.
One might ask, why was Mary by the Immaculate Conception so sig
nally distinguished above all others ? I think the reason is plain. If
Mary before her coming into the world could have been asked what
boon she most desired, what treasure, do you think, could alone have
satisfied the cravings of that virginal heart ? Surely not riches, nor
pleasures, nor honors, not even to become the Mother of God. One
grace alone could ths Lily of Israel desire, and that, the grace of a
perfect freedom from every sin, the permanent grace of the love of God,
or in other words, the grace of the Immaculate Conception. And this
is the more certain, since such a privilege was not in the least contrary
to her humility, being hidden, as it was, from the world, and only known
to heaven. Now the Omniscient Son of God foreknew the wish of His
holy Mother, and as the best of all sons it pleased Him to grant it before
she could express it, in order thus to honor His Mother even before
her birth.
3. Finally, the Immaculate Conception imparted to the Blessed Virgin
the most perfect similarity to Jesus Christ. If we compare the lives of
Jesus and Mary with each other we find, as a rule, the most striking
resemblance between the Divine Son and His Virgin Mother. Mary
was like to Jesus in her exterior life; she was the only child of holy
Anne, as Jesus was the only child of Mary; like Jesus, she came into
this world, poor; and she remained poor all her life; at an early age she
sought the house of God and spent in it her happiest hours, so did
Jesus; like Him, she spent her entire youth in a hidden life and in re
tirement from the world; like Him, also, she endured many tribulations,
and was little esteemed by the world; and finally, like Jesus, she died,
was buried, but, like Him, was not suffered to see corruption. But there
THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION. 17
was a still greater similarity between them in their inner life. She could
say with Jesus: "I am meek and humble of heart." She could have
asked with Jesus: "Which of you shall convince me of sin?" She could
have asserted with Him: "My food is to do the will of my Father."
But most wonderful of all are the close similarity and agreement be
tween the God-Man and His Immaculate Mother, as manifested in their
sacrifice for the redemption of the world. When the Son of God in
heaven resolved to make this sacrifice, He said: "Behold, O Father, I
come to do Thy holy will," Mary on earth consented to it, and said:
Be it done to me according to Thy word." When Jesus was solemnly
presented in the temple as the victim for the salvation of the world,
Mary received her share of the significant oblation, for from that mo
ment her soul was pierced, and remained pierced for thirty-three years,
with the sword of sorrow predicted by the venerable Simeon. And
finally, when Jesus completed His sacrifice on the cross, Mary was not
missing from the agonizing scene; heroically she stood beneath the
cross, and voluntarily offered herself and her adorable Son to the Divine
justice as an atonement for the sins of the world.
Behold how the Mother in all things resembles her divine Son. And
yet, all this similarity would have been very imperfect and insufficient,
nay the most beautiful and the most essential similarity of all would
have been wanting to her, without the crowning glory of her Conception.
The harmonious correspondence we have described as existing between
Jesus and Mary refers more to their relations in life, or to certain in
ternal or external actions and states. But by being exempt from the
stain of original sin, and by always living, as Jesus did, in the state of
sanctifying grace, the soul of Mary became the most perfect copy of the
human soul of Christ.
And what was the consequence of this ? The consequence was
that Mary s soul possessed a beauty surpassing all comprehension;
such a beauty that the heavenly Father could exclaim: "This is My
beloved daughter, in whom I am well pleased;" such a beauty that the
Holy Ghost, acknowledging her as His bride, worthy of Himself, could
assert: "Thou art all fair, O My love, and there is no spot in thee."
Such a beauty that all the choirs of the Angels in an ecstasy of delight
cry out: "Who is she that cometh forth as the morning rising, fair as
the moon, bright as the sun, terrible as an army set in array?" (Cant.,
vi.: 9), such a beauty, that St. Bernardine did not hesitate to say: "We
should have a representation of the beauty of God Himself, if we could
represent to ourselves the beauty of Mary s soul." Thus, then, the truth
enunciated above must be evident to all, that the Son of God has
immensely honored His Mother by the prerogative of the Immaculate
Conception. But by honoring His Mother He honored Himself.
1 8 THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION.
II. The Son of God for the sake of His own honor distinguished the
Blessed Virgin by the Immaculate Conception, that we might the better
know
1 . The perfection of His love,
2. The perfection of His wisdom,
3. The perfection of His sanctity.
1. Every good child appears to love its parents; but the true love of
a good child manifests itself in the honor which it gives to its parents.
Where there is no honor \ there is no rational love, but only animal, car
nal devotedness. The more parents are honored by their children, the
more affectionately and sincerely they are loved. Hence the fourth
Commandment does not say: "Love thy father and thy mother;" but:
" Honor thy father and thy mother." Now, if the Son of God had not
honored His mother in every possible manner, what should we think of
Him? If a son would not protect his mother from disgrace, although in
his power to do so: if when able, he would not do all he could to pre
serve her in stainless purity, would we not think that the love of such
a son for his mother was, at least, not a perfect love? And, humanly
speaking, yet with deepest fear and reverence, we would be inclined to
think the same of Jesus, if He had not protected His Blessed Mother
from shame and disgrace. And what in the world is a greater shame
and disgrace than sin? Now if the Son of God had not favored His
Mother with the grace of the Immaculate Conception, He would really
have left her for some time in sin, that is, in shame and disgrace. And
her disgrace would in a certain measure redound to His dishonor and
why? Because in His omnipotence it would have been easy for Him
to keep the taint of sin away from her at all times; and,hence,her disgrace
would surely weaken our belief in the perfection, of His love. But if
we could doubt, even for an instant, whether He honored His mother
as highly as He, the Eternal God, was able to honor her; if we could
doubt, even for an instant, whether He fulfilled the duty of filial love in
its entire and highest perfection, this doubt would be derogatory to His
own divine honor. This had to be prevented; /0r the Lord is jealous of
His honor. The whole world was to know, that herein, too, He gave the
most beautiful example of filial devotion; and that His love for His
mother was in truth an infinitely perfect one. And for this reason, He
protected her from the disgrace of original sin, and placed her, from
the first instant of her creation, by her Immaculate Conception, in that
happy state of sanctifying grace. Thus, by manifesting His love for
her, He honored Himself.
2. But love was not the only motive of the Son of God for this dis
tinction paid to His Blessed Mother. The divine wisdom also induced
THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION. 19
Him to effect her Immaculate Conception. Because He had chosen the
Blessed Virgin for His Mother, and by this dignity had placed her above
all creatures in heaven and upon earth, it was, as it seems to us, only in
correspondence with His wisdom, that in heavenly gifts and graces He
should not place her lower than any other creature. Could we call it wisdom,
if He had favored lower creatures with gifts higher than those of His high
est creature Mary? Now, we know that the Angels as well as our first pa-
rents,Adam and Eve, came into existence free from every stain of sin. If,
therefore, Mary had not been conceived immaculate, she would have been
created less pure than the Angels; that is, the Queen of Angels would be
less pure than her subjects in heaven, the Mother of God less pure thai?
the servants of God. Could we call this wisdom ? Let us go farther.
Without the Immaculate Conception, Mary would have been created even
less pure than our first parents. Eve, the mother of all sinners, created
in justice, Mary, the mother of all the just, conceived in injustice! Who
could believe this? Eve, who brought sin, death, and all misery into the
world, more highly favored than she through whom life, and salvation, and
happiness have come to us ! O how hard it would be for us to discover
herein the work of divine wisdom ! Where and when has it ever been
known that an earthly queen had less honor than her subjects ? The
mother of a household less privileges than her children ? The belief in
the perfect wisdom of the Son of God should not become a stumbling-
block for us, should not be disturbed by the least breath of doubt; this
is what His honor demands. Therefore, He created His Mother in
greater purity than that of our first parents, in greater purity than
even the most sublime spirits of heaven; therefore, He enriched her with
the grace and glory of the Immaculate Conception. Thus, by manifest
ing His wisdom He honored Himself.
3. But, more than all, His perfect sanctity seems to have induced the
Son of God to grant His blessed Mother this distinction. God, being
infinitely holy, hates all sin, with an eternal inextinguishable hatred. Who
soever is contaminated with sin, is an object of the divine displeasure
and horror, yes, an object of the divine anger and malediction, as we
read in the Book of Wisdom: " To God the wicked and his wickedness are
hateful alike" Wisd. t xiv. 9. Now let us suppose that Mary had been
contaminated with original sin, even though it were but for a short time,
what would have been the inevitable result ? The Son of God would
have looked upon her as a sinner with displeasure , He would have turned
away from her with horror. Nor is this all. The wrath of God, the curse
of God would have rested on her as a sinner; and enmity, would have
existed between them. Moreover, Mary as a sinner would have been
in the power and servitude of the devil; he would, in a manner, have
crushed her head before she had fulfilled her prophetic destiny: "She
shall crush the serpent s head." He should have possessed her befor**
20 THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION.
God possessed her, although it is said of her that God possessed her
from the beginning of His days. Tell me, could we connect such a thought
as this with the sanctity of God? Could we rationally believe that
a person, who first stood in a hostile relation towards God, a person
who was first hated and detested by God, a person who was first a slave
of the devil and the property of hell, that such a person had afterwards
been chosen as the Mother of the all-holy God ? Oh, how difficult
would it be for us in this case to believe that God really hates sin as
terribly as we are assured He does, in many passages of the Sacred
Scriptures! But this belief in the perfect sanctity of God was intended
to penetrate us most powerfully and vividly, and, therefore, God would
give us in the Immaculate Conception the strongest proof of His horror
of every sin ; and, therefore, was pleased to crown His mother with the
most consummate holiness from the very first instant of herConception.
Thus, by manifesting His sanctity to men, He honored Himself.
By the mystery of the Immaculate Conception, God, the Lord, as
suredly honored Himself, for thereby He glorified His love, His wisdom
and His sanctity. At the same time, He honored His Mother, for thereby
He imparted to her the highest gift of heaven, the greatest privilege before
all men, and the most perfect similarity to Himself. And for this un
speakable grace Mary was thankful to Him with all the fervor and affec
tion of her soul during the whole course of her life. God made us pro
portionally as happy by baptism as Mary, by the Immaculate Con-
ception, therefore we should be thankful as Mary was, all the days
of our life. Yes, let us often thank God for this great blessing
of Christian Baptism; let us thank Him that with Baptism we have been
incorporated with the Catholic Church, the holy Roman and Apostolic
Church in which we have the true Faith, the true saving Sacraments
and the holy and most august Sacrifice of the Mass. In short, let us
thank and praise and bless Him that as Catholics we can enter with
Jesus even into such intimate relations as those which existed between
Him and His holy Mother. O if we would often with joy and sin
cerity give expression to our gratitude for this honorable grace, heaven s
choicest gifts would flow upon us in a more abundant measure. No
heart loves God more, no prayer pleases God more, than the heart and
the prayer of the grateful Christian.
Mary manifested her gratitude for her Immaculate Conception by
her immaculate conduct all the days of her earthly pilgrimage,
by never contracting the smallest stain of even venial sin. But in
order to preserve herself in her sinlessness, do you know what means
were made use of by this holiest and purest of souls ? First, she prayed
again and again for strength against every temptation which Satan or
the world could prepare for her; secondly, she lived in continual re
tirement from the world and all occasions of sin, as far as it depended
THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION. 21
on her own will; and thirdly, she repeated a thousand times her protest
before God that she would rather dwell in hell without sin, than reign
if it were possible in heaven with sin.
In our stainless conduct ought also to consist the chief proof of our
gratitude. Baptism has made us free from sin; therefore, from a motive of
gratitude we should hate sin, and sin alone, with an undying hatred
all the days of our life. Baptism has imparted to us the grace of God;
therefore, through gratitude we should be prepared to sacrifice life itself,
even to the most cruel form of death, rather than to lose God s grace
by sin. But if we would live holy and sinless lives, we must constantly
employ the weapons made use of by our holy and sinless Mother. We
must not only pray with Mary, but, like Mary, avoid all sinful occasions
which may present themselves from time to time. If we thus imitate
Mary during life, God s approving smile will always rest upon us; and
if we live as the friends of God, we shall undoubtedly die in His favor.
Fair and without spot, at that dread hour, our souls will appear at the
judgment-seat of the Son of the Immaculate Virgin, and then we shall
hear with rapture this consoling sentence from His Divine lips: "Enter
into the joy of the Lord." Amen. O.S.B.
THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION.
"Hail, full of grace." Luke, i: 28.
We firmly believe, that God never suffered the Blessed Virgin Mary
to be defiled by original sin. If God chose to protect her against the
universal curse of mankind, what was to hinder Him? Who would
deny this power to God? With God no word is impossible. Is a law
giver not master of his laws, and can he not exempt from them whom
he pleases? And if God can sanctify and justify a soul after it has fallen
into sin, why not before it is defiled by sin, at the very first instant of
its conception, creation, and existence? It being certain beyond doubt
that God had this power, the only question that might be asked, is: Was
God willing to save the Blessed Virgin Mary from original sin? Does
our reason suggest arguments by which we are induced to suppose this
willingness? I will give you the answer to these questions by showing
you why we should naturally expect that God the Father, God the Son,
and God the Holy Ghost would guard the Blessed Virgin Mary against
original sin.
I. i. It was to be expected that God the Father would make this ex-
22 THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION.
ception in the case of the Blessed Virgin Mary, because of the high dig
nity and position for which He had destined her. Mary was His daugh
ter, and His first-born daughter of grace, wherefore she could never be
the slave of sin. "I came out of the mouth of the Most High, the first
born before all creatures." Ecdus., xxiv.: 5. "The Lord possessed me
in the beginning of His ways, before He made anything from the begin
ning." Prov.^\\\. : 22. She is the one and only daughter of Life, in con
tradistinction to all the rest who are daughters of Death, because they
are born in sin.
Mary was destined by God to be the mediatrix between God and
man. She was born to co-operate in the salvation of mankind. There
fore it was absolutely necessary, that she should not appear as a sinner
and an enemy of God, or as guilty of the very same offence which re
quired expiation, but that, as a friend of the Lord, she should be pre
served from all sin by a special act of divine Providence. How can
the blind lead the blind? Will they not both fall into the ditch? Mary
was to be free from original sin, if she was toco-operate in the redemp
tion of mankind. She was to crush the serpent s head, which, by seducing
our first parents, had caused the death of all mankind. Therefore, God
must have taken care that she should remain exempt from all servitude
of the devil, that is, from all sin. A medicine which prevents sickness
is certainly much better than the medicine which cures sickness. The
merits of Christ were for the Blessed Virgin Mary a medicine, as it
were, to prevent and preserve her from being infected by the universal
sickness of mankind, original sin; while those same merits are a medi
cine, as it were, to cure us of this sickness when applied to our souls in
the Sacrament of Baptism. Almighty God may save man in any way
He likes. He is not bound to save this or that soul, in this or that par
ticular manner or way. In us, the blood of Christ is a cleansing grace, in
Mary, it was a preventing grace. God preserved her from ever being
defiled by sin because He had chosen her to be the Mother of His Son,
whom He wished to be born of a virgin who was sinless, pure,
holy, from the first moment of her Conception. If Mary was the
strong woman who came into the world to conquer the devil, it is
irrational to suppose that the devil should have been permitted first to
have dominion over her, and to make her his slave. Mary was
chosen by the Father to be the Mother of His only begotten Son,
and, as all things ordained for God s service ought to be without sin, so
God must have sanctified and preserved her from every sin that she
might become a worthy tabernacle for His Son. We cannot suppose
God to have done less for Mary than He had done for Eve whom He
enriched with sanctifying grace from the first instant of her existence.
"The Holy One who shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of
God."
THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION. 23
2. This is what natural reason would lead us to expect of the Son
of God, for the sake of His own and His Mother s honor. As the Al
mighty Son of God could choose for His Mother whom He pleased, He
certainly chose one who would be no disgrace to Him, that is, who was
without sin. It is contrary to reason to suppose that the immaculate
God-Man could take flesh and blood from a mother defiled with sin. It
cannot be supposed that the Son of God would have been born of a
virgin contaminated with original sin. Jesus would not suffer that His
mother s body should see corruption after death. How much more rea
son had He to preserve her soul from the corruption of sin which would
have been a greater dishonor to Him! "He hath set His tabernacle in
the sun." It is expected of any son, that he should protect his mother
from sin, how could we suppose that the Son of God would not have
done the same? He who commanded us to honor father and mother,.
after He had become Man would not omit to fulfill this commandment
Himself, in the Bosom of his Father; wherefore, He granted His mother
all possible grace and honor. We all believe that Mary, assisted by
special grace, never committed a venial sin, and we would shrink with
horror from the contrary thought. But if she, having been stained by
one venial sin (by which, however the grace of God is not lost), would
have been unworthy of being the mother of God, how far less would
she have been worthy, had she ever been under the curse of original sin,
by which the grace of God is lost!
3. Mary was selected by the Holy Ghost to be His bride. "My
sister, My bride is a garden enclosed." Cant., iv.: 12. We shudder at
the supposition that this privileged Virgin, before she became the bride
of God could have been inhabited by the unclean spirit; that the devil
should have dwelt in this heart before it was made the sanctuary of the
divine Spirit. "I to My beloved, and My beloved to Me who feedeth
among lilies." Cant. x. : 2. "Mary alone deserved the grace of being
called mother and bride." St. Aug. The Holy Ghost descended
into Mary personally and after having enriched her with more graces
than all other creatures, He reposed in her and made His bride Queen of
heaven and earth. Therefore the grace of the same holy Spirit has
sanctified both the body and the soul of Mary so as to make her worthy
to clothe the Eternal Word with her flesh. Mary could not have been
called "full of grace" by the Archangel unless she had surpassed all by
the richness of her graces. Therefore, she must have been adorned with
the original justice and innocence possessed by Adam and Eve and by
the Angels before their fall; consequently, she must have been enriched
with the fullness of divine grace in her mother s womb, and enjoyed an
exemption from original sin, or, in other words, was immaculate in her
conception.
24 THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION.
II. God could preserve the Blessed Virgin Mary from original sin;
it was becoming that He should preserve her from it, and therefore,
He would, and actually did, preserve her from sin. This is the
strongest argument for the dogma of the Immaculate Conception of
the Blessed Virgin Mary. God could preserve her from the universal
curse of mankind, viz.: Original sin. What was to hinder Him from so
doing? Is He not almighty? Can He not do as He pleases ? Is any
thing impossible for Him ? No one denies that God can sanctify and
justify a soul after she has fallen into sin, why should He not be able to
preserve a soul from falling into sin, from being denied by original sin?
It was becoming that the Blessed Virgin Mary should be exempt from
original sin. God would not, and could not permit the temple in which
He chose to dwell, to be denied by the least blemish. The honor of
the Son required that His Mother should not be the slave of the devil
even for a moment. God so hates and abhors sin that His divine Son
would not have assumed human nature, if He could not have re
ceived it from an immaculate Mother. Therefore, God would, and act
ually did, confer sinlessness upon her. " He that is mighty hath done
great things to me, and holy is His name; from henceforth all genera
tions shall call me blessed."
Now let us make the application to our own actual condition. We,
the children of the Church, can live in the state of grace, free from
mortal sin. This we can do, not indeed of ourselves, but with the grace
of God; for, like the Apostle, we can do all things in Him who streng
thens us. God requires us to live without sin, and He commands no
impossibility; if it were impossible, He would not have imposed upon us
such a command. We must, therefore do ,what we are able, and pray
for what we are not able. God does not suffer us to be tempted above
our strength. What is to hinder us from leading a virtuous life ? It
was not in our power to be exempt from Adam s sin, but after having been
cleansed from original sin and adorned with sanctifying grace, it is our
stern duty to lead a pure, sinless life. This duty is imposed upon us
for the following reasons. By the baptism of water and the Holy
Ghost we are born again and cleansed from every stain of sin. By
the baptism of penance we are cleansed again if necessary from act
ual sins; and we are exhorted by the Holy Ghost to lead a sinless life.
In order to guard man from sin, that Divine Spirit sends remorse of
conscience to the sinner. And this remorse is intended to convert the
greatest sinner. Cain was not forthwith killed for the murder of his
brother, but was given opportunity to be moved to repentance by finding
no rest upon the earth. Joseph s brethren were truly converted by the
afflictions caused by their own guilt. David had no peace for his
bones because of his sins. Even Judas was visited with stings of con
science before he laid desperate hands upon his own life, In order to
SECOND SUNDAY OF ADVENT. 25
guard the just from sin and to recompense them for their sufferings
and sacrifices, the Holy Spirit sends them peace and consolation that
surpass all understanding. Thus He recompensed St. Paul for his
many sufferings; and therefore, he says of himself; "I am filled with
comfort, and I exceedingly abound with joy in all my tribulations."
It is becoming that Christians should live without sin, for holy Mother
Church ought to have holy children, and, therefore, we should honor her
by leading a sinless life. The Apostle says: "To will good is present
to me, but to accomplish that which is good, I find not," therefore, ask
and it shall be given you, seek and you shall find.
You are convinced of your strict duty to walk before God in purity.
Remember, dear brethren, the command of holy Mother Church at
your Baptism to carry the garment of Innocence unspotted before the
tribunal of God: "Receive this-white garment, and see thou carry it
without stain before the judgment-seat of our Lord Jesus Christ, that
thou mayest have eternal life." Remember the injunctions of your
God: "Wash yourselves, be clean take away the evil of your desires
from My eyes, cease to do perversely." Remember, in fine, that noth
ing defiled can enter into heaven, and act accordingly. Thus you will
venerate the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary in a
right and profitable manner. Amen.
ACCORDING TO SS. ALPHONSUS AND ANSELM.
SECOND SUNDAY OF ADVENT.
HUMAN RESPECT.
" What went you out into the desert to see? a reed shaken with the wind?"
Math., xi.: 7.
John the Baptist was in prison, as the Gospel of this day tells us,
and sending two of his disciples to the divine Master, he instructed
them to say to Him: "Art thou He that is to come, or look we for
another?" John did not ask Jesus this question (through his disciples)
because he doubted that Christ was the true Messias,but he did it only
for the sake of his disciples, who yet needed assurance that Jesus was
really the Messias promised and sent by God. Hence,he sent two of his fol
lowers to Jesus that He Himself might inform them of His dignity as the
anointed Saviour of the world. John was in prison, and could no longer
personally teach his disciples and convince them of the divinity of Jesus.
But what had brought this great man into prison? His love of truth,
26 SECOND SUNDAY OF ADVENT.
which he preached on all occasions, not only to the common people but
also to the great ones of the world. King Herod had heard much of the
holy Precursor s wisdom, he therefore invited him to his court, in order
to consult him on certain important affairs. But although the king heark
ened to him on some points, in the main he did not follow the Baptist s
advice but requited his frankness with imprisonment, a punishment as
severe as it was unjust. Herod lived in incestuous wedlock with the wife of
his brother, and heeded not the admonition of John, who often said to him
with holy zeal: It is not lawful for thee to have thy brother s wife." Nay,
these earnest words so incensed the king that he gave orders to cast the
holy, truth-loving man into a dungeon. It would have been an easy
matter foi John, even then, to effect his release from prison and to at
tain to high honors, if he could only have brought himself to keep
silence and sanction the adultery of the king. But John was not a
man who feared men, or who dissembled the truth through human re
spect, and sanctioned vices. He was not so inconstant and wavering,
as at one time to say a certain act was wrong, and at another time to
say it was right, just as the world wished him to say; he was not like a
reed, shaken with the wind, he was a man of intrepid constancy, fear
ing God more than men. We should act in like manner, and never permit
human respect, or human fear to deter us from the practice of virtue
and truth. But such is not the case with the great mass of mankind:
they often fear men more than God. One often hears this saying:
"What will the world, what will people say?" But you seldom hear:
"What will God say it I do, or omit, this?" This human respect is en-
entirely unworthy of a Christian; it is a mean and, at the same time,
a most dangerous thing. That you may the better understand it, I
shall speak to-day
/. On the meanness,
II. On the injurious effects of human respect.
I. A sinful human respect is that low-spirited, detestable sentiment,
by virtue of which a Christian acts not according to his conscience,
but does some evil or omits some good in order to please his fellow-
men. Now, there can be no doubt that it is very mean for any one to
neglect his duties to please men, or to commit sin in order to gain their
praise, and consequently human respect must be something very mean
and detestable.
i. Human respect makes its votaries real slaves of those whom they
desire to please; they renounce their reason, their liberty, and their con
science, in order not to disoblige the world. They renounce their reason,
because not daring to think, to judge, and to speak as it prescribes, they
SECOND SUNDAY OF ADVENT. 27
think, judge, and speak as the world thinks, judges and speaks.
Secondly, they renounce their liberty because not having the courage to
practise the known good, they rather omit it, in order not to disoblige
the world; and finally they renounce their conscience by committing the
evil which they abhor and detest in their hearts, because others also com
mit it; and knowing their duties, they do not discharge them, because
similar duties are not discharged by others. How disgraceful is such a
sentiment for a Christian! how markedly in contradiction to the admoni
tion of our divine Redeemer, who says: "Fear not those that kill the body,
and cannot kill the soul; but rather fear Him that can destroy both body
and soul in hell!" (Math., x: 28) And yet these timid Christians set
so much value on the opinion of the world that they sacrifice to it the
three most precious spiritual goods: Reason, Liberty, and Conscience.
As the world thinks, judges and speaks, they think, judge and speak;
what the world praises, they praise; what the world censures, they cen
sure, though their reason and conscience declare otherwise.
2. This fear of displeasing the world, or this desire to gain its good
will and applause, not seldom induces men entirely to deny those duties
which the Christian is bound to fulfill towards God and the neighbor. Many
would be ready to discharge their duties, if they would not on that ac
count be mocked or censured by the world, or if they did not fear by
so doing to incur the ill-will of a man to whom they are under special
obligations. The thought: What will the world, what will this or
that one say, if I do according to my duty and conscience? this thought
terrifies them and induces them to neglect what they are bound by di
vine precept to do. Thus many Christians would have plenty of time
and opportunity to hear the word of God more frequently, to assist at
Mass, to receive the Sacraments of Penance and the Blessed Euchar-
arist, but they fear the criticism or censure of the world. What
will the world say? they think; and from a cowardly human respect they
neglect their duties. Many careless Catholics have often made the
resolution to be converted, never to go into that house, never to fre
quent that society, never to visit that person, but they fear the scoffs
and the railleries of others, they dread some temporal disadvantage, if
they change their lives; and therefore, they continue their old way of
living, because they do not wish to disoblige the world. Many others
are overwhelmed by God with abundant blessings and benefits; in all that
they undertake the approval of heaven is visible, everything succeeds
and prospers with them. But if an opportunity offers itself to return
thanks publicly to God, to show themselves openly as faithful servants
of God, they are ashamed to manifest their gratitude, because they fear
men, Others, in societies where religion, spiritual and temporal authori
ties, and the honor of the neighbor are drawn into the mire by too free
28 SECOND SUNDAY OF ADVENT.
discourses, could speak a good word, and refute those scandalous cal
umnies and blasphemies, but they fear the world; and because they do
not wish to draw down its displeasure upon their own heads, they either
remain criminally silent, or coincide against their convictions in all the
evil that is said. Thus, too often, human respect causes us to forget those
duties which we are bound to practise towards God. We know our duty,
we resolve to discharge it, but we have not the courage to do so in the
face of public opinion. But is not such human respect a real denial of
the love of God? Do you call this loving God above all? If, at the time
of the cruel persecutions of the Christians, those unhappy men were se
verely punished who, though adoring the true God in their heart, in or
der to escape cruel tortures, denied their faith only externally, what pun
ishment do those Christians deserve, who, not on account of a cruel tor
ture, but out of a disgraceful human fear and a mean desire to please
creatures, deny their faith in the Creator? Those despicable cowards
need neither fire nor sword to deter them from the discharge of their
duties towards God, since a word of ridicule or mockery, a significant
shrugging of the shoulders, or a dissatisfied countenance can dissuade
them from doing as their conscience dictates. The timid worldling says:
"Thou knowest, O God, how unmercifully the world persecutes all those
who forsake its standard and go over to Thy camp, but nevertheless since
I have to live in the world, how can I disoblige it? My state and my
circumstances bind me to it, and do not permit me to live as piously, de
voutly, and virtuously as I might wish to live, nay I find myself some
times under the necessity of denying Thee, O God, in word and deed, in
order to keep up my respectability with the world, and retain its good
will. But what can I do?" This is the common logic of the world; thus
thinks and speaks the worldling. But St Chrysostom answers to this:
Do you know what these discourses mean? They are tantamount to
saying to God: "Curse me, O Lord, for all I care, if only the world
gives me its applause; I prefer to be the object of Thy hatred and con-
*empt for all eternity, rather than fail to enjoy here upon earth the praise
and honor of men." Who is not terrified at this interpretation of the
disgraceful sentiments of those whom human respect deters from the
discharge of their duties towards God?
But human respect is also the frequent cause of Christians neglect
ing their most sacred duties towards the neighbor. How often does
not human respect cause superiors to overlook the faults of their infe
riors, and fail to punish them ? How often does it not induce fathers of
families to keep silence at the scandalous conduct of some of their
household ? How often does it not hinder parents from giving a
Christian education to their children, because in our time it is looked
upon as something superfluous, as something of no value in the eyes of
the world ? Human respect causes the rich and those in high station
SECOND SUNDAY OF ADVENT. 29
to give bad examples of piety to their fellow-men. Human respect deters
the criminal spendthrift from curtailing his expenses and giving up his
debauched life, because he fears the talk and judgment of the world.
Human respect closes the mouths of many listeners, when the honor of the
neighbor is assailed by bad tongues, because by defending the absent they
fear to be regarded as the friends of the innocently-oppressed, the un
justly-calumniated. And thus the dread of displeasing men, and the desire
of the world s esteem lead to injustices so many and so grievous that
their number would be difficult to reckon. Who does not perceive that
such a disposition of the mind is most disgraceful and detestable?
Who would ever willingly give his applause to a man whose thoughts are
in direct contradiction to his words and acts?
3. Moreover, if we consider that human respect often requires greater
sacrifices of its victim than a Christian would have to make in order to please
God, we shall understand better the thorough meanness of that cow
ardly passion. Many worldlings find it irksome to assist at a some
what long religious ceremony, to devote a few hours of the night to
prayer and meditation, or to spend a brief portion of the day in spir
itual reading; but,on the contrary,they do not confess that it is burdensome
to spend entire nights in amusements, to give hours to play, or to enter
tain themselves, day after day, in the society of others; for the world
demands it, and what would the world say if one would not yield to its
demands? Many lukewarm Catholics look upon the precept of fasting
during Lent as a very hard one; they frame a thousand excuses, in order
to escape it, they will not endure one hour of hunger and thirst for the
love of God; but if the world demands a similar self-denial, they sub
mit to it without contradiction; they endure hunger and thirst, heat and
cold, if they can only hope thereby to be praised by the world, or, at least,
not to forfeit its esteem. The same may be said of the duty of giving
alms. We know very well that Christianity imposes upon us the duty of
giving alms, to help our needy fellow-men according to our ability; but
when it comes to the point of really proving our charity, how many
withdraw themselves! They have no money for the support of the poor,
of the church, of the school, of other charitable institutions; every one
at that decisive moment is poor. But if the world demands /fr tribute
of gold and silver, do they hesitate a moment to contribute their share
to those overflowing coffers ? Ah! no, with the greatest liberality they
dispense the treasure which they refused to the cause of charity and re
ligion. And why ? In order to be respected by the world, to be praised
and honored for their generosity; or, at least, not to be despised and
ridiculed by their dreaded censors. But is such a sentiment honorable ?
Can a Christian hope thereby to please God ? Certainly not; on the
contrary our Divine Lord says that He will deny before His Angels on
30 SECOND SUNDAY OF ADVENT.
the day of judgment those who now deny Him before men; that He
will refuse there to recognize as His servants those who now refuse to
recognize Him as their Master. But enough of the meanness of human
respect, let us now consider its injurious effects.
II. He who thinks that the fear of displeasing the world or the desire
of pleasing it will gain for him before men true honor and reputation,
cannot but be greatly deceived; on the contrary the victim of human
respect, instead of being honored by the world, will be ridiculed and de
spised by it. For how much soever the world desires to be flattered, it
despises those who flatter it. What, for instance, would the world have
said, if John the Baptist instead of telling Herod the truth, had flattered
and praised him, had sanctioned his adultery, arid passed over his sinful
life in silence? Would it not have branded him as a traitor to the
truth? Would it not have represented him as a man who valued the
favor of the king more than the approbation of God, and who shame
fully neglected his duty in order not draw down the displeasure of a
prince upon himself? How does the world even now judge of those
who by all possible means try to please it? What does it say of those
who by princely attire and immoderate expenses endeavor to attract
its empty admiration? Are not those very persons the object of its
railleries and contempt? Or, what does the world think and say of those
who with cringing and selfish cowardice try to please every one and to
displease none ; who praise everything that others praise, even though
it be evil, and who reprehend what others reprehend, even though it be
good? Will they obtain the desired reputation with the world ? By no
means. On the contrary, the world will condemn and brand such conduct
as flattery and folly. What name does the world give to those who con
tinually have God on the tongue and the devil in the heart, who desire
at the same to serve God and Mammon, who run themselves out of breath
in order to be present at every church-service, in order to please
God, but at the same time indulge in every amusement and follow every
fashion in order to please the world? Will the world praise and applaud
them? No, on the contrary, it will deride them as hypocrites and Phar
isees. The world, though ever so wicked and corrupt in itself, is never
favorable to those who allow themselves to be shaken to and fro like
reeds before the wind. Nay, more, it is the first to meet with con
tempt those who most ardently desire to please it. Inconsistent though
it be in its very wickedness, the world demands blameless priests, just
authorities, faithful husbands and wives, modest and bashful virgins,
temperate men, and truly pious souls. It cannot tolerate any votary who
neglects his duties for the sake of pleasing it, but on the contrary, it
will always, though against its will, reserve its esteem and honor for
those alone who constantly and consistently walk in the straight way of
truth and virtue.
SECOND SUNDAY OF ADVENT. 31
2. Every one who strives to please the world becomes contemptible
and ridiculous not only in its sight but, no less so, in his own eyes.
If the miserable victim of human respect ever returns into himself to
ponder his hapless condition; if he considers how many hours of his life
he has uselessly sacrificed to the vanities of the world; how many idle
words he has spoken for the love of the world; how many useless ex
penses he incurred at the foolish demand of the world, and how often
he has made the most strenuous efforts only to please the world, what
answer will his conscience make ? Can it praise him that he in so shame
ful a manner has disregarded God, and given the preference to the
world? Will his conscience accept the vain excuse that in order to live in
the world, one must live with the world ? Will it be able to console him
when he reflects that from human respect he has so often denied and
suppressed the truth and defended falsehood; that he has flattered vice,
forsaken his faith, acted contrary to fraternal charity, and violated his
holiest duties ? No, his own conscience will condemn him as a man
who only served the world. O, if he had devoted himself as zealously
to the service of God as to the service of the world, if he had
offered to God the sacrifices which he offered to the world, if he had
sought as earnestly to please God as he sought to please the world,
if he had feared God as much as he had feared the world, how quiet
and peaceful a conscience would he not enjoy! With what comfort
he could now look up to God who with pleasure looks down upon
those who love virtue and truth! What reward might he not hope
for, if in the exercise of his duties he had sought the approbation of
God, and had not striven for the praise and the applause of the world,or
feared its vituperation ! Thus the timid time-server, the double-tongued
flatterer goes about among men, an object of disgust and contempt to
himself and others. His conscience tortures him, he is abandoned by
God, whom he never properly loved or served; and he is overwhelmed
with shame and confusion by the world, which never really esteemed
him, because it never discovered in him anything worthy of its esteem.
3. Ridiculous before men, dear friends, contemptible in his own eyes is
he whom cowardly human respect has made a slave to the world. But the
measure of his sin and folly is not yet filled. He is also odious and detest
able before God, and this is the worst of all, the greatest evil that can
arise from sinful human respect. St Paul writes in his Epistle to the
Romans, that the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all im
piety and injustice of those men that detain the truth of God in injus
tice Because that, when they had known God, they have not glorified
Him as God, nor gave thanks: but became vain in their thoughts,and their
foolish heart was darkened: for professing themselves to be wise, they be
came fools. Rom., i.: 18, seq. Who are those who know God, but do not
glorify Him, nor give thanks? They are those Christians, who know the
32 SECOND SUNDAY OF ADVENT.
truth, but detain and supress it from human respect; who are ashamed
of their religion and their faith; who did not give God His due honor.
They indeed enjoy the benefits of God, but from the fear of the world
they do not dare to show their gratitude; they have become fools by par
ticipating in and loving the follies of the world; "and against these,"
says St Paul, "the wrath of God will be revealed from heaven." Jesus
says: "Whosoever shall confess Me before men, I shall also confess him
before My Father, who is in heaven; but whosoever shall deny Me be
fore men, I will also deny him before My Father, who is in heaven."
Math., x.: 32, 33. These words of our Redeemer are plain. To every
one who in this world confesses his faith in God, without shame, and
practises it; to every one who remains courageously faithful to truth and
virtue, though mockery and persecution await him; to everyone who de
fends the honor of God, our Blessed Lord Himself will be an advocate
and a eulogist before His Father in heaven. But woe to those who in this
world have denied the truth through cowardly human respect and, at the
cost of faith and virtue, have flattered their fellow-men! Woe to those
who through human fear did not dare to lead a pious, devout, and vir
tuous life, who only lived as wicked worldlings and not as the divine law
and their conscience prescribed! woe to those who in life are ashamed of
the poor, meek, humble, and despised Jesus He, too, will one day be
ashamed of them, He, too, will deny them before His heavenly Father,
as in this world they basely denied Him before men!
No one can serve two masters, he will hate the one, and love the other.
You also, dear brethren, cannot serve two masters, you cannot be faithful
to God and to the world at one and the same time. He that holds to God,
cannot stand in the service of the world; he that holds to the world,
cannot be a servant of God. There is no middle way; the heart must
not be divided; the love of God and the love of the world cannot find
room together in one human heart. That heart belongs either entirely
to God, or entirely to the world. But woe to us if our hearts belong
only to the world, for the world and the figure of the world pass away,
and with it the unhappy mortal passes away who has attached himself
to it. Only he who has in holy love consecrated his heart to God re
mains for ever; and exceedingly great shall be his reward in heaven.
Let us then, dear friends no longer be guided by vain human respect.
Do right and fear no one. Love the truth and act according to the law of
God and the voice of your conscience, and you need fear no man. Every
Christian ought to have the disposition of St Paul, who says: "As to
me, it is a thing of the least account to be judged by you, or by human
judgment, but neither do I judge myself; .... He that judgeth me is the
Lord." I Cor. iv.: 3, 4. What does it matter whether we are praised or
reprehended by the world? If we are in the friendship of God, the world
may think of us what it pleases. The world can neither eternally pun-
SECOND SUNDAY OF ADVENT. 33
ish nor eternally reward us. God is our rewarder, and Him we must
fear. If, therefore, we have an opportunity of doing a good work; or if
we are earnestly resolved to begin a new and well-regulated life, we need
not ask whether other people are pleased or displeased. Let us act ac
cording to virtue and truth, though thereby we should make all men our
enemies; for the friendship of God must be dearer to us than the friend
ship of men. Amen.
O.S.B.
SECOND SUNDAY OF ADVENT
HOMILY.
"Prepare ye the way of the Lord." Luke, iii. 4.
The anniversary of the Birth of our Saviour is drawing near. The Cath
olic Church, during these days of preparation for the great solemnity of
Christmas, addresses to us these earnest and emphatic words: "Open the
doors that the Lord of glory may enter." "Do penance, for the king
dom of God is at hand." "Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make
straight His paths." Let us take the advice of the Church; let us con
verse and meditate, in these days, only on holy things; let us disengage
ourselves from the affairs of the world and not be too much distracted
by our customary employments. Let us lift up our eyes, hearts, and
senses to heaven, whence that Saviour is to come, who has been prom
ised to us as the One who is to crush the serpent s head, and in whom
all generations shall be blessed. Prepare ye the way of the Lord,
make straight His paths;" this same voice, which echoed from the Bap
tist s trumpet on the banks of the Jordan, converting many Jews, still
sounds daily in our ears. Woe to us if we are deaf to that voice; well
for us if, from the Gospel of this day, we learn to prepare the way of the
Lord, and to make straight His paths.
I. " When John had heard in prison the works of Christ, sending two
of his disciples, he said to Him : Art Thou He that art to come, or do we
look for another?" John in prison! Do you know the reason why he
was cast into prison ? Because he had spoken the truth. He had the
courage to say to Herod : "It is not lawful for thee to have thy brother s
wife." Matth.) xiv. 4. He required of Herod to break the shameful
-chains which bound him to Herodias, the lawful wife of his brother
Philip. But Herod was too much of a coward, his ears were open to
flattery, he did not heed the prophet s warning. What was the result ?
34 SECOND SUNDAY OF ADVENT.
John was apprehended, bound with chains and cast into prison. But
the just man is free even in chains, whilst the wicked man who perse
cutes him, although he wallows in sensual pleasures, is not free, because
he serves sin, and whosoever serves sin is a slave. John in prison!
What are we to learn from this ? Not to be rash in our judgments when
we see one of our fellow-men sentenced to imprisonment. Do not con
demn every prisoner as a bad man or an outcast of the world, for
it often happens, that those in prison are not the worst of men. Those
who denounce them, and who have been the cause of their sins and
crimes, those who have misled and seduced them, are often far more
guilty and despicable than their victims. Those whose lives are ended
by the rope or the sword of human justice, are sometimes less dangerous
to society than those spectators of their execution, whose conscience
cries out to them: "Ye are guilty of the blood of these poor sinners!"
The most dangerous of criminals, for whom the world has no prisons, are
the seducers of innocence, who laugh with a devil s malice whilst their
poor betrayed victims writhe in agony and are driven to despair; those
cunning defaulters who know how to cover their iniquity with the shield
of justice; those treacherous ones to whom no oath is sacred, not even
that which they have taken before the altar of God in the Sacrament
of Matrimony; those scoffers at holy things who rob man of his faith,
his only consolation in this valley of tears; those tormentors, wicked,
drunken husbands and fathers, who slowly, but surely, destroy the peace
and happiness of their wives and children. Have we prisons for these
criminals ? No; therefore, never judge a man by his appearance, for ap
pearances are deceitful. Jesus was apprehended and bound like a male
factor. Suspend your judgment. Give to every one the benefit of the
doubt. God will judge. Leave the verdict to Him; but if you must judge,
judge yourself, that God may not judge you. The head of the noble John
is cut off whilst the wicked Herod triumphantly wields the sceptre. St.
Paul in prison, and cruel Nero on the throne! Job on a dunghill,
wicked Achab in a palace ! What a contrast! The just in this world
are judged by the unjust. How inscrutable are the ways of the Lord!
Sir Thomas More, a man of integrity and godliness, (whose like England
has not seen since he was forced to lay his head upon the block), sealed
his convictions with his life-blood,while the sensual, blood-thirsty tyrant,
Henry the Eighth, was revelling in the unhallowed delights of a royal
palace. But God will judge. What a comfort to reflect that on the
last day, not man, but God, will judge us!
II. John in prison sent two of his disciples. Thus we see that John
had still some faithful friends, who had not abandoned him, though he
was buried in a dungeon, and forsaken by the world. This is true, gen
uine friendship, not to desert a friend in adversity, but to cling to him
SECOND SUNDAY OF ADVENT. 35
through evil, as well as through good, report. Alas! my friends, are you
like the sun-dial which only shows the time while the sun shines ? A
true friend is known in the time of adversity. We have many to fawn
on us whilst we are prosperous, whilst we keep open house, and invite
them to sumptuous dinners; many to flatter us as long as we can lavish
costly presents upon them; but the moment we are reduced in circum
stances, our former so-called friends will hardly know or recognize us.
They will pass us by as strangers, and scarcely salute us. He that finds
a true friend, has found a great treasure. Therefore, consider no one
your friend, commit to no one the secrets of your heart, till you have
found by experience that you can rely upon him. The friendship of
the disciples of John differed greatly from the friendship of the gen
erality of men, it was based upon virtue: they sought not their own in
terest as many do. This is evident from their conduct after the death
of John. "When John was beheaded, his disciples came, took the body
and buried it." Matth.^ xiv. 12.
III. <( Sending two of his disciples, they saidto Him: Art Thou He that art
to come, or do we look for another?" He certainly did not send his dis
ciples for his own instruction, but for theirs; for at the baptism of Christ,
he had heard a voice saying: "This is My beloved Son in whom I am
well pleased." Matth., iii. 17. He had pointed out Christ to the multi
tudes in these words: "Behold the Lamb of God, behold Him who
taketh away the sins of the world." John i. 29. And when the Scribes
and Pharisees had deputed a solemn embassy to him to know if he was
the Messiah whom according to the Scriptures they expected about
that time, he humbly confesed that he was not the Christ, but that the
Messiah was standing in the midst of them. From this, it is evident
that John did not send his disciples for his own information, for he
knew that Christ was the Messiah that was to come. He was anxious
to lead his disciples to Christ for whom he had prepared them. He
sent them himself to Christ that they might be convinced of His divine
wisdom and of His power of working miracles, or in other words of His
Divinity. John s disciples came to Christ, asking Him: "Art Thou He
that art to come or do we look for another?" Does He answer them
positively: "Yes, I am He that is to come?" No, He does not, but He
speaks to them, instead, through His works, His miracles; for Jesus mak
ing answer, said to them: "Go and relate to John what you have heard
and seen. The blind see, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the
deaf hear, the dead rise again, and the poor have the Gospel preached
to them." By these wonderful words Christ proved Himself to be the
promised Messiah. Six hundred years before His coming Isaias
had prophesied: "Take courage and fear not, God Himself will come
and save you. The eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of
36 SECOND SUNDAY OF ADVENT.
the deaf shall be unstopped, the lame man shall leap as the hart, and
the tongue of the dumb shall be free." Is., xxxv. 4, 6. Christ per
formed all these miracles. He not only made the blind see, the lame
walk, and the deaf hear, but He raised the dead to life. Thus the
prophecy was fulfilled. He whom Isaias had foretold, had all these
marks, and now no man dare doubt, even for a moment, that Jesus
was the promised Messias.
IV. These words, spoken by Christ to the disciples of John, contain
both a lesson and a caution for us. By them, He teaches us that it is
better for us to make our works speakthan our tongues; by them, He cau
tions us not to boast in words what we are, but to show it in our actions.
Many call themselves Catholics, but do not show their Catholicity by
works of faith and charity. Many boast of being Catholics, but are
such only nominally as if the mere name, alone, could save them. Hath
Christ ever said that the mere name of Christian or Catholic will save
a man? Did any of the Apostles ever say it? Does the Catholic Church
teach such a doctrine? No, the name of Catholic cannot save us unless
we practise what the Catholic Church teaches. There are only too
many of these nominal Catholics who will wrangle for religion, write for
it, fight for it, die for it, anything but live for it; they are Catholics
with their tongues, but in their works they show that there is very little
Catholicity about them. They have Jacob s voice, but Esau s hands.
It will avail us nothing to be members of the true Church, unless we
practise her doctrines, and live up to her rules and regulations. What
did it avail Judas to have been one of the twelve Apostles? What will
it profit us to believe well, and to live ill? Faith without works is dead,
and "in Christ nothing avails but faith that worketh by charity." Gal.
v. 6. As the body without the spirit is dead, so also faith without
works is dead." James, ii. 26.
V. l Blessed is he that shall not be scandalized in Me." Although the
holy life of Jesus and the miracles which He wrought were a strong and
undeniable proof of His Divinity, there was an obstacle in the way which
prevented the Jews from acknowledging Him as the promised Messiah.
They were accustomed to rely upon those prophecies in which He is fore
told as a mighty king; they overlooked those oracles which speak of His
profound humiliation in the form of a servant. According to their car
nal and sensual ideas He was to be a powerful monarch who would re
store the kingdom of Israel to its former greatness and splendor, and
subject all nations to the sceptre of Juda. How then could they bring
themselves to believe that Jesus was the Christ when they saw Him poor:
when He had not a home wherein to lay His head; when He died the
most ignominious death on the cross? For this reason Christ said on var-
SECOND SUNDAY OF ADVENT. 37
ious occasions: Blessed are they that shall not be scandalized in Me."
Yes, blessed is he who in His humiliation perceives His divine great
ness; in His poverty, His riches; and in the simplicity of the Gospel, the
sublimity of divine wisdom. Blessed he who with the eye of faith sees
the Divinity concealed under the form of a servant, who acknowledges
in Christ the Desired of all nations, the Lamb immolated from the be
ginning, the Sacrifice and the Priest, the Prince of Peace, and the
Father of the Future. Blessed is he who sees God in the Infant Christ
wrapped in rags and weeping like any other child, but adored and
glorified by the Angels; persecuted by Herod,but worshiped by the Wise
Men from the East; who, indeed, had not where into lay His head, but
who by His divine power commanded the tempest to cease; before
whose omnipotent words the devils fled, and whom all nature obeyed.
Christ is a stumbling-block to the carnal Jews, and folly to the Gentiles,
but heavenly Wisdom to the believing Christian. Many of the Jews
were scandalized in Him, especially on account of Hi-s works of mercy,
and because He performed them on the Sabbath day. This was what
we call Pharisaical scandal, and according to the example of Jesus, we
need not strive to avoid this kind of scandal. Some are scandalized at
everything they see others do, or hear others say. God, when upon
earth, could not please everybody, much less can we. But there is a
real scandal which consists in bad example, and in enticing others to
sin. And of this scandal Christ says: "Whosoever shall scandalize one
of these little ones who believe in Me; it were better for him that a mill
stone were hanged about his neck, and he were cast into the sea." Mark,
ix. 42. And again: "Woe to the world because of scandals. Matth.,
xviii. 7. Those who have done evil sometimes seek to palliate their
sin by saying: "I was tempted to do it, I have been seduced." But I
say, unhappy the man that seduces others to sin but, also, unhappy those
who suffer themselves to be seduced. Why did God give you powerof
will, why did He give you reason and understanding? Imitate your Lord
and Master, and say to the tempter: "Begone from me, Satan!"
VI. When the disciples went their way, Jesus began to say to the multi
tude concerning John: What went you out into the desert to see? A reed-
shaken with the wind? But what went you out to see? A man clothed in soft
garments? Behold they that are clothed in soft garments are in the houses
of kings." Christ praised John for his constancy and courage. John
would surfer and die in prison , rather than call evil good , rather than coun
tenance sin by his silence. John was not like a reed shaken with the
wind, but like a strong, towering oak-tree, which the wind can neither
bend nor break. Herod might grant the request of the fair dancer,
but the silent lips of the head lying on the dish, cried out loudly to the
guilty conscience of the murderer: "It is not lawful for thee to have thy
brother s wife!"
38 SECOND SUNDAY OF ADVENT.
Let us learn from this saint to suffer, and, if necessary, to die for the
known truth and duty. Let us learn to be faithful to our purposes
and not to waver between great sins and pious resolutions. But how did
John arrive at such fortitude and firmness of character? By the virtues
of sobriety and self-denial which Christ praises in him, and which we as
Christians, are bound, also, to practice. He who desires to persevere in
doing good, must restrain his appetites, be contented with little, and not
repine in want and poverty. Man needs but little here below, nor does
he need that little long. Delicacy in eating and drinking, the gratifica
tion of the palate, the love of ease and comfort, extravagance in dress
and other adornments, are the causes of numberless sins. A maiden
who too highly values her fineries and ornaments will easily lose her
bashfulness, then her innocence, her peace of mind and conscience; and
she will soon weep for the loss of a treasure which no tears can ever bring
back to her. Nothing can be a brighter ornament to a young woman
than the beauty of innocence. If her conscience does not reproach her,
she will sleep well upon straw, even though it be in a prison for a good
conscience is a soft pillow.
VII. "But what went you out to see? a prophet? yea, I tell you, and
more than a prophet , for this is he of whom it is written: Behold > I send My
angel before Thy face, who shall prepare Thy way before Thee." It had been
foretold of John: "And he shall go before Him in the spirit and power
of Elias to prepare for the Lord a perfect people." Luke,\. 17. Christ
called John the greatest among those that are born of women. Matth, ii.
2. Considering his miraculous birth, his vocation, the faithful per
formance of his mission, his austere life and his holy death, we must
admit that he really deserved this panegyric. He was the last of the
prophets, and with his death the Old Testament came to a close. With
one foot he stands in the land of the Law and Promise, and with the
other upon ground hallowed by Christianity. John was sent to prepare the
way of the Lord, to prepare for the Lord a perfect people. The salva
tion of the Jews entirely depended on their acknowledging Jesus as the
Messiah. For this reason, he forcibly insisted that they should ac
knowledge Him as such. To know Christ as our Saviour and Redeemer
must be our only care and business. No other knowledge is so nec
essary or so important, no other so valuable and so advantageous. A
Christian who knows God,is cheerful, for he sees in God, his Father, and
in Christ, his Brother; in all mankind he beholds his brethren and sisters
redeemed by the precious Blood, and he loves all for God s sake.
Daily to grow in this love which prepares the way of the Lord, to
make straight His paths and to prepare for the Lord a perfect people,,
must be our firm resolution. For this end let us during this holy sea
son of Advent meditate on the great love of the God-Man which has
THIRD SUNDAY OF ADVENT- 39
made itself manifest in His Incarnation. Let us prepare ourselves by
prayer, fasting, and alms-deeds for the worthy celebration of the festival
of Christmas; and thus prepared, let us live in the blessed hope of seeing
and enjoying God for ever in the mansions of eternal bliss. Amen.
O. S. B.
THIRD SUNDAY OF ADVENT.
NECESSITY FOR DOING PENANCE.
"John answered them, saying: I baptize in water" John. i. 26.
The best preparation for the advent of our Redeemer is that which
Jxhn the Baptist recommended to the Jews. He repaired to the river
Jordan, baptizing all that came to him. By this baptism, he intended
to awaken in their hearts a desire to do penance for their sins; for he
says: "I baptize in water unto penance;" and hence, St. Mark calls the
baptism of John, the baptism of penance: "John was in the desert
baptizing and preaching the baptism of penance unto the remission of
sins." Penance, then, is the best preparation for solemnizing the birth
of Jesus. But in order to be acceptable to God, this penance should
reform the whole man. Oh! how fitly and excellently could this so
necessary reformation and renovation be accomplished, if the spirit of
compunction would discharge the duty of a just avenger; if it would
exercise a rigorous and exact vigilance over all those senses and facul
ties which lead us to rebel against God; and would set a guard over all
those avenues through which sin enters into the heart. The sources
of this rebellion are the senses of the body, the passions of the heart,
and the faculties of the soul. If the spirit of compunction would arm
itself against these three fountain-heads of rebellion against God, in a
short time a great change would be discernible in the lives of men, and
heaven would shower upon them many blessings and graces. If you my
brethren, are really desirous of making a good preparation for the ap
proaching commemoration of the birth of Christ, you must renew the
whole man by mortification and self-denial in such a manner that, hence
forth your senses, passions, and faculties serve unto justice, as heretofore
they have served unto sin and iniquity.
I. St. Paul in his Epistle to the Romans says: "As you have yielded
your members to serve uncleanness and iniquity unto iniquity, so now
yield your members to serve justice unto sanctification," as if hewould
say: You have heretofore served under the banner of sin, serve now
40 THIRD SUNDAY OF ADVENT.
under the banner of virtue; you have sustained the kingdom of vice,
henceforth, labor for and support the kingdom of virtue; for the sake
of justice, strive,at least, to undergo the same pains and fatigues, which
you have undergone for the sake of injustice and sin. This is more
than a simple advice; for the Apostle goes on to say: "I speak a human
thing, because of the infirmity of your flesh," as if he would say: I have a
right to ask of you what the prophet Baruch asked of your ancestors;
that now, as a proof of your sincere repentance, you do ten times as much
for God as you formerly did against Him. These are the words of the
prophet Baruch: "As it was your mind to go astray from God, so when
you return again, you shall seek him ten times as much;" that is, you went
astray from God, of your own free will and choice; you bent your knee to
Baal and served the flesh, the devil, and the world, now you see youl
folly and are anxious to return to God. And what,in this case,is the coun
sel of the prophet Baruch? You are to serve God ten-times as much; that
is, the measure of your repentance must far surpass the enormity of your
sin. But I do not ask that much of you, says St. Paul, "because of the
infirmity of your flesh." I know your weakness and, therefore, I will
be satisfied with less; I ask nothing of you but what you can easily per
form; I ask, only, that with your members you now render unto jus
tice as many services as,heretofore,you have rendered unto sin: "As you
have yielded your members to serve uncleanness and iniquity unto ini
quity, so now yield your members to serve justice unto sanctification."
You might, perhaps, infer from this that no satisfaction is required for
sin, and that it is enough for a sinner to quit his evil ways and to reform
his life. But this is not so. Penance does not consist merely in quit
ting sin, but also in making atonement for sins committed. If true
penance consisted only in offending God no more, then the sinner who
dies unrepentant, would be saved, because he has ceased to offend God.
Something more than that is required. It is in the order of grace as it is
in the order of nature. He who has injured his neighbor, must repair
the injury. It is not enough for him to say: "I will injure him no more,
I will steal and cheat no more, but I will keep what I have unjustly
taken from him." No, he must fulfill a double duty; he must make
restitution to the person he has wronged, and afterwards injure him no
more. A true conversion consists not only in ceasing to offend God,
but also in making reparation for the insults offered to Him. If pen
ance required only a change of life, it would be very easy to become a
saint; but no, the justice of God requires something more. The sinner
must not only forsake and change his line of conduct, but he must also
satisfy God for the evil he has committed. If the senses by crossing
the limits of what is lawful, have enjoyed illicit pleasures, will it suffice
after returning to obedience to desist from further transgressions? No^
certainly not. Reparation must also be made. The rebellious senses
THIRD SUNDAY OF ADVENT. 41
must exchange the servitude of vice for the service of virtue; they must
humble themselves under the yoke of the Lord, which they had cast off,
If the eye has been bold enough to gaze upon immodest objects, it is
not enough that, henceforth, it confine its glances within the limits of
modesty. Reparation must be made, it must wash away with penitential
tears all those indecent liberties, in which it, heretofore, indulged. If
the tongue has given way to slander and detraction, to cursing, swearing
and blaspheming, to immodest discourses and songs, it is not enough that
it should now abstain from all those criminal offences, but, henceforth,
it must endeavor to edify others in reparation for having so frequently
scandalized them. If the hand has been covetously extended to grasp
the property of others, it is not enough, now, to simply allow every one to
enjoy unmolested what belongs to him; no, restitution must be made,
and the covetous hand must open its purse, give alms, and practically
display its charity to the poor. In a word, we cannot call repentance
true and sincere unless every member of the body, which has partici
pated in sin, becomes also a partaker of its penance, and strives to re
pair its past offences by the practice of the opposite virtues.
II. This is the essential idea of penance given by all the Fathers of
the Church. Such was the penance of the Nimvites. As soon as they
heard those words of Jonas: "In forty days hence, your city shall be
destroyed," the whole nation, from the prince to the people, fasted
and repented of their sins. They were not satisfied with a mere change
of life, they were not contented with merely quitting sin, but they mor
tified their flesh by coarse sackcloth, endeavoring to atone for the evil
they had done. And their penance was so acceptable to God, that He
stopped His hand and withdrew the vials of His vengeance which He
had been ready to pour out upon them. Such was David s repentance.
He was assured by Nathan, that God had forgiven him his sin, yet he
never ceased to do penance. He laid aside his crown and his royal
purple: he clothed himself with sackcloth, and put ashes on his head;
and lived a model of penitents to the end of his life. He was assured
of the forgiveness of his sins, yet such was his penitential life. We
know that we have often and grievously offended God, but we are not
sure that our sins are forgiven us. Without a special revelation from
God such as David had, no one here on earth can know whether he be
worthy of love or hatred. Where then is our penance? Where are our
penitential tears? We eat and drink and enjoy ourselves after the com
mission of sin as well as before it, just as if nothing had happened. "I
have done evil, and what harm has befallen me?" David said: "My
grief is always in my sight, my sin is always against me." His sin was
ever present to his view, although it was forgiven; his sorrow for it only
ended with his life. Such was Mary Magdalen s repentance. She had
42 THIRD SUNDAY OF ADVENT.
the happiness to hear from the lips of Jesus Himself, that much was
forgiven her, because she loved much. But just because she dearly
loved her God, she could not moderate her grief; she could not forget
her sins. She reflected seriously upon what she had done, and accord
ingly she set no bounds to the number and fervor of her penitential
works. As before her conversion she yielded her members to serve un-
cleanness and iniquity unto iniquity, so after her conversion she made
all the members of her body and all the faculties of her soul serve jus
tice unto sanctification.Such was St. Peter s repentance. Nothing could
-make him forget the denial of his Master. He never afterwards heard
the cock crow without weeping bitterly at the remembrance of his sin.
What is there that fails to recall to us the remembrance of our sins?
We have sinned against heaven and earth, but where is our repentance?
Why are we so dilatory? At what time will we commence to do pen
ance, if not in these days, during which our holy Faith brings before
our eyes the image of that divine Child, who, suffering for our sakes,
comes into the world in order to reconcile us to His heavenly Father?
He was no sooner born than He began to do penance for our sins. In
effect, what was that poor stable, that contemptible manger, that couch
of straw, that piercing cold, those tears which He shed, what are they
all but undeniable proofs of the most austere penance, which He com
mences to endure for our sake? If we would often look with the eyes
of faith upon this young and innocent Penitent, I am sure, we would
never yield to unlawful pleasures. If we frequently meditated upon the
profound humiliations of this divine Child, if we seriously reflected upon
those tears, which poured forth from the eyes of this royal Babe, we
would certainly bewail and detest our sins which were the cause of His
sufferings. And if, on beholding a God who sighs, a God who weeps,
a God who trembles with cold, if, on beholding a God whose tears are
not for Himself but for us and our sins, our hearts are not moved to
sentiments of compunction, then we may exclaim with St Bernard: "O
the hardness of heart! O callous, stony heart, when wilt thou be soft
ened, if not when thou seest thy God become a child for thee, a God
who sighs, weeps, and suffers for thee!" Ah, my brethren, you have often,
often wept for your passions, for the world and the things of the world; you
have wept for the loss of a father, a mother, wife, or husband, child or
friend, have you then no tears for having offended God who shed the
last drop of His blood for you? Have you no tears for having despised
your God who suffered so much for you from the Crib to the Cross? You
have tears for the loss of everything and everybody, but none for the
loss of yourGod. O shame! Here, should you justly weep; here, your
tears are necessary; here, they should be freely indulged in, for they are
the saving tribute of repentance: on all other occasions, their flow should
be checked, or, at least, in a measure moderated.
THIRD SUNDAY OF ADVENT. 43
Listen to me, my brethren; John began his mission with these words:
<l Do penance^ for the kingdom of God is at hand." Christ came after John,
and He preached the very same sermon: * Unless you do penance , you shall
all likewise perish? The Apostles after Christ, re-echoed the teaching
of their divine Master. Wherever they went, they announced to the
people: God declares unto men, that all shall do penance. Observe how
universal are the terms: " All men" , without exception. God is no re
specter of persons; nothing avails with Him except an innocent or a peni
tent life. Nowhere can man elude this precept, it binds him wherever he
may be. All men of whatever clime, or tongue, or color, are bound to
do penance, under all circumstances, in all places, all the days of their
lives. Therefore, once more, if you wish to save your souls listen to me.
That grand message which God sent Jonas to declare to the Ninevites,
the prophets to the Jews, Jesus Christ, His Apostles and their success
ors to the whole world, I, also, publish to you to-day, my brethren, in
His name and by His authority. Meditate upon it, sitting in the house
and walking on your journey; sleeping and waking, bind it as a sign
upon your hand, write it in the entry, and on the doors of your dwelling,
that "unless you do penance, you shall perish." Amen.
O. S. B.
THIRD SUNDAY OF ADVENT.
HUMILITY.
"Whoartthou1 n ]Q\M. i. 19.
This is a question which we should frequently ask ourselves, in order
to acquire a true knowledge of what we really are: for as the ignorance
of ourselves is the source of pride and vanity, so the true knowledge of
ourselves is the powerful counterpoise which balances the soul, and
brings her down to the proper level of Christian humility. Who art
thou? This is the question which the priests and Levites put to John.
He might easily have taken advantage of their mistaken notion; by a
single word he might have induced the whole synagogue to believe him
to be the Messiah. But his humility would not suffer him to pretend to
any merit or aspire to any dignity which was not justly due to him,
It was a perfect knowledge of himself that made him so little in his own
eyes; the low and contemptible opinion he had of himself and of his
own insufficiency made him forget all his high prerogatives, and appear in
his own eyes a mere nothing, not even worthy to loose thelatchet of the
44 THIRD SUNDAY OF ADVENT.
Messiah s shoes. "I am," says he, "the voice of one crying in the des
ert," an empty sound in the air, which vanishes like smoke. Behold
here, my brethren, a perfect model of humility for your imitation, if you
aspire to a happy union with your blessed Redeemer, if you wish Him
to take possession of your hearts at this holy season. It is in vain for you
to expect that you will attain to this happiness without the virtue of humil
ity ; it is only upon the meek and humble that He bestows His favors and
blessings. This morning, I shall lay before you the motives and advan
tages that should persuade you to be truly humble.
I. There are two kinds of humility, humility of the intellect and under
standing^ and humility of the heart and will. Humility of the intellect
and understanding makes us know and acknowledge that of ourselves
we are nothing and can do nothing, and that we owe all that we have to
God s pure bounty. Humility of the heart and will is founded on a feel
ing sense and an experimental knowledge of our own weakness. It makes
us sincerely despise ourselves, and renders us willing to be despised by
others from a conviction that we are deserving of contempt. How few
Christians will you find who are habitually in this interior disposition!
How few are there who continually carry in their hearts this intimate
conviction of their insignificancy and unworthiness! There is nothing
in which we more frequently deceive ourselves. We believe with a
speculative faith, that all glory should be given to God alone, but in
practice we do not conform our sentiments to this belief; nor do we
habitually render to God, the glory which is His due. Many grasp at
the shadow, few embrace the substance of humility. Many are humble
in their words: they frequently say: "I am a poor sinner, there is no
evil which I do not deserve for my sins;" but inwardly, they are the
dupes of a sinful, refined pride, which they artfully disguise and con
ceal under this mask of an apparent humility, this cloak of an affected
modesty. The humility of most people goes no farther than their un
derstanding, it does not reach the heart. Yet humility of the under
standing will avail us little without humility of the heart. The devils
themselves understand full well their own baseness, abjection, and mis
ery; but they are lacking in humility of heart and will. True Christian
humility is a virtue by which a man from a true knowledge of himself
is contemptible in his own eyes. It makes him have an humble opin
ion of himself, and despise himself, for it springs from a true knowl
edge of his own infirmities and imperfections, and makes him under
value the judgments of men, and disregard the empty praises and ap
plause of the world.
Everything preaches to us this salutary lesson; on the one hand, hu
mility; on the other, gratitude to our Creator. He alone is the origin
and centre of all that is good, and consequently, all honor, glory, and
THIRD SUNDAY OF ADVENT. 45
praise are due to Him alone; we owe all we possess to Him; and of our
selves we have nothing but ignorance, weakness, misery, and sin. In
our nature we have the very essence of frailty; when left to ourselves,
we are capable of nothing but of rushing headlong into every kind of
disorder. All the good qualities that we may, perhaps, be supposed to
possess, whether of nature or of grace, are the pure gifts of God. They
are talents deposited in our hands, to be employed for His greater honor
and glory. And since much will be required of those to whom much
has been given, the more favors we have received, the more we should
tremble at the thought of the rigorous account we must render of our
stewardship on the last day; and the more we should humble ourselves
in the abyss of our nothingness.
Among the many motives which should lead us to humility, let us but
attentively consider what kind of a being man is. "Man born of woman,
living for a short time, is filled with many miseries." Job, xiv. i. This
is the picture which holy Job draws of man; and the Apostle St. Paul
for this reason states his conclusion that if any man seem to himself
to be something, whereas he is nothing, he deceives himself. We are,
indeed, nothing, of ourselves. Consider how many ages had passed
away before we had even an existence. Nay, more; we would still be
abyssed at this hour in our primitive nothingness, had not the Almighty
been pleased to draw us from that chaos, and give us a being. Of our
selves, we are nothing but poor, vile, miserable sinners, subject to many
vices, imperfections, and unruly passions. In sin we are born, in sin we
have lived, and in sin we may, possibly, die. We have sinned against
heaven and earth; we have offended the infinite majesty of God, and
have deserved the torments of hell-fire; we have, therefore, merited to be
despised by all creatures, and to be trampled upon by merciless devils
for an endless eternity.
What can be more humbling ? What pride can hold out against this
reflection ? We are sure that we are sinners, that ve have offended the
Lord our God; we are not sure that we have as yet obtained the happy
remission of our sins, because we are not sure that our sorrow for them
has had all the qualities that would entitle us to the benefit of divine
mercy; or that our penance,being proportioned to the greatness of our of
fences, has been sufficient to disarm the justice of God. We march with
out ceasing towards the grave, uncertain what will be our lot in the other
world which lies beyond it. We know that at the moment of death an
eternity of happiness or an eternity of misery must inevitably be our fate,
and we have no certainty in this world which of the two will fall to our
lot; no one here on earth, without a special revelation, can know
whether he be worthy of hatred or love. Nay, though we were even
assured that our past sins were all forgiven, though we were assured of
being at present in the state of grace, still we can have no assurance that
46 THIRD SUNDAY OF ADVENT.
we shall not relapse and die in a state of reprobation. We have no as
surance that we shall persevere unto the end of our lives in the love
and friendship of God, amidst the many dangerous occasions of sin
that await us, and the various snares of the enemy that are spread
around us on all sides to surprise us and draw us into vice. We are
not stronger than Sampson who fell a victim to his passions; we are not
wiser than Solomon, who became an idolater at the end of his life: we
are not holier than king David who, by one unguarded glance of his eyes,
was led into murder and adultery; we are not more perfect than St.
Peter, who denied his Lord and Master three different times. The
downfall of these great men alarmed the Saints themselves, and made
them tremble for their own salvation, though their conscience reproached
them with no mortal sin. Our blindness and presumption, therefore,
must be very great if we suffer pride to reign in our hearts, since there
is no state of life so perfect in which a Christian is not exposed to the
danger of falling into sin, losing God s grace, and perishing eternally.
Since the first angel was lost in heaven, the first man in paradise, and
Judas, the apostle, in the school of Jesus Christ, there can be no posi
tive security for any soul here on earth. The predestination of man is
a hidden mystery to us, and one of which it is impossible to judge by our
present dispositions. How good soever you may at present be, you may
change at any moment; and alas! that change, in its results, may
be an eternal one. How good soever you may at present be, you
have still reason to fear both your own inconstancy in the practice of
virtue, and your future obstinacy in sin. "Wherefore, let him that
thinketh himself to stand, take heed lest he fall." /. Cor. x. 12. You
have seen your neighbor fall into sin, be charitable; and do not pub
lish abroad his failings. Despise him not on account of his short-com
ings, much less esteem yourself better than he, for you will certainly
fall into the same sins if God withdraws His helping hand from you.
Return thanks to God, therefore, that you were not led into the same
temptation. Far from despising sinners, far from condemning such a
person, for example, as wicked, and applauding yourself as virtuous,
you must bring yourself to entertain quite a different opinion, and re
flect that this man whom you proudly despise, may perhaps be of the
number of the elect, and you, of the number of the reprobate. It may
happen that he falls into sin to-day to rise from it to-morrow, whereas
you may fall to-morrow never to rise again. It may be that he has
already done penance for the very sin on account of which you despise
him, and you may happen to fall into that sin, and die in final impeni
tence. God, perhaps, has destined him to be a model of penance, and
you, to be a terrifying example to all proud souls.
II. Nothing is more pleasing to God, or more necessary for our sal-
THIRD SUNDAY OF ADVENT. 47
vation than that we should be truly humble. Open but the Book of
books, the Holy Bible, and you will be convinced of the benefits and
salutary effects of humility. By humility, Christianity began; by hu
mility, it has been established; and on humility, it is founded. Christ
gave us an example, that we might imitate it; He showed us the road
to heaven that we might follow Him. He humbled Himself so far as
to become man, to be born in extreme poverty, and to die on a cross
the death of a malefactor. He began and completed His victory over
hell by humility. He chose for His precursor a saint whose distinguish
ing characteristic was humility; and He selected the most humble of
mortals to make her His ever-immaculate Mother. Christ s whole life
was a perfect example of the most consummate humility; and His
preaching tended entirely to implant this virtue in our hearts. He says
to all His followers: "Learn of Me," (not to conquer nations, to become
rich and respected in this world, to work miracles or to draw all eyes
admiringly upon you) but, "Learn of Me because I am meek and
humble of heart," learn to be mean and contemptible in your own eyes.
He was rich, but for our sake He became poor, that we might become
rich by His poverty. He divests himself of His glory, hides His im
mensity under the members of a weak, helpless child, wrapped in rags,
laid in a manger, and destitute of all earthly pomp and grandeur. A
powerful medicine this, indeed; if it does not cure our pride, I know not
what will. God becomes man, and all the frailty, all the infirmities of
human nature, do not convince us that we are but men. Can we pre
tend while filled with vain conceit of ourselves, ever to be members of
so humble a Head, ever to be enrolled among the disciples of Christ
and heirs of His kingdom ? No, certainly. He strictly enjoins on all
His followers to imitate His example. Having waited on His disciples,
and washed their feet, He said to them: "I have given you an example,
that as I have done, you may do also." Unless we imitate our divine
Master in this heavenly virtue, unless we become like little children by
humility, we cannot hope to be sharers of His kingdom, for He has said:
"Unless you become like one of these little ones, you shall not enter
into the kingdom of heaven." Matth., xviii. 3.
Nothing so powerfully attracts the favor of Almighty God, or renders
us as acceptable in His sight, as humility. It was humility which
made the Blessed Virgin Mary so precious and pleasing to the Most Holy
Trinity and which raised her to the eminent dignity of Mother of God.
It was this humility which crowned all the other virtues of St. John the
Baptist, and rendered him so great a favorite of heaven. The Jews seeing
his miraculous life and eminent sanctity, despatched an embassy to him
to know if he was the Christ, but he confessed in all humility that he
was not, that the true Messiah was then standing unknown or unrecog
nized, in the midst of them; that he, His humble precursor, deemed
48 THIRD SUNDAY OF ADVENT.
himself unworthy to untie the latchet of His shoes. They asked him
then, if he were not Elias; but he answered: "No." "Art thou a pro
phet ?" Again: "No." And when the puzzled deputies urge him to
give them an answer wherewith they may satisfy those that sent them,
he responds at last: "I am the voice of one crying in the desert.
Being truly humble, he was in his own eyes, a mere nothing. Hum
bling himself thus low, he deserved to be so highly exalted that
Christ Himself deigned to preach his panegyric, to honor him with the
noblest character ever given to man; for the lips of Eternal Truth have
declared that "among those born of women there has not risen a greater,
than John the Baptist."
Without humility all other means of salvation become useless and
unprofitable. Penance, which is the last resource of the sinner, can
have no force unless the heart be humbled and touched with a deep
sense of its own unworthiness. If you be profoundly humble, though
your sins were as numerous as the grains of sand on the sea-shore, they
will all be forgiven, for God can refuse no grace for which the humble
soul petitions. He resists the proud, and gives grace to the humble.
We have a remarkable instance of this in the proud Pharisee and the
humble Publican. The presumptuous well-doer was despised and re
jected in spite of the glittering show of his apparent good works and
virtues, while the humble sinner was accepted by God. Why so ? Be.
cause the virtues of the former were accompanied by pride, and the sins
of the latter, by humility. Great and marvellous is the power of humil
ity. In one moment it can make a saint of a sinner, while pride, in
the same brief space of time, transforms a saint into a reprobate.
Without humility the whole fabric of a spiritual life must fall to the
ground, for humility is the foundation and the corner-stone of the spir
itual edifice. No virtue can be meritorious for eternal life unless it be
preceded, accompanied, and followed by humility. Pride cast the angels
out of Paradise, the first man out of the Garden of Eden; it was the
first sin committed above in heaven; and the first sin committed below on
earth. Pride, in fine, is not the path which leads to the celestial mansions,
but the sure road to the abyss of hell. Therefore, my brethren, if you
wish one day to arrive at the gates of heaven, you must necessarily take
another road from that which led the apostate angels and our first pa
rents to eternal ruin. We must return by another way to our true home
above the clouds. Renouncing the devil with all his pride and all his
pomps, we must courageously embrace holy humility. In vain do we
pretend to be disciples of Christ unless we learn of Him to be meek
and humble of heart. In vain can we expect to be of the number of
His elect, the sharers of His kingdom, unless we have some resemblance
to Him, for the Apostle says: "Those who are predestined to be of the
number of God s elect must be made conformable to the image of His
FOURTH SUNDAY OF ADVENT. 49
Son." This plainly shows that without humility we cannot hope to be
saved and exalted to the kingdom of God. Let us, therefore, conclude
that nothing is more reasonable, nothing more just, nothing more neces
sary than that we should persevere in profound humility both of spirit
and of understanding, of heart and of will, now, and to the very end
of our mortal career.
May our divine Redeemer, that perfect Model of humility, grant that
we may learn of Him to be meek and humble of heart; that humbling
ourselves here below under the mighty hand of God, we may be found
worthy hereafter to be exalted to those mansions of eternal bliss which
He has prepared in His love for the truly humble followers of the
humble Jesus! GAHAN.
FOURTH SUNDAY OF ADVENT.
POWER IS GIVEN TO US TO BE MADE THE SONS OF GOD.
"All flesh shall see the salvation of God" Luke\\\. 6.
In the Gospel for the first Sunday of Advent, we read: "Then they
shall see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with great power and maj
esty;" and in the Gospel for this day, the fourth and last Sunday of
Advent, we read: "All flesh shall see the salvation of God." Both these
passages reveal the vision of the Incarnate God, but with this differ
ence: the one depicts Him appearing as Christ the Judge, the other
portrays Him about to be manifested as Christ the Redeemer. Judge
and Redeemer united in one and the same person. The coming of the
Judge differs greatly from the advent of the Redeemer. As Judge, He
shall appear in the clouds with great power and majesty, encompassed
by Angels and Saints; as Redeemer, He comes in the most profound hu
mility; as Judge, He displays Himself in the form of infinite majesty;
as Redeemer, in the form of a helpless infant; as Judge, He will show
no mercy, but inflexible justice; as Redeemer, He will show mercy to
sinners, who turn from their evil ways and are converted. These two
advents of Christ are articles of faith; we are bound to believe that as
He once came to redeem and save the world, so He shall come again to
judge the living and the dead. When He shall come as Judge, all men
will behold Him, those that have lived, those that are living, and those
that shall live even unto the end of time. Now, in the Gospel of this day,we
read: "All flesh shall see the salvation of God," that is, all flesh shall see
their Redeemer, their Saviour, their God. Is this to be understood in
50 THIRD SUNDAY OF ADVENT.
the sense that all the children of Adam who have lived, are living, and
will live to the end of time, shall see Him with their corporal eyes? No
by the words, "all flesh," (that is, all mankind,) "shall see the salvation
of God," is meant, that salvation shall be offered to all that wish to em
brace it; that all men shall see their Saviour, God, not physically, with
their corporal eyes, but morally, with the eyes of faith. All flesh shall
see the salvation of God, for God wills not the death of the sinner but
that he be converted and live. God wills all men to be saved, and none
to be lost. Christ really came into the world to seek and to save that
which was lost; and He died for the salvation of all. Grace is offered
to all, but all do not cooperate with grace. It is left to our own free
choice to see, or not to see, the salvation of God, but when He shall
come as Judge, we shall be obliged to see Him even against our will.
i. The Church celebrates to-day the last Sunday of Advent, and she-
exhorts us to prepare the way of the Lord, that is, to prepare our hearts
for the reception of Jesus by cleansing them from sin. No one is fit to-
receive Him who has not a heart free from sin. It is His delight to dwell
with those who are clean of heart. He says in the Canticles: "Behold I
stand at the door and knock, if any man shall hear My voice, and open to
Me the gate, I will come in to him." God most ardently desires to dwell
in your hearts, dear brethren. It is impossible for the human heart to re
main neutral in its affections; it must necessarily be devoted either to the
creature or to the Creator, both cannot dwell together within its narrow
precincts. Cast out the creature and receive the Creator into your
hearts; in receiving Him, you receive your greatest blessing; in rejecting
Him, you do yourselves the greatest of injuries.
Christ never went into a house without imparting to it His blessing.
He visited Martha and Mary, and what was the result? Besides raising
Lazarus to life, He lavished His graces upon those two sisters, so that the
one was admitted into heaven as a virgin, and the other, as a penitent.
He visited Zacchseus, and the visit conferred a signal benefit upon him
and his whole household, since Clvrist said: "This day salvation is come
to this house." Zacchaeus from a usurer became charitable to the poor;
from a lover of the world and the things of the world, he became a true
lover and follower of Christ. That same dear Redeemer went to visit
Matthew sitting at the receipt of custom, and Matthew, hearing His di
vine voice, ceased to be an unjust publican; was converted and became
an apostle of Christ, an evangelist, and finally a martyr. Nay, even
while a prisoner in the womb, that Blessed Lord visited Elizabeth, and
the visit of Mary s Son, (revealing His hidden presence through Mary s
voice) filled the devout spouse of Zachary with the Holy Ghost; the
unborn Baptist leaped with joy in his mother s womb, and was cleansed
from original sin.
St. John the Evangelist reveals the greatness of the blessing descend-
FOURTH SUNDAY OF ADVENT. 51
ing from heaven upon all those who receive Christ, in these words: "As
many as received Him, to them He gave power to be made the sons of
God, to them that believe in His name." John, i. 12. We are created
according to the image and likeness of God, but not content with this,
He would honor and favor us with another prerogative; He would exalt
us to the dignity of sons of God. Thus what Christ is by nature, we are
by grace; what Christ is by birth, we are by adoption: "sons of God."
It is so great a dignity to be the sons of God, that St Paul does not
hesitate to say in his Epistle to the Hebrews: "To which of the angels
hath God said at any time: Thou art My Son." These words, properly
speaking, refer to the human nature which the Son of God assumed and
whose Incarnation we solemnize on Christmas Day, but they also refer
in some degree to mankind in general. God created two kinds of ra
tional creatures, the Angels in heaven, and man upon earth; both sinned
by disobedience, yet how different was the fate of the one from that of
the other! God exercised the rigor of His justice against the rebellious
angels, and showed mercy to fallen man. He did not assume the na
ture of an angel in order to redeem the apostate angels and atone for
their sin; no, no, they were irretrievably lost, no Redeemer was ever
promised to them; but, in order to show mercy to man, to redeem him
from sin and hell, He our divine Lord became like one of ourselves in
everything, sin alone excepted. Thus it is that, considering the mercy
extended to man, and the rigorous punishment awarded the fallen an
gels, St. Paul extols man over the angels, emphasizing the fact that God
had never said at any time to one of the angelic hosts: "Thou art My
Son."
This title, Son of God, strictly speaking, belongs to Christ alone, but
it is the will of God that we also should be called and should be the
sons of God, that we should call God our Father: Our Father who art
in heaven." Human nature could not aspire to the possession of a
greater honor and dignity than this one prerogative which excels all
others. God is pleased to call man His son, and man is privileged to
call God his Father. But the question is: Are all men sons of God,
are all children of God? No. "As many as received Him, to them He
gave power to be made the sons of God, to them that believe in His
name." Therefore, only those who receive Him, who believe in Him,
are children of God. By the assumption of human nature, Christ be
came the Son of Man, by the reception of God into the heart of man,
power is given to him to make himself a son of God.
Being children of God, God is with us, and God being with us, who
can be against us? What shall separate us from Him? Neither hunger,
nor thirst, nor tribulation, nor distress, nor persecution, nor the sword;
even though we should be abandoned by the whole world, reduced to
cry out with the man who was languishing under his infirmity for thirty-
52 FOURTH SUNDAY OF ADVENT.
eight years: "I have no man;" or with David: "My father and my
mother have left me," if we have God in our hearts, we can say: "The
Lord hath taken me up." The greatest evil is small, the greatest loss is
gain to those who can exclaim: "God is our solace and our strength!"
If we receive Christ, He will receive us and admit us to a participation in
His graces; He will give us power to become the sons of God, and the
heirs of His eternal kingdom.
II. As a blessing attends the opening of the heart to God; so a curse
follows its closing against His sweet presence. If we shut our hearts,
as the Bethlehemites shut their doors against the Redeemer, we are our
own worst enemies; God will not permit us to do so with impunity.
He bitterly complains that men will not receive Him. "He came unto
His own, and His own received Him not." And again: "No one will re
ceive Me." In the Canticles we read that the bridegroom knocks at
the door of his spouse: "Open to me, my sister, for my head is full of
dew." But the spouse answers with contempt: "I have put off my gar
ment, how shall I put it on? I have washed my feet, how shall I defile
them?" The Bridegroom is Christ, the spouse is the soul of man. This
heavenly bridegroom knocks at the door of our hearts and prays for ad
mittance, but after all His entreaties, the door remains closed. What
prevents the soul from opening the heart to God? The passions, the
sinful, wicked passions of man. In some hearts self-love is deeply rooted;
in others, the fire of impure love is burning; everything evil is admitted,
God alone is excluded; He is despised, there is no room for Him. The
spouse in the Canticles refused to open the door when requested by
the bridegroom After a while, regretting her inconsiderateness, she
opened it, as she says herself: "I opened the bolt of my door, but he
had turned aside and was gone. I sought him, but found him not; I
called and he did not answer me." She had well-deserved her fate. Christ
also knocks at the door of our hearts, and prays for admission, but we
resemble the spouse in the Canticles; dreading a slight inconvenience*
we do not open the door to let Him in; like her, we have a thousand ex
cuses; we have to do this or that; at present we have no time to listen
to His gracious calls. But if we do not open our hearts to Him when
He calls, He will pass us by, and give His rejected graces to another.
Afterwards, we will see our folly; we shall seek but not find Him, we
will call Him, but He will not answer, or if He answer, what answer
will it be? He shall say to us what He said to the foolish virgins: "I
know you not."
This reprobation is foreshadowed in the parable of the vineyard.
God asks the inhabitants of Jerusalem and the men of Juda: "What is
there that I ought to do more to My vineyard that I have not done to
it ? Now I will show you what I will do to My vineyard. I will
FOURTH SUNDAY OF ADVENT. 53
take away the hedge thereof, and it shall be wasted. I will break down
the wall thereof, and it shall be trodden down. I will make it desolate,
it shall not be pruned, it shall not be dug; briers and thorns shall come
up, and I will command the clouds to rain no rain on it." The vineyard
is the heart of man. God has done for that heart all that He could,
and with justice He asks : What is there that I ought to do more that
I have not done to it ? I have planted it, watered it with the dew of
grace; I have suffered and died for it. Man, what more could I do ?
Could I do more than lay down My life for you? Now, I will make it
desolate, it shall not be dug; briers and thorns shall come up, that is,
sins, vices, crimes, and many evil habits. God will command the
heavens to rain no longer their rain of grace upon such a soul: with
out the grace of God, man lives, as it were, alone, and God has pro
nounced woe on those who live alone, without grace: "Woe to him who
is alone!"
What Christian can hate himself with such a deadly hatred as to shut his
heart against his Saviour, and refuse Him admittance ? Were I to
ask you: "Are you willing to receive Him ?" You would all answer in
the affirmative. But to say so is not enough. You must prepare your
hearts for the worthy reception of Jesus Christ; and the greater the
guest, the greater the preparation must be. Cleanse, then, your hearts
from every sin and every attachment to sin, and make them an accept
able dwelling-place for your Incarnate God. As the Ark of the Coven
ant would not stand in the presence of Dagon, the idol, so God cannot
enter into a heart defiled by sin. Proud and haughty man ! God can
not find a dwelling-place in your soul, for He comes in meekness and
in the most profound humility. God the Saviour cannot dwell myou,
greedy and avaricious soul, for He loves poverty. Neither will He come
toyou, envious soul, for He comes to envy no one, but to give Himself to
be the food of all. whole and entire. He cannot dwell in you, angry
man, for He comes meek and humble; nor in you, impure soul, for
He is a lover of purity; neither will He abide in a heart that hates
its neighbor, for He is the Prince of peace who commands all His fol
lowers to love even their enemies.
Let me ask all who are addicted to sin, the question which Christ
asked His enemies in the garden of Olives. Whom seek ye?" They
answered: "J esus of Nazareth." And He said to them: "I am He."
And having said this: "I am He," they recoiled backward and fell to
the ground. Having recovered from their fear, He asked them again:
"Whom seek ye ?" and they said: "J esus f Nazareth," and Jesus said:
* I have told you, that I am He, if, therefore, you seek Me, let these go
their way." Now let me ask vou, Christian, what do you seek? What
is the aim and object of all your thoughts, wishes, and desires ? With
what is your mind occupied, with what are your thoughts engaged from
54 FOURTH SUNDAY OF ADVENT.
morning till night ? Is it Jesus you are seeking in all things, and Him
alone ? If so, let these go their way; let everything go that is against
God; pride, covetousness, lust, anger, envy, gluttony, sloth, let them
go; let everything go that is detrimental to your salvation, though it be
as dear to you as your very life. Tell me, ye that serve the world and
neglect the buisness of your eternal salvation, what have you gained
by this servitude? Perhaps a gracious look, a smile of approbation
from some miserable wretch whom, if you knew his real character, you
would blush to reconize. And suppose you had gained all things, gained
the whole world, what shall it profit you? What is all that is in the
world? What else but dust and ashes, vanity of vanities and vexation
of spirit, except loving God and serving Him alone!
O my brethren, wrong your God and yourself no longer. Seek Him,
return to Him; you have time as yet, but time will soon be no more for
you. Seek Him now, and you shall find Him. Now is the accep
table time, now are the days of grace and mercy. The present time is
yours; let it not glide away unacceptable to God and unprofitable to
yourselves. Amen. O. S. B.
FOURTH SUNDAY OF ADVENT
PREPARATION FOR CHRISTMAS.
"Prepare ye the way of the Lord" Luke, iii. 4.
We distinguish four different Advents or comings of Jesus Christ,,
two of which are visible and two, invisible. The first coming was when
He manifested Himself in human flesh; when He came to redeem the
world. His second coming will be when He shall come in a cloud with
great power and majesty on the last day to judge the world. The third
coming is when He comes to visit the soul of the just man; and His
fourth coming is at the hour of death, when He comes to take to Him
self the souls of those who depart this life in the happy state of grace,,
and when He invites them to partake of the joys of the kingdom of
heaven. These four comings of Jesus Christ are represented by the
four Sundays of Advent, and it should be the object of our ardent de
sires and devout prayers, that these four comings may be accomplished
in our regard by the divine mercy; particularly His spiritual advent
into our hearts and souls by His holy Spirit and sanctifying grace.
This is a matter of great importance, for unless Christ comes to visit u*
in this manner, comes, as it were, to be spiritually born in our heartf
FOURTH SUNDAY OF ADVENT. 55
by sanctifying grace, it is useless and vain that He was once corporally
born for us in the stable of Bethlehem. To induce you to prepare your
hearts for His spiritual birth, and to dispose your souls to partake of
the inestimable blessings of the approaching solemnity of Christmas, I
will show you
/. In what your preparation, and
II. In what your necessary dispositions should consist.
I. John the Baptist retired to the desert when quite young, and lived
there nearly thirty years, an innocent martyr and spotless victim of the
most austere penance, conversing only with God. At length he came
forth from his beloved retreat, and entered upon the sacred functions
of his divinely-commissioned ministry. With great zeal, he preached
the baptism of penance for the remission of sin; and he went about
crying with a loud voice: "O children of Israel, do penance, for the
kingdom of God is at hand. Prepare ye the way of the Lord; make
straight His paths. The axe is laid to the root of the tree; every tree
that yieldeth not good fruit, shall be cut down, and cast into the fire.
Every valley shall be filled, and every mountain and hill shall be
brought low: the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough ways
plain. And all flesh shall see the salvation of God."
John was of the opinion that he could not better prepare mankind
for partaking of the grace of redemption, than by persuading sinners to
renounce their evil ways and do penance for their sins. He accord
ingly announced to them both by word and example the absolute neces
sity of sincere repentance; and his labors were crowned with success.
Great numbers flocked to him from all Judea, repenting and confess
ing their sins, to the end that they might share in the inestimable
graces and blessings which the Saviour of the world brought down from
heaven.
The first preparation, then, which we are to make at this time for the
reception of Jesus Christ, is to purify our souls by the holy exercise of
penance. It is called the baptism of penance, to give us to understand
thereby, that as baptism is necessary for the remission of original sin,
so repentance is necessary for the remission of those actual sins by
which the grace of God is forfeited after baptism. Christ Himself de
clared the necessity of penance in such clear terms as to preclude every
possibility of doubt, saying: "Unless you do penance, you shall all like
wise perish." St. Mark, therefore, plainly indicates its wonderful power
and efficacy, when he styles it the Baptism of Penance. Penance is as
necessary for those who, after Baptism, have fallen into sin, as Baptism
is for those who are infected with original sin. When penance is true
and sincere, it effaces all sorts of sins, let them be ever so grievous,
56 FOURTH SUNDAY OF ADVENT.
ever so numerous; it levels the highest mountains of human pride; it
fills up every valley, that is, it repairs every loss, every void, which sin
occasions in the soul: it rectifies what was wrong;, makes straight what
was crooked, and makes smooth what seemed before rough and diffi
cult to corrupt nature. It removes every obstacle, and renders the yoke of
Christ sweet and light. It gives real comfort, inward content, and solid
joy; in fact, it surpasses all the satisfaction which worldlings experience
in their banquets, diversions, and criminal pleasures. True and sincere
repentance, my brethren, is not only a necessary disposition, but also a
most effectual means to avert the wrath, and draw down upon us the bless
ings of heaven; to engage the Son of God to take possession of our soul
by His Holy Spirit, and to induce Him to be spiritually born in our
hearts byHis sanctifying grace, on the approaching festival of His Na
tivity.
But in order that He may be spiritually born in our hearts, dear Chris-
tains, certain conditions are required, the first of which is to cleanse the
heart and purify the soul from the filth of sin, that it may become a fit abode
for His reception and residence; it is not fora moment to be supposed
that He will accept aheart defiled with iniquity and dwell in a body that is
subject to sin. A clean heart is the most acceptable present we can of
fer Him and it is the only dwelling-place He seeks and demands of us at
this holy time. He says in the most affectionate terms: "My
child, give Me thy heart," and He calls the clean of heart blessed
and happy because they shall see and enjoy God. They shall be re
plenished with the treasures of His grace here, and with the riches of
His glory hereafter. This made the royal prophet beseech the Lord
most fervently to create in him a clean heart: this made him cry out
with confidence and say: "An humble and contrite heart, O Lord,
Thou wilt not despise!"
If, therefore, we aspire to a happy union with Jesus Christ and wish to
prepare in ourselves a worthy mansion for Him at this holy time, we must
before all things purify our hearts and our souls, and carefully wash off
all stains of sin in the baptism of penance; in a word, we must re
move everything that is offensive to the all-seeing eye of His divine
Majesty. We must subdue our passions and corrupt inclinations; we
must lay the axe to the root, and cut down everything inordinate. If
we fail in this point, all else we can do will be to little or no purpose.
Our hearts and souls cannot become the abode and temple of Him who
is sanctity and purity itself, so long as they are infected with criminal
affections, enslaved by unruly passions, or defiled with one single
mortal sin. We cannot serve God and Mammon at one and the same
time. The heart which is averted from the Creator and converted to
the creature by sin, must be averted from the creature and converted
to the Creator by inward compunction; the heart alone is the seat of
FOURTH SUNDAY OF ADVENT. 57
true repentance, as it is the seat of love. It must be truly and
totally changed, it must be effectually turned from the irregular love
of the world and its sinful pleasures to the love of God, who is the
Fountain of all goodness. It must prefer Him and value His friendship
above all else that is nearest and dearest to it on earth. It must hate
and detest sin not only because it is prejudicial to the sinner and ren
ders him liable to the everlasting torments of hell-fire, but because it is
displeasing and offensive to God s infinite goodness. Without this con
version or change of the heart, my brethren, there is, there can be no true
repentance. For this reason, the Holy Ghost exhorts us to be converted
to God with all our hearts, to rend our hearts and not our garments, to
cast off the works of darkness and to become new creatures.
II. This is the very essence of a Christian life, but it is little under
stood and still less attended to by the generality of modern penitents.
We are so apt to be deluded and deceived on this point by outward ap
pearances; we imagine ourselves to be very penitent, provided we can
shed a few tears, vent a few sighs and moans, or run over a few devout
acts of contrition, although our hearts remain, at the same time, un
changed and strongly attached to sin. Hence, there is often great rea
son to suspect the validity of such penitents past confessions; great rea
son to look upon their repentance as imperfect and defective, either for
want of that inward compunction of heart which God requires, or for
want of a firm purpose of amendment and a sincere resolution to avoid
the immediate occasions of sin, and repair the injuries they have done.
Almighty God who sees the most secret windings of the heart, cannot
be deceived or imposed upon by lying vows, verbal protestations, of
outward appearances of repentance. He requires us, indeed, to produce
fruits worthy of penance, and, He admonishes us to manifest our repen
tance by outward fasting, weeping, and mourning. But the interiordis-
positions of the penitent must be chiefly attended to; the heart must be
penetrated with a lively sorrow for having offended God, and be firmly
determined to offend Him no more.
Since, therefore, penance is the sole plank of safety remaining to you,
my brethren, after the shipwreck of your baptismal innocence; since it
alone can emancipate you from the fetters of sin, since without it, you
cannot expect the Son of God to be born in your hearts by His grace
and the Holy Spirit, let me entreat you to listen to the voice of the
great herald of heaven inviting you at this holy time to do penance for
your past offences. "Do penance," says he, "for the kingdom of God
is at hand: prepare ye the way of the Lord, and make straight His
paths!"
Do not let this time of mercy slip away like so many Advents which
have passed and gone without any benefit or advantage to your souls.
58 FOURTH SUNDAY OF ADVENT.
This may probably be the last Advent that several of you will ever live to
see. Do not refuse to lay hold of the mercy that is now offered to you;
if you slight these precious moments, and neglect the powerful and nec
essary means of salvation whilst you are in health and capable of hav
ing recourse to them, the day, perhaps, may shortly come when you will
wish for one hour to do penance, and, not with be able to obtain it. De
lays are extremely dangerous, especially when Heaven and eternity are at
stake. If any, therefore, amongst you,dear Christians, be conscious to
yourselves, that you are in the unhappy state of mortal sin, let me entreat
you to repent in time, and without delay. The feast of the Nativity of
our Lord, is at hand: He is coming to make us a visit, to enrich our
souls with His heavenly graces and blessings. He is already knocking at
the door of our hearts, and pleading for a lodging therein. Can we be
so ungrateful to Him, so insensible to our eternal welfare, as to refuse
Him admittance, like unto the people of Bethlehem who found no room
for Him in their houses? Can we be so perverse as to reject Him like
tinto the obstinate Jews of whom the Scripture says: "He came unto His
own and His own received Him not?" Let us rather yield to the tender
solicitations of our divine Redeemer, and give Him our whole hearts
cleansed and purified, that we may be of the happy number of those
of whom the Gospel says: "To as many as received Him He hath given
power to be made the sons of God." Let us imitate the ancient Patri
archs and Prophets who longed most ardently for His coming. Let us
follow the example of the pious shepherds of Bethlehem who sought Him
till they had the happiness of finding Him in the manger. Let us
invite Him into our hearts and souls by humble and devout prayer; and,
like unto the Three Kings of the East, let us tender Him the homage
of our best and richest offerings.
Such, my dear brethren, are the sentiments, such are the dispositions,
which the Church endeavors to excite in her children at this holy season,
uplifting her voice for this purpose with the great St. John the Baptist and
frequently exhorting all the faithful to prepare the way of the Lord, to
make straight His paths, that He may possess our hearts and souls here
by His grace , and that we may possess Him in the kingdom of His glory
forever hereafter. Amen. O. S. B.
CHPJSTMAS DAY. 59
CHRISTMAS DAY.
THE STATE OF HUMILIATION IN WHICH JESUS CHRIST WAS BORN.
"A Child is born to us, and a Son is given to us" Isaias, ix. 6.
What humble words to express the most stupendous mystery, that has
-ever been proposed to the faith of man, the most extraordinary event
that the annals of the world and of religion have ever exhibited! "A Child
is born to us, and a Son is given to us." Hear it, O ye children of the in
heritance, hear it with reverence and awe, this Child, this Son, is the Son
of God, Who by an ineffable prodigy, has become the Son of Man! But
it is not the mystery of the Incarnation, but the mystery of the Nativ
ity of the Son of God and the Son of Man that I shall declare to you, to
day. I shall show that since Jesus Christ was to assume human nature, it
was fitting that He should be born precisely as Jesus Christ was born.
His birth, which is so humble in the eyes of the sens ,s, was, by that very
humility, the more worthy of Him; and the reason may be stated in these
words: Because no other birth could be better adapted
/. To His greatness,
II. To His wisdom, and,
III. To His goodness.
I. Let us for a moment imagine a Gospel of human invention; let us
suppose that the genius of carnal man had undertaken to describe the
birth of our Incarnate God, with what colors, think you, would he have
painted the entry of that adorable Child into the world? What pomp
and splendor would He not display! What wealth and luxury would be
lavished around His cradle! What a sumptuous palace of marble would
be prepared to receive Him! What splendor of gold and precious stones
would have shone in every part of it! How abundantly would royal pur
ple and the most precious tissues of the loom, be furnished for His attire!
What countless multitudes of servants would emulate each other in the
performance of their humble duties in His service! Now, at the sight of
such a grand and gorgeous display, will you exclaim: "Oh, how resplen
dent, how sublime is this!" For my part, I would exclaim: "How pal
try and puerile is all this, when there is question of a God! Why
should He collect around Him all the frail appliances of our weakness,
the frivolous ornaments with which we endeavor to clothe and decorate
our misery, the deceitful goods which our avarice alone desires, the
60 CHRISTMAS DAY.
splendid trifles, the glittering toys with which our folly sports? Can He
stand in need of them? "What! Can anything of earth be necessary to a
God? How can that be reconciled with His sovereign independence?
He would then no longer be that God who is sufficient for Himself.
But it will be said: It is not for Himself, but for us; it is to make a
stronger impression upon our senses, to attract our hearts more securely
towards Him that such splendor is required. But where is His omnip
otence in that supposition? Does He not possess supreme authority
over our hearts, and is He not able tcinspire us with reverence and love,
without dazzling us by a vain exterior?
Where is the man who, when left to the suggestions of his own mind,
to imagine and describe the Son of God descending at length upon
earth, after four thousand years of expectation and impatient desires,
where is the man who could conceive the idea of His being born
in a stable, laid upon straw between mean animals, a feeble, silent
Infant, exposed, almost naked, to the violence of a rigorous season?
Where is the man who, if he described an angel appearing to an
nounce such great tidings, instead of putting magnificent expressions in
to the mouth of the heavenly messenger, could think of making him
say: "A Saviour, who is Christ the Lord, is born, and this is the sign
whereby you shall recognize Him: You shall find the Infant wrapped in
swaddling-clothes, and laid in a manger." No, this sublime simplicity
far transcends all human conception and language.
Where could we find a certain proof of divine greatness, if we did
not discover it in great and admirable effects produced by the most
trifling of causes, the feeblest of means? Now, if this principle be true,
look upon this Child who weeps in a manger, what object can be
meaner, feebler, more impotent? But see what He effects in the world,
both before, and after, His birth. From the very dawn of creation
everything speaks of Him, everything announces Him, everything sighs
for His coming, and during four thousand years, the heavens and the
earth are in labor to give Him birth. All the Saints, from Abel down
wards, are sanctified through Him alone; the prophets are inspired for
no other purpose than to describe His person and to write His history
by anticipation. The vocation of Abraham, the mission of Moses, the
choice of the people of God, the laws and the religion which were given
to that people, have their fulfillment and their end in the mystery of
Bethlehem. Empires rise and fall for no other purpose than to prepare
for this one event to which everything in the universe tends. Scarce
has it been accomplished scarce has the Son of Mary beheld the light,
when the Magi hasten from the East to lay their treasures at His feet.
His name alone has thrown Jerusalem into consternation; the assembled
Synagogue deliberates upon the interpretation of the oracles which con
cern Him ; the impious Herod trembles upon his throne. All the power
CHRISTMAS DAY. 61
and all the perfidy of this cruel tyrant are insufficient to stifle in the
cradle a feeble Infant who has no protector upon earth. When only
twelve years old, He astonishes the sages of Israel and the interpreters
of the Law with His wisdom, by merely addressing to them a few sim
ple questions in the temple. His replies, later, confound the Pharisees,
Scribes and doctors of the Law; He speaks as no man ever spoke be
fore Him. He commands Nature to obey Him; He reveals the hidden
secrets of the heart; He cures every disease; He even restores life to
the dead. He makes all Judea the theatre of His miracles, and fills it
with the report of His name. When He dies, the sun refuses its light;
the earth shakes to its very foundations, the universe seems ready to fall
back again into its original nothingness; He comes forth victorious
from the grave, and, as He had foretold, the whole world assumes a new
face. The God who was born in a stable, and died upon a gibbet, re
ceives incense from the whole world; and at the end of eighteen hun
dred years, He alone is adored by every civilized people, He, alone ex
tends His empire every day still further into every remote and barbarous
country. All these miracles have begun here at Bethlehem; they are the
fruit of this manger, of these rags, of this abject and humiliating birth,
whose mystery, dear brethren, we celebrate to-day. And must we not
recognize the greatness of God in beholding such trifling means attended
by such stupendous effects?
If our divine Lord had appeared under the form of a powerful king
or of a philosopher or sage, we would have seen His glory, it is true;
but in our eyes, it should necessarily be but the glory of man. We
would have ascribed His most wonderful success either to the valor of
His armies or to the superiority of His learning and talents. If He
had come, on the other hand, environed by heavenly legions,
who would have executed His commands and accompanied Him at
every step, we would have also seen His glory; but it would be a glory
which He shared with the Angels, and some portion of which He
would even seem to owe to their assistance. If He had come down
in all the splendor of the Divinity, attended by thunder and lightning,
as upon Sinai: or encircled with His own light, and eclipsing the rays
of the sun, as upon Thabor, we would have seen His own glory, it is
true, the glory which is peculiar to Him alone, but beholding Him thus
display, as it were, His undiminished majesty, we might, perhaps, sup
pose that He stood in need of all His splendor and strength to dazzle
and subdue mankind. But when He comes to make a conquest of the
world, and casts away, so to speak, all His arms, divests Himself of all His
splendor, and strips Himself, to a certain extent, even of Himself; when
He humbles Himself to the depths of infirmity, even to the annihilation
of feeble and speechless childhood; when He descends to the ignominy
of a stable; confines Himself in a manger; is enveloped in swaddling-
62 CHRISTMAS DAY.
clothes; when, after all this, He triumphs over the united powers of earth
and hell, overthrows the empire of idolatry, and causes Himself to be
everywhere recognized as the true God of the universe, does He not
manifest, in an inexpressible and divine manner, the incommunicable
glory of Him whose very weakness, according to St. Paul, is stronger
than all creatures, and whose humiliations are above all dignities ? "We
have seen His glory "
II. Jesus came down from heaven upon earth to reform the vices of
men and to remove their errors; now, all the vices and all the errors of
men arise from three great sources: Pride, voluptuousness, and the insa
tiable thirst after riches. What has been done by all those famous philos
ophers, who, from age to age, have exhibited themselves as the masters of
wisdom and the teachers of virtue, what has been done, I repeat, by
those mighty sages to close up those three poisoned springs, to heal
those three mortal disorders of the human heart ? Nothing. Their
false maxims, and their seductive examples, had even aggravated
the disorders to which their empty-sounding philosophy could ap
ply no remedy. At length the true Teacher of nations comes. But
how shall He accomplish what so many men, celebrated for their science
and talents, have tried in vain to effect? Perhaps, to undertake so great a
work He will, at least, wait until He attains the ordinary maturity of age
and reason; perhaps He will prepare Himself by long study and profound
meditations, and then seek some vast theatre, in which He may proudly
display the treasures of His learning and the victorious energy of His
eloquence ? Ah! such would have been the means and wisdom of man.
But consider, my brethren, the means and the wisdom of God. He begins
to instruct mankind at His very birth; His school is a stable, His chair is
a manger, His lessons are His tears, His sufferings, His humiliations,
His nakedness, His silence itself. How powerful, how efficacious are
these instructions!
i. In the first place observe how they correct pride. Man was in
toxicated with a false notion of his own excellence. Having fallen, by
his own prevarication, from the exalted rank, in which the goodness of
the Creator had placed him, he preserved nothing of his original dig
nity but an unjustifiable esteem of himself, and a criminal desire of
elevation and greatness. He gloried in his reason, and in the power
which it gave him over the beings by which he was surrounded, instead
of blushing at the vices which had degraded him almost below the level
of the brute. Deprived of true glory, which he had forfeited together with
his innocence, he was on that account only the more desirous of that
fa\se glory which enervates and corrupts the heart. He could not en
dure either a master or a rival. He had even carried his audacity and
CHRISTMAS DAY. 63
madness to such a degree as to make himself equal to God, and to place
the corruptible image of man upon the altar, instead of the immortal
God. How, then, was it possible to control such a blind and unbridled
passion ? How could he be taught to know himself, and be forced to
despise himself ? Conceive, if you can, any means more powerful to
effect this end than the spectacle which is presented to us at Bethlehem.
Look at this wonderful annihilation of the Saviour in His cradle, and
listen to what His very silence proclaims to you: "O man, you think
yourself to be something great, see, nevertheless, how profoundly I
must humble myself to come near you. You pride yourself upon your
reason, and your inclinations make you so closely resemble the brute
creation that, as I wish to make Myself like to you, it is in the dwelling-
place of mean animals I, the incarnate God, am born. You glory in
your learning and wisdom, and because there is nothing in you but ig
norance and folly, when the Eternal Wisdom assumes your nature, He
must appear in the form of silent and senseless childhood. Miserable
slave of passion, you think yourself free, and My limbs are bound with
these swaddling-clothes, solely to represent the ignominious fetters, in
which your soul is held captive!" It is thus the Manger teaches proud
man not only to humble himself, but even to esteem and cherish hu
miliation itself. No other instruction could impart so sublime a truth.
2. Pleasure is the mistress and idol of this world; the anxiety and
energy of all creatures are directed to its attainment. Man desires
pleasure at any price; he strives to make every creature furnish it to
him; he seeks it by every means in his power; he immolates his con
science before it every day; he often sacrifices his repose, his honor,
and even his very life, to the pursuit of it; in his blindness, he regards it
as his sovereign good. But if he pauses to contemplate the manger of the
divine Infant, must he not say to himself: This is my Saviour, my Model,
my Master, and my God. He was born in pain, and shall I exist for
no other purpose but the indulgence of pleasure? He was laid upon
the straw of a stable, and can I repose only on the couch of vol
uptuous ease? Miserable rags have been His only covering, and shall I,
His creature, be clothed in naught save delicate and sumptuous gar
ments ? His innocent flesh has been exposed, almost without protec
tion, to the piercing blast of the severest winter, and my criminal flesh
will not consent to endure the most trifling mortification ? It must,
therefore, be true, that pleasure is a fatal poison, since He, my Incar
nate God, rejects it so utterly. It must, therefore, be true that the mor
tification of the senses is a salutary remedy for the disorder of our souls
since, in order to give us the example, my Saviour begins to practise it as
soon as He begins to live. Worldlings, therefore, deceive themselves,
when they say, that time is given to us only for enjoyment, and that the
64 CHRISTMAS DAY.
first years of life, at least, ought to be spent in joy and pleasure; for our
Redeemer has made no distinction of this sort in His own case; the be
ginning as well as the end of His days, has been consecrated to austerity
and tears. Such are the sentiments inspired by the mere sight of the
cradle of Jesus Christ, sentiments which could never be inspired by all
the subtle reasonings, or all the eloquent declamations of human phil
osophy.
3. But is this spectacle, which is so efficacious against pride and the
pursuit of pleasure, less destructive of avarice, the third source of the
misfortunes and crimes of mankind ? Who could refrain from seeing
the clearest condemnation, a sort of reprobation of riches, in all those
signs of poverty and indigence which surround the Infant Saviour?
When that God, to whom all things belong, came down upon earth to
dwell in the midst of us, He preferred the most complete destitution,
the most extreme poverty and misery, to all the splendors of opulence
and fortune; must it not then be inferred from such a fact, that the goods
which He rejects and despises, are not real goods, that all our filthy
treasures deserve nothing but contempt ? What discourse could incul
cate this so effectually as such an example ? And when this selfsame
God afterwards pronounced that admirable maxim: "Blessed are the
poor;" when He added that terrible threat: "Woe unto you, rich men,"
what did He teach but what His birth had inculcated in an equally em
phatic manner; what the stable, the manger, and the swaddling-clothes
had already distinctly proclaimed ?
III. In conclusion I shall briefly show that this birth of Jesus Christ,
which was so humble and abject, and which, as we have seen, was best
adapted to the greatness and wisdom of the Man-God was also that
which was most worthy of His goodness. Mercy and love were chiefly
what brought down the Word of God upon earth. It was, therefore,
fitting that He should make His entry upon this earth in the manner
and condition which most strikingly manifested His goodness towards
men. And this is precisely what He has done by His humble birth
at Bethlehem, for
i. What could be more conformable to His goodness than to be bom
of a mortal mother and to be in the state of childhood ? If we were
guided by human notions, it might perhaps, appear to be more consis
tent with the dignity of the Word made flesh, to receive a body formed
by the hands of God, at once, like that of the first Adam, and to come
into the world as he came, in the state of a perfect man; but if such
had been the birth of the God-Man, He would not have contracted an
intimate and indissoluble union with our nature; He would have resem-
CHRISTMAS DAY. 65
bled us, certainly, but He would have remained a stranger to our blood
and our race, and we could not, with propriety, style ourselves His co
heirs and His brethren. Whereas, by being born of a daughter of Adam,
He wished to be bone of our bone, and flesh of our flesh; He wished
to identify Himself with us, to belong, really, to the human family.
Could He carry His goodness farther? Hence, He has delighted to
style Himself not simply man, but (by a much more affecting expres
sion), the Son of Man> thus indicating that He recognized our sires as
His own, and that His origin, according to the flesh, was the same as
ours. This is what enraptured the prophet, and made him exclaim with
so much joy and emotion that a Son was given to us, because His hu
man generation made this precious Scion, as it were, the fruit of the same
womb with ourselves.
2. The goodness of the Man-God required that He should be born
in poverty and suffering. Such a -birth was due to His condition as
the universal solace of the afflicted. The prophets had foretold that
He should heal all the wounds of our hearts, that He should wipe away
every tear, and open His bosom to all the unfortunate. Now, is any
one well fitted to alleviate those sorrows to which he, himself, remains
a stranger ? Is it to the great and prosperous of this world that the poor
and unfortunate will have recourse for a genuine sympathy with their
misfortunes? If a man would effectually alleviate sorrow, must he not
share it, or first experience it himself ? This was the opinion of the
Apostle,, for, speaking of our Saviour, he says: "We have not a high
priest who cannot have compassion on our infirmities," and he goes on
to state that there is not one of our afflictions which our Lord has not
learned by His own experience, with the exception of sin, which He
was incapable of committing. This merciful High-priest was, therefore,
well qualified to invite all the afflicted to approach Him, saying to them
with sympathetic love: "Come to Me, all you that labor and are heavy
laden, and I will refresh you."
3. The last obligation which His goodness imposed upon the Incar
nate Word was to be born, not in glory, but humiliation; and why? For
the encouragement of pusillanimous souls, and chiefly of sinners moved
by the desire of conversion. The majesty of God is imposing and awful.
His sanctity amazes us, His justice alarms us, His greatness overwhelms
us. If, then, the God-Man had maintained His privileges and
His natural dignity, by appearances consistent with them, no mortal man
could dare to approach Him. Instead of taking refuge in His bosom,
we would fly from His presence; and, like the Israelites, at the foot of
Mount Sinai, we would fear to cast a glance towards Him, lest sudden
<leath should be the punishment of our temerity. But He wished to
66 CHRISTMAS DAY.
live in close familiarity with us, to dwell in temples built by our own
hands; there He wished to receive our homage at every moment, to ad
mit us to His table, and to become Himself the nourishment and life
of our souls. But, lest we should be terrified by such favors, it was nec
essary that He should encourage us by the excess of His humiliations,
and that He should descend so low that we could have no cause to imag
ine that He despised our misery.
Let, then, the proud and haughty humble their self-conceit before the
divine greatness which endures so many humiliations. Let the wise and
prudent of this world abjure their vain science, and adore the holy and
adorable foolishness of the Infancy of a God. Let afflicted hearts and
penitent souls derive solid consolation from the sufferings of their Sav
iour by mingling their tears with His. Let us all hasten to Bethlehem,
dear brethren following the footsteps of those holy shepherds who were
the first to render their homage to the infant Messiah, that we may re
turn, as they did, replenished with a holy joy, and filled with love and
gratitude; and that, for the time to come, we may consecrate our whole
lives to His glory and service, and, after death, may be permitted to
praise Him for all eternity in His heavenly kingdom. Amen.
MCCARTHY S. J.
CHRISTMAS DAY.
"/announce to you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all the people?
for this day is born to you a Saviour." Luke, ii. 10, n.
This happy announcement, which was once made so gladly by an
Angel in the silence of midnight, is now made with equal gladness by
the Church in the fullness of midday, not on the mountains, but in the
midst of every city of the Christian world. For, to the Church of God,
dear brethren, the Birth of our dear Lord is not an event of antiquity,
long past and long gone by, to be numbered amongst the occurrences of
buried ages. What St. Paul said, centuries ago, our holy Church ever
continues to say: "J esus Christ yesterday, and to-day, and the same for
ever." Hebr., xiii. 8. His is not an existence destined for a limited time.
He is for all time, the earliest and the latest. He was born not only
for those living upon the earth when the Angels sang their song above
His crib in the ruined stable, but for those also who had gone before, as
well as for those who were yet to come. Abraham, two thousand years
before, saw the day of Christ and was glad; the Patriarchs and Pro
phets looked forward joyfully to an event which was pregnant with
CHRISTMAS DAY. 67
hopes of salvation for them ; and with equal joy, we, in our day, look back
to that prelude of Redemption which was to be to every faithful soul a
never-failing source of happiness. Yes, the glad tidings of the angel still
echo throughout the world; and the Church takes up the heavenly mes
sage and makes it still her own. It is she who proclaims, to-day, what for
eighteen hundred years she has never ceased to proclaim on every recur
rence of this great solemnity: "I announce to you good tidings of
great joy which shall be to all the people; for this day is born to you a
Saviour." Let me then invite you, dear Christian, to hearken to this
welcome summons of great joy. It certainly can never be a difficult
or distasteful duty. We shall see what are the greatness and extent
of this joy,
/. In the fact, and
II. In Us commemoration
I. The Birth of Christ, in its fact, was a cause of universal joy; a joy
diffused not only over all the masses of mankind; but mounting up even
to the abode of the God-head in heaven.
i. To the Eternal Father it was an event of exceeding joy ; for He that
is born is His Only-begotten Son, dwelling in His bosom, and proceed
ing from Him for all eternity. The voice which was heard by men, at
His Baptism and at His Transfiguration, must have found expression,
also, at His Birth: His Mother and the angels must have distinctly
heard it: "This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased." Matth.,
iii. i7,-xvii. 5. In His Wisdom and Goodness, the Father had de
signed and decreed from the beginning that His own divine Son should
become Man, and be born of a woman ; and what His Wisdom and Good
ness had thus decreed, His Power now executes. Therefore He rejoices
because His sovereign will has been accomplished. And to the Son
Himself what an occasion of joy is this! He rejoices as a giant running
His course; He commences, with a heart full of happiness, that work of
of love which always delighted Him, the fulfillment of His heavenly
Father s will. The Incarnate Word delights to enter the world; and
though He is so poorly welcomed by His creatures, He congratulates
Himself upon His arrival among them, and at once begins to dispense
His graces and blessings. He rejoices even in His poverty by will
ingly accepting it; it is His own choice and preference. He is obeying
His Father: therefore He rejoices. He is honoring His Immaculate
Mother: therefore He looks up into her sweet face with delight. He is
purchasing the salvation and the happiness of immortal souls; there
fore He rejoices. As the Apostles rejoiced when they went away suffer-
68 CHRISTMAS DAY.
ing from the tribunals of their judges; rejoiced, because they were con
sidered worthy to endure reproach for the name of Jesus; so, at His
Birth, He, for whom this name was in store rejoiced in all the suffer
ings which surrounded Him, rejoiced at His entrance into a world
which He was determined to redeem by suffering.
2. The Holy Ghost rejoices in the appearance of the Incarnate Word
among men, because He sees in this event the result of His own coop
eration with the Virgin Mother. That the Immaculate Virgin was really
the Spouse of the Divine Spirit we learn from the Inspired Text itself;
for when Mary, (anxious for the preservation of her virginity,which she
would not have sacrificed even for the honor of such a glorious Mater
nity,) asked of the angel Gabriel: "How can this be done?" the an
gel of God made answer: "The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and
the power of the Most High shall overshadow thee." Luke, i. 35. As
at the Baptism of Christ when the Eternal Father expressed His com
placency in His divine Son, the Spirit of God descended upon our Lord
in the form of a dove, even so may we imagine that same divine Spirit
hovering as a dove above the crib of Bethlehem, and brooding with joy
over the Christ-Child and His sinless Mother. And thus does the Birth
of Him, whose praises the Angels sung, give joy to the Most Blessed
Trinity, "Glory to God in the highest."
3. But it is to the whole of mankind \ to all the people, (as the good angel
declares to the watchful shepherds), that this great day is a cause of joy.
First and foremost amongst the children of men stands the holy and
Immaculate Virgin, the happy, privileged Mother, through whom He
enters incarnate into this world. No joy of creatures can equal hers.
It stands alone. It is a mother s joy. He was born for all, but espe
cially for her, upon whom has now come down the glory and the joy of
an exceptional Maternity. Her hours of anxiety have passed away, and
she rejoices because a Man is born into the world. These, you remem
ber, were our Lord s own words when He defined the peculiar felicity of
a mother s joy. As Adam rejoiced over the created Eve, formed, as she
was, from his own substance, and, looking upon her, said: "This now
is bone of my bone, and flesh of my flesh," so may we imagine Mary
looking upon her own beloved Son in the stable of Bethlehem, and, in the
fullness of her joy, addressing to Him these tender words. She had
been appointed to reverse the disastrous work of Eve, and, through
Mary, the Woman aow says to the Man, what the first man once said to the
first woman. And her good and faithful husband Joseph participates in
her joy; Mary and her chaste spouse are both filled with delight as they
gaze in a spirit of wondering admiration upon Him, "on whom the An
gels long to look."
CHRISTMAS DAY. 69
4. Angels? yes, Angels are there; and, full of heavenly rapture, they
also share in the joy of this wonderful day. If they bring tidings of
great joy to all the people, they do not and cannot exclude themselves
from a share in that felicity. They love mankind too sincerely not to
take part in a happiness which concerns those creatures of God, to
whom they are appointed as ministering spirits. The mystery concerns
them also, though not so directly as it concerns man; for the Eternal
Word assumed not the nature of an angel, but that other nature a little
lower than the Angels. Heb., i. 14. The Word was made Flesh. It
was belief in the Incarnation of the Son of God, and submission to
that mystery, which confirmed the good Angels in glory; and, therefore,
even for their own sakes the heavenly spirits rejoice. Behold them,
dear brethren, hearken to them in their glad chorus, singing the
praises of their Lord and our Lord! They are the first Apostles and
Evangelists of this joyful event; for the Gloria in excelsis" first sung
by them upon the blessed, Christmas Eve, is fittingly called the Angeli
cal Hymn. It is now no longer the ancient prophets, it is the Angels,
who announce, not an event that is yet to come when a "a Virgin shall
conceive, and bring forth a Son," but an event that is already accom
plished, because this day is born a Saviour. "If there is joy in heaven
before the Angels of God over one sinner that doth penance," (Luke,
xv. 7), what great joy must there not be before the celestial choirs, not
over one penitent alone, but over the whole body of penitents recon
ciled to their God !
5. But especially to mankind, to all the people, is this proclaimed a
day of joy. It is to us that a Saviour is born; and as the Creed tells
us "it was for us men and for our salvation, He came down from
heaven, was incarnate by the Holy Ghost of the Virgin Mary, and was
made man." What universal joy, on many accounts, does this
great fact bring into the world! Sin, with its harsh and melancholy
pressure, is removed, and grace begins its reign upon earth. "The
grace of God our Saviour hath appeared to all men." We have been re
conciled to God, and peace is now made with heaven; because the
Prince of Peace has become one of us. How can heaven look down
upon earth except in love, when earth is now blessed with such a
precious gift ? We are exalted in dignity; for in the same proportion
as the Incarnate Word has humbled Himself by becoming man, He
has raised up man to a level with Himself. Therefore St. Peter uses an
expression from which we, dear brethren, would be inclined to shrink,
which we could scarcely have dared to use of ourselves, viz.: that,
through Jesus Christ our Lord, we are made partakers of the divine
nature. Is not the event of this day one of joy, then, to all the people ?
Saints rejoice because this day has purchased for them grace and per-
70 CHRISTMAS DAY.
severance. Sinners rejoice, because it has gained for them repentance
and pardon.
II. The event which we solemnize to day was intimately associated
with joy, and in like manner, is not its commemoration necessarily
one of joy? The anniversary of any great event in the history of a
country is never forgotten, but the occurrence itself is made to live
again as, year after year, it is celebrated by a proud and grateful peo
ple. Just think of the Fourth of July. Will that day ever be forgotten
by the American people? When, in the Old Testament, the command
was given to the Israelites to commemorate each year with great joy,
until the end of time, the event of their liberation from the bondage of
Egypt, a principle was affirmed which nations illustrate, when they com
memorate each year the victories by which they have conquered op
pressors or achieved their independence. What a conquest does not
this day commemorate, and why should not the commemoration be as
sociated with glory and joy ? The mystery of the Incarnation has not
been exhausted of its blessings: they are as abundant and as efficacious
now, as upon the very day when the angel proclaimed joy to all the
people.
The Church, therefore, rejoices on this festival, and commands us to
join with her in her spirit of gladness. Advent, the season of penance
and of watching, has passed, and we are now reaping the fruit for which
we labored during those four weeks of prayerful self-denial. We were
then living over again the four thousand years of gloom, when hope
deferred was sickening the souls of men ; and when the children of Adam
were longing in painful suspense for a blessing which was still kept out
of their reach. Now it is no longer deferred: it is in our possession,
and, consequently, we have a right to rejoice. If, as we have seen, the
Birth of the Son of God gave joy to the Eternal Father, to the Son
Himself, as well as to the Holy Ghost, the Church, because she
is the Church of God and the tabernacle of the Holy Ghost, must
rejoice, and be in harmony with her Founder. She represents
Almighty God upon earth, and His cause is entrusted to her keeping.
Whatever advances this cause occasions joy to her; and therefore, on
account of this increase to the glory of her God, she is filled with
joy. Then, again, her doctrine of the Communion of Saints, which
with holy Church is so practical a reality, makes her a partaker of the
joy of the Virgin Mother, of the happy St. Joseph, of the rapturous
choir of the Angels. She, at least, is never forgetful of the honor due
to the ever-blessed Motherof the Incarnate Word: zealously and solidly
she defends that honor; and she cannot penetrate into the stable of
Bethlehem without seeing what the shepherds and kings saw of old when
they made their way thither, Jesus, with Mary, His Mother. That grand
CHRISTMAS DAY. 71
old Church has not, it is true, yet entered upon her future triumph
ant state; but she already finds herself in company with many thou
sands of Angels and the spirits of the just made perfect who are the bliss
ful attendants of the Church of the First-born among nations. Certainly,
a festival like this revives for her all these delightful associations; and
therefore it is that the tone of her joy to-day is so preeminently pure and
exalted. And what good reason has she not to rejoice, to-day, over
her own visible members here below! She knows that all her children
must be influenced by the spirit of this Festival; and since it is now an
occasion of blessing to them, therefore, it is a cause of joy to her. It
was especially for men that the mystery was effected, and it is especially
for men that its annual commemoration is solemnized. We feel to-day
that heaven is brought closer to us. Angels, who inhabit that blessed
kingdom, are mingling their songs with ours; they are leading our
chorus to-day, and it is not hard for us to rejoice when we become
one spirit with the celestial choirs. So many graces and blessings are
being showered down upon us, that we cannot help rejoicing. And par
ticularly if in holy Communion we have ourselves become a Bethlehem,
a house of bread, if He that is the living Bread that has come down
from heaven, has taken up His abode within us, Angels are, doubtless,
at this moment singing around us also, and helping us to more fervent
and loving acts of thanksgiving and praise. It is, then, a day of universal
joy, and the message of the Angel has not been received in vain.
And shall there be an exception to all this happiness? What
about the poor, dear Christians? Are they also to rejoice ? There is,,
.indeed, about this festival much to comfort them and make them rejoice.
Do they not see how their own state was privileged in Bethlehem ?
How He that was born, there in the stable, was born poor, of poor,
parents; and that His first earthly adorers were of the class of the poor
the hard- working, the watchful mountain-shepherds? There is, then,
much to make them rejoice, when they contemplate the details, and!
study the lessons of this solemnity. But that is not the only question
which affects their state upon this day. You, who are not poor,what are
you to do in order to contribute to the joy of the destitute on this festival of
universal joy ? If you make these days occasion of earthly rejoicing,
of social meetings, of conviviality; if you do nothing to contribute to
the wants of the poor, to whom this is, oftentimes, a season of unusual
suffering and privation, and who feel their wants all the more, when
they see others in a state of unusual rejoicing, are you not adding to
their sufferings, instead of trying to alleviate them? Do deeds of charity in
their behalf, send them words of comfort; lay aside something tobe con
secrated to the use of the poor. Allow your clergy to go among them with
your gifts; or, better still, bear them yourselves, and saytothem: * I an
nounce to you tidings of great joy, for this is your own special festival, and
72 CHRISTMAS DAY.
amongst you has the Saviour been born." View in the persons of the poor,
the sacred Humanity of Him who has to-day assumed our nature. Let
not your sympathy with them be that of sentiment only, but let it be
real and efficacious. Do not tell them, in their hunger, in their cold
and naked state, to be warmed and filled and comforted; but go to
them in person, and with true Christian charity help to relieve their
sufferings. Remember that the Divine Child who is born to-day says:
4t Whatever you do to the poor , you do to Me. "* Be assured, then, that
if you sincerely wish to gain the full blessings of this happy solem
nity, and to taste a joy, pure, and worthy of such a day, you can secure
all that you desire for yourself by your acts of charity to these favorites
of heaven. The Child Jesus, poor and outcast, will be a special Friend
and Saviour to those, who, in their turn, have made themselves friends
and saviours of the poor. These are the men of good will, to whom
the angels proclaim peace, to-day; and unto these will be given that
-everlasting joy and peace, the fruit of the blessing inaugurated by the
Incarnation and Birth of the Prince of Peace.
J. N. SWEENY. O. S. B.
73-
SUNDAY AFTER CHRISTMAS.
ON THE POSSIBILITY OF A BAD DEATH.
^ Behold, this child is set for the ruin and for the resurrection of many in
Israel, and for a sign which shall be contradicted. Luke 2: 34.
Has not this prophecy been fulfilled to the very letter? The Infant
Jesus was a mark of contradiction first to Herod the king; then, throughout
his entire life on earth, he was a mark of contradiction to his own people,
and finally ever since his death, Christ Crucified has been a mark of con
tradiction to the bad Catholic as well as to the heretic; for we cannot
deny that he is contradicted by many who pretend and profess to be his
followers. Christ Crucified is a stumbling block to the Jews and foolish
ness to the Gentiles, and many of the believers are scandalized in him.
"Behold, this Child is set for the ruin and for the resurrection of many in
Israel, and for a sign which shall be contradicted. " Many believe in him
and obey him, and by their belief in Christ, and their obedience to him
are saved; behold, this Child is set for their resurrection. But many
neither believe in him, nor obey him; and, behold, again, this Child is set
for their ruin. God wills, indeed, all men to be saved; he enlightens
every one who comes into this world; but because the proud are scandal
ized by his humility because the wicked refuse to accept the doctrine of
Christ or to live according to its precepts, it follows that this Child is set
for their ruin. Yea, set for the ruin of many; many who will die in their
sins and perish eternally. We must all fear lest such a lot should befall
us. There is no one who has not occasion to consider: "Perhaps this
Child is set for my ruin. " It is really expedient to ponder, at times, this
terrible supposition; for he who dreads an evil, takes every precaution
against it, (to be forewarned is to be forearmed;) and he who is always on
his guard, has good reason to hope that he may escape the threatened
calamity. It is not my intention to diminish this salutary fear in you; on
the contrary, I shall use every exertion to preserve, and, if possible, in
crease it. Hear, then, the reasons, which are calculated to strike every
one of us with fear and trembling.
I. Any one of the faithful may die unrepentant.
II. Many of the faithful die unrepentant, and
III. It is very probable that the greater part of the adult faithful die ill
ye SUNDAY AFTER CHRISTMAS.
I. We wrong our souls when we delude them with a security which
does not exist. There is no one in the whole world, who can say with
certainty: "I will die a good death, and go straight to heaven." The in
nocent and just man cannot say it, even though he mav Lave preserved
the purity of his morals unspotted amidst tne dangers 01 a corrupt world;
the sincere penitent cannot say it, even though he does rigorous penance
for sins of which he has already repented; for, at any moment, the just
man may fall from his righteousness, and the penitent may relapse into
his sins and both may die impenitent. I do not doubt, my dear breth
ren, that your resolution to avoid sin, is strong, but the strength of your re
solution does not eradicate the innate weakness of your nature. We can
not say that we shall be faithful to-morrow, because we have been faith
ful to-day. Inborn in the children of earth, there is an evil concupiscence
which makes the flesh rebel against the spirit; there is a most violent pro
pensity to evil, a host of unruly passions which are never entirely subdued,
but are ever ready to disturb the peace of the heart how then can we
say with certainty, that we shall not succumb in the struggle, and fall into
sin? How easy is it for the understanding, which often deceives itself, to
mistake the wrong for the right ! how easy for the will which is so weak
and unstable, to deviate from the path of godliness ! We are frail as a
reed, unsteady as a leaf, and changeable as the weather; what constancy,
what perseverance in virtue can we promise then ourselves ?
There are enemies on all sides of us; enemies within us, our treacher
ous passions; enemies without us, the spirit of darkness and his evil angels;
enemies around us, the wicked world and its alluring emissaries; and all
these enemies labor hard to deprive us of the treasure of grace which we
carry in a frail, earthen vessel, liable to be broken, when we least expect
it. Does not all nature seem conspired to ruin us ? What place is there
in which there is no danger ? When is the time which is devoid of scan
dals ? When we least think of it, we are provoked to anger by the most
trifling cause. How many are the rocks on which we may suffer ship
wreck, almost without knowing it ! How many are led astray by the
false maxims of the world ! Indeed, the whole world is steeped in wick
edness and covered with snares; no step is without danger, and unless we
use the most vigilant precaution, we shall be entangled and lost. The devil
assails with the greatest violence that side of the heart which he knows to
be the weakest; and seeing that he can do nothing by violence, he endeav
ors by stratagem to lead us into his snares, transforming himself for that
purpose into an angel of light. Who, then, can be without fear of eternal
ruin in the midst of so many dangers? who can say with certainty, "There
is no danger for me, I am entirely safe and secure " ?
It is true, God assists us with his grace to battle against the corrupt in
clinations of the heart, the alluring charms of the world, and the violent
temptations of the devil; I know this, and blessed are we, if we avail our-
SUNDAY AFTER CHRISTMAS. 75
selves of this succor; but, notwithstanding the grace which he proffers,
now often have we not to bewail the most dishonorable defeats? The
grace of God was not wanting to St. Peter, and yet he fell. David, a man
according to the heart of God, yielded to temptation, and committed
murder and adultery. Judas, an apostle, was lost in the school of Christ.
Our first parents certainly had not to deplore their want of grace; on the
contrary, grace found in them no opposition on the part of rebellious con
cupiscence, and yet they when tempted, fell from their high estate. Even
the angels in heaven sinned, though their nature was free from the burden
of the flesh, and endowed with many other glorious prerogatives. Con
sidering all this, who will say that he need not fear? The strongest trees
are shaken and thrown down by a sudden blast after having withstood for
centuries the most violent storms, and we, weak reeds that we are, will we
say that there is no danger for us ?
It is, indeed, a great consolation for us, if we can say with St. Paul:
"I am not conscious to myself of anything," but even upon this consol
ing consciousness we cannot base the certainty of a happy death; for the
Apostle goes on to tell us: "Yet I am not hereby justified. I chastise my
body, and bring it into subjection, lest perhaps when I have preached to
others, I myself should become a cast-away." St. Paul in fear of becom
ing a cast-away! What shall we say of ourselves, who are so lacking in
the virtues and perfection of St. Paul ? Have we not all reason to fear the
horrors of an unhappy death ? But if we really possess this holy and sal
utary fear of the Apostle, how do we show it ? St. Paul manifested his
fear by chastising his body, and bringing it into subjection. Do we chas
tise our bodies? Do we bring them into subjection? Ah, if persevering
bodily austerity is the index of a wholesome fear of an unhappy death, we
must confess that this fear is to be found only with the minority; for the
generality of Christians seem to exist solely for sensual enjoyments, and
their criminal flesh shrinks from the most trifling mortifications. A little
sprinkling of rain, a light snow or frost, will furnish them an excuse for
not hearing Mass on Sundays and Holidays. Do they fear becoming cast
aways? Ah! it is no proof of wisdom to say with the lips that you fear an
unhappy death; for if you really fear that irreparable calamity, and yet
make no preparation against it, you must be mad.
II. We should fear a bad death because many of the faithful actually
die unrepentant. Death is the gate through which man passes into
eternity; a good death leads to a happy eternity, a bad death, to
endless misery. Now, it is certain, beyond doubt, that many pass
through this second gate into eternity. Hear what Christ says: "Wide
is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and many
there are who go in thereat." Just look at the life of the general
ity of Christians, and you can easily judge for yourselves how they will
76 SUNDAY AFTER CHRISTMAS.
die. Do not many of them lead bad lives? Consider every condition of
age and sex, and then tell me, if you do not find more sinners than, just
and good people? How many fathers and mothers neglect to instruct
their children in the principles of religion, and present, instead, to their
households, examples of irreligion and impiety ? How many sons and
daughters know nothing of obedience and submission to their parents ?
How many give way to slander and detraction, to cursing and swearing ?
How many are addicted to drunkenness and impurity? Among business-
people, are there not in many stores more lies told than goods sold ? In
many houses, do not the very walls resound with curses, imprecations,
and blasphemies ? How many are ruined by anger, how many are blinded
by pride, how many are destroyed by drunkenness, how many denied with
impurity? Was there ever a time when sin and iniquity of every descrip
tion were more prevalent than in our days? Peace and justice, instead of
kissing each other, have left the land; cursing and lying, homicide, theft,
and adultery have overflowed the earth. Now, as there are so many who
lead bad lives, must we not draw the unavoidable conclusion that many
also make a bad, unholy, and unhappy end? He that lives ill, dies ill;
this is a truth taught by the Sacred Scriptures, and corroborated by daily
experience.
Perhaps you will say: There are many sins committed, but there are
also many confessions; and if the number of sinners is great, the number
of penitents is, also, great. True, a sincere and persevering penance is the
only plank of safety which can bring the sinner out of the immense ocean
of sin into the harbor of a happy eternity, but can that be called a sincere
repentance which has no earnest and firm resolution to avoid sin? or,
which, (according to its own statement,) undertakes an impossibility,
namely, to avoid sin without avoiding the occasion of sin ? Again, can
you call it a sincere repentance when sinners instead of accusing them
selves of their crimes and offences, excuse, color, palliate, extenuate, and
even conceal them in confession ? And is not the repentance of most
Christians who thus approach the tribunal of penance, of this doubtful
order? I assure you, it is easier to find an innocent person who never
committed a mortal sin, than to find a true Gospel-penitent, who really
does penance for his past sins. But, my dear brethren, even if I grant
you that the repentance of many is sincere for the time being, tell me
frankly, is it also persevering ? Do not many rise from their sins, only to
fall back into them again? Do they not promise much and perform little?
Yes, they go one week to confession, and the next, they return, like the
dogs, to their vomit. They spend a few Sundays with God, but the rest
they spend with the devil. And who could be insane enough to base the
hope of a good death upon such a so-called repentance ?
Where is our fear? St. Ephrem says: "If there were but one, who
should die ill, I would fear that I was that unfortunate being," but we
SUNDAY AFTER CHRISTMAS. 77
know that not only one but many will die ill, and we have no fear of being
one of that multitude? Indeed, there are but few that fear an unhappy
end. They have no time to think of death, because they think of nothing
but money and pleasures, lands and houses, and the perishable things of
this world. In their presence, no one is permitted to speak of prayer and
the Sacraments; the mere mention of penance and mortification strikes
terror into their hearts; and, nevertheless ,they live in as strong a conviction
of a happy death, as if they had had a revelation from heaven to that
effect. Whence arises this accursed security? When Christ said to his
Apostles, at the Last Supper, that one of them would betray him, the
eleven, who were innocent, were filled with terror and began to ask him
one after another: "Is it I, O Lord?" Am I that malefactor and son of
perdition? Oh! that the same effects were produced in your hearts, my
brethren, by that fear and terror with which the consideration of the great
multitude of the lost must inspire us! Let us ask ourselves whether we are
of the number of those who will die ill; and then, pausing to listen to the
unerring testimony of conscience, let us turn to God and say to him: Is
it I, O Lord? Will I be one of the vast multitude who die in enmity with
thee, one of the unhappy myriads who are lost for ever? Let us beseech
him at the same time to assist us with his grace, to enable us faithfully to
discharge our duties, and persevere in doing penance all the days of our
lives, to the end that we may avert from ourselves such an irreparable evil.
III. It is very probable, as I have said, my brethren, that the greater
number of adults die unrepentant. According to the Apostle, all the
events recorded in the Old Testament were only figures and types by
which God permitted the Israelites to behold under the shadow of things
present, the substance of other things which were yet to come. "All
these things happened to them in figure." Now, if this be so, I
desire to know what conclusion you draw from the fact that at the
general Deluge only eight persons were saved; at the conflagra
tion of Sodom, only two; and at the destruction of Jericho, the inmates of
but one solitary house ? I desire to know why it was that out of the
sixty thousand men who left Egypt with Moses, only two entered the
Land of Promise? What else do we see in this alarming minority but
the small number of the elect? More Christians are lost than saved.
When Christ was asked: "Are they few that are saved?" He said no
more than this: "Strive to enter by the narrow gate." It would seem, at
first sight, as if his answer (we speak with all reverence), was not apposite
to the question, but it was; by these words he would give us to understand
that but few souls are saved; for at another time he said: "How narrow
is the gate and strait the way that leads to life, and few there are that find
it." And again: "Wide is the gate and broad the way that leads to de
struction, and many there are who go in thereat. " What can be more ex-
78 SUNDAY AFTER CHRISTMAS.
plicit? And what shall we say of that terrible sentence which he twice
pronounced: " Many are called, but few are chosen?" What does it mean
but that many are invited to the heavenly banquet of eternal life but that
human weakness and malice do not suffer them to partake of it? What
else can it mean but that many die in their sins and perish eternally?
Indeed, if we consider the duties and obligations of religion, which are
neither light nor few, we see that but very few Christians fulfil them strict
ly and exactly. The Gospel requires of us to deny ourselves, to mortify
our senses, to despise the world with its pride and pomp; to detest sin
more than any other evil, to love God above all, and our neighbor as our
selves for God s sake; to forgive injuries and offences, and to love our
enemies; to live in innocence; to do violence to ourselves, and to merit
heaven by hard fighting amidst the hardships of a spiritual camp. These
things are not easy, they are the Way of the Cross. This Gospel is not
pleasant, it is no holiday sport. Now, tell me, do you find many who
discharge all these duties and obligations to the letter? You are not
ignorant that he who transgresses in one point, is become guilty of all,
and that the observance of the other commandments will avail him noth
ing to salvation. And do not most Christians transgress one or the other
of the commandments? Do not many Christians live according to the
maxims of the world? Do they not do what they see others do, and not
what God wills? Do they not give free scope to their passions ? Can we
then wonder that, as there are but few faithful servants of God, few only
will be saved?
And do you know why it appears strange to us, my brethren, that there
should be but few who end their lives in a holy manner? Because we
generally judge from what we see, from outward appearances. But the
appearance is deceitful. We see many receive the Sacraments, the con
fessionals are always besieged by an army of penitents; but we do not
consider that the reception of the Sacraments is, too often, alas! not fol
lowed by an amendment of life. The best sign of a good confession is the
amendment of life. We see many crowding to listen to the word of God,
but how few are there who reap any benefit from it ? We see many at
tend to their prayers and go to church on Sundays and Holydays, because
it is customary or because if they remained at home, time would hang
heavily on their hands. Such Christians are not in earnest about what
they do; they are among the many who are called, but not among the few
chosen.
And yet, O great and immortal God! (some will exclaim:) Christ has
not shed his blood for a few, but for all mankind. Heaven has not been
made only for a few; there are many who receive the rites of the Church
in their last sickness. It is true, Christ shed his blood for all mankind,
but as it is not derogatory to his blood that not all are saved, so no re
proach is cast upon it, that only a few are saved. It is true that Heaven
SUNDAY AFTER CHRISTMAS. 79
has not been made for a few only, but it is equally true, that only a few
emer it, because there are only a few, that merit it by complying with the
conditions upon which alone it can be gained. Many, indeed, receive the
last Sacraments on their death-bed, but not all who appear to die well,
really die well. I am more inclined to believe that saint who said: "He
that lives ill, will die ill," than all those nice preparations neglected in
life, but made in the hour of death. No, let us not deceive ourselves
with a false security; we all have reason to fear an unhappy end. The
Apostle does not exhort us in vain to work out our salvation with fear and
trembling. As only a few die well, nothing remains for us but to strive to
be of the number of the few who live well, for as a man lives, so he dies.
Do not concern yourselves as to what others do in this matter; how they
speak, how they live, and conduct themselves; your only care and busi
ness must be to do what the Gospel requires of you, individually, and to
do it in spite of the multitude who neglect it. The world may scoff at
you, laugh at you, ridicule you, but remember that he laughs best who
laughs last. The world despises those whom God honors, and honors
those whom he despises. Do not desire nor strive to please the world; if
you please the world, you will surely displease God, for the ways and the
wisdom of the world are not the ways and the wisdom of God. Try to
please God alone; and live in such a manner that you may be considered
worthy to be of the number of the chosen few, who by the narrow gate
enter into the mansions of eternal bliss. Amen.
SUNDAY AFTER CHRISTMAS.
REFLECTIONS SUGGESTED BY THE CLOSE OF THE YEAR.
This child is set for the ruin and for the resurrection of many." Luke 2: 34.
For the last time in this year you are assembled in this church. Four
days more, and this year also, like so many others which have preceded
it, will be gone forever. Important and priceless are the last hours and
moments which we spend with a dear friend who is about to depart from
us never to return; and we become the more serious and thoughtful, the
nearer the moment of our separation approaches. The year 1885 which
will terminate in a few days, is like a friend who leaves us, and goes forth
from us forevermore. We have lived in it and with it, it has been our
constant and faithful attendant on our journey; our associate in joy and
grief; our companion in good and evil days. And should not the depart
ing year awake in us feelings similar to those which we experience at the
departure of an intimate friend ? Should not the last hours of the depart-
80 SUNDAY AFTER CHRISTMAS.
ing year be equally as important to us as the last hours which we spend
with a departing friend ? Should we not in like manner uecome serious
and thoughtful, all the more serious and thoughtful, the closer the year
approaches to its end ? Only the indifferent and careless can pass from
one year to another without serious reflection and meditation; only the
thoughtless can finish a certain important period of time, and enter upon
an uncertain new one, without being moved to serious reflections by the
change. Let us not be of their number; let us not leave this year without
some wholesome thoughts and reflections suggested by the Gospel of the
day, which exhorts us to correct in the New year the mistakes we have
made in the Old; and to grow and become strong in wisdom and grace
before God and man, as we advance in age.
The Gospel of this day brings before us Joseph and Mary in the temple
of Jerusalem, where, forty days after his birth, they presented and dedi
cated the Infant Jesus to his Eternal Father. Simeon and Anna were
there, that day, in the temple; two persons venerable with age, and re
nowned for their piety and holy lives. Simeon had received the promise
from the Lord that he should not die till he had seen his Saviour-God
with his corporal eyes. Scarce had he beheld Joseph and Mary with their
Child, than he recognized in him the hope and expectation of Israel.
Taking the Babe into his arms, and filled with the spirit of prophecy, he
exclaimed: "Behold, this Child is set for the ruin and for the resurrection
of Israel, and for a sign which shall be contradicted." The Mother of
Jesus and his holy Foster father wondered at what they thus heard from
Simeon of the future destiny and high dignity of their Son. And whilst
we contemplate those blessed spouses gazing with wonder and astonishment
into the futu-e, so, on our part, let us, at the end of this year, gaze with
wonder and astonishment, into the past. A whole year lies behind us,
with all its events aud vicissitudes, with all its joys and sufferings, with
all its troubles and consolations. And if we look back once more upon
those departed days, if we recall once more what we have lived to witness
and experience, must we not also wonder like Joseph and Mary? and will
not the past events excite our astonishment, even as the future events ex
cited theirs?
Yes, we must wonder and return thanks to God, our Protector, who
has preserved our health and life unharmed amidst the many dangers that
threatened us. We still live, whilst but for him we might have died any
day, any hour, any moment of the past year; we still live, and enjoy
our existence, whilst many younger and stronger than we, who began the
year with us, have departed ere its close. We must be astonished at the
greatness and plenitude of God s benefits to us; at so many signal proofs
of his love and mercy towards us, which we have not deserved, which often
we have not acknowledged, or, if acknowledged, we have abused, or re
paid with ingratitude. We must be astonished at the course of the divine
SUNDAY AFTER CHRISTMAS. 8r
-dispensations in our regard. How widely different from our views was
God s conduct of affairs! How many things happened contrary to our
expectations and wishes; how many events which we deemed hurtful or
disadvantageous to us, turned out in the end, true blessings in disguise;
how much that seemed fraught with our ruin, was really for our benefit!
Because we understood not the ways of him who often leads to light
through darkness, we complained in our childish ignorance of many trials
for which we have now reason to praise his wisdom and goodness; and
confessing our hastiness, we are forced, this hour, to exclaim: "God
hath done all things well!"
The life of man extends over seventy, or, at most, eighty years. Simeon
and Anna had reached that age, and stood, as it were, at the close of
their career. We are at the end of a year, and, consequently, one year
nearer to the close of life than we were twelve months ago. Of the seventy
or eighty years, which, at most, we can expect to live, one year is gone
forever. Nay more, of the ten, twenty, thirty years which are wanting to
us to complete the seventy or eighty years of life, one additional year is
past, never to return. A new year extends its inviting vista before us. A
new year which will be the last, perhaps, we shall ever live to see; pos
sibly, we may live to the end of it; possibly, we may not. We do not
know, and we cannot know this; only the Almighty One knows, who has
counted our days, before we had an existence; who has power over life
and death saying: "Thus far, and no farther." But this much we do
know: another year is past; we are one year older than we were a year
ago; we are one year nearer to the grave; and we know that in ten, twenty,
thirty years many of us shall be no more; that in less than a hundred
years not one of us here present will be living, but that we shall be then in
eternity, either forever happy, or forever miserable.
Nor is this all. The year 1885 is past, indeed, but our works of the
year survive in their consequences; they are recorded above, either for or
against us. The days of the Old year are gone for ever, so that no trace
of them can be found, but our doings of those days are written upon the
records of God in characters that can never be effaced. Whatever good
or evil we have done; whatever sins we have committed; whatever duties
we have omitted; all these, the departed year hath left behind it; all these
remain untouched by the tooth of time, and will live and last for ever.
Hence, we have not only lived another year, but we have lived it, either
for our salvation or our reprobation. Oh! that we might be able to say
with Job: "My heart, my conscience reproveth me not in my whole life!"
Oh! that we had not to accuse ourselves of so many bad thoughts, sinful
desires, and evil deeds during the year! Oh! that all our past days and
hours had been spent in the service of God, and were now happily recorded
in the Book of Life! But he who says that he has no sin, is a liar, and the
truth is not in him. Even the just man falls seven times, who, therefore,
82 SUNDAY AFTER CHRISTMAS.
knows how often we have fallen during the past year ? How many times
we have been guilty of infidelity to duty, of disobedience to the law of
God? How many days we have lived in hatred and enmity with our
neighbor? How many months we have been under the influence and
dominion of our unruly passions? Oh! when the Apostle says: "Though
I am not conscious to myself of anything, yet herein I am not justified;
my judge is the Lord, who will bring to light what is hidden, and mani
fest the thoughts," when St. Paul thus declared that he dared not consider
himself just, how dare we think ourselves just and irreproachable, who
are so far removed from his high state of perfection ?
Hence, I think, we all have reason, more or less, at the end of the year,
to look back upon our past lives with fear and trembling; we all have
reason to cry out to God in humility and contrition of heart: "Have mercy
on me, O God, according to thy great mercy, and according to the mul
titude of thy tender mercies, blot out my iniquity!" And: "O God, be
merciful to me, a sinner!" Yes, a long array of transgressions, of viola
tions or omissions of duty rise before us, and stare us in the face; all
these are written down upon the records of God; they will one day testify
against us, and, unless we repent, will call down upon us the terrible
anathema of an offended Judge: "Depart from me, ye cursed, into ever
lasting fire." "If the wicked do penance for all the sins which he has com
mitted, and keep all my commandments, and do judgment and justice,
living he shall live, and shall not die." (Ezech. 18: 21.) I will not re
member his crimes and iniquities which he has committed on account of
the justice he fulfils; he shall live, says the Lord.
Wash away, then, your iniquities by penitential tears, and put off the old
man. Leave behind you, with the Old year, all hatred and enmity, all
rancor and envy, all the excesses of your passions and evil habits. Leave
everything that is not good behind you, take nothing but what is pure and
holy into the New year; forgive all injuries and offences; retract whatever
you have said wrongfully against your neighbor; restore ill-gotten goods;
put off the old man with all his works, and put on the new man, created ac
cording to Christ, our Lord. Love one another, my brethren, and thus in
the fear and the love of God, begin with the New year a new life which
shall prove acceptable to God and profitable to yourselves.
Jesus advanced in wisdom, and the grace of God was in him. This is
the vocation and destiny of man. As we grow in years, so we must ad
vance in wisdom and every virtue; we must delight in doing the will of
God, and the will of God is contained in the commandments. If thou
wilt enter into life, keep the commandments. Do good and decline from
evil. Do this, and thou shalt live.
If the householder knew at what hour the thief would come, he would
surely watch and would not suffer his house to be broken into. Be you,
then, also, ready, for at what hour you think not, the Son of man will
NNW YEAR S DAY. 83
come. This is the great lesson of vigilance which is perpetually incul
cated by our Saviour as our only security against the dreadful calamity of
an unprovided death; our only safeguard against all those endless evils
which are the unhappy consequences of an unprovided death. Watch and
pray. Our Lord, who has mercifully preserved us during the Old year,
has, in the meantime, through his angel of Death, knocked at the door of
thousands of others who this day twelve months seemed as likely to live as
ourselves. Their bodies are now corrupting in their graves, but, oh!
where are their poor souls ? And where shall our bodies be, where shall
our souls be, a twelve-month hence ? Let us, then, be always ready, and
work whilst it is day, because we do not know the day nor the hour when
the Lord shall come.
Time is short; you will die sooner than you expect. Set your house
now in order; and be prepared at any moment for your journey into eter
nity. The mercy of God has borne with you for many years past, and,
notwithstanding all the provocations of your repeated crimes and con
tinual ingratitude, he has brought you again to the beginning of a New year.
He is sincerely desirous that now, at least, you should begin a new life,
such a life as may tend by its works of piety and perfection to secure to your
souls the true Life which never ends. You have been like the barren fig-
tree planted in his vineyard, which, hitherto, has brought forth nothing
but leaves, but behold ! he is trying you once more in the hope of your
doing better for the future; he will continue, yet a little longer, to enrich
the soil of your heart by the graces of his divine Word and of his holy
Sacraments. But take care to disappoint him no more, by refusing the
fruits he expects, of a thorough amendment of life, lest, by an irrevocable
sentence, he condemn the barren fig-tree to be cut down at last and cast
forever into the fire.
NEW YEAR S DAY.
THE END OF MAN.
"O Lord, make me know my end," Ps. 38: 5.
The year 1885 with all its cares and troubles, with all its pleasures and
joys has drifted down the stream of time, never more to return. It
is estimated that thirty-two millions of people die every year. How many
then have died during the last 1885 years? Sixty thousand three hundred
and twenty millions ! Where are their souls now ? In eternity, either in
heaven or in hell. We, too, must die; we must follow them; and follow
them soon. One year, one day, will certainly be our last. What our lot
yiU be >- the other world, depends altogether upon how we spend our
84 NEW YEAR S DAY.
lives in this. We know that man dies as he lives; that we shall enter into
life if we keep the commandments; and that God will render to everyone
according to his works.
We have entered to-day upon the year 1886. Many of us have lived
thirty, forty, fifty, sixty years. What have we been doing all this time ?
What have we been striving to attain ? Did we think of the end for which
we were created ? Oh, how seldom ! And yet, of all things necessary for
man to know, the end for which he came into this world, deserves his first
attention. Being a rational creature, he ought to work for a final end in
the enjoyment of which he may find his eternal happiness. But he can
not work for this end without a knowledge of it, a knowledge which ex
cites the desire to search for and employ the means of obtaining it. A man
who knows not his last end, is like a beast. He regards only things pres
ent, things material and sensible, after the manner of the brute creation.
In this, he is more miserable than irrational animals, because they find in
these exterior objects all the felicity they are capable of, but he finds
in them neither repose nor happiness; they are to him but a source of dis
gust, and of endless misfortunes. From an ignorance of their last end
originate all the disorders discernible in the lives of men, since, forgetting
that noble and divine end for which their Creator designed them, they are
wholly taken up with the pleasures of this mortal life, living upon earth
as if they were made for the earth.
What a pitiable sight it would be to see a young prince who was destined
by his birth, one day, to wear a crown, doomed by accident or misfortune
to be bred among peasants, ignorant of his royal extraction! We would
behold him with compassion applying himself wholly to till the earth; con
fining all his pretensions within the scanty limits of earning a miserable
livelihood in the sweat of his brow, without the least thought of the high
estate to which he was born. But it is much more deplorable to see men,
who are children and heirs of heaven, designed by Almighty God to reign
eternally in his Kingdom, living in entire forgetfulness of that end for
which they were created; setting all their affections on earthly things, and
thus wretchedly depriving themselves of that immense happiness which
the bounty of their Creator has prepared for them in heaven.
Reflect then, O man ! upon these three questions: What are you ? Who
made you ? And for what end were you made ?
What are you j> You are a creature, endowed with understanding and
reason, free will and memory; composed of a body, the structure of which
is admirable, and of a reasonable soul, made to the image of God. You
are the most perfect of all his visible creatures, the master-piece of his
hand, the king of nature.
Who made you j> You were not made by yourself, for that is imposs
ible; you received from another the being you now enjoy, and from whom
have you received it but from him, who created heaven and earth, and
NEW YEAR S DAY. 85
who is the author of all things ? It is he who formed you in your mother s
womb and brought your soul out of nothing by his power. You are the
work of God, and beside the father you have here on earth, you have an
other in heaven to whom you owe all that you possess.
And why did God make you ? Have you ever asked yourself this question:
"For what end did God place me in this world?" Was it to enjoy the
sensual pleasures and satisfactions of this life ? to heap up riches, to ac
quire and enjoy glory and reputation among men ? You have souls too
noble to be destined for such wretched and perishable things; for here
below, pleasures are quickly changed into pains, riches perish, glory
vanishes like smoke. Why then did God make you ? Was it to continue
a long career upon earth, to find there your happiness, and to look for
nothing after this life ? If so, there is no difference between you and the
irrational creation. The human heart unceasingly craves happiness; man
is, therefore, created to be happy; but in order to be happy, he must seek
his happiness where it can alone be found. Some seek their happiness in
honors, others in pleasures, others again in riches, but are honors, pleas
ures, and riches, the end for which man is created ? Does not the noble
soul which God bestowed on you, clearly manifest that you are created for
a higher and more honorable end ? Does not the formation of the body
you bear, the erect stature, the uplifted head, the eyes raised towards
heaven, do not all these teach you that you are not made for the earth?
Beasts are made for the earth, there they find their happiness, and for that
reason, their heads incline towards the earth.
In God alone, you will find peace and happiness, because you will find
only in him the end for which he placed you in this world. The heart of
man never is, and never can be, satisfied with the goods of this world, be
cause it does not find in them its centre; it is uneasy without them, but
more uneasy in the possession of them. God is the end for which you are
created; he, alone, can complete your happiness. The things of this world
may have their charms, they may be useful, and agreeable to the senses,
but man is not made for them, and, consequently, they can never make
him happy. You are not created for the things of this world, but they are
created for you, for your use and benefit. They are to serve you and to
minister to your wants; but you are not to serve them. They are the
means to the end, but not the end itself. You are not forbidden to desire
them, and you are allowed to acquire them by lawful means, but only so
far as they are conducive to your eternal happiness. I, therefore, say
again, the possession of all earthly goods, the enjoyment of all possible
pleasures will not make you happy, because you were not made for them.
You are made for heaven, that is the place of your abode, as it is the
source of your origin.
And what will you find in heaven that can render you happy ? Will it
l>e the sight of the firmament with all its beautiful stars, the vision of all
86 NEW YEAR S DAY.
that is great and marvelous in heaven ? No, all these things cannot effect
your happiness. God has esteemed them too mean for you. He made
them for your service; not to be the object of your happiness. In a word,
consider that of all that the universe contains, not one of those vast and
wonderful things which God has created, not one, my brethren, is capable
of completing your happiness. For what then were you created ? For
nothing less than the possession and enjoyment of God himself in heaven.
He has not judged the fairest of creatures worthy of you; he has given him
self to be the object of your happiness, and for this reason, he gave you
souls formed to his image, capable of possessing him, and, (as every one
finds by experience), because of this very capacity, never to be satisfied with
the pleasures and delights of this life. I repeat it again and again: You
were not made for creatures, but for the Creator. Your last end is not
the enjoyment of creatures, but of God himself. You were created to be
happy in the possession of God in heaven and to reign with him in a felicity
incomprehensible to human understanding. "The eye hath not seen, nor
ear heard, neither hath it entered into the heart of man to conceive what
things God hath prepared for them that love him. " And this for how long ?
For all eternity, for a time that shall never end, but which shall continue as
long as God shall be God. This is the most noble end for which you are
designed; this is the inheritance which your heavenly Father has prepared
for you; this is the end for which he has created you. All this visible
world is but destined for your present use, to aid you in promoting the
glory of the Creator.
What have you done, hitherto, to attain the blessed end for which God
has designed you ? Have you aspired thither with all your heart ? Have
you endeavored to make yourself worthy of it ? Alas ! perhaps, so far, you
have not even seriously thought of it; perhaps, you are widely removed
from it by a life of sin, imitating the great multitude of men, who turn
their backs upon that happy country to which their heavenly Father calls
them. How much I deplore your misfortune, if you are of that number !
Wherefore, consider what you have to do in order to compass that happy
end for which you are created. How long will you think so little of
heaven ? How long will you forget heaven, O ye children of heaven, whose
origin is heavenly, and who are designed for heaven alone ? O man, says
St. Peter Chrysologus, what have you to do with the earth, who pretend
to be of heavenly extraction, in as much as you say: "Our Father, who
art in heaven"? Manifest a celestial life in an earthly habitation; if you
live otherwise, you stain your noble escutcheon, and disgrace your
heavenly origin.
Make a holy resolution on this first day of the year, to begin a new life
with the New year, to aspire to that happy end for which you are created:
to labor carefully to make yourself worthy of it by a life not unbecoming
the children of God destined to possess heaven and God himself. This
NEW YEAR S DAY. 87
can be effected by flying sin, the only obstacle that can oppose your pro
gress to heaven, and by embracing virtue, the only path that leads direct
to heaven.
Last night, my dear brethren, we witnessed, (doubtless with some
natural regret) the dissolution of the Old year, which, like an old friend
whose sands of life have run out, lay cold and dead upon the bier of Time;
but before its funeral chimes, (the strokes of the midnight-bell) had ceased
to vibrate upon the air, we had assisted, with very different emotions, at
the birth of its successor, the New Year, 1886. Thus, do the years of our
lives pass into Eternity, bearing their indelible records of good or evil;
thus, do the departing moments, like the waters of a rapid stream, glide
from us, one by one, to the great Ocean, never more to return. And we,
dear Christians, are like the ships which the strong currents carry along,
bringing them every moment closer and closer to their destination or last
end. Each step we take brings us nearer to death, to judgment, to
Eternity. To some of us, perchance to all, this New Year (whose
nativity we hail to-day), may prove the last year of our lives. Ponder these
solemn words long and well, my dear brethren: "The last year of our
lives!" Only one more span of twelve short months in which, perhaps, to
redeem all the misspent time of the past, to expiate all the sins you have
committed in the years that are gone ! O, if an angel from heaven were to
appear this moment in our midst, and, pointing his shining finger at one
or other of this congregation, should proclaim aloud in trumpet-tones of
prophecy: " Here is one whom God wills to die to-morrow; there, another
who will not outlive the month; there, a third, a fourth, a fifth, a
sixth who will go to render an account to his Judge before the close of six
short months !" with what fear and consternation would not those doomed
ones fall upon their knees, and, fervently imploring God s mercy, begin,
at once, to make ready for the dread Hereafter.
Dear Christians, that angel is even now in our midst, although we see
him not. The Angel of Death is this very moment invisibly hovering near,
adjusting his bow and fixing the fatal dart which will, ere long, strike down,
perhaps, the strongest, the most robust of my hearers. There is no secur
ity, no defence against Death. This time last year, there were thirty-two
millions of living, breathing people upon the face of the earth who now lie
cold and still beneath its surface, or are hidden in the depths of its great
waters. At the commencement of 1885, many of these (now) departed
souls thought as little about death as you do at present. Very likely, if
they were adjured by Christ s minister, on last New Year s day, to make
ready for the grave, for the judgment, to which they were rapidly (though
unconsciously), hastening, many of them laughed the preacher to scorn.
They were as full of their plans and prospects then, as some of you are to
day. They were engrossed with their business, their money-getting, their
marriages, their law-suits, with their pleasures, their honors, or, alas!
88 NEW YEAR S DAY.
their vices. They felt like immortals. They were full of health and
strength, the currents of life and youth ran warm and fresh and passion
ately in their veins. Who would dare talk to them of death ? Yet, here in
this church, to-day, my brethren, you are filling this moment some of
their vacant seats, whilst they, they, O God! are swallowed up in the
depths of that awful Eternity they, once, so little feared or prized ! They
had a precious New Year given to them in 1885, and they made no use
of it for salvation. God never gave them another chance to slight his mercy.
They were like the slothful servant in the Gospel who hid his talent in the
earth. They hid their talents in the earth of a negligent life, in the mire
of their vices and iniquities: and since they brought forth no interest for
their Lord and Master they were fated, at last, to hear from his sacred lips
that terrible sentence: "The unprofitable servant cast ye out into the ex
terior darkness. There shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth " Matt.
25: 30. Many of those unhappy wretches, had they but reformed their lives
a year ago, might now be blessed souls enjoying the Beatific Vision in
heaven. They were exhorted to it, my dear friends, as you are now ex
horted; they were forewarned of their danger, "d&you are now forewarned,
but, taking it for granted that they had many happy years before them, they
presumptuously neglected the means of salvation, until it was too late:
they were suddenly swept from the face of the earth by God s avenging arm,
and hurried in a state of impenitence to the awful tribunal of divine justice.
Where shall we find a more impressive sermon than that which these miser
able spirits preach to us from out the depths of hell ! Out of the terrible
tortures of their prison house, they cry to us unceasingly, and warn us all
to begin this New Year well, and to make good use of our time before the
night of death overtakes us. Attend to the voices of these lost ones, and
profit by their awful example. Do not lose sight, dear brethren, of the
countless years of Eternity, but begin in time to lay up a store of good
works against that last tremendous hour which will decide our everlasting
destiny, which will consign us, forever, either to the companionship of
filthy demons in the unspeakable torments of hell, or to the sweet society
of God and his Blessed Mother, his angels and his saints, in the eternal
delights of heaven. Amen.
Would to God that we priests would take more interest
in preparing our sermons, what amount of good we could
produce /
NEW YEAR S DAY. 8^
NEW YEAR S DAY.
SALVATION OUR ONLY AFFAIR OF IMPORTANCE.
"Martha, Martha, thou art careful and troubled about many things. Bui
one thing is necessary. Mary hath chosen the best part which shall not bt
taken away from her. " St. Luke 10 : 41, 42.
The two sisters, Martha and Mary, had once the enviable happiness of
entertaining Christ, our Lord, in their own home. Martha busied herself in
running to and fro, striving to set things in order, and to prepare a costly
entertainment for the Divine Guest. But Mary sitting at the feet of Jesus,
listened in silence and peace to the words falling from his sacred lips. She
forgot to give assistance to her sister, turning her back upon worldly things,
and thinking only of spiritual things and the business of her salvation.
Martha, in consequence, made a forcible complaint against her, that she
left the burden of the domestic work entirely on her shoulders. "Lord,
hast thou no care that my sister hath left me alone to serve ? Speak to her,
therefore, that she help me." (Luke 10:41.) Was Martha justified in
this reproach ? Did Jesus take her part against Mary ? No; the only re
sponse she received from him was an assurance that she was too solicitous
for the cares of this world. Martha merited the gentle censure of the Son
of God, when with too great solicitude she undertook a work which was
good in itself; a work no less than that of entertaining the Son of God in
his humanity with becoming hospitality. What rebuke, then, will those de
serve who labor, (not for a single day alone, but for months and years),
disquieting themselves over the vain and wretched concerns of this transitory
life, and neglecting entirely the- important business of salvation ? And yet,
there are many such Christians. What are they doing, and what are they
striving to attain ? What is the chief, perhaps, the only, object of all their
thoughts, inclinations, and desires? What is it? It can be said in one
word the earth. As if they were created solely and singly for the earth !
Of it, alone, they think, for it, alone, they labor; they conduct themselves, in
short, as if they were destined to live upon it for ever. They spare neither
toil nor expense, shrink from no peril, to heap up riches, to acquire a great
name among men, to enjoy deceitful pleasures, and to obtain in the end,
an uncertain happiness. But there is one thing which they neglect alto
gether, namely, the eternal salvation of their immortal souls; that sal
vation which being once happily gained, all is gained, but which being
once miserably lost, all is lost, and lost for ever. Whence does this blind
ness proceed ? I believe that it proceeds from three errors.
i. These negligent Christians do not reflect that the business of salvation
is their most important business upon earth; that it is, in fact, not only the
90 NEW YEAR S DAY.
most important, but the sole business of every sane man, because his true
and eternal felicity depends on the salvation of his soul.
II. They imagine it to be a business which is easily accomplished, and
that it is a useless and superfluous task to trouble one s self much about it;
but I maintain that this business is not as easily transacted as they suppose,
and that one must labor unceasingly to accomplish it.
III. They do not consider that to fail in the execution of this important
affair, is to make an irreparable blunder. A wilful error in this matter once
made and persevered in, can never be corrected; this business, neglected
entirely until the moment of death, remains neglected for ever.
I. The more precious the thing in question, and the greater the con
sequences and interests which it involves, the greater and more important
is the business which concerns it Whilst the trial of an alleged murderer
is in progress, if there be no positive, but only circumstantial evidence of the
crime, the unfortunate culprit together with all his relatives and friends, is
vacillating between fear and hope, doubtful whether he will be acquitted, or
condemned to death. When the fate of the city of Carthage was under de
liberation in the Roman Senate; when it was a subject of debate whether or
not the glorious rival of Rome, the capital of Africa, and the mother of he
roes, should be destroyed and levelled to the ground, the whole world was
in a condition of painful suspense and anxiety as to the result Natural and
justifiable, (humanly-speaking), is this solicitude of a suspected criminal and
his friends over the issues of life and death; this anxiety of the nations over
the contemplated destruction of a vast city. But these temporal things and
their interests are as nothing when weighed in the balance with an immortal
soul. The soul of the meanest beggar alive is worth more than all the gold
of the earth, all the cities of the universe; for its priceless value far exceeds
that of all created objects.
But, since, in order to realize the importance of eternal salvation, we
must first understand the value of an immortal soul, let us now inquire
into the origin from which that noble essence derives so high a value. The
soul of man is created immediately by God; a fact which bestows on her
an essential greatness and the highest patent of nobility. It is true, that all
other creatures can boast of the same origin, but there is a great difference
between their creation and that of the soul. God made other creatures by
a single word: "Be made," he said, and they were made. It was not so
with the soul. To create the soul, the three Divine Persons of the Blessed
Trinity held, as it were, a council; and in this council, (if I be allowed the
expression,) the creation of man was decreed upon: "Let us make man to
our own image and likeness." The soul of man was made in the most
wonderful manner, for God breathed into his face the breath of life. And
as the breath proceeds from the heart, so we may say, the soul of man pro
ceeded from the most amiable Heart of God. Who does not see that of
all the marvels and mysteries of creation, that of the soul was the most im-
NEW YEAR S DAY. 91
portant work of God ? Hence, we may understand that man should con
sider no other business so important as that of the salvation of his soul.
If we penetrate, by meditation, into the interior nature of the soul, we
find in her such beauty, such glorious prerogatives, that we are convinced
she is worthy of all the care, the labor, the exertions, necessary to save her.
What is the soul ? It is not possible to convey a clear and perfect idea of
this beautiful breath of God, but we may say of the soul that she is a spirit
ual, rational, and immortal being. When the Most High created her, he
communicated to her a ray of his own life, and imprinted on her the noble
likeness of his own image; he raised her above all creatures, made her a
little lower than the Angels, invested her with honor and glory, and per
fected in her, (as it were, ) the masterpiece of his hand.
If we add to the gifts of nature, (with which God has enriched her in her
creation), the gifts of grace with which he has invested her in the holy Sacra
ments, how much more noble and precious does she not appear? This
grace causes her to partake of the Divine nature itself, and raises her to
the eminent dignity of a daughter of God. He, himself, seeing her thus
adorned, is, as it were, captivated and wounded by love, and calls her his
friend, his sister, his spouse; he promises to dwell in her; and declares, (O
marvelous condescension !) that he finds his delight in being with her. In
effect, what is there that God has not done for the soul of man ? Attend to
the excess of his love for her, and this, alone, will give you an adequate idea
of the dignity and preciousness of your soul. To redeem and save your
soul, the Eternal Father gave his only begotten Son as a ransom; and, O,
answer me, has not this only begotten Son suffered all that he could for her
sake ? He abhorred not the virgin s womb to assume human nature, and to
take our sins upon himself. And on account of these sins, he was born in
a stable, led a hidden life for thirty years in the house of Joseph, (the poor
carpenter of Galilee); preached, prayed, wept, suffered and died on the
cross. Would he have done all this for the salvation of your soul,
would he have purchased her at such a dear rate, if he had not known her
to be something great, and worthy of such a ransom?
What do you say to this incontrovertible truth ? Is your soul something
precious, or is it not? Your answer is: It is. Is not her salvation the most
important business of life ? Why, then, is this most important business neg
lected by so many Christians ? To confound these tepid believers and to
show them how highly they should value their immortal souls, I will send
them to the school of their Arch-Enemy, where they shall learn the truth,
even though it be from the very father of lies. What price does he put
upon a soul ? I shall say nothing of the continual temptations with which
he annoys us, of the many snares he spreads for us, of the artifices and
stratagems which he employs to entrap us, and to get possession of our
souls; facts which every one knows to his grief by his own experience, as
well as by the teachings of the Prince of the Apostles who says, that "out
92 NEW YEAR S DAY.
enemy, the devil, goes about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may
devour. " I shall mention one occurrence of which the Gospel speaks. When
Christ had fasted forty days and forty nights, he permitted the devil to tempt
him. Among other temptations, Satan made use of this. He took the Son
of God up into a high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the
world, and the glory of them and said to him: "All these I will give to
thee, if falling down, thou wilt adore me." In other words: "All these I
will give thee, if thou, on thy part, wilt give me, wilt sell to me, thy soul/
What a price does not the devil offer for a soul ! He is willing to give a
world in exchange for it. "What doth it profit a man, if he gain the whole
world and lose his own soul?" What, then, shall we say of those Christians
who give their souls to the devil, not for a kingdom, not for a world, but
for the most wretched trifles of this world, for a mere nothing ! What
madness to sell so great a treasure, such a precious jewel, at SO low a
price !
The importance of the business of salvation is, also, evident from the con
sequences which its neglect infallibly entails. Let us, at the beginning of
a New year, examine this matter a little closer than we usually do; and for
this end, let us look up towards heaven. Behold there, the eternal kingdom
of glory, a never-fading crown, a perfect, never-ending felicity ! Now, let
every one of us say to himself: "If I save my soul, I shall possess the
kingdom of heaven, and be crowned with a never-fading crown of glory; I
shall see and enjoy God for ever I" But after this upward glance at the
mansions of eternal bliss, let us look down into hell, that frightful prison,
those ever-burning fires, the abode of horrors, and of never-ceasing pains
and torments. Now, if I do not save my soul, that prison shall be my
dwelling-place forever. There is no middle way: either happiness or misery,
heaven or hell, for ever; either to enjoy God everlastingly in company with
all his Angels and Saints, or to be damned in company with merciless
devils, and trodden under their feet for an endless eternity. O, the frightful
situation of man upon this earth, uncertain at all times whether he be
worthy of hatred or love ! What business then can be more important than
the business of our salvation ? And you who think so little of this business,
because you are immersed in the cares of this world, tell me, if you suc
ceed in everything else, but not in the salvation of your soul, what shall
it profit you? Foolish man, you serve the world, both day and night; you
are solicitous for the things of this world, living in fear lest you should lose
what you possess; you devote little or no time to prayer, you neglect the
Sacraments, perform no good works; in a word, you trample your soul under
your feet. But, suppose you obtain the object of all your desires, suppose
you gain the whole world, what shall it profit you if you lose your own
soul ? Foolish woman ! do you devote as much time to the business of
your salvation, as you do to dressing and visiting ? Do you undergo the
same fatigues for your soul that you undergo to please the world, or ta
NEW YEAR S DAY. 93
shine in society ? Do you spend as much time at prayer, as you spend
before the looking-glass ? You find leisure enough to read novels and other
trash, but you cannot find time to say your morning and evening prayers.
What profit has Alexander the Great from all his exploits ? Absolom from
his ambitious plans, Dives from his sumptuous dinners, the daughter of
Herodias from her shameless dances, Judas from his thirty pieces of silver ?
What does it profit so many others to have enjoyed the pleasures of the
world, to have accumulated riches, to have acquired a great name among
men, if they have lost their immortal souls ? To possess and enjoy the whole
world for a thousand years, avails us nothing, if we should be so un
fortunate, in the end, as to lose our souls.
II. How, then, is it possible that a business of such paramount import
ance and of such dreadful consequences, is so much neglected by the gen
erality of Christians? How is it possible that Christians who have the true
faith, who have the example of Christ and the Saints before their eyes, can
run to such an excess of madness as to neglect it ? The chief reason is
this: They believe that this business is easily done, and that it is not necessary to
spend much time at it. If they be exhorted to a change of life, they say: Let
us alone with your scruples; we must enjoy the present life, and we shall
be saved in the end as well as those whose tongue is ever praying. God
wills that all men should be saved; he has made heaven for men, and not
for horses. Yes, they say, (in actions, if not in words), the kingdom of
heaven is for us all; laughing and jesting and living worse than heathens,
we shall all enter there without doing anything to deserve it. Who has
deceived you with this false doctrine which is diametrically opposed to the
Gospel preached by Christ and his Apostles? No, I maintain, in accord
ance with the doctrine of Christ, that it is not so easy to be saved as these
lukewarm Christians imagine. The kingdom of heaven suffers violence,
and the violent bear it away; therefore, we must devote all our time and
energies to the important business of salvation.
I do not say that it is impossible to be saved; and even when I say, that
it is difficult to be saved, I do not mean to infer that the difficulty is on the
part of God; as if it were not his will that every one should be saved; as if,
in short, he had made the way to heaven so thorny that it could not be trod
den by all. These would be gross errors. God will have all men to be saved;
Christ died for all; God gives to all the necessary graces to obtain salvation.
The way to eternal Life is the keeping of his commandments, and his com
mandments are not heavy. It is not impossible to observe them, for he
says: " My yoke is sweet and my burden is light. " The difficulty is on our
side; it comes from our corrupt inclinations and perverse wills. The mis
eries and dangers of concupiscence are manifold, the will of man, both
obstinate and inconstant; and because the proper remedies are not used
against all these evils, it is difficult for the multitude to be saved, nay, only
a few succeed in attaining eternal Life. Hear the words of Christ: "From
94 NEW YEAR S DAY.
the days of St. John the Baptist, the kingdom of heaven suffers violence,
and the violent bear it away." And again: "If any man will come after
me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily, and follow me. "
Enter ye at the narrow gate, for wide is the gate, and broad is the way
that leadeth to destruction, and many there are who go in thereat; how
narrow is the gate, and strait the way that leadeth to life, and few there are
who find it. "
Now I ask you the question: Is it easy or difficult to do violence to our
selves, to subdue all our evil and unruly passions, to carry the cross daily,
to enter in at the narrow gate ? Tell me, what way are you going, you, who
concern yourselves so little about your salvation, who are as sure of it as if
you had the deed of it in your hands ? You, who say: " Let us alone with your
scruples, " answer my question, who is it that deceives you, Christ or the
world ? Christ declares that the way to heaven is strait, and you say that it
is broad; Christ teaches that man can be saved only by doing violence to
himself, by self-denial, mortification, the daily carriage of the cross; and you
say, that you can be saved by a voluptuous, idle, worldly life. Who is
right ? If it be so easy to be saved, why are only a few saved ? Many should
obtain a thing which is so easily obtained, and so much desired by all. All
wish to be saved, for there is hardly one to be found so lost to faith as to
say: "I wish to be damned." If it be so easy to be saved, all, or at least,
the greater part of mankind should be saved; but this is not the case, for
Christ says: "Many are called, few are chosen."
Who would believe, that St. Paul, that vessel of election, that astonishing
triumph of grace, that heroic missionary burning with zeal for the honor of
God, indefatigable in labors and sufferings; that incomparable Apostle, who
excelled all others, who, while yet in this world, was elevated to the third
heaven, and was privileged to carry the wounds of Christ in his body,
who, I say, would believe that St. Paul was not sure of the salvation of his
soul? And yet, he was not; for, as he plainly tells us in his Epistle to
the Corinthians, in spite of all this, he did not think himself justified: "I
am not conscious to myself of anything, yet in this I am not justified;" "I,
therefore, so run, not as at an uncertainty: I so fight, not as one beating
the air: but I chastise my body, and bring it into subjection, lest perhaps,
when I have preached to others, I myself should become a reprobate."
(Cor. 9: 26, 27.) And this fear he desired to communicate to all men, saying:
"Work out your salvation with fear and trembling." (Phil. 2:12.) Can
we, then, be so blind as to think ourselves secure, we, who do nothing to
save our souls, but everything to ruin them for ever ?
But, perhaps you will say: "Father, you terrify us by your forcible
words !" Are you really terrified ? Why complain of my words ? You
would have cause to reproach me, if the words I used were my own, but
they are not; you would have a right to complain, if I, who preach these
truths were not as much terrified by them, as you who listen to them. Thus
NEW YEAR S DAY. cc
St. Augustine once said to his congregation at Hippo, and using his words
I reply to you: "Have I written the Gospel? Have I laid down the words
which I preach to you to-day ? Are these words, perhaps, melancholy and
whimsical inventions of my own head, or are they not truths which God
himself has revealed to us ? I preach to you nothing but what I find in the
Gospel; and, moreover, I am in the same ship with yourselves, in the same
danger of perishing in which you are." But you will rejoin: Father, if it is as
difficult to be saved as you say, if only a few are really saved, we are in a
desperate condition, and there is no use in trying to be saved. We may
just as well enjoy, as long as we can, all the attainable delights-of the present
life. We may as well give full scope to our passions. O my brethren,
what do you say ? What wicked conclusions do you not draw ? Will you,
then, yield to a fatal despair ? Ah ! that is exactly what would please the
devil, to rush headlong and with open eyes into perdition; and, because it
is difficult to be saved, to risk an eternity of torments for a few days
of pleasure and joy. This is not the conclusion you must draw from the
truths I have propounded to you. On the contrary, you must say: It is
difficult to be saved; therefore, I must amend my life and devote more time,
than hitherto, to the business of salvation. I must make prompt and
earnest use of the necessary means to attain that blessed end. The task
was just as difficult for the martyrs, confessors, and virgins; for the Saints
of every state, age, sex, and condition of life, just as laborious for them
as it is for us, and yet they obtained the object of their desires. They at
tained the salvation of their souls. Why should we not be able to do the
same ? We have the same faith, the same means of salvation, the same
Gospel, the same Advocate with the Father, Christ Jesus, and God will
give us all the graces necessary to secure that end. Only a few are saved,
hence, we must strive to be of the number of the few. Few, comparatively
speaking, receive the Sacraments with fruit; few pray as they ought, few
fulfil the duties of their respective states of life; few do what is necessary
to save their souls; therefore, if you would belong to that blessed minority,
you must resolve to do penance for your sins; to receive the Sacraments
more frequently; devote more time to prayer, discharge the duties of your
state of life more faithfully; disengage yourselves more and more from all
unprofitable cares, and think only of the one thing necessary.
III. Ah, if men would do for their souls only the tenth part of what
they do for their bodies, they would soon become great Saints. But they
hardly ever consider, that a failure once made in this business, can never
be repaired; that this business, neglected to the hour of death, remains
neglected for ever. I would willingly excuse those Christians who are
slothful and negligent in this important concern, if the loss of the soul
could be repaired in one way or another. But a mistake in the affair of
salvation, once made, can never be corrected. We have but one soul, and
if we once lose that one soul, it is lost for ever!
NEW YEAR S DAY.
When David went to fight with Goliah, he put five pebbles into his
scrip, so that if one would miss, he should have another at hand; but we
can strike but once, and if we miss our aim that once, it is missed for ever.
When you are sick, you console yourselves with the hope, that you will
get well again; if you lose an eye, a hand, or a foot, you are grieved, and
justly so; but you find consolation, nevertheless, in the thought that you
have one eye, one hand, one foot left, with which to help yourselves.
But if you lose your soul, what consolation have you? None. What
blindness, then, is it to possess but one soul, and to take no care of it?
to be entrusted with a priceless jewel, and to exchange it for a mere noth
ing? Thus King David thought, who, considering that he had but one
soul, wept, prayed, and did penance, saying to God: "Deliver, O Lord,
my soul from the sword, my only one from the hand of the dog!" Thus,
also, thought Pope Innocent XI. When forced to choose between the
hard alternative of doing what his conscience forbade or displeasing a
mighty potentate, he said to the royal ambassador: "Make known to-
your master, that I have but one soul. If I had two, I might sacrifice
one to please him, but having only one, I am not so foolish as to lose it
in order to gain the good will of any man 1" Noble words ! which we
should deeply engrave upon our minds, and make, henceforth, our own.
Young man, when your comrades wish to entice you to sin, when they
invite you to go into that evil house, into that society or place, where you
foresee that you will lose your soul, say: "I cannot, I have only one
soul, and I will not lose it to please you !" Young woman, say to the
tempter and the would-be-seducer, who only cultivates your friendship in
order to gratify his lust, and render you unhappy for time and eternity:
Begone, tempter, I have but one soul and I am not going to sell that
noble soul for a filthy pleasure !" In all dangers, in all temptations, my
brethren, therefore, let us exclaim: "I have but one soul, if I lose that
one soul, all is lost and lost for ever; for out of hell there is no re
demption !"
The business of salvation, then, should be our only care and business;
and to it we should earnestly and perseveringly apply all our time and
energies. Let us watch and pray; no vigilance can be too great where an
eternity is at stake. For this purpose, let us spare no pains, fear no
dangers or persecutions, even though we should have to fight unto death
for justice. Christ called that merchant wise who, when he saw a precious
pearl, sold all that he had, that he might purchase it. To merit the same
praise, my dear brethren, give all you possess to save your priceless souls.
When a ship is in danger of being shipwrecked, the sailors throw all the
goods overboard in order to save their lives; so you, too, mariners on the
stormy sea of this uncertain life, you, too, must throw overboard every
thing that can hinder you, even in the least, from the salvation of your im
mortal souls.
SUNDAY AFTER NEW YEAR S DAY.
SUNDAY AFTER NEW YEAR S DAY.
JESUS BECAME MAN, THAT WE MIGHT LOVE HIM THE MORE.
They are dead who sought the life of the Child. " Matth. 2:20.
Has the world ever witnessed a greater cruelty than that recorded of
Herod the King? Seeking the life of the Infant Jesus, he shed the blood
of numberless innocent babes in and about the city of Bethlehem, even
destroying, it is said, his own royal offspring. Must not his heart have
been destitute of all the feelings of humanity, when he could resolve on
the wholesale massacre of so many new-born, helpless children? "But
they are dead who sought the life of the Child." My brethren, are they
all dead ? Herod is dead, it is true; but are there not thousands among
us who daily renew this cruelty to the Infant Jesus ? Are there not myriads
among us who hourly seek the life of the Child? What barbarity ! For if we
consider the condition of a little child, who but a brute could hate its inno
cent, guileless, and amiable infancy? Every one must love a little child;
he is a monster who can wilfully harm a defenceless babe. For this
reason, the Son of God condescended to become a helpless child, that we
might not hate and offend, but love him all the more.
There was no necessity for the Son of God to assume the form of an in
fant; he might have come into the world, and begun his mortal career as
a perfect man. The first man, Adam, was created in the form of a perfect
man; and, in the same manner, Christ, the second Adam, could have as
sumed human nature, without assuming the helplessness of infancy. The
office of Redeemer certainly did not require of Christ that he should em
brace the condition of childhood. Why, then, did he assume human nature
in this form ? He exhibited himself to the world as a child, in order to
make himself more amiable. He knew that infancy possessed the most
powerful influence over our affections, that infancy has such attractive
qualities, it is impossible not to love it. The innocence that sparkles
in the eyes of children, their simplicity of manners, the sincerity with
which they speak, their joyous laughter: these, and all their other winning
charms, cannot fail to endear them to our hearts.
We love even irrational creatures whilst they are young; we love to feed
them, and to play with them; and when Jesus assumes human nature, and
becomes a child for our sakes, shall he be the only little one to whom we
will refuse our love ?
If ever an amiable child came into the world, it snrely was this divine
o8 SUNDAY AFTER NEW YEAR S DAY.
Child, now lying before us on a little bed of straw. Other children are
children, not because they will to be so, but because they cannot help it.
But Jesus is a child, because, out of love for us, he willed to become a
child, and to suffer the helplessness of infancy and childhood. To win our
affections, he not only condescended to become a child, but what kind of
a child? A Child in the greatest poverty, destitute of all earthly friend
ship, despised by the world and wrapped in swaddling clothes; a Child
who lay in a manger, with a handful of straw for his bed, and between two
mean animals, whose breath scarcely served to keep off the cold. In such
poverty and misery he wished to be born, becoming a helpless babe to
move us to compassion, and, through compassion, to love.
I ask again: What kind of a child is this? He is an omniscient Child.
We love children who do not know us, who cannot tell us who and what
we are, but this Child knows us through and through. Approach his crib,
and you will find that he knows each and every one of you. He can tell
you all the sins which you have committed during life; for which, in his
mercy, he has granted you pardon. He can tell you what good works
you have done; he knows all your necessities, the tribulations and sorrows-
that press heavily upon your hearts, and which he came into this world to
alleviate. This amiable child trembles with cold, sighs, and weeps with
pain and misery, and suffers all this for our sake. If we were allowed to
look into his Heart, we would clearly see how matters stand with us; we
would see that this Child desires nothing, and seeks nothing, but our hearts;
and that his Heart is yearning for our salvation. We may justly call him
our Child. What a blessing! " A Child is born to us, and a Son is given
to us/ (Is. 9: 6.) He became man solely for our relief, our comfort,
our salvation. He has given himself to us whole and entire that we might
find in him a Brother, Physician, Teacher, and Guide.
If we do not love this Son of Mary, this omniscient and merciful Son of
God, from any other cause, O, let us love him, at least, because he is our
Child. We fondly love everything that is our own; we love our parents,
our country, our property, our health, our bodies. Why, then, should
we not love this, our own Child ? He belongs to us by many titles; he is
the most precious treasure which we can, or shall, ever possess. Yes, (if
we only will it), we can and shall possess him for ever. Nothing can
separate us from the love of Christ. We eagerly and ardently love so
many other things, let us, then, bestow on this Child a share, at least, of
our love and affection. If our heart is not devoid of all human gratitude
and sympathy, we cannot refuse to love him who has first loved us, and
who has done everything to win our affections; who even became a child
for our sakes that it might be easier for us to love him.
If he cannot, thus, win from us that love which his due, he (with justice),
requires and demands of us that, at all events, we should never forget
ourselves so far as to offend him. God has striven from the beginning.
SUNDAY AFTER NEW YEAR S DAY. 99
either by the threat of punishment, or by the promise of reward, to keep
man from sin; but in these latter days, he makes use of the most striking
and effectual means. He becomes a Child. What man can be so in
sensible, what heart so cruel as to resolve to maltreat, abuse, or kill a
tender child? All nature revolts against such a thought. Esau was fully
prepared, with his four hundred men, to war against his brother Jacob,
and to kill him and all that were with him; but as soon as he beheld
Jacob s children, and especially the little Joseph in his mother s arms, his
anger and hatred were disarmed. The mere sight of those innocent chil
dren rendered it impossible for him to gratify his desire of revenge.
The same spectacle is exhibited before our eyes in these days. God has
tried in every way to make us averse to sin; he threatens to punish us,
unless we cease to offend him; he promises to reward us if we love and
obey him; but we are quite unconcerned about his threats and his prom
ises; we rebel against our Master; we persistently abuse and offend him.
Look at the Infant Jesus in the arms of Mary, his mother. Which of you
can have the heart to tear this amiable Child from her embrace, and treat
him with cruelty? Who will be so void of every human feeling as to strike
and wound this tender Child ? It is cruel and, at the same time, highly
criminal even to contemplate such a deed. And, yet, after all, we are
guilty of just such cruelty as often as we commit a mortal sin; it is an
article of our holy faith that we crucify Jesus by every mortal sin we com
mit. As often as we are guilty of a grievous sin, we fall, as it were, with
the greatest rage upon this amiable Child, tear him from the fond em
braces of his Mother, trample his sacred Blood under our feet; and thus
perpetrate in the Stable of Bethlehem what the Jews did on Calvary.
We tremble with resentment when we read or hear of the torrents of
blood which Herod, (through his minions), shed in and about Bethlehem.
He thirsted for the blood of the Infant Jesus, not believing him to be the
Son of God, but a usurper who, when grown up, would aspire to his
throne and deprive him of his kingdom. But let us turn our indignation
against ourselves; let us be sincere, and acknowledge the truth. Do not
our malice and cruelty go still farther? We, also, seek the life of the
Child, but we know and believe that Child to be God. We have promised
at our baptism to follow his standard; yea, we have vowed most solemnly
(and renewed this solemn promise at our first Communion), that we would
always acknowledge him as our God, love and serve him alone, defend his
cause, promote his glory, and, if necessary, die for him. And yet, after
all our pledget and promises, we seek and take his life, that is, we break
our promises, and commit mortal sin. Would you not call that wretched
man mad who would run to the crib of Bethlehem, tear this Child from
his Mother s arms, trample him under his feet, and crush his sacred In
fant Heart ? We shudder with horror at the bare thought of such a deed,
and yet we do not scruple to do this very thing ourselves, (too often with a
IOO SUNDAY AFTER NEW YEAR S DAY.
laughing face), whenever we commit mortal sin; for the Apostle says: He
who hates his brother and who violates the commandments of God and of
his Church; he, in fine, who loves the creature more than the Creator,
has trodden the Son of God under foot. Do you not believe this ? God
himself has declared it by his Apostle. Can he, who is Eternal Truth,
exaggerate ? Can he paint the cruelty of the sinner in darker colors than
its reality ? If we are really Christians, we are bound to believe the Word
of God when it asserts: That the commission of grievous sin and the
trampling upon, and crucifixion of, the new-born Child, are one and the
same thing.
I readily admit that there are none present whom I would suspect of
this atrocity; for I am inclined to believe you all are resolved to avoid sin,
and to lead a truly Christian life. But before I dismiss you, I will recall
to your mind an occurrence of which the Scripture speaks. At the time
when Moses was born, King Pharaoh ordered all the new-born babes of
the Israelites to be killed. The mother of Moses, however, hid him for
three months, and when she could conceal him no longer, she took a
basket made of bulrushes, coated it with slime and pitch, put the babe
therein, and laid him in the sedges by the river s bank, saying: "Ye merci
ful waves, and thou, O angel guardian of my child, take care of this in
fant, and commend him to merciful hands." And, behold, the daughter
of Pharaoh came afterwards down to the river, and saw the basket in the
sedges of the bank; she sent one of her maids for it, and when it was
brought to her, she opened it, and, seeing in it an infant, crying, she had
compassion on him, and adopted him as her son. The Jews and Gentiles,
on the contrary, the sinners of all ages, do not care about the Infant
Jesus; they leave him exposed to the inclemency of a cold and stormy
season, and neither receive him into their hearts, nor warm him by their
love.
It depends on us, my dear brethren, whether we, on our part, will
imitate these cruel men, or whether we will show to the divine Child the
love which the King s daughter showed to the child Moses. Christ desires
our heart for his dwelling-place. Can we refuse it to him ? I hope not.
O let us receive him into our hearts, and warm him by our love; and for
the love of him let us endure with patience all the hardships incident to
our state of life. By doing this, we shall secure to ourselves the purest
happiness both here and hereafter, for the Gospel of St. John asserts for our
consolation: As many as received him, to them he gave power to be made
the sons of God on earth, and the heirs of the kingdom in heaven. Amen.
SUNDAY AFTER NEW YEAR S DAY. 101
SUNDAY AFTER NEW YEAR S DAY.
THE PROVIDENCE OF GOD.
" They are dead who sought the life of the Child." Matt. 9: 20.
Jesus was scarcely born, when Herod conceived the wicked design of
destroying him. For this evil purpose, he requested the Wise Men from
the East to search diligently after the Child, and when they had found
him, to bring him word again, that he also might come and adore him.
But, although his cruel design was masked by these cunning words, it
was doomed to disappointment, for the Wise Men, having received an
answer in sleep that they should not return to Herod, went back an
other way into their own country. Then Herod, perceiving that he was
deluded by the Magi, was exceedingly angry; and, sending, he killed all
the male-children that were in Bethlehem, and in all the confines thereof,
from two years old and under, according to the time which he had dili
gently inquired of the Wise Men; firmly believing that the Child could not
escape. But how wonderful, my brethren, are the ways of divine Provi
dence ! The Infant Christ, on whose account the wretched Herod or
dained such a terrible slaughter, was not among the slain, but lived on in
Egypt in peace and security. And now, behold, at last, Herod has
spent his rage, that cruel and sanguinary monster can shed no more blood
he is dead. " Herod being dead, behold, an angel of the Lord ap
peared in sleep to Joseph in Egypt, saying: Rise, and take the child
and his mother, and go into the land of Israel; for they are dead, who
sought the life of the child; who, rising up, took the child and his
mother, and came into the land of Israel. " There, by the command of
God, the holy Foster-father chose Nazareth, the despised hamlet, for
their dwelling place. There, Jesus lived for thirty years a hidden life,
after which he began his public ministry by preaching the Gospel, and per
forming miracles throughout Judea and Galilee. In this Biblical account
of important events, dear Christians, we clearly perceive the wonderful
ways of divine Providence,
/. In its dealings with the good, and
//. In its dealings with the wicked.
I. Truly, wonderful are the dealings of God s Providence in regard to
his elect, he often leads them in ways quite different from the modes of
men.
I OS SUNDAY AFTER NEW YEAR S DAY.
1. He warns them against danger without removing the danger. If we see
a dear friend of ours in a position of imminent peril, we hasten at once
to his aid, and if it be in our power, we do our best to help him out of
his difficulty. God is almighty; there is no danger or peril, from which
he could not deliver us. He loves the just man, and watches over him as
over the apple of his eye. But, strange to say, he does not always avert
impending disasters, but contents himself with merely giving warning of
their approach. We perceive this in the event recorded in this day s
Gospel.
The Infant Jesus is in the greatest peril; Herod is about to take the life
of the Child. Does God arrest the uplifted arm of the tyrant ? Does he
remove the danger by the sudden death of the King? No, he merely
sends an angel to Joseph, saying: ". Arise, and take the child and his
mother, and fly into Egypt; and be there until I shall tell thee. For it
will come to pass that Herod will seek the child, to destroy him." This
is God s way. Thus Jesus, later on, warned his followers against the
misfortunes which threatened them at the future destruction of Jerusalem,
by his prophecy of the various extraordinary signs which preceded that
awful calamity. We, my brethren, in our turn, are living in a time whose
ominous prognostications may well make us fear for the worst in the not
far distant future. We are standing over the crater of a volcano. Wars,
revolutions, persecutions of the Church, are impending. God does not
remove these dangers, he only gives notice of them by signs so significant
that they do not permit us to doubt they shall, eventually, come to pass.
Why does he act in this manner? We may assign a two-fold reason for
his dealings with us in this regard. The knowledge of the peril which
threatens us, inspires us with humility, since we find ourselves utterly un
able of ourselves to remove it, or cope with it. In this consciousness of
our own innate weakness and frailty, we are forced to exclaim: "O what
impotent and miserable creatures we are, since we cannot help ourselves
in the least!" This humility is, as you see, dear brethren, of great ad
vantage to the soul; it banishes all proud and self-important thoughts
from the mind while, at the same time, it urges us to seek help and re
lief from God alone. Again, the knowledge of our danger is a powerful
incentive to make use of the means which reason, prudence, and religion
suggest, since to be forewarned is to be forearmed.
2. God often defers his assistance for some time. You give twice, if you
give readily, says the adage. Yet, God does not always act according to
this saying. We have a proof thereof in the Gospel of this day. The
Holy Family were exiled for several years in Egypt, and were forced to
live there in straitened circumstances and destitution, before the angel re
vealed to Joseph that God willed them to return at last into their own
country. Such is God s way in our own days, dear brethren. The Church
SUNDAY AFTER NEW YEAR S DAY. 105
has been sorely persecuted for many years, the Holy Father is deprived of
his patrimony and his revenues, and compelled to live as a prisoner in his
own city; many religious orders have been suppressed, bishops and priests
exiled, or forbidden under severe penalties to perform their lawful duties,
the faithful are reviled, oppressed, persecuted; and the downfall of the
Church is aimed at. And lo ! God still defers his help and assistance;
there is not a ray of light in the heavens to inspire us with hope that the
storm will soon be over. Why does God not rise up to aid his Church
and to crown her with victory? He defers his help for the good of his
children. Afflictions and sufferings are the best means of expiating the
temporal punishments due to sin, they banish worldliness from the heart,
revive Christian fervor, and afford the most favorable opportunities for the
practice of patience.
j. God often sends help when it is least expected. We, poor mortals, are,
accustomed to appoint a certain time when we promise to grant our
neighbor a favor, or do him an act of kindness. We say: "I will do
it to-day, or to-morrow." God does not act thus. He assures us that he
will hear our prayer, and help us in all our necessities, but he never ap
points the time to do so. Generally, God s assistance comes quite unex
pectedly. Mary and Joseph, in obedience to God s will, go down with
the divine Child into Egypt; many times the seasons come and go in their
accustomed succession, but the holy couple live on in utter ignorance of
the inscrutable designs of God in their regard. One evening, they retire to
rest in their respective chambers (as they had done so many times before),
without the least suspicion or hope that anything unusual was about to
occur. But, behold, they had spent their last day in Egypt. Whilst the
night was in the midst of its course, an angel appeared to Joseph, say
ing: " Arise, and take the Child and his mother, and go into the land of
Israel." At last, their long exile, with all its inconveniences and hardships,
is happily at an end.
This is God s way, as may be easily gathered from the history of the
Church and the Lives of the Saints. The time of trials and tribulations is
sometimes of a longer, sometimes, of a shorter duration, but, sooner or
later, God always comes with help and deliverance; often, my brethren,
when our necessity is greatest, and when relief is least expected. In a
certain sense it may be said, that man s extremity is God s opportunity.
The persecutions against the early Christians had lasted nearly three hun
dred years. The emperor Diocletian was making final and superhuman
exertions to destroy the faithful of Christ, having sworn to erase the Chris
tian name from the face of the earth. In the midst of this universal carn
age, when the blood of the Saints flowed in torrents, the Christians had
every reason to cry to God for help in the words of St. Peter: "Lord, save
us, we perish." It was then, in the gloomiest hour of the Christian world,
1O4 SUNDAY AFTER NEW YEAR S DAY.
when things seemed at the very worst with God s chosen children, when
there appeared no avenue of escape from the world-wide and merciless
power which clutched and ground them in its deadly grasp it was then
that the banner of Constantine was seen approaching in the distance, the
famous Labarum, with the sign of the Cross emblazoned thereon, and glisten
ing in the noonday-sun. Maxentius awaited him with his legions marshaled
in battle-array along the banks of the Tiber. His troops were broken up,
dispersed, and cut to pieces. Maxentius endeavored to cross the Tiber,
but the bridge gave way beneath the multitude and the weight of fugitives,
and the guilty emperor sunk into its red waters and was drowned. On
the following day, October 29th, 312, Constantine made his triumphal
entry into Rome, and proclaimed the Christian religion, the religion of
the empire. Again, my brethren, in more recent times, the persecution of
the Irish race for their religion has been unparalleled, perhaps, in the an
nals of history. But, though their enemies might drive them into Con-
naught" by their cruelties, they could never drive them into hell by
apostasy.
So, also, the present trials and tribulations of the Church will come to an
end at a time when we least expect it. Faith still gilds the edges of the
dark clouds. God s mills grind slowly, but surely. We, therefore, must
not give way to despondency and lose confidence. Let us persevere in pa
tience, and leave entirely to God the choice as to when and how he will
take the cross from our shoulders; he knows what is best for us, and his
assistance will assuredly come at the hour, when it is most necessary and
.salutary for us.
II. Equally as wonderful as the dealings of God with his elect, are his
ways with regard to the unjust, for he often deals with them differently
from what we, in our shortsightedness, would naturally expect
i. He lets the unjust have their own way; he permits them to perpetrate
every possible crime and sin, and does not constrain their free will. Were
it in our power, we would prevent the wicked from accomplishing their
nefarious designs, and by thus preventing them, we should only do what is
our bounden duty, but God s ways are above our ways. He permits sin
ners to do all the mischief they please. Thus, he did not hinder Herod
from killing so many innocent babes at Bethlehem; Jesus, the divine Child,
preferred rather to withdraw from the companionship of those guileless mar
tyrs, than put a stop to Herod s iniquity. In these our days, dear Chris
tians, sins innumerable are committed, especially against justice and char
ity; men who have a lease of power, abuse it for the oppression and per
secution of the just. God is powerful enough to prevent all this, but he
does not do so. And why ? Does he, perhaps, find pleasure in evil ? By
no means. To entertain such a thought, even for a moment, dear Chris-
SUNDAY AFTER NEW YEAR S DAY. 105
dans, would be blasphemy, for God, being infinitely good, hates every
thing evil. Or is God, perchance, indifferent to the weal and woe of the
just, when he permits them to be oppressed and persecuted by the unjust ?
No, on the contrary, he loves the just as a father loves his children, and
he desires their happiness. Or, does he permit the wicked to do evil, that
later on, they may become victims of his avenging justice? By no means.
He wills not that any should perish, but that all should return to justice.
2, Pet. 3 : 9. God permits evil because he has created man a free agent, be
cause he has endowed man with free will. "God made man from the be
ginning, and left him in the hands of his own counsel. Before man is life
and death, good and evil: that which he shall choose shall be given him; for
the wisdom of God is great, and he is strong in power. " Eccles. 15: 14 19.
If God saw fit to prevent every evil in the world, it would be equivalent to
taking away man s free will, and if man had not the free exercise
of his will, neither virtue nor vice could be imputed to him as of
merit or demerit. Neither could heaven be given him, hereafter, as
a reward, for, without liberty of will, there is no merit, and without
merit, no reward. How rash and foolish, then, are those, who complain
of God, because he permits so many sins and crimes to be committed !
They might just as well say: "Why does God permit me to live longer ta
serve him and acquire merits? why does he not at once admit me into
heaven ?" If the wicked man abuse his liberty of will, it is his own per
sonal concern, he shall suffer for it severely enough; but it is our concern,
dear Christians, to so use our free will for good, as to merit for ourselves
eternal salvation.
2. God does not, however, permit the wicked man to fully attain his ends.
Herod sought the life of the Child. For this purpose, he had recourse to
hypocrisy in addressing the Wise Men of the East; for he told them that
they should diligently search after the Child, and when they had found
him, that they should bring him word again, that he also might come and
adore him. For this same reason, he decreed the slaughter of the Holy
Innocents at Bethlehem. But did he accomplish his design ? No. God
permitted the crimes of Herod, to the end that he should not be deprived
of his free will, but he would not permit him, in this instance, to accom
plish his wicked design; he was not suffered to harm a hair of the divine
Child s head.
How many examples of this wonderful providence of God could be ad
duced ! What did not the infidels do in France, nearly a century ago, in
order to extirpate the Catholic faith. They spread broadcast over the
land their godless papers and books, in which everything that is sacred to
a Christian, was most shamelessly vilified and ridiculed; wherever they had
power, they persecuted the bishops and priests and all their faithful follow
ers, confiscating their property, imprisoning them, and bringing them to
io6 SUNDAY AFTER NEW YEAR S DAY.
the guillotine; whoever gave shelter to a priest was doomed to die; reli
gion was abolished, and unbelief was made the law of the land. The in
fidels gloried in their triumph, for they believed they had attained their im
pious end. But how were they not deceived ! After a few years, the
whole structure of infidelity which they had erected with such pains
and labor and cruelty, tumbled down like a house built of cards, and the
Church flourished more gloriously than ever. Thus, "God disappoints
the deceitful practices of the wicked." Prov. 10: 3.
And hence, we need not fear, dear brethren, that the unjust shall ever
permanently triumph over the just. The glory of the sinner lasts only a
short time, and he can never completely compass the end of his unholy
designs and schemes. This should be our comfort in all the trials and
persecutions which the Church and her faithful followers endure in the
present, and shall have to endure in the future, till the divine mission of
the former be accomplished, and the close of her career on earth be an
nounced by the Archangel s trumpet.
j. God causes good to proceed from evil. It is in the power of man to ab
use the gift of free will and to do wrong, but he is not master of the con.
sequences of the wrong he does. Man has his own time, and God has
his. As soon as the evil is done, God begins to act, and, in his infinite
mercy and wisdom, he so disposes it that good may come out of the evil
done by man. Herod, whose death is mentioned in the Gospel of this
day, had slain hundreds of innocent children. This was a horrible crime,
crying to heaven for vengeance. But, by the ordinance of God, did not
good result from the evil ? All those children wear the martyr s crown in
heaven; whereas, if they had lived, many of them (together with the vast
multitude of the unbelieving Jews), might have been eternally lost. More
over, by the massacre of the holy Innocents, it became universally known
that the Messiah, the Desired of nations, was really born at last in Bethle
hem of Juda, and this knowledge must have been a great comfort to all
those just souls who, like the patriarchs and prophets, longed for the ad
vent of the Redeemer. Indeed, we may piously suppose that many of the
fathers and mothers of these little martyrs, having learned after the cruel deed
was done, that it was for Christ s sake their little innocent ones were slain,
we may piously suppose, dear brethren, that those afflicted parents were
drawn in the end to believe in him as the promised Messiah. Herod com
pelled the Holy Family to flee into Egypt. This, taken in itself, was also
a great sin. But, again, the blessed consequences of the sin were beyond
the guilty control or conception of the sinner; for, I think, we do not err
in believing that the protracted sojourn of the Holy Family in Egypt
opened the eyes of many idolaters to the light of Christ, and brought them
to the knowledge of the true God. We perceive, then, that God in his
infinite wisdom, can make good result from evil. How appropriately
THE EPIPHANY. 107
Joseph of Egypt could say to his brethren: "You thought evil against me,
but God turned it into good." Gen. 50: 20. From this, however, it does
not follow that we should sanction sin, or look upon it as something de
sirable, on the contrary, we must hate and detest it above all things. Sin
is, and always will be, the only real evil upon earth, and every one who
sins shall one day suffer for it. Herod is eternally damned, though good
resulted from his crimes. In fact, in the eyes of God, sin is so great an
vil that it requires, as it were, all the resources of his infinite power and
wisdom to prevent its dreadful consequences, and to draw good from it for
his own glory and man s salvation. We should, therefore, dear Christians,
work with all our might to prevent the smallest sin against the good God,
to put a stop to scandals, and to edify our fellow-men by good example.
Wonderful and inscrutable are the ways of divine Providence ! God
does not ward off all dangers from the just, he only warns them of their
approach. Often he appears to have forgotten his chosen ones. He
allows them, as it were, to hang on the cross, perchance, for days, for
months, for years, but in his own good time, he sends them help, and
often in that darkest hour when they least expect relief. He lets the unjust
have their own way for a while. He does not hinder them from abusing
their free will. He permits them to plan their nefarious schemes and to
carry them, to a certain extent, into execution. Yet, even when they ap
pear to triumph in their perfidious designs, the power and the mercy of
the Most High cause good to come out of evil. Let us, then, dear breth
ren, in every situation of life, commit ourselves with confidence to God s
wise and providential guidance, and looking beyond the dark shadows of
our present affliction into the golden light of that future which awaits the
faithful soul, let us in every trial and tribulation cry out with the Apostle;
"We know that to them that love God, all things work together unto
good," (Rom. 8: 28.) Amen. J. E. ZOLLNER.
THE EPIPHANY.
" We have seen his star in the East and are come to adore him* 1 Matt. 2: 2.
The light of divine truth, which was prefigured by the illustrious appear
ance of the star of Jacob, is alone worthy of the attention and solicitude
of man. By its beams our souls are enlightened, the source of true hap
piness is laid open to view, the solid basis, on which alone we can found
our hopes, is disclosed, and the only lasting remedy for all our evils is re
vealed. This heavenly truth, alone, is the consolation of the innocent and
the reprover of the guilty; this, alone, immortalizes those who love it;
ennobles the chains of those who suffer for it; and dignifies the abjection
io8 THE EPIPHANY.
and poverty of those who leave all to follow it; this, alone, gives birth to-
exalted sentiments, inspires true heroism, and forms characters, of which
the world is not worthy. With what solicitude, therefore, my brethren,
ought we to labor for the acquisition of such a treasure; with what resolu
tion and zeal ought we to manifest it to others; and with what vigilance
and circumspection ought we to guard it when possessed ! It is astonish
ing, however, to observe the different impressions produced on the minds
of men by the manifestation of this heavenly light. To some it is a grate
ful light which illuminates, and makes easy and agreeable the duties which
it manifests. To others it is an unwelcome light, whose appearance creates
naught save uneasiness and sorrow. To others, again, it is become as
darkness, as a thick cloud, which spreads its gloom over those unhappy souls,
and only serves to complete their blindness.
These various effects, dear Christians, are exemplified in the Gospel of
this festival which I have read to you. In the Three Kings we behold
men, who open their hearts to receive the light of truth with sincerity and
promptness; in the Jewish priests, men who either shut their eyes, or wilfully
pretend that they do not see it; and in Herod, a man who presents to us
a dreadful example of obduracy and wickedness. The same effects are
daily witnessed among Christians of the present time. Some few, like the
Wise Men, receive with joy the resplendent treasure of divine Truth; others
conceal it through perverse motives; and others, again, outrage it by their
scandalous lives and irregular conduct. I will call your attention to these
three sorts of people in this discourse; and from their conduct I will faith
fully deduce the duties and obligations which the manifestation of the
truth clearly enjoins upon all Christians, as essentially necessary to their
future happiness.
I. The light of truth is manifested to all men, even to those who lead
the most profligate lives; and it plainly indicates the way in which we
should walk in order to fulfil the will of God. However deeply sinners
may be engulfed in the abyss of sensuality and vice, their eyes are some
times opened to the emptiness or degradation of their pursuits, to the
splendid hopes which they renounce, and to the dreadful consequences
which await them in the world to come. But the only effect produced by
these rays of light in men of this description, is an increase of guilt; for
instead of availing themselves of the proffered blessing, they shut their eyes
upon it, and basely continue on in their career of vice. In the Wise Men
of the Gospel, however, my brethren, we behold examples of a ready cor
respondence with the calls and inspirations of heaven; illustrious examples,
indeed, and worthy to be proposed to the imitation of all Christians. Liv
ing, as they did, at an immense distance from the chosen people of God,
they probably had no other knowledge of a Redeemer to come, than what
was derived from the prophecy of Balaam, or from the communications
of their forefathers with the Israelites during their captivity in the East.
THE EPIPHANY. 109
These traditions, nevertheless, might naturally be supposed to have made
but little impression on the minds of men, who, by their public profession
of wisdom, were habituated to despise the popular and vague opinions,
and to attribute them to the credulity of the ignorant. But, no sooner did
the star of Jacob appear; no sooner did the secret inspirations of the Holy
Spirit inform them, that that luminary denoted the birth of Jesus Christ,
than they at once believed in him, and prepared to set out without delay
to pay him their homage. They paused not to examine whether the appari
tion could be accounted for in a natural way. No time was lost in solv
ing objections; none, in defence of so extraordinary a project. They
listened not to the scoffs and derisions which a measure so unprecedented
may reasonably be supposed to have drawn upon them. They cared not
what might be said, or thought of them by others; they loved the truth;
they saw the light that would conduct them to it; and heedless of every
difficulty that attended them in the outset, regardless of the many unknown
perils that might await them in the future, like men whose wisdom and
fortitude were superior to every emergency, they rejoiced at the sight of
the happy omen, and immediately followed it.
Were mankind as ready in these times to open their eyes to the light of
the heavenly Star, which now shines with meridian splendor over the whole
universe, how different would be the condition of Christianity ! But, alas !
there are multitudes of Christians I say it to our shame there are mul
titudes who live in a state of uncertainty, or rather are addicted to passions
which impel them to call in question the truths which condemn their dis
orders; and who strive for this purpose, to silence the voice of conscience,
incessantly reproaching them for their folly and inconstancy. Sometimes,
they assume an air of candor, and with a seeming eagerness submit their
doubts to the examination of the learned. But their candor is counterfeit;
they converse on the subject, not with the desire of being convinced of the
truth (for of that they are already convinced), but in hope of destroying
their convictions by their sophistry. I acknowledge, indeed, that real
doubts on points both of morality and faith, may sometimes exist in the
understanding; for illusions will frequently put on so plausible an appear
ance, that no little strength of discernment is required, to discover the
deception. Upon these occasions, it is the duty of every one to seek ad
vice from those who are duly appointed to distinguish between the spirit
of truth and the spirit of error. But, then, we must make our inquiries
like the Wise Men, we must be simple and unaffected; we must desire to
be enlightened and not flattered; we must seek the truth sincerely, before
we can find it. But, unhappily, this method of inquiry is very uncommon
among Christians; and even amongst those who have renounced the dissi
pations of a worldly life, there are not a few to be found, my brethren, who,
I will venture to say, are frequently strangers to it. There are, in most
cases, some favorite attachments, some imperfections, which keep posses-
i io THE EPIPHANY.
sion of the heart, and which we refuse to relinquish. This we describe fc>
our director in such plausible terms, that it is manifest we seek not the
truth sincerely, and that we should be sorry to find it. Hence originate
those habitual imperfections in virtuous men, which excite the derision of
worldlings, and occasion reproaches and censures to be thrown on piety
itself.
Ah I if we really loved the truth, our first solicitude would be to discover
every weakness and imperfection in our souls, which is contradictory to its
maxims; we would gratefully reverence the man who pointed out to us
our defects, and who sought to heal the wounds which rankled in our
hearts. David paid the highest honors to the prophet Nathan, because he
reproved him for his crimes; treating him during the remainder of his
life as his father and deliverer. The same should be our conduct. But,
alas ! the man of God who dares to reprove us, immediately forfeits our
esteem. As long as he remained silent in our regard, he was treated as
an enlightened, prudent, charitable man; as a friend in every respect
worthy of our confidence and esteem. Like the Precursor of our Lord in
his remonstrances with Herod, he was listened to with pleasure as long as
he did not interfere with any of our favorite passions; but, as the candor
of the Baptist caused him to fall a victim to the resentment of the King,
so also, no sooner does our confessor have the courage to say: "This is
not lawful for you, " than all his former perfections vanish instantly from
our sight, and our opinion of him undergoes a complete revolution. His
former zeal is now enthusiasm; his charity, ostentation, or vain compla
cency in censuring and opposing others; his piety, imprudence, or a cloak
with which he conceals his pride; his ideas of truth, mere visionary shapes,
which he has mistaken for realities. Thus, it too frequently happens that
although we are interiorly convinced of the imperfect state of our souls,
we cannot endure that others should openly share our convictions. Like
Saul, we require that Samuel should approve in public, what we ourselves
condemn in private; and, by a corruption of heart, which is, perhaps,
more criminal than our actual weaknesses, we fain would quench in the
minds of others that light of truth, which we cannot extinguish in our own.
How few, as you see, dear brethren, are actuated by the same upright
ness and sincerity as the royal Wise Men !
Again, the light of truth is oftentimes manifested to us without effect, be
cause we are influenced by the impression, which the same light makes
upon others. We see no reason why we should act differently from our
fellow-men; why we should pursue the light of the divine Star with more
eagerness than those around us. Sometimes, indeed, the clear light which
it throws over our past irregularities fills us with dismay; we condemn our
present disorders; we tremble at the idea of a future state; we propose to
ourselves a change of life. But, no sooner is our attention engaged by the
example of universal corruption before us, than we resist the heavenly
THE EPIPHANY.
monitor, and ask with some surprise, whether heaven is to be p:r~
at a dearer rate by us, than it is by other people. We will not believe that
the Christian is bound to close his eyes to the depraved ways of the world,
and open them only to the duties and obligations of his calling. We will
not believe that we shall inevitably lose our souls, if we live like the gener
ality of men; that is, if we are conformed to the world, and are distin-
guished in nothing from the world. This is, because we will not believe
that the world is already judged, and that it is the great Antichrist which
shall inevitably perish, together with its head and members. Ah ! how
many timid Christians are there, who dare not declare for heaven, because
their change of life would be condemned by public example ! How many,
like Aaron in the desert, dance around the Golden Calf, and offer incense
to an idol which they detest, merely, because they have not courage to
.stand alone in defence of truth ! Senseless, as we are, we look up to men,
as if men were the personified truth; and, as if we were to seek on earth,
and not in heaven, (like the Wise Men, ) the light and law, which ought to
be our guide.
Small, indeed, is the number of those who, having discovered the truth,
remain perseveringly faithful to its illuminations; and, thenceforth, are
dead to the world, to its empty pleasures, and to its vain pomps. Small,
indeed, is the number of those, who find no delight but in the truth, and
who make it their consolation in affliction, the end and recompense of all
their labors, their chief and only solid enjoyment in this place of exile.
How truly vain, puerile, and disgusting is the world, with all its moment
ary pleasures, to the man, who is enamored of the truth of the eternal
promises, who is convinced, that all is unworthy of him which is not of
God; and that those who find the earth their land of consolation, are those
unhappy ones who will perish eternally. Nothing can delight such a man,
but the prospect of immortal goods; nothing can fix his attention, but what
will last forever; nothing can engage his affections, but that which he can
enjoy eternally.
II. It is the duty, therefore, of every Christian to open his eyes to the
light of truth with sincerity, submission, and joy. But this is not all; after
we are enlightened, we are bound to diffuse the light abroad, for the benefit
of our fellow creatures. And so obligatory is this duty, that if our neighbor
be confirmed in his bad habits, either by our silence, by our bad example,
or by our mean adulations, we become partakers of his sins, and shall be
held responsible for them before the tribunal of the great Judge. An in
stance of such criminal behavior is recorded, for our instruction, in this
day s Gospel. The Jewish priests and doctors were fully acquainted with
the circumstances foretold by the prophets, concerning the birth of Christ;
and, therefore, when consulted by Herod, they were bound to return an
answer expressive of the whole truth. But what, my brethren, do we find
to be their reply? They simply point out the place assigned for the birth
n^. THE EPIPHANY.
of tne expected Messiah, but cravenly conceal every other circumstance
connected with it. They neither proclaim the happy tidings to the people,
nor invite them by their own example to pay their homage to the new
born King. Restrained by their criminal timidity, they dissembled the
truth of God, even to their own condemnation.
The obligation of publishing the truth is imposed on all Christians. But
alas ! by whom is it fulfilled ? We imagine that no defence is required
from us, when the children of error espouse the cause of the world in our
presence; when they justify its maxims and abuses; when they call in
question the severity of the Gospel precepts; blaspheme what they do not
understand; and assume the office of judges over that law by which they
themselves, hereafter, will be judged. To be silent on these occasions is
to take part with the enemies of truth. For, to what purpose has God
enlightened us? Was it exclusively for our own individual salvation? Far
from it ! His designs were of much wider extent. He enlightened us in
order that our words and example might correct, or at least reprove, the
irregularities of our relatives, friends, masters, servants, and neighbors.
The blessings which he has bestowed on us, are intended to redound to the
benefit of the country of which we are inhabitants, and the age in which
we live. He never raises up a vessel of election without having in view
the salvation or condemnation of many. He made us lights for the express
purpose that we might shine in the midst of the surrounding darkness; that
we should perpetuate the knowledge of his truths among our fellow-men,
and give testimony to the wisdom and justice of his law, in opposition to
the prejudices and vanities of a profane world.
I acknowledge, indeed, that there is a time for speaking, and a time for si
lence, and that there are limits beyond which an ill-directed zeal would be
come imprudence. But I am shocked at the idea, that men who know and
serve God, should be afraid of espousing the cause of truth when they hear
the maxims of religion vilified, the good name of their neighbors injured,
and the most criminal abuses of the world maintained and justified. I am
shocked at the idea, that the world should have its declared partisans, and
that no one should dare to proclaim himself the partisan of Jesus. Ah! the
truly just man is far uplifted above every wordly consideration; his eye is
fixed on heaven alone; the approbation of God is his only ambition; he fears
nothing but remorse of conscience; he has respect for nothing but truth and
justice; he was placed on earth, in order to give testimony to the truth, and
to that he will give testimony in the face of the whole world. The presence,
alone, of the truly just man is calculated to impose silence on the most
embittered enemies of piety; his venerable appearance compels them to
respect the broad seal of truth, which is stamped upon his forehead; to
stand in awe of his dignified intrepidity; and to pay homage, at least, by
their silence and confusion, to that virtue which they refuse to imitate. The
Israelites, my brethren, were awed and confounded by Moses in this=
THE EPIPHANY. i\3
manner in the midst of their profane dances and rejoicings around the
Golden Calf; and they instantly ceased their idolatrous worship, at Uie
appearance of the man of God, descending from the mountain, armed
only with the terrors of the law of the Lord, and of his eternal truths. Take
courage, then, espouse boldly the cause of the Most High, and suffer no
species of irreligion to reign triumphant in your presence.
III. It was my design to call your attention to the conduct of the
impious Herod after the departure of the Wise Men, and to prove to you,
-at large, that an infinite number of Christians are animated at the present
time by the same spirit of persecution with which the wicked King was act
uated on that occasion; but on this head, I shall make only one reflection.
I speak not here of persecution by the sword, for that ordeal is now un
known amongst Christian brethren; but I allude to persecutions by scandal:
and of these, the disasters are widely extended and destructive, indeed.
It is not improbable that you, yourselves, may come under this class of
persecutors, although you have not, as yet, thrown off the reins of moral
ity, nor given yourselves up to a reprobate sense.
The scandal which is given by the declared advocate of vice, my dear
brethren, is undoubtedly great; but the scandal which is given by the
imperfect Christian, is frequently more pernicious in its effects. If, there
fore, you fulfil your duties with exterior marks of tepidity; if you attempt to
unite the service of the world with that of Jesus Christ; if you pretend to a
life of piety, and, at the same time, follow the maxims of worldlings, you
are persecutors of the truth; because, by your example, you confirm the
calumnies which are invented against the truly virtuous, and cause holiness
itself to be blasphemed by sinners. You cast a shadow over the beauties
of truth; you make it appear repulsive to those who are disposed to em
brace it; and you encourage the impenitence of those who are ready to
seize the smallest pretext for deferring their conversion. In this country,
particularly, surrounded as you are, by men who are separated from the
Church and temple of the Lord, you cause the words of the prophet Jeremy
to be again fulfilled: "The unfaithful Israel hath justified her soul in
comparison of the treacherous Juda," (Jer. 3: 2.) The unfaithful Israel,
that is, your unbelieving neighbor, beholding in you, (the heirs of God s
promises, ) the same thirst after pleasures, the same love of the world, the
same vanities and follies as in himself, turns away with disgust from your
affectation of religion, and concludes that it matters not which, or what
manner of, faith he outwardly professes, since the moral conduct of all is
the same. Let me, therefore, exhort you, dear brethren, with the Apostle,
so to regulate your deportment in the eyes of men, that, instead of ranking
you among the workers of evil, they may be edified by the display of your
.good works; and may open their hearts to the inspirations of God when,
in his mercy, he vouchsafes to visit them with his graces. Impose silence
on the enemies of your religion by the innocence of your lives; convince
i;4 THE EPIPHANY.
the world that your piety is useful for all things; that it not only contains
the sure prospect of future happiness, but that it imparts a present peace
and tranquillity of mind, the only pleasures worthy of enjoyment in this
transitory life.
Let us, therefore, give glory to the truth, my brethren, and for this-
purpose, let us receive it with joy, like the Wise Men, the instant it is
manifested to us; and never let us outrage it, like Herod, by the imper
fections and irregularities of our lives. Then, after having walked in its
light during the time of our mortal pilgrimage here below, we shall be
all, hereafter, eternally sanctified together in truth, and consummated in
charity. Amen.
MASSILLON.
THE EPIPHANY.
"Behold, there came wise men from the East to Jerusalem." Matt. 2:1.
Three Wise Men came from the East, seeking the new-born King, say
ing: "Where is he that is born king of the Jews, for we have seen his
star in the East, and are come to adore him. " These three men were the
first, that were called from the darkness of paganism to the light of faith.
They are the first fruits of the Gentiles, the first disciples of the Gospel.
We cannot doubt that God would exhibit to us, in these first fathers of
Christianity, a perfect example for our imitation. Let us, then, follow
them on their way; let us mark all their steps, whilst they are making
search for Jesus, in order to learn from. them, how we, in our turn, are to
seek him. Let us, my brethren, consider the obstacles, which they courage
ously overcome. Their first obstacle is themselves; their second, their
fellow-men; and their third, the world. They, themselves, might naturally
hinder this great quest by their corrupt inclinations and passions; their
fellow-men, by their example; and the world, by its hollow promises and
false pleasures. But seeking Jesus earnestly and unselfishly, they do not
suffer themselves to be impeded in their course by any of these obstacles
or allurements.
I. The Wise Men came from the East to Jerusalem to seek the new
born King. The first obstruction in their path was, (as might be supposed, )<
the affections of their own hearts. What had they not to abandon, what
sacrifices had they not to make, for the Infant Messiah whom they seek !
They leave all that they tenderly love, their native land, their palaces, their
families; in short, everything that is near and dear to them. They must
undertake a long and laborious journey, sacrificing the conveniences and
THE EPIPHANY. 115
comforts of their country and their homes. This is the first thing which
Christ requires of his disciples, detachment of the heart from the things
of* this world: "He that does not leave father and mother, brother and
sister for my sake, is not worthy of me. " God cannot be satisfied with a
heart that is divided between him and his creatures. Nor is this exterior
disengagement enough; this is merely the shell; we must go farther; we must
courageously abandon ourselves, a detachment harder to effect than the
sacrifice of all our possessions and temporal goods. We must give up our
own will and make it conformable to the will of God. It would be very
easy to be a Christian, if we had not to subdue our corrupt inclinations
and bridle our passions. The name we bear, requires far more; it demands
the painful separation of our hearts from all created things. We must
renounce what is dear to our inclinations, and bring our ruling passions
into subjection; break the fetters that bind our hearts to creatures, and do
violence to ourselves in many other ways.
And this is what appears so hard to corrupt nature; this is the first
stumbling-block in our way, which self-love magnifies and exaggerates. It
persuades us that total self-abnegation is an undertaking surpassing our
strength, and that we cannot persevere in it for any length of time. Our
self-love does not object to devoting a small portion of each day to prayer,
or to the practice of certain external austerities which are not very painful
to flesh and blood, provided we spare the heart, the inner man, and are
not called upon to lay the axe to the root of our passions. In all these
devotional exercises, we are generally very exact, even scrupulous, as if
everything depended upon them; but in fighting against our passions, a
struggle which demands a paramount vigor and energy, we are slothful,
inactive, nay, careless; and this, dear Christians, is a lukewarmness we
must combat with all our strength, if we desire, in imitation of the Wise
Men, to find the new-born King. In vain do we renovate and whitewash
the exterior, if we neglect the inner man; we must search the heart and
cleanse it from all inordinate desires; we must do violence to ourselves.
And we must make the measure and sincerity of this violence our criterion,
as to whether or not, we are advancing towards union with God; for we
are certainly deluded by the evil one if, without self-denial, we congratulate
ourselves upon having found the way of the Lord. If we wish to take the
path that leads to God, we must make many and great sacrifices for the
love of him; and we are only able to determine that the road we travel is
the right one in so far as we are thus doing violence to ourselves and our
inclinations; the kingdom of heaven suffers violence, and only the violent
bear it away.
II. The Wise Men of the East had not only to make many personal
sacrifices in order to come to Jesus, but they had also to guard against the
example of others, so as not to be led astray by it When I speak of the
IT 6 THE EPIPHANY.
example of others, I allude to that most cruel enemy and tyrant of man,
human respect, which especially in our days, my brethren, prevents Christ
ians from making any progress in the ways of God; but these royal pilgrims
who came from the East to Jerusalem, to seek the new-born King, did not
fear that tyrant. They departed from their homes, unaccompanied by those
many other wise and learned men, their friends and relations, who
(despising the apparition of the Star, ) stayed at home. These three Magi,
alone, follow the miraculous luminary which conducts them to Jerusalem.
They arrive there, and in the presence of Herod, they ask: "Where is he
that is born King of the Jews ? " Without any sign of fear, they declare
that they have come to adore him. They do not seek the opinion of
Herod, neither do they regard his wrath, nor the murmurs of the Pharisees;
they do not consider what others may say or think of them. They, them
selves, can think or speak of nothing else save the new-born King.
Undaunted, they will not permit themselves to be prevented from rendering
to their God, the homage and adoration due him.
Yes, the example of others is the great stumbling-block, the giant
obstacle, which these three primitive confessors of our holy faith happily
surmounted, but against which we frequently stumble, and are cast by it into
sin. The lights of heaven are not wanting to point out to us the way we
should go. But, beholding the example of others who live as we do, we
endeavor to stifle the voice of conscience, and are content to continue in
the same state as our careless companions, and, thus proceed, hand in
hand with them, in the path of error. We have, indeed, some lucid inter
vals, in which we acknowledge that we are going astray and rushing head
long to perdition; we pronounce judgment against ourselves; we tremble
at the thought of eternity, we make resolutions to begin a new life, but as
soon as we enter again into society, and observe that all around us pursue
the same course as ourselves, we relapse, once more, into the unhappy sleep
of impenitence. We console ourselves with the thought, that it is hardly
possible the great masses of men should be, with ourselves, upon the
wrong road, and doomed to be eternally lost. Either we cannot, or wHl
not, believe that the surest road to hell is to live as others live; and through
human respect, follow the vast multitude to perdition.
The greatest obstacle, therefore, in the way of salvation is the example
of others, which we have not the courage to oppose. We are not strong
enough to side with the pious minority who are good and fear God,
because we are afraid that the world, whose homage and respect we crave,
might disapprove of our change of life and ridicule us. Yes, we frequently
take part with the wicked, even against our own judgment, against the
voice of our conscience, sooner than run the risk of offending them. Aaron
certainly found no pleasure in idolatry, and, if he had followed and obeyed
the dictates of his heart and conscience, would have adored the One True
God; but he had not sufficient courage to oppose the multitude of the
THE EPIPHANY. 117
-wicked, consequently, he fell into idolatry, danced with the rest of the
Israelites around the Golden Calf, and offered sacrifice with them to an
idol, which in his heart he detested and despised. As long as we are the
slaves of human respect, we are not true followers of Christ. We must not
heed the taunts and scoffs of men, but, in our dignity as Christians, con
siders ourselves superior to their ignorant remarks. They cannot injure
our souls by their tongues, and though they were even able to destroy our
bodies, let us not fear them, but rather him who can destroy both
body and soul, and render them miserable in the flames of a never-
ending Eternity. If, with the Wise Men of the Gospel, we sincerely wish to
find Jesus Christ and the way to his Kingdom, let us not fear the judg
ment of the wicked, for, with the wicked, good is evil, and evil, good; and,
thus, turning light into darkness, they have no other guide for their judg
ment than their own depraved inclinations.
III. The third obstacle to the Wise Men s journey, (the mastery of
which includes so many of their noble sacrifices, but which they con
sider as nothing, compared with the possession of their God,) is the con
cupiscence of the eyes, the allurements of earth, riches, grandeur, lux
uries, and all the enticing and ensnaring things of this world. What a
temptation for these three oriental magnates ! They come into a foreign
"country and behold the glory of Jerusalem, its splendid buildings, the
magnificent Temple of Solomon, the rich palace of Herod. They regard all
these things with little attention, without betraying the least sign of astonish
ment. They do not ask, as did the embassy from Babylon before them, to
see the treasures and riches of the Temple, and the curiosities of the city;
no, they care nothing for worldly pomp and splendor; because they have
Jesus in their hearts and thoughts, they are indifferent to all other things.
They only ask for Christ: Where is he that is born King of the Jews?"
And as soon as they ascertain the place of his birth, they turn their backs
upon the glorious city of Jerusalem, and go to the mean stable in which
he was born. There, they find the Infant Messiah, the only object of their
love and desire. They are not scandalized at his humble surroundings,
but falling on their knees, they adore the Divine Child, and opening their
treasures, they offer him gold, frankincense, and myrrh. Here, at
Bethlehem, and not at Jerusalem, they find consolation and unspeakable
happiness.
This is the picture of a true Christian. He lives in the world, enjoys
the goods and, occasionally, the pleasures of the world, but all this com
pletes not his happiness; his heart is not attached to terrestrial things; it
belongs to God, whole and entire. He has, as it were, no eyes for the
world and its empty vanities; he finds no real pleasure in anything but in
<jod. God, alone, is his comfort and consolation in all difficulties, God is
the only joy and pleasure of his heart, he knows that what is not God, is
n8 FIRST SUNDAY AFTER EPIPHANY.
unworthy of his love. Nothing is able to charm him but that which presents
to him an eternal good, nothing engages his consideration but that eternal
good; nothing pleases him, but what can please him forever; and nothing
is able to attract his heart and affections except the treasure which he can
never lose, but shall possess and enjoy forever. These are the marks and
qualities by which true Christians are known. With the three Wise Men,
they seek God with their whole heart. Nothing can prevent their search
for the Eternal Truth; neither the passions of the heart, for they subdue
them; nor the example of others, for they are guided, not by human
respect or bad example, but by the noble principles of the Gospel; and
as to the allurements of the world, they can have no power over the hearts
which are not attached to them. Follow, then, the footsteps of the Wise
Men of the East; imitate their beautiful example, to the end, my deai
brethren, that you may be so happy as to find with theni, without fail, Christ,
our only hope in this life and our permanent felicity in the next. Amen.
FIRST SUNDAY AFTER EPIPHANY.
THE DUTIES OF CHILDREN TO THEIR PARENTS.
A nd he was subject to them. " Luke 2: 51.
Jesus Christ came, so says the inspired Writer, "to do and to teach."
By his actions, he has instructed, by his words, he has taught us all that
we must do in order to save our souls, those immortal souls, my dear
brethren, for which he laid down his life, shedding the last drop of his
sacred Blood upon the cruel cross of Golgotha. He came into the world
not to do his own will, but the will of his heavenly Father who sent him.
Submissive to that holy will, he recognized and adored it even when
unjustly condemned to death by Pilate yea, even when nailed to the cross
by the hands of his brutal executioners. In to-day s Gospel, as you have
heard, dear friends, we read that from infancy to manhood, he was
obedient to Mary, his Mother, and to Joseph, his foster-father: "he was
subject to them," says the inspired word of St. Luke, the Evangelist. Until
his thirtieth year, when his heavenly Father called him to begin his public
life, he lived with them at Nazareth, and as a child loved, honored,
respected, and obeyed them. This love and respect for his blessed Mother
caused him to work his first miracle, even although, as he said at the time,
his hour had not yet come; and, moreover, when he was in his last agony
on the cross, mindful of her future interests, he recommended her to the
care of the beloved disciple, St. John. My dear children here present, of
whatever age, of whatever condition in life you may be, learn from Jesus
FIRST SUNDAY AFTER EPIPHANY. 119
your duties to your parents ; learn, to-day, especially, that whatever
may be the failings of your father or mother, whatever your own circum
stances in life, or your position in society, you are bound to love and
honor your parents, as long as they live; nay, even after they have departed
to another world, your love for them should not cease, but should find
expression in Masses, prayers, and alms for their eternal repose. You
perceive, my dear friends, that the subject on which I intend to speak to-
you, to-day, is a subject of the most vital importance, especially in these
times, when respect for parents and parental authority is so often disregarded,
and when children seem to forget or ignore the duty of love, honor, and
respect, which they owe continually to their father and mother. Leaving
the subject of obedience for another occasion, I shall explain to you, to
day, my dear brethren,
/. How children must love;
II. How children must honor and respect their parents.
I. It may appear superfluous and almost out of place, to speak of the
necessity of loving one s parents, inasmuch as our dear Lord has explicitly
said: Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself." Our parents, forsooth,
hold by right, the first place amongst those designated by the title of
"neighbor." Were it not a fact, my dear brethren, a sad and shocking
fact, that, from time to time, we meet unhappy sons and daughters, who
are themselves grown-up men and women, and, possibly, parents in their
turn were it not that we hear them say: "I cannot love my mother. I
almost hate my father ! " assuredly, I would be silent, to-day, on this sad
subject. It may be true, indeed, that parents, forgetful of their duties
toward those with whose welfare they are especially charged, are more or less
to be blamed for alienating from themselves the affections of their children;
granted, also, as it sometimes happens, that a father by his unchristian life,
by his brutal conduct, causes his children to become outcasts in the world;
or that a mother, by her nameless vices, degrades and disgraces her
offspring; still the duty of love, filial love, should not thereby suffer nor
grow cold in the heart of a Christian child. The outward tokens of
affection, the exterior manifestations of that love (which is so natural that
it can scarcely be eradicated from the heart of a child) may, indeed, be
prudently moderated and withheld for a season, but the love itself should
increase in proportion as a parent s misfortunes become greater. Perhaps
you will say: "I cannot love my father, for he is subject to bad habits; he
uses the vilest language; he does not treat us as a father, he abuses us,"
and the like. I answer: "My child, you are mistaken: you do love your
father. Would you not be willing to give almost anything, if you could
prevail on him to renounce that bad habit, if you could have the pleasure
of seeing him approach the Sacraments, and become a good Christian ? *
12O FIRST SUNDAY AFTER EPIPHANY.
You reply: "Yes, Father, God knows that I would." Hence, I repeat
that you do love him you love him with your will, if not with your sens
ible feelings, but you must let your love become more effective; you
must pray constantly for the conversion of your father; pray that God may
touch his heart and give him the grace to change his life. No, no, it is-
not possible that a child should not love its parents, for, as St. Peter
Chrysologus says: "A child that does not love its parents, is rather a
monster of nature than a child. " And I would not for a moment suspect
any of you, my dear brethren, of having fallen so low as to refuse to those
who, under God, are the authors of your existence, what the very brutes, by
natural instinct, give to those that have brought them into the world. O,
how terrible are the threats of the Almighty God against such unnatural
children! "He that curseth his father or mother, dying, let him die."
Lev. 20: 9. And, again, in the book of Proverbs, we read: "He that
curseth his father and mother, his lamp shall be put out in the midst of
darkness. The inheritance gotten hastily in the beginning, in the end
shall be without a blessing." Prov. 20: 20, 21. For such unholy male
dictions and desires, proceeding from an unnatural hatred and evil dis
position towards his parents, draw down the curse of God upon the
unfortunate child. Their lamp is often extinguished "in the midst of
darkness," that is, such unhappy sons and daughters are frequently cut
off from the face of the earth in the midst of their sins. As I have already
said, I trust, that no one here present is guilty of such unnatural conduct
towards his father or mother, and, therefore, I shall dwell no longer upon
this first part of to-day s instruction, but proceed to my second point,
namely :
II. That children must honor and respect their par mis. He that honoreth
his mother is r,s one, that layeth up a treasure. He that honoreth his father,
shall have joy in his own children; and in the day of his prayer, he shall be
heard He that honoreth his father, shall enjoy a long life; and, he that
obeyeth the father, shall be a comfort to his mother. He that feareth the
Lord, honoreth his parents, and will serve them as his masters that brought
him into the world. Honor thy father, in work and word, and all patience,
that a blessing may come upon thee from him, and his blessing may remain
in the latter end." Eccles. 3: 5-12.
"Honor thy father and mother that thou mayest live a long time, and it
may be well with thee in the land which the Lord, thy God, will give thee."
Deut. 5:16. Thus spoke the Almighty God in the Old Law to his chosen
people. "Honor thy father and mother," says our blessed Lord in his
counsels to the Scribes and Pharisees, and, again, to the young man who
was called to the perfect life, but had not the courage to embrace holy
poverty. This, alone, my brethren, should be, indeed, sufficient to teach
children that it is their imperative duty, at all times and under all circum-
FIRST SUNDAY AFTER EPIPHANY. 121
stances, to pay respect to him whom God has chosen from among all men
to be their father, and to her who, in pain and at^the peril of her own life,
has brought them into the world. Children, where would you be, what
would have become of you, if your parents had abandoned you after your
birth ? Who would ever have cared for you if they, at that supreme hour,
had cast you off? When you were unable of yourself to think, to speak,
to move, those loving parents nursed you; they provided for you, they
watched over you, night and day. This caused the good old Tobias to
impress upon the mind and heart of his son the duty of respect for his
mother. When about to die, he said: Hear, my son, the words of my
mouth, and lay them as a foundation in thy heart. When God shall take
my soul, thou shalt bury my body; and thou shalt honor thy mother all
the days of her life. For thou must be mindful what and how great perils
she suffered for thee in her womb." Tob. 4: 2, 3, 4. And your father,
dear children, how does he not labor and toil for your good ? No fatigue,
nor anxiety of mind, either by day or by night, does he count as anything,
when your welfare, or even your comfort, is in question; for nature impels
him to provide for you and to take care of you. And would it not be
unnatural, if you should refuse to honor and respect them who are in your
behalf the immediate^ representatives of God ?
Since, then, the Almighty has expressly commanded it, since nature itself
clearly impels you to honor your parents, O, my dear children, whosoever
you may be, whatsoever your age or position in life, do not, I beg of you,
under any pretext, deny them the love and respect, which are their lawful
due. At all times, but especially when your father has grown old and
peevish, when your mother, pressed down by age and infirmities, can no
longer help herself, show your respect for your parents. Complain not of
the burden, speak not harshly to them, nor wound their feelings by pert
and unbecoming language, by sullen silence, angry looks, or violent and
hasty gestures. "Son, support the old age of thy father; and grieve him
not in his life; and if his understanding fail, have patience with him, and
despise him not, when thou art in thy strength; for the relieving of the father
shall not be forgotten." Eccles. 3: 14, 15. But, above all, never speak of
their faults and imperfections to others, mindful of the words of the Holy
Ghost: "Glory not in the dishonor of thy father; for his shame is no glory
to thee." Eccles. 3:12.
If, however, neither the admonitions of the Holy Ghost, the positive
commandment of God, nor the promises vouchsafed to the dutiful child
be sufficient to induce you to honor your father and mother; if, carried
away by your unruly passions of self-love and pride, you look down upon
your parents with scorn and contempt, and insult them by your ungovern
able tongue, hear, then, what the vengeance of God has in store for you:
"Cursed be he who honoreth not his father and mother; and all the people
shall say amen." Deut. 27: 16. The child, the young man or woman, who
122 FIRST SUNDAY AFTER EPIPHANY.
tails to cherish and manifest a proper regard for his parents, who treats his
father harshly, or who so forgets his manhood and his Christianity, as to
wound the feelings of his aged mother, that child shall be cursed by God,
even in this world. The maledictions of heaven shall rest upon undutiful
children wherever they go, and shall descend like a mildew upon whatever
they undertake, even as it was in the case of Cham, the disrespectful son
of Noah. "The eye that mocketh at his father, and that despiseth the
labor of his mother in bearing him, let the ravens of the brook pick it out,
and the young eagles eat it." Prov. 30: 17. On the other hand, heaven s
choicest blessings shall accompany the child, who, after the example of our
Lord Jesus Christ, shall at all times be guided by the command of God:
"Honor thy father and mother." Imitate, my brethren, those whom the
Holy Ghost, in the Sacred Scriptures, points out to us as beautiful examples
of filial respect and love; and the blessing of God will ever be upon your
life; and your days, according to his sacred promise, will be long in the
land.
In conclusion, I wish to call your attention, my dear brethren, to the
beautiful manner, in which king Solomon treated his mother, Bethsabee.
Solomon was not a saint, neither was his mother. And, yet, that mighty
king, who had been endowed by Almighty God with greater wisdom than
was ever possessed by any one before or after his time, that famous
monarch rose from his throne, when his mother came into his royal
presence, and, with due respect for her office and authority, bade her ask of
him whatever she desired. Would to God that children were ever mind
ful of this beautiful example given them by the wisest of men ! They would
not, then, by word or action, wound the tender heart of the mother who
bore them in her womb, they would not sadden the heart of their father,
pressed down by old age and infirmities; but rather, like Solomon, they
would hearken with filial reverence to their mother s smallest request; and,
with Joseph of Egypt, provide for the comfort and support of their father s
declining years. Uphold, then, dear children, the tottering steps of your
aged parents, and the blessing which God has promised to those who
honor their father and mother, will most assuredly follow you in life, and
dying, you will meet your Judge with confidence, and will receive from
him, who was subject to Mary and Joseph at Nazareth, the everlasting
reward which he has prepared for the imitators of his own filial love and
devotion. Amen. FAX.
FIRST SUNDAY AFTER EPIPHANY. if
FIRST SUNDAY AFTER EPIPHANY,
ON CONTRITION FOR THE LOSS OF JESUS, AND AN EARNEST RESOLUTION TO
SEEK HIM WHERE HE CAN BE FOUND.
* ( Son, why hast thou done so to us? Behold, thy father and I have sought flue
sorrowing" Luke 2: 48.
Who can wonder at the anguish and grief of Mary and Joseph, on this
occasion, beholding them hastily return to Jerusalem to seek their lost Son,
and hearing the mournful complaint and gentle reproach of the Immaculate
Mother: "Son, why hast thou done so to us? Behold, thy father and I
have sought thee sorrowing. " Was not the lost Child worthy of this tearful
and painful search? What did Mary and Joseph lose by losing Jesus?
They lost the riches of their house, the joy of their hearts, the expectation
of mankind, and the Saviour of the world. O, what shame to sinners ! We
call ourselves Christians and followers of Christ, and yet, having lost him
and his grace, can we be so indifferent ? We have no sorrow for his loss; nor
do we endeavor to find him again. We appear to be unconscious of having
lost anything worth possessing. Behold, if we live blamelessly in the fear
and love of God, we possess Jesus, and are his dwelling place; but, as soon
as we fall into mortal sin, he departs from us and deprives us of his grace
and favor. Mary and Joseph did not lose Jesus through any fault of theirs;
they innocently supposed him to be in the company of their kinsfolk and
acquaintances, who had left Jerusalem before them; but, we, by committing
sin, we lose him and his grace wilfully, consequently through our own
fault, and how can we be indifferent to such a loss ? The greatness of this
misfortune should move us,
/. To be sorry for having lost Jesus;
II. To seek Jesus where he can alone be found.
I. If you wish to understand the greatness of the loss you sustain by
committing mortal sin, reflect upon what you lose when you lose Jesus,
what you are without him and his grace. What are all the riches you may
possess in this world, what are all the pleasures you may enjoy, and all the
praises men may heap upon you? Ah, they are vain things, they are
glittering toys, which will soon vanish; they are vile, miserable trifles which
you may lose any moment, or which, at most, will only attend you to the
grave. If, in the possession of the goods of this world and in the enjoy
ment of the pleasures of this life, you cannot say: "Jesus is my friend, his
124 FIRST SUNDAY AFTER EPIPHANY.
grace is with me; he loves me, and I love him," you are the most miser
able of beings. A beggar who can glory in having God for his friend, is far
more acceptable in the eyes of God than the king in his palace, if the
latter be a sinner. He that glories, let him glory in the Lord, to glory in
anything else is but vanity of vanities.
If God possesses our souls, we are truly happy; if we possess Jesus, we
may glory in our Guest. Whilst we abstain from sin, God dwells within
us. "Know you not that your members are temples of the Holy Ghost,
who is in you ? " This our Lord would give us to understand when he
says: "If any man love me, he will keep my word, and my Father will
love him, and we will come to him, and make an abode with him." If we
keep his commandments, if we are zealous in his service, what are we but
a temple in which he dwells, a throne on which he reigns, granting all our
requests and showering upon us the treasures of his grace? Is he not our
strength in weakness, our refuge in temptations, our light in darkness and
in doubt? Is he not the life of our lives, the understanding of our under
standings, and the soul of our souls ? And when we lose Jesus and his
grace, what is it but Jesus leaving his temple, the King descending from
his throne, and the Bridegroom abandoning his bride ! I am aware that
people weep, when their friends remove a great distance from them, that
children weep, when they behold their good father, or their tender mother,
laid in the coffin and hidden in the grave; that parents weep when their
children die, and are buried out of their sight. But what will you do,
when, on account of one unhappy grievous sin, your Jesus, your God and
your All, has departed from you, and left you without his precious grace ?
Have you no tears for the loss of your God? Is too much required of you,
when I implore you to give vent to those bitter drops of anguish, and to
exclaim with the Royal Prophet: "My tears have been my bread, both day
and night, whilst it is said to me: Where is thy God?" Ask Sampson what
he lost, when he abandoned God? He lost his strength; he who had been
invincible, became as weak and powerless as a child. Ask King Saul what
he lost, when he turned his back upon God? He will tell you, that he
lost his kingdom. Ask Manasses what he lost when he was unfaithful to
God, and he will tell you that he lost his crown. Ask the children of Israel
what they lost by sinning against God ? They lost the health of their bodies,
the fertility of their fields, the possession of their country, and their national
independence; yet, all these losses are but feeble figures of a dreadful
reality, they are as nothing compared with the loss of Jesus and his grace.
We are exceedingly happy and possess everything as long as we possess
Jesus and his grace. By committing mortal sin, we lose everything; we
have no more strength in difficulties, or patience in troubles and afflictions;
for Jesus is our strength, our hope, our comfort, and our consolation.
Sinners, you have reason to curse those unhappy hours in which you lost
Jesus, Jesus and his grace, and to cry out in the bitterness of your souls:
FIRST SUNDAY AFTER EPIPHANY. "j
"My tears are my bread, day and night, whilst it is said to me: Where is
thy God?"
Look back upon the blessed period of your past innocence, how happy,
how contented, how cheerful, you were in those days when your con
science did not reproach you with anything; when you were free from sin
and full of zeal and fervor in the service of God; when you practised all
the Christian virtues with ease and pleasure; when your souls were pure and
undefiled; when Jesus was your friend, and you, the objects of his favor
and pleasure ! How happy were you, dear Christians, on the day of your
first Communion ! Oh! how can you be free now from anxiety? What do you
think of yourselves, seeing, that you are in the state of mortal sin, that
your souls are corrupted with evil, and the just objects of his anger and indig
nation? Once more I repeat: How happy you were on the day of your first
Communion! You were angels in human flesh; you wouJ$J have gone straight
to heaven, if you had died upon that day. But, from the moment you lost
Jesus and his grace, and as long as you remained in that state without
endeavoring to recover his friendship, you resembled devils. What have
you, if you do not possess Jesus, your Eternal Lord and Master? Repeat,
again, with a heart full of compunction for your sins: "My tears are my
bread, both day and night, whilst it is said to me: Where is thy God?"
Mary and Joseph, not finding their Son with their kinsfolk and
acquaintances, immediately returned to Jerusalem. They inquired for him
everywhere, and still not finding him, they went into the Temple to present
their necessity and trouble to the Lord. And there they found him. What an
example for us ! In like manner, you must seek him without delay, as soon
as you have had the misfortune to lose him by sin. The Sacred Scripture
relates to us a very instructive incident by which we may learn how we
are to seek him. Micha, an idolator, was one day robbed of an idol which
he had made with his own hands, and which he loved very much. He no
sooner discovered his loss, than he ran after the thief screaming as loud as
he could. The thief stopped, asking him: "What makes you run and
scream like a madman?" He answered: "Why should I not scream, and
almost take leave of my senses, since you have stolen my god ? " If an
idolator spares no trouble to recover a senseless idol, the work of his hands,
is it possible that you, Christians, can live for days, months, and even years,
without possessing your God, that God, who gives motion to all that move,
being to all that are, and life to all that live? Why do you put off your
conversion from day to day ? For what are you waiting ? Why do you
not endeavor to recover the grace of God which you have forfeited by your
sins? Pray, tell me, is this your course of action, when you sustain a
temporal loss? When the Lord visits you with sickness, do you not apply
every available remedy, in order to recover the health of your body? A
physician is called in at once, and his advice eagerly sought and followed.
No matter, how bitter or disgusting the medicines may be, you are satis-
126 FIRST SUNDAY AFTER EPIPHANY.
fied to make use of them; no matter, how painful or dangerous, the
operation may prove, you consent to undergo it, and why? Simply to
recover your bodily health. But when you have lost Jesus and his grace,
when your soul is in the grasp of a mortal illness, you are quiet, indifferent,
careless, you delay your conversion for months and years; consequently, I
can say with justice that you are more solicitous for your corruptible bodies
than for your immortal souls. The loss of worldly goods deprives you of
your sleep at night, of your appetite during the day, you have no rest, no
peace. O, sinner! how can you live so long without making efforts to
recover the lost grace of God, although your conscience daily cries out to
you: "Where is your God?"
II. If, after the commission of sin, you are sensible, in a measure, of your
great loss, your peace is disturbed; you are restless, and you try in every
way to find peace. But all your endeavors to find your lost treasure will
not be rewarded with success, unless you seek it where it can, alone, be
found. Some seek their happiness in riches, others in honors, others in
pleasures, but are riches, honors, and pleasures the end for which man is
created ? In God, alone, you will find rest for your souls, peace of mind,
and true happiness, because in him, alone, you will find the end for which
you are placed in this world. The heart of man is not, and never can be,
satisfied with the goods of this earth. The poor man is uneasy, because he
is destitute of these temporal goods, but the rich man is still more uneasy
in their possession. God alone is the end for which we live; if we lose
him, we are really unhappy. If you wish, therefore, to find your lost
happiness, you must seek it in God.
It is now nearly six thousand years since the universe was formed by the
creative hand of God. Countless are the multitudes of men who have lived
in the world. Among them have been many who were renowned for the
superiority of their learning and talents, for the valor of their arms, and for
their spirit of enterprise, but all, without exception, wished and desired
nothing more than happiness. Now, tell me, if in all history you can
discover one who found true happiness in anything but God. We read
that Solomon was blessed with riches and endowed with great wisdom, and
on that account was honored and respected by kings and queens, but, at
the same time, we read in his own confession, that he was not happy, that
there was nothing in his riches but vanity of vanities and affliction of spirit.
We read that Alexander, the Great, placed on the highest pinnacle of
human greatness, looked abroad with a heavy sigh over his vast dominions,
and actually wept because there was not another world for his ambitious
sword to conquer, lamented, because he could not subjugate all nations to
his sceptre. Augustus, the Roman Emperor, declared, that he possessed
every thing great in this world, and that he could desire nothing not already
his own, but he also said that there was something wanting to complete
his happiness, although he could not explain what it was. We know wkc^J
FIRST SUNDAY AFTER EPIPHANY. 127
that something is, it is God. Without God and his grace, there is no true
happiness. All other things are vanities, glittering toys, splendid trifles.
The richest man is unhappy, if he does not possess God. The heart of
man is made to be the abode of God, and as long as God does not dwell
in it, there is naught there save emptiness and bitterness. Every one feels
this, and strives to fill up that vacuum, but generally not in the right
manner. God, alone, can fill our hearts, and make us contented and
happy, because he is the sole end for which we are created.
O false hope of happiness, how many are deceived by thee ! Man
always lives in hope, and dies without seeing his fondest hopes realized.
All live in expectation of acquiring felicity here below; our whole life is
poisoned by this delusive hope. Therefore, my brethren, learn in time not
to fix your hearts and affections upon the perishable goods of this world; so
that, if you be deprived of them by any accident, you may bear their loss
with a tranquil mind. Without such a disposition, you will ever be the
slaves, rather than the masters, of your passions.
But where is Jesus to be found ? The Gospel tells us that Mary and
Joseph sought him for three days, and found him in the temple, among the
doctors of the Law. As soon as they discovered their loss, they returned
in tears and sorrow to the Holy City. So, also, must you return from your
<evil wayfc to the Holy City of virtue, from the flowery road that leads to
hell to the narrow way of the Cross which leads to heaven. You must seek
your God in the temple, in the church; there he will unite himself with you,
when you receive him in holy Communion, there he will hear your prayers,
when you pour them forth to him with faith and confidence. If you seek
him elsewhere, you will not find him. Mary and Joseph did not find him
in the streets, but in the temple of Jerusalem. Yes, he is found in the
church, in the true Temple of God; there your sins are forgiven in the
sacred tribunal of Penance, there the tremendous Sacrifice is offered, there
you receive his sacred Body and Blood. If you seek him elsewhere, you
will not find him, he will say to you as he said to his Blessed Mother:
"How is it that you sought me? Did you not know that I must be about
the business of my Father ? "
Once more, what do you lose by losing Jesus? You lose everything.
What do you find, when you find him? Everything. What have you, if
you do not possess Jesus and his holy grace? Absolutely nothing. What
can you do without Jesus and his grace? Nothing, whatever. If you keep
his commandments, Jesus promises you the beauty of holiness here; and
real, because eternal, joys, hereafter. And the devil, under whose banners
you enlist when you break the commandments, promises you the horrors
of hell, a fire that will burn forever, a worm that will never die. Would
you, my brethren, even for a million of dollars, be cast into a fiery furnace
and burn there for a year, nay, (what do I say?) for a single hour? No,
you would not. But you make a worse choice than this; you choose an
12$ SECOND SUNDAY AFTER EPIPHANY.
eternity of torments for a momentary pleasure, you choose rather to damn
your souls by your sins, than to save them by a brief period of mortification.
Come ye all, then, who have been so unfortunate as to lose Jesus by
wilful sin. He is expecting you in his boundless mercy. Your sins are
not too great for pardon; the arms of Jesus are still outstretched; he invites
all, without exception, to come to him that he may refresh them. O my
brethren ! seek him earnestly and perseveringly in the Temple,- seek him
with tears and true repentance in the tribunal of Penance; and having
found him, risk his loss no more, but cry out with a heart full of love: "I
have found him whom I love, I will keep him and let him go no more ! "
SECOND SUNDAY AFTER EPIPHANY.
MARY S GOODNESS TOWARDS MAN, AND HER GREAT POWER WITH GOD.
"Mary, the Mother of Jesus, saith to him: They have no wine. " John 2: 3.
This is the petition with which Mary intercedes with her Divine Son for
the wedding guests: " They have no wine." As though she would say:
Behold, my Son, the innocent joy of these good people, (in which you,
yourself, participate,) will shortly be interrupted to the great embarrass
ment of the bride and bridegroom; for the wine begins to fail. "They
have no wine." Short as this petition may seem, it is followed by the best
effects; out of regard for his Mother, our Blessed Lord changes water into
wine by an act of his divine Omnipotence. This charitable condescension
on the part of the divine Omnipotence is astonishing on the one hand; and
on the other, the prayer of the Virgin Mother of God conveys to us a
wholesome lesson, well deserving our most serious attention. Mary presents
her petition to her Son with the greatest confidence, and her request is
granted. By her request she shows:
/. Her great confidence in God,
II. Her great goodness towards man, and
///. Her great power with God.
I. The prayer of Mary to her Son teaches us with what confidence we
should pray to God. Her prayer is full of confidence. This is evident
from the subject of her request, from the manner of her request, and from
the fact, that she lost neither courage, nor hope, because of the seemingly-
unpromising answer of her Son. It is true, Mary is the Mother of Jesus,
and, because of her maternal authority, she has a particular right to con
verse with him more freely, to intimate her wishes to him more openly, apd
SECOND SUNDAY AFTER EPIPHANY. 129
more confidently to expect from him the realization of her desires. She
had experienced his filial love and obedience during thirty years in her
humble home at Nazareth; hence, the Evangelist assures us: "He was
subject to them. " But, what Mary requests in the Gospel of this day, sur
passes all human power; for she requests an act which God, alone, (who
dvvelleth in Christ with all the fulness of the Godhead corporally,) is able
to perform. She asks of our Lord a sign, a miracle, never heard of before;
a miracle, by which he would prove himself publicly to be the Supreme Lord
of the Universe. What is her request? Is it to forgive the sins of a poor
dying sinner? Is it to restore to a sorrowful widow her only son? Is it
to feed hungry multitudes in the desert? Is it to heal a sick man and
restore him to health ? Is it to raise a dead girl to life ? None of all these.
Her request is to prolong the pleasure and the merriment of a newly-married
couple and their guests, by procuring an increase of wine which had begun
to fail, for, she says: "They have no wine." She knows that he is able to
do what she desires; and she does not doubt for an instant that he will
comply with her request; she does not multiply words, but simply says:
"They have no wine," as if she knew, then, what her divine Son later
taught: "When you are praying, do not speak many words, as the
heathens do."
Jesus said to her : Woman, what is that to me and to thee ?" In these words,
(which read to some like a reproach, but by which no reproach was intended, )
he gives us to understand that he received the Godhead, which, alone, is able
to work miracles, not from his Mother in time, but from his Father in eternity.
His reply seems to be a denial of her request, especially, if we take into con
sideration what he adds: "My hour is not yet come." Is Mary afraid?
Does she lose her courage, her confidence ? Does sh give up hope, or
does she reiterate her request ? No, she remains steadfast in her confidence;
she is so sure that her prayer will be heard and her request granted, that
she turns to the waiters, and says to them: "Whatsoever he shall say to
you, do ye." Let us imitate her example. We may reap a double benefit
from it, first, we shall, thus, render ourselves acceptable to the divine Mother,
who is pleased to assist those whom she finds inclined to imitate her virtues;
and secondly, we shall obtain of God by our prayers all that is necessary
for us; for true confidence is a quality which renders prayer, as it were, all
powerful. To prove this, I quote the plain words of Christ himself:
"Amen, Amen, 1 say to you, if you have faith as a grain of mustard seed,
you shall say to this mountain, remove hence to yonder place, and it shall
remove, and nothing shall be impossible for you," Again, he says: "There
fore, I say to you, all things whatsover you shall ask when you pray,
believe, and you shall receive." "Ask, and you shall receive." He con
firms this promise with a solemn oath: "Amen, Amen, I say to you, if you
ask the Father anything in my name, he will give it you."
Jesus always takes the faith and confidence with which we pray into
130 SECOND SUNDAY AFTER EPIPHANY.
consideration, when we ask him for any favor. What else did he wish to
express, when he said: * Thy faith hath made thee whole." "Go, and as
thou hast believed, so be it done unto thee. " And in the ninth chapter of
St. Matthew, we read: A woman who was troubled with an issue of blood
for twelve years, came behind him and touched the hem of his garment;
for, she said within herself: " If I but touch his garment, I shall be healed."
But Jesus, turning about, said: "Take courage, daughter, thy faith hath
made thee whole." Again, two men followed him, crying aloud: "Jesus,
Son of David, have mercy on us!" and Jesus said to them: "Do you
believe, that I can do this unto you?" They said: "Yea, Lord." He
touched their eyes, saying: "According to your faith be it done unto you."
Sometimes he even feigned not to hear the prayer addressed to him, either
to try the confidence of the supplicant, to confirm it, or to manifest it more
clearly to those present; for example, first, he answered the woman of
Chanaan not a word; then he refused her, and finally, he gave her a con
temptuous answer, saying: "I was not sent to you, but to the sheep that
are lost of the house of Israel." But, because the woman did not waver in
her faith, she found grace, and was consoled with the unexpected com
mendation: "O, woman, great is thy faith; be it done to thee as thou
wiliest." On the other hand, prayer without confidence avails nothing, as
we read in the Epistle of St. James: "He that wavers is like a wave of the
sea that is moved and carried about by the wind; therefore, let not that
man think, that he shall obtain anything of the Lord. " Is not this one of
the principal reasons, my brethren, why your prayer is so often unanswered?
Do you pray with the right dispositions? Do you pray with humility and
attention? Do you pray with confidence? Do you not doubt whether
God will or can grant your prayer? We often pray, I admit, but with
little faith and confidence, and full of hesitation; though we say we are
convinced of the infinite goodness of God, and the truth of the solemn
oath of Jesus Christ, that he will give us whatsoever we may ask in his
name.
The request of Mary teaches us also, what great confidence we ought ta
have in her intercession. Confidence in God does not exclude confidence
in the Mother of God; and confidence in the intercession of the Mother of
God does not. lessen our confidence in God; nor is it a dishonor to him.
We Catholics acknowledge a great difference between our worship of
Christ and our devotion to his Blessed Mother; we adore God as the
fountain and only giver of every good gift; but, we only venerate Mary as*
our intercessor with God. The request which she makes in the Gospel of
this day is the clearest proof of her great goodness towards man, and her
great power with God.
II. Mary, lovingly mindful of everything that concerns the newly-
married couple and their guests, makes their happiness her own, and takes
SECOND SUNDAY AFTER EPIPHANY. 131
notice of their need without being informed of it by any one. She does not
wait till they have recourse to her intercession, but says to her Son: "They
have no wine; 3 and immediately afterwards, she says to the waiters: What
soever he shall say to you, do ye. " But this goodness which she manifests
towards the newly-married couple and their wedding guests, would be
small comfort to us, if now, on her throne in heaven, she refused to interest
herself for us, as she once interested herself for them. From that resplendent
throne of glory, she looks down upon us with eyes of mercy; she takes
notice of our smallest wants and necessities. To whom, after God, have
we to return thanks for so many benefits incessantly bestowed upon us, if
not to this Mother of Mercy whom God has appointed to distribute his
graces ?
And, in effect, why should her love for us not be the same? Has she,
perhaps, ceased to be our Mother ? No more than she has ceased to be
the Mother of Jesus. As long as she is the Mother of Jesus, she is also
our Mother, because Jesus became our Brother that he might be the first
born among many brethren. He has declared her to be our Mother, and
us to be her children, when, hanging on the cross, he published his last will
and testament, recommending John to Mary as her son: "Woman, behold
thy son," and Mary to John as his mother: "Son, behold thy mother;" so
that the Fathers of the Church unanimously believe and teach that all the
faithful were then made children of Mary in the person of St. John. Being
our Mother, she cannot deny her assistance, when we have recourse to her
intercession; and, being the Mother of God, he, our God, will not refuse
her request. Therefore, as St. Bernard exclaims: "If the winds of temp
tation be raised against you, if you run upon the rocks of adversity, invoke
the Blessed Virgin; in dangers, in extremities, in doubtful affairs, look up
to that Star, invoke the Blessed Virgin, and that you may obtain the
assistance of her intercession, be sure to follow her example." The same
saint is not afraid to say, in his famous Memorare, that no person ever
invoked that Mother of Mercy, who was not sensible of the effects of her
assistance.
III. The holy Fathers of the Church call the Blessed Virgin our most
powerful intercessor with God. She is powerful, not as her Son, whose
power is Omnipotence itself, but she is powerful as the Mother of the
Omnipotent Son of God, who out of love towards her will grant all her
requests, so that she can obtain of God all that she may ask of him. For,
who would suppose for a moment, that Jesus would honor his mother less,
after having crowned her with an immortal crown of glory, than he honored
her whilst upon earth ? That he would esteem her prayers less potent now
in heaven, than they were at Cana when he performed his first miracle at
her request ? Solomon, after succeeding to the throne, was not less respect
ful towards his mother than before; and he considered it the greatest
132 SECOND SUNDAY AFTER EPIPHANY.
injustice to refuse her anything. When she entered the royal presence,
Solomon arose and went to meet her; he bowed to her before he sat down
and a throne was also set for her, the King s mother, and she cat at his righx
hand, and the King said to her: "Mother, ask, for I must not turn away
my face, it is not right to refuse thee anything. " Can we suppose less filial
love and devotion from him, who says of himself: "A greater one than
Solomon is here " ? Let us not doubt that Jesus, glorified in heaven,
addresses these words unceasingly to his Blessed Mother: " Mother, ask,
for it is not right to refuse thee anything. Though I have taken possession
of my kingdom; though I have been appointed by my Father as Judge of
the living and the dead, I shall never forget that thou art my Mother; that
I assumed human flesh in thy womb, that I was nursed by thee with the
greatest care and tenderness. I will hear all thy prayers; whatever thou
shalt ask of me, shall be given to thee, for, it is not right to refuse thee
anything . " Add to this, that Mary, as the Mother of Jesus, is naturally
the most beloved daughter of the Father, and the chosen spouse of the
Holy Ghost, and as such the power of her intercession with the Triune God
is clearly evident.
Convinced, as we are, of the great goodness of Mary towards us, of the
great power of her intercession with God, we should have great confidence
in her intercession; and our only care should be to make ourselves worthy
of it. She, herself, prescribes how this is to be done, saying to us what
she said to the waiters at Cana in Galilee: "Whatsoever he shall say to you,
do ye. " If we desire Mary to intercede for us by her powerful prayers, we
must do whatever her Son commands us: " Whatsoever he shall say to you,
do ye/" she cries out to us, as it were, from heaven. "Do ye, whatsoever
my Son, (with whom I intercede for you,) commands you by his Gospel,
by his Church, by your conscience ! " Obedience to her Son, then, my
brethren, is the most efficacious means to secure her intercession for us
with her Son, and, through him, with our Father in heaven. This is the
ladder on which we sinful men can ascend to heaven. Mary prays for us
to her Son, and he hears her; the Son prays, in his turn, to his heavenly
Father, showing him his open side and bleeding wounds, and the Father
hears him, and grants the request. Thus he distributes his graces through
Mary, and thus we are happy, dear Christians, here and hereafter, for Jesus
changes the waters of tribulation into the wine of holy joy here on earth,
and transforms the bitterness of death into the sweetness of life everlasting
hereafter. . Amen.
SECOND SUNDAY AFTER EPIPHANY. 133
SECOND SUNDAY AFTER EPIPHANY.
THE MOST HOLY NAME OF JESUS.
* There is no other Name under heaven given to men, whereby we must be
saved. Acts 4: 12.
The noble and spirited address of the Prince of the Apostles, brought so
^appropriately before us by the Church on this festival of the Most Holy
Name of Jesus, was delivered on an occasion, regarded by both, the friends
and enemies of the Christian cause, as the public inauguration of a new
system, and the declaration of the Name under which that system was to
be established. A challenge is given and accepted; an open, authoritative
question is asked, and an open, authoritative answer is returned. Let us
in spirit, my dear brethren, behold two of the Apostles, Peter and John,
on this eventful day, entering the Temple at one of the hours of public
prayer. It is three o clock in the afternoon; and there is an anxious and
excited crowd standing about, some of them prejudiced against, and others
well disposed towards the new claimants of spiritual authority. For the
day of Pentecost has not long passed by, and already thousands of con
verts have been gained to the faith. Many, we may imagine, are going in
and out of the Temple, gazing with wondering curiosity at the veil, which
a few weeks before, on that first Good Friday, was so mysteriously rent in
twain, and which is still hanging before these spectators eyes, as an evidence
that former things have passed away, and that all things have been made
new.
And now, in their very presence, a wonderful event occurs. A poor
crippled man is lying helpless at the gate through which the Apostles are
passing. He tries to excite their commiseration; he points to his deformity,
and ask for alms. Peter makes answer to his appeal: "Silver and gold I
have none; but what I have, I give thee: in the name of Jesus Christ of
Nazareth, rise up, and walk. " Instantly, the poor man leaps up, perfectly
healed, and enters into the temple to praise and thank God for the blessing
vouchsafed to him. Great excitement follows; and as all the people crowd
around the Apostles, Peter avails himself of the opportunity, to preach the
Divinity and the Resurrection of Jesus Christ. But the authorities interfere.
The two Apostles are apprehended and imprisoned, and the next morning
they are brought before the high-priests, and are asked the definite question:
"By what power, or in what name have you done this?" This is the query
that calls forth the sublime answer which Peter, filled with the Holy Ghost,
.gives to his questioners, and which we have read in the Lesson of to-day,
1 34 SECOND SUNDAY AFTER EPIPHANY.
I. You can picture to yourselves what must have been the feelings of
St. Peter when he was called upon by the princes and the ancients and
the highpriests, who were sitting in judgment, to give an account of his
conduct in healing the poor man at the Temple-gate. Could there have
been the least element of fear in his heart, when he knew in whose name
and power he had performed the miracle? "Our help is in the Name of
the Lord," may well have been an expression of his feelings whilst he was
passing the night in prison, and preparing to meet his judges. What could
they do against God ? God, in that miracle, had made him his instrument.
He was, therefore, ready and determined to reassert openly in the face of
the council, what he had declared to the crowd just before his apprehen-
s i ori) that it was in the Name of Jesus of Nazareth, whom they had
crucified, but whom God had raised again from the dead, that the former
cripple stood whole before them; that this miracle was intended as a proof
of the power and glory of that Name, and that there was no other name
in heaven or on earth which could bring salvation to mankind.
The Council before which the two Apostles were arraigned, was the
great Council of the Sanhedrim, consisting of the chief-priests, the elders,
and the Scribes. Annas and Caiphas are especially mentioned as being of
the number; the same high-priest and his father-in-law who had acted so
prominent a part not long before in the trial and condemnation of our Lord.
Strangely enough, the Name of Jesus Christ is to be thrust before them, to
day, in noble defiance by the same Apostle who, on that previous occasion,
had shrunk so timidly from professing his knowledge of that Name. The
challenge is now given and accepted. By what power, or in what name
have you done this?" is the question which they are called upon to answer,
and O, my brethren ! most nobly is it answered. Not only does Peter
declare by what power and in what name he had wrought the wonderful
miracle, but he goes beyond that immediate point, then at issue and, as
Head of the Church, announces what the policy of the Church is ever to
be: "There is no other name under heaven given to men, whereby we
must be saved." And then, dear Christians, the judges propose their
cowardly compromise. They had not hesitated at the time of the Passion,
to hand our dear Lord over to Pilate, that he might be condemned. But,
finding now that his Death has brought victory, (as manifested in the-
Resurrection;) and that his, once timid, followers are now resolute in his
cause, they try another scheme. It is their policy to entice the Apostles
into silence; and they try to extract from them a promise to teach no longer
in the name of Jesus. But the answer which the successors of St. Peter
have so often had occasion since to give, when the world has tried to make
them betray the sacred trust reposed in them, was then, for the first time,
outspoken: Non possumus, "We cannot but speak the things which we
have seen and heard."
Yes, the noble answer of St. Peter is that to which the Church always
SECOND SUNDAY AFTER EPIPHANY. 135
has recourse, always has ready at hand when she stands arraigned at the-
bar of the world; or, when she vouchsafes to explain for the encouragement
of her children, what are the principles which guide her in her conduct and
policy. When asked in what Name and by what power she has contrived
to convert nations to the faith, she points to no other name, gives glory to
no other name, but that of JESUS. What did she behold before her, when
she entered upon the course assigned to her by her holy Founder? She
saw mankind wounded and paralyzed, languishing in the deadly chains of
sin, yet anxiously craving a helping hand to give comfort in its distress.
She looks down upon humanity in its suffering and abjection, and she
knows that she has a healing power vested in her, a remedy which she can
apply to all believers, in the Precious Blood shed upon Calvary. She has
to announce to the nations that Salvation is within their reach; that their
God has reigned among them and has brought to them peace and re
demption; that Jesus is the Name of him who has purchased them for him
self, and whom she has to preach; and that there is no other name given to
men whereby they can be saved. "In the Name of Jesus Christ of
Nazareth," she says to them, "arise and walk;" and thus she heals them
of the deformity of sin, and brings them, leaping and rejoicing, to her fold.
And in the constant labors which are assigned to her and the struggles
she is ever making in her conflict with the world, she has this same glorious
Name written on her standard, and under its invocation, she goes fearlessly
forward. The great Mystery of Faith which she has to communicate to the
world, is all expressed in that one Name. JESUS, my brethren, means a
Saviour. It means, therefore, one who can redeem and who has redeemed.
It implies the union of two natures in that One Person, who, alone, could
and did bring Redemption to his people. To reveal the efficacy of that
Name, she points to the place of our Saviour s Nativity, to the scene of his
Death; and she shows how the public promulgation of his Name on Calvary,
demonstrated the fitness of its being assigned at Bethlehem. For, at the
ceremony of the Circumcision, the Name of Jesus was heard only by a few
listeners; but, when its glory had been fully earned on Mount Calvary by
the humility and obedience of the Divine Victim even unto the death of
the Cross, then, that holy Name was displayed in an exalted position by
the highest human authority of the time and place, that none might fail to
know under what Name their Saviour was condemned to die; for, it was by
Pontius Pilate, the public representative of the world in Jerusalem, that
the title was affixed to the head of the Cross: "Jesus of Nazareth, King of
the Jews;" a title, written in three different languages, to the end that all
nations and all ages might know the Name of their Redeemer. This holy
Name is, therefore, my brethren, the expression of the /#/ / of the Church.
And it is also the expression of her Hope and her Love. In the midst of all
her anxieties and labors, the Eternal Bride of Christ never forgets the com
mand once enjoined upon her: "Ask in my name," nor the promise
136 SECOND SUNDAY AFTER EPIPHANY.
attached to that command, that whatever is so asked, will undoubtedly be
granted. Her help is in the Name of the Lord, and it never fails her. It
is true, that she has to undergo trials and persecutions in this state of
probation, but what results, my brethren, flow from her sufferings ? Not
her defeat, but her victory. The Cross is ever pressing upon her shoulders;
and looking up to it, as it towers above her, she beholds upon its front the
Name of Jesus, and bearing it cheerfully, she goes forward full of con
fidence, yea, and full of love as well. With Christ she is nailed to the
Cross. Blessed is she in being fastened firmly there; for the Name of Jesus
which she sees upon that sacred Wood, makes her cling to it more fondly;
and (with the devotedness of the apostolic one who defied anything to separ
ate him from that love, ) she goes on in her career and subdues all nations,
all peoples, and all hearts to herself. Thus this holy Name is ever doing
its work in the teaching, the struggles, and the conquests of the Church.
II. And now, my dear brethren, let me bring home the efficacy of this
Holy Name more closely to your individual souls. You are members and
children of the Church, and in marking you as her own, she stamps upon
you the sign of the Living God, and applies to you the merits of the Person
and Name of Jesus. It is important for you, at all times, to remember your
own personal responsibility, and that Almighty God has dealt, and ever is
dealing, individually with you. God has created each one of you, dear
Christians, and to each One he has given his only-begotten Son as a
Redeemer. One by one, you have been brought to the Font of Baptism,
and, as in that saving stream original sin was washed away, you were made
pure, innocent, spotless, a child f the Church and an heir of the kingdom
of Heaven, by virtue of his holy Name who instituted that Sacrament and
who gave it its efficacy. The strength imparted to you in Confirmation,
was infused by that Holy Spirit whom Jesus had a right to send upon his
Church; and here, again, the power of the holy Name is manifested in your
regard. For, when our dear Lord was promising the Holy Spirit as an
other Comforter, he spoke of him as the Paraclete, the Holy Ghost (i whom
the Father will send in my name. " It is, then, in the Name of Jesus that the
Divine Spirit has been sent upon the Church, and has descended sacrament-
ally upon you.
There are two Sacraments which you are exhorted to receive frequently,
in order that you may preserve and increase the grace of God in your
souls Penance, the Sacrament of Mercy, and the Holy Eucharist, the Sacra
ment of Lwe; and in these two Sacraments, especially, the Name of Jesus
has again and again shown its wonderful efficacy in your behalf. When
you may have had the misfortune to fall into sin, and lose the grace given
through that Name, what have you done in order to recover it? You
have excited yourself to sorrow, you have thought of your evil deeds in the
bitterness of your soul; and if you have doubted, like the unhappy Cain,
SECOND SUNDAY AFTER EPIPHANY. 137
whether your sin was too great to deserve pardon, you have pondered the
meaning of the Name of Jesus; you have reflected upon the power of that
Name, and that there is no other name by which you can gain pardon,
and be saved. You have thrown yourself on your knees, as Magdalene
once did, and have seen above you the Image of the Crucified One. Over
his head, you have read the Name which is written there, and you have said
to him with confidence: Be to me a Jesus. Then, you have felt an assurance
of pardon; you have obeyed the command he once gave you: "Go, show
yourself to the Priest. " There, upon your knees, again at the foot of the
Crucifix, you have declared your sins; you have looked upon him whom
those sins have pierced; you have called him by his Name, and besought
his mercy; and, then, like the poor crippled man in the Lesson of to-day,
you have been ordered in the name of Jesus, to arise and walk; and have
felt yourself healed, and, once more, restored to the friendship of your
God.
And in the Sacrament of Love, his own Sacrament by excellence, in
which he gives himself to you to be the food of your soul that you may
eat of him and live by him, what has not this Holy Name done in order to
prepare you, to warm you to a fitting degree of love ? Penetrated with a
lively sense of your unworthiness, you have almost shrunk from approach
ing so holy a Mystery. Overwhelmed, like St. Peter, by the reality of his
Presence, you have been inclined to say: " Depart from me, O Lord, for I
am a sinful creature!" And you have exclaimed: " What is man, that thou
art mindful of him, or the son of man, that thou shouldst visit him?" But one
power has drawn you to your Redeemer, and will not allow you to remain
at a distance. It is the power of his Name. Boldly you have said: "7 will
take the cup of salvation," for it is the Precious Blood of our Saviour you are
invited to receive, and / will call upon the Name of the Lord. " Then, com
ing, you drink with joy from the Saviour s fountain, the fountain of him
whose Name is Jesus, or Saviour. l He that thirsts, let him come, " has been
his invitation. "Come, Lord Jesus," has been your answer. At last, united
heart to heart, you have held him whom your soul loves; and defying any
other power to overcome that which controls you, or to separate you from
the love of God which is in Christ Jesus, our Lord, you have gone away,
wonderfully comforted and greatly enriched. In your preparation for Holy
Communion, in your aspirations before and after the reception of that
Adorable Sacrament, try the efficacy of the Name of Jesus. Repeat it
again and again, and, then, say whether it is not a sure receipt for increas
ing divine love in your souls.
There are two duties to this holy Name, dear brethren, which I urge
upon you in the name of the Church; and since their obligations include
everything, they are limited to Respect and Invocation. You owe respect
to that holy Name. In heaven, on earth, and under the earth, it is no
sooner heard, than every creature bows down in adoration. There is no
138 THIRD SUNDAY AFTER EPIPHANY.
other name given to you, whereby you must be saved; and as you hope to
be saved, take that Name of salvation, dearest Christians, love it, cherish
it; always keep it in your heart, and frequently have it upon your tongue.
Let the Name of Jesus be every thing to you. Let every act that you
perform, derive its value from being performed in union with his Name.
Let every prayer that you offer up before the throne of God, find its force
and gain its end, because it is offered up through that blessed Name. Let
every trial and suffering which comes to you in this vale of tears, be sweet
ened, because the Name of Jesus is invoked as the cross descends upon
you. Let every temptation be conquered because this Name brings victory.
Let every enemy be humbled and every obstacle in the way of your per
severance be surmounted, because the Name of Jesus gives you strength,
and assures your success.
My brethren, is it so hard to be saved, when such an easy and effi
cacious means is placed at our disposal ? We are not fighting alone, we
are not fighting for ourselves, or for our own cause. We are fighting under
him, with him, and for the cause of him who bore the name of Jesus. Know,
therefore, and love the Holy Name of Jesus. Invoke it constantly in life,
in health; in sickness, and in death. He who bore that Name and did for
you the work which his Name implies, will be a Jesus, a Saviour to you.
He will pardon your past sins; he will secure you against future ones. He
will protect you in life, and at the hour of death, will give the crowning
Grace which he purchased for you when for your sake, and for my sake,
and for the sake of every immortal soul, he took upon himself the Holy
Name of Jesus!
SWEENY. O.S.B.
THIRD SUNDAY AFTER EPIPHANY.
THE HELL OF THE CATHOLIC.
"Many shall come from the East and the West, and shall sit down with
Abraham, .and Isaac, and Jacob, in the kingdom of heaven. But
the children of the kingdom shall be cast out into exterior darkness:
there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth." Matt. 8: 11.12.
Let hell put forth its infernal power, let it launch all its fury, and exhaust
all its rage against the Church of God, it can never prevail against her.
Scandals cannot destroy her; the cockle is the evidence of the fidelity of her
true children; even heresies demonstrate the splendor of her truth, and the
blood of martyrs is the seed of Christians. Let other Neros and other
Oiocletians arise and persecute her, what can they accomplish ? They may
THIRD SUNDAY AFTER EPIPHANY. 139
oppress, but they cannot suppress her, for the Eternal Truth has said:
; The gates of hell shall not prevail against her." Eighteen hundred years
ago this promise was made to the Church, the Bride of Christ; yet, it was
not made to every one of her children, individually. But if a Christian
perseveres in clinging to the impregnable Rock, upon which the Church is
built, he will be as invincible, as imperishable, as that Rock itself. In
effect, it seems almost impossible that a Catholic should die unhappily and
be lost in the bosom of the Church; yet, our Blessed Lord tells us in the
Gospel of this day, that the children of the kingdom shall be cast out into
exterior darkness. And why? Because they refuse to live according to
their vocation. They call themselves Catholics without practising the
religion of the Catholic Church; they reject or abuse the grace of God, and
thus become objects of divine wrath, and remain such to the end of their
lives. And even if they do penance, it is, too often, only an apparent or
sham penance, their sorrow for having offended God being insincere, and,
therefore, insufficient to recommend them to the divine mercy. In this
state, they depart from life, and enter into that place where everlasting
horror dwells, where there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Had
they never known justice and truth, had they been heathens, their future
lot were less to be dreaded. But having been Catholics, a terrible hell
awaits them, a hell which in rigor surpasses the hell of the Jews, heathens,
or heretics for these three reasons:
/ On account of the faith which they confessed with their mouths, but
denied by their actions;
II, On account of the graces which they received, but abused;
///, On account of the glory, for which they were destined, but of which
they rendered themselves unworthy by the immorality of their lives.
I. The unfortunate soul that goes down into hell shall never return,
but srmll weep there for ever in despair, burn there forever in an un
quenchable fire. Notwithstanding this general statement, we cannot
dispute the fact that the hell of the believer, contrasted with that of the
unbeliever, is rendered incomparably severer by the former s having known
the truth and contradicted it by his life. The heathen who lived in the
darkness of infidelity, will know that the error in which he had the mis
fortune to be born, was opposed to salvation; and, although his malice and
wilful violation of the natural law, alone condemned him, his unfortunate
ignorance of the truth palliates, in a measure, the cause of his damnation;
hence, he will not be compelled to reproach himself thus: "I once walked
in the way of salvation; but, afterwards, I abandoned it." But, when a
Catholic who was secure in Peter s bark, that real ark of safety, of which
Noah s was but the figure; when a Catholic whom a merciful Providence
had distinguished from idolators by the knowledge of the true God, from Jews
I4O THIRD SUNDAY AFTER EPIPHANY.
and Turks by Baptism, from heretics by communion with the Church of Chris?.
when the unhappy Catholic shall see himself, at last, in that place
of horrors, with what shame and confusion shall he not be covered ! Will
not these accusing thoughts overwhelm and torment him ? "I was on the
way to heaven; and now I am in hell through my own fault. I knew the
only saving doctrine, and yet I am lost. By Baptism, I became a child
of God and an heir to his heavenly kingdom, and yet by the abuse of
grace I am now, and shall be forever, the enemy of God and the slave of
the devil ! "
In the Book of Judges, we read of the lamentable misfortune of those
seventy-two princes who, being defeated by Adonibesec, had their ringers
and toes cut off, and were condemned to gather up the refuse of the meat
under the table of the proud conqueror. This humiliation was more pain
ful to them than their mutilation. But the disgrace of a Catholic, weeping
in hell, is greater, beyond comparison, than that of these degraded
princes. Being conscious of the sign of cross which he bears, that noble
signet of the child of God, imprinted on his forehead, with what shame
and consternation will not the guilty believer be overwhelmed to see him
self under the feet of his raging and merciless enemy? How gladly would
he blot out that sacred seal in order to escape such intolerable ignominy !
But no, he must retain it. against his will; it is indelible; it shall never be
effaced; he must exhibit it, for his greater shame, before the eyes of all
unbelievers, so that even they, (unhappy souls, ) may despise him the more
for having been so faithless and treacherous to his Crucified Redeemer.
But the punishment of the Catholic in hell does not consist in shame and
confusion, alone; his sufferings will be manifold and most excruciating.
The arrows of God s wrath will be specially directed against him. The
punishment must be proportioned to the crime; and, thus, it is just that a
believer should be punished more severely than an unbeliever; his sins are
greater, because, as has been said, he professed the faith with his mouth,
but contradicted it by his life. St. Thomas of Aquin says, in other words:
4 Sin in a believer is not less, but greater than in an unbeliever; for, the
believer sins with greater malice, because with greater knowledge. " The
sins of Catholics, because they possess the true faith, are greater, more
abominable, and of a blacker dye, than the sins of unbelievers; and con
sequently they deserve greater punishment.
Pitiable, indeed, is the fate of those Catholics who, by their fall into sin
or by their relapses after conversion, are ultimately buried in hell. It
would have been better for them had they been born Turks or heathens.
It is true, their perdition would then have been unavoidable, but they
would not have been forced to surfer in hell such exquisite tortures for
their perfidy. O, my dear brethren ! we have it yet in our power to escape
that shame, confusion and agony; let us profit by the sad experience of
others, and honor the faith we profess with the honor it deserves; and, since
THIRD SUNDAY AFTER EPIPHANY. 141
it S3 the only saving faith, let us practice it with such perfection that it may
really avail to save us. Let us live according to the dictates of our holy
faith, and show forth its purity by the purity of our lives. To live as the
multitude live, to do as the generality of believers do, is to desire eternal
death; to purchase a deeper hell at the price of a lost Paradise.
II. The punishment of the Catholic in hell will be greater on account of
the many graces which he received, but abused. In the Gospel of St. Luke we
read: That servant who knew the will of his Lord, and did not
according to his will, shall be beaten with many stripes. But he that knew
it not, and did things worthy of stripes, shall be beaten with few stripes."
Who does not recognize in these two servants the nominal Catholic and the
unbeliever? Who does not see that the former will be more tormented in
hell than the latter, because the one knew the will of the Lord, and the
other was more or less ignorant of it. The nominal Catholic has been
brought up in the true Church of Christ, with the music of her doctrines
and precepts always sounding in his ears; he has divinely-authorized
teachers who instruct him, and preach to him the Word of Life; he has the
good example of the Saints before him, inviting him to the imitation of
their virtues; he knows the holy will of God through his commandments
and through his ecclesiastical precepts, and his conscience reproaches him
whenever he violates them. But the poor heathen who was born and
brought up in the darkness of paganism, is destitute of all these means of
grace. If, therefore, according to the word of God, he who knows the
will of his master and does not do it, shall be punished more severely than
he who knows it not, there can be no doubt that the hell of the wicked
Christian, the bad Catholic, shall prove a far more tormenting and agoniz
ing one than that of the heathen. The latter, on account of the native
darkness in which he lives, is less culpable and will be punished with few
stripes; but the former, on account of the many means of grace afforded
him, being more culpable, shall be punished with many stripes. Both shall
merit everlasting torments, only with this difference, that the Catholic shall
suffer more exquisite pains than the unbeliever; for, besides that punish
ment of his wicked deeds which he shares in common with the heathen, he
will also have to pay dearly for the abuse of the graces God had given him
during life, in such abundant measure, for his salvation. Our Lord him
self says: "To whom much is given, of him, much shall be required; and
to whom much is committed, of him, much shall be demanded."
What sort of hell, then, will be the portion of a bad Catholic, if the
justice of God shall deal with him according to the measure of graces
abused upon earth? Here, mercy treats him as a son: there, justice shall
treat him as an enemy; here, mercy knows no bounds in lavishing its
benefits upon him; there, justice shall know no limits in tormenting him
for all eternity. The damned Catholic shall for ever recall to his mind the
142 THIRD SUNDAY AFTER EPIPHANY.
many means of salvation which he slighted; the inspirations to which he
turned a deaf ear; the Sacraments which he neglected, profaned, and
abused; and the admonitions to which he listened heedlessly; and, thus, in
the height of his despair he will cry out: "How easily I might have been
saved, if I had made good use of only a part of so many graces ! Had I
heeded those inspirations, had I employed properly those talents, those
favors of heaven, I would not now be where I am. I would not suffer
what I suffer. Like many others, I would now enjoy the delights of
eternal happiness; but, because I rejected those gifts of God, I, in turn,
am rejected by him. " Those inefficacious graces shall be forever before his
eyes; like avenging voices, they shall continue to cry out to him: "Look
upon us, ungrateful soul, and acknowledge with pain and bitterness that
we were ready, at all times, to aid you in working out your salvation, but
you would not co-operate with us. "
Every pain with which the damned in hell are tormented, is calculated
to fill us with fear and trembling, but that which strikes the reprobate with
most anguish, the most terrible of all their tortures, is that each damned
soul must say: "I am in this place of horrors, because I willed it so. I
would not burn now in hell, if, in life, I had made good use of the grace
of God. It is I that have damned myself. "
O, my dear brethren ! let us guard against such a misfortune; and as the
grace of God is not wanting to us, let our co-operation with that grace,
also, not be wanting. Let us follow faithfully and perseveringly the divine
inspirations here below, that we may not be under the necessity of saying
hereafter: "God has done everything to save my soul, but I have done
everything to damn her. "
III. One of the grandest and proudest prerogatives of a Catholic is the
ability to say with truth: "/ have a right and title to heaven, and that right
and title can never be taken away from me, unless I renounce if myself by the com
mission of mortal sin" And this is the birth-right of every Catholic; a right
and title to a seat in the heavenly kingdom, based upon the true faith, with
out which it is impossible to please God. It is based, also, upon Baptism,
which makes us children of God and heirs of his kingdom, since "unless
a man be born again of water and the Holy Ghost, he cannot enter into the
kingdom of heaven." It is based upon the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ,
who, uniting himself most intimately with the person who receives him,
gives himself as a pledge of a happy immortality. "He that eateth this
bread, shall live for ever. " But as so noble a title elevates a Catholic far
above the unbeliever and the heretic, so it, also, makes the pains of hell
more terrible and insupportable, if he does not correspond with his privi
leges and his dignity. The memory of that lost heaven to which he had
every right and title, is to him a gnawing worm that shall never die. In
utter despair, he will look up to Paradise, and cry out: "O heavenly
THIRD SUNDAY AFTER EPIPHANY. 143
country, abode of the Blessed, thou wert mine by right, but I have lost
thee, alas, through my own fault. " And, thinking of the days of his in
nocent childhood, he will add: "O, why did I not die immediately after
Baptism ! "
You have heard, dear Christians, of the pitiable cry of Esau, when he
found himself deprived of his birthright, a right which he sold to his brother
Jacob for a mess of pottage. I shall only remind you that the Sacred
Scripture, in order to express the anguish that seized him when he dis
covered his folly, says, that he roared with a great cry. Judge, my brethren,
what will be the cry of the condemned Catholic who, although he was
destined for heaven, nevertheless has lost all right and title to it by his own
prevarications, and finds himself buried in hell. Together with his loss,
he will be tormented by the thought of so many others who once appeared
to have no better claim than his own to that Abode of happiness, but who,
now, through their fidelity are in possession of it. O, what a terrible sight
for him to see so many reigning above in glory, who, in the past, were his
equals upon earth; many who sinned not less than he, and perhaps even
more, but who did penance for their sins in time. We read, that nothing
grieved the prodigal son more than the comparison he made between him
self and his father s servants: "How many servants in my father s house
have plenty to eat, whilst I here perish with hunger." This is the case of
the Catholic who is eternally lost. He will compare himself with others
who are happy in the house of their heavenly Father; he will compare his
shame with their honor, his captivity with their liberty, his despair with
their felicity. Neither can he say with the Prodigal: "/ will arise and go
to my father." No, no, the time of repentance and mercy is past. He is
in hell, others are in heaven; he is miserable, others are happy; he must
dwell in a place of horror with the devils, others in a place of felicity with
God, with his Blessed Mother, with the Angels and the Saints. Others
shall never lose their happiness, he shall never be released from his mani
fold tortures, and, thus, raging with madness and despair, he shall curse
the title which gave him a right to heaven. But it will avail him nothing.
He may curse and blaspheme for all eternity; but that title will torment
him more than human language can express. Because of it, the devils
shall mock him more than they mock the condemned unbelievers; and the
Most High himself will be more enraged at him; since, having been a child
of God, he behaved not as such, but as the enemy of God.
O, senseless Catholics! What do you do for your immortal souls?
Absolutely nothing to save them, but everything to lose them. O, if you
would but reflect upon the sort of hell that is awaiting you, I am sure you
would not renounce your right and title to heaven for the fleeting pleasures
or the perishable goods of this world. Remember: "It is a terrible thing
to fall into the hands of the living God. " That loving God in his mercy
bestowed upon us an inestimable blessing, placing us among his chosen
144 THIRD SUNDAY AFTER EPIPHANY.
friends, and giving us a right and title to heaven which no one can take
from us, unless we, senselessly, renounce it ourselves. Let us appreciate
that grace, dear Christians, and never make ourselves unworthy of it by a
life of sin. Let us not dare to offend so good a God, who has made us
not only his children, but the heirs of his eternal kingdom; let us serve
him faithfully all the days of our life, and love him with all our hearts, and
so live that we may be able to say in our dying hour: "Lord, at my
entrance into the world thou gavest me in Baptism a right and title to
heaven, behold, the time is at hand when I ask and expect to take pos
session of my inheritance; and that God may then be moved to answer:
"Well done, thou good and faithful servant, enter thou into the joy of thy
Lord, " Amen.
THIRD SUNDAY AFTER EPIPHANY.
THE SAD CONSEQUENCES OF THE SIN OF IMPURITY.
"Lord, if thou ivilt, thou canst make me clean." Matt. 8: 2.
In the Old Law, the leprosy of the body wa? attended by very sad con
sequences for those who were infected with it. They were obliged to dress
in a peculiar fashion, to live apart from their kind; and, to all who might
approach them, to discover their miserable state by a doleful cry. In fine,
they were forced to consider themselves the outcasts, as it were, of the
human race. It is for this reason that the leper mentioned in the Gospel
of this day asked so humbly and pitifully to be cleansed. The Fathers of
the Church and many spiritual writers regard the leprosy of the body as a
figure of the soul which is denied with sin, and, especially, with the sin of
Impurity. As the lepers left no means untried in order to be cleansed from
the leprosy of the body, so those who are infected with the leprosy of the
soul, should avail themselves of all the means at their disposal, in order to
be thoroughly cleansed in spirit and in body. The consequences of this
spiritual leprosy are the consequences of Impurity, and they are more fatal,
alas ! than ever were those of the corporal leprosy in the Old Law. Let
us then briefly consider these sad consequences, my brethren, so that if we
have been hitherto free from this foul vice, we may prudently guard against
it for the future; or if, on the other hand, we are, perhaps, so unhappy as
to be infected with it, we may take the necessary steps to be cleansed with
out any further delay.
What are the sad consequences of the sin of Impurity? They are,
THIRD SUNDY AFTER EPIPHANY. 145
/ Blindness of the understanding;
II. Hardness of the heart;
III. Temporal and eternal punishments.
I. Every vehement passion spreads a sort of mist over the understand
ing, every gross vice darkens it in a measure, but, among all vices, there is
none which blinds the understanding more than Impurity. Hence, the
psalmist says: "Man, when he was in honor, did not understand: he hath
been compared to senseless beasts, and made like to them," (Ps. 48: 21;)
and he compares the unclean person to an ignorant horse and a dull mule:
" He is become like the horse and the mule which have no understanding."
(Ps. 31:9.) For this very reason, St. Paul does not call the man given
to impurity, simply man, but a beastly man, and of such a one he says:
"The beastly man knoweth not what is of the spirit." His thoughts and
imaginations, all his desires and endeavors are bent upon what is carnal,
sensual, and beastly; therefore, the holy mysteries and truths of religion
which are above sensual and carnal things, by little and little, become in
credible to him; the commandments of God, which direct man to curb
his passions and to overcome himself, become every day more distasteful
and burdensome to him; the threats of God which announce eternal per
dition and never-ceasing torments, become to him, the more he hears of
them, the more intolerable. This is the reason why so many sensualists
have no belief in the mysteries of religion, no reverence for the command
ments, for the promises and threats of God. In the most important affair of
life, in things regarding heaven and their eternal salvation, they are as
ignorant as horses and mules who have no understanding. We have a very
striking example of this in Solomon. As you know, Solomon was the
wisest of kings, and God himself appeared and conversed with him, as man
speaks to man. He had built to this true and living God the most mag
nificent temple the world ever saw, and, yet, this wise Solomon, this pious
monarch, who in his youth was so closely united with his Maker and who
had been so singularly favored by him, into what an abyss of folly did he
not fall in his later years through sensuality and the excessive love of
women! He, who had once conversed with the greatjehovah, degraded him
self so far as to erect temples and altars to dumb, lifeless idols; and offered
incense before them with the same hands which he had once raised in
prayer to the God of his fathers. Sensuality and lust make a fool of a wise
man and, there is no vice which obscures and darkens the understanding
of man more than that of Impurity. "The beastly man understandeth not
what is of the spirit" But, my brethren, what do I say? "What is of the
spirit ?" A lewd person is also blind to what concerns his body and his
temporal welfare; he acts like a fool, without reflection, without prudence,
or judgment. There is no advantage which he does not despise; no duty
which he does not neglect; no infamy to which he does not degrade him-
146 THIRD SUNDAY AFTER EPIPHANY.
self, in order to gratify his beastly passions. A profligate father and hus
band forgets what he owes to his wife and children; he squanders his
means, and ruins his family in order to gratify the vanity of some infamous
woman who has gained those affections which, alone, belong to his lawful
wife. To gratify his passions, he is even cruel to his family. An immodest
wife forgets what she owes to her husband, and thinks no more of that
holy, inviolable fidelity which she pledged to him at the altar, before God
and all his Saints. A lewd young girl forgets what she owes to herself,
and is not ashamed, for the sake of this vice, to bereave herself of her
brightest ornament and to cover herself with infamy and disgrace. A licen
tious young man forgets all the interests of his future career: and does not
consider that by his sinful courses he renders himself incapable of earning
an honorable living, besides depriving himself of the esteem of his fellow-
men, of the blessing of God, and of all happiness, here and hereafter. In
short, dissolute persons are despised and avoided; their friends are ashamed
of them: "He that is an adulterer gathereth to himself shame and dishonor,
and his reproach shall not be blotted out." (Prov. 6: 32. 33.) The victim
of lust adorns the idol he adores, he neglects the duties of his state of life;
he is intent only upon satisfying his base, beastly passions, to gratify which
he spares no sacrifice. "He that maintaineth harlots, shall squander his
substance." (Prov. 29: 3.) Remember the prodigal son. Not only he, but
thousands of others have been reduced to poverty, nay, even beggary, in
consequence of their immorality. Thus Impurity blinds the understanding
of the sinner with regard to his temporal and eternal welfare, but
II. It also hardens the heart. No vice is so quickly learned, or is so likely
to become habitual as that of Impurity, and no vice is harder to abandon
or more rarely reformed; for this abominable passion most eagerly takes
hold of the imagination; the occasions are many, and always at hand, and
the inclination to it is the most vehement in man. If, therefore, one does
not resist the sin of Impurity in the very beginning, in less than no time
it becomes a habit, and the habit, a necessity, and, finally, a second
nature, and thus ends by hardening the heart of man in evil more than any
other sin. Holy Scripture confirms this by word and example: "They
will not set their hearts to return to their God: for the spirit of fornication
is in the midst of them." (Osee 5, 4.) "A young man according to his
way, even when he is old, he will not depart from it;" (Prov. 22: 6) and
St. Paul says of the lewd, that, "despairing, they give themselves up to
lasciviousness. " (Ephes. 4: 19.)
The experience of all times tells us the same truth. How many are
there, who being once delivered up to this vice, continue, alas! my breth
ren, to add sin to sin! Evil thoughts, filthy imaginations, detestable desires,
shameful ideas, criminal gratifications, and deeds of darkness, succeed each
other, almost without interruption, during a long series of years. They
THIRD SUNDAY AFTER EPIPHANY. 147
hardly ever seriously think of amendment, so that their sins become more
numerous than the hairs of their head; or, as Osee says: "They will not
set their thoughts to return to their God, for the spirit of fornication is in
the midst of them/ And, although such a one, through the agency of a
powerful sermon, or of some personal calamity, may be roused from his
deadly sleep of sin, and be converted, is his conversion of any duration?
Ah ! beholding his abundant tears, hearing his groans and lamentations,
his words and promises, you might almost be tempted to believe that a
second Prodigal Son or penitent Augustine was returning to the Father in
heaven. You persuade yourselves, dear Christians, that he, the poor sinner,
is really in earnest in his apparent conversion; but wait a little while, and
you will change your opinion. For a few days have hardly elapsed since
his confession, the old inclination from within, and the old occasion from
without have scarcely presented themselves again, when all his good resolu
tions melt away as the newly-fallen snow before the warm sun of the
spring-tide; and he is the same sinner as before, disgracefully relapsing
into his former vile iniquities. "When the unclean spirit is gone out of a
man he walketh through places without water, seeking rest: and not find
ing, he saith: I will return into my house, whence I came out; and when
he is come, he findeth it swept and garnished. Then he goeth and taketh
with him seven other spirits more wicked than himself, and entering in,
they dwell there. And the last state of that man becometh worse than the
first." (Luke n: 24-27.) No vice so blinds the understanding and
hardens the heart as impurity, and, therefore, we need not wonder that this
sin draws upon its victims the most terrible vengeance of God.
III. The time is too short, and I will not detain you long enough to
enumerate all the punishments of lust which are recorded in the Sacred
Scriptures. Without mentioning Sichem, who, on account of impurity, was
killed by Jacob s sons; nor Her and Onan, whom the earth devoured alive;
nor Heli s sons, who perished in the war, nor the tribe of Benjamin, which
was almost entirely destroyed by the sword; nor the twenty-four thousand
of the Israelites who, on one occasion, were put to death by God s de
cree for crimes which they had committed against the Sixth Command
ment; I beg of you, dear Christians, only to call to mind the two memor
able punishments of God on the whole human race, first, at the time of
the Deluge, when all were drowned, with the exception of eight per
sons, because "all flesh had corrupted its way upon the earth; " (Gen. 6: 1 2);
and secondly at the epoch when Sodom and Gomorrha and the neigh
boring cities were destroyed by a rain of brimstone and fire, because they
had given themselves up to their unbridled passions and abominable sins of
the flesh. It is true, God in our days does not punish this vice so strikingly
and awfully as in former days, when he vented his wrath on the guilty
children of Israel, yet, this vice in modern times is just as certainly fol-
148 THIRD SUNDAY AFTER EPIPHANY.
lowed by severe chastisements. War, famine, pestilence, bankruptcy, re
volutions, are the punishments of impurity on individuals as well as on
families and nations. And even though this vice be not followed, (in excep
tional cases,) by beggary, contempt, shameful and painful diseases; even
though it appear to go unpunished in this world, which, however, is
hardly ever the case, it is, assuredly, followed in the other world by the
eternal torments of which the Sacred Scripture speaks, when it says: "The
whoremongers shall have their portion in the pool with fire and brimstone. "
(Apoc. 21 : 8.) O, how shall a body used only to luxury and sensual
pleasures, ease, and comfort, and good cheer, how shall that delicate flesh
burn in that insatiable fire, which kindled by the power of God, and fed
by the fuel of his justice can never be extinguished! The delight lasts but
a moment, but the pain will last for ever.
We have now considered the terrible effects of this moral leprosy, the
lamentable consequences of the sin of Impurity, and we see that they
are that blindness of the understanding which obscures the light of Faith;
that hardness of the heart, or will, which constitutes obstinacy in sin; and
all those other temporal and eternal punishments with which God visits
this infamous vice. From these considerations we must necessarily draw
a twofold conclusion, one, for the benefit of the innocent, and another, .for
the encouragement of the fallen. You, my dear brethren, who hitherto
have preserved your body and its five senses, either in holy virginity
or in admirable continency; you, who have restrained your happy souls
from evil desires and deeds, esteem and value nothing more highly than
this heavenly treasure of purity. Shun all bad company and all incentives
to sin; detest and avoid all immodest words and conversations, all danger
ous glances and touches; stifle evil inclinations and immodest thoughts in
their very birth; and in every temptation and danger, never forget that the
all-seeing eye of God is upon you.
But you, my poor children, who have been so unfortunate as to defile
your soul and your body with the filthiness of this vice, O, I implore of
you, repent, whilst there is time, of this great sin which is attended by such
dreadful consequences. Endeavor, by all possible means, to free yourself
from it; and carefully avoid everything that has, hitherto, been to you an
occasion of impurity. Humbly cry out to Jesus (with the leper of the
Gospel), to make you clean; and if your cry for relief is really sincere as
his was, Jesus will be filled with compassion for your miseries; he will sup
port your weakness with his grace; and will say to you, as he said to that
rejoicing leper, " I will, be thou made clean." Amen.
FOURTH SUNDAY AFTER EPIPHANY. 149
FOURTH SUNDAY AFTER EPIPHANY.
THE INNOCENT SUFFER WITH THE GUILTY AND THE GUILTY ARE SPARF^ FOR
THE SAKE OF THE INNOCENT.
" Behold, a great tempest arose in the sea, so that the ship was Covered
with waves" Matt. 8: 24.
Whilst Jesus was asleep in the ship, the Apostles were in danger of being
overwhelmed by the tempest that arose in the sea. They awoke him, say
ing: "Lord, save us, we perish." He rebuked them for their want of faith,
saying: "Why are you fearful, O ye of little faith?" then, rising up, he
commanded the winds and the sea, and there came a great calm. We
justly attribute the wonderful deliverance of the Apostles from this danger
to the gracious interposition of the God-Man; but the question arises: Why
did our divine Lord permit the tempest to become so violent on this
occasion? He had been in the ship with his Apostles often before, and
no storm had arisen. Thus, we read in St. Luke s Gospel, that when a
great multitude was gathered together by the Lake of Genesareth to hear
the word of God, our Lord saw two ships, and going into one of them,
that was Simon s, he desired him to push out a little from the land; and,
sitting down, he taught the multitude out of the ship. No mention is made
of a tempest at this time. Quite a different scene is presented to our view
in this day s Gospel ! "A great tempest arose in the sea, so that the ship
was covered with waves." What is the reason of this difference? But,
before answering this question, I will ask another: What is meant by the
ship of Peter? By it we understand the Catholic Church which embraces
in its blessed ark, many nations and empires, tribes and tongues. What
storms of tribulation are gathering in our days over this devoted Ship?
What violent tempests are threatening ! Why all this stormy agitation ?
Has the whole world become disloyal to its Maker and Redeemer? We
cannot say this: for, in the midst of a corrupt generation, there are many
faithful children of God, who, indeed, live in the world, but not with the
world. But, why does divine Justice visit whole communities, cities, and
nations with afflictions, if all do not deserve them? Is it just that the
innocent should suffer with the guilty? Why is it so? The reason is this:
all of us constitute but one body, one family, and as the whole body suffers,
when one member is sick, so whole cities, nations and countries are sometimes
punished, because of the crime of one man; as, on the other hand, whole cities,
nations and countries are spared from calamity, and saved from destruction,
for the sake of one just man.
150 FOURTH SUNDAY AFTER EPIPHANY.
I. The voyage of St. Paul recorded in the "Acts," my brethren, was
prosperous as far as the island of Crete; but, when they left the harbor,
neither sun, nor stars appearing for many days, and no small storm
threatening, all hopes of safety were well nigh lost. Two hundred and
seventy-six persons were in the ship with the Apostle, and they were all,
naturally, in great fear when the tempest arose; yet, none perished, but all
landed safely. Nothing else saved them, dear Christians, but the presence
of St. Paul, to whom an angel appeared, saying: "Behold, God hath given
thee all them that sail with thee. What do these words intimate ? Their
obvious meaning is this: All those that were in the ship would have perished,
had not St. Paul been among them; God saved them all for his sake.
Referring to this, St. Chrysostom says: "Many sailed in the vessel with
St Paul, but among them there were none that knew and feared God but
he, and God is of such goodness and mercy as to avert a calamity for the
sake of one just man. " But is not this praise given to St Paul, a reproach
to St. Peter? As St. Paul was in the ship that sailed to Rome, so St. Peter
was in the ship mentioned in this day s Gospel. Was St. Peter less accept
able to God than his fellow-Apostle? His ship is covered with waves and
in danger of sinking, and we do not read that the ship in which St. Paul
sailed, was in the same dangerous condition; we only read that no small
storm was threatening. Why this difference? In the ship that was bound
for Rome there was no just man save St. Paul, the rest were heathens; on
the other hand, all that were in St. Peter s ship were saints, with the
exception of Judas, who, at that time, had probably resolved in his mind
to betray his Lord and Master. Now, as God in the ship of St. Paul,
spared all for the sake of that just man, so, on account of the one sinner,
Judas, he gave the ship of St. Peter up to the fury of the waves, so that it
was covered with them, and in danger of sinking.
When the Most High revealed to Abraham that he had decreed to
destroy Sodom by fire, Abraham said to him: "Wilt thou destroy the
just with the wicked; if there be fifty just men in the city, shall the just
perish withal, and wilt thou not spare that place for the sake of the fifty
just?" And the Lord said to him: "If I find fifty just in Sodom, I will
spare the whole city for their sake." And Abraham answered and said:
"Seeing I have once begun, I will speak to my Lord: what, if there be
five less than fifty just persons, wilt thou for the sake of forty-five destroy
the whole place?" And he said: "I will not destroy it, if I find forty-
five." And, again, Abraham said: "But, if forty be found, what wilt thou
do ? " And the Lord said : "I will not destroy it for the sake of forty. "
"Lord, be not angry if I speak. What, if thirty shall be found there?"
And the Lord said: "I will not destroy it, if I find thirty there." "Seeing,"
said Abraham, I have once begun, I will speak to my Lord : what if
twenty be found there?" He said, "I will not destroy it for the sake of
twenty." "I beseech thee," said Abraham, "be not angry, O Lord, if I
FOURTH SUNDAY AFTER EPIPHANY. 151
speak once more. What if ten shall be found there ? " He said, I wilt
not destroy it for the sake of ten." He had no sooner said, "I will
not destroy it for the sake of ten," than, the Scripture says, "the Lord de
parted. " I find the reason of his departure mentioned in the subsequent
chapter, where I can count only four just persons in the whole city of Sodom,
namely: Lot and his wife and their two daughters. If ten just persons had
been in the city of Sodom, God, according to his promise made to
Abraham, would not have destroyed it for their sake; but, finding only
four, he rained fire and brimstone upon it, and destroyed the city and the
whole country around about with all its inhabitants. He saved in this
instance the four just persons, but all of the unjust perished.
The Lord said: ! will not destroy it for the sake of ten just," because
he loves the just, and it is his pleasure to be with them; they are most
powerful with him, they obtain all that they may ask of him, for the prayer
of the just man availeth much;" it is in a manner, omnipotent. I prove
this by referring you to the 32nd chapter of the Book of Exodus where we
read, that, when Moses had prayed to God for the sins of his people, God
said to him: "Let me alone that my wrath may be kindled against them,
and that I may destroy them." Mark the words: "Let me alone-" a strange
expression, God being not only powerful, but Omnipotence itself, how
does it come, that he says: "Let me alone" ? Is Moses stronger than God?
No, but the intercession of the just man is of such virtue that it prevails
upon the Almighty; the justice of God may decree punishments, but the
prayer of the just man constrains him, as it were, to withhold them.
The just, my brethren, behold the oppression of justice, the seduction
of innocence, the torture of scandals, the weakness of faith, contempt for
everything that conduces to God s honor and glory; they behold the cor
ruption and bad morals of so many Christians, and, in secret, they weep
and bewail these evils, and pray to God to avert, in his mercy, the storms
of tribulation that are gathering over the heads of those unhappy Christians.
As long as God finds a sufficient number of just persons who thus pray to
him, he withholds his vengeance and is appeased. But the moment he
fails to find a sufficient number of faithful souls, he visits all with afflictions
and calamities, such as war, famines, pestilences and earthquakes, and,
thus, compels them by grievous crosses to return to him. Yes, "the prayer
of the just man availeth much " with God, for he frequently spares the un~
just for his sake.
II. "Behold, a great tempest arose in the sea, so that the ship was-
covered with waves." Jesus was in the ship with the Apostles; Jesus is
holiness itself; eleven of the Apostles were united to him by divine grace.
But Judas was, also, there, the wicked Judas, who was already planning his
dreadful treason; and on his account the ship was exposed to the greatest
danger. Something like this occured in the Old Law. We read that God
152 FOURTH SUNDAY AFTER EPIPHANY.
ordered Jonas to go to the city of Nineveh, there to preach penance. Bui
he would not obey, but rising up to flee into Tharsis from the face of the
Lord, he went down to Joppe, and found a ship going to Tharsis; he
embarked in it and thought to reach his self-willed destination. But God
had decreed otherwise; frustrating his plans, he sent a violent wind; a great
tempest arose, and the ship was in danger of being wrecked. The mariners
were in great fear, and said: Come, let us cast lots, that we may see why
this evil is upon us. " They cast lots, and the lot fell upon Jonas, God so
ordaining it; for, Jonas was the cause of the tempest, since it was on his
account that the ship was in danger of foundering. He could not conceal
his guilt, and said: "Take me up, and cast me into the sea, and the sea
shall be calm to you, for I know, that for my sake this great tempest is upon
you." And they took Jonas, and cast him into the sea, and the sea ceased
its raging. Jonas sinned, and the innocent were threatened with the punish
ment due to him, alone; the sin of the one was the danger of all, for this
is the way with the inscrutable judgments of the Lord, the just are frequently
punished with the unjust. Is it not an every day occurence, my brethren,
that the good have to suffer with the wicked ? By the carelessness or
malice of one person a house takes fire; and not only a single house is
consumed, but also some of the neighboring houses, and at times, whole
cities are burned to a heap of ashes, and the inhabitants rendered home
less. The enemy, besieging a city, finds the guards asleep, scales the walls,
takes possession of the city, and puts all to the sword. Whose fault is
this? That of the sleeping guards; and, yet, all have to suffer for their
negligence. A father squanders his goods by gambling and living riotously;
and thus reduces his wife and children to poverty. The crime or neglect
of one sinner draws dreadful consequences after it upon all the just. Adam
was commanded by God not to eat of a certain fruit in the Garden of Eden;
he ate of it; and thus, by his transgression of the divine precept, he not
only lost original justice and sanctifying grace for himself, but also, for, all
his posterity; so that it remains true, that the innocent are frequently pun-
islied with the guilty.
But the Bible furnishes another striking illustration of this truth. In the
seventh chapter of the Book of Josue we read that, after taking the city of
Jericho, he sent three thousand men to lay siege to the city of Hai; but
they had no sooner pitched their tents, than the inhabitants made a sally
upon them, and the army of Josue was defeated and put to flight. Seeing
himself thus vanquished, he had recourse to God, and was greatly surprised
to hear these words, coming from the mouth of the Most High: " 1 will be
no more with you" Why, my brethren, would he be no more with him?
God himself furnishes the reason: "Israel hath sinned" What sin, (you
ask), did Israel commit ? One soldier, named Achan, committed the sin
of theft. Before taking the city of Jericho, God ordered that all the spoils
should be offered to him, and that no one should appropriate anything to
FOURTH SUNDAY AFTER EPIPHANY. 153
himself. Contrary to the orders of God, Achan had retained a scarlet
garment, and some gold and silver, and, therefore, you see, dear Christ
ians, on his account, the whole army was punished. In the 34th Chapter
of Genesis, we read that all the men of the city of Sichem were slain by
Jacob s sons for the sin of Hennor, who had ravished Dinah, Jacob s daugh
ter. In the book of Numbers, we find that the princes were hanged, and
twenty-four thousand men killed by the divine mandate, because one man
had committed a sin against the Sixth Commandment. And the prophet
Isaias relates, that once the flood-gates of the heavens were closed, so that
no rain fell upon the earth for three years; and that there was a great famine;
and whose fault was it ? That of Ozias, the king, who had turned his back
upon the true God, and bent his knee to idols.
In conclusion, my brethren, let us consider our own sins, and afflictions,
with which God has visited us from time to time. The punishments, in
our case, are certainly less than the offence. When God punishes us, we
weep and bewail our sins; but as soon as he withholds the rod, we commit
the same sins again. When he strikes, we beseech him to be merciful to
us, and the moment he shows mercy, we sin, presuming on his mercy. In
the ship of St. Peter we can be saved, but if storms must come, let not our
sins, dear Christians, be the cause of their coming. Let us strive to be
just, for if there be no sinner, the just will escape the punishment of sin.
Beloved brethren, you must be either just or unjust; if you are just, seek,
by every means in your power to continue in that state, that God, for your
sake, may spare the unjust. If you are unjust, do not remain in that con
dition, but return to your duty, to your God, that he may not, on your ac
count, punish the good. But, if the just sustain and share the chastise
ment of your sins, it will only be in this world; they will suffer, undeserv
edly for the glory of God and the salvation of their souls, and their eternal
reward will be exceeding great; whilst you, my brethren, if unfaithful, will
have to suffer, without any benefit to your souls, either here or hereafter,
a misfortune which I beg God in his mercy to avert from you all. Amen.
FOURTH SUNDAY AFTER EPIPHANY.
THE SIN OF INJUSTICE.
" Thou shall not steal" Exod. 20: 15. Rom. 13:9.
You are, doubtless, prepared, dear Christians, by the words of my text
for the subject on which I propose to address you on the present occasion,
that is, the base and iniquitous crime of injustice. This is a crime which
the Almighty proclaims to be highly repugnant to his sovereign and ador-
154 FOURTH SUNDAY AFTER EPIPHANY.
able will, and one against which he has left upon record a most strict and
positive command. It is a crime that in civilized countries has ever been
branded with the mark of infamy, and which has constantly entailed on its
unhappy perpetrators the most severe and rigorous punishment. A crime,
(with the enormity of which, the law of nature, independent of revelation,
makes us sufficiently acquainted,) injustice has ever been regarded with
the utmost disdain by enlightened and virtuous minds, nay, more, the
very pagans themselves have been taught to view it with detestation and
horror. It has, unhappily, proved the origin of innumerable evils in
society, the source whence the ruin of kingdoms and empires have flowed;
and it is, in short, a crime that has not only deluged the earth with human
blood, but has drawn down upon its victims on several occasions, (as we
find recorded in Holy Writ), the visible and most rigorous chastisements
of Heaven.
If we reflect, my dear brethren, on the crying malice of this vice, the
many painful hours, the many heart-rending sighs, the many bitter impre
cations, which the crime of injustice produces; if we view the tears of the
widow, listen to the cries of the orphan, the lamentations of the myriads
who weep for private or public wrongs, if I say, we consider all this ac
cumulation of woe on the one hand, and, on the other, behold the accur
sed hand of the spoiler, stained with the blood of innumerable inoffensive
and amiable creatures, and wresting from the broken-hearted survivors the
dearly-earned fruits of their honest labor and industry, when we reflect
upon all these examples of an impious and hellish oppression, with which
the history of almost every nation abounds, can it be a matter of surprise
to us that the Almighty has sometimes interposed his Divine power, even
in this life, in favor of suffering innocence, by hurling destruction on
the guilty heads of its vile oppressors ?
The unjust man would do well to consider, for a moment, how short
lived must be the enjoyment of those ill-gotten possessions for which
he sacrifices his soul, his happiness, his God, his all; he should reflect,
in time, upon the dread, the apprehension, with which the concious-
ness of guilt will inevitably assail him at the awful hour of dissolution. He
should foresee, with fright, the terrors of that dread tribunal before which
he must soon appear, and the rigor of that punishment which he has only
too much reason to dread as the certain consequence of his present in
justice.
If he ponder seriously, my dear Christians, upon all these fear-inspiring
considerations, and can still proceed to act unjustly or to retain what he
has already iniquitously acquired, then, his conscience must be, indeed,
seared against the warning dictates of religion, and his heart steeled against
every virtuous impression; in him, the menaces of heaven are deprived of
their salutary influence, and his reprobation is, at last, the dreadful issue
of his own fatal indifference.
FOURTH SUNDAY AFTER EPIPHANY. 155
I beg your attention to-day, my dear brethren, first, while I point out
to you the nature of justice, and the dangers attending its violation; secondly,
while I exhibit to your view some of the various ways, in which I conceive
this solemn precept to be violated ; and, finally, while I endeavor to prove
to you, on the unerring authority of Scripture, the imperative obligation
of making condign satisfaction for injustice done, before it be too late; an obli
gation, (I will add,) from which nothing but the forgiveness of the injured
person or the utter impossibility of making restitution to him, can ever
absolve you.
I. Justice is defined as a moral virtue, inclining the will to render to
very one what justly belongs to him. The love of justice, no less than
that of truth, was stamped upon the human soul by the Creator in the first
moment of its existence. The observance of it seems to be the great bond
which preserves inviolate the common rights of civilized men, and, as the
cement of social order and harmony, even the law of nature proclaims
the necessity of justice to all. There are certain words, my dear Christians,
which deserve to be written upon the heart in letters of gold; certain
precious words which comprise the whole duty of man in a moral point of
view, and the faithful practice of which would soon put an end to all the dis
orders and vices that prevail in society. These words are the Shibboleth
of justice, and they are: "Do unto others as you would have them do
unto you. " The law of nature, I repeat, independent of the lights of reve
lation, dictates the observance of this excellent virtue; nor is the malice of
its violation unknown or unfelt, even amidst the thickest shades of infidelity.
Reason, alone, tells us that the goods of this life which are the fruits of an
honest industry, or which divine Providence has vested, without toil, in the
hands of his creatures, should be held by a sacred and inviolable right,
otherwise, the order and regularity of society could never be maintained.
Reason anathematizes as execrable and impious the audacious robber and
spoiler, whose bold hand would dare to wrest the property of others from
the stronghold where Justice had deposited it.
Religion tells us that even a wilful thought or deliberate desire against
our neighbor s rights, partakes of the malignity of this vice of injustice, and,
no sooner are we tempted to consent to the promptings of the enemy, than
the mouth-piece of right reason, Conscience, that internal monitor of the
human mind, implanted there by the Almighty to regulate its operations,
Conscience, I say, warns us of the approach of evil, and shrinks at the
very suggestion of crime. If the object of its detestation be injustice, and,
if the will has already perpetrated the evil, the inward censor proclaims
even to the unwilling mind, that condign restitution must be made. My
dear brethren, I appeal to you, individually, if ever you were guilty of an
injustice, either in stealing from your neighbor, or defrauding him of his
rightful property by forming unjust contracts, or not paying your lawful
156 FOURTH SUNDAY AFTER EPIPHANY.
debts, I ask you, if you ever wilfully committed these sins without feeling-
Jie remorse and stings of conscience, I have just described to you ? If
conscience, then, can create such uneasiness in the human breast amidst
scenes of pleasure and dissipation, when a thousand objects conspire to
hush its murmurings, and stifle its salutary influence, what must be the
agitation of the guilty soul at the still and solemn moment of death?
Before the dying sinner rises a double vision of distress. Beyond the
grave, he beholds a world upon whose unknown boundaries he is about to
enter, where justice will be executed with the greatest rigor, yea, (to use the
Scripture expression) even to the very last farthing; and, at the same time,
all around his dying bed, like so many avenging spirits, appear the
many injustices he has been guilty of, the many injuries of which he
has been the unhappy cause, the miserable masses of ill-gotten goods which
he deferred restoring to their owners whilst it was in his power, and which
now, alas ! he has neither the time, nor the means, nor the inclination to
restore. My dear brethren, is not the very thought of this unhappy state of
things enough to shorten the few remaining moments of the sinner s life, and
cause him to sink under the pressure of affliction into an untimely grave ?
Having shown that the crime of injustice is repugnant to the very law of
nature itself, let us, now, see what revealed religion has to say upon the
subject. The words of my text contain a most solemn command which,
methinks, if seriously considered, should amply suffice to convince the
most incredulous, but, who is it, dear friends, that utters those solemn
words: "Thou shalt not steal"? The Almighty, the Creator of Heaven
and Earth, the Sovereign Ruler of the universe. To whom does he address
himself on this important question, when he, thus, proclaims his sovereign
will? To all mankind. Tell me, again, my brethren, what is here pro
hibited? Injustice of every kind, sort, and degree. Here, let the public
robber, the concealed thief, the unjust usurer, the vile extortioner, the dis
honest merchant, the fraudulent embezzler, the iniquitous servant, here
let them all read and all find their condemnation, written in the most
legible characters: "Thou shalt not steal." Besides this command, and the
warnings of the 22nd chapter of Exodus, wherein the Almighty decrees the
most rigorous punishments against the transgressors of this divine in
junction, I shall quote two or three other passages of Scripture which
present to the world a lasting monument of the stern severity with which
the Almighty, even in this life, punishes the sin of injustice. We read in
the Book of Joshua (Chap. 7) that the Israelites, the chosen people of God,
having marched against the inhabitants of Har, suffered a defeat; Joshua,
their leader, wept before the Lord for this misfortune of his people. The
Almighty, himself, declared to him that Israel s sin was the cause; a person,
named Achan, had concealed in his tent some property he had unjustly
acquired, and what was the consequence? God singled him out as the
object of his vengeance. Achan and all his family were stoned to death,.
FOURTH SUNDAY AFTER EPIPHANY. 157
and their remains, together with the property of the dishonest Achan, con
sumed by fire. The second Book of Maccabees (Chap. 3 and 9) furnishes us
with two other instances of the divine vengeance in the persons of king An-
tiochus and his minister Heliodorus. This iniquitous minister having been
sent by his still more impious master, to rifle the sacred treasures of the
Temple of Jerusalem, the high-priest Onias and his people were over
whelmed with affliction, and besought the Most High, to avert the awful
sacrilege, when, behold, two Angels are deputed from Heaven to avenge
the insult offered to justice and religion. They surround Heliodorus, they
scourge him almost to death, they tell him to render thanks to Onias for
even the boon of life itself, and they command him to return and proclaim
to Antiochus the wondrous works and power of the God of Israel.
The guilty king was afterwards, by the judgment of heaven, devoured by
worms, and expired in the midst of the most excruciating tortures, serv
ing to all succeeding ages as a striking example of the instability of human
greatness, and a convincing proof of the malignity of the double sin of
covetousness and injustice.
Thus, dear Christians, has the Almighty shown his detestation of this vice
by avenging it in the most awful manner, even in this life, and by inflicting
on its unhappy perpetrators the most severe and lasting chastisements. I
shall only add to the testimony of the Old Law in this regard, a word or
two from the writings of the great St. Paul in his Epistles to the Corinthians
and Thessalonians. In his Epistle to the latter, he cautions them against
overreaching, deceiving, or circumventing their neighbor, because the Lord
is a revenger of all those evil things; and, writing to the Corinthians, he
ranks injustice in that black catalogue of crimes which exclude the sinner
eternally from the kingdom of heaven. Neither thief/ says he, "nor
the covetous, nor extortioners, shall ever possess the kingdom of God. " Is
not this sufficient to convince you of the enormity of this crime, and to
impress you with awe of its dangerous consequences ? Is it not enough to
induce you to abhor and detest the smallest sin of injustice?
II. I shall not detain you longer to prove a truth which is evident
enough already, but shall proceed to point out the various ways in which
it is committed. In doing this, I shall confine myself, dear brethren,
principally to those states and occupations of life with which we, our
selves, are conversant. In the course of my remarks, I will draw your
attention to some instances of injustice so evident and glaring, that they
cannot escape the notice of the most superficial observer; and I shall
unearth and lay bare others of so latent and insidious a nature, that you,
yourselves, have never been led to discover them, and which you would
scarcely have the courage to pursue through all the manifold windings and
twistings of self-love. In drawing for you, these pictures of human life
and moral depravity, whilst I have no intention of being at all personal
158 FOURTH SUNDAY AFTER EPIPHANY.
in my delineations, possibly, some of you may see your own likeness in
the graphic sketch; if it be so, God grant that the faithfulness of the
picture may induce you to an abhorrence of the contemptible vice. This,
it cannot fail to do, if you view it through the medium of religion, with
full advertence to its baseness in the sight of God and to the dreadful
eternity, into whose torments its perpetration unrepented of, will infallibly
precipitate you. To commence, then, I will suppose a company of
merchants or traders, who do not scruple to monopolize scarce articles of
commerce in order to raise their value. The principle of such men is, that
goods are worth whatever they may bring; and they take advantage of the
necessity of the purchaser by raising the price of an article, (in which they
already have an ample profit, ) considerably higher than the law of justice
allows. They wish to buy cheap and to sell dear, and they do not hesitate
to palm off on their customers as good and perfect articles, a bad or dam
aged line of goods which they are well aware are not worth the money
paid for them. Such merchants are dishonest. St. Paul assures us that
Heaven is not for them; and Solomon, in his Book of Proverbs, declares
to them "that it is better to have little with the fear of God than to possess
great and insatiable treasures." Here, again, is a man who employs
servants; he is, himself, designated by the name of Planter; he agrees with
his workmen for a certain stipulated sum, which he promises to pay when
the time specified in their agreement, has expired; in the mean time, he
furnishes the poor fellows with liquor and other unnecessary things, in
order that they may consume their wages in advance. If some of them,
however, have sense enough to see through this chicanery, and possess
prudence enough to avoid the snare, the baffled employer does not hesitate
to brand them as bad servants, and refuse them the testimonials which
would secure them work elsewhere. However specious such a man s
conduct may appear to the world, I make bold to say, as the minister of
Christ, that, he is, at heart, dishonest. Again, my brethren, we sometimes
meet with a servant who receives a certain salary; he is intrusted with the
care or management of property, and is bound to fulfil his duty and do
every thing in his power to advance his master s interests. In the mean
time, he neglects his work; his master s welfare is to him a matter of very
little importance; perhaps, he squanders his master s substance, takes the un
warranted liberty of giving it away, or suffers it to be damaged or injured.
Should he scruple, however, to make away with the property himself, he may
so far forget his duty as to allow his fellow servants or others to do so, with
out warning the latter of their injustice, or putting his master on his guard
against the dishonest parties. A servant who thus sins in any of the circum
stances I have described, is guilty of a flagrant breach of trust, is responsible
for every such injustice to his master; and although he may imagine himself
walking in the path of innocence, I have to announce to him the melancholy
tidings, that the road he travels is the broad one which leads to perdition.
FOURTH SUNDAY AFTER EPIPHANY 159
Here is a man, again, dear Christians, who will take up property to any
amount he may be credited, without giving himself the least trouble how he
is to pay for it, or without endeavoring by industry and economy, to put
himself in a condition of making payment. He, perhaps, finds money
enough for selfish purposes at home, whilst outside, he contracts debts, rolls
on in a round of dissipation, and, doubtless, would have the world believe
him honest. Let him make as many palliations as he pleases, however, let
him assume as many cloaks as he can, to screen his dishonest dispositions,
in the name of religion and of justice, I do not hesitate to tell him, that
he has no more title to the epithets honest and just than has the common
high-way robber who presents a dagger to your breast to extort your purse
or your watch. It is no matter where or how you contract a lawful debt, my
dear brethren, if you possess the means of discharging it, your salvation
is at stake until justice has its due. Here, in fine, are men to whom property
is advanced on the faith and expectation of meeting returns, and such returns,
too, as the property delivered gives them hope of acquiring; so far, how
ever, are those just expectations from being realized, that, with the utmost
privacy and under the cover of night, (circumstances, alone, sufficient to
imply guilt,) the goods are conveyed surreptitiously into other and dis
honest channels. Persons who, in these cases, give away such property,
as well as those who receive it, are alike criminal, and if they escape the
censure or punishment inflicted by human tribunals here below, they will
find that God himself will be the avenger of their guilt in another world.
Each of the characters I have here enumerated is dishonest, each is guilty
of a flagrant breach of justice. And what shall I say of those parents who
squander in liquor or other vices, the money which they should devote to
the decent maintenance of their families ? What of those wives who waste
or give away the substance of their husbands, regardless of the fact that it
is the husband, and not the wife, who possesses the dominion of property?
What of those unjust children, who steal from their parents, or allow the
goods with which they are intrusted to be lost or injured through their
fault or negligence ? My dear Christians, these are some of the thousand
ways of committing injustice; and, although the brief limits of my dis
course will not admit of a particular mention of them all, an impartial
examination of your consciences will soon acquaint you whether or not
you are guilty of any of them. I have endeavored to show you the malice
of this crime and a few of the ways in which it is perpetrated, it remains to
show the obligation and mode of making restitution, an obligation from
which no power on earth or in heaven can dispense, so long as the wronged
party demands his rights and the guilty one has means to repair the wrong.
III. Restitution is an act of commutative justice by which property
unjustly taken away is restored, or the damage done is amply compensated
for; the law of nature which condemns injustice, commands at the same
160 FOURTH SUNDAY AFTER EPIPHANY.
time, that condign satisfaction must be made to violated justice. As there
are various ways of committing injustice, so are there various sources
whence arises the obligation to make amends to the injured. In the first
place, the possessor of unjust property is bound to restitution; secondly,
not only the person who commits the injustice must make reparation to the
wronged partv or parlies, but, also, those who command it, those who coun
sel it or wink vt it, as well as those who were receivers or participators
in the injustice. Finally, they are bound to restitution who did not prevent
or make known the injustice when, by virtue of some certain compact or
agreement, they were obliged in conscience so to do. The next question
is, to whom must restitutiop be madef Restitution must be made, my
dear friends, to the rightful owner, if he be in existence; if not, to his law
ful heir or successor. When this cannot be done, or it so happens that
the owner of the property is unknown, the full amount of the ill-gotten
treasure must be given to the poor or. devoted to some pious purpose for
the benefit and advantage of the rightful own^r. Further, in making the
restitution, dear brethren, you must know that the original goods of which
you have defrauded your neighbor must be restored *o him, if possible,
if not, an equivalent in value. Nor is this enough; every loss that may
have been sustained in consequence of your dishonesty, and every damage
that followed thereupon, must also be fully compensated before the sin is
forgiven you.
This is the law of restitution; its obligation is founded, (as weTi^ve seen,)
on the law of nature itself, and established by conclusive proofs from the
pages of both the Old and the New Testaments. Thus declares the
Almighty in Exodus (Chap. 22.) "If any thing be taken away by stealth.,
the damages shall be restored to the owner;" and by the voice of the
prophet Ezechiel, he says (Chap. 33) "If the wicked will turn from his
sin, and return again what he has robbed, he shall not die. " You see,
then, my dear brethren, that restitution is a necessary condition in order
to be restored to the favor of the Almighty, after a sin of injustice; a salutary
preventive of that which is greater and more direful than the whole calam
itous flood of human evils, viz. : the spiritual ruin and death of the soul.
Yes, Christians, although you were to bestow your entire property in alms
to the poor, although you were to fast daily on bread and water, although
you were to devote a great portion of your hours to prayer, and every
month of your lives to approach the adorable Sacrament of the Altar, if,
notwithstanding all this, you failed to restore the property you had un
justly acquired, when it was in your power to do so, or, lacking the
ability, if you formed not, at least, the resolution of doing so at your first
opportunity, it would all profit you nothing, and the loss of Heaven
would be the dreadful consequence of your dishonesty. Think of this,
dear brethren, as you return home to-day, and if ever in your lives you.
have acted dishonestly, and not made compensation therefor, form in-
FIFTH SUNDAY AFTER EPIPHANY. 161
stantly the determination of doing so before another day passes over your
heads. Remember your salvation depends on it; think what would be
your wishes at the hour of death, and do now, what you would then, per
haps, fruitlessly long to accomplish. What would it profit you to possess
all the pearls of India, all the gold mines of Peru, in short, all the precious
treasures, of both the earth and sea, what would they all avail you, if, in
the end, you lose your immortal soul? If we are not as wealthy, as
talented, as rich in the goods of this world as others are, let us, at least, be
honest. A just and upright character will merit for us the universal esteem
of men, and, what is infinitely better, will obtain for us the blessings and
approbation of heaven, the possession of which I sincerely wish you, my
dear brethren, in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy
Ghost. Amen.
Preached at Kingscove, Can., 1820.
VERY REV. JAMES SYNNOT, P. P.,
Litter, County Wexford, Irel.
FIFTH SUNDAY AFTER EPIPHANY.
THE OMISSION OF THE PUNISHMENT OF SIN IS A PARTICIPATION IN ITS GUILT.
* While men were asleep, his enemy came and oversowed cockle among the wheat;
and went his way. " Matt. 13: 25.
Having dismissed the people to whom our Lord had been speaking in
parables, his disciples came to him saying: "Explain to us the parable of
the cockle." Yielding to their request, he said: "He that sowed good
seed is the Son of Man ; the field is the world; the good seed are the chil
dren of God; the cockle are the children of the world; the enemy is the
devil, and the harvest, the end of the world. " The field is the world, a
large field, indeed; and considering this field with its crops from the very
beginning, we find no wheat that is not mixed with cockle. Adam had a
good, and a wicked son; Noah had two God-fearing sons, Shem and
Japhet, but he had also a shameless Cham. Abraham harbored in his
house Isaac and Ismael, the one was an adorer of the true God, the other
an idolater. Christ had a Judas among his Apostles. The world is like
a garden in which roses grow among thorns; like a net, in which there are
not only large, but, also, small fish; like the ark, in which there were not
only doves, but, also, ravens; or, to speak more plainly, the earth is be
tween heaven and hell; in hell you find nothing but cockle, in heaven
nothing but wheat; in the world, you find neither wheat nor cockle alone,
1 62 FIFTH SUNDAY AFTER EPIPHANY.
but wheat and cockle together; and herein, the modern world does not
differ from the ancient world.
The servants, seeing so much cockle among the wheat, said to their
master: "Master, didst thou not sow good seed in thy field, from whence
then hath it cockle?" And he said: " An enemy has done this. " "While
men were asleep, his enemy came and oversowed cockle among the wheat. "
Many whose duty it is to punish sin, close their eyes when they should
keep them open, and these are as guilty before heaven as those who commit
the sin. St. Ambrose says: God hates not only the sinner, but also him
who does not punish sin, for if there were more to punish sin, there would
be less to sin; therefore, I say:
The omission of the punishment of sin is a participation in the guilt of that
sin.
God commanded Jeremiah to declare to the children of Israel their vices,
and to conduct them into the right road, saying: "Lo, I have set thee this
day over the nations, and over kingdoms, to root up and to pull down,
and to waste and to destroy, and to build, and to plant." Jer. i: 10. In
these words, God gave to Jeremiah a double authority; first, to root up and
to pull down; secondly, to build and to plant; for if faults are not cor
rected and sins not punished, there is no fear among sinners, and where
there is no fear of chastisement, you will see realized that which the Wise
Man bewails: "Because sentence is not speedily pronounced against the
evil, the children of men commit evils without fear." The love of God
should be a sufficient motive to lead us to avoid sin; but, because the love
of God has grown languid in the hearts of men, he promises an eternal
reward to the faithful observer of his commandments, and threatens to
punish those who break them, with eternal torments. But there are many
who believe neither in an eternal reward, nor in an eternal punishment; in
order to keep such sinners within bounds, God gives power to the temporal
authorities to inflict punishment upon the violators of his law. If every
blasphemer were condemned to lose his tongue or his life, no one would
dare open his mouth against God. If every theft and robbery were pun
ished with the galloxvs, no one would steal or injure his neighbor s property;
if public scandals, seduction of innocence, and drunkenness were followed
by banishment or imprisonment, every one would be on his guard. But
what happens instead ? The wicked are allowed to run at large; no sen
tence is pronounced against the evil-doer, and thus it comes to pass, that
God, who knows and sees all things, punishes the faithless superiors who
neglect to correct and chastise the faults of those under their charge, as we
read in Exodus: "If an ox was wont to push with his horn yesterday and
the day before, and they warned his master, and he did not shut him up,
and he shall kill a man or a woman, then the ox shall be stoned, and his
owner also shall be put to death." Exod. 21: 29. By oxen, we under-
FIFTH SUNDAY AFTER EPIPHANY. 163
stand those who are under authority; if any of these are wicked, if they
offend God or injure man, whose fault is it? Undoubtedly, the fault of
the one who has authority over him, and thus the guilt rests on the head
of the former, and he will be punished for the sins of others which he could
have prevented, but did not.
This is no idle saying. God really punishes men for neglecting to cor
rect those over whom they have charge. Samuel said to king Saul: "The
Lord hath rejected thee from being king." Of what crime was he guilty?
God had raised him from obscurity to the dignity of king over Israel. What
evil had he done now, that he should be deprived of his regal authority?
Was God angry with him for persecuting David, or for envying the latter
when he slew Goliah? No; God rejected him from being king because he
spared and pardoned Agog, the king of the Amalecites, who was worthy of
death before the Most High. If Saul had inflicted a just punishment upon
others, God would not have rejected him, but because he failed in his law
ful duty as a superior, God rejected him from being king. In the third
Book of Kings, (Chapt. 2Oth, ) we read the sentence of death which God
decreed against Achab for sparing Benadab, the king of Syria: "Because
thou let go out of thy hand a man worthy of death, thy life shall be for his
life, and thy people for his people. " Again, we read in the Book of Num
bers, (Chap. 25th,) that God said to Moses: "Take all the princes of the
people, and hang them upon gibbets against the sun. " Why ? What was
the crime they had committed that deserved such a disgraceful death?
Their only crime was, that they had overlooked the sins of the people.
The people had prevaricated and offended God, and, consequently, should
have been chastised, but the princes were too indulgent; and, therefore,
they themselves were punished by being hung upon gibbets.
Parents, this is a word of warning, also, to you. God rejected Saul
from being king, because he spared Agog. He pronounced sentence
against Achab, because he did not punish Benadab; the princes were hung
upon gibbets, because they indulged their people too much. What a
rigorous account will parents have to give of the sins of their children ! It
is a tremendous labor to answer for ourselves, alone, but parents will have to
answer not only for their own sins, but, also, for the sins of their children.
Their crimes will be laid to their charge; their blood will be demanded at
their hands. All the sins which children commit through the negligence
of their parents, will not be laid only to their own charge, the parents
must, also, share the responsibility; for, not to prevent sin, is to participate
in its guilt.
But, parents will say: Does not our Lord counsel mildness and meek
ness? "Learn of me to be meek. " What else does Christian meekness
require, but to have patience with the weakness of others; not to judge them,
but to leave the judgment to God? It is true we must have patience with
frailty and weakness, but it is, also, true that we must not countenance sin
1 64 FIFTH SUNDAY AFTER EPIPHANY.
in those intrusted to our charge, otherwise we make ourselves accessory
to their sins. It is our duty to repress vice, wherever, and whenever, we
can. Hear what St. Paul says in his Epistle to the Corinthians, Chap, i :
"Take the evil one away from among yourselves;" and in his Epistle to
the Galatians: "I would those were cut off, who trouble you. " Again:
Be instant in season and out of season, reprove, entreat, rebuke with all
patience and doctrine." Behold how Christ treated the woman taken in
adultery: "Go," said he, "and sin no more." He did not, however, treat
all with the same indulgence; but, fired with a holy indignation, he
punished the transgressors of the law most severely, as we read: "Jesus
went up to Jerusalem and found sitting in the temple those that sold oxen,
sheep, and calves, and the changers of money; and, when he had made a
scourge of little cords, he drove them all out of the temple." From this,
parents ought to learn to govern their children by love and fear.
If a sin be committed secretly and without scandal, and if an amend
ment may be reasonably expected, it is to be punished with patience,
by exhortation and entreaty; but if the sin is public and scandal has been
given or a repetition of the same sin is to be apprehended, it must be
punished severely. You frequently get angry at trifles, at small accidents
or losses caused by your children; you curse them and blaspheme God, as
if he were the cause of it, but, let me ask you, do you get angry at those
sins of your children which offend God ? Do you punish them when they
deserve punishment? Do you not indulge your children too much? Do
you not tacitly consent to their sins? The meekness of Moses is proverbial.
This praise is given to him in the Scripture: "Moses was a man exceed
ingly meek above all men that dwelled upon earth." What had Moses
not to endure from his intractable people? How often did they not
murmur against him, slight his commands, and violate his orders? They
even sought his life. Moses bore all patiently, nay, when the anger of
God was enkindled against this obstinate people, and, when he threatened
their total extirpation, Moses offered himself a sacrifice to God for them,
saying: "Either forgive them this trespass, or strike me out of the book
that tnou hast written ! " What meekness ! what love ! to offer one s self as
an expiation for a sinful people ! Yet, this meek Moses was frequently
angry. When he saw the Jews adore the Golden Calf, being very angry, he
threw the tables of the Law out of his hands and broke them at the foot of
the Mount; and laying hold of the Calf which they had made, he burnt it
and beat it into powder, and gave thereof to the children of Israel to drink.
And he cried with a loud voice: "If any man be on the Lord s side, let
him join me." And when all the Levites had gathered themselves together
around him, he said to them: "Thus says the Lord God of Israel: Put
every man his sword upon his thigh, go and return from gate to gate
through the midst of the camp, and let every man kill his brother, friend,
and neighbor ." The Levites, doing as they had been ordered, there were
FIFTH SUNDAY AFTER EPIPHANY. 165
slain that day about three and twenty thousand men. And Moses said to
them: "You have consecrated your hands this day to the Lord that a
blessing may be given you. "
Moses was exceedingly meek, but he could also be angry when the
honor of God required it. O, that meekness were more frequently joined
with severity; for, that is a culpable indulgence which suffers so many vices
and crimes to pass unnoticed and unpunished. Hence, so much cockle
among the wheat. What is the consequence of this criminal negligence?
The fire breaks out into bright flames, because the spark is not extinguished
in time; evils become incurable if not promptly remedied. There is more
cockle in the field than wheat, because those whose duty it is to watch,
are found sleeping. While men are asleep, the enemy comes and over-
-sows cockle among the wheat. It is want of vigilance, want of timely
correction. A child tells a lie; the parents laugh at it, and say: "It is only
an innocent lie." The child takes something belonging to others, its
parents will either not notice the theft or, else, say, "It is not worth talk
ing about." But by little and little, these petty sins in children grow into
.great ones. Not having been corrected for his untruthfulness the first time,
but rather encouraged by his parents, the young, smart, and hopeful son
practises it again and again, till he contracts a habit of telling lies; he
takes small things as often as an opportunity offers, till he becomes a thief,
a robber, perhaps, a murderer. What is to be blamed for all this? The
fatal indulgence of parents; and, whence does this ill-timed indulgence
come? From a weakness of mind which fears to offend others, from self-
interest But there is one thing certain; God will punish most severely
that criminal indulgence which strives to please everybody and to displease
nobody; for, he has said: "Cursed is he that does the work of God de
ceitfully," and he will not make his word void. Where justice reigns, in
justice must perish; and where severity joined with meekness rules, in
iquity cannot prevail. If you wish, my dear Christians, to be counted with
the wheat, do not surfer the cockle to grow in your field; destroy it when
ever it is your duty to do so; never countenance wrong in others, and thus
become accessory to their sin; for, "The omission of the punishment of
sin is assuredly a participation in its guilt."
FIFTH SUNDAY AFTER EPIPHANY.
THE SLEEP OF THE SINNER.
While men were asleep his enemy came. " Matt. 13: 25.
When Caesar Augustus, the Roman Emperor, in the midst of wealth
and opulence, and in the possession of everything the world could offer or
the human heart desire, was troubled with sleeplessness, he was told by
1 66 FIFTH SUNDAY AFTER EPIPHANY.
one of his courtiers that a certain Roman Senator, who was greatly in debt,
nevertheless slept well and soundly every night. The Emperor, at once,
ordered the comfortable pillow of that unjust nobleman to be brought to
him as a curiosity, saying at the same time, that he could not understand
how a man, who was in debt for the bed on which he slept, could close
an eye in sleep. I wish to present to you, to-day, my dear brethren, a
greater marvel than this Roman Senator, whose calm repose under the
heavy weight of debt and dishonor, so astonished the great Augustus. And
you will fully understand the significance of the similitude, when I say
that I cannot comprehend how the sinner, who daily contracts great and
heavy debts with God, and who has not settled the arrears of many years
standing, can go to bed at night without fear and trembling, and expect to
sleep. And, yet, he goes to sleep, although there is no member of his
body, no faculty of his soul, wherewith he has not grievously offended his
Creator and Redeemer. If that God whom he has so long and so boldly
outraged, were to command his agents death and the devil to bring him,
as debtor, before his tribunal, all would be lost. ( And yet, he sleeps, as
it were, the sleep of the just man, and is disturbed by no tormenting
dreams or apprehensions. How soft must be his pillow ! I am not
anxious, dear friends, like Augustus, to behold an object which could
afford repose under such dire and distracting circumstances, but I cannot
refrain from echoing (from a higher standpoint, however, ) the Emperor s
words of surprise, since I am unable to understand how a sinner, whose body
and soul belong to the devil, can close an eye ,or sleep for the space of a single
hour. What, indeed, is more incomprehensible than the quiet sleep of that
unhappy man who well knows that in losing his God, he has lost every
thing, and who is perfectly aware that he sleeps on the brink of hell, into
the flames of which he may fall at any moment!
In the happy state of sanctifying grace, before the commission of mortal
sin, man is in such favor with God, that he is not his servant, but his
friend: "You are my friends," says the Eternal Truth, "if you do the
things that I command you: I will not now call you servants, but I have
called you friends. " John 15: 14. Nay, more, the faithful Christian is not
only the friend of God, but his son, his heir to the kingdom of heaven, re
ceiving through divine grace, the right and title to those wonderful dignities.
"Behold, you are gods; and all of you sons of the Most High." Ps. 81: 6.
Now, by the commission of mortal sin, man loses, at once, all those
precious privileges, degrades his dignity, and forfeits his right and title to
the celestial kingdom. From being a son of the Most High, he becomes
his hated enemy and a slave of the devil. God acknowledges him no
longer as his friend, his child, his heir, but protests and declares most
solemnly: "I know you not." After having thus lost his priceless dignity
of son and friend of God, together with his title to an immortal inheritance,
one would suppose that the thought of this terrible misfortune would
FIFTH SUNDAY AFTER EPIPHANY. 167
deprive him of all sleep and repose. Ask Lysimachus, king of Thrace, who
being, one day, tormented by a most violent thirst, sold his kingdom for
a drink of water. Ask him, I pray you, how he felt, ask him how he
slept the following night, haunted as he must have been, by the perpetual
remembrance that he was no longer a king, but a beggar, that he had sold
land and subjects, honors and dignities, sceptre and crown, for a few miser
able drops of water ! How can a sinner enjoy a sound sleep when he
reflects that he is no longer a friend and child of God, no longer a prince
of the celestial realm, but that he has sold his soul and salvation, heaven
and his God, for a few drops of imaginary pleasure. "I have tasted but a
little honey, and I must die/ said Jonathan. Ask Esau how he slept after
he had eaten the mess of pottage for which he had exchanged his birthright
and his father s blessing. The Scripture says, in its strong and simple
language, that "he roared out with a great cry." Gen. 27: 34.
The sinner, too, has lost not only his birthright, but every privilege of
an adopted child of God; hence, so far from enjoying a blessing, he can
only^expect the curse of his heavenly Father. If he die in that state, ever
lasting damnation must, inevitably, be his lot. But, unlike Esau, the sinner
is not afflicted at his great loss, but sleeps soundly with Jacob, as if nothing
had happened, as if he had an assurance of being able to recover what he
has so criminally lost. But not only has he lost his glorious birthright,
the inheritance of heaven, alas! he has lost God, himself. The bond of
love, by which he was so sweetly united to his Creator and Redeemer, is
violently torn asunder; the sinner has rudely thrust God out of the sanctuary
of his heart, and, in return, the unhappy wretch finds himself wholly
excluded from the loving heart of God. It can no longer be said of him:
"The Lord is with thee," for, God is far from him. God and his grace
can no more dwell in a sinful heart, than light can be united with darkness,
than the dove can dwell unharmed with the hawk, the sheep with the
wolf, or the lamb with the devouring lion.
Samson lost God, and his wonderful strength, at once, departed from him.
Mannasses lost God, and with that loss, his liberty.
Saul lost God, and was deprived of his kingdom.
Heli lost God, and not only forfeited his priesthood, but falling back
wards from his chair, was killed by breaking his neck.
Ozias lost God, and his health forsook him.
Solomon lost God, and losing his wisdom as well, became an idolater.
The children of Israel lost God, and, with their God, lost also their
prosperity, their liberty, and their independence.
yudas lost God, and was deprived, in consequence, of his dignity as
priest and apostle of Christ, and became, in the end, a miserable, despair
ing suicide.
The sinner has lost his God, and he rests quietly, he sleeps uncon-
i68 FIFTH SUNDAY AFTER EPIPHANY.
cernedly and securely, as though he held in his hand a deed of his soul s
salvation.
If a gambler stakes his all upon a throw, and loses all by one cast of the
di ce? if one, having been rich, is suddenly reduced to poverty, what anguish,
what restlessness, does he not experience the night succeeding his bitter
loss ! If a man s house, in which his all is invested, burns down in the
afternoon, what kind of rest, think ye, my brethren, will he enjoy that
night? Go, ask him the next morning, how he slept. What will his
answer be ? What a silly question is that! How could I sleep well, remember
ing that in the space of an hour, I lost what it took me a life-time to acquire?"
Tell me, when you lost your father, your mother, your husband, your wife,
or, perchance, a darling child, or when some other calamity, equally
great, befell you, did you sleep much the following night? How many of
your friends came to console you, and you refused to be comforted! Even
for comparatively trifling losses, the people of this world will sometimes
grieve immoderately. The loss of a jewel, a purse, a favorite animal, will
often cost them many sleepless nights. St. Augustine says: "A man loses
his cattle, his sheep, and he neither eats nor sleeps; he loses the grace of
God, and he eats and sleeps and weeps not." But, behold, the sinner has
lost, with the friendship of God, the right and title to heaven, his soul, and
his salvation; and all the merits of his previous good works have been, as
it were, consumed by infernal fire. He has lost God himself, and he sleeps
soundly, and is altogether unconcerned. Is not this incomprehensible?
Should he not cry out with Esau in the bitterness of his soul, and ask him
self all night long the melancholy question, "Where is thy God?"
Not only has the sinner lost every real good which he possessed, but he
has, also, every reason to fear the worst. Astonishing was the sleep of Jonas,
the prophet, during a violent storm at sea. He went down into the ship,
and slept a deep sleep. While the sea was raging and foaming, the
waves rose mountain-high, and every one was filled with fear and conster
nation; Jonas, alone, slept calmly and quietly, as though the waves were a
cradle, in which, like a slumbering child, he was lulled to sleep. And, yet,
the wrath of God was directed against him, and was about to cast him
forth into the depths of the stormy sea. Above him, was the vision of an
enraged God, beneath him, the foaming waves which were about to swal
low him up, and still the unhappy prophet slumbered quietly and uncon
cernedly through it all.
Behold, O sinner, you, too, are the fatal target of the divine vengeance;
you, too, are about to be cast into the sea of eternal perdition. Above you,
appears the vision of an offended, outraged God, who, already, prepares to
launch forth against you the arrows of divine justice; beneath your feet, hell
opens its yawning jaws to devour you, and, yet, O marvel of marvels, you
lie in your bed, night after night, and calmly sleep ! God is your enemy,
and you can forget his wrath in sleep. Remember: "It is an awful thing
FIFTH SUNDAY AFTER EPIPHANY. 169
to fall into the hands of the living God. " God, who can destroy you at any
moment, is your enemy, and you are able to forget his vengeance in sleep.
A Roman cavalier, when he heard that Cicero, the renowned orator, would
be his adversary in a case before the Roman senate, was so terrified as to
commit suicide. And shall you, my brethren, esteem it a matter of in
difference to have God for your enemy in that cause on which depends
either your eternal salvation, or your eternal damnation ?
What anguish, what fear, and consternation, are there not in a besieged
city, when the enemy forces its gates ! Now, faith teaches you that God s
immensity surrounds you everywhere. God is above you, and below you,
he is before and behind you, he is on your right hand, and on your left,
nay, more, he is within you. If he wishes to punish you, with what arms will
you defend yourself? How can you make merry before his wrathful counte
nance? Have you no living faith, O blinded sinners? Do you not
believe in the omnipotence and omnipresence of your God ? Well, then,
throw away the grace of your holy Baptism, blot out your name for ever
from the list of the faithful, from the Book of Life. But, if you, indeed,
believe that God is your enemy, how can you sleep so carelessly under the
curse of his enmity ? Why do you not, at least, fear him whom you refuse
to honor? How would it be if he gave the devil permission or command,
to take your soul while you slumbered, even as, in the Gospel of this day,
the enemy came whilst men were asleep, in the night? How, if this very
night, whilst sleeping in your bed, your soul should be demanded with
these terrific words: "Arise from sleep, and come to judgment!" How, if
this very night, a stroke of apoplexy, or heart-disease should bring your life
to a sudden and unexpected close? \Vhat, if a fire should break out in the
night, and you should be permitted to perish in the flames? What, if
burglars should break into your house and kill you? Have not these
calamities frequently happened in the past? Isboeth, a son of king Saul,
was stabbed and killed by two murderers in broad day-light, whilst he
was sleeping on his couch; Jahel drove a nail through Sisera s head, whilst
he was asleep; Judith cut off the head of Holofernes with his own sword,
whilst he slept the sleep of the drunkard. Such things are happening,
also, in all parts of the world. Who can give you the assurance, O sinner!
that after so many and great transgressions of his divine law, God will not
deal with you, this very night, in the same way? God is good and merciful,
he is willing to forgive sin, but he cannot forgive the determination to
commit sin. He forgives every man a certain number of sins, but, when
the measure is full, he forgives no more, but punishes the sinner according
to the rigor of his justice.
The Sacred Scripture says: "He lay down and fell asleep." Who? Elias
lay down under the shade of a juniper tree, and fell asleep. He could
well do so, for Elias was a just man. But Isboeth, Sisera, and Holofernes,
also, lay down and fell asleep, and never awoke again in this world. The
170 FIFTH SUNDAY AFTER EPIPHANY.
sinner, too, lies down and falls asleep, but where? On the brink of an
unhappy eternity, whence one stroke, one movement, one sudden fall will
precipitate him, without fail, into the abyss of hell. He sleeps on the slender
cobweb of hope, which is spread over the mouth of hell. But such a sleep,
as you must see, dear Christians, is an incomprehensible sleep. A certain
king in order to instil a salutary fear into one of his courtiers, made him sit
on a worm-eaten chair which was placed over a raging fire, whilst above
the unhappy man, a sharp sword was suspended by a horse s hair.
Now, if the tyrannical prince had told his victim to sleep in that chair,
what do you suppose would have been his answer ? Would he not have
cried out in anguish: "How can I sleep in so dangerous a situation ! The
chair is liable to give way under me at any moment; beneath me, is a fierce
fire ready to devour me, and above my head, a cruel sword which threatens
my life !" Sinner, above you, also, is suspended the sword of divine
vengeance, under your bed, hell is ever open to swallow you up; the devils
stand ready to snatch you from among the living and to plunge you into
that fiery abyss, and, yet, you have the bold presumption to sleep in the
greatest security !
Incomprehensible, therefore, is the sleep of the sinner and for these two
reasons; First: He has lost every good he possessed, the grace and friend
ship of God, the right and title to heaven, and even, alas ! God himself.
How, then, can he sleep securely? Secondly: He has to fear the worst
from his enraged God who has the authority to call him to an account
at any moment, and the power to inflict on him the punishment which his
sins deserve, the terrible, eternal punishment which so many millions of
the reprobate are now, hopelessly, enduring in hell. How, I ask again, my
dear brethren, how can he sleep? Before the sinner goes to bed each
night, "he ought to say to himself these solemn words, and ponder on them
well : " / belong to the devil, body and soul: I am not secure so long as I
remain in mortal sin; my enemy may claim his prey at any moment, and what,
then, will be my agonizing fate? "Who can dwell with everlasting fire?"
But, strange to say, the sinner does not disquiet his mind with any such
melancholy thoughts; he continues his sinful and criminal line of conduct,
he sleeps on, like Jonas, until he is actually thrown out of the bark, yea,
out of the bark of mortality, not, alas ! into the stormy waves of that sea
which swallowed up the prophet, but into the dreary pool of Gehenna,
into the fiery, raging sea of hell!
In order to avert so great an evil, my beloved brethren, strive by a good
Christian life and the frequent use of the Sacraments, always to go to bed in
the-state of sanctifying grace. If, (which God avert!) you should have, at
any time, the misfortune of falling into mortal sin, and are unable that
night to approach the Sacrament of Penance, make, at once, an act of
perfect contrition with the resolution to go to confession at the very first
opportunity that presents itself. Then, indeed, you may sleep in tran-
SIXTH SUNDAY AFTER EPIPHANY. 171
quillity and security. And even if the malice of the devil should over
throw your house in the night, and bury you in its ruins, though the
calamity might destroy the life of your body, your soul, your precious,
immortal soul, thanks be to God ! could suffer no loss. The sweetest rest
of the Christian, dear brethren, is a good conscience, for a good conscience
is a continual feast, and a soft pillow to sleep on. "Sweetly wilt thou
take thy rest, " says the devout A Kempis, if thy heart reprehend thee
not. " And if we strive with our whole hearts to keep the commandments
of God and of his Church and to live in holy charity with our neighbor,
each one of us, my dear friends, may exclaim at night as we stretch our
selves upon our beds: " I sleep, but my heart watchetrT .... In peace,
in the selfsame I will sleep and I will rest ." Amen.
SIXTH SUNDAY AFTER EPIPHANY.
CROSS AND CROWN.
* The kingdom of heaven is like to leaven, which a woman took and hid in
three measures of meal. Matt. 13: 33.
What resemblance can the kingdom of heaven bear to the leaven of the
Gospel ? Is not the kingdom of heaven that blessed place of which our Lord
has said to his Apostles and to us: "I appoint to you, as my Father hath ap
pointed to me, a kingdom. That you may eat and drink at my table in my
kingdom; and may sit upon thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel,"
Luke 22: 29.30. What shall we eat and drink at his table? We read in
the Apocalypse, that the Lord says: "To him, that overcometh, I will
give the hidden manna," Apoc. 2: 17, that is to say, bread of such sweet
ness as the world has never known or tasted. In the desert, God gave to
his chosen people such excellent bread, that the Book of Wisdom says of
it: "Thou didst feed thy people with the food of Angels, and gavest them
bread from heaven prepared without labor; having in it all that is delicious,
and the sweetness of every taste." Wisd. 16: 20. If the bread, that came
from heaven, was so delicious, what sweetness must not that bread possess
which God has reserved for the food of the elect at his heavenly table?
How comes it, then, that our Lord compares the kingdom of heaven to
leaven? Heaven is delicious, leaven is not. We will easily understand
it, if we reflect what he means by the kingdom of heaven. He says in
another place: "The kingdom of heaven is like to a net cast into the sea,
and gathering together of all kinds of fishes: which, when it was filled, they
drew out, and sitting by the shore, they chose out the good into vessels;
but the bad they cast forth." Matt. 13: 47.48. Our faith teaches us, that
172 SIXTH SUNDAY AFTER EPIPHANY.
Christ in this parable does not refer to the Church-triumphant in heaven r
where none abide save the elect, but to his Church militant upon earth,
in which both, good and bad, are dwelling together.
Again, in the 25th chapter of St. Matthew, he relates the following
parable: "The kingdom of heaven is like to ten virgins, who, taking
their lamps, went out to meet the bridegroom and the bride; now, five of
them were foolish; and five were wise." Matt. 15: 1.2. This parable,
also, has reference to the Church upon earth in which wise, i. e. the just;
and foolish, i. e. the sinners, live together. As in these parables, Christ
speaks not of the triumphant, but of the militant Church, so in this day s
Gospel, he compares the latter to leaven. "The kingdom of heaven is like
to leaven," which means that, as long as man lives in the Church of God
here below, he will get no other than leavened bread. God condemned
Adam and his whole posterity to eat that kind of bread. As soon as the
first sin was committed, God said to Adam: "In the sweat of thy face
shalt thou eat bread, till thou return to the earth, out of which thou wast
taken; for, dust thou art, and into dust thou shalt return." Gen. 3: 19.
And who was it that thus leavened the bread for Adam and his posterity?
The Gospel of this day says: "The woman took the leaven and hid it in
three measures of meal, until the whole was leavened. " The first woman
was the cause of the first sin upon earth; taking the leaven of disobedience,
she prepared leavened bread for herself, her husband, and her posterity.
"In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat thy bread." Alluding to this,
David cries out to the Lord : "How long wilt thou feed us with the bread
of tears; and give us for our drink tears in measure?" Ps. 79: 6.
But, is there nothing that is able to sweeten this leavened bread, this
bread of tears? The Gospel says: "The woman took leaven, and hid it
in three measures of meal, until the whole was leavened." There is,
therefore^ one measure of meal left to sweeten the three leavened measures.
But, what is meant by the four measures of meal, and how can one measure
of meal sweeten three leavened measures ? The three measures of leavened
meal, taken in the moral sense, refer to our temporal life; the first, being the
, beginning; the second, the progress: and the third, the end of our life; the
\ fourth and last measure, we will find after the close of this present life, in
heaven, (if we are so happy as to arrive there;) God having reserved it for
that time and place, to make of it a bread, "having in it all that is
delicious, and the sweetness of every taste," according to David, who says:
"I shall be satisfied when thy glory shall appear." Ps. 16: 15. Blessed is
he that shall eat that delicious bread at the table of the Lord in his king
dom ! And we are assured that all will be admitted to that table to eat
the bread of joy, who, in this world, have humbly and resignedly partaken
of the leavened bread, that is, the bread of tears.
A proof hereof is to be found in the third Book of Kings. Elias, being
persecuted by the wicked queen Jezabel, fled into the desert, and sitting
SIXTH SUNDAY AFTER EPIPHANY. 175
down under a juniper tree, requested for his soul that he might die, say
ing: " It is enough for me, Lord; take away my soul." In other words:
"What does a longer life profit me, except that I shall be persecuted the
longer ? Take away my soul, O Lord, for I am tired of life. " But God,
instead of sending death, cast a deep sleep upon Elias; and, after sleeping
for some time in the shadow of the juniper tree, behold, an Angel of the
Lord touched him, and said to him: "Arise and eat." He looked, and
behold, there was at his head a hearth-cake, and a vessel of water; and he
ate and drank; and he fell asleep again. And the Angel of the Lord came
again the second time, and touched him, and said to him: "Arise and eat;
for thou hast yet a great way to go." And he arose, and ate, and drank;
and walked, in the strength of that food, forty days and forty nights, unto
the mount of God, Horeb. i Kings 19: 4-9.
A beautiful lesson for those who have to suffer much in this world; who
have to labor hard for their daily bread. Some, indeed, have nothing in
this world but the bread of affliction; they have, as it were, no earthly
consolation; and, being tired of the world, they say sometimes with Elias:
" It is enough, O Lord, take away my soul. If thou prolongest my life,
what else will I see but the prolongation of my misery ? " But God does
not hear their prayer. Instead of dying, it is the will of God that they
sleep, that is, their spirit must rest. And in what does the rest and peace
of the spirit consist ? In two things, the first of which is conformity of our
will to the will of God; by this means, Elias enjoyed a sound and refreshing
sleep. The second is the eating of the bread which heaven sends. What sort
of bread does heaven send? The same that Elias found at his head, a
hearth-cake. But, how can a hearth-cake come from heaven ? how can
such bread pacify the mind? Such bread, I think, is calculated to re
present death, it being a figure of death. Yes, that bread comes to us
from heaven; for, whatever hand may offer you this bread of affliction, it
is God who sends it to you; no adversity, no cross, no affliction, can
come upon you, unless God permit or decree it. Nothing happens in this
world without the will or permission of God. The second question is,
how can a hearth-cake, being a figure of death, pacify the mind ? Just
because it is a figure of death, it gives peace to the mind, for a moment s
reflection will convince you that if you had to remain on earth, and eat
the bread of affliction for ever, you would consider it a hell. But faith and
your innate infirmity, your ceaseless tendency towards dissolution, teach
you that this life will have an end; that you will have to eat this bread only
for a short time; and this thought, alone, is sufficient to pacify and
strengthen you on the way to heaven.
Elias ate twice of this bread. The Sacred Scripture says, that when he
had eaten once, he fell asleep again; he was pacified and comforted,
because he knew that the hearth-cake, although tasteless and bitter, came
from heaven. Before he ate of it the second time, the Angel said: "Thou
174 SIXTH SUNDAY AFTER EPIPHANY.
hast, yet, a great way to go, unto the mount of God, Horeb. " As soon as
Elias heard this, he joyfully ate again of the bitter bread which strengthened
him, so that he walked forty days and forty nights, till he came unto the
mount of God, Horeb. The words of the Angel: "Thou hast, yet, a great
way to go, " are spoken not to Elias, alone, but to each and every one of
us. My dear Christians, you have, yet, a great way to go, from time into
eternity, from mortality to immortality, unto the mount of God, Horeb, that is,
heaven; therefore, banish from you all depression of mind, bear the trials
of this earth and the hardships incident to your state of life with patience
and resignation to the will of God, eat the bitter bread which God sends
you, and while eating it, think of the delicious bread which is prepared
for you in heaven, a bread which contains the sweetness of every taste.
This thought of a glorious future will strengthen you to bear patiently all
the tribulations of this life, as the Apostle says: "While we look not at the
things that are seen, but at the things that are not seen; for, the things
that are seen are temporal; but the things that are not seen are eternal."
2. Cor. 4: 1 8. We must seek the things that are above, where Christ is
sitting at the right hand of God; we must mind the things that are above,
and not the things that are below; we must control our thoughts, and
refrain from fixing them on the adversities and afflictions of this present
life, but think of the everlasting inheritance reserved for us in heaven. God
ordered Noah to do this. What spectacle could be more heart-rending
than that of the universal Deluge, when all creatures were perishing outside
of the ark. God commanded Noah to put only one window in the ark,
and that one, on the top. Why would he not permit him to make windows
at the sides of the ark ? Why did he order him to make but one window,
and that, on the top ? That he might not be able to look around at the
earth and the things thereof, but would be forced to raise his eyes, his
heart, and his thoughts up to heaven. If the ark had had windows at both
sides, he would have seen man and beast struggling in the water and
perishing in the waves; such a signt would have grieved his heart, and
the bread of affliction which he was eating in the ark, would have tasted
more bitter still. For this reason, God ordered him to make but one
window on the top, that the sight of heaven, the only part of Creation left
for him to behold, might sweeten his bitter bread.
The world and the things ^hereof seem sweet and delicious to the care
less observer, yet, theirs is not a natural, but an artificial, sweetness. The
sweetness of the world will be, one day, changed into bitterness, and the
bitterness of the world, if properly endured, will be changed into heavenly
sweetness. " Blessed are they, that mourn; for they shall be comforted."
Matt. 5: 5. "Woe to you that now laugh, for you shall mourn and
weep." Luke 6: 25. If we fix our eyes continually upon the adversities of
this life, we will shed tears of bitterness; but, if we turn them towards
heaven, we will weep ceaseless tears of joy. Never to speak of heaven or
SIXTH SUNDAY AFTER EPIPHANY. 175
heavenly things, but always of the things of the world, may well mase us
weep and sigh; therefore, let the heart long to enter into the joy of the
Lord, let the mouth speak of it, let all our desires be directed towards it,
towards that blessed kingdom where our tears shall be wiped away, and
our sorrow turned into joy.
Whilst a great famine prevailed in Chanaan and the neighboring countries,
Jacob sent his sons twice into Egypt to buy grain for their sustenance.
Prior to this season of want and suffering, Jacob had eaten the bread of
affliction for twenty years, always thinking of his dearly beloved Joseph,
whom he supposed to have been devoured by wild beasts. When his sons
returned from Egypt the second time, with these happy and joyful tidings:
"Joseph, thy son, is living; and he is ruler in all the land of Egypt; it is
his desire to see you, his father," the Scripture says: "his spirit revived,
and he said: It is enough for me if Joseph, my son, be yet living; I will
go and see him before I die. * Gen. 45: 26-28. And immediately, he set
out on his journey, went to Joseph, and, notwithstanding his great age, he
was permitted to eat the bread of joy for seventeen subsequent years.
The Lord visited Job with various crosses and afflictions, in order to try
nis virtue. He was very patient, but, after all, he was human, and he
humbly confessed his feelings, saying: "Before I eat, I sigh." What made
Job sigh ? Was the bread he ate, perhaps, unjustly gotten ? or did people
whom he knew to be against him, eat with him ? or did he feel no hunger
for his food ? None of these things caused him to sigh, for his guiltless con
science gave him testimony, that whatever he formerly possessed, as well as
and honestly, of bread that yet remained to him, had been acquired justly
the portionwithout any injury to his neighbor. That which made him sigh
was the remembrance of the misfortune which had leavened his bread. He
was contrasting the past with the present time; the past, when he had every
thing his heart could desire; the present, when nothing was left to him but
poverty and misery; stripped of all his possessions, deprived of the
comfort of his children, of the health of his body, he beheld himself, alas !
covered with sores, and sitting upon a dung-hill; these sad and sudden
misfortunes, to which he was subjected, had so leavened his bread that
he could say with truth: "Before I eat, I sigh."
It may be that you, my dear brethren, are not visited with the like dis
asters, that you have not to suffer the singular afflictions of Job, neverthe
less, they are not few nor hard to find, who can justly say: "Before I eat^
I sigh." Many have nothing to look forward to but suffering and hard
ship, and are doomed, in every sense of the word, to eat their bread in the
sweat of their brow. Human weakness would be forced to surrender,
human nature would be unable to bear all the adversities of this life, were
not the Christian supported by the grace of God and strengthened by the
thought of eternity. God lays on man no greater burden than he is able
to bear; he feeds him with no more bread 01 tribulation than he can digest;
176 SIXTH SUNDAY AFTER EPIPHANY.
he supplies, by his grace, what is wanting to human nature. Again, the
promise that the leavened bread of this life shall be followed by the delicious
Bread of eternity, so strengthens our weakness, that, with patience and
resignation to the will of God, the foretaste of the heavenly sweetness over
comes the bitterness of all temporal adversities and afflictions.
Who else is the ruler typified by the ancient Joseph but our Lord Jesus
Christ? who rules not only over the land of Egypt, but over all the earth,
according to his own words: "All power is given to me in heaven and
upon earth. * When we are visited by God with afflictions, it sometimes
appears, as if our Redeemer had forsaken us: but he has decreed these
same tribulations for us, that we may eat, dear brethren, the leavened
bread of the Gospel. And, our comfort and consolation in all adversities
and doubtful affairs, are the joyful tidings that "our Redeemer liveth." He
is living, and shall live for ever. If we eat the bread of tribulation with
patience here, we have his assurance that we shall eat the bread of joy here
after. Let us in all our troubles and difficulties say with Jacob: "It is
enough, I know that my Redeemer liveth, I will go and see him, before I
die." I will go and receive him in holy Communion, he is the Bread hav
ing in it all that is delicious and the sweetness of every taste, and I will
unite myself with him for time and for eternity. Amen.
SIXTH SUNDAY AFTER EPIPHANY.
SINS OF WHICH LITTLE ACCOUNT IS MADE.
The grain of mustard seed becometh a tree. " Matt. 13: 3 2.
Little things in time become great, both, in the natural and supernatural
order. What is smaller and more insignificant than a grain of mustard
seed, yet, in the course of time it, becomes great, it becomes a tree, in the
branches whereof the birds of the air dwell. Only a small quantity of
leaven is needed to put a mass of flour into fermentation. We must not
contemn little things; be they ever so tiny and trivial, they may become
great. The grain of mustard seed is very minute, but it carries within it
the germ of something great; a little leaven has the virtue of changing a
tasteless mass of flour into palatable bread. In the supernatural order,
there are also certain things which are regarded by many as trifles, nay,
as points unworthy of notice, and, yet, after all, they are very important.
Sucn, for instance, are a great many sins. Some allow themselves to be so
deluded by their passions or the bad example of others, as to consider
practices which are very sinful, either as no sin at all, or, at most, as but
small defects, or natural imperfections. The consequence is, that such
SIXTH SUNDAY AFTER EPIPHANY. 177
Christians in their unhappy delusion heap sin upon sin, and will discover
their mistake only when it is too late to rectify it, when they open their
eyes in that miserable eternity whence it is impossible ever to escape.
And what are these sins which many Christians consider so trifling?
I. The sins of the heart. These sins are bad thoughts and desires which
are entertained voluntarily, and indulged in with pleasure. He who
represents to himself something unchaste and takes pleasure therein, sins
by bad thoughts. He who not only represents to himself something bad,
but also desires to see that forbidden sight, to hear those forbidden words,
or to resolve that evil thought into action, sins by bad desires, as well as
by bad thoughts. Now, there are many Christians who commit these sins of
the heart very often, and without any disquietude of conscience. They
have vain, proud, revengeful, avaricious, envious, unchaste thoughts and
desires; they entertain them with pleasure; they take no pains to banish
them, imagining such thoughts and desires to be of little or no account,
considering them either as no sin at all, or only as trivial, venial sins.
What a pernicious error ! God looks far more to the will than to the deed.
If exteriorly, you lead the life of a saint, but have a corrupt heart, God
abhors you, and according to the words of Christ, you resemble whited
sepulchres which outwardly appear to men. beautiful, but within are full of
dead men s bones and of all filthiness." With God, the will goes for the deed.
If entertained deliberately, with pleasure, and in some important matter, bad
thoughts and desires, like bad deeds, are mortal sins. Therefore, it is said
in the Book of Proverbs: "Evil thoughts are an abomination to the Lord."
Prov. 15: 26. And Christ says: " Whosoever looketh on a woman to lust
.after her, hath already committed adultery with her in his heart. " Great
is the number of those who, making little or no account of evil thoughts
and desires, neglect to confess them, and consequently live and die in sin,
and perish eternally. The rebellious angels were cast out of heaven and
condemned to eternal torments for what? for entertaining a proud
thought only for an instant.
II. Sms of Blasphemy. There are many Catholics who would die,
before they would eat meat on Friday, but, while dissecting their fish, they
do not hesitate to utter blasphemies, using the holy name of Jesus with an
open profanity which should cause the most hardened to shudder. It is a
wide-spread impression throughout the United States that drunkenness is
the vice of the people, and the cause of all their troubles; but, this is a
delusion. The habit of blaspheming is more general than the habit of
drunkenness; and the consequences of the former vice are most terrible. The
wrath of God is upon the violators of the Second Commandment; and,
when a man begins his downward course, it is often because he used the
holy Name, day after day, hour after hour, only to blaspheme it.
178 SIXTH SUNDAY AFTER EPIPHANY.
One will find, everywhere, frugal, thrifty, hardworking men who leave their
homes at five or six o clock in the morning, and on account of the distance
to their place of toil do not return until late in the evening. These men
do not drink, they work continually and lead a life of almost heroic self-
sacrifice, but, they swear like troopers. It only needs a small provocation
to cause them to burst out in oaths and curses, and to vomit forth, as it
were, the very sulphur of hell. What a strange inconsistency ! The same
men who would rather die than eat meat on a Friday, will take the name
of their Redeemer in vain, if their pipe-stem but break.
On the platform of a Third Avenue car in New York, a gentleman lately
heard a conversation on religious matters, carried on in the richest Cork
brogue : God damn my soul ! I am a Catholic, and God damn me, I ll stick
to it! " This is only one of many similar profane professions of Faith, caught
up at random, here and there; and in this case, the man was not drunk.
The vice of blasphemy is as useless as it is horrible. An inebriate may
find some sensual pleasure in intoxication; may drown his troubles, for a
while, in a bestial way, by saturating himself with alcohol, but what
possible pleasure can any one be afforded by letting forth a volley of im
precations in the name of his Creator, his God, and Saviour. "Thou
shalt not take the name of the Lord, thy God, in vain. " A man obeying
the command of the Church may scrupulously abstain from eating meat
on Friday, but what will his abstinence profit him, if every day of his life
he break a higher Commandment, no less binding?
Blasphemy is the giant evil of America, and it cannot fail to bring a
curse on the land where it breeds. It is a horrible reflection to consider
how many men, and even women, in this great country, hourly call upon
God and his Son, to damn them, their friends, their acquaintances, their
enemies !
III. The sins of omission. By omission, we sin, when through our own
fault, without a valid excuse or reason, we neglect to do what we are
bound to do. Many neglect their duties of religion; they are lukewarm
and slothful in the business of their salvation, omit their morning and
evening prayers, or say them carelessly; all their thoughts and affections
are set upon earthly things, and they give themselves up to the distractions
of a worldly life. Of God, of their souls and eternity, they think but
seldom. They find no relish in spiritual reading; they hardly ever listen
to a sermon; they neglect to hear Mass on Sundays ten or twelve times in the
year; they put off the reception of the Sacraments till Easter, and in many
other ways, they disregard their religious duties or fulfil them thoughtlessly
and imperfectly.
Many parents neglect the duties of their state of life. Great is the number
of those parents who are guilty of omissions in the training of their chil
dren. They do not see to it that their children say their morning and
SIXTH SUNDAY AFTER EPIPHANY. 179
evening prayers; that they go to Mass and Sunday School on Sundays,
and receive the Sacraments at stated times; they permit them to dress
extravagantly, to be out at unseasonable hours, to entertain bad com
pany, to be too familiar with persons of the opposite sex, and to carry
on immodest discourses and indulge in sinful pleasures. How many
children are self-willed, disobedient, and stubborn, and are not corrected
and reproved and punished in time ! These, and many other sins of
omission, are treated as trifles; and parents commit them, again and again,
and fail to make them the subject of accusation in confession. We have
an example of a sinfully weak, and over-indulgent parent in Heli. He
neglected his duty towards his children, even after God, by his prophet, had
threatened him with the severest chastisements. Many spiritual writers
assert that more people will be damned for sins of omission than of
commission.
IV. Sins against justice and charity are little regarded. Justice requires
that we give to every one what belongs to him, that we take no advantage
of any one, that we do not steal, cheat, nor injure any one in his property.
He that has sinned in any way, whatever, against the rights of others, is
bound to make restitution and to repair the damage done; and unless he
performs this act of justice, his sins cannot be forgiven. Many, indeed, are
the sins committed against justice. Who is able to count all the injustices com
mitted by merchants and traders? Goods are adulterated and sold as genuine
and pure articles; serious defects in merchandise are concealed, and buyers
cheated; the highest price is asked for goods; charges for work done are
exorbitant, and those who commit these sins live quietly and unconcernedly,
as if everything were in order. If, at times, their conscience is aroused, or,
if in sermons, or in the Confessional, attention is called to these injustices
and sinful practices, they console themselves with the thought: "These
things cannot be wrong; how else could one get along? Others are doing
the same." There are many who acknowledge their injustices, but are not
willing to make restitution. They think they can shirk the obligation of
making restitution, by saying that it is impossible for them to do so, and,
yet, it would be possible, if they only had the will, or tried to repair the
past by giving alms, or contributing something for a charitable purpose.
What a delusion ! Injustice is, and always will remain, injustice, whether
many or only a few are guilty of it; and every injustice must be repaired.
Again, there are many who sin not only against justice, but, also, against
charity. Like the Jewish priest and Levite of the Gospel, who left the
young man that fell among robbers, helpless and half-dead by the road
side, they have no sympathy or compassion for their poor neighbor. They
do not relieve him in his pressing need, although they could easily do so
without any inconvenience to themselves; nay, only too often, in their
business-dealings with the poor, they take advantage of their necessity to
180 SIXTH SUNDAY AFTER EPIPHANY.
sell to them at exorbitant prices, and to buy from them at only half the
real value of their goods. Their mode of acting may appear right in their
own eyes; but in the eyes of God, it is criminal. " Judgment without mercy
to him who hath not done mercy." Matt. 25: 41.
V. The profanation of Sundays and holydays is another sin which people
generally make little of. Sundays and holydays are to be kept holy. We
must abstain from all servile work, unless there be absolute necessity; and
we are bound to hear Mass under the penalty of mortal sin. We should
also attend Vespers and Benediction, for Sunday is the Lord s Day, and
we should devote it to the service of the Lord. We are bound to do this
by the laws of God and of his Church. But, in how many ways do not
people abuse or violate these divine and ecclesiastical ordinances ! Many
Catholics do not keep holy the Sundays and holydays, and, yet, they are
not troubled in the least, nor disquieted in their conscience; they do not
accuse themselves of this neglect in the Confessional, and, if they do, they
make the accusation without contrition and a firm purpose of amendment,
as is evident, after confession, from their careless and criminal conduct. They
imagine, that, having confessed it, all is right, although God and the
Church say, that all is wrong. And why do they not amend their lives?
Because of the bad example of others. They see others neglect Mass, and
they do the same, taking the blind for their guides. At one time, the
desecration of the Sabbath-day had become general amo*ng the Israelites,
and the Lord said: "They grievously violated my Sabbaths, I said, there
fore, that I would pour out my indignation upon them in the desert and
would consume them;" and so he did, for, of all those who left Egypt,
(with the exception of Josue and Caleb,) hundreds of thousands of people
died in the desert and never entered into the promised land of Chanaan.
Go, and make little of your neglect of Mass on Sundays, of your profanation
of the Lord s day, but I tell you, on account of the profanation of Sundays
and holydays, many Catholics will die an unhappy death and perish
eternally.
VI. Finally, those sins are made light of which are attended by no serious
consequences; those sins which seem to cause no particular damage, but
which, on the contrary, may even bring a temporal advantage. Many are
given to telling lies, "white lies," innocent lies, (as they call them;) and
they will assure you that such untruths are not sinful, inasmuch as they
hurt no one. Others take false oaths in order to do a favor to a good
friend, and to extricate him from some trying predicament. Such false
oaths which are common in judicial transactions of assault and battery, in
defrauding the government of custom, of internal revenue and taxes, are
in the eyes of many, not criminal, or, at least, excusable, because, as they
say, they do a good turn to one s friends. This is, also, their judgment,
SIXTH SUNDAY AFTER EPIPHANY. 181
dear brethren, of many other sins; if they cause no damage, but rather an
advantage, they are looked upon as trifling things. Actions are usually
judged by their success; however grievous certain designs may be in them
selves, they are approved of, if successfully carried out. Wicked, cunning
men are, therefore, applauded when they trample human and divine
rights under foot, and, not being deterred from the commission of any
wickedness, boldly accomplish what they take in hand. What a delusion !
A sinful action is bad, and remains bad, however profitable or favorable,
(humanly-speaking,) the result may be. Judas, by his treason, Pilate,
by the condemnation of Christ to be crucified, and the Jews, by the Cruci
fixion have rendered an immense service to mankind, for thereby, they
caused the redemption of the human race to be accomplished. But, are
they without sin on that account? What sane man would believe this?
St. Augustine says: "It is not lawful to tell a lie on any consideration, if,
thereby, even the salvation of a man, nay, the salvation of the whole world
could be achieved." Henry the Eighth desired to be separated from his
lawful wife, Catharine of Aragon, in order to marry the Queen s maid of
honor, Anne Boleyn. He applied to the Pope for the dissolution of his
marriage with Catharine. But, the marriage being valid, the Pope could
not annul it without violating the divine law, and, therefore, he resisted
the demand of the king. The dissolute monarch, blinded by his vile
passion, disregarded the Pope s refusal, repudiated the virtuous Catharine,
and married Anne. Nor did he stop here. In his anger, he abolished the
Papal jurisdiction in England, and, finding a pliant tool in a servile Parlia
ment, arrogated to himself all spiritual supremacy over the English establish
ment. He persecuted all Catholics who would not acknowledge his un
warrantable assumption of spiritual power: many were put to death; among
whom we might mention those holy martyrs, Bishop Fisher and the
Chancellor, Sir Thomas More. Thus, English Protestantism was conceived
in lust and cradled in murder. Had the Pope been as pliant in this affair
as Luther was to the Landgrave of Hesse, he might have prevented the
great English defection, and all England and her dependencies would be
Catholic to day. But he could not, and, therefore, did not grant the
king s request, because it was contrary to the laws of God: "What God
hath put together, let not man put asunder. " He knew that it was not
lawful to do evil, if, thereby, even the greatest calamity could be averted,
or the greatest good obtained.
No man becomes a saint in a night s time; and no one becomes bad at
once, but by little and little. Therefore, dear Christians, do not disregard
little things; the rivulet becomes a river, by and by. Venial sin is a great
evil, because God is thereby offended; we are deprived of many graces by
it, and draw severe punishments on ourselves in this world and the next.
Venial sin leads to mortal sin. Resolve never to commit a venial sin,
knowingly and willingly. The devil is satisfied with a hair in the beginning;
1 82 SEPTUAGESIMA SUNDAY.
he has ways and means of his own to obtain more by degrees; by and by,
he will make a rope of the hair, wherewith he will, one day, try to draw
you, my brethren, into perdition. If through surprise or inadvertence, you
have committed a fault, repent of it at once, and resolve for the future to
be more prudent and careful, so as to commit it no more. Walk in the
fear of God and avoid everything that is sinful, be it little or great, that
you may be able to stand before the tribunal of him, who shall demand an
account of every idle word.
Altered and adapted from J. E. Z.
SEPTUAGESIMA SUNDAY.
DISCONTENT.
"And when they received the penny, they murmured against the master of the
house, saying: These last have worked but one hour; and thou hast
made them equal to us that have borne the burden of the day and the
heats." Matt. 20: 11.12.
I see to-day, in spirit, my dear brethren, a vast multitude of workers; I
seem to behold the hands of all busily engaged in erecting a magnificent
building. The structure rises higher and higher, but, strange to say, it is
never completed; for, whenever it has reached a certain height, it falls in
ruins to the ground. Sometimes this calamity is caused by raging storms,
sometimes, through the fault of the builders themselves, who neglected to
lay a solid foundation for so lofty a structure, and who, in punishment of
their carelessness, must see the work of their hands come to nothing.
"Like to a man building his house upon the earth, without a foundation;
against which the stream beat vehemently, and immediately it fell; and the
ruin of that house was .great." Luke 6: 49. What building is it, my dear
friends, in the erection of which the hands of all are engaged in vain ? It is
the house of Happiness, which all men endeavor to build, and in which all
wish to dwell, but the building of which many leave unfinished, the com
pletion of which very few ever live to see. The laborers in the Gospel of to
day, who murmured against the householder and the master of the vineyard,
and who were dissatisfied with his method of payment, have many imitators
in this unhappy world. How seldom do we find one who is really satisfied
with his lot, who has no wish or desire for that unattainable something which
he imagines would complete his happiness ! Everywhere we meet with dis
gust and dissatisfaction even IN THE MOST FAVORABLE CIRCUMSTANCES OF
LIFE, with discontent, pusillanimity and despondency in SUFFERINGS AND
AFFLICTIONS, yea, even with a rebellious and disconsolate spirit IN THE
SEPTUAGESIMA SUNDAY. 183
SOLEMN HOUR OF DEATH. What a miserable state of affairs is this ! How
universal this wretched discontent which pervades all states and conditions
of life ! It does, indeed, represent the dark, cloudy night-side of the
human heart.
I. "If I had been present at the creation of the world, I should have
given some good advice to the Creator," was once said by Alphonso, King
of Castile, in a moment of reckless indignation, and this utterance has been
stigmatized as blasphemy by the whole civilized world. And yet, my
brethren, if we calmly and carefully analyze the spirit of discontent, by
which man, being led astray by self-love, finds fault with the decrees of
heaven and with the organization of human society, we will discover that
only too many so-called Christians, by their rebellious murmurs and pre
sumptuous complaints, are continually echoing the sentiments of the
blasphemous King of Castile. To such discontented people God said once,
by the mouth of the prophet Isaias: "My thoughts are not your thoughts,
nor your ways, my ways, for, as the heavens are exalted above the earth, so-
are my ways exalted above yours, and my thoughts above your thoughts/
This restless dissatisfaction, this envious discontent, which pervades the
life of the soul, as the veins do the organism of the body, may be said, to-
creep even into the dwellings of those who are blessed with the external
goods of fortune; it exercises its power amid the thunderbolts of human
calamities, and accompanies man with its depressing bitterness, even to
the gate of Eternity. This secret poison manifests its existence under the
form of unhappiness even in the most favorable circumstances of life. Follow
me, in spirit, dear friends, to Egypt, into the royal abode of King Ptolemy
the Second. He stands musing at one of the windows of his palace,
regarding with interest a crowd of peasants on the banks of the river Nile.
They are engaged in taking their frugal dinner. Unconscious of the king s
observation, they sit in a circle upon the grass, eating their black bread
and onions, and quenching their thirst with water from a neighboring
fountain. Ptolemy wonders within himself, how those poor creatures can
be so contented, having hardly anything to eat, and their trifling sustenance
procured by dint of the hardest labor. But, after their frugal meal, he
beholds them indulge cheerfully in their little sports, wrestling, like care
less children, upon the green meadow. The king is visibly moved and a
tear gathers slowly in his eye. "Why this grief and sadness which we
notice on your royal countenance"? questions one of his attendant cour
tiers. "Because the king is not allowed to be a peasant," replies the
unhappy Ptolemy.
Again,, my dear brethren, who was ever deemed happier than the ancient
Solomon? He was the king of Israel, and his reign was attended by
universal peace and great abundance; his treasures were countless, his
knowledge and piety, the wonder of the world. The queen of Sheba visited
184 SEPTUAGESIMA SUNDAY.
him in his royal palace, and was lost in admiration of his splendor and
glory, and she was so amazed at his wisdom and holiness, that she pro
nounced the servants blest who were always in his presence. (2. Paralip. 9. )
There was no rivulet of pleasure out of which he did not drink to his heart s
content, and yet, there is a dissatisfaction, a restless uneasiness, ever
consuming his heart; he is drawn by his desires from pleasure to pleasure,
but, amid all his royal delights, he finds not the essential elements of all
true happiness, peace and repose of mind. In the end, he confesses out of
the fulness of a wearied and satiated heart, that "all is vanity of vanities
and affliction of spirit," save to love God and to serve him alone. Behold,
again, my dear brethren, that celebrated king and conqueror, Alexander
the Great, reigning in the midst of opulence and riches, possessing the
marvelous treasures of Asia, and enjoying all possible mundane pleasures.
He has every thing that his heart desires, but he is not contented, not
satisfied; he sighs continually for fresh worlds to conquer; and so, he sets
out for the conquest of India and the wealth thereof, but all the treasures
of the Orient fail, alas ! to make him happy whose soul is possessed with
the brooding demon of discontent.
The history of these great kings, heroes and sages, portrays vividly to us
the universal malady of man. His insatiable thirst for happiness drives him
about in a continual circle of desires, enjoyments, and disappointments.
He is like an exhausted traveller who traverses the bank of a creek, always
seeking for a convenient place to quench his thirst, but never finding a
spot that thoroughly suits his fastidious tastes. And so he lies down in the
end and perishes with exhaustion, even within sight of the cooling waters.
No matter how liberal and bounteous fortune may be in the distribution
of her external goods and gifts, where and who is the man to whom there
is nothing wanting, who does not, amid all his abundance and luxury,
continually sigh for more ? Yes, strange as it may appear, those men who
are apparently the most affluent and exalted, are, generally speaking, the
most discontented. If you could but hear the groans and lamentations which
resound through many a splendidly-furnished apartment; if you could but
see how the spoiled and flattered darlings of fortune restlessly roll about
upon their sumptuous couches, how discontent and bitter dissatisfaction
change all the sweetness of their daily delights into wormwood and gall,
and how often they would need a David with his harp, to banish from their
side that gloomy guest and companion, Melancholy, I am sure, my dear
brethren, that far from envying them their false, uncertain pleasures, you
would rather pity them with all your hearts.
II. The second form under which the spirit of discontent makes its
appearance, is dejection and deadly sadness in misfortune. We read in the
Book of Kings, dear friends, of that sad day when, in the desert of Bersebe,
a prophet of the Lord sat solitary and subdued, under the shade of a juniper
SEPTUAGESIMA SUNDAY. 185
tree. All the Prophets of the Lord had fallen by the sword of Achab.
Elias, alone, remained, but he, too, alas ! was doomed to die, because he
had provoked the anger of Achab and Jezabel by his admonitions, and had
caused by his command, the slaughter of the false prophets of Baal. Elias
flees to Bersebe, he wanders about the desert for the space of a day, and,
at length, overcome by hunger and fatigue, he sits down, as we have said,
in the shade of a juniper tree. All the courage of his recent heroic exploits
has departed from him, and in the saddness of his heart, he mournfully
exclaims: "It is enough for me, O Lord, take away my soul. Let me
die." Is not this dejection of Elias, in many respects, a true picture of our
own despairing depression? When visited even by comparatively light
afflictions, instead of bearing them with humble patience, we fret and
complain continually; when heavy trials cast their dark shadows over us,
instead of standing, as Mary did, erect under the cross, we fall weakly and
faint-heartedly to the ground; full of a bitter rebellion against suffering, we
grow discontented with our lot and wildly wish to die, not in order to be
sooner united to God, but simply to be released from the burden of our
woes. We say: Why this bitter chalice for me? Why am / afflicted with
this poverty, this sickness ? Why have / to suffer so much ? What have /
done to deserve this cruel disgrace? These questions we dare to ask our
Creator, in our reckless presumption and discontent. Dissatisfied man,
why do you complain so bitterly? Because you do not love the cross,
because you are not willing to suffer the most trifling affliction, because,
in your miserable selfishness, you wish only to enjoy life, and have (what
you term, ) a good time of it here below. But do you not pretend, then,
to be a follower of Christ, who says in the clearest words: "If you wish to
be my disciple, take up your cross and follow me ? " Do you not know,
in short, that by sufferings we must enter into glory, and that in your
patience you shall possess your souls? We may have to bear the heat and
burden of the day, it is true, dear brethren, but, have courage ! the even
ing of death is approaching, the Master of the celestial Vineyard is drawing
near, from whose hands we shall receive, if faithful, the penny of life ever
lasting. Therefore, support with patience, if not with cheerfulness, the
tribulations of this world, in the hope of a better life, the endless joys of
which await you. Be satisfied with the dispensations of God s providence;
and often reflect upon those consoling words of Solomon, wherein he tells
us: In the good day, enjoy good things, and beware beforehand of the
evil day, for, God hath made both the one and the other, that man may
not find against him any just complaint."
Even granted for a moment, my dear brethren, that God would go so
far as to renounce his own will in order to conform himself to yours,
would you be perfectly contented withal ? David entered Saul s camp to
fight Goliah. Saul clothed him with his own garments, forthwith, and put
ting a helmet of brass on his head, armed him completely with a coat of
1 86 SEPTUAGESIMA SUNDAY.
mail. And David, having girded his sword upon his armor, began to try
if he could walk in armor; for he was not accustomed to it. And David said
to Saul: "I cannot go thus, for I am not used to it. Give me my staff,
my scrip and sling, for I am accustomed to these, and with these I will fight
the giant, " and glorious was his victory. The application of this parable
is easy enough, but man s mind is perverted, although he sees that the be
longings, the lot, the talents of others, would not be as useful for the ad
vancement of his eternal interests as his own individual gifts, nevertheless,
he always murmurs and complains, and is never satisfied with his condi
tion.
III. The third form under which the spirit of discontent manifests it
self, is an unwillingness to die. Follow me, again, in spirit, dear brethren,
into the interior of a royal palace, nothing less than the magnificent abode
of the king Ezechias. Alas ! the good old monarch is at the point of death.
The prophet Isaias stands before him, saying: "Give charge concerning
thy house, for thou shalt die. " Ezechias, hearing these solemn words, turns
his face to the wall and weeps bitterly, for he is attached to life, and al
though the Lord demands it of him, he is not willing to surrender it.
Ezechias is a true picture of the generality of men; they are discontented
with the dispensations of Providence all through their natural lives, and
they continue discontented, even to the hour when they enter upon the awful
boundaries of eternity. It is only by compulsion that they can be brought
to submit themselves to the law of stern necessity. The old man bowed
down with age and the stripling in the flower of his youth, alike exclaim:
"Must I die so soon? Why am I not allowed a longer respite, since
life, at the best, is full only of miseries and disappointments ? Why must I
be separated so abruptly from wife and children and home, from friends and
relatives, from everything, in short, that is near and dear to my heart ? "
Thus they complain like Ezechias, thus they turn their faces to the wall,
and, weeping, bewail their inevitable fate. They murmur rebelliously,
because they are unable to distinguish between the visible and the unseen;
because they are unable to separate the destiny of this mortal and cor
ruptible body from the delights of the immortal and incorruptible life of
the soul. Why do they not look above this finite and most miserable
abiding-place, to the infinite and most exquisite joys of their heavenly home,
exclaiming with the Apostle of the Gentiles: "Whether we live or whether
we die, we are the Lord s? " Why do they not cry out with generous cheerful
ness and submission: "Lord to thee I live, as long as thou wiliest me to live;
I am ready to die, when thou wiliest me to die ! " To act otherwise, is to com
port ourselves, (as the Sacred Writer declares, ) as men who have no hope.
But whence, dear friends, arises this prevailing and all-pervading dis
content ? When did this monster take up its habitation among the chil
dren of men? Is it a thing of yesterday? Whence, I repeat, is its origin?
SEPTUAGESIMA SUNDAY. 187
Where do you seek it, and where will you, infallibly, find it? Is it not in
that fatal spot where the first tear was shed, the first sigh was heaved, the
first drop of sweat falling from the unhappy laborer s brow, moistened the
arid soil ? Our holy faith tells us so. The four rivers of the garden of
Eden have changed into countless rivers of tears, and, out of the fountains
of Adam s misery, have carried woe into all the universe. Scarcely was the
first sin committed, when remorse of conscience began. The source and
origin of discontent is found in sin, for, as by sin all evil entered into the
world, so also this crying evil of discontent. Sin is the sword that pierces
the heart and makes it secretly bleed; it is the crown of thorns which is
rudely pressed upon our heads; it is the disruption of the golden bond
between God and man; it is the dislocation of man s whole moral and in
tellectual life, the bitter and ever-present reminder of our sad mortality.
The root of all discontent is sin. What original sin in the beginning, brought
into the world, is continued and perpetrated by actual sin. The development
of our follies is the growth of bitter fruits from that first bitter seed. Tell me
why I behold around me so many discontented souls, who are not only a
burden to themselves, but to all connected with them ? There was a time
when they were full of courage and hope, when, with a good conscience and a
light heart, they looked up to heaven, and lived in peace with God and man.
All this, alas! is sadly changed. I now hear them complain, like the pro
digal son, "How good it was, once, of old, in my father s house!" Ah,
then, (I say,) poor soul ! you admit that you have left your Father s house,
that you have been disobedient to the Church ? You have given credit to the
flattery of sin? Nay, more, you have drunk of the poisoned chalice of
lust? Yea, acknowledge humbly that you have sinned. You cannot
deny it. Your former cheerfulness has departed, your countenance is
downcast, your discontent itself, betrays you. You are sitting forlorn by
the rivers of Babylon, you sigh deeply, when you think of Sion and weep
when you are asked: "Where is your God?" Hence, do not complain,
my brethren, of God or of man; do not inveigh against the world, nor the
bad times, nor your enemies, nor your afflictions. Blame only yourselves.
The prime source of all your disorders is in your own bosoms, in your
own hearts, which have basely forsaken God, and digged to themselves
cisterns, broken cisterns, which can hold no water. Strike, then, your
breasts in humble contrition, and since you have imitated the prodigal
son in his sin, imitate him, also, in his repentance, turn from your evil ways
and return to your God, crying with bitter tears: "Peccairi/ Father, I have
sinned against heaven and before thee. I am not now worthy to be called
thy son ! " Weep for yourselves and for your sins, my dear brethren; rend
your hearts and not your garments, and be converted truly to the Lord;
work whilst you have time, for "the night cometh, when no man can
work." John 9: 4. Cry out to Jesus whom you have shamefully forsaken
and betrayed: "Lord, save me, I perish !" He is your strength and con-
1 88 SEPTUAGESIMA SUNDAY.
solation, he is your physician, he will say to you with tenderness: "Weep
not. " Behold a high-priest like unto ourselves in all things, save in sin !
He has had experience of our sorrows, he can sympathize with our every
pain. Why was he deluged in Gethsemane with such a sea of bitterness ?
Why did he sigh ? Why did he permit the anguish he endured to force a
sweat of blood from every pore of his sacred body ? Why was his blessed
soul sorrowful even unto death ? O, my dear brethren ! it was in order
to free us from our sins, and to merit for us by his cruel sufferings, a
peace and contentment such as the world can never, never give. Nor
could the Agony in the Garden set a limit to his redeeming love. Ah !
no, Jesus, our Lord and God, suffered and died for our sins on Calva
ry s Mount, to the end that he might impart to us, both here and here
after, the sweetest rest and peace and joy. By taking away sin, the cause
of all the evil in the world, he strove to pluck out the thorns from every
human life, that they might no longer have power to wound his well-
beloved children. Were it not for sin, the rose would have no thorns,
hence, if we banish sin out of our hearts, the rose-bush of life will
straightway be divested of all its cruel thorns.
Go, then, my dear brethren, without delay, to the true physician of your
souls. Do not be deceived. Do not believe, that you can find peace,
happiness, or real contentment in this deceitful world, neither in the con
cupiscence of the eyes, nor in the concupiscence of the flesh, nor in the
pride of life. It would be a useless and fruitless endeavor. You must go,
like little children, to your poor despised Jesus, and suffer him to put on
you his own simple garment of humility; you must take your cross upon
your shoulders and follow him in the holy way of his cross up to Calvary s
Mount, that is, to the end of your mortal life ; and thus, in suffering, in
humiliation, in Christian detachment, I promise you, my brethren, you will
find that delicious rest and peace which your souls so ardently desire, in
life and death, in time and in eternity. Amen.
SEPTUAGESIMA SUNDAY.
THE CALL OF THE LABORERS AND THE PAYMENT OF THEIR HIRE.
"Call the laborers, and pay them their hire. Matt. 20: 8.
The master of the family, mentioned in the parable of this day s Gospel,
is intended to represent to us God; the market place, the world; the vine
yard, the Church. Those who were called into the vineyard, represent all
mankind; the laborers in the vineyard, all faithful Christians; and the stew
ard is Jesus Christ, who pays every laborer a penny, that is, bestows on every
SEPTUAGESIMA SUNDAY. 189
elect soul, the reward of life everlasting. The master of the family is said
to have gone forth at the third, the sixth, the ninth, and the eleventh hours.
The ancient Jews and Romans computed time differently from what we do.
They commenced the day not at twelve o clock at night, (as is our custom, )
but in the morning, with the rising of the sun; so that their first hour,
according to our reckoning, was six o clock in the morning; their third
was nine o clock, their sixth, twelve o clock or noon, their ninth, three
o clock in the afternoon, and their eleventh hour, consequently, five o clock
in the evening. Hence, as you see, my dear brethren, we are six hours
ahead of the ancient Jews and Romans in our computation of time. When
it is said, therefore, that Jesus died at the ninth hour, it is not nine o clock
in the morning that is meant, but three o clock in the afternoon. After
this preliminary explanation, let us proceed to consider the parable, fixing
our attention in a special manner,
/. Upon the call of the laborers into the vineyard, and
// Upon the payment of their hire.
I. According to the holy Fathers and the interpreters of the Sacred
Scripture, we may understand the various hours of the day at which the
master of the family went forth to hire laborers into his vineyard, to mean,
in one sense, the whole space of time from the creation of the first man to
the days of Christ and his Apostles; and in another sense, to represent the
life of each individual person from his birth to his death.
I. Early in the morning he went forth to hire laborers into his vineyard.
The early morning means the time from the creation of the world to the
age of Noah. God had created Adam and Eve, not only for the earthly
paradise, but, also, for heaven. That they might merit it, in some measure,
he gave them a commandment. This was their first call into his vineyard.
After their fall, he mercifully promised them a Redeemer, and hired them
again, as it were, into his vineyard. They, themselves, and many of their
descendants, (as, for instance, Abel, Seth, and all who in the Sacred
Scriptures are called children of God,) followed the call of that heavenly
Master, and went into the vineyard.
About a thousand years after the creation of the world, there came to it
a very evil time, so evil, in fact, that the morals of men could not have been
worse than they were at that terrible epoch. God, himself, said in the
bitterness of his heart, that he regretted to have made man. He decreed
to destroy the vicious human race by a universal Deluge, and he put his
decree into execution a hundred years later. Only Noah, a just man,
together with his family, found grace before the Most High, and was
destined by him to become the progenitor of a nobler and better race.
God promised him that he would never again destroy man by a deluge;
190 SEPTUAGESIMA SUNDAY.
cautioning him and his posterity against idolatry, and inculcating on them
the duty of adoring and serving him alone. This was the second time
that the master of the family went forth, to hire laborers into his vineyard
about the third hour of the day.
The sixth hour, at which the Master went forth for the third time, was
two thousand years after the creation of the world. He went forth when
he called the patriarch, Abraham. This going forth, my brethren, this
call had again become necessary, because not only did great immorality
prevail among men, but idolatry was spreading more and more, and the
knowledge and worship of the Creator threatened to disappear from the
face of the earth. God now made Abraham the progenitor of his chosen
people, and entered into a covenant with him, the sign of which was the
rite of Circumcision; he, furthermore, promised him that in his seed, that
is, in the Redeemer, (who according to his Humanity was to descend from
him,) all the nations of the earth should be blessed.
About five hundred years later, at the ninth hour, the Master of the
family went forth for the fourth time to hire laborers into his vineyard: and
this was in the days of Moses, through whom God delivered the Israelites
from their bondage in Egypt, and gave them the Written Law, which con
tained not only the ten commandments but, also, a multitude of ordinan
ces for the religious and political life of the Israelites, the design of the
Most High being to separate them, as his chosen people, from all the
other nations of the earth, that among them the true knowledge and wor
ship of God and the hope of a Redeemer might be preserved.
Lastly, after another cycle of one thousand and five hundred years, at
the eleventh hour, the divine Master went forth for the last time to hire
laborers into his vineyard. This was the blessed time when Jesus Christ
himself, God s only begotten Son. appeared upon earth, accomplished the
work of Redemption, and sent his Apostles to preach the Gospel to all
nations. This was the last going forth of the master of the family, wherefore,
St. John says: "We know that it is the last hour." i John 2:18. Thence
forth, it was not necessary for him to go forth again, because the Church
then established by him, shall exist to the end of time, and shall never
cease to invite all the nations of the earth to enter the vineyard of the
Lord.
2. We may, also, my dear brethren, by another interpretation of the
Fathers, understand the various times of the day at which the laborers were
called, to mean the life of each individual person, from his birth to his burial.
Those, whom the divine Master calls early in the morning, into his vineyard,
are the little children. It is the will of God, that children should begin to
serve him as soon as they arrive at the knowledge of him and his law. For
this reason, Jesus says: "Suffer the little children, and forbid them not to
come to me; for the kingdom of heaven is for such." Matt. 19: 14. There-
SEPTUAGESIMA SUNDAY. 191
fore, the children are to be purified and sanctified by Baptism and brought
into the vineyard of the Lord, into the holy Catholic Church. To this
class, who are thus called early in the morning of life, most of us, dear
brethren, belong: since, shortly after our birth, the majority of us had the
happiness to receive the Sacrament of Baptism. Do we show ourselves
grateful for this great grace, this inestimable blessing? Christian parents,
be solicitous to have your children serve God in their tender age, and say
to them often and earnestly: "Let nothing deprive you of your baptismal
innocence."
To those whom the Master hired into his vineyard about the third hour,
belong the growing-up sons and daughters. This is the fairest and most
beautiful time in the life of man, and, far from being spent in levity and
sin, it should be lovingly devoted to the pure service of God, according to
the admonition of the Holy Ghost: "Remember thy Creator in the days
of thy youth, before the time of affliction come, and the years draw nigh
of which thou shalt say: They please me not." Eccles. 12:1. God takes
special delight in the service of innocent youth. But how small is the
number of young people, who serve God! The great majority of them live
in an entire forgetfulness of God and of his holy commandments. And
what awaits them? Probably, a bad end. "A young man, according to his
way, even when he is old, he will not depart from it." Prov. 22: 6.
About the sixth hour, the Master calls those of mature age into his vineyard.
O, my brethren, these should follow the call of grace all the more readily,
because they have already reached that age when youthful levity gives
place to the earnestness of life; they should hasten to correspond to the
divine inspirations in order to repair the sins of their youth; and, again,
since most of them, by that time, are heads of families and rulers of Christ
ian households, they have the additional duty imposed upon them of giving
a good example to their dependents. He who reaches the age of maturity,
my dear brethren, and still persists in forgetfulness of God and in disregard
or contempt of his religious duties, gives little hope that he will ever be
converted.
Those who are called at the ninth hour, are people of declining age. Who
would believe it possible, dear friends, that there are Christians who have
attained the age of sixty or seventy years, and yet are wholly indifferent to
the salvation of their souls? Men and women whose feeble limbs totter
as they walk, whose faces are wrinkled, and whose heads are whitened
with the snows of three or four score winters, and who yet cherish a guilty
conscience and decline obstinately to make provision for their dying hour!
O, that these wretched old creatures would only enter into themselves, be
fore it is too late, and .employ for the sanctification and salvation of
their souls, that precious grace which God so mercifully deigns to offer
them! O, that they would daily say to themselves: "This feeble life of
mine cannot last much longer. With the help of God and of his Angels
192 SEPTUAGESIMA SUNDAY.
and Saints, I will, then, make good use of this poor remnant of a wasted
existence, and, by constant prayer and penance, I will strive earnestly to
make all the atonement I can for my past grievous sins." Thus, my
brethren, would old age become beautiful, renewed, as it were, in the
vigor of its spiritual strength by the late summer of a fervent and sincere
repentance. Thus, too, would the aged penitent merit with his younger
brethren, the penny of everlasting life.
But, who are they whom the Master calls into his vineyard at the eleventh
hour, only one short hour before the close of the busy, laborious dayf
Those, who are, already, actually lying on their deathbeds. God wills none to be
lost, he mercifully gives to every one of his creatures all the necessary graces
for their salvation. But will they make good use of this grace ? That is the
question; Dysmas was saved on the cross, it is true, but his companion was
lost. St. Augustine remarks, that the penitent thief has given us an ex
ample of conversion at the hour of death, to the end that no dying sinner
need despair, but that there is only that one example vouchsafed to us, that
no living or dying sinner may dare to presume. The rule is: "As a man
lives, so he dies." Most rules, of course, have their exceptions, but there
is none, perhaps, in which the exception is so rare as in this. Let no one,
then, presume or procrastinate. Do not put off till to-morrow what you
can do to-day, is a maxim of human prudence which, nevertheless, applies
with still greater force to the affairs of our immortal souls. To-morrow is
an uncertain day, my brethren, to-morrow you may be in the depths of
eternity. God, who has given us to-day, has not promised us to-morrow.
"To-day, if you shall hear his voice, harden not your hearts/ Ps. 94: 8.
II. "And, when evening was come, the lord of the vineyard saith to
, his steward: Call the laborers, and pay them their hire, beginning from the
last even to the first." Let us apply this text, my dear Christians, to our
own individual lives, and let us here consider, at what time, to whom, and
by whom the wages of the Gospel-workers were paid.
i. "When evening was come." What evening is here typified, dear
friends ? It is the close of our natural lives, it is the solemn hour of death.
This evening will infallibly come to us all. "It is appointed for men once
to die." Hebr. 9: 27. We are dying every day, every step brings us
nearer to the grave, every moment we approach closer and closer to our
last end. We began to die when we were born, and we shall cease to die
only when we shall cease to live. Life is but a lingering death. Let us,
then, often ponder upon that solemn hour, especially every evening when
we retire to rest. And as we do not know when the evening of our life
shall come, do not know, even, if the night shall not settle suddenly down
upon us while youth is yet at high-noon, at its golden meridian, let us
live in such a manner, that it may not find us unprepared. Blessed is
SEPTUAGESIMA SUNDAY. 193
that servant, whom, when his lord shall come, he shall find so doinj."
Matt. 24: 46.
2. "Call the laborers" Do you hear it? Only the laborers, not
those, who stood idle in the market-place, received the stipulated wages.
How miserable is the condition of idlers ! Some are too lazy to provide for
themselves the necessaries of life. Some, again, are very busy in the
.market-place of the world, gathering together dust and ashes, which con
stitute its riches, its honors, and its pleasures; but, since they neglect, all
the while, to provide for their immortal souls, they, too, are idlers before
God. Of these, it is said: "They have already received their reward."
Who, in short, are the vast multitude of idlers? Those, my friends, who
neglect to do good works and abuse the means of grace; those who live
in mortal sin; those who perform good works with a sinister intention;
and those who incur the Scriptual malediction, by doing slothfully the
work of the Lord. Do you, perhaps, belong to one of these classes?
Remember, you are not sure that God will ever call you again: "Because,
I called, and you refused; I stretched out my hand; and there was none
that regarded. You have despised all my counsel, and have neglected my
reprehensions; I, also, will laugh in your destruction; and will mock,
when that shall come to you, which you feared." Prov. i: 24-27. The
^delay of repentance is full of danger, and pregnant with destruction.
"The lord of the vineyard saith to his steward." Who, dear Christians,
is this beloved one, whom the master deputed to reward the laborers at
the close of the day. The steward is Christ, for "the Father doth not
judge any man, but hath committed all judgment to the Son." John 5:22.
It is just that Jesus, who is our Redeemer, should, also, be our Judge.
Indeed, it is one of the wonderful expansions of God s mercy, that he
who was clothed with our nature, who was "like unto ourselves in all
things save sin," and who shed the last drop of his blood for our
.redemption, should be deputed by the Eternal Father to pass judgment
upon us in the end. And, O, my dear brethren, be assured, that if we
make Jesus our friend by a faithful following of his example during life,
we need not fear him as our Judge, when in the evening of our days he
calls us to receive our everlasting reward.
3. Pay them their hire. What wages did the laborers receive? They
.received, every man, a penny. By this penny of the Gospel is under-
. stood, heaven. Not without reason, dear brethren, was heaven thus
called a penny. That ancient penny of the laborers was of silver, therefore,
of precious metal; hence, it was a type of the great and priceless felicity
which the Saints enjoy in heaven; again, it was round, my dear brethren,
and on that account, an emblem of the eternity of heavenly joys. Lastly,
the penny of the laborers was stamped with the image and name of the
king, and heaven shall present to us the Beatific Vision and the image of
194 SEPTUAGESIMA SUNDAY.
the Eternal King, who has said: "To him, that overcometh, I will give a
white stone, and in the stone a new name written, which no man knoweth,
but he that receiveth it. " Apoc. 2:17.
Every one of the workers in the vineyard received a penny; those who
came into the vineyard at the eleventh hour, as well as those who toiled
in it from the early morning. How is this to be understood, dear brethren ?
In this sense, that all who die in the grace of God shall go to heaven, no
matter whether they began to serve him in their childhood, or in their
youth, in their mature or their declining age. Thus, the penitent thief has
found his place in heaven after his life of crime, as well as St. John, the
Baptist, who from his tenderest infancy dedicated himself to the service of
God. You must not conclude, however, that all the Saints enjoy the same
degree of beatitude, for, it is of faith that the degree of their eternal happi
ness is in proportion to their merits. "As star dirTereth from star, so the
Saints differ from each other in glory." "He, that soweth sparingly, shall,
also, reap sparingly;" he, that soweth with a liberal, generous hand, shall,
also, reap an overflowing harvest of celestial delights. Neither must you
suppose, because he who enters the Lord s vineyard at the eleventh hour,
goes to heaven as well as the one who began to labor at the third or the
sixth hour, that it is all the same whether one begins to serve God early
or late, for the man who, with this idea, would postpone his conversion to
the uncertain future, would sin by presuming on God s mercy and could
expect to receive for his penny, not heaven, but hell.
4. Now, my dear brethren, how did some of the laborers act, when they re
ceived their wages ? The Gospel tells us that the first laborers, who had gone
into the vineyard early in the morning, murmured, because they received
no more than those, who had gone into it at the eleventh hour, that is, one
short hour before the close of the day. How is this to be understood?
Is there any murmuring or discontent among the Saints in heaven? Is
not each of those chosen ones satisfied with his or her individual felicity?
" In my Father s house," says our divine Lord, "there are many mansions;"
do any of the elect, therefore, envy the superior glory or greater happiness
of the dwellers in the higher mansions? Oh no, my dear brethren, in heaven
there is nothing among the blessed spirits but gratitude towards God,
nothing but contentment, love, and concord with each other. The dis
satisfaction and murmuring of the laborers, recorded in to-day s Gospel,
was not intended to symbolize the state of the Saints in heaven, but that
of the Jews on earth, yes, my brethren, the Jews who expected, as the
chosen people of God, to be preferred to all the other nations of the world,
and, who flattered themselves that the Redeemer would come for them
alone. They fancied in their pride and presumption, that they, alone,
should be called to the Church and kingdom of the Messiah, and hence,
they were bitterly dissatisfied when they saw that the Gentiles and the
SEPTUAGESIMA SUNDAY. 195
converts from paganism, were entitled to a reward like unto themselves.
No wonder, then, my dear brethren, that the master of the vineyard
reproved the murmurers for their selfish dissatisfaction, explaining to them
that they had no cause, whatever, for discontent, inasmuch as they had
received the wages agreed upon in the first place; and that it was only their
own malice which prompted them to be jealous of the gratuitous reward
of others. "Is it not lawful for me to do what I will?" said he. "Is
thine eye evil, because I am good?" Matt. 20: 15; thus giving us to
understand that their jealousy implied an infringement of his sublime
prerogative, since he was privileged to do what he pleased with his own,
that is, with the graces and favors he saw fit to bestow upon his creatures.
This reproach, it is needless to say, applies equally as well to all who
suffer themselves to be ruled by the base passion of envy.
The parable concludes with these solemn and striking words from the
lips of divine Truth: "So shall the last be first, and the first last" A
prophecy, which was fulfilled in the Jews, who, being first called to Chris
tianity, became the last to embrace it, because they proudly continued in
their unbelief, whereas, the Gentiles who, according to their vocation, were
to be called last, became, on the contrary, the first to enter the Church,
because they received the Gospel with an humble and believing heart.
These words of Christ are, also, applicable to the just and to sinners;
the just, because of their sanctity, are the first in the vineyard of the Lord;
but sinners, because of their iniquities, are the last to enter therein. The
former may, at any time, lose their justice, fall into sin, and become the
last; the latter may yet be converted by the grace and mercy of God and
so, become the first in the divine esteem and friendship. The just must,
then, beware of building their hopes of salvation upon any false security
as to their own virtues; and repentant sinners whom Satan tempts to
despair, should, also, remember the consoling promises of our Lord, and dis
miss all fear as to the possibility of their being saved. By saying: "Many are
called, but few chosen," Jesus enunciates the truth, that God wills all men
to be saved, but that only a few correspond to the will of God and avail
themselves of the means of salvation; consequently, the great majority of
mankind are lost. We are all called, my dear brethren, whether it be at
the third or the sixth hour, whether it be at the ninth or the eleventh hour,
we are all most certainly called into the vineyard of the Lord, there to
work out our salvation there, in fear and trembling. Let us, then, strive with
all our might to do the will of our divine Master; let us live constantly in such
a pious and penitential manner, that, when the evening of life closes around
us, and Christ, the steward, comes to reward the laborers, if we have been
among the many called, we may merit at that awful hour, to be among
the chosen few, and to receive from his sacred hand the penny of ever
lasting life. Amen.
196 SEXAGESIMA SUNDAY.
SEXAGESIMA SUNDAY.
THE POOR SOIL INTO WHICH THE WORD OF GOD GENERALLY FALLS.
"When a very great multitude was gathered together, and hastened out of the
cities to him, he spoke by a similitude" Luke 8: 4.
Our divine Saviour seems to have had a great solicitude for the inhabit
ants of cities, and to have taken a lively interest in their eternal welfare.
Capharnaum is called, pre-eminently, his city, because it was there, that he
often sojourned and preached the Word of God; the cities around the lake
of Genesareth were successively the theatres of his wonderful works; and
the country of the so-called "Ten Cities," often witnessed the marvels
of his divine, all-embracing love. Even in the Gospel of this day, we see,
my dear brethren, with what zealous concern he occupied himself with
those people who hastened out of the cities to attend to his discourse.
Consequently, this Gospel is particularly adapted to the inhabitants of
cities and especially calculated to meet their spiritual wants; nay, I really
believe, that our divine Saviour chose this parable because, on that occa
sion, he saw so many people from the cities assembled around him. But
if this be so, his words were a rebuke to his worldly hearers, rather than a
testimony to them, that they were of the number of the docile and obedient
hearers of the divine word, since the parable implied that only one-fourth
of the assembled souls could boast of possessing the good soil necessary
for the growth of the evangelical seed, whilst in the case of the other three-
fourths, it was fruitless from various causes. Does not our divine Lord fur
ther mean to inculcate this truth by the words addressed to his Apostles:
" Whosoever shall not receive you, nor hear your words, going forth out
of that city, shake off the dust from your feet, and flee into another " ? This
much is certain, dear friends, that the word of God meets with greater
obstacles in cities than elsewhere, and that in cities there are more
thoughtless, inconstant, hard-hearted, and sensual people, who resist the
word of God, than are usually found in country-places. Let us not be
deceived, therefore, as to the dispositions of those inhabitants of cities who
make a practice of attending sermons. In the first place, their number is
very small; and, in the second, even, if they do go to hear a sermon, it is,
too often, alas ! from curiosity, custom, or, perhaps, a worse motive,
rather than from a desire to be benefited by it; so that I may justly say:
The fruit of the word of God in cities is very insignificant ; the fate of the
Christian preacher among the people of cities is most sad and discouraging.
Considering this a little closer, we shall find, my dear brethren, that the
word of God falls either
SEXAGESIMA SUNDAY 197
/. Upon thoughtless, or
// Upon inconstant, or
III. Upon sensual hearts, and
IV. Seldom into good, susceptible souls.
What intention have I, dear friends, in preaching this sermon ? Perhaps,
{you may falsely imagine, ) to hurt your feelings or to put you needlessly
to shame ? Or, perhaps, uncharitably to expose your hidden faults ? God
forbid. On the contrary, I solemnly assure you, that every word I utter
.shall be directed, by the help of God, to your greater good and eternal
benefit. I know that many of you come here, Sunday after Sunday, with
the best and purest of intentions, to listen to the teaching of the Gospel;
that with many of you the word of God has borne fruit a hundred fold,
but I, also, know to my sorrow, that with many it has been sadly and
strangely unproductive. Will I not be called to account by the divine
Master, if, through my silence, I allow this blight to destroy the golden
harvest of the Gospel? Ah ! no, let us all do our duty. And while you,
my dear friends, bear patiently and bravely my loving admonitions, I, on
my part, will strive with all gentleness to secure your future attendance at
sermons with such perfect dispositions, that the word of God may produce
abundant fruit in your souls.
I. " When a very great multitude was gathered together, and hastened out of
.the cities to him, he spoke by a similitude. A sower went out to sow his seed. "
The sense of the similitude is this: The seed is the word of God, the sower
is Jesus Christ, or his lawful representative; for, even as he, himself, once
announced the word of divine truth by his own holy lips, so he continues
to announce it to the end of time through his Church and its consecrated
ministers. Now, of this divine word it is said: "Some fell by the wayside,
and it was trodden down, and the fowls of the air devoured it; these
are they that hear; then, the devil cometh and taketh the word out of their
heart, lest, believing, they should be saved."
These, my brethren, are thoughtless, frivolous people on whom a wise
and prudent advice is wasted, inasmuch as it, (as the old adage says:)
"goes in at one ear and out at the other." No sooner have they received
a good lesson or admonition, whether at home or in the church, than they
have forgotten it. Neither do they set much value upon such counsels,
and, in fact, if they could only be spared them altogether, they would be
so much the better pleased. Who can doubt but that in the time of
Christ, there were many such people? The Herodians, the merry and
jovial guests of the luxurious Herod, were of this class, and there were
plenty of these to be found in the cities. And who could doubt that
even, now-a-days, there is a multitude of such people in our modem cities,
who are too thoughtless, frivolous, and light-headed, to allow the word of
198 SEXAGESIMA SUNDAY.
God to sink deep enough into their hearts to produce its eternal fruits?
I do not hesitate to declare that to this class of people belong a large
proportion of our young Catholic men, of whom it is usually said: " Youth
has no virtue. " Their young blood does not hinder them from going to
High Mass and listening to a sermon now and then, nay, even oftener
than you would believe possible; but, for all that, we can justly say of
them, that they are standing at the cross-roads, undecided; one narrow
path leads to eternal salvation, the other broad road, to everlasting damn
ation; on one hand, they look back upon the world and its false delights,
on the other, they behold the altar of God and the ever-open door of his
holy Church; on the left, they are beset with the temptations of their own
sensual hearts, pleading with them to indulge in unlawful pleasures, and on
the right, they hear the voice of the preacher, exhorting them to self-denial,
to prayer, to the sacraments. In the forenoon, these fickle souls serve
God; in the afternoon, they are the slaves, alas ! of the world, the flesh
and the devil. Generally speaking, you will find them among the last in
the congregation; they are close to the church-door, in the last pews, in
order to be able to make good their escape, and get out of the damp air of
the church as soon as possible. Still this is better than if they remained
outside altogether, and spent their time in idle conversation, or, perhaps,
in doing worse. But, O, my dear young friends, could you not make an
effort to be more generous with your good God ? Would you begrudge
him a few thoughtful, serious hours, wholly devoted to him and his
eternal truths? How, in short, can the word of God make any impression
on your distracted hearts ? If it is suffered to fall on the open highway,
on the unprotected surface, what is more natural than that the birds of the
air, viz, worldly joys, sensual enjoyments, the pleasures of the ball-room,
the theatre, the saloon, and other seductive occasions, should snatch away
the divine seed and devour it out of your hearts, so that it cannot possibly
take root and spring up. If you wonder at the thoughtlessness, the rude
and licentious ways of so many of our Catholic young men, even of those
whom you occasionally see at Mass and sermons, you have here, my dear
brethren, a sufficient explanation of that by no means consoling phenome
non.
II. "And some /til upon a rock, and as soon as it was sprung up, it
withered away, because it had no moisture Now these are they, who,
when they hear, receive the word with joy, and these have no roots, who
believe for a while, and, in time of temptation, fall away. " I think, I paint
these poor souls in their right colors, when I honor them with the name of
good-hearted, but timid, undecided, and wavering people, to whom the
proverb is applicable: "They are like the sun-dial which shows the right
time as long as the sun shines." Christ emphatically says of them, that
they will not persevere, but, will fall away in time of temptation. They are
SEXAGESIMA SUNDAY. 199
animated, it is true, with a good will, and they solemnly swear that they
will follow Christ the Lord, unto death. But, alas ! for the inconstancy
of the human heart ! If they could follow Christ through flowery fields and
soft, green meadows to Paradise, ah ! then, they would remain faithful to
his foot-prints, but, when the thorns begin to come among the flowers,
when the way of the Cross leads to heaven across Mount Calvary, these
effeminate Christians look back, and find it no longer comfortable on this
rugged road. They forget all their good resolutions and protestations;
their incipient courage oozes out of their finger-ends, and, throwing aside
the cross they had begun to carry, they allow their Lord to pursue his
sorrowful journey alone. Who could doubt that there were many such
cowards at the time of Christ ? The Gospel makes mention of Nicodemus,
who, in his timidity, came to Christ at night, in order that he might not
be seen by men and be talked of as one of the Master s disciples. There
is many a Nicodemus among us, now-a-days, dear friends, many a one who
would cheerfully adhere to Christ if it could be done without suffering or
censure, but who immediately withdraw themselves from him, whenever
his service entails upon them any personal inconvenience or trifling
sacrifice. There, again, for example, was Peter, before the power of the
Holy Ghost strengthened his timid heart, who swore by all that was sacred,
that he was willing to suffer and die with Christ sooner than forsake him;
and yet, in the hour of trial, he grew so weak and cowardly, that he swore
another sort of oath, strongly asseverating, that he did not even know
the Man of Sorrows. Need I repeat to you, dear brethren, that, in these
our own times, and especially in our great cities, where temptations to
fear are greater and more numerous, there are people who are too
timid, too irresolute, too unstable, to live according to the word of God
which they have heard, being deterred from the practice of its maxims by a
miserable and most fatal human respect ? I do not deceive myself when
I say, that to this class of Christians belong, especially, persons of mature
age who have arrived at the meridian of life, who might be considered to
have come to ripe years of discretion, to firmness of will, and to thorough
self-knowledge; who, disabused of all the false illusions of youth, should
know what they are about, and should realize the vital importance of the
great affair of salvation. It is true, as a rule, they are the most zealous
frequenters of churches, they constantly attend at sermons and receive the
word of God with joy; to all appearances, it makes an excellent impression
upon them; they are often moved to tears, they form good resolutions,
and at such moments, express their willingness to do and suffer every
thing for God and his holy Church; like St. Peter, they are ready and
eager to die with Christ if their sacrifice could only be accepted at once,
without delay. But, oh, this spiritual excitement lasts but a few moments;
it is transient, it is only a fire kindled and fed with straw; when the time
comes for decisive action, for the execution of their resolutions, for giving
-2OO SEXAGESIMA SUNDAY.
solid proofs of their courage; when the time comes for confessing Christ,
not secretly, but openly, for suffering something for his holy name, viz : a
little contempt, a little mockery, or ridicule; when the time comes for the
patient endurance of real sufferings and substantial tribulations, ah ! then,
my dear brethren, the word of God, the seed of the divine Sower, is al
ready dead within their souls, and they show themselves, once more, as
timid, as undecided, as weak, and as impatient as they were in the begin
ning of their spiritual life, thereby clearly manifesting that the word of God
has produced no fruit in the rocky soil of their hearts. If you wonder,
why in our days there are so many lukewarm Christians, so many nominal
Catholics, who honor God with their lips, while their hearts are far from
him, you have here, my dear friends, a sufficient explanation of this other
by no means consoling phenomenon.
III. And some fell among thorns, and the thorns growing up with it,
choked it. And these are they who have heard, and, going their way,
are choked with the cares and riches and pleasures of this life, and yield no
fruit. Most justly are such unhappy fearers of the Gospel denominated as
moneyed men and good livers, since they find no greater pleasure than,
according to the manner of gophers, to root in the perishable dust of earthly
riches, or, according to the manner of unclean beasts, to wallow in the
mire of sensual lust. Of these is it said by the Inspired Writer, that "their
belly is their God," inasmuch as "where their treasure is, there, also, is
their heart." Christ, furthermore, makes this severe remark bearing upon
the subject: "It is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle
than for a rich man to enter into heaven;" and the Apostle of the Gentiles,
also, declares that "the covetous and adulterers shall not enter into the
kingdom of heaven. " There existed, without doubt, a vast multitude of
;such worldlings at the time of Christ. The Pharisees, who delighted in
the possession of great riches, were of this class; as were, also, the Saddu-
cees, who did not believe in the resurrection of the dead and who, there
fore, inculcated upon their followers the human prudence of making as
much as possible of their luxurious and effeminate lives, here below. I
may, also, mention in this connection, the young man of the Gospel who
came to Christ, seeking a rule of higher sanctity than he possessed, but
whom the love of money and the spirit of the world, kept from embracing
the way of holy poverty and perfection which the divine Master pointed
out to him. Who could doubt that, also, in our days and especially in
our great cities, those vast centers whither the streams of gold unceasing
ebb and flow, creating and supplying the continual demands of an arti
ficial and luxurious life, who could doubt but what we may always find
at those fountain-heads of folly, myriads of people who are so much in
love with riches and so consumed with the raging fires of immoral
desires, that the word of God falls upon thorny ground aad cannot yield
SEXAGESIMA SUNDAY. 201
even a medium harvest of divine fruit. These men frequent sermons but
seldom, and if, by chance, they do go once in a while to listen to the
exhortations of their pastors, the celestial seed of the Gospel will surely
fall among thorns and be choked by the cares and the riches and the
pleasures of their lives. In the first place, they are utterly lacking in a
true conception of the dignity and sanctity of the word of God. Accord
ing to their notion, it amounts to no more than the rantings of a popular
actor, or the persuasive speech of a wily politician; and in the second place,
they are accustomed to look upon a priest as an ordinary man, stripped of a
divine vocation and office. That he is the minister and representative of
Christ, that he preaches not the word of man, but the word of the Triune
God, that he stands before them, anointed and commissioned by God, for the
purpose of making known to men the will of the Most High, all this,
never enters into their groveling minds; and they seem to think, that the
priest may congratulate himself, if, by the fire of his eloquence and the
grace of his gestures, he gains their applause, or, if, on the other hand, by
his strong and decisive utterances, he does not expose himself to their
vituperation and hatred. Considering all these things, the preacher of
Christ might easily be tempted to lose all courage, and in the bitterness of
his heart to mournfully exclaim: "After all, it is true; the power of the
word of God is broken, it has lost its force, it is forever falling without
fruit upon thoughtless, wavering, or effeminate hearts." Great God, must
we, then, preach thy divine and everlasting truths in vain ? Are there to-
be found no more any faithful adherents of thy Gospel ? Is the spiritual
soil on every side of us, entirely worthless ? Is every grain of the evan
gelical seed to be eternally lost?
IV. No, my dear brethren, all is not lost. Listen, again, to the words
of Christ: "And some fell upon good ground and sprung up and yielded
fruit a hundredfold, and THESE are they, who, in a good and perfect
heart, hearing the word, keep it, and bring forth fruit in patience. Truly,
this is the consolation of the priest of God; and, as there are in cities,
(as well as in the country, ) many thoughtless, hard, and sensual hearts, in
which the divine seed can take no root, so, also, there are there, many
susceptible hearts which not only love to hear the word of God, but
meditate upon it, and practice it when the time for action comes, and
regulate, in short, their whole lives according to its precepts. These are
those good Christians, who, not from curiosity, not from mere habit and
custom, but from a holy desire after imperishable goods and graces, a
longing of the heart for greater knowledge of God, for closer union with
him, for a purer perfection in his service, are drawn continually to the
hearing of the word of God. Good and holy souls, they are convinced
that there is here no question of human opinions, but of the utterance of
eternal truth; they look not to the exterior, but to the interior, not to the-
2O2 SEXAGESIMA SUNDAY.
shell, out to the kernel, not to the vessel, but to the food. Obedient to
the divine inspirations, docile to the voice of grace, before, during, and
after the sermon, these faithful Christians pay the greatest attention to the
preparation, application, and direction of their will; and in them, as a
consequence, the word of God bears fruit in a most agreeable and consol
ing manner. It manifests itself in an entire renewal of their spiritual being,
in a will devoted to what is good and true, in actions consecrated to duty,
in a heart aspiring to heaven, in a confidence which knows nothing of fear
and remorseful anguish; in time of sufferings and tribulations, it manifests
itself by a power to stand firm in all vicissitudes and struggles, without
being confounded by its enemies; it manifests itself in the possession of a
deep, interior felicity which puts to shame the false delights of the world,
in a peace of heart to be found in Christ, alone, a foretaste of the celestial
peace which ever remains to the chosen children of God.
O, that your hearts, my dear brethren, were thus happily susceptible of
the reception and retention of this divine, thrice-blessed seed ! O, that
you all could cry out with truth: "Yes, the power of the word of God has
been proven in us ! We have become new creatures in Christ, our wills
are directed only to our sanctification, our lives are like crystal streams
hastening only to heaven ! No suffering shall deprive us of the confidence
that all things work together for good unto them that love God, and,
neither hunger, nor nakedness, nor cold, nor sword, nor death, can ever
again separate us from the love of Christ ! " If you cannot, as yet, my dear
brethren, say this of yourselves, because the word of God has not, so far,
found in your hearts its soft, susceptible soil, O, begin now, at least, to open
and prepare those hearts to receive and to retain it; begin this day, this
very hour, to put off your thoughtlessness, to overcome your inconstancy,
to detest and abhor all luxury and effeminacy. Illustrate the Gospel-
precepts in your own households, dear friends, by word and example;
exert yourselves zealously to the end, that the holy and immortal word of
God may be received by all entrusted to your charge, that all hearts may
be opened to its divine influence; and, thus, you and yours will present to
the harvest of the celestial Husbandman, a glorious, blooming field, yield
ing fruit a thirty, a sixty, or, even (God grant it !) a hundredfold for the
great day of eternity. Amen.
SEXAGESIMA SUNDAY. 203
SEXAGESIMA SUNDAY.
THE WORD OF GOD.
11 The seed is the word of God" Luke 8: u.
In the ordinary cultivation of fields and farm-lands, my brethren, nearly
all the seed which is sown by the hand of the husbandman, falls upon good,
well prepared ground; very little of it, as a rule, finds its way among
thorns, or is lost upon rocks, or on the open highway. It is not so, alas!
with the seed which the Church sows by the mouth of her ministers; most of
it falls by the wayside, is choked among thorns, or withered upon rocks, so
that only a small proportion of it really falls upon good ground. Whence
this strange anomaly, dear friends ? It is the nature of fire to burn, why,
then, does not the fire of the divine word, when once kindled, continue to
burn in the hearts of men? The wound caused by the sword, remains
long unhealed, and even when healed, leaves an indelible scar behind it;
why, then, is the wound inflicted by the two-edged sword of the divine
word so quickly healed? Iron and steel can cleave the hardest rocks in
twain, yet, why does the word of God, which according to the Apostle
penetrates marrow and bone, leave no trace of its presence behind ? Surely,
it cannot be the fault of the seed; surely, the fire and the sword of the divine
word are not to blame; it is, and must be, the fault of the soil, which is
so covered with thorns that the seed can take no root in it, the fault of the
heart which is so stony, that iron, fire, and sword cannot penetrate it. To
such hard hearts, God preaches another sort of sermon; he speaks to them
in tones of thunder; by the road of severe chastisements, by the stroke of
terrible humiliations, it may be, he, mercifully, leads them to clear away
the thorns, and blast the rocky crust. Will you, also, wait, my dear Christ
ians, till God stretches out his punishing hand, till he forces you to return
to him by bitter afflictions? Are the gentle inspirations of his grace, the
terrific threats of his wrath, not sufficient to make you return to your duty?
Must we not humbly confess that the seed of God s word has often failed
to find proper soil in our miserable hearts? God is continually sowing
good seed, but where are the barns which we have filled with the fruit
thereof? Alas ! with hearts in which the seed of the word of God has
perished, with barren fields, with hands empty of good works, many of us
stand, this hour, before God. We go frequently to church, it is true, but
our ears are open only to the sound and not to the substance of the divine
word; what is still more deplorable, the trumpet of God s judgment, ringing
in the preacher s denunciations, serves only, at times, to lull us fast
2O4 SEXAGESIMA SUNDAY.
asleep. Thus, the word of God, which is intended to arouse the sinner
from his fatal slumber, becomes subservient through his own fault, to the
slothfulness of his criminal flesh. The same word to which, at present, we
listen so carelessly, shall, one day, my brethren, rouse us from our graves
with the awful sound of the last trumpet. To the end that it may then
awake us to glory, let it now arouse us and penetrate our hearts, and let
us, therefore, meditate, to-day, on this important subject, and consider
attentively:
I. The duty of the preacher of the word of God, and
//. The duty of the hearer of the word of God.
I. In those solemn moments which intervened between his resurrection
from the dead and his glorious ascension into heaven, our Blessed Lord
expressly enjoined on his Apostles the propagation of his kingdom in these
words: "Go ye, therefore, and teach all nations." Matt. 28: 19. In what
manner he wished to have his doctrine announced to all nations, we learn
from the words of St. Paul to Timothy: "I charge thee, before God and
Jesus Christ, who shall judge the living and the dead, by his coming, and
his kingdom: preach the word, be instant in season, out of season, reprove,
entreat, rebuke with all patience and doctrine/ 2. Tim. 4: i, 2. St. Paul
places Timothy, as it were, before the judgment-seat of God and adjures
him by the Judge of the living and the dead, to preach the word of God at
all times, both in season and out of season; and this commission and
charge concern all in whose hands the Church has placed for distribution
among her children, the sacred seed of the word of God. In the Old Law,
the prophets, too, were commanded to announce the word of God.
Ezechiel trembled while the Lord addressed to him these words: "If, when I
say to the wicked: Thou shalt surely die; thou declare it not to him, nor speak
to him, that he may be converted from his wicked way, and live; the same
wicked man shall die in his iniquity; but I will require his blood at thy
hand." Ezech. 3: 18. As the blood, (or the souls), of the wicked, was
demanded at the hands of the prophets in the Old Law, in which nothing
was announced but the terrific thunder on Mount Sinai, the heavy and
oppressive yoke of the Law and the awful omnipotence of him who was,
is, and will be, how much more will the blood of the wicked be demanded
at the hands of the priests of the New Law, who are commissioned to
announce the gladdest of tidings, namely: Grace, liberty from the burden
of the Law, redemption, peace, hope, and salvation ? The souls of the
wicked will be required at the hands of the priests. I tremble when I think
of this terrible responsibility, for I see, on all sides of me, so many unhappy
ones who have abandoned the way of the Lord, so many faithless Christ
ians who are forgetful of their duties to God, to their neighbors, and to
themselves, so many who live in open violation of the divine and eccles-
SEXAGESIMA SUNDAY. 205
iastical law. Alas ! their blood, their souls, will be demanded at my hands,
if I fail to warn them of the danger they are in, if I neglect to exhort them
to be converted from their evil ways. Will you not, then, O sinners ! have
pity on my soul as well as on your own ? Will I not, perhaps, after having
preached to others, myself become a castaway?
God will require the souls of the wicked at the hands of the priest, if
he do not preach the divine word to them, if he do not caution them
against their spiritual dangers, if he do not reprove, entreat, and rebuke
sinners with all patience and doctrine, if he do not denounce their multi
plied crimes and iniquities. Hear, then, and understand, O my beloved
people, the minister of God must preach without respect to persons, he
must preach rigorously, fearlessly, and frequently. God requires your
souls at his hands. Do not complain if his word, sometimes, is a sword
with which he cuts down the thorns of useless cares, a sharp knife with
which he strives to prune off your pernicious enjoyments and enervating
pleasures; do not rebelliously murmur if the word of God, like a plow, loosens
the frozen soil of your souls; if it comes like a clap of thunder or a flash of
lightning to rend with violence the rocky crust of your hearts, that the
blessed seed of God may take root in them; do not cry out with bitter
words of reproach, if the two-edged sword of the Gospel wounds your
heart in order to heal it, for, the anointed priest of the Most High is com
manded to preach the word of God "in season, out of season, to reprove,
to entreat, and to rebuke with all patience and doctrine," and he is assured
that the time is at hand when the unhappy children of this world will no
longer attend to the sound doctrine of Christ. Do not, then, complain,
my dear brethren, when from this holy place he speaks the truth which is
always bitter and unpleasant, for God will, one day, require your immortal
souls at his hand. With untiring zeal, let him go on unmolested in his
divine office as sower of the seed of the word of God; whether it fall by
the wayside, whether it be choked among thorns, or lost upon the rocks,
he is not responsible for its failure, his duty is to perseveringly sow the
seed. If you are deaf to the word of God, if you harden your hearts against
its teachings, God will require and demand your souls at your own hands.
That this may not happen, that you may co-operate in the salvation of
your own precious souls, I shall explain to you, to-day, the -duty of him
who hears the holy word of God.
II. If you desire, my dear Christians, to derive real profit from the
sermons and religious instructions which you hear from time to time, you
must listen to them with attention and with a good intention, not in a spirit
of curiosity, attending only to the style and language, the graceful gestures,
the originality or fanciful turn of the speaker s thoughts, or his elegant
manner of delivery, but viewing him, rather, as the mouth-piece of the
Most High, hearken to his utterances with singular gravity and reverence.
206 SEXAGESIMA SUNDAY.
Attend simply to the substance of the discourse; pay attention to the matter,
rather than to the manner, and, then, the sermons you hear will refresh
and strengthen your soul. As hunger, or a good appetite, is a sure sign
of corporal health, so a longing desire to hear the word of God is an
infallible sign of a healthy condition of the soul. If you neither hunger
nor thirst for the word of God, nor find any relish in it, it is a sure sign
that your soul is sick and in a dangerous condition, since it loathes the
food which is its only true nourishment.
The instructions and admonitions of God s minister you must receive as
addressed particularly to yourselves, and to the needs of your own souls;
you must not apply them, as many do, to the souls and short-comings
of others. There are those who resemble caterers at rich men s tables,
whose business it is to help others to food, without taking any themselves.
Hearing the priest of God announce from the pulpit some wholesome
truth, or fulminate from the altar some salutary denunciation, how often
do you say to yourselves, with a self-complacent smile: " An excellent reflec
tion, indeed, and very proper for such a one. This, again, is very applicable
to one of my acquaintances; if such a one were here to-day, how it would
suit him or her ! " "O, did he not give it to him or to her to-day ! " cries
another. "Had nt she to hear the truth this morning? Oh, I was ever
so glad of it; I declare, it was capital ! " And, notwithstanding all this
catering, my good friends, you keep nothing of the feast for yourselves.
Please, take a slice of this Gospel-bread for yourselves; it suits you, I can
assure you, as well as it suits your poor friend, and, perhaps, a great deal
better. This piece of salutary counsel was intended for you, and not for
another for whom you do the carving. At the banquet of the word of
God, I would have all of you to be guests and not caterers; for, believe
me, in spite of all your presumption and self-sufficiency, you neither carve
nor cater according to the will of God. I would have you listen to the
divine word of the Gospel with an humble and believing heart. Alas !
many hear the truths of salvation and fail to profit by them, because they
thus apply the preacher s words to their neighbors wants, rather than to
their own miseries. If the speaker presents a picture of vice in all its
heinousness, if he describes its dreadful consequences and its miserable
end, such a caterer is at once ready to carry the dish to some unfortunate
friend or acquaintance, reflecting in his pharasaical pride: Ah, this is for
such a one." If the priest speak on covetousness the proud man says:
" Thanks be to God, /am not covetous," not reflecting that pride is a
mortal sin, as well as avarice. If he speak against impurity, the glutton
says: " Thanks be to God, I am not unchaste or immodest!" forgetting
at the same time, that gluttons, as well as fornicators and adulterers, will
be excluded from the kingdom of heaven.
The good Christian does not hear the word of God in such an unsatis
factory manner. In the humility of his heart, he knows and acknowledges
SEXAGESIMA SUNDAY. 207
himself to be a sinner, and, although he be not conscious of having com
mitted that special sin which is denounced from the pulpit, he knows that he
is guilty of many other sins, and that it is only the grace of God which pre
serves him from that especial vice. Hence, whatever is said of the sin in
question of which he is not guilty, he applies to those sins of which he
really knows himself to be guilty, and, thus, he profits from hearing the
word of God. All that a prudent man hears, all good and profitable
counsel, he will practice and apply to himself, but a vain and self-sufficient
man will listen with disgust to the same wholesome truths, and end by
casting them scornfully behind his back. Be of the number of those wise
men who apply what they hear to themselves, as if it had been intended
for their individual souls, alone; for, perhaps, that which might be deemed
applicable to another, may be better applied to one s self; and, if you knew
yourself better than you do, my dear brethren, you would not be so
quick to perceive the mote in your neighbor s eye, whilst you do not
observe the beam in your own. Even though there should be nothing in
the preacher s discourse which, in any way, touches or concerns you at
present, neglect not to hoard it up in your heart for future use. Perhaps,
you may, one day, need it; and, hence, you should take his holy advice as
if addressed directly to yourself, alone. At the same time, you must not
be so foolish as to think that the speaker designs to single you out as a
target for his denunciatory arrows; such a thought must never enter your
minds, but in all humility, you should compare your life and actions with
the doctrine he preaches, and examine yourselves in the mirror of the
Gospel, to ascertain clearly, what you are and what you ought to be.
Consider, in fine, my dear Christians, how far you are yet distant from the
perfection proposed for your practice, and say to yourself: "Indeed, what
he preaches suits me very well; I have great need of this warning; heaven
be praised, it is God, who has put this counsel into his mouth for the ever
lasting good of my soul!"
Again, we must be firmly convinced that the word of God is our rrue
spiritual food and nourishment, the manna of the elect, a portion of which
we should endeavor to carry home with us from every sermon and lay
up in the ark of our hearts. The seed which fell upon good ground, says
our Lord, signifies those who hear the word of God with a heart well
disposed, those who retain it and make it bring forth fruit in due season.
The body is in a very bad state of health when the stomach rejects all food
and retains no nourishment. In like manner, the soul is in a dangerous
condition when the heart does not retain the word of God. For this reason,
the royal prophet says: "Lord, I have hidden thy words in the bottom of my
heart, that I may not sin against thee. " Os. 1 18 : 1 1. In effect, how often does
it not happen that being tempted to sin and in danger of yielding to the
temptation, we recall some of the awful effects of sin, or some holy maxim
2C>8 QUINQUAGESIMA SUNDAY.
heard in a sermon, and immediately gather new strength and courage from
those powerful aids.
We may easily understand, therefore, my dear brethren, that those who
go to sermons for fashion s sake, or the gratification of their curiosity, as,
also, those who suffer themselves to be overcome by sleep or distractions
during the sermon, act foolishly and imprudently, and far from benefit-
ting their souls, only incur fresh guilt. The devil comes and snatches the
word out of their heart, lest, believing, they should be saved. And thus is
verified the parable of the grain which was devoured by the birds of the air,
as soon as it was sown. Perhaps, one single word which you lost by your
sleep or your distractions, would have contributed very much to your
spiritual advancement; and this is why the devil, who nourishes a mortal
hatred and envy against you, has striven by his wiles and his temptations
to prevent the good seed from taking root in your heart. St. Augustine
compares the word of God to a fish-hook which never takes unless it is
taken, and as the fish remains a prize to the hook, so we remain a prize to
the word of God, if we take and receive it into our hearts.
Endeavor, then, my dear brethren, to go to sermons with such excellent
dispositions, to hear the word of God in such an efficacious manner, that it
may take root in your hearts and yield abundant fruit. Practice, says St.
James, what you hear: "Be ye doers of the word and not hearers only,
deceiving your own selves. For, if a man be a hearer of the word, and
not a doer; he shall be compared to a man beholding his natural counte
nance in a glass. For, he beheld himself, and went his way, and presently
forgot what manner of man he was." St. James i: 23.24. Those who
hear the divine law are not just before God; but those who do it, shall be
justified. Let the warning of the Most High be constantly before your
eyes, my dear Christians, and let these consoling words of divine promise
ever sound like a silver trumpet in the ears of every individual now within
hearing of my voice: "Be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee the
crown of life. " (Apoc. 2: 10. ) Amen.
QUINQUAGESIMA SUNDAY,
THE HOUR IN WHICH THE SINNER S EYES WILL BE OPENED.
"A certain blind man sal by the way-side, begging." Luke 18: 35.
We seldom hear, my dear brethren, of a blind man s receiving his eye
sight, and, perhaps, no one has ever heard, that a man who was bor"
blind, received the use of his eyes at the hour of death; on the contrary*
QUINQUAGESIMA SUNDAY. 2OQ
experience teaches that those who through life enjoyed good eye-sight,
lose it shortly before the moment of dissolution. While they may, some
times, retain possession of the other senses of the body and faculties of the
soul, dying persons, as a rule, are unable to see at the last, and can only
distinguish one person from the other by the tones of the voice. We
often hear those who are sick unto death, exclaim: "My eyes grow dim."
But it is quite the reverse, my dear Christians, with impenitent sinners.
During life they are blind but, before they die, the scales fall from their
eyes, not, alas ! for their consolation, but to their utter confusion. I am
sure, that the blind man healed by Christ, never had a greater pleasure
than when, for the first time in his life, he saw the light of day and beheld
this beautiful world and all the novel charm of its visible objects around
him. In an ecstasy of joy, he followed Jesus, glorifying God. This is not
the case with the sinner who has been blind during life, and who, on his
death-bed, opens his eyes for the first time to the true Light. He will,
then, behold what he never saw before; he will see in a new light three
awful things, the sight of which will fill him with fear and consternation;
namely: the world, his soul, and his sins.
/ /;/ the world he will see nothing but vanity,
II. In his soul he will behold nothing but the greatest poverty, and
///. In his sins he will discover naught save the greatness of the insult
they have offered to God.
I. In his dying hour, the sinner will see the vanity of that world which
during life he worshipped. The day of death is a day of darkness to the
eyes of the body, because they can no longer see the objects by which they
were once falsely enchanted; but it will be a day of light to the eyes of the
soul, because they shall then see the vanity of the base idol, to which they
have so long offered incense. When the body of the sinner, at the approach
of death, sinks in to that sleep, out of which only the trumpet of the Lord
shall rouse it on the day of judgment, then, the soul which, until that time,
quietly and securely reposed amidst the vanities of the world, shall awake and
open its eyes to its own utter dismay. O, that I had eloquence enough
to describe to you, dear brethren, the miserable form in which the world
appears to its dying votary? Allow me to use the words of those who
have experienced it: "We wearied ourselves in the way of iniquity and
destruction, and have walked through hard ways; but the way of the Lord
we have not known. \Vhat hath pride profited us; or what advantage
hath the boasting of riches brought us ? All those things are passed away
like a shadow, and like a post that runneth on, and as a ship that passeth
through the waves; whereof, when it is gone by, the trace cannot be found,
nor the path of its keel in the waters: or, as when a bird that flieth through
the air: of the passage of which no mark can be found. Or, as when an
2IO QUINQUAGESIMA SUNDAY.
arrow is shot at a mark, the divided air presently cometh together again,
so that the passage thereof is not known. So we also being born, forth
with ceased to be; and have been able to shew no mark of virtue; but are
consumed in our wickedness." Wisd. 5: 7-13. Thus, dying worldlings
speak of the world, because in that hour they are convinced of its nothing
ness and of the hollowness of its promises. O vanity of vanities, all is
vanity and affliction of spirit, besides loving God and serving him alone ! "
II. The sinner, in his dying hour, will behold, probably for the first
time, the utter poverty of his soul. Looking back upon his past life, he
is forced to say with those sinners mentioned above: "We are able to shew
no mark of virtue." He will see his youth spent in idleness and folly, in
gluttony and rioting, but he will not be able to show any mark of virtue.
He will see the years of his manhood sacrificed to the love of money, to
sensual vices, perhaps, to ambition and selfishness. He will see the last
years of his life spent in spiritual sloth and tepidity, and defiled with the
sins of his youth and manhood, but he will be able to show no mark of
virtue. The churches in which he prayed without devotion, and the holy
Sacraments which he so often abused and profaned, will present themselves,
like an awful vision, before him. He will remember the sermons he listened
to without fruit, the prayers he said distractedly and without reverence,
the inspirations of grace which he resisted, the instructions and exhor
tations to which he was deaf, in fine, the manifold graces, favors, and
blessings from above, to which he proved himself ungrateful. He will
say: "On such a day God called me, but I was deaf to his call. In that
month of -the Jubilee he received me most graciously; on that festival of
Christmas, of Easter, of Pentecost, he welcomed me with tender love to
the Sacraments, but, ungrateful wretch that I was, I turned my back
upon him again, just after that loving reception In such a year,
God warned me by a severe sickness to turn from my evil ways and be con
verted to him, but of all the good resolutions then made under the pressure
of fear and pain, I did not put one into practice ! " I assure you, my dear
brethren, that words are wanting adequately to describe the shame and
confusion with which the dying sinner shall be covered at the sight of the
poverty of his soul. Being deprived of the goods of this world, which he
is now forced to leave behind him, and of the goods of the soul which he
neglected and despised in the days of his health and strength, must not
his remorse and despair at that awful hour be extreme? There is nothing
within or without him, that can afford him consolation. He will wish to
have done what his baptismal vows required of him, but it will be too
late. He will yearn with unspeakable desire to accomplish some good
while life yet remains to him, but his approaching dissolution declares to
him in unmistakable words, that time is now no more.
QUINQUAGESIMA SUNDAY. 211
But what will increase the sinner s terror, is the knowledge, that in a few
hours, perhaps moments, he must stand before the judgment-seat of God.
When Adam, after the transgression of the divine command, heard the
voice of God, which summoned him into his presence, he hid himself
amid the trees of Paradise, being ashamed to appear before God, stripped
of his original justice and innocence. "I was afraid," he said, "because
I was naked." The terror of the dying sinner will be still greater, for,
Adam, guilty as he was, appeared as a penitent before God, his Father,
who wished to correct and save him, but the dying sinner will appear
impenitent before God, his judge, who must punish him for his manifold
crimes and iniquities. He would rather be buried beneath the weight of
the hills and mountains, than behold, face to face, his outraged Redeemer,
since, in the nakedness and poverty of his soul, he sees only too plainly
his own miserable guilt, a guilt which admits of no mitigation or excuse.
For, who compelled him to cast away the white garment of innocence,
with which he had been clothed at his baptism ? Who compelled him to
despise and lose the grace of God which he had recovered in the Sacra
ment of Penance? He may have succeeded in every thing else, but he
failed in the salvation of his soul. What plea can he urge in his own
defence? What argument can he make use of to extenuate his malice?
Hear, dear Christians, how St. Ephrem (meditating on the parable of
the five foolish virgins) expresses the despair of those souls, who approach
death without the necessary provision of good works: "We would not buy
oil, when we had both time and means to do it. We could have made
provision, but did not; we had time, but made bad use of it; we had plenty
of opportunities, but did not embrace them. We seek them now, but can
not find them. Our poverty confounds us, but there are no means, no
hope left to us to remedy it. Nothing remains for us but to say farewell
to that blessed country for which we were created, and into which
nothing can enter that is defiled or unadorned with virtues. We have been
weighed in the balance, and found wanting. We are in a deplorable state,
without virtues, without good works, without merits, and, therefore, we
shall be without heaven, without God, and in misery, forever ! "
God forbid that any of us, my dear brethren, should end our lives thus
unprovided. But, let us not deceive ourselves now, whilst we are in health
and strength and the full possession of our faculties. Let us inquire, while
the time of mercy lasts, what provision of good works we have made for
our last journey: with what fervor we have served God up to the present
hour; let us ask ourselves, how we love our neighbor, how we fulfil the
duties of our respective states of life; and if any one, having carefully
examined the records of the past, shall find his soul devoid of virtues,
poor and naked in the sight of God, let him, at once, arm himself with
courage, and say: "I will return this day, to virtue, to duty; I will arise
and go to my Father, and say to him: Father, I have sinned against
212 QUINQUAGESIMA SUNDAY.
heaven and before thee, I am not now worthy to be called thy son, but
take me as one of thy hired servants / and as the father, mentioned in the
Gospel, embraced his son who was lost and found again, so our heavenly
Father will, also, mercifully receive the repenting sinner, if he return with
an humble and contrite heart, and the Angels in heaven will rejoice at his
conversion.
III. The sinner, on his death-bed, will see the malice of his sins by
which he insulted God. Overwhelmed with terror and confusion, he will
say: "Woe to me, what a sight ! What heinous sins and shameless vices ! "
He would gladly turn his eyes upon other objects, but he cannot; on all
sides, he is surrounded by sins which make him cry out, full of conster
nation: "My iniquities are gone over my head; and as a heavy burden are
become heavy upon me." Ps. 37: 5. It must, indeed, be a horrible sight,
to behold at one glance, not only all the sins which one has committed
from his infancy to his dying hour, but, also, the abominable, infinite
malice of them. St. Bernard says: "All his iniquities will be present to
the eyes of the wicked man; he will see the number, the magnitude, the
enormity, and the ingratitude of his sins." Ah! the greatness of sin is
seldom considered in this world. Self-love blinds us, the tumult of the
passions and the mephitic maxims of the world cloud our judgments and
darken our understandings, but death will work a change. In that solemn
hour, all darkness will vanish and the sinner will behold in the clearest
light the magnitude and turpitude of his sins, and the black ingratitude he
has been guilty of towards his Creator. He will behold a God of infinite
glory, whom he has mocked and despised; a God of infinite liberality, to
whom he has returned evil for good; a God of infinite perfection, before
whom he has insolently preferred the meanest of creatures; a God of
infinite goodness, whom he has not loved, but offended; a God of infinite
justice, the arrows of whose vengeance he has not feared, but provoked.
How can words express the confusion with which he shall be covered in
that moment of anguish and retributive remorse! Then, will he entertain
quite a different opinion of those sins which, at present, he commits without
fear. O, what a vast difference there is, my dear brethren, between a liv
ing and a dying sinner! When Esau, (to satisfy his appetite,) sold his
birthright to his brother Jacob for a mess of pottage, he showed no
immediate remorse for that imprudent transaction. As the Scripture says,
he went away, making little account of having sold his birthright; but,
afterwards, my dear friends, ah ! afterwards, when he came to himself and
learned that Jacob had really received from his father the privileges of the
first-born son, he roared out with a great cry, and could not be comforted
for the sad result of his folly. This is the image of the sinner as considered,
first, in the act of sinning and, secondly, at the hour of death. When he
sins, he is so full of his greed, of his sensual satisfactions, that he is quite
QUINQUAGESIMA SUNDAY. 213
indifferent to the insult he offers to God; he goes the way of the wicked,
making no account of his sin, but, when the awful hour of death
approaches, he will discover his mistake, and, beholding the abomination
of his infidelities, he will roar with a loud cry and gnash his teeth in
anticipation of the judgment and the condemnation shortly to follow.
Sinners, the day will sooner or later arrive, on which, after the storm of
your passions has subsided, after you have realized the malice of your
sins, and the priceless value of the birthright which you have surrendered
for something even more despicable than a mess of pottage, you, in your
turn, will roar with a loud cry of despair, and, (as the Holy Ghost assures
us, ) be seized with a terrible fear of what is yet to come.
Such is the miserable state of the dying sinner. We know this to be
true, my dear brethren, we believe it, and, yet, alas ! we laugh, we are
merry, we eat, and drink, and sleep in sin. O, the blindness and infatu
ation of man ! I beseech you, now, at least, to open your eyes, that you
may see in time the imminent danger you are in, and take measures to
avert it. Do not wait till death strips the fatal scales from your eyes, and
discloses to you the frightful spectacle of your sins. Look at them now
with a sorrowful sense of their enormity, and repent whilst a favorable ray
of mercy and grace shines upon you, inviting you to repentance. Wait
not till your last hour draws near, for then, the sight of your sins will
only increase your misery and drive you to despair. Whilst the day of
salvation lasts, let us, one and all, cry out to God with the royal prophet:
"Wash me yet more from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin. For,
I know my iniquity, and my sin is always before me." (Ps. 50: 4.5.) Amen.
QUINQUAGESIMA SUNDAY.
ON THE VIRTUE OF CHARITY.
If I speak with the tongues of men and of Angels and have not charity, I
am become as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal, i. Cor. 13: i.
Thus St. Paul in his Epistle to the Corinthians, speaks of the sublime
virtue of Chanty, that theological virtue infused into our souls at our
baptism, whereby we love God above all things and our neighbor as our
selves for the love of God. What more forcible language could the holy
Apostle use, my dear brethren, in order to make us sensible of the necessity
and excellency of that virtue ! And, yet, how few are they who reflect
seriously upon this point ! How few are they who ask themselves whether
they can hope that their souls are adorned with that holy gift, without
which it is impossible to please God, or perform any act meritorious for
214 QUINQUAGESIMA SUNDAY.
heaven; without which no moral virtue can exist in the soul; without which
neither faith, nor hope, will profit any thing for life everlasting ! I trust,
however, my dear Christians, that you, at least, belong to the chosen few
who know how to appreciate this precious virtue which holy Baptism has
infused into your souls; and if you have ever had the misfortune to lose the
treasure of divine Charity by mortal sin, that, by humble penance and
fervent prayer, you have blotted out that deadly stain from your soul and
moved a merciful God by your sincere contrition, to restore you again to
his holy grace and friendship. In order, however, to inspire you more and
more with a true and earnest desire to preserve that sublime virtue, I will
say a few words to you, to-day, my dear brethren,
I. On the necessity, and
//. On the excellency of Charity, or divine Love.
I. To understand and be convinced that Charity is absolutely necessary
to salvation, we need no other proof, than what St. Paul gives us in the
Epistle of to-day. Listen to his words, hear him, as it were, dilate upon
the characteristics of this sovereign virtue. Without charity, (as the holy
Apostle declares,) all other virtues, acquirements, or perfections, are of no
avail; even the most extraordinary gifts, the most arduous works, become
useless and profitless to us without it. To speak the language of the
angels, to be gifted with the knowledge of hidden and future things, to
penetrate and understand the most incomprehensible truths, to possess un
limited wisdom and science, all these things, without the virtue of charity,
without the grace of God in our souls, profit us nothing. To have the
faith of a St. Gregory Thaumaturgus, so as even to remove mountains; to
give all one possesses to the poor, to deliver one s body to the torturers,
even to the glowing stake or the excruciating rack of the martyrs, are, in
truth, things extraordinary and to be admired, says the holy Doctor, St.
Augustine; yet, how great and marvelous, soever, they may be or may
appear to be before man, should I possess or accomplish them all, exclaims
the Apostle, who had been taken up into the third heavens, if I have not
charity, I am nothing." (St. Aug. Serm. 50 De Verbo Dom.) The same
holy father continues (ibid. ) : "Understand how necessary this virtue is, since,
if we suffer the most cruel torments, if we perform the most heroic acts of
patience, all will profit us nothing, if we have not charity. " Of what benefit
have been to so many sinners those great gifts which they abused ? What
has it profited Solomon to have possessed such unparalelled wisdom and
knowledge that he was deservedly regarded by the whole world with
the greatest admiration, and is yet known by the exalted title of "the
Wise Man"? What benefit has Tertullian derived from that profound
learning which enabled him with such force of eloquence to defend our
holy faith against the pagan Emperors, and to confound the heretics by
QUINQUAGESIMA SUNDAY. 215
triumphantly demonstrating the truth of our holy religion ? What benefit,
indeed, when he was afterwards so unfortunate as to sever himself from
that church which, alone, is one, holy, Catholic, and Apostolic, the in
fallible Church of our Lord Jesus Christ, "the pillar and the ground of
Truth " ? And, my beloved Christians, at the present day, pray, what does
it profit those learned men outside the pale of the Church, to have a perfect
knowledge of the Scriptures which they read incessantly, of the foreign
languages which they have studied so carefully, what, I repeat, does it
all profit them, so long as they are without the necessary and sublime virtue
of charity, which is found only in the Church of Jesus Christ, as St.
Augustine solemnly affirms? What will it profit us, my brethren, to labor
and study, to toil and suffer with zeal and patience, if we have not charity,
if we do not sincerely love God? The Apostle of the Gentiles tells us: "It
profiteth us nothing. " Why, then, should we be so anxious to have our
names, our talents, our supposed good works, extolled by the world, when,
thus, perhaps, we endanger that virtue so essential for our eternal happi
ness? What are all the grandeur and learning of this world, what are all its
riches and renown, without charity? "Like sounding brass and a tink
ling cymbal." A simple and illiterate child who can neither read nor
write, but who knows how to love God, possesses far more knowledge
than the most learned Doctors and Theologians whose souls are devoid of
that virtue of charity; and it is far more pleasing to the eyes of God, than
those who by their learning astonish the world, but have not that queen
virtue of charity, says St. Augustine. (Lib. 3. de D. C. 10.) The holy
Doctor continues: "With charity all our works become good and profitable
for heaven; take away charity, and we labor in vain. He, who 1 loves God
above all things, not in word, but in truth, whose actions show that the
holy virtue of charity is in his soul, possesses and virtually understands
both what is clear and what is hidden in God s sacred word/ (Ibid.) How
much, then, my dear brethren, are they to be pitied, who spend their time
in the pursuit of worldly and, often, dangerous knowledge to the great
detriment of charity, without which there neither is, nor can be, true
happiness, here or hereafter ! I trust, however, as I have said before,
that you are not of that number, but that, being well aware of the necessity
of this virtue, you would sooner lose all your earthly possessions, than
expose yourselves to the danger of being deprived of it by any grievous sin.
In order to animate you still more, with an earnest desire to preserve
charity in your souls, I shall now proceed to say a few words
II. On the excellence of that sublime virtue. "And, now, there remain
faith, hope, and charity, these three; but, the greatest of these is charity,"
says St. Paul in the Epistle of this day. Faith, that necessary virtue for
salvation, without which it is impossible to be saved; and hope, that divine
gift by which the confessors of the faith triumphed, the martyrs endured
2l6 QUINQUAGESIMA SUNDAY.
with joy the torturing rack, the devouring flames, the fierce combats of the
arena, this sublime Faith, this saving Hope are less, says the Apostle,
than divine Charity; for, Faith and Hope shall fail and pass away, when
Charity will be perfected forevermore in heaven. "Charity," to use,
again, the words of St. Augustine, is the queen virtue, around which all
the others, as it were, centre, and from which they derive their value and
their merit; for faith itself, without charity, is dead." Charity is the soul
and life-giving principle of all our good works. Hear, again, the Apostle
of the Gentiles: "Charity," he says, "is patient, is kind; charity envieth
not, dealeth not perversely, is not puffed up." In vain does he who has
not the love of God in his heart, lay claim to the virtue of patience or
meekness. How much, soever, he may strive to manifest patience it may
be for the sake of pleasing men and gaining their applause, (since all unite
in praising the patient and the meek), without charity, the genuine virtue
cannot exist in the heart. Without charity, all meekness and patience, all
forbearance and self-sacrifice, become worthless in the eyes of God who
searcheth the reins and the heart, and who is the sole, infallible judge of
the good and evil of his creatures. Self-denial and self-sacrifice for the sake
of the neighbor and all kindred virtues are, so to speak, the legitimate off
spring of charity. Behold the Apostles and apostolic men; mark the heroic
sacrifices of those who toil and labor for the corporal and spiritual interests
of their fellow-beings; what prompts them thus to deprive themselves of
all human ease and comfort ? Charity, my dear brethren, the love of that
God, who, as St. John says, "is charity." Without charity, the soul is
destitute, poor, naked, and dead; with charity, the soul is rich, full of life
and vigor, because it possesses God; for, "he that abideth in charity, abideth
in God, and God in him." i. John 4:16. Charity is the note of the chil
dren of God, the characteristic by which they are distinguished from the
reprobate. (St. Aug.) It is the oil of that heavenly lamp which guides us
through life, directing our footsteps safely through the many dangers and
temptations to which we are exposed; it is the wedding garment with which
we must be clothed, in order to be admitted to the nuptials of the Son of
God. What more can we say, my dear Christians, to induce you to
appreciate that queen of virtues, than that it leads those who have the
happiness to possess it, to the mansions of eternal life; and, since "charity
never faileth, whether prophecies shall be made void, or tongues shall
cease, or knowledge shall be destroyed," that it constitutes the ever
lasting bliss and supreme delight of Christ s elect in the holy kingdom of
his Father.
Our blessed Lord has said: "I am come to send fire on the earth, and
what will I, but that it be kindled?" (Luke 12: 49.) That fire, which
Jesus Christ wishes to be enkindled in the hearts of his disciples and of all
those who shall believe in him, is charity, by which the guilty world was
to be enlightened and purified; the clouds of ignorance, idolatry, and
QUINQUAGESIMA SUNDAY. 2 T?
paganism dispelled, and the souls of his followers cleansed from every stain
of sin and unholy passion.
Charity is the gold which the Holy Ghost (in the Apocalypse, 3:18) press-
ingly invites the Bishop of Ephesus to purchase for himself: "I counsel
thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest become rich; and
mayest be clothed in white garments, that the shame of thy nakedness
may not appear. " In fine, my dear Christians, Charity is that great and
principal virtue without which it is impossible to fulfil our duties, in what
ever station of life we may be placed. With the love of God in our hearts,
nothing is difficult or impossible; the most arduous duties become easy,
the heaviest crosses become light, for Jesus Christ himself has said: "My
yoke is sweet and my burden is light," (Matth. 1 1 : 30) to such as love God
above all things. Let us, then, ask of God who is Charity, and from
whom divine love springs as from its fountain-head, let us implore the
God of love to send down upon us that Holy Spirit by whom charity is
diffused in our hearts: "Caritas diffusa est in cordibus nostris" (Rom. 5 : 5)
to the end that we may be enabled to serve him in a manner pleasing to
him in life, and by so doing may merit eternal salvation. Let us ex
claim with St. Augustine: "I will love thee, O God, my strength, I will
love thee, O Lord, my strength, and my support! (St. Aug. in Ps. 17: 2.)
In conclusion, I exhort and entreat you, my beloved brethren, to ask
our dear Lord Jesus Christ during the holy sacrifice of the Mass, with all
the fervor of your soul, more and more to enkindle in your hearts that
divine fire of charity, with which he wishes us to be inflamed in time and
eternity. With the great St. Augustine pray: "O Fire that always burnest
and never ceasest to inflame, O Charity, my God, do thou inflame my
heart!" (Conf. 10: 40.) Thus, by repeated and most fervent acts of divine
love, you may confidently hope that the God of love will abide in you, and
you in him; and that the fiery darts of the enemy of your salvation will not
prevail against you. When a blazing fire is enkindled by travelers in a
forest, the wild beasts of the woods dare not approach the camp, so may
our hearts, dear friends, be so inflamed and glowing with charity that
Satan and his emissaries will never venture to approach us and the sins of
the past will be consumed, like straw, by the surpassing heat of that neces
sary and most excellent of virtues. Glory be to the Eternal Father who
so loved the world as to give it his only-begotten Son, and may he,
through his Holy Spirit, (the love of the Father and the Son,) fill our
hearts, dear brethren, with the fire of Charity and abide with us forever 1
Amen. Rev. L. BAX.
2i3 FORTY HOURS DEVOTION.
ON THE GRACES BESTOWED BY OUR LORD IN THE
PROCESSION OF THE BLESSED SACRAMENT.
A SERMON FOR THE OCCASION OF THE OPENING OF THE FORTY HOURS DEVOTION.
"And they told him, that Jesus of Nazareth was passing by." Luke 18: 37.
We read in the holy Gospel by St. Luke, my dear brethren, that on a
certain day, our blessed Lord with his disciples, going towards Jerusalem,
went by Jericho, a small town on his way, and met a " blind man, sitting
by the wayside begging. " This poor, unfortunate, and most sorely afflicted
man, when he heard the noise of the multitude pressing along, asked
"what this (concourse) meant; and they told him that Jesus of Nazareth
was passing by" (36, 37). No sooner had the blind man heard this wel
come news, than realizing his misery, and humbly believing that our divine
Lord had power to relieve him and cure him of his infirmity, he made
haste to cry out: "Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!" (38). The
men who accompanied our Lord, either through respect for his dignity, or
because they did not wish him to be interrupted, or delayed in his journey,
rebuked the blind man and told him to hold his peace, or, in other words,
to be silent. "But he cried out much more: Son of David, have mercy
on me," (39). Then, Jesus paused in his way, and moved with com
passion, commanded the importunate sufferer to be brought to him. And,
when he had drawn nigh, having asked him: "What wilt thou, that I do to
thee?" the poor man with confidence manifesting the desire of his heart,
said: "Lord, that I may see." And Jesus said to him: "Receive thy sight,
thy faith hath made thee whole." And the Gospel adds, that "immediately
he saw and followed him, glorifying God," (40-43). The history of this
beautiful and striking miracle, the edifying conduct of the blind man, the
consoling clemency of our blessed Lord, and his loving attention to the
afflicted pauper by the wayside, constitute a suitable and appropriate sub
ject, my dear brethren, on which I propose to address you to-day.
/ In the blind man of the Gospel I behold a clear type of a multitude
of Christians, who are blind in the sight of God because they wilfully close
the eyes of the soul to the brilliant light of divine grace.
II. In Jesus of Nazareth, passing by, I behold our Lord in the
Adorable Eucharist, unseen, indeed, by the eyes of the body, yet plainly
visible to the eyes of faith, preceded by his devout attendants, and passing along
these aisles in the solemn procession which inaugurates the devotion of the
Forty Hours Exposition.
FORTY HOURS DEVOTION. 219
/// In the words: "Thy faith hath made thee whole" I consider how
our Lord mercifully opens and enlightens the darkened eyes of those who,
with the poor man of the Gospel, call upon him with faith, imploring of
his mercy: "Lord, that I may set/"
I. The holy prophet David, speaking of those who are blinded by their
unholy passions, says: Oculos habent, et non videbunt. "They have eyes, and
see not," (Ps. 113: 13.) Is not this the case, my brethren, with the vast ma
jority of those who know the truths of our holy religion, who understand the
necessity of believing, and yet refuse to practice what they believe ? Carried
away by their passions and sensual appetites, one man by the sinful
pleasures of the flesh; another, by the desire of self-aggrandizement; still
another, by vanity or an inordinate craving after wealth and luxury,
they close their eyes to the light of God s holy inspirations,
and steel their hearts against the impressions made by the pious and
virtuous examples around them. Had the poor blind man of the Gospel
failed to make use of the occasion when Jesus passed by Jericho, never,
(we may verily believe,) would he have recovered his sight. Had he
listened to those who, in vain, endeavored to hinder him from calling
upon the mighty Healer for help, he would have remained blind and,
like many others, when too late, would have bitterly deplored his folly.
The last day will reveal to us, my dear brethren, vast numbers of unhappy
Christians who have not embraced the opportunities afforded them by a
merciful and loving Saviour, and who have obstinately refused to have the
eyes of their hearts opened by his divine power, to the end that they might
see, what was good for the interests of their immortal souls. The day will
surely come when the whole world shall see and know those miserable
ones, who wilfully blinded themselves to the light of heaven, yea,
hardened their hearts against the motions of divine grace, admonishing
them to quit their evil and sinful habits and return in humble contrition
to their God. We sincerely hope and pray that none of you, my dear
Christians, belong to that class of Catholics who, knowing their sinful and
unhappy condition, still prefer to sit "in darkness and the shadow of
death" sooner than break down the gloomy barriers of their passions
which shut them out from the blessed light and warmth of the divine Sun
of Justice. No, no, my beloved brethren, should your souls unhappily be
in the state of mortal sin, should you, even until now, have refused to be
guided by those brilliant rays of grace which have so often shone upon
your darkened eyes, directing you, at once, to change your course, to
leave the dangerous path in which you have so long been treading, O,
remember that to-day, Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament, will soon pass by;
you are privileged to be of the multitude preceding or following him
in his passage through this Church, you will hear, you will listen, you
will cry out to him: "Lord, that I may see!" and, then, with joy, you
220 FORTY HOURS DEVOTION.
will open your blinded hearts to the touch of his gentle hand, to receive the
impressions of divine grace which he is prepared to bestow upon you. I
repeat, that soon through these sacred aisles, Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament
will pass by; and thus I come, my dear friends, to the second point of
my discourse.
II. The multitude accompanying our Lord in his journey past Jericho,
seem to have been aware of his great dignity and power. In their hearts
they respected him, and in their exterior they very plainly manifested their
regard for him. On being questioned as to who it was that passed along
the road, they replied unhesitatingly that it was Jesus of Nazareth; and,
then, not thinking it proper, nor respectful, that he should be disturbed
or delayed in his progress to Jerusalem, they reproved the blind man for
his importunity, and commanded him to be still, to hold his peace.
To-day, my dear brethren, in this church you behold every thing pre
pared as for a great feast; you see before you an unusually large number
of men and altar boys, eagerly awaiting the close of the holy sacrifice of the
Mass when they will be privileged to accompany our Lord Jesus Christ
in his journey through these aisles. Yes, my beloved Christians, you know
it well, you believe it firmly, Jesus Christ, the same yesterday, to-day, for
ever, the selfsame Messiah who from Sichem went by Jericho unto Jerusa
lem, where he was to be crucified, the same eternal Son of the eternal
Father, who has come to save and redeem us, Jesus Christ, the second
divine Person of the adorable Trinity, is here truly and really present in
the holy Sacrament of the Altar. Carried by the hands of his minister, the
priest, accompanied by the Levites and attendants of his sanctuary; pre
ceded by the people with lighted candles in their hands, Jesus Christ, the
Son of the living God, who healed the sick and gave sight to the blind,
will soon pass solemnly by. The grave, sweet chant of the Church will
shortly admonish you of his approach, and on bended knees, in profound
and humble adoration, you will offer him the loving homage of your hearts.
May it not chance to be, my dear brethren, that amongst this multitude there
I is, perhaps, some hapless blind man, who, like his prototype of the Gospel,
may be heard to exclaim: "What does this mean?" and, hearing within
him the voice: "Jesus of Nazareth is passing by," may it not be that he
will cry out with him of old : " Have mercy on me, O Son of David ! " And,
if the sinful habits and the unruly passions, which have hitherto prevented
him from seeing the path of repentance in which he should walk, rebuke
him and bid him hold his peace, O may God grant, that, then, with still
greater fervor, he exclaim: "Son of David, have mercy on me! I know
not, my beloved friends, if such an afflicted one be, to-day, in our midst,
I sincerely hope, on the other hand, that all here present at this beautiful
Devotion, at this solemn opening of the Forty Hours Prayer, are in God s
holy friendship, with no mortal sin to bind or blind the clear vision of their
FORTY HOURS DEVOTION. 221
immortal souls ! Yet, may it not be, and have we not sufficient reason to
fear, that some who will accompany our Lord on his journey of love to
day, or whom he will pass by in his progress through these holy aisles,
though they know him to be Jesus of Nazareth, veiled under the humble
appeareance of bread, will yet refuse to open their eyes to his divine
light, or to remove the cloud of sin and passion which obscures their
spiritual sight, and hinders them from distinguishing truth from falsehood,
a real from an imaginary good ? Should there be only one such blind
man here present, my dear brethren, should there be only one such un
happy Christian, who, enslaved to his disorderly appetites cannot see, yet
knows and feels, the sad condition of his soul, to such a one I say:
" Courage, my friend, and do not despair, no matter how desperate your
case may be. Listen no longer to what the enemies of your salvation
whisper in your ears; listen no longer to those false friends who would
deter you by their remonstrances from seeking and serving your God and
Saviour, but hearken to the sublime voice of the Holy Spirit, speaking to
your hearts, and resolutely exclaim: " Son of David, have mercy on me !
O Jesus, thou hast come into the world to save sinners; thou hast given
thy blood to cleanse our souls from the withering stain of sin; thou art the
Light of the world, do thou remove the veil from my eyes, that I may see ! "
And Jesus, attending to the prayer of the humble and contrite heart, will
pause in his journey and bid the Angels bring you, forthwith, to his feet.
III. He commanded the blind man to be brought to him, and when
he was come near, having asked him what he wanted, and having received
the answer that he craved the cure of his infirmity, our Blessed Lord said
to him: "Receive thy sight, thy faith hath made thee whole I" O, how
great, dear Christians, is the goodness and mercy of God, even to those
who have for a time wilfully closed their eyes to the evil they were com
mitting in following sin and the world; and whose hearts, alas ! have been
enslaved for a time to unlawful and, even, degrading passions ! The un
fortunate sheep may have gone astray, for a while, from the rest of the safely-
guarded flock, but if it will only show itself to the shepherd, as it were, from
a distance, and by its mournful cry manifest its desire to return to the fold,
the Good Shepherd, Jesus Christ, will immediately cry out to his attendant
Angels: "Make haste and bring that unfortunate sheep, that hapless sinner
to me, that I may open his eyes and permit him to see how good and
merciful the Lord is, how sweet and amiable are the ways of divine love!"
Ah ! my dear brethren, many a wayward child has been restored to the
bosom of God, his loving Father, on those blessed occasions when Jesus
passed by, even as, to-day, he will pass by all who are worshipping in this
church at the Forty Hours Devotion. Who is there among us, my dear
Christians, who has not reason to confess, that he has been more or less
afflicted in the past, and, (it may be,) is still afflicted in the present with a
222 FORTY HOURS DEVOTION.
species of spiritual blindness ? Is it not true, that the world with its vanities
and dangerous amusements has sometimes clouded the eyes of our faith, so
that we were not able to see clearly the things that are of God? Is it not
true that the trials of life, poverty, sickness, or death amongst those dear
to us, have become as a thick veil thrown over our weeping eyes, obscuring
"the Light of men, ... the true Light, which enlighteneth every man that
cometh into this world," and preventing us from seeing that it was his kind
and loving Providence which permitted us to surfer those afflictions, and
ordained them solely to bring us closer to himself? In a word, has not
sin more or less estranged us from our Saviour and Redeemer ? Ah ! then,
to-day, my dear brethren, we will attend more faithfully to the whispers of
divine grace, and when we hear, each one of us, the voice of Jesus in the
Blessed Sacrament crying to us as he passes by: "What wilt thou that I
should do to thee?" let us respond in accents of exceeding faith and
fervor: " Lord that I may see/ Grant, O my adorable Saviour, that I may
more fully understand the delusions of the world; that I may know the
dangers that beset my soul, that I may distinguish between good and evil,
and see clearly that the path which leads to destruction and eternal misery,
is the broad road of unlicensed pleasure; and that, striving sedulously to
avoid it, I may walk in the narrow path of self-denial, which leadeth to
life everlasting. Lord, that I may see the errors of my past career, to shun
them in the future by practicing the virtues proper to my state of life.
Lord, that I may see and understand my ingratitude towards a God of
infinite mercy and tenderness, who, to save me, has delivered himself to be
crucified; and who, to manifest his love for me still further, remains day and
night abiding in the holy tabernacle of the altar ! " Thus, my dearly beloved
Christians, we shall draw down upon us, so to speak, the compassionate
glance of Jesus as he passes by; and he will say to us, as he said to the
blind man of the Gospel: "Receive thy sight, thy faith has made thee
whole. " Receive your sight, O reckless young man, and behold, in time,
the abyss into which you are rushing when you frequent those dangerous
places and associate with those immoral companions, so fatal to your
purity in the past. Receive your sight, O frivolous young woman, and
take heed of those treacherous shoals and quicksands of vanity which, if
not avoided with care, will cause in the end, your shipwreck in an ocean
of shame and misery. Receive your sight, O ye careless and lukewarm
fathers and mothers, and seeing, make haste to arise from that miserable
quagmire into which you have fallen by neglecting your sacred duties to
your families. Receive your sight, my beloved followers, one and all,
and, opening the eyes of your spirit, endeavor, at last, to understand the
full significance of that question: "What doth it profit a man, if he gain the
whole world, and lose his own soul?" Matt. 16: 26.
In conclusion, I exhort you, my dear Christians, to attend to the words
of the inspired prophet-king addressed of old to the favored children of
FORTY HOURS DEVOTION. 223
Israel. You know how that chosen people were blest by God amongst all
the nations of the earth; you also know, how, on various occasions, they
so ungratefully rebelled against the Most High and refused to listen to the
voice of Moses. "To day," so spoke that God-sent Prophet-king, "to day,
if you shall hear his voice, (the voice of the Lord,) harden not your hearts."
Ps. 94 : 8. If you, my poor children, who are pressed down by the heavy
weight of sin as Jesus passes by, if you should hear him say to you: "Give
up that bad and sinful habit, abandon at once your evil and immoral
ways, do not harden your hearts, but with ardent desire and sincere faith
say: "O Lord, grant that I may see !" And you, O faithful Christians, if
your troubled hearts, anxious to serve God more perfectly, are discouraged at
the sight of your own miseries and short-comings, if, to-day, you hear it
whispered in the ears of your soul: "Come to me, all you that labor, and
are heavy-laden, and I will refresh you," (Matt, n: 28,) know, that it is
the voice of Jesus calling to you to have courage, and to seek in his sacred
Heart the grace of final perseverance. If bowed down by disease, or
crushed by cruel adversities, your Saviour, (neglected and ignored by so
many in the adorable Eucharist,) speaks to you from under the humble
appearances of bread, and sweetly says to you: "Take up your cross and
follow me." Hearken to his voice, I implore you, and with faith and
unlimited confidence, ask him to let you see, how good and blessed it is to
walk in the royal road of the cross. In fine, my dear brethren, let all be
attentive to the inspirations of grace, and do not permit our divine Lord
to pass by to-day, without asking of him that blessing, that favor, which
each soul most needs in its present necessities. And even as he stood still
of old on his way to Jerusalem, and listened with mercy to the prayer of
the poor blind man by the wayside, so will he attend to our prayer, if it
proceed from an humble and contrite heart, and will impart to our souls
that light and strength which they so sorely need in their long and weari
some journey to the New Jerusalem, whither we shall, one day, follow
him, by the help of his divine grace, seeing and glorifying God forever-
more. Amen.
Rev. L. BAX.
224 FIRST FRIDAY IN LENT.
LENTEN SERMONS,
FIRST FRIDAY IN LENT.
I. WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?
" How canst thou say: I am not polluted? See thy ways, know what thou
hast done; AS a swift runner pursuing his course" Jer. 2: 23.
According to the intention of the Church, my dear brethren, we should
employ this holy season of Lent in weeping over and doing penance for
our sins. But are we sinners, indeed? Ask the prophet Jeremiah, and
listen humbly to the scathing reproach of his reply: "How canst thou say:
1 am not polluted ? See thy ways, know what thou hast done; as a swift
runner pursuing his course. " Ask the Apostle St. John, and he, too, will
tell you: "If we say, that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the
truth is not in us." i. John i: 8. In fine, my dear brethren, ask your own
consciences, look at the record of your lives, how polluted are both, and
what a dark vision of sin stares you in the face ! Are you going to continue
your criminal and sinful career? Are you not resolved to relinquish your
bad habits, to restrain your unruly passions, to avoid the occasions of sin,
and to make good use of the means of grace for the amendment of your
lives? O, how sad and deplorable will be the consequences, if you do not
adopt the latter salutary course ! Everything in this holy season urges you
to do penance, and "we, helping, do exhort you" to make this holy
resolution, and by putting it at once into execution, to bring forth fruits
worthy of penance. To this end, I shall speak to you, my dear brethren,
in these, my instructions for the Fridays of Lent, on the sinners return
to God.
The subject of my first discourse, (which I shall deliver briefly to you
to-day,) is the question: "What hast thou done?" And in answer to that
important question, I will proceed to show that you have
/. Forsaken your God, and
//. Offended your God.
I. In the Sacred Scriptures we find it recorded of the sinner, numberless
times, that he has forsaken his God. "The beloved forsook God who
made him, and departed from God, his Saviour." Deut. 32: 15. And
again: "Woe to the sinful nation, a people laden with iniquity, a wicked
seed, ungracious children: they have forsaken God, they have blasphemed
FIRST FRIDAY IN LENT. 225
the Holy One of Israel, they have gone away backwards." Is. i: 8. And
in the prophet Osee, we read: "They have forsaken the Lord in not obey
ing the law." Osee 4: 10. This forsaking God, means that the sinner turns
away from God and walks in other paths than those prescribed by his
-divine law. Does that signify anything? Is it, dear friends, a matter of
little or great importance ? Listen and you shall hear. You have forsaken
your God,
i. To whom you are bound by so many ties. Know, that a sacred, three
fold bond unites man with his God.
a) The bond of Creation. Let us make man to our image and like
ness. . . . And God created him to his own image, and to the image of
God he created him." Gen. i: 26, 27. "The spirit of God made me, and
the breath of the Almighty gave me life." Job 33: 4. God is your Creator,
and you are his creature, the work of his hands. The book is the property
of the man who writes it; the picture is the property of the artist who paints
it; the marble image is the property of the sculptor who chisels it, so, in
a much higher and more binding sense, you are the property of God who
has made you. What a holy bond between him and you, and, yet, you
have broken this bond by your sins, you have forsaken your God !
b) The bond of Redemption. l There is one God, and one Mediator
of God and men, the man Christ Jesus: who gave himself a redemption
for all." i. Tim. 2: 5. "Blotting out the hand-writing of the decree which
was against us; and the same he took out of the way fastening it to the
Cross." Col. 2: 14. God is your Redeemer, and you are his redeemed
ones, bought not with gold, or silver, or precious stones, but with the
adorable Blood shed, (yea, even to its last drop,) from the veins of the
only begotten Son of the Eternal Father. What a holy bond between him
and you; and, yet, you have sundered this bond by your iniquities, you
have forsaken your God !
c) The bond of sanctification. "You are washed, you are sanctified,
you are justified, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, and in the spirit of
our God." i. Cor. 6: n. "By the justice of one, unto all men unto
justification of life." Rom. 5: 18. God, your Sanctifier and you the
sanctified; the breath of his infinite wisdom and holiness breathing con
tinually the most precious inspirations and graces into your souls ! What
a holy bond ! And, yet, you have torn apart this blessed bond, you
have forsaken your God. Will you, then, be able to say: "Of what con
sequence is sin?" O, how holy the bonds that unite you with your God !
The ties which unite you to a friend, to your child, to your wife, husband,
father, or mother are not so holy as these celestial ties, yet, you would
hesitate to break friendship with those dear ones whom you so tenderly
love. And this God, to whom you are bound by divine bonds, you nave
forsaken him, you have despised his love, and turned your back upon his
226 FIRST FRIDAY IN LENT.
laws. Is not sin something awful, if considered in this light alone? . . .
But it has a worse aspect still. You have forsaken
2. The God to whom you have promised fidelity.
a) In holy Baptism. At the sacred baptismal font, my dear brethren,
you promised before heaven and earth that you would never forsake your
God during your whole future life. It is true, you may not have made
this promise with your own tongue, with your own conscious will, but by
the lips of your sponsor, who held you, a little speechless baby, at the font;
nevertheless, the promise binds you just as strongly as if you had raised
your hand to bear witness to the solemn oath. "The baptismal vows are
inviolable, and though all other vows may be remitted, no one, either in
heaven or upon earth, can loose and free a soul from its baptismal vows. "
St. Aug. Epist. 1 1 6.
b) At your first Communion. In that holy hour you ratified your bap
tismal vows. Think of that blissful moment when you were united for
the first time, to the Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity of our Lord and
Saviour Jesus Christ ! In glowing love and innocence, you knelt at the foot
of the altar, and promised to God and all the Saints, before the whole
congregation whom you called upon as witnesses of your vows, that you
would renounce the devil with all his works, the world with all its pomps,
the flesh with all its temptations, and that you would remain faithful to
God all the days of your life, allowing nothing to separate you from the
love of Christ.
c) On many other subsequent occasions. You had heard, perhaps, a
touching sermon; you were saved from some great calamity; you had
received, perchance, some great and special benefit from God; you were
enlightened in prayer, you confessed and received Communion with un
usually fervent dispositions. On all these occasions, you renewed that
first holy bond of love with your God, you made the earnest resolution to
give your hearts entirely to him; thenceforth, to love him sincerely and to
serve him faithfully. Is it not so, my brethren?
And what have you done? Alas! I repeat the painful question. What
have you done? Notwithstanding, your solemn promises, vows, and
oaths, you have forsaken God; yes, you have forsaken him repeatedly and
wilfully, by drunkenness, enmity, hatred, pride, impurity. And is this a
matter of little or no importance ? Is it a small thing for a soldier to for
sake the banner of his country to which he has vowed loyalty and alle
giance? Is it a trifling thing for a married person to dishonor and violate
the bonds of matrimony which he solemnly promised to keep inviolate
unto death ? God bitterly complains of man, because he, thus, forsakes
his Creator and Redeemer. "Be astonished, O ye heavens, at this; and ye
gates thereof, be very desolate, saith the Lord. For, my people have done
two evils. They have forsaken me, the fountain of living water, and have
FIRST FRIDAY IN LENT. 227
digged to themselves cisterns, broken cisterns, that can hold no water."
Jer. 2: 12, 13.
II. What have you done? You have not only offended your Creator,
your Redeemer, but, also, your Preserver and your Sanctifier. "You have
grieved the Holy Spirit of God whereby you are sealed unto the day of
redemption." Ephes. 4: 30. Sin is truly an offence against God; not as if
God thereby felt or experienced pain, but, because sin is a contempt of
God, a rejection of his sacred law, a rebellion against his adorable will.
Hence, sin is also called enmity against God, as the Apostle says: "The
wisdom of the flesh is an enemy to God." Rom. 8: 7. Moreover, it is a
sacrilegious renewal of the crucifixion of Christ. "Crucifying again to
themselves the son of God, and making a mockery of him." Heb. 6: 6.
What have you done ? You have offended God, yes
1. Your great God. The offence is aggravated by the dignity of the
person offended. What a difference, my brethren, between an insult
offered to a servant or one cast in the face of a king ! The sinner offends
a great God:
a) Great in power and majesty. "Thine are riches, and thine is glory,
thou hast dominion over all, in thy hand is power and might, in thy hand
greatness, and the empire of all things." i. Paralip. 29: 12. "Who
shaketh the earth of her place, and the pillars thereof tremble. " Job 9: 6.
Who shall resist the strength of thy arm ? " Wisd. 9:6. "No word shall
be impossible with God." Luke i: 37. To be brief, dear friends, all the
greatness and power ol earthly potentates and princes are limited and
finite, God, alone, is infinite power and majesty. He, alone, is:
b) Great in glory. "The Lord shall sit king forever." Ps. 28: 10.
"His name, alone, is exalted." Ps. 148: 13. "There is none like to thee,
O Lord, thou art great, and great is thy name in might." Jer. 10: 6.
"King of kings, and Lord of lords." i. Tim. 6: 15. This God, great in
power and majesty, and great in glory, before whom the pillars of heaven
tremble, to whom heaven and earth are subject, and whom the Angels
adore with hidden faces, you, a poor miserable worm of the earth have
offended.
2. Your good God, The insult is aggravated by the base ingratitude
of the offender. If it be a cruel act to insult a stranger from whom you
have never received a kindness or benefit of any sort, what can you say,
my brethren, of a child, who strikes his father or his mother? And you
have offended this infinitely good God, who is:
a) So good towards all creatures. "Thou, O Lord, art sweef and
mild." Ps. 85: 5. God wills the true happiness of all his creatures, and
promotes their welfare in every possible way He gives splendor to the
228 , FIRST FRIDAY IN LENT.
sun, light to the moon and to the stars, color to the flowers, and a garment
of soft feathers to the birds. "Thou openest thy hand and fillest with
blessing every living creature. " Ps. 144: 16.
b. So good towards you in particular. What hast thou, that thou
hast not received?" i. Cor. 4: 7. Consider the wonderful and delicate
mechanism of your body, the immortal essence and beautiful powers of
your soul; look back with tears of gratitude upon your past life, from the
first moment of your existence to this present hour. Consider all that you
have lived through; weigh seriously and carefully every inspiration,
every blessing, every signal mercy he has showered upon you, and
you will find that God has overwhelmed you with benefits without
measure, without number; benefits, both spiritual and temporal, of which
you were wholly undeserving, and which you valued or appreciated so
little that you scarcely thought it worth your while to thank your great
Benefactor for his gifts and graces. Like a father, he has carried you in
his arms; like a mother, he has poured out his love upon you. "What is
there, that I ought to do more to my vineyard, that I have not done to it ? "
Is. 5: 4. And what have you done in return?
You have offended this great, this good God, by every sin you have com
mitted; by your pride, your anger, envy, lust, gluttony, and sloth. You
have offended him not once and slightly, but grievously, and innumerable
times. Look well, my brethren, into your life, into your thoughts, words
and actions. O, what a horrid vision of sin stares you in the face ! Are
you not forced to cry out with the royal prophet: "My iniquities are gone
over my head, and as a heavy burden are become heavy upon me." Ps. 37: 5.
What have you done! 3 O, let not this thought depart from your mind,
though it should pierce your heart like a two-edged sword, though it should
burn in its depths like coals of living fire, cast not away this salutary
thought, dear friends, till it effects, by the grace of God, a thorough and
lasting conversion; till it leaves you, at length, firmly resolved to return to
your God during this holy season of Lent, and to continue to do penance
for your past ingratitude and sin, during all the coming days of your life.
Amen.
FIRST SUNDAY OF LENT. 229
FIRST SUNDAY OF LENT.
ON THE NECESSITY AND UTILITY OF FASTING.
"When he had fasted forty days and forty nights, he was afterwards
hungry." Matt. 4: 2.
The precept to fast and abstain is of a very ancient date, almost as
old as the world itself. It was given to our first parents, Adam and Eve,
in the garden of Eden: "Of every tree of paradise thou shalt eat, but of the
tree of knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat: for, in what day
soever thou shalt eat of it, thou shalt die. " Fasting, or rather, abstinence,
was, as it were, the life-preserver of our first parents; so long as they made
use of it, all went well with them, God was their friend; but the moment
they transgressed his precept in that regard, they heard a voice, saying:
"Dust thou art, and into dust thou shalt return." By their disobedience to
the law of God, they barred heaven against themselves and their descendants,
and opened to us all, the gates of hell. The eating of the forbidden fruit
was the cause of the ruin of our first parents and of their whole posterity:
whilst abstinence from what is forbidden by divine command, is the true
means of man s salvation. Adam, by his disobedience, lost the gift of im
mortality, the grace of holiness, original justice, and innocence; Jesus, the
second Adam, came to repair this disastrous evil by obedience, self-denial,
mortification, and fasting. He taught us by his example, to elevate our
selves again to that life of grace which we had forfeited, not, however, by
gratifying our appetites, not by allowing our passions to rule over us, but,
by subjecting the flesh to the spirit. He fasted in a wild and lonely desert
for the space of forty days and forty nights. He fasted, my brethren, as no
man ever did; fasted although he was innocent, fasted not for himself, but
for us. Yet, for all that, his fasting does not exempt us from the duty of
fasting; on the contrary, we must fast in our turn, and, moreover, we must
unite our fasting with his fasting, if we wish it to be meritorious to eternal
life.
I say, then, fasting is necessary and useful.
I. My dear Christians, since fasting is necessary, in order to convince
ourselves of its vital necessity, let us but take into consideration the many
sins which we have committed since we first came to the use of reason down
to this present day; let us examine into the many passions and sinful inclinations
of our hearts, and which are never entirely subdued; let us reflect upon the
230 FIRST SUNDAY OF LENT.
myriad temptations that surround us on all sides. By our manifold sing and
excesses we have offended God most grievously; we have outraged his
infinite majesty, we have attacked his divine rights and prerogatives; we
have said, if not in word, at least in deed: Non serviam, "I will not serve,
I will not obey. " Poor, miserable worms of the earth as we are, we have
aspired to the independence of a God, not regarding or respecting his sacred
commandments; and these, our sins, cry to heaven for vengeance. We know
and are sure that we are sinners, that we have sinned against heaven and
earth, but where is our contrition, where, the penance we have done for
our sins ? Can we exhibit to the eyes of men and Angels any signs of an
adequate repentance? If we contemplate the vast multitude of those holy
penitents who, on account of a single mortal sin, have wept bitterly during
all the remaining years of their earthly career, and if we compare our sensual
and effeminate lives with the penitential lives of the Saints, alas! what a
contrast ! If a spark of genuine Christian feeling remains in our breasts,
must we not be ashamed of our slothfulness and self-indulgence ? It is true
we have made many good resolutions and promises during our lives, but
have we kept them ? We are ready enough in promising, my brethren,
but very slow in executing what we promise. Who can boast of having
preserved, pure and undefiled, through the years of youth and maturity,
the white garment of innocence with which we were clothed at our
baptism ? Are there many, who can claim that happy privilege ? Who
among us, dear Christians, has never committed a mortal sin? How often,
alas ! after having been washed clean from our iniquities in the blood of
the Lamb, how often have we not returned to the mire ! To-day, at the
beginning of the forty days fast, I implore of you, dear friends, lay your
hands upon your hearts and examine your interior a little more carefully
and earnestly than you usually do. Look into the depths of your souls
with an impartial eye, and, each one of you, make haste to ask yourself
seriously: "How do matters stand with me? Am I ready and prepared to
appear this moment before the all-knowing Judge and render an account
of my stewardship ? " If conscience returns an unfavorable answer, O my
brethren, is it not then time to embrace a penitential life, in order to
appease the just anger of God? You know that the least sin will be
punished by him who is infinite Purity, infinite Justice; that we must
render an account, yea, even of every idle word, and that if we do not
voluntarily satisfy for our delinquencies here, we shall be compelled to do
so hereafter. "I say to thee, thou shalt not go out thence," (from prison,)
"until thou payest the very last mite. St. Luke 12: 59. Fasting and
good works are the best and most powerful weapons to disarm the offended
justice of God. Remember, my dear brethren, the history of the Ninivites
of old; the justice of God had already decreed their extirpation: "Forty
days hence, and your city shall be destroyed ! " When they heard those
terrible words, the affrighted people were not deaf to the warning, neither
FIRST SUNDAY OF LENT. 231
did they mock at Jonas nor laugh him to scorn, but they began immediately
to do penance, saying: "Perhaps God will spare us, if we do penance for
our sins." O sinners! what will you answer, if I cry out to you: "Forty
days hence, your city, (that is, your body, ) shall be destroyed ? " Can I
venture to promise any one of you, dear Christians, even that much time ?
Alas ! no. We know not the day nor the hour. Perhaps, to-day, or to
morrow, or after a few brief days, you will die, you will return into dust;
why, then, do you not imitate at once the holy example of the Ninivites ?
Why do you not, in your turn, embrace a penitential life?
Christ not only taught us by his example that we should fast, but, also,
by his word, saying to the disciples of John that, after the departure of the
Bridegroom, his disciples would fast. We are no less exempt from this
obligation, than were our ancestors in the faith. We, like them, are bound
to do penance for our sins, bound to curb the internal concupiscence which
reigns in every child of Adam; for this kind of devil is not expelled except
by fasting and prayer. Christ emphatically declares, that unless we do
penance, we shall all likewise perish. In effect, something must be done,
for the kingdom of heaven surfers violence and only the violent bear it away;
the kingdom of heaven suffers violence in these our days, as well as in
former times; we must do penance in one way or in another, and endeavor
to become conformable to the image of the Son of God, if we wish to be
of the number of the elect. Nay, my dear brethren, even if we were
assured by an angel from heaven of the happy forgiveness of our sins, yet
would we not be justified in neglecting the regulations of Lent, or in failing
to do penance. Something might yet stand against us of the temporal
punishment due to sin, even after the guilt of mortal sin and its eternal
punishment had been remitted. King David was assured by Nathan, the
prophet, that his sin was forgiven, and yet he continued to do penance all
the days of his life. Mary Magdalene had the happiness to hear the words
of absolution from the lips of our divine Saviour himself, and yet she spent
the remainder of her life in the constant and rigorous exercise of penance.
St. Peter was not only forgiven, but even raised to the dignity of Prince of
the Apostles and Head of the Church, yet, he is said to have wept for his
denial of Christ until his cheeks were furrowed by his tears, he never forgot
that he had sinned, and that, consequently, he was obliged to do penance
for his sin. We, also, know, that we have sinned, and, therefore, that we
are equally bound to do penance for our sins. Adam and Eve in the state
of original justice and innocence, were commanded to abstain from the
fruit of a certain tree, how much more are we bound to fast and abstain,
who are guilty of many sins for which we have not yet satisfied the justice
of God ? David, Mary Magdalene, St. Peter, were assured of the forgive
ness of their sins, and yet they did penance, should we not, then, my
brethren, also do penance, who have no such assurance of pardon?
Let us suppose for a moment, that you have confessed all your sins and
232 FIRST SUNDAY OF LENT.
received absolution, that, in short, you have complied with all the con
ditions necessary for a good confession. Suppose you are at present,
(and heaven grant it may, indeed, be so !) in the state of grace and in the
friendship of God, of which no one, however, can have an explicit
assurance without a special revelation from God, even then, it would be
necessary for you, my brethren, to fast and do penance in order to
bridle your corrupt inclinations, to subdue your rebellious flesh, and come
off victorious over the many temptations which are constantly alluring you
to fall into sin. We must fast and do penance, not only because we have
sinned in the past, but, to the end that we may sin no more in the future;
fasting is a preservative against sin, as well as a means to obtain the forgive
ness of sin.
Some will say, perhaps: / do nothing out of the way, I am no grievous
sinner, why, then, should I fast ? The words of Christ, in this connection,
admit of but one interpretation: " Unless you do penance, you shall all
likewise perish." He does not except any one. You tell me, that you are
no sinner? St. John the Evangelist, gentle as he was, answers you in very
plain, stern words, when he declares: "He, that says, he hath no sin, is a
liar, and the truth is not in him." i. John 2: 4. Hence, when you say
that you are no sinner, you prove that you are a sinner, and a very proud
sinner, as well, and that you, more than any other, have good reason to
do penance. Again, my brethren, others may say: God is good and merci
ful; he wills not that man should be cruel towards himself. It is true, God
is good and merciful, and thanks be to him for his goodness and mercy,
for, were it not for those divine attributes we should all infallibly be lost;
but God is also just, as well as merciful, and he will render to every one
according to his works. Some self-indulgent sinners urge again: "Christ
has fasted for us, why then should we fast? Say likewise, ye deluded
ones, since God s omnipotence gives growth to the grain, where, then, is
the use of plowing, sowing, and manuring? It is in the order of grace as
it is in the order of nature. As a man plows, sows, and manures his field,
so, in the same proportion, he shall reap its harvest. And by saying this,
we certainly cast no reproach on Gods omnipotence as the Giver of all
good. Christ fasted for our sakes and for our sins; he stood in no need
of fasting for himself; the infinite merits of his fasting, however, will not be
applied to our souls without our co-operation. Can you reap without
sowing ? Can you reasonably hope to obtain life everlasting, whilst you
persevere in sin? Can we refuse, my dear brethren, to join our fasts with
the fasts of Jesus, when we know that we have so many sins to atone for,
so many vicious affections to combat, so many unruly passions to over
come, so many evil habits to eradicate, so many dangerous occasions to
encounter, both within and without us? "Do penance, for the kingdom
of heaven is at hand." It will not do to say: "Lord, Lord, I wish to go
to heaven," for, we have Christ s own guaranty for it, that not every one
FIRST SUNDAY OF LENT. 233
that says: "Lord, Lord," shall enter into the kingdom of heaven, but he
that doeth the will of his Father who is in heaven, he shall enter into the
kingdom of heaven. " Math. 7: 21.
II. Fasting is not only necessary, but also wholesome; it bridles con
cupiscence, it quenches the flames of lust, restrains the violence of the
passions, tames the rebellious flesh, and heals the disorders of the soul as
well as of the body. Fasting is the best physic to prevent or remove many
corporal distempers, and the surest means to re-establish a broken con
stitution, since it has often been proved by experience, that certain
diseases have been cured by abstinence and fasting, which had long and
obstinately defied all the resources of medical science and skill. Fasting
is, therefore, good in itself, and beneficial to the health of man. To fast,
and to abstain occasionally from certain meats and drinks, is good, con
sidered from a merely natural point of view. Many sicknesses are caused by
eating and drinking to excess. Physicians, when called to the sick-room, very
often prescribe abstinence, and order their patients to fast for a time from all
food, or, at least, from certain prohibited articles of diet which tend to
aggravate their disorder. In like manner, the soul of man becomes ill or
enfeebled by overcharging the body with food or drink, and fasting is our
only resource to free both body and soul from many evils. You will,
perhaps, say that you cannot fast, that you are weak and sickly, or that
Lenten fare does not agree with your constitution; in short, that fasting is
a great prejudice to your health. You are really to be pitied. Your
excuse is a groundless one. Feasting, not fasting, shortens the span of
human life. Intemperance in eating and drinking, those riotous debauches,
those intoxicating amusements which undermine and destroy the whole
constitution, these are the principal causes why the young people of our
present age decay and die in the bloom of their years; why their elders, in
the ripeness of their years, sink into an untimely grave. Our hardy and
temperate ancestors were quite unacquainted with our modern ways of
living; they fasted with the greatest rigor, yet without any prejudice to
their health. Live as they lived, live, I beg of you, my dear brethren, with
a like sobriety and moderation, and you will not only be healthier and
more robust than you are at present, but "your days will be long in the
land." Plenus venter non sludet libenter. Experience teaches that our
imagination is never purer, our mind never more serene, the heart never
more tranquil, and our sleep never better and more refreshing, than when
the body is not overcharged with food.
The outward observance of the precept, however, that is, the bare absti
nence from meat, will avail us nothing, if we neglect the essence and the
substance. The former is no more than the shell, or the external bark of
our obligation, the main design of the fast is to mortify our passions and
amend our lives. To be brief, we must fast, my dear brethren, with a deep
234 FIRST SUNDAY OF LENT.
sense of repentance for having offended God, and a firm resolution by the
help of his grace to lead a new life. We must fast from pride, from
covetousness, from lust, envy, anger, gluttony, and sloth. Our eyes, which
have so often led us into the snares of the devil, should be made to fast in
in their way by closing themselves to vain and criminal objects. Our ears
should be, henceforth, deaf to all injurious discourses, and only open to
edifying instruction and Christian conversation. Our tongues should
abstain from slander, immodesty, blasphemy, and detraction, and be
employed solely in glorifying God, in proclaiming his mercies, and in
craving pardon for our sins. In short, our hands should fast from immoral
actions, our hearts from irregular desires, and all our senses and faculties from
the dangerous occasions of sin. This is the great and general fast of every
Christian, which admits of no dispensation, but is absolutely necessary at
all times, in all places, and for all persons, both young and old, sick and
healthy, rich and poor, during the whole course of their lives. This is the
only true fast, for what does it avail a man to abstain from certain meats
on certain days, and to wallow all the while in sin ? What does it avail to
abstain from drinking wine, and to be drunk at the same time with iniquity?
What does it avail that our faces are pale and emaciated with fasting, if our
souls are bloated with pride, and black with envy and malice? "Be con
verted to me," saith the Most High, speaking by the prophet Joel: "Be
converted to me with all your heart in fasting, and in weeping, and in
mourning; and rend your hearts, and not your garments, and turn to the
Lord your God." Joel 2: 12, 13.
The first condition, then, that must accompany our fast, is to renounce
sin; the second, to fast with a pure intention of pleasing God, through a
motive of religion, of penance, of mortification, of obedience to the Church,
not like the Pharisees, through a motive of vain glory and hypocrisy,
or like misers, through a motive of avarice. The third condition is to
join fervent prayers and abundant alms with our fasts, for we read that
prayer is good with fasting and alms-deeds, more than to lay up treasures
of gold. At least, prayer and fasting should always go hand in hand to
gether, as inseparable companions; they are the wings of a repenting soul,
by the aid of which she ascends to heaven, and effects her peace with God.
Let me, then, entreat you all, my dear brethren, to sanctify in this
manner this solemn fast of Lent. Let me beseech those who are in the
unhappy state of mortal sin, to approach without delay and with proper
dispositions, the sacred tribunal of penance, that thus, their fasts, their
alms-deeds, and their prayers may become more pleasing and meritorious
in the sight of God, by being performed in the state of grace. Perhaps,
this will be the last Lent for many of us. Hence, let us live soberly,
justly, and piously during this holy season. Do not convert these days of
grace and mercy into days of gambling, rioting, drunkenness, and per
dition. Do not turn a divine remedy into a fatal poison. Do not make
FIRST SUNDAY OF LENT. 235
this holy and acceptable time, so proper to appease the anger of God, serve
only to provoke him the more. Unite your fast, my dear Christians, with
the forty days fast of your blessed Saviour, and lament and bewail all the
sins of your past lives in the bitterness of your souls; it is but just that your
sins should draw bitter tears from your eyes, since they drew streams of
blood from the veins of your loving Jesus. "Is not this," saith the Lord,
"the fast that I have chosen? Loose the bands of wickedness and break
asunder every burden. Deal thy bread to the hungry, and bring the needy
and the harborless into thy house; when thou shalt see one naked, cover
him, and despise not thy own flesh. Then shall thy light break forth as
the morning; and thy health shall speedily arise; and thy justice shall go
before thy face And the Lord will give thee rest continually, and
will fill thy soul with brightness. And thou shalt be like a watered garden,
and like a fountain of water, whose waters shall not fail." Is. 58 : 5-12.
A blessing which I wish you all in the name of the Father and of the Son
and of the Holy Ghost. Amen.
Altered and adapted from GAHAN.
FIRST SUNDAY OF LENT.
THE PRODIGAL SON.
/ will arise, and will go to my father, and say to him : Father, I have
sinned against heaven, and before thee : / am not now worthy to be
called thy son, make me as one of thy hired servants " Luke 15 : 18, 19.
Our Blessed Lord came down from heaven and took flesh upon earth,
to save that which was lost and to reclaim sinners from their evil ways, to
the end, my dear brethren, that, being reconciled with God, they might,
once more, return to their Father s house. As he was sent by that Eternal
Father to seek and to save sinners, so he, also, in his humanity, sent his
Apostles on the same errand, and they, faithful and obedient to their
Master s injunctions, devoted their lives and energies to the preaching of
the Gospel, in order to convert sinners and reconcile them with God.
This has been the mission of the bishops and priests of the Holy Catholic
and Apostolic Church during the last eighteen hundred years, and will
continue to be their mission to the end of time. This is, also, the mean
ing and purpose of the present season of Lent. We must return to our
Father and to our home. Let us, then, cleanse our souls from all sin, that
the lessons of faith may sink deeper and deeper into our hearts, and that we
may make ourselves acceptable to Jesus who came to seek and to save us.
236 FIRST SUNDAY OF LENT.
In order to effect this holy end, my dear brethren, I shall bring before
you, to-day, those beautiful words of our Saviour, showing how the sinner
is to return to his true home, and how graciously the Eternal Father, then,
receives him. It is the parable of the prodigal son which I propose to lay be
fore you. It reads thus: A certain man had two sons. The younger demanded
from his father that portion of his substance which would fall to him in
time, and having received it, he went abroad into a far country and there
wasted it by living riotously. When all was gone, and he was forced
as a swine-herd to live upon husks in abject misery and poverty, he said
to himself: "I will arise and go to my father, and say to him: Father, I
have sinned against heaven, and before thee: I am not now worthy to be
called thy son: make me as one of thy hired servants." And rising up,
he went to his father, and his father received him with joy. This, briefly,
is the parable of the prodigal son, in which we will consider, to-day, dear
Christians,
/. TTie cause of his error,
II. His return to his father, and
/// The reception his father gave him.
I. We learn from the Gospel that it was the younger son of the house
hold who said to his father: "Give me the portion of substance which
falleth to me." And the father having given it, the young man leaves home,
at once, and goes abroad with his fortune into a distant country. In this
young man, my dear brethren, we see plainly exemplified the peculiar
characteristics of youth, that levity, that impatience of restraint, that desire
of independence which, too often, urge and goad the younger sons from the
protecting influence of home. Young as he was, this wild youth of the
parable thought himself a man, and, like many another youth of the present
day, he believed himself to be confined too closely in his father s house, and
wished to enjoy more liberty; he was tired of parental tutelage, advice, and
control, and burned to join his comrades in the enjoyment of the pleasures
lof the world. He reasoned thus with himself: "Some day or other, I
shall certainly inherit a great fortune from my father; but it would be better
if I had it now in hand. I would increase it by speculation, not suffering
it to lie idle as my father foolishly does; and by the business-ventures in
which I would embark, I would soon be a rich man. " In his boyish im
prudence and inexperience, the poor young fellow does not foresee the
dangers and temptations with which he must inevitably contend in such
a course, but, blindly and presumptuously, throws himself into the vortex
of a deceitful world.
Can we not too often, my dear brethren, trace the errors of our lives to
a similar cause ? We ardently long to go away from our Father and our
Home; we do not feel content. Our Lord hath said: "My yoke is sweet
FIRST SUNDAY OF LENT. 237
and my burden light, " yet that sweet yoke of Jesus, that light burden of
the Christian s duties and obligations, presses too heavily on our shrinking
shoulders; we think it is not necessary to observe so strictly every precept
which God and his Church impose upon us. We fret under the whole
some restraints of our Father s house, where everything tends to our sal
vation, and we thirst for greater liberty and a wider field of action. We
demand our inheritance. And what is this inheritance which we so boldly
demand of our Father in heaven ? The gifts of nature and grace, those
gifts which are given to us by our good God in order to work out our sal
vation: those gifts which he bestows upon us gratuitously and abundantly so
long as we remain obedient children of Holy Mother Church, hearing her
and doing what she commands, and persevering to the end in making good
use of the natural and supernatural aids vouchsafed us. But when we
demand them from God as a right, as a due (so to speak, ) when we, in our
levity and imprudence, turn our backs upon him, and imagine that even whilst
separated from God by sin, we can still preserve his gifts, O, then, my
brethren, we make the grand mistake of our lives; then we fall, as so many
others of our fellow-creatures do, into sin, and become lukewarm, and
careless in the performance of our religious duties.
After obtaining his inheritance, the young man goes forth into the world
and tasting its false delights, exclaims: "O, how charming is this life on
which I now have entered ! Happy that I am, I begin at last to enjoy all
earthly pleasures !" He drains the chalice of impure delights to its bitter
dregs. In the extravagant enjoyments of an evil life, his substance is dimin
ished and, in a short time, hu3 inheritance is wasted and altogether lost.
Where are now the honors, and the riches, and the pleasures, he had prom
ised himself? His purse and his heart are alike empty; the last farthing is
spent, he is poor and penniless, and, possessing nothing, every one, (as is the
way of the world with the unfortunate), looks upon him with disdain. He will
not beg, and work he cannot, what, then, remains for him to do? He
goes about looking for some humble employment. There was a great
famine in the country in those days, and work of all kinds was scarce.
The degraded scion of a wealthy family, finding nothing better to do, went
and joined himself, at last, to one of the citizens of the locality, who sent
him to his farm to feed the swine. O abject misery of the proud, per-
sumptuous spendthrift ! Once, in the heyday of his abundance, he sated
himself with luxuries fit for the palate of a prince, and now, in his need, he
would fain have filled his belly with the husks the swine did eat, and no
man gave unto him !
Sin and its fatal consequences are delineated in this parable with a force
and perspicuity such as divine wisdom, alone, can make use of. When
sanctifying grace, which is the gift of God and the pledge of our heavenly
inheritance, is banished from the heart by sin, all other goods are dimin
ished and finally withdrawn: the understanding is darkened, the will weak-
23 S FIRST SUNDAY OF LENT.
ened; the memory loses the thought of God and of divine things, and is
filled with ideas and imaginations contrary to virtue and piety. And what
is the result? There comes a famine in the kingdom of the soul; in the
state of sin, my dear brethren, we hunger and we famish; our passions are
excited, and crave insatiably for a food which cannot be found; and as, in
a time when bread fails him, man does not scruple to devour the most dis
gusting offal, so a sinner who has lost through his own criminal fault the
precious bread of divine grace, does not hesitate to yield himself, in the
gratification of his passions, to the lowest and most degrading sins. And
as the prodigal son was sent in his destitution to feed the most unclean of
all animals, so the sensual sinner can conceive of no higher destiny than to
feed and gratify his vile, bestial passions; and, indeed, he would fancy him
self happy if he could succeed in satisfying them, but the unbridled pas
sions of the heart of man, like the daughters of the horse-leech, are ever
crying: "Give, give," and yet are never satisfied. Alas! to what a depth
does man sink, my brethren, when he gives himself up without restraint to
sin! It is this haplesss state of misery which our Lord so forcibly depicts in
the parable of the prodigal son.
And how did that wretched prodigal fare in his novel and degrading
position ? Behold him in the woods, sitting in the shade of a tree, sur
rounded by those unclean animals which he is forced to feed and herd,
all the while suffering himself from such keen pangs of hunger, that he envies
them even the disgusting swill which it is his task to dispense to them.
There he sits, dear Christians, emaciated, pale, and bowed to the earth un
der the bitter burden of his miserable state. All at once, a thought arises
within his heart: "How many hired servants in my father s house have plenty
to eat, yet I, his son, sit here and perish with hunger! " This comparison
between his own situation and that of the domestics in his dear, but once
despised home, moves him strongly and makes him enter into himself. At
long last, he reflects seriously on the misfortune which he has brought upon
himself, and he says: "It is true I have sinned against my father and
grievously offended him by my disobedience, but then, for all, he has the
heart of a father, and will have compassion on me, since I am perishing
with hunger and can no longer live in this way. I will arise and go to my
father, and say to him: Father, I have sinned against heaven, and before
thee. I am not now worthy to be called thy son; make me as one of thy
hired servants ."
What a true picture of the conversion of a sinful soul ! When over-,
whelmed with misfortunes, my dear brethren, if we retire into solitude and
there examine seriously into our hearts, we will soon discover and realize
what is wanting to us. How many of us have just cause to make the
comparison which the prodigal made between the past and the present !
Think of the days of your childhood and youth, how happy you were in
your innocent devotions ! You found real joy and pleasure in going, then,
FIRST SUNDAY OF LENT. 239
to Mass and holy Communion. And now, in your spiritual want and
misery, do you not feel remorse and envy when you behold the delight
which others experience in the service of God? They enjoy an abundance
of the Bread of Life, and feast continually at the banquet of heavenly con
solations; they love to pray, to go to the Sacraments; they are faithful in the
discharge of the duties of their state of life, and find their true happiness in
the observance of the commandments of God and of his Church. O, do
not believe, poor sinners, that it is hard to serve God, believe me, it is
harder, far harder, to live at enmity with him, your true Eternal Father;
for there is a worm of remorse ever gnawing within you, which never
ceases to devour your peace of mind.
What a blessing, if the comparison between past blessings and present
miseries produces for you, dear brethren, the same effects which it produced
upon the prodigal son ! He who is solicitous to be converted, must
imitate that model of humble repentance. Enlightened by the grace of
God, he must resolve to surmount all obstacles that might hinder his
speedy return to his Father s house. Suppose the prodigal son had thus
reflected within himself: "I have hired myself to the master of these
swine, what, then, will he think, if I leave him without warning? What
will my old friends think, if I go back and appear before them in the garb
of a penitent ? What, in short, will the world say, if I, thus, humble my
self to my father?" If he had paused, my friends, to indulge in such
reflections as these, he would never have returned home. Instead of that, he
says with decision : I will arise and go to my father, and say to him : Father,
I have sinned againstr heaven and before thee ." He did not excuse him
self; he did not, (as Adam did,) cast the blame upon another; he did not
plead that the bad example or evil counsel of his companions had betrayed
him into error. No, he candidly confessed his guilt, he was heroically
silent as to the circumstances and occasions of his fall, and far from excus
ing his weakness, he declared with simple sincerity: "Father, I have sinned
against heaven and before thee, I am not worthy to be called thy son;
make me as one of thy hired servants. " Oh ! what humility is expressed in
these words, what willingness to atone for his sins !
Such, my brethren, must, also be our disposition, if we desire to be
truly converted to the Lord; that is, a firm conviction of the enormity of
our sins, of the heinousness of our offences against so good a Father,
joined to a hatred and detestation of them, a sincere sorrow for having
offended God, a candid avowal of our sins, and an unconditional willing
ness to do and to suffer everything that may be enjoined on us in satis
faction therefor.
III. Let us now consider, dear Christians, how the penitent prodigal
was received by his father. It is only with the deepest emotion, that we
can read the words in which our Lord describes that touching reception.
?4 o FIRST SUNDAY OF LENT.
His father saw him, says the Evangelist, when he was yet a great way off,
and he was moved with compassion, and went to meet him; and falling
upon his neck, he kissed him. The faithful Tobias returning to his father,
full of honor and filial devotion, did not meet with a more enthusiastic
welcome than did this wretched spendthrift, who came home in rags and
misery to the sheltering roof he had once so boldly abandoned. No
wonder, my dear brethren, that, overcome by the kindness of his father, he
sobbed out to that long-suffering parent: "Father, I have sinned against
heaven, and before thee; I am not now worthy to be called thy son, make
me as one of thy hired servants." But the good father said to the servants:
"Bring forth quickly the first robe, and put it on him, and put a ring on
his hand, and shoes on his feet, and bring hither the fatted calf, and kill
it, because this my son was dead, and is come to life again; he was lost,
and is found."
Ah! my dear Christians, thus our Father in heaven does not abandon
us even in sin, but endeavors by various means to lead us back to our true
Home. Already, from afar off, at our first feeble attempt to return
to him, he looks down upon us with eyes of mercy, and seeing, that
we make at least some little effort to correspond with the inspirations
of grace, he increases his celestial attractions and gently invites us to
retrace our wayward steps. He not only, like the father of the prodigal,
goes to meet us, embraces us, and gives us the kiss of peace, but he restores
us, as well, the robe which we had received at our baptism, the spotless
garment of sanctifying grace which we had forfeited by our sins. As a
pledge of our restoration to all the rights and privileges of his children, he
gives us the precious signet-ring of reconciliation, and abundant graces
whereby our feet are strengthened in the way of salvation. The Lamb he
immolates for the festal banquet of our return, is his only begotten Son,
the Lamb of God, who not only taketh away the sins of the world, but is at
the same time the food and nourishment of our souls, and the pledge of
our eternal salvation. All this is done for us by the divine mercy, if like
the prodigal son, we arise out of our misery and return penitently to our
Father s house.
Who, then, that is laden with sin would not now resolve in the sincerity
of his heart to return to God ? Let not this holy time pass away unaccept
able to God and unprofitable to yourselves. Keep the fast of Lent in the
right spirit; return to your duty, to your God. He is ready to receive you
that you may become, once more, the living members of the mystical body
of Christ and the pure temples of the Holy Ghost. Receive the real body
of Jesus Christ as the nourishment of your spiritual life, as the pledge of
your eternal salvation.
In conclusion, my dear brethren, I have only one more request to make of
you. You have heard, to-day, what is the unhappy lot of those who stray
away from their Father and their Father s house; you have heard, on the
FIRST SUNDAY OF LENT. 24 r
Other hand, how willingly and cheerfully God receives repentant sinners,
but, alas ! how many there are who resist grace, how many prodigals who
persistently refuse to return to their heavenly Father and their celestial
Home ! My request is this: Pray for them, pray for their conversion; pray
that God may enlighten them by his divine wisdom to see their error, and
give them strength by his divine grace to return from their evil ways. Pray
for all poor sinners that they may come to the knowledge of the truth,
repent of their iniquities, and be saved. You can perform no greater act of
charity, my dear Christians, for over each one of those repentant sinners,
the angels of heaven will rejoice " rather than over ninety-nine just, who
need not penance; " and, if your prayer for the conversion of only one im
mortal soul were happily answered, it might be granted you, one day, to
hear the voices of the celestial choirs, crying out with the father of the
prodigal: "It was fit that we should make merry and be glad; for, this
thy brother was dead, and is come to life again; he was lost, and is
found ! " A. W.
24 2 IRELAND.
IRELAND.
A LECTURE FOR ST. PATRICKS DAY.
God s Truth preserved with unwavering fidelity by an
entire nation through ages of persecution unequaled in the
world s history for persistent violence and cruelty; the
Faith once delivered to the Apostles, prized above all
worldly possessions, and loved so ardently, cherished with
such constancy, that a suffering people became as strangers
in their own land, rather than abandon it; an Obedience to
the divine command so complete, so unquestioning, so
unfaltering, that it may well be compared to Abraham s
obedience, when it required him to forsake his country and
wander into the strange land of Canaan, (differing, however,
from the patriarch s obedience chiefly in this, that there
was no distinct promise heard by this people, as there was
by Abraham, that they should certainly receive an hundred
fold in return for the sacrifice they made,) such is the
glorious spectacle, my dear friends, to which your attention
is directed, to-day. It is a spectacle worthy of your admir
ation; nay, it will challenge the admiration of Angels and
men unto the end of time. History contains not its equal
in point of true moral grandeur, and it stands forth in full
view of the world, an evident lesson to every man that will
read it, as well as the most potent demonstration that can
be imagined of the truth and divinity of our Saviour s
IRELAND. 243
teachings. It is an absolutely incontrovertible proof that
our holy religion, the religion of Ireland, is from God,
since she can influence an entire nation to overlook all
worldly and selfish interests for her sake, alone.
Well may the children of Erin glory that they belong to
a nation thus distinguished above all others! Well may we
glory, dear friends, that we are children of a Church, whose
power over the minds, and whose sweet influence over the
hearts of men, are the undoubted evidence of her divine
authority, and a blessed assurance of her divine guidance !
The arch which spans the heavens is no surer token of the
over-ruling power of the Most High, than is Ireland s con
stancy in the faith a token of God s providence working
through the Church for man s eternal welfare.
Let other nations exult in their military glory, their
heroic achievements, their blood -bought conquests; let
them rejoice in their present prosperity, their advancement
in commerce, in the arts; in a word, in their material and
social progress. It is well. But a word went out among
the nations centuries ago, and its sound was heard to the
uttermost bounds of the universe. And it said: " Heaven and
earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away."
Shut your eyes ever so persistently to the fact of an over
ruling Providence, to the fact of a future eternal life, and of
a dread responsibility to a higher power for all the myriad
deeds done here on earth; still, you cannot deny that it is
better for a man to save his soul, than to gain the whole
world, and that it is better to be true to conscience and to
244 IRELAND.
God, and steadfast in the faith (which, alone, has a right to
our allegiance,) than to abound in this world s goods; nay,
better even than to stand as a hero in the front ranks of
human enlightenment and progress.
What ? Must I feel called upon to prove the excellence
of divine faith, the absolute necessity of it for the welfare
of the individual and of society ? Shall I be required to
prove the paramount importance of eternal interests ? Will
it be demanded of me to offer an apology and a vindication
of the mystery and economy of the Incarnation of the Son
of God ? Need it be demonstrated to you, at this late
day in the history of Christianity, that God s truth is of
infinitely greater worth than all that the world possesses
besides ? Why, my dear friends, there are men, to-day,
who, like Solomon, have tasted all the delights of pleasure,
who have ascended the pinnacle of fame, and taken the first
rank in science without finding satisfaction therein, and
who are now craving something higher, something worthier
the ambition of an immortal soul ! And they find it in the
Christian religion, thus proving that there is nothing on
earth that can compare with the precious pearl of divine
truth.
You and I believe that when Jesus Christ, the Son of
God, came upon this earth, he came to speak words of
power to man, and to establish his Faith upon a durable
foundation; that the work which he came to accomplish was
not to set up a loose association of men, differing in every
belief of the mind and every object of the heart s love, but
IRELAND. 245
to make all men of one mind, to unite one with another, as
he and the Father are one.
That call went out to all the children of men. But among
the nations that, at one period or another, obeyed the
summons, a large proportion afterwards proved unfaithful,
and, as far as in them lay, thwarted the divine idea. The
great Apostolic Churches of the East, where now is their
glory ? Antioch, where first the followers of Jesus were
called Christians; Jerusalem, which witnessed his daily walk
in her public places, afford but a precarious abode to his
followers, to-day; his religion is barely permitted to exist
there. The Church of Asia, which St. Paul established,
alas ! its glory hath departed ! And what shall I say of
Alexandria and Constantinople, the one the seat of Chris
tian learning and philosophy, the other, the rival even of
Rome for imperial and pontifical honors ? Ah ! they, too,
have fallen away from the Christian religion, so that now
scarce a remnant of their people remain faithful, and their
conquest to Christ, if ever attempted in the future, cannot
but be a doubly difficult task, since they have proved them
selves unworthy of the heavenly gift by their recreancy and
apostasy.
Consider, on the other hand, the churches which were
added to the fold of the One Shepherd in the West, and
which persevered for a longer time in the faith, or never
relapsed again into the unbelief from which they had been
rescued. England, once called the Isle of Saints, has scarce
any regard left for the purity and perfection of the religion
246 IRELAND.
of Christ. Her church threw off the yoke of Christ in the
reign of the brutal Henry the Eighth, and has since been
advancing by degrees to the utter denial, even in high places,
of the cardinal truths of Christianity. Germany was once
well-nigh lost to the faith, until by the mercy of God,
through the strenuous exertions of a band of zealous men,
much of the lost ground was recovered, and wavering minds
were confirmed. Italy, Spain, and France were spared the
curse of heresy chiefly by the exertions of their civil rulers.
The land which was fit for the reception of Christ s
doctrine without having been enriched with the blood of
its martyrs, Ireland, alone, among the nations clung to the
Faith through good report, and through evil report, un
flinchingly and undeviatingly. No bribes allured her people,
no persecutions terrified them, no privations could shake
their constancy, no bitter humiliations could shame them
into a denial of their religion. Though for upward of two
centuries, they were as a flock without a shepherd, yet did
they never waver in their fidelity. Though there was no
court of Inquisition established there to check false and
dangerous teachings, and though there were no pains and
penalties appointed there to coerce men to save their souls,
(when passion had made them deaf to the greater punish
ment that God denounces upon heresy and infidelity,)
still were the Irish people faithful, still did they cleave
to the teachings of St. Patrick still were they, what
they are to-day, the one nation, that manifested true
chivalry, true loyalty to God and conscience and truth,
IRELAND. 247
in the maintenance of a principle diametrically opposed to
what the world calls self-interest!
What need is there, dear friends, to rehearse the mourn
ful story of wrong and persecution, which has been Ireland s
history for ages ? The whole world has heard it and is
familiar with it, yet the tale is ever new, and mankind will
listen with sympathy again and again to the wail of suffering
Erin, until some measure of justice be done her in God s
good time.
I have already said, that Ireland received the faith in the
first instance without shedding the blood of a single martyr,
and this is one of the chief glories of the Emerald Isle. But
a day was yet to dawn, when the Irish people were to
become a nation of martyrs and confessors of the Faith.
The ingenuity of the most cruel tyrants was exhausted to
invent methods of torture for them, and never did human
malice go farther to effect the destruction of a nation, and
the eradication of every noble sentiment and every cherished
principle, than in the case of Ireland. Every instrument of
torture that was ever devised, every appliance of bodily pain
and mental anguish was made use of to turn her people away
from the faith of their fathers: the rack, the gibbet, the halter,
the triangle, the lash, these were the strong arguments
England had recourse to; first, to show them what treason
they were guilty of in being Irish, and second, what an un
pardonable sin they committed in being staunch Catholics.
The letting loose among them of a licentious and fanatical
soldiery, the suborning of false witnesses, the bribing of
248 IRELAND.
informers, all the inducements of wealth and position, that
can be held out to a child to betray his parents and kinsfolk,
all these things were tried in turn, to the end that they
might shake the constancy of the Irish people.
The rightful possessors of the soil were driven from the
holdings their forefathers had possessed from time imme
morial. They were proscribed and outlawed as felons; their
lands were alienated to their inhuman oppressors. All the
avenues of wealth and honorable station were barred against
them. Discontent was fostered amongst them one day, to
ripen into open revolt and rebellion that their tyrants
might have, at least, a shadow of excuse for unsheathing
the sword against them, and utterly exterminating them,
root and branch. Nay, even knowledge and learning were
forbidden them under extreme penalties, whether sought at
home or abroad. Of course, the exercise of the duties of
their holy religion was denied them by every exquisite
refinement of despotism. Then, was the minister of religion
pursued like a hunted deer, and chased from one obscure
hiding-place to another. No pen can describe the horrors
of the worse than demoniacal persecution to which Ireland
and her unhappy children were subjected. In a word, the
attempt was made to utterly brutalize the people, so that,
since they would not live and embrace an heretical creed,
(their utter abhorrence,) they should die the death of dogs,
to the delight of their persecutors and the infernal demons.
But, in vain was all this savagery of our enemies against
the stout hearts of our ancestors in those darkest days of
IRELAND. 249
Ireland s history. In vain, too, were all the allurements
held out to them to change their faith. That long-protracted
and bloody crusade was barren of victory over Ireland s
loyalty to faith and truth in the past, even as it is cursed
with a like barrenness to this present day. We have seen
that noble people pallid and famishing, walking the earth
in the semblance of skeletons, anatomies of death rather than
living men, from the wasting of hunger and from the
violence of fever generated by sore famine, whilst the
alierkte the bread that should rather sustain the life of the
faithful people; whilst a hated, hireling, foreign hierarchy,,
no, I will not call the thing a priesthood, for a priesthood
which, with the right to the divine Sacrifice, has lost the
divine impulse of compassion for human grief and suffering,
and whose daily bread is the fruit of injustice and extortion,
is no longer a priesthood yes, whilst that un-Irish, that
un-Christian body, called the Established Church in Ireland,
mocked at our extreme woe, or only added insult to injury
by offering us bread on base conditions that we would
consent to play false to conscience, and commit the sin of
Judas against our Lord!
Again I ask, has the world ever witnessed a sublime con
stancy like this of the Irish people ? Contrary to all human
expectation and all human experience, the faith prospered
or rather, the afflicted people clung to their God, to their
religion more firmly than ever. And are we not now
prepared, dear friends, to meet, unmoved, rather let me
say with pity the sneer of the scoffer, the derision of the
250 IRELAND.
infidel, who know not, nor care to know, that the highest
glory of a man, or of a nation, infidelity to God? We, who
are the representatives in this age of a long line of glorious
martyrs and confessors of the faith shall I say it? the
remnant of a nation of martyrs ; we, who have parted with
much that men hold dear, out of loyalty to principle, loyalty
to religion, God helping, we cannot be deterred from
persevering steadfastly to the end, in spite of the stupid
gibes and taunts of ignorant heretics and unbelievers.
They say that our confidence is visionary and baseless!
They tell us that our faith is not worth the sacrifice! They
assert that God cannot approve of this voluntary self-
annihilation of a nation for conscience s sake. They declare
that it were better to advance with the age, than to preserve
intact the faith handed down to us by our fathers! But,
thanks be to God ! so have we never been taught ! Thanks
be to God ! so have we never believed ! The law as we
read it, runs thus: "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with
thy whole heart, and with thy whole soul, and with thy
whole mind, and with all thy strength." That first of all.
The rest will follow in good season: for, " Seek ye first the
kingdom of God and his justice, and all things else shall be
added unto you," is the word of Eternal Truth which can
never, never fail. The Irish nation had the choice proposed
to them deny your faith , or prepare for the worst ! They
rejected with scorn the insulting proposal! Ireland spurned
the alluring bribe, and the alternative was hers! Then it
was that the sword of persecution entered her loving,
IRELAND. 25 1
devoted soul. But she was unconquered, then, as she is
unconquered still. Yes, she is even now victorious, though
she staked all and lost all in the contest, save only her
honor and her faith; whilst the victor lost honor, and shall,
please God, lose all his conquests as well, in that day, when
the divine promise comes to be fulfilled in favor of poor
Erin: "The meek shall possess the land."
When the Jews, after having crucified our Lord, beheld
him hanging on the cruel Tree of Golgotha, they mocked
and scoffed at him, saying: " If thou be the Son of God,
come down from the cross." He had put himself into their
savage hands to work their pleasure upon him; it was their
hour, and the power of darkness. So, when the Irish nation
had been for centuries subjected to the extremity of such a
fierce persecution, that the very features of its sons were
changed by reason of the sharpness of the long agony;
when the lineal descendants of kings and valiant chieftains,
whose names adorn the pages of history, took on the
appeareance of an inferior race; when the open brow, and
brave glance, and laughing eye of the light-hearted Celt
were depressed, dimmed, defaced; when the fiery ardor of
Gaelic nature was repressed, stamped out; when the shackles
of servitude had changed the proud, soldierly step of the
freeman into the shambling gait of the slave; when the most
excellent gifts that God Almighty bestows in the order of
nature comely person, intelligence, wit, capacity for learn
ing, generous heart, fiery valor, fidelity to trust and to
plighted faith, abundant gayety, and wealth of humor,
252 IRELAND.
when all these noble qualities were blighted and almost
crushed out by centuries of cruel wrong; and, when, in their
stead, too often, the vices of serfdom and slavery asserted
themselves, then, O just heaven ! then, as the Jews taunted
our Blessed Lord upon Mount Calvary, so were we taunted
with our defects, with our wounds, with our deformities, by
the very men who had nailed us to our cross. It was said,
(nay, it is still said): " Lo, to what an extremity of misery and
wretchedness has their faith reduced them!" Wretched,
indeed, and deplorable is the condition to which that beauti
ful land, so bountifully endowed by God, has been reduced !
But we affirm without fear of contradiction, that Ireland is
not fairly chargeable with this. We cry out to the oppressors
of our beloved land: " Behold the work of your hands, and
tremble ! "
If the darkness of ignorance has, in a measure, superseded
the light of knowledge in our unhappy isle, it was you that
extinguished the torch of science; it was you that prohibited
learning, and suppressed schools, and outlawed the school
master. If public spirit is well-nigh dead among our people
and a healthy national pride almost vanished from the land,
none but you, the foes of Erin, are to blame. If some of
the vices of the Helot disfigure the national character, it
was you, our oppressors, that sowed their pernicious seeds
in one of the fairest soils of God s earth. If the people are
restless and turbulent now, and incapable of being benefited
by anything that England can do for them, it was you that
caused them to mistrust and dislike you. It was you that
IRELAND. 253
V^oke their elasticity of spirit, so that now they scarce have
the nerve to arise and throw off their shackles, though you
should in good earnest bid them go and be free, though
you should declare them, before the world, independent of
your odious tyranny. Even your gifts and concessions,
they have learned by the bitter experience of the past, to
fear and to suspect.
The depressing and debasing effects of long ages of servi
tude can not be effaced in a day; no, not even if the oppressor
were sincerely willing to deal leniently and generously with
his victims unto the end of time. There is even reason to
fear that our race has, to some extent, irremediably deter
iorated through adverse circumstances. Alas, poor land!
Island of sorrow! They have wrought their will upon thee!
The only glory that remains for thee at present, is the fame
of thy constancy and of thine heroic preservation of the true
faith of Jesus Christ!
But surely, the Almighty will not be unmindful of his
mercies forever. Surely, my dear friends, he must have a
glorious future in store for the faithful Island of Saints. She
has conferred countless benefits on many nations, and surely
the blessing of the Most High must, one day, be hers. The
infinite justice of God will grant her, yet, a glorious deliver
ance from all the ills that oppress her, to-day. In the
darkest hour of our affliction, we shall not be without hope;
and the bard of Ireland only gives utterance to the universal
sentiment of the nation, when he sings:
254 IRELAND.
"The nations have fallen, but thou still art young,
Thy sun is but rising, when others are set;
And tho Slavery s cloud o er thy morning hath hung,
The full moon of Freedom shall beam round thee yet,
Erin ! O Erin ! though long in the shade,
Thy star will shine out when the proudest shall fade."
But I care not what reward may be in store for Ireland
(and may it be exceeding great, in proportion to her un
equalled, chivalrous fidelity !) it still cannot surpass the glory
which she derives from her constancy in the faith of Christ,
handed down from age to age through a splendid line of
apostles, martyrs, confessors, holy men, and saintly women.
O sons and daughters of Erin ! let us be careful not to prove
ourselves unworthy descendants of so noble an ancestry,
but let us strive by the bravery and purity of our life and
conduct, to reflect credit upon our heroic sires. A wise son
is his father s glory.
And I tell you, Irishmen, that it can not be well or wise,
at this late day, to disparage the religion of Ireland, to
regard it as a hindrance to her prosperity, in any sense
wherein prosperity is desirable and honorable. It cannot
be well or wise to despise the ministers of that holy religion,
and lead others to despise them. I speak not to cold ma
terialists here to-day, I speak to the scions of illustrious con
fessors of the faith, to men who have imbibed from infancy
the traditions of heavenly truth. I speak to men who know
that the Church is divine, the Faith divine. And I ask you:
Is this the time to entertain cold, unworthy suspicions of
*hat Church which your fathers so loved and prized, that
IRELAND. 255
they preferred to die rather than abandon it? The fiercest
part of the struggle for the maintenance of the faith in
Ireland is now over. Heresy seems tottering to its fall,
seeking to drag down with it to the abyss even such broken
and distorted fragments of the truth as still remain to it,
and threatening to involve in a total ruin the belief and
hopes of mankind. The entire religious world is in a ferment;
and it is now the imperative duty of all who love God and
are loyal to truth and to the highest duty, to stand firm to
their principles and to the faith of Jesus Christ. Will you
listen at this time to the deceiver who would alienate you
from your duty, by causing you to entertain suspicions
against your holy Mother, the Church ? You cannot mis
apprehend my meaning. There is a deplorable spirit of
suspicion and fault-finding abroad amongst us, which must
be repressed, or else you lose for yourselves and your pos
terity, the glory that your ancestors acquired for you at
every cost of blood and treasure. It is an unmanly spirit.
It is an unchristian spirit. And sooner than Erin should
be freed from her shackles by the destruction of our Catholic
faith and the dissolution of those ties of affection, confidence,
and reverence which bind together in Ireland, more closely
than in other lands, the priest and his faithful people, sooner
than that, O my dear friends, I am sure that every true
Irishman of Christian belief and feeling, would fervently
exclaim: " Welcome, chains and torments! Welcome, ever
lasting slavery!"
You, of the Irish race, could have had wealth, and home
2 fj 6 IRELAND.
government, and commerce, and manufactures, at any time
during the past three hundred years, if your sires had con
sented to abandon the faith. But those heroic ones wha
went before you, spurned the infamous proposal. They put
into your hands, Irishmen, (wherever your lot might be cast,)
the honor of our beautiful Isle, untarnished by a single speck
of dishonor or shame! " Semper et ubique fidelis, always
and every where faithful" was the inscription on the flag of the
Irish brigade in France, and under that legend was inscribed
a long list of glorious names. They were the names of the
victories that Irish valor had achieved for "the Eldest
Daughter of the Church." That same motto is indelibly
inscribed on Ireland s national escutcheon. Bear it well in
mind, my dear Irish friends: " Always and every where faith
ful." You dare not erase that motto from your country s
shield: " Every where and always faithful." Even the blessed
boon of freedom and national prosperity, gained under any
other motto, were an accursed, polluted thing !
Blessed be God ! however, in the old and faithful isle all
the signs of the times seem to indicate an approaching sur
cease of misfortune. Her merciless tormentor is no longer
the arbiter of nations, no longer the mistress of the sea, as
once she was. Her dominion and influence are sensibly
declining. She dare not go to war, to-day, with any first-
class power of the earth, for well she knows that the exiled
Irish in the onset of lawful battle would soon thrust at her
throat the two-edged sword of a long-delayed, but victorious,
vengeance. Disintegration of her political fabric is imminent,
IRELAND. :;;
and the forces which will rend her boasted Constitution to
tatters, are only temporally controlled and held in check;
but, before long, they will assuredly spurn restraint, and,
then, crushing with resistless violence the frail barriers of an
artificial aristocracy and puppet-royalty, they will restore to
Ireland her own; and it may be, perhaps, proclaim England,
at last, as just, as once she was mighty.
Ireland s struggle is the longest and fiercest fight on the
records of the world s history. All mankind acknowledge
that we have fought valiantly, and that God approves. We
still live, we still display the same courage as ever before.
The heart of the Irish patriot beats still as strongly as ever
for the cause of his beloved land; but amid all his trials and
disappointments, he cherishes the sweet, soul-inspiring pro
phecy of Ireland s favorite bard, and he does not forget
that:
"Unchilled by the rain, and unwak d by the wind,
The lily lies sleeping thro winter s cold hour,
Till the hand of the spring her dark chain unbind,
And daylight and liberty bless the young flower.
Erin ! O Erin ! thy winter is past,
And the hope that liv d thro it shall blossom at last!
J.F.
258 SECOND FRIDAY IN LENT.
SECOND FRIDAY IN LENT.
II. WHAT AWAITS YOU?
// T S a dreadful thing to fall into the hands of the living God. "
Hebr. 10: 31.
Have you heard, my dear brethren, these words of the Apostle: "It is a
dreadful thing to fall into the hands of the living God ? " Ponder upon
them with me, to-day, I implore you, for "his wrath no man can resist,"
Job 9 : 13; and the arrows of his vengeance destroy all against whom they
are directed. But who, (you ask,) will fall into the hands of the living
God ? He who departs this life in the state of mortal sin. O what a great
evil is sin ! Its black deformity was clearly set before you in my last dis
course. I hope, then, you have complied with my request, and (never
suffering those salutary thoughts to depart from your memories, ) that you
have pondered seriously upon the important subject. What have you
done ? You have forsaken your God, your loving and powerful Creator,
to whom so many and such holy bonds bind you, and to whom you have
so often vowed fidelity What have you done? You have offended
your God, your wise and amiable Redeemer who shed the last drop of his
blood for you upon the cruel cross. You have sinned against the Holy
Spirit, the great and good God, whp has loaded you with inspirations and
graces. . . . And now what awaits you in punishment of your infidelity,
your disobedience, your malice? Think well on it, before it be too late.
God must punish you; he is bound by his eternal Law to render to every
man according to the works which he has done in the flesh, whether good
or evil. What, then, awaits you for your sinful works ?
/ The judgment of an angry God,
II. The hell of an avenging God,
The Eternal Lord and Law-giver will, nay, must enter into judgment
with his offending creature. His outraged mercy demands the arraignment
of the criminal at the bar of his infinite justice. Behold, then, O sinner,
what awaits you: The judgment of an angry God. But what kind of a
judgment is this? A judgment so terrible that its horrors, my brethren,
are far beyond and above all human conception.
SECOND FRIDAY IN LENT. 259
a) It is the judgment of an infinitely holy God. The Seraphim cried
one to another, and said: "Holy, holy, holy, the Lord God of hosts, all
the earth is full of his glory." Is. 6: 3. Being a God of infinite purity and
holiness, he detests every sin in his innermost essence, and with an ever
lasting hatred: "Thou art not a God that wiliest iniquity, neither shall the
wicked dwell near thee; nor shall the unjust abide before thy eyes. Thou
hatest all the workers of iniquity; thou wilt destroy all that speak a lie.
The bloody and the deceitful man the Lord will abhor. " Ps. 5 : 5-7. And
you, O sinner, standing in judgment before this holy God, what shall he
see in your heart, in your life? Alas! how many stains, and spots, and
indelible brands of hell ! He sees your injustices, your adulteries, your
drunkenness, your mortal sins against Charity, your sacrilegious Com
munions. The infinitely holy God sees all the crimes which you have
committed from the dawn of reason up to this very hour. His angry gaze
rests upon you, you are doomed already to hell; the sentence is pronounced;
you are, as it were, on your way to the place of execution, the mercy of
God, alone, stays for a little while the descending sword of his avenging
justice. He can destroy you, body and soul, at any moment. Can you,
then, be so careless, so indifferent, in the face of such momentous risks ?
b. An omniscient God will judge you. Before an earthly judge you
may sometimes succeed in concealing certain damaging circumstances,
and what you cannot conceal you may be able to palliate or excuse. But
this, my brethren, is not possible before the all-knowing Judge. "Man
seeth those things that appear, but the Lord beholdeth the heart."
(i. Kings, 16: 7.) Yes, God beholds the heart, and he beholds it with the
eyes of a God. The eyes of the Lord are brighter than the sun, behold
ing round about all the ways of men, and the bottom of the deep, and
looking into the hearts of men, into the most hidden parts. " (Eccl. 23: 28.)
And you, sinner, are in judgment before this omniscient God ! His eye
penetrates the most secret folds, the inmost recesses of your soul. All those
bad thoughts and sinful actions which you have concealed from every
human eye, all those corrupt desires which you have buried in the depths
of your own bosom, are open and manifest before him, as though they were
written on the unclouded sky with the beams of the meridian sun. How
infinite, then, must be your shame and confusion before him !
c) An inexorable God will judge you. The time of mercy is passed,
the measure of grace is exhausted to its dregs. Hence, God is inexorable
in his vengeance. "You shall seek me, and shall not find me." John 7: 34.
And you, O sinner, are in judgment before this inexorable Judge ! Alas !
what must be the feelings of a criminal when, in answer to his last petition for
pardon, the terrible reply is given: "There is no pardon but with God !"
Who will be able to describe the emotions of the weeping sinner, before
260 SECOND FRIDAY IN LENT.
the throne of God, when he clasps his hands in anguish and with torrents
of tears implores mercy, but obtains no mercy! O, how dreadful, dear
Christians, is the judgment of an enraged God ! Add to this, yet another
circumstance which draws down more heavily still the fatal scales of divine
justice.
2. The judgment of that hour is forever decisive and irrevocable.
Whatever sentence the eternal Judge pronounces upon the offender remains
pronounced for all eternity. From his sentence there is
a) No appeal. Here upon earth, a criminal may protest against the
sentence pronounced upon him, and appeal to a higher court. It is only
when the Supreme Court of the land has spoken, that no further appeal is
possible. ... It is very different, my brethren, in the Court of divine
justice. There speaks the King of kings, (i. Tim. 6: 15); there speaks one
most high, Creator Almighty, a powerful king, and greatly to be feared,
who sitteth upon his throne. (Eccles i : 8. ) It is the Supreme Court of
heaven that decides, and from its verdict there is no appeal. And as from
the sentence of that divine Judge there is no appeal, so in the sentence
itself there is
b) No change, no shadow of alteration. God judges, and his judg
ment becomes an eternal one. "The counsel of the Lord standeth for
ever." Ps. 32: n. "The will of the Lord shall stand firm." Prov. 19: 21.
Therefore, there can be no alteration of the sentence. Let the victim of
divine justice suffer the most intense and bitter agony, let his indescribable
misery endure from century to century, the sentence of condemnation, once
passed, abides forever, and will never be alleviated for the space of a single
moment. "If the tree fall to the south or to the north, in what place so
ever it shall fall, there shall it be." Eccles 11:3.
All this awaits you, O sinner ! in the judgment of an enraged God. . . .
You may doubt, or, perhaps, even discredit it; you may banish the thought
of the judgment for a season from your mind; you may run from
pleasure to pleasure, you may make yourself, for the time being, blind and
deaf to the terrors which await you, but whether you prepare for it or not,
the hour will come when you shall stand alone and defenceless before the
throne of your God. "Every one of us shall render account for himself to
God." Rom. 14: 12. "We shall all stand before the judgment-seat of
Christ." Rom. 14: 10. "When one departs this life, he shall forthwith be
placed before the jugdment-seat of God, and the most searching scrutiny
will be made of all things which he has ever thought, spoken, or done. "
St. Aug. lib. 2, De anima, cap. 4.
II. Mortal sin is so great an evil that it deserves painful and eternal
punishment. And such a punishment is really inflicted upon the sinner.
God punishes him
SECOND FRIDAY IN LENT. 261
1. With a hell full of torment. And the torment of hell is twofold:
a) The torment of the gnawing worm. The Prophet speaks of a worm
which gnaws in the heart of the damned : Their worm shall never die. "
Our divine Saviour repeats the same words: "Their worm dieth not."
Mark. 9: 47. If a worm were generated in your heart, my brethren,
eating into its very core day and night, what exquisite pain would it not
produce? In the heart of the damned there lives a very poisonous worm,
which continually gnaws the soul with its sharp teeth, this is the worm of
conscience, bitter remorse. It continually says: "What have you lost, O
sinner? Into what infinite misery have you not plunged yourself! You
might so easily have been a child of everlasting salvation, and, now, you
are, forevermore, a child of infernal perdition ! " The Fathers of the Church
declare, that the torment of the gnawing worm is very painful. St. Bernard
says: "This is the worm that never dies, the memory of past things. It
never ceases to gnaw at the conscience, and, nourished by this indigestible
food, it continues its life. I shudder at this biting worm and everlasting
death. I shudder to fall into the hands of the living death and of the
dying life ! "
b. The torment of the devouring fire. "Which of you can dwell with
devouring fire ? Which of you shall dwell with everlasting burnings /" "
Is. 23: 14. "The end of them is aflame of fire." Eccles 21: 10. "I am
tormented in this flame." Luke 16: 24. " He shall be tormented with fire
and brimstone. " Apoc. 14: 10. "Depart from me, ye cursed, into ever
lasting fire." Matt. 25: 41. "The chaff he will burn with unquenchable
fire. " Luke 3:17. * The Angels shall separate the wicked from among
the just, and shall cast them into the furnace of fire. " Matt. 13: 50. The
Fathers of the Church use similar language. "There will not be so small
a fire as burns upon your hearth-stone, and if any one would compel you
to put your hand into it, you would rather give him anything than put your
hand therein." St. Augustine in Ps. 49. "As often as I look at the earthly
fire, I think of the fire of hell, and cannot sufficiently bewail the miserable
condition of the damned. " St. John Climachus in seal. par. grad 4. Be
hold, O sinner ! this hell of torments awaits you, and it is
2. A hell without end. The enraged God said of old to his faithless
people: " I will bring an everlasting reproach upon you, and a perpetual
shame which shall never be forgotten." Jer. 23: 40. The Eternal Truth
has declared that his sentence to the reprobate at the Last Day shall be:
"Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire." Matt. 25: 41. "The
smoke of their torments," says the Revelation of St. John, "shall ascend
up for ever and ever." Apoc. 14: n. We all know, my brethren, that a
certain sort of fire was created to serve the use of man in his necessities,
262 SECOND FRIDAY IN LENT.
but, alas ! it is~ quite another sort of fire which serves the justice of God in
his vengeance. The latter, unlike the former, does not consume what it
burns, it continually restores what it feeds upon. No wonder, then,
that those terrible and insatiable flames must burn for ever. Eternal will
be the fire since eternal is its fuel, the soul of the sinner and his unremitted
sin.
O most dreadful of all truths ! The judgment of an angry God and the
hell of an avenging God, alike, await the sinner . . . This is the reward* or
rather punishment of his momentary delights, his base brief joys, his loath
some, short-lived pleasures . .. . This is your portion, O poor deluded
ones, who disregard God and his holy law, who stretch out your hands to
grasp the goods of others, who shamelessly dishonor your bodies by lust
and carnal excesses. This your portion and inheritance, O drunkard, O
proud man, O profligate father, O godless son ! Fly, before it be too late,
from the wrath to come; and, having immediate recourse to the tribunal
of infinite mercy, seek by a sincere repentance to avert from your souls the
irrevocable sentence of infinite justice, that you may never know how dread
ful a thing it is "to fall into the hands of the living God." A blessing
which, from my heart, I wish you in the name of the adorable Trinity, the
Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost. Amen.
SECOND SUNDAY OF LENT. 26
SECOND SUNDAY OF LENT.
THE IMITATION OF OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST CRUCIFIED.
" This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased: hear ye him."
Malt. 17: 5.
These, my dear brethren, are the words of the Eternal Father, speaking
from the clouds of heaven to Peter and James and John, when Jesus on
Mount Thabor manifested himself to those three disciples in the splendor
of his glory: "This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased; hear
ye him." These words are, also, adressed, dear Christians, to you and me.
We must hear his words with reverence and follow his example with fidel
ity. What does he teach us by his words, by his sacred instructions?
That sublime doctrine which it concerns all nations and all individuals to
know; the foundation and corner-stone, as it were, of the whole Gospel
and which is this: "If any man will come after me, let him deny himself,
and take up his cross daily, and follow me." What does he teach us by his
example ? That we cannot arrive at the possession of his glory that glory
in which he once revealed himself so resplendently to his disciples on
Mount Thabor, unless we first follow him, bearing the yoke of the cross
to Mount Calvary, and endeavoring to die to the world and its vanities, to
the flesh and its concupiscences. Had not Christ to suffer and so to enter
into glory ? If you wish to become sharers of his glory in heaven, dear
brethren, be sure, now, to be partakers of his shame and suffering on earth.
Jesus Christ Crucified is your Lord and Master: hence, you must follow
him in the way of the cross; the servant is no better than the Master. And
why, besides, must you follow him ?
/ Because he commands you to follow htm, and,
II. Because at your baptism you promised to follow him.
I. St. Peter says: "Christ suffered for us, leaving you an example, that
you should follow his steps/ i. Pet. 2: 21. Christ enjoins on all his
disciples this following of his footsteps: "I have given you an example,
that as I have done to you, so you do also." John 13: 15. During his
whole life, from beginning to end, Christ gives us examples of virtues which
we should strive to imitate.
i. He is a model of poverty; a lesson and reproach to those who strive
after riches; he is born in a stable, in the most abject poverty; a little hay
^64 SECOND SUNDAY OF LENT.
or straw in a poor manger, is his comfortless bed; a few rags, his only
covering. He grows up, earning his bread by the sweat of his brow in
the humble carpenter-shop of his foster father. He begins his public career;
he travels on foot from city to city, from village to village, carrying
"neither purse, nor scrip, nor shoes;" he has nothing, and desires nothing.
His usual food is barley bread, sometimes a fish or some fruit; his raiment
a coat, woven by the hands of his blessed Mother; he has no bed, he owns
no house; he sleeps wherever night overtakes him, now in the field, now on
.a mountain, sometimes, in the house of a friend. "The foxes have holes,
and the birds of the air, nests; but the Son of man hath not where to lay
his head." Luke 9: 58. He dies, and dies poor as he had lived. In the
solemn moment of dissolution, he had nothing of his own to bequeath to
his afflicted and desolate Mother, no lands, no houses, neither real nor
personal property, absolutely nothing, he breathes his last breath upon
the Cross, destitute and naked, stript even of his one poor garment, teach
ing us by his example, that we should renounce all our possessions for love
of him, or, at least, disengage our hearts from the things of this world, if
we wish to be his disciples.
2. He is an example of humility. He despises honors and dignities, bears
contumelies and derisions; he consents to be regarded "as one struck by
God and afflicted," as a leper "as a worm and no man," a stern re
buke to those who love and seek preferment. He never spoke of his
royal extraction; he never sought the society of the great ones of this world,
unless invited by them or for their salvation; he was fond of conversing or
communing with the poor; he shrank with horror from the honors and
praises of men, from the empty plaudits of the world. "Learn of me," he
said, "because I am humble and meek of heart;" and again "Blessed are
the poor in spirit (i*. e. the humble) : for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. "
When, one day, the people sought to make him king, he fled into a mountain
alone. Once, indeed, he entered the city of Jerusalem in a sort of ephem
eral triumph, but with what splendor was he attended? "Tell ye the
daughter of Sion: Behold thy King cometh to thee, meek, and sitting
upon an ass." He was mounted upon that despicable animal, in the midst
of a shouting concourse of low and common people. Was not this a triumph
of humility ? What derisions, what insults, what scornful outrages, did he
not receive from the Pharisees and high priests ! What mockery, what in
human treatment did he not experience during his Passion, from Herod
and from the Roman soldiery! They clothed him with a white garment,
jeering the Eternal Wisdom as a fool; they struck him, plucked out his
beard, spat in his face, crowned him as a mock king, condemned him to
death as a malefactor, and, even when he hung agonizing and expiring on
the cross, they scoffed at his divine power and his miracles. Was there
ever such an excess of pure and unadulterated humiliation ? O, my brethren,
SECOND SUNDAY OF LENT. 265"
let us cry out with St. Bernard to our outraged Redeemer: "The more I
behold thee abased and humbled for love of me, the dearer thou art,
O blessed Lord, to me ! "
3. He is an example of patience in the most painful sufferings, a con
tinual reproof to those so-called Christians, who seem to exist for no
other purpose than the enjoyment of sensual pleasures. On that Maunday-
Thursday night, when he began his sacred Passion in the Garden of Gethse-
mane, what nameless pains did he not endure with the strongest forti
tude, and patience, pains which pierced, like a two-edged sword, alike
through flesh and spirit ! He trembled with anguish, and nearly swooned
away under the accumulated weight of man s iniquities, laid upon him
as the Saving Victim of the world; instead of sweat, large drops of blood
issued from all the pores of his body, forced outward from his oppressed
Heart by the unspeakable tortures which he endured. He bore all silently
and with indescribable patience. He rebuked his disciples if they ma
nifested any desire for retaliation; and he prayed constantly for his enemies,
who ceased not to persecute him till they had scourged him, crowned him
with thorns, nailed him to the cross, and seen him die on it between two-
thieves.
Why all this, O Crucified Jesus ? we ask of him in deepest reverence and
love. And the answer comes down to us, my brethren, from the Garden
of Mount Olivet, from the judgment-halls of Annas, Caiphas, and Herod,
from the Praetorium of Pilate, yea, from the topmost heights of Golgotha.
"I have given you an example, that as I have done, you do also." Thus it
is that Christ hath suffered for us, and left us an example, that we should
follow his steps. But, you must not believe, dear Christians, that this follow
ing of a crucified Redeemer is merely optional and of counsel, or that it is
simply a matter of supererogation to follow him in the path of suffering and
self-denial. Not only has he given us an example to admire, but it is the
earnest will and the express command of our Lord, (which we are bound to
obey,) that, if we would enter heaven, we must follow him in the way of the
cross, no matter how hard and painful it may appear to flesh and blood. I
assure you, dear friends, there is no other way for us to enter into Paradise
save that which Jesus has traced out for us by his blood; no other way, but
the way of mortification and self-denial, or, as Thomas A Kempis calls it,
the king s highway of the holy cross. " Hear the threat of the Son of God :
"He, that taketh not up his cross, and followeth me, is not worthy of me."
Matt. 10: 38. And again, he says: " I am the door. If any one enter by
me, he shall be saved." John 10: 9. Now, what is it, to enter by Christ as
through a door ? It is nothing else than to follow Christ s example, to go-
the same way, which he went, the painful way of the cross.
This is, therefore, my dear brethren, not merely a counsel, but a strict
266 SECOND SUNDAY OF LENT.
command. He that will enter into life, must do three things: He must
deny himself, he must take up his cross, he must follow Jesus.
Have you heard it, my brethren? Do you understand it? Christ com
mands you to deny yourselves, to conquer yourselves. You have, per
chance, an inordinate passion, you have a strong desire or inclination to a
certain sin; this is that inward law of concupiscence which, according to
the Apostle, fights against the law of the spirit. We all feel this ignoble
rebellion in our members; alas ! it is a fatal and inevitable consequence of
original sin. This law you must despise, these passions you must subdue,
these inclinations you must curb and control Besides all this, you must
take up your cross. Every one has a certain cross to carry; for one, it is
heavy, for another, light. The rich man must carry his individual cross
as well as the poor man, the master as well as the servant, the king as well
as the beggar. All human existence is marked with the sign of the cross.
Sickness is a cross, poverty is a cross, afflictions and calamities of every
description, are crosses. Take, then, your cross upon your shoulders,
dear Christians, not in anger or ill will, but in submissive patience; not in
stubbornness or rebellion, but with meek resignation to the adorable will
of God. Take up your cross, and follow your poor, humble, suffering
Lord in his own royal way of poverty, humility, and mortification.
A brave general once led a strong force of infantry against the enemy. To
execute successfully a certain strategic design, everything depended upon
the swiftness of their movements; he, therefore, commanded the soldiers to
quicken their pace, and follow him. The march was long, the road rough.
One soldier, almost exhausted with fatigue, and tired of the continual
exhortation to the troops to quicken their pace, turned, at last, to the
general, and broke forth with: "It is easy for you to talk; you are sitting
at your ease upon a horse, but we must make this tiresome march on foot ! "
What did the general reply to this unexpected rebuke? Nothing, but he
alighted from his saddle, took out his revolver, and shooting his horse
dead upon the spot, he exclaimed: "Come now, my men, let us march on
together ! " Wonderful was the effect of this act upon his dispirited men;
they forgot their fatigue, and following in the wake of their heroic general,
they rushed on to victory. Why does not the example of our leader, Jesus
Christ, produce the same effects upon his cowardly followers? He descended
from the heights of infinite majesty, he quitted his glorious throne in
heaven, and came down upon our sinful earth; he assumed the form of a
servant, he traveled the rough road of the cross before us, marking every
step of the way with his precious blood, will we, then, dear Christians,
pusillanimously refuse to follow him ? Will we be faithless servants, and
abandon him? Nay, then, do you forget that we are bound to follow him?
Do you no longer remember your baptismal vows, those sacred and irre
vocable promises you made to God and all his Saints, when the saving
waters were poured upon your brow ?
SECOND SUNDAY OF LENT. 267
II. In Baptism you bound yourself by a solemn oath to renounce for
ever the devil and his works, the world and its pomps, the flesh and its
concupiscences; you promised faithfully to serve Christ Crucified, as your
rightful Master, and to walk in his foot-prints along the way of the cross to
Calvary. At a later date, at your first Communion, and frequently during
life, you renewed this promise; moreover, in all your confessions, (if they
were properly made,) you explicitly repeated this promise; you renewed it,
again and again, in the presence of God and of all his Angels and Saints.
If you forget that solemn vow, do you suppose that God will, also, forget
it? On that most terrible of days when the Lord shall come to judge the
living and the dead, he will rigorously examine whether and how you
have kept your solemn promise. Therefore, be always mindful of your
words, and let your promise, solemnly made, never escape your memory.
Think of your duty as a Christian, and never, I implore of you, dare to do
anything contrary to your sacred obligations. Far from you be the spirit
of the world, and all attachment to dangerous associates; far from you be
the devil and all his works, the flesh and all its concupiscences, which you
once renounced in holy baptism !
Frequently ponder, my dear brethren, on those words of St. Paul in his
Epistle to the Galatians: "As many of you as have been baptized in
Christ, have put on Christ." (3: 27.) What does this mean? It means,
that in baptism we have put on not only the garment of sanctifying grace,
not only the faith, law, and doctrine of Christ, but, (in a certain sense, )
the personality of Christ himself. We have put on, as it were, his spirit,
his virtues, his holiness, with the obligation to reflect the life of Christ in
our conduct by a faithful imitation of the Divine Original, so that our
conduct, our life, may be a living image and likeness of his spotless sanctity.
When any one enters into a Religious Order and takes the habit, he is
obliged to observe the rules of his Order, to endeavor to imitate the
virtues of its Founder. How much more, then, are we who have put on
not only the habit of Christ, but Christ himself, obliged to follow our
heavenly Teacher, the Author and Founder of our Faith, and to imitate
him in his poverty and his humility, in his patience, and love of the Cross?
It would be preposterous, not to say revolting to every pious feeling, if a
Religious, instead of putting on his poor habit daily, were to array himself
in a richly-embroidered garment, more adapted to the stage than to a
Monastery or Convent. Would it not, then, be still more preposterous
and revolting in a Christian so far to forget himself and his profession, as
to cast off the sacred garment which he put on at his baptism, (vowing to
retain it to the end of his life, ) and, to the scandal of his brethren, to
appear among them in the sumptuous robes of sensuality and pride? In
the early ages of the Church, the white garment, the emblem of innocence,
with which those who came forth from baptism had been clothed, was
carefully preserved, and if a Christian in time of persecution yielding to the
2 68 SECOND SUNDAY OF LENT.
torture, denied his faith, the baptismal garment, to his shame, was laid
at his feet. It is not necessary in these our days, my brethren, to preserve
the white garment in which your sponsors bore you to the saving Font,
look only upon Jesus Christ whom you have put on in your baptism, yes,
look upon him when you deny your faith, if not in word, at least in work,
overcome not by tortures and persecution, as those ancient Christians
were, but by compliance with the desires of your corrupt heart, alone,
look at Jesus Christ Crucified, and blush for shame.
By the mercy of God you are Christians and disciples of that Crucified
Redeemer. Should you not, then, follow in his steps ? Most assuredly,
the example of a God-Man, humbled and impoverished for love of us,
teaches his servants to divest themselves of all things in order to follow
him. "The charity of Christ presseth us;" and his followers, despising all
the grandeur and pomp of this world, should desire nothing more ardently
than to be despised by the world in order to resemble Jesus Christ. His
example deserves that his adherents, despising all sensual pleasures, should
seek nothing else than by fasting, mortification, and self-denial, to carry in
their bodies the mortification of their Crucified Saviour. But he does not
even demand that much, he is satisfied with less. Alas ! how far are
Christians removed from the perfection of their divine Model ! "See, you
make all things according to the pattern shown you upon the Mount,"
was said of old to Moses. And shall we fail to imitate our Pattern on
Mount Calvary? The divine Victim hangs naked on the cross, his wicked
servants desire to be rich, and endeavor to become rich, even by fraud and
injustice. The Lord Jesus is stripped even of his necessary garments,
yet, his unfaithful followers display themselves in vain and costly dresses,
often far above their state of life and beyond their limited means. The
Lord Jesus is hungry and thirsty, yet, his false servants feast sumptuously,
at the banquets of sinners, rioting day and night in gluttony and
drunkenness.
Alexander the Great once said to a cowardly soldier named Alexander:
"Change either your name or your conduct." Let us, then, in future,
imy brethren, be Christians, not in name, but in deed; let us be followers
of Christ in reality. Let us imitate him in his poverty, in his humility,
in his mortification and patience, imitate him, in short, in all those
sublime virtues of which he has given us such splendid examples.
If we thus imitate Christ Crucified here on earth in his virtues, if
we share lovingly and cheerfully in all his humiliations and sufferings,
we will surely follow him into the kingdom of his glory and enjoy with
him those pure and everlasting delights which he has prepared for those
that love him. Amen. A. W.
SECOND SUNDAY OF LENT. 200
SECOND SUNDAY OF LENT.
THE CONDUCT OF JESUS TOWARDS HIS APOSTLES.
Jesus taketh unto him Peter and James, and John his brother, and bringeth
them up into a high mountain apart. Matt. 17: i.
The subject of this day s Gospel, my dear brethren, is the glorious trans
figuration of our Lord on Mount Thabor, in the presence of his Apostles
Peter, James, and John, whereby he showed them a figure and a glimpse of
that endless happiness which, after the trials and labors of this mortal life,
awaits the servants of God in the heavenly kingdom. Peter was so enamored
with that vision of his Master s glory, that he could not contain himself,
but exclaimed: "Lord, it is good for us to be here." The transfiguration of
the God-Man lasted but a few brief moments; yet, that passing brilliancy
which illumined the Sacred Humanity of Christ, had such an effect upon
the chief of the Apostles, that he despised all earthly pleasures, and,
regarding the world with scorn and disdain, he was ready to part with
every thing in it, provided he were permitted to remain in holy comtem-
plation on the Mount. But the hour of heavenly consolation must be
purchased for the Christian by a long season of cruel suffering, of struggle,
and humiliation. Peter must descend from Mount Thabor; he must go
with his afflicted Master, first to Mount Olivet, and afterwards to Mount
Calvary, and, at length, he must hang agonizing on the cross, like his
divine Model, before he can enter with him into the mansions of per
manent rest and peace. The Church reminds us in the Gospel of this day
of the heavenly glory which awaits us; she encourages us, like an heroic
mother, to fight the good fight against Satan and the world, to mortify
ourselves, and to do penance. If we follow our Lord in his warfare with
Satan and the world, we shall be made partakers of his glory; for he plainly
intimates to us by his example, that we are to encounter temptations and
to overcome them, and that the way to glory lies through humiliations and
trials, and the hardships of the spiritual camp. Another reason why the
Church presents to us the Gospel of this day, is to show us how amiable
was the conduct of Jesus towards his Apostles; how solicitous he was to
strengthen their belief in his Divinity, to the end that they might not be
scandalized in him in the days of his humiliation and Passion. For this
reason, my brethren, I shall speak to you, to-day, of the amiable conduct
of Jesus towards his Apostles, that we, also, may learn how to conduct
ourselves towards our fellow-men. Let us, then, consider
21/Q SECOND SUNDAY OF LENT.
/. The conduct of Jesus towards his Apostles, and
IL How we are to conduct ourselves towards our fellow-men.
I. One day, a doctor of the law came to our Lcid, asking him:
"Master, which is the great commandment in the law? Jesus answered,
saying: Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with thy whole heart, and with
thy whole soul, and with thy whole mind. This is the greatest and first
commandment. And the second is like to this. Thou shalt love thy
neighbor as thyself." Matt. 22: 37-39. Charity, therefore, is constituted
by the divine Wisdom and the Eternal Truth, the great commandment oi
the law; that is, the twofold love of God and of the neighbor. Now,
when the Second Person of the Blessed Trinity came down from heaven,
and became incarnate upon earth, in order to show us by his own example
how we are to serve God, can any one doubt for a moment that he, the
Word made flesh, has perfectly fulfilled this first and great commandment?
Ah ! no, my dear brethren, his love for God was clearly manifested in his
conduct towards his heavenly Father, and his love for his neighbor was
continually revealed in his daily intercourse with men. If you ask me
what was the character of his conduct towards his friends, the Apostles,
towards the poor, the needy and suffering, the sick and afflicted, towards
his enemies, and, in short, all mankind, I say that his conduct was amiable,
and that he manifested this beautiful amiability towards his Apostles
1. In their spiritual necessities,
2. In their corporal necessities,
3. In supporting their faults and shortcomings.
i. You cannot call that love a true love which is not solicitous for the
spiritual welfare of its object. Now, tell me, my brethren, was not Jesus
solicitous for the spiritual welfare of his Apostles? Has he not selected
them from amongst many? He sees one catching fish, another mending
nets, a third, receiving taxes in the custom house; he sees that they are
not in the way of salvation, and he gently and amiably invites them to follow
him. He would take these fishermen, this publican, under his own care
and make them fishers of men, laborers in the vineyard of the Lord, that
they might secure their own salvation, and promote that of countless souls:
"Come after me, and I will make you become fishers of men." Matt. 4: 19.
He makes them his disciples, and instructs them in the mysteries of God.
That sublime doctrine which he brought down from heaven, is the subject
of his instructions. Very often, after he had spent many long hours in preach
ing and healing the sick, and when he was fatigued by the exertions and
labors of the day, the Apostles would come to him, in the evening,
questioning him in regard to the lessons and instructions which he had
given to the people; and, far from rebuking their persistence, with the
SECOND SUNDAY OF LENT. 271
greatest love and condescension, he gave them the desired information.
Nay, sometimes, our Blessed Lord purposely spoke to the multitude in
parables, because he foresaw that his plainest lessons would produce no
fruit; but to his Apostles, to whom it was "given to know the mystery of
the kingdom of God," Luke 8: 10 he privately interpreted all parables
and similitudes.
How many miracles did he not work in order to confirm them in faith!
Did he not multiply the loaves and fishes for their sake ? Did he not delay
his journey to Bethania till Lazarus was dead, in order to give them a palp
able and striking proof of his omnipotence and Divinity, that they might
more firmly believe his words ? Did he not cast out the dumb spirit from
the demoniac, when their own best efforts failed, to convince them that
some kinds of devil can be expelled only by prayer and fasting? Again,
ask our Blessed Lord, why he took Peter, James, and John to the summit
of Mount Thabor, and there revealed to them his glory ? It was his love
for them, his solicitude for their spiritual welfare; they were to gaze upon
the vision of his heavenly splendor, that they might not waver in their faith
when they beheld him in his humiliation on Mount Olivet, in his ignominy
on Golgotha s cross.
And how often, how fervently, how urgently, did he not pray for them
to his Eternal Father ! In the most touching words, he assured them of
his solicitude for them, at the last supper, and in order to manifest to them
the superabundance of his love, he permitted them to be the first to eat his
adorable flesh and drink his precious blood. Yes, my dear brethren, pe
ruse the whole life of our dear Lord, from the hour when he first made
choice of his disciples, down to the solemn moment when, even in his dy
ing agonies, he committed St. John to his afflicted Mother s care, consider
his condescension towards them throughout it all, and you will find that
he always treated them with the most obliging love and tender considera
tion. In all their trials and temptations, they came to him for advice, con
solation, and relief. Hence, he often encouraged them to believe in him
as well as in his Eternal Father, and not to let their hearts be troubled.
2. NO LESS DID HE MANIFEST HIS LOVE FOR THEM IN THEIR TEMPORAL NE
CESSITIES. Here, too, he had frequently to make use of his omnipotence in
order to relieve their wants. When St. Peter, for instance, had no money with
which to pay the didrachma, or tribute for the service of the temple, Jesus
ordered him to go to the bank of the river, and draw out the first fish that
came up with his hook, which he foretold to him would carry in its mouth
the stater, or amount of money sufficient for the tax both on our Lord and
his apostle. At another time, the disciples labored all night without suc
cess. Jesus came to them, walking on the water, and commanded them
to cast out their nets: they obeyed his command, and caught so many fish,
that the net was almost broken with its weight and their ship in danger
272 SECOND SUNDAY OF LENT.
of sinking. Often, when, for many days, they had traversed the land in all
directions, seeking the lost sheep of the house of Israel, until they were
worn and wearied with their exertions, he took them away, like a loving
father, from the tumult of the people, that they might enjoy their needed
rest in some quiet secluded spot.
3. And how much patience did he not show towards them in their faults
and shortcomings! Many times he had spoken to them of that kingdom
which he had come to establish upon earth, many times, he had told
them that his kingdom was not of this world, yet, after all his assurances
as to the spiritual nature of his dominion, two of his disciples sent their
mother to him with the request, that, when he sat upon (what they ex
pected to be) an earthly throne, he would allow one of her sons to have
place at his right hand, and the other, at his left. They had not yet under
stood why he had come upon earth; but with all meekness he explained
to them once more, that a share in his kingdom was not to be hoped for
in this life, but in the life to come.
Again, come with me, my brethren, into the palace of Annas, the high
priest, on the night of our Lord s Passion. That blind leader of the blind
questioned Jesus (as St. John tells us), concerning his doctrine and disciples,
but whilst he made some brief reply as to the former, regarding his
disciples, he answered him nothing. With sublime self forgetfulness, he
refused to betray them to their enemies: if he spoke of them at all, he
would have had to make known, their cowardice and inconstancy in
forsaking him in the hour of danger, therefore, he kept silence. Again, in
the garden of Gethsemane, behold, what heavenly patience he had with
the weakness of his Apostles. He sees them lie down to sleep at the very
time when he is about to suffer a mortal anguish for their sakes. O, my
brethren, what finite heart can ever comprehend the infinite depths of that
lonely Agony in the Garden! Prostate on the earth, he writhe? in the desola
tion o. that supreme abandonment, then, bathed in a bloody sweat, he re
turn > them, waking them with words of reproachful tenderness: "What,
coi: ou not watch one hour with me?" He goes again to pray; they
he-- >t his request to pray with and for him; they relapse again into their
seiii -pose. Once more, he comes and finds them sleeping; he repeats
his .tion, and goes back with blood-drenched garments to his solitary
vigil ider the olive-trees, but they do not comply with his request. And
when he returns the third time, he finds them still asleep. Then, the
soldiers come to apprehend him, and the faithless disciples awaken only to
flee away, leaving the divine Victim, alone, like a defenceless lamb, in the
jaws of the ravening wolves. But, meek and forbearing, Jesus supports
all their weakness and ingratitude with tender love, and never during his-
Passion, or after his Resurrection, reproaches them for their infidelity. Thus,
everywhere, and on all occasions, Jesus manifested his love for his Apostles.
SECOND SUNDAY OF LENT. 273
Neither was it a sentimental love, which made him overlook their faults
and imperfections. No; where their salvation or the honor of God required
it, he did not fail to call their attention to their shortcomings with all open
ness and earnestness. The Gospel records his rebuke to James and John,
when they besought him to call down fire from heaven upon that Samaritan
-city which refused to receive him and his disciples. "You know not,"
.said he, "of what spirit you are." When he foretold to them his Passion,
the impetuous Peter cried out: "This shall never be done to thee, Lord;"
as if he would say: "We will defend thee, that they may not apprehend
thee and deliver thee into the hands of the Gentiles," although, when the
hour of trial actually came, they did not defend him, but all fled, that the
Scriptures might be fulfilled. But Christ said, nevertheless: "Begone
Satan, thou knowst not what is God s, but only what is of the world."
And when the same disciple, in his rash zeal, cut off the ear of Malchus
(the high-priest s servant), in the garden of Olives, our Lord reproved him
for the act and healed the injured man upon the spot. And how often did
he not upbraid his followers with their want of faith: "O ye of little faith!"
His love was a sincere and holy love, and herein, my brethren, we should
imitate him.
II. He who really loves God and his neighbor, must not only confess his
love with the mouth and say: "I love thee, O my God, above all things, and
my neighbor as myself for the love of thee," but he must manifest this
two-fold love by his every day deeds. If a man, my dear brethren, declares
with his lips: I love this person or that person as my true friend, tell me,
would you believe that he spoke the truth, if, when his so-called friend
was blindly approaching a precipice and running the risk of losing his life,
you perceived that he did not warn him of his danger or strive to keep him
back from certain destruction? Look around you in the world, and you
will see that many are walking on the brink of an infernal precipice, are in
danger of perishing eternally; now, if one is cold and indifferent under
.such circumstances, if he is careless of the eternal risks run by so many
blinded and perverse Christians, can you believe, my brethren, of such a
one, that he sincerely loves his neighbor, even though he assure you that he
does, a thousand times ? Hence, if you desire to practise fraternal charity,
and thereby imitate your Saviour,
i . You must be solicitous for the salvation of your neighbor; you must,
as far as lies in your power, keep him back from sin and eternal perdition,
and endeavor to induce him to love and serve God. Truly, you cannot
do a greater service than this to your neighbor, or promote the glory of
God more effectually. St. Augustine teaches the same truth in these
words: "If you love God and your neighbor, draw all to the love of God.
If you love God, endeavor to effect, not only that you love him yourself,
but, also, that your friends, acquaintances, and all that come in contact
274 SECOND SUNDAY OF LENT.
with you, be won to his love. " The renowned king and conqueror of the
world, Alexander the Great, one day came to Diogenes, the philosopher,
and said to him: "Ask of me any favor, and I will grant it." And, lot
since the king was standing, at the time, in such a position as to obstruct
the rays of the sun from the philosopher, Diogenes asked him for nothing,
except that he would cease to stand between him and the sunlight. A
mighty monarch, Otto II. , Emperor of Germany, once visited the Christian
hermit Nilus, who lived in the odor of sanctity, and said to him: "I con
sider myself as thy son; ask of me any favor whatsoever, and I will grant
it with pleasure." St. Nilus laid his hand upon the Emperor s heart, and
replied: The only favor I ask of your majesty is, that you will think of
the salvation of your soul. Though you are emperor, you must die, and
render an account of your stewardship, like other mortals." What a
difference, my brethren, between the favor which the proud pagan asked
of Alexander the Great, and that which the pious hermit requested of the
Emperor Otto ! Do you perceive how the latter practised fraternal charity ?
He was poor, and he could have asked the royal bounty to procure for
his subsistence something better than herbs and roots. But no, he con
sidered it as a favor done to himself, if the Emperor would but be intent
upon, and solicitous, for the salvation of his immortal soul.
And you, my friends, think you that you have true fraternal charity, when
you are so little solicitous for the salvation of your neighbor? O how many
opportunities offer themselves to parents, to show their love for their
children, by endeavoring to educate them in a good and Christian manner,
by instilling a true horror of sin into their youthful minds, and by
defending them from so many dangerous occasions of offending God. I
will not say that the very reverse is often the case, but think of it, Christian
parents, I implore you, and be warned before it is too late. Remember,
that both the natural and the divine law oblige you to love your children
truly, and that your children in eternity will little thank you for having
them taught to sing, or to play the piano, or to dance, or to skate, if you
have not, at the same time, taught them to pray well and to live as devout
Christians. Let no one tell me that he loves his fellow-men in the true
sense of the word, if he does not strive, as far as in him lies, to prevent the
sins of others. Hence, I cannot help reminding you again of what I have
reminded you before, dear brethren, that you make it a daily practice to-
offer to God the precious blood of Jesus Christ and his merits, as well as
those of his Blessed Mother and of all the Saints, in order to hinder one
sin, or to convert one sinner. But although the body is of far less value
than the soul, yet it, too, should not be neglected in its necessities; and, for
this reason, like your Blessed Lord, you must manifest the love of your
neighbor.
2. In the corporal necessities of your fellow-men. Here the words of
the Sacred Scripture hold good: "Never do to another what thou wouldst
SECOND SUNDAY OF LENT. 275
hate to have done to thee by another." Tob. 4:16. "All things whatso
ever you would that men should do to you, do you also to them.
Matt. 7: 12. As this is nothing new to you, my dear brethren, I will
only remind you of what St. Magdalene of Pazzi used to say on this subject:
"I feel a great deal happier and more satisfied when I can do a service to
my neighbor, than if I could unite myself with God in meditation. For,
when I meditate, it is God that helps me, but when I serve the poor, I
am helping God, since our divine Saviour himself has declared that he will
look upon what we do to the least of our brethren as done to himself. "
3. Finally, we must manifest and prove our fraternal charity by patiently
bearing with the faults, weaknesses, and imperfections of our neighbors,
and by not speaking of them uncharitably. "Your words towards your
neighbors should be full of charity," says St. Bernard; "you should, if
possible, cover the faults of others, or, at least, excuse the intention, if the
action cannot be excused." It would be really worth while to preach a
sermon on this point alone, dear Christians, for, if this, also, belongs to
fraternal charity, that we do not speak of the faults of our neighbors,
then fraternal charity is, in truth, a rare virtue in our days. Go where you
may among your fellow-men, and tell me, if the faults of others do not
constitute the principal subject of their conversation ? What good does
all this evil-speaking do ? Does any benefit accrue to anybody from it?
Will the party you talk about, be any the better for your detraction, your
censure, your bitter criticism? But you say: "What I have said is true,
and, surely, one is allowed to speak the truth." Well, go on, speak the
truth if you will; but begin with yourselj ] say that you are a liar, a slanderer,
a calumniator; tell your attentive listeners first of your own conceit and
pride, of your imaginary piety; lay bare all those hidden sins which you so
sedulously endeavor to veil under a hypocritical condemnation of others,
and after that, you will hardly be willing to speak about the faults of your
neighbors. It is true, my dear brethren, that where you have it in your
power to prevent sins and scandals, you may be permitted to speak of them
with gentleness and discretion, even as Jesus Christ reproved his Apostles for
their faults; but, if it be only to nourish an innate self-complacency or
bitterness, or to gratify a morbid love of gossip, the sins and shortcomings
of others should never be made the topic of our conversation.
Let us, then, in our intercourse with others, imitate our divine Saviour
in his beautiful spirit of fraternal charity; for, it is the touchstone of the
true love of God, and both together will infallibly conduct us to the
celestial Mount Thabor, where, with faces resplendent as the sun and
garments whiter than snow, we shall gaze upon the heavenly transfig
uration of our Lord, not as the three Apostles did for a few fleeting
moments upon the mountain, but as long as God shall be God, through
the everlasting delights of a bright and blissful eternity. Amen.
276 ANNUNCIATION OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN MARY.
THE ANNUNCIATION OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN
MARY.
THE BEAUTY AND UTILITY OF THE ANGELICAL SALUTATION.
Hail full of grace. " Luke 1:28.
The festival of this day, my beloved brethren, the Annunciation of the
Blessed Virgin Mary, is, of all the festivals of the Catholic Church, one of
the most beautiful in its history; and one of the most important in its
significance. It is the first ray of the morning star which announces the
end of a long and dark night; it is the rosy morn which ushers in a beauti
ful and glorious day; it is, in short, the beginning of our redemption; for,
on this day the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us," our dear
Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ was conceived in the chaste womb of the
Blessed Virgin Mary. Not only is this holy day, my dear brethren, thus
most beautiful in its origin, but, (as I have already said, ) it is, also,
remarkable in its significance, since it has furnished us with one of the
sublimest of prayers the Angelical Salutation. What a beautiful prayer,
indeed, is that of "the Angel of the Lord." What wealth of thought,
what tenderness of words, what power and genuine feeling do we not find
contained in it ! What is more beautiful, what more lovely, sweet, and
affecting to human hearts and ears than the words: " Ave Maria, gratia
plena. Dominus tecum! Hail, Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee."
" Benedida iu in mulieribus et benedidus fructus ventris tui Jesus. Blessed
art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb Jesus."
" Sancla Maria, Mater Dei, ora pro nobis peccaloribus, nunc, et in hora
mortis nostrae. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now,
and at the hour of our death. " You often recite the Hail Mary, my dear
brethren; I dare say, you repeat it many times in the day, or, at least, at
morning, noon, and night, but have you, also, considered, do you con
sider, in fact, every time you say it, the beauty of this salutation? Nay,
more, have you ever experienced in yourselves the tenderness and the
loveliness, the power and the blessing, which are contained in the devotion
of the Angelus? There may be, some among you, dear Christians, who
have never considered, who have never experienced all these pious
emotions. Let me, then, speak to you to-day on the beauty of the Ange-
tus, and of the Angelical Salutation. I repeat that it is a most beautiful
prayer, and I shall endeavor to prove to you that this is evident.
ANNUNCIATION OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN MARY. 277
/ From the times at which it is recited,
II. From the significance of its words, and
III. From the effects which it is calculated to produce in well-disposed
hearts.
Holy Mary, we salute thee, and we implore thee to obtain for us the
.grace that we may understand the beauty of the Angelical Salutation, and
that by means of this prayer which we so often recite, the blessings of
heaven may flow upon us for time and eternity !
I. The beauty of the Angelical Salutation is evident from the time at
which it is recited. You well know, my dear brethren, the fixed times for
the ringing of the Angelus. You well know that the chimes of the blessed
bell are heard early in the morning, again, at noon, and yet, once more,
again in the evening.
1. Behold, the long, dreary night is past, and the golden morning dawns.
What a holy, what an important moment! That you may thoroughly
understand its holiness, its importance, the bell rings out in the early dawn,
and lovingly invites you to prayer. Behold, whilst Mary was praying in
her little chamber at Nazareth, she was greeted with the Angel s salutation,
and, then and there, received the message of salvation; in prayer she was
replenished with the grace of the Holy Ghost; and during prayer, the
miracle was accomplished, the rising of the Morning-Star of God, the
coming of the Sun of Justice, the dawning upon the earth of the great day
of Redemption, which was to be accomplished through Jesus Christ in
carnate. "The Angel of the Lord declared unto Mary, and she con
ceived of the Holy Ghost ! " Your first thought in the morning, my dear
brethren, should be directed to God; and should you forget him in that
opening hour, the Ange/us-be\\ reminds you of your duty, and calls out
with its sweet silvery tones, that another morning has dawned for you, an
other new day of salvation, a day of labor for heaven, of which it is said:
"Work whilst it is day." And how will you be able to labor and toil for
the kingdom of heaven; how can you bear the heat and the burden of the
day, if you be not full of the Holy Ghost? O, do not forget, dear Christ
ians, to sanctify the first hours of the day; do not neglect your morning
prayer, but prevent the dawning of the light with the sacrifice of your lips,
and fervently invoke the grace of the Holy Spirit.
2. At noon, the Angelus-bell rings out the second time. In the hour of
the Angel Gabriel s annunciation, Mary gave her heart entirely to God, for
she said: "Behold the handmaid of the Lord." At noon, then, my
brethren, you should reflect whether or not your heart is drawn away from
God by temporal cares, or by the riches, honors, and pleasures of earth.
278 ANNUNCIATION OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN MARY.
The half of the day, perhaps, the half of your life is gone ! Pause for a
moment: look back upon the past, and, then, look forward into the
future. What have you done hitherto ? Is the morning, is the first half of
your life, gained or lost for eternity ? Have you labored and toiled only
for this miserable earth, and done nothing for heaven ? O, if you clearly
understood the sound of the noon-day bell, how deeply, how strikingly,
how piercingly, it would cry out to you: "Serve God, serve God, serve
God ! Begin now, at least, to serve him; there is but little time left; the
half of your life is spent, your years in the future may not be as many as
your years in the past have been; you are rapidly approaching your last
end; the evening of death, the dark, cold night is coming, "when no man
can work."
3. And when, for the third time, the Angelus bell rings out upon the
air, the evening has come and the voice of the chimes seems to exclaim to
you: "It is consummated, it is consummated!" Mary, having replied
to the Angel Gabriel: "Behold the handmaid of the Lord," was entirely
conformed, that very instant, to the adorable Will of God, and co-operat
ing, thus, by her fidelity, in the great mystery of the Incarnation, within
her spotless womb, (as the Sacred Scripture says) : The word was made
flesh. " O, how gloriously was the Immaculate Virgin rewarded for her
fidelity, for her humility, for her obedience ! And how happy shallow be,
dear brethren, in the evening of your life, if you have been faithful to God and
obedient to his holy will. How you will enjoy that rest from all labors and
fatigues which the peaceful evening brings; with what joy and consolation
you will cry out in your turn: "It is consummated!" "Now, O Lord,
dost thou dismiss thy servant in peace." Truly, beauty, and significance
attend upon the times appointed by our holy Mother Church for the recit
ation of the An^elusf
II. The beauty of the Angelus is also evident from the words which it
contains; for, in truth, it t s an abridgment of the Gospel; it is a little
summary of the science of salvation, which Jesus Christ has brought to us
from heaven.
The Angelus is an epitome of the Gospel] for how, I ask, was the
Incarnation of our Blessed Lord brought about? Behold, my dear
brethren, the Eternal Son of God desired to become incarnate in order to
redeem mankind from the guilt and the punishment of sin; he willed to be
born of a woman, and that highly favored, blessed woman was Mary, the
immaculate Virgin. An arch-angel is chosen to carry to her the message
of salvation, and, hence, it is said by the Church: "The Angel of the Lord
declared unto Mary." It is a declaration of joy and peace, it is the grandest
and most important message ever sent from heaven to earth, a message in
ANNUNCIATION OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN MARY, 279
whose blessings we participate, and whose purport deserves our most
earnest and serious consideration. But in order to ratify this celestial
message, the humble Mary must consent to it. Will she freely make this
sacrifice which is demanded of her ? Will she recognize in this message
the will of God, and fulfil it? Will she not, by her refusal, prevent the
Incarnation of Christ? Hear what answer she makes to the declaration
of the angel: Behold the handmaid of the Lord, be it done unto me
according to thy word." Shout, O ye heavens, rejoice, O earth, and
renew thy face ! Mary consents to become the Mother of God, consents
to conceive the Eternal Word, the long-desired of nations; for, at the very
instant that she gives her consent by abasing herself as the obedient and
humble handmaid of the Lord, that very instant the great and ever-memor
able mystery of the Incarnation is accomplished in her chaste womb, by
the power and operation of the Holy Ghost. "The Word was made flesh
and dwelt among us. " Thus, the Incarnation of Christ has been brought
about, and the history of the Incarnation of Christ is epitomized in the
words of the Angelus, making it, as we have said, an abridgment of the
Gospel
2. But it is, also, a summary of the science of salvation. You and I
know, my dear brethren, that the Angel of the Lord brought this message
from heaven, not only to the Blessed Virgin, but also to all mankind. And
O, what a sublime message is this ! The message of Redemption, the
message of our adoption as children of God, the message of our vocation
as Christians to the joys of eternal salvation. Thus, the message is inter
preted: "Hearken, and take heed, O children of men ! You have strayed
away from the paths of the Lord, you have entered into devious and
crooked ways; you have forgotten your glorious destiny, you are on the
brink of eternal perdition. But I announce to you your approaching rescue
and salvation. You shall be redeemed from sin and hell, and God him
self whom you have so long forsaken and offended, will be your Saviour.
He has not forgotten you, he has the greatest compassion for your misery,
and he is about, at last, to put a period to that misery; he will recall to
your minds that you are created for a higher and a better world; he will
enlighten, cleanse, and sanctify you; he will take all your sins upon him
self; he will assume your nature, dwell among you, even as a beloved
Elder Brother in the midst of his hapless brethren. Yes, it is his only
desire to be born amongst you, that you may be cleansed from sin, and
re-born to a new life of grace: that you may become new men in Christ;
and all this shall be done, if you will only consent to co-operate with his
grace. Behold the message of the angel to each one of us, my dear
brethren; it is the beginning of the order of salvation in this, that in it,
God first offers his long-desired assistance to his sinful creatures, first
promises them an immediate redemption, and gives to us all a guaranty of
280 ANNUNCIATION OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN MARY.
eternal life; that in it, he reveals his adorable will to us, and placing before
us the image of an incarnate God, enables us to imitate him in his virtues,
.and to lay hold of the succoring Hand, which will rescue us from eternal
misery and death.
But, if the infinitely merciful purpose of God is to be accomplished in
us, my dear brethren, our will must accede and consent to it, we must
take hold of his outstretched hand with faith and confidence, we must
say with Mary: "Behold, we are thy servants, be it done unto us accord
ing to thy word. Yes, O Lord, be our Redeemer, be our Saviour; take
our souls entirely for thy service; we will believe in thee, we will hope in
thee, we will love thee; thy ways shall be our ways; we will gladly be re
born in thee, since we sincerely desire to possess eternal life with thee ! "
Thus, my dear Christians, our will must meet the purpose of God half
way, for, as St. Augustine declares: "God who created us without our
assistance, will not save us without our co-operation. " Only when we co
operate with the grace of God, when we open our hearts to the inspirations
of our redeeming and atoning Lord Jesus Christ, only then the divine
order of salvation will have been accomplished in our souls, only then the
words of the Angelical salutation will have any significance for our hearts.
"And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us." Truly beautiful
is the devotion of the Angelus in its origin and meaning, and you should
consider all this, my brethren, as often as you recite it. You need not
doubt but that it will prove a great blessing to you in your spiritual life, and
you may rest assured that you should love it and prize it because of its
beneficial effects.
III. Why should not the devotion of the Angelus be beneficial, my
dear Christians, to your hearts, minds, and wills, nay, to your whole lives,
provided you recite it with attention, with humble recollection of spirit,
and according to the intention of our holy Mother, the Church ?
i. You cannot fail to profit by this beautiful devotion, if, when you hear
the Angetus-be\\ in the morning, when you awake to serve the Lord, or at
noon when you take your meals, or in the evening when you prepare for
your needed rest, if, I say, you give ear to those blessed chimes, and
acceding to their invitation, look up and beyond into the better world, and
contemplate in spirit the prize which awaits the valiant warrior of Christ.
If you, thus, begin, prosecute, and finish your day s work with the Lord,
it cannot be but that you must more and more understand the vanity and
frailty of all earthly things, more and more become acquainted and
enamored with the things above. It must needs be that you seek the one
thing necessary, work out jour salvation with fear and trembling, and
daily approach nearer to the will of God, which is your sanctification; and,
ANNUNCIATION OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN MARY. 281
2. You cannot fail to profit signally by this beautiful devotion, my
dear brethren, if you consider carefully the sublime mysteries of this prayer,
viz: the Incarnation of God, the faithful devotedness of Mary, and your
own eternal destiny. Such reflections must certainly awaken, enliven,
nourish, and preserve your faith in higher goods, in the kingdom of God;
they must tend to make you humble and grateful; from the dawn of the
early morning even unto the shadows of the late evening, they will keep
you in that disposition which deprives temptation of its allurement and
power, and which produces with a steadfast perseverance, all the affections
and works of a child of God.
3. And this devotion cannot fail of its essential benefit to your souls,
if, as often as you hear the Ange!us-bQ\\, you vividly represent to your
selves the beauty of the Angelical salutation; if, at the sound of the first
bell, you call to mind the Incarnation of Christ, and reflecting that it had
been eternally decreed from the beginning, consider, at the same time,
that your redemption and sanctification were, also, the will of God from
all eternity; if, at the second bell, meditating on the readiness of Mary to-
conceive the Son of God in her chaste womb, and contribute her share
towards the Incarnation of the Messiah, you, at the same time, consider
how you, too, should with equal readiness receive the Lord Jesus Christ
into your hearts, and accept the blessings of your redemption; and finally,
if at the third bell, reminding yourselves of the infinite love and mercy of God,
who in time assumed our nature, was made flesh and dwelt among us:
you contemplate with thanksgiving the accomplishment of your salvation
which you may piously hope to attain, if, in love and life, you have become
one with Jesus, and can present to him your hearts as the clean and holy
temples of the Holy Ghost. For, if you attentively consider these points,
all this must be accomplished in you, my dear brethren. Your hearts
must be filled more and more with love and gratitude towards God, must
increase in readiness to serve him all the days of your life, and in fervor to
promote his glory and your own salvation; nay, as often as you recite the
Angelus attentively and in the right spirit, you will reach a higher degree
of perfection and acquire a new merit for heaven.
O, my beloved Christians, may this, in truth, be the fruit of this gracious
day ! May you, after having learned the beauty of this prayer, love to
recite it with the greatest devotion, at morning, noon, and night, in all
places, wherever the sound of the blessed bell may rehearse to you the
sublime history of the Incarnation. And finally, may Mary, the
Virgin Mother of our Blessed Lord, obtain for us by her powerful inter
cession, the grace that we may continue in heaven for all eternity to salute
her with the words with which we have so often saluted her on earth:
"Hail Mary, full of grace." Amen.
282 ANNUNCIATION OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN MARY.
THE ANNUNCIATION OF THE BLESSED
VIRGIN MARY.
WE MUST RESEMBLE THE ANGELS WHEN WE SALUTE MARY IN PRAYER.
11 Hail, full of grace." Luke i: 28.
Our holy mother, the Church, has prescribed for us a multitude of salu
tations, with which we can and should honor, venerate, invoke, and praise
the Blessed Virgin, Mother of God; such as: "Hail, holy Queen, " "Hail,
star of heaven, " Rejoice, Queen of heaven, " Remember, O most gracious
Virgin Mary;" but among all these salutations and prayers, there is none
that can be compared to the Angelical salutation. This, my dear
brethren, is the " Hail Mary," with which the Archangel Gabriel addressed
the Blessed Virgin, when he announced to her the Incarnation of the Son
of God, the sublime mystery which we commemorate in the festival of to
day. The Church is accustomed to unite this salutation of the Angel with
the Lord s prayer, the "Our Father;" it is most frequently repeated in the
holy Rosary; and three times a day, viz: at morning, noon, and evening,
the Church calls upon us by the ringing of the Angelus-be\\ to recite this
beautiful invocation.
It is well for you often to imitate the example of Gabriel, and greet the
immaculate Mother of the Lord with "Hail, full of grace;" for, since this
salutation was first addressed to her by the Angel of the Most High, its rep
etition must naturally be very welcome to the Blessed Virgin Mary. Let
us, then, with heartfelt love and in the grace of the Holy Spirit, offer this
salutation to our heavenly Mother, day and night: "Hail Mary, full of
grace, the Lord is with thee; blessed art thou among women and blessed
is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. "
But, remember, dear brethren, that this salutation is the Angel s saluta
tion, it was addressed to Mary by an Angel. This is very instructive and
suggestive. It suggests that we must strive to salute Mary as angels and
not as malicious sinners. Hence, Cardinal Hugo says: "If you wish to
enter the presence of the Virgin and salute her, you ought to be an
angel. " And for this reason the Lord sent an angel to salute our immaculate
Mother, to teach us that we must endeavor to lead an angelic life in the
flesh, if we expect our salutation to be acceptable to the Virgin. And by
what virtues was this angel-messenger specially distinguished ? By three
virtues in particular:
/. By purity;
II. By charity;
III. By humility.
ANNUNCIATION OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN MARY. 283
If we wish our salutation to please the purest, most charitable, and most
humble of Virgins, we must salute her in true dispositions of purity,
charity, and humility; and this, dear Christians, is the subject of my dis
course to-day.
I. The angel who bore the heavenly message to Mary, was distin
guished by purity, for an angel is sullied by no sin, denied by no earthly
passion, and contaminated by no carnal or impure act; and thus, he who
desires acceptably to salute Mary must be
1. Free from every sin, at least from every mortal sin. For, behold,
when our Lord and Saviour instructed his Apostles in prayer, and exhorted
them to pray, he commanded them that before they engaged in that holy
practice, they should put off pride, ambition, hypocrisy, and every sin, and
bring to prayer a pure soul, a pure heart, and a pure conscience (Matt. 6. )
Could Mary, the Virgin Mother of God, take pleasure in a prayer or saluta
tion offered by a great sinner, who continues obstinate in his sin ? In his
Epistle to the Hebrews, (6: 6,) St. Paul writes, that Christians who live in
mortal sin, crucify again to themselves the Son of God, and make a mockery
of him; how abominable, then, to the Mother of Christ must be the saluta
tion of an unclean person, who even though he repeat to her the words of
the Angel s greeting, continues to sin grievously, and daily renews the cru
cifixion of her divine Son ? If you be a sinner, and desire to greet the Virgin
Mother, first put in practice her sweet commands; for her counsel to you,
dear brethren, is identical with that which she addressed of old to the
waiters at the wedding-feast of Cana: Whatever he shall say to you, do ye. "
And what does he, her divine Son, say to you? He says: "Go, show
yourselves to the priests, make your peace with God, and sin no more."
In the imperial courts of ancient Rome, it was customary for a courtier to
search the persons of all who wished to enter the presence of the emperor,
in order to discover whether they carried concealed weapons with which
to assassinate the sovereign. In like manner, dear Christians, you who
wish to enter the presence of the Queen of heaven, and offer her your
homage, must first examine your conscience to see whether you have not
concealed within its folds some mortal sin, which could inflict a deadly
wound upon her^iivine Son.
2. He who, like the angel, desires to greet Mary acceptably, must, like
him, be defiled by no earthly passions. When Moses, (as is related in the
Old Testament,) saw the bush on fire, and went forward to view it more
closely, God called to him out of the midst of the bush and said: "Come
not nigh hither, put off the shoes from thy feet: for the place whereon
thou standest is holy ground." (Ex. 3:4, 5.) By this bush the holy Fathers
understand the Blessed Virgin, and by the shoes, which are made of the
284 ANNUNCIATION OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN MARY.
hides of animals, the temporal and perishable things of this earth. Moses
was commanded to put off the shoes from his feet, to indicate that he
should not have too great a love for temporal and perishable things; and
the injunction given to him should also be remembered by us, when we
wish to speak to Mary. That holy Mother s judgment of earthly things is
the same as that of her divine Son who said: " My kingdom is not of this
world; " and, with St. Paul, she ever instructs her devout clients to: "Seek
the things that are above and not the things that are on the earth. "
3. But, especially, must he who wishes acceptably to salute the Imma
culate Virgin be free from every stain of impurity. His mouth must be free
from dissolute words; his heart must be free from shameful thoughts and
desires; his body and soul free from all pollution of sensual sin. Before
you go to visit any person of respectability, you wash your face, hands, and
mouth; how much more, then, should you, before addressing the holiest and
purest of Virgins, cleanse your hearts and tongues from all defilement.
What kind of an Angelical salutation is that which an unchaste tongue
and an impure heart offer to the Queen of Angels ? What pleasure could
the Virgin of virgins find in such a mockery of prayer ? A certain young
man who was addicted to habits of impurity, nevertheless practiced certain
devotions to the Virgin Mother of God. The Blessed Virgin is said to
have appeared to him at a time when he was suffering from extreme thirst
and exhaustion, and offered him a most delicious beverage in a very un
clean vessel. When he turned with repugnance from the draught, Mary
looked upon him with sad, reproachful eyes, saying to him at the same
time: "In this manner, you offer to me your devotions; in this manner, you
honor me with the Rosary. Prayer is acceptable to me, but by your im
pure life you render it an abomination to me. " Of the great penitent, Mary
of Egypt, we also read that, in the days of her sin, she once visited the
Holy Land, not, however, to satisfy a pious devotion, but seeking upon
the journey a better opportunity for continuing her abandoned life. When
she had reached Jerusalem, she wished to enter the church with the throng
1 of devout pilgrims, but she was held back as if by some invisible hand. She
| was greatly terrified, and trembled in her whole body. Her eyes happen
ing to fall upon a picture of Mary, tears of compunction bathed her face;
she solemnly promised to consecrate herself to the Lord by a life of penance,
calling the Blessed Virgin to bear witness to her sincerity; and at that mo
ment, the supernatural power which prevented her entrance into the church
was withdrawn, and she was able to join the other pilgrims before the
altar of God. Dare not, therefore, my brethren, salute Mary, the purest
of Virgins with impurity upon your souls; you can not please her when
you thrust yourselves defiled into her stainless presence and salute her pre
sumptuously with the angel s holy words.
ANNUNCIATION OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN MARY. 285
II. The heavenly messenger who announced the Incarnation to the
Virgin Mary, was distinguished by charity; for, with the Angels there is no-
envy, no enmity, no injustice, no hatred, no anger, no dissension, no strife.
The most perfect peace, the most beautiful union exist among them; the
stronger do not oppress the weaker, the greater do not look down upon
the lesser, nor do the lesser envy the greater. Thus, with those who wish
acceptably to salute Mary, justice, mercy, peace and concord must dwell.
What pleasure could even the Angelical salutation afford Mary, the Mother
of God, if the heart of the person who recites it, is full of injustice, if his
hands are stained with the guilt of injuries done his neighbor? Does Mary,
perhaps, regard these evils more leniently than the God of heaven and
earth, who says by his prophet: When you stretch forth your hands, I will
turn away my face from you; and when you multiply your prayer, I will
not hear, for your hands are full of blood" ? Is. 7: 15. Could she attend
lovingly to the salutation of one who is full of enmity, uncharitableness, and
desires of revenge ? Is Mary not like her divine Son, who has said to the
envious and the revengeful: "If thou offerest thy gift at the altar, and
there shalt remember that thy brother hath anything against thee: leave
there thy gift before the altar, and first go to be reconciled to thy brother:
and then come and offer thy gift" ? (Matt. 5: 23.) Will Mary s feelings
towards the unmerciful be different from those of her Son who says by the
mouth of his apostle: "Judgment without mercy to him that hath not
done mercy" ? James 2: 13. Therefore, imitate the angels in love, peace,
and concord, and shun injustice, enmity, strife and discord, that you may
acceptably honor the "Mother of fair love" with the Angelical salutation.
III. Finally the angel who brought the message to the Virgin Mary,
was pre-eminently distinguished by humility; for it was especially through
humility that the good Angels remained in possession of eternal happiness
and were confirmed in glory, whilst the bad angels, on account of pride,
were forever cast into hell. And every one who wishes worthily to salute
Mary must strive to do so out of the lowliness of an humble heart. The
distinguishing characteristic of the Blessed Virgin was humility; she herself
was the most humble hand-maid of the Lord; what pleasure, then, can she
find in a salutation offered to her by proud, vain, self-conceited, and
haughty men? Will she not agree with her divine Son who has said:
"Every one that exalteth himself shall be humbled; and he that humbleth
himself shall be exalted" ? (Luke 14: 1 1.) Or, will not the Blessed Virgin,
with St. James, declare to her guilty and presumptuous clients, that: "God
resisteth the proud and giveth grace to the humble " ? (James 4:6.)
Moved thus, my dear brethren, by the example of the angel, let us
endeavor to salute Mary with an angelic heart, with an innocent life, and
with stainless lips. Let us offer that heavenly salutation to her with purity
of heart, with charity, and humility, that our greeting may be, indeed, an
286 ANNUNCIATION OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN MARY.
Angelical salutation which the Blessed Virgin can accept with pleasure;
otherwise, she will be forced to apply to us those terrible words of Holy Writ:
"This people honoreth me with their lips, but their hearts are far from
me." (Matt. 15: 8.) Those who pay to her only an exterior homage,
resemble those women who endeavor to hide their homeliness and ugliness
with paint and cosmetics. Under those false adornments, they exhibit
themselves as beautiful, but they are not so in reality. Thus, those also
who honor Mary only with their lips, falsely proclaim themselves as friends
and clients of that Blessed Mother; but, on account of the corruption of
their hearts and the wickedness of their lives, they are truly and really her
enemies. Hence, I advise, nay, I command you, my dear brethren, that
without hypocrisy, with your whole soul, with all love and with all devotion
and truth, you cry out to the Virgin Mother of God: "Hail Mary, full of
grace ! " Amen.
THIRD FRIDAY IN LENT. 287
SERMON FOR THE THIRD FRIDAY IN LENT.
IS THERE NO RELIEF?
* The mercies of the Lord that we are not consumed: because his com
miserations have not failed." Lament, 3: 22.
How dreadful it is, my dear Christians, to be confined for years to a
sick-bed of pain, to languish and to suffer, yet, not be able to die ! How
dreadful it is to be condemned to prison for life, and to remain day and
night, in dismal solitude, between damp walls! . . . How dreadful to
awake from a trance in one s coffin, and to cry out for help in vain ! . . .
But infinitely more dreadful is it, to be stricken by the avenging justice of
God, and to weep, despairing, in everlasting misery. This lot befalls the
unhappy sinner who departs this life in final impenitence. "Hell devours
him who dies in his sins." (St. Greg.) But, is there no relief, no escape?
No, there is no resource for him who once has fallen a victim to hell,
there is no relief, nor hope of relief for such a one for all eternity. But for
you, sinner, who are still living, there is relief. A solemn voice of olden
times says: "The mercies of the Lord that we are not consumed: because
his commiserations have not failed." Yes, his commiserations have not
failed, there is hope, there is relief, yet
/ In the heart of God, and
// In the bosom of our holy Mother, the Church.
I. There is relief for the sinner in the heart of God. Is it really so,
you ask ? Do not doubt it for a moment, for
i. God wills not the perdition of the sinner.
a) His own word is our guarantee for this fact: "Thou hast mercy
upon all, because thou canst do all things, and overlookest the sins of men
for the sake of repentance." Wisd. n: 24. "The Lord waiteth that he
may have mercy on you." Is. 30: 1 8. "As I live," saith the Lord, "I
desire not the death of the wicked, but that he turn from his evil way, and
live." Ezech. 33: n. "The Son of man came not to destroy souls, but
to save." Luke 9: 56. "The Lord delayeth not his promise, as some
imagine, but beareth patiently for your sake, not willing that any should
perish, but that all should return to penance." 2. Pet. 3: 9. All these
288 THIRD FRIDAY IN .LENT.
passages contain the words of God, the promises of God, so true and
infallible, that the mere doubt of them would be sin. God wills not the
perdition of the sinner.
b) You have an example of it in your own person.
We have heard that every mortal sin is an infinite crime, and deserves
hell. Hence, God would act consistently with his justice if, after the com
mission of his first sin, he would fling man into the everlasting pool of fire.
But, because he does not desire the death of the sinner, he withholds his
avenging arm, he waits and endures. . . . Have you not experienced this
yourself, my brother? How old are you? Forty, fifty years, or, perhaps,
older. How long is it since you fell into your first grievous sin? Was it
not in your youth ? And, yet, you are not in hell ? To the first sin you
added the second, the third, the fourth. And, still, you are not in hell ?
Your grievous sins have increased, doubtless, with years in number and
weight. And, yet, O sinner ! yet, you are not now in hell ? Perhaps, a
few days ago, perhaps yesterday, perhaps to-day, you have sinned wil
fully and mortally. And yet, (I repeat it, ) you are not now in hell ? What
does this prove? That God wills not your perdition; for, if he willed it,
he could long ago have delivered you to eternal damnation. . . .
2. God wills the sinner s rescue; he wills his salvation.
a) He reaches forth his hand to him. All those passages of the Sacred
Scripture, my brethren, which speak of the mercy of God, assert this con
soling truth. They are countless; but I shall adduce only a few. "The
Lord is patient and full of mercy, taking away iniquity and wickedness. "
Numbers 14: 18. "Thy mercy will follow me all the days of my life."
Ps. 22: 6. "The earth is full of the mercy of God." Ps. 32: 5. "Praise
the Lord, for he is good, and his mercy endure th for ever." Ps. 135: i.
Nay, more, my dear Christians, even to the sinner that is sunk in the
lowest abyss of corruption and degradation, our merciful Father offers his
helping hand. "If your sins be as scarlet, they shall be made as white as
snow, and if they be red as crimson, they shall be white as wool. " Is. i : 18.
And not only does he offer to the sinner his saving hand, but, O merciful
condescension !
b) He draws him, also, to his heart. In the Sacred Scriptures we find
the most touching examples of this divine tenderness and clemency in the
conversions of Mary Magdalene, St. Peter, the penitent thief on the cross;
and more especially in the parable of the prodigal son. The latter, having
grieved his father very much, and wasted his entire substance by living
riotously in a strange land, returns, at last, to his father s house in abject
poverty and with a lacerated heart. And how does that good father receive
THIRD FRIDAY IN LENT. 289
him? "When he was, yet, a great way off, his father saw him, and was
moved with compassion, and, running to him, fell upon his neck, and
kissed him." Luke 15: 20. Was not this touching example sufficient in
itself to convince the most incredulous of the tender patience of the Most
High with his erring creatures? And yet, as if this parable of his marvel
ous clemency needed yet stronger confirmation, our blessed Lord saw fit
to preface it with another consoling similitude: "What man among you,
that hath a hundred sheep; and if he lose one of them, doth he not leave
the ninety-nine in the desert, and go after that which was lost until he find
it ? And when he hath found it, doth he not lay it upon his shoulders,
rejoicing; and coming home, call together his friends, saying to them:
Rejoice with me because I have found my sheep that was lost ! I say to
you, that even so there shall be joy in heaven upon one sinner that doth
penance, more than upon ninety-nine just who need not penance."
Luke 15: 3-8.
0, my dear brethren, so great is the mercy of God which reaches forth
a helping hand to the sinner and draws him to his sacred, burning heart,
that it cannot be explained in the words nor conceived by the thought of
man. (St. Chrys. horn. 2 in ps. 20.) This tender mercy of God is the
only hope of the sinner, and if he has recourse to it in time, he will meet
with a loving reception, and obtain entire forgiveness of his crimes.
II. There is help and relief for the sinner in the bosom of the Church;
for, God has appointed her
1. To receive sinners
a) With all love. Our good God, my brethren, has established in his
Church an unfailing fountain of relief and salvation for fallen man. He
has given her, with the tender office of a mother, the commission to stretch
forth her arms to sinners and draw them to the embrace of her maternal
bosom; wherefore, she never ceases to call to those afflicted ones: "Come
to me, all you that labor, and are heavy laden, and I will refresh you/
(Matt, n: 28.) And if they will but listen to her pleading accents, if they
will but "run after the odor of her ointments," she will receive them with
extended arms, and clasps them to her breast. "The Spirit of the Lord is
upon me, because the Lord has anointed me; he has sent me to preach to
the meek, to heal the contrite of heart, to give them a crown for ashes, the
oil of joy for mourning, and a garment of praise for the spirit of grief."
(Is. 61: 1-3.) God has appointed his Church to receive all sinners,
b) Without any exception. She does not say: "Come to me, you that
labor and are heavy laden/ but "Come to me, all you that labor and are
heavy laden, and I will refresh you." Matt, n: 28. Though the sinner
290 THIRD FRIDAY IN LENT.
be ever so miserable and loathsome, he is lovingly received. Though he
may have run for years in all the crooked ways of vice, though he may
have lived in habits of the grossest sin all the days of his life, he is lovingly
received. Though he may have committed adultery like David, murder
and rapine like the thief on the cross, yea, even treason and apostacy, like
Judas; though, in fact, he may have trampled under foot all human and
divine laws, once truly repentant, my dear brethren, he is lovingly
received. "Can a woman forget her infant, so as not to have pity on the
son of her womb ? And if she should forget, yet, I will not forget thee. "
Is. 49: 15. ...
More than that. God has appointed his Church:
2. To confer grace on sinners. For that purpose he has given her
a) The treasure of all salvation, to wit: the blood which our adorable
Redeemer shed upon the cross. With this treasure all debts are paid.
"Christ died for us; much more, therefore, being now justified by his
blood, shall we be saved from wrath through him." Rom. 5:9. "If the
blood of goats and of oxen, and the ashes of a heifer being sprinkled,
sanctify such as are defiled, to the cleansing of the flesh; how much more
shall the blood of Christ, who, through the Holy Ghost, offered himself
without spot to God, cleanse our conscience from dead works, to serve
the living God?" Hebr. 9: 13, 14. "The blood of Jesus Christ cleanseth
us from all sin." i. John i: 7. This priceless treasure of salvation is
deposited in the Church, she has the key to it in her hands, and can take
from its unfailing coffers, the wherewith to pay all our debts. A single
drop of the adorable blood of Jesus is sufficient to outweigh the sins of
thousands of worlds. Besides this, God has given her
b) The power to loose from sin. "And I will give to thee the keys
of the kingdom of heaven. . . . And whatsoever thou shalt loose upon
earth, it shall be loosed, also, in heaven." Matt. 16: 19. "Amen, I say
to you, . . . whatsoever you shall loose upon earth, shall be loosed, also,
in heaven. Matt. 18: 18. "Receive ye the Holy Ghost; whose sins you
shall forgive, they are forgiven them." John 20: 22, 23. From these
passages it is evident that the Church in her priesthood possesses the power
of forgiving sins, and of reconciling the sinner with God. To those who
walk upon earth is committed the administration of that which is in
heaven; and the priests have received a power which God gave neither to the
Angels nor Archangels. To these it was not said: "Whatsoever you shall
bind upon earth, shall be bound also in heaven; and whatsoever you shall
loose upon earth, shall be loosed also in heaven. " The kings of this earth,
it is true, have, also, the power to bind, but only the body. But the
binding of the priests regards the soul and reaches into heaven. Whatever
THIRD FRIDAY IN LENT. 291
the priests do here below, is ratified by God above, the Lord confirming
the sentence of his servants. (Chrys. de Sacerd. lib. 3, cap. 5. )
In conclusion, my dear Christians, let us seriously consider how infinite
is the misery of the sinner, since the judgment of an angry God, and the
hell of an avenging God await him. . . . But there is relief in the heart of
Jesus, and in the arms and bosom of his holy Church. . . . Therefore,
sinner, despair not. If all the demons of hell should cry out to you:
"You are lost!" reply to them with humble faith and confidence: "I can
yet be saved. The heart of God, my Father, and the arms of our holy
Mother, the Church, are still open to receive me. Into that heart, the
asylum of sinners, into those arms, the refuge of the miserable and afflicted,
lo ! I flee with courage and contrite hope, and there, with the help of my
merciful Redeemer, I shall find grace and everlasting salvation ! " Amen.
292 THIRD SUNDAY OF LENT.
THIRD SUNDAY OF LENT.
\
ON THE MISERABLE STATE OF THE RELAPSING SINNER.
"A/ that time Jesus was casting out a devil, and the same was dumb.
And when he had cast out the devil, the dumb spoke" Luke n: 14.
It appears from this day s Gospel, my dear brethren, that our blessed
Saviour had, by his divine power, restored to a poor dumb man the
faculty of speech, of which the Evangelist declares him to have been
deprived by the operation of the devil. This miracle, (as well it might,)
excited in the minds of all who beheld it, the greatest astonishment. And
the multitude were in admiration at it." The Pharisees, however, who
were secretly jealous of the growing reputation of Jesus among the people,
perceiving the impression which so wonderful a prodigy had made upon
their minds, and unable, at the same time, to deny its reality, had recourse
to the expedient of impiously ascribing it to the preternatural agency of
the prince of darkness. "But some of them said, this man casteth out
devils by Beelzebub, the prince of devils. " While others, with a design
equally malicious, demanded of him that extraordinary sign from heaven,
which from a passage in the prophet Daniel, they conceived to be peculiarly
characteristic of the Messiah. "And others," continues the text, "tempt
ing, asked of him a sign from heaven." To this request, Jesus did not
think proper to pay any attention. But with respect to the wicked and
blasphemous assertion which attributed the cure he had miraculously per
formed, to the power of the devil, as such a false judgment might tend to
counteract the success of his divine mission by the unfavorable impression
it was capable of producing on the minds of the multitude, so that he
deemed it advisable to make a clear and decisive reply: "Every kingdom
divided against itself shall be brought to desolation, and house upon house
shall fall; and if Satan also be divided against himself, how shall his king
dom stand?" The spirit and import of this sententious argument, my
dear brethren, may be thus elucidated: It cannot, surely, be supposed that
the devil would take an active part in the subversion of his own empire.
This, however, he would unquestionably do, if he enabled Christ to expel
his agents from the posts of which they had taken possession. He would
become a confederate with his own most decided and irreconcilable enemy,
in promoting the interests of truth and virtue which Jesus labored indefatig-
ably to advance, and which are diametrically opposed to the interests of
Satan; and, thus, like a kingdom divided against itself, or a house which
is a prey to internal discord, his dominion would unavoidably experience
THIRD SUNDAY OF LENT. 293
its downfall. Our blessed Saviour then proceeded with consummate wis
dom and address, to turn against the Pharisees the very arms which they
had employed for his defeat, for he intimated that the pretext which they
urged against himself, as a worker of miracles, would also, if admitted,
militate against those among them, who exercised the power of casting out
devils, and whom they were accustomed to hold in the highest veneration.
He, therefore, confidently appealed to them to decide by what influence
the latter succeeded in that extraordinary operation, claiming in his own
regard, (as in justice he well might,) the advantage of the decision which
they should give to his appeal.
"Now, if I cast out devils by Beelzebub, by whom do your children
cast them out? Therefore, they shall be your judges. But if I, by the
finger of God, cast out devils, doubtless the kingdom of God is come upon
you/ Far from acting either in concert with, or in subordination to the
prince of darkness, he asserted at once his opposition and superiority to
him. In proof of which, he represented to them the devil under the simile
of an armed warrior, guarding the fortress in which all his treasures were
deposited, with vigilance and strength, and retaining undisturbed possession
thereof till attacked and defeated by our Saviour s superior force. In such
cases, as in the instance of his expulsion from the dumb man of to-day s
Gospel, he was constrained to abandon his stronghold, and be despoiled of
all the effects which it contained: "When a strong man armed keepeth his
court, those things which he possesseth are in peace; but, if a stronger
than he come upon him and overcome him, he will take away all his
armor wherein he trusted, and will distribute his spoils. " Finally, remind
ing them, my dear brethren, of the proverb which appears to have been
current among them in those days: "He that is not with me is against me,
and he that gathereth not with me, scattereth;" (which implied that not
to defend was to oppose, that neutrality was to be regarded as virtual or
constructive hostility,) our divine Lord left them to consider if the decided
opposition which he, by his conduct, had uniformly manifested to error and
vice, could possibly be regarded in any other light than that of the most
unequivocal and avowed enmity to him who was the chief promoter of
both, and by whose influence they pretended that he had acted.
Having thus repelled in the most victorious manner, the blasphemous
imputations of the envious Pharisees, our Lord proceeded to deliver the
parable of the unclean spirit who, having abandoned for a time his human
habitation, finding it afterwards swept and garnished, (as described in the
sacred text,) returns with a reinforcement of other demons more wicked
than himself, who establish in it their permanent abode, and thus render
the condition of that unhappy soul more wretched than it was at first.
The abandonment of his habitation by the unclean spirit, and his return
to it when swept and garnished, are lively images, my dear brethren, of
-what takes place in the soul of a sinner, on the occasion of his brief con-
294 THIRD SUNDAY OF LENT.
version to God, and of his subsequent relapse into sin. That miserable man
is living in the most abject slavery to the demon who possesses him, he is
rushing on to his destruction, in the very height, it may be, of his vicious
career, when the light of heaven, like that which flashed upon the eyes of
St. Paul on his road to Damascus, breaks in upon his mind, and a voice,
too, not unlike the one which was heard by the Apostle on the same
occasion, saying to him: "Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me?" speaks
inwardly to the sinner by those feelings of remorse which bitterly reproach
him with the turpitude of his criminal disorders. Awakened thus, by the
influence of divine grace to a sense of his condition, he attentively regards
his interior through the medium of faith; and O, what a ghastly and dis
gusting spectacle presents itself to his view ! He beholds with horror the
noblest fatuities of his spirit degraded to the most ignoble purposes, his
affections prostituted to unworthy objects, and his whole soul covered
throughout, as it were, with a loathsome leprosy. He reflects on the
transient and unsatisfactory character of those sinful pleasures for the
enjoyment of which he has reduced himself to such a melancholy and
deplorable state. He contemplates with dread that dismal dungeon of
everlasting woe, prepared for the future torment of all the workers of
iniquity. And, finally, my dear Christians, the consideration of the anger
of the omnipotent God whom he has offended by his transgressions, fills
him with terror and dismay. In this agitated state of mind, like the
Apostle of the Gentiles who, as is related in the Acts of the Apostles,
trembling and astonished, said: "Lord, what wilt thou have me to do?"
he raises his heart to heaven, and begs to be directed as to the course to
be pursued in order to be freed from his lamentable condition. And as
Paul, of old, was admonished to go into the city of Damascus where he
was assured he should receive, (as he did from Ananias,) every necessary
instruction for the future regulation of his conduct, so, the sinner is like
wise instigated by the inward suggestions of divine grace, to repair for the
same purpose, without delay, to the city or temple of God where another
Ananias awaits him in the person of the anointed priest and confessor.
Mindful of the example of his divine Master, that compassionate friend of
sinners, the minister of Christ, listens with attention to the poor sinner s
tale of woe, sympathizes with him in the anguish of his troubled mind,
and without affecting to palliate or disguise the real character and danger
of his situation, points out to him a source of relief which, if duly resorted
to, will enable him effectually to extricate himself from his miseries. That
blessed resource is the boundless mercy of the very Being whom he has
offended, and which, if (penetrated with sentiments of penitential sorrow,)
he earnestly solicit, he is assured will be graciously conceded to him
through the merits of Jesus Christ who died for his offences.
Encouraged by this sweet and consoling assurance, the poor penitent
avails himself of the sacred privilege without delay; he prostrates himself
THIRD SUNDAY OF LENT. 295
with humility before the throne of mercy; bewails with compunction his
past disloyalties to his eternal Sovereign, renews to him with sincerity, his
solemn professions of future allegiance, and, in compliance with his.
injunction, lays open his conscience to the minister of reconciliation, who,
in the capacity of ambassador of the great Peace-maker between God and
man, pronounces the sentence of absolution in his behalf, and restores him
once more to the divine favor. O ! what an admirable, what a heavenly
revolution has now taken place in the soul of the repenting sinner ! Na
longer does he feel within him those bitter pangs of remorse, which
before destroyed his inward quiet. No longer does he start back with
disgust and horror from the contemplation of his disordered conscience.
No longer is he appalled by the terrific prospect of God s avenging justice,
and of the punishments prepared for the reprobate in the infernal abyss of
hell. Oh no, nothing of all this now remains to wound his feelings, or
disturb his interior repose. His mind is once more the seat of tranquillity
and order. Reason, enlightened by divine faith, has resumed within him
its legitimate sway. It sits enthroned in the centre of his heart, and
exercises by its authority a just control over its subject passions. On
whatever side he casts his eyes, he is gratified with scenes of exquisite
delight. The ravages which had been committed by his rebellious appetites
have all been repaired, and he has the satisfaction of beholding his
renovated soul, calm, placid, and serene, exhibiting throughout her pure
domain the choicest ornaments of celestial virtue.
To the pleasure, my dear brethren, which he derives from this satis
factory state of mind, is added that which arises from the relation in which
he now stands to the Supreme Being, and of the destiny which awaits him
beyond the grave. Having been happily reconciled to his heavenly Father
and restored to the privileges of his adopted children, he lives with
security under the divine protection; nay, more, he looks forward with
exultation to the period of his dissolution when his fidelity will be rewarded
with a profusion of blessings "such as eye hath not seen, nor ear heard,
nor hath it not entered into the heart of man to conceive. "
Such, my beloved brethren, is the happy change which fails not to take
place in the soul of a sinner, when he abandons the way of iniquity and
returns, once more, with sincerity to the path of righteousness.
No wonder that the devil, like the unclean spirit in the parable, should
quickly relinquish a dwelling which must now, necessarily, have become
so offensive to him ! No wonder that he beats a precipitate retreat from
that habitation embellished with celestial graces, and which must con
sequently be most displeasing to the eye of one who delights in naught
save moral deformity ! Accordingly, like the unclean spirit of the Gospel,
who quitted his primitive abode for dry places without water through
which he wandered, seeking rest, the familiar demon of the repentant
sinner immediately deserts a residence which has now become hateful to
296 THIRD SUNDAY OF LENT.
him, because of the blessed change it has undergone, and seeks repose
in places more congenial to his malicious dispositon. Yes, my dearly
beloved, he seeks it in the souls of hardened and abandoned sinners where,
roaming, as it were, in splenetic mood over those dry and barren deserts,
and looking around with savage joy on the dreary waste which presents
itself to his view, where not a single virtue is seen to bloom, not a solitary
spring of divine grace is anywhere discovered to refresh the weary traveller
on his journey, he endeavors to indemnify himself for his temporary
banishment from his olden abode, to which, however, he flatters himself he
will shortly be permitted to return.
Unfortunately, my dear Christians, his expectations are but too frequently
realized. For, in quitting a habitation which has become insupportable
to the malignity of his nature, he directs his agents to employ their craftiest
artifices to subvert, if possible, that new order of things, and to plunge that
well-regulated soul, once more, into its former anarchy. Those agents,
alas ! are the allurements of the world, and the corrupt propensities of the
human heart. And when, by the success of their combined machinations,
the cunning demon finds, at length, his object attained; when making his
rounds, (as the apostle says,) "like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may
devour," he sees the house that was "swept and garnished" thrown
into disorder; when he beholds the fair and lovely forms of the
numerous virtues which adorn the soul of the repentant sinner, dashed,
as it were, from their pedestals, like so many beautiful statues, (broken
in pieces and swept contemptuously, as so much rubbish, from
their sacred repository), and the hideous images of the opposite vices
occupying their places; when he perceives humility succeeded by pride,
continency by lust, meekness by anger, and charity by hatred, then,
accompanied by his associates in wickedness, then, alas ! my brethren,
does he rush with, precipitation into the desecrated mansion, and render
its condition more miserable than it was at first. "Then he goeth and
taketh with him seven other spirits more wicked than himself, and entering
in, they dwell there, and the last state of that man becomes worse than
the first."
This, my beloved brethren, is a true description of the stratagems
employed by the Arch-enemy of mankind (and unhappily he is but too
often successful !) to cause the poor unfortunate sinner to relapse insensibly
into his former transgressions. Not being able to maintain his stronghold
in a soul which is become the temple of the Holy Ghost, he endeavors by
the agency of corrupt nature, and by the temptations of worldly honors,
riches, and pleasures, to seduce it by degrees into a course of action which
may induce the Holy Spirit to abandon it, and thus enable him to recover
his abandoned citadel. By the insidious artifices of these infernal emissaries,
the converted sinner is first of all imperceptibly led to relax his customary
vigilance; and the passions, in consequence, begin to renew their oper-
THIRD SUNDAY OF LENT. 297
ations. These operations, however, are conducted with such secrecy and
silence, as not to excite the smallest alarm. They produce their effect,
nevertheless, upon the unsuspecting soul. They gradually diminish its
relish for heavenly contemplations. They render it less susceptible of
spiritual impressions, and, hence, occasion it to be less fervent and
assiduous in the practice of its religious duties. In the same proportion as
prayer is neglected, the supply of supernatural succor, (which is imparted
only to those who earnestly beg it of God, ) is withheld from that careless
soul. And, thus being insensibly debilitated by the passions which, like a
hidden and deadly disease, work in secret, and acquire additional strength
from the progressive diminution of resistance which is opposed to them;
and being destitute, at the same time, (through his own neglect) of adequate
assistance from heaven, the converted sinner is assailed from without by the
corrupted practices and maxims of the world. These, my brethren, acting
in concert with the treacherous enemies who betray it from within, succeed
at length in producing in that miserable soul a pervading spirit of disorder
which is inconsistent with the sanctity, with the august presence of the
spirit of God. He abandons it, therefore, to Satan and his infernal crew,
who immediately take possession of it, and reduce it to a state of the most
degrading servitude. O, what a melancholy alteration in its condition, is
the soul of that poor unfortunate sinner thus doomed to experience ! The
temple of the Living God converted into a den of wicked spirits ! The
fair daughter of Sion, the chaste spouse of Jesus Christ, reduced to the
condition of a common harlot! Such are the images which but too faith
fully delineate the dreadful revolution produced in the soul of the relapsing
sinner. He had destroyed in his soul the works of the devil and banished
him out of his heart; he had restored that interior domain to God, who had
again taken possession of it, re-established in it the kingdom of his grace,
sanctified and honored it, once more, with his gifts, and with his most
holy presence, and made it, in short, his glorious throne upon earth. The
relapsing sinner overturns all this great work, and makes use of so extra
ordinary a mercy of God, only to insult him the more outrageously.
If a king had not only pardoned a base traitor, but restored him to all his
forfeited privileges and honors, and to the highest posts and dignities of
his kingdom, would he not deem his bounty most grievously insulted, and
his majesty most insolently outraged, if that wretch should return again to
his villainous practices against his royal person and crown ? Would not
this be a treason so base and wicked, that no man could be found so
profligate and abandoned, so lost to all sentiments of honor, as to be
capable of committing it? This, however, is the treatment which the King
of kings, the Lord God of heaven and earth, receives from the relapsing
sinner, who with the most contemptuous hardihood, insults his divine
bounty, and tramples upon and destroys in himself, the most precious gifts
of heaven.
298 THIRD SUNDAY OF LENT.
The sinner when he repents, promises to God in the most solemn manner
to renounce sin for ever, and pledges his word to this effect in the most
.sacred contract of the Sacraments. Men are jealous of their word when
given to a fellow-creature; there is nothing they abhor more than the
character of a perfidious wretch; and certainly, nothing should be more
inviolable than a fidelity to engagements, since it is the bond, nay the soul
and essence, of all public faith; and without it no contracts, commerce, or
.society amongst men could exist. But the relapsing sinner is guilty of the
greatest violation of fidelity that can be possible. He breaks his word
which he has repeatedly given to God, first in his solemn baptismal vows,
and again, as often as he renews his pledge of loyality in the holy Sacra
ments. Frequently, then, my brethren, was this sacred compact entered
into between him and his God, the condition of which was a fidelity to
duty on his part, without which Almighty God would never have admitted
him to pardon and to the participation in his grandest graces, for it was
on condition that he reciprocally bound himself to the service of his
heavenly Father, that the latter enriched and honored him, and engaged
himself to always treat him as his son. This infidelity is, then, the basest
breach of faith, of faith given to God, and this in the most solemn manner,
in the holy temple of the Lord, at the foot of his blessed altar, all the
glorious choirs of heaven being witnesses and depositories thereof. It is
the violation of a contract and alliance sealed by all that is most holy and
terrible; confirmed by the blood of the Lamb, (the immaculate Lamb of
God,) and by the most sacred ceremonies of the Church; and vowed in the
hands of God s minister who received them in his name. By an unparalleled
treachery, this contract is broken; these holy engagements are trampled
upon by a base creature, while God remains most faithful on his side, and
the eternal allegiance and fidelity sworn to him in the face of heaven and
earth are openly violated, even whilst he is still showering down his favors
on the miserable transgressor. The altars, the church-walls, the con
fessionals, the ministers who there received these engagements in the person
of Christ himself, all the heavenly spirits, in fine, who were witnesses of
the penitent s tears and protestations, will rise up in judgment against him,
and condemn him from the words of his own mouth: "The stone from
the wall will cry out." (Hab. n: 4.)
Well then may the last state of that man, my beloved brethren, be said
in the parable to be worse than the first; since the appalling circumstances
which in the first instance made so powerful an impression upon his mind,
are not calculated in the second to produce the same effect. He becomes
familiarized by habit with the brilliant light which first awakened him, as
it were, from his lethargy, and aroused him to a sense of the wretchedness
of his condition. He no longer conceives the same lively notions of the
deformity of sin and the shamefulness of his past excesses. The terrors of
the divine judgments cease to inspire him with the same overwhelming
THIRD SUNDAY OF LENT. 299
dread. The rewards promised to God s faithful servants in a future state,
present no longer the same attractions to his vacillating mind; and the
more frequent his relapses, the more feeble are the impressions produced
by the inspirations of divine grace.
Such, then, my beloved, being the dreadful consequences of relapses
into sin, let me caution you against it with the utmost earnestness. Should
you have, at present, the happiness to stand in God s grace, be humble and
diffident, and beware lest you fall. But should it be your misfortune to
have fallen, apply at once for succor to the throne of grace, and aided by
that supernatural assistance, (which is never denied to the humble and
contrite heart, ) make a strenuous effort to rise again from your miseries, and
recover your erect attitude before God and his holy angels. Yet, remember
at the same time, that the recovery of that noble attitude is rendered more
difficult by each succeeding relapse; and tremble, O sinner ! lest, provoked
by your reiterated infidelities, the Almighty in his anger should abandon
you to your weakness; and that, thus, you should fall, at length, to rise
no more. Be watchful, therefore, my beloved brethren, be vigorous, be
constant. Guard with circumspection the avenues of your souls against
the enticing seductions of worldly vanities. Keep your attention fixed on
the motions of those enemies within the walls, those traitors that lurk with
in your own bosoms, particularly the arch-traitor of your predominant
passion; and let the strong arm of a firm and energetic government awe
them into subjection and submission. You are ready to brand with dishonor
the violator of his engagements with a fellow-creature, and what more sacred
and solemn engagement can there be than that which you have contracted
with your omnipotent Creator? You reflect with horror on the baseness of
the man who, to gratify a craving appetite, or to serve some selfish purpose,
takes part with the enemies of his best friend and benefactor in their
opposition to his interests; and where is the friend, where is the benefactor
to be compared with him, whose love surpasseth all understanding, and
whose boundless beneficence is equal to his love?
To what severe restraints, moreover, are you not prepared to submit,
my brethren, what painful sacrifices are you not willing to make, when
such are pronounced necessary for the preservation of your corporal life?
And what comparison is there between the few fleeting years of your earthly
existence and the endless duration of eternity, throughout which your
destination will be ultimately determined by the indulgence or mortifica
tion of your disorderly appetites ? To the felicity of that future state did
our Blessed Saviour allude at the conclusion of the parable of the unclean
spirit, when, to the woman who exclaimed from the crowd, "Blessed is
the womb that bore thee, and the breasts that gave thee suck," he
emphatically replied: "Yea, rather blessed are they who hear the word
of God and keep it." Rev. P. F. GIBNEY, Oregon.
3 oo THIRD SUNDAY IN LENT.
THIRD SUNDAY OF LENT.
ON INVALID CONFESSION.
"The last state of that man becomeih worse than the first." Luke n: 26..
In ancient days, my dear brethren, there was a miraculous pool near
the city of Jerusalem, called Probatica or Bethsaida. An angel from heaven
came down at certain times or seasons, to trouble the waters thereof, and
whosoever first stepped into the pond after the motion of the water, was
cured of whatever disease or infirmity afflicted him. This pool is not unlike
the Sacrament of Penance, because, as the waters of Probatica (which, by
the way, signifies "the sheep-pond," a name in itself of special application
to our subject, ) as the waters of Probatica had no virtue unless an angel
came to trouble them, so, in like manner, confession produces no effect
unless an angel of God, that is, divine grace, disturbs the conscience of the
sinner. And as the waters of the miraculous pool were able to cure all
the ailments of the body, the miraculous fountain of confession heals the
soul of whatever malady it is subject to. Among the great multitude
present at the pond of Bethsaida, (lying helplessly within the shadow of its
five porches,) we find that Jesus healed only one, and that one, a man who
had been afflicted with sickness for thirty-eight years It was not that our
divine Lord was either unable or unwilling to heal all the other sufferers,
my dear brethren, but it was because they did not come to the healing
pool determined to confess and forsake their sins. Do we not frequently
meet with similar cases at the fountain of confession ? Thousands upon
thousands are weekly approaching the tribunal of Penance, expecting to be
healed of the disorders of their souls; but, alas ! they return to their homes
in a much more dangerous condition than when they quitted them, and,
therefore, our blessed Lord says that "the last state" of such men "be-
1 cometh worse than the first. " What is the reason of this ? Can it be said that
confession has not the same healing effect now as in the primitive times of
the Church, that it has lost its power in an age when it is most necessary ?
Tell me, my brethren, were confession and penance ever more needed in
the world than at present? Was there ever an unhappy epoch when sin was
more prevalent ? ever a time when lies were more general, swearing more
frequent, lust and debauchery more abominable, drunkenness and
gluttony more in fashion, theft, fraud, and every kind of injustice more
common amongst all classes of people, than at present? Ah, no. But it
is further to be remarked, that among the aged and infirm who were at the
pool of Bethsaida some were lame, some blind, and some, as it were, dried
THIRD SUNDAY IN LENT. 301
up in their limbs, and withered with disease. Art not these miserable ones
fitting representatives of many who go frequently to confession ? Like the
blind, they do not behold their sins, because they do not examine their
consciences; like the lame, they stop short and are unable to walk in the
ways of God, because they make a bad confession by concealing or
palliating their sins in confession; and, like the dry and withered members
of the paralytics, the soul of many derive no profit from confession, because
they are utterly devoid of true sorrow and contrition of heart. This is
why so few, my brethren, make valid and fruitful confessions, or, in other
words:
/. Confession is invalid when made without due examination of con
science;
II. Confession is invalid when all mortal sins are not confessed; and
///. Confession is invalid when made without sorrow and contrition of
heart.
I. As the body is subject to a thousand diseases which, sooner or later,
draw it to the grave, so the soul is subject to a thousand spiritual dis
tempers which, sooner or later, draw it to hell. There is this difference,
however, between the diseases of the body and those of the soul, each
particular disease of the body has its particular cure; but, for all the united
ailments of the soul, the wisdom of our Lord Jesus Christ has appointed a
single panacea, and that is Confession. Confession is the cure, the
remedy for the deadliest crimes a Christian can commit; an unfailing
preservative against the most dangerous infection of sin. If you but go to
confession with a hearty sorrow for having offended your God, and with
a firm purpose of amendment, your sins shall certainly be forgiven; for,
Christ has said to his Apostles and to their lawful successors: "Whose sins
you shall forgive, they are forgiven them." Mark, then, my brethren,
that, since confession is so effectual a remedy against the poison of sin, it
is a remedy absolutely necessary to the souls of all who have mortally
offended God after baptism, provided it be in their power to have recourse
to it. Nay, more, if the sinner should distribute all his goods to feed the
poor, if he even shed penitential tears of blood, fasted rigorously during
his whole life, and prayed so constantly and fervently as to wear out, if
possible, his very tongue, this, and a thousand times as much, he might
do, and yet, if he were in mortal sin and refused to avail himself of opport
unities of confession, all his works of piety and penance would profit him
nothing. If he were so happy as to be free from sin, of course this cleans
ing Sacrament, (which is called "the second plank after shipwreck,")
would not be necessary, but so long as the soul is stained with grievous
sin, no man can say that he is free from the obligation and duty of con
fession. It is true, my dear friends, that many Christians approach the
302 THIRD SUNDAY IN LENT.
sacred Tribunal of penance, but few there are who profit by it. The great
mass of penitents are like the blind, tarrying at the brink of the pond in
expectation of being healed, but who cannot behold the waters; they go to
the sacrament with the pretence of telling their sins, but they do so only
after a partial and barren manner; they have but the shadow and the
appearance of confession. O, be not deceived, my dear brethren, such a
mockery of confession will not abolish sin, but only serves to increase it,
it draws down upon us not the love of God but his hatred; far from making
our peace with him, it kindles afresh the fires of his wrath; for, as your
creditors will not consent to accept counterfeit money from you in payment
for your debts, so God indignantly refuses from you the counterfeit con
fession you offer him in atonement for your sins.
Is it any other than a lying confession which he makes who, being
addicted to drunkenness, to lying, swearing, cursing, and blaspheming,
who has given way to a thousand libidinous obscene thoughts, which he
did not hesitate to perpetrate in action, who is passionate, vindictive,
and deeply-rooted in bad habits, and who, after a dissolute life of this kind
for twelve months or more, runs to confession with a preparation of ten or
fifteen minutes ? Is it possible for this man in a momentary examination
of conscience to recall those enormous sins to his mind, or to set them in
order as he should before his confessor ? Ah, no, my dear brethren, if he
takes no more time than this to examine his conscience, he makes no
other than a lying, a guilty, a profitless confession.
He who frequently goes to confession, who sets a guard upon all his
members, who strictly examines his conscience every night in order that
he may repent of the sins he has committed during the day, even he, dear
friends, after all this remote preparation, sets about the work of his con
science with fear and caution, lest he should not cleanse it in a proper
manner. What, then, shall we say of those who give free rein to their
passions, who stop at no iniquity, (no matter how enormous,) and who
never think of their sins till a moment or so before they approach the con
fessional ? Why, they often accuse themselves of trifling imperfections and
frailties, and do not recollect the half of the mortal sins they have actually
committed. They do not behold the great mountains of iniquity that lie
upon their consciences; they are like the blind mentioned in the Gospel
who sought relief from the troubling of the water, but instead of salvation
they often draw from the fountain of grace naught save eternal damnation.
Do not, I implore of you, my brethren, leave a recess or corner of your
conscience without careful examination; discharge the important duty
without indolence or reluctance; look to every thought that has entered
your hearts, to every evil word your tongues have spoken, to every evil
action you have committed against God and your neighbor. After dis
cussing and setting them down in order, pour them forth at the tribunal
of confession; do not conceal or hide any one sin through fear, shame, or
THIRD SUNDAY IN LENT. 303
confusion, for, if you do, your confession will be profitless, useless,
sacrilegious, it will not lessen your sins but increase them, and it would
be a thousand times better for you not to go to confession at all, than,
going, to profane or abuse the healing means of salvation.
II. Confession is a sorrowful declaration or avowal of our sins to a
priest, in order to obtain absolution from him. It is a self-accusation
which the sinner makes to God in the person of his minister, to the end
that in the name of God and by his authority that anointed minister may
grant him absolution or pardon for his guilt Now, if confession is intended
to be a voluntary accusation of one s self in the holy tribunal, why do you,
my brethren, instead of accusing yourselves, try there, instead, to excuse
yourselves? Why do you throw a veil over your sins, or present them in
a different color from their native deformity ? Why do you not expose the
wounds of your hearts to the physician of your souls, if you ever expect to
be healed of them ? There are many who habitually lead dissolute and
wicked lives, and who commit every day, nay, every hour, the most abomin
able crimes, yet, when they approach confession, they have nothing to tell
but petty venial sins, light and frivolous matters; and should they even
accuse themselves of a few of their mortal sins, if you take their own word
for it, it is not they, themselves, who are to be blamed for the evil done, but
some others on whom they commonly lay the burden. If they happen to
swear, it was the result of some just provocation and anger, their children,
or their neighbors provoked them to it; if they happened to stop too long
in the drinking-saloon, it was not for the sake of the liquor, but for the
sake of the company who enticed them to remain; if they injured their
neighbors in their reputation or property, it was but a slight affair, a mere
nothing, scarcely worth confessing. The same fate that happened the
lame, who sat near the pool of Bethsaida in expectation of their cure and
obtained it not, will happen to those people who come, thus, with a lame
confession to the sacred tribunal of Penance. If, with these apologies,
they succeed at times in blindfolding the priest, my dear brethren, they
cannot blindfold the Sovereign Judge who sees not only the bad deed, but
even the inmost guilty thoughts of the heart that prompted it. "I am the
Judge and the Witness," saith the Lord.
The wolf, when he rushes upon the flock, commonly seizes a sheep by
the throat and immediately tears out her tongue, lest she should make any
noise that might alarm the shepherd and bring him to her relief. In like
manner, acts with many penitents that merciless wolf, the devil; and
especially, with young people going to confession. Lest they should alarm
Jesus Christ, the shepherd of their souls, with their tears and sHghs, he, the
infernal wolf, seizes them by the throat, he deprives them, in a manner, of
their tongues that they may not expose their hearts to the shepherd of the
confessional. They conceal the faults of their souls, they lie to God, and not
304 THIRD SUNDAY IN LENT.
to man, and if God does not make a terrible example of them on the spot
by a sudden death, as he did with Ananias and Sapphira for attempting
to deceive St. Peter as to the price of the property they had agreed to
devote to the common fund, they shall incur a death ten thousand
times worse, the awful and agonizing death of eternal damnation. Nor
is this the only advantage, my brethren, which this accursed wolf takes of
mankind. The shame which ought to attend the sinner at the commision
of sin, he steals from him at that sad moment, but as soon as the evil is
accomplished, and the poor penitent is disposed to confess his crime, the
devil returns to him a double-fold, overwhelming shame, so that he who
sinned, perhaps, boldly and openly, without a blush, is ashamed in the
confessional to lay bare his miseries to his physician, although he is assured
that unless he confesses his sin, there is no possibility of being healed.
Open, then, your eyes, my dear brethren, and behold the perfidious snares
of the devil; expel the secret poison of sin out of your hearts, or it will be
the ruin of your souls. Lay open to your kind physician the manifold
wounds which the infernal wolf and your own base passions have inflicted
on you, lay them open without excuse, and with sentiments of profound
and real contrition, otherwise, they will rankle and fester in your interior
until they become a deadly gangrene, aggravated beyond all alleviation
or cure.
III. Those who offered sacrifice to the Lord in the Old Law were
accustomed to slay a cow or an ox, and cleanse the flesh in water; then,
after cutting it into small pieces, they placed it upon the altar, where the
priest extended his hands over it, and kindled a fire beneath it to consume
it. A sacrifice of this kind was calculated to make peace between the
Jewish people and their God; it assuaged his wrath and withdrew his
scourges from his guilty children. In like manner, let each sinner who is
resolved to make his peace with God, offer the sacrifice of his soul upon
the altar of confession. Let him first remove from it the filthy scum of sin
and the old withered skin of indifference, let him wash and cleanse it with
abundant, briny tears of penance; let him cut it, as it were, into fragments
with the sharp knife of contrition, a heart-rending sorrow for having offended
God, and as the priest extends his hand over him, saying those blessed
words: "I absolve thee from thy sins," the flames of divine love will be
enkindled in his soul, consuming everything that is evil therein, and the
eternal Father will vouchsafe, once more, to be reconciled to his penitent
child. Thus, confession will free him from the heavy vengeance that
hung, like a fatal sword, over his guilty head; it will quench the burning
flames of hell that were prepared for him; it will kindle the fire of grace in
his cold heart; it will cleanse his soul that was so black and hideous with
its sins, and make it, we trust, dear friends, as pure and bright as it was after
holy Baptism. This hearty sorrow, (which is so necessary for a true
THIRD SUNDAY IN LENT. 305
repentance,) a person may possess in two ways: the first, when he shows
his remorse and sorrow in his exterior by his tears and sighs; the second,
when it grieves him to the heart to have committed sin, although he does
not manifest it externally. The first sort of sorrow is to be highly commended
and is most meritorious, but it is not necessary for forgiveness, since it is
not every one who can shed tears when he would; but the second sorrow
which is a contrition, by God s grace, within the reach of all is absolutely
necessary in the Sacrament of Penance or confession, for unless the latter
be accompanied by a hearty sorrow or remorse for sin, it would be no
other than a profitless, a sacrilegious abuse of a divinely instituted Sacra
ment.
Ah ! how few, my brethren, come to confession with a sincere sorrow !
How many imitate the infirm at the pool of Bethsaida, and come to render
an account of their conscience with a dry and withered heart ! How many
approach the sacred tribunal with far less solicitude and anxiety than they
bring to their temporal business, as if, in fact, they were going to a place
of amusement ! They imagine that if they tell all their sins, all is well,
and nothing more is required of them; as to contrition or a hearty sorrow
for their offences, alas! they are utter strangers to it, a fact which is
easily known by the non-amendment of their lives after confession, by their
sudden relapses into the very sins of which they have just so carelessly
accused themselves. "To-day thou confessest thy sin," says A Kempis,
"and to-morrow thou again committest what thou hast confessed. " Do
you not see the blasphemer as much addicted to his sin after confession as
before? Do you not behold the lascivious returning to their foul vices after
confession, as the dog returns to his vomit? Do you not see defrauders and
thieves as bent upon depriving their neighbors of their property after con
fession as before ? What, you ask, can be the reason of this ? O, my dear
Christians, it is the want of a real, heartfelt sorrow. If those unhappy penitents
possessed a sincere and genuine abhorrence of sin, there would be no fear
of their immediate relapse into it.
But what will become of those who thus dishonor confession, who go
under the pretence of performing it rightly, but approach it, instead, without
the proper dispositions, without due examination, without candor, without
true contrition ? Or, what will become of those who often promise God in
their confessions to abandon their sins and amend their lives, but who
never keep those solemn promises? Oh, how this Sacrament which Jesus
Christ instituted to be the life of their souls, is changed by their abuse into
.a deadly poison; how this Sacrament which, when rightly received, bears
with it a blessed sentence of absolution, is changed in their regard into an
abominable sacrilege conveying to their wretched souls a sentence of eternal
-condemnation! "God maintains his patience with them for a while," says
the royal Prophet, "but he will bring them to an account at last." As if
he would say: Those who lie to me now, who promise to amend their
306 THIRD SUNDAY IN LENT.
lives, and do it not, I shall bear with them for awhile, I will let them
proceed with their wickedness, but the time will come when I shall cast
them into a dark, dismal prison where they will have no other company
than the devils; where their ears will hear nothing but curses and blas
phemies; where their food will be no other than sulphur and brimstone;
where their drink shall be no other than gall, wormwood, and everything
most bitter; where infernal fires shall consume them, infernal racks tear
them asunder; devils torment them in every power of their souls, in every
faculty of their bodies, in every affection of their hearts; and all that with
out intermission or relief, as long as God shall be God, for ever and for
ever ! Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire. "
Dear Christians, you who have had the misfortune to fall into sin, sleep no
longer on the brink of perdition, delay no longer to lay bare your spiritual
wounds to your powerful Physician; repair speedily to the fountain of
grace, confession, where you shall find health and strength for your afflicted
souls. Do not say, like the poor invalids mentioned in the Gospel, that
you have no one to help you reach the healing waters. Here is Jesus
Christ on the cross with his arms extended to receive you, his head i&
bowed down to give you the kiss of peace, his feet are nailed to the cross
to await your coming. Here is the angel of God, the anointed priest of
God and of his holy Church, ready to move the waters for your relief.
Come, then, with hope and confidence, come with a hearty sorrow and a
firm purpose of amendment; confess your sins candidly and sincerely,
without excuse or omission, without extenuation or palliation, as you
know yourself guilty before God, and I assure you in his name that he
will most lovingly forgive you, that his minister will gladly pronounce over
you the sentence of absolution, and that when he has said to you, as Christ
said to the paralytic of the Gospel : Behold, thou art made whole, sin no-
more, lest some worse thing happen to thee, " you shall find sweet rest
for your souls in this life, my beloved brethren, and eternal glory in the
world to come, a blessing which I wish you all in the name of the Father
and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost. Amen.
FOURTH FRIDAY IN LENT. 307
FOURTH FRIDAY IN LENT.
HOW TO BEGIN.
* He that will love life, and see good days, let him decline from
evil, and do good." i. Pet. 3: 10, n.
How glad, my dear brethren, is the shipwrecked manner, who battles
with the waves and is every moment in danger of perishing, if a rope is
thrown out to him, to which he can cling ! . . . How glad must not the
sinner be, who is wrecked on this stormy ocean of life with the abyss of
hell threatening at every moment to swallow him up, if a strong hand is
held out to him to rescue him from eternal perdition. Yes, there is safety,
yet, for the repentant sinner in the heart of God and in the arms of the
Church. But, how is he to begin the work of his salvation? St. Peter
gives the right answer to this question in the following words: "He that
will love life, and see good days, let him decline from evil, and do good."
Alas ! poor sinner, you have been aroused out of the sleep of sin by the
depth of the abyss into which you have fallen, especially by the terrors
which await you in eternity. Sighing you have called upon the good God
to have mercy on you; you have implored him in the words of the royal
Psalmist: "Have mercy on me, O God, according to thy great mercy; and
according to the multitude of thy tender mercies, blot out my iniquity."
Ps, 50: i, 2. God will have mercy on you, poor afflicted soul, if you will
but do what he demands of you; and that is
/. To abandon the way of injustice, and
//. To enter upon the way of justice.
I. What does it mean to abandon the way of injustice? Three things
are required for it.
i. To repent of sin. So long as a man does not detest evil, he walks
in the way of injustice; for his heart is attached to sin. Hence, the first
condition of true repentance is sorrow, or contrition for sin. And this con
trition must be
a) Sincere. It must have its root in the heart, since, as the heart was
formerly the seat of sin, it must now be the seat of contrition. "Rend
your hearts," says the prophet Joel, "and not your garments." (3: 13.)
"An afflicted spirit, a contrite heart the Lord will not despise." Ps. 50: 9.
308 FOURTH FRIDAY IN LENT.
The contrition of the mouth and of the lips is not sufficient. The heart
must be crushed, must be bruised, (as is the literal meaning of the word, )
by sorrow, and this sorrow must extend not only to one or two or three
sins, but to all sins, at least, to all mortal sins committed. He who
truly repents of his sinful life, makes no exception, he detests all grievous
sins by which he has basely offended his God. The false contrition which
includes only a few sins, and reserves to the penitent even one favorite
mortal sin or evil habit, has no value whatever in the sight of the Most High.
b) True contrition must be supernatural. It must proceed from God,
and have God, alone, for its object. Now, my brethren, your contrition
proceeds from God if it is caused by his interior impulse, that is, by his
divine grace; ... it has God for its object, if you are sorry for your sins
because thereby you have offended God, or, at least, because thereby you
have lost heaven and deserved hell. This is the first and most necessary
thing: Be sorry for your sins! "I know my iniquity, and my sin is
always before me. To thee only have I sinned, and have done evil before
thee." Ps. 50: 5, 6. "I am not worthy to be called thy son." Luke 15: 21.
2. You must confess your sins. "If we confess our sins, God is faith
ful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all iniquity."
i. John i: 9. "No man can be justified from sins, unless he confess his
sins." Concil. Trid. sess. 14, can. 6. 7. We must, therefore, my dear
Christians, confess
a) With confidence in the mercy of God. If the sinner should believe
that God either will not or cannot forgive him his offences, confession would
be fruitless. Hence, the necessity for confidence in God who overlooks
(or forgives) the sins of men for the sake of repentance. " Wisd. 1 1 : 24.
This confidence, then, my brethren, is necessary, and most especially
necessary when the sins of the penitent surpass all measure and number.
You must confess
b) With a sincere self -accusation. "You must confess, at least, all
grievous sins, according to number, species, and necessary circumstances. "
Concil. Trid. sess. 1 7, can. 7. Confess, dear Christians, by laying bare the
true state of your soul, without excuses, without palliation; confess as your
conscience accuses you, and as you believe yourself guilty before God.
This is the second thing. Confess your sins! "Be not ashamed to con
fess thy sins." Eccles. 4:31. . . . Though it be ever so hard and painful
to flesh and blood, overcome yourself for the love of God, and he, by his
grace, will render the confession easy. . . .
3. You must amend your life. There would be no sincere contrition,
FOURTH FRIDAY IN LENT. 309
no firm purpose of amendment, in fact, it would be only a sham repent
ance, if, shortly after confession you commit the same sins you have so
recently confessed. The devil leads some souls into hell by open, unrepented
sin, others by the snare of a false repentance. By returning to their former
sins immediately after quitting the sacred Tribunal, they show that they,
(as it were,) repent of their seeming repentance. Christ once risen from
the dead died no more, so you, also, my brethren, having risen from sin,
must sin no more, like Mary Magdalene, St. Peter, St. Paul, and a host
of other sincere and holy penitents. You must amend your life, and
for that purpose,
a) Resist the temptation to sin. After confession, the same temptations
will assail you, sometimes more violently than before. You must make
war against them, you must struggle against anger, pride, drunkenness,
lust, the love of earthly things; you must fight with all vigor, and earnest
ness, and constancy, as if a kingdom were to be taken; as, indeed, it is,
for the kingdom of heaven is the prize. But in order the easier to stand in
battle, you must relinquish the proximate occasion of sin, for as long as
you remain in that, in spite of the holiest resolutions, you will most certainly
relapse, since you undertake an impossibility, viz: to avoid sin without
avoiding the occasions of sin. "Can a man hide fire in his bosom, and
his garments not burn ? Or can he walk upon hot coals, and his feet not
be burnt?" Proverbs 6: 27, 28. Moreover, my dear brethren, you must
b) Repair the damage caused by your sin. The neighbor is often in
jured by sin. Justice requires that reparation should be made. You have
stolen something, perhaps, from another; know, then, that you cannot,
and must not, keep it; you must make restitution. You have injured, per
chance, the honor or good name of your neighbor, you must restore it.
You have scandalized your fellow-men by word and example. You are
bound to repair the injury which you have inflicted upon these immortal
souls.
This is the third thing. Amend your life, make satisfaction. "Put away
the strange gods from among you, and prepare your hearts unto the Lord,
and serve him only." i. Kings 7: 3. "Be converted, and turn from your
idols," (your darling sins and passions,) "and turn away your faces from
all your abominations." Ezech. 14: 6. "Turn from thy sins. Turn away
from thy injustice, and greatly hate abomination." Eccles. 17: 21-23. The
illustrious St. Gregory explains that "to do penance means to bewail the
perpetrated evil, and to perpetrate the bewailed evil no more. " (Horn. 34,
in Evang.)
II. It does not suffice, my dear Christians, to forsake the way of in
justice, but you must, also, enter upon the way of justice. Decline from
310 FOURTH FRIDAY IN LENT.
evil, this is very good; but it is not enough; it is only the beginning of
repentance. Another condition is equally necessary for a sincere con
version: Do good. This is done
i. If you do what God commands.
a) You will do what he commands, my brethren, if you obey his
expressed will, such as the Ten Commandments. "The Lord spoke all
these words." (Exod. 20: 1-18.) And this law which was given by the
Lord to Moses on Mount Sinai, was confirmed and explained by his Eternal
Son who said: " Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the
prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil." Matt. 5: 17. His
Church, too, tells you what he commands, through his representatives:
"He that heareth you, heareth me." Luke 10: 16. The laws of the Church
contain the will of God. God speaks through the mouth of his beloved
Spouse. Obey, then, dear Christians, the precepts of the Church.
b) Four own heart tells you what God commands, or what he forbids.
God has written his will upon every human soul, that she may know what
is right and wrong. This is the precious gift of Conscience which he has
given to every one of his creatures. In every work of thine regard thy
soul in faith; for this is the keeping of the commandments." Eccles. 32: 27.
Walk the way of justice, my brethren. Observe carefully and perseveringly
what God and your conscience tell you. . . . True, it is a great thing, and
worthy of immortal reward, to thus do the expressed will of your Creator,
but a greater thing it is, and belonging to eternal justice that
2. You endure patiently the trials which he sends you. All spiritual
writers assert that the bearing of the cross is absolutely necessary for every
one who desires to walk this world as a Christian and to perform the
justice of Christ; for our Lord himself says: "If any man will come after
me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. " Matt.
16: 24. And again: "He that taketh not up his cross, and followeth me,
is not worthy of me." Matt. 10: 38. Therefore, my brethren, strive ta
carry your crosses with cheerfulness and patience.
a) The general cross. The whole world sighs under misery. "Thorns
and thistles, " says the wisdom of Genesis (3:18). " Sweat of the brow, " says
the same book of Moses (3: 19). Since every individual man is a de
scendant of sinful Adam who was forced in punishment for his disobedience
to journey through thistles and thorns in this vale of tears, and to earn his
bread in the sweat of his brow, every creature of God is subject to labor
and sufferings. "Great labor is created for all men, and a heavy yoke is
upon the children of Adam, from the day of their coming out of their
FOURTH FRIDAY IN LENT. 31 r
mother s womb, until the day of their burial into the mother of all. 1 *
Eccles. 40: i.
b) Particular crosses. Every state of life has its difficulties and obstacles.
The mother is tried, more or less, with her children; the wife, with her
husband; the farmer, with his laborers; the poor man, with the necessities
of his condition. Bear, then, your cross, each one of you, my dear
brethren, with patience and resignation to the will of God. Join thyself
to God, and endure/ says the Wise Man, "that thy life may be increased
in the latter end. Take all that shall be brought upon thee; and in thy
sorrow endure, and in thy humiliation, keep patience. For gold and silver
are tried in the fire, but acceptable men in the furnace of humiliation/
(Eccles. 2: 3-5.) "Prepare thyself to suffer many adversities, and divers
evils, in this miserable life," says, also, the pious A Kempis, "for so it will
be with thee, wherever thou art, and so, indeed, wilt thou find it where
soever thou mayst hide thyself. " (Imitat. of Christ, libr. 2, c. 12, v. 10.)
From this brief discourse, my dear brethren, you now know what to do,
and how to begin the work of your repentance, that you may obtain mercy
and save your soul. Do not say it is too difficult A thousand years
employed in the most austere penance are incomparably easier to endure,
than a quarter of an hour spent in hell. Begin, then, at once, and, (the
grace of God assisting you to a happy termination of your labors and
penances, ) may it be given you all to realize in your own souls the truth
of the passage which forms a consoling supplement to my text of to-day,
that "the eyes of the Lord are (ever) upon the just, and his ears open unto
their prayers." Amen.
312 FOURTH SUNDAY OF LENT.
FOURTH SUNDAY OF LENT.
ON THE REAL PRESENCE OF OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST IN THE HOLY EUCHARIST.
"Jesus took the loaves, and when he had given thanks, he distributed to
them" John 6: n.
All the Sacraments of the Church, my beloved brethren, deserve our
deep veneration, because they are memorials of the merciful love of our
Redeemer, and the inexhaustible fountains of his grace. But the Sacrament
of the Blessed Eucharist calls for our very deepest reverence and adoration
because it is the greatest of all the Sacraments, and because we receive
therein not only grace, but the Author of all grace and the Principle of all
sanctity, Jesus Christ, the Son of God, made Man. No other Sacrament
can be compared to this divine treasure of the altar; for, as the sun is the
most brilliant of all planets, and gold the most precious of all metals, so
the Sacrament of the Blessed Eucharist is the holiest and most sublime of
the seven Sacraments.
The Blessed Eucharist is both, a Sacrament and Sacrifice. It is the
Sacrament and Sacrifice of the true Body and Blood of our Lord Jesus
Christ which is offered and distributed under the appearances of bread and
wine. There is a very great and twofold difference, my brethren, between
the Blessed Eucharist as a Sacrament and the Blessed Eucharist as a Sacri
fice; as a Sacrament, it is perfected by consecration; as a Sacrifice, its
efficacy consists in its oblation. As a Sacrament, it contains really and
substantially the Body and Blood, the Soul and Divinity of Jesus Christ
under the appearances of bread and wine. These words furnish the correct
definition of the Blessed Eucharist. When the priest, after the consecration
at the Mass, elevates first the host and then the contents of the chalice for
adoration, the Sacrament which is there present is the real Body and the
real Blood of Jesus Christ our Lord. Although we see nothing but the
appearances of bread and wine, we are taught by faith, that this divine
.Sacrament is not bread and wine, but the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ,
In order to avoid all misconception, we say the true body and the true
blood of Jesus Christ. My beloved brethren, I beg of you, for a moment
to look at the Crucifix yonder. There you see a sacred, wounded body
with the blood streaming from its every pore. Is it the real, true Body and
Blood of Jesus Christ? No, on the Crucifix there is only a representation
of the body and blood of Christ. In the Eucharist, on the contrary, there
is the same identical body in which Jesus lived upon earth, and which rTe
still possesses in heaven; the very same blood which circled in his veins
FOURTH SUNDAY OF LENT. 313
from the time of his conception in his blessed Mother s womb; the very
same blood which he shed for our salvation upon the cross of Calvary.
But this adorable body and blood in the holy Eucharist are not visible to
our corporal eyes; we do not behold the real body, we do not see the
real blood; we see only the appearances of bread and wine; yet, under these
appearances, faith teaches us and the unfailing word of Eternal Truth
assures us that Jesus Christ is really and truly present. Hence, we say,
"under the appearances of bread and wine," for in this Sacrament bread
and wine are no longer present; what was bread before, has been changed
into the body of Christ, and what was wine before, has been changed inta
the blood of Christ. By the appearances of bread and wine we do not
understand bread and wine, but only what is perceptible to our senses, as
form, taste, and color. In the Blessed Eucharist, my dear brethren, there
is nothing left of bread and wine, but the appearances. It appears to our
senses to be bread and wine, it looks, tastes, and smells like bread and
wine, but it is no longer bread and wine; for, (to repeat once more a
sublime and soul-inspiring truth,) under the appearances of bread and
wine are really and substantially present, the adorable body and blood of
our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.
To redeem mankind from the slavery of sin and hell, Jesus humbled
himself, and became obedient unto the death of the cross. To a finite
mind, this infinite excess of. bounty, this endurance of indescribable tortures
and humiliations for our sakes, would seem to reach the supreme climax
of all that could be done for miserable humanity; but our divine Lord went
farther, and astonished the world by the institution of this wonderful
mystery. Herein his mercy and love seem to have surpassed themselves,
and have, as it were, exhausted the riches of his wisdom, power, and good
ness; for every thing that is good, great, and precious, is contained and
concentrated in this Sacrament. Herein, he has given us the most valuable
treasure that heaven was able to bestow, or that the world was able to
receive, since, as St. Augustine remarks, God s wisdom could not contrive,
neither could his power produce, nor his liberality bestow on us, anything
greater or more precious than his own divine self. We sometimes envy,
my dear brethren, the happiness of those people of olden days who heard
the words of wisdom, grace, and salvation directly from the lips of our
Blessed Lord; we envy the happiness of the sick woman (mentioned in the
Gospel), who touched the hem of his garment and was healed; but in the
adorable Sacrament of the Blessed Eucharist you, also, are permitted to see
Jesus, you can touch him in your turn, nay, more, you can even carry
him about within you, as Mary once bore him in her chaste womb. With
out ceasing to be God, Jesus in the Blessed Eucharist ceases to appear as
God. He is truly a hidden God, my beloved Christians; he is, as it were,
annihilated under the semblance of our most common-place food; and all
314 FOURTH SUNDAY OF LENT,
this, to accommodate himself to our weakness, and inspire us with con
fidence to come to him for help and relief.
During the three years that he remained personally with them on earth,
Jesus had given his Apostles numberless proofs of his love. The hour of
his departure drew nigh. It was a solemn hour when he, the night before
he suffered, sat with his disciples at table to eat the paschal lamb. His
words to them on that momentous occasion, were words of tender love.
Like an affectionate father, he sat among his beloved children. He bade
them farewell, gave them the necessary instructions for their future conduct,
consoled them in their grief at his departure, telling them that he must go
forth to die for mankind; that it was expedient for them that he should go,
and that, after his departure, he would prepare a place for them in the
house of his Father. Then, that his dear children might never forget him
but keep him in perpetual remembrance, what did he do, my brethren ?
After having washed the feet of his disciples with his own hands, (in token
of the purity necessary for the reception of that Sacrament which he was
about to institute for all time, as the greatest monument of his love,) he
took bread, raised his eyes to heaven, and giving thanks, he blessed it, and
in the simple language of Omnipotence he said: "This is my body," which
shall be delivered for you. In like manner, he took the chalice and having
given thanks, he blessed it and gave it to them saying: "This is my blood
of the new Testament which shall be shed for you and for many unto the
remission of sin." Thus it was, my dear brethren, that the august Sacra
ment of the body and blood of Jesus Christ was perfected for the first time,
and by our divine Lord and Saviour himself; and Jesus adding: "Do this in
commemoration of me" gave to his Apostles, and, through them, to their
lawful successors in the ministery, power and authority to do what he had
done, namely, to consecrate bread and wine and change them into his
sacred body and blood. Lo! in the beginning of the world, when dark
ness brooded over the face of the universe, the supreme Lord and almighty
Creator said "Fiat lux! Let there be light," and there was light; in like
manner, my beloved Christians, at the omnipotent word of the Redeemer
at the Last Supper: "This is my body, .... this is my blood/ the myster
ious and miraculous change of bread and wine into his body and blood
was instantaneously accomplished.
Since Christ thus solemnly declares that his body is here really present,
who will dare henceforth to doubt it? And since he says, " This is my
blood," who will have the hardihood to say that it is not his blood? God
cannot deceive, my dear brethren, he is the God of truth. Let us not
murmur with the carnal Jews: "This is a hard saying, how can this man
give us his flesh to eat?" but let us rather exclaim with St. Peter: "Lord,
thou hast the words of eternal life ! " By him, by his word only, behold !
the heavens and the earth were made out of nothing; surely, then, by the
same almighty power, one substance can be converted into another. The
FOURTH SUNDAY OF LENT. 315
words of Christ are plain and explicit; but if they were less plain, less
explicit, if there could exist a shadow of doubt as to the meaning of these
words, to whom should we apply, dear Christians, in order to obtain a
satisfactory solution of our doubt ? Most assuredly to the Apostles. How
did they understand the words of Christ: This is my body, .... this is
my blood?" St. Paul, to whom, (as he, himself, assures us,) this mystery
was communicated by Christ himself, understood these words in their
literal sense, and hence, he says: "He that eateth this bread unworthily,
or drinketh this chalice unworthily, eateth and drinketh judgment to him
self, not discerning the body of the Lord." Now, if that which we worship
in the sacred Species were simply, (as heretics blasphemously assert,)
a figure or type of our Blessed Lord s body and blood, how would it be
possible for the unworthy communicant to eat and drink judgment to him
self? How would it be possible for him to incur eternal damnation for
not discerning the body of the Lord, if, (according to the showing of such
unbelievers,) that sacred Body was not really present in the Sacrament?
It is true, my dear brethren, that this sublime Sacrament is a mystery,
and that all mysteries are incomprehensible to sense and reason; but we
must humbly submit our finite reason and understanding to the infallible
word of God who being infinitely wise cannot be deceived, and being
infinitely good cannot, in his turn, deceive. If God could create the world
out of nothing, and if nothing is impossible with God, it certainly is not
hard to believe that his omnipotence can change one thing into another.
You all remember, dear Christians, how, at the request of his blessed
Mother, he changed water into wine at the marriage-feast of Cana. Again,
all the faithful, (and, indeed, many non-Catholics, ) accept without dispute
the truth that the divine and human natures are united in our Lord; if,
then, we believe Christ to be true God under the form of man, why can
we not believe him true God and true man under the form of bread and
wine, since he, himself, has said: "This is my body, .... this is my
blood?" As we believe him to have died under the form and appearance
of a criminal on the cross, so we may and should believe him present in
the holy Eucharist under the appearances of bread and wine. As God
the Holy Ghost, was seen of old under the form of a dove, and under the
appearance of tongues of fire, so we may and ought to believe Christ our
Lord and God to be present under the appearances of bread and wine.
To assert that he is not really present under the sacramental species, is the
greatest of all blasphemies; for it is nothing less than to accuse Jesus of
telling an untruth. Did not Christ say with his own blessed lips: "This is
my body, .... this is my blood"? Had he said, on the other hand:
"This is not my body, .... this is not my blood," every rational person
would conclude, that neither his body nor his blood was present in the
holy Eucharist, since these words taken in their natural sense could convey
no other idea; and shall not the words: "This is my body, .... this is my
316 FOURTH SUNDAY OF LENT.
blood," which he actually made use of, have equal force, and indisputably
prove to all that his body and his blood are really present in the Blessed
Eucharist.
We must believe, my dear brethren, that the body and blood of Jesus
Christ are really and substantially present under the appearances of bread
and wine, because he, the infallible Truth, has said it, and because his holy
Church, the pillar and the ground of truth, has always taught it; and we
must believe in the Real Presence with a stronger faith, than if we actually
saw it with our own eyes; for our own eyes may deceive us, but God can
not deceive us. Hence, when some one came, on a certain occasion, to
St. Louis, king of France, and told him that if he wished it, he might
behold a miracle in a neighboring church where our Lord had appeared
in the Blessed Sacrament under the image of a little child, the holy
monarch replied: "Let those who do not believe in the Real Presence, go
and look at it; as for me, I not only believe that our Lord Jesus Christ is
really present in the Sacrament of the altar, but I believe it more firmly
than if I saw it with my bodily eyes ! " And he remained where he was.
O, my beloved brethren ! would that we possessed the lively faith of this
devout king ! Sometimes our senses really deceive us; sometimes things
appear to us totally different from what they are in reality. Thus the sun
seems to move around the earth, and yet, it is the earth that moves around
the sun; but the holy Roman Catholic Church, alone, is infallible on earth;
she can teach only that which Christ, her divine Spouse, has taught
When Jesus had changed bread and wine into his body and blood, he
gave it to his Apostles with these words : Take ye, and eat, .... take ye, and
drink; " ana then he added: " Do this in commemoration of me. " What
these words signify is plain. Jesus hereby commanded his Apostles, after
his death, to do what he had done, namely, to change bread and wine
into his body and blood; to eat this heavenly manna themselves, and to
give to others to eat. The natural inference is that Jesus Christ, when he
gave his Apostles this command to do what he had done, also invested
them with power and authority to consecrate bread and wine, and change
them into his adorable body and blood. Suppose, a corpse had been
brought that day into the Paschal supper-room, and Christ had said to one
of his Apostles: "Go, and raise that dead man to life/ what, my brethren,
would that command have implied? Undoubtedly, that in those words
Christ communicated to his Apostle the power of raising the dead man to
life. This is a parallel case. When Jesus commanded his Apostles to do
what he had done, namely, to change bread and wine into his body and
blood, he surely invested them with the power and authority to execute
that command.
But the commission: "Do this in commemoration of me," regards not
only the Apostles, but, also, all their lawful successors in the priesthood.
Christ intended his Church to exist to the end of time; hence, the means of
FOURTH SUNDAY OF LENT. 317
grace must exist to the end of time. It is by those means of grace that the
Church conducts her children to salvation; if she was destitute of them, she
could not save souls. Since Christ said to his Apostles: Do this in com
memoration of me," he wished to institute the mystery of his body and
blood not only for the short life-time of his Apostles, but for all time, even
to the consummation of the world. St. Paul expressly says so, when he
adds to these words of Christ: "As often as you eat of this bread, or drink
of this chalice, you shall show forth the death of the Lord until he come
again," namely, until he come to judge the living and the dead. If this
most holy Sacrament was to continue to the end of time, of necessity the
power to change bread and wine into his body and blood was to continue
to the end of time. But to whom did the Apostles commit this power?
Most certainly to those whom they appointed as their successors in the
priesthood. That this power might remain in the Church, and be spread
over the whole world, the primitive Apostles not only ordained priests, but,
also, consecrated bishops, who received in their turn the commission to
ordain other priests and consecrate other bishops, and thus permanent
provision was made by the Church that her priesthood might retain to the
end of the world the miraculous power to consecrate bread and wine and
change them into the body and blood of Christ.
The solemn moment, at which either a priest or a bishop exercises in
the Mass this divine power to change bread and wine into the body and
blood of Christ, is at the time of the Consecration. At that moment, they
fulfil the commission of their divine Lord: "Do this in commemoration of
me/ Even as he, the great High-Priest, took bread into his sacred hands,
so they take bread into their hands, and pronounce over it in his name
and by his authority, his own blessed words: "This is my body." Then
they take the chalice, as he also did, and say over the wine the same
words he spoke at the Last Supper: "This is my blood." And as soon as
the priest has pronounced these words, the bread and wine which were
there the instant before, are no longer on the altar, but, (O marvelous
miracle of the divine power and love!) the body and blood of Christ are
there instead ! Hence, my brethren, you behold at the Mass, the priest
falling upon his knee to adore the hidden God; hence, you see him rising
and elevating in turn the sacred host and the chalice, that the faithful may,
also, adore their blessed Lord and Saviour. When the Consecration is
perfected, Jesus remains present under the appearances of bread and wine,
as long as the sacred species remain. He dwells in the tabernacle, where
the consecrated hosts are preserved; he allows himself to be borne about
in solemn procession; he gives himself to us in the form of bread for the
nourishment of our souls, and is carried to the sick to become their
viaticum. O, thanks and praises forever be to this most loving Lord for
so many evidences of his unspeakable mercy and goodness !
318 FOURTH SUNDAY OF LENT.
You must not believe, my beloved brethren, that in the sacred host there
is only the body of Christ without his precious blood, or that in the chalice
there is only his precious blood, separated from his sacred body. Christ is
present under each species, whole and entire, his flesh and blood, his body
and soul, his divinity and humanity. Christ in the Blessed Eucharist is not
divided; his flesh is with his blood, his body with his soul, and both are
inseparably united with his divinity. He is present in the Sacrament of
the altar, just as he sits at the right hand of God. Now, Christ in heaven,
dear friends, is not in a state of death, but of life; flesh and blood, body
and soul, divinity and humanity are not separated, but inseparably united.
Hence, no separation can take place in this holy Sacrament, and con
sequently, under each species, whether of bread or wine, the body and
blood of Christ are present with his soul and divinity. When you receive
Communion you receive it, (it is true, ) only under the species of bread,
but, in receiving the sacred host, you receive not only his body, but with
his. body, his blood, his soul, his divinity. If one would receive Com
munion under the species of wine only, he would not receive the blood of
Christ separated from the body, but united with the body, as well as with
the soul and divinity of Christ.
In the Blessed Eucharist, Christ is not only whole and entire under each
species, but in such a manner that he cannot be divided. When the priest
breaks the host, he breaks only the species; the body of Christ is not
broken, only the species are divided. He is present whole and entire
under each of the species, and under the smallest fragment of the species
of bread as well as under the smallest drop of the species of wine. To
illustrate this, my brethren, I will make use of a familiar example. You
stand, for instance, before a large mirror, and you behold your image
reflected in it. Break that mirror, the next moment, into a thousand
pieces, and you will not thereby break your picture, but will see it reflected,
whole and entire, in every part of the broken mirror.
In spite of all that has been said, or can be said, to demonstrate the
truth of this august Sacrament, still the Real Presence of Christ in the
Blessed Eucharist will always remain a great and incomprehensible mystery.
Nevertheless, it suffices for us, dear Christians, to know that God can do
greater things than we are able to comprehend; for, with God nothing is
impossible. The Apostles could not comprehend how Jesus after his
resurrection could enter the room in which they were assembled, the doors
thereof being closed. In heaven we shall see and comprehend this and
many other things which we do not comprehend at present. Here on
earth, my beloved, we must merit heaven by humble faith.
Far, then, from wavering in our faith, or disbelieving the Real Presence
of Christ in the Blessed Eucharist, because we do not see him in the flesh
with our corporal eyes, because we do not behold him invested with all
the insignia of his infinite majesty; far from being incredulous, like the
FOURTH SUNDAY OF LENT.
apostle Thomas, because we do not feel the print of the nails, or actually
put our hands into the wound in his adorable Side, let us submit our
senses, reason and understanding to the infallible word of our Lord Jesus
Christ and believe upon his divine authority what we neither see nor com
prehend, that we may be entitled to the blessing which he has promised
with his own sacred lips to those who believe although they do not see.
Amen. O.S.B.
320 FOURTH SUNDAY OF LENT.
FOURTH SUNDAY OF LENT.
FREQUENT COMMUNION.
This is the bread descending down from heaven; that if any one eat of
it, he may not die." John 6: 50.
The most precious nourishment of the soul, my beloved brethren, is the
Blessed Eucharist, the figure of which we see in the miraculous bread of
the Gospel of to-day. Thousands and thousands of Christians continually
travel the pathway of life, their course being directed to the land of eternity.
Jesus, our divine Saviour, being in the midst of them, being really present
in the Holy Eucharist, gives them the miraculous Bread of heaven, that
they may not faint in their journey, but press, on, as Elias did, to the
Mount Horeb of their desires. He nourishes them with his own body and
blood, "that if any one eat of it, he may not die. I am the living bread
which came down from heaven. If any man eat of this bread, he shall
live for ever; and the bread which I will give, is my flesh for the life of the
world." John 6: 51, 52. The bread, then, which we receive in holy Com
munion, is not really bread like that with which our Lord fed the five
thousand men in the desert, but the body and blood of Jesus Christ under
the appearances of bread and wine. This is a grace bestowed upon us,
my dear brethren, of which even the Angels are not deemed worthy; for,
they are only allowed to behold and worship Jesus, not to receive him.
Yet, what effect does this miraculous bread produce in us who are thus
favored ? "If any man eat of this bread, he shall live forever. " We have
here our Lord s word for it, (the word of Eternal Truth, ) that the effect of
holy Communion is life everlasting. He that communicates worthily, pre
serves the life of grace upon earth; for holy Communion has the special
effect of preserving us from mortal sin which destroys the life of grace, or,
in other words, which kills the soul by depriving it of its true life which is
sanctifying grace. This is, because holy Communion, my dear brethren,
on the one hand weakens our predominant passions and our natural pro
pensity to evil, and, on the other, because it strengthens us and enables us
to overcome all the temptations of the world, the flesh, and the devil. He
that preserves the life of grace upon earth has the assurance of Christ that
he shall receive life everlasting in heaven. Therefore, by holy Communion
we become partakers of the two greatest goods man can wish for: Sanctifying
grace, and life everlasting.
And, yet, there are many Christians who have not the least desire for
holy Communion, who absent themselves from the table of the Lord for a
FOURTH SUNDAY OF LENT. 321
whole year, and would not even communicate at Easter, if they were not,
as it were, compelled to do so by the precept of the Church. O, my beloved
brethren, I implore of you, do not follow in the footsteps of these lukewarm,
negligent Christians; on the contrary, esteem yourselves happy that you
have the opportunity of approaching frequently to the holy Communion.
But, at the same time, at every Communion think of the words of the
Apostle: "Let a man prove himself, and so let him eat of that bread, and
drink of the chalice. For he that eateth and drinketh unworthily, eateth
and drinketh judgment to himself, not discerning the body of the Lord."
i. Cor. ii: 28, 29.
The Blessed Eucharist is the principal object of our divine worship, and
the religious life of a Christian is measured by his devotion to this holy
Sacrament, this treasure of the Altar. That your devotion to it, my brethren,
may be still further enkindled, I will furnish you, to-day, with some reasons
why you should receive holy Communion frequently. These reasons I will
preceed to show you are drawn
I. From the design of our Lord Jesus Christ in instituting this
Sacrament;
II. From the many wants of our souls, and
/// From the universal example of the early Christians.
I. "I have compassion on the multitude," says Jesus, "for, behold,
they have now been with me three days, and have nothing to eat."
Mark. 8: 2. "I have compassion on the multitude," said Jesus, when he
was about to become incarnate for the redemption of the world. "I have
compassion on the multitude," he said, when being obliged to return to
heaven, he had recourse to this admirable means of remaining with us
under the species of bread and wine, whilst at the same time, he could be
reigning in Paradise with the Angels and Saints. God had shown a great
grace to the Israelites in the desert, where he daily fed them with manna
from on high, but how infinitely greater is the grace which we receive in
holy Communion where we receive Christ himself, the Incarnate God, the
same adorable One who sitteth at the right hand of his Eternal Father in
heaven. Fearing that his children, wandering through the desert of this
life, might faint in the way, like the famished people of old, he gave
them this miraculous Bread for their support. Actuated by this tender
love, by this ardent desire to become our food under the form of bread
and wine, he said when he was about to institute this memorial of his
infinite Love: "With desire I have desired to eat this paschal lamb with you,
before I suffer."
If the great king of heaven and earth longs for the possession of our
souls, should we not, my brethren, invite him to come frequently under
our roof? Can we call ourselves with truth the friends of Jesus, if we have
322 FOURTH SUNDAY OF LENT.
no desire to visit that divine Friend, if we allow an entire year to pass*
without receiving our Redeemer? How great was the 1 ove for Jesus by
which his true friends were animated ! Mary, the sister of Lazarus, arose
in haste when she heard of the Lord s coming, and went forth with ardent
eagerness to welcome him. Zacheus descended from the tree as soon as he
was informed that Jesus wished to enter his house; and he, the sinner,
became a devout son of Abraham.
Our desire for the holy Communion should increase, my dear Christians,
when we reflect upon the nature of this divine food itself. Jesus chose our
daily nourishment, bread and wine, to be the species of his body and
blood. Could he have expressed his desire of being united with us in a
more touching or more persuasive manner? This bread is not only to be
the form and species, under which Jesus is intimately united with us, but
it is to be, at the same time, a memorial of his sacred Passion and death:
1 For as often as you shall eat this bread, and drink this chalice you shall
show forth the death of the Lord, until he come." i. Cor. n: 26. If we
humbly adore our crucified Jesus, and recognize his love for us upon the
cross in yielding up his precious life for our sakes, let us reflect, my
brethren, that his love in the holy Eucharist is, so to say, a continual
Passion and death for us. If we were to hear of this Blessed Sacrament
for the first time on this day, how great would be our admiration, and how
ardent our love ! If we have no desire to receive this greatest of all treasures,
we are surely in a most deplorable condition, and we have reason to fear
that the men of Ninive and the queen of Sheba will rise in judgment
against us.
II. Every creature needs food for the preservation of its life, and expects
it from the hand of God. "All expect of thee, O Lord, that thou give them
food in season." (Ps. 103: 28.) Man expects of God his food for both
body and soul. Now, all the wants of our souls, my dear Christians, are
satiated by this angelical food. The strongest of all an immortal spirit s
desires is that of union with the infinite God, with the adorable spouse of
its affections. By holy Communion, the Son of God descends into our
hearts, that we may possess him in this earthly life. Ever since man was
cast out of Paradise, his soul has felt an ardent longing to behold once
more the face of her Lord, to attain, once more, to an intimate union with
the Deity. This hope animated the ancient Patriarchs and Prophets, and
spurred on the most zealous of the people of Israel. This desire, (per
verted, alas ! from its sublime origin, ) led the nations so far astray as to
make idols with their own hands, and worship them as gods.
By holy Communion, my dear brethren, Jesus descends into our hearts
really and substantially, and strengthens our souls against the power of sin
and the attacks of the devil. As the destroying angel passed by those
houses which were sprinkled with the blood of the paschal lamb, so the
FOURTH SUNDAY OF LENT. 323
devil dares not enter a soul that has just received worthily the body of the
Lord in holy Communion, that is signed, indeed, with the blood of the
true Paschal Lamb, the Lamb of God who taketh away the sins of the
world. This divine Sacrament, beloved Christians, also sows in our souls
the seed of all virtues, rendering us more like to God, and preparing us
for our eternal union with him in heaven. It is " the corn of the elect,
and the wine which maketh to spring forth virgins." (Zach. 9: 17.) It
fosters our spiritual life in Jesus Christ, and is a pledge of life everlasting:
"If any man eat of this bread, he shall live for ever." (John 6: 52.)
Nevertheless, in spite of all this, my dear brethren, can it be possible that
you feel no ardent desire for the holy Communion? Why are you thus
careless? I say to you, as Jacob said to his sons: "I have heard that
wheat is sold in Egypt. Go ye down, and buy us necessaries that we
may live and not be consumed with want." (Gen. 43: 2.) Why do you
delay procuring for your souls this most necessary FoocJ ? Why do you
defer approaching this treasure? "All you that thirst, come to the waters;
and you that have no money, make haste, buy and eat; come ye, buy wine
and milk without money, and without any price." (Is. 55: i.)
You say, perhaps, that your daily pursuits absorb all your time, so that
you find no leisure to go to holy Communion. What a pity, that you have
no time to go to holy Communion ! Have you, then, no time on Sundays
and holy days ? You have time for every thing, time for every body else,
but, alas ! you have no time for holy Communion or for the entertainment
of your only true friend, Jesus ! I wonder if you will find time to die.
Remember, that your principal pursuit on earth is to save your soul, and
to obtain heaven. All other things are not the end, but only the means
to the end. As those who are engaged in hard bodily labor are often
obliged to renew their strength by good nourishment, so those who are
much engaged in worldly business are greatly in need of the grace and
strength of this Sacrament. But, again, perhaps you say, that you feel
yourselves unworthy of approaching frequently the table of the Lord. Re
member, that no one is worthy, and that only the grace of God can prepare
our souls for the reception of this august Sacrament. Divine grace being
imparted to us by holy Communion, it is clear that your preparation is the
more defective, the longer you stay away from the table of the Lord. Must
you not admit, my dear brethren, that whenever your souls are strenghtened
with this heavenly Bread, the fire of divine love is enkindled anew in your
hearts? And does it not follow that frequent Communion would render
your souls every time you approach, worthier of your divine Guest? Alas !
"your heart is withered, because you forgot to eat your bread." Ps. 101:5.
III. Many Christians of these days receive holy Communion only once
or twice a year, and that is a practice, my dear friends, which was utterly
unknown to the early Christians. The Acts of the Apostles relate of the
324 FOURTH SUNDAY OF LENT.
three thousand converts who were baptized on Pentecost that they were
persevering in the communication of the breaking of bread, and in prayers.
Of the Christians at Corinth, St. Paul says, that they daily attended the
divine sacrifice and received holy Communion. St. Anaclete, the Roman
Pontiff, speaks also of the daily Communion of the faithful. The
Christians during the ages of persecution, carried the Bread of Angels to
their houses, that they might not be deprived of it, when hindered from
attending divine service. The great doctor, St. Basil, relates that in his
time, the faithful used to go to Communion four times a week. St. Epipha-
nius mentions the custom of receiving holy Communion three times a
week. St. Jerome relates the same with regard to the Spanish churches.
When this holy and wide-spread zeal threatened to abate, the Fathers of
the Church, (as St. Ambrose and St. Chrysostom,) employed all the
strength of their eloquence to arouse in lukewarm Christians their ancient
spirit of devotion. In later times, when the faithful had fallen still further
from their first fervor, the Church established the law of annual Communion
as the extreme limit of her children s absence from the Sacraments, a pre
cept which no one is allowed to transgress, and remain a member of the
Church. Our holy Mother has, nevertheless, repeatedly expressed her wish
to see her children frequently strengthened by this heavenly Bread; and the
Fathers assembled at the Council of Trent desired that the faithful should
receive holy Communion at every Mass they attended. Nor was there any
difference in point of fervent zeal between men and women in the early
days of Christianity. All, without exception, approached frequently and
fervently to the adorable Sacrament of the altar. Now-a-days, men are very
careless in this respect, although it was to our sex, to the Apostles at the
Last Supper, that our blessed Lord first gave his divine body and blood in
the Holy Eucharist.
We all may die, my dear brethren, at any moment. We all have good
reason to pray each night, before retiring to rest: "O Lord, if this night is
to be my last night, pray, forget and forsake me not ! " We are struck with
terror when we hear that some friend or relative has been suddenly snatched
away from us by death. Our chief consolation in such cases is found in a
satisfactory answer to the questions: "When was he at confession last?
When did he receive his last Communion?" Oh! then, my beloved
Christians, let us in our own case admit of no lukewarmness, no tepidity
in the affair of salvation. Let us frequently and reverently receive this
blessed Bread of heaven, that we may not faint in the way, but that,
strengthened with its celestial nourishment, we may with Elias ascend to
the holy mountain of God.
JOSEPH EHRLER, Bishop of Spire.
FIFTH FRIDAY OF LENT. 325
FIFTH FRIDAY OF LENT.
DELAY NOT YOUR REPENTANCE.
"To-day if you shall hear his voice, harden not your hearts" Ps. 94: 8.
The sinner, my beloved brethren, is often to be pitied. He perceives
his spiritual misery; he knows that he stands upon the brink of hell, and
that the next moment may precipitate him into its abyss, making him
miserable for all eternity; and yet, he will not take hold of the hand of
God, which is gladly stretched forth at all times, to rescue him from per
dition. . . . And yet, he refuses to embrace that saving mercy. He will
tell you, perhaps, that he intends some day to do so, but not now, later
on, when he has grown older and wiser. What does the Spirit of God say
to this? "Say not: I have sinned, and what harm hath befallen me? for
the Most High is a patient rewarder. Be not without fear about sin for
given, and add not sin to sin. And say not: the mercy of God is great;
he will have mercy on the multitude of my sins. For mercy and wrath
quickly come from him; and his wrath looketh upon sinners. Delay not
to be converted to the Lord, and defer it not from day to day. For his
wrath will come on a sudden; and in the time of vengeance he will destroy
thee." (Eccles. 5: 4-9.) Again, St. Paul gives voice to a similar rebuke:
"Despisest thou the riches of his goodness, and patience, and long-suffer
ing? Knowest thou not that the benignity of God leadeth thee to penance?
But according to thy hardness, and impenitent heart, thou treasures! up to
thyself wrath, against the day of wrath, and revelation of the just judgment
of God. " (Rom. 2:4, 5. ) Therefore, my dear brethren, I cry out to you
with emphasis and Oh, that I could engrave these words with an iron
pencil upon the tablet of your souls! "To-day if you shall hear his voice,
harden not your hearts. " Delay not to be converted to the Lord, for if you
defer your conversion from day to day,
/. You risk everything, and
// In the end, you lose everything.
I. You risk everything. What do you risk ?
i. The greatest graces.
a) The longanimity of God. It is most certainly one of the greatest
of God s graces to the sinner, when he bears with him with indulgence and
326 FIFTH FRIDAY OF LENT.
patience. Consider only, my dear brethren, what an infinite outrage
mortal sin is, and you will not be able to contain your astonishment that
God defers its condign punishment even one single hour after its com
mission. . . . But God waits for the despiser of his supreme majesty, not
only for the space of a single hour, but from year to year, and, often, on
through the extended course of a long and sinful life. " I have always
held my peace; I have kept silence; I have been patient," says the Mighty
One, speaking through his prophet. (Is. 52: 14.) And, again, by the same
lips: "The Lord waiteth, that he may have mercy on you." (Is. 30: 18.)
Ponder, also, my brethren, the thrilling parable of the barren fig-tree:
"Behold," said the master of the vineyard to his laborer, "behold, these
three years I come seeking fruit on this fig-tree, and I find none. Cut it
down therefore; why doth it take up the ground?" (Luke 13: 7.) Terrible
command! full of dread significance for the slothful Christian ! How long
has God already waited for you, my brethren ? For many years, perhaps
for half a century. And you still delay to be converted to him? You will
not yet confess your sins, nor avoid the occasions of sin, nor relinquish
your bad habits, nor restore your ill-gotten goods? How presumptuously
you play with the long-suffering patience of God ! How quickly it may
all end for you, perhaps to-morrow, perhaps to-day. The lord of that
servant shall come in a day that he expecteth not, and in an hour that he
knoweth not; and shall separate him, and appoint his portion with the
hypocrites. There shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth." (Matt. 24:
50, 5 1 -)
b) The mercy of God. Like his long-suffering patience, my brethren,
the mercy of God is an inconceivably great grace. Ah, who is God, and who
is the sinner? God, the Sovereign Creator, the Redeemer, the Sanctifier
God the infinite Power, the infinite Wisdom, the infinite and ineffable Good
ness ! Man, the work of his hands, the slave whom he has redeemed, weak
ness, darkness, wickedness worms, ashes, and corruption ! Yet this great
God, before whom a thousand years are as a day, and royal crowns like the
dust in the road, offers mercy and pardon to that vile sinner, to the betrayer
of his majesty, to the despiser of his most holy Name! Will you, then, dare
to sport with this mercy of the Most High ? The ancient prophet, inspired
by his wisdom, cries out to you: "Return to the Lord, thy God; for thou
hast fallen down by thy iniquity." (Osee 14: 2.) But you retort with the
hard-hearted, stiff-necked people of old: "Command, command again;
command, command again; expect, expect again; expect, expect again; a
little there, a little there." (Is. 28: 10.) Will this long-abused mercy of
God not be exhausted some time, my brethren, and, alas, when you least
expect it? " Mercy and wrath are with him. He is mighty to forgive and
to pour out indignation. According as his mercy is, so his correction
judgeth a man according to his works." (Eccles. 16: 12, 13.)
FIFTH FRIDAY OF LENT. 327
You risk everything. What do you risk?
2. The highest goods.
a) Four immortal soul. Who would doubt that the soul of man is an
infinitely precious good? Man s soul is God s image and likeness. (Gen.
i : 26.) And its value, its price, its ransom, the blood of a God, the blood
of the Second divine Person of the ever adorable Trinity, made man for
love of us. "Knowing that you were not redeemed with corruptible gold
and silver from your vain conversation of the tradition of your fathers; but
with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb unspotted and undefiled."
(i. Pet. i: 1 8, 19.) The devil is willing to give all the kingdoms of the
world for the priceless pearl of one immortal soul: "All these will I give
thee, if, falling down, thou wilt adore me. " (Matt. 4:9.) For your soul s-
sake, my beloved brethren, our Lord Jesus Christ has been crucified. And
you will deliberately risk the loss of that precious, dearly-bought treasure !
You are well aware that the unconverted soul, the soul in the state of
mortal sin, will be lost for ever. Yet, as long as you delay to be converted
to the Lord, this terrible danger threatens you; and threatens you, more
over, every day, every moment. Will you thus risk that other great good,
to wit:
b) Your salvation^ Can you doubt for a moment that salvation is a
most excellent good ? My dear brethren, it is the substance and the essence
of all good; it is, in short, the highest good, completing man s felicity for
all eternity. "They shall be inebriated with the plenty of thy house," says
king David, "and thou shalt make them drink of the torrent of pleasure."
(Ps. 35: 9.) "That city into which we are to enter," exclaims the great
bishop of Hippo, "differs from our earthly habitation, as the light of the
sun and of the moon differs from the light of him who created the sun and
the moon." (St. Aug. De civitate Dei ) "In the eternal beatitude," adds
the same learned author in another of his works, "you find everything you
love; and you can desire nothing that will not be there. " (St. Aug. De
Trin. ) And this felicity, you have the blind temerity to risk ? Faith teaches,
my dear Christians, that man has no claim to heaven, so long as he lives
in the state of mortal sin. From this it follows that, if you delay your
conversion, you are continually in danger of forfeiting your eternal
salvation.
II. If you delay to be converted to the Lord, if you defer your con-
version from day to day, you risk everything and, in the end, lose everything.
How is this?
i. You may die suddenly and unexpectedly.
328 FIFTH FRIDAY OF LENT,
a) Think of the many dangers. Nothing is menaced in this world as
much as our natural life. Everything about us, dear brethren, has an occult
power which, if exercised, can bring us to a sudden death. The sun,
beautiful and bright as it is, may inflame your brain and cause apoplexy.
If you walk by the sea-shore or go to bathe in its waters, a powerful wave
may carry you away beyond your depth and drown you. If you traverse
the streets of the city, and pass a building in course of erection, a stone or
a board may fall upon your head, and crush it out of all semblance of
humanity. A pistol-shot from some rough crowd at the corner may pierce
jour heart on your way home. The house in which you live may fall
down, and bury you in its ruins. The staircase, as you go up or down,
may break, and cause your destruction. In the midst of a thunderstorm,
the lightning may strike and kill you. You may be thrown out of your
buggy, and your neck broken on the spot. Travelling, you may lose your
life by a collision on the railroad, or the explosion of a steamboat-boiler.
But who, my brethren, could ever enumerate all the different kinds of
death that continually menace life? "There is but one step (as I may say)
between me and death." (i. Kings 20: 3.) " Remember," says the Wise
Man, "that death is not slow, and that the covenant of hell," (the decree
by which all are to go down to the regions of death,) "hath been shewn
thee; for, the covenant of this world shall surely die." (Eccles. 14: 2.) In
short: "It is appointed for men once to die." (Hebr. 9: 27.) Reflect,
then, my dear Christians,
b) How little security is yours. Do you say to me: "Yes, but I am
now young and strong"? Youth is no security against death. Young
people may die, as well as the old. How many die in the bloom of youth
.and health ? Does not the holy Scripture tell us of the death of the young
man of Nairn, of the sad taking-off of the fair young daughter of Jairus?
One cold frost in the early autumn blights the fairest blossoms and flowers
of summer. Strength is no security against death. A violent storm breaks
down the strongest trees. Nay, more, the great tall tree is a surer mark
for the tempest than the frail little fern growing at its foot. Lazarus, the
strong man, was striken down by mortal disease even in the midst of a
loving and attentive circle of relatives and friends. Neither is health any
security against death, my brethren. Here to-day, and away to-morrow.
How many have gone to bed at night in good health, and have been found
dead in the morning ! How many have arisen in good spirits in the morn
ing, have taken their breakfasts, and gone about their business; and, yet,
were cold, and stiff, and dead the same evening! "Man knoweth not his
own end," says the inspired Writer, (Eccles. 9: 12,) and again: "Boast not
of to-morrow; for thou knowest not what the day to come may bring
forth." (Prov. 27: i.) "God," remarks a celebrated doctor of the Church,
"has not revealed to us the hour of death." (St. Gregory.) And if you, in
FIFTH FRIDAY OF LENT. 329
your turn, my brethren, should die suddenly, (for what has happened to-
thousands of others, may easily happen to you;) if death should steal upon
you unawares, "like a thief in the night," as our Lord has foretold, and
if it should not find you watching, you may lose everything and for ever !
But let us suppose that a sudden death should not overtake you, there
may still be something else much more terrible in store for you.
2. You may die unprepared,
a) Because of your own fault. As a rule, sickness precedes death, my
brethren, and sickness is an urgent warning from God, pressing you
to be converted to him. But very often that salutary warning is in vain,
because you do not realize your danger. You regard death as something
far off, something remote, which may come to you at a future day, but not
just then. You have every hope of recovery from your sickness; a fond
delusion, in which those who surround you, your physician, your relatives,
your friends, with cruel kindness encourage you. Thus it comes to pass
that the reception of the last Sacraments is deferred, perhaps, not even
thought of. Finally, the solemn moment of dissolution arrives. The
cheek grows deadly white the death-sweat trickles down, the eyes stare
wildly; and, lo ! the cry is made: "Behold, the bridegroom cometh; go ye
forth to meet him." (Matt. 25: 6.) Alas! the lamp is empty; there is no
time to fill it; "the door is shut." (Matt. 25: 10.) It is now too late to go
in with the happy faithful virgins to the banquet of eternal bliss ! Or,
my brethren, even if you know your danger, you may decline to make
good use of it. Many dying persons cannot help but see that their end is
near, but they refuse even in that supreme moment, to reach out their arms
to their crucified Redeemer, they refuse to embrace the last pleading
overtures of the mercy of God. Sham repentance or no repentance at all,
are the customary characteristics of such miserable death-beds. And it is
of such sinners that the Lord complains: "I knew that thou art stubborn,
and thy neck is an iron sinew, and thy forehead of brass." (Is. 48: 4.)
Again, my brethren, you may die wilfully unconverted
b) By the just judgment of God. Sometimes it is decreed in the divine
councils that the sinner perish. Many passages of the Sacred Scripture
seem to indicate this. "It was the sentence of the Lord, that their hearts
should be hardened, and they should not deserve any clemency, and
should be destroyed." (Josue n: 20.) "I will laugh in their destruction,
and will mock." (Prov. i: 26.) "You shall die in your sins." (John 8: 25.)
O, my brethren, how terrible, how awe-inspiring, are these sentences ? God
always offers sufficient grace to the sinner, with which, if he earnestly willed
it, he could save his soul. But he lacks the earnest, persevering will, and
330 FIFTH FRIDAY OF LENT.
hence, the sufficient grace profits him nothing; he perishes in the end
through his own fault. And \tyou, my brethren, should thus play with the
grace of God, if you should go out of this world in the state of sin, (and
such may easily happen,) you, too, will lose both soul and salvation. In
hell, alas ! the reprobate sinner may shed torrents of tears for those lost,
those priceless goods, but nevermore shall he find the saving grace and
mercy which he abused, and scorned, and outraged here on earth !
Therefore, dear Christians, delay not your repentance. Do not believe
the devil when he suggests to you: "At a later period you may do penance
for your sins." Do not believe the world which says to you: "Wait a little
yet." Believe not even your own heart, when it says to you: "Later on."
But listen to these words: "To-day if you shall hear his voice, harden
not your hearts." Amen.
PASSION SUNDAY.
PASSION SUNDAY.
ON THE NATURE OF SIN.
" Which of you shall convince me of sin?" John 8: 46.
Thus our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, essentially just and holy, speaks
to the Jews, to the Scribes and Pharisees, who would not listen to his
word, nor believe in his doctrine. If either in my words or in my actions,
(so he seems to say to his enemies), you find aught that is evil or blame
worthy, you might be excused for condemning me, but now you have no
excuse for your malice, since you cannot convince me of sin, you cannot
point out any fault in me. Would to God, my beloved Christians, that we
-could say before God: "Which of you shall convince me of sin?" But,
alas ! is it not true that we have cause to blush because of the number and
.grievousness of our transgressions ? Have we not cause to tremble when
we remember how often we have refused to listen to the teachings of him
who came into the world for pure love of us to save us by his blood
from sin and the consequences of sin, endless misery and eternal dam
nation ? If we but rightly understood the nature of sin, we would, it seems
to me, conceive such a hatred and detestation of all that offends so good
and loving a God, that with St. Catharine of Sienna we would tremble
with fear at the very sight of it, and shun it as we would shun some danger
ous monster that threatens to devour us. For this reason, my brethren,
I have resolved to explain to you, to-day, the nature of sin in general.
May our dear Lord who bled for us upon the cross to wash away all sin,
grant, through the intercession of the Immaculate Virgin Mother, that we
may understand what sin really is; and in this holy season of penance,
obtaining pardon and forgiveness for the past, and abhorring sin for the
future, henceforth declare war against it, and every one of its occasions.
/. What is sin?
//. In what does the nature of sin properly consist? and
///. Why should not a rational creature, even without being blest with
the light of Faith, detest it?
Behold these three questions which, with God s holy grace, I propose to
answer in this instruction. But first, permit me to warn you, dear brethren,
against a common temptation suggested by the arch-enemy of souls, when
seemingly simple subjects are threated of in the pulpit, the temptation to
33 fc PASSION SUNDAY.
take it for granted that you already know and understand all that can be
said on the subject in hand; and, hence, that it is of no great interest to
you to listen. For the love of Jesus Christ, for the love of your immortal
souls, I beg of you to pay no attention to these suggestions of the evil one,
or these promptings of self-love, and, with your usual good dispositions,
follow my reasonings on this very important subject.
I. What is sin? I ask, and even the little child will answer without
hesitation, (the good Christian father and mother having repeated it to him,
hundreds of times, from the catechism): "Sin is any thought, word, action,
or omission contrary to the law of God" The answer, indeed, is correct,
but is it understood? In order not to burden your minds with theological
distinctions, I shall add one word to your definition; and, to make it still
easier of comprehension, I will cut off several superfluous words, and say:
"Sin is a wilful transgression of the law of God." I will explain. In
order that a thought, a word, an action, or omission, be imputed to us as
a moral evil, for which, as rational creatures, we know that we deserve
punishment, it must be wilful and deliberate; from which it follows that
such as have no knowledge of what they do, or who, by main force, are
compelled to do certain things, or through necessity are obliged to omit
certain things, of course cannot commit sin. Persons in their sleep, or
who, by reason of other causes beyond their control, are unconscious of
what they are doing, cannot be capable of any wilful transgression, or
voluntary violation of the law of God. The knowledge or consciousness
of the act or the omission, is, however, not yet sufficient to constitute a
moral guilt, or a wilful transgression, such as is necessary for sin. The act
or omission must be known to the person who commits or omits it, as
commanded or forbidden by the divine law. Hence, if one does not really
know, if one is ignorant without his own fault, of the laws of God, or of
his Church, such a one does not commit sin by transgressing those laws.
This should be, (and always has been), a great consolation to those good,
pious, and God-fearing souls who, with all their hearts, detest sin and
wish to love and serve their divine Master. Not seldom does it happen
that we hear them say: "As soon as I entered into myself, I banished that
evil thought." "I forgot that it was a fast day, or I would not have broken
the precept of the Church. " "I could not possibly help this or that feeling
coming over me;" all of which, my dear brethren, constituted no sin at
all, since there was really no will to commit sin. Yet, on the other hand,
let not this plea of ignorance or inadvertence be made by those who have
given themselves such a habit of wilfully transgressing the divine law that
they do it without thinking. They, indeed, often wish to screen them
selves, saying: "O, I did not mean it," "I was in a passion," "I
forgot." The very habit in them is voluntary arid wilful, and until they
have efficaciously determined to break themselves of that habit, its results
PASSION SUNDAY. 333
\vill be accounted as voluntary and sinful. Neither can those who neglect
the opportunity given them to be instructed, plead ignorance of the law as
a sufficient excuse; their ignorance being sinful, the actions proceeding
from such ignorance must necessarily be laid to their charge as voluntary,
if not directly, at least indirectly, since they, themselves, are alone to
blame for the evil of those forbidden actions.
II. The second word to be explained in our definition, dear friends, is
transgression, that is: disobeying, doing or not doing as the law or com
mandment requires. This disobedience; of the law may be accompanied
with greater or less knowledge of the law itself; or the matter commanded
or forbidden may be greater or smaller according to circumstances. On
all this, it depends, my brethren, whether a sin be mortal or venial.
It must, moreover, be a transgression of the law of God, for there can be
no offence against God, and, hence, no sin, unless God is disobeyed, his
law disregarded. Again, all human laws, ecclesiastical and civil, must be
based on the eternal law of God and be conformable thereto. All law in
opposition to the eternal law of God, is in opposition to God himself; and
so far from becoming guilty of sin in transgressing such a law or command,
we would, on the contrary, offend God by obeying it.
Before I proceed to show the evil of sin, I must remind you, dear
Christians, that God, as the Supreme Master and Lord of all things, has full
right to confer upon or delegate to whomsoever he pleases, the power to
make laws in conformity to his eternal law. Moreover, that he has estab
lished a law by which, not only the exterior actions of men, but also their
interior, their very thoughts and desires, are to be governed. Neither the
Church nor the civil government judges or punishes the intentions or
thoughts of a criminal, but God, to whom the secrets of the heart are
known, from whose all-seeing eye nothing is hidden, will judge man for
whatever proceeds from the intellect, the memory, and the will. The whole
man belongs to God. He has given him the powers of his soul, and he has
established the laws by which those powers shall be governed. To men,
he has delegated the power of judging the actions, and punishing the
transgressors who exteriorly disregard the laws made for them, but God,
himself, judges the heart and the thoughts of man.
Sin, then, (as has been sufficiently stated, ) is a voluntary transgression,
whether by thought or otherwise, of the law of God. In order, now, my
brethren, to understand the nature of such a transgression, we must con
sider the following points:
i. Who is this God whom we disobey when we disregard his law? Who
is God ? He is at once our Creator and Lord, our supreme Master and
just Judge, our loving Saviour and merciful Father. He is essentially
good in himself, infinitely good to us, his rational creatures, his favored
334 PASSION SUNDAY.
children. The laws which he has given for our government, if observed,
will make us happy for time and eternity. As Creator, he has the most
absolute and unquestionable right to say why he has created us, and what
he wants us to do. As Lord and Master of the universe, he cannot with
impunity permit his laws or commands to be disregarded, nor the homage
due him to be given to another. "I am," says he, the Lord, thy God;
thou shalt not have strange gods before me. " As a powerful sovereign, he
is entitled to our submission without reserve, for we are his subjects; and
as a loving Father, he is entitled to the tender and loving obedience of
faithful children. Being a severe, as well as an omniscient Judge, the
Scrutinizer of hearts, the Searcher of the secrets of men, we should
tremble at the thought of offending him for fear of the terrible punishment
which awaits those who dread not his anger. That great and powerful
God forbids me by his eternal law, (the echo of which I hear within me,
forbidding all sensual excess), to injure my health, or waste my substance,
to yield to carnal desires, to nameless vices or passions; and, (I ask),
who am /that I should say: "Non serviam I will not obey ! " ?
Who art thou, O man, who refusest obedience to God ? Who art thou,
or what art thou, O sinner! who darest knowingly with open eyes, fully
aware of the consequences of such criminal rashness, to transgress the
commandments of thy God ? A worm crushed to death by the traveller on
the highway, is of more consequence, compared with him that crushes it,
than man is, compared to the God whom he outrages by his sin. Poor
wretched creature, totally dependent on that infinite and all-powerful
Creator and Ruler, he can do nothing of himself. His every step, his
every motion, his every breath, his very existence, are in the hands of the
God whom he offends. It is true, indeed, that man is a noble creature,
because God has endowed him with qualities and gifts, far above the brute
creation. He has given him powers by which the impress of God himself
is left upon his immortal soul, for "he has made man to his own image
and likeness." (Gen. i: 26.) And it is precisely because of these powers
and faculties that man becomes wretched and miserable, if he refuses to
respect and obey the Supreme Giver of all good. By his understanding,
man knows right from wrong; he can distinguish virtue from vice, good
from evil. He is well aware that whatever gifts he has received are intended
by the Giver to be used according to God s holy will; he knows that at
any moment, that same God can deprive him of whatever he has given him,
yea, even of life and existence itself, in a word, that he can annihilate him.
Yet, notwithstanding this knowledge, man when he commits sin, arrays
himself against God, and arrogantly says, if not by words, at least by his
actions: "I will not serve, I will not obey God." God says: "Forgive
your enemies;" man says: "I will not." God says: "Love your neighbor
as yourself;" man says: "I will not." Jesus Christ says: "Unless you
become like little children, you cannot enter into the kingdom of heaven;"
PASSION SUNDAY. 335
man says: "I expect to go to heaven in the end," although he knows at
the same time, that his heart is utterly void of childlike purity, humility,
and simplicity; is full of arrogance, self-conceit, and pride. God says:
"The kingdom of heaven suffers violence, and the violent bear it away;"
man says: "You will see that I will bear it away by seeking my own
comfort and ease, and by yielding to my evil passions." God, in fine, says:
"Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord, thy God, in vain
Thou shalt keep holy the Sabbath day Thou shalt not steal
Thou shalt not commit adultery Thou shalt not bear false witness
against thy neighbor;" but man says: "I will not serve, I will not obey;
God may command, God may threaten, I will not serve him ! " O, my
brethren ! and what is it that man thus prefers to God ? To what end does
he so basely disobey his Creator, his Redeemer ?
Yes, why or for what reason, does man transgress the law of his God ?
Have you, my dear brethren, ever reflected seriously on this question:
Why did I commit this sin? why did I disobey God, (as I knew that I
did), by transgressing that commandment, that precept? Why did you,
my friend, at the least provocation, give way to excessive anger and vindic-
tiveness? Why did you yield to the inordinate desires of the flesh, or to
the unlawful cravings of the appetite? Why did you listen and consent to
the suggestions of pride, vain-glory, envy, or jealousy? Have you, I ask,
ever seriously considered that little word " Why" ? Behold ! there are here
two masters in question, two opposite laws. On the one hand, a living
God and Father who says: "My child, give me thy heart;" a rich Lord
and a most bountiful and liberal Master who promises you a reward to
which nothing on earth can be compared. A Master who has done for
you what no earthly monarch could do: "What more could I have done
to my vineyard that I have not done to it ? " And, on the other hand, behold
a hard and severe master, a cruel tyrant, poor and unable to give you any
thing. This master importunes you, and under false and delusive promises
induces you, to transgress the command of your God and Father, and to
obey him instead. What do you do when you commit sin ? For the sake
of the momentary pleasure or satisfaction which you find in yielding to the
suggestions of that cruel master, you set aside and disobey the just and
equitable laws of your God. If there were question between man and
man, if a good, loving, and liberal master were to command, a master on
whose will your happiness, your very life depended; whilst another, harsh
and tyrannical, by flattery and deceit, and through jealousy and hatred,
should forbid you to obey, would you, my dear brethren, for the slightest
reason, listen to the pretensions of such a usurper, and transgress the order
of him whom you have vowed to obey? Would you knowingly and wil
fully do anything to provoke him to anger who has the power to make you
miserable for life, nay, more, for eternity? Assuredly not, you say; to act
thus, would be the part of a madman. And, yet, far more unworthy of a
336 PASSION SUNDAY.
rational creature who believes in the existence of a God infinitely holy,,
good, and just, is the conduct of him who voluntarily transgresses the law
of that God, preferring the suggestions of his unruly passions to the dic
tates of reason and the voice of conscience.
I have brought up children, and exalted them, but they have despised
me." (Is. 1:2.) Thus the Lord, by the prophet, complains of his unfaith
ful and ungrateful children. As a father, I have done for man what I
could. I have raised him far above all the other creatures of the earth. I
have given him the use of all I have created; and I only ask in return that
he should obey me. I do not require anything that is hard or impossible,
"for my yoke is sweet, and my burden light." (Matt, n: 30.) I have
even promised to help and assist him in carrying that burden. I have
promised him happiness and contentment in this life, and eternal glory
hereafter. I have, moreover, given him the light of reason and under
standing by which he may clearly recognize my will; yet, he has despised
me. He has preferred to listen to mine and his enemies, whose aim is to
plunge him into eternal misery. Will you, my dear Christians, be of that
number? Will you sinfully despise God and his holy law by following
your own corrupt inclinations ? God forbid ! And if in the past may
be, (we will hope,) more or less unaware of the malice of your sin, you
have unfortunately strayed from the path of virtue, to-day, at last, resolve
to obey God in all things; to-day, this very moment, here and now, declare
and begin war against whatever might induce you to sin. In short, detest
sin and from your hearts, abhor and shun it, the only real evil you should
dread here below. May our dear Lord, who in the holy sacrifice of the
Mass is offered for us to his Eternal Father, grant us all the grace,
henceforth, in all things to faithfully obey his holy law and that of his
divine Spouse, the Church, in the spirit of true children, that in the end,
we may be found worthy, by his grace, to inherit the kingdom prepared
for us in the realms of eternal bliss. Amen.
Rev. L. BAX.
PASSION SUNDAY, 337
PASSION SUNDAY.
THE DANGER AND DETRIMENT TO THE SINNER FROM THE DELAY OF REPENTANCE.
" Which of you shall convince me of sin?" John 8: 46.
Only a few days more, my beloved brethren, and the great Victim shall
be slain, heaven reconciled with earth, the power of hell destroyed, and
man redeemed by that adorable One "who did no sin, . . . who his own self
bore our sins in his body upon the tree; that we, being dead to sins, should
live to justice." (i. Pet. 2: 22, 24.) But what benefit, what advantage,
will the Redemption be to us, dear Christians, if we do not make ourselves
partakers of its precious fruits ? In vain, will the blood of the Victim flow
for us in streams; in vain, will the Lamb of God be slain for us on the altar
of the Cross; in vain, will he sit at the right hand of God as our advocate
with the Father, if we, by our carelessness, by our forgetfulness of God and
and of our salvation, slothfully defer our conversion from day to day.
There are many among us who know and acknowledge that they are
sinners, and who will assure you that they fully intend to be converted to
the Lord; not, it is true, at present, but at some future convenient time,
perhaps, on their death-bed. Such procrastinators may be compared to
those sick persons who are willing to admit the serious nature of their
malady, but who, nevertheless, delay applying the proper remedies from
one time to another, till death cries out to them: "It is now too late: time
shall be no more !" The Church, in her solicitude for all her children,
earnestly admonishes us during this holy season to secure our salvation,
enjoining on us again and again the duty of receiving the holy Sacraments
of Penance and the Blessed Eucharist. How many such seasons of mercy
and grace, my brethren, have you not already suffered to glide away un-
profitably to yourselves ! How many such acceptable times, such golden
days of salvation, have you not lived to see ! Perhaps, you have become
gray, your hair has been bleached by the frosts of care and old age; your
heads are bowed with years, and your eyes look down into the open grave
which lies close at your feet; and still, after all, you delay your repentance
from day to day. What are you waiting for? Let me warn you, my dear
brethren, whilst you have yet time to devote to the affair of your salvation;
for time will soon be no more for you. "To-day, if you shall hear his
voice, harden not your hearts." (Ps. 94: 8.) "Delay not to be converted to
;the Lord, and defer it not, (your conversion), from day to day; " (Eccies.
5:8,) for, I assure you, that
338 PASSION SUNDAY.
%
/. Great is the danger, and
//. Great is the detriment of such a delay.
I. If you consider the tremendous risks to which you foolishly and
carelessly expose yourselves, dear Christians, I cannot believe that you
would wilfully defer your conversion to the future; since there is no imagin
able clanger greater or more certain than this.
The Psalmist cries out to us in words of solemn warning: "Except
you will be converted, he will brandish his sword; he hath bent his bow,
and made it ready. And in it he hath prepared the instruments of death,
he hath made ready his arrows for them that burn." (Ps. 7: 13, 14.) Who
will be able to escape the hand of the Almighty ? Perhaps, you fancy that
death is at a great distance from you; that it is far off in the dim future,
and hence, you believe that there is plenty of time for doing penance,
when you shall have become old and gray. "To-morrow," says one;
"Next year," says another; "On my death-bed," says a third, "I will do
penance; there is time enough yet; why should we go about brooding over
such melancholy things as penance and death, and, thereby, mingle the
bitterness of gall with every joy and pleasure? Thou fool, dost thou not
know, hast thou not often heard, yea, and more than once seen with
thine own eyes, that death has chosen for his victims not only the aged
and infirm, but those unsuspecting ones who were in the full bloom of
youths, and in the prime of manhood? Ah, Christians, you need not go
back very far to verify this truth; confining yourselves to this last year,
cast a glance at yonder cemetery wherein the mortal remains of our dead
relatives and friends repose until the dawn of the great day of Resurrection.
Behold, how many a little mound is raised over the ashes of those cheerful,
joyful youths, those beautiful, rosy maidens, those merry, prattling little
children, who walked with us only a little while ago through the fair
gardens of spring-time and summer ! Like those fresh and fragrant flowers,
which the traveller by the wayside plucks in their early bloom for his
bouquet, death has snatched them from the pleasant fields of life, when
they had every prospect and hope of many happy years to come; and has
gathered them for the divine Master s bouquet. Hence, my dear young
friends, youth gives you no surety against death; nay, the fairer and more
exquisite the flower, the quicker and easier it often falls a prey to the
touch of the destroying angel. And will you still persist in saying: "I
will do penance and be converted to the Lord at some future time, on my
death-bed?" Ah! you have not yet comprehended those words: "The
strongest and most powerful are buried in hell, In vain, has God warned
you by the sudden and unprovided death of your equals in age: "To-day
for them; to-morrow, alas! for me." See to it, dear Christians, and tell
PASSION SUNDAY. 339
me whether there can possibly be a more certain danger than by living in
impenitence, to expose one s self to eternal perdition.
But, perhaps you have already grown old, my brethren, and death
knocks feebly at your door by infirmities and sicknesses, warning you that
the last hour of your life is just about to strike. Can it be, that even in the
midst of your advancing years and increasing ailments, you cry out, yet,
with the deluded worldling of the Gospel: "Soul, thou hast much good
laid up for many years; take thy rest, eat, drink, make good cheer"?
(Luke 12: 19.) Can it be, that the nearer the end approaches, the less one
seems to expect it? That the more agreeable life becomes for many, the
more they banish the thought of penance and practical amendment, from
their minds? Listen, then, to the solemn words of rebuke and warning
which Christ addresses to such souls in the person of the infatuated rich
man: "Thou fool, this night do they require thy soul of thee; and whose
shall those things be, which thou hast provided?" (Luke 12: 20.) "Give
an account of thy stewardship." (Luke 16: 2.) "How often have you
heard related that such a man was slain by the sword; another drowned,
another falling from on high, broke his neck; this man died at the table;
that other came to his end when he was at play. Some have perished by
fire; others, by the sword; some, by pestilence; some, by robbers." (Imit.
of Christ, i. B., 33. chapt.) Yes, how often have you heard, my brethren,
that such a one was killed by lightning; another, (perhaps your friend,)
was struck by apoplexy; another, your neighbor, your relative, having
gone to bed in perfect health, was found dead in the morning. But all
these unmistakable lessons make no impression upon us, though we know
that the same may happen to us; and though we are all convinced of the
truth that, while the hour of death is most uncertain, it is certain to come
at the time when we least expect it.
O, I implore you, my beloved brethren, do not delay any longer your
repentance and conversion. Nothing is more certain than the danger of
perishing eternally, if we do not make good use of the present time. Noth
ing can guard you against the terrible and irremediable consequences of a
death in the state of sin; neither youth nor age, sickness nor health, riches
nor poverty, can avert this danger which, like the sword of Damocles,
threatens us all. You are so wise and circumspect in everything else,
especially when there is question of what is to your temporal advantage.
Tell me, what answer would you make, if, at the seed-time, I were to say
to you: "My dear friends, quit your work, put your ploughs and spades
aside; winter is at hand, your seed may be spoiled, and you will be certain
to reap nothing." Would you not reply to me: "My friend, you under
stand nothing at all about it; if we do not prepare our fields now, we shall
be deprived of our harvest; and who will, then, support us and our
children?" But who, I ask you, will take care of your soul, if you do not
take care of it now? The failure of a crop can be remedied, but the loss
340 PASSION SUNDAY.
of your one, immortal soul can never be remedied for all eternity. Are
you willing and ready to incur this certain perdition by your criminal delay
of repentance ?
Pray, do not tell me in the words of those presumptuous souls who are
daily perishing in their sins: "God is good and merciful; he gives us time
for penance." Who denies that God is good and merciful? Yet, although
God, this long-suffering God, may give you time for penance, though he
be goodness and mercy personified, "he hath commanded no man to do
wickedly; he hath given no man license to sin." (Eccles. 15: 21.) He who
has promised pardon to penitents, has not promised to-morrow to the
sinner. Hence, the Sacred Scripture warns us so often: "Man doth not
know his end;" .... he knows not "at what hour the Son of Man shall
come," .... "he will come at the hour when he is not looked for," ....
" like a thief in the night, the day of the Lord approacheth. " Therefore,
my brethren, "delay not to be converted to the Lord, and defer it not from
day to day. For, his wrath will come on a sudden, and in the time of
vengeance he shall destroy thee. " (Eccles. 5:8,9.) Never forget that this
danger is not only certain, but also very great.
But some one may say: " We must not take things so ??iuch to heart, the
danger is not so very pressing after all, death does not come so quickly."
But if it should come after all, what then ? If it should come at that hour
you think not, (Luke 12: 40) what then? What can you reasonably hope
for that man who risks all his earthly goods upon one throw of the dice,
well knowing that the chances of the next moment may reduce him to
utter beggary ? Would you not say, dear Christians, that such a man had
lost his senses r What, again, do you think of that rich man who would
open his house in the night-time, and place all his money and treasures in
the open street, under the pretext that they would be better taken care of
there, than under lock and key in his iron safe? Would you not declare
such a man insane? Butjy0#, my beloved brethren, alas! you risk infinitely
more than gold and silver and all the treasures of the world; in the same
foolish manner, you risk a precious jewel of inestimable value, when you
wilfully and presumptuously delay your conversion. . Your immortal soul
is that priceless jewel, and, once lost, it remains lost for ever; no tears, no
prayers, no penances can ever repair the eternal loss of your soul. To
whatever side the tree falls, there it shall lie for ever. There is no longer
any mercy, any hope, any redemption. And you live as if you had nothing
to gain, nothing to lose ! How is it possible for a sinner to close his eyes
in sleep, since, every time he does so, he is in danger of opening them in
hell? Those deluded souls who defer their conversion from day to day,
may well be compared to Jonas who slept peacefully in the midst of his
enemies, in the midst of the danger of death, just as though he were in the
society of his most faithful friends, and far removed from every risk and
peril
PASSION SUNDAY. 341
Do not say, my brethren, that there are instances of sincere conversion
in the evening of life. You mean, perhaps, the thief on the cross. That
one example is given you," as St. Augustine says, "that you may not
despair; but only that one, that you may not presume. " Nevertheless, you
persist in saying: "I may be one of those few who find grace on their death
bed." Do you really think it probable that God will reward your wicked
ness with a miracle of grace? Would it not be more reasonable for you to
say: "It is ten chances to one in my present state of sin that I shall not be
of the number of the chosen few?" Tell me, would you throw a precious
pearl into the ocean, on the risk that the waves would eventually wash it
up again on the shore? Would you set your house on fire, trusting to
some wild contingency that the fire would possibly be extinguished with
out damage to your effects?
Therefore, let all who say: "To-day, or to-morrow, we will do this or
that, " (and who all the while do not know what to-day or to-morrow will
bring forth,) let all such consider the terrible risks they are running
because of their criminal delay of repentance. For what is your life? "It
is a vapor which appeareth for a little while, and afterwards shall vanish
away. (James 4: 15.) Ah, how many, my dear brethren, have been
deceived in this way and who, now, eternally bewail their delay of con
version ! Will you, too, increase their unhappy number ? Ah no, you
will not and cannot desire it, if you consider the detriment as well as the
the danger which you incur by your continued impenitence. .
II. "Add not sin upon sin; and say not: The mercy of the Lord is
great; he will have mercy on the multitude of my sins. For mercy and
wrath quickly come from him; and his wrath looketh upon sinners."
(Eccles. 5: 5-7.) Those who continually delay their conversion, my
brethren, add sin upon sin, and every day, increasing the misery of their
souls, they thus fill up the measure of their iniquities. Can there be a
greater detriment to their eternal interests than this ?
To delay one s repentance and conversion for a long time is to commit
an additional sin, which inflicts the greatest ignominy upon the Saviour,
mocks his institution of salvation, and insults his blessed Word, which so
often and so urgently calls on us to repent. Peruse the whole of the In
spired Text, my dear brethren, and upon every page you will find his mer
ciful invitation to repentance; the same saving call which permeates all the
ordinances of the Church. Certain it is, that if you obstinately defer your
repentance, you thereby despise all these holy admonitions, and perversely
attach your hearts to sin. If God is to be with you and about you (and
what are we, my brethren, without God?) remove the false gods which
you adore; "a vice in the heart is an idol on the altar." (St. Jerome.)
Banish all hatred and enmity, all impurity and debauchery, all anger and
contention; since not to repent of our sins nor endeavor to atone for them,
342 PASSION SUNDAY.
provokes God to still greater anger against us. To sin is human, but to
persevere in sin is diabolical. And if you continue in sin, dear brethren,
do you comprehend for a moment how grievously you injure your soul?
Being weakened by so many mortal wounds, prostrated by so many defeats
and miseries, she lies sick unto death, without the power to resist evil or
bring forth good fruit for salvation. And if it be true, (and we cannot
doubt it,) that life upon earth is a perpetual warfare, where our foes are
unflagging, and where battle follows battle, like the waves of an angry
sea? o, my beloved brethren, where will you find the weapons, where the
courage for these never-ceasing combats ? Behold, thus it comes to pass
that many drink in sin like water, and heap up a burden of iniquity upon
their shoulders, a burden, alas ! which becomes too heavy for them to
support through all their agonizing eternity, and yet they have no choice
save to bear it. O my Saviour and my God, it was for those blinded and
unhappy Christians that thou hast shed thy precious blood upon the cross;
open, then, the eyes of their spirits that they may see and understand the
miserable state of their souls ! They are created for thee, thy blood has
flowed for them, they are destined with the rest of thy creatures for the
eternal joys of heaven. Open their eyes, that they may see themselves
lying before thee like lifeless, decaying corpses; that they may behold and
bewail the countless multitude of their daily sins and short-comings. Open
their eyes, and place before them the awful vision of that place of fire out
of which there is no redemption, that they may see with terror the vast
assemblage of their prototypes, the procrastinating sinners who delayed
their conversion from year to year, until the day of repentance was past,
and the night came "when no man can work." Open their ears, that they
may hear those cries of lamentation and woe, issuing forth from that abode
of everlasting horror, .nd vainly demanding only a few minutes more in
which to do penance. Know it, O Christians, that hell is full of such
unhappy sinners who meant to have amended their lives, and often spoke
of so doing, but always deferred their amendment, and thus, alas ! perished
eternally. Give but a little time to the reprobate in hell, and they had
long since ceased to be its miserable inhabitants; the injury which they had
inflicted upon their precious souls would long ere this have been repaired
by the speediest and most sincere repentance.
Nor have I fully depicted, poor sinners, all the wretchedness of your
state. It may be that your iniquities are multiplied above the hairs of
your heads; evil concupiscence is inflamed and seeks nourishment, and the
more you feed it, the more it craves the food of sin; your evil habits, in
short, have become a second nature. The wrath of God lies heavily upon
you; your will is weakened, and your understanding densely clouded. God
withdraws his grace from you, that grace which he has so often offered
you; that grace which in this holy Easter-time he offers you once more,
and, perhaps, for the last time. The measure of your sins has become
PASSION SUNDAY. 343
full, so that if the state of your soul were made known to you, you would
be tempted to exclaim with the royal prophet: "There is no health in my
flesh, because of thy wrath; there is no peace for my bones, because of my
sins. For my iniquities are gone over my head; and as a heavy burden
are become heavy upon me. My sores are putrefied and corrupted, because
of my foolishness. I am become miserable, and am bowed down even to
the end. For, my loins are filled with illusions; and there is no health in
my flesh." (Ps. 37: 4-8.) Hence, arises the blindness of the understanding,
which is so deplorable, inasmuch as it believes that to be good which is
evil, and that to be sweet which is sour; the sweet, alas ! has become
bitter to it. Hence, my brethren, that hardness of heart, which is con
verted to God neither by adversity nor prosperity, neither by threats nor
promises. A good confession in such circumstances is a most difficult
task, a most laborious undertaking; and they endeavor to escape it in
such a manner as only tends to increase their guilt. Therefore, I cry out
to you: Do not go to confession, do not receive the adorable Body and
Blood of Jesus Christ, if you are not firmly determined to give up your
sinful company and all those occasions and habits of grievous sin; do not
approach the sacred tribunal of Penance, if you are not resolved to give up
your hatreds and your enmities. You know it yourself, I need not tell
you, that you sin mortally thereby; but still greater is your crime, if in that
state of sin, you dare to receive the most pure Body of the Lord, trample
his precious Blood under your feet, and crucify Jesus anew. But, perhaps,
(ah! it is an awful thought !) perhaps, my brethren, by your repeated post
ponement of a true amendment and conversion you have filled up the
measure of your sins, and that the blessed Easter celebration will come no
more for you! Perhaps, this is the last warning which God gives you in
order to draw you to himself; for he desireth not the death of the sinner,
but that he be converted and live; only once more, taste the Lord, and see
how sweet his admonitions are.
Hence, dear Christians, delay no longer to be converted to the Lord,
lest the measure of your iniquities be filled up, and your sentence of con
demnation be issued. Reflect that you have only one soul, and if that be
lost, all is lost, and lost for ever. Consider the incalculable injury which
by your delay you inflict upon that priceless, immortal soul. You destroy
her true life before God; and woe to her, if in that state, she be summoned
to appear before the judgment-seat of the Lord. Perhaps, my beloved,
you will receive that terrible summons even to-day; perhaps, you will not
live to see another night; nay, more, perhaps you will perish eternally, if
you do not make good use of your present opportunities, if you still wait,
hesitate, and dally with your conversion. As the prophet Jonas once cried
out to the Ninivites: "Yet forty days, and Ninive shall be destroyed,"
(Jonas 3: 4,) so I cry out to you: "Yet forty days, (and I cannot promise
you even that much,) and you shall perish in your sins. Yet forty days,.
344 PASSION SUNDAY.
and the time of mercy shall be past; eternity shall have commenced, and
your soul shall have been judged for all eternity ! " Therefore, my brethren,
"return to the Lord, your God, that you may not perish in your iniquities."
(Osee 14: 2.) And if you have no compassion for your own souls, have,
at least, some pity on your dying Saviour who cries out to each one of us
from his cruel bed of the cross: "More than enough have I suffered for
you. To die for you is life to me, and to live without you is death to me.
Look upon me; my body is covered with wounds; there is no health in my
flesh, my head is bowed down, my side opened, my arms are extended to
embrace you. I do not ask you why you have forsaken me, I only com
plain because you do not return to me. O come, return, and everlasting
felicity shall be your recompense." O yes, O Jesus, we return to thee, we
come to thee, all, without exception. And though we have hitherto
hesitated, and delayed our conversion, to-day shall witness the return of
the prodigal and his true conversion to thee. Give us thy grace that we
may bring forth worthy fruits of penance; "turn away thy face from our
sins," (Ps. 50: ii,). "Open to us the gates of justice, and we will go into
them, and give praise to thy name for all eternity." (Ps. 117: 19.) Amen.
SIXTH FRIDAY IN LENT. 345
SIXTH FRIDAY IN LENT.
HOW GLAD YOU WILL BE !
"My soul shall rejoice." Ps. 34: 9.
A return to God, my beloved brethren, is absolutely necessary, if the
sinner desires to escape eternal damnation. Either penance or eternal
perdition. There is no middle way. " Unless you do penance, you shall
all likewise perish." (Luke 13: 3.) "Do penance; for the kingdom of
heaven is at hand." (Matt. 3: 2.) This return to God, however, is no
child s play, but requires a determined will and many sacrifices. The
longer conversion is deferred, the greater become the obstacles, the more
rare is repentance; and finally, all is irretrievably lost. Therefore, in my
last discourse I said: " Delay not." O, that you may attend to this call,
dear Christians, and without delay, arise from the pit into which you have
fallen ! Then, you will be exceedingly glad, you will rejoice like to a
person rescued from shipwreck, rejoice like to a man who is pulled safely
out of a burning mine. And this shall be the subject of our last Lenten
meditation. How glad you will be, how your soul will rejoice
/ In every hour of life-long repentance, and
II. Especially in your last hour.
I. "There is no health in my flesh, there is no peace for my bones r
because of my sins." (Ps. 37: 4.) "Sleep is gone from my eyes, and I am
fallen away; and my heart is cast down for anxiety." (i. Mach. 6: 10. )
Thus sighs the sinner, finding voice in the words of the great penitents of
the Old Law. But how different are his emotions the moment he returns
to God ! His conversion brings into his heart
i. Sweet consolation, because
a) His sin is blotted out. "The Lord is patient and full of mercy,
taking away iniquity and wickedness." (Numb. 14: 18.) "If my people
being converted, do penance for their most wicked ways, then, I will hear
from heaven, and will forgive their sins." (2. Paralip. 7: 14.) "I have
blotted out thy iniquities as a cloud, and thy sins as a mist." (Is. 44: 22.)
"God is patient with sinners till they are converted, and this being done,
he forgets the past. " (St. Aug. ) What blessed consolation for the sincere
penitent ! The guilt is blotted out. Though I have committed many and
346 SIXTH FRIDAY IN LENT.
great crimes, as soon as I truly repent of them, the guilt is blotted out.
Though I have perpetrated a thousand sacrileges and outrages richly
deserving of hell fire, as soon as I turn to my heavenly Father, crying
Peccavi! with sentiments of real and profound contrition, the guilt is blotted
out. How you must rejoice, my dear brethren, at such a thought !
b) You are reconciled to your God. " Because they are humbled,"
says that merciful God, "I will not destroy them; and I will give them a
little help; and my wrath shall not fall upon them," (2. Paralip. 12: 7.)
" If that nation against which I have spoken," says he again, "shall repent
of their evil, I also will repent of the evil that I have thought to do to
them." (Jer. 18: 8.) "How great is the mercy of the Lord," cries out the
Wise Man in amazement: "and his forgiveness of them that turn to him."
(Eccles. 17: 28.) And, lo! in the parable of the prodigal son we read with
grateful tears, dear Christians: "The father was moved with compassion,
and running to him, fell upon his neck, and kissed him." (Luke 15: 20.)
What a comfort for the converted sinner! He can say: "My God is
reconciled to me; I can look up to him once more with confidence, and
need not fear the arrows of his anger. " But your return to God produces
still another fruit. It brings a
2. Sure hope of life. By his return to God, the sinner becomes
a) A child of God. Grace, God s most beautiful and highest gift to
man, is lost by sin. "If any one saith, that a man, once justified, can sin
no more, or lose grace, let him be anathema," declares the solemn Council
of Trent (Concil. Trid., sess. 6, can. 23.) In the fifteenth chapter of the
same session it is taught that by every mortal sin, grace is lost. To the
repentant sinner, God gives again the precious treasure of his divine grace.
Through a mystery which he alone can accomplish, he makes him the
object of his complacency, and adorns him with the lost ornaments of the
faithful son and heir. "Bring forth quickly the first robe and put it on
him," said the father of the Prodigal, "and put a ring on his hand."
"Born again," said our Lord to Nicodemus. (John 3: 3.) And "Behold
what manner of charity the Father hath bestowed upon us," bursts forth
the Apostle of love in admiration, "that we should be named and should
be the sons of God." (i. John 3: i.) Thus man is made a child of God,
and for that very reason,
b) An heir of heaven. "And if sons, heirs also, heirs, indeed, of God,
and joint-heirs with Christ," as St. Paul declares in his Epistle to the
Romans. (8: 17.) The great inheritance which God has prepared for the
children of grace, and of which Jesus Christ, our Elder Brother, has already
taken possession, is heaven. "God hath appointed us to the purchasing of
salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ," (i. Thess. 5: 9,) "unto an inheritance
SIXTH FRIDAY IN LENT. 347
incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not, reserved in heaven for
you." (i. Pet. 1:4.) How rejoiced, therefore, will you be, my beloved
brethren, in every hour of your repentant life! How glad will you be
when you reflect that your guilt, (no matter how great, ) is blotted out, and
that you are sweetly reconciled with your offended God! How glad,
when you reflect that you are a child of that great and good God, and an
heir of heaven, a co-heir, in short, with our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.
Indeed, whatever the world may present you as grand and delightful, can
not possibly bring you such consolation and comfort as these considerations
afford. You should thank God every day for your conversion, my dear
brethren, and praise his mercies. "My soul shall rejoice," exults the
royal penitent of old. . . . (Ps. 34: 9,) "The mercies of the Lord I will sing
forever." (Ps. 88: 2.)
II. How glad you will be, how much you will rejoice in your last
hour ! For
i. All things are set in order. The last hour, no doubt, is an hour
rich in tears. We have numberless examples of this before our eyes. But
particularly bitter is this hour to the children of sin. Death knocks at the
door in the midst of their unjust money-getting, of their impure and
sensual diversions, and, alas ! what fear and anguish and lamentation does
not the sound of that skeleton hand evoke ! "They shall be troubled with
terrible fear," says the Inspired Text, "and shall be amazed at the sudden
ness." (Wisd. 5: 2.) How much, on the other hand, will you rejoice, O
sinner ! if now you arise from the abyss of sin and embrace a life of penance;
for at the hour of death you will find all things set in order
a) Before God. You have confessed and bewailed your sins in good
season, and the Lord has pardoned them. Every thing is now in order.
What a consolation there is for the dying person in this pleasing thought:
I go, indeed, to a God, "who is just in all his ways," (Ps. 144: 7,) "who
rendereth to every one according to his works," (Matt. 6: 27,) but all my
house is set in order. I go to a God, whom I have, indeed, offended by
my sins, but with whom I have reconciled myself by repentance in time.
Blessed be his mercy ! my house is set in order,
b) Before the world. By your prompt conversion, long before the
hour of death, you have also reconciled yourself with the world, and the
world, too, has forgiven you. How consoling for the dying man is the
thought: I am about to depart from a world, wherein I have repaired
whatever damage or injury I have caused by my sins. I have restored
the injured reputation of my neighbor, I have made restitution of the ill-
gotten goods I once wrongfully acquired, I have blotted out, thank God !
348 SIXTH FRIDAY IN LENT
all the scandals I have given. My house is set in order. How rejoiced is
the steward who has his books and cash in order, when he is called
upon by his master to render an account. No less \v\\\you be rejoiced, my
dear Christians, when at the approach of death you find that all your
spiritual affairs are set in order. Then
2. The departure is easy. You will leave the world
a) With a joyous confidence in God. " As I live, saith the Lord God, "
(by the mouth of his prophet,) "I desire not the death of the wicked, but
that the wicked turn from his way, and live." (Ezech. 33: u.) "The Son
of man," said the Eternal Truth himself, "is come to seek and to save that
which was lost." (Luke 19: 10. ) For this reason, my brethren, the con
verted penitent departs this life with confidence in God who has forgiven
his sins, and with confidence in the Redeemer whose blood has cleansed
rn s soul from every stain. You will leave this world, dear Christians,
b) With the joyous assurance of salvation. It is true a man who has
once fallen into grievous sin, can lay no just claim to heaven, only "the
innocent in hand, the clean of heart" can aspire to ascend the mountain of
the Lord. And no man, my brethren, knows whether he be worthy of
love or hatred. But on account of God s mercy and his promises to for
give the penitent, and reinstate him in all his rights, the converted sinner
may, nevertheless, expect eternal salvation with confidence.
How rejoiced will you be in the last hour, if you now return and do
penance; for, then, your house will be set in order and it will be easy for
you to die. In that last hour, you will look back with confidence upon the
past, and rejoice that you, then, sincerely confessed your sins, abandoned
the way of iniquity, and made your peace with God and the world,
"before your feet stumbled upon the dark mountain." But you will also
look forward with confidence into the future, dear Christians, look for
ward across the precipice of the grave into eternity, where the crown of
glory awaits you. With the Apostle of the Gentiles, you will joyfully
exclaim: "I desire to be dissolved and to be with Christ." (Phil, i: 25.)
A good death will be yours, my brethren, if you die now to sin that you
may live to justice. This death must precede and anticipate the inevitable
death of the body, since the Psalmist has expressly declared: "Blessed are
the dead who die in the Lord. Die to yourself and your sins, therefore,
dear Christians, while the uncertain span of this life remains to you, and
thus you will happily prepare yourself in time for that blessed life which
lasts for all eternity. Amen.
PALM SUNDAY, 349
PALM SUNDAY.
THE PROPER RECEPTION OF THE HOLY COMMUNION,
"Behold thy king cometh to thee, meek." Mail. 21: 5.
David, (that man according to the heart of the Lord,) wished to build a
temple to the most high God which would be worthy of him. Accordingly,
he gathered together an indescribably large amount of gold and silver,
copper, iron, marble, precious stones, and other materials necessary for the
construction of such a temple. But he was not satisfied with this; he
called in conclave the princes and elders of the people, and showed them
the whole store of treasures which he had collected; and commanded them
to tell the multitude what they had seen, and thereby encourage them to
contribute, (each according to his will and ability,) towards the erec
tion of God s temple. "For," said the king, "we are about to do a great
and important thing; it is not for man, but for God, that a dwelling is
to be prepared." The people hearing this, gave 15,000 talents of gold,
10,000 talents of silver, 18,000 pounds of brass and 100,000 pounds of
iron; and some of their number contributed precious stones towards the
erection and adornment of the temple. The reflection, full of living faith,
that a dwelling was to be prepared not for man, but for God, animated
both king and people, to make the sacrifice of all their treasures, in order
to erect and adorn that abode of the Most High in the most costly and
becoming manner.
What David said of the Temple of Jerusalem, with far more right can
we say of our hearts, dear brethren, before the reception of the holy Com
munion, viz: that a dwelling is to be prepared for God. The ark was
placed in that olden Temple in which the tables of the Law and other
sacred things were deposited. But who comes to us in holy Communion ?
Faith tells us that Jesus Christ comes to us with his Body and Soul, Flesh
and Blood, with his Humanity and Divinity. And to whom does he come?
Who are we, my brethren ? Are we worthy to receive him into our hearts ?
Can we make ready for him a worthy habitation? Can we sufficiently
prepare ourselves for his reception in Communion ?
Solomon built the Temple, after David, his father, had spent years in
collecting an abundance of everything necessary to erect it in the greatest
splendor and magnificence. It took seven years to build it, although it is
recorded, that there were no less than 3,600 architects and superintendents
of the work.
^jo PALM SUNDAV.
How much time do you spend, dear Christians, in preparing yourselves
for Communion ? Perhaps not half an hour; perhaps, not even a quarter
of an hour. Before Communion, we ought to reflect on these two questions:
Who comes to us? and: To whom does Jesus come? We should remember
in the bitterness of our souls, that we have been once, (and, it may be, only
a short time since), great sinners; we should not forget, that we are sinners
yet, weak, frail, sinful creatures, full of infirmities and imperfections, im
patient in sufferings and afflictions, irritable and uncharitable towards our
neighbor, slothful in doing good, and lukewarm in performing the duties
of our state of life. In a word, we ought to spend more time in examin
ing ourselves before holy Communion, that we may know our unworthmess;
for the better we know this, the better prepared we will be to go to the
table of the Lord; the more we distrust ourselves, the more we shall confide
and trust in our loving God and Saviour. If we strike our breasts with
heartfelt sorrow and contrition for our sins, and say: "Lord, I am not
worthy, that thou shouldst enter under my roof, " we shall be able to say
with greater, stronger confidence, "Lord! speak but the word, and my
soul shall be healed!" St. Paul says, let a man prove himself, and so let
him eat of that bread and drink of this chalice. By this proving of one s self
we understand the cleansing and purifying of our conscience from all sin.
We read in the book of Exodus: "The Lord appeared to Moses in a flame
of fire out of the midst of a bush, and he saw the bush was on fire and was
not consumed. And Moses said: I will go and will see the sight, why
the bush is not burnt. And when the Lord saw that he went forward to
see, he called to him out of the midst of the bush, and said: Moses, Moses.
And he answered: Here I am. And he said, Come not nigh hither; put off
thy shoes from thy feet, for the place whereon thou standest is holy. "
This is an emblem of the Blessed Eucharist, for as God hid himself in the
bush, so Jesus Christ hides himself under the appearances of bread and
wine. If a Christian dare to go to this heavenly banquet with a conscience
defiled by sin, let him heed the warning: "Come not nigh hither" for he
who is hidden under the species of bread is holy. Come not nigh hither,"
ye proud and haughty ones, for here is present the most humble Jesus, who
was born in a stable, and crucified between two malefactors. "Come not nigh
hither" ye passionate, vindictive, avaricious, and envious sinners, for here is
present the meekest of Saviours who, when he was reviled, reviled not;
who did good to all, and even prayed for his murderers. "Come not nigh
hither" ye unchaste, for here is present Jesus, the lover of purity, who
selected the purest of creatures for his mother, and who chose to be born
of a virgin, in order to manifest his love for purity, and to show how pure
our souls should be when we receive him in holy Communion. "Come
not nigh hither" ye drunkards and gluttons, for here is present the mortified
Jesus, who fasted forty days and forty nights; and who, on the cross,
quenched his thirst with vinegar and gall.
PALM SUNDAY. 351
We would consider that man a sacrilegious wretch who would have the
temerity to defile an image of Christ; what, then, my brethren, shall we
think of him who dares to receive his Saviour and his God into a heart
defiled by sin ? And, yet, there are Christians who, at Easter-time, receive
Communion in this state. They go to Communion after a confession made
without true contrition, without a firm purpose to sin no more, without
candor and sincerity; they receive Communion without the resolution to
quit their evil habits, to avoid the occasions of sin, to restore ill-gotten
goods, in short, without the will to amend their lives. All these receive
Communion unworthily, and render themselves guilty of the Body and
Blood of the Lord, and eat and drink judgment to themselves, not dis
cerning the Body of the Lord. Ponder well this truth, and avoid nothing
more carefully than an unworthy Communion. Be solicitous, above all,
to make a good confession, that with a pure heart you may receive the God
of all purity.
Our hearts must not only be free from sin, but also adorned with all
Christian virtues. What do you do when you expect a noble guest to
spend only one day with you? You prepare the best room for him; you
have it swept, dusted, garnished with mirrors and pictures, and adorned
with your best furniture. Can a greater guest come to you than Jesus
Christ ? Before you receive him, therefore, dear Christians, make acts of
faith, hope, and charity; humble yourselves profoundly, and acknowledge
with the centurion in the Gospel: "Lord, I am not worthy that thou
shouldst enter under my roof; " but, at the same time, have courage and
confidence, because he invites particularly those who are troubled and
heavily laden. Have an ardent desire to be united with him, that he may
sanctify, comfort, and strengthen you. "I am the living Bread that came
down from heaven; he that eats of this Bread remains in me and I in him;
he shall live for ever. " If, with such a preparation, you go to Communion,
you may be sure, that Jesus will take up his abode in your hearts, and
shower his choicest blessings upon you.
After having received Communion, you are living tabernacles of God.
Jesus Christ, who is really present here in the tabernacle, will dwell then
in your heart. If we must adore Jesus Christ in the tabernacle, what else
must you do, but adore him in your own heart when he has condescended
to make it his abode. Ah, you would be a Christian of little or no faith,
if immediately after Communion, you yield to distractions; you would be
of the number of those of whom St. Paul says, that they discern not the
body of the Lord, (from common food). Try, then, my dear brethren, to
be recollected after Communion; think of Jesus alone who in his infinite
love and condescension has vouchsafed with all the treasures of his
humanity and divinity, to enter into your hearts; and adore him with the
most profound veneration, as the Angels and Saints adore him in heaven.
At the same time, return thanks to God for this great grace. If some
352
PALM SUNDAY.
one would make you a present of a thousand dollars, or of an estate, or a.
kingdom, you could scarcely find words enough to express your gratitude.
But when you receive Communion, Jesus gives you more than a great sum
of money or an estate, more than all the kingdoms of the world, for he,
the Creator of heaven and earth, gives himself to you to be your food, your
guest. Hence, St. Augustine says: "God is infinitely powerful, and, yet,
he could do no greater work than this; infinitely wise, and yet he knew
not how to manifest his wisdom more strikingly; he is infinitely rich and
liberal, and yet he had no more magnificent gift to give us than that which
he has given us in the Blessed Eucharist. In this adorable Sacrament, Jesus,
as it were, has exhausted the riches of his power, wisdom and liberality,
for he has given us everything that he is and has, himself. And should we
not thank him ? Yea, my dear brethren, with our whole hearts.
Resolve to give yourselves to Jesus with an undivided love, since he has
given himself to you without reserve. Promise to that Saviour, who is
your Guest, that you will never again admit into your heart, anything dis
pleasing to him and that you will serve him faithfully all the days of your
life. You are, perhaps, addicted to a fault, which you frequently commit;
it is your predominant passion; make a special resolution, to guard
against it with greater care until your next Communion. Such resolutions
form a principal part of the thanksgiving after Communion, and Jesus is
well pleased with them if they are made with sincerity of heart, because
then he sees, that you are really resolved to dedicate yourselves to his
service.
But since, of yourselves, dear Christians, you cannot put these good
resolutions into practice, beg our Lord in the Blessed Eucharist to assist
you by his holy grace. No time is more favorable to obtain from your
Saviour every grace you stand in need of, than that immediately after
Communion. He is actually present in your heart; you have him, as it
were, in your power, and you can say with Jacob: "I will not let thee go,
except thou bless me." Hence, St. Theresa says: "After Communion,
Jesus Christ is in our hearts as upon the throne of mercy, in order to give
us all graces." He cries out to us: "What wilt thou, that I should do unto
thee?" Therefore, we must not allow so favorable an opportunity of
enriching ourselves to pass unimproved. Ask, then, my dear brethren, ask
Jesus whom you bear in your heart, for everthing you need, especially for
the grace to keep the promises you have made, and for the inestimable gift
of final perseverance.
But the best thanksgiving of all is to lead a truly pious and penitential
life. Do not, I beseech you, imitate those Christians who, after Com
munion, are as cold and indevout as before. How much have such com
municants to fear that they approach the table of the Lord unworthily and,
instead of salvation, receive their damnation ! Therefore, my brethren,
like good Christians, prepare yourselves with fervor for holy Communion;
PALM SUNDAY. 353
and after Communion, perform your thanksgiving with all possible
devotion. Thus, you will always communicate worthily, and the words
of Christ, dear brethren, will be happily verified in you: "He that eateth
my flesh and drinketh my blood, hath life everlasting. " Amen.
PALM SUNDAY.
ON THE PROPER PREPARATION FOR THE PASCHAL COMMUNION.
* l TeU ye the daughter of Sion: Behold, thy king cometh to thee, meek,
and sitting upon an ass and a colt, the foal of her that is
used to the yoke. " Matt. 21:5.
On this beautiful day when the Church celebrates the triumphant entry
of Jesus into Jerusalem as the King of peace, amid the joyous shouts of the
people, no more fitting subject can be presented to your kind attention,
my beloved brethren, than the one contained in the words of my text:
"Tell ye the daughter of Sion: Behold, thy King cometh to thee, meek."
The solemn blessing and distribution of the palms, and the reading of the
Passion of our Lord, make the office of the morning already longer than
usual, and we cannot, therefore, suppose that you will expect a very long
instruction. Still, we would not comply with the wishes of our holy
mother, the Church, if we did not say, at least, a few words to you on the
Gospel from which I have taken my text. The instructions contained
therein are so particularly suitable to this week, called Holy Week, during
which most of you, I trust, will approach to your Easter Communion, that
I shall, without further introduction, invite you to follow me in these con
siderations on that sublime subject.
I. " Tell ye the daughter of Sion. "The priests, the ministers of God,
(as the heralds of the coming of the King of peace, of glory, and of justice,)
are thus told to announce his approach to the daughter of Jerusalem.
Know, my dear Christians, that each one of your souls is that daughter of
Jerusalem especially favored and loved by God, to whom he comes when,
in the Holy Communion, you receive his Body and Blood, his soul and
divinity. I am here, then, to-day, to announce to you, or rather to remind
you, that your king will come to you, first of all "a king of peace" as fore
told by Isaias and Zachary. Even as he entered into the holy city, seated
upon an animal, perhaps the least amongst the beasts of burden, so he will
enter into your soul in your Paschal Communion, under appearances most
354 PALM SUNDAY,
ordinary, veiled and hidden, his might and power, (as it were), concealed
by the humble species of bread. There is nothing formidable in his
exterior, nothing in appearance by which the majesty and greatness of
the King of kings can be discerned. In truth, he comes, as foretold by
the prophet Zachary: "The Meek, Just, and Saviour." (Zach. 9: 9.) He
will come, and he will not delay. With you, my dear Christians, within
your souls, he will take up his abode, the humble "Lamb of God that
taketh away the sins of the world," yet, withal, the King of glory whom the
Angels adore, the joy and happiness of the celestial inhabitants, before
whom the very pillars of heaven tremble. You know this, you believe it,
though your eyes see him not; though your senses say: " It is but bread, ""
your faith exclaims: "It is my God, the King of kings, the Lord of the
Universe, the Sovereign Master of all, whom I behold concealed under the
outward form of bread. " He has deigned to use this form, in order to
encourage you to come to him. For as bread is the daily nourishment of
man, by which he is strengthened and enabled to perform his ordinary
duties, so this Bread of Angels becomes the food of the soul, by which it
is strengthened and enabled to perform all its Christian duties. "With
me/ so he speaks to you from the depths of this Adorable Sacrament:
"with me are riches and glory, glorious riches and justice .... that I may
enrich them that love me, and may fill their treasures." (Prov. 8: 18, 21.)
What happiness, what joy should animate you, my dear brethren, at
the thought that you will receive your God, your Saviour ! To all alike
this blessing is offered; young and old, rich and poor, learned and un
learned, all, of us are united to our blessed Lord during the Paschal time;
and I trust, most of you will, during this week, rejoice in the possession
of your God. Begin, then, this day, this very moment, to prepare your
selves for that honor and happiness, by a lively faith in the real presence of
our Lord in the holy Sacrament of the Eucharist. This is the first requisite
for a worthy Communion; for this unshaken faith will teach you that before
you can approach Jesus and receive him into your hearts, you must loose
your souls from all the fetters of sin.
II. The great St. Ambrose, doctor of the Church, speaking of the
Gospel of this day, says that our souls are like the animal which the
Apostles were told to loose and bring to their Master. The ministers of
the Gospel, the priests of the Church, are, indeed, instructed at all times
to loose the souls of unfortunate sinners held in bondage by Satan, but
more particularly are they told to do so during this holy season of mercy.
Jesus Christ wishes every one to be brought to him by being reconciled
with God; and that consummation happily effected, he wishes, as it were,
to enter the Jerusalem of that purified soul, and take entire possession of
it. Faith teaches us that a soul in mortal sin is an abomination in the
eyes of God; that the fetters which bind it fast to the slavery of the devil,
PALM SUNDAY. 355
can be loosened only by the priest in the holy Sacrament of Penance; and,
therefore, that all those who feel themselves conscious of great guilt must
first approach that holy tribunal to be absolved. You have been frequently
admonished during the time of Lent to prepare yourselves for the reception
of the Sacraments at Easter, to give up whatever bad or sinful habits you
may have contracted, to be resolved to abandon sin and the occasions of
sin, with the firm determination to begin a new life for the future. These,
as you know, are essential conditions for that holy absolution, without
which the priest would, in vain, attempt to free the soul from the bondage
of sin. I trust, my beloved brethren, that you have carefully complied
with these conditions. But should there be any one here present whose
conscience is as yet burdened, or who has not yet bid farewell to the
passions and inordinate affections that keep him enslaved, let him delay
no longer, remembering that the God whom he wishes to receive in the
Holy Communion, though merciful and good, is also just, and that he will
pour out his wrath upon those who receive him without due and proper
preparation. "The Meek, Just, and Saviour," says the prophet Zachary.
With St. Ambrose, therefore, I repeat to you: " Sound your hearts, examine
yourselves earnestly; go with lively faith to the priest, ask to be absolved,
and with joy and happiness in your souls, imitate those people of Jerusalem
who, on this day, accompanied Jesus as their king, crying: Hosanna to
the Son of David, blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord;
Hosanna in the highest !"
But, what do I see, my brethren, amid the universal joy, amid these
lively manifestations of love and affection ? Jesus weeps. "Seeing the city,"
so says the Evangelist, "he wept over it." What, O my Lord, can be the
reason of thy grief, what the cause of thy sad emotion and tears? Alas!
my dear Christians, Jesus is the omniscient God, and he knew that many
of the people of that city, so favored by heaven, were not sincere in their
tributes of love and praise. Seeing their inmost hearts, he knew that
jealousy and envy would lead them in a few brief days to the horrible crime
of deicide. Others he knew, though perhaps sincere at the moment, would
soon be carried away by the fierce and malicious tumult of the populace,
and forgetful of their recent cries: "Hosanna to the Son of David," would
clamor with the rest of his enemies: "Crucify him ! Crucify him ! " This
was the cause of his sadness and tears. And may we not, my brethren,
believe that, (God as he is,) he beheld that hour, in the mirror of the
future, the sacrileges of so many false Christians who, with outward tokens
of sincerity and repentance, but with interior attachments to their criminal
passions, would have the audacious presumption to receive him unworthily
in Holy Communion. He knew how the daughters of Sion, the favored
children of the Church, after the most solemn protestations of love and
affection for him, would again forsake him, and clamor as the Jews did,
crying: " Away with him, give us Barabbas. Away with Jesus, give us
356 PALM SUNDAY.
the indulgence of our criminal lusts, give us copious draughts of our
poisonous drink, give us our dishonest gains, our filthy lucre, our days
and nights of sinful neglect ! " I hope and trust that no one here present,
my brethren, will be so base as to approach the holy Table like a hypocrite,
pretending by a pious exterior to be a friend of Jesus, but inwardly desiring
the destruction of his kingdom; serving not God, but Satan or his evil
passions. No, no, you are resolved, one and all, with a firm and sincere
purpose to choose Jesus for your king, and with the required dispositions,
to come to the priest of God to be freed from the thraldom and dominion
of the Arch-Enemy. In the past, perhaps, you have made similar protest
ations, sincere enough at the time, but followed by the hour of temptation
in which you cowardly gave way to the suggestions of the evil one; now,
at last, you are determined, with the help of God, to relapse no more, but
to be faithful in the combat which undoubtedly awaits you.
Such being your dispositions, come with confidence to the holy tribunal,
and you will hear with joy from the lips of the ambassador of God, the
consoling words: "Go in peace, thy sins are forgiven thee." Then, being
cleansed from sin, you will prepare yourself to receive the sacred Body and
Blood of your Saviour, and to the end that you may approach him with
sentiments of true piety and devotion, I shall now further explain to you,
my brethren, the words of to-day s Gospel.
III. Our dear Lord had been in Jerusalem more than once before the
occasion of his triumph, as we read in the Sacred Text. He had gone
there with Mary, his Mother, and with Joseph, his Foster-father, in order
to comply with the law of Moses; he had entered the temple, and by his
conduct proved that he was God; he had driven out of that sacred place
the mercenary wretches who failed to show it the proper respect. But
to-day, and to-day only, he enters Jerusalem as a king. The people
receive him as such, spreading their garments before him, and carrying
palm-branches in their hands. As a king, also, he wishes to enter into our
hearts, dear Christians, in the Holy Communion. As a king, he wishes
to rule and govern our interior and our exterior, in short, our entire
being. To him, therefore, as our Sovereign monarch, we must offer the
inclinations and desires of our hearts, the powers and faculties of our souls,
all the senses of our bodies. By right they belong to him, and by our own
free wjll choosing him as our king, we must bring him the sacrifice of our
understanding, our memory, and our will, our thoughts, desires, and
actions. Not, indeed, for an hour or a day, but for life.
With these sentiments, my brethren, approach the holy table, the
Banquet of the elect. And, O, when the priest comes and places the con
secrated species on your tongue, when Jesus will be, as it were, enclosed
within your mouth, when he will descend into your heart and rest within
your bosom, your soul becoming the living temple and tabernacle of
PALM SUNDAY. 357
your Saviour, cry out to him with all the fervor and love of your being:
"I have found him whom my soul loveth, and I will not let him go."
(Cant. 3: 4.) The Angels hover around you in that hallowed moment;
with profound veneration they adore their God whom you have received;
and you, with sentiments of humility and loyal love, you must unite with
them, beloved Christians, in praising and glorifying your King, the King
of Kings, the Lord and Master of your heart. You must invite all the
powers of your soul to remain prostrate at his feet, and there ask of him
all the graces, favors, and blessings that may be needful for you to glorify
God aright, and through Jesus Christ to secure to yourselves the salvation
of your souls. You must again, with lively faith, with unwavering con
fidence and ardent love, offer your whole self to him, and beg him never
to permit you to be separated from him any more. Ask not only for
pardon for past infidelities, but for strength against the temptations which
you know will assail you in the future. "Forgive us our trespasses ....
lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil." Spending at least
fifteen minutes in these pious thoughts and holy aspirations, you will
experience the effect of Christ s presence in your soul; you will wish to
become more and more united with him, and the pleasures of the world,
especially such as might endanger your salvation, will no more have any
attraction for you.
May our dear Lord, through the intercession of his Immaculate Mother,
grant us all, my dear brethren, to receive the Holy Communion with these
devout dispositions which faith requires of us ! Let us fervently strive to
animate ourselves with the sentiments which I have suggested, and we will,
then, clearly manifest by our exterior, our firm belief that Jesus Christ is
present within our hearts in the Holy Sacrament of the Altar. And,
receiving him thus within us, with sincere sorrow for our past sins by
which we have so basely offended him, we will be resolved, by the assist
ance of his grace, rather to suffer death itself, than again be separated from
him. That Jesus, "the Meek, Just, and Saviour," the Son of David to
whom the people of Jerusalem, on this day, cried Hosanna, that he, the
Mighty One, entering our hearts in the Paschal Communion, may animate
us with these holy desires, and strengthen us in our present good resolu
tions, is my earnest prayer for all in the name of the Father and of the Son
and of the Holy Ghost. Amen.
Rev. L. BAX.
358 GOOD FRIDAY.
GOOD FRIDAY.
THE DERELICTION OF JESUS UPON THE CROSS.
"My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?" Malt. 27: 46.
The bitter Passion and death of Jesus Christ, our Lord and Redeemer,
ought to be, especially in this week, the chief subject of our meditation.
If we review, with some attention, the life and Passion of our Blessed Lord
from his birth to his burial, we will come, my brethren, to the sad con
clusion that all his sufferings have their ground and cause in the malice,
or, at least, in the imperfection of men. The malice of men assigned to
the Son of God a stable for his birth-place; the malice of men drove him
from his home into a foreign country; the malice of men pursued him in
all his ways from youth to manhood; that same malice stretched forth and
strengthened the hand of his enemies in order to apprehend, to strike, and
to crucify him; and finally, that cruel malice tortured him, the innocent
Lamb of God, even to the close of his bitter agony upon the cross. Only
one suffering was inflicted upon him, (without the intervention of men),
immediately by God. And what is that exceptional suffering? It is that
which on the cross forced from his Sacred Heart the painful complaint
embodied in my text: "My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?"
It is his being abandoned by God. And it is just this suffering which is
least known to Christians, and, consequently, least esteemed by them : and
no wonder; for it is really a mystery of which we would have no knowledge,
whatsoever, if it had not pleased the Lord to raise the curtain, (as it were),
on the cross and, granting us a glimpse of his interior, to reveal to us what
occurred in that sanctuary of his soul during the time of his intense physical
sufferings. But just because it is so little known, and so little regarded,
when truly, my brethren, it is the most significant of all the torments of
Jesus, I shall avail myself of this hour of devotion and spiritual recollection,
in order to make with you a, short meditation upon this touching mystery.
I repeat, therefore: The abandonment of Jesus by God on the cross is the
most significant of all his sufferings since it was
/ The most painful;
II. The longest endured; and
/// The strongest proof of , the love of Jesus for his Eternal Father.
I. In order, dear Christians, to get a clear idea or representation,
(although it be, after all, but a feeble one), of the abandonment experienced
GOOD FRIDAY. 359
by our Blessed Redeemer on the Cross, we must, first of all, consider that
Jesus Christ was both God and man. We, my brethren, have only one soul
in our body; Christ possessed in his body, not only like us, a human soul,
but beside the human soul, the divine nature, which dwelt in him; so that
he united in himself two natures, the human and the divine.
What took place at the moment when God forsook Jesus? The divine
nature in Jesus Christ withdrew itself from the human soul in a manner
inexplicable to us; it no longer operated upon it. His divine nature did
not separate itself from the body and the soul, but it no longer administered
any light or consolation to the human soul, so that it was as if the divinity
had really and completely departed. And what was the result of this
apparent separation? The result was that the human soul in Jesus Christ
felt, in that hour of supreme anguish, as if she were really alone, entirely
separated from and forsaken by God; she seemed to be be in the condition
of one who had drawn down upon herself the displeasure and indignation
of God and the wrath of heaven. She was seized with the tormenting
thought that the face of the all-holy God was averted, and would remain
eternally averted from her; that his heart was closed against her, and would
remain closed against her for ever.
Now you will begin to realize, dear brethren, that this suffering was the
most painful of all the sufferings of our crucified Redeemer. Not to
mention that it was a suffering of the soul, (a purely spiritual pain);
and that the sufferings of the soul, (spiritual, interior torments,) cause
more vehement anguish than is inflicted by mere corporal sufferings,
I say, there can be nothing more terrible than the thought of being
separated from God, the highest Good. This thought is something in
expressibly awful, even for a dying sinner who during his whole life cared
nothing for God, despised and blasphemed him, wallowing for years in the
mire of iniquity. How much more terrible, then, is this thought in every
situation of life for a person who has always loved God with all the affection
of his soul, and served him with all the sincerity of his heart; who knows
and desires to know no other happiness, no other joy or pleasure, than to
be eternally united with the Supreme Good ? In order to bring only one
example of this sort before you, my brethren, permit me to remind you of
the violent temptation of St. Francis of Sales, who at one period of his
innocent and holy youth, was disquieted by the thought that he was for
saken and rejected by God. O, how this poor soul, inflamed with the love
of God, bewailed his distress and dereliction both day and night. Almost
unceasingly, the bitterest tears flowed from his pure young eyes; the anguish
of his soul was so terrible, that even the most painful death would have
been welcome to him, in order to escape that cruel pain. How terrible,
then, must it have been for Jesus to feel himself all at once forsaken by his
Eternal Father; for Jesus Christ, who was always united with God, who
always loved God with the most perfect love; who never had or knew any
360 GOOD FRIDAY.
other will but God s will, who for the love of God, took upon himself all
the tribulations of life what words can describe the depths and intensity
of his dereliction ? As far as heaven is above the earth, so far his agony
surpasses that of all his suffering creatures.
If the Saints sometimes experience a similar abandonment, although
only in miniature, it appears to them more painful than the torments of
hell itself. And yet, the Saints have the consoling consciousness that their
being forsaken by God is only a trial of their virtue; that it serves to cleanse
them from their sins and imperfections, and to qualify them more rapidly
for heaven; to increase their merits in time and their reward in eternity.
But even this consolation was wanting to our divine Saviour. And why ?
Because he had taken upon himself all the sins of the world, and had
become the scape-goat of our iniquities. He saw in spirit all the sins,
vices, crimes, and abominations which from the fall of the first man defiled
the human race, and will defile it until the hour of the last judgment. And
at the sight of these many and grievous crimes, he felt as if he, alone, had
committed them, and was obliged to atone for them; unspeakable was his
abhorrence of the turpitude of sin, unspeakable was his grief on account
of the dishonor of God. In his woe and consternation, he felt as if the
sins of the world formed an insurmountable barrier between himself and
God; he felt now, (because he felt as mere man), as if he never could make
sufficient reparation, or perfect satisfaction to the divine justice for the
assumed guilt of sin; and for this reason, it seemed to him in that hour of
tremendous agony, as if he were rejected by God. St. Paul plainly teaches
this in his Epistle to the Galatians, when he says: "Christ hath redee?ned us
from the curse of the law, BEING MADE A CURSE FOR us; for it is written:
CURSED IS EVERY ONE THAT HANGETH ON A TREE." (Galat. 3: 13.) " His
body shall not remain on the tree, but shall be buried the same day; for
he is accursed of God that hangeth on a tree." (Deut. 21: 23.) Crushing,
as it did, the Sacred Heart of our Blessed Lord with all its heavy weight,
in this curse chiefly consisted the torment and the horror of his being for
saken by God. Truly, we may boldly assert that though the other suffer
ings of his Passion, for instance, his anguish on account of the blindness
and malice of the Jews, on account of the weakness and fall of some of his
disciples; the torments of his scourging, his crowning with thorns, his
crucifixion, were great and bitter, yet, in comparison with the torture of
his dereliction, they were only as a refreshing dew. The abandonment of
Jesus by his Eternal Father is in reality a nameless suffering, nameless in
the full sense of the word; there is no name, there are no words, neither in
the language of men, nor in the language of the Angels, sufficient to express
its depths, its extent, its intensity.
II. But what increased and aggravated the pain of the abandonment of
Jesus by God in an incredible manner, was its long duration, a circumstance
GOOD FRIDAY. 361
which must not be overlooked and disregarded, if we do not wish to form
an erroneous conception of this mystery.
i. This extraordinary pain did not begin only at the moment when
Jesus cried out: "My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?" for
in that case, he would have said: Why dost thou forsake me? Neither did
it take its inception when he was nailed to the cross, and elevated upon it
on Mount Calvary. This pain, on the contrary, was the first which came
upon him after the Last Supper, and the last which departed from him on
the hard bed of the cross. That his abandonment by God took its inception
on Mount Olivet, Jesus Christ, himself, gives us to understand both by word
and action. Contemplate him only for a moment, my dear brethren, in
his agony in the Garden. In what a pitiable state does he not appear !
Enormous mountains of sin were crushing him with their abominable
weight; he sighs, he sobs and groans; trembling and growing pale, he
wrings his hands, and sinks prostrate on the earth. There he lies upon
his face as if annihilated; dissolved in the agony of his soul, he prays,
yes, prays for hours, fervently imploring the divine mercy and compassion;
prays with such a fire of desire that the very stones on which he lay, (more
tender than the obdurate hearts of sinners), might have been moved to love
and pity for him.
And why all this intense suffering? Perhaps, out of fear of the corporal
pains which were awaiting him during that night and the following day?
That is impossible. We must not represent our Blessed Lord to ourselves
as less courageous, less noble-hearted, than the holy martyrs. But no
martyr, I believe, has ever bewailed his anticipated sufferings as Jesus did
in the Garden of Olives. With him, therefore, it must have been another,
a higher, the highest suffering in fact, that can be imagined, which terrified
him on that occasion in such an extraordinary manner; it must have been
the pain of his abandonment by God. When the presence of God and the
consolation of God are sensible, my brethren, the soul of the saint knows
nothing of pusillanimity or hesitation. Remember St. Francis Xavier.
Before his departure to Asia, he beheld in a vision all the hardships,
tribulations, and sufferings which he was to undergo in his missionary
enterprise. But with holy courage and enthusiasm, he cried out: "More
yet, O God, more yet 1" Should our Blessed Lord be surpassed by a saint
in fortitude ? What a senseless blasphemy ! Therefore, because in the
Garden of Olives he felt himself already forsaken by his God, he was
plunged into that boundless abyss of sadness in which he said to his
disciples: "My soul is sorrowful even unto death." (Matt. 26: 38.)
Because in his agony in the Garden he was already forsaken by his God,
he said: "O my Father, if it is possible, let this chalice pass from me."
(Matt. 26: 39.) O Father, all things are possible with thee, "let this
chalice pass from me ;" a prayer which he probably repeated numberless
362 GOOD FRIDAY.
times. Because at that hour he was already forsaken by his Father, hence
that nameless anguish which seized his soul, hence the bloody sweat,
which issued forth from every pore of his sacred Body. For this very
reason, also, an angel came dow 
