whilst Jesus was yet on his journey towards the house whither he meant to retire, as we have said. This woman, who still followed him, "came in [after him], fell down at his feet, and adored him, saying: Lord, help me" [that is to say], she besought him that he would cast forth the devil out of her daughter. Jesus was fully disposed to do so; but, in order to make it apparent that she was indebted for this favor to the greatness of her faith, "he said to her [in a severe tone]: Suffer first the children to be filled. For it is not good to take the bread of the children and to cast it to dogs. The woman was a Gentile, a Syrophenician born." It is this idolatrous people who are here reckoned as dogs, in comparison with the Jews, who are styled the children. If the terms made use of by the Saviour with reference to the first are humiliating, they are not altogether discouraging. In them we may catch a glimpse of the fact, that the bread should be given to the idolaters when the children should have been sated or disgusted, and that time was not far distant. But a pagan woman could not divine this mystery, then unknown to the apostles; and a refusal accompanied with so much apparent contempt should have absolutely taken away from her every hope. It must be owned that we never have sharper wit than when we ask for what we desire with ardor. This poor mother had ingenuity enough on this occasion to make the reason of the refusal a motive of grace. Far, therefore, from desponding when Jesus appeared to confound her with the foul beasts: (a) "Yea, Lord," she answered "[humbly acknowledging what she was]; for [she immediately adds] the whelps also eat of the crumbs of the children's bread, that fall from the table of their masters." One single miracle wrought for a Gentile, in regard to the vast number of those which Jesus Christ had wrought for the Jews, was, in point of fact, like a crumb of bread dropped under the table, to which the domestic animals were fully entitled. "O woman, then Jesus said to her, thy faith is great; for this saying (10), go thy way; the devil is gone

(a) St. Matthew, xv. 27, 28; St. Mark, vii. 29, 30.

(10) Not because this expression was spiritual, but because it admirably expressed the faith and the humility of the virtuous Canaanean woman. We have seen, chapter xvi., note 25, and page 134, that God does not exact long prayers; neither does he require

out of thy daughter. From that hour her daughter was cured, and when she was gone into her house, she found the girl lying upon the bed, and that the devil was gone out." This is a remarkable narrative, which teaches us that a prayer animated by faith, accompanied by humility, and sustained by perseverance, is a stronger reason for God to hearken to it than all those which he may have to refuse it.

CHAPTER XXVIII.

DEAF AND DUMB CURED.-MULTIPLICATION OF THE SEVEN LOAVES.-DEMAND OF A SIGN FROM HEAVEN. LEAVEN OF THE PHARISEES AND SADDUCEES.

THE sacred writers mention no other act performed by the Saviour in that strange country. We know that all is not written, and it is very probable that he only wrought there the miracle we have just recounted. Besides the excellent instruction which the entire Church derives from this miracle on the efficacy of prayer, perhaps he also wished to teach his ministers that the salvation of a single soul was a fruit well worthy of a laborious mission; and we will not consider as useless the pains he gave himself to furnish us with this double lesson. Whatever might have been the cause, it is certain that he did not tarry in this country: (a)" and going out of the coasts of Tyre, he came by Sidon to the sea of Galilee, through the midst of the coasts of Decapolis."

"[He was scarcely arrived there, when] they bring to him one deaf and dumb, and they besought him, that he would lay his hand upon him. Jesus, taking him from the multitude apart, put his finger into his ears, and, spitting, he touched his tongue; then, looking up to heaven, he groaned." Because of the ardor of his prayer,

(a) St. Mark, vii. 31-37.

that they should be eloquent. Studied discourses are of no avail before him whose ear listens only to the supplication of the heart.

or rather through compassion for our miseries; "and said to him: Ephpheta, which is, be thou opened (1). And immediately his ears were opened, the string of his tongue was loosed, and he spoke right (2). Jesus charged them that they should tell no man (3); but the more he charged them, so much the more a great deal did they publish it, and so much the more did they wonder, saying [by way of opposition to the calumnies of the Pharisees]: He hath done all things well; he hath made both the deaf to hear, and the dumb to speak."

(a)" Then Jesus, going up into a mountain, sat there; and great multitudes came to him there, having with them the dumb, the blind, the lame, the maimed, and many others; they cast them down at his feet, and he healed them. So that the multitudes marvelled, seeing the dumb speak, the lame walk, the blind see; and they glorified the God of Israel."

A circumstance similar to that in which they were placed some months previously, occasioned a miracle similar to this which was now operated. (b) "When again there was a great multitude, and had nothing to eat, Jesus, calling his disciples together, saith to them: I have compassion on this multitude, because they continue with me now three days, and have nothing to eat. If I shall send (a) St. Matthew, xv. 29–31.

(b) St. Mark, viii. 1-10; St. Matthew, xv. 34, 36, 38, 39.

(1) He speaks as God, after having prayed as man; elsewhere he speaks, and he prayeth not. Sometimes he heals solely by the imposition of his blessed hands; at other times, by the touch of his garments. It were useless to seek reasons for these different proceedings. It is enough to know that uncreated wisdom could not act with

out reason.

(2) The miracles are also mysteries; and what the power of Jesus Christ wrought visibly upon the bodies, his grace wrought invisibly in their souls. It is for this reason that the Church has made this action of the Saviour one of the ceremonies of baptism. The word Ephpheta, be thou opened, which the priest pronounces, when making nearly the same applications that Jesus Christ made upon the deaf and dumb man-this word, I say, signifies in this circumstance: Let thine ears be opened, in order to hear and in order to believe; and let thy tongue be untied, in order to confess the truth which you believe.

(3) With reference to secrecy commanded, and not kept, and to secrecy commanded regarding certain miracles, and not regarding others, see note 5, chapter xii., and page 92.

them away fasting to their homes, they will faint in the way, for some of them come from afar off. I will not [therefore] send them away fasting. His disciples answered: From whence can any one fill them here with bread in the wilderness?"

We are surprised to find that they could have forgotten the yet recent miracle of the multiplication of the five loaves, and that, instead of soliciting a similar one, natural means are the sole expedients which occur to their minds. Jesus did not pause to reproach them with this forgetfulness or this want of faith; the act he was going to perform was to be a substitute for that lesson. "He asked them: How many loaves have ye? Seven, they said, and a few little fishes. He then commanded the multitude to sit down upon the ground." It is presumed, and with reason, that they were ranged in companies, as at the other multiplication, so that the distribution might be orderly, and that the number of guests might be easily known. "Then Jesus, taking the seven loaves, giving thanks, he broke and gave them to his disciples for to set before them, and they set them before the people. And he blessed the few little fishes they had, and commanded them to be set before them. They did all eat and had their fill (4), and they took up seven baskets full (5) of what remained of the fragments. Now, they that had eaten were about four thousand men, besides children and women. Jesus dismissed them," in order to steal himself away from their applause, and also that they might not, like the other multitude, think

(4) The bread, according to Saint Augustine, multiplied in the hands of Jesus Christ just as grain multiplies itself in the earth. If we wonder more at one multiplication than at the other, the reason is, that one is a daily occurrence, and the other a very extraordinary one. At bottom, it is the same miracle, and there is no greater subject for admiration in the one than in the other. Free-thinkers do not believe in the multiplication of the bread, because they have not seen it; if anybody who had not seen the multiplication of grain, refused to believe it, upon the report of witnesses worthy of credit, he would be regarded, with reason, as very silly. Yet this foolish man would only be precisely what free-thinkers are.

(5) Jesus Christ caused them to be gathered, in order that the whole extent of the miracle should be known, and also to teach them not to throw away the gift of God: a popular phrase, which comprises a highly moral and very religious meaning.

The circumstance of the seven baskets marks the difference of this multiplication from the preceding one, and prevents the two from being taken for one and the same miracle. This is a remark of Saint Chrysosto n.

of declaring him king. "Immediately going up into a ship with his disciples, he came into the parts of Dalmanutha into the coasts of Magedan."

This country is situated on the eastern border of the sea of Galilee. Jesus wished to show himself there as elsewhere; for it is easy to see that his design was to make himself known to all the house of Israel, and that he did not wish that there should be one district of Judea unenlightened by his doctrine and his miracles. We can have no doubt of his having both preached and wrought miracles here, as in the other districts, although the evangelists do not say so; but what they do state, and we, after their narrative, is, that here, as elsewhere, he encountered opposition.

(a)" "The Pharisees and Sadducees" were, as is well known, two 'irreconcilable sects. But when the object is to persecute the good, the wicked, no matter how much they disagree amongst themselves, are yet ready to combine together. These "came [in concert] to Jesus. They began to question with him. Then they asked him to show them a sign from heaven [it is added], tempting him." And, in point of fact, to ask for fresh proofs of what is already sufficiently proved, is not desiring additional light-it is merely seeking grounds whereon to raise objections. "Jesus answered, and said to them: When it is evening, you say, it will be fair weather, for the sky is red; and in the morning, to-day there will be a storm, for the sky is red and lowering. You know, then, how to discern the face of the sky, and can you not know the signs of the times (6)? And he said also to the multitudes: When you see a cloud rising from the west, presently you say, a shower is coming; and so it happeneth. And when you see the south wind blow, you say, there will be heat; and it cometh to pass. You hypocrites!" added he-whether he

(a) St. Matthew, xvi. 1–4; St. Mark, viii. 11; St. Luke, xii. 54–57.

(6) The preceding passage is taken from Saint Matthew; what immediately follows is from Saint Luke. The latter, in the twelfth chapter, reports consecutively several expressions of the Saviour, detached one from the other, without stating the circumstances in which they were uttered, and the greater part of which were spoken on different occasions. We deemed, on account of the identity of the subject, that it was more natural to place this expression here, although several interpreters place it elsewhere.