half; knowing that if we ask of God through Jesus Christ, for necessaries to our salvation, it will certainly be granted, in the end, to those who pray devoutly, and persevere in it. Amen, I say to you, if you shall ask the Father any thing in my name, he will give it you. St. John xvi. 23, 24. Ask, and it shall be given to you; seek, and you shall find, knock, and the door shall be opened to you. St. Matt. vii. 7.

As to place, we may pray in all places, because God is present every where, sees all, and knows all. But the most proper place for prayer is the church, where he is worshipped in the most essential manner; where the awe and veneration of the place, which is consecrated to his service, is more apt to strike us with devotion; and where he is present in the holy mysteries, in the midst of us, to hear our prayers, and confer his benefits. Where there are two or three assembled in my name, there am I in the midst of them. St. Matt. xviii 20.

All our prayers are directed to God, and centre wholly in him; from him alone comes all our help, our health, our happiness; so that, when we invoke the Saints or Angels, holy Mary, mother of God, pray for us; St. Michael pray for us; St. Peter or Paul pray for us; it is not that we expect grace and help from them, as from the author of it, for we know that none but God can give grace and glory; but we hope we may sooner obtain it by their intercession to the throne of mercy, than by our own unworthy prayers. When we pray to the saints in heaven, it is only to beg of them to intercede for us; as in like manner we beg those on earth to pray for us; which practice the scripture recommends in many places. Did not God send Abimeleck to Abraham, to pray for him, because he was a prophet, Gen. xx. 7. and the friends of Job, to that patriarch, to pray and offer sacrifice for them, because he was a saint, and more worthy to be heard, Job xlii. 8. In this God is honoured, because both their and. prayers ours come to him, are centered wholly in him, and granted through the mediation of our Saviour Jesus Christ, our immediate intercessor to the Father:

It is not only for ourselves we ought to pray, but for all mankind; for the faithful in the first place, for those who stand most in need of our prayers, our enemies and persecutors, that God would turn their hearts, and lay not the sin they commit against charity, to their charge. Bless those that curse you, pray for those that persecute and belie you. St. Matt. v. 44. This instruction Christ gave also on the cross: Father, forgive them. And St. Stephen, the first martyr, followed it: Lord, lay not this sin to their charge.

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As to the time of prayer, the scripture teaches us pray at all times, without ceasing, to fulfil that saying of our Saviour, It is meet to pray always, and never fail, as well in sickness as in health, in adversity as in prosperity, in want as in plenty. Prayer is requisite in the morning, to give God the first fruit of our time, and to beg his blessing upon our undertakings; Betimes in the morning, my eyes were upon thee, Psalm cxviii. Prayer is requisite in the evening, before we take our rest, to return thanks for all the benefits of the day, and to beg pardon for all our failings, and protection for the night to come: Let evening prayer ascend to thee, O Lord, and thy mercy descend upon us. Every Christian ought to be constant to this morning and evening prayer, and not like the dumb beasts, rise up, and lie down, without thinking of God, without devotion. Again, as often as we are tempted, afflicted, persecuted, injured, in any kind, then is the time to raise up our minds in holy prayer: When I was in tribulation, I cried to our Lord, and he heard me ; that is, he gave me strength and courage to bear it. The more weak we are, frail, and inconstant by nature, the more need we have to apply to God for grace and fortitude, under all the evils of this life, that his glory may shine through our patience and perseverance.

But though all times and days may be convenient for prayer, yet there are some particular days and times most proper for it, wherein we ought to enlarge our prayers; as on Sundays and Holidays, being days speci ally consecrated to God's service: for why is the rest of the body commanded on those days, but that we may

have more leisure to rest our mind in prayer and contemplation.

As to the language in which we are to pray, there is no obligation for private persons to pray in a tongue they do not understand; let them pray in the language which they know but for the public Liturgy and Of fice, it was ever performed in the Western Church in Latin, as is the Eastern Church in Greek; and yet all know, that Greek was never the vulgar tongue of all nations in the East; no more than Latin of all nations in the West, but only the most universal and best languages, which being fixed by unchangeable rules of grammar, never vary as vulgar languages do: for this reason, the church thought them most proper for the Liturgy, to which every nation ought to conform, and not pretend to be wiser than the apostles and the whole church.

EXHOR.-Prayer being so essential to a devout life, and absolutely necessary to salvation, let none be deficient in this spiritual duty. Often reflect on that saying of our Saviour, It is meet to pray always, and never fail. Our prayer to God ought never to end but with our lives. Give yourself time, not only for vocal prayer, but mental and holy meditations: often think of those infinite and innumerable blessings which God has bestowed upon you think of his greatness, his power, his mercy, and his justice. Raise your mind above, and contemplate the joys of heaven. Cast your thoughts below, and look on the torments of hell, that the sight of one may encourage you in all good, and the sight of the other deter you from all evil: O divine contemplation, whereby the soul dwells with God!

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As often as you pray, let your heart with your lips: pray with the same earnestness as you would in a storm at sea: you sail now in a more dangerous ocean, are tossed by a more violent tempest, and exposed to a worse shipwreck. Banish from your prayer, as much ás may be, the distracting cares of this life; but since nature is prone to them, and too weak to pray entirely without them, recollect, and redouble your endeavour to pray. Desist not from prayer, but continue it to

your last breath: if God has promised grace to those who pray for it; then those who persevere to the end in prayer, will persevere to the end in grace, and be saved: The continual prayer of the just man prevaileth much. St. James v. 16. Redouble your prayers on days that are sacred to God: beseech him, through the intercession of the glorious Saints and Angels, to have mercy on you: God, for the sake of Abraham, Isaac, and ́ Jacob, often spared their sinful posterity; so by the intercession of his saints, he now saves the souls of many from damnation. In particular, invoke the intercession of the mother of God, of the saint of your name, and of your Angel Guardian, and let all your prayers, as the Catholic Church has ever taught and practised, centre in the passion and death of Christ, through which the prayers of the faithful on earth, and of his saints above, are worthy to ascend to the throne of God,

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On the Lord's Prayer.

HICH is the most excellent prayer? A. The Lord's prayer. Q. Who taught it? A. Christ our Lord, St. Luke xi. 1. St. Matt. vi. 9. Q. Why did he make it so short and easy? A. That all men, even the most illiterate, might be capable of it. Q. What does it contain? A. The chief things we can ask, or hope from God.

INSTRUC.-The Lord's prayer, so called from him who is the author of it, is the most excellent of all prayers for being made by God himself, it can contain nothing but what is well pleasing to him. The ancient patriarchs and prophets taught their children to pray; and St. John Baptist, his disciples, St. Luke xi. 1. but Christ himself has taught us. .2 It is the most excellent in what it contains, viz. all things we can desire for the health, both of soul and body; so short, and yet so full, that while we say it, we are admonished what to believe, what to hope for, what to love, what to shun, what to embrace; in short, all other prayers are derived from it, and there are none good, but what are grounded upon it. 3. It is the most excellent by the divine

order that is observed in it, whereby we are taught to pray in the most holy manner; for first, we beg that all honour and glory may be given to God, as being the Creator of us and all things. 2. We beg all good for soul and body. 3. The means whereby we may attain it. And lastly, we beg to be delivered from all the miseries to which we are subject through Adam's fall.

The first thing that falls within the compass of our desires, and the first we ought to pray for is our last end and happiness, the next is the means to bring us to it, the third, that every thing which is an obstacle to it, may be removed. Now, our last end is God, and therefore by the first petition, we pray for his glory, whom we ought to love, purely for his own sake: by the second, we pray to partake of his glory, and of his kingdom. By the third, we pray for grace to do his will, which is the direct means to merit it. By the fourth, for the sacraments, especially to the holy Eucharist, from whence grace is derived. By the fifth, we pray to be delivered from sin, which positively excludes us from it. By the sixth, for strength to resist all that tempts us from it. And by the seventh, to be freed from all those evils and miseries, which being either sin, or the punishments of sin, keep us out of the actual possession of it.

St. Augustin has it thus: The Lord's prayer contains seven petitions. By the first, we ask God's glory. By, the second, our own glory. By the third, we beg grace, the life of the soul. By the fourth, our food, the life of the body. By the fifth, to be delivered from sin, when by human frailty we fall from grace. By the sixth, to be delivered from every thing that may induce By the seventh, to be delivered both from the evil of sin, and the evil of punishment, to which man is subject.

us to sin.

EXHOR. Let every one then know the value of this prayer, the perfection of it, and the preference they ought to give to it above any other form of prayer.

This prayer is of general use in the church; and surely you ought not to let a day pass, without laying