panies the coronation of a king. Now, our Blessed Lord fulfilled all these three characters, wherefore he is justly styled, above all others, the Christ or Anointed. He is, as you know, our great High Priest, who offered on the cross, and still offers in the Mass, the sacrifice of his own Body for the salvation of the world. He is also the great Prophet who fulfilled the prophecies of all who had gone before, and predicted many things, some of which have already come to pass, and some of which remain to be accomplished at the end of the world. Finally, he is a King, for he came to establish in our hearts the kingdom of his grace, and to bring us all hereafter to the eternal kingdom of heaven. Do not imagine, however, that our Blessed Lord was anointed with oil, in the manner that man is anointed, to fulfil these sublime offices. No; His anointing was the presence of his Godhead or Divinity, closely united with his human nature. By this his Sacred Body and Soul were consecrated and set apart for the important office of redeeming man.

Before we go on to the next article, I am going to tell you a little history, which I want to know whether any of you have ever heard or read.

THE GENEROUS PRINCE.

A certain great monarch had a favourite nobleman, whom he had raised from an obscure condition, loaded with riches and honours, and placed in one of the highest offices of his kingdom. Unfortunately this favourite allowed the poison of pride to enter his heart. Puffed up with his good fortune, and not content to be second in the kingdom, he wished to be first. He accordingly planned a vast conspiracy, by which he might be able to put aside the king, and take possession of the throne. Fortunately, however, the plot was discovered at the moment fixed for its execution. The ungrateful nobleman was stripped of his riches and dignities, and banished with all his family to a remote province, where he was reduced to the same low and destitute state from which the king had first raised him.

Now it happened that the king had a son, a noble youth, full of tender compassion and generosity. Hearing of the disgrace of the former favourite, he hastened to his father, threw himself at his feet, and with many tears implored of him to pardon the exile and his family. The king graciously consented, and immediately the young prince, disguising himself, set off, alone and on foot, to bear to the wretched family the happy and unexpected tidings. After enduring the severest hardships and sufferings on the journey, the young prince at length arrived at the distant province to which they had been banished. He found the exile and his family plunged in the deepest misery, and suffering the extremity of want. The generous prince hastened to console them. Rejoice," ," said he, "your sufferings are now at an end. I am the son of the king who sent you into banishment, and I have implored and obtained your pardon from my father. Henceforward consider me as your friend, as your brother. You shall return to court, you shall dwell in my palace, you shall sit at my own table; my riches, my honours, the kingdom which is my inheritance, all shall be yours."

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At these words the unhappy exile and his family appeared in a moment restored to a new life. They raised their eyes to heaven, and blessed God for his wonderful goodness. Then, with bursting hearts and tears of gratitude, they cast themselves at the prince's feet, and strove to thank him for a generosity and self devotion which the world had never yet beheld. But all they could utter were these simple words :Prince, what are we, and what art thou!"-Catéchisme de Persévérance.

My dear children, have you ever heard before this touching history? Yes, for you yourselves belong to the family of the poor exile, who was your father, Adam. By his unhappy pride and desire to become like to God, he rebelled against his Divine Majesty, was driven out of Paradise, and condemned, with all his descendants, to wander an exile on earth, far from his true country, the kingdom of heaven. And who was the young prince? You know it was our dear Lord, the only Son of God, who, by his tears. and prayers,-nay, even by his sufferings and cruel death, has satisfied for our sins and obtained our

pardon. He has laid aside, as it were, his glory and dignity, put on the disguise of our human flesh, and descended into the place of our banishment to bring us the happy tidings of our deliverance. And now he calls us his friends and his brothers, and promises to share with us the riches, the honours, the delights, of his heavenly kingdom. O Great Prince of Heaven, Eternal Son of God, what are we and what art Thou!

EIGHTH INSTRUCTION.

Third Article. Jesus Christ. His Conception and Birth.

Q. What is the third article of the Creed?

A. Who was conceived by the Holy Ghost, born of the Virgin Mary.

We have seen, my dear children, from the explanation of the second article of the Creed, who our Blessed Lord is, and how he became man in order to redeem us. We come now to the third article, in which we express our belief in his Conception and Birth; "Who was conceived by the Holy Ghost, born of the Virgin Mary." The Incarnation of the Son of God, that is, his becoming man to save us, is indeed a wonderful Mystery of Divine Love; but when we consider the manner in which this great event took place, we shall see still greater reason to admire the Infinite Goodness of our Blessed Lord, especially in his choosing, out of pure love to us, to be born in a stable, and to suffer, at his very entrance into the world, all the ills of poverty and want. As the meaning of this article is fully explained in the answer to the next question, I will now ask it you.

Q. What means this article ?

A. It means that God the Son took flesh and was made man by the power of the Holy Ghost, in the womb of the Blessed Virgin Mary, without having any man for His Father.

Attend, my dear children, to the words which you have just repeated, and you will learn from them three important truths.

First. That God the Son took flesh, or in other words, that he was made man.

Secondly. That he was born of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

Thirdly. That this happened by a miracle, and by the power of the Holy Ghost, without his having any man for His Father.

God the Son took flesh and was made man. This great mystery, by which the Creator took the form of a creature, and the Lord of all the form of a slave, was accomplished on the 25th of March, which we commonly call the Feast of the Annunciation, or Lady Day, because on that day the message of the Angel was announced to our Blessed Lady. Mary was at that moment, as St. Bonaventure tells us, praying earnestly in the little cottage of Nazareth for the speedy redemption of mankind. She besought the Son of God to hasten the time of his coming, and prayed that she might be so far favoured as to be permitted to serve and wait upon the holy virgin who should be chosen for his Mother. While thus engaged in prayer, behold! a heavenly light shone in her little chamber, and Mary, raising her eyes, beheld, bowing before her and on bended knee, the great Archangel St. Gabriel. He spoke, and, in tones of deep reverence, greeted her with those words of salutation which you so often pronounce: "Hail full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou amongst women." At these

words Mary, as the holy Scripture says, "was troubled, and thought with herself what manner of salutation this should be." Her humility felt alarmed at hearing herself spoken of in such terms of praise, and that, too, by an Angel, one of the princes of the heavenly court. St. Gabriel, however, went on to encourage her, and to announce to her the important message of which he was the bearer. "Fear not, Mary, he said to her, for thou hast found grace with God. Behold thou shalt conceive in thy womb and shalt bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name Jesus." Mary listened to these happy tidings with mingled joy and gratitude, but one thing yet troubled her. She was a pure virgin. From her earliest infancy she had vowed her virginity to God, as the most precious offering she could make to him, and there was nothing which she prized more highly than the privilege of living and dying in this holy state. Yet the Angel had said that she was to become a mother. Wherefore Mary went on to ask him, "How shall this be done, because I know not man?” And the Angel answering, said to her, "The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the Power of the most High shall overshadow thee. And therefore also the Holy, that shall be born of thee, shall be called the Son of God." In other words the Angel promised that, by a great miracle of the Holy Ghost, Mary should become a mother, the Mother of the Son of God, and still remain a virgin. It is for this reason that the catechism says that "God the Son was made man by the power of the Holy Ghost, in the womb of the Blessed Virgin Mary, without having any man for His Father."

The Blessed Virgin now knew that it was the will of Almighty God that she should be the Mother of his Divine Son made man; and so, with a heart full