at the same time true God and true Man, begotten of the Father from eternity, born of His Mother in time. On the very day of the Annunciation, the Angel Gabriel assured our Blessed Lady that the Holy One who should be born of her should be called, i. e. should be, the Son of God. And when Mary went with haste into the hill country of Judea to visit her cousin St. Elizabeth, we are told that St. Elizabeth, filled with the Holy Ghost, cried out with a loud voice, and said, "Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb." Then, lost in wonder, she continued, "Whence is this to me that the Mother of my Lord should come to me?" (St. Luke i. 41-43.) St. Matthew, describing the genealogy of Christ, concludes by the express statement that He was born of Mary (St. Matt. i. 16). And St. Paul tells us, "when the fulness of time was come, God sent His Son made of a woman" (Gal. iv. 4). And, again, we are told that our Lord was "of the seed of David, according to the flesh" (Rom. i. 3). So, again, our Blessed Lady is constantly spoken of in the Gospels as the Mother of Christ. Thus, speaking of the marriage-feast in Cana of Galilee, St. John tells us, "the Mother of Jesus was there" (St. John ii. 1). And again, when our Lord was instructing the multitude, we are told that His Mother stood without seeking Him" (St. Matt. xii. 46, 47). And, not to mention other passages of Holy Scripture, St. John, describing the crucifixion, says, "Now there stood by the cross of Jesus His Mother" (St. John xix. 25).

Mary is truly and really the Mother of God, as the Fathers repeatedly affirm, because He who was conceived and born of her is God. Thus St. Cyril of Alexandria asks, “If our Lord Jesus Christ is God, how is not the holy Virgin who bore Him the Mother of God?" The child which is conceived and born of a common mother has its body, and that alone formed of her substance, while the more noble part of its being is a spiritual soul directly created by God; nevertheless, because this body and soul have been united in her womb, so as to make but one person, we do not say that she is the mother of the body alone, but that she is the mother of the person who is composed of body and soul. Now, in the same way as

the soul of this child has been united in its mother's womb with the body, and thus has become the one person of her son, so in like manner in the womb of Mary the Word of God was united to our humanity, and became her Son. By this admirable union, as we have already explained, the second Person of the Blessed Trinity began to subsist in two distinct natures, and Mary is consequently truly called the Mother of God, and not simply the Mother of the body assumed by God.

Just in the same way as the word 'consubstantial' was the touchstone of the Arian heresy, so the title of Mother of God, which belongs to our Blessed Lady, was the touchstone of the Nestorian heresy. So long as we cling with reverence to this prerogative of Mary, we preserve intact the mystery of our redemption; but if we call this truth in question, the doctrine of the Incarnation falls together with it. Every blow which is aimed at Mary's prerogative of Mother of God, is still more injurious to the dignity of Jesus; while every thing which strengthens our faith in the privileges of Mary secures corresponding but more exalted prerogatives for Jesus. If Mary be not the Mother of God, He who was born of her is not God, and consequently could not make adequate satisfaction for our sins. We cannot abandon this prerogative of Mary without destroying our hope of salvation. On the other hand, if we really believe that Mary is the Mother of God, by the very same act we believe and profess that Jesus Christ is true God and true man. For if our Lord were God and not man, He could not be the Son of Mary; and if He were man, and not at the same time God, Mary would not be the Mother of God. So long, therefore, as we honour Mary as the Mother of God, we honour her Son as God, and maintain in its integrity the mystery of our redemption.

CHAP. XVII. Devotions connected with the Incarnation. If we look abroad on the state of the world, we see a number of persons who concentrate all their energy and attention on some particular pursuits. One is engrossed

in money-making, and is all attention when any thing connected with the object of his life falls on his ear, while every thing else is heedlessly passed by. Another is absorbed in politics, and is impatient when other matters intrude themselves upon him; another is wholly given up to the promotion of some scheme for the more general diffusion of education; another is occupied in some one of the many branches of scientific inquiry. Each of these persons surrounds himself with one special set of ideas; he lives in an atmosphere of his own, and attracts around himself a special class of influences. He is devoted to his favourite pursuit. Now what such a man does for the world or for self the devout Christian strives to perform for the greater honour of God and the salvation of his soul. Such a man as we have described differs from the common run of men who occupy the same sphere of life by the ardour, constancy, and enthusiasm with which he follows out his chosen aim or enterprise; so, in like manner, the devout Christian differs from ordinary Christians by the promptness and love with which he discharges his religious obligations. A person may attain moderate success in life, but it is hardly possible to reach any degree of eminence without that devotedness and perseverance of which we are speaking; so it is possible to gain heaven by barely aiming at keeping the commandments, without striving at the same time to cultivate a spirit of devotion; though many who content themselves with this low standard will fail even to reach heaven, while few, if any, will acquire any degree of perfection.

If, then, a Christian means a follower of Christ, a devout Christian must mean one who throws all his heart and soul into the imitation of the life of our Lord. He shuts out from himself, as far as he can, the distracting cares and anxieties of the world, and aims at perpetually living over again the thirty-three years of our Lord's life. He meditates often on the Gospel narrative, and lives at one time in the atmosphere of Bethlehem, and at another of Calvary; now he contemplates the glory of our Lord's risen life, or the majesty with which He reigns in heaven; now he reposes beneath the shadow of the tabernacle to

relieve his Lord's loneliness, to speak to Him of his wants, or to beg some blessing. Or again, he exercises his devotion on the Blessed Virgin, or the saints, because he sees in them copies of his Divine Lord. They speak to him in the same language St. Paul used to the first Christians: "Be you imitators of me as I am of Christ." By devotions, therefore, we mean the practices of piety and religion, based on the attributes of God, the mysteries of the life of our Lord, or the honour of the saints, which are approved and recommended by the Church as means for cultivating that spirit of which we are speaking.

There are a very great variety of devotions in use in the Church, but most of them naturally group themselves either with the great mystery of the Incarnation, or around the sacramental presence of our Lord in the Blessed Eucharist. The latter will be spoken of in treating of the Sacraments; this is the place to speak of devotions connected with the Incarnation.

The Church brings before our attention the mysteries of the life of our Lord, and endeavours to lead us to a closer imitation of His example in a twofold way. 1st. By consecrating particular parts of the year to the commemoration of some mystery of religion, or of some portion of the life of our Lord; and 2dly, by recommending to our use certain practices of piety and religion which are instituted in order to bring before our minds, and to honour in a special way, the mysteries of our faith. Hence the present subject will naturally divide itself into seasons of devotion and practices of devotion.

CHAP. XVIII. Seasons of particular Devotion.

1. THE ecclesiastical year opens with the time of Advent, which is a season of devotion intended to prepare us to celebrate in a fitting manner the birth of our Divine Redeemer. The four weeks of which it consists represent the four thousand years which preceded the coming of our Lord. It is a time of hope and desire, it is a looking forward for our redemption, in the same spirit in which the

patriarchs and prophets and the just of the old law longed and prayed for the coming of the Messiah. We are invited to honour the first mysteries of the Incarnation, and to adore our Lord still enclosed in His Mother's womb. We are constantly reminded in the office of the Church at this time of the mortified life of St. John the Baptist, and of the invitation to do penance for our sins, which was the constant theme of his preaching. Thus the_Church strives to prepare us to celebrate the birth of our Lord, in the same way in which the Holy Precursor was inspired to prepare the Jews for His coming.

2. Advent is succeeded by Christmas-tide, during which we are called upon to honour in succession the mysteries of the sacred Childhood and of the hidden life of our Blessed Redeemer. The spirit of this holy time is one of sweetness and calm joy, and its lessons are those of submission and obedience, of docility and childlike simplicity and candour. It breathes a love of poverty and detachment from the riches, and honours, and pleasures of this life.

3. From Septuagesima to Easter Sunday, the Church wishes to prepare us for the solemn commemoration of our Lord's sufferings and death by prayer and watching, by penance and mortification. The shadow of the cross is thrown over this season, and its reflection deepens till it reaches the darkness of the three hours' agony. During all this time we should frequently bring before our mind the remembrance of our Lord's sorrows and sufferings. Each Friday in particular is devoted to the honour of our suffering Saviour, by the celebration of a festival which commemorates some incident or memorial of His passion. To prove our willingness to share our Lord's sufferings, as far as we are able, and to imitate his fast, the Church commands her children to fast during the forty days of Lent.

4. If we suffer with our Lord, it is meet that we should also rejoice with Him. Paschal-time takes the place or Lent, and its joy prefigures that eternal happiness which we hope to obtain when the trials and sufferings of this life are no more. During this season we accompany our Lord in His glorified life; our conversation is in Heaven,