thine eyes! I was with Judas in the Garden of Gethsemani to seize thee ! I was in thy sacred heart to afflict thee! My sins were in the world before my birth; they strengthened the arms of the Jews to strike and buffet thee; and delivered thee to thy enemies, who tormented thee with malicious ingenuity, and afterwards crucified thee!

3RD POINT. Oh, divine Master! thou hast given to the world most noble and beautiful examples, but no one desires to imitate them; thou hast taught us the most perfect lessons, but no one desires to learn them; thou goest first to the conflict, but none follow thee. Thy disciples have basely abandoned thee; they sleep while thou dost watch; they enjoy repose while thou art engaged in a bitter warfare; they afflict instead of consoling thee; they betray instead of delivering thee!

Oh, what confusion overwhelms me! Jesus overcomes all the alarms and infirmities of nature, clothed as he was with the weakness of man, and I yield to them, although I am sustained by the strength of God; he goes generously to the conflict with my timidity, and I, who am endowed with his courage, fly!

Oh, precious blood, which watered and bathed

this ungrateful earth, warm my cold heart, water my arid soul, strengthen my spirit, and raise up my fallen courage! I wish to enter the combat with a firm resolution to overcome and resist the rebellious movements of nature, even unto the shedding of blood. I will, by the grace and in the strength of God, triumph over my flesh, and subject my spirit to divine charity. I will maintain the warfare, until, like thee, I sweat blood and water. Like thee will I suffer, and drink the chalice of thy bitterness unto death.

WORDS OF SCRIPTURE.

"The chalice which my Father hath given me, shall I not drink it?”—St. John, xviii.

"He began to grow sorrowful and to be sad. Then he saith to them: My soul is sorrowful even unto death: stay you here, and watch with me. -St. Matt. xxvi.

"And his sweat became as drops of blood, trickling down upon the ground."-St. Luke, xxii.

"Surely he hath borne our infirmities, and carried our sorrows."-Isaias, liii.

MEDITATION FOR FIRST FRIDAY IN LENT.

THE PRAYER OF JESUS IN THE GARDEN.

1ST POINT. Jesus, in his sadness, withdraws himself from his disciples, for the purpose of praying to God his Father to remove from his lips the bitter cup of his passion. He prays with reverence, prostrating himself before him. He prays with perseverance for several hours. He prays with resignation to the divine will of God his Father. He prays, and is not favourably heard, that we may learn to pray and be resigned.

ours.

2ND POINT. Oh, sweet and tender Jesus! thou didst not desire to receive a consoling answer to thy prayers, that we might prevail in Thou didst not obtain favour for thyself, but secured it for me. I am heard favourably when I pray, but he was not. He could have commanded legions of angels to come to his assistance, but he did not invoke their presence, because he wished to die and shed his blood for our salvation. What charity! what compassion! what mercy!

3RD POINT. Pray in your afflictions. Pray

that God may remove them from you; pray with humility; pray with constancy and perseverance; pray with resignation; pray with conformity to the will of God. Weary not in prayer, and murmur not if you are not heard.

Propose to yourself all those subjects of fear and sadness which distress you, and present them to Jesus, saying: My Lord and my Saviour, behold this chalice of confusion which thou hast presented to me to drink; remove it far from my lips, for it is extremely bitter; nevertheless, not my will but thine be done. Father of mercies behold a chalice of grief prepared for me! Father of the poor! behold a chalice of poverty, presented to me by thy divine providence! Must I drain it? Wilt thou not in pity remove it? I pray thee, O my God, to dispense me from this bitter draught; yet not my will but thine be done.

WORDS OF SCRIPTURE.

"And going a little further, he fell on his face, praying, and saying: My Father, if it be possible, let this chalice pass from me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as thou wilt."-St. Matt. xxvi.

"My Father, if this chalice may not pass

away, but I must drink it, thy will be done." -Ibid.

:

"Abba, Father, all things are possible to thee take away this chalice from me: but not what I will, but what thou wilt."—St. Mark, xiv. "O my God, I shall cry by day, and thou wilt not hear; and by night, and it shall not be reputed as folly in me."-Psalm xxi.

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MEDITATION FOR FIRST SATURDAY IN LENT.

THE DOLOURS OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN.

1ST POINT. O all ye that pass by the way, attend, and see if there be any sorrow like to my sorrow. Mary's sorrows are measured by her love. Those who love much, suffer in proportion to their love. They who have but little love, know but little suffering. The holy Virgin loved her divine Son with a tender affection, which surpassed that of all other mothers for theirs, because he was the most amiable of the children of men; and she loved him by nature, knowledge, and grace.

He was her only Son, whom she shared with no father. She had conceived him by the operation of the Holy Ghost, who is the spirit of divine