blindfolded; he was treated as a false prophet; he was declared a blasphemer, and judged worthy of death.

You do the same whenever you offend God. You repeat these outrages whenever you offend or scandalize your neighbour. Jesus Christ

declares that he suffers whatever evil is done to the least of his disciples, as the head feels whatever injury is inflicted on the smallest member of the body. It is, then, striking Jesus Christ to strike your neighbour; it is hating Jesus Christ to hate your neighbour; it is scoffing at Jesus Christ to scoff at your neighbour.

1

2ND POINT. Suffer, like Jesus, the most injurious words that may be said to you. Suffer, with Jesus, all outrages that are offered to you. Are you greater than he is? holy and innocent than he is? and you would escape suffering! take revenge on his enemies,

revenge on yours!

Are you more

Jesus suffered, Jesus did not and you seek

3RD POINT. Oh, Jesus my Saviour! do I not deserve to be despised and maltreated by creatures, since I have had the insolence to despise and maltreat thee? I deservedly merit their blows, since I have so often raised my hand against thee! I hear thee declared guilty, and I

wish to be thought innocent! I behold thee unjustly condemned to death, and I shrink, with pain, from the thought of dying! Oh, my sweet Saviour, I wish to die for thee, since thou hast given thy life for me! I will bear with patience the injurious words and actions of those who hate me, since thou hast suffered the most base and malicious treatment for me.

Oh, dear Jesus! silence me when I complain of the malice of those who desire to harm me; restrain me when angry impulses urge me to speak. When I have offended or injured my neighbour, say to me: Why do you strike me? Why do you dishonour me? I hold as done to myself, that which is done to the least of my members.

WORDS OF SCRIPTURE.

"One of the servants standing by gave Jesus a blow."-St. John, xviii.

"Then did they spit in his face, and buffeted him; and others struck his face with the palms of their hands."-St. Matt. xxvi.

"Why strikest thou me ?"-St. John, xviii.

"He shall sit solitary, and hold his peace; because he hath taken it up upon himself."Lamentations, iii.

E

MEDITATION FOR SECOND SATURDAY IN LENT.

ON THE SEVEN STATIONS OF OUR LORD'S

PASSION.

FIRST STATION.

Oh, Jesus my Saviour! thou didst sweat blood and water in the garden of Olives, at the sight of my sins and thy approaching torments, and strip thyself of thy strength to assume our infirmities! I adore thee, all bathed as thou art in thy sacred blood. Ithank thy most tender and sacred heart, for being thus afflicted for me; I detest all sins that have caused thee so much sadness and bitter anguish; and I am resolved rather to die than offend thee again. Give me grace to conceive, like thee, so poignant a sorrow for my sins, that I may resist, even unto death, the temptations of the world, the flesh, and the devil; and that, in all things, I may conform to the will of thy Father, howsoever my nature may be opposed to it.

SECOND STATION.

Oh, Jesus my Lord! thou hast been struck and maltreated in the house of Caiphas. I

thank and adore thee for having suffered these injuries, and this confusion for me. Alas! how

often have I not struck and outraged thee in the person of my neighbour! I most humbly be seech thy pardon, and am resolved, from henceforth, to bear all injuries with patience, and offend thee no more in this way, by thought, judgment, word, will, or action.

THIRD STATION.

Oh, Jesus my King! Herod and the Jews despised thee, when they preferred a thief, a seditious man, and a murderer, to thee. Vouchsafe to grant me thy forgiveness, for having so often preferred the suggestions of the devil, and the love of miserable creatures, to thyself. Thou shalt ever reign the sovereign of my heart, and I am resolved to lose my life, my possessions and reputation, rather than offend or dishonour thee. Forbid, dear Lord, that I should ever again prefer the enemy of souls to thee; and grant me grace to fly from every occasion of sin that would cause me to treat thee with contempt, and trample under foot the fruits of thy sacred passion.

FOURTH STATION.

Oh, Jesus, the most chaste and pure of all men whose innocent flesh was torn with scourges in the house of Pilate, in order to expiate the criminal pleasures we take in ours; I know it is for me thou hast suffered these cruel torments. I am filled with sorrow when I behold those wounds, which have been inflicted on thee by the indulgence of my sensuality. I implore thee, by the pangs of thy bitter passion, to sanctify me, both soul and body; wash and cleanse me of every impurity in thy precious blood, and never permit me again to be soiled by sin, or renew thy ignominies by my guilt.

FIFTH STATION.

Oh, Jesus, the greatest of kings! thou hast been crowned with thorns, and borne on thy shoulders the royal marks of thy principality, and I acknowledge and adore thee as my Lord and Sovereign. And since there is no part of thy body that is not covered with wounds, I desire to take no pleasure in mine, but to live always in a state of mortification and grief, in order to be a living member and true subject of thine.