tudes. Without solitude, deep silence, and mortification, the delicate sources of the inmost life will never be opened, and brought to light and maturity.

To such souls as are so happily constituted that they feel compelled to obey the command of our Lord, "Seek first the kingdom of God, and his justice, and all these things shall be added unto you;" to those who would follow in the footsteps of their Divine Master, and are bold enough to trust his promise, that in leaving father and mother, and all for his sake, they shall receive an hundred fold in this life, and in the world to come life everlasting; to those who

"will not life support

By earth and its base metals, but by love,
Wisdom and virtue,"t

the Catholic Church opens her religious orders, her monasteries, and convents. In these blessed abodes each will find all he ever sought, and more than he ever anticipated, or hoped. He will exclaim at the first glance:

"Behold the dreams of my youth! Oh, did I ever anticipate that it would be possible for me to see this day, to have this privilege! Did I ever believe that such a life was possible upon the earth! Behold the path lies open before me, which I have yearned for so long! I am free; all that I can desire is here, a roof to shelter me, a cell where I can be alone; my bodily wants provided for. Here I have leisure to read, to study, meditate, and pray; here I have a guide and friend, brother and father, in my spiritual director; companions with me in the same holy aims; and all that is demanded of me is to be true to these aims, and the hopes that God has awakened in my bosom ! How changed is all ! Instead of opposition, discouragement, and contempt, I have sympathy, friendship, and love. Here I am told that my hopes are the inspirations of God, that my bright dreams of a pure and holy life, were divine favors. What a change! These things seemed once a dream, but they are not. Can I believe it? All my wishes are realized. Here for the first time, and with open heart, I taste pure joy, and can say :

'Breathe now; and let the hunger be appeased,
That with great craving long hath held my soul,
Finding no food on earth.'"*

Such is the language of those who enter upon a religious life in the bosom of the Catholic Church; and what is this but the fulfilment of the promise of Christ, "Seek first the kingdom of God, and his justice; and all these things shall be added unto you." "He that leaveth house or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands for my sake, shall receive an hundred fold now in this time; and in the world to come life everlasting." †

"Our world

Hath need of such as thee and thy fair nuns,
And these good fathers of the monastery,
To teach youth, tend the poor, the sick, the sad,
Relume the extinguish'd lights of ancient lore,
Making each little cell a glorious lantern,
To beam forth truth o'er our benighted age." ‡

* Dante.

+ Mark x.

12*

Darley.

XXIX.

Exhortation.

"Make a right dedication

Of all thy strength, to keep

From swelling that so ample heap

Of lives abused, and virtue given for naught."

W. E. CHANNING.

T is thus that the Catholic Church opens her

IT

arms to those chosen souls who would dedicate themselves entire to the fulfilment of their

high, noble, and divine destiny. She regards them as her brightest ornaments, and the most precious jewels of her crown.

The object of her religious orders is no other than to remove all obstacles to the fulfilment of our destiny, and to furnish us with all, and the

most speedy means to attain it.

Duty and

pleasure thus become one; and this is paradise,

so far as paradise can exist, in the present state of things.

"Blest are they, whom grace

Doth so illumine, that appetite in them

Exhaleth no inordinate desire,

Still hungering as the rule of temperance wills."*

What was attempted by those engaged in such movements as Brook Farm, Fruitlands, and other places of a similar character, the religious orders in the Catholic Church have always realized. Their most brilliant dreams do not present a fair picture of a religious life in the Catholic Church. Their hopes and highest aims were but glimmerings of the reality existing in her bosom, and that for ages. It is a happy moment, indeed, when we find that the inmost sentiments of our hearts, the lovely dreams of our youth, the desire of our manhood for self-sacrifice and heroism, are not only understood, but fully appreciated, and all the means to their fulfilment are offered to us in

* Dante.