SEXAGESIMA.

O Lord God, who seest that we put not our trust in anything that we do; Mercifully grant that by Thy power we may be defended against all adversity; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

THERE are some words in Holy Scripture which, like the pillar of old, present light to His people and darkness to His enemies; among these is the expression, the world passeth away,' the death knell of the worldling, and sweet as the church bells of his home to the Christian pilgrim; such, too, is the word first spoken by Hagar, 'Thou God seest me. Is this to us a sound of gladness or of terror? Let us be assured that whatever we would willingly hide from God is a work of darkness; whatever we desire to spread out before Him, is so far penetrated by the light. Happy is he who can lovingly appeal to God's Omniscience and say, 'Thou God seest me;' blessed if he can truly add, 'Thou seest that we put not our trust in anything that we do;' not in our inoffensiveness, not in our uprightness, not in our almsdeeds, not in anything that man justly calls good; and furthermore, not in our penitence, not in our prayers, not in our faith, not in anything which God has wrought in us; not in our penitence, but in Him who welcomes the penitent; not in our

prayers, but in Him Who hears and answers prayer; not in our faith, but in Jesus Christ who is the object of our faith; we are saved, not by our believing in Christ, but by Christ believed in by us.

Helplessness, felt and acknowledged helplessness, is the state in which we are prepared to seek and to obtain His mighty aid; 'to him that hath no strength He increaseth might;' but too often we feel and act as if we had a little strength of our own-just enough to hinder a total and entire dependence, and yet so little as to be an excuse for continual failures, and slips, and falls. If God, the heart searcher, 'sees that we put not our trust in anything that we do,' then He assures us, 'My grace is sufficient for thee, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.' Having denied ourselves, and renounced all confidence in the flesh, we ask His merciful defence against all adversity, and undoubtedly that prayer will be answered; but let us remember, that He who sees us through and through, who sees all things, who knows the end from the beginning, who searches the secrets of our hearts, and of all the hearts with which we come in contact, may know that what we call adversity is really His best blessing in disguise, and that woe and bitterness may be hid in what we call prosperity. Therefore let us place our petition in His hands to grant as He sees best, through Jesus Christ our Lord.

QUINQUAGESIMA.

O Lord, who hast taught us that all our doings without charity are nothing worth; Send Thy Holy Ghost, and pour into our hearts that most excellent gift of charity, the very bond of peace and of all virtues, without which whosoever liveth is counted dead before Thee: Grant this for Thine only Son Jesus Christ's sake. Amen.

EVERY good has a corresponding evil as its dark shadow; the danger of contrition is selfishness, through a habit of introspection; the danger of abstinence and self-denial, is severity; we are so apt to be harsh to others when we are, or fancy that we are, severe to self. The Church then wisely precedes the season of Lent, in which especially the eye is turned inward and her children are called to endure hardness, by a prayer for charity-His most excellent gift of charity.

All our doings, our self-examination, our penitence, our contrition, our cries for mercy on ourselves, our knowledge, our alms-deeds, all, without Charity, are nothing worth; and this is not our own judgment or estimate, but God's teaching; He has taught us that all our doings without Charity are nothing worth.'

A life of fulfilled duties, illumined by the knowledge of Christian morals; a sincerity that

would suffer martyrdom for its convictions; a sense of right which would give all to feed the poor, yet which hath not the living soul of Loveare only like the sounding brass and the tinkling cymbal which in the Temple service gave unconscious praise, as the 'musical instruments of God;' a senseless sound in the ear of Him who measures life by Love.

Believing this, we beseech Him in the most solemn of all appeals to send us the Holy Spirit ; not one or another of that blessed Spirit's influences, but His very Self, His very presenceto pour into our hearts that most excellent gift.

St. Paul, after recounting the beneficence of the Corinthian converts, whose 'deep poverty abounded to the riches of their liberality,' exclaims, ‘Thanks be unto God for His unspeakable gift.' Charity is His gift; His noblest gift, because it is a portion of the divine nature; 'God is love; and he who dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him;' and it is not a gift external as it were to the recipient, but one poured into the heart, and so becoming part and parcel of his existence.

Charity is the very bond of peace and of all virtues. Fragments of many high and good qualities may be found in the human character, like shattered stones of a ruined temple; but they lie scattered, as when one cutteth and heweth wood upon the ground, until they are

cemented into unity by the spirit of Love. Yes; 'He measures life by love;' and the soul destitute of love is counted dead before Him; the life of God is not kindled in an unloving heart; he hath a name to live, but he is dead until the spirit of love is poured into him.

ASH WEDNESDAY.

Almighty and everlasting God, who hatest nothing that Thou hast made, and dost forgive the sins of all them that are penitent; Create and make in us new and contrite hearts, that we worthily lamenting our sins, and acknowledging our wretchedness, may obtain of Thee, the God of all mercy, perfect remission and forgiveness; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

CONTRITION is not the whole of repentance, but it is an essential part of it; there may be a temporary sorrow for sin without a change of life and purpose; but such a change does not take place without a sense of sorrow and shame for what is past. The nearer we draw to God, the more entirely we believe and trust in the atoning sacrifice of our Redeemer, the more keenly shall we perceive, and the more deeply we shall bewail, the sins of our hearts and the transgressions of our lives, both past and present.