to fall through the violence of any temptation, our only way is, to humble ourselves, to have recourse to Christ, and to invite and beseech him, by an humble and fervent prayer, that he would vouchsafe to come by his grace into the house of our heart. The generality of persons either hazard or neglect the salvation of their souls, as if each of them had several, and might venture one. We have each of us but one only soul: we must love it exclusively of all things else, and fear its loss as that which is irrecoverable; we must be greatly concerned for it under all occasions of sin, which is its death; and often in its behalf fall down at Jesus's feet, who is its only physician.

But as he went the people thronged him. 43. ¶ And a woman having an issue of blood twelve years, which had spent all her living upon physicians, neither could be healed of any,

Remission of sins is granted only while we are in the way, that is, during the time of this life. Concupiscence is a shameful, inveterate, and continual disease, which proceeds. from original sin, and is incurable, and not to be healed by any but Jesus Christ. The law, philosophy, confidence in our own strength, and the presumption of free-will, do but inflame and increase it. Happy are we, notwithstanding, if, after having experienced the insufficiency of human, natural, and external remedies, we are truly humbled, and fully convinced, that thy grace, O Jesus, is the only remedy for the disease of the soul and the sickness of concupiscence!

44. Came behind him, and touched the border of his garment; and immediately her issue of blood stanched.

In order to be cured, we must (1.) Approach Christ by a belief of his power and goodness, and of the necessity of his healing grace. (2.) We must think ourselves unworthy to appear in his presence, and to be looked upon by him. (3.) We must cast ourselves at his feet, and there pour out our heart in prayer. (4.) We must adore his sacred humanity, as the source of our own sanctification. (5.) We must unite ourselves to him by partaking of his mysteries, the spirit and virtue of which are to purify our souls, humbly desiring him to apply them to us. (6.) We must take care to honour his

divine word, to render it familiar to us, and to put it in practice.

45. And Jesus said, Who touched me? When all denied, Peter and they that were with him said, Master, the multitude throng thee and press thee, and sayest thou, Who touched me?

Abundance of Christians, as it were, press upon Jesus Christ, in hearing his word, receiving the sacrament, and performing the outward part of religion; but few touch him by a lively faith, by a true Christian life, by the prayer of charity, and by the meditation, love, and imitation of his mysteries. Those numerous assemblies and multitudes of people who fill the churches and make the crowd at sermons, and yet cease not to go on in their usual course, in following the world and their own passions, throng and press Christ, but do not touch him.

46. And Jesus said, Somebody hath touched me; for I perceive that virtue is gone out of me.

There is not so much as one good thought or inclination but what proceeds from Christ, and is an emanation from that fulness of grace and truth which is in him. God and Christ know in themselves the good which we do, because it is God who produces it in us by Jesus Christ: God by Christ, by his merits, by his Spirit, by his sacred humanity, as the instrument of the Divinity in all the works of sanctification, and in whatever has any relation thereto, particularly miracles. What virtue would there not stream forth from this fire of love to inflame our heart, when we possess it by the holy eucharist, had we but the heart of this poor woman-an humble heart, more to be desired, by far, than the most precious thing in the world!

47. And when the women saw that she was not hid, she came trembling, and falling down before him, she declared unto him before all the people for what cause she had touched him, and how she was healed immediately.

Humility, simplicity, acknowledgment, and confusion, when we reflect upon the gifts we have received of God, are the faithful guardians of grace, which we ought to imitate in this poor woman. It is a sign that this grace has penetrated very deep into the heart, when we begin to be ashamed and

confounded at the sight of our own unworthiness. How far is this disposition, both from the insensibility of those who receive the blessings of God without being in the least affected with them, and from the ingratitude of those who look upon them as a debt!

48. And he said unto her, Daughter, be of good comfort: thy faith hath made thee whole; go in peace.

There is no inward peace, but only by the cure of our lusts; no cure but by the grace of Christ; and no grace but by faith, which is the first of all. Christ frequently praises faith, not with design to oppose it to good works, but to show that it is the fountain of them, and to take the Jews off from their confidence in the works of the law and in their own righteousness. Do thou, O Jesus, give, preserve, increase, perfect, and consummate in us this principle of true righteousness and of every good work! thou who art the Author and Finisher of faith!

49. While he yet spake, there cometh one from the ruler of the synagogue's house, saying to him, Thy daughter is dead; trouble not the Master.

It is usual for faith to find itself tempted and weakened by flesh and blood, when it is at the very point of receiving that which it desires. Those whom the devil cannot ruin by a confidence in themselves, he endeavours with all his might to ruin by taking from them their confidence in God and Christ. In losing this confidence they lose the very soul of prayer; and in losing that, they lose all. Let us on no account be afraid to importune God with the earnestness of prayer: it is this importunity which he requires; in this consists the perseverance of prayer, to which every thing is promised.

50. But when Jesus heard it, he answered him, saying, Fear not: believe only, and she shall be made whole.

The word of God nourishes and strengthens faith, and faith supports prayer under all occasions of discouragement: but this threefold knot is tied only by the grace of him who gives it to whom he pleases. God would have us prepare ourselves for the reception of his mercy by confidence and faith; but even this faith and confidence, and all preparation for his mercy, are no other than so many gifts of this very mercy itself. No human impotency, no natural impossibility what

VOL. II.-4

ever, ought to discourage us; because it is neither from man nor from nature that our salvation is to come, but from the almighty will of God.

51. And when he came into the house, he suffered no man to go in, save Peter, and James, and John, and the father and the mother of the maiden.

A man ought to have abundance of discretion, to know when to discover and when to conceal the works of God.

52. And all wept, and bewailed her: but he said, Weep not; she is not dead, but sleepeth.

How little faith do we generally show in affliction, and on the death of our relations! We weep and bewail them, most commonly, either out of ceremony or interest: whereas we ought either to weep through faith, in casting our eyes upon sin, which is the cause of death; or to rejoice through faith in considering that the dead are delivered from sin, and from concupiscence, the source of it. Death, considered as an accident of nature, suggests only sentiments which savour of the corruption of nature; but, considered in the order settled and appointed by God, it is a necessary penance, the completion of the Christian sacrifice, the passage to a better life, the deliverance of a prisoner, the recalling of an exile, and the end of all the miseries of a sinner.

53. And they laughed him to scorn, knowing that she was dead.

The faith of true Christians, who look upon death only as a sleep, and expect the life of the world to come as their happiness, appears a folly to the eyes of the world. It is in this respect that the death of a Christian is a mystery of faith, as well as that of Jesus Christ. We behold one thing in it, and we believe another; a humbling and abasing death, which is the seed, and, as it were, the sacrament of a blessed life. The folly and delusion of the world will likewise appear in their turn, when it shall be evidently seen that so many deaths which seemed glorious to its eyes, were only the seed and the beginning of an eternal death.

54. And he put them all out, and took her by the hand, and called, saying, Maid, arise.

Christ touches with his grace a soul dead in sin, and raises

it by his power. Thou hast wrought this miracle, O Lord, more than once upon my heart: but I believe, I hope, I expect another to be wrought upon my body, when thou shalt reanimate dust and ashes by thy almighty voice, and command the dead to rise and appear before thee. Grant, O Jesus, that I may continually live in this hope, and let it be the constant rule of my conduct and behaviour!

55. And her spirit came again, and she arose straightway: and he commanded to give her meat.

When the soul is truly risen again, it may be fed with the holy eucharist, and not before. This is the bread of the living, and not of the dead; and if the dead eat it, it only makes them die the more. When once we shall be raised with that resurrection which will be performed in an instant, we shall then eat in the kingdom of God that bread which is the life thereof, and shall be forever satisfied with that food of our souls which is God himself, as being eternal truth.

56. And her parents were astonished: but he charged them that they should tell no man what was done.

By this example, Christ plainly teaches how necessary humility is to those whose labours are directed to the salvation of souls. The more extraordinary the conversions are, the more care they who have been instrumental in them by their ministry ought to take not to ascribe to themselves the honour of them. Christ, who is the truth, has no fear upon his own, but only upon man's, account, who is nothing but vanity; and who is apt so much the more criminally to attribute to himself the works of God, as they are more divine. Let not this poison, Lord, insinuate itself into my heart!

CHAPTER IX.

SECT. I.-THE MISSION AND POWER OF THE APOSTLES.

1. THEN he called his twelve disciples together, and gave them power and authority over all devils, and to cure diseases.

The call to the ministry, and the application to the exercise of it, are two different graces: we must depend upon