despair, whilst they cannot find, and for all eternity never will find, rest or consolation. O hell! hell! is it necessary that men should wait until they are swallowed by thy flames to believe in thee?

You, who even now are reading this page, what do you say? [Pause here awhile, and with this terrible truth in view, think on your besetting sin.] If you had to die this moment, where would you go? What you cannot bear even a spark of fire on your hand; and do you think to be able to live in an ocean of fire, where, abandoned by every creature, desolate and desperate, you will have to pass a never-ending eternity? [Encourage in your heart the deepest sentiments of contrition, and make a firm resolution.]

II. Consider well those pains which afflict the faculties of the soul in hell. The memory will be everlastingly tormented by the stings of conscience. This is that worm which will for ever gnaw in the conscience of the damned, to remind him how foolishly he consented to his own ruin for the sake of a few poisoned pleasures. O God! how will each moment of sinful pleasure appear to him then, after a hundred, after a thousand years spent in hell! That gnawing worm will recall to his mind the time which God gave him for conversion, all the opportunities and means he had to secure the salvation of his soul, the good example of his friends, all the holy resolutions made, alas! but broken. [Examine yourself well on these points, and place before your eyes your predominant sin.] And then he will see that there is no longer any way of escaping from his eternal ruin. O God! O God! what a double hell will this be! The will is doomed to be always thwarted; it will never have that which it desires, and will ever have that which it desires not, that is to say, every

possible suffering. The understanding will see clearly what great rewards it has lost; namely, heaven and God! O God! my God! pardon me for the love of Jesus. [Excite your heart to contrition, and make a firm resolution.]

III. Sinner, you who now are so indifferent whether or not you lose heaven and God, you will know how great has been your blindness when you shall see the triumph and joy of the blessed in heaven, and you yourself driven like an unclean creature from that blessed home, cast out from the presence of God and the company of Mary, of the Angels and Saints of God. Then, in a frenzy of despair, you will exclaim: O heaven, O place of joy ! O God! O infinite good! thou art not for me, thou wilt never more be mine! Alas! poor sinner, do penance rather now! amend your life at once. [Examine your conscience again, and place before you your besetting sin.] O yes, wait not till time with you shall be no longer!-give yourself wholly to God. Begin to love him truly. Pray to Jesus, pray to Mary, that they may have pity on you [Make a fervent act of contrition and a strong resolution.]

MEDITATION FOR SATURDAY.

On the Eternity of Punishment.

I. Consider that hell has no end. There, all kinds of suffering are found, and for all eternity. Hundreds and thousands of years will pass in these torments, and yet hell will be always as if just beginning. Hundreds of thousands, hundreds of millions of years and of centuries will pass away, and hell will be still at its commencement. If at this very hour an angel should carry the tidings to one of the damned, that God had consented to free him

from hell-and when? hear! when so many millions of centuries shall have passed away as there are drops of water in the ocean, leaves on the trees, sands in the sea and on the earth-you would shudder at this; but still it is true that such tidings would give greater joy to that soul, than you would feel if you were told that you had become the king of a great kingdom. Yes, certainly; for that poor damned sinner would say: It is true that many, many centuries will first pass by, but at length a day will come, in which my sufferings will end! Alas! all these centuries will pass away, but hell will ever be beginning anew; all these centuries may be multiplied like the sands, the rain-drops, and the leaves, but hell is still beginning anew. Every lost soul would gladly, if he might, enter into this agreement with God: Lord! if it please thee, increase my pain! O Lord! prolong my pains as long as it may please thee, I am satisfied; if it will only one day end, I am content. But no, this end will never come-never! But perhaps this poor lost sinner will delude and flatter himself, and say inwardly: Perhaps, God will one day have mercy on me, and deliver me from hell. No! the condemned soul will always have before his eyes the sentence of his eternal condemnation, and his language will be this: Alas! it is suretoo sure! all these torments which I now suffer, this fire, this sorrow, this cry of despair, will never end! never, never, O never! no, it will last for ever, for ever. O eternity! O hell! how is it possible that men believe in you and yet continue to live in sin! [Look steadily here upon your besetting sin, and with eternity in view, excite your soul to contrition, and make a firm resolution.]

III. My Christian friend, think well of this, and

consider that hell is waiting for you also, if you sin. Even now its horrid flames are burning under your feet, and Oh, at this moment, even while you are reading these words, how many souls are falling into it! Remember that when you have once entered there, you can never leave it. And if you have deserved hell, thank God that he has not yet cast you into it, and hasten as soon as possible to remedy the evil. Mourn for your sins and use all the means that are in your power for your salvation. Go frequently to confession, read daily some spiritual book, say the Rosary every day in honour of the Mother of God, that you may obtain a great devotion to her; fast, if possible, every Saturday in honour of Mary, resist temptations, and often call upon Jesus and Mary when you are tempted. Avoid the occasions of sin, and if God should call you to leave the world, then do it, yes, do it! Ah! everything that we can do to avoid an eternity of suffering is little-is nothing. "No certainty can be too great, where we are in peril for eternity," says St. Bernard. In order to place yourself in safety for eternity, no foresight is too farreaching. See how many hermits, that they might avoid hell, have gone into caves and deserts, and there lived! And what are you doing for your soul? what are you doing, you that have so often deserved hell? what are you doing? [Think of your besetting sin.] See to it, that you are not lost. Give your

self once for all to God, and say to him: O Lord! behold me ready to do everything thou requirest of me. O Mary, help me! [Endeavour to arouse your will to the deepest contrition, and make a firm resolution.]

Short Meditations for each Day of the

Month.

FIRST DAY.-ON FAITH.

ALL that, Faith teachd God. It is

authority of the word of God. It is from Christ himself that the Church has learned whatever she proposes to the faithful as the object of their belief. When truth itself is the guide, one cannot go astray; and there is nothing more reasonable than to submit reason to the truth which is revealed by God.

2. Of what use is faith to a Christian if it be not the rule of his conduct? If it be the most consummate folly to doubt of a doctrine which God has revealed, which so many martyrs have sealed with their blood, and which the devils themselves have so often confessed, is it not downright madness to believe this doctrine, and yet live as if it were supposed to be false? Not to live conformably to our belief is to believe as the damned do.

3. Faith, then, shall henceforth be the sole principle of my actions, and the only rule of my life. Whatever it condemns, I, also, absolutely condemn. In spite of every natural repugnance, I will oppose the maxims of the Gospel to those of the world, as often as the occasion presents itself. What does the world say? Follow the natural bent of your inclinations: suffer nothing, &c. But what doth Jesus Christ say? quite the contrary. Who is right, Jesus Christ or the world?

[Thank God for being incorporated with his Church, and recite the Creed slowly, as a solemn profession of your faith.] "Lord increase my faith."-Luke xvii.

"What does it avail to believe like a Catholic, and yet to live like a heathen?"-St. Peter Damian.

T