THE CHRISTIAN SHOULD L1VE BY FAITH IN HIS INTIMATE AND PERSONAL LIFE

God was seen upon earth, says a prophet, and He couver sed with men : in terris visus est et cum hominibus eonversatus est (Bar. III, 38.), that, as St. Bernard expresses it, " seeing what He has become through love " for us, we may be moved to imitate His human life, " and thus retrace in ourselves tlie image of His divine " life, according to this expression of the apostle : that " the life of Jésus may be made manifest in our bodies ; " ut et vita Jesu manifestetur in carne nostra mortali " (II Cor., IV, 11)."

Let us therefore enter, O. D. B. B., into the divine heart of our model, there to learn how the just man liveth by faith.

1. " ïhe intention, says St. Augustine, directs the " work to its end, as the helm directs the ship to the " harbor." The offering of a mite, the gift of a glass of water, acquires from the supernatural intention inspired by faith so great a value, that God rewards it by an eternity of glory. Accordingly does our Lord, coming into this world, consecrate to His Father ail the moments of his mortal life : behold, said He, 1 corne to do thy will, O God; ingrcdiens mundum dicit...JEcce venio...ut faciam, Deus> voluntatem tuam (Heb. X. 5. 7.). After such an example, O. D. B. B., our first thought, each day, ought to be an act of generous offering to fulfil the will of God, who grants it to us as a means of gaining eternal life.

Let us, for a moment, contemplate our Lord living this life wholly of faith and of obédience, in the humble

abode of Nazareth. Jésus labors in the workshop of a poor carpenter, prayer animâtes and sanctifies His humble labor ; He expériences fatigue, He blesses therefor the divine justice in the sentence borne against our fîrst father ; He receives orders, He adores the suprême dominion of the divine majesty which has established, in this visible world, the various stations in life of unequal conditions ; when He is paid the salary of His labor, He returns thanks to Providence, which feeds the birds of the air, and gives us our daily bread ; He endures scorn and rebuffs, He accepts them to repair the glory of God outraged by the sins of men... And thus, in each action, at every moment of the day, the heart of Jésus, our model, amasses treasures of merits, not by miracles, nor by extraordinary deeds, but by virtue of that right and pure intention, which renders supernatural and divine that which, in the acts of the human life, is apparently most common, ordinary and indiffèrent. O blessed is the man who can say with Jésus : He that sent me is with me.., and I do always the things that please Him : Qui me misit mecum est... ego quœ placita sunt ei facio semper (John, VIII. 29.).

2. This life of faith which supernaturalizes labor, apparently the least noble, likewise sanctifies suffering.

Alas ! what son of Adam does not hear within himself that which the Apostle styles the answer of death ; responsum mortis (II. Cor., I. 9.) ? It is not only because of that formidable sentence borne against every living being in this world, but also because of the troubles which are multiplied in our heart (Ps. XXIV. 17.). The just man himself is not exempt therefrom : many are the afflictions of the just, say s the prophet, (Ps. XXXIII. 20.) : but he is comforted looking on Jésus, the author and finisher of faith (Heb. XII. 2.), and saying to himself: if we sujfer with Him, we shall also be glorified with Him ; si compatimur ut et conglo-

rificemur (Rom. VIII. 17.). Let the just mari su fier pains and infirmities in his body ; let his heart be filled with bitterness, fears and grief; let sorrows enter his abode ; let misfortnne cast him, like the holy man Job, from the height of honors and of riches into the abyss of the most profound misery, the just man, who liveth by faith, knows that sooner or later God himself shatt wipe aivay ail iears from his eyes ; absterget Deus omnem lacrymam ab oculis eorum ; and that death shall be no more, nor mourning, nor crying, nor sorrow (Apoc. XXI. 4.).

3. Sufferings do not alone try the just man in this vale of tears.

The great Apostle who had borne with joy scourges, chains, the prison, hunger, thirst, nakedness, felt his courage to fail him at those inward combats, with which the enemy of salvation assails the heart of man to entice it to evil. In his discouragement, St. Paul, with bitterness, exclaimed : unhappy man that I am, who shall deliver me from the body of this death f Quis me liberabit de corpore mortis hujus ? And an interior voice answered : the grâce of God by Jésus Christ our Lord : Gratia Dei per Jesum Christum (Rom. VII. 24, 25.).

But, O. D. B. B., how is that grâce obtained, which is so necessary to repel the fiery darts of the evil spirit ? Jésus Christ Himself teaches us : Watch ye and pray, that ye enter not into templation ; vigilate et orate ut non intretis in tentationem (Matt. XXVI. 4L).

4. According to the ordinary order of divine providence, grâce is obtained by prayer alone. How many blessings we need, each day, to ask of God for ourselves, for ail dear to us, for the Church and lier august head, for our pastors, for our country, and for ail who take part in the government of the State ? To the

Christian, prayer is not only a duty ; it is a consolation, it is an honor, it is a happiness tlms to be able to approach the throne of the Eternal, our father, our benefactor, infinité perfection !

5, By prayer we communicate with the saints in heaven, who, when we beg their intercession, amid the dangers which surround us, take an interest in our welfare. Like a refreshing dew it also descends upon the soûls which were dear to us during life, and which the infinité holiness of God keeps away, for a time, from that happiness, from which the least stain is excluded.

6. To prayer, which obtains light and strength, the Christian, who liveth by faith, joins exact vigilance, for he knows that the devil like a roaring lion goeth about, seehing whom he may devour ; tanquani leo rugiens, circuit, quœrens quem devoret (I. Peter, V. 8.). The apostle St. Peter, who warns us of this danger, immediately teaches us the means to escape it : cui resistite fortes in fide ; whom resist ye, strong in faith ; that is, O. D. B. B., considering with the eyes of faith that the most horrible evil is sin, you should, by continuai and exact vigilance, keep the enemy at a distance. Far therefore from your heart those thoughts, those desires, those imaginations, which, without yet assuming the hideous form of sin, are the spark, as it were, that may kindle the fire therein. Far from your eyes those romances, those newspapers, those novels which they reprint, those images, those imprudent looks, capable, according to the prophet Jeremiah, of bringing in death by your eyes, which are the Windows, as it were, of your soûls : ascendit mors per fenestras, ingressa est domos nostras (Jeremiah, IX. 21.). Far from you those lascivious dances, those dresses, which natural modesty, as well as the evangelical law, condemns and reproves. Far from your lips, sanctified by

holy communion, tliose conversations contrary to charity, to justice, to purity, and wliich make speech, this noble attribute of man, the too easy instrument of scandai and iniquity. Let your modesty, says the Apostle, be hnown to ail men, the Lord is nigh ; modestia vestra nota sit omnibus hominibus, Dominus enim prope est (Philip. IV. 5.). Thejustman, who livetli by faith, like Moses, perceives the invisible witness of his actions ; invisibilem tanquam videns sustinuit (Heb. XL 27.) : he knows that God sees ail that happens, hears ail words, pénétrâtes the inmost recesses of the heart ; and that, having been the witness of ail his deeds, the same God shall be the inexorable judge thereof.

7. The just man ne ver forgets the solemn saying of the Holy Ghost : In ail thy tvorks remember thy last end, and thou shalt never sin : in omnibus operibus tuis memorare novissima tua et in œternum non peccabis (Eccli. VIL 40.). He bears in rnind that he must one day bid adieu to his fortune, to his pleasures, to his friends, to his family, to his house, to his very body... He clings not to that which passes away like a shadow ; and God, who passes not away, is, lie feels, alone worthy of his love and of his service.

8. Each day, the Christian, who liveth by faith, examines his conscience, and, when he perceives that, in spite of his prayer and of his vigilance, sin lias entered into his soûl, he bitterly bewails it, humbles himself, and endeavors, without delay, to wash away his iniquity in the salutary waters of penance ; for he knows that a contrite and liumbled heart God will not despise (Ps. L. 19.). Far from being dejected by this fatal fall, he is induced thereby to pray with more fervor, more assiduously to fréquent the sacraments of penance and the eucharist, to watch more carefully ; he is not satisfied with faithfully observing the fasts and abstinences commanded by the Cliurcli, but lie knows liow to inflict

upon himself the holy rigors of Christian mortification, which is not only tlie just penalty of sin, but also the surest means to keep from it in future. And more fully to satisfy the divine justice, he endeavors to gain the numerous indulgences, which the Church applies to lier children. Thus, according to St. Paul, ail ihings work together unto good, to them that love God ; diligentibus Deum omnia cooperantur in bonum (Rom. VIII. 28.).

9. The whole life of the Christian may be summed up in the word of the royal prophet : Déclina a malo et fac bonum : décline from evil and do good (Ps. XXXVI. 27.). To fulfil this twofold duty one must know how to distinguish what is good from what is evil ; therefore one must study and meditate the divine law, hear the word of God, read good books, cccasionally converse on the truths to be believed, the virtues to be practised, the faults to be avoided, in order to obtain eternal life. And when once his conscience lias thus been enlightened, the Christian bears thereto an unbounded respect : what it commands, lie unhesitatingly perforais ; what it permits, lie believes he can safely do ; what it condemns, he carefully avoids ; and when he doubts, he examines and consults, until he is enlightened. Tahe heed, says Jésus Christ, speaking of conscience, take heed that the light which is in thee, be not darhness ; vide ne lumen quod in te est, tenebrœ fiant (Luke, XI. 35.).

Su ch are, O. D. B. B., the fundamental principles of the Christian life ; although they may, strictly speaking, sufBce to guide y ou also in the fulfilment of your duties in the family and as citizens, yet, we deem it advantageous to enter into more particular détails.