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THE PRAYER.

O Jesu Christ, most pure, most holy, whose innocent Spirit blessed and dignified the form of man, whose heart knew no evil, and lips no guile. Thy servant, servant, even I, thine unworthy servant, would fain receive from thee a ray of that heavenly brightness, the faintest beam of light, from thee, the Sun of righteousness.

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Blessed Lord, let all pride of nature be banished from my heart, when I think of thee the lowly and the meek. Thou wast rich, but became poor sake. Thou wast God and became a man for my sake. Thou wast the anointed king, but became a servant for my sake. Let all vanity and self-opinion, presumptuous thoughts, and spiritual ambition, be utterly cast from my soul; for thou delightedst not to be called Rabbi, and thou didst 66 say, Why callest thou me good, there is none good but one, that is God.

Suffer not the pollutions of the flesh, and the foul imaginations of the mind, to degrade that temple which was chosen for thy dwelling place. Suffer not wild and impatient desires to perplex my thoughts; irregular passions to disturb my love; unholy words to pollute the free spirit by which thou didst make me thine own.

Grant, also, O thou most kind to the fail

ings of man, loving where thou mightest have turned away in hate, and rewarding where thou mightest most justly have punished. Grant, that as I am severe towards myself, I may be charitable towards others. That I may think no evil, and speak no evil; that I may love as I hope to be loved, forgive as I hope to be forgiven; where misfortune presses, that I may have power to comfort; where poverty has laid low, that I may have the ability to help; where sin has overcome, that I may have the grace to counsel and to guide.

For this purpose, O heavenly Father, let thy Holy Spirit shed over my soul that ineffable unction of sincerity, of integrity, of righteous principles, which is alone thy gift; that I may be thy son in heart, and in deed, as well as in name, even as Jesus was.

Let me aspire even to thy heavenly perfections, O blessed Jesu, even to thy most perfect glories. Pour forth thy intercession continually at the throne of grace, that I may day by day increase in virtue, increase in favour with God and man; that I may keep under my body, and press forward to the prize of my heavenly calling.

When I suffer affliction let me think of thy sorrows which bowed thee to the dust at Gethsemane, when I suffer the revilings of men, let me think of the buffetings, the spit

tings, the scourging, which thou without a murmur didst endure; when I suffer injuries, O grant me the power and the spirit to say, "Father forgive them for they not what they do."

Finally, O Lord my God, most righteous, most holy, as the day now approaches when I shall yet once more encompass thine altar, so the more earnestly do I implore thee for that wedding garment which thou preparest for thy guests, so the more urgently do I seek, so the more quickly do I knock.

Cast out the evil spirits with which my heart is full, drive them far away, and into their place suffer to enter the spirit of humility, the spirit of purity, the spirit of charity. Make me even as thyself, all holiness and benignity; all meekness and gentleness; all love and righteousness; and when by thy grace I am thus perfected and purified; when my days of human life are over, and my body shall receive its last resting place, the inheritance of creeping things; O then, let my soul, redeemed of the Lord, wing its unimpeded flight, to those regions of the blessed, to that everlasting rest, which maineth by thy promise for the people of God. Amen, through Jesus Christ.

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SATURDAY.

HEAVENLY-MINDEDNESS.

THE MEDITATION.

"OUR Conversation is in heaven.""

If I am a Christian, I ought to desire "that mind which was in Christ Jesus." I ought to follow not only his steps who did no sin, "neither was guile found in his mouth, "b but who thought no guile; I ought to study the temper and disposition of his affections.

"Where the treasure is, there will the heart be also." And if my real joy and hope were in heaven, there would be my business, there would be my life, there would be the tendency of all my thoughts, and cares, and wishes, -for see the mind of Jesus.

When only twelve years old, he was found in

a

'Phil. iii. 20.

b 1 Pet. ii. 22.

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Luke xii. 34.

the temple, 'disputing with the doctors; and when asked the reason, his reply was: "Wist ye not that I must be about my Father's business ?" a At another time, with a whip of cords he expelled the unholy merchants from the temple, zealous for his Father's glory; thereby fulfilling the prophecy of David: "The zeal of thine house hath eaten me up." The synagogue ever found him ready : "As his custom was, he went into the synagogue on the sabbath-day, and stood up for to read." The passover, the feast of dedication, all the festivals of his church and of his country, invariably found him in the holy city, prepared to take his part. The worship of his heavenly Father, both in public and private; the prayer by night and day; in temptation, his resort to God; in the garden, his submissive cry: "Nevertheless, not my will, but thine be done;" On the cross, his dying complaint:

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My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me!" and at the last, his dying exclamation : "Into thy hands I commend my spirit."-In all these points, I behold the heavenly-mindedness of my Saviour.-His reference of all and every thing in life to God: "In all his ways he acknowledged God, and God directed his paths."i

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