MARCH 11.-On the Vanity of Human Sciences.

I. Know God: know your duties.

This is the most necessary of all sciences; all others are vain and frivolous, if they have no reference to the science of salvation. "What will it profit a man," said the Saviour, "to gain the world if he lose his own soul?" May we not say with equal propriety" what will it avail a man to know every thing else if he be ignorant of that knowledge which can alone conduct his soul to salvation ?" Those barren speculations, those sciences which have no relation to this only necessary one, of which we should never lose sight-those sciences which obtain for us at most but the vain smoke of glory, are at bottom but a refined idleness, an ignorance which is contemptible, inasmuch as it is generally accompanied by too much pride and presumption.

II. Human sciences become pernicious when they withdraw us from the science of salvation.

That is, when they absolutely hinder us from thinking of itwhen they have not even the remotest connexion with the duties of our state-when in order to acquire them we squander that time that might be more usefully employed in fulfilling divine obligations when we make them only an amusement indulged to excess, without any reasonable object, and consequently without fruit and merit-when we pursue them merely to gratify an unlimited vanity, an ill-regulated and unmeasured curiosity.

MARCH 12.-On the Means of Acquiring the Knowledge of God.

I. The first is to consider him as he is in himself.

That is, as an infinite, immense, unchangeable Being, who fills the entire universe with the immensity of his presence, and who could equally fill a thousand worlds more vast and extensive than this, and who could create them if he pleased by one word, -a Being who peculiarly and essentially possesses all perfections, -who alone is great-who alone is wise-who alone is powerful -who alone is immortal !—a Being who is wonderful in his works, wonderful in the effects of his justice and goodness-wonderful in his saints, who are the works of his grace;-a Being who is at the same time the God of might-the God of holiness-the God of armies-the God of peace, and the God of virtues! O! King of glory, who is like unto you? What a happiness for me to know you! and what a misfortune if I be so blind as to know you without fearing and loving you!

II. The second is to consider him in the relation he bears to us. He is the author of our existence, the principle and preservert of our being, our sovereign, our judge, our refuge in disgrace, our consoler in affiction, our best friend, or our most terrible enemy, the support of our life, and the foundation of our hopes after our death; the source of our future bliss, our portion and

our recompense in eternity. He, therefore, ought to be the object of all our thoughts, the centre of all our desires, and the end of all our actions.

MARCH 13.-On the Means of Acquiring the Knowledge of our Duties. 1. The first is, to consult the law of God.

This law speaks to us, and apprises us of our obligations.David in the midst of that prodigious multitude of affairs and external occupations, in which he was engaged almost every moment of his life, still found time to meditate on the law of the Lord.— This divine law was always present to his spirit and his heart.— After all no matter what may be the number and variety of duties which it imposes upon us, if it be difficult to practise them, it is most easy to know them, for they are all contained in these two great precepts,-"Love God above all things, and your neighbour as yourself." All the law and the prophets are contained in these two commandments.

II. The second method of knowing our duties is to consult cur conscience.

Conscience is a severe judge, whom you have within you, and who has established his tribunal in your heart. It is a guide that shows you the way of salvation-an exact censor who condemns all your wanderings-a faithful interpreter of the angel whom God has given to conduct you. Observe him, and hear his voice. Ah! do not despise his advices, or his reproaches; do not reject the light which God affords you; do not stifle this interior voice, which seems troublesome only to obstinate sinners-which brings back to God wandering souls who have not lost all hope and all desire of their salvation.

MARCH 14.-On Real Felicity.

I. Happiness is our principal object and interest.

We all wish to be happy; but we do not search for such happiness where it exists, and we believe that we can find it where it is not. For if you consider happiness in its own nature, you will perceive that it consists on the one side in an exemption from all evil, if possible, or at least from the greatest evils; and on the other, in the enjoyment, if it be possible, of all blessings, or at least of the greatest blessings. An exemption from the pains and inconveniencies of the body, constitutes, if you will, a part of happiness, but it is the smallest part. It is still more essential to happiness to be delivered from chagrins, and from the torments and inquietudes of the soul. Hence we behold so many poor who are happy in their indigence, because they enjoy this tranquillity, and so many rich who are unhappy in their wealth, because they are a prey to cutting vexations, and cruel uneasiness. II. If you consider happiness with respect to its duration. It, undoubtedly, consists in being happy, not for a brief space

of time, but for the longest possible time, and if it could, for ever. In one word, true and perfect happiness is that which resides in our soul, and which can never end. Now, this can be obtained for us by nothing but religion, since religion alone is employed in conducting us to that great felicity which will deliver us from the greatest evils, and which ensures to us for ever the possession of a good which is infinite both in its nature and duration.

MARCH 15.-On the Happiness of Sinners Compared with that of the Just I. The rich glutton lived in abundance and delights, and Lazarus was bent down by infirmities and misery.

Behold the goods on one side, and the evils on the other; but if you consider these two men during their life, you will find that the condition of the rich man did not exempt him from the greatest evils, nor bestow him the greatest good, since he possessed nothing but exterior and fleeting goods, which could not deliver him from the torments of the heart. Lazarus, on the contrary, enjoyed the greatest goods, and was exempt from the greatest evils, for the goods which he enjoyed were interior and solid, whilst his evils were but exterior, and of brief duration.

II. Consider the rich glutton and Lazarus after their death.

You will behold the rich glutton "buried in hell," and Lazarus carried by angels "into the bosom of Abraham." The one suffers infinite and eternal evils; the other enjoys ineffable delights, which will never end. Which of the two understood true happiness?

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CALUMNIES ON CATHOLICITY.

NOTWITHSTANDING the boasted liberality of the age, we regret to say, that the London Encyclopædia contains innumerable calumnies on the doctrine and discipline of the Catholic Church. As falsehood, however, is always inconsistent with itself, the following extracts from that work, in our opinion, not only substantially refute those calumnies, but show that their authors are forced to admit the antiquity, universality, and consequent truth of the Catholic Church, and the novelty, inconsistency, and consequent falsehood of their own religion.

Under the letter C, the Encyclopædia says:

"Church reformed, comprehends the whole Protestant churches in Europe and America, whether Lutheran, Calvinistic, Independent, Quaker, Baptist, or of any other denomination who dissent from the Church of Rome."

Verily, if this be the "Reformed Church," it is a singular hodge-podge, or heterogenious mass, which Catholics need not envy! Again, the herculean work says :

"Church of Rome, or Roman Catholic Church, claims, (and from what follows justly) the title of being the Mother Church; and is, undoubtedly the most ancient of all the established churches in Christendom." See "Roman Catholic Church," p. 694, vol. 5. Edit. 1828.

Again, "Church of England, the episcopal church, established by law, in this kingdom, which has existed ever since the time of Henry VIII."

Again, Church Latin, or Western, comprehends all the churches of Italy, Portugal, Spain, Poland, France, Belgium, Austria, Ireland, Africa, the North, and all other countries whither the Romans carried their language. Great Britain, part of the Netherlands, of Germany, and of the North of Europe, have been separated from the great Roman Catholic body of this church ever since the Reformation."

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HYMN

THE CHRISTIAN PATRIOT'S HYMN.

(BY JOSEPH HAMILTON, ESQ., OF ANNADALE COTTAGE, DUBLIN.)

FATHER, Son, and Holy Guide,
For all our nation's wants provide.
Give pardon, persevering grace,
Health, freedom, unity, and peace.

Oh! let unerring wisdom teach
All those who rule, instruct, or preach;
And with each subject of their care,
The same unerring spirit share.

Shield us from ills of every kind,

Which scourge the human form, or mind;
From pestilence, want, fire, and flood;
From spoil, from violence, and blood.
Upon our dwellings, flocks, and fields,
And all our land, or water yields;
Upon our planets, rain, and dew,
Let every blessing come from you.
With jubilee, and loud acclaim,
Give glory to each sacred name,
Of Father, Son, and Holy Ghost,
'Till all account of time is lost.

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TRUE LOVE.

True love's sustaining sympathy,
Which makes it dear to live;
The worldling's wealth can never buy,
The world can never give.

But sweeter, holier, is the thought
What thus to earth is given-
May yet, with purer joys, be fraught,
Eternally in heaven.

LAITY'S DIRECTORY FOR THE ENSUING WEEK.

March 9.-SUNDAY, 4th of Lent. Mass as in the Missal for this day.-Purple.

March 10.-MONDAY. Mass of the Forty Martyrs, commem. of feria 3d oration a cunctis, preserve us, we beseech thee, O Lord, &c. ferial gospel at the end.-Red.

March 11.-TUESDAY. Mass of St. John of God, (from the 8th inst.) commem. of feria, and ferial gospel at the end.-White. March 12.-WEDNESDAY. Mass of St. Gregory the Great, Pope and Doctor, commem. of feria. Creed. Gospel of feria at

the end.-White.

In the arch-diocese of Tuam, 3d oration for Most Rev. Oliver Kelly, this being the anniversary of his consecration.

March 13.-THURSDAY. Mass of the five wounds of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, (from the preceding Friday. See new Supplement.) Commem. of feria. Creed. Creed. Pref. of the cross.Ferial gospel at the end.-Red. In the diocese of Kilmacduagh Right Rev. Edmund French, this consecration.*

and Kilfenora, 3d oration for being the anniversary of his

In the diocese of Limerick. Mass of St. Cataldus, B. and C. (from the 8th.) Commem. of feria. Ferial gospel at the end.White.

March 14.-FRIDAY. our Lord Jesus Christ.

the cross.

Red.

Ferial gospel

Mass of the most precious Blood of Commem. of feria. Creed. Pref. of at the end. (See new Supplement.)

March 15.-SATURDAY. Mass of St. Frances, Roman widow, (from the 9th.) Commem. of feria. Ferial gospel at the end.— White.

In the diocese of Limerick. before.

Mass of the five wounds, &c. as

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NEW WORKS.

In the press, and will be published in a few days, by a Catholic priest, a translation of St. Alphonsus Liguori's invaluable work, called, "The Clock of the Passion," containing appropri ate meditations on every stage of the sufferings of our Divine Redeemer. This work will be found adapted to every class of Catholics, both in style and price.

INDULGENCE. Leo XII. by an indult of the 18th of February, 1827, grants for ever to the Catholics of the archdiocese of Dublin, a plenary indulgence on the day they receive their Easter Communion, from Ash-Wednesday to Low-Sunday, both included.