She compares his slighted goodness with her base ingratitude, and pierced to the soul with anguish and love, she hesitates not a moment to seek a refuge, a remedy, and a pardon at the feet of Him whom she had immeasurably offended. O generous repentance! unlimited confidence! tender love! how abundantly art thou rewarded! Magdalen prostrates on the ground, which she waters with her tears; Jesus raises her to his arms, and purifies her by the anticipated merits of his sacred blood. She speaks not a word, but her silence is eloquently powerful over the heart of a God who knows the ardent desire of her soul, and who delights to have mercy on her that was without mercy (Osee ii. 23).

III. I am here invited, not to prostrate, as Magdalen did, at the feet of Jesus, but to receive this divine Saviour into my breast. Ah! if I cannot weep with her over crimes as much greater than hers as the graces bestowed on me are superior to

those by which she was converted, the precious blood of my Redeemer in the holy communion will blot them out, if its efficacy be not impeded by my defective dispositions. O my God! effect thyself my conversion, for it is by thy mercy and truth that iniquity is redeemed, and by thy fear and thy power that men depart from evil (Prov. xvi. 6). The admirable dispositions which immediately filled the soul of Magdalen were the happy effects of her faithful correspondence with the first grace which had touched her heart. O how fervently did she begin to consume her iniquities in a furnace of charity, to drown them in the tears of unfeigned repentance, to love in proportion to the grievousness of her crimes. Solely devoted to the divine Object of her tenderness, she attaches herself to his sacred person, and perseveringly follows his footsteps even to Calvary, where she beheld him expire in excruciating torments. There it was that she largely

partook of the chalice of her Redeemer; there in the furnace of suffering and anguish, was she refined as silver and tried as gold (Zach. xiii. 9). Ah! how happy should we be were our dispositions this day similar to those of this perfect lover! Alas! how many graces have we despised! how many invitations have we slighted! But the most precious of all graces is again offered in this life-giving sacrament, in this strengthening food which will effectually enable me to rise from the mire of sin, and be converted to God with my whole heart and soul. O my divine Lord! hasten the happy moment of thy visit, give me thyself, and give me likewise that perfect love which may almost claim the pardon of great sins, since much was forgiven Magdalen, because she loved much (St. Luke vii. 47).

IV. After Communion. - Magdalen at the foot of the cross was bathed in tears of compassion and love; she was sensibly afflicted at the sufferings of her Redeemer,

but was too submissive to the decrees of Heaven to wish for, or implore a moment's cessation from those excruciating pangs which agonized her soul. This unbounded resignation was even then rewarded by Him who living and dying was mercy's essence; for in the height of her own afflictions, and a witness to the torments of her crucified Lord, Magdalen notwithstanding enjoyed that peace of God which surpasseth all understanding (Phil. iv. 7); she reposed under the shadow of Him whom she desired, and the bitter fruits of his cross were sweet to her palate (Cant. ii. 3), because presented by the adorable hand of her Beloved. O my soul, let this heroic lover, this fervent disciple of a crucified Master, be thy model in the happy moments of actual union with thy God. She adored him on the cross, but thou art in possession of the Object of her adoration: she beheld him in anguish and suffering, covered with infamy and outrage, and loved him the more

because he appeared a worm and no man; the reproach of men and the outcast of the people (Ps. xxi. 7); thou art also a witness of his passion renewed on this altar, and thy heart is this moment the theatre of his profound humiliation. Ah! endeavour to atone for the ingratitude of men by the ardours of thy love; and while all forget his sufferings and his mercies, do thou, with Magdalen, remain at his feet, contemplating the wounds which cover his adorable body, and, above all, adoring, blessing, and magnifying the love by which they were inflicted.

The Cre of the Centurion's Servant.

I. CONSIDER the excellent dispositions which prepare the centurion for obtaining his earnest request from a kind, compassionate, and merciful Creator. This man, though uninstructed, unenlightened, is notwithstanding pressed by the charity of God (2 Cor. v. 14), and already begins to fulfil