Entroduction. To prepare the soul of man to pass into the presence of its Maker, to guide it in making itself ready for the great judgment, to assist it in so judging itself that it may stand before that Judge Whose sentence is eternal and unalterable, is an office the very thought of which is enough to make the heart of him who is called upon to perform it tremble. And then to have to do this for all kinds of men; for the hardened in sin, for the selfrighteous, for the penitent, for the despairing, for the unfortunate, so long sunk in vice that the very notion of what sin is, and what real repentance, is almost obliterated; and then, too, to have to comfort and sustain him who, at the close of a holy and religious life, looks with sure trust and hope, yet with trembling (for who shall stand when He appeareth ?) for the coming of his LORD; this is what the Minister of the Church is called upon to do; this is the real wearing difficulty of the Christian Priesthood. To be able not only to realize, but in some measure to sympathize with, the sorrows, the sufferings (bodily as well as mental), the fears, the hopes, the aspirations, the anxieties, even the terrors of those to whom he ministers, that is what the guide of souls must strive to attain to, if he desires his direction, his exhortation, his consolation to be useful, satisfying, and comforting to the sick. Kai πρὸς ταῦτα τίς ἱκανός ; с |