death, sorrows, and merits are mine! What a happiness to know that the Heart of Jesus is mine! But is my heart as truly His? Have I, every day, and during every moment which preceded my Communion, endeavoured with all my strength to manifest to Him my love?

If this assurance of a complete and perfect gift may be sincerely made by a good father, how much more true is it of Thee, O Lord Jesus! Most fully do I enter into its truths in this happy moment when I possess Thee.

What hast Thou in Thyself that Thou couldst refuse to give me? And what can I desire from earth, when all the richest blessings heaven can bestow are freely granted to me? O sweet certainty which fills my soul with joy would that I could return love for love!

O my God, I attribute nothing to myself of all the gifts Thou hast bestowed upon me; all that I have from Thee I have received it, and to Thee I offer it again, both as regards the use and the effects. All I have and am is thine, by the natural right of the Creator over His creature; but it is thine also by the desire of my heart. Take all, O my Jesus, thoughts, words, conversations, desires, actions, sufferings, affections; I will keep nothing for myself. I desire to enjoy Thy gifts, in Thee and for Thee alone. I can keep back nothing from Thee, who hast refused me nothing. Having possessed Thee here on earth as often as Thou canst give Thyself to me, I indulge the hope that Thou wilt bestow Thyself upon me eternally in heaven. The possibility of such a joy as this thrills my soul with joy even in the anticipation; what, then, will the realization be! Come quickly, Lord Jesus, such is the secret and most ardent desire of my heart.

V. 'All that I have is thine!

The Holy Eucharist is Jesus Christ in the past, the present, and the future. Our own condition after re

Q

ceiving Holy Communion is, if we live in a state of more habitual union with our Blessed Saviour, the past repaired, the present sanctified, the future embellished with hopes of immortal happiness. No favour is denied us! No benefit is too great to be granted us by the liberality of God! No grace can be refused us by our Lord! Let us draw without fear upon this immense credit; let us use it freely, but reverentially, gratefully, lovingly. Know that at this moment we have power over the Heart of Jesus!

A change so happy, which by means of constant prayer and earnest endeavour may become my permanent condition, ought surely to bring me to the feet of Jesus in gratitude, to say, All that I have is Thine. Jesus loves to have these words addressed to Him in thanksgiving; He loves still more to see them carried out effectively in my conduct. The Holy Eucharist unites the severity of sacrifice to the sweetness of love. It would be impossible for our Lord to give Himself to us more completely, or to lay down His glory more thoroughly than He does in this Sacrament; for, as St. John Chrysostom says, 'Jesus Christ gives Himself to us with all that He possesses; He keeps back nothing.' I am a living proof of this. And if I desire to imitate His boundless generosity, must I not also give myself and all that belongs to me, without any reserve, to Him? Jesus had previously given me His Blood, His Heart, His Mother, and He had promised to give me heaven. And I, having begun by giving my heart to Jesus, I will add to that gift my life, my possessions, with the health, life, and fortune of all who are dear to me, intrusting to His divine hands all the gifts that His bounty has bestowed upon me. I feel, with an inward trembling, that the gift of the persons whom I love costs me far more than the gift of my own life. But Jesus will order all for His glory and their happiness. Ah! if I have not hitherto made this sacrifice, so dear to the

Heart of Jesus because it is the sure sign of ardent love, I will make it now, with all possible sincerity and fervour.

Yes, my Lord and my God, all that I have is Thine, from this time forth for evermore. I know not how to express my gratitude to Thee; but how deeply do I feel Thy goodness in the tender gift of Thyself, in the gift of Thy infinite treasures of power and love!

Oh, how ungrateful have I been in times past for those amazing treasures: when I was not contented with them, when I did not always desire them, when, to confess the whole truth, I sometimes was afraid to receive them!

Oh, since Thou hast conferred upon me a gift so perfect that even Thou canst give me nothing greater, grant that I may have grace to say to Thee: My God, all that I have, all that I am, is Thine!

VI. Perseverance in well doing.

If the mother of the Prodigal Son had been alive, says Rufert, he would perhaps have never quitted his father's house, or he would at all events have returned home more quickly. By which he means to convey that either the child of Mary does not wander away from God by mortal vice, or, that if he is so unhappy as to be enticed away by the allurements of sin, he will quickly be recalled to the paths of virtue by his Immaculate Mother. For what earthly mother can watch over her children so tenderly as Mary loves the children of God, and desires their spiritual benefit?

Nothing can be more tender than a mother's heart. I am certain, then, of finding a sure refuge in the Heart of Mary. I should have recourse to her with confidence in my prayers, my difficulties, my temptations, and my sins, because that loving Mother will never forsake me nor be offended at my ingratitude, my cowardice, or my carelessness in the service of

God, but will always continue my indulgent and tender protectress.

O Mary, my good Mother, who art, after Jesus, my hope and consolation, make me persevere, by your protection, in my firm determination of offending God no more, and of preferring a thousand deaths to the deliberate commission of one mortal sin! Refuse me not this favour, and I will say to my God: I am no longer that ungrateful, guilty soul which I once was; I will no more suffer the world to take possession of my heart; henceforth it is Thine, and Thine alone. But that I may keep this promise, O Mary, defend me from my own weakness! Take my heart, which has so lately possessed Jesus, thy beloved Son; hide it in your own, watch over it as your own possession. Instruct me in my duties, form me to the practice of all virtues, especially of the love of God. Make me remember and love to pray, that I may be saved from a frivolous and useless life.

Give me grace to put all my confidence in thee, to hope in thee, even till my latest sigh. Obtain for me more especially the grace of final perseverance, and grant that I may remember to ask for it, above all in temptation and at the hour of death, O thou who art the refuge of sinners and our perpetual help.

Conclusion.

It is not enough that we return to God by.sincere repentance; we must also use energetic, efficacious means to confirm our serious resolutions and to persevere in a truly Christian life; and these means are, first, assiduous prayer; for, all is promised to prayer, and nothing is given without it and secondly, the pious use of the sacraments of the Church. If Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament is the happiness of our heart, He must also be our strength and our guide to eternal life.

EIGHTEENTH MEDITATION FOR HOLY COMMUNION.

THE CONVERSATION OF SALOME AND HER SONS WITH OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST.

(St. Matt. xx.)

Preparation.

ST. PAUL declares that maternity is a means whereby a woman may be saved, provided that she maintains the dignity worthily, by a lively faith, holiness of life, and generous self-sacrifice, in a word, by the continual practice of all the great Christian virtues. On this condition only, the trials and cares of motherhood will turn to her everlasting joy and consolation.

Let us ask our Lord for grace to imitate an illustrious mother: Mary Salome, niece to St. Joseph and the Blessed Virgin, who gave her two sons to Jesus, having no greater ambition than to see them exalted with Him in eternity.

I. 'Salome came to Jesus with her sons, worshipping Him, and desiring a certain thing of Him?

The desires of Salome and her sons concerned Jesus only, conducted them to Jesus, and led them to pray.

My desires ought to do the same for me: I ought not to form a single wish for myself or my family which has not Jesus for its end: for whatever does not lead to Jesus leads to the loss of eternal salvation. I will make my desires known to our Lord, especially in the spirit of prayer, to draw down upon them the blessing of God, and to bring all my projects into conformity to His Divine will. How can we commend our plans beforehand to Jesus, without inquiring whether they will be pleasing to Him? for if