knowledge to pure minds, and hideth His grace from the curious and proud. Human reason is weak, and may be deceived; but true faith cannot be deceived. All reason and natural search ought to follow faith, and not to go before it nor oppose it; for faith and love are here predominant, and work by hidden ways in this most holy and superexcellent Sacrament. God, who is eternal and incomprehensible, and of infinite power, doth great and inscrutable things in heaven and earth, and there is no searching out His wonderful works. If the works of God were such as might be easily comprehended by human reason, they could not be called wonderful and unspeakable."

The near thanksgiving consists in those prayers which we say immediately after Communion. The time after Communion is the most valuable and the most precious of our whole life to obtain extraordinary graces from God; and therefore we ought to make the best possible use of it. For this purpose those Christians who have received the holy Communion may, at this time, 1st, thank Jesus Christ with the humblest gratitude for having given them this food, adore the greatness of the bounty and the excess of the love which induced this divine Saviour to grant it, and call upon all creatures in heaven and earth to thank Him; 2d, adore Him as their King and their God, with the most profound respect, and join themselves to the angels and the blessed spirits in heaven in adoration; 3d, make Him the homage of their whole being, of their life, of all that they are and all that they possess, consecrating themselves to Him, and declaring that they will henceforth employ themselves solely in His service and love; 4th, offer the adorable Victim to the eternal Father as a tribute

1 Book iv. chap. 18.

of His greatness, and in acknowledgment for all His benefits, in satisfaction for their sins, and to obtain from His mercy all the graces of which they stand in need; 5th, offer themselves as victims, united to Christ Himself, with the Church in heaven and that on earth, to the glory of the adorable Trinity, to the honour of the holy humanity of Jesus Christ, of the holy Virgin, and all the saints and angels, for all the necessities of the Church and of all her children; 6th, renew their good resolutions, and propose to themselves to overcome some especial vice and to practise some particular virtue.

Those persons who have received from God the gift of prayer need not go over all the points that we have here given either for thanksgiving or preparation for Communion. They must follow the attractions of grace, and only stop where it shall please God to call them.

The remote thanksgiving is that which is carried on during the remainder of the day on which one has communicated, or even for several days after. This thanksgiving consists in three things: 1st, in preserving the heart entirely for Jesus Christ, taking care not to let the least part be occupied with creatures, and not to permit the smallest stain of sin to sully its purity; 2d, to correspond faithfully to the grace of the Sacrament by performing all our actions with perfection and in the spirit of love and gratitude, and in carefully practising all the virtues of which the occasions shall present themselves during the day; 3d, to make frequent acts of elevation of the heart in thanksgiving to Jesus Christ, calling upon all creatures in the universe to join us in praising Him, and in praying to Him to bring forth in us the worthy fruits of His mercy. Lastly, let him who often approaches to the holy banquet bear deeply imprinted in his mind those words of

the Imitation of Christ where our Saviour thus speaks to His beloved soul: Thou oughtest not only to prepare thyself by devotion before Communion, but carefully also to keep thyself therein after receiving the Sacrament; neither is the carefully guarding of thyself afterwards less required than the devoutly preparing thyself before. For a good guard afterwards is the best preparation for again obtaining a greater grace. For what renders a man very much indisposed is, if he presently turn himself to seek exterior comforts. Beware of much talk, remain in secret, and enjoy thy God; for thou hast Him whom the whole world cannot take from thee. I am He to whom thou oughtest to give thy whole self, so that thou mayest henceforward live without any solicitude, trusting not in thyself, but in Me."

ARTICLE III.

PREPARATIONS AND THANKSGIVINGS FOR THE HOLY COMMUNION FOR EACH DAY OF THE WEEK.

SECTION I.

Sunday.

§ 1. Preparation.

Jesus our God.

1. Who is it that comes to thee? Christ Jesus, "who is over all things God blessed for ever;" in whom "dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead corporally;" whom all the choirs of angels adore. O amazing condescension! "Is it, then, credible that God should dwell with men on earth? I the heaven and the heaven of heavens cannot contain Thee, how much less this my house?" Ah! love, and praise, and bless this thy "hidden

1 Kempis, book iv. c. 12.

God;" pour forth thy whole soul in deepest thanksgiving, and exclaim with the Apostle St. Thomas, "My Lord and my God!"

2. To whom does He come? To thee, a vile and wretched worm of earth! To thee, who hast so often despised Him who is thy God and thy Creator! To thee, who hast made an idol of thy own glory! For thou hast forsaken the Lord thy God, thou hast cast off His sweet yoke, and hast said, I will not serve; and hast turned aside to strange gods, to serve the world, the flesh, and the devil. Ah, wretched soul, behold thy own wickedness! "See what an evil and bitter thing it is for thee to have forsaken the Lord thy God!" Cast thyself in shame at His sacred feet, and with a contrite and humble heart exclaim with the Publican, "O God, be merciful to me a sinner!" or with the penitent David cry out, Have mercy on me, O God, according to Thy great mercy."

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3. For what purpose does He come? To give Himself entirely and unreservedly to thee, that thou mayest,' as Tertullian says, 'be wholly inebriated with thy God;' that thou mayest become partaker of His divine nature; that thou mayest abide in Him and He in thee; and that thus thou mayest live for ever. Penetrated, then, with wonder and admiration at so much love, burst forth into accents of praise and adoration, inviting all creatures, with holy David, to bless the Lord thy God, saying, "Praise ye the Lord from the heavens, praise ye Him in the high places; praise ye Him for his mighty acts, praise ye Him according to the multitude of His greatness." And resolve henceforth to live no longer to thyself, but to Him alone, exclaiming with the royal Prophet, "Shall not my soul be subject to God? for from Him is my salvation."

My soul, in what an important affair art thou about to be engaged! Thou hast to prepare within thee a dwelling not for man, but for a God of infinite Majesty! But, O Lord, Thou only canst make it ready. What can I do, who am a weak and wretched creature, quite unworthy to possess Thee? Holiness, O Lord, should be the ornament of Thy house; glory and magnificence should shine around. Fill, then, my soul with holiness; do within her great and magnificent things, that she may become worthy of Thee.

Thou Sun of Justice, who wilt deign this day to visit me, prepare for Thyself the dwelling-place of my heart. The sun prepares his throne in heaven by the rays of light which precede his rising; make ready Thy throne in my soul by dispelling all the clouds of darkness by Thine own brightness.

Come, Holy Spirit, come, I entreat Thee; put my soul in order to receive my Divine Jesus! Come, purify my heart; sanctify it and inflame it with the sacred fire of Thy divine charity. My Divine Jesus, Thou didst send Thy Holy Spirit to make ready the pure womb of Mary to receive Thee in the mystery of the Incarnation; send to-day, I pray Thee, the same Spirit to prepare my heart to receive Thee in the mystery of the Eucharist. Adorable blood of my Jesus! purify me, cleanse me from all my filth, that I may be able to receive my Divine Redeemer worthily. I will cast myself into His precious blood; I will there cleanse and purify myself from all my sins. I will there rid myself of all my filth and impurity, that I may no longer be defiled by them.

O God, whose holiness impresses with awe the highest seraphim, in whose pure eyes even the blessed angels are not without spot, how shall I dare to appear to-day before Thee-I, who am but filth and sin? Oh, I acknowledge myself to be most unworthy! O Thou great God, how is it that Thou, who lovest Thy own glory, dost thus condescend to enter into my poor and miserable heart! How extreme are Thy goodness and Thy mercy! God of glory, I tremble with fear when I reflect on my unworthiness to receive Thee; but since Thou dost command me, impute it not to my presumption, I pray Thee, that I obey. Let not the communion I am about to receive become a subject of condemnation against me in Thy judgment; let it rather become for me a source of grace and of all blessedness. O my soul, what a glorious day is this for thee; for thou art about to receive the Creator of the universe, the God of all nature! Prepare thyself to obtain all possible benefit from such great happiness. Make ready, O my soul, make ready the way for the Lord before He comes; let the high places be brought low, and the crooked ways be made straight; raise up the fallen,