raise and cheer up their drooping spirits, yet they were so dull and slow of apprehension, that all his discourses seemed ænigmas or riddles to them. Even after his ascension, they were still under such panics that they had not courage to appear in public, but remained shut up in a house at Jerusalem for fear of the Jews. But, O wonderful change! as soon as the Holy Ghost shed his beams upon them, they issue forth with intrepidity like so many courageous lions, breathing forth flames of charity; they present themselves on a sudden in the streets of Jerusalem, with a design to reform the face of the universe. Nothing but an impulse of the Divine Spirit could animate them to undertake so arduous an enterprise, and nothing but the same Spirit could execute it with instruments so weak and disproportioned in appearance to the greatness of the design. But though weak of themselves, they were able, as the Apostle speaks, to do all things in him who strengthens them. They are so wonderfully illumined from above, as to be able to penetrate the highest mysteries, to convince the most eloquent orators, and to confound the most learned philosophers. They are so amazingly fortified that they fear no dangers, they apprehend no perils, they dread no torments, they regard no threats or menaces, they despise the cruelties of the most violent persecutions and sufferings; for the sweet name of Jesus become the subject of their joy and of their glory, Acts, c. v. v. 41. They zealously announce the mystery of the cross to every known nation under the Heavens, and the different tribes and people of the earth understand them as if they spoke to them in their own native language.

Peter, the Chief and Head of the Apostolic College, goes immediately to the elders of the Synagogue, to the Scribes and Pharisees, and to the Magistrates of Jerusalem, and boldly reproaches them with having murdered their Lord and Messiah. A little before that, being questioned by the servantmaid of Caiphas the High Priest, he trembled with fear and shamefully denied Christ; but now he values not the whole Sanhedrim of the Jews; he raises his voice with courage in a public assembly, and having commanded them to hearken to his words, he openly professes that the person called Jesus of Nazareth, whom they a few weeks before that had most unjustly executed like a malefactor, is the true son of the living God. He exhorts them to repent and to become adorers of Jesus, after having been his murderers; and blessed for ever be the Father, Son and Holy Ghost, he converts at his two first sermons eight thousand souls to the Lord. The rest of the Apostles were fired with no less zeal; death in its most terrifying shape was not able to deter them from the sacred functions of their ministry; they spread over the globe, each of them like the Angel mentioned in the Apocalypse, flying with his Gospel through the air, as the Spirit guides them. The wondering earth is roused by the thunder of their voices; their words re

semble so many fiery darts that are shot from hearts inflamed with the love of God; the most populous and renowned cities of Jerusalem, Antioch, Ephesus, even Rome itself, then the mistress of the world, hear with raptures the eloquence of these illiterate fishermen. The temples of the devils fell to the ground at the sound of their voice, as the walls of Jericho fell to the ground at the sound of the trumpets of Israel. In short, they made such a rapid progress, and preached the Gospel of Jesus with such wonderful success, that their sound went into the whole earth, as the Scripture says, and their words reached the remotest corners of the known world, the Lord espous ing the doctrine they preached as his own cause, and confirming it with numberless miracles, Mark, c. xvi. Thus, my brethren, the Church of Christ was originally planted, and in a few years established upon the ruins of Paganism and the destruction of the Jewish Synagogue. Thus the foundations of our holy religion were first laid, not in the course of the two or three last centuries, but upwards of seventeen hundred years ago, and that not by men of dissolute lives, nor by the force of arms, nor by the severity of sanguinary laws, nor by the allurements of temporal advantages and worldly preferments, but the labours and preaching of Christ's own Apostles, aided and assisted by the Holy Ghost, who descended visibly upon them this day. We are therefore to regard the solemnity of Pentecost as the epoch of the Christian religion, and to celebrate it with spiritual joy as the anniversary of the birth of the Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church; that pillar and ground of truth, against which the gates of hell never will be able to prevail. But whilst we devoutly contemplate the glorious mystery of this great festival, and gratefully acknowledge the goodness of the Lord our God, in having called us to the pale of his Church and to the admirable light of faith, by the ministry of his twelve Apostles and their lawful successors in office, let us briefly examine how they prepare themselves for receiving the Holy Ghost, that by following their example we may partake, in some degree, of the inestimable blessings that were so plentifully bestowed on them.

Every solemnity should inspire Christians with a devotion proper and suitable to the mystery which they solemnize. Thus the anniversary of our blessed Redeemer's passion and death, should inspire us with a firm resolution to die to sin, and to hate that foul monster which nailed the Son of God to an ignominious cross. The feast of his Resurrection should excite us to rise from the spiritual death of sin to a new life of grace and virtue, truly, really and permanently. The feast of his Ascension should encourage us to disengage our hearts from the inordinate love of earthly things, and to aspire after our heavenly country, where Jesus Christ our head is gone before us, in order to draw our affections after him. The present feast of Pentecost should, in like manner, excite us to have

recourse to the most effectual means that may engage the Holy Ghost to descend into our souls, and take a permanent possession of our hearts; for the coming of this Divine Spirit was not promised to the Apostles and primitive Christians only, but was designed for a blessing to be entailed on the faithful of all ages who are duly disposed to receive him, and who oppose no obstacles to the operations of his divine grace. I will not leave you orphans, said our loving Redeemer, I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Paraclete, or Comforter, that he may abide with ye for ever, the Spirit of truth, St. John, c. xiv. v. 16, 17. We cannot prepare ourselves better for sharing in his gracious favours and blessings, than by imitating the disciples, who, immediately after the ascension of their Lord and Master, returned from Mount Olivet to the city of Jerusalem, where they assembled in the same place, and disposed themselves for the coming of the Divine Spirit by a spiritual retreat, and by persevering unanimously in prayer and heavenly contemplation. For the space of ten days they withdrew from the distracting noise and tumults of the world, and continued together in the strictest union and the most perfect harmony, constantly blessing and praising God with one heart and one spirit, and inviting the Holy Ghost into their souls by fervent exercises of piety and devotion. Such were their dispositions, and such also should our dispositions be, if we sincerely wish to partake of the precious gifts and graces that Heaven poured forth on them this day.

Before all things, it is necessary to be free from mortal sin; for the Holy Ghost will not come into a soul that Satan possesses by sin, nor dwell in a body that is defiled with impurity; the old leaven must be purged out, and the foul stains of sin must be washed off with the waters of penance, that our souls may become fit abodes and worthy temples of the Spirit of sanctity; our hearts must be cleared of all hatred, malice and ill-will, before the Spirit of charity will take possession of them. The spirit of pride, the spirit of self-love, the spirit of the world must be banished and cast out before the spirit of God will enter in; for light is not more opposite to darkness than the Spirit of God is to the spirit of the world. All dissensions and animosities are to be laid aside, and we must be in peace and harmony with our neighbour; for the spirit of concord and God of peace will not come where the spirit of discord reigns, nor will he descend into an heart that is embittered with rancour or envenomed with the spirit of anger and revenge. All these obstacles being therefore carefully removed, we are, like the disciples, to enter into a kind of spiritual retreat from the distracting cares of the world, and to invite the Holy Ghost into our souls by devout and fervent prayers, especially such prayers as the Angel Raphael recommended to Tobias, I mean prayers accompanied with fasting and alms-deeds, these being, as it were, the two wings that raise our petitions up to the Hea

vens, and make them fly to the very throne of the Almighty. Behold, my brethren, the manner in which you are to prepare yourselves for the reception of the Holy Ghost, at this holy time of Whitsuntide, when the universal Church is unanimously petitioning the throne of mercy by a solemn fast and by public prayers, which she offers up all over the world during the ensuing octave, for the descent of the Divine Spirit upon all her Pastors, her Clergy, and their respective flocks. It is true, the Holy Ghost does not at present descend visibly on the faithful in the figure of fiery tongues, nor always bestow on them the extraordinary and miraculous gifts which he conferred on the Apostles, these being now no longer necessary as they were in the infancy and at the first establishment of the Church; however, he still continues to this very day to descend really, though invisibly, into the souls of those who give themselves up to his divine influences, and are properly disposed, like the disciples, for receiving the impressions of his grace. He is an inexhaustible fountain of goodness that flows incessantly, and will continne to flow every day unto the end of the world, till the number of the elect is completed. He is so rich in mercy, that his heavenly favours and blessings are neither confined to any time, nor limited to any place. It is the Holy Ghost who infuses a spiritual life into us at our baptism, and animates our souls as our souls animate our bodies. It is the Holy Ghost who produces in the just the life of faith, sentiments of hope, works of charity, and all the happy fruits that are mentioned by St. Paul, Galat. c. v. v. 22, 23. It is the Holy Ghost who diffuses the love of God in our hearts, Rom. c. v. v. 5. He sweetens our crosses and sufferings, gives us strength and vigour to discharge every Christian duty, and distributes his various gifts to the different members of the Church, according to the measure of the donation of Christ, as the Apostle speaks, Ephes. c. iv. v. 7. Hence St. Augustine concludes and say's that every day in the year may be a Pentecost for Christians, if they please, since they have it in their power to receive the Holy Ghost every day, by being well disposed and duly prepared to co-operate with his grace. If therefore, my brethren, any of you have been so blind to your own eternal welfare, as to resist the Holy Ghost like the stiff-necked Jews; if ye have been so unfortunate as to contristate and extinguish the Divine Spirit, or to banish this heavenly guest from the temple of your souls by giving admittance to mortal sin, let me entreat you in the name of God to hearken to these Apostolic words, and practice this salutary advice, by which Saint Peter converted no less than three thousand souls at one sermon on this festival: Do penance and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. O all-powerful Spirit! O burning furnace of divine love! O inexhaustible Source and Giver of all good gifts! O sweet comforter of all distressed souls! remove from us all obstacles to thy grace, and dis

pose us for receiving thy sacred influences. Descend, we beseech thee, on thy faithful servants assembled here this day in thy name; come into our hearts and take full possession of them; enter into our souls and abide in them for ever, here by thy grace and hereafter by thy glory. Be thou our guide, our light and our strength; fortify the feeble, comfort the afflicted, animate the fearful, inspire the lukewarm with fervour, excite the languid to a feeling sense of their duty. Mollify the stony hearts of sinners, and bring back the strayed sheep to the narrow path of salvation. Quench the fire of our passions, heal our spiritual disorders, and consume in us the rust of all inordinate affections. Preserve us from ever splitting on the rock of presumption or despair, and grant us the great gift of final perseverance that after partaking of thy grace in this life we may partake of thy felicity in the next. Which my brethren, I wish you all, in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Amen.

TRINITY SUNDAY.

On the Sacrament of Baptism.

Euntes ergo docete omnes Gentes, baptizantes eos in nomine Patris et Filii et Spiritus Sancti.—S. Mat. c. xxviii. v. 19.

Going therefore teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost.-Mat. c. xxviii. v. 19.

IN these words, which the Saviour of the world pronounced in his last discourse to his Apostles, we find included the summary of our faith, the basis of our religion, the character of our profession, and the most august of all our mysteries; and these words alone suffice to confound the Arians, Socinians, and all other ancient and modern unbelievers, who deny the unity of God in three distinct persons. St. John asserts the same truth, 1 Ep. c. v. v. 7. where he expressly says, There are three that give testimony in Heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost, and these three are one. It is this faith that justifies sinners, sanctifies the just, baptizes the catechumens, fortifies and confirms the Christians, crowns the martyrs, consecrates the ministers of the altar, and saves the universal world. Hence the first lesson we learn in the school of Christianity, is, that there is one God and three persons, equal in

VOL. II.