JULY 10.

SERMON ON THE MOUNTAIN: QUALITIES OF AN

APOSTOLIC MAN.

1st Prel. Imagine you see Jesus Christ on the mountain sur rounded by His Apostles.

2d Prel. Beg for the qualities which distinguish apostolic men.

POINT I. The Salt of the Earth.

CONSIDERATION. All religious bodies, with a few exceptions, are devoted to works of charity and zeal; consequently one can say that all religious, though they may not be priests, ought to be apostles. To them also Jesus Christ was speaking when He said to His Apostles in figurative language that they should become the salt of the earth, or they would be good for nothing. Let us listen to His very words: You are all the salt of the earth; but if the salt lose its savour, it is good for nothing any more.'

APPLICATION. If you desire to learn whether you are this 'salt of the earth' in the sense in which our Lord spoke, you should consider the proper qualities of salt; it preserves food from corruption, and makes what was insipid pleasant to the taste. This is what you should do for the souls committed to your care, whether they be children in schools or youth in colleges, or the sick whom you have to nurse in their homes or in the hospitals. You should by your diligence and zeal labour to preserve them from the corruption of sin, and induce them to render themselves pleasing to God by the practice of virtue. It is true that this is the work of grace; but grace seldom acts without our coöperation. What have you done, what are you habitually doing, to merit the assistance of grace?

AFFECTIONS and RESOLUTIONS.

POINT II. The Light of the World.

CONSIDERATION. Our Lord, after telling His Apostles

that they were to be the salt of the earth, went on to say they were to be the light of the world; by which He meant that they were to drive out the darkness of idolatry from the whole world; they were to cause the one true God to be known, adored, and faithfully served unto the ends of the earth; they were to convert and sanctify the human race. We know how faithfully they fulfilled their sublime mission. St. Paul, speaking to the Christians at Miletus, gives us an idea of their zeal when he says, 'You know from the first day that I came into Asia in what manner I have been with you and taught you, publicly and from house to house. I ceased not with tears to admonish every one of you night and day.'

APPLICATION. Here is a picture of a zealous religious; in all places, at all times, and in all circumstances, he is seeking and finding occasions of saying a word which will enlighten the mind and kindle the fire of divine love in the heart; in all places and at all times he is preaching, without appearing so to do. The light and the unction which he has received in prayer naturally flow from his heart and from his lips. People always leave him feeling that they have been enlightened and drawn nearer to God. Do you recognise yourself in this portrait? Are your brethren and others edified by intercourse with you, and especially by your conversation?

AFFECTIONS and RESOLUTIONS.

POINT III. The living Image of Christian Perfection.

CONSIDERATION. 'A city seated on a mountain cannot be hid. So let your light shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father who is in heaven.' We learn from these words what is the third quality by which we should be distinguished. We should constantly give edification before men; we should draw them towards God by the silent

language of our conduct, a language which is more persuasive than the most eloquent words.

APPLICATION. Is your conduct such as this in the house and out of it? Can your superior say of you to your brethren, Copy him? Can you say to those whom you have to do with what the Apostle said to the Corinthians, 'Be ye followers of me, as I also am of Christ?' Happy indeed would it be for us if we all verified the powerful declaration of St. Cyprian in answer to pagan objections, Nos non pulchra loquimur sed pulchra vivimus—'We think far less about speaking well than acting well.'

COLLOQUY.

JULY 11.

FEAST OF ST. NORBERT'S TRIUMPH,* FOUNDER OF THE ORDER OF THE PREMONSTRATENSIANS.†

1st Prel. Imagine you see the Saint in glory.

2d Prel. Beg of him to take us under his powerful protection.

POINT I. Conversion of St. Norbert.

CONSIDERATION. Norbert was born at Sautern, in the duchy of Cleves, of parents allied to the royal family. After having passed through college with extraordinary success, he was ordained sub-deacon, obtained a rich canonry, and soon after was named chaplain to the emperor, Henry IV.; but his conduct was very unworthy of his holy calling. Until he was thirty he passed his life at court in dissipation and amusement. God in His mercy struck him with a severe blow, to draw him out of his evil ways. One day, as he was *The Saints who have founded religious orders should naturally have a particular interest for us.

Born 1080; died June 6th, 1134; canonised 1582. The order, according to Père Helyot, possessed at the close of the eighteenth century 50 provinces, 130 houses of men, and 400 of women.

riding to Freten in Westphalia, for some worldly entertainment, a clap of thunder threw him on the ground half-dead. When he came to himself, he cried out, like another Saul, 'Lord, what wilt Thou have me to do? An interior voice replied, Fly from evil, and do good; seek peace in retreat and penance.' Immediately Norbert was changed into another man, left the court, gave all his goods to the poor, cast aside his rich clothing, put on a poor cassock, and went to the monastery of St. Sigebert near Cologne, and there did exemplary

penance.

APPLICATION. After the example of St. Norbert, let us be docile to grace, whether it speaks to us by gentle inspirations or by extraordinary lights. If we have imitated him in his faults, let us imitate him also in his penance, and persevere in it, like him, until death. Have you not given up the practice of penance, at least in some degree?

AFFECTIONS and RESOLUTIONS.

POINT II. Evangelical Life of St. Norbert.

CONSIDERATION. After passing two years in retirement, Norbert was inflamed with zeal for the glory of God and the salvation of souls. Scarcely was he ordained priest when he began to preach penance, and wrought numberless conversions. The Bishop of Laon, struck by his sanctity, was determined to keep him in his diocese. Norbert chose for his dwelling-place a deserted valley called Prémontré. It was decreed by God that it should be the cradle of the future order which was to bring forth so many saints, and immortalise the name of Norbert. He was soon surrounded by forty disciples, the first thirteen of whom came from Brabant. He gave them rules full of wisdom, founded on the rule of St. Austin. His institute was approved in a solemn bull by Pope Honorius II. (Feb. 1125). The following year Norbert was forced to accept the archbishopric of Magdeburg. He held this see eight

years without diminishing either his austerities or his care for the order he had founded.

APPLICATION. If it has not been given to you, like St. Norbert, to found an order or become a great missionary, try at least to sanctify yourself in the order to which God has called you, and to help on the sanctification of your brethren by your good example. Both of these are obligations: do you seriously reflect on them?

AFFECTIONS and RESOLUTIONS.

POINT III. Triumph of St. Norbert.

CONSIDERATION. Among the many miracles which the saint wrought, there is one which has made him illustrious; and this was the victory he won over heresy and the sectaries of Tanchelin. This fanatic had revived the horrors and excesses of the ancient Gnostics over a vast extent of country of which Antwerp was the centre. At the entreaty of the bishops and princes Norbert went to Antwerp, and acted in such a manner that before his departure Catholic worship was reëstablished, and the use of the Sacraments vigorously resumed. The grateful clergy gave the saint the church of St. Michael, which became one of the most celebrated abbeys of the order, and the Holy See allowed the children of St. Norbert to celebrate every year, on the 11th of July, a feast called 'Feast of St. Norbert's Triumph.' Pope Gregory XVI., wishing to revive the memory of this great event, extended the permission to celebrate this feast to all the clergy of the Catholic diocese of Malines, in which Antwerp is comprised. COLLOQUY.