salvation of our neighbour, and thus may believe that he will regard us with peculiar favour, and be one of our warmest intercessors with Heaven, drawing down blessings both on ourselves and on our undertakings. COLLOQUY.

DECEMBER 3.

FEAST OF ST. FRANCIS XAVIER.

1st Prel. Imagine the Saint looking down upon us from heaven. 2d Prel. Ask that you may understand the wonders which grace. worked in St. Francis Xavier.

POINT I. The admirable Works of the Saint.

CONSIDERATION. We may say with Bourdaloue that in St. Francis Xavier were renewed all the prodigies worked by the Apostles; endowed as they were with miracles and the gift of tongues, he equalled and even surpassed many of them in the number of conversions he effected, and the distances he traversed, computed at three times the circumference of the globe, baptizing with his own hand more than twelve hundred thousand heathen, visiting over two hundred kingdoms, overturning innumerable idols, planting churches in every place, and even penetrating Japan, where the sound of the gospel had till then never reached.

APPLICATION. On hearing of such wonders we are sometimes tempted to complain of our limited sphere of action, and to think if it were enlarged, we could better imitate so great a Saint and do more in the service of God, whilst we neglect our own obligations and the observances of our state. Fatal illusion! Thus certain young Jesuits, students at Coimbra, were greatly desirous of following St. Francis Xavier to India; he replied, Brothers, I highly approve of your zeal; but be not deceived, no one can excel in great matters who

has not first excelled in lesser ones.' Meditate and profit by this answer.

AFFECTIONS and RESOLUTIONS.

POINT II. Admirable Humility of St. Francis Xavier.

CONSIDERATION. The humility of St. Francis Xavier was not less wonderful than his miracles. Whilst his name was resounding throughout the whole world, he disappeared from his own eyes, hidden as it were in God, esteeming himself an unworthy servant; when congratulated on his success, he replied, 'If God works any good through me, it is due to the prayers and merits of my brethren in Europe.' From this humility sprang his profound respect for his Superior, St. Ignatius, to whom he never wrote but on his knees, entreating him in nearly every letter to send some one who would watch over, direct, and stimulate him.

APPLICATION. Humility should surely be easy to us who do so little for God, yet we are still full of our selves and sensitive to a degree; why are we so different from St. Francis Xavier? Because we do not know ourselves as he did. Know yourself,' says St. Augustine, and you will be humble.'

AFFECTIONS and RESOLUTIONS.

POINT III. Admirable Piety of St. Francis Xavier.

CONSIDERATION. Another wonderful feature in the character of this great Saint was that he united in the highest degree the perfections of the contemplative life with those of the active. Even during his sleep he held communication with God; his favourite ejaculation was, 'O most Holy Trinity!' and whenever he kissed the crucifix he bathed it with his tears. was pleased to work a miracle in honour of the Saint's devotion at five thousand miles' distance from the scene of his labours, in the castle of his family; where, during the ten years of his missionary life in India, the

God

crucifix was found on each successive Friday covered with sweat.

APPLICATION. We complain of a distaste for prayer, of the coldness of our communions, attributing both to the multiplicity of our occupations. St. Francis Xavier is a proof of our own error. If we applied ourselves as he did to prayer with fidelity and perseverance, we should lose all that we complain of, and receive piety well as the other gifts of God. COLLOQUY.

DECEMBER 4.

ON GENEROSITY.

1st Prel. Contemplate our Lord carrying the generosity of His love for us so far as to sacrifice Himself on the altar of the Cross.

2d Prel. Ask for a spirit of generosity in the service of God.

POINT I. The Nature of Generosity.

CONSIDERATION. The generosity in the service of God which we have so recently been admiring in St. Francis Xavier may be defined as a moral or an acquired virtue, which leads a man to surmount courageously all the difficulties of his state, office, spiritual exercises, &c.

APPLICATION. If we really comprehend what generosity is, we shall appreciate and desire it. How is it to be acquired and increased? By considering the greatness of the God we serve, His goodness, His love to us, the many claims He possesses to our gratitude and entire devotion. If such thoughts were always before our minds as they were before that of St. Francis Xavier, we should be generous as he was, and ready to do and dare all for the glory of God and the salvation of souls. AFFECTIONS and RESOLUTIONS.

POINT II. Necessity of Generosity.

CONSIDERATION. If you reflect upon the definition of generosity above given, you will easily perceive its necessity. To the ungenerous, the fulfilment of duty becomes a painful burden, imperfectly performed, or thrown upon others, leaving them old and invalided before the time. They go back instead of advancing in virtue; their charity, mortification, and zeal languish ; their spiritual exercises suffer, and are gone through with tepidity and indevotion. Without generosity, what becomes of regular observance and religious discipline? For instance, we find pretexts for not rising promptly, and this first imperfection leaves its mark on the whole day; we become accustomed to habitual infractions of the rule, and at last are regular only in name.

APPLICATION. If experience has unfortunately taught you that these are indeed the sad consequences of want of generosity in the service of God, humiliate yourself before Him, asking Him to renew in you the spirit of this necessary virtue.

AFFECTIONS and RESOLUTIONS.

POINT III. The Advantages of Generosity.

CONSIDERATION. The greatness of the advantages of generosity is admirably summed up in these few words from the Spiritual Exercises: In proportion as a soul is generous in the service of God, she experiences the effects of her liberality, and becomes day by day a more fit recipient of heavenly gifts and graces.' This explains to us the rapid progress made by the Saints in the practice of the most exalted virtues.

APPLICATION. You desire to resemble the Saints in this respect; you can do so according to the measure of grace given you. Two things are needed, as Thomas à Kempis tells us; 'forcibly to draw one's self from what nature is viciously inclined to, and fervently to follow up the good one is most in need of' (Imitation, book 1st, chap. xxv.). COLLOQUY.

DECEMBER 5.

PREPARATION FOR THE FEAST OF THE IMMACULATE

CONCEPTION.

1st Prel. Imagine a field covered with thorns and briers; in the midst, a lily of dazzling whiteness.

2d Prel. Ask that we obtain a due appreciation of the motives which should induce us to prepare carefully for this feast, motives as regards God, our Lady, and ourselves.

POINT I. Motives regarding God.

CONSIDERATION. What was the intention of the Most High in thus preserving our Blessed Lady from the stain of original sin inherited by every other descendant of Adam? He willed to glorify her above all the Saints of both the Old and the New Law, because He had chosen her as the Mother of the eternal Word according to the flesh. And what is our intention in celebrating this festival, and in thus preparing for it beforehand? Our intention is that of God Himself; we unite ourselves to Him in the work of glorifying our Blessed Lady.

APPLICATION. We can best prepare ourselves for this feast, 1st, By often saying to ourselves that the whole Catholic world, joined to the heavenly host, is making ready to celebrate this stupendous privilege of our dearest Mother; 2nd, By exciting in us an ardent desire to yield to none in celebrating it worthily.

AFFECTIONS and RESOLUTIONS.

POINT II. Motives regarding our Blessed Lady.

CONSIDERATION. The privilege of her Immaculate Conception is that dearest to the heart of our Blessed Lady, and to possess it she would have willingly sacrificed all the others bestowed upon her, the Divine maternity not excepted. How pleasing, therefore, must be to her our devout preparation for this festival!

APPLICATION. How can we best please our Blessed Lady in this preparation? By carefully avoiding all