which He shed this day. But you must co-operate with His holy designs; for He will not bestow His blessings on unwilling souls. This day has put a termination to the year which you have spent. It cannot return: it is buried in the gulf of eternity. What satisfaction do the misdeeds of the past year now afford you? If you had the year to spend again, how many actions would you omit, which you have done, and how many things would you do which you have omitted to do! While you have, as yet, time, redeem the lost moments; spend the ensuing year as you would wish the past to have been spent, and offer the resolution of doing so to your Lord in the sacrament, as the best present you can make Him on this holy day.
III. You ought to prepare your soul, armed with this resolution, for His coming. You can never keep it without humility; for, as the Prophet says, " He will save the humble of spirit." (Ps. xxxiii. 19.) Everything connected with the mysteries of the Incarnation and Nativity ought to inspire a love of that virtue, and induce you to practise it. This humility, however, must be accompanied with confidence in God. Say, then, with the Royal Prophet, " Show forth Thy wonderful mercies, Thou who savest those who trust in Thee. I am Thine, save me. Uphold Thy servant unto good. A contrite and humble heart, O God; Thou wilt not despise." (Ps. xvi. 7.; cxviii. 94, 122; 1. 19.)
JANUARY 2.
Our Lord's Circumcision.— I.
I. Christ was not subject to the law of circumcision; because He was incapable of contracting original sin, and circumcision was its remedy. He wished, nevertheless,
