drawn away from them a stone's cast, and kneeling down, He prayed, Father, if thou wilt, remove this chalice from me! but yet not My will, but Thine be done." (Luke xxii. 40.) Ponder His profound reverence to His eternal Father, and His confidential love expressed in the word Father. Contemplate His perfect resignation, in the words, "not My will, but Thine be done," and His perseverance in prayer for a whole hour. " Could ye not watch one hour with Me?" (Matt. xxvi. 40.) Learn hence how to pray, and resign yourself to the divine will.
III. Christ, like a good shepherd anxious for His flock, even in the midst of His own distress and the ardor of His prayer, visits His three Apostles. He found them asleep the first, second, and third times. Immediately after communion, they were so full of fervor as to offer themselves to die for their Master; but they cannot now even hold up their heads in prayer. Examine if this be not the character of yourself. The Apostles formerly watched all night for their own interest, when they were fishermen; but now, when the interest of their souls is concerned, and when they are commanded to watch, they cannot refrain from sleep. Beware of sloth, tediousness, and forgetfulness in spiritual things; for, as St. Augustine observes, "the sleep of the soul is to forget God."
SATURDAY.
Christ's Bloody Sweat.
I. After Christ had found His disciples asleep, and had left them in order to continue His prayer, " there appeared to Him an angel from heaven strengthening Him." (Luke xxii. 43.) Good God! is it possible that the eternal Son of God should borrow comfort from His creatures? Observe how the Father of lights at last sends comfort to
