will soon convince you that " he who contemneth small things shall fall by little and little. (Ecclus. xix. 1.)
FRIDAY.
St Peter's Denying Christ.— II.
I. " And the Lord, turning, looked on Peter." (Luke xxii. 61.) While this weak Apostle was denying his Master the third time, Jesus was led down from the upper room, where he was condemned, to the lower court," where Peter had remained the whole time. He cast an eye of compassion on His sheep that was perishing, or, as some holy Fathers explain the passage, he looked on him from a distance with the interior eye of mercy, and by his grace moved him to repentance. Observe how, in the midst of His own afflictions, He remembers His ungrateful disciple. With that same eye of mercy, O Lord! " look upon me, and have mercy on me." (Ps. xxiv. 16.)
II. " And going forth, he wept bitterly" (Matt. xxvi. 75), not from mere servile fear, but from a deep sense of his ingratitude to so loving a Master and so great a Benefactor. He felt the force of the prophet's sentiment, " It is an evil and a bitter thing to have left the Lord thy God." (Jer. ii. 19.) Do you, on your part, appreciate the force of the expression, and you will prevent yourself from falling. Oh how often have you, not only in words, as St. Peter did, but in deeds also, denied your Lord, and offended Him, perhaps more than Peter did! Have you as yet duly lamented your fault, as he lamented his?
III. Consider the long penance which St. Peter performed for his sin. He is said to have bewailed it, during his whole life, and to have burst into tears as often as he
