but of the means of gaining the kingdom of God, by tribulations and sufferings. " The kingdom of heaven suffereth violence, and the violent bear it away." (Matt, xi. 12.) Learn hence willingly to engage in pious conversation. It is very probable, that during these forty days, Christ delivered many instructions to his Apostles concerning the form and government of His future Church, which have been handed down to us by tradition. Entreat your Saviour to converse with you in the secret closet of your heart, and there instruct you in His holy law. Say with the Prophet; " Blessed art thou, O Lord, teach me thy justifications." (Ps. cxviii. 12.)
III. Reflect seriously within yourself, how often God has spoken interiorly to your heart, concerning the kingdom of God, moving you to a desire of ensuring it, by works of mortification, temperance, charity, and perfection. Perhaps you have not paid attention to His voice. Listen to Him for the future, lest He inflict on you some of those plagues of which Moses speaks. " The Lord shall increase thy plagues, and the plagues of thy seed, plagues great and lasting, infirmities, grievous and perpetual, because thou nearest not the voice of the Lord thy God." (Deut. xxviii. 59, 62.)
SATURDAY.
Circumstances Attending Christ's Apparitions.
I. The various circumstances, which accompanied the apparitions of Christ after His resurrection, are like those, which attend His interior visits to the souls of His faithful servants. His apparitions were always of short duration, and they were more or less frequent according to the dispositions and fervor of those, to whom He appeared. The same economy of providence God observes
