profession of life, but no one was ever a saint or ever will be, who was not addicted to prayer, retirement, and mortification.
WEDNESDAY.
The Jews' Message to St. John the Baptist.— I.
I. Moved by the sanctity of the Baptist, a great number of Jews resorted to him, so that not only the common people, but also the chief magistrates, began to doubt whether or not he were the Christ. " Therefore the Jews sent from Jerusalem priests and levites to him to ask him, Who art thou?" (John i. 19.) Reflect what influence innocence of life possesses over the minds of men, and how truly St. Bernard remarks, that " the voice of works is louder than that of words."
II. Upon this occasion St. John exercised many acts of humility. He was held in such esteem by the Jews as to be taken for the Messias, but he did not therefore pride himself upon his reputation, as worldly people are accustomed to do in similar circumstances. " He confessed and did not deny and he confessed, I am not the Christ." The first degree of humility consists in disowning what does not belong to a person, and of bestowing it where it is due. Examine whether you do not often act otherwise by raising yourself above your proper level, and by concealing what you are in reality.
III. The Jews afterwards inquired whether he were not Elias or some one of the prophets, and he answered, No. He might have suffered himself to be called Elias in spirit, and a prophet, and more than a prophet in fact, as he was styled by the angel, and by Christ Himself. But he who is truly humble not only refuses the praise to which he is not entitled, but, as far as truth will per-
