ence of Christ. Do not, therefore, wonder if he assail you, during your most sacred devotions, when you approach the sacrament of the altar.
II. The command of Christ dispossessed the Devil, although he had possessed this young man from his infancy. "Thou deaf and dumb spirit, I command thee, go out of Tiim and enter no more into him." (Mark ix. 24.) O Lord, speak with the same efficacy to my soul. Observe how the Devil, crying out and greatly tearing him, went out of him. Whilst he possessed this young man, he behaved more mildly to him; but when he was forced to depart, he began " to tear him." The Devil is always most malicious when we abandon his service.
III. His disease was difficult of cure, because it was inveterate and had grown with him from his infancy. It is difficult to abandon vices to which you have been long accustomed. " A long sickness is troublesome to the physician." (Ecclus. x. 11.) Christ observed of this evil spirit, " This kind can go out by nothing but by prayer and fasting." Learn to appreciate the value of these spiritual weapons, and to use them successfully against your arch-enemy.
NINETEENTH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST.
Christ the Friend of Your Soul.
"Eat, O friends, and drink and be inebriated, my beloved." (Cant v. 1.)
I. In the gospel of to-day, we read the following expression: "Friend, how comest thou in hither, not having on a wedding garment?" (Matt. xxii. 12 ) Christ
