ready like the five wise virgins with oil in their lamps, and to say to one another: “Behold, the bridegroom cometh; go ye forth to meet him.”[1] Nor does this happen without reason; for never did God show greater mercy and generosity to the world than when He emptied Himself for our salvation, and came down from heaven, took upon Himself human flesh, became man, and was born in a poor stable. My dear brethren, our faith tells us that there is another advent, which we should justly take the utmost interest in; that, namely, in which the Lord will come to visit each one of us in particular, not as a child accompanied by mercy alone, but as a stern and strict judge to administer justice. It is an advent of the Lord of which we cannot say as we can of the first, that it will be for us men and for our salvation: for it will be for the salvation of the just alone, but for the damnation of the wicked. This advent, or coming of the Lord, will happen in the hour of death, that is in the particular judgment of each individual dying mortal, terrible advent! of which we may well say with fear and trembling in the words of the Prophet Malachy: “Who shall be able to think of the day of His coming? and who shall stand to see Him?”[2] Now, if a whole month is to be devoted to preparing for the coming of Our Lord as a child, a coming that takes place only in a spiritual manner, how long should we prepare for the other coming of Our Lord in the hour of death, as a strict judge, when His coming shall be real? Oh, truly, a long time beforehand! Nay, all the time of our lives, and that, too, with the utmost care and diligence. The preparation for death should be made a long time beforehand; this is required by the importance of the affair that has to be settled in the coming of Our Lord. It should be made with the greatest care; this is necessary because that coming will happen but once. And further, it should be made always, because we know not when the Lord will come. It should be made with the utmost diligence, because His coming will be unexpected. There we have the division of the matter which we undertake to consider in this season of Advent. To-day I begin with the first point, and say:
Plan of Discourse.
We should prepare a long time beforehand for the coming of the
