able. Her hatred of this error should be always before our eyes. Her purity , her mildness, her patience, should be ever present to us .
“ Hail,full of grace” ( Luke i. ).
“ O name! under which no one should despair ” (St. Austin ).
CONCLUSION .
Which may be read with great profit every Sunday.
1. As Christians, it would be very profitable for us to reflect, every morning, that we have on that day a God to glorify, a Saviour to imitate, our souls to save, our bodies to mortify, virtues to acquire, sins to satisfy for, heaven to seek after, hell to avoid, eternity to meditate on, time to improve, temptation to overcome, the devil to resist, our neighbour to edify , our passions tosubdue, the world to guard against, and, perhaps, death and judgment to undergo. Reflect seriously on all these important truths, and they will not only incite you to begin the day well, but also in the course thereof, to make the affair of your eternal salvation your principal study.
2. As it is also a duty of the greatest consequence to conclude the day properly , nothing can prove a more powerful incitement thereto than the serious consideration of the many spiritual and temporal blessings which God has bestowed on you ,the various evils from which his providence has hitherto preserved you , and the absolute uncertainty whether you shall ever unclose your eyes to behold the next morning. Thousands, who had as good a right to expect it as you , were nevertheless disappointed. The very bed on which you lie is a memento mori, or kind of sepulchre, and sleep the image of death . What unaccountable rashness, then , must it be for a sinner to compose himself to sleep in a state of mortal sin , without first endeavouring to appease the wrath of God by an act of contrition, or some other spiritual exercise of piety and devotion; since that very night, perhaps, his soul may be required of him .
3. Let us, then , guard against this danger by a faithful dis. charge of every Christian duty: let us frequently exclaim , with the prophet: " Enlighten mine eyes, O Lord! that I may never sleep in death , lest the enemy, at any time, may say: I have prevailed against him . "
“ He that desires to make any progress in the service of God , must begin every day with fresh ardour; he must , as much as possible,keep himself in the presence of God , and , in all his actions, have no other object in view, but that of promoting the divine honour " ( St. C. Borromeus ).
