Third Day.
On the chief Virtues which should adorn a Communicant.
First point. — Consider that the Holy Eucharist is called a mystery of faith, and that faith is perhaps the most necessary virtue for a good Communion; because, without faith, we should discover nothing more than ordinary food in the bread of life. In this sacred mystery all is obscure, beyond the reach of our understanding, and imperceptible to our senses: we see nothing, feel nothing, taste nothing but common bread; we hear nothing extraordinary; so that it is the voice and light of faith alone, which, as the Church says, supplies the defeat of the senses, and firmly persuades us that the adorable Eucharist is not bread, though it appears so to us, but the living, .glorious, immortal body of Jesus Christ. Ah ! how grateful should you be for that precious gift of faith, by which you are enabled to penetrate the veils that conceal the Almighty from our view l With what astonishment and delight should you be penetrated, now that faith assures you that your God, your Creator, will so soon be your guest! With what profound humility, reverence, and awe should you await the visit of that divine Being who drew the world out of nothing by his infinite power, who rules it by his wisdom, and who could, in an instant, destroy it by one act of his will! He it is, whom l am going to receive: yes, I firmly believe it, because Jesus Christ, the infallible truth, has said, This is my body. But has my faith all the requisites for enabling me to make a good and fervent Communion? Beside being firm, is it lively, active, supported by good works; or rather, does it bear any resemblance to that fruitless and dead faith, of which the Apostle
