• Biographical booklet
• Altar Card
• Golden Jubilee Book

• Rome the Goal of the Oxford Movement
• Loyalty to the Church of England
• The Cart of Abinadab
• Benediction in the Church of England
• Canterbury and York: Two Provinces of Rome

• Meditations on the Spiritual Life
• The Sacrament of Orders
• What is Catholic Authority?
• The Holy Ghost the Source of Infallibility
• The Popes and The Bible
• The Bishops of London and Benediction

Veni Creator.
Come, Holy Ghost, our souls inspire,
And lighten with celestial fire ;
Thou the anointing Spirit art,
Who dost Thy sevenfold gifts impart :
Thy blessed unction from above
Is comfort, life, and fire of love ;
Enable with perpetual light
The dulness of our blinded sight :
Anoint and cheer our soiled face
With the abundance of Thy grace :
Keep far our foes, give peace at home ;
Where Thou art Guide no ill can come.
Teach us to know the Father, Son,
And Thee, of Both, to be but One ;
That through the ages all along
This may be our endless song,
Praise to Thy eternal merit,
Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Amen.

O my God I am not worthy to appear before Thee. But do Thou, O Lord, have mercy upon me, and of Thine infinite goodness give me grace to use this time of Meditation in such a manner as may tend to Thy glory and my own spiritual advancement. Enlighten my understanding, touch my heart, and strengthen my will, that, increasing in the knowledge and love of Thee, I may serve Thee henceforward with greater fidelity ; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

O my God, I thank Thee for all the help Thou hast given me in this Meditation. To Thee I offer all holy thoughts, good intentions and resolutions, with which Thou hast inspired me, for Thy greater glory, and the salvation of my own soul. Forgive all that has been amiss and grant me grace with the whole company of heaven, the Blessed Virgin Mary, and all the saints to praise, adore, serve, and love Thee, both now and hereafter, for ever and ever in heaven, through Jesus Christ our Lord, Who liveth and reigneth with Thee and the Holy Ghost, ever one God, world without end. Amen.

Soul of Christ, sanctify me.
Body of Christ, save me.
Blood of Christ, inebriate me.
Water from the side of Christ, wash me.
Passion of Christ, strengthen me.
O good Jesu, hear me.
Within Thy wounds hide me.
Suffer me not to be separated from Thee.
From the malicious enemy defend me.
In the hour of my death call me,
And bid me come to Thee.
That with Thy Saints I may praise Thee.
For ever and ever. Amen.

Our Father, Hail Mary.
+ May the Divine Assistance remain with us always. And may the souls of the faithful departed through the mercy of God rest in peace. Amen.

But now, O Lord, Thou art Our Father ... we are all Thy people,-ISAIAH 64-8, 9.

1. Prayer demands a two-told union with God.
The union of friendship produced by charity. " Thou art Our Father ; " " We are Thy people." To begin prayer we unite ourselves with God. The second union is by devout affections, meditations, and external acts. Tills is the effect of prayer itself.

2. God hears even unformed prayer.
Even the desire is heard. "-The Lord hath heard the desire of the poor." He does this because He knows that they are not going to be satisfied with this unformed prayer ; they are going to ask in words ; so He says, " Before they call I will answer, and while they are yet speaking I will hear." So swiftly does God recognize tlie devout desire, so unerringly does He see the effort after words. Without such an effort, without such a desire, there is no promise of a hearing, since He says : " Ask and ye shall receive."

3. Prayer is the asking fitting things from God.
Prayer is an act of the reason, it is a certain kind of petition. S. Isidore says : " To pray is the same thing as to speak." The formed prayer includes the desire, the mind and the will ; all in the word. The speaking must be towards God, we approach Him of Whom we ask. S. Denys says : " When we invoke God in prayer, we are before Him with our minds bare." Prayer is the ascent of our minds towards God, and the ascent is made by words. Therefore we say : " Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be always acceptable in Thy sight, O Lord."

Thou, O God, sentest a gracious rain upon Thine Inheritance.-PSALM 68-9.

1. Drought in the soul is caused by something hindering
the freshness of grace from getting to it. It is due to the sensitive soul being still somewhat carnal. It grieves and feels dry because it is deprived of its sensuous sensations : and because it is still affected by carnal delights, and longs for them, The Fire of Divine Love does not burn liotly enough in it to give the feelings their satisfaction. There is a hindrance of the rain of grace, without which the soul must feel dry.

2. Thou sentest a gracious rain.
The fields, so parched and dry from the long-continued drought, are refreshed with the dew of the Holy Ghost. Now that the rain has come, there is a fresh burst of life in the soul. The fountains of compunction are opened and the feelings are moved, from Heaven. The gracious rain has fallen and the weary soul is refreshed. There is a fragrance, very sweet, from the herbage, like rain on the mown grass ; the virtues of the soul give forth their sweet fragrance : subdued joy wells up in the soul.

3. The emotions are only to be relied upon
when they are moved by the Holy Ghost. Body and soul we are ; and body and soul we shall be in Heaven. In Purgatory we are all soul, and souls deprived of their bodies are sad, till the Vision of God cheers them in view of the Resurrection. While on the way, we receive much of our delight from the senses, and that delight is pure and gives satisfaction, when the senses are illumined and refined by tlie Holy Gliost. Under His influence they act as screens which let in light, but keep out dust and dirt. The Power of the Holy Ghost has a double action. He purifies the senses and He lifts the curse from creatures. So that with disciplined will and chastened senses, we can look at, and listen to, we can taste and feel and smell, the spiritual essences with which the Blessed Spirit endues the things of sense. The deep of the spirit within us calls unto the Deep of the Holy Ghost, in the things of sense.

No thought can be withholden from Thee.-JOB 42-2.

1. The thoughts we try to withhold from God
may be indifferent. They could be made good by disclosing them to Him ; because the act of dis-closure is an act of the soul which furthers self-revelation or self-expression, or nearness to God. The thoughts we try to conceal may be bad. To show them to God J.s the beginning of a process by which they will get ejected from the soul, O how hard it is to keep them out ! Confession and Absolution, however, render them harmless. What a comfort !

2. By taking God into our fullest confidence
we avoid anxiety. We do not try to conceal any-thing from Him. No thought will be withheld from Him. This is a good way of avoiding anxiety. What are the things that worry you ? Usually the things that you have tried to keep from Him, If you accepted only what He gave, you would have nothing that you could not ask His Blessing on. Why should you fear to lose -what He gave you with His Blessing? Is He not able to ensure to you the continued possession of what He originally gave you ? Talk your worries out with Him. You will quickly set them in their true perspective.

3. You have thoughts about yourself
which you don't like to put to Him. What are they ? You can't withhold them from Him. They are already known to Him. Still, you are the proper person to lay tnem before Him. Say to Him : " O My God, I feel so barren, dry and unprofitable that I can't look up to Thee. My heart feels dead ; my pulse scarce beats ; and my breath can scarce make a vapour on the glass. I am feeble : without thought : without emotion : without purpose. I can't feel You : nor see o nor hear. What good am I ? I am, " as it were a beast before Thee." He will answer you : " My child, you have Me, Do not forget. I do not forsake you."

The time of the singing of birds is come.-SONG OF SONGS 2-12.

1. Had the lark been a bird of their country
how the inspired writers would have pressed him into the service of God ! Even S. Francis, greatest of bird lovers, had no chance of hearing the lark. His song-fills earth and sky like the song of Angels. How God must love it ! He created it in love. . It gains something from its setting : the fragrance of the field : the quiet-ness : the wide expanse of sky. O the strength of his song i " Singing, singing. With clouds and sky about him ringing." That lark is drunk with joy. O the joyousness, the hopefulness, and the happiness of his song !

2. "Happy birds that sing and fly
Round Thine Altars O most High ! "

Why should I not rise up into heavenly places ! Up with my soul, like the lark up into the clouds ! " Why art thou so full of heaviness O rny soul : O put thy trust in God." Learn to sing in soul as the lark in the sky, praising your Maker.

3. Console the sad.
The lark's song is the overflow of a glad heart. If your heart is full of the consolations of God, its overflow will console and gladden those about you. Your power is hidden in your heart ; like the lark in the clouds of light : or like music in a church, overflowing upon the passer-by. With half the gladness of the lark, your lips will pour out such cheerful music that the world will listen to you, as you listen to the hidden songster obscured in the brightness of the sky.

Call upon Me in the time of trouble.-PSALM 5O-15.

1. If you desire to be in union with Our Lord
you must be prepared to be tempted. He was led up into the wilderness to be tempted and it was by prayer and meditation and contemplation of His Father that He resisted and overcame the Tempter. During all the time He gave Himself to prayer ; prayer was His Occupation : His Fortress : and His Weapon of Offence.

2. Prayer is necessary for our Salvation.
Our Lord uses the word of obligation. " Men ought always to pray." We cannot satisfy our wants except by prayer. You need prayer. There is a certain class of devil that cannot be expelled from your mind except by prayer and fasting. By prayer we honour God : by prayer we glorify God : we put ourselves in the lowest place and God in the highest. The more frequently a Catholic prays, the more does he become assured of God's Love. By prayer your faith and love increase : you get a greater knowledge of God and a greater love for Him. Feebleness of faith comes from neglect of prayer : and the soul, losing this virtue, loses God.

3. Everybody can pray : everybody can walk ; everybody can talk.
To practise walking, you must walk : to practise singingy you must sing : to practise praying, you must pray, To pray well requires study, and everyone who tries can improve. You want to praise and honour God- pray. You want to contemplate God and be happy- pray. You want to open Heaven and have God's blessings showered down on you and yours-pray. You want to have a soul that knows that its strength is in God : a soul firm in faith : a soul moved by love : a soul exercised in virtue - pray. You want to be worthy of grace : you want to ward off the wrath of a justly offended God-then lift up your mind to God in prayer.

And they went every one straight forward : whither the Spirit was to go they went.-EZEKIEL 1-12.

1. The Living Creatures are the Four Gospels.
They are the means of spreading truth. They are under the control of the Holy Ghost Who is the Spirit of the Catholic Church, and where the Spirit, of God goes, the Church and the Gospels go. They go straight forward and they turn not when they go. They go straight forward to convert the world : to enter the heart : to convict of sin : and to turn others to God.

2. Our senses are to be controlled by the soul.
Where the spirit goes, they go. The soul, by Reason, should direct the movements of the senses : forbidding what is hurtful : condemning what is sinful : directing towards what is helpful and healthy. The salvation of the senses is the business of Reason. How watchful we should be over our senses, seeing that they supply the mind with thoughts ! Guard the eyes, the ears, the taste, the smell and the touch from those things which excite them to sin. The senses are the gates of the soul. You need not let anything harmful enter, to dwell in your thoughts or to excite desire.

3. The office of the soul is to uplift the senses.
The body has to be prepared for the Resurrection. The body is to share eternal life with the soul. The soul acts through the body : and the body on the soul. By means of the bodily members the soul can be given increased power, or reduced to absolute weakness. If the senses do their work well, the soul responds, and pays back by lifting up the body into a higher spiritual life. There is no sin in the senses, nor in material things. Sin is inside us. It is what comes out of a man that defiles him,-as evil thoughts. My senses deserve to have good training as servants of my soul, so that where the spirit goes, they go. I'll be master to-day. I'll rule the unruly member.

My soul and reason taught by Faith will make every thought subject to Christ.

For I will yet give Him thanks.-PSALM 43-6.

1. Give God thanks even in the time of heaviness.
Thanksgiving invites fresh benefits. Count your blessings, and even while you are counting them, the clouds disperse. When you are praised, it does you good, if you receive it as from God. You pass it through the filter of your reason and your judgment, but you know that even after this filtration, very little of it is really deserved. On the other hand, while praise of men is mixed with some evil, praise of God lias no single drawback. It can be given lavishly : it opens a field for the exercise of unstinted generosity : it wakens up all your spiritual and mental powers to make a supreme effort, worthy of Him Whom you praise.

2. In praising God, the scul, like a flower
under the sun, gives forth all its fragrance : the mists that hung about it are dispersed ; it receives a new beauty : rejoices in reciprocal love : for God blesses the soul that praises Him and gives Him thanks.

3. Blessed be God : praised be His Love!
He is adorable in all His Works, and Ways. He has not left us to ourselves, but sending His Holy Spirit to us He draws us up into heavenly places in Christ Jesus, giving us a place in the firmament of His Eternal Glory. He sent forth His Light and His Truth that He might lead us to His Holy Hill and to His Dwelling : and with tliese powers in our hearts, we can say : "I will go unto the Altar of God, even unto the God of my joy and gladness, and there will I give Him thanks Who is the Help of my countenance and my God."

Praise to the Lord Who doth prosper thy work and defend thee ;
Surely His Goodness and Mercy here daily attend thee ;

Ye ask and receive not, because ye ask amiss.-JAMES 4-3.

1. There are people whose prayers God does not choose to hear.
People often say : "I have prayed, and done every-thing that I can think of, and yet there is no answer." God does not hear the prayers of obstinate sinners. Get cleansed from sin and your prayers go up. You ask amiss when you ask without faith. You may be quite sure that you are praying in vain when you say : " Well, I'll say a prayer about it : but of course nothing will come of it." Whatever comes after such a prayer does not come as the reward of faith.

2. Having cleansed your conscience in the Blood of Jesus,
You must pray in spirit and in truth. There should be an inward ardour of soul. This is the way to pray in public and in private. This is the way which does not interfere with anyone else. It is done to please God, your Father, Who desires such prayer and appre-ciates it. This way of praying in spirit and in truth gives power to the prayers which you say with your lips, which are called vocal prayers.

3. Many people do not pray at all
because they despise the only kind of prayer of which they are capable, that is, vocal prayer. For all children, and for the vast majority of men and women it is true to say, that unless they say their prayers regularly they make no progress in prayer. Saying the prayers makes you attend to what you say, and saying them aloud, or at least so that you can hear yourself, has the effect of arousing devotion. By words, and actions, and signs, and symbols we increase holy desires. In private prayer, it is a good thing, at times, to utter the words aloud, according as it serves devotion : but in public prayer, at certain fixed times, the utterance of the words must on no account be omitted.

But I must die in this land, I must not go over Jordan.- DEUT. 4-22.

1. This was Moses's penance.
He was told to speak to the Rock and it would pour out water. He struck it in a rage and said : " Ye rebels, must we bring you water out of this rock." His sin was that he wanted to get into Canaan before God's time. He didn't want to be detained in the Wilderness. He didn't want water from the rock, He wanted the people to be forced to march along by thirst. This water would delay them. He and Aaron were getting old. Their chances of being in at the end of the wanderings were getting fewer ; and oh ! how those old leaders longed to see with their own eyes tlie lovely land of Canaan-the Promised Land. But selfishness is often punished by deprivation. Moses and Aaron were told by God that because of their sin, they should not lead the congregation into this Land.

2. Jordan is the boundary between the Desert of Penance
and the rich land of entire surrender to the Will of God. So many souls look enviously over Jordan and think : " It is not for me : I must not go over Jordan." Yet it is God's Will that you should go over Jordan and rest in the land of Devotion. A very mixed company of Israel went over : the Publicans and Harlots are entering in. Why not go over ? It is your inheritance. Harden not your heart, lest God should say : "Ye shall not enter into My Rest." Bear your penance, and then claim your reward.

3. Moses' prayer was answered.
" I pray Thee let me go over to see the good land that is beyond Jordan." Many hundred years later, this prayer was answered. God had hidden the body of Moses in a valley, and no man knew the sepulchre. But the Son of God wanted Moses in that " goodly mountain" of Tabor, and Michael the Archangel, in the teeth of the Devil, who contended over it, fetched the body of Moses. Moses and Elias saw the Transfiguration of the Lord Jesus. They saw Him Who is Truth, glorified. There is a better land of Truth and Love than the good land which Moses prayed for ; God generously rewards those who generously do penance ; and grants them, even now, to dwell in the Land of Promise, among His chosen people.

Your adversary the devil, walketh about seeking whom he may devour.-i PETER 5-8.

1. Satan, the adversary or opponent, the devil, or the accuser.
By the weakest instruments our Lord overthrows Satan's power and humbles his pride. The servants of God need have no fear of the devil. By nature they are very much inferior, but by grace they are incomparably superior. Their union with God gives them a super-natural force capable of withstanding the whole power of Hell. The soul is a sanctuary guarded by the will, and no one by violence can enter there. It is of the first importance that the rupture between us and Satan should be complete, and that the soul should become his resolute antagonist.

2. The Church forbids under the severest penalties,
all voluntary communication with Satan, as through Spiritualism. Where curiosity leads to the breaking of the Church's rules in this regard, tlie enemy of souls fast brings about a loss of balance in the disobedient : and then he inflicts on them strange illnesses, brain disorders, and suicidal tendencies. All this is the result of voluntary intercourse with evil spirits. Very different are those combats with the devil which are decreed by God for our good. Such struggles are the means of attaining glory and in them we need not fail, for we have the requisite grace.

3. From Our Lord's conduct towards the enemy
we learn that we must not enter into conversation with him. A short, sharp answer and then silence. In violent temptation act promptly and vigourously. " Resist the devil and he will nee from you." Re-member that he cannot snatch you away from God : that he is seldom allowed to take you by surprise ; and that prayer and watchfulness are the weapons which prevent his temptations taking hold of you.

Mortify therefore your members which are upon earth.-COL. 3-5.

1. The Cross is the badge of a Christian:
it is the key by which to open the door of Christian Mortification : it shows the right motive and the right means. There are many wrong motives for mortification. It is no gain that you actually do the hard things. If such doings are actuated by a bad motive and are devoid of charity they are useless. The pagans practise mortification for various wrong motives. Puritanism and Protestantism use the same wrong motives. Their error is that matter is evil, and they think that the body is evil : food is evil : drink is evil : beauty is evil : the beauty of the human form is evil; wine is evil. They think that all things pleasant to the senses are evil.

2. Mortification which is based on such error
produces anything but a Christian ascetic. It produces the African medicine man : the devil-worshipper the Indian fakir : the monstrous, twisted, forms of those who mutilate themselves ; who court sickness for its own sake ; and deny themselves all love and all the good things of life because they think they are in them-selves evil. It produces total abstainers : puritans : cold, hard, unloving and unloveable people who separate themselves from others because they regard all intercourse with their fellow-creatures, and especially with the opposite sex, as horrible, detestable, and unholy.

3. Ail this is contrary to the Mind of Christ.
This is not taking up the Cross. It is more like the spirit of the Evil one, and of a dislike of life and of human nature. Wine is not evil : intercourse with our fellow creatures is not evil : sexual love is beauti-ful wlien exercised according to God's Law. We must seek the Cross always, and mortify whatever member makes it hardest to bear it. By the Gross we crucify the flesh. By it our vision of God is cleared. The Cross saves us from useless mortification : it supplies the right motives and tlie right means of attaining our last end. Through it our spirit gains control over the five senses and the victory over the flesh : for Christ's sake,

The Lord My God shall make my darkness to be light.-PSALM 18-28.

1. Looking into a still lake you see reflections,
and the first reflection that you see is the sky. And so it should be I-Ieaven that your eye first lights on when you look into your soul. You can see nothing in the lake without light from the sky, and your soul is a. black mass of meaningless darkness unless it reflects Heaven. With the Light of Heaven you can discern the depths : you can see what is ugly and deformed and mend it ; and you can see natural beauties set in a lovely light. There are lovely colours in the water : growths of plants : the reflection of the water-fowl and of a passing bird.

2. The soul should be a mirror of Heaven.
O the glories of cloud-land ! O the virtues of the Angels ! O the magic of colour ! all reflected in the waters of that deep lake-your soul. It lias laid its past in the depths, and the deposit of years has hardened into a rocky bottom, bound firm by memory and made per-manent. The flowers on the margin are the more recent acquisitions of virtues.

3. "The Lord is My Light aisd My Salvation."
o The light in your soul is supernatural, it is from^ the Lord Himself. He transforms all. His beams irra-diate every recess of the soul. The Holy Ghost searches through its caverns with candles, looking for the work of Christ, searching for tlie effects of grace. When He finds them He makes them fast ; establishing what is good and taking away, by the spirit of contrition, what is evil. So the soul keeps God and Light and Holiness in her depths, and she is not disturbed by surface emotions.

They could not enter in because of unbelief. - HEBREWS 3-19.

1. " Let God be true and every man a liar."
This is the dictum of a believer. The dictum of the unbeliever is rather : " God cannot be true, because what He says is contradicted by great numbers of men." God is contradicted by them that have not faith. God is there for them, as for the faithful : but they do not see Him. Heaven is open before them : but they see no beauty in it ; and so they go not in, because of unbelief.

2. " They could not enter in."
Want of faith means want of power. Knowledge is power, and faith is the means of knowledge of God and of Heaven. Fear is in possession unless faith rules : Heaven looks fearful to the faithless. The believer looks into Heaven and he is stimulated with hope : the unbeliever looks in and he sees that everything has a forbidding aspect. The unbeliever looks_ for carnal luxury and he sees nothing of that sort. He loves ^ sin and there is no sin there. He loves the world, and it is not there. He loves himself, and he is not there. He cannot enter in because the ability which faith gives, is not in him.

3. The unbeliever goes away from the Gate of Heaven,
and like the faithless spies he makes an evil report of the land. The Angels look like monstrous and blood-thirsty giants : in his own eyes he is as a grasshopper at the mercy of the gigantic inhabitants. He is filled with fear and he takes flight as though pursued by a thousand devils : while really it was hosts of Angels and Saints that lie saw approaching him with a friendly invitation. He knew not the day of his opportunity.

We know that all things work together for good to them that love God.-ROMANS 8-28.

1. Everybody receives enough grace to be a Saint,
known or unknown to man. Many become disqualified for Heaven because they only aim at qualifying for Purgatory. Some miss the mark because they are not content with the degree of sainthood given them. They think that because they cannot emulate the " holy follies " of the Saints they need not try for the crown at death. Because they only have the vocation to be average, they despise it : and only attain bare salvation : " yet so as by fire."

2. Some waste their time practising in a second-band way,
" the follies " of some saint, while wholly neglecting to acquire the solid virtues without which no one can be a saint of any kind. Sanctity is won by failures, that is, by falls and sins. They humble you and shame you, and you feel your feebleness and your need of Our Lord's Grace. Falls do you no harm provided you start again. S. Teresa says that God is often more pleased by our longings than by their execution. Perhaps in spite of yourself the Omnipotent God will make you a saint.

3. The best discipline is the perseverance in perfection
in the things of ordinary daily occurrence. Such per-severance requires the constant conquest of self. Tins is far better than choosing something unusual, as the hair-shirt : here there is danger of self-will. _ When tempted to relax and to give way say : '" I vow 1 won't, this time." Live by the moment ; inhibit past failures and future fears. Just please Jesus for now ; be in it neck and crop.

Therefore to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin. - JAMES 4-17.

1. Heaven is for those who have been faithful
to the ties and obligations placed on them by God. God's way of training souls in view of fitting them for Heaven is the way of obligation. It is so in natural religion. The ties of kindred are binding : the laws of the State : tlie ties of natural justice : prudence : fortitude : temperance : the ties of the Light that lightens every man : the truth as he sees it : these and many other things impose binding obligations even upon the natural man. God imposes them. They are ties.

2. It is so in Revelation.
Everything that we learn from the Church imposes obligations. The Ten Commandments : the Precepts of the Church : the Creeds : all make ties which must be kept under pain of sin. The virtue of Religion and of tlie Sacraments consists in the obligation. Until the obligation is acknowledged the religion does not bind, once acknowledged, it must be kept. The School of Obligation is God's way of preparing us for Heaven : and because of God's Love it comes to pass that where the souls will not bind themselves, He binds them. It is a dispensation of His Love that pain and trial, bereave-ment and sorrow, descend upon tlie soul, tying it by chains that can only be loosed by God.

3. The obligation of liberty in God and of conscience
must be duly adjusted to the laws of the State and of Holy Church. You must find in God Himself the re-conciliation of contradictions and solve the harder problems by following in the Way of the Cross. For He, the Model, learned obedience by the things which He suffered and earned His glory by doing His Father's Will, and so promoting His Father's Glory. You, too, must gain your glory by promoting His. You must set yourself against the tendency to evade ties. Ties are to be wel-comed and loved. It must be your aim to get the freedom which is to be found in fulfilling duties and obligations rather than that false freedom which is hoped for, by evading them. Obedience is the law of love ; and obligation is the law of obedience.

If ye love Me keep My Commandments.-S. JOHN 14-15.

1. Prayer comes of necessity with Divine Love.
It is when love grows cold and the vision dim, that we cease to pray. Prayer is the lifting up of the mind and heart to God. It is the exercise of faith, hope, and charity ; what is not exercised dies : we lose the ' faculty we do not use. Neglect : disuse : the scrap-heap : is the history of many people's prayers. Just as discretion is needed for the management of Grace, so method is needed for the keeping up of prayer. The spiritual life, and prayer, should be submitted to orderly rules ; those who wish to make progress should also take counsel of those who are experienced in spiritual things.

2. Make use of the accumulated wisdom of the past,
and of the wisdom of those who are expert in prayer. Make known your difficulties, they often disappear when you get wise direction about them. Remem-ber that most of your difficulties are due to your ignorance of yourself, and self-knowledge should grow side by side with the knowledge of God. If you are not getting to know yourself, as you are in God's sight, you may be quite sure that you are making no progress in the knowledge of God.

3. Self-deception is the greatest hindrance to prayer.
There are people who think that they pray, and even boast of their prayers, who are filled with spiritual pride and deceive themselves. Unless you are very strict with yourself, your heart will deceive you and your prayers will suffer. All judging of others : all complaining : all envy : sloth : worldliness and pleasure-seeking : are detrimental to prayer. There is no need to consult anyone over these difficulties. What you need is self-examination with the Candle of the Holy Ghost and then to reform yourself. If you love God you will keep His Commands,, There is great joy in obeying the behests of love, and there is great delight in His Commandments. Obedience makes you wise and brings light and understanding with it. Where there is no obedience there is no love, for it is a proof of love, and without love it is impossible. If you wish to learn to pray well you must do what God tells you to do, you must keep His Commandments.

By night on my bed I sought Him Whom my soul loveth : I sought Him but I found Him not.-SONG OF SONGS, 3-1.

1. O the heart-brealtiag intervals between His visits!
Desolation and panic and unrest and sadness ; nay, wild and ungovernable grief. If my soul had blood, it would shed it now ; my heart is disquieted, my peace is gone, nothing satisfies : Jesus is gone. It is useless to ask why He has left me, it is more than I can grasp that He is not here. He was here but now, but gone He is, and my soul is in the depths of despair. There is nothing beautiful in the world without Jesus.

2. O night of grief ! O dreadful night !
How thick the darkness of tliy clouds ! O night when in the very bed of the tomb " I sought Him Whom my soul loveth, I sought Him but I found Him not." I found not Him, and the whole world is a desolation ; empty, no glory, no love, no joy, all is useless till I find Him again.

3. Surely Ha has gone down to Gethsemane, to grieve there.
I asked the watchman, it was night. They had seen Him go down. the Way of Sorrows. O my Jesus ! why did I not know where to find you ? \Vhy should I look for you in the rainbow, in cloud and lovely mountain ? Thou art the Man Who died for me, I know Thee Who Thou art, the Man of Sorrows and acquainted with grief. Now down to Gethsemane and Calvary I go. I join my grief with Thine, I pour out my soul with Thine. Let me be with Thee in this sorrow. The watchm':n of pain and grief, the sentinels of tlie Passion, knew where He was ; " it was but a little while that I passed from them, but I found Him Whom my soul loveth." God be praised for the Cross of Jesus ! It is His trysting-place where I may always find Him in grief and in distress.

He that taketh not his cross and followeth after Me, is not worthy of Me. - S. MATTHEW 1O-38.

1. The Cross is the badge of a Christian,
not merely worn round the neck, but burnt Into the flesh." Suffering is the badge of all their tribe." S. Augustine says you can tell you are not a true servant of God, if you haven't yet suffered tribulation : and that you can liold it for certain that you have not yet begun, because S. Paul says : " all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution."

2. The virtue of patience is tested by daily bearing of the cross.
Silence is often the greatest achievement of patience. Our Lord's silence in His Passion has made the deepest impression on His Church : and it is represented at every Mass by the low, or secret, voice of the priest ordered for most of the Canon. It is shown by the lives of those who copy Our Lord in His silence ; Who, when He was reviled He suffered it - He was dumb ; and opened not His mouth.

3. Silence under calumny.
S. Romuald, a famous Abbot, and founder of many religious communities, was calumniated by a young noble, who was exasperated by the Saint's frequent and sever rebukes. The young man charged the Saint with a detestable crime. His own monks believed it, and in sole-mn chapter forbade him to say Mass, and sentenced him to be kept from Communion. He bore it all in silence and patience for six months : until God showed him that it was not right to be silent under so scandalous an accusation, seeing that it was without foundation : nor that he should submit to so irregular a sentence pronounced without authority. That he should be thought guilty was a very heavy cross for so pure and holy a man to bear, and that he should clear himself and resist the sentence was also a cross. He did tlie hard thing in each event. Herein is seen the follower of the Lamb.

And found it in the wood.-PSALM 132-6.

1. It was the Lord God who hid Himself
in the little wooden house at Nazareth, and afterwards among the trees at Gethsemane : and then on the Wood of the Cross. He meant everyone who wanted Him to find Him. He hid Himself to see if they would care enough to look for Him, and He hid Himself where He could be easily found by those who sought Him. Just as He hid Himself in the Temple because He wished His blessed Mother and S. Joseph to know once and for all that He can always be found in His Father's House. We can always find Him in the Wood of the Cross, and the marks of His Precious Blood tell us which is the True Cross. It is lucky to touch wood, because the Gross was made of wood.

2. A wood is a place of mystery.
There is darkness, now, round the Gross, like that which fell on It on that Good Friday. The darkness hides Him, but v/hen we get to the Gross He lets a little of His Light appear, and if we stay there, it grows and grows, till we find God in His own Light. It does not do to be put off by the darkness. The darker it is, the more the soul should pray for light. The dark-ness is only there to make us seek more earnestly and pray more importunately.

3. Having found the Wood we must not go away
till we have found His Divinity, His Precious Blood and His Most Sacred Heart. We must seek also for His Blessed Mother who always stands by His Gross. She, too, is hidden in the mysteries of the Passion, in the thick shadows of the Wood. We cannot find a better place to pray to her than in this Wood. In all times of darkness and desolation seek this Wood, and there pour out your prayers as Our Lord did in Gethsemane. These prayers will surely be answered, you will find the answer in the Wood.

Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field . . . shall He not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith. - S. MATTHEW 6-3O.

1. Anxiety is a cause of unhappiness;
it arises from covetousness, the worldly spirit, and from want of faith. When you become anxious you have a warning that your heart is not altogether right with God. You cannot serve God and Mammon, If you serve Mammon you deserve to be unhappy : and if you serve God anxiety is unreasonable. No anxiety about food would make you taller : the matter of growth is not in your hands : the lilies grow under the Hand of God and so do you : you will be as high as God wills, no higher ; and He loves little things. You depend altogether on God for your height, why distrust Him about your life : your food, your clothes ?

2. God is your Father: He charges Himself with the provision
of food, and clothes and all things necessary. Take them from Him thankfully : but don't take His business into your own hands. If you are anxious, perhaps you are taking on more than you can manage-the evil of to-morrow in addition to the inevitable evil of to-day. What if God should leave you to it ? What if He should say : " Yery well : you won't trust me : and you must accept the consequences of taking your affairs out of My Hands." Our Lord advises us to leave our affairs in God's Hands. He positively orders us to " seek first the Kingdom of God and His Righteousness."

3. The great hindrance to happiness is in ourselves,
and so God requires us to fit ourselves for happiness by getting just. Seek His Righteousness. You cannot be a doctor without learning anatomy and medicine ; and you cannot learn if you are a duffer. God does not require you to study anatomy before you eat and drink : nor to know medicine in case you get sick : but He does require you to study Him and His Laws and His Kingdom, and to learn righteousness. Then you will be fit for real happiness, the only sort that He provides. Seek first the Kingdom. Before daily care, seek daily prayer : before daily v/ork seek Daily Mass : before daily evil, seek daily penance : and then to-day is really yours, and happiness is as God wills.

Call now if there be any that will answer thee, and turn to some of the saints.-JOB 5-1.

1. The Catholic Church encourages prayers to the Angels and Saints.
She therefore uses this text in accordance with her practice. The above translation is from the Vulgate, which seems to be the best there is of this verse. The dislike of the Reformers to prayers to the Saints, led them to render this verse in such a way that prayers to the Saints would seem to be discouraged by the Scriptures. In the Greek of the LXX the word " Angels," is substituted, so that the command is to turn to one of the holy Angels. The Church, however, adopts the wider view that recourse is to be had to the Saints as well as to the Angels.

2. S. Thomas Aquinas explains the way the Church acts in this matter.
He says that prayer is addressed to a person in two ways : in one way that he may grant a. petition, in the other, that he may further it. In the former way we pray to God for grace and for glory, for God alone can give grace and glory ; but in the latter way we pray to Saints and to Angels; that by their help, their prayers, and the'ir merits, they may get us what we want from God. O what a mercy that our prayers can pass through this strainer ! The Saints are altogether pleasing to God and they know His Will : they would not allow into tlieir prayers anything that would offend God. It is not a sign of piety to be always blundering into the Presence of the Majesty on High, it is more modest and more prudent to try to learn the ways of His Court. The Catholic Church undertakes our education in these ways, and sends us into the Presence escorted by personages of account in the Royal Eyes, namely, the canonized Saints and the unfallen Angels.

3. By their natural faculties they could neither hear vocal prayer, nor read the heart.
But by being shown such things as is fitting for them to know, they can discern, in the Divine Word, even the interior movements of the heart. It is better to use vocal prayers ; they are more finished and exact than unexpressed desires. There are, at the same time, desires so deep and so purposeful that words seem to weaken their energy and to narrow their scope. Thank God that both kinds of prayer are heard ! All sorts of prayers are heard by God, and such things as we desire the saints to know about us, are shown to them by the Grace and Courtesy of Our Loving Lord.

We will remember thy love more than wine.-SONG OF SONGS, 1-4.

1. The Love of Jesus is intoxicating.
Wine intoxicates, and elevates. You remember it because it made you feel happy. The Love of Jesus is better than wine. It does more than intoxicate, it does more than elevate, it keeps you up. The memory of it enables you to keep on a higher level of action. The beauty of being intoxicated within measure, is that all the faculties are stimulated to their highest power. But even moderate intoxication by wine suffers from the re-action afterwards. The Love of Jesus is not the cause of any such reaction. We remember it more than wine because its joy is everlasting.

2. The Love of Jesus carries you over all your troubles.
Wine has this effect for a time, and the memory of this good might lead to an unmeasured indulgence in it. You can indulge in the Love of Jesus without measure, and with the memory of it you should never have troubles on top of you. The Love of Jesus lifts you above yourself: lifts all your powers into the super-natural : lifts your soul to God : and lifts you above pain, distress, anxiety and dismay.

3. The memory is the storehouse of the soul.
What you have in your memory is your real posses-sion. Keep the store-house clean, and keep the memories sweet. The Love of Jesus sweetens the memory. It is the music that vibrates in the memory after the soft voices have died away. It is the fragrance of the flower which has passed through the senses into the depths of the soul. It is tlie heaped up petals of all the virtues plucked by faith, and laid as a resting-place for Jesus to recline on in the soul. The memory of the Love of Jesus makes preparation for Communion a joy, as His visit to the soul in Communion renews our love and fits the soul for further adventures of faith, The Love of Jesus is wonderful. We will remember it more than wine.

God is faithful, Who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able. - 1 COR. 1O-13.

1. Our Lord permits His children to be overtaken by perils, temptations, and severe trials,
in order that they may learn to know their own help-lessness, and fry to Him for His Divine Succour. Tempta-tions compel our humility. Our Lord designs to teach us to have recourse to Him by prayer, as the ordinary means of gaining His Help. He designs that we should have unshaken faith in Him, that no temptations or trials should be able to shake it; that nothing should make us forget Him, or move us from Him.

2. He seems to leave us in desolation,
when faith seems dead and charity cold, that we may persevere in our appeals for help : that we may be excited to watchfulness : and that we should learn not to be " put off" by His apparent heedlessness. He does care. " The very hairs of your head are all numbered." Even in the fiercest temptations learn to say : " Though He slay me yet will I trust in Him." He designs to give us confidence in His supreme power over all things both within us and witliout us.

3. " Count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations,"
for they are devised by God for the strengthening of our faith and for our eternal glory. Yet we rightly pray that we may not enter into temptation of our own will : we rightly shrink from temptations lest we be overcome : we always pray " lead us not into temptation." But we need not fear- over-much. Our Lord is watching us all the time and He says, " I will keep thee from the hour of temptation." Let us be confident in Him. In times of temptation let us remain faithful to our spiritual duties and adhere to the good resolutions made in quieter and happier times. " In hope believing against hope," that in His own good time the trial will pass, and that our peace will be restored to us.

God is faithful, Who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able.- 1 COR. 1O-13.

1. God Himself is with you in the temptation.
He says : " as thy days so shall thy strength be." He will supply all your need and if you are to be tempted greatly, you will be greatly helped. God's Strength is without limit, and He can, and will, give you as much as you need. You could not be tempted unless God allowed it. God is far stronger than Satan. The devil could not touch Job except with God's permission, and he cannot try and tempt you unless God allows it. Satan is not even allowed to keep the keys of his own house. The keys of death and of hell liang at the girdle of Christ. Our Lord controls Satan so that he can do no real harm to you so long as you keep on the Lord's side and go not over to the enemy.

2. The tide of trial shall rise to high-water mark
and then God shall say : " Hither shalt thou come and no further." He shall not suffer you to be tempted above that you are able. In regard to the time when the temptation comes. God times the temptations so tliat they fall when they will have their best result. God sends trials at the right time. There are temptations, which if they came in youth, could not be borne. There are temptations, which if they came at the time of sickness, could not be borne. If one set of troubles comes to you, another set departs.

3. As regards the continuance of the trouble.
If some trials lasted much longer they would be too much for you. God often makes quick work with your temptations because, if they lasted longer, they would have a bad, and not a good effect upon you. Yet there are some trials that are protracted year by year because they would be no use to you if they were shortened. God makes our temptations to last just as long as they are good for us, and no longer. He stops the strain at the right point. Sometimes you are so tired that one more breath would blow you over : one ounce more would make you sink in the waters : then He places His Everlasting Arms under you and you are borne up and brought safely to shore.

God is faithful . . . Who will with the temptation also make a way to escape.-1 COR. 1O-13.

1. There is only one proper way out of a temptation,
and that is the straight way which God Himself has provided. When Nebuchadnezzar tried and tempted the Three Children, there was a way by which they could have avoided the fiery furnace. They had only to fall down and worship the brazen image which the King had set up. That way would never have answered because it was not the way which God had made. The way for them was to be cast into the furnace, and then to have the Son of God walking with them in the midst of the fire, so that the fire could not hurt them. Do not try to escape from your trials the wrong way.

2. The right way is always of God's making.
You have not to make your way of escape from it. There was a man very hard up for money, and he made himself a way by using money with which lie was en-trusted : that was not God's way, so the result was that he landed himself in deeper trouble. Sometimes the best thing for you to do in trouble, is to do nothing but : " stand still and see the Salvation of God." When God led Israel out of Egypt He led them by a way at which any ordinary general might cavil. They got into a place from which there was only one way of escape, and that way by a miracle. What was God's way ? Right through the Red Sea, and on the other side they sang a great song of victory.

3. The Lord makes the way of escape with the temptation.
God supplies support in !the temptation : " that ye may be able to bear it." God's way of escape is, not for people to avoid temptation so as not to pass through it, but it is such an escape as requires that they pass through the trial before they find the escape at the other end. Israel's escape was not from the Red Sea, but through the Red Sea. Our God is able to deliver us from poverty, sickness, bereavement and loss. But if He does not deliver us, He will enable us to bear it. And the way of escape, at the other end, will bring us out more chastened, refined, beautiful ; more like Him Who endured great contradiction of sinners : Who bore our sickness : Who suffered every kind of sorrow and distress of Mind, and every possible pain of Body : that we, being " conformed to the Likeness of His Passion, might be brought to the Glory of His Resurrection."

Whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in My Name, He will give it you.-S. JOHN 16-23.

1. Every Christian can pray because he is commanded to pray,
and God never commands impossible things. Yet some people say : "I can't pray, the difficulty is so great, that I can't keep it up." If you say this, there is something radically wrong with your spiritual life : or you are trying some method of prayer that is un-suitable to your temperament. If your body is alive, you can't help breathing, and if your soul is alive, you can't help praying. If you say : "I wish I could pray," you have prayed : so that if you can't pray and don't wish to pray, your spiritual life is dead. Worldliness knocks all the spiritual life out of you. Perhaps you are trying some method of prayer that is beyond you. Give it up. There is no special method which can be laid down as suitable, or necessary, for all, except the Lord's Prayer. Get back to that.

2. The chief difficulty which people encounter
is that of keeping the mind concentrated on one thing at a time. Especially is this the case when you are trying to concentrate the mind on something that has no visible thing or picture or form of words to help you, Now the Church comes to your aid in various ways. By her practice she shows that she does not consider that all outward things necessarily distract the heart from prayer. On the contrary, she supplies every sense with some outward object which helps forward in the way of prayer. Images and pictures and devotional objects for the eye : words and music for the ear : incense for the smell : the Body of God for the taste, and the Rosary for the touch.

3. There is a method of prayer which is a great help : the Rosary.
Many people who before using it found five minutes in prayer wearisome, now find that a quarter of an hour has passed unnoticed. With the Rosary in your hands you can get on ; there is something to occupy your hands and your thoughts at the same time. The Rosary fixes the mind on prayer. But there is no use talking about it, unless you use it. Try it : put it to the test : and see whether you cannot spend more time in prayer with it, than without it.

Knowing, brethren, your election of God.-1 THESS. 1-4.

1. The Election of Grace.
This is a mystery which we can never solve. God knew who would be saved. His Knowledge is always present : His Eye runs over Creation from end to end ; and It penetrates the inmost chambers of our motives. He gives grace to whom He wills. The fact stands that everything rests on God's Choice. He makes the election as to whom He will offer Grace. His Choice falls, apparently, on great numbers. His Will is greatly hindered by our neglect, and by the imperfect way His Church carries out His gracious purposes of election.

2. God selects Favourites.
You love freedom to select your friends. You like to be chosen for love. Tlie choice of lovers is mutual. We love Him because He first loved us. He chose us first, then we chose Him. God also loves to have freedom of choice. He is good and just to all but " the Secret of the Lord is with them that fear Him." His Confidants are not arbitrarily chosen. He gives His Love to them that fear Him. The note of the nightingale is never heard north of York, nor west of the River Exe. Outside a certain limit it is silent. So is God. He is not at home where He is not feared.

3. Try to earn His Choice.
You can wait on Him, and try to catch His Eye. The poet and painter have to wait on Nature, with the pores of the soul open to absorb her secrets. It may be that she will choose them to receive her message and give it to the world. So you must open your soul to let in the Life Eternal and drink in power for Life and Action by waiting on God. It may be that He will cast His Eye on you and choose you for one of His favourites. He has a great, many. There is room in His Heart for all.

Surely He hath borne our griefs and carried our sorrows.-ISAIAH 53-4.

1. We are all subject to temptation.
Our Lord was in all points tempted like as we are. Some are afraid that the temptation will get worse and that they will altogether fall. Now you should realize that Our Lord will deliver you out of all your temptations. Christ has endured them. He is the Lamb of God in regard to temptation. He bore every possible temptation. He bore that one which presses on you. He was afflicted in the Wilderness just as you are afflicted in the wilderness. He knows all about your case. He knows how to bear you up. He knows how to bear you through.

2. Your temptations are such as have been endured
by your fellow Christians. They are common to man. You think that you are alone in the desert, but look at the track, and you will find footprints of the Saints who have passed along the same wearisome way. There is no really new temptation in the world. It may be new to you, but it is as old as the human race. Strangely enough, God's people at first fail in the virtue for which afterwards they become most famous. Moses is the model of meekness ; but look at the fierceness of his anger, killing an Egyptian. We hear a great deal about the faith of S. Peter, but look at his denial of Our Lord ! In biographies, the part we really want to know about is the part which is not written. The outward acts and words are recorded, but only in the very greatest biographies do the inward struggles and temptations appear.

3. Your temptations are such as are suitable
to one who has a body and soul and passions and appetites. And they are such as other men and women, before you, have overcome. These temptations assail your body, your soul and your spirit. You are tempted to misuse your appetites. You are tempted in soul ; to anger, covetousness, jealousy, hatred, envy. You are tempted in the spirit; to despair, prayerlessness, unbelief, to want of faith and hope and charity. Your victory will be gained by a means common to all Christians. Jesus gained the victory for you in the Wilderness, and He gives you tlie strength which He gained, by giving you His Sacred Humanity : grafting you into Himself: grafting His Strength into you, by prayer and the Sacraments. Be brave in temptations, no matter how long they last. Jesus is your strength.

The just shall live by faith,-HEBREWS 1O-38.

1. No one else could do so.
Most people live by their wits. Some, without wits, live by trade or some profession. Beggars are the wittiest livers, their condition is an approach to that of Faith. The wisest of us could not live by Faith if they had nothing but the wisdom of this world : if they have the wisdom that is from above they have Faith : and if they have Faith they cannot live by anything else.

2. Faith provides a very substantial living.
" Faith is the substance of things hoped for." If we had to live only on hopes we might easily fade away to a shadow : but the just man lives on the substance of those hoped-for things, and he fares sumptuously every day. Day by day Faith increases and day by day the just man's table grows more and more bountiful in its supply of necessities, and even of dainties. Now, as our hopes are always in advance of actual possessions, and the substance of his hopes are already his by Faith, it is clear that the just man has a more generous diet than his neighbour, whose hopes have no substance, even if he has any hopes beyond the passing scene.

3. If the just man does not live by Faith by what could he live?
Being a just man he has formed a right estimate as between things temporal and things eternal, illumined by Faith he could not live on temporal promises and hopes. He also knows what is due to God, and how impossible it is to please Him without Faith. Faith is that by which he lives, and Faith he finds sufficient, for all good things come to him who has faith in God. O the richness of that life which he lives by the Faith of the Son of Man ! By it he sees that God rules in the kingdoms of men : the Church is as a City at unity in itself: justice prevails from sea to sea : the earth is filled with the knowledge of the Lord : and the Lord Himself is here in the plenitude of His glory.

He that taketh not his cross and followeth after Me is not worthy of Me.-S. MATT. 1O-38.

1. There is no virtue in mortification, fasting and watching, in themselves and for their own sakes.
A Mohammedan fakir could carry off the palm for self-inflicted suffering. But if they are sent by God, and proportioned and measured out to secure some end pleasing to Him, they are to be embraced with love and affection. If they restrain the passions they lead to God : if they hinder your work and your prayers, they are self-willed freaks, morbid self-delusions, and an expression of zeal without knowledge, and in them you err and sin.

2. The austerities of the Saints actually promoted health.
Even for those who are not Saints, better health comes to them when they give up ease and endure hardness. As for austerities and discomforts -they never sought them, but they never shirked them. Many desire to induce spirituality by self-chosen austerities, they would copy the self-scourging of some Saint in hope of having the heavenly favours of that Saint !

3. Our Lord does not say to any of us
" Take up My Cross and follow me : " but " take up thy cross and follow Me." Your sanctification will be accomplished, not by taking up the Cross of some Saint, but by bearing your own. Another's cross will not help you, it is your own that will gain favours, God's Will always has the mark of the Gross on it. Any other will without this brand is spurious. The Gross is the Sign of genuineness. You can therefore feel very happy in bearing the Gross that God has chosen for you, and by bearing it you have a good guarantee of perseverance. We do envy others their mortifications, and we do so often shirk our own obvious crosses, and complain of them : run away from them : and so lose our chance of holiness. There is nothing that we need to know that we cannot learn while bearing our own cross.

Make sweet melody and sing many songs.-ISAIAH 23-16.

1. This text tells us a way to be happy.
Ttie world is full enough of misery, don't add to the heap of misery by being miserable yourself. Every minute spent in praising God is happy. Melody is an appeal to the sense of hearing. It does you good to hear your own song. It lielps you to forget yourself. It soothes the nerves. Those who can sing, play an instrument, or construct a musical song, have a potent means of joy in their hands. Melody is a power of the mind as well as a quality of the verse. Everyone can make sweet melody for their own daily use.

2. The Grace of God makes melody in your heart.
It is the way God comes to us. God is always sweet. God is always melodious. His Coming is like a sweet melody which soothes sorrow and heals wounds. The effect of His Grace is harmony. Where it found division, hesitation, doubt and dismay, it leaves union, confidence and peace.

3. Love sings; without Love you can't sing.
With love, your life is a sweet melody. Tell your heart to sing : tell your tongue to make sweet melody : because God loves to hear you happy, He loves to see your joy. You may be often alone, but never lonely when your heart is full of melody. Why should I not have in my soul a Sung Mass, with the melodies of Angels and Archangels in my heart ? Why should I not have daily delights of melodious sounds in the innermost recesses of my being, as when the Heavens open at the Altar, and the voices come out of the thick cloud, and the holy spirits crowd round Jesus. He is the Cause, the Author, and the Theme of all my songs. All melodies find their sweetness in Him.