matter to Him, instead of thinking of His love who created us, redeemed us, and cannot be satisfied until He perfects His people for the love which He has to them.

We should learn to have our joy dependent upon His joy. For want of doing this we are very apt to treat grace as if it were merely the complement of nature, instead of recognising its Divine character by reason of its Divine origin. Many are troubled because they do not naturally rejoice in Christ, whereas none can naturally rejoice in Christ. Our joy, our love, must be a supernatural movement within the soul, and sometimes this very movement makes us all the more sensible to the reluctance of the natural spirit which is stirred by this impulse.

Sadness in ourselves will often go along with rejoicing in the Lord. Nevertheless Jesus will raise us out of our sadness in due time, and then we learn to rejoice along with Him and in Him. If He abides with us our hearts must learn to rejoice, for He is the author of all joy: He shall rejoice in His works' (Ps. civ. 31). So let us praise Him for the joy which He has in raising us out of our infirmities. That is the best way, indeed the only way, by which we can rise out of them. If He dwells with us there must be light in our dwelling. At evening time there shall be light, if He come into our house at evening and abide with us. He raises us out of spiritual sadness by His illuminating word, and in the hour of natural darkness, when outward sorrows close around the soul and the solace of all earthly brightness dies away, He comes to be with us and

makes us conscious, if we will only welcome Him, of the glory of the eternal Love.

O Jesu, graciously vouchsafe to come and dwell with me. O give me grace that I may truly and worthily welcome Thee with the response of grateful love.

My son, how often do I walk with thee along the way of earth's weary pilgrimage, ready to stay with thee if only thou wilt give Me a welcome, but I go on, for thou detainest Me not.

O Lord, how miserably ungrateful I am. When I think how Thou didst come down to be as a stranger upon earth in order to bind me to Thyself, surely I ought to be living in watchfulness to lay hold upon every token of Thy presence.

Tea, My son, cherish My presence in all acts of devotion, in eucharists, in Religious obligations, in thy brethren who surround thee in choir, in all whom thou meelest in the world. Behold Me, and rejoice in My love.

O Lord, Lord, open mine eyes, my heart. O fill me with the joys of Thy Divine Love, that I may love Thee as Thou lovest me.

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MEDITATION XXXIII.

The Blessing of the Bread.

And it came to pass, when he had sat down with them to meat, he took the bread, and blessed it, and brake, and gave to them. And their eyes were opened, and they knew him, and he vanished out of their sight.-St. Luke xxiv. 30, 31.

1. JESUS TAKING THE BREAD.

JESUS suffered Himself to be constrained as a stranger to stay with these disciples, but although He did not make Himself known to them immediately He did not purpose to withdraw without giving them the opportunity of recognition. Having come with them to their house, He cannot suffer Himself to be with them in any other relation than that which truly belongs to Him. It is not He that is their guest. They are His. He is the Lord and Master of the Feast, yes, of every feast, for all things in nature and in grace come from Him. He therefore takes to Himself without hesitation the place which belongs to Him, and as the Head of the company He gives His Blessing to the meat.

This would at once prepare the disciples to discover who their companion was. Probably also the manner of the Blessing would recall many a former occasion on which they had seen Him acting in like

manner.

The great teachers had their special forms

of blessing. They would know what had been their Master's use, and now they see Him once more performing the accustomed rite.

He took the bread and blessed. Although we may not understand in this the ordinary Eucharistic rite, for these two disciples not having been present at the last Supper would not have understood the ceremony had they seen it, yet it was a blessing which was akin to the prayer of consecration, and Jesus could communicate His presence how He willed.

Moreover, we are not to limit the character of this Blessing by their knowledge of it. Alas! if we were to limit the benefits of the holy Eucharist by our knowledge how sadly would they be dwarfed ! They would not have understood the appointed words of consecration; but Jesus could consecrate in whatever manner He pleased, whether by uttered or unspoken word, although we cannot consecrate unless we use the words in which He has appointed us to do so. When therefore we read that He took the Bread we may well conclude that He took it to Himself in all the fulness of Eucharistic identification and not merely in the grasp of the outward hand.

He who had accompanied them in one form, by which He was held back from their sight, probably made Himself to be present now under another form under which the natural eye could not detect Him. His appearance to these two travellers shows that He can be present under varied forms, and this prepares the way for us to accept the truth of His presence now under the forms of bread and wine.

Presence is to be known not so much by appear

ance as by power. The effect of this bread upon those who partook of it indicates that it contained the illuminative virtue of the Divine Wisdom.

'He brake and gave to them.' He did not merely bless so that they might take, but He gave with His own hand to them of that which he had broken. He would have them receive this Bread as a gift not merely of His creating but from His very self.

How careful ought we to be when we receive the holy Eucharist that we receive it as coming immediately from the hands of our incarnate Lord. He is the Priest who really puts this sacred gift into our hands.

Indeed the soul must be filled with a mysterious joy which recognises Jesus as being the Master of the feast, and receives the gift from Him. At Cana the governor knew not whence came the water which was made wine. Much less did he know whence came the wine. We in the holy Eucharist ought to know whence the true Bread comes. We must receive it from the hands of our Lord with adoration and thankfulness. He gave to these disciples and vanished. He who is still unseen still gives to us.

O Jesu, how little do I know Thee when I come to feast with Thee; nevertheless Thou art ever ready to give Thyself to be our spiritual food and sustenance.

My son, thou knowest not even the laws of nature whereby thy body is preserved. Much less dost thou know the laws of grace whereby I give Myself to renew thy spiritual life unto eternity.