zeal, to seal thy vows of duty in the holy eucharist. Resolve to seek those strengthening, enlivening, and immortal graces which, in this ordinance, are bestowed upon the penitent and faithful soul.

Consider this sacred rite as a lively and affecting memorial of the death of Christ; and receive the symbols of his sufferings with humble penitence.

The altar presents an almighty victim, consumed as a sacrifice to divine justice. Call to mind then, at the altar, the affecting truth, that thy wilful rebellion against the righteous authority of God, rendered it necessary that the eternal Son should descend from the throne of his glory, to vindicate and satisfy, by his death, the honour of the divine government, the claims of divine justice. Behold thy Saviour laid on the cross, as on an altar, where the holiness and justice of an offended God fully satisfied their claims. See his blessed body, innocent and pure as the divine soul which animated it, smitten, scourged, and bruised. Behold issuing from his wounded side that precious blood which purchased the life of the world. Ah! shall I deliberately crucify afresh that sacred body which my sins at first fastened on the cross? Shall I tear open the wounds which the fury of a barbarous multitude inflicted on the sacred body of the Redeemer of men? Oh! just and heavy will be my condemnation, if, with a heart unsubdued and impenitent, I approach the altar where the Sa

viour is exhibited, sustaining the inflictions of his Father's wrath, and expiating my guilt.

Tremble, lukewarm and impenitent soul, lest the symbols of the body and blood of that Redeemer, to whose astonishing love thou art insensible, instead of proving the pledges of divine favour, seal the sentence of condemnation on thy ingratitude and contempt. Yes, the altar displays only terror and wrath to the impenitent. But to the humble spirit, who is oppressed by the anxious apprehension that she does not yet possess that lively contrition, and fervent affection, which would render her worthy to partake of the supper of the Lordto her, the altar conveys the consoling accents of mercy. The very fears that oppress thee, timid and doubting penitent, are the strongest proofs of an exquisite sensibility to the claims of thy Saviour's love; they are the best evidence that thou dost possess that meek and contrite spirit, which it is the Saviour's office and delight to sooth and comfort.

Behold then, my soul, in the sufferings and death of Christ, commemorated on the altar, both an exhibition of the indignation of God against sin, and of the infinite compassion of the Son of God, in offering himself up an allsufficient victim to turn from thee the wrath of heaven, Let this view excite a holy solicitude to escape the penalties due to thy sins -a lively and ingenuous sorrow for their baseness and enormity. Humbled at the feet of the Saviour, confess, lament, and renounce the

sins which occasioned his sufferings-lay them on the altar of his love-they shall be blotted out for ever by his precious blood, which taketh away the sins of the world.

Receive the symbols of the Saviour's suffering and death with lively gratitude.

This ordinance, by forcibly displaying the agonizing sufferings of the Saviour, serves to excite the most lively sense of his infinite love. Sufferings and agony inconceivable the Son of God encountered, to redeem the wretched race of man. From the manger at Bethlehem to the hill of Calvary, poverty, contumely, scorn, persecution, like indignant waves, pressed upon him, till at length his soul sunk under the floods of divine wrath. Ah! we shall not wonder at the bitter agonies which overwhelmed him, when we consider the tremendous conflict which he sustained with the king of terrors; who, dreading the near dissolution of his reign, exerted his most vigorous efforts to crush the almighty Conqueror, who threatened to bind him in chains. Oh! what pangs convulsed the Saviour, when on the cross he bowed under the load of human guilt! Forsaken in this dark hour by the smiles of his Father's love, which had hitherto supported him, he uttered the piercing cry, "My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?" In this direful moment dismay seized the bosom of nature, which heaved in dreadful agitation, as if in unison with the groan that terminated the agonies of the Lord of life. O my soul, for thee the

Redeemer sunk under these accumulated agonies. Shall not the symbols of his sufferings excite the ardent emotions of gratitude to him who displayed for thee this infinite love? By this compassionate Saviour, thou hast been redeemed from the dominion of sin and death -from everlasting misery and wo. By the sacrifice of his death, thou art restored to the favour of God, and to the glorious hope of the bliss of heaven. The inestimable blessings which he purchased for thee, thou art called to acknowledge in the affecting rite which he instituted, when the painful death awaited him, that was to consummate his sufferings. Oh! let the tears of devout gratitude be shed over the emblems of thy Saviour's dying love.

Offer to thy blessed Redeemer, at the altar, vows of ardent devotion to his service.

Redeeming thee, O my soul, by the sacrifice of his cross, from the ignominious bondage of sin and Satan, from the curse of eternal death; and purchasing for thee the inestimable blessings of pardon, peace, and everlasting life, he establishes a supreme claim to thy homage, thy love, and obedience. He becomes thy rightful Sovereign, Lord, and Master. He can claim thy sincere and holy obedience as a right; thou art bound to render it to him as a just debt of gratitude and love. By ardent devotion to his service; by generous, tender, and active love to mankind, whom he died to redeem; thou must manifest thy sensibility to his infinite compassion, and discharge the ob

ligations by which thou art bound to him. No period can be more proper to offer to the Saviour the vows of love and duty than the period when thou art commemorating the infinite sacrifice of his precious death, which was the price of thy redemption. Consider the state of guilt, of condemnation, and misery, to which sin had reduced thee. Contemplate the exalted blessings of that spiritual redemption which the Saviour wrought for thee. The pangs of guilt he hath exchanged for the comforts of a good conscience; the apprehensions of the wrath of God, for the joys of the divine favour; the curse of a mortal and perishing body, for a body incorruptible and glorious; the sorrows and trials of this mortal life, for the bliss and glories of an immortal existence. The almighty grace and love which achieved this glorious redemption, and which still assure it to the humble and penitent, are set forth in the commemorative sacrifice of the eucharist. Go then, my soul, to the festival which celebrates this infinite love of the Saviour, adoring his infinite compassion; triumphing in the glorious victories of his grace; rendering to him who bought thee by his blood the vows of allegiance and duty. Let the precious symbols of the altar, the lively memorials of the victorious love of the Saviour, impress upon thee his claims to thy sincere and holy obedience. Over the emblems of his body and blood, offered for thy redemption, seal the grateful vows of duty, which shall bind