self in this most Holy Sacrament, in order thus to continue His Mission till the end of the world, that by this means He may go into all the corners of the earth to form for His Father worshippers in spirit and in truth. . . . It is there that He is the source of Divine Life, that He is this vessel of immensity, the fathomless ocean, from the fulness of which we are all sanctified.

EIGHTEENTH FRIDAY AFTER TRINITY. CXXXII.—On the deadly sin of Sloth.

ECCLUS, Xxxiii. 27.—“Idleness teacheth much evil."

SLOTH or idleness not only teaches much evil, and is not only a great sin in itself, but our Blessed LORD's condemnation of it is one of the strongest of any of His condemnations, and so the Church from very early times has, with great wisdom and foresight, classed it amongst the Seven Chief, or Deadly Sins. What a slow

poison is to the body, that is sloth both to body and soul. An exceedingly crafty weapon of our crafty enemy is sloth! It is a two-edged sword which cuts at our souls through our bodies: or, it may be that the mind acts upon the body, and they both re-act upon the soul. It is almost impossible to say at what point occasional laziness, or sluggishness of soul and body, becomes the deadly sin of sloth. Unlike the other deadly sins, its progress, probably, is slower, and the hold it gains is more gradual. But it is none the less difficult to shake off. It is, as it were, a very old man of the sea clasping us more and more tightly by imperceptible degrees, until it becomes a firmly-seated habit: or again, it is a very Delilah to enervate us, and have out the secret of our strength, and so to bring upon us the Philistines, that is, the other deadly sins, its allies. So gradual are its advances, and so soothing its dallyings, and so seemingly trifling and harmless its approaches, only "a little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to sleep," but all the while our

enemy is marching upon us with swift and silent steps.

It is hard to realise how very deadly a sin sloth is, and how terrible are its effects, or consequences. It makes us out of spirits, and depressed, and listless, and heavy, and sad, and discontented. It gives us a disgust for the duties of our calling, or station in life. It enthrals and takes captive the will. It deadens the faculties, and affections. It kills the soul by degrees in the same way that laudanum sends the body into a death-sleep. It wastes time which can never be recalled. It contains under it all sins of omission, or leaving undone out of sloth what GOD has commanded to be done. Sloth equally prevents us working for our living, as it makes us omit a due preparation for the reception of the Sacraments. It makes Prayer cold, heartless, spiritless, and infrequent. It refuses to undergo the strain upon the mind which Meditation (to a certain extent), requires. Every thought of the Work of JESUS is a reproach to the slothful mind. He was ever going about

doing good and the sluggard either never goes about at all, or if he does, it is only to do evil by bad example. Sloth prevents attendance upon Divine Worship; or it causes a man to choose such times, and such services in Church as will leave his body and mind the most undisturbed, such services as are most convenient and best suited for lazy habits, and least fruitful to the soul. But above all, sloth is, as we commenced by saying, a most deadly sin, because of our Blessed LORD's denunciation, when He singles it out to join to wickedness. "Thou wicked and slothful servant," He says, to the man who hid his talent in the earth, and had not traded with it, that is, had through sloth neglected to make use of, and improve the opportunities, small or few as they may have been, which GOD had given him-" thou wicked and slothful servant Cast the unprofitable servant into

ye

outer darkness; there shall be weeping, and gnashing of teeth."

Well said S. Jerome to a certain monk, “ 'Always be doing some good, that the

We

devil should not find you idle." must not, says S. Paul, "be weary in welldoing, for in due season we shall reap if we faint not." O would that we wearied of sin, as soon as we weary of well-doing! A little discouragement here, and a little rebuff there, and we get down-hearted and "faint," and listless, and are tempted to give up our work altogether. Alas! are we on the road to the deadly sin of Sloth?

EIGHTEENTH SATURDAY AFTER
TRINITY.

CXXXIII.-On our Blessed Lord as the Pattern of
Perfect Diligence.

ECCLUS. li. 30.-" Work your work betimes, and in His time He will give you your reward." LET us think awhile of our Blessed LORD JESUS CHRIST as the perfect Example and Pattern of Diligence, against the deadly sin of Sloth. But first we must note the true meaning of this word Diligence. We may take it to mean "the being always actively engaged in something we