may have inflicted irreparable injuries upon them. The demand that we should love those that hate and persecute us, is so contrary to all the instincts of nature, that it could not be reasonably made unless it were accompanied by the promise of those divine aids which are peculiar to Christianity, and which, when their existence and efficacy can be proved, are therefore strong evidences of its truth. In this view the conduct of St. Stephen is an irresistible evidence of the true pretensions of a religion that professes to enable its followers to master the strongest impulse of nature, and to convert one passion into another, its decidedly opposite.

F 66

Who standest at the right hand of God to succour all that suffer for thee, our only mediator and advocate."

Strong faith in the actual aid of Christ is needed in hours of deep suffering, whether for his sake (as is supposed in the Collect) or for reasons which preclude all hope of help but through him,* and hence this literal manner realizing his power is to be commended for its practical usefulness on special occasions. The distracted mind can lay hold of the idea of a personified Saviour standing by for the purpose of sustaining the sinking heart, and insuring triumph and peace at the last.

*The history of some Christians in India during the Sepoy rebellion illustrates this.

ST. JOHN THE EVANGELIST'S DAY.

Wheatly says, "St. John suffered martyrdom in will, but not in deed, being miraculously delivered out of a cauldron of burning oil, into which he was put before Port Latin in Rome."

The Collect.

"Merciful Lord, we beseech thee to cast thy bright beams of light upon thy Church, that it being enlightened by the doctrine of thy blessed Apostle and Evangelist Saint John, may so walk in the light of thy truth, that it may at length attain to the light of everlasting life, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen."

This is another form of asking for the aids of the Holy Spirit for an especial purpose; and there is much propriety in the petition, for none of the writings of the four Evangelists contain so much that is profoundly mysterious concerning the nature of Christ, demanding the highest exercise of faith, as this Evangelist. The very first verses of his gospel offer a test of faith which the Socinian and Unitarian are unable to abide; the Church therefore prays for "the bright beams of light" (the explaining aids of the Holy Spirit) to enable man's limited and darkened understanding to comprehend, embrace, and act upon, truths so far beyond its own natural reach.

This Collect is a suggestive prayer before the private study of St. John's writings.

R

THE INNOCENTS' DAY.

Wheatly gives the following explanation of the origin of this day. "The holy Innocents suffered in deed, but not in will; for though they were not sensible on what account they suffered, yet it is certain they suffered for the sake of Christ, since it was upon the account of his birth that their lives were taken away. And besides, wheresoever their story shall be told, the cause also of their deaths will be declared and made known, for which reason they cannot be denied, even in the most proper sense, to be true martyrs, or witnesses of Christ."

66

THE CIRCUMCISION OF CHRIST.

The Collect.

Almighty God, who madest thy blessed Son to be circumcised and obedient to the law for man, grant us the true circumcision of the Spirit, that our hearts and all our members, being mortified from all worldly and carnal lusts, we may in all things obey thy blessed will, through the same thy Son Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen."

"Grant us the true circumcision of the Spirit."

That is, "grant us that inward purity of the heart from sin of which the outward purity of the body is but the sign or symbol, and indirect instrument." In this way the Apostle speaks of this Jewish rite: "Circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit, and not in the letter; their praise is not of men, but of God." (Rom. ii. 29.)

"That our hearts and all our members being mortified from all worldly and carnal lusts, we may in all things obey thy blessed will."

That is, we desire that all the instruments of sin may be "mortified," the mind first, whence all evil has its origin, and then the body, which obeys its impulses. We "mortify" a passion when we adopt any painful means to refuse to gratify it, and so, by the laws of nature, gradually become its master.

To become "mortified from all worldly and carnal lusts," is the task set before the Christian, and constitutes his struggles, from first to last. Happy is he who has found out the best discipline, whether by fasting or other means of proved efficacy, for making all the faculties of body and mind the servants, and not the masters, of his will.

But the true seat of the struggle is in the heart ; for there never was a sin committed which had not a prior and distinct existence in the heart, by being cherished there as a desire, weaker or stronger. Hence it was that our Lord referred all sin, primarily, to the heart. Hence the hater in heart of his brother is called a murderer; and the cherished lust is pronounced to be one stage of adultery. Hence the Christian's grand struggle is to eject and keep out evil thoughts, and to introduce and foster good ones. And hence he can hardly do better than to adopt, from the prayer before the Communion Service, the sentence, to be ever ready on his lips for

the hour of trial, "Cleanse the thoughts of my heart by the inspiration of thy Holy Spirit."

By thus co-operating with divine grace, we may hope gradually to approximate nearer and nearer to the all-important petition of the collect, that we may "in all things obey thy blessed will."

The topics of this important collect are explained at length in the subsequent epistle and gospel.

THE EPIPHANY.

"The word epiphany means manifestation, and the period referred to is when Christ was manifested by a star to the Gentiles, to proclaim to them the offer of those privileges which had been hitherto confined to the Jewish nation; and to bear this in remembrance is the principal design of the church in celebrating this feast."-WHEATLY.

The Collect.

"O God, who by the leading of a star didst manifest thy only-begotten Son to the Gentiles: mercifully grant that we, which know thee now by faith, may after this life have the fruition of thy glorious Godhead, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen."

The ideas involved in this petition, if evoked, are calculated to awaken the deepest feelings of the spiritual mind. We pray in it, not for another earthly, but for a heavenly "epiphany." We pray not for a transitory earthly vision, dim at brightest, even when faith's eye is most unclouded,