so would it be to eat it without preparation. On that account I again repeat to you, my dearest brethren, with the church, " Prepare the way of the Lord t" let your preparations for receiving him be of long standing: banish from your hearts whatever may offend him: instruct yourselves in the dispositions which he exacts of those who receive him: use every effort to acquire them: there is no other mean of avoiding the risk of an unworthy communion, and of attracting Jesus Christ into your souls.
This is an important matter, which demands all your attention. On one side, there is question of making you shun the horrible crime of profaning the body and the adorable blood of Jesus Christ; on the other, of instructing you how to reap from the communion all the grace which it is capable of bringing forth in our hearts. What, then, are those preparations so essential toward a profitable and worthy communion? I reduce them to four, which shall be the subject and the division of this Discourse.
Reflection I. — The eucharist is a hidden manna: it is the food of the strong, a sensible and permanent testimony of the love of Jesus Christ, the continuation and the fulfilment of his sacrifice. Now, it is necessary to know how to discern this hidden manna from common food, lest it be taken unworthily: first preparation. It is the food of the strong: we ought, therefore, to examine ourselves before we venture to make use of it: second preparation. The testimony of the love of Jesus Christ; it can be received, therefore, only in remembrance of him, that is to say, in feeling aroused in his presence every tender and exquisite sensation which can be excited by the remembrance of a dear and beloved object: third preparation. It is the fulfilment of his sacrifice; every time, therefore, that we participate in it, we show his death, and we ought to bring there a spirit of the cross and of martyrdom: fourth preparation. A respectful faith which enables us to discern, a prudent faith which makes us examine, an ardent faith which enables us to love, an exalted faith which makes us to immolate. This is the summary of the apostles' doctrine, in relating to us the institution of the eucharist, and likewise that of all the saints with regard to the use of that adorable sacrament.
First preparation, — a respectful faith which makes us to discern. Think not, my brethren, that I mean here to speak of that faith which distinguishes us from unbelievers. Where is the merit of believing when the prejudices of childhood have accustomed reason to it, and when belief is, as it were born with us? Exertion would even be necessary to cast off its yoke; and, to pass from faith to error, a greater effort is perhaps required than to return from error to truth. I speak of that lively faith which pierces through the clouds which surround the throne of the Lamb; which sees him not mystically, and, as it were, through a glass, but face to face, if I may venture to say so, such as he is: of that faith which, in spite of the veil with which the true Moses covers himself on this holy mountain, fails not, however, to perceive all his glory, and to
