arrival of the Messias, and the speedy accomplishment of the work of Redemption. When our Lord ascended into heaven, he was taken up with Him into everlasting happiness. The Church honours him as a great Saint, and on the 24th of June celebrates his nativity, because he was born without original sin.
Dancing is often the occasion of sin, and unseemly dancing is forbidden by the Sixth Commandment.
Intemperance (or gluttony) is a capital sin. Herod would not have been carried away by the sight of the girl’s dancing to make a rash and frivolous oath, unless he had been excited by too much wine.
Comparisons to be drawn between St. John and Elias, Herod and Achab, Herodias and Jezabel.
The end of Herod. Later on, Herod was deposed by the Roman emperor and banished to Lyons. Both he and his wife died in misery. The daughter of Herodias perished during a pleasure-party on the ice. The ice broke, she fell into the water, and her head was severed from her body by a piece of broken ice.
Application. Do you ever swear without necessity, or use the name of God irreverently in your conversation?
Chapter XXXIII.
THE MIRACLE OF THE LOAVES AND FISHES AND THE
WALKING ON THE WATER.
[Mat. 14, 13— 21. Mark 6, 30 — 44. Luke 9, 10—17. John 6, 1 — 13.]
THE Feast of the Passover being at hand, the apostles returned to their Divine Master, and gave Him an account of all they had done. But He said to them: “Come ye apart into a desert place, and rest a little.” For there were so many coming and going that they had no time to eat. So they sailed across the lake and went into a retired spot [1]. But even there the people followed them in large numbers[2].
Jesus, seeing this great multitude, had compassion on them, and, without giving Himself any rest, went up into a mountain. There He sat with His apostles and disciples, and began to teach
