tion. If you fail to do this, a convenient time will never come. The result will be that you will meet Our Lord without having discovered the full extent of your offending, without having acknowledged your sins and without having sought His pardon. A communion made under such circumstances doth nothing else but increase your guilt. Let your self-examination be completed on Friday at the latest.

The Cry of the Sinner

"My wickednesses are gone over my head and are like a sore burden too heavy for me to bear." — Ps. xxxviii. 4.

The Sinner's Resolve

“I will arise and go to my Father and will say unto Him, Father, I have sinned against Heaven, and before Thee, and am no more worthy to be called Thy son." ST. LUKE Xv. 18, 19.

EVENING

Suggestions for Good Resolutions

As the result of your self-examination you will have learned what sins you must be most careful to guard against and of what virtues you stand most in need. Having thus found out your sins, think carefully of the ways in which temptations usually come to you.

Do they appear to come because you are much with a certain companion?

Do you find that they come most often when you are in a certain state of mind, or at certain places?

Are you inclined to amuse yourself with books or papers or pictures or sights that you could not enjoy if Our Lord were with you?

Is there some situation in which a demand will be made upon your stock of cheerfulness?

Is your courage likely to be tried in the near future? Ought you not to be more unselfish than you are? May your manners be improved through the cultivation of gentleness?

What assaults are likely to be made on your purity?

What temptations to dishonesty are likely to beset you?

Let these suggestions, taken in connection with the knowledge of your favorite sins, start trains of thought in your mind. Determine what resolutions you ought to make in order to arm yourself against temptation and to cultivate needed virtues. Write down your resolutions and read them over from time to time. In framing them follow three rules:

(1) Be definite. Do not be satisfied with vague resolves. Pledge yourself to do or not to do this or that specific thing.

(2) Be generous. Make resolutions that cost you something. The higher life is worth paying for. It cannot be bought cheap.

(3) Be prudent. Use your common sense. Do not make foolish or impossible resolutions but only such as are practical and reasonable.

A Prayer

Re

O Father Most Merciful, Whose ears are ever open to an honest confession of sin, I renew before Thee this night the prayer for pardon with which I began the day. Thy Holy Spirit has taught me that continuance in sin brings the loss of my manhood and that eternal death which consists in final separation from Thee. Grant that I may escape so great a condemnation. Admit me once more to the circle of Thy friends. ceive me back to Thyself. Thou only canst forgive sin; Thou only canst wash away guilt. But, in pity for the faithlessness of Thy children, Thou dost vouchsafe to send us through a human messenger a spoken declaration of forgiveness. Make my repentance so sincere and my purpose to lead a new life so steady that when the words of absolution are pronounced by Thy priest I may find in them a joyful message for me. And yet, while I am rejoicing in this assurance of Thy forgiveness, I pray Thee so to enlighten my understanding that I shall never think of pardon except as coming

from Thee and never seek it except at the price of penitence. To-night I know what is meant by sorrow

my life hereafter

for sin. To-night I perceive that must be lived upon a different plan. Help me to make definite resolutions of amendment. Teach me, O Lord, the way of Thy statutes and give me strength to walk therein all the days of my life. Through Jesus Christ Our Lord. Amen.

SATURDAY

Expectancy

"I look for the Lord: my soul doth wait for Him." Ps. cxxx. 5.

MORNING

Waiting for the Meeting with Our Lord

I have determined to seek Our Lord and I have asked the way to Him. I have sought to establish brotherly relations with my fellow-travelers. I have really tried to make my peace with God by confessing my sins and asking His forgiveness. I have begged to be taken back into the circle of His friends. And now I am waiting for the moment to arrive when I shall be ushered into the very presence of Our Lord, and when He Himself will come to me. My preparation has been far from perfect. I have hurried over some of my prayers. My

self-examination has not been as thorough as it should have been. For some of my sins I have not grieved as I ought to grieve. But I realize that if I wait until I am good enough to receive Our Lord into myself, I shall never go to His altar. It is only His exceeding great condescension and pity that will, in any event, save my Communion from utter unworthiness. My hope is that I have not presumed upon His loving kindness by doing less than my best. I am cheered by the fact that I look forward to the coming of Our Lord with joy. This shows that my preparation has been of some avail. Were it not so, I should feel only dread. The nearer view of the Mount of the Lord satisfies me that its strength and beauty are greater even than I had supposed. It is indeed the Hill from whence cometh my Help.

A Prayer

O Lord Jesus Christ, Who from the Hills of God bringest help to the pilgrims of the night, behold I wait impatiently for Thine appearing. I pray Thee to arise, O Sun of Righteousness, and cause Thy bright beams to illumine every recess of my darkened soul. Grant that this day I may be more careful than ever before to do only that which is pleasing in Thy sight. Help me constantly to remember my nearness to Thee. I desire, more earnestly than ever, to test each thought and