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Show Lenten Voices. "Fasting," says the Rev. John Perry, in one of his "practical sermons," "has the effect of disengaging the heart from earthly affections. Intemperance makes us carnal and earthly, and renders ren-ders the soul so dull of performing spiritual spir-itual duties. Fasting, on the contrary, sets the soul free from these carnal affections, af-fections, enables us to soar above earthly things, and fits us for the exercise ex-ercise of prayer and meditation." We are all more inclined to dwell on the text. "Rend your hearts and not your garments," than on St. Paul's, "They that are Christ's have crucified their flesh with its vices and concupiscences." concupis-cences." On the way of the cross 'tis only the first that costs. Our fear of crosses is our greatest cross . . . If we have not the courage to bear our cross, we err sadly; for, no matter what we do, the cross will hold us; we can not escape it . . . Worldly people are distressed when they have crosses; good Chris-j Chris-j tians are distressed when they have them not . . . Only our crosses will reassure us on the Day of Judgment. When that day comes, how happy we shall be in our misfortunes, how proud of our humiliations, how rich in our sacrifices! Blessed Cure of Ars. When St. Francis Borgia heard it said that any one was a saint, he used to answer: "He may be if he is mortified." In a sermon on the Exaltation of the Holy Cross, St Peter Damain exhorts his hearers to take up their cross and follow the Lord: "Give ear, therefore, to the counsel of thy God, not only reigning reign-ing with the Father hanging upon the cross; for neither can He be deceived, because He is wisdom, nor doth He desire de-sire to deceive thee, for whom He en-dureth en-dureth such ignominy and such pain. 'If any one,' saith He, 'will come after Me, let him deny himself and take vr his cross and follow Me.' We must go after Him. because He is the Truth, that we may not be deceived; through Him, because He is the Way, that we may not err; to Him, because He is the Life, that we may not die. 'I,' saith lie, 'am the vay, the Truth, and the Life.' It follows, 'Let him deny himself.' him-self.' Our first parent, when he had been circumscribed by prefixed limits of obedience, roamed forth into the open country of an evil liberty. He had it in command to prefer the will of his Creator Cre-ator to his own; but using, or rather abusing, his own will, when he desired to make himself happy, he destroyed himself. Driven, therefore, from that happy inheritance, he obtained exile for a country, death for life, ignominy, for glory. If thou wouldst, therefore, return re-turn to thine inheritance, deny thine own will." Ave Maria. |