knowest the numberless graces and favours which my Creator has bestowed on me through thee, and the many dangers, both spiritual and temporal, from which thou hast preserved me. Thou knowest how oʻten thou didst deplore my sins, animate me to repentance, and intercede with God for my pardon. Ah why have I so little merited a continuance of thy zealous efforts for my salvation? Why have I so often stained my soul by sin, and thereby rendered myself unworthy of the presence and protection of an Angel, of so pure a spirit as thou art, who never sinned? Still, as my ingratitude and thoughtlessness have not lessened thy charitable interest for my salvation, they shall not diminish my confidence in thy goodness, nor prevent my abandoning myself to thy care, since God himself has intrusted thee with the charge of my soul. Penetrated with sorrow for the little progress I have made in virtue, though blessed with such a Master, and sincerely determined to correspond in future with thy exertions for my salvation, I most earnestly entreat thee, O protecting Spirit, to continue thy zealous efforts for my eternal interest; to watch over my youth, to direct my inexperience, to fortify my weakness, to shield me from the innumerable dangers of the world, and rather to obtain, by thy powerful prayers, that my life may be shortened, than that I should live to commit a mortal sin. Remember, O most happy Spirit that it was one act of profound humility, and one transport of ardent love for thy Creator, that caused God to establish thee for ever in glory; obtain that those virtues may be early implanted in my soul, and that I may seriously endeavour to acquire the docility, obedience, gentleness, and purity of heart, which should be the favourite virtues of my present years. Conduct me safely through this world of sin and misery; watch over me at the awful hour of my death; perform for my soul the last charitable office of thy mission, by strengthening, encouraging, and supporting me in the agonies of disso

lution, and then, as the Angel Raphael conducted To bias safely to his father, do thou, my good Angel and blessed Guide, return with me to him who sent thee, that we may mutually bless him, and publish his wonderful works for a happy eternity. Amen.

Aspiration.-O my dear Angel Guardian, preserve me from the misfortune of offending God.

Exercise for WEDNESDAY.-Devotion to St. Joseph.

THIS glorious Patriarch has at all times been the peculiar object of the devotion, veneration, and confidence of the greatest saints. He has been looked on in every age as an example of real and exalted sanctity, as the model of humble souls, oecause he excelled in the heavenly virtue of humility; and as the patron and guide of contemplatives, because his life was one continual prayer. But though the great St. Joseph is the general advocate of all Christians, particularly of those who aspire to perfection, yet he appears much more peculiarly the patron and protector of youth. The Almighty, by selecting him for the various functions he exercised on earth, towards his divine Son, has pointed him out to all young persons as the deserving object of their respect and confidence; as their patron, their protector, and model. St. Joseph is the patron of youth, because he was chosen to watch over the childhood of Jesus Christ; to direct, provide for, and protect that Divine Child in his youth. He is the particular protector of young persons, because the Almighty intrusted to his care the helpless infancy of his Divine Son, and Jesus Christ himself so totally abandoned his sacred Person to his protection, that he was pleased to depend on him for the preservation of his life from the cruelty of Herod. Lastly, St. Joseph is the model of youth, for the virtues he particularly practised are precisely those which all young persons should imitate, viz great purity of heart; that is, such horror of sin as caused him to be called a just man;-grea enera

tion and love for the Mother of God-an ardent attachment to the child Jesus-and a continual study and imitation of the obedience, humility, and other virtues which he witnessed in the conduct of his Divine Charge. Those are the reasons why this Saint has been chosen as your particular protector, and the festival of the Protection of St. Joseph selected for you as a day of extraordinary devotion. But you need not be told that it will avail you nothing to be among those who are particularly placed under the protection of St. Joseph, if you do not perform all that is necessary for meriting his patronage; therefore, to do your part, you should fervently devote yourself to that glorious Saint by the practice of solid devotion towards him; that is, by particularly honouring him during your life as your patronby respecting him as your Father-by sincerely endeavouring to imitate his virtues, particularly his constant view of Jesus Christ-his love for the Blessed Virgin-his attachment to prayer-his respect for the presence of Jesus-his unbounded obedience. You should likewise firmly confide in his intercession (which St. Theresa says she never found to fail in any thing she recommended to his prayers)—and spend as fervently and piously as you possibly can this day, which you should every week consecrate to honour St. Joseph, with a view to obtain his powerful protection, not alone while you are young, but throughout your life, and also the grace of a happy death, for which he is specially invoked, on account of having himself expired in the most happy of all circumstances, in the arms of Christ, and under the immediate protection of the Blessed Virgin.

Prayer.

O GREAT St. Joseph! reputed Father of Jesus! and spouse of the Mother of God! thou art my special Patron, and the object of my sincere devotion, respect, and confidence. I rejoice, from the bottom of

my heart, in the sublime favours bestowed on thee. I thank the Almighty for having honoured thee with the most glorious commission which was ever given to any creature, for having made thee the guardian of the life of Jesus-the protector of Him who watches over the world, the support and consoler of his most blessed Mother. O great Favourite of Heaven! if thou wert so exalted on earth, how great must thou be in heaven! If this wretched world was rendere la paradise for thee by the constant presence of Jesus, how happy must thou be, now that thou beholdest him in the splendour of his glory! I will, notwithstanding thy dignity and my unworthiness, approach thee with confidence, because I am convinced that the constant view of the eternal God become a child for our love, has filled thy heart with paternal tenderness for all those whom he honoured and instructed by the example of his early life. O glorious model and patron of God's greatest saints! thou dost not disdain to become the particular patron of youth, because the sacred infancy of Christ was the source of thy glory, and the object of thy tender devotion. Receive me then into thy venerable arms, for the love of the divine Infant who so often reposed on thy bosom. Take me as thy child, for the sake of him whose submission to thy will, and dependence on thy care, so exalted thee. I, on my part, most fervently offer thee my heart, and all my thoughts, words, and actions of this day, which I particularly consecrate to thee, as a small testimony of my respect and filial love. Present me, O blessed Saint! to Jesus, and obtain for me a share in the virtues and amiable dispositions of his divine childhood, that I may thereby become less unworthy to call thee my Father. Be thou, O glorious Guardian of the Word made flesh! my special protector; not alone amidst the many dangers of my youth, but throughout my life. Implore for me a particular devotion to thy Virgin Spouse, and the grace to imitate so faithfully

ber virtues and thine, that at the hour of my death, 1 may be entitled to look up to her and to thee with an humble confidence. When that awful hour of my departure from this world arrives, obtain for me, glorious St. Joseph! a small share in the profound peace, holy confidence, and ardent love which the actual presence of Jesus and Mary infused into thy soul at thy consoling death, and do not cease to be my dear blessed protector, until I shall have happily joined thee in the kingdom of eternal rest. Amen.

Aspiration.-O glorious St. Joseph obtain for me the grace of a holy life and a happy death.

Exercise for THURSDAY.-Devotion to the Blessed Sacrament.

THOUGH the adorable Sacrament of our Altar, which is the most precious of all our divine Redeemer's gifts to man-the most convincing proof of his love, and an abundant source of blessings, should be an object of universal devotion, yet very few among those who believe in the Real Presence of Jesus Christ in the Eucharist, correspond to the best of their power with the infinite love which he shows to all mankind in this adorable Sacrament. This, as well as most other spiritual evils, is caused by want of reflection; very few seriously reflect what it is to have a God so near them as our God is ;-to have Jesus Christ himself reside among them—to be able at all times to visit, to converse with the King of Heaven, and to be certain of always finding, in the adorable Sacrament of the Eucharist, a good parent, ready to listen to and enter into all their concerns; a liberal Benefactor willing to enrich them, a Physician to heal them, a friend to advise them. Jesus Christ is all that, and infinitely more, to the happy few who know how to profit of his infinite mercy in remaining on earth. But how few are they! Do you at least reflect seriously, that if you De not among the small number of those who sin