the essence of supernatural virtues. Of this nature is contrition. It consists in a determined hatred of sin, infused by the Holy Ghost, on account of its opposition to the infinite sanctity of the Deity: it consists in a sincere and heartfelt grief for the sins already committed, - a grief occasioned by the clear view with which the sinner beholds, by the light of faith, the outrage which he has offered to God, and the evils which he has entailed on himself:-it consists in a fixed resolution to avoid all sin for the future,—a resolution, inspired by the love which the repentant sinner begins to entertain for God, the source of all justice. This is true contrition. Sorrow which is not founded on these principles, is imperfect, and insufficient to complete the great work of justification.

Now, my beloved friends, let me entreat you to look into your souls, and examine whether these are the

sentiments which have hitherto accompanied you to the sacred tribunal of penance. In preparing for this sacrament, it is probable that you have more than once experienced something of the bitterness of sin: your minds have been much agitated, and your hearts have been secretly troubled within you. But from what did this proceed? From a sincere grief for having offended so great, and so good a benefactor? This would be much ; for this is every thing: but this, alas! is by no means always the case. In general, I very much fear, it is quite otherwise. We have much to do whenever we are at war with our natural propensities. The sight of our manifold offences, mumerous as they are, would oftentimes occasion little anx

iety within us, if the indignity, which is thereby offered to the majesty of the God of heaven, were the only consideration we had to look to.

We look to ourselves in general; and seldom to any thing besides. It is the fear of disclosing to our director the enormities, which we would gladly hide even from our own inspection it is this circumstance, which, more than any other consideration, is the thing that so terribly appals us. This, my beloved, is no unusual occurrence. There is no man, however low in his own esteem, who, if he thinks he is going to lower himself in the esteem of another, does not feel a sensible regret. Thus it happens that pride is oftentimes mistaken for repentance, and the natural aversion which all of us feel towards self-debasement, for true sorrow and compunction for sin. It is our vanity that is humbled: we feel the remorse which this circumstance naturally instils into our minds; and we immediately conclude that we are in full possession of all that is most éssentially necessary, namely, the sin

cere sorrow of a contrite and humble heart.

The sensations, however, which are created by shame are not to be indiscriminately condemned; for, a salutary confusion is invariably the attendant on true contrition, and there is a shame which leads to salvation: All the day long, exclaims the royal prophet, my shame is before me, and the confusion of my face hath covered me, Ps. xliii. 16. But then, this confusion must arise from the same principle as the contrition itself. The just man is sorry for his sins, because they offend his God; and he is confounded at the sight of his sins for the same reason, namely, because they are exposed in their most odious colours before the eyes of an omniscient Deity. As for the contempt or ridicule of men, he sets it completely at naught: the contempt of God is his only subject of alarm.-The true penitent, therefore, is overwhelmed

with confusion when he exposes the se crets of his conscience; but his confusion bears no kind of similitude to that which originates in pride and selflove.

It likewise frequently happens, that, after we have examined the state of our interior, and after we have discovered the multitude and enormity of our offences, we are seized with terror and consternation. Hell and eternity seem to stare, us in the face: and the dread of that terrible abyss, on the brink of which we have been heedlessly sporting, rushes powerfully on the mind. Under the influence of some such terrifying impressions as these, we throw ourselves before the ministers of Christ, we confess our sins, and readily conclude that our sorrow is sufficiently intense to find acceptance with God, and move him to be reconciled to us. My dear friends, I do not that this is at all times the case; but

say