ly, and receive in a spirit of humility the penance the president will impose, which penance must be proportionate to the gravity of the faults.

Accusations in Chapter are divided into three classes: namely,-slight faults, grave faults, and very serious faults; to which are three kinds of corresponding penances,

1st. Slight transgressions :. To speak in time of silence, or in places where it is forbidden; to come too late to an exercise; to show some levity in the church, or during a regular exercise; to walk too fast; to open and shut the doors without attention; to take too little, or too much, care of personal dress; to speak too much, and inconsiderately; to be wanting in exterior modesty; tờ take but little care of the obedience assigned; to show 'some indifference to the Rules, or to the interests of the Congregation; &c.

For such faults the following penances shall be imposed namely, to say the Litany of Loretto; to make a visit to the Blessed Sacrament; to recite a decade of the Beads.

2d.-The grave transgressions are: To rise. habitually too late; to be absent from Meditation or other Community exercises without leave or excuse; to pay little attention to the recommendations of Superiors; to disregard the Great Silence; to enter the room of a companion in his absence and search through his papers and things; to keep a lighted candle or lamp after having gone to bed ;

to sow seeds of division in a Community; to offend in words or writings against truth, charity, modesty, &.; to censure the acts of Councils and Superiors; to cause, by neglect, damage or loss to the Community. Against these faults the following penances shall be imposed: namely,-to say the Beads two or three times; to recite the Seven Penitential Psalms; to make one hour of adoration; &c.

3. Should a Religious forget himself so far as to continue in any of the grave faults above mentioned; or disobey the orders of a Superior; or work against lawful authority, or against the peace or order of a House, directly or indirectly; or intercept letters of Superiors, or to Superiors; or grievously insult anyone, or try to destroy anyone's character; visit or correspond with, after being prohibited, persons considered dangerous ; or remain absent longer than permitted; or appropriate money without leave; refuse the statistics of a House or the accounts of an administration of which he has charge; or make expenses not authorized; or contract debts without due permission; change the Rules for the diet or vestiary; exhibit habitually no regularity, especially in the rising, and in the retiring to bed; keep liquors secreted, or give way to intemperance; or give scandal in any notorious way,-which God forbid !-the prayers of the Community should be asked for his amendment, and he should be

separated, if in any way possible, from the rest of his companions, until a sensible change shall have taken place in his unfortunate dispositions. He

should be placed upon a Retreat, for a week or two; and in case he should remain obstinate and unchanged, the insignia of his Profession should be taken away from him, and the case referred to the Provincial.

The accusations in Chapter being as it were a public confession, whoever should, at any time, reveal anything said or done there, would simply dishonor himself.

RULE XXIV.

Of the Monthly Retreat.

Come apart into a desert place, and rest a little. St. Mark, vi, 31.

On the first Sunday of each month all attend in silence the Monthly Retreat, a practice the importance of which can hardly be overrated either by Superiors or by simple Religious. On this day they hear Jesus Christ Himself inviting by name every Religious of the Congregation to come apart and rest a little" with Him. This Retreat will be for each one a pause or a halt, to

east back a glance upon the distanco just run over,

and survey the space that lies immediately before them. The Directory fully explains how to proceed on the occasion.

Were it not for the Monthly Retreat but few in a Community could preserve the spirit of fervor imparted by the Annual Retreat.

The life of Religious in the Congregation is, generally speaking, so completely filled with duties-and exposed, at the same time, to the wear and tear of such exterior and incessant contact with the world-that unless the soul be called back into solitude once in a while, every interior disposition gradually gives way.

Hence the necessity of the Monthly Retreat must be obvious to all who honestly desire to see the Congregation safe against the dangers above mentioned, and likewise against what is no less to be dreaded, the natural bent of poor human nature, everywhere inclined to evil, and its inherent inconstancy and manifold slight infidelities, which daily weaken divine grace even in fervent souls.

RULE XXV.

Of the Feasts of the Congregation.

Go you to this festival day.-St. John, vii, 8.

By thus commanding His disciples to go to the

feast of the tabernacles, Jesus Christ intended to impress upon all minds the importance of relig ious solemnities, which in the New Law excel anything that existed in the Old Dispensation, as much as the reality excels the figure. Indeed

among the various means by which the Church keeps up and increases the fervor of her children, one of the most efficient is the solemnity with which she celebrates the memory of her chief Mysteries and of her most glorious Saints.

Hence the devotion with which we should commemorate the great Festivals of the Church; and also those peculiar to the Congregation,—namely, that of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, the titular Feast of the Congregation and the Patronal one of the Priests; that of St. Joseph, the Patronal of the Brothers; the Festival of Our Lady of the Seven Dolors, by which the Congregation is associated with the Blessed Virgin in honoring with her, and under her guidance and protection, the great mystery of the Holy Cross to which it is dedicated.

The above are the three principal solemnities of the Congregation. They are preceded by a fast, that greater blessings may be derived from them.

The Month of the Holy Infancy, the Month of St. Joseph, and the Month of Mary, are now practices of piety too general among Catholics to be any longer considered devotions special to the Congregation. The more, however, they gain