CHRIST RAISING THE WIDOW'S SON.

SHORTLY after he had restored the servant of the Roman centurion, arriving at the gate of the city of Nain, Jesus saw a funeral procession issuing from the city. "Now when he came nigh to the gate of the city, behold, there was a dead man carried out, the only son of his mother, and she was a widow and much people of the city was with her. And when the Lord saw her, he had compassion on her, and said unto her, Weep not. And he came and touched the bier: and they that bare him stood still. And he said, Young man, I say unto thee, Arise. And he that was dead sat up, and began to speak. And he delivered him to his mother." This extraordinary miracle excited the wonder of the persons present upon this occasion. "And there came a fear on all; and they glorified God, saying, That a great prophet is risen up among us; and, That God hath visited his people*." "Nain was a town of Galilee, about two leagues from Nazareth, and near to which ran the river Kison. From our Saviour's meeting the funeral coming out at the gate, we may learn that it was a custom among the Jews to bury their dead in the day time, when the nearest friends and relatives followed the corpse, which was usually carried in procession through the streets to the cemetery, generally at a considerable distance from the city, because they looked upon their graves as places full of pollution; whereas we Christians, in hopes of a joyful resurrection, and upon presumption that many of those whose bodies are deposited in the earth are in a state of felicity in Heaven, look upon these places with great veneration, and accordingly have our tombs erected always very near, and sometimes within, the body of our churches."Whitby's Tables of Places, and Calmet's Commentary on Luke, 7-12.

THE GOOD SAMARITAN.

UPON the return of the seventy disciples whom the Redeemer had sent to preach the gospel, they expressed their joy at the success of their ministry. The very devils had been subjected to them by virtue of their Master's name; and while they expressed their satisfaction at such unexpected success, Christ promised them that they should experience still greater, investing them with power to encounter with impunity the most malignant instruments of Satan, at the same time assuring them that their names were recorded in heaven ;—a blessing especially bestowed upon them. He then told them in holy transport that God had concealed the mysteries of the Gospel from the arrogantly wise, and revealed it to the innocently simple, who by virtue of that divine revelation enjoyed advantages, which the great men of the earth had desired in vain. Scarcely had our Saviour finished his discourse, when a doctor of the law stood up and asked him what he should do to attain eternal life. Christ replied that he should love God and his neighbour. The doctor immediately demanded whom he was to consider his neighbour. Upon which, the blessed Jesus replied, There was a certain Jew who, on his way from Jerusalem to Jericho, falling among thieves, they robbed him, and wounding him severely, left him weltering in his blood. A priest, passing by shortly afterwards, crossed on the other side of the road, without offering him the least assistance. A Levite followed, and did precisely the same; "but a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he was: and when he saw him, he had compassion on him, and went to him, and bound up his wounds, pouring in oil and wine, and set him on his own beast, and brought him to an inn, and took care of him." From this parable the lawyer was made sensible that all men were his neighbours, of whatever country or religion.