you have been reading. Place yourself in thought before the awful Presence of Almighty God, God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit, your Creator, Redeemer, Sanctifier. Think that you are preparing for the day of Confirmation. Examine yourself as to your reasons for wishing to be Confirmed. Consider the nature of Confirmation. Remember that it is one of the "principles," that is, first steps, "of the doctrine of Christ,' and that to neglect it or to receive it carelessly will be a great sin. Then pray earnestly the following short

PRAYER

To be used daily before Confirmation.

ALMIGHTY Father, I give Thee I Thee thanks for Thy great goodness to me in that Thou hast made me Thine own child by adoption, and hast numbered me among Thy flock, making me the temple of Thy Holy Spirit.

Have mercy upon me, O my Father, for I have sinned against Thee. Pardon me for Thy dear Son's sake, and cleanse me from every stain of sin. Now that I am about to draw near to Thee in Confirmation, help me to know my weakness, and where alone I can receive strength. Prepare me that I may come before Thee in sincerity of heart. Increase and Confirm in me the gifts of the Spirit, that I may serve Thee in true holiness and righteousness all the days of my life, for Jesus Christ's sake. Amen.

II. I shall now speak of what is done by you in Confirmation. You Confirm or ratify the threefold vow made for you at your Baptism.

At Baptism we were admitted into the family of God. God was pleased from that time to call Himself Our Father. We were made "members of Christ; " that is, members of that Christian body of which Christ is the Head. And we were made "in

B

heritors of the Kingdom of Heaven.' One who has a property or inheritance left to him is called an "inheritor or an heir. He has a right at some future time to succeed to the property. Since we have been made children of God, we are also heirs, "heirs of God," and have a right to succeed to our inheritance, which is Heaven. (I. St. Peter, 1, 3, 4.)

These blessings were made yours at your Baptism. Behold the goodness and the mercy of God. He made you His child from your very infancy. The fact of your being a child of God binds you to do three things to resist temptation, to believe the Christian faith, and to obey your Father's will and commandments. You were bound or pledged to do all this at your Baptism. You did not make the promise with your own lips. You were too young to say anything; you could not understand or speak. Your Godfathers and Godmothers, who are called your

sponsors, made all the promises, in your name and in your stead, which a Christian ought to make on admission to so great blessings and benefits. Now you are to ratify and Confirm what they said and did. You are "come to years of discretion," that is, you are old enough to understand the promise, you are old enough to know the difference between good and evil, between right and wrong. You are now bound to believe and do as your sponsors have promised for you. At Confirmation you declare openly in "the Presence of God and the Congregation," your responsibility. You renew the solemn promise with your own lips, "ratify and Confirm the same in your own person, and acknowledge yourself bound to do with all your heart all that they undertook for you.

You know what was promised for you. You can, I am sure, say by heart the answer to the question in the Catechism, "What did your God

fathers and Godmothers

then for you?" Let us examine this answer: we therein see that you were bound or pledged to do three things.

You are 66 to renounce the Devil and all his works, the pomps and vanity of this wicked world, and all the sinful lusts of the flesh." You are to renounce all these things, that is, you are not to "follow or be led by them." You must refuse to follow or be led by the devil. You must refuse to follow or be led by the world. You must refuse to follow or be led by the flesh. In other words, you are bound to resist the temptations of your three great spiritual enemies, the world, the flesh, and the devil.

The world is a great enemy of your soul; it tempts different persons in different ways. It tempts the rich man by its vain pomp and show and indulgence. It tempts the poor man through the public-house, the fair,

ous mirth, and evil companions.