CHAPTER VI.

SECT. I.-ALMS.

1. TAKE heed that ye do not your alms before men, to be seen of them: otherwise ye have no reward of your Father which is in heaven.

The best way is to do good works in secret, as far as is consistent with the advancement of God's glory. The devil engages the wicked to do evil with pleasure, and the righteous to do good out of vanity. Let us wait with patience one moment; the eternal reward can neither fail us nor be delayed. To desire to be paid ready money by the hands of men, is the way to lose all; but to trust God, is to enrich ourselves forever.

2. Therefore when thou doest thine alms, do not sound a trumpet before thee, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues, and in the streets, that they may have glory of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward.

To do alms in secret is to offer a double sacrifice. A transient and momentary honour is the empty reward of vain men. Unhappy he, who, in parting with his wealth, deprives himself, by his vanity, of the heavenly riches. It is, as it were, attempting to impose upon God with a wrong title, for a man to endeavour to sell that to him which he has already sold to vain-glory.

3. But when thou doest alms, let not thy left hand know what thy right hand doeth:

It is good to conceal our good works, even from our nearest relations, unless we are under an obligation of edifying them. We ought to proceed farther, to conceal them, as one may say, even from ourselves, by not allowing ourselves the satisfaction so much as to think on them, or to lay them before our eyes by reflections of complacency and self-love. They are given to God, and therefore they ought to be kept hid in him.

4. That thine alms may be in secret: and thy Father which seeth in secret himself shall reward thee openly.

The substantial reward of the secret virtue of the humble is conferred openly. Our alms is our treasure; not to hide it, is to expose ourselves to being robbed. He who seeks any other approbation than that of God, forgets that he is made only for him, and that he ought ultimately to refer all to him alone.

SECT. II.-PRAYER.

5. And when thou prayest, thou shalt not be as the hypocrites are: for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward.

In order to approach God, and to incline him to give ear to our prayer, it is necessary to pray out of the hearing of men, and without affecting to be seen by them. A man loves the world when he seeks to please it, and this love spoils the best works. God is a jealous God, and cannot share with any one what is due to himself alone; and this not out of envy, but goodness. He is not afraid of losing any thing, but of being obliged not to give, and not to bestow himself.

6. But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly.

The heart is God's peculiar portion; he is the judge of it; it belongs to him to reward. It is in this that he will be worshipped and adored. Prayer is the most secret intercourse of the soul with God, and, as it were, the conversation of one heart with another. The world is too profane and treacherous to be of the secret. We must shut the door against it, by forgetting it, and all the affairs which busy and amuse it. Prayer requires retirement, at least of the heart; for this is the closet in the house of God, which house is ourselves. Thither we ought to retire, even in public prayer, and in the midst of company. What goodness is there equal to this of God, to give not only what we ask, and more than we ask of him, but to reward even prayer itself! What advantage is it to serve a prince, who places prayers in the

VOL. I.-8

number of services, and reckons to his subjects' account even their trust and confidence in begging all things of him.

7. But when ye pray, use not vain repetitions, as the heathen do: for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking.

Prayer requires more of the heart than of the tongue, of sighs than of words, of faith than of discourse. The eloquence of prayer consists in the fervency of desire, in the simplicity of faith, and in the earnestness and perseverance of charity. The abundance and choice of fine thoughts, studied and vehement motions, and the order and politeness of the expressions, are things which compose a mere human harangue, not an humble and Christian prayer. Our trust and confidence ought to proceed from that which God is able to do in us, not from that which we can say to God.

8. Be not ye therefore like unto them: for your Father knoweth what things ye have need of, before ye ask him.

Prayer is not designed to inform God, but to give man a sight of his misery, to humble his heart, to excite his desire, to inflame his faith, to animate his hope, to raise his soul toward heaven, and to put him in mind that there is his Father, his country, his inheritance. He is a Father to whom we pray; let us go to him with confidence: he knows our wants; let us remove far from us all anxious disquiet and concern.

9. After this manner therefore pray ye:

The prayer which Jesus Christ gives us here is the pattern of all Christian prayer, and an abridgement of the gospel. What satisfaction it is to learn, from God himself, with what words and in what manner he would have us pray to him, so as not to pray in vain! A king, who himself draws up the petition which he allows to be presented to himself, has surely a very great desire to grant the request. We do not sufficiently conceive the value of this prayer, the respect and attention which it requires, the preference to be given to it, its fulness and perfection, the frequent use we should make of it, and the spirit which we should bring along with us to it. The order of the petitions is the order of our desires and of our duties; it is here we ought to be particularly mindful of them.

Our Father which art in heaven,

1st, We must, in the first place, say this prayer with the heart of a heavenly child, disengaged from the earth by his new birth, animated with the Spirit of the divine adoption, and full of desire to be reunited to his Father and Author. The heart of a child of God is a brotherly heart, in respect of all other Christians; it asks nothing but in the spirit of unity, fellowship, and Christian charity, desiring that for its brethren which it desires for itself. Let us adore God in the unity and simplicity of his essence, in the trinity and fellowship of his persons; as the Father of Christians, the source and model of all paternity both in heaven and earth, and the Author of all created good.

Hallowed be thy name.

2d, We must say it, with the heart of a priest, all inflamed with zeal for God's glory, and for the sanctification of souls, and with the desire of that holiness, which should render him like to God as to his Father. In the sanctification of the elect and of the whole church, God is pleased to place his glory; and, therefore, this glory and this sanctification we ought to desire and to pray for before all things. Let us adore the holiness of God; let us desire that his holy name may be everywhere known; let us labour to this purpose with all our power, beginning first with ourselves.

10. Thy kingdom come.

3d, We must say it with the heart of a faithful subject, zealous for the glory of his sovereign. When will it be, O my God, that death and sin, the devil and his ministers, the world and its offences, shall cease to reign upon earth; and that thou, after having judged the quick and the dead, separated thy elect from the reprobate, and destroyed all the powers of earth and hell, wilt thyself reign alone everywhere, in all, and forever, and thy saints with thee, and with thy Son? In order to desire the coming of this kingdom, it is necessary to be in a condition to expect it with confidence. Let us adore the sovereignty of God, and labour to establish his kingdom in our own hearts.

Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.

4th, We must say it with the heart of a wife who studies the desires and inclinations of her husband, and seeks only to please him. God everywhere effects his will, even in those who oppose it the most; but it is done, with and by love, in none but the saints in heaven and on earth. We acknowledge the necessity of a grace, which, by a free and predominant love, may subject our will to that of God, when we pray that "his will may be done in us as it is in heaven." It is by this that God reigns, and that his name is hallowed. Let us adore the almighty will of God, and desire that it may work in us, so as to subject us to itself.

11. Give us this day our daily bread

5th, We must say it with the heart of a sheep, which requires food from its shepherd; and of one really in want, who begs his bread. We ought to ask of God the bread of the body; but much more the bread of the soul,-his grace, his word, the divine eucharist, the love of his law, and the accomplishment of his will. God will have us depend on him. He gives not to the body all its nourishment, nor to the soul all the grace which is necessary for it, on purpose to oblige us to pray; and prayer, which proves that we always stand in need of this grace, proves also that we have it not always. Let us adore the providence of God, let us love to depend upon it, and let us frequently have recourse to it.

12. And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.

6th, We must say it with the heart of a penitent who begs mercy of his God, while he affords it to his neighbour in all respects. That man condemns himself to suffer the eternal vengeance of God, who makes use of this prayer with revenge and hatred in his heart. He who observes not the condition of a transaction so advantageous, does not comprehend what he owes to God, and is a madman who resolves to perish. Let us adore the infinite love and mercy of God; and let us