pure consciences, and in the performance of good works, they may safely accomplish their passage across the stormy ocean of this life. He who by his excellence takes the precedence among them, and whom they look up to as a father, directs these holy exercises, which are every day repeated. Their prayer finished, they each begin to occupy themselves, and the produce of their labour is given to the poor.

It is not only by the simplicity of their singing, and the fervour of their prayers, that they edify all who come to see them, but likewise by the ardour with which they are always found delivering themselves up to the study of the Holy Scriptures.Apart from the places where they meet together, each one separately takes a book of the Sacred Writings, whether it may be Isaiah, or one of the Apostles, or any other;-sometimes meditating on the divine nature, sometimes on the wonders of creation on what strikes our senses, or what escapes them; upon the fragility of this life, upon the hopes of that to come, and upon the happiness of the future. They feed on this spiritual nourishment, more strengthening to the soul than is the flesh of animals to the body; sweeter than honey, -a honey surpassingly fragrant, more excellent than that with which John the Baptist sustained himself in the desert. Like bees they hover over and rest upon the divine books, to extract from them the most precious treasures, those lively impressions which the Holy Spirit delights to shed abroad in their hearts, as in vessels prepared for their reception, and where they are changed and transformed into the essence of those who thus receive them.Homily on St. Matthew.

St. Chrysostom gives us the following anecdotes: There was a young man, of distinguished family, whose father held a high military rank, and who, being destitute himself of any just views upon religion, and indifferent to the spiritual welfare of his son, was solely desirous of raising him to offices of distinction and honour. His mother, on the other hand, a zealous Christian, cared not for the worldly advancement of her son, and had set her heart upon educating him for a vocation heavenly and eternal. She believed that the most certain means of obtaining this object was to place him in a monastery; but she well knew, that this plan was opposed to the views of his father, and that if it came to his knowledge, he would use every exertion to frustrate her wishes. She therefore applied to a venerable monk, and confided to him the education of her son. The monk laid aside his habit, and assuming that of a pedagogue accompanied the youth to Antioch, where it had been decided that he was to pursue his studies, and by constant instruction he imparted to the young man's mind an earnest faith, which distinguished him above all his fellow students.

The children were sent to the monks from the cities to receive their blessings, and on these occasions their minds were strewed with the seeds of Christian truth, which took deep root. Thus Theodoret says of the monk Peter: "He often placed me on his knees, and fed me with bread and grapes; for my mother having had experience of his spiritual grace, sent me to him once every week to receive his blessing." In speaking of Macedonius he also says: "Often have I benefited by his blessing and instruction; often hath he said to me with much exhortation: 'My son, many a night, before

thou wert born, have I prayed to God, that thou mightest be granted unto thy parents. Repay my toil by a good life. Before thy birth thou wert dedicated by a vow to God; but that which is dedicated to God must be honoured by all, and preserved from contact with uncleanness.

The monk Abraham, dwelling in the province of Cyrrhestica, heard that a large village, upon Mount Lebanon, was still obscured by the night of heathenism. Accompanied by some of his brethren, he betook himself thither, disguised in the habit of a merchant. Under this character, he hired a house, and, after some days of repose, commenced with his companions the celebration of divine service.— Their spiritual songs betrayed them, and the heathens, both men and women, hastened to the spot; barricaded the doors of the house; and poured down upon them, from the uncovered roof, all kinds of refuse collected for the purpose. But as the monks remained unmoved, and continued in prayer, their rage at length abated. The inhabitants however required of them to leave the village without delay. At that very moment the imperial tax-gatherers arrived, who endeavoured to extort from the villagers the payment of duties, greatly beyond their means. Then Abraham, forgetful of the treatment he had received, and imitating our blessed Lord, who, when nailed to the cross, prayed for his persecutors, espoused their cause ; admonished the taxgatherers to conduct themselves with moderation; and promised to pay them a considerable sum in behalf of the inhabitants of the village. He hastened to the neighbouring city, Emesa, and raised the sum among his acquaintance. By this charitable act he gained the entire confidence of the heathen,

who had been hitherto so greatly incensed against him. He was allowed to build a church, having been led by them to the places in the neighbourhood, and been pointed out the spots, which were most convenient for its site. They chose him for their guide, both in spiritual and worldly affairs; and within the space of three years, which he passed among them, he completed their conversion.

The following anecdotes of the great St. Anthony, founder of the Monastic Life, will not be misplaced here.

Being desirous of convincing two Grecian philosophers, that, a true knowledge of God was to be acquired rather through faith, than through logical reasoning, he said to them: "Faith proceedeth from a certain condition of the mind. Logic is the result of human ingenuity. To those therefore, who have a direct perception through faith, a demonstration upon the grounds of reason is not necessary, perhaps superfluous; for that, which we behold through faith, ye seek to prove by argument; and oftentimes ye cannot so much as express in words that, which to us is visible." To a scholar, who asked him, how he could endure to live without books, he replied:

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My book is the book of nature; therein, when it pleaseth me, I can read the word of God.

ON THE MARTYR BABYLAS.

[The occasion of St. Chrysostom's excellent work on the Martyr Babylas, was the following.The grove of Daphne, situated in one of the suburbs of Antioch, and famed for its temple of Apollo, was one of the most delightful spots in the world.Bathed by delicious fountains, which in those countries cooled the oppressive heat of summer, adorned by cypress and majestic trees, whose interwoven branches afforded shade in the most sultry weather, enamelled with a thousand fragrant flowers, this spot was rendered by its very charms the seat of voluptuousness, which the vicinity of the great heathen sanctuary in no wise tended to suppress.For the Pagan religion into which the Spirit of holiness entered not, and which appealed to the senses through the refinement of art, gave by its forms of worship, and its mythical tales, an increased stimulus to the passions, instead of teaching mankind the way to subdue them. Gallus Cæsar, therefore, during his government over this part of the East, had been induced by the zeal of the Christians, to remove thither the bones of Babylas, bishop of Antioch, who had suffered martyrdom in the Decian persecution, and to erect on the spot a chapel consecrated to his memory, in order to counteract the idolatry and vice, which had there so long exercised undisputed dominion. The recollections called forth by the tombs of holy men, and their powerful influence on the mind, St. Chrysostom describes in these words.]