must by sheer force of prayer prevail upon the King of Heaven, Who has more than once claimed for Himself the sovereign power in France, to reassert that claim, and to establish it once more by miraculous intervention.

In this month the glorious St. Michael, the special protector of France, should be very earnestly invoked. It is, indeed, the time for him to unfurl once more his banner, whereon is written: Who is like God? for against GOD Himself war is declared by the men who trample upon France in the wantonness of falsehood. Already they have erased the Name of GOD from the creed of the Freemasons. Give them the power, and they will do no less for our laws and institutions. It shall not be! We have seen too much already of crime and madness and misery. The SACRED HEART OF JESUS will be touched with pity for the greatness of our sufferings, and our Blessed Master, instead of withdrawing from France His gifts and her vocation, will make Divine grace prevail over human wickedness.

PRAYER.

O Sacred Heart of JESUS! through the Immaculate Heart of MARY, I offer Thee all the prayers, labours, and crosses of this day, in union with those intentions for which Thou dost unceasingly offer Thyself a Victim of love on our altars. I offer them to Thee in particular for the eldest daughter of Thy Church, whom Thy enemies are striving to lead into apostasy. Do not forget, dear Lord, that Thou hast made France Thy chosen instrument for revealing to the world the saving mercies of Thy Sacred Heart. Fulfil by a miracle of grace the hopes which Thou hast Thyself inspired. Amen.

The Holy League of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. For the triumph of the Church and Holy See, and the Catholic regeneration of nations.

SEPTEMBER, 1878.

I. GENERAL INTENTION: The Interests of the Church in France. II. PARTICULAR INTENTIONS.

1. Sun. Twelfth after Pentecost.-S. Raymund Nonnatus, C.-(S.J., THE GUARDIAN ANGELS.) Contempt of the world; 7,797 religious.

2. Mon. S. Stephen, King, C.- Detachment; 5,493 temporal affairs.

3. Tues. S. Henry, C. July 21.-(S.J., BB. Antonius S.J. and Comp., MM.) Conformity to the will of GOD; 3,760 persons in affliction.

4. Wed. SS. Nazarius, &c., MM. July 28. (S.F., S. Norbert, B.C. June 6.)-Perfect purity; 11,118 nuns.

5. Thurs. S. Laurence Justinian, B.C.— Constancy; the grace of perseverance for 15,825 persons.

6. Fri. S. Lewis, King, C. Aug. 25.(S.J., S. William, B.C. June 8.)-COMMUNION OF REPARATION, &C.-FRIDAY OF THE SACRED HEART OF JEsus.-GeneraL COMMUNION OF THE HOLY LEAGUE.-Gratitude; 6,426 acts of thanksgiving.

7. Sat. Of the Immaculate Conception.(S.J., BB. Thomas S.J. and Companions, MM.)-Love of innocence; 10,676 young

persons.

8. Sun. Thirteenth after Pentecost.—NATIVITY OF THE Blessed VIRGIN MARY.- Fervour of spirit; 83,868 intentions.

9. Mon. Of the Oct. B.V.M.—(S.J., B. Peter Claver, S. 7.)-Love of our neighbour; 4,285 spiritual works.

10. Tues. S. Nicolas of Tolentino, C.Remembrance of the Four Last Things; 5,487 missions and retreats.

11. Wed. Of the Oct.-(S.F., B. Charles Spinola S.J. and Comp. MM.)-Zeal of souls; 233 foreign missions.

12. Thurs. Of the Oct.-S.F., S. John of S. Facundus, C. June 12.)-Love of our Patron Saints; 3961 parishes.

13. Fri. Of the Oct.-(S.F., S. Antony of Padua, C. June 13.)-Charity to enemies; 15,298 dead.

14. Sat. Exaltation of the Holy Cross.The reign of the Kingdom of Christ; 2,822 promoters.

15. SUN. Fourteenth after Pentecost.-THE HOLY NAME OF MARY.-7,810 vocations.

16. Mon. S. Cornelius, B.M., and S. Cy prian, P.M.-A firm faith; 54,136 heretics and schismatics.

17. Tues. The Stigmata of S. Francis, C. -Holy desires; 3,675 communities.

18. Wed. Ember Day.-S. Joseph of Cupertino.-Humility; 10,147 graces.

19. Thurs. SS. Fanuarius and Comp., MM. -The grace to conquer oneself; 31,988 young

men.

20. Fri. Ember Day.-Vigil.-SS. Eu stachius and Comp., MM.-Christian courage; 21,047 families.

21. Sat. Ember Day.-S. Matthew, Ap.Confidence in the mercy of GOD; 60,129 sinners. 22. SUN. Fifteenth after Pentecost.-THE SEVEN DOLOURS B.V.M.-Devotion to MARY in sorrow; 7,464 fathers and mothers. 23. Mon. S. Linus, P.M. patience; 3,617 superiors. 24. Tues. Our Lady of Mercy.-Liberty of soul; 63,768 children.

Christian

25. Wed. S. Thomas of Villanova, B.C. Sept. 22. (S.F., S. Basil, B.C.D. June 14.)Zeal for the education of children; 2,970 houses of education.

26. Thurs. Of the Blessed Sacrament(S.J., BB. Francis S.J. and Comp., MM. June 20.)-Love of peace; the grace of reconciliation for 4,363 persons.

27. Fri. SS. Cosmas and Damian, MM.— Recourse to GOD; 10,083 sick persons.

28. Sat. S. Wenceslaus, M.-Devotion to the Blessed Sacrament; 8,408 First Com. munions.

29. SUN. Sixteenth after Pentecost.-S. MICHAEL, Archangel.-Zeal for God's glory; 2,183 seminaries and novitiates.

30. Mon. S. Ferome, C.D.-The study of the duties of our state; 7,066 ecclesiastics.

Intentions sent for publication must arrive in London not later than the morning of the first day of the month. It is recommended that they should be written on a page by themselves. An Indulgence of 100 days is attached to all the Prayers and Good Works offered up for these Intentions.

The Intentions of the Archconfraternity of St. Joseph of Angers, and the Children of St. Joseph at Brussels, are recommended to the prayers of the Associates.

Application for Diplomas of Affiliation to the Apostleship of Prayer, Tickets of Admission, &c., for England, is to be made to the Rev. A. G. Knight, S.J., III, Mount Street, Grosvenor Square, London, W.; for Ireland, to the Rev. M. Russell, Ś.J., 50, Upper Sackville Street, Dublin. Sheets of the Living Rosary, adapted to the requirements of the Association, may be had of Messrs. Burns and Oates. Price 2d. the Sheet.

THE MESSENGER

OF THE SACRED HEART OF JESUS.

The Problem Solved.

CHAPTER XXV.

THE BEGINNING OF THE END.

THE enforced inaction of the fourteen long hours between Brest and Paris was little in accordance with Lawrence's impatience. Yet it was a salutary check, and as the train steamed on, and the spring twilight deepened into night, he sat in his corner of the railway carriage looking out into the darkness and holding such communing with himself as few men can hold twice in their lives. By the supernatural light he had received at Courseilles he was reviewing his past life, and calling himself to a strict and an unflinching account for all his wasted opportunities, his pride, vanity and self-sufficiency. His mind travelled back again to his college days, to his utter inability to sign the Thirty-nine Articles, to his self-willed journey to the East, and his own confession against himself, when years afterwards he had owned to Edith Marsden, that had he gone to Rome then, he would have been "a wiser and a happier man."

How could he himself plead guiltless of resistance to grace, such as would have made a saint of another in his OCTOBER, 1878.

N

place? But with the almost overwhelming sense of his own meanness and unworthiness there came a feeling of intense thankfulness, and an intense longing in his turn now to spend himself for God. He had been too long on intimate terms with the Abbé Viennot not to have caught his spirit, and at that moment he understood him better than he had ever done whilst at Courseilles. The lesson the Curé's life taught seemed to be the incomprehensible value of each individual soul, and to show also that it is impossible for any one to correspond generously and unhesitatingly to God's grace himself, without, although he cannot tell how or when, helping to save others. Lawrence knew that if his own conversion were the solitary result of the Cure's long martyrdom at Courseilles, the Abbé Viennot would have felt himself more than repaid even in this world; and as he thought this, a new sense of each man's responsibility with respect to his fellow-men came over him. Man comes into the world alone, he leaves it alone, in one sense he is answerable for himself alone; but, on the other hand, God may have meant him to be the instrument of salvation to others, and he may forfeit this privilege by his own want of generosity. If the Abbé Viennot had never gone to Courseilles? If he had shrunk or faltered in his course, what might not the consequences have been to Lawrence? Who could measure the fruits of Bernard and Bertha Luscomb's conversion to the true faith? It is true God has no need of us, and His work goes on whether we cooperate in it or not; it is only we who are the losers, if we prefer our own sordid interest or pleasures to His will. No one can tell how far in the economy of the Divine mind, his or her individual correspondence to some particular grace may be destined to be the first of a long series of graces for others as well as for themselves.

So now his Nellie's conversion might depend on his own generosity with God. A long life of earthly happiness might still be his-was not his influence with Helen

sufficient to overrule all her scruples? But what was all this as compared with the priceless gift of faith? Through the long hours of the night Lawrence revolved the things in his own mind, and when the rising sun gilded the spires of the Cathedral of Chartres and his journey was almost over, he came forth from his self-retrospection a changed man; with the calm determination to face fearlessly all that might await him in England, and to undo as far as might be the evil he had done. What might not Helen be now suffering, and through his fault? He had made her care for him, he had been selfish in his enjoyment of her society, even more selfish in not considering how she must feel his sudden disappearance. He had tried to uproot her faith from a mere love of influence, without knowing what to give her in return. Hence, if now she could not plead invincible ignorance, it might be said to be his doing. Never in all his life had he loved Helen as he did at that moment, and yet it seemed as if all earthly passion had faded from his love, his affections had like himself become suddenly supernaturalized.

Past the woods of Versailles, where he had walked with her barely two short years ago, the train carried him, and into the same terminus from which he had last left Paris at the close of that pleasant summer holiday. The goal was reached at last, and unmindful of the mental and physical strain he had been under for the last sixteen hours, Mr. Bretherton merely waited to deposit his luggage at the nearest hotel, and hurried across Paris to the church where he had last been with Nellie. There he found as he had hoped an old friend, the same Superior who had secured him an interview with the missionary who had preached that never forgotten sermon. He left it a few hours later, having made his peace with God, and in possession of a peace of heart that nothing earthly could disturb or mar. Then it was that Edith's letter, which had been waiting for him over two months, was at last put into his hands and he realized the fact that he was free;