Page:Goffinesdevoutin00goffuoft.djvu/231

 manner, rise with our bodies. 3. To make known to us the greatness of His love, through which He has graven us, as it were, on His hands and feet, and in His heart (Isaias xlix. 16).

4. To impart to us confidence in His endless mercy, and to encourage us to combat against the world, the flesh, and the devil.

5. To prepare a place of refuge, and an inexhaustible fountain of consolation for all the miserable, afflicted, and tempted. 6. To terrify the impenitent, whom, on the day of judgment, He will show how much He has suffered for them, and that they have been the cause of their own destruction. Oh, let us endeavor to think often on the wounds of Jesus, that we may thereby be encouraged to lead pious lives acceptable to God.

O Jesus, grant that the precious blood which flowed from Thy wounds for me and all sinners may not be lost.

" He opened their understanding, that they might understand the Scriptures." Luke xxiv. 45.

Is it free to every one to read and explain Holy Scripture according to his own opinion?

No; that must be done with submission and conformity to the teaching of the Church. Questions of faith cannot be settled by appealing to the Holy Scriptures alone, since they them selves are liable to be misunderstood. For this reason the Church has done wisely in making the printing, reading, and explaining of Holy Scripture depend upon the permission of lawful spiritual superiors.

What, therefore, must one do who desires to read the Holy Scriptures?

He must read them, 1. Only with the permission of the ecclesiastical superiors. 2. With the subjection of his own opinion to the decisions of the Church, and the interpretation of the holy fathers. 3. With suitable preparation, by prayer and fasting, as St. Thomas of Aquin did, and with devotion and care.