Page:Meditations For Every Day In The Year.djvu/463

 ence of  Christ. Do not,  therefore,  wonder  if  he  assail you, during  your  most  sacred  devotions,  when  you  approach the  sacrament  of  the  altar.

II. The command  of  Christ  dispossessed  the  Devil,  although he  had  possessed  this  young  man  from  his  infancy. "Thou deaf  and  dumb  spirit,  I  command  thee, go  out  of  Tiim  and  enter  no  more  into  him." (Mark ix. 24.)  O  Lord,  speak  with  the  same  efficacy  to  my  soul. Observe how  the  Devil,  crying  out  and  greatly  tearing him, went  out  of  him. Whilst he  possessed  this  young man, he  behaved  more  mildly  to  him;  but  when  he  was forced to  depart,  he  began  "  to  tear  him." The Devil is always  most  malicious  when  we  abandon  his  service.

III. His disease  was  difficult  of  cure,  because  it  was inveterate and  had  grown  with  him  from  his  infancy. It is  difficult  to  abandon  vices  to  which  you  have  been long accustomed. " A  long  sickness  is  troublesome  to the  physician." (Ecclus. x.  11.)  Christ  observed  of  this evil spirit,  "  This  kind  can  go  out  by  nothing  but  by prayer  and  fasting." Learn to  appreciate  the  value  of these  spiritual  weapons,  and  to  use  them  successfully against your  arch-enemy.

I. In  the  gospel  of  to-day,  we  read  the  following  expression: "Friend,  how  comest  thou  in  hither,  not  having on  a  wedding  garment?" (Matt. xxii.  12  )  Christ