Page:SermonsFromTheLatins.djvu/109

 have conquered  death  by  death,  and  led  captivity captive. Jesus, then,  means  Saviour,  because,  as  St. Matthew  says,  "  He  saved  the  people  from  their sins." Saviour both  in  time  and  from  eternity — Saviour of  men  and  angels  too,  for,  says  tradition, " 'twas  homage  to  the  future  Christ  the  Father chose,  wherewith  to  test  the  angels'  loyalty,"  and Luke relates  His  name  was  called  Jesus — Saviour — which He  was  called  by  the  angel  ere  He  was  conceived in  the  womb. Christ, then,  was  always Saviour, and  Jesus  is  an. eternal name. Thus it  is  we soon  forget  our  awe  of  the  divinity  hidden  in  the humble Saviour. He is  one  of  us  and  His  sacred name, on  second  thought,  sounds  sweet :  "  sweeter," as the  Psalmist  says,  "  than  the  honey  and  the honey-comb." The Canticle  of  Canticles  compares the name  of  the  Lord  pronounced,  to  olive  oil poured out. How beautiful  are  the  scriptural  figures! That sacred  name  like  the  oil  lights  and heats — lights us  to  God's  truth  and  inflames  us  with His love. To learn  that  name,  to  be  saturated  with it as  with  oil,  to  be  rendered  inflammable  by  it  ere the coming  of  the  spirit  of  fire,  was  the  pagan's  first step towards  Christianity. Like oil  again  that  name is a  spiritual  food,  nourishing  and  refreshing,  and  a wholesome  condiment  for  every  action  of  our  lives. " Whatever  ye  do,"  says  St.  Paul,  "  in  word  or  in work,  do  all  in  the  name  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ." Again, it  is,  like  oil,  a  lubricant,  minimizing  the  bitter cares and  the  friction  of  this  world. It is,  besides,  a healthful  medicine. How many  a  poor,  sorely-wounded