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 power with which Thou bast endowed us, and enabled us to perform it. Amen.

Our Father, etc.

THOU, whose presence is the source of life to all, whose divine love, by its vivifying properties, constitutes the life of all created beings, permit us, this morning, to approach Thee, and to express our unfeigned gratitude for all Thy blessings, and especially for the blessing of heat, which is as the going forth of Thy love, and the source of all our enjoyments.

Thou hast arranged all things for the benefit of man, and the proofs of Thy love are every day new. The more we contemplate Thy works with seriousness, the more perfectly Thy love becomes visible. It is Thy love which gives heat and fervour to the sun of the natural world. It is from Thy love and truth that the seasons vary, and the agreeable vicissitudes of summer and winter, seed time and harvest, succeed each other, and remind us of the immense obligations we owe to Thee, the Father of light and life.

It is from the vivifying power of Thy love that the branch is preserved in the bud, the plant in the seed, and the embryo in the egg. O Lord, when we consider all the benefits which spring from Thy love, we are struck with amazement at its extent, and we feel the truth of the words of Thy aposile, "that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from Thy love." Amen.

Our Father, etc.

{di|H}}OW often has man, lost in sin and folly, heedlossly entered the house of prayer; and in that house the happy hours of infancy have been recalled to his recollection, and the prayer of affection has suddenly revived his soul with heavenly warmth, and the tender love of a mother has again fell warm upon his heart, and touched that expiring spark of love, and kindled it into a flame, and softened every feeling, and led to the repentant exclamation, "I have sinned against heaven! I will arise and go unto my Father." It is Thou, O Lord, who hast preserved this small remnant; it was Thy providence that led the prodigal to the house of prayer; it was Thy love which touched his heart with heavenly fire, and awoke him to the sense of his awful state; it was Thy encouragement that prompted him to return, and in the midst of his newly awakened sense of guilt to exclaim, "In my father's house is bread enough and to spare, while I perish with hunger; I wilt arise and go to my father." O God of love and compassion, we magnify Thy name for preserving this very small remnant. We adore Thee that Thy good Spirit is ever striving to reclaim us from the cold shade of spiritual death. Thou art indeed long-suffering, abundant in goodness end truth. When the sinner turns to Thee, Thou dost not upbraid him with the