and the woman herself would have wanted that reward, which her patience, thus exercised, might claim; that renown, which has spread her story through every nation, where this Gospel is preached; and that praise, which her faith received from the lips of her Almighty Redeemer.

And so it is, and for such reasons, that God afflicts and tries the faith of Christians; for not only are faith and goodness strengthened and improved by frequent combats with sin, or with difficulty; not only are we all made more perfect by such exercises; even as the soldier, experienced in war, is superior to an unpractised recruit; but our faith and virtue, thus displayed, are an example and instruction to other men; and the trials, by which we are strengthened, are patterns of improvement to our neighbours.

Whatever blessings, then, you implore from the Throne of mercy, or from whatever evils you desire to be delivered, remember to pray, as earnestly, and as patiently, and as humbly, as this poor Canaanite. Though God should seem to hide His face, yet be not daunted; yet faint not under sorrow; but, as Christ Himself did, -in your agony, pray more earnestly. Though He suffer you long to entreat in vain, remember still, that He is faithful, who hath promised-that he, that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved." And, above all, remember,

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1 St. Matt. xxiv. 13.

VOL. I.

that, if you stop, you are undone! Your prayers are not yet granted; but, if you cease to pray, they never will be granted. If the Canaanitish woman had gone away in despair at the first or second refusal, what would have become of her daughter? And are the favours, for which a Christian ought to ask, so light and trifling, as not to be worth a little perseverance, a little patient abiding in prayer? Is not Heaven worth, at least, our repeated entreaty? or shall we not ask, as long, and as patiently, as this poor heathen did, -to be freed ourselves, our children, and families, from the power and punishment of devils? Oh, by all your hopes and fears, be not so soon weary of the means of Salvation afforded you! Abandon not rashly that everlasting chain of prayer, which joins the soul to its Maker; that meditation of Divine things, by which, as by Jacob's visionary ladder, our spirits even now climb up to God; and by which, ere long, we may, by the grace of Jesus Christ, enter into the presence of our Lord; and hear from the lips of wisdom, that praise, to which all earthly fame is folly, - "Great is thy faith! be it unto thee, even as thou wilt!"

SERMON XVII.

THIRD SUNDAY IN LENT.

ST. LUKE, xi. 27, 28.

And it came to pass, as He spake these things, a certain woman of the company lifted up her voice, and said unto Him, Blessed is the womb that bare Thee, and the paps which Thou hast sucked. But He said, Yea rather, blessed are they, that hear the word of God, and keep it.

It was an honest and natural feeling of the woman, mentioned in this history, which led her, (while wondering at the gracious words which came from the mouth of Christ, and experiencing within herself, their power to make her wise unto salvation) which led her, I say, to consider the distinguished honour and happiness of that Holy Virgin who had brought so perfect and pure a Being into the world; who had held, in her arms and to her motherly breast, the hope and restorer of a lost creation; who had watched the early wisdom and the lisped prayer of Him, who, for our sake, became a child; and whom the King of Glory was, in His earthly nature, not ashamed to reverence by the name of mother.

Blessed, indeed, among women, and, above all women, highly favoured, was Mary the daughter of David; in whose womb the Son of God did not abhor to make His habitation bodily,-whose Seed was ordained to triumph over death and hell, and to bruise for evermore the head of that infernal serpent by whom the first created woman had been deceived. Blessed and highly favoured, the angel declared her to be; when he brought to her the salutation of God Most High: blessed has she since been worthily called among all generations of the faithful; and blessed in the fruit of her womb are all the nations of mankind, who, with her, and like her, have been taught to build their hopes of salvation on the merits of her Saviour, and ours.

It was a deep sense of that honour and blessedness, which led the Roman Catholics into a great and dangerous error; insomuch that they are accustomed to offer prayers, and burn frankincense, to the Virgin Mary, and before her image; to call on her to be their mediator with Christ, even as Christ is their mediator with God the Father; to address her, as queen of Heaven;" as "star of the sea ;" and with many other titles taken from the old idolatry of the heathen; and even, in some of their addresses, to speak of her as the creatress of the world, and to implore her to shew herself a mother by commanding her Son in their behalf.

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Of the manner, in which this strange and grievous superstition crept into the world, it is needless, at present, to inform you. It is enough to observe, that all such prayers and such extravagant praises are nothing less than idolatry, and most offensive both to God and his Son: that, highly as the Virgin Mary was honoured among women, she was a woman still; and, in some respects, a weak and sinful one; that her Son and Saviour is recorded in the Gospel to have had, twice, occasion to reprove her; once, at the marriage feast in Cana, for her unreasonable forwardness in urging Him to perform a miracle; and again, when, together with His brethren, she sought to lay hands on Him as a lunatic. It may be added, that, in no recorded expression of Christ's, not even when, at the time of His own crucifixion, He was recommending His mother to the care and duty of St. John, has He ever so much as hinted, that her prayers were of more value in His sight, than the prayers of any other believer; and that He has, in two instances, taken care to guard against such an error on the part of His followers, first, when He declared, that whosoever heard and obeyed His preaching was no less dear to Him than His mother, sister, and brother; and, secondly, when, as you have heard in the text, without denying the fact of His mother's blessedness, He places on a still higher level of happiness and favour, those