ites, without harming them or theirs. On this day, then, the whole multitude, to the number sometimes of 200,000 souls, were collected together in the courts and neighbourhood of the temple; divided into families or small societies, each of whom killed on the occasion a goat or a lamb. After solemn prayer, the blood of these creatures was offered up; and burnt before the temple, by the High Priest, attended by all the Levites, in white garments, with great pomp, and with the sound of trumpets.

The multitude then withdrew from the temple; each family or society carrying with them their lamb, which they eat in private, with bitter herbs and unleavened bread; as is described in the 12th chapter of Exodus, and in the account which the Evangelists have given of the Last Supper of our Lord.

To this feast, then, without regarding the long journey (70 miles) between Nazareth and Jerusalem, Joseph and Mary, and the child Jesus,

came.

Our Saviour was then too young to be obliged to attend; but it is likely that, being poor, they had nobody with whom they could safely leave him; and it is still more likely, that the Son of God, young as He was, already placed His chief joy in Mount Zion; that He was already glad (like his forefather David) when they said, "Let us go to the house of the

Lord:" and was anxious, already, to be engaged in His Heavenly Father's business.

I need not repeat to you, what happened there; Joseph's and His mother's sorrow on losing Him; their anxious search; or how they found Him, in the temple,- a child disputing with doctors and grey-bearded men: and astonishing all with His wisdom and answers. I need not repeat how He asked His parents why they sought him, since they might have been assured, that He was well employed? How He went down to Nazareth; and, far from being vain of the praise bestowed on Him by the Doctors of the Law, was subject and dutiful to His poor earthly parents; or how (which concludes the account of His childhood) He grew in wisdom and stature, and in favour with God and man. These are points which require no explanation; and I shall pass on, immediately, to set before you the moral use and improvement which a Christian ought to make of these facts in the history of his Redeemer.

When we behold the frequent sorrows to which the Blessed Virgin was subject, we may be moved to wonder and apprehension, by observing the severe discipline, the frequent trials of faith and patience, to which God is accustomed to expose his greatest Saints, and those whom He loves most dearly.

When Mary was told by an angel that she

was highly favoured, and blessed among women, in giving birth to the Saviour of the world, she little thought, perhaps, how hardly she was to purchase this honour; or how bitter sorrows (as old Simeon prophesied in the temple) were, like a sword, to pierce her heart. She little thought, that, instead of beholding the triumphs and sharing the glory of the Divine and excellent Saviour, she was to watch His agony, and to stand weeping and childless at the foot of His cross. And even now, in His very childhood, this good son, — who was her's only, who had only her on earth, and who was her happiness and honour; whose every word and action she pondered in her heart, - how severe a grief did He cost her! How would she mourn the danger of such tender years in the midst of so great a multitude! How would she repent her own carelessness in losing Him: and, above all, by this negligence of hers, the Hope of Israel and of the World was thrown away! Three days she sought Him sorrowing: and who are we that we should murmur? When the Virgin Mary sorrowed, who are we that we should escape?

Nay rather, (and this, my friends, is a fear which often occurs to my mind,) how much cause have the rich, and prosperous, and healthy, and all those who are unacquainted with grief; how much cause have they to tremble, lest this

prosperity should make them forget God; how much cause have they to pray for His grace, to which nothing is impossible; and which alone can give them hopes of entering into the Kingdom of Heaven.

There is, however, a spiritual affliction, nearly resembling that of the Blessed Virgin, to which rich and poor are alike often exposed. She had lost her Saviour; and who is there amongst us, who has not sometimes felt an emptiness of heart, a want of the grace and comforts of religion, and a feeling, as if God had withdrawn Himself from our souls? There is no greater fear than this, that our sins have provoked His Spirit, and that His face is hid from us for ever; and this fear, or something like it, will attack even the best of men, when they feel their conscience (as it sometimes will be) unusually dead ; their affections unusually cold or indifferent; and their prayers unusually feeble. On the bed of sickness, when the body and mind are alike weak, this fear is, more than ever, common but wherever it exists, the sufferer ought to remember the conclusion of the Blessed Virgin's story, that the Christ, whom she had lost, was found by her in the temple. No help can be had from the world; no comfort from kinsfolk or acquaintance: but the wounded conscience will find a sure relief in the Church of God, and in the services of religion. Those,

who, notwithstanding the gloomy thoughts which I have mentioned, will persevere in prayer;who will seek the Lord diligently in His Scriptures, His temple, and His Sacraments;-will not be left without a comforter: they may be allowed to seek Him sorrowing; but, let them persevere, and the grace of God Himself will speak to their heart, as with the voice of His beloved Son, "I will never leave thee, or forsake thee." "Blessed are they that mourn; for they shall be comforted!" "Blessed are they, that hunger and thirst after righteousness; for they shall be filled."

1

There is another caution, too, which naturally rises from this Gospel, and which, to minds of this sort, may be very necessary. They are apt to think it a matter of indifference, where or how they seek for religious comfort or instruction; and too many artful advisers are always to be met with, who attempt to ensnare them from the Church, as established by law, and handed down from the Apostles themselves; they attempt, I say, to ensnare them from the Church into the chapels and meeting-houses of other religions.

But Christ, let every believer consider, Christ was not found in the high places, or other irregular houses of worship. Great as He was, and superior to all temples made with hands,

1 St. Matthew, v. 4. 6.