HATRED OF THE NATURAL MAN FOR THE THINGS OF THE SPIRIT OF GOD. of God. It is foolishness to him, and he cannot understand." (I Cor. ii., 14.) From not being able to understand what he sees, be becomes angry and irritated at the very sight of it. And then he goes on to say:- -“Let us lie in wait for the just, because he is not for our turn, and he is contrary to our doings; he is grievous unto us, even to behold, for his life is not like other men's. We are esteemed by him as triflers, and he abstaineth from our ways as from filthiness. He boasteth that he hath the knowledge of God, and calleth himself the Son of God. Let us see if his words be true, and let us prove what shall happen to him. Let us examine him by outrages and tortures, that we may know his meekness aud try his patience. Let us condemn him to a most shameful death." (Wisdom, ii., 12.) From the tenor of these words of our divine Lord, and the other passages of Holy Scripture, it will be plain that the Christian is called to be a man of war, and that his vocation is to be the "strong man that holds his own, as long as he is armed and keeps watch over his goods." Thus, at the close of a long life, the Apostle, like a true spiritual warrior, exclaims: "I have fought the good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith: henceforward there is laid up for me a crown of justice, which the Lord the just Judge will render me in that day!" THE SEVENFOLD GIFTS OF THE HOLY GHOST. For this state of continual warfare in the midst of trial and temptation, often the hardest that human nature can be exposed to, our Lord has shown his most tender and loving consideration, in the Sacrament of Confirmation. In it the Christian soldier is anointed with an unction from the Holy Ghost, which gives him a strength superior to any trial, however great it may be. The Bishop, who is the minister of the sacrament, says to those about to be confirmed: May the Holy Ghost descend upon you, and the power of the Most High keep you from sins. Let us pray. Amen. Almighty and eternal God, who hast vouchsafed to regenerate these thy servants by water and the Holy Ghost, and who hast given to them the remission of all their sins, send forth upon them thy seven-fold spirit, the Holy Paraclete from heaven. Amen. The spirit of wisdom and understanding. Amen. Amen. The spirit of knowledge and piety. Amen. Fill them with the spirit of thy fear, and mercifully sign them with the sign of the cross, unto eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord, &c. Amen. The Bishop then makes the sign of the cross upon the forehead, saying: Babid anointed King. Through many tribulations we must enter into the kingdom of God. Acts, xiv. 21. THE TYPE OF THE ANOINTING OF DAVID. N-, I sign thee with the sign of the cross, and I confirm thee with the chrism of salvation in the name of the Father, of the Son, and, of the Holy Ghost. Amen. Then after other prayers the Bishop blesses them, saying: The Lord bless you out of Sion, that you may see the good things of Jerusalem all the days of your life and have eternal life. Amen. In the Old Testament the anointing of David is a figure of the Holy Chrism of Confirmation. David was not anointed, like Solomon, to a peaceful kingdom, but to a life of incessant struggle, danger, and warfare. Thy father is a man of war from his youth," said Achitophel to Absalom; and David himself said: "As the Lord liveth there is but one step, as I may say, between me and death." By his faith in divine providence, and by constant wariness and prudence, David slowly fought his way, through every danger, to the throne to which he was anointed. In the same manner the Christian is anointed to eternal life, to a royal throne prepared for him in heaven. But he has the life of earth to pass. through, and to preserve that which is committed to him safe from every enemy, before he can come to his throne. He must, therefore, be essentially a man of |