given thanks, He said: "Take, eat; This is My Body. And He took the cup, and said: Drink ye all of This: for This is My Blood of the New Testament" (St Matt. xxvi. 26-28).

But perhaps you will say again: Is this really true? Can I verily and indeed eat CHRIST'S Body and drink CHRIST'S Blood under the forms of Bread and Wine? How can these things be?

Yes, my friend, all this is true, and it may be done. But still the mystery is great, and we cannot understand it. A little child might worthily receive the Blessed Sacrament, and yet the wisest and most learned theologian in the world could not explain the mystery of this eating and drinking. Let us, then, with childlike faith, rest upon those words of our Blessed SAVIOUR, "With GOD all things are possible" (St Matt. xix. 26).

How encouraging are the invitations of the Lord JESUS to come to His Holy Table! And yet His Apostle Paul, filled with a holy reverence for the Blessed Sacrament, warns us again and again of the danger of partaking unworthily, lest we should thereby become "guilty of the Body and Blood of the Lord." "But let a man examine himself," he says, "and so let him eat of that Bread, and drink of that Cup."

The following pages are intended as a help in this examination.

May the HOLY SPIRIT direct your heart, my dear friend, and enable you to taste and see that the Lord JESUS is gracious indeed, unto all that come unto Him.

PRELIMINARY QUESTIONS

The following simple questions are addressed to those who desire to receive the Holy Communion of the Body and Blood of JESUS CHRIST. It is earnestly hoped that all who carefully consider these inquiries, will be able to reply to each with a hearty YES:

1. Do you believe that there is ONE GOD, Who is over all, blessed for ever?

2. Do you believe that there are Three Persons in the Godhead: the FATHER and the SON and the HOLY GHOST?

3. Do you believe that the FATHER is GOD, the MAKER of heaven and earth?

4. Do

you believe that the SON is GOD, our SAVIOUR JESUS CHRIST, and that He became Man for our sakes?

5. Do you believe that He was conceived by the HOLY GHOST, and that He was born of the Virgin Mary?

6. Do you believe that JESUS CHRIST, Who is true GOD and true Man, died on the Cross to save poor sinners from going to hell?

7. Do you believe that He truly rose again from His tomb on the third day, and showed Himself alive to His disciples ?

8. Do you believe that He afterwards ascended up into heaven with the same Body in which He lived and suffered on this earth? 9. Do you believe that He will, in like manner, come back again at the last day?

10. Do you believe that the HOLY GHOST is GOD, our Comforter and Guide?

11. Do you believe that we cannot think, or say, or do, anything that is good without His help?

12. Have you been baptized according to CHRIST'S commandment, with water in the Name of the FATHER, and of the SON, and of the HOLY GHOST?

13. If not already baptized, or if not certain about your baptism, will you seek to be baptized without delay?

14. Have you been confirmed by the laying on of the Bishop's hand, together with prayer for the HOLY SPIRIT?

15. If not already confirmed, are you "ready and desirous to be confirmed" whenever you have opportunity?

16. Have you called to mind your past sins, whether against GOD, or against yourself, or against your fellow-creatures?

17. Do you plead GUILTY before GOD, and confess that you have no hope of forgiveness except through His undeserved mercy?

18. Do you beg for that mercy only in the Name of JESUS CHRIST, Who offered Himself as a Sacrifice for your sins upon the Cross?

19. If you are spared to live longer, will you give up all that you know to be wrong, and live (through the help of the HOLY GHOST) like an obedient Disciple of JESUS CHRIST?

20. Do you forgive all who have ever done you wrong?

21. Do you desire the forgiveness of all against whom you may have offended in any way?

22. Do you put all your dependence upon JESUS CHRIST as your only SAVIOUR? 23. Do you believe that His Flesh is Meat indeed, and that His Blood is Drink indeed?

24. Do you humbly desire to eat His Flesh, and to drink His Blood, under the forms of Bread and Wine, in His Holy Sacrament?

25. Do you desire to belong to Him for ever, in time and in eternity?

JESUS SAID

"GOD so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten SON, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life" (St John iii. 16).

"Him that cometh to Me I will in no wise cast out" (St John vi. 37).

'My Flesh is meat indeed, and My Blood is drink indeed" (St John vi. 55).

'Except ye eat the Flesh of the SON OF MAN, and drink His Blood, ye have no life in you" (St John vi. 53).

FURTHER CONSIDERATIONS

WHAT IS THE HOLY COMMUNION?

The Holy Communion is the Blessed Sacrament of the Body and Blood of JESUS CHRIST : for in the Holy Communion JESUS CHRIST gives us His Flesh and His Blood under the forms of Bread and Wine.

Yes, truly.

He gives us His Flesh to be our meat, and His Blood to be our drink. And He has said in His Holy Gospel (St John vi. 55), “My Flesh is meat indeed, and My Blood is drink indeed."

Blessed is the man who worthily partakes of the Flesh and Blood of JESUS. For He Himself tells us again (St John vi. 56), “He that eateth My Flesh and drinketh My Blood, dwelleth in Me, and I in him ;" and in another verse (ver. 54), "Whoso eateth My Flesh, and drinketh My Blood, hath eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day."

But miserable is the man who eats not of this Heavenly Bread and drinks not of this Life-giving Cup. For it is written again, Except ye eat the Flesh of the SON OF MAN and drink His Blood, ye have no life in you."

Miserable, again, is he who eats and drinks unworthily. For St Paul thus writes in his Epistle to the Corinthians (1 Cor. xi. 27), "Whosoever shall eat this Bread, and drink this Cup of the Lord, unworthily, shall be guilty of the Body and Blood of the LORD."