THE MODEL MAN.

Rev. Isaac Thomas Hecker was born in New York, in 1819. In 1815 he became a convert to Catholicity, and in 1819 was ordained priest by Cardinal Wiseman. After a few years spent in the Redemptorist Order, he obtained permission of the Pope to found the new society of missionary priests known as the Paulist Fathers. His writings are chiefly doctrinal, controversial and philosophical; they are addressed to thoughtful minds, and in a great measure directed toward the enlightenment of our Protestant brethren. "Questions of the Soul," and "Aspirations of Nature," are the principal of his published works; their gifted author is more widely known through the influence of the "Catholic World," of which he was the founder, and for many years chief contributor.

MAN needs, as a perfect pattern of life, one who

unites in his nature both God and man, one whom he can see with his eyes, hear with his ears, touch with his hands. One to whom the human heart can easily attach itself in a way fitting its nature, and can love with familiarity. One who is visible to the mind and accessible to the senses, and in whom both soul and body can find their hopes, their proper objects, and their beatitude. In one word, man needs as his model a God-man.

This is no new idea: there is no nation in which the birth of a God-man was not expected. The ancient patriarchs sighed for his coming; the prophets announced his reign; the sibyls chanted his victories; and the poets sung his praises.

The universal convictions of the conscience of humanity are the voices of the divinity. The expectations of men were not doomed to disappointment. In

the fulness of time there came from heaven an angel, and announced the following message to a spotless maiden in a humble cottage: "Hail, full of grace; "blessed art thou amongst women;" "the power of the Most High shall overshadow thee, and thou shalt conceive and bring forth a son, and his name shall be Jesus the Son of God.'"*

This wonderful child was born in a stable. The moment he was born, angels spoke to men, and said: "This day is born to you a Saviour who is Christ the Lord," and from the clouds angels were heard chanting the hymn," Glory be to God in the highest, and peace on earth to men of good will." A new star at that time appeared in the heavens, and the God-child was adored by shepherds and kings.

According to the custom of the Jewish people, the babe was brought to the temple, and an old priest receiving it in his arms, in rapture exclaims: "Now dismiss thy servant, O Lord, in peace; because my eyes have seen thy salvation which thou hast prepared before the face of all people; a light to the revelation of the Gentiles, and the glory of thy people, Israel." § At the age of twelve years he re-appears in the Temple of Jerusalem, "astonishing the Doctors by the wisdom of his questions and answers." ||

Twenty years more elapse; the child becomes a man: while the waters of Jordan are poured upon his head, a spirit in the form of a dove descends upon him; the heavens are opened and a voice is heard saying: "This is my beloved Son." T

The Baptist, a man of austere and holy life, pointing to him, says: "Behold the Lamb of God, behold

* Luke i.
Luke ii.

† Luke ii.

|| Matt. iii.

Luke ii. ¶ John i.

away the sins of the world! ed disciple, gives the same testird," he says, "was made flesh and nd we saw his glory as it were of the

of the Father, full of grace and

ed from on high, makes the sam ys: "Thou art Christ, the Son of the

Thomas, on beholding him, are all exclaims unhesitatingly: "My Lord,

hat in him dwelt the fulness of the ally; that he was the brightness of the figure of his substance.

the unheard-of boldness to stand up e world and say of himself, "I came Father, and am come into the world; e world, and I go to the Father;" "All er the Father hath are mine." ||

boldness, he fears not to tell us that: me seeth my Father also;"t and adds, ner are one. T

to leave no room for doubt, when the the question directly to him, "Art thou of the blessed God?" he falters not, gly and emphatically replies, "I am.” †† his assertions he works wonders; he ad, cures the sick, raises the dead, calms s upon water, and crowns all by saying to 'He that believeth in me, the works that I 1 do, and greater than these shall he do."‡‡

n i.

Matt. xvi. § John xx.
tt Mark xiv.

** Jolin X.

John xvi.

John xiv.

He is condemned and executed because of his daring to proclaim himself God. At the moment when he expires all nature is in mourning. The sun becomes dark, the earth trembles, the rocks are split, graves deliver up their dead, and the veil of the temple is rent. Unable longer to resist the universal testimony and the voice of nature, the Roman officer present at his execution cries out to the world, "Indeed this was the Son of God."

He is dead and is placed in a tomb, a rock is rolled before its entrance, it is sealed, and a guard of Roman soldiers keep watch. All now is still, his disciples are cast down and discouraged, his work is ended. Not so! It is but now to commence.

The third day he rises from the grave with a body all resplendant with glory; he enters the room where his disheartened disciples are assembled, while the doors are closed; he encourages them, eats and drinks with them, commands them to preach the Gospel to all creatures, promises them the Holy Ghost, and in the presence of hundreds, he ascends into heaven and disappears in the clouds.

On the day appointed, the Holy Ghost descends, with a noise like a rushing wind and in the shape of fiery tongues, upon the apostles. They who had been so timid to truth, now publish his gospel, in spite of menace and opposition, to all the world. They speak in different tongues, work miracles, and men of all nations believe in the name of Jesus and are baptized.

These timid and illiterate men, now bold as lions, and confounding the most learned scribes, preach the gospel, and in a short time, spread it among the Greeks

*Matt. xxvii.

and Romans. They seal their testimony to the divinity of their Master with their blood.

Three centuries of persecution pass away. Millions of men, women, and even children shed their blood like water, as witnesses of their faith in the Godhead of this man of Nazareth, and as a mark of their love for him. The religion of the Nazarene becomes the religion of the Empire.

Conflicts, progress and triumph, from the day when it was said "Hail Virgin" to the present, attest the divinity of the founder of Christianity, and thus is fulfilled the prophecy, in which he is foretold to be "The Father of the world to come."

"In Him thy God, O Plato, dwelt on earth,
An open Presence, clear of earthly ill;

The Life which drew from him its heavenly birth,
In all who seek renews his perfect Will.

"But 'mid thy countless forms of being,
One shines supreme o'er all beside,
And man, in all thy wisdom seeing,
In Him reveres a sinless guide.

"In Him alone, no longer shrouded
By mist that dims all meaner things,
Thou dwell'st, O God! unveil'd, unclouded,
And fearless peace thy presence brings."

COMPOSITION.

Write the following sentences in two ways:

(a) He that believeth in me, the works that I do, he also shall do, and greater than these shall he do.

(b) They who had been so timid to truth, now publish his gospel, in spite of menace and opposition, to all the world.

(c) When the high-priest put the question directly to him "Art thou Christ the Son of the blessed God"? he falters not, but unhesitatingly and emphatically replies, "I am."