whom she trained after her own bad example, to soften the heart of the king, and seduce him from the last remains of his reverence for St. John.

The whole Herodian family were distinguished for their crimes, and the weakness of strong passions.

At that time Herod the Tetrarch heard of the fame of Jesus.

And he said to his servants: This is John the Baptist; he is risen from the dead; and therefore mighty works show forth themselves in him.

For Herod had apprehended John, and bound him, and put him in prison, because of Herodias, his brother's wife.

For John said to him: It is not lawful for thee to have her.

And when he would have put him to death, he feared the people; because they esteemed him as a prophet.

But on Herod's birth-day, the daughter of Herodias danced before them, and pleased Herod.

Whereupon he promised, with an oath, to give her whatsoever she would ask of him.

But she, being instructed before by her mother, said: Give me here in a dish the head of John the Baptist.

And the king was struck sad; yet because of his oath, and for them that sat with him at table, he commanded it to be given her.

And he sent, and beheaded John in the prison.

And his head was brought in a dish; and it was given to the damsel; and she brought it to her mother.

And his disciples came and took the body, and buried it; and came and told Jesus.

Which when Jesus had heard, He retired from thence by ship into a desert place apart; and the people having heard of it, followed Him on foot out of the cities.-(St. Matt. xiv.)

And the Apostles coming togetner unto Jesus, related to Him all things that they had done and taught.

And He said to them: Come ye apart into a desert place, and rest a little. For there were many coming and going; and they had not so much as time to eat.

And going up into a ship, they went into a desert place apart.

And they saw them going away; and many knew; and they ran flocking thither on foot from all the cities, and were there before them.

And Jesus going out saw a great multitude; and He had compassion on them, because they were as sheep not having a shepherd; and He began to teach them many things.

And when the day was far spent, His disciples came to Him, saying: This is a desert place, and the hour is now past:

Send them away, that, going into the next villages and towns, they may buy themselves meat to eat.-(St. Mark vi.)

When Jesus, therefore, had lifted up His eyes, and seen that a very great multitude cometh to Him, He said to Philip: Whence shall we buy bread, that these may eat?

And this He said to try him; for He Himself knew what He would do.

Philip answered Him: Two hundred penny-worth of bread is not sufficient for them, that every one may take a little.

One of His disciples, Andrew, the brother of Simon Peter, saith to Him:

There is a boy here that hath five barley loaves and two fishes; but what are these among so many?

Then Jesus said: Make the men sit down. Now there was

much grass in the place. So the men sat down, in number about five thousand.

And Jesus took the loaves: and when He had given thanks, He distributed to them that were set down; in like manner also of the fishes, as much as they would.

And when they were filled, He said to His disciples: Gather up the fragments that remain, lest they be lost.

So they gathered them up, and filled twelve baskets with the fragments of the five barley loaves, which remained over and above to them that had eaten.—(St. John vi.)

After this great miracle, which was a type and sign of the far greater one hereafter to be perpetuated by the same Divine love of the Sacred Heart, of the Blessed Eucharist; in which the Bread of Angels is continually multiplied, according to the needs of the faithful; Our Lord sent away His Apostles, and remained to hold communion with the Eternal Father alone.

And immediately He obliged His disciples to go up into the ship, that they might go before Him over the water to Bethsaida; whilst He dismissed the people.

And when He had dismissed them, He went up to the mountain to pray.—(St. Mark vi.)

While His Apostles were on the lake, and a storm arose, Our Lord came to them walking on the water. When they were frightened, not understanding the miracle, Jesus spoke to them the beautiful words, "It is I, be not afraid." It is thus He speaks to us in the storms of trouble or temptation, and bids us lift up our hearts, for He, though not in the boat, is still at hand, counting the very hairs of our heads.

St. Peter, the first, as usual, to desire to be with Jesus, besought Him to let him come to Him on the waves; but when they began to swell, his natural impetuosity gave way to fear, and he cried out to his Master to save him. Again that most tender Master spoke the same words of gentle reproof as He did when He had slept in the boat, "O, thou of little faith, why didst thou doubt ?" And catching hold of his hand, saved the

Apostle from the depths. In all these circumstances we find, on meditating upon them even for a short time, the richest harvest of instruction and comfort.

Then those men, when they had seen what a miracle Jesus had done, said: This is the Prophet indeed, that is to come into the world.

When Jesus, therefore, perceived that they would come and take Him by force, and make Him king, He fled again into the mountain Himself alone.

And when evening was come, His disciples went down to the sea.

And when they had entered into a ship, they went over the sea to Capharnaum; and it was now dark; and Jesus was not come to them.

And the sea arose by reason of a great wind that blew.

So when they had rowed about five and twenty or thirty