very infancy of the church other days were also appointed by the Apostles, and by their successors in after-times, to be kept holy, in order to commemorate the special gifts bestowed on us Christians. Amongst these days the most conspicuous are those which were instituted to honour the mysteries of our redemption, and next to them, those which are dedicated to the most blessed Virgin Mother, to the Apostles, Martyrs and other Saints who reign with Christ, and in the celebration of whose victories the divine power and goodness, which triumphed in them are praised, due honour is paid to their memories, and the faithful are excited to the imitation of their virtues.
And as the observance of the precept is very strongly enforced in these words: " Six days shall thou labour, and shalt do all thy works; but on the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God;" the pastor should therefore carefully explain them to the people - They implicitly admonish him that the faithful are to be exhorted not to waste their lives in indolence and sloth, but mindful of the words of the Apostle, and in accordance with his command, " do their own business, and work with their own hands." [1] These words also enjoin as a duty that " in six days we do all our works," and admonish us not to defer to the Sunday or holiday what should have been done during the other days of the week, and what if deferred must withdraw our attention from the sanctification of the Sabbath.
The third The third part of the commandment comes next to be explained. It points out, to a certain extent, the manner in which we are to keep holy the Sabbath day, and explains particularly it prohibits, what is prohibited to be done on that day: " Thou shalt do no work on it," says the Lord, "thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, nor thy man-servant, nor thy maid-servant, nor thy beast, nor the stranger that is within thy gates." These words teach us, in the first place, to avoid whatever may interfere with the worship of God on the Sabbath day; and hence it is not difficult to perceive that all servile works are forbidden, not be cause they are improper or evil in themselves, but because they withdraw from the worship of God, which is the great end of the commandment. The faithful should be still more careful not to profane the Sabbath by sin, which not only withdraws the mind from the contemplation of divine things, but entirely alienates us from the love of God. [2] But whatever regards the celebration of divine worship, such as the decoration of the altar or church on occasion of some festival, and the like, although servile works, are not prohibited; and hence our Lord himself says: " The priests in the temple break the Sabbath, and are without blame." [3] Neither are we to suppose that this commandment forbids attention to those things on the Sabbath, which if neglected on that day perish to the proprietor. Their preservation is no violation of the commandment, and is ex-
