Again,  whatever  you  pray  for  must  be  asked  with  all
humility  ;  because  God  detests  a  proud  man,  and  especially
one  who,  besides  being  proud,  is  needy  and  poor,  as  we  all
are.  Besides  humility,  you  must  have  an  attentive  mind
while  you  present  your  petition.  Do  not  suppose  for  a
moment  that  God  will  give  anything  to  the  boy  who,  while
asking  for  what  is  so  important  for  him,  is  thinking  of  his
games  or  of  his  studies,  and  behaves  with  so  much  irreverence
as  to  stare  out  of  the  windows,  or  to  look  at  his  hands,  or  at
any  object  which  may  chance  to  catch  his  eye.  Even  your
masters,  with  all  their  kindness  and  indulgence  towards  you,
would  drive  you  from  their  presence  if  you  should  dare  to
treat  them  in  the  same  indecorous  manner  as  that  in  which
you  presume  to  treat  God.
Lastly,  you  must  persevere  in  asking.  You  must  not  be
content  with  once  or  twice  praying  for  a  virtue  or  a  favour.
If.  after  a  hundred  or  a  thousand  petitions,  your  prayer  still
remains  unanswered,  do  not  lose  courage  ;  persevere  knock
ing,  and  you  will  find  that  God,  by  withholding  His  favours
for  a  time,  does  so  only  to  test  your  virtue,  and  to  see
whether  you  are  worthy  of  them.  Prayer  made  in  this  way
is  sure  to  obtain  from  God  whatever  you  ask ;  for  Christ  has
said :  '  Amen,  amen  I  say  unto  you,  if  you  ask  the  Father
anything  in  My  name,  He  will  give  it  to  you.'


ASCENSION    DAY.
*  And  the  Lord  Jesus  after  He  had  spoken  to  them  was  taken  up  into
heaven,  and  sitteth  on  the  right  hand  of  God.' — ST.  MARK  xvi.  19.
