each Communion.

Preparation which consists first of all of real self-examination and
repentance, using fearlessly the "ministry of reconciliation" when
necessary, and then of special prayers which help to put us into the
attitude of hopeful, grateful anticipation.

Thanksgiving; definite prayers and praises, continued for a day or two,
unless we are very frequent communicants, so that we may lose none of
the preciousness of the blessing by our own forgetfulness or
ingratitude.

In this, as we said last week, books can _help_, but that is all;
they cannot make the preparation or the thanksgiving for us.

Early Communion, quite apart from the doctrinal question of fasting
reception, is a useful feature of the discipline of obedience. It is a
custom which comes from primitive times, and is universal in the greater
part of the Catholic Church.

To give the early hours of the day to our Blessed Lord is surely more in
accordance with what His great love requires than to choose our own time
and come when it suits us best: that is when it requires less effort and
self-denial, and when our minds have been distracted by the cares of the
advancing day.

The coming on of old age or sickness may necessarily debar us from the
privilege and joy of early Communion, but, while we can, let us make the
most of the blessed morning hours, when in all the freshness of our
newly awakened life we draw near to Him Who ceaselessly watches over us.