"I am the resurrection and the life, saith the Lord; he that believeth on me, though he were dead, yet shall he be made alive; and whosoever liveth and believeth on me shall never die. Pilgrim, the scene before you represents the splendid conclusion of the hallowed sacrifice offered by the Redeemer of the world, to propitiate the anger of an offended Deity. This sacred volume informs us that our Saviour, after having suffered the pains of death, descended into the place of departed spirits, and that on the third day he burst the bands of death, triumphed over the grave, and, in due time, ascended with transcendent majesty to heaven, where he now sits on the right hand of our Heavenly Father, a mediator and intercessor for all those who have faith in Him. I now invest you with an emblem of that faith (at the same time suspends from his neck a black cross): it is also an emblem of our Order, which you will wear as a constant memorial, for you to imitate the virtues of the immaculate Jesus, who died that you might live. Pilgrim, the ceremonies in which you are now engaged are calculated deeply to impress your mind, and I trust will have a happy and lasting effect upon your character. You were first, as a trial of your faith and humility, enjoined to perform seven years of pilgrimage; it represents the great pilgrimage of life, through which we are all passing; we are all weary pilgrims, anxiously looking forward to that asylum, where we shall rest from our labors, and be at rest forever. You were then directed, as a trial of your courage and constancy, to perform seven years' warfare; it represents to you the constant warfare with the lying vanities and deceits of this world, in which it is necessary for us always to be engaged. You are now performing a penance as a trial of your humility. Of this our Lord and Saviour has left us a bright example. For though he was the Eternal Son of God, he humbled himself to be born of a woman, to endure the pains and afflictions incident to human nature, and finally to suffer a cruel and ignominious death upon the cross; it is also a trial of that faith which will conduct you safely over the dark gulf of everlasting death, and land your enfranchised spirit in the peaceful abodes of the blessed. Pilgrim, keep ever in your memory this awful truth; you know not how soon you may be called upon to render an account to that Supreme Judge, from whom not even the most minute action of your life is hidden; for although you now stand erect in all the strength of manhood and pride of beauty, in a few short moments you may become a pale and lifeless corpse. This moment, even while I yet speak, the angel of death may receive the fatal mandate to strike you from the role of existence; and the friends who now surround you may be called upon to perform the last sad duty of laying you in the earth, a banquet