the more steadfastly will he be confirmed in the Faith. The more blows a nail receives from the hammer, the more deeply will it be driven in; in the same way will faith become all the deeper, firmer, and stronger, the more cheerfully and readily its precepts are obeyed Therefore be not slothful in the performance of your religious duties. As soon as you grow careless in this respect, in the same proportion will your faith become weaker and appear less convincing.
6. The third means is inseparably connected with the foregoing; it is the avoidance of sin. If faith is to be preserved, it is . necessary to avoid sin as far as you can, and to lead a life well pleasing to God. For experience teaches that the decline of faith comes from below, proceeds from sin. This is the lower region of lite, that of sensuality and animal impulses. Be on your guard against them, do not become their slave; otherwise your faith would stand in imminent peril.
7. But before all other means, prayer is the means you must employ, if you desire to keep your faith strong and lively. Faith is, as has been already said, a fruit of divine grace. This was the experience of a young Frenchman, Isnard by name, who lived in the beginning of the last century. He had been a free-thinker, but now desired and made an earnest effort to regain the faith he had lost. On this subject he wrote as follow-
