Volume 11: Time After Pentecost (Part II)

THE LITURGICAL YEAR

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THE

LITURGICAL YEAR

ABBOT PROSPER GUÉRANGER, O.S.B.

TIME AFTER PENTECOST

BOOK II

TRANSLATED FROM THE FRENCH BY DOM LAURENCE SHEPHERD, O.S.B.

JUBILEE YEAR 2000 LIMITED EDITION

LORETO PUBLICATIONS P. O. Box 603 Fitzwilliam, NH 03447 Phone: (603) 239-6671 Fax: (603) 239-6127

LORETO PUBLICATIONS

The Liturgical Year 15 Volume Set ISBN: 1-930278-03-9 Volume XI — Time After Pentecost Book II ISBN: 1-930278-14-4

Printed in the Czech Republic by Newton Design&Print Ltd (www.newtondp.co.uk)

PREFACE

The second volume of the Continuation now presented to the faithful concludes that portion of the LITURGICAL YEAR which is called the Proper of the Time. The feast of Easter, having an entire month's range for the variation of its day, changes each year the position of the Sundays after Pentecost, by the same number of days; so that it is utterly impossible to establish a concurrence between these Sundays and the Proper of Saints.

We intend, therefore, to give the feasts of saints, occurring between June and December, in four volumes; for the completion of which we venture to ask the prayers of our readers. It is to their prayers that we attribute the blessing which God has given to this work; these alone have given us courage and confidence in the task imposed upon us.

Whilst thus thanking them, we think it right to tell them that we now, more than ever, stand in need of their assistance. We are exiled from our monastery by the men who have assumed the reins of government; they have thought fit to discover a social danger in the life and labours of monks, who celebrate the divine mysteries of the year, and spend their time in endeavouring to sanctify their own souls and those of others: in all this our rulers have seen such peril for our country, that they have violently torn us from our cells and our choir. Thanks to a generous hospitality accorded us by friends, we are enabled to write these lines from Solesmes, but not from our dear abbey, where resides alone, in his tomb, under the shadow of his own loved library and church, the venerated author of the LITURGICAL YEAR.

Epistle (Rom. viii.).—How is it, that all created nature is in bondage, on account of man's sin; how it longs for its restoration, which is to be when man's deliverance is completed.

Gospel (St. Luke v.).—On the mysteries contained in the two miraculous fishings mentioned by the evangelists.—On schism.

FIFTH SUNDAY . . . 116

Epistle (1 St. Pet. iii.).—Jesus came to constitute a glorious city, wherein his eternal Father might be ever praised and loved.—We are the living stones of the temple of God; hence, necessity of union between the members of the Church.—Love for each other.—Vision of Hermas' tower.

Gospel (St. Matt. v.).—How the Law had been corrupted by the scribes and pharisees.—It is only the new Law that deals with sins of thought.—Jewish casuistry, how narrow.—Jesus came to teach us the whole truth.—What was the tribunal of judgment; of council?

SIXTH SUNDAY . . . 149

Epistle (Rom. vi.).—St. Paul, finding Israel obstinate, turns to us Gentiles.—The Epistles for the remainder of these post-pentecostal Sundays are all taken from those of St. Paul, and in the order given them in the Bible.—How tender should be our devotion to St. Paul.—What the Church is in St. Paul's estimation.—What is the Christian life in the same apostle's idea?

Gospel (St. Mark viii.).—The feeding of 4,000 in the desert. Jesus, having cured the hæmorrhoissa, the Gentile, now feeds her.—St. Ambrose on the five and seven loaves.—On the deep teaching involved in the circumstance of the desert.

SEVENTH SUNDAY . . . 171

Epistle (Rom. vi.).—Further development on the essence of Christian life.—Jesus' death and burial produced in us by our Baptism.—Let us serve justice, now, with as much earnestness as we once served sin; true conversion does not change our energy of character; children of the world set us a lesson.—St. Augustine on Jacob's working for Rachel.

Gospel (St. Matt. vii.).—Beware of false prophets!—Israel is a voluntary prey, loving to be deceived.—Seeks Christ in every upstart, because he would not have the true one.—He is drawing the Romans to his destruction.—The true Church is safely on the rock of Rome.—The guarantee for every individual, as well as for the Church at large, is firm faith.—As the saints of old, so now, we must have our faith tried; heresy is always to be found busy.—The keeping close to the Church keeps us from false prophets.

EIGHTH SUNDAY . . . 191

Introduction.—Farewell to Jerusalem by the little flock, just before the Roman siege.—How beautiful was Jerusalem at that time!—What a pang to leave the lovely city for ever!—Mary had lived in yon temple; Jesus had so often visited it!—The strange voices heard, and the eastern gate opening of itself.

Epistle (Rom. viii.).—We are debtors, not to the flesh, but to the Spirit; the fecundity of the Church; the Spirit works unitedly with the Church.—The missioners of the Church to particular congregations.—Terrible trial when these missioners sow shrivelled seeds of minced truths!—Even then the Church's liturgy comes with its mighty power to souls.—How admirably a Christian would be instructed that studied his missal!—Epitome of the last few Sundays' rich teaching.—The leading idea of St. Paul's Epistle to the Romans.—How terrible the lot of the Jews, who held to their Law, but rejected him who gave the Law.

Gospel (St. Luke xvi.).—The unjust steward.—Jesus is the rich lord; everything belongs to him.—He divides his goods; the eternal, he makes entirely over to us; not so the temporal.—The proper use of temporal goods.—How St. Jerome applies this parable to the synagogue.

NINTH SUNDAY . . . 215

Jesus weeping over Jerusalem.—Events which preceded the destruction of the city.

Epistle (1 Cor. x.).—The misery of the Jewish infidelity to grace, a lesson to us Gentiles.—God is faithful never suffering us to be tempted beyond our strength.—It was unbelief that ruined the Jews; we must cultivate vigorous faith.—Our sins would exceed those of Israel.

Gospel (St. Luke xix.).—The time of thy visitation!—Destruction of Jerusalem; its history and lessons.—Description and teaching.

TENTH SUNDAY . . . 251

Epistle (1 Cor. xii.).—On the manifold miraculous workings of the Holy Ghost in the early beginnings of the Church.—On graces gratuitously given, and those which make the receiver pleasing to God; their difference.—Miraculous gifts nowadays: how we are to appreciate them.

Gospel (St. Luke xviii.).—The publican and pharisee. Ven. Bede's explanation; the pharisee is the Jewish people; the publican, the Gentile.—How appropriately the lesson on humility follows the history of destruction of Jerusalem!—Humility grows as man approaches nigher to God.—How men debase themselves by pride.—It is the little children alone that enter the kingdom.—Humility is intensest in heaven.

ELEVENTH SUNDAY . . . 272

Epistle (1 Cor. xv.).—St. Paul here continues the subject of humility, calling himself the least of the apostles.—The greatest saint has need to think of his past sins.—St. Augustine's book of Confessions is a model.—Humility makes us grateful for graces received.

Gospel (St. Mark vii.).—The deaf and dumb man.—This miraculous cure is full of mystery.—The administration of Baptism repeats these mysterious circumstances.—Exquisite teaching.—One detail of this cure reminds God's servants how they should seek to be unknown.

TWELFTH SUNDAY

Epistle (2 Cor. iii.).—How the glory of the old ministration is surpassed by that of the new.—Each member of Christ may gain all the glory he chooses to gain.—Worldlings are senseless in seeking glory in temporal things.—What a fund of instruction we should acquire each year by reading the whole chapter of Scripture from which the liturgy extracts her Epistles and Gospels.—The glory of the Mosaic dispensation described; what we are taught by the veil worn by Moses.—How splendid is the glory of each of the faithful under the new covenant.

Gospel (St. Luke x.).—The good Samaritan.—Continuation of the comparison of the two Testaments.—Who are the kings who desired to see what we now see.—How immensely grand these sights are.—A word on the stupendous heights of illumination to which God raises some faithful souls.—And yet the greatest proof of fidelity is, the keeping of the Commandments, all of which are comprised in love.—What is meant by neighbour; and how Jesus shows it to us by the parable of the good Samaritan.

THIRTEENTH SUNDAY . . . 307

Epistle (Gal. iii.).—On the spiritual progeny of Abraham.—He is father of us Gentiles.—We, in his seed, Christ, are his children.—On the weakness of the old Law for man's justification.

Gospel (St. Luke xvii.).—The ten lepers.—The nine ungrateful represent the Jewish people—the one grateful, a Samaritan, an image of the Christian people.—Why the liturgy of this season dwells so much on the two Testaments.—The spirituality which ignores the liturgical life.—On the Incarnation as the great historic fact.—How such considerations practically bear on the unitive life.—The superiority of power in the Christian priesthood over that of Aaron.

FOURTEENTH SUNDAY . . . 326

Epistle (Gal. v. "Walk in the spirit, etc.).—What the Spirit effects in the children of men.—His twelve fruits.—Comparison with what flesh and blood could produce.—What we are to do for the subduing of our flesh; she is always ready to rebel; we have all to combat her.—Necessity of corporal mortification; what that demands; admirable teaching of St. Francis de Sales regarding it.—Mortified people are the most affable of men; the most cheerful are often the busiest in bodily mortification.—Necessity of following Jesus to the cross, and with it; the Church urges each of us to complete the sufferings of Christ by our own.—How sublime an honour, our being permitted thus to put our lips to Jesus' chalice!—It is like the seal of authenticity put on union with Him.—The mount of myrrh; myrrh is the favourite perfume gathered in the garden of the Word.—We are, as Christians, members of a Head that is crowned with thorns.

Gospel (St. Matt. vi. This Sunday is called, The two masters).—The triple concupiscence; the third (of the eyes) is the object of this Gospel.—The mission of the rich man in the New Law. His glory and merit when he uses mammon for God.—Evil of riches, when abused.—Avarice, how strong; its thirty pieces of silver!—has committed the greatest crime that ever was, and the sinner was an apostle, bishop, priest!—Gospel condemns an exaggerated solicitude, it makes sad havoc with Christian life; the unitive way never had earthly solicitude to tread it.—Every Christian, be he a religious or a layman, is bound to cultivate detachment from riches.

FIFTEENTH SUNDAY . . . 344

Epistle (Gal. v. and vi. If we live in the spirit, etc.).—Even when we have subdued the flesh, active vigilance still requisite.—What madness to be proud of the mortifications we have used!—St. Paul calls it, sowing in the flesh.—Confidence in God, when vain-glory dictates it.—A mark of our having divine union is indulgence for the faults of our neighbour.—The mysterious application made by St. John of the words: Abideth in Me, and I in him.

Gospel (St. Luke vii. Jesus went into a city called Naim, etc.).—Application of this Gospel to the season of Lent.—Its application in these days of Pentecost; the Church weeps for her child (each sinner) who has relapsed since Easter.—St. Laurence Justinian on the Church's grief at seeing her child's relapse.—We should imitate our mother, and co-operate with her.

SIXTEENTH SUNDAY . . . 356

Epistle (Eph. iii. I pray ye not to faint at my tribulations for you, etc.).—The enthusiasm of David's soul is in Paul's now that he is Nero's prisoner.—Why it is that the Epistle to the Ephesians is so dear to the Church during this season.—Immense privilege of knowing the grand dimensions of God's dwelling in a Christian; not one is excluded from so sublime a vocation; if only we were faithful to the mysteries annually celebrated by the Church!—The Holy Spirit of mercy will supply the deficiencies of our past months, if even now, in this close of the year, we be earnest.—Supernatural horizons opened to all earnest Christians, i.e. to all who are not animal men.—God's eternal designs upon us; and how all are love.—The Incarnate Word the great singer of the new canticle; we are to sing with him.—This is the mystery of divine union.

Gospel (St. Luke xiv. The man that had dropsy; healing on the Sabbath; Friend, go up higher.)— The wedding; we are all invited to it; Jesus, bridegroom; Church, bride.—Divine union, when real, absorbs all man's being; it is so with created nuptials.—There must be no competition permitted, no rivals; how patiently our Jesus waits for our giving in!—In her liturgy of the last few Sundays, Church has warned us against the triple concupiscence, for these would-be vile competitors for our hearts; she now comes to the direct aim she has had ever since feast of Pentecost.—A relapse is always dreaded by the Church, for even her most fervent children; a spiritual dropsy may supervene.—It is humility that is the safest guarantee.— The last place.—Contempt for others a sure sign of false spirituality.

SEVENTEENTH SUNDAY . . . . . 372

Epistle (Eph. iv. I . . . beseech you, that ye walk worthy of your vocation, etc.).—What is the vocation, the calling, of God?—What is the condition required for our living up to such vocation?—The bond of peace is created by the Holy Spirit.—Dissensions, etc., prevent this bond; St. John Chrysostom's comparison of fire and dry and damp wood.—The oneness of our vocation should unite us in charity; though charity, because of original sin, always calls for effort.—In heaven alone, effortless perfect charity, and why.—The music of heaven because of perfect union.—The meaning of the Church's addition at the end of this Epistle.

Gospel (St. Matt. xxii. The love of God.)—Jesus permits devil to tempt him, that we might be taught.—He permits pharisees also.—The wicked are always trying to find the Church tripping.—The Church's utterances are always triumphs.—How Jesus confounds the pharisaic tempters; the two commandments; first not observed, if second is broken.—He asks the tempters about the Dixit Dominus.—If we love Jesus, we fulfil the two commandments.—Jesus our all; the eternal Father's love is always 'Jesus'; God only loves men, because they are, or may become, members of his Christ.—

Our charity is the same—i.e., what we love in selves or in others is the Word.—Why we must exclude no one (but the reprobate) from our charity.—The link between two profound expressions of St. Paul about the end of the law; our moral and dogma are the Man-God; he is our faith and our love. —St. Augustine's Inhæreamus Uni, fruamur Uno, permaneamus Unum.

THE EMBER DAYS OF SEPTEMBER . . . 387

EIGHTEENTH SUNDAY . . . . . 398

Epistle (1 Cor. i.).—The thought of the last judgment, which is approaching, is continually before our mother, now that our year is closing.—The love of the bride, the Church, is one that includes vehement desire for her Jesus.—Why he would not tell her how long she was to be in exile.—This explains the pleasure the apostles take in speaking of the approaching coming.—Miracles will increase as that coming draws nigher; witness Lourdes!— Modern incredulity.—What we now need; especially in our pastors.

Gospel (St. Matt. ix. The paralytic, carrying his bed).—Our priests are to us what Moses was to the Israelites.—Offertory for to-day, why it speaks of Moses.—Our Gospel instructs us upon the prerogative of our priests, forgiving sins, and healing souls.—This Gospel always most dear to Church; Catacombs abound with frescoes of paralytic.— Heretics always found to deny the priestly power of forgiving sin.—Jesus' miracle is repeated by the Church.—How grateful we should be for the Sacrament of Penance.

NINETEENTH SUNDAY . . . . . 410

Epistle (Eph. iv. Be renewed in the spirit of your mind, etc.).—What is holiness in God? what it is in man.—How we are sanctified in truth, through the Incarnate Word.—To whom does the Son of Man communicate the life and truth of divine union.—What the apostle means by the new man; and justice; and holiness of truth: join this to the text of the seventeenth Sunday, Be careful to keep unity, and we have a compendium of the rules of the ascetic and mystic life.—Be angry and sin not; even holy anger must be soon calmed down;

else we give place and scope to the devil to interfere with unity.—Egotism is a sign of the devil's ruling us; devotedness for others, that the Holy Ghost is with us.—How, according to St. Basil, it is by this unity alone that the benefits of the Incarnation are manifested to the world.

Gospel (St. Matt. xxii. The invited to the marriage-feast of the king's son).—This is the second time we have the parable, which speaks of divine union. —This second shows us how the light has been added to, during these Sundays.—The king's son enters the guest-hall, to see if all have the wedding-garment on; they have had time to mend their robes.—How solicitous the Church is, during these closing Sundays, to make us thoroughly understand the mystery of divine union.—St. Gregory's homily.

TWENTIETH SUNDAY . . . . . 422

Epistle (Eph. v. See, how ye walk circumspectly, etc.).

—The final consummation of divine union will infuriate the devil tenfold.—They who live, when the world is drawing nigh its close, must be very circumspect regarding mere compromises of liberal Catholics.—Concession and cowardly shrinkings.—Diminution of revealed truth is always folly. —Adaptation of Gospel principles to our nineteenth or twentieth century, is a fashion most unwise.— The honest simplicity of the sacred proverb is our best policy.—Fidelity to Jesus means fidelity to truth.—To truly serve our world, we must staunchly give it unminced truth.—Jesus redeemed (he purchased), time for us, that we might spend it all in asserting the whole truth; time well-spent is only when truth is kept boldly true; we must be Michaels, with 'None like truth!'—Our forefathers called these last weeks of Pentecost holy Michael weeks!—St. Michael our great leader in these liberal times.—A single voice crying 'Who is like God and truth?' will always have tremendous power.—Spiritual festivity, how it puts the worldly ones into the shade.

Gospel (St. John iv. The ruler of Capharnaum).—The world is drawing to its close, like our ecclesiastical year.—What Capharnaum implies.—Our spiritual fathers pray for us.—Jesus was at Cana.—Pastors should imitate the Church in her zeal and patience; she prays for the end to be deferred (pro mora finis).—Tertullian's other words.—Our prayer for the world's salvation must be strong in faith.— Worldlings are inexcusable, yet must we pray that they may enter the nuptial feast of the Lamb.— Jesus' example of shedding his Blood for even obstinate sinners; we, too, must pray for the enemies of the Church.—Let us avoid the faulty faith of the ruler.

TWENTY-FIRST SUNDAY . . . . . 437

Epistle (Eph. vi. Be strengthened in the Lord, etc.). —Early beginnings of divine union, delicious; law of Deuteronomy; but short.—Normal state is— battling.—God's name of hosts; Jesus described as a warrior; therefore, bride is martial.—What is the evil day?—The armour of Jesus is put on his bride.—How faith is the generic name of all the great armour.—How it is, we puny soldiers can make head against the mighty fallen spirits.—The revealed word of God is the soldier's great shield. —Devil's horror of one that passionately loves the word of God.—One word, MICHAEL, how grand!

Gospel (St. Matt. xviii. Have patience with me, and I will pay thee all!).—The Dies iræ how appropriate for this close of year.—God's readiness to pardon; but we must equally be ready for last reckoning.— We are the insolvent debtor.—Our debt, to divine justice supposes eternal punishment.—God's forgiveness demands mine; St. Augustine's words on that; St. Chrysostom.—Our unfortunate seven times a day.—Going to rest with bitter feelings against our neighbour.—A son or daughter of God must be like him, in pardoning.

TWENTY-SECOND SUNDAY . . . . . 455

Epistle (Phil. i. We are confident . . . that he who hath begun a good work in you, will perfect it, etc.).—The last day is here called the day of Christ Jesus.—The apostle has reached that point of love, that sufferings increase it, more than sweet caresses of God would.—Sublime indifference, how far off stoical spirituality!—The apostle longs to see his dear Philippians ready for the eternal nuptials.—How it is, that charity goes along with

faith; strange love that, which seems afraid of development of the truth!—How liberalism kills charity.—Early Christians had a passion for truth; the first three centuries were the combat of truth against error, and both were determinedly outspoken.—Nowadays, liberal Catholics pretend that error has its rights! but the children of light (Eph. v. 8) admit no mincing.—St. Chrysostom's 'stars brightest in darkest nights;' and St. Augustine's, that they keep to the path marked for them by God, without heeding the earth's vapours and storms.

Gospel (St. Matt. xxii. Give to Cæsar, etc.).—How strongly our mother the Church urges us, during these last Sundays of her year, not to diminish the truth.—The effort made to ensnare Jesus in his speech on a political question; his divine answer forms the Church's politics.—The same was the teaching of the apostles.—What is the origin of all authority among men; it is from God.—Human laws are great, if they be in harmony with those of God; there is no law, when man commands injustice.

TWENTY-THIRD SUNDAY . . . . . 468

Epistle (Phil. iii. Be followers of me, etc.).—Why St. Clement is mentioned here;—The Holy Ghost allows heretics to have the Scripture; but he has reserved tradition to the true Church.—Holiness is tradition in its fullest meaning.—The Church is a temple built to God's glory, by living stones; the plan is that of Christ, who is the divine architect. —On studying the lives of saints; on imitating good people with whom we should be united.—Effect of living with devout servants of God.

Gospel (St. Matt. ix. The ruler's young daughter; the issue of blood healed.).—These two represent, respectively, the synagogue and the Church.—How the past makes us be in admiration of the ways of divine Wisdom.—World deranged by sin; the chosen people, the Jews; the Gentiles; the Redeemer sent, so he said, only to the lost sheep of Israel.—The Jews, as a nation, not faithful to the Messiah; its religion, though so beautiful in itself, and its law, not understood when Jesus came on earth.—Then came the Gentiles, and, from last,

became the first.—Israel is to be converted at last: the daughter of Sion is now asleep; Jesus will take her by the hand; she will rise! and then, the last judgment!

TWENTY-FOURTH AND LAST SUNDAY . . . 482

Epistle (Col. i. We cease not to pray for you, etc. Giving thanks, etc.).—Thanksgiving and prayer, the summary of the liturgical cycle.—The labours of St. Paul to make us all perfect.—Our experience of the action of the Church, each year.—Immense influence of a year's liturgy on the soul.—Our hopes for the new year which is coming.—We cannot stand still, during this mortal life.—Next year, an increase of light, closer union, nearer to the vision beatific!

Gospel (St. Matt. xxiv. The last judgment).—A prayer addressed to the divine Judge.

THE THIRD SUNDAY AFTER THE EPIPHANY . . 488

THE FOURTH SUNDAY AFTER THE EPIPHANY

THE FIFTH SUNDAY AFTER THE EPIPHANY

THE SIXTH SUNDAY AFTER THE EPIPHANY

THE TIME AFTER PENTECOST

CHAPTER THE FIRST

THE HISTORY OF THE TIME AFTER PENTECOST

The solemnity of Pentecost and its octave are over, and the progress of the liturgical year introduces us into a new period, which is altogether different from those we have hitherto spent. From the very beginning of Advent, which is the prelude to the Christmas festival, right up to the anniversary of the descent of the Holy Ghost, we have witnessed the entire series of the mysteries of our redemption; all have been unfolded to us. The sequel of seasons and feasts made up a sublime drama, which absorbed our very existence; we have but just come from the final celebration, which was the consummation of the whole. And yet we have gone through but one half of the year. This does not imply that the period we have still to live is devoid of its own special mysteries; but, instead of keeping up our attention by the ceaseless interest of one plan hurrying on to its completion, the sacred liturgy is about to put before us an almost unbroken succession of varied episodes, of which some are brilliant with glory, and others exquisite in loveliness, but each one of them bringing its special tribute towards either the development of the dogmas of faith or the furtherance of the Christian life. This year's cycle will thus be filled up; it will disappear; a new one will take its place, bringing before us the same divine facts, and pouring forth the same graces on Christ's mystical body.

This section of the liturgical year, which comprises a little more or a little less than six months according as Easter is early or late, has always had the character it holds at present. But, although it admits only detached solemnities and feasts, the influence of the movable portion of the cycle is still observable. It may have as many as twenty-eight or as few as twenty-three weeks. This variation depends not only upon the Easter feast, which may occur on any of the days between March 22 and April 25 inclusively, but also on the date of the first Sunday of Advent, which is the opening of a new ecclesiastical year, and is always the Sunday nearest the Kalends of December.

In the Roman liturgy the Sundays of this series go under the name of 'Sundays after Pentecost.' As we shall show in the next chapter, that title is the most suitable that could have been given, and is found in the oldest sacramentaries and antiphonaries, but it was not universally adopted even by those Churches which followed the Roman rite; in progress of time, however, that title became the general one. To mention some of the previous terms named: in the Comes of Alcuin, which takes us back to the eighth century, we find the first section of these Sundays called 'Sundays after Pentecost'; the second is named 'weeks after the feast of the Apostles' (post natale Apostolorum); the third goes under the title of 'weeks after Saint Laurence' (post Sancti Laurentii); the fourth has the appellation of 'weeks of the seventh month' (i.e., September); and, lastly, the fifth is termed 'weeks after Saint Michael' (post Sancti Angeli), and lasts till Advent. As late as the sixteenth century many missals of the western

Churches gave us these several sections of the Time after Pentecost, but some of the titles varied according to the special saints honoured in the respective dioceses, whose feasts were taken as the date-marks of this period of the year. The Roman missal, published by order of Saint Pius V., has gradually been adopted in all our Latin churches, and has restored the ancient denomination to the ecclesiastical season we have just entered upon; so that the only name under which it is now known amongst us is 'The Time after Pentecost' (post Pentecosten).

CHAPTER THE SECOND

THE MYSTERY OF THE TIME AFTER PENTECOST

That we may thoroughly understand the meaning and influence of the season of the liturgical year upon which we have now entered, it is requisite for us to grasp the entire sequel of mysteries which holy Church has celebrated in our presence and company; we have witnessed her services, and we have shared in them. The celebration of those mysteries was not an empty pageant, acted for the sake of being looked at. Each one of them brought with it a special grace, which produced in our souls the reality signified by the rites of the liturgy. At Christmas Christ was born within us; at Passiontide He passed on and into us His sufferings and atonements; at Easter He communicated to us His glorious, His untrammelled life; in His Ascension He drew us after Him, and this even to heaven's summit; in a word, as the apostle expresses all this working, Christ was formed in us.¹

But, in order to give solidity and permanence to the image of Christ formed within us, it was necessary that the Holy Ghost should come, that so He might increase our light, and enkindle a fire within us that should never be quenched. This divine Paraclete came down from heaven; He gave Himself to us; He wishes to take up His abode within us, and to take our life of regeneration entirely into His own hands. The liturgy of this Time after Pentecost signifies and expresses this regenerated life, which is to be spent on the model of Christ's, and under the direction of His Spirit.

¹ Gal. iv. 19.

Two objects here offer themselves to our consideration: the Church and the Christian soul. As to holy Church, the bride of Christ, filled as she is with the Paraclete Spirit, who has poured Himself forth upon her, and from that time forward is her animating principle, she is advancing onwards in her militant career, and will do so till the second coming of her heavenly Spouse. She has within her the gifts of truth and holiness. Endowed with infallibility of faith and authority to govern, she feeds Christ's flock, sometimes enjoying liberty and peace, sometimes going through persecutions and trials. Her divine Spouse abides with her, by His grace and the efficacy of His promises, even to the end of time; she is in possession of all the favours He has bestowed upon her; and the Holy Ghost dwells with her, and in her, for ever. All this is expressed by this present portion of the liturgical year. It is one wherein we shall not meet with any of those great events which prepared and consummated the divine work; but, on the other hand, it is a season when holy Church reaps the fruits of the holiness and doctrine which those ineffable mysteries have already produced, and will continue to produce during the course of ages. It is during this same season that we shall meet with the preparation for, and in due time the fulfilment of, those final events which will transform our mother's militant life on earth into the triumphant one in heaven. As far, then, as regards holy Church, this is the meaning of the portion of the cycle we are commencing.

As to the faithful soul, whose life is but a compendium of that of the Church, her progress, during the period which is opened to her after the pentecostal feasts, should be in keeping with that of our common mother. The soul should live and act in imitation of Jesus, who has united Himself with her by the mysteries she has gone through; she should be governed by the holy Spirit, whom she has received. The sublime episodes peculiar to this second portion of the year will give her an increase of light and life. She will put unity into these rays, which, though scattered in various directions, emanate from one common centre; and, advancing from brightness to brightness,¹ she will aspire to being consummated in Him whom she now knows so well, and whom death will enable her to possess as her own. Should it not be the will of God, however, to take her as yet to Himself, she will begin a fresh year, and live over again those mysteries which she has already enjoyed in the early portion of the liturgical cycle, after which she will find herself once more in the season that is under the direction of the Holy Ghost, till at last her God will summon her from this world, on the day and at the hour which He has appointed from all eternity.

¹ 2 Cor. iii. 18.

Between the Church, then, and the soul, during the time intervening from the descent of the divine Paraclete to the consummation, there is this difference—that the Church goes through it but once, whereas the Christian soul repeats it each year. With this exception the analogy is perfect. It is our duty, therefore, to thank God for thus providing for our weakness by means of the sacred liturgy, whereby He successively renews within us those helps which enable us to attain the glorious end of our creation.

Holy Church has so arranged the order for reading the Books of Scripture during the present portion of the year, so as to express the work then accomplished both in the Church herself and in the Christian soul. For the interval between Pentecost and the commencement of August, she gives us the four Books of Kings. They are a prophetic epitome of the Church's history. They describe how the kingdom of Israel was founded by David, who is the type of Christ victorious over His enemies, and by Solomon, the king of peace, who builds a temple in honour of Jehovah. During the centuries comprised in the history given in those books, there is a perpetual struggle between good and evil. There are great and saintly kings, such as Asa, Ezechias, and Josias; there are wicked ones, like Manasses. A schism breaks out in Samaria; infidel nations league together against the city of God. The holy people, continually turning a deaf ear to the prophets, give themselves up to the worship of false gods, and to the vices of the heathen, till at length the justice of God destroys both temple and city of the faithless Jerusalem; it is an image of the destruction of this world, when faith shall be so rare that the Son of Man, at His second coming, shall scarce find a vestige of it remaining.

During the month of August, we read the Sapiential Books, so called because they contain the teachings of divine Wisdom. This Wisdom is the Word of God, who is manifested unto men through the teachings of the Church, which, because of the assistance of the Holy Ghost permanently abiding within her, is infallible in the truth.

Supernatural truth produces holiness, which cannot exist, nor produce fruit, where truth is not. In order to express the union there is between these two, the Church reads to us, during the month of September, the books called 'hagiographa'; these are Tobias, Judith, Esther, and Job, and they show Wisdom in action.

At the end of the world the Church will have to go through combats of unusual fierceness. To keep us on the watch, she reads to us, during the month of October, the Books of Machabees; for there we have described to us the noble-heartedness of those defenders of the Law of God, for which they gloriously died; it will be the same at the last days, when power will be 'given to the beast to make war with the saints, and to overcome them.'¹

The month of November gives us the reading of the Prophets: the judgments of God impending upon a world which He is compelled to punish by destruction are there announced to us. First of all, we have the terrible Ezechiel; then Daniel, who sees empire succeeding empire, till the end of all time; and finally the Minor Prophets, who for the most part foretell the divine chastisements, though the latest among them proclaim, at the same time, the near approach of the Son of God.

Such is the mystery of this portion of the liturgical cycle, which is called the Time after Pentecost. It includes also the use of green vestments, for that colour expresses the hope of the bride, who knows that she has been entrusted by her Spouse to the Holy Ghost, and that He will lead her safe to the end of her pilgrimage. St. John says all this in those few words of his Apocalypse: 'The Spirit and the bride say, Come!'²

¹ Apoc. xiii. 7. ² Ibid., xxii. 17.

CHAPTER THE THIRD

PRACTICE FOR THE TIME AFTER PENTECOST

The object which holy Church has in view by her liturgical year is the leading of the Christian soul to union with Christ, and this by the Holy Ghost. This object is the one which God Himself has in giving us His own Son to be our mediator, our teacher, and our Redeemer, and in sending us the Holy Ghost to abide among us. To this end is directed all that aggregate of rites and prayers which we have hitherto explained: they are not a mere commemoration of the mysteries achieved for our salvation by the divine goodness, but they bring with them the graces corresponding to each of those mysteries; that thus we may come, as the apostle expresses it, 'to the age of the fulness of Christ.'¹

¹ Eph. iv. 13.

As we have elsewhere explained, our sharing in the mysteries of Christ, which are celebrated in the liturgical year, produces in the Christian what is called in mystic theology the illuminative life, in which the soul gains continually more and more of the light of the Incarnate Word, who, by His examples and teachings, renovates each one of her faculties, and imparts to her the habit of seeing all things from God's point of view. This is a preparation which disposes her for union with God, not merely in an imperfect manner and one that is more or less inconstant, but in an intimate and permanent way, which is called the unitive life. The production of this life is the special work of the Holy Ghost, who has been sent into this world that He may maintain each one of our souls in the possession of Christ, and may bring to perfection the love whereby the creature is united with its God.

In this state, in this unitive life, the soul is made to relish, and assimilate into herself, all that substantial and nourishing food which is presented to her so abundantly during the Time after Pentecost. The mysteries of the Trinity and of the blessed Sacrament, the mercy and power of the Heart of Jesus, the glories of Mary and her influence upon the Church and souls—all these are manifested to the soul with more clearness than ever, and produce within her effects not previously experienced. In the feasts of the saints, which are so varied and so grand during this portion of the year, she feels more and more intimately the bond which unites her to them in Christ, through the holy Spirit. The eternal happiness of heaven, which is to follow the trials of this mortal life, is revealed to her by the feast of All Saints; she gains clearer notions of that mysterious bliss, which consists in light and love. Having become more closely united to holy Church, the bride of her dear Lord, she follows her in all the stages of her earthly existence; she takes a share in her sufferings; she exults in her triumphs. She sees, and yet is not daunted at seeing, this world tending to its decline, for she knows that the Lord is nigh at hand. As to what regards herself, she is not dismayed at feeling that her exterior life is slowly giving way, and that the wall which stands between her and the changeless sight and possession of the sovereign Good is gradually falling to decay; for, it is not in this world that she lives, and her heart has long been where her treasure is.¹

¹ St. Matt. vi. 21.

Thus enlightened, thus attracted, thus established, by the incorporation into herself of the mysteries wherewith the sacred liturgy has nourished her, as also by the gifts poured into her by the Holy Ghost, the soul yields herself up, and without any effort, to the impulse of the divine mover. Virtue has become all the more easy to her as she aspires, it would almost seem naturally, to what is most perfect; sacrifices, which used formerly to terrify, now delight her; she makes use of this world as though she used it not,¹ for all true realities, as far as she is concerned, exist beyond this world; in a word, she longs all the more ardently after the eternal possession of the object she loves, as she has been realizing, even in this life, what the apostle describes where he speaks of a creature as being 'one spirit with the Lord'² by being united to Him in heart.

Such is the result ordinarily produced in the soul by the sweet and healthy influence of the sacred liturgy. But if it seem to us that, although we have followed it in its several seasons, we have not as yet reached the state of detachment and expectation just described, and that the life of Christ has not, so far, absorbed our own individual life into itself, let us be on our guard against discouragement on that account. The cycle of the liturgy, with its rays of light and grace for the soul, is not a phenomenon that occurs only once in the heavens of holy Church; it returns each year. Such is the merciful design of God, 'who hath so loved the world as to give it His only-begotten Son'³—of God, 'who came not to judge the world, but that the world may be saved by Him.'⁴ And holy Church is but carrying out that design by putting within our reach the most powerful of all means for leading man to his God, and uniting him to his sovereign Good; she thus testifies the earnestness of her maternal solicitude. The Christian who has

¹ 1 Cor. vii. 31. ² Ibid., vi. 17.
³ St. John iii. 16. ⁴ Id. 17.

not been led to the term we have been describing by the first half of the cycle will still meet, in this second, with important aids for the expansion of his faith and the growth of his love. The Holy Ghost, who reigns in a special manner over this portion of the year, will not fail to influence his mind and heart; and, when a fresh cycle commences, the work thus begun by grace has a new chance of receiving that completeness which had been retarded by the weakness of human nature.

CHAPTER THE FOURTH

MORNING AND NIGHT PRAYERS FOR THE TIME AFTER PENTECOST

During this second part of the year, the Christian, on waking in the morning, will unite himself with holy Church, who, every day in her Office of Lauds, hails the return of light, making use of these words of the royal prophet:

Deus, Deus meus, ad te de luce vigilo. — O God, my God, unto thee do I watch at break of day.

He will profoundly adore the divine Majesty; and, thanking his sovereign Lord, who has protected him while involved in the darkness of night, he will proffer Him his service for the whole day which is now commencing; he will wish to spend it in love and obedience, as behoves one whom Christ has united to Himself by His mysteries, and whom the Holy Ghost is willing to guide and govern. The time for morning prayer being come, he may give expression to the sentiments which should then animate his soul, by using these formulas of the Church:

MORNING PRAYERS

First, praise and adoration of the most holy Trinity:

V. Benedicamus Patrem et Filium, cum Sancto Spiritu.

R. Laudemus et superexaltemus eum in sæcula.

V. Gloria Patri, et Filio, et Spiritui Sancto.

R. Sicut erat in principio, et nunc, et semper, et in sæcula sæculorum. Amen.

V. Let us bless the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Ghost.

R. Let us praise him and extol him above all, for ever.

V. Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost.

R. As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.

Then praise to our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ:

V. Adoramus te, Christe, et benedicimus tibi;

R. Quia per sanctam crucem tuam redemisti mundum.

V. We adore thee, O Christ, and bless thee;

R. Because, by thy holy cross, thou hast redeemed the world.

Thirdly, invocation of the Holy Ghost:

Veni, Sancte Spiritus, reple tuorum corda fidelium, et tui amoris in eis ignem accende.

Come, O Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of thy faithful, and enkindle within them the fire of thy love.

After these fundamental acts of religion, recite the Lord's Prayer, uniting your intentions with those which your Saviour had when He gave it to you. First, then, raise up your thoughts and desires to the interests of His glory, while you say the first three petitions; and in the last four, humbly put before Him the favours you yourself stand in need of:

THE LORD'S PRAYER

Pater noster, qui es in cœlis, sanctificetur nomen tuum; adveniat regnum tuum; fiat voluntas tua sicut in cœlo et in terra. Panem nostrum quotidianum da nobis hodie; et dimitte nobis debita nostra, sicut et nos dimittimus debitoribus nostris; et ne nos inducas in tentationem; sed libera nos a malo. Amen.

Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name; thy kingdom come; thy will be done on earth, as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive them that trespass against us; and lead us not into temptation; but deliver us from evil. Amen.

Then address our blessed Lady, using for this the words of the Angelical Salutation. While saying it, think of the share she took in the mysteries whereby we have been saved and united to God. Think, too, of the immense power given to her by her divine Son, and of the maternal love she bears for us mortals.

THE ANGELICAL SALUTATION

Ave Maria, gratia plena; Dominus tecum; benedicta tu in mulieribus, et benedictus fructus ventris tui, Jesus.

Sancta Maria, Mater Dei, ora pro nobis peccatoribus, nunc et in hora mortis nostræ. Amen.

Hail Mary, full of grace: the Lord is with thee; blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus.

Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now, and at the hour of our death. Amen.

After this you should recite the Creed, that is the Symbol of faith. It contains the dogmas we are to believe, and which we have seen in such living reality by means of the liturgy, which has celebrated them each in its turn. Faith is the first bond which unites us to God. It is faith that gives us to know Him, and reveals to us the object of our hope and of our love. Our faith should be dearer to us than our life, and we should be ever praying for its increase.

THE APOSTLES' CREED

Credo in Deum, Patrem omnipotentem, creatorem cœli et terræ.

I believe in God the Father almighty, Creator of heaven and earth.

Et in Jesum Christum Filium ejus unicum, Dominum nostrum: qui conceptus est de Spiritu Sancto, natus ex Maria Virgine, passus sub Pontio Pilato, crucifixus, mortuus et sepultus: descendit ad inferos, tertia die resurrexit a mortuis: ascendit ad cœlos, sedet ad dexteram Dei Patris omnipotentis: inde venturus est judicare vivos et mortuos.

Credo in Spiritum Sanctum, sanctam Ecclesiam Catholicam, sanctorum communionem, remissionem peccatorum, carnis resurrectionem, vitam æternam. Amen.

And in Jesus Christ his only Son our Lord, who was conceived by the Holy Ghost, born of the Virgin Mary; suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, dead, and buried; he descended into hell; the third day he rose again from the dead, he ascended into heaven, sitteth at the right hand of God the Father almighty; from thence he shall come to judge the living and the dead.

I believe in the Holy Ghost; the holy Catholic Church; the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and life everlasting. Amen.

After having thus made the profession of your faith, unite with holy Church, who hails each morning the rising of the day-star, who is her Jesus, 'the light of the world,'¹ and the Sun of justice. To this end you may recite the following beautiful hymn, composed by St. Ambrose:

HYMN

Splendor Paternæ gloriæ, De luce lucem proferens, Lux lucis, et fons luminis, Diem dies illuminans.

O Brightness of the Father's glory! bringing light from the light! Thou light of light, and fount of light, and day that illuminest the day!

Verusque sol illabere, Micans nitore perpeti, Jubarque Sancti Spiritus Infunde nostris sensibus.

O thou true sun! pour forth thy rays on us, shining upon us with unfading splendour! O radiance of the Holy Ghost, be thou infused into our senses and powers.

Votis vocemus et Patrem, Patrem perennis gloriæ,

Give us, also, to invoke the Father, the Father of eternal glory, the Father of mighty

Patrem potentis gratiæ, Culpam releget lubricam.

grace, that he would drive from us sin and its allurements.

Confirmet actus strenuos, Dentes retundat invidi: Casus secundet asperos, Donet gerendi gratiam.

May he give energy to our deeds and strengthen them; may he break the teeth of the envious serpent; may he support us when we rudely fall, and give us the grace to act.

Mentem gubernet et regat, Casto, fideli corpore; Fides calore ferveat, Fraudis venena nesciat.

May he govern and rule our mind, in a chaste and faithful body; may our faith be fervent in warmth, void of the poisons of error.

Christusque nobis sit cibus, Potusque noster sit fides: Læti bibamus sobriam Ebrietatem Spiritus.

May Christ be our food, and faith our drink; may we in gladness quaff the sober inebriation of the Spirit.

Lætus dies hic transeat, Pudor sit ut diluculum, Fides velut meridies, Crepusculum mens nesciat.

May this day be one of joy; modesty its dawn, faith its noon; and no night to dim the mind.

Aurora cursus provehit, Aurora totus prodeat, In Patre totus Filius, Et totus in Verbo Pater.

The aurora is swiftly advancing; O may the aurora come, the whole Son in the Father, and the whole Father in his Word!

Deo Patri sit gloria, Ejusque soli Filio, Cum Spiritu Paraclito, Et nunc, et in perpetuum. Amen.

To God the Father, and to his only Son, and to the Paraclete Spirit, be glory for ever and ever. Amen.

¹ St. John viii. 12.

After having thus paid your homage to your divine mediator, next make a humble confession of your sins, reciting for this purpose the general formula made use of by the Church.

THE CONFESSION OF SINS

Confiteor Deo omnipotenti, beatæ Mariæ semper Virgini, beato Michaeli archangelo, beato Joanni Baptistæ, sanctis apostolis Petro et Paulo, et omnibus sanctis, quia peccavi nimis, cogitatione, verbo et opere: mea culpa, mea culpa, mea maxima culpa.

Ideo precor beatam Mariam semper Virginem, beatum Michaelem archangelum, beatum Joannem Baptistam, sanctos apostolos Petrum et Paulum, et omnes sanctos, orare pro me ad Dominum Deum nostrum.

Misereatur nostri omnipotens Deus, et dimissis peccatis nostris, perducat nos ad vitam æternam. Amen.

Indulgentiam, absolutionem et remissionem peccatorum nostrorum tribuat nobis omnipotens et misericors Dominus. Amen.

I confess to almighty God, to blessed Mary ever Virgin, to blessed Michael the archangel, to blessed John the Baptist, to the holy apostles Peter and Paul, and to all the saints, that I have sinned exceedingly in thought, word, and deed; through my fault, through my fault, through my most grievous fault.

Therefore I beseech blessed Mary ever Virgin, blessed Michael the archangel, blessed John the Baptist, the holy apostles Peter and Paul, and all the saints, to pray to the Lord our God for me.

May almighty God have mercy on us, and, our sins being forgiven, bring us to life everlasting. Amen.

May the almighty and merciful Lord grant us pardon, absolution, and remission of our sins. Amen.

This is the proper time for making your meditation, as, no doubt, you practise this holy exercise. It may be the case with some souls that their assiduous application to the mysteries of the holy liturgy has produced upon them this, among other effects,—that it has opened to them the way of prayer, properly so called. Let, then, each one commune with God, under the influence of the holy Spirit. During this long period, which never lasts less than six months, the Christian is free to choose the subject of his communings with God, for he has been enlightened as to all things, by the words and works of his Lord, who came down from heaven to earth that He might teach us all truth. So that, whether he stay to ponder over the mysteries which have been revealed to him, according to the attraction which he feels for them; or fix his attention upon the perfections of that divine model, in whom there are, so resplendently, all the marks of the second Adam come down from heaven; or our Lord point out to him those miseries and imperfections which are in him, and keep him still so far from his model: all will tend to enlighten him, to inflame him, and to unite him with his God. When a soul is continually being influenced by her contact with the Church through the liturgy, it is impossible for the spirit of prayer not to grow within her, and, either imperceptibly or suddenly, produce in her a transformation into Him who, being God, has united Himself to our nature, in order that, through Him, we might be united with God.

Your meditation or prayer ended, or deferred on account of your not having leisure to make it at this hour of the morning, you will next address this prayer to God, begging Him to grant you the grace to avoid, during this day, every kind of sin, and to perform all manner of good works. Say, then, this prayer of the Church, for her prayers are the best:

V. Domine, exaudi orationem meam,

R. Et clamor meus ad te veniat.

V. O Lord, hear my prayer,

R. And let my cry come unto thee.

OREMUS

Domine, Deus omnipotens, qui ad principium hujus diei nos pervenire fecisti, tua nos hodie salva virtute, ut in hac die ad nullum declinemus peccatum; sed semper ad tuam justitiam faciendam nostra procedant eloquia, dirigantur cogitationes et opera. Per Dominum nostrum Jesum Christum Filium tuum, qui tecum vivit et regnat in unitate Spiritus Sancti Deus, per omnia sæcula sæculorum. Amen.

LET US PRAY

Almighty Lord and God, who hast brought us to the beginning of this day, let thy powerful grace so conduct us through it that we may not fall into any sin; but that all our thoughts, words, and actions may be regulated according to the rules of thy heavenly justice, and tend to the observance of thy law. Through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

During the day you would do well to use the instructions and prayers which you will find in these volumes, both for the proper of the time, and the proper of the saints. In the evening you may use the following prayers:

NIGHT PRAYERS

After having made the sign of the cross, adore that sovereign Lord, who now offers you repose after the labours of the day. Beg His protection on these hours of sleep and night; to this end, you may recite this beautiful hymn of Saint Ambrose, which was so great a favourite with Saint Augustine, his disciple:¹

HYMN

Deus, Creator omnium Polique rector, vestiens Diem decoro lumine, Noctem soporis gratia,

O God, Creator of all things, and ruler of the heavens, 'tis thou that clothest day with beautiful light, and night with the grace of sleep.

Artus solutos ut quies Reddat laboris usui, Mentesque fessas allevet,

'Tis sleep that restores our wearied limbs to the toil of work. Sleep gives repose to

Luctusque solvat anxios; the mind when tired, and takes away anxious grief.

Grates, peracto jam die, Et noctis exortu, preces, Voti reos ut adjuves, Hymnum canentes, solvimus.

The day is spent, and night is come; we offer thee our thanks and prayers, singing our hymn, that thou mayst help us, thy servants.

Te cordis ima concinant, Te vox sonora concrepet, Te diligat castus amor, Te mens adoret sobria.

May our inmost heart sing thy praise, and tuneful voices sound forth thy name; may our chaste affection love, and our sober mind adore thee.

¹ Confessions, Bk. ix., ch. 12.

Ut, cum profunda clauserit Diem caligo noctium, Fides tenebras nesciat Et nox fide reluceat.

And when the night's deep gloom shall shut out the day, may our faith know nought of darkness, and the very night be day by faith.

Dormire mentem ne sinas, Dormire culpa noverit; Castos fides refrigerans Somni vaporem temperet.

Let not our soul, but only sin feel sleep; let faith keep us chaste, and, by its refreshing, check the vapours of sleep.

Exuta sensu lubrico Te cordis alta somnient; Nec hostis invidi dolo Pavor quietos suscitet.

May our heart's deepest self, unshackled by the allurements of sense, dream of thee: nor let the fear of the enemy, whose envy is ever laying snares, disturb us when at rest.

Christum rogemus et Patrem, Christi Patrisque Spiritum: Unum, potens per omnia, Fove precantes, Trinitas.

Let our prayer ascend to Christ and to the Father, and to the Spirit of Christ and of the Father: O Trinity, one in essence, and all-powerful, be merciful to us, who pray to thee.

Amen. Amen.

After this hymn, say the Our Father, Hail Mary, and Apostles' Creed, as in the morning.

Then make the examination of conscience, going over in your mind all the faults committed during the day. Think, and humble yourself at the thought, how sin makes us degenerate from the divine adoption. Then make a resolution to avoid sin for the time to come, to do penance for it, and to shun the occasions which might again lead you into it.

Having concluded the examination of conscience, recite the Confiteor (or 'I confess') with heartfelt contrition; and then give expression to your sorrow by the following act, which we have taken from the venerable Cardinal Bellarmine's catechism.

ACT OF CONTRITION

O my God, I am exceedingly grieved for having offended thee; and, with my whole heart, I repent of the sins I have committed: I hate and abhor them, above every other evil, not only because, by so sinning, I have lost heaven, and deserve hell, but still more because I have offended thee, O infinite Goodness, who art worthy to be loved above all things. I most firmly resolve, by the assistance of thy grace, never more to offend thee for the time to come, and to avoid those occasions which might lead me into sin.

You may then add the acts of faith, hope, and charity, to the recitation of which Pope Benedict XIV. has granted an indulgence of seven years and seven quarantines for each time.

ACT OF FAITH

O my God, I firmly believe whatsoever the holy Catholic Apostolic Roman Church requires me to believe: I believe it, because thou hast revealed it to her, thou who art the very truth.

ACT OF HOPE

O my God, knowing thine almighty power, and thine infinite goodness and mercy, I hope in thee that, by the merits of the Passion and death of our Saviour Jesus Christ, thou wilt grant me eternal life, which thou hast promised to all such as shall do the works of a good Christian; and these I resolve to do, with the help of thy grace.

ACT OF CHARITY

O my God, I love thee with my whole heart and above all things, because thou art the sovereign Good: I would rather lose all things than offend thee. For thy love also, I love, and desire to love, my neighbour as myself.

Then say to our blessed Lady the following solemn anthem, which the Church says, in her honour, till Advent:

ANTHEM TO THE BLESSED VIRGIN

Salve, Regina, mater misericordiæ: vita, dulcedo, et spes nostra, salve.

Hail, holy Queen, mother of mercy; our life, our sweetness, and our hope, all hail!

Ad te clamamus, exsules filii Evæ;

To thee we cry, poor banished children of Eve;

Ad te suspiramus, gementes et flentes in hac lacrymarum valle.

To thee we send up our sighs, weeping and mourning in this vale of tears.

Eia ergo, advocata nostra, illos tuos misericordes oculos ad nos converte.

Turn, then, most gracious advocate, thine eyes of mercy towards us;

Et Jesum, benedictum fructum ventris tui, nobis post hoc exsilium ostende;

And, after this our exile, show unto us the blessed fruit of thy womb, Jesus;

O clemens, o pia, o dulcis Virgo Maria!

O merciful, O kind, O sweet Virgin Mary!

V. Ora pro nobis, sancta Dei Genitrix,
R. Ut digni efficiamur promissionibus Christi.

V. Pray for us, O holy Mother of God,
R. That we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ.

OREMUS

Omnipotens sempiterne Deus, qui gloriosæ Virginis Matris Mariæ corpus et animam, ut dignum Filii tui habitaculum effici mereretur, Spiritu Sancto cooperante, præparasti: da, ut cujus commemoratione lætamur, ejus pia intercessione ab instantibus malis, et a morte perpetua liberemur. Per eumdem Christum Dominum nostrum. Amen.

LET US PRAY

O almighty and everlasting God, who, by the co-operation of the Holy Ghost, didst prepare the body and soul of Mary, glorious Virgin and Mother, to become the worthy habitation of thy Son; grant that we may be delivered from present evils, and from everlasting death by her gracious intercession, in whose commemoration we rejoice. Through the same Christ our Lord. Amen.

You would do well to add the litany of our Lady. An indulgence of three hundred days, for each time it is recited, has been granted by the Church.

THE LITANY OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN

Kyrie, eleison. Lord, have mercy on us. Christe, eleison. Christ, have mercy on us. Kyrie, eleison. Lord, have mercy on us. Christe, audi nos. Christ, hear us. Christe, exaudi nos. Christ, graciously hear us.

Pater de cælis, Deus, miserere nobis. God the Father, of heaven, have mercy on us.
Fili, Redemptor mundi, Deus, miserere nobis. God the Son, Redeemer of the world, have mercy on us. Spiritus Sancte, Deus, miserere nobis. God the Holy Ghost, have mercy on us. Sancta Trinitas, unus Deus, miserere nobis. Holy Trinity, one God, have mercy on us.

Sancta Maria, ora pro nobis. Holy Mary, pray for us. Sancta Dei Genitrix, ora, etc. Holy Mother of God, pray, etc. Sancta Virgo virginum, Holy Virgin of virgins, Mater Christi, Mother of Christ, Mater divinæ gratiæ, Mother of divine grace,
Mater purissima, Mother most pure, Mater castissima, Mother most chaste, Mater inviolata, Mother inviolate, Mater intemerata, Mother undefiled, Mater amabilis, Mother most amiable, Mater admirabilis, Mother most admirable, Mater boni consilii, Mother of good counsel, Mater Creatoris, Mother of our Creator, Mater Salvatoris, Mother of our Redeemer, Virgo prudentissima, Virgin most prudent, Virgo veneranda, Virgin most venerable, Virgo prædicanda, Virgin most renowned,
Virgo potens, Virgin most powerful, Virgo clemens, Virgin most merciful, Virgo fidelis, Virgin most faithful, Speculum justitiæ, Mirror of justice,
Sedes sapientiæ, Seat of wisdom,
Causa nostræ lætitiæ, Cause of our joy,
Vas spirituale, Spiritual vessel, Vas honorabile, Vessel of honour, Vas insigne devotionis, Singular vessel of devotion, Rosa mystica, Mystical rose, Turris Davidica, Tower of David, Turris eburnea, Tower of ivory, Domus aurea, House of gold, Fœderis arca, Ark of the covenant,
Janua cæli, Gate of heaven,
Stella matutina, Morning star, Salus infirmorum, Health of the weak, Refugium peccatorum, Refuge of sinners, Consolatrix afflictorum, Comforter of the afflicted, Auxilium Christianorum, Help of Christians, Regina Angelorum, Queen of Angels, Regina Patriarcharum, Queen of Patriarchs, Regina Prophetarum, Queen of Prophets, Regina Apostolorum, Queen of Apostles, Regina Martyrum, Queen of Martyrs, Regina Confessorum, Queen of Confessors, Regina Virginum, Queen of Virgins, Regina Sanctorum omnium, Queen of all Saints, Regina sine labe originali concepta, Queen conceived without original sin, Regina sacratissimi rosarii, Queen of the most holy rosary, Regina pacis, Queen of peace,

Agnus Dei, qui tollis peccata mundi, parce nobis, Domine. Lamb of God, who takest away the sins of the world, spare us, O Lord. Agnus Dei, qui tollis peccata mundi, exaudi nos, Domine. Lamb of God, who takest away the sins of the world, graciously hear us, O Lord. Agnus Dei, qui tollis peccata mundi, miserere nobis. Lamb of God, who takest away the sins of the world, have mercy on us.

Christe, audi nos. Christ, hear us. Christe, exaudi nos. Christ, graciously hear us.

V. Ora pro nobis, sancta Dei Genitrix,
R. Ut digni efficiamur promissionibus Christi.

V. Pray for us, O holy Mother of God,
R. That we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ.

OREMUS

Concede nos famulos tuos, quæsumus, Domine Deus, perpetua mentis et corporis sanitate gaudere: et gloriosa beatæ Mariæ semper Virginis intercessione, a præsenti liberari tristitia, et æterna perfrui lætitia. Per Christum Dominum nostrum. Amen.

LET US PRAY

Grant, O Lord, we beseech thee, that we thy servants may enjoy constant health of body and mind: and by the glorious intercession of blessed Mary, ever Virgin, be delivered from all present affliction, and come to that joy which is eternal. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.

Here invoke the holy angels, whose protection is, indeed, always so much needed by us, but never so much as during the hours of night. Say with the Church:

Sancti angeli custodes nostri, defendite nos in prælio, ut non pereamus in tremendo judicio.

Holy angels, our loving guardians, defend us in the hour of battle, that we may not be lost at the dreadful judgment.

V. Angelis suis Deus mandavit de te,
R. Ut custodiant te in omnibus viis tuis.

V. God hath given his angels charge of thee,
R. That they may guard thee in all thy ways.

OREMUS

Deus, qui ineffabili providentia sanctos angelos tuos ad nostram custodiam mittere dignaris: largire supplicibus tuis, et eorum semper protectione defendi, et æterna societate gaudere. Per Christum Dominum nostrum. Amen.

LET US PRAY

O God, who in thy wonderful providence hast been pleased to appoint thy holy angels for our guardians: mercifully hear our prayers, and grant we may rest secure under their protection, and enjoy their fellowship in heaven, for ever. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.

Then beg the assistance of the saints by the following antiphon and prayer of the Church:

Ant. Sancti Dei omnes, intercedere dignemini pro nostra omniumque salute.

Ant. All ye saints of God, vouchsafe to intercede for us and for all men, that we may be saved.

And here you may add a special mention of the saints to whom you bear a particular devotion, either as your patrons or otherwise; as also of those whose feast is kept in the Church that day, or who have been at least commemorated in the Divine Office.

This done, remember the necessities of the Church suffering; and beg of God that He will give to the souls in purgatory a place of refreshment, light, and peace. For this intention recite the usual prayers:

PSALM 129

De profundis clamavi ad te, Domine: Domine, exaudi vocem meam.

From the depths I have cried to thee, O Lord: Lord, hear my voice.

Fiant aures tuæ intendentes: in vocem deprecationis meæ.

Let thine ears be attentive to the voice of my supplication.

Si iniquitates observaveris, Domine: Domine, quis sustinebit?

If thou wilt observe iniquities, O Lord: Lord, who shall endure it?

Quia apud te propitiatio est: et propter legem tuam sustinui te, Domine.

For with thee there is merciful forgiveness: and by reason of thy law, I have waited for thee, O Lord.

Sustinuit anima mea in verbo ejus: speravit anima mea in Domino.

My soul hath relied on his word: my soul hath hoped in the Lord.

A custodia matutina usque ad noctem: speret Israël in Domino.

From the morning watch even until night: let Israel hope in the Lord.

Quia apud Dominum misericordia: et copiosa apud eum redemptio.

Because with the Lord there is mercy: and with him plentiful redemption.

Et ipse redimet Israël: ex omnibus iniquitatibus ejus.

And he shall redeem Israel from all his iniquities.

Requiem æternam dona eis, Domine.

Eternal rest give to them, O Lord.

Et lux perpetua luceat eis.

And let perpetual light shine upon them.

V. A porta inferi,
R. Erue, Domine, animas eorum.

V. From the gate of hell,
R. Deliver their souls, O Lord.

V. Requiescant in pace.
R. Amen.

V. May they rest in peace.
R. Amen.

V. Domine, exaudi orationem meam,
R. Et clamor meus ad te veniat.

V. O Lord, hear my prayer.
R. And let my cry come unto thee.

OREMUS

Fidelium Deus omnium Conditor et Redemptor, animabus famulorum famularumque tuarum, remissionem cunctorum tribue peccatorum: ut indulgentiam, quam semper optaverunt, piis supplicationibus consequantur. Qui vivis et regnas in sæcula sæculorum. Amen.

LET US PRAY

O God, the Creator and Redeemer of all the faithful, give to the souls of thy servants departed the remission of all their sins: that through the help of pious supplications, they may obtain the pardon they have always desired. Who livest and reignest for ever and ever. Amen.

Here make a special memento of such of the faithful departed as have a particular claim upon your charity; after which, ask of God to give you His assistance, whereby you may pass the night free from danger. Say, in the words of the Church:

Ant. Salva nos, Domine, vigilantes, custodi nos dormientes: ut vigilemus cum Christo, et requiescamus in pace.

V. Dignare, Domine, nocte ista,
R. Sine peccato nos custodire.

V. Miserere nostri, Domine.
R. Miserere nostri.

V. Fiat misericordia tua, Domine, super nos,
R. Quemadmodum speravimus in te.

V. Domine, exaudi orationem meam,
R. Et clamor meus ad te veniat.

OREMUS

Visita, quæsumus, Domine, habitationem istam, et omnes insidias inimici ab ea longe repelle: angeli tui sancti habitent in ea, qui nos in pace custodiant; et benedictio tua sit super nos semper. Per Dominum nostrum Jesum Christum, Filium tuum, qui tecum vivit et regnat in unitate Spiritus Sancti, Deus, per omnia sæcula sæculorum. Amen.

Say, then, still keeping to the

ANT. Save us, O Lord, while awake, and watch us as we sleep; that we may watch with Christ, and rest in peace.

V. Vouchsafe, O Lord, this night,

R. To keep us without sin.

V. Have mercy on us, O Lord.

R. Have mercy on us.

V. Let thy mercy, O Lord, be upon us,

R. As we have hoped in thee.

V. O Lord, hear my prayer,

R. And let my cry come unto thee.

LET US PRAY

Visit, we beseech thee, O Lord, this house and family, and drive from it all snares of the enemy; let thy holy angels dwell herein, who may keep us in peace, and may thy blessing be always upon us. Through Jesus Christ our Lord, thy Son, who liveth and reigneth with thee, in the unity of the Holy Ghost, God, world without end. Amen.

And finally, as a close to the day, you may recite those words which were the last uttered by our Redeemer on the cross. The Church offers them to God, each day, at Compline.

In manus tuas, Domine, commendo spiritum meum.

Into thy hands, O Lord, I commend my soul.

CHAPTER THE FIFTH

ON HEARING MASS DURING THE TIME AFTER PENTECOST

Of all the good acts wherewith a Christian can sanctify his day, there is not one which bears comparison with that of assisting at the holy sacrifice of the Mass. It is in that sacrifice, the supreme act of religion, that is centred all the homage due from man to his Creator; and it is also from the same sacrifice that God pours out profusely upon his creature man every sort of blessing. The very Son of God is really present there; there He is offered up to His Father, and the offering is always well-pleasing; and they who assist at this divine immolation with faith and love receive into their souls graces of a far richer kind than are given by any other means.

The assistance at Mass, if completed by the real participation of the divine victim, unites man to God in an ineffable way by the renovation of his whole being, for it produces an intimate communion between him and the Word Incarnate. But if the Christian who is assisting at the holy sacrifice goes no further than the uniting of his intentions with those of the divine victim, even so, his mere presence at so great an act includes a true participation in the supreme worship offered by this earth of ours to the Majesty of God, in Christ, and by Christ. So, too, he solemnly consecrates to God, by that same holy act, the day he has just begun.

We have devoted the days within the octave of Corpus Christi to giving our readers the fullest instruction regarding the holy sacrifice of the Mass. As to the dispositions wherewith they should assist at it, they are given in the present chapter, in which we explain briefly, and yet, as we believe, completely, the meaning of each ceremony and expression. Whilst thus endeavouring to initiate the faithful into these sublime mysteries, we have not given them a bare and indiscreet translation of the sacred formulæ, but have taken what seemed to us so much better a plan, of suggesting such acts as will enable those who hear Mass to enter into the ceremonies and the spirit of the Church and of the priest. The conclusion to be drawn from this is one of great importance: it is that, in order to derive solid profit from assisting at the holy sacrifice, the faithful must attentively follow all that is being done at the altar, and not stand aloof, as it were, by reading books which are filled with devotions of a private and unseasonable character.

On the Sundays, if the Mass at which the faithful assist be the parochial, or, as it is often called, the public Mass, two solemn rites precede it, and they are full of instruction and blessing: the Asperges, or sprinkling of the holy water, and the procession.

During the Asperges, you should unite with the intentions which the Church has in this ceremony, so venerable by its antiquity: you should pray for that purity of heart which is needed for worthily assisting at the mysteries, wherein God Himself becomes present, and unites heaven and earth so closely together.

ANTIPHON OF THE ASPERGES

Asperges me, Domine, hyssopo, et mundabor: lavabis me, et super nivem dealbabor.

Thou shalt sprinkle me with hyssop, O Lord, and I shall be cleansed; thou shalt wash me, and I shall be made whiter than snow.

Ps. Miserere mei, Deus, secundum magnam misericordiam tuam.

Ps. Have mercy on me, O God, according to thy great mercy.

V. Gloria Patri, etc.

V. Glory, etc.

ANT. Asperges me, etc.

ANT. Thou shalt sprinkle me, etc.

V. Ostende nobis, Domine, misericordiam tuam;

V. Show us, O Lord, thy mercy.

R. Et salutare tuum da nobis.

R. And grant us thy salvation.

V. Domine, exaudi orationem meam;

V. O Lord, hear my prayer.

R. Et clamor meus ad te veniat.

R. And let my cry come unto thee.

V. Dominus vobiscum;

V. The Lord be with you;

R. Et cum spiritu tuo.

R. And with thy spirit.

OREMUS

LET US PRAY

Exaudi nos, Domine sancte, Pater omnipotens, æterne Deus: et mittere digneris sanctum angelum tuum de cœlis, qui custodiat, foveat, protegat, visitet, atque defendat omnes habitantes in hoc habitaculo. Per Christum Dominum nostrum.

Graciously hear us, O holy Lord, Father almighty, eternal God: and vouchsafe to send thy holy angel from heaven, who may keep, cherish, protect, visit, and defend all who are assembled in this place. Through Christ our Lord.

R. Amen.

R. Amen.

The procession which in many churches immediately precedes a solemn Mass is a prelude to the great act which is about to be accomplished. It originated from the practice used in monasteries, of going through the cloisters, every Sunday, chanting certain appointed responsories; during which time the hebdomadarian went through all the conventual places, blessing each of them. The practice is still in use.

But see, Christians! the sacrifice begins! The priest is at the foot of the altar; God is attentive, the angels are in adoration, the whole Church is united with the priest, whose priesthood and action are those of the great High Priest, Jesus Christ. Let us make the sign of the cross with him.

THE ORDINARY OF THE MASS

In nomine Patris, et Filii, et Spiritus Sancti. Amen.

In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Amen.

V. Introibo ad altare Dei:

R. Ad Deum qui lætificat juventutem meam.

I unite myself, O my God, with thy holy Church, who thrills with joy at the approach of Jesus Christ thy Son, who is the true altar.

Judica me, Deus, et discerne causam meam de gente non sancta: ab homine iniquo et doloso erue me.

Like her, I beseech thee to defend me against the malice of the enemies of my salvation.

Quia tu es, Deus, fortitudo mea: quare me repulisti? et quare tristis incedo, dum affligit me inimicus?

It is in thee that I have put my hope; yet do I feel sad and troubled at being in the midst of the snares which are set for me.

Emitte lucem tuam et veritatem tuam: ipsa me deduxerunt et adduxerunt in montem sanctum tuum, et in tabernacula tua.

Let me, then, see him who is light and truth; it is he who will open the way to thy holy mount, to thy heavenly tabernacle.

Et introibo ad altare Dei: ad Deum qui lætificat juventutem meam.

He is the mediator, and the living altar; I will draw nigh to him, and be filled with joy.

Confitebor tibi in cithara, Deus, Deus meus: quare tristis es anima mea? et quare conturbas me?

Having seen him, I will sing in my gladness. Be not sad, O my soul! why wouldst thou be longer troubled?

Spera in Deo, quoniam adhuc confitebor illi: salutare vultus mei, et Deus meus.

Hope in him, who will soon show himself unto thee, as thy Saviour, and thy God.

Gloria Patri, et Filio, et Spiritui Sancto:

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost:

Sicut erat in principio, et nunc et semper, et in sæcula sæculorum. Amen.

As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.

V. Introibo ad altare Dei:

R. Ad Deum qui lætificat juventutem meam.

I am going to the altar of God; there I shall feel the presence of him who desires to give me a new life.

V. Adjutorium nostrum in nomine Domini.

R. Qui fecit cœlum et terram.

This my hope comes not to me as thinking that I have any merits; but because of the all-powerful help of my Creator.

The thought of being about to appear before his God excites in the soul of the priest a lively sentiment of compunction. He cannot go further in the holy sacrifice without confessing, and publicly, that he is a sinner, and deserves not the grace he is about to receive. Listen with respect to this confession of God's minister, and earnestly ask our Lord to show mercy to him; for the priest is your father; he is answerable for your salvation, for which he every day risks his own. When he has finished, unite with the servers, or the sacred ministers, in this prayer:

Misereatur tui omnipotens Deus, et dimissis peccatis tuis, perducat te ad vitam æternam.

May almighty God have mercy on thee, and, forgiving thy sins, bring thee to everlasting life.

The priest having answered Amen, make your confession, saying with a contrite spirit:

Confiteor Deo omnipotenti, beatæ Mariæ semper Virgini, beato Michaeli archangelo, beato Joanni Baptistæ, sanctis apostolis Petro et Paulo, omnibus sanctis, et tibi, pater, quia peccavi nimis cogitatione, verbo et opere, mea culpa, mea culpa, mea maxima culpa. Ideo precor beatam Mariam semper Virginem, beatum Michaelem archangelum, beatum Joannem Baptistam, sanctos apostolos Petrum et Paulum, omnes sanctos, et te, pater, orare pro me ad Dominum Deum nostrum.

I confess to almighty God, to blessed Mary ever Virgin, to blessed Michael the archangel, to blessed John the Baptist, to the holy apostles Peter and Paul, to all the saints, and to thee, father, that I have sinned exceedingly in thought, word, and deed, through my fault, through my fault, through my most grievous fault. Therefore I beseech blessed Mary ever Virgin, blessed Michael the archangel, blessed John the Baptist, the holy apostles Peter and Paul, and all the saints, and thee, father, to pray to the Lord our God for me.

Receive with gratitude the paternal wish of the priest, who says to you:

Misereatur vestri omnipotens Deus, et dimissis peccatis vestris, perducat vos ad vitam æternam.

May almighty God be merciful to you, and, forgiving your sins, bring you to everlasting life.

R. Amen.

R. Amen.

Indulgentiam, ✠ absolutionem, et remissionem peccatorum nostrorum, tribuat nobis omnipotens et misericors Dominus.

May the almighty and merciful Lord grant us pardon, absolution, and remission of our sins.

R. Amen.

R. Amen.

Invoke the divine assistance, that you may approach to Jesus Christ:

V. Deus, tu conversus vivificabis nos.

R. Et plebs tua lætabitur in te.

V. O God, it needs but one look of thine to give us life!

R. And thy people shall rejoice in thee!

V. Ostende nobis Domine misericordiam tuam,

R. Et salutare tuum da nobis.

V. Show us, O Lord, thy mercy,

R. And give us the Saviour thou art preparing to give us.

V. Domine, exaudi orationem meam,

R. Et clamor meus ad te veniat.

V. O Lord, hear my prayer,

R. And let my cry come unto thee.

The priest here leaves you and ascends to the altar, but first he salutes you:

V. Dominus vobiscum.

V. The Lord be with you.

Answer him with reverence:

R. Et cum spiritu tuo.

R. And with thy spirit.

He ascends the steps, and comes to the Holy of holies. Ask, both for him and for yourself, deliverance from sin:

OREMUS

LET US PRAY

Aufer a nobis quæsumus, Domine, iniquitates nostras; ut ad Sancta sanctorum puris mereamur mentibus introire. Per Christum Dominum nostrum. Amen.

Take from our hearts, O Lord, all those sins, which make us unworthy to appear in thy presence. We ask this of thee, by thy divine Son, our Lord.

When the priest kisses the altar, out of reverence for the relics of the martyrs which are there, say:

Oramus te, Domine, per merita sanctorum tuorum quorum reliquiæ hic sunt et omnium sanctorum, ut indulgere digneris omnia peccata mea. Amen.

Generous soldiers of Jesus Christ, who have mingled your own blood with his, intercede for us, that our sins may be forgiven; that so we may, like you, approach unto God.

If it be a High Mass at which you are assisting, the priest here blesses the incense, saying:

Ab illo benedicaris, in cujus honore cremaberis. Amen.

Mayst thou be blessed by him, in whose honour thou art to be burned. Amen.

He then censes the altar in a most solemn manner. This white cloud, which you see ascending from every part of the altar, signifies the prayer of the Church, who addresses herself to Jesus Christ; while the divine mediator causes that prayer to ascend, united with His own, to the throne of the majesty of His Father.

The priest then says the Introit. It is a solemn opening anthem, in which the Church, at the very commencement of the holy sacrifice, gives expression to the sentiments which fill her heart.

It is followed by nine exclamations, which are even more earnest still, for they ask for mercy. In addressing them to God, the Church unites herself with the nine choirs of angels, who are standing around the altar of heaven, one and the same with this before which you are kneeling.

TO THE FATHER

Kyrie, eleison. Kyrie, eleison. Kyrie, eleison.

Lord, have mercy on us! Lord, have mercy on us! Lord, have mercy on us!

TO THE SON

Christe, eleison. Christe, eleison. Christe, eleison.

Christ, have mercy on us! Christ, have mercy on us! Christ, have mercy on us!

TO THE HOLY GHOST

Kyrie, eleison. Kyrie, eleison. Kyrie, eleison.

Lord, have mercy on us! Lord, have mercy on us! Lord, have mercy on us!

Then, mingling his voice with that of the heavenly host, the priest intones the sublime canticle of Bethlehem, which announces glory to God, and peace to men. Instructed by the revelations of God, the Church continues, in her own words, the hymn of the angels.

THE ANGELIC HYMN

GLORIA IN EXCELSIS DEO, ET IN TERRA PAX HOMINIBUS BONÆ VOLUNTATIS.

Laudamus te: benedicimus te: adoramus te: glorificamus te: gratias agimus tibi propter magnam gloriam tuam.

Domine Deus, Rex cœlestis, Deus Pater omnipotens.

Domine, Fili unigenite, Jesu Christe.

Domine Deus, Agnus Dei, Filius Patris.

Qui tollis peccata mundi, miserere nobis.

Qui tollis peccata mundi, suscipe deprecationem nostram.

Qui sedes ad dexteram Patris, miserere nobis.

GLORY BE TO GOD ON HIGH; AND, ON EARTH, PEACE TO MEN OF GOOD WILL.

We praise thee: we bless thee: we adore thee: we glorify thee: we give thee thanks for thy great glory.

O Lord God, heavenly King, God the Father almighty.

O Lord Jesus Christ, the only-begotten Son.

O Lord God, Lamb of God, Son of the Father.

Who takest away the sins of the world, have mercy on us.

Who takest away the sins of the world, receive our humble prayer.

Who sittest at the right hand of the Father, have mercy on us.

Quoniam tu solus sanctus, tu solus Dominus, tu solus altissimus, Jesu Christe, cum sancto Spiritu, in gloria Dei Patris. Amen.

For thou alone art holy, thou alone art Lord, thou alone, O Jesus Christ, together with the Holy Ghost, art most high, in the glory of God the Father. Amen.

The priest then turns towards the people, and again salutes them, as it were to make sure of their pious attention to the sublime act, for which all this is but the preparation.

Then follows the Collect or Prayer, in which the Church formally expresses to the divine Majesty the special intentions she has in the Mass which is being celebrated. You may unite in this prayer, by reciting with the priest the collects, which you will find in their proper places; but on no account omit to join with the server of the Mass in answering Amen.

After this comes the Epistle, which is generally a portion of one or other of the Epistles of the apostles, or a passage from some Book of the Old Testament. While it is being read, give thanks to that God who, not satisfied with having spoken to us at sundry times by His messengers, deigned at last to speak unto us by His well-beloved Son.¹

The Gradual is a formula of prayer, intermediate between the Epistle and the Gospel. Most frequently, it again brings before us the sentiments already expressed in the Introit. Read it devoutly, that so you may enter more and more into the spirit of the mystery proposed to you this day, by the Church.

The song of praise, the Alleluia, is next heard. Let us, while it is being said, unite with the holy angels, who are for all eternity making heaven resound with that song, which we on earth are permitted to attempt.

¹ Heb. i. 2.

The time is now come for the Gospel to be read. The Gospel is the written word; our hearing it will prepare us for the Word, who is our victim and our food.

If it be a High Mass, the deacon prepares, meanwhile, to fulfil his noble office—that of announcing the 'good tidings' of salvation. He prays God to cleanse his heart and lips. Then, kneeling before the priest, he asks a blessing; and, having received it, at once goes to the place where he is to sing the Gospel.

As a preparation for worthily hearing it, you may thus pray, together with both priest and deacon:

Munda cor meum, ac labia mea, omnipotens Deus, qui labia Isaiæ prophetæ calculo mundasti ignito: ita me tua grata miseratione dignare mundare, ut sanctum Evangelium tuum digne valeam nuntiare. Per Christum Dominum nostrum. Amen.

Dominus sit in corde meo, et in labiis meis: ut digne et competenter annuntiem Evangelium suum.

Alas! these ears of mine are but too often defiled with the world's vain words: cleanse them, O Lord, that so I may hear the words of eternal life, and treasure them in my heart. Through our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.

Grant to thy ministers thy grace, that they may faithfully explain thy law; that so all, both pastors and flock, may be united to thee for ever. Amen.

You will stand during the Gospel, out of respect for the word of God, and as though you were awaiting the orders of your divine master. At the commencement, make the sign of the cross on your forehead, lips, and breast; and then listen to every word of the priest or deacon. Let your heart be ready and obedient. 'While my beloved was speaking,' says the bride in the Canticle, 'my soul melted within me.'¹ If you have not such love as this, have at least the humble submission of Samuel, and say, 'Speak, Lord! thy servant heareth.'²

After the Gospel, if the priest says the symbol of faith, the Credo, you will say it with him. Faith is that grand gift of God without which we cannot please Him. It is faith that makes us see 'the light which shineth in darkness, and which the darkness of unbelief did not comprehend.'³ Let us, then, say with the Catholic Church, our mother:

¹ Cantic. v. 6.
² 1 Kings iii. 10.
³ St. John i. 5.

THE NICENE CREED

Credo in unum Deum, Patrem omnipotentem, factorem cœli et terræ, visibilium omnium et invisibilium.

Et in unum Dominum Jesum Christum, Filium Dei unigenitum. Et ex Patre natum ante omnia sæcula. Deum de Deo, lumen de lumine, Deum verum de Deo vero. Genitum, non factum, consubstantialem Patri: per quem omnia facta sunt. Qui propter nos homines et propter nostram salutem, descendit de cœlis. Et incarnatus est de Spiritu Sancto ex Maria Virgine: ET HOMO FACTUS EST. Crucifixus etiam pro nobis sub Pontio Pilato, passus et sepultus est. Et resurrexit tertia die, secundum Scripturas, et ascendit in cœlum: sedet ad dexteram Patris. Et iterum venturus est cum gloria judicare vivos et mortuos: cujus regni non erit finis.

Et in Spiritum Sanctum, Dominum et vivificantem: qui ex Patre Filioque procedit. Qui cum Patre et Filio simul adoratur, et conglorificatur: qui locutus est per prophetas. Et unam, sanctam, Catholicam et apostolicam Ecclesiam. Confiteor unum Baptisma in remissionem peccatorum. Et exspecto resurrectionem mortuorum, et vitam venturi sæculi. Amen.

I believe in one God, the Father almighty, maker of heaven and earth, and of all things visible and invisible.

And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the only-begotten Son of God. And born of the Father, before all ages; God of God, light of light; true God of true God. Begotten, not made; consubstantial with the Father, by whom all things were made. Who, for us men and for our salvation, came down from heaven. And became incarnate by the Holy Ghost of the Virgin Mary; AND WAS MADE MAN. He was crucified also for us, under Pontius Pilate, suffered, and was buried. And the third day he rose again, according to the Scriptures. And ascended into heaven; sitteth at the right hand of the Father. And he is to come again with glory, to judge the living and the dead; of whose kingdom there shall be no end.

And in the Holy Ghost, the Lord and giver of life, who proceedeth from the Father and the Son. Who, together with the Father and the Son, is adored and glorified; who spoke by the prophets. And one, holy, Catholic, and apostolic Church. I confess one Baptism for the remission of sins. And I expect the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the world to come. Amen.

The priest and the people should now have their hearts ready: it is time to prepare the offering itself. And here we come to the second part of the holy Mass; it is called the Oblation, and immediately follows that which was named the Mass of the catechumens, on account of its being, formerly, the only part at which the candidates for Baptism had permission to be present.

See, then, dear Christians! Bread and wine are about to be offered unto God, as being the noblest of inanimate creatures, since they are intended to serve as the nourishment of man; and yet that is but a poor material image of what they are destined to become in our Christian sacrifice. Their substances will soon be changed into the very Flesh and Blood of Christ our Lord and our God; and of themselves nothing will remain but the appearances. Happy creatures! thus to yield up their own being, that God may take its place. We, too, are to undergo a like transformation, when, as the apostle expresses it, 'that which is mortal will be swallowed up by life.'¹ Until that happy change shall be realized, let us offer ourselves to God, as often as we see the bread and wine presented to Him in the holy sacrifice: and let us glorify Him, who, by assuming our human nature, has made us 'partakers of the divine nature.'²

¹ 2 Cor. v. 4.
² 2 St. Pet. i. 4.

The priest again turns to the people, greeting them with the usual salutation, as though he would warn them to redouble their attention. Let us read the Offertory with him; and when he offers the Host to God, let us unite with him, and say:

Suscipe, sancte Pater, omnipotens, æterne Deus, hanc immaculatam hostiam, quam ego indignus famulus tuus offero tibi Deo meo vivo et vero, pro innumerabilibus peccatis et offensionibus et negligentiis meis, et pro omnibus circumstantibus, sed et pro omnibus fidelibus christianis vivis atque defunctis: ut mihi et illis proficiat ad salutem in vitam æternam. Amen.

All that we have, O Lord, comes from thee, and belongs to thee; it is just, therefore, that we return it unto thee. But, how wonderful art thou in the inventions of thy immense love! This bread which we are offering to thee, is to give place, in a few moments, to the sacred Body of Jesus. We beseech thee, receive, together with this oblation, our hearts, which long to live by thee, and to cease to live their own life of self.

When the priest puts the wine into the chalice, and then mingles with it a drop of water, let your thoughts turn to the divine mystery of the Incarnation, which is the source of our hope and salvation, and say:

Deus, qui humanæ substantiæ dignitatem mirabiliter condidisti, et mirabilius reformasti: da nobis per hujus aquæ et vini mysterium, ejus divinitatis esse consortes, qui humanitatis nostræ fieri dignatus est particeps, Jesus Christus, Filius tuus Dominus noster. Qui tecum vivit et regnat in unitate Spiritus Sancti Deus, per omnia sæcula sæculorum. Amen.

O Lord Jesus, who art the true vine, and whose Blood, like a generous wine, has been poured forth under the pressure of the cross! thou hast deigned to unite thy divine nature to our weak humanity, which is signified by this drop of water. Oh! come, and make us partakers of thy divinity, by uniting thyself to us in thy sweet and wondrous gift.

The priest then offers the mixture of wine and water, beseeching God graciously to accept this oblation, which is so soon to be changed into the reality, of which it is now but the figure. Meanwhile say, in union with the priest:

Offerimus tibi, Domine, calicem salutaris, tuam deprecantes clementiam: ut in conspectu divinæ Majestatis tuæ, pro nostra et totius mundi salute, cum odore suavitatis ascendat. Amen.

Graciously accept these gifts, O sovereign Creator of all things. Let them be fitted for the divine transformation, which will make them, from being mere offerings of created things, the instrument of the world's salvation.

After having thus held up the sacred gifts towards heaven, the priest bows down; let us also humble ourselves, and say:

In spiritu humilitatis, et in animo contrito suscipiamur a te, Domine: et sic fiat sacrificium nostrum in conspectu tuo hodie, ut placeat tibi, Domine Deus.

Though daring, as we do, to approach thy altar, O Lord, we cannot forget that we are sinners. Have mercy on us; and delay not to send us thy Son, who is our saving Host.

Let us next invoke the Holy Ghost, whose operation is about to produce on the altar the presence of the Son of God, as it did in the womb of the blessed Virgin Mary, in the divine mystery of the Incarnation:

Veni, Sanctificator, omnipotens æterne Deus, et benedic hoc sacrificium tuo sancto nomini præparatum.

Come, O divine Spirit, make fruitful the offering which is upon the altar, and produce in our hearts him whom they desire.

If it be a High Mass, the priest, before proceeding further with the sacrifice, takes the thurible a second time, after blessing the incense in these words:

Per intercessionem beati Michaelis archangeli, stantis a dextris altaris incensi, et omnium electorum suorum, incensum istud dignetur Dominus benedicere, et in odorem suavitatis accipere. Per Christum Dominum nostrum. Amen.

Through the intercession of blessed Michael the archangel, standing at the right hand of the altar of incense, and of all his elect, may our Lord deign to bless this incense, and to receive it for an odour of sweetness. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.

He then censes first the bread and wine, which have just been offered, and then the altar itself; hereby inviting the faithful to make their prayer, which is signified by the fragrant incense, more and more fervent, the nearer the solemn moment approaches. St. John tells us that the incense he beheld burning on the altar in heaven is made up of the 'prayers of the saints'; let us take a share in those prayers, and with all the ardour of holy desires, let us say with the priest:

Incensum istud, a te benedictum, ascendat ad te, Domine, et descendat super nos misericordia tua.

Dirigatur, Domine, oratio mea sicut incensum in conspectu tuo: elevatio manuum mearum sacrificium vespertinum. Pone, Domine, custodiam ori meo, et ostium circumstantiæ labiis meis; ut non declinet cor meum in verba malitiæ, ad excusandas excusationes in peccatis.

May this incense, blessed by thee, ascend to thee, O Lord, and may thy mercy descend upon us.

Let my prayer, O Lord, be directed like incense in thy sight: the lifting up of my hands as an evening sacrifice. Set a watch, O Lord, before my mouth, and a door round about my lips; that my heart may not incline to evil words, to make excuses in sins.

Giving back the thurible to the deacon, the priest says:

Accendat in nobis Dominus ignem sui amoris, et flammam æternæ caritatis. Amen.

May the Lord enkindle in us the fire of his love and the flame of eternal charity. Amen.

But the thought of his own unworthiness becomes more intense than ever in his heart. The public confession made by him at the foot of the altar does not satisfy the earnestness of his compunction. He would now at the altar itself express before the people, in the language of a solemn rite, how far he knows himself to be from that spotless sanctity wherewith he should approach unto God. He washes his hands. Our hands signify our works; and the priest, though by his priesthood he bear the office of Jesus Christ, is by his works but man. Seeing your father thus humble himself, do you also make an act of humility, and say with him these verses of the psalm:

PSALM 25

Lavabo inter innocentes manus meas: et circumdabo altare tuum, Domine.

Ut audiam vocem laudis; et enarrem universa mirabilia tua.

Domine, dilexi decorem domus tuæ, et locum habitationis gloriæ tuæ.

Ne perdas cum impiis, Deus, animam meam, et cum viris sanguinum vitam meam.

In quorum manibus iniquitates sunt: dextera eorum repleta est muneribus.

Ego autem in innocentia mea ingressus sum: redime me, et miserere mei.

Pes meus stetit in directo: in ecclesiis benedicam te, Domine.

Gloria Patri, et Filio, et Spiritui Sancto.

Sicut erat in principio, et nunc et semper, et in sæcula sæculorum. Amen.

I, too, would wash my hands, O Lord, and become like unto them that are innocent; that so I may be worthy to approach thine altar, and hear thy sacred canticles; and then go and proclaim to the world the wonders of thy goodness. I love the beauty of thy house, which thou art about to make the dwelling-place of thy glory. Leave me not, O God, in the midst of them that are enemies both to thee and me. Thy mercy having separated me from them, I entered once more on the path of innocence, because restored to thy grace; but have pity on my weakness still; redeem me yet more, O thou who hast so mercifully brought me back to the right path. In the midst of these thy faithful people, I give thee thanks. Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost; as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.

The priest, taking encouragement from the act of humility he has just made, returns to the middle of the altar, and, full of respectful awe, bows down, begging God to receive graciously the sacrifice which is about to be offered to Him, and expresses the intentions for which it is offered. Let us do the same.

Suscipe, sancta Trinitas, hanc oblationem, quam tibi offerimus ob memoriam Passionis, Resurrectionis, et Ascensionis Jesu Christi Domini nostri, et in honorem beatæ Mariæ semper Virginis, et beati Joannis Baptistæ, et sanctorum apostolorum Petri et Pauli, et istorum, et omnium sanctorum: ut illis proficiat ad honorem, nobis autem ad salutem: ut illi pro nobis intercedere dignentur in cælis, quorum memoriam agimus in terris. Per eumdem Christum Dominum nostrum. Amen.

O holy Trinity, graciously accept the sacrifice we have begun. We offer it in remembrance of the Passion, Resurrection, and Ascension of our Lord Jesus Christ. Permit thy Church to join, with this intention, that of honouring the ever-glorious Virgin Mary, the blessed Baptist John, the holy apostles Peter and Paul, the martyrs whose relics lie here under our altar awaiting their resurrection, and the saints whose memory we this day celebrate. Increase the glory they are enjoying; and receive the prayers they address to thee for us. Amen.

The priest again turns to the people; it is for the last time before the sacred mysteries are accomplished. He feels anxious to excite the fervour of the people. Neither does the thought of his own unworthiness leave him; and, before entering the cloud with the Lord, he seeks support in the prayers of his brethren present. He says to them:

Orate, fratres: ut meum ac vestrum sacrificium acceptabile fiat apud Deum Patrem omnipotentem.

Brethren! pray that my sacrifice, which is yours also, may be acceptable unto God, our almighty Father.

Scarcely has he uttered the first words, than he turns again to the altar; and you will see his face no more, until our Lord Himself shall have come down from heaven upon that same altar. Assure the priest that he has your prayers, and say to him:

Suscipiat Dominus sacrificium de manibus tuis, ad laudem et gloriam nominis sui, ad utilitatem quoque nostram totiusque Ecclesiæ suæ sanctæ.

May our Lord accept this sacrifice at thy hands, to the praise and glory of his name, and for our benefit and that of his holy Church throughout the world.

Here the priest recites the prayers called the Secrets; in which he presents the petition of the whole Church for God's acceptance of the sacrifice; and then immediately begins to fulfil that great duty of religion, thanksgiving. So far, he has adored God, and has sued for mercy; he has still to give thanks for the blessings bestowed on us by the bounty of our heavenly Father, the chief of which is His having sent us His own Son. The blessing of a new visit from this divine Word is just upon us; and in expectation of it, and in the name of the whole Church, the priest is about to give expression to the gratitude of all mankind. In order to excite the faithful to that intensity of gratitude which is due to God for all His gifts, he interrupts his own and their silent and mysterious prayer by terminating it aloud, saying:

Per omnia sæcula sæculorum!

For ever and ever!

In the same feeling, answer your Amen! Then he continues:

V. Dominus vobiscum.
R. Et cum spiritu tuo.
V. Sursum corda!

V. The Lord be with you.
R. And with thy spirit.
V. Lift up your hearts!

Let your response be sincere:

R. Habemus ad Dominum.

R. We have them fixed on God.

And when he adds:

V. Gratias agamus Domino Deo nostro.

V. Let us give thanks to the Lord our God.

Answer him with all the earnestness of your soul:

R. Dignum et justum est.

R. It is meet and just.

Then the priest:

THE PREFACE

For Sundays

Vere dignum et justum est, æquum et salutare, nos tibi semper et ubique gratias agere: Domine sancte, Pater omnipotens, æterne Deus; qui cum unigenito Filio tuo et Spiritu Sancto, unus es Deus, unus es Dominus. Non in unius singularitate Personæ, sed in unius Trinitate substantiæ. Quod enim de tua gloria, revelante te, credimus, hoc de Filio tuo, hoc de Spiritu Sancto, sine differentia discretionis sentimus, ut in confessione veræ sempiternæque Deitatis, et in Personis proprietas, et in essentia unitas, et in majestate adoretur æqualitas. Quam laudant Angeli atque Archangeli, Cherubim quoque ac Seraphim, qui non cessant clamare quotidie, una voce dicentes:

It is truly meet and just, right and available to salvation, that we should always and in all places give thanks to thee, O holy Lord, Father almighty, eternal God, who, with thy only-begotten Son and the Holy Ghost, art one God, one Lord, not in the singleness of one Person, but in the Trinity of one substance. For that which, by thy revelation, we believe of thy glory, the same do we believe of thy Son, the same also of the Holy Ghost, without any difference or distinction, that in the confession of the true and eternal Godhead, distinction in Persons, unity in essence, and equality in majesty, may be adored. Which the angels and archangels praise, the cherubim also and the seraphim, who cease not to cry out daily, saying with one voice:

For Week-days

Vere dignum et justum est, æquum et salutare, nos tibi semper et ubique gratias agere: Domine sancte, Pater omnipotens, æterne Deus; per Christum Dominum nostrum. Per quem majestatem tuam laudant Angeli, adorant Dominationes, tremunt Potestates; Cæli cælorumque Virtutes, ac beata Seraphim, socia exsultatione concelebrant. Cum quibus et nostras voces, ut admitti jubeas, deprecamur, supplici confessione dicentes:

It is truly meet and just, right and available to salvation, that we should always, and in all places, give thanks to thee, O holy Lord, Father almighty, eternal God; through Christ our Lord; by whom the angels praise thy majesty, the Dominations adore it, the Powers tremble before it; the Heavens and the heavenly Virtues, and the blessed Seraphim, with common jubilee, glorify it. Together with whom, we beseech thee that we may be admitted to join our humble voices, saying:

Here unite with the priest, who, on his part, unites himself with the blessed spirits, in giving thanks to God for the unspeakable gift; bow down and say:

Sanctus, sanctus, sanctus, Dominus Deus Sabaoth!

Pleni sunt cæli et terra gloria tua.

Hosanna in excelsis!

Benedictus qui venit in nomine Domini.

Hosanna in excelsis!

Holy, holy, holy, Lord God of hosts!

Heaven and earth are full of thy glory.

Hosanna in the highest!

Blessed be the Saviour who is coming to us in the name of the Lord who sends him.

Hosanna be to him in the highest!

After these words commences the Canon, that mysterious prayer, in the midst of which heaven bows down to earth, and God descends unto us. The voice of the priest is no longer heard; yea, even at the altar all is silence. It was thus, says the Book of Wisdom, 'in the quiet of silence, and while the night was in the midst of her course, that the almighty Word came down from His royal throne.'¹ Let a profound respect stay all distractions, and keep our senses in submission to the soul. Let us respectfully fix our eyes on what the priest does in the holy place.

¹ Wisd. xviii, 14, 15.

THE CANON OF THE MASS

In this mysterious colloquy with the great God of heaven and earth, the first prayer of the sacrificing priest is for the Catholic Church, his and our mother.

Te igitur, clementissime Pater, per Jesum Christum Filium tuum Dominum nostrum, supplices rogamus ac petimus, uti accepta habeas, et benedicas hæc dona, hæc munera, hæc sancta sacrificia illibata; in primis quæ tibi offerimus pro Ecclesia tua sancta Catholica; quam pacificare, custodire, adunare, et regere digneris toto orbe terrarum, una cum famulo tuo Papa nostro N. et antistite nostro N., et omnibus orthodoxis, atque catholicæ et apostolicæ fidei cultoribus.

O God, who manifestest thyself unto us by means of the mysteries which thou hast entrusted to thy holy Church, our mother; we beseech thee, by the merits of this sacrifice, that thou wouldst remove all those hindrances which oppose her during her pilgrimage in this world. Give her peace and unity. Do thou thyself guide our holy father the Pope, thy vicar on earth. Direct thou our Bishop, who is our sacred link of unity; and watch over all the orthodox children of the Catholic apostolic Roman Church.

Here pray, together with the priest, for those whose interests should be dearest to you.

Memento, Domine, famulorum famularumque tuarum N. et N., et omnium circumstantium, quorum tibi fides cognita est, et nota devotio: pro quibus tibi offerimus, vel qui tibi offerunt hoc sacrificium laudis pro se suisque omnibus, pro redemptione animarum suarum, pro spe salutis et incolumitatis suæ; tibique reddunt vota sua æterno Deo, vivo et vero.

Permit me, O God, to intercede with thee for special blessings upon those for whom thou knowest that I have a special obligation to pray. Apply to them the fruits of this divine sacrifice, which is offered unto thee in the name of all mankind. Visit them by thy grace, pardon them their sins, grant them the blessings of this present life and of that which is eternal.

Here let us commemorate the saints: they are that portion of the Body of our Lord Jesus Christ which is called the Church triumphant.

Communicantes, et memoriam venerantes, in primis gloriosæ semper Virginis Mariæ, Genitricis Dei et Domini nostri Jesu Christi: sed et beatorum Apostolorum ac Martyrum tuorum, Petri et Pauli, Andreæ, Jacobi, Joannis, Thomæ, Jacobi, Philippi, Bartholomæi, Matthæi, Simonis et Thaddæi: Lini, Cleti, Clementis, Xysti, Cornelii, Cypriani, Laurentii, Chrysogoni, Joannis et Pauli, Cosmæ et Damiani, et omnium sanctorum tuorum: quorum meritis precibusque concedas, ut in omnibus protectionis tuæ muniamur auxilio. Per eumdem Christum Dominum nostrum. Amen.

But the offering of this sacrifice, O my God, does not unite us with those only of our brethren who are still in this transient life of trial: it brings us closer to those also who are already in possession of heaven. Therefore it is that we wish to honour by it the memory of the glorious and ever Virgin Mary, of whom Jesus was born to us; of the apostles, martyrs, and of all the saints; that they may assist us, by their powerful intercession, to be worthy of this thy visit, and of contemplating thee, as they themselves now do, in the mansion of thy glory.

The priest, who up to this time has been praying

with his hands extended, now joins them, and holds them over the bread and wine, as the high priest of the old Law was wont to do over the figurative victim; he thus expresses his intention of bringing these gifts more closely under the notice of the divine Majesty, and of marking them as the material offering whereby we profess our dependence, and which, in a few instants, is to yield its place to the living Host, upon whom are laid all our iniquities.

Hanc igitur oblationem servitutis nostræ, sed et
cunctæ familiæ tuæ, quæsumus, Domine, ut placatus
accipias: diesque nostros in tua pace disponas, atque ab æterna damnatione nos
eripi, et in electorum tuorum jubeas grege numerari. Per Christum Dominum nostrum. Amen.

Vouchsafe, O God, to accept the offering which this thine assembled family presents to thee as the homage of its most happy servitude. In return, give us peace, save us from thy wrath, and number us among thine elect, through Him who is coming to us,— thy Son, our Saviour!

Yea, Lord, this is the moment when this bread is to become his sacred Body, which is our food; and this wine is to be changed into his Blood, which is our drink. Ah! delay no longer but bring us into the presence of this divine Son, our Saviour!

Quam oblationem tu Deus in omnibus, quæsumus, benedictam, adscriptam, ratam, rationabilem,
acceptabilemque facere digneris; ut nobis Corpus et Sanguis fiat dilectissimi Filii tui Domini nostri Jesu Christi.

And here the priest ceases to act as man; he now becomes more than a mere minister of the Church. His word becomes that of Jesus Christ, with its power and efficacy. Prostrate yourself in profound adoration, for the Emmanuel, that is, 'God with us,' is coming upon our altar.

Qui pridie quam pateretur, accepit panem in sanctas ac venerabiles manus suas: et elevatis oculis in cœlum, ad te Deum Patrem
suum omnipotentem, tibi gratias agens, benedixit, fregit, deditque discipulis suis, dicens: Accipite, et manducate ex hoc omnes. Hoc Est Enim Corpus Meum.

What, O God of heaven and earth, my Jesus, the long-expected Messias! what else can I do, at this solemn moment, but adore thee in silence, as my sovereign master, and open to thee my whole heart, as to its dearest king? Come, then, O Lord Jesus, come!

The divine Lamb is now lying on our altar! Glory and love be to Him for ever! But He is come that He may be immolated. Hence the priest, who is the minister of the designs of the Most High, immediately pronounces over the chalice the sacred words which follow, which will produce the great mystical immolation, by the separation of the victim's Body and Blood. After those words, the substances of both bread and wine have ceased to exist; the species alone are left, veiling, as it were, the Body and Blood of our Redeemer, lest fear should keep us from a mystery, which God gives us for the very purpose of infusing confidence into our hearts. While the priest is pronouncing those words, let us associate ourselves to the angels, who tremblingly gaze upon this deepest wonder.

Simili modo postquam cœnatum est, accipiens et
hunc præclarum calicem in
sanctas ac venerabiles manus suas: item tibi gratias agens, benedixit, deditque discipulis suis dicens: Accipite et bibite ex eo omnes.

Hic Est Enim Calix Sanguinis Mei, Novi Et Æterni Testamenti: Mysterium Fidei: Qui Pro Vobis Et Pro Multis Effundetur In Remissionem Peccatorum. Hæc quotiescumque feceritis, in mei
memoriam facietis.

O precious Blood! thou price of my salvation! I adore thee! Wash away my sins, and make me whiter than snow. O Lamb ever slain, yet ever living, thou comest to take away the sins of the world! Come, also, and reign in me by thy power, and by thy love.

The priest is now face to face with God. He again raises his hands towards heaven, and tells our heavenly Father that the oblation now on the altar is no longer an earthly material offering, but the Body and Blood, the whole Person, of His divine Son.

Unde et memores, Domine, nos servi tui, sed et
plebs tua sancta, ejusdem Christi Filii tui Domini nostri tam beatæ Passionis, necnon et ab inferis Resurrectionis, sed et in cœlos gloriosæ Ascensionis: offerimus præclaræ Majestati tuæ
de tuis donis ac datis, Hostiam puram, Hostiam sanctam, Hostiam immaculatam: Panem sanctum vitæ
æternæ, et Calicem salutis
perpetuæ.

Supra quæ propitio ac sereno vultu respicere digneris: et accepta habere, sicuti
accepta habere dignatus es munera pueri tui justi Abel, et sacrificium patriarchæ
nostri Abrahæ, et quod tibi
obtulit summus sacerdos tuus Melchisedech, sanctum sacrificium, immaculatam Hostiam.

Father of infinite holiness! the Host so long expected is here before thee. Behold this thine eternal Son, who suffered a bitter Passion, rose again with glory from the grave, and ascended triumphantly into heaven. He is thy Son; but he is also our Host, Host pure and spotless, our meat and drink of everlasting life.

Heretofore thou acceptedst the sacrifice of the innocent lambs offered unto thee by Abel, and the sacrifice which Abraham made thee of his son Isaac, who, though immolated, yet lived; and, lastly, the sacrifice which Melchisedech presented to thee, of bread and wine. Receive our sacrifice, which surpasses all those others: it is the Lamb, of whom all others could be but figures; it is the undying victim; it is the Body of thy Son, who is the bread of life, and his Blood, which, whilst a drink of immortality for us, is a tribute adequate to thy glory.

The priest bows down to the altar, and kisses it as the throne of love, on which is seated the Saviour of men.

Supplices te rogamus, omnipotens Deus, jube hæc
perferri per manus sancti Angeli tui in sublime altare tuum, in conspectu divinæ
Majestatis tuæ: ut quotquot ex hac altaris participatione, sacrosanctum Filii
tui Corpus et Sanguinem sumpserimus, omni benedictione cœlesti et gratia
repleamur. Per eumdem Christum Dominum nostrum. Amen.

But, O God of infinite power! these sacred gifts are not only on this altar here below; they are also on that sublime altar in heaven, which is before the throne of thy divine Majesty. These two altars are one and the same, on which is accomplished the great mystery of thy glory and our salvation. Vouchsafe to make us partakers of the Body and Blood of the august victim, from whom flow every grace and blessing.

Nor is the moment less favourable for our making supplication for the Church suffering. Let us, therefore, ask the divine liberator who has come down among us that He open and visit, by a ray of His consoling light, the dark abode of purgatory; and permit His Blood to flow, as a stream of mercy's dew, from this our altar, and refresh the panting captives there. Let us pray expressly for those among them who have a claim upon our suffrages.

Memento etiam, Domine,
famulorum famularumque tuarum N. et N., qui nos præcesserunt cum signo
fidei, et dormiunt in somno pacis. Ipsis, Domine, et
omnibus in Christo quiescentibus, locum refrigerii, lucis et pacis, ut indulgeas, deprecamur. Per eumdem Christum Dominum nostrum. Amen.

Dear Jesus! let the happiness of this thy visit extend to every portion of thy Church. Thy face gladdens the elect in the holy city; even our mortal eyes can see thee beneath the veil of our delighted faith; ah! hide not thyself from those brethren of ours who are imprisoned in the abode of expiation. Be thou refreshment to them in their flames, light in their darkness, and peace in their agonies of torment.

This duty of charity fulfilled, let us pray for ourselves, sinners, alas! who profit so little by the visit which our Saviour pays us. Let us, together with the priest, strike our breast, saying:

Nobis quoque peccatoribus famulis tuis, de multitudine miserationum tuarum sperantibus, partem aliquam et societatem donare digneris cum tuis sanctis apostolis et martyribus; cum Joanne, Stephano, Mathia, Barnaba, Ignatio, Alexandro, Marcellino, Petro, Felicitate, Perpetua, Agatha, Lucia, Agnete, Cæcilia, Anastasia, et omnibus
sanctis tuis; intra quorum nos consortium, non æstimator meriti, sed veniæ,
quæsumus, largitor admitte: per Christum Dominum
nostrum. Per quem hæc
omnia, Domine, semper
bona creas, sanctificas, vivificas, benedicis, et præstas nobis; per ipsum, et
cum ipso, et in ipso, est tibi Deo Patri omnipotenti, in unitate Spiritus Sancti, omnis honor et gloria.

Alas! we are poor sinners, O God of all sanctity! yet do we hope that thine infinite mercy will grant us to share thy kingdom; not, indeed, by reason of our works, which deserve little else than punishment, but because of the merits of this sacrifice, which we are offering unto thee. Remember, too, the merits of thy holy apostles, of thy holy martyrs, of thy holy virgins, and of all thy saints. Grant us, by their intercession, grace in this world, and glory eternal in the next: which we ask of thee, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, thy Son.

It is by him thou bestowest upon us thy blessings of life and sanctification; and by him also, with him, and in him, in the unity of the Holy Ghost, may honour and glory be to thee!

While saying the last of these words, the priest has taken up the sacred Host, which was upon the altar; he has held it over the chalice, thus reuniting the Body and Blood of the divine victim, in order to show that He is now immortal. Then raising up both chalice and Host, he offers to God the noblest and most perfect homage which the divine Majesty could receive.

This sublime and mysterious rite ends the Canon. The silence of the mysteries is interrupted. The priest concludes his long prayers, by saying aloud, and so giving the faithful the opportunity of expressing their desire that his supplications be granted:

Per omnia sæcula sæculorum.

For ever and ever!

Answer him with faith, and in a sentiment of union with your holy mother the Church:

Amen.

Amen! I believe the mystery which has just been accomplished. I unite myself to the offering which has been made, and to the petitions of the Church.

It is time now to recite the prayer taught us by our Saviour Himself. Let it ascend to heaven together with the sacrifice of the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ. How could it be otherwise than heard, when He Himself who drew it up for us is in our very hands now while we say it. As this prayer belongs in common to all God's children, the priest recites it aloud, and begins by inviting us all to join in it; he says:

OREMUS

Præceptis salutaribus
moniti, et divina institutione formati, audemus dicere:

LET US PRAY

Having been taught by a saving precept, and following the form given us by divine instruction, we thus presume to speak:

THE LORD'S PRAYER

Pater noster, qui es in cœlis: sanctificetur nomen
tuum: adveniat regnum tuum: fiat voluntas tua, sicut in cœlo et in terra.
Panem nostrum quotidianum da nobis hodie: et dimitte nobis debita nostra, sicut et nos dimittimus debitoribus nostris: et ne nos inducas in tentationem;

Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name; thy kingdom come; thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread; and forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive them that trespass against us; and lead us not into temptation;

Let us answer with a deep feeling of our misery:

Sed libera nos a malo.

But deliver us from evil.

The priest falls once more into the silence of the holy mysteries. His first word is an affectionate Amen to your last petition—deliver us from evil—on which he forms his own next prayer; and could he pray for anything more fitting? Evil surrounds us everywhere; and the Lamb on our altar has been sent to expiate it, and deliver us from it.

Libera nos, quæsumus,
Domine, ab omnibus malis,
præteritis, præsentibus et
futuris: et intercedente beata et gloriosa semper Virgine Dei Genitrice Maria, cum beatis apostolis tuis Petro et Paulo, atque Andrea, et omnibus sanctis, da propitius pacem in diebus nostris: ut ope misericordiæ
tuæ adjuti, et a peccato
simus semper liberi, et ab omni perturbatione securi. Per eumdem Dominum nostrum Jesum Christum Filium tuum, qui tecum vivit et regnat in unitate Spiritus Sancti Deus.

How many, O Lord, are the evils which beset us! Evils past—which are the wounds left on the soul by her sins, and which strengthen her wicked inclination. Evils present—that is, the sins now, at this very time, upon our soul; the languor of this poor soul, and the temptations which molest her. There are, also, future evils—that is, the chastisement which our sins deserve from the hand of thy justice. In presence of this Host of our salvation, we beseech thee, O Lord, to deliver us from all these evils, and to accept in our favour the intercession of Mary the Mother of Jesus, of thy holy apostles Peter and Paul and Andrew: liberate us, break our chains, give us peace, through Jesus Christ, thy Son, who with thee, liveth and reigneth God.

The priest is anxious to announce the peace, which he has asked and obtained; he therefore finishes his prayer aloud, saying:

Per omnia sæcula sæculorum.

World without end.

R. Amen.

R. Amen.

Then he says:

Pax Domini sit semper vobiscum.

May the peace of our Lord be ever with you.

To this paternal wish reply:

R. Et cum spiritu tuo.

R. And with thy spirit.

The mystery is drawing to a close; God is about to be united with man, and man with God, by means of Communion. But first an imposing and sublime rite takes place at the altar. So far, the priest has announced the death of Jesus; it is time to proclaim His resurrection. To this end, he reverently breaks the sacred Host; and having divided it into three parts, he puts one into the chalice, thus reuniting the Body and Blood of the immortal victim. Do you adore, and say:

Hæc commixtio et consecratio Corporis et Sanguinis Domini nostri Jesu Christi, fiat accipientibus nobis in vitam æternam. Amen.

Glory be to thee, O Saviour of the world! who didst in thy Passion permit thy precious Blood to be separated from thy sacred Body, afterwards uniting them again together by thy divine power!

Offer now your prayer to the ever-living Lamb, whom St. John saw on the altar of heaven, 'standing as though slain';¹ say to this your Lord and King, who has taken upon Himself all our iniquities, in order to wash them away by His Blood:

Agnus Dei, qui tollis peccata mundi, miserere nobis.

Lamb of God, who takest away the sins of the world, have mercy on us!

Agnus Dei, qui tollis peccata mundi, miserere nobis.

Lamb of God, who takest away the sins of the world, have mercy on us!

Agnus Dei, qui tollis peccata mundi, dona nobis pacem.

Lamb of God, who takest away the sins of the world, give us peace!

Peace is the grand object of our Saviour's coming into the world: he is the 'Prince of peace.'² The divine sacrament of the Eucharist ought therefore to be the mystery of peace, and the bond of Catholic unity; for, as the apostle says, 'all we who partake of one bread, are all one bread and one body.'³ It is on this account that the priest, now that he is on the point of receiving in Communion the sacred Host, prays that fraternal peace may be preserved in the Church, and more especially in this portion of it which is assembled around the altar. Pray with him, and for the same blessing.

Domine Jesu Christe, qui dixisti apostolis tuis: Pacem relinquo vobis: pacem meam do vobis: ne respicias peccata mea, sed fidem Ecclesiæ tuæ: eamque secundum voluntatem tuam pacificare et coadunare digneris. Qui vivis et regnas Deus, per omnia sæcula sæculorum. Amen.

Lord Jesus Christ, who saidst to thine apostles, 'My peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: regard not my sins, but the faith of thy Church, and grant her that peace and unity which is according to thy will. Who livest and reignest God, for ever and ever. Amen.

If it be a High Mass, the priest here gives the kiss of peace to the deacon, who gives it to the subdeacon, and he to the choir. During this ceremony, you should excite within yourself feelings of Christian charity, and pardon your enemies, if you have any.

Then continue to pray with the priest:

Domine Jesu Christe, Fili Dei vivi, qui ex voluntate Patris, cooperante Spiritu sancto, per mortem tuam mundum vivificasti: libera me per hoc sacrosanctum Corpus, et Sanguinem tuum, ab omnibus iniquitatibus meis, et universis malis, et fac me tuis semper inhærere mandatis, et a te nunquam separari permittas. Qui cum eodem Deo Patre et Spiritu sancto vivis et regnas, Deus, in sæcula sæculorum. Amen.

Lord Jesus Christ, Son of the living God, who according to the will of the Father, through the co-operation of the Holy Ghost, hast, by thy death, given life to the world; deliver me, by this thy most sacred Body and Blood, from all mine iniquities, and from all evils; and make me always adhere to thy commandments, and never suffer me to be separated from thee, who, with the same God the Father and the Holy Ghost, livest and reignest God for ever and ever. Amen.

If you are going to Communion at this Mass, say the following prayer; otherwise, prepare yourself for a spiritual Communion:

Perceptio Corporis tui, Domine Jesu Christe, quod ego indignus sumere præsumo, non mihi proveniat in judicium et condemnationem: sed pro tua pietate prosit mihi ad tutamentum mentis et corporis, et ad medelam percipiendam. Qui vivis et regnas cum Deo Patre, in unitate Spiritus sancti, Deus, per omnia sæcula sæculorum. Amen.

Let not the participation of thy Body, O Lord Jesus Christ, which I, though unworthy, presume to receive, turn to my judgment and condemnation; but through thy mercy, may it be a safeguard and remedy both to my soul and body. Who, with God the Father, in the unity of the Holy Ghost, livest and reignest God for ever and ever. Amen.

When the priest takes the Host into his hands, in order to receive it in Communion, say:

Panem cœlestem accipiam, et nomen Domini invocabo.

Come, my dear Jesus, come!

When he strikes his breast, confessing his unworthiness, say thrice with him these words, and in the same dispositions as the centurion of the Gospel, who first used them:

Domine, non sum dignus ut intres sub tectum meum: sed tantum dic verbo, et sanabitur anima mea.

Lord! I am not worthy that thou enter under my roof; say it only with one word of thine, and my soul shall be healed.

While the priest is receiving the sacred Host, if you also are to communicate, profoundly adore your God, who is ready to take up His abode within you; and again say to Him with the bride: 'Come, Lord Jesus!'¹

But should you not intend to receive sacramentally, make here a spiritual Communion. Adore Jesus Christ, who thus visits your soul by His grace, and say to Him:

Corpus Domini nostri Jesu Christi custodiat animam meam in vitam æternam. Amen.

I give thee, O Jesus, this heart of mine, that thou mayst dwell in it, and do with me what thou wilt.

Then the priest takes the chalice in thanksgiving, and says:

Quid retribuam Domino pro omnibus quæ retribuit mihi? Calicem salutaris accipiam, et nomen Domini invocabo. Laudans invocabo Dominum, et ab inimicis meis salvus ero.

What return shall I make to the Lord for all he hath given to me? I will take the chalice of salvation, and will call upon the name of the Lord. Praising, I will call upon the Lord, and I shall be saved from mine enemies.

But if you are to make a sacramental Communion, you should, at this moment of the priest's receiving the precious Blood, again adore the God who is coming to you, and keep to your prayer: 'Come, Lord Jesus, come!'

If you are going to communicate only spiritually, again adore your divine master, and say to Him:

Sanguis Domini nostri Jesu Christi custodiat animam meam in vitam æternam. Amen.

I unite myself to thee, my beloved Jesus! do thou unite thyself to me; and never let us be separated!

It is here that you must approach to the altar, if you are going to Communion. The dispositions suitable for holy Communion, during the Time after Pentecost, are given in the next chapter.

The Communion being finished, and while the priest is purifying the chalice the first time, say:

Quod ore sumpsimus, Domine, pura mente capiamus; et de munere temporali fiat nobis remedium sempiternum.

Thou hast visited me, O God, in these days of my pilgrimage; give me grace to treasure up the fruits of this visit, and to make it tell upon my eternity.

While the priest is purifying the chalice the second time, say:

Corpus tuum, Domine, quod sumpsi, et Sanguis, quem potavi, adhæreat visceribus meis: et præsta ut in me non remaneat scelerum macula quem pura et sancta refecerunt Sacramenta. Qui vivis et regnas in sæcula sæculorum. Amen.

Be thou for ever blessed, O my Saviour, for having admitted me to the sacred mystery of thy Body and Blood. May my heart and senses preserve, by thy grace, the purity thou hast imparted to them, and may I be thus rendered not unworthy of thy divine visit.

The priest, having read the anthem, called the Communion, which is the first part of his thanksgiving for the favour just received from God, whereby He has renewed His divine presence among us, turns to the people, greeting them with the usual salutation; and then recites the prayers, called the Postcommunion, which are the continuation of the thanksgiving. You will join him here also, and thank God for the unspeakable gift He has just lavished upon you, of admitting you to the celebration and participation of mysteries so divine.

As soon as these prayers have been recited, the priest turns again to the people; and, full of joy at the immense favour he and they have been receiving, he says:

Dominus vobiscum.

The Lord be with you.

Answer him:

Et cum spiritu tuo.

And with thy spirit.

The deacon, or (if it be not a High Mass) the priest himself, then says:

Ite Missa est. R. Deo gratias.

Go, the Mass is finished. R. Thanks be to God.

The priest makes a last prayer before giving you his blessing; pray with him:

Placeat tibi, sancta Trinitas, obsequium servitutis meæ, et præsta ut sacrificium, quod oculis tuæ Majestatis indignus obtuli, tibi sit acceptabile, mihique, et omnibus pro quibus illud obtuli, sit, te miserante, propitiabile. Per Christum Dominum nostrum. Amen.

Eternal thanks be to thee, O adorable Trinity, for the mercy thou hast shown to me in permitting me to assist at this divine sacrifice. Pardon me the negligence and coldness wherewith I have received so great a favour; and deign to confirm the blessing which thy minister is about to give me in thy name.

The priest raises his hand, and blesses you thus:

Benedicat vos omnipotens Deus, Pater, et Filius, et Spiritus Sanctus.

R. Amen.

May the almighty God, Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, bless you!

R. Amen.

He then concludes the Mass, by reading the first fourteen verses of the Gospel according to St. John, which tell us of the eternity of the Word, and of the mercy which led Him to take upon Himself our flesh, and to dwell among us. Pray that you may be of the number of those who received Him, when He came unto His own people, and who, thereby, were made sons of God.

V. Dominus vobiscum.
R. Et cum spiritu tuo.

V. The Lord be with you.
R. And with thy spirit.

THE LAST GOSPEL

Initium sancti Evangelii secundum Joannem.

Caput I.

In principio erat Verbum, et Verbum erat apud Deum, et Deus erat Verbum. Hoc erat in principio apud Deum. Omnia per ipsum facta sunt; et sine ipso factum est nihil quod factum est. In ipso vita erat, et vita erat lux hominum, et lux in tenebris lucet, et tenebræ eam non comprehenderunt. Fuit homo missus a Deo, cui nomen erat Joannes. Hic venit in testimonium, ut testimonium perhiberet de lumine, ut omnes crederent per illum. Non erat ille lux, sed ut testimonium perhiberet de lumine. Erat lux vera, quæ illuminat omnem hominem venientem in hunc mundum. In mundo erat, et mundus per ipsum factus est, et mundus eum non cognovit. In propria venit, et sui eum non receperunt. Quotquot autem receperunt eum, dedit eis potestatem filios Dei fieri, his qui credunt in nomine ejus: qui non ex sanguinibus, neque ex voluntate carnis, neque ex voluntate viri, sed ex Deo nati sunt. ET VERBUM CARO FACTUM EST, et habitavit in nobis: et vidimus gloriam ejus, gloriam quasi Unigeniti a Patre, plenum gratiæ et veritatis.

R. Deo gratias.

The beginning of the holy Gospel according to John.

Chapter I.

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him, and without him was made nothing that was made. In him was life, and the life was the light of men: and the light shineth in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it. There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. This man came for a witness, to give testimony of the light, that all men might believe through him. He was not the light, but was to give testimony of the light. That was the true light which enlighteneth every man that cometh into this world. He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not. He came unto his own, and his own received him not. But as many as received him, to them he gave power to be made the sons of God; to them that believe in his name, who are born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. AND THE WORD WAS MADE FLESH, and dwelt among us; and we saw his glory, as it were the glory of the Only-Begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.

R. Thanks be to God.

CHAPTER THE SIXTH

ON HOLY COMMUNION DURING THE TIME AFTER PENTECOST

If, in the early stages of the liturgical year, in Advent, at Christmas, and during the periods of Septuagesima and Lent, when there was question of nothing beyond a preparation for the divine mysteries which wrought our salvation—if, in the name of holy Church, we then invited the faithful to have recourse to the sacrament of our Lord's Body, as being the heavenly nourishment that would support them in the glorious career on which they had entered, now that the work is done, that they have risen again with their Redeemer, that they have followed Him, by their desires and their hopes, even to the very summit of heaven—now that the Holy Ghost has come down upon this earth, that He might complete within them the work of their union with God, surely, nothing could profit them more than that they nourish themselves, and even more frequently than before, with the Bread of life, which came from heaven, that He might give life to the world.¹

From our first entrance into the new season, which we are now passing through, holy Church has, by the great feast of Corpus Christi, brought us face to face with the august mystery, which is both the sacrifice whereby God receives the honour due to Him, and the sacrament containing within itself the nourishment of our souls. We have now a clearer understanding of the unspeakable gift which our Saviour vouchsafed to bestow upon us the night before his Passion. We now see more plainly the nature and greatness of the homage which earth gives to its Creator, in the ceaseless offering of the holy sacrifice of the Mass. We now know, so much better than formerly, what that deifying relation is which is made to exist between God and the soul by means of the participation of the sacred Host. The Holy Ghost has shed His light upon all these truths; He has opened out to us the very depths of the mystery shown to us from the outset—the mystery, that is, of the Emmanuel, or God with us. Now that we are so fully initiated into the whole of God's work, we understand better that great text of the Gospel which says: 'The Word was made Flesh, and dwelt among us.'² We grasp the meaning more completely; we can give it a more literal, and equally faithful, translation, and say: 'The Word was made Flesh, and took up His dwelling WITHIN us.'

¹ Apoc. v. 6.
² Isa. ix. 6.
³ 1 Cor. x. 17.
¹ Apoc. xxii. 20.
¹ John vi. 33.
² John i. 14.

All this has increased in the Christian the desire of assisting at the holy sacrifice. He says to himself, as did the patriarch of old: "Truly, the Lord is in this place, and I knew it not";³ my faith was

¹ St. John vi. 41, 62. ² Ibid., i. 14. ³ Gen. xxviii. 16.

sound, but I did not perceive, as I do now, the immensity of what our Lord did at His last Supper. In the same way, having now a clearer knowledge of the union, which is brought about even in this present world, between God and the soul that is nourished with the living Bread, whereby that soul is transformed into its Creator, the Christian longs more ardently than ever for the enjoyment of that Lord who, even during this mortal life, gives us, by means of the eucharistic Bread, not only a foretaste, but the very reality, of that which awaits us in heaven. We may truly assert that the keeping up of that state which we have already described in the third chapter, and which is the state both of the Church herself and of the faithful soul during this period of the liturgical year, is the joint work of the Holy Ghost who abides within us and of the eucharistic gift, in which the Son of God ceases not to act for the preservation, increase, and development of the divine life which He came to bring us, and of which He thus speaks: 'I am come that they may have life, and may have it more abundantly.'¹

We will here, as in the preceding volumes, give acts which may serve as preparation for holy Communion during this season of the year. There are souls that feel the want of some such assistance as this; and, for the same reason, we will add a form of thanksgiving for after Communion.

¹ St. John x. 10.

BEFORE COMMUNION

ACT OF FAITH

Now that I am about to unite myself to thee in the mystery of thy love, I must first profess that I believe it to be truly thyself, O my God—thy Body, thy Soul, thy Divinity, that thou art going to give me. The first duty thou askest of me, now that thou art coming to me, is the act of my faith in this deep mystery. I make it; and my understanding is happy at thus bowing itself down before thy sovereign word. Thou, O Jesus, art the truth; and when presenting to thy disciples the bread changed into thy Body, thou saidst to them: 'This is my Body!' I believe thy word; I adore the living Bread, come down from heaven to give life to the world. The grace of the Holy Ghost, whom thou hast sent me, enables me to relish this marvel of thy all-powerful love. This love of thine was not satisfied with uniting thee to the human nature, which thou assumedst in Mary's womb; it would, moreover, prepare for each one of us, by means of the heavenly food of thy sacred Flesh, a real and mysterious union with thee, which none but thou could have planned, none but thou could have achieved. For its accomplishment thou first demandedst, as thou hadst all right to do, that we should have an unlimited confidence in the truth of thy word. When thou wast upon the cross, thy Divinity was veiled from view: in the sacred Host, thy very Humanity is hid from our eyes; but I believe, O my God, both thy Divinity and Humanity present under the cloud which shrouds them from all mortal sight. I have been taught by thine apostle, O light inaccessible, that it is by faith alone that we can approach thee, while we are in this present life. I believe, then, O Lord! but help thou mine unbelief.

ACT OF HUMILITY

Taught as I have been by thy words, O my God, I know, and with a certainty which my reason and my senses could never have given me, that in a few moments I shall be in closest union with thine infinite Majesty. Thou hast said it: 'He that eateth my Flesh, abideth in me, and I in him!' My whole being thrills at these words. I, a sinner, all marked with the sores of my iniquities, and still fighting with passions but half subdued—I am to abide in thee! And thou, that art infinite being and infinite holiness, thou art coming to abide in me, in me who am but nothingness and sin! At such tidings as these, what else can I do but cry out with the centurion of thy Gospel: 'Lord! I am not worthy that thou shouldst enter under my roof!' And yet, I hear thee saying also these other words: 'Unless ye eat the Flesh of the Son of Man, ye shall not have life in you.' This life I would have, O Jesus! And didst thou not come, didst thou not work all thy mysteries, in order that we 'might have life, and more and more of that life'? I have no desire to shun it. What, then, can I do, but take shelter in the depths of humility, think of mine own vileness, be mindful of the fuel of sin that exists within me, and acknowledge the infinite distance there is between myself and thee, O my Redeemer and my Judge? I know that then thou wilt have pity on my misery, and wilt say 'but one word, and my soul shall be healed.' Say, I beseech thee, that word which is to comfort my heart. Till thou sayst it, I dare not raise up mine eyes towards thine altar; I can but tremble at the approach of that moment, when a poor creature, like myself, is to be united with its Creator, from whose eyes nought is hid, and who judges even our justices.

ACT OF CONTRITION

Ever since that day whereon thy Spirit, O Lord, came down upon us, in order that he might the more deeply imprint upon our souls the divine mysteries thou wroughtest, from thy merciful Incarnation to thy glorious Ascension, thou vouchsafest to invite me more frequently to thy table. And I have learned, too, since that same coming, better than I knew before, how it behoves me to prepare myself with all possible diligence for each of thy visits. I have been renewing my faith, by accepting with increased ardour the truth of thy presence in the Sacrament of the altar. As I see thy dread Majesty advancing towards me, I have professed, and with sincere humility, my utter nothingness, for I have acknowledged my extreme unworthiness; but all this does not put me at rest. There is something beyond all this: it is, that I am a sinner; I have offended thee; I have rebelled against thee; I have turned thy very benefits into occasions of outrage against thee; to say it in all its enormity, I have caused thy death upon the cross! The Holy Ghost, having vouchsafed to give me light, has taught me the malice of sin; he has given me to understand, more fully than formerly, how detestable have been my audacity and ingratitude. I have had revealed to me, by the divine mysteries of the first portion of the year, how much I cost thee on that day, whereon justice and mercy united in the sacrifice which saved mankind. The more thou hast heaped thy favours on me, O Lord, the more keenly do I feel the injustice of my sins; and I beseech thee to bestow on me the signal grace, the grace which will ensure every other, of keeping up within me the spirit of compunction and penance. O my God, at this hour when thou art about to give thyself to me, I offer to thee the expression of my sorrow; and from my deepest soul, I say to thee those words of the publican: 'Have mercy on me, O God, for I am a sinner.'

ACT OF LOVE

And now, O my Lord, bid me to turn my thoughts upon the happiness of a soul, to whom thou givest thyself in the Sacrament of thy love! As to that familiarity into which some souls might fall who approach thee reflecting upon thine ineffable goodness alone, and not upon the greatness of thy Majesty—oh! I shudder at such presumption. And yet I long to be united with thee; and, until thou art come into me, my soul panteth after thee. Thy mysteries which I have been celebrating with thy Church have enkindled within me a fire which nothing can quench, a fire to which thy divine Spirit delights to be ever adding heat. 'Thy delight,' so thou hast told us, 'is to be with the children of men'; and is it not true, also, that with such of the children of men as know thee, thy love is the very nourishment on which their own hearts live? In order to maintain them in this love which is their life, thou hast made thyself present in the sacred Host; thou givest them to live in thee, just as thou livest in them, as often as they eat of this living Bread, which hath come down from heaven. This charity, this love, 'which hath been poured forth into our hearts by the Holy Ghost,' is nourished at thy holy table, O Lord! and there is it increased; for it is in the divine Sacrament, which thou institutedst the night before thy Passion, that we are united to thee. Love tends to be united with the object it loves; therefore do I, in spite of the conviction of my unworthiness, long for the blissful moment of thy coming into me. Everything that thou hast done, my Lord, has been done to make me love thee! Thou hast loved me first; who will blame me, that my heart hungers for thee? Thou hadst pity one day on the people who had followed thee into the desert. 'I have compassion,' thou saidst, 'on this multitude,' and then, straightway, thou gavest them to eat as much as they would. Ah! Lord, my poor 'heart and flesh long after thee'; and thou alone canst satisfy the hunger which gnaws me, for thou art the sovereign Good, thou art true life; and it was that I might enjoy that sovereign Good, and live that heavenly life, that thou createdst me. There was a time when this heart of mine was dull; darkness was upon me, and I could not see the light: but now that thy mysteries have enlightened and regenerated me, I sigh after thee with all the earnestness of my soul. Come, then, Lord Jesus! Hide thyself no longer from my soul, that awaits thy visit.

AFTER COMMUNION

ACT OF ADORATION

Thy presence within me, O Lord, is joy and sweetness to me; and yet, before indulging in the delight it brings, I feel impelled to prostrate my entire being before thy sovereign Majesty. I must, I will, first adore thee, for thou art the great God of heaven and earth. Thou standest in no need of me, and yet thou comest down to this my nothingness. Where, then, shall I begin, if it be not in prostrating myself profoundly before thee, and acknowledging that thou art Lord, the only-begotten and consubstantial Son of the Father; that thou art he by whom all things were made, the eternal, the infinite, and the supreme Judge of the living and the dead. Thy Seraphim, who see thee in thy unveiled majesty, and drink their fill of everlasting happiness from thy divine essence, these glorious spirits, as thy prophet tells us, cover their faces with their wings; they tremble before thee, as the Church tells us; and yet, whilst trembling in thy presence, their love is as ardent and as tender as though they were nothing but love. I would follow their example, O my God; I would offer thee at this moment the creature's first duty to its Creator, adoration. Thou art so nigh to me at this happy moment that my being feels renovated and almost lost in thine; how, then, can I be otherwise than overwhelmed by the weight of thy glory? Yes, I do adore thee, O Eternal, Infinite, Immense, All-powerful! before whom all created beings are as though they were not. I confess before thee my own nothingness; I acknowledge thine absolute dominion over me, and over everything which thy power and goodness have produced in creation. 'King of ages! immortal and invisible' in thine essence! Glory be to thee! Accept this first homage of a soul to which thy love has deigned to unite thee.

ACT OF THANKSGIVING

There is another homage which I owe to thee, O my God! It is gratitude. Thou often invitest me to partake of the divine gift, wherewith thou, before leaving this earth, didst enrich us. But woe to me if, because I can easily and often have it, I value so much the less its greatness! Wretched familiarity, which blunts the sentiment of gratitude, and deadens faith, and takes all ardour from love; may thy grace, O Lord, preserve me from its vile influence. For thousands of years the human race was in expectation of the favour, which thou hast just been bestowing upon me. Abraham, the father of believers; Moses, thy much-loved friend; David, the inspired chanter of thy mysteries: none of these received thee; and this Bread of angels has come down from heaven for me! Oh! unheard of goodness of a God incorporating himself with his creature! Who is there that could measure its length and breadth, or scan its height, or fathom its depth? These expressions of thine apostle regarding the mystery just given to me teach me what is the value of the wondrous gift thou hast bestowed upon mankind. With what humble and lively gratitude, then, should it be received! Thou hast not been deterred, either by my nothingness or by the coldness of my feelings, or my infidelities; be thou blessed then, my Lord, for that out of thy desire to give thyself to me thou hast overstepped every limit, and removed every obstacle. I give thee thanks for this, and for every Communion thou hast hitherto so graciously given me. Deign to enlighten me more and more as to the magnificence of thy gift; deign to cherish within me the sentiment of love; that thus my longings for thy visit may be increased; that I may know how to honour, as I ought, thy presence within me; and that I may never dare to approach thee out of custom, or without my conscience assuring me that I am bringing with me the profound respect due to thee.

ACT OF LOVE

Now will I rest me in thee, O my sovereign Good, that hast come down to me and entered into me, in order to content the desires of my heart by thy presence. A few moments ago I was longing after thee; and now that longing has been satisfied. What is there on this earth that I could now desire? The very happiness of heaven, is it not the possession of thee? and thou, my Lord, assurest me that he who eats thy sacred Flesh "abideth in thee, and thou in him." The union, then, to which love aspires, is now consummated. This happy moment of thy presence within me unites thy sovereign majesty to my lowliness; thou livest in me, and I live in thee. Divine charity has conquered every difficulty; and the life which now circulates through my being is not the life of time, but of eternity. I at once profit of it, to assure thee, O Lord, that thou hast my love. Thy presence within me lasts but a short time; in a few moments there will be but the grace left by the visit thou art now paying me. At present, I can say in all truth: "I have found him whom my soul loveth." Accept, then, O Lord, the homage of my heart, and all its affections. Make this heart faithful and ardent in the love of thee; for love is the end of the whole law: and when thou vouchsafest to incorporate thyself with us by means of the bread of life, thine aim is to strengthen and increase charity within us. May this contact with thee, O Lord, destroy that love of myself, which hitherto has so often stifled, or at least retarded, the love which is due to thee. Let my heart become more and more purified; may its affections be set free from, and raised above, created objects, and centre in the unity of thy love, which includes all, and is enough for all.

ACT OF OBLATION

When I thus assure thee of my love, O my God, I hear within me a voice telling me that henceforth the rule of my conduct must be thy good pleasure. Then only shall I know that my protestations are sincere, when I give up mine own will to follow thine in all things. Thou wilt not only ask me to keep from all sin, but thou wouldst have me resolutely walk in the path of humility—humility which repels pride, thy chief enemy. Thou commandest me to keep my senses under restraint, lest the weakness of the flesh should get the mastery over my spirit, which is prompt but fickle. In order to make sure of a soul that is dear to thee, thou often sendest it trials; for thou hast said that whosoever is ambitious to follow thee, must make up his mind to carry the cross. Thou hast warned thy disciples, that they must be on their guard against the world and its maxims, or that they would perish together with the world. These are the conditions which thou layest on them that would enlist under thy banner, dear Jesus! Renovated as I have been by thy precious visit, I offer myself to thee as one quite resolved to fulfil every duty of thy service. Give me thine aid, O my Lord and God! Thy sacramental presence, which is soon to quit me, will leave me an increase of thy grace. Increase my faith, and my docility to the teachings of thy holy Church, from whose hands I have just received thee. Give me to use this world as though I did not use it; give me to live at once, by desire, in that abode where I hope to enjoy thee, and without shadow or veil, for all eternity.

O Mary, Queen of heaven! watch over me, thy humble servant, whom the blessed Son of thy chaste womb has vouchsafed to nourish with his adorable Flesh, which he received from thee. Present him the oblation I now make him of myself, in return for the unspeakable gift he has just been bestowing upon me. Holy angels! bless and protect this poor child of earth, who has been feasting on that very Bread on which you feed in heaven. All ye saints of God! who, when in this world, did eat of the heavenly Bread of the Christian pilgrim, pray, and obtain for me that it may keep with me to the end of my journey through this life, and may lead me to him, who ceases not to be the nourishment of his elect when in glory. Amen.

CHAPTER THE SEVENTH

ON THE OFFICE OF VESPERS FOR SUNDAYS AND FEASTS DURING THE TIME AFTER PENTECOST

The Office of Vespers, or Evensong, consists firstly of the five following psalms. For certain feasts some of these psalms are changed for others, which are more appropriate to those occasions.

After the Pater and Ave have been said in secret, the Church commences this Hour with her favourite supplication:

V. Deus, in adjutorium meum intende.
R. Domine, ad adjuvandum me festina.
Gloria Patri et Filio, et Spiritui sancto; Sicut erat in principio, et nunc et semper, et in sæcula sæculorum. Amen. Alleluia.

V. Incline unto mine aid, O God.
R. O Lord, make haste to help me.
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost. As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen. Alleluia.

ANT. Dixit Dominus.

ANT. The Lord said.

The first psalm is a prophecy of the future glories of the Messias. The Son of David shall sit on the right hand of the heavenly Father. He is King; He is Priest; He is the Son of Man, and the Son of God. His enemies will attack Him, but He will crush them. He will be humbled, but this voluntary humiliation will lead Him to highest glory.

PSALM 109

Dixit Dominus Domino meo: *Sede a dextris meis.

Donec ponam inimicos tuos: *scabellum pedum tuorum.

Virgam virtutis tuæ emittet Dominus ex Sion: *dominare in medio inimicorum tuorum.

Tecum principium in die virtutis tuæ in splendoribus sanctorum: *ex utero ante luciferum genui te.

Juravit Dominus, et non pœnitebit eum: *Tu es Sacerdos in æternum secundum ordinem Melchisedech.

Dominus a dextris tuis; *confregit in die iræ suæ reges.

Judicabit in nationibus, implebit ruinas: *conquassabit capita in terra multorum.

De torrente in via bibet: *propterea exaltabit caput.

The Lord said to my Lord, his Son: Sit thou at my right hand, and reign with me.

Until, on the day of thy last coming, I make thy enemies thy footstool.

O Christ! the Lord, thy Father, will send forth the sceptre of thy power out of Sion: from thence rule thou in the midst of thy enemies.

With thee is the principality in the day of thy strength, in the brightness of the saints: For the Father hath said to thee: From the womb before the day-star I begot thee.

The Lord hath sworn, and he will not repent: he hath said, speaking of thee, the God-Man: Thou art a Priest for ever, according to the order of Melchisedech.

Therefore, O Father, the Lord thy Son is at thy right hand: he hath broken kings in the day of his wrath.

He shall also judge among nations: in that terrible coming, he shall fill the ruins of the world: he shall crush the heads in the land of many.

He cometh now in humility, he shall drink, in the way, of the torrent of suffering: therefore, shall he lift up the head.

ANT. Dixit Dominus Domino meo, Sede a dextris meis.

ANT. The Lord said to my Lord, Sit thou at my right hand.

ANT. Magna opera Domini.

ANT. Great are the works of the Lord.

The following psalm commemorates the mercies of God to His people, the promised Covenant, the Redemption, His fidelity to His word. But it also tells us that the name of the Lord is terrible because it is holy; and concludes by admonishing us, that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.

PSALM 110

Confitebor tibi, Domine, in toto corde meo: *in consilio justorum et congregatione.

Magna opera Domini: *exquisita in omnes voluntates ejus.

Confessio et magnificentia opus ejus: *et justitia ejus manet in sæculum sæculi.

Memoriam fecit mirabilium suorum, misericors et miserator Dominus: *escam dedit timentibus se.

Memor erit in sæculum testamenti sui: *virtutem operum suorum annuntiabit populo suo.

Ut det illis hereditatem gentium: *opera manuum ejus veritas et judicium.

Fidelia omnia mandata ejus, confirmata in sæculum sæculi: *facta in veritate et æquitate.

Redemptionem misit populo suo: *mandavit in æternum testamentum suum.

Sanctum et terribile nomen ejus: *initium sapientiæ timor Domini.

Intellectus bonus omnibus facientibus eum: *laudatio ejus manet in sæculum sæculi.

I will praise thee, O Lord, with my whole heart: in the counsel of the just, and in the congregation.

Great are the works of the Lord: sought out according to all his wills.

His work is praise and magnificence: and his justice continueth for ever and ever.

He hath made a remembrance of his wonderful works, being a merciful and gracious Lord: he is the Bread of life, he hath given food to them that fear him.

He will be mindful for ever of his covenant with men: he will show forth to his people the power of his works.

That he may give to his Church the inheritance of the Gentiles: the works of his hands are truth and judgment.

All his commandments are faithful, confirmed for ever and ever: made in truth and equity.

He hath sent redemption to his people; he hath thereby commanded his covenant for ever.

Holy and terrible is his name: the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.

A good understanding to all that do it: his praise continueth for ever and ever.

ANT. Magna opera Domini: exquisita in omnes voluntates ejus.

ANT. Great are the works of the Lord: sought out according to all His wills.

ANT. Qui timet Dominum.

ANT. He that feareth the Lord.

The next psalm sings the happiness of the just man, and his hopes on the day of his Lord's coming. It tells us, likewise, of the confusion of the sinner who shall have despised the mysteries of God's love towards mankind.

PSALM 111

Beatus vir qui timet Dominum: *in mandatis ejus volet nimis.

Potens in terra erit semen ejus: *generatio rectorum benedicetur.

Gloria et divitiæ in domo ejus: *et justitia ejus manet in sæculum sæculi.

Exortum est in tenebris lumen rectis: *misericors, et miserator, et justus.

Jucundus homo, qui miseretur et commodat, disponet sermones suos in judicio: *quia in æternum non commovebitur.

In memoria æterna erit justus: *ab auditione mala non timebit.

Paratum cor ejus sperare in Domino, confirmatum est cor ejus: *non commovebitur donec despiciat inimicos suos.

Dispersit, dedit pauperibus; justitia ejus manet in sæculum sæculi: *cornu ejus exaltabitur in gloria.

Peccator videbit, et irascetur, dentibus suis fremet et tabescet: *desiderium peccatorum peribit.

Blessed is the man that feareth the Lord: he shall delight exceedingly in his commandments.

His seed shall be mighty upon earth: the generation of the righteous shall be blessed.

Glory and wealth shall be in his house: and his justice remaineth for ever and ever.

To the righteous a light is risen up in darkness: that light is the Lord, who is merciful, and compassionate, and just.

Acceptable is the man that showeth mercy and lendeth; he shall order his very words with judgment: because he shall not be moved for ever.

The just shall be in everlasting remembrance: he shall not fear the evil hearing.

His heart is ready to hope in the Lord; his heart is strengthened; he shall not be moved until he look over his enemies.

He hath distributed, he hath given to the poor; his justice remaineth for ever and ever: his horn shall be exalted in glory.

The wicked shall see, and shall be angry: he shall gnash with his teeth, and pine away; the desire of the wicked shall perish.

ANT. Qui timet Dominum, in mandatis ejus cupit nimis.

ANT. He that feareth the Lord, in his commandments he delighteth exceedingly.

ANT. Sit nomen Domini.

ANT. May the name of the Lord.

The psalm, Laudate, pueri, is a canticle of praise to the Lord, who, from His high heaven, has taken pity on the human race, and has vouchsafed to honour it by the Incarnation of His own Son.

PSALM 112

Laudate, pueri, Dominum: *laudate nomen Domini.

Sit nomen Domini benedictum: *ex hoc nunc, et usque in sæculum.

A solis ortu usque ad occasum: *laudabile nomen Domini.

Excelsus super omnes gentes Dominus: *et super cœlos gloria ejus.

Quis sicut Dominus Deus noster qui in altis habitat: *et humilia respicit in cœlo et in terra?

Suscitans a terra inopem: *et de stercore erigens pauperem:

Ut collocet eum cum principibus: *cum principibus populi sui.

Qui habitare facit sterilem in domo: *matrem filiorum lætantem.

Praise the Lord, ye children; praise ye the name of the Lord.

Blessed be the name of the Lord; from henceforth now and for ever.

From the rising of the sun unto the going down of the same, the name of the Lord is worthy of praise.

The Lord is high above all nations: and his glory above the heavens.

Who is as the Lord, our God, who dwelleth on high and looketh down on the low things in heaven and in earth?

Raising up the needy from the earth: and lifting up the poor out of the dunghill.

That he may place him with princes: with the princes of his people.

Who maketh a barren woman to dwell in a house, the joyful mother of children.

ANT. Sit nomen Domini benedictum in sæcula.

ANT. May the name of the Lord be for ever blessed.

ANT. Deus autem noster.

ANT. But our God.

The fifth psalm, In exitu, recounts the prodigies witnessed under the ancient Covenant: they were figures, whose realities were to be accomplished in the mission of the Son of God, who came to deliver Israel from Egypt, emancipate the Gentiles from their idolatry, and pour out a blessing on every man who would consent to fear and love the Lord.

PSALM 113

In exitu Israël de Ægypto: * domus Jacob de populo barbaro:

Facta est Judæa sanctificatio ejus: * Israël potestas ejus.

Mare vidit, et fugit: * Jordanis conversus est retrorsum.

Montes exsultaverunt ut arietes: * et colles sicut agni ovium.

Quid est tibi, mare, quod fugisti: * et tu, Jordanis, quia conversus es retrorsum?

Montes exsultastis sicut arietes: * et colles, sicut agni ovium?

A facie Domini mota est terra: * a facie Dei Jacob.

Qui convertit petram in stagna aquarum: * et rupem in fontes aquarum.

Non nobis, Domine, non nobis: * sed nomini tuo da gloriam.

Super misericordia tua, et veritate tua: * nequando dicant gentes: Ubi est Deus eorum?

When Israel went out of Egypt, the house of Jacob from a barbarous people.

Judea was made his sanctuary, Israel his dominion.

The sea saw and fled; Jordan was turned back.

The mountains skipped like rams: and the hills like the lambs of the flock.

What ailed thee, O thou sea, that thou didst flee: and thou, O Jordan, that thou wast turned back?

Ye mountains, that ye skipped like rams: and ye hills, like lambs of the flock?

At the presence of the Lord the earth was moved, at the presence of the God of Jacob.

Who turned the rock into pools of water, and the stony hills into fountains of waters.

Not to us, O Lord, not to us: but to thy name give glory.

For thy mercy, and for thy truth's sake: lest the Gentiles should say: Where is their God?

Deus autem noster in cœlo: * omnia quæcumque voluit fecit.

Simulacra gentium argentum et aurum: * opera manuum hominum.

Os habent, et non loquentur: * oculos habent, et non videbunt.

Aures habent, et non audient: * nares habent, et non odorabunt.

Manus habent et non palpabunt, pedes habent et non ambulabunt: * non clamabunt in gutture suo.

Similes illis fiant qui faciunt ea: * et omnes qui confidunt in eis.

Domus Israël speravit in Domino: * adjutor eorum, et protector eorum est.

Domus Aaron speravit in Domino: * adjutor eorum, et protector eorum est.

Qui timent Dominum, speraverunt in Domino: * adjutor eorum, et protector eorum est.

Dominus memor fuit nostri: * et benedixit nobis.

Benedixit domui Israël: * benedixit domui Aaron.

Benedixit omnibus qui timent Dominum: * pusillis cum majoribus.

Adjiciat Dominus super vos: * super vos, et super filios vestros.

Benedicti vos a Domino: * qui fecit cœlum et terram.

Cœlum cœli Domino: * terram autem dedit filiis hominum.

Non mortui laudabunt te, Domine: * neque omnes qui descendunt in infernum.

Sed nos qui vivimus benedicimus Domino: * ex hoc nunc et usque in sæculum.

But our God is in heaven: he hath done all things whatsoever he would.

The idols of the Gentiles are silver and gold: the works of the hands of men.

They have mouths, and speak not: they have eyes, and see not.

They have ears, and hear not: they have noses, and smell not.

They have hands, and feel not: they have feet, and walk not: neither shall they cry out through their throat.

Let them that make them become like unto them: and all such as trust in them.

The house of Israel hath hoped in the Lord: he is their helper and their protector.

The house of Aaron hath hoped in the Lord: he is their helper and their protector.

They that feared the Lord have hoped in the Lord: he is their helper and their protector.

The Lord hath been mindful of us, and hath blessed us.

He hath blessed the house of Israel: he hath blessed the house of Aaron.

He hath blessed all that fear the Lord, both little and great.

May the Lord add blessings upon you: upon you, and upon your children.

Blessed be you of the Lord, who made heaven and earth.

The heaven of heaven is the Lord's: but the earth he has given to the children of men.

The dead shall not praise thee, O Lord: nor any of them that go down to hell.

But we that live bless the Lord: from this time now and for ever.

ANT. Deus autem noster in cœlo: omnia quæcumque voluit, fecit.

ANT. But our God is in heaven: he hath done all things whatsoever he willed.

After these five psalms, a short lesson from the holy Scriptures is read. It is called Capitulum, or Little Chapter, because it is always very short. Those for the several festivals are given in the proper of each.

CAPITULUM

Benedictus Deus et Pater Domini nostri Jesu Christi, Pater misericordiarum et Deus totius consolationis, qui consolatur nos in omni tribulatione nostra.

R. Deo gratias.

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies, and the God of all comfort, who comforteth us in all our tribulations.

R. Thanks be to God.

Then follows the hymn. We here give the one for Sundays. It was composed by St. Gregory the Great. It sings of creation, and celebrates the praises of that portion of it which was called forth on this first day, viz., the light.

HYMN¹

Lucis Creator optime, Lucem dierum proferens: Primordiis lucis novæ,
Mundi parans originem.

Qui mane junctum vesperi Diem vocari præcipis:
Illabitur tetrum chaos, Audi preces cum fletibus.

Ne mens gravata crimine, Vitæ sit exsul munere:
Dum nil perenne cogitat, Seseque culpis illigat.

Cœleste pulset ostium,
Vitale tollat præmium:
Vitemus omne noxium, Purgemus omne pessimum.

Præsta, Pater piissime,
Patrique compar Unice, Cum Spiritu Paraclito Regnans per omne sæculum.
Amen.

O infinitely good Creator of the light! by thee was produced the light of day, providing thus the world's beginning with the dawn of the new-made light.

Thou biddest us call the time from morn till eve day; this day is over; dark night comes on: oh! hear our tearful prayers.

Let not our soul, weighed down by crime, mis-spend thy gift of life; and, forgetting what is eternal, be earth-tied by her sins.

Oh! may we strive to enter our heavenly home, and bear away the prize of life; may we shun what would injure us, and cleanse our soul from her defilements.

Most merciful Father, and thou, his only-begotten Son, co-equal with him, reigning for ever, with the holy Paraclete, grant this our prayer.

Amen.

¹ According to the monastic rite, it is as follows:

R. breve. Quam magnificata sunt * Opera tua Domine. Quam.

V. Omnia in sapientia fecisti * Opera. Gloria Patri, etc. Quam.

Lucis Creator optime, Lucem dierum proferens; Primordiis lucis novæ,
Mundi parans originem.

Qui mane junctum vesperi Diem vocari præcipis,
Tetrum chaos illabitur, Audi preces cum fletibus.

Ne mens gravata crimine, Vitæ sit exsul munere.
Dum nil perenne cogitat, Seseque culpis illigat.

Cœlorum pulset intimum,
Vitale tollat præmium:
Vitemus omne noxium, Purgemus omne pessimum.

Præsta, Pater piissime,
Patrique compar Unice Cum Spiritu Paraclito Regnans per omne sæculum.

Amen.

The versicle which follows the hymn, and which we here give, is that of the Sunday; those for the feasts are given in their proper places.

V. Dirigatur, Domine, oratio mea.

R. Sicut incensum in conspectu tuo.

V. May my prayer, O Lord, ascend.

R. Like incense in thy sight.

Then is said the Magnificat antiphon, which is to be found in the proper. After this, the Church sings the canticle of Mary, the Magnificat, in which are celebrated the divine maternity and all its consequent blessings. This exquisitely sweet canticle is an essential part of the Office of Vespers. It is the evening incense, just as the canticle Benedictus, at Lauds, is that of the morning.

OUR LADY'S CANTICLE

(St. Luke i.)

Magnificat: * anima mea Dominum;

Et exsultavit spiritus meus: * in Deo salutari meo.

Quia respexit humilitatem ancillæ suæ: * ecce enim ex hoc beatam me dicent omnes generationes.

Quia fecit mihi magna qui potens est: * et sanctum nomen ejus.

Et misericordia ejus a progenie in progenies: * timentibus eum.

Fecit potentiam in brachio suo: * dispersit superbos mente cordis sui.

Deposuit potentes de sede: * et exaltavit humiles.

Esurientes implevit bonis: * et divites dimisit inanes.

Suscepit Israël puerum suum: * recordatus misericordiæ suæ.

Sicut locutus est ad patres nostros: * Abraham et semini ejus in sæcula.

My soul doth magnify the Lord;

And my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour.

Because he hath regarded the humility of his handmaid: for, behold, from henceforth, all generations shall call me blessed.

Because he that is mighty hath done great things to me: and holy is his name.

And his mercy is from generation unto generation, to them that fear him.

He hath showed might in his arm: he hath scattered the proud in the conceit of their heart.

He hath put down the mighty from their seat: and hath exalted the humble.

He hath filled the hungry with good things: and the rich he hath sent empty away.

He hath received Israel his servant, being mindful of his mercy.

As he spoke to our fathers, to Abraham, and to his seed for ever.

The Magnificat antiphon is then repeated. The prayer, or collect, is given in the proper of each feast and Sunday.

V. Benedicamus Domino. V. Let us bless the Lord.

R. Deo gratias. R. Thanks be to God.

V. Fidelium animæ per misericordiam Dei requiescant in pace.

V. May the souls of the faithful departed, through the mercy of God, rest in peace.

R. Amen. R. Amen.

CHAPTER THE EIGHTH

ON THE OFFICE OF COMPLINE DURING THE TIME AFTER PENTECOST

This Office, which concludes the day, commences by a warning of the dangers of the night; then immediately follows the public confession of our sins, as a powerful means of propitiating the divine justice, and obtaining God's help, now that we are going to spend so many hours in the unconscious, and therefore dangerous, state of sleep, which is also such an image of death.

The lector, addressing the priest, says to him:

Jube, domne, benedicere. Pray, father, give thy blessing.

The priest answers:

Noctem quietam, et finem perfectum concedat nobis Dominus omnipotens.

May the almighty Lord grant us a quiet night and a perfect end.

R. Amen. R. Amen.

The lector then reads these words, from the first Epistle of St. Peter:

Fratres: Sobrii estote et vigilate: quia adversarius vester diabolus tamquam leo rugiens circuit, quærens quem devoret: cui resistite fortes in fide. Tu autem, Domine, miserere nobis.

Brethren, be sober and watch: because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, goeth about seeking whom he may devour: whom resist ye, strong in faith. But thou, O Lord, have mercy on us.

The choir answers:

R. Deo gratias. R. Thanks be to God.

Then the priest:

V. Adjutorium nostrum in nomine Domini.

V. Our help is in the name of the Lord.

The choir:

R. Qui fecit cœlum et terram.

R. Who hath made heaven and earth.

Then the Lord's Prayer is recited in secret; after which, the priest says the Confiteor, and when he has finished, the choir repeats it.

The priest, having pronounced the general form of absolution, says:

V. Converte nos, Deus, Salutaris noster.

V. Convert us, O God our Saviour.

R. Et averte iram tuam a nobis.

R. And turn away thine anger from us.

V. Deus, in adjutorium meum intende.

V. Incline unto mine aid, O God.

R. Domine, ad adjuvandum me festina.

R. O Lord, make haste to help me.

Gloria Patri.

Glory, etc.

ANT. Miserere.

ANT. Have mercy.

The first psalm expresses the confidence with which the just man sleeps in peace; but the wicked know not what calm rest is.

PSALM 4

Cum invocarem exaudivit me Deus justitiæ meæ: * in tribulatione dilatasti mihi.

Miserere mei: * et exaudi orationem meam.

When I called upon him, the God of my justice heard me: when I was in distress, thou hast enlarged me.

Have mercy on me: and hear my prayer.

Filii hominum, usquequo gravi corde? * ut quid diligitis vanitatem, et quæritis mendacium?

Et scitote quoniam mirificavit Dominus sanctum suum: * Dominus exaudiet me, cum clamavero ad eum.

Irascimini, et nolite peccare: * quæ dicitis in cordibus vestris, in cubilibus vestris compungimini.

Sacrificate sacrificium justitiæ, et sperate in Domino: * multi dicunt: Quis ostendit nobis bona?

Signatum est super nos lumen vultus tui, Domine: * dedisti lætitiam in corde meo.

A fructu frumenti, vini et olei sui: * multiplicati sunt.

In pace in idipsum: * dormiam et requiescam.

Quoniam tu, Domine, singulariter in spe: * constituisti me.

O ye sons of men, how long will ye be dull of heart? why do ye love vanity, and seek after lying?

Know ye, also, that the Lord hath made his holy One wonderful: the Lord will hear me, when I shall cry unto him.

Be ye angry, and sin not: the things ye say in your hearts, be sorry for them upon your beds.

Offer up the sacrifice of justice, and trust in the Lord: many say: Who showeth us good things?

The light of thy countenance, O Lord, is signed upon us: thou hast given gladness in my heart.

By the fruit of their corn, their wine, and oil, they are multiplied.

In peace, in the self-same, I will sleep, and I will rest.

For thou, O Lord, singularly hast settled me in hope.

The second psalm gives the motives of the just man's confidence, even during the dangers of the night. There is no snare neglected by the demons; but the good angels watch over us, with brotherly solicitude. Then we have God Himself speaking, and promising to send us a Saviour.

PSALM 90

Qui habitat in adjutorio Altissimi: * in protectione Dei cœli commorabitur.

Dicet Domino: Susceptor meus es tu, et refugium meum, * Deus meus, sperabo in eum.

He that dwelleth in the aid of the Most High, shall abide under the protection of the God of heaven.

He shall say unto the Lord: Thou art my protector, and my refuge: my God, in him will I trust.

Quoniam ipse liberavit me de laqueo venantium: * et a verbo aspero.

Scapulis suis obumbrabit tibi: * et sub pennis ejus sperabis.

For he hath delivered me from the snare of the hunters: and from the sharp word.

He will overshadow thee with his shoulders: and under his wings thou shalt trust.

Scuto circumdabit te veritas ejus: non timebis a timore nocturno.

A sagitta volante in die, a negotio perambulante in tenebris: ab incursu, et dæmonio meridiano.

Cadent a latere tuo mille, et decem millia a dextris tuis: * ad te autem non appropinquabit.

Verumtamen oculis tuis considerabis: * et retributionem peccatorum videbis.

Quoniam tu es, Domine, spes mea: * Altissimum posuisti refugium tuum.

Non accedet ad te malum: * et flagellum non appropinquabit tabernaculo tuo.

Quoniam angelis suis mandavit de te: * ut custodiant te in omnibus viis tuis.

In manibus portabunt te: * ne forte offendas ad lapidem pedem tuum.

Super aspidem et basiliscum ambulabis: * et conculcabis leonem et draconem.

Quoniam in me speravit, liberabo eum: * protegam eum, quoniam cognovit nomen meum.

Clamabit ad me, et ego exaudiam eum: * cum ipso sum in tribulatione, eripiam eum, et glorificabo eum.

Longitudine dierum replebo eum: * et ostendam illi Salutare meum.

For he hath delivered me from the snare of the hunters: and from the sharp word.

He will overshadow thee with his shoulders: and under his wings thou shalt trust.

His truth shall compass thee with a shield: thou shalt not be afraid of the terror of the night.

Of the arrow that flieth in the day: of the business that walketh about in the dark: of invasion, or of the noonday devil.

A thousand shall fall at thy side, and ten thousand at thy right hand; but it shall not come nigh thee.

But thou shalt consider with thine eyes: and shalt see the reward of the wicked.

Because thou hast said: Thou, O Lord, art my hope: Thou hast made the Most High thy refuge.

There shall no evil come unto thee, nor shall the scourge come near thy dwelling.

For he hath given his angels charge over thee: to keep thee in all thy ways.

In their hands they shall bear thee up: lest thou dash thy foot against a stone.

Thou shalt walk upon the asp and basilisk: and thou shalt trample under foot the lion and the dragon.

God will say of thee: Because he hoped in me, I will deliver him: I will protect him, because he hath known my name.

He will cry unto me, and I will hear him: I am with him in tribulation, I will deliver him, and I will glorify him.

I will fill him with length of days: and I will show him my salvation.

The third psalm invites the servants of God to persevere, with fervour, in the prayers they offer during the night. The faithful should say this psalm in a spirit of gratitude to God, for raising up in the Church adorers of His holy name, whose grand vocation is to lift up their hands, day and night, for the safety of Israel. On such prayers depend the happiness and the destinies of the world.

PSALM 133

Ecce nunc benedicite Dominum: * omnes servi Domini,

Qui statis in domo Domini: * in atriis domus Dei nostri.

In noctibus extollite manus vestras in sancta: * et benedicite Dominum.

Benedicat te Dominus ex Sion: * qui fecit cælum et terram.

ANT. Miserere mihi, Domine, et exaudi orationem meam.

Behold! now bless ye the Lord, all ye servants of the Lord.

Who stand in the house of the Lord, in the courts of the house of our God.

In the nights, lift up your hands to the holy places, and bless ye the Lord.

Say to Israel: May the Lord, out of Sion, bless thee, he that made heaven and earth.

ANT. Have mercy on me, O Lord, and hear my prayer.

HYMN¹

Te lucis ante terminum, Rerum Creator, poscimus, Ut pro tua clementia, Sis præsul et custodia.

Procul recedant somnia, Et noctium phantasmata; Hostemque nostrum comprime, Ne polluantur corpora.

Præsta, Pater piissime,
Patrique compar Unice, Cum Spiritu Paraclito Regnans per omne sæculum.

Amen.

Before the closing of the light, we beseech thee, Creator of all things! that, in thy clemency, thou be our protector and our guard.

May the dreams and phantoms of the night depart from us; and do thou repress our enemy, lest our bodies be profaned.

Most merciful Father! and thou, his only-begotten Son, co-equal with him, reigning for ever, with the holy Paraclete, grant this our prayer!

Amen.

CAPITULUM

(Jeremias xiv.)

Tu autem in nobis es, Domine, et nomen sanctum tuum invocatum est super nos: ne derelinquas nos, Domine, Deus noster.

R. In manus tuas, Domine: * Commendo spiritum meum. In manus tuas.

V. Redemisti nos, Domine Deus veritatis. * Commendo.

Gloria. In manus tuas.

V. Custodi nos, Domine, ut pupillam oculi.

R. Sub umbra alarum tuarum protege nos.

But thou art in us, O Lord, and thy holy name hath been invoked upon us: forsake us not, O Lord, our God.

R. Into thy hands, O Lord: * I commend my spirit. Into thy hands.

V. Thou hast redeemed us, O Lord God of truth. * I commend.

Glory. Into thy hands.

V. Preserve us, O Lord, as the apple of thine eye.

R. Protect us under the shadow of thy wings.

The canticle of the venerable Simeon—who, while holding the divine Infant in his arms, proclaimed Him to be the light of the Gentiles, and then slept the sleep of the just—is admirably appropriate to the Office of Compline. Holy Church blesses God for having dispelled the darkness of night by the rising of the Sun of justice; it is for love of Him, that she toils the whole day through, and rests during the night, saying: "I sleep, but my heart watcheth."²

CANTICLE OF SIMEON

Nunc dimittis servum tuum, Domine: * secundum verbum tuum in pace.

Quia viderunt oculi mei: * salutare tuum.

Quod parasti: * ante faciem omnium populorum.

Lumen ad revelationem Gentium: * et gloriam plebis tuæ Israël.

Gloria.

ANT. Salva nos, Domine, vigilantes; custodi nos dormientes, ut vigilemus cum Christo, et requiescamus in pace.

Now dost thou dismiss thy servant, O Lord, according to thy word, in peace.

Because mine eyes have seen thy salvation.

Which thou hast prepared; before the face of all peoples.

A light to the revelation of the Gentiles, and the glory of thy people Israel.

Glory, etc.

ANT. Save us, O Lord, while awake, and watch us as we sleep, that we may watch with Christ, and rest in peace.

OREMUS

Visita, quæsumus, Domine, habitationem istam, et omnes insidias inimici ab ea longe repelle: Angeli tui sancti habitent in ea, qui nos in pace custodiant: et benedictio tua sit super nos semper. Per Dominum nostrum Jesum Christum Filium tuum, qui tecum vivit et regnat in unitate Spiritus sancti Deus, per omnia sæcula sæculorum.

R. Amen.

V. Dominus vobiscum.

R. Et cum spiritu tuo.

LET US PRAY

Visit, we beseech thee, O Lord, this house and family, and drive from it all snares of the enemy: let thy holy angels dwell herein, who may keep us in peace, and may thy blessing be always upon us. Through Jesus Christ our Lord, thy Son, who liveth and reigneth with thee, in the unity of the Holy Ghost, God, world without end.

R. Amen.

V. The Lord be with you.

R. And with thy spirit.

V. Benedicamus Domino.

R. Deo gratias.

Benedicat et custodiat nos omnipotens et misericors Dominus, Pater, et Filius, et Spiritus sanctus.

R. Amen.

V. Let us bless the Lord.

R. Thanks be to God.

May the almighty and merciful Lord, Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, bless and preserve us.

R. Amen.

ANTHEM TO THE BLESSED VIRGIN

Salve, Regina, mater misericordiæ.

Vita, dulcedo, et spes nostra, salve.

Ad te clamamus, exsules filii Evæ.

Ad te suspiramus, gementes et flentes in hac lacrymarum valle.

Eia, ergo advocata nostra, illos tuos misericordes oculos ad nos converte;

Et Jesum benedictum fructum ventris tui, nobis post hoc exsilium ostende;

O clemens,

O pia,

O dulcis Virgo Maria.

V. Ora pro nobis, sancta Dei Genitrix.

R. Ut digni efficiamur promissionibus Christi.

Hail, holy Queen, mother of mercy.

Our life, our sweetness, and our hope, all hail!

To thee we cry, poor banished children of Eve;

To thee we send up our sighs, mourning and weeping in this vale of tears.

Turn, then, most gracious advocate! thine eyes of mercy towards us;

And, after this our exile, show unto us the blessed fruit of thy womb, Jesus;

O merciful,

O kind,

O sweet Virgin Mary!

V. Pray for us, O holy Mother of God.

R. That we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ.

OREMUS

Omnipotens sempiterne Deus, qui gloriosæ Virginis Matris Mariæ corpus et animam, ut dignum Filii tui habitaculum effici mereretur, Spiritu sancto cooperante, præparasti: da ut cujus commemoratione lætamur, ejus pia intercessione ab instantibus malis et a morte perpetua liberemur. Per eumdem Christum Dominum nostrum.

R. Amen.

V. Divinum auxilium maneat semper nobiscum.

R. Amen.

LET US PRAY

O almighty and everlasting God, who, by the co-operation of the Holy Ghost, didst prepare the body and soul of the glorious Virgin and Mother, to become the worthy habitation of thy Son: grant that we may be delivered from present evils, and from everlasting death, by her gracious intercession, in whose commemoration we rejoice. Through the same Christ our Lord.

R. Amen.

V. May the divine assistance remain always with us.

R. Amen.

Then in secret Pater, Ave, and Credo; page 12.

¹ According to the monastic rite, as follows:

Te lucis ante terminum, Rerum Creator, poscimus, Ut solita clementia Sis præsul ad custodiam.

Procul recedant somnia Et noctium phantasmata; Hostemque nostrum comprime, Ne polluantur corpora.

Præsta Pater omnipotens,
Per Jesum Christum Dominum, Qui tecum in perpetuum Regnat cum sancto Spiritu.

Amen.

In the monastic rite this response is as follows:

R. Et cum fratribus nostris absentibus. Amen.

R. And with our absent brethren. Amen.

² Cant. v. 2.

PROPER OF THE TIME

The liturgical season, over which presides the Spirit of sanctification and love, has commenced its career amidst the brightness of a light, which is new both for the Church and for the Christian soul. The weak eye of our intellect, veiled by the protecting cover of faith, has ventured to gaze on the deep things of God;¹ in the midst of the eternal relations which make up the holy Trinity, we have been enabled to discern those sublime links which exist between each of the divine Persons and man, nothingness though he be by his own origin. Then, too, we have been given to know Him who is eternal Wisdom, in the feast of the Eucharist; and through the revelation there made to us of the divine love for mankind, we understood why the world has been created. Beyond these grand teachings given to us by the bright festivals, first of Trinity Sunday, and then of Corpus Christi, we have had the sacred Heart of Jesus repeating to us, and summing up in itself, all these mysteries; that divine Heart was revealed to us as the source of supernatural life, as the organ of praise, as the centre where the love of God for man, and the love of man for God, were united. All this has filled the whole earth with the magnificence of the supernatural order.

With these three bright mysteries the Holy Ghost has begun His reign. Our Emmanuel Himself, during His sojourn upon our earth, did not shed such light as this upon us. True, our Emmanuel was Himself the light;² and the Holy Ghost, far from revealing to us any new dogmas, does but remind the world³ of the truths taught it by Him who is ever the true master and teacher of His Church.⁴ How, then, is it that the light becomes doubly strong immediately Jesus leaves us? How comes it that the Holy Ghost, who was not to speak of Himself,⁵ no sooner descends upon us than we are enabled to see the heavenly mysteries with such intensified clearness? Let us master the lesson involved in all this.

The Holy Ghost does not speak of Himself, and yet He teaches divinely.⁶ It is from the Word that He receives what He tells to our earth;⁷ He hearkens to that Word, and says the same things Himself;⁸ but He says them in His own way.

The eternal Word is the one only word spoken from the very commencement of creation; its varied utterances have filled the whole earth; its divine teaching has been heard, day telling it unto day, and night unto night. And yet, this almighty voice⁹ of Wisdom, which penetrateth into the bottom of the deep,¹⁰ was but too frequently allowed to speak unnoticed. The light shone in the darkness, but the darkness would not be removed,¹¹ as the Church reminded us during the season of Advent, when the four weeks of those wintry, dark days told us how man, for four thousand years, had abased the very light of his reason by making it serve to put out the light of the divine Word.¹² During all this long period the Word had sought, though in vain, to put the imprint of Himself upon the successive generations!¹³ That period transpired, and He came down upon earth, there to take up His abode, and converse with men,¹⁴ and, with His own lips, to give to the world the unreserved heavenly message of light and truth. The children of Adam heard with their own ears, and saw with their own eyes, and touched with their very hands, the word of life,¹⁵ the Word made Flesh.¹⁶ And yet, in spite of all this condescension and intimacy, even the very men who enjoyed most of His presence—those men who were selected to become the messengers of His word,¹⁷ and to be His heralds and His witnesses to the nations,¹⁸—failed to take in the light of that kingdom of God, which shone so strongly, so directly, upon them.¹⁹ Yes, even for these future sowers of the word in the souls of men,²⁰ our Emmanuel, during His mortal life among them, was always a hidden God,²¹ a word not understood.²² He lovingly complained of all this, when wishing them farewell at the last Supper!²³ But, if we rightly appreciate that complaint, it was not so much a reproach made to His disciples as an earnest prayer offered to His Father, beseeching Him to send down that creating Spirit,²⁴ who alone could transform those hearts, rid them of their innate weakness, and fill them, as the Church expresses it,²⁵ with the warmth of the Word.

¹ 1 Cor. ii. 10. ² St. John viii. 12. ³ Ibid. xiv. 26.

⁴ St. John xiii. 13.—St. Matt. xxiii. 8–10, xxviii. 19, 20.

⁵ Ibid. xvi. 13. ⁶ Ibid. ⁷ Ibid. 14.

⁸ Ibid. 13. ⁹ Ps. xviii. 3. ¹⁰ Wisd. xviii. 15.

¹¹ Ecclus. xxiv. 8. ¹² St. John i. 5. ¹³ Rom. i. 18–23.

¹⁴ Heb. i. 1, 2. ¹⁵ Baruch iii. 38. ¹⁶ St. John xv. 15.

For there is the secret of success: the incomparable teaching of the Spirit of love. How universal and how grand soever was the manifestation of Himself offered to the minds of men by the Word;¹⁵ how intimate and familiar soever were the conversations of our Emmanuel with those whom He had graciously selected as His friends.¹ In both cases the truth made no way beyond the outside; the teaching went no farther than the

¹ St. John i. 1. ² Ibid. 14. ³ St. Luke i. 2.
⁴ Acts i. 8. ⁵ St. Luke viii. 10. ⁶ Ibid. 11.
⁷ Isa. xlv. 15. ⁸ St. Luke xviii. 34. ⁹ St. John xiv. 9.
¹⁰ Ibid. 16. ¹¹ Ps. ciii. 30.
¹² Hymn for Matins of Whit-Sunday. ¹³ St. John i. 9.
¹⁴ Ibid. xv. 15.

exterior; like the material sun, the reflection of the eternal light was but on the surface, it did not penetrate into the depths of men's souls. The Holy Ghost, on the contrary, like an impetuous stream,¹ flowed into man's heart, bringing with Himself, into the inmost recesses of the creature, substantial and living truth. The Man-God had foretold this to His disciples. He had said to them: 'These things which I have spoken unto you, while abiding with you, the Paraclete will teach them all to you more efficaciously,² for He will not only abide with you, but will be in you.³ The truths which you could not bear now, you shall have from Him; He will lead you into the whole truth.'⁴

It is the office of the Holy Ghost to act, rather than to speak. He is, so to say, less intent on proclaiming the truth than on realizing it, by sanctification, in the Church and in the soul. 'The Spirit,' says St. Cyril of Alexandria, 'has a marvellous school of His own in the saints: He does more than speak; He produces knowledge by an efficient demonstration—that is, He passes on to the creature what belongs to God; He makes us partakers of the divine nature.'⁵ Not only, therefore, does He purify the senses, and cleanse the interior eye from its imperfections: but, moreover, in virtue of that sanctifying action which is His special attribute, He establishes, in the very midst of the regenerated creatures,⁶ that kingdom of God whose hidden excellences were declared⁷ by Jesus to the as yet ignorant fishermen of Galilee. No sooner has the Holy Ghost done this His work in the soul, than all doubt, all gross ignorance and

¹ Ps. xlv. 5. ² St. John xiv. 25. ³ Ibid. 17.
⁴ Ibid. xvi. 12, 13, juxta græc.
⁵ In Johan. Lib. x. et xi., passim. ⁶ 2 St. Pet. i. 4.
⁷ St. Luke xvii. 21. ⁸ St. John i. 18.

error, are at an end. The only obscurity left is that of faith, which as yet sees not, but knows,¹ and possesses² by the Spirit the gifts of God. Man, thus renewed, comprehends, as the apostle assures us, what is the breadth, and length, and height, and depth of the teachings of our Emmanuel; for it is Christ Himself who, through the Paraclete, dwells in our hearts, and fills them with the fulness of God.³

St. Cyril admirably develops all this in the treatise we have already quoted. Amongst other things, he says that, as the sweet fragrance of a flower which makes itself felt to our senses seems to be doing nothing else but telling us about the flower itself, so the holy Spirit, when He leads us to the plenitude of truth, does nothing else than infuse into us the mystery of Christ. The silent operation of the Paraclete is ever revealing to our mind, and applying to our soul, the power and hidden mysteries of the Incarnation. He is the Spirit of truth;⁴ but what is the truth but Christ Himself,⁵ who, in His art and His perfections, dwells, through the Holy Ghost, in holy souls? If the Incarnate Word, in His visible presence, has been taken from among us, it is for no other purpose than that He may manifest Himself to our souls—the manifestation best becoming a God. When, therefore, our Lord tells us,⁶ and when His apostles repeat the announcement,⁷ that He is going to teach us all things by the Holy Ghost, we must not suppose that He is hereby intending to pass us on to some other master than Himself. No; according to the promise He made us,⁸ He dwells in pure souls; He reveals Himself to them in an unspeakable manner; He, as their Head,

¹ 1 Cor. ii. 12. ² 2 St. Pet. i. 4. ³ Eph. iii. 16–19.
⁴ St. John xiv. 17. ⁵ Ibid. 6. ⁶ Ibid. 26.
⁷ Eph. i. 17; iii. 16. ⁸ St. John xiv. 21.

directs them in all their ways; only, He does all this by His Spirit. For the Spirit is the author of sanctification; and what is this sanctification but the transformation of a creature into the image of Him who saith unto us: 'Be ye holy, because I the Lord your God am holy'?¹ Now, the one perfect and beautiful image of God, the divine seal which impresses on our souls a likeness of the Father's face,² is no other than the eternal Son of that Father. The Word, in His sacred Humanity, sanctified Himself,³ together with us, and for us, by anointing the temple of His body⁴ with the holy Spirit. With and by that Spirit He transforms us, from brightness unto brightness, on the type and model of His sacred Humanity;⁵ He is born again and grows in each of us,⁶ by the incorporation of the mysteries of His deifying life.⁷

Christians! you were made sad, a few days back, on hearing of the speedy departure of your Jesus;⁸ learn, now, that your sadness must give place to joy, for this our Emmanuel, though He has ascended into heaven, has not left our earth. Jesus Christ yesterday, and to-day, and the same for ever.⁹ He is the one sole object of the Father's good pleasure,¹⁰ the one sole worthy instrument of God's glory, who centres into His own unity the divine plan for the sanctification of the elect. So far, then, is the glorious Pentecost from separating us from Jesus, our divine exemplar and guide, by means of the coming of the Holy Ghost, that the very contrary is the result; the Paraclete comes upon this earth, in order that he may make all the closer the union between the Head and the

¹ Lev. xix. 2. ² Ps. iv. 7. ³ St. John xvii. 19.
⁴ Ibid. ii. 21. ⁵ 2 Cor. iii. 18. ⁶ Gal. iv. 19.
⁷ S. Cyril Alex. In Johan., lib. i., ix., x., xi.; De Trinit. Dial. iv., v.; et alibi passim.
⁸ St. John xvi. 6. ⁹ Heb. xiii. 8. ¹⁰ St. Matt. xvii. 5.

members; He comes that He may, by faith and love, make us one with Him, who alone is holy, as He alone is Lord, and alone most high, together with the Father and the Holy Ghost,¹ for ever and ever!

Now, let us think on what the Church's liturgy is with regard to all this. We have passed one half of the Church's year; from Advent up to this present day we have celebrated the several seasons with her; and what have they all been but so many ascensions (as the psalmist calls them²), so many steps, gradually leading up to that summit of perfect justice, where the holiness of Christ's Church has been consummated in union. Though a humble daughter of earth, yet did the Son of God, even from the day of eternity, love and desire her beauty.³ This does not mean that any individual of the fallen human family, which had to form the members of this bride of Jesus, could ever contribute to the Church a loveliness worthy of the King, but it means, that the King Himself, Jesus, the Sun of justice,⁴ who had gratuitously set His heart on this His chosen one, had resolved to deck her brow with His own charms. By this His own anticipated gratuity, He found in her that sublime perfection of likeness to the heavenly Father⁵ which, being the essential beauty of the Word Himself,⁶ was, for that very reason, to constitute the sanctity of the favoured race called by His merciful love from the desert mountains of the Gentiles.⁷ Thus was to be fully verified that saying of the apostle, that the Spouse is the image and the glory of God, but the bride is the glory of the Spouse;⁸ and

¹ The Hymn Gloria in excelsis. ² Ps. lxxxiii.
³ Jerem. xxxi. 3. ⁴ Ps. xliv. 12. ⁵ Malach. iv. 2.
⁶ St. Matt. v. 48. ⁷ Wisd. vii. 26. ⁸ Cant. iv. 8.
⁹ 1 Cor. xi. 7.

that both of them are one, because they both harmonize in the one same divine plan.

Yes, the gentile world, the barren¹ woman despised by the Synagogue, the black inhabitant of the parched deserts of Ethiopia,² was to be transformed by grace into the true daughter of the Father, and to become the bride of his Son. Such an adoption, and such a nuptial union, would depend, in part, on the consent of the chosen one; and not only would her consent be required, but she would also have to do something towards winning her honours, by labouring for them. The liturgy expresses and achieves all this. First of all, there was the season of Advent, a time of expectation and struggle, corresponding to what is called the PURGATIVE way. The Son of God was then cleansing the human race from its defilements, removing the obstacles which kept it down. Then followed those rich seasons of the Church, in which Jesus, the divine Spouse, offered Himself to mankind as their model,³ and light and guide,⁴ all for the purpose of bringing them up to the divine ideal which they were to reproduce in themselves. It is called the ILLUMINATIVE WAY. During those mystic seasons, Jesus showed Himself to His Church, by again treading the royal way⁵ of His mysteries. He drew her after Him, in the fragrance of His footsteps,⁶ from Bethlehem to the Jordan, from Mount Quarantine to the cross on Calvary's top, and thence to the glorious sepulchre. In each stage of His life's mysteries, He so deeply imprinted on the Church the divine likeness of His sacred Humanity that she stood before Him as the new Eve, taken out of the Man-God, and formed of His substance.⁷ The Lord God, the eternal Father,

¹ 1 Cor. xi. 11. ² 1 Kings ii. 5.
³ Cant. i. 4, 5, iv. 8; Soph. iii. 10. ⁴ Exod. xxv. 40.
⁵ St. John viii. 12. ⁶ Num. xxi. 22. ⁷ Cant. i. 3.
⁸ Gen. ii. 23.

is rejoiced that the new Adam is no longer alone; He has found the helper like unto Himself, which neither earth nor heaven had been able to give Him.¹ The first Adam did not so ardently love her whom he declared to be flesh of his flesh, as the Word does that glorious Church, His bride, who hath neither spot nor wrinkle, but is all beautiful with His holiness upon her.² She has no life of her own; the only life she can henceforth possibly live is the life of her divine Spouse.³ That life has been worked into her by the stupendous power of the mysteries celebrated by her in the previous seasons of the divine liturgy;—let Pentecost come, let the breath of the sanctifying Spirit make itself felt upon her, and Jesus and His Church will be one spirit, one body.⁴ The departure of the Man-God in His triumphant Ascension⁵ was not an abandonment of His Church. On the contrary, desirous to accomplish the mystery of divine union with her, which had been so long in preparation, He returned, as the psalmist expresses it, on the wings of the winds,⁶ to that sanctuary of the Godhead, where from the Father and the Son proceeds the third Person, the Spirit of love. He ascended into heaven, that He might send this Spirit upon the children of men, and send Him directly from His eternal source.⁷

The Spirit came down. The annals of holy Church then began their course on earth; for it was then alone, thanks to the permanent and intimate union of which this holy Spirit is the cause, that she could begin to receive, from her divine Head Jesus, movement and life. Were the union transient, were it to fail for a single instant, the incomparable bride of the Son of God would be

¹ Gen. ii. 18–20. ² Eph. v. 25–27. ³ 1 Cor. xi. 8, 9.
⁴ Ibid. vi. 17. ⁵ Eph. i. 23. ⁶ Cant. viii. 14.
⁷ Ps. ciii. 3. ⁸ St. John xvi. 7.

separated from her Spouse; and thus forfeiting the principle and reason of her existence, she would cease to be. Hence it follows that the UNITIVE WAY is as essential to the Church as the purgative and illuminative ways. Moreover, it belongs to her alone; it is her privilege and her secret as bride of the Incarnate Word. Consequently, it is only by uniting himself with the Church, by being a member of this one¹ bride of Christ Jesus, that the Christian, thus hiding himself with Christ in God,² can reach those high degrees of divine charity where Jesus so masters the powers of mortal man, that, even here below, they derive from Him their whole movement and life. On the other hand, there is not one among the baptized who, by the mere fact of his being thereby incorporated into the Church of Christ, may not be led to a greater or less degree of that inner life of union. If there be few who enjoy the privilege offered them, it is because the majority correspond with grace too feebly or inconstantly.

And here we are not expressly speaking of those exceptional favours which form the special object of mystic theology. Favours of that kind produce those extraordinary states which are of heaven rather than of earth. In such states, the Spirit of God is not merely treating the favoured souls as the Scripture describes where it speaks of the eagle enticing its young ones to fly to the mountain-top;³ He seems impatient of the tedious exile, suddenly carries off the astonished and passive soul, and leads her, through unknown paths, right up to the throne of God. There, standing on the shore of the crystal sea of light which inundates the blessed,⁴ she is ravished with the music of heaven. At times there is something even more exquisite than that

¹ Cant. vi. 8. ² Col. iii. 8. ³ Gal. ii. 20. ⁴ Deut. xxxii. 11. ⁵ Apoc. iv. 6. ⁶ Ibid. xv. 2.

granted to such a privileged soul; God takes her to Himself, and speaks to her mysterious words and ineffable secrets; and, when she returns to herself, she is all inebriated with love and impressed with the divine communications wherewith she has been entrusted, and which human language is too poor to hold or to utter!¹ The noblest and sublimest pages of the Church's history, which relate the lives of the saints, abound with instances of favours like these. They manifest to us creatures that the great Creator is master to prove, when it pleases Him, the independence and the power of His love. And yet He has not promised any mortal such marvellous favours as these. Though they are not so rare as the world supposes, they are, nevertheless, beyond and above the normal and ordinary development of the Christian life.

Whilst thus recognizing these extraordinary results of union produced by the Spirit of God in some few of the Church's children, let us reverently pass them by, to speak on that perfection which constitutes the very essence of the unitive way. What, then, is that perfection? It is divine charity, reigning supreme in the soul of one that has been baptized. Let us recall to mind how, in the presence of the crowds that had come together to hear His words,² our Lord Jesus proclaimed from the mount the supernatural vocation of all to perfection³ and holiness.⁴ Did He not thereby distinctly tell us that the way which leads to divine union, understood in this its true meaning, is open to all? For it is divine union, thus understood, that alone produces perfect holiness. Sex, age, condition, are not obstacles to this divine union, provided the soul in question is really desirous of developing the heavenly germ within,⁵ and is faithful to grace. There is no

¹ 2 Cor. xii. 4. ² St. Matt. iv. 25. ³ Ibid. v. 48. ⁴ Rom. i. 7. ⁵ Heb. iii. 14.

Christian who, if thus rightly disposed, may not ascend from the lower degrees, where hope and fear are in the ascendancy, and reach the perfect love of God. And what is this but union? What is it but an assimilation with Him who, our faith tells us, should be now at once, even in this life, the one object of our desires and thoughts? If such a soul as that be taught, by faith alone, the glorious relations which grace is meant to produce between her and her God—these relations, though not perhaps felt and relished as is the case in those mysterious communications of which we were just now speaking, are none the less real, and may even be more substantially intimate, than those others. The higher or lower degree of divine union does not depend on the various and always incomplete manifestations which God may vouchsafe to grant a soul in this world; no, it results from the more or less perfect and constant union of the soul with the divine will; and this is brought about by progress in justification, and by the exercise of the Christian virtues. Thus God sometimes withholds those mystical favours from His dearest and most faithful servants: and there are generous souls that have never trodden any but the ordinary paths, and yet will be found dearer to the Heart of the Man-God in the next world than many others who, in the days of their mortal life, may have been considered as His special favourites, by reason of the exceptional favours bestowed upon them.

As to these, then, whose union with Christ is that of devoted love kept up by faith alone, they have all the greater need of keeping close to the Church, from the very fact of their not enjoying the direct light and caresses of their Lord. Let them go on courageously, taking comfort from the thought that if the way they are pursuing is more fatiguing, it is also more secure. The Church alone has had the promise made to her of not going wrong while journeying along the paths where precipices abound, and on which the spirit of darkness is ever busily setting snares. Let us, then, keep hold of our mother's hand as we proceed in the unitive way of this Time after Pentecost; for many a soul has been allured into misery by the deceitful appearance of a spirituality, which promised things far above the common. Woe to the soul that pretends to extraordinary results of divine union by systems which alienate her from the Church! She talks of having special lights from heaven, whereas she is but the dupe of satan, who can put on the appearance of a bright angel.¹ Let her retrace her steps and recover the beaten path; let her return to her mother; let her learn from the seraphic St. Teresa, that the essential condition of winning favours from Christ is to be a true 'daughter of the Church'—a title so dear to the saint that, when on the point of death, she made it the subject of her warmest thanks to God.²

If our holy mother the Church has sometimes to lament over souls that would have been models of generosity had they but followed her guidance, but who, allowing themselves to be led astray, as Eve was by the serpent, have taken false views, and fallen from the simplicity that is in Christ³—what a much more frequent cause of her grief is the sight of those countless Christians who utterly disdain the divine call to union, some from tepidity, some from sloth, some from false humility, and all saying that the low standard of Christian life which they take is all that God has any right to expect from them! God has put into the Church's heart those two deepest and strongest affections which He has created: the tenderness of a mother and the fervent love of a bride. Imagine, then, how great

¹ 2 Cor. xi. 13-15. ² Ribera, lib. iii. c. 15. ³ 2 Cor. xi. 3.

must be her zeal, and how intense her desire, to win over the whole world to her Jesus, and teach them how to attain union with Him! Like St. Paul, she is jealous with divine jealousy,¹ as she thinks of all those millions of Christians who undervalue the sublime vocation to which they are all created; those children of hers whom she cannot induce to rise above earthly goods; and yet these Christians are her own members by Baptism! She grieves at seeing how her Jesus is treated by the indifference or the half-hearted love of these sluggish members, who yet make up some part of that Body, which she was told to 'present as a chaste virgin to Christ.'²

O holy Church of Christ, thou art a model for thy children! Thou art the valiant woman of the Scripture,³ for it is thy faith alone that keeps up thy union with thy divine Spouse; and this glorious lamp of thine shall not be put out, dark as is the night of the world. Like ourselves, thou hast to love without seeing.⁴ Ten days after our Emmanuel had disappeared in a cloud,⁵ He sent from heaven the Spirit, who was to animate the bride He had formed for Himself;⁶ He would have the Spirit of love, who proceeds from Him, to be the soul of this 'flesh of His flesh.'⁷ Love became thy life, O Church of Jesus! and yet He, towards whom thou wast irresistibly drawn, withdrew Himself from thy sight. In place of the beloved One, mortal men were commissioned by Him to receive thee at thy birth, and to transmit to thee the testament of His alliance, the dowry of the Blood which had redeemed thee,⁸ and all the priceless pledges of divine union. These apostles, these messengers of thy Spouse, who had been eye-witnesses of His works, yet at the

¹ 2 Cor. xi. 2. ² Ibid. ³ Prov. xxxi. 10-31. ⁴ 1 Pet. i. 8. ⁵ Acts i. 9. ⁶ Gen. ii. 7. ⁷ Ibid. 23. ⁸ Eph. v. 25; 1 Pet. i. 18, 19.

time understood them so imperfectly; His chosen friends, who had at first no idea of His heavenly designs; with what humble devotedness, with what enthusiastic fidelity, now that they have been enlightened and inflamed by the same Holy Ghost, do they impart to thee all the exquisite secrets entrusted to them by Jesus, and tell thee all about the most beautiful among the sons of men!¹ Dear Church, not a single word of theirs escaped thee. The sacred pageantry of thy liturgy, wherewith thou each year celebratest the mysteries achieved by the Man-God, is proof enough of how thou hast made the memories of thy Spouse become the very life thou livest. But, thanks to the omnipotent grace of the Holy Ghost, who ever dwells within thee, thy life here below is not merely the charm of the remembered magnificences of thy Jesus' mysteries; those magnificences, by thy celebration of them, become thy realities, for it is not in name alone that thou art the bride of Him who wrought them. The Holy Ghost, by thy inspired liturgy, puts into thy possession the whole dower of thy Spouse's works. Beautiful land! where the seed, the word of God, is all thickly sown! The whole of that land belongeth to the Lord!² Land of beauty, thy ceaseless fertility, which all these ages have not impaired, is evidence enough that thy Beloved, though He has fled away to the everlasting hills,³ is still thy Sun of justice, and that, even from behind the cloud where He is hid, He darts straight upon thee His life-giving rays.

¹ Ps. xliv. 3. ² Ps. xxiii. 1. ³ Ps. lxxv. 5.

It is this permanent fact of the union between Christ and His Church, it is the fruit-bearing existence of His bride throughout all ages, that the holy liturgy signifies by the long months of the Time after Pentecost. No wonder that this last season of the liturgical year is as long as, and frequently longer than, all the others put together, because it has for its object, first the real life of the Church which she is living and will live till the end of time, and secondly, that reign of love which is intended to absorb the whole life of every Christian during his sojourn on earth. It is in this season of the Time after Pentecost that Jesus wins the end towards which all His previous labours and mysteries have been directed, that is, the union of His members with Himself, their Head, union which is to be produced by the persevering action of the Holy Ghost. It is now that Incarnate Wisdom, having fuller possession of mankind, produces in them more abundant fruits for His eternal Father. It is the season when the seed of the word, which has been so unstintedly sown by the previous mysteries, is producing perhaps a hundred-fold. Love, now in full power, tells upon the souls of the faithful by prayer, and suffering, and action. Yes, that third result, action, is imperative; for there is nothing so impossible for genuine love, as false quietude. The absurd pretence of habitually reposing in God without working for Him is a dangerous system, for, under the pretext of letting nothing be in the soul but love, the powers of the soul become clogged; the action of the Holy Ghost is paralyzed, and, sooner or later, it will seem to a soul who adopts such a spirituality that the exercise of the most indispensable virtues is a distraction, and therefore an imperfection. Perfect love, when it enters a soul, rules all her faculties; but far from crushing, or even indiscreetly using them, it makes each one of them more vigorous, and each one tends to make love itself more intense. Because of all this, therefore, the Time after Pentecost is the longest season of the liturgical year; and the Church, during this most precious time, will fill her children with the manifold doctrine included in the action of the Holy Ghost, who is governing us in the unitive way, and is gradually forming in each of us the perfect man, even unto the measure of Christ Himself.¹

Moreover, this latter portion of the liturgical year teaches us that, from the very fact of the Holy Ghost's leading the Church to divine union, all her labours tend to one result: that one result is RELIGION, or worship of God. The liturgy is the worthy and official expression of the Church's worship of God; and happy we who have made that liturgy our guide in the ways which lead to God! As it is with the Church herself, so must it be with us her children: the virtue of religion characterizes every degree of divine union.

As where charity rules the seven great virtues, there supernatural movement and life is most vigorous; so, where all the acts of virtue, prompted by love, have the glory of God for their aim (and this is religion), there is the most unequivocal proof that the Holy Ghost has worked union in that soul. Religion was the life of Jesus upon earth; and it is the same now, for He is the eternal High Priest, ever offering sacrifice to the Trinity. So then, if we have attained to any degree of true union with Him, wrought in us by the Holy Ghost, we must have a corresponding degree of religion within us. The apostle tells us that he who is joined to the Lord is one spirit with Him.² We repeat it: seeking to give glory to the blessed Trinity is the characteristic feature of a soul united with Christ Jesus.

¹ Eph. iv. 13-15. ² 1 Cor. vi. 17.

The Church's being united to Him necessitated her making religion (or, what is the same, worship) be the very essence of her existence. The magnificent celebrations of her liturgy, joined with the perfect integrity of her faith, will ever distinguish her, amidst the countless sects that lay claim to truth, as the true bride of, and the truly united to, Jesus. Hence, the temple—where God is most solemnly worshipped by the adorable sacrifice, and its accompaniment, its preparation, its sequel, of the choral service of Divine Office—the temple consecrated to God is the Church's home. If she leave it for a time, it is only to bring back with her more and more worshippers. It is there that she convenes her children to join her in celebrating the mysteries wrought by our Lord, or in honouring His blessed Mother, or the angels or the saints. It is there she becomes the joyful mother of children to her Spouse; there she blesses them with the gifts, and enlightens them with the truth, imparted to her by Him. And as she made His house their happiest dwelling during their life, so, after their death, she would (if men did not interfere with her wishes) have them rest in peace under the shadow of those consecrated walls.

Among the souls whom God has entrusted to the Church's care there are some who are so taken with admiration at her ceaseless voice of praise, breathing forth all over the world her adoring love of her Spouse's works and mysteries and perfections, that they aspire to do in like manner, and keep uninterrupted company with their mother, who is ever in search of the Beloved; they will do as she does, that is, have but one thought, one occupation, one ambition: divine union and a life of perfection. The mother gives them a hearty welcome; she admits them into her closest intimacy; she gladly and unreservedly imparts to them all her own secrets of how best to please, and how soonest find, their same beautiful Lord. And because they are thus filled with her spirit, the spirit of religion, she distinguishes them from all the rest of her sons and daughters by the grand title of religious. The world cannot understand them. The life they lead is such a puzzle to them that live a life of very different occupations, that it creates a habit of irritation against these men and women who thus live religion. The irritation makes them watchful to discover imperfections; or it makes them ingenious in putting forward theories about the religious state which would minimize its excellence; or it will make them pull down monasteries, and disband the monks and nuns who live there wasting (!) their lives in the worship of God, in religion towards Him! All this is quite natural. But these religious are one of the most unmistakable manifestations of the Church's union with Christ; and, for that very reason, no human power can deprive her of that manifestation. She, by being bride of Christ, is one body with Him;³ that body exists solely for the purpose of being offered in sacrifice of complete homage to the eternal Father; and the Church fulfils all this fully and unreservedly in those whose whole being, by the vows they make and the sublime consecration given to them by the Church, is absorbed into the religion and the perfect oblation of Christ Jesus, the eternal High Priest.

¹ Cant. iii. 1, v. 8-16. ² Ibid. 17. ³ Gen. ii. 24.

Though all Christians do not, and cannot, lead the life of religion in the perfect and untrammelled way that we have just been describing, yet are they all called upon, if they would enter heaven, to attain such a degree of union with Christ as will make them His true and real members. Now, that union, even supposing it to be the lowest degree, unites them to the Man-God, who is victim and Priest, and whose oblation is the highest worship that can be given to the most high God. The apostle teaches us that this union with the Incarnate Word is absolutely requisite for salvation.¹ That union began when we were baptized, when, as the same apostle says, we not only put on Christ,² but we were ingrafted into Him as the great Immolated, which the sacred text expresses by the words 'in the likeness of His death.'³ The unction of the chrism, given to us the moment after Baptism, attests the existence, in all the baptized, of the kingly priesthood,⁴ which gives them a share in the oblation (the religion) of the High Priest, our Lord Jesus Christ.

¹ Rom. viii. 29, 30. ² Gal. iii. 27. ³ Rom. vi. 5. ⁴ 1 St. Pet. ii. 2, 9.

These truths form the basis of the moral teaching contained in the Epistles of Saints Peter and Paul. Here, as the purest and sublimest teaching, the science of Christian life is summed up, as might be expected, in our seeking God's glory;⁵ in the religion and the sacrifice of the Head, passed on to His members, so that His worship becomes shared in by them. Let us again think on the meaning of that anointing in Baptism, which gives to every Christian the impress of the great High Priest Jesus: it implies, as we have said, the share Christians have in the sacrifice, the religion of Christ; it enables them to transform into a sharing in Christ's eternal holocaust all their victories over sin, and all their sacrifices, and all their virtuous acts, here on earth. So that the newly-baptized Christian who is just born to the supernatural life could say, as Christ did on His first coming into this world, that he had received his body only for the one purpose of immolating it to God's glory.⁶ The Christian is told by St. Paul that he too must present his body a living sacrifice, as a service, a worship, due unto God.⁷ Rendered, as he thus is, a sharer in the priesthood of the Man-God, he must remember what is the purpose of that participated honour: it is, as St. Peter shows him, that he make his good works be so many spiritual sacrifices offered unto God by Jesus Christ, and therefore acceptable.

⁵ 1 Cor. x. 31. ⁶ Heb. x. 5. ⁷ Rom. xii. 1.

Those same two apostles teach us that we Christians are also living stones¹ of the temple built by the Holy Ghost on the corner-stone. Nay, that we ourselves are temples;³ and, as such, we should resemble our Lord in this, as in all other things. Now He, in His sacred Humanity, was the sanctuary of the adorable Trinity. A temple should be what its name implies:⁵ therefore, adoration, prayer, praise, and the great sacrifice above all, should be uppermost in our thoughts, and should tell upon our whole conduct; otherwise the divine Majesty who dwells in us⁶ would be justly displeased.

¹ 1 St. Pet. ii. 5. ² Ibid. 4, 5. ³ Eph. ii. 20-22. ⁴ St. John ii. 21. ⁵ St. Benedict, H. Rule, c. 52. ⁶ 1 Cor. iii. 16.

But what is it that makes us sanctuaries of the Divinity? It is the coming into us of the Holy Ghost. The reign of the Paraclete within us puts upon us the sublime obligation of glorifying and carrying God in our bodies.⁷ 'If any one love Me,' said our Lord, 'My Father will love Him' (that is to say, will give him that holy Spirit who is love);⁸ 'and We will come unto him, and will make Our abode with him.'⁹ The promise was formal; it was fulfilled on the day of Pentecost. The holy Spirit, proceeding from the throne, filled, with the divine stream which flows together with Him from the sacred Heart of Jesus, the baptistery where the Church, in the person of the three thousand neophytes,¹ was awaiting her birth. The three divine Persons came down upon that first baptismal font; and, while the water was yet moist on these first converts of the Spirit of Christ, there descended upon them what the sacred liturgy enthusiastically terms an inundating grace of the Deity.² Blind and poor as they were before, they then were enriched with light and love. Not only was the mystery of the Trinity made known to the world, but, by the all-efficacious formula of holy Baptism, the Trinity took up Its abode in those regenerated creatures, making them all and each, as St. Augustine says, Its true temple.³

⁷ 1 Cor. vi. 20. ⁸ 1 St. John iv. 12, 13. ⁹ St. John xiv. 23. ¹ Acts ii. 41. ² Resp. of 5th Fer. aft. Pent. ³ St. Aug. Epist. 187, alias 57.

Nothing, therefore, could be more natural than for the feast of the holy Trinity to be placed immediately after that of the glorious Pentecost. No sooner would the Church, wakening into life, feel within her the divine indwelling, than she would prostrate herself in grateful adoration before that thrice-holy God, who thus deigned to fill her with His infinite Majesty. Later on she would be led to enrich her year with a festival, whose doctrinal light and teaching would so admirably harmonize with the rest of her liturgy.

If that festival of Trinity rightly followed Pentecost, it, with equal appropriateness, preceded the one of Corpus Christi,—for the manifestation of the three divine Persons, and the creature's acknowledgment of the homage it owes to the adorable Unity, really preceded the union, in the Sacrament of love, between Christ and His Church. The feast of the Eucharist would, from the very fact of its following that of Trinity, tell the bride that the glorification of God, one in three Persons, was to be the fruit justly expected from the divine nuptials. The children of the Church, invited so high up by divine Wisdom, though from no merits of their own, would now clearly understand why it was that our Lord did not wish to give Himself to His servants, except in the very celebration of that sacrifice, which gives infinite glory to the blessed Trinity. The union between the Church and her divine Spouse was to be on this condition, that the holiness of the Son of Man was to be communicated to the Church, whom He had chosen for His Bride. Let us give respectful attention to certain most mysterious words addressed by Jesus to His Father. 'Father,' said He, 'sanctify in the truth them whom Thou gavest Me; sanctify them in the truth, which is Thy Word; for it is for them that I do sanctify Myself, that they also may be sanctified in truth.'¹ What means this, that Jesus, who is sanctity itself,² and is the source of sanctity to all creatures, should speak of sanctifying Himself? The fathers of the Church³ explain it as being the consecration of the sacrifice, by which Jesus, who is the great High Priest, gives to God, in the name of the whole world, the infinite homage which is due to infinite Majesty. In human language, as also in the inspired Scriptures, justice and sanctity⁴ are one and the same. If, then, infinite sanctity is one with infinite justice, is not the essentially sanctified and sanctifying act that sacrifice of the Son of Man which so loudly proclaims, and so amply, yea so infinitely, satisfies the right of God, the eternal right, whence all other rights derive their existence, the right which is the origin of all justice?

¹ St. John xvii. 17, 19. ² Ps. xv. 10; St. Mark i. 24. ³ Among others, St. Cyril, in Joan., lib. x., c. 10. ⁴ Acts iii. 14.

Sacrifice, then, thus sanctifying the Head⁵ and the members,⁶ is also the consummation of union between Christ and His Church. With this before us, we shall have no difficulty in understanding how it is that the holy sacrifice, in its imposing and simple unity, should be the very centre and soul of a season, which signifies, and celebrates, and gives ever new perfection to that divine union. We must not expect to find, in the series of the Sundays after Pentecost, that connexion of dramatic design, that interesting gradation, working up to some fixed day of a mystery, as was the case in the preceding periods of the liturgical year. In those other seasons, the Church was in search of her divine Spouse; she was approaching closer to Him by the gradual celebration of His several mysteries; each celebration did its glorious share in the work of incorporating her with Him; till at length, being all transformed into Him, there was nothing to prevent the longed-for union. True, it was precisely then that the Man-God hid Himself from her view, and seemed to be leaving her for further probation; but that was the very time when He sent the Holy Ghost upon the earth; and He, the Spirit, revealed to the Church the sense of the word spoken by the divine Spouse in the Canticle: 'Till the day break, and the shadows retire, I will go to the mount of myrrh, and to the hill of frankincense.'¹

⁵ Heb. ii. 10. ⁶ Heb. x. 14. ¹ Cant. iv. 6.

Right well has the Church taken all in. She has fixed her abode on the mount of sacrifice; and there has she mingled the myrrh of her sufferings, and the frankincense of her worship, with the homage paid to the Trinity by the great High Priest, her Jesus. It is there that the fullness of Christ is filled² by her partaking of it; there she receives, day by day, an increase of fruitfulness. Having there found Him whom her soul loved so ardently, she holds Him fast,³ and will never leave the happy place He had fixed for the meeting. The day will come when she is to flee with Him¹ to the mountains, where the flowers of heaven blend their fragrance with that of the eternal holocaust; but even now love predominates and triumphs; for, though the bright land of heaven seems so far away, yet from the hills of her exile, where the Man-God continues His sacrifice, the Church may, in all truth, say to her divine Spouse: 'My Beloved is mine, and I am His, till the day break, and the shadows retire.'²

² Eph. i. 23. ³ Cant. iii. 4.

We thought it a necessity to offer these considerations to our reader, in order to give him a clearer idea of the importance of this liturgical season, and enable him thoroughly to understand its spirit. We may now resume our explanation of the liturgy for this Time after Pentecost; our last volume ended with the third Sunday. The work of sanctification carried on by the Holy Ghost in the souls of men, and His ceaseless operations in the Church at large, would have provided us with abundant matter of instruction for each day of these twenty-four weeks. The liturgy itself would have suggested admirable daily reflections, for we could have taken them from the Epistles and Gospels which, for a long time, were assigned to nearly every feria of this portion of the year. But this would have obliged us to make our volume as large again as it is. We shall, therefore, confine ourselves to an explanation of the Mass for each Sunday. The present usage of the Latin Church sets us the example; for, dating from the sixteenth century, she prescribes, as a general rule, that should a feria, on which no saint's feast is kept, occur during the week, the Sunday's Mass is to be simply repeated. In order to supply the faithful with suitable reflections for each of the weeks after Pentecost,

¹ Cant. viii. 14. ² Ibid. ii. 16, 17.

cost, we have taken the suggestion thus offered by the practice and rubrics of the Church for this holy season, and have made our commentary on the several portions of the Sunday's liturgy somewhat longer than will be found in the previous volumes of the work.

THE FOURTH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST

The fourth Sunday after Pentecost was called, for a long period, in the west, the Sunday of mercy, because, formerly, there was read upon it the passage from St. Luke beginning with the words: 'Be merciful, as your Father is merciful.' But, this Gospel having been since assigned to the Mass of the first Sunday after Pentecost, the Gospel of the fifth Sunday was made that of the fourth; the Gospel of the sixth became that of the fifth; and so on, up to the twenty-third. The change we speak of was, however, not introduced into many Churches till a very late period; and it was not universally received till the sixteenth century.

Whilst the Gospels were thus brought forward a week, in almost the whole series of these Sundays, the Epistles, Prayers, and the other sung portions of the ancient Masses were, with a few exceptions, left as originally drawn up. The connexion which the liturgists of the eleventh, twelfth, and thirteenth centuries had fancied they found between the Gospel

¹ Cf. cum Missali hodierno Bern. Aug. De offic. Mis. cap. v; Microl. De eccl. obs. cap. lxi; Honor. Augustod. Gemma animæ, l. iv; Rupert. De div. off. l. xii; Durand. l. vi; etc.

and the rest of the liturgy for these Sundays was broken. Thus the Church spared not those favourite views and explanations which were at times far-fetched; and yet she did not intend thereby to condemn those writers, nor to discourage her children from perusing their treatises, for, as the holy reflections they contained were frequently suggested by the authority of the ancient liturgies, such reading would edify and instruct. We are quite at liberty, then, to turn their labours to profit; let us only keep this continually before us—that the chief connexion existing between the several portions of the proper of each Mass for the Sundays after Pentecost consists in the unity of the sacrifice itself.

In the Greek Church there is even less pretension to anything approaching methodical arrangement in the liturgy of these Sundays. On the morrow of Pentecost they begin the reading of the Gospel of St. Matthew, and continue it, chapter after chapter, up to the feast of the Exaltation of the holy Cross, in September. St. Luke follows St. Matthew, and is read in the same way. The weeks and Sundays of this season are simply named according to the Gospel of each day; or they take the name of the evangelist whose text is being read: thus, our first Sunday after Pentecost is called by them the first Sunday of St. Matthew; the one we are now keeping is their fourth of St. Matthew.

So important is the Sunday's liturgy, destined each week to honour such profound mysteries, that, for a long time, the Roman Pontiffs kept down the number of feasts which were above the rank of semi-doubles; that thus the Sunday, which is itself a semi-double, might not be superseded. It was not till the second half of the seventeenth century that this discipline of reserve was relaxed. Then it was that it had to give way in order thereby to meet the attacks, made by the Protestants and their allies the Jansenists, against the cult of the saints. It was needful to remind the faithful that the honour paid to the servants of God detracts not from the glory of their Master; that the cult of the saints, the members of Christ, is but the consequence and development of that which is due to Christ their Head. The Church owed it to her Spouse to make a protest against the narrow views of these innovators, who were really aiming at lessening the glory of the Incarnation by thus denying its grandest consequences. It was, therefore, by a special inspiration of the holy Spirit that the apostolic See then permitted several feasts, both old and new, to be ranked as of a double rite. To strengthen the solemn condemnation she had pronounced against the heretics of that period, she wisely adopted the course of allowing the feasts of saints to be sometimes kept on Sundays, although these latter were considered as being especially reserved for the celebration of the leading mysteries of our Catholic faith, and for the obligatory attendance of the people.

The Sunday, or dominical, liturgy was not, however, altogether displaced by the celebration of any particular feast on the Lord's Day; for, no matter how solemn soever the feast falling on a Sunday may be, a commemoration must always be made of the Sunday, by adding its Prayers to those of the occurring feast, and by reading its proper Gospel, instead of that of St. John, at the end of Mass. Neither let us forget that after the assisting at the solemn Mass and the canonical Hours, one of the best means for observing the precept of keeping holy the sabbath-day is our own private meditation upon the Epistle and Gospel appointed by the Church for each Sunday.

Recently, however, in view of the great increase in the number of festivals of Saints kept by the Universal Church, which had resulted in the Sunday liturgy being very rarely used, the Holy See has thought well to ordain that greater or lesser double feasts falling on Sundays shall be merely commemorated in the Mass and Office of the day. Henceforth the Mass of the season is said on every Sunday throughout the year which is not occupied by a double feast of the first or second class, or by a Feast of Our Lord. Thus the Sunday liturgy is restored to its former high rank in the scheme of the Church's year.

MASS

The Church, on the morrow of Trinity Sunday, began the reading of the Books of Kings in her Night Office. On this very night preceding our Sunday she entered on the admirable history of David's triumph over Goliath, the Philistine giant. Now, who is the Church's true David but that divine leader who, for these eighteen hundred years, has been marshalling the army of the saints to victory? Is not she herself the King's daughter,¹ who was promised to Him who should win the battle against satan? That battle was won on Calvary by our Lord Jesus Christ; He saved the true Israel, and avenged the insult offered to the God of hosts. Filled with the sentiments breathed into her by this episode of sacred history, the Church, the bride, borrows the words of David,² wherewith to celebrate the noble exploits of her

¹ Kings xvii, 25-27. ² Ps. xxvi.

Spouse, and to tell the confidence which she had in Him, in consequence of His triumph. It is her Introit.

INTROIT

Dominus illuminatio mea et salus mea, quem timebo? Dominus defensor vitæ meæ, a quo trepidabo? Qui tribulant me inimici mei, ipsi infirmati sunt et ceciderunt.

The Lord is my light and my salvation, whom shall I fear? The Lord is the protector of my life, of whom shall I be afraid? My enemies that trouble me have themselves been weakened, and have fallen.

Ps. Si consistant adversum me castra, non timebit cor meum. Gloria Patri. Dominus.

Ps. If armies in camp should stand together against me, my heart shall not fear. Glory, etc. The Lord.

Notwithstanding her confidence in heaven's help in times of trial, yet does the Church ever pray to the Most High that He would bless the world with peace. If, when the battle comes, the bride thrills at the thought that she will then have the chance of proving her devoted love, yet, as mother, she trembles when she thinks that many of her children, who would have been saved had the times been peaceful, will perish because of days of trouble overtaking them. Let us pray with her in the Collect.

COLLECT

Da nobis, quæsumus Domine, ut et mundi cursus pacifice nobis tuo ordine dirigatur: et Ecclesia tua tranquilla devotione lætetur. Per Dominum.

Grant us, we beseech thee, O Lord, that, by thy providence, the events of this world may be peacefully arranged for us, and that thy Church may be gladdened by being permitted to serve thee with peaceful devotedness. Through, etc.

SECOND COLLECT

A cunctis nos quæsumus, Domine, mentis et corporis defende periculis: et intercedente beata et gloriosa semper Virgine Dei Genitrice Maria, cum beato Joseph, beatis apostolis tuis Petro et Paulo, atque beato N. et omnibus sanctis, salutem nobis tribue benignus et pacem; ut destructis adversitatibus et erroribus universis, Ecclesia tua secura tibi serviat libertate.

Preserve us, O Lord, we beseech Thee, from all dangers of soul and body: and, by the intercession of the glorious and blessed Mary, the ever Virgin Mother of God, of blessed Joseph, of the blessed apostles Peter and Paul, of blessed N. (here is mentioned the titular saint of the church), and of all the saints, grant us, in thy mercy, health and peace; that, all adversities and errors being removed, thy Church may serve thee with undisturbed liberty.

The third Collect is left to the priest's own choice.

EPISTLE

Lectio Epistolæ beati Pauli Apostoli ad Romanos.

Caput VIII.

Fratres, Existimo quod non sunt condignæ passiones hujus temporis ad futuram gloriam, quæ revelabitur in nobis. Nam exspectatio creaturæ revelationem filiorum Dei exspectat. Vanitati enim creatura subjecta est non volens, sed propter eum qui subjecit eam in spe: quia et ipsa creatura liberabitur a servitute corruptionis in libertatem gloriæ filiorum Dei. Scimus enim quod omnis creatura ingemiscit, et parturit usque adhuc. Non solum autem illa, sed et nos ipsi primitias Spiritus habentes, et ipsi intra nos gemimus, adoptionem filiorum Dei exspectantes, redemptionem corporis nostri: in Christo Jesu Domino nostro.

Lesson of the Epistle of St. Paul the Apostle to the Romans.

Chapter VIII.

Brethren: I reckon that the sufferings of this time are not worthy to be compared with the glory to come, that shall be revealed in us. For the expectation of the creature waiteth for the revelation of the sons of God. For the creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him that made it subject, in hope: because the creature also itself shall be delivered from the servitude of corruption, into the liberty of the glory of the children of God. For we know that every creature groaneth, and travaileth in pain even till now. And not only it, but ourselves also, who have the first-fruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption of the sons of God, the redemption of our body in Christ Jesus our Lord.

The first-fruits of the Spirit are the grace and the virtues which He has put into our souls, as the earnest of salvation and the germ of future glory. Our faith confirms our possession of these divine pledges; and regenerate human nature, even amidst all the trials of this life, is consoled at the very thought of the noble destiny to which it is called. Satan may use his fiercest efforts to regain his lost ground; and the soul may have many and frequent battles to fight, in order to hold what was once under the dominion of the enemy; but Christian hope is an armour of heaven's own making. Hope 'entereth in even within the veil';¹ and then she comes, telling the combatant about the disproportion, here mentioned by the apostle, between the fatigues of the march here below and the bliss which is to reward our fidelity in the happy land above. He has the promises of God and the marvellous dealings of the Paraclete in his regard, both in the past and now, all justifying his expectations of the future glory that shall then be revealed, be realized, in him. The very earth he dwells on, which now so often tyrannizes over him and deceives his senses, urges him to fix his heart on something far better than itself; it even seems to share in his hopes. St. Paul tells us so in our to-day's Epistle: the wild upheavings, the restless changes of material creation, are so many voices clamouring for the destruction of sin, and for the final and total triumph over the corruption which followed sin. The present condition of this world, therefore, furnishes a special and most telling motive, inviting us to the holy virtue of hope. They alone can find anything strange in such teaching who have no idea of how man's being raised up to the supernatural order was, from the beginning, a real ennobling of the world which was made for man's service. Men of this stamp have their own ways of explaining God's creation; but the truth

¹ Heb. vi. 19.

which explains everything both on earth and in heaven—the divine axiom which is the principle and reason of everything that has been made—is this: that God, who of necessity does everything for His own glory, has, of His own free choice, appointed that the perfection of this His glory shall consist in the triumph of His love, by the ineffable mystery of divine union realized in His creature. To bring this divine union about is, consequently, by God's gracious will, not only the one sole end, but, moreover, the one only law, the vital and constitutive law, of creation. When the Spirit moved over chaos, He adapted the informal matter to the designs of infinite love. Thereby the various elements, and the countless atoms, of the world that was in preparation really derived from this infinite love the principle of their future development and power; they received it as their one single mission to co-operate, each in its own way, with the holy Spirit, in leading man, the creature chosen by eternal Wisdom, to the proposed glorious end—union with God. Sin broke the alliance, and would have destroyed the world by taking from it the purpose of its existence, had it not been for the incomprehensible patience of the God it outraged, and the marvellous renovations of the original plan achieved by the Spirit of love. A violent state, the state of struggle and expiation, has now been substituted for what, in the primal design of the Creator, was to be the effortless advance of the king of creation to his grand destiny, the spontaneous growth of what someone has called man, 'the god in the bud.' Divine union is still offered to the world, but at what a cost of trouble and travail! We may still enjoy the eternal music of triumph, and all the joys of the divine nuptial banquet; but oh! what a long prelude of sighs and sobs must precede!

Men who recognize no other law than that of the flesh may be as deaf and as indifferent as they please to the teachings of positive revelation; but mere matter will go on ever condemning their materialism. Nature, which they pretend to acknowledge as their only authority, will continue to preach the supernatural with her thousand mouths, and will preach it in every nook of the earth; and creation, disturbed though it be, and turned astray by the fall of Adam, will still keep proclaiming—all the louder because it is in suffering—that the fallen king, whom it was intended to serve, has a destiny far beyond all finite things. O ye mysterious sufferings of creatures, which the apostle here calls your groanings, may we not name you, as one of the poets did, 'the tears of things'?¹ Truly, you are like the soul of music of this land of trial; we have but to listen to your sweet plaintive sounds, and let you speak your eloquence, and you lead us to Him who is the source of all beauty and love. The pagan world heard your voice; but its philosophers would have it that you meant pantheism! The Holy Ghost had not yet begun His reign.

He alone could explain to us the strange language of nature, and her vehement aspirations, all of which had been put into her by Himself. All is now made clear to us: the Spirit of the Lord hath filled the whole earth;² the divine witness, who giveth us assurance that we are the sons of God,³ has carried His precious testimony to the farthest limits of creation; for all creation thrills with expectancy, impatient to see the coming of that glorious day which is to be the revelation of the glory that belongs to these sons of God. It is on their account that they too have had to suffer; together with them they shall be set free, and shall share in the brightness of their coronation-day.

¹ Virg., 'Æn.,' I. 462. ² Wisd. i. 7. ³ Rom. viii. 16.

St. John Chrysostom compares the earth to 'the nurse who has brought up the king's son; when he succeeds to his father's kingdom, she too is made all the better off. . . . It is much the same with all men; when a son of theirs is to appear in the splendour of some new dignity, they let his very servants wear richer suits. So will God vest in incorruption every creature when the day of the deliverance and glory of His children shall come.'¹

¹ In Ep. ad Rom., Hom. xiv. 6.

The Gradual offers up to God the prayers of Christians who, though they are far from being free from sin, and feel that they are unworthy of His assistance, yet, for His own glory's sake, sue Him to have compassion on them. Poor though they be, they are His soldiers; their cause is His. The Alleluia-verse shows us the Church, though here below she be poor and persecuted, sending up her prayer of confidence to the throne of her Spouse, the most just Judge.

GRADUAL

Propitius esto, Domine, peccatis nostris, nequando dicant gentes: ubi est Deus eorum?

℣. Adjuva nos, Deus salutaris noster: et propter honorem nominis tui, Domine, libera nos.

Alleluia, alleluia.

℣. Deus, qui sedes super thronum, et judicas æquitatem, esto refugium pauperum in tribulatione. Alleluia.

Be merciful, O Lord, to our offences, that the Gentiles may never say: Where now is their God?

℣. Help us, O Lord, our Saviour, and, for the honour of thy name, deliver us, O Lord.

Alleluia, alleluia.

℣. O God, who sittest on thy throne, and judgest justly, be a refuge to the poor in distress. Alleluia.

GOSPEL

Sequentia sancti Evangelii secundum Lucam.

Caput V.

In illo tempore: Cum turbæ irruerent in Jesum, ut audirent verbum Dei, et ipse stabat secus stagnum Genesareth. Et vidit duas naves stantes secus stagnum: piscatores autem descenderant, et lavabant retia. Ascendens autem in unam navim, quæ erat Simonis, rogavit eum a terra reducere pusillum. Et sedens, docebat de navicula turbas. Ut cessavit autem loqui, dixit ad Simonem: Duc in altum, et laxate retia vestra in capturam. Et respondens Simon, dixit illi: Præceptor, per totam noctem laborantes, nihil cepimus: in verbo autem tuo laxabo rete. Et cum hoc fecissent, concluserunt piscium multitudinem copiosam; rumpebatur autem rete eorum. Et annuerunt sociis, qui erant in alia navi, ut venirent, et adjuvarent eos. Et venerunt, et impleverunt ambas naviculas, ita ut pene mergerentur. Quod cum videret Simon Petrus, procidit ad genua Jesu, dicens: Exi a me, quia homo peccator sum, Domine. Stupor enim circumdederat eum, et omnes qui cum illo erant, in captura piscium quam ceperant: similiter autem Jacobum et Joannem, filios Zebedæi, qui erant socii Simonis. Et ait ad Simonem Jesus: Noli timere: ex hoc jam homines eris capiens. Et subductis ad terram navibus, relictis omnibus secuti sunt eum.

Sequel of the holy Gospel according to Luke.

Chapter V.

At that time, it came to pass, that when the multitude pressed upon him to hear the word of God, he stood by the lake of Genesareth, and saw two ships standing by the lake; but the fishermen were gone out of them and were washing their nets. And going into one of the ships that was Simon's, he desired him to draw back a little from the land. And sitting he taught the multitudes out of the ship. Now when he had ceased to speak, he said to Simon: Launch out into the deep, and let down your nets for a draught. And Simon, answering, said to him: Master, we have laboured all the night, and have taken nothing; but at thy word, I will let down the net. And when they had done this, they enclosed a very great multitude of fishes, and their net broke. And they beckoned to their partners that were in the other ship, that they should come and help them. And they came and filled both the ships, so that they were almost sinking. Which when Simon Peter saw, he fell down at Jesus' knees, saying: Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord. For he was wholly astonished, and all that were with him, at the draught of the fishes which they had taken. And so were also James and John the sons of Zebedee, who were Simon's partners. And Jesus saith to Simon: Fear not; from henceforth thou shalt catch men. And having brought their ships to land, leaving all things they followed him.

The prophecy and promise made by Jesus to Simon the son of John is now fulfilled. We were in amazement, on the day when the Holy Ghost came down, at the success which attended Peter's first fishing for men; he cast in his nets, and it was the choicest of the sons of Israel that he took, and offered them to the Lord Jesus. But the bark of Peter was not to be long confined within Jewish waters. Insignificant as it seems to human views, the ship is now sailing on the high seas; it rides on the deep waters, which are, so St. John tells us, peoples and nations.¹ The boisterous wind, the surging billows, the storm, no longer terrify the boatman of Lake Tiberias; for he knows that he has on board Him who is the master of the waves—Him, that is, who has given the deep as a garment to clothe the earth.² Endued with power from on high,³ Peter has cast his net, the apostolic preaching, all over the great ocean; for it is large as the world, and is to bring the sons of the 'great fish,'⁴ the divine Ichthys,⁵ to the eternal shore. Grand indeed is the work assigned to Peter. Though fellow-labourers have been joined to him in his divine enterprise, yet does he preside over them all as their undisputed head, as master of the ship where Jesus commands in person, and directs all the operations to be done for the world's salvation. Our to-day's Gospel very opportunely prepares us for, and sums up, the teachings included in the feast of the prince of the apostles, which always comes close on the fourth Sunday after Pentecost. For that very reason, we leave for that feast the detailed enumeration of the glories inherent in the vicar of Christ; and limit ourselves, for the present, to the consideration of the other mysteries contained in the text before us.

¹ Apoc. xvii. 15. ² Ps. ciii. 6. ³ St. Luke xxiv. 49. ⁴ Titul. S. Abercii. ⁵ Inscript. Augustod.

The evangelists have left us the account of two miraculous fishings made by the apostles in presence of their divine Lord: one of these, related by St. Luke, the Church proposes for our consideration on this Sunday; the other, with its exquisite symbolism, was put before us by the beloved disciple on Easter Wednesday. The former of these, which took place while our Lord was still in the days of His mortal life, merely states that the net was cast into the water, and that it broke with the multitude of the draught; but no notice is taken by the evangelist of either the number or the kind of fish. In the second, it is our risen Lord who tells the fishermen, His disciples, that the net must be let down on the right side of their boat; it catches, and without breaking, a hundred and fifty-three great fishes; these are brought to the shore where Jesus is waiting for them, that He may join them with the mysterious bread and fish that He Himself has already prepared for His labourers.¹ The fathers are unanimous in the interpretation of these two fishings: they represent the Church; first of all, the Church as she now is, and next as she is to be in eternity. As she now is, the Church is the multitude, without distinction between good and bad; but afterwards—that is, after the resurrection—the good alone will compose the Church, and their number will be for ever fixed. 'The kingdom of heaven,' says our Lord, 'is like to a net cast into the sea, and gathering together of all kind of fishes; which, when it was filled, they drew out; they chose out the good into vessels, but the bad they cast forth.'²

¹ St. John xxi. 1-18. ² St. Matt. xiii. 47, 48.

To speak with St. Augustine, the fishers of men have cast forth their nets; they have taken the multitude of Christians which we see in wonderment; they have filled the two ships with them, the two peoples, Jew and Gentile. But what is this we are told? The multitude weighs down the ships, even to the risk of sinking them; it is what we witness now: the pressing and mingled crowd of the baptized is a burden to the Church. Many Christians there are who live badly; they are a trouble to, and keep back, the good. Worse than these, there are those who tear the nets by their schisms or their heresies; they are impatient of the yoke of unity, and will not come to the banquet of Christ; they are pleased with themselves. Under pretext that they cannot live with the bad, they break the net which kept them in the apostolic track, and they die far off the shore. In how many countries have they not thus broken the great net of salvation? The Donatists in Africa, the Arians in Egypt, Montanus in Phrygia, Manes in Persia; and since their times, how many others have excelled in the work of rupture! Let us not imitate their folly. If grace have made us holy, let us be patient with the bad while living in this world's waters. Let the sight of them drive us neither to live as they do, nor to leave the Church. The shore is not far off, where those on the right, or the good, will alone be permitted to land, and from which the wicked will be repulsed, and cast into the abyss.¹

¹ S. Aug. Serm. 248-252, passim.

In the Offertory, the Christian army sues for that light of faith which alone can make it sure of victory; and this, because it tells where the enemy is, and what are his plans. For a servant of God who is thus enlightened, night has no dangers; the brightness of heaven's beams keeps off from his eyes that fatal sleep which implies defeat and death.

OFFERTORY

Illumina oculos meos, ne unquam obdormiam in morte: nequando dicat inimicus meus: Prævalui adversus eum.

Enlighten mine eyes, that I may never sleep in death; lest the enemy should ever say: I have prevailed over him.

The gifts offered on the altar for the all-mighty transformation of the sacrifice are a figure of the faithful themselves. It is on this account that the Church prays, in the Secret, that our Lord would draw to Himself our rebel wills, and change them, as He is about to do with these gifts. Let us remember, that of all the fish that were in the mysterious net, those only, as the fathers tell us, will be the elect of the eternal shores who 'live in such wise as to deserve to be introduced, by the fishermen of the Church, to the banquet of Christ Jesus.'¹

¹ Bruno Ast. Expos. in Gen., c. I.

SECRET

Oblationibus nostris, quæsumus Domine, placare susceptis: et ad te nostras etiam rebelles compellas propitius voluntates. Per Dominum.

Receive our offerings, we beseech thee, O Lord, and be appeased thereby; and mercifully compel our rebel wills to yield unto thee. Through, etc.

SECOND SECRET

Exaudi nos, Deus salutaris noster: ut per hujus sacramenti virtutem, a cunctis nos mentis et corporis hostibus tuearis; gratiam tribuens in præsenti, et gloriam in futuro.

Graciously hear us, O God, our Saviour; that, by virtue of this sacrament, thou mayst defend us from all enemies, of both soul and body; grant us grace in this life, and glory in the next.

The third Secret is left to the priest's own choice.

That God who enabled David's weakness to triumph over the giant Philistine, gives Himself to us in the sacred mysteries. Let us sing the psalm from which the Communion-anthem is taken: let us sing these few words in praise of His merciful power, which makes itself become ours by means of this adorable Sacrament.

COMMUNION

Dominus firmamentum meum, et refugium meum, et liberator meus; Deus meus, adjutor meus.

The Lord is my support, and my refuge, and my deliverer: my God is my helper.

St. Augustine¹ gives the name of sacrament of hope to the divine mystery wherein the Church daily proclaims and restores, here below, her social union. The real union, though at present it be veiled, of the Head and the members in the banquet of eternal Wisdom, is a pledge of the future glories of regenerate humanity, far exceeding that restless expectation of creation, of which the apostle spoke to us in to-day's Epistle. Let us pray, in the Postcommunion, that our defilements may be removed, and may not impede this holy Sacrament from producing its full effect in us; for such is its virtue, that it is able to lead us to the consummate perfection of salvation.

POSTCOMMUNION

Mysteria nos, Domine, quæsumus, sumpta purificent, et suo munere tueantur. Per Dominum.

May the mysteries we have received, O Lord, both purify and defend us, by the gift they bestow. Through, etc.

SECOND POSTCOMMUNION

Mundet et muniat nos, quæsumus, Domine, divini Sacramenti munus oblatum, et intercedente beata Virgine Dei Genitrice Maria, cum beato Joseph, beatis apostolis tuis Petro et Paulo, atque beato N. et omnibus sanctis, a cunctis nos reddat et perversitatibus expiatos, et adversitatibus expeditos.

May the oblation of this divine Sacrament, we beseech thee, O Lord, both cleanse and defend us; and by the intercession of blessed Mary, the Virgin-Mother of God, of blessed Joseph, of the blessed apostles Peter and Paul, of blessed N., and of all the saints, free us from all sin, and deliver us from all adversity.

The third Postcommunion is left to the priest's own choice.

¹ Contra Faustum. L. xii, 20.

VESPERS

The psalms, capitulum, hymn, and versicle, as above, pages 71-81.

ANTIPHON OF THE MAGNIFICAT

Præceptor, per totam noctem laborantes nihil cepimus; in verbo autem tuo laxabo rete.

Master, we have laboured all night, and have taken nothing; but at thy word, I will let down the net.

OREMUS

Da nobis, quæsumus, Domine, ut et mundi cursus pacifice nobis tuo ordine dirigatur, et Ecclesia tua tranquilla devotione lætetur. Per Dominum.

LET US PRAY

Grant us, we beseech thee, O Lord, that, by thy providence, the events of this world may be peacefully arranged for us, and that thy Church may be gladdened by being permitted to serve thee with peaceful devotedness. Through, etc.

THE FIFTH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST

This Sunday, which, with the Greeks, is called the fifth of St. Matthew, was known by the Latins as the Sunday of the fishing; such was its name up to the time when the Church transferred to the previous Sunday the Gospel which suggested that title. The week which it commences is, in some ancient lectionaries, called the 'first after the feast of the apostles' or of St. Peter; in others it is the second or third after the same feast; these, and similar varieties of names, which it is no rare thing to find in the liturgical books of the Middle Ages, are due to the fact that Easter was kept earlier or later in the years when those books were written.

The Church began last night the reading of the second Book of Kings, which opens with the description of Saul's sad end and David's accession to the throne of Israel. The exaltation of Jesse's son is the climax to the prophetic life of the ancient people. In David God had found His faithful servant,¹ and He resolved to exhibit him to the world as the most perfect figure of the future Messiah. A solemn promise of Jehovah assured the new monarch as to the future of his race; his throne was to be everlasting,² for at some future day it was to be the throne of Him who should be called the Son of the Most High, though, at the same time, He was to be Son of David.³

But whilst the tribe of Juda was hailing in Hebron the king elected by the Lord, there were dark clouds on the horizon. In her Vespers of yesterday the Church sang, as one of her finest antiphons, the funeral ode which inspiration dictated to David when he saw the regal crown that had been picked up from the dust and gore of the battlefield, whereon had fallen the princes of Israel: 'Ye mountains of Gelboe, let neither dew nor rain come upon you, for there was cast away the shield of the valiant, the shield of Saul, as though he had not been anointed with oil. How are the valiant fallen in battle! Jonathan slain on the high places! Saul and Jonathan exceedingly lovely and comely in their life; even in death they were not divided.'⁴

¹ Ps. lxxxviii, 21. ² Ibid. 36-38. ³ St. Luke i, 32.
⁴ 2 Kings i. 21, 23, 25.

The proximity of the great solemnity of the apostles, June 29, to the Saturday when this antiphon is sung, has suggested to the Church to apply its last words to Saints Peter and Paul, during the octave of their feast: 'Glorious princes of the earth! as they loved each other in their life, so even in their death they were not divided!'¹ Like the Hebrew people at this period of their history, our Christian armies have often had to hail the accession of a king on the field reddened with the blood of his predecessor.

MASS

As on last Sunday, so again to-day, the Church seems to unite together the readings of the previous night and the solemn entrance of the sacrifice. The Introit for this fifth Sunday is taken from Psalm xxvi, which was composed by David on occasion of his coronation in Hebron. It expresses the humble confidence of him who has nothing here below to trust in; and yet he has the Lord as his light and salvation. In the events just referred to, nothing less than a blind faith in God's promises could have kept up the courage of the young shepherd of Bethlehem, and nothing less could have inspired the people who had made him their king. But we must see beyond this; we must understand that the kingship of Jesse's son and his descendants, in the ancient Jerusalem, represents, for our mother the Church, a grander royalty, and a more lasting dynasty—the kingship of Christ and the dynasty of the sovereign Pontiffs.

INTROIT

Exaudi, Domine, vocem meam qua clamavi ad te: adjutor meus esto, ne derelinquas me, neque despicias me, Deus salutaris meus. Ps. Dominus illuminatio mea, et salus mea; quem timebo? V. Gloria Patri. Exaudi.

Hear, O Lord, my voice, with which I have cried to thee: be thou my helper: forsake me not: do not thou despise me, O God, my Saviour! Ps. The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? Glory, etc. Hear.

¹ Ant. Oct. Apost. ad Benedictus.

The blessings promised to David as recompense for his combats were but a poor figure of those which await in heaven the vanquishers of the world, the flesh, and the devil. They are to be kings for ever; on their thrones, they are to enjoy the fullness of those inebriating and heavenly delights, some drops of which are permitted by the divine Spouse to be tasted, here below, by souls that are faithful to Him. Let us, therefore, love Him, who thus recompenses our love; and since, of ourselves, we can do nothing, let us, through the Spouse, ask the giver of every best gift¹ to bestow on us the perfection of divine charity.

COLLECT

Deus, qui diligentibus te bona invisibilia præparasti: infunde cordibus nostris tui amoris affectum; ut te in omnibus, et super omnia diligentes, promissiones tuas, quæ omne desiderium superant, consequamur. Per Dominum.

O God, who hast prepared invisible good things for them that love thee: pour forth into our hearts an affectionate love for thee: that, loving thee, in all things, and above all things, we may come to the enjoyment of thy promises, which surpass all that we could desire. Through, etc.

The other Collects, as given above, in the Mass of the fourth Sunday, page 120.

¹ St. James i. 17.

EPISTLE

Lectio Epistolæ beati Petri Apostoli. 1 Caput III.

Lesson of the Epistle of St. Peter the Apostle. 1 Chapter III.

Charissimi, Omnes unanimes in oratione estote, compatientes, fraternitatis amatores, misericordes, modesti, humiles: non reddentes malum pro malo, nec maledictum pro maledicto, sed e contrario benedicentes: quia in hoc vocati estis, ut benedictionem hereditate possideatis. Qui enim vult vitam diligere, et dies videre bonos, coerceat linguam suam a malo, et labia ejus ne loquantur dolum. Declinet a malo, et faciat bonum: inquirat pacem, et sequatur eam. Quia oculi Domini super justos, et aures ejus in preces eorum: vultus autem Domini super facientes mala. Et quis est qui vobis noceat, si boni æmulatores fueritis? Sed et si quid patimini propter justitiam, beati. Timorem autem eorum ne timueritis, et non conturbemini. Dominum autem Christum sanctificate in cordibus vestris.

Dearly beloved: Be ye all of one mind, having compassion one of another, being lovers of the brotherhood, merciful, modest, humble: not rendering evil for evil, nor railing for railing, but contrariwise, blessing: for unto this are you called, that you may inherit a blessing. For, he that will love life, and see good days, let him refrain his tongue from evil, and his lips that they speak no guile. Let him decline from evil, and do good: let him seek after peace, and pursue it: because the eyes of the Lord are upon the just, and his ears unto their prayers; but the countenance of the Lord upon them that do evil things. And who is he that can hurt you, if you be zealous of good? But if also you suffer any thing for justice' sake, blessed are ye. And be not afraid of their fear, and be not troubled. But sanctify the Lord Christ in your hearts.

The Gospel of last Sunday showed us the apostles gathering into their net the mystic fish, which represented the chosen souls called into the union of the Church. To-day we must look upon the faithful as the living stones of which that Church is built; for we are listening to the words of Peter, who is the rock and the foundation-stone. The Son of God came down from heaven for no other purpose than to found on earth a glorious city, in which God Himself might delight to dwell; He came, that He might build for His Father a temple of matchless beauty, where praise and love, ceaselessly sounding from the very stones which form its walls, might worthily proclaim it to be the sanctuary of the great sacrifice. He became Himself the foundation of the thrice holy structure, wherein was to burn the eternal holocaust. He communicated this character of foundation of the new temple to Simon, His vicar;² and by giving him the name of Peter or rock, He as good as told all future generations, what was the one aim of all His divine labours, viz., to build, here on earth, a temple worthy of His eternal Father. Let us, with respectful gratitude, receive from this vicar of the Man-God the practical lessons which are involved in this master-truth. And, as we are just now in the period of the year when the calendar brings the prince of the apostles into such welcome prominence, let us be led by the Church nearer and nearer to this shepherd and bishop of our souls.³

¹ 1 St. Pet. ii. 4-7. ² St. Matt. xvi. 18.
³ 1 St. Pet. ii. 25.

Union of true charity, concord, and peace, which must, at every cost, be kept up as the condition for their being happy both now and for ever—such is the substance of the instructions addressed by Simon, now Peter, to those other chosen stones, which rest upon him, and constitute that august temple to be presented by the Son of Man to the glory of the Most High. Do not the solidity and duration of even earth's palaces depend on the degree of union between the materials used in their structure? Again, it is union which gives strength and beauty to all the parts of this immense universe; let there be a cessation of that mutual attraction which combines them together in one harmonious whole, let there be a suspension of that cohesion which holds their atoms together, and the whole universe will return to dust. The Creator hath made peace in His high places;⁴ so that He asks: 'Who can make the harmony of heaven to sleep?'⁵ And yet, as the earth, in its present condition, is to have an end, so, too, the heavens are to pass away as some worn-out garment.¹ What, then, will be the cause of the stability, what the cement which is to hold together the house prepared for God to dwell in, which, when all else has crumbled into change, is to be ever the same? And that dwelling is the Church; the dwelling of the adorable Trinity, up to whose throne the fragrance which exhales from her divine Spouse will ascend for all eternity. Here again it is the Holy Spirit who must explain to us the mystery of this union, which makes up the holy city,² and which is to last as long as eternity itself. The charity which is poured forth into our hearts at the moment of our Baptism is an emanation of the very love that reigns in the bosom of the blessed Trinity; for the workings of the Holy Spirit in the saints have this for their aim: to make them enter into a participation in the divine energies. Having become the life of the regenerate soul, the divine fire penetrates her whole being with God, and communicates, to her created and finite love, the direction and the power of the flame that is everlasting and divine. So that, henceforward, the Christian must love as God loves; his charity is then only what it should be, when it takes in everything that God loves. Now, such is the ineffable friendship established by the supernatural order between God and His intellectual creatures, that He vouchsafes to love them with the love wherewith He loves Himself; and therefore, our charity should include and embrace, not only God Himself, but, moreover, all those beings whom He has called to share, if they will, in His own infinite happiness. This will give us to understand the grandeur and incomparable power of the union, in which the Holy Ghost has established the Church. We are not surprised that its

⁴ Job xxv. 2. ⁵ Ibid. xxxviii. 37.
¹ Ps. ci. 26-28. ² Ps. cxxi. 3.

bonds should be stronger than death, and its cohesion be proof against all the power of hell;¹ for the cement, which joins the living stones of its walls together, partakes of the strength of God Himself, and imitates the stability of His eternal love. The Church is truly that tower built on the waters, which was shown to Hermas; it was formed of brightly polished stones, so closely joined one to the other that the eye could not perceive the joints.²

But let us also understand the importance and the necessity of mutual union for all Christians. There must be among them that love of the brotherhood which is so frequently and so strongly recommended by the apostles, the co-operators of the Spirit in the building up of the Church. The keeping aloof from schism and heresy, of whose terrible consequences we were told in last Sunday's Gospel; the repression of hatred and jealousy; no, these are not enough to make us become useful members of the Church of Christ: we must, moreover, have a charity which is effective, and devoted, and persevering, and brings all souls and hearts into true union and harmony; a charity, which, to be worthy of the name, must be warm-hearted and generous, for it must make us see God in our fellow-men, and that will bring us to look upon their happiness or misfortunes as though they were our own. We must have none of that phlegmatic egotism which finds satisfaction in never putting itself out of the way for anybody. Hateful as such a temperament is, it is far from being a rare one. It holds this peculiar view about charity, that the best way of observing it is to have a complete indifference for those who live with us! Souls of this stamp, it is evident, are not bedded in the divine cement; you could never make them part of the holy structure; the heavenly builder is compelled

¹ Cant. viii. 6. ² Herm., Past. l. i; Visio, iii. 2.

to reject them as unfit, or leave them to lie around the walls, a heap of unemployed material, which refused all adaptation, and all shaping to the general plan. If the building be finished before they have made up their minds not to be rubbish, woe to them! When it is too late, they will open their eyes, and understand that charity is one; so that, he does not love God who does not love his neighbour,¹ and he who does not love, abideth in death.² Let us, therefore, as St. John counsels us, measure the perfection of our love for God by the love we have for our neighbours: then only shall we have God abiding within us;³ then only shall we be enabled to enjoy the unspeakable mysteries of divine union with Him, who only unites Himself with His elect, in order to make both them and Himself one magnificent temple to the glory of His Father.

The Gradual, recurring to the ideas which inspired the Introit, implores the divine protection in favour of the people, who have the Lord's anointed as their King. The Alleluia-versicle proclaims His victories, and the salvation which He brought to this our earth.

GRADUAL

Protector noster aspice, Deus: et respice super servos tuos.

℣. Domine Deus virtutum, exaudi preces servorum tuorum.

Alleluia, alleluia.

℣. Domine, in virtute tua lætabitur rex; et super salutare tuum exsultabit vehementer. Alleluia.

Look down, O God, our protector; and look down upon thy servants.

℣. O Lord God of hosts, graciously hear the prayers of thy servants.

Alleluia, alleluia.

℣. O Lord, in thy might shall the king rejoice: and in thy salvation shall he exult exceedingly. Alleluia.

¹ 1 St. John iv. 21. ² Ibid. iii. 14. ³ Ibid. iv. 12.

GOSPEL

Sequentia sancti Evangelii secundum Matthæum. Caput V.

In illo tempore: Dixit Jesus discipulis suis: Nisi abundaverit justitia vestra plusquam scribarum et pharisæorum, non intrabitis in regnum cælorum. Audistis quia dictum est antiquis: Non occides; qui autem occiderit, reus erit judicio. Ego autem dico vobis: quia omnis, qui irascitur fratri suo, reus erit judicio. Qui autem dixerit fratri suo: Raca, reus erit concilio. Qui autem dixerit: Fatue, reus erit gehennæ ignis. Si ergo offers munus tuum ad altare, et ibi recordatus fueris quia frater tuus habet aliquid adversum te; relinque ibi munus tuum ante altare, et vade prius reconciliari fratri tuo; et tunc veniens offeres munus tuum.

Sequel of the holy Gospel according to Matthew. Chapter V.

At that time: Jesus said to his disciples: Unless your justice abound more than that of the scribes and pharisees, you shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven. You have heard that it was said to them of old: Thou shalt not kill. And whosoever shall kill, shall be in danger of the judgment. But I say to you, that whosoever is angry with his brother, shall be in danger of the judgment. And whosoever shall say to his brother, Raca, shall be in danger of the council. And whosoever shall say, Thou fool, shall be in danger of hell fire. If, therefore, thou offer thy gift at the altar, and there remember that thy brother hath any thing against thee; leave there thy offering before the altar, and go first to be reconciled to thy brother: and then coming thou shalt offer thy gift.

The last days of the ancient Jerusalem are fast drawing to their close. In less than a month, we shall witness the frightful ruin of the city, that knew not the time of her Lord's visitation.¹ It is on the ninth Sunday after Pentecost, during these months of July and August, in which the armies of Vespasian beheld the destruction of Jerusalem, that the sacred liturgy commemorates the fulfilment of our Redeemer's prophecies. During the intervening years, the ancient temple is still there, with its inner doors closed against all Gentiles. It gives

¹ St. Luke xix. 44.

out that, as of old, so now, it holds the Divinity beneath the veils of the old Testament, screening off, even from the children of Israel, its impenetrable Holy of holies. And yet, the five weeks we have had since Pentecost have shown us how gloriously the Church has been begun on Mount Sion. There, fronting the temple of the restricted and imperfect covenant of Sinai, the holy Spirit has founded the Church, making her the place where all the nations of earth are to meet in gladness;¹ she is the city of the great King, where all men shall henceforth live in the knowledge of God;² and, from the very first moment of her existence, she has been showing herself to us as the abode where eternal Wisdom has made it His delight to dwell;³ she has proved herself to be the true Holy of holies, wherein God and we are to be brought into union.

The law of fear and bondage⁴ is, therefore, for ever abrogated by the law of love. A lingering remnant of regard for the once approved institution, which was the depository of divine revelations,⁵ permits the first generation of Jewish converts to observe, if it so please them, the practices of their forefathers; but the permission is to cease with the temple, whose approaching destruction is to bury the Synagogue for ever. And even now, before that period of destruction, the prescriptions of the Mosaic law are insufficient to justify the sons of Jacob before God. The ritual ordinances, which aimed at keeping up the expectation of the future sacrifice by a ceremonial code of figurative representations, have become useless, now that the mysteries they foreshadowed have been accomplished. The very commandments of the Decalogue—those necessary commandments, which belong to all times and can

¹ Ps. xlvii. 8. ² Jer. xxxi. 34. ³ Prov. viii. 31, ix. 1. ⁴ Rom. viii. 15. ⁵ Ibid. iii. 2.

never undergo change, because they pertain to the essence of the ties existing between creatures and their Creator — even these holy commandments have acquired such additional splendour from the teachings of Jesus, the Sun of all justice, that man's conscience now finds in them an almost immeasurable increase of moral responsibility and loveliness.

Independently of the positive precept concerning the fruit of the tree of knowledge, man had received from God, while yet in Eden, the knowledge of those eternal laws; they were written in the life there bestowed upon him. From that moment forward he would have to cease being a man before he could entirely divest himself of, or lose, that infused knowledge; for it had been given to him as part of his being, as the natural law of his practical judgments, and was thus, to a certain extent, identified with his reason. But man's reason having become greatly obscured by the fall, his soul had no longer the full and clear notion it previously had of the moral obligations resulting from his own nature as man. His will, too, was a sufferer by the same fall: it became depraved; it used the original weakness of reason as an excuse for its own malice; and that malice did but thicken the darkness which covered its own excesses. Voluntary or heedless victims of error, the Gentiles were seen adapting their conduct to false maxims, which were, at times, so contrary to the first principles of morality, that we who enjoy the blessings of faith can scarcely believe that men could ever be so wicked. Even the descendants of the Patriarchs, though singularly preserved through the benediction given by God to their fathers, were by no means free from the general corruption. When Moses, sent as he was by God, formed them into a nation,

whose constitution was fidelity to that written law which was to restore the law of nature, several points had to be left unmentioned which, according to our Lord's expression, the hardness of Jewish hearts would never have taken in. After Moses' death, self-constituted teachers and peculiar sects rose up in the nation, and, by the aid of absurd traditions and false interpretations, corrupted the spirit, yea, at times the very letter, of the law of Sinai.

The Jews looked upon the Law of God as the Magna Charta of their nation; as such, it was put under the protection of the civil power; various tribunals, with more or less of executive authority according to the importance of the cases that had respectively to be brought before them, were to pass sentence on the infractions committed, or the crimes perpetrated, against it. But—with the single exception of the sacred tribunal established under the law of grace, wherein God Himself acts and speaks in the person of the priest—every judgment passed by men, be their authority never so imposing, can only deal with exterior facts: so that Moses, in the legislative code he had drawn up, assigned no penalty for interior sins. These, however grievous they may be, are essentially beyond both the appreciation and cognizance of society and the human powers which govern it. Even now, under the new Law, the Church does not inflict her censures on interior faults, unless they be made manifest by some act which comes under the senses; just as Moses had done, who, whilst acknowledging the culpability of criminal thoughts or desires, yet left to God's judgment what He alone can know.

But whereas every Christian child knows that a wicked thought or desire is unlawful, it was not so with the mass of the Hebrew people. The prophets were ever striving to get this privileged but grovelling race to raise their thoughts above this present

life; and even supposing that much to be gained, there still remained the narrow-minded Jewish notion, that beyond the divinely inspired principles of its political constitution and the outward form of its legislation there was nothing worthy of their attention; they would have scouted the idea that there was a spiritual reality, of far greater and deeper importance, underlying the external code. We see all this strongly marked by what took place shortly after the return from captivity; the last Prophets had disappeared, and free scope was given to doctrinal systems which fostered short-sighted theories. The Jewish casuists were not slow in drawing up their famous formula, that all moral goodness was guaranteed to him that had received circumcision! St. Paul, later on, told them how such a principle was a stumbling-block to the Gentiles, leading them to blaspheme the name of God.¹ According to the moral theology of those Hebrew doctors, conscience meant only what the tribunal of public justice issued as its decisions; the obligations of the interior tribunal of a man's conscience were to be restricted to the rules followed by the assize-courts. The result of such teaching soon showed itself: the only thing people need care for was what was seen by men; if the fault were not one that human eyes could judge of, you were not to trouble about it. The Gospel is filled with the woes uttered by our Lord against these blind guides, who taught the souls they professed to direct how best to smother law and justice and love under the outward cover of the letter. Jesus never lost an opportunity of denouncing, and castigating, and holding up to execration, those hypocritical scribes and pharisees who took such pains to be ever cleaning the outside of the dish, but within were full of impurity, and murder, and rapine.²

¹ Rom. ii. 24. ² St. Matt. xxiii., etc.

The divine Word, who had come down from heaven to sanctify men in truth, that is, in Himself, had to make this His first care: to restore what time had tarnished, to restore all the original brightness to the changeless principles of justice and right, which rest in Him as in their centre. No sooner had He called disciples around Him, and chosen twelve out of their number as apostles, than He began, with all possible solemnity, His divine work of moral restoration. The passage from the Sermon on the Mount, which the Church has selected for the Gospel of this fifth Sunday, follows immediately after His declaring that He had come, not to find fault with, or to destroy, the Law, but to restore it to its true meaning, of which the scribes had deprived it. He had come that He might give it all the fullness, which the very contemporaries of Moses were too hard to take in. One should read the whole chapter of St. Matthew from which our Gospel is taken; the explanations we have been giving will make it easily understood.

In the few lines put before us to-day by the Church, our Lord tells us not to make human tribunals the standard of the justice needed for entering into the kingdom of heaven. The Jewish law brought a man who was guilty of murder before the criminal court of judgment; and He, the master and author of the law, declares to us, that anger, which is the first step leading to murder, even though it lurk in the deepest recesses of the conscience, may bring death to the soul; and thus really incur, in the spiritual order, the capital punishment which human tribunals reserve to actual murder. If, without going so far as to strike the offender, our anger should vent itself in insulting language, such as worthless wretch (which in Syriac is Raca), the sin becomes so serious that, weighed in the balance of its real guilt as known by God, it would be a case, not of the ordinary criminal jurisdiction, but of the highest council of the nation. If the angry man pass from insulting to injurious language, there is no human tribunal which, be it as severe as it can be in its verdict, can give us an idea of the enormity of the sin committed. But the authority of the sovereign Judge is not, like that of a human magistrate, confined within certain limits; when fraternal charity is outraged, there is an avenger who will demand justice beyond the grave. Such is the importance of holy charity, which God demands should unite all men together! And so directly opposed to God's design is the sin, which, in whatever degree, endangers or troubles the union of the living stones of the temple, which has to be built up in concord and love here below, to the glory of the undivided and tranquil Trinity!

The longer it lives, the better does the chosen people appreciate and understand its happiness in having chosen real and solid goods for its inheritance. With its royal model, David, it sings, in the Offertory, the heavenly favours and the uninterrupted presence of God, who has vouchsafed to make Himself its support.

OFFERTORY

Benedicam Dominum qui tribuit mihi intellectum: providebam Deum in conspectu meo semper: quoniam a dextris est mihi, ne commovear.

I will bless the Lord, who hath given me understanding: I set God always in my sight: for he is at my right hand, that I be not moved.

In the Secret, let us beseech God graciously to receive the offering of our hearts, as He used to receive the offerings made to Him by the people of old. But if we would have this prayer of ours to be heard, we must remember the command given to us at the close of to-day's Gospel: God will not accept the hearts of those who are not—at least, as far as lies in their power—in peace with all men.

SECRET

Propitiare, Domine, supplicationibus nostris: et has oblationes famulorum famularumque tuarum benignus assume, ut, quod singuli obtulerunt ad honorem nominis tui, cunctis proficiat ad salutem. Per Dominum.

Be appeased, O Lord, by our humble prayers: and mercifully receive these offerings of thy servants: that what each hath offered to the honour of thy name may avail to the salvation of all. Through, etc.

The other Secrets as on page 180.

The consoling presence of God, gratefully acknowledged in the Offertory anthem, was not the furthest condescension which God could bestow on His faithful ones. Won over by His infinite love in the ineffable union of the sacred mysteries, His people desire nothing, and ask for nothing, but that they may be permitted to fix their eternal abode in the house of the Lord.

COMMUNION

Unam petii a Domino, hanc requiram: ut inhabitem in domo Domini omnibus diebus vitæ meæ.

One thing I have asked of the Lord; this will I seek after: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life.

The effects of the sacred mysteries are manifold: they cleanse the deepest recesses of our soul, and protect us externally, by enabling us to shun the snares laid for us along the path of life.

POSTCOMMUNION

Quos cœlesti, Domine, dono satiasti, præsta quæsumus: ut a nostris mundemur occultis et ab hostium liberemur insidiis. Per Dominum.

Grant, O Lord, we beseech thee, that we whom thou hast fed with this heavenly gift may be cleansed from our hidden sins, and delivered from the snares of our enemies. Through, etc.

The other Postcommunions as on page 181.

VESPERS

The psalms, capitulum, hymn, and versicle as on pages 71–81.

ANTIPHON OF THE MAGNIFICAT

Si offers munus tuum ad altare, et recordatus fueris quia frater tuus habet aliquid adversus te, relinque ibi munus tuum ante altare, et vade prius reconciliari fratri tuo, et tunc veniens offeres munus tuum. Alleluia.

If thou bring thy gift to the altar, and shalt remember that thy brother hath anything against thee, leave there thy gift before the altar, and go first and be reconciled to thy brother; and, then coming, thou shalt offer thy gift. Alleluia.

OREMUS

Deus qui diligentibus te bona invisibilia præparasti, infunde cordibus nostris tui amoris affectum, ut te in omnibus, et super omnia diligentes, promissiones tuas, quæ omne desiderium superant, consequamur. Per Dominum.

LET US PRAY

O God, who hast prepared invisible good things for them that love thee: pour forth into our hearts an affectionate love for thee: that, loving thee, in all things, and above all things, we may come to the enjoyment of thy promises, which surpass all that we could desire. Through, etc.

THE SIXTH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST

The Office for the sixth Sunday after Pentecost, which began yesterday evening, reminded us, in its Magnificat antiphon, of a repentance which has never had an equal. David, the royal prophet, the conqueror of Goliath, himself conquered by sensuality, and from adulterer become a murderer, at last felt the crushing weight of his double crime, and exclaimed: 'I do beseech thee, O Lord, take away the iniquity of thy servant, for I have done foolishly!'¹

Sin is always a folly and a weakness, no matter of what kind it may be, or who he be that commits it. The rebel angel, and fallen man, may, in their pride, make efforts to persuade themselves that, when they sinned, they did not act as fools, and were not weak; but all their efforts are vain; sin must ever have this disgrace upon it, that it is folly and weakness, for it is a revolt against God, a contempt for His law, a mad act of the creature, who, being made by his Creator to attain infinite happiness and glory, prefers to debase himself by turning towards nothingness, and then falls even lower than the nothingness from which he was taken. It is, however, a folly that is voluntary, and a weakness that has no excuse; for, although the creature have nothing of his own but darkness and misery, yet his infinitely merciful Creator, by means of His grace, which is never wanting, puts within that creature's reach divine strength and light.

It is so with even the sinner that has been the least liberally gifted; he has no reason that can justify his offences. But when he that sins is a creature who has been laden with God's gifts, and, by His divine generosity, been raised higher than others in the order of grace, oh! then the offence he commits against his benefactor is an injury that has no name. Let this be remembered by those who, like David, could say that their God has 'multiplied His magnificence' over them.² They may, perhaps, have been led by Him into high paths which are reserved for the favoured few, and may have reached the heights of divine union: yet must they be on their guard; no one who has still to carry with him the burden of a mortal body of flesh is safe, unless by exercising a ceaseless vigilance. On the mountains, as on the plains and in the valleys, at all times and in all places, a fall is possible; but when it is on those lofty peaks which, in this land of exile, seem bordering on heaven, and but one step from the 'entrance into the powers of the Lord,'³ what a terrific fall when the foot slips there! The yawning precipices which that soul had avoided on her ascent are now all open to engulf her; abyss after abyss of crime she rushes into, and with a violence of passion that terrifies even them that have long been nothing but wickedness.

Poor fallen soul! pride, like that of satan, will now try to keep her obstinately fixed in her crimes: but, from the depths into which she has fallen, let her, like David, send forth the cry of humility; let her lament her abominations; let her not be afraid to look up, through her tears, at those glorious heights which were once her abode—an anticipated heaven. Without further delay, let her imitate the royal penitent, and say with him: 'I have sinned against the Lord!' and she will hear the same answer that he did: 'The Lord hath taken away thy sin; thou shalt not die';⁴ and as with David, so also with her, God may still do grand things in her. David, when innocent, was a faithful image of Christ, who was the object of the love of both heaven and earth; David, sinner but penitent, was still the figure of the Man-God, as laden with the sins of the whole world, and bearing on His single self the merciful and just vengeance of His offended Father.

In the Mass of this Sunday, which they call the sixth of Saint Matthew, the Greeks read the account of the cure of the paralytic, which is related in the ninth chapter of that evangelist. The preceding chapter, with its episode of the centurion and the two possessed, had furnished them with the Gospels for their fourth and fifth Sundays.

¹ 1 Paralip. xxi. 8.
² Ps. lxx. 21.
³ Ps. lxx. 16.
⁴ 2 Kings xii. 13.

MASS

It is difficult to see what connexion there is between the Mass and the Office of this Sunday, as they are at present arranged. Honorius of Autun and Durandus applied the Introit and the other sung portions which follow, to the inauguration of Solomon's reign. At the period when those two writers lived,¹ the Scripture lessons for this Sunday were taken from the first pages of the second Book of Paralipomenon, where we have the account of the glorious early days of David's son. But, since that time, it has been the Church's practice to continue the reading of the four Books of Kings up to the month of August, omitting altogether the two Books of Paralipomenon, which were but a practical repetition of the events already related in previous lessons. So that the connexion suggested by the two writers just mentioned has no foundation in the actual arrangement of to-day's liturgy. We must, therefore, be satisfied with taking from the Introit the teaching of what it is that constitutes the Christian's courage, viz., his faith in God's power which is always ready to help him, and the conviction of his own nothingness, which keeps him from all presumption.

¹ The twelfth and thirteenth centuries.

INTROIT

Dominus fortitudo plebis suæ, et protector salutarium Christi sui est: salvum fac populum tuum, Domine, et benedic hereditati tuæ, et rege eos usque in sæculum.

The Lord is the strength of his people, and the protector of the salvation of his Christ: save, O Lord, thy people, and bless thine inheritance, and govern them for ever.

Ps. Ad te, Domine, clamabo; Deus meus, ne sileas a me, nequando taceas a me, et assimilabor descendentibus in lacum. Gloria Patri. Dominus.

Ps. To thee, O Lord, will I cry out: O my God, be not silent, refuse not to answer me, lest I become like those who descend into the pit. Glory, etc. The Lord.

The Collect gives us an admirable summing up of the strong, yet sweet, action of grace upon the whole course of Christian life. It has evidently been suggested by those words of St. James: 'Every best gift, and every perfect gift, is from above, coming down from the Father of lights.'¹

¹ St. Jas. i. 17.

COLLECT

Deus virtutum, cujus est totum quod est optimum: insere pectoribus nostris amorem tui nominis, et præsta in nobis religionis augmentum: ut quæ sunt bona, nutrias, ac pietatis studio, quæ sunt nutrita, custodias. Per Dominum.

O God of all power, to whom belongs whatsoever is best: implant in our hearts the love of thy name, and grant us an increase of religion: that thou mayst nourish what is good in us, and, whilst we make endeavours after virtue, mayst guard the things thus nourished. Through, etc.

The other Collects as on page 120.

EPISTLE

Lectio Epistolæ beati Pauli Apostoli ad Romanos. Caput VI.

Lesson of the Epistle of St. Paul the Apostle to the Romans. Chapter VI.

Fratres, Quicumque baptizati sumus in Christo Jesu, in morte ipsius baptizati sumus. Consepulti enim sumus cum illo per baptismum in mortem: ut quomodo Christus surrexit a mortuis per gloriam Patris, ita et nos in novitate vitæ ambulemus. Si enim complantati facti sumus similitudini mortis ejus, simul et resurrectionis erimus. Hoc scientes, quia vetus homo noster simul crucifixus est, ut destruatur corpus peccati, et ultra non serviamus peccato. Qui enim mortuus est, justificatus est a peccato. Si autem mortui sumus cum Christo, credimus quia simul etiam vivemus cum Christo: scientes quod Christus resurgens ex mortuis, jam non moritur, mors illi ultra non dominabitur. Quod enim mortuus est peccato, mortuus est semel: quod autem vivit, vivit Deo. Ita et vos existimate, vos mortuos quidem esse peccato, viventes autem Deo in Christo Jesu Domino nostro.

Brethren: all we who are baptized in Christ Jesus are baptized in his death. For we are buried together with him by baptism unto death: that as Christ is risen from the dead by the glory of the Father, so we also may walk in newness of life. For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection. Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin may be destroyed, and that we may serve sin no longer. For he that is dead is justified from sin. Now if we be dead with Christ, we believe that we shall live also together with Christ: knowing that Christ rising again from the dead, dieth now no more, death shall no more have dominion over him. For in that he died to sin, he died once: but in that he liveth, he liveth unto God. So do you also reckon that you are dead to sin, but alive unto God, in Christ Jesus our Lord.

in newness of life, For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection. — Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin may be destroyed, to the end that we may serve sin no longer. For he that is dead is justified from sin. Now if we be dead with Christ, we believe that we shall live also together with Christ. Knowing that Christ, rising again from the dead, dieth now no more, death shall no more have dominion over him. For in that he died to sin, he died once: but in that he liveth, he liveth unto God. So do you also reckon that you are dead to sin, but alive unto God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

The Masses of the Sundays after Pentecost have, so far, given us but once a passage from St. Paul's Epistles. Hitherto SS. Peter and John have addressed the faithful at the commencement of the sacred mysteries. It may be that the Church, during these weeks which represent the early days of the apostolic preaching, has intended by this to show us the disciple of faith and the disciple of love as being the two most prominent in the first promulgation of the new Covenant, which was committed, at the outset, to the Jewish people. At that time, Paul was but Saul the persecutor, and was putting himself forward as the most rabid opponent of that Gospel which, later on, he would so zealously carry to the farthest parts of the earth. If his subsequent conversion made him become an ardent and enlightened apostle even to the Jews, it soon became evident that the house of Jacob was not the special mission of his apostolate. After publicly announcing his faith in Jesus the Son of God, after confounding the Synagogue by the weight of his testimony,¹ he waited in silence for the termination of the period accorded to Juda for the acceptance of the covenant; he withdrew into privacy,² waiting for the vicar of the Man-God, the head of the apostolic college, to give the signal for the vocation of the Gentiles, and open in person the door of the Church to these new children of Abraham.³

But Israel has too long abused God's patience; the day of the ungrateful Jerusalem's repudiation is well nigh come; and the divine Spouse, after all this long forbearance with His once chosen, but now faithless bride, the Synagogue, has gone to the Gentile nations. Now is the time for the Doctor of the Gentiles to speak; he will go on speaking and preaching to them to his dying day; he will not cease proclaiming the word to them, until he has brought them back, and lifted them up to God, and consolidated them in faith and love. He will not rest until he has led this once poor, despised Gentile world to the nuptial union with Christ⁴—yes, to the full fecundity of that divine union of which, on the twenty-fourth and last Sunday after Pentecost, we shall hear him thus speaking: 'We cease not to pray for you, and to beg that ye may be filled with the knowledge of His will, in all wisdom and spiritual understanding; that ye may walk worthy of God, in all things pleasing Him; being fruitful in every good work. . . . Giving thanks to God the Father, who hath made us worthy to be partakers of the lot of the saints in light, . . . and hath translated us into the kingdom of His beloved Son.'⁵

It is to the Romans that are addressed to-day's inspired instructions of the great apostle. For the reading of these admirable Epistles of St. Paul, the Church, during the Sundays after Pentecost, will follow the order in which they stand in the canon of Scripture: the Epistle to the Romans, the two to the Corinthians, then those to the Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, and Colossians, will be read to us in their turns. They make up the sublimest correspondence that was ever written—a correspondence where we find Paul's whole soul, giving us both precept and example how best we may love our Lord. 'I beseech you,' so he speaks to his Corinthians, 'be ye followers of me, as I also am of Christ.'⁶

Indeed, the Gospel,⁷ the kingdom of God,⁸ the Christian life, is not an affair of mere words. Nothing is less speculative than the science of salvation. Nothing makes it penetrate so deeply into the souls of men as the holy life of him that teaches it. It is for this reason that the Christian world counts him alone as apostle or teacher who, in his one person, holds the double teaching of doctrine and works. Thus, Jesus, the Prince of pastors,⁹ manifested eternal truth to men, not only by the words uttered by His divine lips, but likewise by the works He did during His life on earth. So, too, the apostle, having become a pattern of the flock,¹⁰ shows us all, in his own person, what marvellous progress a faithful soul may make under the guidance of the Holy Ghost, the Spirit of sanctification.

Let us, then, be attentive to every word that comes from this mouth, ever open to speak to the whole earth;¹¹ but, at the same time, let us fix the eyes of our soul on the works achieved by our apostle, and let us walk in his footsteps. He lives in his Epistles; he abides and continues with us all, as he himself assures us, for the furtherance and joy of our faith.¹²

Nor is this all. If we value, as we ought, the example and the teaching of this father of the Gentiles, we must not forget his labours, and sufferings, and solicitudes, and the intense love he bore towards all those who neither had seen, nor were ever to see, his face in the flesh.¹³ Let us make him the return of dilating our hearts with affectionate admiration of him. Let us love, not only the light, but him also who brings it to us; yea, and all them that, like him, have been getting for us the exquisite brightness from the treasures of God the Father and of His Christ. It is the recommendation made so feelingly by St. Paul himself;¹⁴ it is the intention willed by God Himself, when He confided to men like ourselves the charge of sharing with Him the imparting of this heavenly light to us. Eternal Wisdom does not show herself directly here below; she is hid, with all her treasures, in the Man-God;¹⁵ she reveals herself by Him,¹⁶ and by the Church,¹⁷ which is the mystical body of that Man-God,¹⁸ and by the chosen members of that Church, the apostles. We can neither love nor know her save in and by our Lord Jesus Christ; and we cannot love or understand Jesus unless we love and understand His Church.¹⁹ Now, in this Church, this glorious aggregate of the elect both of heaven and of earth, we should especially love and venerate those who are, in a special manner, associated with our Lord's sacred Humanity in manifesting the divine Word, who is the one centre of our thoughts both in this world and in the world to come.

According to this standard, who ever had a stronger claim than Paul to the veneration, gratitude, and love, of the faithful? Who of the prophets and holy apostles went deeper into the mystery of Christ?²⁰ Who was like him, in revealing to the world 'the light of the knowledge of the glory of God, in the face of Christ Jesus'?²¹ Was there ever a more perfect teacher, or a more eloquent interpreter, of the life of union,—we mean of that marvellous union which brings regenerated humanity into the embrace of God, and continues and repeats the life of the Word Incarnate in each Christian? To him, the last and least of the saints (as he humbly calls himself), was given the grace of proclaiming to the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ; to him was confided the mission of teaching to all nations the mystery of creation, the mystery hidden so long in God, the secret of the world's history—viz., the manifestation of infinite Wisdom, by the Church, in Christ Jesus our Lord.²²

For, as the Church is neither more nor less than the body and mystical complement of the Man-God, so, in St. Paul's mind, the formation and growth of the Church are but the sequel of the Incarnation; they are but the continued development of the mystery shown to the angelic hosts, when this Word Incarnate made Himself visible to them in the crib at Bethlehem. After the Incarnation, God was better known by His angels; though ever the self-same in His own unchanging essence, yet, to them, He appeared grander and more magnificent in the brilliant reflection of His infinite perfections, as seen in the Flesh of His Word. So, too, although no increase in them was possible, and their plenitude was their fixed measure, yet the created perfection and holiness of the Man-God have their fuller and clearer revelation, in proportion as the marvels of perfection and holiness, which dwell in Him as in their source, are multiplied in the world.

Starting from Him, flowing ever from His fullness,²³ the stream of grace and truth²⁴ ceaselessly laves each member of the body of the Church. Principle of spiritual growth, mysterious sap, it has its divinely appointed channels: and these unite the Church more closely to her Head, than the nerves and vessels which convey movement and life to the extremities of our body unite its several parts to the head, which directs and governs the whole frame. But, just as in the human body the life of the head and of the members is one, giving to each of them the proportion and harmony which go to make up the perfect man, so, in the Church, there is but one life, the life of the Man-God, of Christ the Head, forming His mystical body, and perfecting, in the Holy Ghost, its several members. The time will come when this perfection will have attained its full development; then will human nature, united with its divine Head in the measure and beauty of the perfect age of Christ,²⁵ appear on the throne of the Word, an object of admiration to the angels, and of delight to the most holy Trinity. Meanwhile, Christ is being completed in all things and in all men; as heretofore at Nazareth, Jesus is still growing; and these His advancings are gradual fresh manifestations of the beauty of infinite Wisdom.²⁶

The holiness, the sufferings, and then the glory of the Lord Jesus—in a word, His life continued in His members²⁷—this is St. Paul's notion of the Christian life: a notion most simple and sublime, which, in the apostle's mind, resumes the whole commencement, progress, and consummation of the work of the Spirit of love in every soul that is sanctified. We shall find him, later on, developing this practical truth, of which the Epistle read to us to-day merely gives the leading principle. After all, what is Baptism, that first step on the road to heaven, but the neophyte's incorporation with the Man-God, who died once unto sin, that He might for ever live in God His Father? On Holy Saturday,²⁸ after having assisted at the blessing of the font, we had read to us a similar passage from another Epistle of St. Paul which put before us the divine realities achieved beneath the mysterious waters. Holy Church returns to the same teaching to-day, in order that she may recall to our minds this great principle of the commencement of the Christian life, and make it the basis of the instructions she is here going to give us. If the very first effect of the sanctification of one who, by Baptism, is buried together with Christ, be to make him a new man, to create him afresh in this Man-God,²⁹ to ingraft his new life upon the life of Jesus whereby to bring forth new fruits,—we cannot wonder at the apostle's unwillingness to give us any other rule for our contemplation or our practice than the study and imitation of this divine model. There, and there only, is man's perfection;³⁰ there is his happiness. As, then, 'ye have received the knowledge of Jesus Christ the Lord, walk ye in Him:³¹ for, as many of you as have been baptized in Christ, have put on Christ.'³² Our apostle emphatically tells us that he knows nothing, and will preach nothing, but Jesus.³³ If we be of St. Paul's school, adopting, as we shall then do, the sentiments of our Lord Jesus Christ, and making them our own,³⁴ we shall become other Christs, or, rather, one only Christ with the Man-God, by the sameness of thoughts and virtues, under the impulse of the same sanctifying Spirit.

Between the Epistle and the Gospel, the Gradual and Alleluia-verse come urging us to make that humble and confiding prayer which should ever be ascending to God from the Christian soul.

¹ Gal. ii. 9. ² Acts ix. 20, 22. ³ Gal. i. 17-22. ⁴ Acts x. ⁵ Isa. i. 1. ⁶ 2 Cor. xi. 2. ⁷ 1 Thess. i. 5. ⁸ 1 Cor. iv. 20. ⁹ 1 St. Pet. v. 4. ¹⁰ Ibid. 3. ¹¹ 2 Cor. vi. 11. ¹² Phil. i. 25, 26. ¹³ Col. ii. 1-5. ¹⁴ 2 Cor. vi. 11-13; Heb. xiii. 7. ¹⁵ Col. ii. 3. ¹⁶ 1 Cor. i. 24. ¹⁷ Eph. iii. 10. ¹⁸ Ibid. i. 23. ¹⁹ 1 Cor. ii. 6, 7. ²⁰ 1 Cor. ii. 8. ²¹ St. John xv. 14; St. Luke x. 16. ²² Eph. iii. 4, 5. ²³ 2 Cor. iv. 6. ²⁴ Eph. iii. 8-11. ²⁵ St. John i. 16. ²⁶ Ibid. 14. ²⁷ Eph. iv. 12-16. ²⁸ Eph. ii. 6. ²⁹ Ibid. i. 23. ³⁰ St. Luke ii. 40, 52. ³¹ 2 Cor. iv. 10, 11. ³² Our Volume for Passiontide and Holy Week, p. 624. ³³ Col. iii. 1-4 (the Epist. for Holy Saturday). ³⁴ Eph. ii. 10.

Col. i. 9-13. Epistle for the Twenty-fourth Sunday after Pentecost.

1 Cor. iv. 16, xi. 1; Phil. iii. 17; 1 Thess. i. 6.

Phil. iii. 17.

1 Cor. iv. 14, 15.

GRADUAL

Convertere, Domine, aliquantulum, et deprecare super servos tuos.

℣. Domine, refugium factus es nobis, a generatione et progenie.

Alleluia, alleluia.

℣. In te, Domine, speravi, non confundar in æternum: in justitia tua libera me et eripe me: inclina ad me aurem tuam: accelera, ut eripias me. Alleluia.

¹ Coloss. i. 98.
² 1 Cor. ii. 2.
³ Ibid. ii. 6.
⁴ Phil. ii. 5.

Turn to us a little, O Lord, and be appeased with thy servants.

℣. O Lord, thou hast been our refuge, from generation to generation.

Alleluia, Alleluia.

℣. In thee, O Lord, have I put my trust, let me never be confounded: save me by thy justice, and rescue me: bend thine ear unto me: make haste to save me. Alleluia.

⁵ Gal. iii. 27.

GOSPEL

Sequentia sancti Evangelii secundum Marcum.

Caput VIII

In illo tempore: Quum turba multa esset cum Jesu, nec haberent quod manducarent, convocatis discipulis, ait illis: Misereor super turbam: quia ecce jam triduo sustinent me, nec habent quod manducent: et si dimisero eos jejunos in domum suam, deficient in via: quidam enim ex eis de longe venerunt. Et responderunt ei discipuli sui: Unde illos quis poterit hic saturare panibus in solitudine? Et interrogavit eos: Quot panes habetis? Qui dixerunt: Septem. Et præcepit turbæ discumbere super terram. Et accipiens septem panes, gratias agens fregit, et dabat discipulis suis ut apponerent, et apposuerunt turbæ. Et habebant pisciculos paucos: et ipsos benedixit, et jussit apponi. Et manducaverunt, et saturati sunt, et sustulerunt quod superaverat de fragmentis, septem sportas. Erant autem qui manducaverant, quasi quatuor millia: et dimisit eos.

Sequel of the holy Gospel according to Mark.

Chapter VIII

At that time: When there was a great multitude with Jesus, and had nothing to eat, calling his disciples together, he saith to them: I have compassion on the multitude, for behold they have now been with me three days, and have nothing to eat; and if I shall send them away fasting to their home, they will faint in the way: for some of them came from afar off. And his disciples answered him: From whence can any one fill them here with bread in the wilderness? And he asked them: How many loaves have ye? Who said: Seven. And he commanded the people to sit down on the ground; and taking the seven loaves, giving thanks he broke, and gave to his disciples for to set before them, and they set them before the people. And they had a few little fishes; and he blessed them, and commanded them to be set before them. And they did eat and were filled, and they took up that which was left of the fragments, seven baskets. And they that had eaten were about four thousand: and he sent them away.

The interpretation of the sacred text is given to us by St. Ambrose, in his homily which has been chosen for this Sunday. We shall there find the same vein of thought as is suggested by the whole tenor of the liturgy assigned for this portion of the year. The holy doctor thus begins: 'After the woman, who is the type of the Church, has been cured of the flow of blood, and after the apostles have received their commission to preach the Gospel, the nourishment of heavenly grace is imparted.' He had just been asking, a few lines previous, what this signified: and his answer was: 'The old Law had been insufficient to feed the hungry hearts of the nations; so, the Gospel food was given to them.'¹

We were observing this day week, that the Law of Sinai, because of its weakness, had made way for the testament of the universal covenant. And yet, it is from Sion itself that the Law of grace has issued; here again it is Jerusalem that is the first to whom the word of the Lord is spoken.³ But the bearers of the good tidings have been rejected by the obdurate and jealous Jews; they therefore turn to the Gentiles, and shake off Jerusalem's dust from their feet. That dust, however, is to be an accusing testimony;⁵ it is soon to be turned into a rain, showering down on the proud city a more terrible vengeance than was that of fire, which once fell on Sodom and Gomorrha.⁶ The superiority of Juda over the rest of the human race had lasted for ages; but now all that ancient privilege of Israel, and all his rights of primogeniture, are gone; the primacy has followed Simon Peter to the west; and the crown of Sion, which has fallen from off her guilty head,⁷ now glitters, and will do so for ever, on the consecrated brow of the queen of nations.

Like the poor woman of the Gospel who had spent all her substance over useless remedies, the Gentile world had grown weaker and weaker by the effects of original and subsequent sins; she had put herself under the treatment of false teachers, who gradually reduced her to the loss of that law and those gifts of nature which, as St. Ambrose expresses it, had been her 'vital patrimony.'¹ At length the day came when she heard of the arrival of the heavenly physician: she at once roused herself; the consciousness of her miserable condition urged her on; her faith got the upper hand of her human respect, and brought her to the presence of the Incarnate Word; her humble confidence, which so strongly contrasted with the insulting arrogance of the Synagogue, led her into contact with Christ, and she touched Him; virtue went forth from Him,² cured her original wound, and at once restored to her all the strength she had lost by her long period of languor.

Having thus cured human nature, our Lord bade her cease her fast, which had lasted for ages; He gave her the excellent nourishment she required. St. Ambrose, whose comment we are following, compares the miraculous repast mentioned in to-day's Gospel with the other multiplication of loaves brought before us on the fourth Sunday of Lent; and he remarks how, both in spiritual nourishment and in that which refreshes the body, there are various degrees of excellence. The Bridegroom does not ordinarily serve up the choicest wine, He does not produce the daintiest dishes, at the beginning of the banquet He has prepared for His dear ones.³ Besides, there are many souls here below who are incapable of rising, beyond a certain limit, towards the divine and substantial light which is the nourishment of the spirit. To these, therefore—and they are the majority, and are represented by the five thousand men who were present at the first miraculous multiplication—the five loaves of inferior quality¹ are an appropriate food, and one that, by its very number, is in keeping with the five senses, which, more or less, have dominion over the multitude. But, as for the privileged favourites of grace,—as for those men who are not distracted by the cares of this present life, who scorn to use its permitted pleasures, and who, even while in the flesh, make God the only king of their soul,—for these, and for these only, the Bridegroom reserves the pure wheat of the seven loaves, which, by their number, express the plenitude of the holy Spirit, and mysteries in abundance.

'Although they are in the world,' says St. Ambrose, 'yet these men, to whom is given the nourishment of mystical rest, are not of the world.'² In the beginning, God spent six days in giving to the universe He had created its perfection and beauty: He consecrated the seventh to the enjoyment of His works. Seven is the number of the divine rest; it was also to be that of the fruitful rest of the sons of God, of perfect souls, in that peace which makes love secure, and is the source of the invincible power of the bride, as mentioned in the Canticle.⁴ It is for this reason that the Man-God, when proclaiming on the mount the beatitudes of the law of love, attributed the seventh to the peace-makers, or peaceable,⁵ as deserving to be called, most truly, the sons of God. It is in them alone that is fully developed the germ of divine sonship,⁶ which is put into the soul at Baptism. Thanks to the silence to which the passions have been reduced, their spirit, now master of the flesh, and itself subject to God, is a stranger to those inward storms, those sudden changes, and even those inequalities of temperature, which are all unfavourable to the growth of the precious seed;¹ warmed by the Sun of justice in an atmosphere which is ever serene and unclouded, there is no obstacle to its coming up, there is no ill-shapen growth; absorbing all the human moisture of this earth wherein it is set, assimilating the very earth itself, it soon leaves nothing else to be seen in these men but the divine, for they have become, in the eyes of the Father who is in heaven, a most faithful image of His first-born Son.²

'Rightly, then,' continues St. Ambrose, 'the seventh beatitude is that of the peaceful; to them belong the seven baskets of the crumbs that were over and above. This bread of the Sabbath, this sanctified bread, this bread of rest, is something great; and I even venture to say, that if, after thou hast eaten of the five loaves, thou shalt have eaten also of the seven, thou hast no bread on earth that thou canst look forward to.'³

But take notice of the condition specified in our Gospel, as necessary for those who aspire to such nourishment as that. 'It is not,' says the Saint, 'to lazy people, nor to them that live in cities, nor to them that are great in worldly honours, but to them that seek Christ in the desert, that is given the heavenly nourishment: they alone who hunger after it are received by Christ into a participation of the Word and of God's kingdom.'⁴ The more intense their hunger, the more they long for their divine object and for no other, the more will the heavenly food strengthen them with light and love, the more will it satiate them with delight.

All the truth, all the goodness, all the beauty of created things, are incapable of satisfying any single soul; it must have God. So long as man does not understand this, everything good or true that his senses and his reason can provide him with, so far from being able to satiate him, is ordinarily nothing more than a distraction from the one object that can make him the happy being he was created to be, and a hindrance to his living the true life which God willed him to attain. Observe how our Lord waits for all his human schemes to fail, and then He will be his helper, if he will but permit Him. The men of our to-day's Gospel are not afraid to abide with Him in the desert, and put up with the consequent privations of meat and drink; their faith is greater than that of their brethren who have preferred to remain in their homes in the cities, and has raised them so much the higher in the order of grace; for that very reason, our Lord would not allow them to admit anything of a nature to interfere with the divine food He prepares for their souls.

Such is the importance of this entire self-abnegation for souls that aim at the highest perfection of Christian life, such, too, the difficulty which even the bravest find in reaching that total self-abnegation by their own efforts, that we see our Lord Himself acting directly upon the souls of His saints, in order to create in them that desert, that spiritual vacuum, whose very appearance makes poor nature tremble, and yet which is so indispensable for the reception of His gifts. We cry like another Jacob with God,¹ under the effort of this unsparing purification, the creature feels herself to be undergoing a sort of indescribable martyrdom. She has become the favoured object of Jesus' research; and, as He intends to give Himself unreservedly to her, so He insists on her becoming entirely His. It is with a view to this that He, in the delicate dealings of His mercy, subdues and breaks her, in order that He may detach her from creatures and from herself. The piercing eye of the Word perceives every least crease or fold of her spiritual being; His grace carries its jealous work right down to the division of soul and spirit, and reaches to the very 'joints and marrow,' scrutinizing and unmercifully probing the thoughts and intents of the heart.¹ As the prophet describes the refiner of the silver and gold which is to form the king's crown and sceptre, so our divine Lord: 'He shall sit, refining and cleansing,'² in the crucible, this soul so dear to Him, that He wishes to wear her as one of the precious jewels of His everlasting diadem. Nothing could exceed His zeal in this work, which, in His eyes, is grander far than the creation of a thousand worlds. He watches, He fans, the flame of the furnace, and He Himself is called 'a consuming fire.'³ When the senses have no more vile vapours to emit; when the dross of the spirit, which is the last to yield, has become detached from the gold, then does the divine Purifier show it, with complacency, to the gaze of men and angels; its lustre is all He would have it be; so He may safely produce on it a faithful image of Himself.

¹ St. Ambr., In Luc., lib. vi. 69. ² Heb. vii. 18, 19. ³ Isa. ii. 3.
⁴ Acts xiii. 46. ⁵ St. Luke ix. 5. ⁶ St. Matt. x. 15.
⁷ Lam. v. 16.

¹ In Luc. vi. 56. ² St. Luke viii. 46. ³ St. John ii. 10.

¹ Hordeacei; St. John vi. 9. ² In Luc. vi. 80.
³ Gen. ii. 1-3. ⁴ Cant. viii. 10.
⁵ St. Ambr., In Luc., vi. 80. ⁶ St. Matt. v. 9.
⁷ Heb. iii. 14.

¹ 1 St. John iii. 9. ² Rom. viii. 29.
³ In Luc., ubi supra. ⁴ In Luc., vi. 69.

¹ Gen. xxxii. 24.

¹ Heb. iv. 12. ² Mal. iii. 3. ³ Heb. xii. 29.

When the Jewish people were led forth by Moses from Egypt, they said: 'The Lord God hath called us; we will go three days' journey into the wilderness, to sacrifice unto the Lord our God.'⁴ In like manner, the disciples of Jesus have retired into the wilderness, as our to-day's Gospel tells us; and, after three days, they have been fed with a miraculous bread, which foretold the victim of the great sacrifice, of which the Hebrew one was a figure. In a few moments, both the bread and the figure are to make way, on the altar before which we are standing, for the highest possible realities. Let us, then, go forth from the land of bondage of our sins; and since our Lord's merciful invitation comes to us so repeatedly, let our souls get the habit of keeping away from the frivolities of earth, and from worldly thoughts. And now as we sing the Offertory-anthem, let us beseech our Lord that He may graciously give us strength to advance farther into that interior desert, where He is always the most inclined to hear us, and where He is most liberal with His graces.

OFFERTORY

Perfice gressus meos in semitis tuis, ut non moveantur vestigia mea: inclina aurem tuam, et exaudi verba mea: mirifica misericordias tuas, qui salvos facis sperantes in te, Domine.

Perfect thou my goings in thy paths, that my footsteps be not moved: incline thine ear unto me, and graciously hear my words: show forth thy wonderful mercies, O thou that savest them who trust in thee, O Lord.

The efficacy of our prayers depends on this—that the object of those prayers be prompted and animated by faith. The Church has just been receiving her children's offerings for the sacrifice; she now asks, in the Secret, that we may all be endowed with faith.

SECRET

Propitiare, Domine, supplicationibus nostris, et has populi tui oblationes benignus assume: et ut nullius sit irritum votum, nullius vacua postulatio, præsta; ut quod fideliter petimus, efficaciter consequamur. Per Dominum.

Be appeased, O Lord, by our humble prayers, and mercifully receive the offerings of thy people: and, that the vows and prayers of none may be in vain, grant that we may effectually obtain what we ask with faith. Through, etc.

The other Secrets as on page 130.

We were just admiring the work of purification, achieved by the Angel of the Covenant in His chosen souls. The Prophet Malachy, who spoke to us about this mystery of refining the elect, tells us, in the next verse, why all this is done; his words give us an explanation of the Communion-anthem we are now going to chant: 'And the sacrifice of Juda and of Jerusalem shall please the Lord, as in the days of old, and in the ancient years.'¹

COMMUNION

Circuibo, et immolabo in tabernaculo ejus hostiam jubilationis: cantabo et psalmum dicam Domino.

I will go up, and sacrifice, in his temple, a victim of praise: I will sing, and repeat a psalm to the Lord.

The sacred mysteries are the true fire that purifies: they entirely cleanse from the remnants of sin every Christian that allows their divine heat to tell upon him; they also strengthen him in the path of perfection. Let us, then, unite with the Church in this prayer:

POSTCOMMUNION

Repleti sumus, Domine, muneribus tuis: tribue, quæsumus; ut eorum et mundemur effectu, et muniamur auxilio. Per Dominum.

We have been filled, O Lord, with thy gifts; grant, we beseech thee, that we may be cleansed by their efficacy, and strengthened by their aid. Through, etc.

The other Postcommunions, as on page 131.

¹ Mal. iii. 4.

VESPERS

The psalms, capitulum, hymn, and versicle, as above, pages 71–81.

ANTIPHON OF THE MAGNIFICAT

Misereor super turbam, quia ecce jam triduo sustinent me, nec habent quod manducent, et si dimisero eos jejunos, deficient in via. Alleluia.

I have compassion on the multitude, for behold! they have now been with me three days, and have nothing to eat; and, if I send them away fasting, they will faint in the way. Alleluia.

OREMUS

Deus virtutum, cujus est totum quod est optimum, insere pectoribus nostris amorem tui nominis, et præsta in nobis religionis augmentum, ut quæ sunt bona nutrias, ac pietatis studio, quæ sunt nutrita, custodias. Per Dominum.

LET US PRAY

O God of all power, to whom belongs whatsoever is best: implant in our hearts the love of thy name, and grant us an increase of religion: that thou mayst nourish what is good in us, and, whilst we make endeavours after virtue, mayst guard the things thus nourished. Through, etc.

THE SEVENTH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST

The dominical cycle of the Time after Pentecost completes to-day its first seven. Previous to the final adoption of the changes introduced into the Sunday Gospels for this portion of the year, the Gospel of the multiplication of the seven loaves gave its name to the seventh Sunday; and the mystery it contains is still evident in more than one section of to-day's liturgy.

As we have already seen, this mystery was that of the consummation of the perfect in the repose or rest of God Himself; it was the fruitful peace of the divine union. Nothing, then, could be more fitting than that Solomon, who is pre-eminently the peaceful, the sacred and authorized chanter of the nuptial Canticle, should have been selected to come forward, on this day, to speak the praises of infinite Wisdom, and reveal her ways to the children of men. When Easter is kept as late in April as it is possible, the seventh Sunday after Pentecost is the first of the month of August; and the Church then begins, in her night Office, the lessons from the Sapiential Books. Otherwise, she continues the historic Scriptures, and that, in some years, for five weeks more; but even in that case eternal Wisdom maintains her rights to this Sunday, which the number of seven had already made hers in so special a way. For, when we cannot have the inspired instructions of Proverbs, we have Solomon's own example preaching to us in the third Book of Kings; we find him preferring Wisdom to all other treasures, and, on the throne of his father David, making her sit there with him as his inspirer and most noble Bride.

St. Jerome, who has been appointed by the Church herself as the interpreter of to-day's Scripture lessons, tells us that David, at the close of his life of wars and troubles, knew, as well as Solomon, the loveliness of this incomparable Bride of the Peaceful; the chill of his age was remedied by her caresses, whose very contact is purity.

'Oh that this wisdom may be mine!' exclaims the fervent solitary of Bethlehem; 'may she embrace me, and abide with me. She never grows old. She is ever the purest of virgins, fruitful, yet ever immaculate. I think the apostle means her when he speaks of a something that can make us fervent in spirit.² So again, when our Lord tells us in the Gospel that, at the end of the world, the charity of many will grow cold,¹ I believe it will be because wisdom will then grow rare.'²

The history of the two blind men, as related in the ninth chapter of St. Matthew, is the subject of to-day's Gospel in the Greek Church.

MASS

The Church, leaving the Synagogue in its cities which are to perish, has followed Jesus into the wilderness. Whilst the children of the kingdom³ are assisting at, without seeing it, this transmigration which is to be so fatal to them, the root of Jesse, now become the standard of nations,⁴ is rallying the people, and marshals them by thousands on towards the Church. From east and west, from north and south, they are pouring in, sitting down to the banquet of the kingdom,⁵ in company with Abraham and Isaac and Jacob. Here is our Introit; let us mingle our voices with these their glad chants.

INTROIT

Omnes gentes, plaudite manibus: jubilate Deo in voce exsultationis.

Clap your hands, all ye Gentiles! Shout unto God with the voice of joy.

Ps. Quoniam Dominus excelsus, terribilis: Rex magnus super omnem terram. Gloria Patri. Omnes gentes.

Ps. For the Lord is most high: he is terrible: he is the great King over all the earth. Glory, etc. Clap.

All the opposition that men are capable of can never prevent divine Wisdom from compassing her ends. The Jewish people deny their King; but the Gentiles come forward and proclaim the Son of David. As we were just now singing in the Introit, His kingdom is extended the whole world over. In the Collect the Church asks that all evils may be removed, and that an abundance of blessings may consolidate in peace the power of the true Solomon.

COLLECT

Deus, cujus providentia in sui dispositione non fallitur: te supplices exoramus, ut noxia cuncta submoveas, et omnia nobis profutura concedas. Per Dominum.

O God, whose providence is never deceived in what it appointeth: we humbly beseech thee to remove whatever may be hurtful, and to grant us all that will profit us. Through, etc.

The other Collects as on page 120.

EPISTLE

Lectio Epistolæ beati Pauli Apostoli ad Romanos.

Caput VI

Fratres, Humanum dico propter infirmitatem carnis vestræ: sicut enim exhibuistis membra vestra servire immunditiæ et iniquitati ad iniquitatem; ita nunc exhibete membra vestra servire justitiæ in sanctificationem. Cum enim servi essetis peccati, liberi fuistis justitiæ. Quem ergo fructum habuistis tunc in illis, in quibus nunc erubescitis? Nam finis illorum mors est. Nunc vero liberati a peccato, servi autem facti Deo, habetis fructum vestrum in sanctificationem, finem vero vitam æternam. Stipendia enim peccati, mors. Gratia autem Dei, vita æterna: in Christo Jesu Domino nostro.

Lesson of the Epistle of St. Paul the Apostle to the Romans.

Chapter VI

Brethren: I speak a human thing, because of the infirmity of your flesh: for as you have yielded your members to serve uncleanness and iniquity unto iniquity; so now yield your members to serve justice, unto sanctification. For when you were the servants of sin, you were free from justice. What fruit therefore had you then in those things of which you are now ashamed? For the end of them is death. But now being made free from sin, and become servants to God, you have your fruit unto sanctification, and the end life everlasting. For the wages of sin is death; but the grace of God, life everlasting in Christ Jesus our Lord.

'Reckon that ye are dead unto sin, but alive unto God, in Christ Jesus our Lord.'¹ The apostle of the Gentiles enters to-day into the development of this leading formula of the Christian life. The Epistle of last Sunday aimed exclusively at putting it in language that could not be misunderstood; it showed us that it expresses what is meant by that Baptism which, when we are immersed in the water, unites us to Christ.

There, as in a sepulchre, the death of Jesus becomes ours, and delivers us from sin. Sold under sin² by our first parents even before we had seen the day, and branded with its infamous stigma, our whole life belonged to the cruel tyrant. He is a master who is never satisfied with our service; he is a merciless exactor; there is scarce an hour that he does not make us feel his power over the members of our body; he does not allow us to forget that our body is his slave. But, if the life of a slave is under his master's control, death comes at last and sets the soul free; and as to the body, the oppressor can claim nothing, once it is buried.³ Now, it was on the cross of the Man-God, who, as the apostle so strongly expresses it, was made sin⁴ because of our sins, that guilty human nature was considered by God's merciful justice to have become what its divine and innocent Head was. The old man that was the issue of Adam the sinner has been crucified; he has died in Christ; the slave by birth, affranchised by this happy death, has had buried under the waters of Baptism the body of sin, which carried in its flesh the mark of its slavery.

The body of sin was indeed our flesh; not that innocent flesh which originally came all pure from its Creator's hands, but the flesh which, generation after generation, was defiled by the transmission of a disgraceful inheritance. In Baptism, which the apostle calls the mysterious sepulchre, the sacred stream has not only washed away the defilement of this degraded body, but it has also set it free from those members of sin, which are the evil passions. These passions were powers of iniquity—that is, powers which deformed, and turned into uncleanness, those faculties and organs wherewith God had endowed us, that we might fulfil all justice, unto sanctification. At that moment of our Baptism the strong-armed tyrant forfeited his possession of us; that Baptism was a death which set his slave free. Sin being thus destroyed, the head of triple concupiscence has been severed, and the monster may writhe as he can; aided by grace, man thus liberated may always prevent, if he wishes, the coils of the serpent from again being joined with their head.

Yes, this is the manifold, yet single, work of holy Baptism: in the twinkling of an eye, and by its own power, it extirpates sin, and annihilates all its rights over us; but, once this is achieved, man must co-operate with the grace of the sacrament, that is, he must keep watch over his treacherous inclinations to sin, which come to life again by the slightest encouragement; he must be ever keeping up the work which his baptism-day began—that is, he must be ever cutting down the vile and noxious weeds which are ever cropping up. First, then, there is the death of sin, which, in its complete and sudden defeat of the old enemy, is the result of God's divine operation; but all this is to be followed up by a work which it belongs to the affranchised slave to do: the life-long work of mortification of the spirit and of the senses. It is the virtue of the first sacrament which is still telling on the Christian in this work of two-fold mortification; in his mortification, the sacrament is still pushing on its

¹ Rom. vi. 11. ² Ibid. vii. 14.
³ Job iii. 18. ⁴ 2 Cor. v. 21.

¹ Col. iii, 5-9. ² St. Luke xi. 21

ceaseless work of vengeance against sin. Holy Baptism, having operated in the wretched slave of sin what God alone could empower it to achieve, summons man, now that his chains have fallen, to join it in the glorious work of maintaining his liberty; it invites him to share with it the honour of the divine victory over satan and his works.

The keeping down of the flesh will be again brought before us next Sunday, as the true indicator of liberty on this earth, and as the authentication of our being truly children of God. As the apostle says: 'Let not sin reign in your mortal body, so as to obey the lusts thereof. Neither yield ye your members as instruments of iniquity unto sin; but present yourselves to God as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of justice unto God. For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace. Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants are ye whom ye obey, whether it be of sin unto death, or of obedience unto justice? But thanks be to God, that ye were the servants of sin; . . . but being freed from sin, we have been made servants of justice.'¹

And shall we do less for justice than is being done everywhere in favour of our enemy, sin? Surely justice deserves that we should make greater efforts in her service than for that odious tyrant who requites his slaves with nothing but shame and death. And yet—oh admirable condescension of God to our weakness!—we have St. Paul telling us in to-day's Epistle, in the name of the Holy Ghost, that we shall be saints, we shall attain eternal life, if we will but serve justice with as much earnestness as we once served uncleanness and iniquity.

¹ Rom. vi. 12-18. ² Ibid. 19-23.

Let us humble ourselves at hearing such words; let us be honest, and we shall feel that they contain a reproach. Many of us might ask: What has become of that intense ardour wherewith we once used to follow after sin? To say that we have converted our ways would be no answer, for a conversion does not paralyse our faculties; it enlists our natural energy in God's service, it even intensifies it by the very fact of its now being employed as originally intended. At all events, conversion does not lessen the activity which was in us before our conversion; it would be an insult to grace to accuse it of diminishing in us the gifts of God.

What lessons, then, may we learn by seeing how eager in the pursuit of honour, interest, or pleasure, are the votaries of the world! What earnestness, what toil, what perseverance, what frequent sufferings, what abnegation at every turn, what misplaced heroism—and all for the purpose of satisfying the seven heads of the beast, and tasting a few drops of the poisoned cup of Babylon!¹ There are many souls in hell who have gone through more fatigue and pain to procure their damnation than even the martyrs endured for Christ; and even with all that, never attaining the object they sought to obtain in this world! so true is it that the fools who are the most subservient to satan's wishes do not always succeed in enjoying, even for a single day, the vile rewards he promises his slaves.

Justice treats her followers in a very different way; she does not degrade, she does not deceive them that keep her. She blesses them with peace of mind at every step they take in duty-doing; she is ever enriching their treasure of merit; she leads them safely to the perfection of love. The life of divine union then grows, almost spontaneously, on that high ground of justice; it rests on justice, as a flower does on its stem. 'He that possesseth justice,' says the Scripture, 'shall lay hold on wisdom': he shall find delights in that divine wisdom, which surpasses all that earth could procure.¹

¹ Apoc. xvii, 7.

Would it, then, be fair to hesitate to go through those toils which procure heaven for us, and are a preparation here on earth for the glories which are to be revealed in us in our eternal home? The present life, how long soever it may be, seems but momentary to a faithful soul; she is glad to give this proof of the love she bears to Him she longs for. 'Jacob,' says St. Augustine, 'gave his twice seven years of service² for the sake of Rachel, whose name, they tell us, signifies vision of the Beginning, that is, of the Word, that is, of the Wisdom which shows us God. Every virtuous man on earth loves this Wisdom; it is for her he works and suffers, by serving justice. What he, like Jacob, aims at by his labours, is, not the fatigue for its own sake, but the possession of that which the fatigue is to bring him, namely, the fair Rachel, that is to say, rest in the Word, in whom we have the vision of the Beginning. Is there any true servant of God who can have any other thought, when he is under the influence of grace? Once converted, what is it that man wishes? What is in his thoughts? What has he in his heart? What is it that he thus passionately loves and desires? It is the knowledge of Wisdom. Of course, man would, if he could, avoid all fatigue and suffering, and come straight to the delights which he knows are in the exquisitely beautiful and perfect Wisdom; but that cannot be in the land of the dying. "If thou desire Wisdom, keep justice; and God will give her unto thee."³ Justice here means the commandments; and the commandments prescribe works of justice, of that justice which comes of faith; and faith lives amidst the uncertainty of temptations; that by piously believing what it does not as yet understand, it may merit the happiness of understanding.

'We are not, therefore, to find fault with the ardour of those who are desirous of possessing truth in its unveiled loveliness; what we must do, is to put order in their love, by telling them to begin with faith, and strive, by the exercise of good deeds, to arrive at the bliss they long for. Do thou love and desire, at the very outset, and above all things, this object which is so worthy of thy possession; but, let the ardour which burns within thee show itself, first of all, by its leading thee cheerfully to endure the fatigues of the road which leads to the prize, towards which thy love is all directed. Yea, and when thou hast reached it, remember, thou wilt never enjoy beautiful truth in this life, without having, at the same time, still to cultivate laborious justice. How comprehensive and pure soever may be the sight granted to mortal men of the unchangeable Good, "the corruptible body is a load upon the soul, and the earthly habitation presseth down the mind that museth upon many things."¹ One, then, is that to which we must tend; but many are the things we are to bear for that one's sake.'²

¹ Ecclus. xv. 1-8. ² Gen. xxix, 18-30. ³ Ecclus. i. 33.

In the Gradual, the Church keeps up the thought which pervades this seventh Sunday; she invites her sons to come and receive from her the knowledge of the fear of the Lord; for the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.³ The Alleluia-verse again calls upon the Gentiles, the heirs of Jacob, to celebrate in gladness the gift of God.

¹ Wisd. ix. 15.
² St. Augustine, Contra Faust. xxii. 50-58 (freely epitomized). ³ Ps. cx. 10.

GRADUAL

Venite, filii, audite me: timorem Domini docebo vos.

℣. Accedite ad eum, et illuminamini: et facies vestræ non confundentur.

Alleluia, alleluia.

℣. Omnes gentes, plaudite manibus: jubilate Deo in voce exsultationis. Alleluia.

Come, children, hearken unto me: I will teach you the fear of the Lord.

℣. Come ye unto him, and be enlightened; and your faces shall not be confounded.

Alleluia, alleluia.

℣. Clap your hands, all ye Gentiles! shout unto God with the voice of joy. Alleluia.

GOSPEL

Sequentia sancti Evangelii secundum Matthæum.

Caput VII.

In illo tempore: dixit Jesus discipulis suis: Attendite a falsis prophetis, qui veniunt ad vos in vestimentis ovium, intrinsecus autem sunt lupi rapaces: a fructibus eorum cognoscetis eos. Numquid colligunt de spinis uvas, aut de tribulis ficus? Sic omnis arbor bona fructus bonos facit: mala autem arbor malos fructus facit. Non potest arbor bona malos fructus facere: neque arbor mala bonos fructus facere. Omnis arbor, quæ non facit fructum bonum, excidetur, et in ignem mittetur. Igitur ex fructibus eorum cognoscetis eos. Non omnis, qui dicit mihi: Domine, Domine, intrabit in regnum cælorum: sed qui facit voluntatem Patris mei, qui in cælis est, ipse intrabit in regnum cælorum.

Sequel of the holy Gospel according to Matthew.

Chapter VII.

At that time: Jesus said to his disciples: Beware of false prophets, who come to you in the clothing of sheep, but inwardly they are ravening wolves. By their fruits you shall know them. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles? Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit, and the evil tree bringeth forth evil fruit. A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can an evil tree bring forth good fruit. Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit shall be cut down, and shall be cast into the fire. Wherefore by their fruits you shall know them. Not every one that saith to me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doth the will of my Father who is in heaven, he shall enter into the kingdom of heaven.

By rejecting the Gospel, the Jewish people have refused the light. Whilst the Sun of justice, hailed with delight by the Gentiles, is lighting up, in all splendour, the land that was once in the shadow of death,¹ a black night is covering the heretofore blessed country of the patriarchs, and darkness is every hour thickening in Jerusalem. By the blindness which is leading her to destruction, the Synagogue is verifying our Lord's words: 'He that walketh in darkness, knoweth not whither he goeth.'²

False prophets and false Christs are numerous in Israel,³ ever since the true Messiah, whom the prophets foretold, has been ignored, and treated by his own people⁴ as the prophets themselves had been.⁵ His witnesses, the apostles, have vainly tried to induce Juda to retract the fatal denial made in the prætorium. And yet, Juda knows better than all the world beside, that the times are accomplished; for, has not the sceptre fallen from his hands?⁶ And Juda, who disdainfully disowns the spiritual royalty of the Saviour of men, is going on with his ceaseless expectation and search of the Christ of his own imagining,—a Messiah who will restore to him the power he has lost. The Jewish doctors have not as yet invented the sentence of Talmud, whereby they will endeavour to stifle the unpleasant prophecies which give them the lie: 'Cursed be he, that calculates the times of the coming of Messiah!'⁷ What, then, must be the feelings of a people, which has for ages been living in the expectation of an event the most important that could be, now that it sees the time specified by prophecy to be fast expiring, when it will be compelled either to disavow the past, or to acknowledge, at the foot of the cross which it has set up, its most sinful error.

¹ Isa. ix. 2. ² St. John xii. 35. ³ St. Matt. xxiv. 24.
⁴ St. John i. 11. ⁵ St. Matt. xxiii. 29-32.
⁶ Gen. xlix. 10. ⁷ Tract. Sanhedr., c. x.

A strange anxiety has seized on the nation of deicides. The spirit of madness governs her determinations. In the scare of her feverish excitement, which is the very opposite of the calm and resigned expectation of her ancient patriarchs, she takes every rebel for a Christ. She, that would not have the Son of David, hails every upstart as her Messiah, and follows every adventurer that sets up the cry of war against Rome, or that cheats her with the promise of making her country independent. With such materials, Judea is soon turned into a kingdom of anarchy and confusion. The very sanctuary of the temple is made the scene of party-quarrels and bloodshed. The daughter of Sion follows her false Christs into the desert;¹ there organizes riot; and returns to the holy city, filling it with highwaymen, or with assassins imported from the wilderness. Long before these events, Ezechiel had thus spoken: 'Woe to the foolish prophets that see nothing! Thy prophets, O Israel, were like foxes in the deserts.'² And Isaias had thus prophesied: 'Therefore, the Lord shall have no joy in their young men; neither shall He have mercy on their fatherless and widows; for every one is a hypocrite and wicked, and every mouth hath spoken folly.'³

The time is close at hand: the hour is come, when 'they that are in Judea must flee to the mountains,'⁴ as our Lord had said. The Christians of Jerusalem will, as history records, soon be leaving the doomed city, under the guidance of Simeon, their bishop.¹ With them departs Sion's last hope; God is about to avenge His Christ. Already has the signal of destruction been heard, the whistle, as the prophet Isaias had foretold,² has been heard from beyond the seas; and, as Balaam had seen it in vision, 'they are coming in galleys from Italy, to lay waste the Hebrews.'³ The leader, announced by Daniel, is approaching towards that which was once the land of promise; the appointed desolation and ruin shall remain there even after the end of the war.⁴

¹ St. Matt. xxiv. 26. ² Ezech. xiii. 1-8.
³ Isa. ix. 17. ⁴ St. Matt. xxiv. 16.

Let us leave the Jews to hurry on their own ruin; let us return to the Church, which, at the same time, is rising up, so grand and so beautiful, on the corner-stone that had been rejected by the Synagogue. Because of the absence of this stone, which the builders of Sion had not the wisdom to recognize as the basis indispensably necessary to their city, Jerusalem falls in Judea, but reappears, more than ever beauteous, on the hills whither Cephas, prince of the apostles, has carried her everlasting foundation. Set firmly on the divine rock, she shall no longer fear the violence of the billows and winds, when they storm against her walls. False prophets, and all the workers of lies, who had so successfully sapped the walls of the ancient, will not leave the new Jerusalem in peace; for our Lord had plainly said: 'It is necessary that scandals should come';⁵ and the apostle, speaking of heresy (that greatest of all scandals), said: 'There must be heresies in order that they who are approved may be made manifest.'⁶

Indeed, for each individual Christian, as for the Church at large, the security of the spiritual building

¹ Euseb., Hist. Eccl., iii. 5. ² Isa. v. 26.
³ Num. xxiv. 24. ⁴ Dan. ix. 26, 27. ⁵ Ps. cxvii. 22.
⁶ Isa. ii. 2. ⁷ St. John i. 42. ⁸ St. Matt. vii. 24-27.
⁹ Ibid. xviii. 7. ¹⁰ 1 Cor. xi. 19.

depends primarily on the firmness of the foundation, which is faith. The Holy Ghost will not build on a foundation that is unsound or unsafe. When, especially, He is to lead a soul to the higher degrees of divine union, He exacts from her, as the first condition, that her faith, too, be above the average, —a faith, that is, with heroism enough to fight successfully those battles which brace the soul, and so render her worthy of light and love. In every stage of the Christian life, however, it is faith that provides love with its enduring and substantial nourishment; it is faith that gives to the virtues their supernatural motives, and makes them fit to form a worthy court for their queen, charity. A soul's development never goes beyond the measure of her faith. The capaciousness of faith, and its ever-growing plenitude, and its certified conformity with truth, these are the guarantees of the progress which will be made by a just man; whereas all such holiness as affects to be guided by a faith which is cramped or false is holiness of a very dubious kind, and one that is exposed to most fearful illusions.

It was, therefore, a good and a wholesome thing that faith should be put to the test, for it grows brighter and stronger under trial. St. Paul, in his Epistle to the Hebrews, is enthusiastic in his praise of the triumphs won by the faith of our forefathers.² Could there be denied to the new Covenant those glorious combats which constituted the eternal merit and honour of the saints who lived in the period of expectation and figures? It is by their victorious faith in the word of the promise, that all those worthy ancestors of the Christian people merited to have God Himself as their praise-giver.³ For us, who joyously have possession of that Messias who to them was but the object of heroic

¹ Heb. xi. 1. ² Ibid. 4-40. ³ Ibid. 2, 39.

hope, our trial cannot be like theirs—the trial of expectation. This is quite true; and yet, heresy, which is the offspring of man's pride and hell's malice—heresy and its manifold outcomings, which are ever producing the diminution of truth in this world¹—will give us occasions of merit even in our possession of what they beheld and saluted only afar off.² Man is ever trying to intrude his foolish ideas into the truths of divine revelation; and, as to the prince of this world,³ he will do all in his power to encourage these audacious attempts at corrupting the purity of the word. But Wisdom, who is never overcome,⁴ will turn all these impious efforts into an occasion of glorious victories for her children. Here we have the reason why God permitted, from the very commencement of the Church's existence, and still permits, that sects should be continually springing up. It is in the battlefield against error that the Church brings forth the armour of God,⁵ and shows herself all brilliant with that absolute truth which is the brightness of the Word, her Spouse;⁶ it is by his personal triumph over the spirit of lying, and by spontaneous adhesion to the teachings of Christ and His Church, that the Christian shows himself to be a true child of light,⁷ and becomes himself a light to the world.⁸

The combat is not without its dangers for the Christian who would hold, in all its integrity, the faith of his mother the Church. The tricks of the enemy, his studied and obstinate hypocrisy, the crafty skill wherewith he tries to stir up in the soul, almost without her knowing it, a score of little weaknesses of hers which more or less favour error—all this frequently ends in injuring the light,

¹ Ps. xi. 9. ² Heb. xi. 13. ³ St. John xvi. 11.
⁴ Wisd. vii. 30. ⁵ Eph. vi. 11-17. ⁶ Heb. i. 3.
⁷ St. John xii. 36. ⁸ St. Matt. v. 14.

not perhaps in extinguishing it altogether, but in robbing it of some of its brilliancy. And yet, they who live on the teachings given us in our to-day's Gospel are sure to come off with the victory. Let us meditate upon them with gratitude and love; for it is by such teachings that eternal Wisdom grants us what we so ardently ask of Him, when in Advent we thus beseech Him: 'Come and teach us the way of prudence!'¹ Prudence, the friend of a wise man,² guardian of his treasures, and his surest defence, has no greater peril from which to keep him than shipwreck concerning the faith;³ if faith be lost, all is lost. No price is too great to give⁴ for that prudence of the serpent which, in a disciple of Christ, goes so admirably with the simplicity of the dove.⁵ If we are happy enough to possess prudence, we shall readily distinguish between those false teachers whom we must shun and those to whom we must hearken—between the falsifiers of the word and its faithful interpreters. By their fruits shall ye know them, says our Gospel, and history confirms the words of our Redeemer. Under the sheep's clothing, which they wear that they may deceive simple souls, the apostles of falsehood ever betray their real nature. The artful language they use,⁶ and the flatteries they utter for gain's sake,⁷ cannot hide the hollowness of their works. They separate themselves from the flock of Christ,⁸ and flee from the light; for, as the apostle says: 'All things that are reproved, or deserve to be so, are made manifest by the light; and as to the things that are done by them in secret, it is a shame even to speak of them. Therefore, be ye not partakers with them.'¹⁰

¹ First of the Great Antiphons. ² Prov. vii. 4.
³ 1 Tim. i. 19. ⁴ Prov. iii. 13-19. ⁵ St. Matt. x. 16.
⁶ Eph. v. 6. ⁷ St. Jude 16. ⁸ Eph. v. 11.
⁹ St. Jude 19. ¹⁰ Eph. v. 13, 12, 7.

The useless or rotten fruits of darkness, and 'the trees of autumn, twice dead,'¹ which bear such fruits on their withered branches, both of them shall be cast into the fire. If you yourselves were heretofore darkness, now that you have become light in the Lord by Baptism, or by a sincere conversion, show yourselves to be so, and produce 'the fruits of light, in all goodness, and justice, and truth.'² On this condition alone can you hope to enter into the kingdom of heaven, and call yourselves disciples of that Wisdom of the Father, who, on this seventh Sunday, asks us to give Him our love.

St. James the apostle almost seems to be giving a commentary on the Gospel of this seventh Sunday, where he says: 'Can the fig-tree, my brethren, bear grapes, or the vine figs? So neither can the salt water yield sweet. Who is a wise man and endued with wisdom among you, let him, by a good conversation (that is, by his good conduct) show his work in the meekness of wisdom.' . . . For there is a wisdom which is bitter, and misleads others; it 'descendeth not from above, but is earthly, sensual, devilish. . . . But the wisdom which is from above, first indeed is chaste, then peaceable, modest, easy to be persuaded, consenting to the good (and always sides with them), full of mercy and good fruits, without judging (the conduct of others), without dissimulation. And the fruit of justice is sown in peace to them that make peace.'³

The Offertory-anthem has been selected, according to Honorius of Autun,⁴ in allusion to the sacrifice of the thousand victims which were offered at Gabaon by Solomon, in the early days of his reign; when the sacrifice was ended, he was bidden to ask, what he would have God give to him: he

¹ St. Jude 12. ² Eph. v. 8, 9.
³ St. James iii. 11-18. ⁴ Gemma Anim., iv. 57.

desired and obtained wisdom, with the addition of riches and glory, for which he had not asked. It depends upon us, that the sacrifice which is here ready to be offered up, should be equally, and even more, accepted of God, for it is Incarnate Wisdom that is being offered to the most high God; He desires to obtain for us all the gifts of His eternal Father, and to give Himself also to us.

OFFERTORY

Sicut in holocaustis arietum, et taurorum, et sicut in millibus agnorum pinguium: sic fiat sacrificium nostrum in conspectu tuo hodie, ut placeat tibi: quia non est confusio confidentibus in te, Domine.

As in holocausts of rams and bullocks, and as in thousands of fat sheep, so let our sacrifice be made in thy sight this day, that it may please thee: for there is no confusion to them that trust in thee, O Lord.

Another circumstance which confirms what we have said regarding the mysterious character of this seventh Sunday, as to its being especially sacred to eternal Wisdom, is the fact that the verse of Scripture which formerly used to be joined to the present Offertory-anthem¹ is the same as that which, in the Roman pontifical, opens the magnificent ceremony of the consecration of virgins: 'And now we follow thee with all our heart, and we fear thee, and seek thy face; put us not to confusion, but deal with us according to thy meekness, and according to the multitude of thy mercies!'² After being thrice called by the bishop, the affianced of the divine Spouse, singing these words, advance to the altar, where they are to be espoused to Him.

The Secret speaks to God of how the multiplied variety of the ancient sacrifices, such as those

¹ Antiph. Gregor. ap. Thomasi, v. ² Dan. iii. 40-42.

mentioned in the Offertory, were all made one in the oblation of our Christian sacrifice.

SECRET

Deus, qui legalium differentiam hostiarum unius sacrificii perfectione sanxisti: accipe sacrificium a devotis tibi famulis, et pari benedictione, sicut munera Abel, sanctifica: ut, quod singuli obtulerunt ad Majestatis tuæ honorem, cunctis proficiat ad salutem. Per Dominum.

O God, who, in one perfect sacrifice, hast united all the various sacrifices of the Law, accept, from thy devoted servants, this sacrifice, and sanctify it by a blessing like to that thou gavest to Abel's offerings; that what each hath offered to thy divine Majesty, may avail to the salvation of all. Through, etc.

The other Secreta, as on page 130.

The Communion, says Honorius of Autun, gives us the prayer of Solomon, who asks wisdom of God, and obtains it.¹ 'If any of you,' says St. James, 'want wisdom, let him ask of God, who giveth to all men abundantly, and upbraideth not: and it shall be given him.'²

COMMUNION

Inclina aurem tuam, accelera ut eripias me.

Bow down thine ear unto me. Make haste to deliver me!

Original sin has vitiated man to such a degree— he is so far from divine union, at his first coming into this life—that, of himself, he can neither cleanse the defilement that is on him, nor enter on the path which leads to God. It is requisite that our God, as a generous and patient physician, take our cure into His own hand; and, even when the cure is effected, should support and guide us. Let us then, in the Postcommunion, say with the Church:

¹ Honorius, ubi supra. ² St. Jas. i. 5.

POSTCOMMUNION

Tua nos, Domine, medicinalis operatio et a nostris perversitatibus clementer expediat, et ad ea quæ sunt recta, perducat. Per Dominum.

Grant, O Lord, that the healing efficacy of these thy mysteries may, through thy mercy, free us from all our sins, and bring us to the practice of what is right. Through, etc.

The other Postcommunions, as on page 131.

VESPERS

The psalms, capitulum, hymn and versicle, as above, pages 71-81.

ANTIPHON OF THE MAGNIFICAT

Non potest arbor bona fructus malos facere, nec arbor mala fructus bonos facere: omnis arbor quæ non facit fructum bonum, excidetur, et in ignem mittetur. Alleluia.

A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, nor the evil tree bring forth good fruit: every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit shall be cut down, and shall be cast into the fire. Alleluia.

OREMUS

Deus, cujus providentia in sui dispositione non fallitur, te supplices exoramus ut noxia cuncta submoveas, et omnia nobis profutura concedas. Per Dominum.

LET US PRAY

O God, whose providence is never deceived in what it appointeth: we humbly beseech thee to remove whatever may be hurtful, and to grant us all that will profit us. Through, etc.

THE EIGHTH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST

IN the middle ages this Sunday was called the Sixth and last Sunday after the Natalis of the apostles (that is, the feast of St. Peter); it was, indeed, the last for the years when Easter had been kept as late in April as was possible; but it was only the first after that feast of St. Peter

when Easter immediately followed the spring equinox.

We have already noticed the variable character of this last portion of the liturgical cycle, which is the result of Easter being kept on a different day each year; and that in consequence of this variation this week may be the second in which the Sapiential Books are read, or, what is of more frequent occurrence, the Books of Kings may still be providing the lessons for the Divine Office. In this latter case it is the ancient temple raised by Solomon, the king of peace, to the glory of Jehovah, that engages the Church's attention to-day. We shall find that the portions of the Mass which are chanted on this Sunday are closely connected with the lessons read in last night's Office.

Let us, then, turn our reverential thoughts once more to this splendid monument of the ancient Covenant. The Church is now going through that month which immediately preceded the events so momentous to Jerusalem; she would do honour to-day to the glorious and divine past which prepared her own present. Let us, like her, enter into the feelings of the first Christians, who were Juda's own children; they had been told of the impending destruction foretold by the prophets, and an order from God bade them depart from Jerusalem. What a solemn moment that was, when the little flock of the elect,—the only ones in whom was kept up the faith of Abraham and the knowledge of the destinies of the Hebrew

¹ 3 Kings iii.; 2 Paralip. i.

ople—had just begun their emigration, and looked back on the city of their fathers, to take a last farewell! They took the road to the east; it led towards the Jordan, beyond which God had provided a refuge for the remnant of Israel. They

¹ Isa. x. 20-23.

halted on the incline of Mount Olivet, whence they had a full view of Jerusalem; in a few moments that hill would be between them and the city. Not quite forty years before the Man-God had sat down on that same spot, taking His own last look at the city and her temple. Jerusalem was seen in all her magnificence from this portion of the mount, which afterwards would be visited and venerated by our Christian pilgrims. The city had long since recovered from its ruins, and had, at the time we are speaking of, been enlarged by the princes of the Herodian family, so favourably looked on by the Romans. Never in any previous period of her history had Jerusalem been so perfect and so beautiful as she then was, when our fugitives were gazing upon her. There was not, as yet, the slightest outward indication that she was the city accursed of God. There, as a queen in her strength and power, she was throned amidst the mountains of which the psalmist had sung;² her towers³ and palaces seemed as though they were her crown. Within the triple enclosure of the walls built by her latest kings, she embraced those three hills, the grandest, not only of Judea, but of the whole world: first, there was Sion, with its unparalleled memories; then, Golgotha, which had not yet been honoured on account of the holy sepulchre, and which, nevertheless, was even then attracting to itself the Roman legions, who were to wreak vengeance on this guilty land; and, lastly, Moriah, the sacred mount of the old world, on whose summit was raised that unrivalled temple, which gave Jerusalem to be the queen of all the cities of the east, for as such even the Gentiles acknowledged her.⁴

At sunrise, when in the distance there appeared

¹ St. Mark xiii. 1-8. ² Ps. cxxiv. 2.
³ Ps. cxxi. 7. ⁴ Pliny, 'Nat. Hist.,' v. 15.

the sanctuary, towering upwards of a hundred cubits above the two rows of porticoes which formed its double enclosure; when the sun cast his morning rays on that facade of gold and white marble; when there glittered the thousand gilded spires which mounted from its roof, it seemed, says Josephus, that it was a hill capped with snow, which gradually shone, and reddened, with the morning beams. The eye was dazzled, the soul was amazed, religion was roused within the beholder, and even the pagans fell down prostrate.¹ Yes, when the pagan came hither either for conquest or for curiosity, if he ever returned, it was as a pilgrim. Full of holy sentiments, he ascended the hill; and, having reached the summit, he entered by the golden gate into the gorgeous galleries which formed the outward enclosure of the temple. In the court of the Gentiles he met with men from every country. His soul was struck by the holiness of a place where he felt that there were preserved in all purity the ancient religious traditions of the human race; and he, being profane, stood afar off, assisting at the celebrations of the Hebrew worship, such as God had commanded it to be, that is, with all the magnificence of a divine ritual. The white column of smoke from the burning victims rose up before him as earth's homage to God, its Creator and Saviour; from the inner courts there fell on his ear the harmony of the sacred chants, carrying as they did to heaven both the ardent prayer of those ages of expectation and the inspired expression of the world's hope; and when, from the midst of the levite choirs and the countless priests who were busy in their ministry of sacrifice and praise, the high priest, with his golden crown on his head, came forth holding the censer in his hand, and

¹ Josephus, De Bell., v. 5, translated by Champagny.

entering himself alone within the mysterious veil which curtained off the Holy of holies, the stranger, though he had but a glimpse of all those splendid symbols of religion, yet confessed himself overpowered, and acknowledged the incomparable greatness of that invisible Deity, whose majesty made all the vain idols of the Gentiles seem to him paltry and foolish pretences. The princes of Asia and the greatest kings considered it an honour to be permitted to contribute, both by personal gifts of their own making and by sums taken from the national treasuries, towards defraying the expenses of the holy place.¹ The Roman generals and the Cæsars themselves kept up the
traditions of Cyrus² and Alexander³ in this respect. Augustus ordered that every day a bull and two lambs should be presented in his name to the Jewish priests, and be immolated on Jehovah's altar for the well-being of the empire;⁴ his successors insisted on the practice being continued; and Josephus tells us that the beginning of the war was attributable to the sacrificers refusing any longer to accept the imperial offerings.⁵

But, if the majesty of the temple thus impressed the very pagans right up to its last days, there were reasons for an intensity of veneration and love on the part of a faithful Jew, which he alone could realize. He was the inheritor of the submissive faith of the patriarchs; as such, he was well aware that the prophetic privileges of his fatherland were but an announcement to the whole world, that it was one day to be blessed with the more real and lasting benefits of which he, the Jew, possessed but a figure; he quite understood that the hour had come when the children of God would not confine their worship within the narrow limits of one

¹ 2 Mach. iii. 2, 3. ² 1 Esdras vi. 7. ³ Jos., 'Antiq.,' xi. 5.
⁴ Philo, Legat. ⁵ Jos., De Bell., ii. 17.

mountain or one city;¹ he knew that God's true temple was then actually being built up on every hill of the Gentile world;² and that, in its immensity, it took in all those countries of the earth into which the Blood that flowed first from Calvary had won its way. And yet, we can easily understand what a sharp pang of anguish thrilled through his patriot heart, now that God was about to consummate, before the astonished universe, the terrible consumption³ of the ungrateful people, whom He had chosen for His portion, His inheritance.⁴ Who is there that would not share in the grief of these holy ones of Jacob, few in number as the ears of corn gathered by the gleaner,⁵ and now bidding an eternal farewell to that holy, but now accursed, city? These true Israelites might well weep; they were leaving for ever, leaving to devastation and ruin, their homes, their country, and, dearest of all, that temple, which, for ages, had sanctified the glory of Israel, and given Juda the right and title to be the noblest of the nations of the earth.⁶

There was something even beyond all this: it was that their dear Jerusalem had been the scene of the grandest mysteries of the law of grace. Was it not in yonder temple that, as the prophets expressed it, God had manifested the Angel of the Testament, and given peace?⁷ The honour of that temple is no longer the exclusive right of an isolated people; for the Desired of all nations, by His going into it, has brought it a grander glory than all the ages of expectation and prophecy have imparted.⁸ It was under the shadow of those walls that Mary—she that was to be the future seat of Wisdom eternal—prepared within her soul and

¹ St. John iv. 21, 23. ² Isa. ii. 2. ³ Ibid. x. 23.
⁴ Deut. xxxii. 9. ⁵ Isa. xvii. 5. ⁶ Deut. iv. 6-8.
⁷ Mal. iii. 1. ⁸ Agg. ii. 8, 10.

body a more august sanctuary for the divine Word than was that whose cedared and golden wainscoting made it so exquisite a shelter for the infant maiden. Yes, it was there that, when but three years old, Mary joyously mounted up the fifteen steps which separated the court of women from the eastern gate, offering to God the pure homage of her immaculate heart. Here, then, on the summit of Moriah, began, in the person of their Queen, the long line of consecrated virgins, who, to the end of time, will come offering, after her, their love to the King.¹ There, also, the new priesthood found its type and model in the blessed Mother, presenting in that holy temple the world's victim, Jesus, the new-born Child of her chaste womb. In that same dwelling, made by the hands of men; in those halls where sat the doctors, eternal Wisdom, too, seated Himself under the form of a child of twelve, instructing the very teachers of the Law by His sublime questions and divine answers.² Every one of those courts had seen the Word Incarnate giving forth treasures of goodness, power, and heavenly doctrine. One of those porticoes was the favourite one where Jesus used to walk,³ and the infant Church made it the place of its early assemblies.⁴

Truly, then, this temple is holy with a holiness possessed by no other spot on earth; it is holy for the Jew of Sinai; it is holy for the Christian, be he Jew or Gentile, for here he finds that the Law ends,⁵ because here are verified all its figures. With good reason did our mother the Church, in her Office for this night, repeat the words which were spoken by God to Solomon: 'I have sanctified this house which thou hast built, to put my name there

¹ Ps. xliv. 15, 16. ² St. Luke ii. 46, 47.
³ St. John x. 23. ⁴ Acts iii. 11, v. 12. ⁵ Rom. x. 4.

for ever; and mine eyes and my heart shall be always there.'¹

How, then, is it that dark forebodings are come terrifying the watchmen of the holy mount? Strange apparitions, fearful noises, have deprived the sacred edifice of that calm and peace which become the house of the Lord. At the Feast of Pentecost the priests, who were fulfilling their ministry, have heard in the holy place a commotion like that of a mighty multitude, and many voices crying out together: 'Let us go hence!'² On another occasion, at midnight, the heavy brazen gate which closed the sanctuary on the eastern side, and which took twenty men to move it, has opened of itself.³ O temple, O temple, let us say it, with them that witnessed these threatening prodigies,⁴ why art thou troubled? why workest thou thine own destruction? Alas! we know what awaits thee! The prophet Zacharias foretold it when he said: 'Open thy gates, O Libanus, and let fire devour thy cedars!'⁵

Has God forgotten His promises of infinite goodness? No: but let us think upon the terrible and just warning, which He added to the promise He made to Solomon, when he had finished building the temple: 'But if ye and your children, revolting, shall turn away from following Me, and will not keep My commandments and My ceremonies which I have set before you, I will take away Israel from the face of the land, which I have given them; and the temple which I have sanctified to My name, I will cast out of My sight; and Israel shall be a proverb, and a by-word among all people. And this house shall be made an example of; every one that shall pass by it shall be astonished, and shall

¹ 3 Kings ix. 3. ² Jos., De Bell., vi. 5.
³ Talmud, as quoted by Sepp, 2nd part, vi. 62. ⁴ Ibid. ⁵ Zach. xi. 1.

hiss, and say: "Why hath the Lord done thus to this land, and to this house?"'¹

O Christian soul! thou that, by the grace of God, art become a temple² more magnificent, more beloved in His eyes, than that of Jerusalem, take a lesson from these divine chastisements; and reflect on the words of the Most High, as recorded by Ezechiel: 'The justice of the just shall not deliver him, in what day soever he shall sin. . . . Yea, if I shall say to the just, that he shall surely live, and he, trusting in his justice, commit iniquity —all his justices shall be forgotten, and, in his iniquity, which he hath committed, in the same shall he die.'³

With the Greeks, the multiplication of the five loaves and two fishes is the subject of the Gospel for this Sunday; they count it the eighth of St. Matthew.

MASS

The Introit speaks of the glory of the ancient temple, and of the holy mount. But greater far is the splendour of the Church, which is now carrying the name and praise of the Most High even to the end of the earth, far more efficiently than had done that temple which was but a figure of our mother the Church.

INTROIT

Suscepimus, Deus, misericordiam tuam in medio templi tui; secundum nomen tuum, ita et laus tua in fines terræ: justitia plena est dextera tua.

We have received thy mercy, O God, in the midst of thy temple: according to thy name so also is thy praise, unto the ends of the earth: thy right hand is full of justice.

Ps. Magnus Dominus, et laudabilis nimis: in civitate Dei nostri, in monte sancto ejus. Gloria Patri. Suscepimus.

Ps. Great is the Lord, and exceedingly to be praised: in the city of our God, on his holy mountain. Glory, etc. We have received.

Not only are we incapable, of ourselves, of doing any good work, but, without the help of grace, we cannot even have a thought of supernatural good. Now, the surest means for obtaining the help that is so needed by us is to acknowledge humbly before God that we depend entirely upon Him; it is what

the Church does in the Collect.

COLLECT

Largire nobis, quæsumus Domine, semper spiritum cogitandi quæ recta sunt, propitius et agendi; ut, qui sine te esse non possumus, secundum te vivere valeamus. Per Dominum.

¹ 3 Kings ix. 6-8. ² 1 Cor. iii. 16, 17.
³ Ezech. xxxiii. 12, 13.

Grant us, O Lord, we beseech thee, the spirit of always thinking what is right; and grant us mercifully the spirit of doing it: that we, who cannot subsist without thee, may live according to thee. Through, etc.

The other Collects, as on page 120.

EPISTLE

Lectio Epistolæ beati Pauli Apostoli ad Romanos.

Caput VIII.

Fratres, Debitores sumus non carni, ut secundum carnem vivamus. Si enim secundum carnem vixeritis, moriemini: si autem spiritu facta carnis mortificaveritis, vivetis. — Quicumque enim Spiritu Dei aguntur, ii sunt filii Dei. Non enim accepistis spiritum servitutis iterum in timore, sed accepistis spiritum adoptionis filiorum, in quo clamamus: Abba (Pater). Ipse enim Spiritus testimonium reddit spiritui nostro, quod sumus filii Dei. Si autem filii, et hæredes: hæredes quidem Dei, cohæredes autem Christi.

Lesson of the Epistle of St. Paul, the Apostle, to the Romans.

Chapter VIII.

Brethren: We are debtors, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh. For if you live according to the flesh, you shall die: but if by the spirit you mortify the deeds of the flesh, you shall live. For whosoever are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God. For you have not received the spirit of bondage again in fear: but you have received the spirit of adoption of sons, whereby we cry: Abba (Father). For the Spirit himself giveth testimony to our spirit, that we are the sons of God. And if sons, heirs also: heirs indeed of God, and joint heirs with Christ.

The apostle and doctor of the Gentiles here goes on, forming to the Christian life the new recruits, whom his own voice and that of his fellow apostles, dispersed as they are throughout the world, are every day leading, by hundreds, to the fount of salvation. Although the Church is all attention to the events which are preparing for Judea, yet is she full of maternal solicitude for the great work of training those children whom she has given to her divine Spouse. Whilst Israel is obstinate in his fatal refusal to accept the Messiah, another family is growing up in his place; and, by its docility, richly repays our Lord for all the rebellion and slights offered Him by the children He had first made His chosen ones. They were the ancient people, and are jealous of others being now called to the same privilege. The contradictions of which Christ complains in the Psalm are anything but over; and yet, thanks to the Church, the Man-God is already the Head of the Gentiles.¹

Admirable is the fruitfulness of the bride; for wonderful is the power of sanctification which she is using all through the world of various nations. Scarcely has she sprung into her beauteous existence, than she offers to her Lord and her King a new empire, consolidated in unity of love; she presents Him with a generation that is all pure in the intelligence and practice of every virtue. It is quite true, that the Holy Ghost acts directly on the souls of the newly baptized; but there is something else to be considered in the divine plan. It is this: the Word, having been made flesh, and having taken to Himself a bride (which is the visible Church on earth), whom He has made His associate in the work of man's salvation, has willed that the invisible operation of the divine Spirit, who proceeds from Him (the Word), shall not be in its normal state, unless there be added to it the extrinsic co-operation and intervention of this His bride. Not only is the Church the depository of those all-potent formulas and mysterious rites which change man's heart into a new soil, cleansing it from thorns and weeds, making it able to produce a hundredfold, but she also sows the seed of the divine husbandman into that same soil,¹ by her countless modes of teaching the truth. To the Holy Ghost, indeed, a magnificent share is due of that fecundity and that social life of the Church; still, her portion of work is exquisite; it deals with the elect taken as individuals, and consists especially in bringing them to profit by the divine energies of the sacraments which she administers, and in developing the germs of salvation which her teaching plants in their souls.

How important, then, and sublime will ever be that mission, which is confided to those men who are set over particular churches, as teachers or directors of souls; they represent, to these isolated congregations, the common mother of all the faithful, for, in her name, they really provide for the Holy Spirit those elements upon which He is to make His all-powerful action felt. For that very same reason, woe to those times when the dispensers of the divine word, having themselves nought but halved or false principles, give but weak, shrivelled seed to the souls entrusted to them! The Holy Ghost is not bound to supply their insufficiency; ordinarily speaking, He does not supply it, for such is not the way established by Christ for the sanctification of the members of His Church.

¹ Ps. xvii, 44-46.

¹ St. Luke viii. 11.

The common mother, however, has a supplementary aid for such of her children as may be thus treated; it is her liturgy. There they will find, not only the holy sacrifice which will support them, and the graces of the Sacrament of love which will nourish spiritual life within them, but, moreover, the surest rule of conduct, and the sublimest teachings of every virtue. Such souls as these have perhaps the idea that the poor subjective system they have made for themselves is the royal road to perfection; but, if they be of an earnest good will, desirous to find the best way, God will, some happy day, lead them to find, and, finding, to appreciate, the inexhaustible and divinely given treasures of the Church's liturgy; possessing and enriching themselves with these, they will soon put aside what the prophet Isaias terms bread without strength, and water without power.¹ The same prophet would thus urge them, in the Church's name, to what is best: 'All ye that thirst, come to the waters! And ye that have no money, make haste, buy, and eat. Come ye! buy wine and milk, without money, and without any price. Why spend ye money for that which is not bread, and your labour for that which doth not satisfy you? Hearken diligently to me, and eat that which is good, and your soul shall be delighted in fatness!'² And truly there is a fact which should rouse, both to attention and gratitude, any Christian who longs to be enlightened as to the best way of getting to heaven: this fact is, that the Church herself has made a selection, for our reading, from the treasury of the Scriptures, and, in her missal, which she puts into our hands, she has inserted practical teachings from the same divine Books, which she knew were best suited to the wants of her children. A Christian, who is humbly and devoutly assiduous in the study of this admirable book of the liturgy, will abound in spiritual knowledge. His guide will say to him, and with a well-grounded assurance: 'This is the way; walk in it! And go not aside, neither to the right, nor to the left!'¹ We have no need to wonder at all this; for, in the guidance of souls, the Church is far superior to the most learned doctors and to the greatest saints, all of whom were humble disciples in her school.

¹ Isa. iii. 1, xxx. 20.

² Ibid. lv. 1, 2.

¹ Isa. xxx. 21.

Let us put together the few lines which have been read to us as the Epistles of the last three Sundays, taken from that written by St. Paul to the Romans. To say nothing of their infallible truth as being inspired by the Holy Ghost, could we have had any exposition of the principles of revealed morality which could be compared to it? Clearness, simplicity of diction, earnest vehemence of exhortation—all are perfect in these few words; and yet, they are but the outward expression of the sublimest truths of Christian dogma. Let us make the barest possible summary of what these three Epistles have taught us; and we shall see how grand they are. Christ Jesus, foundation of man's salvation; His death and burial made, in Baptism, the regeneration of man; His life in God, the model of our own; the disgrace of our enslaved bodies and its removal; the sanctifying fruitfulness of every virtue substituted in our members for the poisonous roots of all vices; and, on this very Sunday, the pre-eminence of the spirit over the flesh; the duties incumbent on our spirit, if she is to maintain her superiority; what man must do, if he would preserve the liberty bestowed on him by the Spirit of love, and prove himself to be, what he really is, a son of God and joint-heir of Christ. Yes, these are the splendid realities, which are henceforth to light up in us the law of the spirit of life (that is, the law of the life we are to live by the Spirit) in Christ Jesus;¹ these are the axioms of the science of salvation now taught to the whole world, which are to be substituted for both the weaknesses of the Jewish law and the empty ethics of philosophers.

For, the leading idea which pervades the whole of this sublime Epistle to the Romans is this: man, unaided by grace, is incapable of producing perfect justice and absolute good. Experience has proved it, St. Paul teaches it, the fathers will, later on, unanimously assert it, and the Church, in her Councils, will define it. True, by the mere powers of his fallen nature, man may come to the knowledge of some truths, and to the practice of some virtues; but, without grace, he can never know, and still less observe, the precepts of even the natural law, if they are taken as a whole.

From Jesus, then, from Jesus alone, comes all justice. Not only is supernatural justice, which supposes the infusion of sanctifying grace in the sinner's soul, wholly from Him; but even that natural justice, of which men are so proud, and which they say is quite enough without anything else, soon leaves one who does not cling to Christ by faith and love. Our modern world has a pompous phrase about 'the independence of the human mind'; let those who pretend to acknowledge no other goodness but that, go on with their boasting of being moral and honest men; but, as to us Christians, we believe what our mother the Church teaches us; and, agreeably to such teaching, we believe that 'a moral and honest man,' that is to say, a man who lives up to all the duties which nature puts upon him, can only be such here below by a special aid of our Redeemer and Saviour Christ Jesus. With St. Paul, therefore, let us be proud of the Gospel; for, as he calls it, it is the power of God,¹ not only to justify the ungodly, but also to enrich souls, that thirst after what is right, with an active and perfect justice. 'The just man,' says the same apostle, 'liveth by faith'; and according to the growth of his faith, so is his growth in justice. Without faith in Christ, the pretension to reach perfection in good, by one's own power and works, produces nothing but the stagnation of pride and the wrath of God.³

The Jews are a proof of it. Proud of their Law, which gave them light greater than that enjoyed by the Gentiles, and wishing to make their whole virtue consist in the possession of that Law, they have rejected Him who was the end of the Law, and the source of all holiness;⁵ they have refused to accept the Christ, who not only delivered them from their previous misery,⁶ but also brought them the knowledge of what would save them, and the strength to fulfil it; they have continued in their iniquity, adding sin upon sin to that contracted from their first parents, and thus 'treasuring up wrath against the day of wrath.'⁸ Now is being fulfilled the prediction of Isaias, whose words might very appropriately have been used by the faithful few of Israel, as they fled from Jerusalem: 'Except the Lord of hosts had left us seed, we should have been as Sodom, and we should have been like to Gomorrha.'⁹

'What, then, shall we say?' asks the apostle; and he answers his own question thus: 'That the Gentiles, who followed not after justice, have attained to justice, even the justice that is of faith. But Israel, by following after the law of justice, is not come unto the law of justice. Why so? Because they sought it, not by faith, but as it were of works; for they stumbled at the stumbling-stone, as it is written: Behold! I lay in Sion a stumbling-stone and a rock of scandal; and whosoever believeth in Him, shall not be confounded.'¹

¹ Rom. viii. 2.

¹ Rom. i. 16. ² Ibid. iv. 5. ³ Ibid. i. 17, 18.
⁴ Ibid. ii. 17-20. ⁵ Ibid. x. 3, 4. ⁶ Ibid. iii. 25.
⁷ Ibid. viii. 3, 4. ⁸ Ibid. ii. 5. ⁹ Isa. i. 9.

¹ Rom. ix. 30-33.

The Gradual seems to express the sentiments of the Jewish converts, who had to depart from their cities; they might thus have besought God to be henceforth their protector and a place of refuge where they might be safe. The Alleluia-versicle again sings of the glory that was once given to the Lord in Jerusalem, especially on the holy mountain where His temple was built.

GRADUAL

Esto mihi in Deum protectorem, et in locum refugii, ut salvum me facias.

℣. Deus, in te speravi: Domine, non confundar in æternum.

Alleluia, alleluia.

℣. Magnus Dominus, et laudabilis valde, in civitate Dei nostri, in monte sancto ejus. Alleluia.

Be thou unto me a God, a protector, and a place of refuge to save me.

℣. O God, in thee have I hoped; let me, O Lord, never be confounded.

Alleluia, alleluia.

℣. Great is the Lord, and exceedingly to be praised, in the city of our God, on his holy mountain. Alleluia.

GOSPEL

Sequentia sancti Evangelii secundum Lucam.

Caput XVI.

In illo tempore: Dixit Jesus discipulis suis parabolam hanc: Homo quidam erat dives, qui habebat villicum: et hic diffamatus est apud illum quasi dissipasset bona ipsius. Et vocavit illum, et ait illi: Quid hoc audio de te? Redde rationem villicationis tuæ: jam enim non poteris villicare. Ait autem villicus intra se: Quid faciam, quia dominus meus aufert a me villicationem? Fodere non valeo, mendicare erubesco. Scio quid faciam, ut, cum amotus fuero a villicatione, recipiant me in domos suas. Convocatis itaque singulis debitoribus domini sui, dicebat primo: Quantum debes domino meo? At ille dixit: Centum cados olei. Dixitque illi: Accipe cautionem tuam: et sede cito, scribe quinquaginta. Deinde alii dixit: Tu vero quantum debes? Qui ait: Centum coros tritici. Ait illi: Accipe litteras tuas, et scribe octoginta. Et laudavit dominus villicum iniquitatis, quia prudenter fecisset: quia filii hujus sæculi prudentiores filiis lucis in generatione sua sunt. Et ego vobis dico: Facite vobis amicos de mammona iniquitatis: ut, cum defeceritis, recipiant vos in æterna tabernacula.

Sequel of the holy Gospel according to Luke.

Chapter XVI.

At that time: Jesus spoke to his disciples this parable: There was a certain rich man who had a steward: and the same was accused unto him, that he had wasted his goods. And he called him, and said to him: How is it that I hear this of thee? give an account of thy stewardship: for now thou canst be steward no longer. And the steward said within himself: What shall I do, because my lord taketh away from me the stewardship? To dig I am not able; to beg I am ashamed. I know what I will do, that when I shall be removed from the stewardship, they may receive me into their houses. Therefore, calling together every one of his lord's debtors, he said to the first: How much dost thou owe my lord? But he said: A hundred barrels of oil. And he said to him: Take thy bill and sit down quickly, and write fifty. Then he said to another: And how much dost thou owe? Who said: A hundred quarters of wheat. He said to him: Take thy bill and write eighty. And the lord commended the unjust steward, forasmuch as he had done wisely: for the children of this world are wiser in their generation than the children of light. And I say to you: Make unto you friends of the mammon of iniquity, that when you shall fail, they may receive you into everlasting dwellings.

¹ Rom. ix. 30, 33.

The several parts of the parable here proposed to us are easy to be understood, and convey a deep teaching. God alone is rich by nature, for to Him alone belongs the direct and absolute dominion over all things: they are His, because He made them.¹

But, by sending His Son into the world under a created form, He, by this temporal mission, appointed Him heir to all the works of His hands, just as truly as He already was owner of the riches of the divine Nature because of His eternal generation. The rich man, then, of our Gospel is Jesus, who, in His sacred Humanity, united to the Word, is heir of all things,¹ and, as such, all things of the most high God, created or uncreated, finite or infinite, belong to Him. To Him belong the heavens which proclaim His glory,² and which, as long as they last,³ clothe Him with their garment of light;⁴ to Him the ocean, whose surges are but a voice that speaks His praise,⁵ and hushes the fury of its tempests when He bids it be still;⁶ to Him the earth, which gladly offers Him the homage of all its fullness.⁷ The grass and flowers of the meadows, the varied fruits, the fertile loveliness of the fields;⁸ the birds of the air and the fishes that inhabit the rivers, or that sport in the paths of the sea;⁹ the huge oxen as well as the tiniest insect that lives; the wild beasts of forest or mountain;¹⁰ all are His, all are subject to His rule. Silver, too, is His, and gold is His;¹¹ and man, too, is His, and would have been eternally His servant, had not Jesus mercifully vouchsafed to divinize him, and make him a partaker of His own eternal happiness and riches. Instead of our being His slaves or servants, He would have us be His brothers; and, when He returned from this world to His Father, whom He had also made to be ours by the grace He had infused into us,¹² He sent us the Holy Ghost, who should bear testimony to us that we are the sons of God, and be to us the pledge of our sacred inheritance, heaven.¹³ O ineffable riches of the world to come! O inheritance the fullest that ever was!

¹ Heb. i. 2, ii. 8. ² Ps. xviii. 2, 6. ³ Ibid. ci. 27. ⁴ Ibid. ciii. 2. ⁵ Ibid. xcii. 3, 4. ⁶ St. Mark iv. 39, 40. ⁷ Ps. xxiii. 1. ⁸ Ibid. xlix. 11. ⁹ Ibid. viii. 9. ¹⁰ Ibid. xlix. 9, 10. ¹¹ Agg. ii. 9. ¹² St. John xx. 17. ¹³ Rom. viii. 16. ¹⁴ Eph. i. 14.

Our Jesus Himself is all joy at the sight of it, and, in the psalm of His Resurrection, He gives expression to that joy. We, His members and joint-heirs, have a right to repeat those words after Him, and say: 'The lines are fallen unto me in goodly places; for my inheritance is goodly to me! for the Lord Himself is my portion! I will bless Him for having given me to understand my happiness!'¹

But, in order that we may attain to those eternal riches, there is a condition imposed on us: we must turn to profit the visible domain of Christ; we must see that it is used in His service. The future rewards we are to have in heaven depend upon the greater or less fidelity wherewith we have employed our share of these inferior good things, for they are entrusted to us, to each of us in the measure which seemed good in God's eyes. What a divine agreement has been drawn up for us! What perfect adjustment between justice and love! Our Lord Jesus Christ has divided His property into two portions; He gives the eternal portion unreservedly to us; it is the only one that is truly great, the only one that is capable of contenting our infinite longings. As to the other portion, which, in itself, would not be worthy of the attention of beings that are made for the contemplation of the divine essence, He could not think of allowing us to set our hearts on it, neither will He permit us to have absolute dominion over it. The real possession of temporal goods belongs, therefore, to Him alone; the ownership of earthly riches, which He permits to the future joint-heirs of His own blissful eternity, is subject to numberless restrictions during their life-time, and, at their death, exhibits its essentially precarious tenure, by not being able to follow its owner beyond the grave. For the fool, as well as for the wise man, the day

¹ Ps. xv. 5-7.

will come when his soul will be required of him;¹ and when the rich man, as well as the poor, will be brought before his Maker, exactly as he was on the day of his first entrance into the world,² and it will be said to him: Give an account of thy stewardship! At that dread hour, the rule observed for the judgment will be that which our Lord revealed to us during His mortal life: 'Unto whomsoever much is given, of him much shall be required; and to whom they have committed much, of him they will demand the more.'³ Woe, at that hour, to the servant who has comported himself as though he were the absolute master! Woe to the steward who, disregarding the trust assigned to him, has done just what his own whim suggested with the goods of which he was only the dispenser!⁴ When the light of eternity shall be upon him, he will understand the error of his foolish pride. He will see the shameful injustice of a life which the world perhaps thought a very decent one, but which was spent without the slightest regard to God's intentions in giving him the riches of which he boasted. He will then be entirely deprived of them all; neither will it be then in his power to make a better use of them for the future—that is, a use more in accordance with the designs of God. If he might, at least, make some restitution for the goods he has abused! if he might sue for aid from those with whom he lived upon earth! But, no! when time is over, labour is over too. He has nothing to show for all his riches; he is powerless; and when he goes before that dread tribunal, where every man is afraid that he cannot put his own accounts right, whom can he get to help him?⁵

Happy, therefore, if, now that time is still granted him, he would allow the thousand calls of God⁶ to

¹ St. Luke xii. 20. ² Job i. 21. ³ St. Luke xii. 48. ⁴ Ibid. 45-47. ⁵ St. Matt. xxv. 9. ⁶ Ps. xciv. 8.

awaken him from his false conscience. Happy if, like the steward mentioned in our Gospel, he would profit by the days he has still to live, and would say to himself those words of Job: 'What shall I do, when God shall rise to judge? And, when He shall examine, what shall I answer Him?'¹

This very Judge, whom he so rightly fears, now most mercifully points out to him how he may escape the punishment due to his past mal-administration. Let him imitate the prudence of the unjust steward, and he will have praise for it from his Lord; not only because of his prudence, but because by thus spreading over God's servants the riches that were entrusted to his care, far from robbing his divine Master, he acts in strict accordance with His wishes. 'Who thinkest thou,' asks our Lord, 'is the faithful and wise steward, whom his Lord setteth over His family, to give them, in due time, their measure of wheat and oil?'² Alms, whether corporal or spiritual, secure us powerful friends for that awful day of our death and judgment. It is to the poor that the kingdom of heaven belongs;³ so that if we spend the riches of this present life in solacing the sufferings of the poor now that they are living here below, afterwards they will not fail to make us a return by receiving us into their future homes, the everlasting dwellings of heaven.

Such is the immediate and obvious meaning of the parable given to us to-day. But if we would go further—if we would understand the whole intention of the Church in her choice of the present Gospel—we must listen to St. Jerome, whose homily for last night's Office is put before us as the official interpretation of the sacred text. Let us first listen to the words of Scripture which the saint quotes

¹ Job xxxi. 14. ² St. Luke xii. 42. ³ 2 Esdras v. 11. ⁴ St. Matt. v. 3.

(they immediately follow those of our Gospel): 'He that is faithful in that which is least, is faithful also in that which is greater; and he that is unjust in that which is little, is unjust also in that which is greater. If, then, ye have not been faithful in the unjust mammon, who will trust you with that which is the true?'¹ These words, says St. Jerome, were said in the presence of the scribes and pharisees; they felt that the parable was intended for them; and they derided the divine preacher. The one that was unjust in that which is little is the jealous Jew, who, in the limited possession of the present life, refuses to his fellow-men the use of those goods which were created for all. If, then, you avaricious scribes are convicted of mal-administration in the management of temporal riches, how can you expect to have confided to you the true, the eternal, riches of the divine word, and the teaching of the Gentiles?² Terrible question, which our Lord leaves thus unanswered; let these unjust stewards, the depositaries of the figurative law, deride Jesus as much as they please, and pretend that His question does not refer to them; they will soon receive the true answer, the ruin of Jerusalem.

Meanwhile, the little humble flock of the elect of Juda, leaving these hard-hearted men to the vengeance which their proud madness is hurrying on, is continuing its journey, knowing that the promises of Sion belong to it. The Offertory-anthem is the expression of their faith and their hope.

OFFERTORY

Populum humilem salvum facies, Domine, et oculos superborum humiliabis: quoniam quis Deus præter te, Domine?

Thou wilt save the humble people, O Lord! and thou wilt humble the eyes of the proud: for, who is God besides thee, O Lord?

¹ St. Luke xvi. 10-14.
² S. Hieron., Ep. ad Algasiam, cap. vi.

It is from God that we receive the gifts, which He deigns to accept at our hands; and yet, the sacred mysteries, which are about to transform our oblation, do, none the less, obtain for us, by His grace, the sanctification of our present life, and the joys of eternity.

SECRET

Suscipe, quæsumus Domine, munera quæ tibi de tua largitate deferimus: ut hæc sacrosancta mysteria, gratiæ tuæ operante virtute, et præsentis vitæ nos conversatione sanctificent, et ad gaudia sempiterna perducant. Per Dominum.

Receive, we beseech thee, O Lord, the offerings we bring, which are the gifts of thine own bounty: that these most holy mysteries may, by the power of thy grace, make our conduct in this life holy, and bring us to those joys that will never end. Through, etc.

The other Secrets, as on page 180.

The hope which man has in his God could never disappoint him; what stronger pledge could he wish for than the sweetness of the divine banquet which he is now enjoying?

COMMUNION

Gustate, et videte, quoniam suavis est Dominus: beatus vir, qui sperat in eo.

Taste and see, that the Lord is sweet! blessed is the man that putteth his trust in him.

The heavenly nourishment we have now received has power to renew both our souls and bodies: let us make ourselves worthy of experiencing the fullness of its effects.

POSTCOMMUNION

Sit nobis, Domine, reparatio mentis et corporis cæleste mysterium: ut cujus exsequimur cultum, sentiamus effectum. Per Dominum.

May this heavenly mystery, O Lord, renew us both in soul and body; that we may find in ourselves the effects of what we celebrate. Through, etc.

The other Postcommunions, as on page 131.

VESPERS

The psalms, capitulum, hymn, and versicle as above, pages 71–81.

ANTIPHON OF THE MAGNIFICAT

Quid faciam, quia dominus meus aufert a me villicationem? — Fodere non valeo, mendicare erubesco. Scio quid faciam, ut cum amotus fuero a villicatione, recipiant me in domos suas.

What shall I do, because my lord taketh away from me the stewardship? To dig I am not able; to beg I am ashamed. I know what I will do, that, when I shall be removed from the stewardship, they may receive me into their houses.

OREMUS

Largire nobis, quæsumus, Domine, semper spiritum cogitandi quæ recta sunt, propitius et agendi, ut qui sine te esse non possumus, secundum te vivere valeamus. Per Dominum.

LET US PRAY

Grant us, O Lord, we beseech thee, the spirit of always thinking what is right; and grant us, mercifully the spirit of doing it: that we, who cannot subsist without thee, may live according to thee. Through, etc.

THE NINTH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST

The lamentation over Jerusalem's woes, the subject of to-day's Gospel, has given its name to this ninth Sunday after Pentecost, at least among the Latins. We have already observed that it is easy to find, even in the liturgy as it now stands, traces of how the early Church was all attention to the approaching fulfilment of the prophecies against Jerusalem—that ungrateful city upon which our Jesus heaped His earliest favours. The last limit put by mercy upon justice has, at length, been passed. Our Lord, speaking of the ruin of Sion and its temple, had foretold that the generation that was listening to His words should not pass until what He had announced should be fulfilled. The almost forty years accorded to Juda, that he might avert the divine wrath, have had no other effect than to harden the people of deicides in their determination not to accept Christ as the Messiah. As a torrent, which, having been long pent back, rushes along all the fiercer when the embankment breaks, vengeance at length burst on the ancient Israel; it was in the year 70 that was executed the sentence he himself had passed when, delivering up his King and God to the Gentiles,² he had cried out: 'His blood be upon us and upon our children!'³

Even as early as the year 67, Rome, irritated by the senseless insolence of the Jews, had deputed Flavius Vespasian to avenge the insult. The fact of this new general being scarcely known was, in reality, the strongest reason for Nero's approving of his nomination; but to the hitherto obscure family of this soldier God reserved the empire, as a reward for the service done to divine justice by this Flavius and his son Titus. Later on, Titus will see and acknowledge that it is not Rome but God Himself who conducts the war and commands the legions. Moses, ages before, had seen the nation, whose tongue Israel could not understand, rushing like an eagle upon the chosen people, and punishing them for their sins.⁵ But no sooner has the Roman eagle reached the land where he is to work the vengeance, than he finds himself visibly checked by a superior power; and his spirit of rapine is held back, or urged on, precisely as the prophets of the Lord of hosts had foretold. The piercing eye of that eagle, as eager to obey as it was to fight, almost seemed to be scrutinizing the Scriptures. It was actually here that he found the order of the day for the terrible years of the campaign.

¹ St. Luke xxi. 32. ² St. Matt. xx. 19. ³ Ibid. xxvii. 25. ⁴ Jos., De Bello Jud., vi. 9. ⁵ Deut. xxviii. 49.

As an illustration of this, we may mention what happened in the year 66. The army of Syria, under the leadership of Cestius Gallus, had encamped under the walls of Jerusalem. Our Lord intended this to be nothing more, in His plan, than a warning to His faithful ones, which He had promised them when foretelling the events that were to happen. He had said: 'When ye shall hear of wars, and seditions, and rumours of wars, be not terrified; these things must first come to pass; but the end is not yet presently.'¹ But when ye shall see Jerusalem compassed about with an army, then know that the desolation thereof is at hand.'² The Jews had been for years angering Rome by their revolts, but she bore with it all, if not patiently, contemptuously; but when, in one of these seditions, Roman blood had been spilt, then she was provoked and sent her legions. Her army, however, had first of all to furnish Jesus' disciples with a sign⁴; He had promised them that this sign should consist in her 'compassing Jerusalem,' then withdrawing for a time; this would give the Christians an opportunity of quitting the accursed city. The Roman proconsul had his troops stationed so near to Jerusalem that it seemed as though he had but to give the word of command and the war would be over; instead of that, he gave the strange order to retreat, and throw up the victory which he might have if he wished.⁵ Cestius Gallus seemed to men to have lost his senses; but no, he was following, without being aware of it, the commands of heaven. Jesus had promised an escape to His loved ones; He fulfilled His promise by this unwitting instrument.

¹ St. Luke xxi. 22. ² St. Matt. xxiv. 6; St. Luke xxi. 9. ³ Ibid. 20. ⁴ St. Mark xiii. 4. ⁵ Jos., De Bello Jud., ii. 19.

Vespasian himself had scarcely started for Judea when he met with one of those divine adjournments which all the Roman tactics were several times powerless to resist; the hour marked for them to act had not come, so they must wait, however reluctantly. The preordained counsel of the Most High decreed that before all these things¹ which men were to bring about, before the already broken sceptre of the ancient alliance² should have disappeared in the flames enkindled by the Jews themselves³—the establishment of the new Testament was to be solidly set up among the Gentiles, and be solemnly confirmed by the blood of the apostles, its witnesses.⁴ It was on June 29 in the year 67 that Peter and Paul suffered martyrdom in the city of Rome. Rome was thus made the mother-Church; and the reign of the Messiah, whom Israel rejected, was promulgated to the whole world, with an evidence which only the voluntarily blind could resist. Though Vespasian had opened the campaign against Judea in the spring of that year 67, yet he had to wait for the glorious confession of these two princes of the apostles; that triumph secured, the impatient legions might rush to victory as soon as they pleased. For forty-seven long days they had been kept, by some power, staring at the citadel of Jotapata, which it was so easy for them to take, and which would make them masters of Galilee; but June 29 had now had its apostolic triumph in Rome, and Vespasian was at liberty to do what he had so long wished to do; on that very June 29 he did it—he took Jotapata.

¹ St. Luke xxi. 12. ² Zach. xi. 10. ³ Isa. l. 11. ⁴ St. Matt. xxiv. 9; St. Mark xiii. 10.

Forty thousand dead, strewn on the steeps of the hill, and heaped up as high as the walls, showed the Romans what desperate resistance they were to expect from Jewish fanaticism. Of all the male defenders or inhabitants of Jotapata, only two survived; one of these was Josephus, a chief leader in the Jewish forces, and historian of these cruel wars. The women and children were spared.¹ But, some short time later on, another fortress, Gamala, was attacked; it overhung a chasm. When one-half of the besieged had been slain, and it was evident that further resistance was impossible, the survivors, assembling together the women and children, threw them and themselves down the rock; and five thousand was their number. When the legions stood looking around, at the close of that day's work, they could see but a desert and death.²

In every part of the unhappy Galilee blood was flowing in torrents, and the flames of burning villages lighted up the horizon. It was hard to recognize this as the land where Jesus had spent the years of His childhood, or as the scene of His first miracles, and of those teachings of His which were ever borrowing some exquisite parable or other from the sight of the pretty hills and fertile vales of that then favoured country. The arm of God was now pressing with all its weight on this land of Zabulon and Nephthali, on which first so brightly shone the light of salvation, as we sang on Christmas night.³ So again this time it was the first to be visited by God. But these were unhappy times; and the visit was no longer that of the divine Orient,⁴ opening out to the world the paths of peace. He was hid behind the tempest,⁵ and darted the fiery arrows of destruction on the ungrateful country that had refused to welcome Him in the weakness of human flesh, which nothing but His mercy had led Him to assume. 'They cried out, on the day of my vengeance,' says this rejected King of Israel, 'but there was none to save them; they cried to me their Lord, but I heard them not: and I will break them as small as dust, and scatter them before the wind; I will bring them to nought, like the dirt in the streets.'¹

¹ Jos., De Bello Jud., iii. 7. ² Ibid. iv. 1. ³ Isa. ix. 1, 2. ⁴ St. Luke i. 78, 79. ⁵ Ps. xvii. 12.

Terrible lesson which the Church learned and has never forgotten, that no blessing, no past holiness, is of itself a guarantee that the place thus favoured will not afterwards draw down on itself desecration and destruction! She saw, and trembled as she saw, these events of the first age of her history. She beheld violence and every sort of crime profaning the paths that had been trodden by the feet of her adorable Master, and the hills where He had passed whole nights in prayer and praise to His eternal Father. She one day witnessed even the pure waters of the Lake of Genesareth fearfully polluted; those waters that had so oft reflected the features of her divine Spouse, as when He walked on their glassy surface, or sat in Peter's bark superintending those mystery-meaning fishings of His apostles. The event we here allude to was that of six thousand Jewish insurgents—hemmed in between God's wrath and their Roman pursuers—reddening with their blood this Sea of Tiberias, where once Jesus had spoken to the storm and quelled it. Their livid carcasses were thrown back by the waves on the shore, where our Lord had uttered woe to the cities that had witnessed His miracles, and yet were not converted.²

¹ Ps. xvii. 42, 43. ² Jos., De Bello Jud., iii. 9. ³ St. Matt. xi. 20, 21.

And souls, too, on whom God heaps His choicest favours, inviting them thereby to a closer union with Himself, have a lesson to learn from all this. Woe to them if, through indifference or sloth, they neglect to correspond with their graces! Woe to them if they imitate the cities on the Lake of Galilee, by greedily accepting the honour done them but never producing the fruits of holiness which should follow such signal and frequent gifts of heaven. The prophet Amos couples these forgetful, careless souls with the cities which our Lord had treated with such partiality, and which yet remained apathetic and worldly; and he tells us what this slighted benefactor will say to both: 'You only have I known of all the families of the earth; therefore will I visit upon you all your iniquities! Shall two walk together, except they be agreed?'¹

As to Israel, the highly-favoured above all people, he would not agree with the Jesus who so loved him, and was visited with chastisements exactly corresponding to his crimes. In the spring of the year 68, an officer under Vespasian scoured the left banks of the Jordan, driving the terrified Israelites before him.² They fled in thousands towards Jericho, where they hoped to find refuge; but the river had so flooded the country round the city, that entrance was impossible; the wretched fugitives were overtaken and slain by the Roman troops. The Ark of the Covenant had once opened there a miraculous passage to the tribes of Israel; but even had it been there now, how was it to protect such unworthy descendants of the patriarchs—descendants, that is, who broke the Covenant made by God with the sons of Jacob? A frightful massacre, a merciless mowing down of human beings, followed; and, at what a place! the very place where, forty years before, St. John the Baptist had seen the axe laid to the root of the tree, and foretold the wrath to come upon this brood of vipers, who called themselves children of Abraham, and would not do penance.¹ A countless multitude drowned themselves in the Jordan; they found death in the very stream to which our Saviour had imparted sanctification by being Himself baptized in it, and imparting to it the power to give light to the world. But Israel had chosen the kingdom of the prince of this world in preference to that of the divine Giver of life.² The number of those who perished in that holy stream was so great that the heap of their dead bodies made it impossible for vessels to sail in the river; and this fearful obstacle continued until such time as the current had swept the corpses down to the Dead Sea, and scattered far into that dismal lake of malediction that hideous jetsam of the Synagogue. Had not our Lord said, that Sodom's guilt was less than theirs?³

¹ Amos iii. 2, 3. ² Jos., De Bello Jud., iv. 7.

Rome and her legions were masters, in the north, of Galilee and Samaria; in the east and west, of the banks of the Jordan and of the Mediterranean coast; and the conquest of Idumæa completed the circle of iron and fire that was to shut Jerusalem in. Roman garrisons held Emmaus, Jericho, and all the fortified positions round the Jewish capital. Having, as God's instrument, chastised so many other ungrateful cities, Vespasian was preparing to lay siege to the most guilty of all, when Nero's fall, and the events which followed it, drew the attention, both of himself and of the whole world, from Judea.

The last years of the tyrant had witnessed frequent *earthquakes in divers places,*¹ and *plagues,*² and *signs in the heavens*; but when he died there came *risings of nation against nation, and kingdom against kingdom.*³ The entire west was in arms; and the east herself was attracted towards Rome by the immense political commotion of the year 69. From the heights of Atlas to the Euxine Sea, and from the Humber to the Nile, provinces and peoples were striving for the mastery. Galba, Otho, Vitellius, Vespasian, proclaimed emperors by their respective armies, sent their rival legions from Britain and the Rhine, from Illyria and the Danube; they met at Bedriac for mutual slaughter. In one thing alone they that survived were unanimous: friends or foes, all must lay Italy waste. Rome was taken by the Romans; whilst on the undefended frontiers appeared Suevians, Sarmatians, and Dacians. The Capitol and Jupiter's temple in flames excited the Gauls to declare their independence, and Velleda to stir up Germany to revolt. The old world was gradually disappearing beneath the universal anarchy and war.

Circumstances, then, suddenly seemed favourable to Jerusalem; they gave her a fresh invitation to atone for her crimes; but, as we shall see when commenting on this Sunday's Gospel, she made no other use of them than to multiply her sins, and treat herself with greater cruelty than the Romans would have done.

In the Mass of this Sunday, which is their ninth of St. Matthew, the Greeks read the episode of Jesus' walking upon the waters.

¹ St. Matt. iii. 5-12. ² St. John xix. 15. ³ St. Luke x. 12.

¹ Senec., Natur. Quæst., vi. 1.; Tac. An., xiv. 27, xv. 22.
² Senec., Ibid. 27; Tac., Ibid., xvi. 13; Suet. in Ner., 39.
³ Tac., Hist., v. 13; Jos., De Bello Jud., vi. 5.
⁴ St. Luke xxi. 10, 11.

MASS

Israel had made himself the enemy of the Church; and God, as He had warned him,¹ punishes and disperses his children. The Church takes occasion, from the fulfilment of the divine judgments, to profess the humble confidence she has in her Spouse's aid.

INTROIT

Ecce Deus adjuvat me, et Dominus susceptor est animæ meæ: averte mala inimicis meis, et in veritate tua disperde illos, protector meus, Domine.

Ps. Deus in nomine tuo salvum me fac: et in virtute tua libera me. Gloria Patri. Ecce.

Behold! God is my helper, and the Lord is the support of my soul: turn aside the evils upon mine enemies, and cut them off in thy truth, O Lord, my protector.

Ps. O God, in thy name save me: and, in thy strength, deliver me. Glory, etc. Behold.

The Jews cried to heaven, and the ears of God were deaf to their supplications, because they asked for what was displeasing to Him. In her Collect, the Church prays that it may never be thus with her children.

COLLECT

Pateant aures misericordiæ tuæ, Domine, precibus supplicantium: et ut petentibus desiderata concedas, fac eos, quæ tibi sunt placita, postulare. Per Dominum.

May the ears of thy mercy, O Lord, be opened to the prayers of thy suppliants: and, that thou mayst grant to thy petitioners the things they desire, make them to ask those that are agreeable to thee. Through, etc.

The other Collects, as on page 120.

¹ Deut. xxviii. 15-68.

EPISTLE

Lectio Epistolæ beati Pauli Apostoli ad Corinthios.

I Caput X.

Fratres: Non simus concupiscentes malorum, sicut et illi concupierunt. Neque idololatræ efficiamini sicut quidam ex ipsis: quemadmodum scriptum est: Sedit populus manducare, et bibere, et surrexerunt ludere. Neque fornicemur, sicut quidam ex ipsis fornicati sunt, et ceciderunt una die viginti tria millia. Neque tentemus Christum, sicut quidam eorum tentaverunt, et a serpentibus perierunt. Neque murmuraveritis, sicut quidam eorum murmuraverunt, et perierunt ab exterminatore. Hæc autem omnia in figura contingebant illis: scripta sunt autem ad correptionem nostram, in quos fines sæculorum devenerunt. Itaque qui se existimat stare, videat ne cadat. Tentatio vos non apprehendat, nisi humana: fidelis autem Deus est, qui non patietur vos tentari supra id, quod potestis, sed faciet etiam cum tentatione proventum, ut possitis sustinere.

Lesson of the Epistle of St. Paul, the Apostle, to the Corinthians.

I Chapter X.

Brethren: Let us not covet evil things, as they also coveted. Neither become ye idolaters, as some of them: as it is written: The people sat down to eat and drink, and rose up to play. Neither let us commit fornication, as some of them committed fornication, and there fell in one day three-and-twenty thousand. Neither let us tempt Christ: as some of them tempted, and perished by the serpents. Neither do ye murmur: as some of them murmured, and were destroyed by the destroyer. Now, all these things happened to them in figure: and they are written for our correction, upon whom the ends of the world are come. Wherefore he that thinketh himself to stand, let him take heed lest he fall. Let no temptation take hold on you, but such as is human. And God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that which ye are able; but will make also with temptation issue, that ye may be able to bear it.

'I have great sadness,' cried out the Apostle of the Gentiles, as he thought of the malediction which was about to fall on the Jews: 'continual sorrow have I in my heart; for I wished myself to be an anathema from Christ for my brethren, who are my kinsmen according to the flesh; who are Israelites, to whom belongeth the adoption of children, and the glory, and the covenant, and the giving of the Law, and the service (the worship of God, prescribed by Himself), and the promises; whose are the fathers, and of whom is Christ according to the flesh, who is over all things, God blessed for ever!'¹ But now, they are gone astray by their own fault; they see nothing; they understand nothing.² The royal banquet of the Scriptures, on which their fathers feasted, is now turned by them into an occasion of error; they have made those Scriptures a snare for their own destruction; darkness covers their understanding, and chastisement for all future ages is their own making.³

Gentiles! you that have been substituted for those broken branches, and are grafted on the stem of the Covenant,⁴ learn a lesson from their fall. God, who has shown you so much and so great gratuity of mercy, and that at the very time He was inflicting upon them the chastisements they so richly merited, will not allow His loving designs upon you to be frustrated by your own will. If you are faithful to the call of His grace, He will be faithful to you, and preserve you from temptations which you could not resist; or, He will so watch the combat that His divine help will make your soul rise superior to the trial; and thus in every temptation you will find, not defeat, but the merit of a victory, all the more glorious, as it seemed so much above the power of human strength. And yet, never forget that the same causes which brought about the destruction of the Jews would also lead you to ruin. They fell, because of their unbelief; you, who once had no faith and yet God showed mercy to you, are now what you are by faith. Be not, therefore, high-minded with self-complacency; but remember how God, who broke off the natural branches from the glorious tree, will not spare you, if you cease to be faithful; and whilst you do well to admire His mercy, you do not wisely if you forget His inexorable justice.¹

Well, therefore, does our mother the Church instruct us in to-day's Epistle, as to the lamentable antecedents of the Jewish deicides; she tells us of that list of sins and chastisements, which gradually led on to the final crime and total ruin of the apostate nation. We, who live in what the Church calls the 'evening of the world,'² have this great advantage, that we can profit by what the past ages have experienced. The Holy Spirit had no other end in view, when He would have the history of the ancient people written: He would have the future ages there learn lessons of salvation. By the various episodes of that history, which form so many groups of prophetic events, He would show us the economy of God's providence in His government of the world and of His Church. Founded as she has been by her divine Spouse in immutable truth, and maintained by the Holy Ghost in unfailing and ever-increasing holiness, the Church has nothing to fear of that which happened to the Synagogue—we mean, of that total wreck which the liturgy brings forward for our consideration to-day. No, the ruin of the Jews is a prophetic image of the destruction of the world³ which will have rejected the Church; not of the Church herself, who will then ascend to her Lord, perfected in love and holiness by the trials endured in those latter days.⁴ But the assurance of salvation, granted to the bride of the Son of God, does not extend to her children, taken either individually or collectively—that is, men or nations. On each one of us it is incumbent that we meditate on the sad fate which befell Jerusalem; as also on what happened, ages before, to the ancestors of the Jewish people, viz., that scarce one of those who were living when Moses led them out of Egypt lived to enter into the promised land.

And yet, as the apostle argues, they were all journeying in the path of life, protected by the mysterious cloud, beneath which divine Wisdom shaded them by day, and served them as a pillar of fire by night. Led on by Moses—who was a type of the future divine Head of the Christian people—they had all passed through the sea. All of them thus baptized in that symbolic cloud and in those saving waters which had engulfed their foes, just as the water of the Christian font destroys the sins of them that are washed in it—all of them were fed by the same spiritual food, and all drank at the same holy source which issued from the rock, which was Christ. Yet were there very few, out of all those thousands, with whom God was pleased.² But how much more grievous would the sins of Christians be, who are blessed with the resplendent and solid realities of the Law of grace, than were the evil desires, and idolatry, and fornication, and murmurings of the Israelites, who had but the figures and foreshadowings of our privileges!

The fervent expression of praise given to our good God in the words which now follow is a solace to our hearts, which are grieved at the sight of the ingratitude of the Jewish people and the chastisements that ingratitude drew down upon them. How sad soever may be the day, the Church never neglects her tribute of praise to the divine Majesty; for no event can happen here below that can make the bride forget the infinite perfections of her Spouse, or keep her from extolling His magnificence. We have all this in the Gradual. The Alleluia-verse is plaintive and suppliant; it well suits to-day's recollections.

¹ Rom. ix. 2-5. ² Isa. vi. 9; St. Matt. xiii. 14, 15.
³ Ibid. iv. 4. ⁴ Ps. lxviii. 23, 24. ⁵ Rom. xi. 17.

¹ Rom. xi. 20-30. ² Hymn for Adv. Vesp.
³ St. Matt. xxiv. 3. ⁴ Apoc. xxii. 17.

¹ Wisd. x. 17. ² 1 Cor. x. 1-6.

GRADUAL

Domine, Dominus noster, quam admirabile est nomen tuum in universa terra!

℣. Quoniam elevata est magnificentia tua super cœlos.

Alleluia, alleluia.

℣. Eripe me de inimicis meis, Deus meus: et ab insurgentibus in me libera me. Alleluia.

O Lord, our Lord, how wonderful is Thy name over the whole earth!

℣. For thy majesty is above the heavens.

Alleluia, alleluia.

℣. Rescue me, O my God, from mine enemies: and, from them that rise up against me, deliver me. Alleluia.

GOSPEL

Sequentia sancti Evangelii secundum Lucam.

Caput XIX.

In illo tempore: Cum appropinquaret Jesus Jerusalem, videns civitatem, flevit super illam, dicens: Quia si cognovisses et tu, et quidem in hac die tua, quæ ad pacem tibi, nunc autem abscondita sunt ab oculis tuis. Quia venient dies in te: et circumdabunt te inimici tui vallo, et circumdabunt te: et coangustabunt te undique: et ad terram prosternent te, et filios tuos, qui in te sunt, et non relinquent in te lapidem super lapidem: eo quod non cognoveris tempus visitationis tuæ. Et ingressus in templum, cœpit ejicere vendentes in illo, et ementes, dicens illis: Scriptum est: Quia domus mea domus orationis est. Vos autem fecistis illam speluncam latronum. Et erat docens quotidie in templo.

Sequel of the holy Gospel according to Luke.

Chapter XIX.

At that time: When he drew near Jerusalem, seeing the city, he wept over it, saying: If thou also hadst known, and that in this thy day, the things that are to thy peace: but now they are hidden from thy eyes. For the days shall come upon thee: and thy enemies shall cast a trench about thee, and compass thee round, and straiten thee on every side, and beat thee flat to the ground, and thy children who are in thee: and they shall not leave in thee a stone upon a stone: because thou hast not known the time of thy visitation. And entering into the temple, he began to cast out them that sold therein, and them that bought. Saying to them: It is written: My house is the house of prayer: but you have made it a den of thieves. And he was teaching daily in the temple.

The passage just read to us from the holy Gospel takes us back to the day of our Lord's triumphant entry into Jerusalem. This triumph, which God the Father willed should be offered to His Son before the commencement of His Passion, was not, as we well know, anything of a recognition of the Messiah made by the Synagogue. Neither the meek, gentle manners of this King, who came to the daughter of Sion seated on an ass,¹ nor His merciful severity upon the profaners of the temple, nor His farewell teachings in His Father's house, could open the eyes of men who were determined to keep them shut against the light of salvation and peace. Not even the tears of the Son of Man, then, could stay God's vengeance: there is a time for justice, and the Jews were resolved it should come to themselves.

How loudly had the prophets spoken to them in God's name! 'Woe to the provoking and redeemed city! She hath not hearkened to the voice of her God. Her princes are in the midst of her as roaring lions; her judges are evening wolves; her prophets are senseless, men without faith; her priests have defiled the sanctuary; they have acted unjustly against the law (they have violated it).² Crush the city as in a mortar!³ Go through the city, and strike! let not your eye spare, nor be ye moved to pity! Utterly destroy old and young, maidens, children, and women—yea, destroy all that are not marked upon their foreheads with Thau! And begin ye at my sanctuary; slay the priests, and the ancients; defile the house (my temple), and fill its courts with the bodies of the slain!'⁴

¹ Zach. ix. 9. ² Soph. iii. 1-4, i. 9. ³ Ibid. 11. ⁴ Ezech. ix. 4-7.

Alas! precedence in chastisement was richly due to those princes of the people who had had precedence in crime; it was due to those priests and ancients who had decreed the death of the Just One, and driven the multitude to cry out: 'Crucify Him!'⁵ Jealous of the miracles of the Man-God, they said in their perfidious hypocrisy: 'If we let Him alone' (doing all these miracles), 'all men will believe in Him, and the Romans will come and take away our city and nation.'⁶ God has turned their impious diplomacy against them. But, as far as they themselves are concerned, they will have their way; not one of them will see the Romans; for, before the arrival of the legions, John of Gischala, and Simon the son of Gioras, will have annihilated this deicidal aristocracy, hated of both heaven and earth. When, after the war is over, Titus shall enter into Rome, these two brigand chiefs, and prime movers of the war, shall adorn his triumph; they shall be the substitutes of the nobles of Juda before the conqueror's chariot. Two bandits, representatives of Jerusalem, in the streets of Rome, her rival! What a divine retaliation for the two thieves, whom the Synagogue gave as an escort to its King on the Dolorous Way, and made them His crucified fellows on Calvary!—But, let us resume the sequel of events, and give them as briefly as the subject permits.

⁵ St. Matt. xxvii. 20. ⁶ St. John xi. 47-48.

After the rupture with Rome, and the retreat of Cestius Gallus, the government of Jerusalem had been entrusted to the high-priest Ananus,⁷ brother-in-law to Caiphas, and the last of the five sons of Annas, who succeeded each other in the office of high-priest. By a visible dispensation of God's justice, this family, the guiltiest of all in the crime of the crucifixion, found itself at the head of the nation when the fatal hour came: it was impossible then to mistake the meaning of God's vengeance upon His people. Independently of the enormous crime, whose responsibility rested on his race, Ananus had a personal sin to atone for—the death of St. James the Less, who had been martyred, by his orders, in the year 62. Rationalist or Sadducee like his kin, he deplored the war, and would have been glad to see peace restored;⁸ but he could not shirk the obligation his office imposed on him of organizing the defence. Ruler most unworthy, yet ruler he was; and therefore, as the Prophet Isaias expresses it, this whole ruin was under his hand,⁹ under his management; it would, necessarily, when it came, fall on him and crush him.

⁷ Jos., De Bello Jud., ii. 20 et seq. ⁸ Jos., De Bello Jud., iv. 5. ⁹ Isa. iii. 6.

It was not long before the fanatics, who had instigated the rebellion and taken the name of Zealots, became dissatisfied with the way in which Ananus was managing affairs: so they revolted against him, and put to death the most illustrious men of the city. Reinforced by all the enthusiasts of other towns, and by the highway-robbers who were daily flocking to Jerusalem, they made themselves masters of the temple.¹⁰ Out of hatred for the ancient priestly families, they changed the order of offering sacrifice. They put the office of high-priest on a peasant, who happened to be a descendant of Aaron's family, but was so unfitted for the dignity that he did not even know what was meant by a priest.

¹⁰ Jos., De Bello Jud., iv. 8.

About this same time the wreck of the Galilean bands, headed by John of Gischala, occasioned the first defeats, and excited the people to exasperation; they made common cause with the rebels, and increased their fury against all whom they suspected of an inclination to treat with Rome. The Zealots were hard pressed by the troops of Ananus, and had already been forced back into the inner temple; on the advice of John of Gischala, they called the wild Idumean herdsmen to come to their aid. These fierce auxiliaries came on Jerusalem in the thick of a storm that was raging during the night; they found the watchmen asleep, and put them to death. The very earth, says Josephus, had shaken at their approach; and, on the evening before their arrival, had been heard to moan.¹¹ Up to the morning, amidst violent wind and rain and lightning, howling themselves as if to add to the din of the tempest, amidst the shouts of the wounded and the screams of women, they pitilessly murdered every one they met. When at length daylight appeared, it revealed the horrors of the previous night; eight thousand five hundred dead bodies were lying on the ground, and the blood was running in streams all round the temple. The corpse of Ananus, after being insulted, stripped, trodden on, was given as food to the dogs. The following days, twelve thousand men, in the vigour of health, and picked out of the most distinguished families, were also put to death by the Idumeans, either by torture or by other means. As soon as they had left, the Zealots became masters of the city, and were guilty of cruelties even greater than those exercised by the Idumeans. All those whose independent character, or influence, or noble birth, excited suspicions were at once massacred, nor were their friends or relatives allowed to bury or mourn over them. The lower classes, the poor, and the unknown, alone escaped with their lives.

¹¹ Jos., De Bello Jud., iv. 4.

The justice of God overtook the princes of Juda.¹² Their blood mingled with the dust, their unburied bodies lying as dung upon the streets,¹³ would all this remind Sion of those prophecies which had foretold these days of tribulation and anguish, these days of bitterness for the mighty and the strong?¹⁴ The Christians of Jerusalem, who were then sheltering beyond the Jordan, would remember, if no one else did, the inspired words which their bishop, St. James, had written eight years before to the twelve tribes who were dispersed throughout the world:¹⁵ 'Go to now, ye rich men! weep and howl for your miseries that shall come upon you! Your riches are putrefied; your treasure is a store of wrath. Ye have feasted; but your feasts have but nourished you for the day of slaughter. Ye have condemned, and put to death the just one, and he resisteth you not. . . . But the coming of the Lord draweth near.'¹⁶ It was truly the Lord, who was avenging His own cause;¹⁷ and Vespasian was well aware of it, when he thus answered those who urged him to take advantage of all these troubles, and attack the city: 'God is a better general than I: let us leave Him to deliver up the Jews to the Romans without any trouble on our side, and give us victory without our incurring any risk.'¹⁸

¹² Isa. iii. 14. ¹³ Soph. i. 8, 17. ¹⁴ Ibid. 14-16; Ezech. xxiv. 3-5. ¹⁵ St. James i. 1. ¹⁶ Ibid. v. 1-8. ¹⁷ Jer. v. 5, 9. ¹⁸ Jos., De Bello Jud., iv. 6.

Jerusalem was then but in the beginning of her woes and of her civil strifes. The ambitious character of John of Gischala did not allow him to be long at peace with the Zealots. He separated himself from them; and to the Galileans, who supported his cause, he gave permission to do whatsoever they pleased. To pillage and murder were added the frightful excesses of that half-idolatrous race which, in the days of the Assyrian kings, had been substituted for the tribes of Israel;¹⁹ it had borrowed from Judaism little better than a mass of superstition, which it mingled with the customs and vices of its predecessors. Then was the daughter of Sion compelled to witness and endure the abominations, wherewith the prophets of the Most High had threatened her. Humbled and indignant, the unhappy city would fain have shaken off the yoke.²⁰

¹⁹ 4 Kings xv. 29, xvii. 6, 18, 23-41. ²⁰ Jos., De Bello Jud., iv. 7, 9.

In those days a celebrated brigand was laying Idumea waste; towns and villages were destroyed, houses were pulled down or burnt; and, according to the prophecy of Abdias,²¹ he was ransacking Edom through and through, right to the very core. His name was Simon, son of Gioras. What with slaves, criminals, outlaws, and malcontents of every party, he had got together upwards of 20,000 well-armed men, not counting other 40,000 who followed him. This was the strange Messiah on whom Jerusalem cast her eyes for help in her trouble! A deputation, headed by a high-priest, waited on this son of Gioras, begging him to accept the sovereignty. He deigned to consent to their wishes! Proud and haughty, says Josephus,²² he graciously allowed Sion to offer him her open homage. He was led into the city of David, amidst the enthusiastic acclamations of the people, who hailed as their protector and saviour Simon the murderer, Simon the brigand! O Jesus, Son of David and Son of God, how art Thou avenged by all this! They wished it to be; they themselves had passed the sentence: 'Not Him, but Barabbas!'²³ The choice of the children was in keeping with the preference entertained by their fathers. Bar Gioras—worthy descendant of Barabbas—once he was master of the city, treated alike both them that had invited him and them that he had been invited to reduce to order—that is, he treated them all as enemies. Day and night was the massacre kept up by his savage horde, until every man of worth or credit in Jerusalem was made away with.²⁴

²¹ Abdias 5, 6. ²² Ubi supra. ²³ St. John xviii. 40. ²⁴ Jos., De Bello Jud., vii. 8.

Meanwhile, the Galileans, driven back from Sion and the lower town by the new-comers, had retreated to the temple, of which they occupied the first enclosure. The Zealots had grown more than ever discontented with John of Gischala, and made the inner temple their fortified place of refuge. They were less numerous than the two other parties, but their position was far preferable, for it was on the very summit of the holy mount. Then, too, they had provisions in abundance, seeing that all the first-fruits and offerings made to the temple were under their absolute control. They passed their time in feasting and drunken revellings. Little cared they for the stones hurled by the Galilean catapults; nor were they in the least troubled at finding that these huge missiles struck the priests at the altar, thus mingling the blood of the sacrificers with that of the victims, and strewing the sacred courts with the bodies of dead or dying. Sacrilege and drunkenness—such was the end of those descendants of the austere pharisees!²⁵ Here again Jesus, their crucified victim, was avenged.

Whilst the abomination of desolation, foretold by Daniel, was thus standing in the holy place,²⁶ John of Gischala saw that the Zealots were too stupefied by their feastings to cause him any further alarm. He fell on the city, like a bird of prey, there to find the necessary provisions; and out of hatred for Simon, he destroyed by fire all he could not carry away. Simon, instead of quenching the fire, extended it in every part where John was likely to pass, hoping, by this means, to deprive the Galileans of all further victualling. Immense stores of corn and other provisions had been amassed by the Jewish leaders, as a necessary resource in case of a future siege; but all were now destroyed by these two men, who were greater enemies to their country than were the Romans themselves. Thus was spent the year 69—a year of respite, which Rome, torn as she was by factions of her own, was compelled to allow, and which might have been of such incalculable benefit to the Jews.

²⁵ Jos., De Bello Jud., v. 1. ²⁶ St. Matt. xxiv. 15.

With the exception of armed troops, there were no other inhabitants in Jerusalem but women and old men. The passover of 70 was drawing near, and it produced a sort of truce among the several parties. The city began to be again crowded, and with a population far exceeding the ordinary number. The Romans had pillaged the Jewish provinces; Sion had been even more cruelly treated, and by her own children: and yet, in this year 70, there assembled within this city of final vengeance as though it were the whole nation, and that from every quarter of the globe.²⁷ It had been the same at the time of our Jesus' crucifixion; it seemed as though the whole Jewish people insisted on witnessing the consummation of the deicide. The apostles afterwards besought them to confess their having been accomplices in the crime of Calvary, but the preaching was fruitless; the terrific lesson of recent events was unable to open their eyes. As it was in the days of that Pasch so salutary to mankind, but so fatal to Juda; and as it was at the subsequent Pentecost, so now there were Jews

¹ Jos., ubi supra. ² Ibid. vi. 9.

congregated 'out of every nation under heaven,'¹ not, indeed, to hear an apostle preaching to them to do penance, but to undergo that which Moses had foretold, and St. Peter had recalled to their memory—the extermination of all such as should refuse to hearken to the Messiah of the Lord.²

As the Man-God had said, the terrible day came suddenly, and as a snare,³ upon this immense assemblage of people. The empire was in the hands of Vespasian; the prosperous fortune of Rome was re-established on the whole of the frontiers; and Titus had just reached Cæsarea, with orders to put an end to the eastern question. He sent word to the legions then in Judea to effect, from the respective points they occupied, a joint concentration towards the capital. When the tenth legion marched from Jericho and was seen encamped on Mount Olivet—that is, on the very place where Jesus wept as He looked on Jerusalem, and foretold the siege which was to be its ruin—the unexpected arrival of the Romans alarmed the pilgrims, and made them busy themselves with preparations for a battle, rather than for the solemnization of the Pasch. The several parties agreed to forget, at least for a day, their own animosities, and unite all their forces together; they made two desperate sallies, for the purpose of dislodging the enemy from the Mount; but each time they were repelled.⁴

The Pasch which is about to be celebrated is, as ever, and now more than ever, the passover of the Lord; but the Lord is no longer leading the sons of Jacob to their deliverance by it. Juda has made himself the enemy of the Lamb, whose blood should be the sign of the redeemed of the Pasch. Whilst the blood of this divine Lamb is enriching the

¹ Acts ii. 5. ² Ibid. 38. ³ Ibid. iii. 22, 23. ⁴ St. Luke xxi. 34, 35. ⁵ Jos., De Bello Jud., v. 2.

whole earth, whilst the light of the vanquisher of death is illumining the whole world, Juda is there, obstinately keeping to his figures and shadows. More stiff-necked than the Pharisees, and more guilty than Pharaoh, he would, if he could, hold the true Israel in the trammels of his own slavish law, just as he once vainly tried to make the true Son of God an everlasting prisoner in the tomb. As to Jesus, He has, years ago, set Himself free; and now, more terrible than He was in Mesraim, He is passing over, as the avenger both of Himself and of His Church. The Pasch—the feast of feasts, whose memory is every Sunday brought back to us—is now about to receive its final completion. On the Tuesday of our Easter, we were saying: 'How terrible will be the passage of the Lord over Jerusalem, when the sword of the Roman legions shall destroy a whole people!'¹

'Woe to thee, O Ariel! Ariel, the city which David took—the city where God had His temple and His altar—thy years are passed; thy solemnities are at an end!² Take away from me the tumult of thy songs! Psalms, in thy mouth, have lost all their meaning. I will not hear the canticles of thy harp.³ The song of lamentation is heard in Israel, for his house is fallen.⁴ In every street there shall be wailing; and in all places, they shall say: Woe! Woe!'⁵

This prophetic cry of Woe—this most gloomy foreboding that all the threats uttered in Scripture against Jerusalem are on the point of being fulfilled—was forced upon the inhabitants' ears. Ever since the feast of Tabernacles of the year 62, an unknown peasant—the husbandman, as the prophet Amos called him, a man skilful in lamentation⁶—

¹ See our first vol. of 'Paschal Time,' p. 226.
² Isa. xxix. 1. ³ Amos v. 23. ⁴ Ibid. 1. ⁵ Ibid. 16. ⁶ Ibid.

had been ceaselessly pacing the streets of the wretched city, crying out day and night: 'A voice from the east, a voice from the west, a voice from the four winds, a voice against Jerusalem and the holy house, a voice against the bridegrooms and the brides, a voice against all this people!'¹ Tried, questioned, scourged, even till his flesh was torn to pieces and his bones laid bare—nothing could prevent him from continuing his most unwelcome work. On the festival days above all, this precursor of the vengeance of the Son of Man redoubled the energy of his plaintive enthusiasm, which gave a superhuman emphasis to his cry of Woe. To every word of kindness or reproach, to every act of charity or cruelty, he gave neither thanks nor plaints, but went on with the same words: 'Woe! Woe! to Jerusalem!' And thus he continued for seven years and five months, without his voice being altered by weakness or hoarseness. During the early days of the siege he was seen by the Romans running to and fro along the walls, shouting: 'Woe to the city! Woe to the people! Woe to the holy house!' At length he added: 'Woe! woe to me!' Immediately a stone, thrown from one of the engines, smote him, and he died on the spot.

Paris has drunk of the cup of madness, and nothing seems to impress her; she is drunk with the cup of God's wrath; yea, she has drained it to the dregs.² What a terrific day, this last celebration of the Jewish Pasch! The historian Josephus tells us what it was—sacrilegious, bloody, and noisy with the shouts, which even the enemy could hear, of the strife of the dissentient factions, for all had revived. Taking advantage of the gates being opened to the pilgrims, some Galileans, disguised, made their way into the inner temple; where,

¹ Jos., De Bello Jud., vi. 5. ² Isa. xxix. 9-14, li. 17.

throwing aside their cloaks, and displaying their weapons, they attacked the crowd that stood round the altar. They beat and murdered; then, trampling on the dying and the dead, they drove the people outside the courts. Meanwhile, the Zealots, who were taken unawares, rushed, in dismay, into the subterranean caverns of the temple.¹ What a Pasch! What a feast! worthy, indeed, of God's hatred and rejection. Unhappy feasters, that had come from the ends of the world to this solemnity! how is it that they forgot to apply the words of the prophet? 'Woe to them that desire the day of the Lord! To what end is it for you? This day of the Lord is darkness and not light. You shall be as a man fleeing from the face of a lion, and a bear should meet him; or, as one that entereth into the house, and, when he leaneth with his hand upon the wall, a serpent should bite him.'² Terrible prophecy! how strangely is it verified:—the Romans are yonder in their camps; Simon is in the city; John of Gischala is in the temple, its sole master!

As in the days of Jeremias, so now: the sword and famine—it is hard to say, which was the busier to make this multitude its prey;³ for, owing to the previous depredations, famine had made itself felt from the beginning of the siege. Each day added to its intensity, and urged on the savage instincts of the armed ruffians to attack all who were not of their party. It was not hatred only that now filled Sion with murder; to rob, or to get something to keep themselves from starvation, these were additional motives to make such men grudge each other's existence. Under plea that they were conspirators, Simon and John had the rich summoned to their respective tribunals; and then,

¹ Jos., De Bello Jud., v. 3. ² Amos v. 21. ³ Ibid. 18, 19. ⁴ Jer. xiv. 18.

adding insult to injustice, these two wretches, who, in the intervals between fighting against the Romans, were carrying on their own deadly feud—these two judges, having first seized the property of their victims, sent them to the second bar, under pretence that they wished to show each other a mutual kindly feeling; giving the one who had nothing to steal, the option of condemning to death. Scarcely forty years before in these very streets, through which the Jewish aristocracy was being ignominiously dragged from Simon to John, and from John to Simon, there was another Victim who, amidst the approving ridicule of the leaders of the nation, was made the pledge of a mock reconciliation, and, with a fool's uniform put on Him, was sent back from Herod to Pilate, there to await judgment!¹

Whilst these tyrants were thus living on the public distress, there were hundreds of starved creatures, whom hunger drove to go forth by night into the fields, and there try to find some wild herbs. If they fell into the hands of the Romans, these, unwilling to be burdened with such prisoners, had them crucified within sight of the walls. Five hundred and upwards were thus captured each day; and, oh! what a fearful detail, but how loud in its significance!—all this was done, with Calvary opposite! and, as Josephus tells us, there was not room enough to plant the crosses, nor wood enough for making them.²

Titus had flattered himself that the taking of Jerusalem would be an affair of a few days. He, of course, disregarded the prophecies which declared that the deicide city was to be 'compassed round with a trench'; and preferred to use negotiations and a series of assaults, rather than be detained by

¹ Jos., De Bello Jud., v. 10. ² St. Luke xxiii. 7-12. ³ Jos., De Bello Jud., v. 11.

the tedious operation of a blockade. But he was, of course, mistaken; his messengers received, in answer to their parleys of peace, nothing but insults and arrows; and, as to assaults, all the bravery of his legions was powerless against the fortresses where the factions were protected. Two months thus passed away in useless attempts; all that the Romans had possession of was the lower town, which the Jewish contesting parties had already reduced to ruins; but Sion and Moriah still held up their heads in defiance against the determined invaders. There was nothing, then, to do, but make up their minds to defer Rome and her pleasures to some later season,¹ and encircle Jerusalem with that terrible trench, which the Gospel had said must be cast about her. The literal following out of the plan traced by God got the better of Titus' impatience.² He set his legions to the work; they must change their manual labour, and, instead of bows and arrows, they must handle pickaxe and spade. To have seen them at work, one would have said they were thinking of Jesus' words, for they were fulfilling them as though they were the most devoted of His servants; Josephus would have it, that they were animated by a divine influence.³ In the brief space of three days, they completed an earth-wall measuring a little over five miles round, a work which would, ordinarily, have occupied several months. God had thus spoken by the prophet Isaias: 'I will make a trench about Ariel; and it shall be in sorrow and mourning; and it shall be to me as Ariel. I will make a circle round about thee (O Jerusalem), and will cast up a rampart against thee, and raise up bulwarks to besiege thee.'⁴ Truly, Jerusalem was thus made as an Ariel to

¹ Tac., Hist., v. n. ² Jos., De Bello Jud., v. 12. ³ Ibid. ⁴ Isa. xxix. 2, 3.

Jehovah—that is, one immense altar of countless victims.

The famine, by this time, was intensely increased; for every exit into the fields was now closed against the unfortunate creatures, who, till then, had been able to eke out their miserable existence by picking up, at the risk of their lives, a few seeds or roots. A bushel of wheat was sold for a talent (about 240 pounds sterling). Those who could afford it gave their costliest treasures for a morsel of bread;¹ but, as to those who had nothing to give, they must drag the sewers in the hope of finding food. The vilest rubbish was devoured with avidity. Filth, too foul to have a name, was hidden as though it were a treasure, for which husband quarrelled with his wife, and mothers grudged it their children. The factions had, thus far, laughed at the people's starvation; but they soon began themselves to feel the gnawings of famine, and then they furiously attacked those who were reported as having something to eat. If a man were sinking, he was said to be feigning the weakness of death, in order to prevent search being made for his victuals; if he had just strength enough to walk a few steps, it was taken as an indication that he had some hidden eatables about him. All were savagely tortured to make them own the imputed crime of having something yet to live on. Like famished dogs—it is the expression used both by the historian and the Psalmist⁴—they ran wildly through the city, knocking down the doors of the suspected, ferreting in every nook and hole, and returning two or three times within the hour. A savoury smell was one day perceived coming from a house which had been thus frequently visited; this was more than

¹ Lam. v. 9, 10. ² Lam. i. 11. ³ Deut. xxviii. 56, 57; Jos., De Bello Jud., v. 10-12. ⁴ Ibid. vi. 3; Ps. lviii. 7, 15, 16.

enough for a further search. In they rushed; a woman was there; they threatened her with death, unless she at once declared where was her feast. 'It is my son,' she replied; 'there are the remnants!' The woman was Mary, daughter of Eleazer; once rich, and of a noble family, she, maddened by hunger, had murdered her infant child, and had fed on his flesh.¹

All these horrors failed to subdue the ferocious obstinacy of John of Gischala and Simon, son of Gioras. In spite, however, of their precautions, and their cruelties towards those who were suspected of meditating an escape, there were, every day, scores who, by throwing themselves down the walls, were able to reach the Roman camp. Deeply moved at the sight of so much misery, Titus received them kindly, and gave them their liberty. But, adds Josephus, 'God had condemned the whole of this people, and turned the very means of safety into occasion of destruction.'² Many of these poor fugitives were so exhausted on reaching the camp that they died on taking the food which had been too long denied them. A still greater number fell victims to the Arabs and Syrians, who followed the Roman army; for, a report having been circulated that some of the Jews had swallowed their gold before leaving Jerusalem, in order the more effectually to hide it, these wild auxiliaries, strangers to the discipline of the legions and born enemies of the Jewish people, ensnared the unfortunate fugitives and cut them into pieces, hoping to find what would satisfy their monstrous avarice. During one single night there were two thousand found lying thus embowelled. How all this forces us to think of the death of Judas,³ and of the punishment of his deicidal betrayal! And had not all this people

¹ Jos., De Bello Jud., vi. 8 ; Deut. xxviii. 53, 56.
² Jos., De Bello Jud., v. 18. — ³ Ibid. ⁴ Acts i. 18.

imitated that traitorous apostle? He, the Iscariot, had delivered up the Son of Man to the chief priests and leaders of the Jews; the Jews delivered him up to the Gentiles; and the Prophet Zacharias makes them all share in the responsibility of that infamous barter, wherewith began the sacred Passion of our sweet Jesus.

In the city, the ravages of the famine were beyond all imagination. Josephus, speaking of them, uses, without being aware of it, the very expression of our Redeemer: 'In no time did any other city ever suffer such miseries.'² In the space of a few months there were counted six hundred thousand dead, and to these burial of one sort or other was given; as to the rest, they could not be numbered, for the survivors had not the strength needed for burying them, and they were left to rot in the houses or streets.

Meanwhile, on July 12, a greater trial than all this befell Jerusalem and the whole Jewish people: for want of victims, the continual sacrifice was taken away, as in the days of Antiochus,³ but this time it was for ever. It was the end, the openly declared end, of Mosaism and its worship, to be henceforth replaced, and without dispute, by the Sacrifice of the law of love; the end, with but the brief interval of a siege and a war, which had then no other object to achieve, and therefore no further reason for its continuance. An immense grief—a grief that admitted no consolation—seized the hearts of the Jewish people, who, up to the very last, had lived on the empty hope fostered by the false prophets.⁴

The foolhardy obstinacy of Simon and John rejected, even then, the proposals of Titus, that he

¹ Zach. xi., 12, 13.
² Jos., De Bello Jud., v. 10; St. Matt. xxiv. 21.
³ Dan. viii. 11-13. ⁴ Jos., De Bello Jud., vi. 5.

would spare both city and temple. Hostilities were therefore resumed, implacably and pitilessly resumed. But the Jewish soldiers had not energy enough to keep pace with the fanaticism of their leaders; worn out by famine, they had not the unflinching resistance needed for repelling the sustained assaults of the Romans. Already the tower of Antonia, which commanded the temple, was in the power of the enemy, and each day he was seen closing in nearer to the sacred edifice. Its defenders resolved on one last effort; roused by the greatness of their misfortune, they rushed through the vale of Cedron, and made a desperate charge on the post of Mount Olivet. It looked as though, for these final engagements, the instinct of God's vengeance, which weighed upon them, was leading them to this place of prophecy, where the Son of Man had wept over Jerusalem, and where, as we have already said, the first battle was fought. Repelled, and in despair, they returned to the city, which they were never again to leave; then, with their own hands, setting fire to the outer porticoes of the temple, they gave the first enclosure over to the Romans.

Titus was desirous, above all things, to save the temple; but, as Josephus observes, 'God had, for certain, long ago doomed it to the fire; . . . and the flames were kindled by the Jews themselves, when that fatal day came.' It was August 4, in the year 70, a Sabbath-day, and the anniversary of the first destruction of the holy place under Nabuchodonosor. The guards of the temple, exasperated by suffering, stupefied by hunger, attacked the soldiers who, by Titus' orders, were quenching the fire that had been some days burning at the outer portion of the building. They were soon beaten back into the temple, and, this time, they were not

¹ Jos., De Bello Jud., vi. 4.

the only ones to enter. While they were falling by hundreds beneath the sword of the Romans, now unexpectedly made masters of the inner enclosure, one of the soldiers, forgetting the orders given by Titus, but, as Josephus puts it, 'urged on by a divine power,'¹ seized a firebrand, and hurled it, through a window, into one of the rooms adjoining the sanctuary. The flame burst forth and spread; the efforts of Titus to stay it were useless. Simon's soldiers on Mount Sion saw it rising up towards the sky. At this fearful spectacle, the famished and wounded, turning towards the falling temple, forgot all their sufferings. From these thousands of dying Jews, all of them possessed with the one same grief, there arose a loud scream of despair, which, blending with the shouts of the pagan soldiers, was heard even on the mountains of Perea, beyond the Jordan and the Dead Sea. Mount Moriah, on fire, seemed as though its very foundations were burning, and blood was flowing enough to quench the flames. The number of the slain was so great that the ground could not be seen, and the soldiers, as they marched, had to trample on the dead. The priests who had mounted on the roof of their temple, the women and children crouching by thousands in its galleries, all perished in the flames, with the treasures of the sanctuary.²

John of Gischala, gathering together his few remaining followers, had escaped between the enemy's battalions, and had joined Simon in the high portion of the city. The contest continued for a few weeks longer, but it was the effort of a last agony. On September 1, Sion was taken, plundered and burnt like Moriah and the lower town. The prediction of to-day's Gospel was fulfilled. Jerusalem, beaten flat to the ground, and her children that were in her, was but a mass of smoking ruins. Eleven hundred

¹ Jos., De Bello Jud., vi. 4. ² Ibid. 5.

thousand men had perished during the siege. Of the ninety-seven thousand that had been taken prisoners during the whole war, seven hundred were picked out as fit to grace the conqueror's triumph; of the remainder, those who were over seventeen years of age were sent to the mines, or reserved for the amphitheatre; the others supplied the slave-markets of the empire for some length of time.¹

In the Offertory of to-day's Mass, the Church delights in the thought that her children, aided by the grace of her divine Spouse, are all care to keep the commandments (the justices) of their Lord. It is this obedience of theirs which renders those judgments a joy and a sweetness to them, whereas, for the Synagogue, they were so fearful.

OFFERTORY

Justitiæ Domini rectæ, lætificantes corda, et judicia ejus dulciora super mel et favum: nam et servus tuus custodit ea.

The justices of the Lord are right, rejoicing hearts; and his precepts are sweeter than honey and the honey-comb; and therefore doth thy servant observe them.

The Secret is a prayer, that God would grant us children of the Church the grace of assisting worthily at the holy sacrifice, which really renews, each time it is offered, the work of our salvation.

SECRET

Concede nobis quæsumus Domine, hæc digne frequentare mysteria: quia, quoties hujus hostiæ commemoratio celebratur, opus nostræ redemptionis exercetur. Per Dominum.

Grant us, O Lord, we beseech thee, frequently and worthily to celebrate these mysteries: for, as many times as this commemorative sacrifice is celebrated, so often is the work of our redemption performed. Through, etc.

The other Secrets, as on page 180.

¹ Jos., De Bello Jud., vi. 9.

The Communion-anthem expresses the mystery of divine union, which is realized in the Sacrament just received.

COMMUNION

Qui manducat meam carnem, et bibit meum sanguinem, in me manet, et ego in eo, dicit Dominus.

He that eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, abideth in me, and I in him, saith the Lord.

The sanctification of each individual member of the Church, and the unity of the social body, are the two fruits of these sacred mysteries: the Church, in her Postcommunion, asks them of God.

POSTCOMMUNION

Tui nobis, quæsumus Domine, communio sacramenti et purificationem conferat, et tribuat unitatem. Per Dominum.

May the participation of this thy sacrament, O Lord, we beseech thee, both purify us, and unite us. Through, etc.

The other Postcommunions, as on page 181.

VESPERS

The psalms, capitulum, hymn and versicle, as above, pages 71-81.

ANTIPHON OF THE MAGNIFICAT

Scriptum est enim: Quia domus mea domus orationis est cunctis gentibus: vos autem fecistis illam speluncam latronum: et erat quotidie docens in templo.

For it is written: My house is the house of prayer, unto all nations: but ye have made it a den of thieves. And he was teaching daily in the temple.

OREMUS

Pateant aures misericordiæ tuæ, Domine, precibus supplicantium: et ut petentibus desiderata concedas, fac eos, quæ tibi sunt placita, postulare. Per Dominum.

LET US PRAY

May the ears of thy mercy, O Lord, be opened to the prayers of thy suppliants: and, that thou mayst grant to thy petitioners the things they desire, make them to ask those that are agreeable to thee. Through, etc.

THE TENTH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST

THE destruction of Jerusalem has closed that portion of the prophetic Scriptures which was based on the institutions and history of the figurative period. The altar of the true God, built by Solomon on the summit of Moriah, was the authentic evidence of the true religion, to those who were then living under the Law of expectation. Even after the promulgation of the new Testament, the continued existence of that altar (the only one heretofore recognized by the Most High as His own¹) was some sort of an excuse for such of the Jews as clung obstinately to the old order of things. That excuse was taken away when the temple was so destroyed as that not a stone was left on a stone; and the blindest partisans of the Mosaic system were compelled to acknowledge the total abrogation of a religion which was reduced by God Himself to the impossibility of ever offering the sacrifices essential to its existence.

The considerateness wherewith the Church had, so far, treated the Synagogue would henceforward be unmeaning. As the beautiful queen and bride, she was now at full liberty to show herself to all nations, subdue their wild instincts by the power of the Spirit, unify them in Christ Jesus, and put them by faith into the substantial, though not visible,² possession of those eternal realities which had been foreshadowed by the Law of types and figures.

The new sacrifice, which is no other than that of the cross and of eternity, is now, more than ever, evidently the one sole centre, where her life is fixed in God with Christ her Spouse,³ and from which she derives her energy in labouring for the conversion

¹ Deut. xii, 13, 14. ² Heb. xi. 1. ³ Col. iii. 3.

and sanctification of all future generations of men. The Church, now more than ever fruitful, is more than ever receiving of that life of union which is the cause of her admirable fecundity.

We cannot, therefore, be surprised, that the sacred liturgy, which is the outward expression of the bride's inner life, will now more than ever reflect this closeness of her union with God. In the fifteen weeks we have still to spend of this Time after Pentecost, there is no such thing as gradation, no connexion, in the Proper of the Sundays' Masses. Even in the Lessons of the night-Office, dating from August, the historic Books have been replaced by those which are called the Sapiential; and these, in due time, will be followed by the Books of Job, Tobias, Judith and Esther. Here again there is no connexion, further than that of sanctity in precept or in example. So far, we have found more or less of oneness of idea between the Lessons of the Office and the Proper of the Mass; but, beginning with this tenth Sunday, these are independent of each other.

Henceforward, therefore, we must limit our commentary to the Proper of each Sunday's Mass; and in doing this, we shall be respectfully taking the teachings which the holy Spirit, 'who divideth as He willeth,'¹ gives us, unitedly with the Church, in each portion of each Sunday's liturgy. Each Epistle and Gospel, especially; and then, each Introit and Collect, each Gradual and Offertory, each Secret, Communion and Postcommunion, will be a precious and exquisitely varied instruction. We shall see all this in the Epistle of this tenth Sunday.

The fall of Jerusalem—that great event, which told men how the prophecies were going to be gloriously fulfilled, now that the Jewish opposition was so completely removed—is one more solemn

¹ 1 Cor. xii. 11.

proclamation of the reign of the Holy Ghost throughout the entire earth; for, as we said of Him at the grand Pentecost solemnity, 'He hath filled the whole world.' We have much to learn from the tone our holy mother the Church puts in the liturgy of these remaining fifteen Pentecostal Sundays. In the admirable teachings she is now going to give to her children, there is no logical arrangement or sequel. She is as intent as ever on leading souls to holiness and perfection: yet it is not by following a method of any sort, but by applying to us the united power of the divine sacrifice and the word of the Scripture, to which she sweetly adds her own; and the holy Spirit of Love breathes upon it all, where He willeth, and when He willeth.

This Sunday is, in some years, the second of the dominical series which opened with the feast of Saint Laurence, and took its name of Post Sancti Laurentii from the solemnity of the great deacon-martyr. It is also sometimes called the Sunday of humility, or of the pharisee and publican, because of the Gospel of the day. The Greeks count it as the tenth of Saint Matthew, and they read on it the episode of the lunatic, which is given in the seventeenth chapter of that Evangelist.

MASS

The humble and suppliant confidence which the Church reposes in the help given her by her Jesus will ever preserve her from those terrible humiliations wherewith were punished, the persecuting jealousy and pride of the Synagogue. She exhorts

er children to imitate her when they are in trouble; like her, they must let their prayers and supplications be ever sounding in God's ear.

¹ Wisd. i. 7. ² St. John iii. 8.

INTROIT

Cum clamarem ad Dominum, exaudivit vocem meam, ab his qui appropinquant mihi: et humiliavit eos, qui est ante sæcula, et manet in æternum: jacta cogitatum tuum in Domino, et ipse te enutriet.

Ps. Exaudi, Deus, orationem meam, et ne despexeris deprecationem meam: intende mihi, et exaudi me. Gloria Patri. Cum clamarem.

When I cried out, the Lord heard my complaint against them that were coming against me; and he that was before all ages, and abideth for ever, humbled them: cast thy care on the Lord, and he will feed thee.

Ps. Hear, O God, my prayer, and despise not my petition: look down upon me, and hear me. Glory, etc. When I cried.

Ever deeply impressed by the remembrance of the fearful, though most just, chastisements of the Jewish people, the Church reminds God that the marvels of His pardon and mercy are still stronger manifestations of His omnipotence; she, therefore, in her Collect, prays for an abundant effusion of this mercy upon the Christian people who are here assembled. But what grandeur, what sublimity—especially in the times immediately following Jerusalem's ruin—there is in the Church's attitude, when, in reply to the account given her by her Spouse of the severest justice ever shown by His eternal Father, she, bride and mother, has confidence and courage enough to begin with such words as these: Deus, qui omnipotentiam tuam PARCENDO MAXIME ET MISERANDO manifestas!

COLLECT

Deus, qui omnipotentiam tuam parcendo maxime et miserando manifestas: multiplica super nos misericordiam tuam; ut ad tua promissa currentes, cœlestium bonorum facias esse consortes. Per Dominum.

O God, who chiefly manifestest thine omnipotence by pardoning and having mercy: increase thy mercy upon us; that, hastening to the things thou hast promised, thou mayst make us partakers of heavenly goods. Through, etc.

The other Collects, as on page 120.

EPISTLE

Lectio Epistolæ beati Pauli Apostoli ad Corinthios.

1 Caput XII.

Fratres: Scitis quoniam cum Gentes essetis, ad simulacra muta prout ducebamini euntes. Ideo notum vobis facio, quod nemo in Spiritu Dei loquens, dicit anathema Jesu. Et nemo potest dicere, Dominus Jesus, nisi in Spiritu sancto. Divisiones vero gratiarum sunt, idem autem Spiritus. Et divisiones ministrationum sunt, idem autem Dominus. Et divisiones operationum sunt, idem vero Deus, qui operatur omnia in omnibus. Unicuique autem datur manifestatio Spiritus ad utilitatem. Alii quidem per Spiritum datur sermo sapientiæ: alii autem sermo scientiæ secundum eumdem Spiritum: alteri fides in eodem Spiritu: alii gratia sanitatum in uno Spiritu: alii operatio virtutum, alii prophetia, alii discretio spirituum, alii genera linguarum, alii interpretatio sermonum. Hæc autem omnia operatur unus atque idem Spiritus, dividens singulis prout vult.

Lesson of the Epistle of St. Paul, the Apostle, to the Corinthians.

1 Chapter XII.

Brethren: You know that when you were heathens, you went to dumb idols, according as you were led. Wherefore I give you to understand, that no man, speaking by the Spirit of God, saith anathema to Jesus. And no man can say the Lord Jesus, but by the Holy Ghost. Now there are diversities of graces, but the same Spirit. And there are diversities of ministries, but the same Lord. And there are diversities of operations, but the same God who worketh all in all. And the manifestation of the Spirit is given to every man unto profit. To one, indeed, by the Spirit, is given the word of wisdom; and to another, the word of knowledge, according to the same Spirit; to another, faith in the same Spirit; to another, the grace of healing in one Spirit; to another, the working of miracles; to another, prophecy; to another, the discerning of spirits; to another, divers kinds of tongues; to another, interpretation of speeches. But all these things one and the same Spirit worketh, dividing to every one according as he will.

The Synagogue has been rejected, has been cast out; and the Church is thereby declared the exclusive heir of the promises.¹ She is now sole depositary of God's gifts; and she leads her children to St. Paul, that he may put before them the principles which should guide them in the appreciation and use of those gifts. In our Epistle he is speaking of those absolutely gratuitous favours which, at the first commencement of the Church, were, more or less, enjoyed by every Christian assembly. Since then they are imparted to a few privileged souls, which, generally speaking, though not necessarily, are being guided in the extraordinary paths of mystic theology. If, in the immense majority of God's faithful servants, we do not meet with these infused graces of prophecy, of supernatural knowledge, of the gift of tongues, or of miracles properly so called, yet the lives of the saints are always the common patrimony of the children of the Church; and therefore we should not neglect to provide ourselves with the lights needed for understanding and profiting by a reading so important and so interesting. In this season of the liturgical year—which is so specially devoted to the celebration of the mysteries of divine union—it is very necessary to have certain clear ideas, without which we should be in danger of confounding in this higher Christian life the interior perfection of the soul and her real holiness with those exterior, and intermittent, and varied phenomena which are but the gratuitous radiations of the Spirit of love.

¹ Gal. iv. 30.

These are the motives which induced the Church to select, for to-day, this passage from the Epistle of St. Paul to the Corinthians. If we would fully enter into her design, we must not limit our attention to the few lines we have just been reading; the end of the chapter from which they are taken, as likewise the two subsequent chapters, are all one and the same piece of teaching, and must not be separated one from the other.¹ In this important passage, besides the summary of the principles which are unchangeable, we have, also, an instructive account of what the Church's assemblies were in those early times, when the omnipotence of the holy Spirit everywhere opened and made to flow in abundance the double spring of miracles and holiness.

¹ 1 Cor. xii., xiii., xiv.

The rapid conquest of the world, which from the very commencement was to give evidence to the catholicity of the Church, required a large effusion of power from on high; and, in order that the promulgation of the new Testament might be made authoritatively among men, it was necessary that God should give it all possible solemnity and authenticity. This He did, by accompanying it with signs and wonders, of which He alone could be the author. Hence, in those early days, the Holy Ghost took not possession of a soul by Baptism, without giving an external sign of His presence in that new Christian—without, that is, one of those manifestations which the apostle here enumerates. Thus the Witness of the Word¹ fulfilled the twofold mission He had received: He sanctified in truth the faithful of Christ,² and He convinced of sin the world which would not receive the word of the heralds of the Gospel.³

St. Paul⁴ mentions three proofs which were held out to the world as a sure guarantee of the divinity of Christ: these were, His Resurrection from the grave, the holiness of those who became His disciples, and, thirdly, the innumerable miracles which accompanied the preaching of the apostles, and the conversion of the Gentiles. As to the first of these proofs, we shall have it proposed to our consideration next Sunday. Let us pass to the second. The law given to the world by Jesus of Nazareth was abundantly proved to be of divine origin, by the admirable change of this earth, of which, when He was born in it for our salvation, we might say in the language of the Scripture, 'all flesh had corrupted its way.'¹ For men that knew how to use their reasoning powers, no demonstration could be plainer or more cogent than this, which showed that, from the sinks of corruption, there were everywhere coming forth harvests worthy of heaven, and that men who had degraded themselves to the level of the brute by the indulgence of their evil passions were now changed into angels of earth by their saintly morals and heavenly aspirations. To change the 'odour of death' into the 'good odour of Christ'²—that is, to live as did the Christians—was it not to reveal God to men by showing that the very life of God was lived by men in human flesh?³

¹ St. John xv. 26. ² Ibid. xvii. 17.
³ Ibid. xvi. 8–11; 1 Cor. xiv. 22, 24, 25. ⁴ Rom. i. 4.

¹ Gen. vi. 12. ² 2 Cor. ii. 14–16.
³ Ibid. iv. 10, 11.

But, for men who seem incapable of reasoning, who cannot see beyond the present, nor raise themselves above the senses, who have become brutalized, who see in virtue, which scorns to share in their debaucheries, merely something to stare at and blaspheme,⁴ the holy Spirit had prepared a demonstration which was tangible and visible, and which all could take in, viz.: that exuberance of supernatural gifts, which were actively at work in every place where there was a Church. The gift of tongues, which had given such power to the preaching of the apostles on the day of Pentecost, was multiplied with such frequency, when men came near the baptismal font, that the beholders were astonished, or, as the full force of the sacred text gives it, they were stupefied;⁵ it continued to be the sign, the wonder, whose influence on the unbeliever, after first exciting his surprise, went on gradually inclining both his thoughts and his heart towards the word of faith.⁶ But the work of his conversion received a still greater impulse, when he was introduced into the assembly of the men of his own neighbourhood, whom hitherto he had known only in the simple intercourse of every-day life. He then found them transformed into prophets, who could see into the most hidden recesses of his unbelieving soul; all were his convincers, all were his judges; how was he to resist? He fell prostrate on the ground, he adored God, he could not but acknowledge that the Lord was indeed in such an assembly.²

⁴ 1 St. Pet. iv. 4.
⁵ Acts ii. 6–11. ⁶ Ibid. x. 44–48.

The Corinthians to whom St. Paul wrote that Epistle were rich in these spiritual favours; nothing of this kind of grace was wanting to them; and the apostle gave thanks to God for having so abundantly endowed them,³ because thereby a strong testimony was given to the Christian religion. But it would be a great mistake, if, from this profusion bestowed upon them by the holy Spirit, we should conclude that the Corinthians were perfect. Jealousies, vanity, obstinacy, and other miseries, earned for them the name of carnal, and made the apostle tell them that he was compelled to treat them as children, incapable of receiving anything like sublime teaching.⁴ These privileged receivers of gratuitous graces pointed out very clearly, therefore, the difference between the importance the Christian should attach to these exceptionally great, but perhaps to the possessor's own soul unproductive, favours, and the value he should set on justifying and sanctifying grace which makes the soul pleasing to God.

¹ 1 Cor. xiv. 22. ² Ibid. 24, 25.
³ Ibid. i. 4–7. ⁴ Ibid. iii. 1–3.

This second—the regularly appointed result of the Sacraments, which were instituted by our Lord's munificence for the use of all men—this sanctifying grace is the necessary basis of salvation; it is, also, the one sole measure of future glory, for its development and increase depend on the merit of each individual possessor. Gratuitous grace, on the contrary, is irregular and spontaneous both in its origin and its effects, and is quite independent of the dispositions or merits of the recipient. Like the authority given to one over the souls of others, like those several ministries mentioned in our Epistle, this gratuitous grace has for its aim, not so much the advantage of him who receives it as the advantage of his fellow-men; and this aim is realized, independently of the virtue, or the imperfection, of the one whom God has selected as His instrument. So that miracles and prophecy do not necessarily presuppose a certain amount of holiness in the thaumaturgus or the prophet. We have a proof of it in our Corinthians, and a still stronger one in Balaam and Judas. God, who had His own designs, which were not to be frustrated by their faults or sins, left them in possession of His own gifts, just as He does the priest, who may, perhaps, be anything but what he should be, and who, nevertheless, validly makes use of faculties and powers more divine than any of those others. We have it from our divine Master Himself: 'Many,' says He, 'will say to Me on that day' [of judgment], 'Lord! Lord! have we not prophesied in Thy name, and in Thy name cast out devils, and done many wonderful works in Thy name?' And then will I profess unto them, 'I never knew you. Depart from Me, ye that work iniquity!'¹

¹ St. Matt. vii. 22, 23.

In these days, when such manifestations of supernatural power are no longer needed for the promulgation of the Gospel, and are, therefore, less frequent—it is generally the case that, when they are found in a Christian, they are an indication of a real and sanctifying union existing between him and the Spirit of love. That holy Spirit, who raises such a Christian above the ordinary paths, takes pleasure in His own divine work, and wishes it to attract the attention either of all the faithful, or at least of some privileged souls, who, being moved by these extraordinary signs, give thanks to God for the favours He has bestowed on that soul. And yet, even in such a case, it would be a mistake to measure the holiness of that favoured soul by the number or greatness of such exterior gifts. The development of charity by the exercise of the several virtues is the only thing that makes men saints. Divine union—whether it be that degree of it which is attainable by all, or those grand heights of mystic theology which are reached by a few privileged ones—does not in any way depend on those brilliant phenomena. These, when they are bestowed upon a servant of God, are not generally deferred till he has reached perfection in divine love; though it is love alone that will give him, if he be faithful, the perfection of true holiness.

The practical conclusion we are to draw from all this is what the apostle makes the summary of his teaching on this subject: Have a great esteem for all these gifts; look on them as the work of the Holy Ghost, who thereby bestows manifold degrees of adornment on the whole body of the Church; do not despise any of these; but, when you see or hear of any of them, count those as the most precious which produce most edification in the Church and in souls.

Let us above all hearken to what St. Paul adds: 'I have a way to show unto you more excellent than all these! If I should speak with the tongues of men and of angels; if I should have prophecy, and should know all mysteries, and all knowledge; if I should have all faith, so that I could remove mountains; if I have not charity, I am nothing, it profits me nothing. Prophecies will be made void, tongues will cease, knowledge will be destroyed and be replaced by the beatific vision; but charity will never fail, will never cease; of all things, charity is the greatest!'¹

In the Gradual, the Church once more speaks of the confidence which, as bride, she puts in her Lord's help; encouraged by the love she bears Him, and which keeps her in the paths of equity, she does not fear His judgments. The Alleluia-verse extols the Spouse's glory in Sion; but, this time, and henceforth, it is always the true Sion, the new Jerusalem, that is spoken of.

GRADUAL

Custodi me, Domine, ut pupillam oculi: sub umbra alarum tuarum protege me.

Guard me, O Lord, as the apple of thine eye: and protect me under the shadow of thy wings.

℣. De vultu tuo judicium meum prodeat: oculi tui videant æquitatem.

℣. Let my cause be tried in thy presence: let thine eyes see justice done.

Alleluia, alleluia.

Alleluia, alleluia.

℣. Te decet hymnus, Deus, in Sion: et tibi reddetur votum in Jerusalem. Alleluia.

℣. A hymn is due to thee, O God, in Sion: and in Jerusalem shall a vow be paid unto thee. Alleluia.

GOSPEL

Sequentia sancti Evangelii secundum Lucam. Cap. XVIII.

Sequel of the holy Gospel according to Luke. Ch. XVIII.

In illo tempore: Dixit Jesus ad quosdam, qui in se confidebant tamquam justi, et aspernabantur ceteros, parabolam istam: Duo homines ascenderunt in templum ut orarent: Unus pharisæus, et alter publicanus. Pharisæus stans, hæc apud se orabat: Deus, gratias ago tibi, quia non sum sicut ceteri hominum: raptores, injusti, adulteri, velut etiam hic publicanus. Jejuno bis in sabbato: decimas do omnium, quæ possideo. Et publicanus a longe stans, nolebat nec oculos ad cælum levare: sed percutiebat pectus suum, dicens: Deus, propitius esto mihi peccatori. Dico vobis: Descendit hic justificatus in domum suam ab illo: quia omnis qui se exaltat, humiliabitur: et qui se humiliat, exaltabitur.

At that time: Jesus spake this parable to some who trusted in themselves as just, and despised others. Two men went up into the temple to pray: the one a pharisee, and the other a publican. The pharisee standing, prayed thus with himself: O God, I give thee thanks that I am not as the rest of men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, as also is this publican. I fast twice in the week: I give tithes of all that I possess. And the publican standing afar off would not so much as lift up his eyes towards heaven: but struck his breast, saying: O God, be merciful to me a sinner. I say to you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other, because every one that exalteth himself, shall be humbled; and he that humbleth himself, shall be exalted.

Commenting on this passage of St. Luke, Venerable Bede¹ thus explains the mystery: 'The pharisee is the Jewish people, who boasts of the merits he has acquired to himself by observing the precepts of the law; the publican is the Gentile, who, remote far off from God, confesses his sins. The pharisee, by reason of his pride, has to depart in humiliation; the publican, by lamenting his miseries, merits to draw nigh to God—that is, to be exalted. It is of these two people, and of every man who is proud or humble, that it is written: The heart of a man is exalted before destruction, and it is humbled before he be glorified.'²

In the whole Gospel, then, there was no teaching more appropriate than this, as a sequel to the history of Jerusalem's fall. The children of the Church, who, in her early years, saw her humbled in Sion and persecuted by the insulting arrogance of the Synagogue, now quite understand that word of the Wise Man: 'Better is it to be humbled with the meek, than to divide spoils with the proud!'¹ According to another Proverb, the tongue of the Jew—that tongue which abused the publican and ran down the poor Gentile—has become, in his mouth, as 'a rod of pride,'² a rod which, in time, struck himself, by bringing on his own destruction. But, whilst adoring the justice of God's vengeance and giving praise to His mercy, the Gentiles must take care not to go into the path wherein was lost the unhappy people whose place they now occupy. Israel's offence, says St. Paul, has brought about the salvation of the Gentiles; but, his pride would be also their ruin; and whereas Israel is assured, by prophecy, of a return to God's favour when the end of the world shall be approaching,³ there is no such promise of a second call of mercy to the Gentiles, should they ever apostatize after their baptism. If, at present, the power of eternal Wisdom enables the Gentiles to produce fruits of glory and honour,⁴ let them never forget how once they were vile, barren trees: then, humility—which alone can keep them right, as formerly it alone drew upon them the eye of God's mercy—will be an easy duty; and, at the same time, they will understand the regard they should always entertain for the people of Israel, in spite of all his sins.

While the original defect of their birth made the Gentiles as wild olive-trees, producing nothing but worthless fruits, the good, the genuine, the natural olive-tree, through whose branches flowed the sap of grace, was growing and flourishing, sucking sanctification into its branches from the holy root of the patriarchs, blessed of God.¹ We must remember that this tree of salvation is ever the same. Some of its branches fell off, it is true, and others were substituted; but this accession of the Gentiles, who were permitted by grace to graft their branches into the holy stock, effected no change, either in the stock or in its root. The God of the Gentiles is not another, but the same, as the God of Isaac and Jacob; the heavenly olive-tree is one, and only one, and its roots rest in Abraham's bosom: it is from the faith of this the just man par excellence,² from the blessing, promised to him³ and to his divine Bud,⁴ and to be imparted to all the nations of the earth, that flows the life-giving and rich sap, which will transform the Gentile world in all future ages. When, therefore, Christian nations are boasting of their origin and descent, let them not forget the one which is above all the rest. The founders of earthly empires are not, in God's way of counting, the true fathers of the people of those empires: in the order of supernatural, that is of our best, interest, Abraham the Hebrew,⁵ he that went forth from Chaldea at the call of God,⁶ is, by the fecundity of his faith, the truest father of nations.⁷

Now we can understand those words of the apostle: 'Boast not, O thou wild olive-tree, that, contrary to nature, wast ingrafted into the good olive-tree, boast not against the original branches. But if thou art tempted to boast, remember, thou bearest not the root, but the root beareth thee. Therefore, be not high-minded, but fear.'⁸

Humility, which produces within us this salutary fear, is the virtue that makes man know his right place, with regard both to God and to his fellow-men. It rests on the deep-rooted conviction, put into our hearts by grace, that God is everything, and that we, by nature, are nothingness, nay, less than nothingness, because we have degraded ourselves by sin. Reason is able, of herself alone, to convince anyone, who takes the trouble to reflect, of the nothingness of a creature; but such conviction, if it remain a mere theoretical conclusion, is not humility: it is a conviction which forces itself on the devil in hell, whose vexation at such a truth is the chief source of his rage. As faith, which reveals to us what God is in the supernatural order, does not come from mere reason, nor remain confined to the intellect alone, so neither does humility, which teaches us what we ourselves are: that it may be true, real virtue, it must derive its light from above, and, in the Holy Spirit, must move our will also. At the same time that this Holy Spirit fills our souls with the knowledge of their littleness and misery, He also sweetly leads them to the acceptance and love of this truth, which reason, if left entirely to herself, would be tempted to look on as a disagreeable thought.

When this Holy Spirit of truth,¹ this divine witness of hearts,² takes possession of a soul, what an incomparably stronger light is there in the humility which He imparts, than in that which mere human reason forces on a man! We are bewildered at seeing to what lengths this sentiment of their own misery led the saints; it made them deem themselves inferior to every one; it drove them to act and speak in a way which, in our flippant judgment, outstepped the bounds of both truth and justice! But the Holy Ghost, who guided and ruled them, passed a very different judgment; and it is precisely because of His being the Spirit of all truth and all justice—in other words, because of His being the sanctifying Spirit—that, as He willed to raise them to extraordinary holiness, He gave them an extraordinary clearsightedness, both as to what they themselves were, and as to what God is. Satan, the spirit of wickedness, makes his slaves act just the opposite to the divine way. The way he makes them take, is the one he took for himself, from the very beginning; which our Lord thus expresses: 'He stood not in the truth;'¹ 'he aimed at being like unto the Most High.'² This pride of his succeeded in fixing him, for all eternity, in the hell of absurdity and lie. Therefore, humility is truth; and, as the same Jesus says: 'The truth shall make you free,'³ by liberating us from the tyranny of the father of lies;⁴ and then, having made us free, it makes us holy; it sanctifies us,⁵ by uniting us to God, who is living and substantial truth.

The nearer the stars are to the sun, the greater is the light they receive from him, although they seem to dwindle and disappear, overpowered by his splendour; whereas their light appears brighter and more their own, in proportion as they are farther from him. So man, as he approaches nigher to the infinite All, receives a marvellous increase of life and light; while he gradually loses both his life of self, and the artificial light that accompanied it.

There are men who, like Satan, have done all in their power to throw themselves out of the orbit of the divine sun. Rather than acknowledge that they owe all they have to the most high God, they would sink back again into nothingness, if they could. To the heavenly treasures which the common Father opens out to all who own themselves to be His children, they prefer the pleasure of keeping to natural good things; for then, so they say, they owe what they get to their own cleverness and exertions. They are foolish men, not to understand that, do what they please, they owe everything they have to this their forgotten God. They are weak, sickly minds, mistaking these vapours of conceit in which their disordered brain finds delight for principles of which they may be proud. Their high-mindedness is but ignominy; their independence leads but to slavery; for, though they refuse to have God as their Father, they must of necessity have Him as their Master; and thus, not being His children, they must be His slaves. As slaves, they keep to the vile food, which they themselves preferred to the pure delights wherewith Wisdom inebriates them that follow her. As slaves, they have acquired the right to the scourge and the fetter. They chose to be satisfied with what they had, and would have neither the throne that was prepared for them,¹ nor the nuptial robe;² let them, if they will, prefer their prison, and there deck themselves in the finery which moths will soon be making their food! But, during these short years of theirs, they are branding their bodies with a deeper slavery than ever red-hot iron stamped on vilest bondsman. All this happens because, with all the empty philosophy which was their boast, they would not listen to the Christian teaching that real greatness consists in the truth, and that humility alone leads to it.

Not only does man not unman himself by humbling himself—for he thereby is but believing himself to be what he really is—but, according to the Gospel expression, the degree of that voluntary abasement is the measure of his exaltation in God's sight. The Holy Ghost is beyond measure liberal in bestowing His gifts on one, who

¹ 1 Cor. iv. 7. ² Wisd. vi. 22. ³ Ecclus. vi. 32.

is sure to refer all the glory of them to the divine Giver. It is to the little that the Lord of heaven and earth makes revelations, which He hides from the proudly wise and prudent.¹ Or, rather, the truly wise are these same little ones, who understand and have experienced the mysteries of God's infinite love, and who have been invited to the banquet of divine Wisdom. They are nothing in their own eyes; and yet it is in them that, among all the children of men, the Son of God finds His delights. This is what the disciples could not understand when, after the words of our Lord, which are given in to-day's Gospel, they insisted, as St. Luke tells us, on keeping back the little ones who wanted to come near Him. But Jesus insisted on their being brought to Him, saying very much the same as He had already said in the old Testament pages: 'Suffer little children to come to Me; forbid them not, for of such is the kingdom of God. Amen I say to you: whosoever shall not receive the kingdom of God as a child shall not enter into it.'³

In heaven the humility of the saints is far greater than it was while they were here on earth, because they now see the realities, which then they could only faintly perceive. Their happiness, yonder above, is to be gazing on and adoring that altitude of God, of which they will never have an adequate knowledge, and the more they look up at that infinite perfection, the deeper do they plunge into their own original nothingness. Let us get these great truths well into us, and we shall have no difficulty in understanding how it was that the greatest saints were the humblest creatures here below, and how the same beautiful fact is still one great charm of heaven. It must be so, for the light of the elect is in proportion to their glory.

¹ St. Luke x. 21. ² Prov. viii. 31. ³ St. Luke xviii. 15-17.

What, then, must all this exquisite truth be, when we apply it to the great Mother of God? The nearest to the throne of her divine Son, she is precisely what she was at Nazareth;¹ that is, she is the humblest of all creatures, because she is the most enlightened of all, and therefore understands, better than even the Seraphim and Cherubim, the greatness of God and the nothingness of creatures.

It is humility which inspires the Church with the confidence she expresses in the following Offertory-anthem. The more this virtue enables a man to feel his own weakness, the more, likewise, does it show him the power of God, who is ever ready to help them that call upon Him.

OFFERTORY

Ad te, Domine, levavi animam meam: Deus meus, in te confido, non erubescam: neque irrideant me inimici mei: etenim universi qui te exspectant, non confundentur.

To thee, O Lord, have I raised up my soul: my God, I put my trust in thee, let me not be put to shame: neither let mine enemies scoff at me: for none that rely on thee shall ever be confounded.

The Mass is at once the highest worship which can be given to the divine Majesty, and the sovereign remedy of our miseries. The Secret tells us this.

SECRET

Tibi, Domine, sacrificia dicata reddantur: quæ sic ad honorem nominis tui deferenda tribuisti, ut eadem remedia fieri nostra præstares. Per Dominum.

May the sacrifice we offer, O Lord, be presented before thee, which thou hast appointed to be offered in honour of thy name, and, at the same time, to become a remedy to us. Through, etc.

The other Secrets, as on page 130.

¹ St. Luke i. 48.

The Communion-anthem sings the praise of this oblation, which is all pure and full of most perfect justice; it has replaced, on the altar of God, the victims prescribed by the Mosaic law.

COMMUNION

Acceptabis sacrificium justitiæ, oblationes et holocausta super altare tuum, Domine.

Thou wilt accept the sacrifice of righteousness, oblations, and whole-burnt offerings, on thy altar, O Lord.

The august Sacrament is ever repairing the losses we sustain through our many miseries; and yet this would not be of much profit to us, unless the divine benignity were to be continually bestowing on us those actual graces, which preserve and increase the treasures of the soul. We cannot get on without this special aid; let us ask for it, in the Postcommunion.

POSTCOMMUNION

Quæsumus, Domine Deus noster; ut quos divinis reparare non desinis sacramentis, tuis non destituas benignus auxiliis. Per Dominum.

We beseech thee, O Lord our God, that, in thy mercy, thou wouldst never deprive those of thy help, whom thou continually strengthenest by these divine mysteries. Through, etc.

The other Postcommunions, as on page 131.

VESPERS

The psalms, capitulum, hymn, and versicle as above, pages 71-81.

ANTIPHON OF THE MAGNIFICAT

Descendit hic justificatus in domum suam ab illo: quia omnis qui se exaltat, humiliabitur: et qui se humiliat, exaltabitur.

This man went down to his house justified rather than the other: because, every one that exalteth himself, shall be humbled; and he that humbleth himself, shall be exalted.

OREMUS — LET US PRAY

Deus, qui omnipotentiam tuam parcendo maxime et miserando manifestas, multiplica super nos misericordiam tuam, ut ad tua promissa currentes, cœlestium bonorum facias esse consortes. Per Dominum.

O God, who chiefly manifestest thine omnipotence by pardoning and having mercy: increase thy mercy upon us; that, hastening to the things thou hast promised, thou mayst make us partakers of heavenly goods. Through, etc.

THE ELEVENTH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST

With the Greeks, this Sunday—their eleventh of Saint Matthew—is called the Parable of the King, who calls his servants to account. In the western Church, it has gone under the name of Sunday of the deaf and dumb, ever since the Gospel of the pharisee and the publican has been assigned to the tenth. To-day's Mass, as we now have it, still gives evidence as to what was its ancient arrangement. Our commentary on to-day's liturgy will show us this very plainly.

In the years when Easter falls nearest to March 21 the Books of Kings are continued as lessons of Matins up to, but never beyond, this Sunday. The sickness of the good king Ezechias, and the miraculous cure he obtained by his prayers and tears, are then the subject of the first lessons of the night-Office.²

¹ St. Matt. xviii. 23-35. ² 4 Kings xx.

MASS

The learned and pious Abbot Rupert, writing on this Sunday's Mass previous to the change made in the order of the Gospel lessons, thus explains the Church's reason for selecting the following Introit: 'The publican in the Gospel accuses himself, saying: "I am not worthy to lift up mine eyes to heaven." St. Paul, in the Epistle, does in like manner, and says: "I am the least of the apostles, who am not worthy to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the Church of God." As, then, this humility, which is set before us that we may practise it, is the guardian of the union between the servants of God, because it keeps them from being puffed up one against the other, it is most appropriate that we should first sing the Introit, which tells us that God maketh men, in His house, abide together as though they were all but one soul.'²

¹ 1 Cor. iv. 6. ² Rup., De Div. Off. xii. 11.

INTROIT

Deus in loco sancto suo: Deus, qui inhabitare facit unanimes in domo: ipse dabit virtutem et fortitudinem plebi suæ.

God in his sanctuary: God, who maketh brethren abide together in the house: he will give might and strength to his people.

Ps. Exsurgat Deus, et dissipentur inimici ejus; et fugiant, qui oderunt eum, a facie ejus. Gloria Patri. Deus.

Ps. Let God arise, and his enemies shall be dispersed; and let those that hate him flee before his face. Glory, etc. God.

The Collect which follows is most touching, when we see it in the light of the Gospel formerly fixed for this Sunday. Though that connexion has now been broken, yet the appropriateness is still very striking; for the Epistle, as Abbot Rupert was just telling us, continues to urge us to humility by proposing to us the example of St. Paul; the humility of the repentant publican has been anticipated. Our mother the Church is all emotion at beholding this publican, this object of contempt to the Jew, striking his breast, and scarce able to put his sorrow into words: she, with motherly tenderness, comes and takes up his faltering prayer, and gives it her own eloquence. Nothing could exceed the delicate way in which she asks of the Omnipotent that, in His infinite mercy, He would restore peace to troubled consciences, by pardoning them their sins, and granting them what they, poor sinners, are too afraid to presume to ask for.

COLLECT

Omnipotens sempiterne Deus, qui abundantia pietatis tuæ et merita supplicum excedis et vota: effunde super nos misericordiam tuam; ut dimittas quæ conscientia metuit, et adjicias quod oratio non præsumit. Per Dominum.

O almighty and eternal God, who, by the abundance of thy goodness, exceedest both the merits and the requests of thy suppliants: pour forth thy mercy upon us: that thou mayst pardon what our conscience fears, and mayst grant what our prayer presumes not to ask. Through, etc.

The other Collects, as on page 120.

EPISTLE

Lectio Epistolæ beati Pauli Apostoli ad Corinthios. 1 Caput XV.

Lesson of the Epistle of St. Paul the Apostle to the Corinthians. 1 Chapter XV.

Fratres, Notum vobis facio Evangelium, quod prædicavi vobis, quod et accepistis, in quo et statis, per quod et salvamini: qua ratione prædicaverim vobis, si tenetis, nisi frustra credidistis. Tradidi enim vobis, in primis quod et accepi: quoniam Christus mortuus est pro peccatis nostris secundum Scripturas: et quia sepultus est, et quia resurrexit tertia die secundum Scripturas: et quia visus est Cephæ, et post hoc undecim. Deinde visus est plus quam quingentis fratribus simul: ex quibus multi manent usque adhuc, quidam autem dormierunt. Deinde visus est Jacobo, deinde apostolis omnibus: novissime autem omnium tamquam abortivo visus est et mihi. Ego enim sum minimus apostolorum, qui non sum dignus vocari apostolus, quoniam persecutus sum Ecclesiam Dei. Gratia autem Dei sum id quod sum, et gratia ejus in me vacua non fuit.

Brethren: I make known unto you the Gospel which I preached to you, which also you have received, and wherein you stand, by which also you are saved: if you hold fast after what manner I preached unto you, unless you have believed in vain. For I delivered unto you first of all, which I also received: how that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures: and that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the Scriptures: and that he was seen by Cephas; and after that by the eleven. Then he was seen by more than five hundred brethren at once; of whom many remain until this present, and some are fallen asleep. After that he was seen by James, then by all the apostles; and last of all, he was seen also by me, as by one born out of due time. For I am the least of the apostles, who am not worthy to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the Church of God. But by the grace of God I am what I am; and his grace in me hath not been void.

Last Sunday the publican reminded us of the humility which should exist in the sinner; to-day the Doctor of the Gentiles shows us, by his own example, that this virtue is quite as suitable to a man who, though now justified, never forgets how, in the past, he offended his Maker. The sins of the now just man, even though long since forgiven, are always before him.¹ Having a tendency to be his own accuser, he finds, in the fact that God has pardoned and forgotten his sins, nothing but an additional motive for his own unceasing remembrance of them. Heavenly favours may sometimes be granted him as a recompense for the sincerity of his repentance; the manifestation of the secrets of eternal Wisdom may be accorded him;⁴ he may, perhaps, be permitted to enter into the powers of the Lord, and obtain a keen insight into the rights of infinite justice;⁵ yet all these favours do but help him to see more clearly the enormity of those voluntary sins of his, which added their own malice to the original stains with which he was born. As he progresses in sanctity, humility becomes to him something more than a satisfaction paid to justice and truth, by a mind enlightened from on high: in proportion as he lives with God in closer and closer union, and, by contemplation, goes up higher¹ in light and love, divine charity, which is ever pressing him² on every side, turns the very remembrance of his past sins into what will make that charity more ardent. That burning charity fathoms the deep abyss whence grace has drawn him; and then she darts upwards from those depths of hell, more vehement, more imperious, more active, than ever. Gratitude for the priceless riches he now possesses by the munificence of his divine Benefactor does not satisfy that sinner of former days; the avowal of his past miseries must and does escape from his enraptured soul as a hymn to his God.

¹ Ps. l. 5. ² Prov. xviii. 17. ³ Ezech. xviii. 22. ⁴ Ps. l. 8. ⁵ Ps. l. 6, 7. ⁶ Ps. lxx. 16.

Like Augustine, who was but imitating Paul, 'he glorifies the just and the good God by publishing both the good he has received and the evil of his own acts; and this in order to win over to the one sole Object of his praise and his love the minds and hearts of all who hear him.'⁴ This illustrious convert of Monica and Ambrose headed the magnificent book of his 'Confessions' with these words of Psalm xlvii, which so admirably express the object he proposed to himself by thus telling all about himself: 'Great art Thou, O Lord, and exceedingly to be praised. Great is Thy power, and of Thy wisdom there is no number.'⁵ 'And yet,' says the saint, 'man wishes to praise Thee—man, a mere speck of Thy creation, who carries about him his own mortality, and the testimony of his sin, and the testimony that thou resistest the proud;⁶ and yet this man wishes to praise Thee—man, a mere speck of Thy creation. Thou excitest him to take delight in praising Thee. Receive, then, the homage which is offered Thee by the

¹ St. Luke xiv. 10. ² 2 Cor. v. 14.
³ 1 Cor. xv. 8-10. ⁴ St. Aug., Retract., ii. 6.
⁵ Ps. xlvii. 2; cxlvi. 5. ⁶ St. Jas. iv. 6.

tongue that was formed for the purpose of praising Thee. Let my flesh and all my bones, that have been healed by Thee, cry out: "Who, O Lord, is like unto Thee?"¹ Let my soul praise Thee, that she may love Thee; and, that she may praise Thee, let her confess Thy mercies. I wish now to go over in my mind all my long wanderings, and I will confess the things which fill me with shame, and will make of them a sacrifice of joy.² Not that I love my sins, but it is that I may love Thee, O my God, that I recall them to mind; it is out of love of Thy love that I now recur to those bitter things, that I may taste Thy delights, O Sweetness that never deceives! Blissful Sweetness, that has no dangers! O Thou that collectest all my powers, and recallest them from the painful scattering into which they had been thrown by my separation from Thee, O Thou one centre of all being! What am I to myself, when I have not Thee, but a guide that leads me to the abyss? Or what am I, when all is well with me, but a little one that is sucking in the milk which Thou providest, or enjoying Thee, the Food that knows not corruption? And what manner of man is any man, for he is but a man? Let them that are strong and mighty—them that have not as yet had the happiness of being laid low and cast down—let them laugh at me! I am a weak man, and poor, and I give Thee praise. For that I need neither voice nor words; the cries of the thought are what Thou hearest. For when I am wicked, my being displeased with myself is a real praise to Thee; but when I am pious, my not attributing it to myself is again a real praise to Thee; for if Thou, O Lord, bless the just man,³ it is because Thou hast first justified⁴ him when he was ungodly.⁵

¹ Ps. xxxiv. 10. ² Ps. cxv. 17.
³ Ps. v. 13. ⁴ Rom. iv. 5.
⁵ St. Aug., Confessions, i. 1, ii. 1, iv. 1, v. 1, x. 2.

"By the grace of God, I am what I am." The just man should make this language of the apostle be his own, and when this fundamental truth is thoroughly impressed upon his soul, then may he fearlessly add with him: "His grace in me hath not been void." For humility is based upon truth, as we said last Sunday; and, as it would be contrary to truth were one to refer to man what man has from God, so likewise would it be an injury to truth not to recognize, as the saints did, the works of grace where God has wrought them. In the former case justice, in the latter gratitude, would be offended, as well as truth. Now, humility, whose direct aim is to avoid these unjust infringements on the glory due to God, by repressing the risings of pride, is also the earnest prompter of gratitude—so truly so, indeed, that a proud man can never be a grateful one, or, to say it in other words, the greatest enemy to the generous virtue of gratitude is pride.

It is quite true that it is good, and prudent, and, generally speaking, necessary, for souls to dwell on the consideration of their faults rather than upon the favours they have received from God, and this more especially in the first beginning of their conversion; still, it is never lawful for any man to forget that, besides being grieved for his past sins and being vigilant as to present temptations, he has also the bounden duty of ceaselessly thanking the divine Benefactor, who gave him both the grace of a change of life and the subsequent progress in virtue. When a Christian cannot see a grace or any good in himself without having immediately to struggle against self-complacency and a tendency to prefer himself to others, he must not be troubled, of course, for the sin of pride is not in the evil suggestions which may arise within him, but in the

¹ Ps. l. 16, 17.

consent which is yielded to such suggestions; and yet this weakness which accompanies the thought of God's graces is not without its dangers in the spiritual life; and the Christian who is resolved on making any advance in perfection must gently endeavour to get altogether rid of such weakness. Aided by grace, he will gradually find the eye of his soul growing stronger by the infirmity of nature being cured, and by the removal of the involuntary remnants of sin, which, as so many vicious humours, falsify the beautiful light of God's gifts, or even sometimes distort it altogether by an unhappy refraction. "If thine eye be single," says our Lord, "thy whole body will be lightsome, having no part of darkness; the whole shall be lightsome";¹ the light shall enlighten thee completely and surely, because it will come to thee without obstacle and without deviation.

It is holy simplicity, daughter and inseparable companion of humility, that will show us how, when a soul is what she should be, these two things coexist, and mutually tell on each other, viz., the close, deliberate consideration of the favours she has received from heaven, and the clear consciousness of her own miseries. This admirable simplicity will lead us to the school of the Scriptures and of the saints, there to teach us that the soul's being praised in the Lord,² and our glorying in the Lord, is really a giving praise and glory to God Himself. When our Lady declared, in her canticle, that all generations would call her blessed, the divine enthusiasm which was inspiring her was quite as fully the ecstasy of her humility as of her love.⁴ The lives of God's best servants are, at every turn, showing us these sublime transports, wherein they make the Magnificat of their

¹ St. Luke xi. 34-36. ² Ps. xxxiii. 3.
³ 1 Cor. i. 31. ⁴ St. Luke i. 48.

Queen become their own hymn of praise to God, magnifying Him for all the great things which He, the mighty One, has vouchsafed to do through their instrumentality. When St. Paul, after having expressed the low estimation he had of himself compared with the other apostles, adds that grace had not been a failure in him, and that he had even laboured more abundantly than all of them,² we are not to suppose that he has changed his tone, or that the holy Spirit, who guides him, now wishes to recall his previous words. No; it is one and the same conviction, one and the same desire, which inspires these words, apparently so different and so contrary; the conviction and the desire that God must not, and shall not, be disappointed in His gifts, either by the self-appropriation of pride, or by the silence of ingratitude.

We have purposely limited our reflexions to the truths suggested by the concluding lines of our Epistle, because they complete what we had to say on humility, that indispensable virtue, on which depends, not only all progress, but even all security, in the Christian life. What St. Paul here says regarding the Resurrection of our Lord, which is the basis of the apostolic preaching and of the faith of mankind,³ is a subject of quite equal importance; but this grand doctrine has been treated of during the Easter octave, with all the fullness it deserved; and even were we not compelled from want of space, we could not do better than refer our readers to the paschal volume.⁴

The Gradual, according to some of our most esteemed liturgists, expresses the thanksgiving of

¹ St. Luke i. 49. ² 1 Cor. xv. 10.
³ Ibid. 14. ⁴ *Paschal Time*, vol. i.

the humble, who are healed by God, according to the hope they had put in Him.¹

GRADUAL

In Deo speravit cor meum, et adjutus sum: et refloruit caro mea: et ex voluntate mea confitebor ei.

℣. Ad te, Domine, clamavi: Deus meus, ne sileas: ne discedas a me.

Alleluia, alleluia.

℣. Exsultate Deo, adjutori nostro: jubilate Deo Jacob, sumite psalmum jucundum cum cithara. Alleluia.

In God hath my heart confided, and I have been helped. And my flesh hath flourished again: and with my will I will give praise to him.

℣. To thee, O Lord, have I cried out: be not silent, O my God: nor depart from me.

Alleluia, alleluia.

℣. Exult in God, our helper: joyfully sing to the God of Jacob: sing a hymn of joy upon the harp. Alleluia.

GOSPEL

Sequentia sancti Evangelii secundum Marcum. Caput VII.

In illo tempore: Exiens Jesus de finibus Tyri, venit per Sidonem ad mare Galilææ inter medios fines Decapoleos. Et adducunt ei surdum et mutum, et deprecabantur eum, ut imponat illi manum. Et apprehendens eum de turba seorsum, misit digitos suos in auriculas ejus: et exspuens, tetigit linguam ejus: et suspiciens in cœlum, ingemuit, et ait illi: Ephpheta, quod est, adaperire. Et statim apertæ sunt aures ejus, et solutum est vinculum linguæ ejus, et loquebatur recte. Et præcepit illis, ne cui dicerent. Quanto autem

Sequel of the holy Gospel according to Mark. Chapter VII.

At that time: Jesus going out of the coasts of Tyre, came by Sidon to the sea of Galilee through the midst of the coasts of Decapolis. And they bring to him one deaf and dumb: and they besought him that he would lay his hand upon him. And taking him from the multitude apart, he put his fingers into his ears, and spitting, he touched his tongue; and looking up to heaven, he groaned and said to him: Ephpheta, which is, Be thou opened. And immediately his ears were opened, and the string of his tongue

eis præcipiebat, tanto magis plus prædicabant: et eo amplius admirabantur, dicentes: Bene omnia fecit: et surdos fecit audire, et mutos loqui.

was loosed, and he spoke right. And he charged them that they should tell no man. But the more he charged them, so much the more a great deal did they publish it. And so much the more did they wonder, saying: He hath done all things well; he hath made both the deaf to hear and the dumb to speak.

¹ Rup., ubi supra; Durand., Ration., vi. 195.

Jesus is no longer in Judea; the names of the places mentioned in the beginning of to-day's Gospel tell us that the Gentile world has become the scene of the divine operations for man's salvation. What manner of man, then, is this who is led to the Saviour, and the sight of whose miseries makes the Incarnate Word heave a sigh? And what is the meaning of the extraordinary circumstances which produce the cure? A single word of Jesus could have done it all, and His power would have shone forth all the more brightly. But the miracle which is here related contains a great mystery; and the Man-God, who aims mainly at giving us a lesson by this His mercy, makes the exercise of His power subordinate to the teaching which He desires to convey to us.

The holy fathers tell us that this man represents the entire human race,¹ exclusive of the Jewish people. Abandoned for four thousand years in the sides, that is, in the countries of the north, where the prince of this world was ruling as absolute master,² it has been experiencing the terrible effects of the seeming forgetfulness on the part of its Creator and Father, which was the consequence of original sin. Satan, whose perfidious craftiness caused man to be driven out of Paradise, has made him his own prey, and nothing could exceed the artifice he has employed for keeping him in his grasp. Wisely oppressing³ his slave, he adopted

¹ Ludolph. Carth., Vita J. Chr., i. 90. ² Isa. xiv. 13.
³ Exod. i. 10.

the plan of making him deaf and dumb, for this would hold him faster than chains of adamant could ever do. Dumb, he could not ask God to deliver him; deaf, he could not hear the divine voice; and thus the two ways for obtaining his liberty were shut against him. The adversary of God and man, satan, may boast of his tyranny. The grandest of all God's creations looks like a failure; the human race, in all its branches, and in all nations, seems ruined; for even that people which God had chosen for His own, and which was to be faithful to Him when every other had gone astray,¹ has made no other use of its privileges than to deny its Lord and its King, more cruelly than all the rest of mankind.

What, then? Is the bride, whom the Son of God came to seek upon the earth—is the society of saints, to be limited to those few who declared themselves His disciples during the years of His mortal life? Not so; the zeal of the newly formed Church, and the ineffable goodness of God, produced a far grander result. Driven from Jerusalem, as her divine Spouse had been, the Church met the poor captive of satan beyond the boundaries of Judea; she would fain bring him into the kingdom of God: and, through the apostles and their disciples, she brings him to Jesus, beseeching Him to lay His divine hand upon him. No human power could effect his cure. Deafened by the noise of his passions, it is only in a confused way that he can hear even the voice of his own conscience; and, as to the sounds of tradition, or the speakings of the prophets, they are to him but as an echo, very distant and faint. Worst of all, as his hearing, that most precious of our senses, is gone, so, likewise, is gone the power of making good his losses; for, as the apostle teaches, the one thing that

¹ Deut. xxxii. 9.

could save him is faith, and faith cometh by hearing.

Our Jesus groans when they have brought this poor creature before Him. He is grieved at seeing the cruelties the enemy has inflicted on this His own privileged being, this beautiful work, of which He Himself served as model and type to the blessed Trinity, at the beginning of the world.² Raising up to heaven those eyes of His sacred Humanity—those eyes whose language has such resistless power—He sees the eternal Father acquiescing in the intentions of His own merciful compassion.³ Then, resuming the exercise of that creative omnipotence which, in the beginning, had made all things to be very good,⁴ and all His works to be perfect,⁵ He, as God and as the Word, utters the mighty word of restoration: Ephpheta! Be thou opened! Nothingness, or rather (in this instance) ruin, which is worse than nothingness, obeys the well-known voice; the ears of the poor sufferer are opened, joyfully opened to the teachings, which his delighted mother the Church pours into them. She is all the gladder, because it is her prayers that have won this deliverance; and he, to whom faith comes now through hearing, finding that his tongue can speak, speaks, or rather sings, a canticle of praise to his God.

And yet, as we were observing, our merciful Lord, by this cure, aims not so much at showing the power of His divine word as at giving a glorious teaching to His followers; He wishes to reveal to them, under certain visible symbols, the invisible realities produced by His grace in the secret of the sacraments. It is for the sake of such teaching that the Gospel has mentioned such an apparently trifling detail as this—that when the deaf and dumb man was brought before Him, He took him apart—apart, so to say, from the multitude of the noisy passions and the vain thoughts¹ which had made him deaf to heavenly truths. After all, would there be much good in curing him if the occasion of his malady were not removed, and he were to relapse perhaps that same day? So, then, having by this separation taken precautions for the future, Jesus inserts into the man's ears His own divine fingers which bring the Holy Ghost,² and make to penetrate right to the ears of his heart the restorative power of this Spirit of love. And finally, more mysteriously, because the truth which was to be expressed is more profound, He touches with the saliva of His sacred mouth that tongue which had become incapable of giving glory and praise; and Wisdom (for it is she that is here mystically signified)—Wisdom, 'that cometh forth from the mouth of the Most High,'³ and flows for us from the Saviour's fountains⁴ as a life-giving drink⁵—openeth the mouth of the dumb man, just as she maketh eloquent the tongues of speechless infants.⁶ Therefore it is that the Church—in order to show us that the event recorded in to-day's Gospel is figurative, and regards not merely one individual man, but all of us—has prescribed that the circumstances which accompanied the cure of this deaf and dumb sufferer shall be expressed in the ceremonies of holy Baptism. The priest, before pouring the water of the sacred font on the person who is presented for Baptism, puts on the catechumen's tongue the salt of wisdom, and touches his ears, saying: Ephpheta! that is, Be opened!⁷

¹ Rom. x. 17. ² Gen. i. 26. ³ St. John xi. 42. ⁴ Gen. i. 31. ⁵ Deut. xxxii. 4. ⁶ St. John i. 1.

There is an instruction of another kind included in our Gospel, and worthy of our notice, as closely bearing on what we have been saying regarding humility. Our Lord imposed silence on those who had been witnesses of the miraculous cure, although He knew that their praiseworthy enthusiasm could never allow them to obey Him. By this injunction, He wished to give a lesson to His followers, that if, at times, it is impossible to keep men from being in admiration at the works they achieve—if, sometimes, the Holy Spirit, in opposition to their wishes, forces them to undergo public applause for the greater glory of the God whose instruments they are—yet must they always do all in their power to avoid being noticed; they must prefer to be despised,¹ or, at least, not talked of; they must love to be hidden in the secret of the face of God;² and, after the most brilliant, just as truly as they would after the most menial, duties, they must say from the heartiest conviction: 'We are unprofitable servants, we have but done what we ought to do.'³

It is again the hymn of the humble, whether delivered, or healed, or glorified, by God, which is sung in the Offertory.

OFFERTORY

Exaltabo te, Domine, quoniam suscepisti me: nec delectasti inimicos meos super me: Domine, clamavi ad te, et sanasti me.

I will extol thee, O Lord, because thou hast upholden me, and hast not gratified the desire of mine enemies against me. Lord, I cried out to thee, and thou healedst me.

The assembly of God's servants beseech Him, in the following Secret, graciously to accept their gifts; and, in this holy sacrifice, to turn them into the homage of their delighted service, and the support of their weakness.

SECRET

Respice, Domine, quæsumus, nostram propitius servitutem: ut quod offerimus, sit tibi munus acceptum, et sit nostræ fragilitatis subsidium. Per Dominum.

Look down, O Lord, we beseech thee, on our homage; that the gifts we offer thee may be acceptable to thee, and a help to our weakness. Through, etc.

The other Secrets, as on page 130.

No more appropriate anthem than the following could have been selected as the Communion for the season which finds men busy in harvesting the fruits of the earth. We should make it our first thought to give to God, through His Church and the poor, the first fruits of these blessings which He has bestowed upon us. But, in order becomingly to honour the Lord in this, we must take care not to boast, as the pharisee did, of fulfilling a duty so imperative, and yet so very profitable to ourselves who obey it.

COMMUNION

Honora Dominum de tua substantia, et de primitiis frugum tuarum: et implebuntur horrea tua saturitate, et vino torcularia redundabunt.

Honour the Lord out of thy substance, and with the first fruits of thy crops; and thy barns shall be filled abundantly, and thy wine-presses shall overflow.

The heavenly remedy of these sacred mysteries acts upon our body and soul: it is for the salvation of both, and, therefore, we should love these mysteries as our best glory on earth. In the Postcommunion, the Church prays that her children may be blessed with the whole fullness of these blessings.

POSTCOMMUNION

Sentiamus, quæsumus Domine, tui perceptione sacramenti, subsidium mentis et corporis: ut in utroque salvati, cœlestis remedii plenitudine gloriemur. Per Dominum.

May we experience, by the participation of thy mysteries, we beseech thee, O Lord, help in body and mind: that, in the salvation of both, we may enjoy the full effect of this heavenly remedy. Through, etc.

The other Postcommunions, as on page 131.

VESPERS

The psalms, capitulum, hymn and versicle, as above, pages 71-81.

ANTIPHON OF THE MAGNIFICAT

Bene omnia fecit, et surdos fecit audire, et mutos loqui.

He hath done all things well: he hath made both the deaf to hear, and the dumb to speak.

OREMUS

Omnipotens sempiterne Deus, qui abundantia pietatis tuæ et merita supplicum excedis et vota: effunde super nos misericordiam tuam, ut dimittas quæ conscientiæ metuit, et adjicias quæ oratio non præsumit. Per Dominum.

LET US PRAY

O almighty and eternal God, who, by the abundance of thy goodness, exceedest both the merits and the requests of thy suppliants: pour forth thy mercy upon us: that thou mayst pardon what our conscience fears, and mayst grant what our prayer presumes not to ask. Through, etc.

THE TWELFTH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST

MASS

On this Sunday, which is their twelfth of Saint Matthew, the Greeks read in the Mass the episode of the young rich man who questions Jesus, given in the nineteenth chapter of the Saint's Gospel. In the west, it is the Gospel of the Good Samaritan which gives its name to this twelfth Sunday after Pentecost.

The Introit begins with that beautiful verse of Psalm lxix.: 'Come to mine assistance, O God! O Lord, make haste to help me!' Cassian, in his tenth Conference, has admirably drawn out the beauty of these words, and shows how they are appropriate for every circumstance of life, and how fully they respond to every sentiment of the Christian soul.¹ Durandus applies this Introit to Job, because the lessons for the Divine Office, which are taken from that Book of Scripture, sometimes, though not often, coincide with this Sunday.² Rupert looks on this Introit as the fitting prayer of the deaf and dumb man, whose cure was the subject of our reflexions this day last week. He says: 'The human race, in the person of our first parents, had become deaf to the commandments of God, and dumb in His praise; the first use he makes of his untied tongue, is to call upon the God who has healed him.'³ The same words are the Church's first address, each morning, to her Creator, and her opening of each of the canonical hours, both day and night.

INTROIT

Deus, in adjutorium meum intende: Domine, ad adjuvandum me festina: confundantur, et revereantur inimici mei, qui quærunt animam meam.

Incline unto mine aid, O God! O Lord, make haste to help me! Let mine enemies be confounded and ashamed that seek my soul.

Ps. Avertantur retrorsum, et erubescant, qui cogitant mihi mala. Gloria Patri. Deus.

Ps. Let them be turned backward, and blush for shame, that desire evils to me. Glory, etc. Incline.

It frequently happens (and we have already explained the reason), that the Collect of the Masses for the Time after Pentecost contains an allusion to the Gospel of the foregoing Sunday. The one for to-day evidently does so. Eight days back, we were taught how man, who had rendered himself incapable of serving his Creator, finds by divine mercy, that his supernatural faculties are restored to him; and then, he gives forth the voice of praise, and that, too, rightly (loquebatur recte).

¹ Cass., Collat., x. 10. ² Dur., Rat., vi. 126. ³ Rup., De div. off., xii. 12.

The Church, taking up the idea here suggested, prays thus:

COLLECT

Omnipotens et misericors Deus, de cujus munere venit, ut tibi a fidelibus tuis digne, et laudabiliter serviatur: tribue, quæsumus, nobis; ut ad promissiones tuas sine offensione curramus. Per Dominum.

O almighty and merciful God, from whose gift it cometh, that thy faithful worthily and laudably serve thee: grant us, we beseech thee, that we may run on, without stumbling, to the things thou hast promised us. Through, etc.

The other Collects, as on page 120.

EPISTLE

Lectio Epistolæ beati Pauli Apostoli ad Corinthios.

2 Caput III.

Fratres, Fiduciam talem habemus per Christum ad Deum: non quod sufficientes simus cogitare aliquid a nobis, quasi ex nobis: sed sufficientia nostra ex Deo est: qui et idoneos nos fecit ministros novi testamenti, non littera, sed spiritu: littera enim occidit, spiritus autem vivificat. Quod si ministratio mortis litteris deformata in lapidibus, fuit in gloria, ita ut non possent intendere filii Israel in faciem Moysi, propter gloriam vultus ejus, quæ evacuatur: quomodo non magis ministratio spiritus erit in gloria? Nam si ministratio damnationis gloria est: multo magis abundat ministerium justitiæ in gloria.

Lesson of the Epistle of St. Paul the Apostle to the Corinthians.

2 Chapter III.

Brethren: We have confidence through Christ towards God: not that we are sufficient to think anything of ourselves as of ourselves: but our sufficiency is from God. Who also hath made us fit ministers of the new Testament, not in the letter but in the spirit. For the letter killeth; but the spirit quickeneth. Now if the ministration of death, engraven with letters upon stones, was glorious, so that the children of Israel could not steadfastly behold the face of Moses, for the glory of his countenance, which is made void: how shall not the ministration of the spirit be rather in glory? For if the ministration of condemnation be glory, much more the ministration of justice aboundeth in glory.

The glorious promises mentioned in the concluding words of our Collect are described to us in the Epistle, which seems, at first sight, to be entirely in praise of the apostolic ministry; but the glory of the apostles is the glory of Him whom they announce; and this one glory, which is His, Christ, the Head, communicates to all His members, making it also their one glory. This divine glory flows, together with the divine life, from that sacred Head; and they both flow copiously through all the channels of holy Church. If they do not come to all Christians in the same proportions, such difference in no wise denotes that the glory and the life themselves are of a different kind for some from what they are for others. Each member of Christ's mystical Body is called upon to form his own degree of capacity for glory; not, of course, as the apostle says, that we are, of ourselves, sufficient even to think anything as of ourselves—but, what diversity there is in the way in which men turn to profit the divine capital allotted to each by grace!

Oh! if we did but know the gift of God!² if we did but understand the supereminent dignity reserved, under the law of love, to every man of good will!³ Then, perhaps, our cowardice and sluggishness would, at last, go; then, perhaps, our souls would get fired with the noble ambition which turns men into saints. At all events, we should then come to realize that Christian humility, of which we were speaking on the last two Sundays, is not the vulgar grovelling of a low-minded man, but the glorious entrance upon the way which leads, by divine union, to the only true greatness. Are not those men inconsistent and senseless who, longing by the very law of their nature for glory, go seeking it in the phantoms of pride, and allow themselves to be diverted, by the baubles of vanity, from the pursuit of those real honours which eternal Wisdom¹ had destined for them! And those grand honours were to have been heaped upon them, not only in their future heaven, but even here in their earthly habitation; and God and His saints were to have been admiring and applauding spectators!

In the name, then, of our dearest and truest interests, let us give ear to our apostle, and share his heavenly enthusiasm. We shall understand his exquisite teaching all the better, if we read the sequel to the few lines assigned for to-day's Epistle. It is but fully carrying out the wishes of the Church, when her children, after or before assisting at her liturgical services, take the sacred Scriptures, and read for themselves the continuation of passages, which are necessarily abridged during the public celebrations. It were well, if they did this all through the year. What a fund of instruction they would thus acquire! To-day, however, there is an additional motive for the suggestion, inasmuch as this second Epistle to the Corinthians is brought before us for the first and only time during this season of the liturgy.

¹ V. Bed., in Marc., ii. ² Cf. St. Luke xi. 20; St. Matt. xii. 28. ³ Ecclus. xxiv. 5. ⁴ Isa. xii. 3. ⁵ Ecclus. xv. 3. ⁶ Wisd. x. 21. ⁷ Rit. rom., Ordo baptism.

¹ Ps. lxxxiii. 11. ² Ps. xxx. 21. ³ St. Luke xvii. 10.

¹ Eph. iv. 15, 16. ² St. John iv. 10. ³ St. Luke ii. 14.

But let us examine what is this glory of the new Testament, which so fills the apostle with ecstasy, and, in his mind, almost entirely eclipses the splendour of the old. Splendour there undoubtedly was in the covenant of Sinai. Never had there been such a manifestation of God's majesty, and omnipotence, and holiness, as on that day, when, gathering together, at the foot of the mount, the descendants of the twelve sons of Jacob, He mercifully renewed, with this immense family, the covenant formerly made with their fathers,² and

¹ Ecclus. vi. 29-32. ² Gen. xv. 18.

gave them His Law in the extraordinarily solemn manner described in the Book of Exodus. And yet, that Law, engraven as it was on stone by God's own hand, was not, for all that, in the hearts of the receivers; neither did its holiness prevent, though it condemned, sin—sin which reigns in man's heart. Moses, who carried the divine writing, came down from the mount, having the rays of God's glory glittering on his face;² but this glory was not to be shared in by the people of whom he was the head; it was for himself alone, as was likewise the privilege he had enjoyed of speaking with God face to face;³ it ceased with him, thus signifying, by its short duration, the character of that ministration, which was to cease on the coming of the Messiah, just as the night's borrowed light vanishes when the day appears. And, as it were, the better to show that the time was not as yet come, when God would manifest His glory—the children of Israel were not able to gaze steadfastly on the face of Moses; so that, when he had to speak to the people, he had need to put on a veil. Though a mere borrowed light, the brightness of Moses' face represented the glory of the future Covenant, whose splendour was to shine, not, of course, externally, but in the hearts of us all, by giving us 'the light of the knowledge of the glory of God, in the face of Christ Jesus.'⁴ Light, living and life-giving, which is none other than the divine Word,⁵ the Wisdom of the Father,⁶ and which the energy of the sacraments, seconded by contemplation and love, makes to pass from the Humanity of our divine Head to the very recesses of our souls.

¹ Rom. vii. 12, 13. ² Exod. xxxiv. 29-35. ³ Ibid. xxxiii. 11. ⁴ 2 Cor. iv. 6. ⁵ St. John i. 4-9. ⁶ Wisd. vii. 25, 26.

We shall find our Sunday giving us a second reminder of Moses; but the true and enduring greatness of the Hebrew leader lies in what we have been stating. In the same way that Abraham was grander by the spiritual progeny which was the issue of his faith, than he was by the posterity that was his in the flesh—so the glory of Moses consisted not so much in his having been at the head of the ancient Israelites for forty long years, as in his having represented, in his own person, both the office of the Messiah King, and the prerogatives of the new people. The Gentile is set free from the law of fear and sin¹ by the law of grace, which not only declares justice, but gives it; the Gentile, having been made a son of God,² communes with Him in that liberty which comes of the Spirit of love.³ But, this privileged Gentile has no type which so perfectly represents him, in the first Covenant, as this the very lawgiver of Israel, this Moses who finds such favour with the Most High as to be admitted to behold His glory,⁴ and converse with Him with all the intimacy of friend to friend.⁵ Whereas God showed Himself to this His servant—as far, that is, as mortal man is capable of such sight⁶—and as He was seen by him without the intermediation of figures or images,⁷ so, when he spoke thus to God, Moses took from his face the veil he wore at other times. The Jew persists, even to this very day, in keeping this veil between himself and Christ.⁸ The Christian, on the contrary, with the holy daring of which the apostle speaks,⁹ removes all intermediaries between God and himself, and draws aside the veil of all figures. 'Beholding the glory of the Lord with face uncovered, we are transformed into the same image

¹ Rom. viii. 2. ² Ibid. 15. ³ 2 Cor. iii. 17. ⁴ Exod. xxxiii. 17-19. ⁵ Ibid. 11. ⁶ Ibid. 20. ⁷ Num. xii. 8. ⁸ 2 Cor. iii. 14. ⁹ Ibid. 12.

from glory to glory, as by the Spirit of the Lord,'¹ for we become other christs, and are made like to God the Father, as is His Son Christ Jesus.

Thus is fulfilled the will of the almighty Father for the sanctification of the elect. God sees Himself reflected in these predestinated, who are become, in the beautiful light divine, conformable to the image of His Son.² He could say of each one of them what He spoke at the Jordan and on Thabor: 'This is my beloved son, in whom I am well pleased.'³ He makes them His true temple,⁴ verifying the word He spoke of old: 'I will set my tabernacle in the midst of you: I will walk among you, and will be your God;⁵ I will bring thy seed from the east, and gather thee from the west; I will say to the north: "Give up!" and to the south: "Keep not back!" Bring my sons from afar, and my daughters from the ends of the earth!'⁶

Such are the promises, for whose realization we should, as the apostle says, be all earnestness in working out our sanctification, by cleansing ourselves from all defilement of the flesh and of the spirit, in the fear of God,⁷ and in His love. Such is that glory of the new Testament, that glory of the Church and of every Christian soul, which so immensely surpasses the glory of the old, and the brightness which lit up the face of Moses. As to our carrying this treasure in frail vessels, we must not, on that account, lose heart, but rather rejoice in this weakness, which makes God's power all the more evident; we must take our miseries, and even death itself, and turn them into profit, by giving the stronger manifestation of our Lord Jesus' life in this our mortal flesh. "What matters it to our

¹ 2 Cor. iii. 18. ² Rom. viii. 29. ³ St. Matt. iii. 17; xvii. 5. ⁴ 2 Cor. vi. 16. ⁵ Lev. xxvi. 12. ⁶ Isa. xliii. 5-7. ⁷ 2 Cor. vii. 1.

faith and our hope, if our outward man is gradually falling to decay, when the inner is being renewed day by day? The light and transitory suffering of the present is producing within us an eternal weight of glory. Let us, then, fix our gaze, not on what is seen, but on what is unseen; the visible passes, the invisible is eternal."¹

The human race, delivered from its long ages of dumbness, and blessed at the same time with God's gifts, sings, in the Gradual, the hymn of its warmest gratitude.

¹ 2 Cor. iv. 7-18, etc.

GRADUAL

Benedicam Dominum in omni tempore: semper laus ejus in ore meo.

I will bless the Lord at all times: his praise shall be always in my mouth.

V. In Domino laudabitur anima mea: audiant mansueti, et lætentur.

V. In the Lord shall my soul be praised: let the meek hear and rejoice.

Alleluia, alleluia.

V. Domine Deus salutis meæ, in die clamavi et nocte coram te. Alleluia.

V. O Lord, the God of my salvation, I have cried, in the day and in the night, before thee. Alleluia.

GOSPEL

Sequentia sancti Evangelii secundum Lucam.

Sequel of the holy Gospel according to Luke.

Caput X.

Chapter X.

In illo tempore: Dixit Jesus discipulis suis: Beati oculi qui vident quæ vos videtis. Dico enim vobis, quod multi prophetæ, et reges voluerunt videre quæ vos videtis, et non viderunt: et audire quæ auditis, et non audierunt. Et ecce quidam legisperitus surrexit tentans illum, et dicens: Magister, quid faciendo vitam æternam possidebo? At ille dixit ad eum: In lege quid scriptum est? quomodo legis? Ille respondens dixit: Diliges Dominum Deum tuum ex toto corde tuo, et ex tota anima tua, et ex omnibus viribus tuis, et ex omni mente tua: et proximum tuum sicut teipsum. Dixitque illi: Recte respondisti: hoc fac, et vives. Ille autem volens justificare seipsum, dixit ad Jesum: Et quis est meus proximus? Suscipiens autem Jesus, dixit: Homo quidam descendebat ab Jerusalem in Jericho, et incidit in latrones, qui etiam despoliaverunt eum: et plagis impositis abierunt, semivivo relicto. Accidit autem ut sacerdos quidam descenderet eadem via: et viso illo, præteriit. Similiter et Levita, cum esset secus locum, et videret eum, pertransiit. Samaritanus autem quidam iter faciens, venit secus eum: et videns eum, misericordia motus est. Et appropians, alligavit vulnera ejus, infundens oleum et vinum: et imponens illum in jumentum suum, duxit in stabulum, et curam ejus egit. Et altera die protulit duos denarios, et dedit stabulario, et ait: Curam illius habe: et quodcumque supererogaveris, ego cum rediero, reddam tibi. Quis horum trium videtur tibi proximus fuisse illi, qui incidit in latrones? At ille dixit: Qui fecit misericordiam in illum. Et ait illi Jesus: Vade, et tu fac similiter.

At that time: Jesus said to his disciples: Blessed are the eyes that see the things which you see. For I say to you, that many prophets and kings have desired to see the things that you see, and have not seen them: and to hear the things that you hear, and have not heard them. And behold, a certain lawyer stood up, tempting him, and saying: Master, what must I do to possess eternal life? But he said to him: What is written in the law? how readest thou? He answering said: Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with thy whole heart, and with thy whole soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind: and thy neighbour as thyself. And he said to him: Thou hast answered right: this do and thou shalt live. But he willing to justify himself, said to Jesus: And who is my neighbour? And Jesus answering said: A certain man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among robbers, who also stripped him, and having wounded him, went away, leaving him half dead. And it chanced that a certain priest went down the same way: and seeing him, passed by. In like manner also a levite, when he was near the place, and saw him, passed by. But a certain Samaritan, being on his journey, came near him; and seeing him, was moved with compassion. And going up to him, bound up his wounds, pouring in oil and wine; and setting him upon his own beast, brought him to an inn, and took care of him. And the next day, he took out two pence, and gave to the host, and said: Take care of him; and whatsoever thou shalt spend over and above, I, at my return, will repay thee. Which of these three, in thy opinion, was neighbour to him that fell among the robbers? But he said: He that showed mercy to him. And Jesus said to him: Go, and do thou in like manner.

The doctor and apostle of the Gentiles was speaking to us, in the Epistle, of the glory of the new Testament: Jesus, the Man-God, of whom Paul was but the servant, reveals to us, in the Gospel, the perfection of that Law, which He came to give to the world. And as though He would, in a certain way, unite His own divine teachings with those of His apostle, and justify that apostle's enthusiasm, it is from the very depth of His own most holy soul, and in the Holy Ghost, that, having thanked His eternal Father for these great things, He cries out, turning to His disciples: Blessed are the eyes that see the things which ye see!¹

The same idea was expressed by the prince of the apostolic college, alluding to the unspeakable and glorious joy,² which resulted from the new Alliance, wherein figures were to be replaced by realities. In his first Epistle to the elect of the Holy Spirit,³ Peter speaks, in the same strain as his divine Master⁴ had done, of the unfulfilled aspirations of the saints of the old Testament,—those admirable men, whom St. Paul describes⁵ as being so grand in faith, as to be both heroic in combat and sublime in virtue. St. Peter then expresses, in inspired language, how the elect of the Church of expectation were continually looking forward to the grace of the time that was to come; how they were ever counting the years which were to intervene; how they were carefully searching (scrutinizing, as our Vulgate words it) the long ages, to find out when that happy time would be

¹ St. Luke x. 21-23. ² 1 St. Pet. i. 8. ³ Ibid. 1, 2. ⁴ St. Amb., in Luc. x. ⁵ Heb. xi.

realized; although they were well aware, that the longed-for sight of the mysteries of salvation was never to be theirs, and that their mission was limited to prophesying those grandeurs to future generations.

But, who are those kings spoken of in our Gospel, as uniting with the prophets in the desire to see the things we see? To say nothing of those holy ones who thought less of the throne they sat on, than of the divine Object of the world's expectation,—may we not say, with the holy Fathers, that those well deserved to be called kings, whom St. Paul describes as, by their faith, conquering kingdoms, vanquishing armies, stopping the mouths of lions, masters of the very elements, yea, what is more, masters of themselves? Heedless of the mockeries, as well as of the persecutions, of the world that was not worthy to possess such men, these champions of the faith were seen wandering in the deserts, sheltering in dens and caves, and yet happy in the love of One whom they knew they were not to see until long ages after their death.

Do we, then, who are their descendants,—we for whom they were obliged to wait, in order to enjoy a share of those blessings which their sighs and vehement desires did so much to hasten,—appreciate the immense favour bestowed on us by our Lord? Our virtue scarcely bears comparison with that of the fathers of our faith; and nevertheless, by the descent of the holy Spirit of love, we have been more enlightened than ever were the prophets, for, by that holy Spirit, we have been put in possession of the mysteries which they only foretold. How is it, then, that we are so sadly slow to feel the obligation we are under of responding, by holiness of life and by an ardent and generous love, to the liberality of that God, who has gratuitously called us from darkness to His admirable light?¹ Having so great a cloud of witnesses over our heads, let us lay aside the burden of sin which impedes us, and run, by patience, in the fight proposed to us. Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and finisher of faith, who, having joy set before Him, preferred to endure the cross, despising the shame, and now sitteth on the right hand of the throne of God.³ We know Him with greater certainty than we do the events which are happening under our eyes, for He Himself, by His holy Spirit, is ever within us, incorporating His mysteries into us.

¹ 1 St. Pet. i. 10-12.
² V. Beda, in Luc., ii. Homily for the day.
³ Heb. xi. 33-39.

The illumination of holy Baptism has produced within our souls that revelation of Christ Jesus which constitutes the basis of the Christian life, and on which the Man-God congratulated His disciples. It was of that revelation or knowledge that He spoke, rather than of the exterior sight of His human Nature, a sight which was common not only to His devoted followers, but to every enemy that chose to stare at Him. The apostle of the Gentiles makes this very clear, when, after the change produced in the disciples by the Holy Ghost's coming upon them, he thus spoke: 'If we once knew Christ according to the flesh, now we know Him so no longer.'⁴ It is literally in us, and no longer in the cities of Judea, that the kingdom of God is to be found.⁵ It is faith that shows us the Christ, who is dwelling in our hearts, that He may establish us in charity, and grow in us, by transforming us into Himself, and fill us with all the fullness of God.⁶ It is by fixing his eye on the divine image which silently lights up the soul that has been purified by Baptism that, as we were just now saying, the inner man is renewed from day to day, by incessant contemplation, and growing love, and persevering and, at last, perfect imitation, of his Creator and Saviour.¹

¹ 1 St. Pet. i. 13-16. ² Id. ii. 9. ³ Heb. xii. 1, 2.
⁴ 2 Cor. v. 16. ⁵ St. Luke xvii. 21. ⁶ Eph. iii. 16-19.

How important it is, then, to let the supernatural light have such free scope and expansion within us, that not one of our acts or thoughts, not even the deepest recess of our hearts, may escape its sovereign influence and guidance! It is on this point, that the Holy Ghost works prodigies in faithful souls: the unrestrained development of His highest gifts, understanding and wisdom, gives such a predominance to the divine light, that the brightness of the sun's rays pales before it. Breathing, in His omnipotent freedom, when and as He willeth, this holy Spirit does not always wait for the regular development of those gifts which He bestows upon all: the soul, drawn up to heights unreached by the ordinary paths of the Christian life, finds herself plunged in the deepest abyss of Wisdom;² there she delightedly imbibes the rays which come to her from the eternal summits, and, in their tranquil and radiant simplicity which holds all in itself, she feels that she has the secret of all things. There are moments, when, raised up still higher,—above the region of the senses and the domain of human reasoning, or, as St. Denis the Areopagite words it, above all the intelligible,³—she is permitted to rest her wings on the summit, where dwells the uncreated light in its essence, and whence it streams down even to the furthest limits of creation, lending something of its divine splendour to every creature. Then it is, that mercifully acting on the soul, which cannot yet bear the direct infinite glory, the blessed Trinity shrouds her in that mysterious darkness, of which the saints speak as belonging to these highest degrees of mystical ascension. The darkness, beyond which is the very God of Majesty,¹ is an obscurity which penetrates the soul with higher bliss than does light itself; it is a sacred night, whose silence is more eloquent than any sound that this earth could hear; it is a holy of holies, where adoration absorbs the soul; vision is not there, still less is science, and yet, it is in this sanctuary, that understanding and love, acting together in ineffable unison, take hold of the sublimest mysteries of theology.

¹ Col. iii. 10. ² St. Denis Areop., De div. nom., vii. 3.
³ De myst. theol., i. 3.

It is quite true that such favours as these are imparted to but few; and no man can lay the slightest claim to them, be his virtue ever so great, or his fidelity ever so tried. Neither does perfection depend upon them. Faith, which guides the just man, is enough to make him estimate the life of the senses for what it really is,—miserable and grovelling. With the aid of ordinary grace, he easily lives in that intimate retirement of the soul, wherein he knows that the holy Trinity resides; he knows it, because he has it from the teaching of the Scripture.² His heart is a kind of heaven, where his life is hidden in God, together with that Jesus upon whom are fixed all his thoughts:³ there he gives to his beloved Lord the only proof of love which is to be trusted, the only one that this Lord asks at our hands,—the keeping of the commandments.⁴ In spite of the ardent longings of his hope, he waits patiently and calmly for that final revelation of Christ, which, on the last day, will give him to appear together with Him in glory:⁵ for, as without seeing Him he believes in Him, so without seeing Him he knows that he loves Him.⁶ The ever-advancing growth in virtue, which men observe in such a man, is a more unmistakable proof of the power of faith, than can be those extraordinary manifestations of which we were just speaking, and in which the soul is so irresistibly subdued, that she has scarcely the power to refuse her love.

¹ Ps. xvii. 12. ² St. John xiv. 23. ³ Col. iii. 3.
⁴ St. John xiv. 21. ⁵ Col. iii. 4. ⁶ 1 St. Pet. i. 8.

Hence, it is not without a reason and a connexion that the Gospel chosen for to-day passes at once, after the opening verses which we have been commenting, to the new promulgation of the great commandment, which includes the whole Law and the Prophets. Faith assures man that he may and must love the Lord his God with his whole heart, and with his whole soul, and his whole strength, and his whole mind, and his neighbour as himself. In the homily on the sacred text² the Church gives us the interpretation as far only as the question proposed by the Jewish lawyer: by this she insinuates that the latter portion of the Gospel, though by far the longer, is but the practical conclusion of the former, according to the saying of the apostle, that faith worketh by charity.³ The parable of the good Samaritan, though containing materials for the sublimest symbolic teaching, is spoken here in its literal sense by our Lord, for the one purpose of removing the restrictions put by the Jews on the great precept of love.

If all perfection be included in love,—if, without love, no virtue produces fruit for heaven,—it is important for us to remember, that love is not of the right kind unless it include our neighbour; and it is only after stating this particular, that St. Paul affirms that love fulfilleth the whole law,⁴ and that love is the plenitude of the law. Thus we find that the greater number of the precepts of the Decalogue concern our duties to our neighbour;⁵ and we are told, that the love we have for God is only then what it ought to be, when we love not only Him, but also what He loves, that is, when we love man whom He made to His own likeness. Hence, the apostle St. Paul does not explicitly distinguish, as the Gospel does, between the two precepts of love. He says: 'All the law is fulfilled in one sentence: Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.'²

¹ St. Matt. xxii. 36-40. ² The Office of Matins.
³ Gal. v. 6. ⁴ Rom. xiii. 8. ⁵ Ibid. 10. ⁶ Ibid. 9.

Such being the importance of this love, it is necessary to have a clear understanding as to the meaning and extent of the word neighbour. In the mind of the Jews, it comprised only their own race; and in this they were following the custom of the pagan nations, to whom every stranger was an enemy. But, here in our Gospel, we have a representative of this Jewish diminished law³ eliciting, from Him who is the author of the law, an answer which declares the precept in all its fullness. This time, He does not make His voice heard amidst thunder and fire, as on Mount Sinai. He, as Man living and conversing with men,⁴ reveals to them, and in the most intelligible way possible, the whole import of the eternal commandment which leads to life.⁵ In a parable (wherein, as many think, He is relating a fact which has really happened, and is known to those to whom He is addressing it), our Jesus describes how there was a man who went forth from the holy city, and how he fell in with a Samaritan, that is, with a stranger the most despised and the most disliked of all those whom an inhabitant of Jerusalem looked on as his enemies.⁶ And yet, the shrewd lawyer who questions Jesus, and, no doubt, all those who have been listening to the answer, are obliged to own that the neighbour, for the poor fellow who had fallen into the hands of robbers, was not so truly the priest, or the levite (though both of them were of his own race), as this stranger, this Samaritan, who forgets all national grudges as soon as he sees a suffering creature, and cannot look on him in any other light than as a fellow-man. Our Jesus made Himself thoroughly understood; and everyone present must have well learnt the lesson, that the greatest of all laws, the law of love, admits of no exception, either here or in heaven.

¹ 1 St. John iv. 20. ² Gal. v. 14. ³ Ps. xi. 2.
⁴ Baruch iii. 38. ⁵ Ibid. iv. 1. ⁶ St. John iv. 9.

The Offertory is taken from the Book of Exodus, where Moses is described as striving with God, striving, that is, to induce Him to spare His people, after their crime of worshipping the golden calf. Moses was permitted to triumph, and God's anger was appeased. It may sometimes happen that this Sunday falls close upon, or even on, the very day when the Church, in her Martyrology (September 4), makes a commemoration of the Jewish leader; and Honorius of Autun¹ tells us, that this is the reason for such frequent mention being made in to-day's liturgy of this glorious lawgiver of Israel.

OFFERTORY

Precatus est Moyses in conspectu Domini Dei sui, et dixit: Quare, Domine, irasceris populo tuo? Parce iræ animæ tuæ: memento Abraham, Isaac, et Jacob, quibus jurasti dare terram fluentem lac et mel. Et placatus factus est Dominus de malignitate, quam dixit facere populo suo.

Moses prayed in the presence of the Lord his God, and said: Why, O Lord, art thou angry at thy people? Spare the wrath of thy soul: remember Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, to whom thou didst swear to give a land flowing with milk and honey. And the Lord was appeased, and did not do the evil he had threatened his people.

The Secret prays our Lord to accept graciously the offerings of the Sacrifice—offerings which are made for the purpose of winning pardon for us, and giving honour to His divine majesty.

SECRET

Hostias, quæsumus Domine, propitius intende, quas sacris altaribus exhibemus; ut, nobis indulgentiam largiendo, tuo nomini dent honorem. Per Dominum.

Mercifully look down, O Lord, on the offerings we lay on thy holy altar; that they may be to the honour of thy name, by obtaining pardon for us. Through, etc.

The other Secrets, as on page 130.

As on last Sunday, so again to-day, the Communion-anthem evidently alludes to harvest-time and vintage. Bread, wine, and oil, are not only the supports of our material life; they are, also, the matter of the most august of our Sacraments. No moment is so suitable for speaking their praise as that of our having been made sharers in the sacred banquet.

COMMUNION

De fructu operum tuorum, Domine, satiabitur terra: ut educas panem de terra, et vinum lætificet cor hominis: ut exhilaret faciem in oleo, et panis cor hominis confirmet.

The earth, O Lord, shall be filled with the fruit of thy works: that thou mayst bring forth bread from the earth, and that wine may cheer the heart of man: that he may make the face cheerful with oil, and that bread may strengthen man's heart.

The life imparted to us by the sacred mysteries, finds in them its perfection, and also its protection; for they are continually removing from us, gradually more and more, those remnants of the evil which had first brought death upon us. Such is the teaching expressed in the Postcommunion.

¹ Gemm. anim., iv. 69.

POSTCOMMUNION

Vivificet nos, quæsumus Domine, hujus participatio sancta mysterii: et pariter nobis expiationem tribuat et munimen. Per Dominum.

May the sacred participation of these thy mysteries, O Lord, we beseech thee, give us life; and be to us both an expiation and a protection.— Through, etc.

The other Postcommunions, as on page 181.

VESPERS

The psalms, capitulum, hymn, and versicle, as above, pages 71-81.

ANTIPHON OF THE MAGNIFICAT

Homo quidam descendebat ab Jerusalem in Jericho, et incidit in latrones, qui etiam despoliaverunt eum, et plagis impositis abierunt, semivivo relicto.

A certain man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among robbers, who also stripped him; and, having wounded him, went away, leaving him half dead.

OREMUS

Omnipotens et misericors Deus, de cujus munere venit, ut tibi a fidelibus tuis digne et laudabiliter serviatur: tribue, quæsumus, nobis; ut ad promissiones tuas sine offensione curramus. Per Dominum.

LET US PRAY

O almighty and merciful God, from whose gift it cometh, that thy faithful worthily and laudably serve thee: grant us, we beseech thee, that we may run on, without stumbling, to the things thou hast promised us. Through, etc.

THE THIRTEENTH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST

The dominical series—which formerly counted from the feast of Saint Peter, or of the apostles—never went beyond this Sunday. The feast of Saint Laurence gave its name to those which follow; though that name began with even the ninth Sunday, for the years when Easter was further from the Spring equinox. And when that solemnity was kept at its latest date, the weeks began from to-day to be counted as the weeks of the seventh month (September).

The Ember-days of the autumn quarter sometimes occur even this week; whilst, other years, they may be as late as the eighteenth. We will speak of them when we come to the seventeenth Sunday, for it is in the week following that, that the Roman missal inserts them.

In the western Church, the thirteenth Sunday takes its name from the Gospel of the ten lepers, which is read in the Mass; the Greeks, who count it as the thirteenth of Saint Matthew, read on it the parable of the vineyard, whose labourers, though called at different hours of the day, all receive the same pay.

MASS

Now that she is in possession of the promises so long waited for by the world, the Church loves to repeat the words wherewith the just men of the old law used to express their sentiments. Those just men were living during the gloomy period, when the human race was seated in the shadow of death. We are under incomparably happier circumstances; we are blessed with graces in abundance: eternal Wisdom has spared us the trials our forefathers had to contend with, by giving us to live in the period which has been enriched by all the mysteries of salvation. There is a danger, however, and our mother the Church does her utmost to avert us from falling into it; it is the danger of forgetting all these blessings. Ingratitude is the necessary outcome of forgetfulness, and to-day's Gospel justly condemns it. On this account, the Epistle, and here our Introit, remind us of the time when man had nothing to cheer him but hope: a promise had, indeed, been made to him of a sublime covenant which was, at some distant future, to be realized; but, meanwhile, he was very poor, was a prey to the wiles of satan, his cause was to be tried by divine justice, and yet he prayed for loving mercy.

INTROIT

Respice, Domine, in testamentum tuum, et animas pauperum tuorum ne derelinquas in finem: exsurge, Domine, et judica causam tuam: et ne obliviscaris voces quærentium te.

Have regard to thy covenant, O Lord, and abandon not the souls of thy poor to the end. Arise, O Lord, and judge thine own cause; and forget not the cries of them that seek thee.

Ps. Ut quid, Deus, repulisti in finem, iratus est furor tuus super oves pascuæ tuæ? Gloria Patri. Respice.

Ps. Why, O God, hast thou cast us off, unto the end? why is thy wrath kindled against the sheep of thy pasture? Glory, etc. Have regard.

This day last week we were considering how important are faith and charity to a Christian who is living under the Law of grace. There is another virtue of equal necessity: it is hope; for, although he already have the substantial possession of the good things which will constitute his future happiness, the Christian is prevented by the gloom of this land of exile from seeing them. Moreover, this mortal life being essentially a period of trial, wherein each one is to win his crown, the struggle makes even the very best feel, and that right to the end, the weight of incertitude and anguish. Let us, therefore, pray with the Church, in her Collect, for an increase of the three fundamental virtues of faith, hope, and charity; and, that we may deserve to reach the perfection of the good which is promised us in heaven, let us sue for the grace of devotedness to the commandments of God, which lead us to our eternal home. Let us remember how the Gospel of Sunday last included them all in love.

¹ 1 Cor. ix. 25.

COLLECT

Omnipotens sempiterne Deus, da nobis fidei, spei, et charitatis augmentum: et ut mereamur assequi quod promittis, fac nos amare quod præcipis. Per Dominum.

O almighty and eternal God, grant unto us an increase of faith, hope, and charity: and, that we may deserve what thou promisest, make us to love what thou commandest. Through, etc.

The other Collects, as on page 120.

EPISTLE

Lectio Epistolæ beati Pauli Apostoli ad Galatas. Cap. III.

Lesson of the Epistle of St. Paul the Apostle to the Galatians. Chapter III.

Fratres, Abrahæ dictæ sunt promissiones, et semini ejus. Non dicit: Et seminibus, quasi in multis, sed quasi in uno: Et semini tuo, qui est Christus. Hoc autem dico, testamentum confirmatum a Deo: quæ post quadringentos et triginta annos facta est lex, non irritum facit ad evacuandam promissionem. Nam si ex lege hereditas, jam non ex promissione. Abrahæ autem per repromissionem donavit Deus. Quid igitur lex? Propter transgressiones posita est, donec veniret semen, cui promiserat, ordinata per angelos in manu mediatoris. Mediator autem unius non est: Deus autem unus est. Lex ergo adversus promissa Dei? Absit. Si enim data esset lex, quæ posset vivificare, vere ex lege esset justitia. Sed conclusit Scriptura omnia sub peccato, ut promissio ex fide Jesu Christi daretur credentibus.

Brethren: To Abraham were the promises made and to his seed. He saith not, and to his seeds as of many: but as of one, and to thy seed which is Christ. Now this I say, that the testament which was confirmed by God, the law which was made after four hundred and thirty years, doth not disannul, or make the promise of no effect. For if the inheritance be of the law, it is no more of promise. But God gave it to Abraham by promise. Why then was the law? It was set because of transgressions, until the seed should come, to whom he made the promise, being ordained by angels in the hand of a mediator. Now a mediator is not of one: but God is one. Was the law then against the promises of God? God forbid! For if there had been a law given which could give life, verily justice should have been by the law. But the Scripture hath concluded all under sin, that the promise by the faith of Jesus Christ might be given to them that believe.

'Look up to heaven, and number the stars, if thou canst! So shall thy seed be!' Abraham was almost a hundred years old,² and Sara's barrenness deprived him of all natural hope of posterity, when these words were spoken to him by God. Abraham, nevertheless, believed God, says the Scripture, and it was reputed to him unto justice.³ And when, later on, that same faith⁴ would have led him to sacrifice, on the mount, that son of the promise, his one only hope, God renewed His promise, and added: 'In thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed.'⁵

It is now that the promise is fulfilled; the event justifies Abraham's faith. He believed against all hope, trusting to that God who quickeneth the dead, and calleth those things that are not, as those that are;⁶ and, according to the expression of John the Baptist, from the very stones of the gentile world there rise up, in all places, children to Abraham.⁷

His faith, firm and, at the same time, so simple, gave to God the glory⁸ which He looks for from His creatures. Man can add nothing to the divine perfections; but—agreeably to God's own words— though he sees them not directly here below, he acknowledges those perfections by adoring and loving them; he makes his faith tell upon his whole life; and this use which he freely makes of his faculties—this voluntary devotedness of an intelligent being—magnifies God, by adding to His extrinsic glory.

¹ Gen. xv. 5. ² Rom. iv. 19. ³ Gen. xv. 6. ⁴ Heb. xi. 17-19. ⁵ Gen. xxii. 18. ⁶ Rom. iv. 17, 18. ⁷ S. Matt. iii. 9. ⁸ Rom. iv. 20.

Following in Abraham's steps,¹ there have come those multitudes, born for heaven, the children of his faith. They live by faith;² and thereby in all their acts they give to God the homage of confession and praise, through His Son Christ Jesus; and, like Abraham, they receive in return the blessing of an ever-increasing justice. The magnificent development of the Church, which gives this new posterity to Abraham, is greater and more visible since the fall of Israel. In countries the remotest, in the midst of cities that once were all pagan, we see crowds of men, women, and children imitating Abraham,³ that is, leaving at heaven's call, if not their country, at least everything that once made earth dear to them; and like him, trusting in the fidelity and power of God to fulfil His promises,⁴ they live as strangers amidst their neighbours, yea, and in their very homes, using this world as though they did not use it. In the tumult of cities as in the desert, in the midst of the vain pleasures of the world, whose fashion and figure passeth away,⁵ they have no other thought than that of the unseen realities,⁶ no other care than that of pleasing God. They take to themselves the word that was spoken to their father: 'Walk before me, and be perfect!'⁷ In truth, it was spoken to all of them; it was the condition in the alliance, concluded by God with those His faithful servants of all ages, in the person of the grand patriarch, who was not only their progenitor, but their model too. And God responds also to their faith, either by private manifestations, or by the still surer voice of His Scriptures,⁸ saying: 'Fear not! I am thy protector, and thy reward exceeding great!'⁹

¹ Rom. iv. 12. ² Ibid. i. 17. ³ Ibid. iv. 23, 24; Gal. iii. 9. ⁴ Gen. xii. 1. ⁵ Rom. iv. 20, 21. ⁶ 1 Cor. vii. 31. ⁷ Heb. xi. 1. ⁸ 1 Cor. vii. 32. ⁹ Gen. xvii. 1.

Truly, then, the benediction of Abraham has been poured forth on the Gentiles. Christ Jesus, the true Son of the promise, the only seed of salvation, has, by faith in His Resurrection,³ assembled from every nation⁴ them that are of a good will,⁵ making them all one in Him, making them, like Himself, children of Abraham,⁶ and, what is better still, children of God.⁷ For the benediction that was promised, at the beginning of the alliance, was the Holy Ghost Himself,⁸ the Spirit of adoption of children that came down into our hearts, to make us all heirs of God and joint-heirs of Christ.⁹ O mighty power of faith, which breaks down the former walls of division, unites nations together,¹⁰ and substitutes the love and freedom of children of the Most High for the law of bondage and fear!¹¹

And yet, grand as was this spectacle of the Gentiles becoming incorporated into the chosen race, and being made sharers, in Christ, of the holy promises,¹² it did not please all people. The carnal Jew, who boasts of having Abraham for his father, though he cares little about imitating his works¹³—the circumcised who vaunts the bearing in his flesh the sign of a faith which dwells not in his heart¹⁴—these men who have rejected Christ now reject His members, and would fain destroy His Church, or, at least, trammel it. They are enraged at seeing crowding in, from every portion of the globe,¹⁵ that immense concourse, which their vile jealousy has vainly sought to keep back. Whilst their wounded pride kept them from going in, the Gentiles were sitting down with Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and all the prophets, at the banquet of God's kingdom;¹ the last became the first.² Even to the end of time, Israel—who, by his own obstinacy, has forfeited his ancient glory—will continue to be the enemy of this spiritual posterity of Abraham, which has supplanted him³; but his persecutions against the children of the promise and of the lawful Bride will but result in showing that he is, as St. Paul says, the son of Agar, the son of the bondwoman, who, together with her child, is excluded from the inheritance and from the kingdom.⁴ He prefers to refuse the liberty offered him by the Lord, rather than acknowledge the definitive abrogation of his now dead Law. Be it so! His hatred will not induce the children of the Church (who are prefigured by Sara, the freewoman) to reject the grace of their God, for the sake of pleasing their enemy; it will not induce them to abandon the justice of faith, and the riches of the Spirit, and the life in Christ, in order to go back again to the yoke of slavery,⁵ which, let the Jew do what he will, was broken into pieces by the cross he himself set up on Calvary. Up to the last, the true Jerusalem, the free city, our mother—she that was once the barren woman, but now is so glad a bride with her children around her—will meet the superannuated, yet ever busy, pretensions of the Synagogue by reading to her assembled sons and daughters the Epistle we are having to-day. Up to the last St. Paul, in her name—speaking of the law of Sinai, which was made known to its subjects through the mediation of Moses and the angels—

¹ St. Luke xv. 28. ² Ibid. xiii. 28. ³ Ibid. 30. ⁴ 2 St. Pet. i. 19. ⁵ Gen. xv. 1. ⁶ Gal. iii. 14. ⁷ Rom. iv. 24. ⁸ Gal. iii. 28. ⁹ St. Luke ii. 14. ¹⁰ Gal. iii. 29. ¹¹ Ibid. iv. 5-7. ¹² Ibid. iii. 14. ¹³ Rom. viii. 15-17. ¹⁴ Eph. ii. 14-18. ¹⁵ Rom. viii. 2. ¹ Eph. iii. 6. ² St. John viii. 39. ³ Rom. iv. 11. ⁴ St. Luke xiii. 29. ⁵ Matt. xx.

⁵ Gen. xxvii. 36. ⁶ Gal. iv. 22-31. ⁷ Ibid. v. 1.
⁸ Ibid. ii. 19-21.

will prove its inferiority as compared to the covenant made by Abraham directly with God; each year, as emphatically as on the day he wrote his Epistle, Paul will declare the transient character of that legislation, which came four hundred and thirty years after a promise which could not be changed; neither was such legislation to continue, when the time should come for that Son of Abraham to appear, from whom the world was waiting to receive the promised benediction.

But what is to be said of the incapability of the Mosaic ministration to give man strength, and enable him to rise up from his fall? The Gospel on which we were meditating eight days back, and which formerly was assigned to this present Sunday, gave a symbolical and striking commentary on the uselessness of the old Law in regard to this; at the same time, it showed us the remedial power which resided in Christ, and was by Him transmitted to the ministers of the new Law. 'Every portion of the Office of the thirteenth Sunday,' says Abbot Rupert, 'bears on the history of that Samaritan, whose name signifies keeper; it is our Lord Jesus Christ who, by His Incarnation, comes to the rescue of man, whom the old Law was not able to keep from harm; and when Jesus leaves the world, He consigns the poor sufferer to the care of the apostles and apostolic men, in the house of the Church. The intentional selection of this Gospel for to-day throws a great light on our Epistle, as also on the whole letter to the Galatians, from which it is taken. Thus, the priest and the levite of the parable are a figure of the Law; and their passing by the half-dead man, seeing him, indeed, but without making an attempt to heal him, is expressive of what that Law did. True, it did not go counter to God's promises; but, of itself, it could justify no man. A physician who does not himself intend to visit a patient will sometimes send a servant who is expert in the knowledge of the causes of the malady, yet who has not the skill needed for mixing the remedy required, but can merely tell the sick man what diet and what drinks he must avoid, if he would prevent his ailment from causing death. Such was the law, set, as the Epistle tells us, because of transgressions, as a simple safeguard, until such time as there should come the good Samaritan, the heavenly physician. Having, from his very first coming into this world, fallen among robbers, man is stripped of his supernatural goods, and is covered with the wounds inflicted on him by original sin; if he did not abstain from actual sins, from those transgressions against which the law was set as a monitor, he runs the risk of dying altogether.'¹

It is on this account that the Gradual repeats the supplication of the Introit: Respice Domine, in testamentum tuum; for, as Rupert observes, it was the cry of the ancient people, who, sighing at the weakness of the powerless Law of Sinai, besought God to fulfil the covenant He had promised to Abraham's faith. They cried out to Christ, as the poor creature might have done to the good Samaritan, after he had seen the priest and the levite pass him by, without an effort made to save.

GRADUAL

Respice, Domine, in testamentum tuum: et animas pauperum tuorum ne obliviscaris in finem.

Look down, O Lord, upon thy covenant; and forget not for ever the souls of thy poor.

℣. Exsurge, Domine, et judica causam tuam: memor esto opprobrii servorum tuorum.

℣. Arise, O Lord, and judge thine own cause: remember how thy servants are upbraided.

Alleluia, alleluia.

¹ Rup., De Div. Off., xii. 18.

℣. Domine, refugium factus es nobis, a generatione, et progenie. Alleluia.

℣. Thou, O Lord, art our refuge, from generation to generation. Alleluia.

GOSPEL

Sequentia sancti Evangelii secundum Lucam.

Caput XVII.

In illo tempore: Dum iret Jesus in Jerusalem, transibat per mediam Samariam et Galilæam. Et cum ingrederetur quoddam castellum, occurrerunt ei decem viri leprosi, qui steterunt a longe: et levaverunt vocem, dicentes: Jesu præceptor, miserere nostri. Quos ut vidit, dixit: Ite, ostendite vos sacerdotibus. Et factum est dum irent, mundati sunt. Unus autem ex illis, ut vidit quia mundatus est, regressus est, cum magna voce magnificans Deum, et cecidit in faciem ante pedes ejus, gratias agens: et hic erat Samaritanus. Respondens autem Jesus, dixit: Nonne decem mundati sunt? et novem ubi sunt? Non est inventus qui rediret, et daret gloriam Deo, nisi hic alienigena. Et ait illi: Surge, vade: quia fides tua te salvum fecit.

Sequel of the holy Gospel according to Luke.

Chapter XVII.

At that time: As Jesus was going to Jerusalem, he passed through the midst of Samaria and Galilee. And as he entered into a certain town, there met him ten men that were lepers, who stood afar off; and lifted up their voice, saying: Jesus, Master, have mercy on us. Whom when he saw, he said: Go, show yourselves to the priests. And it came to pass, that as they went they were made clean. And one of them, when he saw that he was made clean, went back, with a loud voice glorifying God. And he fell on his face, before his feet, giving thanks: and this was a Samaritan. And Jesus answering, said: Were not ten made clean, and where are the nine? There is no one found to return and give glory to God, but this stranger. And he said to him: Arise, go thy way; for thy faith hath made thee whole.

The Samaritan leper, cured of that hideous malady which is an apt figure of sin, in company with nine lepers of Jewish nationality, represents the despised race of Gentiles, who were at first admitted, by stealth, so to say, and by extraordinary privilege, into a share of the graces belonging to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.¹ The conduct of these ten men, on occasion of their miraculous cure, is in keeping with the attitude assumed by the two peoples they typify, regarding the salvation offered to the world by the Son of God. It is a fresh demonstration of what the apostle says: 'All are not Israelites that are of Israel; neither are all they who are the seed of Abraham, children; "but," says the Scripture,² "in Isaac shall thy seed be called"; that is to say, not they who are the children of the flesh are the children of God: but they that are the children of the promise are counted for the seed;'³ they are born of the faith of Abraham, and are, in the eyes of the Lord, His true progeny.

Our holy mother the Church is never tired of this subject, the comparison of the two Testaments, and the contrast there is between the two peoples. We deem it our duty, before proceeding further, to explain how this is; for there are many persons who cannot understand what benefit can come to us Christians from hearing this subject preached to us. The kind of spirituality which, with many of us, has nowadays been substituted for the liturgical life so thoroughly lived by, and so precious to, our Catholic ancestors, gives a certain disrelish for the ideas which the Church perseveringly brings before them during so many of her Sundays. They have become habituated to live in an atmosphere of very limited truth; it is all subjective, as well as little; and they consider it a very excellent thing, to forget all other teaching, except what they happen to possess, and beyond which it is a trouble to go. It is not surprising that Christians of this class feel puzzled at finding the Church continually urging them to take an interest in a long past, which they consider of no practical utility to them!

¹ St. Matt. xv. 24. ² Gen. xxi. 12. ³ Rom. ix. 6-8.

But the interior life, truly worthy of the name, is not what these good people imagine. No school of spirituality either now makes, or ever made, the ideal of virtue consist in indifference for those great historic facts which are evidently so precious in the eyes of the Church, and of God Himself. And what is the usual result of thus isolating themselves from their mother's most cherished appreciations? It is, that by thus determinedly shutting themselves up in their own private prayers, they, by a just punishment, lose sight of the true end of prayer, which is union with, and love of, God. Their meditation is deprived of that element of intimate and fruitful converse with God, which is assigned it by all the masters of the spiritual life; it soon becomes an unproductive exercise of analysis and reasoning, in which there is nothing but abstract conclusions.

Now, when God mercifully invited men to the divine nuptials by manifesting to them His Word, it was not by abstraction that He gave to our earth this the Son of His own eternal Substance. As to His Divinity, men could not, in their present state, see it in a direct way. Had God shown us, in this pretended abstract way, that eternal Son of His, in whom are found all beauty, and warmth, and life, the revelation would have been imperfect and cold. This He did not do; but, as St. Paul tells us, He manifested the great mystery of godliness in the flesh;¹ the Word became a living soul;² eternal Truth assumed to Himself a Body, that so He might converse with men,³ and grow up like one of themselves. And when that Body, which eternal Truth was to hold as His own for ever, was taken up in glory,⁵ the Church, the bride of this Man-God, continued in the world this manifestation of God, by the members of Christ; she continued that historic development¹ of the Word, which is only to cease when time is no more. This manifestation, this development, surpasses all human calculations, and reveals fresh aspects of the Wisdom of God even to the angels themselves.² Let due respect be paid to the axioms of learned men, who have arranged the principles of science in logical order, independently of history and of facts: but this lifeless reasoning has nothing in common with substantial truth which is ever fruitful and necessarily active. In the Church, as in God, truth is life and light,³ not a mere collection of formulæ. If our Credo rings out so triumphantly through the aisles of our churches, and seems to force the very gates of heaven, it is because each of its articles is presented before God steeped in the blood of martyrs; from age to age it has gathered ever fresh lustre from the labours and struggles of so many holy confessors, chosen out of the human race to complete the body of Christ on earth.⁴

¹ 1 Tim. iii. 16. ² Baruch iii. 38. ³ Gen. ii. 7. ⁴ St. Luke ii. 52. ⁵ 1 Tim. iii. 16.

The subject is too full to be treated of here; but this we must say: after the master-fact of the Incarnation of the Word, who came upon our earth to manifest God, through the ages of time, by Christ and His members,⁵ there is not one which is more important, not one which has been and still is so dear to God, as the vocation of the two peoples whom He successively called to the blessing of an alliance with Him. The gifts and vocations of God are, as the apostle expresses it, without repentance or regret on His part. Those Jews, who are now His enemies because they reject the Gospel, are still called charissimi; they are still the beloved and dearly beloved, because of their fathers. For the same reason, a time will come—and the whole world is waiting for it—when the denial of Juda being revoked and his iniquities blotted out, the promises made to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, will be literally fulfilled.¹ Then the divine unity of the two Testaments will be made evident; and the two peoples themselves will be made one, under their one Head, Christ Jesus.² The covenant of God with man being then fully realized, such as He had designed it in His eternal wisdom—the earth having yielded its fruit,⁴ the world having done its work, the sepulchres will give back their dead, and history will cease here on earth, leaving glorified human nature to bloom in unreserved fullness of life, under God's complacent eye.

¹ Eph. i. 23. ² Ibid. iii. 10. ³ St. John i. 4. ⁴ Col. i. 24, ii. 19. ⁵ 2 Cor. iv. 10, 11.

The truths, then, which are again brought before our notice by to-day's Gospel, are anything but dry or old-fashioned; nothing is so grand; and, we must add—though superficial minds will wonder at it—there is nothing more practical in this season of the year, for it is the season consecrated to the mysteries of the unitive life. After all, in what, primarily, does union between God and man consist, but in unanimity of the divine and the human minds? Now, we know that the divine mind has manifested all its designs in the respective histories of the two Testaments and the two peoples; and that the final result which is to bring these two histories to their close, is the one only end which infinite love was in the beginning, and is now, and will for ever be, proposing to fulfil. The Church, therefore, far from showing herself to be behind the age by recurring continually to truths such as these, is but clearly proving herself to be the most intelligent bride of Jesus, and evincing the changeless lovely youthfulness of a heart, which ever beats in unison with that of her Spouse.

¹ Rom. xi. 28, 29. ² Ibid. 25-27. ³ Eph. ii. 14. ⁴ Ps. lxvi. 7. ⁵ Rom. xi. 15.

Let us now resume the literal explanation of our Gospel. As we were observing on a previous Sunday, our Jesus here, again, wishes rather to give us a useful teaching, than to manifest His divine power. It is for this purpose that He does not cure at once these ten lepers who beseech Him to have mercy on them, as, on another occasion, He cured one who was suffering from the same misery. To this latter, who besought Him, He restored cleanliness by a few words. He said: 'Be thou made clean!' and forthwith the leprosy was cleansed.¹ This was at the beginning of His public life. But the event of our Gospel took place in the latter portion of our Lord's sojourn amongst men. The lepers are made clean only while on their way to show themselves to the priests. Jesus sends them to the priests, just as He had done in the previous case; and thus, from the beginning to the close of His mortal life, He gave an example of the respect which was to be paid to the old Law, so long as it was not abrogated. That Law gave to the sons of Aaron the power, not of curing, but of discerning leprosy, and passing judgment on its being cured or not.²

The time, however, has now come for a Law far above that of Sinai. It has a priesthood, whose judgments are not to concern the state of the body, but, by pronouncing the sentence of absolution, are to effectually remove the leprosy of souls. The cure which the ten lepers felt coming upon them before they had reached the priests, ought to have sufficed to show them, in Jesus, the power of the new priesthood, which had been foretold by the prophets;³ the power which

¹ St. Matt. viii, 8. ² Lev. xiii. ³ Isa. lxvi, 21-23.

thus forestalls and surpasses the authority of the ancient ministration is sufficient evidence of the superior dignity of Him who exercises it. If only they were in suitable dispositions for the sacred rites, which are going to be used in the ceremony of their purification,¹ the Holy Ghost, who heretofore had inspired the prophetic details of the mysterious function, would enable them to understand the signification of the expiatory sparrow, whose blood, being sprinkled upon the living water, sets free, by the wood, its fellow sparrow. That first bird typifies our Lord Jesus Christ, who likens Himself, in the psalm, to the lonely sparrow;² His immolation on the cross, which gives to water the power of cleansing souls, communicates to the other sparrows, His brethren,³ the purity of the divine Blood.

But the Jew is far from being ready to understand these great mysteries. And yet the Law had been given to him that it might serve him as a hand leading him to Christ, and without exposing him to err.⁴ It was a signal favour granted him, not from any merits of his own, but because of his fathers.⁵ The favour was all the more precious, inasmuch as it was bestowed at a time when the tradition regarding a future Redeemer was almost entirely lost by the bulk of mankind. Gratitude should have been uppermost in the heart of Juda; but pride took its place. He was so taken up with the honour that had been put on him, that it made him lose all desire for the Messiah. He could not endure the thought that a time would come, when the Sun of justice having risen for the whole earth, the limited advantage which was given to a few during the hours of night was to be eclipsed by the

¹ Lev. xiv. 1-32. ² Ps. ci. 8. ³ Ps. lxxxiii. 4.
⁴ Gal. iii. 24. ⁵ Deut. iv. 37, ix. 4-6.

bright noon of a light which all might enjoy. He, therefore, proclaimed that the old Law was definitive, though the Law declared itself to be but transitory; he, therefore, insisted on the perpetuity of the reign of types and shadows. He laid it down as a dogma that no divine intervention can ever equal that made on Sinai; that every future prophet, everyone sent by God, must be inferior to Moses; that all possible salvation is in the Law, and that from it alone flows every grace.

This explains to us how it was, that of the ten men cured of leprosy by Jesus, nine have not even the remotest thought of coming to their Deliverer to thank Him: these nine are Jews. Jesus, to their minds, is a mere disciple of Moses, a bare instrument of favours, holding His commission from Sinai, and as soon as they have gone through the legal formality of their purification they take it that all their obligations to God are paid. The Samaritan, the despised Gentile, whose sufferings have given him that humility which makes the sinner clear-sighted, is the only one who recognizes God by His divine works, and gives Him thanks for His favours. How many ages of apparent abandonment, of humiliation and suffering, must pass over Juda too, before he will recognize and adore His God, and confess to Him his sins, and give Him his devoted love, and, like this stranger, hear Jesus pronounce his pardon, and say: Arise! Go thy way! thy faith hath made thee whole and saved thee!

Let us, by our fervent prayers, hasten the time which will be so glorious for the two peoples, when, united in the same faith by the consciousness of the same hopes then realized, they will cry out to our Redeemer these words of our Offertory:

OFFERTORY

In te speravi, Domine; dixi: Tu es Deus meus, in manibus tuis tempora mea.

In thee, O Lord, have I put my trust; I said: Thou art my God; my times are in thy hands.

It is the oblation now on the altar that is to obtain for us from God the pardon of our past offences, and the graces we hope for, for the time to come. Let us, in the Secret, beseech Him to accept for the sacrifice these gifts which the Church, in the name of us all, has presented to Him.

SECRET

Propitiare, Domine, populo tuo, propitiare muneribus: ut hac oblatione placatus, et indulgentiam nobis tribuas, et postulata concedas. Per Dominum.

Be thou propitious, O Lord, to thy people, and mercifully receive their offerings; that, being appeased thereby, thou mayst grant us pardon, and bestow upon us what we ask. Through, etc.

The other Secrets, as on page 180.

Oh! when will the children of Juda come and experience for themselves the superiority of the Bread of the new Testament over the manna of the old? Let us Gentiles, the last-comers, but who have preceded our elder brethren at the banquet of love, sing all the more fervently in our Communion-anthem the divine sweetness of this true Bread of heaven.

COMMUNION

Panem de cælo dedisti nobis, Domine, habentem omne delectamentum, et omnem saporem suavitatis.

Thou hast given us bread from heaven, O Lord, containing whatsoever is delicious and sweet.

As the Postcommunion expresses it, the work of our redemption by Jesus our Lord is confirmed and grows within us as often as we assist at these sacred mysteries. The Church prays that her children may be blessed with the grace of this fruitful frequentation of the mysteries of salvation.

POSTCOMMUNION

Sumptis, Domine, cælestibus sacramentis, ad redemptionis æternæ, quæsumus, proficiamus augmentum. Per Dominum.

May these heavenly mysteries, O Lord, which we have received, advance our eternal redemption. Through, etc.

The other Postcommunions, as on page 131.

VESPERS

The psalms, capitulum, hymn, and versicle, as above, pages 71-81.

ANTIPHON OF THE MAGNIFICAT

Unus autem ex illis, ut vidit quod mundatus est, regressus est, cum magna voce magnificans Deum. Alleluia.

But one of them, when he saw that he was made clean, went back, glorifying God with a loud voice. Alleluia.

OREMUS

Omnipotens sempiterne Deus, da nobis fidei, spei, et charitatis augmentum: et ut mereamur assequi quod promittis, fac nos amare quod præcipis. Per Dominum nostrum.

LET US PRAY

O almighty and eternal God, grant unto us an increase of faith, hope, and charity: and, that we may deserve what thou promisest, make us to love what thou commandest. Through, etc.

THE FOURTEENTH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST

MASS

In the western Church this Sunday is called that of the two masters, because of the Gospel which is read upon it.

The Greeks give it the name of the Sunday of the invited to the marriage-feast,¹ or, the fourteenth of St. Matthew, unless the feast of the Exaltation of the holy Cross (September 14) happen to fall during the ensuing week. In this latter case this and the following Sunday are called 'of the Exaltation,' and take for their Gospels the first from St. John, the second from St. Mark. After this, follow the Sundays called 'of St. Luke,' which go on till Lent, in the manner already described for St. Matthew.

MASS

Behold, O God, our protector! and look on the face of thy Christ! Thus begins the Church, as she advances towards the altar, whereon the holy sacrifice is going to be offered up. The Church is the bride of the Man-God; she is, as the apostle says, His glory; but the Spouse, according to the same St. Paul, is both the image and the glory of God,² and the head of His bride.³ In all truth, then, and with full confidence that she will be graciously heard, the Church, in presenting her petitions to the Most High, begs of Him to look on the face of His Christ, who is also hers.

INTROIT

Protector noster, aspice, Deus, et respice in faciem Christi tui: quia melior est dies una in atriis tuis super millia.

Behold, O God, our protector, and look on the face of thy Christ; for better is one day in thy courts above thousands.

Ps. Quam dilecta tabernacula tua, Domine virtutum! concupiscit, et deficit anima mea in atria Domini.

Ps. How lovely are thy tabernacles, O Lord of hosts! My soul longeth and fainteth for the courts of the Lord.

Gloria Patri. Protector.

Glory, etc. Behold.

¹ St. Matt. xxii. ² 1 Cor. xi. 7. ³ Ibid. 3; Eph. v. 23.

The thought of the future glories which fills the Church with gladness, and the dignity of the divine union which, even in this present life, makes her truly bride, do not prevent her from always feeling the need she has of help from on high. Were she to be deprived one single moment of God's assistance, she would see her children, through their innate human frailty, hurrying into the abyss of vice, such as the apostle describes in to-day's Epistle. Let us join with our mother in her Collect, and beseech God to grant us that uninterrupted, that constant mercy, which is absolutely necessary for us.

COLLECT

Custodi, Domine, quæsumus, Ecclesiam tuam propitiatione perpetua: et quia sine te labitur humana mortalitas, tuis semper auxiliis et abstrahatur a noxiis, et ad salutaria dirigatur. Per Dominum.

Preserve, O Lord, we beseech thee, thy Church by thy constant mercy; and whereas, without thee, human mortality fails, may it, by thine aid, be ever delivered from what things are hurtful, and be directed towards such as are salutary. Through, etc.

The other Collects, as on page 120.

EPISTLE

Lectio Epistolæ beati Pauli Apostoli ad Galatas.

Caput V

Fratres, Spiritu ambulate, et desideria carnis non perficietis. Caro enim concupiscit adversus spiritum: Spiritus autem adversus carnem: hæc enim sibi invicem adversantur: ut non quæcumque vultis, illa faciatis. Quod si spiritu ducimini, non estis sub lege.

Lesson of the Epistle of Saint Paul the Apostle to the Galatians.

Chapter V

Brethren: Walk in the spirit, and you shall not fulfil the lusts of the flesh. For the flesh lusteth against the spirit; and the spirit against the flesh: for these are contrary one to another: so that you do not the things that you would. But if you are led by the spirit, you are not under the

Manifesta sunt autem opera carnis: quæ sunt fornicatio, immunditia, impudicitia, luxuria, idolorum servitus, veneficia, inimicitiæ, contentiones, æmulationes, iræ, rixæ, dissensiones, sectæ, invidiæ, homicidia, ebrietates, comessationes, et his similia; quæ prædico vobis, sicut prædixi: quoniam qui talia agunt, regnum Dei non consequentur. Fructus autem Spiritus est: charitas, gaudium, pax, patientia, benignitas, bonitas, longanimitas, mansuetudo, fides, modestia, continentia, castitas. Adversus hujusmodi non est lex. Qui autem sunt Christi, carnem suam crucifixerunt cum vitiis et concupiscentiis.

law. Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are, fornication, uncleanness, immodesty, luxury, idolatry, witchcrafts, enmities, contentions, emulations, wraths, quarrels, dissensions, sects, envies, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like. Of the which I foretell you, as I have foretold to you, that they who do such things shall not obtain the kingdom of God. But the fruit of the Spirit is charity, joy, peace, patience, benignity, goodness, longanimity, mildness, faith, modesty, continency, chastity. Against such there is no law. And they that are Christ's have crucified their flesh with the vices and concupiscences.

The bride, who came from the top of Sanir and Hermon that she might be crowned,¹ knows not the servitude of Sinai;² still less is she under the slavery of the senses. On the mountain, where her tent is fixed for ever,³ her Spouse has broken the fetters of the Jewish Law, and that more galling chain which tied all people down—the network of sin that covered all the nations of the earth.⁴ She, the bride, is queen; her sons are kings;⁵ the milk whereon she feeds them⁶ infuses liberty within them. Filled with the holy Spirit, who is their glory and their strength,⁷ they have the Lord of hosts looking on them, as they bravely engage in battles such as princes should fight.⁸ Satan, too, has beheld their glorious struggles, and his kingdom

¹ Cant. iv. 8. ² Gal. iv. 24-26. ³ Isa. ii. 2.
⁴ Ibid. xxv. 7. ⁵ 1 St. Pet. ii. 9. ⁶ Isa. lxvi. 8-12.
⁷ Gal. iv. 31. ⁸ Rom. viii. 14, 26. ⁹ Eph. iv. 8, vi. 12.

has been shaken to its foundations. Two cities now divide the world between them;¹ and the holy city, made up of vanquishers over the devil, the world, and the flesh, is full of admiration and joy at seeing that the noblest of the nations flock to her.² The law which reigns supreme within her walls is love, for the holy Spirit, who rules her happy citizens, takes them far beyond the injunctions or prohibitions of any law. Together with charity, there spring up joy, peace, and those other fruits, here enumerated by the apostle; they grow spontaneously from a soil which is saturated with the glad waters of a stream, which is no other than the sanctifying Spirit, who inundates the city of God.³ We are not astonished at this new Sion's being loved by the Lord above all the tabernacles of Jacob,⁴ beautiful as those once were.⁵ Now that the blessing has taken on earth the place once held by the Law, the servants of God have become sons and daughters. Even while living in the flesh, they bear evidence of their heavenly origin, by going on from virtue unto virtue.⁶ Though sojourning in this vale of tears, they are ever on the ascent, approaching gradually nigher to the high summits of holiness; they reflect in their lives the perfection of their heavenly Father,⁷ who, surrounded as He thus is in Sion by this noble family, is seen to be, in all truth, the God of gods.⁸

Flesh and blood have had no share in their divine birth;¹⁰ flesh and blood have no hand in their regenerated life. Their first birth being in the flesh, they were flesh, and did the works of death and ignominy mentioned in the Epistle,

¹ St. John xii. 31. ² St. Aug., De Civit. Dei. ³ Isa. lx. 5. ⁴ Ps. lxiv. 11. ⁵ Ibid. xlv. 5. ⁶ Ibid. xxxvi. 2. ⁷ Num. xxiv. 5.

⁸ St. Matt. v. 48. ⁹ Ps. lxxxiii. 6–8. ¹⁰ St. John i. 12. ¹¹ 1 Cor. xv. 50.

showing at every turn that they were from slime of earth;¹ but, born of the Spirit, they are spirit,² and do the works of the spirit, in spite of the flesh which is always part of their being. For, by giving them of His own life, the Spirit has emancipated them, by the power of love, from the tyranny of sin,⁴ which held dominion over their members;⁵ and, having been grafted on Christ, they bring forth fruit unto God.⁶

Man, therefore, who was once a slave to concupiscence, has regained on the cross of Christ that equilibrium of his existence⁷ which is true liberty. The supremacy, which the soul had forfeited in punishment for her revolt against God,⁸ has been restored to her by the laver of the water of Baptism, and now that she is once more queen, it is but just that she chastise the slave who so long lorded it over her, his rightful sovereign. Man owes nothing to the flesh,⁹ especially after the miseries it has brought upon him; but further than this, God, too, has been insulted by the sensual abominations committed in His sacred presence; and He, too, demands atonement. For this purpose He mercifully takes man, now that he is enfranchised, and confides to him the task of sharing with His divine Majesty in taking revenge on their common enemy and usurper. Then again, this mortifying the flesh and keeping it in subjection is a necessary means for retaining the good position already obtained. It is true that the rebel has been made incapable of damaging those who are in Christ Jesus, and who walk not according to the flesh and its vile suggestions;¹⁰ but it is equally true that the rebel is rebel still, and is ever watching for opportunities

¹ Gen. ii. 7. ² St. John iii. 6. ³ 2 Cor. x. 3. ⁴ Rom. viii. 2. ⁵ Ibid. vii. 23. ⁶ Ibid. 4. ⁷ Ibid. viii. 3. ⁸ Ibid. i. 28. ⁹ Ibid. viii. 12. ¹⁰ Ibid. 1.

to assail the spirit. If there be exceptions, they are exceedingly rare. The rule of the flesh is, to attack the spirit all through life, and try to make it yield. If one were an Antony in the desert, the flesh would be fierce in its assaults even there. If the saint were a Paul, just fresh from the third heaven of his sublime revelations, the flesh would have impudence enough to buffet even him.¹ So that, had we no past sins to atone for, the commonest prudence would urge us to take severe measures of precaution against an enemy who is so fearfully untiring in his hatred of us, and, what is worse, lives always in our own home. St. Paul, of whom we were just speaking, says of himself: 'I chastise my body, and bring it into subjection, lest, perhaps . . . I should become reprobate!'²

Penance and mortification differ in this: that penance is a debt of justice, incumbent on the sinner; mortification is a duty commanded by prudence; which duty becomes that of every Christian who is not foolish enough to pretend to be out of the reach of concupiscence. Is there anyone living who could honestly say that he has fully acquitted himself of these two duties, that he has satisfied the claims of God's justice, and that he has stifled every germ of his evil passions? All spiritual masters, without exception, teach that no man who is desirous either of perfection or of salvation should limit himself to the rules of simple temperance, that cardinal virtue which forbids excess in pleasures of any kind. This, they tell us, is not enough; and that the Christian, taking up another virtue, namely fortitude, must from time to time refuse himself even lawful gratifications; must impose privations on himself which are not otherwise of obligation; must even inflict punishment on himself in the manner and measure per-

¹ 2 Cor. xii. 7. ² 1 Cor. ix. 27.

mitted him by a discreet director. Amidst the thousands of holy writers who treat of this point of asceticism, let us listen to the amiable and gentle St. Francis of Sales. 'If,' says he, in his Introduction to a Devout Life—'if you can bear fasting you would do well to fast on certain days, beyond those fasts which the Church commands us to observe. . . ; even when one does not fast much, yet does the enemy fear us all the more when he sees that we know how to impose a fast on ourselves. Wednesdays, Fridays, and Saturdays were the days whereon the Christians of former times most practised abstinence. Therefore, do you choose out of these for your fasts, as far as your devotion and the discretion of your director will counsel you to do. . . . The discipline, when taken with moderation, possesses a marvellous power for awakening the desire for devotion. The hair-shirt is efficacious in reducing the body to subjection . . .; on days which are especially devoted to penance, one may wear it, the advice of a discreet confessor having been previously taken.' Thus speaks the learned Doctor of the Church, the saintly Bishop of Geneva, whose sweet prudence is almost proverbial; and they to whom he addresses these instructions are persons living in the world. In the world, quite as much as in the cloister, the Christian life, if seriously taken up, imperatively requires this incessant war of the spirit against the flesh. Let that war cease, and the flesh speedily usurps the sway, and reduces the soul to a state of torpor, by either seizing her very first attempts at virtue and chilling them into apathy, or by plunging her, at a single throw, deep into the filth of sin.

¹ Introduction to a Devout Life, Part III., ch. xxiii.

Neither is it to be feared that affability in the Christian's social intercourse will be in any way impaired by this energy of self-mortification. That virtue which is based on such forgetfulness of oneself, as to make him love discomfort and suffering for God's sake, does not render such a man one whit less pleasing in company, or rob the friendly circle he frequents of one single charm. But will it not interfere somewhat with an article which the world is very jealous about? No. When dress is what Christian reserve would have it be, in other and plainer words, when it is the love of Jesus that regulates the arrangements, there is no toilet where the jewels of penance may not find their place, without in the least intruding upon those of the world. The day of judgment will give a strange lesson to those many good-for-nothing and cowardly Christians who feel sure that everyone of their acquaintance is as fond of easy-going softness as they themselves are! Then will be revealed to them the pious schemes of penance, which Christian love of the cross suggested, as means for crucifying their flesh even amidst pleasures, and to those very persons who were the most admired in the worldling's earthly paradise of gay saloons.

And ought it not to be thus? Ought not the cross to be most dear to men? Yes, unless we hold that Christianity and divine love have entirely disappeared from this world. How is it possible to love Jesus, the Man of sorrows,¹ and not love His sufferings? Can we say that we are walking in His footsteps if we are not on the road to Calvary? 'If any man will come after Me,' says Jesus, 'let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me!'² And the Church, who is one with her divine Spouse—the Church who completes Him in all things, and, therefore, continues through all ages His life of expiation and atonement—puts on her children the sublime task which the apostle thus expresses: 'I fill up those things that are wanting

¹ Isa. liii. 3. ² St. Matt. xvi. 24. ³ Eph. i. 23.

of the sufferings of Christ, by suffering in my flesh for His body, which is the Church.'¹

Sublime task indeed! Filial, as far as the Church is concerned, but divine, also, and deifying, if we consider the union it produces between the Word and the soul. The Word gives to the soul what He has not given to the angels; He invites her to a share of that chalice, which the eternal Father reserved to Jesus' sacred Humanity.² Here we have the intimacy of the bride: the one same cup for the two, and it unites their two lives into one. It is a cup of sorrow's holy inebriation; they both drink it with avidity; and that avidity gives such vehemence to their union that the creature at times leaves her ecstasy all stigmatized in soul, yea, it may be in her body too, with the wounds of her crucified Lord. But whether our Lord communicate or not, either invisibly or visibly, the stigmata of His love to the soul that is devoted to Him, there is always, under one form or other, the royal seal, which gives the surest sign of authenticity to the contract of divine union here below; that seal is suffering. Many, who on hearing or reading the favours gratuitously granted to certain saintly souls are excited to a feeling of holy envy, would shrink back with dismay if they were told of the trials they had to go through before gaining such mystic ascensions. Even when the trials of purification (of which we were speaking on a former occasion³) are all over, the place of meeting is invariably that which the inspired Canticle calls the Mount of myrrh,⁴ which is but another name for suffering. Myrrh is the first fragrant herb culled by the divine Word in the mystic garden; nay, it is the only one He expressly mentions. Myrrh distils

¹ Col. i. 24. ² St. John xviii. 11. ³ The sixth Sunday after Pentecost. ⁴ Cant. iv. 6. ⁵ Ibid. v. 1.

from the bride's hands, and her fingers are full of it;¹ her Spouse is the bouquet she clasps to her heart, but that bouquet is one of myrrh;² and His lips are as lilies dropping choice myrrh.³

Of course, we are too miserable ever to aspire to be raised up by the holy Spirit to those heights of the mystic life, where divine union produces such marvellous results as those we have already mentioned; but let us remember that neither the intensity, nor the merit of love, nor even the reality of effective union depends on those exterior manifestations. It should suffice to make us love, and even go in quest of suffering, to remember how faith teaches us that it was life-long with Him, who wishes, and infinitely deserves, to be the one object of our thoughts and affections. We are members of a Head who was crowned with thorns; can we pretend to have nothing but pleasures and flowers? Let us not forget that all the saints must, when in heaven, be likenesses of the new Adam;⁴ and that the eternal Father admits no one into His house, who is not conformable to the image of His Son.⁵

In the Gradual, the Church sings the happy confidence she has put in her divine Spouse. The Alleluia-verse invites us to rejoice, as she, our mother, does in God our Saviour.

GRADUAL

Bonum est confidere in Domino, quam confidere in homine.

It is better to trust in the Lord than to trust in man.

℣. Bonum est sperare in Domino, quam sperare in principibus. Alleluia, alleluia.

℣. It is better to hope in the Lord than to hope in princes. Alleluia, alleluia.

℣. Venite, exsultemus Domino: jubilemus Deo salutari nostro. Alleluia.

℣. Come, let us praise the Lord with joy; let us joyfully sing to God our Saviour. Alleluia.

¹ Cant. v. 5. ² Ibid. i. 12. ³ Ibid. v. 13. ⁴ 1 Cor. xv. 45–49. ⁵ Rom. viii. 29, 30.

GOSPEL

Sequentia sancti Evangelii secundum Matthæum.

Sequel of the holy Gospel according to Matthew.

Caput VI.

Chapter VI.

In illo tempore: Dixit Jesus discipulis suis: Nemo potest duobus dominis servire: aut enim unum odio habebit, et alterum diliget: aut unum sustinebit, et alterum contemnet. Non potestis Deo servire, et mammonæ. Ideo dico vobis, ne solliciti sitis animæ vestræ quid manducetis, neque corpori vestro quid induamini. Nonne anima plus est quam esca: et corpus plus quam vestimentum? Respicite volatilia cæli, quoniam non serunt, neque metunt, neque congregant in horrea: et Pater vester cælestis pascit illa. Nonne vos magis pluris estis illis? Quis autem vestrum cogitans, potest adjicere ad staturam suam cubitum unum? Et de vestimento quid solliciti estis? Considerate lilia agri, quomodo crescunt: non laborant, neque nent. Dico autem vobis, quoniam nec Salomon in omni gloria sua coopertus est sicut unum ex istis. Si autem fœnum agri, quod hodie est, et cras in clibanum mittitur, Deus sic vestit: quanto magis vos modicæ fidei? Nolite ergo solliciti esse, dicentes: Quid manducabimus, aut quid bibemus, aut quo operiemur? Hæc enim omnia gentes in-

At that time: Jesus said to his disciples: No man can serve two masters. For either he will hate the one, and love the other: or he will sustain the one, and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon. Therefore I say to you, be not solicitous for your life, what you shall eat, nor for your body, what you shall put on. Is not the life more than the meat, and the body more than the raiment? Behold the birds of the air, for they neither sow, nor do they reap, nor gather into barns, and your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are not you of much more value than they? And which of you, by taking thought, can add to his stature one cubit? And for raiment why are you solicitous? Consider the lilies of the field how they grow: they labour not, neither do they spin. But I say to you, that not even Solomon in all his glory was arrayed as one of these. And if the grass of the field, which is to-day, and to-morrow is cast into the oven, God doth so clothe; how much more you, O ye of little faith? Be not solicitous therefore, saying, what shall we eat, or what shall we drink, or wherewith shall we be clothed? For after all these things do the

quirunt. Scit enim Pater vester, quia his omnibus indigetis. Quærite ergo primum regnum Dei, et justitiam ejus: et hæc omnia adjicientur vobis.

heathens seek. For your Father knoweth that you have need of all these things. Seek ye therefore first the kingdom of God, and his justice, and all these things shall be added unto you.

The supernatural life can never be healthy in men's souls, unless it triumph over the three enemies, which St. John calls concupiscence of the flesh, concupiscence of the eyes, and the pride of life.¹ As to the first of these, our Epistle has been instructing us upon the obstacle it raises against the action of the holy Spirit, and on the means we are to adopt for surmounting it. Pride of life is overcome by humility, on which the Church has several times spoken to us during the previous Sundays.² The Gospel which has just been read to us is the condemnation of the concupiscence of the eyes—that is, attachment to the goods of this world which, of themselves, are goods but in name and appearance.

No man, says our Lord, can serve two masters; and these two masters are, God and mammon. Mammon means riches. Riches are not, of their own nature, bad. When lawfully acquired, and used agreeably to the designs of God, riches help the possessor to gain true goods for his soul; he stores up for himself, in the kingdom of his eternal home, treasures, which neither thieves nor rust can reach.³ Ever since the Incarnation, wherein the divine Word espoused poverty to Himself, it is the poor that are heaven's nobility. And yet, the mission of the rich man is a grand one: he is permitted to be rich in order that he may be God's minister to make the several portions of material creation turn to their Creator's glory. God graciously vouchsafes to entrust into his hands the feeding and supporting of the dearest of His children, that is, the poor, the indigent and suffering members of His Christ. He calls him to uphold the interests of His Church, and be the promoter of works connected with the salvation of men. He confides to him the keeping up of the beauty of His temples. Happy that man, and worthy of all praise, who thus directly brings back to the glory of their Maker the fruits of the earth, and the precious metals she yields from her bosom! Let not such a man fear: it is not of him that Jesus speaks those anathemas uttered so frequently by Him against the rich ones of this world. He has but one Master—the Father who is in heaven, whose steward he humbly and gladly acknowledges himself to be. Mammon does not domineer over him; on the contrary, he makes her his servant, and obliges her to minister to his zeal in all good works. The solicitude he takes in spending his wealth in acts of justice and charity, is not that which our Gospel here blames; for, in all such solicitude, he is but following our Lord's precept, of seeking first the kingdom of God; and the riches which pass through his hands in the furtherance of good works, do not distract his thoughts from that heaven where his heart is, because his true treasure is there.⁴

It is quite otherwise when riches, instead of being regarded as a simple means, become the very end of a man's existence, and that to such an extent as to make him neglect, yea, and sometimes forget, his last end. 'The ways of every covetous man,' says the Scripture, 'destroy the souls of the possessors.'⁵ The apostle explains this by saying that the love of money drives a man into temptation and the snares of the devil, by the countless unprofitable and hurtful desires it excites within him; it drowns men in destruction and perdition, making them even barter away their faith.⁶ And yet, the more an avaricious man gets, the less he spends. To nurse his treasure, to gaze upon it,⁷ to be thinking of it all day and night long, when obliged to go from home—that is what he lives for; and his money becomes at last his idol.⁸ Yes, mammon is not merely his master, whose commands are obeyed before all others, but it is his god, before which he sacrifices friends, relatives, country, and himself, for he devotes, and, as it is said in Ecclesiasticus, throws away his whole soul and body to his idol.⁹ Let us not be astonished at our Gospel declaring that God and mammon are irreconcilable enemies; for, who was it but mammon that had our Lord Jesus sacrificed on its hateful altar, for thirty pieces of silver? Of all the devils in hell, is there one whose hideous guilt is deeper than the fallen angel who prompted Judas to sell the Son of God to His executioners? It is the avaricious who alone can boast of deicide! The vile love of money, which the apostle defines as the root of all evils,¹⁰ can lay claim to having produced the greatest crime that was ever perpetrated!

But, without going into such crimes as made the authors of the inspired Books of even the Old Testament say that 'nothing is more wicked than the covetous man . . .; there is not a more wicked thing than to love money'¹¹—it is easy to allow oneself to be led, as regards this world's goods, into an excessive solicitude, which prudence condemns. What ineffable truth and clearness in the reasoning of our Jesus, as put before us in to-day's Gospel! To attempt to add any human words to these of His, would be an insult offered to both their charm and their energy. The exquisitely beautiful comparisons of the birds of the air, and the lilies of the field, by which our divine Master shows how such solicitude is the very opposite of the confidence we should have in our heavenly Father, are beyond all comment. We may add, however, that solicitude of this sort would prove the existence of an attachment to earthly things, which is incompatible with anything approaching to Christian perfection, or to the desire of making progress in the paths of divine union. The unitive way is possible in every state of life; only, there must be one condition observed, and that is, the soul must be detached from every tie that could keep her from going to God. The religious breaks these ties by his three vows, which are in direct opposition to the triple concupiscence of fallen nature; the layman, who, though he is living in the world, desires to be what his Creator would have him be, must, without the aid of the real separation which the religious makes, be quite as completely detached from his own will, and sensuality, and riches, in order that all his intentions and aspirations may be fixed on the eternal home, where his one infinite, loved treasure is. If he does not bring himself, even in the midst of his riches, to be as poor in spirit as the religious is in deed, his progress will be checked at the very first step he takes in the contemplative life; and, if he allow the obstacle to block up the way, he must give up all idea of rising, in light and love, above the lowly paths of the majority of Christians.

Like the other portions of to-day's liturgy, the Offertory is all confidence and joy. The prince of the heavenly hosts—the Archangel St. Michael, whose feast is at hand, and whom the Church always invokes in the blessing of the incense at this part of the Mass—is he not ever ready to protect and watch over those who fear the Lord?

OFFERTORY

Immittet angelus Domini in circuitu timentium eum et eripiet eos: gustate et videte, quoniam suavis est Dominus.

The angel of the Lord shall encamp round about them that fear him; taste and see, that the Lord is sweet.

Let us, in the Secret, pray that the saving Host, offered on the altar, may, by its virtue, purify our soul, and draw the divine power to our assistance.

SECRET

Concede nobis, Domine, quæsumus: ut hæc Hostia salutaris et nostrorum fiat purgatio delictorum, et tuæ propitiatio majestatis. Per Dominum.

Grant, we beseech thee, O Lord, that this saving Host may both cleanse us from our sins, and render thy majesty propitious to us. Through, etc.

The other Secrets, as on page 180.

The Communion-anthem, taken from the Gospel which now is assigned to this Sunday, was not the one primitively used; the ancient liturgists make no mention of it in its present position, nor is it to be found there in any of the manuscripts consulted by Blessed Thomasi, when he was preparing the publication of his Antiphonary. The composition of this and some other Masses shows some few variations of this kind; but these are details, which, whatever may be their interest in other respects, savour too much of erudition, and the nature of this work necessarily excludes them.

COMMUNION

Primum quærite regnum Dei, et omnia adjicientur vobis, dicit Dominus.

Seek ye first the kingdom of God, and all things shall be added unto you, saith the Lord.

An ever-growing love of purity, heaven's protection, and final perseverance—these are the precious fruits of our frequent assistance at these sacred mysteries. Let us secure them, by joining our mother in her Postcommunion prayer.

POSTCOMMUNION

Purificent semper et muniant tua sacramenta nos, Deus: et ad perpetuæ ducant salvationis effectum. Per Dominum.

May these thy sacraments, O God, continually purify and defend us, and procure us eternal salvation. Through, etc.

The other Postcommunions as on page 181.

VESPERS

The psalms, capitulum, hymn, and versicle, as above, pages 71-81.

ANTIPHON OF THE MAGNIFICAT

Quærite primum regnum Dei, et justitiam ejus, et hæc omnia adjicientur vobis. Alleluia.

Seek ye first the kingdom of God and his justice, and all these things shall be added unto you. Alleluia.

OREMUS

Custodi, Domine, quæsumus, Ecclesiam tuam propitiatione perpetua: et quia sine te labitur humana mortalitas, tuis semper auxiliis et abstrahatur a noxiis, et ad salutaria dirigatur. Per Dominum nostrum.

LET US PRAY

Preserve, O Lord, we beseech thee, thy Church by thy constant mercy; and whereas, without thee, human mortality faileth, may it by thine aid be ever delivered from what things are hurtful, and be directed towards such as are salutary. Through, etc.

THE FIFTEENTH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST

MASS

The Introit for this Sunday, which now goes under the name of the Sunday of the widow of Naim, because of the Gospel read on it, gives us a sample of the prayers we should address to our Lord in our necessities. Last Sunday we heard our Jesus promising to provide for all our wants, on the condition that we would serve Him faithfully, by seeking His kingdom. When we present our prayers to Him, let us show Him the confidence He so well deserves from us; and we shall be graciously heard.

INTROIT

Inclina, Domine, aurem tuam ad me, et exaudi me: salvum fac servum tuum, Deus meus, sperantem in te: miserere mihi, Domine, quoniam ad te clamavi tota die.

Incline thine ear, O Lord, unto me, and hear me: save thy servant, O my God, who hopeth in thee; have mercy on me, O Lord, for I have cried to thee all the day.

Ps. Lætifica animam servi tui: quia ad te, Domine, animam meam levavi. Gloria Patri. Inclina.

Ps. Give joy to the soul of thy servant: for to thee, O Lord, have I lifted up my soul. Glory, etc. Incline.

The humility wherewith our holy mother the Church presents her supplications to God should serve as a model to us. If the bride herself thus treats with God, what ought not to be our sentiments of lowliness, when we appear in the presence of sovereign Majesty? We may well say to this tender mother of ours what the disciples said to Jesus: 'Teach us how to pray!'¹² Let us unite with her in this Collect.

COLLECT

Ecclesiam tuam, Domine, miseratio continuata mundet et muniat: et, quia sine te non potest salva consistere, tuo semper munere gubernetur. Per Dominum.

May thy continued mercy, O Lord, cleanse and defend thy Church; and because, without thee, she cannot keep safe, may she always be governed by thy gift. Through, etc.

The other Collects, as on page 120.

EPISTLE

Lectio Epistolæ beati Pauli Apostoli ad Galatas. Cap. V. et VI.

Lesson of the Epistle of St. Paul, the Apostle, to the Galatians. Chapters V. and VI.

Fratres, Si spiritu vivimus, spiritu et ambulemus. Non efficiamur inanis gloriæ cupidi, invicem provocantes, invicem invidentes. Fratres, et si præoccupatus fuerit homo in aliquo delicto, vos, qui spirituales estis, hujusmodi instruite in spiritu lenitatis, considerans teipsum, ne et tu tenteris. Alter alterius onera portate, et sic adimplebitis legem Christi. Nam si quis existimat se aliquid esse, cum nihil sit, ipse se seducit. Opus autem suum probet unusquisque, et sic in semetipso tantum gloriam habebit, et non in altero. Unusquisque enim onus suum portabit. Communicet autem is, qui catechizatur verbo, ei, qui se catechizat, in omnibus bonis. Nolite errare: Deus non irridetur. Quæ enim seminaverit homo, hæc et metet. Quoniam qui seminat in

Brethren: If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit. Let us not be made desirous of vain-glory, provoking one another, envying one another. Brethren, if a man be overtaken in any fault, you who are spiritual, instruct such a one in the spirit of meekness, considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted. Bear ye one another's burdens: and so you shall fulfil the law of Christ. For if any man think himself to be something, whereas he is nothing, he deceiveth himself. But let every one prove his own work, and so he shall have glory in himself only, and not in another. For every one shall bear his own burden. And let him that is instructed in the word, communicate to him, that instructeth him, in all good things. Be not deceived, God is not mocked. For what things a man shall sow, those also shall he reap. For he that

¹ St. John ii. 16. ² Hom. diei. ³ St. Matt. vi. 19, 20. ⁴ St. Matt. vi. 21. ⁵ Prov. i. 19. ⁶ 1 Tim. vi. 9, 10. ⁷ Eccles. v. 9, 10. ⁸ Eph. v. 5; Col. iii. 5. ⁹ Ecclus. x. 10. ¹⁰ 1 Tim. vi. 10. ¹¹ Ecclus. x. 9, 10. ¹² St. Luke xi. 1.

Holy Church resumes the lesson of St. Paul, where she left it last Sunday. The spiritual life—the life produced in our souls by the holy Spirit, in place of the former life of the flesh—is still the subject of the apostle's teaching. When the flesh has been subdued, we must beware of supposing that the structure of our perfection is completed. Not only must the combat be kept up after the victory, under penalty of losing all we have won, but we must also be on the watch, lest one or other of the heads of the triple concupiscence take advantage of the soul's efforts being elsewhere directed, to raise itself against us, and sting us all the more terribly, because it is left to do just as it pleases. The apostle warns us here of vain-glory, and well he may; for vain-glory is, more than other enemies, always in a menacing attitude, ready to infuse its subtle poison even into acts of humility and penance; hence the Christian, who is desirous to serve God, and not his own gratification, by the virtues he practises, must keep up a specially active vigilance over this passion.

Let us think for a moment of the madness that culprit would be guilty of, who having his sentence of death commuted for a severe flogging, should take pride in the stripes left on his body by the whip! May this madness never be ours! It would seem, however, as though it were far from being impossible, seeing how the apostle, immediately after telling us to mortify our flesh, bids us take heed of vain-glory. In fact, we are not safe on this subject, excepting inasmuch as the outward humiliation, inflicted by us on our body, has this for its principle, that our soul should voluntarily humble herself at the sight of her miseries. The ancient philosophers, too, had their maxims about the restraint of the senses; but those among them who practised those admirably worded maxims found them a stepping-stone for their pride to mount up mountains high in self-conceit. It could not be otherwise; for they were totally devoid of anything like the sentiments which actuated our fathers in the faith, who, when they clad themselves in sackcloth and prostrated on the ground,¹ cried out from the heartfelt conviction of the miseries of human nature: 'Have mercy on me, O God, according to Thy great mercy! for I was conceived in iniquities, and my sin is ever before me!'²

To practise bodily mortification, with a view to get the reputation of being saints, is it not doing what St. Paul here calls sowing in the flesh, that in due time—that is, on the day when the intentions of our hearts will be made manifest³—we may reap, not life and glory everlasting, but endless disgrace and shame? Among the works of the flesh mentioned in last Sunday's Epistle, we found contentions, dissensions, jealousies,⁴ all of which are the ordinary outcome of this vain-glory, against which the apostle is now warning us. The production of such rotten fruits would be an unmistakable sign that the heavenly sap of grace had gone from our souls, and that in its stead there had been brought the fermentation of sin; and that now, having made ourselves slaves as of old, we must tremble because of the penalties threatened by God's law. God is not mocked; and as to the confidence which generous fidelity of love imparts to those who live by the Spirit, it would, in the case we are now supposing, be but a hypocritical counterfeit of the holy liberty of the children of God. They alone are His children, whom the holy Spirit leads¹ in charity; those others are led on by the flesh, and such cannot please God.²

If, on the contrary, we would have an equally unmistakable sign which is quite compatible with the obscurities of faith, that we are really in possession of divine union, let us not take occasion from the sight of others' defects and faults to be puffed up with pride, but rather from the consideration of our own miseries, be indulgent to everyone else. If others fall, let us give them a helping and prudent hand. Let us bear one another's burdens along the road of life, and then, having thus fulfilled the law of Christ, we shall know (and oh! the joy there is in such knowing!) that we abide in Him, and He in us.³ These most thrilling words were made use of by our Lord to express the future intimacy He would have with those who should eat the Flesh of the Son of Man and drink His Blood in holy Communion⁴; and St. John, who has recorded them in his Gospel, takes them and uses them in his Epistles, and (let us mark the deep mystery of the expression) applies them to all who, in the Holy Ghost, observe the great commandment of loving their neighbours.⁵

Would to God we could ever have ringing in our ears the saying of the apostle: Whilst we have time, let us work good to all men! For the day will come (and it is not so very far off) when the angel, carrying the mysterious book, and having one foot on the earth and the other on the sea, shall make his mighty voice as that of a lion heard through the universe, and, with his hand lifted up towards heaven, shall swear by Him that liveth for ever and ever, that time shall be no more.¹ Then will man reap with joy what he shall have sown in tears²; he failed not, he grew not weary of doing good while in the dreary land of his exile; still less will he ever tire of the everlasting harvest, which is to be in the living light of the eternal day.

As we sing the Gradual, let us remember that the only praise which gives God pleasure is that which goes up to Him from a soul where reigns the harmony of the several virtues. The Christian life, which is regulated by the ten commandments, is the ten-stringed psaltery,³ on which the Finger of God, the Holy Ghost,⁴ plays to the Spouse the music that He loves to hear.

GRADUAL

Bonum est confiteri Domino: et psallere nomini tuo, Altissime.

It is good to give praise to the Lord: and to sing to thy name, O Most High!

℣. Ad annuntiandum mane misericordiam tuam, et veritatem tuam per noctem.

℣. To show forth thy mercy in the morning, and thy truth in the night.

Alleluia, alleluia.

℣. Quoniam Deus magnus Dominus, et rex magnus super omnem terram. Alleluia.

℣. For the Lord is a great God, and a great King over all the earth. Alleluia.

GOSPEL

Sequentia sancti Evangelii secundum Lucam. Cap. VII.

Sequel of the holy Gospel according to Luke. Ch. VII.

In illo tempore: Ibat Jesus in civitatem quæ vocatur Naim: et ibant cum eo discipuli ejus, et turba copiosa. Cum autem appropinquaret portæ civitatis, ecce defunctus efferebatur, filius unicus matris suæ: et hæc vidua erat: et turba civitatis multa cum illa. Quam cum vidisset Dominus, misericordia motus super eam, dixit illi: Noli flere. Et accessit, et tetigit loculum (hi autem qui portabant steterunt). Et ait: Adolescens, tibi dico, surge. Et resedit qui erat mortuus, et cœpit loqui. Et dedit illum matri suæ. Accepit autem omnes timor: et magnificabant Deum, dicentes: Quia Propheta magnus surrexit in nobis: et quia Deus visitavit plebem suam.

At that time: Jesus went into a city that is called Naim: and there went with him his disciples, and a great multitude. And, when he came nigh to the gate of the city, behold a dead man was carried out, the only son of his mother; and she was a widow: and a great multitude of the city was with her. Whom when the Lord had seen, being moved with mercy towards her, he said to her: Weep not! And he came near and touched the bier. And they that carried it stood still. And he said: Young man! I say to thee arise. And he that was dead, sat up, and began to speak. And he gave him to his mother. And there came a fear on them all: and they glorified God, saying: A great Prophet hath risen up among us, and God hath visited his people!

This is the second time during the year that holy Church offers this Gospel to our consideration; we cannot be surprised at this, for the fathers selected by her as its interpreters¹ tell us, on both of these occasions, that the afflicted mother who follows her son to the grave is the Church herself.

The first time we saw her under this symbol, of a mother mourning for her child, was in the penitential season of Lent.² She was then, by her fasting and prayer (united as those were with her Jesus' sufferings), preparing the resurrection of such of our brethren as were dead in sin. Their resurrection was realized, and we had them, in all the fullness of their new life, seated side by side with us at the Paschal Table. What exquisite joy, on that feast of feasts, inundated the mother's heart, as she thus shared in the triumphant gladness of her divine Spouse! Jesus was, by His one Resurrection, twice over the conqueror of death—He rose from the grave, and He gave back the child to the mother. The disciples of this risen Lord, who follow Him closely by their observance of the evangelical counsels, they, and the whole multitude that associated themselves with the Church, glorified Jesus for His wonderful works, and sang the praises of God who thus vouchsafed to visit His people.

The mother ceased to weep. But since then the Spouse has again left her, to return to His Father; she has resumed her widow's weeds, and her sufferings are continually adding to the already well-nigh insupportable torture of her exile. And whence these sufferings? From the relapses of so many of those ungrateful children of hers, to whom she had given a second birth, and at the cost of such pains and tears! The countless cares she then spent over her sinners, and that new life she gave them in the presence of her dying Jesus—all this made each of the penitents, during the Great Week, as though he were the only son of that mother. What an intense grief, says St. John Chrysostom, that so loving a mother should see them relapsing, after the communion of such mysteries, into sin which kills them! 'Spare me,' as she may well say, in the words which the holy doctor puts into the apostle's mouth. 'Spare me! No other child, once born into this world, ever made his mother suffer the pangs of child-birth over again! To repair the relapse of a sinner costs her no less travail than to give birth to such as have never believed.'²

And if we compare these times of ours with the period when sainted pastors made her words respected all over the world, is there a single Christian still faithful to the Church, who does not feel impelled by such contrast to be more and more devoted to a mother so abandoned as she now is? Let us listen to the eloquent words of St. Laurence Justinian on this subject. 'Then,' says he, 'all resplendent with the mystic jewels wherewith the Bridegroom had beautified her on the wedding-day, she thrilled with joy at the increase of her children, both in merit and in number; she urged them to ascend to ever greater heights; she offered them to God; she raised them in her arms up towards heaven. Obeyed by them, she was, in all truth, the mother of fair love and of fear¹; she was beautiful as the moon, bright as the sun, terrible as an army set in array.² She stretched out her branches as the turpentine-tree, and beneath their shadow she sheltered those whom she had begotten against the heat, and the tempest, and the rain. So long, then, as she could she laboured, feeding at her breasts all those she was able to assemble. But her zeal, great as it was, has redoubled from the time she perceived that many, yea very many, had lost their first fervour. Now for many years she is mourning at the sight of how, each day, her Creator is offended, how great are the losses she sustains, and how many of her children suffer death. She that was once robed in scarlet has put on mourning garments; her fragrance is no longer perceived by the world; instead of a golden girdle, she has but a cord, and instead of the rich ornament of her breast, she is vested in haircloth.³ Her lamentations and tears are ceaseless. Ceaseless is her prayer, striving if, by some way, she may make the present as beautiful as times past; and yet, as though it were impossible for her to call back that lovely past, she seems wearied with such supplication. The word of the prophet has

¹ 1 Paralip. xxi. 16.
² Ps. l. 3.
³ 1 Cor. iv. 5.
⁴ Gal. v. 19-21.

¹ Rom. viii. 14.
² Ibid. 8.
³ 1 St. John iv. 13.
⁴ St. John vi. 57.
⁵ 1 St. John iii. 23, 24; iv. 12, 13.

¹ Apoc. x. 1-6.
² Ps. cxxv. 5.
³ Ps. cxliii. 9.
⁴ Cf. St. Luke xi. 20; St. Matt. xii. 28.

¹ St. Amb., in Luc., v.; St. Aug., Serm. 44, de Verb. Dom.
² Thursday of the fourth week of Lent.

¹ Gal. iv. 19.
² St. Chrys., De pœnit., Hom. I.

¹ Ecclus. xxiv. 24.
² Cant. vi. 9.
³ Isa. iii. 24.

FIFTEENTH SUNDAY

come true: "They are all gone aside, they are become unprofitable together; there is none that doth good, no, not one!"¹ . . . The manifold sins committed by the Church's children against the divine precepts show that they who so sin are rotten members, members alien to the body of Christ. Nevertheless the Church forgets not that she gave them birth in the laver of salvation; she forgets not the promises they then made to renounce the devil, and the pomps of the world, and all sin. Therefore does she weep over their fall, being their true mother, and never losing the hope of winning their resurrection by her tears. Oh what a flood of tears is thus every day shed before God! What fervent prayers does this spotless virgin send, by the ministry of the holy angels, up to Christ, who is the salvation of sinners! In the secret of hearts, in lonely retreats, as well as in her public temples, she cries out to the divine mercy, that they, who are now buried in the filth of vice, may be restored to life. Who shall tell the joy of her heart, when she receives back living, the children she mourned over as dead? If the conversion of sinners is such joy to heaven,² what must it be to such a mother? According to the multitude of the sorrows of her heart,³ so will be the consolations, giving joy to her soul.⁴

It is the duty of us Christians, who by God's mercy have been preserved from the general decay, to share in the anguish of our mother, the Church; we should humbly but fervently co-operate with her in all her zealous endeavours to reclaim our fallen brethren. We surely can never be satisfied with not being of the number of those senseless sons who are a sorrow to their mother,⁵ and despise

¹ Ps. xiii. 3. ² St. Luke xv. 7. ³ Ps. xciii. 19.
⁴ S. Lug. Just. De Compunct. et Planctu Christ. Perfect.
⁵ Prov. xvii. 25.

the labour of her that bore them.¹ Had we not the holy Spirit to tell us how he that honoureth his mother is as one that layeth up to himself a treasure,² the thought of what our birth cost her³ would force us to do everything that lies in our power to comfort her. She is the dear bride of the Incarnate Word; and our souls, too, aspire to union with Him. Let us prove that such union is really ours by doing as the Church does; that is, by showing in our acts the one thought, the one love which the divine Spouse always imparts to souls that enjoy holy intimacy with Him, because there is nothing He Himself has so much at heart; the thought of bringing the whole world to give glory to His eternal Father, and the love of procuring salvation for sinners.

Let us unite with the Church, our mother, in singing now in the Offertory the realization, in part at least, of her expectations; let not our lips ever be shut up in senseless silence when we have our God bestowing favours on us.

OFFERTORY

Exspectans exspectavi Dominum, et respexit me: et exaudivit deprecationem meam, et immisit in os meum canticum novum, hymnum Deo nostro.

With expectation, I have waited for the Lord, and he was attentive to me: and he heard my prayer; and he put a new canticle into my mouth, a song to our God.

In the Secret let us put ourselves, and everything that belongs to us, under the all-powerful custody of the divine mysteries.

SECRET

Tua nos, Domine, sacramenta custodiant: et contra diabolicos semper tueantur incursus. Per Dominum.

May thy mysteries, O Lord, be custody unto us: and always defend us against the attacks of the devil. Through, etc.

The other Secrets, as on page 130.

Jesus' word called back from death the son of the widow of Naim; His Flesh is the life of the world, for it is the Bread, whose praise we are now to celebrate in our Communion-anthem.

COMMUNION

Panis, quem ego dedero, caro mea est pro sæculi vita.

The bread, which I will give, is my flesh for the life of the world.

Divine union is not perfect in us unless the mystery of love so predominates over both our minds and bodies, as that they be fully possessed by it, as our mother here words its efficacy; we must be influenced and directed by it, and not by nature, that is, by the dictates of flesh and blood and human sense.

POSTCOMMUNION

Mentes nostras et corpora possideat, quæsumus Domine, doni cœlestis operatio: ut non noster sensus in nobis, sed jugiter ejus præveniat effectus. Per Dominum.

May the operation of the heavenly gift possess our minds and bodies, we beseech thee, O Lord: that our own sense may not rule us, but may the efficiency of that gift take the lead in us. Through, etc.

The other Postcommunions, as on page 131.

VESPERS

The psalms, capitulum, hymn, and versicle, as above, pages 71–81.

ANTIPHON OF THE MAGNIFICAT

Propheta magnus surrexit in nobis, et quia Deus visitavit plebem suam.

A great Prophet hath risen up among us, and God hath visited his people.

OREMUS

Ecclesiam tuam, Domine, miseratio continuata mundet et muniat; et quia sine te non potest salva consistere, tuo semper munere gubernetur. Per Dominum.

LET US PRAY

May thy continued mercy, O Lord, cleanse and defend thy Church; and, because without thee she cannot keep safe, may she always be governed by thy gift. Through, etc.

THE SIXTEENTH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST

MASS

The resuscitation of the son of the widow of Naim, on which our thoughts were fixed last Sunday, has reanimated the confidence of our beloved mother, the Church; her prayer goes up all the more earnestly to her Spouse, who leaves her on earth, for a time, that she may grow dearer to Him by sufferings and tears. Let us, of course, enter into the sentiments which guided her in the choice of to-day's Introit.

INTROIT

Miserere mihi, Domine, quoniam ad te clamavi tota die: quia tu, Domine, suavis ac mitis es, et copiosus in misericordia omnibus invocantibus te.

Ps. Inclina, Domine, aurem tuam mihi, et exaudi me: quoniam inops et pauper sum ego. Gloria Patri. Miserere.

Have mercy on me, O Lord, for I have cried unto thee all the day; for thou, Lord, art sweet and mild, and plenteous in mercy to all that call upon thee.

Ps. Incline thine ear unto me, O Lord, and hear me: for I am needy and poor. Glory, etc. Have mercy.

Such is our inability in the work of salvation, that, unless grace prevent, that is, anticipate, us, we cannot have so much as the thought of doing what is holy; and again, unless it follow up the inspirations it has given us, and lead them to a happy termination, we shall never be able to pass from the simple thought to the act of any virtue whatsoever. If, on the other hand, we be faithful to grace, our life will be one uninterrupted tissue of good works. Let us, in our Collect, ask, both for ourselves and for all our neighbours, the persevering continuity of this most precious aid.

COLLECT

Tua nos, quæsumus Domine, gratia semper et præveniat et sequatur: ac bonis operibus jugiter præstet esse intentos. Per Dominum.

May thy grace, we beseech thee, O Lord, ever go before us, and follow us; and may it ever make us intent upon good works. Through, etc.

The other Collects, as on page 120.

EPISTLE

Lectio Epistolæ beati Pauli Apostoli ad Ephesios.

Caput III.

Fratres, Obsecro vos, ne deficiatis in tribulationibus meis pro vobis, quæ est gloria vestra. Hujus rei gratia flecto genua mea ad Patrem Domini nostri Jesu Christi, ex quo omnis paternitas in cœlis, et in terra nominatur, ut det vobis secundum divitias gloriæ suæ, virtute corroborari per Spiritum ejus in interiorem hominem, Christum habitare per fidem in cordibus vestris: in charitate radicati, et fundati, ut possitis comprehendere cum omnibus sanctis, quæ sit latitudo, et longitudo, et sublimitas, et profundum: scire etiam supereminentem scientiæ charitatem Christi, ut impleamini in omnem plenitudinem Dei. Ei autem, qui potens est omnia facere superabundanter quam petimus, aut intelligimus, secundum virtutem, quæ operatur in nobis: ipsi gloria in Ecclesia, et in Christo Jesu in omnes generationes sæculi sæculorum. Amen.

Lesson of the Epistle of St. Paul the Apostle to the Ephesians.

Chapter III.

Brethren: I pray you not to faint at my tribulations for you, which is your glory. For this cause I bow my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, of whom all paternity in heaven and earth is named, that he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened by his Spirit with might unto the inward man. That Christ may dwell by faith in your hearts: that being rooted and founded in charity, you may be able to comprehend, with all the saints, what is the breadth, and length, and height, and depth: to know also the charity of Christ, which surpasseth all knowledge, that you may be filled unto all the fullness of God. Now to him who is able to do all things more abundantly than we desire or understand, according to the power that worketh in us: to him be glory in the church, and in Christ Jesus, unto all generations, world without end. Amen.

"My heart hath uttered a good word: I speak my works to the King."¹ The enthusiasm of the royal psalmist, when singing the glorious nuptial song, has taken possession of our apostle's whole soul, and inspires him with this marvellous Epistle, which seems to put into music, into a song of love, the sublime teachings of all his other letters. When he wrote this to his Ephesians he was Nero's prisoner; but it shows that the word of God is anything but hampered by the chains that make an apostle a captive.²

Although the Epistle to the Ephesians is far from being the longest of his letters, yet it is from it that the Church borrows most during these Sundays after Pentecost; and we may argue from such choice that it gives, more than any other of St. Paul's Epistles, that leading subject, upon which the Church is particularly anxious to direct her children's thoughts during this season of the liturgical year. Let us, therefore, thoroughly master the mystery of the Gospel,³ by hearkening

¹ Ps. xliv. 2. ² 2 Tim. ii. 9. ³ Eph. vi. 19.

to the herald who received it as his special mission to make known to the Gentiles the treasure that had been hidden from eternity in God.¹ It is as ambassador that he comes to us;² and the chains which bind him, far from weakening the authority of his message, are but the glorious badges which accredit him with the disciples of the Christ who died on Calvary.

For, God alone, as he tells us in the music we have just heard, can strengthen in us the inward man enough to make us understand, as the saints do, the dimensions (breadth, length, height, and depth) of the great mystery of Christ dwelling in man, and dwelling in him for the purpose of filling him with the plenitude of God. Therefore is it, that falling on his knees before Him from whom flows every perfect gift, and who has begotten us in the truth by His love,³ our apostle asks God to open, by faith and charity, the eyes of our heart, that so we may be able to understand the splendid riches of the inheritance He reserves to His children, and the exceeding greatness of the divine power used in our favour, even in this life.⁴

But, if holiness is requisite in order to obtain the full development of the divine life spoken of by the apostle, let us also take notice how the desire and the prayer of St. Paul are for all men; and how, therefore, no one is excluded from that divine vocation. Indeed, as St. John Chrysostom observes,⁵ the Christians, to whom he sends his Epistle, are people living in the world, married, having children and servants, for he gives them rules of conduct with regard to each point.⁶ The saints of Ephesus, as of all other places, are no

¹ Eph. iii. 8, 9. ² Ibid. vi. 20.
³ St. Jas. i. 17, 18. ⁴ Eph. i. 18, 19.
⁵ In ep. ad Eph., Hom. 1. ⁶ Eph. v. 22; vi. 1, 5.

others than the faithful of Christ Jesus,¹ that is to say, they are those who faithfully follow the divine precepts, in the condition of life proper to each. Now, it depends on us to follow God's grace; nothing else but our own resistance prevents the Holy Ghost from making saints of us. Those sublime heights, to which the progressive movement of the sacred liturgy has, since Pentecost, been leading the Church, are open to all of us. If the new order of ideas introduced by this movement strike us, at times, as being beyond our practical attainment, the probable reason of such cowardice is—and a short examination of conscience will bear witness against us—that we have neglected, ever since Advent and Christmas, to profit, as we should have done, by the teachings and graces of every kind, which were given us as means for advancing in light and in Christian virtue. The Church, at the commencement of the cycle, offered her aid to every one of us, and that aid she adapted to each one's capabilities; but she could never remain stationary, because some of us were too lazy to move onwards; she could never consent, out of a regard for our laggings and sluggishness, to neglect leading men of good will to that divine union, which they were told² crowns both the year of the Church, and the faithful soul that has spent the year under the Church's guidance. But on no account must we lose courage. The cycle of the liturgy runs its full course in the heavens of the Church each year. It will soon be starting afresh, again adapting the power of its graces to each one's necessities and weaknesses. If, with that new year of grace, we learn a lesson from our past deficiencies; if we do not content ourselves with a mere theoretical admiration of the exquisite poetry, and loveliness, and charms of its opening seasons; if we seriously set

¹ Eph. i. 1. ² Our Volume for Christmas, p. 28.

ourselves to grow with the growth of that light which is no other than Christ Himself,¹—if, that is, we profit by the graces of progress which that light will again infuse into our souls—then the work of our sanctification, having been this time prepared, has a cheering and a new chance of receiving that completeness, which had been retarded by the weakness of human nature.²

Even now, though our dispositions may not be all they should be, yet the Holy Ghost, that Spirit of loving mercy who reigns over this portion of the cycle, will not refuse the humble prayer we make to Him, and will supply, at least in some measure, our sad shortcomings. Great, after all, has been our gain in this, that the eye of our faith has had new supernatural horizons opened out to it, and that it has reached those peaceful regions which the dull vision of the animal man³ fails to discover. It is there that divine Wisdom reveals to the perfect that great secret of love, which is not known by the wise and the princes of this world— secret which the eye had not before seen, nor the ear heard, nor the heart even suspected as possible.⁴ From this time forward, we shall better understand the divine realities, which fill up the life of the servants of God; they will seem to us, as they truly are, a thousand times preferable, both in importance and in greatness, to those vain frivolities and occupations, in the midst of which is spent the existence of so-called practical men. Let us take delight in thinking upon that divine choice, which, before time was, selected us for the fullness of all spiritual benedictions,⁵ of which the temporal blessings of the people of old⁶ were but a shadow. The world was not as yet existing, and already God saw us in

¹ St. John i. 5. ² See above, p. 11. ³ 1 Cor. ii. 14.
⁴ Ibid. 6-9. ⁵ Eph. i. 3. ⁶ Deut. xxviii. 1-14.

His Word;¹ to each one among us, He assigned the place he was to hold in the body of His Christ;² already, His fatherly eye beheld us clad with that grace³ which made Him well pleased with the Man-God; and He predestinated us,⁴ as being members of this His beloved Son, to sit with Him, on His right hand, in the highest heavens.⁵

Oh! how immense are our obligations to the eternal Father, whose good pleasure⁶ has decreed to grant such wondrous gifts to our earth! His will is His counsel,⁷ it is the one rule of all His acts; and His will is all love. It is from the voluntary and culpable death of sin⁸ that He calls us to that life which is His own life. It is from the deep disgrace of every vice that, after having cleansed us in the Blood of His Son,⁹ He has exalted us to a glory, which is the astonishment of the angels, and makes them tremble with adoring admiration.¹⁰ Let us then be holy for the sake of giving praise to the glory of such grace.¹¹ Christ, in His Divinity, is the substantial brightness and eternal glory of His Father;¹² if He has taken to Himself a Body, if He has made Himself our Head, it was for no other purpose than that He might sing the heavenly canticle in a new way. Not satisfied with presenting in His sacred Humanity, a sight most pleasing to His Father— that is, the sight of the created reflex of divine, and therefore infinite, perfections — He wished, moreover, that the whole of creation should give back to the adorable Trinity an echo of the divine harmonies. It is on this account that He, in His

¹ Eph. i. 4. ² 1 Cor. xii. 12-31; Eph. iv. 12-16.
³ Ibid. i. 6. ⁴ Ibid. 4, 5.
⁵ Ibid. i. 20, 23; ii. 6. ⁶ Ibid. i. 9. ⁷ Ibid. 11.
⁸ Ibid. 7; ii. 1-5. ⁹ Ibid. i. 7.
¹⁰ Hymn for the Ascension; Matins. ¹¹ Eph. i. 4, 6.
¹² Heb. i. 3.

own Flesh, broke down the old enmities existing between Gentile and Jew;¹ and then, bringing together these that were once enemies, He made of them all one spirit and one body, so that their countless human voices might, through Him, blend in unison of love with the angelic choirs, and thus, standing around God's throne, might attune the one universal song of their praise to that of the infinite Word Himself. Thus shall we become for ever to God, like this divine Word, the praise of His glory, as the apostle thrice loves to express himself in the beginning of this his Epistle to the Ephesians.² Thus, too, is to be wrought that mystery which, from all eternity, was the object of God's eternal designs: the mystery, that is, of divine union, realized by our Lord Jesus uniting, in His own Person, in infinite love, both earth and heaven.³

The Church, which is showing herself in the midst of the Gentiles, bears on herself the mark of her divine Architect; God shows Himself, in her, in all majesty; and, by her, the kings of the earth are made to fear Him.

GRADUAL

Timebunt gentes nomen tuum, Domine, et omnes reges terræ gloriam tuam.

The Gentiles, O Lord, shall fear thy name, and all the kings of the earth thy glory.

℣. Quoniam ædificavit Dominus Sion: et videbitur in majestate sua.

℣. For the Lord hath built up Sion; and he shall be seen in his glory.

Alleluia, alleluia.

℣. Cantate Domino canticum novum: quia mirabilia fecit Dominus. Alleluia.

℣. Sing to the Lord a new canticle: for the Lord hath done wonderful things. Alleluia.

¹ Eph. ii. 14-18. ² Ibid. i. 6, 12, 14. ³ Ibid. 9, 10.

GOSPEL

Sequentia sancti Evangelii secundum Lucam.

Sequel of the holy Gospel according to Luke.

Caput XIV.

Chapter XIV.

In illo tempore: Cum intraret Jesus in domum cujusdam principis pharisæorum sabbato manducare panem, et ipsi observabant eum. Et ecce homo quidam hydropicus erat ante illum. Et respondens Jesus, dixit ad legisperitos, et pharisæos, dicens: Si licet sabbato curare? At illi tacuerunt. Ipse vero apprehensum sanavit eum, ac dimisit. Et respondens ad illos, dixit: Cujus vestrum asinus, aut bos in puteum cadet, et non continuo extrahet illum die sabbati? Et non poterant ad hæc respondere illi. Dicebat autem et ad invitatos parabolam, intendens quomodo primos accubitus eligerent, dicens ad illos: Cum invitatus fueris ad nuptias, non discumbas in primo loco, ne forte honoratior te sit invitatus ab illo, et veniens is, qui te et illum vocavit, dicat tibi: Da huic locum: et tunc incipias cum rubore novissimum locum tenere. Sed cum vocatus fueris, vade, recumbe in novissimo loco: ut, cum venerit qui te invitavit, dicat tibi: Amice, ascende superius. Tunc erit tibi gloria coram simul discumbentibus: quia omnis qui se exaltat, humiliabitur: et qui se humiliat, exaltabitur.

At that time: When Jesus went into the house of one of the chief of the pharisees on the Sabbath-day to eat bread, they watched him. And behold there was a certain man before him that had the dropsy. And Jesus answering, spoke to the lawyers and pharisees saying: Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath-day? But they held their peace. But he taking him, healed him, and sent him away. And answering them, he said: Which of you shall have an ass or an ox fall into a pit; and will not immediately draw him out on the Sabbath-day? And they could not answer him to these things. And he spoke a parable also to them that were invited, marking how they chose the first seats at the table, saying to them: When thou art invited to a wedding, sit not down in the first place, lest perhaps one more honourable than thou be invited by him: and he that invited thee and him, come and say to thee: Give this man place; and then thou begin with shame to take the lowest place. But when thou art invited, go, sit down in the lowest place, that when he who invited thee cometh, he may say to thee: Friend, go up higher. Then shalt thou have glory before them that sit at table with thee; because every one that exalteth himself shall be humbled; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted.

Holy Church here tells us, and in a most unmistakable way, what has been her chief aim for her children ever since the feast of Pentecost. The wedding spoken of in to-day's Gospel is that of heaven, of which there is a prelude given here below, by the union effected in the sacred banquet of holy Communion. The divine invitation is made to all; and the invitation is not like that which is given on occasion of earthly weddings, to which the bridegroom and bride invite their friends and relatives as simple witnesses to the union contracted between two individuals. In the Gospel wedding, Christ is the Bridegroom, and the Church is the bride.¹ These nuptials are ours, inasmuch as we are members of the Church; and the banquet-hall, in this case, is something far superior to that of a commonplace marriage.

But, that this union be as fruitful as it ought to be, the soul, in the sanctuary of her own conscience, must bring with her a fidelity which is to be an enduring one, and a love which is to be active, even when the feast of the sacred mysteries is past. Divine union, when it is genuine, masters one's entire being. It fixes one in the untiring contemplation of the beloved Object, in the earnest attention to His interests, in the continual aspiration of the heart towards Him, even when He seems to have absented Himself from the soul. The bride of the divine nuptials should be no less intent on her God, than those of earth are on their earthly Spouse.² It is on this condition alone, that the

¹ Apoc. xix. 7. ² 1 Cor. vii. 34.

Christian soul can be said to have entered on the unitive life, or can yield its precious fruits.

But, for the attainment of all this—that is, that our Lord Jesus Christ may have that full control over the soul and its powers which makes her to be truly His, and subjects her to Him as the bride to her Spouse—it is necessary that all alien competition be entirely and definitively put aside. Now, there is one sad fact, which everyone knows: the divinely noble Son of the eternal Father, the Incarnate Word whose beauty enraptures the heavenly citizens,¹ the immortal King, whose exploits and power and riches are beyond all that the children of men can imagine²—has rivals, human rivals, who pretend to have stronger claims than He to creatures whom He has redeemed from slavery, and invited to share with Him the honours of His throne. Even in the case of those whom His loving mercy succeeds in winning over wholly to Himself, is He not frequently kept waiting, for perhaps years, before they can make up their minds to be wise enough to take Him? During that long period of unworthy wavering, He loses not His patience, He does not turn elsewhere as He might in all justice do, but He keeps on asking them to be wholly His, mercifully waiting for some secret touch of one of His graces, joined with the unwearied labour of the Holy Ghost, to get the better of all this inconceivable resistance.

Let us not be surprised at the Church bringing the whole influence of her liturgy to bear on the winning of souls to Christ; for every such conquest she makes for Him is a fresh and closer bond of union between herself and her Lord. This explains how, on some of these previous Sundays, she has given us such admirable instructions re-

¹ 1 Cor. xi. 8-10. ² Acta S. Agnetis.
³ Ps. xliv. ⁴ Apoc. iii. 4.

garding the efforts of the triple concupiscence. Earthly pleasures, pride, and covetousness, are really the treacherous advisers, who excite within us, against God's claims, those impertinent rivals of whom we were just now speaking. Having now reached the sixteenth week of this season of the reign of the Holy Ghost, and taking it for granted that her sons and daughters are in right good earnest about their Christian perfection, the Church hopes that they have fairly unmasked the enemy. To-day, therefore, hoping that her teaching will not fail to impress us, and that we shall no longer put off our most loving Jesus, she proposes to us, in the allegory of our Gospel, the great mystery of love of which He Himself has said: 'The kingdom of heaven is likened to a King, who made a marriage for His Son.'¹

But, after all, her anxiety as mother and bride never allows her to make quite sure of even her best and dearest children, so long as they are in this world. In order to keep them on their guard against falling into sin, she bids them listen to St. Ambrose, whom she has selected as her homilist for this Sunday. He addresses himself to the Christian who has become a veteran in the spiritual combat, and tells him that concupiscence has snares without end, even for him! Alas! he may trip, any day; he has gone far, perhaps very far, on the road to the kingdom of God, but, even so, he may go wrong, and be for ever shut out from the marriage feast, together with heretics, pagans, and Jews. Let him be on the watch, then, or he may become tainted with those sins, from which, hitherto, thanks to God's grace, he has kept clear. Let him take heed, or he may become like the man mentioned in to-day's Gospel, who had the dropsy; and dropsy, says our saintly preacher of

¹ St. Matt. xxii. 2.

Milan, is a morbid exuberance of humours, which stupefy the soul, and induce a total extinction of spiritual ardour. And yet, even if he were to have such a fall as that, let him not forget that the heavenly physician is ever ready to cure him. The saint, in this short homily, condenses the whole of St. Luke's fourteenth chapter, of which we have been reading but a portion; and he shows, a little farther on, that attachment to the goods of this life is opposed to the ardour which should carry us on the wings of the spirit, towards the heaven where lives and reigns our loved One.¹ But, above all, it is to the constant attitude and exercise of humility that he must especially direct his attention who would secure a prominent place in the divine feast of the nuptials. All saints are ambitious for future glory of this best kind; but they are well aware that, in order to win it, they must go low down, during the present life, into their own nothingness; the higher in the world to come, the lower in this. Until the great day dawn, when each one is to receive according to his works,² we shall lose nothing by putting ourselves, meanwhile, below everybody. The position reserved for us in the kingdom of heaven depends not, in the least, either upon our own thoughts about ourselves, or upon the judgment passed on us by other people; it depends solely on the will of God, who exalteth the humble, and bringeth down the mighty from their seat.³ Let us hearken to Ecclesiasticus. 'The greater thou art, the more humble thyself in all things, and thou shalt find grace before God; for great is the power of God alone, and He is honoured by the humble.'⁴ Were it only, then, from a motive of self-interest, let us follow the advice of the Gospel, and, in all things,

¹ S. Amb, in Luc., vii., Homil. Diei. ² St. Matt. xvi. 27.
³ St. Luke i. 52. ⁴ Ecclus. iii. 20, 21.

claim, as our own, the last place. Humility is not sterling, and cannot please God, unless, to the lowly estimation we have of ourselves, we join an esteem for others, preventing everyone with honour, gladly yielding to all in matters which do not affect our conscience; and all this, from a deep-rooted conviction of our own misery and worthlessness in the sight of Him who searches the reins and heart.¹ The surest test of our humility before God, is that practical charity for our neighbour, which, in the several circumstances of everyday life, induces us, and without affectation, to give him the precedence over ourselves.

On the contrary, one of the most unequivocal proofs of the falseness of certain so-called spiritual ways, into which the enemy sometimes leads incautious souls, is the lurking contempt wherewith he inspires them for one or more of their acquaintance; it is dormant, perhaps, habitually, but when occasion offers—and it frequently offers—they allow it to influence their thoughts, and words, and actions. To a greater or less extent, and, it may be, with more or less unconsciousness, self-esteem is the basis of the structure of their virtues; but, as for the illuminations, and mystical sweetnesses, which these people sometimes tell their intimate friends they enjoy, they may be quite sure that such favours do not come to them from the holy Spirit. When the substantial light of the Sun of justice shall appear in the valley of the judgment, all counterfeits of this kind will be made evident,² and they that trusted to them, and spent their lives in petting such phantoms, will find them all vanishing in smoke. Having then to take a much lower place than the one they dreamt of, they may reckon it a solace, that some place is still given them at the divine banquet. They will have to thank God

¹ Rom. xii. 10. ² Apoc. ii. 23. ³ 1 Cor. iv. 5.

that their chastisement goes no farther than the shame of seeing those very people passing high up in honour above them, for whom, during life, they had such utter contempt.

The greater the conquests made by the Church, the greater are the efforts of hell to destroy the souls of her dear children. This fearful danger calls for her fervent prayers; and our Offertory-anthem is one of these.

OFFERTORY

Domine, in auxilium meum respice: confundantur et revereantur, qui quærunt animam meam, ut auferant eam: Domine, in auxilium meum respice.

Look down, O Lord, to help me: let them be put to confusion and shame, that seek after my soul, to take it away: look down, O Lord, to help me.

The Secret reminds us, how the Sacrifice, at which we are present, and which is to be consummated, in a few moments, by the words of Consecration, is the most direct and efficacious of all the immediate preparations that we can make for the Communion of the Body and Blood, which that Sacrifice produces on the altar.

SECRET

Munda nos, quæsumus, Domine, sacrificii præsentis effectu, et perfice miseratus in nobis, ut ejus mereamur esse participes. Per Dominum, etc.

Cleanse us, O Lord, we beseech thee, by the efficacy of this present Sacrifice: and, by thy mercy, make us worthy to partake thereof. Through, etc.

The other Secrets, as on page 130.

Now that the Church is filled, by the holy Communion just received, with the true substantial Wisdom of the Father, she promises God, as her thank-offering, that she will keep His justice, which is His law, and that she will labour to make His divine teaching produce its fruits.

COMMUNION

Domine, memorabor justitiæ tuæ solius: Deus, docuisti me a juventute mea, et usque in senectam et senium: Deus, ne derelinquas me.

I will remember thy justice alone, O Lord: O God, thou hast instructed me from my youth, and unto old age and grey hairs: O God, forsake me not.

In the Postcommunion, let us pray, with the Church, that we may be renewed by the purity, which these heavenly mysteries bring to us, who are well prepared for the gift: the effect of such a gift tells upon our bodies, both in this and in the next life.

POSTCOMMUNION

Purifica, quæsumus Domine, mentes nostras benignus, et renova cœlestibus sacramentis: ut consequenter et corporum præsens pariter, et futurum capiamus auxilium. Per Dominum, etc.

Mercifully, O Lord, we beseech thee, purify our souls, and renew them by these heavenly mysteries; that we may receive help thereby, both while we are in these mortal bodies, and hereafter. Through, etc.

The other Postcommunions, as on page 181.

VESPERS

The psalms, capitulum, hymn, and versicle, as above, pages 71–81.

ANTIPHON OF THE MAGNIFICAT

Cum vocatus fueris ad nuptias, recumbe in novissimo loco, ut dicat tibi qui te invitavit: Amice, ascende superius; et erit tibi gloria coram simul discumbentibus. Alleluia.

When thou art invited to a wedding, sit down in the lowest place, that he who invited thee may say unto thee: Friend! go up higher: and thou shalt have glory before them that sit at table with thee. Alleluia.

OREMUS — LET US PRAY

Tua nos, quæsumus Domine, gratia semper et præveniat et sequatur: ac bonis operibus jugiter præstet esse intentos. Per Dominum.

May thy grace, we beseech thee, O Lord, ever go before us, and follow us; and may it ever make us intent upon good works. Through, etc.

THE SEVENTEENTH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST

The Gospel, which is now assigned to the Mass of the seventeenth Sunday, has given it the name of the Sunday of the love of God, dating, that is, from the time when the Gospel of the cure of the dropsy and of the invitation to the wedding-feast was anticipated by eight days. Previously even to that change, and from the very first, there used to be read, on this seventeenth Sunday, another passage from the new Testament, which is no longer found in this series of Sundays: it was the Gospel which mentions the difficulty regarding the resurrection of the dead, which the Sadducees proposed to our Lord.¹

MASS

The judgments of God are always just, whether it be, in His justice, humbling the proud, or, in His mercy, exalting the humble. This day last week we saw this sovereign disposer of all things, allotting to each his place at the divine banquet. Let us recall to mind the behaviour of the guests, and the respective treatment shown to the humble and the proud. Adoring these judgments of our Lord, let us sing our Introit; and, as far as regards ourselves, let us throw ourselves entirely upon His mercy.

¹ St. Matt. xxii. 28–33.

INTROIT

Justus es, Domine, et rectum judicium tuum: fac cum servo tuo secundum misericordiam tuam.

Thou art just, O Lord, and thy judgment is right; deal with thy servant according to thy mercy.

Ps. Beati immaculati in via: qui ambulant in lege Domini. Gloria Patri. Justus es.

Ps. Blessed are the undefiled in the way: who walk in the law of the Lord. Glory, etc. Thou.

The most hateful of all the obstacles which divine love has to encounter upon earth is the jealousy of satan, who endeavours, by an impious usurpation, to rob God of the possession of our souls—souls, that is, which were created by and for Him alone. Let us unite with holy Church in praying, in the Collect, for the supernatural assistance we require for avoiding the foul contact of the hideous serpent.

COLLECT

Da, quæsumus Domine, populo tuo diabolica vitare contagia: et te solum Deum pura mente sectari. Per Dominum.

Grant, we beseech thee, O Lord, that thy people may avoid all the contagions of the devil; and, with a pure mind, follow thee, who alone art God. Through, etc.

The other Collects, as on page 120.

EPISTLE

Lectio Epistolæ beati Pauli Apostoli ad Ephesios.

Caput IV.

Fratres, Obsecro vos ego vinctus in Domino, ut digne ambuletis vocatione, qua vocati estis, cum omni humilitate, et mansuetudine, cum patientia, supportantes invicem in charitate, solliciti servare unitatem spiritus in vinculo pacis. Unum corpus, et unus spiritus, sicut vocati estis in una spe vocationis vestræ. Unus Dominus, una fides, unum baptisma. Unus Deus et Pater omnium, qui est super omnes, et per omnia, et in omnibus nobis. Qui est benedictus in sæcula sæculorum. Amen.

Lesson of the Epistle of St. Paul, the Apostle, to the Ephesians.

Chapter IV.

Brethren: I, a prisoner in the Lord, beseech you that you walk worthy of the vocation in which you are called, with all humility and mildness, with patience, supporting one another in charity. Careful to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. One body and one spirit; as you are called in one hope of your calling. One Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God, and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in us all, who is blessed for ever and ever. Amen.

The Church, by thus giving these words from St. Paul's Epistle to the Ephesians, again takes up the subject so dear to her, viz., the dignity of her children. She beseeches them to correspond, in a becoming manner, to their high vocation. This vocation, this call, which God gives us is, as we have been so often told, the call, or invitation, made to the human family to come to the sacred nuptials of divine union; it is the vocation given to us to reign in heaven with the Word, who has made Himself our Spouse, and our Head. The Gospel read to us last week was formerly the one appointed for this present Sunday, and was thus brought into close connexion with our Epistle. These words of St. Paul to the Ephesians are an admirable commentary on that Gospel, and it, in turn, throws light on the apostle's words about the vocation. "When thou art invited to a wedding (cum vocatus fueris) sit down in the lowest place!" These were our Lord's words to us last Sunday; and now we have the apostle saying to us: Walk worthy of the vocation in which you are called, yes, walk in that vocation with all humility!

Let us now attentively hearken to our apostle, telling us what we must do, in order to prove ourselves worthy of the high honour offered to us by the Son of God. We must practise, among other virtues, these three—humility, mildness, and patience. These are the means for gaining the end that is so generously proposed to us. And what is this end? It is the unity of that immense body, which the Son of God makes His own, by the mystic nuptials He vouchsafes to celebrate with our human nature. This Man-God asks one condition from those whom He calls, whom He invites, to become, through the Church, His bride, bone of His bones and flesh of His flesh.¹ This one condition is, that they maintain such harmony among them, that it will make one body and one spirit of them all, in the bond of peace. "Bond most glorious!" cries out St. John Chrysostom—"bond most admirable, which unites us all with one another, and then, thus united, unites us with God."² The strength of this bond is the strength of the holy Spirit Himself, who is all holiness and love; for it is that holy Spirit who forms these spiritual and divine ties; He it is who, with the countless multitude of the baptized, does the work which the soul does in the human body— that is, gives it life, and unites all the members into oneness of person. It is by the Holy Ghost that young and old, poor and rich, men and women, distinct as all these are in other respects, are made one, fused, so to say, in the fire which eternally burns in the blessed Trinity. But, in order that the flame of infinite love may thus draw into its embrace our regenerated humanity, we must get rid of selfish rivalries, and grudges, and dissensions, which, so long as they exist among us, prove us to be carnal³ and, therefore, to be unfit material either for the divine flame to touch, or for the union which that flame produces. According to the beautiful comparison of St. John

¹ Eph. v. 30. ² St. Chrys., in Ep. ad Eph., Hom. ix. 3.
³ 1 Cor. iii. 3.

Chrysostom,¹ when the fire lays hold of various species of wood which have been thrown into it, if it find the fuel properly dry, it makes one burning pile of all the several woods; but, if they are damp and wet, it cannot act on them separately, nor reduce the whole to one common blaze. So is it in the spiritual order; the unhealthy humidity of the passions neutralizes the action of the sanctifying Spirit; and union, which is both the means and the end of love, becomes an impossibility.

Let us, therefore, bind ourselves to our brethren by that blessed link of charity, which, if it fetters at all, fetters only our bad tempers; but, in all other respects, it dilates our hearts, by the very fact of its giving free scope to the Holy Ghost to lead them safely to the realization of that one hope of our common vocation and calling, which is to unite us to God by love. Of course, charity, even with the saints, is, so long as they are on this earth, a laborious virtue; because, even with the best, grace seldom restores to a perfect equilibrium the faculties of man, which were put out of order by original sin. From this it follows that the weaknesses of human nature will sometimes show themselves, either by excess or by deficiency; and when these weaknesses do appear, not only the saint himself is humbled by their getting the better of him, but, as he is well aware, those who live with him have to practise kindness and patience towards him. God permits all this, in order to increase the merit of us all, and make us long more and more for heaven. For it is there alone that we shall find ourselves, not only totally, but without any effort, in perfect harmony with our fellow-men; and this because of the perfect peaceful submissiveness of our entire being under the absolute sway of the thrice holy God, who will

¹ St. Chrys., ubi supra.

then be all in all.¹ In that happy land God Himself will wipe away the tears of His elect, for their miseries will all be gone; and their miseries will be gone because their whole being will be renovated, because united with Him, who is its infinite source. The eternal Son of God, having then conquered in each member of His mystical body the hostile powers and death itself,² will appear, in the fullness of the mystery of His Incarnation, as the true Head of humanity, sanctified, restored,³ and developed in Him. He will rejoice at seeing how, by the workings of the sanctifying Spirit, there has been wrought the destined degree of perfection in each of the several parts of that marvellous body,⁵ which He vouchsafed to aggregate to Himself by the bond of love; and all this in order that He might Himself eternally celebrate, in concert with all creation, the glory of the ever adorable Trinity. How will the sweetest music of earth be then surpassed! How will our most perfect choirs seem to us then to have been almost like the noise of children singing out of tune, compared with the concord and harmony of that eternal song! Let us make ourselves ready for that heavenly concert. Let us put our voices in order, by now attuning our hearts to that plenitude of love, which, alas! is not often enjoyed here below, but which we should ever be trying to realize, by patiently supporting the faults of our brethren and ourselves, as the Epistle so earnestly impresses upon us.

¹ 1 Cor. xv. 28. ² Apoc. xxi. 4, 5. ³ 1 Cor. xv. 24-28. ⁴ Eph. i. 10. ⁵ Ibid. iv. 13-16.

In the ecstasy of her delight at hearing these few sounds of heaven's music brought to her by such a singer as her apostle, our mother the Church seems to feel herself carried away far beyond time, and boldly joins a short song of her own to that of Jesus and His apostle; for by way of a conclusion to the text of our Epistle, she adds an ardent expression of praise, which is not in the original; and thus she forms a kind of doxology to the inspired words of her apostolic cantor.

We now know the priceless gifts brought to our earth by the Man-God.¹ Thanks to the prodigies of power and love achieved by the divine Word and the sanctifying Spirit, the soul of the just man is a little heaven on earth. Let us sing in our Gradual and Alleluia the happiness of the Christian people, chosen by God for His own inheritance.

¹ Eph. iv. 8.

GRADUAL

Beata gens, cujus est Dominus Deus eorum: populus, quem elegit Dominus in hæreditatem sibi.

Blessed is the nation that hath the Lord for its God: the people whom he hath chosen for his inheritance.

℣. Verbo Domini cœli firmati sunt: et spiritu oris ejus omnis virtus eorum.

℣. By the word of the Lord, and the breath of his mouth, were the heavens formed, and the whole host thereof.

Alleluia, alleluia.

℣. Domine, exaudi orationem meam: et clamor meus ad te perveniat. Alleluia.

℣. O Lord, hear my prayer, and let my cry come unto thee. Alleluia.

GOSPEL

Sequentia sancti Evangelii secundum Matthæum.

Sequel of the holy Gospel according to Matthew.

Caput XXII.

Chapter XXII.

In illo tempore: Accesserunt ad Jesum Pharisæi, et interrogavit eum unus ex eis legis doctor, tentans eum: Magister, quod est mandatum magnum in lege? Ait illi Jesus: Diliges Dominum Deum tuum ex toto corde tuo, et in tota anima tua, et in tota mente tua. Hoc est maximum, et primum mandatum. Secundum autem simile est huic: Diliges proximum tuum sicut teipsum. In his duobus mandatis universa lex pendet, et prophetæ. Congregatis autem Pharisæis, interrogavit eos Jesus, dicens: Quid vobis videtur de Christo? cujus filius est? Dicunt ei: David. Ait illis: Quomodo ergo David in spiritu vocat eum Dominum, dicens: Dixit Dominus Domino meo: Sede a dextris meis, donec ponam inimicos tuos scabellum pedum tuorum? Si ergo David vocat eum Dominum, quomodo filius ejus est? Et nemo poterat ei respondere verbum; neque ausus fuit quisquam ex illa die eum amplius interrogare.

At that time: The Pharisees came to Jesus: and one of them, a doctor of the law, asked him, tempting him: Master, which is the great commandment in the law? Jesus said to him: Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with thy whole heart, and with thy whole soul, and with thy whole mind. This is the greatest and the first commandment. And the second is like to this: Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. On these two commandments dependeth the whole law and the prophets. And the Pharisees being gathered together, Jesus asked them saying: What think ye of Christ? whose son is he? They say to him: David's. He saith to them: How then doth David in spirit call him Lord, saying: The Lord said to my Lord, Sit on my right hand, until I make thy enemies thy footstool? If David then called him Lord, how is he his son? And no man was able to answer him a word; neither durst any man from that day forth ask him any more questions.

The Man-God allowed temptation to approach His sacred Person in the desert;¹ He disdained not to sustain the attacks, which the devil's spiteful cunning has, from the world's beginning, been inventing, as the surest means of working man's perdition. Our Jesus permitted the demon thus to tempt Him, in order that He might show His faithful servants how they are to repel the assaults of the wicked spirit. To-day, our adorable Master, who would be a model to His children in all their trials,² is represented to us as having to contend, not with satan's perfidy, but with the hypocrisy of His bitterest enemies, the pharisees. They seek to ensnare Him in His speech,¹ just as the representatives of the world, which He has condemned, will do to His Church, and that in all ages, right to the end of time. But as her divine Spouse triumphed, so will she; for He will enable her to continue His work upon earth, and amidst the same temptations and the same snares. She is ever to obtain the victory, by maintaining a most inviolable fidelity to God's law and truth. The tools of satan, who are the heretics and the princes of the world, chafing at the restraint put by Christianity on their ambition and lust, will always be studying how best to outwit the guardian of the divine oracles, by their captious propositions or questions. When necessity requires her to speak, she is quite ready; for, as bride of that divine Word, who is His Father's eternal and substantial utterance, what can she be but a voice, either to announce Him on earth, or to sing Him in heaven? That word of hers, endowed as it is with the power and penetration of God Himself, will not only never be conquered by surprise, but, like a two-edged sword, it will generally go much deeper than the crafty questioners of the Church anticipated; it will not only refute their sophistry, it will also expose the hypocrisy and wickedness of their intentions.² By their sacrilegious attempts, they will have gained nothing but disgrace and shame, and the mortification of having occasioned a fresh lustre to truth by the new light in which it has been put, and of having procured a clearer knowledge of dogma or morals for the devoted children of the Church.

¹ St. Matt. iv. 1-11. ² Heb. ii. 17, 18; iv. 15.

¹ St. Matt. xxii. 15. ² St. John xvi. 8-11. ³ Heb. iv. 12.

It was thus with the pharisees of to-day's Gospel. As the homily upon it tells us, they wanted to see if Jesus, who had declared Himself to be God, would not, consequently, make some addition to the commandment of divine love; and if He did they would be justified in condemning Him as having tried to change the letter of the law in its greatest commandment.¹ Our Lord disappointed them. He met their question by giving it a longer answer than they had asked for. Having first recited the text of the great commandment as given in the Scripture, he continued the quotation, and, by so doing, showed them that He was not ignorant of the intention which had induced them to question Him. He reminded them of the second commandment, like unto the first, the commandment of love of our neighbour, which condemned their intended crime of deicide. Thus were they convicted of loving neither their neighbour, nor God Himself, for the first commandment cannot be observed if the second, which flows from and completes it, be broken.

¹ St. Chrys., Hom. lxxvii. in Matt.

But our Lord does not stop there; He obliges them to acknowledge, at least implicitly, the Divinity of the Messiah. He puts a question, in His turn, to them, and they answer it by saying, as they were obliged to do, that the Christ was to be of the family of David; but if He be his Son, how comes it that David calls Him his Lord, just as he calls God Himself, as we have it in Psalm cix., where he celebrates the glories of the Messiah? The only possible explanation is, that the Messiah, who in due time, and as Man, was to be born of David's house, was God, and Son of God, even before time existed, according to the same psalm: 'From my womb, before the day-star, I begot thee.'² This answer would have condemned the pharisees, so they refused to give it; but their silence was an avowal; and, before very long, the eternal Father's vengeance upon these vile enemies of His Son will fulfil the prophecy of making them His footstool in blood and shame: that time is to be the terrible day when the justice of God will fall upon the deicide city.

² Ps. cix. 3.

Let us Christians, out of contempt for satan, who stirred up the expiring Synagogue thus to lay snares for the Son of God, turn these efforts of hatred into an instruction which will warm up our love. The Jews, by rejecting Christ Jesus, sinned against both of the commandments which constitute charity, and embody the whole law; and we, on the contrary, by loving that same Jesus, fulfil the whole law.

Jesus is the brightness of eternal glory, one, by nature, with the Father and the Holy Ghost; He is the God whom the first commandment bids us love, and it is in Him also that the second has its truest and adequate application. For not only is He as truly Man as He is truly God, but He is the Man par excellence,² the perfect Man, on whose type, and for whom, all other men were formed;³ He is the model and the brother of all of them;⁴ He is at the same time the leader who governs them as their King,⁵ and offers them to God as their High Priest;⁶ He is the Head who communicates to all the members of the human family beauty, and life, and movement, and light; He is the Redeemer of that human family since it has fallen, and on that account He is twice over the source of all right, and the ultimate and highest motive, even when not the direct object, of every love that deserves to be called love here below. Nothing counts with God, excepting so far as it has reference to Jesus. As St. Augustine says,⁷ God loves men only inasmuch as they either are, or may one day become, members of His Son; it is His Son that He loves in them; thus He loves, with one same love though not equally, His Word, and the Flesh of His Word, and the members of His Incarnate Word. Now, charity is love—love such as it is in God, communicated to us creatures by the Holy Ghost. Therefore, what we should love, by charity, both in ourselves, and in others, is the divine Word, either as being, or, according to another expression of the same St. Augustine, 'that He may be,' in others and in ourselves.

¹ Heb. i. 3. ² St. John xix. 5. ³ Rom. viii. 29. ⁴ Heb. ii. 17. ⁵ St. John xviii. 37. ⁶ Heb. x. 14. ⁷ S. Aug., in Joan. Tract. cx.

Let us take care, also, as a consequence of this same truth, not to exclude any human being from our love, excepting the damned, who are absolutely and eternally cut off from the body of the Man-God. Who can boast that he has the charity of Christ if he do not embrace His unity? The question is St. Augustine's again.¹ Who can love Christ, without loving, with Him, the Church, which is His body? without loving all His members? What we do—be it to the least, or be it to the worthiest, be it of evil, or of good—it is to Him we do it, for He tells us so.² Then, let us love our neighbour as ourselves, because of Christ, who is in each of us, and who gives to us all union and increase in charity.³

¹ Epist. lxi. ² St. Matt. xxv. 40-45. ³ Eph. iv. 15, 16.

That same apostle who says, 'The end of the law is charity,'⁴ says also: 'The end of the law is Christ;'⁵ and we now see the harmony existing between these two distinct propositions. We understand, also, the connexion there is between the word of the Gospel: On these two commandments dependeth the whole law and the prophets, and that other saying of our Lord: Search the Scriptures, for the same are they that give testimony of Me.⁶ The fullness of the law, which is the rule of men's conduct, is in charity,¹ of which Christ is the end; just as the object of the revealed Scriptures is no other than the Man-God, who embodies in His own adorable unity, for us His followers, all moral teaching, and all dogma. He is our faith and our love, 'the end of all our resolutions,' says St. Augustine; 'for all our efforts tend but to this—to perfect ourselves in Him; and this is our perfection—to reach Him: having reached Him, seek no farther, for He is your End.'² The holy Doctor gives us, when we have reached this point, the best instruction as to how we are to live in the divine union: 'Let us cling to One, let us enjoy One, let us all be one in Him; hæreamus Uni, fruamur Uno, permaneamus unum.'³

⁴ 1 Tim. i. 5. ⁵ Rom. x. 4. ⁶ St. John v. 39. ¹ Serm. cclv., in dieb. pasch. ² Epist. lxi. ³ St. Matt. xxv. 40-45.

The beautiful anthem for to-day's Offertory, separated, as we now have it, from the verses which formerly accompanied it, does not suggest why, in the earliest ages, it was assigned to this Sunday. We subjoin these verses to the anthem, which has been retained. The second concludes with the announcement of the arrival of the prince of the heavenly hosts, who is coming to the aid of God's people. This gives the desired explanation; and it is all the clearer, when we remember that this Sunday begins the week of the great archangel in the antiphonary published, from the most ancient manuscripts, by the blessed Thomasi; and that the following Sunday is there designated as the first Sunday after Saint Michael (post Sancti Angeli).

OFFERTORY

Oravi Deum meum ego Daniel, dicens: Exaudi, Domine, preces servi tui: illumina faciem tuam super sanctuarium tuum: et propitius intende populum istum, super quem invocatum est nomen tuum, Deus.

I Daniel prayed unto my God, saying: Graciously hear, O Lord, the prayers of thy servant: show thy face upon thy sanctuary: and mercifully look upon this people, upon which is invocated thy name, O God!

℣. I. Adhuc me loquente et orante, et narrante peccata mea, et delicta populi mei Israel.

℣. I. Whilst I was speaking and praying, and confessing my sins, and the sins of my people of Israel.

Super quem. Upon which.

℣. II. Audivi vocem dicentem mihi: Daniel, intellige verba quæ loquor tibi; quia ego missus sum ad te; nam et Michael venit in adjutorium meum.

℣. II. I heard a voice saying unto me: Daniel! understand the words that I speak unto thee; for I am sent unto thee; for Michael likewise cometh to help me.

Et propitius intende. And mercifully look.

Forgiveness of our past sins, and preservation from future ones, these are the effects produced by the holy sacrifice. Let us pray for them, in the Secret, together with the Church.

SECRET

Majestatem tuam, Domine, suppliciter deprecamur: ut hæc sancta, quæ gerimus, et a præteritis nos delictis exuant, et futuris. Per Dominum.

We humbly beseech thy majesty, O Lord: that the sacred mysteries we are celebrating may rid us of our past sins, and preserve us from sin for the future. Through, etc.

The other Secrets, as on page 180.

It is while assisting at these great mysteries that the Christian soul, in the enthusiasm of her love, presents to her God her promises and her engagements. Let her, then, give herself unreservedly to God, who overwhelms her with His favours; but, while thus giving free vent to the holy emotions which she so justly feels, let her not forget, that He who hides Himself, out of consideration for our weakness, under the eucharistic veil, is the Most High, who is terrible to the kings of the earth, and an avenger of infidelity to what is vowed.

COMMUNION

Vovete, et reddite Domino Deo vestro omnes, qui in circuitu ejus affertis munera: terribili et ei, qui aufert spiritum principum: terribili apud omnes reges terræ.

Vow ye, and pay to the Lord your God, all ye that, round about him, bring gifts: to him that is terrible; even to him, who taketh away the spirit of princes: to the terrible with the kings of the earth.

It is the very holiness of God that in this divine Sacrament comes for the purpose of curing our vices, and fortifying our faltering steps on the road which leads to eternity. In the prayer of the Postcommunion, let us yield our souls to His almighty influence.

POSTCOMMUNION

Sanctificationibus tuis, omnipotens Deus, et vitia nostra curentur, et remedia nobis æterna proveniant. Per Dominum.

May our vices be cured, O almighty God, and eternal remedies procured for us, by these thy holy mysteries. Through, etc.

The other Postcommunions, as on page 131.

VESPERS

The psalms, capitulum, hymn, and versicle, as above, pages 71–81.

ANTIPHON OF THE MAGNIFICAT

Quid vobis videtur de Christo? cujus filius est? Dicunt ei omnes: David. Dicit eis Jesus: Quomodo David in spiritu vocat eum Dominum, dicens: Dixit Dominus Domino meo: Sede a dextris meis?

What think ye of Christ? whose Son is he? They all say to him: David's. Jesus saith unto them: How doth David, in spirit, call him Lord, saying: the Lord said unto my Lord, sit on my right hand?

OREMUS — LET US PRAY

Da, quæsumus Domine, populo tuo diabolica vitare contagia: et te solum Deum pura mente sectari. Per Dominum.

Grant, we beseech thee, O Lord, that thy people may avoid all the contagions of the devil; and, with a pure mind, follow thee, who alone art God. Through, etc.

THE EMBER-DAYS OF SEPTEMBER

For the fourth time in her year, holy Church comes claiming from her children the tribute of penance, which, from the earliest ages of Christianity, was looked upon as a solemn consecration of the seasons. The historical details relative to the institution of the Ember-days will be found on the Wednesdays of the third week of Advent and of the first week of Lent; and on those same two days, we have spoken of the intentions which Christians should have in the fulfilment of this demand made upon their yearly service.

The beginnings of the winter, spring, and summer quarters were sanctified by abstinence and fasting, and each of them, in turn, has received heaven's blessing; and now autumn is harvesting the fruits which divine mercy, appeased by the satisfactions made by sinful man, has vouchsafed to bring forth from the bosom of the earth, notwithstanding the curse that still hangs over her. The precious seed of wheat, on which man's life mainly depends, was confided to the soil in the season of the early frosts, and, with the first fine days, peeped above the ground; at the approach of glorious Easter, it carpeted our fields with its velvet of green, making them ready to share in the universal joy of Jesus' resurrection; then, turning into a lovely image of what our souls ought to be in the season of Pentecost, its stem grew up under the action of the hot sun; the golden ear promised a hundred-fold to its master; the harvest made the reapers glad; and, now that September has come, it calls on man to fix his heart on that good God, who gave him all this store. Let him not think of saying, as that rich man of the Gospel did, after a plentiful harvest of fruits: 'My soul! thou hast much goods laid up for many years! Take thy rest, eat, drink, make good cheer.' And God said to that man: 'Thou fool! this night do they require thy soul of thee; and whose shall those things be which thou hast provided?'¹ If we would be truly rich before God, if we would draw down His blessing on the preservation, as well as on the production, of the fruits of the earth, let us, at the beginning of this last quarter of the year, have recourse to those penitential exercises whose beneficial effects we have always experienced in the past. The Church gives us the commandment to do so, by obliging us, under penalty of grievous sin, to abstain and fast on these three days, unless we be lawfully dispensed.

¹ St. Luke xii. 16–21.

We have already spoken of the necessity of private penance for the Christian who is at all desirous to make progress in the path of salvation. But in this, as in all spiritual exercises, a private work of devotion has neither the merit nor the efficacy of one that is done in company with the Church, and in communion with her public act; for the Church, as bride of Christ, communicates an exceptional worth and power to works of penance done, in her name, in the unity of the social body. St. Leo the Great is very strong on this fundamental principle of Christian virtue. We find him insisting on it in the sermons he preached to the faithful of Rome, on occasion of this fast, which was then called the fast of the seventh month. 'Although,' says he, 'it be lawful for each one of us to chastise his body by self-imposed punishments, and restrain, with more or less severity, the concupiscences of the flesh which war against the spirit, yet need is that, on certain days, a general fast be celebrated by all. Devotion is all the more efficacious and holy, when the whole Church is engaged in works of piety, with one spirit and one soul. Everything, in fact, that is of a public character is to be preferred to what is private; and it is plain, that so much the greater is the interest at stake, when the earnestness of all is engaged upon it. As for individual efforts, let each one keep up his fervour in them; let each one, imploring the aid of divine protection, take to himself the heavenly armour, wherewith to resist the snares laid by the spirits of wickedness; but the soldier of the Church (ecclesiasticus miles), though he may act bravely in his own private combats (specialibus præliis), yet will he fight more safely and more successfully, when he shall confront the enemy in a public engagement; for in that public engagement, he has not only his own valour to which to trust, but he is under the leadership of a King who can never be conquered, and engaged in a battle fought by all his fellow-soldiers; so that, being in their company and ranks, he has the fellowship of mutual aid.'¹

¹ St. Leo, Serm. iv., De Jejun. Sept. Mensis.

Another year, when preaching for the same occasion, this eloquent pontiff and doctor of the Church was even more energetic and lengthy, in putting these great truths before the people; would to God the words of such a Pope as Leo the Great could make themselves heard by our present generation, and induce us Christians to mistrust the individualistic tendencies of modern piety. Fortunately, the words of the saint exist, and in all their 'pontifical eloquence'; we invite our readers to peruse his sermons; we have only space for a short selection from his third sermon on the fast of the seventh month (our September Ember-days).

'God has sanctioned this privilege, that what is celebrated in virtue of a public law is more sacred than that which depends on a private regulation. The exercise of self-restraint which an individual Christian practises by his own will is for the advantage of that single member; but a fast undertaken by the Church at large includes everyone in the general purification. God's people never is so powerful as when the hearts of all the faithful join together in the unity of holy obedience, and when, in the Christian camp, one and the same preparation is made by all, and one and the same bulwark protects all. . . . See, most dearly beloved, here is the solemn fast of the seventh month urging us to profit by this invincible unity. . . . Let us raise up our hearts, withdraw from worldly occupations, and steal some time for furthering our eternal welfare. . . . The plenary remission of sin is obtained when the whole Church unites in the like prayer and the like confession; for, if the Lord promises that when two or three shall, with a holy and pious unanimity, agree to ask Him anything whatsoever, it shall be granted to them,¹ what can be refused to many thousands, who are all engaged in observing one and the same practice of religion, and in praying with one and the same spirit? In the eyes of God, my dearly beloved, it is a great and precious sight, when all Christ's people are earnest at the same Offices; and when, without any distinction, men and women of every grade and order are all working together with one heart. To depart from evil and do good,² that is the one determination of them all. They all give glory to God for the works He achieves in His servants. They all unite in returning hearty thanks to the loving Giver of all blessings. The hungry are fed; the naked are clad; the sick are visited; and no one seeketh his own profit, but that of others. . . . By this grace of God, who worketh all in all,³ the fruit is common, and the merit is common; for the affection of all may be the same, although all are not equally rich; and those who have less to bestow can rejoice in the liberality of others. There is nothing inordinate in such a people as that; there are no variances; for all the members of the whole body are alike in the energy of the same piety. . . . The beauty of the whole becomes the excellence of each member. . . . Let us, then, embrace this blessed solidity of holy unity, and with the same resolution and the same good will, let us enter upon this solemn fast.'⁴

¹ St. Matt. xviii. 19, 20.
² Ps. xxxiii. 15.
³ 1 Cor. xii. 6.
⁴ St. Leo, Serm. iii., De Jejun. Sept. Mensis.

Let us not, in our prayers and fasts, forget the new priests and other ministers of the Church, who, on Saturday next, are to receive the imposition of hands. The September ordination is not usually the most numerous of those given by the bishop during the year. The sublime function, to which the faithful owe their fathers and guides in the spiritual life, has, however, a special interest at this period of the year, which, more than any other, is in keeping with the present state of the world in its rapid decline towards ruin. Our year, too, is on the fall, as we say. The sun, which we beheld rising at Christmas as a giant who would burst the bonds of frost asunder and restrain the tyranny of darkness, now, as though he had grown wearied, is drooping towards the horizon; each day we see him gradually leaving that glorious zenith, where we admired his dazzling splendour on the day of our Emmanuel's Ascension; his fire has lost its might; and though he still holds half

the day as his, his disc is growing pale. All this foretells the approach of those long nights, when nature, stripped of all her loveliness by angry storms, seems as though she would bury herself for ever in the frozen shroud which is to bind her. So is it with our world. Illumined as it was by the light of Christ, and glowing with the fire of the Holy Ghost, it sees, in these our days, that charity is growing cold, and that the light and glow it had from the Sun of justice are on the wane. Each revolution takes from the Church some jewel or other, which does not come back to her when the storm is over; tempests are so frequent, that tumult is becoming the normal state of the times. Error predominates, and lays down the law. Iniquity abounds. It is our Lord Himself who said: 'When the Son of Man cometh, shall He find, think ye, faith on earth?'²

Lift up your heads, then, ye children of God! for your redemption is at hand. But, from now until that time shall come when heaven and earth are to be made new for the reign that is to be eternal, and shall bloom in the light of the Lamb, the Conqueror,⁴ days far worse than these must dawn upon this world of ours, when the elect themselves would be deceived, if that were possible!⁵ How important is it, in these miserable times, that the pastors of the flock of Christ be equal to their perilous and sublime vocation! Let us then fast and pray; and how numerous soever may be the losses sustained in the Christian ranks, of those who once were faithful in the practices of penance, let us not lose courage. Few as we may be, let us group ourselves closely round the Church, and implore of Jesus, her Spouse, that He vouchsafe to multiply His gifts in those whom He is calling to the now

¹ St. Matt. xxiv. 12. ² St. Luke xviii. 8. ³ Ibid. xxi. 28-31. ⁴ Apoc. xxi. ⁵ St. Mark xiii. 22.

more than ever dread honour of the priesthood; that He infuse into them His divine prudence, whereby they may be able to disconcert the plans of the impious; His untiring zeal for the conversion of ungrateful souls; His perseverance even unto death, in maintaining without reticence or compromise the plenitude of that truth which He has destined for the world, and the unviolated custody of which is to be, on the last day, the solemn testimony of the bride's fidelity.

THE EIGHTEENTH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST

The paralytic carrying his bed is the subject of this day's Gospel, and gives the eighteenth Sunday after Pentecost its title. This Sunday is inserted in the missal immediately after the Ember-days of autumn. We will not, like the liturgists of the Middle Ages, discuss the question of its having taken the place of the vacant Sunday, which formerly used always to follow the ordination of the sacred ministers,³ in the manner we have elsewhere described. Manuscript sacramentaries and lectionaries of very ancient date give it the name, which was so much in use, of Dominica vacat.⁴ Whatever may be the conclusion arrived at, there is one interesting point for consideration, viz., that in the Mass of this day the order of the lessons taken from St. Paul is broken. The Letter to the Ephesians, which has furnished the Epistles since the sixth Sunday after Pentecost, is to-day interrupted, and in its stead we have some verses from

¹ Berno Aug., cap. v., etc. ² Microlog., cap. xxix. ³ Advent: Ember Saturday. ⁴ Thomasi Opp. Edit. Vezzosi, t. v., p. 148, 149, 309.

the first Epistle to the Corinthians, wherein the apostle gives thanks to God for the manifold gifts granted, in Christ Jesus, to the Church. Now, the powers conferred by the imposition of the bishop's hands on the ministers of the Church are the most marvellous gift that is known on earth, yea, in heaven itself. The other portions of the Mass, too, are, as we shall see further on, most appropriate to the prerogatives of the new priesthood. So that the liturgy of the present Sunday is particularly interesting when it immediately follows the Ember-days of September. But this coincidence is not of very frequent occurrence, at least as the liturgy now stands; nor can we dwell longer on these subjects without going too far into archæology, and exceeding our limits.

MASS

The Introits of the Sunday Masses since Pentecost have hitherto been taken from the Psalter. From Ps. xii. to Ps. cxviii. the Church, without ever changing the order of these sacred canticles, chose from each of them, as its own turn came, the verses most appropriate to the liturgy of each Sunday. But, dating from to-day, she is going to select her Introits elsewhere, with one exception, however, when she will again turn to this, the Book by excellence of divine praise. Her future opening anthems for the dominical liturgy to the end of the year will be taken from various other Books of the old Testament. For this eighteenth Sunday we have Jesus, son of Sirach, the inspired writer of Ecclesiasticus, asking God to ratify the fidelity of His prophets¹ by the accomplishment of what they foretold. The present interpreters of the divine oracles

¹ Ecclus. xxxvi. 18.

are the pastors, whom the Church sends, in her own name, to preach the word of salvation and peace: let us, her children, pray with her that their words may never be void.

INTROIT

Da pacem, Domine, sustinentibus te, ut prophetæ tui fideles inveniantur; exaudi preces servi tui et plebis tuæ Israel.

Give peace, O Lord, to those who trusty wait for thee, that thy prophets may be found faithful; hear the prayers of thy servant, and of thy people Israel.

Ps. Lætatus sum in his, quæ dicta sunt mihi: in domum Domini ibimus. Gloria Patri. Da pacem.

Ps. I rejoiced at the things that were said unto me: we shall go into the house of the Lord. Glory, etc. Give peace.

The surest way to obtain grace is to be ever humbly acknowledging to our God our deep conviction that, of ourselves, we cannot please His divine Majesty. The Church continues to give us, in her Collects, the most admirable expressions of such an avowal.

COLLECT

Dirigat corda nostra, quæsumus Domine, tuæ miserationis operatio: quia tibi sine te placere non possumus. Per Dominum.

May the influence of thy mercy, O Lord, direct our hearts: for, without thy help, we cannot please thee. Through, etc.

The other Collects, as on page 120.

EPISTLE

Lectio Epistolæ beati Pauli Apostoli ad Corinthios.

Lesson of the Epistle of St. Paul the Apostle to the Corinthians.

I Caput I.

I Chapter I.

Fratres, Gratias ago Deo meo semper pro vobis in gratia Dei, quæ data est vobis in Christo Jesu: quod in omnibus divites facti estis in illo, in omni verbo, et in omni scientia: sicut testimonium Christi confirmatum est in vobis: ita ut nihil vobis desit in ulla gratia, exspectantibus revelationem Domini nostri Jesu Christi, qui et confirmabit vos usque in finem sine crimine, in die adventus Domini nostri Jesu Christi.

Brethren: I give thanks to my God always for you, for the grace of God, that is given you in Christ Jesus; that in all things you are made rich in him, in all utterance, and in all knowledge, as the testimony of Christ was confirmed in you. So that nothing is wanting to you in any grace, waiting for the manifestation of our Lord Jesus Christ. Who also will confirm you unto the end without crime, in the day of the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.

The last coming of the Son of Man is no longer far off! The approach of that final event, which is to put the Church in full possession of her divine Spouse, redoubles her hopes; but the last judgment, which is also to pronounce the eternal perdition of so great a number of her children, mingles fear with her desire; and these two sentiments of hers will henceforth be continually brought forward in the holy liturgy.

It is evident that expectation has been, so to say, an essential characteristic of her existence. Separated from her Lord, she would have been sighing all day long in this vale of tears, had not the love which possesses her driven her to spend herself, unselfishly and unreservedly, for Him who is absolute Master of her whole heart. She, therefore, devotes herself to labour and suffering, to prayers and tears. But her devotedness, unlimited as it has been, has not made her hopes less ardent. A love without desires is not a virtue of the Church; she condemns it in her children as being an insult to the Spouse.

So just and, at the same time, so intense were, from the very first, these her aspirations that eternal Wisdom wished to spare His bride, by concealing from her the duration of her exile. The day and hour of His return is the one sole point

upon which, when questioned by His apostles, Jesus refused to enlighten His Church.¹ That secret constituted one of the designs of God's government of the world; but, besides that, it was also a proof of the compassion and affection of the Man-God; the trial would have been too cruel; and it was better to leave the Church under the impression, which after all was a true one, that the end was nigh in God's sight, with whom a thousand years are as one day.²

This explains how it is that the apostles, the interpreters of the Church's aspirations, are continually recurring to the subject of the near approach of our Lord's coming. St. Paul has just been telling us, and that twice over in the same breath, that the Christian is he who waiteth for the manifestation of our Lord Jesus Christ, and for the day of His coming. In his Epistle to the Hebrews, he applies to the second coming the inflamed desires of the ancient prophets for the first, and says: 'Yet a little, and a very little while, and He that is to come, will come, and will not delay.'³ The reason is that, under the new Covenant as under the old, the Man-God is called, on account of His final manifestation, which is always being looked for, He that is coming, He that is to come. The cry which is to close the world's history is to be the announcement of His arrival: 'Behold! the Bridegroom is coming.'⁵

And St. Peter, too, says: 'Having the loins of your mind girt up, think of the glory of that day whereon the Lord Jesus is to be revealed! Hope for it, with a perfect hope!'⁶ The prince of the apostles foresaw the contemptuous way in which future false teachers would scoff at this long-

¹ St. Matt. xxiv. 3, 36. ² 2 St. Pet. iii. 8. ³ Hab. ii. 3; Heb. x. 37. ⁴ St. Matt. xi. 3; Apoc. i. 8. ⁵ St. Matt. xxv. 6. ⁶ 1 St. Pet. i. 5, 7, 13.

expected, but always put-off, coming: 'Where is His promise, or His coming? For, since the fathers slept, all things continue so, from the beginning of the creation!'¹ Yes, he foresaw this, and forestalled their sarcasm, by answering it in the words which his brother Paul² had previously used: 'The Lord delayeth not His promise, as some imagine; but dealeth patiently, for your sake, not willing that any should perish, but that all should return to penance. But the day of the Lord shall come as a thief, in which the heavens shall pass away with great violence; and the elements shall be melted with heat; and the earth, and the works which are in it, shall be burnt up. Seeing, then, that all these things are to be dissolved, what manner of people ought you to be in holy conversation and godliness, looking for, and hastening unto, the coming of the day of the Lord, by which the heavens, being on fire, shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with the burning heat of fire? But we look for new heavens and a new earth according to His promises, in which justice dwelleth. Wherefore, dearly beloved, seeing that you look for these things, be diligent that ye may be found undefiled and unspotted to Him in peace. . . . Wherefore, brethren, knowing these things before, take heed lest, being led aside by the error of the unwise, you fall from your own steadfastness.'⁴

If, in those last days, the danger is to be so great that the very powers of heaven shall be moved,⁵ our Lord, as we are told in our Epistle, has providentially confirmed in us His testimony and our faith, by continual manifestations of His power. And, as if to verify that other word of the same Epistle, that He will thus confirm unto the end

¹ 2 St. Pet. iii. 3, 4. ² Ibid. 15. ³ Rom. ii. 4. ⁴ 2 St. Pet. iii. 9-17. ⁵ St. Matt. xxiv. 29.

them that believe in Him, He redoubles His prodigies in these our times, as though they were precursors of the end. Miracles are forcing themselves on the world's unwilling notice; and our modern facilities for propagating news are made to tell this glory of the Lord all over His earth! In the name of Jesus, in the name of one or other of His saints, but especially in the name of His Immaculate Mother, who is preparing the final triumph of the Church, the blind see, the lame walk, the deaf hear, every misery of both body and soul is suddenly made to yield. So incontestable, indeed, and so public, is the manifestation of supernatural power, that business-managers of all kinds, though they must, out of regard for incredulity, laugh at the facts, yet are most serious in turning the occasion to their profit. Such very material agencies as railway companies have been glad to accommodate the faithful thousands, and carry them as quickly as they could to the favoured sanctuaries, where the holy Mother of God has appeared. It is not in Catholic countries only that the divine power has made itself felt. Quite recently, in the very centre of Mohammedan infidelity, the city of the Sultans rejoiced at hearing of the marvels done by the Queen of heaven within its own walls. The water of the miraculous fountain has been carried even into the city of Mecca, where is the tomb of the founder of Islam, and into which, until but lately, it was death for any Christian to enter.

The infidel may say in his heart: 'There is no God!'¹ If he hears not the divine testimony, it is because corruption, or pride, has more power over him than the light of reason, just as it had over the enemies of Jesus during His life upon earth. He is like to the asp of the Psalm,² which maketh itself deaf; it stoppeth its ears, that it may never hear the voice of the divine Enchanter, who speaketh that He may save. His life is one piece of madness and folly; he has done his best to draw down vengeance upon himself.

Let us not be like him, but, with the apostle, let us thank God for the rich profusion of grace which He has so mercifully poured out upon us. Never were His gratuitous gifts more necessary than in these our miserable times. True, the Gospel does not now need to be promulgated; but the efforts of hell against it have become so violent that, in order to withstand them, there is need of a power from on high equal in some sense to that we read of as granted in the beginning of the Church. Let us beseech our Lord to bless us with men powerful in word and work. Let us, by the fervour of our fastings and prayers, obtain from His divine Majesty that the imposition of hands may produce, now more than ever, in them that are called to the priesthood, its full result: that it may make them rich in all things, and especially in all utterance, and in all knowledge. May these days, in which all principles are growing shadowy, find that the supernatural light is kept up, in full splendour and purity, by the zeal of the guides of Christ's flock. May the compromises and flinchings of a generation, in which all truth is being etiolated and diminished, never lead our newly ordained priests, either themselves to shorten, or to permit anyone else to curtail, the measure of the perfect man,³ which was bestowed on them, in order that they might apply it to every Christian who is desirous of observing the Gospel! In spite of all threats, in spite of the noisy passions which are boisterous against any priest who dares to preach the truth, let their voice be what it should be—that is, an echo of the Word: let it vibrate with the holy firmness of the saints!

¹ Ps. xiii, 1. ² Ps. lvii. 5, 6. ³ Eph. iv. 13.

In the Gradual, the Church repeats the Introit-verse, to celebrate once more the joy felt by the Christian people at hearing the glad tidings, that they are soon to go into the house of the Lord. That house is heaven, into which we are to enter on the last day, our Lord Jesus Christ leading the way. But the house is also the temple in which we are now assembled, and into which we are introduced by the representatives of that same Lord of ours, that is, by His priests.

GRADUAL

Lætatus sum in his, quæ
dicta sunt mihi: in domum Domini ibimus.

℣. Fiat pax in virtute
tua, et abundantia in turribus tuis.

Alleluia, alleluia.

℣. Timebunt gentes nomen tuum, Domine: et omnes reges terræ gloriam
tuam. Alleluia.

I rejoiced at the things that were said unto me: we shall go into the house of the Lord.

℣. Let peace be in thy
strength, and abundance in thy towers.

Alleluia, alleluia.

℣. The Gentiles shall fear
thy name, O Lord: and all the kings of the earth thy glory. Alleluia.

GOSPEL

Sequentia sancti Evangelii
secundum Matthæum.

Caput IX.

In illo tempore: Ascendens Jesus in naviculam, transfretavit, et venit in civitatem suam. Et ecce offerebant ei paralyticum jacentem in lecto. Et videns Jesus fidem illorum, dixit paralytico: Confide, fili, remittuntur tibi peccata tua. Et ecce quidam de scribis dixerunt intra se: Hic blasphemat. Et cum vidisset Jesus cogitationes eorum, dixit: Ut quid cogitatis mala in cordibus vestris? Quid est facilius dicere: Dimittuntur tibi peccata tua: an dicere: Surge et ambula? Ut autem sciatis, quia filius hominis habet potestatem in terra dimittendi peccata, tunc ait paralytico: Surge, tolle lectum tuum, et vade in domum tuam. Et surrexit, et abiit in domum suam. Videntes autem turbæ timuerunt, et glorificaverunt
Deum, qui dedit potestatem talem hominibus.

Sequel of the holy Gospel according to Matthew.

Chapter IX.

At that time: Jesus entering into a boat, passed over the water and came into his own city. And behold they brought to him one sick of the palsy, lying on a bed. And Jesus seeing their faith, said to the man sick of the palsy: Be of good heart, son, thy sins are forgiven thee. And behold some of the scribes said within themselves: He blasphemeth. And Jesus seeing their thoughts, said: Why do you think evil in your hearts? Whether is it easier to say: Thy sins are forgiven thee; or to say: Arise and walk? But that you may know that the Son of man hath power on earth to forgive sins, (then said he to the man sick of the palsy,) Arise, take up thy bed, and go into thy house. And he arose and went into his house. And the multitude seeing it, feared and glorified God that gave such power to men.

In the thirteenth century, in many Churches of the west, the Gospel for to-day was that wherein our Lord speaks of the scribes and pharisees as seated on the chair of Moses.¹ The Abbot Rupert, who gives us this detail in his book on the Divine Offices, shows how admirably this Gospel harmonized with the Offertory, which is the one we still have, and which alludes to Moses. 'This Sunday's Office, says he, eloquently points out, to him who presides over the house of the Lord and has received charge of souls, the manner in which he should comport himself in the high rank, where the divine call has placed him. Let him not imitate those men, who unworthily sat on the chair of Moses; but let him follow the example of Moses himself, who, in the Offertory and its verses, presents the heads of the Church with such a model of perfection. Pastors of souls ought, on no account, to be ignorant of the reason why they are placed higher than other men: it is not so much that they may govern others, as that they may serve them.'² Our Lord, speaking of the Jewish doctors, said: 'All whatsoever they shall say to you, observe and do; but according to their works, do ye not: for they say, and do not.'³ Contrariwise to these unworthy guardians of the Law, they that are seated on the chair of doctrine 'should teach, and act conformably to their teaching,' as the same Abbot Rupert adds. 'Or, rather,' says he, 'let them first do what it is their duty to do, that they may afterwards teach with authority; let them not seek after honours and titles, but make this their one object, to bear on themselves the sins of the people, and to merit to avert the wrath of God from those who are confided to their care. Such, we are told in the Offertory, is the example given them by Moses.'²

¹ St. Matt. xxiii. 1–12. ² Rup., Div. Off., xii. 18. ³ St. Matt. xxiii. 3.

The Gospel which speaks of the scribes and pharisees who were seated on the chair of Moses has now been appointed for the Tuesday of the second week of Lent. But the one which is at present given for this Sunday equally directs our thoughts to the consideration of the superhuman powers of the priesthood, which are the common boon of regenerated humanity. The faithful, whose attention used formerly, on this Sunday, to be fixed on the right of teaching which is confided to the pastors of the Church, are now invited to meditate upon the prerogative which these same men have of forgiving sins and healing souls. Even if their conduct be in opposition to their teaching, it in nowise interferes with the authority of the sacred chair, from which, for the Church and in her name, they dispense the bread of doctrine to her children. Moreover, whatever unworthiness may happen to be in the soul of a priest, it does not in the least lessen the power of the keys which have been put into his hands to open heaven and to shut hell. For it is the Son of Man, Jesus, who, by the priest, be he a saint, or be he a sinner, rids of their sins His brethren and His creatures, whose miseries He has taken upon Himself, and whose crimes He has atoned for by His Blood.

The miracle of the cure of the paralytic, which gave an occasion to Jesus of declaring His power of forgiving sins inasmuch as he was Son of Man, has always been especially dear to the Church. Besides the narration she gives us of it from St. Matthew in to-day's Gospel, she again, on the Ember Friday of Whitsuntide, relates it in the words of St. Luke.² The Catacomb frescoes, which have been preserved to the present day, equally attest the predilection for this subject, wherewith she inspired the Christian artists of the first centuries. From the very beginning of Christianity, heretics had risen up denying that the Church had the power, which her divine Head gave her, of remitting sin. Such false teaching would irretrievably condemn to spiritual death an immense number of Christians, who, unhappily, had fallen after their Baptism, but who, according to Catholic dogma, might be restored to grace by the sacrament of Penance. With what energy, then, would our mother the Church defend the remedy which gives life to her children! She uttered her anathemas upon, and drove from her communion, those pharisees of the new law, who, like their Jewish predecessors, refused to acknowledge the infinite mercy and universality of the great mystery of the Redemption.

¹ Heb. ii. 10–18. ² St. Luke v. 17–26.

Like to her divine Master, who had worked under the eyes of the scribes, His contradictors, the Church, too, in proof of her consoling doctrine, had worked an undeniable and visible miracle in the presence of the false teachers; and yet she had failed to convince them of the reality of the miracle of sanctification and grace invisibly wrought by her words of remission and pardon. The outward cure of the paralytic was both the image and the proof of the cure of his soul, which previously had been in a state of moral paralysis; but he himself represented another sufferer, viz., the human race, which for ages had been a victim to the palsy of sin. Our Lord had already left the earth, when the faith of the apostles achieved this, their first prodigy, of bringing to the Church the world grown old in its infirmity. Finding that the human race was docile to the teaching of the divine messengers, and was already an imitator of their faith, the Church spoke as a mother, and said: Be of good heart, son! thy sins are forgiven thee! At once, to the astonishment of the philosophers and sceptics, and to the confusion of hell, the world rose up from its long and deep humiliation; and, to prove how thoroughly his strength had been restored to him, he was seen carrying, on his shoulders, by the labour of penance and the mastery over his passions, the bed of his old exhaustion and feebleness, on which pride, lust, and covetousness had so long held him. From that time forward, complying with the word of Jesus, which was also said to him by the Church, he has been going on towards his house, which is heaven, where eternal joy awaits him! And the angels, beholding such a spectacle of conversion and holiness,¹ are in amazement, and sing glory to God, who gave such power to men.

¹ St. Luke v. 26.

Let us also give thanks to Jesus, whose marvellous dower, which is the Blood He shed for His bride, suffices to satisfy, through all ages, the claims of eternal justice. It was at Easter time that we saw our Lord instituting the great Sacrament, which thus in one instant restores the sinner to life and strength. But how doubly wonderful does its power seem, when we see it working in these times of effeminacy and of well-nigh universal ruin! Iniquity abounds; crimes are multiplied; and yet, the life-restoring pool, kept full by the sacred stream which flows from the open side of our crucified Lord, is ever absorbing and removing, as often as we permit it, and without leaving one single vestige of them, those mountains of sins, those hideous treasures of iniquity which had been amassed, during long years, by the united agency of the devil, the world, and man himself.

The Offertory speaks to us of the figurative altar, which was set up by Moses for the reception of the oblations of the figurative Law, which oblations foreshadowed the great and only true sacrifice, at which we are now present. After the anthem which is still in use, we will append the verses which were anciently added. Moses is there represented as the type of those faithful prophets mentioned in the Introit; he is shown to us as the model of those true leaders of God's people, who devote themselves in order to procure mercy and peace for those whom they guide. God sometimes seems to resist them, but He always suffers Himself to be overcome; and in return for their fidelity, He admits them into the most intimate manifestations of His light and His love. The first verse shows us the priest in his public life of intercession and devotedness for others; the second reveals to us his private life, of which prayer and contemplation are the main occupation. We shall not be surprised at the length of these verses—the singing of which would far exceed the time for offering the Host and chalice, such as is now the custom—if we remember how it was the ancient usage that the whole assembly of the faithful present at the holy Sacrifice took part in the oblation of the bread and wine needed for the liturgy. So likewise the Communion, which at present consists of only a few lines, was originally nothing but the antiphon to an entire psalm, which in the ancient antiphonaries was appointed for each day, when it was not the same as the Introit-psalm; the psalm was sung, repeating the antiphon after each verse, until all had communicated.

¹ Wednesday of the fifth week after Easter.
² Rup., ubi supra.

OFFERTORY

Sanctificavit Moyses altare Domino, offerens super illud holocausta, et immolans victimas : fecit sacrificium vespertinum in odorem suavitatis Domino Deo, in conspectu filiorum Israel.

Moses consecrated an altar unto the Lord, offering whole-burnt offerings thereon, and slaying victims: he made an evening sacrifice for a sweet odour unto the Lord God, in the sight of the children of Israel.

V. I. Locutus est Dominus ad Moysen dicens : Ascende ad me in montem Sina, et stabis super cacumen ejus. Surgens Moyses, ascendit in montem, ubi constituit ei Deus ; et descendit ad eum Dominus in nube, et adstitit ante faciem ejus. Videns Moyses, procidens adoravit, dicens : Obsecro, Domine, dimitte peccata populi tui. Et dixit ad eum Dominus : Faciam secundum verbum tuum.

Tunc Moyses fecit sacrificium vespertinum.

V. I. The Lord spake unto Moses saying : Come up unto me, upon mount Sina, and thou shalt stand on the top thereof. Moses rising up, went up the mountain, where the Lord had appointed him : and the Lord came down unto him in a cloud, and stood before his face. Which Moses seeing, fell down and adored, saying : I beseech thee, O Lord, forgive the sins of thy people. And the Lord said unto him : I will do according to thy word.

Then Moses made an evening sacrifice.

V. II. Oravit Moyses Dominum, et dixit : Si inveni gratiam in conspectu tuo, ostende mihi teipsum manifeste, ut videam te. Et locutus est ad eum Dominus dicens : Non enim videbit me homo, et vivere potest : sed esto super altitudinem lapidis, et protegat te dextera mea, donec pertranseam : dum pertransiero, auferam manum meam, et tunc videbis gloriam meam : facies autem mea non videbitur tibi quia ego sum Deus ostendens mirabilia in terra. Tunc Moyses fecit.

V. II. Moses prayed to the Lord and said : If I have found favour in thy sight, show me thyself openly, that I may see thee. And the Lord spake unto him, saying : For man shall not see me, and live; but be thou on the height of the rock, and my right hand shall protect thee, till I pass : whilst I pass I will take away my hand, and then shalt thou see my glory : but my face shall not be seen by thee; for I am God, showing wonderful things in the earth. Then Moses made.

The sublime eloquence of the Secret is beyond all comment. Let us be thoroughly imbued with the high teaching here so admirably summed up in a few short words: let us come to understand that our life and conduct should have something divine about them, in response to the mysteries which are revealed to our understanding and incorporated into us by the venerable communication of this Sacrifice.

SECRET

Deus, qui nos per hujus sacrificii veneranda commercia, unius summæ divinitatis participes efficis : præsta, quæsumus; ut, sicut tuam cognoscimus veritatem, sic eam dignis moribus assequamur. Per Dominum.

O God, who, by the venerable communication of this sacrifice, makest us partakers of the one supreme divine nature: grant, we beseech thee, that as we know thy truth, so we may follow it up by a worthy life. Through, etc.

The other Secrets, as on page 180.

The Communion-anthem is addressed to the priests, and, at the same time, to us all: for if the priest offers the Victim, which is the holiest that can be, we should not think of accompanying him into the court of our God, without bringing up, that they may be united to the divine Host, other victims, that is ourselves. It is God's injunction: Thou shalt not appear empty before me!¹

COMMUNION

Tollite hostias, et introite in atria ejus : adorate Dominum in aula sancta ejus.

Bring up sacrifices, and come into his courts: adore ye the Lord in his holy court.

Whilst giving thanks in the Postcommunion for the priceless gift of the sacred mysteries, let us beseech our God to perfect within us the grace of always receiving it worthily.

POSTCOMMUNION

Gratias tibi referimus, Domine, sacro munere vegetati, tuam misericordiam deprecantes : ut dignos nos ejus participatione perficias. Per Dominum.

Being fed, O Lord, with the sacred gift, we give thee thanks, humbly beseeching thy mercy, that thou wouldst make us worthy of its reception. Through, etc.

The other Postcommunions, as on page 181.

VESPERS

The psalms, capitulum, hymn, and versicle, as above, pages 71-81.

ANTIPHON OF THE MAGNIFICAT

Tulit ergo paralyticus lectum suum in quo jacebat, magnificans Deum ; et omnis plebs, ut vidit, dedit laudem Deo.

The paralytic took up his bed, on which he had been lying, magnifying God ; and all the people, as soon as they saw this, gave praise unto God.

OREMUS

Dirigat corda nostra, quæsumus, Domine, tuæ miserationis operatio : quia tibi sine te placere non possumus. Per Dominum.

LET US PRAY

May the influence of thy mercy, O Lord, direct our hearts: for, without thy help, we cannot please thee. Through, etc.

¹ Exod. xxiii. 15.

THE NINETEENTH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST

MASS

The divine Leader of God's people is their salvation in all their distress. Did we not last Sunday see Him prove Himself such, and in a very telling way, by curing both body and soul of the poor paralytic, who was a figure of the whole human race? Let us hear His voice, in the Introit, with love and gratitude; let us promise Him the fidelity He asks of us; His Law, if we will but observe it, will preserve us from a relapse.

The anthem which follows is made up of several passages of holy Writ, without being exactly that of any one of them. The verse is taken from Psalm lxxvii.

INTROIT

Salus populi ego sum, dicit Dominus : de quacumque tribulatione clamaverint ad me, exaudiam eos : et ero illorum Dominus in perpetuum.

I am the salvation of the people, saith the Lord: in what distress soever they call upon me, I will hear them : and will be their Lord for ever.

Ps. Attendite, popule meus, legem meam : inclinate aurem vestram in verba oris mei. Gloria Patri. Salus populi.

Ps. Attend, O my people, unto my law: incline your ear to the words of my mouth. Glory, etc. I am the salvation.

Free both in mind and body by the omnipotent word of the Son of Man, the human race can devote itself, with all activity, to the service of God. Let us obtain from His divine Majesty, by uniting our prayer with that of the Church in her Collect, that the fatal paralysis, which was once so cruel a tyrant over our souls and faculties, may never return.

COLLECT

Omnipotens et misericors Deus, universa nobis adversantia propitiatus exclude : ut mente et corpore pariter expediti, quæ tua sunt liberis mentibus exsequamur. Per Dominum.

O almighty and merciful God, graciously keep away from us all things that are adverse: that being free in mind and body, we may, with unimpeded minds, attend to the things that are thine. Through, etc.

The other Collects, as on page 120.

EPISTLE

Lectio Epistolæ beati Pauli Apostoli ad Ephesios. Caput IV.

Lesson of the Epistle of St. Paul the Apostle to the Ephesians. Chapter IV.

Fratres, Renovamini spiritu mentis vestræ, et induite novum hominem, qui secundum Deum creatus est in justitia, et sanctitate veritatis. Propter quod deponentes mendacium, loquimini veritatem unusquisque cum proximo suo : quoniam sumus invicem membra. Irascimini, et nolite peccare : sol non occidat super iracundiam vestram. Nolite locum dare diabolo : qui furabatur, jam non furetur : magis autem laboret, operando manibus suis, quod bonum est, ut habeat unde tribuat necessitatem patienti.

Brethren: be renewed in the spirit of your mind; and put on the new man, who, according to God, is created in justice, and holiness of truth. Wherefore, putting away lying, speak ye the truth every man with his neighbour: for we are members one of another. Be angry and sin not. Let not the sun go down upon your anger. Give not place to the devil. He that stole, let him now steal no more; but rather let him labour, working with his hands the thing which is good, that he may have something to give to him that suffereth need.

The Epistle to the Ephesians, which was interrupted last Sunday in the manner we then described, is continued to-day by the Church. The apostle has already laid down the dogmatical principles of true holiness; he now deduces the moral consequences of those principles.

Let us call to mind how the holiness, which is in God, is His very truth—truth living and harmonious, which is no other than the admirable concert of the Three divine Persons, united in love. We have seen that holiness, as far as it exists in us men, is also union, by infinite love, with the eternal and living Truth. The Word took a Body unto Himself in order to manifest in the Flesh this sanctifying and perfect truth,¹ of which He is the substantial expression;² His Humanity, sanctified directly by the plenitude of the divine life and truth, which dwell within Him,³ became the model, as well as the means, the way, of all holiness to every creature.⁴ It was not sin alone, but it was, moreover, the finite nature of man that kept him at a distance from the divine life;⁵ but he finds in Christ Jesus, just as in God, the two elements of that life: truth and love. In Jesus, as the complement of His Incarnation, Wisdom aspires at uniting with herself all the members, also, of that human race, of which He is the Head,⁶ and the First-born;⁷ by Him the Holy Ghost, whose sacred fount He is,⁸ pours Himself out upon man, whereby to adapt him to his sublime vocation, and to consummate, in infinite love (which is Himself), that union of every creature with the divine Word. Thus it is that we verily partake of that life of God, whose existence and holiness are the knowledge and love of His own Word; thus it is that we are sanctified in truth⁹ by the participation of that very holiness wherewith God is holy by nature.

¹ St. John i. 14. ² Heb. i. 3. ³ Col. ii. 3, 9, 10.
⁴ St. John xiv. 6. ⁵ Eph. iv. 18. ⁶ Ibid. i. 10.
⁷ Col. i. 15-20. ⁸ Cf. St. John iv. 14; vii. 37, 39.
⁹ Ibid. xvii. 17.

The Son of Man, being God, participates for us His brethren in the life of union in the truth which constitutes the holiness of the blessed Trinity. But He communicates that life, that truth, that deifying union, to none save those who have truly become His members, and who, in Him, reproduce between one another, by the operation of the Spirit of truth¹ and love, that unity of which that sanctifying Spirit is the almighty bond in the Godhead. 'May they all be one, as Thou, Father, in Me, and I in Thee,' said Jesus to His eternal Father, 'that they also may be one in us. I have given unto them the glory (that is to say, the holiness) which Thou hast given unto Me, that they may be one, as we also are one; I in them, and Thou in Me, that they may be consummated (that is, be made perfect) in unity.'² Here we have, and formulated by our Lord Himself, the simple but fruitful axiom, the foundation of Christian dogma and morals. By that sublime prayer, He explained what He had previously been saying: 'I sanctify Myself for them, that they, also, may be sanctified in truth.'³

Let us now understand the moral doctrine given us by St. Paul in our to-day's Epistle. What does he mean by that justice, and that holiness of truth, which is that of Christ,⁴ of the new man, whom everyone must put on, that aspires to the possession of the riches spoken of in the passages already read to us from this magnificent Epistle? Let us re-read the Epistle for the seventeenth Sunday, and we shall find that all the rules of Christian asceticism, as well as of the mystic life, are to St. Paul's mind summed up in those words: Be careful to keep unity!⁵ It is the principle he lays down for all, both beginners and the perfect. It is the crowning of the sublimest vocations in the order of grace, as well as the foundation and reason of all God's commandments; so truly so, indeed, that, if we are commanded to abstain from lying, and to speak the truth to them that live with us, the motive is that we are members one of another.

¹ Cf. St. John xv. 26. ² Ibid. xvii. 21-23. ³ Ibid. 19.
⁴ Rom. xiii. 14. ⁵ Eph. iv. 3.

There is a holy anger, of which the Psalmist speaks, and which is the outcome, on certain occasions, of zeal for the divine law and charity; but the movement of irritation excited in the soul must, even then, be speedily calmed down; to foster it would be to give place to the devil, to give him an opportunity of weakening, or even destroying, within us, by bitterness and hatred, the structure of holy unity.

Before our conversion our neighbour, as well as God, was grieved by our sins; we cared little or nothing for injustice, provided it was not noticed; egotism was our law, and it was proof enough of the reign of Satan over our souls. Now that the Spirit of holiness has expelled the unworthy usurper, the strongest evidence of His being our rightful master is that not only the rights of others are sacred in our estimation, but our toil and our labours are all undergone for the purpose of being serviceable to our neighbour. In a word, as the apostle continues a little farther on, we walk in love, because, as most dear children, we are followers of God.

It is by this means alone, says St. Basil, that the Church manifests the many and great benefits bestowed on the world by the Incarnation. The Christian family, which, heretofore, was split up into a thousand separate fragments, is now made one, one in itself, and one in God; it is the repetition of what our Lord did, by assuming Flesh and making it one with Himself.

Our Jesus has restored to our hands, which once were paralyzed for every supernatural work, the full freedom of their movements; let us, then,

¹ Ps. iv. 5. ² S. Chrys., in ep. ad Eph. Hom., xiv.
³ Eph. v. 1, 2. ⁴ S. Basil, Const. mon., xviii.

raise them up spiritually in prayer, giving glory to God by this our homage, which He graciously accepts as a fragrant sacrifice. The Church gives us this teaching in the Gradual, and by her own example as well.

GRADUAL

Dirigatur oratio mea, sicut incensum in conspectu tuo, Domine.

V. Elevatio manuum mearum sacrificium vespertinum.

Let my prayer be directed as incense in thy sight, O Lord.

V. May the lifting up of my hands be as an evening sacrifice.

Alleluia, alleluia.

V. Confitemini Domino, et invocate nomen ejus: annuntiate inter gentes opera ejus. Alleluia.

V. Give glory to the Lord, and call upon his name: proclaim among the gentiles his works. Alleluia.

GOSPEL

Sequentia sancti Evangelii secundum Matthæum.
Caput XXII.

Sequel of the holy Gospel according to Matthew. Chapter XXII.

In illo tempore: Loquebatur Jesus principibus sacerdotum, et pharisæis in parabolis, dicens: Simile factum est regnum cælorum homini regi, qui fecit nuptias filio suo. Et misit servos suos vocare invitatos ad nuptias, et nolebant venire. Iterum misit alios servos, dicens: Dicite invitatis: Ecce prandium meum paravi; tauri mei, et altilia occisa sunt, et omnia parata; venite ad nuptias. Illi autem neglexerunt, et abierunt, alius in villam suam, alius vero ad negotiationem suam: reliqui vero tenuerunt servos ejus, et contumeliis affectos occiderunt.

At that time: Jesus spoke to the chief priests and the pharisees in parables, saying: The kingdom of heaven is likened to a king, who made a marriage for his son. And he sent his servants, to call them that were invited to the marriage: and they would not come. Again he sent other servants, saying: Tell them that were invited: Behold, I have prepared my dinner: my beeves and fatlings are killed, and all things are ready: come ye to the marriage. But they neglected, and went their ways, one to his farm, and another to his merchandise. And the rest laid hands on his servants, and having treated them contumeliously, put them to death.

Rex autem cum audisset, iratus est: et missis exercitibus suis, perdidit homicidas illos, et civitatem illorum succendit. Tunc ait servis suis: Nuptiæ quidem paratæ sunt, sed qui invitati erant, non fuerunt digni. Ite ergo ad exitus viarum, et quoscumque inveneritis, vocate ad nuptias. Et egressi servi ejus in vias, congregaverunt omnes, quos invenerunt, malos et bonos: et impletæ sunt nuptiæ discumbentium. Intravit autem rex ut videret discumbentes, et vidit ibi hominem non vestitum veste nuptiali. Et ait illi: Amice, quomodo huc intrasti, non habens vestem nuptialem? At ille obmutuit. Tunc dixit rex ministris: Ligatis manibus et pedibus ejus, mittite eum in tenebras exteriores: ibi erit fletus et stridor dentium. Multi enim sunt vocati, pauci vero electi.

But when the king had heard of it, he was angry, and sending his armies, he destroyed those murderers, and burnt their city. Then he saith to his servants: The marriage indeed is ready: but they that were invited were not worthy. Go ye therefore into the highways; and as many as ye shall find, call to the marriage. And his servants going forth into the ways, gathered together all that they found, both bad and good: and the marriage was filled with guests. And the king went in to see the guests: and he saw there a man who had not on a wedding garment. And he saith to him: Friend, how camest thou in hither not having on a wedding garment? But he was silent. Then the king said to the waiters: Bind his hands and his feet, and cast him into the exterior darkness; there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth. For many are called, but few are chosen.

This Gospel has given to the present Sunday the name of the Sunday of the invited to the marriage. And yet, from the very opening of the dominical series, which began with the Descent of the Holy Ghost, the Church gave us the Gospel teaching which she offers to us, now a second time, for our consideration. On the second Sunday after Pentecost, she related to us, from St. Luke, the parable of the great supper, to which many were invited, and which St. Matthew, entering into fuller details, calls a marriage-feast.¹

¹ St. Luke xiv. 16-24.

Set thus before us, both at the beginning and at the close of the liturgical season over which the Holy Spirit reigns supreme, this parable is, as it were, the interpreter of the whole portion of the year which it thus hems in: it is an additional revelation of the true aim of the Church. But how much has the light increased, since the first time we had these mystery-telling allegories! The certain man (homo quidam), who made a great supper, and invited many, has become the King, who makes a marriage for His Son, and, in this marriage, gives us an image of the kingdom of heaven. The world's history, too, has been developing, as we gather from the terms respectively used by the two Evangelists. Those who were the first invited, and contented themselves with declining the kindness of the Master of the house, have grown in their impious ingratitude; laying hands on the messengers sent them by the loving-kindness¹ of the King, they treat them with contumely, and put them to death! We have seen the merited punishment inflicted on these deicides, by this Man, who was God Himself, the Father of Israel, now become King of the Gentiles: we have seen how He sent his armies to destroy them, and burn their city!² And now at last, in spite of the refusal of the invited of Juda, in spite of the treacherous opposition put by them against the celebration of the nuptials of the Son of God, all things are ready for the marriage, and the banquet-hall is filled with guests.

¹ See Time after Pentecost, vol. i, p. 358.
² See Ninth Sunday after Pentecost.

Our heavenly King has confided, to the ministers of His love, the work of calling from every people the new guests. But now that His ambassadors, according to His command, have traversed the whole earth,¹ bringing together all nations for this day of the joy of His heart,² He Himself is coming in person, to see that nothing is wanting to the due preparation for the feast, and to give the signal for the eternal banquet of the divine nuptials. Now, for such a feast, and in such a place, if there be any deficiency, it can only be on the part of the guests. Let them, then, be careful not to draw down upon themselves, in this general and last examination, the displeasure of the great King, who has called them to an alliance with Himself. Though He has condescended to call them, notwithstanding their extreme poverty, from the public streets and highways, He has given them abundant time to lay aside their tatters; and knowing that they could not get ready of themselves, He has placed at their disposal, for the marriage-feast, the richest garments of His grace and virtues. Woe, then, to him who on the last day shall be found not having the wedding garment of charity! Such a want would admit of no excuse; and the King would justly punish it, by excluding the guilty man from the feast, as one that had insulted His Son.

¹ Ps. xviii. 5. ² Cant. iii. 11.

Everything we have had on the preceding Sundays, has shown us how solicitous the Church ever is in preparing mankind for that wonderful marriage whose realization is the one object aimed at by the divine Word, in coming upon our earth. During her long exile, the bride of the Son of God has been a living model to her children; and, by her instructions, she has been unceasingly preparing them for the understanding of the great mystery of divine union. Three weeks ago,³ treating more directly than she had hitherto done on the great subject of her ambition as mother and bride, she reminded them of the great call. On the following Sunday, she gave them another lesson: she revealed to them the Bridegroom of the nuptials, to which they were invited, as the Man-God, the object of the twofold precept of love which embodies the whole Law. To-day, we have the teaching in all its perfection. It is condensed in the night Office, where we have St. Gregory explaining her whole teaching. The great doctor and the great Pope thus, in the name of the Church, explains our Gospel:

³ The Sixteenth Sunday after Pentecost.

'The kingdom of heaven is the assembly of the just; for, the Lord says by a prophet: "Heaven is My throne";¹ and Solomon says: "The soul of the just man is the throne of wisdom";² and Paul calls Christ the Wisdom of God.³ If, therefore, heaven be the throne of God, we must evidently conclude that, as Wisdom is God, and the soul of the just man is the throne of Wisdom, this soul is a heaven. . . . The kingdom of heaven, then, is the assembly of the just. . . . If this kingdom is said to be like to a King, who made a marriage for his Son, your charity at once understands who is this King, who is the Father of a Son, King like Himself. It is He, of whom the psalmist says: "Give to the King Thy judgment, O God, and to the King's Son Thy justice!"⁴ God the Father made the marriage of God His Son, when He wished that He, who had been God before all ages, should become Man towards the end of ages. But we must not, on that account, suppose that there are two persons in Jesus Christ, our God and our Saviour. . . . It is, perhaps, clearer and safer to say, that the King made a marriage for His Son, in that, by the mystery of the Incarnation, He united the Church to Him. The womb of the Virgin-Mother was the nuptial-chamber of that Bridegroom, of whom the psalmist says:⁵ "He hath set His tabernacle in the sun: and He, as a Bridegroom, cometh out of His bride-chamber!"'⁶

¹ Isa. lxvi. 1. ² Wisd. vii. 27.
³ 1 Cor. i. 24. ⁴ Ps. lxxi. 2.
⁵ Ps. xviii. 6. ⁶ S. Greg., Hom. xxxviii, in Ev.

Notwithstanding her dignity of beloved bride of the Son of God, the Church is, none the less, subject to tribulations here below. The enemies of the Spouse, having no longer any direct power to injure our Lord, turn all their rage against her. In these trials, endured as they are by the Church with love, Jesus sees a fresh trait of that resemblance which He wishes her to have to Himself; He, therefore, leaves her to suffer in this world, contenting Himself with ever upholding and saving her, as the Offertory says, in the midst of the evils which go on thickening around her.

OFFERTORY

Si ambulavero in medio tribulationis, vivificabis me, Domine: et super iram inimicorum meorum extendes manum tuam, et salvum me faciet dextera tua.

If I should walk in the midst of tribulation, thou, O Lord, wilt quicken me: and thou wilt stretch forth thy hand against the wrath of mine enemies, and thy right hand shall save me.

The august sacrifice, which is about to be offered, always obtains its effect, as far as the glory of the divine Majesty is concerned; but its virtue is applied to man in a greater or less degree, according to the dispositions of the creature, and depending on the divine mercy. Let us, in the Secret, beseech our heavenly Father, that we may experience abundantly the effects of the divine mysteries, which are so soon to be produced on our altar.

SECRET

Hæc munera, quæsumus Domine, quæ oculis tuæ majestatis offerimus, salutaria nobis esse concede. Per Dominum.

Grant, we beseech thee, O Lord, that the offerings we bring before thy divine Majesty, may avail unto our salvation. Through, etc.

The other Secrets, as on page 130.

The Man-God, by His divine contact in the sacred banquet, has spiritually given vigour to our members; let us recall to mind that we must, henceforward, consecrate them to His service, and that our feet, now made sure, must run in the way of the divine commandments.

COMMUNION

Tu mandasti mandata tua custodiri nimis: utinam dirigantur viæ meæ, ad custodiendas justificationes tuas!

Thou hast commanded thy commandments to be kept most diligently: oh! that my ways may be directed to keep thy justifications!

The Postcommunion, again, seems to be an allusion to the Gospel of the paralytic, which used formerly to be read on this Sunday. In it, we implore the assistance of the heavenly Physician, who sets man free from the palsy, which held him a prisoner; He also gives him the strength needed for fulfilling the law of God bravely and perseveringly.

POSTCOMMUNION

Tua nos, Domine, medicinalis operatio et a nostris perversitatibus clementer expediat, et tuis semper faciat inhærere mandatis. Per Dominum.

May the healing efficacy of these thy mysteries, O Lord, mercifully free us from our perverseness, and make us always obedient to thy commandments. Through, etc.

The other Postcommunions, as on page 131.

VESPERS

The psalms, capitulum, hymn, and versicle, as above, pages 71-81.

ANTIPHON OF THE MAGNIFICAT

Intravit autem rex ut videret discumbentes: et vidit ibi hominem non vestitum veste nuptiali, et ait illi: Amice, quomodo huc intrasti non habens vestem nuptialem?

Now, the king went in to see the guests: and he saw there a man who had not on a wedding garment, and he saith unto him: Friend, how camest thou in hither not having on a wedding garment?

OREMUS

Omnipotens et misericors Deus, universa nobis adversantia propitiatus exclude: ut mente et corpore pariter expediti, quæ tua sunt liberis mentibus exequamur. Per Dominum.

LET US PRAY

O almighty and merciful God, graciously keep away from us all things that are adverse: that being free in mind and body, we may, with unimpeded minds, attend to the things that are thine. Through, etc.

THE TWENTIETH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST

MASS

The Gospel of last Sunday spoke to us of the nuptials of the Son of God with the human race. The realization of those sacred nuptials is the object which God had in view in the creation of the visible world; it is the only one He intends in His government of society. This being the case, we cannot be surprised, that the parable of the Gospel, whilst revealing to us this divine plan, has also brought before us the great fact of the rejection of the Jews, and the vocation of the Gentiles, which is not only the most important fact of the world's history, but is also intimately connected with the consummation of the mystery of the divine union.

And yet, as we have already said,¹ the exclusion of Juda is one day to cease. His obstinate refusal of the grace has caused it to be brought to us Gentiles by the messengers of God's loving mercy. But, now that the fullness of the Gentiles² has heard and followed the heavenly invitation, the time is advancing when the accession of Israel will complete the Church in her members, and give the bride the signal of the final call, which will put an end to the long labour of ages,³ by the appearance of the Bridegroom.⁴ The holy jealousy, which the apostle was so desirous to rouse in the people of his race by turning towards the Gentiles, will, at last, make itself felt by the descendants of Jacob. What joy will there be in heaven, when they, repentant and humble, shall unite before God in the song of gladness sung by the Gentiles, in celebration of the entrance of His countless Jewish people into the house of the divine banquet! That union of the two peoples will truly be a prelude to the great day mentioned by St. Paul, when, speaking in his patriotic enthusiasm of the Jews, he said: 'If their offence (i.e., their fall) hath been the riches of the world, and their diminution be the riches of the Gentiles, how much more the fullness of them!'⁵

Now, the Mass of this twentieth Sunday after Pentecost gives us a foretaste of that happy day, when the new people will not be alone in singing hymns of praise for the divine favours bestowed on our earth. The ancient liturgists tell us that our Mass consists partly of the words of the prophets, giving to Jacob an expression of his repentance, whereby he is to merit a return of God's favours, and partly of inspired formulas, wherein the Gentiles, who are already within the hall of the marriage-feast, are singing their canticles of love.⁶ The Gentile-choir takes the Gradual and Communion-anthem; the choir of the Jews, the Introit and Offertory.

¹ The Thirteenth Sunday after Pentecost. ² Rom. xi. 25, 26. ³ Ibid. viii. 22. ⁴ Apoc. xxii. 17. ⁵ Rom. xi. 13, 14. ⁶ Ibid. 12.

The Introit is from the book of Daniel.⁷ Exiled to Babylon with his people, the prophet—in that captivity whose years of bitterness were a figure of the still longer and intenser sufferings of the present dispersion—laments with Juda in that strange land, and, at the same time, instructs his people how they may be readmitted into God's favour. It is a secret which Israel had lost ever since his commission of the crime on Calvary; though, in the previous ages of his history, he knew the happy secret, and had continually experienced its efficacy. What it was, it still is and ever will be: it consists in the humble avowal of the sinner's falls, in the suppliant regret of the culprit, and in the sure confidence that God's mercy is infinitely above the sins of men, how grievous soever those may have been.

⁷ Dan. iii.

INTROIT

Omnia, quæ fecisti nobis, Domine, in vero judicio fecisti: quia peccavimus tibi, et mandatis tuis non obedivimus: sed da gloriam nomini tuo: et fac nobiscum secundum multitudinem misericordiæ tuæ.

All things whatsoever thou hast done unto us, O Lord, thou hast done by a just judgment: for we have sinned, and disobeyed thy commandments: but glorify thy name: and deal with us according to thy great mercy.

Ps. Beati immaculati in via: qui ambulant in lege Domini. Gloria Patri. Omnia.

Ps. Blessed are the undefiled in the way, who walk in the law of the Lord. Glory, etc. All things.

¹ Berno Aug., v.; Rup., De Div. Off., xii. 20; Durand., Ration. vi. 137. ² Dan. iii.

The divine forgiveness, which restores the soul to purity and peace, is the indispensable preparation for the sacred marriage-feast; for the wedding garment of its guests must, under pain of exclusion, be without a stain; their heart, too, must be without bitterness, lest it should cause the Bridegroom to be offended. Let us implore this precious pardon. Our Lord is all the more ready to grant it us, when we ask it through His beloved bride, the Church, our mother. Let us unite our voices with hers, and say her Collect.

COLLECT

Largire, quæsumus Domine, fidelibus tuis indulgentiam placatus, et pacem: ut pariter ab omnibus mundentur offensis, et secura tibi mente deserviant. Per Dominum.

Being appeased, O Lord, bestow pardon and peace upon thy faithful; that they being also cleansed from all their offences, may serve thee with a secure mind. Through, etc.

The other Collects, as on page 120.

EPISTLE

Lectio Epistolæ beati Pauli Apostoli ad Ephesios.

Caput V.

Fratres, Videte quomodo caute ambuletis: non quasi insipientes, sed ut sapientes: redimentes tempus, quoniam dies mali sunt. Propterea nolite fieri imprudentes, sed intelligentes quæ sit voluntas Dei. Et nolite inebriari vino, in quo est luxuria, sed implemini Spiritu sancto, loquentes vobismetipsis in psalmis, et hymnis, et canticis spiritualibus, cantantes, et psallentes in cordibus vestris Domino, gratias agentes semper pro omnibus, in nomine Domini nostri Jesu Christi Deo et Patri. Subjecti invicem in timore Christi.

Lesson of the Epistle of Saint Paul the Apostle to the Ephesians.

Chapter V.

Brethren: See, therefore, how you walk circumspectly, not as unwise, but as wise: redeeming the time, because the days are evil. Wherefore become not unwise, but understanding what is the will of God. And be not drunk with wine, wherein is luxury, but be ye filled with the holy Spirit, speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns, and spiritual canticles, singing and making melody in your hearts to the Lord: giving thanks always for all things in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to God and the Father. Being subject one to another in the fear of Christ.

As the nuptials of the Son of God approach their final completion, there will be, also, on the side of hell, a redoubling of rage against the bride, with a determination to destroy her. The dragon of the Apocalypse, the old serpent who seduced Eve, will cast out water, as a river, from his mouth¹—that is, he will urge on all the passions of man, that they may league together for her ruin. But, do what he will, he can never weaken the bond of the eternal alliance; and, having no power against the Church herself, he will turn his fury against the last children of the new Eve, who will have the perilous honour of those final battles, which are described by the prophet of Patmos.²

It is then, more than at all previous times, that the faithful will have to remember the injunction given to us by the apostle in to-day's Epistle. They will have to comport themselves with that circumspection which he enjoins, taking every possible care to keep their understanding, no less than their heart, pure, in those evil days. Supernatural light will, in those days, not only have to withstand the attacks of the children of darkness, who will put forward their false doctrines; it will, moreover, be minimized and falsified by the very children of the light yielding on the question of principles; it will be endangered by the hesitations, and the human prudence, of those who are called far-seeing men. Many will practically ignore the master-truth, that the Church never can be overwhelmed by any created power. If they do remember that our Lord has promised to uphold His Church even to the end of the world, they will still believe that they do a great service to the good cause by making certain politically clever concessions, not weighed in the balance of the sanctuary. Those future worldly-wise people will forget that our Lord needs no shrewd schemes to help Him to keep His promise; they will entirely overlook this most elementary consideration, that the co-operation which Jesus deigns to accept at the hands of His servants in the defence of the rights of His Church, never could consist in the disguising of those grand truths which constitute the power and beauty of the bride. They will forget the apostle's maxim, laid down in his Epistle to the Romans, that to conform oneself to this world, to attempt an impossible adaptation of the Gospel to a world that is unchristianized, is not the means for proving what is the good, and the acceptable, and the perfect will of God.³ So that it will be a thing of great and rare merit, in many an occurrence of those unhappy times, merely to understand what is the will of God, as our Epistle expresses it.

¹ Apoc. xii. 9. ² Ibid. 15. ³ Ibid. 17.

"Look to yourselves," would St. John say to those men, "that ye lose not the things which ye have wrought; make yourselves sure of the full reward, which is given only to the persevering thoroughness of doctrine and faith!"⁴ Besides, it will be then, as in all other times, that, according to the saying of the Holy Ghost, the simplicity of the just shall guide them,⁵ and far more safely than any human ingenuity could do; humility will give them wisdom;⁶ and, keeping themselves closely united to this noble companion, they will be made truly wise by her, and will know what is acceptable to God.⁷ They will understand that, aspiring like the Church herself to union with the eternal Word, fidelity to the Spouse, for them as for the Church, is nothing else than fidelity to the truth; for the Word, who is the one same object of love to both of them, is, in God, no other than the splendour of infinite truth.⁸ Their one care, therefore, will ever be to approach nearer and nearer to their Beloved, by a continually increasing resemblance to Him—that is to say, by the completest reproduction, both in their words and works, of the beautiful truth. By so doing, they will be serving their fellow-creatures in the best possible way, for they will be putting in practice the counsel of Jesus, who bids them seek first the kingdom of God and His justice, and confide in Him for all the rest.⁹ Others may have recourse to human and accommodating combinations, fitted to please all parties; they may put forward dubious compromises, which (so their suggesters think) will keep back, for some weeks or some months perhaps, the fierce tide of revolution; but those who have God's spirit in them will put a very different construction on the admonition given us by the apostle in to-day's Epistle, where he tells us to redeem the time.

⁴ St. Matt. xxviii. 20. ⁵ Rom. xii. 2. ⁶ 2 St. John 8, 9. ⁷ Prov. xi. 3. ⁸ Ibid. 2.

It was our Lord who bought time, and at a great price; and He bought it for us, that it might be employed by His faithful servants in procuring glory for God. By most men it is squandered away in sin or folly; but those who are united to Christ, as living members to the Spouse of their souls, will redeem it—that is, they will put such an intensity into their faith and their love that, as far as it is possible for human nature, not a moment of their time shall be anything but an earnest tribute of service to their Lord. To the insolent and blasphemous things which are then to be spoken by the beast,¹ these determined servants of God will give, for their brave answer, the cry of St. Michael, which he uttered against satan, the helper of the beast:² 'Who is like unto God?'

¹ Wisd. ix. 10. ² Ibid. vii. 25, 26. ³ St. Matt. vi. 33.

These closing weeks of the year used, in olden times, to be called 'Weeks of the holy Angel.' We have seen, on one of these Sundays,³ how the liturgy formerly announced the great Archangel's coming to the aid of God's people, according to the prophecy of Daniel. When, therefore, the final tribulations shall commence; when exile shall scatter the faithful, and the sword shall slay them,⁴ and the world shall approve all that, prostrate, as it then will be, before the beast and his image⁵—let us not forget that we have a leader chosen by God, and proclaimed by the Church; a leader who will marshal us during those final combats, in which the defeat of the saints⁶ will be more glorious than were the triumphs of the Church in the days when she ruled the world. For what God will then ask of His servants is not success of diplomatical arrangements, nor a victory won by arms, but fidelity to His truth—that is, to His Word; a fidelity all the more generous and perfect, as there will be an almost universal falling off around the little army fighting under the Archangel's banner. Uttered by a single faithful heart, under such circumstances, and uttered with the bravery of faith and the ardour of love, the cry of St. Michael, which heretofore routed the infernal legions, will honour God more than the blasphemies uttered by the millions of degraded followers of the beast will insult Him.

¹ Apoc. xiii. 5, 6. ² Ibid. 2. ³ The Seventeenth.

Let us be thoroughly imbued with these thoughts which are suggested by the opening lines of our

⁴ Dan. xii. 1. ⁵ Apoc. xvii. 1. ⁶ Ibid. 3, 4, 8, 15.

Epistle. Let us also master the other instructions it contains, and which, after all, differ but little from those we have been developing. As the Gospel of the nuptials of the Son of God and the invitation to His divine banquet was formerly read on this day, our holy mother the Church appropriately points out in the Epistle the immense difference there is between these sacred delights, and the joys of the world's marriage-feasts. The calm, the purity, the peace of the just man, who is admitted into intimacy with God, are a continual feast to his soul;¹ the food served up at that feast is Wisdom;² Wisdom, too, is the beloved Guest, who is unfailingly there.³ The world is quite welcome to its silly, and often shameful, pleasures; the Word and the soul, which, in a mysterious way, He has filled with the holy Spirit,⁴ join together to sing to the eternal Father in admirable unison; they will go on for ever with their hymns of thanksgiving and praise, for the materials of both are infinite. The hideous sight of the earth's inhabitants, who will then by thousands be paying homage to the harlot who sits on the beast, and offers them the golden cup of her abominations—no, not even that will interfere in the least with the bliss caused in heaven by the sight of those happy souls on earth. The convulsions of a world in its last agony, the triumphs of the woman drunk with the blood of the martyrs,⁵ far from breaking in on the harmony of a soul which is united with the Word, will but give greater fullness to the divine notes, and greater sweetness to the human music of her song. The apostle tells all this in his own magnificent way, where he says: 'Who, then, shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation? or distress? or famine? or nakedness? or danger? or persecution? or the sword? It is written: For thy sake we are put to death all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter⁶—but in all these things we overcome, because of Him that hath loved us. For I am sure that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor might, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.'⁷

¹ Prov. xv. 15. ² Wisd. viii. 16; Apoc. iii. 20. ³ Ecclus. xxiv. 29. ⁴ Cant. i. 1. ⁵ Apoc. xvii. 1-6. ⁶ Ps. xliii. 22. ⁷ Rom. viii. 35-39.

In the Introit, the Jewish people sang its repentance and humble confidence; and now, in the Gradual, we have the Gentiles proclaiming, in music taught them by the Church, how, in the delights of the nuptial banquet, their hopes have been realized, yea, and surpassed.

GRADUAL

Oculi omnium in te sperant, Domine: et tu das illis escam in tempore opportuno.

The eyes of all do hope in thee, O Lord: and thou givest them meat in due season.

V. Aperis tu manum tuam, et imples omne animal benedictione.

V. Thou openest thy hand, and fillest every living creature with thy blessing.

Alleluia, alleluia.

V. Paratum cor meum, Deus, paratum cor meum; cantabo, et psallam tibi, gloria mea. Alleluia.

V. My heart is ready, O God, my heart is ready; I will sing, and give praise to thee, my glory. Alleluia.

GOSPEL

Sequentia sancti Evangelii secundum Joannem.
Caput IV.

Sequel of the holy Gospel according to John. Chapter IV.

In illo tempore: Erat quidam regulus, cujus filius infirmabatur Capharnaum. Hic cum audisset, quia Jesus adveniret a Judæa in Galilæam, abiit ad eum: et rogabat eum ut descenderet, et sanaret filium ejus: incipiebat enim mori. Dixit ergo Jesus ad eum: Nisi signa, et prodigia videritis, non creditis. Dicit ad eum regulus: Domine, descende priusquam moriatur filius meus. Dicit ei Jesus: Vade; filius tuus vivit. Credidit homo sermoni, quem dixit ei Jesus, et ibat. Jam autem eo descendente, servi occurrerunt ei, et nuntiaverunt dicentes, quia filius ejus viveret. Interrogabat ergo horam ab eis, in qua melius habuerit. Et dixerunt ei: quia heri hora septima reliquit eum febris. Cognovit ergo pater, quia illa hora erat, in qua dixit ei Jesus: Filius tuus vivit: et credidit ipse, et domus ejus tota.

At that time: There was a certain ruler whose son was sick at Capharnaum. He having heard that Jesus was come from Judea into Galilee, went to him, and prayed him to come down and heal his son, for he was at the point of death. Jesus therefore said to him: Unless you see signs and wonders you believe not. The ruler saith to him: Lord, come down before that my son die. Jesus saith to him: Go thy way, thy son liveth. The man believed the word which Jesus said to him, and went his way. And as he was going down, his servants met him: and they brought word, saying that his son lived. He asked therefore of them the hour wherein he grew better. And they said to him: Yesterday at the seventh hour the fever left him. The father therefore knew that it was at the same hour that Jesus said to him: Thy son liveth; and himself believed, and his whole house.

The Gospel for to-day is taken from St. John; it is the first and only time during the whole course of these Sundays after Pentecost. It gives the twentieth Sunday the name of 'the Ruler of Capharnaum.' The Church has selected this Gospel on account of its bearing a certain mysterious relation to the state of the world in those last days which the liturgy prophetically brings before us at the close of the year.

The world is drawing towards its end; like the ruler's son, it begins to die. Tormented by the fever of the passions which have been excited in Capharnaum, the city of business and pleasure, it is too weak to go itself to the Physician who could cure it. It is for its father—for the pastors, who, by Baptism, gave it the life of grace, and who govern the Christian people as rulers of holy Church—to go to Jesus, and beseech Him to restore the sick man to health. St. John begins this account¹ by mentioning the place where they were to find Jesus: it was at Cana, the city of the marriage-feast, where He first manifested His power² in the banquet-hall; it is in heaven that the Man-God abides, now that He has quitted our earth, where He has left His disciples deprived of the Bridegroom,³ and having to pass a certain period of time in the field of penance. Capharnaum signifies the field of penance, and of consolation, which penance brings with it. Such was this earth intended to be, when man was driven from Eden; such was the consolation, to which, during this life, the sinner was to aspire; and, because of his having sought after other consolations, because of his having pretended to turn this field of penance into a new paradise, the world is now to be destroyed. Man has exchanged the life-giving delights of Eden for the pleasures which kill the soul, and ruin the body, and draw down the divine vengeance.

There is one remedy for all this, and only one: it is the zeal of the pastors, and the prayers of that portion of Christ's flock which has withstood the torrent of universal corruption. But it is of the utmost importance that, on this point, the faithful and their pastors should lay aside all personal considerations, and thoroughly enter into the spirit which animates the Church herself. Though treated with the most revolting ingratitude, and injustice, and calumny, and treachery of every sort, this mother of mankind forgets all these her own wrongs, and thinks only of the true prosperity and salvation of the very countries which despise her.⁴ She is well aware that the time is at hand when God will make justice triumphant; and yet she goes on struggling, as Jacob did, with God;⁵ until the dawn of that terrible day, foretold by David and the Sibyl.⁶ At the thought of the pool of fire,⁷ into which her rebellious children are to be plunged, she seems to have almost forgotten the approach of the eternal nuptials, and lost her vehement longings as a bride. One would say that she thinks of nothing but of her being a mother; and, as such, she keeps on praying as she has always prayed, only more fervently than ever, that the end may be deferred (pro mora finis).⁸

That we may fulfil her wishes, let us, as Tertullian says, 'assemble together in one body, that we may, so to speak, offer armed force to God by our prayers. God loves such violence as that.'⁹ But that our prayer may have power of that kind, it must be inspired by a faith which is thorough, and proof against every difficulty. As it is our faith which overcometh the world,¹⁰ so it is, likewise, our faith which triumphs over God, even in cases which seem beyond all human hope. Let us do as our mother does, and think of the danger incurred by those countless men, who madly play on the brink of the precipice, into which, when they fall they fall for ever. It is quite true they are inexcusable; it was only last Sunday that they were reminded of the weeping and gnashing of teeth, in the exterior darkness, which they will undergo that despise the call to the King's marriage-feast.¹¹ But they are our brethren, and we should not be quietly resigned to see them lose their souls. Let us hope against all hope. Did our Lord, who knew with certainty that obstinate sinners would be lost, hesitate, on that account, to shed all His Blood for them?

It is our ambition to unite ourselves to Him by the closest possible resemblance; let us, then, be resolved to imitate Him in that also, did occasion serve; at all events, let us pray without ceasing for the Church's and our enemies, so long as we are not assured of their being lost. Such prayer is never useless, never thrown away; for, come what may, God is greatly honoured by our faith, and by the earnestness of our charity.

Only, let us be careful not to merit the reproach uttered by our Redeemer against the halting¹² faith of the fellow-townsmen of the ruler of Capharnaum. We know that our Jesus has no need to come down from heaven to earth, in order to give efficiency to the commands of His gracious will. If He deign to multiply signs and wonders around us, we will rejoice at them, because of our brethren who are weak of faith; we will make them an occasion for exalting His holy name; but we will lovingly assure Him that our soul has no need of new proofs of His power, in order to believe in Him!

¹ St. John iv. 46. ² Ibid. ii. 11. ³ St. Matt. ix. 15. ⁴ Allocutions of Leo XIII. ⁵ Gen. xxxii. 24-28. ⁶ The sequence Dies iræ. ⁷ Apoc. xxi. 8. ⁸ TERTULL., Apol. xxxix. ⁹ Ibid. ¹⁰ 1 St. John v. 4. ¹¹ St. Matt. xxii. 13. ¹² Heb. xii. 13.

The Jewish people, whilst enduring its well-merited captivity, and straying along the river-banks of Babylon, has grown repentant, and, in our Offertory, joins our mother the Church, in singing the admirable hundred and thirty-sixth Psalm; there never was such a song of exile.

OFFERTORY

Super flumina Babylonis illic sedimus, et flevimus, dum recordaremur tui, Sion.

Upon the rivers of Babylon we sat and wept, when we remembered thee, O Sion!

The whole power of the God, who, with a word, cures both soul and body, resides in the mysteries which are about to be celebrated on our altar here. Let us, in the Secret, beseech Him, that their effects may tell on our hearts.

SECRET

Cælestem nobis præbeant hæc mysteria, quæsumus, Domine, medicinam: et vitia nostri cordis expurgent. Per Dominum.

May these mysteries, O Lord, we beseech thee, procure us a heavenly remedy, and cleanse away the vices of our hearts. Through, etc.

The other Secrets, as on page 130.

The word, spoken of in the Communion-anthem as having raised man up from the abyss of his misery, is that of the Gospel, which calls mankind, saying: Come to the marriage!¹ But, although deified by his participation, here below, in the mystery of faith, man aspires to the perfect and eternal union, which is to be in the midday of glory.

¹ St. Matt. xxii. 4.

COMMUNION

Memento verbi tui servo tuo, Domine, in quo mihi spem dedisti: hæc me consolata est in humilitate mea.

Remember, O Lord, thy word to thy servant, by which thou gavest me hope: this hath comforted me in my distress.

A persevering fidelity in observing God's commandments is the best preparation a Christian can make for approaching the holy Table, as the Postcommunion tells us.

POSTCOMMUNION

Ut sacris, Domine, reddamur digni muneribus: fac nos, quæsumus, tuis semper obedire mandatis. Per Dominum.

That we may be worthy of thy sacred gifts, O Lord, grant, we beseech thee, that we may always obey thy commandments. Through, etc.

The other Postcommunions, as on page 181.

VESPERS

The psalms, capitulum, hymn and versicle, as above, pages 71-81.

ANTIPHON OF THE MAGNIFICAT

Cognovit autem pater quia illa hora erat, in qua dixit Jesus: Filius tuus vivit; et credidit ipse, et domus ejus tota.

Now the father knew that it was at the same hour that Jesus said unto him: Thy son liveth; and himself believed, and his whole house.

OREMUS

Largire, quæsumus, Domine, fidelibus tuis indulgentiam placatus et pacem: ut pariter ab omnibus mundentur offensis, et secura tibi mente deserviant. Per Dominum.

LET US PRAY

Being appeased, O Lord, bestow pardon and peace upon thy faithful; that they being also cleansed from all their offences may serve thee with a secure mind. Through, etc.

THE TWENTY-FIRST SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST

The remaining Sundays are the last of the Church's cycle; but their proximity to its termination varies each year, according as Easter is early or late. This their movable character does away with anything like harmony between the composition of their Masses and the Lessons of the night Office, which, dating from August, have been appointed and fixed for each week. This we explained to our readers on the seventh Sunday after Pentecost. Still, the instruction which the faithful ought to derive from the sacred liturgy would be incomplete, and the Spirit of the Church, during these last weeks of her year, would not be sufficiently understood by her children, unless they were to remember, that the two months of October and November are filled, the first, with readings from the Book of the Machabees, whose example inspirits us for the final combats, and the second, with lessons from the Prophets, proclaiming to us the judgments of God.¹

MASS

Durandus, Bishop of Mende, in his Rational, tells us that this and the following Sundays till Advent bear closely on the Gospel of the marriage-feast, of which they are really but a further development. 'Whereas,' says he, speaking of this twenty-first Sunday, 'this marriage has no more powerful opponent than the envy of satan, the Church speaks to us to-day on our combat with him, and on the armour wherewith we must be clad in order to go through this terrible battle, as we shall see by the Epistle. And because sackcloth and ashes are the instruments of penance, therefore does the Church borrow, for the Introit, the words of Mardochai, who prayed for God's mercy in sackcloth and ashes.'²

The reflexions of Durandus are quite true; but though the thought of her having soon to be united with her divine Spouse is uppermost in the Church's mind, yet it is by forgetting her own dignity, and turning all her thoughts to mankind, whose salvation has been entrusted to her care by her Lord, that she will best prove herself to be truly His bride during the miseries of those last days. As we have already said, the near approach of the general judgment, and the terrible state of the world during the period immediately preceding that final consummation of time, is the very soul of the liturgy during these last Sundays of the Church's year. As regards the present Sunday, the portion of the Mass which used formerly to attract the attention of our Catholic forefathers was the Offertory, taken from the Book of Job, with its telling exclamations and its emphatic repetitions. We may, in all truth, say that this Offertory contains the ruling idea which runs through this twenty-first Sunday after Pentecost.

Reduced, like Job on the dung-hill, to the extremity of wretchedness, the world has nothing to trust to but God's mercy. The holy men who are still living in it, imitating in the name of all mankind the sentiments of the just man of Idumea, honour God by a patience and resignation which do but add power and intensity to their supplications. They begin by making their own the sublime prayer made by Mardochai for his people, who were doomed to extermination. The world is condemned to a similar ruin.³

INTROIT

In voluntate tua, Domine, universa sunt posita, et non est qui possit resistere voluntati tuæ: tu enim fecisti omnia, cœlum et terram, et universa quæ cœli ambitu continentur: Dominus universorum tu es.

All things, O Lord, are in thy power, and no one can resist thy will: for thou madest all things, heaven and earth, and all things that are contained within the compass of the heavens: thou art Lord of all.

Ps. Beati immaculati in via: qui ambulant in lege Domini. Gloria Patri. In voluntate.

Ps. Blessed are the undefiled in the way: who walk in the law of the Lord. Glory, etc. All things.

The Church shows us very clearly in the Collect that, although she is quite ready to go through the roughest times, yet she prefers peace, because that furnishes her with undisturbed freedom for paying to her God the united homage of religion and good works. The closing petition made by Mardochai, in the prayer whose commencement forms our Introit, was that God would bestow on His people the liberty necessary for that occupation on which the world's well-being ever depends, the occupation of giving praise to God. These were Mardochai's grand words: 'May we live, and praise Thy name, O Lord! and shut not Thou the mouths of them that sing to Thee!'

COLLECT

Familiam tuam, quæsumus Domine, continua pietate custodi: ut a cunctis adversitatibus, te protegente, sit libera: et in bonis actibus tuo nomini sit devota. Per Dominum.

Preserve thy family, O Lord, we beseech thee, by thy constant mercy: that, under thy protection, it may be freed from all adversities, and be devoted to thy name in the practice of good works. Through, etc.

The other Collects, as on page 120.

EPISTLE

Lectio Epistolæ beati Pauli Apostoli ad Ephesios.

Lesson of the Epistle of St. Paul, the Apostle to the Ephesians.

Caput VI.

Chapter VI.

Fratres, Confortamini in Domino, et in potentia virtutis ejus. Induite vos armaturam Dei, ut possitis stare adversus insidias diaboli: quoniam non est nobis colluctatio adversus carnem et sanguinem: sed adversus principes et potestates, adversus mundi rectores tenebrarum harum, contra spiritualia nequitiæ, in cœlestibus. Propterea accipite armaturam Dei, ut possitis resistere in die malo, et in omnibus perfecti stare. State ergo succincti lumbos vestros in veritate, et induti loricam justitiæ, et calceati pedes in præparatione Evangelii pacis: in omnibus sumentes scutum fidei, in quo possitis omnia tela nequissimi ignea exstinguere: et galeam salutis assumite: et gladium Spiritus, quod est verbum Dei.

Brethren: Be strengthened in the Lord, and in the might of his power. Put ye on the armour of God, that you may be able to stand against the deceits of the devil. For our wrestling is not against flesh and blood; but against principalities and powers, against the rulers of the world of this darkness, against the spirits of wickedness in the high places. Therefore take unto you the armour of God, that you may be able to resist in the evil day, and to stand in all things perfect. Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of justice, and your feet shod with the preparation of the Gospel of peace; in all things taking the shield of faith, wherewith you may be able to extinguish all the fiery darts of the most wicked one. And take unto you the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.

The early beginnings of man's union with his God are, generally speaking, deliciously calm. Divine Wisdom, once He has led His chosen creature by hard laborious work to the purification of his mind and senses, allows him, when the sacred alliance is duly concluded, to rest on His sacred breast, and thoroughly attaches the devoted one to Himself by delights which are an ante-dated heaven, making the soul despise every earthly pleasure. It seems as though the welcome law of Deuteronomy were always in force! namely, that no battle, and no anxiety, must ever break in upon the first season of the glorious union. But this exemption from the general taxation is never of long duration; for combat is the normal state of every man here below.⁴

The Most High is pleased at seeing a battle well fought by His Christian soldiers. There is no name so frequently applied to Him by the prophets as that of the God of hosts. His divine Son, who is the Spouse, shows Himself here on earth as the Lord who is mighty in battle.⁵ In the mysterious nuptial canticle of the forty-fourth Psalm, He lets us see Him as a most powerful Prince, girding on His grand sword, and making His way, with His sharp arrows, through the very heart of His enemies, in order to reach, in fair valiance and beautiful victory, the bride He has chosen as His own. She, too, the bride, whose beauty He has vouchsafed to love, and whom He wills to share in all His own glories,⁶ advances towards Him in the glittering armour of a warrior, surrounded by choirs⁷ singing the magnificent exploits of the Spouse, while she herself is terrible as an army set in array.⁸ The armour of the brave is on her arms and breast; her noble bearing reminds one of the tower of David, with its thousand bucklers.⁹

United to her divine Lord, warriors the most valiant stand about her; they merit that privilege by their well-proved sword and their skill in war; each one of them has his sword ready, because of the night-surprises which the enemy may use against this most dear Church.¹⁰ For until the dawn of the eternal day, when the shadows of this present life are put to flight¹¹ by the light of the Lamb, who will then have vanquished all His enemies,¹² power is in the hands of the rulers of the world of this darkness, says St. Paul, in our to-day's Epistle; and it is against them that we must take to ourselves the armour of God, which he there describes; we must wear it all, if we would be able to resist, in the evil day.

The evil days, spoken of by the apostle last Sunday,¹³ are frequent in the life of every individual, as, likewise, in the world's history. But for every man, and for the world at large, there is one evil day, evil beyond all the others: it is the last day, the day of judgment, the day of exceeding bitterness as the Church calls it,¹⁴ on account of the woe and misery which are to fill it. We talk of so many years as passing away, and of centuries succeeding each other; but all these are neither more nor less than preparations hurrying on the world to the last day. Happy those who, on that day, shall fight the good fight,¹⁵ and win victory! Or who, as our apostle expresses it, shall stand, whilst all around them is ruin, yea, stand in all things perfect! They shall not be hurt by the second death;¹⁶ wreathed with the crown of justice,¹⁷ they shall reign with God,¹⁸ on His throne, together with His Son.¹⁹

The war is an easy one, when we have this Man-God for our Leader. All He asks of us, is what the apostle thus words: Be strengthened in the Lord, and in the might of His power! It is leaning on her Beloved, that the beautiful Church is to go up from the desert;²⁰ and, thus supported, she is actually to be flowing with delights, even in those most sad days. The faithful soul is out of herself with love, when she remembers that the armour she wears is the armour of God, that is, the very armour of her Spouse. It is thrilling to hear the prophets describing Jesus, our Leader, accoutred for battle, with all the pieces we, too, are to wear: He girds Himself with the girdle of faith;²¹ then He puts the helmet of salvation on His beautiful head;²² then, the breast-plate of justice;²³ then, the shield of invincible equity;²⁴ and finally a magnificently tempered sword, the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.²⁵ The Gospel also portrays Him entering on the great battle, that He might teach us by His example, how to use these divine arms.

This armour consists of many parts, because of its varied uses and effects; and yet, whether offensive or defensive, all of them have one common name, faith. This our Epistle tells us; and this our divine Leader taught us, when to the triple temptation brought against Him by the devil on the mount of Quarantana, He made answer by texts from the sacred Scriptures.²⁶ The victory which overcometh the world, is our faith, says St. John.²⁷ When St. Paul, at the close of his career, reviews the combats he had fought through life, he sums up all in this telling word: 'I have kept the faith.'²⁸ The life of Paul, in that, should be the life of every Christian, for he says to us: 'Fight the good fight of faith!'²⁹ It is faith, which, in spite of those fearful odds enumerated in to-day's Epistle as being against us, ensures the victory to men of good will. If, in the warfare we must go through, we were to reckon the chances of our enemies by their overwhelming forces and advantages, it is quite certain that we should have little hope of winning the day; for it is not with men like ourselves, it is not, as the Apostle puts it, with flesh and blood, that we have to wrestle; but with enemies that we can never grapple with, who are in the high places of the air around us, and are, therefore, invisible, and most skilled, and powerful, and wonderfully up in all the sad secrets of our poor fallen nature, and turning the whole weight of their advantages to trick man, and ruin him, out of hatred for God. These wicked spirits were originally created, that, in the purity of their unmixed spiritual nature, they should be a reflex of the divine splendour of their Maker; and now, having rebelled by pride, they exhibit that execrable prodigy of angelic intelligences, spending all their powers in doing evil to man, and in hating truth. How, then, are we, who by our very nature are

¹ See above, pp. 6, 7.
² Dur., Ration., vi. 188.
³ Esth. xiii. 9-11.
⁴ Deut. xxiv. 5.
⁵ Job vii. 1.
⁶ Ps. xxiii. 8.
⁷ Ps. xliv.
⁸ Cant. iv. 4.
⁹ Ibid. vii. 1.
¹⁰ Ibid. vi. 9.
¹¹ Ibid. iv. 4.
¹² Ibid. iii. 7, 8.
¹³ Ibid. iv. 6.
¹⁴ Apoc. xxi. 9, 23.
¹⁵ Eph. v. 16.
¹⁶ Resp. Libera me.
¹⁷ 2 Tim. iv. 7.
¹⁸ Apoc. ii. 11.
¹⁹ 2 Tim. iv. 8.
²⁰ Apoc. xx. 6.
²¹ Ibid. iii. 21.
²² Cant. viii. 5.
²³ Isa. xi. 5.
²⁴ Ibid. lix. 17.
²⁵ Wisd. v. 19.
²⁶ Ibid. 20.
²⁷ Apoc. ii. 16.
²⁸ St. Matt. iv. 1-11.
²⁹ 1 St. John v. 4.
³⁰ 2 Tim. iv. 7.
³¹ 1 Tim. vi. 12.

darkness and misery, to wrestle with these spiritual principalities and powers, who devote all their wisdom and rage to produce darkness, so as to turn the whole earth into a world of darkness? 'By our becoming light,' answers St. John Chrysostom.¹ The light, it is true, is not to shine upon us in its own direct brightness until the great day of the revelation of the sons of God;² but meanwhile we have a divine subsidy, which supplements sight, viz. the revealed word.³ Baptism did not open our eyes so as to see God, but it opened our ears that we might hear Him when He speaks to us. Now, He speaks to us by the Scriptures, and by His Church; and our faith gives us, regarding truth thus revealed, a certainty as great as though we saw it with our eyes. By his child-like docility, the just man walks on in peace, in the simplicity of the Gospel. Better than breast-plate or helmet, the shield of faith protects us from every sort of injury; it blunts the fiery darts of the world, it repels the fury of our own passions, it makes us far-seeing enough to escape the most artful snares of the most wicked ones. Is not the word of God good for every emergency? And it is never wanting to us. Satan has a horror of the Christian who, though he may be weak in other respects, is strong in this divine word. He has a greater fear of that man than he has of all the schools and professors of philosophy; he knows well that at every encounter he will be crushed beneath his feet,⁴ and with a rapidity akin to what our Lord tells us He Himself witnessed: 'I saw satan, like lightning, falling from heaven.'⁵ It was on the great battle-day⁶ when he was hurled from paradise by that one word MICHAEL; exquisite word,

¹ St. Chrys., Hom. xxii., in ep. ad Eph.
² Rom. viii. 19.
³ 2 St. Pet. i. 19.
⁴ Rom. xvi. 20.
⁵ St. Luke x. 18.
⁶ Apoc. xii. 7.

which was given to the triumphant Archangel to be his everlasting noble name! And he himself, by that word of God, and by that victory for God, was made our model and our defender. We have already explained to our readers why it is that these closing weeks of the Church's year are so full of the grand Archangel St. Michael.

In the Gradual and its versicle the Church tells her Lord how He has ever been the refuge of His people: His goodness, like His power, was before all ages, because He is God from all eternity. May He, therefore, now protect His faithful servants, who, reduced to a scanty number as Israel was of old, are preparing the last exodus of the Church, which is leaving this infidel world, and is hastening to the true land of promise.

GRADUAL

Domine, refugium factus es nobis a generatione et progenie.

℣. Priusquam montes fierent, aut formaretur terra et orbis: a sæculo, et usque in sæculum tu es Deus.

Alleluia, alleluia.

℣. In exitu Israel de Ægypto, domus Jacob de populo barbaro. Alleluia.

Lord! thou hast been our refuge from generation unto generation.

℣. Before the mountains were made, or the earth and the world were formed: thou art God, for ever and ever.

Alleluia, alleluia.

℣. When Israel went out of Egypt, the house of Jacob from a barbarous people. Alleluia.

GOSPEL

Sequentia sancti Evangelii secundum Matthæum.

Caput XVIII.

In illo tempore: Dixit Jesus discipulis suis parabolam hanc: Assimilatum est regnum cœlorum homini regi, qui voluit rationem ponere cum servis suis. Et cum cœpisset rationem ponere, oblatus est ei unus, qui debebat ei decem millia talenta. Cum autem non haberet unde redderet, jussit eum dominus ejus venumdari, et uxorem ejus, et filios, et omnia quæ habebat, et reddi. Procidens autem servus ille, orabat eum, dicens: Patientiam habe in me, et omnia reddam tibi. Misertus autem dominus servi illius, dimisit eum, et debitum dimisit ei. Egressus autem servus ille, invenit unum de conservis suis, qui debebat ei centum denarios: et tenens suffocabat eum, dicens: Redde quod debes. Et procidens conservus ejus, rogabat eum, dicens: Patientiam habe in me, et omnia reddam tibi. Ille autem noluit; sed abiit, et misit eum in carcerem, donec redderet debitum. Videntes autem conservi ejus quæ fiebant, contristati sunt valde: et venerunt, et narraverunt domino suo omnia quæ facta fuerant. Tunc vocavit illum dominus suus, et ait illi: Serve nequam, omne debitum dimisi tibi quoniam rogasti me: nonne ergo oportuit et te misereri conservi tui, sicut et ego tui misertus sum? Et iratus dominus ejus, tradidit eum tortoribus, quoadusque redderet universum debitum. Sic et Pater meus cœlestis faciet vobis, si non remiseritis unusquisque fratri suo de cordibus vestris.

Sequel of the holy Gospel according to Matthew.

Chapter XVIII.

At that time: Jesus spoke to his disciples this parable: The kingdom of heaven is likened to a king who would take an account of his servants. And when he had begun to take the account, one was brought to him that owed him ten thousand talents. And as he had not wherewith to pay it, his lord commanded that he should be sold, and his wife and children, and all that he had, and payment to be made. But that servant falling down, besought him, saying: Have patience with me, and I will pay thee all. And the lord of that servant being moved with pity, let him go, and forgave him the debt. But when that servant was gone out, he found one of his fellow-servants that owed him a hundred pence; and laying hold of him, he throttled him, saying: Pay what thou owest. And his fellow-servant falling down, besought him, saying: Have patience with me, and I will pay thee all. And he would not: but went and cast him into prison, till he paid the debt. Now his fellow-servants seeing what was done, were very much grieved, and they came and told their lord all that was done. Then his lord called him, and said to him: Thou wicked servant, I forgave thee all the debt, because thou besoughtest me: shouldst not thou then have had compassion also on thy fellow-servant, even as I had compassion on thee? And his lord being angry, delivered him to the torturers, until he paid all the debt. So also shall my heavenly Father do to you, if you forgive not every one his brother from your hearts.

"O thou just Judge of vengeance, grant us the gift of forgiveness before the day of reckoning cometh!" Such is the petition that comes from the heart of holy mother Church, as she thinks on what may have befallen those countless children of hers, who have been victims of death during this, as every other year; it is, moreover, the supplication that should be made by every living soul, after hearing the Gospel just read to us. The sequence Dies iræ, from which these words are taken, is not only a sublime prayer for the dead; it is, likewise, and especially at this close of the ecclesiastical year, an appropriate expression for all of us who are still living. Our thoughts and our expectations are naturally turned towards our own death. We almost seem forgotten, and overlooked, in this evening of the world's existence; but it is not so, for we know, from the sacred Scripture, that we shall join those who have already slept the last sleep, and shall be taken, together with them, to meet our divine Judge.¹

¹ 1 Thess. iv. 14-16.

Let us hearken to some more of our mother's words in that same magnificent sequence: 'How great will be our fear, when the Judge is just about to come, and rigorously examine all our works! The trumpet's wondrous sound will pierce the graves of every land, and summon us all before the throne! Death will stand amazed, and nature too, when the creature shall rise again, to go and answer Him that is to judge! The written book shall be brought forth, wherein all is contained, for which the world is to be tried. So, when the Judge shall sit on His throne, every hidden secret shall be revealed, nothing shall remain unpunished! What shall I, poor wretch! then say? Whom ask to be my patron, when the just man himself shall scarce be safe? O King of dreaded majesty! who savest gratuitously them that are saved, save me, O fount of love! Do Thou remember, loving Jesu! that I was cause of Thy life on earth! Lose me not on that day!' Undoubtedly, such a prayer as this has every best chance of being graciously heard, addressed as it is to Him, who has nothing so much at heart as our salvation, and who, to procure it, gave Himself up to fatigue and suffering, and to death on the cross. But we should be inexcusable, and deserve condemnation twice over, were we to neglect to profit by the advice He Himself gives us, whereby to avert from us the perils of 'that day of tears, when guilty man shall rise from the dust, and go to be judged!'¹ Let us, then, meditate on the parable of our Gospel, whose sole object is to teach us a sure way of settling, at once, our accounts with the divine King.

¹ Seq. Dies iræ.

We are all of us, in fact, that negligent servant, that insolvent debtor, whose master might, in all justice, sell him with all he has, and hand him over to the torturers. The debt contracted with God by the sins we have committed is of such a nature as to deserve endless tortures; it supposes an eternal hell, in which the guilty one will ever be paying, yet never cancelling his debt. Infinite praise, then, and thanks to the divine Creditor, who, being moved to pity by the entreaties of the unhappy man who asks for time and he will pay all, grants him far beyond what he prays for, by immediately forgiving him the debt. He attaches but one condition to the pardon, as is evident from the sequel. He insists, and most justly, that he should go and do in like manner towards his fellow-servants, who may, perhaps, owe something to him. After being so generously forgiven by his Lord and King, after having his infinite debt so gratuitously cancelled, how can he possibly turn a deaf ear to the very same prayer which won pardon for himself, now that a fellow-servant makes it to him? Is it to be believed that he will refuse all pity towards one whose only offence is that he asks him for time, and he will pay all?

'It is quite true,' says St. Augustine, 'that every man has his fellow-man for a debtor; for who is the man that has had no one to offend him? But, at the same time, who is the man that is not debtor to God? For all of us have sinned. Man, therefore, is both debtor to God, and creditor to his fellow-man. It is for this reason that God has laid down this rule for thy conduct, that thou must treat thy debtor, as He treats His. . . . We pray every day; every day we send up the same petition to the divine throne; every day we prostrate ourselves before God, and say to Him: "Forgive us our debts, as we forgive them that are debtors to us."¹ Of what debts speakest thou? Is it of all thy debts? or of one or two only? Thou wilt say: "Of all." Do thou, therefore, forgive thy debtor, for it is the rule laid upon thee, it is the condition accepted by thee.'²

¹ St. Matt. vi. 12.
² St. Aug., Serm. lxxxiii.

'It is a greater thing,' says St. John Chrysostom,³ 'to forgive our neighbour the trespasses he has committed against us, than to remit him a sum of money; for, by forgiving him his sins, we imitate God. And, after all, what is the injury committed by one man against another man, if compared with the offence committed by man against God? Alas! we are all guilty of the latter; even the just man knows its misery seven times⁴ over, and, as the text probably means, seven times a day; so that, it comes ruffling our whole day. Let us at least contract the habit of being merciful towards

³ St. Chrys., in ep. ad Eph., Hom. xvii. 1.
⁴ Prov. xxiv. 16.

our fellow-men, since every night we are pardoned all our miseries, on the sole condition of owning them. It is an excellent practice, not to go to bed without putting ourselves in the dispositions of a little child, who can rest his head on God's bosom, and there fall asleep. But, if we thus feel it a happy necessity, to find in the heart of our heavenly Father! forgetfulness of our day's faults, and an infinitely tender love for us, how can we, at that very time, dare to be storing up in our minds any bitterness against our neighbours, our brethren, who are also His children? Even supposing that we had been treated by them with outrageous injustice or insult, could these their faults bear any comparison with our offences against that good God, whose born enemies we were, and whom we have caused to be put to an ignominious death? Whatsoever may be the circumstances attending the unkindness shown us, we may and should invariably practise the rule given us by the apostle: 'Be ye kind one to another, merciful, forgiving one another, even as God hath forgiven you, in Christ! Be ye imitators of God, as most dear children.'² What! thou callest God thy Father, and dost thou remember an injury that has been done thee? 'That,' says St. John Chrysostom, 'is not the way a son of God acts! The work of a son of God is this: to pardon his enemies, to pray for them that crucify him, to shed his blood for them that hate him. Would you know the conduct of one who is worthy to be a son of God? He takes his enemies, and his ingrates, and his robbers, and his insulters, and his traitors, and makes them his brethren and sharers of all his wealth!'³

We here give, in its entirety, the celebrated Offertory of Job, with its verses. The observations we made at the beginning of the Mass will enable us to enter into the spirit of this liturgical piece. As Amalarius says,¹ the anthem, which has been retained, gives us the words of the historian, who simply relates the facts, one after the other, without any remarks; but, in the verses, we have Job himself speaking, his body all humbled, and his soul full of sorrow: the repetition of the same words, their interruptions, their refrain, their broken phrases, vividly represent his panting for breath, and intense suffering.

OFFERTORY

Vir erat in terra Hus nomine Job, simplex et rectus ac timens Deum: quem satan petiit, ut tentaret; et data est ei potestas a Domino in facultates, et in carnem ejus, perdiditque omnem substantiam ipsius, et filios: carnem quoque ejus gravi ulcere vulneravit.

℣. I. Utinam appenderentur peccata mea; utinam appenderentur peccata mea, quibus iram merui, quibus iram merui; et calamitas, et calamitas quam patior: hæc gravior appareret.

Vir erat.

℣. II. Quæ est enim, quæ est enim, quæ est enim fortitudo mea ut sustineam? aut quis finis meus ut patienter agam?

Vir erat.

℣. III. Numquid fortitudo lapidum est fortitudo mea! aut caro mea ænea est? aut caro mea ænea est?

Vir erat.

℣. IV. Quoniam, quoniam, quoniam non revertetur oculus meus ut videat bona, ut videat bona, ut videat bona, ut videat bona, ut videat bona, ut videat bona, ut videat bona, ut videat bona, ut videat bona.

Vir erat.

There was a man in the land of Hus whose name was Job, simple and upright, and fearing God: and satan asked to tempt him; and power was given him by the Lord over his possessions, and over his flesh: and he destroyed all his substance, and his sons: and he wounded his flesh with a grievous ulcer.

℣. I. Oh! that my sins were weighed in a balance! Oh! that my sins, whereby I have deserved wrath, whereby I have deserved wrath, were weighed in a balance! and the calamity, the calamity that I suffer, it would appear heavier!

There was a man.

℣. II. For what is, for what is, for what is my strength, that I can hold out! or what is my end, that I should keep patience?

There was a man.

℣. III. Is my strength the strength of stones? Or is my flesh of brass? or is my flesh of brass!

There was a man.

℣. IV. For, for, for, mine eye shall not return to see good things, to see good things, to see good things, to see good things, to see good things, to see good things, to see good things, to see good things, to see good things.

There was a man.

¹ Amal., De eccl. Off., l. iii., c. 89.

The salvation of the world, and that of each individual man, is, virtually, ever in the august Sacrifice, whose power restores man by appeasing God. With a confidence that fails not, let us use it, as the most efficacious recourse that can be had to the divine mercy.

SECRET

Suscipe, Domine, propitius hostias, quibus et te placari voluisti, et nobis salutem potenti pietate restitui. Per Dominum.

Mercifully receive, O Lord, these offerings, by which thou art pleased to be appeased, and in thy powerful goodness to restore our salvation. Through, etc.

The other Secrets, as on page 180.

An unflagging hope ever accompanies the admirable patience of holy Church. Persecutions, be they ever so fierce or long, never interrupt her prayer; for, as the Communion expresses it, she keeps in her heart a faithful recollection of the word of salvation that was given her by God.

COMMUNION

In salutari tuo anima mea, et in verbum tuum speravi: quando facies de persequentibus me judicium? Iniqui persecuti sunt me: adjuva me, Domine Deus meus.

My soul hath looked to be saved by thee, and hath relied on thy word: when wilt thou judge them that persecute me? The wicked ones have persecuted me: help me, O Lord my God!

Now that we have been nourished by the food of immortality, let us live on it, with all the sincerity of a soul that is made pure.

POSTCOMMUNION

Immortalitatis alimoniam consecuti, quæsumus Domine: ut quod ore percepimus, pura mente sectemur. Per Dominum.

Having received the food of immortality, we beseech thee, O Lord, that what we have taken with our mouths, we may receive with a pure mind. Through, etc.

The other Postcommunions, as on page 181.

VESPERS

The psalms, capitulum, hymn, and versicle, as above, pages 71–81.

ANTIPHON OF THE MAGNIFICAT

Serve nequam, omne debitum dimisi tibi; quoniam rogasti me: nonne ergo oportuit et te misereri conservi tui, sicut et ego tui misertus sum? Alleluia.

Thou wicked servant! I forgave thee all the debt, because thou besoughtest me: shouldst not thou, then, have had compassion also on thy fellow-servant, even as I had compassion on thee? Alleluia.

OREMUS

LET US PRAY

Familiam tuam, quæsumus Domine, continua pietate custodi: ut a cunctis adversitatibus, te protegente, sit libera: et in bonis actibus tuo nomini sit devota. Per Dominum.

Preserve thy family, O Lord, we beseech thee, by thy constant mercy: that, under thy protection, it may be freed from all adversities, and be devoted to thy name in the practice of good works. Through, etc.

THE TWENTY-SECOND SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST

MASS

According to Honorius of Autun, the Mass of to-day has reference to the days of Antichrist.¹ The Church, foreseeing the reign of the man of sin,² and as though she were actually undergoing the persecution which is to surpass all others, takes her Introit of this twenty-second Sunday from the Psalm De profundis.³

If, unitedly with this prophetic sense, we would apply these words practically to our own personal miseries, we must remember the Gospel we had last week, which was formerly appointed for the present Sunday. Each one of us will recognize himself in the person of the insolvent debtor, who has nothing to trust to but his master's goodness; and, in our deep humiliation, we shall exclaim: If thou, O Lord, mark iniquities, who shall endure it?⁴

INTROIT

Si iniquitates observaveris, Domine, Domine, quis sustinebit? quia apud te propitiatio est, Deus Israel.

If thou, O Lord, wilt mark iniquities, Lord! who shall endure it? For with thee there is merciful forgiveness, O God of Israel!

Ps. De profundis clamavi ad te, Domine: Domine, exaudi vocem meam. Gloria Patri. Si iniquitates.

Ps. Out of the depths have I cried unto thee, O Lord: Lord! hear my voice. Glory, etc. If thou.

We have just been rousing our confidence by singing that with God there is merciful forgiveness. It is He Himself who gives that loving unction to the prayers of the Church, which proves that He wishes to grant them. But we shall not be thus graciously heard, as she is, unless, like her, we ask with faith, that is to say, conformably with the teachings of the Gospel. To ask with faith is to forgive our fellow-creatures their trespasses against us; on that condition we may confidently beseech our common Lord and Master to forgive us.

COLLECT

Deus, refugium nostrum, et virtus: adesto piis Ecclesiæ tuæ precibus, auctor ipse pietatis, et præsta: ut quod fideliter petimus, efficaciter consequamur. Per Dominum.

O God, our refuge and our strength! give ear to the holy prayers of thy Church, O thou, the author of holiness; and grant, that what we ask with faith, we may effectually obtain. Through, etc.

The other Collects, as on page 120.

EPISTLE

Lectio Epistolæ beati Pauli Apostoli ad Philippenses.

Caput I.

Fratres, Confidimus in Domino Jesu, quia qui cœpit in vobis opus bonum, perficiet usque in diem Christi Jesu. Sicut est mihi justum hoc sentire pro omnibus vobis, eo quod habeam vos in corde, et in vinculis meis, et in defensione, et confirmatione Evangelii, socios gaudii mei omnes vos esse. Testis enim mihi est Deus, quomodo cupiam omnes vos in visceribus Jesu Christi. Et hoc oro, ut charitas vestra magis ac magis abundet in scientia, et in omni sensu: ut probetis potiora, ut sitis sinceri, et sine offensa in diem Christi, repleti fructu justitiæ per Jesum Christum, in gloriam et laudem Dei.

Lesson of the Epistle of St. Paul the Apostle to the Philippians.

Chapter I.

Brethren: We are confident of this very thing, that he who hath begun a good work in you, will perfect it unto the day of Christ Jesus. As it is meet for me to think this for you all: for that I have you in my heart; and that in my bands, and in the defence and confirmation of the Gospel, you are all partakers of my joy. For God is my witness, how I long after you all in the bowels of Jesus Christ. And this I pray, that your charity may more and more abound in knowledge and in all understanding; that you may approve the better things, that you may be sincere and without offence unto the day of Christ. Filled with the fruit of justice, through Jesus Christ, unto the glory and praise of God.

¹ Hon. Aug., Gemm. an., iv. 93.
² 2 Thess. ii. 8.
³ Ps. cxxix.
⁴ Rupr., De Div. Off., xii. 22.

St. Paul, in the Church's name, again invites our attention to the near approach of the last day. But what, on the previous Sunday, he called the evil day, he now, in the short passage taken from his Epistle to the Philippians which has just been read to us, calls twice over the day of Christ Jesus. The Epistle to the Philippians is full of loving confidence; its tone is decidedly one of joy, and yet it plainly shows us that persecution was raging against the Church, and that the old enemy was making capital of the storm to stir up evil passions, even amidst the very flock of Christ. The apostle is in chains; the envy and treachery of false brethren intensify his sufferings;¹ still, joy predominates in his heart over everything else, because he has attained that perfection of love, wherein divine charity is enkindled by suffering more even than by the sweetest spiritual caresses. To him, to live is Christ and to die is gain;² he cannot make up his mind which of the two to choose: death, which would give him the bliss of being with his Jesus? or life, which would add to his merits and his labours for the salvation of men. What are all personal considerations to him? His one joy, for both the present and the future, is that Christ may be known and glorified, no matter how! As to his hopes and expectations, he cannot be disappointed, for Christ is sure to be glorified in his body by its life and by its death!⁵

¹ Phil. i. 15, 17.
² Ibid. 21.
³ Ibid. 23.
⁴ Ibid. 22.
⁵ Ibid. 18, 20.

Hence, in Paul's soul, that sublime indifference which is the climax of the Christian life; it is, of course, a totally different thing from that fatal apathy, to which the false mystics of the seventeenth century pretended to reduce the love of man's heart. What tender affection has this convert of Damascus for his brethren, once he has reached this point of perfection! God, says he, is my witness how I long after you all in the bowels of Jesus Christ! The one ambition which rules and absorbs him¹ is that God, who has begun in them the work which is good by excellence, the work of Christian perfection such as we know had been wrought in the apostle himself, may continue and perfect it in them all, by the day, when Christ is to appear in His glory.² This is what he prays for, that charity, the wedding-garment of those whom he has betrothed to the one Spouse,³ may beautify them with all its splendour for the grand day of the eternal nuptials.

Now, how is charity to be perfected in them? It must abound, more and more, in knowledge and in all understanding of salvation, that is, in faith. It is faith that constitutes the basis of all supernatural virtue. A restricted, a diminished, faith could never support a large and high-minded charity. Those men, therefore, are deceiving themselves whose love for revealed truth does not keep pace with their charity! Such Christianity as that believes as little as it may; it has a nervous dread of new definitions; and out of respect for error, it cleverly and continually narrows the supernatural horizon. Charity, they say, is the queen of virtues; it makes them take everything easily, even lies against truth; to give the same rights to error as to truth is, in their estimation, the highest point of Christian civilization grounded on love! They quite forget that the first object of charity, God who is substantial Truth, has no greater enemy than a lie; they cannot understand how it is that a Christian does not do a work of love by putting on the same footing the Object beloved and His mortal enemy!

¹ Phil. i. 24–27.
² Col. iii. 4.
³ 2 Cor. xi. 2.
⁴ Durand., Ration., vi. 139.
⁵ Ps. xi. 2. (Diminutæ veritates.)

The apostles had very different ideas; in order to make charity grow in the world, they gave it a rich sowing of truth. Every new ray of light they put into their disciples' hearts was an intensifying of their love; and these disciples, having by Baptism become themselves light, were most determined to have nothing to do with darkness. In those days, to deny the truth was the greatest of crimes; to expose themselves, by a want of vigilance, to infringe on the rights of truth, even in the slightest degree, was the height of imprudence. When Christianity first shone upon mankind, it found error supreme mistress of the world. Having, then, to deal with a universe that was rooted in death, Christianity adopted no other plan for giving it salvation than that of making the light as bright as could be; its only policy was to proclaim the power which truth alone has of saving man, and to assert its exclusive right to reign over this world. The triumph of the Gospel was the result. It came after three centuries of struggle—a struggle intense and violent on the side of darkness, which declared itself to be supreme, and was resolved to keep so; but a struggle most patient and glorious on the side of the Christians, the torrents of whose blood did but add fresh joy to the brave army, for it became the strongest possible foundation of the united kingdom of love and truth.

¹ St. Matt. vi. 9.
² Eph. iv. 32; v. 1.
³ St. Chrys., in ep. ad Eph., Hom. xiv. 8.
¹ Bern. Avo., De Offic. Miss., v.

¹ Eph. v. 8. ² Ibid. 15, 11. ³ St. Matt. iv. 16.

But now, with the connivance of those whose Baptism made them, too, children of light, error has regained its pretended rights. As a natural consequence, the charity of an immense number has grown cold in proportion; darkness is again thickening over the world, as though it were in the chill of its last agony. The children of light,² who would live up to their dignity, must behave exactly as did the early Christians. They must not fear, nor be troubled: but, like their forefathers and the apostles, they must be proud to suffer for Jesus' sake,³ and prize the word of life⁴ as the dearest thing they possess; for they are convinced that, so long as truth is kept up in the world, so long is there hope for it.⁵ As their only care is, to make their manner of life worthy of the Gospel of Christ,⁶ they go on, with all the simplicity of children of God, faithfully fulfilling the duties of their state of life, in the midst of a wicked and perverse generation, as stars of the firmament shine in the night.⁷

'The stars shine in the night,' says St. John Chrysostom, 'they glitter in the dark; so far from growing dim amidst the gloom that surrounds them, they seem all the more brilliant. So will it be with thee, if thou art virtuous amidst the wicked; thy light will shine so much the more clearly.'⁸ 'As the stars,' says St. Augustine, 'keep on their course in the track marked out for them by God, and grow not tired of sending forth their light in the midst of darkness, neither heed they the calamities which may be happening on earth; so should do those holy ones whose conversation is truly in heaven;⁹ they should pay no more attention to what is said or done against them, than the stars do.'¹⁰

¹ St. Matt. xxiv. 12. ² Eph. v. 8. — ³ Phil. i. 28-30. ⁴ Ibid. ii. 16. ⁵ St. John viii. 32. ⁶ Phil. i. 27. ⁷ Ibid. ii. 15. ⁸ St. Chrys., in Phil., Hom. viii. 4. ⁹ Phil. iii. 20. ¹⁰ St. Aug., Enarr. in Ps. xciii. 5, 6.

The Gradual hymns the praise of the sweet and strong unity, which the Church maintains even to the end; she does this by charity, in which the Epistle urged us to be making fresh progress, and which the ancient Gospel of this same Sunday put before us as the one means of securing a favourable sentence at the day of judgment.

GRADUAL

Ecce quam bonum, et quam jucundum habitare fratres in unum!

℣. Sicut unguentum in capite, quod descendit in barbam, barbam Aaron.

Alleluia, alleluia.

℣. Qui timent Dominum, sperent in eo; adjutor et protector eorum est. Alleluia.

Behold! how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity!

℣. It is like the precious ointment on the head, that ran down upon the beard, the beard of Aaron.

Alleluia, alleluia.

℣. Let them that fear the Lord, hope in him; he is their helper and their protector. Alleluia.

GOSPEL

Sequentia sancti Evangelii secundum Matthæum.

Caput XXII.

In illo tempore: Abeuntes Pharisæi, consilium inierunt, ut caperent Jesum in sermone. Et mittunt ei discipulos suos cum Herodianis, dicentes: Magister, scimus quia verax es, et viam Dei in veritate doces, et non est tibi cura de aliquo: non enim respicis personam hominum: dic ergo nobis, quid tibi videtur: licet censum dare Cæsari, an non? Cognita autem Jesus nequitia eorum, ait: Quid me tentatis, hypocritæ? ostendite mihi numisma census. At illi obtulerunt ei denarium. Et ait illis Jesus: Cujus est imago hæc, et superscriptio? Dicunt ei: Cæsaris. Tunc ait illis: Reddite ergo quæ sunt Cæsaris, Cæsari: et quæ sunt Dei, Deo.

Sequel of the holy Gospel according to Matthew.

Chapter XXII.

At that time: The Pharisees going, consulted among themselves how to ensnare Jesus in his speech. And they send to him their disciples, with the Herodians, saying: Master, we know that thou art a true speaker, and teachest the way of God in truth, neither carest thou for any man: for thou dost not regard the person of men. Tell us therefore what dost thou think; is it lawful to give tribute to Cæsar or not? But Jesus knowing their wickedness, said: Why do you tempt me, ye hypocrites? Show me the coin of the tribute. And they offered him a penny. And Jesus saith to them: Whose image and inscription is this? They say to him: Cæsar's. Then he saith to them: Render therefore to Cæsar the things that are Cæsar's: and to God the things that are God's.

The diminution of truth¹ is evidently to be a leading peril of the latter times; for, during these weeks which represent the last days of the world, the Church is continually urging us to a sound and solid understanding of truth, as though she considered that to be the great preservative for her children. Last Sunday she gave them, as defensive armour, the shield of faith, and, as an offensive weapon, the word of God.² On the previous Sunday, it was circumspection of mind and intelligence that she recommended to them,³ with a view to their preserving, during the approaching evil days, the holiness which is founded on truth;⁴ for, as she told them the previous week, their riches in all knowledge are of paramount necessity.⁵ To-day, in the Epistle, she implored of them to be ever progressing in knowledge and all understanding, as being the essential means for abounding in charity, and for having the work of their sanctification perfected for the day of Christ Jesus. The Gospel comes with an appropriate finish to these instructions given us by the apostle: it relates an event in our Lord's life, which stamps those counsels with the weightiest possible authority, viz., the example of Him, who is our divine Model. He gives His disciples the example they should follow, when, like Himself, they have snares laid, by the world, for their destruction.

¹ Ps. xi. 2. ² Epistle of the twenty-first Sunday after Pentecost. ³ Epistle of the twentieth Sunday. ⁴ Epistle of the nineteenth Sunday. ⁵ Epistle of the eighteenth Sunday.

It was the last day of Jesus' public teaching; it was almost the eve of His departure from this earth.¹ His enemies had failed in every attempt hitherto made to ensnare Him; this last plot was to be unusually deep-laid. The pharisees, who refused to recognize Cæsar's authority and denied his claim to tribute, joined issue with their adversaries, the partisans of Herod and Rome, to propose this insidious question to Jesus: Is it lawful to give tribute to Cæsar, or not? If our Lord's answer was negative, He incurred the displeasure of the government; if He took the affirmative side, He would lose the estimation of the people. With His divine prudence, He disconcerted their plans. The two parties, so strangely made friends by partnership in one common intrigue, heard the magnificent answer, which was divine enough to make even pharisees and Herodians one in the truth. But truth was not what they were in search of; so they returned to their old party quarrels. The league formed against our Jesus was broken; the effort made by error recoiled on itself, as must ever be the case; and the answer it had elicited, passed from the lips of our Incarnate Lord to those of His bride, the Church, who would be ever repeating it to the world, for it contains the first principle of all governments on earth.

Render to Cæsar the things that are Cæsar's and to God the things that are God's: it was the dictum most dear to the apostles. If they boldly asserted that we must obey God rather than men,² they explained the whole truth, and added: 'Let every soul be subject to the higher powers: for there is no power but from God: and those that are, are ordained of God. Therefore, he that resisteth the power, resisteth the ordinance of God; and they that resist, purchase to themselves damnation. Wherefore, be subject of necessity, not only for wrath, but also for conscience' sake. For therefore also ye pay tribute; for they are the ministers of God serving unto this purpose.'¹

The will of God:² there is the origin, there is the real greatness of all authority amongst men! Of themselves, men have no right to command their fellow-men. Their number, however imposing it may be, makes no difference to this powerlessness of men over my conscience; for, whether they be one, or five hundred, I, by nature, am equal to each one among them; and, by adding the number of their so-called rights over me, they are only adding to the number of nothingnesses. But God, wishing that men should live one with the other, has thereby wished that there should exist amongst them a power which should rule over the rest; that is, should direct the thousands or millions of different wills to the unity of one social end. God leaves much to circumstances, though it is His providence that regulates those circumstances; He leaves to men themselves, at the beginning of any mere human society, a great latitude as to the choice of the form, under which is to be exercised both the civil power itself and the mode of its transmission. But, once regularly invested with the power, its depositaries are responsible to God alone, as far, that is, as the legitimate exercise of their authority goes, because it is from God alone that that power comes to them; it does not come to them from their people, who, not having that power themselves, cannot give it to another. So long as those rulers comply with the compact, or do not turn to the ruin of their people the power they received for its well-being, so long their right to the obedience of their subjects is the right of God Himself, whether they exercise their authority in exacting the subsidies needed for government; or in passing laws, which, for the general good of the people, restrain the liberty otherwise theirs by natural right; or again, by bidding their soldiers defend their country at the risk of life. In all such cases, it is God Himself that commands, and insists on being obeyed: in this world, He puts the sword into the hands of representatives, that they may punish the disobedient; and, in the next, He Himself will eternally punish them, unless they have made amends.

¹ Tuesday in Holy Week. ² Acts v. 29.

¹ Rom. xiii. 1, 2, 5, 6. ² 1 St. Pet. ii. 15.

How great, then, is the dignity of human law! It makes the legislator a representative of God, and, at the same time, spares the subject the humiliation of feeling himself debased before a fellow-man! But, in order that the law oblige, that is, be truly a law, it is evident that it must be, first and foremost, conformable to the commands and the prohibitions of God, whose will alone can give it a sacred character by making it enter into the domain of man's conscience. It is for this reason that there cannot be a law against God, or His Christ, or His Church. When God is not with Him who governs, the power he exercises is nothing better than brute force. The sovereign, or the parliament, that pretends to govern a country in opposition to the laws of God, has no right to aught but revolt and contempt from every upright man; to give the sacred name of law to tyrannical enactments of that kind is a profanation unworthy, not only of a Christian, but of every man who is not a slave.

The Offertory-anthem, together with the verses which used to be joined to it, refers, like the Introit, to the period of the last persecution. The words are taken from the prayer addressed to God by Esther, when about to enter into the presence of Assuerus that she might plead with him against Aman, who is a figure of Antichrist. Esther is a type of the Church; and we could not better show the spirit in which we ought to sing our Offertory, than by quoting the inspired words which preface this sublime prayer. 'Queen Esther, fearing the danger that was at hand, had recourse to the Lord. And when she had laid away her royal apparel, she put on garments suitable for weeping and mourning; instead of divers precious ointments, she covered her head with ashes and filth, and she humbled her body with fasts: and all the places in which before she was accustomed to rejoice, she filled with her torn hair. And she prayed to the Lord the God of Israel, saying: O my Lord, who alone art our King, help me a desolate woman, and who have no other helper but Thee!'¹

¹ Rom. xiii. 4.

¹ Esth. xiv. 1-3.

OFFERTORY

Recordare mei, Domine, omni potentatui dominans: et da sermonem rectum in os meum, ut placeant verba mea in conspectu principis.

℣. Recordare quod steterim in conspectu tuo.

℣. Everte cor ejus in odium repugnantium nobis, et in eos qui consentiunt eis; nos autem libera in manu tua, Deus noster in æternum.

℣. Qui regis Israel, intende; qui deducis velut ovem Joseph.

Recordare mei, Domine.

Remember me, O Lord, who art above all power; and put a right speech in my mouth, that my words may be pleasing to the prince.

℣. Remember, that I have stood in thy sight.

℣. Turn his heart into hatred of them that oppose us, and of them that consent unto them; but deliver us by thy hand, O our God for ever!

℣. O thou that rulest Israel, give ear; thou that leadest Joseph like a sheep.

Remember me, O Lord.

The surest guarantee a Christian can have against adversity is freedom from sin. It is sin that stirs up the anger of God, and calls upon Him for vengeance. Let us unite in the following prayer of the Church:

SECRET

Da, misericors Deus: ut hæc salutaris oblatio, et a propriis nos reatibus indesinenter expediat, et ab omnibus tueatur adversis. Per Dominum.

Grant, O merciful God, that this sacrifice of salvation may constantly both free us from our sins, and protect us from all adversity. Through, etc.

The other Secrets, as on page 130.

The Communion-anthem shows us with what perseverance and earnestness the Church prays to her divine Lord. We must imitate her.

COMMUNION

Ego clamavi quoniam exaudisti me, Deus: inclina aurem tuam, et exaudi verba mea.

I have cried out, because thou heardest me, O God; bend down thine ear, and graciously hearken to my words.

While offering the sacred mysteries in memory of our Jesus as He commanded us to do, we must not forget that these same are also our refuge in all our miseries. It would be presumption, or folly, to neglect to pray that they may thus protect us. The Church, here again, is our model, in utilizing these most powerful of all means for help.

POSTCOMMUNION

Sumpsimus, Domine, sacri dona mysterii, humiliter deprecantes: ut quæ in tui commemorationem nos facere præcepisti in nostræ proficiant infirmitatis auxilium. Qui vivis.

Having received, O Lord, the sacred mysteries, we humbly beseech thee, that what thou hast commanded us to do in remembrance of thee may be a help to us in our weakness. Who livest, etc.

The other Postcommunions, as on page 131.

VESPERS

The psalms, capitulum, hymn, and versicle, as above, pages 71-81.

ANTIPHON OF THE MAGNIFICAT

Reddite ergo quæ sunt Cæsaris Cæsari; et quæ sunt Dei Deo. Alleluia.

Render, therefore, to Cæsar the things that are Cæsar's: and to God, the things that are God's. Alleluia.

OREMUS

Deus, refugium nostrum, et virtus: adesto piis Ecclesiæ tuæ precibus, auctor ipse pietatis, et præsta: ut quod fideliter petimus, efficaciter consequamur. Per Dominum.

LET US PRAY

O God, our refuge and our strength; give ear to the holy prayers of thy Church, O thou, the author of holiness; and grant, that what we ask for with faith, we may effectually obtain. Through, etc.

THE TWENTY-THIRD SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST

When the number of the Sundays after Pentecost is only twenty-three, the Mass for to-day is taken from the twenty-fourth and last Sunday; and the Mass appointed for the twenty-third is said on the previous Saturday, or on the nearest day of the preceding week which is not impeded by a double or semi-double feast.

But, under all circumstances, the antiphonary ends to-day. The Introits, Graduals, Communions, and Postcommunions, which are given below, are to be repeated on each of the Sundays till Advent, which vary in number each year. Our readers will remember that, in the time of St. Gregory, Advent was longer than we now have it;¹ and that, in those days, its weeks commenced in that part of the cycle which is now occupied by the last Sundays after Pentecost. This is one of the reasons for the lack of liturgical riches in the composition of the dominical Masses which follow the twenty-third.

Even on this one, the Church, without losing sight of the last day, used to lend a thought to the new season which was fast approaching, the season, that is, of preparation for the great feast of Christmas. There was read, as Epistle, the following passage from Jeremias, which was afterwards, in several Churches, inserted in the Mass of the first Sunday of Advent: 'Behold! the days come, saith the Lord, and I will raise up to David a just branch: and a King shall reign, and shall be wise: and shall execute judgment and justice in the earth. In those days, shall Juda be saved, and Israel shall dwell confidently: and this is the name that they shall call Him: The Lord our Just One. Therefore, behold the days come, saith the Lord, and they shall say no more: The Lord liveth, who brought up the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt! But: The Lord liveth, who hath brought out, and brought hither, the seed of the house of Israel, from the land of the north, and out of all the lands, to which I had cast them forth! And they shall dwell in their own land.'²

As is evident, this passage is equally applicable to the conversion of the Jews and the restoration of Israel, which are to take place at the end of the world. This was the view taken by the chief liturgists of the middle ages, in order to explain thoroughly the Mass of the twenty-third Sunday after Pentecost. Bearing in mind that, originally, the Gospel of this Sunday was that of the multiplication of the five loaves, let us listen to the profound and learned Abbot Rupert, who, better than anyone, will teach us the mysteries of this day, which brings to a close the grand and varied Gregorian melodies.

'Holy Church,' he says, 'is so intent on paying her debt of supplication, and prayer, and thanksgiving, for all men, as the apostle demands, that we find her giving thanks also for the salvation of the children of Israel, who, she knows, are one day to be united with her. And, as their remnants are to be saved at the end of the world,³ so, on this last Sunday of the year, she delights in them, as though they were already her members. In the Introit, calling to mind the prophecies concerning them, she thus sings every year: My thoughts are thoughts of peace, and not of affliction. Verily, His thoughts are those of peace, for He promises to admit to the banquet of His grace the Jews, who are His brethren according to the flesh; thus realizing what had been prefigured in the history of the patriarch Joseph. The brethren of Joseph, having sold him, came to him when they were tormented by hunger; for then he ruled over the whole land of Egypt. He recognized them; he received them; and made, together with them, a great feast. So, too, our Lord, who is now reigning over the whole earth, and is giving the bread of life, in abundance, to the Egyptians (that is, to the Gentiles), will see coming to Him the remnants of the children of Israel. He, whom they had denied and put to death, will admit them to His favour, will give them a place at His table, and the true Joseph will feast delightedly with His brethren.

'The benefit of this divine Table is signified, in the Office of this Sunday, by the Gospel, which tells us of our Lord's feeding the multitude with five loaves. For it will be then that Jesus will open to the Jews the five Books of Moses, which are now being carried whole, and not yet broken; yea, carried by a child, that is to say, this people itself, who, up to that time, will have been cramped up in the narrowness of a childish spirit.

'Then will be fulfilled the prophecy of Jeremias, which is so aptly placed before this Gospel: "They shall say no more: The Lord liveth, who brought up the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt! But, the Lord liveth, who hath brought out the seed of Israel from the land of the north, and from all the lands into which they had been cast."

'Thus delivered from the spiritual bondage which still holds them, they will sing with all their heart the words of thanksgiving as we have them in the Gradual: "Thou hast saved us, O Lord, from them that afflict us!"

'The words we use in the Offertory: "From the depths I have cried to thee, O Lord," clearly allude to the same events; for, on that day, His brethren will say to the great and true Joseph: "We beseech thee to forget the wickedness of thy brethren!"⁴ The Communion: "Amen, I say to you, all things whatsoever ye ask, when ye pray," etc., is the answer made by that same Joseph, as it was by the first:⁵ "Fear not! Ye thought evil against me: but God turned it into good, that He might exalt me, as at present ye see, and might save many people. Fear not, therefore, I will feed you, and your children."'⁶

MASS

The Introit, which we have just had explained to us by Rupert, is taken from the Prophet Jeremias,⁷ as was the ancient Epistle.

INTROIT

Dicit Dominus: Ego cogito cogitationes pacis, et non afflictionis: invocabitis me, et ego exaudiam vos: et reducam captivitatem vestram de cunctis locis.

Ps. Benedixisti, Domine, terram tuam: avertisti captivitatem Jacob. Gloria Patri. Dicit Dominus.

The Lord saith: I think thoughts of peace, and not of affliction; ye shall call upon me, and I will hear you: and I will bring back your captive people from all places.

Ps. Thou, O Lord, hast blessed thy land: thou hast brought back the captive children of Jacob. Glory, etc. The Lord.

Prayer for pardon is continually on the lips of the Christian people, because the weakness of human nature is ever making itself felt, here below, even by the just man.⁸ God knows our frailty, and He is always ready to pardon us; but it is on the condition that we humbly acknowledge our faults, and have confidence in His mercy. These are the sentiments which suggest to the Church the words of the Collect.

COLLECT

Absolve, quæsumus Domine, tuorum delicta populorum: ut a peccatorum nexibus, quæ pro nostra fragilitate contraximus, tua benignitate liberemur. Per Dominum.

Absolve, O Lord, we beseech thee, the sins of thy people; that, by thy clemency, we may be delivered from the bonds of sins contracted by our own frailty. Through, etc.

The other Collects, as on page 120.

EPISTLE

Lectio Epistolæ beati Pauli Apostoli ad Philippenses.

Capita III. et IV.

Fratres, Imitatores mei estote, et observate eos, qui ita ambulant, sicut habetis formam nostram. Multi enim ambulant, quos sæpe dicebam vobis (nunc autem et flens dico) inimicos crucis Christi: quorum finis interitus: quorum deus venter est: et gloria in confusione ipsorum, qui terrena sapiunt. Nostra autem conversatio in cælis est: unde etiam Salvatorem exspectamus Dominum nostrum Jesum Christum, qui reformabit corpus humilitatis nostræ, configuratum corpori claritatis suæ, secundum operationem, qua etiam possit subjicere sibi omnia. Itaque, fratres mei charissimi et desideratissimi, gaudium meum et corona mea: sic state in Domino, charissimi. Evodiam rogo, et Syntychen deprecor idipsum sapere in Domino. Etiam rogo et te, germane compar, adjuva illas, quæ mecum laboraverunt in Evangelio, cum Clemente, et ceteris adjutoribus meis, quorum nomina sunt in libro vitæ.

Lesson of the Epistle of St. Paul the Apostle to the Philippians.

Chapters III. and IV.

Brethren: Be followers of me, and observe them who walk so as you have our model. For many walk, of whom I have told you often (and now tell you weeping) that they are enemies of the cross of Christ; whose end is destruction, whose god is their belly, and whose glory is in their shame: who mind earthly things. But our conversation is in heaven; from whence also we look for the Saviour, our Lord Jesus Christ, who will reform the body of our lowness, made like to the body of his glory, according to the operation whereby also he is able to subdue all things unto himself. Therefore, my dearly beloved brethren, and most desired, my joy, and my crown: so stand fast in the Lord, my dearly beloved. I beg of Evodia, and I beseech Syntyche, to be of one mind in the Lord. And I entreat thee also, my sincere companion, help those women that have laboured with me in the Gospel, with Clement and the rest of my fellow-labourers, whose names are in the book of life.

The Clement here mentioned by the apostle was St. Peter's second successor. Very frequently, the twenty-third Sunday after Pentecost comes close upon the feast of this great Pope and Martyr of the first century. Disciple of Paul, and, later on, in close intimacy with Peter, and named by the Vicar of Christ as the fittest to succeed him in the apostolic chair, Clement, as we shall see on November 23, was one of the saints most venerated by the faithful in those early times. The mention made of him in the Office of the time, just before his appearance on the cycle of holy Church, excited the Christian people to joy, and roused their fervour; it reminded them, that one of their best and dearest protectors would soon be visiting them.

At the time when St. Paul was writing to the Philippians, Clement, who was long to survive the apostles, was prominently one of those men spoken of in our Epistle, those illustrious models, who were called to perpetuate in the flock confided to their care⁹ the pattern of holy living; and that, not so much by their zealous teaching, as by the force of example. The Church, the one true bride of the divine Word, was known by the incommunicable privilege of possessing within her the truth; not only its dead letter, but its ever-living self. The Holy Ghost has not kept the Books of sacred Scripture from passing into the hands of the sects separated from the centre of unity; but He has reserved to the Church the treasure of tradition, which transmits, surely and fully, from one generation to another, the word which is life and light. This tradition is kept up by the truth and the holiness of the Man-God, ever existing in His members, ever tangible and visible in the Church.¹⁰ Holiness, which is inherent in the Church, is tradition in its purest and strongest form; because it is the truth, not only preached, but reduced to action and work,¹¹ as it was in Christ Jesus, and as it is in God.¹² It is the deposit, which the disciples of the apostles had the mission to hand faithfully down to their successors, just as the apostles themselves had received it from the Word, who had come upon the earth.¹³

Hence, St. Paul did not content himself with entrusting dogmatic teaching to his disciple

¹ See our 'Advent,' chap. i., page 23 et seq.
² Jer. xxiii. 5-8.
³ Rom. ix. 27.
⁴ Gen. l. 17.
⁵ Ibid. 19-21.
⁶ Rup., De Div. Off., xii. 28.
⁷ Jer. xxix.
⁸ Prov. xxiv. 16.
⁹ 1 St. Pet. v. 3.
¹⁰ St. John i. 4.
¹¹ 1 St. John i. 1.
¹² 1 Thess. ii. 13.
¹³ St. John v. 17. 1 Tim. vi. 20.

Timothy; he said to him: 'Be thou an example to the faithful, in word, and in living.' He said much the same to Titus: 'Show thyself an example of good works, in doctrine and in integrity of life.' He repeated to all: 'Be ye followers of me, as I also am of Christ.' He sent Timothy to the Corinthians, that he might remind them, or, where it was necessary, might teach them, not only the dogmas of his Gospel, but likewise his ways in Christ Jesus, that is, his manner of life. For this manner of life of the apostle was, in a certain measure, his teaching everywhere in all the Churches; and he lauded the faithful of Corinth for being mindful to imitate him in all things, which was a keeping to the tradition of Christ. As for the Thessalonians, they had so thoroughly entered into this teaching, taken from their apostle's life, that, as St. Paul says of them, they had become a pattern to all believers; this silent teaching of Christian revelation, which they showed forth in their conduct, made it superfluous for the messengers of the Gospel to say much.

The Church is a magnificent temple, which is built up, to the glory of God, of the living stones, which let themselves be set into its walls. The constructing of those sacred walls on the plan laid down by Christ is a work in which all are permitted to share. What one does by word, another does by good example; but both of them build, both of them edify the holy city; and, as it was in the apostolic age, so always; example is more powerful than word, unless that word be supported by the authority of holiness in him who speaks it, unless, that is, he lead a life according to the perfection taught by the Gospel.

¹ 2 Tim. ii. 2. ² 1 Tim. iv. 12. ³ Tit. ii. 7. ⁴ 1 Cor. iv. 16. ⁵ Ibid. 17. ⁶ Ibid. xi. 1-2. ⁷ 1 Thess. i. 5-8. ⁸ Eph. ii. 20-22. ⁹ 1 Cor. xiv. 3. ¹⁰ Rom. xiv. 19.

But, as the giving of edification to those around him is an obligation incumbent on the Christian—an obligation imposed both by the charity he owes to his neighbour, and by the zeal he should have for the house of God—so likewise, under pain of presumption, he should seek his own edification in the conduct of others. The reading of good books, the study of the lives of the saints, the observing, as our Epistle says, those holy people with whom he lives, all this will be an incalculable aid to him, in the work of his own personal sanctification and in the fulfilment of God's purposes in this regard. This devout intercourse with the elect of earth and of heaven will keep us away from men who are enemies of the cross of Christ and mind earthly things, and put their happiness in carnal pleasures. It will make our conversation be in heaven. Preparing for the day which cannot now be far off, the day of the coming of our Lord, we shall stand fast in Him, in spite of the falling off of so many amongst us, who, by the current of the world's fashion, are hurried into perdition. The troubles and sufferings of the last times will but intensify our hope in God; for they will make us long all the more ardently for the happy day when our Redeemer will appear and complete the work of the salvation of His servants by imparting to their very flesh the brightness of His own divine Body. Let us, as our apostle says, be of one mind in the Lord; and then, as he bids his dear Philippians, let us rejoice in the Lord always, for the Lord is nigh.¹

GRADUAL

Liberasti nos, Domine, ex affligentibus nos: et eos qui nos oderunt, confudisti.

Thou hast saved us, O Lord, from them that afflict us: and hast put them to shame that hate us.

℣. In Deo laudabimur tota die, et in nomine tuo confitebimur in sæcula.

℣. In God shall we glory all the day long: and in thy name we will give praise for ever.

Alleluia, alleluia.

℣. De profundis clamavi ad te, Domine: Domine exaudi orationem meam. Alleluia.

℣. Out of the depths I have cried unto thee, O Lord: Lord, hear my prayer. Alleluia.

GOSPEL

Sequentia sancti Evangelii secundum Matthæum.

Sequel of the holy Gospel according to Matthew.

Caput IX.

Chapter IX.

In illo tempore: Loquente Jesu ad turbas, ecce princeps unus accessit, et adorabat eum, dicens: Domine, filia mea modo defuncta est: sed veni, impone manum tuam super eam, et vivet. Et surgens Jesus sequebatur eum, et discipuli ejus. Et ecce mulier, quæ sanguinis fluxum patiebatur duodecim annis, accessit retro, et tetigit fimbriam vestimenti ejus. Dicebat enim intra se: Si tetigero tantum vestimentum ejus, salva ero. At Jesus conversus, et videns eam, dixit: Confide, filia, fides tua te salvam fecit. Et salva facta est mulier ex illa hora. Et cum venisset Jesus in domum principis, et vidisset tibicines, et turbam tumultuantem, dicebat: Recedite, non est enim mortua puella, sed dormit. Et deridebant eum. Et cum ejecta esset turba, intravit, et tenuit manum ejus. Et surrexit puella. Et exiit fama hæc in universam terram illam.

At that time: As Jesus was speaking to the multitude: Behold a certain ruler came up and adored him, saying: Lord, my daughter is even now dead; but come lay thy hand upon her, and she shall live. And Jesus rising up followed him, with his disciples. And behold a woman who was troubled with an issue of blood twelve years, came behind him, and touched the hem of his garment. For she said within herself: If I shall touch only his garment I shall be healed. But Jesus turning and seeing her, said: Be of good heart, daughter, thy faith hath made thee whole. And the woman was made whole from that hour. And when Jesus was come into the house of the ruler, and saw the minstrels and the multitude making a rout, he said: Give place: for the girl is not dead, but sleepeth. And they laughed him to scorn. And when the multitude was put forth, he went in and took her by the hand. And the maid arose. And the fame hereof went abroad into all that country.

Although the choice of this Gospel for the twenty-third Sunday is not of great antiquity, yet is it in most perfect keeping with the post-pentecostal liturgy, and confirms what we have stated relative to the character of this portion of the Church's year. St. Jerome tells us, in the homily selected for the day, that the hemorrhoissa, healed by our Lord, is a type of the Gentile world; whilst the Jewish people is represented by the daughter of the ruler of the Synagogue. This latter is not to be restored to life until the former has been cured; and this is precisely the mystery we are so continually commemorating during these closing weeks of the liturgical year, viz., the fullness of the Gentiles recognizing and welcoming the divine Physician, and the blindness of Israel at last giving way to the light.²

The liturgy at this close of the year continually alludes to the end of the world. The earth seems to be sinking away, down into some deep abyss; but it is only that it may shake off the wicked from its surface, and then it will come up again blooming in light and love. After the divine realities of this year of grace, we ought to be capable of feeling a thrill of admiration at the mysterious, yet, at the same time, the strong and sweet ways of eternal Wisdom. At the beginning, when man was first created, sin soon followed, breaking up the harmony of God's beautiful world, and throwing man off the divine path where his Creator had placed him. Wickedness went on increasing, until God's mercy fell upon one family. The light which beamed on that privileged favourite only showed more plainly the thick darkness in which the rest of mankind were enveloped. The Gentiles, abandoned to their misery, all the more terrible because they had caused it and loved it, saw God's favours all bestowed on Israel, whilst they themselves were disregarded, and wished to be so. Even when the time came for original sin to be remedied, it seemed to be the very time for the final reprobation of the Gentiles; for the salvation that came down from heaven in the person of the Man-God was seen to be exclusively directed towards the Jews and the lost sheep of the house of Israel.

¹ S. Hieron., in Matt., cap. ix. ² Rom. xi. 25. ³ Wisd. viii. 1.

But the people that had been treated with so much predilection, and whose fathers and first rulers had so ardently prayed for the coming of the Messias, was no longer in the position to which it had been raised by the holy patriarchs and prophets. Its beautiful religion, founded on desire and hope, was then nothing but a sterile expectancy, which kept it motionless and unable to advance a single step towards its Redeemer. As to its Law, Israel then minded nothing but the letter, and, at last, turned it into a mummy of sectarian formalism. Now, whilst in spite of all this sinful apathy it was mad with jealousy, pretending that no one else had any right to heaven's favours, the Gentile, whose ever-increasing misery urged him to go in search of some deliverer, found one, and recognized him in Jesus the Saviour of the world. He was confident that this Jesus could cure him; so he took the bold initiative, went up to Him, and had the merit of being the first to be healed. True, our Lord had treated him with an apparent disdain; but that had only had the effect of intensifying his humility, and humility has a power of making way anywhere, even into heaven itself.⁴

Israel, therefore, was now made to wait. One of the Psalms he sang ran thus: 'Ethiopia shall be the first to stretch out her hands to God.'⁵ It is now the turn for Israel to recover, by the pangs of a long abandonment, the humility which had won the divine promises for his fathers, the humility which alone could merit his seeing those promises fulfilled.

¹ St. Matt. xv. 24. ² Ecclus. xxxv. 21. ³ Ps. lxvii. 32.

By this time, however, the word of salvation has made itself heard throughout all the nations, healing and saving all who desired the blessing. Jesus, who has been delayed on the road, comes at last to the house towards which He first purposed to direct His sacred steps; He reaches, at last, the house of Juda, where the daughter of Sion is in a deep sleep. His almighty compassion drives away from the poor abandoned one the crowd of false teachers and lying prophets, who had sent her into that mortal sleep, by all the noise of their vain babbling: He casts forth for ever from her house those insulters of Himself, who are quite resolved to keep the dead one dead. Taking the poor daughter by the hand, He restores her to life, and to all the charm of her first youth; proving thus, that her apparent death had been but a sleep, and that the long delay of dreary ages could never belie the word of God, which He had given to Abraham, His servant.¹

Now therefore, let this world hold itself in readiness for its final transformation; for the tidings of the restoration of the daughter of Sion puts the last seal to the accomplishment of the prophecies. It remains now but for the graves to give back their dead.² The valley of Josaphat is preparing for the great meeting of the nations;³ Mount Olivet is once more to have Jesus standing upon it,⁴ but this time as Lord and Judge!⁵

¹ St. Luke i. 54, 55. ² Dan. xii. 1, 2. ³ Joel iii. 2. ⁴ Acts i. 11. ⁵ Zach. xiv. 4.

OFFERTORY

De profundis clamavi ad te, Domine: Domine, exaudi orationem meam: de profundis clamavi ad te, Domine.

Out of the depths have I cried unto thee, O Lord: Lord, hear my prayer: out of the depths have I cried unto thee, O Lord!

The service we pay to God is, of itself, far beneath what His sovereign Majesty deserves; but the Sacrifice, which every day constitutes part of our service, ennobles it even to an infinite worth, and supplies all our own deficiencies of merit. This is what we are told in this Sunday's Secret.

SECRET

Pro nostræ servitutis augmento sacrificium tibi, Domine, laudis offerimus: ut, quod immeritis contulisti, propitius exequaris. Per Dominum.

We offer thee, O Lord, this sacrifice of praise, as a repeated token of our homage; that thou mayst mercifully accomplish in us, what thou hast already granted beyond our deserts. Through, etc.

The other Secrets, as on page 180.

COMMUNION

Amen dico vobis, quidquid orantes petitis, credite quia accipietis, et fiet vobis.

Amen I say unto you: all things whatsoever ye ask for when ye pray, believe that ye shall receive, and it shall be done unto you.

Having, by these sacred mysteries, entered into a participation of divine life, let us beseech our Lord, that we may no longer be subject to the dangers of this world. Let us say with the Church:

POSTCOMMUNION

Quæsumus, omnipotens Deus: ut, quos divina tribuis participatione gaudere, humanis non sinas subjacere periculis. Per Dominum.

We beseech thee, O almighty God, that thou wouldst not permit to be subject to the dangers of this human life, those whom thou hast admitted to the joyful participation of thy divine life. Through, etc.

The other Postcommunions, as on page 131.

VESPERS

The psalms, capitulum, hymn, and versicle, as above, pages 71-81.

ANTIPHON OF THE MAGNIFICAT

At Jesus conversus et videns eam, dixit: Confide, filia, fides tua te salvam fecit. Alleluia.

But Jesus turning, and seeing her, said: Be of good heart, daughter! thy faith hath made thee whole. Alleluia.

OREMUS

Absolve, quæsumus Domine, tuorum delicta populorum: ut a peccatorum nexibus, quæ pro nostra fragilitate contraximus, tua benignitate liberemur. Per

¹ Phil. iv. 4, 5.

LET US PRAY

Absolve, O Lord, we beseech thee, the sins of thy people; that, by thy clemency, we may be delivered from the bonds of sins contracted by our own frailty. Through, etc.

Dominum.

THE TWENTY-FOURTH AND LAST SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST

The number of the Sundays after Pentecost may exceed twenty-four, and go as far as twenty-eight, according as Easter is each year more or less near to the vernal equinox. But the Mass here given is always reserved for the last; and the intervening ones, be their number what it may, are taken from the Sundays after the Epiphany, which, in that case, were not used at the beginning of the year.¹

This, however, does not apply to the Introit, Gradual, Offertory, and Communion, which, as we have already said, are repeated from the twenty-third Sunday.

We have seen how that Mass of the twenty-third Sunday was regarded, by our forefathers, as really the last of the cycle. Abbot Rupert has given us the profound meaning of its several parts. According to the teaching we have already pondered over, the reconciliation of Juda was shown us as being, in time, the term intended by God: the last notes of the sacred liturgy blended with the last scene of the world's history, as seen and known by God. The end proposed by eternal Wisdom in the world's creation, and mercifully continued, after the fall, by the mystery of Redemption, has now (we speak of the Church's year and God's workings) been fully carried out. This end was no other than that of divine union with human nature, making it one in the unity of one only body.² Now that the two antagonistic people, Gentile and Jew, are brought together in the one same new Man in Christ Jesus their Head,³ the two Testaments, which so strongly marked the distinction between the ages of time, the one called the old, the other the new, fade away, and give place to the glory of the eternal Alliance.

It was here, therefore, that mother Church formerly finished her liturgical year. She was delighted at what she had done during all the past months; that is, at having led her children, not only to have a thorough appreciation of the divine plan, which she had developed before them in her celebrations, but moreover, and more especially, to unite them themselves, by a veritable union, to their Jesus, by a real communion of views, and interests, and loves. On this account, she used not to revert again to the second coming of the God-Man and the last judgment, two great subjects which she had proposed for her children's reflexions, at the commencement of the purgative life, that is, in her season of Advent. It is only a few centuries ago that, with a view of giving to her year a conclusion more defined and intelligible to the faithful of these comparatively recent times, she chose to conclude the cycle with the prophetic description of the dread coming of her Lord, which is to put an end to time, and to open eternity. From time immemorial, St. Luke had had the office of announcing, in Advent, the approach of the last judgment;⁴ the evangelist St. Matthew was selected for this its second, and more detailed, description, on the last Sunday after Pentecost.

MASS

INTROIT

Dicit Dominus: Ego cogito cogitationes pacis, et non afflictionis: invocabitis me, et ego exaudiam vos: et reducam captivitatem vestram de cunctis locis.

The Lord saith: I think thoughts of peace, and not of affliction; ye shall call upon me, and I will hear you: and I will bring back your captive people from all places.

Ps. Benedixisti, Domine, terram tuam: avertisti captivitatem Jacob. Gloria Patri. Dicit Dominus.

Ps. Thou, O Lord, hast blessed thy land: thou hast brought back the captive children of Jacob. Glory, etc. The Lord.

The doing of good works, by the help of divine grace, prepares us to receive a still greater grace for greater works in the future. In the Collect, let us unite with our mother, the Church, in praying for an efficacious influence of the divine Mover upon our wills.

COLLECT

Excita, quæsumus Domine, tuorum fidelium voluntates, ut divini operis fructum propensius exequentes, pietatis tuæ remedia majora percipiant. Per Dominum.

Stir up, we beseech thee, O Lord, the wills of thy faithful; that, becoming more zealous as to the fruit of the divine work, they may receive the greater remedies of thy goodness. Through, etc.

The other Collects, as on page 120.

EPISTLE

Lectio Epistolæ beati Pauli Apostoli ad Colossenses.

Caput I.

Fratres, Non cessamus pro vobis orantes et postulantes, ut impleamini agnitione voluntatis Dei in omni sapientia, et intellectu spiritali: ut ambuletis digne Deo per omnia placentes: in omni opere bono fructificantes, et crescentes in scientia Dei: in omni virtute confortati secundum potentiam claritatis ejus, in omni patientia, et longanimitate cum gaudio, gratias agentes Deo Patri, qui dignos nos fecit in partem sortis sanctorum in lumine: qui eripuit nos de potestate tenebrarum, et transtulit in regnum Filii dilectionis suæ; in quo habemus redemptionem per sanguinem ejus, remissionem peccatorum.

Lesson of the Epistle of St. Paul the Apostle to the Colossians.

Chapter I.

Brethren: We cease not to pray for you, and to beg that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will, in all wisdom, and spiritual understanding: that you may walk worthy of God, in all things pleasing: being fruitful in every good work, and increasing in the knowledge of God: strengthened with all might, according to the power of his glory, in all patience and long-suffering with joy. Giving thanks to God the Father, who hath made us worthy to be partakers of the lot of the saints in light: who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of the Son of his love, in whom we have redemption through his blood, the remission of sins.

Thanksgiving and prayer! There we have the epitome of our Epistle, and an eloquent conclusion of the apostle's course of instructions: it is also both the summary and the conclusion of the year of the sacred liturgy. The Doctor of the Gentiles has been zealous, beyond measure, in his fulfilment of the task assigned to him by mother Church. Of a certainty, the fault is not his, if the souls he undertook to guide, on the morrow of the descent of the Spirit of love, have not all reached that summit of perfection, which he longed for us all to attain. Those who have gone bravely forward in the path which, a year since, was opened out to them by holy Church, now, by a happy experience, know that that path most surely leads them to the life of union, where divine charity reigns supreme. Who is there that, with anything like earnestness, has allowed his mind and heart to take an interest in the several liturgical seasons which have been brought before us, and been celebrated by the Church during the past twelve months, has not also felt an immense increase of light imparted to him? Now, light is that indispensable element, which delivers us from the power of darkness, and translates us, by the help of God, into the kingdom of the Son of His love. The work of redemption, which this His beloved Son came down upon earth to accomplish for His Father's glory, could not do otherwise than make progress in those who have, with more or less fervour, entered into the spirit of His Church, during the whole year, that is, from the opening of Advent right up to these the closing days of the sacred cycle. All of us, then, whosoever we may be, should give thanks to this Father of lights,⁵ who hath thus made us worthy to be partakers, somewhat at least, of the lot of the saints.

So, then, all of us, be the share of our participation what it may, must pray that the excellent gift,⁶ which has been put into our hearts, may fervently yield itself to the still richer development, which the coming new cycle is intended to produce within us.

The just man cannot possibly remain stationary in this world; he must either descend or ascend; and whatever may be the degree of perfection to which grace has led him, he must be ever going still higher as long as he is left in this life.⁷ The Colossians, to whom the apostle was writing, had fully received the Gospel; the word of truth which had been sown in them had produced abundant fruit in faith, hope, and love;⁸ and yet, instead of relenting on that account his solicitude in their regard, it is precisely for that reason⁹ that St. Paul, who had prayed for them up till then, ceases not to pray for them. So let us do: let us go on praying. Let us beg of God, that He will again, and always, fill us with His divine Wisdom, and with the Spirit of understanding. We need all that, in order to correspond with His merciful designs. If the new year of the Church, which is so soon to begin, finds us faithful and making fresh progress, we shall be repaid with new aspects of truth in the garden of the Spouse, and the fruits we shall produce there will be more plentiful, and far sweeter, than in any bygone year. Therefore, let us make up our minds to walk worthy of God, with dilated hearts,¹⁰ and bravely; for the eye of His approving love will be ever upon us, as we toil along. Oh, yes! let us run on in that uphill path, which will lead us to eternal repose in the beatific vision!

¹ Farther on (vid. Inf., pages 496-511) we have given these Sundays, which are the third, fourth, fifth, and sixth, after the Epiphany. When there are twenty-five Sundays after Pentecost, it is the sixth after the Epiphany, which is put after the twenty-third; if the number of Sundays be twenty-six, the fifth after the Epiphany becomes the twenty-fourth after Pentecost; if the number be twenty-seven, we go back to the fourth after the Epiphany, and the rest follow; if it be as high as twenty-eight, we begin with the third.
² The thirteenth Sunday after Pentecost.
³ Eph. ii. 16.
⁴ Ibid. 15.
⁵ St. Jas. i. 17.
⁶ Ibid.
⁷ Ps. lxxxiii. 6.
⁸ Col. i. 4-6.
⁹ Ibid. 9.
¹⁰ St. Benedict, The Holy Rule.

GRADUAL

Liberasti nos, Domine, ex affligentibus nos: et eos, qui nos oderunt, confudisti.

Thou hast saved us, O Lord, from them that afflict us: and hast put them to shame that hate us.

V. In Deo laudabimur tota die, et in nomine tuo confitebimur in sæcula.

V. In God shall we glory all the day long: and in thy name we will give praise for ever.

Alleluia, alleluia.

V. De profundis clamavi ad te, Domine; Domine, exaudi orationem meam. Alleluia.

V. Out of the depths I have cried unto thee, O Lord: Lord, hear my prayer. Alleluia.

GOSPEL

Sequentia sancti Evangelii secundum Matthæum.

Caput XXIV.

In illo tempore: Dixit Jesus discipulis suis: Cum videritis abominationem desolationis, quæ dicta est a Daniele propheta, stantem in loco sancto, qui legit intelligat: tunc qui in Judæa sunt, fugiant ad montes: et qui in tecto, non descendat tollere aliquid de domo sua: et qui in agro, non revertatur tollere tunicam suam. Væ autem prægnantibus, et nutrientibus in illis diebus. Orate autem ut non fiat fuga vestra in hieme, vel Sabbato. Erit enim tunc tribulatio magna, qualis non fuit ab initio mundi usque modo, neque fiet. Et nisi breviati fuissent dies illi, non fieret salva omnis caro: sed propter electos breviabuntur dies illi. Tunc si quis vobis dixerit: Ecce hic est Christus, aut illic: nolite credere. Surgent enim pseudochristi, et pseudoprophetæ: et dabunt signa magna et prodigia, ita ut in errorem inducantur (si fieri potest) etiam electi. Ecce prædixi vobis. Si ergo dixerint vobis: Ecce in deserto est, nolite exire: Ecce in penetralibus, nolite credere. Sicut enim fulgur exit ab Oriente, et paret usque in Occidentem: ita erit et adventus Filii hominis. Ubicumque fuerit corpus, illic congregabuntur et aquilæ. Statim autem post tribulationem dierum illorum sol obscurabitur, et luna non dabit lumen suum, et stellæ cadent de cælo, et virtutes cælorum commovebuntur: et tunc parebit signum Filii hominis in cælo: et tunc plangent omnes tribus terræ: et videbunt Filium hominis venientem in nubibus cæli cum virtute multa et majestate. Et mittet angelos suos cum tuba, et voce magna: et congregabunt electos ejus a quatuor ventis, a summis cælorum usque ad terminos eorum. Ab arbore autem fici discite parabolam: cum jam ramus ejus tener fuerit, et folia nata, scitis quia prope est æstas; ita et vos, cum videritis hæc omnia, scitote quia prope est in januis. Amen dico vobis, quia non præteribit generatio hæc, donec omnia hæc fiant. Cælum

Sequel of the holy Gospel according to Matthew.

Chapter XXIV.

At that time: Jesus said to his disciples: When you shall see the abomination of desolation, which was spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place: he that readeth, let him understand. Then they that are in Judea, let them flee to the mountains; and he that is on the house-top, let him not come down to take anything out of his house; and he that is in the field, let him not go back to take his coat. And wo to them that are with child, and that give suck in those days. But pray that your flight be not in the winter, or on the Sabbath. For there shall be then great tribulation, such as hath not been from the beginning of the world until now, neither shall be. And unless those days had been shortened, no flesh should be saved: but for the sake of the elect, those days shall be shortened. Then if any man shall say to you: Lo! here is Christ, or there: do not believe him. For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders, insomuch as to deceive, if possible, even the elect. Behold I have told it to you beforehand; if therefore they shall say to you: Behold he is in the desert, go ye not out: Behold he is in the closets, believe it not. For as lightning cometh out of the east, and appeareth even into the west; so shall also the coming of the Son of Man be. Wheresoever the body shall be, there shall the eagles also be gathered together. And immediately after the tribulation of those days, the sun shall be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of heaven shall be moved: and there shall appear the sign of the Son of Man in heaven: and then shall all tribes of the earth mourn: and they shall see the Son of Man coming in the clouds of heaven with much power and majesty. And he shall send his angels with a trumpet, and a great voice: and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from the farthest parts of the heavens to the utmost bounds of them. And from the fig-tree learn a parable: when the branch thereof is now tender and the

et terra transibunt, verba leaves come forth, you know autem mea non præteribunt. that summer is nigh. So you
also, when you shall see all these things, know ye that it is nigh even at the doors. Amen, I say to you, that this generation shall not pass, till all these things be done. Heaven and earth shall pass, but my words shall not pass.

Several times during Advent we meditated on the circumstances which are to accompany the last coming of Christ our Lord; and in a few days the same great teachings will be again brought before us, filling our souls with a salutary fear. May we, then, be permitted, on this last Sunday of our liturgical year, to address ourselves in a prayer of desire and praise to our adorable Lord and King, the solemn hour of whose judgment is to be the consummation of His work, and the signal of His triumph.

O Jesus! who then art to come to deliver Thy Church, and avenge that God who has so long borne every sort of insult from His creature man, that day of Thy coming will indeed be terrible to the sinner! He will then understand how the Lord hath made all things for Himself—all, even the ungodly, who, on the evil day, are to show forth the divine justice! The whole world, fighting on His side against the wicked,² shall then at last be avenged for that slavery of sin which had been forced upon it. Vainly will the wicked cry out to the rocks to fall upon them, and hide them from the face of Him that will then be seated on His throne;⁴ the abyss will refuse to engulf them; in obedience to Him who holds the keys of death and of hell,⁵ it will give forth, to a man, its wretched victims, and set them at the foot of the dread tribunal. O Jesus, how magnificent will Thy power then appear! The heavenly hosts will also standing around Thee, forming Thy brilliant court, and assembling Thy elect from the four quarters of the earth.

¹ Prov. xvi. 4. ² Wisd. v. 21. ³ Rom. viii. 21.
⁴ Apoc. vi. 16. ⁵ Ibid. i. 18.

For we also, Thy redeemed who have become Thy members by becoming the members of Thy beloved Church, we are to be there on that day, and our place (O ineffable mystery!) is to be the one Thou hast reserved for Thy bride; it is to be Thy own throne,² where seated we shall judge the very angels.³ Even now, all those blessed of the Father,⁴ all those elect whose youth, like that of the eagle, has been so often renewed by receiving Thy precious Blood,⁵ have they not had their eyes fitted to gaze without being dazzled on the Sun of justice, when He shall appear in the heavens? The tediousness of their long exile has given such keenness to their hunger that nothing will have power to stay their flight, once the sacred prey of Thy divine Body shall be shown them! What hindrance could be strong enough to check the impetuosity of the love⁶ which will bring them all together to the banquet of the eternal Pasch? The trumpet of the Archangel, which will ring through the graves of the just, is to be a summons calling them, not to death, but to life; to the sight of the old enemy's destruction;⁷ to a redemption which is to include their very bodies;⁸ to the unimpeded passover to the true Land of promise; in a word, to the Pasch, and this time real, and for all, and for ever. What will be the joy of that true day of the Lord!⁹ What joy for them that have, by faith, lived in Christ,

¹ Apoc. xix. 14. ² Ibid. iii. 21. ³ 1 Cor. vi. 3.
⁴ St. Matt. xxv. 34. ⁵ Ps. cii. 5. ⁶ Cant. viii. 6.
⁷ 1 Cor. xv. 26. ⁸ Rom. viii. 23. ⁹ Ps. cxvii. 24.

and loved Him without seeing Him!¹ Identifying themselves with Thee, O Jesus, notwithstanding the weakness of the flesh, they have continued here below Thy life of suffering and humiliation. What a triumph when, delivered for ever from sin, and vested in their immortal bodies, they shall be borne aloft before Thy face, that they may for ever be with Thee!²

But their chiefest joy on that great day will be to assist at the glorification of their most dear Lord, by the manifestation of the power which was given to Him over all flesh.³ Then, O Emmanuel! crushing the heads of kings, and making Thine enemies Thy footstool,⁴ Thou wilt be shown as the one Ruler of all nations.⁵ Then will heaven, and earth, and hell bow their knee⁶ before that Son of Man, who heretofore appeared on earth as a slave, and was judged, and condemned, and put to death between two thieves. Then, dear Jesus, Thou wilt judge the unjust judges, to whom, even in the midst of all the humiliations they put on Thee, Thou didst foretell this Thy coming on the clouds of heaven.⁷ And when, after the irrevocable sentence has been passed, the wicked shall go to everlasting torments, and the just to life eternal,⁸ Thy apostle tells us that, having conquered Thine enemies and been proclaimed undisputed King, Thou wilt consign to Thy eternal Father this Thy kingdom won over death; it will be the perfect homage of Thee, the Head, and of all Thy faithful members.⁹ God will thus be all in all. It will be the perfect accomplishment of that sublime prayer Thou taughtest mankind to make, which they daily offer up to the Father who is in heaven,¹⁰ say-

¹ 1 St. Pet. i. 8. ² 1 Thess. iv. 16. ³ St. John xvii. 2.
⁴ Ps. cix. ⁵ Ps. ii. ⁶ Phil. ii. 10.
⁷ St. Matt. xxvi. 64. ⁸ Ibid. xxv. 46. ⁹ 1 Cor. xv. 24-28.
¹⁰ St. Matt. vi. 9.

ing to Him: 'Hallowed be Thy name! Thy kingdom come! Thy will be done on earth, as it is in heaven!' O blissfully peaceful day, when blasphemy is to cease, and when this poor earth of ours, cleansed by fire from the filth of sin, shall be turned into a new paradise! Where, then, is the Christian, who would not thrill with emotion at the thought of that last of all the days of time, which is to usher in beautiful eternity? Who would not despise the agonies of his own last hour, when he reflects that those sufferings have really only one meaning in them, that the Son of Man, as the Gospel words it, is nigh even at the very doors!

O sweet Jesus, detach us every year more and more from this world, whose fashion passeth away,¹ with its vain toils, its false glories, and its lying pleasures. It was Thine own foretelling, that, as in the days of Noe and Sodom, men will go on with their feasting, and business, and amusements, without giving any more thought to Thy approaching coming than their forefathers heeded the threat of the Deluge, or of the fire, which came upon them and destroyed them.² Let these men go on with their merry-making, and their sending gifts one to the other, as Thine Apocalypse has it, because, so they will have it, Christ and His Church are then to be worn-out ideas!³ Whilst they are tyrannizing over Thy holy city in a thousand varied ways, and persecuting her as no past period had ever done, they little think that all this is an announcement of the eternal nuptials, which are nigh at hand. All these trials are the fresh jewels, which the bride is to have given her before her beauty is complete; and the blood of her last martyrs is to incarnadine her already splendid robes with all the richness of royal crimson. As for us, we lend an ear to the echoes of our home

¹ 1 Cor. vii. 31. ² St. Luke xvii. 26-30. ³ Apoc. xi. 10.

above; and, from the throne of our God, we hear going forth the voice heard by Thy beloved prophet of Patmos: 'Give praise unto our God, all ye His servants, and ye that fear Him, little and great! Alleluia! For the Lord our God the almighty hath reigned! Let us be glad and rejoice, and give glory unto Him; for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and His wife hath prepared herself!'¹ Yet a little while, till the number of our brethren be made up;² and then, with the Spirit and the bride, we will say to Thee, in all the ardour of our souls that have long thirsted after Thee: 'Come, Lord Jesus!³ Come, and perfect us in love, by eternal union, unto the glory of the Father, and of Thyself the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, for ever and ever!'

OFFERTORY

De profundis clamavi ad Out of the depths I have te, Domine: Domine, exau- cried unto thee, O Lord: Lord,
di orationem meam: de hear my prayer: out of the profundis clamavi ad te, depths I have cried unto thee, Domine. O Lord!

¹ Apoc. xix. 5-7. ² Ibid. vi. 11. ³ Ibid. xxii. 17.

In the Secret, let us ask of God that, at the approach of the last judgment, He would turn all hearts towards Himself, and vouchsafe to make our earthly desires give place to the desire for, and relish of, heavenly things.

SECRET

Propitius esto, Domine, Mercifully hear our suppli-
supplicationibus nostris: et cations, O Lord: and, having populi tui oblationibus pre- received the offerings and cibusque susceptis, omnium prayers of thy people, turn the nostrum ad te corda con- hearts of us all unto thee; verte; ut a terrenis cupi- that, being freed from earthly ditatibus liberati, ad cœ- desires, we may come to desire
lestia desideria transeamus. heavenly things. Through, Per Dominum. etc.

The other Secrets, as on page 180.

COMMUNION

Amen dico vobis, quid- Amen I say unto you: all quid orantes petitis, credite things whatsoever ye ask for quia accipietis, et fiet vobis. when ye pray, believe that ye shall receive, and it shall be done unto you.

May the divine Sacrament, as the Church prays in the Postcommunion, fully cure, by its virtue, whatsoever may remain faulty in our souls at this close of the year!

POSTCOMMUNION

Concede nobis, quæsu- Grant, we beseech thee, O
mus Domine, ut per hæc Lord, that whatsoever is faulty
sacramenta quæ sumpsi- in our souls may be cured
mus, quidquid in nostra by the virtue of the mysteries mente vitiosum est, ipso- we have received. Through, rum medicationis dono cu- etc. retur. Per Dominum.

The other Postcommunions, as on page 131.

VESPERS

The psalms, capitulum, hymn and versicle, as above, pages 71-81.

ANTIPHON OF THE MAGNIFICAT

Amen dico vobis, quia Amen, I say to you, that this non præterit generatio generation shall not pass, till
hæc, donec omnia fiant: all these things be done:
cœlum et terra transibunt, heaven and earth shall pass,
verba autem mea non trans- but my words shall not pass, ibunt, dicit Dominus. saith the Lord.

OREMUS

Excita, quæsumus Domi- Stir up, we beseech thee, O
ne, tuorum fidelium volun- Lord, the wills of thy faithful; tates, ut divini operis fru- that, becoming more zealous ctum propensius exsequen- as to the fruit of the divine tes, pietatis tuæ remedia work, they may receive the
majora percipiant. Per Do- greater remedies of thy good- minum. ness. Through, etc.

THE THIRD SUNDAY AFTER THE EPIPHANY

INTROIT

Dicit Dominus: Ego co- The Lord saith: I think
gito cogitationes pacis, et thoughts of peace, and not of non afflictionis: invocabitis affliction; ye shall call upon me, et ego exaudiam vos: me, and I will hear you: and et reducam captivitatem I will bring back your captive vestram de cunctis locis. people from all places.

Ps. Benedixisti, Domine, Ps. Thou, O Lord, hast
terram tuam: avertisti capti- blessed thy land: thou hast vitatem Jacob. Gloria Patri. brought back the captive Dicit Dominus. children of Jacob. Glory, etc.
The Lord.

COLLECT

Omnipotens, sempiterne O almighty and eternal God, Deus, infirmitatem nostram mercifully behold our weak-
propitius respice: atque ad ness; and stretch forth the protegendum nos, dexteram right hand of thy majesty to tuæ majestatis extende. Per protect us. Through, etc.
Dominum.

The other Collects, as on page 120.

EPISTLE

Lectio Epistolæ beati Pauli Lesson of the Epistle of
Apostoli ad Romanos. Saint Paul the Apostle to the Romans.

Caput XII. Chapter XII.

Fratres: Nolite esse pru- Brethren: Be not wise in
dentes apud vosmetipsos: your own conceits. To no nulli malum pro malo red- man rendering evil for evil: dentes: providentes bona providing good things, not only non tantum coram Deo, sed in the sight of God, but also etiam coram omnibus homi- in the sight of all men. If nibus; si fieri potest, quod it be possible, as much as is ex vobis est, cum omnibus in you, having peace with all hominibus pacem habentes: men. Not revenging your- non vosmetipsos defenden- selves, my dearly beloved, but tes, charissimi, sed date give place unto wrath. For, locum iræ; scriptum est it is written: Revenge to me:

Capharnaum, accessit ad mony unto them. And when eum centurio, rogans eum he had entered into Caphar- et dicens: Domine puer naum, there came to him a meus jacet in domo paraly- centurion, beseeching him, ticus, et male torquetur. and saying: Lord, my servant Et ait illi Jesus: Ego veni- lieth at home sick of the palsy, am et curabo eum. Et re- and is grievously tormented. spondens centurio, ait: And Jesus saith to him: I Domine, non sum dignus will come and heal him. And ut intres sub tectum meum; the centurion making answer, sed tantum dic verbo, et said: Lord, I am not worthy sanabitur puer meus. Nam that thou shouldst enter under et ego homo sum sub po- my roof; but only say the testate constitutus, habens word, and my servant shall be sub me milites, et dico huic: healed. For I also am a man Vade, et vadit; et alii: under authority, having under Veni, et venit; et servo me soldiers; and I say to this: meo: Fac hoc, et facit. Go! and he goeth; and to an- Audiens autem Jesus, mira- other: Come! and he cometh; tus est, et sequentibus se and to my servant: Do this! dixit: Amen dico vobis, and he doeth it. And Jesus non inveni tantam fidem in hearing this, marvelled, and Israel. Dico autem vobis, said to them that followed quod multi ab Oriente et him: Amen, I say to you, I Occidente venient, et re- have not found so great faith in cumbent cum Abraham et Israel. And I say to you that Isaac et Jacob in regno many shall come from the east cœlorum; filii autem regni and the west and shall sit
ejicientur in tenebras ex- down with Abraham, and teriores; ibi erit fletus et Isaac, and Jacob, in the king- stridor dentium. Et dixit dom of heaven; but the chil- Jesus centurioni: Vade, et dren of the kingdom shall be sicut credidisti, fiat tibi. Et cast out into the exterior dark- sanatus est puer in illa ness: there shall be weeping hora. and gnashing of teeth. And Jesus said to the centurion: Go! and, as thou hast be- lieved, so be it done to thee. And the servant was healed at the same hour.

OFFERTORY

De profundis clamavi ad te, Domine: Domine, exaudi orationem meam: de profundis clamavi ad te, Domine.

Out of the depths I have cried unto thee, O Lord: Lord, hear my prayer: out of the depths I have cried unto thee, O Lord.

enim: Mihi vindicta, ego retribuam, dicit Dominus. Sed si esurierit inimicus tuus, ciba illum; si sitit, potum da illi: hoc enim faciens, carbones ignis congeres super caput ejus. Noli vinci a malo, sed vince in bono malum.

I will repay, saith the Lord. But, if thy enemy be hungry, give him to eat: if he thirst, give him to drink: for, doing this, thou shalt heap coals of fire upon his head. Be not overcome by evil, but overcome evil by good.

GRADUAL

Liberasti nos, Domine, ex affligentibus nos: et eos, qui nos oderunt, confudisti.

V. In Deo laudabimur tota die, et in nomine tuo confitebimur in sæcula.

Alleluia, alleluia.

V. De profundis clamavi ad te, Domine: Domine, exaudi orationem meam. Alleluia.

Thou hast saved us, O Lord, from them that afflict us: and hast put them to shame that hate us.

V. In God shall we glory all the day long; and in thy name we will give praise for ever.

Alleluia, alleluia.

V. Out of the depths I have cried unto thee, O Lord: Lord, hear my prayer. Alleluia.

GOSPEL

Sequentia sancti Evangelii secundum Matthæum.

Caput VIII.

In illo tempore: Cum descendisset Jesus de monte, secutæ sunt eum turbæ multæ; et ecce leprosus veniens, adorabat eum dicens: Domine, si vis, potes me mundare. Et extendens Jesus manum, tetigit eum dicens: Volo, mundare. Et confestim mundata est lepra ejus. Et ait illi Jesus: Vide, nemini dixeris; sed vade, ostende te sacerdoti, et offer munus, quod præcepit Moyses, in testimonium illis. Cum autem introisset

Sequel of the holy Gospel according to Matthew.

Chapter VIII.

At that time: When Jesus was come down from the mountain, great multitudes followed him; and behold a leper came and adored him, saying: Lord, if thou wilt, thou canst make me clean. And Jesus stretching forth his hand, touched him, saying: I will! be thou made clean. And forthwith his leprosy was cleansed. And Jesus saith to him: See thou tell no man; but go, show thyself to the priest, and offer the gift which Moses commanded for a testimony to them. And when he had entered

SECRET

Hæc hostia, Domine, quæsumus, emundet nostra delicta: et ad sacrificium celebrandum subditorum tibi corpora, mentesque sanctificet. Per Dominum.

May this offering, O Lord, we beseech thee, cleanse away our sins: and sanctify the bodies and souls of thy servants, to prepare them for celebrating this sacrifice. Through, etc.

The other Secrets, as on page 130.

COMMUNION

Amen dico vobis, quidquid orantes petitis, credite quia accipietis, et fiet vobis.

Amen I say unto you: all things whatsoever ye ask for when ye pray, believe that ye shall receive, and it shall be done unto you.

POSTCOMMUNION

Quos tantis, Domine, largiris uti mysteriis: quæsumus; ut effectibus nos eorum veraciter aptare digneris. Per Dominum.

We beseech thee, O Lord, that we, to whom thou vouchsafest the use of these great mysteries, may be made truly worthy to receive the benefits thereof. Through, etc.

The other Postcommunions, as on page 181.

VESPERS

The psalms, capitulum, hymn, and versicle, as above, pages 71–81.

ANTIPHON OF THE MAGNIFICAT

Domine, si vis, potes me mundare; et ait Jesus: Volo, mundare.

Lord, if thou wilt, thou canst make me clean. And Jesus saith: I will! Be thou made clean!

OREMUS

Omnipotens sempiterne Deus, infirmitatem nostram propitius respice: atque ad protegendum nos, dexteram tuæ majestatis extende. Per Dominum.

LET US PRAY

O almighty and eternal God, mercifully behold our weakness; and stretch forth the right hand of thy majesty to protect us. Through, etc.

THE FOURTH SUNDAY AFTER THE EPIPHANY

INTROIT

Dicit Dominus: Ego cogito cogitationes pacis, et non afflictionis: invocabitis me, et ego exaudiam vos: et reducam captivitatem vestram de cunctis locis.

The Lord saith: I think thoughts of peace, and not of affliction: ye shall call upon me, and I will hear you: and I will bring back your captive people from all places.

Ps. Benedixisti, Domine, terram tuam: avertisti captivitatem Jacob. Gloria Patri. Dicit Dominus.

Ps. Thou, O Lord, hast blessed thy land: thou hast brought back the captive children of Jacob. Glory, etc. The Lord.

COLLECT

Deus, qui nos in tantis periculis constitutos, pro humana scis fragilitate non posse subsistere: da nobis salutem mentis et corporis; ut ea, quæ pro peccatis nostris patimur, te adjuvante, vincamus. Per Dominum.

O God, who knowest that, through human frailty, we are not able to subsist amidst such great dangers; grant us health of soul and body; that, whatsoever things we suffer because of our sins, we may conquer them, by thine assistance. Through, etc.

The other Collects, as on page 120.

EPISTLE

Lectio Epistolæ beati Pauli Apostoli ad Romanos.

Caput XIII.

Fratres, Nemini quidquam debeatis, nisi ut invicem diligatis: qui enim diligit proximum, legem implevit. Nam: Non adulterabis; Non occides; Non furaberis; Non falsum testimonium dices; Non concupisces, et si quod est aliud mandatum, in hoc verbo instauratur: Diliges proximum tuum sicut teipsum. Dilectio proximi malum non operatur. Plenitudo ergo legis est dilectio.

Lesson of the Epistle of St. Paul the Apostle to the Romans.

Chapter XIII.

Brethren: Owe no man anything, but to love one another: for he that loveth his neighbour, hath fulfilled the law. For, thou shalt not commit adultery: Thou shalt not kill: Thou shalt not steal: Thou shalt not bear false witness: Thou shalt not covet: and, if there be any other commandment, it is comprised in this word: Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. The love of our neighbour worketh no evil. Love, therefore, is the fulfilling of the law.

GRADUAL

Liberasti nos, Domine, ex affligentibus nos: et eos, qui nos oderunt, confudisti.

V. In Deo laudabimur tota die, et in nomine tuo confitebimur in sæcula.

Alleluia, alleluia.

V. De profundis clamavi ad te, Domine: Domine, exaudi orationem meam. Alleluia.

Thou hast saved us, O Lord, from them that afflict us; and hast put them to shame that hate us.

V. In God shall we glory all the day long; and in thy name we will give praise for ever.

Alleluia, alleluia.

V. Out of the depths I have cried unto thee, O Lord: Lord, hear my prayer. Alleluia.

GOSPEL

Sequentia sancti Evangelii secundum Matthæum.

Caput VIII.

In illo tempore: Ascendente Jesu in naviculam, secuti sunt eum discipuli ejus: et ecce motus magnus factus est in mari, ita ut navicula operiretur fluctibus, ipse vero dormiebat. Et accesserunt ad eum discipuli ejus, et suscitaverunt eum dicentes: Domine, salva nos, perimus. Et dicit eis Jesus: Quid timidi estis, modicæ fidei? Tunc surgens, imperavit ventis et mari; et facta est tranquillitas magna. Porro homines mirati sunt, dicentes: Qualis est hic, quia venti et mare obediunt ei?

Sequel of the holy Gospel according to Matthew.

Chapter VIII.

At that time: When Jesus entered into the boat, his disciples followed him. And behold a great tempest arose in the sea, so that the boat was covered with waves; but he was asleep. And his disciples came to him, and awaked him, saying: Lord! save us, we perish. And Jesus saith to them: Why are you fearful, O ye of little faith? Then rising up, he commanded the winds and the sea, and there came a great calm. But the men wondered, saying: What manner of man is this? for the winds and the sea obey him!

OFFERTORY

De profundis clamavi ad te, Domine: Domine, exaudi orationem meam: de profundis clamavi ad te, Domine.

Out of the depths I have cried unto thee, O Lord: Lord, hear my prayer: out of the depths I have cried unto thee, O Lord.

SECRET

Concede, quæsumus omnipotens Deus, ut hujus sacrificii munus oblatum, fragilitatem nostram ab omni malo purget semper, et muniat. Per Dominum.

Grant, we beseech thee, O almighty God, that the offering of this sacrifice may always cleanse our frailty from all evil, and be a protection to us. Through, etc.

The other Secrets, as on page 180.

COMMUNION

Amen dico vobis, quidquid orantes petitis, credite quia accipietis, et fiet vobis.

Amen I say unto you; all things whatsoever ye ask for when ye pray, believe that ye shall receive, and it shall be done unto you.

POSTCOMMUNION

Munera tua nos, Deus, a delectationibus terrenis expediant, et cælestibus semper instaurent alimentis. Per Dominum.

May thy gifts, of which we have partaken, O God, detach us from all earthly pleasures, and ever refresh and strengthen us with heavenly food. Through, etc.

The other Postcommunions, as on page 181.

VESPERS

The psalms, capitulum, hymn, and versicle, as above, pages 71–81.

ANTIPHON OF THE MAGNIFICAT

Domine, salva nos, perimus: impera, et fac, Deus, tranquillitatem.

Save us, O Lord, we perish: command, O God, and make the sea calm.

OREMUS

Deus, qui nos in tantis periculis constitutos, pro humana scis fragilitate non posse subsistere: da nobis salutem mentis et corporis; ut ea, quæ pro peccatis nostris patimur, te adjuvante, vincamus. Per Dominum.

LET US PRAY

O God, who knowest that, through human frailty, we are not able to subsist amidst such great dangers; grant us health of soul and body; that, whatsoever things we suffer because of our sins, we may conquer them, by thine assistance. Through, etc.

THE FIFTH SUNDAY AFTER THE EPIPHANY

INTROIT

Dicit Dominus: Ego cogito cogitationes pacis, et non afflictionis: invocabitis me, et ego exaudiam vos: et reducam captivitatem vestram de cunctis locis.

The Lord saith: I think thoughts of peace, and not of affliction; ye shall call upon me, and I will hear you: and I will bring back your captive people from all places.

Ps. Benedixisti, Domine, terram tuam: avertisti captivitatem Jacob. Gloria Patri. Dicit Dominus.

Ps. Thou, O Lord, hast blessed thy land: thou hast brought back the captive children of Jacob. Glory, etc. The Lord.

COLLECT

Familiam tuam, quæsumus Domine, continua pietate custodi: ut quæ in sola spe gratiæ cælestis innititur, tua semper protectione muniatur. Per Dominum.

Preserve, we beseech thee, O Lord, thy family by thy constant mercy; that, as it leans solely on the hope of heavenly grace, it may always be defended by thy protection. Through, etc.

The other Collects, as on page 120.

EPISTLE

Lectio Epistolæ beati Pauli Apostoli ad Colossenses.

Caput III.

Fratres, Induite vos sicut electi Dei, sancti, et dilecti, viscera misericordiæ, benignitatem, humilitatem, modestiam, patientiam, supportantes invicem, et donantes vobismetipsis, si quis adversus aliquem habet querelam: sicut et Dominus donavit vobis, ita et vos. Super omnia autem hæc charitatem habete; quod est vinculum perfectionis: et pax Christi exsultet in cordibus vestris, in qua et vocati estis in uno corpore: et grati estote. Verbum Christi habitet in vobis abundanter, in omni sapientia, docentes, et commonentes vosmetipsos, psalmis, hymnis, et canticis spiritualibus, in gratia cantantes in cordibus vestris Deo. Omne quodcumque facitis in verbo aut in opere, omnia in nomine Domini Jesu Christi, gratias agentes Deo et Patri per Jesum Christum Dominum nostrum.

Lesson of the Epistle of St. Paul the Apostle to the Colossians.

Chapter III.

Brethren: Put ye on, therefore, as the elect of God, holy, and beloved, the bowels of mercy, benignity, humility, modesty, patience; bearing with one another, and forgiving one another, if any have a complaint against another; even as the Lord hath forgiven you, so do you also. But above all these things have charity, which is the bond of perfection: and let the peace of Christ rejoice in your hearts, wherein also you are called in one body: and be ye thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you abundantly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another in psalms, hymns, and spiritual canticles, singing in grace in your hearts to God. All whatsoever you do in word, or in work, all things do ye in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, giving thanks to God and the Father, through Jesus Christ our Lord.

GRADUAL

Liberasti nos, Domine, ex affligentibus nos: et eos, qui nos oderunt, confudisti.

V. In Deo laudabimur tota die, et in nomine tuo confitebimur in sæcula.

Alleluia, alleluia.

V. De profundis clamavi ad te, Domine: Domine, exaudi orationem meam. Alleluia.

Thou hast saved us, O Lord, from them that afflict us: and hast put them to shame that hate us.

V. In God shall we glory all the day long; and in thy name we will give praise for ever.

Alleluia, alleluia.

V. Out of the depths I have cried unto thee, O Lord: Lord, hear my prayer. Alleluia.

GOSPEL

Sequentia sancti Evangelii secundum Matthæum.

Caput XIII.

In illo tempore: Dixit Jesus turbis parabolam hanc: Simile factum est regnum cælorum homini, qui seminavit bonum semen in agro suo. Cum autem dormirent homines, venit inimicus ejus, et superseminavit zizania in medio tritici, et abiit. Cum autem crevisset herba, et fructum fecisset, tunc apparuerunt et zizania. Accedentes autem servi patrisfamilias, dixerunt ei: Domine, nonne bonum semen seminasti in agro tuo? Unde ergo habet zizania? Et ait illis: Inimicus homo hoc fecit. Servi autem dixerunt ei: Vis, imus, et colligimus ea? Et ait: Non: ne forte colligentes zizania, eradicetis simul cum eis et triticum. Sinite utraque crescere usque ad messem, et in tempore messis dicam messoribus: Colligite primum zizania, et alligate ea in fasciculos ad comburendum, triticum autem congregate in horreum meum.

Sequel of the holy Gospel according to Matthew.

Chapter XIII.

At that time: Jesus spoke this parable to the multitude, saying: the kingdom of heaven is likened to a man that sowed good seed in his field. But while men were asleep, his enemy came and oversowed cockle among the wheat, and went his way. And when the blade was sprung up, and had brought forth fruit, then appeared also the cockle. Then the servants of the goodman of the house, coming, said unto him: Sir, didst thou not sow good seed in thy field? whence, then, hath it cockle? And he said to them: An enemy hath done this. And the servants said to him: Wilt thou that we go and gather it up? And he said: No: lest, perhaps, gathering up the cockle, you root up the wheat also together with it. Suffer both to grow until the harvest, and in the time of the harvest I will say to the reapers: Gather up first the cockle, and bind it into bundles to burn; but the wheat gather ye into my barn.

OFFERTORY

De profundis clamavi ad te, Domine: Domine, exaudi orationem meam: de profundis clamavi ad te, Domine.

Out of the depths I have cried unto thee, O Lord: Lord, hear my prayer: out of the depths I have cried unto thee, O Lord.

SECRET

Hostias tibi, Domine, placationis offerimus, ut et delicta nostra miseratus absolvas, et nutantia corda tu dirigas. Per Dominum.

We offer thee, O Lord, this sacrifice of propitiation, that thou wouldst mercifully forgive us our sins, and guide our faltering hearts. Through, etc.

The other Secrets, as on page 180.

COMMUNION

Amen dico vobis, quidquid orantes petitis, credite quia accipietis, et fiet vobis.

Amen I say unto you: all things whatsoever ye ask for when ye pray, believe that ye shall receive, and it shall be done unto you.

POSTCOMMUNION

Quæsumus omnipotens Deus: ut illius salutaris capiamus effectum, cujus per hæc mysteria pignus accepimus. Per Dominum.

We beseech thee, O almighty God, that we may one day receive the effects of that salvation, of which we have received the pledge in these mysteries. Through, etc.

The other Postcommunions, as on page 181.

VESPERS

The psalms, capitulum, hymn, and versicle, as above, pages 71-81.

ANTIPHON OF THE MAGNIFICAT

Colligite primum zizania, et alligate ea in fasciculos ad comburendum: triticum autem congregate in horreum meum, dicit Dominus.

Gather up first the cockle, and bind it into bundles to burn: but, gather the wheat into my barn, saith the Lord.

OREMUS

Familiam tuam, quæsumus Domine, continua pietate custodi: ut quæ in sola spe gratiæ cœlestis innititur, tua semper protectione muniatur. Per Dominum.

LET US PRAY

Preserve, we beseech thee, O Lord, thy family by thy constant mercy; that, as it leans solely on the hope of heavenly grace, it may always be defended by thy protection. Through, etc.

THE SIXTH SUNDAY AFTER THE EPIPHANY

INTROIT

Dicit Dominus: Ego cogito cogitationes pacis, et non afflictionis: invocabitis me, et ego exaudiam vos: et reducam captivitatem vestram de cunctis locis.

The Lord saith: I think thoughts of peace, and not of affliction; ye shall call upon me, and I will hear you: and I will bring back your captives from all places.

Ps. Benedixisti, Domine, terram tuam: avertisti captivitatem Jacob. Gloria Patri. Dicit Dominus.

Ps. Thou, O Lord, hast blessed thy land: thou hast brought back the captive children of Jacob. Glory, etc. The Lord.

COLLECT

Præsta, quæsumus, omnipotens Deus: ut semper rationabilia meditantes, quæ tibi sunt placita et dictis exsequamur, et factis. Per Dominum.

Grant, we beseech thee, O almighty God, that, ever meditating on such things as are reasonable, we may, both in word and deed, carry out the things which are pleasing unto thee. Through, etc.

The other Collects, as on page 120.

EPISTLE

Lectio Epistolæ beati Pauli Apostoli ad Thessalonicenses.

I Caput I.

Fratres, Gratias agimus Deo semper pro omnibus vobis, memoriam vestri facientes in orationibus nostris sine intermissione, memores operis fidei vestræ, et laboris et charitatis, et sustinentiæ spei Domini nostri Jesu Christi, ante Deum et Patrem nostrum: scientes, fratres, dilecti a Deo, electionem vestram: quia Evangelium nostrum non fuit ad vos in sermone tantum, sed et in virtute, et in Spiritu sancto, et in plenitudine multa, sicut scitis quales fuerimus in vobis propter vos. Et vos imitatores nostri facti estis, et Domini, excipientes verbum in tribulatione multa, cum gaudio Spiritus sancti: ita ut facti sitis forma omnibus credentibus in Macedonia, et in Achaia. A vobis enim diffamatus est sermo Domini, non solum in Macedonia, et in Achaia, sed et in omni loco fides vestra, quæ est ad Deum, profecta est, ita ut non sit nobis necesse quidquam loqui. Ipsi enim de nobis annuntiant qualem introitum habuerimus ad vos: et quomodo conversi estis ad Deum a simulacris, servire Deo vivo, et vero, et exspectare Filium ejus de cœlis (quem suscitavit ex mortuis) Jesum, qui eripuit nos ab ira ventura.

Lesson of the Epistle of St. Paul the Apostle to the Thessalonians.

I Chapter I.

Brethren: We give thanks to God always for you all: making a remembrance of you in our prayers without ceasing: being mindful of the work of your faith, and labour and charity, and of the enduring of the hope of our Lord Jesus Christ, before God and our Father; knowing, brethren beloved of God, your election. For, our Gospel hath not been to you in word only, but in power also, and in the Holy Ghost, and in much fullness, as you know what manner of men we have been among you for your sakes. And you became followers of us, and of the Lord, receiving the word in much tribulation, with joy of the Holy Ghost: so that you were made a pattern to all that believe in Macedonia and in Achaia. For from you was spread abroad the word of the Lord, not only in Macedonia and in Achaia, but also in every place your faith, which is towards God, is gone forth, so that we need not to speak anything. For they themselves relate of us, what manner of entering in we had unto you: and how you turned to God from idols, to serve the living and true God, and to wait for his Son from heaven (whom he raised up from the dead) Jesus, who hath delivered us from the wrath to come.

GRADUAL

Liberasti nos, Domine, ex affligentibus nos; et eos, qui nos oderunt, confudisti.

Thou hast saved us, O Lord, from them that afflict us: and hast put them to shame that hate us.

V. In Deo laudabimur tota die; et in nomine tuo confitebimur in sæcula.

V. In God shall we glory all the day long; and in thy name we will give praise for ever.

Alleluia, alleluia.

V. De profundis clamavi ad te, Domine: Domine, exaudi orationem meam. Alleluia.

Out of the depths I have cried unto thee, O Lord: Lord, hear my voice. Alleluia.

GOSPEL

Sequentia sancti Evangelii secundum Matthæum.

Caput XIII.

In illo tempore: Dixit Jesus turbis parabolam hanc: Simile est regnum cœlorum grano sinapis, quod accipiens homo seminavit in agro suo: quod minimum quidem est omnibus seminibus: cum autem creverit, majus est omnibus oleribus, et fit arbor, ita ut volucres cœli veniant, et habitent in ramis ejus. Aliam parabolam locutus est eis: Simile est regnum cœlorum fermento, quod acceptum mulier abscondit in farinæ satis tribus, donec fermentatum est totum. Hæc omnia locutus est Jesus in parabolis ad turbas, et sine parabolis non loquebatur eis: ut impleretur quod dictum erat per prophetam, dicentem: Aperiam in parabolis os meum, eructabo abscondita a constitutione mundi.

Sequel of the holy Gospel according to Matthew.

Chapter XIII.

At that time: Jesus spoke to the multitude this parable: The kingdom of heaven is like to a grain of mustard-seed, which a man took and sowed in his field. Which is the least indeed of all seeds; but, when it is grown up, it is greater than all herbs, and becometh a tree, so that the birds of the air come and dwell in the branches thereof. Another parable he spoke to them: The kingdom of heaven is like to leaven, which a woman took and hid in three measures of meal, until the whole was leavened. All these things Jesus spoke in parables to the multitudes, and without parables he did not speak to them: that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, saying: I will open my mouth in parables; I will utter things hidden from the foundation of the world.

OFFERTORY

De profundis clamavi ad te, Domine: Domine, exaudi orationem meam: de profundis clamavi ad te, Domine.

Out of the depths I have cried unto thee, O Lord: Lord, hear my prayer: out of the depths I have cried unto thee, O Lord!

SECRET

Hæc nos oblatio, Deus, mundet, quæsumus, et renovet, gubernet, et protegat. Per Dominum.

May this oblation, O God, we beseech thee, cleanse, renew, govern, and protect us. Through, etc.

The other Secrets, as on page 180.

COMMUNION

Amen dico vobis, quidquid orantes petitis, credite quia accipietis, et fiet vobis.

Amen I say unto you: all things whatsoever ye ask for when ye pray, believe that ye shall receive, and it shall be done unto you.

POSTCOMMUNION

Cœlestibus, Domine, pasti deliciis, quæsumus, ut semper eadem, per quæ veraciter vivimus, appetamus. Per Dominum.

Being fed, O Lord, with heavenly dainties, we beseech thee, that we may always hunger after them, for by them we have true life. Through, etc.

The other Postcommunions, as on page 181.

VESPERS

The psalms, capitulum, hymn, and versicle, as above, pages 71-81.

ANTIPHON OF THE MAGNIFICAT

Simile est regnum cœlorum fermento, quod acceptum mulier abscondit in farinæ satis tribus, donec fermentatum est totum.

The kingdom of heaven is like to leaven, which a woman took and hid in three measures of meal, until the whole was leavened.

OREMUS

Præsta, quæsumus, omnipotens Deus: ut semper rationabilia meditantes, quæ tibi sunt placita et dictis exsequamur, et factis. Per Dominum.

LET US PRAY

Grant, we beseech thee, O almighty God, that ever meditating on such things as are reasonable, we may, both in word and deed, carry out the things which are pleasing unto thee. Through, etc.

END OF THE PROPER OF THE TIME