Volume 15: Time After Pentecost (Part VI)

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LITURGICAL YEAR

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LITURGICAL YEAR

ABBOT PROSPER GUÉRANGER, O.S.B.

TIME AFTER PENTECOST

BOOK VI

TRANSLATED FROM THE FRENCH BY THE BENEDCTINES OF STANBROOK ABBEY

JUBILEE YEAR 2000 LIMITED EDITION

©

LORETO

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

--- PAGE 005 --- LORETO PUBLICATIONS

The Liturgical Year 15 Volume Set ISBN: 1-930278-03-9 Volume XV — Time After Pentecost Book VI ISBN: 1-930278-18-7

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

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PREFACE

HE LITURGICAL YEAR, begun sixty years ago,

is at length completed. The five hundred thousand volumes that have passed through the press before the conclusion of the work bear ample testimony to its popularity. Our Lord seems to have imparted to it a large share of the blessings merited by Dom Guéranger’s great labours for the Church.

In the most filial devotedness to this holy Church, in absolute obedience to the Vicar of Jesus Christ, we fulfil the duty that would have been so gratifying to our illustrióus Father, and declare once more that we unreservedly submit all and every the fifteen volumes of this work to the representative of God on earth. To praise, to condemn, to reprove, all that the sovereign See of Peter praises, condemns, and reproves, will ever be, according to the tenour of its Constitutions, the cherished maxim of the Benedictine Congregation of France.

We have yet another duty to fulfil with regard to our readers: to thamk them for their prayers, which have enabled us, in angustia temporum, to bring to its term the task imposed upon us by obedience twenty- five years ago. In return we promise, as in justice

v

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bound, ever to remember them before God. We beg of them not to cease from affording us their valued assistance, until the day when we shall be united with the Church triumphant, in the measure it has been granted us to identify ourselves with her on earth in prayer and in love. -

FR. L. F., O.S.B.

SOLESMES, November 22, 1900.

--- PAGE 008 --- 1. On hearing Mass during the Time after Pente- cost . . . . . . . .

II. On the Office of Vespers for Sundays and Feasts during the Time after Pentecost . .

III. On the Office of Compline "bs the Time after

PROPER OF THE SAINTS

November 1.—FEAST OF ALL SAINTS .

November 2.—ALL Sours’ Day . Matins ef the Dead First Nocturn . Second Nocturn . Third Noctum . Lauds . Mass of the Dead The Absolution .

November 3.—THIRD DAY WITHIN THE OCTAVE OF ALL

Vespers of the Holy Relics . . .

Sams Day —Saint Hubert, Bishop and Confessor —. November 4.—SAINT CHARLES, Bishop and Confessor .

a: 9 er & à ^ 9» 4 v 3$ DL

b € - 9 e € s * 9; € wr € 8

& » € 9 & e. a

Commemoration of Saints Vitalis and Agri-

vii

35

45

107 116 125 135 145

149 152 157 164 166

175

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November 5.—FirrH DAY WITHIN THE OCTAVE OF ALL

November 7.—SEVENTH DAY WITHIN THE OCTAVE OF ALL

November 8.—OcTAVE DAY OF ALL SAINTS . .

November RE siok i OF THE BASILICA OF SAINT SAVIOUR . .

Commemoration of Saint Theodore, Martyr THE DEDICATION OF CHURCHES

Mass LI * . . LJ Second Vespers . .

November 10 —SAINT ANDREW AVELLINO, Confessor

spicius, and Nympha, Martyrs .

November 11.—SAINT MARTIN, Bishop and Confessor

Commemoration of Saint Mennas, Martyr . November 12.—SAINT MARTIN I, Pope and Martyr . November 13.—SAINT DiDAcUus, Confessor . . November 14.—SAINT JOSAPHAT, Bishop and Mattar: November 15.—SAINT GERTRUDE, Virgin . . . November 17.—SAINT GREGORY THAUMATURGUS, Bishop and Confessor . . . .

November 18.—DEDICATION OF THE BASILICAS OF SAINTS

November 19.—SAINT ELIZABETH OF HUNGARY, Duchess

November 20.—SAINT FELIX oF VaLoIs, Confessor .

November 21.—PRESENTATION OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN

November 22.—SAINT CECILIA, Virgin and Martyr .

PAGE 179

184

190 197

198

203 210 211 214 222 229

237

242

243 256

257 262

266 274

283 288

295 302

303

307 316

--- PAGE 010 --- November 23.—SAINT CLEMENT I, Pope and Martyr Commemoration of Saint Felicitas, Martyr .

November 24.—SAINT JoHN oF THE Cross, Confessor : Commemoration of Saint Chrysogonus,

November 25.—SAINT Ca Virgin. and Martyr . November 26.—SAINT SYLVESTER, Abbot . "

Commemoration of Saint Peter of Alex-

andria, Bishop and Martyr November 29.— Vigil of St. Andrew. SAINT SATURNINUS, Martyr .

November 30.—SAINT ANDREW, Apostle . A

ix PAGE

331 340

341

349 350 357

360

362 364

2

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CHAPTER THE FIRST

ON HEARING MASS, DURING THE TIME AFTER PENTECOST

N 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 sprink- ling of the holy water, and the procession.

During the Asperges, you should unite with the inten- tions 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, hys- Thou shalt sprinkle me with
sopo, et mundabor; lavabis hyssop, O Lord, and I shall be me, et super nivem dealba- cleansed; thou shalt wash me, bor. and I shall be made whiter than

snow.

Ps. Miserere mei, Deus, se- Ps. Have mercy on me, O cundum magnam misericor. God, according to thy great

diam tuam. mercy. Y. Gloria Patri, &c. y. Glory, &c. ANT. Asperges me, &c. ANT. Thou shalt sprinkle, &c.

Y. Ostende nobis, Domine, Y. Show us, O Lord, thy misericordiam tuam; mercy. € Et salutare tuum da no- a Hy. And grant us thy salva- is. on.

3

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Y. Domine, exaudi orationem

meam. Hy. Et clamor meus ad te ve-

Y. Dominus vobiscum.

Hj. Et cum spiritu tuo.

OREMUS

Exaudi nos, Domine sancte,
Pater — eterne Deus:
et mittere digneris sanctum an- gelum tuum de czlis, qui custo- diat, foveat, protegat, visitet, atque defendat, omnes habi- tantes in hoc habitaculo. Per Christum Dominum nostrum.

Hy. Amen.

Y. O Lord, hear my prayer. Ey. And let my cry come unto thee.

Y. The Lord be with you. Hy. And with thy spirit.

LET US PRAY

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 whoare assembled in this place. Through Christ our Lord.

Hy. 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 monastic practice of going through the cloisters every Sunday chanting certain appointed responsories; while the hebdomadarian went through all the conventual places, blessing each of them.

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.

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THE ORDINARY OF THE MASS

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

Y. Introibo ad altarc Dei. HJ. Ad Deum qui letificat ju- ventutem meam.

Judica me, Deus, et discerne
causam meam de gente non sancta; ab homine iniquo et do- loso erue me.

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

Emitte lucem tuam et verita- tem tuam: ipsa me deduxerunt et adduxerunt in montem san- ctum tuum, et in tabernacula

tua.

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

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

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

Gloria Patri, et Filío, et Spl- ritui Sancto.

Sicut erat in principlo, et nunc, et semper, et in secula seculorum. Amen.

Y. Introibo ad altare Dei.

. N. Ad Deum qui letificat juventutem meam.

Y. Adjutorium nostrum in nomine Domini.

Ry. Qui fecit celum et ter- ram.

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

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.

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

It is in thee 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.

Send me, then, him who is the light and the truth; it is he will open the way to thy holy mount, to thy heavenly taber- nacle.

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

When he shall have come, I will - in my gladness. Be not , O my soul! why wouldst thou be troubled?

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

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.

Iam to go to the altar of God, and feel the presence of him who desires to give me a new life |

This my hope comes not from any merits of my own, but from the all-powerful help of my Creator.

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The thought of being about to appear before his God, excites in the soul of the priest a lively sentiment of com- punction. 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 peccatís tuis,

perducat te ad vitam eternam.

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

The priest having answered Amen, make your confes- sion, saying with a contrite spirit:

Confiteor Deo omnipotenti, beate Marie semper Virgini, beatoMichaeliarchangelo, beato Joanni Baptiste, sanctis apo- stolis Petro et Paulo, omnibus Sanctis, et tibi, pater, quía peccavi nimis cogitatione, ver- bo et opere: mea culpa, mea culpa, mea maxima culpa. Ideo precor beatam Mariam semper Virginem, beatum Mi- chaelem archangelum, beatum Joannem Baptistam, sanctos apostolos Petrum et Paulum, omnes sanctos, et te, pater, orare pro me ad Dominum De- um 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. There- fore I beseech blessed Mary ever Virgin, blessed Michael the archangel, blessed John the Baptist, the holy apostles Peter and Paul, 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 ve-

May almighty God be merci- ful to you, and, forgiving your

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stris, perducat vos ad vitam eternam.

Hy. Amen.

Indulgentiam, absolutionem, et remissionem peccatorum no- strorum tribuat nobis omnipo- tens et misericors Dominus.

Iy. Amen.

sins, bring you to everlasting life.

Hy. Amen. :

May the almighty and merci- ful Lord grant us pardon, abso- lution, and remission of our sins.

Hy. Amen.

Invoke the divine assistance, that you may approach

to Jesus Christ.

Y. Deus, tu conversus vivifi-
cabis nos.

Ry. Et plebs tua lztabitur in te

y. Ostende nobis, Domine,
misericordiam tuam. Ry. Et salutare tuum da nobis.

Y. Domine, exaudi oratio-
nem meam.

Iy. Et clamor meus ad te ve- niat.

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

Hy. And thy people shall rejoice in thee.

Y. Show us, O Lord, thy mercy.

Ey. And give us to know and love the Saviour whom thou hast sent unto us.

Y. O Lord, hear my prayer.

Ry. And let my cry come unto ee.

The priest here leaves you to ascend to the altar;

but first he salutes you:

Y. Dominus vobiscum.

Y. The Lord be with you.

Answer him with reverence:

Ry. Et cum spiritu tuo.

Hy. And with thy spirit.

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

OREMUS

Aufer a nobis, quzsumus Do- mine, iniquitates nostras; ut ad Sancta sanctorum puris merea- mur mentibus introire. Per Christum Dominum nostrum. Amen.

LET US PRAY

Take from our hearts, O Lord, all those sins which make us un. worthy to appear in thy pres- ence; we ask this of thee by thy divine Son, our Lord.

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

Oramus te, Domine, per me- Generous soldiers of Jesus
rita sanctorum tuorum, quorum Christ, who have mingled your reliquie hic sunt, ct omnium own blood with his, intercede sanctorum: ut indulgere digne- for us that our sins may be for- ris omnia peccata mea. Amen. given: 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 Mayst thou be blessed by honore cremaberis. Amen. 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 open- ing anthem, in which the Church, at the very commence- ment of the holy Sacrifice, gives expression to the senti- ments which fill her heart.

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

To the Father : Kyrie eleison. Lord, have mercy on us! Kyrie eleison. Lord, have mercy on us! Kyrie eleison. Lord, have mercy on us! To the Son : Christe eleison. Christ, have mercy on us| Christe eleison. Christ, have mercy on us !

Christe eleison. Christ, have mercy on us|

--- PAGE 020 --- THE ORDINARY OF THE MASS 9 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 Bethle- hem, which announces glory to God, and peace to men. Instructed by the revelations of God, the Church con- tinues in her own words the hymn of the angels.

THE ANGELIC HYMN

Gloria in excelsis Deo, et in terra pax hominibus bona vo- luntatis.

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

Domine Deus, Rex celestis,
Deus Pater omnipotens.

Domine, Fili unigenite, Jesu
Christe.

Domine Deus, Agnus Dei, Fi-
lius Patris.

Qui tollis peccata mundi, mi- serere nobis.

Qui tollis peccata mundi, su- Scipe deprecationem nostram.

Qui sedes ad dexteram Patris, miserere nobis.

Quoniam tu solus sanctus, tu solus Dominus, tu solus altissi-
mus, Jesu Christe, cum Sancto Spiritu, in gloria Dei Patris. Amen,

Glory be to God on high, and oe sia 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.

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.

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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 God, who, not satisfied with having spoken to us at sundry times by His messengers, deigned at last to speak to us by His well- beloved Son.!

The Gradual is an intermediate formula of prayer be- tween 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 more and more enter 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.

It is now time 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 bea High Mass, the deacon prepares 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 re- ceived it, at once goes to the place where he is to sing the Gospel.

1 Heb. 1, 2.

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II

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

Munda cor meum ac labia mea, omnipotens Deus, qui la-
bia Isai prophete calculo mun- dasti 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 com-

etenter annuntiem Evange- ium suum: In nomine Patris, et Filii, et Spiritus Sancti. Amen.

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 falthfull explain thy law; that so all, both d enc and flock, may be united to thee for ever. Amen.

You will stand during the Gospel, as though you were awaiting the orders of your Lord; 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.’* If you have not such love as this, have at least the humble submission of Samuel, and say: ' Speak, Lord | thy servant heareth.'*

After the Gospel, if the priest says the Symbol of faith, the Credo, you will say it with him. Faith is that 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.’ Let us then say with the Catholic Church, our mother:

THE NICENE CREED.

Credo in unum Deum, Pa- trem omnipotentem, factorem cali et terrae, visibilium omni- um et invisibilium.

1 Cant, v. 6

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

? 1 Kings iil, 10,

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Et in unum Dominum Jesum Christum, Filium Dei unigeni- tum. Etex Patre natum ante omnia secula, Deum de Deo, lu- men de lumine, Deum verum de Deo vero. Genitum non fa- ctum, consubstantialem Patri,

r quem omnia facta sunt.

i propter nos homines, et propter nostram salutem, de- Scendit de ccelis. Et incarna- tus est de Spiritu Sancto, ex Maria Virgine; ET HOMO FACTUS EST. Crucifixus etiam pro no- bis sub Pontio Pilato, passus et Sepultus est. Et resurrexit tertia die, secundum Scripturas. Et ascendit in celum; sedet ad dexteram Patris. Et iterum venturus est cum gloria judicare vivos et mortuos; cujus regni non erit finis.

Et in Spiritum Sanctum, Do- minum et vivificantem, qui ex Patre Filioque procedit. Qui cum Patre et Filio simul ado- ratur et conglorificatur; qui locutus est per prophetas. Et unam sanctam Catholicam et apostolicam Ecclesiam. Con- fiteor unum baptisma in remis- Sionem peccatorum. Et ex- Specto resurrectionem mortuo- rum, et vitam venturi seculi. Amen.

TIME AFTER PENTECOST

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; consub- stantial with the Father; by whom all things were made. Who for us men, and for our salvation, came down from heaven. And became incar- nate by the Holy Ghost of the Virgin Mary: AND WAS MADE MAN. He was crucified also for us, under Pontius Pilate, suffer- ed, and was buried. And thethird day he rose again, according to the Scriptures. And ascended into heaven, sitteth at the right hand of the Father. And heis 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 pro- ceedeth 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 Cath- olic and apostolic Church. I confess one baptism for the re- mission 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, by this time, have their hearts ready: it is time to prepare the offering itself. And here we come to the second part of the holy Mass, which is called the Oblation, and immed:ately follows that which was named the Mass of Catechumens, on account of its being formerly the only part at which the candidates for Baptism had a right to be present.

See, then, dear Christians! bread and wine are about

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to be offered to God, as being the noblest of inanimate creatures, since they are made for the nourishment of man; and even that is only a poor material image of what they are destined to become in our Christian Sacrifice. Their substance will soon give place to God Himself, 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.'* 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.’

The priest again turns to the people 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 in

saying:

Suscipe, sancte Pater, omni- potens, sterne Deus, hanc im-
maculatam hostiam, quam ego indignus famulus tuus offero tibi, Deo meo vivo et vero, pro innumerabilibus peccatis et of- fensionibus et negligentiis meis, et proomnibus circumstantibus, sed et pro omnibus fidelibus christianis vivis atque defun- ctis; ut mihi et illis proficiat ad salutem in vitam eternam. 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

1 4 Cor. v. 4

3? 2 St. Peter i. 4,

--- PAGE 025 --- 14

TIME AFTER PENTECOST

turn to the divine mystery of the Incarnation, which is the source of our hope and our salvation, and say:

Deus, qui humana substan-
tie dignitatem mirabiliter con- didisti, et mirabilius reformasti : da nobis per hujus aquze et vini mysterium, ejus divinitatis esse consortes, qui humanitatis no- stra fieri dignatus est particeps, Jesus Christus, Filius tuus, Do- minus noster: qui tecum vivit et ir, in unitate Spiritus Sancti Deus, per omnia szcula
seculorum. Amen.

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

t.

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. priest :

Offerimus tibi, Domine, cali-
cem salutaris, tuam deprecantes clementiam : ut in conspectu di- vinz Majestatis tuze, pro nostra ettotius mundi salute, cum odo- re suavitatis ascendat. Amen.

Meanwhile, say, in union with the

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

After having thus held up the sacred gifts towards heaven, the priest bows down; let us, also, humble our-

selves, and say: In spiritu humilitatis, et in animo contrito, suscipiamur a te, Domine: ct sic fiat sacrifi-
cium nostrum in conspectu tuo MN ut placeat tibi, Domine

eus.

Though daring, as we do, to approach thy altar, O Lord, we cannot forget that we are sin- ners. Have mercy on u$, 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.

--- PAGE 026 --- THE ORDINARY OF THE MASS 15

Veni, Sanctificator omnipo- ^ Come, O divine Spirit, make tens zterne Deus, et benedic fruitful the offering which is hoc sacrificium tuo sancto no- upon the altar, and produce in

mini preparatum.

ourheartshim whom they desire.

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

Per intercessionem beati Mi- chaelis archangeli, stantis a dex- tris altaris incensi, et omnium electorum suorum, incensum istud dignetur Dominus bene-
dicere, et in odorem suavitatis accipere: Per Christum Domi- num nostrum. Amen.

Through the intercession of blessed Michael the archangel, standing atthe 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. ThroughChristour Lord. Amen.

He then censes first the bread and wine which have just been offered, and then the altar itself; hereby invit- ing the faithful to make their prayer, which is signified by the 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 benedi- ctum, ascendat ad te, Domine,
et descendat super nos miseri- cordia tua.

Dirigatur, Domine, oratio
mea sicut incensum in conspectu tuo: elevatio manuum mearum Sacrificium vespertinum. Pone, Domine, custodiam ori meo, et
ostium circumstantie labiis meis; ut non declinet cor meum inverba malitiz, 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 di- rected 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 zterna caritatis. Amen.

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

--- PAGE 027 --- 16 TIME AFTER PENTECOST

But the thought of his own unworthiness becomes more intense than ever in the heart of the priest. The public confession which he made at the foot of the altar is not enough; he would now at the altar itself express to the people, in the language of a solemn rite, how far he knows himself to be from that spotless sanctity where- with he should approach to 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 him- self, do you also make an act of humility, and say with him these verses of the psalm:

PSALM 25

Lavabo inter innocentes ma- nus meas: et circumdabo altare tuum, Domine.

Ut audiam vocem laudis; et enarrem universa mirabilia tua.

Domine, dilexi decorem do-
mus tuze, et locum habitationis glorie tuz.

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

In quorum manibus iniquita- tes 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 Spi- ritui Sancto.

Sicut erat in principio, et

nunc, et semper, et in szcula -

seculorum. Amen.

I, too, would wash my hands, O Lord, and become like unto those who are innocent, that so I may be worthy to come near thy altar, and hear thy sacred canticles, and then go and pro- claim 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 sepa- rated me from them, I entered on the path of innocence and was restored to thy grace; but have pity on my weakness still ; redeem me yet more, 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.

--- PAGE 028 --- THE ORDINARY OF THE MASS 17

The priest, taking encouragement from the act of humility he has just made, returns to the middle of the altar, and bows down full of respectful awe, begging of 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 offcrimus ob memoriam Passionis, Resur- rectionis et Ascensionis Jesu Christi Domini nostri: et in ho- norem beatz Mariz semper Vir- ginis, et beati Joannis Bapti- sta, et sanctorum apostolorum Petri et Pauli, et istorum, et omnium sanctorum: ut illis pro- ficiat ad honorem, nobis autem ad salutem: et illi pro nobis intercedere dignentur in calis, quorum memoriam agimus in terris. Per eumdem Christum Dominum nostrum. Amen.

O holy Trinity, graciously ac- cept thesacrifice 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.

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 who are present. He says to them:

Orate frates: ut meum ac Brethren, pray that my Sacri- vestrum sacrificium acceptabile fice, which is yours also, may be

fiat apud Deum Patrem omni- acceptable to God, ouralmighty potentem. Father.

This request made, 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.

--- PAGE 029 --- 18 TIME AFTER PENTECOST

Assure the priest that he has your prayers, and say to

Suscipiat Dominus sacrifici- May our Lord accept this

um de manibus tuis, ad laudem Sacrifice at thy hands, to the

et gloriam nominis sui, ad utili- praise and glory of his name,

tatem quoque nostram totius- and for our benefit and that of

que Ecclesie suz sancta. 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 immedi- ately begins to fulfil that great duty of religion—thanks- giving. So far he has adored God, and has sued for mercy; he has still to give thanks for the blessings be- stowed 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 prayer by terminating it aloud, saying:

Per omnia szcula seculorum. For ever and ever.

In the same feeling, answer your Amen! Then he con- tinues:

Y. Dominus vobiscum. Y. The Lord be with you.
Y Et cum spiritu tuo. . And with thy spirit. . Sursum corda ! . Lift up your hearts !

Let your response be sincere: Ry. Habemus ad Dominum. E We have them fixed on

And when he adds:

Y. Gratias agamus Domino y. Let us give thanks to the Deo nostro. Lord our God.

--- PAGE 030 --- THE ORDINARY OF THE MASS

I9

Answer him with all the earnestness of your soul:

Ry. Dignum et justum est.

Ry. It is meet and just.

Then the priest:

THE PREFACE

Vere dignum et justum est, zequum et salutare, nos tibi sem- per et ubique gratias agere: Do- mine sancte, Pater omnipotens, zeterne Deus: per Christum Do-
minum nostrum. Perquem ma- jestatem tuam laudant Angeli, adorant Dominationes, tremunt Potestates; Cali calorumque Virtutes ac beata Seraphim, so- cia exsultatione concelebrant. Cum quibus et nostras voces ut admitti jubeas deprecamur sup- plici confessione dicentes :

Itistruly 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 Domi- nations adore it, the Powers tremble before it; the Heavens and the heavenly Virtues, and the blessed Seraphim, with common jubilee, glorify it. To- gether 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 cali et terra gloria

tua. Hosanna in excelsis | Benedictus qui venit in nomi- ne 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 mys- terious 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

--- PAGE 031 --- TIME AFTER PENTECOST

quiet of silence, and while the night was in the midst of her course, that the almighty Word came down from His royal throne. Let a profound respect stay all dis- tractions, and keep our senses in submission to the soul. Let us respectfully fix our eyes on what the priest does in the holy place.

20

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 Pa- ter, per Jesum Christum Fili- um tuum Dominum nostrum, supplices rogamus ac petimus, uti accepta habeas et benedicas hec dona, hec munera, hec sancta sacrificia illibata; in primis quz tibi offerimus pro Ecclesia tua sancta Catholica; quam pacificare, custodire, ad- unare, et regere digneris toto orbe terrarum, una cum famulo tuo Papa nostro N. et Antistite nostro N. et omnibus orthodoxis atque Catholice et apostolice fidei cultoribus.

O God, who manifestest thy- self unto us by means of the mysteries which thou hast en- trusted 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 un- ity. 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 Catho- lic, apostolic, Roman Church.

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

Memento, Domine, famulo-
rum famularumque tuarum N. et N., et omnium circumstan- tium, quorum tibi fides cognita est, et nota devotio: pro quibus tibi offerimus, vel qui tibi offer- unt hoc sacrificium laudis' pro 8e suisque omnibus, pro redem- ptione animarum suarum, pro

Permit me, O God, to inter- cede with thee for special bless- ings 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 theein the name of all mankind. Visit them by thy grace, pardon

1 Wisd, xviii. 14, 15.

--- PAGE 032 --- THE ORDINARY OF THE MASS

spe salutis et incolumitatis suz; tibique reddunt vota sua eterno Deo vivo et vero.

2I

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 memor- iam venerantes, in primis glori- ose semper Virginis Mariz, Genitricis Del et Domini nostri Jesu Christi: sed et beatorum apostolorum ac martyrum tu- orum, Petri et Pauli, Andrez, Jacobi, Joannis, Thome, Ja- cobi, Philippi, Bartholomaei, Matthai, Simonis, et Thaddzi: Lini, Cleti, Clementis, Xysti, Cornelii, Cypriani, Laurentii, Chrysogoni, Joannis et Pauli, Cosme et Damiani, et omnium Sanctorum tuorum: quorum merítis precibusque concedas, ut in omnibus protectionis tuz muniamur auxilio. Per eum- dem Christum Dominum no- strum. Amen.

But the offering of this Sacri- fice, O my God, does not unite us with those only of our breth- ren who are still in this transi- ent life of trial: it brings us closer to those also who are already in ion 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, confessors, vir- gins, and of all the saints; that they may assist us by their powerful intercession to be worthy of thís thy visit, and of contemplating thee, as they themselves now do, ín the man- sion 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 express 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 ser- ^ Vouchsafe, O God, to accept

vitutis nostre, sed et cuncte familie tuz, quesumus, Domi- ne, ut placatus accipias: dies-

the offering which this thine assembled family presents to thee as the homage of its most

--- PAGE 033 --- 22

que nostros in tua pace dispo- nas, atque ab eterna damna- tione nos eripi, et in electorum tuorum jubeas grege numerari. Per Christum Dominum no- strum. Amen.

Quam oblationem tu, Deus,
in omnibus, quaesumus, bene- dictam, adscriptam, ratam, rati- onabilem, acceptabilemque fa- cere digneris: ut nobis Corpus et Sanguis fiat dilectissimi Filii tui Domini nostri Jesu Christi.

TIME AFTER PENTECOST

happy servitude. In return, give us peace, save us from thy wrath, and number us among thy 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 !

And here the priest ceases to act as man; he now be-

comes 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 ve- nerabiles manus suas: et eleva- tis oculis in celum, ad te Deum Patrem suum omnipotentem, tibi gratias agens, benedixit, fregit, deditque discipulis suis, dicens: Accipite, et manducate ex hoc omnes. Hoc EST ENIM

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

CORPUS MEUM.

The divine Lamb is now lying on our altar! Glory and love be to Him for ever! But he has come that He may beimmolated. Hence the priest, who is the mini- ster of the designs of the Most High, immediately pro- nounces over the chalice the sacred words which follow, that 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

--- PAGE 034 --- THE ORDINARY OF THE MASS 23

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 asso- ciate ourselves to the angels, who tremblingly gaze upon

this deepest of wonders.

Simili modo postquam cena- tum est, acciplens et hunc pre- clarum Calicem in sanctas ac ve- nerabiles manus suas, item tibi gratias agens, benedixit, dedit- que discipulis suis dicens: Acci- pite et bibite ex eo omnes. Hic EST ENIM CALIX SANGUINIS MEI NOVI ET JETERNI TESTAMENTI, MYSTERIUM FIDEI; QUI PRO VO- BIS ET PRO MULTIS EFFUNDETUR IN REMISSIONEM PECCATORUM. Hac 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 liv- ing, 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 beata Passi- onis, nec non et ab inferis Re- surrectionis, sed et in calos gloriose Ascensionis: offerimus preclare Majestati tuz de tuis donis ac datis, Hostiam puram, Hostiam sanctam, Hostiam im- maculatam: Panem sanctum vite eterne, et Calicem salutis perpetua.

Supra quz propitio ac sereno vultu respicere digneris: et ac- cepta habere, sicuti accepta ha- bere dignatus es munera pueri tui justi Abel, et sacrificium Pa-

Father of infinite holiness,the Host so long expected is here be- forethee! Behold this thy eter- nal 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 ever- lasting 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

--- PAGE 035 --- 24

triarchz nostri Abrahz, et quod tibi obtulitsummus sacerdos tu - us Melchisedech, sanctum sacri- ficium, immaculatam Hostiam.

TIME AFTER PENTECOST

Isaac, who, though immolated, yet lived; and lastly the sacri- fice, which Melchisedech pre- sented to thee, of bread and wine. Receive our Sacrifice, which su 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, dh 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, omni- potens Deus, jube hac perferri
per manus sancti eli tui in sublime altare tuum, in conspe- ctu divine Majestatis tuz: ut quotquot ex hac altaris partici- pasos vce ey Filii tui

rpus et Sanguinem sumpse- rimus, omni benedictione ca- lesti 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 accom- plished the great mystery of thy glory and our salvation. Vouchsafe to make us ers 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 mercifully 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, fa-
mulorum famularumque tua- rum N. et N., qui nos preces- pon of thy Church. Thy

serunt cum signo fidei, et dormi- gladdens the elect in the unt in somno pacis. Ipsis, Do- holy city; even our mortal eyes

Dear Jesus! let the happiness of this thy visit extend to every

--- PAGE 036 --- THE ORDINARY OF THE MASS

mine, et omnibus in Christo quiescentibus, locum refrigerii, lucis, et pacis, ut indulgeas, de- precamur. Per eumdem Chri- stum Dominum nostrum. Amen.

25

can sec thee bencath the veil of our delighted faitb; 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 dark- ness, and peace in their agonies of torment.

This duty of charity fulfilled, let us pray for ourselves, sinners, alas! and who profit so little by the visit which

our Saviour pays us. strike our breast, saying:

Nobis quoque peccatoribus famulis tuis, de multitudine miserationum tuarum speranti- bus, partem aliquam et societa- tem donare digneris cum tuis sanctis apostolis et martyribus; cum Joanne, Stephano, Ma- thia, Barnaba, Ignatio, Alex- andro, Marcellino, Petro, Feli- citate, Perpetua, Agatha, Lucia, Agnete, Cacilia, Anastasia, et omnibus sanctis tuis: intra quo- rum nos consortium, non sti- mator meriti, sed venie, quz- sumus, largitor admitte; per Christum Dominum nostrum. Per quem hac omnia, Domine,
semper bona creas, sanctificas, vivificas, benedicis et praestas nobis; per ipsum et cum ipso, et in ipso, est tibi Deo Patri omnipotenti, in unitate Spiri- tus ncti, omnis honor et gloria.

While saying the last of

Let us, together with the priest,

Alas! we are poor sinners, Oo God of all sanctity | yet do we hope that thine infinite mercy will grant us to share thy king- dom; not indeed by reason of our works, which deserve little else than punishment, but be- cause of the merits of this Sacri- fice, which we are offering un- to thee. Remember, too, the merits of thy holy a es, of thy holy m rs, 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, ir. 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 |

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,

--- PAGE 037 --- 26 TIME AFTER PENTECOST

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 con- cludes his long prayers by saying aloud, and so giving the faithful the opportunity of expressing their desire that his supplications be granted:

Per omnia secula seculorum. 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 accom- plished. I unite myself to the offering which has been made, and to the petitions of the Church.

It is now time 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 invit- ing us all to join in it; he says:

OREMUS

Praceptis 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 czelis, sanctificetur nomen tuum: ad- veniat regnum tuum : fiat volun- tas tua sicut in czlo et in terra. Panem nostrum quotidianum

OurFather, whoartin heaven, hallowed be thy name: thy kingdom come: thy will be done on earth as it isin heaven. Give us this day our daily bread:

--- PAGE 038 --- THE ORDINARY OF THE MASS

da nobis hodie: et dimitte no- bis debita nostra, sicut et nos dimittimus debitoribus nostris: etne nosinducas intentationem.

27

and forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive them that tres- pass 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 any- thing moreneeded ? Evil surrounds us everywhere; and the Lamb on our altar has been sent to expiateit and to

deliver us from it.

Libera nos, quesumus, Domi- ne, ab omnibus malis, prateri- tis, presentibus; et futuris: et intercedente beata et gloriosa semper Virgine Del Genitrice Maria, cum beatis apostolis tuis Petro et Paulo, atque Andrea, et omnibus sanctis, da propitius pacem in diebus nostris: ut ope misericordie tuz 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 uni- tate Spiritus Sancti Deus.

How many, O Lord, are the evils which besetus! Evils past, which are the wounds left on the soul by her sins, which strengthen her wicked propen- sities. Evils present—that is, the sins now, at this very time, upon our soul; the weakness of this poor soul, and the tempta- tions which molest ber. 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 be- seech thee, O Lord, to deliver us from all these evils, and to accept in our favour the inter- cession of Mary the Mother

of Jesus, of the holy apostles, Peter and Paul and Andrew: liber- ate 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 szcula seculorum. Ry. Amen,

World without end. Hy. Amen.

--- PAGE 039 --- 28

TIME AFTER PENTECOST

Then he says:

Pax Domini sit semper vobis- cum.

May the peace of our Lord be ever with you.

To this paternal wish reply:

Ry. Et cum spiritu tuo.

Hy. 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 Com- munion. 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 im- mortal Victim. Do you adore, and say: Hec commixtio et consecra- tio Corporis et Sanguinis Domi- ni nostri Jesu Christi, fiat acci- pientibus nobis in vitam zter- nam. 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 unit-

ing them again together by thy divine power.

Offer now your prayers to the ever-living Lamb, whom St. John saw on the altar of heaven, ' standing though slain ’:* 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 ~~ Lamb of God, who takest mundi, miserere nobis. away the sins of the world, have mercy on us !

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

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.” The divine Sacra-

? Is. ix. 6.

Agnus Dei, qui tollis peccata mundi, miserere nobis. .

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

! Apoc. v. 6.

--- PAGE 040 --- THE ORDINARY OF THE MASS 29

ment 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.’ It is on this account that the priest, now that he is on the point of receiving, in Com- munion, 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 dix-
isti apostolis tuis: Pacem relin- quo vobis, pacem meam do vo- bis: ne respicias peccata mea, sed fidem Ecclesie tuz: eamque secundum voluntatem tuam pacificare et coadunare digneris. Quivivis et regnas Deus, per om-
nia Szecula seculorum. 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 Clarolt 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 hetothechoir. 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, co-operante Spiritu sancto, per mortem tuam mundum vivifi- casti: libera me per hoc sacro- sanctum Corpus et Sanguinem tuum, ab omnibus iniquitati- bus meis, et universis malis: et fac me tuis semper inhaerere mandatis, et a te nunquam se- parari permittas: Qui cum eo- dem Deo Patre et Spiritu san- cto vivis et regnas Deus in sz-
cula seculorum. 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 Bl 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.

! 1 Cor, x. 17.

--- PAGE 041 --- 30

TIME AFTER PENTECOST

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

tual Communion :

Perceptio Corporis tui, Do- mine Jesu Christe, quod ego in- dignus sumere prasumo, non mihi proveniat in judicium et condemnationem: sed pro tua pietate prosit mihi ad tutamen- tum mentis et corporis, et ad medelam percipiendam. Qui vivis et regnas cum Deo Patre, in unitate Spiritus Sancti, Deus
per omnia secula scculorum. Amen.

Let not the participation of thy Body, O Lord Jesus Christ, which I, though unworthy, pre- sume 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 cver. Amen.

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

Panem celestem accipiam, ct nomen Domini invocabo.

Come, my dear Jesus, come!

When he strikes his breast, confessing his unworthi-

ness, 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 Lord | I am not worthy that intres sub tectum meum: sed thou enter under my roof; say tantum dic verbo, et sanabitur it only with one word of thine, anima mea. 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, come !'!

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 :

! Apoc. xxii. 20.

--- PAGE 042 --- THE ORDINARY OF THE MASS 31

Corpus Domini nostri Jesu I give thee, O Jesus, this

Christi custodiat animam meam heart of mine, that thou mayst

ín vitam eternam. Amen. dwell in it, and do with me what thou wilt.

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

Quid retribuam Domino pro What return shall I make to omnibus qua retribuit mihi? the Lord for all he hath given Calicem salutaris accipiam, et to me? I will take the chalice nomen Domini invocabo. Lau- of salvation and will call upon dans invocabo Dominum, et the name of the Lord. Prais- ab inimicis meis salvus ero. ing I will call upon the Lord,

and I shall be delivered from mine enemies.

But if you are to make a sacramental Communion, you should, at this moment of the priest's receiving the pre- cious 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 I unite myself to thee, my Christi custodiat animam meam beloved Jesus! do thou unite in vitam eternam. Amen. 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 Communion being finished, while the priest is purifying the chalice the first time, say:

Quod ore sumpsimus, Domi- Thou hast visited me, O God, ne, pura mente capiamus; et de in these days of my pilgrimage: munere temporali fiat nobis re- give me grace to treasure up medium sempiternum. the fruits of this visit, for my

future eternity.

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

Corpus tuum, Domine, quod — Be thou for ever blessed, O

sumpsi,etSanguisquem potavi, my Saviour, for having ad- &dhzreat visceribus meis: et mitted metothesacred mystery

--- PAGE 043 --- 32

prasta ut in me non remaneat Scelerum macula, quem pura et Sancta refecerunt Sacramenta. Qui vivis et regnas in saecula

TIME AFTER PENTECOST

of thy Body and Blood. May my heart and senses preserve, by thy grace, the purity thou hast imparted to them, and

seculorum. Amen. may I be thus rendered less un-

worthy of thy divine visit.

The priest having read the anthem called the Commu- nion, 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, greet- ing them with the usual salutation; and then recites the prayer, called the Postcommunion, which is the con- tinuation 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 again turns 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. Ry. Deo gratias.

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

The priest makes a last prayer, before giving you his

blessing; pray with him:

Placeat tibi, sancta Trinitas, obsequium servitutis mez; et rasta ut sacrificium, quod ocu- is tuz Majestatis indignus ob- tuli, tibi sit acceptabile, mihi- que et omnibus pro quibus illud obtuli sit, te miserante, propitia-

Eternal thanks be to thee, O adorable Trinity, for the mercy thou hast shown to me, in per- mitting me to assist at this divine Sacrifice. Pardon me the negligence and coldness wherewith I have received so

--- PAGE 044 --- THE ORDINARY OF THE MASS 33

Per Christum Dominum great a favour; and deign to confirm the blessing, which thy minister is about to give me in thy name.

bile. nostrum. Amen.

The priest raises his hand, and blesses you thus:

Benedicat vos omnipotens Deus, Pater, et Filius, et Spiri-
tus Sanctus.

Hy. Amen.

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

Ey. Amen.

He then concludes the Mass, by reading the first four- teen 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.

Y. Dominus vobiscum.
Ry. Et cum spiritu tuo.

Y. The Lord be with you. Hy. And with thy spirit.

THE LAST GOSPEL

Initium sancti Evangelii sc-
cundum Joannem.

Cap. I.

In principio erat Verbum, et Verbum erat apud Deum, et De- us erat Verbum. Hoc erat in principio apud Deum. Omnia pe ipsum facta sunt: et sine pso factum est nihil; quod fa- ctum est, in ipso vita erat, et vita erat lux hominum; et lux in tenebris lucet, et tenebrz eam non comprehenderunt. Fuit homo missus a Deo, cui nomen erat Joannes. Hic venit in testimonium, ut testimonium perhiberet de lumine, ut omnes crederent illum. Non erat ille lux, ut testimonium per- hiberet de lumine. Erat lux

The beginning of the holy Gospel according to John.

Ch. 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. Allthings 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 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,

--- PAGE 045 --- 34

vera, qua 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 po- testatem filios Dei fieri; his qui credunt in nomine ejus: qui non ex sanguinibus, neque ex vo- luntate carnis, neque ex volun- tate viri, sed ex Deo, nati sunt. ET VERBUM CARO FACTUM EST, et habitavit in nobis: et vidi- mus gloriam ejus, gloriam quasi Unigeniti a Patre, plenum gra- tie et veritatis.

Ry. Deo gratias.

TIME AFTER PENTECOST

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 be- lieve 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. Hy. Thanks be to God.

--- PAGE 046 ---

VESPERS

35

CHAPTER THE SECOND

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

HE Office of Vespers, or Evensong, consists firstly

of the five following psalms.

For certain feasts

some of these psalms are changed for others appro- priate to the day; we here give those for Sunday.

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

cation:

Y. Deus, in adjutorium mcum
intende.

Hj. Domine, ad adjuvandum
me festina.

Gloria Patri, et Filio, et Spi- ritni Sancto.

Sicut erat in principio, et nunc, et semper, et in sccula seculorum. Amen. Alleluia.

ANT. Dixit Dominus.

Y. Incline unto my aid, O

Hy. 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. The Lord said.

The first psalm is a prophecy of the future glory of the

Messias. the heavenly Father.

The Son of David shall s#¢ on the right hand of He is King; He is priest; He is

Son of Man, and 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 the highest glory.

PSALM IO9

Dixit Dominus Domino meo:
Sede a dextris meis.

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

--- PAGE 047 --- 36

Donec ponam inimicos tuos: scabellum pedum tuorum.

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

Tecum principium in die vir- tutis tuz in splendoribus san- ctorum: ex utero ante lucife- rum genui te. Juravit Dominus, et non pee-
nitebit eum: Tu es Sacerdos in zternum secundum ordinem Melchisedech.

Dominus a dextris tuis: con-
fregit in die ire suce reges.

judicabit in nationibus, im- plebit ruinas: conquassabit capi- ta in terra multorum.

TIME AFTER PENTECOST

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.

ith 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 to thee, the God-Man: Thou art a Priest for ever, according to the order cf Mel- chisedech.

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

He shall a/so judge among na- tions: in that terrible coming, he Shall fill the ruins of the world:

. he shall crush the heads in the

De torrente in via bibet: pro- pterea exaltabit caput.

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

ANT. Magna opera Domini.

land of many.

He cometh now in humility: he shall drink in the way of the torrent of sufferings: there- fore, shall he lift up the head.

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

ANT. Great are the works of the Lord.

The following psalm commemorates the mercies of God to His people, the promised Covenant, the Redemp- tion, His fidelity to His word. But it also tells us that the name of the Lord is Zerrible because it is holy, and concludes by admonishing us that the fear of the Lord is

the beginning of wisdom.

--- PAGE 048 ---

VESPERS

37

PSALM IIO

Confitebor tibi, Domine, in
toto corde meo: in consilio ju- storum et congregatione.

Magna opera Domini: exqui- sita in omnes voluntates ejus.

Confessio et magnificentia opus ejus: et justitia ejus manet in seculum seculi.

Memoriam fecit mirabilium suorum, misericors et miserator Dominus: escam dedit timenti-
bus se.

Memor erit in seculum testa- menti sui: virtutem operum suorum annuntiabit populo suo.

Ut det illis hereditatem Gen- tium: opera manuum ejus veri- tas et judicium.

Fidelia omnia mandata ejus, confirmata in seculum seculi: facta in veritate et zequitate.

Redemptionem misit populo suo: mandavit in zernum te- Stamentum suum.

Sanctum et terribile nomen ejus: initium sapientie timor Domini.

Intellectus bonus omnibus fa- cientibus eum: laudatio ejus manet in seculum szculi.

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

ANT. Qui timet Dominum.

I will praise thee, O Lord, with my whole heart: in the council 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 mag- nificence: and his justice con- tinueth for ever and ever.

He hath made a remembrance of his wonderful works, being a merciful and gracious Lord: 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 them 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 com- manded his covenant for ever.

Holy and terrible is his name: the fear of the Lord is the begin- ning of wisdom.

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

ANT. Grcat are the works of the Lord: sought out according

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.

--- PAGE 049 --- 38

TIME AFTER PENTECOST

PSALM III

Beatus vir qui timet Domi- num: in mandatis ejus volet nimis.

Potens in terra erit semen ejus: generatio rectorüm bene- dicetur.

Gloria et divitiz in domo ejus: et justitia ejus manet in szcu- lum seculi.

Exortum est in tenebris lu- men rectis: misericors et mise- rator et justus.

Jucundus homo, qui misere- tur et commodat, disponet ser- mones suos in judicio: quia in aternum non commovebitur.

In memoria eterna erit ju- stus: ab auditione mala non ti- mebit.

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

Dispersit, dedit pauperibus; justitia ejus manet in seculum saculi: cornu ejus exaltabitur in gloria.

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

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

ANT. Sit nomen Domini.

Blessed is the man that fear- eth the Lord; he shall delight exceedingly in his command- ments.

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 re- maineth for ever and ever.

To the righteous a light is

risen up in darkness; he 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 everlast- ing remembrance: he shall not fear the evil hearing.

His heart is ready to hope in the Lord; his heart is strength- ened: he shall not be moved until he look over hís enemies.

He hath distributed, he hath given to the poor; his justice re- maineth 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. He that feareth the Lord shall delight exceedingly in his commandments.

ANT. May the name of the Lord.

The psalm Laudate ueri 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.

--- PAGE 050 ---

VESPERS

39

PSALM II2

Laudate, pucri, Dominum: laudate nomen Domini.

Sit nomen Domini benedi- ctum: ex hoc nunc et usque in Szculum.

A solis ortu usque ad occa- sum: laudabile nomen Domini.

Excelsus super omnes gentes Dominus: et super celos gloria
ejus.

Quis sicut Dominus Deus no-
ster quiin altis habitat: et humi- lia respicit in calo et in terra?

Suscitans a terra inopem: et de stercore erigens pauperem:

Ut collocet eum cum princi- pibus: cum principibus populi sui.

Qui habitare facit sterilem in domo: matrem filiorum lztan- tem.

ANT. Sitnomen Domini bene- dictum in szcula.

ANT. Deus autem noster.

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 look- eth 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 penc: with the princes of his

e.

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

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

ANT. But our God.

The fifth psalm, In exitu, recounts the prodigies wit-

nessed 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 will consent to fear and love the Lord.

PSALM II3

In exitu Israel de ZEgypto: domus Jacob de populo bar- baro.

Facta est Judza sanctificatio ejus: Israel potestas ejus.

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

Judea was made his sanc- tuary, Israel his dominion.

--- PAGE 051 --- 40

Mare vidit et fugit: Jordanis conversus est retrorsum.

Montes exsultaverunt ut arie- tes: et colles sicut agni ovium.

Quid est tibi mare quod fugi- sti: et tu, Jordanis, quia con- versus es retrorsum ?

Montes exsultastis sicut arie- tes: et colles sicut agni ovium?

A facie Domini mota est ter- ra: a facie Dei Jacob.

Qui convertit petram in sta- gnaaquarum: et rupem in fontes aquarum.

Non nobis, Domine, non no-
bis: sed nomini tuo da gloriam.

Super misericordia tua, et ve- ritate tua: nequando dicant gentes: Ubi est s eorum ?

Deus autem noster in czlo:
omnia quacumque voluit fecit.

Simulacra gentium argentum et aurum: opera manuum ho- minum.

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

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

Manus habent, et non palpa- bunt: pedes habent, et non am- bulabunt: non clamabunt in gutture suo.

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

Domus Israel speravit in Do- mino: adjutor eorum et prote- ctor eorum est.

Domus Aaron speravit in Do- mino: adjutor eorum et prote- ctor eorum est.

Qui timent Dominum, spera- verunt in Domino: adjutor eo- rum et protector eorum est.

TIME AFTER PENTECOST

The sca saw and fled: Jordan was turned back.

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

What ailed thec, 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 ?

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 be- come hke 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 ín 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.

--- PAGE 052 ---

VESPERS

Dominus memor fuit nostri:
et benedixit nobis.

Benedixit domul Israel: benc- dixit domui Aaron.

Benedixit omnibus qui timent Dominum: pusillis cum majori- bus.

Adjiciat Dominus super vos:
super vos, ct super filios vestros.

Benedicti vos a Domino: qui fecit celum et terram.

Calum celi Domino: terram autem dedit filiis hominum.

Non mortui laudabunt te, Domine: neque omnes qui de-
scendunt in infernum.

Sed nos qui vivimus, benedi- cimus Domino: ex hoc nunc et usque in seculum.

ANT. Deus autem noster in

celo: omnia quaecumque voluit fecit.

41

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

He hath blessed the house of Israel: hehath 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. But our God is in heaven: he hath done all things whatsoever he would.

After these five psalms, a short lesson from the holy

Scriptures is read. always very short.

It is called Capitulum, because it is

CAPITULUM

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

Hy. Deo gratias.

Then follows the hymn.

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies, and the God of all consolation, who com- fortethus in all our tribulations.

Ry. Thanks be to God.

We here give the one for Sun- days, which 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, the ght.

--- PAGE 053 --- 42 TIME AFTER PENTECOST

HYMN!

Lucis Creator optime, O infinitely good Creator of Lucem dierum proferens: the light! by thee was produced Primordiis lucis nova, the light of day, providing thus Mundi parans originem. the world's beginning with the

beginningof thenew-madelight.

Qui mane junctum vespcri Thou biddest us call the time, Diem vocari przcipis: from morn tilleve, day; this day 1llabitur tetrum chaos, is over; dark night comes on— Audi preces cum fletibus. oh! hear our tearful prayers.

Ne mens gravata crimine Let not our soul, weighed Vita sit exsul munere: down by crime, misspend thy Dum nil perenne cogitat, gift of life, and, forgetting what Seseque culpis illigat. is eternal, be earth-tied by her

sins.

Caleste pulset ostium, Oh! may we strive to enter Vitale tollat premium: our heavenly home, and bear Vitemus omne noxium, away the prize of life: may we Purgemus omne pessimum. shun what would injure us, and

cleanse our soul from her defile- ments.

Praesta Pater piissime, Most merciful Father! and Patrique compar Unice, thou his Only-Begotten Son, Cum Spiritu Paraclito co-equal with him, reigning for Regnans per omne seculum. ever with the holy Paraclete !

Amen. grant this our prayer. 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.

Y. Dirigatur, Domine, oratio Y. May my prayer, O Lord, mea. ascend.

Ry. Sicut incensum in conspe- — Hy. Like incense in thy sight. ctu tuo.

1 According to the monastic rite, it is as follows : RY éreve. Quam ificata sunt. Ne mens gravata crimine * Opera tua, Domine. Quam. Vita sit exsul munere,

V. Omnia in Sapienta fecisti. * Opera. Dum nil perenne cogitat,
Gloria Patri, etc. Quam. Seseque culpis illigat.

Lucis Creator optime, Calorum pulset intimum, Lucem dierum proferens ; Vitale tollat premium : Primordiis lucis nove Vitemus omne noxium, Mundi parans originem. Purgemus omne pessimum.

Qui mane junctum vesperi Praesta Pater piissime Diem vocari pracipis, Patrique compar Unice, Tetrum chaos illabitur, Cum Spiritu Paraclito

Audi preces cum fletibus. Regnans per omne seculum. Amen

--- PAGE 054 --- VESPERS 43

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 exquisite canticle is an essential part of the Office of Vespers. It is the evening incense, just as the canticle Benedicius, at Lauds, is that of the morn- ing.

OUR LADY'S CANTICLE (St. Luke 1i.)

Magnificat: anima mea Do-

y My soul doth magnify the minum.

Et exsultavit spiritus meus: in Deo salutari meo.

Quia respexit humilitatem ancille suz: ecce enim ex hoc beatam me dicent omnes gen- erationes.

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

Et misericordia ejus a proge- nie 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 Israel puerum suum: recordatus misericordie suz.

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

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 genera- tion unto generation: to them that fear him.

He hath shown 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 exal- ted the humble.

He hath filled the rep d with good things: and the ri: 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.

--- PAGE 055 --- 44 TIME AFTER PENTECOST

The Magnificat antiphon is then repeated. The
Prayer, or Collect, is given in the proper of each feast.

Y. Benedicamus Domino. Y. Let us bless the Lord. y. Deo gratias. . Thanks be to God. . Fidelium anima per mi- . May the souls of the faith-

sericordiam Dei requiescant in ful departed, through the mercy pace. of God, rest in peace. Hy. Amen. Hy. Amen.

--- PAGE 056 --- COMPLINE 45

CHAPTER THE THIRD

ON THE OFFICE OF COMPLINE, DURING THE TIME AFTER PENTECOST

HIS 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 me thy

blessing. The priest answers:

Noctem quietam et finem per- May the almighty Lord grant fectum concedat nobis Dominus us a quiet night and a perfect omnipotens. end.

Hy. Amen. Hy. Amen.

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

Fratres: Sobrii estote, et vigi-
late; quia adversarius vester diabolus, tamquam leo rugiens, circuit querens quem devoret: cui resistite fortes in fide. Tu autem, Domine, miserere nobis.

Brethren, be soberand watch; for 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.

--- PAGE 057 --- 46 The choir answers: Ry. Deo gratias.

Then the priest:

Y. Adjutorium nostrum in no- minc Domini.

The choir:

Ry. Qui fecit celum et terram.

TIME AFTER PENTECOST

Hy. Thanks be to God.

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

Ry. 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:

Y. Converte nos, Deus, salu-
taris noster.

Hy. Et averte iram tvàm a nobis.

Y. Deus, in adjutorium me-
um intende.

Hy. Domine, ad adjuvandum
me festina.

Gloria Patri, etc.

ANT. Miserere.

Y. Convert us, O God, our Saviour.

Ey. And turn away thine anger from us.

Y. Incline unto my aid, O

Ry. O Lord, make haste to help me.

Glory, etc.

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 justitiz mea: in tribula-
tione dilatasti mihi.

Miserere mei: et exaudi ora- tionem meam.

Filii hominum, usquequo gravi corde: ut quid diligitis

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.

O ye sons of men how long will ye be dull of heart? why do

--- PAGE 058 --- COMPLINE

vanitatem et quzritis menda- cium ?

Etscitote quoniam mirificavit Dominus sanctum suum: Domi-
nus exaudiet me cum clama- vero ad eum.

Irascimini et nolite peccare: qua dicitis in cordibus vestris, in cubilibus vestris compungi- mini.

Sacrificate sacrificium justi- tiz, et speratein Domino: multi dicunt: Quis ostendit nobis bo- na?

Signatum est super nos lu- men vultus tui Domine: dedisti
laetitiam in corde meo.

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

In pace in idipsum: dormiam et requiescam.

Quoniam tu, Domine, singu-
lariter in spe: constituisti me.

47

you love vanity, and seek after lying ?

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

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

Offer up the sacrifice of jus- tice, 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 slcep, 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 smare 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 altis- simi: in protectione Dei cali commorabitur,

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

Quoniam ipse liberavit me de laqueo venantium: et a ver- bo aspero.

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.

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

--- PAGE 059 --- 48

Scapulis suis obumbrabit tibi : et sub pennis ejus sperabis.

Scuto circumdabit te veritas ejus: non timebis a timore no- cturno.

A sagitta volante in die, a negotio perambulante in tene- bris: ab incursu, et daemonio meridiano.

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

Verumtamen oculis tuis con- siderabis: et retributionem pec- catorum videbis.

Quoniam tu es, Domine, spes
mea: Altissimum posuisti refu- gium tuum.

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

Quoniam angelis suis man- davit de te: ut custodiant te in omnibus viis tuis.

In manibus portabunt te: ne forte offendas ad lapidem pe- dem tuum.

Super aspidem et basiliscum ambulabis: et conculcabis leo- nem et draconem.

Quoniam in me speravit, libe- rabo eum: protegam eum, quo- niam cognovit nomen meum.

Clamabit ad me, et ego exau- diam eum: cum ipso sum in tribulatione; eripiam eum, et glorificabo eum.

Longitudine dierum replebo eum: et ostendam illi salutare meum.

TIME AFTER PENTECOST

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 thec.

But thou shalt consider with thine eyes: and shalt see the re- ward of the wicked.

Because thot hast said: Thou, O Lord, art my hope: thou hast made thc 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.

--- PAGE 060 --- COMPLINE 49

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 de- pend the happiness and the destinies of the world.

PSALM 133

Ecce nunc benedicite Domi- num: 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 celum 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.

HYMN!

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

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

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 phan-

toms of night depart far from us: and do thou repress our enemy, lest our bodies be pro- faned.

1 According to the monastic rite, as follows :

E lucis ante terminum, erum Creator, poscimus, Ut solita clementia — Sis praesul ad custodiam. Procul recedant somnia Et noctium phantasmata ;

Ne polluantur - Pater omni 5, Per Jesum Christum um,

--- PAGE 061 --- 50

Prasta, Pater plissime, Patrique com Unice, Cum Spiritu Paraclito, Regnans per omne seculum.

Amen.

TIME AFTER PENTECOST

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, Domi- ne, et nomen sanctum tuum invocatum est super nos: ne derelinquas nos, Domine Deus
noster.

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

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

Gloria. In manus tuas.

Y. Custodi nos, Domine, ut
pupillam oculi.

Hj. Sub umbra alarum tua- rum protege nos.

ANT. Salva nos.

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

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

. Thou hast redeemed us, O Lord God of truth. * I com- mend.

Glory. Into thy hands.

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

Hy. Protect us under the Shadow of thy wings.

ANT. Save us.

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 dark- ness 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.'!

1 Cant. v. 2.

--- PAGE 062 --- COMPLINE

5I

CANTICLE OF SIMEON

Nunc dimittis servum tuum, Domine: secundum verbum tu-
um in pace.

Quia viderunt oculi mei: sa- lutare tuum.

Quod parasti: ante faciem omnium populorum.

Lumen ad revelationem gen- tium: et gloriam plebis tuc Israel.

Gloria.

ANT. Salva nos, Domine, vigi-
lantes: custodi nos dormientes, ut vigilemus cum Christo, et re- quiescamus in pace.

OREMUS,

Visita, quesumus, Domine,
habitationem istam, et omnes insidias inimici ab ea longe re- pelle; angeli tui sancti habitent in ea, qui nos in pace custodi- ant: et benedictio tua sit super nos semper. Per Dominum nostrum Jesum Christum Fi- lium tuum, qui tecum vivit et regnat in unitate Spiritus Sancti Deus, per omnia szcula
szculorum.

. Amen. . Dominus vobiscum.

y. Et cum spiritu tuo.

. Benedicamus Domino.

HJ. Deo gratias.

Benedicat et custodiat nos omnipotens et misericors Domi- nus, Pater, et Filius, et Spiritus Sanctus.

Hj. Amen.

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. ory, etc.

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

LET US PRAY.

Visit, we beseech thee, O Lord, this house and family, and drive far 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

esus Christ our Lord, thy

n, who liveth and reigneth with thee, in the unity of the Holy Ghost, God, world with- out end.

. Amen. . The Lord be with you. with th

y iet us the - E.

&

4 E

i

BR bid Aint y the almighty and merci- ful Lord, Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, bless and preserve us.

Hy. Amen.

[4

--- PAGE 063 --- 52

ANTHEM TO THE

Salve Regina, Mater miseri- cordia.

Vita, dulcedo, et spes nostra, salve.

Ad te clamamus, exsules filii Eva.

Ad suspiramus, gementes et flentes in hac lacrimarum valle.

Eia, ergo, advocata nostra, il- los tuos misericordes oculos ad nos converte;

Et Jesum, benedictum ífru- ctum ventris tui, nobis post hoc exsilium ostende;

O clemens,

O pia,

O dulcis Virgo Maria.

Y. Ora pro nobis, sancta Dei Genitrix.

Hy. Ut digni efficiamur pro- missionibus Christi.

OREMUS,

Omnipotenssempiterne Deus,
qui gloriose "Virginis Matris Marie corpus et animam, ut dignum Filii tui habitaculum effici mereretur, Spiritu Sancto cooperante praparasti: da ut cujus commemoratione lzta- mur, ejus pia intercessione ab instantibus malis et a morte perpetua liberemur. Per eum- dum Christum Dominum no- strum.

Hy. Amen.

TIME AFTER PENTECOST

BLESSED VIRGIN

mercy. Hail, our life, our sweetness, and our hope.

To thee do we cry, r banished children of ZW. zd

To thee do 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 clement,

O loving,

O sweet Virgin Mary !

Y. Pray for us, O holy

Mother of God.

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

LET US PRAY.

O almighty and everlasting God, who by the co-operation of the Holy Ghost didst pre- pare 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, ín whose commemoration we rejoice. — Through the same Christ our Lord.

Hy. Amen.

--- PAGE 064 --- COMPLINE 53

Y. Divinum auxilium mane- ¥. May the divine assistance at semper nobiscum. remain always with us. Hy. Amen. Hy. Amen.!

Then, in secret, Pater, Ave, and Credo.

1 In the tic rite this resp is as foll.

R7. Etcum fratribus nostris absentibus. R7. And with our absent brethren Amen. Amen.

--- PAGE 065 ---

--- PAGE 066 --- Proper of Saints

--- PAGE 067 ---

--- PAGE 068 --- PROPER OF SAINTS 57

Proper vf Saints

NOVEMBER I FEAST OF ALL SAINTS

I saw a great multitude which no man could number, of all nations and tribes and peoples and tongues, standin before the throne, and in sight of the Lamb, clothed with white robes, and palms in their hands: and they cried with a loud voice, saying : Salvation to our God !!

IME is no more; it is the human race cternally saved that is thus presented in vision to the prophet of Patmos. Our life of struggle and suffering on earth is, then, to have an end. Our long-lost race is to fill up the angelic ranks thinned by Satan’s revolt; and, uniting in the gratitude of the redeemed of the Lamb, the faithful spirits will sing with us: ‘ Thanksgiving, honour, and power, and strength to our God for ever and ever !'? And this shall be the end, as the apostle says;? the end of death and suffering; the end of history and of its re- volutions, which will then be explained. The old enemy, hurled down with his followers into the abyss, will live on only to witness his own eternal defeat. The Son of man, the Saviour of the world, will have delivered the kingdom to God His Father; and Ged, the last end of creation and of redemption, will be all in all.* Long before the seer of the Apocalypse, Isaias sang: ' I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne high and elevated, and His train filled the temple. And the Seraphim cried one to another, and said: Holy, holy, holy, the Lord God of hosts, all the earth is full of His glory.” The train and

1A ii lbid. 12. 3 " XV. e pg, Sp 24-28. adus Is. vi. ION ino

--- PAGE 069 --- 58 TIME AFTER PENTECOST

fringes of God's vesture are the elect, who are the adorn- ment of the Word, the splendour of the Father. For, since the Word has espoused our human nature, that nature is His glory, as Heis the glory of God. The bride herself is clothed with the justifications of the saints; and when this glittering robe is perfected, the signal will be given for the end of time. This feast announces the ever- growing nearness of the eternal nuptials; for on it we annually celebrate the progress of the bride's preparation.

Blessed are they that are called to the marriage-supper of the Lamb !! Blessed are we all, who have received in Baptism the nuptial robe of holy charity, which entitles us to a seat at the heavenly banquet! Let us prepare ourselves for the unspeakable destiny reserved for us by love. To this end are directed all the labours of this life: toils, struggles, sufferings for God's sake, all adorn with priceless jewels the garment of grace, the clothing of the elect. Blessed are they that mourn !?

They that have gone before us wept as they turned the furrows and cast in the seed; but now their triumphant joy overflows upon us as an anticipated glory in this val- ley of tears. Without waiting for the dawn of eternity, the present solemnity gives us to enter by hope into the land of light, whither our fathers have followed Jesus, the divine forerunner. Do not the thorns of suffering lose their sharpness at the sight of the eternal joys into which they are to blossom ? Does not the happiness of the dear departed cause a heavenly sweetness to mingle with our sorrow? Let us hearken to the chants of deliverance sung by those for whom we weep; ‘little and great,’ this is the feast of them all, as it will one day be ours. At this season, when cold and darkness prevail, Nature herself, stripping off her last adornments, seems to be preparing the world for the passage of the human race into the heavenly country. Let us, then, sing with the psalmist: ‘I rejoiced at the things that were said to me: We shall go into the house of the Lord. Our feet as yet stand only in thy outer courts; but we see thy building ever

1 Apoc. xix. 9. St. Matt. v. 5.

--- PAGE 070 --- FEAST OF ALL SAINTS 59

going on, O Jerusalem, city of peace, compacted to- gether in concord and love. To thee do the tribes go up, the tribes of the Lord, praising the name of the Lord; thy vacant seats are being filled up. May all good things be for them that love thee, O Jerusalem; may peace be in thy strength, and abundance in thy towers. For the sake of my brethren and of my neighbours, who are already thy inhabitants, I take pleasure in thee; because of the Lord our God, whose dwelling thou art, I have placed in thee all my desire.”

FIRST VESPERS

The bells ring out as joyously as on the brightest days. They announce the great solemnity of the closing cycle: the feast which shows us time stamped with the impress of eternity, and God taking possession of the declining year and gathering in its harvest. At the sound of their triumphant and harmonious peals, the Church, prostrate and fasting since morning, raises her brow to the light. Guided by St. John, she penetrates the secrets of heaven; and the words of the beloved disciple, uttered by her lips, assume a tone of incomparable enthusiasm. This feast is truly the triumph of her motherhood; for the great crowd of the blessed before the throne of the Lamb are the sons and daughters she alone has given to the Lord.

1. ANT. Vidi turbam ma- I. ANT. I saw a great multi- gnam, quam dinumerare nemo tude which no man could num- poterat, ex omnibus gentibus, ber, of all nations, standing stantes ante thronum. before the throne.

Ps. Dixit Dominus, page 35.

Beside her own glorified sons the Church beholds the angels, with their magnificent ritual and their prostrate adoration. Her heart is enraptured at the scene, and she describes it to those who are still militant on earth with her.

! Ps, cxxi.

--- PAGE 071 --- 60 TIME AFTER PENTECOST

2. ANT. Et omnes angeli sta- 2. ANT. And all the angels bant in circuitu throni, et ceci- stood round about the throne, derunt in conspectu throni in and they fell down before the facies suas, et adoraverunt throne upon their faces, and Deum. adored God.

Ps. Confitebor tibi, Domine, page 37.

But the uninterrupted homage and chants of the heavenly princes are not the only glory rendered to the Most High in His eternal temple. As, even in the midst of a numerous choir, a mother can distinguish the voice of her child, so the Church exults to hear the family she has brought up for her Spouse joining in the heavenly concert and celebrating the Lamb, whose Blood has pur- chased them the kingdom of God.

3. ANT. Redemisti nos, Do- 3. ANT. O Lord God, thou mine Deus, in sanguine tuo ex hast redeemed us in thy blood, omni tribu, et lingua, et populo, out of every tribe, and tongue,

et natione, et fecisti nos Deo and le, and nation, and nostro regnum. vy made us a kingdom to our

Ps. Beatus vir, page 38.

This is the true joy, the ineffable consolation of this day; and the exiled Church cannot refrain from sending up a burning appeal to the saints to praise the Lord, if possible, with still greater zeal. ' Be happy, all of you, and sing to Him,’ she cries out from this valley of tears, borrowing the words of Tobias in the land of his cap- tivity.

4. ANT. Benedicite Dominum 4. ANT. Bless ye the Lord, all

omnes electi ejus: agite dies his elect, keep days of joy, and letitie, et confitemini illi. give glory to him.

Ps. Laudate pueri, page 39.

To praise God unceasingly is the lot of the saints, Is- rael's goodly inheritance in the true Sion. The Church, in her transport, wearies not of extolling this glorious lot, this better part, privilege of a few on earth, but enjoyed by all in heaven.

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5. ANT. Hymnus omnibus sanctis ejus: filiis Israel, populo appropinquanti sibi: gloria hec est omnibus sanctis ejus.

61

5. ANT. A hymn to all his saints; to the children of Israel, a people approaching to him: this glory is to all his saints.

PSALM 116

Laudate Dominum, omnes gentes: laudate eum, omnes populi.

Quoniam confirmata est super nos misericordia ejus: et veri- tas Domini manet in zter- num.

O praise the Lord, all ye nations; praise him, all ye people.

For his mercy is confirmed upon us: and the truth of the Lord remaineth for ever.

No power can lessen the glory of the holy city, or di-

minish the number of its happy inhabitants, which was fixed before all ages in the counsels of the Most High. Although the world is only too deserving of wrath, it can

not be consumed until it has furnished heaven with the

last of the elect. This is expressed in a lively manner by the capitulum, taken from the Apocalypse.

CAPITULUM

(Apoc. vii.)

Ecce ego Joannes vidi alte- rum angelum ascendentem ab ortu solis, habentem signum Dei vivi: et clamavit voce ma- gna quatuor angelis, quibus da- tum est nocere terre et mari, dicens: Nolite nocere terre et mari, neque arboribus, quoad- usque signemus servos Dei nostri in frontibus eorum.

Lo, I John saw another angel ascending from the rising of the sun, having the sign of the liv- ing God; and he cried with a loud voice to the four angels, to whom it was given to hurt the earth and the sea, saying: Hurt not the earth, nor the sea, nor the trees, till we sign the ser- vants of our God in their fore- heads.

Rabanus Maurus, abbot of Fulda and archbishop of

Mayence, is supposed to be the author of the following hymn. The perfidious nation, whose expulsion from Christian lands is prayed for. was in the ninth century the race of infidel Normans, who filled the empire with slaughter and ruin under Charlemagne's weak successors. The striking conversion of these savage destroyers was the answer of the saints. May they ever hear the

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Church's prayers in a like manner, enlighten those who persecute her without knowing her, and make of them

her firmest supporters.

HYMN

Placare, Christe, servulis,

ibus Patris clementiam uz ad tribunal gratia Patrona Virgo postulat.

Et vos beata, per novem Distincta gyros, agmina, Antiqua cum prasentibus, Futura damna pellite.

Apostoli cum vatibus, Apud severum Judicem, Veris reorum fletibus Exposcite indulgentiam.

Vos purpurati martyres, Vos candidati premio Confessionis, exsules Vocate nos in patriam.

Chorea casta virginum, Et quos eremus incolas Transmisit astris, caelitum Locate nos in sedibus.

Auferte gentem perfidam Credentium de finibus, Ut unus omnes unicum Ovile nos pastor regat.

Deo Patri sit gloria, Natoque Patris unico, Sancto simul Paraclito, In sempiterna secula.

Amen.

Y. Lztamini in Domino, et exsultate, justi.

Ry. Et gloriamini, omnes recti corde.

O Christ, be propitious to thy servants, for whom thy Virgin Mother stands as advocate be- fore the throne of grace, im- ploring the Father's mercy.

Ninefold circle of blessed choirs, drive far from us all evils, past, present, and to come.

Apostles and prophets, plead before the terrible Judge, and, for the unfeigned tears of us poor sinners, obtain our par- don.

Ye martyrs crimson-clad, ye confessors with snow-white wreaths, call us from exile into our fatherland.

Spotless choirs of virgins and ye who from the desert have sped beyond the stars, give us a place among your heavenly thrones.

Drive the perfidious race far from Christian lands, that we may all be gathered by one pastor into the one fold. Glory be to God the Father, and to his only Son, together with the holy Paraclete, through everlasting ages.

Amen.

Y. Be glad in the Lord, and rejoice, ye just.

Ry. And glory, all ye right of heart.

All the choirs of angels, all the ranks of the saints, receive, in the Magnificat antiphon, the homage of the
Church's prayer; and all will join in praising the Queen of heaven and earth, by singing her own glorious canticle.

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63

ANTIPHON OF THE MAGNIFICAT

Angeli, Archangeli, Throni et Dominationes, Principatus et Potestates, Virtutes czlorum, Cherubim atque Seraphim, Pa- triarche et Prophete, sancti legis Doctores, Apostoli, omnes Christi Martyres, sancti Confes- sores, Virgines Domini, Ana- choritz, Sanctique omnes, inter- cedite pro nobis.

Ye Angels and Archangels, Thrones and Dominations, Principalities and Powers, Vir- tues of the heavens, Cherubim and Seraphim, Patriarchs and Prophets, holy Doctors of the law, Apostles, all ye Martyrs of Christ, holy Confessors, Vir- gins of the Lord, Anchorets, and all ye Saints, make inter- cession for us.

The Canticle Magnificat, page 43.

PRAYER

Omnipotens sempiterne Deus,
qui nos omnium sanctorum tuo- rum merita sub una tribuisti celebritate venerari: quzsu- mus; ut desideratam nobis tuz propitiationis — abundantiam, multiplicatis ^ intercessoribus largiaris. Per Dominum.

O almighty, everlasting God, who hast granted us to venerate in one solemnity the merits of all thy saints, we beseech thee, that as our intercessors are multiplied, thou wouldst be- stow upon us the desired abun- dance of thy mercy. Through our Lord.

When Rome had completed the conquest of the world,

she dedicated to all the gods, in token of her gratitude, the Pantheon, the most durable monument of her power. But when she herself had been conquered by Christ, and invested by Him with the empire over souls, she with- drew her homage from vain idols and offered it to the martyrs; for they, praying for her as she slew them, had rendered her truly eternal. To the martyrs, then, and to Mary their Queen, she consecrated for ever, on the morrow of her merciful chastisement, the now purified Pantheon.

* Come forth from your dwellings, ye saints of God, hasten to the place prepared for you. For three cen- turies the catacombs were the resting-place of our Lord's athletes, when they were borne from the arena. These

! Pontificale Rom. Ant. in Eccl. Dedicatione.

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valiant warriors deserved the honours of a triumph far better than did the great victors of old. In 312, however, Rome, disarmed but not yet changed in heart, was not at all disposed to applaud the men who had conquered the gods of Olympus and of the Capitol. While the Cross surmounted her ramparts, the white-robed army still lay entrenched in the subterranean crypts that surrounded the city like so many outworks. Three centuries more were granted to Rome, that she might make satisfaction to God's justice, and take full cognizance of the salvation reserved for her by His mercy. In 609 the patient work of grace was completed; the Sovereign Pontiff Boniface IV uttered the word for the sacred crypts to yield up their treasures. It was a solemn moment, a forerunner of that wherein the angel's trumpet-call shall sound over the sepulchres of the world.! The successor of St. Peter, in all his apostolic majesty and surrounded by an im- mense crowd, presented himself at the entrance of the catacombs. He was attended by eighteen chariots magni- ficently adorned for the conveyance of the martyrs. The ancient triumphal way opened before the saints; the sons of the Quirites sang in their honour: ' You shall come with joy and proceed with gladness; for behold, the mountains and the hills exult, awaiting you with joy. Arise, ye saints of God, come forth from your hiding- places; enter into Rome, which is now the holy city; bless the Roman people following you to the temple of the false gods, which is now dedicated as your own church, there to adore together with you the majesty of the Lord.”?

Thus, after six centuries of persecution and destruction, the martyrs had the last word; and it was a word of bless- ing, a signal of grace for the great city hitherto drunk with the blood of Christians. More than rehabilitated by the reception she was giving to the witnesses of Christ, she was now not merely Rome, but the new Sion, the privileged city of the Lord. She now burned before the saints the incense they had refused to offer to her idols;

) Sequence Dies ira. ? Cf. Pontificale Rom. Ant. in Eccl. Dedicat.

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their blood had flowed before the very altar on which she now invited them to rest, since the usurpers had been hurled back into the abyss. It was a happy inspiration that induced her, when she dedicated to the holy martyrs the temple built by Marcus Agrippa and restored by Severus Augustus, to leave upon its pediment the names of its original constructors and the title they had given it; for then only did the famous monument truly merit its name, when Christian Rome could apply to the new inhabitants of the Pantheon those words of the psalm: ‘I have said, you are gods.’ May 13 was the day of their triumphant installation.

Every dedication on earth reminds the Church, as she herself tells us, of the assembly of the saints, the living stones of the eternal dwelling which God is building for Himself in heaven.? It isnot astonishing, then, that the dedication of Agrippa's Pantheon, under the above-men- tioned circumstances, should have originated the feast of to-day.! Its anniversary, recalling the memory of the martyrs collectively, satisfied the Church's desire of honouring year by year all her blessed sons who had died for the Lord; for, at an early date it became impossible to celebrate each of them on the day of his glorious death. In the age of peace there was added to the cultus of the martyrs that of the other just, who daily sanctified them- selves in all the paths of heroism opened out to Christian courage. The thought of uniting these with the former in one common solemnity, which would supply for the unavoidable omission of many of them, followed naturally upon the initiative given by Boniface IV.

In 732, in the first half of that eighth century which was such a grand age for the Church, Gregory III dedi- cated, at St. Peter's on the Vatican, an oratory in honour ‘of the Saviour, of His blessed Mother, of the holy apostles, of all the holy martyrs, confessors, and perfect just, who repose throughout the world.'* A dedication under so extensive a title did not, it is true, imply the establish-

3 Collecta in die Dedicationis Altaris; Postcomm. Anniv. Dedic. Eccl, 3 Martyrolog. ad hanc diem. * Lib. Pontific. in Gregorio III.

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ment of our feast of All Saints by the illustrious pontiff; yet from this period it began to be celebrated by divers churches, and that, too, on November 1, as is attested, with regard to England, by Venerable Bede's martyrology and the pontifical of Egbert of York. It was far, however, from being universal, when in the year 835 Louis le Débonnaire, at the request of Gregory IV, and with the consent of all the bishops of his realm, made its celebration obligatory by law. This decree was wel- comed by the whole Church and adopted as her own, says Ado, with reverence and love.

The councils of Spain and Gaul, as early as the sixth century,? mention a custom then existing, of sanctifying the commencement of November by three days of pen- ance and litanies, like the Rogation days which precede the feast of our Lord’s Ascension. The fast on the Vigil of All Saints is the only remaining vestige of this custom of our forefathers, who, after the institution of the feast, advanced the triduum of penance, so as to make it a pre- paration for the solemnity itself. ‘Let our devotion be complete,’ is the recommendation of a contemporaneous author; ‘let us prepare ourselves for this most holy solemnity by three days of fasting, prayer, and almsdeeds.”®

When extended to the entire world, the feast became complete; it was made equal to the greatest solemnities, and widened its horizon till it reached the infinite, em- bracing uncreated as well as created sanctity. Its object was now, not only Mary and the martyrs; not only all the just children of Adam; but, moreover, the nine choirs of angels, and above all the Holy Trinity itself, God who is allin all, the King of kings—that is, of the saints, the God of gods in Sion. Hear how the Church awakes her children on this day: ‘ Come let us adore the Lord, the King of kings, for He is the crown of all the saints.'4 Such was the invitation addressed by our Lord Himself to St. Mechtilde, the chantress of Helfta, the privileged one

! Apo, Mart

yrol. ? Concil. Gerund. an. 517, can. 3; Lugdun. II. an. 567, can. 1. ? [nter opera ALcuint, Epist. xci. ad calcem. * Invitatory of the feast.

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of His divine Heart: ' Praise Me, for that I am the crown of all the saints.” The virgin then beheld all the beauty of the elect and their glory drawing increase from the Blood of Christ, and resplendent with the virtues prac- tised by Him; and, responding to our Lord’s appeal, she praised with all her might the blissful and ever-adorable Trinity, for deigning to be to the saints their diadem and their admirable dignity.

Dante, too, describes Beatrice in the highest heaven forming her crown of the reflection of the eternal rays. ' Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost,” sang the inhabitants of paradise with one voice. * I seemed,’ says the sublime poet, ' to behold a smile of the universe. The kingdom of bliss, with all its people both old and new, turned look and love all towards one point. O triple light, which shining in a single star dost so delight them, look down upon our tempests !'?

In many churches the ancient Office of the feast, up to the sixteenth century, had this peculiarity, that at the Nocturns the first antiphon, the first blessing, the first lesson, and the first responsory, treated of the blessed Trinity; the second of these respective pieces spoke of our Lady, the third of the angels, the fourth of the patri- archs and prophets, the fifth of the apostles, the sixth of the martyrs, the seventh of the confessors, the eighth of the virgins, the ninth of all the saints. On this account the first lesson, contrary to the custom of the rest of the year, was given to the highest dignitary of the choir, and the first responsory to the first cantors. The rest followed in order down to the children, one of whom sang the lesson of the virgins, and five others, clothed in white and holding lighted tapers in their hands in memory of the five wise virgins, sang the eighth responsory before the Lady-altar. The ninth lesson and responsory were again chanted by priests. All, or nearly all, these customs have been successively modified; but the arrangement of the responsories remains the same.

- dts Cention: v.i etm xx Dawes! Pandbo eed Red

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TIME AFTER PENTECOST

Our readers will be glad to find here the primitive anti- phons and responsories referred to in the visions of saints, who show us each order of the blessed in heaven taking part, during this sacred night, in the prayers and thanks- givings of earth. The following texts are found alike in the breviaries of Aberdeen and Salisbury.

ANTIPHONS

1. ANT. Adesto, Deus unus
omnipotens, Pater et Filius et Spiritus Sanctus.

2. ANT. Sicut lilium inter spi- nas, sic amica mea inter filias.

3. ANT. Laudemus Dominum

uem laudant Angeli, quem

Cheratim et Seraphim Sanctus, Sanctus, Sanctus proclamant.

4. ANT. Inter natos mulierum non surrexit major Joanne Baptista.

5. ANT. Estote fortes in bello et pugnate cum antiquo serpen- te, et accipietis regnum zter- num, alleluia.

6. ANT. Isti sunt sancti qui pro Dei amore minas hominum contempserunt; sancti mar- tyres in regnum zeternum ex- sultant cum angelis: o quam pretiosa est mors sanctorum, qui assidue assistunt ante Do- minum, et ab invicem non sunt

separati.

7. ANT. Sint lumbi vestri recincti, et lucernz ardentes in manibus vestris, et vos si- miles hominibus exspectantibus dominum suum, quando rever- tatur a nuptiis.

8. ANT. Virgines sancte Dei, orate pro nobis, ut scelerum ve- niam per vos accipere merea- mur.

1. ANT. Be propitious to us, O God, who art One and Al- mighty, Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.

2. ANT. As the lily among thorns, so is my beloved among the daughters.

3. ANT. Let us praise the Lord, whom the Angels praise, whom Cherubim and Seraphim proclaim Holy, Holy, Holy.

4. ANT. Among those born of women, there hath not arisen a greater than John the Baptist.

5. ANT. Be valiant in war, and fight with the old serpent, and you shall receive an eternal kingdom, alleluia.

6. ANT. These are the holy ones, who for the love of God despised the threats of men; the holy martyrs now rejoice with the angels in the eternal kingdom. Oh, how precious is the death of the saints, who continually stand before the Lord, and are not separated from one another.

7. ANT. Let your loins be girt, and lamps burning in your hands: and you yourselves like to men who wait for their Lord, when he shall return from the wedding.

8. ANT. Holy virgins of God, pray for us, that through you we may deserve to obtain par- don of our crimes.

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9. ANT. Laudem dicite Deo nostro, omnes sancti ejus, et qui timetis Deum, pusilli et magni, quoniam regnavit Dominus
Deus noster omnipotens: gau-
deamus et exsultemus, et de- mus gloriam ei.

69

AwT. Sing praise to our God, all his saints, and you that fear the Lord, little and great, for the Lord our God almighty hath reigned: let us rejoice and exult, and give glory to him.

RESPONSORIES

1. Ij. Summe Trinitati, sim- plici Deo, una divinitas, zqua- lis gloria, cozterna majestas, Patn Prolique Sanctoque Fla- mini: * Qui totum subdit suis orbem legibus.

Y. Prastet nobis gratiam dei- tas beata Patris ac Nati pariter- que Spiritus almi, *Qui totum subdit suis orbem legibus.

2. Ry. Felix namque es, sacra

Virgo Maria, et omni laude di-

ma: *Quia ex te ortus

est Sol justitie, Christus Deus
noster. Y. Ora pro populo, interveni pro clero, intercede pro devoto femineo sexu, sentiant omnes tuum levamen, quicumque cele- branttuamsolemnitatem,*Quia,

3. HJ. Te sanctum Dominum in excelsis laudant omnes An- geli, dicentes: * Te decet, f Laus et honor Domine.

Y. Cherubim quoque ac Seraphim Sanctus proclamant, et omnis czlicus ordo dicens. * Te decet. Gloria Patri. t Laus.

4. Hy. Inter natos mulierum non surrexit major Joanne Ba- ptista: * Qui viam Domino praeparavit in eremo.

Y. Fuit homo missus a Deo cui nomen Joannes erat. * Qui viam.

1. Hj. To the most high Trin- ity, to the invisible God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, be one divinity, equal glory, co-eternal majesty. * Who subjects the whole world to his laws.

¥. May the blessed Godhead of the Father, and of the Son, and likewise of the Holy Spirit, grant us grace. * Who subjects the whole world to his laws.

2. Ry. Happy art thou, O holy Virgin Mary, and most worthy of all praise: * For from thee arose the Sun of justice, Christ our God.

Y. Pray for the people, plead for the clergy, intercede for the devout female sex, let all ex- perience thy aid who celebrate thy solemnity. * For from thee.

3. E. Thee, holy Sone. all the Angels praise on high, saying :* To thee beseemeth. f Praise and honour, O Lord.

Y. The Cherubim also and the Seraphim cry out, Holy; and every heavenly rank, say- ing: * To thee beseemeth. Glory be to the Father. f Praise and honour.

4. HJ. Among those born of women there hath not risen a greater than John the Baptist: *Who pre the way for the Lord in the desert.

Y. There was a man sent from God, whose name was

John. * Who prepared.

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5. Hj. Cives apostolorum et domestici Dei advenerunt ho- die: * Portantes facem et illu- minantes patriam, dare pacer gentibus et liberare populum Domini.

Y. Audite preces supplicum vitz aeterna poscentes premia, qui fertis in dextris manipulos justitie, quique gaudentesadve- nistis hodie. * Portantes.

6. Ry. O constantia martyrum laudabilis: o caritas inextingui- bilis: o patientia invincibilis, quz, licet inter pressuras perse- quentium visa sit despicabilis:* Invenietur in laudem et gloriam et honorem f In tempore retri- butionis,

Y. Nobis crgo petimus piis subveniant meritis, honorificati a Patrequi est in calis. * Inve- nietur. Gloria. f In tempore.

7. Ry. Sint lumbi vestri prze- cincti, et lucernz ardentes in manibus vestris: * Et vos simi- les hominibus exspectantibus dominum suum, quando rever- tatur a nuptiis.

Y. Vigilate ergo, quia nesci- tis qua hora Dominus vester
venturus sit. * Et vos.

8. Ey. Audivi vocem de calo venientem: Venite omnes virgi- nes sapientissima: * Oleum re- condite in vasis vestris, dum Sponsus advenerit.

Y. Media nocte clamor factus est: Ecce Sponsus venit. * Oleum.

TIME AFTER PENTECOST

5. Hj. The fellow-citizens of the Apostles and the servants of God have come before us to- day: * Bearing a torch and ¢n- lightening our fatherland, to give peace to the nations, and to deliver the people of the Lord.

Y. Hear the prayers of sup- pliants imploring the rewards of eternal life, O ye who bear in your hands the sheaves of jus- tice, and who come to-day re- joicing. * Bearing.

6. Hy. O praiseworthy con- stancy of the martyrs; O inex- tinguishable charity; O invin- cible patience ! although under the tortures of the persecutors it Mopetred despicable,* [t shall be found worthy of praise and glory and honour, f In the time of retribution.

Y. Therefore we pray that they may assist us with their blessed merits now that they are honoured by the Father who is in heaven. * Itshall be found. Glory be to the Father. 1 In the time.

7. NJ. Let your loins be girt and lamps burning in your hands. * And you yourselves like to men who wait for their lord, when he shall return from the wedding.

Y. Watch ye therefore, be- cause you know not what hour your Lord will come. * And you yourselves.

8. Ry. I heard a voice coming from heaven: Come all ye most wise virgins; * Keep oil ready in your vessels, for when the Spouse shall come.

X. At midnight there was a cry made: Behold the Bridegroom cometh. * Keep

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9. Ej. Concede nobis, Domi- ne, quasumus, veniam delicto- rum: et intercedentibus sanctis quorum hodie solemnia celebra- mus: * Talem nobis tribuedevo- tionem. t Ut ad eorum perveni- re mereamur Societatem.

Y. Adjuvent nos eorum meri- ta, quos propria impediunt sce- lera; excuset intercessio accu- Sat quos actio: et qui eis tribui- sti celestis palmam triumphi, nobis veniam non deneges pec- cati. * Talem. Gloria. t Ut ad.

71

9. Ry. Grant us, O Lord, we beseech thee, the pardon of our sins; and through the inter- cession of thy saints whose solemnity we celebrate to-day: * Bestow upon us so great a de- votion, t That we may deserve to be admitted into their com-

pany.

Y. May their merits assist us, who are hindered by our own crimes; may their intercession excuse us, who are accused by our own deeds; and thou who hast bestowed on them the palm of heavenly victory, refuse

not to us the pardon of our sins. *Bestow upon us. Glory be to the Father. f That we may.

The Greeks honour with us, on one common solem- nity, ' all the saints of all the countries on earth, of Asia, Libya, and Europe, of north and south. But, whereas the West celebrates at the close of the year a feast which represents the gathering of the harvest into our heavenly Father's granary, the East keeps it on the first Sunday after Pentecost, in that springtime of the Church, when, under the action of the Holy Ghost, sanctity was every- where beginning to blossom.? We find it thus as early as the fourth century; for it was on this first Sunday after Pentecost, which with us Latins is now the feast of the most holy Trinity, that St. John Chrysostom pronounced his discourse in honour of ' all the martyrs, who have suffered throughout the world.”

In the West also, as we have seen, the origin of All Saints' feast was this general commemoration of the mar- tyrs. This latter was placed by some Eastern churches on the Friday within the octave of Easter.* It was a happy thought thus to associate the confession of Christ's witnesses with the victory over death won by Him, whose divine confession before Pontius Pilate had been an

1 Pent ion, in Dominica Sanctorum omnium.

2 Low. PuiLosorn. Oratio xv. In terre S; 3 Cunvs., Opera ii. 711. * Calendaria Syrorum et Chaldsorum.

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example and a support to them in presence of their

executioners.

Indeed, Rome herself had had the same

inspiration, when she made her solemn commemoration of the martyrs in the beginning of May; and she still . reserves to the martyrs and apostles the honour of having a special Office for the whole of Paschal Time.

We borrow the following passages from the Greek Office for the ‘ Sunday of All Saints.’

IN MAGNO VESPERTINO

Discipuli Domini, organa Spiritus, ubique per orbem sparserunt divini semina nuntii: e quibus germinati martyres supplicant pro animabus no- stris.

Ecclesie fulcimentum, Evan- gelii perfectio, martyrum divi- nus chorus, Salvatoris verba vos implestis. Porte etenim inferi Ecclesie inhiantes a vo- bis obserate sunt; libamenta idolorum exsiccavit sanguinis effusio vestri; plenitudinem credentium immolati ri- stis; angelis admirandi, coro- nati statis ante Deum: quem sine fine deprecemini pro ani- mabus nostris.

Venite, fideles universi: sole- mnem Sanctorum omnium me- moríam celebremus, in psalmis et hymnis et canticis spiritua- libus: ecce nobis adest, locu-

letia secum ferens carismata. taque clamemus dicentes: Sal- vete, prophetarum coetus, qui adventum Christi mundo nun- tiastis, ea quz procul sunt tam- quam prope videntes. Salvete, aj orum chorus, sagenam mittentes in nationes, pisca- tores hominum. Salvete, mar- tyrum exercitus, e finibus terra

The disciples of the Lord, the instruments of the Spirit, scat- tered throughout the world the seed of the divine word : whence sprang the martyrs who ínter- Soe for our soe. "NI

upport of the Church, per- faction of the Gospel, O d. - like choir of martyrs, ye ful- filled the words of our Saviour. For the gates of hell wide yawn- ing against the Church ye have closed and bolted; by the shed- ding of your blood ye dried up the libations of the idols; your immolation ga«e birth to the fullness of believers. O ad- miration of the angels, ye stand crowned before God; be- seech him unceasingly for our souls.

Come, all ye faithful; let us celebrate with psalms and hymns and spiritual canticles the solemnity of all the saints: behold it comes, bringing us the richest gifts. Therefore let us cry out and say: Hail, company of prophets, who announced to the world the coming of Christ, seeing things afar off as though they were at hand. Hail, choir of apostles, fishers of men, casting your net among the nations. Hail, army of mar- tyrs, brought together from the

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adunatiinfidemunam, qui prop- ter illam injurias tormentorum tolerastis et pugna coronam preclare tulistis. — Salvete, mellarium patrum, qui cor- poribus ascesi maceratis et pas- sionibus carnis mortificatis, mentem amore divino quasi pennis sublevastis, celum us- que pervolantes, et letantes cum angelis fruimini seculis beatis. Ast, o prophete, apo- stoli, martyresque cum ascetis, qui vos coronavit instanter orate ut salvet nos ab inimicis um visibilibus quam invisibili- us.

Salvete, sancti justique; sal- vete, laudabilis feminarum chorus. Pro mundo apud Christum intercedite ; principi det victoriam contra barbaros atque animabus nostris ma- gnam misericordiam.

73

ends of the earth into one faith: ye endured for that faith in- juries and torments, and glori- ously won your laurels in the contest. Hail, honey-laden hive of the fathers; who having macerated your bodies with austerities, and mortified the passions of the flesh, raised

our mind with divine love, as it were on wings, soaring even to heaven, where rejoicing with the angels ye possess a blessed eternity. And now, O pro- phets, O apostles, O martyrs and ascetics, earnestly implore him who has crowned you to save us from our enemies both visi- ble and invisible.

Hail, ye saints and just ones; hail, praiseworthy choir of holy women. Intercede with Christ for the world; that he may give to our prince victory over the barbarians and to our souls his

great mercy.

MASS

Ancient documents referring to this day inform us that on the Calends of November the same eagerness was shown as at Christmas to assist at the holy Sacrifice.’ However general the feast was, or rather because of its universality, was it not the special joy of every one, and the honour of Christian families ? Taking a holy pride in the persons whose virtues they handed down to pos- terity, they considered the heavenly glory of their ances- tors, who had perhaps been unknown in the world, to be a higher nobility than any earthly dignity.

Faith was lively in those days; and Christians seized the opportunity of this feast to make amends for the neglect, voluntary or involuntary, suffered during the year by the blessed inscribed on the general Calendar.

1 Lectiones antique Breviarii Romani ad banc dicm.

--- PAGE 085 --- 74 TIME AFTER PENTECOST

In the famous Bull Transiturus de hoc mundo, by which he established the feast of Corpus Christi, Urban IV mentions this as one of the motives that had led to the prior institution of All Saints';! and expresses a hope that the new solemnity may in like manner compensate for the distractions and coldness of the rest of the year towards this divine Sacrament, wherein He resides who is the crown and glory of all saints.?

The Introit antiphon resembles that of our Lady's Assumption day. This feast is indeed a sequel to Mary's triumph. Asour Lord's Ascension called for His Mother's Assumption, both required for their completion the uni- versal glorification of the human race which provides heaven with its King and Queen. Joy, then, on earth, which continues thus magnificently to giveits fruit! Joy among the angels, who see their vacant thrones filled up ! Joy, says the Verse, to all the blessed who are receiving the congratulations of heaven and earth !

\ ' INTROIT

Gaudeamus omnes in Domi- | Let us all rejoice in the Lord, no, diem festum celebrantes celebrating a festival day in sub honore sanctorum omnium: honourofall thesaints: at whose de quorum solemnitate gaudent solemnity the angels rejoice and angeli, etcollaudant Filium Dei. give praise to the Son of God.

Ps. Exsultate, justi, in Domi- Ps. Rejoice in the Lord, ye no: rectos decet collaudatio. just: praise becometh the up- Gloria Patri. Gaudeamus. right. Glory be to the Father.

Let us all.

But we sinners, who are still in exile, have always and everywhere need of mercy. To-day we may well hope for it, since so many are interceding for us. If the prayer of one saint is powerful, what must be the united suffrages of all heaven !

COLLECT

us, qui nos omnium sanctorum who hast granted us to vener- tuorum merita sub una tribui- ate in one solemnity the merits

1 HirvrRor. Ordo Rom

2 Cap. * Si Dominum, De Reliquiis et Veneratione Sanctorum. Clementin. iii, 16.

--- PAGE 086 --- FEAST OF ALL SAINTS

sti celebritate venerari: quasu- mus, ut desideratam nobis tuz propitiationis ^ abundantiam, multiplicatis ^ intercessoribus largiaris. Per Dominum.

75

of all thy saints; we beseech thee, that as our intercessors are multiplied, thou wouldst bestow upon us the desired abundance of thy mercy. Through our Lord.

EPISTLE

Lecto libri Apocalypsis beati Joannis Apostoli.

Cap. vii.

Indiebusillis: Eccecgo Joan- nes vidi alterum angelum ascendentem ab ortu solis, habentem signum Dei vivi: et clamavit voce magna quatuor angelis quibus datum est no- cere terra et mari, dicens: No- lite nocere terre et mari, neque arboribus quoadusque signemus servos Dei nostri in frontibus eorum. Etaudivi numerum si- gnatorum, centum quadraginta quatuor millia signati, ex omni tribu filiorum Israel. Ex tribu | ise duodecim millia signati.

X tribu Ruben duodecim mil- lia signati. Ex tribu Gad duo- decim millia signati. Ex tribu Aser duodecim millia signati. Ex tribu Nephthali duodecim millia signati. Ex tribu Ma- nasse duodecim millia signa- ti. Ex tribu Simeon duodecim millia signati. Ex tribu Levi duodecim millia signati. Ex tribu Issachar duodecim millia Signati. Ex tribu Zabulon duodecim millia signati. Ex tribu Joseph duodecim millia signati. Ex tribu Benjamin duodecim millia signati. Post hec vidi turbam magnam, quam dinumerare nemo pote- rat ex omnibus gentibus, et tri- bubus, et populis, et linguis: Lesson from the Book of the Apocalypse of blessed John the Apostle.

Chap. vii.

In those days, Behold I, John, sawanother angel ascend- ing from the rising of the sun, having the sign of the living God. And he cried with a loud voice to the four angels, to whom it was given to hurt the earth and the sea, saying: Hurt not the earth, nor the sea, nor the trees, till we sign the servants of our God in their foreheads. And I heard the number of them that were signed: an hun- dred forty-four thousand were signed, of every tribe of the children of Israel. Ofthe tribe of Juda were twelve thousand signed: of the tribe of Ruben twelve thousand signed: of the tribe of Gad twelve thousand signed: of the tribe of Aser twelve thousand signed: of the tribe of Nephthali twelve thou- sand signed: of the tribe of Ma- nasses twelve thousand signed: of the tribe of Simeon twelve thousand signed: of the tribe of Levi twelve thousand signed : of the tribe of Issachar twelve thousand signed: of the tribe of Zabulon twelve thousand signed: of the tribe of J h twelve thousand signed: of the tribe of Benjamin twelve thou- sand signed. After this I saw

--- PAGE 087 --- 76

stantes ante thronum, et in con- spectu Agni, amicti stolis albis, et palma in manibus eorum; et clamabant voce magna, dicen- tes: Salus Deo nostro, qui se- det super thronum, et Agno. Et omnes angeli stabant in cir- cuitu throni et seniorum et qua- tuor animalium: et ceciderunt in conspectu throni in facies suas, et adoraverunt Deum, di- centes: Amen. Benedictio et claritas et sapientia et gratia- rum actio, honor et virtus et fortitudo Deo nostro, in secula Seculorum. Amen.

TIME AFTER PENTECOST

a great multitude, which no man could number, of all nations and tribes, and les, and tongues, standing before the throne, and in sight of the Lamb, clothed with white robes and palms in their hands; and they cried with a loud voice saying: Salvation to our God who sitteth upon the throne, and to the Lamb. And all the angels stood round about the throne, and the ancients, and the four living creatures; and they fell down before the throne upon their faces, and adored

God saying: Amen. Benedic- tion, and glory, and wisdom, and thanksgiving, honour, and power, and strength to our God Íor ever and ever. Amen.

At the time of his birth, the Man-God, through the instrumentality of Caesar Augustus, took a census of the world; it was fitting that on the eve of the Redemption the statistics of the human race should be officially regis- tered. And now it is time to make a fresh enrolment, and to enter in the Book of Life the results of the work of Redemption.

* Wherefore this numbering of the world at the time of our Lord's birth,” says St. Gregory in one of the Christ- mas homilies, ' save for this manifest reason, that He was appearing in the Flesh, who is to enregister the elect in eternity ?" But, many having withdrawn themselves by their own fault from the benefit of the first enrolment, which included all men in the ranks of those to be re- deemed, there was need of a second and definitive regis- tration, which should cancel the names of the guilty. ‘Let them be blotted out of the book of the living, and with the just let them not be written;'? such are the words of the psalmist, quoted by St. Gregory in the above-men- tioned homily.

! Lectio vii. in Nocte Natal. Domini ; ex Homil. viii. in Ev. 3 Ps. xviii, 29.

--- PAGE 088 --- FEAST OF ALL SAINTS 77

To-day, however, the Church is too full of joy to think of any but the elect; they alone take part in the jason close of human history described in the Epistle. Indeed, they alone are reckoned before God; the reprobate are but the waste of a world where sanctity alone responds to the Creator's advances, to the ventures of His infinite love. Let our souls be supple to receive the divine stamp, which is to render us conformable to the image of the only-begotten Son, and mark us out as God's coin. Whoever is unwilling to receive the divine impress will inevitably be marked with the ' character of the beast ' ;! and when the angels come to make the final settlement, every coin unfit to bear the divine stamp will fall into the furnace where the dross will burn eternally.

Let us then, as the Gradual recommends, live in fear; not that of the slave, who dreads punishment; but that filial fear, which is anxious never to displease Him from whom are all good things, and whose kindness deserves all our love in return. Without losing aught of their beatitude, or diminishing their love, the angelic Powers and all the saints in heaven prostrate with a holy trem- bling beneath the gaze of God's awful majesty.?

GRADUAL

Timete Dominum, omnes san- cti ejus: quoniam nihil deest ti- mentibus eum.

Y. Inquirentes autem Domi- num non deficient omni bono.

Alleluia, alleluia.

Y. Venite ad me, omnes qui laboratis et onerati estis, et ego reficiam vos. Alleluia.

Sequentia sancti Evangelii se-

cundum Mattheum. Cap. v.

In illo tempore: Videns Jesus

Fear the Lord, all ye his saints: for there is no want to them that fear him.

Y. Butthey thatseekthe Lord shall notbedeprivedofany good.

Alleluia, alleluia.

Y. Comeunto me, all you that labour, and are heavy laden, and

GOSPEL

I will refresh you. Alleluia. Sequel of the holy Gospel ac- cording to St. Matthew. Chap. v.

At that time, Jesus, seeing

turbas, ascendit in montem, et the multitudes, went up into a

! Apoc, xiii. 16.

3 C/. Priefat. Missa,

--- PAGE 089 --- 78

cum sedisset, accesserunt ad eum discipuli ejus, et aperiens os suum, docebat cos, dicens: Beati pauperes spiritu: quo- niam ipsorum est regnum czelo- rum. Beati mites: quoniam ipsi possidebunt terram. Be- ati qui lugent: quoniam ipsi consolabuntur. Beati qui esu- riunt et sitiunt justitiam: quo- niam ipsi saturabuntur. Be- ati misericordes: quoniam ip- si misericordiam consequentur. Beati mundo corde: quoniam ipsi Deum videbunt. Beati pa- cifici: quoniam filii Dei voca- buntur. Beati qui persecutio- nem patiuntur propter justi- tiam: quoniam ipsorum est re- gnum celorum. Beati estis cum maledixerint vobis, et persecuti vos fuerint, et dixerint omne malum adversum vos menti- entes, propter me: gaudete et exsultate, quoniam merces vestra copiosa est in celis.

TIME AFTER PENTECOST

mountain: and when he was set down his disciples came unto him. And opening his mouth, he taught them saying: Blessed are the poor in spirit; for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are the meek; for they shall possess the land. Blessed are they that mourn; for they shall be comforted. Blessed are they that hunger and thirst after justice; for they shall have their fill. Blessed are the merciful; for they shall obtain mercy. Blessed arc the clean of heart; for they shall see God. Blessed are the peacemakers; for they shall be called the chi:- dren of God. Blessed are they that suffer persecution for jus tice' sake; for theirs is the king- dom of heaven. Blessed are ye when they shall revile you, and persecute you, and speak all thatis evil against you, untruly, for my sake: be glad and re- joice, for your reward is very great in heaven.

Earth is so near to heaven to-day that the one thought which fills all hearts is happiness. The Friend, the Bride- groom, the divine Brother of Adam's children, comes and sits down among them, and talks of blessedness: ' Come to Me all you that labour and suffer,' sang the Alleluia- verse, that sweet echo from our fatherland reminding us withal of our exile. And immediately in the Gospel appears the goodness and kindness of God our Saviour. Let uslisten to Him, teaching us the ways of blessed hope, the holy delights which are at once an assurance and a foretaste of the perfect bliss of heaven.

On Sinai Jehovah held the Jew at a distance, giving him precepts under pain of death. On the summit of this other mountain where the Son of God is seated how differently the Law of love is promulgated! In the new Testament, the eight beatitudes have taken the place

--- PAGE 090 --- FEAST OF ALL SAINTS 79

occupied in the old by the Decalogue graven on stone. Not that the beatitüdes repeal the commandments; but their superabundant justice goes far beyond all prescrip- tions. It is from His Heart that Jesus brought them forth in order to imprint them, more lastingly than on stone, in the hearts of His people. They are the portrait of the Son of man, the summary of our Redeemer's life. Look then, and do ' according to the pattern that was shown thee in the mount.'!

Poverty was the first mark of our God in Bethlehem; and who ever appeared so meek as Mary's Child ? Who wept for more noble causes than He in His crib, where He was already expiating our sins and appeasing His Father? They that hunger after justice, the merciful, the clean of heart, the peacemakers: where, save in Him, will they find the incomparable ideal, never attained yet ever imitable? And by His death He became the leader of all those who are persecuted for justice’ sake. In this the highest beatitude on earth the Incarnate Word takes delight, returning upon it, detailing it, and closing with it in to-day’s Gospel as with a song of ecstasy. The Church has never had any other ideal ; she has ever walked in the footsteps of her Spouse, and her history through- out the ages has been but the prolonged echo of the Beatitudes. Let us also understand; that we may be blessed both in this world and in the next, let us follow our Lord and the Church.

The evangelical beatitudes raise man above torments, above death itself, which disturbs not the peace of the just, but consummates it. Such is the burden of the Offertory chant, taken from the Book of Wisdom.

OFFERTORY

Justorum anima in manu Dei The souls of the just are in sunt: et non tangetillos tormen- the hand of God, and the tor- tum malitie: visi sunt oculis in- ment of malice shall not touch sipientium mori, illi autem sunt them: in the sight of the unwise in pace, alleluia, they seemed to die, but they

are in peace, alleluia.

1 Exod, xxv. 40.

--- PAGE 091 --- 8o

TIME AFTER PENTECOST

As the Secret explains, the Sacrifice in which we are allowed to take part, glorifies God, honours the saints, and renders the divine goodness propitious to us.

SECRET

Munera tibi, Domine, nostra
devotionis offerimus: qua et | wis cunctorum tibi grata sint

onore justorum, et nobis salu- taria, te miserante, reddantur. Per Dominum.

We offer to thee, O Lord, the gifts of our devotion; and may they be pleasing to thee in honour of the just, and be made salutary to us by thy mercy. Through our Lord.

The Communion antiphon, like an echo of the Gospel, repeats the last three Beatitudes, referring them, and rightly, to the divine Sacrament whereby they are

nourished.

COMMUNION

Beati mundo corde, quoniam ipsi Deum videbunt: beati - fici, quoniam filii Dei vocabun- tur: beati qui persecutionem patiuntur propter justitiam, quoniam ipsorum est regnum celorum.

Blessed are the clean of heart, for they shall see God: blessed are the peacemakers, for they Shall be called the children of God: blessed are they that suffer persecution for justice' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

In the Postcommunion the Church asks as the fruit of this feast that her children may always honour the saints and ever benefit by their favour with God.

POSTCOMMUNION

Da, quesumus, Domine, fide-
libus populis, omnium sancto- rum semper veneratione letari: et eorum perpetua supplica- tione muniri. Per Dominum.

Grant, we beseech thee, O Lord, to thy faithful people, ever to rejoice in the venera- pus os all the saints, and to be

efended by their perpetual supplication. Through.

SECOND VESPERS

The

the oe gic the versicle, and the Magnificat antiphon.
, which is as follows, puts upon the lips of the

--- PAGE 092 --- FEAST OF ALL SAINTS

81

saints a beautiful summary of their life of faith and suf- fering here on earth, and of their eternal gratitude and

praise in heaven.

PSALM II5

Credidi, propter quod locutus sum: ego autem humiliatus sum

Ego dixi in excessu meo: Omnis homo mendax.

Quid retribuam Domino: pro omnibus quz retribuit mihi ?

Calicem salutaris accipiam: et nomen Domini invocabo.

Vota mea Domino reddam coram omni populo ejus: pre- tiosa in co; Domini mors sanctorum ejus.

O Domine, quia ego servus
tuus: ego servus tuus, et filius ancille tuz.

Dirupisti vincula mea: tibi sacrificabo hostiam laudis, et nomen Domini invocabo.

Vota mea Domino reddam in conspectu omnis populi ejus: in atriis domus Domini, in me- dio tui, Jerusalem,

y. Exsultabunt sancti gloria.

Hy. Letabuntur in cubilibus suis.

in

I have believed, therefore have I spoken: but I have been humbled exceedingly.

I said in my excess: Every man is a liar.

What shall I render to the Lord, for all the things that he hath rendered to me ?

I will take the chalice of sal- vation; and I will call upon the name of the Lord.

I will pay my vows to the Lord before all his ple: precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints.

O Lord, for I am thy servant: I am thy servant and the son of thy handmaid.

Thou hast broken my bonds: I will sacrifice to thee the sacri- fice of praise, and I will call upon the name of the Lord.

I will pay my vows to the Lord in the sight of all his people; in the courts of the house of the Lord, in the midst of thee, O Jerusalem !

Y.. The saints shall rejoice in

glory. Ry. They shall be joyful in their beds. Joyte

ANTIPHON OF THE MAGNIFICAT

O quam gloriosum est re- gnum in quo cum Christo gaudent omnes sancti, amicti stolis albis sequuntur Agnum quocumque ierit.

This antiphon, which expresses at once an

Oh! how glorious is the king- dom, where all the saints rejoice with Christ; clothed in white robes, they follow the Lamb whithersoever he goeth |

able

delight and a patient longing, closes the solemnity of

--- PAGE 093 --- 82 TIME AFTER PENTECOST

the Saints. But the Church’s day is not yet ended. Scarcely has she given the last salute to her glorious sons disappearing in their white robes in the train of the Lamb, when an innumerable crowd of suffering souls surrounds her at the gate of heaven; and to these she at once lends her voice and heart. The glittering vestments, which reminded her of the snowy garments of the blessed, are changed for the colour of mourning; the ornaments and flowers disappear from the altar; the organ is hushed; the bells ring a plaintive knell. Without any transition, the Vespers of All Saints are followed by the Vespers of the Dead.! VESPERS OF THE DEAD

No human science or eloquence could ever reach the depth of teaching, the power of soul-stirring supplication contained in the Office of the Dead. Thisintimate know- ledge of the secrets of the other world, and of the way to win the Heart of her Spouse, belongs to the bride alone; and she alone, the true mother of men, is able with ex- quisite tact to console the orphans and the bereaved, by shortening the painful purification of those who have passed away.

Dilexi: this first song of the holy souls is all love; as the Credidi, the last psalm sung by the heavenly citizens on this feast, recalled their faith, and the trials they have endured on earth. We have just remarked that there is no transition between the two solemnities. What need ofany? Thesuffering souls and the blessed, both are the captives of love; love gives them their dignity, and is their imperishable treasure. In the case of the blessed, faith having given place to the vision of God, their love is highest bliss; but to the suffering souls, imprisoned in darkness by sins not yet expiated, love is the source of inexpressible pain. However, they are now free from the anxieties of this world, the perils of hell; they are con- firmed in grace, and can never sin again; they are full of

1 If the morrow of All Saints be a Sunday the C ion of the Dead transferred to the Monday.

--- PAGE 094 --- FEAST OF ALL SAINTS 83

gratitude towards God who has saved them in His mercy, and in His justice is purifying them to make them worthy of Himself. They are in a state of absolute and perfect resignation and of calm expectancy, called by holy

Church a ' sleep of peace.'!

ANT. Placebo Domino in re- gione vivorum.

ANT. I will please the Lord in the land of the living.

PSALM II4

Dilexi, quoniam exaudiet Do- minus: vocem orationis mez.

Quia inclinavit aurem suam mihi: et in diebus meis invo- cabo.

Circumdederunt me dolores mortis: et pericula inferni inve- nerunt me.

Tribulationem et dolorem in- veni; et nomen Domini invo- cavi.

O Domine, libera animam
meam: misericors Dominus et
justus, et Deus noster miseretur.

Custodiens parvulos Domi- nus: humiliatus sum, et libera- vit me.

Convertere anima mea in requiem tuam: quia Dominus
benefecit tibi.

Quia eripuit animam meam de morte: oculos meos a lacri- mis, pedes meos a lapsu.

Placebo Domino: in regione vivorum.

I have loved, because the Lord will hear the voice of my prayer.

Because he hath inclined his ear unto me, and in my days I will call upon him.

The sorrows of death have compassed me; and the perils of hell have found me.

I met with trouble and Sorrow; and I called upon the name of the Lord.

O Lord, deliver my soul: the Lord is merciful and just: and our God sheweth mercy.

The Lord is the keeper of little ones: I was humbled, and he delivered me.

Return, O my soul, into thy rest: for the Lord hath been bountiful to thee.

For he hath delivered my soul from death, my eyes from tears, and my feet from falling.

I will please the Lord in the land of the living.

Instead of the usual doxology the Church makes, at the end of every psalm, a fervent prayer for the departed.

Requiem zternam dona eis, Domine.
Et lux perpetua luceat eis.

ANT. Placebo Domino in re- gione vivorum.

Eternal rest give unto them, O Lord.

And let perpetual light shine upon them.

ANT. I will please the Lord in the land of the living.

1 Canon Missa.

--- PAGE 095 --- TIME AFTER PENTECOST

The soul in purgatory, separated from the body which weighed her down and distracted her by a thousand vain preoccupations, is now entirely absorbed by the one desire of becoming at length perfectly pleasing to God. Towards this end her whole energy is directed; and so too is the force of the torments for whose violence she is so grateful. Purgatory is a crucible where the dross of sin is burnt away, until every debt is cancelled. When its flames have effaced every stain and every wrinkle that marred the soul's beauty, then she flees away to her Spouse, truly a blessed one and sure of offering no obstacle to the complacent love of her Lord.

Yet to what a sad length her exile is prolonged ! True, she is united by charity to the inhabitants of heaven: but the fire which torments her is of the same nature as that of hell; her abode is nigh to that of the damned; she must endure the proximity of the infernal Cedar, and of those haters of all peace, the detestable demons, who at- tacked her unceasingly during her mortal life with their assaults and their snares, and who still with deceitful tongue accuse her before the throne of God. Presently we shall hear the Church imploring: ‘ From the gate of hell deliver her !'

ANT. Hei mihi, Domine, quia
incolatus meus prolongatus est.

PSALM IIQ

84

ANT. Woe is me, O Lord, that my sojourning is prolonged.

Ad Dominum cum tribularer clamavi: et exaudivit me.

Domine, libera animam meam
a labiis iniquis: et a lingua do- losa.

Quid detur tibi aut quid ap- ponatur tibi: ad linguam dolo- sam ?

ittze potentis acutz: cum carbonibus desolatoriis.

Heu mihi, quia incolatus me- us prolongatus est: habitavi cum habitantibus Cedar: mul- tum incola fuit anima mea.

In my trouble I cried to the Lord; and he heard me.

O Lord, deliver my soul from wicked lips, and from a deceit- ful tongue.

What shall be given to thee, or what shall be added to thee: to a deceitful tongue ?

The sharp arrows of the mighty: with coals that lay waste.

Woe is me that my sojourn- ing is prolonged | I have dwelt withtheinhabitantsof Cedar; my soul hath been long a sojourner.

--- PAGE 096 --- FEAST OF ALL SAINTS

Cum his, qui oderunt pacem, eram pacificus: cum loquebar illis, impugnabant me gratis.

Requiem aternam dona eis, Domine.
Et lux perpetua luceat eis.

ANT. Hel mihi, Domine, quia
incolatus meus prolongatus est.

85

With them that hated peace I was peaceable: when I spoke to them, they fought against me without cause.

Eternal rest give unto them, O Lord.

And let perpetual light shine upon them.

ANT. Woe is me, O Lord, that my sojourning is prolonged.

Yet the soul faints not; lifting up her eyes to the moun- lains, she feels that she can rely upon her Lord, and that she is abandoned neither by heaven, which is expecting her arrival, nor by her mother the Church on earth. Although purgatory, where justice and peace meet and embrace, is so near the region of endless weeping, it is still accessible to the angels. These august messengers comfort the soul with divine communications: while the blessed in heaven and the just on earth assist her with their prayers and suffrages. She is well assured that

sin, the only real evil, can never touch her.

ANT. Dominus custodit te ab
omni malo: custodiat animam tuam Dominus.

' ANT. The Lord keepeth thee from all evil: may the Lord keep thy soul.

PSALM I20

Levavi oculos meos in mon- tes: unde veniet auxilium mihi.

Auxilium meum a Domino: qui fecit celum et terram.

Non det in commotionem pe- dem tuum: neque dormitet qui custodit te.

Ecce non dormitabit neque dormict: qui custodit Israel.

Dominus custodit te, Domi-
nus protectio tua: super ma- num dexteram tuam.

Per diem sol non uret te: ne- que luna per noctem.

Dominus custodit te ab omni

malo: custodiat animam tuam Dominus.

Live ied ap my eyes to the mountains: from whence help shall come to me.

My help is from the Lord: who made heaven and earth.

May he not suffer thy foot to be moved: neither let him slumber that keepeth thee.

Behold, he esl neither slum- bernorsleep: that keepeth Israel,

The Lord is thy keeper, the Lord is thy tection: upon thy right hand.

The sun gran not oie er

day: nor moon by night. iA. Lord keepeth thee from i: may the Lord keep thy

--- PAGE 097 --- 86 TIME AFTER PENTECOST

Dominus custodiat introitum — May the Lord keep thy com- tuum, et exitum tuum: ex hoc ing in and thy going out: from

nunc, et usque in seculum. henceforth, now and for ever. Requiem zternam dona eis, ^ Eternal rest give unto them, Domine. O Lord.
Et lux perpetua luceat eis. And let perpetual light shine upon them.

ANT. Dominus custodit te ab —— ANT. The Lord keepeth thee omni malo: custodiat animam from all evil; may the Lord tuam Dominus. keep thy soul.

Christian usage has appropriated Psalm 1i29 as the peculiar prayer for the dead;it is a cry of anguish mingled with hope. The destitute condition of the holy souls is well calculated to touch our hearts. Though not yet in heaven, they no longer belong to earth, and have conse-

uently lost those privileges whereby God compensates us

or the dangers which surround us in our passage through this world of trial. Their perfect acts of love, of hope, of faith, and of resignation, have no merit. Such unspeak- able sufferings, accepted with their dispositions, would earn for us a reward equal to that of a thousand martyrs; yet to these souls they profit nothing, for all eternity, be- yond the mere payment of the penalty exacted by the just Judge. Besides their inability to merit, they can no longer satisfy God's justice by offering Him an equi- valent such as He can accept. Their powerlessness to help themselves is more absolute than that of the para- lytic of the pool of Bethsaida:! the saving waters are left behind on earth, together with the holy Sacrifice, the Sacraments, and the use of the all-powerful keys entrusted to the Church.

The Church, however, albeit she has no longer any jurisdiction over these poor souls, still feels towards them all a mother's tenderness; nor has she lost her credit with theSpouse. She makes their prayer her own. Opening the treasure she has inherited from the plentiful redemp- tion of the Lord, she makes an offering from her dowry to Him who gave it her, begging in return the deliverance of the captives, or at least an alleviation of their suffer-

1 St. John v.

--- PAGE 098 --- FEAST OF ALL SAINTS Thus, all rights being duly respected, abundant

ings.

87

mercy penetrates into the kingdom of inexorable justice.

ANT. Si iniquitates observa- veris, Domine: Domine, quis
sustinebit ?

ANT. If thou, O Lord, wilt mark iniquities, Lord, who shall stand it ?

PSALM 129

De profundis clamavi ad te, Domine: Domine, exaudi vo-
cem meam.

Fiant aures tuz intendentes: in vocem deprecationis mez.

Si iniquitates observaveris, Domine: Domine, quis sustine-
bit ?

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

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

A custodia matutina usque ad noctem: speret Israel in Do- mino.

Quia apud Dominum miseri- cordia: et copiosa apud eum redemptio.

Et ipse redimet lsrael: ex omnibus iniquitatibus ejus.

Requiem eternam: dona eis, Domine.

Et lux perpetua: luceat eis.

ANT. Si iniquitates observa- veris, Domine: Domine, quis
sustinebit ?

Out of the depths I havc cried to thee, O Lord: Lord, hear my voice.

Let thy ears be attentive: to the voice of my supplication.

If thou, O Lord, wilt mark iniquities: Lord, who shall stand it ?

Tor with thee there is merci- ful forgiveness: and by reason of thy law I have waited for thee, O Lord.

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

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

Because with the Lord there is mercy: and with him plenti- ful redemption.

And he shall redeem Israel from all his iniquities.

Eternal rest give unto them, O Lord:

And let perpetual light shine upon them.

ANT. 1f thou, O Lord, wilt mark iniquities: Lord, who shall stand it?

I will praise Thee for Thou hast heard me. The Church's

prayer is never in vain. The last psalm utters her grati-

--- PAGE 099 --- 88 TIME AFTER PENTECOST

and they enhance its joy and glory at its close. Let our hearts and our thoughts follow these new saints; they smile upon us, they thank us their brethren and children, as they ascend all radiant from the land of shadows sing- ing: In the sight of angels I will sing to Thee, O Lord; I will adore in Thy holy temple.—No; the Lord does not

despise the works of His hands.

ANT. Operamanuum tuarum, Domine, ne despicias.

ANT. Despise not, O Lord, the works of thy hands.

PSALM I37

Confitebor tibi, Domine, in
toto corde mco: quoniam audi- sti verba oris mei.

In conspectu angelorum psal- lam tibi: adorabo ad templum sanctum tuum, et confitebor nomini tuo.

Super misericordia tua et ve- ritate tua: quoniam magnifica- sti super omne, nomen sanctum tuum.

In quacumque die invoca- vero te, exaudi me: multipli- cabis in anima mea virtutem.

Confiteantur tibi, Domine,
omnes reges terre: quia audi- erunt omnia verba oris tui.

Et cantent in viis Domini: quoniam magna est gloria Do- mini.

Quoniam excelsus Dominus,
et humilia respicit: et alta & longe cognoscit.

Si ambulavero in medio tri- bulationis, vivificabis me: et super iram inimicorum meorum extendisti manum tuam, et sal- vum me fecit dextera tua.

Dominus retribuet pro me:
Domine, misericordia tua in sz-
culum: opera manuum tuarum ne despicias.

I will praise thee, O Lord, with my whole heart: for thou hast heard the words of my mouth.

I will sing praiseto thee inthe sight of angels: I will worship towards thy holy temple, and I will give glory to thy name.

For thy mercy and for thy truth: for thou hast magnified thy holy name above all.

In what day soever I shall call upon thee, hear me: thou shalt multiply strength in my soul.

May all the kings of the earth give glory to thee, O Lord; for they have heard all the words of thy mouth.

And let them sing in the ways of the Lord: for great is the glory of the Lord.

For the Lord is high, and looketh on the low: and the high he knoweth afar off.

1f I shall walk in the midst of tribulation, thou wilt quicken me: and thou hast stretched forth thy hand against the wrath of my enemies, and thy right hand hath saved me. 'The Lord will repay for me: thy mercy, O Lord, endureth for cver: O despise not the works of thy hands.

--- PAGE 100 --- FEAST OF ALL SAINTS 89

Requiem @ternam dona eis, Eternal rest give unto them, Domine. O Lord. . .
Et lux perpetua luceat eis. And let perpetual light shine upon them. ANT. Opera manuum tuarum, ANT. Despise not, O Lord, Domine, ne despicias. the works of thv hands.

And now from heaven itself, as if sent to us by the dear newly delivered souls, comes this intimation of their happiness:

Y. Audivi vocem de calo di- Y. I heard a voice from

centem mihi: heaven saying to me: Hy. Beati mortui quiin Domi- ^ Hy. Blessed are the dead that no moriuntur. die in the Lord.

The whole of this wonderful liturgical drama, whicu has been represented before us, points to the fulfilment of our Lord's promise,? which the Church repeats in the following antiphon:

ANTIPHON OF THE MAGNIFICAT

Omne quod dat mihi Pater, All that my Father giveth ad me veniet: et eum qui venit me shall come to me; and him ad me, non ejiciam foras. that cometh to me I will not

cast out.

But as in this world every grace from Jesus comes to us through Mary, so in the next world it is through her that deliverance and all good things are obtained. The Mother of God is queen over all whom her Son has re- deemed. Thus the revelations of thesaints tell us that she is truly the queen of purgatory: whether she graciously sends the angels of her guard to represent her there, or deigns herself, the beautiful dawn of eternal day, to enter its gloomy precincts, and shed upon its flames the abundant dew of morning. ' Shall the snow of Libanus fail from the rock of the field, or can the cold waters, that gush out and run down, be taken away?'* We must understand, then, why we sing the Magnificat in the Office of the Dead; it is the loyal homage to Mary of the

1 Apoc. xiv, 13. 2 St. John vi. 37. 3 Jerem. xviii. 14.

--- PAGE 101 --- 90

TIME AFTER PENTECOST

souls that are entering heaven, and the sweet hope of those still detained in the region of expiation.

The Canticle Magnificat,

Requiem @ternam etc.

page 43, concluding with

After the repetition of the antiphon all kneel, and the priest begins the Lord's Prayer.

Pater noster.

Our Father.

The rest is said in silence as far as this conclusion, which is followed by the versicles and prayer that close

the Vespers of the Dead.

Y. Et ne nos inducas in ten- tationem. . Sed libera nos a malo. . A porta inferi. Ry. Erue, Domine, animas eo-
rum. Y. Requiescant in pace. . Amen. . Domine, exaudi orationem

eam.

Ry. Et clamor meus ad te ve- niat.

Y. Dominus vobiscum.

Hy. Et cum spiritu tuo.

Y. And lead us not into temptation.

Ry. But deliver us from evil.

Y. From the gate of hell.

Ry. Deliver their souls, O Lord.

Y. May they rest in peace.

Ry. Amen.

Y. O Lord, hear my prayer.

Ry. And let my cry come unto thee.

Y. The Lord be with you.

Ry. And with thy spirit.

PRAYER

Fidelium Deus omnium Con-
ditor et Redemptor, animabus famulorum famularumque tua- rum remissionem cunctorum tribue peccatorum: ut indul. gentiam, quam semper optave- runt, piis supplicationibus con- sequantur. Qui vivis et re-

nas cum Deo Patre in unitate piritus Sancti Deus, per omnia
saecula seculorum.

Hj. Amen.

¥. Requiem zternam dona eis, Domine.

, RF. Et lux perpetua luceat eis. Y. Requiescant in pace. Hy. Amen.

O God, the Creator and Re- deemer of all the faithful, give to the souls of thy servants and handmaids the remission of all their sins; that by pious suppli- cations they may obtain the pardon they have always de- sired. Who livest and reignest with God the Father in the unity of the Holy Ghost, God, world without end.

Hy. Amen.

Y. Eternal rest give unto them, O Lord.

Hy. And let perpetual light shine upon them.

Y. May they rest in peace.

N. Amen.

--- PAGE 102 --- FEAST OF ALL SAINTS

OI

Let us offer our Lady this touching supplication, which for a long time many churches addressed to her for the

dead.

It was composed in the fourteenth century, by

John IV de Langoueznou, abbot of Landevenec, inspired

by his tender love for Mary.

PROSE

Languentibus in purgatorio, i purgantur ardore nimio, t torquentur gravi supplicio, Subveniat tua compassio: O Maria !

Fons es patens qui culpas abluis, Omnes juvas et nullum respuis: Manum tuam extende mortuis, Qui sub poenis languent con- tinuis: O Maria ! Ad te pie suspirant mortui, Cupientes de poenis erui, Et adesse tuo conspectui, Zternisque gaudiis perfrui: O Maria !

Gementibus Mater accelera, Pietatis ostende viscera: Illos Jesus per sua vulnera Ut sanare dignetur impetra: O Maria !

Tu vera spes ad te claman- tium: Ad te clamat turba sodalium, Pro fratribus ut places Filium, Et caeleste det eis premium: Maria !

Fac lacrime quas bona re-

spicis, Quas fundimusad pedes Judicis, Mox exstinguant vim ma vindicis, Ut jungantur choris angelicis: O Maria !

To the sufferers in purgatory, whom the burning flame is cleansing and sharp pains are tormenting, may thy com- passion bring assistance, O Mary !

Fount accessible to all and washing away their sins, thou aidest all, despisest none: to the dead who languish in un- ceasing tortures, stretch forth thy hand, O Mary!

How lovingly do thedeparted souls sigh towards thee, yearn- ing to be delivered from their sufferings and to be admitted to the sight of thee in the enjoyment of eternal bliss, O Mary !

Hear their groans, and has- ten, O Mother, to show the love of thy heart; obtain of Jesus that he would deign to heal them through his own wounds, O Mary!

Thou art the true hope of them that call upon thee: lo! united multitudes cry to thee for their brethren, that thou wouldst appease thy Son, and obtain for them the heavenly reward, O Mary |

In thy goodness, cause the tears thou seest us shed before the feet of the Judge, to extinguish speedily the flames of the avenging fire, that the dear souls may join the angelic choirs, O Mary !

--- PAGE 103 --- 92 TIME AFTER PENTECOST

Et cum fiet stricta discussio, And when the strict examina-

In tremendo Dei judicio, tion shall take place at God's Judicanti supplica Filio, terrible judgment, oh, then im- Ut cum sanctis sit nobis portio: plore thy Son, the Judge, that O Maria ! we may share the inheritance of the saints, O Mary! Amen. Amen.

Truly this day is grand and beautiful. Earth, midway between heaven and purgatory, has united them together. The wonderful mystery of the communion of saints is re- vealed in allits fullness. Theimmense family of the sons of God is shown to be one in love, while distinct in its three states of beatitude, trial, and purifying expiation: thetrialand expiation being but temporary, the beatitude eternal. Itisthefitting completion of the teaching given us through the entire year; and every day within the octave we shall see the light increase.

Meanwhile, every soul is recollected, pondering over the dearest and noblest memories. On leaving the house of God, let our thoughts linger lovingly upon those who have the best claim to them. It is the feast of our beloved dead. Let us hear their suppliant voices in the plaintive tones that, from belfry to belfry throughout the Christian world, are ushering in this dark November night. This evening or to-morrow they will expect us to visit them at the tombs where their mortal remains rest in peace. Let us pray for them; and let us also pray to them: we need never be afraid to speak to them of the interests that were dear to them before God. For God loves them; and, as His justíce keeps them in an utter inability to help themselves, He makes amends to His goodness by hearing them all the more willingly on behalf of others.

--- PAGE 104 --- ALL SOULS’ DAY 93

NOVEMBER 2

: E will not have you ignorant, brethren, concern- ing them that are asleep, that you be not sorrow- ful, even as others who have no hope.'* The Church to-day has the same desire as the apostle thus expressed to the first Christians. The truth concerning the dead not only proves admirably the union between God's justice and His goodness; it also inspires a charitable pity which the hardest heart cannot resist, and at the same time offers to the mourners the sweetest consolation. If faith teaches us the existence of a purgatory where our loved ones may be detained by unexpiated sin, it is also of faith that we are able to assist them ;? and theology assures us that their more or less speedy deliverance lies in our power. Let us call to mind a few principles which throw light on this doctrine. Every sin causes a twofold injury to the sinner: it stains his soul, and renders him liable to punishment. Venial sin, which displeases God, requires a temporal expiation. Mortal sin deforms the soul, and makes the guilty man an abomination to God: its punishment can- not be anything less than eternal banishment, unless the sinner, in this life, prevent the final and irrevocable sen- tence. But even then the remission of the guilt, though it revokes the sentence of damnation, does not cancel the whole debt. Although an extraordinary overflow of grace upon the prodigal may sometimes, as is always the case with regard to Baptism and martyrdom, bury every remnant and vestige of sin in the abyss of divine oblivion; yet is it the ordinary rule that for every fault satisfaction must be made to God's justice, either in this world or in the next, On the other hand, every supernatural act of virtue

! I Thess. iv. 13. 2 Conc. Trid. Sess. xxv.

--- PAGE 105 --- 94 TIME AFTER PENTECOST

brings a double profit to the just man: it merits for his soul a fresh degree of grace; and it makes satisfaction for past faults, in exact proportion to the value, in God's sight, of that labour, privation, or trial accepted, or that voluntary suffering endured, by one of the members of His beloved Son. Now, whereas merit is a personal acquisition and cannot be transferred to others, satisfac- tion may be vicarious; God is willing to accept it in pay- ment of another's debt, whether the recipient of the boon be in this world or in the next, provided only that he be united by grace to the mystical Body of our Lord, which is one in charity. This is a consequence of the mystery of the communion of saints, as Suarez explains in his treatise on suffrages. Appealing to the authority of the greatest and most ancient princes of science, and discuss- ing the objections and restrictions since proposed by others, the illustrious theologian does not hesitate to for- mulate this conclusion, with regard to the suffering souls in particular: 'I believe that this satisfaction of the living for the dead is a matter of simple justice,' and that it is infallibly accepted with its full value, and according to the intention of him who applies it. Thus, for in- stance, if the satisfaction I make would, if kept for my- self, avail me in strict justice for the remission of four degrees of purgatory, it will remit exactly the same amount to the soul for whom I choose to offer it.'?

We well know how the Church seconds the goodwill of her children. By the practice of Indulgences, she places at their charitable disposal the inexhaustible treasure accumulated, from age to age, by the super- abundant satisfactions of the saints, added to those of the martyrs, and united to those of our blessed Lady and the infinite residue of our Lord's sufferings. These remis- sions of punishment she grants to the living by her own direct power; but she nearly always approves of and per- mits their application to the dead by way of suffrage— that is to say, in the manner in which, as we have seen, each of the faithful may offer to God who accepts it, for

1 * Esse simpliciter de justitia. ? Suarez, De Suffragiis, Sectio vi.

--- PAGE 106 --- ALL SOULS’ DAY 95

another, the suffrage or succour! of his own satisfac- tions. Such is the doctrine of Suarez, who adds that an Indulgence ceded to the dead loses nothing either of the security or of the value it would have had for ourselves who are still militant.?

Now, Indulgences under every form are continually coming in our way. Let us make use of our treasures, and exercise mercy towards the poor suffering souls. Is any condition more pitiable than theirs ? So great is their anguish, that no distress on earth can approach to it; and withal so nobly endured, that not a murmur breaks the silence of that ' river of fire, which in its im- perceptible current bears them on little by little to the ocean of paradise.” All heaven cannot help them, for there is no merit to be gained there. God Himself, though most merciful, owes it to His justice not to deliver them until they have paid the whole debt that they carried with them beyond the world of trial. The debt was contracted perhaps through our fault, and in our company; and it is to us they turn for help, to us who are still dreaming of nothing but pleasure, while they are burning, and we could so easily shorten their torments! ' Have pity on me, have pity on me, at least you my friends, because the hand of the Lord hath touched me.'*

Whether it be that purgatory is now more than ever overflowing with the multitudes daily sent thither through the worldliness of the age, or that the last and universal judgment is approaching—the Holy Ghost is no longer satisfied with keeping up the zeal of ancient confraterni- ties devoted to the service of the departed. He raises up new associations, and even religious families, whose one aim is to promote, by every possible means, the deliver- ance or the solace of the suffering souls. In this kind of redemption of captives there are likewise to be found

1 ‘Est enim suffragium, ut sumitur ex D. Thoma et alijs in 4 d. 45, auxilium quoddam, quod ry fidelis prabet alteri ad obtinend issi ve huj

a \ odi,’ Suarez, De Suffragiis, in Proaemio, 2 De Indulgentiis, Disput. liii. Sect, i. : n ' Christian Life and Virtues : Of Charity towards the Church, ii. ob xix. 21. --- PAGE 107 --- 96 TIME AFTER PENTECOST

Christians, who at their own risk offer to take upon them- selves the chains of their brethren, by utterly forgoing, for this purpose, not only all their own satisfactions, but even the suffrages which may be offered for them after death: an heroic act of charity, which must not be lightly AQ HE but which the Church approves;' for it catly glorifies our Lord, and in return for the risk in- m of a temporary delay of beatitude, merits for its author a greater nearness to God, both by grace here below and in glory in heaven. If the suffrages of the simple faithful are of such value, of how much more are those of the whole Church, in the solemnity of public prayer, and the oblation of the awful Sacrifice, wherein God Himself makes satisfaction to God for every sin! From the very beginning the Church has always prayed for the dead, as did even the Synagogue before her.?

As she honoured with thanksgiving the anniversaries of her martyred sons, so she celebrated with supplications the memory of her other children, who might not yet be in heaven. In the sacred mysteries she daily uttered the names of both, for this twofold purpose of praise and prayer. As in each particular church it was impossible to name all the blessed of the entire world, a common mention was made of them all; and in like manner, after the recommendations peculiar to each place and day, a general commemoration was made of all the dead. Thus, as St. Augustine remarks, those who had no relatives and friends on earth were henceforth not deprived of suf- frages; for, to make up for their abandonment, they had the tender compassion of the common mother.?

The Church having always followed the same method with regard to the commemoration of the blessed and that of the departed, it might be expected that the estab- lishment of All Saints’ feast, in the ninth century, would soon lead to the solemn commemoration of All Souls. In 998, according to the Chronicle of Sigebert of Gem-

gated in the eighteenth century by. the on. rs Clerks pne, and inim m spiritual favours by the S ign Pontiffs XIII, Pius VI,

and Pius I ig Made xii. 46. 3 Auc. De cura pro mortuis, iv.

--- PAGE 108 --- ALL SOULS’ DAY 97

bloux,! St. Odilo, abbot of Cluny, instituted it in all the monasteries under his crosier, to be celebrated in per- petuity on the morrow of All Saints. In certain visions, recorded in his life, Odilo and his monks had been de- nounced by the demons as the most indefatigable helpers of the holy souls, and most formidable to the powers of hell; and this institution was the saint’s retaliation. The world applauded the decree; Rome adopted it; and it became the law of the whole Latin Church.

The Greeks make a general commemoration of the dead on the eve of our Sexagesima Sunday, which with them is called Afocreos, or Carnival, and on which they cele- brate the second coming of our Lord. They give the name of ‘ Saturday of All Souls’ to this day, as well as to the eve of Pentecost, when they again pray solemnly for the departed.

MATINS OF THE DEAD

As early as the ninth century, Amalarius remarked the similarity between the Dirge and the Office which com- memorates the death of our Lord.? There is the same lack of hymns, doxologies, absolutions, and blessings; the same suppression of the customary introduction: Domine,
labia mea aperies, Deus in adjutorium meum intende.
There is this difference, however: that the Office of Holy Week has no Invitatory, while that of the Dead has either always kept it or long ago taken it up again.

This Invitatory, like the first psalm of Vespers, is & song of love and hope: ' Come, let us adore the King, to whom all things live.” Beyond the tomb, as well as on this side of it, all men are living in the sight of Him who is one day to raise them up again. In the language of the Church, the graveyard is the ' cemetery '—that is, the dormitory where her children sleep; and they themselves are defuncti, labourers who have finished their task and are awaiting their recompense.

! Ad hunc annum. 2 Perr. Dam.; JOTSALD, ii. 13.

3 AMALAR, De ecclesiast, Officiis, iii. 44.

--- PAGE 109 --- 98 TIME AFTER PENTECOST

Rome has been better inspired than some other churches, where the antiphon chosen as refrain to the joyous Venite exsultemus was: Circumdederunt me gemitus morlis; dolores inferni circumdederunt me. Were we to make an historical study of the Office of the Dead— which, however, is beyond the limits of the present work —we should find innumerable instances of such varia- tions, always to the advantage of the mother-church.

INVITATORY

Regem cui omnia vivunt:* Venite, adoremus.

Come, let us adore the King, to whom all things live.

PSALM 94

Venite, exsultemus Domino, jubilemus Deo salutari nostro: praoccupemus faciem ejus in confessione, et in psalmis jubi- lemus ei.

Regem cui omnia vivunt:* Venite, adoremus.

Quoniam Deus magnus Do-
minus, et Rex magnus super omnes deos: quoniam non re- pellet Dominus plebem suam,
quia in manu ejus sunt omnes fines terre, et altitudines mon- tium ipse conspicit.

Venite, adoremus.

Quoniam ipsius est mare, et ipse fecit illud, et aridam funda- veruntmanus ejus: venite, ado- remus, et procidamus ante De- um: ploremus coram Domino, qui fecit nos, quia ipse est Do- minus Deus noster: nos autem
populus ejus, et oves pascuz ejus.

Regem cui omnia vivunt: * Venite, adoremus.

Hodie si vocem ejus audieri- tis, nolite obdurare corda ve- stra, sicut in exacerbatione

Come, let us praise the Lord with joy, let us joyfully sing to God our Saviour: let us come before his presence with thanks- giving, and make a joyful noise to him with psalms.

Come, let us adore the King, to whom all things live.

For the Lord is a great God, and a great King aboveall gods: because the Lord repels not his people, for in his hand are all the ends of the earth: and he beholds the heights of the mountains.

Come, let us adore.

Forthesea is his, and he made it, and his hands formed the dry land: come, let us adore, and fall down before God: let us weep before the Lord that made us: for he is the Lord our God: and we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.

Come, let us adore the King, to whom all things live.

To-day, if you shall hear his voice, harden not your hearts; as in the provocation, accord-

1 “The groans of death surrounded me, the sorrows of hell encompassed me."

--- PAGE 110 --- ALL SOULS’ DAY

secundum diem tentationis in deserto: ubi tentaverunt me patres vestri, probaverunt, et viderunt opera mea.

Venite, adoremus.

Quadraginta annis proximus fui generationi huic, et dixi: Semper hi errant corde: ipsi vero non cognoverunt vias me- as, quibus juravi in ira mea, si introibunt in requiem meam.

Regem cui omnia vivunt; * Venite, adoremus.

Requiem zternam dona eis, Domine: et lux perpetua luceat
eis.

Venite, adoremus.

Regem cui omnia vivunt: * Venite, adoremus.

99

ing to the day of tempta- tion in the wilderness: where your fathers tempted me, they proved, and saw my works.

Come, let us adore.

Forty years was I nigh to this generation, and said, they always err in heart; and these men have not known my ways, to whom I swore in my wrath, that they should not enter into my rest.

Come, let us adore the King, to whom all things live.

Eternal rest give unto them, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon them.

Come, let us adore.

Come, let us adore the King, to whom all things live.

This opening of the Office shows us what prominence

the Church gives to thanksgiving and praise in her prayers for the dead.

FIRST NOCTURN

The first psalm expresses the overflowing gratitude and praise of the soul escaped from the snares of sinners, at that first dawn of her eternally secured salvation, when she took her place among the holy ones in purgatory. With what confidence she entrusts to our Lord the care of directing her along the painful and purifying way, which is to lead her to the very entrance of God's house !

ANT. Dirige Domine Deus ANT. Direct, O Lord my God

meus, in conspectu tuo viam my way in thy sight. meam.

PSALM 5

Verba mea auribus percipe, Give ear, O Lord, to my Domine: intellige clamorem words: understand my cry.
meum.

Intende voci orationis mez:

Hearken to the voice of my Rex meus et Deus meus.

prayer: O my King and my

--- PAGE 111 --- 100

Quoniam ad te orabo: Domi- ne, mane exaudies vocem meam.

Mane astabo tibi et videbo: quoniam non Deus volens ini-
quitatem tu es.

Neque habitabit juxta te malignus: neque permanebunt injusti ante oculos tuos.

Odisti omnes qui operantur iniquitatem: perdes omnes qui loquuntur mendacium.

Virum sanguinum et dolosum abominabitur Dominus: ego
autem in multitudine miseri- cordiz tuz.

Introibo in domum tuam: adorabo ad templum sanctum tuum in timore tuo.

Domine, deduc me in justitia
tua: propter inimicos meos diri- ge in conspectu tuo viam meam.

Quoniam non est in ore eo- rum veritas: cor eorum vanum est.

Sepulchrum patens est guttur eorum, linguis suis dolose age- bant: judica illos Deus.

Decidant a cogitationibus suis: secundum multitudinem impletatum eorum expelle eos: quoniam irritaverunt te Do- mine.

Et letentur omnes qui spe- rant in te: in eternum exsulta- bunt, et habitabis in eis.

Et gloriabuntur in te omnes, qui diligunt nomen tuum: quo- niam tu benedices justo.

Domine, ut scuto bona volun-
tatis tua: coronasti nos.

Requiem zternam: dona eis, Domine.
Et lux perpetua: luceat eis.

TIME AFTER PENTECOST

For to thee will I pray: O Lord, in the morning thou shalt hear my voice.

In the morning I will stand by thee, and will see: because thou art not a God that willest ini- quity.

Neither shall the wicked dwell near thee: nor shall the unjust abide before thy eyes.

Thou hatest all the workers of iniquity: thou wilt destroy all that speak a lie.

The bloody and the deceitful man the Lord will abhor: but as for me, in the multitude of thy mercy,

I will come into thy house: I will worship towards thy holy temple, in thy fear.

Conduct me, O Lord, in thy justice: because of my enemies, direct my way in thy sight.

For there is no truth in their mouth; their heart is vain.

Their throat is an open sepul- chre, they dealt deceitfully with their tongues: judge them, O God

Let them fall from their de- vices: according to the multi- tude of their wickedness cast them out: for they have pro- voked thee, O Lord.

But let all them be glad that hope in thee: they shall rejoice for ever, and thou shalt dwell in them.

And all they that love thy name shall glory in thee, for thou wilt bless the just.

O Lord, thou hast crowned us as with a shield of thy good- will.

Eternal rest give unto the O Lord. li

And let perpetual light shine upon them.

--- PAGE 112 --- ALL SOULS’ DAY

ANT. Dirige, Domine Deus ANT. Direct, O Lord my God,
meus, in conspectu tuo viam my way in thy sight. meam.

The soul has been heard: the time of mercy being at an end, justice has laid hold of her. Under the terrible grasp of this her new guide, and placed in the irresistible light of God's infinite purity, which lays open her most secret recesses, the flaws in her virtues and every remain- ing trace of ancient stains, the poor soul feels all her strength fail her. Trembling, she beseeches God not to confound her in His wrath with those cursed for ever, whose proximity increases her torment. But her suppli- cation and her fear are still full of love: Lord, save me; for there is none in death that will be mindful of praising thee.

IOI

This psalm is the first of the seven penitentials.

ANT. Convertere, Domine, et
eripe animam meam: quoniam non est in morte qui memor sit tui.

ANT. Turn, O Lord, and de- liver my soul; for there is no one in death that is mindful of thee.

PSALM 6

Domine, ne in furore tuo ar-
guas me: neque in ira tua corri- pias me.

Miserere mei, Domine, quo-
niam infirmus sum: sana me, Domine, quoniam conturbata
sunt ossa mea.

Et anima mea turbata est valde: sed tu, Domine, usque-
quo ?

Convertere, Domine, et eripe
animam meam: salvum me fac propter misericordiam tuam.

Quoniam non est in morte qui memor sit tui: in inferno autem quis confitebitur tibi?

Laboravi in gemitu meo, la- vabo per singulas noctes lectum meum: lacrymis meis stratum meum rigabo.

Turbatus est a furore oculus meus: inveteravi inter omnes inimicos meos.

O Lord, rebuke me not in thy indignation, nor chastise me in thy wrath.

Have mercy on me, O Lord, for I am weak: heal me, O Lord, for my bones are troubled.

And my soul is troubled ex- ceedingly: but thou, O Lord, how long ?

Turn to me, O Lord, and de- liver my soul: O save me for thy mercy's sake.

For there is no one in death that is mindful of thee, and who Shall confess to thee in hell ?

I have laboured in my groan- ings, every night I will wash my bed: I will water my couch with my tears.

My eye is troubled through indignation: I have grown old amongst all my enemies.

--- PAGE 113 --- 102

Discedite a me omnes qui operamini iniquitatem: quo- niam exaudivit Dominus vo-
cem fletus mei.

Exaudivit Dominus depreca-
tionem meam: Dominus oratio-
nem meam suscepit.

Erubescant, et conturbentur vehementer omnes inimici mei: convertantur et erubescant val- de velociter.

Requiem eternam: dona eis, Domine.

Et lux perpetua: luceat eis.

ANT. Convertere, Domine, et
eripe animam meam: quoniam non est in morte, qui memor sit tui.

TIME AFTER PENTECOST

Depart from me, all ye work- ers of iniquity: for the Lord hath heard the voice of my weeping.

The Lord hath heard my sup- plication: the Lord hath re- ceived my prayer.

Letall my enemies beashamed, and be very much troubled: let them be turned back, and be ashamed very speedily.

Eternal rest give unto them, O Lord.

And let perpetual light shine upon them.

ANT. Turn, O Lord, and de- liver my soul: for there is no one in death that is mindful of thee.

In the following psalm, David accused by his enemies

cries to the Lord against their calumnies. The fear which causes the soul in purgatory to prostrate with a holy trembling before God's justice has no more shaken her hope than her love; nay, she trusts to the very sen- tence of her Judge, and to the help sought from Him, that she may be able to cope with the infernal lion, who pursues her with his roaring in the midst of her poverty and desolation. ANT. Nequando rapiat ut leo — ANT. Lest at any time the animam meam, dum non est enemy seize upon my soul like

qui redimat, neque quí salvum a lion, while there is no one to faciat. redeem me, nor to save.

PSALM 7

Domine Deus meus, in te spe-
ravi: salvum me fac ex omni- bus persequentibus me, et li- bera me.

Nequando rapiat ut leo ani- mam meam: dum non est qui redimat, neque qui salvum T ciat.

Domine Deus meus, si feci
istud: si est iniquitas in mani- bus meis.

O Lord my God, in thee have I put my trust: save me from all them that persecute me, and deliver me.

Lest at any time he seize up- on my soul like a lion: while there is no one to redeem me, nor to save.

O Lord my God, if I have done this thing: if there be ini- quity in my hands.

--- PAGE 114 --- ALL SOULS’ DAY

Si reddidi retribuentibus mihi mala: decidam merito ab inimicis meis inanis.

Persequatur inimicus ani- mam meam, et comprehendat, et conculcet in terra vitam me- am: et gloriam meam in pulve- rem deducat.

Exsurge, Domine, in ira tua:
et exaltare in finibus inimico- rum meorum.

Et exsurge, Domine Deus me-
us, in precepto quod mandasti: et synagoga populorum circum- dabit te.

Et propter hanc in altum regredere: Dominus judicat
populos.

Judica me, Domine, secun-
dum justitiam meam: et secun- dum innocentiam meam super me.

Consumetur nequitia pecca- torum, et diriges justum: scru- tans corda et renes Deus.

Justum adjutorium meum a Domino: quí salvos facit rectos corde.

Deus judex justus, fortis et
patiens: numquid irascitur per singulos dies ?

Nisi conversi fueritis, gladi- um suum vibrabit: arcum su- um tetendit et paravit illum.

Et in eo paravit vasa mortis; sagittas suas ardentibus effecit.

Ecce parturit injustitiam: concepit dolorem, et peperit in- Iquitatem.

Lacum aperuit et effodit eum: et incidit in foveam quam fecit.

103

If I have rendered to them that repaid me evils: let me de- servedly fall empty before my enemies.

Let the enemy pursue my soul, and take it, and tread down my life on the earth: and bring down my glory to dust.

Rise up,OLord, in thy anger: and be thou exalted in the borders of my enemies.

And arise, O Lord my God, in the precept which thou hast commanded : and acongregation of people shall surround thee.

And for their sakes return thou on high: the Lord judgeth the people.

Judge me, O Lord, accord- ing to my justice: and accord- ing to my innocence in me.

The wickedness of sinners shall be brought to nought; and thou shalt direct the just: the searcher of hearts and reins is God.

Just is my help from the Lord: who saveth the upright of heart.

God is a just judge, strong and patient: is he angry every day ?

Except you will be converted, he will brandish his sword: he hath bent his bow, and made it ready.

And in it he hath prepared the instruments of death: he hath made ready his arrows for them that burn.

Behold he hath been in la- bour with injustice: he hath conceived sorrow, and brought forth iniquity.

He hath opened a pit and dug it: and he is fallen into the hole he made.

--- PAGE 115 --- 104

Convertetur dolor ejus in ca- put ejus: et in verticem ipsius iniquitas ejus descendet.

Confitebor Domino secun- dum justitiam ejus: et psallam nomini Domini altissimi.

Requiem aternam dona eis, Domine.
Et lux perpetua luceat eis.

ANT. Nequando rapiat ut leo animam meam, dum non est qui redimat, neque qui salvum faciat.

Y. A porta inferi.

Ry. Erue, Domine,
eorum.

animas

TIME AFTER PENTECOST

His sorrow shall be turned on his own head: and his iniquity shall come down upon his crown.

I will give glory to the Lord according to his justice: and will sing to the name of the Lord most high.

Eternal rest give unto them, O Lord.

And let perpetual light shine upon them.

ANT. Lest at any time the enemy seize upon my soul like a lion, while there is no one to redeem me, nor to save.

Y. From the gate of hell.

Ry. Deliver their souls, O Lord.

After this cry has escaped from the maternal heart of the Church, the whole assembly prays in silence, offering to God the Lord's Prayer for the departed, who are strug- gling with the powers of hell.

And now, from the midst of this recollected silence, rises the single voice of the lector. He receives no bene- diction, for he is speaking in the name of the holy souls, who have no longer the same right as we have to ask a blessing from the Church. He borrows the accents of the afflicted Job, in order to relate their overwhelming sufferings, their invincible faith, their sublime prayer. As in the ancient tragedy, the choir intervenes after each lesson with a responsory, whose melody is marvellously in keeping with these echoes from beyond the tomb. At one time it is man taking up the words of the dead and making them his own, or supporting their prayer with his own supplications; at another, terrified at God's rigour towards souls that are so dear to Him, and that are sure of loving Him eternally, he trembles for himself a sinner, whose judgment is still uncertain.

According to St. Antoninus and Demochares, quoted by Gavanti,! some of these admirable responsories were

I De Officio Defunct.

--- PAGE 116 --- ALL SOULS’ DAY

105

composed by Maurice de Sully, the bishop of Paris who began to build the cathedral of Notre Dame; the greater number, however, were already to be found in earlier

Gregorian manuscripts.

LESSON I

(Job

Parce mihi, Domine, nihil e-
nim sunt dies mei. Quid est homo, quia magnificas eum ? Aut quid apponis erga eum cor tuum ? Visitas eum diluculo, et subito probas illum. Usque- quo non is mihi, nec di- mittis me ut glutiam salivam meam? Peccavi, quid faciam tibi, o custos hominum ? quare pou me contrarium tibi, et actus sum mihimetipsi gravis ? Cur non tollis peccatum meum, ct quare non aufers iniquita- tem meam ? ecce nunc in pul- vere dormiam: et si mane me quasieris, non subsistam.

Hj. Credo quod Redemptor meus vivit, et in novissimo die de terra surrecturus sum: * Et in carne mea videbo Deum, Salvatorem meum.

Y. Quem visurus sum ego ipse, et non alius: et oculi mei conspecturi sunt. * Et.

vii.)

Spare me, O Lord, for my daysarenothing. What is man, that thou shouldst magnify him ? or why dost thou set thy heart upon him? Thou visit- est him early in the morning, and thou provest him suddenly. How long wilt thou J aye me, nor suffer me to low down my spittle? I have sinned: what shall I do to thee, O keeper of men? Why hast thou set me ópposite to thee, and I am become burdensome to myselí: Why dost thou not remove my sin, and why dost thou not take away m iniquity? Behold, now I shall sleep in the dust, and if thou Seek me in the morning, I shall not be.

Ny. I believe that my Re- deemer liveth, and that in the last day I shall rise from the earth. * And in my flesh I Shall see God my Saviour.

Y. Whom I myself shall see, and not another, and my eyes Shall behold. * And in my.

LESSON 2

(Job

Homo natus de muliere, brevi vivens tempore; repletur mul- tis miseriis. Qui quasi flos egreditur et conteritur, et fugit velut umbra, et numquam in

xiv.)

Man born of a woman, living for a short time, is filled with many miseries. Who like a flower, cometh forth and is de- stroyed, and fleeth as a shadow

--- PAGE 117 --- 106

eodem statu permanet. Et dignum ducis super hujusce- modi aperire oculos tuos, ct adducere eum tecum in ju- dicium ? Quis potest facere mundum de immundo conce- ptum semine? Nonne tu qui solus es? Breves dies homi- nis sunt, numerus mensium ejus apud te est: constituisti terminos ejus, qui prateriri non poterunt. Recede paululum ab eo, ut quiescat, donec optata veniat, sicut mercenarii, dies ejus.

Hy. Qui Lazarum resuscitasti a monumento fctidum: * Tu eis, Domine, dona requiem, et
locum indulgentia.

Y. Qui venturus es judicare vivos et mortuos, et seculum per ignem. * Tu.

TIME AFTER PENTECOST

and never continueth in the same state. And dost thou think it meet to open thy eyes upon such a one, and to bring him into judgment with thee ? Who can make him clean that is con- ceived of unclean seed ? Is it not thou who only art? The days of man are short, and the number of his months is with thee: thou hast appointed his bounds which canrot be passed. Depart a little from him, that he,may rest, until his wished- fod day come, as that of the hireling.

. Thou who didst raise Lazarus fetid from the grave. * Thou, O Lord, give them rest, and a place of pardon.

Y. Who art to come to judge theliving and the dead, and the world by fire. * Thou.

LESSON 3

(Job

Pelli mez, consumptis carni- bus, adhasit os meum, et dere- licta sunt tantummodo labia circa dentes meos. Misere- mini mei, miseremini mei, sal- tem vos amici mei, quia manus Domini tetigit me. Quare persequimini me sicut Deus,
et carnibus meis saturamini? Quis mihi tribuat ut scribantur sermones mei ? quis mihi det ut exarentur in libro stylo ferreo, et plumbi lamina, vel celte sculpantur in silice ? Scio e- nim quod Redemptor meus vi- vit, et in novissimo die de terra Surrecturus sum: et rursum circumdabor pelle mea, et in carne mea videbo Deum meum. Quem visurus sum ego ipse, et oculi mei conspecturi sunt, et

xix.)

The flesh being consumed, my bone hath cleaved to my Skin, and nothing but líps are left about my teeth. Have pity on me, have pity on me, at east you my friends, because the hand of the Lord hath touched me. Why do you per- secute me as God, and glut yourselves with my flesh ? Who will grant me that my words may be written? Who will grant me that they may be marked down in a book, with an iron pen, and in a plate of lead, or else be graven with an instrument in flint stone ? For I know that my Redeemer liveth, and in the last day I shall rise out of the earth; and I shall be clothed again with

--- PAGE 118 --- ALL SOULS’ DAY

non alius: reposita est hac spes mea in sinu meo.

Hy. Domine, quando veneris
judicare terram, ubi me abscon- dam a vultu ire tue? * Quia peccavi nimis in vita mea.

Y. Commissa mea pavesco, et ante te erubesco: dum veneris judicare, noli me condemnare.

* Quia.

$ Requiem eternam dona eis, Domine: et lux perpetua
luceat eis. * Quia.

107 my skin, and in my flesh I shall see my God. Whom or (sem Shall see, and my eyes - hold, and not another: this my hbpe is laid up in my bosom. Hj. O Lord, when thou shalt come to judge the earth, where shall I hide myself from the face of thy wrath? * For I have sinned exceedingly in my life. Y. I dread my misdeeds and blush before thee: do not con- demn me, when thou shalt come to judge. * For I have. Y. Eternal rest give unto them, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon them. * For I.

SECOND NOCTURN

Our astonishment at finding the following antiphon in the Office of the Dead might elicit from the dear souls the reply: ‘I have meat to eat which you know not.’ And being just and holy, they might add with our Lord: * My meat is to do the will of My Father. Seen from such a height in the light of our antiphon, what a place of pasture is purgatory! O Lord, who guidest me, who by Thy grace deignest to be with me in the midst of this shadow of death; Thy rod, by striking me, comforts me; my resignation to Thy justice is the oil which flows from my head, and anointing all my members, strengthens them for battle; my heart, thirsting for submission, has found its inebriating cup.

St. John Chrysostom informs us that in his time this psalm was chanted at Christian funerals, together with the Dilexi, our first psalm of Vespers.

ANT. In loco pascuz ibi me

ANT. In a place of pasture, he collocavit.

hath set me there.

PSALM 22

Dominus regit me, et nihil The Lord ruleth me, and I mihi deerit: in loco pascua ibi shall want nothing: he hath set me collocavit. me in a place of pasture.

--- PAGE 119 --- 108

Super aquam refectionis edu- cavit me: animam meam con- vertit.

Deduxit me super semítas justitie: propter nomen suum.

Nam, et si ambulavero in me- dio umbra mortis, non timebo mala: quoniam tu mecum es.

Virga tua, et baculus tuus: ipsa me consolata sunt.

Parasti in conspectu meo mensam: adversus eos qui tri- bulant me.

Impinguasti in oleo caput meum: et calix meus inebrians quam praeclarus est!

Et misericordia tua subse-

quetur me: omnibus diebus vite mez. Et ut inhabitem in domo Do-

mini: in longitudinem dierum.

Requiem aternam dona eis, Domine.
Et lux perpetua luceat vis.

ANT. In loco pascuz ibi me collocavit.

TIME AFTER PENTECOST

He hath brought me up on the water of refreshment: he hath converted my soul.

He hath led me in the paths of justice : for his own name's

e.

For though I should walk in the midst of the shadow of death, I will fear no evils: for thou art with me.

Thy rod and thy staff: they have comforted me.

Thou hast prepared a table before me: against them that afflict me.

Thou hast anointed my head with oil: and my chalice which inebriateth me, how goodly is it!

And thy mercy will follow me: all the days of my life.

And that I may dwell in the house of the Lord: unto length of days.

Eternal rest give unto them, O Lord.

And let perpetual light shine upon them.

ANT. In a place of pasture, he hath set me there.

The sins of my youth and my ignorances, remember not,

O Lord. Would to God that we now examined our con- science as seriously as we shall be forced to do in the place of expiation, in order to repair our present negli- gence in that respect! Ignorance, which is now con- sidered so excusable, will be a sad thing for those whose neglect to seek instruction has darkened their faith, lulled their hope to sleep, cooled their love, and falsified on a thousand points their Christian life. Then, too, must be d to the last farthing, the debts of penance accu- mulated by so many sins, which have been forgiven, it is true, as to the guilt, perhaps long ago, and as long ago iii 4 forgotten. O God, see my abjection and my our --- PAGE 120 --- ALL SOULS’ DAY

ANT. Delicta juventutis mez, et ignorantias meas ne memine- ris, Domine.

109

ANT. The sins of my youth and my ignorances remember not, O Lord.

PSALM 24

Ad te, Domine, levavi ani-
mam meam: Deus meus, in te
confido, non erubescam.

Neque irrideant me inimici mei: etenim universi qui susti- nent te non confundentur.

Confundantur omnes iniqua agentes: supervacue.

Vias tuas, Domine, demonstra
mihi: et semitas tuas edoce me. Dirige me in veritate tua, et doce me: quia tu es Deus salva-
tor meus, et te sustinui tota die.

Reminiscere — miserationum tuarum, Domine: et misericor-
diarum tuarum, qua a saeculo sunt.

Delicta juventutis mez: et ignorantias meas ne memineris.

Secundum misericordiam tu- am memento mei tu: propter bonitatem tuam, Domine.

Dulcis et rectus Dominus:
propter hoc legem dabit delin- quentibus in via.

Diriget mansuetos in judicio: docebit mites vias suas.

Universe vie Domini miseri- cordia et veritas: requirentibus testamentum ejus, et testimo- nia ejus.

Propter nomen tuum, Do- mine, propitiaberis peccato meo; multum est enim.

Quis est homo qui timet Do- minum ? legem statuit ei in via, quam elegit.

To thee, O Lord, have I lifted up my soul: in thee, O my God, I put my trust, let me not be ashamed.

Neither let my enemies laugh at me: for none of them that hope in thee shall be con- founded.

Let them all be confounded: that act unjust things without cause,

Shew, O Lord, ro 4 ways to me: and teach me thy paths.

Direct me in thy truth, and teach me: for thou art God my saviour, and on thee have I waited all the day long.

Remember, O Lord, thy bowels of compassion: and thy mercies that are from the be- ginning of the world.

The sins of my youth: and my ignorances, do not remember.

According to thy mercy re- member thou me: for thy good- ness’ sake, O Lord.

The Lord is sweet and right- eous: therefore he will give a law to sinners in the way.

He will guide the mild in judgment: he will teach the meek his ways.

All the ways of the Lord are mercy: and truth: to them that seck after his covenant and his testimonies.

For thy name's sake, O Lord, thou wilt pardon my sin: for it is great,

Who is the man that feareth the Lord ? He hath appointed him a law in the way he hath chosen.

--- PAGE 121 --- IIO

Anima ejus in bonis demora- bitur: et semen ejus hzredita- bit terram.

Firmamentum est Dominus
timentibus eum: et testamen- nm ipsius, ut manifestetur illis. Oculi mei semper ad Domi- num: quoniam ipse evellet de laqueo es meos.

Respice in me et miserere mei: quia unicus et pauper sum

0.

Tribulationes cordis mei mul- tiplicate sunt: de necessitati- bus meis erue me.

Vide humilitatem meam, et laborem meum: et dimitte uni- versa delicta mea.

Respiceinimicos meos, quoni- am multiplicati sunt: et odio iniquo oderunt me.

ustodi animam meam, et erue me: non erubescam, quo- niam speravi in te.

Innocentes et recti adhzse- runt mihi: quia sustinui te.

Libera Deus Israel: ex omni-
bus tribulationibus suis.

Requiem eternam dona eis, Domine.

Et lux perpetua luceat eis.

ANT. Delicta juventutis mez, et ignorantias meas ne memine- ris, Domine.

TIME AFTER PENTECOST

His soul shall dwell in good things: and his seed shall in- herit the land.

The Lord is a firmament to them that fear him: and his covenant shall be made mani- fest to them.

My eyes are ever towards the Lord: for he shall pluck my feet out of the snare.

Look thou upon me, and have mercy on me: for I am alone and poor.

The troubles of my heart are multiplied: deliver me from my necessities.

See my abjection and my labour: and forgive me all my sins.

Consider my enemies, for they are multiplied: and have hated me with unjust hatred.

Keep thou my soul, and deliver me: I shall not be ashamed, for I have hoped in thee.

The innocent and the upright have adhered to me: because I have waited on thee.

Deliver Israel, O God: from

all his tribulations.

Eternal rest give unto them, O Lord.

And let perpetual light shine upon them.

ANT. The sins of my youth and my ignorances remember not, O Lord.

On Good Friday Psalm 26 was sung, to express the unfailing confidence of the Messias throughout His Pas-

sion.

It was repeated at the Matins of the morrow, to

announce His approaching deliverance; and on this latter occasion it was accompanied by the very antiphon we are now about to sing. As the dwellers in limbo on the great Saturday when our Saviour was among them, so the souls in purgatory unite themselves to their divine Head

--- PAGE 122 --- ALL SOULS’ DAY in His expectation of a return to light and life.

III Their

prayer, which the Church also makes her own, is such as

ANT. Credo videre bona Do- mini in terra viventium.

ANT. I believe I shall see the good things of the Lord in the land of the living.

PSALM 26

Dominus illuminatio mea, et
salus mea: quem timebo ?

Dominus protector vite mez:
a quo trepidabo ?

Dum appropiant super me nocentes: ut edant carnes meas.

Qui tribulant me inimici mei: ipsi infirmati sunt et cecide- runt.

Si consistant adversum me castra: non timebit cor meum.

Siexsurgat adversum me pra- lium: in hoc ego sperabo.

Unam petii a Domino, hanc requiram: ut inhabitem in do- mo Domini omnibus diebus vite mez.

Ut videam voluptatem Do- mini: et visitem templum ejus.

Quoniam abscondit me in ta- bernaculo suo: in die malorum protexit mein abscondito taber- naculi sui,

In petra exaltavit me: et nunc exaltavit caput meum su- per inimicos meos,

Circuivi et immolavi in ta- bernaculo ejus hostiam vocife- rationis: cantabo et psalmum dicam Domino.

Exaudi, Domine, vocem
meam qua clamavi ad te: miserere mei, et exaudi me.

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 ?

Whilst the wicked draw near against me: to eat my flesh.

My enemies that trouble me: have themselves been weakened, and have fallen.

If armies in camp should stand together against me: my heart shall not fear.

If a battle should rise up against me: in this will I be confident.

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,

That I may see the delight of the Lord: and may visit his temple.

For he hath hidden me ín his tabernacle: in the day of evils he hath protected me in the secret place of his tabernacle.

He hath exalted me upon a rock: and now he hath lifted up my head above my enemies.

I have gone round, and have offered up in his tabernacle a sacrifice of jubilation: I will sing, and recite a psalm to the Lord.

Hear, O Lord, my voice, with

which I have cried to thee: have mercy on me, and hear me.

--- PAGE 123 --- II2

Tibi dixit cor meum, exquisi- vit te facies mea: faciem tuam, Domine, requiram.

Ne avertas faciem tuam a me: ne declines in ira a servo tuo.

Adjutor meus esto: ne dere- linquas me, neque despicias me, Deus salutaris meus.

Quoniam pater meus et ma- ter mea dereliquerunt me: Do- minus autem assumpsit me.

Legem pone mihi, Domine, in
via tua: etdirige meinsemitam rectam propter inimicos meos.

Ne tradideris me in animas tribulantium me: quoniam in- surrexerunt in me testes iniqui, et mentita est iniquitas sibi.

Credo videre bona Domini: in terra viventium.

Exspecta Dominum, viriliter age: et confortetur cor tuum, et sustine Dominum.

Requiem aeternam dona eis, Domine.

Et lux perpetua luceat eis.

ANT. Credo videre bona Do- mini in terra viventium.

Y. Collocet eos Dominus
cum principibus.

Hy. Cum principibus populi sui.

TIME AFTER PENTECOST

My heart hath said to thee, my face hath sought thee out: thy face, O Lord, will I still seek.

Turn not away thy face from me: decline not in thy wrath from thy servant.

Be thou my helper: forsake me not, do not thou despise me, O God my Saviour.

Formy fatherand my mother have left me: but the Lord hath taken me up.

Set me, O Lord, a law in thy way: and guide me in the right path, because of my enemies.

Deliver me not over to the will of them that trouble me: because unjust witnesses have risen up against me, and ini- quity hath lied to itself.

I believe to see the good things of the Lord: in the land of the living.

ExpecttheLord,do manfully; and let thy heart take courage, and wait thou for the Lord.

Eternal rest give unto them, O Lord.

And let perpetual light shine upon them.

ANT. I believe I shall see the good things of the Lord in the land of the living.

Y. May the Lord place them with the princes.

Hj. With the princes of his people.

The choir having echoed in the versicle the desire of the holy souls, the Pater noster is once more recited in secret.

LESSON 4

Ex libro sancti Augustini Epi- scopi de Cura pro mortuis gerenda.

(Cap. $i et iii.) Curatio funeris, conditio se- pulture, pompa exsequiarum,

From St. Augustine, Bishop: On Care to be had for the Dead.

(Ch.-5i., iii.) The care of funeral, bestowal insepulture, pomp of obsequies,

--- PAGE 124 --- ”

ALL SOULS’ DAY 113

magis sunt vivorum solatia, quam subsidia mortuorum. Nec ideo tamen contemnenda et abjicienda sunt corpora de- functorum, maximeque justo- rum ac fidelium, quibus tam- quam organis et vasis ad omnia bona opera sancte usus est spi- ritus. Si enim paterna vestis et annulus, ac si quid hujus- modi, tanto carius est posteris, quanto erga parentes major affectus; nullo modo ipsa sper- nenda sunt corpora, quz utique multo familiarius atque con- junctius quam qualibet indu- menta gestamus. Hec enim non ad ornamentum vel adju- torium, quod adhibetur ex- trinsecus, sed ad ipsam natu- ram hominis pertinent. Unde et antiquorum justorum funera officiosa pietate curata sunt, et exsequiz celebrate, et sepul- tura provisa: ipsique, cum vive- rent, de sepeliendis vel etiam transferendis suis corporibus filiis mandaverunt.

Ky. Memento mei, Deus, quia
ventus est vita mea: * Nec aspiciat me visus hominis.

Y. Deprofundisclamavi ad te. Domine: Domine, exaudi vocem
meam: * Nec aspiciat.

are more for comfort of the liv- ing, than for help to the dead. Yet it follows not that the bodies of the departed are to be despised and flung aside, and above all of just and faithful men, which bodies as organs and vessels to all good works their spirit hath holily used. For if a father's garment and ring, and whatever such like, is the more dear to those whom they leave behind, the greater their aflection is to wards their parents, in no wise are the bodies them- selves to be spurned, which truly we wear in more familiar and close conjunction than any of our putting on. For these pertain not to orna- ment or aid which is applied from without, but to the very nature of man. Whence also the funerals of the just men of old were with dutiful piety cared for, and their obsequies celebrated and sepulture pro- vided: and themselves while living did touching burial or even translation of their bodies give charge to their sons.

Hj. Remember me, O God, be- cause my life is but wind: * nor may thesight of man behold me.

y. Out of the depths have I cried unto thee, O Lord: Lord, hear my voice. * Nor may.

LESSON 5

Cap. iv.

Recordantis et precantis affectus cum defunctis a fideli- bus carissimis exhibetur, eum prodesse non dubium est iis, qui cum in corpore viverent, talia sibi post hanc vitam pro- desse meruerunt. Verum etsi

Ch. iv.

And when this affection is ex- hibited to the departed by faith- ful men who were most dear to them, there is no doubt that it profits them who while living in the body merited that such things should profit them after

--- PAGE 125 --- 114

aliqua necessitas vel humari corpora, vel in sacris locis hu- mari nulla data facultate per- mittat, non sunt pretermit- tendz supplicationes pro spiri- tibus mortuorum; quas faci- endas pro omnibus in christi- ana et catholica societate de- functis, etiam tacitis eorum nominibus, sub generali com- memoratione suscepit Ecclesia ; ut quibus ad ista desunt pa- rentes, aut filii, aut quicumque cognati vel amici, ab una eis ex- hibeantur pia matre communi. Si autem deessent iste suppli- cationes, quz fiunt recta fide ac pietate pro mortuis, puto quod nihil prodesset spiritibus eorum, quamlibet in locis Sanctis exanima corpora pone- rentur.

Hy. Hei mihi, Domine, quia
pose nimis in vita mea: Quid aciam miser ? ubi fugiam, nisi ad te, Deus meus? * Miserere
on dum veneris in novissimo

ie.

Y. Anima mea turbata est valde; sed tu, Domine, succurre
ei. * Miserere.

TIME AFTER PENTECOST

this life. But even if some necessity should through ab- sence of all facility not allow bodies to be interred, or in 8a- cred places interred, yet should there be no pretermitting of supplications for the spirits of the dead: which suppli- cations, that they dion be made for all in Christian and Catholic fellowship departed, even without mentioning of their names, under a general commemoration, the Church hath charged herself withal; to the intent that they which lack, for these offices, nts or sons or whatever kindred or friends, may have the same afforded unto them by the one pious mother which is common to all. But if there were lack of these supplications, which are made with right faith and piety for the dead, I account that it should not a whit profit their spirits, howsoeverin holy placesthe life- less bodies should be deposited.

Ey. Woe is me, O Lord, be- cause I have sinned exceedingly in my life: O wretch, what shall I do, whither shall I fly, but to thee, my God ? * Have mercy on me when thou comest at the

latter day. Y. My soul is greatl troubled; but thou, O Lord,

succourit. * Have mercy.

LESSON 6

Cap. xviii.

Quz cum ita sint, non existi- memus ad mortuos, pro quibus curam gemimus, pervenire, nisi quod pro eis sive altaris, sive orationum, sive eleem m sacrificiis solemniter supplica- mus: quamvis non pro quibus

Ch. xviii.

Which things being so, let ns not think that to the dead, for whom we have a care, anythi reaches save what by sacrifices eitherof the altar, or of prayers. or of alms, we solemnly suppli- cate: although not to all for --- PAGE 126 --- ALL SOULS’ DAY

fiunt, omnibus prosint; sed iis tantum pro quibus, dum vi- vunt, comparatur ut prosint. Sed quia non discernimus qui sint, oportet ea pro regeneratis omnibus facere ut nullus eorum pretermittatur, ad quos haec beneficia possint et debeant pervenire. Melius enim super- erunt ista eis, quibus nec ob- sunt nec prosunt; quam eis deerunt quibus prosunt. Dili- gentius tamen facit hzc quis- que pro necessariis suis, quo pro illo fiat similiter a suis. Corpori autem humando quid- quid impenditur, non est przsi- dium salutis, sed humanitatis officium, secundum affectum, quo nemo umquam carnem su- am odio habet. Unde oportet ut quam potest pro carne pro- ximi curam gerat, cum ille inde recesserit, qui gerebat. Et si hac faciunt qui carnis resurre- ctionem non credunt, quanto magis debent facere qui cre- dunt; ut corpori mortuo, sed tamen resurrecturo et in zter- nitate mansuro, impensum e- jusmodi officium sit etiam quo- dammodo ejusdem fidei testi- monium !

Hj. Ne recorderis peccata mea, Domine. * Dum veneris
judicare seculum per ignem.

Y. Dirige Domine Deus
meus, in conspectu tuo viam meam. * Dum.

Y. Requiem =ternam etc. * Dum.

115

whom they are done be they profitable, but to them only by whom while they live it is obtained that they should be profitable. But forasmuch as we discern not who these be, it is meet to do them for all re- generate persons, that none of them may be passed by to whom these benefits may and ought to reach. For better it is that these things shall be superflu- ously done to them whom they neither hinder nor help, than lacking to them whom they help. More diligently, how- ever, doth each man these things for his own near and dear friends in order that they may be likewise done unto him by his. But as for the burying of the body, whatever is bestowed on that is no aid of salvation but an office of humanity, accord- ing to that affection by which 'no man ever hateth his own flesh.” Whence it is fitting that he take what care he is able for the flesh of his neighbour, when he is gone that bare it. And if they do these things who believe not the resurrection of the flesh, how much more are they beholden to do the same who do believe; that so, an office of this kind bestowed upona body dead, but yet to rise again and so remain to eternity, may also be in some sort a testimony of the same faith |

Hy. Remember not my sins, O Lord, * when thou shalt come to judge the world by fire.

Y. Direct, O Lord my God, my way in thy sight. * When thou shalt come to judge the world by fire.

Y. Eternal rest etc. * When

--- PAGE 127 --- 116 TIME AFTER PENTECOST

THIRD NOCTURN

As the purifying expiation goes on, the darkness that surrounds the soul is gradually dissipated, and glory be- gins todawn. Psalm 39, which we also sang at the death of our Saviour, contains lively expressions of sorrow as well as the most ardent prayer. It also shows how suf- fering leads to closer union with the divine Liberator, whose Blood extinguished the flames of all the ancient holocausts. It is full of thanksgiving, of admiration for God on account of His goodness, and of the desire of praising Him and seeing Him praised by all. Yes: be pleased, O Lord, to deliver me: but let all that seek thee rejoice and be glad in thee, and let them say always: The

Lord be magnified.

ANT. Complaceat tibi, Do- mine, ut eripias me: Domine,
ad adjuvandum me respice.

ANT. Be pleased, O Lord, to deliver me: look down, O Lord, to help me.

PSALM 39

Exspectans exspectavi Domi- num: et intendit mihi.

Et exaudivit preces meas: et eduxit me de lacu miserie, et de luto facis.

Etstatuitsuper petram pedes meos: et direxit gressus meos.

Et immisit in os meum can- ticum novum: carmen Deo nostro.

Videbunt multi et timebunt: et sperabunt in Domino.

Beatus vir, cujus est nomen Domini spes ejus: et non re- spexit in vanitates et insanias falsas.

Multa fecisti tu, Domine Deus
meus, mirabilia tua: et cogitati- onibus tuis non est qui similis sit tibi.

Annuntiavi, et locutus sum: multiplicati sunt super nume- rum.

I have and he

With expectation waited for the Lord: was attentive to me.

And he heard my prayers: and brought me out of the pit of misery, and the mire of dregs.

And he set my feet upon a rock: and directed my steps.

And he put a new canticle into my mouth: a song to our

Many shallsee, and shall fear: and they shall hope in the Lord.

Blessed is the man, whose trust is in the name of the Lord: and who hath not had regard to vanities and lying follies.

Thou hast multiplied thy wonderful works, O Lord my God: and in thy thoughts there is none like to thee.

I have declared and I have spoken: they are multiplied above number.

--- PAGE 128 --- ALL SOULS’ DAY

Sacrificium et oblationem noluisti: aures autem perfecisti mihi.

Holocaustum et pro peccato non postulasti: tunc dixi, Eccc venio.

Incapite libri scriptum est de me ut facerem voluntatem tu- am: Deus meus volui, et legem
tuam in medio cordis mei.

Annuntiavi justitiam tuam in ecclesia magna: ecce labia mea non prohibebo, Domine,
tu scisti.

justitiam tuam non ab- scondi in corde meo: veritatem tuam et salutare tuum dixi.

Non abscondi misericordiam tuam et veritatem tuam: a con- cilio multo.

Tu autem, Domine, ne longe
facias miserationes tuas a me: misericordia tua et veritas tua semper susceperunt me.

Quoniam circumdederunt me mala quorum non est nu- merus: comprehenderunt me iniquitates mez, et non potui ut viderem.

Multiplicate sunt super ca- pillos capitis mei: et cor meum dereliquit me.

Complaceat tibi, Domine, ut
eruas me: Domine, ad adjuvan-
dum me respice.

Confundantur et reverean- tur simul, qui querunt animam meam: ut auferant eam.

Convertantur retrorsum et revereantur: qui volunt mihi mala.

Ferant confestim confusio- nem Suam: qui dicunt mihi, Euge, euge.

Exsultent et letentur super te omnes quaerentes te: et dicant semper, Magnificetur Dominus;
qui diligunt salutare tuum.

117

Sacrifice and oblation thou didst not desire: but thou hast perfected ears for me.

Burnt offering and sin offer- ing thou didst not require: then said I, Behold I come.

In the head of the book it is written of me, that I should do thy will: O my God, I have de- sired it, and thy law in the midst of my heart.

I have declared thy justice in a great church: lo, I will not restrain my lips; O Lord, thou knowest it.

Ihavenot hid thy justice with- in my heart: I have declared thy truth and thy salvation.

I have not concealed thy mercy and thy truth: from a great council.

Withhold not thou, O Lord, thy tender mercies from me: thy mercy and thy truth havc always upheld me.

For evils without number have surrounded me: my ini- quities have overtaken me, and I was not able to see.

They are multiplied above the hairs of my head: and my heart hath forsaken me.

Be pleased, O Lord, to de- liver me: look down, O Lord, to help me.

Let them be confounded and ashamed together, that seek after my soul: to take it away.

Let them be turned back- ward, and be ashamed: that desire evils to me.

Let them immediately bear their confusion: that say to me, Tis well, "tis well.

Let all that seek thee rejoice and be glad in thee: and let such as love thy salvation say always, The Lord be magnified.

--- PAGE 129 --- 118

Ego autem mendicus sum, et pauper: Dominus sollicitus est
mei.

Adjutor meus, et protector meus tu es: Deus meus ne tar-
daveris.

Requiem zternam dona eis, Domine.

Et lux perpetua luceat eis.

ANT. Complaceat tibi Do- mine, ut eripias me: Domine,
ad adjuvandum me respice.

TIME AFTER PENTECOST

But I am a beggar and poor: the Lord is careful for me.

Thou art my helper and my protector: O my God, be not slack.

Eternal rest give unto them, O Lord.

And let perpetual light shine upon them.

ANT. Be pleased, O Lord, to deliver me: look down, O Lord, to help me.

We have just been saying: I am a beggar and poor, the

Lord is careful for me; and the following psalm declares: Blessed is the man that understandeth concerning the needy and the poor. Among all the noble sentiments that reign in purgatory, there could not be wanting that of gratitude towards those who have a thought for the too often neg- lected dead. How odious is this indifference for the de- parted, especially in those men of their peace who ate their bread in happier days, and in whom they so vainly hoped and confided! But hear how humbly and sweetly they pray for the benefactor, whom they themselves perhaps ignored or even despised in the time of worldly prosperity and who now assists them in their need: May the Lord make him blessed upon the earth, and deliver him not up to the will of his enemies. May the Lord help him when he is on his bed of sorrow !

ANT. Sana, Domine, animam
meam, quia peccavi tibi.

ANT. Heal my soul, O Lord, for I have sinned against thee.

PSALM 40

Beatus qui intelligit super- egenum et pauperem: in die mala liberabit eum Dominus.

Dominus conservet eum et
vivificet eum; et beatum faciat eum in terra: et non tradat eum in animam inimicorum ejus.

Blessed is the man that understandeth concerning the needy and the poor: the Lord will deliver him in the evil day.

The Lord preserve him and give him life, and make him blessed upon the earth; and deliver him not up to the will of his enemies.

--- PAGE 130 --- ALL SOULS’ DAY

Dominus ope ferat illi su-
per lectum doloris ejus:.univer- sum stratum ejus versasti in infirmitate ejus.

Ego dixi: Domine, miserere
mei: sana animam meam quia peccavi tibi.

Inimici mei dixerunt mala mihi: Quando morietur, et peri- bit nomen ejus ?

Et si ingrediebatur ut vide- ret, vana loquebatur: cor ejus congregavit iniquitatem sibi.

Egrediebatur foras: et loque- batur in idipsum.

Adversum me susurrabant omnes inimici mei: adversum me cogitabant mala mihi.

Verbum iniquum constitu- erunt adversum me: numquid qui dormit, non adjiciat ut re- surgat ?

Etenim homo pacis mez, in quo speravi: qui edebat panes meos, magnificavit super me supplantationem.

u autem, Domine, miserere
mei, et resuscita me: et retribu- am eis.

In hoc cognovi, quoniam vo- luisti me: quoniam non gaude- bit inimicus meus super me.

Me autem propter innocenti- am suscepisti: et confirmasti me in conspectu tuo in eter- num.

Benedictus Dominus Deus
Israel a saeculo, et usque in seculum: fiat, fiat.

Requiem zternam dona eis, Domine.

Et lux perpetua luceat eis.

ANT. Sana, Domine, animam
meam, quia peccavi tibi.

119

The Lord help him on his bed of sorrow: thou hast turned all his couch in his sickness.

I said: O Lord be thou merci- ful to me: heal my soul, for I have sinned against thee.

My enemies have spoken cvils against me: when shall he die, and his name perish ?

And if he came in to see me, he spoke vain things: his heart gathered together iniquity to itself.

He went out: and spoke to the same purpose.

All my enemies whispered together against me: they de- vised evils to me.

They determined against me an unjust word: Shall he that Sleepeth rise again no more ?

For even the man of my peace in whom I trusted: who ate my bread, hath greatly supplanted

me.

But thou, O Lord, have mercy on me, and raise me up again: and I will requite them.

By this I know that thou hast had a good will for me: because my enemy shall not rejoice over

me.

But thou hast upheld me by reason of my innocence: and hast established me in thy sight for ever.

Blessed be the Lord the God of Israel from eternity to eter- nity: so be it, so be it.

Eternal rest give unto them, O Lord.

And let perpetual light shine upon them.

ANT. Heal my soul, O Lord, for I have sinned against thee.

--- PAGE 131 --- TIME AFTER PENTECOST

* I believe,” says St. Catharine of Genoa, ‘ that no hap- piness can be compared with that of a soul in purgatory, except that of the saints in paradise. And this happi- ness increases in proportion as the rust of sin is con- sumed away by the fire, enabling the soul to reflect, more and more clearly, the rays of the true sun, which is God. The suffering, however, does not diminish. On the con- trary, it is love kept back from its object which causes the pain; and consequently the suffering is greater ac- cording as God has made the soul capable of a greater perfection of love. But let us listen to the soul herself expressing her anguish; no mortal tongue, were it even that of the great theologian of purgatory, could give a similar utterance to such sublime sentiments. How the Church, in her psalms and her liturgy, surpasses even the most saintly and learned of her children !

ANT. Sitivit anima mea ad ANT. My soul hath thirsted Deum vivum: quando veniam, afterthe living God: when shall

120

et apparebo ante faciem I come and appear before the Domini ? face of the Lord ? PSALM 4I Quemadmodum desiderat As the hart panteth after the

cervus ad fontes aquarum: ita desiderat anima mea ad te Deus.

Sitivit anima mea ad Deum fortem vivum: quando veniam, et apparebo ante faciem Dei ?

Fuerunt mihi lacrymz mez panes die ac nocte: dum dicitur mihi quotidie: Ubi est Deus
tuus ?

Hac recordatus sum, et effudi in me animam meam: quoniam transibo in locum tabernaculi admirabilis, usque ad domum Dei.

In voce exsultationis, et con- fessionis: sonus epulantis.

Íountains of water: so my soul panteth after thee, O God.

My soul hath thirsted after the strong living God: when shall I come, and appear before the face of God ?

My tears have been my bread day and night: whilst it is said to me daily: Where is thy God?

These things I remembered and poured out my soul in me: for I shall go over into the place of the wonderful tabernacle, even to the house of God.

With the voice of joy and praise: the noise of one feast- ing.

! Treatise on Purgatory.

--- PAGE 132 --- ALL SOULS’ DAY

Quare tristis es anima mea ? ct quare conturbas me ?

Spera in Deo, quoniam adhuc confitebor illi: salutare vultus mei, et Deus meus.
Ad meipsum anima mea con- turbata est: propterea memor ero tui de terra Jordanis, et Hermoniim a monte modico.

Abyssus abyssum invocat: in voce cataractarum tuarum.

Omnia excelsa tua, et fluctus tui: super me transierunt.

In die mandavit Dominus
misericordiam suam: et nocte canticum ejus.

Apud me oratio Deo vite mez: dicam Deo, Susceptor meus es,

Quare oblitus es mei? ect quare contristatus incedo, dum affligit me inimicus ?

Dum confringuntur ossa mea: exprobraverunt mihi qui tribu- lant me inimici mei.

Dum dicunt mihi per singu- los dies: Ubi est Deus tuus?
quare tristis es anima mea ? et quare conturbas me?

Spera in Deo, quoniam ad- huc confitebor illi: salutare vultus mei, et Deus meus.

Requiem ®ternam dona eis, Domine.
Et lux perpetua luceat eis.

ANT. Sitivit anima mea ad Deum vivum: quando veniam, ct apparebo ante faciem Domini ?

Y. Ne tradas bestiis animas confitentes tibi.

Hj. Et animas pauperum tuo- rum ne obliviscaris in finem.

I2I

Why art thou sad, O my soul: and why dost thou trouble me ?

Hope in God, for I will still give praise to him: the salva- tion of my countenance, and my ; My soul is troubled within myself: therefore will I remem- ber thee, from the land of Jor- dan and Hermoniim, from the little hill.

Deep calleth on deep: at thc noise of thy flood-gates.

thy heights and thy billows: have passed over me.

In the daytime the Lord hath commanded his mercy: and a canticle to him in the night.

With me is prayer to the God of my life: I will say to God, Thou art my support.

Why hast thou forgotten me? and why go I mourning, whilst my enemy afflicteth me ?

Whilst my bones are broken: my enemies who trouble me have reproached me.

Whilst they say to me day by day: Where is thy God? Why art thou cast down, O my soul and why dost thou dis- quiet me ?

Hope thou in God, for I will still give praise to him: the salvation of my countenance, and my God.

Eternal rest give unto them, O Lord.

And let perpetual light shine upon them.

ANT. My soul hath thirsted after the living God: when shall I come and appear before the face of the Lord ?

Y. Deliver not to beasts the souls that praise thee.

Hy. And the souls of thy poor forget not to the end.

--- PAGE 133 --- 122

TIME AFTER PENTECOST

The poor, for whom the versicle makes such earnest supplication, are, as before, the suffering souls.

After the silent recitation of the Pater noster by the choir, the Doctor of the Gentiles sets before us the con- soling doctrine of the resurrection of the body.

LESSON 7

De Epistola prima beati Pauli Apostoli ad Corinthios.

Cap. xv. 12-22.

Si Christus praedicatur quod resurrexit a mortuis, quomodo quidam dicunt in vobis quo- niam resurrectio mortuorum nonest? Si autem resurrectio mortuorum non est, neque Christus resurrexit. Si autem Christus non resurrexit, inanis est ergo przdicatio nostra, ina- nis est et fides vestra. Inveni- mur autem et falsi testes Dei: quoniam testimonium diximus adversus Deum, quod susci- taverit Christum, quem non suscitavit, si mortui non resur-

gunt. Nam, si mortui non re- surgunt, neque Christus resur- rexit. Quod si Christus non

resurrexit, vana est fides vestra: adhuc enim estis in peccatis vestris. Ergo et qui dormi- erunt in Christo perierunt. Si in hac vita tantum in Christo sperantes sumus, miserabili- ores sumus omnibus hominibus. Nunc autem Christus resur- rexit a mortuis, primitiae dormi- entium: quoniam quidem per hominem mors, et per homi- nem resurrectio mortuorum. Et sicut in Adam omnes mori- untur, ita et in Christo omnes vivificabuntur.

Hy. Peccantem me quotidie, et non me paznitentem, timor

From the first Epistle of Saint Paul the Apostle to the Corinthians.

Ch. xv. 12-22.

If Christ be preached that he arose again from the dead, how do some among you say, that there is no resurrection of the dead? But if there be no resurrection of the dead, then Christ is not risen again. And if Christ be not risen again, then is our preaching vain, and your faith is also vain. Yea, and we are found false witnesses of God: because we have given testimony against God, that he hath raised up Christ; whom he hath not raised up, if the dead rise not again. For if the dead rise not again, neither is Christ risen again. And if Christ be not risen again, your faith is vain, for you are yet in your sins. Then they also that are fallen asleep in Christ, are perished. If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miser- able. But now Christ is risen from the dead, the firstfruits of them that sleep: for by a man came death and by a man the resurrection of the dead. And as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all shall be made alive.

Ry. The fear of death troubles me: sinning daily and not re-

--- PAGE 134 --- ALL SOULS’ DAY

mortis conturbat me: * Quia in inferno nulla est redemptio, mi- serere mei, Deus, et salva me.

¥. Deus, in nomine tuosalvum
me fac, et in virtute tua libera me. * Quia.

123

penting: * Because in hell there is no redemption, have mercy on me, O God, and save me.

Y. O God, in thy name save me, and in thy strength deliver me. * Becausc.

LESSON 8

Cap. xv. 35-44.

Sed dicet aliquis: Quomodo resurgunt mortui ? qualive cor- pore venient? Insipiens, tu quod seminas non vivificatur, nisi prius moriatur. Et quod seminas, non corpus, quod futu- rum est, seminas; sed nudum granum, ut puta tritici, aut ali- cujus ceterorum. Deus autem
dat illi corpus sicut vult: et uni- cuique seminum proprium cor- pus. Non omnis caro, eadem caro: sed alia quidem hominum, alia vero pecorum, alia volu- crum, alia autem piscium. Et corpora czlestia, et corpora terrestria: sed alia quidem czle- stium gloria, alia autem terre- strium: alia claritas solis, alia claritas lune, et alia claritas stellarum. Stella enim a stella differt in claritate: sic et resur- rectio mortuorum. Seminatur in corruptione, surget in incor- ruptione. Seminatur in igno- bilitate, surget in gloria. Se- minatur in infirmitate, surget in virtute. Seminatur corpus animale, surget corpus spiritale.

Ry. Domine, secundum actum
meum noli me judicare: nihil dignum in conspectu tuo egi: ideo deprecor majestatem tuam: * Ut tu, Deus, deleas
iniquitatem meam.

Ch. xv. 35-44.

But some man will say: How do the dead rise again ? or with what manner of body shall they come? Senseless man, that which thou sowest is not quickened, except it die first. And that which thou sowest, thou sowest not the body that shall be; but bare grain, as of wheat, or of some of the rest. But God giveth it a body as he will: and to every seed its proper body. All flesh is not the same flesh: but one is the flesh of men, another of beasts, another of birds, another of fishes. And there are bodies celestial, and bodies terrestrial: but one is the glory of the celestial, and another of the terrestrial. One is the glory of the sun, another the glory of the moon another the glory o. tne stars. For star differeth from star in glory: so also is the resurrec- tion of the dead. It is sown in corruption, it shall rise in in- corruption. It is sown in dis- honour, it shall rise in glory. It is sown in weakness, it shall rise in power. It is sown a natural body, it shall rise a spiritual body.

Hy. Judge me not, O Lord, according to my deeds, for I have done nothing worthy in thy sight: therefore I beseech th majesty: * That thou, O " mayest blot out my iniquity.

^-3

--- PAGE 135 --- 124

Y. Amplius lava me, Do- mine, ab injustitia mea, et a delicto meo munda me. * Uttu.

TIME AFTER PENTECOST

y. Wash me, O Lord, yet more from my injustice, and cleanse me from my sin. * That.

LESSON 9

Cap. xv. 51-58.

Ecce mysterium vobis di- co: Omnes quidem resurgemus, sed non omnes immutabimur. In momento, in ictu oculi, in novissima tuba: canet enim tuba, et mortui resurgent in- corrupti: et nos immutabimur. Oportet enim corruptibile hoc induere incorruptionem: et mortale hoc induere immorta- litatern. Cum autem mortale hoc induerit immortalitatem, tunc fiet sermo, qui scriptus est: Absorpta est mors in vi- ctoria. Ubi est, mors, victoria tua? ubi est, mors, stimulus tuus? Stimulus autem mortis peccatum est: virtus vero pec- cati lex. Deo autem gratias,

ui dedit nobis victoriam per

ominum nostrum Jesum Christum. Itaque, fratres mei
dilecti, stabiles estote et immo- biles: abundantes in opere Do- mini semper, scientes quod labor vester non est inanis in Domino.

Hy. Libera me, Domine, de
morte @terna in die illa tremen- da: * Quando cali movendi sunt et terra. * Dum veneris judi- care seculum per ignem.

Y. Tremens factus sum ego, et timeo, dum discussio venerit, atque ventura ira. * Quando.

Y. Dies illa, dies irz, calami- tatis et miseriz, dies magna et amara valde. * Dum.

Ch. xv. 51-58.

Behold I tell you a mystery. We shall all indeed rise again: but we shall not all be changed. In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall rise again incorruptible: and we shall be changed. For this corruptible must put on incorruption; and this mortal must put on immor- tality. And when this mortal hath put on immortality, then Shall come to pass the saying that is written: Death is swal- lowed up in victory. O death, where is thy victory ? O death, where is thy sting? Now the sting of death is sin: and the strength of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who hath given us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. There- fore, my beloved brethren, be ye steadfast and unmovable; always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labouris not in vain in the Lord.

Ry. Deliver me, O Lord, from eternal death, in that dreadful day, * When the heavens and the earth are to be moved: * When thou shalt come to judge the world by fire.

. I tremble and do fear, when the examination is to be, and thy wrath to come. * When the heavens.

Y. That day is the day of anger, of calamity, x of misery, a great day, and ve bitter. * When thou. Hu

--- PAGE 136 --- ALL SOULS’ DAY

Y. Eternal rest efc. Ry. Deliver me to the first Y

I25

Y. Requiem zternam etc. Hy. Libera me usque ad pri- mum Y.

LAUDS

The Lauds for the Dead commence, like the ferial Office throughout the year, with Psalm 50, which David composed after his sin, and in which he gives the liveliest expression to his humble repentance. The Church makes use of it whenever she wishes to implore the mercy of God; and of all the canticles of the prophet-king, this

one is the most familiar to Christians.

In the place of

expiation it seems to rise naturally to their lips.

ANT. Exsultabunt Domino ossa humiliata.

ANT. The bones that have been humbled shall rejoice in the Lord.

PSALM 50

Miserere mei Deus: secun-
dum magnam misericordiam tuam.

Et secundum multitudinem miserationum tuarum: dele ini- quitatem meam.

Amplius lava me ab iniqui- tate mea: et a peccato meo munda me.

Quoniam iniquitatem meam ego cognosco: et peccatum me- um contra me est semper.

Tibi soli vi et malum coram te feci: ut justificeris in sermonibus tuis, et vincas cum judicaris.

Ecce enim in iniquitatibus conceptus sum: et in peccatis concepit me mater mea.

enim veritatem dilexi- sti: incerta et occulta sapientia tue manifestasti mihi.

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

And according to the multi- tude of thy tender mercies: blot out my iniquity.

Wash me yet more from my iniquity: and cleanse me from my sin.

For I know my iniquity: and my sin is always before me.

To thee only have I sinned, and have done evil before thee: that thou mayst be justi- fied in thy words, and mayst overcome when thou art judged.

For behold I was conceived in iniquities: and in sins did my mother conceive me.

For behold thou hast loved truth; the uncertain and hidden things of thy wisdom thou hast made manifest to me.

--- PAGE 137 --- 126

Aperges me hyssopo, et mundabor: lavabis me, et super nivem dealbabor.

Auditui meo dabis gaudium et lzetitiam: et exsultabunt ossa humiliata.

Averte faciem tuam a pecca- tis meis: et omnes iniquitates meas dele.

Cor mundum crea in me De- us: et spiritum rectum innova in visceribus meis.

Ne projicias me a facie tua: et spiritum sanctum tuum ne auferas a me.

Redde mihi letitiam salu- taris tui: et spiritu principali confirma me.

Docebo iniquos vias tuas: et impii ad te convertentur.

Libera me de sanguinibus Deus, Deus salutis mea: et ex-
sultabit lingua mea justitiam tuam.

Domine, labia mea aperies: et
os meum annuntiabit laudem tuam.

Quoniam si voluisses sacrifi- cium, dedissem utique: holo- caustis non delectaberis.

Sacrificium Deo spiritus con- tribulatus: cor contritum et hu- miliatum, Deus, non despicies.

Benigne fac, Domine, in bona
voluntate tua Sion: ut zdificen- tur muri Jerusalem.

Tunc acceptabis sacrificium justitie, oblationes et holocau- Sta: tunc imponent super altare tuum vitulos,

Requiem ®ternam: dona eis, Domine.

TIME AFTER PENTECOST

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

To my hearing thou shalt give joy and gladness: and the bones that have been humbled shall rejoice.

Turn away thy face from my sins: and blot out all my ini- quities.

Create a clean heart in me, O God: and renew a right spirit within my bowels.

Cast me not away from thy face: and take not thy holy spirit from me.

Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation: and strengthen me with a perfect spirit.

I will teach the unjust thy ways: and the wicked shall be converted to thee. .

Deliver me from blood, O God, thou God of my salvation: and my tongue shall extol thy justice.

O Lord, thou wilt open my lips: and my mouth shall de- clare thy praise.

For if thou hadst desired Sacrifice, I would indeed have given it: with burnt offerings thou wilt not be delighted.

A sacrifice to God is an afflicted spirit: a contrite and humbled heart, O God, thou wilt not despise.

Deal favourably, O Lord, in thy good will with Sion: that the walls of Jerusalem may be built up.

Then shalt thou accept the Sacrifice of justice, oblations and whole burnt offerings: then shall they lay calves upon thy altar. Eternal rest give unto them,

O Lord.

--- PAGE 138 --- ALL SOULS’ DAY

.Et lux perpetua eis.

ANT. Exsultabunt Domino ossa humiliata.

luceat

127

And let perpetual light shine upon them.

ANT. The bones that have been humbled shall rejoice in

the Lord.

The prolonged prayer of the faithful in union with their mother the Church is beginning to show its effects upon the departed. The time is growing shorter, the distance is dwindling, the land of promise begins to ap- pear on the horizon. About to set out from Babylon, the captive tribes celebrate the sweet vision of their fatherland, with its fresh waters, its blessed hills, its fertile valleys; the happy Sion, the true Jerusalem, where God is praised as He deserves to be praised.

ANT. Exaudi, Domine, oratio- AwT. Hear my pares [e]

nem meam: ad te omnis caro Lord: all flesh shall come to veniet. thee.

PSALM 64

Te decet hymnus Deus in
Sion: et tibi reddetur votum in Jerusalem.

Exaudi orationem meam: ad te omnis caro veniet,

Verba iniquorum pravalue- runt super nos: et impietatibus nostris tu propitiaberis.

Beatus quem elegisti et as- sumpsisti: inhabitabit in atriis tuis.

Replebimur in bonis domus tue: sanctum est templum tuum, mirabile in zequitate.

Exaudi nos Deus salutaris
noster: spes omnium finium terrz, et in mari longe.

Prazparans montes in virtute tua, accinctus potentia: qui conturbas profundum sonum fluctuum ejus.

A hymn, O God, becometh thee in Sion: and a vow shall be paid to thee in Jerusalem.

O hear my prayer: all flesh Shall come to thee.

The words of the wicked have prevailed over us: and thou wilt pardon our transgres- sions,

Blessed is he whom thou hast chosen and taken to thee: he shall dwell in thy courts.

We shall be filled with the good things of thy house: holy is thy temple, wonderful in justice.

Hear us, O God our Saviour: who art the hope of all the ends of the earth, and in the sea afar off.

Thou who preparest moun- tains in thy strength, being girded with power: who trou- blest the depth of the sea, the noise of its waves.

--- PAGE 139 --- 128

Turbabuntur Gentes, et ti- mebunt qui habitant terminos a signis tuis: exitus matutini et vespere dclectabis.

Visitasti terram, et inebriasti eam: multiplicasti locupletare eam.

Flumen Dei repletum est aquis, parasti cibum illorum: quoniam ita est praeparatio ejus.

Rivos ejus inebria, multiplica genimina ejus: * in stillicidiis ejus laetabitur germinans.

Benedices corone anni be- nignitatis tuze: * et campi tui replebuntur ubertate.

Pinguescent speciosa deserti: * et exsultatione colles accin- gentur.

Induti sunt arietes ovium, et valles abundabunt frumen- to: * clamabunt, etenim hy- mnum dicent.

Requiem zternam * dona eis, Domine.
,.Et lux perpetua * luceat eis.

ANT. Exaudi, Domine, ora-
tionem meam: ad te omnis caro veniet.

TIME AFTER PENTECOST

The Gentiles shall be troubled, and they that dwell in the uttermost borders shall be afraid at thy signs: thou shalt make the outgoings of the morning and of the evening to be joyful.

Thou hast visited the earth, and hast plentifully watered it: thou hast many ways en- riched it.

The river of God is filled with water, thou hast prepared their food: for so is its prepara- tion.

Fill up plentifully the streams thereof, multiply its fruits: it Shall spring up and rejoice in its showers.

Thou shalt bless the crown of the year of thy goodness: and thy fields shall be filled with plenty.

The beautiful places of the wilderness shall grow fat: and the hills shall be girded about with joy. |

The rams of the flock are clothed, and the vales shall abound with corn: they shall Shout, yea, thcy shall sing a hymn.

Eternal rest give unto them, O Lord.

And let perpetual light shine upon them.

ANT. Hear my prayer, O Lord: all flesh shall come to thee.

It is dawn in purgatory; and therefore the Church here inserts the usual third psalm of her morning

Office on earth.

It is the expression of the Chris-

tian's love and confidence, as he raises his heart to

God at daybreak.

AwT. Me suscepit dextera tua, Domine.

AwT. Thy right hand, O Lord, hath received me.

--- PAGE 140 --- ALL SOULS’ DAY

129

PSALM 62

Deus Deus meus: * ad te de
luce vigilo.

Sitivit in te anima mea: * quam multipliciter tibi caro mea.

In terra deserta, et invia, et inaquosa: * sic in sancto apparui tibi, ut viderem vir- tutem tuam et gloriam tuam.

Quoniam melior est mise- ricordia tua super vitas: * labia mea laudabunt te.

Sic benedicam te in vita mea: * et in nomine tuo levabo

manus meas. Sicut adipe et pinguedine repleatur anima mea: *et labiis

exsultationis laudabit os meum.

Si memor fui tui super Stratum meum, ín matutinis meditabor in te: * quia fuisti adjutor meus.

Et in velamento alarum tuarum exs8ultabo; adhzeit anima mea post te: * me su- scepit dextera tua.

psi vero in vanum quasi- erunt animam meam; introi- bunt in inferiora terre: * tra- dentur in manus gladii, partes vulpium erunt.

Rex vero letabitur in Deo, audabuntur omnes qui jurant in eo: * quia obstructum est os loquentium iniqua.

Requiem eternam * dona eis, omine. Et lux perpetua * luceat eis.

ANT. Me suscepit dextera tua, Domine.

O God, my God: to thee do I watch at break of day.

For thee my soul hath thirs- ted: for thee my flesh, O how many ways |

In a desert land, and where there i8 no way, and no water: 80 in the sanctuary have I come to thee, to see thy power and thy glory.

For thy mercy ís better than lives: thee my lips shall praise.

Thus will I bless thee all my life long: and in thy name I will lift up my hands.

Let my soul be filled with marrow and fatness: and m SN shall praise with joyful

ps. If I have remembered thee upon my bed, I will meditate on thee in the morning: be- cause thou hast been my helper.

And I will rejoice under the covert of thy wings; my soul hath stuck close to thee: thy right hand hath received me.

But they have sought my soul ín vain, they shall go into the lower parts of the earth: they shall be delivered into the hands of the sword, they shall be the ons of foxes.

But the king shall rejoice in God: all they shall be praised that me S eni DM rs mou sto of them that 8] edi things.

Eternal rest give unto them, O Lord.

And let perpetual light shine upon them.

ANT. Thy right hand, O Lord, hath received me.

--- PAGE 141 --- 130 TIME AFTER PENTECOST

Holy Saturday, which the Man-God spent in limbo, is the great day for the faithful departed. The Church, therefore, as she daily sings a canticle at this point in her morning Lauds, puts to-day upon the lips of her suffering children the canticle of Ezechias. On the

ag Saturday it expressed the words of Christ praying o

r His speedy deliverance.

It is also accompanied by

the same antiphon as on that occasion.

ANT. A porta inferi erue, Domine, animam meam.

ANT. From the gate of hell deliver my soul, O Lord.

CANTICLE OF EZECHIAS

Ego dixi: In dimidio die- rum meorum: * vadam ad por- tas inferi.

Quasivi residuum annorum meorum: * dixi: Non videbo Dominum Deum in terra vi- ventium.

Non aspiciam hominem ul- tra: * et habitatorem quietis.

Generatio mea ablata est, et convoluta est a me: * quasi tabernaculum pastorum.

Pracisa est velut a texen- te vita mea: dum adhuc or- direr, succidit me: * de ma- ne usque ad vesperam finies me.

Sperabam usque ad ma- ne: * quasi leo sic contrivit omnia ossa mea.

De mane usque ad vespe- ram finies me: * sicut pul- lus hirundinis sic clamabo, meditabor ut columba.

Attenuati sunt oculi mei:

* suspicientes in excelsum.

Domine, vim patior, respon-
de pro me: * quid dicam, aut quid respondebit mihi, cum ipse fecerit ?

Isaid: In the midst of my days: I shall go to the gates of hell.

I sought for the residue of my years: I said, I shall not see the Lord God in the land of the

living.

I shall behold man no more: nor the inhabitant of rest.

My generation is at an end, and it is rolled away from me: as a shepherd's tent.

My life is cut off, as by a weaver: whilst I was yet but beginning, he cut me off: from morning even to night thou wilt make an end of me.

I hoped till morning: as a lion so hath he broken all my bones.

From morning even to night thou wilt make an end of me: I will cry like a young swal- low, I will meditate like a dove.

My eyes are weakened: looking upward.

Lord, I suffer violence, an- swer thou for me: what shall I say, or what shall he answer me, whereas he himself hath done it?

--- PAGE 142 --- ALL SOULS’ DAY

Recogitabo tibi omnes an- nos meos: * in amaritudine anime mez.

Domine, si sic vivitur, et
in talibus vita spiritus mei, corripies me, et vivificabis me: * ecce in pace amaritudo mea amarissima.

Tu autem eruisti animam meam ut non periret: * pro- jecisti post tergum tuum omnia peccata mea.

Quia non infernus confite- bitur tibi, neque mors laudabit te: * non exspectabunt qui descendunt in lacum veritatem tuam.

Vivens vivens ipse confi- tebitur tibi, sicut et ego ho- die: * pater filiis notam faciet veritatem tuam.

Domine, salvum me fac: *
et. psalmos nostros cantabi- mus cunctis diebus vitz nostre in domo Domini.

Requiem aeternam * dona eis, Domine.

Et lux perpetua * luceat eis.

ANT. A porta inferi erue, Domine, animam meam.

I3I

I will recount to thee all my years: in the bitterness of my soul.

O Lord, if man's life be such, and the life of my spirit be in such things as these, thou shalt correct me and make me to live: behold, in peace is my bitterness most bitter.

But thou hast delivered my soul, that it should not perish: thou hast cast all my sins be- hind thy back.

For hell shall not confess to thee, neither shall death praise thee: nor shall they that go down into the pit look for thy truth.

The living, the living, he Shall give praise to thee, as I do this day: the father shall make thy truth known to the chil- dren.

O Lord, save me: and we will sing our psalms all the days of our life in the house of the Lord.

Eternal rest give unto them, O Lord.

And let perpetual light shine upon them.

ANT. From the gate of hell deliver my soul, O Lord.

Let every spirit; everything that breathes, praise

the Lord!

In purgatory love is overflowing, praise

becomes the sole occupation, for heaven is at hand. Absolute self-forgetfulness characterizes the close of the painful purification. Had the soul to remain still longer in the expiatory fire, it would not hurt her, since she has no longer any stain or rust for the flame to consume, but is full of God, incapable of any other sentiment than the desire of His glory.

ANT. Omnis spiritus laudet

ANT. Let every spirit praise Dominum.

the Lord.

--- PAGE 143 --- 132

TIME AFTER PENTECOST

PSALM I50

Laudate Dominum in sanctis ejus: * laudate eum in firma- mento virtutis ejus.

Laudate eum in virtutibus ejus: * laudate eum secundum multitudinem magnitudinis ejus.

Laudate eum in sono tuba: * laudate eum in psalterio et cithara.

Laudate cum in tympano et choro: * laudate eum in chordis et organo.

Laudate eum in cymbalis benesonantibus, laudate eum in cymbalis jubilationis: * o- mnis spiritus laudet Dominum.

Requiem zternam * dona eis, Domine.

Et lux perpetua * luceat eis.

AwT. Omnis spiritus laudet Dominum.

Praise ye the Lord in his holy places: praise ye him in the fir- mament of his power.

Praise ye him for his mighty acts: praise ye him according to the multitude of his greatness.

Praise him with sound of trumpet; praise him with psal- tery and harp.

Praise him with timbrel and choir: praise him with strings and organs.

Praise him on high-sounding cymbals, praise him on cym- bals of joy: let every spirit praise the Lord.

Eternal rest give unto them, O Lord.

And let perpetual light shine upon them.

ANT. Let every spirit praise the Lord.

Again, as at the close of Vespers, the cry of joy con- tained in the versicle comes down to us from heaven.

Y. Audivi vocem de calo dicentem mihi.

Hy. Beati mortui qui in Do- mino moriuntur.

Y. I heard a voice from heaven saying to me.

Hy. Blessed are the dead that die in the Lord.

And in the canticle of Zachary, the Church, together with all the souls delivered or comforted by her litur- gical suffrages, thanks the Lord God of Israel who has visited and redeemed His people. We too return thanks, for our beloved dead, to Him who is the resurrection and the life, and who never abandons, even in death, those who believed in Him during their earthly sojourn.

ANT. I am the resurrection and the life: he that believeth in me, although he be dead, Shall live; and every one that

liveth, and believeth in me, Shall not die for ever.

AwT. Ego sum resurrectio et vita: qui credit in me, etiam Si mortuus fuerit, vivet: et omnis qui vivit et credit in me, non morietur in zeernum,

--- PAGE 144 --- ALL SOULS’ DAY

133

CANTICLE OF ZACHARY

Benedictus Dominus Deus
Israel: * quia visitavit, et fecit redemptionem plebis suz.

Et erexit cornu salutis nobis: * in domo David pueri sui,

Sicut locutus est per os san- ctorum: * qui a seculo sunt, prophetarum ejus.

Salutem ex inimicis nostris: * et de manu omnium, qui ode- runt nos.

Ad faciendam misericordiam cum patribus nostris: * et me- morari testamenti sui sancti.

Jusjurandum, quod juravit ad Abraham patrem nostrum: * daturum se nobis.

Ut sine timore, de manu inimicorum nostrorum liberati : * serviamus llli.

In sanctitate, et justitia co- ram ipso: * omnibus diebus nostris.

Et tu puer, propheta Altissl- mi vocaberis: * preibis enim ante faciem Domini parare vias ejus.

Ad dandam scientiam sa- lutis plebi ejus: * in remis- sionem peccatorum eorum.

Per viscera misericordie Dei nostri: * in quibus visitavit nos, oriens ex uto.

Illuminare his, qui in tene- bris, et in umbra mortis sedent: * ad dirigendos pedes nostros in viam pacis.

Requiem eternam * dona eis, Domine.

Et lux perpetua * luceat eis.

Blessed be the Lord God of Israel: because he hath visited and wrought the redemption of his people.

And hath raised up an horn of salvation to us: in the house of David his servant. As he spoke by the mouth of his holy prophets: who are from the beginning.

Salvation from our enemies: and from the hand of all that hate us.

To perform mercy to our fathers: and to remember his holy testament.

The oath which he swore to Abraham our father: that he would grant to us.

That being delivered from the hand of our enemies: we may serve him without fear.

In holiness and justice be- fore him: all our days.

And thou, child, shalt be called the prophet of the High- est: for thou shalt go before the face of the Lord to prepare his ways.

To give knowledge of salva- tion to his people: unto the remission of their sins.

Through the bowels of the mercy of our God: in which the Orient from on high hath visited us.

To enlighten them that sit in darkness and in the shadow of death: to direct our feet into the way of peace.

Eternal rest give unto them, O Lord.

And let perpetual light shine upon them.

--- PAGE 145 --- 134

ANT. Ego sum resurrectio et vita: qui credit in me, etiam si mortuus fuerit, vivet: et omnis qui vivit et credit in me, non morietur in aeternum.

The priest commences,

TIME AFTER PENTECOST

AwT. I am the resurrection and the life: he that believeth in me, although he be dead, shall live: and every one that liveth and believeth in me, Shall not die for ever.

and the whole assembly

recites, kneeling, the Lord's Prayer.

Pater noster.

Our Father.

The rest is said in silence as far as this conclusion, which is followed by the versicles and prayer that close

the Office of the Dead.

Y. Et ne nos inducas in ten- tationem. . Sed libera nos a malo.

. A porta inferi. Hi. Erue, Domine, animas
eorum. Y. Requiescant in pace. . Amen.

. Domine, exaudi orationem
meam. KR. Et clamor meus ad te veniat. Y. Dominus vobiscum.
Hy. Et cum spiritu tuo.

Y. And lead us not into temptation.

Ky. But deliver us from evil.

Y. From the gate of hell.

Ry. Deliver their souls, O Lord.

Y. May they rest in peace.

. Amen. Y. O Lord, hear my prayer.

H. And let my cry come unto thee.

Y. The Lord be with you.

Ry. And with thy spirit.

PRAYER

Fidelium Deus omnium
Conditor et Redemptor, ani- mabus famulorum famula- rumque tuarum remissionem cunctorum tribue peccatorum: ut indulgentiam, quam semper optaverunt, piis supplicationi- bus consequantur. Qui vivis et as cum Deo Patre in uni- tate Spiritus Sancti Deus, per
omnia secula seculorum.

. Amen. . Requiem aeternam dona eis, Domine.

O God, the Creator and Re- deemer of the faithful, give to the souls of thy servants and handmaids the remission of all their sins; that by pious suppli- cations they may obtain the pardon which they have al- ways desired. Who livest and reignest with God the Father, in the unity of the Holy Ghost one God, world without

end.

. Amen.

. Eternal rest give unto them, O Lord.

--- PAGE 146 --- ALL SOULS’ DAY 135

Hy. Et lux perpetua luceat Hy. And let perpetual light is. shine upon them.

Y. Requiescant in pace. Y. May they rest in peace. Ry. Amen. H. Amen.

MASS OF THE DEAD

Formerly the Roman Church on this day doubled her task of service to the divine Majesty. The Commemora- tion of the Dead did not distract her from the saints, and the Office of the second day within the Octave preceded the Dirge. She now recites only the Office of the Dead.

At the day Hours, as well as at Matins and Lauds, the hymn and the Deus 1n adjutorium are suppressed; the
ordinary psalms are concluded with Requiem eternam; and the Collect for the Dead is said at the close. She has, moreover, extended to the universal Church a privilege already existing in Spain, which allows each priest to offer three Masses for the Dead.

The Commemoration of the Faithful Departed ends at None; but Cluny, up to the last century, had the custom of celebrating second Vespers.

As to the obligation of resting from servile works on All Souls' day, it was of semi-precept in England, the more necessary works being permitted; in some places the obligation lasted only till mid-day; in others assistance at Mass was alone enjoined. For some time, Paris kept November 2 as a Feast of obligation; in 1673 the command to observe it until mid-day was retained in the statutes by the iuis dents Francis de Harlay. The precept no longer ?xists, even at Rome.

The remark of Amalarius, quoted above, with regard to the Office of the Dead, is no less applicable to the Mass. Not to mention the suppression of the Gloria $n excelsis and of the Alleluia, the priest omits the psalm Judica me at the foot of the altar, as in Passiontide. As on Good Friday, he is clothed in black vestments; most of the blessings are omitted, as also the kiss of peace, and the various marks of honour shown to the celebrant; the altar is thurified but once; and the

--- PAGE 147 --- TIME AFTER PENTECOST

singing of the Gospel is done as on that great day—viz., the deacon receives no blessing from the celebrant, lights and incense are not used, and the priest does not kiss the sacred text. So closely, even in death, does the Church draw her children to Him whose members they are.

The Introit antiphon is the same earnest suppli- cation which takes the place of every doxology through- out the Office, and which was suggested by a passage in the fourth Book of Esdras! The verse is taken from the second psalm of Lauds.

INTROIT

136

Requiem zternam dona eis,

Domine: et lux perpetua luceat
eis.

Ps. Te decet hymnus Deus
in Sion, et tibi reddetur votum in Jerusalem: exaudi oratio- nem meam, ad te omnis caro veniet. Requiem.

O Lord; and let perpetual light shine upon them.

Ps. A hymn, O God, be- cometh thee in Sion; and a vow shall be paid to thee in Jerusalem: O hear my prayer; all flesh shall come to thee.

Eternal rest efc.

In the Collect, mother Church makes her own the prayer of the suffering souls; she presents it to her Spouse, God made Man, calling Him by His titles of Creator and Redeemer; for these titles remind Him of all He has done for these souls, and invite Him to perfect His work.

COLLECT

Fidelium Deus omnium Con-
ditor et Redemptor, anima- bus famulorum famularumque tuarum remissionem cuncto- rum tribue peccatorum: ut indulgentiam, quam semper optaverunt, piis supplicationi- bus consequantur. Qui vivis et regnas cum Deo Patre in uni- tate Spiritus Sancti Deus, per
omniasaculaszculorum. Amen.

O God, the Creator and Re- deemer of all the faithful, give to the souls of thy servants and handmaids the remission of all their sins: that by pious suppli- cations they may obtain the pardon which they have always desired. Who livest and reign- est with God the Father, in the unity of the Holy Ghost, God, world without end. Amen.

1 4 Esdr. ii. 34, 35.

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137

EPISTLE

Lectio Epistole beati Pauli
Apostoli ad Corinthios.

I. Cap. xv.

Fratres; Ecce mysterium
vobis dico: Omnes quidem resurgemus, sed non omnes immutabimur. In momento, in ictu oculi, in novissima tuba; canet enim tuba, et mortui resurgent incorrupti: et nos immutabimur. Opor- tet enim corruptibile hoc in- duere incorruptionem: et mor- tale hoc induere immortali- tatem. Cum autem mortale hoc induerit immortalitatem, tunc fiet sermo, qui scriptus est: Absorpta est mors in victoria. Ubi est, mors, vi- ctoria tua? Ubi est, mors, stimulus tuus? Stimulus autem mortis peccatum est: virtus vero peccati lex. Deo autem gratias, qui dedit nobis victoriam per Dominum no- strum Jesum Christum.

Lesson of the Epistle of St.

I. Chap. xv.

Brethren, behold, I tell you a mystery: we shall all in- deed rise again, but we shall not all be changed. In a mo- ment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall rise again in- corruptible, and we shall be changed. For this corruptible must put on incorruption; and this mortal must put on im- mortality. And when this mortal hath put on immor- tality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written: Death is swallowed up in victory. O death, where is thy victory? O death, where is thy sting? Now the sting of death is sin: and the strength of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who hath given us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

While the soul is supplying in purgatory for the

insufficiency of her expiations, the body she has quitted returns to the earth in virtue of the sentence pronounced against Adam and his race from the beginning of the world. But, with regard to the body as well as the soul, justice is full of love; its claims are a prelude to the glory which awaits the whole man. The humiliation of the tomb is the just punishment of original sin; but in this return of man to the earth from whence he sprang, St. Paul would have us recognize the sowing necessary for the transformation of the seed, which is destined to live again under very different conditions. For ‘flesh

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and blood cannot possess the kingdom of God ' ;' neither can corruptible members aspire to immortality. The body of the Christian, which St. Ignatius of Antioch calls the wheat of Christ, is cast into the tomb, as it were into the furrow, there to leave its own corrup- tion, the form of the first Adam with its heaviness and infirmity; but by the power of the new Adam reforming it to His own likeness, it shall spring up all heavenly and spiritualized, agile, impassible, and glorious. Blessed be He, who willed to die for us in orden to destroy death and to make His own victory ours

138

In the Gradual, the Church continues to pray for the deliverance of the departed souls.

GRADUAL

Requiem zternam dona eis, omine: et lux perpetua luceat eis. Y. In memoria zterna erit justus: ab auditione mala non timebit.

Eternal rest give to them, O Lord: and let perpetual light shine upon them.

Y. The just shall be in ever- lasting remembrance: he shall not fear the evil hearing.

TRACT

Absolve, Domine, animas
omnium fidelium defunctorum ab omni vinculo delictorum.

Y. Et gratia tua illis suc- currente, mereantur evadere judicium ultionis.

y. Et lucis =terna beatitu- dine perfrui.

Absolve, O Lord, the souls of all the faithful departed from every bond of sins.

Y. And by the help of thy grace may they be enabled to escape the judgment of pun- ishment.

Y. And enjoy the happiness of light eternal.

The Church, as we shall see, did not formerly exclude

from the funerals of her children the joyful Alleluia; it expressed the happiness she felt at the thought that a holy death had secured heaven to the new elect, although his expiation might not yet be completed. But the adaptation of the liturgy for the dead to the

1 Cor. xv. so.

--- PAGE 150 --- ALL SOULS’ DAY 139

rites of Holy Week having altered this ancient custom, it would seem that the Sequence, originally a festive sequel to the Alleluia, ought also to be excluded from the Requiem Mass. Rome, however, has made a wel- come exception to the traditional rule, in favour of the remarkable poem of Thomas de Celano. This and the Stabat Mater of Fra Jacopone have won renown for the Franciscan lyre. The Dies ir@ was first sung in Italy in the fourteenth century; and in two centuries more it had spread to the entire Church.

SEQUENCE

Dies ire, dies illa, The day of wrath, that aw- Solvet szclum in favilla, ful day, shall reduce the world Teste David cum Sibylla. to ashes, as David and the

wy prophesied.*

Quantus tremor est futurus, ow great will be the ter- Quando Judex est venturus, ror, when the Judge shall come Cuncta stricte discussurus. to examine all things rigorously |

Tuba mirufn spargens so- The trumpet, with astound-

num ing blast, echoing over the

Per sepulchra regionum, sepulchres of the whole world,

Coget omries ante thronum. pres summon all before the one.

Mors stupebit et natura, Death and nature will stand Cum resurget creatura, aghast, when the creature shall Judicanti responsura. de to answer before

s Judge TE rene scriptus proferetur The written book shall be uo totum continetur, brought forth, containing all e mundus judicetur. judged which the world must be u Judex ergo cum sedebit, i Sv therefore, the ig

Quidquid latet, apparebit: shall be seated, whatsoever is Nil inultum reman hoi + hidden shall be brought to light; nought shall remain un-

punished. Quid sum miser tunc di- ^ What then shall I, E cturus ? man, allege? Whom

Quem patronum rogaturus, invoke as protector? when Cum vix justus sit securus ? even the just shall hardly be secure.

) An allusion to the celebrated oracle of the Erythrman 5. The iniit Toten of d ERA QA E nme 9m set Ped. The initial the verses give in Greek

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Rex tremenda majestatis, i salvandos salvas gratis, va me, fons pietatis.

Recordare, Jesu pie, od sum causa tuz viz: e me perdas illa die.

zerens me, sedisti lassus: Redemisti, crucem passus: Tantus labor non sit cassus.

Juste Judex ultionis, Donum remissionis Ante diem rationis.

Ingemisco, tamquam reus; Culpa rubet vultus meus: Supplicanti parce, Deus.

Qui Mariam absolvisti, Et latronem exaudisti,

Mihi quoque spem dedisti.

Preces mez non sunt di-

gna: Sed tu bonus fac benigne Ne perenni cremer igne.

Inter oves locum praesta, Et ab hzdis me sequestra, Statuens in parte dextra.

Confutatis maledictis, Flammis acribus addictis: Voca me cum benedictis.

Oro supplex et acclinis, Cor qon cinis, Gere curam mei finis.

Lacrymosa dies illa, Qua resurget ex favilla

Judicandus homo reus: Huic ergo parce, Deus.

Pie Jesu Domine,
Dona eis requiem. Amen.

TIME AFTER PENTECOST

O King of awful majesty, who of thy free gift savest them that are to be saved, save me O fount of mercy !

Remember, O loving Jesus, 'twas for my sake thou camest on earth: let me not, then, be lost on that day.

Seeking me thou satest weary; thou redeemedst me by dying on the cross: let not such suffering be all in valn.

O righteous Awarder of punishment, grant me the gift of pardon before the reckon- ing-day.

groan as one guilty, while I blush for my sins: oh | spare thy suppliant, my God !

Thou didst absolve Mary Magdalen, and didst hear the prayer of the thief: to me, then, thou hast also given hope. My prayers deserve not to be heard; but thou art good: grant, in thy kindness, that I may not burn in the unquench- able fire.

Give me a place among thy Sheep, separating me from the goats and setting me on thy right hand.

When the reprobate, covered with confusion, shall have been sentenced to the cruel flames, call me with the blessed.

Prostrate in supplication I implore thee, with a heart contrite as though crushed to ashes; oh | have a care of my last hour !

A mournful day that day Shall be, when from the dust shall arise

eed man, ve he Frond be ju ; spare him, then, O God”

O tender Lord Jesus, give them eternal rest. Amen.

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141

GOSPEL

Sequentia sancti Evangelii se-
cundum Joannem.

Cap. v.

In illo tempore: Dixit Jesus turbis Judzorum: Amen, amen dico vobis, quia venit hora, et nunc est, quando mortui audi- ent vocem Filii Dei: et qui audierint, vivent. Sicut enim Pater habet vitam in semet- ipso: sic dedit et Filio habere vitam in semetipso: et potesta- tem dedit ei judicium facere,

uia Filius hominis est. No- lite mirari hoc, quia venit hora, in qua omnes, qui in mo- numentis sunt, audient vocem Filii Dei: et procedent, qui bona fecerunt, in resurrectio- nem vite: qui vero mala ege- runt, in resurrectionem judicii.

Purgatory is not eternal.

Sequel of the holy Gospel ac- cording to St. John.

Chap. v.

At that time Jesus said to the multitudes of the Jews, Amen, amen, I say unto you, that the hour cometh, and now is, when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God ; and they that hear shalllive. For as the Father hath life in him- self, so he hath given to the Son also to have life in himself: and he hath given him power to do judgment, because he is the Son of man. Wonder not at this, for the hour cometh wherein all that are in the graves shall hear the voice of the Son of God; and they that have done good things shall come forth unto the resurrec- tion of life, but they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of judgment.

Its duration varies ac-

cording to the sentence pronounced at each particular judgment. It may be prolonged for centuries in the case of the more guilty souls, or of those who, being excluded from the Catholic communion, are deprived of the suffrages of the Church, although by the divine mercy they have escaped hell. But the end of the world, which will be also the end of time, will close for ever the place of temporary expiation. God will know how to reconcile His justice and His goodness in the purification of the last members of the human race, and to supply by the intensity of the expiatory suffering what may be wanting in duration. But, whereas a favourable sentence at the particular judgment admits of eternal beatitude being suspended and postponed, and leaves the bodies of the elect to the same fate as those

--- PAGE 153 --- 142 TIME AFTER PENTECOST

of the reprobate; at the universal judgment, every sentence, whether for heaven or for hell, will be ab- solute, and will be executed immediately and com- pletely. Let us, then, live in expectation of the solemn hour, when ' the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God. He that is to come will come, and will not delay, as the Doctor of the Gentiles reminds us; His arrival will be sudden, as that of a thief, we are told, not only by St. Paul, but also by the prince of the apostles and the beloved disciple; and these in turn are but echoing the words of our Lord Himself: ' As light- ning cometh out of the east and appeareth even unto the west: so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.'

Let us enter into the sentiments contained in the beautiful Offertory. Although the poor suffering souls are sure of their eternal blessedness, yet they entered upon this road to heaven at a moment of utmost peril: the supreme effort of the devil in his last assault, and the agony of the judgment. The Church, therefore, extending her prayer to every stage of this painful way, does not forget its opening. Nor is she afraid of being too late; for, to God, who sees all times at one glance, this day's supplication was present at the moment of the dread passage, and obtained assistance for the straitened souls. This same prayer follows them also in their struggles with the powers of hell, when God per- mits these, according to the revelations of the saints, to be the ministers of His justice in the place of expiation. At this solemn moment, when the Church is offering her gifts for the tremendous and all-powerful Sacrifice, let us redouble our prayers for the faithful departed. Let us implore their deliverance from the jaws of the infernal lion. Let us obtain from the glorious Arch- angel, whom God has set over paradise and appointed to lead souls thither,? that he would bear them up to the light, to life, to God, who is Himself the reward promised to all believers in the person of their father Abraham.

1 St. John v. 25. ? Ant. et Resp. in festo S. Michaelis.

--- PAGE 154 --- ALL SOULS’ DAY

143

OFFERTORY

Domine Jesu Christe, Rex
glorie, libera animas omnium fidelium defunctorum de poenis inferni, et de profundo lacu: libera eas de ore leonis, ne ab- Sorbeat eas tartarus, ne cadant in obscurum: sed signifer sanctus Michael reprzsentet eas in lucem sanctam: * Quam olim Abrahz promisisti et semini ejus.

Y. Hostias et preces tibi, Domine, laudis offerimus: tu
suscipe pro animabus illis, qua- rum hodie memoriam facimus: fac eas, Domine, de morte
transire ad vitam. * Quam olim.

O Lord Jesus Christ, King of glory, deliver the souls of all the faithful departed from the pains of hell and from the deep pit: deliver them from the mouth of the lion, that hell may not swallow them up, and they may not fall into darkness, but may the holy standard-bearer Michael in- troduce them to the holy light; * Which thou didst promise of old to Abraham and to his seed.

Y. We offer to thee, O Lord, sacrifices and prayers: do thou receive them in behalf of those souls whom we commemorate this day. Grant them, O Lord, to pass from death to life; * Which thou didst promise of old to Abraham and to his seed.

The holy souls had the gift of faith, and did the works of faith, while on earth; their eternal reward is therefore secured, and God mercifully accepts the offerings we make for them, as the Secret implies.

SECRET

Hostias, quesumus, Domine,
quas tibi pro animabus famu- lorum famularumque tuarum offerimus, propitiatus intende: ut, quibus fidei christianz meri- tum contulisti, dones et premi- um. Per Dominum.

Mercifully look down upon this sacrifice which we offer to thee for the souls of thy ser- vants, O Lord, we beseech thee; that to those to whom thou didst grant the merit of Christian faith thou mayst also grant its reward. ugh our Lord.

The following Preface, formerly used in certain places, was approved for the whole Church in 1919.

PREFACE

Vere dignum et justum est, zquum et salutare, nos tibi semper et ubique gra-

It is truly meet and just, right and salutary, that we should always and in all places

--- PAGE 155 --- 144

tias agere, Domine sancte,
Pater omnipotens, aterne Deus, per Christum: Domi-
num nostrum. In quo no- bis spes beate resurrectio- nis effulsit: ut quos con- tristat certa moriendi con- ditio, eosdem consoletur future immortalitatis promissio. Tuis enim fidelibus, Domine, vita
mutatur, non tollitur; et dis- soluta terrestris hujus inco- latus domo, =terna in celis habitatio comparatur. Et ideo cum Angelis et Archangelis, cum Thronis et Dominatio- nibus, cumque omni militia calestis exercitus, hymnum glorie tua canimus, sine fine dicentes: Sanctus, sanctus, sanctus, etc.

TIME AFTER PENTECOST

give thanks to thee, O holy Lord, Father almighty, eter- nal God, through Christ our Lord. In whom the hope of a blessed resurrection hath shone upon us: that those whom the certainty of dying afflicteth, the promise of future immortality may con- sole. For the life of thy faith- ful, O Lord, is altered, not taken away: and when the abode of this earthly sojourn is dissolved, an eternal dwelling is prepared in heaven. And therefore with the Angels and Archangels, with the Thrones and Dominations, and with all the host of the heavenly army, we sing a hymn to thy glory, saying without ceasing: Holy, holy, holy, etc.

At the Agnus Del, instead of asking as usual for peace for the living, we pray that the dead may have eternal

rest.

Agnus Dei, qui tollis pec- cata mundi, dona eis requiem.

Agnus Dei, qui tollis peccata mundi, dona eis requiem.

Agnus Dei, qui tollis peccata mundi, dona eis requiem sempi- ternam.

Lamb of God, who takest away the sins of the world, give them rest.

Lamb of God, who takest away the sins of the world, give them rest.

Lamb of God, who takest away the sins of the world, give them eternal rest.

Like myriad silent snowflakes falling earthward

on a winter's day, the delivered souls, white and lovely, are mounting heavenward at this hour, when the Church, the whole world over, concluding her long supplications, pours over the expiatory flames the sacred Blood of redemption. Strong in the power given to our prayer by our participation in the divine EN let us say with her in the Communion anti- phon:

--- PAGE 156 --- ALL SOULS’ DAY

145

COMMUNION

Lux eterna luceat eis, Do- mine, * Cum sanctis tuis in seternum, quia pius es.

Y. Requiem =ternam do- na eis, Domine: et lux perpetua
luceat eis. * Cum sanctis.

May light eternal shine upon them, O Lord: * With thy saints for ever, because thou art merciful.

y. Eternal rest give to them, O Lord; and let perpetual light shine upon them. * With

thy saints.

Such, however, is the impenetrable and adorable mystery of God's justice, which baffles all human con- ception, that for some souls the expiation must still be prolonged. The Church, then, withoat growing weary or losing hope, prolongs her prayer also in the Post- communion. Moreover, at every Hour of the daily Divine Office, and at every Mass offered throughout the year, the faithful departed are remembered by their mother.

POSTCOMMUNION

Animabus, quasumus, Do- We beseech thee, O Lord, mine, famulorum famularum- that the pra of thy su que tuarum oratio proficiat pliants may efit the souls supplicantium: ut eas et a of thy servants; that thou peccatis omnibus exuas, et tue maystdeliverthem from all their redemptionis facias esse parti- sins, and make them kers cipes. Qui vivis. of thy redemption. o livest.

In Masses in which the Gloria im excelsis is omit- ted, Benedicamus Domino is said instead of Ite missa

est, but in Masses for the dead the following petition is substituted:

Requiescant in pace. . Amen,

Ma rest in " S. Am 3/7 a

E THE ABSOLUTION After Mass, the clergy y preceded by the cross range

themselves round the catafalque, which is placed in the nave of the church, to represent the dead, at the very

--- PAGE 157 --- 146

TIME AFTER PENTECOST

spot where their bodies once rested before the altar of God. The cantors intone the ninth responsory of Matins; it is followed by the prayers said at the conclusion of the Office, during the singing of which the priest honours the dead with holy water and incense, as on each one's funeral day. This rite is called Absolution from the prayer Absolve, the one most frequently used, although, as to-day, the Collect of the Mass may be chosen instead, or some other prayer according to circumstances.

RESPONSORY

Libera me, Domine, de morte
eterna, in die illa tremenda: * Quando cli movendi sunt et terra: * Dum veneris judicare szeculum per ignem.

Y. Tremens factus sum ego, et timeo, dum discussio venerit, atque ventura ira. * Quando.

Y. Dies illa, dies ire, ca- lamitatis et miserie, dies ma- gna et amara valde. * Dum veneris.

Requiem zternam do- na eis, Domine: et lux per-
petua luceat eis.

Y. Libera me, usque ad pri- mum Y.

Kyrie, eleison.

Pater noster, qwod secreto prosequitur.

Y. Et ne nos inducas in tentationem.

. Sed libera nos a malo. .

EH. Erue, Domine, animas

eorum.

Deliver me, O Lord, from eternal death, in that dread- ful day, * When the heavens and earth are to be moved, * When thou shalt come to judge the world by fire.

Y. I tremble and do fear, when che examination is to be and thy wrath to come. * When the heavens and the earth are to be moved.

Y. That day is the day of anger, of calamity, and o misery, a great day, and very bitter, * When thou shalt come to judge the world by fire.

Y. Eternal rest give unto them, O Lord, and let per- petual light shine upon them.

Y. Deliver me, as far as the first Y.

Lord, have mercy upon us.

Christ, have mercy upon us,

Lord, have mercy upon us.

Our Father, the rest silently,

Y. And lead us not into temptation. . But deliver us from evil. . From the gate of hell. Ky. Deliver their souls, O Lord.

--- PAGE 158 --- ALL SOULS’ DAY

Y. Requiescant in pace. . Amen.

. Domine, exaudi oratio-

nem meam.

Hy. Et clamor meus ad te veniat,

Y. Dominus vobiscum.

Ry. Et cum spiritu tuo.

147 pode they rest in peace.

y»: E. Am y.o Lond, hear my prayer. Hj. And let my cry come unto thee. Y. The Lord be with you. Ey. And with thy spirit.

PRAYER

Absolve, quzsumus, Domine,
animas famulorum famularum-

ue tuarum ab omni vinculo

elictorum: ut in resurrectionis gloria, inter sanctos et electos tuos resuscitati respirent. Per Christum Dominum nostrum.

HJ. Amen.

Y. Requiem aeternam dona els, Do i

Ry. Et lux perpetua luceat eis.

Y. Requiescant in pace.

Ry. Amen.

Absolve, we beseech thee, O Lord, the souls of thy ser- vants from every chain of sin: that rising again ín the glory of thy resurrection, they may enjoy a new life amongst Sy saints and elect. Throug Christ our Lord.

Hy. Amen.

Y. Eternal rest give unto them, O Lord.

Ry. And let perpetual light shine upon them.

Y. May they rest in peace,

Hy. Amen.

The missal of Marmoutier offers us the following Sequence wherewith to honour the saints, whose octave is celebrated side by side with the Commemoration of

the Dead.

SEQUENCE

Ut sequamur pari zelo Sanctorum vestigia, Nobis horum vitam, mores Proponit Ecclesia.

Offert nobis tria: rosam, Violam et lilium,

Ut ostendat nobis viam Ad czleste bravium.

Rosa signat martyres Per colorem rubeum; Confessores viola

Per florem purpureum.

That we with equal zeal may tread the f ts of the saints, the Church pro- poses to our v lation their life and acti i

She offers us the rose, the violet, and the lily: emblems of the hs wg way leading to the heavenly reward.

The rose by its ruby colour signifies the martyrs; the vio- let's purple flower the con- fessors.

--- PAGE 159 --- 148 TIME AFTER PENTECOST

Virginalem candidatum Attestatur lilium:

Per hoc ergo sequi Deum Nos oportet trivium.

Nos mactet ut martyres Vera patientia, Confessores faciat

Jugis abstinentia.

Nos conservet virgines Jugis castimonia,

Aut lapsos aliquando Firma continentia.

Adjuvent nos sancti quorum - arm sollemnia, t horum prece possimus Assequi celestia. Amen,

The lily proclaims the lover of virginity: by these three ways, then, must we follow our God.

Let true patience make us suffer as martyrs; and by continual abstinence let us be confessors.

May constant purity pre- serve us virgins; but if any have fallen, courageous con- tinence will save them.

May the saints, whose feast we celebrate, come to our as- sistance; that by their inter- cession we may be enabled to attain the heights of heaven, Amen.

--- PAGE 160 --- THIRD DAY WITHIN THE OCTAVE 149

NOVEMBER 3

THIRD DAY WITHIN THE OCTAVE OF : ALL SAINTS

AD we angels’ eyes, we should see the earth as a vast field sown with seed for the resurrection. The death of Abel opened the first furrow, and, ever since, the sowing has gone on unceasingly the wide world over. This land of labour and of suffering, what treasures it already holds laid up in its bosom | And what a harvest for heaven, when the Sun of justice, suddenly darting forth His rays, shall cause to spring up as suddenly from the soil the elect ears ripe for glory! No wonder that the Church herself blesses and superintends the laying of the precious grain in the earth.

But the Church is not content to be always sowing. Sometimes, as though impatient of delay, she raises from the ground the chosen seed she had sown therein. Her infallible discernment preserves her from error; and, disengaging from the soil the immortal germ, she forestalls the glory of the future. She encloses the treasure in gold or precious stuffs, carries it in triumph, invites the multitudes to come and reverence it; or she raises new temples to the name of the blessed one, and assigns him the highest honour of reposing under the altar, whereon she offers to God the tremendous Sacrifice.

' Let your charity understand,’ explains St. Augustine: ' it is not to Stephen we raise an altar in this place; but of Stephen's relics we make an altar to God. God loves these altars; and if you ask the reason: '' Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of His saints."* In obedience to God the invisible soul has quitted its visible dwelling. But God preserves this dwelling; He is

! Auc. Sermo cccxviii. de Stephano Mart. V. 3 Ps. exv. 15.

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glorified by the honour we pay to this lifeless flesh; and, clothing it with the might of His divinity, He gives it the power of working miracles.’ Hence the origin of pilgrimages to the shrines of the saints.

' Christian people,’ says St. Gregory of Nyssa, ' where- fore are you assembled here? A tomb has no at- tractions; nay, the sight of its contents inspires horror. Yet, see what eagerness to approach this sepulchre! So great an object of desire is it, that a little of the dust from around it is esteemed a gift of great price. As to beholding the remains it conceals, that is a rare favour and an enviable one, as those can testify who enjoy the privilege: they embrace the holy body as though it were yet alive, they press their lips and their eyes upon it, shedding tears of love and devotion. What emperor ever received such honour ?'?

“Emperors |’ rejoins St. John Chrysostom; ‘as the porters at their gates, such have they become with regard to poor fishermen. The son of the great Con- stantine deemed he could not pay a higher honour to his father, than to procure him a place of sepulture in the porch of the fisherman of Galilee.? And again, concluding his commentary on St. Paul's admirable Epistle to the Romans, the golden-mouthed Doctor exclaims: ‘And now, who will grant me to prostrate myself at Paul's sepulchre, to contemplate the ashes of that body which, suffering for us, filled up what was wanting of the sufferings of Christ ? The dust of that mouth which spoke boldly before kings, and, showing what Paul was, revealed the Lord of Paul? The dust of that heart, truly the heart of the world, more lofty than the heavens, more vast than the universe, as much the heart of Christ as of Paul, and wherein might be read the book of grace graven by the Holy Spirit ? Oh! that I might see the remains of the hands which wrote those Epistles; of the eyes which were struck with blindness and recovered their sight for our salvation;

1 Auc. Sermo cclxxv. de Vincentio Mart. II,

3 GnEG. Nvss, de Theodoro Mart. 3 Cunvs. in Epist. II. ad Cor. Hom. xxvi.

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of the feet which traversed the whole earth! Yes; I would fain contemplate the tomb where repose these instruments of justice and of light, these members of Christ, this temple of the Holy Ghost. O venerable body, which, together with that of Peter, protects Rome more securely than all ramparts |’?

In spite of such teachings as these, the heretics of the sixteenth century profaned the tombs of the saints, under pretext of bringing us back to the doctrine of our forefathers. In contradiction to these strange reformers, the Council of Trent expressed the unanimous testimony of tradition in the following definition, which sets forth the theological reasons of the honour paid by the Church to the relics of saints:

‘ Veneration ought to be shown by the faithful to the bodies of the martyrs and other saints, who live with Jesus Christ. For they were His living members and the temples of the Holy Ghost; He will raise them up again to eternal life and glory; and through them God grants many blessings to mankind. Therefore, those who say that the relics of the saints are not worthy of veneration, that it is useless for the faithful to honour them, that it is vain to visit the memorials or monuments of the saints in order to obtain thelr aid, are absolutely to be condemned; and, as they have already been long ago condemned,* the Church now condemns them once more.’?

Considering the unequal distribution of relics through- out the world, Rome has not fixed one universal feast for the essentially local cultus of these precious remains. She leaves the particular churches free to consult their own convenience, reserving it to herself to bless and sanction the choice of each.

1 CHrvs. in Epist. ad Rom. Hom. xxxii. 3 Conc. Trid. Sess. xxv. De invocatione, veneratione, et reliquiis sanctorum.

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MASS OF THE HOLY RELICS

As the feast of the holy relics is in many places celebrated on the Sunday within the octave of All Saints, we here give the Mass and Vespers most com- monly used. The liturgical formule are, however, not less variable than the date of the feast.

The Introit, borrowed from Psalm 33, tells us of God's solicitude for His own, in death as in life. Whatever may become of the just under trial and persecution, their bones shall be gathered together again on the last day at the voice of the Son of man.

INTROIT

Multze tribulationes justo- Many were the afflictions of rum, et de hís omnibus libera- the just, and out of all these vit eos Dominus: Dominus the Lord delivered them: the
custodit omnia ossa eorum: Lord keepeth all their bones,

unum ex his non conteretur. Ps. Benedicam Dominum

in omni tempore: semper laus

ejus in ore meo. Gloria Patri.

not one of them shall be broken.

Ps. I will bless the Lord at all times: his praise shall be ever in my mouth. Glory be

Multe. to the Father. Many were.

The miracles wrought by these dry bones prove, says St. Augustine, that &hey are not really dead.! Let our faith in the future resurrection be thereby increased; and let us pray with the Church in her Collect that we too, at the appointed time, may partake in the glory of which their wonder-working power is the pledge.

COLLECT

Auge in nobis, Domine, Increase within us, O Lord,

resurrectionis fidem, qui in sanctorum tuorum reliquiis mirabilia operaris: et fac nosim- mortalis glorie participes, cujus in eorum cineribus pignora veneramur. Per Dominum.

the faith of the resurrection, thou who workest wonders in the relics of thy saints: and make us partakers of immortal glory, of which we venerate the pledgesintheirashes. Through.

The occurring Sunday and the octave of All Saints are commemorated by their respective Collects.

! Auc. Sermo cccxix. de Stephano Mart. VI.

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EPISTLE

Hi viri misericordie sunt, quorum pietates non defue- runt: cum semine eorum per- manent bona, hereditas sancta nepotes eorum, et in testa- mentis stetit semen eorum: et fili eorum propter illos usque in zternum manent: semen eorum, et gloria eorum non de- relinquetur. Corpora ipsorum in pace sepulta sunt, et nomen eorum vivit in generationem

These were men of mercy, whose godly deeds have not failed. Good things continue with their seed, their posterity are a holy inheritance, and their seed hath stood in the covenants: and their children for their sakes remain for ever: their seed and their glory shall not be forsaken. Their bodies are buried in peace, and their name liveth unto generation

et generationem. Sapientiam ipsorum narrent li, et laudem eorum nuntiet esia.

and generation. Let the

ple shew forth their wisdom, and the Church declare their praise.

Our ancestors looked upon holy relics as their greatest riches, the treasure by excellence of their cities. ‘Dew of heaven and fatness of the earth,' the blessings of this world and of the next, seemed to distil from the bodies of the saints. Their presence was a check to hostile armies, as well as to the legions of hell; it guarded morals, fostered faith, and encouraged prayer in the heart of cities, to which they attracted as great crowds as now flock to our centres of wart And with what vigilance was cherished the blessed deposit, the loss whereof would have been considered the greatest of public calamities |

‘I have here, my brethren,” says Cardinal Pie, ' to unfold to you a marvellous design of the God whom Scripture calls wonderful in His saints. The Lord Jesus, who said to His disciples: “ Go ye and teach: euntes ergo docete," frequently takes pleasure in sending them forth again after their death; and He makes use of their apostolate from beyond the tomb, to the blessings of grace to other nations besides those whom they evangelized in life. ''I have appointed you," He

--- PAGE 165 --- 154 TIME AFTER PENTECOST

said, '' that you should go and should bring forth fruit: Posui vos ul eatis et fructum afferatis.” In obedience to this command the saints, even after having reached the blessed term of their mortal pilgrimage, consent to become wayfarers once more. Had I leisure to recount to you all the posthumous wanderings of our illustrious pontiffs and thaumaturgi—for instance, the repeated journeys of our own Hilary and Martin during more than ten centuries—I should, though captivating your attention by narratives full of interest, run the risk

of wearying you by the length of my discourse.”

The Gradual and its verse, taken from the psalms, extol the future glory feebly imaged by that which here surrounds the blessed on their couches of honour.

GRADUAL

Exsultabunt sancti in gloria: lztabuntur in cubilibus suis.

Y. Cantate Domino can- ticum novum: !aus ejus in ecclesia sanctorum.

Alleluia, alleluia.

y. Justi epulentur, et ex- sultent in cons Dei: et — — in letitia. Alle- uia.

The saints shall rejoice in glory: they shall be joyful in their beds.

Y. Sing ye to the Lord a new canticle: let his praise be in the church of the saints.

Alleluia, alleluia.

Y. Let the just feast and rejoice before God, and be de- + P with gladness. Alle- ula.

GOSPEL

secundum Lucam.

Cap. vi.

In illo tempore: Descen- dens Jesus de monte, stetit in loco campestri, et turba discipulorum ejus, et multi- tudo copiosa plebis ab omni Judaea et Jerusalem, et mariti- ma, et Tyri, et Sidonis, qui venerant, ut audirent eum, et sanarentur a languoribus

cording to St. Luke. Chap. vi.

At that time, Jesus coming down from the mountain stood in a plain place, and the com- pany of his disciples, and a very great multitude of people from all Judea and. ]Jerusa- lem, and the sea-coast both of Tyre and Sidon, who were come to hear him, and to be

» sonas Pim, Discourse pronounced at the translation of the relics of

--- PAGE 166 --- THIRD DAY WITHIN THE OCTAVE

suis. Et qui vexabantur a spiritibus immundis, curaban- tur. Et omnis turba quzrebat eum tangere: quia virtus de illo exibat, et sanabat omnes. Et ipse, elevatis oculis in discipu- los suos, dicebat: Beati pau- peres: quia vestrum est re- gnum Dei. Beati, qui nunc esuritis: quia saturabimini. Beati, qui nunc fletis: quia ridebitis. — Beati eritis cum vos oderint homines, et cum separaverint vos, et expro- braverint, et ejecerint nomen vestrum tamquam malum, pro- ter Filium hominis. Gaudete n illa die, et exsultate: ecce enim merces vestra multa est

155

healed of their diseases. And they that were troubled with unclean spirits were cured. And all the multitude sought to touch him, for virtue went out from him, and healed all. And he, lifting up his eyes on his disciples, said: Blessed are ye poor, for yours is the king- dom of God. Blessed are ye that hunger now, for you shall be filled. Blessed are ye that weep now, for you S laugh. Blessed shall you be when men shall hate you, and when they shall separate you, and Shall reproach you, and cast out your name as evil, for the Son of man's sake: be glad in

in celo. that day and rejoice, for behold,

your reward is great in heaven.

‘ Amen, amen, I say to you, he that believeth in Me, the works that I do he also shall do, and greater than these shall he do.' Our Lord was speaking of His saints and disciples, who would believe in Him so fully as to place their earthly happiness in poverty, hunger, mourning, and persecution. His word was to be accomplished in them during life; but frequently it was to be still more manifested after death, in the power retained by their relics of driving away demons, healing all diseases, and obtaining every grace. It is not only from the narrow province of Judea, but from the coasts of the entire world, that multitudes now flock to hear the saints in the silent eloquence of their tombs, and to experience the virtue that goes out from them.

St. Paulinus of Nola thus speaks in his poems: ' God, in His goodness, has willed that the saints should be distributed among the nations, so that their aid might never be wanting to us weak mortals. If He has given the principal cities to the greatest saints for their residence, the grace with which they are endowed for

St. John xiv. 12.

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our sake is not confined to the places where their entire bodies rest; where there are but small portions there is the same power, and God thus gives testimony to their credit in heaven. From the holy deposit the sacred ashes are scattered abroad, and become the seeds of life: let but the least drop be taken from the spring, and it is itself a source producing rivers of grace and of love.'!

Let us, then, honour our Lord in His saints; for it is from Him, as the Offertory tells us, that all their power originates.

OFFERTORY

Mirabilis Deus in sanctis suis: God is wonderfulin his saints: Deus Israél i dabit virtu- the God of Israel is he who will tem et fortitudinem plebi sue, give power and strength to his benedictus Deus. leluia. peop e: blessed be God. Alle-

uia.

‘Who ever adored the martyrs, or mistook a man for God ?' asked St. Jerome, in his defence of the homage paid to sacred relics.* And the Church shows, in her Secret, that the cultus of these venerable ashes is rendered to the saints themselves; while the saints' own power is but a power of intercession before the Father of the divine Victim who wrought our salvation.

SECRET

Imploramus, Domine, cle-
mentiam tuam: ut sanctorum tuorum quorum reliquias ve- neramur, suffragantibus meri- tis, hostia quam offerimus nostrorum sit expiatio delicto- rum. Per Dominum.

We implore thy mercy, O Lord, that by the suffrage of the merits of thy saints, whose relics we venerate, the sacri- fice which we offer may be the expiation of our sins. Through our Lord.

Then follow the commemorations as above.

‘ He that eateth My Flesh and drinketh My Blood,’ said the Man-God, ' I will raise him up in the last day.’s

* PAULIN. Poem. xix., xxvii 3 St. John vi. ss.

3 HiERON. contra Vigilantium,

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Holy Communion, which places in our bodies the germ of a glorious immortality, justifies the object of this feast, and explains its joy.

COMMUNION

Gaudete justi in Domino: Rejoice in the Lord, ye just: rectos decet collaudatio. praise becometh the upright.

How could we better conclude our prayers of to-day than by expressing our desire of living eternally with the blessed, who have been gladdening us with the presence of their holy relics] This the Church does in the Postcommunion.

POSTCOMMUNION

Multiplica super nos, quasu- mus, Domine, per hzc sancta
qua sumpsimus, mísericordiam tuam: ut sicut in tuorum solemnitate sanctorum, quo- rum reliquias colimus, pia de- votione lztamur, ita eorum per-

a Societate, te largiente, amur. Per Dominum.

Multiply thy mercy upon us, we beseech thee, O Lord, by these holy mysteries which we have received; that as we rejoice with pious devotion in the solemnity of thy saints, whose relics we venerate, so by thy bounty we may enjoy their eternal fellowship. Through our Lord.

Then the commemorations as before; and at the end of the Mass the Gospel of the Sunday is read, instead of

that of St. John.

VESPERS OF THE HOLY RELICS

The Vespers

martyrs, with the Collect Prayer.

I. ANT. Ist sunt sancti, qui pro testamento Dei sua Corpora tradiderunt, et in sanguine Agni laverunt sto- las suas.

are those of the Common for many

of to-day's Mass for the

I. ANT. These are the saints who yielded their bodies for God's covenant, and washed their robes in the blood of the Lamb.

Ps. Dixit Dominus, page 35.

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2. ANT. Sancti per fidem vicerunt regna, operati sunt justitiam, adepti sunt repro- missiones.

TIME AFTER PENTECOST

2. ANT. The saints by faith conquered kingdoms, wrought justice, and gained the pro- mises.

Ps. Confitebor tibi Domine, page 37.

3. ANT. Sanctorum velut aquile juventus renovabitur: florebunt sicut lilium in civi- tate Domini.

Ps. Beatus

4. ANT. Absterget Deus o-
mnem lacrymam ab oculis san- ctorum: et jam non eritamplius neque luctus, neque clamor, sed nec ullus dolor: quoniam priora transierunt,

3. ANT. The youth of the saints shall be renewed like that of the eagle: they shall flourish as the lily in the city of the Lord.

vir, page 38.

4. ANT. God shall wipe away all tears from the eyes of the saints: and now there shall be no more mourning, nor crying, nor any sorrow: for the former things are passed away.

Ps. Laudate pueri, page 39.

5. ANT. In coelestibus re- gnis sanctorum habitatio est, et in eternum requies eorum.

5. ANT. The dwelling of the saints is in the kingdom of heaven, and their rest shall be eternal.

Ps. Credidi, page 81.

CAPITULUM

Justorum anima in manu Dei sunt, et non tanget il- los tormentum mortis. Visi sunt oculis insipientium mori: illi autem sunt in pace.

The souls of the just are in the hand of God, and the tor- ment of death shall not touch them. In the sight of the unwise they seemed to die: but they are in peace.

HYMN

Sanctorum meritis inclyta gaudia Pangamus Socii, gestaque fortia: Gliscens fert animus prome- re cantibus

Victorum genus optimum.

Let us together celebrate the glorious delights merited by the saints, and their he- roic deeds: for the mind exults to proclaim in song these the noblest of conquerors.

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Hi sunt, quos fatue mun- dus abhorruit ; Hunc fructu vacuum, flori- bus aridum Contempsere tui nominis as- secla Jesu Rex bone caelitum.

Hi pro te furias, atque minas

truces

Calcarunt hominum, szevaque verbera:

His cessit lacerans fortiter

ungula, Nec carpsit penetralia. Caduntur gladiis more bi-

dentium:

Non murmur resonat, non quarimonia;

Sed corde impavido mens bene conscia

Conservat patientiam. Quz vox, quz poterit lingua

retexere, Quae tu martyribus munera praparas ? Rubri nam fluido sanguine fulgidis Cingunt tempora laureis. Te summa, o Deitas, unum-

que poscimus, Ut culpas abigas, noxia sub-

Des pacem famulis, ut tibi gloriam Annorum in seriem canant. Amen. Y. Exsultabunt sancti in gloria.

Letabuntur ín cubili- bus suis.

159

These are they whom the world in its folly abhorred; while they, the faithful fol- lowers of thy name, O Jesus, merciful King of the heavenly citizens, despised the world as barren and devoid of fruits and flowers,

For thy sake they scorned the rage of men, their savage threats and cruel stripes: the fiercely rending hook, van- quished by their courage, left the brave heart untouched.

Like sheep they are slaugh- tered by the sword: not a murmur, not a complaint es- capes them; but with un- quailing heart, the soul, con- Scious of right, preserves its patience,

What voice, what tongue could relate the rewards thou

reparest for the martyrs?

or adorned with the purple of their own blood, they bind their brows with victory's glittering laurels.

We beseech thee, O supreme and only God, that thou wouldst cleanse away our sins, remove all evils, and grant peace to thy servants, that they may sing glory to thee for all ages to come.

Amen.

Y. The saints shall rejoice in glory.

Hy. They shall be joyful in their beds.

ANTIPHON OF THE MAGNIFICAT

Gaudent in calis anime Sanctorum, qui Christi ve- stigia sunt secuti; et quia

The souls of the saints, who have followed the footsteps of Christ, rejoice in heaven:

--- PAGE 171 --- 160 TIME AFTER PENTECOST

pro ejus amore sanguinem and because for his sake they suum fuderunt, ideo cum shed their blood, therefore they Christo exsultant sine fine. exult with Christ for ever.

The Canticle Magnificat, page 43.

The Prayer is the Collect of the Mass, page 151. Then follow the commemorations of the Sunday and of the octave.

In some churches, the hymn for this feast is the following, composed by Claud Santeüil, who must not be confounded with John Baptist Santeüil of St. Victor. The compositions of the former are superior to those of his brother in unction and simplicity, as well as by their orthodoxy.

HYMN

O vos unanimes Christiadum chori, Sanctorum tumulos et cineres patrum, Charas exuvias, pignora czli- tum Latis dicite cantibus.

Calo quando piis zqua la.

boribus Felices anime gaudia possi- dent, Poenarum sociis debita redditur Hic laus et decus ossibus.

Passim sparsa Deus, pol-
liciti memor Custos, ne pereant, pignora colligit : Hiectosque suis providus ag- t

g Aptandos lapides locis. Quin et reliquias, et tu- mulos sibi Aras ipse Deus consecrat hostia :
Conjungensque suis se caput artubus, Hos secum simul immolat,

O choirs of Christians, one in heart, celebrate in songs of joy the tombs of the saints and the ashes of our fathers; dear relics, pledges left us by the heavenly citizens.

While their happy souls possess in heaven joys pro- portioned to their loving toils on earth, here below meet praise and honour are render- ed to their bodies, sharers anon in their sufferings.

Mindful of his promise, God, their kind protector, gathers these scattered pledges, lest they perish; and lovingly col- lects his chosen stones to fit them for their places.

Yea, God, who is himself our Victim, consecrates these relics and tombs into altars for himself; the divine Head unites with these his members, and immolates them together with himself.

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Vos, quorum cineres sup- plicibus pia, Tutum prasidium, plebs colit osculis, Si vos nostra movent, sub- sidium boni Vestris ferte clientibus. Ut cum nostra novis splen- dida dotibus Surget juncta choris spirituum

caro, Indivisa Trias sit Deus omnia
Nobis semper in omnibus. Amen.

161

O ye, whose ashes the pious people looks upon as its secure defence, and honours with suppliant kisses; if our troubles touch your hearts, bring aid, in your goodness, to your clients.

So that when our flesh, re- splendent with new gifts, shall rise again and be united with the choirs of spirits, God, the indivisible Trinity, may be to us for ever all in all.

Amen.

We next give the beautiful formula from the Roman pontifical for the blessing of shrines and reliquaries.

PREFACE

Vere dignum et justum est, equum et salutare, nos tibi semper, et ubique gratias agere, Domine sancte, Pater omnipo-
tens, eterne Deus inzstima-
bilis, Deus ineffabilis, Deus
misericordiarum, et totius con- solationis. Qui Moysi famulo tuo pracepisti, ut juxta ex- emplar quod ei in monte demonstrasti, arcam de lignis imputribilibus construeret, et eam auro mundissimo circum- daret, in qua urna aurea manna ceelesti plena, cum tabulis te- stamenti digito majestatis tua conscriptis, in testimonium futuris generationibus servari deberet. Quique nostris seculis eadem sacratius intelligenda manifestasti, dum corpus unici Filii tui, opere Spiritus Sancti de incorrupta Virgine con- ceptum, et anima rationali vivificatum, omni plenitudine divinitatis replesti:

It is truly meet and just, right and salutary, that we should always and in all places give thanks to thee, O holy Lord, Father almighty, eter- nal, inestimable God, ineffable God, God of mercies and of all consolation. Who didst com- mand thy servant Moses to construct, according to the pattern thou didst show him in the mount, an ark of in- corruptible wood, and to cover it all over with purest gold, that therein might be pre- served, as a testimony to fu- ture generations, the golden urn full of heavenly manna, with the tables of the Cove- nant written by the finger of thy Majesty. In our ages thou didst make known how these same things are to be more mys- tically understood, when thou didst fill with all the plenitude of the Divinity the Body ofthine only Son, conceived of the most pure Virgin by the operation of the Holy Ghost, and quickened with a rational soul.

--- PAGE 173 --- 162

Te suppliciter imploramus, omnipotens Deus, Pater Do-
mini nostri Jesu Christi, ex quo omnis paternitas in czlo et in terra nominatur; ut hzc vascu- lasanctorum tuorum pignoribus psents, eisdem sanctis tuis ntercedentibus, caelesti bene- dictione perfundere digneris, quatenus qui horum patrocinia requirunt, ipsis intercedentibus cuncta síbi adversantia, te adju- vante, superare, et omnia com- mode profutura, abundantia largitatis tuz mereantur inve- nire. Et sicut illi, te Domine
inspirante, spiritualium nequiti- arum versutias cavere, et huma- nitus exquisita tormenta non solum contemnere, sed etiam penitus evincere, Christo Do- mino confortante, potuerunt; ita ipsorum merita veneranti- bus, et reliquias humiliter amplectentibus, contra diabo- lum, et angelos ejus, contra fulmina et tempestates, con- tra grandines, et varias pestes, contra corruptum aerem, et mortes hominum, vel anima- lium, contra fures et latrones, Sive gentium incursiones, contra malas bestias, et serpentium, ac reptantium diversissimas formas, contra malorum homi- num adinventiones pessimas, eorumdem sanctorum tuorum precibus complacatus, dexte- ram invictz potentie tue ad depulsionem nocivorum et largitatem proficuorum semper et ubique propitius extende.

TIME AFTER PENTECOST

We suppliantly beseech thee, O almighty God, Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, from whom all paternity in heaven andonearthis named ; that thou wouldst deign to imbue with thy heavenly blessing, through tbe intercession of thy saints, these vessels prepared to receive their sacred remains; so that those who have recourse to their pat- ronage may, through their in- tercession and by thine assis- tance, merit to overcome all adversities, and to obtain all that is useful and profitable from the abundance of thy bounty. And as these thy saints, O Lord, by the inspi- ration of thy grace, were able to avoid the snares of the spi- rits of wickedness, and in the strength of Christ our Lord not only to despise but entire- ly to triumph over the most cruel tortures from the.hands of men: even so, that those who venerate their merits and humbly embrace their relics may be protected against the devil and his angels, against lightnings and tem- pests, against hail and all sorts of plagues, against unhealthy atmosphere and mortalities among men and cattle, against thieves and assassins, against invasions of nations, against wild beasts and serpents and the innumerable kinds of rep- tiles, and against the most wicked designs of evil men— do thou, being appeased by the prayers of the same thy saints, mercifully stretch forth, alwaysand everywhere, theright hand of thine invincible power, to drive away all that is evil, and to shed abroad all benefits. --- PAGE 174 --- THIRD DAY WITHIN THE OCTAVE

Per eumdem Dominum no- strum Jesum Christum Filium tuum, qui tecum vivit et re- Rt inunitate ejusdem Spiritus

ncti Deus, per omnia szcula
seculorum. Amen.

163

Through the same Jesus Christ thy Son our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee, in the unity of the same Hol Ghost, God, world without end. Amen.

Lastly, not to forget our dear dead on any of the days of this octave, let us end with this ancient and tender supplication, used by the churches of Séez, le Mans, Angers, and Rennes, for the Commemoration

of the departed.

SEQUENCE

De profundis clamantes ge- mimus Et gemendo preces effundimus: Exaudi nos, Domine.
Miserere misertus miseris, Qui Salvator et Salus diceris, Competente munere.

Sicut cervus ad fontes pro- rat, Sic anima ad te desiderat, Fons misericordie. Fontis hujus aquis nos abluas, Nec secundum culpas retri- buas, Deus indulgentiae.
Nec mensuram observes sce- lerum, Nec culparum numeres nume- rum, Sed da locum venia. Non est opus reis judicio, Sed afflictis detur remissio, Dono tuz gratie. Tu dixisti: Vos qui laboribus Pressi estis, atque oneribus, Ego vos reficiam. Ecce ad te pressi confugimus, A te solo refici petimus, Per tuam clementiam.

From the depths crying out we groan, and groaning we pour forth our prayer: hear us, O Lord. Pitifully have pity on the pitiable, O thou who art called the Saviour and Salvation, and thy function corresponds to thy name.

As the hart speeds to the fountains, so does the soul yearn after thee, O fount of mercy; wash us with the wa- ters of this fountain, and deal not with us according to our sins, O God of pardon.

Mark not the measure of our crimes, and count not the number of our sins, but make way for indulgence. Guilty as we are, it is not judgment we need; but we are afflicted: grant us forgiveness by the free gift of thy grace.

Thou hast said: All ye that are heavily laden with labours and with burdens, I will re- fresh you. Behold how op- pressed we flee to thee; from thee alone we seek refresh- ment, through thine own cle- mency.

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Nec facturam tuam despicias, Oh! despise not the work Sed clamantem piusrespicias, of thy hands; but look ten- Dans reis remedia. derly upon the suppliant, and Qui venturuses Judex omnium, give healing remedies to the Animabus cunctis fidelium guilty. Thou, who art to Des eterna gaudia. come as Judge of all, grant to Amen. all the souls of the faithful

everlasting joys. Amen.

SAME DAY

SAINT HUBERT BISHOP AND CONFESSOR

RoME, wishing to admit as few interruptions as possible into the present great octave, gives but a brief notice of St. Hubert in the martyrology. It is fitting that we should imitate her reserve. Were we, however, to omit all mention of him, Christian huntsmen, so faithful in proclaiming their glorious patron, would not forgive us. It is right also to satisfy popular piety, and the gratitude of numberless clients saved from hydrophobia and led to the feet of the saint by a tradition of a thousand years’ standing. A few words suffice to recount his life.

After the mysterious stag had revealed Christ to him, he became, from a hunter of wild animals, a hunter of souls; and merited to be called the apostle of Ardenne, whose forests had often echoed to the baying of his hounds. He became the disciple and successor of St. Lambert; and transferring from Maestricht both the relics of the holy martyr-bishop and the episcopal See, he raised Liége from an obscure village to a great town. His blessed death took place on May 30, 727; and on November 3, 743, his precious remains were taken up for the first time, which led to the celebration of his feast on this day. In the following century, the Abbey of Andain was put in possession of the sacred deposit, and took from him the name of St. Hubert, as did like- wise the town which sprang up around and soon became

--- PAGE 176 --- SAINT HUBERT

a centre for pilgrimages. Two orders of knighthood were established in honour of St. Hubert; the first perished with the fall of the Bourbons, its last chiefs; the other still exists, and the kings of Bavaria are its Grand-Masters.

165

ANTIPHONS!

Ave, decus confessorum ; ave, consors angelorum: nobis pra- sens tripudium da, sit perenne gaudium; prece tua Deo grata sanos salva, egros sana.

Y. Justum deduxit Dominus
per vias rectas.

Hail, glory of confessors; hail, companion of go re give us present joy, ich may become eternal bliss: by thy prayer, well-pleasing 4 ic save the healthy, heal the sick.

Y. The Lord hath led the just man through righteous

ways. Hy. Et ostendit illi regnum Hy. And shewn him the king- Dei. dom of God. PRAYER

Propitiare, quasumus, Do- mine, nobis famulis tuis per sancti Huberti confessoris tui atque pontificis merita gloriosa ut ejus pia intercessione ab omnibus semper protegamur adversis. Per Dominum.

Be propitious, we beseech thee, O Lord, to us thy ser- vants, through the glorious merits of St. Hubert th - fessor and bishop, that his loving intercession we may ever be protected from all ad- versities. Through our Lord.

Office of the abbey of St. Scholastica of Juvigny-les-Dames, where a

icd of St. Hubert was kept.

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NOVEMBER 4

SAINT CHARLES BISHOP AND CONFESSOR

MILITAS. This word already stood, crowned with

gold, upon his family escutcheon,! when Charles was born at the castle of Arona. It had been said of the Borromeos that they knew nothing of humility, except to bear it on their coat of arms: but the time had now come when the mysterious device was to be justified by the most illustrious scion of that noble family, and when, at the zenith of his greatness, a Borromeo would learn to void his heart of self, in order that God might fill it. Far, however, from abjuring the high-minded- ness of his race, the humble saint was the most intrepid of them all, while his enterprises were to eclipse the noble exploits of a long line of ancestors: one more proof that humility never debases.

Charles was scarcely twenty-two years of age when Pius IV, his maternal uncle, called him to the difficult post of Secretary of State, shortly afterwards created him Cardinal and archbishop of Milan, and seemed to take pleasure in heaping honours and responsibilities on his young shoulders. The late Pontiff, Paul IV, had been ill-requited for placing a similar confidence in his nephews the Caraffas, who ended their days upon the scaffold. His successor, on the contrary, as the event testified, was actuated by the inspiration of the Holy Ghost, not by the dictates of flesh and blood.

Sixty years of that fatal century had already elapsed, while the evils consequent on Luther's revolt were ever increasing, and the Church was daily threatened with some new danger. The Protestants had just imposed upon the Catholics of Germany the treaty of Passau,

1 On a chief argent the word HUMILITAS sable, crowned or.

--- PAGE 178 --- SAINT CHARLES 167

which completed the triumph of the fanatics, and secured to them equality and liberty. The abdication of Charles V in despair left the empire to his brother Ferdinand; while Spain, with its immense dominions in both hemispheres, fell to his son Philip II. Ferdinand I inaugurated the custom of dispensing with Rome, by crowning himself with the diadem which St. Leo III had placed upon the brow of Charlemagne; and Philip, enclosing Italy by taking Naples in the south and Milan in the north, seemed to many to be threatening the independence of Rome herself. England, reconciled for a brief period under Mary Tudor, was replunged by Elizabeth into the schism which continues to the present day. Boy kings succeeded one another on the throne of St. Louis, and the regency of Catharine de Medici involved France in the wars of religion.

Such was the political situation which the minister of Pius IV had to cope with, and to utilize to the best of his power for the interests of the Holy See and of the Church. Charles did not hesitate. With faith to supply for his want of experience, he understood that to the torrent of errors which threatened to deluge the world Rome must first of all oppose, as an embankment, that undivided truth of which she is the guardian.

He saw how, in contest with a heresy which claimed the name of Reformation while it let loose every passion, the Church might take occasion from the struggle to strengthen her discipline, elevate the morals of her children, and manifest to the eyes of all her indefectible sanctity. This thought had already, under Paul III and Julius III, led to the convocation of the Council of Trent, and inspired its dogmatic definitions and re- formatory decrees. But the Council, twice interrupted, had not completed its work, which was still under dispute. It had now been suspended for eight years, and the difficulties in the way of its resumption continued to increase on account of the quarrelsome pretensions of princes. The Cardinal-nephew bent all his efforts to surmount the obstacles. He devoted day and night to

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the work, imbuing with his views the Sovereign Pontiff himself, inspiring with his zeal the nuncios at the various courts, vying in skill and firmness with diplomatic ministers in order to overcome the prejudices or the ill-will of monarchs. And when, after two years of these difficult negotiations, the Fathers of Trent gathered together once more, Charles was the providence and the tutelary angel of this august assembly. To him it owed its material organization, its political security, the com- plete independence of its deliberations, and their thence- forward uninterrupted continuity. Himself detained at Rome, he was the intermediary between the Pope and the Council. The presiding legates soon gave him their full confidence, as is proved from the pontifical archives; to him, as to the ablest counsellor and most reliable support, they daily had recourse in their solicitudes and anxieties.

‘For her (wisdom's) sake,’ says the Wise Man, ‘I shall have glory among the multitude, and honour with the ancients, though I be young . . . and the faces of princes shall wonder at me. They shall wait for me when I hold my peace, and they shall look upon me when I speak, and if I talk much they shall lay their hands on their mouths." Such was truly the case with St. Charles, at this critical moment of the world's history. No wonder that divine Wisdom, to whom he listened with such docility, and who inspired him so copiously, rendered his name immortal in the memory of a grateful posterity.

In his Defence of the too famous Declaration, Bossuet, speaking of the Council of Trent, which owed its com- pletion to St. Charles, says that it brought the Church back to the purity of her origin as far as the iniquity of the times would permit. And when the (Ecumenical sessions at the Vatican were opened, the bishop of Poitiers, the future Cardinal Pie, spoke of ' that Council of Trent, which deserved, more truly even than that of

! Wisd, viii. 10-12. * Gallia ortbodoxa, Pars I1I., Lib. xl. cap. 13; vii, cap. 4o.

--- PAGE 180 --- SAINT CHARLES 169

Nicza, to be called the great Council, that Council, concerning which we may confidently assert that since the creation of the world no assembly of men has suc- ceeded in introducing among mankind such great perfection; that Council whereof it has been said that, as a tree of life, it has for ever restored to the Church the vigour of her youth. More than three centuries have elapsed since its labours were completed, and its healing and strengthening virtue is still felt.’*

* The Council of Trent is perpetuated in the Church by means of the Roman Congregations charged with its continual application, and with ensuring obedience to the pontifical constitutions which have followed and completed it.'? Charles suggested the measures adopted for this end by Pius IV, and approved and developed by succeeding pontiffs. He caused the liturgical books to be revised, and the Roman catechism to be compiled. But first, and in all things, he was himself the living model of the renewed discipline, and thus acquired the right to exercise his zeal for or against others. Rome, initiated by him in the salutary reform of which it was fitting she should set the first example, was in a few months completely transformed. The three churches now dedicated to St. Charles within her walls,* and the numerous altars which bear his name in other sanctuaries of the holy city, are the testimony of her enduring gratitude.

His administration, however, and his sojourn in Rome, lasted only during the six years of Pius IV's pontificate. On the death of that Pope, in spite of the entreaties of Pius V, whose election was due chiefly to his exertions, Charles set out for Milan, which called for the presence ofits Archbishop. For nigh a century the great Lombard city had scarcely known its pastors save by name; and this abandonment had delivered it, like so many others

' Discourse pronounced at Rome, in the church of St. Andrew della Valle,

January 14, 1870. Jen M rection t ecition. of the apgrending Cows of Boulemn, 19550, 9 St. at the Catinari, one of the most beautiful in Rome; St. Charles on the Corso, which possesses his heart; St, Charles at the four fountains.

--- PAGE 181 --- 170 TIME AFTER PENTECOST

at that period, to the wolf that ‘ catcheth and scattereth the sheep.” Our saint understood far otherwise the responsibility of the cure of souls. He gave himself entirely to this duty, without care for himself, without a thought for the judgments of men, without fear of the powerful. His maxim was ‘ To treat of the interests of Jesus Christ in the spirit of Jesus Christ ’;! his pro- gramme the ordinances of Trent. Charles's episcopate was the carrying out of the great Council ; its living form; the model of its practical application in the whole Church; and the proof of its efficiency, demonstrating that it sufficed for every reform, and could, of itself alone, sanctify both pastor and flock.

We would gladly have given more than a passing notice of these Acts of the Church of Milan, which have been lovingly collected by faithful hands, and which show our saint in so grand a light. Herein, after the six provincial councils and eleven diocesan synods over which he presided, follows the inexhaustible series of general or special mandates dictated by his zeal; pastoral letters, the most remarkable of which is the sublime M emorial written after the plague in Milan; instructions upon the holy liturgy, upon the tenure of churches, upon preaching, upon the administration of the Sacraments, and notably the celebrated instruction to confessors; ordinances concerning the. archiepiscopal court, the chancellorship, canonical visitations; regulations for the archbishop's domestic family, and his vicars and officials of all ranks, for the parish priests and their meetings in conference (a custom introduced by him), for the Oblates he had founded, the seminaries, schools, and conífraternities ; edicts and decrees, and lastly various tables, and complete forms of administrative acts, so drawn up that nothing remains but to insert names and dates. It is a true pastoral encyclopedia, which, in its magnificent amplitude, would appear to be the work of a long life; yet St. Charles died at the early age of forty- six; and, moreover, all this was written in the midst of ! Acta Eccl. Mediolanensis, Oratio habita in Concil, prov. vi.

--- PAGE 182 --- SAINT CHARLES

171

trials and combats sufficient to have been his sole pre-

occupation.

But it is time to listen to the Church's account of him.

Carolus, Mediolani nobili Bor- romazorum familia natus, quan- ta futurus esset sanctitate conspicuus, divina lux super parientis matris cubiculum noctu coruscans prasignavit. A pueritia clericali militia adscriptus, abbatia postmodum insignitus, patrem admonuit, ne reditus in rem familiarem converterentur: quorum ipse nactus administrationem, quid- quid supererat, expendebat in pauperes. Adolescens liberali- bus disciplinis Papi operam dedit. Castitatem adeo coluit, ut impudicas etiam mulieres ad labefactandam ejus pudici- tiam pluries immissas invicta constantia fugaverit. Vigesi- mum tertium ztatis annum agens, a Pio Quarto ejus avun- culo in sacrum Cardinalium col- legium cooptatus, insigni pie- tatis ac virtutum omnium splendore preluxit. Mox ab eodem Mediolanensis archi- episcopus creatus, in eo pluri- mam operam adhibuit, ut juxta sacrosanctum Tridenti- num concilium, quod ejus po- tissimum sollicitudine jam tum fuerat absolutum, ecclesiam sibi commissam componeret: atque ut depravatos plebis suz mores reformaret, prz- ter iteratam sepius synodo- rum celebrationem, seipsum eximie sanctitatis prebuit ex- emplar. In profligandis hare- ticis e partibus Rhatorum et Helvetiorum, quorum plurimos ad Christianam fidem convertit, maxime laboravit.

Charles was born at Milan, of the noble family of Borro- meo. His future pre-eminent sanctity was foreshown by a heavenly light shining at night over the room where he was born. He was enrolled in his boyhood in the ranks of the clergy, and soon provided with an abbey; but he warned his father not to turn its revenues to private use; and as soon as its administration was entrust- ed to him, he spent all the surplus income on the . As a youth he pursued his liberal studies at Pavia. He had the greatest love for holy chastity; and several times put to flight, with the greatest firmness, some shameless wo- men sent to tempt him. In the twenty-third year of his age, his uncle Pius IV created him Cardinal; and he adorned that dignity by his great piety and remarkable virtues. Be- ing soon afterwards made archbishop of Milan, he la- boured strenuously to carry out, in his whole diocese, the decrees of the Council of Trent, which had just been concluded mainly through his exertions. To reform the evil customs of his people he held many synods, and moreover was ever himself a perfect model of virtue. He also laboured much to expel the heretics from Switzerland and the country of the Grisons, and converted many of them to the true faith.

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Hujus viri caritas pracipue enituit, cum Uritano principatu vendito, pretium universum ad quadraginta aureorum millia, una die in pauperes erogavit. Nec minore pietate viginti millia, qué sibi fuerant legata, distribuit. Ecclesiasticos pro- ventus, quibus ab avunculo copiose fuerat cumulatus, dimi- sit, nonnullis retentis, quibus ad proprios usus et egenorum ne- cessitates utebatur. Quo tem- pore pe Mediolani grassaba- tur, domesticam supellectilem, ne relicto sibi lectulo, in eosdem alendos contulit, super nuda in posterum tabula discum- bens; ue morbo labor- antes sedulo invisens, paterno reficiebat affectu, et Ecclesie sacramenta propriis ipse mani- bus administrans, mirum in modum solabatur: humillimis interim precibus reconciliator accedens, publica supplicatione indicta, fune sibi collum alligato, nudis pedibus, etiam offendiculo cruentatis, cru- cem bajulans, semetipsum pro peccatis populi hostiam offe- rens, divinam indignationem avertere satagebat. Ecclesia- stice libertatis fuit acerrimus propugnator. Discipline vero restituenda sollicitus, a se- ditiosis, dum orationi insi- steret, tormenti bellici laxata rota, igneo globulo percus- sus, divina virtute servatur íllesus.

TIME AFTER PENTECOST

The charity of this Tí man was strikingly exhibited, when he sold the principality of Oria, and in one day dis- tributed the price, amounting to about forty thousand gold pieces, among the poor. With no less generosity he, on another occasion, distributed twenty thousand gold picces left him as a legacy. He re- signed the many ecclesiastical benefices which his uncle had bestowed p ay him, except a few which he retained for his own necessities and for re- lieving the poor. When the plague was raging in Milan, he gave up the furniture of his house, even his bed, for the support of the poor, and thenceforward always slept on a bare board. He visited the plague-stricken with unwearied zeal, assisted them with fatherly affection, and, ad- ministering to them with his own hands the Sacraments of the Church, singularly con- soled them. Meanwhile he approached to God in humble prayer as a mediator for his people; he ordered public sup-

lications to be made, and imself walked in the proces- sions, with a rope round his neck, his feet bare and bleed- ing from the stones, and carry- ing a cross; and thus offering himself as a victim for the sins of the people, he endeavoured to turnaway theangerof God. He strenuously defended the liberty of the Church, and was most zealous in restoring discipline, For this reason some seditious persons fired upon him while he was engaged in prayer, but by the divine power he was preserved unharmed.

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Abstinentia fuit admirabili: jejunabat saepissime, pane tan- tum et aqua, solis quandoque lupinis contentus. Nocturnis vigiliis, asperrimo cilicio, as- siduis flagellis corpus domabat. Humilitatis ac mansuetudinis studiosissimus fuit. Orationem ac verbi Dei pradicationem, gravissimislicetcuris occupatus, numquam íntermisit. Multas ecclesias, monasteria, collegia zdificavit. Plura scripsit, ad episcoporum presertim instru- ctionem utilissima: cujus etiam opera parochorum catechismus prodiit. Demuminsolitudinem Varali montis, ubi sculptis imaginibus Dominice passionis mysteria ad vivum represen- tantur, secessit; ibique, diebus aliquot voluntaria castigatione asperam, sed Christi dolorum meditationibus suavem vitam ducens, in febrim incidit. Medio- lanum reversus, ingravescente morbo, cinere ac cilicio co- opertus, et oculis in crucifixi imaginem defixis, migravit in celum, ztatis anno quadra- gesimo septimo, Domini vero millesimo quingentesimo octo- gesimo quarto, tertio nonas Novembris. Quem miraculis clarum Paulus Quintus Pon- tifex Maximus in sanctorum numerum retulit,

173

His abstinence was wonder- ful: he very often fasted on bread and water, and some- times took only a little pulse. He subdued his body by night- watchings, a rough hair shirt, and frequent disciplines. He was a great lover of humility and meekness. Even when Occupied by weighty business, he never omitted his prayer or preaching. He built many churches, monasteries, and col- leges. He wrote many works of great value especially for the instruction of bishops; and it was through his care that the catechism for parish priests was drawnup. Atlength heretired to a solitary place on Mount Varallo, where the mysteries of our Lord's Passion are sculp- tured in a lifelike manner, and there, after spending some days in severe bodily mortifi- cations sweetened by medita- tion on Christ's sufferings, he was seized by a fever. He returned to Milan; but the ill- ness growing much worse, he was covered with sackcloth and ashes, and with his eyes fixed on the crucifix he passed to heaven, in the forty-seventh year of his age, on the third of the Nones of November, in the year of our Lord 1584. He was illustrated by miracles, and was enrolled amongthesaintsby Pope Paul V

Successor of Ambrose, thou didst inherit his zeal for the house of God; thy action also was powerful in the Church; and though separated in time by a thousand years, your names are now united in one common glory. May your prayers also mingle before the throne of God for us in these times of decadence; and may your power in heaven obtain for us pastors worthy to continue, or

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if need be to renew, your work on earth. How obviously applicable to both of you were those words of Holy Writ: 5 What manner of man the ruler of the city is, such also are they that dwell therein.’* And again: ' I will fill the soul of the priests with fatness; and My people shall be filled with My good things, saith the Lord.'?

Rightly didst thou say, O Charles: ‘ Never did Israel hear a more awful threat than this: Lex peribit a sacer- dote® Priests are divine instruments, upon whom depends the welfare of the world; their abundance is the riches of all, their default is the ruin of nations.”

And when, from the midst of thy priests convoked in synod, thou didst pass to the venerable assembly of seventeen bishops thy suffragans, thy language became, if possible, still more vehement: ' Let us fear lest the angered Judge say to us: If you were the enlighteners of My Church, why have you closed your eyes? If you pretended to be shepherds of the flock, why have you suffered it to stray? Salt of the earth, you have lost your savour. Light of the world, they that sat in darkness and the shadow of death have never seen you shine. You were apostles; who, then, put your apostolic firm- ness to the test, since you have done nothing but seek to please men ? You were the mouth of the Lord, and you have made that mouth dumb. If you allege in excuse that the burden was beyond your strength, why did you make it the object of your ambitious intrigues ?'5

But, by the grace of God blessing thy zeal for the amendment of both sheep and lambs, thou couldst add, O Charles: ' Province of Milan, take heart again. Be- hold, thy fathers have come to thee, and are assembled once more for the purpose of remedying thy ills. They have no other care than to see thee bring forth the fruits of salvation; and for this end they multiply their united efforts.”

* "fie fam shal paci." shall al, skal be sont th has of th priest” snd on his lips (Ezech. Vii. 26). Acta Eccl. Mediolan. Constitutiones et regulie societati scholarum doctrinz christianz, Cap. III,

* Concio I. ad clerum, in synod. diceces. xi * Oratio habita in concil. prov. ii. h * In concil. prov. vi.

--- PAGE 186 --- SAINT CHARLES 175

' My little children, of whom I am in labour again, until Christ be formed in you.'* Such is the aspiration of the Bride, which will cease only in heaven: and synods, visitations, reformation, decrees concerning preaching and government and ministry, were, in thy eyes, but the manifestation of this one desire of the Church, the ex- pression of the mother's cry as she brings forth her children.?

Deign, O blessed pontiff, to restore in all places the love of holy discipline, wherein the pastoral solicitude that rendered thee so glorious? found the secret of its marvellous fecundity. It may be sufficient for the simple faithful merely to know that among the treasures of the Church there exists, side by side with her doctrine and Sacraments, an incomparable code, the work of ages, an object of legitimate pride to all her sons, whose divine privileges it protects. But the priest, entirely devoted to the Church, cannot serve her usefully without that profound and persevering study which will give him the understanding of her laws in detail. But clergy and laity alike must beseech God that the miseries of the times may not impede-the meeting of our venerated superiors in the councils and synods prescribed at Trent,* and so grandly carried out by thee, O Charles, who didst prove by experience their value for the salvation of the world. May heaven, for thy sake, hear our prayer; and then we shall be able to say with thee5 to the Church: * O tender mother, let thy voice cease from weeping . . . for there is a reward for thy work, saith the Lord; and thy sons shall return out of the land of the enemy. And I will fill the soul of the priests with fatness: and my people shall be filled with my good things.'e

Let us offer our homage to two martyrs, whose memory was celebrated on this day even before that of St. Charles. Vitalis the slave and Agricola his master, combating together in the glorious arena, proved ? Cal. iv. 19. Sessio xxiv. de Reformation ione, cap. II

. x».

B Concio I. ad cl. in synod. diceces. xi. * Concio I.'ad clerum, in synod. Collect of the feast. — ¢ Jerem. xxxi. 16, 14. "

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that social inequality counts for nothing with regard to heaven’s nobility. St. Ambrose, when sojourning at Bologna, where they had suffered, discovered their bodies and celebrated their triumph.! The Church, following his example, has ever associated them in one common homage.

176

PRAYER

Praesta, quazsumus, omnipo- tens Deus, ut, qui sanctorum
martyrum tuorum Vitalis et Agricole solemnia colimus, eorum apud te intercessionibus adjuvemur. Per Dominum.

Grant, we beseech thee, al- mighty God, that celebrating the festival of thy holy mar- tyrs Vitalis and Agricola, we may be assisted by their in- tercession with thee. Through our Lord.

Returning to the octave of All Saints’, let us say the following Sequence composed by Notker, and formerly sung in Germany on the day of the feast.

SEQUENCE

Omnes sancti Seraphim, Cherubim,

Throni quoque Dominatio- .

nesque,

Principatus, Potestates, Vir- tutes,

Archangeli, Angeli, vos decet laus et honores.

Ordines novem spirituum beatorum,

Quos in Dei laudibus fir- mavit caritas,

Nos fragiles homínes firmate precibus :

Ut spiritales pravitates ve- stro juvamine vincentes for- titer,

Nunc et in evum vestris simus digni sollemniis inte- resse sacris.

Vos quos Dei gratia vin- cere terrea,

All ye holy Seraphim, Che- rubim,

Thrones also and Domina- tions,

Principalities, Powers, Vir- tues,

Archangels, Angels, to you beseemeth praise and honour.

Ye nine choirs of blessed spirits,

Whom charity has stablish- ed in God's praises,

Make us frail mortals as stable, by your prayers:

So that by your assistance, resolutely overcoming the spi- rits of wickedness,

We may be worthy to take part, both now and for ever, in your sacred solemnities.

Ye whom the grace of God enabled to conquer the things of earth,

1 Axpz. Lib de Exhort. Virginitat. I.

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Et angelis soclos fecit esse polo: Vos patriarche, prophet, apostoli, confessores, martyres, monachi, virgines,

Et viduarum sanctarum om- niumque placentium populus supremo Domino,

Nos adjutorium nunc et perenniter foveat, protegat, ut vestrum,

In die poscimus gaudiorum vestrorum. Amen.

177 And associated with the angels in heaven; Ye patriarchs, prophets,

apostles, confessors, martyrs, monks, virgins, Assembly of holy widows,

and of all who have been pleasing to the sovereign Lord,

May your assistance, now and ever, cherish and protect us,

As we pray on thís day of your joys. Amen.

We gather from the euchology or ritual of the Greeks a few samples of their prayers for the dead.

IN OFFICIO EXSEQUIARUM

Venite, extremum vale, Deo gratias agentes, defuncto di- camus. Illi Dominus requiem
conferat, precemur.

Qualis vita nostra est? Flosculus, vapor, matutinus ros vere. Adeste igitur et sepulcra circumlustremus. Ubi

is venustas? Ubi ju- ventus? Ubiillalumina ? Ubi carnis species? Cuncta velut feenum apparuerunt, dissipata suntcuncta. Venite et Christo cum lacrymis procidamus. Salva sperantes in te, Ma- ter solis occasum nescientis; Dei genitrix, optimum tuum natum precibus tuis interpella, precamur, ut ei qui hinc migravit, det requiem, ubi justorum anima quiescunt: divinorum bonorum in aulis justorum haeredem illum con- stitue, in memoria eterna, o immaculata,

Come, let us bid a last fare- well to the deceased, giving thanks to God. Let us pray that the Lord may give him rest.

What is our life? A little flower, a vapour, truy a morning dew. Come, then, and let us go round about the graves. Where is the beauty ofthebody ? "Whereis youth ? Where now are those eyes? Where that comeliness of form? All appeared as grass, all are now withered. Come, and let us with tears prostrate before Christ.

O Mother of the sun that knows no setting, save them that trust in thee. Mother of God, we beseech thee, entreat thy most loving Son to give unto hím, who has left us, rest where the souls of the just re Establish him, O im- maculate one, heir of divine possessions, and let him be in everlasting remembrance,

--- PAGE 189 --- 178 Christus verus Deus no-
Ster qui a mortuis surrexit,

intercessionibus illibate sua Matris et omnium sanctorum, Servi sui vita functi animam in justorum tabernaculis col- locet; in Abraham sinibus re- clinet, justis annumeret; no- Strique misereatur ut bonus et clemens. Amen.

JEterna tibi sit memoria, semper beande et jugi animo recolende frater noster.

Gloria Deo cui ita complacuit.

TIME AFTER PENTECOST

May Christ who rose from the dead, our true God, moved by the intercession of his spot- less Mother and of all the saints, place the soul of his de servant in the taber- nacles of the just; may he lay him to rest in the bosom of Abraham, numbering him among the just; and may he, who is both good and kind, have mercy upon us. Amen.

May thy memory be eter- nal, O our brother; thou shalt be for ever blessed, and shalt ever be cherished in our hearts.

Glory be to God, who hath so willed !

--- PAGE 190 --- FIFTH DAY WITHIN THE OCTAVE 179

NOVEMBER 5

FIFTH DAY WITHIN THE OCTAVE OF ALL SAINTS

* AND the Spirit and the bride say: Come! And he that heareth, let him say: Comel... Surely I come quickly: Amen. Come, Lord Jesus.”

While we honour the Church triumphant with our chants, and succour the Church suffering with our prayers, let us also turn our thoughts to the Church militant, during these days when the closing cycle presents her to us as about to complete her work on earth. Now the Church is our model; but especially at the close of our pilgrimage ought we to make her attitude our own. The above-cited dialogue, which will terminate the world's history, shows clearly the senti- ments wherewith the Holy Spirit inspires her in pre- paration for the final hour.

As the sufferings of the dying man break the last ties that bound him to the life of the senses; so the last social convulsions, however violently they may shake the Church, will eventually disengage her from the trammels of a world which she will no longer be able to save from ruin. Free, therefore, to give herself up to her desires which had been pent up for ages and kept under control by so many labours, she will have but one word to utter: 'Comel' And in the universal destruction, when the sun shall be darkened and the moon shall hide her light, and the powers of heaven shall be moved, she will rejoice, knowing that in the midst of that awful night the cry will be heard: * Behold the Bridegroom cometh |’

Let him that heareth, let every one of us say also: ‘Come!’ If we love our Lord, if we would be recognized as members of His dear Church, let us be worthy of that

1 Apoc. xxii. 17, 20.

--- PAGE 191 --- 180 TIME AFTER PENTECOST

beautiful title; let us see all things with the Church's eyes; let us appreciate all things, and especially death, according to her heart; let us look upon the last passage, both for our dear ones and for ourselves, as the entrance into the eternal nuptial feast. We know well that if anyone sincerely desires our Lord, our Lord will not be wanting to him. Even if, after this life, we have yet some debts to pay, if some adornment be wanting to our wedding garment ere we can take our place at the heavenly banquet; the blessed passage, nevertheless, places all the just, at once and entirely, in a state of impeccability, and in the secure possession of eternal

love.

Such, as we shall have occasion to see, were the

sentiments of our forefathers.

Many churches in France, Switzerland, and England, used formerly to sing the following Sequence in honour

of the saints.

SEQUENCE

Christo inclyto candida Nostra canunt melodiam ag- mina, Laudes omnibus dantia Sanctis par hzc sacrata fe- stalia. Mariam primum vox net nostra, Per quam nobis vite sunt data premia. Regina, quz es mater et casta, Solve nostra per Filium tu- um ta. Angelorum concio tota Et archangelorum turba lyta

So-

in- c

Nostra diluant jam peccata,

eg supera caeli gau- Tu propheta, praeco, lu- cerna,

Atque plus quam propheta, In lucida nos pone via, Mundans nostra corpora.

To Christ the all-glorious our white-robed choirs sing melody, giving praise to all the saints on this their sacred festival.

First let our voice name Mary, through whom was given to us the gift of life. O Queen, who art both Mother and Virgin, through thy Son cancel our sins.

May the whole assembly of angels, and the glorious mul- titude of archangels, cleanse away our sins, and prepare us for the supernal delights of heaven.

O thou, who wast prophet, and herald, and lamp, yea and more than a prophet, make us all pure and set us in the path of light.

--- PAGE 192 --- FIFTH DAY WITHIN THE OCTAVE

Apostolorum princeps Atque cuncta Juncta caterva, Jam corrobora Vera in doctrina Plebis pectora. Stephane gloriose, Rutilans in corona, Sanctorumque martyrum Turma valida, Fortia date corda, Corpora eque firma, Sacra ut hostem vincant Rite spicula. Martine inclyte Et praesulum omnis caterva, Suscipe nunc pia Modo nostra clemens precata. Regina virginum perma- xima, Tu Mater es incorrupta, Virgo et gravida; Sacrata Domino est castitas: Nostras serva animas Mundaque corpora. Monachorum veneranda suf- fragia Omniumque sanctorum contu- bernia Per precata assidua Nostra gubernent tempora, Nosque ducant ad superna Polorum vera gaudia. Subjungant pium agmina Amen redempta.

18r

Prince of apostles, together with all thy colleagues, streng- then the hearts of thy people in true doctrine.

Glorious Stephen, glitter- ing in thy crown; mighty ar- my of holy martyrs; give us brave hearts and strong bodies, that the darts of our holy faith may duly vanquish the enemy.

Illustrious Martin, and all the band of holy ntiffs, kindly receive this day our filial prayers.

O peerless Queen of virgins, thou art a Mother and yet spotless, a Maiden and yet fruitful; chastity is sacred to our Lord; preserve our souls and bodies pure.

May the venerable suffrages of the monks, and may the assembly of all the saints by their prayers, rule our times, and lead us to the true and supernal joys of heaven.

Let the ranks of the redeemed add a fervent Amen.

The hymn for the Vespers of the Dead in the Mozarabic Office is taken from the tenth song in the Cathemerinon of Prudentius.

HYMN

Deus ignee fons animarum,
Duo qui socias elementa: Vivum simul, ac moribundum, Hominem, Pater effigiasti.

O God, thou fiery source of living beings, who, uniting two elements in one, the mor- tal and the immortal, didst fashion man, O our Father.

--- PAGE 193 --- 182 Tua sunt, tua Rector utra-

ue: Tibi de jungitur horum; Tibi, dum vegetata coherent, Spiritus simul et caro servit. Rescissa sed ista seorsum, Solvunt hominem, perimunt- que; Humus excipit arida corpus, Anime rapit aura liquorem. Quia cuncta creata necesse est Labefacta senescere tandem, Compactaque dissociari, Et dissona texta retexi. Hinc maxima cura sepul- chris Impenditur: hinc resolutos Honor ultimus accipit artus, Et funeris ambitus ornat.

Hoc provida Christi colarum Pietas studet, utpote credens Fore protinus omnia viva, Qua nunc gelidus sopor urget.

Qui jacta cadavera passim Miserans tegit aggere terra: Opus exhibet ille benignum Christo pius omnipotenti.

Quia lex eadem monet omnes Gemitum dare sorte sub una, Cognataque funera nobis Aliena in morte dolere.

Sequimur tua dicta, Re- emptor, Quibus atra e morte trium- phans, Tua per vestigia mandas Socium crucis ire latronem. Patet ecce fidelibus ampli Via lucida jam paradisi; Licet et nemus illud adire Homini, quod ademerat an- guis.

TIME AFTER PENTECOST

Both are thine, and thou art their Ruler; their union is linked to thee; and while they live and cleave together, both spirit and flesh serve thee.

But when they are rent asunder, dissolution and death come upon man; the dry earth receives his body, while the swift spirit flees to heaven.

"Iis the lot of all created things to fail and grow old at last, for compound beings to be dissolved, for the union of dis- similar elements to be unknit.

Therefore is so great care bestowed upon the sepulchres; therefore are the last honours paid to these lifeless limbs, and the funeral pomp does them homage.

Such is the provident piety exercised by Christ's disciples, believing that all which now lies wrapt in icy slumber shall suddenly spring to life again.

Whoever, then, in loving piety, shall cover with earth the corpses that lie unburied does in his piety a kindly deed to Christ himself the Omnipotent.

Since the common law ad- monishes us that all groan under the same fate, it be- hoves us to mourn, in a stran- ger's death, the loss of one of our kin.

We follow therefore thy words, . O Redeemer, when, triumphing over dismal death, thou didst bid the thief, thy fellow-crucified, to tread in thy footprints.

Lo! now the shining path that leads to the broad land of Eden lies open to thy faith- ful; and man may again enter that beautiful garden, of which the serpent had despoiled him

--- PAGE 194 --- FIFTH DAY WITHIN THE OCTAVE

Illic precor, optime Ductor, Famulam tibi precipe mentem Genitali in sede sacrari,

Quam liquerat exsul, et errans.

Animas, non immemor ob hoc, Quarum memores sumus ipsi, Deus, sorde rogamus piatas,
Erebi rogis fac alienas.

Sit honor tibi, fons pietatis:

Laus, gloria, summa potestas

Patri, Genito, sive Domino

Orbis Regi; qui Deus unus.
Amen.

183

There, O best of guides! we pray thee, bid the soul, thy handmaid be made holy in the place of her creation, which

she had quitted as an exile and

a wanderer.

Wherefore be mindful, O God, of the souls, whose memory we cherish; let them, we beseech thee, be cleansed from all stain, and escape the fires of hell.

Honour to thee, O fount of mercy! Praise, glory, sove- reign power, to the Father, to the Son, to the Lord who rules the world, one only God. Amen.

--- PAGE 195 --- 184 TIME AFTER PENTECOST

NOVEMBER 6

SIXTH DAY WITHIN THE OCTAVE OF ALL SAINTS

HOU art my portion, O Lord, Alleluia, in the land

of the living, Alleluia, Alleluia.—Bring forth my soul out of prison, to confess to Thy Name; in the land of the living, Alleluia, Alleluia.—Glory and honour be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost, world without end, Amen: in the land of the living, Alleluia, Alleluia.’

Such is the opening chant for the departed, in the Mozarabic missal. With the Greeks, in like manner, no word is of more frequent recurrence in the Office of the Dead than the Alleluia.? Moreover, both Greece and Spain are but observing what was once a general practice throughout the Church.

St. Jerome tells us how, at the death of Fabiola, all the Roman people assembled, the chant of psalms echoed on all sides, and the sublime Alleluia filled the temples till it shook their gilded roofs.? Two centuries later, the story of St. Radegonde’s funeral, written by her daughter Baudonivia, proves that, if submissive tears were not forbidden to the survivors and might at times even flow abundantly, the custom in Gaul was, nevertheless, the same as that of Rome.*

And again, with regard to a later period, the Manu- script of Rheims quoted by Dom Hugh Ménard in his notes on the Gregorian Sacramentary? prescribes as a

? ‘In Missa defunctorum Officium (seu Introitus).’ ' Tu es portio mea, Domine,

alleluia, in terra viventium, alleluia, alleluia. 'y. Educ de carcere animam meam ad confitendum nomini tuo; in terra viventium, alleluia, alleluia. Gloria et honor Patri, et Filio, et S , in um, amen : in terra viventium, alleluia, alleluia.

3 GoAR, Nota 6* ad Officium Exsequiarum in Euchologio. 3 Hieron. ad Oceanum. De morte Fabiolz. z rtm ian Vita Radegundis, 28.

ota 680.

--- PAGE 196 --- SIXTH DAY WITHIN THE OCTAVE 185

prelude to the burial prayers the chanting of the Psalm In exitu Israel de JEgypto, with Alleluia as antiphon.

When St. Anthony buried in the desert the body of St. Paul the first hermit, the rag. ues of the latter relates that, in accordance with Christian tradition, Anthony sang hymns as well as psalms.! Such was actually the universal Christian tradition, identical in all lands.

St. John Chrysostom remarks the same fact, and ex- plains it thus: ' Tell me, are they not conquerors, the dead whom we carry in procession with shining torches and the singing of hymns? Yes; we praise God and give Him thanks; for He crowns the departed one; He has put an end to his labour; and He keeps him near Himself, free from all fear. Seek no other explanation for these hymns and psalms: they are an expression of joy.’

St. Dionysius speaks in the same strain, in his book on the Ecclesiastical Hierarchy. After alluding to the joy of the dying Christian as he sees approaching the end of his struggle and an eternal security, he adds: ‘ The relatives of the deceased, his friends in God and in holiness, proclaim him blessed for having conquered at last; and they address their songs of thanksgiving to the heavenly Author of the victory. Praying that them- selves may obtain a similar lot, they bear him to the hierarch, the distributor of the holy crowns, to whom it belongs to perform the sacred rites prescribed with regard to those who have slept in the Lord.”

To-morrow we will give some examples of these last honours paid by the Church to her children.

Certain churches borrow the following stanzas from the tenth song of the Cathemerinon, which gave us yesterday the Mozarabic hymn for the dead.

! Hizxow, Vita S. Pauli, primi eremits, 16. 3 Cunvs, In epist. ad Hebr. Homil. iv. 3 Dionys. De eccles. hierarch. Cap. VII. z, # 1, 3, 3.

--- PAGE 197 --- 186

TIME AFTER PENTECOST

HYMN

Jam meta quiesce querela, Lacrymas suspendite matres, Nullus sua pignora plangat: Mors hac reparatio vitz est.

Quidnam sibi saxa cavata,

Quid pulchra volunt monu- menta,

Res quod nisi creditur illis Non mortua, sed data somno ?

Nam quod requiescere corpus Vacuum sine mente videmus, Spatium breve restat ut alti Repetat collegia sensus.

Venient cito secula cum jam Socius calor ossa revisat, Animataque sanguine vivo Habitacula pristina gestet.

Quz pigra cadavera pridem Tumulis putrefacta jacebant, Volucres rapientur in auras Animas comitata priores.

Sic semina sicca virescunt Jam mortua, jamque sepulta: Quz reddita cespite ab imo Veteres meditantur aristas.

Nunc suscipe terra foven- dum, Gremioque hunc concipe molli: Hominis tibi membra se- questro, Generosa et fragmina credo. Anime fuit hec domus olim, Factoris ab ore create; Fervens habitavit in istis Sapientia principe Christo.

Tu depositum tege corpus: Non immemor ille requiret Sua munera fictor et auctor Propriique ®nigmata vultus.

Cease now each sad com- plaint; ye mothers, check your tears; let no man mourn the pledges he has given: for this death is the restoration of life.

What mean these sculptured marbles, and these fair monu- ments, save that what is com- mitted to them is not dead, but laid to sleep ?

For this body, which we see lying lifeless, yet a little while and it will seek once more the companionship of the spirit that has fled on high.

Quickly shall the time come, when friendly life shall make these cold embers glow; and, animating them with circling blood, shall take back her for- mer dwelling.

The motionless corpses, that have lain corrupting in their graves, shall be caught up in- to the swift air, united to the same souls as before.

Even thus do the dry seeds, dead and buried, become green

blades; and, springing up from the sward, re the for- mer ears.

Receive now, O earth, this deposit into thy care, and che- rish it in thy tender bosom: 'tis the form of a man I place in thee, noble remains I en- trust to thee.

Thís was once the home of a spirit breathed from the mouth of its Creator; Christ ruled these members, and his holy wisdom dwelt therein.

hen shelter the body con- fided to thee: hewhomade it will not forget it, but will ask back the gifts he had given, and the likeness of his own countenance.

--- PAGE 198 --- SIXTH DAY WITHIN THE OCTAVE

Veniant modo tempora justa — Soon the promised time will Cum spem Deus impleat come, when God shall fulfil all omnem, hope; then thou must needs Reddas patefacta necesse est open thy bosom, and restore Qualem tibi trado figuram. this form such as I give it Amen. thee. Amen.

187

The following responsory is the last of the third Nocturn in the short Office of the Dead per annum. After it we give an ancient prayer, found in the Am- brosian rite, and appropriated to deceased benefactors and relatives.!

RESPONSORY

Hy. Libera me, Domine, de
viis inferni, qui portas reas coníregisti: et visitasti in- fernum, et dedisti eis lumen, ut viderent te. * Qui erant in poenis tenebrarum.

Y. Clamantes et dicentes: Advenisti, Redemptor noster. - i erant.

. Requiem aternam dona eis, Domine: et lux perpetua
luceat eis. * Qui erant.

Ry. Deliver me, O Lord, from the ways of hell, who hast broken the brazen gates, and hast visited hell, and hast given light to them, that they might behold thee. * Who were in the pains of darkness.

Y. Crying, and saying: Thou art come, O our Redeemer. * Who were.

Y. Eternal rest give unto them, O Lord, and let per- petual light shine upon them. * Who were.

PRAYER

Deus vita viventium, spes
morientium, salus omnium in te sperantium, praesta pro- pitius, ut anime famulorum famularumque tuarum a no- strae mortalitatis tenebris abso- lute in perpetua cum sanctis tuis luce letentur. Per Do- minum.

O God, the life of the liv- ing. the hope of the dying, the

vation of all that trust in thee, mercifully grant that the souls of thy servants and handmaids, delivered from the darkness of our mortality, may rejoice with thy saints in per- pos light. Through our

rd.

The following Prose by Adam of St. Victor, though often assigned to other feasts, was sung in several places

to celebrate all the saints.

! Oratio super sindonem, in Missa quotidiana pro defunctis fratribus, sororibus, et fi ib

Prony

--- PAGE 199 --- 188

TIME AFTER PENTECOST

SEQUENCE

Supernz matris gaudia Reprasentet Ecclesia: Dum festa colit annua, Suspiret ad perpetua.

In hac valle miserie Mater succurrat filie: Hic czelestes excubiz Nobiscum stent in acie.

Mundus, caro, demonia Diversa movent przlia: Incursu tot phantasmatum Turbatur cordis sabbatum.

Dies festos cognatio Simul hac habet odio, Certatque pari fcedere Pacem de terra tollere.

Confusa sunt hic omnia, Spes, metus, maeror, gaudium:

1x hora vel dimidia Fit in celo silentium.

Quam felix illa civitas In qua jugis solemnitas ! Et quam jocunda curia, Quz cura prorsus nescia |

Nec languor hic, nec senium, Nec fraus, nec terror hostium, Sed una vox letantium Et unus ardor cordium.

Illic cives angelici Sub hierarchia triplici, Trine gaudent et simplici Se Monarchie subjici.

Mirantur, nec deficiunt, In illum quem iciunt: Fruuntur, nec iunt, Quo frui magis sitiunt.

Illic patres dispositi Rs dignitate meriti,

mota jam caligine Lumen vident in lumine,

Let the Church on earth commemorate the joys of her mother the Church in heaven: and while she celebrates an-

nual feasts, let her sigh for

those which are eternal.

May the mother assist her daughter in this valley of sor- rows: and may our heavenly guardians be at our side in the battle.

The world, the flesh, and the devils wage their several Sasti.: at the onslaught of

so terrors, the heart's trangu ty is disturbed. this brood detests our feast-days, and with united force endeavours to drive peace from the earth.

Here all is confusion; hope, fear, sadness, joy are com- mingled: in heaven, scarce half an hour is silence kept.

Oh | how happy is that city, where there is unceasing fes- tivity | and how joyful is that assembly where care is utterly unknown |

No sickness there, nor old age; no deceit, nor terror of foes; but all one voice of joyful souls, and all one burning love of hearts.

There the angelic citizens in their triple hierarchy rejoice to be subject to a Monarch who is both One and Three.

They admire, and faint not in contemplating, the God up- on whom they gaze; they enjoy him, and are not satiated, for theenjoyment brings new thirst.

There are our fathers, rank- orf Selon Boer

kness is now and in God's light they see light,

--- PAGE 200 --- SIXTH DAY WITHIN THE OCTAVE

Hi sancti quorum hodie Celebrantur solemnia Jam revelata facie Regem cernunt in gloria.

Illic Regina virginum, Transcendens culmen ordinum, Excuset apud Dominum Nostrorum lapsus criminum.

Nos ad sanctorum gloriam, Per ipsorum suffragia,

Post presentem miseriam Christi perducat gratia. Amen.

189

These saints, whose solem- nity is celebrated to-day, be- hold with unveiled face the King in his glory.

There is the Queen of vir- gins, far above the highest choirs; may she, before the Lord, excuse our guilty falls.

And after this present misery, may the grace of Christ, through the intercession of the saints, lead us to the same glory! Amen.

--- PAGE 201 --- 190 TIME AFTER PENTECOST

NOVEMBER 7

SEVENTH DAY WITHIN THE OCTAVE OF ALL SAINTS

: GREAT mystery,” says St. John Chrysostom, ‘is

accomplished in our dead. A mystery of praise and of joy, when, summoned by the King of kings, the soul goes to meet her Lord, accompanied by angels sent from heaven for the purpose! And thou—dost- thou lament?! When the bridegroom to whom thou hast given thy daughter carries her to a far country, thou dost not complain, provided he makes her happy; although her absence is a grief to thee, the sadness is tempered. And now, because it is not a man, a fellow-slave, but the Lord Himself that claims one of thy family, is thy grief to be without measure ? I do not forbid thee to shed a tear; weep, but be not disconsolate even as others who have no hope.? -And be ready also to return thanks, as is meet; honouring thereby thy dead, as well as glorifying God, and thus giving them magnificent obsequies.’

With such sentiments were our fathers inspired, in those farewells of the primitive liturgy, which con- trasted so strangely with the sad pomp of pagans, and which made the funeral train resemble a bridal procession. First, loving hands respectfully washed the body, which had been sanctified by the waters of Baptism and the holy oil, and so often honoured by the visit of our Lord in His blessed Sacrament. It was then clothed in the robes of honour in which it had served its divine Spouse; and, like Him in the tomb, it was surrounded with fragrant spices. Often the sacred Host Itself was laid upon the breast after the holy Sacrifice of thanksgiving and propitiation. Thus, during an admirable succession of prayers and triumphant chants, amid clouds of incense and numberless torches, the body was carried to the place

1 Cunvs. in Acta ap. Homilia xxi. 3, 4. 2 1 Thess. iv. 12. 3 Cunvs, Homilia de Dormientibus, V. de Lazaro, 2.

--- PAGE 202 --- SEVENTH DAY WITHIN THE OCTAVE 191

of rest, where Christian burial was to associate it to the last mystery of our Saviour’s mortal career. There, as over the garden of Golgotha on the great Saturday, the naked cross, despoiled of its divine Burden, looked down upon the graves, where the Man-God in His mystic members still awaited the hour of resurrection.

At Rome, and indeed in all the Latin Churches, in the Middle Ages, there were sung, during the procession to the tomb and the burial, seven celebrated antiphons, whose touching inspiration, perpetuated in the Im Paradisum and the Subvenite, is in complete harmony with the sentiments we have just alluded to. The first, Aperite mihi portas justitie, formed the refrain to Psalm 117, Confitemini Domino, and enhanced its accents of victory. It is from this psalm that the Church borrows the verse she so unceasingly repeats on the Solemnity of solemnities: Hec dies quam fecit Dominus : exsultemus et
letemur in ea (This is the day which the Lord hath made: let us be glad and rejoice therein).

But we cannot do better than give the entire series of antiphons, indicating the psalmswhich they accompanied. The last psalm and the canticle Benedictus are still used ; as also the responsory Subvenite and the antiphon In Paradisum, which according to the present ritual are sung, the former on entering the church, the latter on leaving it.

I. ANT. Aperite mihi portas I. ANT. Open to me the gates

justitiz, ingressus in eas con- of justice: I will go in to them, fitebor Domino. and give praise to the Lord.

Ps. 117, Confitemini Domino quoniam bonus.

2. ANT. Ingrediat in locum 2. ANT. I shall go into the tabernaculi admirabilis, usque place of the wonderful taber- ad domum Dei. nacle, even to the house of God ,

Ps. 41, Quemadmodum desiderat cervus.

3. ANT. Hzc requies mea in 3. ANT. This is my rest for seculum saeculi, hic habitabo ever and ever: here will I quoniam elegi eam. dwell, for I have chosen it.

Ps. 131, Memento Domine David.

--- PAGE 203 --- 192

4. ANT. De terra plasmasti me, Domine, et carne induisti
me: Redemptor meus, resu- Scita me in novissimo die.

TIME AFTER PENTECOST

4. ANT. Thou hast formed me, O Lord, of the earth, and with flesh thou hast clothed me: O my Redeemer, raise me up on the last day.

Ps. 138, Domine probasti me.

5. ANT. Non intres in judi- cium cum servo tuo, Domine,
quia non justificabitur in con- spectu tuo omnis vivens.

5. ANT. Enter not into judg- ment with thy servant, O Lord: for in thy sight no man living Shall be justified.

Ps. 142, Domine exaudi orationem meam.

6. ANT. Omnis spiritus lau-

det Domínum.

6. ANT. Let every spirit praise the Lord

Ps. 148, Laudate Dominum de calis.

7. ANT. Ego sum resurrectio et vita: qui credit in me, etiam si mortuus fuerit, vivet: et omnis qui vivit et credit in me, non morietur in zternum.

7. ANT. I am the resurrec- tion, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he be dead, shall live; and every one that liveth and believeth in me shall never die.

Cant. Benedictus Dominus Deus Israel.
In some places the following antiphon was sung at

the conclusion.

Lato animo pergo ad te, suscipe me, Domine; quia de
terra plasmasti me, spiritus de celo introivit in me jussu tuo, veni ut commendes terrae cor- pus meum: animam quam dedisti, suscipe illam Deus.

With a joyful heart I come to thee, receive me, O Lord; since of the earth thou didst form me, and a spirit from heaven entered into me by thy command, come and commit my body to the earth, and the soul which thou gavest receive, O my God.

RESPONSORY AND ANTIPHON FROM THE ROMAN

Hy. Subvenite, sancti Dei, occurrite, angeli Domini: * Suscipientes animam ejus: * erentes eam in conspectu Altissimi.

Hy. Come to his assistance, all ye saints of God; meet him, all ye angels of the Lord, * Receiving his soul, * Pre- senting it in the sight of the Most High.

--- PAGE 204 --- SEVENTH DAY WITHIN THE OCTAVE 193

Y. Suscipiat te Christus qui vocavit te, et in sinum Abrahz angeli deducant te. * Susci- pientes,

Y. Requiem zternam dona ei, Domine: et lux perpetua
luceat ei. * Offerentes.

ANT. In paradisum deducant te angeli: in tuo adventu suscipiant te martyres, et per- ducant te in civitatem sanctam Jerusalem. Chorus angelorum te suscipiat, et cum Lazaro quondam paupere ternam habeas requiem.

Y. May Christ receive thee, who has called thee, and may the angels conduct thee into Abraham's bosom. * Receiv- ing his soul.

Y. Eternal rest give unto him, O Lord. And let per- petual light shine upon him. * Presenting it in the sight of the Most High.

ANT. May the angels con- duct thee into paradise: may the martyrs receive thee at thy coming, and lead thee in- to the holy city of Jerusalem. May the choir of angels re- ceive thee, and mayst thou have eternal rest with Laza- rus, who was formerly poor.

For the consolation of mothers, as well as in homage to the paradise of which their children are the graceful flowers, we will to-day commemorate, with St. Ephrem, the little ones snatched in their innocence from this land of miseries. CANON

Amabilis puer quem gratia in utero matris formavit, ut vidit lucem, ut insiliit acerba mors, et astu infestiore quam solis esse solet, vernantis floris folia decussit, caulem arefecit, ramos siccavit.

Obitum flere tuum vereor, qui didici te a filio Regis ad superne (lucis adyta fuisse deductum. Natura quidem tuo, fili, fato illacrymari cogit: ego vero dum recogito te ad regionem beatz lucis trans- latum, cavendum mihi video ne Regis aula profano polluatur

1 S, EruggM Svar, F

^h

xxxvi!

The lovely child, whom grace formed in his mother's womb, no sooner saw the light, than cruel death rushed upon him, and with a heat more burning than the sun's, struck off the leaves of this spring flower, withered its stem, and scorched its branches.

I dare not lament thy death, for I have heard that the King's Son has led thee into the inner courts of heavenly light. Nature indeed forces me, my child, to weep over thy fate: but when I think of thee carried into the region of blessed light, I see I must

, Ap. A

--- PAGE 205 --- 194

luctu, tum ipse arguar audax et impudens, qui lztitie régiam atratus et lacrymans intra- verim. Quin ergo meliore con- silio puram hostiam offeram, et ad hilaritatem animum componam.

Tui quidem cantus, care puer, meas ante mulcebant aures, meque vehementer de- lectarunt; suave melos quod olim fundebas memoria adhuc retineo, et verba recordor. Quamquam dum cor illa re- petit, mens ad superum evolat choros, et audit admirabunda calites tecum canentes trium- phale carmen Hosanna.

Pars tua, Domine, sunt par-
vuli pueri; hisce sedes in czlo super astra dabis. Illos pro nobis, oro, statue deprecatores; puras quippe scimus esse puer- orum preces.

Quin ergo te summis effe- ram laudibus, qui jubes tuis tales convivas assidere mensis. Nostre Reparator salutis in oculis conspectuque populi am- plexatus est pueros, eisque benedixit, quo hujus statis

ritatem et innocentiam si-

i placere demonstraret. Vere omni laude dignus est, cui innocentes pueros ,apud se habere placuit.

Vidit ille, in quo tamquam in sua sede considet justi- tia, hominum iniquitates ultra omnem increvisse modum, et pessumdata innocentia ubi-

TIME AFTER PENTECOST

beware of dishonouring the King's court by my profane grief; moreover, I should be accused of being bold and impertinent, if I entered tbe pubes of joy weeping and clad in mourning weeds. There- fore I will take a better way, and, offering a spotless victim, I will turn my soul to joyful- ness,

Thy songs, indeed, beloved boy, were once so welcome to my ears, and delighted me ex- ceedingly; the sweet sounds thou didst utter and thy pretty prattle I well remember. But while the heart recalls them, the mind soars to the choirs of angels, and listens entranced to the heavenly citizens sing- ing with thee the triumphant song Hosanna.

The little children, O Lord, are thine own portion; and to them thou wilt give thrones, beyond the stars. Set them before thee, I pray, as our in- tercessors, for we know that children's prayers are pure.

Why, then, should I not ex- tol thee with highest praises, who commandest such guests to be seated at thy table? In the presence of the people, my Redeemer and Saviour em- braced children and blessed them, in order to show how pleasing to him are the purity and innocence of that age. Truly is he worthy of all praise, who loves to be sur- rounded by innocent little ones,

He, in whom justice is seat- ed as on her own throne, sees that the sins of men have in- creased beyond all measure; that all innocence is crushed

--- PAGE 206 --- SEVENTH DAY WITHIN THE OCTAVE 195

que regnare contumaciam in perversa nitentium. Delectum puerorum agmen, misso appari- tore ad se accersivit, et in deliciarum zternarum sede lo- cavit.

Parvuli, quasi lilia de de- serta et inculta regione re- vulsa, in amcenissimi horti areis iterato panguntur; et quasi margaritz inseruntur dia- demati; inde ad celeste regnum evecti, sine fine laudant suc felicitatis Auctorem.

Porro cuinam jucundum non sit, parvulos videre czlo do- natos? aut quisnam plangat eorum obitum, quod tensos ubique vitiorum laqueos eva- serint? Utinam tua, Domine,
favente gratia, talem mihi contingat habere finem, et beato eorum potiri convictu.

Laus sit et gloria Optimo, Maximo, qui pueros terris ab- stulit et czlo dedit, qui par- vulos hujus vite erumnis eri- puit et in celestem et beatam domum transtulit, atque in illam jucundissimam securita- tem asseruit.

out, and that everywhere reigns the insolence of them that contend for evil. He has therefore sent his officer to gather the band of children and lead them to himself,

where he has placed them in the abode of eternal de- lights.

The little ones, like lilies uprooted from this desert and uncultivated land, are planted again in the flower-beds of the most lovely garden; like pearls they are set in our Lord's dia- dem; caught up from earth to the heavenly kingdom, they unceasingly praise the Author of their happiness.

Who, then, would not re- joice at seeing heaven thus giventobabes? Or who would bewail their death, since they have escaped from the snares of vices everywhere spread out? May it please thee, O Lord, that by thy grace a simi- lar end may be my lot, and I may be admitted to a share in their blessed life.

Praise and glory be to God the supremely Good and Great, who has taken the children from earth and given them to heaven; who has snatched the little. ones from the miseries of this life and taken them to a heavenly and blessed home, and has established them in that most happy security.

CANON XLIV

Perfecta tibi, Domine Deus
noster, jam est laus ex ore infantium et lactentium; pueri quippe sunt, qui modo quasi agni simplices in horto deli- ciarum pubescunt, Gabrielem

O Lord our God, thy praise is now perfected out of the mouths of babes and suck- lings; these children, who now like simple lambs grow up in the garden of delights, follow-

--- PAGE 207 --- 196

Archangelum electi hujus gregis ductorem sequentes. Incolunt terram nefariis scelerum vesti-

iis usquequaque expiatam; ve bc omy maledicto sub- jecta fuit, ne meminere qui- dem.

Veniet tandem sanctissimus ille dies, quando eorum cada- vera vocem Filii Dei audient, et e tumulis cum tripudio ex- silient; contra inimica virtutis voluptas frontem submittet rubore suffusa, quod illorum mentes perturbare nequiverit. Paucos hic quidem vixere dies, paradisus excepit in avum sempiternum victuros: unde ipsorum parentes abesse se dolent, eoque ocyus pervenire desiderant.

TIME AFTER PENTECOST

ing the Archangel Gabriel, the guide of this chosen flock. They dwell in a land entirely free from all traces of wicked crime; but of that other, which was subjected to the curse, they have not so much as the remembrance.

At length that most holy day will come, when their bodies shall hear the voice of the Son of God, and exultingly spring from their tombs; while self-indulgence, the enemy of virtue, will hang down her head, being covered with con- fusion because she could not disturb their souls. They lived but few days on earth, para- dise received them to live for eternal ages: wherefore their parents mourn that they them- selves are still far off from that land, and long to reach it

with all speed.

Let us conclude with a prayer taken from the rites of the Latin Church for the burial of infants.

PRAYER

renatis fonte baptismatis dum migrant a szculo, sine ullis eorum meritis, vitam illico largiris zternam, sicut anima hujus parvuli hodie credimus te fecisse: fac nos, quaesumus, Domine, per intercessionem
beate Marie semper virginis, et omnium sanctorum tuorum, hic purificatis tibi mentibus famulari, et in paradiso cum beatis parvulis perenniter so- ciarl. Per Christum Dominum nostrum. Hy. Amen.

all children baptized, depart- ing this world, eternal life, without any merit of theirs, as we believe thou hast done this day to the soul of this child: grant us, we beseech thee, O Lord, by the interces- sion of the blessed Mary, ever a virgin, and of all thy saints, to serve thee here with pure minds, and to be united here- after with thy blessed children in heaven. Through Christ our Lord. Hy. Amen.

--- PAGE 208 --- OCTAVE DAY OF ALL SAINTS 197

NOVEMBER 8

OW could we more appropriately conclude the

teachings of this octave than by quoting the words used by the Church herself in to-day’s liturgy? ‘Strangers as we are and pilgrims on the earth, let us fix our hearts and our thoughts on the day which will give to each of us a home, and restore us to paradise. Who, that is on a voyage, would not hasten to return to his country ! Who, that is on the way home, would not eagerly desire a favourable wind, that he might the sooner embrace his dear ones! Parents, brothers, children, friends in multitudes impatiently await us in our heavenly father- land; blessed crowd ! already secure of their own eternal happiness, they are solicitous about our salvation. What joy for them and for us, when at length we see them and they may embrace us|

‘How great the delight of that heavenly kingdom: no more fear of death; but eternal and supreme hap- piness| Let all our earnest desires tend to this: that we may be united with the saints, that together with them we may possess Christ.'!

These enthusiastic words, borrowed from St. Cyprian's beautiful book 'On the Mortality are used by the Church in her second Nocturn; and in the third she gives us the strong language of St. Augustine, consoling the faithful, who are obliged still to remain in exile, by reminding them of the great beatitude of this earth; the beatitude of those who are persecuted and cursed by the world. To suffer gladly for Christ is the Christian's glory, the invisible beauty which wins for his soul the

1 S, CvrxiAN, De Mortalitate, xxvi.

--- PAGE 209 --- 198 TIME AFTER PENTECOST

good pleasure of God, and procures him a great reward in heaven.'

‘ He that hurteth, let him hurt still,’ says our Lord; ‘and he that is filthy, let him be filthy still; and he that is just, let him be justified still; and he that is holy, let him be sanctified still. Behold I come quickly; and My reward is with Me, to render to every man according to his works. I am Alpha and Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end. Patience, then, Christians! Patience, all who are now despised, ' for time is short; the fashion of this world passeth away !'3 It is in the light of our Baptism that we must look upon those foolish men who think themselves strong because they are violent; who call themselves wise, because pleasure is their only law. When the Man-God, ' with the spirit of His mouth,' shall take vengeance on Satan their leader, their lot will be the indignant sentence heard by the prophet of Patmos: ' Without are dogs, murderers, everyone that loveth and maketh a lie.'4 Meanwhile the whole creation, which they made the unwilling slave of their corruption, will answer to their disgraceful fall by a triumphant song of deliverance. Itself will be transformed into new heavens and a new earth. It will partake of the glory of the children of God, delivered like itself, and will be worthy to contain the new Jerusalem, the holy city, where in our flesh we shall see God; and where, seated at the right hand of the Father in the Person of Jesus Christ, our glorified e: nature wil enjoy for ever the honours of a

ride.

Let us go in spirit to Rome, and direct our steps towards the ancient church, on the Ccelian Hill, which bears the name of the Four Crowned Martyrs. There are few saints whose acts have been more disparaged ‘by a superficial criticism ignorant of archaological science,' such as that of the sixteenth, seventeenth, and

1 S. Auc. De Sermone Domini in monte, lib. i. cap. v. — ? Apoc. xxii. 11-13. 3 1 Cor. vii. 29, 31. 4 Apoc. xxii. 15.

--- PAGE 210 --- OCTAVE DAY OF ALL SAINTS 199

eighteenth centuries. But now ‘the history and tra- ditions relating to the august monument on the Ccelian have been restored to honour by learned men and antiquaries, whom no one could accuse of superstition, or of a blind credulity with regard to medizval legends.'! Such is the unanswerable decision of the Commandant de Rossi. Let us, then, with the holy liturgy, offer our homage and prayers to the titular saints of this venerable church, who once held offices of trust in the empire; and let us not forget those other martyrs, the five sculptors, who, like the former, preferred death to infidelity and now share the glory of their tomb.

PRAYER

Presta, quasumus omnipo- tens Deus: ut, qui gloriosos
martyres fortes in sua confes- Sione cognovimus, pios apud te in nostra intercessione senti-

Grant, we beseech thee, O almighty God, that we, who know thy glorious martyrs to have been strong in their con- fession of thee, may experience

amus. Per Dominum. their compassion by their in- terceding for us with thee.

Through our Lord.

Let us honour all the saints by a Sequence long sung on this octave day by the church of Seville.

SEQUENCE

To the honour of our Sa- viour, let this assembly sing, both with the inward music of the heart, and with the out- ward sound of the voice; sweet wil be the melody if these three be of one accord: heart, lips, and action.

God is wonderful in his saints; but since at the last he satisfies them with such good things, wherefore, while they live this life, are they Scarce able to breathe, he so scourges and torments them ?

1 De Rossi, Bulletin, 1879.

Ad honorem Salvatoris,

Intus corde, voce foris, Concinat hac concio;

Dulcis erit melodia

Si concordent ista tria: Cor, os, operatio.

Admirandus est in sanctis

Suis Deus; sed cum tantis
Tandem bonis satiat,

Cur dum spirant in hac vita

Vix respirant, eos ita Flagellat et cruciat ?

--- PAGE 211 --- 200

Numquid, Christe, pie odis

Quos diversis poenz modis Dignum ducis affici,

Et attritos in tormentis

Sape sinis et consentis Dire neci subjici ?

Sed non odit, sed explorat Quo affectu quis laborat In ejus obsequio; Amat cunctos, probat tamen Per sudorem et certamen Quanta sit devotio.

Certant enim contra mundum,

Hostem nequam et immundum, Carnis quoque vitia ;

Hac imprimis confessores

Martyresque formant mores Virili constantia.

Est certamen speciale

Quod confligit capitale Martyri supplicium;

Sed interdum confessori

Litor deest in litori Carnis optans gaudium.

Ob amorem ergo Christi

Certant illi, certant isti, Tam mares quam feminz: Qui plus sudat in agone

Plus mercedis et corone Refert pro certamine.

Omnes Deo sunt electi: Velit Deus horum flecti
Meritis et precibus, Ut quum dies erit dira Non nos sua subdat ira Tartari tortoribus.

Sed hunc nostra laudet lyra Cum czlorum civibus. Amen.

TIME AFTER PENTECOST

Is it, O Christ, that thou dost lovingly hate them, since thou judgest well that they should suffer in so many ways, and permittest them often to be crushed under tortures and subjected to a cruel death ?

Nay, he hates them not, but seeks to know with how much love each one labours in his service; he loves them all, yet he proves, by the toil and the strife, how great is their devotedness.

For they strive against the world, the wicked unclean foe, the vices of the flesh; 'tis chiefly by this manly constan- cy that confessors and martyrs form themselves to virtue.

The special combat for the martyr is that which gives him the stroke of death; but for the confessor the executioner is wanting; he must choose the struggle against the pleasures of the flesh.

"Tis therefore for the love of Christ that strive the former and the latter, whether men or women; and he that labours most in the strife, carries off & higher prize, a brighter crown for his combat.

All are elected by God: may God allow himself to be moved by their merits and prayers. that when the terrible day shall come, he may not in his wrath hand us over to the in- fernal torturers.

But rather may our lyre be permitted to praise him in the company of the heavenly citi- zens. Amen.

Let us next pray for our dear departed ones. The missals of several churches furnish us with this earnest

supplication.

--- PAGE 212 --- OCTAVE DAY OF ALL SAINTS 201

SEQUENCE

De profundis exclamantes Audi, Christe, nostras voces In celesti curia: Pro defunctis fidelibus Orat nunc mater omnibus, Te supplex Ecclesia. Fiant ergo intendentes Ut audiant tuz aures Vocis hzc suffragia Vox hzc orat, Rex glorie, Fidelibus ut hodie Concedas remedia. Peccatores quamvis simus, Sustinere nec possimus, Si observes vitia: Fiat tamen salutaris Quz offertur nunc a nobis Pro defunctis hostia. Hzc quam Patri obtulisti Offerimus et nos ipsi; Sit eis propitia: Propitius esto eis; Solve vincla, Jesu, reis In tua potentia.

Propter legem quam dedisti,

Te sustinent quos fecisti: Averte supplicia :

Te sustinent, eruantur;

In te sperant, educantur Ad cali palatia.

In te sperant, in te credunt; Ad te tendunt et suspirant De fzcis miseria: In te die, in te nocte, In te mane et vespere Sit eis fiducia.

Sit apud te quem rogamus,

Pro qua tibi supplicamus, Pietatis copia:

Ut redimas eas, Christe,

Supplex rogat coetus iste, Ab omni nequitia.

As we cry out from the depths, hear, O Christ, our voices from thy heavenly court: mother Church now suppliantly i ry erly thee for all. the faithful

Let, then, thine ears be at- tentive to hear her prayerful voice: this voice that calls on thee, O King of glory, to grant this day some relief to the faithful.

Although we are sinners and unable to endure if thou consider our vices: still, let the victim now offered by us avail for the dead.

See, we offer the same as thou didst offer to the Father: may it be a succour to them; yea, be thou propitious to them, and in thy might, O Jesus loose the bonds of the guilty.

Because of the law which thou hast given, the creatures thou hast made wait for thee; turn away the punishment; they wait for thee, may they be delivered; they trust in thee, lead them forth to the heavenly dwellings.

In thée they trust, in thee they believe, towards thee the cine Bg yearn and sigh from their

1 depth of misery; in thee by day, in thee by night, in thee at morn and evening be their sure confidence.

With thee, we implore, be that abundant mercy for which we pray; that thou wouldst redeem them, O Christ, from all evil, this suppliani crowd beseeches thee.

--- PAGE 213 --- 202 TIME AFTER PENTECOST

Reginarum imperatrix, Tua roget te genitrix: Fiat horum impetratrix, Quz rogamus, Maria. Bone Jesu Rex gloriz, Omnes sancti precipue Te rogantes sint hodie Pro eorum venia. Qui per crucem exaltatus Peccatorum es misertus, Audi preces queis devotus Ad te clamat noster coetus Cum misericordia. Per te vincla confringantur, Porte mortis destruantur, Diaboli confundantur, Et anima consequantur Sempiterna gaudia. Amen,

Let the Queen of queens, thy Mother, intercede; may Mary obtain for us what we ask. O good Jesus, King of glory, let all thy saints ask pardon for them, especially on this day.

O thou who, raised upon the cross, didst take pity on sinners, mercifully hear the rinde wherewith our assem- ly cries to thee. By thee may all bonds be broken, the gates of death destroyed, the devils put to confusion, and souls obtain possession of never-ending joys. Amen.

--- PAGE 214 --- DEDICATION OF SAINT SAVIOUR'S 203

NOVEMBER 9

DEDICATION OF THE BASILICA OF SAINT SAVIOUR

N the fourth century of our era, the cessation of per- secution seemed to give the world a foretaste of its future entrance into eternal peace. ‘Glory to the Almighty! Glory to the Redeemer of our souls !' wrote Eusebius at the opening of the tenth and last book of his History. Himself a witness of the triumph, he describes the admirable spectacle everywhere displayed by the dedication of the new sanctuaries. In city after city the bishops assembled, and crowds flocked together. From nation tonation the goodwill of mutual charity, of common faith, and of recollected joy, so harmonized all hearts that the unity of Christ’s Body was clearly manifested in these multitudes animated by the same inspiration of the Holy Ghost. It was the fulfilment of the ancient prophecies: the living city of the living God, where all, whatever their age or sex, praise together the Author of all good things. How solemn were then the rites of the Church! The complete perfection therein displayed by the pontiffs, the enthusiasm of the psalmody, the inspired read- ings, the celebration of the ineffable mysteries, formed a divine pageantry.!

Constantine had placed the imperial treasure at the disposal of the bishops; and he himself stimulated their zeal for what he called in his edicts the work of the churches? Rome, the place of his victory by the cross, the capital of the now Christian world, was the first to benefit by the prince's munificence. In a series of dedications, to the glory of the holy apostles and martyrs, Sylvester, the pontiff of peace, took possession of the eternal city in the name of the true God.

1 Euszs. Hist. eccl. x. 1-4, 2 /5°d. De vita Constantini, ii. 45, 46.

--- PAGE 215 --- 204 TIME AFTER PENTECOST

To-day is the birthday of the mother and mistress of churches, called ‘ of our Saviour, Aula Dei (God's palace), the golden basilica’; it is a new Sinai,! whence the apostolic oracles and so many Councils have made known to the world the law of salvation. No wonder this feast is celebrated by the whole world.

Although the Popes for centuries have ceased to dwell in the Lateran palace, the basilica still holds the first rank. Itisastrue now, as it was in the time of St. Peter Damian, to say that ' as our Saviour is the Head of the elect, so the church which bears His name is the head of all churches; those of St. Peter and St. Paul, on its right and left, are the two arms with which this sovereign and universal church embraces the whole earth, saving all those who desire salvation, cherishing and protecting them in its maternal bosom.'? And St. Peter Damian applied conjointly to our Saviour and His basilica the words of the prophet Zacharias: ' Behold a Man, the Orient is his name: and under him shall he spring up, and shall build a temple to the Lord. Yea, he shall build a temple to the Lord: and he shall bear the glory, and shall sit, and rule upon his throne: and he shall be a priest upon his throne.’

It is still at the Lateran basilica that the Roman pontiffs take official possession of their See. There each year, in the name of the Pope as Bishop of Rome, the episcopal functions are performed—viz., the blessing of the holy Oils on Maundy Thursday, and on Holy Saturday the blessing of the font, solemn Baptism and Confirmation, and the general Ordination. Could the great poet of the age of triumph, Prudentius, return to life in these our days, he might still say: ‘ The Roman people hasten in eager crowds to the Lateran, whence they return marked with the sacred sign, with the royal chrism. And are we yet to doubt that Rome is conse- crated to thee, O Christ?

Let us now read the liturgical history of this day.

1 Inscriptio vetus olim in apside majori. 3 Petr. Dam. Epist. lib, ii. 1. . vi. 12, 13. * PRUDENT, lib, i. contra Symmachum, 586-588,

--- PAGE 216 --- DEDICATION OF SAINT SAVIOUR'S

Ritus quos in consecrandis ecclesiis et altaribus Romana servat Ecclesia, beatus Sil- vester Papa primus instituit. Nam etsi jam ab apostolorum tempore loca fuerunt Deo dicata, que a uibusdam oratoria, ab aliis ecclesie dice- bantur, ubi collect fiebant per unam sabbati, et Christianus populus orare, Dei verbum audire, et Eucharistiam sumere solitus erat: non tamen illa adeo solemni ritu consecra- bantur, nec in eis adhuc in titulum erectum erat altare, quod chrismate delibutum, Do- mini nostri Jesu Christi, qui altare, hostia et sacerdos noster est, figuram exprimeret.

Sed ubi Constantinus im- perator per baptismi sacramen- tum sanitatem salutemque con- Secutus est, tum primum lege ab eo lata concessum est toto orbe terrarum, Christiani ut ecclesias cdificarent; quos ille non solum edicto, sed etiam exemplo ad sacram adificatio- nem est cohortatus. Nam et in suo Lateranensi palatio ecclesiam Salvatori dedicavit, et ei continentem basilicam nomine sancti Joannis Bap- tiste condidit, eo loco quo ipse, baptizatus a sancto Silves- tro, ab infidelitatis lepra mun- datus est: quam idem pontifex consecravit quinto Idus No- vembris: cujus consecrationis memoria celebratur hodierno die, quo primum Romz publice ecclesia consecrata est, et imago Salvatoris in pariete depicta populo Romano apparuit.

205

The rites observed by the Roman Church in consecrating churches and altars were in- Stituted by the blessed Pope Sylvester. For although from apostolic times churches were dedicated to God, and called by some oratories, by others churches; and in them the Christian people assembled on the first day of the week, and were wont there to pray, to hear the word of God, and to receive the holy Eucharist; yet hitherto they were never so solemnly consecrated, nor was an altar erected in them, anointed with chrism, to re- present and signify our Lord Jesus Christ, who is our altar, our victim, and our priest.

But when the emperor Con- stantine had received health of body and soul by the sacra- ment of baptism, he promul- gated a law to the whole world, allowing the Christians to build churches; and he en- couraged them in this work by his own example as well as by this edict. Thus, in his Lateran palace he dedicated a church to our Saviour; and founded the adjoining baptis- tery in honour of St. John Baptist, on the very spot where he himself had been baptized by St. Sylvester and cleansed from the leprosy of infidelity. The pontiff conse- crated it on the fifth of the Ides of November; and we celebrate the memory thereof on this same day, whereon for the first time a church was publicly dedi- cated in Rome, and there ap-

ared before the eyes of the

oman people an image of our Saviour depicted on the wall.

--- PAGE 217 --- 206

Quod si beatus Silvester po- stea in consecratione altaris principis apostolorum decrevit, ut deinceps nisi ex lapide al- taria non zdificarentur, tamen basilica Lateranensis altare fuit e ligno erectum: quod mirum non est. Nam cum a sancto Petro usque ad Silves- trum, propter persecutiones, pontifices certo loco consistere non possent: quocumque eos necessitas compulisset, sive in cryptas, sive in ccemeteria, sive in ades piorum, super illo altari ligneo ad arce similitudinem concavo, sacra faciebant. Quo altari sanctus Silvester, reddita Ecclesiz pace, honoris causa principis aposto- lorum, qui in illo sacrificasse dicitur, et reliquorum ponti- ficum, qui usque ad id tempus ad mysteria conficienda eo usi fuerant, in Lateranensi prima ecclesia collocato, sancivit ne quisquam in eo, preter Romanum Pontificem, Missam deinceps celebraret. Eamdem ecclesiam incendiis, vastationi- bus, terre insuper motibus dis- jectam eversamque, ac sedu- la Summorum Pontificum cura reparatam, nova postmodum molitione restitutam, Bene- dictus decimus tertius Ponti- fex Maximus Ordinis Pradica torum, die vigesima octava aprilis anni millesimi septin- gentesimi vigesimi sexti, ritu solemni consecravit, ejusque celebritatis memoriam hac die recolendam statuit. Quod au- tem Pius nonus perficiendum censuerat, Leo decimus tertius, cellam maximam vetustate fatiscentem, ingenti molitione producendam laxandamque curavit, vetus musivum, multis

TIME AFTER PENTECOST

Although later on, when consecrating the altar of the prince of the apostles, blessed Sylvester decreed that thence- forward all altars should be built of stone; yet the altar of the Lateran basilica was of wood. This, however, is not surprising. For, from the time of St. Peter down to Syl- vester, persecution prevented the Seen from having any fixed abode; so that they offered the holy Sacrifice either in crypts or cemeteries, or in the houses of the faithful, as necessity compelled them, up- on the said wooden altar, which was hollow like a chest. When peace was granted to the Church, Sylvester placed this altar in the first church, the Lateran; and in honour of the prince of the apostles, who is said to have offered the holy Sacrifice upon it, and of the other pontiffs who had used it up to that time, he decreed that no one should celebrate Mass upon it except the Roman Pontiff. This church, having been injured and half ruined in consequence of fires, hostile invasions, and earthquakes, was several times repaired by the care of the Popes. After a new restora- tion Pope Benedict XIII, a Dominican, solemnly conse- crated it, on the twenty-eighth day of April in the year 1726, and ordered the commemora- tion thereof to be celebrated on this present day. The great works undertaken by Pius IX have been happily com- pleted by Leo XIII—to wit, the principal apse, which was threatening to fall through

--- PAGE 218 --- DEDICATION OF SAINT SAVIOUR'S

jam antea partibus instaura- tum, ad antiquum exemplar restitui et in novam absidem, opere cultuque magnifico exor- natam, transferri, aulam trans- versam laqueari et contigna- tione refectis expoliri jussit, anno millesimo octingentesimo octuagesimo quarto, sacrario, @de canonicorum perpetuaque ad baptisterium Constantinia- num porticu adjectis. 207

age, has been very much cn- larged; the ancient mosaic, already. partially restored at different times, has been re- constructed on the old model, and transferred to the new apse, which is handsomely and richly decorated; the roof and woodwork of the transepts have been renewed and orna- mented. Moreover, a sacristy and a house for the canons have been added, as well as a portico connecting these build- ings with Constantine's bap- tistery. The whole work was completed in the year 1884.

So many details might seem superfluous to the pro-

fane.

But, just as the Pope is to all of us our first and

our own pastor, so his church of the Lateran is our own church; whatever concerns it cannot, or at least should not, be a matter of indifference to the faithful. Let us take our inspirations regarding it from the following beautiful formule, given us by the Roman pontifical in the dedication ceremony. To no church could they be better applied than to this.

ANTIPHONS AND RESPONSORIES

Hy. Fundata est domus Do- mini super verticem mon- tium, et exaltata est super omnes colles, et venient ad eam omnes gentes. * Et di- cent: Gloria tibi, Domine.

Y. Venientes autem ve- nient cum exsultatione, por- tantes manipulos suos. * Et dicent.

KR. Tu, Domine universo-.

rum, qui nullam habes in- digentiam, voluisti templum tuum fieri in nobis. * Con- Serva domum istam imma- culatam in eternum, Domine.

Ry. The house of the Lord is founded upon the summit of mountains, and raised up above all hills, and all nations shall come to her. * And they shall say: Glory be to thee, O Lord.

Y. Coming they shall come with joyfulness, carrying their sheaves. * And they shall

UE

. Thou, O Lord of all things, who hast no need, hast willed that this thy temple should be in the midst of us. * Preserve this house spotless for ever, O Lord.

--- PAGE 219 --- 208

Y. Tu elegisti, Domine, do-
mum istam ad invocandum nomen tuum in ea; ut esset domus orationis, et obsecratio- nis populo tuo. * Conserva.

ANT. Pax ®terna ab ZEterno huic domui. Pax perennis, Verbum Patris, sit pax huic domui. Pacem pius Consola- tor huic prastet domui.

ANT. O quam metuendus est locus iste: vere non est hic aliud, nisi domus Dei, et porta cali.

ANT. Hec est domus Do- mini firmiter zdificata: bene fundata est supra firmam pe- tram.

ANT. Vidit Jacob scalam, summitas ejus calos tange- bat, et descendentes ange- los, et dixit: Vere locus iste sanctus est.

Hy. Hac est Jerusalem ci- vitas illa magna celestis, or- nata tamquam sponsa Agni. * Quoniam tabernaculum facta est, alleluia.

Y. Porte ejus non clau- dentur per diem, nox enim non erit in ea. * Quoniam.

Ry. Platee tua Jerusa- lem, sternentur auro mundo, alleluia, et cantabitur in te can- ticum letitie, alleluia. * Et per omnes vicos tuos dicetur ab universis, alleluia, alleluia.

Y. Luce splendida fulgebis: et omnes fines terre adora- bunt te. * Et per omnes.

AwT. Circumdate Sion, et complectimini eam, narrate in turribus ejus.

TIME AFTER PENTECOST

Y. Thou, O Lord, hast cho- sen this house, that thy name may be invoked in it: that it may be a house of prayer and supplication for thy people. * Preserve.

ANT. Peace eternal from the Eternal be to this house! May the unending Peace, the Word of the Father, be peace to this house! Peace may the loving Consoler grant unto this house.

ANT. Oh, how awful is this place! truly it is naught else but the house of God, and the gate of heaven.

ANT. This is the house of the Lord, strongly built: it is ped founded on the solid rock

ANT. Jacob beheld a ladder, the top whereof touched the heavens; and angels coming down; and he said: Truly this ‘place is holy.

Hy. This is Jerusalem, the great and heavenly city, adorn- ed as the bride of the Lamb. * For she has become the true tabernacle, alleluia.

Y. Her gates shall not be closed by day, and there shall be no night in her. * For she has become.

Hy. Thy streets, O Jerusa- lem, shall be paved with pure gold, alleluia, and there shall be sung in thee the canticle of joy, alleluia. * And all along thy streets every one shall say: alleluia, alleluia.

X. Thou shalt shine with a glorious light; and all the ends of the earth shall wor- ship thee. * And all along.

ANT. Surround Sion and encompass her, tell ye her wonders in her towers.

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Y. Magnus Dominus et lau-
dabilis nimis, in civitate Dei nostri, in monte sancto ejus.

HN. Induit te Dominus tu-
nica jucunditatis, et imposuit tibi coronam. * Et ornavit te ornamentis sanctis.

Y. Luce splendida fulgebis, et omnes fines terrze adorabunt coram te. * Et ornavit te.

Y. Nationes ex longinquo ad te venient, et munera deferentes adorabunt Domi- num; et terram tuam in san- ctificatione habebunt, et nomen magnum invocabunt in te. * Et ornavit.

Y. Benedicti erunt, qui te edificaverunt; tu autem le- taberis in filiis tuis, quoniam omnes benedicentur et con- gregabuntur ad Dominum. *Et

209

y. Great is the Lord and exceedingly to be praised, ín the city of our God, in his holy mountain.

E. The Lord hath clad thee with a garment of joy, and hath set a crown on thy head. * And he hath adorned thee with holy ornaments.

Y. Thou shalt shine with a glorious light, and all the ends of the earth shall worship before thee. * And he hath adorned.

Y. Nations from afar shall come to thee, and bringing gifts shall adore the Lord; and they shall esteem thy land as holy, and shall call upon the great name in thee. * And he hath adorned.

Y. Blessed shall they be that build thee up; but thou Shalt rejoice in thy children, because they shall be all blessed, and shall be gathered together

ornavit te. to the Lord. * And he hath adorned. PRAYER Omnipotens sempiterne O almighty, eternal God,

Deus, qui per Filium tuum,
angularem scilicet lapidem, duos ex diverso venientes, ex circumcisione et preputio pa- rietes, duosque greges ovium sub uno eodemque pastore unisti; da famulis tuis per haec nostre devotionis officia, indissolubile vinculum chari- tatis, ut nulla divisione men- tium, nullaque perversitatis varietate sequestrentur, quos sub unius regimine pastoris unus grex continet, gprs. od te custode ovilis septa conclu- dunt. Per Dominum.

who through thy Son, the Cor- ner-stone, hast joined the two walls coming from opposite directions, to wit, from the cir- cumcision and the uncircum- cision, and hast united the two flocks of sheep under the one same pastor; give to thy ser- vants, through these functions of our devotion, the indisso- luble bond of charity, so that no division of opinions, no sort of perverse disagreement, may separate those, who are all one flock under the guidance of one Shepherd, and are enclosed in one fold under thy protection. Through the same Lord.

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On this day is commemorated the great martyr Theodore of Amasea, a conscript soldier, who was burnt alive. His praises have been celebrated by St. Gregory of Nyssa; he is honoured in Rome at the foot of the Palatine, and had three churches dedicated to his

name in Constantinople. Church:

Let us say with the Latin

PRAYER

Deus, qui nos beati Theo-
dori martyris tui confessione gloriosa circumdas et prote- gis. praesta nobis ex ejus imitatione proficere, et ora- tione fulciri; Per Dominum.

O God, who dost encom and protect us by the glorious confession of blessed Theodore thy martyr; grant us by his example to improve, and by his prayer to be supported. Through our Lord.

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THE DEDICATION OF CHURCHES!

JPM UM Dei decet sanctitudo : Sbonsum ejus Christum adoremus in ea. Such is the Invitatory antiphon, which sums up the liturgical thought of the day: ' Holiness becometh the house of God: let us adore therein Christ her Spouse.' What is this mystery of a house that is at the same time a bride? Our churches are holy because they belong to God, and on account of the celebration of the holy Sacrifice therein, and the prayer and praise offered to the divine Guest who dwells there. More truly than the figurative tabernacle or the ancient temple, they are separated solemnly and for ever by their dedication from all the dwellings of men, and exalted far above all earthly palaces. Still, notwithstanding the magnificent rites performed within them on the day they were consecrated to God, not- withstanding the holy oil with which their walls remain for ever impregnated, they themselves are devoid of feeling and life. What else, then, can be meant, but that the solemn function of the dedication, and the annual feast that commemorates it, do not point merely to the material building, but rise to living and more sublime realities? The principal glory of the noble edifice will be to symbolize those great realities. Under the shelter of its roof the human race will be initiated into ineffable secrets, the mystery whereof will be consummated in another world in the noonday light of heaven. Let us listen to some doctrine on this subject.

! In face the feast ot the dedication of all sa is celebrated on ue ga 6, the remet en, Ne ke on on t og hk s The dedi Se — of the dedication [^ri In e this feast is celebrated "^ [etes 23. e have Langen it well to insert tbe teaching here given, in the a P Engand, ue numberof 3 work, inasmuch as each of our consecrated churches tii

the number of which is now so has th vil of ng the actual anniversary of its dle Bop -— T en ER

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God has but one sanctuary truly worthy of Him— viz., His own divine life; the tabernacle with which He is said to surround Himself when He bends the heavens; though impenetrable darkness to the eyes of mortals, it is the inaccessible light wherein dwells in glory the ever-tranquil Trinity. And yet, O God most high, this same divine life, which cannot be con- tained by the heavens, much less by the earth, Thou deignest to communicate to our souls, and thereby to make man a partaker in the divine nature. Henceforth there is no reason why the holy Trinity should not reside in him, just as in the highest heavens. Thus, from the beginning, Thou couldst lay it down as the law of the newly created world, and couldst declare to the abyss, to the earth, to the heavens, that it would be Thy delight to dwell with the children of men.

When, therefore, the fullness of time came, God sent His Son, making Him the son of Adam, in order that in man might ‘dwell all the fullness of the Godhead corporally.? From that day forward earth has had the advantage over heaven. Every Christian has participation in Christ; and having become the temple of the Holy Ghost, ‘bears God in his body.”* This ‘ temple of God,” says the apostle, ‘is holy, which you are '*; the temple is the individual Christian; it is also the Christian assembly.

Whereas Christ calls the whole human race to partici- pate in His own fullness, the human race in its turn completes Christ. It is bone of His bone, flesh of His flesh, one body with Him, and, together with Him, the one victim which is to burn eternally with the fire of love upon the altar of heaven. At the same time, Christ is the Corner-stone on which other living stones, all the predestined, are built up by the apostolic architects into the holy temple of the Lord. Thus the Church is the bride, and by and with Christ she is the house of God. She is such already in this world, where in labour and

1 Cf. Ps. xvii. ? Col. ii. 9. 3 1 Cor. vi. 2o. * Ibid. iii. 15.

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suffering the clect stones are chiselled, and are laid suc- cessively in the places assigned them by the divine plan. She is such in the happiness of heaven, where the eternal temple is being constructed of every soul that ascends from earth; until, when completed by the acquisition of our immortal bodies, it will be consecrated by the great High-Priest on the day of the incomparable dedication, the close of time. Then will the world, redeemed and sanctified, be solemnly restored to the Father who gaveit His only-begotten Son, and God will be all in all. Then it will appear that the Church was truly the archetype shown beforehand on the mount,! whereof every other sanctuary, built by the hands of men, could be but the figure and the shadow. Then will be realized the vision of St. John: ' I saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a great voice from the throne, saying: Behold the tabernacle of God.'"?

It was fitting, then, that this feast should illumi- nate the closing cycle with the first rays of eternity. It is by one of the seven angels having phials full of the seven last plagues that the bride in her rich apparel was shown to the evangelist; let the hope of contemplat- ing her in her glory be a comfort to us too in these evil days. The expectation of her approaching appearance will animate the courage of the just during the final combats.

But let us, the children of the Church, already praise our mother. Let this day so dear to her heart be to us one of the greatest solemnities; for it commemorates both her birth from the side of the heavenly Adam, and the sacred consecration which entitles her to the good pleasure of the Father, to the love of the Son, and to the bountiful gifts of the Holy Ghost.

|! Exod. xxvi. 30. ? Apoc. xxi. 2, 3.

--- PAGE 225 --- 214 TIME AFTER PENTECOST

FIRST VESPERS

When, at the beginning of the nineteenth century, the churches of France were restored to their holy use, it seemed good to the Holy See to establish a general Dedication feast, instead of the local solemnity hitherto observed by each church on the actual anniversary of its consecration. The feast was still to have the honours of a double of second class, which proved that it had lost nothing of its importance in the eyes of Rome. Its being permanently fixed on a Sunday secured to the people the benefit of annually receiving the sublime teaching in which our fathers took such delight. And the choice of this particular Sunday, immediately after the octave of All Saints, made this solemnity as it were the completion of the other, and the crowning of the entire year. The following Office and Mass are those of the Common of the Dedication per annum. We shall have them again, in this same month, on the Dedications of the Lateran basilica of our Saviour, and of the basilicas of St. Peter on the Vatican and St. Paul on the Ostian Way.

The Church, about to sing in Psalm 109 the eternal priesthood of Christ, is seized with an overpowering sentiment of the holiness of this house of the Lord, where she has assembled her children, and in which the great Sacrifice is offered to God. The first antiphon is taken from Psalm 92, which it accompanies at Lauds.

1. ANT. Domum tuam, Do- 1. ANT. Holiness becometh mine, decet sanctitudo in thy house, O Lord, unto length longitudinem dierum. of days.

Ps. Dixit Dominus, page 35.

Yes, this house is holy: the ' house of prayer’ is the name given to it by all nations. This name had been foretold by Isaias, as our Lord Himself reminded the buyers and sellers in the temple.

--- PAGE 226 --- DEDICATION OF CHURCHES 215

2. ANT. Domus mea domus 2. ANT. My house shall be orationis vocabitur. called the house of prayer.

Ps. Confitebor tibi Domine, page 37.

House of God! how the Church loves to repeat it ! And now it reminds her of the Gospel text, where our Lord compares the man who hears His word and does it to one who builds his house upon a rock. We begin to perceive the connexion in the Church's mind between the faithful soul and the sacred building whose stability she is praising.

3. ANT. Hac est domus 3. ANT. This is the house Domini firmiter edificata, bene of the Lord, strongly built, it

fundata est supra firmam pe- is firmly founded on the solid tram. rock.

Ps. Beatus vir, page 38.

The chants rise in enthusiasm; the fourth antiphon repeats, as if in ecstasy, the expressions of the third. Without any doubt the Church is no longer thinking of these walls which are one day to crumble; the xd rock is Christ, the house is the assembly of the elect.

4. ANT. Bene fundata est 4. ANT. Firmly founded is domus Domini supra firmam the house of the Lord, upon petram. the solid rock.

Ps. Laudate pueri, page 39.

Caught up beyond this world, the Church in her admiration addresses the glorious dwelling which the Lord her Spouse is building in heaven entirely of precious stones, the living gems which are to form the towers of the new Sion.

5. ANT. Lapides pretiosi 5. ANT. All thy walls shall omnes muri tui, et turres Jeru- be of precious stones, and the salem gemmis edificabuntur. towers of Jerusalem shall be

built of jewels.

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TIME AFTER PENTECOST

PSALM 147

Lauda, Jerusalem, Dominum: * lauda Deum tuum, Sion.

Quoniam confortavit seras portarum tuarum: * benedixit filiis tuis in te.

Qui posuit fines tuos pacem: * et adipe frumenti satiat te.

Qui emittit eloquium suum terrz * velociter currit sermo ejus.

Qui dat nivem sicut lanam: * nebulam sicut cinerem spargit.

Mittit crystallum suam sicut buccellas: * ante faciem frigoris ejus quis sustinebit ?

Emittet verbum suum, et liquefaciet ea: * flabit spiritus ejus, et fluent aqua.

Qui annuntiat verbum suum Jacob: * justitias, et judicia sua Israel.

Non fecit taliter omni na- tioni: * et judicia sua non manifestavit eis.

Praise the Lord, O oi lem: praise thy God, O Sion.

Because he hath strengthened the bolts of thy gates, he hath blessed thy children within thee.

Who hath placed in thy borders: and filleth thee with the fat of corn.

Who sendeth forth his speech to the earth: his word runneth Swiftly.

Who giveth snow like wool: he scattereth mists like ashes.

He sendeth his crystal like morsels: who shall stand be- fore the face of his cold ?

He shall send out his word, and shall melt them: his wind Shall blow, and the waters Shall run.

Who declareth his word to Jacob: his justices and his judgments to Israel.

He hath not done in like manner to every nation: and his judgments he hath not made manifest to them.

But this new Sion is the Church herself; for who but she is the bride? And in the capitulum St. John shows us this holy city, coming down from heaven, adorned as a bride for her bridegroom.

CAPITULUM

Vidi civitatem sanctam Jeru- salem novam descendentem de celo a Deo, paratam sicut sponsam ornatam viro suo.

I saw the holy city, the new erusalem, coming down out of eaven from God, prepared as a

bride adorned for her husband.

The seventh century, it will be remembered, witnessed the solemn dedication of the Pantheon, which gave rise to the feast of All Saints. Itisto the same century we

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217

are indebted for the beautiful composition, from which the hymns of Vespers and Lauds are taken. We will give the whole of it farther on, in its primitive text.

HYMN

Caelestis urbs Jerusalem, Beata pacis visio,

€ celsa de viventibus

is ad astra tolleris,

Sponszque ritu cingeris Mille angelorum millibus.

O sorte nupta prospera, Dotata Patris gloria, Respersa Sponsi gratia, Regina formosissima, Christo jugata Principi, Cali corusca civitas.

His margaritis emicant, Patentque cunctis ostia : Virtute namque praevia Mortalis illuc ducitur; Amore Christi percitus Tormenta quisquis sustinet.

Scalpri salubris ictibus, Et tunsione plurima,

Fabri polita malleo

Hanc saxa molem construunt, Aptisque juncta nexibus Locantur in fastigio

Decu tPareati ucbitum Sit usquequaque Altissimo, Natoque Patris unico, Et inclyto Paraclito, Cui laus, potestas, gloria JEterna sit per szcula.

Amen.

Y. Hec est domus Domini firmiter edificata.

Hy. Bene fundata est supra firmam petram.

Jerusalem, heavenly city, blessed vision of peace! Built of living stones, thou risest to the very stars; and like a bride art circled round with thousand, thousand angels.

Oh! how happily art thou espoused! Dowered with the Father's glory, and the grace of thy Spouse shed over thee, most lovely queen united to Christ the King: resplendent ee! of heaven |

hy gates, glittering with pearls, are open to all; thither 1s led whosoever follows virtue, and who, urged by the love of Christ, endures torments.

After the strokes of the sa- lutary chisel, and many a blow, the stones, polished by the workman's hammer, raise up this stately pile; and being well fitted together, are placed in the highest summit.

Be everywhere due honour paid to the most high Father, and to that Father's only Son, and to the glorious Paraclete; to whom be praise, power, and glory, through everlasting ages. Amen.

Y. This is the house of the Lord, strongly built.

Ry. It is firmly founded on the solid rock.

When Solomon dedicated the temple, he reminded Jehovah of His former promises concerning the place He would choose for His name to dwell in. Our churches

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are far superior to the ancient temple, for they have in them more than the name of the Lord; moreover, every Christian is now the dwelling-place of God. How much more excellently such is Mary, the predestined tabernacle, sanctified and dedicated from the first moment of her existence to the God who was to take Flesh in her and thus begin to dwell among us! Let us return thanks, both for her and for ourselves, by singing her heavenly canticle.

218

ANTIPHON OF THE MAGNIFICAT

Sanctificavit Dominus taber- The Lord hath sanctified
his tabernacle: for this is the house of God, in which his name shall be invoked, where- of it is written: And my name shall be there, saith the Lord.

naculum suum: quia hzc est domus Dei, in qua invocabitur nomen ejus, de quo scriptum est: Et erit nomen meum ibi, dicit Dominus.

The Canticle Magnificat, page 43.

PRAYER

Deus, qui nobis per singulos
annos hujus sancti templi tui consecrationis reparas diem, et Sacris semper mysteriis repre- sentas incolumes: exaudi preces populi tui, et praesta; ut quis- quis hoc templum beneficia

petiturus ingreditur, cuncta se impetrasse laetetur. Per Dominum.

O God, who dost renew to us every year the day of the consecration of this thy holy temple, and dost ever bring us again in safety to the holy mysteries, graciously hear the prayers of thy people, and grant that whoever enters this temple to implore blessings may rejoice in having obtain- ed all his requests. Through our Lord.

The name of ‘church’ given to the Christian temple

signifies the assembly of the baptized. The sanctifica- tion of the elect in its successive phases is the soul and inspiration of that most solemn of liturgical functions, the dedication of a church.

First of all, the temple with its bare walls and closed doors represents the human race created by God, and yet robbed of His presence ever since the original sin. But the heirs of the promise have not yielded to despair;

--- PAGE 230 --- DEDICATION OF CHURCHES 219

they have fasted, they have prayed through the night; morning finds them sending up to God the supplication of the penitential psalms, the inspired expression of David's chastisement and repentance.

At early dawn there appears under the tent, where the exiles are praying, the Word our Saviour. He is represented by the pontiff vesting in the sacred robes, as He clothed Himself with our flesh.? The God-Man joins His brethren in their prayer; then, leading them to the still closed temple, He there prostrates with them and redoubles His supplications.

Then around the noble edifice, unconscious of its destinies, begins the patient strategy, wherewith the grace of God, and the ministers of that grace, undertake the siege of abandoned souls. Thrice the pontiff goes around the whole building, and thrice he attempts to force open those obstinately closed doors; but his storm- ing consists of prayers to heaven, his force is but the merciful and respectful persuasion of human liberty. * Open, O ye gates, and the King of glory shall enter in.’ At length the unbeliever yields; an entrance is gained into the temple: ‘ Peace eternal to this house, in the name of the Eternal I’

All is not yet finished, however; far from it: this is but the commencement; the still profane edifice must be made into a dwelling worthy of God. The pontiff, now within, continues to pray. His thoughts are intent upon the human race, symbolized by this future church. He knows that in its fallen state ignorance is its first evil. Accordingly he rises; and, on two lines of ashes running transversely from end to end of the temple and crossing in the centre of the nave, he traces with his episcopal crozier the Greek and Latin alphabets, the elements of the two principal languages? in which Scripture and tradition are preserved. They are traced with the pastoral staff, on ashes, and on the

] Sub tentorio ante fores Ecclesia consecranda parato. He apa Rom.

3 SimEON THESSALONIC. De plo et oe

* RzMIG. ANTISSIODORENSIS, Modeste 3 ;1voC TENSIS, Sermo iv. de Sacramentis Dedicat.; Dg ery Ets ^

--- PAGE 231 --- 220 TIME AFTER PENTECOST

cross; because sacred science comes to us from doctrinal authority, because it is understood only by the humble, and because it is all summed up in Jesus crucified.

Like the catechumen, the human race now en- lightened requires, together with the temple, to be purified. The pontiff makes use of the loftiest Christian symbolism, in order to perfect the element of this purification which he has so much at heart: he mingles water and wine, ashes and salt, figures of the humanity and the divinity, of the death and the resurrection of our Saviour. As Christ preceded us in the waters of Baptism at the Jordan, the aspersions are begun at the altar and continued through the whole building.! Originally, at this point in the function, not only the interior and the pavement of the temple, but also the exterior of the walls, and in some places even the roof,? were inundated with the sanctifying shower which drives away demons, gives this dwelling to God, and prepares it for the reception of fresh favours.

In the order of the work of salvation, water is followed by oil, which confers on the Christian, in the second Sacrament, the perfection of his supernatural being; and which also makes kings, priests, and pontiffs. For all these reasons, the holy oil now flows copiously over the altar, which represents Christ our Head, Pontiff, and King, that it may afterwards, like the water, find its way to the walls of the entire church. Truly is this temple henceforth worthy of the name of church; for thus baptized and consecrated, with the God-Man, by water and the Holy Ghost, the stones of which it is built represent perfectly the faithful? who are bound together and to the divine Corner-Stone by the imperishable cement of love.

‘ Praise the Lord, O Jerusalem, praise thy God, O Sion I'* The sacred chants which, since the beginning

1 SimEON THESSALON. «Ji supra, cvii. 3 Et per culmina templi. Ordo IV. in Dedicat. a«d Martene, ex Pontific. Eme SR Ls ys tificale Rom. 3 ides iosi wnctionem detum. CENE ara n EMEN e

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of the solemn function, have not ceased to enhance its sublime developments, now redouble in enthusiasm; and rising to the full height of the mystery, they hail the church, now so intimately associated to the altar as the bride of the Lamb.! From this altar ascend clouds of incense, which, mounting to the roof and stealing down the nave, impregnate the whole temple with the perfumes of the Spouse. And now the sub- deacons come forward, presenting for the pontiff's blessing the gifts made to the bride on this great day, and the vesture she has prepared for herself and for the Lord.

In the early Middle Ages, it was only at this point? that took place the triumphant translation of the relics destined to be placed in the altar, after having remained all this time in the tent outside, as it were in exile. In the East this ceremony is still the conclusion of the Dedication rites. ‘I go to prepare a place for you,’ said our Lord, ‘and when I have prepared it, I will come again, and will take you to Myself, that where I am you also may be.' In the Greek Church, the pontiff lays the holy relics on the sacred disc (corresponding to our paten), and carries them raised above his head, * honouring equally with the venerable mysteries these precious remains, because the apostle said of the faithful: You are the body of Christ and His members.'4 In the West, up to the thirteenth century and even later, the sacred Body of our Lord Himself in the holy Eucharist was sealed up in the altar with the relics of the saints. It was the ' Church united to the Redeemer, the bride to the Bridegroom,” says St. Peter Damian ;5 it was the final consummation, the passage from time to eternity. H > Hzc est ibid. ! KEMIG. ANTISSIOD. wbi supra ; Ordines veterum afwd Martine. * Eucholog. Ordo et Officium Dedicationis Templi.

* SIMEON "uxssALON. wbi supra, cxvi. : * PzrR. DAMIAN., Sermo Ixxii. in Dedicat. iv.

--- PAGE 233 --- 222 TIME AFTER PENTECOST

MASS

Filled with the thought of the day when she became the object of the divine predilection, the Church renews her youth, and puts on her richest ornaments; she robes herself in white as a bride. As at the moment when she was ennobled for ever by the outpouring of the holy chrism, the twelve torches, symbols of apostolic light, shine from her consecrated walls above the twelve crosses which testify her right to the favours of heaven.

Our churches are to the angels the borderland be- tween heaven and earth; hence the Introit repeats the words uttered by Jacob on awaking from his vision of the mysterious ladder, with its heavenly messengers ascending and descending. The verse, taken from Psalm 83, celebrates at once the earthly and the heavenly temple.

‘ Is this the kingdom thou didst promise me, father ?' asked Clovis dazzled, as he entered for the first time the church of St. Mary at Rheims. ' No,’ replied Remigius, ‘ it is the entrance of the way that will lead thee thither.’

INTROIT

Terribilis est locus iste: hic Terrible is this place: it is domus Dei est, et porta cali, the house of God, and the gate et vocabitur aula Dei. of heaven; and shall be called

. the court of God.

Ps. Quam dilecta taber- Ps. How lovely are thy nacula tua, Domine virtu- tabernacles, O Lord of hosts ! tum: concupiscit, et deficit My soul longeth and fainteth anima mea in atria Domini. for the courts of the Lord. Gloria Patri. Terribilis. — Glory be to the Father. Ter-

rible is this place.

The Holy See, while extending this feast to churches not consecrated, has not thought fit to make any alteration in the Collect. Whether we consider these churches as participating in the privilege of their respective cathedrals; or prefer to look at the dedication in its universal sense as explained above, whereby each

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sacred building is but the symbol of one august temple the same in all places: thanks are due to him who enables us this year again to taste the joys of so great a solemnity. Life prolonged and health preserved, are benefits of God which we ought to recognize; and to thank Him for them in His house is to dispose Him to hear us when we come to ask Him for all other blessings, corporal or spiritual, in this place where He deigns to listen to all the petitions of His people.

223

COLLECT

Deus, qui nobis per sin- O God, who dost renew to

gulos annos hujus sancti templi tui consecrationis reparas di- em, et sacris semper mysteriis representas incolumes: exaudi preces populi tui, et presta; ut quisquis hoc templum bene- ficia petiturus ingreditur, cun- cta se impetrasse laetetur. Per Dominum.

us every year the day of the consecration of this thy holy temple, and dost ever bring us again in safety to the holy mysteries, graciously hear the prayers of thy people, and grant that whoever enters this temple to implore blessings may rejoice in having obtained all his requests. Through our Lord.

EPISTLE

Lectio libri Apocalypsis beati
Joannis Apostoli.

Cap. xxi. In diebus illis; Vidi san- ctam civitatem Jerusalem

novam descendentem de cz- lo a Deo, paratam sicut sponsam ornatam viro suo. Et audivi vocem magnam de throno dicentem: Ecce tabernaculum Dei cum ho- minibus, et habitabit cum eis. Et ipsi populus ejus erunf, et ipse Deus cum eis
erit eorum Deus: et abster-
get Deus omnem lacrymam
ab oculis eorum: et mors ultra non erit, neque luctus,

Lesson from the Book of the

Chap. xxi.

In those days: I saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a great voice from the throne, saying: Behold the tabernacle of God with men; and he will dwell with them: and they shall be his people, and God himself with them Shall be their Cod: and God Shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and death shall be no more, nor mourning, nor

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neque clamor, neque dolor crying, nor sorrow shall be erit ultra, quia prima abi- any more, for the former erunt. Et dixit qui sedebat things are passed away. And in throno: Ecce nova facio he that sat on the throne said: omnia. Behold, I make all things new.

We must not forget that all the grandeurs of the Church in heaven belong, though invisibly, to the Church on earth, who is even now all beautiful and holy, truly a bride, and as such attracting God, who through her dwells among us. The prophets of Israel used the same expressions as does here the beloved disciple, when they announced that the unfaithful Sion was to be superseded, even on earth, by a new Jerusalem: ' Be- hold I create new heavens and a new earth, and the former things shall not be in remembrance. . . . And I will rejoice in Jerusalem and joy in My people, and the voice of weeping shall no more be heard in her, nor the voice of crying.! And I will be their God, and they shall be My people.? Jerusalem, city of God, give glory to the Lord for thy good things, and bless the God eternal, that He may rebuild His tabernacle in thee. . . . Thou shalt shine with a glorious light: and all the ends of the earth shall worship thee. Nations from afar shall come to thee, and shall bring gifts, and shall adore the Lord in thee. . . . The gates of Jerusalem shall be built of sapphire and of emerald, and all the walls thereof round about of precious stones. All its streets shall be paved with white and clean stones: and Alleluia shall be sung in its streets.'?

To-day, then, let us congratulate the Church militant no less than the triumphant; let us renew our venera- tion for her, our devotedness, and our love. ' Rejoice with Jerusalem and be glad with her, all you that love her: rejoice for joy with her, all you that mourn for her. That you may suck, and be filled with the breasts of her consolation: that you may milk out, and flow with delights, from the abundance of her glory.” Thus sang

1 Isa. Ixv. 17, 19. ? Jer. xxxi. 33. 3 Tob. © 0 Ton. Ixvi. >

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the prince of prophets, who had seen, in the vision of the far future, the house of the Lord prepared on the top of mountains, and above the hills among the Gentiles. In proud Ninive, which held Israel captive, the old Tobias echoed his words, declaring himself blessed in the hope that one of his seed might live to contemplate the glory of the new Sion: and he added: ' They shall be cursed that shall despise thee: and they shall be con- demned that shall blaspheme thee: and blessed shall they be that shall build thee up. . . . Blessed are all they that love thee, and that rejoicein thy peace.' And let us also conclude with him: * Blessed be the Lord who hath exalted it, and may He reign over it for ever and ever.'!

The ineffable sentiments which fill the soul of holy Church find vent, in the Gradual, in one of the most admirable of all the Gregorian melodies. The Alleluia verse is taken from Psalm 137.

225

GRADUAL

Locus iste a Deo factus This place was made by est, inestimabile sacramen- God, an invaluable mystery,

tum, írreprehensibilis est.

Y. Deus, cui adstat an-
gelorum chorus, exaudi pre- ces servorum tuorum.

Alleluia, alleluia.

y. Adorabo ad templum Sanctum tuum, et confitebor nomini tuo. Alleluia.

it is without

¥. 0 God, before whom stands the choir of angels, graciously hear the prayers of thy servants.

Alleluia, alleluia.

Y. I will worship towards thy holy temple; and I will E glory to thy name. Al-

GOSPEL

Sequentia sancti — Evangelii
secundum Lucam. Cap. xix. In ill tempore: agree: sus Jesus perambulabat richo. Et ecce vir «e

Sequel of the holy Gospel ac- cording to St. Luke.

Chap. xix. At that time, Jesus entering in walked through Jericho. And behold there was a man

* Tob. xiii.

--- PAGE 237 --- 226 Zachzus: et hic princeps erat publicanorum, et ipse

dives: et quarebat videre Jesum, quis esset: et non poterat pra turba, quia sta- tura pusillus erat. Et prae- currens ascendit in arborem sycomorum ut videret eum: quia inde erat transiturus. Et cum venisset ad locum, sus- piciens Jesus vidit illum, et dixit ad eum: Zachze, fe- stinans descende: quia hodie in domo tua oportet me ma- nere, Et festinans descendit, et excepit illum gaudens. Et cum viderent omnes, murmu- rabant, dicentes, quod ad hominem peccatorem divertis- set. Stans autem Zachaus, di- xit ad Dominum: Ecce dimidi- um bonorum meorum, Do- mine, do pauperibus: et si quid ^ aliquem — defraudavi, reddo qu plum. Ait Je- sus ad eum: Quia hodie sa- lus domui huic facta est: eo quod et ipse filius sit Abra- hz. "Venit enim Filius ho- minis quaerere, et salvum facere, quod perierat.

TIME AFTER PENTECOST

named Zachzus, who was the chief of the publicans, and he was rich; and he sought to see Jesus, who he was, and he could not. for the crowd, be- cause he was of low stature. And running before, he climbed up into a sycamore-tree that he might see him, for he was to pass that way. And when Jesus was come to the place, looking up he saw him, and said to him: Zachzus, make haste and come down, for this day I must abide in thy house. And he made haste and came down, and received him with joy. And when all saw it, they murmured, say- ing that he was gone to be a guest with a man that was à sinner. But Zachzus stand- ing said to the Lord: Behold, Lord, the half of my goods I give to the poor, and if I have wronged any man of anything, I restore him fourfold. Jesus said to him: This day is sal- vation come to this house; because he also is a son of Abraham. For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost.

In the Mass which follows the dedication of their

churches, the Greeks sing the passage of the Gospel where Jesus says to Simon Bar-Jona: ' Thou art Peter: and upon this rock I will build My Church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.” It is a fitting conclusion to the symbolical lessons of so great a day; and one certainly not less relished by us because of ds schism which originated it. Let us hail this apostolic rock, the fixing of which in our West proves that the Latin races are predestined to remain for ever the quarry that will furnish the noblest materials for the eternal temple. Nevertheless it is from other texts

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of the sacred Volume that our fathers chose the Gospel reading for to-day.

The comparison drawn by our Lord between the faithful soul and the man who built his house upon a rock determined the choice of some churches; and as we have seen, it has inspired more than one antiphon and verse in the Office. Rome, however, preferred the passage in St. Luke, where Jesus invites Himself to the house of Zacheus. The house which our Lord deigned to make His own, and that not merely for a day, was the publican himself, so despised by the Synagogue; it was all we the Gentiles, of whom, as St. Ambrose says in the Night Office, he was the figure.!

Zachzus, lowly of origin and poor in merits like the nations, as the holy doctor explains, merited to see our Lord, whom His own people would not receive. He, then, who had neither the prophets nor the Law to raise him above earth and enable him to see the Saviour, ran before; he ran to the sycamore, that is to the cross,? by which Jesus, leaving the Jews, had to pass in order to go to the Gentiles. From the height attained by his humility, he beheld the Wisdom of God.? He heard the Lord saying to this proud and ungrateful multitude: ‘ Behold your house shall be left to you desolate; ' while to him, despite the pharisaical murmurs of fallen Israel, rose the sweet voice that invited him to supplant the firstborn in the honour of receiving his God into his house. And surely, if the house of the man who hears the words of Jesus and does them is proof against winds and waves, being built upon a rock: what dwelling could be more secure than the heart of this representative of the disinherited nations, so magnificently repairing the Hm she a so generously the very counsels of our Lor

The Offertory is taken from a passage in the first Book of Paralipomenon, where David thanks God for 1 Homil. diei festi, ex Amsr. in Luc. viii. 3 Homil. s® diei infra Oct., ex Brp. in Luc. v. * Homil. 49 diei infra Oct., ex GreG. Moral, xxvii. 27.

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having allowed him to gather the treasures necessary for the building of the temple. The Church makes his words her own, while she offers on the altar not only her gifts, but also herself and her children, to be united in one same Sacrifice with the Lord her Spouse, and to form with Him the true temple of God. ‘All things are Thine,’ said the prophet-king; ' and we have given Thee what we received of Thy hand. . . . I know, my God, that Thou provest hearts and lovest simplicity.”

228

OFFERTORY

Domine Deus, in simpli- O Lord God, in the simpli-
citate cordis mei letus ob- city of my heart I have joy- tuli universa: et populum fully offered all these things; tuum, qui repertus est, vidi and I have seen with great cum ingenti gaudio: Deus joy thy people which are pre- Israel custodi hanc volun- sent: O God of Israel, keep tatem. Alleluia. this will. Alleluia.

When the Dedication feast is not that of the church in which the Mass is being said, the words in parenthesis in the Secret are omitted.

SECRET

Annue, quesumus, Domine,
precibus nostris: (ut quicumque intra templi hujus, cujus anni- versarium dedicationis diem celebramus, ambitum contine- mur, plena tibi, atque perfecta corporis et anima devotione placeamus; ut, dum hac vota presentia reddimus, ad eterna premia, te adjuvante, pervenire mereamur. Per Do- minum. Favourably incline to our prayers, O Lord, we beseech thee: (and grant that all we who are gathered within the walls of this temple, the anni- versary day of whose dedica- tion we are celebrating, may be pleasing to thee by com- plete and perfect devotion of body and soul;) so that while we offer these our present vows, we may by thy assis- tance deserve to arrive at eter-

nal rewards. Through.

Prayer said in a consecrated church has a very special

1 1 Paralip. xxix. 14, 17.

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a house of prayer. And therein, adds the Church on her own authority, is verified this other divine word: ' Every one that asketh, receiveth; and he that seeketh, findeth; and to him that knocketh, it shall be opened.'!

229

COMMUNION

Domus mea, domus ora- tionis vocabitur, dicit Do- minus: in ea omnis qui petit accipit: et qui querit invenit, et pulsanti aperietur.

My house shall be called the house of prayer, saith the Lord: every one that asketh therein receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth ; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened.

The Postcommunion gathers into one last aspiration the sentiments which fill the holy Church on this great feast, while it beautifully expresses the manifold mystery

of the day.

POSTCOMMUNION

Deus, qui de vivis et electis
fapidibus seternum Majestati tue praparas habitaculum, auxiliare populo tuo suppli- canti, ut quod Ecclesie tue corporalibus proficit spatiis, spiritualibus amplificetur aug- mentis. Per Dominum.

O God, who preparest o living and chosen stones an eternal habitation for thy Majesty, assist A suppliant Rue that what benefits thy

hurch by corporal space may be enlarged by spiritual in- crease. Through our Lord.

SECON" VESPERS

The second Vespers are the same as the first, excepting only the versicle and the Magnificat antiphon.

Y. Domum tuam, Domine,
decet sanctitudo. Hf. Inlongitudinem dierum.

Y. Holiness becometh thy house, O Lord.

Ey. Unto length of days.

ANTIPHON OF THE MAGNIFICAT

O quam metuendus est lo- cus iste: vere non est hic aliud, nisi domus Dei, et porta celi.

Oh, how awful is this place ! Truly it is no other than the house of God, and the gate of heaven.

1 St. Luke xi. 10.

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TIME AFTER PENTECOST

This feast, as might be expected, has furnished abundant themes for Christian poetry. The hymns of the Office in their original form, which we now give, were composed, as we have already said, in the seventh

century.

HYMN

Urbs Jerusalem beata, Dicta pacis visio, Qua construitur in celis Vivis ex lapidibus, Et angelis coronata, Ut sponsata comite. Nova veniens e celo, d thalamo ta, ut sponsata Copalethr Doasiuo: Platea et muri ejus Ex auro purissimo. Portz nitent margaritis Adytis patentibus; Et virtute meritorum Illuc introducitur Omnis, qui ob Christi nomen Hic in mundo premitur. Tunsionibus, pressuris, Expoliti lapides, Suis coaptantur locis Per manus artificis, Disponuntur permansuri laris fundamentum Lapis Christus missus est, Qui parietum compage Inu ue nectitur, Quem Sion sancta suscepit, In quo credens permanet. Omnis illa Deo sacra Et dilecta civitas, Plena modulis, in laude, Et canore jubllo, Trinum Deum unicumque Cum fervore pradicat. Hoc in templo, summe Deus,
Exoratus adveni; Et clementi bonitate Precum vota suscipe;

Jerusalem, blessed city, called the vision of peace! She is built up in heaven of living stones, and surrounded by angels, as a bride by her cortége.

'Tis the new Sion coming down írom heaven, adorned for her nuptials, that as a bride she may be united to her Lord. Her streets and walls are all of purest gold.

Her ever open gates are glittering with ls; and whosoever suffers in this world for the Name of Christ, finds entrance there in virtue of his merits.

The stones, polished by the blows of affliction, are fitted to their places by the builder's hand: they are fixed to re- main for ever in the hallowed ile. ;

Christ the corner-stone was sent to be the foundation, bound in both joints of the walls; whom Sion received and became holy, in whom believing she endures for ever.

All this beloved city, con- secrated to God, is full of me- lodies; in praise and joyful ud She fervently extols her

One and Trine.

In this temple, O most high God, be present when thou art called upon; and in thy merciful goodness receive our

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Largam benedictionem Hic infunde jugiter.

Hic promereantur omnes Petita acquirere, Et adepta possidere: Cum sanctis perenniter Paradisum introire, Translati in requiem.

M sna et aon Deo

squequaque altissimo,

Una Patni. Filoque,

Inclyto Paraclito,

Cui laus est et potestas

Per zterna secula. Amen.

231

suppliant vows; here pour out ever thy copious benedictions.

Here may all merit to ob- tain what they request, and to keep what they have obtained: so that, when taken into their rest, they may enter paradise for ever with the saints.

Glory and honour be in all places to God most high: equally to the Father, and to the Son, and to the glorious Paraclete, to whom belong praise and power through everlasting ages. Amen.

The following Sequence magnificently celebrates the sublime mystery of the Dedication, as understood by our

forefathers.

It has been sung in our churches ever since

the thirteenth century, and has been considered worthy

to be attributed to Adam of St. Victor.

We have

thought it necessary to give the text most generally used

at present.

SEQUENCE

Jerusalem et Sion filiz,

Coetus omnis fidelis curiz,

Melos pangant jugis letitia: Alleluia.

Christus enim, norma justitiz,

Matrem nostram desponsat hodie,

Quam de lacu traxit miserie,

Ecclesiam.

Hanc, sanguinis et aquz mu- nere,

Dum penderet in crucis ar-

re, De proprio produxit latere Deus homo.
Formaretur ut sic Ecclesia, Figuratur in prima femina, Qua de costis Ade est edita, Mater Heva.

Let the daughters of Jeru- salem and Sion, and all the assembly of the faithful peo- ple, sing a sweet song of never- ending joy: Alleluia.

For Christ, the pattern of holiness, this day doth wed our mother, holy Church, whom he hath drawn from the abyss of misery.

While hanging on the tree of the cross, the God made Man brought her forth from his own side, giving her the blood and water for her dower.

That thus was to be formed the holy Church, was pre- figured in the first of woman- kind, our mother Eve, pro- duced from Adam's side.

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Heva fuit noverca posteris:

Hzc est mater electi generis,

Vite parens, asylum miseris, Et tutela.

Haec est cymba qua tuti ve- himur, Hoc ovile quo tecti condimur, Hac columna qua firmi niti- mur Veritatis. O solemnis festum letitiz, Quo unitur Christus Eccle- sie, In quo nostre salutis nuptiae Celebrantur ! ustis inde solvuntur premia, psis autem donatur venia: Et sanctorum augentur gaudia Angelorum.

Ab aeterno fons sapientiz,

Intuitu solius gratiz,

Sic previdit in rerum serie Hec futura.

Christus jungens nos suis nuptiis, Recreatos veris deliciis, Interesse faciat gaudiis Electorum. Amen.

TIME AFTER PENTECOST

Eve was a cruel stepmother to her posterity; but this one is the mother of the chosen race, parent of life, a refuge to the wretched, and their shelter.

This is the bark wherein we Safely sail, this the sheepfold that shelters and protects us, this the pillar of truth where- on we lean securely.

O feast of solemn joy! whereon Christ is united to the Church, whereon the nu tials of our salvation are cele- brated !

Rewards this day are given to the just, and pardon is be- stowed upon the fallen; yea, and the joys of the holy an- gels are increased.

From all eternity the Fount of Wisdom, regardless of aught save his free grace alone, fore- saw and arranged in due course these happy events.

May Rist, uniting us in his own nuptials, and re- creating us with true delights, admit us to share in the eter- nal joys of his elect. Amen.

Let us now hear what blessings the bride implores, on the day of their consecration, for these churches, in each of which she sees an image of herself. If we remember that the Church's prayer is always heard, this

Preface from the

pontifical will show us what great

benefits await our humble supplications.

PREFACE

JEterne Deus, adesto preci-
bus nostris, adesto sacra- mentis, adesto etiam piis fa- mulorum tuorum laboribus, nobisque misericordiam tuam poscentibus. Descendat quo-

O eternal God, be propi- tious to our prayers, be propi- tious to our sacred rites, be propitious to the pious labours of thy servants, as we implore thy mercy. Upon this church,

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que in hanc ecclesiam tuam, quam sub invocatione sancti nominis tui, in honorem san- cte crucis, in qua coeter- nus tibi Filius tuus Dominus
noster Jesus Christus pro redemptione mundi pati digna- tus est, et memoriam sancti tui N. nos indigni conse- cramus, Spiritus Sanctus tuus, septiformis gratie ubertate redundans: ut quotiescumque in hac domo tua sanctum no- men tuum fuerit invocatum, eorum, qui te invocaverint, & te pio Domino preces ex- audiantur.

O beata et sancta Trini- tas, qua omnia purificas, omnia mundas, et omnia perornas. O beata majestas Dei, que cuncta imples, cuncta contines, cuncta di- sponis. O beata et sancta manus Dei, qua omnia san- ctificas, omnia benedicis, omnia locupletas. O Sancte Sanctorum Deus, tuam cle-
mentiam humillima devotione deposcimus, ut hanc ecclesiam tuam, per nostre humilitatis famulatum, in honorem sancte et victoriosissimz crucis, et memoriam sancti tui N. pu- rificare, benedicere, et conse- crare, perpetua sanctificationis tuz ubertate digneris. Hic quo- que sacerdotes sacrificia tibi laudis offerant. Hic fideles populi vota persolvant. Hic

torum onera solvantur, fidelesque lapsi reparentur.

In hàc ergo,

Sane Do- mine, domo tua

piritus Sancti

233

which we though unworthy consecrate under the invoca- tion of thy holy name, unto the honour of the holy cross whereon thy coeternal Son, our Lord Jesus Christ deigned to suffer for the redemption of the world, and in memory of thy saint N. (here is named the titular of the church), may thy Holy Spirit descend, over- flowing with the abundance of his sevenfold grace; so that, whensoever thy holy name is invoked in this house, thou, O Lord, in thy goodness mayst hear the prayers of them that call on thee.

O blessed and holy Trinity, that purifiest all things, clean- sest all things, adornest all things. O blessed Majesty of God, that fillest all things, containest all things, orderest all things. O blessed and holy hand of God, that sancti- fiest all things, blessest all things, enrichest all things. O God, Holy of holies, with most humble devotion we im- plore thy mercy that thou wouldst deign, through the ministry of our lowliness, to pur bless, and consecrate,

the everlasting abundance of thy sacred gifts, this thy church, unto the honour of the holy and triumphant cross, and the memory of thy saint N. Here also may thy priests offer to thee the ce of raise, Here may the faith-

l perform their vows. Here may the burdens of sinners be undone, and the faithful who have fallen be restored to

We therefore beseech thee, O Lord, in this thy house, by

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gratia agroti sanentur; infirmi recuperentur; claudi curentur; le i mundentur; czci illu- minentur; daemonia ejiciantur. Cunctorum hic debilium incom- moda, te, Domine, annuente,
pellantur, omniumque vin- cula peccatorum absolvantur. Ut omnes qui hoc templum beneficia juste deprecaturi in- grediuntur cuncta se impetrasse letentur; ut concessa miseri- cordia, quam precantur, perpe- tuo miserationis tuz munere glorientur. Per eumdem Do- minum.

TIME AFTER PENTECOST

the grace of thy Holy Spirit, may the sick be healed, the infirm restored to strength, the lame cured, the lepers cleansed, the blind enlighten- ed, demons cast out. May all miseries and weaknesses be driven away, by thy favour, O Lord, and the bonds of all sins be loosed. Thus may all who enter this temple for the purpose of rightly asking thy benefits rejoice to find all their petitions granted; so that, having obtained the mer- cy they sought, they may glory in the eternal munifi- cence of thy tender compas- sion. Through the same Lord.

We will conclude with these beautiful formule from the Ambrosian liturgy, where the Dedication is celebrated on the third Sunday of October, and gives its name, post Dedicationem, to the last Sundays of the sacred cycle.

PREFACE

Per Christum Dominum no- strum. Qui eminentiam pote- statisaccepta tradidit Ecclesiz, quam pro honore percepto et reginam constituit, et sponsam. Cujus sublimitati universa sub- jecit; ad cujus judicium con- sentire jussit e caelo. Hec est mater omnium viventium, fili- orum numero facta sublimior: que per Spiritum Sanctum quotidie Deo filios procreat; cu- jus palmitibus mundus omnis impletus est: qua propagines suas ligno bajulante suspen- Sas erigit ad regna calorum. Hec est civitas illa, sublimis jugo montis erecta, perspicua cunctis, et omnibus clara; cu- jus conditor, et inhabitator est idem Dominus noster Jesus

It is just to return thanks to thee, O eternal God, through Christ our Lord. Who de- livered to the Church the eminent power he had received from thee, and, on account of that honour, constituted her queen and bride. To her sovereignty he subjected all things, and ordered her judg- ment to be ratified in heaven. She is the mother of all the living, and her glory is en- hanced by the number of her children: for daily by the Holy Spirit she brings forth sons to God. The whole world is filled with her branches: and suspending her shoots on the tree that supports her, she raises them up to the kingdom

--- PAGE 246 --- DEDICATION OF CHURCHES

Christus Filius tuus. Quem una tecum omnipotens Pater.

235

of heaven. She is the city built on the summit of the lofty mountain, visible to all, well known to all; whose builder and indweller is the same Jesus Christ our Lord thy Son, whom together with thee, O almighty Father, the angels praise.

PRAYER

Deus, qui Ecclesiam tuam,
Unigeniti tui sponsam vocare dignatus es, ut, qua habet gratiam per fidei devotionem, haberet etiam ex nomine pieta- tem: da, ut omnis hac plebs, nomini tuo serviens, hujus vocabuli consortio digna esse mereatur. Per eumdem Do- minum.

O God, who hast deigned to call the Church the bride of thine only-begotten Son; that as she has found favour by the devotion of her faith, so she might also obtain love by reason of her very name: grant that all this people sub- ject to thy name may be found worthy to share with

her so glorious an appellation. Through the same Lord.

‘I have loved, O Lord, the beauty of Thy house, and the place where Thy glory dwelleth.'! May this word remain with us as a lingering fragrance of the great solemnity. Thy house, O God, is our church, unspeak- ably beautiful with the splendour of the divine mysteries Compared with her, what was the tabernacle that sheltered the Ark of the Covenant of Sinai? And yet the thought of it filled the heart of David in the desert, and made him faint like the stag panting after the fountains of water. Let us learn from our fathers, who lived in the ages of expectation, how to love the courts of the Lord. Christian ! the exile which afflicted David can never be your fate; for in Baptism you became the sanctuary of God. Let this Dedication day remind you of the consecration which took you from yourself to make you the temple of the Holy Ghost; to give you to Christ,

* together with whom your life is henceforth hidden in

1 Ps. xxv. 8.

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the sweet and fruitful secrecy of the Father's Face. Learn to render to the blessed Trinity in your soul a homage worthy of His presence.

Lastly, baptized and consecrated soul, remember that bue are not alone at the banquet of God's love; that divine charity which unites you to Christ the Spouse must link you to His members, and fit you, a living stone, to the other stones; preparing you here below for your future place in the structure of the heavenly sanctuary. Learn to adapt yourself to the living Church; to vibrate in unison with the great bride; practising for eternity, where your one happy occupation will be to glorify, with her, God the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost, for ever and ever.

--- PAGE 248 --- SAINT ANDREW AVELLINO 237

NOVEMBER I0

SAINT ANDREW AVELLINO CONFESSOR

T5 the sixteenth century, in reply to the reproach of exhaustion hurled against the Church, the Holy Ghost raised from her soil an abundant harvest of sanctity. Andrew was one of His most worthy co-operators in the work of holy reformation and supernatural renaissance which then took place. Eternal Wisdom had as usual suffered Satan to go before, for his own greater shame, cloaking his evil works under the grand names of renais- sance and reform.

It was nine years since St. Cajetan had departed this world, leaving it strengthened by his labours and all embalmed with the fragrance of his virtues; the former bishop of Theate, his companion and collaborator in founding the first Regular Clerks, was now governing the Church under the name of Paul IV; when in 1556 God bestowed upon the Theatines, in the person of our saint, an heir to the supernatural gifts, the heroic sanctity, and the zeal for the sanctuary, that had characterized their father. Andrew was the friend and support of the great bishop of Milan, St. Charles Borromeo, whose glory in heaven he went to share on this day. His pious writings are still used in the Church. He himself formed some admirable disciples, such as Laurence Scupoli, author of the well-known work so prized by the bishop of Geneva, the Spiritual Combat.

Nothing need be added to the following history of his life.

1 “It is clear and vi ractical. Yes, my daughter, the Spiritual Combat is great [Ani e pei rp bi Lave — da - Early n ey

eighteen years, and I never read it without profi."—S. FRANCIS DE SALRS: Spiritual Letters.

--- PAGE 249 --- 238

Andreas Avellinus, dictus antea Lancellottus, apud Ca- strum Novum Lucanie pagum natus, inter ipsa infantiz pri- mordia, future sanctitatis non obscura prebuit indicia. Ado- lescens ad litteras addiscendas

terna e domo egressus,

ubricam illius statis semi- tam inter bonarum artium studia ita peregit, ut sapien- tie initium, quod est timor Domini, ob oculos potissimum habere numquam prztermi- serit. Cum egregia proinde forma eximium castitatis stu- dium conjunxit, quo impudicas sepe mulierum insidias elusit, interdum etiam apertam vim propulsavit. Clericali militie jampridem adscriptus, Nea- polim se contulit, ut lega- libus disciplinis vacaret, ibique jurisprudentiz lauream adep- tus, atque interea ad sacer- dotalem dignitatem evectus, causarum patrocinia in foro dumtaxat ecclesiastico, proque privatis quibusdam personis, juxta sacrorum canonum san- ctiones agere ccpit. Verum cum aliquando inter causam agendam leve ei mendacium excidisset, mox vero fortuita sacrarum Scripturarum le- ctione in illa verba incidis- set: Os, quod mentitur, oc- cidit animam; tanto ejus cul- pe dolore ac penitentia cor- reptus est, ut statim ab ejus- modi vite instituto sibi rece- dendum esse duxerit. Itaque, abdicatis forensibus curis, se totum divino cultui sacrisque ministeriis mancipavit. Cum- que ecclesiastice virtutis exem- plis emineret, sanctimonialium regimini a tunc exsistente ar- chiepiscopo Neapolitano prz-

TIME AFTER PENTECOST

Andrew Avellino, formerly called Lancelot, was born at Castro Nuovo in Lucania; and, while still an infant, gave evident signs of future holi- ness. He left his {father’s house to study the liberal arts; in the pursuit of which he passed so blamelessly through the slippery age of youth, as ever to keep before his eyes the fear of the Lord, which is the beginning of wis- dom. Of a comely appear- ance, he was so great a lover of holy purity that he was able to escape snares laid for his chastity by shameless wo- men, and even to repel open attacks. After being made a cleric, he went to Naples to study law, and there took his degree. Meanwhile he was promoted to the priesthood; after which he began to plead, but only in the ecclesiastical court and for private indi- viduals, in accordance with the prescriptions of Canon Law. Once, however, when pleading a cause, a slight un- truth escaped him; and hap- pening soon after, in reading the holy Scripture, to come upon these words: The mouth that belieth killeth the soul, he conceived so great a sorrow and repentance for his fault, that he determined at once to abandon that kind of life. He therefore left the bar, and devoted himself entirely to the divine service and the sacred ministry. As he was eminent in priestly virtues, the archbishop of Naples con- fided to him the direction of certain nuns.

In discharging this office he

incurred the

--- PAGE 250 --- SAINT ANDREW AVELLINO

fectus fuit. Quo in munere cum pravorum hominum odia subiisset, primo quidem in- tentate sibi necis periculum declinavit; mox vero per si- carium tribus in facie acceptis vulneribus, injurie atrocita- tem zquo animo pertulit. Tum perfectioris vitze desiderio fla- grans, ut inter Clericos re- gulares adscriberetur, suppli- citer postulavit, votique com- pos factus, ob ingentem, quo zstuabat, crucis amorem, ut Sibi Andree nomen imponere- tur, precibus impetravit. Arctioris itaque vite cur- riculum alacri studio ingres- Sus, in eas maxime virtutis exercitationes incubuit, ad quas Sese arduis etiam emissis votis obstrinxit, altero scilicet suz ipsius voluntati jugiter obsi- stendi, altero vero in via chri- stianz perfectionis semper ul- terius progrediendi. Regula- ris discipline cultor assiduus, et in ea promovenda, cum alis praeesset, studiosissimus fuit. Quidquid ab instituti sui offcii et regule pre- Scripto supererat temporis, orationi et animarum saluti tribuebat. In confessionibus excipiendis mira ejus pietas et prudentia enituit: vicos et oppida Neapoli finitima evangelicis ministeriis magno cum animarum lucro frequens lustrabat. Quam ardentem erga proximos sancti viri cari- tatem signis etiam Dominus
illustravit. Cum enim intem- pesta nocte ab audita zgri con- fessione domum rediret, ac pluvie ventorumque vis pra- lucentem facem exstinxisset, non solum ipse cum sociis inter effusissimos imbres nihil

239

hatred of some evil men, who attempted his life. He es- caped their first assault; but soon afterwards one of the as- sassins gave him three wounds in the face: an injury which

.he bore unmoved. Desirous

of a more perfect life, he humbly begged to be admitted among the Regular Clerks; and on obtaining his request, he asked to be called by the name of Andrew, on actount of his ardent love of the cross.

He earnestly devoted him- self to the stricter manner of life he had embraced, and to the practice of the virtues, going so far as to bind him- self thereto by two most diffi- cult vows—viz., never to do his own will, and ever to ad- vance in Christian perfection. He had the greatest respect for religious discipline, and zealously promoted it when he was superior. Whatever time remained over after the dis- charge of his duties and the prescriptions of the rule, he devoted to prayer and the sal- vation of souls. He was noted for his piety and prudence in hearing confessions. He fre- quently visited the towns and villages near Naples, exercis- ing the apostolic ministry with much profit to souls. Our Lord was pleased to show by miracles how great was this holy man's love of his neigh- bour. As he was once return- ing home late at night from hearing a sick man's confession, a violent storm of wind and rain put out the light that was carried before him; but neither

--- PAGE 251 --- 240

madefactus est; verum etiam, inusitato splendore e suo cor- pore mirabiliter emicante, so- ciis inter densissimas tenebras iter monstravit. Abstinentia et patientia, nec non abje- ctione atque odio sui summo- re prastitit. Necem fratris lio illatam imperturbato ani- mo tulit, ac suos ab omni ulciscendi cupiditate compe- Scuit, imo etiam pro inter- fectoribus opem et misericor- diam judicum imploravit.

Pluribus in locis Clerico- rum regularium — Ordinem propagavit, eorumque domi- cilia Mediolani et Placentia instituit. lius operam san- ctus Carolus Borromzus, et Paulus de Aretio Clericus re- gularis, Cardinales, quibus erat acceptissimus, in pastoralis muneris curis adhibuerunt. Deiparam "Virginem singulari amore et cultu prosequebatur. Angelorum colloquio perfrui meruit, quos, cum divinas laudes persolveret, e regione concinentes se audisse testatus est. Denique post heroica virtutum exempla, prophetie quoque dono illustris, quo et secreta cordium, et absentia, et futura prospexit, annis gra- vis et laboribus fractus, ad aram celebraturus in verbis illis tertio repetitis: Introibo ad altare Dei, repentino apo- plexie morbo correptus est; mox sacramentis rite munitus, placidissime inter suos ani- mam efflavit. Ejus corpus Neapoli in ecclesia sancti Pauli ad hac usque tempora eo

uentissimo populi concursu colitur, quo fuit elatum. Illum

TIME AFTER PENTECOST

he nor his companions were wet by the pouring rain; and, moreover, a wonderful light shining from his body enabled them to find their way through the darkness. His abstinence and patience were extraordi- nary, as also his humility and hatred of self. He bore the assassination. of his nephew with unrufled tranquillity, withheld his family from seek- ing revenge, and even implored the judges to grant mercy and protection to the mur- derers.

He propagated the Order of the Regular Clerks in many places, and founded houses for them in Milan and Piacenza. The Cardinals Charles Borro- meo and Paul of Arezzo, a Regular Clerk, bore him great affection, and availed them- selves of his assistance in the discharge of their pastoral office. The Virgin Mother of God he honoured with a very special love and worship. He was permitted to converse with the angels; and affirmed that when saying the Divine Office, he heard them singing with him as if in choir. At length, after giving heroic examples of virtue, and becoming illus- trious for his gift of prophecy, whereby he knew the secrets of hearts, and distant and future events, he was worn out with old age and broken down with labours. As he was at the foot of the altar about to say Mass, he thrice repeated the words: I will go in to the altar of God, and fell down struck with apoplexy. After being strengthened by the Sacraments of the Church, he

--- PAGE 252 --- SAINT ANDREW AVELLINO 241

denique insignibus in vita et peacefully expired in the midst K iborte miraculis clarum of his brethren. His body was lemens undecimus Pontifex buried at Naples in the church Maximus solemni ritu san- of St. Paul, and is honoured ctorum catalogo adscripsit. even to this day by as great a concourse of people as attended the interment. Finally, as he had been illustrious for miracles both in life and after death, he was solemnly enrolled among the saints by Pope

Clement XI.

How sweet and yet how strong were the ways of eternal Wisdom in thy regard, O blessed Andrew, when a slight fault into which thou wast surprised became the De pont of thy splendid sanctity! ‘The mouth that belieth killeth the soul. Seek not death in the error of your life, neither procure ye destruction by the works of your hands. Thou didst read these words of divine Wisdom and fully understand them. The aim of life then appeared to thee very different, in the light of the vows thou wast inspired to make, ever to turn away from thyself and ever to draw nearer to the Sovereign Good. With holy Church in her Collect, we glorify our Lord for having disposed such admirable ascensions in thy heart. This daily progress led thee on ' from virtue to virtue,' till thou dost now ' behold the God of gods in Sion. Thy 'heart and thy flesh rejoiced in the living God '; thy soul, absorbed in the love of His hallowed courts, fainted at the thought thereof. No wonder it was at the foot of God's altar that thy life failed thee, and thou didst enter on the passage to His blessed home. With what joy thou wast welcomed into the eternal choirs, by those who had been on earth thy angelic associates in the divine praise !

Be not unmindful of the world's homage. Deign to respond to the confidence of Naples and Sicily, which commend themselves to thy M omen i Bless the pious family of Regular Clerks Theatines, in union

1 Wiad. i. 11, 18

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with St. Cajetan thy father and theirs. Obtain for us all a share in the blessings so largely bestowed on thee. May the vain pleasures found in the 'tabernacles of sinners' never seduce us; but may we prefer the humility of God's house to all worldly pomp. If, like thee, we ' love truth and mercy,' our Lord will give to us, as He gave to thee, ' grace and glory.' Calling to mind the circumstances of thy blessed end, Christians honour thee as a protector against sudden and unprovided death: be our guardian at that last moment; let the innocence of our life, or at least our repentance, prepare for us a happy exit; and may we, like thee, breathe out our last sigh in hope and love.

Rome invites us to-day to honour with her a group of martyrs, the protectors and the treasure of her great hospital of the Holy Ghost, where they rest under the high altar. The church of St. Augustine, close to the ancient stational church of St. Tryphon, also possesses a portion of the latter's precious remains.

PRAYER

Fac nos, quzsumus, Domine, Grant us, we beseech thee,
sanctorum martyrum tuorum O Lord, to keep the festival of Tryphonis, Respicii, et Nym- thy holy martyrs, Tryphon, phe semper festa sectari: Respicius, and Nympha; by quorum suffragiis protectionis whose suffrages may we ex- tue dona sentiamus, Per perience the gifts of thy pro- Dominum. tection. Through our Lord.

1 Cf. Ps. Ixxxiii.

--- PAGE 254 --- SAINT MARTIN OF TOURS 243

NOVEMBER II

SAINT MARTIN BISHOP AND CONFESSOR

HREE thousand six hundred and sixty churches

dedicated to St. Martin in France alone,! and well- nigh as many in the rest of the world, bear witness to the immense popularity of the great thaumaturgus. In the country, on the mountains, and in the depth of forests; trees, rocks, and fountains, objects of super- stitious worship to our pagan ancestors, received, and in many places still retain, the name of him who snatched them from the dominion of the powers of darkness to restore them to the true God. For the vanquished idols, Roman, Celtic, or German, Christ substituted their conqueror, the humble soldier, in the grateful memory of the people. Martin's mission was to complete the destruction of paganism, which had been driven from the towns by the martyrs but remained up to his time master of the vast territories removed from the influence of the cities. While on the one hand he was honoured with God's favours, on the other he was pursued by hell with im- placable hatred. At the very outset he had to encounter Satan, who said to him: ' I will beset thy path at every turn ';? and he kept his word. He has kept it to this very day: century after century, he has been working ruin around the glorious tomb which once attracted the whole world to Tours: in the sixteenth, he delivered to the flames, by the hands of the Huguenots, the venerable remains of the protector of France; by the nineteenth, he had brought men to such a height of folly, as themselves to destroy, in time of peace, the — to the dioceses may be seen in the Appendix to ' Saint

1 A list arranged Martin' by Lzcov pz LA MARCHE. * SuLriT. Sever. Vita, vi.

--- PAGE 255 --- 244 TIME AFTER PENTECOST

splendid basilica which was the pride and the riches of their city. The gratitude of Christ and the rage of Satan, made known by such signs, reveal sufficiently the incomparable labours of the pontiff, apostle, and monk, St. Martin.

A monk indeed he was, both in desire and in reality, to the last day of his life. ‘From earliest infancy he sighed after the service of God. He became a catechumen at the age of ten, and at twelve he wished to retire to the desert; all his thoughts were engaged on monasteries and churches. A soldier at fifteen years of age, he so lived as even then to be taken for a monk. After a first trial of religious life in Italy, he was brought by St. Hilary to this solitude of Ligugé, which, thanks to him, became the cradle of monastic life in Gaul. To say the truth, Martin, during the whole course of his life, felt like a stranger everywhere else except at Ligugé. A monk by attraction, he had been forced to be a soldier, and it needed violence to make him a bishop: and even then he never relinquished his monastic habits. He responded to the dignity of a bishop, says his historian, without declining from the rule and life of a monk.* At first he constructed for himself a cell near his church of Tours; and soon afterwards built, at a little distance from the town, a second Ligugé, under the name of Marmoutier, or the great monastery.”

The holy liturgy refers to St. Hilary the honour of the wonderful virtues displayed by Martin. What were the holy bishop's reasons for leading his heaven-sent disciple by ways then so little known in the West he has left us to learn from the most legitimate heir of his doctrine as well as of his eloquence. ‘It has ever been,’ says Cardinal Pie, ‘ the ruling idea of all the saints that, side by side with the ordinary ministry of the pastors,

1 Ita ut, jam illo tempore, non miles sed monachus putaretur, SurLPiT. SEvEa. ? [ta impleb i cw , ut non tamen propositum monachi virtute mque

a Ie QUERER pronounced on occasion of the re-establishment of the Benedictine Order at Logo Nor T 25, 1853

* Hilarium secutus est d postea sanctitas declaravit. TT Hilarii, Noct. 11, Lect. fot

q! ejus

--- PAGE 256 --- SAINT MARTIN OF TOURS 245

obliged by their functions to live in the midst of the world, the Church has need of a militia, separated from the world and enrolled under the standard of evangelical perfection, living in self-renunciation and obedience, and carrying on day and night the noble and incom- parable function of public prayer. The most illustrious pontiffs and the greatest doctors have thought that the secular clergy themselves could never be better fitted for spreading and making popuiar the pure doctrines of the Gospel, than if they could be prepared for their pastoral office by living either a monastic life, or one as nearly as ible resembling it. Read the lives of the greatest bishops both in East and West, in the times immediately preceding or following the peace of the Church, as well as in the Middle Ages: they have all, either themselves at some time professed the monastic life, or lived in continual contact with those who pro- fessed it. Hilary, the great Hilary, had, with his ex- perienced and unerring glance, perceived the need ; he had seen the place that should be occupied by the monastic Order in Christendom, and by the regular clergy in the Church. In the midst of his struggles, his combats, his exile, when he witnessed with his own eyes the importance of the monasteries in the East, he earnestly desired the time when, returning to Gaul, he might at length lay the foundations of the religious life at home. Providence was not long in sending him what was needful for such an enterprise: a disciple worthy of the master, a monk worthy of the bishop.'!

On another occasion, comparing St. Martin, his pre- decessors, and St. Hilary himself, in their common apostolate of Gaul, the illustrious Cardinal says: ' Far be it from me to undervalue all the vitality and power already possessed by the religion of Jesus Christ in our divers provinces, thanks to the preaching of the first apostles, martyrs, and bishops, who may be counted back in a long line almost to the day of Calvary. Still I fear not to say it: the popular apostle of Gaul, who

CARDINAL Pie, ubi supra.

--- PAGE 257 --- 246 TIME AFTER PENTECOST

converted the country parts, until then almost entirely

agan, the founder of national Christianity, was princi- pally St. Martin. And how is it that he, above so many other great bishops and servants of God, holds such pre- eminence in the apostolate? Are we to place Martin above his master Hilary ? With regard to doctrine, certainly not ; and as to zeal, courage, holiness, it is not for me to say which was greater, the master's or the disciple’s. But what I can say is, that Hilary was chiefly a teacher, and Martin was chiefly a thaumaturgus. Now, for the conversion of the people the thaumaturgus is more powerful than the teacher; and consequently, in the memory and worship of the people, the teacher is eclipsed and effaced by the thaumaturgus.

‘ Nowadays there is much talk about the necessity of reasoning in order to persuade men as to the reality of divine things: but that is forgetting Scripture and history; nay, more, it is degenerating. God has not deemed it consistent with His majesty to reason with us. He has spoken; He has said what is and what is not; and as He exacts faith in His word, He has sanctioned His word. But how has He sanctioned it? After the manner of God, not of man; by works, not by reasons: non in sermone, sed in virlute, not by the arguments of a humanly persuasive philosophy: non in persuasibilibus humane sapientie verbis, but by displaying a power altogether divine: sed im ostensione spiritus et virtutis. And wherefore? For this profound reason: Ut fides non sit in sapientia hominum, sed in virtute Dei, that faith may not rest upon the wisdom of man, but upon the power of God.! But now men will not have it so: they tell us that in Jesus Christ the theurgist wrongs the moralist; that miracles are a blemish in so sublime an ideal. But they cannot reverse this order; they cannot abolish the Gospel, nor history. Begging the pardon of the learned men of our age and their obsequious followers: not only did Christ work miracles, but He established the Faith upon the foundation of miracles.

! 1 Cor. ii. 4.

--- PAGE 258 --- SAINT MARTIN OF TOURS 247

And the same Christ—not to confirm His own miracles, which are the support of all others; but out of com- passion for us, who are so prone to forgetfulness, and who are more impressed by what we see than by what we hear—the same Jesus Christ has placed in His Church, and that for all time, the power of working miracles. Our age has seen some, and will see yet more. The fourth century witnessed in particular those of St. Martin.

* The working of wonders seemed mere play to him; all nature obeyed him ; the animals were subject to him. “Alas!” cried the saint one day: “ the very serpents listen to me, and men refuse to hear me." Men, how- ever, often did hear him. The whole of Gaul heard him ; not only Aquitaine, but also Celtic and Belgic Gaul. Who could resist words enforced by so many prodigies ? In all these provinces he overthrew the idols one after another, reduced the statues to powder, burnt or de- molished all the temples, destroyed the sacred groves and all the haunts of idolatry. Was it lawful ? you may ask. If I study the legislation of Constantine and Constantius, perhaps it was. But this I know: Martin, eaten up with zeal for the house of the Lord, was obeying none but the Spirit of God. And I must add that against the fury of the pagan population Martin's only arms were the miracles he wrought, the visible assistance of angels sometimes granted him, and, above all, the prayers and tears he poured out before God, when the hard-heartedness of the people resisted the power of his words and of his wonders. With these means Martin changed the face of the country. Where he found scarcely a Christian on his arrival, he left scarcely an infidel at his departure. The temples of the idols were immediately replaced by temples of the true God; for, says Sulpicius Severus, as soon as he had destroyed the homes of superstition, he built churches and monasteries. It is thus that all Europe is covered with sanctuaries bearing the name of St. Martin.'!

1 CARDINAL Pim, Sermon in the cathedral of Tours, on the Sunda: following the patronal feast of St. Martin, November 14, 1853. Y

--- PAGE 259 --- 248 TIME AFTER PENTECOST

His beneficial actions, did not cease with his death; they alone explain the uninterrupted concourse of people to his holy tomb. His numerous feasts in the year, the Deposition or Natalis, the Ordination, Subvention, and Reversion, did not weary the piety of the faithful. Kept everywhere as a holiday of obligation,* and bringing with it the brief return of bright weather known as St. Martin's summer, November 11 rivalled St. John's day in the rejoicings it occasioned in Latin Christendom. Martin was the joy of all and the helper of all.

St. Gregory of Tours does not hesitate to call his blessed predecessor the ‘special patron of the whole world’ ;* whilst monks and clerics, soldiers, knights, travellers and innkeepers on account of his long journeys, charitable associations of every kind in memory of the cloak of Amiens, have never ceased to claim their peculiar right to the great pontiff's benevolence. Hungary, the generous land which gave him to us without exhausting its own provision for the future, rightly reckons him among its most powerful protectors. But to France he was a father: in the same manner as he laboured for the unity of the faith in that land, he pre- sided also over the formation of national unity; and he watches over its continuance. As the pilgrimage of Tours preceded that of Compostella in the Church, the cloak of St. Martin? led the Frankish armies to battle even before the oriflamme of St. Denis. ‘How,’ said Clovis, ‘ can we hope for victory, if we offend blessed Martin ?'*

Let us read the account given by holy Church, who lingers lovingly over the last moments of her illustrious son, worthy as they are of all admiration.

! Concil. Mogunt. an. 813, can. xxxvi. 3 GnEG. Tun. Dew zi Martini, IV. in -

Whatever may have been garment designated [ , it gave to the oratory of the kings of France the name of chapels, chapel, whi Roe dus passed into common use.

* Et ubi erit spes victorize, si b Martinus offenditur? Gmzc. Tur. Historia Francorum, 1I. 37.

--- PAGE 260 --- SAINT MARTIN OF TOURS

Martinus, Sabariz in Pan- nonia natus, cum decimum attigisset annum, invitis pa- rentibus ad Ecclesiam con- fugiens, in catechumenorum numerum adscribi — voluit. Quindecim annos natus in militiam profectus, primum in Constantii, deinde Juliani exercitu militavit. Qui cum nihil haberet preter arma, et vestimentum quo tegebatur, Ambiani, pauperi ac nudo ab eo petenti, ut Christi no- mine sibi eleemosynam tri- bueret, partem chlamydis de- dit. Cui sequenti nocte Chri- stus dimidiata illa veste indutus apparuit, hanc mittens vo- cem: Martinus catechumenus hac me veste contexit.

Decem et octo annos cum haberet, baptizatus est. Quare relicta militari vita, ad Hila- rium Pictaviensem episcopum se contulit, à quo in acoly- thorum numerum redactus est. Post factus episcopus Turonen- sis monasterium zdificavit, ubi cum octoginta monachis san- ctissime aliquamdiu vixit. Qui cum postea ad Candacensem vicum suz dicecesis in gravem febrim incidisset, assidua Deum oratione precabatur, ut se ex illo mortali carcere liberaret. Quem audientes discipuli, sic rogabant: Cur nos pater de- Seris? cui nos miseros dere- linquis ? Quorum voce com- motus Martinus, ita Deum orabat: Domine, si adhuc po-
pulo tuo sum necessarius, non recuso laborem.

Sed cum eum in illa ve- hementi febre supinum oran- tem viderent discipuli, sup-

249

Martin was born at Sabaria in Pannonia. When ten years old he fled to the church, against his ents' will, and had himself enrolled among the catechumens. At the age of fifteen he became a soldier, and served in the army first of Constantius and afterwards of Julian. On one occasion, when a poor naked man at Amiens begged an alms oí him in the name of Christ, having nothing but his armour and clothing, he gave him half of his military cloak. The following night worin sauna to him clad in that half-cloak, and said: Martin, while yet a catechumen, has clothed me with this garment.

At eighteen years of age he was baptized; and abandoning his military career, betook himself to Hilary, bishop of Poitiers, by whom he was made acolyte. Later on, hav- ing become bishop of Tours, he built a monastery, where he lived for some time in a most holy manner, in com- pany with eighty monks. He was seized with a violent fever at Cande, a village in his diocese; and he earnestly be- sought God to free him from the prisop of the body. His disciples hearing, asked him: Father, why dost thou aban- don us ? or to whom dost thou leave us in our desolation? Martin, touched by their words, prayed to God in this manner: O — if I E necessary to thy le, lo not uan the m Brea When his disciples saw him

pere

--- PAGE 261 --- 250

pliciter ab eo petierunt, ut converso corpore tantisper, dum remitteret morbi vis, pronus conquiesceret. Quibus Martinus, Sinite me, inquit, celum potius, quam terram aspicere, ut suo jam itinere iturus ad Dominum spiritus dirigatur. Instante jam morte, viso humani generis hoste: Quid, inquit, astas, cruenta bestia? nihil in me funeste reperies. Ea in voce, unum et octoginta annos natus, ani- mam Deo reddidit: quam ange- lorum chorus excepit, eosque divinas canentes laudes multi, in primisque sanctus Seve- rinus Coloniensis episcopus, au- dierunt.

TIME AFTER PENTECOST

besought him to turn over for a little while, that he might get some rest and relief. But Martin answered: Suffet me to gaze on heaven rather than earth, that my spirit, which is about to depart, may be di- rected on its way to our Lord. As death drew nigh, he saw the enemy of mankind, and exclaimed: What art thou doing here, thou cruel beast ? thou wilt find no evil in me. While uttering these words he gave up his soul to God, at the age of eighty-one. He was received by a choir of angels, whom many, and in particular St. Severinus, bishop of Cologne, heard singing the praises of God.

We here give the beautiful antiphons of Vespers. The first five are composed of passages from the letter of Sulpicius Severus to Bassula, in which he relates the saint's death, thus completing the book he had written of the Life of St. Martin while the holy bishop was still

on earth.

ANTIPHONS

Dixerunt discipuli ad bea- tum Martinum: Cur nos pater deseris, aut cui nos desolatos relinquis ? Invadent enim gre- gem tuum lupi rapaces.

Domine, si adhuc populo
tuo sum necessarius, non re- cuso laborem: fiat voluntas tua.

O virum ineffabilem, nec labore victum, nec morte vin- cendum, qui nec mori timuit, nec vivere recusavit !

Oculis ac manibus in cz- um semper intentus, invi-

The disciples said to blessed Martin: Why, father, dost thou abandon us ? or to whom dost thou leave us in our desola- tion? For ravening wolves will rush upon thy flock.

Lord, if I am still n to thy le, I do not refuse the labour: may thy will be done.

O man beyond all praise ! neither conquered by labour, nor conquerable by death; who neither feared to die, nor refused to live.

Ever intent with eyes and hands raised to heaven, he

--- PAGE 262 --- SAINT MARTIN OF TOURS

ctum ab oratione spiritum non relaxabat, alleluia.

Martinus Abrahze sinu letus excipitur: Martinus, hic pauper et modicus, caelum dives ingre- ditur, hymnis celestibus ho- noratur.

O beatum virum, cujus anima paradisum possidet: unde exsultant angeli, letan- tur archangeli, chorus san- ctorum prociamat, turba vir- ginum invitat: Mane nobiscum in eternum.

O beatum pontificem, qui totis visceribus diligebat Chri- stum Regem, et non formidabat imperii principatum: 0o san- ctissima anima, quam etsi gla- dius persecutoris non abstulit, palmam tamen martyrii non amisit.

251

never relaxed from prayer his invincible spirit, alleluia.

in is received with joy in Abraham's bosom: Martin, here poor and humble, enters heaven rich, and is honoured with celestial hymns.

O blessed man, whose soul is now in possession of para- dise! Wherefore the angels exult, the archangels rejoice, the choir of the saints pro- claims his glory, the virgins crowd around him saying: Remain with us for ever.

O blessed pontiff, who, with his whole inmost being loved Christ the King and feared not the power of the mighty ! O most holy soul, which, though not snatched away by the sword of the persecutor, did not forgo the palm of martyrdom !

St. Odo of Cluny, one of the most illustrious and

devout clients of St. Martin, composed the following hymn in his honour. The faithful will find in their Ves books, in the Common of the saints, the more ancient hymn, Iste Confessor; it is somewhat altered from the original, which was intended to celebrate the miracles wrought at the tomb of this the first saint not a martyr to be honoured by the whole Church.

HYMN

Rex Christe, Martini decus, Hic laus tua, tu illius:

O Christ our King, Martin's glory, he is thy praise, and

Tu nos in hunc te colere, thou art his: suffer us to

Quin ipsum in te tribue. honour thee in him—yea, and him in thee.

Qui das per orbis cardines, Thou who causest this jewel

Quod gemma fulget presulum; of pontiffs to shine through-

Da quos premunt culpa graves, out the world; grant that

Solvat per ingens meritum. through his exceeding great merit he may deliver us who are ressed by the weight

of our sins.

--- PAGE 263 --- 252

En pauper hic et modicus Calum dives ingreditur; Cali cohortes obviant, Lingue, tribus, gentes ovant.

Ut vita, fulget transitus, Calis et arvo splendidus; Gaudere cunctis pium est, Cunctis salus sit hzc dies.

Martine, par apostolis, Festum colentes tu fove; Qui vivere discipulis Vis, aut mori, nos respice.

Fac nunc quod olim seras,

Tu praesules clarifica, Auge decus Ecclesie, Fraudes relide Satana.

Qui ter chaos evisceras, Mersos reatu suscita: Diviseras ut chlamydem, Nos indue justitiam.

ges-

Ut specialis glorie Quondam recorderis tuz, Monastico nunc Ordini, Jàm pene lapso, subveni.

Sit Trinitati gloria, Martinus ut confessus est; Cujus fidem per opera In nos et ipse roboret.

Amen.

TIME AFTER PENTECOST

Poor and humble here on earth, lo! now he enters hea- ven abounding in riches; the celestial hosts come forth to meet him, and all tongues, tribes, and nations celebrate his triumph !

His death, like his life, was resplendent with light, a glory to earth and to heaven; to oie thereat is the duty of

; may this day be to all a day of salvation.

O Martin, equal to the apostles, succour us who kee thy feast; look u us, thou who wast willing alike to live for thy disciples or to die.

Do now what thou didst heretofore: make pontiffs illus- trious in virtue, increase the glory of the Church, and frus- trate the wiles of Satan.

Thrice didst thou despoil the abyss of ifs prey: raise up now those that are burizd in sin. As once thou didst share thy mantle with another. iothe us with the garb of holiness.

Remembering what was once thy special glory, succour the monastic Order now well nigh extinct.

Glory be to the Holy Trinity, whom Martin confessed by his life; may he obtain that our faith in that mystery he confirmed by works. Amen.

Adam of St. Victor has consecrated to the holy bishop of Tours one of his most enthusiastic pieces.

SEQUENCE

Gaude Sion, quz diem recolis,

Qua Martinus,compar apostolis,

Mundum vincens, junctus calicolis Coronatur.

Rejoice, O Sion, celebrating the day whereon Martin, equal to the apostles, conquering the world, is crowned among the heavenly citizens.

--- PAGE 264 --- SAINT MARTIN OF TOURS

Hic Martinus, pauper et mo- dicus, Servus prudens, fidelis villicus, Calo dives, civis angelicus Sublimatur. Hic Martinus, jam catechu-

menus Nudum vestit, et nocte pro-

tinus In sequenti, hac veste Dominus
Est indutus. Hic Martinus, spernens mi- litiam, Inimicis inermis obviam Ire parat, baptismi gratiam

Assecutus. Hic Martinus, dum offert ho- stiam, Intus ardet per Dei gratiam: Supersedens a; t etiam Globus ignis.

Hic Martinus, qui celum re- serat, Mari prazest et terris imperat, Morbos sanat et monstra su- perat, Vir insignis. Hic Martinus nec mori ti-

muit, Nec vivendi laborem respuit, Sicque Dei se totum tribuit Voluntati. Hic Martinus, qui nulli nocuit, Hic ^H qui cunctis pro- t, Hic Martinus, qui trinz pla- cuit

Majestati. Hic Martinus, qui fana de- struit

gentiles ad fidem imbuit, t de quibus eos instituit, ratur. Hic Martinus, qui tribus mor- tuis

Meritis dat vitam. praecipuis: Nunc momentis Deum continuis Contemplatur.

253

This is Martin, poor and humble, the prudent servant, the faithful steward; now rich, he is throned on high in heaven, a fellow-citizen of the angels.

This is Martin, who, yet a catechumen, clothes the naked, and straightway the next night the Lord himself is covered with that garment.

This is Martin, who, de- spising the army, is ready to go unarmed and face the foe; for now he has obtained the grace of baptism.

This is Martin, who, while he offers the holy Victim, is all on fire within, through the grace of God, and lo! a fiery globe appears resting above his head

This is Martin, who opens heaven, gives orders to the sea, commands the earth, heals diseases, and vanquishes mon- sters: incomparable man !

This is Martin, who neither feared to die, nor refused to live and labour, thus aban- do himself entirely to the will of God.

This is Martin, who never injured any; this is Martin, who was good and kind to all; this is Martin, who was well- pleasing to the majestic Tri-

is is Martin, who de- stroys the temples, who initiates the nations to the faith, and what he teaches them does first himself.

singular merits raises three dead men to life; he now beholds God for ever without intermission,

--- PAGE 265 --- 254 TIME AFTER PENTECOST

O Martine, pastor egregie, O Martin, illustrious pastor,

O celestis consors militz, O soldier in the heavenly

Nos a lupi defendas rabie ranks, defend us from the fury Savientis. of the ravening wolf.

O Martine, fac nunc quod O Martin, act once more as

gesseras, thou didst of old ; offer to God

Deo preces pro nobis offeras, thy prayers for us; be mind- Esto memor, quam numquam ful of thine own nation and deseras, forsake it never. Amen.

Tus gentis. Amen.

O holy Martin, have compassion on our depth of misery! A winter more severe than that which caused thee to divide thy cloak now rages over the world; many perish in the icy night brought on by the extinction of faith and the cooling of charity. Come to the aid of those unfortunate souls whose torpor prevents them from asking assistance. Wait not for them to pray; but forestall them for the love of Christ in whose name the poor man of Amiens implored thee, whereas they scarcely know how to utter it. And yet their nakedness is worse than the beggar's, stripped as they are of the garment of grace, which their fathers received from thee and handed down to posterity.

How lamentable, above all, has become the destitution of France, which thou didst once enrich with the blessings of heaven, and where thy benefits have been requited with such injuries! Deign to consider, however, that our days have seen the beginning of reparation, close by thy holy tomb restored to our filial veneration. Look upon the piety of those grand Christians whose hearts were able, like the generosity of the multitude, to rise to the height of the greatest projects; see the pilgrims, however reduced their numbers, now taking once more the road to Tours, traversed so often by people and kings in better days of our history.

Has that history of the brightest days of the Church, of the reign of Christ as King, come to an end, O Martin ? Let the enemy imagine he has already sealed our tomb: but the story of thy miracles tells us that thou canst raise up even the dead. Was not the catechumen of Ligugé

--- PAGE 266 --- SAINT MARTIN OF TOURS 255

snatched from the land of the living, when thou didst call him back to life and Baptism? Supposing that, like him, we were already among those whom the Lord remembereth no more, the man or the country that has Martin for protector and father need never yield to despair. If thou deign to bear us in mind, the angels will come and say again to the supreme Judge: ' This is the man, this is the nation, for whom Martin prays,’ and they will be commanded to draw us out of the dark regions where dwell the people without glory, and to restore us to Martin, and to our noble destinies.!

Thy zeal, however, for the advancement of God's kingdom knew no limits. Inspire, then, strengthen, and multiply the apostles all over the world, who, like thee, are driving out the remnants of infidelity. Restore Christian Europe, which still honours thy name, to the unity so unhappily dissolved by schism and heresy. In spite of the many efforts to the contrary, maintain thy noble fatherland in its post of honour, and in its traditions of brave fidelity. May thy devout clients in all lands experience that thy right arm still suffices to protect those who implore thee.

In heaven to-day, as the Church sings, the angels are full of joy, the saints proclaim thy glory, the virgins surround thee saying: ' Remain with us for ever.'* Is not this the continuation of what thy life was here on earth, when thou and the virgins vied with each other in showing mutual veneration; when Mary their Queen, accompanied by Thecla and Agnes, loved to spend long hours with thee in thy cell at Marmoutier, which thus became, says thy historian, like the dwellings of the angels ?* Imitating their brothers and sisters in heaven, virgins and monks, clergy and pontiffs turn to thee, never fearing that their numbers will cause any one of them to receive less; knowing that thy life is a light sufficient to enlighten all; and that one glance from Martin will secure to them the blessings of the Lord.

E

! SurPiT. SEVER. Vita, 3 Ant. ad Magnificat, in I Vesp.

vii. SuLrrT. Sve. Dialog. I.

uoo ans

--- PAGE 267 --- 256 TIME AFTER PENTECOST

The soldier Mennas was a native of Egypt, and after his martyrdom became the protector of Alexandria. It is not a rare thing to find, even at this date, phials formerly brought by pilgrims to be filled with oil from the lamp burning before his tomb. Let us say with

the Church:

PRAYER

Presta, quesumus, omnipo- tens Deus: ut qui beati Men-
nz martyris tui natalitia coli- mus, intercessione ejus in tui nominis amore roboremur. Per Dominum.

Grant, we beseech thee, O almighty God, that we who celebrate the festival of blessed Mennas thy martyr, may by his intercession be streng- thened in the love of thy name. Through our Lord.

--- PAGE 268 --- SAINT MARTIN POPE AND MARTYR 257

NOVEMBER I2

SAINT MARTIN I POPE AND MARTYR

HILE the concourse of pilgrims to the sepulchre

of the bishop of Tours induced his third successor, Perpetuus, to raise over his precious remains the basilica in which so many prodigies were to be wrought all through the Middle Ages, Rome herself was dedicating to St. Martin one of her noblest churches, uniting with him as joint titular her own illustrious pontiff and confessor Sylvester. Adorned with this twofold glory, St. Martin-on-the-Hill worthily inaugurated in the eternal city the cultus of confessors side by side with that of the martyrs. But another honour awaited the venerable sanctuary. Beside the wonder-working apostle and the pontiff of peace, both vanquishers of idolatry who had escaped the sword only through the conversion of the persecutors, the last of the martyr- popes, also Martin by name, came to seek a resting- place, long after the pagan persecutions had ceased. ‘ Martin I,’ says Baronius, ' fared better than any of his predecessors since the time of Constantine. Found worthy to suffer more than all of them for the name of Jesus Christ, he had the good fortune to find a Decius and a Diocletian in a baptized prince.'! The emperor thus stigmatized by the great annalist was Constans II. From his grandfather Heraclius, who at least had given the world a few years of glory, he inherited nothing but the Byzantine pretension of imposing his dogmatic edicts upon the Church. Like the Ecthesis of Heraclius, the Type of Constans aimed at silencing the Catholics in their struggle with the Monothelites. St. Leo II, on June 28, has already

1 BARON, Ad ann. 651.

--- PAGE 269 --- 258 TIME AFTER PENTECOST

initiated us into these contests concerning the integrity of the two natures, divine and human, in the Man-God. Could the Church, without protesting, allow it to be said that her Spouse had taken from Adam a mere appearance of humanity, a half-formed nature without a will, such as the new sectaries imagined ?

More clear-sighted than Honorius, Martin I under- stood the danger, and knew how to repair the past while securing the future. Scarcely had he ascended the apostolic throne, when he gathered, in the Church of our Saviour, one of the most beautiful assemblies ever held there. ‘Sound the trumpet, cry out upon the mountain; soldiers of God, awake!" Thus from its very opening did the Lateran Council of 649 repair the fatal silence and avenge the Church's honour. On reading its splendid and ample definitions, which present to the world the Son of the Virgin Mother in all His adorable integrity, we are reminded of the solemn declaration in the prztorium on the great Friday: ‘ Be- hold the Man !' only that this time it was proclaimed in triumph and by those who loved Him. Truly, O God our Saviour, Thou art the most complete, the most perfect, the most beautiful of the sons of men.

What a solace to the mind, to see the imperial lu- cubrations returned, with the qualification of ' wicked ' and ' impious,’ to the Byzantine Casar, who held the defenceless pontiff at his mercy in still dependent Rome! Martin I, like St. Paul, could take the Church of God to witness? that he had not neglected his duty of enlightening the flock; he could remind the pastors of the price at which Christ had purchased the sheep committed to their care: he himself was ready for everything. His martyrdom was to secure the final triumph, of which the sixth general Council and St. Leo II were destined to gather the fruits.

The Greeks celebrate on April r3 the feast of this glorious Pope, whom they call a ' coryphzus of divine

1 Coaclusion of the opening discourse. MANsr, x. 870.

3 [mbiisztimam ecthesim, scelerosum . Canon xviii. Mansz, A 3 Epist. encyclica promulgationis condi. 1d. o i sun

--- PAGE 270 --- SAINT MARTIN POPE AND MARTYR

259

dogmas, the honour of, Peter's See, the pontiff who maintained the Church unshaken on the divine Rock." Rome gives the following brief notice of him in her

liturgy.

Martinus, Tuderti in Um- bria natus, initio ntifica- tus, et litteris et legationi- bus missis operam dedit, ut Paulum Constantinopolitanum patriarcham a nefaria hea- resi ad catholice fidei veri- tatem revocaret. Qui Con- stante imperatore hzretico fretus, eo amentia progres- sus fuerat, ut Sedis aposto- lice legatos varie in insulas relegarit. Quo ejus scelere commotus Pontifex, coacto Roma concilio centum quin- ue episcoporum, eum con- emnavit.

Qua causa fuit Constanti mittendi in Italiam Olym- pium exarchum, ut Marti- num Pontificem -interficien- dum, aut ad se perducen- dum curaret. Igitur Olym- pius Romam veniens lictori mandat, ut Pontificem, dum in basilica sancte Marie ad

Missarum solemnia celebraret; occideret. Quod ubi lictor aggreditur, cacus repente factus est.

Constanti autem imperatori ex eo tempore multe cala- mitates inciderunt: quibus nihilo melior factus, Theodo- rum Calliopam ad Urbem mit- tens, imperat ut Pontifici manus injiciat. A quo per fraudem captus us, et Constantinopolim — perductus, deinde in Chersonesum rele- gatus, ibi ob catholicam fidem

Martin was born at Todi in Umbria. Upon ascending the pontifical throne, he strove bv letters and embassies to re- call Paul, patriarch of Con- stantinople, from his wicked heresy to the true Catholic faith. But, supported by the heretical emperor Constans, Paul was so carried away as to exile the legates of the Apostolic See to various is- lands. The Pope, indignant at this outrage, summoned a council of one hundred and five bishops at Rome, in which he condemned Paul.

Upon this Constans sent the exarch Olympius into Italy, with orders either to kill Pope Martin or else to bring him to the emperot. Olympius, on reaching Rome, charged a lictor to assassinate the Pope as he was celebrating Mass in St. Mary's-at-the-Crib. But the man, attempting to do so, was suddenly struck blind.

From that time many ca- lamities befell the emperor Constans, which, however, made him no better; and he sent

led prisoner to Constantinople. Thence he was banished into the Cherso- nesus; where, on the eve of

13 Aprilis.

--- PAGE 271 --- 260

zrumnis confectus, pridie idus Novembris cessit e vita cla- rus miraculis. Cujus cor- pus Romam postea transla- tum, in ecclesia conditum est, qua sanctorum Silvestri et Martini nomine dedicata erat. Prefuit Ecclesie annos sex, mensem unum, dies viginti sex. Habuitordinationes duas mense Decembri, quibus crea- vit presbyteros undecim, dia- conos quinque, episcopos per diversa loca triginta tres.

TIME AFTER PENTECOST

the Ides of November, he died worn out by his sufferings for the Catholic faith, and not without the glory of miracles. His body was afterwards trans- lated to Rome, and placed in the church dedicated to Saints Sylvester and Martin. He go- verned the church six years, one month, and twenty-six days. He held two ordinations in the month of December, and ordained eleven priests, five deacons, and thirty-three

bishops for divers places. '

If it is just that the human race should honour its members in proportion as it has been honoured by them, thou, O holy pontiff, deservest a glorious memory. For not only were thy wonderful virtues such as cause the very powers of heaven to admire our earth, but thou didst likewise compel Satan to humble himself before our human nature. Deified entirely in the Person of God the Son, it is through thee that it was fully recognized as such, in spite of contradictions, in spite of the powerful ones of this world leaguing with the spirits of wickedness to overcloud this incomparable nobility of the sons of Adam.

How comes it that man is ever ready to join hands with Satan for his own destruction ? But, Lucifer himself was at first his own only enemy; and surely his folly is more difficult to explain than that of the frail creature he strives to draw after him along the path of pride which led him to perdition. It is pride that made him the prince of folly and the father of lies. His intellect, though the loftiest in heaven, was not proof against self-love, which induced him to take complacency in his created nothingness, to ' detain the truth of God in injustice,'! and to prefer darkness to the light. Thus it is that men, following Satan's example and dishonour- ing God to exalt themselves, 'become vain in their

! Rom. i. 18.

--- PAGE 272 --- SAINT MARTIN POPE AND MARTYR 261

thoughts,” till such a darkness comes over their mind and heart and senses, as strikes with astonishment the soul that remains simple and uM in its humility.

Protect us, then, O holy pontiff! keep up in us the understanding of God's gift. May we never deserve the reproach of the psalmist: ' Man when he was in honour did not understand; he is compared to senseless beasts, and is become like to them.? May eternal Wisdom, to whose alliance we are called, never have the grief of seeing us peer death. At the same time, teach us that, for the honour of God as well as of man, the integrity of our Lord's Incarnation does not require the authentication of politicians, nor the approbation of the would-be wise; for it is of this mystery the apostle says, that we must believe it with the heart in order to become just, and confess it with the mouth in order to be saved.* Spare the Church the sorrow of ever again finding herself in such a situation as that from which thy heroic martyrdom was alone able to deliver her.

1 Rom. i. 21. * Ps. xlviii. 13. 5 Rom. x. 10

--- PAGE 273 --- 262 TIME AFTER PENTECOST

NOVEMBER Ij

SAINT DIDACUS '! CONFESSOR

HUMBLE lay-brother, Didacus of St. Nicholas, is

welcomed to-day by his father St. Francis into the company of Bernardine of Siena and John Capistran, who preceded him by a few years to heaven. The two latter left Italy and the whole of Europe still echoing with their voices, the one making peace between cities in the name of the Lord Jesus, the other urging on the Christian hosts to battle with the victorious Crescent. The age which they contributed so powerfully to save from the results of the great schism and to restore to its Christian destinies knew little of Didacus but his unbounded charity. It was the year of the great Jubilee, 1450. Rome having become once more, practically as well as theoretically, the holy city in the eyes of the nations, not even the most terrible scourges could keep her children at a distance. From every quarter of the globe, crowds, urged by the evils of the time, flocked to the source of salvation; and Satan’s work of ruin was retarded by seventy years.

Men doubtless attributed but a very small share of such results to the humble brother, who was spending himself in the Ara Celi, in the service of the plague- stricken: especially if they compared him with his brethren, the great Franciscan apostles. And yet the Church pays to Didacus to-day the very same honours as we have seen her pay to Bernardine and John Capistran. What is this but asserting that before God heroic acts of hidden virtue are not inferior to the noble deeds that dazzle the world, if, proceeding from the same ardent love, they produce in the soul the same increase of divine charity?

The pontificate of Nicholas V, which witnessed the

--- PAGE 274 --- SAINT DIDACUS 263 imposing concourse of le to the tombs of the apostles in 1450, was oo, xil still is, justly admired for the new impetus given to the culture of letters and the arts in Rome; for it belongs to the Church to adorn herself, for the honour of her Spouse, with all that men rightly deem great and beautiful. Nevertheless, who is there now of all the humanists, as the learned men of that age were called, who would not prefer the glory of the poor unlettered Friar Minor to that which vainly held out to them the hope of immortality? In the fifteenth century, as at all other times, God chose the foolish and the weak to confound the wise and the

strong. The Gospel is always in the right. Let us read the luminous life of this unlearned man, as given in the book of holy Church.

Didacus Hispanus, ex op- pido sancti Nicolai de Por- tu dicecesis Hispalensis, ab ineunte setate pii sub sacer- dotis disciplina, sanctioris vitz solitaria in ecclesia, tyrocinium exercuit. Deinde ut firmius Deo se conjungeret, in con- ventu de Arizzafa fratrum Minorum (quos Observantes vocant) sancti Francisci regu- lam in statu laicali professus est. Magna ibi alacritate humilis obedientie et regu- larisobservantiz jugum subiens, contemplationi in primis de- ditus, mira Dei luce per- fundebatur, adeo ut de rebus calestibus, litterarum expers, mirandum in modum et plane divinitus loqueretur.

Canariis in insulis, ubi fra- tribus sui Ordinis praefuit, multa perpessus, martyrii estuans desiderio, plures in-

Didacus! was a Spaniard, born at the little town of St. Nicholas de Porto in the dio- cese of Seville. From his ear- ly youth he began the prac- tice of a perfect life, under the guidance of a pious priest in a soli church. Then, in order to bind himself more closely to God, he made pro- fession of the Rule of St. Fran- cis, in the convent of the Ob- servantine Friars Minor at Arizzafa. There he bore the yoke of humble obedience and regular observance with great alacrity; and devoted himself especially to contemplation, in which he received wonderful lights from God, so that, il- literate as he was, he spoke of heavenly things in an ad- mirable manner, evidently by a divine gift.

He was sent to the Canary Isles to govern the brethren of his Order; and there he had much to suffer. He was burn-

! This name is merely a Latin form of the Spanish Diego—i.e. James.

--- PAGE 275 --- 264

fideles verbo et exemplo ad Christi fidem convertit. Ro- mam veniens anno jubilii, Nicolao quinto Pontifice, torum cure in conventu Arz Celi destinatus, eo carita- tis affectu munus hoc exercuit, ut Urbe annonie inopia la- borante, grotis tamen, quo- rum aliquando ulcera etiam lambendo abstergebat, nihil penitus necessarium defecerit. Eximia quoque fides et gra- tia curationum in eo eluxit, cum lampadis, qua collu- cebat ante imaginem bea- tissime Dei Genitricis, quam summa devotione colebat, oleo zgros inungens, signo crucis impresso, multorum morbos mírabiliter sanaverit.

Demum Compluti finem sibi vite adesse intelligens, lacera et obsoleta indutus tunica, conjectis in crucem oculis, singulari devotione illis verbis ex sacro hymno pronuntiatis: Dulce lignum, dulces clavos, dulcia ferens pondera, que fuisti digna portare Regem celorum et Dominum, ani- mam Deo reddidit, pridie idus Novembris, anno Domini supra millesimum quadringentesimo sexagesimo tertio. jus cor- pus cum menses non paucos (ut pio confluentium desiderio fieret satis) insepultum man- Sisset, quasi jam incorrup- tionem induerit, odorem sua- vissimum efflavit. Illum mul- tis et illustribus miraculis cla- rum Sixtus quintus Pontifex Maximus sanctorum numero adscripsit.

TIME AFTER PENTECOST

ing with the desire of martyr- dom; and by his words and example he converted many infidels to the faith of Christ. Coming to Rome in the Jubi- lee year, in the Pontificate of Nicholas V, he was entrusted with the care of the sick in the convent of Ara Celi. With such loving charity did he ac- quit himself of this duty, that the sick wanted for nothing even during a famine in the city; he also sometimes clean- sed their ulcers by sucking them. He was remarkable for his great faith and his gift of healing; for by signing the cross upon the sick with oil from a lamp burning before an image of the Mother of God, to whom he had the greatest devotion, he miracu- lously cured many of them.

At length, when at Alcala, he understood that the end of his life was at hand. Clad in an old torn tunic, with his eyes fixed on the cross, he de- voutly pronounced these words of the sacred hymn: O sweet wood, sweet are thy nails, and sweet thy burden; thou wast worthy to bear the King and Lord of heaven! He then gave up his soul to God on the day before the Ides of November, in the year of our Lord 1463. His body was left unburied for several months, in order to satisfy the pious devotion of the numbers who came to see it; and, as though already clothed with immor- tality, it exhaled a sweet odour. He was renowned for many striking miracles, and was enrolled among the saints by Pope Sixtus V. --- PAGE 276 --- SAINT DIDACUS 265

' O almighty, everlasting God, who by an admirable order dost choose the weak things of the world that thou mayst confound whatever is strong; mercifully grant to our lowliness that, by the pious prayers of blessed Didacus Thy confessor, we may be made worthy to be exalted to everlasting glory in heaven. Such is the prayer addressed to God by the Church at all the liturgical Hours on this thy feast, O Didacus. Second her supplications; for thou art in high favour with Him whom thou didst follow so lovingly along the way of humility and voluntary poverty. A royal road indeed, since it brought thee to a throne which far outshines all earthly thrones. Even here below thou dost far surpass in renown many of thy contemporaries, who are now as forgotten as they were once illustrious. Sanctity alone merits crowns that endure through all ages of time and for all eternity; for God is the final awarder, as He is the supreme reason, of all glory, just as in Him lies the principle of all true happiness both for this world and for the next. May we all, after thine example and by thine assistance, learn this by our own blessed experience !

Collect of the feast.

--- PAGE 277 --- 266 TIME AFTER PENTECOST

NOVEMBER I4

SAINT JOSAPHAT BISHOP AND MARTYR

OSAPHAT KUNCEWICZ, contemporary with St. J Francis de Sales and St. Vincent de Paul, might have been taken for a Greek monk of the eleventh century or an ascetic of the Thebaid. A stranger to the intellectual culture of the West, he knew only the liturgical books and sacred texts used in his own church; as a priest, an archimandrite, a reformer of his Order of St. Basil, and lastly as archbishop, he com- bated all his life the consequences of the schism of Photius, and closed the struggle by culling the palm of martyrdom. Yet all this took place in the heart of Europe, in the countries then subject to Catholic Poland, during the reign of the most pious of its kings. How is this mystery to be explained ?

Immediately after the Mongolian invasions Poland received into her arms, rather than conquered, the Ruthenian nation—that is to say, the Slavs of the Greek rite from the Dnieper and the Dwina, who had formed around their capital and religious metropolis, Kiev, the nucleus of the power now known as Russia. Had she granted a participation in her own national life to these brethren separated from, but not enemies to, the Roman unity, who came to her full of confidence in her strength and her justice, Poland would have secured the triumph of the Catholic cause, and her own dominion throughout Slavonia. The union of the newcomers with the Roman pontiff, which a little more political insight and religious zeal might have brought about in the fourteenth century, was not concluded until 1595.

This was the union of Brzesc. By the compact signed in this little town of Lithuania, the metropolitan

--- PAGE 278 --- SAINT JOSAPHAT 267

of Kiev and the other Greek bishops declared that they returned to the communion of the holy Apostolic See. Being the spiritual superiors of half the nation, they thus completed the union of the three peoples, Ruthenian, Lithuanian, and Polish, then subject to Sigismund III. Now, a religious reform, even if decreed by a council, does not become a reality until men of God, true apostles and if need be martyrs, come forward to consummate it. This was the vocation of St. Josaphat, the apostle and martyr of the Union of Brzesc. What he did not himself carry out was completed by his disciples. A century of glory was secured to the nation, and its political ruin was delayed for two hundred years.

But Poland left in a state of humiliating inferiority the clergy and people of the Graco-Slavonic rite, who had taken shelter in her bosom; her politicians never admitted practically that Christians of the Greek rite could be true Catholics on an equality with their Latin brethren. Soon, however, the Latin Poles were engaged in deadly combat with the Muscovites, and we know how the former were vanquished. Historians lay down the causes of Poland's defeat; but they usually forget the principal one, which rendered it irremediable—viz., the almost total destruction of the Union of Brzesc, the forced return to schism of the immense majority of the Ruthenians whom St. Josaphat had brought into the Catholic Church. The consummation of this execrable work contributed, far more than political circumstances or military triumphs, to establish Russia's victory. Poland, reduced to nine or ten million Latins, could no longer struggle against her former rival now become her stern ruler.

The power of the Slavs separated from Catholic unity is on the increase. Young nations, emancipated from the Mussulman yoke, have formed in the Balkan Peninsula. Fidelity to the Grzco-Slavonian rite, identified in their eyes with their nationality and with Christianity, was alone able to save these peoples from being stamped out by the Turkish forces. Victorious

--- PAGE 279 --- 268 TIME AFTER PENTECOST

over the universal enemy, they cannot forget whence came their safety: the moral and religious direction. of these resuscitated nations belongs accordingly to Russia. Profiting by these advantages with consummate skill and energy, she continues to develop her influence in the East. In Asia her progress is still more prodigious. The Tsar, who at the end of the eighteenth century ruled over thirty million men, now governs one hundred and twenty-five millions; and by the normal increase of an exceptionally prolific population, the empire, within another half-century, will reckon more than two hundred millions of subjects.

Unhappily for Russia and for the Church, this power is guided at present by blind prejudice. Not only is Russia separated from Catholic unity, but political interest and the recollection of ancient strifes convince her that her greatness depends upon the triumph of what she calls Orthodoxy, which is simply the Photian schism. Yet the Roman Church, ever devoted and generous, opens wide her arms to welcome back her wandering daughter; forgetting the injuries she has received, she asks but to be greeted with the name of mother. Let this word be uttered, and a whole sad past will be effaced.

Russia becoming Catholic would mean an end to Islamism, and the definitive triumph of the Cross upon the Bosphorus, without any danger to Europe; the Christian empire in the East restored with a glory and a power hitherto unknown ; Asia evangelized, not by a few poor isolated priests, but with the help of an authority greater than that of Charlemagne; and lastly, the Slavonic race brought into unity of faith and aspirations, for its own greater glory. This transformation will be the greatest event of the century that shall see its accomplishment ; it will change the face of the world.

Is there any foundation for such hopes ? Come what may, St. Josaphat will always be the patron and model of future apostles of the Union in Russia and in the whole Graco-Slavonic world. By his birth, education,

--- PAGE 280 --- SAINT JOSAPHAT 269

and studies, by the bent of his piety and all his habits of life, he resembled far more the Russian monks of the present day than the Latin prelates of his own time. He always desired the ancient liturgy of his Church to be preserved entire; and even to his last breath he carried it out lovingly, without the least alteration or diminu- tion, just as the first apostles of the Christian faith had brought it from Constantinople to Kiev. May prejudices born. of ignorance be obliterated; and then, despised though his name now is in Russia, St. Josaphat will no sooner be known than he will be loved and invoked by the Russians themselves.

Our Graco-Slavonian brethren cannot much longer turn a deaf ear to the invitations of the Sovereign Pontiff. Let us hope, then, that the day will come, and that before very long, when the wall of separation wil crumble away for ever, and the same hymn of thanksgiving will echo at once under the dome of St. Peter's and the cupolas of Kiev and of St. Petersburg.!

We cannot presume to add anything to these authorita- tive words; the details will be filled up by the liturgical Legend.

Josaphat Kuncewitius no- bilibus et catholicis paren- tibus Vladimirie in Volhi- nia natus, cum puerulus matrem de Christi passione loquentem audiret, jaculo a latere imaginis Jesu cruci- fixi immisso, vulnus in cor- de suscepit. Dei amore in- census, adeo orationi aliis- que piis operibus instare ccepit, ut provectioribus adolescenti- bus exemplo et admirationi esset. Vicennis inter clau- strales sancti Basilii alumnos monasticam regulam professus, mirum quos in evangelica

Josaphat Kuncewicz was born of noble Catholic parents at Vladimir in Volhynia. When a child, as he was lis- tening to his mother telling him about the Passion of Christ, a dart issued from the image of Jesus crucified and wounded him in the heart. Set on fire with the love of God, he began to devote him- self with such zeal to prayer and other works of piety, that he was the admiration and the model of his older companions. At the age of twenty he be- came a monk under the Rule

E. AM Dow A. Guérin, ‘Un apótre de l'union des Églises au 17* sidcle, saint

Josap reface, f

--- PAGE 281 --- 270 rfectione progressus fecerit. udis pedibus, frigidissima

licet saviente regionis hie- me, incedebat: carnes num- uam, vinum nonnisi ex obe- ientia adhibuit, asperrimoque cilicio ad obitum usque corpus afflixit. Castitatis — florem, quem ab adolescentia Virgini Deipare voverat, inviolatum servavit. Virtutis doctrinz- que ejus brevi sic fama percrebuit, ut quamvis junior, Bytenii monasterio praefectus sit; mox Vilnensis archiman- drita, ac demum archiepisco- pus Polocensis, invitus quidem, sed Catholicis gestientibus, fuerit renuntiatus.

Hac dignitate auctus, ni- hil de priori vivendi ratione remittens, nonnisi divinum cultum et creditarum sibi ovium salutem cordi habuit. Catholice unitatis ac veri- tatis strenuus propugnator, totis viribus adlaboravit ut Schismaticos hareticosque ad communionem cum bea- ti Petri sede reduceret. Summum Pontificem ejusque potestatis plenitudinem ab impudentissimis impiorum ca- lumniis et erroribus, qua con- cionibus, qua scriptis pietate ac doctrina refertis defendere numquam destitit. Episco- palem jurisdictionem et Ec- clesie bona a laicis usurpata vindicavit. Incredibile dictu est quot haereticos in sinum matris Ecclesie revocaverit. Unionis vero Grece Ecclesie cum Latina Josaphatum pro- motorem exstitisse praclaris-

TIME AFTER PENTECOST

of St. Basil, and made won- derful progress in evangelical perfection. He went barefoot even in the severe winter of that country; he never ate meat, drank wine only when obliged by obedience, and wore a rough hair-shirt until his death. The flower of his chas- tity, which he had vowed in early youth to the Virgin Mother of God, he preserved unspotted. He soon became so renowned for virtue and learning, that in spite of his youth he was made superior of the monastery of Byten; soon afterwards he became archimandrite of Vilna; and lastly, much against his will, but to the great joy of Catho- lics, he was chosen archbishop of Polotsk.

In this dignity he relaxed nothing of his former manner of life; and had nothing so much at heart as the divine service and the salvation of the sheep entrusted to him. He energetically defended Ca- tholic faith and unity, and la- boured to the utmost of his power to bring back schisma- tics and heretics to commu- nion with the See of blessed Peter. The Sovereign Pontift and the plenitude of his power he never ceased to defend, both by preaching and by writings full of piety and learning, against the most shameless calumnies and er- rors of the wicked. He vin- dicated episcopal rights, and restored ecclesiastical posses- sions which had been seized by laymen. Incredible was the number of heretics he won back to the bosom of mother

--- PAGE 282 --- SAINT JOSAPHAT

simum, etiam pontificia oracula diserte testantur. Ad hac, et templi Dei decori instaurando, et sacrarum virginum exstru- endis =dibus, aliisque piis operibus juvandis, mense sue proventus ultro erogavit. In pauperes adeo effusus, ut cum olim inopie cujusdam vidue sublevandz nihil occurreret, episcopale pallium, seu Omo- phorion, oppignorari jusserit.

Tot catholice fidei incre- menta perditissimorum homi- num adeo excitaverunt odia, ut, conspiratione inita, Christi athletam ad necem quzrerent; quam sibi imminere ipse in suo ad populum sermone prenunti- avit. Cum itaque Vitepscum pastoralis visitationis gratia profectus esset, illi archiepi- scopales invadunt zedes ; obvios quosque feriunt ac cedunt. Tum vir mitissimus quaren- tibus sponte occurrit, eosque amice compellans, Filioli, in- quit, quare familiares meos ceditis? Si quid contra me habetis, ecce adsum. Hinc impetu facto, eum verberi- bus contundunt, telis con- fodiunt, ac demum immani securi necatum, in flumen projiciunt; die duodecima No- vembris anni sexcentesimi vicesimi tertii supra mille- simum, statis ejus quadra- gesimi tertii. Corpus mirabili luce circumfusum, ex imo fluminis alveo elatum est. Sanguis martyris parricidis ipsis in primis Ljpnsrws, qui fere omnes capitis damnati, ejurato schismate suum scelus dete-

271

Church; and the words of the Popes bear witness how greatly he promoted the union of the Greek and Latin churches. His revenues were entirely expended in restoring the beauty of God's house, in building dwellings for conse- crated virgins, and in other pious works. So bountiful was he to the poor, that, on one occasion, having nothing wherewith to supply the needs of a certain widow, he ordered his Omophorion, or episcopal pallium, to be pawned.

The great progress made by the Catholic faith so stirred up the hatred of wicked men against the soldier of Christ, that they determined to put him to death. He knew what was threatening him; and foretold it when preaching to the people. As he was mak- ing his pastoral visitation at Vitebsk, the murderers broke into his house, striking and wounding all whom they found. Josaphat meekly went to meet them, and accosted them kindly, saying: My lit- tle children, why do you strike my servants? If you have any complaint against me, here I am. Hereupon they rushed on him, overwhelmed him with blows, pierced him with their spears, and at length despatched him with an axe and threw his body into the river. This took place on the twelfth of November, 1623, in the forty-third year of his age. His body, surrounded with a miraculous light, was rescued from A a waters, The mar- tyr's b won a blessing frst of all for his murderers;

--- PAGE 283 --- 272

stati sunt. Cum tantus presul plurimis post obitum coru- Scaret miraculis, eum Urbanus octavus Pontifex Maximus beatorum honoribus decoravit. Pius nonus tertio calendas Julias anni millesimi octin- gentesimi sexagesimi septimi, cum sacularia apostolorum principum solemnia celebra- rentur, coram patrum Cardina- lium senatu, simulque astanti- bus fere quingentis, patriarchis, metropolitis et episcopis cu- juscumque ritus, qui ex toto terrarum orbe convenerant, hunc ecclesiastice — unitatis assertorem, primum ex orienta- libus, solemni rítu in Vaticana basilica sanctorum ordini ac- censuit. Cujus Officium ac Missam Leo decimus tertius Summus Pontifex ad univer- sam extendit Ecclesiam. TIME AFTER PENTECOST

for, being condemned to death, they nearly all abjured their Schism and repented of their crime. As the death of this great bishop was followed by many miracles, Pope Urban VIII granted him the honours of beatification. On the third of the Calends of July, 1867, when celebrating the centen- ary of the princes of the apostles, Pius IX in the Va- tican basilica, in presence of the College of Cardinals, and of about five hundred patri- archs, metropolitans, and bishops of every rite, assem- bled from all parts of the world, solemnly enrolled among the saints this great defender of the Church's unity, who was the first Oriental to be thus honoured. Pope Leo XIII extended his Mass and Office to the universal Church.

* Stir up, O Lord, we beseech Thee, in Thy Church the Spirit wherewith the blessed Josaphat Thy martyr

and

pontiff was filled.'! Thus prays our mother to-day;

and the Gospel likewise points to her desire of obtaining

pastors like to thee, O holy bishop !

The sacred text

sp of the false shepherd, who flees at first sight of e wolf; but the homily which explains it in the night

Office brands equally with the title of hireling the keeper who, though he does not flee, suffers the enemy unresisted to work havoc in the fold. May the divine Shepherd, whom thou didst imitate unto the end even unto laying down thy life for the sheep, live again in all those whom He calls, like Peter, to exercise a greater love.

Apostle of unity, second the designs of the Sovereign Pontiff, calling back his scattered sheep to the one fold. The Guardian Angels of the Slavonic race applauded thy combats: thy blood ought to produce other heroes;

1 Collect of the feast.

--- PAGE 284 --- SAINT JOSAPHAT 273

the graces won by the shedding of that blood still uphold the admirable population of the humble and the poor of Ruthenia in resisting the all-powerful schism; while, on the confines of that land of martyrs, hope springs up anew with the revival of the great Basilian Order of which thou wast the glory. May these graces overflow upon the children of the persecutors; may the present state of peace be the prelude to a full development of the light, and lead them back, in their turn, to that Rome which holds for them the promises both of time and of eternity.

--- PAGE 285 --- 274 TIME AFTER PENTECOST

NOVEMBER I5

SAINT GERTRUDE VIRGIN!

HE school which is founded upon the rule of the

great patriarch of the monks of the West began with St. Gregory the Great. Such was the independent action of the Holy Spirit who guided it that in it women have prophesied as well as men. It is enough to mention St. Hildegarde and St. Gertrude, with whom we may fitly associate St. Mechtilde and St. Frances of Rome. Anyone who has tried modern methods will find, on making acquaintance with these ancient writers, that he is breathing another atmosphere, and is urged onward by a gentle authority which is never felt, but which allows no rest. He will not find that subtlety, that keen and learned analysis, he has met with elsewhere, and which rather weary than aid the soul.

The pious and learned Father Faber has brought out, with his characteristic sagacity, the advantages of that form of spirituality which gives the soul breadth and liberty, and so produces in many persons effects which some modern methods fail of producing: ' No one,” says he, ‘can be at all acquainted with the old-fashioned Benedictine school of spiritual writers, without per- ceiving and admiring the beautiful liberty of spirit which pervades and possesses their whole mind. It is just what we should expect from an Order of such matured tradi- tions. St. Gertrude is a fair specimen of them. She is thoroughly Benedictine. . . . A spirit of breadth, a spirit of liberty, that is the Catholic spirit; and it was eminently the badge of the old Benedictine ascetics.

1 As our Right Reverend Father and Lg ug te ager, has treated this entra Ri his edition of the Exercises of St. {Kobi the following pages are

(For the English, we ad made use of "the well-known beautiful translation by the Rev. T. A. Pope, of the Oratory, Birmingham, 1863.

--- PAGE 286 --- SAINT GERTRUDE 275

Modern writers for the most part have tightened things, and have lost by it instead of gaining. By frightening people they have lessened devotion in extent; and by overstraining it they have lowered it in degree.’

In any case there are many ways, and every way is good which brings men back to God by a thorough conversion of heart. But we are sure that those who may be led to commit themselves to the guidance of a saint of the old school will not lose their time; and that if they meet with less philosophy and less psychology on their way, they will be subdued by the simplicity and authority of her language, and be moved and melted as they contrast their own souls with that of their saintly guide. And this blessed revolution will take place in almost every soul that follows St. Gertrude in the week of Exercises she proposes to them, if only they really desire to draw yet more closely the ties which unite them to God, if their intention be fixed aright and their souls truly recollected in God. We may almost venture to assure such persons that they will come forth from tb';e Exercises transformed in their whole being. They wifl return to them again and again with ever- increasing pleasure; for they will have no discouraging memory of fatigue, nor of the slightest constraint laid upon their liberty of spirit. They will feel confounded, indeed, to be admitted so near the inmost heart of so great a saint; but they will also feel that they have been created for the same end as that saint, and that they must bestir themselves, and quit all easy, dangerous ways, which lead to perdition.

And if we be asked whence comes that wonderful influence which our saint exercises over all who listen to her, our answer would be: from her surpassing holiness. She does not prove the possibility of spiritual movement and advance; she moves and advances. A blessed soul, sent down from heaven to dwell a while with men, and speaking the language of the heavenly country in this land of exile, would doubtless utterly transform those

1 ! All for Jesus."

--- PAGE 287 --- 276 TIME AFTER PENTECOST

who heard its speech. Now St. Gertrude was admitted to such familiar converse with the Son of God, that her words have just the accent of such a soul; and this is why they have been and are like winged arrows, which pierce and wound all within their range. The under- standing is enlarged and enlightened by her pure and elevated doctrine, and yet St. Gertrude never lectures nor preaches; the heart is touched and melted, and yet St. Gertrude speaks only to God; the soul judges itself, condemns itself, renews itself by compunction, and yet St. Gertrude has made no effort to move or convict it.

And if we ask what is the source of the special blessing attached to the language of St. Gertrude, the answer is, that it blesses because it is so impregnated with the divine Word, not only with the revelations which St. Gertrude received from her heavenly Spouse, but with the sacred Scriptures and the liturgy of the Church. This holy daughter of the cloister drank in light and life day by day from the sources of all true contempla- tion, from the very fountain of living waters which gushes forth from the psalms and the inspired words of the divine Office. Her every sentence shows how exclusively her soul was nourished with this heavenly food. She so lived in the liturgy of the Church that we continually find in her revelations that the Saviour discloses to her the mysteries of heaven, and the Mother of God and the saints hold converse with her on some antiphon, or response, or introit, which the saint is singing with delight, and of which she is striving to feel all the force and the sweetness.

Hence that unceasing flow of unaffected poetry which seems to have become quite natural to her, and that hallowed enthusiasm which raises the literary beauty of her writings almost to the height of mystical inspiration. This child of the thirteenth century, buried in a monastery of Suabia, preceded Dante in the paths of spiritual poetry. Sometimes her soul breaks forth into tender and touching elegy; sometimes the fire which consumes her bursts forth in transports of fervour;

--- PAGE 288 --- SAINT GERTRUDE 277

sometimes her feelings clothe themselves quite in- stinctively in a dramatic form ; sometimes she stops short in her sublimest flights, and she who almost rivals the seraphim descends to earth, but only to prepare herself for a still higher flight. It is as though there had been an unending struggle between the humility which held her prostrate in the dust and the aspirations of her soul, panting after Jesus, who was drawing her, and who had lavished on her such exceeding love.

In our opinion the writings of St. Gertrude lose nothing of their indescribable beauty even when placed beside those of St. Teresa. Nay, we think that the saint of Germany is not unfrequently superior to her sister of Spain. The latter, full of impetuous ardour, has not, it is true, the tinge of pensive melancholy which colours the writings of the former; but St. Gertrude knew Latin so well, and was so profoundly versed in the letter and the spirit of the holy Scriptures, that we do not hesitate to pronounce her style superior in richness and in force to that of St. Teresa.

Still we pray the reader not to be frightened at the thought of being placed under the guidance of a seraph, when his conscience tells him that he has still so much to do in the purgative way, before he can venture to enter upon paths which may never open to him on earth. Let him simply listen to St. Gertrude, let him fix his eye upon her, and have faith in the end she proposes to him. When the holy Church puts in our mouths the language of the psalms, she knows full well that that language is often far beyond the feelings of our soul; but if we wish to bring ourselves up to the level of these divine hymns, our best method is certainly to repeat them frequently in faith and humility, and await the trans- formation they will assuredly effect. St. Gertrude detaches us gently from ourselves, and brings us to Jesus by going before us herself, and by drawing us after her, though at a great distance. She goes straight to the heart of her divine Spouse, and she might well do so; but will it not be an inestimable blessing if she bring us to

--- PAGE 289 --- 278 TIME AFTER PENTECOST

His feet like Magdalen, penitent and transformed by love?

Even when she writes for her sisters only, let us not suppose that these exquisite pages are useless to those of us who are living in the midst of the world. The religious life, when expounded by such an interpreter, is a spectacle as instructive as it is striking. Need we say that the practice of the precepts of the Gospel becomes more easy to those who have well pondered and admired the practice of its counsels ? What is the ' Imitation of Christ > but a book written by a monk for the use of monks; and yet who is not familiar with its teaching? How many seculars delight in the writings of St. Teresa | and yet the holy Carmelite makes the religious life the one theme of her teaching.

We will not now speak of her wonderful style of expression. We are so unused to the decided and elevated language of the ages of faith that some readers. accustomed to modern books only, may be startled, and even pained, by St. Gertrude. But what is the remedy for this inconvenience? If we have unlearnec the language of that antique piety which fashioned saints, surely our best way is to learn it again as soon as we can; and St. Gertrude will give us wonderful help in doing so.

The list of the devoted admirers of her writings would be long and imposing. But there is an authority far higher still—that of the Church herself. That mother of the faithful, ever guided by the Holy Ghost, has in her holy liturgy set her seal upon St. Gertrude. The saint herself, and the spirit which animated her, are there for ever recommended and glorified in the eyes of all Christians, in virtue of the solemn judgment contained in the Office of her festival.!

The life of Gertrude the Great, as she has merited to be distinguished among the saints of the same name, was humble and obscure (1256-1302). At five years of age she entered the Abbey of Helfta near Eisleben,

! Dom GUERANGER, ' Exercises of St. Gertrude ' (1865), Preface.

--- PAGE 290 --- SAINT GERTRUDE 279

and there she remained ' hidden in the secret of God's face’! For several centuries, by an error which has also found its way into the Legend of the feast, she was confounded with the Abbess Gertrude of Hackeborn, who governed the monastery during our saint’s lifetime and was herself favoured with divine gifts. It was not until Gertrude’s sublime Revelations, contained in the five books of the ' Legatus Divina Pietatis' (or Legate of Divine Love) had at length been published, that in 1677 her name was inscribed in the Roman Martyrology. In the following century (1738) Clement XII ordered her feast to be celebrated, as a double, by the whole Church. The West Indies chose her as patroness; and a town in New Mexico bears her name.

In order to furnish the faithful with an expression of their piety towards St. Gertrude, we offer them the following beautiful hymn, antiphon, and collect, taken from the Benedictine Breviary.

HYMN

the cloister. Thou didst put from thee the breast of thy nurse, and seek the divine kiss of thy Spouse.

Candentis instar lilii Like a fair spotless lily thou Odore mulces sidera ; dost give forth a perfume Et virginali calitum which gladdens heaven; and Regem decore pertrahís. the splendour of thy virgin

beauty draweth to thee the King of saints.

Qui vivit in sinu Patris Hewhodwelleth in the bosom Cinctus perenni gloria, of the Father, surrounded Amanter, ut sponsus, tua with everlasting glory, deigns Recumbit inter ubera. to take his repose in thy love.

1 Ps. xxx. 21.

--- PAGE 291 --- 280

Amore Christum vulneras; Hic te vicissim vulnerat, Tuoque cordi propria Inurit alte stigmata.

O singularis charitas, O mira commutatio; Hic corde respirat tuo: Tu vivis hujus spiritu.

Te, sponse Jesu, virginum Beata laudent agmina ; Patri, simul Paraclito,

Par sit per evum gloria.

Amen.

TIME AFTER PENTECOST

Thou woundest Jesus with love; and he woundeth thee in return, and deeply graveth on thy heart the marks of his sacred Passion.

O peerless love, O wondrous interchange; he it is who breatheth in thy heart and thy life hangeth on the breath of his mouth.

Let the blessed choirs of virgins sing thy praise, O Jesus, Spouse of virgins; and equal glory be ascribed to Fatherandto Paraclete. Amen.

ANTIPHON

O dignissima Christi sponsa, quam lux prophetie illustra- vit, zelus apostolicus inflam- mavit, laurea virginum coro- navit, divini amoris incen- dium consummavit.

O most worthy spouse of Christ, on whom the prophetic light hath shone, whose heart an apostolic zeal inflamed, whose head the wreath of virgins hath crowned, whom the glow- ing fireof divine love consumed.

PRAYER

Deus, qui in purissimo corde
beate Gertrudis virginis tue jucundam tibi habitationem preparasti; ejus meritis et intercessione cordis nostri ma- culas clementer absterge; ut digna divine majestatis tue habitatio effici mereatur. Per Christum Dominum nostrum. Amen.

O God, who hast prepared for thyself a dwelling-place of delights in the most pure heart of the blessed virgin Gertrude; deign, we beseech thee, through her merits and intercession, to wipe away all stains from our hearts, that they may become meet abodes of thy divine majesty. Through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

O revealer of the Sacred Heart, what better prayer could we offer in thine honour than to say with thee to the Son of the Blessed Virgin:

‘O thou my soul's calm untroubled light! O dawn

of morning, soft

gleaming with thy beautoeus light,

become in me the perfect day. O my Love, who dost not only enlighten but deify, come unto me in all Thy

--- PAGE 292 --- SAINT GERTRUDE 281

might; come and gently melt my whole being. May all that is of me be destroyed utterly; may I wholly pass into Thee, so that I may no more find myself in time, but may be already and most intimately united to Thee for all eternity.

“Thou hast first loved me; it is Thou who hast chosen me, and not I who have first chosen Thee. Thou art He who of His own accord runneth towards His thirsting creature; and on Thy kingly brow gleams the fair splendour of the everlasting light. Show me Thy countenance, and let me gaze upon Thy beauty. How mild and full of charms is that face, all radiant with the rosy light of the dawn of the divine Sun! How can the spark live and glow far from the fire that gave it being ? Or how can the drop of water abide far from the spring from whence it was taken? O compassionate Love, why hast Thou loved a creature so defiled and so covered with shame, but that Thou hast willed to render it all fair in Thee? .O Thou delicate flower of the Virgin Mary, Thy goodness and Thy tender mercy have won and ravished my heart. O Love, my glorious noontide, to take my rest in Thee gladly would I die a thousand deaths.

* O Charity, O Love, at the hour of my death Thou wilt sustain me with Thy words, more gladdening far than choicest wine. Thou wilt then be my way, my unobstructed way, that I may wander no more nor stray. Thou wilt aid me then, O Love, Thou queen of heaven; Thou wilt clear my way before me to those fair and fertile pastures hidden in the divine wilderness, and my soul shall be inebriate with bliss; for there shall I see the face of the Lamb, my Spouse and my God. O Love, who art God, Thou art my best beloved pos- session. Without Thee neither earth nor heaven could excite in me one hope, nor draw forth one desire: vouch- safe to effect and perfect within me that union which Thou Thyself desirest: may it be the end, the crown, and consummation of my being. In the countenance of my God Thy light beameth soft and fair as the evening

--- PAGE 293 --- 282 TIME AFTER PENTECOST

star. O Thou fair and solemn Evening, let me see Thy ray when my eye shall close in death.

*O Love, Thou much-loved Evening-tide, at that dread moment let the sacred flame, which burneth evermore in Thy divine Essence consume all the stains of my mortal life. O Thou my calm and peaceful Evening, when the evening-tide of my life shall come give me to sleep in Thee in tranquil sleep, and to taste that blissful rest which Thou hast prepared in Thyself for them that love Thee. With Thy serene, enchanting look vouchsafe to order all things and prepare all things for my everlasting espousal. O Love, be Thou unto me an eventide so bright and calm, that my ravished soul may bid a loving farewell to its body, and return to God who gave it, and rest in peace beneath Thy beloved shadow !'!

! From Exercise V., ' To enkindle in the soul the love of God.

--- PAGE 294 --- SAINT GREGORY THAUMATURGUS 283

NOVEMBER 17

SAINT GREGORY THAUMATURGUS BISHOP AND CONFESSOR

: NM s ‘instructed in all the wisdom of the Egyp- tians, mighty in his words and in his deeds,’? retired into the desert: Gregory, adorned with the best gifts of birth and nature, brilliant in rhetoric, rich in every science, hid himself from men in the flower of his youth, and hastened to offer to God in solitude the holo- caust best pleasing to the Lord. Each was the hope of his race; yet each turned away to lose himself in the contemplation of heavenly mysteries. Meanwhile the yoke of Pharaoh lay heavy upon Israel ; meanwhile souls were perishing, whom one of Gregory's burning words might have snatched from the empire of idolatry: was not such flight, then, desertion ?

Is it for man to proclaim himself a saviour, when Jesus did not arrogate that title to Himself? And when evil was rife all around, did the Carpenter of Nazareth do wrong to remain in the shade for thirty years previous to His short period of ministry ? O ye teachers of our excited, fevered times, who dream of a new hierarchy among the virtues, and understand divine charity far otherwise than did our fathers: not those are of the race of Israel's saviours whose ideas concerning social good differ from those of the world's Redeemer.

Gregory, like Moses, was of that blessed race. His friends and enemies agreed in saying that he resembled the Hebrew legislator in the excellence of his virtue, and in the splendour of the prodigies wrought by his word.' Both were actuated by the desire of knowing God, and manifesting Him to the men they were called

! Acts vii. 22. 3 Basit.. De Spiritu Sancto, xxix.

--- PAGE 295 --- 284 TIME AFTER PENTECOST

to lead: the fullness of doctrine is the gift most necessary to the guides of the people, and their want of it the greatest penury. I AM WHO AM was the answer to Moses’ enquiry; and this sublime formula, confided to him from the midst of the burning bush, authenticated the mission which called him forth from the desert. When Gregory was commanded by God to go out into the world, the blessed Virgin, of whom the burning bush was a figure, appeared before his dazzled eyes in the dark night when he was praying for light. And St. John, following the Mother of God, let fall from his lips this other formula completing the former for the disciples of the Law of love:

‘One only God, Father of the living Word, of that substantial and mighty Wisdom who is the eternal expression of Himself; the perfect principle of the only and perfect Son begotten by Him. One only Lord, sole-begotten of the Only One; God of God, efficacious Word, Wisdom embracing and containing the world, creative power of all creation, true Son of a true Father. One only Holy Spirit, holding of God His divine existence, revealed to men by the Son of whom He is the perfect likeness, life and life-giving, holy and imparting holiness. The perfect Trinity, immutable, inseparable in glory, in eternity, in dominion.':

This was the message our saint was to communicate to his country, the creed that was to bear his name in the Church. By his faith in the most holy Trinity he was to remove mountains and set limits to the waves, to drive out Satan and eradicate infidelity from Pontus. When, towards the year 240, Gregory, then bishop, was on his way to Neocesarea, he saw on all sides the temples of idols, and stopped for the night at a famous sanctuary. In the morning all the gods had taken to flight and re- fused to come back; but the saint gave to the priest of the oracle a note thus worded: ' Gregory to Satan: Return.’ A more bitter defeat awaited the demons; forced to stay their precipitate retreat, they were compelled to witness

1 Gnzc. Nyss, Vita Greg. Thbaumaturg.

--- PAGE 296 --- SAINT GREGORY THAUMATURGUS

the ruin of their empire over the souls they had abused. The priest was the first to give himself up to the bishop, and became his deacon; and soon, upon the ruins of the temples everywhere overthrown, arose the Church of Christ, the only God.

Happy was that Church, so firmly founded that heresy was powerless against it in the following century, when so many others bowed before the storm of Arianism. On the testimony of St. Basil, the successors of St. Gregory, themselves eminent men, were as an adornment of precious stones, a crown of stars, to the Church of Neocesarea. Now all these illustrious pontiffs, says he, considered it an honour to keep up the memory of their great predecessor; they would never suffer that any act, word, or movement other than his, in performing the sacred rites, should prevail over the traditions he had left.*

When Clement XII, as we have seen, established in the entire Church the feast of St. Gertrude the Great, he at first decreed that it should be kept on this day, on which it is still celebrated by the Order of St. Benedict. But as November 17 had been for long centuries assigned to St. Gregory Thaumaturgus, it seemed unfitting, said Benedict XIV, that he who moved mountains should himself be moved from his place by the holy virgin. Accordingly in 1739, the year following its institution, the feast of St. Gertrude was fixed on the fifteenth of this month.*

Let us read the brief account of the great Thau- maturgus given in the holy liturgy.

285

Gregorius Neocesarez Ponti episcopus sanctitate doctrina- que illustris, signis vero ac miraculis multo illustrior, quo- rum multitudine atque prz- stantia Thaumaturgus appella- tus est, et sancti Basili te- stimonio cum Moyse, prophetis

! Basit. De

Gregory, bishop of Neocz- sarea in Pontus, was illus- trious for his holiness and learning, but still more for his miracles, which were so startling and so numerous that he was called the Thaumatur- gus; and, according to St.

EVA Sancto, xxix. * BzauzDICT IV, De canonizat. SS., lib. i. cap. xli. 4o, 41.

--- PAGE 297 --- 286

et apostolis comparatus; mon- tem, qui ecclesiz edificationem impediebat, oratione alio tran- stulit. Item paludem, inter fratres causam discordiarum,
exsiccavit. Lycum fluvium, perniciose agros inundantem, defixo ad ripam, quo susten- tabatur, baculo, qui statim virentem crevit in arborem, coercuit, ut postea ultra eum terminum non effluxerit.

Szpissime demones ex ido- lorum simulacris, atque ex hominum corporibus ejecit, multaque alia mirabiliter effe- cit, quibus innumerabiles ho- mines traduxit ad Jesu Christi fidem, cum etiam prophetico spiritu futura prediceret. Qui migraturus e vita, cum qua- sisset quot in civitate Neo- cesariensi reliqui essent in- fideles, responsumque esset tantum esse septemdecim ; Deo gratias agens, Totidem inquit, erant fideles, cum coepi epi- Scopatum. Plura scripsit, qui- bus etiam, non solum miracu- lis, Dei Ecclesiam illustravit.

TIME AFTER PENTECOST

Basil, he was considered com- parable to Moses, the prophets, and the apostles. By his prayer he removed a mountain, which was an obstacle to the building of a church. He also dried up a lake which was a cause of dissension between brothers. The river Lycus, which was inundating and devastating the fields, he re- strained by fixing in the bank his stick, which immediately grew into a green tree, and Served as a limit which the river henceforth never overpassed. He frequently expelled the devils from idols and from men's bodies, and worked many other miracles, by means of which he led multitudes to the faith of Christ. He also foretold future events by the spirit of prophecy. When he was dying, he asked how many infidels remained in the city of Neocesarea; and on being informed that there were only seventeen, he gave thanks to God, and said: When I was made bishop, there were but seventeen believers. He wrote several works, by which, as well as by his miracles, he adorned the Church of God.

O holy pontiff, thy faith, removing mountains and commanding the waves, was a justification of our Lord's promise. Teach us in our turn to do honour to the Gospel, by never doubting of our Lord's word and of the help He promises us against Satan, whom the Church points out to us to-day as the proud mountain that is to be cast into the sea;! and also against the overflowing tide of our passions, and the enticements of the world, of which thy writings teach us the

1 Homil, ad Matut. ex BgpA in Marc.

--- PAGE 298 --- SAINT GREGORY THAUMATURGUS 287

vanity. Afterthe victory let usnot forget that the succour came to us from heaven; preserve us from ingratitude, which thou didst so detest. We still possess the touching eulogy dictated by thy gratitude towards the illustrious master to whose teachings, under God, thou didst owe the glorious strength and splendour of thy faith. Here is a precious and practical lesson for all: while praising divine Providence in the man who was His predestined instrument in thy regard, thou didst not forget the homage due to the angel of God, who had preserved thee from falling into the abyss during the darkness of in- fidelity in which thy first years were spent; that heavenly Guardian who, ever watchful in his active, enlightened, persevering devotedness, supplies for our insufficiencies, nourishes and instructs us, leads us by the hand, and secretly arranges for our souls those blessed circum- stances and occasions, which transform our life and secure eternal happiness.? How can we sinful creatures sufficiently thank the Author of all good, the infinite Being who gives to man both the holy angels and the visible intermediaries of divine grace on earth ? But let us take courage, for we have as our Head His own Son, His Word who saved our souls, and who rules the universe. He alone, and that without effort, can render to His Father unceasing, eternal thanksgiving, for Himself and for us all, without risk of not knowing or of forgetting the least subject of gratitude, without fear of any imperfection in the manner or the magnitude of His praise. To Him, then, to the divine Word, we commit as thou didst, O Gregory, the care of perfecting the expression of our gratitude for the unspeakable kindness of our heavenly Father; for the Word is to us, as to thee, the only channel of piety, gratitude, and love May He give us in these days pastors who will imitate thy works; and may He raise up again the ancient churches of the East, which once received such light from thee !

1 GrrG, THAUMAT. Metaphrasis in Ecclesiasten Salomonis. * [n Origenem oratio panegyrica. 2 fig.

--- PAGE 299 --- 288 TIME AFTER PENTECOST

NOVEMBER 18

DEDICATION OF THE BASILICAS OF SAINTS PETER AND PAUL, APOSTLES

UOD DUCE TE MUNDUS SURREXIT IN ASTRA TRIUM- PHANS, HANC CONSTANTINUS VICTOR TIBI CONDIDIT AULAM (Because the world under thy conduct has

risen triumphant to the very heavens, Constantine the con- queror has built thistemple in thy honour). This inscription stood in letters of gold over the triumphal arch in the ancient Vatican basilica.! Never did the Roman genius frame a more magnificent utterance in so few words; never did the greatness of Simon Bar- Jona appear to such advantage on the seven hills. In 1506 the great arch, that had looked down upon twelve centuries of prostrate pilgrims, fell from old age, and the beautiful inscription perished. But Michael Angelo’s lofty dome points out to the city and the world the spot where sleeps the Galilean fisherman, the successor of the Caesars, the Vicar of Christ, the ruler of the destinies of Rome. The second glory of the eternal city is the tomb of St. Paul on the Ostian Way. Unlike that of St. Peter, which lies deep down in the Vatican crypt, this tomb is raised to the level of the floor by massive masonry, on which rests the great sarcophagus. This circumstance was ascertained in r841, when the papal altar was reconstructed. It was evidently to obviate the con- sequences of inundations from the Tiber that the sarcophagus had thus been raised above the place where Lucina had first laid it? The pilgrim certainly finds nothing to blame in this arrangement when, on looking through the small opening in the centre of the altar, his respectful glance falls upon the marble of the

! Dz Rossi, * t Christ,’ t. ii, 345. * See the Legend of St. Cornelius, September 16,

--- PAGE 300 --- DEDICATION OF SAINT PETER'S 289

tomb, and he reads these imposing words traced in large characters of Constantine's period: PAULO APOSTOLO ET MARTYRI (To Paul apostle and martyr).

Thus Christian Rome is protected on the north and south by these two citadels. Let us enter into the sentiments of our fathers, when they said of this privi- leged city: ' Peter the doorkeeper sets his holy dwelling at the entrance: who can deny that this city is like heaven? At the other extremity, Paul from his temple guards the walls; Rome lies between the two: here then God dwelleth.'?

The present feast therefore deserves to be more than a local solemnity; its extension to the universal Church is a subject for the world's gratitude. Thanks to this feast we can all make together in spirit to-day the pilgrimage ad limina apostolorum, which our ancestors performed with such fatigue and danger, yet never thought they purchased too dearly its holy joys and blessings. ' Heavenly mountains, glittering heights of the new Sion! There are the gates of our true country, the two lights of the immense world. There Paul's voice is heard like thunder; there Peter withholds or hurls the bolt. The former opens the hearts of men, the latter opens heaven. Peter is the foundation-stone, Paul the architect of the temple where stands the altar by which God is propitiated. Both together form a single fountain, which peurs out its healing and refreshing waters.'*

In the following lessons the Roman Church gives us her traditions concerning the two basilicas whose dedica- tion feast we are celebrating.

! Dom GUERANGER, ' Saint Cécile et la société romaine aux deux premiers sidcles,’ = # Janitor ante fores fixit sacraria Petrus :

is pu has arces instar esse poli ? K alia Pauli circumdant atria muros : Hos inter Roma est: hic sedet ergo Deus.

(Inscription on the gate of Rome which was called in the sixth century the gate of St. Peter) (De Rossi, Inscript. ii. 99).

35 * Tothe theeshold of the apostles '—i.e., of their basilicas, where pilgrims used to prostrate before entering. ps

* VENANT. Serr, Miscellanea, iii. 7.

--- PAGE 301 --- 290

Ex locis sacris qua olim apud Christianos venerationem habuerunt, illa celeberrima et frequentissima fuerunt, in qui- bus condita sanctorum cor- pora, vel aliquod martyrum vestigium aut monumentum esset. In quorum numero Sanctorum locorum, in primis semper fuit insignis ea Vaticani pars, quam sancti Petri Con- fessionem appellabant. Nam eo Christiani ex omnibus or- bis terre partibus, tamquam ad fidei petram et Ecclesie fundamentum convenientes, locum principis apostolorum sepulchro consecratum, summa religione ac pietate venera- bantur.

Illuc Constantinus Magnus Íímperator octavo die post susceptum baptismum venit, depositoque diademate, et hu- mi jacens, vim lacrimarum profudit: mox sumpto ligone ac bidente, terram eruit: inde- que duodecim terre cophinis, honoris causa duodecim apo- stolorum, ablatis, ac loco basi- lice principis apostolorum de- signato, ecclesiam adificavit. Quam sanctus Silvester Papa decimo quarto calendas De- cembris, eo modo quo Latera- nensem ecclesiam quinto idus Novembris consecraverat, dedi- cavit: et in ea altare lapideum chrismate delibutum erexit; atque ex eo tempore sancivit, ne deinceps altaria nisi ex lapide fierent. Idem beatus

ilvester basilicam sancti Pauli apostoli in via Ostiensi ab eodem Constantino imperatore magnificentissime ificatam dedicavit. Quas basilicas idem im tor multis praediis at- tributis locupletavit, ac

TIME AFTER PENTECOST

Among the holy places ve- nerated of old by the Chris- tians, those were the most honoured and most frequented in which the bodies of the saints were preserved, or some relic or memorial of the mar- tyrs. Chief among these holy places has ever been that part of the Vatican hill which was called the Confession of St. Peter. Christians from all parts of the world flocked thither, as to the rock of the faith and the foundation of the Church, and honoured with the greatest reverence and piety the spot hallowed by the sepulchre of the prince of the apostles.

Hither on the octave day of his baptism came the emperor Constantine the Great; and taking off his diadem, he pros- trated on the ground with many tears. Then taking a hoe and mattock he broke up the earth, of which twelve basketfuls were taken away in honour of the twelve apos- tles; and on the site thus marked out he built the basilica of the prince of the apostles. Pope St. Sylvester dedicated it on the fourteenth of the Calends of December, just as he had consecrated the Lateran church on the fifth of the Ides of November. He erected in it a stone altar which he anointed with chrism, and decreed that thencefor- ward all altars should be made of stone. The same blessed Sylvester dedicated the basilica of St. Paul the apostle on the Ostian Way, also magni- ficently built by the emperor Constantine, who enriched both

--- PAGE 302 --- DEDICATION OF SAINT PETER'S

muneribus amplissimis exorna- vit. Porro Vaticanam basilicam vetustate jampridem collaben- tem, ac propterea multorum Pontificum pietate latius ac magnificentius a fundamentis erectam, Urbanus Octavus hac eadem recurrente die anni mil- lesimi sexcentesimi vigesimi sexti, solemni ritu consecra- vit. Basilicam vero Ostien- sem, quum dira incendii vis, anno millesimo octingentesi- mo vigesimo tertio penitus consumpsisset, indefessa qua- tuor Pontificum cura splendi- dius quam antea erectam, et ab interitu veluti vindicatam, Pius Nonus auspicatissimam nactus occasionem qua dogma de Immaculata beate Marie Virginis Conceptione nuper ab ipso proclamatum, ingentem cardinalium et episcoporum numerum ex dissitis etiam catholici orbis regionibus Ro- mam attraxerat, die decima Decembris anni millesimi octingentesimi quinquagesimi quarti, tanta circumdatus pur- puratorum patrum et antisti- tum corona solemniter dedi- cavit, ejusque celebritatis me- moriam hac die recolendam decrevit.

291

basilicas with many estates and rich gifts and ornaments.

The Vatican basilica, how- ever, began to decay through age; and was rebuilt from its foundations on a more exten- sive and magnificent scale, through the piety of several Pontiffs. It was solemnly dedicated by Urban VIII on this day in the year 1626. In the year 1823 the Ostian ba- silica was burnt to the ground ; but the ruins were repaired and it was rebuilt more splen- didly than before, through the unwearied exertions of four Popes. Pius IX, seizing the auspicious occasion when his definition of the dogma of the Immaculate Conception of the blessed Virgin Mary had drawn an immense number of Car- dinals and Bishops even from distant parts of the Catholic world to Rome, solemnly dedi- cated this basilica on the tenth of December, 1854, assisted and surrounded by this noble gathering of prelates; and he decreed that the anniversary commemoration should be cele- brated on this day.

In honour of the holy apostles we gladly borrow from the libraries of our Anglican brethren the following Sequenc, sung four centureis ago by the venerable church

of York.

SEQUENCE.

In sollemni memoria

Apostlorum principis,

Pie laudis harmonia Latis resonet canticis,

On this solemn commemo- ratlon of the prince of the apostles, let the harmony of our loving praise resound in joyous canticles,

--- PAGE 303 --- 29a

Veneremur simul pari

Dignum laude venerari Apostolum gentium;

Ut quos amor vita junxit,

Nec mors ipsa post disjunxit Jungat et preconium.

Horum laus est quod de- structa Romanz potentie idolatria, Jam fundata et firmata Ibidem orbem gubernat Ecclesia. Fide Petri fundamentum Pauli tenet firmamentum Dogmate Ecclesia ; Clavis huic potentiz, Illi cessit scientiae Juncta ad officia. Petro namque sub pastore Gratulatur et rectore Inter fluctus seculi; Pauli viget ex doctrina, Vita sumpta medicina Grex fidelis populi. Iste verbo instruit, Ille celum aperit Verbo vitz credulis, Et quod unus praedicat Alter verum comprobat Crebris hoc miraculis. Hic Judzos, ille gentes Viam vite nescientes Ad salutem convocat; Ambo praesunt convocatis, Ambo certant desolatis, Hostis ne prevaleat.

Contra summa potentia Consurgunt imperium, Unus crucis, alter ensis

Perpessus supplicium. Sicque una urbe mortem Una die passi, sortem

Ad justorum transmeant ; ue malorum nos exsortes

ua prece et consortes Beatorum faciant. Amen.

TIME AFTER PENTECOST

With him let us also honour the apostle of the Gentiles, worthy of equal praise; that those whom love united in life, and death itself did not sever, may together receive our hom-

e.

Their praise consists in this, that the idolatry of the Roman empire has been des- troyed ; and in that same Rome the Church has been founded and builtup,and rulesthe world.

The Church is founded on Peter's faith, and strengthened by Paul's teaching; one holds the key of authority, the other that of knowledge, both for the same work.

With Peter for their shep- herd and guide, the faithful people rejoice amid the billows of this world; while they grow strong and receive life-giving medicine from Paul's doctrine.

Paul instructs them by his word, Peter opens heaven to believers in the word of life, and what the one preaches the other proves by many mira- cles.

One calls the Jews to sal-

vation, the other the Gentiles ignorant of the way of life; together they direct the called, together they strive lest the enemy Should prevail against them. They stand against the high- est power of the empire, and incur the penalty, one of the cross, the other of the sword.

Thus they suffer death in the same city, on the same day, and together pass to the reward of the just; by their prayer may they deliver us from all evil, and make us com- panions of the blessed. Amen.

--- PAGE 304 --- DEDICATION OF SAINT PETER'S 293

To-day let us call to mind and complete the in- structions we received on the general feast of the Dedica- tion of churches; and let us conclude with the following Sequence, worthy of the of Adam of St. Victor, to whom it was long attributed. It sets forth, in all the figures once so well known, the great mystery of Christ’s union with the human race, which is expressed in the consecration of Christian temples.

SEQUENCE

Quam dilecta tabernacula Domini virtutum et atria |

Quam electi Architecti, Tuta edificia, Quz non movent Imo fovent Ventus, flumen, pluvia ! Quam decora fundamenta Per concinna sacramenta Umbra pracurrentia ! Latus Ade dormientis Evam fundit, in manentis Copula primordia. Arca ligno fabricata Noe servat, gubernata Mundi per diluvium. Prole sera tandem feta Anus Sara ridet lzta, Nostrum lactans gaudium.

Servus bibit qui legatur Et camelus adaquatur Ex Rebecce hydria. Hzc inaures et armillas Aptat sibi, ut per illas Virgo fiat congrua. Synagoga supplantatur A Jacob, dum devagatur Nimis freta litterz. Liam lippam latent multa: Quibus Rachel videns fulta, Pari nubit fcedere,

How lovely are the taber- nacles and courts of the Lord of hosts !

So firmly is the temple built by the incomparable architect, that wind and flood and rain instead of shaking strengthen it.

Beauteous are its founda- tions, aptly prefigured by the mysteries of the time of sha- dows! While Adam slee Eve comes forth from his side, thefirsttypeofaneternal union.

The ark, built of wood, preserves Noe, safely sailing through the deluge that des- troys the world. Sara, ad- vanced in years, laughs joy- ously to see herself a mother suckling the child whose name signifies our joy.

The servant sent as ambassa- dordrinks from Rebecca's pitch- er, and she waters his camels; then she adorns herself withear- rings and bracelets, that she may appear as beseems a virgin.

e Synagogue, wandering away and trusting too much to the letter,issupplanted by Jacob. Many things lie hid from blear- eyed Lia, which are a strength to Rachel the clear-sighted, and give her equal rights.

--- PAGE 305 --- 294 TIME AFTER PENTECOST

In bivio tegens nuda,

Geminos parit ex Juda Thamar diu vidua.

Hic Mo a puella

Dum sic aede in fiscella Reperitur scirpea.

Hic mas agnus immolatur

Quo Israel satiatur, Tinctus ejus sanguine;

Hic transitur rubens unda,

Zgyptios sub profunda Obruens voragine.

Hic est urna manna plena,

Hic mandata legis dena, Sed in arca feederis.

Hic sunt edis ornamenta, Hic Aaron indumenta Qua pracedit poderis.

Hic Urias viduatur, Bethsabee sublimatur, Sedis consors regia. Hzc regi varietate Vestis astat deauratz, Sicut regum filie. Huc venit Austri regina, Salomonis quam divina Condit sapientia, Hzc est nigra sed formosa, Myrrhz et thuris fumosa, Virga pigmentaria.

Hzc futura Que figura Obumbravit, Reseravit Nobis dies gratiz; Jam in lecto Cum dilecto Quiescamus, Et psallamus: Adsunt ening nuptiz. Quarum tonat initium In tubis epulantium Et finis per psalterium. Sponsum m:llena millia na canunt melodia, Sine fine dicentia: Alleluia ! Amen.

Thamar, long a widow, veils herself on the highway, and gives twin sons to Juda. Mo- ses, in a wicker-basket, is found by the maiden as she is bathing.

The male lamb being im- molated, the Israelites are fed therewith, and are marked with its blood. They cross the Red Sea, whose rushing waves engulf the Egyptians.

Hereis the urn full of manna; here in the Ark of the Covenant are the ten commandments of the Law. Here are the orna- ments of the temple; here the garments of Aaron, and first of them all the pontiff's ephod.

Bethsabee, widow of Urias, is raised as bride even to share the royal throne, and stands before the king in robes of gold and all variety, even as the daughters of princes.

Hither comes the queen of the south, whom Solomon in- structs with his divine wis- dom; though black, she is beautiful, breathing the fra- grance of myrrh and incense and every perfume.

These future things fore- shadowed thus in figures, the day of grace has revealed to us; let us rest in peace with the Beloved and sing to him, for it is the nuptial-day.

The feast was opened by the clang of trumpets, and closes with the psaltery.

Millions of voices hail the Spouse with one same melody, repeating without end: Alle- lua! Amen.

--- PAGE 306 --- SAINT ELIZABETH 295

NOVEMBER 19

SAINT ELIZABETH OF HUNGARY DUCHESS OF THURINGIA

LTHOUGH the blessed in heaven shine each with his own peculiar glory, God is pleased to group them in families, as He groups the stars in the material firma- ment. It is grace that presides over the arrangement of these constellations in the heaven of the saints; but sometimes it seems as if God wished to remind us that He is the sole Author of both grace and nature; and inviting them, in spite of the fall, to honour Him unitedly in His elect, He causes sanctity to become a glorious heirloom, handed down from generation to generation in the same family on earth. Among these races none can compare with that royal line which, beginning in ancient Pannonia, spread its branches over the world in the most flourishing days of Christendom: ' Rich in virtue and studying beautifulness,’ as Scripture says, it brought peace into all the royal houses of Europe with which it was allied; and the many names it has inscribed in the golden book of the blessed perpetuate its glory.

Among these illustrious names, and surrounded by them as a diamond set in a circle of pearls, the greatest, in the esteem of the Church and of the people, is that of the amiable saint, who was ripe for heaven at the age of twenty-four years, and who ascended on this day into the company of Stephen, Emeric, and Ladislas. Eliza- beth was not inferior to them in manly virtues; but the simplicity of her loving soul added to the heroism of her race a sweetness, whose fragrance drew after her along the path of sanctity her daughter Gertrude of Thuringia, and her relatives Hedwige of Silesia, Agnes of Bohemia,

1 Ecclus. xliv. 6.

--- PAGE 307 --- 296 TIME AFTER PENTECOST

Margaret of Hungary, Cunigund of Poland, and Elizabeth of Portugal.

All the poetry of those chivalrous times appears in the beautiful pages of contemporaneous writers, as they describe to us the innocent child, transplanted like a tender flower from the court of Hungary to that of Thuringia; and her life of devotedness there, with a bridegroom worthy to witness the ecstasies of her lofty but ingenuous piety and to defend her heroic virtue against her slanderers. To the stewards who complained that during the absence of Duke Lewis she had, in spite of their remonstrances, exhausted the revenues upon the poor, he replied: ' I desire that my Elizabeth be at liberty to act as she wishes, provided she leaves me Warteburg and Naumburg. Our Lord opened the landgrave's eyes to see transformed into beautiful roses the provisions Elizabeth was carrying to the poor. Jesus crucified appeared in the leper she had taken into her own apartments that she might the better tend him. If it happened that illustrious visitors arrived unex-

tedly, and the duchess having bestowed all her Jewels in alms was unable to adorn herself becomingly to do them honour, the angels so well supplied the deficiency that, according to the German chroniclers of the time, it seemed to the astonished guests that the queen of France herself could not have appeared more strikingly beautiful or more richly attired.

Elizabeth indeed was never wanting to any of the obligations or requirements of her position as a wife and as a sovereign princess. As graciously simple in her virtues as she was affable to all, she could not under- stand the gloomy moroseness which some affected in their prayers and austerities. ' They look as if they wanted to frighten our Lord,” she would say, ' whereas He loves the cheerful giver.'!

The time soon came when she herself had to give generously without counting the cost. First there was the cruel separation from her husband, Duke Lewis,

! MONTALEMBERT, ' Histoire de sainte Elisabeth de Hongrie, ' ch. vii.

--- PAGE 308 --- SAINT ELIZABETH 297

on his departure for the crusade; then the heartrending scene when his death was announced to her, just as she was about to give birth to her fourth child; and thirdly the atrocious act of Henry Raspon, the landgrave's unworthy brother, who, thinking this a good opportunity for seizing the deceased’s estates, drove out his widow and children and forbade anyone to give them hospitality. Then, in the very land where every misery had been succoured by her charity, Elizabeth was reduced to the necessity of begging, and not without many rebuffs, a little bread for her poor children, and of seeking shelter with them in a pigsty.

On the return of the knights who had accompanied Duke Lewis to the Holy Land, justice was at length done to our saint. But Elizabeth, who had become the passionate lover of holy poverty, chose to remain among the poor. She was the first professed Terti of the Seraphic Order; and the mantle sent by St. Francis to his very dear daughter became her only treasure. The path of perfect self-renunciation soon brought her to the threshold of heaven. She who, twenty years before, had been carried to her betrothed in a silver cradle and robed in silk and gold, now took her flight to God from a wretched hovel, her only garment being a patched gown. The minstrels, whose gay competitions had signalized the year of her birth, were no longer there; but the angels were heard singing, as they bore her up to heaven: ' The kingdom of this world have I despised for the love of Jesus Christ my Lord, whom I have seen, whom I have loved, in whom I have believed, whom I have tenderly loved.’

Four years later, Elizabeth, now declared a saint by the Vicar of Christ, beheld all the nations of the holy Empire, with the emperor himself at their head, hastening to Marburg, where she lay at rest in the midst of the poor whose life she had imitated. Her holy body was committed to the care of the Teutonic Knights, who in return for the honour made Marburg one of the head- quarters of their Order, and raised to her name the first

--- PAGE 309 --- 298 TIME AFTER PENTECOST

Gothic church in Germany. Numerous miracles long attracted the Christian world to the spot.

And now, though still standing, though still beautiful in its mourning, St. Elizabeth's at Marburg knows its glorious titular only by name. And at Warteburg, where the dear saint went through the sweetest episodes of her life as a child and as a bride, the great memorial now shown to the traveller is the pulpit of an excom- municated friar, and the inkstain with which, in a fit of folly or drunkenness, he had soiled the wall, as he after wards endeavoured with his pen to profane and sully

everything in the Church of God. It is time to read the liturgical history of the feast.

Elisabeth Andrez regis Hun- garie filia ab infantia Deum timere coepit: et crescens etate, crevit etiam pietate. Ludovico Lantgravio Hassice et Thuringie in conjugem copulata, non minori cura quae Dei, quam qua viri sui erant, exsequebatur. Surgens enim nocturno tempore, ora- tioni diu incumbebat; ac variis misericordie officiis dedita, vi- duis, pupillis, zegrotis, egenti- bus sedulo inserviebat; gra- vique fame urgente, domus sue frumenta liberaliter ero- gabat. Leprosos hospitio su- Scipiens, manus eorum et pedes osculabatur. Curandis autem et alendis pauperibus insigne xenodochium construxit.

Defuncto conjuge, ut Deo liberius serviret, depositis omnibus saecularis glorie in- dumentis, vili tunica induta est, atque ordinem Poenitentium Sancti Francisci ingressa, pa- tientie et humilitatis virtute maxime enituit. Nam bonis omnibus exuta, a propriis edibus ejecta, ab omnibus

Elizabeth, daughter of An- drew king of Hungary, feared God from her infancy, and increased in piety as she ad- vanced in age. She was mar- ried to Lewis, landgrave of Hesse and Thuringia, and de- voted herself to the service of God and of her husband. She used to rise in the night and spend a long time in prayer; and, moreover, she devoted herself to works of mercy, dili- gently caring for widows and orphans, the sick and the poor. In time of famine she freely distributed her store of corn. She received lepers into her house, and kissed their hands and feet; she also built a splendid hospital, where the poor might be fed and cared for.

On the death of her hus- band, she, in order to serve God with greater freedom, laid aside all worldly orna- ments, clothed herself in a rough tunic, and entered the Order of Penance of St. Fran- cis. She was very remark- able for her patience and hu- mility. Being despoiled of all

--- PAGE 310 --- SAINT ELIZABETH

derelicta, contumelias, irrisio- nes, obtrectationes invicto ani- mo toleravit, adeo ut sum- mopere gauderet, se talia pro Deo pati. Ad infima quaeque ministeria erga pauperes et zgrotos se abjiciens, eis neces- saria procurabat, solis oleri- bus et leguminibus pro suo victu contenta.

Cum vero in his aliisque plurimis sanctis operibus vi- tam religiosissime transegisset, finis tandem sue peregrina- tionis advenit, quem dome- sticis suis ante predixit. Cum- que defixis in celum oculis divine contemplationi vacaret, a Deo mirabiliter recreata, et sacramentis refecta, obdormi- vit in Domino. Statimque plurima ad ejus tumulum mi- racula patrata sunt. Quibus auditis, et rite probatis, Gre- gorius nonussanctorum numero eam adscripsit.

299

her possessions and turned out of her own house and aban- doned by all, she bore insults, mockeries, and reproaches with undaunted courage, rejoicing exceedingly to suffer thus for God's sake. She humbled her- self by performing the lowest offices for the poor and sick, and procured them all they needed, contenting herself with herbs and vegetables for her only food.

She was living in this holy manner, occupied with these and many other good works, when the end of her pilgrim- age drew nigh, as she had foretold to her companions. She was absorbed in divine contemplation, with her eyes fixed on heaven; and after being wonderfully consoled by God, and strengthened with the Sacraments, she fell asleep in our Lord. Many miracles were immediately wrought at her tomb; and on their being duly proved, Gregory IX en- rolled her among the saints.

The following hymn in honour of St. Elizabeth was sung in Germany in the fourteenth century:

HYMN

Hymnum Deo vox jocunda Decantat Ecclesie;

Nam congaudet lztabunda Sion mater filie

Ascendenti de profunda Convalle miseria. uam regali stirpe natam

Q In annis infantis

Vir accepit desponsatam Indolis eximiz,

Semper tamen inspiratam Voto continentia.

The Church in joyous ac- cents sings a hymn to God; Sion is in gladness, rejoicing with her daughter who ascends from the valley of misery,

Born of royal race, she is affianced while yet a babe; her husband finds her adorned with every gift and enamoured of purity.

--- PAGE 311 --- 300 TIME AFTER PENTECOST

Fide, prole, sacramento Ratum hoc conjugium,

Vero docet argumento Quod patrum czlestium

Vitz sancte succremento Attigit consortium.

Lege carnis sic ligata Non extinxit spiritum,

Sed implevit fide rata Nec reliquit irritum

Quod a Deo mens parata Gerebat propositum.

Hzc insignis, hac beata Pauperum nutritia

Fastu mundi non elata Nec parentum gloria,

In se carne trucidata Crucifixit vitia.

Aquam eam dum rogavit Hostis innocentiz,

Potum lacte perforavit Clavo poenitentiz,

Et sic sese liberavit Virtus patientiz.

Tandem viro destituta Munda mundum exuit, Christum mente jam induta Saccum carni consuit,

Et in tempus hoc statuta Sic lampas emicuit.

Veras censu paupertatis Redimens divitias De thesauro pietatis Fudit auri copias, Et multorum egestatis Supplevit inopias. Fecit opus fuso, cibi Quzrens alimoniam, Et vilescens ipsa sibi Sprevit ignominiam, Sciens soli, Christe, tibi Recte dari gloriam.

Their union is hallowed by fidelity, fecundity, and the grace of the Sacrament; Eli- zabeth's increasing holiness proves that she is being led to the company of her fathers in heaven.

Though subject to the law of the flesh, her spirit was not quenched ; faithful to her sacred engagements, she obeyed the inspirations her willing heart received from God.

She became the noble and blessed feeder of the poor; neither by worldly glory nor by her kingly origin was she elated, but she crucified the vices in her mortified flesh.

The enemy of innocence asked her for water, as Sisara asked Jahel ; she deceived him with milk, and transpiercing him with the nail of penance, she delivered herself by her virtue of patience.

Bereaved of her husband, she abandoned the world, un- sullied by its contact; and having already put on Christ interiorly, she now clothed her body with sackcloth, and, even in the time of her mor- tality, shone as a bright lamp.

Buying true riches at the price of poverty, she poured out the golden treasures of her piety, and supplied the needs of innumerable poor.

Working with her spindle she earned her daily bread; and, vile in her own eyes, she made light of shame, knowing that to thee alone, O Christ, honour is due.

--- PAGE 312 --- SAINT ELIZABETH 301 Gloria sit, Jesu bone, Glory be to thee, O good

Tibi nunc et jugiter, esus, both now and for ever; Qui certantes in agone or thou faithfully assistest Adjuvas fideliter, them that fight the good fight, Et mercedem das coronz and rewardest the valiant Vincenti viriliter. victor with a crown. Amen. Amen. What a lesson thou leavest to the earth as thou mountest up to heaven, O blessed Elizabeth! We ask with the Church for ourselves and for all our brethren in the faith: may thy glorious prayers obtain from the God of mercy that our hearts may open to the light of thy life's teaching, so that despising worldly prosperity we may rejoice in heavenly consolations.? The Gospel read in thy honour to-day tells us that the kingdom of heaven is like to a hidden treasure, and to a precious pearl; the wise and prudent man sells all he has, to obtain the treasure or the pearl? Thou didst well understand this 'good traffic,” as the Epistle calls it? and it became the good fortune of all around thee: of thy happy subjects, who received from thee succour and assistance for both soul and body; of thy noble husband, who found an honourable place among those princes who knew how to exchange a perishable diadem for an eternal crown; in a word, of all who belonged to thee. Thou wast their boast ; and several among them followed in thy footsteps along the heavenward path of self- renunciation. How is it that others, in an age of destruc- tion, could abjure their title of children of saints, and draw the people after them to deal so wantonly with the sweetest memorials and the noblest traditions ? May our Lord restore to His Church and to thee the country where thou didst experience His love; may thy sup- plications, united with ours, revive the ancient faith in those branches of thy stock which are no longer nourished with that life-giving sap; and may the glorious trunk continue, in its faithful branches, to give saints to the world.

! Collect of the feast. 3 Gospel, from St. Matt. xiii. 3 Epistle, Prov. xxxi. 1

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TIME AFTER PENTECOST

The Church honours to-day a holy Pope, of the persecu- tion times, by name Pontian. Transported by order of the emperor Maximin to an island in the Mediter- ranean, he there suffered most cruel treatment, which earned him the crown of martyrdom. His second successor, St. Fabian, translated his body to the cemetery

of Callixtus.

PRAYER

Infirmitatem nostram re- spice omnipotens Deus: et
quia pondus proprie actionis gravat, beati Pontiani martyris tui atque pontificis intercessio gloriosa nos protegat. Per Dominum.

Have regard to our weak- ness, O almighty God: and since the weight of our own deeds is grievous to us, may the glorious intercession of blessed Pontian, thy martyr and bishop, protect us. Through our Lord.

--- PAGE 314 --- SAINT FELIX . 303

NOVEMBER 20

SAINT FELIX OF VALOIS CONFESSOR

ELIX was called in his youth to dwell in the desert ;

and he thought to die there, forgotten by the world he had despised. But our Lord had decreed that his old age should yield fruit before men.

It was one of those epochs which may be called turning-points in history. The first of the great active Orders was about to be raised up in the Church by St. John of Matha; others were soon to follow, called forth by the new requirements of the times. Eternal Wisdom. who ' remaining in herself the same reneweth all things," would prove that sanctity also never changes, and that charity, though assuming different forms, is ever the same, having but one principle and one aim— God, loved for His own sake. Hence John of Matha was led by the holy Spirit to Felix of Valois, as a disciple to the master; and then, upon pure contemplation, | personified by the anchorite living out his declining years in the depths of the forest, was grafted the in- tensely active life of the redeemer of captives. The desert of Cerfroid became the cradle, and remained the chief centre, of the Trinitarian Order.

Let us read the Church's history of the servant of God, remembering that it requires to be completed by that of his son and disciple (February 8).

Felix, Hugo antea dictus, Felix, formerly called Hugh, ex regali Valesiorum familia was born in France, of the ortus in Gallia, ab ineunte royal family of the Valois, and ztate non levia dedit future from his cradle gave promise sanctitatis indicia, presertim of future sanctity and especi- misericordizz erga pauperes: ally of charity towards the nam adhuc infantulus, manu poor. While still an infant

! Wisd. vii. 27.

--- PAGE 315 --- 304

propria, ac si grandior esset, et judicii maturitate polleret, nummos egenis distribuit. Jam grandiusculus, solebat ex appositis in mensa dapi- bus ipsos mittere, et fer- me eo, quod sapidius erat, obsonio, pauperculos pueros recreabat. ^ Adolescens non semel vestibus se exspolia- vit, ut inopes cooperiret. Ab avunculo Theobaldo, Xam- phana et Blesii comite, vitam reo mortis impetravit, predi- cens hunc infamem hactenus Sicarium, mox sanctissimis prz- ditum moribus evasurum: ve- ridicum testimonium monstra- vit eventus.

Post exactam laudabiliter adolescentiam, ccepit celestis contemplationis studio soli- tudinem cogitare; prius tamen voluit sacris initiari, ut omnem regni, a cujus successione jure legis Salice non longe distabat, P sar Sibi pracideret. Sacer-

0S factus, et prima Missa de- votissime celebrata, non multo post in eremum secessit, ubi summa abstinentia victitans, celestium charismatum abun- dantia pascebatur. Ibi cum sancto Joanne de Matha Pari- siensi doctore, a quo ex divina inspiratione quasitus et in- ventus, per aliquot annos san- ctissime vixit; donec ambo

r angelum a Deo admoniti

omam petierunt, specialem & Summo Pontifice vivendi regulam impetraturi. Facta igitur Innocentio Papa tertio inter Missarum solemnia reve- latione religionis et instituti de redimendis captivis, ab ipso Pontifice, simul cum socio,

TIME AFTER PENTECOST

he would distribute money to the needy with his own hand, as if he were grown up and had full use of reason. When somewhat older he used to send them meat from the ta- ble, and would choose what was daintiest for poor little children. When a youth he more than once stripped him- self of his own garments to clothe the poor. He obtained the life of a condemned crimi- nal from his uncle Theobald, Count of Champagne and Blois; foretelling that the man, hitherto an infamous murderer, would shortly be- come a saint; the truth of which prophecy was proved by the event.

Having spent his youth in the practice of virtue, he was induced by his love of hea- venly contemplation to think of retiring into solitude. He determined, however, first to take Holy Orders, and thus cut off all possibility of suc- ceeding to the crown, of which he some expectations on account of the Salic Law. After being ordained priest, and celebrating his first Mass with the greatest devotion, he retired into the desert, where he lived in the severest ab- stinence, but enjoying an abundance of heavenly gifts and graces. There he was joined by John of Matha, a Parisian doctor, who had been inspired by God to seek him; and they lived together in a most holy manner for some years. God then sent an angel, who bade them go to Rome and obtain a special rule of life from the Sovereign

--- PAGE 316 --- SAINT FELIX

candidis vestibus bicolori cruce signatis induitur, ad eam for- mam qua angelus indutus apparuit: et insuper voluit Pontifex, ut nova religio juxta triplicem colorem quo habitus constat, sanctissime Trinitatis titulo decoraretur.

Regula propa ex Sum- mi Pontificis Innocentii con- firmatione accepta, in dice- cesi Meldensi apud locum, qui Cervus Frigidus dicitur, primum ordinis paulo ante a se et socio exstructum cenobium ampliavit, ubi reli- giosam observantiam, et Re- demptionis institutum mirifice coluit, ac inde per alumnos in alias provincias diligentissi- me propagavit. Illustrem hic a beata Virgine Matre favorem accepit: dormientibus siquidem cunctis fratribus, et ad matuti- nas preces in pervigilio Na- tivitatis Deiparz media no- cte recitandas, Deo sic dis- ponente, non surgentibus, Felix de more vigilans, et horas praveniens, chorum in- gressus, reperit beatam Vir- ginem in medio chori habitu cruce ordinis insignito indutam, ac celitibus similiter indutis sociatam. Quibus ixtus Felix, precinente Deipara, lau- des divinas concinuit, riteque persolvit. Et quasi jam a terrestri ad caelestem chorum evocaretur, instantis mortis ab angelo certior factus, filios ad caritatem erga pauperes et

305

Pontifí. Pope Innocent III received, during solemn Mass, a revelation concerning the religious Order to be insti- tuted for the ransom of cap- tives; and he himself clothed Felix and John in a white habit with a red and blue cross, such as was iini the angel who had a; . Moreover, the Pontiff deter- mined that on account of the three colours of the habit, the new Order should bear the name of the most holy Trinity.

Upon receiving the confir- mation of their rule from Pope Innocent, Felix returned to Cerfroid, in the diocese of Meaux, and enlarged the first convent of the Order, which he and his companion had built there shortly before. There he caused religious ob- servance and the work of ran- som to flourish ; and he dili- gently propagated the Order by sending disciples into other provinces. In this place he was favoured with a remark- able grace by the blessed Vir- gin Mary. On the vigil of the Nativity of the Mother of God, while the brethren, God So disposing, remained asleep instead of rising at midnight for Matins, Felix, who was watching according to his cus- tom before the appointed hour, entered the church, and found the blessed Virgin in the mid- dle of the choir, clad in the habit and cross of the Order, and surrounded by angels in the same attire. Felix joined them, and the Mother of God having intoned the Office, he sang the divine praises with them even to the end. Then,

--- PAGE 317 --- 306

captivos adhortans, animam Deo reddidit, etate ac meritis consummatus, anno post Chri- stum natum ducentesimo duo- decimo supra millesimum, sub eodem Pontifice Innocentio tertio.

TIME AFTER PENTECOST

as if calling him from the choir of earth to that of hea- ven, an angel informed him that his death was at hand. He exhorted his sons to love of the poor and of captives; and gave up his soul to God,

full of days and of merits, in the year of our Lord 1212, in the pontificate of the said In- nocent III.

Felix, happy lover of charity, teach us the worth, and also the nature, of this queen of virtues. It was she that attracted thee into solitude in pursuit of her divine Object; and when thou hadst learnt to find God in Himself, she showed Him to thee and taught thee to love Him in thy brethren. Is not this the secret which makes love become strong as death, and daring enough, as in the case of thy sons, to defy hell itself ? May this love inspire us with every sort of devotedness; may it ever remain the excellent portion of thy holy Order, leading it to adapt itself to every new requirement, in a society where the worst kind of slavery,under a thousand

forms, reigns supreme.

--- PAGE 318 --- THE PRESENTATION 307

NOVEMBER 2I

THE PRESENTATION OF THE BLESSED

HE Presentation is one of the minor solemnities of

our Lady, and was inscribed at a comparatively late date on the sacred Cycle; it seems to court the homage of our silent contemplation. The world, unknown to itself, is ruled by the secret prayers of the just; and the Queen of saints, in her hidden mysteries, wrought far more powerfully than the so-called great men whose noisy achievements fill the annals of the human race.

The East had been celebrating for seven centuries at least! the enirance of the Mother of God into the temple of Jerusalem," when in 1372 Gregory XI permitted it to be kept for the first time? by the Roman court at Avignon. Mary in return broke the chains of captivity that had bound the Papacy for seventy years; and soon the successor of St. Peter returned to Rome. The feast of the Visitation, as we saw on July 2, was in like manner inserted in the Western calendar to commemorate the re-establishment of unity after the schism which followed the exile.

In 1373, following the example of the Sovereign Pontiff, Charles V of France introduced the feast of the Presentation into the chapel of his palace. By letters dated November 10, 1374, to the masters and students of the college of Navarre, he expressed his desire that it should be celebrated throughout the kingdom: 'Charles, by the grace of God king of the

A Litas Anafocia mon Spleliegte Solesmensi parata, i. 275. * This is to be understood only of the feast pro so called ; for the marble of Berre, reproduced ay Blant in No. s42 A of ‘Inscriptions chrétiennes de la

Gaule,' proves that fact of Mary's sojourn in the temple of Jerusalem was - nized and honoured in the West in the century. MM M n "

--- PAGE 319 --- 308 TIME AFTER PENTECOST

Franks, to our dearly beloved: health in Him who ceases not to honour His Mother on earth. Among other objects of our solicitude, of our daily care and diligent meditation, that which rightly occupies our first thoughts is, that the blessed Virgin and most holy Empress be honoured by us with very great love, and praised as becomes the veneration due to her. For it is our duty to glorify her; and we, who raise the eyes of our soul to her on high, know what an incomparable pro- tectress she is to all, how powerful a mediatrix with her blessed Son, for those who honour her with a pure heart. . . . Wherefore, wishing to excite our faithful people to solemnize the said feast, as we ourselves propose to do by God's assistance every year of our life, we send this Office to your devotion, in order to increase your joy.''

Such was the language of princes in those days. Now, just at that very time the wise and pious king, following up the work begun at Brétigny by our Lady of Chartres, rescued France from its fallen and dis- membered condition. In the State, then, as well as in the Church, at this moment so critical for both, our Lady in her Presentation commanded the storm, and the smile of the infant Mary dispersed the clouds.

The new feast, enriched with Indulgences by Paul II, had gradually become general? when St. Pius V, wishing to diminish the number of Offices on the universal calendar, included this one among his suppressions. But Sixtus V restored it to the Roman breviary in 1585, and shortly afterwards Clement VIII raised it to the rank of double major. Soon the clergy and regulars adopted the custom of renewing their holy vows on this day, whereon their Queen had opened before them

! LauNov, ‘ Historia Navarrz gymnasii,' pars i. lib. i. cap. 1o. 3 From sources which do not come within the learned author's scope, it appears that in England the feast is of much more ancient institution, though t ence so far collected confines its observance to the monasteries. As Odlatio S. Marie in templo Domini cum esset trium annorum, it occurs in | ic calend of Saxon times, and, still under the title of Odlatio, in some of later date. This is only one of many i ing facts ill ing the English movement of the tenth

early eleventh centuries in its devotional aspect : a side of the question which still eis special study. (Translator s mote.) * "

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the way that leads by sacrifice to the special love of our Lord.

' Hearken, O daughter, and see, and incline thy ear, and forget thy people and thy father’s house; and the King shall greatly desire thy beauty. Thus, wording the wishes of the ‘ daughters of Tyre,’ sang the Church of the expectation, on the summit of Mount Moriah; and penetrating the future with her inspired glance, she added: ' After her shall virgins be brought to the King, her neighbours shall be brought to thee; they shall be brought with gladness and rejoicing ; they shall be brought into the temple of the King.” Hailed beforehand as ' beautiful above the sons of men,' this King, the ' most mighty,” makes on this day a prelude to His conquests; and even this beginning is wonderful. Through the graceful infant now mounting the temple steps He takes possession of that temple whose priests will hereafter vainly disown Him; for this child whom the temple welcomes to-day is His ' throne.” Already His fragrance precedes and announces Him in the Mother in whose bosom He is to be ' anointed with the oil of gladness' as the Christ among His brethren; already the angels hail her as the Queen whose fruitful virginity will give birth to all those consecrated souls who keep for the divine Spouse the ‘myrrh’ and the incense of their holocausts, those ‘ daughters of kings ' who are to form her court of honour.

But our Lady's Presentation also opens new horizons before the Church. On the Cycle of the saints, which is not so precisely limited as that of the Time, the mystery of Mary's sojourn in the sanctuary of the Old Covenant is our best preparation for the approaching season of Advent. Mary, led to the temple in order to prepare in retirement, humility, and love for her in- comparable destiny, had also the mission of perfecting at the foot of the figurative altar the prayer of the human race, of itself ineffectual to draw down the Saviour from heaven. She was, as St. Bernardine

1 Ps. xliv.

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of Siena says, the happy completion of all the waiting and supplication for the coming of the Son of God; in her, as in their culminating-point, all the desires of the saints who had preceded her found their consum- mation and their term.!

Through her wonderful understanding of the Scriptures, and her conformity, daily and hourly, to the minutest teachings and ype pesas of the Mosaic ritual, Mary everywhere found and adored the Messias hidden under the letter; she united herself to Him, immolated herself with Him in each of the many victims sacrificed before her eyes; and thus she rendered to the God of Sinai the homage, hitherto vainly expected, of the Law understood, practised, and made to fructify, in all the fullness that beseemed its divine Legislator. Then could Jehovah truly say: ‘As the rain and the snow come down from heaven and return no more thither, but soak the earth and water it, and make it to spring: . . . so shall My word be . . . it shall not return to Me void, but it shall do whatsoever I please.’

Supplying thus for the deficiencies of the Gentiles as well as of the Synagogue, Mary beheld in the bride of the Canticle the Church of the future. In our name she addressed her supplications to Him whom she recognized as the Bridegroom, without, however, knowing that He was to be her own Son. Such yearnings of love, coming from her, were sufficient to obtain from the divine Word pardon for the infidelities of the past and the immorality into which the wandering world was plunging deeper and deéper? How well did this ark of the New Covenant replace that of the Jews, which had perones with the first temple! It was for her, though

e knew it not, that Herod the Gentile had continued the construction of the second temple after it had re- mained desolate since the time of Zorobabel; for the temple, like the tabernacle before it, was but the home of the ark destined to be God's throne; but greater was

! BERNARDIN. SEN. Pro festivitatibus V. Mariz, Sermo iv. — ? Isa. lv. 10, 11. 3 OLiER, ‘Vie intérieure de la trés sainte Vierge, Présentation."

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the glory of the second temple which sheltered the reality, than of the first which contained but the figure.

The Greeks have chosen for the lessons of the feast the passages of Scripture which describe the carrying of the ark into the tabernacle of the desert,! and after- wards into the temple of Jerusalem.? The historical lesson relates the traditions concerning the oblation of the blessed Virgin by her holy parents to God in the temple at the age of three years, there to dwell until, after the lapse of twelve years, the mystery of our salva- tion was to be accomplished in her.

In the sixth century the emperor Justinian built, in honour of the Presentation, a magnificent church on the southern part of the platform on which had formerly stood the temple and its annexes. It is now

311

the mosque El-Aksa.

The next century gives us the following strophes, which bear witness to the antiquity of the feast.

DE B. VIRGINE IN

Salvatoris templum maxime mundum, illa tanti estimanda ovis et Virgo, sacra illa arca thesaurum divine continens glorie hodie adducitur in do- mum Domini; gratiam secum affert diviniSpiritus, dumangeli Dei eam concelebrant: Ip- sa palam est celeste taber- naculum.

Dei ineffabilium et sacro- rum mysterioum dum cer- no in hac Virgine gratiam ostensam et aperte cumula- tam, gaudeo, nec modos in- telligere valeo insolitos et dictu difficiles, quibus electa illa immaculata, sola pra- Stat super omnem creatu-

| Exod. xl.

TEMPLUM RECEPTA

The exceedingly pure tem- ple of the Saviour, the ines- timable sheep, the holy Vir- gin, the sacred ark containing the treasure of the divine ma- jesty, is led to-day into the house of the Lord; thither she brings the grace of the divine Spirit, while the angels of God sing her praises, saying: Truly she is the heavenly tabernacle.

While I contemplate the grace of God's ineffable and sacred mysteries revealed in its plenitude in this Virgin, I am full of joy, and I cannot comprehend the wonderful and inexpressible way in which this chosen and immaculate Virgin surpasses all creatures

3 Kings viii.

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ram, tam oculis quam mente perceptam; ideo faustis vo- cibus volens illi plaudere, stu- peo vehementer animo et elo- quio: audeo tamen eam pradi- care, magnamque dicere. Ip- sa siquidem est celeste taber- naculum.

Rerum omnium conditor, opifex et Dominus, ex ar-
cana misericordia et sola cle- mentia sua se ad nos inclinans, cum lapsum eum videret, quem propriis compegit manibus, mi- sertus est, eumque restituere dignatus est, opere sublimiore, quippe bonus quum esset et misericors, semet exinanivit; propterea Mariam uti Virginem et immaculatam, ascivit si- bi participem mysterii, quo genus nostrum sponte assum- psit: ipsa est celeste taberna- culum.

Pro nobis igitur redem- ptor et Verbum in carne, cum vellet ostendi, tum Virgi- nem in terram induxit, et novo adventu stupendoque incremento intemeratam illam honestavit; precibus enim hunc fructum concessit, eamque nuntio et praeconio promisit justis Joachim et Anne: re- ceptoque cum fide oraculo, parentes cum amore et letitia voverunt, seillam Domino obla- turos esse: ipsa est caleste tabernaculum.

Divino jam numine exorta alma Virgine, justi, prout spo- ponderant, eam creatori dan- dam adducebant in templum; leta ergo Anna palam excla- mavit, sacerdotem affata: Ec- cellam recipito et introduc ad inaccessa templi penetralia, et circumtuere eam: mearum enim precum hic fructus datus

TIME AFTER PENTECOST

visible and invisible. Desir- ing then to applaud her with joyful voice, my thoughts and words fail me; yet I dare to proclaim her praises and exalt her, for she is the heavenly tabernacle.

The Creator, Author, and Lord of all things, out of his incomprehensible mercy and compassion, bent down towards us, and seeing the creature he had made with his own hands fallen away, he in his pity deigned to restore it by a sub- limer work than the creation; for he, so good and merciful, emptied himself; and in the mystery whereby he freely took on him our nature, he associated the immaculate Virgin Mary with himself: and she is the heavenly tabernacle.

The Word of God, our Re- deemer, willing to show him- self for our sake in the flesh, brought the Virgin into this world, and honoured the com- ing of that spotless one with new and stupendous gifts; for he gave her as the fruit and reward of prayer, and promised and announced her to Joa- chim and Anne. Her parents believed the word, and with joyful love they vowed to offer her to the Lord: for she is the heavenly tabernacle.

The lovely Virgin being born according to the divine decree, her holy parents led her to the temple, to fulfil their promise, and give her to her Creator. Anne in her joy thus cried out to the priest: Receive this child, lead her into the most secluded parts of the temple, surround her with all

--- PAGE 324 --- THE PRESENTATION

est; hanc Deo auctori cum lezti- tia et fide promisi dicandam: ipsa est celeste tabernaculum.

313

care; for she was given to me as the fruit of my prayers, and in the joy of my faith I promised todevotehertoGod herCreator: she is the heavenly tabernacle.

In the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries many churches used to sing on this day the following Prose, composed as an acrostic on the words, Ave Maria, benedico te, Amen (Hail Mary, I praise thee, Amen):

SEQUENCE

Altissima providente Cuncta rite disponente

Dei Sapientia: Vno nexu conjugatis Joachim et Anna, gratis

Juga sunt sterilia. Ex cordis affectu toto Domino fideli voto

Se strinxerunt pariter: Mox si prolem illis dare Dignetur, hanc dedicare

In templo perenniter.

Angelus apparuit Lucidus qui docuit Exaudita vota: Regis summi gratia

Ut his detur filia Gratiosa tota. In utero consecrata, Miro modo generata, Gignet mirabilius : Altissimi Patris natum Virgo manens, qui reatum Mundi tollet gratius.

Benedicta virgo nata,

Templo trima presentata It ter quinis gradibus:

Erecta velox ascendit

Et uterque parens tendit Se ornando vestibus.

The Wisdom of God, with inscrutable providence, dis- poseth all things rightly:

oachim and Anne are united n wedlock, but their union is sterile.

With all the heart's affection they together bind themselves by inviolable vow to the Lord: that if he deign to give them offspring, they without delay will consecrate it to him for ever in the temple.

A bright angel appears, and tells them their prayers are heard, and by the grace of the most high King, a daughter shall be given them, full of grace.

Holy even in her conception, she is born in a wondrous man- ner, yetin a way more wondrous still will she give birth, re- maining a virgin, to the Son of the most high Father, when he comes freely to cancel the guilt of the world.

She is born, then, that bless- ed Virgin, and at the age of three years is presented in the temple; swift and erect, ad- orned with her beautiful robe, she ascends the fifteen steps, beneath her parents’ gaze.

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Nova fulsit gloria Templum, dum eximia Virgo presentatur: Edocta djvinitus, Visitata caelitus, Angelis laetatur. Dum ut nubant jubet multis Princeps puellis adultis, Primo virgo renuit: Ipsam namque devovere Parentes, ipsa manere Virgo voto statuit.

Consultus Deus responsum

Dat, ut virgo sumat sponsum,

Quem pandet flos editus: Ostensus Joseph puellam Ad parentum duxit cellam,

Nuptiis sollicitus.

Tunc Gabriel ad virginem Ferens conceptus ordinem Delegatur; Erudita stat tacita, Verba qua sint insolita Meditatur. At cum ille tradidit Modum, virgo credidit, Sicque sacro flamine Mox Verbum concipitur, Et quod nusquam clauditur Conditur in virgine. Ecce virgo singularis, Quanta laude sublimaris, Quanta fulges gloria: Nos ergo sic tuearis, Ut fructu, quo gloriaris, Fruamur in patria. Amen.

TIME AFTER PENTECOST

The temple shines with a new glory, when this august Virgin is presented; there she is taught by God, is visited by the angels from heaven, and rejoices with them.

When the chief priest bids the maidens of adult age pre- pare for marriage, the Virgin at first refuses; for her parents have devoted her to God, and she herself has vowed to re- main a virgin.

God, being consulted, an- swers that the virgin shall take him for her spouse whom a miraculous flower shall de- signate; Joseph thus chosen weds the maiden and leads her to his home.

Then Gabriel is sent to her, telling her how she is to become a mother; but the prudent Virgin stands silent, pondering over the strangeness of the message.

But when he explains how this shall be, she believes him ; and thus by the vam d Spirit the Word is conceived, and he whom no space can contain is concealed in the Virgin's bosom.

O peerless maiden, how dost thou surpass all praise in thy dazzling glory! Protect us now, that in our fatherland we may enjoy thy fruit, whereby thou art so honoured. Amen.

‘ Congratulate me, all ye that love the Lord, because when I was a little one I pleased the Most High.'! Such is the invitation thou addressest to us, O Mary, in the Office chanted in thy honour; and on what feast couldst thou do so more appropriately ?

1S "

P y in the C.

Office of our Lady,

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When, even more little in thy humility than by thy tender age, thou didst mount, in thy sweet purity, the steps of the temple, all heaven must have -owned that it was henceforth just for the Most High to take His delight in our earth. Having hitherto lived in retire- ment with thy blessed parents, this was thy first public act; it showed thee for a moment to the eyes of men, only to withdraw thee immediately into deeper obscurity. But as thou wast officially offered and presented to the Lord, He Himself doubtless, surrounded by the princes of His court, presented thee not less solemnly to those noble spirits as their Queen. In the fullness of the new light that then burst upon them, they understood at once thy incomparable greatness, the majesty of the temple where Jehovah was receiving a homage superior to that of their nine choirs, and the august prerogative of the Old Testament to have thee for its daughter, and to perfect, by its teachings and guidance during those twelve years, the formation of the Mother of God. Holy Church, however, declares that we can imitate thee, O Mary, in this mystery of thy Presentation, as in all others.! Deign to bless especially those privileged souls who, by the grace of their vocation, are even here below dwellers in the house of the Lord: may they be like that fruitful olive enriched by the holy Spirit, to which St. John Damascene compares thee. But is not every Christian, by reason of his Baptism, an indweller and a member of the Church, God's true sanctuary, prefigured by that of Moriah ? May we, through thy intercession, follow thee so closely in thy Presentation even here in the land of shadows, that we may deserve to be presented after thee to the Most High in the temple of His glory.?

1 Second lesson of the second nocturn. AMBER. de Vigieios, ii.

? First lesson of the second nocturn.. DAMasc. de Fide orthodoxa, iv. 3 Collect of the feast.

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NOVEMBER 22

SAINT CECILIA VIRGIN AND MARTYR

ZECILIA united in her veins the blood of kings with that of Rome's greatest heroes. At the time of the first preaching of the Gospel, more than one ancient patrician family had seen its direct line become extinct. But the adoptions and alliances, which under the Republic had knit more closely the great families by linking them all to the most illustrious among them, formed as it were a common fund of glory, which, even in the days of decline, was passed on intact to the survivors of the aristocracy.

It has now been demonstrated by the undeniable witness of monuments that Christianity from the very beginning took possession of that glory, by adopting its heirs; and that by a wonderful disposition of divine Providence, the founders of the Rome of the Pontiffs were these last representatives of the Republic, thus preserved in order to give to the two phases of Roman history that powerful unity which is the dis- tinguishing note of divine works. Heretofore bound together by the same patriotism, the Cornelii and the JEmilii, alike heirs of the Fabii, the Cacilii, Valerii, Sergii, Furii, Claudii, Pomponii, Plautii, and Acilii, eldest sons of the Gentile Church, strengthened the connections formed during the Republic and firmly established, even in the first and second centuries of Christianity, the new Roman society. In the same centuries, and under the influence of the religion preached by St. Peter and St. Paul, there came to be grafted on the ever vigorous trunk of the old aristocracy the best members of the new imperial and consular families, worthy by their truly Roman virtues, practised amid the general depravity, to reinforce the thinned ranks of

--- PAGE 328 --- SAINT CECILIA 317

Rome's founders, and to fill up, without too sudden a transition, the voids made by time in the true patrician houses. Thus was Rome working out her destiny; thus was the building up of the eternal city being accomplished by the very men who had formerly, by their blood or by their genius, established her strong and mighty on the seven hills.

Cecilia, the lawful representative of this unparalleled aristocracy, the fairest flower of the old stem, was also the last. The second century was passing away; the third, which was to see the empire fall from the hands of Septimus Severus first to the Orientals and then to the barbarians from the banks of the Danube, offered small chance of preservation for the remnants of the ancient nobility. The true Roman society was hence- forth at an end; for, save a few individual exceptions, there remained nothing more of Roman but the name: the vain adornment of freedmen and upstarts, who, under princes worthy of them, indulged their passions at the expense of those around them.

Cacilia therefore appeared at the right moment, personifying with the utmost dignity the society that was about to disappear because its work was accom- plished. In her strength and her beauty, adorned with the royal purple of martyrdom, she represents ancient Rome rising proud and glorious to the skies, before the upstart Casars who, by immolating her in their jealousy, unconsciously executed the divine plan. The blood of kings and heroes, flowing from her triple wound, is the libation of the old nobility to Christ the conqueror, to the Blessed Trinity the Ruler of nations; it is the final consecration, which reveals in its full extent the sublime vocation of the valiant races called to found the eternal Rome.

But we must not think that to-day's feast is meant to excite in us a merely theoretical and fruitless admiration.'

1 Sofar we have summed up the thoughts of our illustrious Father and Master in his Sainte Cécile et la société romaine aux deu. Sons Jee quere Shows bs

quoted directly from the Preface to his first ' e Cécile, vierge romaine et martyre.'

--- PAGE 329 --- 318 TIME AFTER PENTECOST

The Church recognizes and honours in St. Cecilia three characteristics, which, united together, distinguish her among all the blessed in heaven, and are a source of grace and an example to men. These three charac- teristics are, virginity, apostolic zeal, and the super- human courage which enabled her to bear torture and death. Such is the threefold teaching conveyed by this one Christian life.

In an age so blindly abandoned as ours to the worship of the senses, is it not time to protest, by the strong lessons of our faith, against a fascination which even the children of the promise can hardly resist ? Never since the fall of the Roman Empire have morals, and with them the family and society, been so seriously threatened. For long years literature, the arts, the comforts of life, have had but one aim: to propose physical enjoyment as the only end of man's destiny. Society already counts an immense number of members who live entirely a life of the senses. Alas for the day when it will expect to save itself by relying on their energy ! The Roman Empire thus attempted several times to shake off the yoke of invasion: it fell, never to rise again.

Yes, the family itself, the family especially, is menaced. It is time to think of defending itself against the legal recognition, or rather encouragement, of divorce. It can do so by one means alone: by reforming and regenerating itself according to the law of God, and becoming once more serious and Christian. Let marriage, with its chaste consequences, be held in honour; let it cease to be an amusement or a speculation ; let fatherhood and motherhood be no longer a calcula- tion, but an austere duty: and soon, through the family, the city and the nation will resume their dignity and their vigour.

But marriage cannot be restored to this high level unless men appreciate the superior element, without which human nature is an ignoble ruin: this heavenly element is continence. True, all are not called to embrace it in the absolute sense; but all must do honour to it,

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under pain of being ‘delivered up, as the apostle expresses it, ‘ to a reprobate sense. It is continence that reveals to man the secret of his dignity, that braces his soul to every kind of devotedness, that purifies his heart and elevates his whole being. It is the culminating-point of moral beauty in the individual, and at the same time the great lever of human society. It is because the love of it became extinct that the ancient world fell to decay; but when the Son of the Virgin came on earth, He renewed and sanctioned this saving principle, and a new phase began in the destinies of the human race.

The children of the Church, if they deserve the name, relish this doctrine, and are not astonished at it. The words of our Saviour and of His apostles have revealed all to them; and, at every page, the annals of the faith they profess set forth in action this fruitful virtue, of which all degrees of the Christian life, each in its measure, must partake. St. Caecilia is one example among others offered to their admiration. But the lesson she gives is a remarkable one, and has been celebrated in every age of Christianity. On how many occasions has Cacilia inspired virtue or sustained courage; how many weaknesses has the thought of her prevented or repaired! Such power for good has God placed in His saints that they influence not only by the direct imitation of their heroic virtues, but also by the in- ductions which each of the faithful is able to draw from them for his own particular situation.

The second characteristic offered for our consideration in the life of St. Cecilia is that ardent zeal, of which she is one of the most admirable models; and we doubt not that here too is a lesson calculated to produce useful impressions. Insensibility to evil for which we are not personally responsible, or from which we are not likely to suffer, is one of the features of the period. We acknowledge that all is going to ruin, and we look on at the universal destruction without ever thinking of holding

! Rom, i. 28.

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out a helping hand to save a brother from the wreck. Where should we now be, if the first Christians had had hearts as cold as ours? If they had not been filled with that immense pity, that inexhaustible love, which forbade them to despair of a world, in the midst of which God had placed them to be the ‘salt of the earth’? Each one felt himself accountable beyond measure for the gift he had received. Freeman or slave, known or unknown, every man was the object of a boundless devotedness for these hearts filled with the charity of Christ. One has but to read the Acts of the Apostles and their Epistles, to learn on what an immense scale the apostolate was carried on in those early days; and . the ardour of that zeal remained long uncooled. Hence the pagans used to say: ' See how they love one another !' And how could they help loving one another? For in the order of faith they were fathers and children.

What maternal tenderness Cecilia felt for the souls of her brethren, from the mere fact that she was a Christian! After her we might name a thousand others, in proof of the fact that the conquest of the world by Christianity and its deliverance from the yoke of pagan depravity are due to such acts of devotedness performed in a thousand places at once, and at length producing universal renovation. Let us imitate, in something at least, these examples to which we owe so much. Let us waste less of our time and eloquence in bewailing evils which are only too real. Let each one of us set to work, and gain one of his brethren: and soon the number of the faithful will surpass that of unbelievers. Without doubt, this zeal is not extinct; it still works in some, and its fruits rejoice and console the Church; but why does it slumber so profoundly in so many hearts which God had prepared to be its active centres ?

The cause is unhappily to be traced to that general coldness, produced by effeminacy, which might be taken by itself alone as the type of the age; but we must add thereto another sentiment, proceeding from the same

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source, which would suffice, if of long duration, to render the debasement of a nation incurable. This sentiment is fear; and it may be said to extend at present to its utmost limit. Men fear the loss of goods or position, fear the loss of comforts and ease, fear the loss oflife. Needless to say, nothing can be more enervating, and consequently more dangerous to the world, than this humiliating preoccupation; but above all we must confess that it is anything but Christian. Have we forgotten that we are merely pilgrims on this earth ? And has the hope of future good died out of our hearts ? Cecilia will teach us how to rid ourselves of this senti- ment of fear. In her days life was less secure than now. There certainly was then some reason to fear; and yet Christians were so courageous that the powerful pagans often trembled at the words of their victims.

God knows what He has in store for us; but if fear does not soon make way for a sentiment more worthy of men and of Christians, all particular existences will be swallowed up in the political crisis. Come what may, it is time to learn our history over again. The lesson will not be lost if we come to understand this much: had the first Christians feared, they would have betrayed us, for the word of life would never have come down to us; if we fear, we shall betray future generations, for we are expected to transmit to them the deposit we have received from our fathers.?

The Passio Sancte Cecilie is marked in the most ancient calendars on September 16,* and took place, according to the primitive Acts, under the emperors Marcus Aurelius and Commodus. The great feast of November 22, preceded by a vigil, was one of the most solemn on the Roman Cycle; it recalled the dedication of the church raised on the site of that palace which had been sanctified by the blood of the descendant of the Metelli, and had been bequeathed by her when dying to bishop Urban, representative of Pope Eleutherius, This Urban having been later on confounded with the

! Dow GUERANGER, wi swpra. * Martyrol. Hieron.

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Pope of the same name, who governed the Church in the time of Alexander Severus, the martyrdom of our saint was thought to have occurred half a century later, as we still read in the legend of the Office.

It was most probably in the year 178 that Cecilia joined Valerian in heaven, whence, a few months before, the angel of the Lord had descended, bringing wreaths of lilies and roses to the two spouses.

She was buried by Urban, just as she lay at the moment of death. In the beginning of the following century the family crypt was given by her relatives to the Roman church, and was set apart for the burial ofthe Popes. In the ninth century Paschal I found her surrounded by these venerable tombs, and brought her back in triumph on May 8, 822, to her house in the Trastevere, where she remains to this day.

On October 20, 1599, in the course of the excavations required for the restoration of the basilica, Caecilia was once more brought forth to the admiring gaze of the city and of the world. She was clad in her robe of cloth of gold, on which traces of her virginal blood were still discernible; at her feet were some pieces of linen steeped in the purple of her martyrdom. Lying on her right side with her arms stretched before her, she seemed in a deep sleep. Her neck still bore the marks of the wounds inflicted by the executioner's sword ; her head, in a mysterious and touching position, was turned towards the bottom of the coffin. The body was in a state of perfect preservation; and the whole attitude, retained by a unique prodigy during so many centuries in all its grace and modesty, brought before the eyes with a striking truthfulness Cecilia breathing her last sigh stretched on the floor of the bath chamber. The spectators were carried back in thought to the day when the holy bishop Urban had enclosed the sacred body in the eypress chest, without altering the position chosen by the bride of Christ to breathe forth her soul into the arms of her divine Spouse. They admired also the discretion of Pope Paschal, who had

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not disturbed the virgin's repose, but had preserved for posterity so magnificent a spectacle.!

Cardinal Sfondrate, titular of St. Cecilia, who directed the works, found also in the chapel called of the bath the heating-stove and vents of the sudatorium, where the saint passed a day and a night in the midst of scalding vapours. Recent excavations have brought to light other objects belonging to the patrician home, which by

their style belong to the early days of the Republic. Let us now read the liturgical history of the illustrious

virgin and martyr.

Cecilia, virgo Romana, nobili genere nata, a prima etate christiane fidei preceptis in- stituta, virginitatem suam Deo vovit. Sed cum postea contra suam voluntatem data esset in matrimonium Valeriano, prima nuptiarum nocte hunc cum eo sermonem habuit: Ego, Valeriane, in angeli tutela sum, qui virginitatem meam custodit: quare ne quid in me committas, quo ira Dei in te concitetur. Quibus verbis commotus Valerianus, illam attingere non est ausus: quin etiam addidit, se in Christum crediturum, si eum angelum videret. Cui Cecilia, cum sine baptismo negaret id fieri posse, incensus cupidi- tate videndi angelum, se bap- tizari velle respondit. Quare hortatu virginis ad Urbanum Papam, qui propter persecu- tionem in martyrum sepul- chris via Appia latebat, ve- niens, ab eo baptizatur.

Inde ad Caciliam rever- sus, orantem et cum ea an- gelum divino splendore ful-

Caecilia, a Roman virgin of noble origin, was brought up from her infancy in the Christ- ian faith, and vowed her virgin- ity to God. Against her will, she was given in marriage to Valerian; but on the first night of the nuptials she thus ad- dressed him: Valerian, I am under the care of an angel, who is the guardian of my virginity; wherefore beware of doing what might kindle God's wrath against thee. Va- lerian moved by these words respected her wishes, and even said that he would believe in Christ if he could see the an- gel. On Cecilia telling him that this could not be unless he received baptism, he, being very desirous of seeing the angel replied that he was willing to be baptized. Taking the virgin's advice, he went to Pope Urban, who on ac- count of the persecution was hiding among the tombs of the martyrs on the Appian Way, and by him he was baptized.

Then returning to Cecilia, he found her at prayer, and beside her an angel shining

! Dom GUERANGER, 'Sainte Cécile et la société romaine.’

--- PAGE 335 --- 324

gentem invenit. Quo aspectu obstupefactus, ut primum ex timore confirmatus est, Ti- burtium fratrem suum accersit: qui a Czcilia Christi fide imbu- tus, et ab eodem Urbano bap- tizatus, ipse etiam ejusdem angeli, quem frater ejus vi- derat, aspectu dignatus est. Uterque autem paulo post Al- machio praefecto constanter martyrium subiit. Qui mox Czciliam |. comprehendi ím- perat, ab eaque primum, ubi Tiburtii et Valeriani facultates sint, exquirit.

Cui cum virgo omnia íl- lorum pauperibus distribu- ta esse respondisset, eo fu- rore concitatus est, ut eam in ipsius edes reductam, in balneo comburi jusserit. Quo in loco cum diem noctemque íta fuisset, ut ne flamma quidem illam attingeret; eo immissus est carnifex, qui ter securi ictam, cum caput ab- Scindere non potuisset, semi- vivam reliquit. Illa triduo

t, decimo calendas Decem-

ris Alexandro imperatore du- plici virginitatis et martyrii palma decorata, evolavit in celum. Cujus pos n ab ipso Urbano Papa in Callisti cceme- terio sepultum est, in ejus zdibus ecclesia ipsius Cazcilie nomine consecrata. Ejus et Urbani ac Lucii Pontificum, Tiburtii, Valeriani, et Maximi corpora a Paschali primo Ponti- fice inde translata in urbem, in eadem sancte Cecilie ecclesia condita sunt.

TIME AFTER PENTECOST

with divine brightness. He was amazed at the sight; but as soon as he had recovered from his fear, he sought out his brother Tiburtius; who also was instructed by Cecilia in the faith of Christ, and after being baptized by Pope Urban was favoured like this brother withthesightoftheangel. Both of them shortly afterwards cour- ageously suffered martyrdom under the prefect Almachius. This latter next commanded Cacilia to be apprehended, and commenced by asking her what had become of the property of Tiburtius and Valerian.

The virgin answered that it had all been distributed among the poor; at which the prefect was so enraged, that he com- manded her to be led back to her own house, and put to death by the heat of the bath. When, after spending a day and a night there, she remained unhurt by the fire, an execu- tioner wassent to despatch her; who, not being able with three strokes of the axe to cut off her head, left her half dead. Three days later, on the tenth of the Kalends of December, she took her flight to heaven, adorned with the double glory of vir- ginity and martyrdom. It was in the reign of the emperor Alexander. Pope Urban buried her body in the cemetery of Callixtus; and her house was converted into a church and dedicated in her name. Po; Paschal I translated her y into the city together with those of Popes Urban and Lu- cius, and of Tiburtius, Valerian, and Maximus, and placed the: allin this church of St. Czcilia.

--- PAGE 336 --- SAINT CJECILIA 325

The antiphons and responsories for November 22 are all taken from the Acts of the saint, and are the same as were used in the time of St. Gregory. We choose such of them as will complete the foregoing history. The first responsory represents the virgin as singing in her heart to God amid the profane music of the nuptial feast. It was this silent melody, superior to all earthly concerts, that inspired the happy idea of picturing St. Czcilia as the queen of harmony, and proclaiming her patroness of the most attractive of arts.

ANTIPHONS AND RESPONSORIES

Ry. Cantantibus organis Cz- cilia virgo in corde suo soli Domino decantabat, dicens: * Fiat, Domine, cor meum et
corpus meum immaculatum, ut non confundar.

Y. Biduanis et triduanis jejuniis orans, commendabat Domino quod timebat. * Fiat.

Ry. O beata Cazcilia, qua duos fratres convertisti, Al-
machium judicem superasti, * Urbanum episcopum in vultu angelico demonstrasti.!

Y. Quasi apis argumentosa Domino deservisti. * Ur- banum.

Hy. Virgo gloriosa semper Evangelium Christi gerebat in pectore, et non diebus neque noctibus vacabat, * A colloquiis divinis et oratione.

Y. Expansis manibus orabat ad Dominum, et cor ejus igne celesti ardebat. * A collo- quiis,

Hj. Amid the harmony of musical instruments, the vir- gin Cecilia sang in her heart to the Lord alone, saying: * Let my heart, O Lord, and my body be spotless, that I may not be confounded.

Y. During two days and three days of fasting and prayer, she commended to the Lord what she feared. * Let my heart.

Hy. O blessed Cecilia, who didst convert the two brothers, and overcome the judge Al- machius. * Urban the bishop of angelic countenance thou didst show to them.1

Y. As a busy bee thou didst serve the Lord. * Urban.

Ry. The glorious virgin car- ried always the of Christ on her heart; and by day and by night she ceased not * From divine colloquies and prayer.

Y. With outstretched hands She prayed to the Lord, and her heart burned with a hea-

venly fire, * From divine.

virum, Urbanum nomine, in quo est aspectus angelicus. — ACTS,

1 M words of Valerian to Tiburtius,

--- PAGE 337 --- 326

Ry. Cilicio Cecilia membra domabat, Deum gemitibus exorabat: * Tiburtium et Va- lerianum ad coronas vocabat.

Y. Haec est virgo sapicns, et una de numcro pruden- tum. * Tiburtium.

Hj. Domine Jesu Christe,
pastor bone, seminator cas- ti consilii, suscipe seminum fructus quos in Cecilia se- minasti: * Cecilia famula tua quasi apis! tibi argumentosa deservit.

Y. Namsponsum, quem quasi leonem ferocem accepit, ad tc uasi agnum mansuetissimum estinavit. * Caecilia. Gloria Patri. * Caecilia.

ANT. Est secretum, Vale- riane, quod tibi volo dicere: angelum Dei habeo amato- rem, qui nimio zelo custodit corpus meum.

ANT. Beata Cecilia dixit ad Tiburtium: Hodie te fa- teor meum cognatum, quia amor Dei te fecit esse con- temptorem idolorum.

ANT. Credimus Christum Fi- lum Dei verum Deum esse, qui sibi talem elegit famulam.

ANT. Dum aurora finem daret, Caecilia exclamavit, dicens: Eia milites Christi, &bjicite opera tenebrarum, et induimini arma lucis.

ANT. Triduanas a Domino poposci inducias, ut domum meam ecclesiam consecrarem.

TIME AFTER PENTECOST

Hf. Caecilia subdued her flesh with haircloth, and be- sought God with groanings. * Tiburtius and Valerian she called to their crowns.

Y. This is a wise virgin, onc of those who are prudent. * Tiburtius.

ly. O Lord Jesus Christ, good Shepherd, Author of chaste resolutions, receive the fruits of the seed thou didst sow in Caecilia: * Cecilia thy handmaid serves thee like a busy bee.!

Y. For the spouse whom she had received like a fierce lion, she led to thee as a gentle lamb. * Caecilia. Glory be to the Father. * Caecilia.

ANT. I have a secret, Vale- rian, which I wish to tell thee: I have an angel of God, who loves me, and with diligent zeal watches over my body.

ANT. Blessed Cecilia said to Tiburtius: To-day I ac- knowledge thee for my brother, because the love of God has made thee become a contem- ner of idols.

ANT. We believe that Christ the Son of God, who chose for himself such a handmaid, is true God.

ANT. As dawn was break- ing into day, Cecilia cried out saying: Courage, soldiers of Christ, cast away the deeds of darkness, and put on the ar- mour of light.

ANT. Cecilia dying said : 1 have asked of the Lord three days' delay, that I may con- secrate my house into a church.

! The ancient legend had the word ovis, which recalls the text of Isaias : Leo ef ovis simul morabuntur (The lion and the sheep shall abide together) (Isa. xi. 6).

--- PAGE 338 --- SAINT CZECILIA

327

The two following hymns were approved by the

Apostolic See in 1852:

HYMN

Terrena cessent organa, Cor zstuans Cecilie Caleste fundit canticum, Deoque totum jubilat.

Dum nuptiali nobilis Domus resultat gaudio, Hzc sola tristis candido Gemit columba pectore.

O Christe mi dulcissime, Cui me sacravit charitas, Serva pudoris integram, Averte labem corpore.

Ovis leonem sedula Agnum facit mitissimum: Hic fonte lotus mystico, Calo repente militat.

Solvit Tiburtium soror Erroris a caligine; Factoque fratris assecle Ad astra pandit semitam.

Seges per illam plurima Superna replet horrea: Verbo potens, fit particeps Apostolorum gloriz.

Delapsus arce siderum Illam tuetur angelus; Roszque mixta liliis Ambire crines gestiunt.

Sertum rubens et candi-

dum Affertur una conjugi,

uem castitatis emulum

lestis ardor efficit.

Te, sponse Jesu, virginum, Beata vs wed ama Bs ; á Patrique cum Paraclito Par sit per evum gloria.

Amen.

Hushed be the music of earth: Cacilia's burning heart pours out the heavenly song she sings to her God alone.

While the noble house re- sounds with the nuptial joy, this dove alone is sad, and her pure heart sighs out:

O Christ, most sweet, to whom I am bound by love, preserve my purity of soul and body.

The diligent sheep converts the lion into a meek lamb: and he, washed in the mystic font, begins at once to fight for the King of heaven.

Sister now of Tiburtius, she frees him from darksome er- ror, and bidding him follow his brother, points out the path to heaven.

Through her efforts an abundant harvest fills the hea- venly granaries; powerful in word, she shares the glory of the apostles.

An angel comes down from the highest heavens to protect her; a rose and lily wreath entwines her flowing locks.

White and ruddy also is the crown brought to her spouse, whom heavenly love has led to emulate her purity.

May the happy choirs of virgins praise thee, O Jesus, their Spouse; to the Father and the Paraclete be equal and eternal glory. Amen.

--- PAGE 339 --- 328

TIME AFTER PENTECOST

HYMN

Nunc ad coronas pergite, Clamat suis Cecilia: Mox ipsa virgo sistitur Ad judicis praetorium. Minantis iram despicit, Et falsa ridet numina: Jam morte digna ducitur Puella culpa nescia.

Inclusa perstat balneo: Ardent calore fornices, Ast urit intus virginem Divinus ignis fortior.

Intaminatam barbarus Ter ense lictor percutit: Scelus tamen non perficit; Christus moras dat martyri.

Hore supremz proxima, Deo sacrandas devovet ZEdes avitas, libera Volatque ad Agni nuptias.

Salveto, corpus martyris, Diu sub antris abditum: Nova refulgens gloria Roma parenti redderis.

Ne flos tenebris areat, Te Virgo servat virginum; Rubens cruoris purpura Stola micante cingeris.

Dormi silenti marmore, Dum sede letus czlica Indulget hymnis spiritus, Votísque dexter annuit.

Te, sponse, Jesu, virginum Beata laudent agmina ; Patrique cum Paraclito Par sit per evum gloria.

Amen.

Now haste ye to your crowns, cries Cecilia to her brethren; and soon the virgin herself is led before the judge.

She despises his angry threats and laughs at his false gods; wherefore the innocent maiden is declared deserving of death.

She remains long enclosed in the bath, while the furnace rages beneath; but stronger is the divine fire that burns in the virgin's heart.

Thrice does the barbarous lictor strike the innocent vic- tim: he cannot accomplish his crime, for Christ has granted a delay to the martyr.

As her last hour draws nigh, she devotes her ancestral man- sion to God, then free she wings her flight to the nup- tials of the Lamb.

Hail! body of the martyr, long hidden in the sombre crypt; shining with a new glory, thou art restored to thy mother Rome.

The Virgin of virgins watches over thee, lest thou fade as a flower in the darkness, while thou liest empurpled with the blood of thy martyrdom, and clad in thy golden robe.

Sleep in thy silent marble tomb, while thy spirit en- throned in heaven hymns its glad joy, and graciously re- ceives our prayers.

May the happy choirs of virgins praise thee, O Jesus, their Spouse; to the Father and the Paraclete be equal and eternal glory. Amen.

--- PAGE 340 --- SAINT C/ECILIA 329

It would need the language of angels worthily to celebrate thy greatness, O bride of Christ! and we have but the faltering, timid accents of mortals and sinners. O queen, who standest at the King's right hand clad in the vesture of gold of which the psalmist sings, look down upon us with a favourable eye, and deign to accept this offering of our praise which we lay on the lowest step of thy lofty throne. We make bold to join thereto a prayer for the holy Church whose humble daughter thou wast heretofore, as now thou art her hope and her support. In the dark night of this present life the Bridegroom is long a-coming. In the midst of this solemn and mysterious silence He suffers the virgin to slumber till the cry shall announce His arrival. We honour the repose earned by thy victories, O Cacilia, but we know that thou dost not forget us, for the bride says in the Canticle: ' I sleep, and my heart watcheth.’ The hour draws nigh when the Spouse is to appear, calling all who are His to gather under the standard of His cross. Soon will the cry be heard: ‘ Behold the Bridegroom cometh, go ye forth to meet Him.” Then, O Cecilia, thou wilt say to all Christians what thou saidst to the faithful band grouped around thee at the hour of thy combat: ‘ Soldiers of Christ! Cast off the works of darkness, and put on the armour of light. !

The Church daily pronounces thy name with love and confidence in the Canon of the Mass; and she looks for thy assistance, O Cacilia, knowing it will not fail her. Prepare a victory for her, by raising up the hearts of Christians to the realities, which they too often forget while they run after the vain shadows from which thou didst win Tiburtius. When the minds of men become once more fixed upon the thought of their eternal destiny, the salvation and peace of nations will be secured.

Be thou for ever, O Cacilia, the delight of thy divine Spouse. Breathe eternally the heavenly fragrance of

! Acta S. Caciliz.

--- PAGE 341 --- 330 TIME AFTER PENTECOST

His roses and lilies; and be unceasingly enraptured with the ineffable harmony of which He is the source. From the midst of thy glory thou wilt watch over us; and, when our last hour draws nigh, we beseech thee, by the merits of thy heroic martyrdom, assist us on our deathbed. Receive our soul into thy arms, and bear it up to the everlasting abode where the sight of the bliss thou en- joyest will give us to understand the value of virginity, of the apostolate, and of martyrdom.'

1 Dom Gu£kANGER, ' Histoire de sainte Cécile, conclusion,

--- PAGE 342 --- SAINT CLEMENT 331

NOVEMBER 23

SAINT CLEMENT I POPE AND MARTYR!

Tus memory of St. Clement has been surrounded with a peculiar glory from the very beginning of the Roman Church. After the death of the apostles, he seems to eclipse Linus and Cletus, although these preceded him in the pontificate. We pass, as it were, naturally from Peter to Clement; and the East celebrates his memory with no less honour than the West. He was in truth the universal pontiff, and his acts as well as his writings are renowned throughout the entire Church. This wide- spread reputation caused numbers of apocryphal writings to be attributed to him, which, however, it is easy to distinguish from his own. But it is remarkable that all the falsifiers who have thought fit to put his name to their own works, or to invent stories concerning him, agree in declaring that he was of imperial descent. With only one exception, all the documents which attest Clement's intervention in the affairs of distant churches have perished with time; but the one that remains shows us in full action the monarchical power of the bishop of Rome at that primitive epoch. The church of Corinth was disturbed with intestine quarrels caused by jealousy against certain pastors. These divisions, the germ of which had appeared even in St. Paul's time, had destroyed all peace, and were causing scandal to the very pagans. The Corinthians at last felt the necessity of putting an end to a disorder which might be prejudicial to the extension of the Christian faith; and for this purpose it was requisite to seek assistance from outside. The apostles had all departed this life,

! Dom GUARANGER, ‘Sainte Cécile et la société romaine’: ch. vii, ‘Saint Clément."

--- PAGE 343 --- 332 TIME AFTER PENTECOST

except St. John, who was still the light of the Church. It was no great distance from Corinth to Ephesus where the apostle resided: yet it was not to Ephesus but to Rome that the church of Corinth turned. Clement examined the case referred to his judgment by that church, and sent to Corinth five commissaries to re- poet the Apostolic See. They were bearers of a etter, which St. Irenzus calls potentissimas litteras.* It was considered at the time so beautiful and so apostolic, that it was long read in many churches as a sort of continuation of the canonical Scriptures. Its tone is dignified but paternal, according to St. Peter's advice to pastors. There is nothing in it of a domineer- ing spirit; but the grave and solemn language bespeaks the universal pastor, whom none can disobey without disobeying God Himself. These words so solemn and so firm wrought the desired effect: peace was re-established in the church of Corinth, and the messengers of the Roman Pontiff soon brought back the happy news. A century later, St. Dionysius, bishop of Corinth, ex- pressed to Pope St. Soter the gratitude still felt by his flock towards St. Clement for the service he had rendered.

Brought up in the school of the apostles, Clement had retained their style and manner. These are visible in his two ' Letters to Virgins,” which are mentioned by St. Epiphanius and St. Jerome, and were found in the eighteenth century translated into Syriac, in a manuscript brought from Aleppo. As St. Cacilia re- minded us yesterday, the principle of vowing chastity to God was, from the very beginning, one of the bases of Christianity, and one of the most effectual means for the transformation of the world. Christ Himself had praised the superior merit of this sacrifice; and St. Paul, fomperie the two states of life, taught that the virgin is wholly taken up with our Lord, while the married ! Contra haereses, iii.

3. ? Although modern critics have questioned the authenticity of the text believed by others to be that of St. Clement to virgins, the fact that the boly Pope wrote in

fa of vi still d the concordai i Epiphanius (H. xxx. 15) and St. Jerome (conte Jovian Lao) n s of S¢

--- PAGE 344 --- SAINT CLEMENT 333

woman, whatever her dignity, is divided.! Clement had to develop this doctrine, and he did so in these two letters. Anticipating those great doctors of Christian virginity, St. Athanasius, St. Ambrose, St. Jerome, St. John Chrysostom, St. Augustin, he developed the teachings of St. Peter and St. Paul on this important subject. ‘He or she,’ he says, ‘ who aspires to this higher life, must lead like the angels an existence all divine and heavenly. The virgin cuts herself off from the allurements of the senses; not only does she renounce the right to their even lawful use, but she aspires to that hope which God, who can never deceive, encourages by His promise, and which far surpasses the natural hope of posterity. In return for her generous sacrifice, her portion in heaven is the very happiness of the angels.’ Thus spoke the disciple chosen by St. Peter to set his hand to the task of renovating Rome. It needed no less than this strong doctrine in order to combat the depraved manners of the Empire. Had Christianity been satisfied with inviting men to honour, as the philosophers had done, its efforts would have been to no purpose. Stoicism, by exciting great pride, could bring some men even to despise death; but it was utterly powerless against sensuality, which we must own to have been the strongest auxiliary to the tyranny of the Casars. The ideal of chastity, thrown into the midst of that dissolute society, could alone arrest the igno- minious torrent that threatened to submerge all human dignity. Happily for the world, Christian morality succeeded in gaining ground; and, its maxims being followed up by striking examples, it at length forced itself upon the public notice. Roman corruption was amazed to hear of virginity being held. in honour and practised by a great many followers of the new religion ; and that at a time when the greatest privileges and the most terrible chastisements could scarcely keep to their duty the six vestals upon whose fidelity depended the honour and the safety of the city. "Vespasian and Titus

1 1 Cor. vii.

--- PAGE 345 --- 334 TIME AFTER PENTECOST

were aware of the infringements upon their primary duty committed by these guardians of the Palladium; but they considered that the low level at which morals then stood forbade them to inflict the ancient penalties upon these traitresses.

The time, however, was at hand, when the emperors, the senate, and all Rome, were to learn from the first Apology of St. Justin the marvels of purity concealed within that Babylon of iniquity. ‘Among us, in this city,’ said the apologist, ‘ there are many men and women who have reached the age of sixty or seventy years; brought up from infancy under the law of Christ, they have persevered to this day in the state of virginity; and there is not a country where I could not point out many such. Athenagoras, in a memorial presented a few years later to Marcus Aurelius, was able to say in like manner: ' You will find among us a multitude of persons, both men and women, who have passed their life up to old age in the state of virginity, having no ambition but to unite themselves more intimately to God.’

Clement was predestined to the glory of martyrdom; he was banished to the Chersonesus, on the Black Sea. The Acts, which relate the details of his sufferings, are of very great antiquity; we shall not here enter into discussions concerning them. They tell us how Clement found in the peninsula a considerable number of Christians already transported there, and employed in working the rich and abundant marble quarries. The joy of these Christians on seeing Clement is easily conceived ; his zeal in propagating the faith in this far-off country, and the success of his apostolate, are no matter for surprise. The miracle of a fountain springing from the rock at Clement's word, to quench the thirst of the confessors, is a fact analogous to hundreds of others related in the most authentic Acts of the saints. Lastly, the apparition of the mysterious lamb upon the mountain, marking with his foot the spot whence the water was to flow. carries back the mind to the earliest Christian

--- PAGE 346 --- SAINT CLEMENT 335

mosaics, on which may still be seen the symbol of the lamb standing on a green hillock.*

In the ninth century St. Cyril, apostle of the Slavs, discovered near Cherson the precious remains of the martyr-pontiff. Clement was brought back to Rome; and the great church which had hitherto, according to St. Jerome, ‘preserved the memory of his name," henceforth possessed a still richer treasure. The very memory, however, was of great value for science no less than for piety: on the testimony of ancient traditions, this church was built on the site of St. Clement’s old home in the region of Monte Ccelio, which we know from other sources to have been the quarter preferred by the Roman aristocracy of the period. Modern archaeological investigations have discovered beneath the apse of the primitive basilica, and forming a sort of underground confession or crypt, the rooms of a private dwelling, the style and o naments of which are of the Flavian period.?

It is time to read the liturgical account of the great Pope of the first century.

Clemens Romanus, Faustini filius, de regione Ccelii montis, discipulus beati Petri, cujus meminit Paulus scribens ad Philippenses: Etiam rogo et te germane compar, adjuva illas que mecum laboraverunt in Evangelio, cum Clemente et caeteris adjutoribus meis, quorum nomina sunt in libro vite. Hic septem Urbis re- giones divisit septem notariis, singulas singulis attribuens, qui passiones martyrum et res ab eis gestas diligentissime conquisitas litteris mandarent. Multa scripsit et ipse accurate et salutariter, quibus chri- stianam religionem illustravit.

1 Dou GUERANGER, «Bi swpra.

Clement was a Roman by birth, son of Faustinus who dwelt in the region of Monte Colio. He was a disciple of blessed Peter; and is men- tioned by St. Paul in his Epistle to the Philippians, in these words: I entreat thee also, my sincere companion, help those women who have laboured with me in the Gos- pel, with Clement and the rest of my fellow-labourers, whose names are in the book of life. He divided Rome into seven regions, appointing a notary for each, who was to ascertain and record with thegreatestcare the acts and sufferings of the martyrs. He wrote many useful and learned works, such as did honour to the Christian name.

? Hrgnox. de viris illustri xv.

* MuLLooLy, ' St. Clement and his Basilica ' ; Dg Rossr, Bullet. 1863, 1' etc.

--- PAGE 347 --- 336

Cum autem doctrina ac vite sanctitate multos ad Christi fidem converteret, a Trajano imperatore relegatus est trans mare Ponticum in solitudine urbis Chersone, in qua duo millia Christianorum reperit, qui ab eodem Trajano condemnati fuerant. Qui cum in eruendis et secandis mar- moribus aquz penuria labora- rent, Clemens facta oratione, in vicinum collem ascendit, in cujus jugo vidit Agnum dextero pede fontem aqua dulcis, qui inde scatebat, attin- gentem; ubi omnes sitim ex- pleverunt: eoque miraculo mul- ti infideles ad Christi fidem conversi, Clementis etiam san- ctitatem venerari cceperunt.

Quibus concitatus Trajanus, misit illuc, qui Clementem, alligata ad ejus collum an- chora, in profundum dejice- rent. Quod cum factum esset, Christianis ad littus orantibus, mare ad tria milliaria recessit: eoque illi accedentes, zediculam marmoream in templi formam, et intus arcam lapideam, ubi martyris corpus conditum erat, et juxta illud anchoram, qua mersus fuerat, invenerunt. Quo miraculo incole permoti, Christi fidem susceperunt. Ejus corpus postea Komam, Ni- colao primo Pontifice transla- tum, in ecclesia ipsius sancti Clementis conditum est. Ec- clesia etiam in eo insule loco, unde divinitus fons manarat, ejusdem nomine dedicata est. Vixit in pontificatu annos novem, menses sex, dies sex. Fecit ordinationes duas mense Decembri, quibus creavit pres-

TIME AFTER PENTECOST

He converted many to the faith of Christ by his learning and holiness of life, and was on that account banished by the emperor Trajan to the desert of Cherson beyond the Black Sea. Here he found two thousand Christians, like- wise banished by Trajan, who were employed in quarrying marble. Seeing them suffer- ing from want of water, Cle- ment betook himself to prayer, and then ascended a neigh- bouring hill, on the summit of which he saw a Lamb, pointing out with his right foot a spring of sweet water. At this source they all quench- ed their thirst; and many in- fidels were converted by the miracle, and began to revere Clement as a saint.

On hearing this Trajan was enraged, and sent officers with orders to cast Clement into the sea with an anchor tied to his neck. After the execution of this sentence, as the Chris- tians were praying on the shore, the sea began to recede for the distance of three miles; on approaching they found a small building of marble, in the form of a temple, where- in lay the martyr's body in a stone coffin, and beside it the anchor with which he had been drowned. The inhabi- tants of the country were so astounded at the miracle, that they were led to embrace the Christian faith. The holy body was afterwards translated to Rome, under Pope Nicholas I, and deposited in the church of St. Clement. A church was also built and dedicated in his honour, on that spot in the --- PAGE 348 --- SAINT CLEMENT

byteros decem, diaconos duos, episcopos per diversa loca quindecim.

337

island where the miraculous fountain had sprung up. He held the pontificate nine years, six months, and six days. In two ordinations in the month of December, he made ten riests, two deacons, and fifteen gos for divers places.

The proper antiphons of St. Clement’s Office form a graceful collection, bearing evident signs of antiquity.

ANTIPHONS

Oremus omnes ad Dominum
Jesum Christum, ut confesso- ribus suis fontis venam aperiat.

Orante sancto Clemente, ap- paruit ei Agnus Dei.

Non meis meritis ad vos me misit Dominus, vestris
coronis participem fieri.

Vidi supra montem Agnum stantem, de sub cujus pede fons vivus emanat.

De sub cujus pede fons vivus emanat, fluminis im- petus letificat civitatem Dei.

Omnes gentes per crediderunt Christo Domino.

Cum iter ad mare cepisset, populus voce magna clamabat: Domine ein Christe, salva il-
lum: et Clemens cum lacrymis dicebat: Suscipe Paterspiritum meum.

Dedisti Domine habitacu-
lum martyri tuo Clementi in mari, in modum templi mar- morei angelicis manibus prz- paratum, iter prebens populo terre, ut enarrent mirabilia tua.

Let us all beseech our Lord Jesus Christ to discover a source of water to his con- fessors.

While holy Clement was praying, the Lamb of God appeared to him.

Not through any merits of mine hath the Lord sent me to you to share your crowns.

Il saw upon the mountain the Lamb standing, from be- neath whose feet sprang up a fount of living waters.

From beneath his sprang up a fount of living waters: the stream of the river maketh glad the city of God.

All the surrounding nations believed in Christ the Lord.

As he approached the sea, the people cried with a loud voice: Lord Jesus Christ, save him; and Clement weeping said: Father, receive my spirit.

Thou hast given, O Lord, to thy martyr Clement, a dwelling-place in the sea, a marble temple built by the hands of angels; and thou openest a way thither for the people of the earth, that they may tell thy wonderful works.

feet

--- PAGE 349 --- 338

TIME AFTER PENTECOST

We take the following beautiful formule from the

Leonian sacramentary:

PRAYER

Omnipotens sempiterne Deus, qui in omnium san-
ctorum tuorum es virtute mi- rabilis: da nobis in beati Clementis annua solemnitate letari, qui Filii tui martyr et pontifex, quod ministerio gessit, testimonio comproba- vit, et quod praedicavit ore, firmavit exemplo. Per Do- minum.

O almighty, eternal God, who art wonderful in the virtue of all thy saints, grant us to rejoice in the annual so- lemnity of blessed Clement, who, being the martyr and pontiff of thy Son, justified his ministry by his words, and corroborated his teaching by his example. Through our Lord.

PREFACE

Vere dignum Sancti Cle- mentis martyris tui natalitia celebrantes, qui cognationem reliquit et patriam; et post odorem tui nominis terras mariaque transmittens, abne- gansque semetipsum, crucem peregrinationis assumpsit, ut te per apostolorum tuorum vestigia sequeretur. Cui tu, Domine, . . . beatissimi Petri
mox tradito discipulo, deinde magistri sui vicarium per ordinem subrogando, Ro- mane urbis, cujus propter te despexerat dignitatem, tenere constituis principatum, proque transitoria claritate, celesti fa- cis honore conspicuum. Pos- tremo martyrii gloria sublima- tum, pro temporalibus gestis Dex provehis ad coronam.

er.

It is truly right that we should give thee thanks, while celebrating the birthday of holy Clement thy martyr, who abandoned his people and his country, and drawn by the sweet odour of thy name passed over lands and seas; denying himself, he took up the cross of these wanderings, that he might follow thee in the foot- steps of thine apostles. He was first a disciple of blessed Peter, and afterwards his vicar and successor; and thus didst thou, O Lord, appoint him to rule that city of Rome, whose dignities he had des- pised for thy sake, and instead of transitory honours thou didst ennoble him with heaven- ly dignity. Finally thou didst raise him to the glory of mar- tyrdom, and reward his tem- poral labours with an eternal crown.

* The Lord saith: My words which I have put in thy mouth shall not depart out of thy mouth: and thy gifts

--- PAGE 350 --- SAINT CLEMENT 339

shall be accepted upon my altar! Thus does the Church open the chants of the great Sacrifice in thy honour, O holy pontiff! It was indeed a joy and a supreme consolation to her to experience that, after the departure of the apostles, the word did not fail; for of all the gifts left her by her divine Spouse at His Ascension into heaven, this was the most indispensable. In thy writings, the word continued to traverse the world, authoritative and respected, directing, pacifying, sanctifying the people, as fully and as surely as in the days of the apostles or of our Lord Himself. Clear and manifest, thanks to thee, was the proof that Jesus, according to His promise, remains with His disciples till the end of the world. Be thou blessed for having thus, in the earliest times, consoled our mother the Church.

Thou didst understand, O Clement, that the great apostolic work, the diffusion of the Gospel among all nations, was not to be interrupted by the departure of the first labourers. Thou didst cause death and dark- ness to retreat farther and farther. All nations owe thee a deep debt of gratitude; but especially the French: for thou didst send thy messengers to Paris and its sister cities, crying in thy name: ' Rise, thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead; and Christ shall enlighten thee.’

But the labours of an apostolate attacked in every land by the prince of this world, and the cares of universal government, did not exhaust the zeal that fired thy apostolic soul. Be thou blessed for having reserved thy special teaching and solicitude for the best-loved portion of our Lord’s flock, for them that follow the Lamb on the mountain, where thou didst see Him, and whither- soever He goeth. Through thy prayers, may the imitators of Flavia Domitilla increase in number and still more in merit. May every Christian learn from the lesson of thy life that the nobility of this world is nothing compared with that which is won by the love of Christ.

! Introit of the feast, from Isaias. ? Eph. v. 14.

--- PAGE 351 --- 340 TIME AFTER PENTECOST

May the world, and its capital once given to God by the apostles and the Roman patricians, become once more His undisputed kingdom.

On July ro we honoured St. Felicitas, mother of the martyrs, giving a second and heavenly birth to her seven sons. But her own recompense was delayed for four long months. The Church has inscribed her name on the sacred diptychs; let us, then, again offer her our prayers and praises on this day, whereon the sword at length fulfilled her desires, and, in justification of her name, restored her to her sons in eternal felicity.

ANTIPHON

ANT. Date ei de fructu ma- ANT. Give her of the fruit nuum suarum, et laudent eam of her hands, and let her in portis opera ejus. works praise her in the gates.

. Diffusa est gratia in Y. Grace is spread abroad

labiis tuis. in thy lips. Ry. Propterea benedixit te ^ Hy. Therefore hath God Deus in zternum. blessed thee for ever.
PRAYER

Presta, quesumus, omnipo- tens Deus; ut, beate Felici-
tatis martyris tuze solemnia recensentes, meritis ipsius pro- tegamur et precibus. Per Dominum.

Grant, we beseech thee, O almighty God, that celebrating the solemnity of blessed Feli- citas thy martyr, we may be protected by her merits and prayers. Through our Lord.

--- PAGE 352 --- SAINT JOHN OF THE CROSS 341

NOVEMBER 24

SAINT JOHN OF THE CROSS CONFESSOR

| us go with the Church to Mount Carmel, and offer our grateful homage to John of the Cross, who, following in the footsteps of Teresa of Jesus, opened a safe way to souls seeking God.

The growing disinclination of the people for social prayer was threatening the irreparable destruction of piety, when in the sixteenth century the divine good- ness raised up saints whose teaching and holiness responded to the needs of the new times. Doctrine does not change: the asceticism and mysticism of that age transmitted to the succeeding centuries the echo of those that had gone before. But their explanations were given in a more didactic way and analyzed more narrowly; their methods aimed at obviating the risk of illusion, to which souls were exposed by their isolated devotion. It is but just to recognize that under the ever-fruitful action of the Holy Ghost the psychology of supernatural states became more extended and more precise.

The early Christians, praying with the Church, living daily and hourly the life of her liturgy, kept her stamp upon them in their personal relations with God. Thus it came about that, under the persevering and trans- forming influence of the Church, and periapating in the graces of light and union, nad in all the blessings of that one beloved so pleasing to the Spouse, they assimilated her sanctity to themselves, without any further trouble but to follow their mother with docility and suffer them- selves to be carried securely in her arms. Thus they applied to themselves the words of our Lord: ' Unless you become as little children, you shall not enter into

--- PAGE 353 --- 342 TIME AFTER PENTECOST

the kingdom of heaven.” We need not be surprised that there was not then, as now, the frequent and assiduous assistance of a particular director for each soul. Special guides are not so necessary to the members of a caravan or of an army; it is isolated travellers that stand in need of them; and even with these special guides, they can never have the same security as those who follow the caravan or the army.

This was understood, in the course of the last few centuries, by the men of God who, taking their inspiration from the many different aptitudes of souls, became the leaders of schools, one, it is true, in aim, but differing in the methods they adopted for counteracting the dangers of individualism. In this campaign of restoration and salvation, where the worst enemy of all was illusion under a thousand forms, with its subtle roots and its endless wiles, John of the Cross was the living image of the Word of God, ‘ more piercing than any two-edged sword, reaching unto the division of the soul and the spirit, of the joints also and the marrow '; for he read, with unfailing glance, the very thoughts and intentions of hearts. Let us listen to his words. Though he belongs to modern times, he is evidently a son of the ancients.

‘The soul,” he says, ‘is to attain to a certain sense, to a certain divine knowledge, most generous and full of sweetness, of all human and divine things which do not fall within the commonsense and natural perceptions of the soul; it views them with different eyes now, for the light and grace of the Holy Ghost differ from those of sense, the divine from the human.' The dark night through which the soul passes on its way to the divine light of the perfect union of the love of God—so far as it is in this life possible—requires for its explanation puer experience and light of knowledge than I possess.

or so great are the trials, and so profound the darkness, spiritual as well as corporal, which souls must endure if

1 Comp works of Sr. JouN or THe Cross, translated from th iginal Spanish by David Lewis, M.A., ' The Obscure Night of the Soul.’ book Rating i

--- PAGE 354 --- SAINT JOHN OF THE CROSS 343

they will attain to perfection, that no human knowledge can comprehend them, nor experience describe them.!

* The journey of the soul to the divine union is called night, for three reasons. The first is derived from the point from which the soul sets out, the privation of the desire of all pleasure in all the things of this world, by an entire detachment therefrom. This is as night for every desire and sense of man. The second, from the road by which it travels—that is, faith; for faith is obscure, like night, to the intellect. The third, from the goal to which it tends, God, incomprehensible and infinite, who in this life is as night to the soul. We must pass through these three nights if we are to attain to the divine union with God.

‘They are foreshadowed in holy Scripture by the three nights which were to elapse, according to the command of the angel, between the betrothal and the marriage of the younger Tobias.? On the first night he was to burn the liver of the fish in the fire, which is the heart whose affections are set on the things of this world, and which, if it will enter on the road that leadeth unto God, must be burned up, and purified of all created things in the fire of this love. This purgation drives away the evil spirit, who has dominion over our soul because of our attachment to those pleasures which flow from temporal and corporeal things.

‘The second night, said the angel, thou shalt be admitted into the society of the holy patriarchs, the fathers of the faith. The sou) having passed the first night, which is the privation of all sensible things, enters immediately into the second night, alone in pure faith, and by it alone directed; for faith is not subject to sense.

' The third night, said the angel, thou shalt obtain a blessing—that is, God, who in the second night of faith communicates Himself so secretly and so intimately to the soul. This is another night, inasmuch as this com- munication is more obscure than the others. When this night is over, which is the accomplishment of the com-

1 “The Ascent of Mount Carmel,' Prologue. ? Tob, vi. 18.

--- PAGE 355 --- 344 TIME AFTER PENTECOST

munication of God in spirit, ordinarily effected when the soul is in great darkness, the union with the Bride, which is the Wisdom of God, immediately ensues.’

* O spiritual soul, when thou seest thy desire obscured, thy will arid and constrained, and thy faculties in- capable of any interior act, be not grieved at this, but look upon it rather as a great good, for God is delivering thee from thyself, taking the matter out of thy hands; for however strenuously thou mayst exert thyself, thou wilt never do anything so faultlessly, so perfectly, and securely as now—because of the impurity and torpor of thy faculties—when God takes thee by the hand, guides thee safely in thy blindness, along a road and to an end thou knowest not, and whither thou couldst never travel guided by thine own eyes, and supported by thy own feet.'? We love to hear the saints describe the paths which they themselves have trodden, and of which, in reward for their fidelity, they are the recognized guides in the Church. Let us add that ' in sufferings of this kind, we must take care not to excite our Lord's compassion before His work is completed. There can be no mistake about it, certain graces which God gives to the soul are not necessary for salvation, but they must be obtained at a price. If we were to make too many difficulties, it might happen that, to spare our weakness, our Lord would let us fall back into a lower way. This, to the eye of faith, would be a terrible and irreparable mis- fortune.”

‘For the interests of holy Church.and the glory of God, it is more important that we are able to say that truly contemplative souls should be multiplied upon the earth. They are the hidden spring, the moving principle of everything that is for the glory of God, for the kingdom of His Son, and for the perfect fulfilment of His divine will. Vain would it be to multiply active works

1 * The Ascent of Mount Carmel," Book i , chap. ii. ‘The Spiritual Life and Prayer according to Holy Scripture M á Tradition,' chap. xiv., Sol b Translated by the B dicti of St redi.

es, 1

--- PAGE 356 --- SAINT JOHN OF THE CROSS 345

and contrivances, yea, and even deeds of sacrifice: all will be fruitless if the Church militant have not her saints to uphold her, saints still wayfarers (in via), which is the state in which the Master chose to redeem the world. Certain powers and a certain fruitfulness are inherent to the present life; it has in itself so few charms that it will not have been useless to show, as we have

done, that it has also some advantages.’! The life of St. John of the Cross is thus related by

holy Church.

Joannes a Cruce, Fontiberi in Hispania piis parentibus natus, a primis annis certo innotuit, quam Deipare Vir- gini futurus esset acceptus; nam quinquennis in puteum lapsus, ejusdem Deipare manu sublatus, incolumis evasit. Tanto autem patiendi desiderio flagravit, ut novennis, spreto molliori lecto, super sarmentis cubare consueverit. Adole- Scens hospitio pauperum agro- tantium Metymnze Campi fa- mulum sese addixit, quibus magno caritatis ardore vilis- sima quaque complectens offi- cia, praesto aderat. Cujus ex- emplo excitati ceteri, eadem caritatis munera ardentius obi- bant. Verum ad altiora voca- tus, beate Marie Virginis de Monte Carmelo institutum am- plexus est: ubi sacerdos ex Obedientia factus, severioris discipline et arctioris vite cupidissimus, primitivam ordi- nis regulam ex superioris licen- tia ita professus est, ut, ob jugem Dominice passionis me- moriam, bello in se, tamquam in infensissimum hostem in- dicto, vigiliis, jejuniis, ferreis

1 * The Spiritual Life and Pra: Tradition,' chap. xix., Solesmes,

John of the Cross was born of pious parents at Hontiveros in Spain. From his infancy it was evident how dear he would be to the Virgin Mother of God, for at five years of age, having fallen down a well, he was held up by our Lady in her arms, so that he sus- tained no inju He had so great a desire of suffering, that when he was but nine years old he discarded his soft bed and slept on faggots. As a young man, he devoted himself to the service of the sick in the hospital of Medina del Campo. Here he showed the ardour of his charity by undertaking the vilest offices; and his example incited others to de- vote themselves to the same charitable deeds. But as God called him still higher, he entered the Order of the blessed Virgin Mary of Mount Carmel, where he was made priest in obedience to his superiors; and in his ardour for more severe discipline and a more austere manner of life, he obtained their leave to observe the primitive rule of

, Accordi: Holy Scri; and Monastic ioo: Translated by tbe Benedictine

edictines of Stanbrook

--- PAGE 357 --- 346

flagellis, omnique pcenarum genere, brevi carnem cum vitiis et concupiscentiis suis cruci- fixerit: dignus plane, qui a sancta Teresia inter puriores sanctioresque animas Eccle siam Dei id temporis illustran- tes recenseretur.

Singulari vite austeritate, et omnium virtutum presidio munitus, pra assidua rerum divinarum contemplatione, diu- turnas et mirabiles extases frequenter patiebatur: tanto- que in Deum zstuabat amore, ut, cum divinus ignis sese intro diutius continere non posset, foras erumpere, ejus- que vultum irradiare visus sit. Proximorum saluti sum- mopere intentus, tum in verbi Dei praedicatione, tum in sa- cramentorum administratione fuit assiduus. Hinc tot meritis auctus, strictiorisque discipline promovendz ardore vehemen- ter accensus, sancte Teresie comes divinitus datus est, ut quam ipsa inter sorores primzevam Carmeli ordinis ob- servantiam instauraverat, eam- dem et inter fratres, Joanne
adjutore, restitueret. Innu- meros itaque una cum Dei famula in divino opere pro- movendo perpessus labores, cenobia qua ejusdem sancte virginis cura per totam Hispa- niam erecta fuerant, mea vite incommodis et periculis territus, singula perlustravit: in quibus aliisque quampluri- mis ejus opera erectis, re- stauratam observantiam pro-

TIME AFTER PENTECOST

the Order. Being ever mindful of our Lord's Passion, he declared war against himself as against his worst enemy; and by watchings, fasting, iron disciplines, and every kind of penance, he soon crucified his flesh with the vices and con- cupiscences; so that St. Teresa considered him worthy to be numbered among the holiest and purest souls then adorning God's Church.

Besides bis singular auste- rity of hfe, John was equipped for the spiritual combat with the armour of all the virtues. He devoted himself assiduously to the contemplation of divine things, in wbich he frequently experienced long and wonder- ful ecstasies; and his heart burned with such love of God that this divine fire could not be contained within, but would break forth and light up his countenance. He was exceed- ingly zealous for his neigh- bours’ salvation, and devoted himself to preaching the word of God and administering the Sacraments. Enriched with all these merits and kindled with the desire of promoting stricter discipline, he was given by God as a companion to St. Teresa, that as she had restored primi- tive observance among the sisters of the Order of Carmel, she might with John’s help do the same among the brethren. In carrying out this divine work, he, together with that handmaid of God, underwent innumerable labours; and fear- ing neither sufferings nor dan- gers, he visited all the monas- teries founded by the holy virgin in Spain, and himself

--- PAGE 358 --- SAINT JOHN OF THE CROSS

pagando, verbo et exemplo firmavit; ut merito primus post sanctam Teresiam Carme- litarum Excalceatorum ordinis professor et parens habeatur.

Virginitatem perpetuo co- luit, impudentesque mulieres ejus pudicitia insidiari co- nantes, non modo repulit, sed etiam Christo lucrifecit. In divinis explicandis arcanis eque ac sancta Teresia, apostolice sedis judicio, divinitus instru- ctus, libros de mystica theologia celesti sapientia refertos con- Scripsit. Semel interrogatus a Christo, quid praemii pro tot laboribus posceret, respondit: Domine, pati, et contemni pro
te. Imperio in demones, quos e corporibus sepe fugabat, discretione spirituum, prophe- tie dono, miraculorum gloria celebratissimus, ea semper fuit humilitate, ut sepius a Domino flagitaverit eo loco mori, ubi omnibus esset ignotus. Voti compos factus, Ubedz diro morbo, et in crure quinque plagis sanie manantibus, ad implendum patiendi deside- rium constantissime toleratis, Ecclesie sacramentis pie san- cteque susceptis, in Christi cruxifixi amplexu, quem semper in corde atque ore habuerat, post illa verba: In manus tuas commendo spiritum meum, obdormivit in Domino, die et hora a se predictis, anno salutis millesimo quin- gentesimo nonagesimo primo, etatis , Shecrapeu0 Romo. es dew m ejus animam splen- didissimus i ober ex- cepit: corpus vero suavissimum

347

erected others, propagating in all the restored observance and strengthening it by his words and example. He has thus every right to be called, after St. Teresa, the first professed and the father of the Discalced Carmelites.

He preserved his virginity intact, and not only repulsed impudent women, who tried to ensnare him, but even gained them to Christ. The Holy See has declared that, like St. Teresa, he was divinely in- spired in explaining the hidden mysteries of God ; and he wrote books on mystical theology, full of divine wisdom. When asked one day by Christ what reward he desired for so man labours, he replied: Lord, suf- ferings and contempt for thy sake! He was renowned for his power over the devils, whom he often cast out of the possessed; and also for the gifts of discernment of spirits and prophecy; while such was his humility that he often begged our Lord to let him die in a place where no one knew him. His prayer was granted; and after a cruel malady, and the patient endurance of five ulcers in his leg, sent him to satisfy his love of Suton. he fell asleep in our Lord at Ubeda, having received the Sacraments of the Church in the holiest dispositions, and embracing the image of Christ crucified whom he had ever had in his heart and on his lips. His last words were: Into thy hands I commend my spirit. His death took place on the day and at the hour he had fore- told, in the year of salvation

--- PAGE 359 --- 348 TIME AFTER PENTECOST

odorem spiravit, quod etiam- 1591, the forty-ninth of his num incorruptum Segovie ho- age. A brilliant globe of fire norifice colitur. Eum plurimis received his depaching soul; ante et post obitum fulgentem while his body gave forth a signis Benedictus decimus ter- most sweet perfume, and is still tius, Pontifex Maximus, in reverently preserved incorrupt Sanctorum numerum retulit. at Segovia. As he was re- nowned for many miracles both before and after death, Pope Benedict XIII enrolled him among the saints.

On Carmel's height and on the mountains, in the plain and in the valleys, may there be an ever-increasing number of such souls as are able to reconcile earth to heaven, to draw down the blessings of God, and to avert His anger! We are all called to be saints: may we then, after thy example and through thy prayers, O John of the Cross, suffer the grace of God to work in us with all the plenitude of its purifying and deifying power. Then shall we be able one day to say with thee:

*O divine Life, who never killest but to give life, as Thou never woundest but to heal; Thou hast wounded me, O divine hand ! that Thou mayst heal me. Thou hast slain in me that which made me dead, and destitute of the life of God which I now live. O gentle, subtle touch, the Word, the Son of God, who, because of the pureness of Thy nature, dost penetrate subtilely the very substance of my soul, and touching it gently absorbest it wholly in divine ways of sweetness, not heard of in the land of Chanaan, nor seen in Theman.! O touch of the Word, so gentle, so wonderfully gentle to me; and yet Thou wert overthrowing the mountains and breaking the rocks in pieces in Horeb by the shadow of Thy power going before Thee, when Thou didst announce Thy presence to the prophet in the whistling of a gentle air.? O gentle air, how is it that Thou touchest so gently when Thou art so terrible and so strong ?

* O my God, and my life, they shall know Thee and behold Thee when Thou touchest them, who, making

! Baruch iii. 22. 3 3 Kings xix. 11, 12.

--- PAGE 360 --- SAINT CHRYSOGONUS, MARTYR 349

themselves strangers upon earth, shall purify themselves, because purity corresponds with purity. As in Thee there is nothing material, so the more profoundly dost Thou touch me, changing what in me is human into divine, according as Thy divine essence wherewith Thou touchest me is wholly unaffected by modes and manner, free from the husks of form and figure. Thou the more gently touchest, the more Thou art hidden in the purified souls of those who have made themselves strangers here, hidden from the face of all creatures, and whom Thou shalt hide in the secret of Thy face from the disturbance of men. Thou removest the soul far away from every other touch whatever, and makest it Thine own; Thou leavest behind Thee effects and impressions so pure, that the touch of everything else seems vile and low, the very sight offensive, and all relations therewith a deep affliction.”

Rome honours to-day one of her own illustrious sons, Chrysogonus, who gave his life for Christ at Aquileia in the reign of Diocletian. His splendid church in the Trastevere, which possesses his venerable head, was first built at the very time of the triumph of the Faith over idolatry. Chrysogonus instructed in that holy faith the blessed martyr Anastasia, whose memory is so touchingly united with that of our Saviour's birth, the Aurora Mass on Christmas day having been from time immemorial celebrated in her church. The names of both Chrysogonus and his spiritual daughter are daily pronounced in the holy Sacrifice.

PRAYER

Adesto, Domine, supplicati- Attend, O Lord, to our sup-
onibus nostris: ut qui ex ini- plications; that we who know quitate nostra reos nos esse ourselves to be guilty on ac- cognoscimus, beati Chrysogoni count of our iniquities, may be martyris tui intercessione libe- delivered by the intercession remur. Per Dominum. of thy blessed martyr Chryso-

gonus. Through our Lord.

1 “The Living Flame of Love,’ stanza ii., line 3, passim

--- PAGE 361 --- 350 TIME AFTER PENTECOST

NOVEMBER 25

SAINT CATHARINE VIRGIN AND MARTYR

ERTRUDE the Great, from her very infancy, felt a special attraction towards the glorious virgin Catharine. As she was desirous of knowing how great were her merits, our Lord showed her St. Catharine seated on a throne so lofty and so magnificent, that it seemed her glory was sufficient to have filled the courts of heaven had she been its sole queen; while from her crown a marvellous brightness was reflected on her devout clients.? It is well known how the Maid of Orleans, entrusted by St. Michael to the guidance of St. Catharine and St. Margaret, received aid and counsel from them during seven years; and how it was at Sainte-Catherine-de- Fierbois that she received her sword.

In the twelfth and thirteenth centuries the Crusaders of the West experienced the powerful assistance of the Alexandrian martyr; and on their return from the East they introduced M cultus, which soon became ex- tremely popular. An Order of knighthood was founded to protect the pilgrims visiting her holy body on Mount Sinai. Her feast was raised to the rank of first class, and as observed was a holiday of obligation by many churches. She was honoured as patroness by Christian E hilosophers, scholars, orators, and attorneys. The ior advocate was called bastonier, because it was his privilege to carry her banner; while confraternities of young girls were formed under the invocation of St. Catharine, whose members vied with one another in their zeal for adorning her venerated image. She was classed among the helping saints, as being a wise counsellor; and was claimed as patroness by various

! Legatus divinz pietatis, iv. 57.

--- PAGE 362 --- SAINT CATHARINE 351 associations merely on account of their experience of her powerful intercession with our Lord. Her betrothal with the divine Child, and other scenes from her legend, furnished Christian art with many beautiful inspira- tions.

The holy and learned Baronius regretted that even in his day the Acts of the great Oriental martyr were open to discussion on certain points, which were eagerly seized upon by the extreme critics of the succeeding centuries in order to lessen popular devotion towards her. There remains, however, this glory to Christian virginity, that in the person of St. Catharine it was honoured by pupils and masters and became the guiding spirit in the developrhent of human thought during the centuries illustrated by such brilliant suns of learning as Albert the Great, Thomas of Aquin, and Bonaventure. ‘ Blessed are the clean of heart, for they shall see God.” Methodius, a bishop and martyr of the third century, thus speaks in his ' Banquet of Virgins’: ' The virgin must have a very great love of sound doctrine; and she ought to hold an honourable place among the wise.'

Let us now read the abridged legend of St. Catharine in the book of holy Church.

Catharina, nobilis virgo Ale- xandrina, a prima tate studia liberalium artium cum fidei ardore conjungens, brevi ad eam sanctitatis et doctrine perfectionem pervenit, ut de- cem et octo annos nata eru- ditissimum quemque superaret. Qua cum Maximini jussu mul- tos propter christiane reli- gionis professionem varie tor- mentis cruciatos, ad suppli- cium rapi videret, non dubi- tanter ipsum adiit Maximinum, eique nefariam immanitatem

! BaRoN. Annal. ad ann. 307.

Catharine, a noble virgin of Alexandria, united from early youth the study of the liberal arts with an ardent faith; and attained in a short time to such a degree of holiness and science, that at the age of eighteen she surpassed the most learned men. Seeing many, at the command of Maximin, cruelly tortured and executed for professing the Christian religion, she went boldly to Maximin himself and reproached him for his

? Matt. v. 8.

3 MxrHop. Conviv. Oratio i. 1.

--- PAGE 363 --- 352

objiciens, sapientissimis ratio- nibus Christi fidem ad salu- tem necessariam esse affirma- vit.

Cujus prudentiam Maximi- nus admiratus, retineri eam jubet, accersitis undique do- ctissimis hominibus, magnisque propositis praemiis, qui con- victam Catharinam a Christi fide ad idolorum cultum per- duxissent. Quod contra accidit. Nam plures philosophi, qui ad eam coarguendam convene- rant, vi ac subtilitate ejus disputationis tanto Jesu Christi amore sunt incensi, ut pro illo mori non dubitaverint. Quamobrem Maximinus blan- ditiis ac promissis Catharinam de sententia deducere aggre- ditur: verum id frustra fieri intelligens, verberibus affe- ctam, plumbatisque contusam, dies undecim sine cibo ac potu inclusam tenet in carcere.

Quo tempore Maximini uxor, et Porphyrius belli dux, visen- da virginis causa carcerem ingressi, et ejusdem przdica- tione in Jesum Christum cre- dentes, postea martyrio coro- nati sunt. Interim Catharina educitur e custodia, et rota expeditur, crebris et acutis prefixa gladiis, ut virginis corpus crudelissime dilacerare- tur. Qua machina brevi, Catharina oratione, confracta est: eoque miraculo multi Christi fidem susceperunt. Ipse Maximinus in impietate et crudelitate obstinatior, Catha- rinam securi percuti imperat. Que fortiter dato capite, ad

TIME AFTER PENTECOST

impious cruclty, showing him by wise reasons that faith in Christ is necessary for sal- vation.

Maximin, marvelling at her wisdom, caused her to be kept in custody. Then he sum- moned the most learned men from all parts, and promised a large reward to him that should refute Catharine's argu- ments, and lead her from the faith of Christ to the worship of idols. But the result was contrary to his expectations. For many of the philosophers who* had assembled to refute her were, by the force and subtilty of her reasoning, so enkindled with love of Jesus Christ, that they were ready to die for him. Maximin next tried to seduce her by flatteries and promises; but seeing his labour lost, he caused her to be lashed, and torn with scoürges tipped with lead, and finally shut up in prison for eleven days without food or drink.

During this interval, Maxi- min's wife, and Porphyrius general of the army, going to see the virgin in prison, were by her exhortations brought to believe in Jesus Christ, and were afterwards crowned with martyrdom. Meanwhile Ca- tharine was brought out of prison, and a wheel was set up garnished with many sharp knives cruelly to rend the virgin's body. But at Catha- rine's prayer the wheel was speedily broken; by which miracle many were converted to the faith of Christ. Maxi- min only grew more obstinate in wickedness and cruelty, and

--- PAGE 364 --- SAINT CATHARINE

duplicatum virginitatis et mar- tyrii premium evolavit, sep- timo calendas Decembris: cu- jus corpus ab angelis in Sina Arabiz monte mirabiliter col- locatum est.

353

ordered Catharine to be be- headed. Offering her head bravely to the sword, she took her flight to heaven, adorned with the double crown of vir- ginity and martyrdom, on the seventh of the Kalends of December. Her body was miraculously carried away by angels and buried on Mount Sinai in Arabia.

To-day’s feast has inspired many liturgical com- positions in the West. We will limit our selections to a sequence from the Gradual of St. Victor’s, and a beautiful

and touching responsory Preachers.

still used by the Friars

SEQUENCE

Vox sonora nostrl chori

Nostro sonet Conditori, Qui disponit omnia,

Per quem dimicat imbems,

Per quem datur et puellis De viris victoria;

Per quem plebs Alexandrina

Feminz non feminina Stupuit ingenia,

Quum beata Catharina

Doctos vinceret doctrina, Ferrum patientia,

Hzc ad gloriam parentum Pulchrum dedit ornamentum Morum privilegia, Clara per progenitores, Claruit per sacros mores Ampliori gratia. Florem teneri decoris, Lectionis et laboris Attrivere studia: Nam perlegit disciplinas Saculares et divinas In adolescentia.

Let the voices of our choir resound in praise of our Crea- tor, who disposes all things; by whom they fight who are unskilled in war, by whose power maidens triumph over men.

Through him, the people of Alexandria stand amazed to see in blessed Catharine quali- ties that seem above her sex, when she vanquishes learned men by her science and the sword by her courage.

To the glory of her race she adds the precious ornaments of incomparable virtue; and noble by birth, she becomes more noble still by grace and holy living.

Tender is the flower of her beauty, yet she spares it neither labour nor study; and in early youth she masters earthly science and that which is of God.

--- PAGE 365 --- 354

Vas electum, vas virtutum, utavit sicut lutum na transitoria, Et reduxit in contemptum Patris opes et parentum Larga patrimonia. Vasis oleum includens, Virgo sapiens et prudens Sponso pergit obvia, Ut, adventus ejus hora, Praeparata, sine mora Intret ad convivia. Sistitur imperatori, Cupiens pro Christo mori; ujus in presentia Quinquaginta sapientes Mutos reddit et silentes Virginis facundia. Carceris horrendi claustrum, Et rotarum triste plaustrum, Famem et jejunia, Et quacumque fiunt ei, Sustinet amore Dei, Eadem ad omnia. Torta superat tortorem, Superat imperatorem eminz constantia: Cruciatur imperator, Quía cedit cruciator, Nec valent supplicia. Tandem capite punitur, Et, dum morte mors finitur, Vita subit gaudia. Angelis mox fuit cure Dare corpus sepulture Terra procul alia. Oleum ex ipsa manat Quod infirmos multos sanat Evidenti gratia. Bonum nobis dat unguentum, Si per suum interventum ostra sanet vitia. Gaudens ipsa videat De se presens gaudia, Et futura praebeat, Quz dedit presentia, Et hic nobis gaudeat, Illi nos in gloria. Amen.

TIME AFTER PENTECOST

A chosen vessel full of virtue, she considers transitory goods as mire, contemning her father’s wealth and her ample patri- mony.

Filling her vessel with oil, as a wise and prudent virgin, she goes to meet the Spouse; that, ready at the hour of his coming, she may enter with- out delay to the feast.

Longing to die for Christ, she is led before the emperor; and in his presence, by her eloquence, puts fifty philoso- phers to silence.

For love of God she endures the horrors of the prison, the cruel wheel, hunger and want, and all her other sufferings; yp remains unchanged through all.

The tortured overcomes her torturer, a woman's constancy triumphs over the emperor; yea, the emperor himself is tormented, seeing both execu- tioner and torments unavailing.

At length she is beheaded, and by death ending death, enters into the joys of life, while angels with all care bury her body in a far-off land.

An oil flowing írom her body, by a visible grace heals the sick; good indeed is the unction she gives us, if she heals our vices by her prayers.

May she rejoice to see the joy she causes us; may she who gives us present joys give likewise those to come; and mayshe nowrejoice with us, and we with her in glory. Amen.

--- PAGE 366 --- SAINT CATHARINE

355

RESPONSORY

Virgo flagellatur, crucianda fame religatur, carcere clausa manet, lux czlica fusa reful- get: * Fragrat odor dulcis, can- tant czli agmina laudes.

y. Sponsus amat sponsam, Salvator visitat illam.

* Fragrat. Gloria Patri, Spiritui Sancto.

et Filio, et

* Fragrat.

O blessed Catharine, accept us as thy disciples.

The virgin is scourged, loaded with chains, tormented with hunger; but while she remains shut up in prison a heavenly light shines around. * A sweet fragrance fills the air, and the hosts of heaven are there singing praises.

Y. The Spouse loves his bride and visits her as a Saviour.

* A sweet fragrance.

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

* A sweet fragrance.

In

thy person philosophy, true to its beautiful name, leads us to eternal Wisdom, truth leads to goodness, and science to Christ who is the way, the truth, and the life. *O curious inquirers, who delight in idle, fruitless speculation,' exclaims the most eloquent of thy pane- gyrists, ‘ know that the brilliant light of science which enchants you is not intended merely to please your eyes, but to guide your steps and rule your conduct. Vain minds, that make such pompous display of your learning in order to win men's praise, learn that this glorious talent has not been entrusted to you for your self- advancement, but for the triumph of the truth. And you, cowardly, sordid souls, who use science as a means of gaining earthly goods, consider seriously that so divine a treasure is not meant to be traded with in so unworthy a manner; and that the only commerce it is concerned with is of a higher and sublimer kind— viz., the redemption of souls.'!

Thus, O Catharine, thou didst employ thy science solely for the truth. Thou madest 'the majesty of Jesus Christ so visible that His presence dissipated all

1 Bossugr, ' Panegyric on St. Catharine.”

--- PAGE 367 --- 356 TIME AFTER PENTECOST

the errors of philosophy, and the truths it had usurped acknowledged Him for their Master, or rather were gathered up in Him as in their centre. Let us learn from this holy example to bear witness to the truth and to make it triumph over the world, employing all our light of knowledge in the fulfilment of this duty. O holy truth! I owe thee the testimony of my words, of my life, of my blood: for the truth is God Himself."

This, O magnanimous virgin, is the thought of holy Church, when she thus formulates her prayer for to-day: O God, who didst give the law to Moses on the summit of Mount Sinai, and didst wonderfully deposit in the same place the body of the blessed virgin and martyr Catharine by means of Thy holy angels; grant, we beseech Thee, that by her merits and intercession, we may be enabled to arrive at the mountain, which is Christ, who liveth and reigneth with Thee for ever and ever.?

! BossukT, ' Panegyric on St. Catharine.’ 2 Collect of the day.

--- PAGE 368 --- SAINT SYLVESTER 357

NOVEMBER 26

SAINT SYLVESTER ABBOT

OD often brings the world to those who flee from it, as Sylvester Gozzolini among others experienced. In the thirteenth century the world, all in admiration at the sanctity and the eloquence of the new Orders, seemed to have forgotten the monks and the desert. God, who never forgets, led His elect silently into solitude, and the wilderness began again to ‘ rejoice and flourish like the lily ’; strength was restored to the ‘ weak hands and feeble knees’ of the sons of the cloister.? The austerities of olden days and the fervour of prolonged prayer were revived at Monte Fano, and extended into sixty other monasteries; the new religious family of the Sylves- trines was approved by Innocent IV in 1247. Though originated seven centuries after St. Benedict, and dis- tinguished from the elder families by its blue habit, it claims the patriarch of Cassino for its legislator and father. Let us read the life of St. Sylvester, which was inserted in the breviary by Pope Leo XIII.

Silvester, Auximi in Piceno nobili genere ortus, statim puerilem aetatem litteris ac bonis moribus mirifice exor- navit. Adolescens Bononiam ad studia jurisprudentiz missus a patre, cum sacris litteris a Deo monitus dedisset operam, parentis incurrit indignatio- nem, quam quo animo toto decennio pertulit. Ob egre-

Sylvester was born of a noble family at Osimo in the Marches of Ancona, and in his boyhood was remarkable for his love of study and his good conduct. As a youth he was sent by his father to Bologna to study jurisprudence, but was admonished by God to devote himself to sacred learn- ing. This incited his father

1 Isa. xxxv. t, 3.

--- PAGE 369 --- 358

giam ejus virtutem a cano- nicis cathedralis Auximane ecclesie socius honoris electus est; in quo munere populo orationibus, exemplo et con- cionibus opem tulit.

Inter funus nobilis cujus- dam defuncti, in aperto tumulo formosi viri suique propinqui deforme cadaver conspiciens: Ego, inquit, sum, quod hic fuit; quod hic est, ego ero. Et mox, peracto funere, illa sibi Domini sibi occurrente sententia; Qui vult venire post me, abneget semetipsum, et tollat crucem suam, et sequatur me, in solitudinem majoris perfectionis studio se- cessit, ibique vigiliis, oratio- nibus jejuniisque deditus, cru- das tantum herbas in cibum sepius adhibuit. Ut autem magis lateret homines, varias mutavit sedes; ac demum per- venit ad montem Fanum, lo- cum, quamvis prope Fabria- num, eo tamen tempore deser- tum, ibique in honorem sanctis- simi Patris Benedicti templum erexit, congregationisque Sil- vestrinorum fundamenta jecit, sub regula et habitu in visione Sibi ab eodem Sancto ostensis. At invidens Satanas variis terroribus illius monachos tur- bare nitebatur, noctu mona- sterii januas hostiliter invadens. Sed vir Dei hostis impetum ita repressit, ut monachi in sancto ínstituto magis con- firmarentur, ac patris sancti- tatem agnoscerent. Spiritu

TIME AFTER PENTECOST

to anger, which Sylvester pa- tiently endured for ten years. On account of his remarkable virtue, the canons of Osimo elected him an honorary mem- ber of their chapter, in which position he benefited the people by his prayers, his example, and his sermons.

While assisting at the funeral of a nobleman, his relative, who had been remarkably hand- some, he looked into the open coffin, and seeing the corpse all deformed, said to himself: What this man was, I am now; what he is now, I shall be here- after. As soon as the funeral was over, reading these words of our Lord: If any one will come after me, let him deny hímself and take up his cross and follow me, he retired into solitude in order to attain greater perfection; there he gave himself up to watching, prayer, and fasting, often eating nothing but raw herbs. The better to conceal himself from men he frequently changed his place of abode; and at length settled at Monte Fano, which, though near to Fabriano, was at that time a desert. There he built a church in honour of the most holy father Benedict, and founded the Congregation of Sylvestrines, under the rule and habit shown him by St. Benedict in vision.

Satan, roused to envy, strove in many ways to terrify his monks, making assaults by night at the monastery gates, But the man of God repressed the enemy's attack with such vigour, that the monks, recog- nizing their father's sanctity, were more and more confirmed

--- PAGE 370 --- SAINT SYLVESTER

prophetie aliisque donis eni- tuit. Quz ut semper profunda humilitate conservavit, ita con- tra se daemonis invidiam conci- tavit, a quo praeceps actus

r Scalas oratorii, et prope interimendus, prasentissimo Virginis beneficio incolumitati redditus est. Quod beneficium perpetua et singulari in illam pietate commendavit ad ulti- mum usque vite spiritum, quem fere nonagenarius, san- ctitate et miraculis clarus, Deo reddidit anno salutis millesimo ducentesimo sexagesimo sep- timo, sexto calendas Decem. bris. Ejus Officium ac Missam Leo decimus tertius Pontifex Maximus ad universam ex- tendit Ecclesiam.

359

in their holy purpose. Syl- vester was remarkable for the spirit of Prophecy and other gifts, which he ed by deep humility. This so stirred up the devil's envy that he cast the saint headlong down the oratory stairs and well nigh killed him, but the blessed Virgin at once gra- ciously restored him to health. In gratitude for this benefit, Sylvester showed her the ten- derest unfailing piety to the end of his life. He died at the age of about ninety years, renowned for sanctity and miracles, on the sixth of the Kalends of December, in the year of salvation 1267. The Sovereign Pontiff Leo XIII extended his Office and Mass to the universal Church.

Death, by revealing to thee, O Sylvester, the vanity

of noble birth and beauty, opened to thee the path of life. The frivolous world, deceived by the mirage of false pleasures, cannot understand the Gospel, which defers beatitude to another life and paves the way to it with renunciation, humility, and the cross. With the Church, we ask of our merciful God, in considera- tion of thy merits, the grace to despise, as thou didst, the fleeting joys of this world, that we may partake with thee of true and eternal happiness. Deign to support our petition with thine own sup- plication.

We beseech Him who has glorified thee to bless and multiply thy sons, to sustain them and the whole monastic Order, and every religious family, under the sufferings of the present time. O holy abbot, reward by new benefits the confidence of the Sovereign Pontiff, who in these sad days has extended thy cultus to the entire Church.

--- PAGE 371 --- 360 TIME AFTER PENTECOST

Peter; successor of St. Theonas in the See of Alexandria, was, by his learning and holiness, the glory of Egypt and the light of the whole Church of God. Such was his courage under the terrible persecution raised by Maximian Galerius, that the example of his admirable patience strengthened a great many in Christian virtue. He was the first to cut off from the communion of the faithful, Arius, deacon of Alexandria, for favouring the schism of the Meletians. When Peter had been con- demned to death by Maximian, the priests Achillas and Alexander came to him in prison to intercede for Arius; but the bishop answered that during the night Jesus had appeared to him with His garment torn, and on his asking the cause, had replied: “Arius has rent My garment, which is the Church.” He then foretold that they two would succeed him in turn in the episcopate, and forbade them ever to receive Arius to communion, for he knew that he was dead to God. The truth of this prophecy was soon proved by the event. Peter was beheaded, and thus went to receive the crown of martyrdom on the sixth of the Kalends of December, in the twelfth year of his episcopate.!

Let us offer our homage and prayers to the great bishop whom the Church thus commemorates to-day. For a long time he went by the name of ' Peter the Martyr,' until in the thirteenth century another Peter martyr, himself illustrious among all, came to claim the title, leaving his glorious brother to be known as * St. Peter of Alexandria.’

ANT. Iste sanctus pro lege Dei sui certavit usque ad mortem, et a verbis impiorum non timuit: fundatus enim erat supra firmam petram.

y. Gloria et honore coro- nasti eum Domine.

Hy. Et constituisti eum super opera manuum tuarum.

ANT. This saint fought even to death for the law of his God, and feared not the words of the wicked; for he was founded upon a firm rock.

Y. Thou hast crowned him with glory and honour, O Lord.

Hy. And hast set him over the works of thy hands.

! Legend of St. Peter of Alexandria in the Roman breviary.

--- PAGE 372 --- SAINT PETER

361

PRAYER

Infirmitatem nostram re- spice, omnipotens Deus: et
quia pondus propriz actionis gravat, beati Petri m tui atque pontificis, inter- cessio gloriosa nos protegat. Per Dominum.

Have regard to our weak- ness, O almighty God: and since the weight of our own deeds is grievous to us, may the glorious intercession of blessed Peter, thy martyr and bishop, protect us. Through.

--- PAGE 373 --- 362 TIME AFTER PENTECOST

NOVEMBER 29

VIGIL OF SAINT ANDREW SAINT SATURNINUS, MARTYR

HRISTMAS begins to glimmer on the horizon. The

last Sunday after Pentecost has given us the closing

instructions of the movable Cycle. Beginning with the

twenty-seventh of this month, the present days belong

in some years to the new Cycle, in others to the one which is ending.

The last lesson from the Scripture of the Time! ends with the solemn declaration of the last of the prophets, announcing the approach of a new era: 'From the rising of the sun even to the going down, My name is great among the Gentiles, and in every place there is sacrifice, and there is offered to My name a clean oblation; for My name is great among the Gentiles, saith the Lord of hosts.? And in to-day's Gospel we have St. John the Baptist echoing the words of Malachias, and joining the old and the new times together: ' Behold the Lamb of God !' He points out to us the Messias close at hand.

Andrew, brother of Peter, and another of John's disciples, asked this Messias: ' Rabbi, where dwellest Thou?' Jesus answered: ‘Come and see. And they went, continues the evangelist, and saw where He abode, and they stayed with Him that day. Whereupon St. Augustine, speaking in the name of the Church on this vigil, says: ' Let us build Him a dwelling in our hearts, that He may come to us, and teach us, and live with us.’* Here is our Advent planned out for us.

Let us put that blessed season under the protection

1 Saturday before the first Sunday i in Advent.

2 Malach. i. 11. 3 Gospel of the vigil. * Homily on the vigil. Avc. Tract. vii. in Joann.

--- PAGE 374 --- SAINT ANDREW

363

of the apostle of the cross, and also of the holy martyr Saturninus, whom the Church has honoured on this day

from time immemorial.

PRAYER

apostolus, cujus pravenimus festivitatem, tuum pro nobis imploret auxilium ; ut a nostris reatibus absoluti, a cunctis

Andrew, whose festival we anticipate, may implore thy help for us; that absolved from our sins, we may also

etiam periculis eruamur. Per be delivered from all dangers. Dominum. Through our Lord. PRAYER

Deus, qui nos beati Saturnini
martyris tui concedis natalitio perfrui: ejus nos tribue meritis adjuvari. Per Dominum

O God, who grantest us to rejoice in the festival of blessed Saturninus thy martyr, grant us to be assisted by his merits. Through our Lord.

--- PAGE 375 --- 364 TIME AFTER PENTECOST

NOVEMBER 30

SAINT ANDREW APOSTLE

HIS feast is destined each year to terminate with

solemnity the Cycle which is at its close, or to add lustre to the new one which has just begun. It seems, indeed, fitting that the Christian year should begin and end with the cross, which has merited for us each of those years which it has pleased the divine goodness to grant us, and which is to appear on the last day in the clouds of heaven as the seal put on time.

We should remember that St. Andrew is the apostle of the cross. To Peter Jesus has given firmness of faith; to John, warmth of love; the mission of Andrew is to represent the cross of his divine Master. Now it is by these three, faith, love, and the cross, that the Church renders herself worthy of her Spouse. Everything she has or is bears this threefold character. Hence it is that after the two apostles just named, there is none who holds such a prominent place in the universal liturgy as St. Andrew.

But let us read the life of this glorious fisherman of the lake of Genesareth, who was afterwards to be the successor of Christ Himself, and the companion of Peter, on the tree of the cross. The Church compiled it from the ancient Acts of the martyrdom of the holy apostle drawn up by the priests of the Church of Patre, which was founded by the saint. The authenticity of this venerable piece has been contested by Protestants, inasmuch as it makes mention of several things which would militate against them. Their sentiment has been adopted by several critics of the seventeenth and eigh- teenth centuries. On the other hand, these Acts have been received by a far greater number of Catholic writers of eminence ; amongst whom may be mentioned the great

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365

Baronius, Labbe, Natalis Alexander, Gallandus, Lumper, Morcelli, etc. The churches, too, of both East and West, which have inserted these Acts in their respective Offices of St. Andrew, are of some authority, as is also St. Bernard, who has made them the groundwork of his three admirable sermons on St. Andrew.

Andreas apostolus Bethsaida natus, qui est Galilez vicus, frater Petri, discipulus Joannis Baptistz, quum eum de Christo dicentem audisset: Ecce Agnus Dei, secutus Jesum, fratrem quoque suum ad eumdem perduxit. Quum postea una cum fratre pi tur in mari Galilee, ambo a pretereunte Christo Domino ante alios apostolos vocati illis verbis: Venite post me, faciam vos fieri piscatores hominum: nul- lam interponentes moram, et relictis retibus secuti sunt eum. Post cujus passionem et re- surrectionem Andreas cum in

m Europe, qua ei

rovincia ad Christi fidem isseminandam obtigerat, ve- nisset, deinde Epirum ac Thraciam peragrasset, doctrina et miraculis innumerabiles ho- mines ad Christum convertit. Post Patras Achaiz profectus, et in ea urbe plurimis ad veritatem evangelicam perdu- ctis, JEgeam proconsulem, prz- dicationi evangelice resisten- tem, liberrime increpavit quod qui judex hominum haberi vellet, Christum Deum .omni- um Judicem a daemonibus elusus non agnosceret.

Andrew the apostle, born at Bethscida, a town of Galilee, was brother of Peter, and disciple of John the Baptist. Having heard his master say, speaking of Christ: Beho the Lamb of God ! he followed Jesus, and brought to him his brother also. When after- wards he was fishing with his brother in the sea of Galilee, they were Loth called, before any of the other apostles, by our Lord, who passing by said to them: Come after me; I will make you to be fishers of men. Without delay, they left their nets and followed him. After the passion and resurrection, Andrew went to spread the faith of Christ in Scythia in Europe, which was the province assigned to him; then he travelled through Epirus and Thrace, and by his teaching and miracles con- verted innumerable souls to Christ. Afterwards, having reached Patre in Achaia, he persuaded many in that city to embrace the truth of the Gospel. Finding that the proconsul Zgeas resisted the preaching of the Gospel, he most freely upbraid him for that he, who desired to be considered as a judge of men, should be so far deceived by devils as not to acknowledge i^y to be God, the Judge of all.

--- PAGE 377 --- 366

Tunc Zgeas iratus: Desine, inquit, Christum jactare, cui Similia verba nibil profuerunt, quominus a Judzis crucifigere- tur. Andream vero de Christo nihilominus libere pradican- tem, quod pro salute humani generis se crucifigendum ob- tulisset, impia oratione inter- pellat, ac demum hortatur, ut sibi consulens, diis velit immolare. Cui Andreas: Ego omnipotenti Deo, qui unus et verus est, immolo quotidie, non táurorum carnes, nec hir- corum sanguinem, sed imma- culatum Agnum in altari, cujus carnem posteaquam omnis po- pulus credentium manduca- verit, Agnus qui sacrificatus est, integer perseverat et vivus. Quamobrem ira accensus ZE- geas jubet eum in carcerem de i: unde populus An- dream facile liberasset, nisi ipse sedasset multitudinem; vehementius rogans, ne se ad optatissimam martyrii coro- nam properantem impedirent.

Igitur paulo post in tribunal productum, cum Zgeas crucis extollentem mysteria, sibique suam impietatem exprobran- tem diutius ferre non posset, in crucem tolli, et Christi mortem imitari jussit. Addu- ctus Andreas ad locum mar- tyrii, cum crucem vidisset longe, exclamare ccpit: O bona crux, qua decorem ex membris Domini suscepisti, diu desiderata, sollicite amata, sine intermissione quasita, et ali-

TIME AFTER PENTECOST

-Then ZEgeas being angry said: Cease to boast of this Christ, whom such like words as these kept not from being crucified by the Jews. But finding that Andrew continued boldly preaching that Christ had offered himself to be cruci- fied for the salvation of man- kind, he interrupts him by an impious speech, and at length exhorts him to look to his own interest and sacrifice to the gods. Andrew answered him: I offer up every day to almighty God, who is one and true, not the flesh of oxen, nor the blood of goats, but the spotless Lamb upon the altar; of whose flesh the whole mul- titude of the faithful eat, and the Lamb that is sacrificed remains whole and living. Whereupon ZEgeas being ex- ceeding angry orders him to be thrust into prison, Mace the le would easily have Foo) greg had he not him- self appeased the multitude, begging of them with most earnest entreaty that they would not keep him from the long-sought-for crown of martyrdom to which he was hastening. Not long after this, he was brought before the tribunal, where he began to extol the mystery of the Cross, and re- buke the judge for his impiety. JEgeas, no longer able to con- tain himself on hearing these words, ordered him to be hoisted on a cross, and so to die like Christ. Andrew having been brought to the place of execution, seeing the cross at some distance, began to cry out: O good cross, made beau-

--- PAGE 378 --- SAINT ANDREW

quando cupienti animo prz- parata: accipe me ab homini- bus, et redde me magistro meo; ut per te me recipiat, qui per te me redemit. Itaque cruci affixus est: in qua biduum vivus pendens, et Christi fidem predicare nunquam intermit- tens, ad eum migravit, cujus mortis similitudinem concu- pierat. Quz omnia presbyteri et diaconi Achaie, qui ejus passionem scripserunt, se ita ut commemorata sunt, audisse et vidisse testantur. Ejus ossa primum Constantino im- peratore Constantinopolim, de- inde Amalphim translata sunt. Caput, Pio secundo Pontifice, Romam allatum, in basilica sancti Petri collocatum est.

‘by thee redeemed me.

367

tiful by the body of my Lord ! so long desired, so anxiously loved, so unceasingly sought after, and now at last ready for my soul to enjoy! take me from amidst men, and re- store meto my Master, that by thee he may receive me, we

e was therefore fastened to the cross, on which he hung alive two days, preaching without cessation the faith of Christ: after which he passed to him, whose death he had so coveted. The priests and deacons of Achaia, who wrote his Passion, attest that all the things which they have recorded were heard and seen by them. His relics were first translated to Con- stantinople, under the emperor Constantine, and afterwards to Amalfi. During the Pon- tificate of Pius II the head was taken to Rome and placed in the basilica of St. Peter.

Nothing could be more expressive than the language

used by holy Church in praise of the apostle of the cross. First she employs the words of the Gospel which record the circumstances of his vocation; then she selects the most touching passages from the Acts of his martyr- dom, drawn up by the priests of Patre; and both are intermingled with -apfropriate sentiments of her own. owe first selection s be from the responsories of atins.

FR. Cum perambularet Do- minus juxta mare Galilez, vidit Petrum et Andream retia mittentes in mare: et vocavit eos, dicens: * Venite post me, faciam vos fieri piscatores hominum. 7. Erant enim pi- scatores, et ait illis: * Venite

Hy. When the Lord was walking by the sea of Galilee, he saw Peter and Andrew casting nets into the sea, and he called them, saying: * Come after me, I will make you to be fishers of men. For they were fishers, and he saith to

--- PAGE 379 --- 368

post me, faciam vos fieri piscatores hominum.

Hj. Mox ut vocem Domini pradicantis audivit beatus An- dreas, relictis retibus, quorum usu actuque vivebat, * /Eter- nz vite secutus est premia largientem. Y. Hic est qui pro amore Christi pependit in cruce, et pro lege ejus su- stinuit passionem. * /Eterne vite secutus est pramia lar- gientem.

Hj. Doctor bonus, et amicus Dei Andreas ducitur ad crucem ; quam a longe aspiciens dixit: Salve, crux| *Suscipe di- scipulum ejus, qui pependit in te magister meus Christus. Y. Salve, crux, qua in corpore Christi dedicata es; et ex membris ejus tamquam marga- ritis ornata. * Suscipe di- scipulum ejus qui pependit in te, magister meus Christus.

Ry. Videns crucem Andreas exclamavit, dicens: O crux admirabilis! O crux desidera- bilig! O crux quz per totum mundum rutilas| * Suscipe discipulum Christi, ac per te me recipiat, qui per te moriens me redemit. Y. O bona crux, qua decorem et pulchritudi- nem de membris Domini su- Scepisti. * Suscipe discipulum Christi, ac per te me recipiat, qui per te moriens me redemit.

Hy. Oravit sanctus Andreas, dum respiceret in calum, et voce magna clamavit et dixit: Tu es Deus meus, quem vidi:
ne me patiaris ab impio judice

TIME AFTER PENTECOST

them: * Come after me, I will make you to be fishers of men.

EJ. As soon as blessed An- drew heard the voice of the Lord calling him, leaving his nets, by the use and working of which he lived, * He fol- lowed him who gives the re- ward of eternal life. Y. This is he who, for the love of Christ, hung upon a cross, and for his law endured a pas- sion. * He followed him who pu the reward of eternal life.

Hy. Andrew, the good teach- er, and the friend of God, is led to the cross; which, seeing afar off, he says: Hail O cross | * Receive the disciple of him who hung upon thee, Christ, my master. ¥. Hail, O cross, which art consecrated by the body of Christ, and art adorned by his members as with pearls. * Receive the disciple of him who hung upon thee, Christ, my master.

Hy. Andrew seeing the cross, cried out, saying: O admirable cross! O desirable cross! O cross which shinest through- out the whole world! * Re- ceive the disciple of Christ, and by thee may he receive me, who dying by thee re- deemed me. y. O good cross, which art made fair and beau- tiful by the body of the Lord. * Receive the disciple of Christ, and by thee may he receive me, who dying by thee re- deemed me.

Ry. Saint Andrew prayed, as he looked up to heaven, and with a loud voice cried out and said: Thou art " God, whom I have seen: suffer me

--- PAGE 380 --- SAINT ANDREW

deponi: * Quia virtutem san- ctz crucis agnovi. y. Tu es magister meus Christus, quem dilexi, quem cognovi, quem confessus sum; tantummodo in ista voce exaudi me. * Quia

369

not to be detached by the impious judge: * For I have learnt the power of the holy cross. Y. Thou art the Christ, my master, whom I have loved, whom I have known, whom I have confessed : graciously hear me in this one prayer. * For I have learnt the power of the holy cross.

ANTIPHONS

Salve crux pretiosa ! susci discipulum ejus, qui Imm t in te, magister meus Christus.

Beatus-Andreas orabat, di- — Domine, Rex: rend

ori, suscipe me pendentem n patibulo. d ::

Andreas Christi famulus di- Da Dei apostolus, germanus

etri, et in passione socius.

tulit corpus apostoli, optimo loco cum aromatibus sepelivit.

Qui persequebantur justum, demersisti eos, Domine, in
inferno, et in ligno crucis dux justi fuisti. Y

Hail, O precious cross! re- ceive the disciple of him, who hung upon thee, Christ, my master.

The blessed Andrew gue. saying: O Lord, King of eternal glory, receive me hanging on this gibbet.

Andrew, the servant of Christ, the worthy apostle of God, the brother of Peter, and his companion ín the cross.

imilla, a woman dear to Christ, took the body of the apostle, and embalming it, buried it in a most honoured

lace. : Thou, O Lord, didst plunge into hell them that persecuted thy just one, and wast his guide and helper on the wood of the cross.

In order to avoid a lengthy repetition, we refer our

readers to the Advent volume for the translation of the various liturgical pieces.

God grants us to meet thee, O blessed Andrew, at the threshold of the mystic season of Advent, on which we are so soon to enter. When Jesus, our Messias, began His public life, thou hadst already become the obedient disciple of the Precursor, who preached His coming; thou wast among the first of them who received the Son

--- PAGE 381 --- 370 TIME AFTER PENTECOST

of Mary as the Messias foretold in the law and the

prophets. But thou couldst not keep the heavenly

secret from him who was so dear to thee; to Peter, then,

fs didst bear the good tidings, and didst lead him to esus.

O blessed apostle | we also are longing for the Messias, the Saviour of our souls; since thou hast found Him, lead us also unto Him. We place under thy protection the holy period of expectation and preparation, which is to bring us to the day of our Saviour’s Nativity, that divine mystery in which He will manifest Himself to the world. Assist us to render ourselves worthy of seeing Him on that great night. The baptism of penance pre- pared thee to receive the grace of knowing the Word of life; pray for us that we may become truly penitent and may purify our hearts, during that holy time, and thus be able to behold Him, who has said: ' Blessed are the clean of heart, for they shall see God.’

Thou hast a special power of leading souls to Jesus, O glorious saint | for even he who was to be made the pastor of the whole flock was presented to the Messias by thee. By calling thee to Himself on this day, our Lord has given thee as the patron of Christians who, each year, seeking again that God in whom thou art now living,

ray to thee to show them the way which leads to esus.

Thou teachest us this way; it is that of fidelity, of fidelity even to the cross. In that way thou didst courageously walk: and because the cross leads to Jesus Christ, thou didst passionately love the cross. Pray for us, O holy apostle | that we may begin to understand this love of the cross; and that having understood it, we may put it in practice. Thy brother says to us in his Epistle: ' Christ having suffered in the flesh, be you also armed with the same thought.' Thy feast, O blessed Andrew! shows us thee as the living commentary of this doctrine. Because thy Master was crucified, thou wouldst also be crucified. From the high throne to which thou hast been raised by the cross, pray for us,

--- PAGE 382 --- SAINT ANDREW 371

that the cross may be unto us the expiation of the sins which are upon us, the quenching of the passions which burn within us, and the means of uniting us by love to Him, who, through love alone for us, was nailed to the cross.

HERE ENDETH ‘THE TIME AFTER PENTECOST' AND *THE LITURGICAL YEAR'

--- PAGE 383 --- *

Lu

"

E

THE LITURGICAL YEAR

This book has been scanned from a set I purchased from Loreto Publications under the condition that I post a notice stating that it came from Loreto Publications and that I have their permission. As far as I know the actual text is in the public domain with the possibility of some exceptions added by Loreto press. This book has a creative commons license that allows you to use it as long as this notice is attached. If you wish to post this set on your website you have to link back to www.theliturgicalyear.org so people download them from here. Unless the website is no longer functioning or you have my permission. If you are distributing this in any way or using outside of the U.S. you should check copyright laws before as they vary from country to country

THE LITURGICAL YEAR

ABBOT PROSPER GUÉRANGER, O.S.B.

TIME AFTER PENTECOST

BOOK VI

TRANSLATED FROM THE FRENCH BY THE BENEDICTINES OF STANBROOK ABBEY

JUBILEE YEAR 2000 LIMITED EDITION

©

LORETO

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 XV — Time After Pentecost Book VI ISBN: 1-930278-18-7

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

PREFACE

The Liturgical Year, begun sixty years ago, is at length completed. The five hundred thousand volumes that have passed through the press before the conclusion of the work bear ample testimony to its popularity. Our Lord seems to have imparted to it a large share of the blessings merited by Dom Guéranger's great labours for the Church.

In the most filial devotedness to this holy Church, in absolute obedience to the Vicar of Jesus Christ, we fulfil the duty that would have been so gratifying to our illustrious Father, and declare once more that we unreservedly submit all and every the fifteen volumes of this work to the representative of God on earth. To praise, to condemn, to reprove, all that the sovereign See of Peter praises, condemns, and reproves, will ever be, according to the tenour of its Constitutions, the cherished maxim of the Benedictine Congregation of France.

We have yet another duty to fulfil with regard to our readers: to thank them for their prayers, which have enabled us, in angustia temporum, to bring to its term the task imposed upon us by obedience twenty-five years ago. In return we promise, as in justice bound, ever to remember them before God. We beg of them not to cease from affording us their valued assistance, until the day when we shall be united with the Church triumphant, in the measure it has been granted us to identify ourselves with her on earth in prayer and in love.

FR. L. F., O.S.B.

SOLESMES, November 22, 1900.

I. On hearing Mass during the Time after Pentecost . . . II. On the Office of Vespers for Sundays and Feasts during the Time after Pentecost . . . III. On the Office of Compline during the Time after Pentecost . . .

PROPER OF THE SAINTS

November 1.—FEAST OF ALL SAINTS . . .

November 2.—ALL SOULS' DAY . . .

November 3.—THIRD DAY WITHIN THE OCTAVE OF ALL SAINTS . . . 149 Mass of the Holy Relics . . . 152 Vespers of the Holy Relics . . . 157

Same Day.—Saint Hubert, Bishop and Confessor . . . 164

November 4.—SAINT CHARLES, Bishop and Confessor . . . 166 Commemoration of Saints Vitalis and Agricola . . . 175

November 5.—FIFTH DAY WITHIN THE OCTAVE OF ALL SAINTS . . . 179

November 6.—SIXTH DAY WITHIN THE OCTAVE OF ALL SAINTS . . . 184

November 7.—SEVENTH DAY WITHIN THE OCTAVE OF ALL SAINTS . . . 190

November 8.—OCTAVE DAY OF ALL SAINTS . . . 197 Commemoration of the Four Crowned Martyrs . . . 198

November 9.—DEDICATION OF THE BASILICA OF SAINT SAVIOUR . . . 203 Commemoration of Saint Theodore, Martyr . . . 210 THE DEDICATION OF CHURCHES . . . 211 Mass . . . 214 Second Vespers . . . 222

November 10.—SAINT ANDREW AVELLINO, Confessor . . . 229 Commemoration of Saints Tryphon, Respicius, and Nympha, Martyrs . . . 237

November 11.—SAINT MARTIN, Bishop and Confessor . . . 242 Commemoration of Saint Mennas, Martyr . . . 243

November 12.—SAINT MARTIN I, Pope and Martyr . . . 256

November 13.—SAINT DIDACUS, Confessor . . . 257

November 14.—SAINT JOSAPHAT, Bishop and Martyr . . . 262

November 15.—SAINT GERTRUDE, Virgin . . . 266

November 17.—SAINT GREGORY THAUMATURGUS, Bishop and Confessor . . . 274

November 18.—DEDICATION OF THE BASILICAS OF SAINTS PETER AND PAUL, Apostles . . . 283

November 19.—SAINT ELIZABETH OF HUNGARY, Duchess of Thuringia . . . 288 Commemoration of Saint Pontian, Martyr . . . 295

November 20.—SAINT FELIX OF VALOIS, Confessor . . . 302

November 21.—PRESENTATION OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN MARY . . . 303

November 22.—SAINT CECILIA, Virgin and Martyr . . . 307

November 23.—SAINT CLEMENT I, Pope and Martyr . . . 331 Commemoration of Saint Felicitas, Martyr . . . 340

November 24.—SAINT JOHN OF THE CROSS, Confessor . . . 341 Commemoration of Saint Chrysogonus, Martyr . . . 349

November 25.—SAINT CATHERINE, Virgin and Martyr . . . 350

November 26.—SAINT SYLVESTER, Abbot . . . 357 Commemoration of Saint Peter of Alexandria, Bishop and Martyr . . . 360

November 29.—Vigil of St. Andrew. SAINT SATURNINUS, Martyr . . . 362

November 30.—SAINT ANDREW, Apostle . . . 364

TIME AFTER PENTECOST

CHAPTER THE FIRST

ON HEARING MASS, DURING THE TIME AFTER PENTECOST

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.

℣. Gloria Patri, &c.
℣. Glory, &c.

Ant. Asperges me, &c. Ant. Thou shalt sprinkle, &c.

℣. Ostende nobis, Domine, misericordiam tuam;
℟. Et salutare tuum da nobis.

℣. Show us, O Lord, thy mercy.
℟. And grant us thy salvation.

℣. Domine, exaudi orationem meam.
℟. Et clamor meus ad te veniat.

℣. O Lord, hear my prayer.
℟. And let my cry come unto thee.

℣. Dominus vobiscum.
℟. Et cum spiritu tuo.

℣. The Lord be with you.
℟. And with thy spirit.

OREMUS

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

℟. Amen.

LET US PRAY

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.

℟. 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 monastic practice of going through the cloisters every Sunday chanting certain appointed responsories; while the hebdomadarian went through all the conventual places, blessing each of them.

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.

℣. Introibo ad altare Dei.
℟. 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 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.

Send me, then, him who is the light and the truth; it is he 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?

When he shall have come, I will sing in my gladness. Be not sad, O my soul! why wouldst thou be 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.

℣. Introibo ad altare Dei.
℟. Ad Deum qui lætificat juventutem meam.

I am to go to the altar of God, and feel the presence of him who desires to give me a new life.

℣. Adjutorium nostrum in nomine Domini.
℟. Qui fecit cælum et terram.

This my hope comes not from any merits of my own, but from 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, 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.

℟. 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.

℟. Amen.

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

℣. Deus, tu conversus vivificabis nos.
℟. Et plebs tua lætabitur in te.

℣. O God, it needs but one look of thine to give us life.
℟. And thy people shall rejoice in thee.

℣. Ostende nobis, Domine, misericordiam tuam.
℟. Et salutare tuum da nobis.

℣. Show us, O Lord, thy mercy.
℟. And give us to know and love the Saviour whom thou hast sent unto us.

℣. Domine, exaudi orationem meam.
℟. Et clamor meus ad te veniat.

℣. O Lord, hear my prayer.
℟. And let my cry come unto thee.

The priest here leaves you to ascend to the altar; but first he salutes you:

℣. Dominus vobiscum.

℣. The Lord be with you.

Answer him with reverence:

℟. Et cum spiritu tuo.

℟. And with thy spirit.

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

from sin:

OREMUS

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

LET US PRAY

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, for they ask for mercy. In addressing them to God, the Church unites herself with the nine choirs of angels, who are standing round the altar of heaven, one and the same as this before which you are kneeling.

To the Father: Kyrie eleison. Lord, have mercy on us! Kyrie eleison. Lord, have mercy on us! Kyrie eleison. Lord, have mercy on us!

To the Son: Christe eleison. Christ, have mercy on us! Christe eleison. Christ, have mercy on us! Christe eleison. Christ, have mercy on us!

To the Holy Ghost: Kyrie eleison. Lord, have mercy on us! Kyrie eleison. Lord, have mercy on us! Kyrie eleison. 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.

Glory be to God on high, and on earth peace to men of good will.

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

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

Domine Deus, Rex cælestis, Deus Pater omnipotens.

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

Domine, Fili unigenite, Jesu Christe.

O Lord Jesus Christ, the only-begotten Son.

Domine Deus, Agnus Dei, Filius Patris.

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

Qui tollis peccata mundi, miserere nobis.

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

Qui tollis peccata mundi, suscipe deprecationem nostram.

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

Qui sedes ad dexteram Patris, miserere nobis.

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 God, who, not satisfied with having spoken to us at sundry times by His messengers, deigned at last to speak to us by His well-beloved Son.¹

The Gradual is an intermediate formula of prayer 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 more and more enter 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.

It is now time 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 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.

¹ Heb. i. 2.

As a preparation for hearing it worthily, 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.

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.

Dominus sit in corde meo, et in labiis meis: ut digne et competenter annuntiem Evangelium suum: In nomine Patris, et Filii, et Spiritus Sancti. Amen.

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

You will stand during the Gospel, as though you were awaiting the orders of your Lord; 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.'² If you have not such love as this, have at least the humble submission of Samuel, and say: 'Speak, Lord! thy servant heareth.'³

After the Gospel, if the priest says the Symbol of faith, the Credo, you will say it with him. Faith is that 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.' Let us then say with the Catholic Church, our mother:

THE NICENE CREED.

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

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

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 cælis. 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 cælum; sedet ad dexteram Patris. Et iterum venturus est cum gloria judicare vivos et mortuos; cujus regni non erit finis.

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.

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.

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.

² Cant. v. 6.
³ 1 Kings iii. 10.

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

See, then, dear Christians! bread and wine are about to be offered to God, as being the noblest of inanimate creatures, since they are made for the nourishment of man; and even that is only a poor material image of what they are destined to become in our Christian Sacrifice. Their substance will soon give place to God Himself, 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.'⁴ 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.'⁵

⁴ 2 Cor. v. 4.
⁵ 2 St. Peter i. 4.

The priest again turns to the people 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 in saying:

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 our 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 figured by this drop of water. O, come and make us partakers of thy divinity, by showing thyself to us in thy sweet and wondrous Sacrament.

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 any 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 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 the heart of the priest. The public confession which he made at the foot of the altar is not enough; he would now at the altar itself express to the people, in the language of a solemn rite, how far he knows himself to be from that spotless sanctity wherewith he should approach to 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 those who are innocent, that so I may be worthy to come near thy 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 on the path of innocence and was restored to thy grace; but have pity on my weakness still; redeem me yet more, 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 bows down full of respectful awe, begging of 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: et 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.

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 who are 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 to God, our almighty Father.

This request made, 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 prayer by terminating it aloud, saying:

Per omnia sæcula sæculorum.

For ever and ever.

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

℣. Dominus vobiscum.
℟. Et cum spiritu tuo.
℣. Sursum corda!

Let your response be sincere:

℟. Habemus ad Dominum.

℟. We have them fixed on God.

And when he adds:

℣. Gratias agamus Domino Deo nostro.

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

Answer him with all the earnestness of your soul:

℟. Dignum et justum est.

℟. It is meet and just.

Then the priest:

THE PREFACE

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,¹ 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. 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.

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, confessors, virgins, 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.

¹ Wisd. xviii. 14, 15.

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 express 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.

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.

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 thy 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!

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 cælum, 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 has 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, that 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 of wonders.

Simili modo postquam cenatum 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, nec non et ab inferis Resurrectionis, sed et in cælos 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 thy 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 surpasseth 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 cælesti 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 mercifully 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 presence 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! and 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 now time 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 cælis, sanctificetur nomen tuum: adveniat regnum tuum: fiat voluntas tua sicut in cælo 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 needed? Evil surrounds us everywhere; and the Lamb on our altar has been sent to expiate it and to 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, which strengthen her wicked propensities. Evils present—that is, the sins now, at this very time, upon our soul; the weakness 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 the 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.
℟. Amen.

World without end. ℟. Amen.

Then he says:

Pax Domini sit semper vobiscum.

May the peace of our Lord be ever with you.

To this paternal wish reply:

℟. Et cum spiritu tuo.

℟. 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 prayers to the ever-living Lamb, whom St. John saw on the altar of heaven, 'standing 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.

Agnus Dei, qui tollis peccata mundi, miserere nobis.

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

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

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

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.'¹ 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, co-operante 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.

¹ Apoc. v. 6.
² Is. ix. 6.
¹ 1 Cor. x. 17.

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 cælestem 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, come!'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:

¹ Apoc. xxii. 20.

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 delivered 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 Communion being finished, 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, for my future 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 less 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 prayer, called the Postcommunion, which is 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 again turns 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. ℟. Deo gratias.

Go, the Mass is finished. ℟. 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.

℟. Amen.

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

℟. 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.

℣. Dominus vobiscum.
℟. Et cum spiritu tuo.

℣. The Lord be with you.
℟. And with thy spirit.

THE LAST GOSPEL

Initium sancti Evangelii secundum Joannem.

Cap. 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.

℟. Deo gratias.

The beginning of the holy Gospel according to John.

Ch. 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 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.

℟. Thanks be to God.

CHAPTER THE SECOND

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 appropriate to the day; we here give those for Sunday.

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

℣. Deus, in adjutorium meum intende.

℟. 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.

ANT. Dixit Dominus.

℣. Incline unto my aid, O God.

℟. 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. The Lord said.

The first psalm is a prophecy of the future glory 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 Son of Man, and 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 the highest glory.

PSALM 109

Dixit Dominus Domino meo: Sede a dextris meis.

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

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.

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

ANT. Magna opera Domini.

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 to 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 sufferings: therefore, shall he lift up the head.

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

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.

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

ANT. Qui timet Dominum.

I will praise thee, O Lord, with my whole heart: in the council 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 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 them 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. Great are the works of the Lord: sought out according to all his wills.

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.

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

ANT. Sit nomen Domini.

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; he 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. He that feareth the Lord shall delight exceedingly in his commandments.

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 cælos gloria ejus.

Quis sicut Dominus Deus noster qui in altis habitat: et humilia respicit in cælo 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.

ANT. Sit nomen Domini benedictum in sæcula.

ANT. Deus autem noster.

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

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 will consent to fear and love the Lord.

PSALM 113

In exitu Israel de Ægypto: domus Jacob de populo barbaro.

Facta est Judæa sanctificatio ejus: Israel 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?

Deus autem noster in cælo: 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 Israel 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.

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?

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.

Dominus memor fuit nostri: et benedixit nobis.

Benedixit domui Israel: 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 cælum et terram.

Cælum cæli 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.

ANT. Deus autem noster in cælo: omnia quæcumque voluit fecit.

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

After these five psalms, a short lesson from the holy Scriptures is read. It is called Capitulum, because it is always very short.

CAPITULUM

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

℟. Deo gratias.

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

℟. Thanks be to God.

Then follows the hymn. We here give the one for Sundays, which 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, the light.

HYMN¹

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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.

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

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.

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.

℣. Dirigatur, Domine, oratio mea.

℟. Sicut incensum in conspectu tuo.

℣. May my prayer, O Lord, ascend.

℟. Like incense in thy sight.

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

℟ breve. Quam magnificata sunt * Opera tua, Domine. Quam. ℣. 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.

Cælorum 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.

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 exquisite 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 Israel 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 shown 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.

℣. Benedicamus Domino.
℟. Deo gratias.
℣. Fidelium animæ per misericordiam Dei requiescant in pace.
℟. Amen.

℣. Let us bless the Lord.
℟. Thanks be to God.
℣. May the souls of the faithful departed, through the mercy of God, rest in peace.
℟. Amen.

CHAPTER THE THIRD

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 me 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.

℟. 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; for 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:

℟. Deo gratias.

℟. Thanks be to God.

Then the priest:

℣. Adjutorium nostrum in nomine Domini.

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

The choir:

℟. Qui fecit cælum et terram.

℟. 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:

℣. Converte nos, Deus, salutaris noster.
℟. Et averte iram tuam a nobis.
℣. Deus, in adjutorium meum intende.
℟. Domine, ad adjuvandum me festina.
Gloria Patri, etc.

℣. Convert us, O God, our Saviour.
℟. And turn away thine anger from us.
℣. Incline unto my aid, O God.
℟. O Lord, make haste to help me.
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.

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.

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.

O ye sons of men how long will ye be dull of heart? why do you 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 you 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 cæli commorabitur.

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

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

Scapulis suis obumbrabit tibi: et sub pennis ejus sperabis.

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.

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.

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 night depart far 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.

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.

CAPITULUM

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

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

℟. In manus tuas, Domine: * Commendo spiritum meum. In manus tuas.
℣. Redemisti nos, Domine Deus veritatis. * Commendo.
Gloria. In manus tuas.

℟. Into thy hands, O Lord: * I commend my spirit. Into thy hands.
℣. Thou hast redeemed us, O Lord God of truth. * I commend.
Glory. Into thy hands.

℣. Custodi nos, Domine, ut pupillam oculi.
℟. Sub umbra alarum tuarum protege nos.

℣. Preserve us, O Lord, as the apple of thine eye.
℟. Protect us under the shadow of thy wings.

ANT. Salva nos.

ANT. Save us.

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

² Cant. v. 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 Israel.

Gloria.

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.

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

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.
℣. Dominus vobiscum.
℟. Et cum spiritu tuo.
℣. Benedicamus Domino.
℟. Deo gratias.

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

℟. Amen.

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

LET US PRAY.

Visit, we beseech thee, O Lord, this house and family, and drive far 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.
℣. The Lord be with you.
℟. And with thy spirit.

℣. Let us bless the Lord.
℟. Thanks be to God.

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

℟. 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 lacrimarum 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.

℣. Ora pro nobis, sancta Dei Genitrix.

℟. Ut digni efficiamur promissionibus Christi.

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.

Hail, holy Queen, Mother of mercy.

Hail, our life, our sweetness, and our hope.

To thee do we cry, poor banished children of Eve.

To thee do 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 clement,

O loving,

O sweet Virgin Mary!

℣. Pray for us, O holy Mother of God.

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

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.

℣. Divinum auxilium maneat semper nobiscum.

℟. Amen.

℣. May the divine assistance remain always with us.

℟. Amen.¹

Then, in secret, Pater, Ave, and Credo.

¹ In the monastic rite this response is as follows:

℟. Et cum fratribus nostris absentibus. ℟. And with our absent brethren. Amen. Amen.

Proper of Saints

NOVEMBER I

FEAST OF ALL SAINTS

I saw a great multitude which no man could number, of all nations and tribes and peoples and tongues, standing before the throne, and in sight of the Lamb, clothed with white robes, and palms in their hands: and they cried with a loud voice, saying: Salvation to our God!¹

Time is no more; it is the human race eternally saved that is thus presented in vision to the prophet of Patmos. Our life of struggle and suffering on earth is, then, to have an end. Our long-lost race is to fill up the angelic ranks thinned by Satan's revolt; and, uniting in the gratitude of the redeemed of the Lamb, the faithful spirits will sing with us: 'Thanksgiving, honour, and power, and strength to our God for ever and ever!'² And this shall be the end, as the apostle says;³ the end of death and suffering; the end of history and of its revolutions, which will then be explained. The old enemy, hurled down with his followers into the abyss, will live on only to witness his own eternal defeat. The Son of man, the Saviour of the world, will have delivered the kingdom to God His Father; and God, the last end of creation and of redemption, will be all in all.⁴

Long before the seer of the Apocalypse, Isaias sang: 'I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne high and elevated, and His train filled the temple. And the Seraphim cried one to another, and said: Holy, holy, holy, the Lord God of hosts, all the earth is full of His glory.'⁵ The train and fringes of God's vesture are the elect, who are the adornment of the Word, the splendour of the Father. For, since the Word has espoused our human nature, that nature is His glory, as He is the glory of God. The bride herself is clothed with the justifications of the saints; and when this glittering robe is perfected, the signal will be given for the end of time. This feast announces the ever-growing nearness of the eternal nuptials; for on it we annually celebrate the progress of the bride's preparation.

Blessed are they that are called to the marriage-supper of the Lamb!¹ Blessed are we all, who have received in Baptism the nuptial robe of holy charity, which entitles us to a seat at the heavenly banquet! Let us prepare ourselves for the unspeakable destiny reserved for us by love. To this end are directed all the labours of this life: toils, struggles, sufferings for God's sake, all adorn with priceless jewels the garment of grace, the clothing of the elect. Blessed are they that mourn!²

They that have gone before us wept as they turned the furrows and cast in the seed; but now their triumphant joy overflows upon us as an anticipated glory in this valley of tears. Without waiting for the dawn of eternity, the present solemnity gives us to enter by hope into the land of light, whither our fathers have followed Jesus, the divine forerunner. Do not the thorns of suffering lose their sharpness at the sight of the eternal joys into which they are to blossom? Does not the happiness of the dear departed cause a heavenly sweetness to mingle with our sorrow? Let us hearken to the chants of deliverance sung by those for whom we weep; 'little and great,' this is the feast of them all, as it will one day be ours. At this season, when cold and darkness prevail, Nature herself, stripping off her last adornments, seems to be preparing the world for the passage of the human race into the heavenly country. Let us, then, sing with the psalmist: 'I rejoiced at the things that were said to me: We shall go into the house of the Lord. Our feet as yet stand only in thy outer courts; but we see thy building ever going on, O Jerusalem, city of peace, compacted together in concord and love. To thee do the tribes go up, the tribes of the Lord, praising the name of the Lord; thy vacant seats are being filled up. May all good things be for them that love thee, O Jerusalem; may peace be in thy strength, and abundance in thy towers. For the sake of my brethren and of my neighbours, who are already thy inhabitants, I take pleasure in thee; because of the Lord our God, whose dwelling thou art, I have placed in thee all my desire.'³

FIRST VESPERS

The bells ring out as joyously as on the brightest days. They announce the great solemnity of the closing cycle: the feast which shows us time stamped with the impress of eternity, and God taking possession of the declining year and gathering in its harvest. At the sound of their triumphant and harmonious peals, the Church, prostrate and fasting since morning, raises her brow to the light. Guided by St. John, she penetrates the secrets of heaven; and the words of the beloved disciple, uttered by her lips, assume a tone of incomparable enthusiasm. This feast is truly the triumph of her motherhood; for the great crowd of the blessed before the throne of the Lamb are the sons and daughters she alone has given to the Lord.

1. ANT. Vidi turbam magnam, quam dinumerare nemo poterat, ex omnibus gentibus, stantes ante thronum.

1. ANT. I saw a great multitude which no man could number, of all nations, standing before the throne.

Ps. Dixit Dominus, page 35.

Beside her own glorified sons the Church beholds the angels, with their magnificent ritual and their prostrate adoration. Her heart is enraptured at the scene, and she describes it to those who are still militant on earth with her.

2. ANT. Et omnes angeli stabant in circuitu throni, et ceciderunt in conspectu throni in facies suas, et adoraverunt Deum.

2. ANT. And all the angels stood round about the throne, and they fell down before the throne upon their faces, and adored God.

Ps. Confitebor tibi, Domine, page 37.

But the uninterrupted homage and chants of the heavenly princes are not the only glory rendered to the Most High in His eternal temple. As, even in the midst of a numerous choir, a mother can distinguish the voice of her child, so the Church exults to hear the family she has brought up for her Spouse joining in the heavenly concert and celebrating the Lamb, whose Blood has purchased them the kingdom of God.

3. ANT. Redemisti nos, Domine Deus, in sanguine tuo ex omni tribu, et lingua, et populo, et natione, et fecisti nos Deo nostro regnum.

3. ANT. O Lord God, thou hast redeemed us in thy blood, out of every tribe, and tongue, and people, and nation, and hast made us a kingdom to our God.

Ps. Beatus vir, page 38.

This is the true joy, the ineffable consolation of this day; and the exiled Church cannot refrain from sending up a burning appeal to the saints to praise the Lord, if possible, with still greater zeal. 'Be happy, all of you, and sing to Him,' she cries out from this valley of tears, borrowing the words of Tobias in the land of his captivity.

4. ANT. Benedicite Dominum omnes electi ejus: agite dies lætitiæ, et confitemini illi.

4. ANT. Bless ye the Lord, all his elect, keep days of joy, and give glory to him.

Ps. Laudate pueri, page 39.

To praise God unceasingly is the lot of the saints, Israel's goodly inheritance in the true Sion. The Church, in her transport, wearies not of extolling this glorious lot, this better part, privilege of a few on earth, but enjoyed by all in heaven.

5. ANT. Hymnus omnibus sanctis ejus: filiis Israel, populo appropinquanti sibi: gloria hæc est omnibus sanctis ejus.

5. ANT. A hymn to all his saints; to the children of Israel, a people approaching to him: this glory is to all his saints.

PSALM 116

Laudate Dominum, omnes gentes: laudate eum, omnes populi.

Quoniam confirmata est super nos misericordia ejus: et veritas Domini manet in æternum.

O praise the Lord, all ye nations; praise him, all ye people.

For his mercy is confirmed upon us: and the truth of the Lord remaineth for ever.

No power can lessen the glory of the holy city, or diminish the number of its happy inhabitants, which was fixed before all ages in the counsels of the Most High. Although the world is only too deserving of wrath, it cannot be consumed until it has furnished heaven with the last of the elect. This is expressed in a lively manner by the capitulum, taken from the Apocalypse.

CAPITULUM

(Apoc. vii.)

Ecce ego Joannes vidi alterum angelum ascendentem ab ortu solis, habentem signum Dei vivi: et clamavit voce magna quatuor angelis, quibus datum est nocere terræ et mari, dicens: Nolite nocere terræ et mari, neque arboribus, quoadusque signemus servos Dei nostri in frontibus eorum.

Lo, I John saw another angel ascending from the rising of the sun, having the sign of the living God; and he cried with a loud voice to the four angels, to whom it was given to hurt the earth and the sea, saying: Hurt not the earth, nor the sea, nor the trees, till we sign the servants of our God in their foreheads.

Rabanus Maurus, abbot of Fulda and archbishop of Mayence, is supposed to be the author of the following hymn. The perfidious nation, whose expulsion from Christian lands is prayed for, was in the ninth century the race of infidel Normans, who filled the empire with slaughter and ruin under Charlemagne's weak successors. The striking conversion of these savage destroyers was the answer of the saints. May they ever hear the Church's prayers in a like manner, enlighten those who persecute her without knowing her, and make of them her firmest supporters.

HYMN

Placare, Christe, servulis, Quibus Patris clementiam Tuæ ad tribunal gratiæ
Patrona Virgo postulat.

Et vos beata, per novem Distincta gyros, agmina, Antiqua cum præsentibus,
Futura damna pellite.

Apostoli cum vatibus, Apud severum Judicem, Veris reorum fletibus Exposcite indulgentiam.

Vos purpurati martyres, Vos candidati præmio
Confessionis, exsules Vocate nos in patriam.

Chorea casta virginum, Et quos eremus incolas Transmisit astris, cælitum
Locate nos in sedibus.

Auferte gentem perfidam Credentium de finibus, Ut unus omnes unicum Ovile nos pastor regat.

Deo Patri sit gloria, Natoque Patris unico, Sancto simul Paraclito, In sempiterna sæcula.

Amen.

℣. Lætamini in Domino, et exsultate, justi.

℟. Et gloriamini, omnes recti corde.

O Christ, be propitious to thy servants, for whom thy Virgin Mother stands as advocate before the throne of grace, imploring the Father's mercy.

Ninefold circle of blessed choirs, drive far from us all evils, past, present, and to come.

Apostles and prophets, plead before the terrible Judge, and, for the unfeigned tears of us poor sinners, obtain our pardon.

Ye martyrs crimson-clad, ye confessors with snow-white wreaths, call us from exile into our fatherland.

Spotless choirs of virgins and ye who from the desert have sped beyond the stars, give us a place among your heavenly thrones.

Drive the perfidious race far from Christian lands, that we may all be gathered by one pastor into the one fold.

Glory be to God the Father, and to the Father's only Son, together with the Holy Paraclete, for everlasting ages.

Amen.

Glory be to God the Father, and to his only Son, together with the holy Paraclete, through everlasting ages.

Amen.

℣. Be glad in the Lord, and
rejoice, ye just.

℟. And glory, all ye right of
heart.

All the choirs of angels, all the ranks of the saints, receive, in the Magnificat antiphon, the homage of the
Church's prayer; and all will join in praising the Queen of heaven and earth, by singing her own glorious canticle.

ANTIPHON OF THE MAGNIFICAT

Angeli, Archangeli, Throni et Dominationes, Principatus et Potestates, Virtutes cælorum,
Cherubim atque Seraphim, Patriarchæ et Prophetæ, sancti
legis Doctores, Apostoli, omnes Christi Martyres, sancti Confessores, Virgines Domini, Anachoretæ, Sanctique omnes, intercedite pro nobis.

Ye Angels and Archangels, Thrones and Dominations, Principalities and Powers, Virtues of the heavens, Cherubim and Seraphim, Patriarchs and Prophets, holy Doctors of the law, Apostles, all ye Martyrs of Christ, holy Confessors, Virgins of the Lord, Anchorets, and all ye Saints, make intercession for us.

The Canticle Magnificat, page 43.

PRAYER

Omnipotens sempiterne Deus,
qui nos omnium sanctorum tuorum merita sub una tribuisti celebritate venerari: quæsumus; ut desideratam nobis tuæ
propitiationis abundantiam, multiplicatis intercessoribus largiaris. Per Dominum.

O almighty, everlasting God, who hast granted us to venerate in one solemnity the merits of all thy saints, we beseech thee, that as our intercessors are multiplied, thou wouldst bestow upon us the desired abundance of thy mercy. Through our Lord.

When Rome had completed the conquest of the world, she dedicated to all the gods, in token of her gratitude, the Pantheon, the most durable monument of her power. But when she herself had been conquered by Christ, and invested by Him with the empire over souls, she withdrew her homage from vain idols and offered it to the martyrs; for they, praying for her as she slew them, had rendered her truly eternal. To the martyrs, then, and to Mary their Queen, she consecrated for ever, on the morrow of her merciful chastisement, the now purified Pantheon.

'Come forth from your dwellings, ye saints of God, hasten to the place prepared for you.' For three centuries the catacombs were the resting-place of our Lord's athletes, when they were borne from the arena. These

¹ Pontificale Rom. Ant. in Eccl. Dedicatione.

valiant warriors deserved the honours of a triumph far better than did the great victors of old. In 312, however, Rome, disarmed but not yet changed in heart, was not at all disposed to applaud the men who had conquered the gods of Olympus and of the Capitol. While the Cross surmounted her ramparts, the white-robed army still lay entrenched in the subterranean crypts that surrounded the city like so many outworks. Three centuries more were granted to Rome, that she might make satisfaction to God's justice, and take full cognizance of the salvation reserved for her by His mercy. In 609 the patient work of grace was completed; the Sovereign Pontiff Boniface IV uttered the word for the sacred crypts to yield up their treasures. It was a solemn moment, a forerunner of that wherein the angel's trumpet-call shall sound over the sepulchres of the world.¹ The successor of St. Peter, in all his apostolic majesty and surrounded by an immense crowd, presented himself at the entrance of the catacombs. He was attended by eighteen chariots magnificently adorned for the conveyance of the martyrs. The ancient triumphal way opened before the saints; the sons of the Quirites sang in their honour: 'You shall come with joy and proceed with gladness; for behold, the mountains and the hills exult, awaiting you with joy. Arise, ye saints of God, come forth from your hiding-places; enter into Rome, which is now the holy city; bless the Roman people following you to the temple of the false gods, which is now dedicated as your own church, there to adore together with you the majesty of the Lord.'²

Thus, after six centuries of persecution and destruction, the martyrs had the last word; and it was a word of blessing, a signal of grace for the great city hitherto drunk with the blood of Christians. More than rehabilitated by the reception she was giving to the witnesses of Christ, she was now not merely Rome, but the new Sion, the privileged city of the Lord. She now burned before the saints the incense they had refused to offer to her idols;

¹ Sequence Dies iræ. ² Cf. Pontificale Rom. Ant. in Eccl. Dedicat.

their blood had flowed before the very altar on which she now invited them to rest, since the usurpers had been hurled back into the abyss. It was a happy inspiration that induced her, when she dedicated to the holy martyrs the temple built by Marcus Agrippa and restored by Severus Augustus, to leave upon its pediment the names of its original constructors and the title they had given it; for then only did the famous monument truly merit its name, when Christian Rome could apply to the new inhabitants of the Pantheon those words of the psalm: 'I have said, you are gods.' May 13 was the day of their triumphant installation.

Every dedication on earth reminds the Church, as she herself tells us, of the assembly of the saints, the living stones of the eternal dwelling which God is building for Himself in heaven.² It is not astonishing, then, that the dedication of Agrippa's Pantheon, under the above-mentioned circumstances, should have originated the feast of to-day.¹ Its anniversary, recalling the memory of the martyrs collectively, satisfied the Church's desire of honouring year by year all her blessed sons who had died for the Lord; for, at an early date it became impossible to celebrate each of them on the day of his glorious death. In the age of peace there was added to the cultus of the martyrs that of the other just, who daily sanctified themselves in all the paths of heroism opened out to Christian courage. The thought of uniting these with the former in one common solemnity, which would supply for the unavoidable omission of many of them, followed naturally upon the initiative given by Boniface IV.

In 732, in the first half of that eighth century which was such a grand age for the Church, Gregory III dedicated, at St. Peter's on the Vatican, an oratory in honour 'of the Saviour, of His blessed Mother, of the holy apostles, of all the holy martyrs, confessors, and perfect just, who repose throughout the world.'⁴ A dedication under so extensive a title did not, it is true, imply the establishment of our feast of All Saints by the illustrious pontiff;

³ Collecta in die Dedicationis Altaris; Postcomm. Anniv. Dedic. Eccl.
³ Martyrolog. ad hanc diem. ⁴ Lib. Pontific. in Gregorio III.

yet from this period it began to be celebrated by divers churches, and that, too, on November 1, as is attested, with regard to England, by Venerable Bede's martyrology and the pontifical of Egbert of York. It was far, however, from being universal, when in the year 835 Louis le Débonnaire, at the request of Gregory IV, and with the consent of all the bishops of his realm, made its celebration obligatory by law. This decree was welcomed by the whole Church and adopted as her own, says Ado, with reverence and love.

The councils of Spain and Gaul, as early as the sixth century,² mention a custom then existing, of sanctifying the commencement of November by three days of penance and litanies, like the Rogation days which precede the feast of our Lord's Ascension. The fast on the Vigil of All Saints is the only remaining vestige of this custom of our forefathers, who, after the institution of the feast, advanced the triduum of penance, so as to make it a preparation for the solemnity itself. 'Let our devotion be complete,' is the recommendation of a contemporaneous author; 'let us prepare ourselves for this most holy solemnity by three days of fasting, prayer, and almsdeeds.'³

When extended to the entire world, the feast became complete; it was made equal to the greatest solemnities, and widened its horizon till it reached the infinite, embracing uncreated as well as created sanctity. Its object was now, not only Mary and the martyrs; not only all the just children of Adam; but, moreover, the nine choirs of angels, and above all the Holy Trinity itself, God who is all in all, the King of kings—that is, of the saints, the God of gods in Sion. Hear how the Church awakes her children on this day: 'Come let us adore the Lord, the King of kings, for He is the crown of all the saints.'⁴ Such was the invitation addressed by our Lord Himself to St. Mechtilde, the chantress of Helfta, the privileged one

¹ Ado, Martyrol.
² Concil. Gerund. an. 517, can. 3; Lugdun. II. an. 567, can. 1.
³ Inter opera Alcuini, Epist. xci. ad calcem. ⁴ Invitatory of the feast.

of His divine Heart: 'Praise Me, for that I am the crown of all the saints.' The virgin then beheld all the beauty of the elect and their glory drawing increase from the Blood of Christ, and resplendent with the virtues practised by Him; and, responding to our Lord's appeal, she praised with all her might the blissful and ever-adorable Trinity, for deigning to be to the saints their diadem and their admirable dignity.

Dante, too, describes Beatrice in the highest heaven forming her crown of the reflection of the eternal rays. 'Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost,' sang the inhabitants of paradise with one voice. 'I seemed,' says the sublime poet, 'to behold a smile of the universe. The kingdom of bliss, with all its people both old and new, turned look and love all towards one point. O triple light, which shining in a single star dost so delight them, look down upon our tempests!'²

In many churches the ancient Office of the feast, up to the sixteenth century, had this peculiarity, that at the Nocturns the first antiphon, the first blessing, the first lesson, and the first responsory, treated of the blessed Trinity; the second of these respective pieces spoke of our Lady, the third of the angels, the fourth of the patriarchs and prophets, the fifth of the apostles, the sixth of the martyrs, the seventh of the confessors, the eighth of the virgins, the ninth of all the saints. On this account the first lesson, contrary to the custom of the rest of the year, was given to the highest dignitary of the choir, and the first responsory to the first cantors. The rest followed in order down to the children, one of whom sang the lesson of the virgins, and five others, clothed in white and holding lighted tapers in their hands in memory of the five wise virgins, sang the eighth responsory before the Lady-altar. The ninth lesson and responsory were again chanted by priests. All, or nearly all, these customs have been successively modified; but the arrangement of the responsories remains the same.

¹ S. Mechtildis, Lib. Spec. Grat. i. et ii. xx.
² Dante, Paradiso, canto xxxi.

Our readers will be glad to find here the primitive antiphons and responsories referred to in the visions of saints, who show us each order of the blessed in heaven taking part, during this sacred night, in the prayers and thanksgivings of earth. The following texts are found alike in the breviaries of Aberdeen and Salisbury.

ANTIPHONS

1. ANT. Adesto, Deus unus
omnipotens, Pater et Filius et Spiritus Sanctus.

2. ANT. Sicut lilium inter spinas, sic amica mea inter filias.

3. ANT. Laudemus Dominum quem laudant Angeli, quem Cherubim et Seraphim Sanctus, Sanctus, Sanctus proclamant.

4. ANT. Inter natos mulierum non surrexit major Joanne Baptista.

5. ANT. Estote fortes in bello et pugnate cum antiquo serpente, et accipietis regnum æternum, alleluia.

6. ANT. Isti sunt sancti qui pro Dei amore minas hominum contempserunt; sancti martyres in regnum æternum exsultant cum angelis: o quam
pretiosa est mors sanctorum, qui assidue assistunt ante Dominum, et ab invicem non sunt separati.

7. ANT. Sint lumbi vestri præcincti, et lucernæ ardentes
in manibus vestris, et vos similes hominibus exspectantibus dominum suum, quando revertatur a nuptiis.

8. ANT. Virgines sanctæ Dei,
orate pro nobis, ut scelerum veniam per vos accipere mereamur.

1. ANT. Be propitious to us, O God, who art One and Almighty, Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.

2. ANT. As the lily among thorns, so is my beloved among the daughters.

3. ANT. Let us praise the Lord, whom the Angels praise, whom Cherubim and Seraphim proclaim Holy, Holy, Holy.

4. ANT. Among those born of women, there hath not arisen a greater than John the Baptist.

5. ANT. Be valiant in war, and fight with the old serpent, and you shall receive an eternal kingdom, alleluia.

6. ANT. These are the holy ones, who for the love of God despised the threats of men; the holy martyrs now rejoice with the angels in the eternal kingdom. Oh, how precious is the death of the saints, who continually stand before the Lord, and are not separated from one another.

7. ANT. Let your loins be girt, and lamps burning in your hands: and you yourselves like to men who wait for their Lord, when he shall return from the wedding.

8. ANT. Holy virgins of God, pray for us, that through you we may deserve to obtain pardon of our crimes.

9. ANT. Laudem dicite Deo nostro, omnes sancti ejus, et qui timetis Deum, pusilli et magni, quoniam regnavit Dominus
Deus noster omnipotens: gaudeamus et exsultemus, et demus gloriam ei.

9. ANT. Sing praise to our God, all his saints, and you that fear the Lord, little and great, for the Lord our God almighty hath reigned: let us rejoice and exult, and give glory to him.

RESPONSORIES

1. ℟. Summæ Trinitati, simplici Deo, una divinitas, æqualis gloria, coæterna majestas,
Patri Prolique Sanctoque Flamini: * Qui totum subdit suis orbem legibus.

℣. Præstet nobis gratiam deitas beata Patris ac Nati pariterque Spiritus almi, * Qui totum
subdit suis orbem legibus.

2. ℟. Felix namque es, sacra Virgo Maria, et omni laude dignissima: * Quia ex te ortus est Sol justitiæ, Christus Deus
noster.

℣. Ora pro populo, interveni pro clero, intercede pro devoto femineo sexu, sentiant omnes tuum levamen, quicumque celebrant tuam solemnitatem, * Quia.

3. ℟. Te sanctum Dominum in excelsis laudant omnes Angeli, dicentes: * Te decet, † Laus et honor Domine.

℣. Cherubim quoque ac Seraphim Sanctus proclamant, et omnis cælicus ordo dicens. * Te decet. Gloria Patri. † Laus.

4. ℟. Inter natos mulierum non surrexit major Joanne Baptista: * Qui viam Domino præparavit in eremo.

℣. Fuit homo missus a Deo cui nomen Joannes erat. * Qui viam.

1. ℟. To the most high Trinity, to the invisible God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, be one divinity, equal glory, co-eternal majesty. * Who subjects the whole world to his laws.

℣. May the blessed Godhead of the Father, and of the Son, and likewise of the Holy Spirit, grant us grace. * Who subjects the whole world to his laws.

2. ℟. Happy art thou, O holy Virgin Mary, and most worthy of all praise: * For from thee arose the Sun of justice, Christ our God.

℣. Pray for the people, plead for the clergy, intercede for the devout female sex, let all experience thy aid who celebrate thy solemnity. * For from thee.

3. ℟. Thee, holy Lord, all the Angels praise on high, saying: * To thee beseemeth. † Praise and honour, O Lord.

℣. The Cherubim also and the Seraphim cry out, Holy; and every heavenly rank, saying: * To thee beseemeth. Glory be to the Father. † Praise and honour.

4. ℟. Among those born of women there hath not risen a greater than John the Baptist: * Who prepared the way for the Lord in the desert.

℣. There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. * Who prepared.

5. ℟. Cives apostolorum et domestici Dei advenerunt hodie: * Portantes facem et illuminantes patriam, dare pacem gentibus et liberare populum Domini.

℣. Audite preces supplicum vitæ æternæ poscentes præmia, qui fertis in dextris manipulos justitiæ, quique gaudentes advenistis hodie. * Portantes.