Chapter 7: For the Second Sunday after Epiphany

St. Gertrude receives absolution from our Divine Lord— Instruction for Hoi}' Communion.

ON the Sunday Omnis terrafi St. Gertrude prepared her self, by a spiritual confession, to behold the Sacred Face of

"Marsupium."

t Omnis terra— the Introit for Mass, Second Sunday after Epiphany, in the Roman Missal. The Mass of the Holy Name is now, however, generally substituted for it. The devotion to the Holy Face, like all Catholic devotions, has only deepened with the lapse of ages, and the faithful still venerate it as lovingly and ardently as when the great St. Gertrude wrote of it. It is still shown at Koine, on the very same day mentioned by the Saint. M. le Chanoiue de Montault, in his Annie liturgique a Rome, p. 25, the Lord, as the faithful do on this day at Rome ; and she represented this Face to herself as all disfigured by her sins, and cast herself at the feet of the Lord, to ask pardon for all her transgressions. Then He lifted up His venerable Hand, and blessed her thus : " I grant you, by the bowels of My mercy, the pardon and remission of all your sins ; and that you may truly amend your life, I enjoin you this satis faction — that each day during this year you will perform some action in union with, and in memory of, the mercy by which I grant you this indulgence." The Saint accepted the satisfaction with great thanksgiving ; but fearing her frailty, she said : " But what shall I do, O Lord, if I should fail in this, through my negligence ? " " Why should you fail in so easy a matter?" he replied ; " for I will accept the least thing which you do with this intention, if it be only to lift a pebble or a straw from the ground, to utter a single word, to show kindness to any one, to say the Requiem ceternam for the faithful departed, or to pray for sinners or the just."

The Saint was exceedingly consoled by this, and began nays: "Second Sunday after Epiphany, at the Basilica of the Vatican, at half -past three, procession of the Confraternity of the Holy Ghost, and exposition of the great relics of the Passion ; the Holy Lance, the Wood of the Cross, and the Veil of St. Veronica."

Dom Gueranger, in his Annie liturgique, also mentions a solemn exhihition of this holy relic, at which the Pope assists, on Easter Sunday, after the Post-Communion. The devotion to the Sacred Face has been much propagated in France during the last few years, and has heen the means of procuring many miraculous graces and cures. It is, indeed, a consoling devotion ; for we shall be judged standing before the Face of Christ, but no longer the suffering Face. If, then, we have been devout to it during life, surely we may hope that it will look mercifully and lovingly upon us when we stand before the judgment-seat.

to pray for her particular friends, beseeching our Lord to grant them the same favour. He granted her petition, and said : " All who wish to share with you in the satisfaction which I have imposed on you, will also receive a similar indulgence and remission of their sins." And then ex tending His sacred Hand, He gave her His benediction a second time. After this He said : " Oh, what abundant benedictions I will pour forth on him who returns to Me at the end of this year with works of charity exceeding the number of his sins ! " But the Saint exclaimed dis trustfully : " How can this be, since the heart of man is so prone to evil, that scarcely an hour passes in which he does not sin in many ways ?" Our Lord replied : " Why should you think this so difficult, when there are many things that please Me, and there is nothing, however difficult, which My grace cannot accomplish." "Lord," inquired Gertrude, " what will you give to him who accom plishes this in Thy strength ? " "I can give you no better answer than this,'' He replied, " That I will give ' What eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither hath it entered into the heart of man to conceive'" (1 Cor. ii. 9). How happy will he be who has practised this devotion for a year, or even for a single month, since he may expect the same reward from the liberality of His God !

On the following day, as she prayed for those who com municated according to her advice, but could not approach the Sacrament of Penance, on account of the absence of their confessor, it appeared that our Lord clothed them with a white robe, as a sign of innocence, adorned with pre cious stones, which had the form and the scent of violets, as a type of the humility with which they had followed her advice. A rose-coloured mantle was also given to them, covered with flowers of gold, which signified the loving

Passion of our Lord, in virtue of which they obtained a worthy preparation for Communion. " Let them be seated near me," said our Lord, " that it may be known that it is not by accident, but on purpose, that the first place is kept for them ; because from all eternity it has been ordained that those who have followed your advice shall receive ex traordinary favours from Me to-day ; and those who have communicated without confessing and without asking your advice, resting on the goodness and grace of God, shall receive a rose-coloured mantle with gold flowers, and shall also be seated at the table of the Lord."

Those who, through humility and compunction, had ab stained from Communion, appeared as if standing before the table, and rejoicing in its delights. Then the Lord, moved by His own mercy, blessed them with His Hand, saying these words : " All those who meditate frequently on the vision of My Divine Face, attracted by the desires of love, shall receive within them, by the virtue of My Humanity, a bright ray of My Divinity, which shall en lighten their inmost souls, so that they shall reflect the light of My countenance in a special manner in eternity."