Chapter 18: Explanation of the Great Psalter, and of the Seven Masses of St. Gregory

As the Great Psalter has not been explained in the pre ceding pages, we subjoin an explanation of it, for the benefit of those who may read this work, taken from the Exercises of St. Gertrude.

First we must kneel to ask pardon of our sins, saying : " O most sweet Lord Jesus, in union with the celestial praises which the Ever-Blessed Trinity renders to Itself as alone worthy of praise, and which It imparts to Thy blessed Humanity, Thy glorious Mother, Thy Angels and Saints, and then returns to the abyss of Thy Divinity, from whence it had flowed forth, I offer this Psalter to Thy praise and glory. I adore Thee, praise Thee, bless Thee, and give Thee thanks, for the love of Thy Incarnation, Thy Birth, the hunger, thirst, labours, and griefs of Thy three-and-thirty years on earth, and for Thy love in giving Thyself to us in the Sacraments of the Altar ; and I beseech Thee to unite the recital of this Psalter to the merit of Thy most holy life and conversation, which I offer for the living and the dead, for the souls of and of

; and I pray Thee to supply for and repair all that they have neglected or omitted in praise, in thanksgiving, in prayer, in devotion, in good works, which by Thy grace they might have accomplished, and in which they have {'ailed by their negligence."

Secondly, having again implored pardon, repeat this prayer : " O most sweet Lord Jesus Christ, I adore Thee and bless Thee, giving thanks to Thee for Thy love in redeeming us by Thy cruel sufferings, and because Thou, the Creator of the universe, wert taken prisoner, bound, betrayed, defamed, cast upon the ground, scourged, crowned with thorns, condemned, crucified, slain cruelly, and trans fixed with a lance, for love of us. I offer Thee my peti tions in union with the love with which Thou didst bear these outrages and indignities ; beseeching Thee, by the merit of Thy most holy Passion and Death, to pardon the sins of those for whom I pray, whether they have offended against Thee by thought, word, or deed ; and I implore Thee to offer to God the Father all Thy pains and griefs of body and soul, and the merit of each pain, for those who are still indebted to Thy justice."

Thirdly, repeat the following prayer standing up : "I adore Thee, praise Thee, and bless Thee, 0 most sweet Lord Jesus Christ, giving Thee thanks for the victorious love by which Thou didst elevate our nature to the right hand of God the Father, after raising it up victoriously from the tomb ; and I beseech Thee to grant the souls for whom I pray a participation in Thy victory and triumphs."

Fourthly, after imploring the mercy of God, say : " Saviour of the world, save us all : Mary, holy Mother of God and ever Virgin, pray for us. We beseech Thee, by the intercession of all Thy holy apostles, martyrs, confessors, and holy virgins, to keep us from evil, and to lead us to the perfection of all good. O most sweet Lord Jesus, I adore Thee, praise Thee, and bless Thee, for all the favours Thou hast conferred on Thy blessed Mother and on Thy elect, in union with that gratitude with which Thy saints rejoice in Thy blessed Incarnation, Passion, and Resurrection ; be seeching Thee, by the prayers of Thy glorious Virgin Mother and all the saints, to supply the needs of these souls."

Fifthly, recite the hundred and fifty Psalms of the Psalter devoutly and consecutively, saying, after each verse : " Hail, Jesus Christ, Splendour of the Father, Prince of peace, Gate of heaven, Bread of life, Son of a Virgin, Vessel of the Divinity ! " At the conclusion of each Psalm, repeat the following words kneeling : " Eternal rest give to them, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon them." Then say a hundred and fifty Masses, or have them said, or offer as many Communions, or at least fifty or thirty. Give alms also a hundred and fifty times, or, if this is impossible, say the Pater nosier and the Collect Dem cui, performing the same number of acts of charity. In these acts of charity may be included the least kindness done to another for the love of God — such as a kind word, or a kind act, or even a fervent prayer.

We also consider it right to say something of the Seven Masses which, according to our tradition, were divinely revealed to St. Gregory, as we believe that they will contri bute greatly to the relief of the holy souls, through the merit and efficacy of the intercession of Christ. If possible, seven lights should be burned at each Mass, in honour of the Passion of our Lord, and each day fifteen Pater nosters and Ave Marias should be recited, and seven alms given. The Office of the Dead must also be said.

The first Mass is the Domine ne longe, with the entire Passion, as on Palm Sunday ; and we should beseech our Lord, by the contempts which He freely suffered when bound and betrayed in the hands of sinners, that He would deliver those captive souls who, of their own will, enslaved themselves.

The second Mass should be Nos autem gloriari, as on the third feria after Palm Sunday (Tuesday in Holy Week), in which we must beseech our Lord, by His unjust con demnation to death, to deliver the souls justly condemned to punishment by their own act.

The third Mass should be In nomine Domine, as on the fourth feria after Palm Sunday ; and by this we must implore our Lord, by His guiltless suffering when attached to the cross, to deliver these souls from the punishment which they have deserved by attaching themselves to unworthy pleasures.

The fourth Mass will be Nos autem gloriari, with the Passion Egressus est Jesus, as on Good Friday,t when we must beseech our Lord, by His most bitter Death and the t Probably the Mass of the Presanctified was not said then. The piercing of His Heart, to heal these souls from the wounds and punishments of sin.

The fifth Mass is the Requiem, at which we must pray our Lord, by His holy burial, and by the tomb in which He, the Lord of heaven and earth, was enclosed, to deliver these souls from the fate to which they have condemned themselves by their sins.

At the sixth Mass, Resurrexi we must pray that the souls may be freed from every stain, and made worthy to participate in His glory by the merits of His joyful Resur rection.

And at the seventh Mass, Gaudiamus, as on the Assump tion of the Blessed Virgin, let us beseech our Lord and His most holy Mother, by the joy which she felt on the day of her Assumption, that by her merits and mediation these souls may be freed from every restraint, and associ ated for ever to the company of their heavenly Spouse.

If you act thus towards others, be assured that your prayer will return into your own bosom, with abundant fruit, at the hour of your death. But it will be far more advantageous for you to perform this devotion for yourself while you are able, than to trust to others after your decease ; and God, who is faithful to His promises, will keep it for you, and return it to you in good time, through the bowels of His mercy, who has visited us as the Orient from on high (Luke i. 78).

Introit is that now used on Holy Thursday ; but the same Passion ie read on Good Friday.