Wednesday of the Second Week of Advent

De Isaia Propheta. Cap. XVL Emitte Agnum Domine, dominatorem terrae, de Detra deserti ad montem nliae bion. Et erit : sicut avis fugiens, et pulli de nido avolantes, sic erunt filiae Moab in transcensu Arnon. Ini consilium, coge consilium, pone quasi noctem umbram tuam in meridie : absconde fugientes, et vag ne prodas. Habitabunt apud te prof ugi mei : Moab, esto latioulum eorum a facie vastatoris. Finitus est enim pulvis, consummatus est miser, defecit qui conculcabat terram. Et praeparabitur in misericordia solium,et sedebit super illud in veritate, in tabernaculo David, Judicans et quaerens judicium, et velociter reddens quod justum est.

Send forth to us, 0 i " Lamb, says Peter of

Come, let us adore the King our Lord, who is to come.

From the Prophet Isaias. Ch.XVL.

Send forth, O Lord, the Lamb the ruler of the earth, from Petra of the desert to the mount of the daughter of Sion. And it shall come to pass, that as a bird fleeing away, and as young ones flying out of the nest, so shall the daughters of Moab be in the passage of Arnon. Take council, gather a council, make thy shadow as the night in the mid-day: hide them that flee, and betray not them that wander about. My fugitives shall dwell with thee: O Moab, be thou a covert to them from the face of the destroyer. For the dust is at an end, the wretch is consumed, he hath failed that trod the earth under foot. And a throne shall be prepared in mercy, and one shall sit upon it in truth in the tabernacle of David, judging and seeking judgment, and (juickly rendering that which is just.

•eZ, the Lamb : "It is the dies, " it is the Lamb we

"need, and not the Lion; the Lamb thaft knows "no anger, and whose meekness is never ruffled; "the Lamb that will give us his snow-white wool "to warm our coldness, and cover our naked- " ness ; the Lamb that will give us his flesh to eat, "lest we faint with hunger on the way. Send " him full of wisdom, for in his divine prudence he " will vanquish the spirit of pride ; send him full of " strength, for it is written that the Lord is strong " and mighty in battle ; send him full of meekness, "for he is to come down as dew that falls on the " fleece ; send him as a victim, for he is to be sold " and immolated for our ransom ; send him the par- " doner of sinners, for he is come to call them^ and " not the just; send him to receive power and divinity, " he that is worthy to loose the seven seals of the " sealed book, the unspeakable mystery of the Incar- " nation."1 Thou art King, then, O Divine Lamb ! Thou art, even now, in thy Mother's womb, the sovereign Ruler. This virginal womb is a throne of mercy whereon thou art seated in humility, ready to avenge our rights and confound our cruel enemy. O most dear King ! our eyes cannot yet behold thee, but our hearts tell us thou art near us. We know that it is for our sakes that thou hast put on this strange royalty. Suffer us to approach thee, and offer thee our homage and loyalty, even now that a cloud hides thee from our sight. A few days more, and thou wilt be seated on another throne, thy Mother's arms, and then all the earth will see the salvation that is sent unto it.

HYMN TAKEN FROM THE ANTHOLOGY OF THE GREEKS.

(December the 20th.)

Cave of Bethlehem, be Spelunca, parare ; Agna readv, for here comes the enim venit fcetum gerens Mother bearing Christ, her Christum : recipe, prasse-

1 TMrd Sermon for Advent.

190 ADV pium, ilium qui nos terrigenas verbo solvit ineffabili modo : pastores de nocte vigilantes, prodigiosum confitemini miraculum ; magique e Perside aurum, thus et myrrnam Regi afferte : quia visus est e Virgine matre Dominus, quern et ipsaprona servili modo, mater adoravit, et ei quern in brachiis suis tenebat dixit : Quomodo in me inseminatus es : vel quo modo in me ingeneratus es, Salvator meus et Deus ]

Audi, coelum, et intellige terra ; ecce enim Filius Verbumque Dei Patris procreditur ad nascendum ex Yirgine inexperta virum, sine dolore ilium pariente et virtute Spiritus Sancti. Bethlehem parare ; aperi januam, Eden : nam qui Est fit qui non erat, et plasturgus omnis creaturae plasmatur ipse, afferens mundo magnam misericordiam.

Natura immense, Christe Rex, quomodo parva te recipiet spelunca? Quomodo prsesepe te poterit continere, Jesu, ex Matre nesciente virum, advena factus in propria, ut hospites ipse salves 1

Novum facta coelum, Domina. e vulva tua, sicut e nebula Christum solem glo-

Lamb*, in her womb ; and thou, O Crib, receive him who delivers us mortals by his word ineffably ; ye Shepherds, keeping your nightwatch, tell the wondrous miracle ; ye Magi, from Persia, bring to the King gold, incense, and myrrh ; for the Lord hath appeared, born of a Virgin Mother, before whom she herself falls down, and though his Mother, yet adores him as his lowly handmaid, and then taking him into her arms, she says unto him : O my Saviour, my God, how is it that thou earnest into me, and wast produced in me 1

Hear. O ye heavens, and thou, O earth, attend : the Son and Word of God the Father is to be born of a Virgin that knows not man, and travails not when giving him birth, for all is by the power of the Holy Ghost. Bethlehem, be ready I Eden, open thy gates ! for he that Is is made what he was not, and he that formed all creatures receives himself a created form, bringing to the world plentiful mercy.

O thou that art immense by Nature, O Christ our King, how shall a little cave receive thee? How shall a crib contain thee, O Jesus, Son of a spotless Virgin, making thyself a stranger in thine own house, that thou mayest give salvation to them that harbour thee 1

Thou art a new heaven, O Lady ! Hasten to make arise from thy womb, as from a

SECOND WEDNES: cloud, Christ, the Sun of flory ; may he appear in the esh, in tne cave, shedding thence to the ends of the world his dazzling splendour, by his immense mercy.

Thou knowest, O merciful Jesus, our pains and misery, and thou despisest us not ; but emptiest thyself even before leaving thy Mother's virginal womb, where thou hast set thy tabernacle ; this thy Mother will travail not in giving thee birth in the cave, thou who art made flesh.

Mountains and hills, valleys and plains, peoples and tribes, nations and every spirit, sing the song of victory ! the fulness of a divine joy is coming, and all are to be redeemed, for the Word of God, who is beyond all time, is now made in time.

Now is coming towards us the heavenly vine, on which has ripened the immortal fruit ; she comes to produce for us the wine of joy, of which she will give us to drink : we will then sing to him, Blessed art thou, our God!

There is advancing the vessel bearing the divine perfume, and she will place it in the cave of Bethlehem, and we, filled with the mystic fragrance, will sing, Blessed art thou, O God of our Fathers !

Thou, O Mary, art like that instrument which Isaias saw of old, holding in thy womb the Christ, who, like riae oriri facere festines in spelunca carnaliter, omnes terrae fines suis splendoribus fulgentissime irradiaturum, per incommensurabilem misericordiam.

Noscis nostrum dolorem et miseriam, misericors Christe, et nos non despicis ; sed exinanistemetipsum,non adhuc egressus ex tua genitrice ; tabernaculumque figens in matrice nuptinescia, quae sine dolore te pariet in spelunca caro factum.

Montes et colles, valles et campi, populi et tribus, gentes ac omnis spiritus, alalagmum agite ; laetitiae divinae venit plenitudo, omnium advenit redemptio, Verbum Dei tempora nesciens per misericordiam factum sub tempore.

Vitis divina incorruptam maturitate nigrescere faciens uvam, appropinquat ; paritura venit laetitiae vinum scaturiens et nos bibere faciens ipsi canentes : Deus noster, benedictus es !

Myrotheca divina, intus myrum f erens graditur, ut in spelunca Bethlehem effundat iUud a quo mystico replentur odore canentes : Deus Patrum, benedictus es !

Forceps quam olim vidit Isaias Propheta, divinum carbonem Cnristum in utero geris omnem materiam

ADVENT. peccati comburentem, fideliumque animas illuminantem.

Finem habuerunt Prophetarum praeconia ; quern enim praenuntiarunt in temporis plenitudine venturum, adest, apparet, casta ex Virgine corporatus; ilium puris mentidus excipiamus. a burning coal, will consume all the dross of sin, and will enlighten the minds of the faithful

The songs of the Prophets are hushed; for He, whom they announced as having to come in the fulness of time, is present, and appears to us, having assumed a body from the chaste Virgin : let us receive him with pure hearts.

PRAYER FROM THE MOZARABIC MISSAL. {Second Sunday of Advent)

Jucundatur, Domine, et tripudiat terra; quia Verbum caro factum habitat in sacrae Virginis membra. In cujus adventu omnis de captivitate redimitur terra ; quae detinebatur per transgressionem Adae in obscurata gehenna. Nunc moveatur mare, et omnia quae in eo sunt; montes exsultent et omnia ligna silvarum ; quia Deus homo dignatur, per uterum beatae Virginis Mariae, de ccelo in mundum venire. Per ipsius igitur adventum te deprecamur, omnipotens Deus, ut nostrae carnis fragilitatem a vinculis peccatorum absolvas, et praesenti f amiliae tuae misericordia plenus occurras.

The earth is glad, O Lord, and leaps with joy, for that the Word made flesh dwells in the womb of the Holy Virgin. At his Coming, the whole earth is ransomed from captivity, after having been kept, by Adam's sin, in a dark prison. Now let the sea be moved, and all things that are therein ; let the mountains leap with joy, and all the trees of the forests ; because God, having become man, has deigned to come, through the womb of the Blessed Virgin Mary, from heaven into this world. By this his Coming, therefore we beseech thee, O Almighty God, that thou loose the weakness of our flesh from the bonds of sin, and come, in thy overflowing mercy, to the assistance of this thy family here present before thee.