December 6 — Saint Nicholas

Divine Wisdom has willed that on the way which leads to the Messias, our Great High Priest, there should be many Pontifls to pay him the honour due to him. Two Popes, St. Melchiades and St. Damasus; two Holy Doctors, St. Peter Chrysologus and St. Ambrose; two Bishops, St. Nicholas and St. Eusebius: these are the glorious Pontifls who have been entrusted with the charge of preparing, by their prayers, the way of the Christian people towards Him, who is the Sovereign Priest according to the order of Melchisedecb. As each of their feasts comes, we will show their right to have been thus admitted into the court of Jesus. To-day the Church celebrates with joy the feast of the great Thaumaturgus Nicholas, who is to the Greek Church what St. Martin is to us. The Church of Rome has honoured the name of Nicholas for nearly a thousand years. Let us admire the wonderful power which God gave him over creation ; but let us offer him our most fervent congratulations in that he was permitted to be one of the three hundred and eighteen Bishops, who proclaimed, at Nicaea, that the Word is Consubstantial to the Father. The humiliations of the Son of God did not scandalise him Neither the lowliness of the flesh, which the Sovereign Lord of all things assumed to himself in the womb of the Virgin, nor the poverty of the crib, hindered him from confessing to be Son of God, equal to God, Him who is the Son of Mary : and for this reason, God has glorified this his servant, and given him the power to obtain, each year, for the children of the Church, the grace of receiving this same Jesus, the Word, with simple faith and fervent love. Let us now listen to the eulogy of St. Nicholas, which the Roman Church has inserted in her Liturgy.

Nicolaum-, illustri loco Patarae in Lycia natum, parentes a Deo precibus impetrarunt. Cujus viri sanctitas, quanta futura esset, jam ab incunabulis apparuit. Nam infans, quum reliquos dies lac nutricis f requens sugeret, auarta et sexta feria semel duntaxat, idque vesperi, sugebat : quam jejunii consuetudinem in refioua vita semper tenuit. Aaolescens parentibus orbatus, facultates suas pauperibuff distribuit. Cujus illud insigne est Christianas benignitatis exemplum, quod quum ejus civis egens tres fihas jam nubiles in matrimonio collocare non posset, earumque pudicitiam prostituere cogitaret : re cognita, Nicolaus noctu per fenestram tantum pecuniae in ejus domum injecit, quantum unius virginis doti satis esset : quod quum iterum et tertio fecisset, tres illae virgines honestis viris, in niatrimonium datae sunt.

Quum vero se totum Deo dedisset, in Palaestinam profectus est, ut loca sancta

Nicholas was born in the celebrated city of Patara, in the province of Lycia. His birth was the fruit of his parents' prayers. Evidences of his great future holiness were given from his very cradle. For when he was an infant, he would only take his food once on Wednesdays and Fridays, and then not till evening ; whilst on all other days he frequently took the breast : he kept up this custom of fastingduring the rest of his life. Having lost his parents when he was a boy, he gave all his goods to the poor. Of his Christian kindheartedness there is the following noble example. One of his fellow-citizens had three daughters ; but being too poor to obtain them an honourable marriage, he was minded to abandon them to a life of prostitution. Nicholas having got to know the case, went to the house during the night and threw in by the window a sum of money sufficient for the dower of one of the daughters ; he did the same a second and a third time; and thus the three were married to respectable men.

Having given himself wholly to the service of God, he set out for Palestine, that r et praesens veneraretur. Qua in peregrinatione navem conscendens sereno ccelo et tranquillo mari, horribilem nautis tempestatem praedixit : moxque ortam, quum essent omnes in summo periculo, orans mirabiliter sedavit. Unde quum domum reversus singularis sanctitatis omnibus documenta praeberet, Dei admonitu Myram, quae Lyciae metropolis erat, venit : quo tempore ejus urbis episcopo mortuo, provinciates episcopi de successore deliconsultabant. Itaque ea deliberatione divinitus sunt, ut eum eligegui postridie mane primus in ecclesiam ingrederetur, NicolaiiS nomine. Qua ecclesiae janua deprehensus est Nicolaus, et summo omnium consensu Myrae Episcopus creatur. Inepiscopatu castitatem, quam semper coluerat, gravitatem, orationis assiduitatem, vigilias, abstinentiam, liberalitatem et hospitalitatem, in adhortanmansuetudinem, in represeveritatem, perpetuo adhibuit. lor in a he might visit and venerate viseret, the holy places. During this pilgrimage, which he made by sea, he foretold to the mariners, on embarking, though the heavens were then serene and the sea tranquil, that they would be overtaken by a frightful storm. In a very short time, the storm arose. All were in the most imminent danger, when he quelled it by his prayers, His pilgrimage ended, he returned home, giving to all men example or the greatest sanctity. He went, by an in- gendo spiration from God, to Myra, in the Metropolis of Lycia, which admoniti had just lost its Bishop by rent, death, and the Bishops of the province had come together for the purpose of electing a observation e adhibita, in successor. Whilst they were holding council for the election, they were told by a revelation from heaven, that they should choose him who, on the morrow, should be the first to enter the church, his name being Nicholas. Accordingly, the requisite qbservations were made, when they do found Nicholas to be waiting hendendo at the church door : they took him, and, to the incredibledelight of all, made him the Bishop of Myra. During his episcopate, he never flagged in the virlues looked bishop ; chastity, which indeed he had always preserved, gravity, assiduity in prayer, watchings, abstinence, generosity, and hospitality, meekness in exhortation, severity in reproving.

358 ADV

Viduis et orphanis pecunia, consilio, opere non def uit : oppresses adeo sublevavit, ut etiam tres Tribunos, per calumniam a Constantino Augusto condemnatos, qui se propter famam miraculorum ejus orationibus, longissime absenti,commendarant,adhuc vivens, quum lniperatori, minaciter eum terrens, apparuisset liberaverit. Quum vero contra edictum Diocletiani et Maximiani Christians fidei veritatem Myrae praedicaret, ab Imperatorum satellitibus comprehensus, et longissime abductus in carcerem conjectus est ; ubi fuit usque ad Constantinum Imperatorem : cujus jussu ex custodia ereptus, My ram rediit. Mox ad Nicaenum Concilium se contulit : ubi cum trecentis illis decern et octo Patribus Arianam haeresim condemnavit. Inde reyersns ad episcopatum, non ita multopost instante morte, suspiciens in ccelum, quum Angelos sibi occurrentes intueretur, illo Psalmo pronunciato : In te, Domine, speravi, usque ad eum locum : In manus tuas commendo spiritum meum : in ccelestem papain migravit. Ejus corpus Barium in Apulia translatum, ibidem summa celebritate ac veneratione colitur.

He befriended widows and orphans by money, by advice, and by every service in his power. So zealous a defender was he of all who suffered oppression, that, on one occasion, three Tribunes having been condemned by the Emperor Constantine, who had been deceived by calumny, and having heard of the miracles wrought by Nicholas, they recommended themselves to his prayers, though he was living at a very great distance from that place : the saint appeared to Constantine, and angrily looking upon him, obtained from the terrified Emperor their deliverance. Having, contrary to the edict of Dioclesian and Maximian, preached in Myra the truth of the Christian faith, he was taken up by the servants of the two Emperors. He was taken off to a great distance and thrown into prison, where he remained until Constantine, having become Emperor, ordered his rescue, and the Saint returned to Myra. Shortly afterwards, he repaired to the Council which was being held at Nicaea : there he took part with the three hundred and eighteen Fathers in condemning the Arian heresy. Scarcely had he returned to his See. than he was taken with the sickness of which he soon died. Looking up to heaven, and seeing Angels coming to meet him, he began the Psalm, In thee, 0 Lord, have

I hoped; and having come to those words, Into thy hands I commend my spirit, his soul took its flight to the heavenly country. His body, having been translated to Bari in Apulia, is the object of universal veneration.

Almost all the Breviaries of the Latin Church, up to the 17th century, contain most fervent praises of the virtues and miracles of St. Nicholas, and give the beautiful Office of the holy Bishop, which was composed about the 12th century. We have spoken elsewhere upon this Office, as far as regards the music ; at present we will only mention its being drawn up exclusively on the Acts of St. Nicholas, and its being more explicit on some circumstances of the Saint's life than is the Legend of the Roman Breviary. The following portions of this Office dwell with complacency on a fact which is not mentioned in our Liturgy : we mean the miraculous oil, which, for almost eight hundred years, has flowed without ceasing from the tomb of the holy Bishop, and by means of which God has frequently wrought miracles. The Responsory and Antiphon, which we give, are upon the miracle of the oil itself. They were formerly so familiar to the faithful, that in the 13th century their music was sung to the Responsory Unus Panis, and to the Antiphon 0 quam suams est, of the Office of Corpus Christi.

RESPONSORY.

Ex ejus tumba marmorea sacrum resudat oleum, quo liniti sanantur caeci : Surdis auditus redditur : et debilis quisque sospes re-

1$. From his marble tomb 1$. there flows a holy oil, wherewith the blind are anointed and healed : * The deaf re- * cover their hearing : and the weak return home strong, greditur. ^f. Catervatim ru-

The people rush in crowds, unt populi cernere cupientes, desiring to witness the quae per eum fiunt mirabilia. wonderful works which are * Surdis auditus redditur: dbyGoogk et debilis quisque sospes regreditur. done by him. * The deaf recover their hearing : and the weak return home strong.

ANTIPHON.

O Christi pietas omni prosequenda laude ! Quae sui famuli Nicolai merita longe, lateque declarat : nam ex tumoa ejus oleum man at, cunctosque languidos sanat.

O ! the mercy of Christ, worthy of all our praise ! which makes known, through the length and breaath of the world, the merits of his servant Nicholas : for from his tomb there flows an oil, and it heals all that are infirm.

HYMN I.

Pange lingua Nicolai Prsesuns praeconium, Ut nos summus Adonai Rex et Pater omnium, Ad salutis portum trahi Faciat per Filium.

Dum penderet ad mamillam

Matris, ab infantia, Quarta semel bibit illam, Atque sexta feria ; Ne per lactis puer stillam, Solveret jejunia.

Sublimatus ad honorem Nicolaus Praesulis, Pietatis ita rorem Cunctis pluit populis ; Ut vix parem aut majorem Habeat in saeculis.

Auro dato, violari Virgines prohibuit ; Far in fame, vas in mari, Seryat et distribuit ;

Sui timebant naufragari, autis opem tribuit.

A defunctis suscitatur Furtum qui commiserat ; Et Judaeus baptizatur, Furtumque recuperat ;

Tell, O my tongue, the praise of the Pontiff Nicholas that so the sovereign Adonai, the King and Father of all creatures, may grant us to be brought by his Son, to the port of salvation.

When yet a babe at his mother's breast, he took it but once on eacn fourth and sixth feria, nor would the child break his fast by one drop of milk.

Elevated to the dignity of Pontiff, Nicholas so abundantly gave to all men the dew of piety, that scarce could any age find a better or so good a Pastor.

He gives his gold to secure virgins their treasure ; he distributes corn to the people in a famine ; he brings up from the depths of the sea a vase that had fallen in ; he brings help to mariners who were well nigh to shipwreck.

He brings to life a dead man who had committed a theft ; the Jew is baptized and recovers what had been stolen from him ; the one is restored to life ; the other is brought to the faith.

Nicholas ! thou fair gem, and honour, and glory 01 the priesthood ! help by thy gracious intercession the whole people, the whole clergy; that their minds, and hands, and lips, may pay their tribute to our God.

Praise, power, and triumph, to the most High Trinity ! May it give us to come, after this life, with our laurel wreaths upon us, to the joys which Nicholas the Blessed possesses in our country of heaven. Amen.

Uli vita rfistauratur ; Hie ad tidem properat.

Nicolae, sacerdotum Decus, honor, gloria, Plebem omnem, clerum to turn,

Mentes, manus, labia, Ad reddendum Deo votum, Tua juvet gratia.

Sit laus summse Trinitati Virtus et victoria, Quae det nobis ut beati Nicolai gaudia Assequamur laureati, Post vitam in patria.

Amen.

HYMN II.

Let the clergy joyfully raise their voice in song, and magnify Nicholas the father and patron of the clergy; and let their chants give fresh devotion to their already v fervent and docile heart. Let the Greeks, and Latins, jd every tongue and tribe ' nation • let the sea, and 1 ; let all, whatever their W condition, guest or citizen or stranger, sing the

S raises of Nicholas with one ke enthusiasm. This Pontiff, whose name is immortal in the memory of men, ever gave, gives, and will give favours to all ; he will make him? who was pining away in grief , bloom in joy as a lily.

Whilst living in the flesh he spurned the deeds of the flesh; he did nothing and

Cleri patrem et patronum Nicolaum praedicet, Laete promens vocis sonum Clerus, et magnificet : Se cor promptum, se cor pronum Sono vocis ampliet.

Graecus omnis et Latinus, Lingua, tribus, natio : Orbis terras, maris sinus, Sexus et conditio ; Hospes, cives, peregrinus, Pari psallat studio.

Semper dedit, dat et dabit Cunctis beneficia Praesul, cujus nomen abit Nunquam e memoria ; Quisque moestus germinabit,

Florens sicut lilia.

Hie in carne constitutus Carnis spernens opera, Nihil asens s»\it lucutus,

Nisi salutifera : Vinclis carnis absolutus, Tandem scandit aethera. spoke nothing but what was unto salvation ; and now, having been loosed from the bonds of the flesh, he has mounted to the starry realms.

How great is the power of his chanty, even in this very age, is plainly enough manifested by the oil which flows from his tomb, giving to all people, that ask it, the boon of health.

Praise, power, and triumph to the most High Trinity ! May it give us to come, after this life, with our laurel wreaths upon us, to the joys which Nicholas the Blessed

Eossesses in our country of eaven. Amen.

It was impossible for Adam of Saint- Victor to remain silent in the praises of St. Nicholas. The Churches, in the Middle Ages, received from him the following beautiful Sequence.

SEQUENCE.

Quae sit virtus charitatis Hoc praesenti saeculo, Oleum declarat satis, guod manat de tumulo ; t dat munus sanitatis Imploranti populo.

Sit laus summae Trinitati, Virtus et victoria, Quae det nobis ut beati Nicolai gaudia Assequamur laureati, Post vitam in patria.

Amen.

Congaudentes exsultemus Vocali concordia, Ad beati Nicolai Festiva solemnia.

Qui in cunis adhuc jacens, Servanjio jejunia :

A papilHs coepit summa Promereri gaudia.

Adolescens amplexatur Litterarum studia.

Alienus et immunis Ab omni lascivia.

Felix Confessor, Cujus fuit dignitatis Vox de coelo nuntia.

Per quam provectus, Praesulatus sublimatur Ad cumma. fastigia.

With our hearts and songs in unison, let us exult on this festive solemnity of Blessed Nicholas.

When a babe in his cradle, he began to fast,

And thus deserved, before weaned from the breast, the joys of heaven.

He enters, when a boy, upon a course of studies,

Yet follows not, yet knows not, impurity.

Blessed Confessor indeed, whose worth was known by a message from heaven,

At whose bidding he was promoted and exalted to the supreme dignity of Pontiff.

DEC. 6. ST.

There was in his soul the most tender compassion, which prompted him to bestow continual benefits on them who suffered oppression.

He averted infamy from virgins by the gold he gave • and by the same he relieved their father's poverty.

There were some mariners had set sail • when a furious storm attacked them, and their bark was well-nigh wrecked :

Despairing of life, and in this extreme danger, they cry out with one voice, saying :

"O holy Nicholas ! help us out of these straits of death, and lead us into harbour !

" Yea, lead us into harbour, thou whose kind heart is ever ready to help them that are in affliction.

They prayed; nor was it in vain : for lo ! a voice was heard saying : " I am here to help you."

Straightways arose a favourable wind : the storm was lulled : the sea was calm.

From his tomb there flows an abundant oil :

It heals all kinds of sickness, through the intercession of the Saint.

We who are now living in thin world, have already suffered shipwreck in the sea of sin :

Ah ! glorious Nicholas, lead us into the harbour of

Erat in ejus animo Pietas eximia Et oppressis impendebat Multa beneficia.

Auro rjer eum virginum Tollitur infamia, Atque patris earumdem, Levatur inopia.

Quidam nautse navigantes, Et contra fluctuum Saevitiam luctantes, Navi pene dissoluta ;

Jam de vita desperantes, In tanto positi Periculo : clamantes Voce dicunt omnes una :

O beate Nicolae, Nos ad maris portum trahe De mortis angustia.

Trahe nos ad portum maris : Tu qui tot auxiliaris Pietatis gratia. Dum clamarent, nec incassum, Ecce quidam, dicens : Adsum

Ad vestra praesidia.

Statim aura datur grata : Et tempestas fit sedata, Quieverunt maria.

Ex ipsius tumbamanat Unctionis copia :

Quae infirmos omnes sanat Per ejus suffragia.

Nos qui sumus in hoc mundo Vitiorum in profundo Jam passi naufragia, *

Gloriose Nicolae, Ad salutis portum trahe,

Ubi pax et gloria.

Ipsam nobis unctionem Impetres a Domino, Prece pia :

Suae sanavit lsesionem torum peccaminum In Maria.

Hujus festum celebrantes Gaudeant per saecula ;

Et coronet eos Christus Post vitse curricula. Amen. salvation,where there is peace and glory.

There is an unction, which thy merciful prayers must get us from the Lord :

It is that unction which healed the wound of Magdalene's many sins.

May they that keep this feast, come to the eternal joys ;

And may J esus crown them after this life is run. Amen.

But none of the Sequences of St. Nicholas were so popular as the one we now give. It is to be found in a great many Processionals up to the 17th century, and on its model were composed innumerable others, which, though drawn up in praise of various Patrons, not only kept the measure and the melody, but the very expressions, ingeniously turned here and there, of the Sequence of St. Nicholas.

SEQUENCE.

Sospitati dedit aegros Olei perfusio.

Nicolaus naufragantum Adf uit prsesidio.

Relevavit a defunctis Def unctum in bivio.

Baptizatur auri viso J udaeus indicio.

Vas in man mersum, patri Eedditur cum filio.

O qB&m probat Sanctum Dei

Farris augmentatio.

The sick are restored to health by the miraculous oil.

They who are in danger of shipwreck are delivered by Nicholas' prayers.

He raised from amongst the dead a corpse which lay on the road.

A Jew asks for baptism, on witnessing the miraculous recovery of his money.

A vase that had sunk in the deep sea, and a child that was lost to his father, are both recovered.

0 how great a saint did he not appear by the multiplying corn in a famine !

Let, then, this congre- Ergo laudes Nicolao fation sing the hymns of Concinat haec concio. ficholas' praise ;

For all who pray to him Nam qui corde poscit ilium with earnest hearts, will go Propulsato vitio, back cured of their spiritual Sospes regreditur. ailments.

Amen. Amen.

But no Church has evinced such enthusiasm for St. Nicholas as the Greek Church in its Mensea. This illustrious Tbaumaturgus was evidently one of the firmest hopes of the Byzantine Empire, and Constantinople transmitted the same confidence to Russia, which even to this day professes great devotion to St. Nicholas. We extract, as usual, a few stanzas from the sacred chants which the Church of Saint Sophia anciently sang in the Greek language, and which the gilded domes of Moscow re-echo still, every year, in Sclavonic.

HYMN OF S1]

(Taken from the M

Thou didst dwell in Myra, and being spiritually anointed, thou diast show thyself to be truly a mystic myrrh, O Saintly Nicholas, great High Priest of Christ ! Thou anointest them that ever come with faith and love to celebrate thy memory : for, by thy prayers to God, O Father, thou deliverest them from every necessity, and peril, and tribulation.

How well indeed hast thou fulfilled thy name, The People's Victory! for, Saintly Nicholas, and High Priest of Christ, thou art the powerful

'. NICHOLAS. mcea of the Greeks.)

Myrse quidem habitasti et myrum seu unguentum vere demonstrasti, unguento unctus spirituali, sancte Nicolae, summe Christi Archierarcha, et ungis facies illorum qui cum fide et amore tui celebrandam memoriam semper perficiunt ; solvens eos ab omni necessitate, et periculo, et tribulatione, Pater, in tuis ad Dominum precibus.

Victoria populi vere nomine proprio demonstratus es in tentationibus potens, sancte Nicolae, summe Christi Sacerdos; nam passim invocatus, velociter praevenis eos qui cum amore ad tuum praesidium confugiunt ; tu enim die ac nocte cum fide visus, salvas eos a tentationibus et necessitatibus.

Constantino Imperatori et Ablavio in somnis apparuisti, illisque terrorem injiciens, ad illos ut liberarent festinanter : (Juos in carcere, aiebas habetis vinctos, innocentes sunt ab illegitima jugulatione : quod si me audire neglexeris, precem contra te, Prmceps, ad Dominum obsecrans intentabo.

Defixis acriter oculis, inspexisti in Gnoseos altitudines, et caliginosum inspexisti Sapientiae abyssum ; tu qui tuis documentis ditasti mundum, Pater, pro nobis Christum deprecare, summe sacerdos Nicolae.

Regulam fidei et dulcedinis imaginem monstravit te gregi tuo Christus Deus, summe Sacerdos, Hierarcha Nicolae: in Myra namque unguentum spargis , illucescunt tua prseclara facta, orphanorum ac viduarum protector : ideoque deprecari ne cesses salvari animas nostras.

Gaude, sacratissima mens, helper of them that are in temptation. Wheresoever thou art invoked, thou swiftly art with those that lovingly have recourse to thy protection, for day and night thou showest thyself to the eye of faith, and savest them from temptations and necessities.

Thou didst appear to the Emperor Constantine and to Ablavius in their sleep, terrifying them, and thus bidding them speedily set their prisoners free : " These men, "whom ye keep bound in " prison, deserve not the "death ye have unjustly " sentenced them to : and if " thou, O Prince, settest my " word at nought, I will be- " seechingly bear a petition " against thee to the Lord."

Thou didst fix thy keen vision on the heights of the Mystery, and didst look down into the cloud-covered abyss of Wisdom. O Father, that didst enrich the world by thy doctrines, pray for us to Christ, O High Priest Nicholas !

Christ our God showed thee to thy flock as the rule of faith and the model of meekness, thou High Priest, thou sainted Hierarch Nicholas ! for thou pourest forth in Myra a delicious fragrance, and thy splendid deeds give out their bright light, thou the protector of the orphan and the widow : therefore, cease not to pray for the salvation of our souls.

Rejoice, most holy soul, most pure abode of the Trinitatis mansio purissima,

Trinity, pillar of the Church, Ecclesiae columna, fideliuin support of the faithful, help stabilimentum. fatigatorum of the wearied, star, which auxilium, stella quae bene by the vivid rays of thy acceptarum precum fulgori- most efficacious prayers, dost bus, tentationum tenebras dispel the darkness of every undique depellis, sancte temptation, holy Priest Ni- sacerdos Nicolae ; portus cholas ! most tranquil port, placidissimus, in quo f ugien- into which the tempest-tost tes tempestatibus circum- run and find safety, beseech venti salvantur, Christum

Jesus to show unto our souls deprecare dari animabus

Rejoice, O thou that burn- Gaude, O divino zelo ac- est with divine zeal, who, by cense, qui tua terribili ani- thy terrible threat spoken to madversione et in somnis men in their dream, didst allociitione liberasti injuste rescue them that were un- caedendos. Fons fluens in justly condemned to death. Myra unguenta ditissima,

O fount of Myra overflowing animas irrigans, fcetida cu- with sweetness, that refresh- piditatum expurgans, gladio est souls, that cleanest what zizania erroris amputans ; passion defiles ! Sword that expurgans ventilabro, dissipa cuttest down the tares of Arii acerosa documenta ; et error ! O come and winnow Christum deprecare dari ani- away the chaffy doctrines of mabus nostris magnam mise-

Arius ; and beseech Jesus to ricordiam. grant unto our souls his great

Altissime Rex regum, sancti Pastoris, vitam, O Verbum, torum christianorum ; contra barbaros pio Regi victoriam et fortitudinem, ut omnes semper hymnificemus potentiam tuam, et extollamus usque ad omnia saecula.

6 thou the most high King of kings, Almighty Lord, O magnipotens, precious Divine Word, we beseech thee hear the prayer of this pacifica, quaesumus, cuncthy holy Pastor, and give to doall Christians to pass their nans days in peace : grant to our good King victory and energy against the barbarians : that thus we may all and in all times hymn thy power, and extol thee for ever and ever.

Holy Pontiff Nicholas, how great is thy glory in God's Church ! Thou didst confess the name of Jesus before the proconsuls of the world's empire, his great mercy. nostris magnam misericordiam. mercy.

36S and suffer persecution for his name's sake; afterwards, thou wast witness to the wonderful workings of God, when he restored peace to his Church ; and a short time after this again, thou didst open thy lips, in the assembly of the three hundred and eighteen Fathers, to confess with supreme authority the Divinity of our Saviour Jesus Christ, for whose sake so many millions of Martyrs had already shed their blood. Receive the devout felicitations of the Christian people throughout the universe, who thrill with joy when they think of thy glorious merits. Help us by thy prayers during these days when we are preparing for the coming of Him, whom thou didst proclaim to be Consubstantial to the Father. Vouchsafe to assist our faith and to obtain fresh fervour to our love. Thou now beholdest face to face that Word by whom all things were made and redeemed ; beseech him to permit our unworthiness to approach him. Be thou our intercessor with him. Thou hast taught us to know him as the sovereign and eternal God ; teach us also to love him as the supreme benefactor of the children of Adam. It was from him, 0 charitable Pontiff, that thou didst learn that tender compassion for the sufferings of thy fellow-men, which made all thy miracles to be so many acts of kindness : cease not, now that thou art in the company of the Angels, to have pity on and to succour our miseries.

Stir up and increase the faith of mankind in the Saviour whom the Lord has sent them. May this be one of the fruits of thy prayer, that the Divine Word may be no longer unknown and forgotten in this world, which he has redeemed with his Blood. Ask for the pastors of the Church that spirit of charity, which shone so brilliantly in thee ; that spirit which makes them like their divine Master, and wins them the hearts of their people.

Remember, too, O holy Pontiff, that Church of the

East which still loves thee so fervently. When thou wast on this earth, God gave thee power to raise the dead to life ; pray now, that the true life, which consists in Faith and Unity, may return once more and animate that body which schism has robbed of its soul. By thy supplications, obtain of God that the sacrifice of the Lamb, who is so soon to visit us, may be again and soon celebrated under the cupolas of Saint Sophia. May the sanctuaries of Kiow and Moscow become re-sanctified by the return of the people to unity. May the pride of the Crescent be humbled into submission to the Cross, and the majesty of the Czar be brought to acknowledge the power of the Keys of Saint Peter ; that thus there may be henceforth neither Scythian, nor Barbarian, but one fold under one Shepherd.

Let us resume our considerations upon the state of the world at the time immediately preceding the coming of the Messias. Everything proves that the prophecies which foretold the great event have now been fulfilled. Not only has the sceptre been taken from Juda; the Weeks of Daniel also are almost expired. The other Scriptural predictions relative to the great revolutions, which were to take place in the world, have been successively fulfilled. The Empires of the Assyrians, the Medes, the Persians, and the Greeks, have fallen one after the other ; that of the Romans is now at the zenith of its greatness ; in its turn, it must yield to the eternal Empire of the Messias. This succession of Empires, which was to result in a perfect kingdom, was foretold ; and all is now ready for its final accomplishment. God has also said, by one of his Prophets: Yet one little while, and I will move heaven and earth and I will move all nations, and the Desired of all

2 B nations shall come. Descend, therefore, O thou Eternal Word ! All is consummated. The misery of the world is extreme ; the crimes of men cry to heaven for vengeance; the whole human race is threatened with self-destruction, and without knowing what it does, it calls for thee as its only resource. Then come ! All the predictions which were to designate the Redeemer, have been spoken and promulgated. There is no longer a Prophet in Israel, and the oracles of the Gentile world have ceased to speak. Come, Lord Jesus, and fulfil all things, for the fulness of time has come.

PRAYER FOR THE TIME OF ADVENT.

{The Mozarahic Breviary, 1st Sunday of Advent, Capitulum.)

Preces nostras ne despexeris, Domine : intende jam et exaudi clementer : ut qui voce inimici turbati dejicimur, Unigeniti tui Adventu sacratissimo consolemur : et fide pennigerati, velut columba, ad superna tendamus. Elonga nos, Domine, a sseculo maligno, et a laqueo inimici custodi Per Dominum nostrum,

Despise not our prayers, O Lord : look down upon us and mercifully hear us : that we who are in trouble and cast down at the voice of our enemy, may be comforted by the most sacred coming of thine Only Begotten Son. May faith give us wings, that, like the dove, we may Chris- take our flight to the things turn that are above. Separate us, Amen. O Lord, from the wicked world, and keep us from the snare of the enemy. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.