Feast of the Seven Dolours

Holy Week, yet, the thought of what her Son, our divine Redeemer, goes through for our salvation, so absorbs our attention and love, that it is not then possible to honour, as it deserves, the sublime mystery of the Mother's com-passion.

It was but fitting, therefore, that one day in the year should be set apart for this sacred duty: and what day could be more appropriate than the Friday of this week, which, though sacred to the Passion, admits the celebration of saints' feasts, as we have already noticed ? As far back as the fifteenth century (that is, in the year 1423), we find the pious archbishop of Cologne, Theodorio, prescribing this feast to be kept by his people. It was gradually introduced, and with the knowledge of the holy See, into several other countries ; and at length, in the last century, Pope Benedict XIII, by a deoree dated August 22, 1727, ordered it to be kept in the whole Church under the name of the F> ast of the Seven Dolours of the Blessed Virgin Mary, for, up to this time, it had gone under various names. We will explain the title thus given to it, as also the first origin of the devotion of the Seven Dolours, when our Liturgical Year brings us to the third Sunday of September, the seoond feast of Mary's Dolours. What the Churoh proposes to her children's devotion for this Friday of Passion- week, is that one special dolour of Mary — her standing at the foot of the oross. Among the various titles given to this feast before it was extended by the holy See to the whole Church, we may mention, Our Lady of Pity, the Compassion of our Lady, and the one that was so popular throughout Franoe, Notre Dame de la Pamoison. These few historical observations prove that this feast was dear to the devotion of the people, even

1 Jjabb. Concil. t. zii. p. 365,

16Q PASSIONTIDB AND HOLY WEEK before it received the solemn sanction of the Church.

That we may clearly understand the objeot of this feast, and spend it, as the Churoh would have us do, in paying due honour to the Mother of God and of men, we must reoall to our minds this great truth: that God, in the designs of His infinite wisdom, has willed that Mary should have a share in the work of the world's redemption. The mystery of the present feast is one of the applications of this divine law, a law which reveals to us the whole magnificenoe of God's plan ; it is, also, one of the many realizations of the prophecy, that satan's pride was to be crushed by a woman. In the work of our redemption there are three interventions of Mary; that is, she was thrioe called upon to take part in what God Himself did. The first of these was in the Incarnation of the Word, •who would not take flesh in her virginal womb until she had given her consent to become His Mother ; and this sne gave by that solemn Fiat which blessed the world with a Saviour. The second was in the sacrifice which Jesus consummated on Calvary, where she was present that she might take part in the expiatory offering. The third was on the day of Pentecost, when she received the Holy Ghost, as did the apostles, in order that she might effectively labour in the establishment of the Church. We have already explained, on the feast of the Annunciation, the share Mary had in that wonderful mystery of the Incarnation, which God wrought for His own glory and for man's redemption and sanotification. On the feast of Pentecost we shall speak of the Churoh commencing and progressing under the active influence of the Mother of God. To-day we must show what part she took in the mystery of her Son's Passion ; we must tell the sufferings, the Dolours, she endured at the foot of the cross, and the claims she thereby won to our filial gratitude,

FEAST OF THE 8BVEK DOLOTTRS

On the fortieth day after the birth of our Emmanuel, we followed to the temple the happy Mother carrying her divine Babe in her arms. A venerable old man was there, waiting to receive her Child; $md, when he had Him in his arms, he proclaimed Him to be the Light of the Gentiles, and the glory of Israel. But, turning to the Mother, he spoke to her these heart-rending words: * Behold ! this Child is set to be a sign that shall be contradicted, and a sword shall pierce thine own soul.' This propheoy of sorrow for the Mother told us that the holy joys of Christmas were over, and that the season of trial, for both Jesus and Mary, had begun. It had, indeed, begun ; for, from the night of the flight into Egypt, up to this present day, when the malice of the Jews is plotting the great orime, what else has the life of our Jesus been, but the bearing of humiliation, insult, persecution, and ingratitude P And if so, what has the Mother gone through P what ceaseless anxiety P what endless anguish of heart? But let us pass by all her other sufferings, and come to the morning of the great Friday.

Mary knows that, on the previous night, her Son has been betrayed by one of His disciples, that is, by one that Jesus had numbered among His intimate friends ; she herself had often given him proofs of her maternal affection. After a cruel Agony, her Son has been manacled as a malefactor, and led by armed men to Caiphae, His worst enemy. Thence, they have dragged Him before the Roman governor, whose sanction the ohief priests and scribes must have before they oan put Jesus to death. Mary is in Jerusalem ; Magdalene, and the other holy women, the friends of Jesus, are with her ; but they cannot prevent her from hearing the loud shouts of the people, and if they could, how is such a heart as hers to be slow in its forebodings ? The report spreads rapidly through the city that the Roman governor is being urged to sentenoe Jesus to be crucified. Whilst the entire populace is on the move towards Calvary, shouting out their blasphemous insults at her Jesus, will His Mother keep away, she that bore Him in her womb, and fed Him at her breast ? Shall His enemies be eager to glut their eyes with the cruel sight, and His own Mother be afraid to be near Him ?

The air resounded with the yells of the mob. Joseph of Arimathea, the noble counsellor, was not there, neither was the learned Nioodemus ; they kept at home, grieving over what was done. The crowd that went before and after the divine Viotim was made up of wretohes without hearts, saving only a few who were seen to weep as they went along ; they were women ; Jesus saw them, and spoke to them. And if these women from mere sentiments of veneration, or, at most, of gratitude, thus testified their compassion, would Mary do less P Could she bear to be elsewhere than close to her Jesus ? Our motive for insisting so much upon this point is that we may show our detestation of that sohool of modern rationalism, which, regardless of the instincts of a mother's heart and of all tradition, has dared to call in question the meeting of Jesus and Mary on the way to Calvary. These systematic oontradiotors are too prudent to deny that Mary was present when Jesus was orucified ; the Gospel is too explioit: Mary stood near the cross: but they would persuade us that, whilst the daughters of Jerusalem courageously walked after Jesus, Mary went up to Calvary by some secret path! What a heartless insult to the love of the incomparable Mother.

No; Mary, who is, by excellence, the valiant woman, was with Jesus as He carried His cross, i §t. John jdx. 25, 2 Proy. xxxi. 10,

FEA8T OF THE SEVBN DOLOURS

And who could describe her anguish and her love, as her eye met that of her Son tottering under His heavy load P Who could tell the affection and the resignation of the look He gave her in return? Who could depict the eager and respectful tenderness wherewith Magdalene and the other holy women grouped around this Mother, as she followed her J esus up to Calvary, there to see Him crucified and die P The distance between the fourth and the tenth Station of the Dolorous Way is long: it is marked with Jesus' Blood, and with His Mother's tears.

Jesus and Mary have reached the summit of the hill that is to be the altar of the holiest and most cruel Sacrifice: but the divine decree permits not the Mother as yet to approach her Son. When the Viotim is ready, then she that is to offer Him shall come forward. Meanwhile, they nail her Jesus to the cross ; and eaoh blow of the hammer is a wound to Mary's heart. When, at last, she is permitted to approach, accompanied by the beloved disciple (who has made amends for his cowardly flight), and the disconsolate Magdalene and the other holy women, what unutterable anguish must have filled the soul of this Mother, when raising up her eyes, she sees the mangled Body of her Son, stretched upon the cross, with His face all covered with blood, and His head wreathed with a crown of thorns !

Here, then, is this King of Israel, of whom the angel had told her such glorious things in his prophecy! Here is that Son of hers, whom she has loved both as her God and as the fruit of her own womb ! And who are they that have reduced Him to this pitiable state ? Men — for whose sake rather than for her own, she conceived Him, gave Him birth, and nourished Him ! Oh ! if by one of those miracles, which His heavenly Father could so easily work, might be again restored to her! If that divine justice, which He has taken upon Himself to appease, would be satisfied with what He has already suffered ! But no: He must die; He must breathe forth His blessed Soul after a long and cruel agony.

Mary then is at the foot of the cross, there to witness the death of her Son. He is soon to be separated from her. In three hours' time, all that will be left her of this beloved Jesus will be a lifeless Body, wounded from head to foot. Our words are too cold for such a scene as this: let us listen to those of St Bernard, which the Church has inserted in her Matins of this feast. i 0 blessed Mother ! a sword of sorrow pierced thy soul, and we may well call thee more than martyr, for the intensity of thy compassion surpassed all that a bodily passion could produce. Could any sword have made thee smart so muoh as that word which pieroed thy heart, reaohing unto the division of the soul and the spirit : " Woman I behold thy Son!" What an exchange! John for Jesus ! the servant, for the Lord ! the disciple for the Master ! the son of Zebedee, for the Son of God ! a mere man, for the very God ! How must thy most loving heart have been pierced with the sound of those words, when even ours, that are hard as stone and steel, break down as we think of them ! Ah ! my brethren, be not surprised when you are told that Mary was a martyr in her soul. Let him alone be surprised, who has forgotten that St. Paul oounts it as one of the greatest sins of the Gentiles, that they were without affection. Who could say that of Mary P God forbid it be said of us, the servants of Mary ! ' 1

Amid the shouts and insults vociferated by the enemies of Jesus, Mary's quick ear has heard these words, which tell her, that the only son she is henoe-

1 Sermon on the twelye stars. forth to have on earth is one of adoption. Her maternal joys of Bethlehem and Nazareth are all gone; they make her present sorrow the bitterer; she was the Mother of a God, and men have taken Him from her ! Her last and fondest look at her Jesus, her own dearest Jesus, tells her that He is suffering a burning thirst, and she cannot give Him to drink! His eyes grow dim; His head droops; all is consummated !

Mary cannot leave the cross; love brought her thither ; love keeps her there, whatever may happen ! A soldier advances near that hallowed spot ; she sees him lift up his spear, and thrust it through the breast of the saored Corpse. 'Ah/ ories out St. Bernard, 'that thrust is through thy soul, 0 blessed Mother ! It could but open His side, but it pierced thy very soul. His Soul was not there ; thine was, and could not but be so.'1 The undaunted Mother keeps close to the Body of her Son. She watches them as they take it down from the cross ; and when, at last, the friends of Jesus, with all the respect due to both Mother and Son, enable her to embrace it, she raises it upon her lap, and He that once lay upon her knees receiving the homage of the eastern kings, now lies there cold, mangled, bleeding, dead ! And as she looks upon the wounds of the divine Victim, she gives them the highest honour in the power of oreatures: she kisses them, she bathes them with her tears, she adores them, but oh ! with what intensity of grief !

The hour is far advanced ; and before sunset, He, Jesus, the author of life, must be buried. The Mother puts the whole vehemence of her love into a last kiss, and oppressed with a bitterness great as is the sea, she makes over this adorable Body to them that have to embalm and then lay it on the

1 Sermon on the twelve stars. 8 Lam. i. 4, ii. 13. sepulchral slab. The sepulchre is olosed ; and Mary, aooompanied by John, her adopted son, and Magdalene, and the holy women, and the two disciples that have presided over the burial, returns sorrowing to the deioide city.

Now, in all this, there is another mystery besides that of Mary's sufferings. Her dolours at the foot of the oross include and imply a truth, which we must not pass by, or we shall not understand the full beauty of to-day's feast. Why would God have her assist in person at such a soene as this of Calvary P Why was not she, as well as Joseph, taken out of this world before this terrible day of Jesus' death P Because God had assigned her a great office for that day, and it was to be under the tree of the oross that she, the second Eve, was to discharge her office. As the heavenly Father had waited for her consent before He sent His Son into the world: so, likewise, He called for her obedience and devotedness, when the hour oame for that Son to be offered up in sacrifice for the world's redemption. Was not Jesus hers? her Child? her own and dearest treasure? And yet, God gave Him not to her, until she had consented to become His Mother; in like manner, He would not take Him from her, unless she gave Him back.

But see what this involved, see what a struggle it entailed upon this most loving heart ! It is the injustice, the cruelty, of men that rob her of her Son ; how can she, His Mother, ratify, by her consent, the death of Him, whom she loved with a twofold love, as her Son, and as her God ? But, on the other hand, if Jesus be not put to death, the human race is left a prey to satan, sin is not atoned for, and all the honours and joys of her being Mother of God are of no use or blessing to us. This Virgin of Nazareth, this noblest heart, this purest creature, whose affections were never blunted with the selfishness whieh so easily makes its way into souls that have been wounded by original sin, what will she do? Her devotedness to mankind, her oonformity with the will of her Son who so vehemently desires the world's salvation, lead her, a second time, to pronounce the solemn Fiat: she consents to the immolation of her Son. It is not God's justice that takes Him from her ; it is she herself that gives Him up. But, in return, she is raised to a degree of greatness, which her humility could never have suspected was to be hers: an ineffable union is made to exist between the two offerings, that of the Incarnate Word, and that of Mary ; the Blood of the divine Viotim, and the tears of the Mother, flow together for the redemption of mankind.

We can now understand the conduct and the courage of this Mother of sorrows. Unlike that other mother, of whom the Scripture speaks — the unhappy Agar, who after having sought in vain how she might quench the thirst of her Ismael in the desert, withdrew from him that she might not see him die — Mary no sooner hears that Jesus is condemned to death, than she rises, hastens to Him, and follows Him to the place where He is to die. And what is her attitude at the foot of His cross ? Does her matohless grief overpower her ? Does she swoon ? or fall? No: the Evangelist says: 4 There stood by the cross of Jesus, His Mother.'1 The saorifioing

5 wriest stands, when offering at the altar ; Mary stood or such a sacrifice as hers was to be. St. Ambrose, whose affectionate heart and profound appreciation of the mysteries of religion have revealed to us so many precious traits of Mary's character, thus speaks of her position at the foot of the oross: 'She stood lSt. Jolin xix. 25. opposite the cross, gazing with maternal love on the wounds of her Son ; and thus she stood, not waiting for her J esus to die, but for the world to be saved/ 1

Thus, this Mother of sorrows, when standing on Calvary, blessed us who deserved but malediotions ; she loved us ; she sacrificed her Son for our salvation. In spite of all the feelings of her maternal heart, she gave back to the eternal Father the divine treasure He had entrusted to her keeping. The sword pierced through and through her soul, but we were saved ; and she, though a mere creature, co-operated with her Son in the work of our salvation. Can we wonder, after this, that J esus chose this moment for making her the Mother of men, in the person of John the evangelist, who represented usP Never had Mary's heart loved us as she did then; from that time forward, therefore, let this second Eve be the true Mother of the living ! 2 The sword, by piercing her immaculate heart, has given us admission there. For time and eternity, Mary will extend to us the love she has borne for her Son, for she has just heard Him saying to her that we are her children. He is our Lord, for He has redeemed us ; she is our Lady, for she generously co-operated in our redemption.

Animated by this oonfidenoe, 0 Mother of sorrows! we oome before thee, on this feast of thy dolours, to offer thee our filial love. Jesus, the blessed Fruit of thy womb, filled thee with joy as thou gavest Him birth; we, thy adopted ohildren, entered into thy heart by the cruel piercing of the sword of suffering. And yet, 0 Mary ! love us, for thou didst oo-operate with our divine Redeemer in saving us. How can we not trust in the love of thy generous heart, when we know that, for our salvation, thou didst unite thyself to the Sacrifice of thy Jesus f What proofs hast

1 In Lucum cap. xxiii. 3 Gen. iii. 20. thou unceasingly given us of thy maternal tenderness, 0 Queen of mercy ! 0 refuge of sinners ! 0 untiring advocate for us in all our miseries! Deign, sweet Mother, to watch over us, during these days of grace. Give us to feel and relish the Passion of thy Son. It was consummated in thy presenoe; thine own share in it was magnificent ! Oh ! make us enter into all its mysteries, that so our souls, redeemed by the Blood of thy Son, and helped by thy tears, may be thoroughly oonverted to the Lord, and persevere, henoeforward, faithful in His service.

Let us now recite the devout Complaint, whereby the Ohuroh unites herself with Mary's Dolours.

SEQUENCE

Stabat Mater dolorosa, Juxta crucem lacrymosa, Dum pendebat Filius.

Cujus animam gementem, Contristatam et dolentem, Pertransivit gladius.

0 quam tristis et afflicta Fait ilia benedicta Mater Unigenitil

Quae mcerebat et dolebat, Pia Mater, dum videbat Nati pcenas inclyti.

Quia est homo qui non fleret,

Matrem Christi si videret In tan to supplicio?

Quis non posset contristari,

Christi Matrem contemplari Dolentem cum Filio?

Pro peccatis suae gentis Vidit Jesum in tormentis, Et flagellis subditum.

Vidit suum dulcem Natum

Near the cross, while on it hang her Son, the sorrowing Mother stood and wept.

A sword pierced her soul, that sighed, and mourned, and grieved.

Oh! how sad, and how afflicted, was that blessed Mother of an only Son !

The loving Mother sorrowed and mourned at seeing her divine Son suffer.

Who is there would not weep to see Jesus' Mother in such suffering?

Who is there could contemplate the Mother and the Son in sorrow, and not join his own with theirs?

Mary saw her Jesus tormented and scourged for the sins of his people.

She saw her sweet Child

Moriendo desolatum, Dum emisit spiritam.

Eia, Mater, fons amoris, Me sentire vim doloris Fac ut tecum lugeam.

Fac ut ardeat cor meum In amando Christum Deum, Ut sibi complaceam.

Sancta Mater, istud agas, Crucifixi fige plagas Cordi meo valide.

Tui Nati vulnerati, Tarn dignati pro me pati, Paenas mecum divide.

Fac me tecum pie flere, Crucifixo condolere, Donee ego vixero.

Juxta crucem tecum stare, Et me tibi sociare In planctu desidero.

Virgo virginum praclara, Mihi jam non sis amara: Fac me tecum plangere.

Fac ut portem Christi mortem, Passionis fac consortem, • Et plagas recolere.

Fac me plagas vulnerari, Fac me cruce inebriari, Et cruore Filii.

Flammis ne urar succensus,

Per te, Virgo, sim defensus, In die judicii.

Christe, cum sit hincexire, Da per Matrem me venire Ad palmam victoriae. abandoned by all, as he breathed forth his soul and died.

Ah, Mother, fount of love, make me feel the force of sorrow; make me weep with thee!

Make this heart of mine burn with the love of Jesus my God, that so I may content his heart.

Do this, 0 holy Mother: deeply stamp the wounds of the Crucified upon my heart.

Let me share with thee the sufferings of thy Son, for it is for me he graciously deigned to be wounded and to suffer.

Make me lovingly weep with thee: make me compassionate with thee our crucified Jesus, as long as life shall last.

This is my desire, to stand nigh the cross with thee, and be a sharer in thy grief.

Peerless Virgin of virgins! be not displeased at my prayer: make me weep with thee.

Make me to carry the death of Jesus; make me a partner of his Passion, an adorer of his Wounds.

Make me to be wounded with his Wounds; make me to be inebriated with the cross and Blood of thy Son.

And that I may not suffer the eternal flames, let me be defended by thee, 0 Virgin, on the day of judgment!

0 Jesus! when my hour of death comes, let me, by thy Mother's aid, come to my crown of victory.

Pea st of TftE seven dolours

Quando corpus morietur, And when my body dies, Fac ut animae donetur oh! give to my soul the re-

Paradisi gloria. Amen. ward of heaven's glory. Amen.

Let us recite the concluding stanzas of the Greek hymn in honour of the holy cross.

HYMN

(Feria IV. media Septimance)

Adeste; crucem Domini propositam, jejuniis expiati, cum desiderio amplectamur. Est eoim thesaurus sanctificationis et potentiae, per quam laudamus Christum in ssecula.

Haec crux tripartita et magna, vilis initio apparens, nunc ccelum tangit virtute sua, hominesque ad Beam semper sursum ducit; per quam laudamus Christum in ssecula.

Honoretur hoc sacratissimum lignum, quod jam olim propheta in panem Christi immissum esse ab Israelitis, qui eum crucifixerunt, vaticinatus est; quern superexaltamus in saecula.

Montes dulcedinem, et colles exsultationem stillate. Ligna campi, cedri Libani, choreas ducite ob hodiernam vivificse crucis adorationem. Prophet®, martyres, apostoli et spiritus justorum, exilite.

Respice in populum et in clerum tuum, Domine, qui cum desiderio laudes tuas canit, cujus gratia mortem

Come, let us devoutly embrace the cross of our Lord that is exposed before us, for our fasts have made us pure. The cross is a treasure of holiness and power, and by it we give eternal praise to Christ.

This triple and glorious cross, contemptible as it seemed at first, now reaches to the very heavens with its power, ever raising and leading men up to God. By it we give eternal praise to Christ.

Honour to this most sacred Wood, which as the prophet anciently foretold was to be put in the bread of Christ, by them that crucified him; to him be i praise above all for ever.

Rain down sweetness, 0 ye mountains! and ye, 0 hills, your gladness! Trees of the field, cedars of Libanus, exult with joy, for on this day we venerate the life-giving cross. Prophets, martyrs, apostles, spirits of the just, rejoice!

Look down, 0 Lord, upon thy people and clergy, who now devoutly sing thy praise, and for whose sake thou didst subiisti. Ne vincat misericordlam tuam infinita multitude malorum nostrorum, sed salva omnes, o benignissime, per crucem tuam.

Divina armatura vitae me» es, o crux; in te Dominus ascendens, servavit me. Latere vulnerato fudit sanguinem et aquam, cujus particeps factus exsulto, Christum glorificans.

Divinum Eegis sceptrum crux es, exercitus fortitudo; in tua fiducia profligamus hostes; nobis qui te adoramus, semper concede adversus barbaros victorias. suffer death. Let not the countless number of our sina outdo thy mercy, but save us, most loving Jesus, by thy cross!

0 cross! thou art the sacred armour of my life. My Lord saved me by ascending upon thee. From his wounded side there flowed Blood and Water, of which being made a partaker, I exult, and give glory to Christ.

O cross! thou art the divine sceptre of the King; thou art the strength of them that wage war; it is our confidence in thee that makes us put our enemies to flight. Oh ever grant to us who honour thee, victory over the barbarians.

8ATTTBDAY

IN PASSION WEEK

To-day we begin, as does the holy Gospel, to number the days which preoede the death, the sacrifice, of the Lamb of God, St. John, in the twelfth ohapter of his Gospel, tells us that this is the sixth day before the Pasch.

Jesus is in Bethania, where a feast is being given in His honour. Lazarus, whom Jesus has restored to life, is present at this repast, which is given in the house of Simon the leper. Martha is busy looking after the various arrangements; her sister, Mary Magdalene, has a heavenly presentiment that the death and burial of her beloved Master are soon tq be, and she has poured upon Him a precious perfume. The holy Gospel, which ever preserves suoh a mysterious reserve with regard to the Mother of Jesus, does not tell us that Mary was at Bethania on this oooasion, but there can be no doubt of her being present. The apostles were also there, and partook of the repast. Whilst the friends of our Saviour are thus grouped around Him, in this village, whioh is about two thousand paoes from Jerusalem, the aspect of the faithless city beoomes more and more threatening ; and yet, though His disciples are not aware of it, Jesus is to enter the oity to-morrow, and in a most public manner. The heart of Mary is a prey to sadness ; Magdalene is absorbed in grief ; everything announces that the fatal day is near.

The Churoh has reserved for Monday next the Gospel which relates the history of this Saturday. The reason is that, formerly, and up to the twelfth century, there was no Station held on this day in Borne: it was left free, in order that the Pope might rest before the great fatigues of Holy Week, whose long and solemn servioes were to begin on the morrow. But, although he did not preside over the assembly of the faithful, he had to observe two usages, whioh had been handed down by tradition, and had almost become of liturgical importance in the Church at Rome.

During the whole year, the Pope used, every Sunday, to send a portion of the sacred Speoies consecrated by him, to each of the priests of the presbyterial titles, or parochial ohurohes of the oity. But it was to-day that this distribution was made for the whole of Holy Week, perhaps on aooount of to-morrow's long service. We know from the anoient liturgical books of Rome, that it was in the Lateran oonsistory that to-day's saored distribution was made, and it is probable (as the blessed Cardinal Tommasi and Benedict XI V tell us) that the bishops of the suburbioarian churohes were of the number of those who received it. We have several instanoes proving that, formerly, bishops occasionally sent to one another the blessed Sacrament, as a sign of the union that existed between them. With regard to the priests of the city parochial churches, to whom a Particle was sent by the Pope, they put a portion of it in the chalice before reoeiving the precious Blood.

The other custom, peculiar to this day, consisted in giving alms to all the poor*. The Pope presided at this distribution, which was no doubt made ample enough to last the whole of the coming week, when, on account of the long ceremonies, it would scarcely be possible to attend to individual cases of poverty. The liturgists of the middle-ages allude to the beautiful appropriateness of the Eoman Pontiffs distributing alms with his own hand to the poor, on this day, the same on which Mary Magdalene embalmed with her perfumes the feet of Jesus.

Since the twelfth century, a Station has been assigned to this Saturday; it takes place in the Church of St. John before the Latin Gate. This ancient basilica is built near the spot where the 1 beloved disciple was, by Domitian's order, plunged into the cauldron of boiling oil.

COLLECT

Proficiat, quaesumus, Domine, plebs tibi dicata pise devotionis affectu: ut sacris actionibus erudita, quanto majestati tuae fit gratior, tanto donis potioribus augeatur. Per Christum Dominum nostrum: Amen.

May the people consecrated to thy service, we beseech thee, 0 Lord, improve in the affections of piety; that instructed by these holy mysteries, they may be so much the more enriched with thy heavenly gifts, as they become more acceptable to thy divine majesty. Through Christ our Lord. Amen,