Easter Song

redisse suo. Repeat, Salve, festa dies. Namque triumphanti post tristia tartara Christo, Undique fronde nemus, gramina flore favent.

Salve, festa dies. Legibus inferni oppressis, super astra meantem, Laudant rite Deum lux, polus, arva, fretum.

Salve, festa dies. Qui crucifixus erat Deus, ecce per omnia regnat;

Hail thou festive, ever venerable day! whereon hell is conquered and heaven is won by Christ.

Lo! our earth is in her spring; bearing thus her witness that, with her Lord, she has all her gifts restored.

Repeat. Hail, thou festive.

For now the woods with their leaves, and the meadows with their flowers, pay homage to Jesus' triumph over the gloomy tomb.

Hail, thou festive.

Light, firmament, fields and sea, give justly praise to the Grod that defeats the laws of death, and rises above the stars.

Hail, thou festive.

The crucified God now reigns over all things; and

Dantque creatori cuncta creata precem. Salve, festa dies. Christe salus rerum, bone conditor, atque redem- ptor;

Unica progenies ex Deitate Patris. Salve, festa dies. Qui genus humanum cernens mersum esse profundo, Ut hominem eriperes, es quoque f actus homo. Salve, f esta dies. Nec voluisti etenim tantum te corpore nasci, Sed caro quae nasci pertulit, atque mori. Salve, festa dies. Funeris exsequias pateris, vita? auctor et orbis, Intrans mortis iter, dando salutis opem. Salve, festa dies. Tristia cesserunt infernae vincula legis, Expavitque chaos luminis ore premi. Salve, festa dies. Depereunt tenebrae Christi fulgore fugatae, jEternae noctis pallia crassa cadunt. Salve, festa dies. Pollicitam sed redde fidem precor, alma potestas, Tertia lux rediit, surge sepulte meus. Salve, festa dies. every creature to its Creator tells a prayer.

Hail, thou festive.

O Jesus! Saviour of the world! Loving Creator and Eedeemer! Only-begotten Son of God the Father!

Hail, thou festive.

Seeing the human race was sunk in misery deep, thou wast made Man, that thou mightest rescue man.

Hail, thou festive.

Nor wouldst thou be content to be born; but being born in the flesh, in the same wouldst thou suffer death.

Hail, thou festive.

Thou, the author of life and of all creation, wast buried in the tomb; treading the path of death, to give us salvation.

Hail, thou festive.

The gloomful bonds of hell were broken; the abyss shook with fear, as the light shone upon its brink.

Hail, thou festive.

The brightness of Christ put darkness to flight, and made to fall the thick veils of everlasting night.

Hail, thou festive.

But, redeem thy promise, I beseech thee, merciful King! This is the third day; arise, my buried Jesus!

Hail, thou festive.

Non decet, ut vili tumulo 'Tis not meet, that thy Body tua membra tegantur, lie in the lowly tomb, or that

Neu pretium mundi vilia a sepulchral stone should keep saxa premant. imprisoned the ransom of the world.

Salve, f esta dies. Hail, thou festive.

Lintea tolle, precor, sudaria Throw off thy shrouds, I linque sepulchro; pray thee! Leave thy winding-

Tu satis es nobis, et sine te sheet in the tomb. Thou art nihil est. our all; and all else, without thee, is nothing.

Salve, f esta dies. Hail, thou festive.

Solve catenatas inf erni Set free the spirits that are carceris umbras, shackled in limbo's prison.

Et revoca sursum, quiquid Raise up all fallen things, ad ima ruit.

Salve, f esta dies. Hail, thou festive.

Bedde tuam f aciem, videant Show us once more thy ut saecula lumen, face, that all ages may see the

Bedde diem, qui nos, te light! Bring back the day, moriente, fugit. which lied when thou didst die.

Salve, f esta dies. Hail, thou festive.

Sed plane implesti reme- But thou hast done all this, ans, pie victor, ad O loving conqueror, by return- orbem; ing to our world: death lies

Tartara pressa jacent, nee defeated, and its rights are sua jura tenent. gone.

Salve, festa dies. Hail, thou festive.

Inf eras insaturabiliter cava The greedy monster, whose guttura pandens, huge throat had swallowed all

Qui rapuit semper, fit tua mankind, is now thy prey, 0 prada, Deus. God!

Salve, festa dies. Evomit absorptam trepide f era bellua plebem, Et de fauce lupi subtrahit agnus oves.

Salve, festa dies.

Hail, thou festive.

The savage beast now trembling vomits forth the victims he had made, and the lamb tears the sheep from the jaw of the wolf.

Hail, thou festive.

Bex saoer, eoce tui radiat pan magna triumphi, Cum puras animai sacra lavacra beant. Salve, festa dies. Candidas egreditur nitidis ezeroitus undis, Atque vetus vitium purgat in amne novo. Salve, festa dies. Fulgentes animas vestis quo- que Candida signat, Et grege de niveo gaudia pastor habet. Salve, festa dies, toto ve- nerabilis aevo; Qua Deus inf ernum vincit et astra tenet.

O King divine 1 lol here a bright ray of thy triumph,— the souls made pure by the holy font.

Hail, thou festive.

The white-robed troop comes from the limpid waters; and the old iniquity is cleansed in the new stream.

Hail, thou festive.

The white garments symbolize uuspotted souls; and the Shepherd rejoices in his snowlike flock:

Hail, thou festive, ever venerable day! whereon hell is conquered and heaven is won by Christ.

The preparations completed, the cantors intone the majestio melody of the Introit. Meanwhile, the pontiff, aocompanied by the priests, deaoons, and other ministers, advances in prooession to the altarsteps. This opening ohant is the cry of the Man- God as He rises from the tomb: it is the hymn of Jesus' gratitude to His eternal Father.

INTROIT

Resurrexi, et adhuc tecum sum, alleluia: posuisti super me manum tuam, alleluia: mirabilis facta est scientia tua. Alleluia, alleluia.

Ps, Domine, probasti me et cognovisti me: tu cognovisti sessionem meam et resurrectionem meam. f. Gloria Patri. Resurrexi.

I have risen, and am as yet with thee, alleluia: thou hast stretched forth thy hand to me, alleluia: thy knowledge is become wonderful. Alleluia, alleluia.

Ps. Lord, thou hast tried me, and known me: thou hast known my sitting down and my up-rising, f . Glory, &c. I have risen, &c.

In the Collect, the Church proclaims the grace of immortality, whioh our Redeemer's victory over death restored to mankind. She prays that her children may ambition the glorious destiny thus won for them.

COLLECT

Deus, qui hodierna die per O Unigenitum tuum, aeternitatis nobis adifcjim, devicta morte, reserasti: vota stra, quae praeveniendo aspiras, etiam adjuvando prosequere. Per eumdem.

God, who, on this day, by thy only-begotten Son's victory over death, didst open no- for us a passage to eternity; grant that our prayers, which thy preventing grace inspireth, may by thy help become effectual. Through the same, &c.

EPISTLE

Lectio Epistolae beati Pauli Apostoli ad Corinthios.

/. Cor. V. Fratres, expurgate vetus fermentum, ut sitis nova conspersio, sicut estis azymi. Etenim Pascha nostrum immolatus est Christus. Itaque epulemur, non in f ermento veteri, neque in f ermento malitiae et nequitiae: sed in azymis sinceritatis et veritatis.

Lesson of the Epistle of Saint Paul the Apostle to the Corinthians. /. Cor. V. Brethren: Purge out the old leaven, that you may be a new paste, as you are unleavened. For Christ, our pasch, is sacrificed. Therefore let us feast, not with the old leaven, nor with the leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.

God commanded the Israelites to use unleavened bread when they ate the Paschal Lamb; hereby teaching them, that, before partaking of this mysterious food, they should abandon their sins, whioh are signified by leaven. We Christians, who are called to the new life which Jesus has created for us by His Eesurrection, must, henoeforth, be intent on good works, as the unleavened bread wherewith we must receive the Paschal Lamb, our Easter banquet.

The Gradual is formed of those joyous words, which the Churoh untiringly repeats in all her Offioes of this solemnity of the Pasch. They are taken from the 117th Psalm. Joy, on suoh a day as this, is a duty incumbent on every Christian, both because of the triumph of our beloved Redeemer, and because of the blessings that triumph has won for us. Sadness would be a criminal protestation against the grand things, wherewith God has sraoed us through His Son, who not only died, but also rose from the grave, for us.

GRADUAL

Hrec dies quam fecit Do- This is the day which the minus: exsultemus et Irate- Lord hath made: let us be mur in ea. glad and rejoice therein.

"f. Confitemini Domino, f . Praise ye the Lord, for quoniam bonus: quoniam in he is good: and his mercy saeculum misericordia ejus. endureth for ever.

The Alleluia- Verse expresses one of the motives we have for rejoicing: — a banquet is prepared for us ! Jesus is our Lamb. He was slain ; now He is living: slain, that we might be redeemed by His Blood ; living, that we may share His immortality.

Alleluia, alleluia. Alleluia, alleluia.

Pascha nostrum im- t. Christ, our Pasch, is molatus est Christus. sacrificed.

The better to enoourage her children to be glad, the Church adds to her ordinary chants a hymn full of enthusiastic admiration for her risen Jesus. It is called a Sequence, because it is a continuation of the Alleluia.

Victim® paschali laudes Let Christians offer to the

SEQUENCE

Immolent christiani.

Paschal Victim the sacrifice of praise.

The Lamb hath redeemed the sheep: the innocent Jesus hath reconciled sinners to his Father.

Death and life fought against each other, and wondrous was the duel: the King of life was put to death; yet now he lives and reigns.

Tell us, O Mary! what sawest thou on the way?

I saw the sepulchre of the living Christ; I saw the glory of him that had risen.

I saw the Angels that were the witnesses; I saw the winding-sheet and the cloth.

Christ, my hope, hath risen 1 He shall go before you into Galilee.

We know that Christ hath truly risen from the dead. Do thou, 0 conqueror and King! have mercy upon us. Amen. Alleluia.

Agnus redemit oves: Christus innocens Patri Eeconciliavit peccatores.

Mors et vita duello Conflixere mirando: Dux vitas mortuus Regnat vivus.

Die nobis, Maria, Quid vidisti in via?

Sepulchrum Christi viventis:

Et gloriam vidi resurgentis.

Angelicos testes, Sudarium et vestes.

Surrexit Christus spes mea:

Praecedet vos in Galilseam. Scimus Christum surrexisse

A mortuis vere;

Tu nobis victor Rex, miserere. Amen. Alleluia.

The Church gives her preference to-day to the Evangelist St. Mark, who was a disoiple of St. Peter, and wrote his Gospel at Rome, under the eye of this prince of the Apostles. It was fitting, that on suoh a festival as Easter, we should, in some manner, hear him speaking to us, whom our divine Master appointed to be the Book of His Ohuroh, and the supreme pastor of all, both sheep and lambs.

GOSPEL

Sequentia sancti Evangelii secundum Marcum.

Cap. XVL In illo tempore: Maria Magdalene ? et Maria Jacobi,

Sequel of the holy Gospel according to Mark.

Ch. XVL At that time: Mary Magdalen, and Mary the mother of et Salome, emerunt aromata ut venientes ungerent Je- «um. Et valde mane una sabbatorum, veniunt ad monumentum, orto jam sole. Et dicebant ad invicem: Quit revolvet nobis lapidem ab ostio monumenti? Et respieientes viderunt revolutum lapidem. Erat quippe magnus valde. Et introeuntes in monumentum, viderunt juvenem sedentem in dextris, ooopertnm stola Candida, et obstupnerunt. Qui dixit illis: Nolite expavesoere: Jesum quaeritis Nazarenum, crucifixum: surrexit, non est hie; ecce locus ubi posuerunt eum. Sed ite, dicite discipulis ejus, et Petro, quia praecedit tos in Galilaeam: ibi eum videbitis, siout dixit vobis.

James, and Salome, bought sweet spices, that coming they might .anoint Jesus. And very early in the morning the first day of the week, they come to the sepulchre, the sun being now risen. And they said one to another: Who shall roll us back the stone from the door of the sepulchre? And looking, they saw the stone rolled back. For it was very great. And entering into the sepulchre, they saw a young man sitting on the right side clothed with a white robe: and they were astonished. Who saith to them: Be not affrighted : you seek Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified: he is risen, he is not here, behold the place where they laid him. But go, tell his disciples and Peter, that he goeth before you into Galilee: there you shall see him, as he told you.

JSi is risen: He is not here ! The Corpse, laid by the hands of them that loved their Lord, on the slab that lies in that cave, is risen ; and, without removing the stone that olosed the entrance, has gone forth, quickened with a life whioh can never die. No man has helped Him. No prophet has stood over the dead Body, bidding it return to life. It is Jesus Himself, and by His own power, that has risen. He suffered death, not from necessity, but because He so willed ; and again, because He willed, He has delivered Himself from its bondage. 0 Jesus I Thou, that thus mookest death, art the Lord our God ! We reverently bend our knee before this empty tomb, whioh is now {or oyer sacred, because, for a, few hours. it was the plaoe of Thy abode. Behold the place where they laid Him! Behold the winding-sheet and bands, which remain to tell the mystery of thy having onoe been dead ! The Angel says to the women : Ye seek Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified! The reoollection makes us weep. Yes, it was but the day before yesterday, that His Body was carried hither, mangled, wounded, bleeding. Here, in this cave, from whioh the Angel has now rolled back the stone, — in this cave, whioh His presence fills with a more than mid-day brightness, — stood the afflioted Mother. It echoed with the sobs of them that were at the burial, John and the two disciples, Magdalene and her companions. The sun sank beneath the horizon, and the first day of Jesus' burial began. But the prophet had said : 4 In the evening weeping shall have place; and in the morning gladness. 9 1 This glorious, happy morning has come, 0 Jesus ! and great indeed is our gladness, at seeing that this same sepulchre, whither we followed Thee with aching hearts, is now but the trophy of Thy viotory ! Thy precious wounds are healed ! It was we that caused them ; permit us to kiss them. Thou art now living, more glorious than ever, and immortal. And because we resolved to die to our sins, when Thou wast dying in order to expiate them, Thou wiliest that we, too, should live eternally with Thee ; that Thy viotory over death should be ours; that death should be for us, as it was for Thee, a mere passage to immortality, and should one day give back, uninjured and glorified, these bodies whioh are to be lent for a while to the tomb. Glory, then and honour, and love, be to Thee, 0 Jesus ! who didst deign not only to die, but to rise again for us !

The Offertory is composed of the words, wherein Pavid foretold that the earth would tremble, when 1 Ps. xxix. 6, the Man-God arose. This earth of ours has not only witnessed the grandest manifestations of God's

Ewer and goodness, but, by the sovereign will of its aker, has oeen frequently made to share in them, by preternatural movements.

OFFERTORY

Terra tremuit et quievit, The earth trembled, and dam resurgeret in judicio was silent, when God arose Dens, alleluia. in judgment, alleluia.

The whole assembly of the faithful is about to partake of the Pasohal banquet; the divine Lamb invites them to it. The altar is laden with the offerings they have presented. The holy Churoh, in her Secret, invokes upon these favoured guests the graces, which will procure for them the blissful immortality, whereof they are about to reoeive a pledge.

SECRET

Snscipe, qusesumus Domine, preces populi tui cum oblationibus hostiarum: ut paschalibus initiata mysteconriis, ad roternitatis nobis secrated medelam, te operante, proficiant. Per Dominum.

Receive, 0 Lord, we beseech thee, the prayers of thy people, together with the offerings of these hosts: that what is by these paschal mysteries, may, by the help of thy grace, avail us to eternal life.

Through, &c.

At the papal Mass, during the middle-ages, while the pontiff reoited the Secret, the two youngest cardinal-deaoons came forward, vested in white dalmatios, and stood at each end of the altar, with their faoes turned towards the people. They represented the two Angels who kept guard over our Saviour's tomb, and announoed to the holy women, that He had risen. The two deacons remained in that position until the pontiff left the qltar at the Agnm

Dei, in order to receive the holy Communion on the throne.

Another impressive custom was observed at Saint Mary Major's. When the Pope, after breaking the Host, addressed to the faithful the wish of peaoe, with the usual greeting of Pax Domini sit semper vobiscum, the choir did nob answer the usual Et cum spiritu tuo. It was the tradition, that St. Gregory the Great was once officiating in this church on Easter Sunday, when, having sung these words, which bring down the Spirit of peace on the assembled people, a choir of Angels responded with such sweet melody, that the singers of earth were silent, for they feared to join in the celestial music The year following the cantors awaited the angelic response to the words of the pontiff: the favour, however, was never renewed, but the custom of not answering the Et cum spiritu tuo was observed for several oenturies.

The moment has at length come for the faithful to partake of the divine Banquet. It was the practice in the ancient Church of Gaul, to chant the following solemn appeal to the people, who were about to receive the Bread of life. 1 The music, which accompanied the Antiphon, is most impressive and appropriate. "We give the words, as they will assist the devotion of the faithful.

INVITATION OF THE PEOPLE TO COMMUNION

Venite populi ad sacrum Come, O ye people, to the et immortale mysterium, et sacred and immortal mystery! libamen agendum. Come and receive the sacred

1 It was sung in cathedral churches even after the introduction of the Roman Liturgy into France hy Pepin and Charlemagne. It was not entirely discontinued until the last century came with its unsanctioned and ever to be regretted innovations,

Cum timore, et fide acceda- libation!

Let us approach with fear mus manibus mundis, poeni- and faith, and hands undefiled. tentiee mnnus communice- Let U8 unite ourselves with mus, quoniam propter nos Him who is the reward of our

Agnus Dei Patris sacrifi- repentance, for it is for us that cium propositum est. the Lamb of God the Father offered himself in sacrifice.

Ipsum solum adoremus, Let us adore him alone, and ipsum glorificemu: cum glorify him, singing with the

Angelis clamantes, alleluia. Angels, alleluia.

While the saored ministers are distributing the divine Food, the Churoh celebrates, in her Communion-Anthem, the true Paschal Lamb, whioh has been mystically immolated on the altar, and requires, from them who reoeive it, that purity of soul, whioh is signified by the unleavened bread, under whose aocidents the reality lies hid.

COMMUNION

Pascha nostrum immolaimmotus est Christus, alleluia: lated, alleluia: itaque epulemur in azymis sinceritatis et veritatis. Al-

Christ, our Pasch, is therefore, let us feast on the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth, leluia, alleluia, alleluia. Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia.

The last prayer made by the Church for them that have received their Grod, is, that the spirit of fraternal charity, which is the spirit of our Pasch, may abide in them. The Son of Grod, by assuming our nature in the mystery of the Incarnation, has made us to be His brothers ; by shedding His Blood for us upon the Cross, He has united us to one another by the bond of the redemption ; and, by His resurrection, He has linked us together in one glorious immortality.

Spiritum nobis, Domine, tuae charitatis infunde: ut quos sacramentis paschali-

POSTCOMMTJNION Pour forth on us, O Lord, the spirit of thy love; that those whom thou hast filled

EASTER STTCTDAT: MASS bus satiasti, tua facias pieta- with the Paschal Sacrament, te Concordes. PerDominum. may, by thy goodness, live in perfect concord. Through, &c.

The pontiff then gives his blessing to the people. They leave the House of God, to return thither for the Vespers, which most solemn Offioe will oonolude the magnificent functions of our solemnity.

At Rome, the Pope descends from the throne, wearing his triple crown. He ascends the sedia gestaloria, which is borne on the shoulders of the servants of the palace, and is carried to the great nave. Having reached the appointed place, he descends and humbly kneels down. Then, from the tribune of the cupola, are shown by priests, vested in their stoles, the wood of the true Cross, and the Veil, called the Veronica, on which is impressed the face of our Redeemer. This commemoration of the sufferings and humiliations of the Man-God, at the very moment when His triumph over death has been celebrated with all the pomp of the Liturgy, eloquently proclaims the glory and power of our risen Jesus, and shows us how faithfully and how lovingly He fulfilled the mission He had so graciously taken upon Himself, of working our salvation. It was on this very day, that He Himself said to the disoiples of Emmaus: 4 Thus it behoved Christ to suffer and to rise again from the dead the third day.' 1 The Christian world, in the person of its supreme pastor, hereby pays its homage to the sufferings and glory of its Redeemer. The pontiff then resumes the triple Crown, and is carried, on the sedia, to the balcony, where he gives the papal benediction to the people assembled in the piazza of Saint Peter's. "We have already described this solemn rite. 2

1 St. Luke xxiv. 46. See Paasiontide : Maunday Thursday, page 359.

Formerly, when the Lateran palaoe was the papal residence, and the Station of Easter Sunday was held at Saint Mary Major's, the sovereign Pontiff, vested in a cope, and wearing the tiara, went to the basilica on a horse caparisoned in white. After the Mass, he proceeded to the banquet-hall, called the Triclinium Leonianum. It was built by St. Leo III. and was decorated with mosaics representing Christ, St. Peter, Constantino and Charlemagne. A repast was prepared, to which were invited, as guests of the pontiff, five cardinals, five deaoons, and the first in dignity {the Frimiceriu 9 ) of the olergy attaohed to the church of St. John Lateran. Near to the Pope's own table, a seat was prepared for a twelfth guest, — the prior, called basilicarius. The Paschal Lamb was then served up, laid on a rich dish. The Pope blessed it, and thus signified that the severe law of abstinence was at an end. He himself cut it into portions and sent one to each of his guests ; but first of all he cut off a small piece, and gave it to the basilioarius, saying to him what would have seemed a harsh allusion, but for the words that followed: 'What thou hast to do, do quickly ! But what was said as a condemnation, I say to thee as a pardon.' The repast began with joyous conversation ; but, after some time, the archdeacon gave a signal, and a deaoon began to read. The papal choristers were afterwards introduced, and sang suoh of the favourite sequences as the Pope oalled for. This done, the choristers kissed the feet of the pontiff, who gave to each of them a cup full of wine from his own table ; and eaoh received a piece of money, called a besant, from the treasurer.

Our object in mentioning suoh customs as this, is to show our readers the simple manners of the middle-ages. The custom of blessing and eating lamb on Easter Sunday still continues, though, in many instances, it oonveys very little meaning. For those

EASTER SUNDAY: MAS8 who, from idle pretexts, have scarcely observed a day's abstinence during the whole of Lent, the Paschal lamb is a reproach, rather than a consolation. We here give the blessing as a completion to our Easter rites. The venerable prayer, used by the Church, will take us back in thought to other ages and prompt us to ask of God that He will grant us a return to the simple and practical faith, which gave such soul and grandeur to the every-day life of our Catholic forefathers.

BLESSING OF THE PASCHAL LAMB

Deus, qui per famulum tuum Moysen, in liberations populi tui de Egypto, agnum occidi jussisti in similitudinem Domini nostri Jesu Christi, et utrosque poates domorum de sanguine ejusdem agni perungi prsecepisti: ita benedicere, et sanctificare digneris hanc creaturam carnis, quam nos famuli tui ad laudem tuam sumere desideramus, per resurrectionemejusdem Domini nostri Jesu Christi. Qui tecum vivit et regnat in ssecula saeculorum. Amen.

O God, who, on the deliverance of thy people from Egypt, didst command, by thy servant Moses, that a lamb should be slain as a type of our Lord Jesus Christ, and didst ordain that both sideposts of the houses should be sprinkled with its blood: vouchsafe also to bless and sanctify this creature of flesh, which we thy servants desire to eat for thy glory, and in honour of the Resurrection of the same Jesus Christ, our Lord. Who livoth and reigneth with thee, for ever and ever. Amen.

The law of Lent forbids not only flesh-meat, but also eggs. It is only by a dispensation that we are allowed to eat them during that holy season of penance. The Churches of the east have strictly maintained the ancient discipline on this point, and no dispensation is admitted. Here again, the faithful show their joy, by asking the Church to bless the eggs that are to appear at their Easter repast. The following is the prayer used for this blessing.

BLESSING OF THE PASCHAL EGOS

Subveniat, qurosumus Do- We beseech thee, 0 Lord, mine, turn benedictionis gra- to give the favour of thy bleas- tia huic ovorum creature: ing to these eggs; that so they ut cibus salubris fiat fideli- may be a wholesome food to bus tuis in tuarum gratia- thy faithful, who gratefully rum actione sumentibus, ob take them in honour of the resurrectionem Domini no- Resurrection of our Lord stri Jesu Christi. Qui tecum Jesus Christ. Who liveth and vivit et regnat in ssecula sse- reigneth with thee, for ever culorum. Amen. and ever. Amen.

Yes, let our Easter repast, blessed as it is by our mother the Church, be one of joy, and add to the gladness of this great day ! The Feasts of religion should always be kept as feasts by Christian famines: but there is not one, throughout the year, that can be compared to this of Easter, which we have waited for so long and in suoh sorrow, and which has at length come, bringing with it the riohes of God's pardon, and the hope of our immortality.

AFTERNOON

The day is fast advancing, and Jesus has not yet shown Himself to His disoiples. The holv women are overpowered with joy and gratitude at the favour they have received. They have told it to the Apostles, assuring them that not only have they seen Angels, but J esus Himself ; that He has spoken to them ; that they have kissed His sacred feet. But all their assurances fail to convince these men, who are oppressed with what they have seen of their Master s Passion. They are cruelly disappointed, and their disappointment makes them deaf to everything that speaks of consolation. And yet, we shall soon find them laying down their very lives in testimony of the Resurrection of that Master, whose name and remembrance is now a humiliation to them.