Chapter the Eighth. of the Office of Compline, During Paschal Time

This Office, which concludes the day, commences by a warning of the dangers of the night; then immediately follows the public confession of our sins, as a powerful means of propitiating the divine justice, and obtaining God's help, now that we are going to spend so many hours in the unconscious and therefore dangerous state of sleep, which is also such an image of death.

The Lector, addressing the Priest, says to him : ft. Jube, Domne, bene- ft. Pray, Father, give thy

Noctem quietam, et finem May the Almighty Lord perfect um concedat nobis grant us a quiet night and a

The Lector then reads these words, from the first Epistle of St. Peter :

Fratres : Sobrii estote, et Brethren, be sober and vigilate: quia adversarius watch: for your adversary the vester diabolus, tamquam devil goes about like a roaring leo rugiens circuit quaerens lion, seeking whom he may de- quem devoret : cui resistite vour : resist him, being strong fortes in fide. Tu autem, in faith. But thou, O Lord,

Domine, miserere nobis. have mercy on us. dicere. blessing.

The Priest answers :

ominus omnipotens. 1$. Amen. perfect end. Amen.

The Choir answers : 1$. Deo gratias. 1$. Thanks be to God,

Then, the Priest :

Adjutorium nostrum Our help is in the name in nomine Domini. of the Lord.

The Choir:

5, Qui fecit coelum et 1$. Who hath made heaven terram. and earth.

Then the Lord's Prayer is recited in secret ; after which the Priest says the Confiteor; and, when he has finished, the Choir says :

Misereatur tui omnipo- May Almighty God have tens Deus, et dimissis pec- mercy on thee, and, forgiving catis tuis, perducat te ad thy sins, bring thee to ever- vitam seternam. lasting life.

The Priest having answered, Amen, the Choir repeats the Confiteor, thus :

Confiteor Deo omnipo- I confess to Almighty God, tenti, beatae Marise semper to blessed Mary ever Virgin,

Virgini, beato Michaeli to blessed Michael the Arch-

Archangelo, beato Joanni angel, to blessed John Baptist,

Baptistae, Sanctis Apostolis to the holy Apostles Peter and

Petro et Paulo, omnibus Paul, to all the Saints, and to

Sanctis, et tibi, Pater : quia thee, Father, that I have sinned peccavi nimis, cogitatione, exceedingly in thought, word, verbo, et opere : mea culpa, and deed, through my fault, mea culpa, mea maxima through my fault, through my culpa. Ideo precor beatatu most grievous fault. There-

Mariam semper Virginem, fore I beseech the blessed Mary beatum Michaelem Arch- ever Virgin, blessed Michael angelum, beatum Joannem the Archangel, blessed John

Baptistam, sanctos Aposto- Baptist, the holy Apostles loa Petrum et Paulum, om- Peter and Paul, and all the nes Sanctos, et te, Pater, Saints, and thee, Father, to orare pro me ad Dominum pray to our Lord God for me. Deum nostrum.

The Priest the a says:

Misereatur vestri omnipotens Deus, et dimissis peccatis vestris, perducat vos ad vitam aeternam.

]$. Amen.

Indulgentiam, absolution em, et remissionem peccatorum nostrorum, tribaat nobis omnipotens et misericora Dominus.

1$. Amen.

$\ Converte nos, Deus, Salutaris noster.

1$. Et averte iram tuam a nobis.

$\ Deus in adjutorium meum intende.

1$. Domine, ad adjuvandum me festina.

Gloria Patri, etc. Alleluia.

Ant. Alleluia.

May Almighty God be merciful to you, and, forgiving your sins, bring you to everlasting life. g. Amen, ay the Almighty and merciful Lord grant us pardon, absolution, and remission of our sins.

1$. Amen.

Convert us, O God, our Saviour.

1$. And turn away thy anger from us.

'ff. Incline unto my aid, O God.

1$. O Lord, make haste to help me.

Glory, etc. Alleluia.

Ant. Alleluia.

The first Psalm expresses the confidence with which the just man sleeps in peace; but the wicked know not what calm rest is. The beautiful countenance of our risen Lord sheds light and gladness upon the faithful, and renews the hope of their own resurrection, which is to be after their sleep in the tomb. psalm 4.

Cum invocarem exaudivit me Deus justitiae meae: * in tribulatione dilatasti mini.

Miserere mei : * et exaudi orationem meam.

Filii hominum, usquequo gravi corde : * ut quid dili-

When £ called upon him the God of my justice heard me: when I was in distress, thou hast enlarged me.

Have mercy on me: and hear my prayer.

O ye sons of men, how long will you be dull of heart ? why gitis vanitatem, et quaeritis mendacium ?

Et scitote quoniam mirificavit Dominus sanctum suum: * Dominus exaudiet me, cum clamavero ad eum.

Irascimini, et nolite peccare : * quae dicitis in cordibus vestris, in cubilibus vestris compungimini.

Sacriticate sacrificium justiti»,et sperate in Domino : * multi dicunt : Quis ostendit nobis bona ?

Signatum est super nos lumen vultus tui Domine : * dedisti laetitiam in corde meo.

A fructu frumenti, vini et olei sui: * multiplicati sunt.

In pace in idipsum : * dormiam et requiescam.

Quoniam tu, Domine, singulariter in spe: * constituisti me. do you love vanity, and seek after lying 1

Know ye also that the Lord hath made his Holy One wonderful : the Lord will hear me, when I shall cry unto him.

Be ye angry, and sin not: the things you say in your hearts, be sorry for them upon your beds.

Offer up the sacrifice of justice and trust in the Lord: many say, who showeth us good things 1

The Light of thy countenance, O Lord, is signed upon us: thou hast given gladness in my heart.

By the fruit of their corn, their wine, and oil, they are multiplied.

In peace, in the self same, I will sleep, and I will rest.

For thou, O Lord, singularly hast settled me in hope.

The Church has introduced here the first six Verses of the thirtieth Psalm, because they contain the prayer which our Saviour made when dying: Into thy hands, 0 Lord, I commend my spirit ! — words so beautifully appropriate in this Office of the olose of the day. Jesus commends His soul, with confidence, into His Father's hands; on the third day, the Father restored it to Him. Let us confide ours to this Sovereign Lord of our whole being, and our hope will not be coufounded. psalm 30-

In te, Domine, speravi, nou con fund ar in seternum: * in justitia tua libera me.

In thee, O Lord, have I hoped, let me never be confounded: deliver me in thy justice.

Inclina ad me aurem tuam: * accelera ut eruas me.

Esto mihi in Deum protectorem, et in domum refugii: * ut salvum me facias.

Quoniam fortitudo mea, et refugium meum es tu : * et propter nomen tuum deduces me, et enutries me.

Educes me de laqueo hoc, quern absconderunt mihi: * quoniam tu es protector meus.

In manus tuas commendo spiritum meum : * redemisti me, Domine, Deus veritatis.

Bow down thy ear to me : make haste to deliver me.

Be thou unto me a God, & protector, and a house of refuge, to save me.

For thou art my strength, and my refuge: and for thy name's sake thou wilt lead me, and nourish me.

Thou wilt bring me out of the snare, which they have hidden for me: for thou art my protector.

Into thy hands I commend my spirit: thou hast redeemed me, O Lord, the God of truth.

The third Psalm gives the motives of the just man's confidence, even during the dangers of the night. Then, we have God Himself speaking, and promising to them that serve Him, eternal happiness,, and the sight of the Saviour whose Resurrection gave them life. psalm 90.

Qui habitat in adjutorio Altissimi : * in protectione Dei cceli commorabitur.

Dicet Domino: Susceptor meus es tu, et refugium meum; * Deus meus, sperabo in eum.

Quoniam ipse liberavit me de laqueo venantium : * et a verbo aspero.

Scapulis suis obumbrabit tibi: * et sub pennis ejus sperabis.

Scuto circumdabit te ve-

He that dwelleth in the aid of the Most High, shall abide under the protection of the God of heaven.

He shall say to the Lord: Thou art my protector, and my refuge : my God, in him will I trust.

For he hath delivered me from the snare of the hunters r and from the sharp word.

He will overshadow thee with his shoulders: and under his wings thou shalt trust.

His truth shall compass thee rites ejus: * non timebis a timore nocturno.

A sagitta volante in die, a negotio perambulante in tenebris: * ab incursu, et daemonio meridiano.

Cadent a latere tuo mille, et decern millia a dextris tuis: * ad te autem non appropinquabit.

Verumtamen oculis tuis considerabis : * et retributionem peccatorum vide bis.

Quoniam tu es, Domine, spes mea : * Altissimuin posuisti ref ugium tuum.

Non accedet ad te maluni :

• et flagellum non appropinquabit tabernaculo tuo.

Quoniam Angelis suis mandavit de te : * ut custodiant te in omnibus viis tuis.

In manibus portabunt te:

• ne forte offendas ad lapidem pedem tuum.

Super aspidem et basiliscumambulabis: * etconculcabis leonem et draconem.

Quoniam in me speravit, liberabo eum : * protegam euni, quoniam cognovit nomen meum.

Clamabit ad me, et ego exaudiam eum : * cum ipso sum in tribulatione, eripiam eum, et glorificabo eum.

Longitudine dierum replebo eum : * et ostendam ill! Salutare meum. with a shield : thou shalt not be afraid of the terror of the night.

Of the arrow that flieth in the day: of the business that walketh about in the dark: of invasion, or of the noonday devil.

A thousand shall fall at thy side, and ten thousand at thy right hand: but it shall not come nigh thee.

But thou shalt consider with thy eyes: and shalt see the reward of the wicked.

Because thou hast said: Thou, O Lord, art my hope : thou hast made the Most High thy refuge.

There shall no evil come to thee, nor shall the scourge come near thy dwelling.

For he hath given his Angels charge over thee: to keep thee in all thy ways.

In their hands they shall bear thee up : lest thou dash thy foot against a stone.

Thou shalt walk upon the asp and the basilisk : and thou shalt trample under foot the lion and the dragon.

God will sap of thee: Because he hoped in me, I will deliver him: I will protect him, because he hath known my Name.

He will cry to me, and I will hear him : I am with him in tribulation, I will deliver him, and I will glorify him.

I will fill him with length of days : and I will show him my Salvation.

The fourth Psalm invites the servants of God to persevere with fervour in the prayers they offer during the night The faithful should say this Psalm in a spirit of gratitude to God, for raising up in the Church adorers of His holy name, whose grand vocation is to lift up their hands, day and night, for the safety of Israel. On such prayers depend the happiness and the destinies of the world. psalm 133.

Ecce nunc benedicite Dominum : * omnes servi Domini.

Qui statis in domo Domini: * in atriis domus Dei no8tri.

In noctibus extollite manus vestras in sancta : * et benedicite Dominum.

Benedicat te Dominus ex Sion : * qui fecit cesium et terram.

Ant. Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia.

Behold now bless ye the Lord, all ye servants of the Lord.

Who stand in the house of the Lord, in the courts of the house of our God.

In the nights lift up your hands to the holy places, and bless ye the Lord.

Say to Israel; May the Lord out of Sion bless thee, he that made heaven and earth. ant. Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia.

HYMN.*

Te lucis ante terminum, Kerum Creator, poscimus, Ut pro tua dementia, Sis prsesul et custodia.

Procul recedant somnia, E r , noctium phantasmata;

Before the closing of the light, we beseech Thee, Creator of all things ! that,* in Thy clemency, Thou be our protector and our guard.

May the dreams and phantoms of night depart far from

• According to the Monastic Rite, as follows : —

Te lucis ante terminum, Rerum Creator, poscimus, Ut solita dementia Sis praesul ad custodiam.

Procul recedant somnia Et noctium phantasmata ;

Hostemque nostrum comprime Ne polluantur corpora.

Gloria tibi Domine Qui surrexisti a mortuis, Cum Patre et Sancto Spiritu In sempiterna saecula.

Hostemque nostrum cornprime. Ne polluantur corpora.

Deo Patri sit gloria, Et Filio qui a mortuis Surrexit, ac Paraclito In sempiterna saecula.

Amen. us ; and do Thou repress our enemy, lest our bodies be profaned.

Glory be to God the Father, and to the Son, who rose from the dead, and to the Paraclete, for everlasting ages.

Amen.

CAPITULUM. (Jeremias. xiv.)

Tu autem in nobis es, Domine, et nomen sanctum tuum invocatum est super nos ; ne derelinquas nos, Domine Deus noster.

1$. In manus tuas, Domine : Commendo spiritum meum. * Alleluia, alleluia. In manus tuas.

^. Redemisti nos, Domine Deus veritatis. * Alleluia, alleluia.

Gloria. In manus tuas.

^. Custodi nos, Domine, ut pupill am oculi, alleluia. . 1$. Sub umbra alarum tuarum protege nos, alleluia.

Ant. Salva nos.

But Thou art in us, O Lord, and thy holy name has been invoked upon us: forsake us not, O Lord our God.

1$. Into thy hands, O Lord: I commend my spirit. * Alleluia, alleluia. Into thy hands.

Thou hast redeemed us, O Lord God of truth. * Alleluia, alleluia.

Glory. Into thy hands.

1$. Preserve us, O Lord, as the apple of thine eye, alleluia. y. Protect us under the shadow of thy wings, alleluia.

Ant. Save us.

The Canticle of the venerable Simeon, — who, while holding the divine Infant in his arms, proclaimed Him to be the Light of the Gentiles, and then slept the sleep of the just, — admirably expresses the repose of heart which the soul, that is in the grace of God, will experience in her Jesus ; for, as the apostle says, we may live together with Jesus, whether we are awake or asleep. 1

1 1 Thess. v. 10.

CANTICLE OF SIMEON. (St. Luke, ii.)

Nunc dimittis servum tuum Domine : * secundum verbum tuum in pace.

Quia viderunt oculi mei : * salutare tuum.

Quod paras ti : * ante faciem omnium populorum.

Lumen ad revelationem Gentium : * et gloriam plebis tuse Israel.

Gloria Patri, et Filio, etc.

Ant. Salva nos, Domine, vigilantes, custodi nos dorniientes : ut vigilemus cum Christo, et requiescamus in pace. Alleluia. ft. Dominus vobiscum.

T$. Et cum spiritu tuo.

OREMUS.

Visita, qusesumus, Domine, habitationem istam, et omnes insidias inimici ab ea longe repelle: Angeli tui sancti habitent in ea, qui nos in pace custodiant: et benedictio tua sit super nos semper. Per Dominum nostrum Jesum Christum, Fiiium tuum, qui tecum vivit et regnat, in unitate Spiritus Sancti Deus, per omnia saecula saeculorum. Amen. ft* Dominus vobiscum.

1$. Et cum spiritu tuo. ft. Benedicamus Domino.

]$. Deogratias.

Benedicat et custodiat nos omnipotens et misericors Dominus, Pater, et Filius, et!Spiritus Sanctus.

5. Amen.

Now dost thou dismiss thy servant, O Lord, according to thy word, in peace.

Because my eyes have seen thy salvation.

Which thou hast prepared before the face of all peoples.

A light to the revelation of the Gentiles, and the glory of thy people Israel.

Glory, etc.

Ant. Save us, O Lord, while awake, and watch us as we sleep ; that we may watch with Christ, and rest in peace. Alleluia. p. The Lord be with you.

5. And with thy spirit.

LET US PRAY.

Visit, we beseech thee, O Lord, this house and family, and drive far from it all snares of the enemy; let thy holy Angels dwell herein, who may keep us in peace, and may thy blessing be always upon us. Through Jesus Christ our Lord, thy Son, who liveth and reigneth with thee, in the unity of the Holy Ghost, God, world without end. Amen.

The Lord be with you.

5. And with thy spirit. ft. Let us bless the Lord.

1$. Thanks be to God.

May the Almighty and merciful Lord, Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, bless and preserve us. ^

B. Amen.

III

ANTHEM TO THE BLESSED VIRGIN.

There is a venerable tradition connected with this joyous Anthem. It is related that a fearful pestilence raged in Rome, during one of the Easters of the pontificate of St. Gregory the Great. In order to propitiate the anger of God, the holy Pope prescribed a public procession of both people and clergy, in which was to be carried the portrait of our blessed Lady painted by St. Luke. The procession was advancing in the direction of Saint Peter's; and as the holy picture, followed by the Pontiff, was carried along, the atmosphere became pure and free from pestilence. Having reached the bridge which joins the city with the Vatican, a choir ot angels was heard singing above the picture, and saying : ' Rejoice, 0 Queen of heaven, alleluia ! for He whom thou deservedst to bear, alleluia! hath risen, as he said, alleluia!' As soon as the heavenly music ceased, the saintly Pontiff took courage, and added these words to those of the Angels: 'Pray to God for us, alleluia!' Thus was composed the Paschal Anthem to our Lady. Raising his eyes to heaven, Gregory saw the destroying Angel standing on the top of the Mole of Hadrian, and sheathing his sword. In memory of this apparition, the Mole was called the Castle of Sanf Angelo, and on the dome was placed an immense statue representing an Angel holding his sword in the scabbard.

ANTHEM.

Regina coeli, laetare, alle- Rejoice, O Queen of heaven, luia, alleluia,

Quia quern meruisti por- For he whom thou deservedst tare, alleluia, to bear, alleluia,

Resurrexit sicut dixit, alle- Hath risen, as he said, alleluia, luia.

Ora pro nobis t>eum, alle- Pray to God for us, alleluia, luia.

Gaude et laetare, Virgo Maria, alleluia.

QuiasurrexitDominus vere, alleluia.

Rejoice and be glad, O Virgin Mary, alleluia.

1$. For the Lord hath truly risen, alleluia. oremus.

Deus, qui per Resurrectionem Filii tui Domini nostri Jesu Christi, mundum lsetificare dignatus es: praesta quaesumus, ut per ejus Genitricem Virginem Mariam, perpetuae capiamus gaudia vitas. Per eumdem Christum Dominum nostrum.

5. Amen. y. Divinum auxilium maneat semper nobiscum. Amen.*

LET US PRAY.

O God, who, by the Resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ thy Son, didst vouchsafe to make the world rejoice, grant, we beseech thee, that, by the intercession of the Virgin Mary, his Mother, we may receive the joys of eternal life. Through the same Christ our Lord.

1$. Amen.

May the divine assistance remain always with us.

1$. Amen.*

Then in secret, Pater 9 Ave, and Credo; page

• In the Monastic Rite, this Response is as follows :

R7. Et cum fratribus nostris R7. And with our absent absentibus. Amen. brethren. Amen.

PKOPER OF THE TIME

Yet four days, and our risen Jesus, whose company has been so dear and precious to us, will have disappeared from the earth. This fifth Sunday after Easter seems to prepare us for the separation. In a week's time, we shall begin the long series of Sundays which are to pass before He returns to judge the world. This is a grief to the Christian ; for he knows that he will not see his Saviour until after this life, and he feels something of the sorrow the apostles had at the last Supper, when Jesus said to them: ' Yet a little while, and ye shall not see Me *

But, after His Resurrection, what must these privileged men have felt, when they perceived, as we do, that this beloved Master was soon to leave them ! They had, so to speak, been living with Jesus glorified ; they had experienced the effects of His divine condescension and intimacy ; they had received from His lips every instruction they needed for the fulfilment of His will, that is, for founding on earth the Church He had chosen as His spouse. These happy forty days are fast drawing to a close. The apostles will then be deprived of Jesus' visible presence, even to the end of their lives.

We, too, shall feel something of their sadness, if we have kept ourselves united to our holy mother the Church. From the very first day, when she recommenced, for our sakes, the eoclesiastical year, during which all the mysteries of our redemption,

1 St. John, xvi. 16. fABOH TIME. III. from the birth of our Emmanuel even to His triumphant Ascension into heaven, were to be celebrated, — have not we also been living in company with her Jesus, our Eedeemer P And now that He is about to close the sweet intercourse which these seasons and feasts have kept up between Himself and us, are not our feelings very much like those of the apostles ?

But there is one creature on earth, whom Jesus is leaving, and whose feelings at the approaching separation we cannot attempt to describe. Never had there been a heart so submissive to the will of her Creator ; but, at the same time, there never was any creature so severely tried as she had been. Jesus would have His Mother's love still increase; He therefore subjects her to the separation from Himself. Moreover, He wishes her to oo- operate in the formation of the Church, for He has decreed that the great work shall not be achieved without her. In all this, Jesus shows how tenderly He loves His blessed Mother: He wishes her merit to be so great, that He may justly give her the brightest possible orown, when the day of her own ascension into heaven comes.

The heart of this incomparable Queen is not, in- . deed, to be again transfixed with a sword of sorrow: it is to be consumed by a love so intense that no language could describe it. Under the sweet, yet wearing, fire of this love, Mary is at length to give way, just as fruit falls from the tree, when its ripeness is complete, and the tree has nothing more to give it. But, during these last hours of Jesus' presence, what must such a Mother have felt, who has had but forty days to enjoy the sight and the caresses of her glorified and divine Son ? It is Mary's last trial ; and when her Jesus tells her of His wish that she should remain in exile, she is ready with her favourite answer: ' Behold the handmaid of the Lord ! Be it done to me according to Thy word ! ' Her whole life

PROPER Otf THE TIME has been spent in doing God's will ; it was this that made her so great in His eyes, and so dear to His Heart. A holy servant of God, who lived in the seventeenth century, and was favoured with the most sublime revelations, tells us that it was left to Mary's choice, either to accompany her divine Son to heaven, or to remain some years longer upon the earth to assist the infant Church ; and that she chose to defer her entrance into eternal bliss, in order to labour, as long as it was God's good pleasure, in the great work whioh was so olosely connected with the glory of her Son, and so essential to the salvation of us her adopted ohildren.

If this generous devotedness raised the oo-operatrix of our salvation to the highest degree of sanotity, by giving completeness to her mission on earth, we may be sure that Jesus' love for His Mother was inoreased by the new proof she thus gave Him of her uniformity with every wish of His sacred Heart. He repaid her, as He well knew how to do, for this heroic self-sacrifice, this prompt submission to His designs whioh destined her to be, here on earth, as the Church calls her, * Queen of the apostles,' and a sharer in their labours.

During these His last few hours on earth, our Lord's affection for His apostles and disciples seemed to be redoubled. For several of them, the separation was to be a long one. The beloved disoiple, John, was not to enjoy the company of his divine Master till more than fifty years had elapsed. It was to be thirty before the cross would carry Peter to Him who had entrusted to his keeping the keys of the kingdom of heaven. Magdalene, the fervent Magdalene, would have to wait the same length of time. But no one murmured at the divine appointment: they all felt how just it was, that Jesus, now that He had so fully established the faith of His Resurrection, should enter into His glory. 1

On the very day of His Resurrection, our Saviour bade the disciples go into Galilee, for that there He would meet them. As we have already seen, they obeyed the order, and seven among them were favoured by Jesus' appearing to them on the banks of Lake Q-enesareth: it is the eighth of the manifestations mentioned in the Gospel. The ninth also took place in Galilee. Our Lord loved Galilee: it gave Him the greater number of His disciples, it was Mary and Joseph's country, and it was there that He Himself passed so many years of His hidden life. Its people were simpler and better than those of Judea ; and this was another attraction. St. Matthew tells us, that the most publio of all Jesus' manifestations, after His Resurrection, — the tenth in reality, and the ninth mentioned by the evangelists, — took place on a hill in this same district. 2

According to St. Bonaventure, and the learned and pious Denis the Carthusian, this hill was Mount Thabor, the same that was honoured by the mystery of the transfiguration. Upwards of five hundred of Jesus' disciples were assembled there, as we learn from St. Paul: 3 they were mostly inhabitants of Galilee, had believed in our Lord during His three years of public life, and merited to be witnesses of this new triumph of the Nazarene. Jesus showed Himself to them, and gave them such certitude with regard to His resurrection, that the apostle appeals to their testimony in support of this fundamental mystery of our faith.

Further than this, we know of no other manifestations made by our Saviour after His resurreotion. We know that He gave order to His disciples to

1 St. Luke, xxiv. 26. 2 St. Matth. xxviii. 16. 3 1 Cor. xr. 6.

PROPER OF THE TIME repair to Jerusalem, where they were to see Him once more before His Ascension. Let us, during these few days, follow the disciples to Jerusalem. Faithless city ! how often has Jesus sought to gather together her children, as the hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and she would not! 1 He is about to re-enter her walls; but she is not to know it. He will not shew Himself to her, but only to those that love Him ; and after this He will depart in silence, never to return until He comes to judge them that have not known the time of their visitation.