Chapter the Ninth. on the Office of Compline, During the Time after Pentecost

This Office, whioh 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 unoonsoious, and, therefore, dangerous, state of sleep, whioh is also suoh an image of death.

The Lector, addressing the Priest, says to him :

Pray, Father, give thy p. Jube, Domne, benediblessing. cere.

The Priest answers :

May the Almighty Lord Noctem quietam, et figrant us a quiet night and a nem perfectum concedat noperfect end. bis Dominns omnipotens.

&. Amen. &. Amen.

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

Brethren, be sober and Fratres : sobrii estote et watch : for your adversary the vigilate : quia adversarius devil goes about like a roaring vester diabolus, tamquam lion, seeking whom he may de- leo rugiens circuit queerens vour : resist him, being strong quern devoret : cui resistite in faith. But thou, 0 Lord, fortes in fide. Tu autem, have mercy on us. Domine, miserere nobis.

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

Then, the Priest :

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

The Choir :

Qui fecit coelum et Who hath made heaven terrain. 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 repeats it.

The Priest, having pronounced the general form of absolution, says : f. Converte nos, Deus, Salutaris noster.

&. Et averte iram tuam a nobis.

Deus in adjutorium meum intende.

$. Domine, ad adjuvandum me festina.

Gloria Patri.

Ant. Miserere.

J. Convert us, 0 God our Saviour.

And turn away thine anger from us. y. Incline unto mine aid, 0 God.

&. 0 Lord make haste to help me. Glory, etc.

Ant. Have mercy.

The first Psalm expresses the confidence with whioh the just man sleeps in peace ; but the wicked know not what calm rest is.

PSALM 4.

Cum invocarem exaudivit me Deus justiti® meae : * in tribulatione dUatasti mini.

Miserere mei : * et exaudi orationem meam.

Filii hominum, usquequo gravi corde P * ut quid diligitis vanitatem, et quseritis mendacium ?

When I 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 ye be dull of heart ? why do ye love vanity, an seek after lying ?

COMPLINE.

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 tilings ye say in your hearts, he sorry for them upon your heds.

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

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, 0 Lord, singularly hast settled me in hope.

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

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

Sacrificate sacrifioium j ustitise, et sperate in Domino : • multi dicunt : Quis ostendit nobis bona ?

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

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

In pace in idipsum : * dormiam et requiescam.

Uuoniam tu, Domine, singulariter in spe : * constituisti me.

The Church has introduced here the first six Yerses of the 30th Psalm, because they contain th^e prayer whioh our Saviour made when dying : Into thy hands, 0 Lord, I commend my Spirit ! — words so beautifully appropriate, in this Offioe of the olose of day. psalm 30.

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

Bow down thine ear unto me : make haste to deliver me.

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

For thou art my strength,

In te, Domine, speravi, non confundar in seternum : • in justitia tua libera me.

Inclina ad me aurem tuam : * acceleraut eruas me.

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

Quoniam fortitudo mea,

TIMS AFTER PEflTECOST. et refugium meum es tu: • et propter Nomen tuuin deduces me, et enutries me.

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

In manus tuas commendo spiritum meum: * redemisti me, Domine, Dcus yeritatis. and my refuge : and for thy Name's sake, thou wilt lead me, and nourish me.

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

Into thy hands, I commend my spirit : thou hast redeemed me, 0 Lord, the God of truth.

The third Psalm gives the motives of the just man's oonfidenoe, even during the dangers of the night. There is no snare neglected by the demons ; but the good Angels watch over us, with brotherly solicitude. Then, we have God himself speaking, and promising to send us a Saviour. psalm 90.

Qui habitat in adjutorio Altissimi : # in protectione Dei coeli commorabitur.

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

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

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

Scuto circumdabit te Veritas ejus : * non timebis a timore nocturne

A sag^itta volante in die, a negotio perambulante in tenebris : * ab incursu, et demonio meridiano.

Cadent a latere tuo mille,

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

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

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

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

His truth shall compass thee 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

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

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

Because thou hast said : Thou, 0 Lord, art my hope : Thou hast made the Most High thy refuge.

There shall no evil come unto 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 basilisk : and thou shalt trample under foot the lion and the dragon.

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

He will cry unto 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. et decern millia a dextris tuis: * ad te autem non appropinquabit.

Yerumtamen oculis tuis considerabis : * et retributionem peccatorum videbis.

Quoniam tu es, Domine, spes mea : * Altissimum posuisti refugium tuum.

Non accedet ad te malum : * 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 basiliscum ambulabis : * et conculcabis leonem et draco - nem.

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

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

Longitudine dierum replebo eum : * et ostendam illi Salutare meum.

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 his 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 suoh prayers, depend the happiness and destinies of the world.

PSALM 133.

Ecce nunc benedicite Dominion : * omnes servi Domini.

Qui statis in domo Domini : • in atriis domus Dei nostri.

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

Benedicat te Dominus ex Sion: * qui fecit coelum et terrain.

Ant. Miserere mihi, Domine, et exaudi orationem meam.

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 G-od.

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. Have mercy on me, O Lord, and hear my prayer.

HYMN.

Te lucis ante terminum, Eerum Creator, poscimus, Ut pro tua dementia, Sis praesul et custodia.

Procul recedant somnia, Et noctium phantasmata ; Hostemque nostrum cornprime, Ne polluantur corpora.

Prsesta, Pater piissime, Patrique compar Unice, Cum Spiritu Paraclito Kegnans per omne seeculum.

Amen.

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

Most merciful Father ! and thou, his Only Begotten Son, co-equal with him ! reigning for ever, with the Holy Paraclete ! grant this our prayer.

Amen.

• According to the Monastic Rite, as follows :

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

Procul recedant somnia Et noctium phantasmata ;

Hostemque nostrum comprime, Ne polluantur corpora.

Prsesta, Pater omnipotens, Per Jesum Christum Dominum, Qui tecum in perpetuum Reguat cum Sancto Spiritu.

COMPLINE.

CAPITULUM.

(Jeremim, xiv.)

But thou art in us, 0 Lord, and thy holy Name hath been invoked upon us : forsake us not, O Lord, our God.

Into thy hands, O Lord : * I commend my spirit. Into thy hands. f. Thou hast redeemed us, O Lord God of truth. * I commend.

Glory. Into thy hands. p. Preserve us, O Lord, as the apple of thine eye.

&. Protect us, under the shadow of thy wings.

Tu autem in nobis es, Domine, et Nomen sanctum tuum invocatum est super nos : ne derehnquas nos, Domine, Deus noster.

In manus tuas, Domine : * Commendo spiritum meum. In manus tuas.

Eedemisti nos,Domine Deus veritatis. * Commendo.

Gloria. In manus tuas. y. Custodi nos, Domine, ut pupillam oculi.

Sub umbra alarum tuarum protege nos.

The Canticle of the venerable Simeon, — who, whilst holding the divine Infant in his arms, proclaimed him to be the Light of the Gentiles, and tnen slept the sleep of the just, — is admirably appropriate to the Office of Compline. Holy Church blesses God for having dispelled the darkness of night by the rising of the Sun of Justice ; it is for love of him, that she toils the whole day through, and rests during the night, saying : / sleep, but my heart watcheth. 1

CANTICLE OF SIMEON.

(St. Luke ii.)

Now dost thou dismiss thy servant, 0 Lord, according to thy word, in peace.

Because mine eyes have seen thy Salvation,

Which thou hast prepared ; before the face of all peoples.

A light to the revelation of

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

Quia viderunt oculi mei : * Salutare tuum.

Quod parasti : * ante faciem omnium populorum.

Lumen ad revelationem

1 Cant. v. 2.

Gentium : * et gloriam plebis tuae Israel. Gloria.

Ant. Salva nos, Domine, vigilantes ; custodi nos dormientes, ut vigilemus cum Christo, et requiescamus in pace.

OREMUS.

Visita, qu»sumus, 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 Filium tuum, qui tecum vivit et regnat in unitate Spiritus sancti Deus, per omnia ssecula saeculorum. ft. Amen. Dominus vobiscum. ft. Et cum spirit u tuo. y. Benedioamus Domino. ft. Deo gratias.

Benedicat et custodiat nos omnipotens et misericors Dominus, Pater et Filius, et Spiritus Sanctus. ft. Amen. the Gentiles, and the glory of thy people Israel. Glory, etc.

Ant. Save us, 0 Lord, whilst awake, and watoh us, as we sleep; that we may watch with Christ, and rest in peace.

LET US PRAY.

Visit, we beseech thee, 0 Lord, this house and family, and drive 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. ft. Amen. f. The Lord be with you. ft. And with thy spirit.* y. Let us bless the Lord. ft. Thanks be to God.

May the almighty and merciful Lord, Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, bless and preserve us. ft. Amen.

ANTHEM OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN.

Salve, Eegina, mater misericord" se.

Vita, dulcedo, et spes nostra, salve.

Ad te clamamus, exsules filiiEvse.

Ad te suspiramus, gemen - tes et flentes in hac lacrymarum valle.

Eia, ergo advocata nos-

Hail, holy Queen, Mother of mercy.

Our Life, our Sweetness, and our Hope, all hail !

To thee we cry, poor banished children of Eve ;

To thee we send up our sighs, weeping and mourning in this vale of tears.

Turn, then, most gracious

COMPLINE.

Advocate ! thine eyes of mercy towards us ;

And, after this our exile, show unto us the blessed Fruit of thy womb, Jesus ;

O merciful,

Okind,

O sweet Virgin Mary !

Jfr. Pray for us, 0 holy Mother of God, ft. That we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ. tra, illos tuos misericordes oculos ad nos converte ;

Et Jesum benedictum fructum ventris tui, nobis post hoc exilium ostende ;

O clemens,

O pia,

O dulcis Virgo Maria. f. Ora pro nobis, sancta Dei Genitnx, ft. Ut digni efficiamur promissionibus Ohristi.

LET US PRAY.

O almighty and everlasting God, who, by the co-operation of the Holy Ghost, didst pre-

Ethe body and soul of , glorious Virgin and er, to become the worthy habitation of thy Son : grant that we may be delivered from present evils, and from everlasting death, by Her gracious intercession, in whose commemoration we rejoice. Through the same Christ our Lord. ft. Amen.

May the divine assistance remain always with us. ft. Amen. *

Then, in seoret, Pater, jt

0&EMU8.

Omnipotens sempiterne Deus, qui glorios® virginis matris Manse corpus et animam, ut dignum Filii tui habitaculum effici mereretur, Spiritu sancto cooperante, praeparaati : da ut cujus com memoratione 1»tamur, ejus pia intercessione ab instantibus malis et a morte perpetua liberemur. Per eumdem Christum Dominum nostrum. ft. Amen. f. Divinumauxiliummaneat semper nobiscum. ft. Amen. ve, and Credo ; page 14.

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

R7 And with our absent Bre- I^. Et cum fratribus nostris thren. Amen. absentibus. Amen.

FEAST

OF THE MOST HOLT TRINITY.

On the day of Pentecost, the Holy Apostles received, as we have seen, the graoe of the Holy Ghost. In accordance with the injunction of their divine Master, 1 they will soon start on their mission of teaohing all nations, and baptising men in the name of the Holy Trinity. It was but right, then, that the solemnity which is intended to honour the mystery of One God in Three Persons, should immediately follow that of Pentecost, with whioh it has .a mysterious connection. And yet, it was not till after many centuries, that it was inserted in the Cycle of the Liturgical Year, whose completion is the work of successive ages.

Every homage paid to God by the Churoh 's Liturgy has the Holy Trinity as its object. Time, as well as eternity, belongs to the Trinity. The Trinity is the scope of all Religion. Every day, every hour, belongs to It. The Feasts instituted in memory of the mysteries of our Redemption oentre in It. The Feasts of the Blessed Virgin and the Saints are but so many means for leading us to the praise of the God who is One in essence, and Three in Persons. The Sunday's Offioe, in a very speoial way, gives us, each week, a most explioit expression of adoration and worship of this mystery, which is the foundation of all others, and the source of all grace.

This explains to us how it was that the Church was so long in instituting a special Feast in honour of the Holy Trinity. The ordinary motive for the

1 St. Matth. xxviii. 19.

TBINTTY SUOTUY. institution of Feasts did not exist in this instance. A Feast is the memorial of some fact which took plaoe at a certain time, and of whioh it is well to perpetuate the remembrance and influenoe. How could this be applied to the mystery of the Trinity P It was from all eternity, it was before any created being existed, that God liveth and reigneth, Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. If a feast in honour of that Mystery were to be instituted, it could only be by fixing some one day in the Year, whereon the Faithful would assemble for offering a more than usually solemn tribute of worship to the Mystery of Unity and Trinity in the one same divine Nature.

The idea of such a Feast was first oonceived by some of those pious and recollected souls, who are favoured from on high with a sort of presentiment of the things which th Holy Ghost will achieve, at a future period, in the Church. So far back as the 8th Century, the learned monk, Alcuin, had had the happy thought of oomposing a Mass in honour of the mystery of the blessed Trinity. It would seem that he was prompted to this by the Apostle of Germany, Saint Boniface. That this composition is a beautiful one, no one will doubt that knows, from Alouin's writings, how full its author was of the spirit of saored Liturgy ; but, after all, it was only a votive Mass, a mere help to private devotion, whioh no one ever thought would lead to the institution of a Feast. This Mass, however, became a great favourite, and was gradually circulated through the several Churches ; for instance, it was approved of for Germany, by the Council of Selingenstadt, held in 1022.

In that 11th Century, however, a Feast properly so called of Holy Trinity had been introduced into one of the Churches of Belgium, — the very same that was to have the honour, later on, of procuring to the Church's Calendar one of the richest of its Solemnities. (Stephen, Bishop of liege, solemnly instituted the Feast of Holy Trinity for his Churoh, in 920, and had an entire Office composed in honour of the mystery. The Church's law, which now reserves to the Holy See the institution of any new Feast, was not then in existenoe ; and Eiquier, Stephen's successor in the See of Liege, kept up what his predecessor had begun.

The Feast became gradually adopted. The Benediotine Order took it up from the very first. We find, for instance, in the early part of the 11th Century, that Berno, the Abbot of Beiohnaw, was doing all he could to propagate it. At Cluny, also, the Feast was established at the commencement of the same Century, as we learn from the Ordinarium of that celebrated Monastery, drawn up in 1091, and where we find mention of Holy Trinity day as having been instituted long before.

Under the pontificate of Alexander the Second, who reigned from 1061 to 1073, the Churoh of Rome, which has frequently sanctioned the usages of particular Churohes, by herself adopting them, was led to pass judgment upon this new institution. In one of his Decretals, the Pontiff mentions that the Feast was then kept in many places ; but that the Church at Rome had not adopted it, and for this reason, — that the adorable Trinity is, every day of the year, unceasingly invoked by the repetition of the words : Gloria Patri et Filio et Spiritui Sancto ; as, likewise, by several other formulas expressive of praise. 1

Meanwhile, the Feast went on gaining ground, as we gather from the Micrologm ; and, in the early part of the 12th Century, we have the learned Abbot Rupert, who may justly be styled a Doctor in liturgical science, explaining the appropriateness of that Feast's institution in these words : " Having oele- "brated the solemnity of the coming of the Holy

1 Be feriii. Cap. Quoniam. This Decretal has been erroneously attributed to -Alexander the Third.