Corpus Christi

Let us adore Christ, the King, who ruleth the nations ; who giveth fatness of spirit to them that eat him.

Christum regem adoremus dominantem gentihus, <jui se manducantihus dat spiritus pinguedinem.

A great solemnity has this day risen upon our earth : a Feast both to God and men : for it is the Feast of Christ the Mediator, who is present in the sacred Host, that God may be given to man, and man to God. Divine union, — yes, such is the dignity to which man is permitted to aspire ; and, to tnis aspiration, God has responded, even here below, by an invention which iB all of heaven. It is to-day that man celebrates this marvel of God's goodnes.

And yet, against both the Feast and its divine objebt, there has been made the old-fashioned objection : How can these things be done ? l It really does seem, as though reason has a right to find fault with what looks like senseless pretensions of man's heart.

Every living being thirsts after happiness; and yet, and because of that, it only aspires after the good of which it is capable ; for it is the necessary condition of happiness, that, in order to its existence, there must be the full contentment of the creature's desire. Hence, in that great act of creation, which the Scripture so sublimely calls his playing in the world* when, with his almighty power, he prepared the heavens, and enclosed the depths, and balanced

1 St. John, iii. 9 ; vi 53. 1 Prov. viii. 30, 31, the foundations of the earth, 1 we are told that Divine Wisdom secured the harmony of the universe by giving to each oreature, according to its degree in the scale of being, an end adequate to its powers ; be thus measured the wants, the instinct, the appetite (that is, the desire) of each creature, according to its respective nature ; so that it would never have cravings which its faculties were insufficient to satisfy. In obedienoe, then, to this law, was not man, too, obliged to confine, within the limits of his finite nature, his desires for the good and the beautiful, that is, his searching after God, which is a necessity with every intelligent and free being ? Otherwise, would it not be, that, for certain beings, their happiness would have to be in objects, which must ever be out of the reaoh of their natural faculties ?

Great as the anomaly would appear, yet does it exist ; true psychology, that is, the true science of the human mind, bears testimony to this desire for the infinite. Like every living creature around him, man thirsts for happiness ; and yet, he is the only creature on earth that feels within itself longings for what is immensely beyond its capacity. Whilst docile to the lord placed over them by the Creator, the irrational creatures are quite satisfied with what they find in this world ; they render to man their several services, and their own desires are all fully gratified by what is within their reach : it is not so with Man ; he can find nothing in this his earthly dwelling, which can satiate his irresistible longings for a something, which this earth cannot give, and which time cannot

Eroduce ; — for that something is — the infinite. God imself, when revealing himself to man through the works he has created, that is, when showing himself to man in a way which his natural powers can take in ; God, when giving man to know him as the First

1 Prov. viii. 27, 29,

Cause, as Last End of all creatures, as unlimited perfection, as infinite beauty, as sovereign goodness, as the object which can oontent both our understanding and our will, — no, not even God himself, thus known and thus enjoyed, could satisfy man. This being, made out of nothing, wishes to possess the Infinite in his own substance ; he longs after the sight of the face, he ambitions to enjoy the life, of his Lord and God. The earth seems to him but a trackless desert, where he oan find no water that can quench his thirst. From early dawn of each wearisome day, his soul is at once on the watch, pining for that God who alone can quell his desires ; yea, his very flesh too, has its thrilling expectations for that beautiful Infinite One. 1 Let us listen to the Psalmist, who speaks for us all : As the hart panteth after the fountains of water, so my soul panteth after thee, 0 God ! My soul hath thirsted after the strong, living God : when shall I come and appear before the face of God ? My tears have been my bread, day and night, whilst it is said to me daily : " Where is thy God?" These things I remembered, and poured out my soul in me : for I shall go over into the place of the wonderful tabernacle, even to the house of God. With the voice of joy and praise, the noise of one that is feasting. Why art thou sad, 0 my soul ? and why dost thou troubk me ? Hope in God, for I will still give praise unto him : the salvation of my countenance and my God. 2

If reason is to be the judge of such sentiments as these, they are but wild enthusiasm and silly pretensions. Why talk of the sight of God, of the" life of God, of a banquet wherein God himself is to be the repast ? Surely, these are things far too sublime for man, or any created nature to reach. Between the wisher and the object longed for, there is an abyss, — the iPs.lxii. " 'IWd.xli.

CORFU* /CBJUSTI. abyss of disproportion, which exists between nothings ness and being. Creation, all powerful as it is, does not, in itself, imply the filling up of that abyss. If the disproportion could ever cease to be an obstacle to the union aspired to, it would be by God himself going that whole length, and then imparting something of his own divine energies to the creature that had onoe been nothing. But, what is there in man, to induce the Infinite Being, whose magnificence is above the heavens, to stoop so low as that P This is the language of reason.

But, on the other hand, who was it that made the heart of man so great and so ambitious, that no creature can fill it ; how comes it, that whilst the heavens show forth the glory of God, and the firma- every work of his hands, 1 how oomes it, we ask, that in man, alone, there is no proportion, no order ? Gould it be, that the great Creator has ordered all things, excepting man alone, with measure, and number, and weight ? 2 That one creature, who is the imaster-pieoe of the whole creation ; that creature, for whom all the rest was intended, as for its king ; is he to be the only one that is a failure, and to live as a perpetual proclaimer that his Maker oould not, or would not, be wise, when he made Man P Far from us >be such a blasphemy ! God is love, says St. John ; ? and love is the knot which mere human philosophy can never loosen, and therefore must ever leave ,unr solved the problem of man's desire for the Infinite.

Yes, God is oharity ; God is love. The wonder, in all this question, is not our loving and longing for God, but that he should have first loved us. 4 God is love ; and love must have union ; and union mak^s the united like one another. Oh ! the riches of the ment deolareth power is

1 P*. xyiii. 2. » Wiad. xi. 21.

8 1 St. John, iv. 8. *Ibid. iv. 10.

II corpus cHTOm 207

Divine Nature, wherein are infinite Power, and Wisdom, and Love ! These three constitute, by their divine relations, that blessed Trinity, which has been the light and joy of our souls, ever sinoe that bright Sunday's Feast, whioh we kept in its honour. Oh J the depth of the divine oounsels, wherein that whioh is willed by boundless Love finds, in infinite Wisdom, how to fulfil in work what will be to the glory of Omnipotence !

<Jlory be to thee, O holy Spirit ! Thy reign over the Ghurch has but just begun this Year of grace, {and thou art giving us light whereby to understand the divine decrees. The day of thy Penteeost brought us a new Law, a Law where all is brightness ; and it was given to us in place of that old one of shadows and types. The pedagogue, who schooled the infant would Jor the knowledge of truth, has been dismissed ; light has shone upon us through the preaching of the Apostles ; and the ©hiidren of light, set free, knowing God and known by him, are daily leaving behind them the weak and needy elements of early ohiM- .heod. 1 Scarcely, 0 divine Spirit ! was completed the triumphant Octave, wherein the Church 'celebrated thy Coming ^and her own bitfth, which that Coming ;broupht, when all eager for the fulfilment of thy .Mission of bringing to the Bride'B mind the thinw taught her by her Spouse, 2 thou showedst her the divine and radiant mystery of the Trinity, that not (only her Faith might acknowledge, but that her adoration and her praise might also worship it ; and she and her children find their happiness in its contemplation and love. But, that first of the great mysteries of our faith, ithe unsearchable dogma of >the Trinity, does not represent the whole richness of Christian revelation ; thou, 0 blessed Spirit, hastenest

1 Gal. iii. 5, 24, 25 ; iv. 9. 2 St John, xiv. 26. to oomplete our instruction, and widen the horizon of our faith.

The knowledge thou hast given us of the essenoe and the life of the Godhead, was to be followed and completed by that of his external works, and the relations which this God has vouchsafed to establish between himself and us. In this very week when we begin, under thy direotion, to contemplate the precious gifts left us by our Jesus when he ascended on high ; 1 on this first Thursday, whioh reminds us of that holiest of all Thursdays, — our Lord's Supper, — thou, the admirable Sacrament, whioh is the compendium of the works of God, one in Essence and three in Persons ; the adorable Eucharist, which is the divine memorial 2 of the wonderful things achieved by the united operation of Omnipotence, Wisdom, and Love. The most holy Euoharist contains within itself the whole plan of God, with reference to this world of ours ; it shows how all previous ages have been gradually developing the divine intentions, whioh were formed by infinite love, and, by that same love, carried out to the end? yea, to the furthest extremity here below, that is, to Itself ; for the Euoharist is the orowning of all the antecedent acts done by God in favour of his oreatures ; the Eucharist implies them all ; it explains all.

Man's aspirations for union with God, — aspirations, whioh are above his own nature, and yet so interwoven with it, as to form one inseparable life, — these strange longings can have but one possible cause, and it is God himself — God who is the author of that being called Man. None but God has formed the immense capaciousness of man's heart ; and none but God is willing or able to fill it. Every act of the divine will, whether outside himself or in, is pure love, and is referred to

1 Ps. lxvii. 19, * Ibid. ex. 4. 8 St. John, xiii. 1.

0 divine Spirit, bringest

CORFU* 0HBI9TI. that Person of the Blessed Trinity who is the Third ; and who, by the mode of his Prooession, is substantial and infinite love. Just as the Almighty Father sees all things, before they exist of themselves, in his only "Word, who is the term of the divine intelligence, — so, likewise, that those same things may exist in themselves, the same Almighty Fattier wishes them, in the Holy Ghost, who is to the divine will what the Word is to the infinite intelligence. The Spirit o{ Love, who is the final term to the fecundity of Persons in the divine essence, is, in (rod, the first beginning of the exterior works produced by God. Iq. their execution, those exterior works are common to the Three Persons, but they are attributed to the Holy Ghost, inasmuch as he, being the Spirit of Love, solicits the Godhead to act outside Itself. He is the Love who, with its divine weight and influenoe of love, sways the Blessed Trinity to the external aot of creation ; infinite Being leans, as it were, towards the deep abyss of nothingness, and out of that abyss creates. The Holy Spirit opens the divine oounsel, and say 8 : Let us make man to our image and likeness /I Then God creates man to his own image ; he creates him to the image of God 9 2 taking his own Word as the model to whioh he worked ; for that Word is the sovereign archetype, acoording to whioh is formed the more or less perf eot essence of each created being, Like him then, to whose imajge he was made, Man was endowed with understanding and free-will, As such, he would govern the whole inferior creation, and make it serve the purposes of its Creator, that is, he would turn it into a homage of praise and glory tq its God ; and though that homage would be finite, yet would it be the best of which it was capable, This is what is called the natural order; it is an immense world of perfeot harmonies ; and, had it ever l Gen. i. 26, * Bid. 27. existed without any further perfection than its own natural one, it would have been a master-piece of God's goodness; and yet, it would have been far from realising the designs of the Spirit of Love.

With all tne spontaneity of a will which was free not to aot, and was as infinite as any other of the divine perfections, the Holy Spirit wills that Man should, after this present life, be a partaker of the very life of God, by the faoe-to-face vision of the divine essence ; nay, the present life of the children of Adam here, on this earth, is to put on, by anticipation, the dignity of that higher life ; and this so literally, that the future one in heaven is to be but the direct sequel, the consequent outgrowth, of the one led here below. And now is man, so poor a creature in himself, to maintain so high a standing P how is he to satisfy the cravings thus created within his heart P Fear not : the Holy Ghost has a work of his own, and he does it simultaneously with the aot of creation ; for the Three Persons infuse into their creature, Man, the image of their own divine attributes ; and, upon his finite and limited powers, graft, so to say, the powers of the divine nature. This being made for an end which is above created nature ; these energies superadded to man's natural powers, transforming, yet not destroying, them, and enabling the possessor to attain the end unto which God calk him ; — is called the supernatural order, in contradistinction to that lower one, which would have been the order of nature, had not God, in his infinite goodness, thus elevated man above his own mere state as man, and that from the very first of his coming into existence. Man will retain all those elements of the natural order, which are essentials to his human nature ; and, with those essential elements, the functions proper to each : but, there is a principle, that, in every series, that should give the specifio character to the aggregate which was the end proposed by the ruling mind. Now, the last end of Man was never other in the mind of his Creator than a supernatural one; and, consequently, the natural order, properly so called, never existed independently of, or separately from, the supernatural.

There has been a proud school of philosophy, called " free and independent," which professed to admit no truths except natural ones, and practise no other virtues than such as were merely human : but, suoh theories cannot hold. The disciples of godless and secular education, by the errors and crimes into which their unaided nature periodically leads them, demonstrate, almost as forcibly as the eminent sanctity of souls whioh have been faithful to grace, that mere nature, or mere natural goodness, never was, and never can be, a permanent and normal state for man to live in. And even granting that he could so live, yet man has no right to reduce himself to a less exalted position, than the one intended for him by his Maker. " By assigning us a supernatural vooa- " tion, God testified the love he bore us ; but, at the " same time, he acted as Lord, and evinced his au- " thority over us. The favour he bestowed upon us, "has created a duty corresponding. Men have a " saying, and a true one : * He that hath nobility, " hath obligations : 9 and the prinoiple holds with "regard to the supernatural nobility, whioh it has " pleased God to confer upon us.', 1

It is a nobility which surpasses every other ; it makes man not only an image of God, but like unto him ! 2 Between God, — the Infinite, the eternal — and Man, who but a while back, was nothing, and ever must be a creature, — friendship and love are henoefortb to be possible : — such is the purpose of the capabilities, and powers, and the life, bestowed on the human creature by the Spirit of Love. So, then, those longings for v

1 Mgr. Pie, Bishop of Poitiers. First Synodical Instruction on the Chief Errors of our times, yiii, % Gen. i. 26, his God, those thrillings of his very flesh, of whioh. we were just now reading the inspired description by the Psalmist, 1 — they are not the outpourings of f oolish enthusiasm ! That thirsting after God, the strong, the living God ; that hungering for the feast of divine union ; — no, they are not empty ravings. 2 Made partaker of the divine nature* as St. Peter so strongly words the mystery, is it to be wondered at, if man be oonsoious of it, and lets himself be drawn, by the uncreated flame, into the very central Fire it came from to him ? The Holy Spirit, too, is present in his creature, and is witness of what himself has produced there ; he joins his own testimonies to that of our own conscience, and tells our spirit that we are truly, what we feel ourselves to be, — the sons of God. 4 It is the same Holy Spirit, who, secreting himself in the innermost centre of our being, that he may foster and complete his work of love, — yes, it is that same Spirit, who, at one time, opens to our soul's eye, by some sudden flash of light, the future glory that awaits us, and then inspires us with a sentiment of anticipated triumph ; 5 and then, at another time, he breathes into us those unspeakable moanings, 6 those songs of the exile, whose voice is choked with the hot tears of love, for that his union with his God seems so long deferred. There are, too, certain delicious hymns, whioh coming from the very depths of souls wounded with divine love, make their way up to the throne of God ; and the musio is so sweet to him, that it almost looks as though it had been victorious, and had won the union ! Such musio of such souls does really win ; if not the eternal union, — for that could not be during this life of pilgrimage, and trials, and tears, — still it wins wonderful unions here below, whioh human language has not the power to describe.

1 Ps. lxii. 4 Rom viii. 16.

8 Ibid. xli. 5 Eph. i. 17, 18 ; Bom. v. 2.

» St. Pet. i, 4. • Rom. viii. 26,

In this mysterious song between the Divine Spirit and man's soul, we are told by the Apostle, that He, who searcheth hearty knoweth what the Spirit desireth, became he asketh for the saints according to God. 1 What a desire must not that be, which the Holy Spirit desireth ! It is as powerful as the God who desires it. It is a desire, new, indeed, inasmuoh as it is in the heart of man, but eternal, inasmuch as it is the desire of the Holy Spirit, whose Procession is before all ages. In response to this desire of the Spirit, the great Grod, from the infinite depths of his eternity, resolved to manifest himself in time, and unite himself, to man, whilst yet a wayfarer ; he resolved thus to manifest and unite himself, not in his own Person, but in his Son, who is the brightness of his own glory, and the true figure of his own substance. 2 God so loved the world, 3 as to give it his own Word, — that divine Wisdom, who, from the bosom of his Father, had devoted himself to our human nature. That bosom of the Father was imaged by what the Scripture calls Abraham's bosom, where, under the ancient covenant, were assembled all the souls of the just, as in the place where they were to rest till the way into the Holy of Holies should be opened for the elect. 4 Now, it was from this bosom of his eternal Father, which the Psalmist calls the bride-chamber, b that the Bridegroom came forth at the appointed time, leaving his heavenly abode, and coming down into this poor earth, to seek his Bride ; that when he had made her his own, he might lead her back with himself into his kingdom, where he would celebrate the eternal nuptials. This is the triumphant procession of the Bridegroom in all his beauty ; 6 a procession, whereof the Prophet Mioheas, when speaking of his passing through Beth-

1 Rom. viii. 27. 4 Heb. ix. 8.

• Heb. i. 3. 6 Pa. xviii. 6.

8 St. John, iii. 16. 6 Ibid. xliv. 5. lehem, says, that his going forth is from the days of eternity} Yes, truly, from the days of eternity ; for as we are taught by the sublime principles of Catholio theology, the connexion between the eternal procession of the divine Persons and the temporal mission, is so intimate, that one same eternity unites the two together in God: eternally, the Trinity has beheld the ineffable birth of the Only Begotten Son in the bosom of the Father ; eternally, with the same look, it has beheld him coming, as Spouse, from that same Father's bosom.

If we now come to compare the eternal deorees of God one with the other, it is not difficult to recognise which of them holds the chief plaoe, and, as such, comes first in the divine intention of creation. God the Father has made all things with a view to this union of human nature with his Son ; — union so close, that, for one individual member of that nature, it was to go so far as a personal identification with the Only Begotten of the Father. So universal, too, was the union to be, that all the members were to partake of it, in a greater or less degree ; not one single individual of the race was to be excluded, except through his own fault, from the divine nuptials with eternal Wisdom, which was made visible in a Man, the most beautiful above all the children of men. 2 For, as the Apostle says, God, who heretofore commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath himself shined in our hearts, giving them the light of the knowledge of the glory of God, in, and by, the face of Christ Jesus* So that the mystery of the Marriage-Feast is, in all truth, the mystery of the world ; and the kingdom of heaven is well likened to a King, who made a Marriage for his Son. 4

But, where is the meeting between the King's Son

1 Mich. v. 2. 3 2 Cor. iv. 6.

» Pi. xliv. 3. * St. Matth. xxii. 1-14. and his Betrothed to take place? Where is this mysterious union to be completed ? Who is there to tell us what is the dowry of the Bride, the pledge of the allianoe ? Is it known who is the Master who provides the nuptial banquet, and what sort of food will be served to the guests ? The answer to these questions is given this very day, throughout the earth ; it is given with loud triumphant joy. There can be no mistake ; it is evident from the sublime message, which heaven and earth re-echo, that He who is oome is the Divine Word. He is adorable Wisdom, and is oome forth from his royal abode to utter his voice in our very streets, and cry out at the head of multitudes, and speak his words in the entrance of city-gates; 1 he stands on the top of the highest plaoes by the way, in the midst of the paths, and makes himself heard by the sons of men.* He bids his servants go to the tower and the city walls, with this his message: Come! eat my Bread, and drink the Wine which I have mingled for you ; for Wisdom hath built herself a Home, supported on seven pillars ; there she hath slain her victims, mingled her wine, and set forth her table ; 8 all things are ready ; come to the marriage / 4

0 Wisdom, that earnest forth from the mouth of the Most High, reaching from end to end, disposing all things with strength and sweetness ! 6 we besought thee, in the season of Advent, to oome unto Bethlehem, " the house of Bread ;" thou wast the long Expeoted of our hearts. The day of the glorious Epiphany showed us the mystery of the Nuptials, and manifested to us the Bridegroom ; the Bride was got ready in the waters of the Jordan ; we oommemorated the Magi, who, with their gifts, hastened to the royal nuptials, where the guests were regaled with a

1 Prov. i. 20 21.

• Ibid. viii. 1-4.

• Ibid, ix.1-5.

• St. Matth. xxii. 4. 6 Prima ex* Ant. maj. Adrentus.

CORPUS CHJHSTI. miraculous 'wine. 1 But the Water* which, to make up for the defioienoy of a bad tree, was changed into wine* was a prophetic figure of future mysteries. The Vine, the true Vine, of which we are the Branches, 3 has yielded its sweet-smelling flowers, and its fruits of honour and riches. 3 Wheat hath abounded in our valleys, and they shall sing a hymn of praise; 4 for this strength of the earth shall oover the mountain-tops, and its fruit shall go up beyond Iibanus. 5

0 Wisdom, thou noble queen, whose divine perfections enamour, from early childhood, hearts that are taken with true beauty ! 6 the day of the true Marriage-feast is come. Thou art a mother full of honour, and a young Bride i& thy charms, and thou oomest to nourish us with the bread of life, and give us to drink of a oup of salvation. 7 Thy fruit is better than gold; and thy blossoms than choicest silver. 8 They that eat thee, shall still hunger after thee ; and they that drink thee, shall again thirst for thee ; 9 for thy conversation hath no bitterness, nor thy company any tediousness> but joy and gladness,™ and riches, and glory y and virtues. 11

During the days of this great Solemnity, w hen thou art seated in a pillar of cloud, and plaoest thy throne in the holy assembly, we would fain take each mystery of this thy divine banquet, and ponder over its marvels, and then publish them, yea, go to choir with thee, 0 beautiful Wisdom, and sing thy praise in the presence of thy Angels, who will be there adoring the Saored Host ! 12 Do thou vouohsafe to open our lips, and fill us with thy Holy Spirit, 0 divine Wisdom !

1 Ant. Epiph. ad Benedictus.

2 St. John, xv. 6. 8 Ecclus. xxiv. 23. «Ps. lxiv. 14.

8 Ibid lxxi. 16. « Wiad, viii. 2.

7 Ecclus. xv. 2, 3.

8 Prov. viii. 19.

9 Ecclus. xxiv. 29.

10 Wisd. viii. 16.

11 Ptt>V. viii. 18

11 Ecclus. xxiv. 1-7. thttt so our praise may be worthy of its theme, and, as thou hast promised in thy Scriptures, may it abound, may it be full to overflowing, in the mouths of thy faithful worshippers ! 1

The Night Office for this Festival has a speoial interest of its own : it is the memory of that holy night when, as the Church expresses it, faith shows us our Lord presiding, for the last time, at the figurative Pasch, and following up the feast of the typical Lamb with the banquet of his own Body. For the reasons specified yesterday, we give the entire of to-day's Offioe.

In order to induce the Faithful to prefer the prayers of the Liturgy to all others, we would remind them that the Sovereign Pontiffs have solemnly opened the treasures of the Church in favour of such as, being contrite, and having confessed their sins, shall assist at any of the Canonical Hours, either on the day of the Feast, or during its Octave. Pope Martin the Fifth, by his Constitution Ineffabile Sacramentum, whioh allows this Feast and Octave to be celebrated with the ringing of bells and solemnity, even in places whioh are under an interdiot, confirmed and added to the Indulgences granted by Urban the Fourth, in the Bull Transiturus. Finally, Pope Eugenius the Fourth, mentioning the acts of these two Pontiffs, 2 doubled the Indulgences granted by them. These Indulgences are as follows : two hundred days are granted for fasting on the eve, or for any good work substituted for the fast, at the discretion of the Confessor : on the

1 Ecclus. xy. 5-10. 2 Const. Excellentissimum. day of the Feast, four hundred days for assisting at first Vespers, Matins, Mass, or second Vespers : two hundred days for holy CommunioD, over and above those granted for assisting at Mass : a hundred and sixty days for each of the Hours of Prime, Tieroe, Sext, None, and Compline : two hundred days for the Prooession, on the day of the Feast itself, or during the Octave : two hundred days, likewise, for assisting at Vespers, Matins, or Mass, during the Octave, and eighty days for each of the other Hours.

After the Pater, Ave, and Credo, have been said secretly, the Church oommenoes her Offioe by her usual Matin supplication :

Jf. Domine, labia mea ^. 0 Lord! thou wilt open aperies. my lips. fit. Et os meum an nun- &. And my mouth shall de- tiabit laudem tuam. clare thy praise. y. Deus, in adjutorium f. Incline unto mine aid, 0 meum intends. God !

ft. Domine, ad adjuvan- 0 Lord ! make haste to dum me festina. help me.

Gloria Patri, et Filio, et f. Glory be to the Father,

Spiritui Sancto. and to the Son, and to the

Holy Ghost :

&.Sicuteratmprincipio,et & As it was in the begin- nunc et semper, et in saecula ning, is now, and ever shall sseculorum. Amen. be, world without end. Amen.

Alleluia. Alleluia.

Then follows, with its glad refrain, Christum Begem, the Invitatory Psalm, whereby the Church invites her ohildren, every night, to oome and adore the Lord. On this Feast, she, as Bride, addressing herself to us as the faithful subjects and courtiers of the King of glory, invites us to pay our homage to Him, whose goodness towards us is all the more telling, because of his infinite majesty.

INVITATORY.

Let us adore Christ, the Sing, who ruleth the nations : Who giveth fatness of spirit to them that eat him.

Psalm

Come, let us praise the Lord with joy; let us joyfully sing to God our Saviour; let us come before his presence with thanksgiving, and make a joyful noise to nim with psalms.

Let us adore Christ, the Sing, who ruleth the nations : Who giveth fatness of spirit to them that eat him.

For the Lord is a great God, and a great King above all gods; he will not reject his people ; for in his hand are all the ends of the earth, and the heights of the mountains are his.

Who giveth fatness of spirit to them that eat him.

For the sea is his, and he made it, and his hands formed the dry land : come, let us adore, and fall down, and weep before the Lord that made us ; for he is the Lord our God ; and we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.

Let us adore Christ, the King, who ruleth the nations : Who giveth fatness of spirit to them that eat him*

Christum regem adore - mus dominantem gentibus :

• Qui se manducantibus dat spiritus pinguedinem.

Venite,ex8ultemu Domino, jubilemus Deo Salutari nostro : praeoccupemus faciem ejus in confessione, et in psakais jubilemus ei.

Christum regem adoremus dominantem gentibus :

• Qui se manducantibus dat spiritus pinguedinem.

Quoniam Deus magnus Dominus, et Bex magnus super omnes deos : quoniam non repellet Dominus plebem suam, quia in manu ejus sunt omnes fines terrae, et altitudines montium ipse conspicit.

Qui se manducantibus dat spiritus pinguedinem.

Quoniam ipsius est mare, et ipse fecit illud, et aridam fundaverunt man us ejus : venite, adoremus, et procidamus ante Deuin: ploremu coram Domino, qui fecit nos, quia ipse est Dominus Deus noster : nos autem populus ejus, et oves pascuee ejus.

Christum regem adoremus dominantem gentibus :

• Qui se manducantibus dat spiritus pinguedinem.

Hodie si vocem ejus audieritis, nolite obdurare corda vestra, sicut in exacerbatione secundum diem tentationis in deserto : ubi tentaverunt me patres vestri, probaverunt, et viderunt opera mea.

Qui se manducantibus dat spiritus pinguedinem.

Quadraginta annis proximus fui generationi huio, et dixi : Semper hi errant corde : ipsi vero non cognoverunt vias meas, quibus iuravi in ira mea, si introibunt in requiem meam.

Christum regem adoremus dominantem gentibus :

• Qui se manducantibus dat spiritus pinguedinem.

Gloria Patri, et Filio, et Spiritui Sancto : Sicut erat in principio, et nunc, et semper, et in seecula sseculorum. Amen.

Qui se manducantibus dat spiritus pinguedinem.

Christum regem adoremus dominantem gentibus :

• Qui se manducantibus dat , spiritus pinguedinem.

To-day, if "ye shall hear his voice, harden not your hearts, as in the provocation according to the day of temptation in the wilderness : where your fathers tempted me; they proved me, and saw my works.

Who giveth fatness of spirit to them that eat him.

Forty years was I nigh unto this generation, and I said : These always err in heart : and these men have not known my ways : so, I swore in my wrath, that they shall not enter into my rest.

Let us adore Christ, the King, who ruleth the nations : Who giveth fatness of spirit to them that eat him.

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost : as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end, Amen.

Who giveth fatness of spirit to them that eat him.

Let us adore Christ, the King, who ruleth the nations : Who giveth fatness of spirit to them that eat him.

After the Invitatory, in which we have oommemorated the transfer of Christ's kingdom to the Gentiles, the Church intones the triumphant Hymn, which, in its noble verses, recounts the Last Supper, and celebrates the wonderful favours bestowed upon men, that glorious Night.

HATTO8.

HYMN.

Let our joys blend with this sacred Solemnity : and let our praises resound from our inmost heart; let old things give way; let all be new, both hearts, and words, and works !

We are celebrating that night's Last Supper, when, as faith tells, Christ gave to his brethren, the Lamb and unleavened bread, as the law, given to the ancient fathers, prescribed.

After giving them the figurative Lamb, and when the repast was over, we confess with faith, that our Lord, with his own hands, gave his Body to his disciples : and so gave It, that the entire was given to all, and the entire to each.

Tbey were frail, and he gave them his Body as food : they were sad, and he gave them his Blood, for their drink; saying: Take the Cup I deliver unto you! Do ye all drink thereof !

Thus did he institute this Sacrifice, whose ministry he willed should be intrusted to Priests alone ; who were so to partake of it themselves, as to give it to others.

The Bread of Angels becomes the Bread of men ; the Bread of heaven puts an end to the types; 0 wonderful thing! he that is poor, and servant, and lowly, eateth the Lord!

Sacris solemniis juncta sint gaudia, Et ex prsecordiis sonent precoma : Eecedant vetera, nova sint omnia, Corda, voces, et opera. Noctis recolitur coena novisaima, Qua Chri8tuscredituragnum et azyma Dedisse fratribus, juxta 1«gitima Pnscis indulta patribus. Post agnum typicum, expletis epulis, Corpus Dominicum datum discipulis, Sic totum omnibus, quod totum singulis, Ejus fatemur manibus.

Dedit fragilibus Corporis, ferculum, Dedit et tristdbus Sanguinis poculum, Dicens : Accipite quod trado vasculum, Omnes ex eo bibite. Sic sacrificium istud inetituit,

Cujus officium committi voluit

Solis Presbyteris, quibus sio congruit Ut sumant, et dent ceteris.

Panis Angelicus fit panis hominum ; Dat panis coelicus figuris terminum ; O res mirabilis manducat Dominum Pauper, servus, et hi;* milis f

Te, Trina Deitas Unaque, poscimus. Sic nos tu visita, siout te colimus : Per tuas semitas due nos quo tendimus, Ad lucem quam inhabitas. Amen.

We beseech thee, 0 Triune Deity, do thou so visit us, as we worship thee ; lead us by thy ways to the term we aim at, — to the light, wherein thou dwelle8t.

Amen.

These preludes made, we begin the solemn Offioe of the night, whioh is divided into three Vigils or

Nocturns.

THE FIRST NOCTURN.

Christ is the Just Man by excellence ; he is the tree, which brings forth its fruit in due season, the fruit, that is, of salvation, which the Lord gave us to taste at the time of his death. The first Psalm offers us this beautiful symbolism, which the Fathers have so often dwelt upon in their writings.

Ant. Pructum salutiferum gustandum dedit Dominus mortis suae tempore.

Ant. The Lord gave us to taste of the fruit of salvation , at the time of his death.

Psalm 1.

Beatus vir, qui non abiit in consilio impiorum, et in via peccatorum non stetit, * et m cathedra pestilentiae non sedit :

Sed in lege Domini voluntas ejus, * et in lege ejus meditabitur die ac nocte.

Et erit tanquam lignum, quod plantatum est secus decursus aqaarum, * quod fructum suum dabit in tempore suo,

Blessed is the man who hath not walked in the counsel of the ungodly, nor stood in the way of sinners, nor sat in the chair of pestilence.

But his will is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he ehall meditate day and night.

And he shall be like a tree, which is planted near the running waters, which shall bring fortn its fruit in due season «

Et folium e j us non defluet : * et omnia ausBcumque faciet prosperabuntur.

Non sio impii, non sic : • sed tanquam pulvis, quern projicit ventus a facie terra.

Ideo non resurgent impii in judicio : • neque peocatores in concilio justorum.

Quoniam noyit Dominus viam justorum : * et iter impiorum peribit.

Ant. Fructum salutiferum gustandum dedit Dominus mortis suse tempore.

The seoond Psalm of this Nooturn tells us of the peace and abundance enjoyed by the man who puts his confidence in the God of justice. Corn, wine, and oil are the riches of God's house : it is mainly by these three elements, that the Church confers a daily increase of holiness on them that have beoome her ohildren by the water of baptism. What, indeed, has she, to be compared with the beautiful Corn of the elect, and Wine that produceth Virgins ? x

And bis leaf shall not fall off: and all whatsoever he shall do shall prosper.

Not so the wicked, not so : but like the dust, which the wind driveth from the face of the earth.

Therefore the wicked shall not rise again in judgment: nor sinners in the council of the just.

For the Lord knoweth the way of the just : and the way of the wicked shall perish.

Ant. The Lord gave us to taste of the fruit of salvation, at the time of his death.

Ant. The Faithful, multiplied by the fruit of Corn and Wine, rest in the peace of Christ.

Ant. Afructufrumentiet vini multiplioati fideles in pace Christi requiescunt.

PSALM 4.

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.

Cum invocarem exaudivit me Deus justitise meae : * in tribulatione dilatasti mihi.

Miserere mei : * et exaudi orationem meam. i Zach. ix. 17.

COWV9 CKRISTI.

Filii hominum, usque^no gravi oorde ? * ut quid diligitis vanitatem, et quseritis mendacium ?

Et scitote quoniam miiifioavit Dominus sanctum suum: • Dominus exaudiet me, cum clamavero ad eum.

Irascimini, et nolite pec^ care : * quee dicitis in cordibus vestris, in cubilibus vestris compungimini.

Sacrificatesacrificium justitise, et sperate in Domino :

• multi dicunt : Quis ostendit nobis bona P

Signatum est super nos lumen vultus tui, Domine :

• dedisti lsetitiam 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.

Ant. A fructu frumenti et vini multiplicati fideles in pace Christi requiescunt.

0 ye sons of men, how long will ye be dull of heart ? why do ye love vanity, and seek after lying ?

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 ye say in your hearts, be sorry for them on your beds.

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

The light of thy countenance, 0 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.

Ant. The Faithful, multiplied by the fruit of Corn and Wine, rest in the peace of Christ.

We have already seen how the holy Eucharist was the bond of union between the Faithful, and the centre of Catholio communion. What the Sacrifice of the New Testament is for us Christians, from a social point of view, that same were the mosaic sacrifices, heretofore, for the Jews, although in a manner wholly external and figurative. The following Antiphon tells us the reason of the Church's selecting the rsalm she has done for the third one of this Nooturn : it was, that she might remind us of her own superiority, in this respect, over the rejeoted Synagogue,

The Lord himself is the g heritance and the cup of her

Ant. The Lord hath brought us together, by the communion of the cup, wherein God himself is received; not by the blood of calves.

PSALM

Preserve me, 0 Lord, for I have put my trust in thee : I have said to the Lord, thou art my God, for thou hast no need of my goods.

To the Saints, who are in his land, he hath made wonderful all my desires in them.

Their infirmities were multiplied : afterwards they made haste.

I will not gather together their meetings for blood-offerings : nor will I be mindful of their names by my lips.

The Lord is the portion of mine inheritance and of my cup ; it is thou that wilt restore mine inheritance to me.

The lines have fallen unto me in goodly places : for mine inheritance is goodly unto me.

I will bless the Lord, who hath given me understanding : moreover, my reins also have corrected me even till night.

I set the Lord always in my sight : for he is at my right hand, that I be not moved.

Therefore my heart hath been glad, and my tongue vo* x,

Lorious portion of her injoy.

Ant. Communione calicis quo Deus ipse sumitur, non vitulorum sanguine, congregavit nos Dominus.

Conserva me, Domine, quoniam speravi in te : * dixi Domino, Deus meus es tu, quoniam bonorum meorum non eges.

Sanctis, qui sunt in terra ejus : * mirificavit omnes voluntates meas in eis.

Multiplicatse sunt infirmitates eorum : * postea acceleraverunt.

Non congregabo conventicula eorum de sanguinibus : * nec memor ero nominum eorum per labia mea.

Dominus pars hsereditatis meae, et caliois mei : * tu es qui restitues haereditatem meam mini.

Funes ceciderunt mihi in praeclaris : * etenim haereditas mea praeclara est mihi.

Benedicam Dominum, qui tribuit mihi intellectum :]* insuper et usque ad noctem increpuerunt me renes mei.

Providebam Dominum in conspectu meo semper : * quoniam a dextris est mihi, ne commovear.

Propter hoc laetatum est cor meum, et exsultavit lin-

0ORPT7S CHUISTI. gua xnea : * insnper et caro mea requiescet in ape.

Quoniam non derelinques animam meam in inferno : * nec dabis Sanctum tunm videre cornintionem.

Notas mihi f ecisti vias vitro, adimplebis me lsetitia cum voltu tuo : * delectationes in dextera tua usque in fmem.

Ant. Communione caliois quo Deus ipse sumitur, non yitulorum sanguine, congregavit nos Dominus. f. Fanem cceli dedit eis, alleluia.

Panem angelorum manducayit homo, alleluia. hath rejoiced: moreover, my flesh ajso shall rest in hope,

Because thou wilt not leave my soul in hell : nor wilt thou give thy Holy One to see corruption.

Thou hast made known to me the ways of life, thou shalt fill me with joy with thy countenance: at thy right hand are delights even to the end.

Ant. The Lord hath brought us together, by the communion of the cup, wherein God himself is received; not by the blood of calves. f. He hath given them the Bread of heaven, alleluia.

&. Man hath eaten the Bread of Angels, alleluia.

The Priest begins the first two words of the Lord's Prayer :

Pater noster.

Our Father.

The rest is said in silence, as far as the last two petitions ; the Priest then says aloud : y. Et ne nos inducas in y. And lead us not into tentationem. temptatation.

The Choir answers : &. Sed libera nos a malo. &. But deliver us from evil.

Then the Priest :

Exaudi, Domine Jesu Graciously hear, 0 Lord Ohriste, preces servorum Jesus Christ, the prayerB of

^Djgitifed byGodgle thy servants, and have mercy tuorum, et miserere nobis, upon us : who, with the Father qui cum Patre et Spiritu and the Holy Ghost, livest Sancto vivis et regnas in and reignest for ever and ever, ssecula sseculorum.

The Choir answers : Amen.

Then one of the Choir rising, turns towards the Priest, and bowing down, says :

Pray, Father, give thy bles- Jube, Domne, benedising. cere.

Then the Priest :

May the Eternal Father Benediotione perpetua be- bless us with an everlasting nedicat nos Pater SBternus. blessing.

&. Amen. Amen.

The first Nooturn Lessons are taken from one of St. Paul's Epistles. After ohiding the Faithful of Corinth for their having allowed abuses to creep into their religious meetings, the Apostle recounts the institution of the blessed Eucharist : he tells them the dispositions they should bring with them to the holy Table, and speaks of the grievous orime committed by him who approaches unworthily.

Our readers will observe how admirably the Responsories are composed of passages from "both Old and New Testament Books ; they are thus brought side by side, the more dearly to show the harmony between the Law, the Prophets, and the Gospel, on the mystery of the Euoharist. The Office of the Blessed Sacrament is thus enriched with the chief propheoies and figures which had foretold the adorable Presence, and had kept the just men of the former Covenant in expectation of the promise, whiph is now our Reality.

First Lesson.

De Epistola prima Beati Pauli Apostoli ad Corinthios.

Gap. xL

Convenientibus vobis in unum, jam non est Dominicam coenam manducare. TJnusquisque enim suam coenam prsesumit ad manducandum. Et alius quidem esurit, alius autem ebrius •st. Numquid domos non habetis ad manducandum et bibendum? aut Ecclesiam Dei contemnitis, et confunditis eos, qui non babentP Quid dicam vobis P Laudo vos? In hoc non laudo. ft. Immolabit hoedum multitudo filiorum Israel ad vesperam Paschse. * Et edent carnes, et azymos y. Pascha nostrum immolatus est Christus : itaque epulemur in azymis sinoeritatis et veritatis. * Et edent.

Benediotio. Unigenitns Dei Filius nos benedicere et adjuyare dignetur. ft. Amen.

From the first Epistle of Saint Paul the Apostle Jx> the Corinthians.

Ch. xi.

When ye come together into one place, it is not now to eat the Lord's Supper, (your meetings are not worthy of the mystery ye celebrate,) For everyone taketh before his own supper to eat. And one, indeed, is hungry, and another is drunk. What ! have ye not houses to eat and to drink in ? or despise ye the Church of God, and put them to shame that have not ? What shall I say unto youP Do I praise you ? In this I praise you not. ft. The multitude of the children of Israel shall sacrifice a kid, at the evening of the Pasch. * And they shall eat flesh, and unleavened cakes. y . Christ our Pasch is sacrificed : therefore let us feast with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth. * And they shall eat.

Blessing. May the Only Begotten Son of God vouchsafe to bless and help us* ft. Amen.

Second Lesson.

Ego enim accepi a Domino, quod et tradidi vobis, quoniam Dominus Jesus in qua nocte tradebatur, accepit panem, et gratias agens

For I have received of the Lord, that which also I delivered unto you, that the Lord Jesus, the same night in which he was betrayed, took bread. by Google and giving thanks, broke, and said : Take ye and eat : this is my Body, which shall be delivered for you : this do for the commemoration of me. In like manner, also, the chalice, after he had supped, saying: This ohalice is the new testament in my blood : this do ye, as often as ye shall drink, for the commemoration of me. For, as often as ye shall eat this bread, and drink the chalice, ye shall show the death of the Lord, until he come.

Ye shall eat flesh, and shall have your fill of bread : * This is the Bread, which the Lord hath given you, that ye might eat it. f. Moses gave you not bread from heaven; but my Father giveth you the true Bread from heaven. * This is.

Blessing. May the grace of the Holy Ghost enlighten our senses and our hearts.

$. Amen. fregit, et dixit: Accipite et manducate: hoc est corpus rneum, quod pro vobis tradetur: hoc facite in meam commemorationem. Similiter et oalicem, postquam coenavit, dicens: Hio calix novum testamentum est in meo sanguine. Hoc facite, quotiescumque bibetds, in meam commemorationem. Quotiescumque enim manducabitis panem huno, et calicem bibetis, mortem Domini annuntiabitis donee veniat.

Oomedetis carnes, et saturabimini panibus : • Iste est panis, quern dedit vobis Dominus ad vescendum. f, Non Moyses dedit vobis panem de coelo, sed Pater meus dat vobis panem de coeio verum. * Iste est panis.

Benediotio. Spiritus Sancti gratia illuminet sensus et corda nostra.

&. Amen.

Third ]

Therefore, whosoever shall eat of this bread, or drink the chalice of the Lord, unworthily, shall be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord. But let a man prove himself : and so let him eat of that bread, and drink of the chalice. For he that eateth and drinketh unworthily, eateth and drinketh judgment to himself, not discerning the body of the Lord. Therefore are there

Itaque quicumque manduoaverit panem nunc, vel biberit calicem Domini indigne, reus erit corporis et sanguinis Domini. Probet autem seipsum homo: et sic de pane illo edat, et de calice bibat. Qui enim manducat et bibit indigne, judicium sibi manducat et bibit, non dijudicans corpus Domini, ldeo inter vos multi inflrmi et imbecilles, et dormiunt multi. Quod si nosmetipsos judicaremus, non utique judicaremur. Dum judicamur autem, a Domino corripimur, ut non cum hoc mundo damnemur»

Eeepexit Elias ad caput sunm Bubcinericium panem, qui surgens comedit et faibit : * Bt ambulayit in iortitudine oibi illius usque ad montem Dei y. Si quia manducayerit ex hoc pane, vivet in ®ternum. * Bt ambulavit. Gloria. * Et ambulayit* many infirm and weak among you, and many sleep. But if we would judge ourselves, we should not be judged. Bat whilst we are judged, we are chastised by tbe Lord, that we be not condemned with this world.

Elias beheld at his head a hearth -cake; who, rising, eat, and drank: * And he walked, in the strength of that food, unto the mount of God. f. If any man shall eat of this Bread, he shall live for ever. * And he walked. Glory. * And he walked.

THE SBCON3> NOCTURN.

The fourth Psalm of our Matins speaks of the all-powerful effioaoy of the Christian Sacrifice. The Lord's protection and help in the battles of this life ; joy, exaltation, abundance; — all are assured to the man who will but have recourse to it. For the Victim is Christ, with which no other can compare for perfection ; it is a whole burnt-offering, whose sweet odour ascends, from our earthly altar, to heaven's sanctuary, and thenoe brings down the salvation of the right hand of the Most High. It is to Christ himself, that the Psalmist here makes his prayer for victory.

Ant. Memor sit Dominus sacrificii nostri, et holocaustum nostrum pingue fiat.

Ant. May the Lord be mindful of our sacrifice, and our whole burnt-offering be made fat.

Psalm 19.

May the Lord hear thee in the day of tribulation : may the name of the God of Jacob protect thee.

May he send thee help from the sanctuary : and defend thee out of Sion.

May he be mindful of all thy sacrifices: and may thy whole burnt-offering be made fat.

May he give thee according to thine own heart : and confirm all thy counsels.

We will rejoice in thy salvation: and in the name of our God we shall be exalted.

May the Lord fulfil all thy petitions : now have I known, that the Lord hath saved his anointed.

He will hear him from hie holy heaven : the salvation of his right hand is in powers.

Some trust in chariots, and some in horses: but we will call upon the name of the Lord our God.

They are bound, and have Mien : but we are risen, and are set upright.

0 Lord ! save the king : and hear us in the day that we shall call upon thee.

Ant. May the Lord be mindful of our sacrifice and our whole burnt-offering be made fat.

The soul that follows

Exaudiat te Dominus in die tribulationis : • protegat te nomen Dei Jacob.

Mittat tibi auxilium de sancto : * et de Sion tueatur te.

Memor sit omnis sacrificii tui : * et holocaustum tuum pingue fiat.

Tribuat tibi secundum cor tuum: * et omne consilium tuum oonfirmet.

Lratabimur in salutari tuo : * et in nomine Dei nostri magnificabimur.

Impleat Dominus omnes petitionee tuas : * nuno cognovi quoniam salvum fecit Dominus Christum suum.

Exaudiet ilium de coelo sancto suo : * in potentatibus salus dexterse ejus.

Hi in curribus, et hi in equis : * nos autem in nomine Domini Dei nostri invoeabimus.

Ipsi obligati sunt, et ceciderunt : * nos autem surreximus et erecti sumus.

Domine salvum fac regem, * et exaudi nos in die qua invocaverimus te.

Ant. Memor sit Dominus sacrificii nostri, et holocaustum nostrum pingue fiat. her Lord ibants for nothing.

Happy sheep ! its Shepherd? & crook leads it to suoh rich pastures ! to such refreshing water springs ! Let us join the saintly servant of God, and sing the praises of the Chalice which inebriateth 9 and of the Table prepared for him against all enemies ; when he leaves that Table, he goes forth like a lion breathing fire ; he has been made an object of terror to the devil. 1

Ant. Paratur nobis men- Ant. The Lord's Table is sa Domini adversus omnes prepared before us, against all qui tribulant nos. them that afflict us.

Dominus regit me, et nihil mihi deerit: * in loco pascuaB ibi me collocavit.

Super aquam refectionis educavit me : * animam meam convertit.

Deduxit me super semitas justitise, * propter nomen suum.

Nam etsi ambulavero in medio umbrae mortis, non timebo mala : * quoniam tu me cum es.

Virga tua, et baculus tuus : * ipsa me consolata sunt.

Parasti in conspectu meo mensam, * adversus eos qui tribulant me.

Impinguasti in oleo caput meum : * et calix meus inebrians quam prseclarus est !

Et misericordia tua subsequetur me * omnibus diebus vitas mess. iSt.J#hnC)

M22.

The Lord ruleth me, and I shall want nothing: he hath set me in a place of pasture.

He hath brought me up on the water of refreshment : he hath converted my soul.

He hath led me on the paths of justice, for his own name's sake.

For though I should walk in the midst of the shadow of death, I will fear no evils : for thou art with me.

Thy rod and thy staff, they have comforted me.

Thou hast prepared a table before me, against them that afflict me.

Thou hast anointed my head with oil : and my chalice, which inebriateth me, how goodly is it !

And thy mercy will follow me, all the days of my life.

7m. In J$an.

And that I may dwell in the house of the Lord, unto length of days.

Ant. The Lord's Table is prepared before us, against all them that afflict us.

Et ut inhabitem in domo Domini, * in longitudinem dierum.

Ant. Paratur nobis mensa Domini adversus omnes qui tribulant nos.

The sixth Psalm of these Matins was inspired into David's soul, when he was obliged to keep far off from the tabernacle and the holy ark, beoause of Saul's angry persecution, which necessitated his hiding in the mountains near the Jordan. It is the beautiful canticle already cited by us, as so strongly expressing man's thirst, even in this mortal life, after his God. The mere recollection of the feasting, which awaits him in the wonderful tabernacle in the House of God, comforts him amidst his troubles, and rouses his hope. Let us get the spirit of this celestial poetry into us ; it will kindle within us the flame of love.

Ant. Let them that feast at the Table of the Lord, make the voice of joy resound.

Ant. In voce exsultationis resonent epulantes in mensa Domini.

Psalm 41.

As the hart panteth after the fountains of water : so my soul panteth after thee, 0 God.

My soul hath thirsted after the strong living God : when shall I come and appear before the face of God ?

My tears have been my bread, day and night: whilst it is said to me daily : Where is thy God ?

These things I remembered, and poured out my soul in me : for I shall go over into the place of the wonderful tabernacle, even to the bouse of God:

Quemadmodum desiderat cervus ad fontes aquarum :

• ita desiderat anima mea ad te, Deus.

Sitivit anima mea ad Deum fortem vivum : * quando veniam et apparebo ante f aciem Dei ?

Fuerunt mihi lacrymse mesB nanes die ao nocte: * dum dicitur mihi quotidie: Ubi est Deus tuus r

Haec recordatus sum, et effudi in me animam meam :

• quoniam transibo in locum tabernaculi admirabilis, usque ad domum Dei :

In voce exstdtationis, et oonf essionis : * sonus epulantis.

Quare tristis es, anima mea : * et quare conturbas me?

Spera in Deo, yioniam adhuo oonfitebor illi : * salutare vultus mei, et Deus meus,

Ad meipsum anima mea oonturbata est : * propterea meinor ero tui de terra Jordanis, et Hermoniim a monte modico.

Abyssus abyssum invocat, in vooe cataraotarum tuarum.

Omnia exoelsa tua, et fluctus tui * super me transierunt.

In die mandavit Dominus miserioordiam suam, 4 et nocte cantioum ejus.

Apud me oratio Deo vitse meae, * dicam Deo: Sus* ceptor meus es.

Quare oblitus es mei ? * et quare contristatus incedo, dum affligit meinimicus ?

Dum confringuntur ossa mea ; * exprobraverunt mihi qui tribulant me inimici mei.

Dum diount mihi per sinffulos dies: TJbi est Deus tuus? * Quare tristis es, anima mea f et quare conturbas me ?

Spera in Deo, quoniam adhuc oonfitebor illi : * salutare vultus mei, et Deus meus.

Ant. In vooe exeultationis resonent epulantes in mensa Domini.

With the voice of joy, dad praise : the noise of one feasting.

Why art thou sad, O my soul? and why dost thou trouble me ?

Hope in God, for I will still gjive praise to him : the salvation of my countenance, and my God.

My soul is troubled within myself : therefore will I remember thee from the land of Jordan and Hermoniim from the little hill.

Deep calleth on deep, at the noise of thy flood-gates.

All thy heights and thy billows have passed over me.

In the day-time, the Lord hath commanded his mercy: and a canticle to him, in the night.

With me is prayer to the God of my Hfe, I will say to God : Thou art my support.

Why hast thou forgotten me P and why go I mourning whilst mine enemy afflicteth me ?

Whilst my bones are broken, mine enemies, who trouble me, have reproaohed me.

Whilst they say unto me, day by day: Where is thy God? Why art thou oast down, 0 my soul? and why dost thou disquiet me ?

Hope thou m God, for I will still give praise unto him : the* salvation of my countenance/ and my God.

Ant. Let them that feast at the Table of the Lord) the voice of joy resound. y. He hath fed them with Oibavit eos ex adipe the fat of wheat, alleluia. frumenti, alleluia.

And tilled them with Et de petra, melle sa- honey out of the rock, alleluia, turavit eos, alleluia.

Our Father. Pater noster.

After the Pater noster, which is said as prescribed above, in the first Nocturn, the Priest says :

May his goodness and mercy Ipsius pietas et misericor- help us, who, with the Father dia nos adjuvet, qui cum and the Holy Ghost, liveth Patre et Spintu Saucto vivit and reigneth for ever and ever, et regnat in saecula sseculo-

Amen. rum. Amen.

The Angelic Doctor is made to provide us with the second Nooturn Lessons : his own words are going to be read to us, words which will aid our faith to enter into the science of the divine Saorament, " as far as it " can be understood by man whilst on the way, and "humanly be defined." These were the words of our Lord, when approving the doctrine of Thomas, on the Sacrament of the Body} Three cities, Paris, Naples, and Orvieto, — had the honour of being, eaoh in its turn, the scene of these manifestations of Christ to his faithful servant, the Angelic Doctor. There is still venerated in the Church of St. Dominic, at Orvieto, the Crucifix, by which our Lord spoke, when giving his divine approval to the Office we are actually celebrating. Let us, then, listen, with veneration, to the following passage, which the Church has selected from one of the Saint's Treatises. As to its scholastic phraseology, let us remember, that, although in itself, it is not learning, yet it was the war-dress wherewith our forefathers of the 13th Century deemed it necessary to aocoutre Theology, when she had to oome to close argument with dry logioians.

1 Act SS. ad diem 7 Martii ; cap. ix. 53.

CORPUS CHRSTI,

Benedicts. Deus Pater Blessing. May God the omnipotens sit nobis propi- Father Almighty be propitious tius et clemens. and merciful unto us.

Amen. &. Amen.

Sermo Sancti Thomse Aquinatis.

Immensa divinse largitatis beneficia, exhibita popuio Christiano, inaestimabilem ei conferunt dignitatem. Neque enim est, aut fuit aliquando tarn grandis natio, quae habeat deos appropinauantes sibi, sicut adest nobis Deus noster. Unigenitus siquidem Dei Filius, suae divinitatis volens nos esse participes, naturam nostram assumpsit, ut homines deos faceret, factus homo. Et hoc insuper quod de nostro assumpsit, totum nobis contulit ad salutem. Corpus namque suum pro nostra reconciliatione in ara crucis hostiam obtulit Deo Patri : sanguinem suum fudit in pretium simul et lavacrum: ut redempti a miserabili servitute, a peccatis omnibus mundaremur. Ut autem tanti beneficii jugis in nobis maneret memoria, corpus suum in cibum, et sanguinem suum in potum, sub specie panis et villi 8umendum, fidelibus dereliquit.

Coenantibus illis, accepit Jesus panem, et benedixit, ac fregit, deditque

LESSON.

Sermon of Saint Thomas of Aquin.

The immeasurable blessings of divine bounty, which have been shown upon the Christian people, confer an inestimable dignity upon it. For neither is there, nor ever was there, any nation so great, that hath gods so nigh them, as our God is present with us. For the Only Begotten Son of God, wishing that we should be partakers of his divinity, assumed our nature, and was made Man, that he might make men gods. And, moreover, he conferred upon us, unto salvation, the whole of that which he assumed of ours. For he offered to God his Father, for our reconciliation, his own Body, as a victim, on the altar of the Cross : he shed his Blood, that it might be our ransom and our layer to cleanse us: that being redeemed from a miserable slavery, we might be cleansed from all sins. But that the remembrance of so great a benefit might abide in us, he left to the Faithful, under the species of bread and wine, his Body for food, and his Blood for drink.

Whilst they were at supper, Jesus took bread, and blessed, and brake, and gave to his disciples, and saith : * Take ye, and eat : This is my Body. y. The men of my tabernacle said: Who can give us of his Flesh, that we may be filled? * Take ye.

Blessing. May Christ grant unto us the joys of eternal life. gt. Amen. discipulis suis, et ait : * Accipite et comedite : Hoc est corpus meum. f. Dixerunt viri tabernaculi mei : Quis det de carnibus ejus, ut saturemur? * Accipite.

Benediotio. Christus perpetuse det nobis gaudia vitse.

R. Amen.

Fifth Lesson.

O precious and wonderful banquet ! health- giving, and replete with every sweetness ! For what can possibly be more precious than this banquet? wherein, not the flesh of calves and goats, as heretofore in the Law, but Christ, very God, is put before us, that we may take him. What more wonderful than this sacrament ? for, in it, bread and wine are substantially changed into the Body and Blood of Christ ; and, therefore, Christ, perfect God and Man, is contained under the species of a little bread and wine. He is, therefore, eaten by the Faithful, but not lacerated : nay, when the Sacrament is divided, he remains whole, under each particle of the division. But, the accidents subsist, in the same, without a subject, in order that there may be room for faith, inasmuch as the visible is invisibly taken, being hid under a species not its own ; and the senses are kept free from deception, for they judge of accidents (which are the only things) known by them,

0 pretiosum et admirandum convivium, salutiferum, et omni suavitate repletum ! Quid enim hoc convivio pretiosius esse potest ? in quo non carnes vitulorum et hircorum, ut olim in lege, sed nobis Christus sumendus proponitur verus Deus. Quid hoc Sacramento mirabilius ? in ipso namque panis et vinnm in Uhristi Corpus et Sanguinem substantialiter convertuntur, ideoque Christus Deus, et homo perfectus sub modici panis et vini specie continetur. Manducatur itaque a fidelibus, sed minime laceratur : quinimo, diviso Sacramento, sub qualibet divisionis particula integer perseverat. Accidentia autem sine subjecto in eodem subsistunt ut fides locum habeat, dum visibile invisibiliter sumitur aliena specie occultatum : et sensus a deceptione reddantur immunes, qui de accidentibus judicant sibi notis. ft. Aocepit Jesus calioem, ft, Jesus took the cup, after postquam coenavit, dioens: he had supped, saying: This

Hie calix novum testamen- Chalice is the new testament turn est in meo sanguine : * in my blood : * Do ye this for

Hoo facite in meam com- the commemoration of me. memorationem .

Memoria memor ero, y. Remembering, I will re* et tabescet in me anima member, and my soul shall mea. * Hoc facite. languish within me. * Do ye this.

Benediotio. Ignem sui Blessing. May God en- amoris accendat Deus in kindle within our hearts the cordibus nostris. fire of his love. ft. Amen. ft. Amen.

Sixth Lesson.

Nullum etiam saoramen- Again, there is no sacrament turn est isto salubrius, quo more health-giving than this, purgantur peccata, virtutes in which sins are wiped away, augentur, et mens omnium virtues are increased, and the spiritualium charismatum mind is made rich with the abundantia impinguatur. abundance of all spiritual

Offertur in Ebolesia pro vi- gifts. It is offered, in the vis et mortuis : ut omnibus Church, for the living and the prosit, quod est pro salute dead ; that what was instituted omnium institutum. Suavi- for the salvation of all, may tatem denique hujus Sacra- profit all. Finally, »no one menti nullus exprimere can adequately express the sufficit, per <juod spiritua- sweetness of this Sacrament, lis dulcedo in suo fonte by which, spiritual sweetness gustatur: et recolitur me- is tasted in its very source: moria illius, quam in sua and remembrance is solemnly passione Ohristus monstra- made of that most perfect vit excellentissimse charita- charity evinced by Christ in tis. Unde ut arctius hujus his Passion. Wherefore, in charitatis immensitas fide- order that the immensity of lium cordibus infigeretur, in this charity might the more ultima coena, quando Pascha deeply be impressed on the oum discipulis celebrato, hearts of the Faithful, it was transiturus erat dehocmun- at the Last Supper, — when, do ad Patrem, hoc Sacra- having celebrated the Pasoh mentum instituit, tanquam with his disciples, be was passionis suae memoriale pe- about to pass out of this world renne, figurarum veterum unto his Father, — that he in- impletivum, miraculorum stituted this^ Sacrament, and left it as the perpetual memorial of his Passion, the fulfilment of the ancient figures, the greatest of the miracles done by him, and the speoial consolation to them that were to be sad because of his absence.

I am the Bread of life : your fathers did eat manna in the desert, and are dead : * This is the Bread coming down from heaven ; that if any man eat thereof, he may not die. f, I am the living Bread, that came down from heaven ; if any man shall eat of this Bread, he shall live for ever. * This is Bread. Glory. *This is Bread. ab ipso faotorum maximum, et de sua contristaris absentia solatium singulare reliquit.

Ego sum panis vitee: patres vestri manducaverunt manna in deserto, et mortui sunt : * Hie est panis de coelo descendens : ut si quis ex ipso manducet, non moriatur. f. Ego sum panis vivus, qui de coelo descendi : si quis manducaverit ex hoc pane, vivet in seternum. * Hio est. Gloria. * Hie est.

THE THIRD NOCTURN.

The seventh Psalm of these Matins is a sequel to the one immediately preceding it in the Psaltery. The two are inspired by the same trying circumstances ; there is the same idea running through both ; and several of the expressions are identical. We have the cry of the poor soul when, being harassed by her enemy, she is longing for her God ; she has the wish and the confidence of, at last, seeing the holy mount, and that altar of God, where God gives himself in the person of the Inoarnate Word, of that Christ, who comes for the purpose of restoring their youth to his happy adorers and guests.

Ant. I will go in to the altar Ant. Introibo ad altare of God : I will take the Christ, Dei : sumam Christum qui who reneweth my youth. renovat juventutem meam.

PSALM 42.

Judica me, Deus, et discerne oausam meam de gente non sancta : * ab nomine iniquo et doloso erue me.

. Quia tu es, Deus fortitudo mea : * quare me repulisti, et quare tristis incedo, dum affligit me inimicus P

Emitte lucem tuam, et yeritatem tuam : * ipsa me deduxerunt, et adduxerunt in montem sanctum tuum, et in tabernacula tua.

Et introibo ad altare Dei : * ad Deum, qui laetificat juventutem meam.

Confitebor tibi in cithara Deus, Deus meus : * quare tristis es, anima mea, et quare conturbas me ?

Spera in Deo, quoniam adbuo confitebor illi : * salutare vultus mei, et Deus meus.

Ant. Introibo ad altare Dei : sumain Christum qui renovat juventutem meam.

Judge me, 0 God, and distinguish my cause from the nation that is not holy : deliver me from the unjust and deceitful man.

For thou art, God, my strength : why hast thou cast me off ? and why do I go sorrowful, whilst the enemy afflioteth me P

Send forth thy light, and thy truth : they have conducted me, and brought me unto thy holy hill, and into thy tabernacles.

And I will go in to the altar of God: to God, who giveth joy to my youth.

To thee, 0 God, my God, I will give praise upon the harp : why art thou sad, 0 my soul ? and why dost thou disquiet me?

Hope in God, for I will still give praise unto him : the salvation of my countenance, and my God.

Ant. I will go in to the altar of God : I will take the Christ, who reneweth my youth.

The eighth Psalm oelebrates, with enthusiasm, the sovereign goodness of the God of Jacob. He had, by numberless prodigies, worked the deliverance of his people. Open thy mouth he said and I will Jill it ; and he, this day, keeps his word, notwithstanding the frequent sad frowardness of his unworthy children. He feeds them with the fat of wheat ; he fills them with honey out of the rock; that is to say, he gives them to taste the ineffable sweetness of Christ, who is the wheat of the elect and the rock of the desert 1

Ant. The Lord hath fed us Ant. Cibayit nos Domi- with the fat of wheat ; and nus ex adipe frumenti : et hath filled us with honey out de petra, melle saturavit of the rock. nos.

Psalm

Eejoice unto God, our helper: sing aloud to the God of Jacob.

Take a psalm, and bring hither the timbrel : the pleasant psaltery with the harp.

Blow up the trumpet on the new moon, on the noted day of your solemnity.

For it is a commandment in Israel, and a judgment to the God of Jacob.

He ordained it for a testimony in Joseph, when he came out of the land of Egypt, he heard a tongue which he knew not.

He removed his baok from the burdens, his hands had served in baskets.

Thou caUedst upon me in affliction, and I delivered thee : I heard thee in the secret place of tempest : I proved thee at the waters of contradiction.

Hear, O my people, and I will testify to thee : 0 Israel, if thou wilt hearken unto me, there shall be no new god in thee : neither shalt thou adore a strange god.

For I am the Lord thy God,

^ach, ix. 17;

Vol. x.

Exsultate Deo adjutori nostro : * jubilate Deo Jacob.

Sumite psalmum, et date tympanum, * psalterium jucundum cum cithara.

Buccinate in Neomenia tuba, * in insigni die solemnitatis vestrse.

Quia prseceptum in Israel est : * et judicium Deo Jacob.

Testimonium in Joseph posuit illud, cum exiret de terra JEgypti: * linguam quam non noverat, audivit.

Divertit ab oneribus dorsum ejus : * manus ejus in cophino servierunt.

In tribulatione invocasti me, et liberavi te : * exaudivi te in abscondito tempestatis: probavi te apud aquam contradictionis.

Audi, populus mens, et contestabor te: * Israel, si audieris me, non erit in te deus recens, neque adorabis deum alienum.

Ego enim sum Dominua lCor. x t 4,

R

DeuB tuns, qui eduxi te de terra Mgypu : * dilata os tuum, et implebo illud.

Et non audivit populus meu vocem meam : * et Israel non intendit mini.

Et dimisi eos secundum desideria cordis eorum, * ibunt in adinventionibus suis.

Si populus meus audisset me : * Israel si in viis meis ambulasset :

Pro nihilo forsitan inimicos eorum humiliassem: * et super tribulantes eos misissem manum meam.

Inimici Domini mentiti sunt ei: * et erit tempus eorum in ssecula.

Et cibavit eos ex adipe frumenti: * et de petra, melle saturavit eos.

Ant. Cibavit nos Dominus ex adipe frumenti: et de petra, melle saturavit nos. who brought thee out of the land of Egypt : open thy mouth wide, and I will fill it.

But my people heard not my voice : and Israel hearkened not to me.

So I let them go according to the desires of their heart : they shall walk in their own inventions.

If my people had heard me : if Israel had walked in my ways :

I should soon have humbled their enemies : and laid my hand on them that troubled them.

The enemies of the Lord have lied to him : and their time shall be for ever.

And he fed them with the fat of wheat : and filled them with honey out of the rock.

Ant. The Lord hath fed us with the fat of wheat; and hath filled us with honey out of the rock.

Christ is that living Qod, who makes my heart and my flesh rejoice. Let us take this next Psalm, and sing the praises of the altars of the Lord of hosts, our King and our Qod. Those altars are a house for the sparrow, and a nest for the turtle-dove. Happy they who dwell in those lovely tabernacles !

Ant. Ex altare tuo. Do- Ant. We have taken Christ mine, Christum sumimus, from thine altar, 0 Lord ; in in quern cor et caro nostra whom our heart and flesh exsultant. rejoice.

How lovely are thy tabernacles, 0 Lord of hosts? my soul longeth and fainteth for the courts of the Lord.

My heart and my flesh have rejoioed in the living God.

For the sparrow hath found herself a house, and the turtle a nest for herself, where she may lay her young ones.

Thy altars, 0 Lord of hosts, my Xing, and my God ?

Blessed are they that dwell in thy house, 0 Lord ! they shall praise thee for ever and ever.

Blessed is the man whose help is from thee : in his heart, he hath disposed to ascend by steps, in the vale of tears, in the place which he hath set.

For the lawgiver shall give a blessing, they shall go from virtue to virtue: the God of gods shall be seen in Sion.

0 Lord, God of hosts ! Lear my prayer: give ear, 0 God of Jacob!

Behold, 0 God ! our protector: and look on the face of thy Christ.

For better is one day, in thy courts, above thousands*

1 have chosen to be an abr ject in the house of my God, rather than to dwell m the tabernacles of sinners.

For God loveth mercy and

Quam dileeta tabereacnJa tua, Doznine virtutuml * concupiscit et deficit anima mea in atria Domini.

Cor meum et oaro mea * exsultaverunt in Deum vivum.

Etenim passer invenit sibi domum; * et turtur nidum sibi, ubi ponat polios suos.

Altaria tua, Domine tutum : * Bex mens, et Deus meus.

Beati, qui habitant in domo tua, Domine: * in saecula saeculorum laudabunt te.

Beatus vir, cu jus est auxi- Hum abs te: * ascensiones in corde suo disposuit, in valle lacrymarum, in loco quern posuit.

Etenim benedictionem dabit legislator, ibunt de virtute in virtutem ; * videbitur Deus deorum in Sion.

Domine, Deus virtutum, exaudi orationem meam : * auribus percipe, Deus Jacob.

Protector noster aspice, Deus: * et respice in faoiem Ohristi tui.

Quia melior est dies una in atriie tnis * super millia.

Elegi abjeotua esse in domo Dei. mei : * magis quam habitare in tabernaculis peccatorum.

Quia inisericprdiam et

00KPTT8 CHBISTI, veritatem diligit Dens: • truth: the Lord will give g-atiam et gloriam dabit grace and glory, ominus.

Non privabit bonis eos, He will not deprive of good qui ambulant in innocentia : things them that walk in

• Domine virtu turn, beatus innocence : O Lord of hosts !

homo qui sperat in te. blessed is the man that trust- eth in thee.

Ant. Ex altari tuo, Do- Ant. We have taken Christ mine, Christum sumimus, from thine altar, O Lord; in in quern cor et caro nostra whom our heart and flesh exsultent. rejoice.

Educas panem de ter- Bring forth bread out of ra, alleluia. the earth, alleluia. ft. Et vinum lsetificet cor ft. And may wine cheer the hominis, alleluia. heart of man, alleluia.

Pater noster. Our Father.

After the Pater noster, which is said as in the first two Nocturns, the Priest says :

A vinculis peccatorum May the Almighty and mer- nostrorum absolvat nos om- cif ul Lord deliver us from the nipotens et misericors Do- chains of our sins. ft. Amen. min us, ft. Amen.

Here is read the first sentence of the Gospel of the Mass of this Feast ; and the interpretation of it, as given by St. Augustine, is immediately added. The holy Doctor dwells particularly on the unity which our Lord intended to produce among his followers by the august Sacrament. He shows the necessity of the interior dispositions required for receiving this Sacrament with fruit ; and lays special stress on this one effeot, — that it is to make man live for Christ, just as He lives for his Father.

Bsnediotio. Evangelica Blessing. May the reading lectio sit nobis salus et pro-| t of the Gospel bring us salvatectio. ft. Amen. tion and protection, ft. Amen,

7th L

Lesson from the holy Gospel according to John.

Oh. vi.

At that time, Jesus said to the multitude of the Jews: My flesh is meat indeed : and my blood is drink indeed. And the rest.

Homily of Saint Augustine, Bishop.

Seeing that men desire this, by the food and drink they take, that they may suffer neither hunger nor thirst, — this result is not gained by any other than this food and drink, which makes them immortal and incorruptible who take it ; that is, the very fellowship of the saints, where there is peace, and full and perfect unity. For, — as also men of God, who preceded us, understood this subject, — it was for that purpose that our Lord J esus Christ commended his Body and Blood in such things as are brought, from being many, into one. For the first of these is made into one, out of several grains ; and the second flows into one, out of several berries. He now, at last, explains how that is effected which he is speaking : and what it is to eat his Body, and drink his Blood.

$. He that eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, * Abideth in me, and I in him.

Lectio sancti Evangelii secundum Johannem.

Cap. vi.

In illo tempore, dixit Jesus turbis Judseorum : Oaro mea, vere est cibus : et sanguis meus, vere est potus. Et reliqua.

Homilia sancti Augustini Episcopi.

Cum cibo et potu id appetant homines, utneque esuriant, neque sitiant, hoc vera citer non prsestat, nisi iste cibus et potus, qui eos, a quibus sumitur, immortales et incorruptibiles f acit : id est, societas ipsa sanctorum : ubi pax ent, et unitas plena atque perfecta. Propterea quippe, sicut etiam ante nos hoc intellexerunt homines Dei, Dominus noster Jesus Ohristus Corpus et Sanguinem suum in eis rebus commendavit, quae ad unum aliquid rediguntur ex multis. Namque aliud in unum ex multis granis conficitur: aliud in unum ex multis acinis confluit. Denique jam exponit quomodo id fiat, quod loquitur : et quid sit manducare Corpus ejus, et sanguinem bibere.

Qui manducat meam carnem et bibit meum sanguinem, * In me manet, et ego in eo. m f. Non est alia natio tarn grandis, quae habeat deos appropinquantes sibi, sicut Deus noster adest nobis. * In me»

Bekbdiotioj Divinum auxilium maneat semper nobiscum. fe. Amen. f. There is no other nation so great, that hath its gods so nigh unto it, as our God is present with us. * Abideth.

Blessing. May the divine assistance remain always with us. &. Amen.

Qui manducat oamem meam et bibit raeum Ban-- guinem, in me manet, et ego in did. Hoe est ergo manducare illam escam, et ilium bibere potum, in Chri8to manere, et ilium manentem in se habere. Ac per hoc, qui non manet in Christo, et in quo non manet Ohristus, procul dubio nec manducat spiritaliter carnem ejus, nec bibit ejus sanguinem, licet carnaliter et visibiliter premat dentibus sacramentum Corporis et Sanguinis Ohristi: sed magis tantse rei sacramentum ad judicium sibi manducat et bibit, <juia immundus prsesumpeit ad Ohristi accedere sacramenta, qu» aliquis non digne fiumit, nisi qui mundus est : de quibus dicitur: Beati mundo corde, quoniam ipsi Deum videbunt.

Misit me vivens Pater, et ego vivo propter Patrem: * Et qui manducat me vivet propter me. y. Cibavit ilium Dominus pane vitee et intellectus. * Et qui manducat. Gloria. * Et qui manducat*

Lesson.

He that eateth my Flesh, and drinketh my Blood, abidttk H me, and I in him. This, then, it id to eat that meat, and drink that drink, — to abide in Ohrist, and have Him abiding in one's self. And, therefore, he that abideth not in Christ, and in whom Christ doth not abide t certainly does not spiritually either eat his Flesh, or drink his Blood, although he may, carnally and visibly, press the sacrament of Christ's Body and Blood with his teeth : but rather, he eateth and drinketh the sacrament of so great a thing to his own judgment, seeing, that he, unclean as he is, had presumed to approach Christ s sacra ments, which no one worthily receives unless he be clean ; of whom it is said : Blessed are the clean of heart, /or they shall see God. ft. The living father hath sent me, and I live by the Father : * So, he that eateth me, shall live by me. t. The Lord hath fed him with the bread of life and understanding. * And fee. Glory. • And he.

Blessing. May the King of Angels lead.us'to the fellowship t of heavenly citizens, ft. Amen.

Benediotio. Ad societatem civium supernorum perducat nos Bex Angelorum. Amen.

9th Lesson.

As, says he, the living Father hath tent me, and I live by the Father ; so, he that eateth me, the same also shall live by me. It is as though he should say : " That I should live by the " Father , (that is, should refer " my life to him as to one " greater,) it was done by that " emptying of myself, in which ' * he sent me. But that anyone " live by me, it is done by that "participation whereby he "eateth me. I, therefore, "being brought low, live by "the Father; man, being "raised up, liveth by me." But if the words, i" live by the Father, are taken in this sense, — that the Son is of the Father, not the Father of the Son, — they must be so taken without lessening the equality {between Father and Son). And yet, we are not to take those words, So he that eateth me, the tame shall live by me, as meaning equality between Christ and ourselves : {they do not mean that,) but they show the grace (bestowed by him in his office) of Mediator.

Sicut, inquit, misit me vivens Pater, et ego vivo propter Patrem : et qui manduoat me, et ipse vivet propter me. Ac si diceret : Ut ego vivam propter Patrem, id est, ad ilium tamquam ad majorem referam vitam meam, exinanitio mea fecit, in qua me misit. Ut autem quisquam vivat propter me, participate facit, qua manducat me. Ego itaque humiliatus vivo propter Patrem : ille erectus vivit propter me. Si autem ita dictum est, vivo propter Patrem, quia ipse de illo, non ille de ipso est : sine detrimento sequalitatis dictum est. Nec tamen dioendo, et qui manducat me, et ipse vivet propter me : eamdem suam et nostram sequalitatem significavit, sed gratiam mediatoris ostendit.

Te Deum laudamus : * te Dominum confitemur.

Te aeternum Patrem ; # omnia terra yeneratur.

Tibi omnes Angeli ; * tibi ooeli, et universse Potestates,

Tibi Cherubim et Seraphim : * ince8sabili voce proclamant :

Sanctus,

Sanotus,

Sanctus, # Dominus Deus Sabaoth !

Pleni sunt coeli et terra # ma jest a tie glorias tuae.

Te ffloriosus * Apostolorum chorus,

Te Prophetarum * laudabilis numerus,

Te Martyrum candidatus

• laudat exercitus.

Te per orbem terrarum # sancta confitetur ecclesia :

Patrem * immensse majestatis ;

Yenerandum tuum verum, * et unicum Filium ;

Sanctum quoque * Paraolitum Spiritum.

Tu Bex glorise, * Ohriste.

Tu Patris • sempiternus es Filius.

Tu ad liberandum suscepturus hominem, * non horruisti Virginia uterum.

Tu devicto mortis aculeo :

• aperuisti credentibus reg-

We praise thee, O God ! wo acknowledge thee to be our Lord.

Thee, the Father everlasting, all the earth doth worship.

To thee the Angels, to thee the heavens, and all the Powers,

To thee the Cherubim, and Seraphim, cry out without ceasing:

Holy!

Holy!

Holy! Lord God of Sabaoth!

Full are the heavens and the earth of the majesty of thy glory.

Thee the glorious choir of the Apostles,

Thee the laudable company of the Prophets,

Thee the white-robed army of Martyrs, doth praise.

Thee, the holy Church, throughout the world, doth acknowledge :

The Father of incomprehensible majesty,

Thy adorable, true, and only Son,

And the Holy Ghost, the Paraclete.

Thou, 0 Christ, art the King of glory.

Thou art the everlasting Son of the Father. *

Thou, being to take upon thee to deliver man, didst not disdain the Virgin's womb.

Thou having overcome the stiug of death, hast opened to believers the kingdom of na ccelonim.

Thou sitteet at the right hand of God, in the glory of the Father.

Thee we believe to be the Judge to come.

Tu ad dexteram Dei sedes * in gloria Pa trie.

Judex crederis ! turus. esse ven-

All kneel at the following Verse .

We beseech thee, therefore, to help thy servants, whom thou hast redeemed with thy precious Blood.

Make them to be numbered with thy saints in eternal glory.

O Lord, save thy people, and bless thine inheritance.

And govern them, and exalt them for ever. Every day we magnify thee.

And we praise thy Name for ever and ever.

Vouchsafe, 0 Lord, to keep us, this day, without sin.

Have mercy on us, O Lord, have mercy on us.

Let thy mercy, O Lord, be upon us, as we have put our trust in thee.

In thee, O Lord, have I put my trust : let me not be confounded for ever.

Te ergo quaesuraus, tuis famulis subveni, * quos pretioso sanguine redemisti.

JEterna fac cum Sanctis tuis * in gloria numerari.

Salvum fac populum tuum, Domine, • et benedic hsereditati tuae.

Et rege eos, * et extolle illos us<jue in seternum.

Per singulos dies, * benedicimus te.

Et laudamus nomen tuum in saeculum, * et in sseculum sseculi.

Dignare, Domine, die isto * sme pecoato nos custodire.

Miserere nostri, Domine ; # miserere nostri.

Fiat misericordia tua, Domine, super nos, * quernadmodum speravimus in te.

In te, Domine, speravi ; • non confundar in seternum.

The three Vigils of the Night are over. The Church has kept watoh for her Spouse ; and, to beguile the hours, which seemed to go so slowly on, she has been singing the praises of her Beloved, and beseeohing him, with most ardent prayers, to come

CORPUS CHUISTI. quickly. Blessed Mother Church ! For, blessed are they whom, when the Lord returneth from the nuptials, he shall find watching, ready to open to him at hifi first knocking. He mil gird himself, as our Jesus Bays in the Gospel, and will make them sit down to meat ; and, passing, mil minister unto them ; and, if he shall come in the second watch^ or come in the third watch, and find them so, blessed are those servants ! x These divisions, called "Nocturns," which are so long a portion of the Divine Office, yet are independent of the seven Canonical Hours of the day, have been interpreted as signifying those long ages, when the human race, sitting as it was in darkness, and a prey to the anger of God, was asking the Mediator to come, who was to justify the world by his Blood,* and bring back the light, by restoring that peace with heaven, whioh had been broken by original sin. Equally with the prayers of the Patriarchs and the desires of the Prophets, there were the Church and all the just, whose supplications were being heard in anticipation, and were shortening the time when the Messias was to oome, and, therefore were hastening the day when was to be offered the great Sacrifioe, whereby sin was to have an end, the justice of God be made manifest, and the covenant with many be confirmed.*

But, the Church awaits her Spouse every day still. It is true, he came but once to die ; but he comes down every day from heaven, in order to enrioh his Bride, in the aot of the daily Sacrifioe ; wherein a ceaseless application is made of the merits of the Sacrifioe of the Cross, which was offered up once for all, and for all future ages. This daily visit of her Jesus is the one hour to whioh the Church directs all she does ; it divides her days into two parts, one of desire, the other of thanksgiving. She gives expres-

• St. Lulw, xii. 36-38. * Rom v. 9. 8 Dan. ix. 24, 27. sion, Sevan times eaoh day, to the feelings of her heart ; and to this her sacrifice of praise, which id the joyful outcoming of the eucharistic Sacrifice, she invites her children. It was from the Eoyal Prophet that she learnt this, 1 as also the Betting singers before the Altar, and tnaking sioeet Melody by their voices?

For, ad soon as David had brought the Ark into Jerusalem, with all the solemnity recorded in Scripture, and had completed the sacrifices, he appointed a choir of hxfites to minister be/ore it, and to glorify and praise the Lord Ood of Israel, in the name of all the people. 8 Later on, when, full of days, he crowned on Sion that son of his, who was to have the happiness, Which had been denied to himself, of building the temple of Jehovah, 4 he put into Soloinon'fe hands the plans of the great building, which was to substitute stability for the tent-like structure of the days of desert life. David himself drew up the permanent arrangement which was to regulate divine worship as required by the new order of things. 5 To the four-and-twenty priestly families, Who were appointed to take their turns, week by week (or, in our own way of expressing it, to be hebiomadarians) in the offering of the sacrifices, there were added, as a natural complement, four thousand Singers or psalmists, 6 who were likewise divided into four-and-twenty sets; they were to keep up an unbroken ministry of prophecy or praise, under the direction of Asaph, Heman, and Idithun, and receive lessons from two hundred and eighty-eight, who, as being skilled in the science of sacred chant, and in giving praise with harp, psaltery, and cymbal, taught the song of the Lord to their brethren. 7 Praise, or choral chanting, was prophecy, in those days, just

1 Ps. cxviii. 164.

• Ecclus. xlvii. 11.

3 1 Paralip. xvi. 2, 4, 37,41.

• Ibid, xxiii. 1.

» Parali|>. xxviii. 11, 13.

6 Ibid, xxiii. 5.

7 Ibid. xxv. 1-7. as now, in the New Testament, it is confession, that is, celebration ; they sang in hope, as we sing in faith ; but the object of all these chants, both theirs and ours, was and is the same, that is, Christ our Lord ; and hence, so many of the sacred formulas of Israel have become those of our Mother the Church.

David was the perf eot type of Christ. As such, he would not merely provide the people with the words of their chants, by giving them his inspired Psalms, but he takes his place among the very levites, clad, like them, with a robe of fine linen, and directing their songs, on that great day of the carrying the Ark into the holy city. 1 " 0 most excellent precentor ! " says the devout and learned Abbot Rupert : " he " leads the sacred choirs, and dances before the Ark " of the Lord's covenant. 0 King ! 0 Prince of " sacred rites ! what means this excessive enthusiasm " of one so noble as thou ? Observe, how he, who. is "not of the priestly race, commands the priests, "and gives his orders to the levites, that they be " sanctified ; he appoints the chanters ; he selects who " are to sing mysteries, and who the song of victory " for the octave ; he arranges them that are to blow "the trumpets, them that are to strike the horns, " and them that are to sound harps, or cymbals, or "psalteries, or organs. In all these things, he " foresaw his Son, (Christ our Lord) ; he ventured " upon an office, whioh he knew was to belong to this " his Son ; for the Ark of the Covenant was a figure " of the human nature to be assumed by him, since it " contained the manna of the Word, and the tables " of the Testament, and the rod of priestly and kingly " power. It is for this reason, that our David, after "he had destroyed the kingdom of death, as the " other David had destroyed that of Saul, carries the " Ark of the Covenant into Jerusalem, and sets it in

1 1 Paralip. xv. 27.

"the heavenly tabernaole, which himself had pre- " pared. The Church seeing this, she, like the "former people, excites herself to sing with her "David. The whole multitude, therefore, of the " sons of Jacob sing harmoniously ; and David him- " self plays the harp in the house of the Lord ; for, " whatsoever Israel sings, she learns it from David, " her master, her precentor, who, with the finger of " God, strikes the harps of our hearts. It is David " that rouses the souls of men, so that they give forth " sounds of bodily harmony, at one time low, at " another high, or grandly ; and under the dictate of " one same faith, the immense body of the Church, " spread, as she is throughout all nations, sings, " everywhere, a chant, which is varied, yet one, and " she sings it to her Head, who is Christ, and it " sounds sweetly in his ear." 1

But the dawn of our Feast is upon us. Turning towards the East, the Church knows, through the twilight, that her Spouse is preparing to visit her. She is all joy at this hour, when the king of day is about to shine on our earth ; she has her solemn Office of Lauds, full of gladness and praise, as its name indicates ; and, in this Office, she invites earth, and sea, and firmament, to sing canticles which are worthy of our Jesus, who is the true Sun, for he is rising upon us, and, as the Psalmist tells us, is himself rejoicing, as a giant, 2 to come to the Altar of Sacrifice.

Rupert. De Div. Of. lib. 1, cap. 17. * *Ps. xviii. 6.

CORPUS CHKI8TI.

LAUDS.

Deus, in adjutorium meum inteDde.

&. Domine ad adjuvandum me festina.

Gloria Patri, et Filio, et Spiritui'Sancto ;

Sicut erat in prinoipio, et nunc, et semper, et in ssecula sraculorum. Amen. Alleluia f. Incline unto my aid, O God.

&. O Lord, make haste to help me.

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost :

As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever snail be, world without end. Amen. Alleluia.

The first Psalm of Lauds shows us in all bis power and infinite greatness, the Lord, the King of nations, hidden in the sacred Host. By the ever-living Sacrifice, he establishes, he strengthens, the world, notwithstanding all there is to move and disturb it. The voice of the deep sea is wonderful; but far more so, in the high heaven, is the voice of the divine Victim. Infinite Wisdom bears testimony to it on this day, for it is Wisdom that hath built the Mouse, and set forth the table, for the great Sacrifice. Let us lead lives worthy, by their holiness, of this Home, whose prioeless treasure is proclaimed this day by Wisdom.

Ant. Sapientia aedificavit Ant. Wisdom hath built sibi domum, miscuit vinum, himself a house, mingled his et posuit mensam, alleluia. wine, and set forth his table, alleluia.

LAUDS.

2S5

Psalm 93.

The Lord hath reigned, he is clothed with beauty : the Lord is clothed with strength, and hath girded himself.

For, by his Sacrifice, he hath established the world, which shall not be moved.

Thy throne, 0 Divine Wisdom f is prepared from old : thou art everlasting.

The floods have lifted up, 0 Lord ! the floods have lifted up their voice.

The floods have lifted up their waves, with the noise of many waters.

Wonderful are the surges of the sea : wonderful is the Lord on high.

Thy testimonies, 0 Wisdom ! are become exceedingly credible : holiness becometh thy House, 0 Lord, unto length of days.

Ant. Wisdom hath built himself a house, mingled his wine, and set forth his table, alleluia.

The following Psalm invites all the inhabitants of earth to enter into the house of Divine Wisdom, there to celebrate, in a becoming manner, the sweet presence of Her, whose delight it is to be thus dwel ling among the children of men ; and yet, this very Wisdom is the Lord of glory — the God who made us ; we are his people, and the sheep of his exquisite pasture ; let us proclaim his love with gladness and gratitude.

Axt Thou hast nourished Ant. Angelorum esca nu- thy people with the Bread of trivisti populum tuum, et

Angels; and hast granted panem de coelo prastitisti them Bread from heaven, al- eis, alleluia, leluia.

Dominus regnavit, decorem indutus est : * indutus est Dominus fortitudinem et prsecinxit se.

Etenim firmavit orbem terrae : * qui non commovebitur.

Parata sedes tuaex tunc : * a ssbcuIo tu es.

Elevaverunt flumina, Domine : * elevaverunt flumina vocem suam.

Elevaverunt flumina fluctus suos : * a vocibus aquarum multarum.

Mirabiles el ationes maris : * mirabilis in altis Dominus.

Testimonia tua credibilia facta sunt minis : * domum tuam decet sanctitudo, Domine, in longitudinem dierum.

Ant. Sapientia aedificavit sibi domum, miscuit vinum et posuit mensam, alleluia.

CORPUS CHBI6TI.

Psalm 90.

Sing joyfully unto God, all the earth. ! serve ye the Lord with gladness.

Come in before his Presence, with exceeding great joy.

Know ye, that the Lord is God : he made us, and not we ourselves.

We are his people, and the sheep of his pasture ; go ye into his gates, with praise : into his courts, with hymns, and give glory unto him.

Praise ye his name, for the Lord is sweet ; his mercy endureth for ever : and his truth, to generation and generation.

Jubilate Deo omnis terra, * servite Domino in laetitia.

Introite in conspectu ejus : * in exsultatione.

Scitote quoniam Dominus ipse est Deus: # ipse fecit nos, et non ipsi nos.

Popuiusejus, et oves pascus ejus, introite portas ejus in confessione : * atria ejus in hymnis, confitemini illi.

Laudatenomen ejus, quoniam suavis est Dominus ; in seternum misericordia ejus : * et usque in generationem et generationem Veritas ejus.

Ant. Angelorum esca nutrivisti populum tuum, et panem de ocelo prsestitisti eis, alleluia.

The two following Psalms, which the Church joins together, are the prayer of the faithful soul at break of day. She has been awakened by the thirst for her God ; she longs for the Bread of Life, which is to fill her with marrow and fatness, that is, with the very substance of Christ, with what makes even kings delighted. She is overwhelmed with joy at the thought, that, to-day, the object of her love is to receive a public triumph, which will, for at least a few hours, turn this earth — desert, trackless, and dry, as it is, into a temple, where he will receive such solemn homage ! All over this world, men are going to unite in one common feeling of adoration, joy, and praise : nations will gratefully honour the divine Fruit, which this our earth hath yielded.

Ant. Thou hast nourished thy people with the Bread of Angels ; and hast granted them Bread from heaven, alloluia.

Ant. The Bread of Christ is fat, and it shall yield dainties to kings, alleluia*

Ant. Pinguis est panis Christi, et prabebit deb'cias regibus, alleluia.

LAUDS.

O God, my God, to thee do I watch at break of day.

For thee my soul hath thirsted, for thee my flesh oh ! how many ways.

In a desert land, and whcro there is no way, and no water : so, in the Sanctuary, have I oome before thee, to see thy power and thy glory.

For thy mercy is better than lives : thee my lips shall praise.

Thus will I bless thee all my life lorn? : and, in thy name. I will lift up my hands.

Let my soul be filled, as with marrow and fatness, with the*, 0 Bread of Life ! and my mouth shall praise thee with joyful lips.

If I have remembered thee upon my bed, I will meditate upon thee in the morning: because thou hast been my helper.

And I will rejoice under the covert of thy wings ; my soul hath stuck close to thee : thy right hand hath reoeived me.

But they have sought my soul in vain; they shall go into the lower parts of the earth : they shall be delivered into the hands of the sword, they shall be the portion of foxes.

The just man, thus delivered, shall, as a king, rejoice in God; all they shall be praised who swear in Him : because the mouth is stopped of them that speak wicked things. vol x,

Deus, Deue meus: * ad te de luce vigilo.

Sitivit in te anima mea : * quam multiplioiter tibi oaro mea.

In terra deserta, at in via, et inaquosa : * sio in sancto apparui tibi, ut viderem virtutem tuam et gloriain tutra.

Quoniakn melior est misericordia tua suner vitas: * labia mea laudabunt te.

Sio benedicam te in vita mea : * et in nomine tuo le* vabo manus meas.

Sicut adipe et pinguedine repleatur anima mea: * et labiis exsultationis laudabit os meum.

Si memor fui tui super stratum meum, in matutinis meditabor in te : * quia fuisti adjutor meus.

Et in velamento alarum tuarum exsultabo, adhaasit anima mea post te : * me sufloepit dextera tua.

Ipsi vero in vanum quaesierunt animam meam, introibunt in inferiora terra : • tradentur in manus gladii, partes vulpium erunt.

Bex vero lsetabitur in Deo, laudabuntur omnes qui jurant in eo : * quia obstruotum est os loquentium iniqua.

COKPUS CHBISTI.

Psalm 66.

May God have mercy on us, and bless us; may he cause the light of his countenance to shine upon us, and may he have mercy on us.

That we may know thy way upon earth, 0 Emmanuel I thy Salvation in all nations.

Let people confess unto thee, 0 God! let all people give praise unto thee.

Let the nations be glad and rejoice : for thou judgest the people with justice, and directest the nations upon earth.

Let the people, 0 God, confess unto thee: let all the people give praise unto thee : the earth hath yielded her Fruit.

May God, our God, bless us, may God bless us : and all the ends of the earth fear him.

Ant. The Bread of Christ is fat, and it shall yield dainties to kings, alleluia.

Deus misereatur nostri, et benedicat nobis : * illuminet vultum suum super nos, et misereatur nostri.

Ut cognoscamus in terra viam tuam : * in omnibus gentibus Salutare tuum.

Oonfiteantur tibi populi, Deus: * oonfiteantur tibi populi omnes.

Lsetentur et exsultent gentes: * quoniam judicas populos in sequitate, et gen- •tes in terra dirigis.

Oonfiteantur tibi populi, Deus, oonfiteantur tabi populi omnes: * terra dedit fruotum suum.

Benedicat nos Deus, Deus noster, benedicat nos Deus : * et metuant eum omnes fines terra.

Ant. Pinguis est panis Christi, et prabebit delicias regibus, alleluia.

The Canticle, in whioh tlie Three Children, in the fiery Furnaoe of Babylon, bade all God's creatures to bless his name, oomes, to-day, lending a voice to all nature, and inviting the whole of God's works to praise their Maker. How just it is, that heaven and earth should unite in paying homage to Him, who, by the great Sacrifice, winch is daily renewed by the offering made of it by the Priests of the Churoh, has re-established all things, that are in heaven and on earth ! l lEph.i. 10,

LAUDS.

Ant. Holy Priests offer in- Art. Saoerdotes sancti oense and Breads unto God, incensum et panes offerunt alleluia. , Deo, alleluia.

CANTICLB OF THE

(Dan.

All ye works of the Lord, bless the Lord : praise and exalt him above all for ever.

O ye Angels of the Lord, bless the Lord : 0 ye heavens, bless the Lord.

O all ye waters, that are above the heavens, bless the Lord : O all ye powers of the Lord, bless the Lord.

0 ye sun and moon, bless the Lord : 0 ye stars of heaven, bless the Lord.

0 every shower and dew, bless ye the Lord : 0 all ye spirits of God, bless the Lord.

0 ye fire and heat, bless the Lord : 0 ye cold and heat, bless the Lord.

0 ye dews and hoar frosts, bless the Lord : 0 ye frost and cold, bless the Lord.

O ye ice and snow, bless the Lord : O ye nights and days, bless the Lord.

O ye light and darkness, bless the Lord : O ye lightnings and clouds, bless the Lord.

Oh ! let the earth bless the Lord: let it praise and exalt him above all for ever.

O ye mountains and hills, bless the Lord: O all ye things that spring up in the earth, bless the Lord.

?HRBB CHILDREN. m.)

Benedicite omnia opera Domini Domino: * laudate et superexaltate eum in s»cula.

Benedicite Angeli Domini Domino : * benedicite coeli Domino.

Benedicite aquae omnes quae super coelos sunt, Domino : * benedicite omnes virtutes Domini Domino.

Benedicite sol et luna Domino: * benedicite stellse coeli Domino.

Benedicite omnia imber et ros Domino : * benedicite omnes spiritus Dei Domino.

Benedicite ignis et aestus Domino : * benedicite frigus et aestus Domino.

Benedicite rores et pruina Domino : * benedicite gelu et frigus Domino.

Benedicite glacies et nives Domino: * benedicite noctes et dies Domino.

Benedicite lux et tenebrae Domino: * benedicite fulgura et nubes Domino.

Benedicat terra Dominum : * laudet et superexaltet eum in sseoula.

Benedicite montes et colles Domino: * benedicite universa germinanti* in terra Domino.

Benedicite fontes Domino: O ye fountains, bless the

• benedicite maria et flu- Lord: O ye seas and rivers, mina Domino. , bless the Lord.

Benedicite cete et omnia O ye whales, and all that quae moventur in aquis Do- move in the waters, bless the mino : • benedicite omnes Lord : 0 all ye fowls of the volucres coeli Domino. air, bless the Lord.

Benedicite omnes bestiae, 0 all ye beasts and cattle, et pecora Domino : * bene- bless the Lord : 0 ye sons of dicite filii hominum Domino, men, bless the Lord.

Benedicat Israel Domi- Oh ! let Israel bless the num. : * laudet et superexal- Lord : let them praise and tet eum in ssecula. exalt him above all for ever.

Benedicite sacerdotes Do- 0 ye Priests of the Lord, mini Domino : * benedicite bless the Lord : 0 ye servants servi Domini Domino. of the Lord, bless the Lord.

Benedicite spiritus et ani- 0 ye spirits and souls of the mae justorum Domino : * just, bless the Lord : O ye benedicite Sancti et humiles holy and humble of heart, corde Domino. bless the Lord.

Benedicite Anania, Aza- 0 Ananias, Azarias, Misael, ria, Misael Domino : * lau- bless ye the Lord : praise and date et superexaltate eum exalt him above all for ever, in ssecula.

Benedicamus Patrem et Let us bless the Father,

Filium cum sancto Spiritu ; and the Son, with the Holy

• laudemus, et superexalte- Ghost ; let us praise and exalt mus eum in ssecula. him above all for ever.

Benedictus es, Domine, in Blessed art thou, 0 Lord, firmamento coeli : * et lau- in the firmament of heaven : dabilis et gloriosus, et su- and worthy of praise, and perexaltatus in ssecula. glorious, and exalted above all, for ever.

Ant. Sacerdotes sancti Ant. Holy Priests offer in- incensum et panes offerunt cense and Breads unto God,

Deo, alleluia. alleluia.

The last three Psalms of Lauds, which the Churoh unites under one Antiphon, are also the last of the Psaltery. They sing the praise of the Lord, and urge all oreatures to bless his holy name. The first of the three has a great resemblance with the Canticle of the Three Children ; the second invites the Saints to sing to that Lord who has glorified them, and, by the saored Host, has given them to partake of his own happiness

LAUDS. and power ; the third calls on everything that can breathe forth Musio, to oome, this day, and honour the God who is present with us by the Eucharist, and give him their sweetest melodies.

Ant. To him that conquereth, I will give hidden manna, and a new name, alleluia.

Ant. Yincenti dabo manna absconditum et nomen novum, alleluia.

PSALM 148.

Praise ye the Lord from the heavens : praise ye him in the high places.

Praise ye him, all his Angels : praise ye him, all his hosts.

Praise ye him, O sun and moon: praise ye him, all ye stars and light.

Praise him, ye heaven of heavens : and let all the waters that are above the heavens, praise the Name of the Lord.

For he spoke, and they were made: he commanded, and they were created.

He hath established them for ever, and for ages of ages : he hath made a decree, and it shall not pass away.

Praise the Lord from the earth, ye dragons and all ye deeps.

Fire, hail, snow, ice, stormy winds, which fulfil his word.

Mountains aud all hills; fruitful trees, and all cedars.

Beasts and all cattle; serpents and feathered fowls.

Kings of the earth, and all people ; princes, and all judges oi the earth.

Laudate Dominum de coeli : * laudate eum in excelsis.

Laudate eum omnes Angeli ejus: * laudate eum, omnes virtutes ejus.

Laudate eum, sol et luna : * laudate eum, omnes stellae et lumen.

Laudate eum, cosli ooelorum : * et aquae omnes quae super coslos sunt, laudent Nomen Domini.

Quia ipse dixit, et facta sunt: * ipse mandavit, et creata sunt.

Statuit ea in setemum, et in 88eoulum saeculi : • praeceptum posuit, et non prsBteribit.

Laudate Dominum de terra : * dracones et omnes abyssi.

Ignis, grando, nix, glaoies, spiritus prooellarum : * quae faciunt verbum ejus.

Montes et omnes colles: * ligna fructifera, et omnes cedri.

Bestiee et universa pecora : • serpentes et volucres pennatae.

Reges terras et omnes populi: * principes, et omnes judices terra.

OQBPUS CHKISTI.

Juvenes, et virgines, senes com junioribus, laudent Nomen Domini : • quia ezaltatnm est Nomen ejus solius.

Confessio ejus super coelum et terrain : * et exaltavit cornu populi sui.

Hymnus omnibus Sanctis ejus : * filiis Israel, populo appropinquanti sibi.

Young men and maidens: let the old with the younger, praise the Name of the Lord : for his Name alone is exalted.

His praise is above heaven and earth: and he hath exalted the horn (the power) of his people.

A hymn to all his Saints: to the children of Israel, a people approaching unto him.

Psalm 149.

Oantate Domino oanticum novum : * laus ejus in Eoclesia Sanctorum.

Lsetetur Israel in eo, aui fecit eum: * et filii Sion exsultent in rege suo.

Laudent Nomen ejus in ohoro: * in tympano et psalterio psallant ei.

Quia beneplacitum est Domino in populo suo: • et exaltabit mansuetos in salutem.

Exsultabunt sancti in gloria: * lffitabuntur in cubilibus suis.

Exaltationes Dei in gutture eorum : * et gladii ancipites in manibus eorum.

Ad faoiendam vindictam in nationibus: * increpationes in populis.

Ad alligandos reges eorum in compedibus : * et nobiles eorum in manicis ferreis.

Ut faoiant in eis judicium consoriptum: * gloria hsec est omnibus Sanctis ejus.

Sing ye to the Lord a new canticle : let his praise be in the Church of the Saints.

Let the new Israel rejoice in him that made him: and let the children of Sion be joyful in their King.

Let them praise his Name in choir : let them sing to him with the timbrel and the psaltery.

For the Lord is well pleased with his people : and the meek he will exalt unto salvation.

The Saints shall rejoice in ory : they shall be joyful in Leir beds. The high praises of God shall be in their mouth : and two-edged swords in their hands,

To execute vengeance upon the nations : chastisements among the people ;

To bind their kings with fetters : and their nobles with manacles of iron ;

To execute upon them the judgment that is written: this glory is to all hie Saints.

LAUDS.

Psalm 150.

Praise ye the Lord in his holy places : praise ye him, in the firmament of his power.

Praise ye him for his mighty acts : praise ye him according to the multitude of his greatness.

Praise him with sound of trumpet: praise him with psaltery and harp.

Praise him with timbrel and choir : praise him with strings and organ.

Praise him on high sounding cymbals, praise him on cymbals of joy : let every spirit praise the Lord.

Ant. To him that conquereth, I will give hidden manna, and a new name, alleluia.

Laudate Dominum in Sanctis ejus : * laudate eum in firmamento virtutis ejus.

Laudate eum in virtutibus ejus : * laudate eum secundum multitudinem magnitudinis ejus.

Laudate eum in sono tubse : * laudate eum in psalterio et cithara.

Laudate eum in tympano et choro : * laudate eum in chordi et organo.

Laudate eum in cymbalis bene sonantibus, laudate eum in cymbalis jubilationis : * omnis spiritus laudet Dominum.

Ant. Yincenti dabo manna absconditum, et nomen novum, alleluia.

The following Capitulum is taken from the first Epistle of St. raul to the Corinthians. We have already had it, with what preoedes and follows it, in the first Nooturn Lessons.

CAPITULUM.

(1 Cor. xi.)

Brethren, for I have received of the Lord that which also I delivered unto you, that the Lord Jesus, the same night in which he was betrayed, took bread, and, giving thanks, broke, and said : Take ye and eat: this is my Body, which shall be delivered for you : this do for the commemoration of me.

Fratres, ego enim acoepi a Domino quod et tradidi vobis, quoniam Dominus Jesus in qua nocte tradebatur, accepit panem, et gratias agens, f regit, et dixit: Accipite, et manducate ; hoc est corpus meum, quod pro vobis tradetur : hoc faoite in meam commemorationem.

CORPUS CHHitm

The Hymn is celebrated for its fourth strophe, which, in its graoef ul brevity, resumes the mystery of our Jesus, who is our companion, food, ransom, and recompense. Let us sing it, with gratitude, confidence, and love.

HYMN.

Verbum supermini prodiens,

Nee Patris linquens dexteram,

Ad opus suum eziens, Yenit ad vitas vesperam.

In mortem a discipulo, Suis tradendus semulis, Prius in vitaB feroulo Se tradidit disoipulis.

Quibus sub bina specie Oarnem dedit et aanguinem : Ut duplicis substantia* Totum oibaret hominem.

Se naaoens dedit soeium, Qonvescens in edulium, Se moriens in pretium, Se regnans dat in prsemium.

0 salutaris Hoetia, Quae cceli pandis ostium : Bella premunt hostilia, Da robur, £er auxilium.

Uni, trinoque Domino Sit sempiterna gloria : Qui vitam sine teruuno Nobis donet in patria.

Amen.

The divine Word coming forth, yet leaving not his Father's right hand, went forth to do his work; and reached the evening of his life.

When about to be given over, by a disciple, to his enemies, he first gave himself to his disciples, in the food of life.

He gave them his Flesh and his Blood under the twofold species, that he might thus feed man, who is of a twofold nature.

He was bora, and became our companion ; he eat with us, and oecame our food ; he died, and became our ransom ; he reigns, and is our reward.

O saving Host, that openest heaven's gate ! we are pressed by wars and foes ; O give us strength and aid !

May everlasting glory be to the Triune God ! ana may he give to us life without end, in our country above !

Amen.

• In the Monastic Breviary, it is preceded by this Brief Response :

J$. ere*. — Panam ooeli dedit eis, * Alleluia, alleluia, Panem manducavit homo, * Alleluia. Gloria Patri. Panem

LAUDS.

V. He hath placed peace in thy borders, alleluia. fc. And filleth thee with the fat of corn, alleluia.

Posuit fines tuos paoem, alleluia.

Et adipe frumenti sa* tiat te, alleluia.

The Canticle of Zaohary is now sung : it is the Churoh's daily welcome of the rising Sun. It celebrates the coming of Jesus to his creatures ; the fulfilment of the promises made by God ; and the apparition of the divine Orient in the midst of our darkness.

Ant. I am the living Bread, that am come down from heaven ; if any man shall eat of this Bread, he shall live for ever, alleluia.

Airr. Ego sum panis vivas, qui de coelo aesoendi : si quis manducaverit ex hoc pane, vivet in seternum, alleluia.

CANTICLE OP ZACHART.

(St. Luke I)

Blessed be the Lord God of Israel : because he hath visited and wrought the redemption of his people.

And hath raised up an horn of Salvation to us, in the house of David his servant.

As he spoke by the mouth of his holy Pronhets who are from the beginning.

Salvation from our enemies, and from the hand of all that hate us.

To perform mercy to our fathers, and to remember his holy testament.

The oath which he swore to Abraham, our father ; that he would grant to us.

That being delivered from the hand of our enemies, we may serve him without fear.

Benedictus Dominus Deus Israel: * quia visitavit, et fecit redemptionem plebis sure.

Et erezit cornu Salutis nobis: * in domo David pueri sui.

Sicut locutus est per os Sanctorum : * qui a sseoulo sunt Prophetarum ejus.

Salutem ez inimicis nostris : * et de manu omnium qui oderunt nos.

Ad faoiendam misericordiam cum patribus nostris : * et memorari testamenti sui sancti.

Jusjurandum quod juravit ad Abraham patrem nostrum : * daturum se nobis.

TJt sine tunore de manu inimicorum nostrorum liberati : * serviamus illi.

In eanctitate et justitia coram ipso : * omnibus diebos nofltris.

Et tu, puer, Fropheta Altiseimi yocaberis : * praeibis enim ante faciem Domini parare vias ejus.

Ad dandam scientiam salutis plebi ejus : * in remissionem peccatorum eorum.

Per viscera misericordise Dei nostri : * in quibus visitavit nos Oriens ex alto.

IUuminare his, qui in tenebris et in umbra mortis sedent : • ad dirigendos pedes nostros in yiam pacis.

Ant. Ego sum panis vivus, qui de coelo descendi; si quis manducaverit ex hoc pane, vivet in aeternum, alleluia.

In holiness and justice before him, all our days.

And thou, child, Precursor of the Emmanuel, shalt be called the Prophet of the Most High: for thou shalt go before the face of the Lord, to prepare his ways.

To give unto his people the knowledge of salvation, unto the remission of their sins.

Through the bowels of the mercy of our God, in which the Orient from on high hath visited us;

To enlighten them that sit in darkness, and in the shadow of death; to direct our feet into the way of peace.

Ant. I am the living Bread, that am come down from heaven ; if any man shall eat of this Bread, he shall live for ever, alleluia.

Collect.

Deus, qui nobis sub Sacramento mirabili passionis ruse memoriam reliquisti: tribue, quaesumus, ita nos Corporis et Sanguinis tui sacra mysteria venerari, ut redemptionis tuse fructum in nobis jugiter sentiamus. Qui vivis et regnas. Amen.

O God, who, under the wonderful Sacrament, hast left us a memorial of thy Passion: grant us, we beseech thee, so to reverence the sacred mysteries of thy Body and Blood, that, in our souls, we may always feel the fruit of thy Eedemption. Who livest, etc.

The sun has risen in his splendour, whilst the sweet chants of the Sanctuary have been greeting the coming of the Divine Orient. The appointed ministers of the saored psalmody have been giving, in the name of the whole world, the solemn tribute of Lauds to God the Creator and Redeemer ; and now that the king of day is up, we behold a very busy scene outside the preoinotfl of the holy place ; the children of

LAUDS. men are all intent on a work, in which neither the desire of luore, nor the thirst after pleasure, have any share. Tidings of salvation have been heard; the voice of rejoicing is in the tabernacles of the just ; 1 — " God is preparing a visit to his oreatures ; Emmanuel, who is present in the sacred Host, is about to go forth from his Sanctuary ; he is coming into your cities and your fields, to hold his court in your green forests; 2 the Lord God hath shone upon you, he hath appointed this solemn day ; prepare his throne, with shady boughs, and cover the way to the horn of the Altar with flowers ! " s

This announcement has excited a holy enthusiasm in the souls of men. For several previous days, many a faithful heart has had something of the feelings whioh animated David, when he vowed his vow to the God of Jacob : " I will not enter into the tabernacle of my house, I will not go up into the bed wherein I lie, I will not give sleep to mine eyes, or rest to my temples, until I find out a place for the Lord, and a tabernacle for the God of Jacob." 4 0 beatiful reposoirs I resting places 5 where are to stand the feet of the King of Peace ! short-lived but exquisite designs ! the produce of that sacred poetry whioh comes from the supernatural love of the Christian, — we see them, to-day, everywhere, save, alas ! where cold heresy has oome to keep man from being too earnest in his worship of his Saviour ! On every Catholic heart, even on those who, at all other times, seem to be out of the influence of graoe, the Mystery of Faith makes its power tell ; and many a wife, and daughter, and sister, who have seen the other Feasts of the Tear of Graoe pass by, and produce no effect on those who are dear to them, and are out of the Churoh, — on this bright summer morning

1 Ps. cxvii. 15. *Ps. cxxxi. 3-5.

% lbid. cxxxi. 6. 5 Ibid. 7.

• IbM. ozyii. 27.

CORPUS CHR1ST1. have beheld them all busy in preparing decorations for the triumphant Procession of the Emmanuel, (whom they have so long neglected to receive,) and spending themselves in getting the best of everything they can give, or procure, for the God who is so soon to pass by that way, and, passing, will give these dear ones the blessing of a conversion I It is the wakening up of the Faith of their baptism ; it is the grace of the Sacrament of love working at a distance ; a grace of a reminder of other and happier days, of first Communion perhaps ; and when Jesus passes through the crowd, he will look at them, and they shall remember, and shall be converted to the Lord. 1

It is such a morning ! Heaven is all gladness ; earth is doing its best to be perfect ; the mighty sea is to look, here and there, on some Procession of the holy Sacrament, and, seeing, will praise its Lord with the voice of its wonderful surges. The fields and all things that are in them, flowers, trees, branches, fragrance, all are rejoicing before the face of the Lord, because he cometh, not, indeed, to judge this world of ours with justioe, 2 but to visit us with exceeding great love !

It is very hard to be indifferent whilst everything around us is so excited at the near approach of our God. Let us, if we oan take no other share in preparing for the Procession, be full of love for that most dear King who is ooming, not only to reoeive our homage, which is so justly his due, but, moreover to load us with blessings.

TIEECB.

All is now ready for the triumph of our Emmanuel. Whilst the Church-Bells are convoking the Faithful to come to the great Sacrifice, for that now all things

1 Ps* xxi. 28 1 Pa. xciL 4 ; jm f U-18#

TIERCE. are ready/ we offer our readers a page which will interest them: it is the last ever written for this Liturgical Tear, from whioh they have been deriving so much instruction during all the past months. Our much loved Father is drawing a plan of the Feast ; and we give it, almost exactly as we found it amongst his notes.

"The grand Feast has, at length, dawned upon " us ; and everything is speaking of the triumph of " faith and love. During the feast of the Ascension, " when commenting those words of our Lord : It is " expedient to you that I go, 2 we were saying, that the " withdrawal of the visible presence of the Man-God " from the eyes of men on earth, would bring among " them, by the vivid operation of the Holy Ghost, a " plenitude of light and a warmth of love which they " had not had for their Jesus, during his mortal oareer " among them ; the only creature, that had rendered " to him, in her single self, the whole of those duties " whioh the Church afterwards paid him, was Mary, " who was all illumined with faith.

" In his exquisite hymn, Adoro te devote, St. Thomas " of Aquin says : On the Cross it was the Divinity " alone that was hid ; but here the Humanity, too, is " hid ; — and yet, on no day of the Tear is the Church " more triumphant, or more demonstrative, than she "is upon this Feast. Heaven is all radiant; our " earth has clad herself with her best, that she may " do homage to Him, who has said : I am the Flower " of the fields, and the Lily of the valleys} Holy "Churoh is not satisfied with having prepared a " throne whereon, during the whole of this Octave, " the sacred Host is to receive the adorations of the " Faithful ; she has decreed, that these days of solemn " and loving exposition be preceded by the pageant " of a triumph. Not satisfied, to-day, with elevating

1 St. Matth. rrii. 4. 3 St. John. xvi. 7. 3 Cant, ii, 1,

" the Bread of Life, immediately after the words of " Consecration : she will carry It beyond the precinots " of her churches, amidst clouds of incense, and on " paths strewed with flowers ; and her children, on "bended knee, will adore, under heaven's vaulted " oanopy, Him who is their King and their God.

" Those joys, which each separate solemnity of the " Year brought us, seem to come back upon us, all of "them at once, to-day. The Eoyal Prophet had " foretold this, when he said. : He (the Lord) hath " made a remembrance (a memorial) of his wonderful " works : — he hath given Food to them that fear him} " Holy Church is filled with enthusiasm, holding in " her arms that divine Spouse, who said : Lo 1 1 am " with you all days, even to the consummation of the " world? Nothing could be more formal ; and the " promise has been faithfully kept. It is true, we "beheld him ascending from Mount Olivet; he "went up into heaven, and there he sitteth at his " Father's right hand : but, ever since the memorable " day of Pentecost, when the Holy Spirit took pos- " session of the Church, the sacred mystery of the "Supper has been celebrated, in virtue of those " words spoken by Jesus : Do this in remembrance of " me ; and from that day forward, the human race " has never been deprived of the presence of its Head " and its Redeemer.

" No wonder, therefore, that Holy Mother Church, " possessing, as she does, the Word, the Son of God, " is suddenly filled with wisdom. The saoramental " species, it is true, are there shrouding the Mystery ; " but they are only existing for the purpose of leading " into the invisible 99

These are the last words written for this work by our venerated Abbot : they are followed by the indication of several passages from the works of St.

1 P*. ex. 4, 5. » St. Mfttth. xxviii. 20.

TIERCE.

Augustine, bearing on the union between the Word and man, between divine Wisdom and our humanity, in the sacred Mysteries. Our beloved Father ] was just on the point of developing these outlines ;of the ineffable mystery of the Marriage-Feast in the^euoharistic banquet, when death came upon him, and deprived us of his teaching, whioh we had all been so long and so impatiently expecting. The oontinuators of his Liturgical Year, have made these his words their guide during the whole Octave of this Feast. Our readers will pardon us, his ohildren, for thus respecting the wishes of such a teaoher. No doubt, the theme he left them to finish, and the'plan on whioh he intended to treat it, are very sublime ; 'but they hesitated not to take both up, the more so as their own weakness would be less felt now, after the nine previous volumes, and the foregoing pages of this, have prepared the faithful soul for solid and choice instruction on the mysteries of our holy Faith. There has been a progressive formation of the Christian, — commencing with the subdued light of Advent, andleadingupto the brilliant radiance of Pentecost ; and all this must necessarily fit him for the sublime truths we are still to put before him, and which, of course, we ourselves are but taking from the Scriptures and the Fathers. Such was the plan proposed, such was the hope entertained, by the Author of this work, when he wrote the following lines in the Christmas Volume :

" In the mystery of Christmas and its forty days, " the Light is given to us, so to speak, softened down ; " our weakness required that it should be so. It is, "indeed, the Divine Word, the Wisdom of the " Father, that we are invited to know and imitate ; " but this Word, this Wisdom, are shown us under "the appearance of a Child. . . . Now, every " soul that has been admitted to Bethlehem, that is "to say, into the House of Bread y and has been

CORPUS GHBISTI.

"united with him who is the Light of the World,—

" that soul no longer walks in darkness

" The light has shone upon us, and we are resolved " to keep up the light, nay, to cherish its growth "within us, in proportion as the Liturgical Year "unfolds its successive seasons of mysteries and "graces. God grant that we may reflect in our " souls the Churcn's progressive development of this " divine Light ; and be led, by its brightness, to that " Union, whioh orowns both the Tear of the Church, "and the faithful soul whioh has spent the Year " under the Church's guidance ! " 1

And now, after these few words of necessary digression, we resume the explanation of the liturgy for this Feast.

TIERCE.

The Hymn and Psalms are given in page 75.

Ant. Angelorum esca Ant. nutrivisti populum tuum, et panem de cobIo praestitisti eis, alleluia. ~

Thou hastj nourished thy people with the Bread of Angels ; and hast granted them Bread from heaven, alleluia.

CAFITULUM.

(I. Cor. xi.)

Fratres, ego enim aocepi Brethren, for I have received a Domino quod et tradidi of the Lord that whioh also I vobis, quoniam Dominus delivered unto you, that the

Jesus in qua nocte tradeba- Lord Jesus, the same night in tor, accepit panem, et gra- which he was betrayed, took tias agens, fregit et dixit : bread, and giving * thanks,

Aocipite et manducate ; hoc broke, and said : Take ye and est corpus meum, quod pro eat : this is my body, which

1 The Volume for Christmas, chap. 3rd, pp. 22, 23.

MASS. shall be delivered for you : this do, for the commemoration of me.

$. Brev. He hath given them the bread of heaven * Alleluia, alleluia. He hath given. y. Man hath eaten the bread of Angels. Alleluia, alleluia.

Glory. He hath given. y. He hath fed them with the fat of wheat, alleluia.

And hath filled them with honey, out of the rock, alleluia.

The Prayer is the Collec vobis tradetur : hoo f acite in meam oommemorationem.

5t. Brev. Panem coali dedit eis, * Alleluia, alleluia. Panem. y. Panem angelorum manducavit homo. * Alleluia, alleluia.

Gloria Patri. Panem. y. Cibavit illos ex adipe frumenti, alleluia.

Bt. Et de petra, melle saturavit eos, alleluia. of the Mass, page 274.

MASS.

The Procession, which immediately precedes Mass on other Feasts, is, to-day, deferred till after the offering of the great Sacrifice. In this Procession, our Jesus is to preside in person : we must, therefore, wait until the sacred Action, (so our Fathers call the Mass,) has boiced down to us the heavens where he resides. 1 He will soon be shrouded beneath the mysterious cloud. He is coming, that he may nourish his elect with the fat of wheat, of that Wheat which has fallen on our earth, 2 and is to be multiplied by being mystically immolated on the countless Altars of this earth. He is coming, to-day, that he may receive a triumph at the hand of his people, and hear the songs we shall so joyously sing to the God

1 Ps. xvii. 10. 2 St. John, xii. 24, 25.

VO&. x. T of Jacob. These are the ideas expressed by the Introit, wherewith the Church opens her ohants during the holy Sacrifice ; it is taken from the 80th Psalm, which is so very sublime, and forms one of those already recited in the Matins of this Feast.

INTROIT.

Cibavit eos ex adipe frumenti, alleluia : et de petra, melle saturavit eos, alleluia,

He lot them with the fat of wheat, alleluia : and filled them with honey out of the alleluia, alleluia. rock, alleluia, alleluia, alle- luia.

Pa. Exsultate Deo adju- Pa. tori nostro: Jubilate Deo Jacob, t. Gloria Patri. Cibavit eos. etc.

Rejoice unto God, our helper: sing joyfully unto the God of Jacob. f. Glory, He fed them.

In the Collect, the Church reminds us of the intention our Lord had in instituting, on the eve of his Passion, the Sacrament of love : — it was to be a perpetual memorial of the Passion, which he was then going to suffer. Our Mother prays, that being thus imbued with the spirit whioh leads her to pay honour to the Body and Blood of Christ, we may obtain the blessings whioh were purchased for us by his Sacrifice.

COLLECT.

Deus qui nobis sub Sacra- O mento mirabili passionis tuae memoriam reliquisti: tribue, quaesumus ; ita nos Corporis et Sanguinis tui sacra mysteria vencrari, ut redemptionis tuae fructum in nobis jugiter sentiamus. Qui vivis.

God, who, under the wonderful Sacrament, hast left us a memorial of thy Passion : grant us, we beseech thee, so to reverence the sacred mysteries of thy Body and Blood, that, in our souls, we may always feel the fruit of thy Eedemption. Who livest, etc.

MASS.

BPISTLB.

Lesson of the Epistle of Saint Paul the Apostle to the Corinthians.

I. Ch. art.

Brethren, for I have received of the Lord that which also I delivered unto you, that the Lord Jesus, the same night in which he was betrayed, took bread, and giving thanks, broke, and said : Take ye and eat : this is my body which shall be delivered for you : this do for the commemoration of me. In like manner, also, the chalice, after be had supped, saying : This chalice is the new testament in my blood : this do ye, as often as ye shall drink, for the commemoration of me. For as often as ye shall eat this bread, and drink the chalice, ye shall show the death of the Lord, until he come. Therefore, whosoever shall eat this bread, or drink the chalice of the Lord unworthily, shall be fuilty of the body and of the lood of the Lord. But, let a man prove himself : and so let him eat of that bread, and drink of the chalice. For he that eateth and drinketh unworthily, eateth and drinketh judgment unto himself, not discerning the body of the Lord.

Lectio Epistolae Beati Pauli Apostoli ad Oorinthios.

I. Cap. sci.

Fratres, ego enim aocepi a Domino auod et tradidi vobis, quoniam Dominus J esus, in qua nocte tradebatur, accepit panem, et gratias agens fregit et dixit : Accipite et manducate : hoc est corpus meum, quod pro vobis tradetur: hoc facite in meam commemorationem. Similiter et calicem, postquam ccenavit, dicens : Hie calix novum testamentum est in ineo sanguine : hoc facite quotiescumque bibetis, in meam commemorationem. Quotiescumque enim manducabitis panem hunc, et calicem bibetis : mortem Domini annuntiabitis doaec veniat. Itaque quicumque manducaverit panem hunc, vel biberit calicem Domini indigne : reus erit corporis et sanguinis Domini. Probet autem soipsum homo : et sic de pane illo edat, ot de calice bibat. Qui enim manducat et bibit indigne, judicium sibi manducat et bibit : non dijudicans corpus Domini.

The holy Euoharist, both as Sacrifice and Saorajnent, is the very centre of the Christian religion • and, therefore, our Lord would have a fourfold testimony to be given, in the inspired writings, to its Institution. Besides the aocount given by Saints Matthew, Mark, and Luke, we have also that of St. Paul, which has just been read to us, and which he received from the lips of Jesus himself, who vouchsafed to appear to him, after his Conversion, and instruot him.

St. Paul lays particular stress on the power given by our Lord to his disciples, of renewing the act which he himself had just been doing. He tells us, what the Evangelists had not explicitly mentioned, that as often as a Priest consecrates the Body and Blood of Christ, he shows (he announces,) the Death of the Lord : and, by that expression, tells us, that the Sacrifice of the Cross, and that of our Altars, is one and the same. It is, likewise, by the immolation of our Redeemer on the Cross, that the Flesh of this Lamb of God is truly meat, and his Blood truly drink, as we shall be told, in a few moments, by the Gospel. Let not the Christian, therefore, forget it, not even on this day of festive triumph. The Churoh insists on the same truth in her Collect of this Feast : it is the teaching which she keeps repeating, through this formula, throughout the entire Ootave : and her object in this is to impress vividly, on the minds of her ohildren, this, the last and earnest injunction of our Jesus : As often as ye shall drink of this cup of the new Testament, do it for the commemoration of me ! The selection she makes of this passage of St. Paul for the Epistle, should impress the Christian with this truth,— that the divine Flesh which feeds his soul, was prepared on Calvary ; and that, although the Lamb of God is now living and impassible, he beoame our food, our nourishment, by the cruel death whioh he endured. The sinner, who has made his peace with God, will partake of this saored Body with deep oompunotion, reproaohing

MASS. himself for having shed its Blood by his sins : the just man will approach the holy Table with humility, remembering how he, also, has had but too great a share in oausing the innocent Lamb to suffer ; and, that if he be at present in the state of grace, he owes it to the Blood of the Victim, whose Flesh is about to be given to him for his nourishment.

But let us dread, and dread above all things, the sacrilegious daring, spoken against, in such strong language, by our Apostle, — and which, by a monstrous oontradiotion, would attempt to put again to death Him who is the Author of Life ; and this attempt to be made in the very banquet, which was procured for us men by the precious Blood of this Saviour ! Let a man prove himself, says the Apostle ; and so let him eat of that bread, and drink of the chalice. This proving one's self is sacramental confession, whioh must be made by him who feels himself guilty of a grievous sin, which has never before been confessed. How sorry soever he may be for it, were he even reconciled to God by an act of perfect contrition, the injunction of the Apostle, interpreted by the custom of the Church and the decisions of her Councils, 1 forbids his approaching the holy Table, until he has submitted his sin to the power of the Keys.

The Gradual and Alleluia- Verse are a further instanoe of the parallelism between the two Testaments, which we have already noticed in the composition of the Matins Responsories. The Psalmist extols the bounty of that God, to whom every living creature looks for its food ; and our Jesus offers himself to us, as we have it in St. John's Gospel, as our truest nourishment,

1 Cone. Trid. Sess. xiv. cap. iv.

GRADUAL.

Oculi omnium in te sperant, Domine : et tu das illis escam in tempore opportuno.

^. Aperis tu manum tuam, et imples omne animal benedictione.

Alleluia, alleluia. f. Caro mea vere est cibus, et sanguis meus \ere est potus ; qui manducat meam carnem, et bibit meurn sanguinem, in me manet, et ego in eo.

The eyes of all hope in thee, O Lord : and thou givest them food in due season. y. Thou openest thy hand, and fillest with thy blessing every living creature.

Alleluia, alleluia.

^. My flesh is truly meat, and my blood is truly drink ; he that eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, abideth in me, and I in him.

Then follows the Sequence, — that well-known composition of the Angelioal Doctor. The Church, the true Sion, expresses her enthusiasm, and love, for the living and life-giving Bread, in words whioh, at first sight, would seem too precise and soholastic, to be adapted to a poetic form or sentiment. The Eucharistio mystery is here developed with that concision and solemnity for which St. Thomas had suoh a wonderful talent. The words are accompanied by a ohant whioh is worthy of them ; and the two together exoite in the Christian soul the sentiments of unearthly joy, whioh axe so peculiar to this Feast of the Sacrament of Love.

SEQUENCE.

Lauda Sion Salvatorem, Lauda ducem et pastorem In hymnis et canticis.

Quantum potes, tantum aude :

Quia major omni laude, Nec laudare sufficis.

Praise thy Saviour, O Sion ! praise thy guide and shepherd, in hymns and canticles.

As much as thou hast power, so also dare ; for he is above all praise, nor canst thou praise him enough.

MASS.

This day there is given to us a special theme of praise, — the living and life-giving Bread,

Which, as our faith assures us, was given to the Twelve brethren, as they sat at the Table of the holy Supper.

Let our praise be full, let it be sweet ; let our soul's jubilee be joyous, let it be beautiful ;

For we are celebrating that great day, whereon is commemorated the first institution of this Table.

In this Table of the new King, the new Pasch of the new Law puts an end to the old Passover.

Newness puts the old to flight, and so does truth the shadow ; the light drives night away.

What Christ did at that Supper, that he said was to be done in remembrance of him.

Taught by his sacred institutions, we consecrate the Bread and Wine into the victim of salvation.

This is the dogma given to Christians, — that bread passes into flesh, and wine into blood.

What thou understandest not, what thou seest not, — that let a generous faith confirm thee in, beyond nature's course.

Under the different species, — which are signs not things, — ' there hidden lie things of infinite worth.

The Flesh is food, the Blood is drink ; yet Christ is whole, under each species.

He is not cut by the re-

Laudis thema specialis, Panis vivus et vitalis Hodie proponitur.

Quern in sacra mensa coenae, Turbse f ratrum duodenae Datum non ambigitur.

Sit laus plena, sit sonora, Sit jucunda, sit decora Mentis jubilatio ;

Diesenim solemnis agitur, In qua mensse prima reco- litur Hujus institutio.

In hac mensa novi Regis, Novum Pascha novae legis, Phase vetus terminat.

Vetustatem novitas, Umbram fugat Veritas, Noctem lux eliminat.

Quod in coena Christus gessit,

Faciendum hoc expressit In sui memoriam.

Docti sacris institutis, Panem, vinum in salutis Consecramus hostiam.

Dogma datur Christianis, Quod in carnem transit panis,

Et vinum in sanguinem. Quod non capis, quod non vides, Animosa firmat fides, Prater rerum ordinem.

Sub diversis speciebus, Signis tantum et non rebus, Latent res eximi».

Caro cibus, sanguis potus ; Manet tamen Christus totus •Sub utraque specie.

A sumente non oonoiius,

Non confraofcus, non divisus, Integer accipitur.

Sumit unus, summit mille ;

Quantum isti, tantum ille : Nee sumptus consumitur.

Sumunt boni, sumuntmali : Sorte tamen insequali, Vitse vel interitus.

Mors est malis, vita bonis : Vide paris sumptionis Quam sit dispar exitus.

Fracto demum Sacramento, Ne vacilles, sed memento, Tantum esse sub fragmento, Quantum toto tegitur.

Nulla rei fit scissura, Signi tantum fit fractura : Qua nec status, nec statura Signati minuitur.

Ecce panis Angelorum, Faotus cibus viatorum : Vere panis filiorum, Non mittendus canibus.

In figuris prsesignatur, Cum Isaac immolatur : Agnus Pasohse deputatur, Datur manna patribus.

Bone Pastor, panis vere, Jesu nostri miserere : Tu nos pasce, nos tuere : Tu nos bona fac videre In terra viventium.

Tu qui cuncta scis et vales, Qui nos pascis hio mortales : Tuos ibi commensales, Cohaeredes et sodales, Eac sanctorum oivium.

Amen. Alleluia. oeiver, nor broken, nor divided : he is taken whole.

He is received by one, he is received by a thousand; the one receives as much as all; nor is He consumed, who is received.

The good receive, the bad receive, — but with the difference of life or death.

'Tis death to the bad, 'tis life to the good : lo ! how unlike is the effect of the one like receiving.

And when the Sacrament is broken, waver not ! but remember, that there is as much under each fragment, as is hid under the whole.

Of the substance that is there, there is no division ; it is but the sign that is broken ; and He who is the Signified, is not thereby diminished, either as to state or stature.

Lo ! the Bread of Angels is made the food of pilgrims ; verily, it is the Bread of the children, not to be cast to dogs.

It is foreshown in figures, — when Isaac is slain, when the Paschal Lamb is prescribed, when Manna is given to our fathers.

0 good Shepherd ! true Bread ! Jesus ! have mercy upon us : feed us, defend us : give us to see good things in the land of the living.

0 thou, who knowest and canst do all things, who feedest us mortals here below, make us to be thy companions in the banquet yonder above, and thy joint-heirs, and fellow-citizens with the- Saints !

Amen. Alleluia.

MASS.

GOSPBL.

Sequel of the holy Gospel according to John.

Ch. vi.

At that time : Jesus said to the multitude of the Jews: My flesh is meat indeed : and my blood is drink indeed. He that eateth my flesh and drinketh my blood, abideth in me, and I in him. As the living Father hath sent me, and I live by the Father ; so, he that eateth me, the same, also, shall live by me. This is the bread that came down from heaven. Not as your fathers did eat manna and are dead. He that eateth this bread, shall live for ever.

Sequentia sancti Bvange - lii secundum Johannem.

Cap. vi.

In illo tempore : Dixit Jesus turbis Judaeorum : Caro mea vere est cibus : et sanguis mens vere est potus. Qui manducat meam carnem et bibit meum sanguinem, in me manet, et ego in illo. Sicut misit me vivens Pater, et ego vivo propter Patrem : et qui manducat me, et ipse vivet propter me. Hie est panis, quyde coelo descendit. Non sicut manducaverunt patres vestri manna, et mortui sunt. Qui manducat hunc panem, vivet in aeternum.

The beloved Disciple could not remain silent on the Mystery of Love. But, at the time when he wrote his Gospel, the institution of the Eucharist had been sufficiently recorded by the three Evangelists who had preceded him, as also by the Apostle of the Gentiles. Instead, therefore, of repeating what these had written, he completed it, by relating the solemn promise made by Jesus, on the banks of Lake Tiberias, a year before the Last Supper.

He was surrounded by the thousands, who were in admiration at his having miraculously multiplied the loaves and fishes : Jesus takes the opportunity of telling them, that he himself is the true bread come down from heaven, and which, unlike the manna given to their fathers by Moses, could preserve man from death. life is the best of all gifts, as death is the worst of evils. Life exists in God as in its source ; 1 he alone can give it to whom he pleases, and restore it to him who has lost it. Man, who was created in graoe, lost his life, when he sinned, and incurred death. But God so loved the world, as to send it, lost as it was, his Son, 2 with the mission of restoring man to life. True God of true God, light of Light, the Only Begotten Son is, likewise, true life of true Life, by nature : and, as the Father enlightens them that are in darkness, by this Son, who is his Light, so, likewise, he gives life to them that are dead, and he gives it to them in this same Son of his, who is his living Image. 3 The Word of God, then, came amongst men, that they might have life, and abundant life. 4 And whereas it is the property of food to increase and maintain life, therefore di& he become our Food, our living and life-giving Food, which has come down from heaven ; partaking of the life eternal which he has in his Father's bosom, the Flesh of the Word communicates this same life to them that eat It. That, (as St. Cyril of Alexandria observes,) which, of its own nature, is corruptible, cannot be brought to life in any other way, than by its corporal union with the body of him who is life by nature : now, just as two pieces of wax melted together by the nre make but one, so are we and Christ made one by our partaking of hia Body and Blood. This life, therefore, which resides in the Flesh of the Word, made oars within us, shall be no more overcome by death ; on the day appointed, this life will throw off the chains of the old enemy, and will triumph over corruption in these our bodies, making them immortal. 5 Henoe it is, that the

» Ps. XXXV. 10. 2 St John, iii 16.

8 St Cyril of Alex. In Johan, lib. iv. cap. 3. * St. John, x. 10.

5 St Cyril of Alex. In Jokan, lib. x. cap. 2.

MASS.

Church, faith her delicate feelings both as Bride and Mother, selects from this same passage of St. John, her Gospel for the daily Mass of the Dead; thus drying up the tears of the living who are mourning over their departed friends, and consoling them by bringing them into the presence of the holy Host, whioh is the source of true life, and the centre of all our hopes.

Thus was it to be, that not only the soul was to be renewed by her contact with the Word, but even the body, earthly and material, as it is, was to share, in its way, of what our Saviour called the Spirit that quickeneth. 1 "They," as St. Gregory of Nyssa has so beautifully said, "who have been led, by an " enemy's craft to take poison, neutralise, by some " other potion, the power which would oause death ; " and as was the deadly, so likewise the curative must " be taken into the very bowels of the sufferer ; that " so the efficacy of that which brings relief may per- " meate through the whole body. Thus we, having %t tasted that whioh ruined our nature, require a " something which will restore and put right that " which was disordered ; and that, when this salutary " medicine shall be within us, it may, as an antidote, " drive out the mischief of the poison, whioh had " previously been taken into the body. And what is " this (salutary medicine) ? No other than that " Body, which had both been shown to be stronger " than death, and was the beginning of our life. For, " says the Apostle, as a little leaven makes the whole " paste to be like itself, so, likewise, that Body whioh " God had willed should be put to death, when it is " within ours, transmutes and transfers it wholly to " Itself. . . Now, the only way whereby a sub- " stance may be thus got into the body, is by its being " taken as food and drink." 2

1 St. John. vi. 64.

2 St Gregory of Nyssa. Orat. Catech., cap. 37.

CORPUS CHBJSTI.

The Offertory is taken from the words of Leviticus (xxi, 6,) wherein God commands the Priests of the ancient covenant to be holy, because of their having to offer incense and loaves of proposition to him, as figures of something to be at another time. As much as the priesthood of the New Testament is superior to this ministry of the figurative Law, so much should the hands of Aaron be surpassed in holiness by those that have to offer to Gk>d the Father, the true Bread of heaven, which is the incense of infinite fragrance.

OFFERTORY.

Sacerdotes Domini incensum et panes offerunt Deo : et ideo sancti erunt Deo suo, et non polluent nomen ejus,

The priests of the Lord offer unto God ineense and loaves : and, therefore, shall they be holy to their God, alleluia. and shall not defile his name, alleluia.

In the Secret, the Priest prays that there may be, in the Church, that unity and peace, which are the special grace of the holy Sacrament, as the Fathers teach us. The very bread and wine, whioh are offered, express this : the bread is made up out of many grains, and the wine out of many berries.

The Preface, both for the Feast and the Octave, is that of Christmas : we are thus reminded of the close connexion whioh exists between the two mysteries of the Birth of Christ and the Eucharist. It was in Bethlehem, the house of Bread, that Jesus, the Bread of Life, came down from heaven, through the Virgin, his ever blessed Mother.

SECRET.

Ecclesiae tuse, qusesumus Mercifully grant thy Church,

Domine, unitatis et pacis O Lord, we beseech thee, the propitius dona concede : gifts of unity and peace, whioh quae sub oblatis muneribus are mystically represented in mystice designantur. Per these offerings. Through, etc. Pominum.

MASS.

PREFACE.

It is truly meet and just, right and available to salvation, that we should always, and in all places, give thanks to thee, 0 holy Lord, Father Almighty, eternal God ; for that, by the mystery of the Incarnate Word, a new ray of thy glory has appeared to the eyes of our soul : so that while we behold God visibly, we may be carried by him to the love of things invisible : and, therefore, with the Angels and Archangels, with the Thrones and Dominations, and with all the heavenly host, we sing a hymn to thy glory, saying unceasingly.

Faithful to her Lord's injunction, which she brought before us in the Epistle, the Church reminds her children, in the Communion-Anthem, that they announce the Death of Christ, when they receive his Body ; and that consequently, they should tremble at the very thought of an unworthy Communion.

Vere dignum et justum est, eequum et salutare, nos tibi semper et nbique gratias agere : Domine sancte, Pater omnipotens, seterne Deus; quia per incarnati Verbi mysterium, nova mentis nostrae oculis lux tuaB claritatis inf ulsit : ut dum visibiliter Deum cognoscimu, per hunc in invisibilium amorem rapiamur : et ideo cum Angelis et Archangelis, cum Thronis et Dominationibu, cumque omni militia coalestis exercitus hymnum glorise tuse canimus, sine fine dicentes.

COMMUNION.

As often as ye shall eat this bread, and drink the chalice, ye shall show the death of the Lord, until he come : whosoever, therefore, shall eat this bread, or drink the chalice of the Lord unworthily, shall be guilty of the body and of the blood of the Lord, alleluia.

Quotiescumque manducabitis panem hunc. et calicem bibetis, mortem Domini annuntiabitis, donee veniat : itaque qtflicumque manduoavent panem, vel biberit calicem Domini indigne, reus erit corporis et sanguinis Domini, alleluia.

The Churoh concludes the Mysteries by praying

✓ that there be granted that eternal and nnveiled anion with the divine Word, of which she has a pledge and figure in the partaking, here below, of the real substance of his Body and Blood, under the veil of Faith.

POSTCOMM UNION.

Facnos, quaeeumus Domine, divinitatis tuae sempi- seech terna fruitione repleri : q nam pretiosi Corporis et Sanguinis tui temporalis perceptio praefigurat. Qui etc. vivis.

Grant us, O Lord, we bethee, the everlasting possession of thyself : as a pledge of which, we have received thy Body and Blood. Who livest,

THE PKOCESSION.

Who is this who comes up, embalming the desert of the world with her clouds of incense and myrrh, and perfumes unnumbered ? The Bride has awakened of her own accord, to-day. Full of desire to please him, and very lovely, the Church is standing round the golden litter, whereon is throned her Spouse in his glory. Near him are drawn up the valiant ones of Israel, — the priests and levites of the Lord who are strong even with (rod. Gro forth, ye daughters of Sion ! fix your gaze on the true Solomon, so beautiful in the diadem, wherewith his mother crowned him on the day of his espousals, the day of the joy of his heart ! l That diadem is the Flesh received by the divine Word, from the Virgin Mother, when he took our human nature for his Bride. 2 By this most perfect of Bodies, by this sacred Flesh, there is every

1 Cant. iii. 5-H. 2 St. Greg. Mag. in Cant.

PROCESSION. day continued, in the Eucharistio banquet, the ineffable mystery of the marriage between man and eternal Wisdom. For our true Solomon, then, each day is the day of the joy of his hearty the day of nuptial rejoicing : could anything be more just than that once in the Tear, holy Church should give full freedom to the transports of the love she has for her divine Spouse, who resides with her in the Sacrament of Love, although in a hidden manner ? It is on this account, that, in to-day's Mass, the Priest has consecrated two Hosts ; and that after having reoeived one of these in communion, he has placed the other in the glittering Ostensorium, which is to be carried in his trembling hands, beneath a canopy, whilst hymns of triumphant joy are being sung, and the Faithful, in prostrate adoration, are being blessed by their Jesus, who thus comes amongst them.

This solemn homage to the sacred Host is, as we have already said, a later institution than the Feast itself of Corpus Christi. Pope Urban the Fourth does not speak of it in his Bull of the Institution, in 1264. Twenty-two years later, Durandus of Mende wrote his Rational of Divine Offices, in which he several times mentions the Processions which were then in use ; but he has not a word upon that of Corpus Christi. On the other hand, Martin the Fifth, and Eugenius the Fourth, in their Constitutions, which we have already quoted (May 26, 1429, May 26, 1433), plainly show that it was then in use, for they grant Indulgences to them that are present at it. Donatus Bossius of Milan, tells us, in his Chronicle, that on Thursday, the 24th of May, 1404, " there was carried t for the first time solemnly, the " Body of Christ in the streets of Padua, which has " since become the custom. " Some writers have concluded from these words, that the Procession of Corpus Christi was not in use before that date, and that it first originated at Padua ; but the words of

COftFPS OHRISTI.

Bossius scarcely justify such an inference, and the words he uses may be understood of a local custom.

Indeed, we find mention made of this Procession, in a Manuscript of the Church of Chartres, in 1330 ; in an Act of the Chapter of Tournai, in 1325 ; in a Council of Paris, in 1323 ; and in one held at Sens, in 1320. Indulgences are granted, by these two Councils, to those who observe abstinenoe and fasting on the vigil of Corpus Christi, and they add these words : " As to the solemn Procession made on the "Thursday's Feast, when the holy Sacrament is " carried, seeing that it appears to have heen intro- " duoed in these, our times, by a sort of inspiration, — " we prescribe nothing at present, and leave all " concerning it to the devotion of the clergy and " people. " l So that the initiative to the institution of to-day's Procession, seems to have been made by the devotion of the Faithful ; and that this admirable completion given to our Feast, began in France, and, thence, was adopted in all the Churches of the West.

There is ground for supposing, that at first the sacred Host was not carried in these Processions as it is now ; it was veiled over, or inolosed in a sort of rich shrine. Even so far back as the 11th Century, it had been the custom, in some places, to carry It in this way, during the Processions of Palm Sunday and Easter Sunday morning. We have elsewhere spoken of these devotional practices, whioh, however, were not so much for the direct purpose of honouring the Blessed Sacrament, as for that of bringing more forward the mystery of those solemnities. 2 Be this as it may, the use of ostensoria, or monstrances, as they are termed in a Council held in 1452, at Cologne, soon followed the institution of the new Procession.

1 Labbe.

1 Passiontide and Holy Week, p. 199 ; Paschal Time, vol. L page 138, etc.

PROCESSION.

They were made, at first, in shape like little towers. In a Manuscript Missal, dated 1374, the letter D, which is the first of the Collect for the feast of Corpus Christi, (*ives us a miniature illumination, representing a Bishop, accompanied by two acolytes, who is oarrying the Host in a golden tower, which has four openings. But Catholic piety soon began to offer to its Lord, all the exterior honour it oould ; to that Lord who hides himself and his glory in the Mystery of Love; and to the Sun of Justioe thus shrouded, it suggested the compensation, poor though it must necessarily be, of a orystal sphere, surrounded by rays of gold, or of other precious material, and of exposing the sacred Host within it. Not to mention other, and more anoient records, we find a very marked instance of the rapidity wherewith this use of the Monstrance was adopted : it occurs in a Gradual of the period of Louis the Twelfth (1498-1515) ; the initial letter of the Introit for Corpus Christi has within it a sun or sphere, like those in present use ; it is being carried on the shoulders of two figures vested in copes, who are followed by the King, and several Cardinals and Prelates. 1

And yet, the Protestant heresy, whioh was then beginning, gave the name of novelty, superstition, and idolatry, to these natural developments of Catholic worship, prompted, as they were, by faith and love. The Council of Trent pronounoed anathema upon these calumnies; and, in a Chapter apart, 2 showed how rightly the Church had acted in countenancing these praotioes. The words of the Council are as follows : " The holy Council deolares, that there has been " most piously and religiously introduced into God's " Churoh the practice, that each year, on a certain " special feast, the august and venerable Sacrament " should be honoured with singular veneration and

1 Thiers. De Pexposit. du S. Sacr., liv. ii. ch. 2. • Sesfl. xiii. cap. y. and Can. vi. vox» x# v

"tefettnity, sttl that It Should be re*%rentiy and "with every honour corned in prooeseioas through "the pufclio toads and placed. JPor St id ftbost jtt* " that K)M(i holidays should be appointed, WMs " all Christians should, With special and unUs&at " demonstrations, evince their gratitude nd mindful^ " fcass towards their common Lord and Redeemer-, "for this so unspeakable and truly divine favour, m ^ which is represented his vi6tory and triankph <mr " death. And it was Also necessary, that tbsrs invia^ " eifele truth Should triumph over lying and heray \ "that her feflemiee, seeing aU that splendour, and "bring in the feidst of such great joy of the whole "Churchy should either grow Wearied and mtiknew " ledge their being beaten and broken, or, beiftg " ashamed and oonfounded, should be converted."

But U us Catholics, faithful adorers of the Sacrarttetit erf Love, " 0 the joy of the iffitnefilto "glotfy the Church is sending up tb Gk>d this hate* " vsrily ! as if the world Was all uafallen still ! W* "thfol, and, as e thinks the Noughts are lite ee m&f sufooesslve tide- waves filling our Whole "souls with the fulness of delight, of fell the " thousands of Masses whfoh are being Said f o ling "the Whole world over and all rising with one note "of blissful acclamation, from grateful creatures* to "tto Majesty of our merciful Greater. Mow manjr "glorious Prooearions, with the siin upon their " banners, are now winding their way round the "squares of mighty cities, through the flower-strewn "streets of Christian Villages, through the antique "ekristers of the glorious cathedral, or through 5hs " grounds of the deVout seminary, where the vfcriouB "ttftoars of the faces, and the different languages to? " the people are only 00 riaany fresh tokens of thS "twrity of that feith, which they are all exttltiugly " professing in the single voice of the mafnifloent " ritual of Rome ! tjpon iioW mmj altars of Vtoious

M0CBS8I0N.

" architecture, amid sweet flowers and starry lights, "amid clouds of hamble incense, and the tumult of. "thrilling song, before thousands of prostrate worshippers, is the Blessed Sacrament raised for exposition, or taken down for benediction I And how " many blessed acts of faith and love, of triumph and "of reparation, do not eaoh of these things surely " represent ! The world over, the summer air is "filled with the voice of song. The gardens are " shorn of their fairest blossoms, to be flung beneath " the feet of the Sacramental Gtod. The steeples are "reeling with the olang of bells; the oannon are "booming in the gorges of the Andes and the " Appenines ; the ships of the harbours are painting " the bays of the sea with their show of gaudy flags ; " the pomp of royal or republican armies salutes the " King of kings. The Pope on his throne, and the "sohool-girl in her village, cloistered nuns, and "sequestered hermits, bishops and diguitaries and " preachers, omperors and kinga and prinoes, all are "engrossed to-day with the Blessed Sacrament. " Cities are illuminated ; the dwellings of men are "alive with exultation. Joy so abounds that men "rejoice they know not why, and their joy overflows " on sad hearts, and on the poor, and the imprisoned, "and the wandering, and the orphaned, and the "home-sick exiles. All the millions of souls that " belong to the royal family and spiritual lineage of " St. Peter are to-day engaged more or less with the "Blessed Sacrament: so that the whole Church " Militant is thrilling with glad emotion, like the "tremulous rocking of the mighty sea. Sin seems "forgotten ; tears even are of rapture rather than of " peuanoe. It is like the soul's first day in heaven ; "or as if earth itself were passing into heaven, " as it well might do, for sheer joy of the Blessed " Sacrament." 1

2 Fathbb Fabbe : The Blessed Sacrament, p. 19-21.

There are sung, during the Prooession, the Hymns of to-day's Office, the Lauda Sion, the Te Deum, and, if time permit, the Benedictw, Magnificat, or other liturgical pieces, which are in keeping with the spirit of the Feast, such as the Hymns for the Ascension, as specified in the Eitual. Having returned to the Church, the function concludes, as at other Benedictions, with the Tantum ergo, the Versicle and Collect of the Blessed Sacrament. But, after the Blessing has been given, the Deacon does not put the sacred Most into the Tabernacle, but on the Throne prepared for it, and round which, for eight days, the Faithful will be keeping a devout and adoring watch.

SEXT.

The Hymn and Psalms are given in page 79.

Ant. Pinguis est panis Ant. The Bread of Christ is Christi, et prasbebit delicias fat, and it shall yield dainties regibus, alleluia. to kings, alleluia.

(1C

Quotiesoumque enim manducabitis panem hunc, et calicem bibetis, mortem Domini annuntiabitis, donee veniat. breve. — Oibavit illos ex adipe frumenti, * Alleluia, alleluia. Cibavit. f. Et de petra, melle saturavit eos. * Alleluia, alleluia.

Gloria Patri. Oibavit. r. xi.^

As often as ye shall feat this bread, and drink the chalice, ye shall show the death of the Lord, until he come.

$. breve. — He hath fed them with the fat of Wheat, • Alleluia, alleluia. He hath fed. f. And hath filled them with honey out of the rook. • Alleluia, alleluia.

Glory. He hath fed. konx. 293 f. Bring bread out of the y. Educas panem de tarearth, alleluia. ra, alleluia. ft. And may wine cheer the ft. Et vinum lsetifioet cor heart of man, alleluia. hominis, alleluia.

The Prayer is the Collect of the Mass, page 274.

NONE.

The Hymn and Psalms are given in page 83.

Ant. To him that over- Ant. Vincenti dabo man- cometh, I will give a hidden na absconditum et nomen manna, and a new name, al- novum, alleluia, leluia. Z

CAPITULUM.

(1 Cor. xi.)

Whosoever shall eat this Quicumque manducaverit bread, or drink the chalice of panem nunc, vel biberit ca- the Lord unworthily, shall be licem Domini indigne, reus fuilty of the body and of the erit corporis et sanguinis lood of the Lord. Domini, ft. breve. — Bring bread out ft. breve. — Educas panem of the earth, * Alleluia, alle- de terra. * Alleluia, alleluia, luia. Bring. Educas. p. And may wine cheer the ?. Et vinum lsetificet cor heart of man. * Alleluia, hominis. * Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia.

Glory. Bring. Gloria Patri. Educas. t. He hath placed peace in f. Posuit fines tuos pa- thy borders, alleluia. oem, alleluia. ft. And hath filled thee with ft. Et adipe frumenti sa- the fat of corn, alleluia. tiat te, alleluia.

The Prayer is the Oolleet of the Mass, page 274. oobpus oransTi.

SECOND VESPERS.

In the Office of Vespers or Evensong, the Chuxoh chants, and in presence of the adorable Sacrament exposed on the Throne, the wonders of this great day.

The first Psalm is on the glories of Christ, our High Priest : The Lord hath sworn : lie is a Priest for ever, according to the order of Melchisedech. like this king of justice and peace, Christ selected bread and wine, as the materials of his Sacrifice : but under these appearances, was hidden the oblation which, in all things, was worthy both of the eternal Priest who offered it, and of the Father, who had begot him before the day-star.

Ant. Sacerdos in aeter- Ant. num Christu Dominus se- a cundum ordinem Melchisedech, panem et vinum ob- fered tulit.

Christ the Lord, being Priest for ever, according to the order of Melchisedech, ofbread and wine,

Psalm 109.

Dixit Dominus Domino meo : * Sede a dextris meis.

Donee ponam inimicos tuos: * scabellum pedum tuorum.

Yirgam virtutis tuae emittet Dominus ex Sion : * dominare in medio inimicorum tuorum.

Tecum principium in die virtutis tuae iu splendoribus sanctorum : * ex utero ante luciferum genui te.

The Lord said unto my Lord his Son : Sit thou at my right hand, and reign with me*

Until, on the day of thy last Coming, I make thane enemies thy footstool.

0 Christ! the Lord, thy Father mil send forth the sceptre of thy power, out of Sion : from thence rule thou in the midst of thine enemies.

With thee is the principality in the day of thy strength, in the brightness of the saints: for the Father hath said to thee : Prom the womb before the day-star I begot thee.

QQfi

Tfce Uth sw<K?v and h will not repent : ho bath said, speaking of tfye the GoeL- Mm, a#t a f^ost. for e\ter, a,cqording to the, qrdej of Mekhisedech.

Tbmfare, Q Father^ the Lprd, % $?n* ifl at thy rfeto han£: to bath broken kings in 1fce fla^y of bi» wrath*

5e ahaAJ i4dge WQ&g nations : he shall fill the ruine ■ the wwtil : be sbftti crush <d hea^s in the. land of many, He shall drink* in the ^y, Of the torrent p/ pifftrifu^: therefore, shall he lift up the hJW4*

4yr. Christ; the Lord, t>ei»g a. Priest fqr ever, according to the, or4er of Melchisodecfc, pffere hr§a and wins,

Juwj£ IJonnnu^ et non poaniteint * IV ^

Sacerdos in ©teraum, aer cundw* prdinej^ it^otiiaodepb.

Dominus a de^l^ta* : • cpnftegiV W \m «WB rer

Judicabit in nationibus, implebit ruinas : * conquas- Sft^it Pi>ita in terr multo-

£e torrent^ in via bibet : • propterea exaltabifc caputs

A#T. Sacerflos in^ sternum Christum Dominus ser cundum ordinem Melchise- ' fleck, pane^m $t vjwaw <>btulit

Tltt B?ead an Wis? of the S*<$riflQe ported to a b«W»et : thip towqwrt ia mm*^rated ia the folr lowing Psalm, which speaks of them being a great memorial, made by our &od, of all the wondere he has 4onp for up creatures^ This memorial is Christ's iviijg himself, as food, to all them thqifm him- T ay bis pram endure, then, ever I

Ajxt. The merciful Lord hath given food unto them that fear him, as a memorial of his wonderful works,

Aht. Miseoatov Deminue escam dedit timentibua m, in memoriam suonim mirabilium.

Psalm 110.

I will pram thee, Q Lord, with TOF vbola heart : in the epunsel of the, just, and ii* the, congregation^

OonQtejbw tiki* Domine, in to to cqrde mao,; * in ooaoilio justprujft e\ 9QnerQg%, Uone,

COEPUB CHEISTI.

Magna opera Domini: * exquisita in omnes voluntates ejus.

Confessio et magnificentia opus ejus : * et justitia ejus manet in sseculum sseculi.

Memoriam fecit mirabilium suorum, misericors et miserator Dominus : * escam dedit tdmentibus se.

Memor erit in sseculum testamenti sui: * virtutem operum suorum annuntiabit populo suo.

Ut det illis hsereditatem gentium : * opera manuum ejus Veritas et judicium.

Fidelia omnia mandata ejus, confirmata in sseculum saeculi : * facta in veritate et sequitate.

Eedemptionem misit populo suo : * mandavit in seternum testamehtum suum.

Sanctum et terribile Nomen ejus : * initium sapientise timor Domini.

Intellectus bonus omnibus facientibus eum : * laudatio ejus manet in sseculum sseculi.

Ant. Miserator Dominus escam dedit timentibus se, in memoriam suorum mira- ' bilium.

Great are the works of the Lord : sought out according to all his wills.

His work is praise and magnificence: and his justice continueth for ever and ever.

He hath made a memorial of his wonderful works, being a merciful and gracious Lord : and, being the Bread of Life, he hath given food to them that fear him.

He will be mindful, for ever, of his covenant with men : this is the time when he will show forth to his people the power of his works.

That he may give them, {his Churchy) the inheritance of the Gentiles : the works of his hand are truth and judgment.

All his commandments are faithful, confirmed for ever and ever : made in truth and equity.

He hath sent Redemption to his people : he hath, thereby, commanded his covenant for ever.

Holy and terrible is his Name : the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.

A good understanding to all that do it : his praise continueth for ever and ever.

Ant. The merciful Lord hath given food unto them that fear him, as a memorial of his wonderful works.

The Eucharist, which is the compendium of all God's favours, is, at the same time, the most perfect act of thanksgiving, and the only adequate one, which we can offer to his divine Majesty. If, then, having

SECOND VBBPBRS. oome to the close of this day, and filled with emotion at the sight of the wonders of God's goodness towards us, we ory out with the Psalmist : What shall I render unto the Lord for all the things that he hath rendered to me ? let us answer, with the same Prophet in the words of this third Psalm \ I will take the chalice of salvation ; I mil sacrifice the sacrifice of praise.

Ant. I will take the Chalice Ant. Calicem salutaris of salvation, and will sacrifice accipiam et sacrificabo hosthe Host of praise. tiam laudis.

Psalm

I have believed, therefore have I spoken : but I have been humbled exceedingly.

I said in my excess : Every man is a liar.

What shall I render unto the Lord, for all the things that he hath rendered to me ?

I will take the chalice of salvation : and I will call upon the Name of the Lord.

I will pay my vows to the Lord before all his people : precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints.

0 Lord, for I am thy servant : I am thy servant, and the son of thy handmaid.

Thou hast broken my bonds : I will sacrifice unto thee the sacrifice of praise, and I will call upon the Name of the Lord.

1 will pay my vows to the Lord in the sight of all his people : in the courts of the house of the Lord, in the midst of thee, 0 Jerusalem*

Oredidi, propter quod locutus sum : * ego autem humiliatus sum nimis.

Ego dixi in excessu meo :

• Omnis homo mendax. Quid retribuam Domino :

• pro omnibus quae retribuit mini P

Calicem salutaris accipiam : * et nomen Domini invocabo.

Vota mea Domino reddam coram omni populo ejus : * pretiosa in conspectu Domini mors sanctorum ejus.

0 Domine, quia ego servus tuus, * ego servus tuus, et filius ancillse tuse.

Dirupisti vincula mea : * tibi sacrificabo hostiam laudis, et nomen Domini invocabo.

Vota mea Domino reddam in conspectu omnis populi ejus : * in atriis domus Domini, in medio tui Jerusalem. m

AXTt Qalicem salutaris. accipiam, et sacrificabo hostiam laudis.

Am- I viU tafc*the Chafoe of salvation, and will sacrifice the Host of praise.

The following Psalm prodaims, with halty enthusiasm, the loveliness of the sight offered this day by our earth. Happiness and holiness seemed, this morning, to have taken possession of the world. The oil of gladness flowed from Christ, the Head, upon all lm iswfters. The Church thrills with glwteess at seeing, round about the holy Table, her children, like so many young olive plants, ready to bring forth fruits of grace and sanctifioation. May it be so ! May this day be a new era for Sim, in abundance of all gqo$ (hinge, &nd in the strengthening of peace ip the holy City I

Ant. Sicut novellas olivarum, Ecclesiee filii sint in circuital menses Domini.

Ant. May the children of the Church be around the Table of the Lord, as young oKve plants.

Psalm 127.

Beati omnes qui timent Dominura, * qui ambulant in viis ejus.

Labores manuum tuarum quia manduoabis: * beatus es, et bene tibi erit.

Uxor tua sicut vitis abundans, * in lateribus domus ture.

Filii tui sicut novelise oli varum, * in eirouitu mensse tuce.

Ecce sic benedicetur homo * qui timet Dominum.

Benedioat tibi Dominus ex Sion; * et videas bom

Blessed are all they that fear the Lord ; that walk in his ways.

For thou shalt eat the labours of thy hands: blessed art thou, and it shall be well with thee.

Thy wife as a fruitful viae, on the sides of thy house.

Thy children as olive plants, round about thy table.

Behold ! thus shall the man be blessed, that feareth tfee Lord.

May the Lord bless thee out of Sion : and mayst thou, see

SB0QNP YE£F9£&

Hie good things of Jerusalem, all the days of thy life.

And mayst thou see thy children's children, peace upon Israel.

Ant. May the children of the Church be around the Table of the Lord as young olive plants.

Jerusalem omnibus diebus vitaa tu».

Et videos filios fiUorum tiaorum, * pacom super Israel*

Ant. Sicut novelise eliwum, Eccleaiss filji tint in oircuitu menssQ Domini,

Glory be to God t and Peace unto men ! Thus sang the Angels when the Bread of heaven oame to Bethlehem. We have already seen, and w$ will return, during the days of this Ootave, to see, that these are the two grand results of the Euoharist. In this fifth Psalm of Vespers, the Church invites us to sing the praises of thai peace, which by the grace of her Jesus, reigns in her borders, strengthens the bolts of her gates, and. fills, with blessing, her children that are within her. But it is the divine nourishment, it is the Wheat of heaven's own making, that produces this admirable peace, by its uniting all the members to Christ, in the uftity of one Body.

Ant. The Lord, who put- Ant. Qui pacem ponit teth peace in the borders of fines Ecclesira, frumenti the Church, fiUetb us with the adipe satiat nos Dominus. fat of Wheal?.

Psalm 147.

Praise the Lord, 0 Jerusa- Lauda Jerusalem Domi- lem ! praise thy God, 0 Sion ! num : * lauda Deum tuum

Sion.

Quoniam confortavit seras poxtarum tuarum : • benedixit filiis tuis in te.

Because he hath strengthen ed the bolts of thy gates : he hath blessed thy children within thee.

Who hath placed peace in Qui posuit fines tuos pa- thy borders : and filleth thee com : * et adipe frumenti with the fat of corn, that is, satiat te, V«»w, the Bread of tif*

OOHPUS CHRI8TI.

Qui emittit eloquium sunm terrse: * velociter currit Sermo ejus.

Qui dat nivem sicut lanam : * nebulam sicut cinerem spargit.

Mittit crystallum suam sicut bucoellas : * ante faciem frigoris ejus quia sustinebit ?

Emittet Yerbum suum, et liquefaciet ea : * flabit Spiritus ejus, et fluent aquse.

Qui annuntiat Yerbum suum Jacob : * justitias, et judicia sua Israel.

Non fecit taliter omni nationi : * et judicia sua non manifestavit eis.

Ant. Qui pacem ponit fines Ecclesiae, frumenti adipe satiat nos Dominus.

Who sendeth forth his speech to the earth : his Word runneth swiftly.

Who giveth snow like wool : scattereth mists like ashes.

He sendeth his crystal like morsels : who shall stand before the face of his cold ?

He shall send out his Word, and shall melt them : his wind, his Holy Spirit, shall blow, and the waters shall run.

Who declare th his Word unto Jacob : his justices and his judgments unto Israel.

He hath not done in like manner to every nation : and his judgments he hath not made manifest to them.

Ant. The Lord, who putteth peace in the borders of the Church, filleth us with the fat of Wheat.

The Capitulum gives us once more the words of the Apostle of the Gentiles. It is a joy to hear him thus bearing his testimony to the institution of the Sacrament of Love, and repeating to us the parting request of our Jesus : Bo this in commemoration of Me !

capitulum.

(i <

Fratres, ego enim accepi a Domino quod et tradidi vobis, quoniam Dominus Jesus in qua nocte tradebatur, accepit panem, et gratias agens, fregit et dixit: Accipite et manducate ; hoc

r. xi.)

Brethren, for I have received of the Lord that which also I delivered unto you, that the Lord Jesus, the same night in which he was betrayed, took bread, and giving thanks, broke, and said : Take ye and

SECOND VESPERS. eat": this is my body, which shall be delivered for you : this do for the commemoration of me. est corpus meum,quod pro vobis tradetur: hoc facite in meam commemorationem.

The Hymn, which then follows, gives us the whole doctrine of the Eucharist, in a sublime and oonoise wording. It is the one chosen by the Church for singing the praise of the adorable Sacrament : and its last two strophes are the ones she prescribes for the Eite of Benediction, throughout the Tear.

HYMN.*

Sing, 0 my tongue, the mystery of the glorious Body, and precious Blood which was shed as the worlds ransom, by Him who is the fruit of Mary's generous womb, Him the King of nations.

Given unto us, and born for us from the purest of Virgins, he lived in this our world, casting the seed of the word ; and dosing the days of his sojourn here, by a way full of marvel.

On the night of the Last Supper, he sat at table with his brethren ; and having fully observed the Law as to its legal repast, he gave himself, with his own hands, as food to the assembled Twelve.

The Word made Flesh, makes, by a word, that true bread should become Flesh,

Pangp, lingua, gloriosi Corporis mysterium, Sanguinisque pretiosi, Quern in mundi pretium, Fructus ventris generosi, Bex effudit gentium.

Nobis datus, nobis natus Ex intacta Virgine, Et in mundo con versatile, Sparso verbi semine, Sui moras incolatus Miro clausit ordine.

In supremee nocte ooense Becumbens cum fratribus, Observata lege plene Cibis in legalibus, Oibum turbse duodenee Se dat suis manibus.

Verbum caro, panem verum

Verbo oarnem effioit :

• In the Monastic Breviary, it is preceded by this Responsory :

I^. breve, — Cibavit illos ex adipe frumenti. * Alleluia, alleluia. Cibavit. "ft. Et de petra, melle saturavit eos. * Alleluia. Gloria. Cibavit,

OOKPDV CHKISTI.

Fitque sanguis Christi me- rtim: Bt si sensus deficit, Ad firmandum cor sincerum Sola fides sufficit. Tantum ergo Saoramentum

Venereum* cernui : Bt antiquum documentum Novo eedat ritui : Prtestet fides supplementum Sensuum defectui.

Genitori, Genitoque Laus et jubilatio, Salus, honor, virtus quoque Sit et benedictio : Procedeati ab utroqae Compar sit laudatio.

Amen.

Panem de coelo prsestitisti eis, alleluia.

$. Omne delectamentum in se habentem, alleluia. and wine the Mood of Christ ; and though our sense may fail, Faith of itself iB enough to assure an upright heart.

Then let us, prostrate, adore so great a Sacrament : and let the ancient law give place to the new rite : let Faith supply the senses' deficiency.

To the Father and the Son, be praise and jubilation, salvation, honour, power aod benediction : to Him that proceeded from Both, be there equal praise ! Amen.

Thou hast given them bread from heaven, alleluia*

& Having in it all that is delicious, alleluia.

The Antipbon which acoompanies the CsrftMe of Out Lady, is & fervent exclamation of admiration f Of the sacred banquet of divine union, and for the Kviiyj memorial of Jesus' sufferings : it is here that raarrs soul is filled with grace, and his very body receives the pledge of future glory. The phrase is not completed : the Church seems unable to finish these last words of her love of all that she has received by the Euoharst ; but the gift is too great f or human words !

ANTIPHON OF THE MAGNIFICAT

Ant. 0 sacrum cOnvivium, in quo Ghristus sumitur : reoolitur memoria passionis ejus : mens impletur gratia : et futures gloriae nobis pignus daiur, alleluia.

Ant. 0 sacred banquet, wherein Ohrist is received; the memorial of his Passion is celebrated ; the mind is filled with grace ; and a pledge of future glory is given unto us alleluia.

OUR LADY**

My sdul ddth magnify the Lord ;

And my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour.

Because he hath regarded the humility of Ma handmaid : for* beheld, from henceforth all generations shall call me Blessed.

Because he that is mighty hath done great things unto me ; and holy is his Name.

And nis mercy is from generation unto generation, to them that fear him.

He hath showed might in his arm : he hath scattered the proud in the conceit of their heart.

He hath put down the mighty from their seat: and hath exalted the humble.

He hath filled the hungry with good things: and the rich he hath sent empty away.

He hath received Israel his servant, being mindful of his mercy.

As he spake unto our fathers, to Abraham and to hie seed for ever.

Ant. 0 sacred banquet, wherein Christ is received; the memorial of his Passion is celebrated ; the mind is filled with -grace ; and a pledge of future glory is given unto us, alleluia.

CAKTICLB.

Magnificat : * antma mea Dominum ;

Et exBultavit spirifcas meus: 4 in Deo Salutari meo,

Qtriarespexit httailittttem aneillse suae : * eoce enim eft hoc beatam me dicent Cannes generationes.

Quia fecit mihi magna qui potene est: * et sanctum Nomen ejus.^

Et misericordia ejus a progenie in progenies : * timentibus eum.

Fecit poteutiam in bra* chio suo : * dispersit superbos mente cordis sui.

De^osuit potentes de sede : * et exaltavit humiles.

Esurientes implevit bonis: * et divites dimisit inanes.

Suscepit Israel puerum suum: * recordatus miseri*oordise sun.

Siout locutus est ad patres nostros: * Abraham et semini ejus in seeouta.

Ant. O sacrum eonvivium, in quo Ohristus sumitur: recolitur memoria passionis ejus : mens impletur gratia : et futures glorias nobis pignus datur, alleluia.

COLLBCT.

Deus, qui nobis sub Sacramento mirabili passionis tuse memoriam reliquisti : tribue, quaesumus, ita nos Corporis et Sanguinis tui sacra mysteria venerari, ut redemDfaonis ruse fructum in nobis jugiter sentiamus. Qui vivis.

0 God, who, under the wonderful Sacrament, hast left us a memorial of thy Passion : grant us, we beseech thee, so to reverence the sacred mysteries of thy Body and Blood, that, in our souls, we may always feel the fruit of thy Redemption. Who livest, etc.

At the close of this great Feast, which is oonseorated, by the Latin Church, to the honour of the saored Host, we will listen to the Greek Church, who in the following passages, expresses the same faith regarding the Blessed Saorament. These quotations are used during and after the Communion, in the Liturgy \ or Mass, called " St. John Chrysostom's."

BEFORE

Credo, Domine, et confiteor quod tu es Ohristus Filius Dei viventis, qui venisti in mundum ad salvandos peccatores, quorum primus ego sum.

Coense tuse mysticae hodie communicantem me suscipe. Non enim inimicis tuis mysterium dicam, nec osoulum tibi dabo velut J udas, sed ut latro tibi confiteor: memento mei, Domine, in regno tuo.

Domine, non sum dignus ut sub sordidum tectum animse mese ingrediaris : sed quemadmodum digna-

COMMUNION.

I believe, 0 Lord, and confess, that thou art Christ, Son of the living God, who earnest into this world to save sinners, of whom I am the first.

Receive me, communicating, this day, in thy mystic Supper. For I will not speak of thy Mystery to thine enemies, nor, like Judas, give thee a kiss, but, like the thief, confess to thee : Remember me, 0 Lord, in thy kingdom /

Lord, I am not worthy that thou enter under the filthy roof of my soul : but, as thou deignedst to repose in the cave

AFTER COMMUNION. and manger of brute beasts ; and, in the house of Simon the Leper, receive a sinner like myself, when she approached thee : deign, also, to enter into the crib of my senseless soul, and into my defiled, dead, and leprous body. And, as thou disdainedst not the unclean mouth of the sinner, who kissed thy most pure feet ; — so, 0 my Lord God, disdain not me, a sinner. But, good and merciful as thou art, vouchsafe to make me a partaker of thy most holy Body and Blood.

0 my God ! forgive, pardon, remit me whatsoever sins I have, either knowingly, or through ignorance, committed either by word or deed. Pardon me them all, for that thou art good and merciful ; by the intercessions of thy most pure and ever virgin Mother, keep me from condemnation, that I may receive thy precious and immaculate Body unto the cure of soul and body. For thine is the kingdom, and power, and glory, Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, now and always, and for ever and ever. Amen. tus es in spelunca et praesepio brutorum recumbere, et in domo Simonis Leprosi, etiam similem mei meretricem ad te accedentem suscepisti : ipse quoque dignare in prsesepe animae mese rationis expertis et in coinquinatum meum corpus mortuum et leprosum ingredi : et sicut non abhorruisti 08 sordidum meretricis illibatos pedes tuos osculantis, ita, Domine Deus meus, ne a me etiam pecoatore abhorrueris. Sed tanuam bonus et clemens, ignare me participem effici sanctissimi tui Corporis et Sanguinis.

Deus meus, condona, relaxa, remitte mihi delicta mea qusecumque sciens, vel per ignorantiam, vel verbo vel opere patravi. Indulge mihi cuncta ut bonus et clemens ; intercessionibus intemeratse tuse et semper virginis Matris, incondemnabum me custodi, ut Burn am pretiosum et immaculatum Corpus tuum ad medelam animae et corporis. Quoniam tuum est regnum, et virtus, et gloria : Patris, et Filii, et Spiritus sancti : nunc et semper, et in saecula sseculorum. Amen.

I

AFTER COMMUNION.

We give thee thanks, 0 kind Lord? thou benefactor of our souls, for that on this present day, also, thou hast made us worthy of thy heavenly vo»x.

Gratias agimus tibi, benifrne Domine, benefactor animarum nostrarum, quod etiam prsesenti die dignos feoisti nos coslestium tuo- X rige, cocirct nos im iLx^re too. camodi ttlabi noesr&m. ime secure*? noftros : preeiixiset mcress i >D»g>orvoeae Iteptfg, et sec:i«r Tirgmia Msrbe, et Qf^r.rsTn

ZKa/T. Recti pertkipee effects diTinoram, mnrZomin* nHhfttoraizv, immortaliaiiL, eviperccE^CfetiLLiiL, et Tirm-eoram mystaim urn, digne grades igirnm Lnxaino.

Cior. Domine, ancercre.

Disc Sonpe. aht, mia ercre , etccpserra dob, Dens, torn gratia.

Cfar. Domine, mi serere .

IHae. Diem omnem parfactum, sanctum, pacifieum, et a peccato immunem poatnlantes, noa ipsos, et inrioem, et omnem vitam nostrum Chrieto Deo comnmrnirwiTir

Char. Tim, Domine.

8accrdc y aKlamando. Quoniam tu ee aanctaficatio nostra, et tibigiorimm referimus, Petri, et FOio, et sancto Bpiritni, nunc et semper, et in saecola seealorom.

Char. Amen, red the* oar ways, strengthen a* in zhy fear, guard our his, make sale oar stene; by the prayers and mluuosssoe of the skjiicuf Mother of God, and ever Tirgin Mary, and of *2 tbeSainla.

TxeDmam: Let aa ik, being just, have bean mads partakers of tba drrine, boty, spodess, immortal, aup e rc e - leetial and tifs-gmng Mysteries, let us worthily give thanks unto the Lord.

The Choir: O Lord, bars

The Demean : Receive, save, bare mercy upon, and preserr e us, O God, by tby grace.

Tke C hoir : O Lord, have merer.

The Datum: Let ua pray, that every day of ours may be perfect, holy, peaceful, and free from sin ; and let us commend ourselves, and one another, and our whole life, unto Christ, our God.

The C\oir: Unto thee, O Lord!

The Priest, lifting up hi* voice : For thou art our sanetification, and to thee we give glory. Father, and Son, and Holy Ghost, now and always, and for all ages.

The Choir : Amen.