Preface

The second volume of the Continuation now presented to the faithful concludes that portion of the Liturgical Year which is called the Proper of the Time. The feast of Easter, having an entire month's range for the variation of its day, changes each year the position of the Sundays after Pentecost, by the same number of days; so that it is utterly impossible to establish a concurrence between these Sundays and the Proper of Saints.

We intend, therefore, to give the feasts of saints, occurring between ,{mjo and I)eqemb,er, ia a separate volume; for \he sompleticn oi which w Venture to ask the praydgp^S ]c$t readarfc ^ Ehis to their prayers that we attribute the blefesifig tfhich God . has given to this wprk"-; |Te3$M^& have given us courage and confidence in the task imposed upon us.

Whilst thus thanking them, we think it right tb tell them how we now, more than ever, stand in need of their assistance. We are exiled from our iii iv

PREFACE monastery by the men who have assumed the reins of government ; they have thought fit to discover a social danger in the life and labours of monks, who celebrate the divine mysteries of the year, and spend their time in endeavouring to sanctify their own souls and those of others : in all this our rulers have seen such peril for our country, that they have violently torn us from our cells and our choir. Thanks to a generous hospitality accorded us by friends, we are enabled to write these lines from Solesmes, but not from our dear abbey, where resides alone, in his tomb, under the shadow of his own loved library and church, the venerated author of the Liturgical Year.