The Foukth Sunday Aftee Pentecost

The fourth Sunday after Pentecost was called, for a long period, in the west, the Sunday of mercy, because, formerly, there was read upon it the passage from St. Luke beginning with the words : * Be merciful, as your Father is merciful.' But, this Gospel having been since assigned to the Mass of the first Sunday after Pentecost, the Gospel of the fifth Sunday was made that of the fourth ; the Gospel of the sixth became that of the fifth ; and so on, up to the twenty-third. The change we speak of was, however, not introduced into many Churches till a very late period ; 1 and it was not universally received till the sixteenth century.

Whilst the Gospels were thus brought forward a week, in almost the whole series of these Sundays, the Epistles, Prayers, and the other sung portions of the ancient Masses were, with a few exceptions, left as originally drawn up. The connexion which the liturgists of the eleventh, twelfth, and thirteenth centuries had fancied they found between the Gospel and the rest of the liturgy for these Sundays was broken. Thus the Church spared not those favourite views and explanations which were at times far-

1 Cf. cum Missali hodierno Bern. Aug. De offic. Mis. cap. v ; Microlog. De eccl. obs. cap. lxi ; Honor. Augustod. Gemma animse, 1. iv ; Rupert. De div. off. 1. xii; Durand. 1. vi ; etc.