Fifteenth Sunday

te non potest salva consi- thee, she cannot keep safe, stereo tuo semper munere may she always be governed gubernetur. Per Dominum. by thy gift. Through, etc.

The other Collects, as on page 120.

Lectio Epistolae beati Pauli Apostoli ad Galatas.

Capita V. et VI.

Fratres, Si spiritu vivimus, spiritu et ambulemus. Non efficiamur inanis glorise cupidi, invicem provocantes, invicem invidentes. Fratres, et si prseoccupatus fuerit homo in aliquo delicto, vos, qui spirituales estis, hujusmodi instruite in spiritu lenitatis, considerans teipsum, ne et tu tenteris. Alter alterius onera portate, et sic adimplebitis legem Christi. Nam si quis existimat se aliquid esse, cum nihil sit, ipse se seducit. Opus autem suum probet unusquisque, et sic in semetipso tan turn gloriam habebit, et non in altero. Unusquisque enim onus suum portabit. Communicet autem is, qui catechizatur verbo, ei, qui se catechizat, in omnibus bonis. Nolite errare : Deus non irridetur. Quae enim seminaverit homo, hsec et metet. Quoniam qui seminat in

Lesson of the Epistle of St. Paul, the Apostle, to the Galatians.

Chapters V. and VI.

Brethren : If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit. Let us not be made desirous of vain -glory, provoking one another, envying one another. Brethren, if a man be overtaken in any fault, you who are spiritual, instruct such a one in the spirit of meekness, considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted. Bear ye one another's burdens : and so you shall fulfil the law of Christ. For if any man think himself to be something, whereas he is nothing, he deceiveth himself. But let every one prove his own work, and so he shall have glory in himself only, and not in another. For every one shall bear his own burden. And let him that is instructed in the word, communicate to him, that instructeth him, in all good things. Be not deceived, God is not mocked. For what things a man shall sow, those also shall he reap. For he that carne sua, de carne et metet corruptionem : qui autem seminat in spiritu, de spiritu metet vitam seternam. Bonum autem facientes, non deficiamus: tempore enim suo metemus, non deficientes. Ergo dum tempus habemus, operemur bonum ad omnes, maxime autem ad domesticos fidei. soweth in the flesh, of the flesh also shall reap corruption. But he that soweth in the spirit, of the spirit shall reap life everlasting. And in doing good, let us not fail. For in due time we shall reap not failing. Therefore, whilst we have time, let us work good to all men, but especially to those who are of the household of the faith.

Holy Church resumes the lesson of St. Paul, where she left it last Sunday. The spiritual life — the life produced in our souls by the holy Spirit, in place of the former life of the flesh — is still the subject of the apostle's teaching. When the flesh has been subdued, we must beware of supposing that the structure of our perfection is completed. Not only must the combat be kept up after the victory, under penalty of losing all we have won, but we must also be on the watch, lest one or other of the heads of the triple concupiscence take advantage of the soul's efforts being elsewhere directed, to raise itself against us, and sting us all the more terribly, because it is left to do just as it pleases. The apostle warns us here of vain-glory, and well he may ; for vain-glory is, more than other enemies, always in a menacing attitude, ready to infuse its subtle poison even into acts of humility and penance ; hence the Christian, who is desirous to serve God, and not his own gratification, by the virtues he practises, must keep up a specially active vigilance over this passion.

Let us think for a moment of the madness that culprit would be guilty of, who having his sentence of death commuted for a severe flogging, should take pride in the stripes left on his body by the whip ! May this madness never be ours ! It would seem, however, as though it were far from being impossible, seeing how the apostle, immediately after telling us to mortify our flesh, bids us take heed of vain-glory. In fact, we are not safe on this subject, excepting inasmuch as the outward humiliation, inflicted by us on our body, has this for its principle, that our soul should voluntarily humble herself at the sight of her miseries. The ancient philosophers, too, had their maxims about the restraint of the senses ; but those among them who practised those admirably worded maxims found them a stepping-stone for their pride to mount up mountains high in self-conceit. It could not be otherwise ; for they were totally devoid of anything like the sentiments which actuated our fathers in the faith, who, when they clad themselves in sackcloth and prostrated on the ground, cried out from the heartfelt conviction of the miseries of human nature : ' Have mercy on me, 0 God, according to Thy great mercy ! for I was conceived in iniquities, and my sin is ever before me !'2

To practise bodily mortification, with a view to get the reputation of being saints, is it not doing what St. Paul here calls sowing in the flesh, that in due time — that is, on the day when the intentions of our hearts will be made manifest — we may reap, not life and glory everlasting, but endless disgrace and shame ? Among the works of the flesh mentioned in last Sunday's Epistle, we found contentions, dissensions, jealousies, all of which are the ordinary outcome of this vain-glory, against which the apostle is now warning us. The production of such rotten fruits would be an unmistakable sign that the heavenly sap of grace had gone from our souls, and that in its stead there had been brought the fermentation of sin ; and that now, having i 1 Paralip. xxi. 16, etc. 2 Ps. 1. 3 1 Cor. iv. 5.

• Gal v. 19-21. made ourselves slaves as of old, we must tremble because of the penalties threatened by God's law. God is not mocked; and as to the confidence which generous fidelity of love imparts to those who live by the Spirit, it would, in the case we are now supposing, be but a hypocritical counterfeit of the holy liberty of the children of God. They alone are His children, whom the holy Spirit leads 1 in charity ; those others are led on by the flesh, and such cannot please God.

If, on the contrary, we would have an equally unmistakable sign which is quite compatible with the obscurities of faith, that we are really in possession of divine union, let us not take occasion from the sight of others' defects and faults to be puffed up with pride, but rather from the consideration of our own miseries, be indulgent to everyone else. If others fall, let us give them a helping and prudent hand. Let us bear one another's burdens along the road of life, and then, having thus fulfilled the law of Christ, we shall know (and oh ! the joy there is in such knowing !) that we abide in Him, and He in us. These most thrilling words were made use of by our Lord to express the future intimacy He would have with those who should eat the Flesh of the Son of Man and drink His Blood in holy Communion ; and St. John, who has recorded them in his Gospel, takes them and uses them in his Epistles, and (let us mark the deep mystery of the application) applies them to all who, in the Holy Ghost, observe the great commandment of loving their neighbours.

Would to God we could ever have ringing in our ears the saying of the apostle : Whilst we have time, let us work good to all men ! For the day will come (and it is not so very far off) when the angel,

1 Bom. viii. 14. 2 Ibid. 8. 3 1 St. John iv. 13.

• St. John vi. 57. 5 1 St. John iii. 23, 24 ; iv. 12, 13. carrying the mysterious book, and having one foot on the earth and the other on the sea, shall make his mighty voice as that of a lion heard through the universe, and, with his hand lifted up towards heaven, shall swear by Him that liveth for ever and ever, that time shall be no more. Then will man reap with joy what he shall have sown in tears ; he failed not, he grew not weary of doing good while in the dreary land of his exile; still less will he ever tire of the everlasting harvest, which is to be in the living light of the eternal day.

As we sing the Gradual, let us remember that the only praise which gives God pleasure is that which goes up to Him from a soul where reigns the harmony of the several virtues. The Christian life, which is regulated by the ten commandments, is the ten-stringed psaltery, on which the Finger of God, the Holy Ghost, plays to the Spouse the music that He loves to hear.

GRADUAL

Bonum est confiteri Do- It is good to give praise to mino : et psallere nomini the Lord : and to sing to thy tuo, Altissime. name, 0 Most High !

V. Ad annuntiandum V. To show forth thy mercy mane misericordiam tuam, et in the morning, and thy truth veritatem tuam per noctem. in the night.

Alleluia, alleluia. Alleluia, alleluia.

V. Quoniam Deus ma- V. For the Lord is a great gnus Dominus, et rex ma- God, and a great King over gnus super omnem terram. all the earth. Alleluia. Alleluia.

GOSPEL

Sequentia saneti Evangelii Sequel of the holy Gospel secundum Lucam. according to Luke.

Caput VII. Chapter VII.

In illo tempore : Ihat At that time : Jesus went

Jesus in civitatem quae vo- into a city that is called Nairn : catur Nairn : et ibant cum and there went with him his

1 Apoc. x. 1-6. 2 Ps. cxxv. 5. 3 Ps. cxliii. 9.

• Cf. St. Luke xi. 20; St. Matt, xil 28. eo discipuli ejus, et turba copiosa. Cum autem appropinquaret portse civitatis, ecce defunctus efferebatur, filius unicu matris suae : et haec vidua erat : et turba civitatis multa cum ilia. Quam cum vidisset Dominus, misericordia motus super earn, dixit illi : Noli flere. Et accessit, et tetigit loculum (hi autem qui portabant steterunt). Et ait: Adolescens, tibi dico, surge. Et resedit qui erat mortuus, et coepit loqui. Et dedit ilium matri suae. Accepit autem omnes timor : et magnificabant Deum, dicentes : Quia Propheta magnus surrexit in nobis: et quia Deus visitavit plebem suam. disciples, and a great multitude. And, when he came nigh to the gate of the city, behold a dead man was carried out, the only son of his mother; and she was a widow : and a great multitude of the city was with her. Whom when the Lord had seen, being moved with mercy towards her, he said to her : Weep not ! And he came near, and touched the bier. And they that carried it stood still. And he said : Young man ! I say to thee arise. And he that was dead, sat up, and began to speak. And he gave him to his mother. And there came a fear on them all: and they glorified God, saying : A great Prophet hath risen up among us, and God hath visited his people !

This is the second time during the year that holy Church offers this Gospel to our consideration; we cannot be surprised at this, for the fathers selected by her as its interpreters tell us, on both of these occasions, that the affl feted mother who follows her son to the grave is the Church herself.

The first time we saw her under this symbol, of a mother mourning for her child, was in the penitential season of Lent. She was then, by her fasting and prayer (united as those were with her Jesus' sufferings), preparing the resurrection of such of our brethren as were dead in sin. Their resurrection was realized, and we had them, in all the fullness of their new life, seated side by side with us at the Paschal Table. What exquisite joy, on that feast of feasts, inundated the mother's

1 St. Amb., in Luc., v. ; St. Aug., Serm. 44, de Verb. Dom. 2 Thursday of the fourth week of Lent, heart, as she thus shared in the triumphant gladness of her divine Spouse ! Jesus was, by His one Resurrection, twice over the conqueror of death — He rose from the grave, and He gave back the child to the mother. The disciples of this risen Lord, who follow Him closely by their observance of the evangelical counsels, they, and the whole multitude that associated themselves with the Church, glorified Jesus for His wonderful works, and sang the praises of God who thus vouchsafed to visit His people.

The mother ceased to weep. But since then the Spouse has again left her, to return to His Father ; she has resumed her widow's weeds, and her sufferings are continually adding to the already well-nigh insupportable torture of her exile. And whence these sufferings ? From the relapses of so many of those ungrateful children of hers, to whom she had given a second birth, and at the cost of such pains and tears ! The countless cares she then spent over her sinners, and that new life she gave them in the presence of her dying Jesus — all this made each of the penitents, during the Great Week, as though he were the only son of that mother. What an intense grief, says St. John Chrysostom, that so loving a mother should see them relapsing, after the communion of such mysteries, into sin which kills them ! ' Spare me,' as she may well say, in the words which the holy doctor puts into the apostle's mouth. ' Spare me ! No other child, once born into this world, ever made his mother suffer the pangs of child-birth over again V To repair the relapse of a sinner costs her no less travail than to give birth to such as have never believed.

And if we compare these times of ours with the period when sainted pastors made her words respected all over the world, is there a single Christian 1 Gal. iv. 19. 2 St. Chbys., De $amit, Horn. I. still faithful to the Church, who does not feel impelled by such contrast to be more and more devoted to a mother so abandoned as she now is ? Let us listen to the eloquent words of St. Laurence Justinian on this subject. ' Then,' says he, ' all resplendent with the mystic jewels wherewith the Bridegroom had beautified her on the wedding-day, she thrilled with joy at the increase of her children, both in merit and in number ; she urged them to ascend to ever greater heights ; she offered them to God; she raised them in her arms up towards heaven. Obeyed by them, she was, in all truth, the mother of fair love and of fear ; she was beautiful as the moon, bright as the sun, terrible as an army set in array. She stretched out her branches as the turpentine-tree, and beneath their shadow she sheltered those whom she had begotten against the heat, and the tempest, and the rain. So long, then, as she could she laboured, feeding at her breasts all those she was able to assemble. But her zeal, great as it was, has redoubled from the time she perceived that many, yea very many, had lost their first fervour. Now for many years she is mourning at the sight of how, each day, her Creator is offended, how great are the losses she sustains, and how many of her children suffer death. She that was once robed in scarlet has put on mourning garments ; her fragrance is no longer perceived by the world ; instead of a golden girdle, she has but a cord, and instead of the rich ornament of her breast, she is vested in haircloth. Her lamentations and tears are ceaseless. Ceaseless is her prayer, striving if, by some way, she may make the present as beautiful as times past ; and yet, as though it were impossible for her to call back that lovely past, she seems wearied with such supplication. The word of the prophet has

1 Ecclus. xxiv. 24. » Cant. vi. 9. 3 Isa. iii. 24. come true : " They are all gone aside, they are become unprofitable together ; there is none that doth good, no, not one!"1 . . . The manifold sins committed by the Church's children against the divine precepts show that they who so sin are rotten members, members alien to the body of Christ. Nevertheless the Church forgets not that she gave them birth in the laver of salvation ; she forgets not the promises they then made to renounce the devil, and the pomps of the world, and all sin. Therefore does she weep over their fall, being their true mother, and never losing the hope of winning their resurrection by her tears. Oh what a flood of tears is thus every day shed before God ! What fervent prayers does this spotless virgin send, by the ministry of the holy angels, up to Christ, who is the salvation of sinners ! In the secret of hearts, in lonely retreats, as well as in her public temples, she cries out to the divine mercy, that they, who are now buried in the filth of vice, may be restored to life. Who shall tell the joy of her heart, when she receives back living, the children she mourned over as dead ? If the conversion of sinners is such joy to heaven, what must it be to such a mother ? According to the multitude of the sorrows of her heart, so will be the consolations, giving joy to her soul.' 4

It is the duty of us Christians, who by God's mercy have been preserved from the general decay, to share in the anguish of our mother, the Church; we should humbly but fervently co-operate with her in all her zealous endeavours to reclaim our fallen brethren. We surely can never be satisfied with not being of the number of those senseless sons who are a sorrow to their mother, and despise

1 Ps. xiii. 3. 2 St. Luke xv. 7. 3 Ps. xciii. 19. * S. Laur. Just., De Compunct. et Plcmctu Christ. Perfect. 5 Prov. xvii. 25. the labour of her that bore them. Had we not the holy Spirit to tell us how he that honoureth his mother is as one that layeth up to himself a treasure, the thought of what our birth cost her would force us to do everything that lies in our power to comfort her. She is the dear bride of the Incarnate Word; and our souls, too, aspire to union with Him. Let us prove that such union is really ours by doing as the Church does ; that is, by showing in our acts the one thought, the one love which the divine Spouse always imparts to souls that enjoy holy intimacy with Him, because there is nothing He Himself has so much at heart; the thought of bringing the whole world to give glory to His eternal Father, and the love of procuring salvation for sinners.

Let us unite with the Church, our mother, in singing now in the Offertory the realization, in part at least, of her expectations ; let not our lips ever be shut up in senseless silence when we have our God bestowing favours on us.

OFFERTORY

Exspectans exspectavi With expectation, I have

Dominum, et respexit me : waited for the Lord, and he et exaudivit depreoationem was attentive to me : and he meam, et immisit in os heard my prayer ; and he put meuin canticum novum, a new canticle into my mouth, hymnum Deo nostro. a song to our God

In the Secret let us put ourselves, and everything that belongs to us, under the all-powerful custody of the divine mysteries.

SECRET

Tua nos, Domine, sacra- May thy mysteries, O Lord, menta custodian t : et con- be custody unto us : and always

1 Prov. xxx. 17. 2 Ecclus. iii. 5. 3 Tob. iv. 4. tra diabolicos semper tue- defend us against the attacks antur incursus. Per Do- of the deviL Through, etc. milium.

The other Secrets, as on page 130.

Jesus' word called back from death the son of the widow of Nairn; His Flesh is the life of the world, for it is the Bread, whose praise we are now to celebrate in our Communion-anthem.

COMMUNION

Panis, quern ego dedero, The bread, which I will caro mea est pro saeculi give, is my flesh for the life vita. of the world.

Divine union is not perfect in us unless the mystery of love so predominates over both our minds and bodies, as that they be fully possessed by it, as our mother here words its efficacy ; we must be influenced and directed by it, and not by nature, that is, by the dictates of flesh and blood and human sense.

POSTCOMMUNION

Mentes nostras et corpora May the operation of the possideat, quaesumus Do- heavenly gift possess our mine, doni coelestis opera- minds and bodies, we beseech tio : ut non noster sensus thee, O Lord : that our own in nobis, sed jugiter ejus sense may not rule us, but prseveniat effectus. Per Do- may the efficiency of that minum. gift ever take the lead in us.

Through, etc.

The other Postcommunions, as on page 181.

VESPERS

The psalms, capitulum, hymn, and versicle, as above, pages 71-81.

24—2

ANTIPHON OF

Propheta magnus surrexit in nobis, et quia Deus visitavit plebem suam.

ORBMUS

Ecclesiam tuain, Domine, miseratio continuata mundet et muniat ; et quia sine te non potest salva consistere, tuo semper inunere gubernetur. Per Doininum.

THE MAGNIFICAT

A great Prophet hath risen up among us, and God hath visited his people.

LET US PRAT

May thy continued mercy, 0 Lord, cleanse and defend thy Church ; and, because without thee she cannot keep safe, may she always be governed by thy gift. Through, etc.

THE SIXTEENTH SUNDAY AFTEB PENTECOST

MASS

The resuscitation of the son of the widow of Nairn, on which our thoughts were fixed last Sunday, has reanimated the confidence of our beloved mother, the Church; her prayer goes up all the more earnestly to her Spouse, who leaves her on earth, for a time, that she may grow dearer to Him by sufferings and tears. Let us, of course, enter into these her sentiments which guided her in the choice of to-day's Introit.

INTROIT

Miserere mihi, Domine, quoniam ad te clamavi tota die : quia tu, Domine, suavis ac mitis es, et copiosus in misericordia omnibus invocantibus te.

Pa. Inclina, Domine, aurem tuam mihi, et exaudi me : quoniam inops et pauper sum ego. Gloria Patri. Miserere.

Have mercy on me, O Lord, for I have cried unto thee all the day ; for thou, Lord, art sweet and mild, and plenteous in mercy to all that call upon thee.

P*. Incline thine ear unto me, O Lord, and hear me : for I am needy and poor. Glory, etc. Have mercy.

Such is our inability in the work of salvation, that, unless grace prevent, that is, anticipate, us, we cannot have so much as the thought of doing what is holy ; and again, unless it follow up the inspirations it has given us, and lead them to a happy termination, we shall never be able to pass from the simple thought to the act of any virtue whatsoever. If, on the other hand, we be faithful to grace, our life will be one uninterrupted tissue of good works. Let us, in our Collect, ask, both for ourselves and for all our neighbours, the persevering continuity of this most precious aid.

COLLECT

Tua nos, quaesumus gratia semper et praeveniat et sequatur : ac bonis operibus jugiter praestet esse intentos. Per Domietc. num.

Do- May thy grace, we beseech mine, thee, O Lord, ever go before us, and follow us ; and may it ever make us intent upon good works. Through,

The other Collects, as on page 120.

EPISTLE

Lectio Epistolse beati Fauli Apostoli ad Ephesios.

Caput III.

Fratres, Obsecro vos, ne deficiatis in tribulationibus meis pro vobis, qu» est gloria vestra. Hujus rei gratia flecto genua mea ad Patrem Domini nostri Jesu Christi, ex quo omnis paternitas in coelis, et in terra nominatur, ut det vobis secundum divitias glorise suae, virtute corroborari per Spiritum ejus in interiorem hominem, Christum habitare per fidem in cordibns

Lesson of the Epistle of St. Paul the Apostle to the Ephesians.

Chapter III.

Brethren : I pray you not to faint at my tribulations for you, which is your glory. For this cause I bow my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, of whom all paternity in heaven and earth is named, that he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened by his Spirit with might unto the inward man. That Christ may dwell by faith in your hearts: that being rooted and vestris : in charitate radi- founded in charity, you may cati, et fundati, ut possitis be able to comprehend, with comprehendere cum omni- all the saints, what is the bus Sanctis, quae sit latitudo, breadth, and length, and height, et longitudo, et sublimitas, and depth: to know also the et profundum : scire etiam charity of Christ, which sur- supereminentem scientise passeth all knowledge, that you charitatem Christi, ut im- may be filled unto all the full- pleamini in omnem pleni- ness of God. Now to him tudinem Dei. Ei autem, qui who is able to do all things potens est omnia facere more abundantly than we de- superabundanter quam peti- sire or understand, according mus, aut intelligimus, se- to the power that worketh in cundum virtutem, quae ope- us : to him be glory in the ratur in nobis : ipsi gloria church, and in Christ Jesus, in Ecclesia, et in Christo unto all generations, world

Jesu in omnes generationes without end. Amen, sseculi seeculorum. Amen.

' My heart hath uttered a good word : I speak my works to the King/1 The enthusiasm of the royal psalmist, when singing the glorious nuptial song, has taken possession of our apostle's whole soul, and inspires him with this marvellous Epistle, which seems to put into music, into a song of love, the sublime teachings of all his other letters. When he wrote this to his Ephesians he was Nero's prisoner; but it shows that the word of God is anything but hampered by the chains that make an apostle a captive.

Although the Epistle to the Ephesians is far from being the longest of his letters, yet it is from it that the Church borrows most during these Sundays after Pentecost ; and we may argue from such choice that it gives, more than any other of St. Paul's Epistles, that leading subject, upon which the Church is particularly anxious to direct her children's thoughts during this season of the liturgical year. Let us, therefore, thoroughly master the mystery of the Gospel, by hearkening

1 Ps. xliv. 2. * 2 Tim. ii. 9. a Eph. vi. 19. to the herald who received it as his special mission to make known to the Gentiles the treasure that had been hidden from eternity in God. It is as ambassador that he comes to us ; and the chains which bind him, far from weakening the authority of his message, are but the glorious badges which accredit him with the disciples of the Christ who died on Calvary.

For, God alone, as he tells us in the music we have just heard, can strengthen in us the inward man enough to make us understand, as the saints do, the dimensions (breadth, length, height, and depth) of the great mystery of Christ dwelling in man, and dwelling in him for the purpose of filling him with the plenitude of God. Therefore is it, "that falling on his knees before Him from whom flows every perfect gift, and who has begotten us in the truth by His love, our apostle asks God to open, by faith and charity, the eyes of our heart, that so we may be able to understand the splendid riches of the inheritance He reserves to His children, and the exceeding greatness of the divine power used in our favour, even in this life.

But, if holiness is requisite in order to obtain the full development of the divine life spoken of by the apostle, let us also take notice how the desire and the prayer of St. Paul are for all men ; and how, therefore, no one is excluded from that divine vocation. Indeed, as St. John Chrysostom observes, the Christians, to whom he sends his Epistle, are people living in the world, married, having children and servants, for he gives them rules of conduct with regard to each point. The saints of Ephesus, as of all other places, are no

1 Eph. iii. 8, 9.

3 St. Jas. L 17, 18.

5 In ep. ad Eph., Horn. 1.

2 Ibid. vi. 20.

• Eph. i. 18, 19.

6 Eph. v. 22; vi. 1, 5. others than the faithful of Christ Jesus, that is to say, they are those who faithfully follow the divine precepts, in the condition of life proper to each. Now, it depends on us to follow* God's grace; nothing else but our own resistance prevents the Holy Ghost from making saints of us. Those sublime heights, to which the progressive movement of the sacred liturgy has, since Pentecost, been leading the Church, are open to all of us. If the new order of ideas introduced by this movement strike us, at times, as being beyond our practical attainment, the probable reason of such cowardice is — and a short examination of conscience will bear witness against us — that we have neglected, ever since Advent and Christmas, to profit, as we should have done, of the teachings and graces of every kind, which were given us as means for advancing in light and in Christian virtue. The Church, at the commencement of the cycle, offered her aid to every one of us, and that aid she adapted to each one's capabilities; but she could never remain stationary, because some of us were too lazy to move onwards ; she could never consent, out of a regard for our laggings and sluggishness, to neglect leading men of good will to that divine union, which they were told ' crowns both the year of the Church, and the faithful soul that has spent the year under the Church's guidance.'2 But on no account must we lose courage. The cycle of the liturgy runs its full course in the heavens of the Church each year. It will soon be starting afresh, again adapting the power of its graces to each one's necessities and weaknesses. If, with that new year of grace, we learn a lesson from our past deficiencies ; if we do not content ourselves with a mere theoretical admiration of the exquisite poetry, and loveliness, and charms of its opening seasons ; if we seriously set 1 Eph. i. 1. 2 Our Volume for Christmas, p. 23. ourselves to grow with the growth of that light which is no other than Christ Himself, — if, that is, we profit of the graces of progress which that light will again infuse into our souls— then the work of our sanctification, having been this time prepared, has a cheering and 1 a new chance of receiving that completeness, which had been retarded by the weakness of human nature.*2

Even now, though our dispositions may not be all they should be, yet the Holy Ghost, that Spirit of loving mercy who reigns over this portion of the cycle, will not refuse the humble prayer we make to Him, and will supply, at least in some measure, our sad shortcomings. Great, after all, has been our gain in this, that the eye of our faith has had new supernatural horizons opened out to it, and that it has reached those peaceful regions which the dull vision of the animal man fails to discover. It is there that divine Wisdom reveals to the perfect that great secret of love, which is not known by the wise and the princes of this world — secret which the eye had not before seen, nor the ear heard, nor the heart even suspected as possible. From this time forward, we shall better understand the divine realities, which fill up the life of the servants of God ; they will seem to us, as they truly are, a thousand times preferable, both in importance and in greatness, to those vain frivolities and occupations, in the midst of which is spent the existence of so-called practical men. Let us take delight in thinking upon that divine choice, which, before time was, selected us for the fullness of all spiritual benedictions, of which the temporal blessings of the people of old were but a shadow. The world was not as yet existing, and already God saw us in

1 St. John i. 5. 2 See above, p. 11. 3 1 Cor. ii. 14. * Ibid. 6-9. 5 Eph. i. 3. 8 Deut. xxviii. 1-14.

His Word; to each one among us, He assigned the place he was to hold in the body of His Christ ; already, His fatherly eye beheld us clad with that grace which made Him well pleased with the Man-God; and He predestinated us, as being members of this His beloved Son, to sit with Him, on His right hand, in the highest heavens.

Oh ! how immense are our obligations to the eternal Father, whose good pleasure has decreed to grant such wondrous gifts to our earth ! His will is His counsel, it is the one rule of all His acts; and His will is all love. It is from the voluntary and culpable death of sin that He calls us to that life which is His own life. It is from the deep disgrace of every vice that, after having cleansed us in the Blood of His Son, He has exalted us to a glory, which is the astonishment of the angels, and makes them tremble with adoring admiration. Let us then be holy for the sake of giving praise to the glory of such grace. Christ, in His Divinity, is the substantial brightness and eternal glory of His Father; if He has taken to Himself a Body, if He has made Himself our Head, it was for no other purpose than that He might sing the heavenly canticle in a new way. Not satisfied with presenting in His sacred Humanity, a sight most pleasing to His Father — that is, the sight of the created reflex of divine, and therefore infinite, perfections — He wished, moreover, that the whole of creation should give back to the adorable Trinity an echo of the divine harmonies. - It is on this account that He, in His

1 Eph. i. 4. 2 1 Cor. xii. 12-31 ; Eph. iv. 12-16.

3 Ibid. i. 6. 4 Ibid 4, 5.

• Ibid. i. 20, 28 ; ii. 6. « Ibid. i. 9. 7 Ibid. 11.

8 Ibid. 7 ; ii. 1-5. 9 Ibid. i. 7.

10 Hymn for the Ascension ; Matins. 11 Eph. i. 4, 6. 13 Heb. i. 3. own Flesh, broke down the old enmities existing between Gentile and Jew; and then, bringing together these that were once enemies, He made of them all one spirit and one body, so that their countless human voices might, through Him, blend in unison of love with the angelic choirs, and thus, standing around God's throne, might attune the one universal song of their praise to that of the infinite Word Himself. Thus shall we become for ever to God, like this divine Word, the praise of His glory, as the apostle thrice loves to express himself in the beginning of this his Epistle to the Ephesians. Thus, too, is to be wrought that mystery which, from all eternity, was the object of God's eternal designs : the mystery, that is, of divine union, realized by our Lord Jesus uniting, in His own Person, in infinite love, both earth and heaven.

The Church, which is showing herself in the midst of the Gentiles, bears on herself the mark of her divine Architect ; God shows Himself, in her, in all majesty ; and, by her, the kings of the earth are made to fear Him.

Timebunt gentes nomen tuum, Domine, et omnes reges terra gloriam tuam.

V. Quoniam sedificavit Dominus Sion : et videbitur in majestate sua.

Alleluia, alleluia.

V. Cantate Domino canticum novum : quia mirabilia fecit Dominus. Alleluia.

The Gentiles, 0 Lord, shall fear thy name, and all the kings of the earth thy glory.

V. For the Lord hath built up Sion ; and he shall be seen in his glory.

Alleluia, alleluia.

V. Sing to the Lord a new canticle: for the Lord hath done wonderful things. Alleluia.

1 Eph. ii. 14-18. 2 Ibid. i. 6, 12, 14. 3 Ibid. 9, 10.

Sequentia sancti Evangelii secundum Lucam.

Caput XIV.

In illo tempore : Cum intraret Jesus in domum cujusdam principis phariseeorum sabbato manducare panem, et ipsi observabant eum. Et ecce homo quidam hydropicus erat ante ilium. Et respondens Jesus, dixit ad legisperitos, et pharisseos, dicens : Si licet sabbato curare ? At illi tacuerunt. Ipse vero apprehensum sanavit eum, ac dimisit. Et respondens ad illos, dixit : Cujus vestrum asinus, aut bos in puteum cadet, et non continuo extranet ilium die sabbati? Et non poterant ad haec respondere illi. Dicebat autem et ad invitatos parabolam, intendens quomodo primos accubitus eligerent, dicens ad illos : Cum invitatus fueris ad nuptias, non discumbas in primo loco, ne forte honoratior te sit invitatus ab illo, et veniens is, qui te et ilium vocavit, dicat tibi : Da huic locum : et tunc incipias cum rubore novissimum locum tenere. Sed cum vocatus fueris, vade, recumbe in novissimo loco : ut, cum venerit qui te invitavit, dicat tibi : Amice, ascende superius. Tunc erit tibi gloria coram simul discumbentibus : quia omnis qui se

Sequel of the holy Gospel according to Luke.

Chapter XIV.

At that time : When Jesus went into the house of one of the chief of the pharisees on the Sabbath-day to eat bread, they watched him. And behold there was a certain man before him that had the dropsy. And Jesus answering, spoke to the lawyers and pharisees saying : Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath-day ? But they held their peace. But he taking him, healed him, and sent him away. And answering them, he said: Which of you shall have an ass or an ox fall into a pit; and will not immediately draw him out on the Sabbath-day ? And they could not answer him to these things. And he spoke a parable also to them that were invited, marking how they chose the first seats at the table, saying to them : When thou art invited to a wedding, sit not down in the first place, lest perhaps one more honourable than thou be invited by him: and ho that invited thee and him, come and say to thee: Give this man place; and then thou begin with shame to take the lowest place. But when thou art invited, go, sit down in the lowest place, that when he who invited thee cometh, he may say to thee : Friend, go up higher. Then shalt thou have glory exaltat, humiliabitur : et before them that sit at table qui se humiliat, exaltabitur. with thee ; because every one

Holy Church here tells us, and in a most unmistakable way, what has been her chief aim for her children ever since the feast of Pentecost. The wedding spoken of in to-day's Gospel is that of heaven, of which there is a prelude given here below, by the union effected in the sacred banquet of holy Communion. The divine invitation is made to all ; and the invitation is not like that which is given on occasion of earthly weddings, to which the bridegroom and bride invite their friends and relatives as simple witnesses to the union contracted between two individuals. In the Gospel wedding, Christ is the Bridegroom, and the Church is the bride. These nuptials are ours, inasmuch as we are members of the Church ; and the banquet-hall, in this case, is something far superior to that of a commonplace marriage.

But, that this union be as fruitful as it ought to be, the soul, in the sanctuary of her own conscience, must bring with her a fidelity which is to be an enduring one, and a love which is to be active, even when the feast of the sacred mysteries is past. Divine union, when it is genuine, masters one's entire being. It fixes one in the untiring contemplation of the beloved Object, in the earnest attention to His interests, in the continual aspiration of the heart towards Him, even when He seems to have absented Himself from the soul. The bride of the divine nuptials should be no less intent on her God, than those of earth are on their earthly spouse. It is on this condition alone, that the

1 Apoc. xix. 7. 2 1 Cor. vii, 34. that exalteth himself shall be humbled; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted.

Christian soul can be said to have entered on the unitive life, or can yield its precious fruits.

But, for the attainment of all this — that is, that our Lord Jesus Christ may have that full control over the soul and its powers which makes her to be truly His, and subjects her to Him as the bride to her Spouse — it is necessary that all alien competition be entirely and definitively put aside. Now, there is one sad fact, which everyone knows : the divinely noble Son of the eternal Father, the Incarnate Word whose beauty enraptures the heavenly citizens, the immortal King, whose exploits and power and riches are beyond all that the children of men can imagine — has rivals, human rivals, who pretend to have stronger claims than He to creatures whom He has redeemed from slavery, and invited to share with Him the honours of His throne. Even in the case of those whom His loving mercy succeeds in winning over wholly to Himself, is He not frequently kept waiting, for perhaps years, before they can make up their minds to be wise enough to take Him ? During that long period of unworthy wavering, He loses not His patience, He does not turn elsewhere as He might in all justice do, but He keeps on asking them to be wholly His, mercifully waiting for some secret touch of one of His graces, joined with the unwearied labour of the Holy Ghost, to get the better of all this inconceivable resistance.

Let us not be surprised at the Church's bringing the whole influence of her liturgy to bear on the winning of souls to Christ ; for every such conquest she makes for Him is a fresh and closer bond of union between herself and her Lord. This explains how, on some of these previous Sundays, she has given us such admirable instructions re-

1 1 Cor. xi. 8-10. 2 Acta 8. Agnetis.

3 Ps. xliv. 4 Apoc. iii. 20. garding the efforts of the triple concupiscence. Earthly pleasures, pride, and covetousness, are really the treacherous advisers, who excite within us, against God's claims, those impertinent rivals of whom we were just now speaking. Having now reached the sixteenth week of this season of the reign of the Holy Ghost, and taking it for granted that her sons and daughters are in right good earnest about their Christian perfection, the Church hopes that they have fairly unmasked the enemy. To-day, therefore, hoping that her teaching will not fail to impress us, and that we shall no longer put off our most loving Jesus, she proposes to us, in the allegory of our Gospel, the great mystery of love of which He Himself has said : ' The kingdom of heaven is likened to a King, who made a marriage for His Son.' 1

But, after all, her anxiety as mother and bride never allows her to make quite sure of even her best and dearest children, so long as they are in this world. In order to keep them on their guard against 'falling into sin, she bids them listen to St. Ambrose, whom she has selected as her homilist for this Sunday. He addresses himself to the Christian who has become a veteran in the spiritual combat, and tells him that concupiscence has snares without end, even for him ! Alas ! he may trip, any day; he has gone far, perhaps very far, on the road to the kingdom of God, but, even so, he may go wrong, and be for ever shut out from the marriage feast, together with heretics, pagans, and Jews. Let him be on the watch, then, or he may become tainted with those sins, from which, hitherto, thanks to God's grace, he has kept clear. Let him take heed, or he may become like the man mentioned in to-day's Gospel, who had the dropsy; and dropsy, says our saintly preacher of 1 St. Matt. xxii. 2.

Milan, is a morbid exuberance of humours, which stupefy the soul, and induce a total extinction of spiritual ardour. And yet, even if he were to have such a fall as that, let him not forget that the heavenly physician is ever ready to cure him. The saint, in this short homily, condenses the whole of St. Luke's fourteenth chapter, of which we have been reading but a portion ; and he shows, a little farther on, that attachment to the goods of this life is opposed to the ardour which should carry us on the wings of the spirit, towards the heaven where lives and reigns our loved One.' 1

But, above all, it is to the constant attitude and exercise of humility that he must especially direct his attention who would secure a prominent place in the divine feast of the nuptials. All saints are ambitious for future glory of this best kind ; but they are well aware that, in order to win it, they must go low down, during the present life, into their own nothingness ; the higher in the world to come, the lower in this. Until the great day dawn, when each one is to receive according to his works, we shall lose nothing by putting ourselves, meanwhile, below everybody. The position reserved for us in the kingdom of heaven depends not, in the least, either upon our own thoughts about ourselves, or upon the judgment passed on us by other people ; it depends solely on the will of God, who exalteth the humble, and bringeth down the mighty from their seat. Let us hearken to Ecclesiasticus. ' The greater thou art, the more humble thyself in all things, and thou shalt find grace before God ; for great is the power of God alone, and He is honoured by the humble.'4 Were it only, then, from a motive of self-interest, let us follow the advice of the Gospel, and, in all things,

1 S. Amb., vn Luc., vii., Homil. Diet. , St. Matt. xvi. 27. 3 St. Luke i. 52. * Ecclus. iii. 20, 21; claim, as our own, the last place. Humility is not sterling, and cannot please God, unless, to the lowly estimation we have of ourselves, we join an esteem for others, preventing everyone with honour, gladly yielding to all in matters which do not affect our conscience ; and all this, from a deep-rooted conviction of our own misery and worthlessness in the sight of Him who searches the reins and heart. The surest test of our humility before God, is that practical charity for our neighbour, which, in the several circumstances of everyday life, induces us, and without affectation, to give him the precedence over ourselves.

On the contrary, one of the most unequivocal proofs of the falseness of certain so-called spiritual ways, into which the enemy sometimes leads incautious souls, is the lurking contempt wherewith he inspires them for one or more of their acquaintance ; it is dormant, perhaps, habitually, but when occasion offers —and it frequently offers — they allow it to influence their thoughts, and words, and actions. To a greater or less extent, and, it may be, with more or less unconsciousness, self-esteem is the basis of the structure of their virtues ; but, as for the illuminations, and mystical sweetnesses, which these people sometimes tell their intimate friends they enjoy, they may be quite sure that such favours do not come to them from the holy Spirit. When the substantial light of the Sun of justice shall appear in the valley of the judgment, all counterfeits of this kind will be made evident, and they that trusted to them, and spent their lives in petting such phantoms, will find them all vanishing in smoke. Having then to take a much lower place than the one they dreamt of, they may reckon it a solace, that some place is still given them at the divine banquet. They will have to thank God

1 Rom. xii. 10. 2 Apoo. ii. 23. 3 1 Cor. iv. 5. that their chastisement goes no farther than the shame of seeing those very people passing high up in honour above them, for whom, during life, they had such utter contempt.

The greater the conquests made by the Church, the greater are the efforts of hell to destroy the souls of her dear children. This fearful danger calls for her fervent prayers ; and our Offertory-anthem is one of these.

Domine, in auxilium meurn respice : confundantur me : et revereantur, qui quserunt sion animam meam, ut auferant Domine, in auxilium meum respice.

Look down, O Lord, to help let them be put to conraand shame, that seek after my soul, to take it away : look earn : down, 0 Lord, to help me.

The Secret reminds us, how the Sacrifice, at which we are present, and which is to be consummated, in a few moments, by the words of Consecration, is the most direct and efficacious of all the immediate preparations that we can make for the Communion of the Body and Blood, which that Sacrifice produces on the altar.

Munda nos, qusesumus, Cleanse us, 0 Lord, we be-

Domine, sacrificii praesentis seech thee, by the efficacy of effectu, et perfice miseratus this present Sacrifice : and, by in nobis, ut ejus mereamur thy mercy, make us worthy esse participes. Per Domi- to partake thereof. Through, num. etc.

The other Secrets, as on page 180.

Now that the Church is filled, by the holy Communion just received, with the true substantial Wisdom of the Father, she promises God, as her thank-offering, that she will keep His justice, which

OFFEBTORY

SECRET is His law, and that she will labour to make His divine teaching produce its fruits.

COMMUNION

Domine,memorabor justi- I will remember thy justice tisB tuae soli\i : Deus, do- alone, O Lord : O God, thou cuisti me a juventute mea, hast instructed me from my et usque in senectam et se- youth, and unto old age and nium : Deus, ne derelinquas grey hairs : O God, forsake me me. not.

In the Postcommunion, let us pray, with the Church, that we may be renewed by the purity, which these heavenly mysteries bring to us, who are well prepared for the gift : the effect of such a gift tells upon our bodies, both in this and in the next life.

POSTCOMMUNION

Purifica, quaesumus Do- Mercifully, O Lord, we be- mine, mentes nostras beni- seech thee, purify our souls, gnus, et renova ccelestibus and renew them by these sacramentis : ut consequen- heavenly mysteries ; that we ter et corporum praesens may receive help thereby, both pariter, et futurum capia- while we are in these mortal mus auxilium. Per Do- bodies, and hereafter. Through, minum. etc.

The other Postcommunion s, as on page 131.

VESPERS

The psalms, capitulum, hymn, and versicle, as above, pages 71-81.

ANTIPHON OF THE MAGNIFICAT

Cum vocatus fueris ad nuptias, recumbe in novissimo loco, ut dicat tibi qui te invitavit : Amice, ascende superius; et erit tibi floria coram simul discumentibus. Alleluia.

When thou art invited to a wedding, sit down in the lowest place, that he who invited thee may say unto thee : Friend ! go up higher : and thou shalt have glory before them that sit at table with thee. Alleluia.

25—2

OREMUS

Tua nos, qusesumus Domine, gratia semper et preeveniat et sequatur : ac bonis operibus jugiter prsestet esse intentos. Per Dominum.

LET US PRAY

May thy grace, we beseech thee, 0 Lord, ever go before us, and follow us ; and may it ever make us intent upon good works. Through, etc.