The Octave Day of Saint John the Baptist

The Church unites on June the 24 th in one same glad celebration, the memory both of the Birth of the Precursor and of his Circumcision, surrounded as it was by prodigies, related in the Gospel of the feast itself. But, properly speaking, this is the day whereon these wonders were operated, according to the words of the Gospel : " It came to pass that on the " Eighth Day the child was circumcised." By placing on the morrow of this Eighth Day the celebration of Mary's visit to her cousin Elizabeth, the Church seems to insinuate, besides, that Our Lady, who had been staying in Zachary's house during the last three months, prolonged her stay and her tender care of the infant and his mother up to this date. The babe that three months ago, at her first arrival, had leaped as though fain to force the prison of the maternal womb, seemed at the moment of his birth to spring towards her ; she received him into her arms, and pressed him to her breast wherein the Son of God still lay reposing. She gave herself entirely to him during these eight days; for she knew they would be the only ones in which the Friend of the Bridegroom would taste here below, although without seeing him, the intimate presence of him unto whom his whole heart turned. Save the solemn moment of his Baptism, the sublime majesty of which would hold in subjection every sentiment in the soul of the Precursor but that of self-annihilation and of adoration, John is never to behold (excepting once or twice at a distance) the Well-Beloved he has come to announce. Profound mystery this of plan divine ! John is never to know the Bridegroom, never to enjoy our Jesus, save in Mary.

Nevertheless, even to-morrow must the farewell be ; even to-morrow the desert is to open before him ; a desert of the soul, more terrific a thousand times than that which affects the outward senses. His flight from the world to the desert of Judea, far from being a trial to John, will be rather a solace to this infant soul for whom earth was already too narrow. In the wilderness, at least, the air is pure, heaven seems ready to open, and God gives answer to the soul that calls upon him. Let us then not be astonished that scarcely is John born than he searches for solitude, and passes almost at once from his mother's breast to the desert wilds. There was no childhood for the man who three months previous to his birth had attained, at one bound, to the plenitude of the age of Christ; no need of human master had he whom heaven had undertaken to instruct, who knew both the past and the future, in God, and whose own plenitude of knowledge, transmitted by him to his parents, had turned them also into prophets. Better far than Elizabeth had he entered into the meaning of Our Lady in her Magnificat; even on this day he quite comprehends Zachary hailing him as Prophet of the Highest, in the Benedictus:

1 Origen. in Luc. Homil. XI. translatio Hieron.

• Hieron. Dialog, contr. Lucif. VII.

3 Ambr. in Luc. II. 30.

4 Chrysost. Horn. XIII. aL XII. in Johan. 2.

6 Paulin. poema VI. de S. Johan. Bapt. V. 217, 218. 6 Guerric Ign. Serm. I. in Nativ. S. Johan. 2.

• Ambr. in Luc. II. 34. and from whom, save from the Word Himself, could the Voice of the Word have received the science of language ? Gifted with the full use of his will, what progress, on the other side, must he not have made, ui love, during these three months ! The Mother of divine grace neglected nothing in the formation of this natural disposition so singularly favoured, where no obstacle opposed the full development of the divine germs. St. Ambrose, whose exquisite delicacy has so wonderfully penetrated into these mysteries, shows us John under Mary's influence, exercising himself in the several virtues, anointing his limbs like a valiant athlete, and essaying, even from his mother's womb, the combats which await him. The eight days which have just elapsed for him in the arms of Our Lady have completed the work. His sweet Mistress, whom he is to see no more, may even now bespeak their meeting again, in heaven, he at the left of her Son's throne, she at the right, according to the tradition of which Christian Art has made itself the faithful interpreter up to our own time.

Whilst awaiting for another six months the birth of the Virgin's Son, earth is meanwhile in possession of him who is the greatest amongst all that are born of women. No human ken in its highest soarings may touch the summits whereon this child of but eight days holds fixed the gaze of his intelligence ; no sanctity may stretch to further limits than his, the heroism of love. Fully enlightened on all the bearings of the approaching farewell, he will not shrink at seeing the Son and the Mother depart on the morrow. Like the divine Spouse himself, he, the Friend of the Bridegroom, is strong enough to

1 Petr. Chrysol. Serm. 87, 88, 91.

2 Ambr. in Luc. II. 29. Before him almost in the same terms,

Origen in Luc. Homil. VII-IX.

3 Grimouard de Saint Laurent. Guide de Tart Chretien, t. V. have no other food than the accomplishment of the Will of the Father who has sent them both. His soul, filled henceforth with the memory of these days wherein his heart has been throbbing to the pulsations of that of Jesus, whilst Mary has been clasping him to her breast, will, by its fidelity, despite the distant parting, ever keep up between his own and these two Hearts the sublime concert wherein, during these happy hours, the Eternal Trinity has been listening for the first time to an echo, in the flesh, of Its own harmony. Like to the sun-flower, friend of the day-star, which, without quitting earth whereon it is placed, keeps ever turning towards him its wistful corolla, John, from the desert's midst, will follow in heart and thought every step of Jesus ; but yet will he keep restraint upon his soul. With that eagle-glance of his which heretofore espied him in Our Lady's womb, he will behold him despite all intermediaries, now a child, now grown up to manhood, passing by not far from his solitude ; yet never once will the impetuosity of his love carry him away to climb.the few hills then separating him from Jesus, and to throw himself at his sacred Feet ; never once will the zeal which devours him, the Voice, the Witness of the Word, urge him to anticipate by one moment the hour that Heaven has fixed for him to cry out to the ignorant crowd : " Behold your God, " the Lamb that is to save you, the expected Messias!" And when at last, in the fifteenth year of Tiberius Caesar, he manifests the Bridegroom at the divine command, he, the great Baptist, is not the one to come nigh to Jesus saying : Master, where dweUest • thou ? nor is he the one that receives the answer : Gome and see ! To others, yea, even to all others,

1 St. John, iv. 34. 2 Ibid. i. 38, 39. the happy lot to follow Jesus, to abide with Jesus : but as to John, he thrills indeed at his blissful meeting; yet for his part, he keeps afar off, he disappears even until that day, now fast approaching, when the prison of the adulterous Herod is to become his grave.

" O God!" cries out the gentle St. Francis de Sales, " such an example as this overwhelms my mind with " its grandeur."1 "Oh! what divine abstinence," exclaims the Eagle of Meaux, in his turn, " Oh ! abstinence more admirable far than all those other " abstinences related of St. John the Baptist !"2 Let us, too, share with the Church in her admiring gladsomeness, while during these days she makes echo to Gabriel's voice proclaiming at once the dignity both of the Son of Zachary and of our Saviour himself. Let us enter into the enthusiasm wherewith so many fathers and doctors (hailing first of all Mary blessed above all) are loud in their applause of the eulogium given to John by the Word Himself. Let us understand them, when they declare that amongst all men, Christ alone is more exalted than he ; that whosoever else is born of woman is inferior to him; that he is the most excellent of all saints ; yea, more than saint is he, a demi-god, marking the limit of human merit; so great, in fine, that a greater must necessarily be God. Contemplating a perfection so sublime which surpasses the ken of human intelli-

1 Lettre du 1 4 octobre 1 604, a Sainte J eanne Francoise de Chantal.

2 Bossuet, Elevations sur les myst. XV. Sem. el. 7.

3 St. Matth. xi.

4 Aug. Sermo LXVI. 2.

6 Maxim. Taurin. Horn. LXVII. in Nat. S. J. 3. 6DeImitat. Chr. IV. 17.

7 Guerric Igniac. Sermo I. in Nat. S. J. 1.

8 Paulin. Poema VI- V. 252. y Maxim. Taurin. Sermo LXI. in Nat. S. J. 5. 10 Aug. Sermo CCLXXXVII. in Nat. S. J. 1. gence, we cannot be surprised to learn that, according to the doctrine laid down in the works of Gerson, whose authority here is of such great weight, John the Baptist is exalted in heaven above all the choirs of the celestial hosts, and holds the place left vacant by Lucifer at the foot of the throne of God.

Having during this Octave been following with holy Church the teachings which it inspires, we shall cod elude this day with the words of Saint Ambrose which compose the last lesson of the Matins Office now in use: "John is his name, writes Zachary, " and forthwith his tongue is unloosed. Let us also " write these mysteries spiritually, and we shall know " how to speak. Let us engrave the Precursor of " Christ, not on inanimate tablets, but on our living " hearts. For to name John is to announce Christ "Let, then, these two names, John and Jesus "Christ, be united upon our lips; and therefrom " perfect praise will arise ; like to that which issued "from the mouth of that priest whose hesitating "faith concerning the Precursor had rendered him . "dumb!"3

Let us now hear the conclusion of St. Ephrem's song in which he gives the meeting of the Bridegroom and the Friend of the Bridegroom on the banks of the Jordan. John continues to expose the endless difficulties wherewith his humility inspires him, in order to decline the honour of baptizing the Word made Flesh.

HYMN.

Non possum infirmus ego Feeble am I, nor am I able manibus attrectare ignitum with my hands to handle thy tuum corpus. Ardent au- Body which is all Fire. But

1 Guerric, ubi supra. 2 Lectiones duse super Marcum.

» Anibr. in Luc. II. 32.

THE OCTAVE OF ST. J flaming are thy heavenly legions ; give command unto one of thine Angels to baptize thee.

— Not of Angels have I assumed a body, that an Angel I should call to baptize Me. With a human body am I clad, by a man am I to be baptized.

— The waters saw thee and trembled exceedingly ; the waters saw thee and were troubled ; the stream bubbled by reason of its agitation, and shall I, frail man, dare to confer baptism upon thee %

— By My Baptism, the Waters are sanctified, and receive of Me Spirit and Fire. Now, unless I receive baptism, they will not have the power of generating sons immortal.

— Fire, if it approach to thy Fire, burneth like straw. Mount Sinai endured thee not, how then may I, frail man, be able to baptize thee ?

— I am Burning Fire, made for man's sake a Babe in the Virgin's chaste womb, but now about to be baptized in Jordan's flood.

— Fitting it were that thou shouldst baptize me, thou who art so holy that thou canst make all things clean. By thee are the contaminated sanctified; since therefore, so holy art thou, what availeth that thou receive baptism 1

— It behoveth much that thou, without contention, do baptize Me, as I command. Lo ! I did baptize thee in the womb, do thou baptize Me in the Jordan. tern tuae legiones ccelestes : uni ex angelis tuis praecipe ut baptizette.

— Non ab angelis corpus assumpsi, ut advocem angelum ad me baptizandum. Humanum corpus indui, ab homine sum baptizandus.

— Aquae viderunt te et valde tremuerunt : viderunt te aquae et concussae sunt ; spumatprae agitatione amnis, et ego infirmus quomodo tibi baptismum canterreaudeam 1

— Aquae baptismo meo sanctificantur, ignem spiritumque a me accipiunt. Quod nisi baptismum accepero, facultatem non habebunt generandi filios immortales.

— Ignis igni tuo si accedat, exardescit ut stipula. Mons Sinai te non sustinuit, quomodo infirmus ego possim te baptizare 1

— Ego sum ignis accensus, propter homines infans factus in intemerato virginis utero, nunc vero in Jordane baptizandus.

— Valde decet ut tu me baptizes qui ita sanctus es ut omnia mundare possis. Per te contaminata sanctificantur; quum igitur ita sanctus sis, ad quid baptismum suscipias ]

— Valde oportet ut tu absque contentione, ut jubeo, me baptizes. Baptizavi te in utero, baptiza me in Jordane.

— Servus sum, prorsus inops ; tu qui omnes liberas, miserere mei. Corrigias calceamentorum tuorum solvere impar sum ; quis dignum me reddet sublissimum tuum attingere caput ?

— Meo baptismo servi libertatem adipiscuntur, chirographa lacerantur, manumissio in aquis obsignatur.

' Si baptizatus non f uero, hsec omnia irrita fient.

— Scintilla ignis in aere exspectat te super Jordane ; si illi assentiris et baptizari vis, tu teipsumabluas et perficias omnia.

— Decet te mihi baptismum conferre, ne quis erret et dicat de me : " Si non esset alienus a Patre, cur levita timuisset ipsum baptizareT

— Quando baptismum suscipies, quomodo orationem absolvam super Jordanem ? Patre et Spiritu Sancto super te apparentibus, quemnam pro more sacerdotum invocabo?

— Oratio in silentio absolvetur; age, manum tuam duntaxat impone mihi, et Pater loco sacerdotis prociamabit quod oportet de Filio suo.

— Electi omnes ecce adstant ; ecce qui a sponso invitati sunt, testes sunt me quotidie dixisse inter eos : " Vox sum, non Verbum."

R PENTECOST.

— I am a slave wholly wretched; O thou who settest all men free, have mercy upon me. * To loosen the latchet of thy shoes, I am utterly unqualified ; who then can render me worthy to touch thine august Head 1

— By My Baptism slaves obtain liberty ; the handwriting is torn in pieces: the seal is put to their manumission, in the waters. If I be not baptized, all these things shall be left undone.

— In the air, above Jordan, lo ! a sparkle of fire expecteth thee ; if thou consentest thereunto and wishest to be baptized, do thou lave thyself, and accomplish all things.

— It oehoveth that thou confer Baptism on Me, lest anyone should err and say of Me: "If he were not alien to the Father, wherefore did the Levite fear to baptize him

— When thou receivest Baptism, how shall I speak the prayer upon Jordan] The Father and the Holy Ghost appearing over thee, — whom then, according to priestly custom, shall I invoke ?

— The Prayer shall be accomplished in silence ; do thy part; set merely thy hand upon Me, and the Father, in place of Priest, will proclaim what behoveth of His Son.

— Lo ! all the Elect are present; Behold those who are invited by the Bridegroom, they are my witnesses that daily have I spoken thus unto

THE OCTAVE OF ST. J them: The Voice am I, not the Word.

— O thou Voice of him who crieth in the wilderness, accomplish the work whereunto thou art come, so that the desert may proclaim that thou art gone forth unto Him in the vast plain where thou didst preach.

— The cry of the Angels reacheth unto mine ears, behold I hear from out the House of the Father the heavenly Virtues exclaiming: " Thine Epiphany, O Spouse, "giveth life to the world."

— Time is speeding apace, and the paranymphs are awaiting to behold what shall take place ; Ah then ! do thy part, confer Baptism upon Me, so that the Father's Voice, which will presently sound forth, may be praised.

— Lord, I hear, I obey ; according to thy Word,— Oh ! come thou unto the Baptism to which thy love urgeth thee. With extreraest veneration is it that man, who is dust, perceiveth himself to presume so as that he should lay his hand on his Maker.

There stood the heavenly hosts in silence ; the Most Holy Bridegroom descended into the Jordan ; having received Baptism, he presently ascended, and his Light shone forth upon the world.

Heaven's portals were opened and the Voice of the Father was heard : " This is My Be- " loved Son in Whom I am

— Vox clamantis in deserto, perfice opus ad quod venisti, ut proclamet desertum te exisse ad eum in magna planitie ubi praedicasti.

— Clamor angelorum perr venit ad aures meas. Ecce audio a domo Patris ccelestes Virtutes exclamantes: " Epiphania tua, Sponse, " vivificat mundum."

— Festinat tempus, et me exspectant paranymphi ut videant quid geritur; eia, age, confer mihi baptismum ut laudetur vox Patris quae mox resonabit.

— Audio, Domine ; juxta verbum tuum, eia, veni ad baptismum ad quern tuus te amor compellit. Summa cum veneratione contemplatur homo pulvis, se eo usque pertigisse ut manum suam plasmatori suo imponat.

Stabant in silentio coelestia agmina ; descendit sanctissimusSponsus in Jordanem; baptismo suscepto mox ascendit, et lux ejus effulsit super mundum.

Portae cceli apertae sunt, et vox Patris audita est: " Hie est Filius meus dilectus in quo mihi complacui."

Eia, omnes populi, ipsum "well-pleased. " Oh I then,

Stabant spectatores stupe- They that saw it were amaz- facti, videntes Spiritum de- ed, seeing that the Spirit came scendisse ut de illo testimo- down to render testimony unto nium perhiberet. Laus, Do- him. Praise, O Lord, be unto mine, epiphanise tdse quae thine Epiphany which maketh omnes laetificat. In mani- all to be glad. In thy mani- f estatione tua totus resplen- festation ail the world is made adorate. duit mundus. resplendent!

JCJLY 2.

THE VISITATION OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN MARY.

Our Lady's visit to her cousin Elizabeth already engaged our attention whilst we were preparing for the Christmas festival. But it is only fitting to return again to an event so important in our Lady's life ; the mere commemoration of this mystery made on Ember-Friday in Advent would be insufficient to bring forward all it contains of deep teaching and h°ly joy- Since in the course of centuries, the holy Liturgy has been gaining more and more completeness, it is but natural that this precious mine should come to be further opened in honour of the Virgin Mother. The Order of St. Francis, it would seem, as well as certain particular Churches, such as Rheims and Paris for example, had already taken the initiative, when Urban VI, in 1389, instituted to-day's solemnity. The Pope counselled a fast on the vigil of the feast, and ordered that it should be followed by an octave ; he granted for its celebration the same indulgences as Urban IV. had, in the previous century, attached to the festival of Corpus Christi. The Bull of promulgation, stopped by the Pontiff's death, was again taken up and published by Boniface IX, his successor on the Chair of Peter. We learn from the Lessons of the Office formerly composed for this feast, that the end of its institution was, as Urban conceived it, to obtain the cessation of the schism then desolating the Church. The papacy, exiled from Kome for seventy years, had barely re-entered it, when hell, infuriated at a return which crossed all its plans, had taken revenge by ranging under two leaders the Flock of the one Sheepfold. " So deep was the obscurity wherewith miserable intrigues contrived to cover the authority of the legitimate Shepherd, that numbers of Churches, in all good faith, began to hesitate, and ended at last in preferring the deceptive staff of a hireling. Thicker yet was the darkness to grow, till night should be so dense, that for a moment the conflicting mandates of three Popes would simultaneously spread through the world; whilst the Faithful, struck with stupor, would be at utter loss to discern accurately which was the voice of Christ's true Vicar. Never had the Bride of the Son of God been in a more piteous situation. But Our Lady, to whom the true Pontiff had turned at the first rising of the storm, deceived not the Church's confidence. During all those years whilst the unfathomable justice of the Most High let the powers of hell hold sway, she stood for the defence of holy Church, trampling the head of the old serpent so thoroughly under her victorious foot, that despite the terrific confusion he had stirred up, his filthy spume could not sully the faith of the people. Their attachment was steadfast to the unity of the Roman See, whosoever might be, in this uncertainty, its veritable occupant. Thus the West, divided in fact, but, in principle, ever one and undivided, re-united herself spontaneously as soon as God's moment came for the return of light. The hour having arrived for the Queen of Saints to assume the offensive, she would not content herself with merely re-establishing, at its former post, the army of the elect ; hell now must expiate his audacity, by being forced to yield back to holy Church those conquests which for centuries had seemed his for ever. The tail of the dragon had not yet ceased to whisk at Basle, when Florence already beheld the heads of the Greek schism, the Armenians and Ethiopians, the cavillers of Jerusalem, of Syria, and of Mesopotamia, all compensating by their unhoped-for adhesion to the Roman Pontiff for the anguish just suffered in the West.

It was now to be shown that such a return of nations, in the very midst even of the tempest, was indeed the work of Her who had been called upon by the Pilot, half a century before, to succour the Bark of Peter. Even they of the factious assembly of Basle gave proof of this, in a way which has unfortunately been too much overlooked by historians who undervalue the high importance that liturgical facts hold in the history of Christendom. When about to separate, these last abettors of the schism devoted the forty-third session of their pretended council to the promulgation of this very feast of the Visitation, in the first establishment of which Urban VI. had, from the outset, placed all his hopes. Notwithstanding the resistance of some of the more obstinate, the schism may, from that hour; be said to have ended. The storm was subsiding ; the name of Mary, invoked thus by both sides, shone resplendent as the sign of peace amidst the clouds, even as the rainbow in its sweet radiance unites both extremities of the horizon. Look upon it, says the Holy Ghost, and bless him that made it: it is very beautiful in its brightness. It encompasseth the heaven about, with the circle of its glory: the hands of the most High have displayed it?

1 Gen. ix. 12-17. 1 Ecclus. xliii. 12, 13.

But, it may be asked, why was the feast of the Visitation specially chosen, more than any other, as the monument of restored peace ? The answer seems to be suggested in the very nature of the mystery itself and in the manner of its accomplishment.

Here, more particularly, does Mary appear as the Ark of the Covenant, bearing within her the Emmanuel, the living Testimony of a more true reconciliation, of an alliance more sublime between earth and heaven, than that limited compact of servitude entered into between Jehovah and the Jews, amidst the roar of thunder. By her means, far better than through Adam, all men are now brethren ; for He whom she hides within her is to be the First-born of the great family of the sons of God. Scarce is he conceived than there begins for him the mighty work of universal propitiation. Arise, then, 0 Lord, into thy resting place, thou and the Ark which thou hast sanctified, whence thine own sanctity will pour down upon our earth I1 During the whole of her rapid passage from Nazareth to the mountains of J udea, she shall be protected by wings of Cherubim jealously eager to contemplate her glory. Amidst his truest warriors, amidst Israel's choirs of singing men, David conducted the figurative Ark from the house of Abinadab to that of Obededom ; but better far, the escort deputed by the Eternal Father for this sacred Ark of the New Covenant, troops of the noblest princes of the heavenly phalanx.

Favoured with benediction was that Levite's house, whilst for three months it sheltered the Most High hidden on the golden propitiatory: more favoured still, the home of the priest Zachary, harbouring, for the same lapse of time, Eternal Wisdom enshrined in the Virginal womb, wherein that union, so ambitioned

1 Ps. cxxxi. 8. 2 2 Kings, vi. by his Love, had just been accomplished. Yet beneath Zachary's roof, blessed as it was, the enemy of God and man was still holding one captive : the angelic embassy that had announced John's miraculous conception and birth could not exempt him from the shameful tribute that every son of Adam must pay to the prince of death, on entering into this life. As formerly at Azotus, so now Dagon may not remain standing erect in face of the Ark. Mary appears; and Satan, at once overturned, is subjected to utter defeat in John's soul, a defeat that is not to be his last ; for the Ark of the Covenant will not stay its victories till the reconciliation of the last of the elect be effected.

Let us then hymn this day with songs of gladness; for this Mystery contains the germ of every victory gained by the Church and her sons : henceforth the sacred Ark is borne at the head of every combat waged by the new Israel. Division between man and his God is at an end, between the Christian and his brethren ! The ancient Ark was^powerlesff to prevent the scission of the tribes; henceforth if schism and heresy do hold out for a few short years against Mary, it shall be but to evince more fully her glorious triumph at last. In all ages, because of Her, even as to-day and under the very eyes of the enemy now put to confusion, little ones shall rejoice, all shall be filled with benediction, and pontiffs shall be perfected. Let us join the tribute of our songs to John's* exulting gladness, to Elizabeth's sudden exclamations, to Zachary's canticle ; therewith let earth re-echo ! Thus in by-gone days was the Ark hailed as it entered the Hebrew camp. Hearing their shout, the Philistines learned that help had come from the

1 1 Kings, v. 2 Ps. cxxxi. 8-9, 14-18.

Lord; and seized with terror, they groaned aloud saying : Wo to us ; for there was no such great joy yesterday and the day before: Wo to us/1 Verily this day, the whole human race, together with John, leaps for joy and shouts with a great shout; verily this day has the old enemy good reason to lament : the heel of the woman, as she stamps him down, makes his haughty head to wince for the first time : and John, set free, is hereby the precursor of us all. More happy are we, the new Israel, than was the old, for our glory shall never be taken away ; never shall be wrested from us that sacred Ark which has led us dry-shod across the river, and has levelled fortresses to the dust at its approach.

Justly then is this day, whereon an end is put to the series of defeats begun in Eden, the day of new canticles for a new people! But who may intone the hymn of triumph, save She to whom the victory belongs ? " Arise, arise, 0 Debbora, arise, — arise and "utter a canticle. The valiant men ceased and " rested in Israel, until Mary arose, the true Debbora, "until a Mother arose in Israel. It is I, it is I," saith she, " that will sing to the Lord, I will sing to " the Lord the God of Israel. O magnify the Lord " with me, as saith my grandsire David, and let us "extol his Name together. My heart hath rejoiced, like that of Anna, in God my Saviour.* "For even as in his handmaid Judith, by me he " hath fulfilled his mercy, so that my praise shall " not depart out of the mouth of men who shall be " mindful of the power of the Lord for ever. For " mighty is he that hath done great things in me ;

1 1 Kings, iv. 5-8. 6 Judges, v. 12. 9 1 Kings, ii. 1.

2 Gen. iii. 15. 6 Ibid. 7. 10 Judith, xiii. 18. s Josue, iii, iv. * ibid. 3. 11 Ibid. 25-31 ; xv. 11.

4 Ibid. vi. 8 Ps. xxxiii. 4. 12 Exod. xv. 2, 3, 11.

" there is none holy as he. Even as by Esther, he "hath throughout all generations saved those who "feared him; in the power of his arm, he hath " turned against the impious one the projects of his " own heart, driving proud Amam out of his seat and "uplifting the humble; the bow of the mighty is " overcome, and the weak are girt with strength ; " the abundance of them that were rich hath passed " to the hungry, and they are filled ; he hath re- " membered his people, and hath had pity on his " inheritance. Such, indeed, was the promise that "Abraham received and our fathers have handed " down unto us : and he hath done to them even as " he had promised/'6

Daughters of Sion and all ye who groan in the thraldom of Satan, the hymn of deliverance has sounded in our land ! Following in Her train, who beareth within her the Pledge of alliance, let us form into choirs; better than Mary, Aaron's sister, and by yet juster title, she leads the concerts of Israel. So sings she on this day of triumph, and the burthen of her song gathers into one all the victorious chants which, in the ages of expectation, preluded this divine canticle of hers. But the past victories of the elect people were but figures of that which is gained by our glorious Queen on this day of her manifestation ; for she, beyond Debbora, J udith, or Esther, has truly brought about the deliverance of her people ; in her mouth the accents of her illustrious predecessors pass, from the burning aspira- denotes her being already in possession of the long expected God. A new era is meetly inaugurated by

1 1 Kings, ii. 2. 3 Judith, ix, 11. 6 Esth. x. 12. 3 Esth. ix. 28. 4 1 Kings, ii. 4, 5. 6 Ibid. xiii. 15 ; xiv. 5. 7 Exod. xv. 20, 21. ecstasy which sacred chants : divine praise receives from Mary that character which henceforth it is never to lose, not even in eternity.

The preceding considerations have been suggested by the special motive which led the Church to institute this feast in the fourteenth century. Again, in our own day, has Mary shown that this date is indeed for her a day of victory. On the Second of July, in the year 1849, Rome was restored to the exiled Pontiff, Pius IX. But we should far exceed the limits of our present scope, were we to strive to exhaust the teachings of this vast mystery, the Visitation. Besides, some have been already given in our Advent volume; and others, more recently on the feast and octave-day of Saint John's Nativity. What we mean to add further on the subject, is brought to light by the Epistle and Gospel of the Mass given below.

FIRST VESPERS.

The Antiphons used in the Office of this day are all taken from the Gospel, and reproduce historically the mystery we are celebrating.

Ant. Exsurgens Maria, Ant. Mary rising up, went abiit in montana cum fes- into the hill country, with tinatione in civitatem Juda. haste, into a city of Juda.

Ps. Dixit Dominus, page 52.

Ant. Intravit Maria in Ant. Mary entered into the domum Zachariae, et salu- house of Zachary and saluted tavit Elisabeth . Elizabeth .

Pa. Laudate pueri, page 55. 1 See above, Feast of the Precious Blood, page 460.

THE VISITATIO:

Ant. When Elizabeth heard the salutation of Mary, the infant leaped in her womb : and she was filled with the Holy Ghost. Alleluia.

PSALM

I rejoiced at the things that were said to me : We shall go unto Mary, the house of the Lord.

Our feet were standing in thy courts, O Jerusalem ! Our heart loves and confides in thee, 0 Mary.

Mary is like to Jerusalem that is* built as a city ; which is compact together.

For thither did the tribes go up, the tribes of the Lord: the testimony of Israel, to praise the Name of the Lord.

Because seats sat there in judgment; seats upon the house of David ; and Mary is of a kingly race.

Pray ye, through Mary, for the things that are for the peace of Jerusalem : and may abundance be on them that love thee, 0 Church of our God!

The voice of Mary: Let peace be in thy strength, 0 thou new Sionf and abundance in thy towers.

I, a daughter of Israel, for the sake of my brethren and of my neighbours, spoke peace of thee.

Because of the house of the Lord our God, I have sought good things for thee.

Ant. When Elizabeth heard the salutation of Mary, the

• OF B. M. V. 505

Ant. Ut audivit salutationem Mariae Elisabeth, exsultavit infans in utero ejus, et repleta est Spiritu Sancto. Alleluia.

121. ■

La&tatus sum in his quae dicta sunt mihi : * In domum Domini ibimus.

Stantes erant pedes nostri : * in atriis tuis, Jerusalem.

Jerusalem quae aedificatur ut civitas : * cujus participate ejus in idipsum.

Illuc enim ascenderunt tribus, tribus Domini : * testimonium Israel ad confitendum Nomini Domini.

Quia illic sederunt sedes in judicio: * sedes super domum David.

Bogate quae ad pacem sunt Jerusalem : * et abundantia diligentibus te.

Fiat pax in virtute tua : * et abundantia in turribus tuis.

Propter fratres meos et proximos meos : * loquebar pacem de te.

Propter domum Domini Dei nostri : * quaesivi bona tibi.

Ant. Ut audivit salutationem Marias Elisabeth,

A exsultavit infans in utero ejus, et repleta est Spiritu Sancto. Alleluia.

Ant. Benedicta tu inter mulieres, et benedictus f ruetus ventris tui. infant leaped in her womb: and she was filled with the Holy Ghost. Alleluia.

Ant. Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb.

PSALM 126.

Nisi Dominus eadificaverit domum : * in vanum laboraverunt qui sedificant earn.

Nisi Dominus custodierit civitatem : * frustra vigilat qui custodit earn.

Vanum est vobis ante lucem surgere : * surgite postquam sederitis, qui manducatis panem doloris.

Cum dederit dilectis suis somnum : * ecce haereditas Domini, filii, merces, fructus ventris.

Sicut sagittae in manu potentis: * ita filii excussorum.

Beatus vir, qui implevit desiderium suum ex ipsis : * non confundetur cum loquetur inimicis suis in porta.

Ant. Benedicta tu inter mulieres, et benedictus fructus ventris tui.

Ant. Ex quo facta est vox salutationis tuae in auribus meis, exsultavit infans in utero meo. Alleluia.

Unless the Lord build the house, they labour in vain that build it.

Unless the Lord keep the city, he watcheth in vain that keepeth it.

It is vain for you to rise before light ; rise ye after you have sitten, you toat eat of the bread of sorrow.

When he shall give sleep to his beloved : behold the inheritance of the Lord are children ; the reward, the fruit of the womb.

As arrows in the hand of the mighty, so the children of them that have been shaken.

Blessed is the man that hath filled his desire with them ; he shall not be confounded when he shall speak to his enemies in the gate.

Ant. Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb.

Ant. For behold, as soon as the voice of thy salutation sounded in my ears, the infant in my womb leaped for joy. Alleluia.

PSALM 147.

Lauda, Jerusalem, Dominum : * Lauda Deum tuum. Sion.

Praise the Lord, 0 Mary, thou true Jerusalem : 0 Mary, O Siontfwr holy, praise thyGod.

Because he hath strengthened against sin the bolts of thy gates: he hath blessed thy children within thee.

Who hath placed peace in thy borders : and filleth thee with the fat of corn, with Jesus who is the Bread of life.

Who sendeth forth by thee nis Word 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 1

He shall send forth his Word, by Mary, and shall melt them : his Spirit shall breathe, and the waters shall run.

Who declareth his Word to Jacob : his justices and his judgments to Israel.

He hath not done in like manner to every nation : and his judgments be hath not made manifest to them, as he hath in these our days.

Ant. For behold, as soon as the voice of thy salutation sounded in my ears, the infant in my womb leaped for joy. Alleluia.

The Psalms have sung the exalted greatness of Him whom the humility of Mary has attracted unto her and by whom she has been manifested, for the first time to the world, as the City of God, built by him with love; this she herself proclaims, to-day, whilst praising the Lord her God. The Capitulum is borrowed, as also are the Fsalmsand Hymn, from the Common Office of our Lady; it tells of that august predestination

Quoniam confortavitseras

Sortarum tuarum : * beneixit filiis tuis in te.

Qui posuit fines tuos pacem: * et adipe frumenti satiat te.

Qui emittit eloquium suum terrse : .* velociter currit sermo ejus.

Qui dat nivem sicut lanam: * nebulam sicut cinerem spargit.

Mittit crystallum suum sicut buccefias : * ante faciem frigoris ejus quis sustinebit ]

Emittet Verbum suum, et liquefaciet ea : * flabit Spiritus ejus, et fluent aquae.

Qui annuntiat Verbum suum Jacob : * justitias et judicia sua Israel.

Non fecit taliter omni nationi : * et judicia sua non manif estavit eis.

Ant. Ex quo facta est vox salutationis tuse in auribus meis, exsultavit infans in utero meo. Alleluia. wherein, before all ages, were inseparably united Eternal Wisdom and this Woman blessed abdve all those from whom she was one day to be born.

CAPITULUM.

Ab initio et ante saecula creata sum, et usque ad f uturum sseculum non desinam, et in habitatione sancta coram ipso ministravi.

(Ecclus. xxiv.)

From the beginning, and before the world, was I created, and unto the world to come, ' I shall not cease to be, and in the holy dwelling-place I have ministered before him.

HYMN.

Ave, Maris Stella, Dei Mater alma, Atque semper Virgo, Felix cceli porta.

Sumens lllud Ave Gabrielis ore, Funda nos in pace, Mutans Evae nomen.

Solve vincla reis, Profer lumen caecis, Mala nostra pelle, Bona cuncta posce.

Monstra te esse Matrem, Sumat per te preces Qui, pro nobis natus, Tulit esse tuus.

Virgo singularis, Inter omnes mitis ; Nos culpis solutos, Mites fac et castos.

Vitam prsesta puram, Inter para tutum, Ut videntes Jesum, Semper collsetemur.

Sit laus Deo Patri, Summo Christo decus, Spiritui Sancto, Tribus honor unus.

Amen.

Hail, Star of the Sea ! Blessed Mother of God, yet ever a Virgin ! O happy gate of heaven !

Thou that didst receive the Ave from Gabriel's lips, confirm us in peace, and so let Eva be changed into an Ave of blessing for us.#

Loose the sinner's chains, bring light to the blind, drive from us our evils, and ask all good things for us.

Show thyself a Mother, and offer our prayers to Him, who would be born of thee, when born for us.

O incomparable Virgin, and meekest of the meek, obtain us the forgiveness of our sins, and make us meek and chaste.

Obtain us purity of life, and a safe pilgrimage; that we may be united with thee in the blissful vision of Jesus.

Praise be to God the Father, and to the Lord Jesus, and to the Holy Ghost : to the Three one self-same praise.

Amen. ft. Blessed art thou among ft. Benedicta tu in muliomen. eribus. 1$. And blessed is the Fruit 1$. Et benedictus fructus

Every day the solemn Evening Office borrows from Mary's Canticle its sweetest fragrance. Nor is Good Friday itself an exception : even on that day, at the Vesper hour, holy Church, throughout the world, invites Our Lady to sing it beside the Cross whereon the terrible drama has just been completed. The reason is, that this incomparable Canticle has for its object the entire Redemption. At the foot of the holy Rood, no less than on days such as this, full of sweetness, that which predominates in Mary and over-rules alike all her anguish and all her gladsomeness, is the thought of God's glory being at last satisfied; of man's salvation being at last secured. Now, on this Feast, the mysteries of the entire cycle having so lately passed one by one before our eyes, the Magnificat resounds, as it were, in all its fulness of tone, whilst receiving, at the same time, from this solemnity itself all the freshness of the first day on which earth caught its notes.

Blessed art thou, O Mary, Beata es, Maria, quae ere- who hast believed: those things didisti: perficientur in te shall be accomplished in thee quae dicta sunt tibi a Domi- which were told thee by the no. Alleluia. Lord. Alleluia.

The Prayer is the Collect of the Mass, page 512.

A commemoration is then made of the Octave of St. John the Baptist, page 300.

On this day whereon Satan, for the first time, sees his infernal crew fall back in face of the sacred Ark, ventris tui.

ANTIPHON OF THE MAGNIFICAT. two warriors of the army of the elect take their rank in our Queen's cort&ge. Deputed by Peter himself, during this his glad Octave, to wait upon Mary, they have earned this honour by reason of their faith, which taught them to recognise in Nero's condemned criminal the chief of God's people.

The Prince of the Apostles was awaiting his martyrdom in the dungeon of the Mamertine prison, when, led by divine Mercy, there came to him two Roman soldiers, the very ones whose names have become inseparable from his own in the Church's memory. One was called Processus, the other Martinianus. They were struck by the dignity of the old man, confided for some hours to their ward, who should not again see day-light till he must perish on the gibbet. Peter spoke to them of Life Eternal and of the Son of God who so loved men as to give the last drop of his Blood for their ransom. Processus and Martinianus received with docile heart this unexpected instruction; they accepted it with simple faith, and craved the grace of regeneration. But water was wanting in the dungeon, and Peter must needs make use of that power to command nature, bestowed by our Lord upon the apostles when he sent them into the world. At the word of the old man a fountain sprang up from the ground, and the two soldiers were baptized in the miraculous water. Christian piety still venerates this fountain which never either brims over or dries up. Processus and Martinianus were not slow to pay with their life for the honour conferred upon them of being thus initiated into the Christian faith by the Prince of the apostles, and they are numbered among God's martyrs.

Their cvltus is as ancient as that of Peter him-

1 Sainte Cecile et la Society romaine aux deux premiers siecles. self. In the age of peace, a Basilica was raised over their tomb. St. Gregory pronounced there, on the solemn anniversary of their combat, his thirty-second Homily on the Gospel. The great Pontiff therein renders testimony to the miracles which were operated on that holy spot, and he celebrates, in particular, the power which those two Saints have of protecting their devout clients on the day of the Lord's Justice. Later on, St. Pascal I. enriched the Basilica of the Prince of the Apostles with their bodies. They now occupy the place of honour in the left arm of the Latin cross formed by the immense edifice, and they give their name to the whole of this side of the transept, wherein the Vatican Council held its immortal sessions ; fitting was it that this august assembly should carry on its labours under the patronage of these two valiant warriors, who were not only St. Peter's guards, but his conquest in the days of his own glorious confession. Let us not forget these illustrious protectors of Holy Church. The Feast of the Visitation, of more recent institution, has not lessened theirs ; though their glory is now, so to say, lost in that of Our Lady, their power can but have gained in strength by this very approximation to the gentle Queen of earth and heaven.

MASS.

The Introit is that of the Votive Masses of Our Lady for this part of the year. It is taken from Sedulius, the Christian poet of the fifth century,

1 In Ev. sancta parens, enixa Begem, Qui ccelum terramque tenet per srecula, cujus

Horn, xxxii. 7-9. 2 Hail, holy Mother, who didst Salve, bring forth the King, Who for ever puerpera ruleth heaven and earth, Whose Godhead abideth without end, as from whom the holy Liturgy borrowed so many graceful pieces at Christmas and fipiphany. Who can fail to recognise to-day in the sublime Magnificat which is the glory of this festival, the good Word of which our Introit-Verse sings, or in other words, the Work which the Virgin Mother offers to the King !

INTROIT.

Salve, sancta parens, enixa puerpera Regem : qui coelum terramque regit in saecula saeculorum.

Hail, holy Mother, who didst bring forth the King ; who rules heaven and earth for ever.

Pa. Eructavit cor meum Ps. verbum bonum : dico ego a opera mea Regi. y . Gloria Patri. Salve. <fcc.

My heart hath uttered good word ; I speak my works to the King. % Glory, Hail.

Peace is the precious gift which earth was ceaselessly imploring since the original fall. Rejoice then now : for the Prince of Peace this day reveals himself by Mary. The solemn commemoration of the Mystery which we are celebrating will develop within us the work of salvation begun in that of Christmas at the opening of our cycle. Let us beg this grace, in the words of the Church, in her Collect.

COLLECT.

Famulis tuis, qusesumus We beseech thee, O Lord, to Domine, ccelestis gratise mu- bestow on thy servants th e gift

Numen, et aeterno complectens doth His Empire, embracing all omnia gyro things, in eternal circuit. Hail

Imperium sine fine manet; quae thou, possessing in thy blessed ventre beato womb, at once, both the joys of

Gaudia matris habens cum vir- Maternity and the honour of Vir- ginitatis honore, ginitv, than whom was never seen

Nec primam similem visa es, the like before, nor shall there nec habere sequentem : ever be ! Alone, 0 Woman, thou

Sola sine exemplo placuisti fe- without example wast pleasing mina Christo ! unto Christ !

[SedtUius, Carmen PaschcUe, lib. II. v. 63-69.] nus impertire : ut, quibus beatae Virginia partus exstitit salutis exordium, Visitationis ejus votiva solemuitas pacis tribuat incrementum. rer Dominum. of heavenly grace, that for those to whom the blessed Virgin's child-birth was the beginning of salvation, the votive solemnity of her Visitation may procure increase of peace. Through our Lord, <&a

In private Masses, at the end of the Collect, Secret, and Postcommunion of the feast, a commemoration is made of the holy Martyrs Processus and Martinianus.

Commemoration of Saints Processus and Martinianus :

O God, who dost surround and protect us by the glorious confessions of thy holy Martyrs, Processus and Martinianus ; grant us to profit by their example, and rejoice in their intercession. Through our Lord, <fcc.

Deus, qui nos sanctorum Martyrum tuorum Processi et Martiniani gloriosis conf essionibus circumdas et protegis : da nobis, et eorura imitatione proficere, et intercessione gaudere. Per Dominum.

EPISTLE.

Lesson from the Book of Wisdom. Cardie. II.

Behold he cometh, leaping upon the mountains, skipping over the hills. My beloved is like a roe or a young hart. Behold he standeth behind our wall, looking through the windows, looking through the lattices. Behold my beloved speaketh to me : Arise, make haste, my love, my dove, my beautiful One, and come. For winter is now past, the rain is over and gone. The flowers have appeared in our land, the time of pruning is come, the

Lectio libri Sapientiae.

Cant. II.

Ecce iste venit saliens in montibus, transiliens colles: similis est dilectus meus ca-

Erera, hinnuloque cervorum. In ipse stat post parietem nostrum, respiciens per fenestras, prospiciens per cancellos. En dilectus meus loquitur mi hi: Surge, propera, arnica mea, columba mea, formosa mea, et veni. Jam enim hiems transiit, imber abiit, et recessit. Flores apparuerunt in terra nostra, tempus putationis advenit : 2 k

▼ox turturis audita est in terra nostra : ficus protulit pat grossos suos : vinese florentes dederuut oqlorem suum. in Surge arnica mea, speciosa mea, et veni : columba mea in foraminibus petrae, in caverna macerise, ostende in mihi faciem tuam, sonet vox tua in auribus meis : vox enim tua dulcis, et facies tua decora. voice of the turtle is heard in our laud : the fig-tree hath forth her green figs, the vines flower yield their sweet smell. Arise, my love, my beautiful one, and come. My dove in the clefts of the rock, the hollow places of the wall, show me thy face, let thy voice sound in my ears, for thy voice is sweet and thy face comely,

The Church introduces us into the depth of the Mystery. What she has just been reading to us is but the explanation of that word of Elizabeth's which sums up the whole of to-day's feast : when thy voice sounded vn mine ear, the infant in my womb leaped for joy. O Voice of Mary, voice of the turtle, putting winter to flight, and announcing spring-tide flowers and fragrance! At this sweet sound, John's soul, a captive in the darkness of sin, casts off the badge of slavery, and suddenly developing germs of highest virtues, appears beauteous as a bride decked in nuptial array : and therefore, how Jesus hastes unto this well-beloved soul! Between John and the Bridegroom, oh! what ineffable outpourings! what sublime dialogues pass between them, from womb to womb of Mary and Elizabeth ! Admirable Mothers ! Sons yet more admirable ! In this happy meeting, the sight, the hearing, the voice of the Mothers belong less to themselves than to the blessed fruit each bears within her ; thus their senses are the lattices through which the Bridegroom and Friend of the Bridegroom see one another, understand one another, speak one to the other 1

The animal man, it is true, understands not this j language. Father, the Son of God will soon exclaim : \

1 1 Cor. ii. 14. j

I give thee thanks for that thou hast hidden these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them to little ones} Let him, therefore, that hath ears to hear, hear ;a but, Amen I say unto you, unless ye become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven, nor knot) its mysteries.* Wisdom shall nevertheless be justified by her children, as the Gospel says. The simple-hearted in quest of light, with all the straightforwardness of humility, let pass unheeded those mocking flickers that sport across the marshes of this world ; they know right well that the first ray of the Eternal Sun will disperse these thin phantoms, leaving sheer emptiness before those who run in pursuit of them. For their part, these wise little ones already feed upon that which eye hath not seen, nor ear heard? having a foretaste, here below, of eternal delights.

Ineffably is John the Baptist experiencing all this. Accosted by the divine Friend who has been beforehand in seeking him, his soul at once awakens to full ecstasy. Jesus, on his side, is now making His first conquest; for it is to John, that is first addressed amongst all creatures (Mary of course excepted) the sacred Nuptial-song uttered in the Soul of the Word, made Flesh, making His divine Heart throb with emotion. Yes, it is to-day (our Epistle tells us so), that in concert with the Magnificat, the divine Canticle of Canticles is likewise inaugurated, in the entire acceptation that the Holy Ghost wishes to give it Never more fully than on this happy day shall the sacred ravishments of the Spouse be justified ; never shall they find a more faithful response! Let us warm ourselves at these celestial fires ; let us join our enthusiasm to that of Eternal Wisdom who makes

1 St. Matth. xi. 25. 3 Ibid, xviii. 3. 5 Ibid. xi. 19.

2 Ibid. 15 ; xiii. 9. 4 Ibid. xiii. 11. 6 1 Cor. ii. 9.

His first step, this day, in His royal progress towards mankind. Let us unite with our Jesus in imploring the Precursor at last to show himself. Were it not ordered otherwise from on High, his inebriation of love would verily have made him at once break down the wall that held" him from appearing, then and there, to announce the Bridegroom. For well knows he that the sight of his countenance, preceding the Face of the Lord Himself, will excite the whole earth to transports ; he knows that his own voice will be sweet when once it has become the organ of the Word calling the Bride unto Him.

Together with Elizabeth, let us extol, in our Gradual, the Blessed Virgin to whom we owe all these joys of ours, and within whom love still keeps inclosed Him whom the whole world could not contain. The distich which is sung in the Verse was especially dear to the piety of the Middle Ages ; it is to be found in different Liturgies, either as the opening line of the Hymn, or under the form of an Antiphon, in the composition of Masses or of Offices.

1 Virgo Dei Genitrix, quern to- O Virgin Mother of God, He tus non capit orbis : whom the whole world is unable

In tua se clausit viscera fac- to contain, being made Man, tus homo. inclosed Himself in thy womb.

Vera fides Geniti purgavit The true faith of Christ thy crimina mundi : Son hath cleansed away the

Et tibi virginitas inviolata world's guilt. And to thee, manet. Virginity remains inviolate.

Te matrem pietatts, opem te He proclaims thee Mother of clamitat orbis : tenderness and the Succour of

Subvenias famulis, 0 bene- the world ; come, then, to the aid dicta, tuis. of the servants, O thou Blessed One.

Gloria magna Patri, compar Great glory be to the Father, tibi gloria, Nate : and equal glory to thee, 0 Son :

Spiritui Sancto gloria magna To the Holy Spirit, God, great

Deo. Amen. glory also be. Amen.

[Hymnu Oom^etoriiinfestisB.Marice. Antiphonar. Serum. 1552.]

GRADUAL.

Thou art blessed and venerable, O Virgin Mary: who withoutany violation of purity, wert found the Mother of our Saviour. f. O Virgin Mother of God, He whom the whole world is unable to contain, being made Man, inclosed Himself in thy womb.

Alleluia, Alleluia. f. Thou art happy, O Holy Virgin Mary, and most worthy of all praise : because from thee arose the Sun of Justice, Christ our God. Alleluia.

Benedicta et venerabilis es, Virgo Maria, quae sine tactu pudoris, inventa es Mater Salvatoris.

Virgo Dei Genitrix, quern totus non capit orbis, in tua se clausit viscera factus homo.

Alleluia, Alleluia.

Felix es, sacra Virgo Maria, et omni laude dignissima: quia ex te ortus est Sol justitise, Christus Deus noster. Alleluia,

GOSPEL.

Sequel of the holy Gospel according to Luke. Ch. I.

At that time, Mary rising up, went into the hill country with haste, into a city of Juda. And she entered into the house of Zachary, and saluted Elizabeth. And it came to pass that when Elizabeth heard the salutation of Mary, the infant leaped in her womb. And Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Ghost ; and she cried out with a loud voice, and said, Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the Fruit of thy womb. And whence is this to me, that the Mother of my Lord should come to me 9 For behold, as soon as the voice of thy salutation sounded in my «ars, the infant in my womb

Sequentia sancti Evangelii secundum Lucam, Cap. L

In illo tempore : Exsurgens Maria, abiit in montana cum festinatione in civitatem Juda. Et intravit in domum Zachariae, et salutavit Elisabeth. Et factum est, ut audivit salutationem Mariae Elisabeth, exsultavit infans in utero ejus : et repleta est Spiritu Sancto Elisabeth: et exclamavit voce magna, et dixit : Benedicta tu inter mulieres, et benedictus fructus ventris tui. Et unde hoc mihi ut veniat mater Domini mei ad me 9 Ecce enim ut facta est vox salutationis tuae in auribus meis, exsultavit in gaudio infans in utero meo. Et beata, quae credidisti, quo- leaped for joy. And blessed niam perficientur ea quae art thou that hast believed, dicta sunt tibi a Domino, because- those things shall be

Et ait Maria: Magnificat accomplished that were spoken anima mea Dominum, et to thee by the Lord. And Mary

Mary, having learned from the archangel that Elizabeth was about to become a mother, is preoccupied with the thought of the services that will soon be needed by her cousin and the infant ; she, therefore, starts at once on her journey across the mountains, amidst which stands the house of Zachary. Thus does the charity of Christ act, thus does it press, when it is genuine. There is no state of soul,, in which Minder pretext of more exalted perfection, the Christian may be allowed to forget his brethren. Mary had just contracted the highest union with God ; and our imagination might perhaps be inclined to picture her, as it were, in a state of powerlessness, lost in ecstasy during these days in which the Word, taking Flesh of her flesh, is inundating her in return with the floods of his Divinity. The Gospel, however, is explicit on this subject : it particularly says that it was in those days even, that the humble Virgin, hitherto quietly hid in the secret of the Lord's face, rose up to devote herself to all the bodily as well as the spiritual needs of a neighbour in such condition. Does that mean to say that works are superior to prayer, and that contemplation is not the better part ? No, certainly not ; for indeed never did Our Lady so directly and so fully adhere to God with her whole being as at this very time. But the creature when he has attained the summits of the l-2 Cor. v. 14. ■ St. Luke, i. 39. s'Ps. xxx. 21. exsultavit spiritus meus in Deo salutari meo. unitive life, is all the more apt and fitted for exterior works, inasmuch as no lending of himself thereto, can distract him from the immovable centre wherein he is fixed.

A signal privilege is this, resulting from that dimdon of the spirit and the soul, to which all attain not, and which marks one of the most decisive steps in the spiritual life ; for it supposes a purification of man's entire being so perfect, that in very truth he is no other than one spirit with the Lord ; it entails so absolute a submission of the powers, that without clashing one with the other, they yield, each in its particular sphere, obedience simultaneously to the divine breathing.

So long as the Christian ha not yet crossed this last defile, defended with such obstinacy by nature to the last, so long as he has not yet won that holy liberty of the children of God, he cannot possibly turn to man, without, in some way, quitting God. Not that he ought, on that account, to neglect his duties towards his neighbour, in whom God wishes us to see no other than Himself ; but, nevertheless, blessed is he who (like Mary) loses naught of the better part, the while he attends to his obligations towards others! Yet how few are such privileged souls! and what a delusion it is to persuade ourselves to the contrary !

We shall return to these thoughts on the day of Our Lady's triumphant Assumption ; but the Gospel to which we have just been listening makes it a duty for us, even now, to draw the attention of the reader to this point. Our Lady has especially on this feast a claim to be invoked as the model of those who devote themselves to works of mercy ; and if to all it is by no means given to keep their spirit, at the

1 Heb. iv. 12. * 1 Cor. vi. 17. 3 Rom. viii. 21 ; 2 Cor. iii. 17. same moment, more than ever immersed in God, all, nevertheless, ought constantly to strive to approach, by the practice of recollection and divine praise, to those luminous heights whereon their queen shows herself, this day, in all the plenitude of her ineffable perfections. <

The Offertory sings the glorious privilege of Mary, Mother and Virgin, bringing forth Him who made her.,

OFFERTORY.

Beata es, Virgo Maria, quae omnium portasti Crea- Creatorem : genuisti qui te fecit, tor et in aeternum permanes vir-

Thou art blessed, O Virgin Mary, who didst bear the of all things : thou didst bring forth Him who made go. thee, and thou remainest for ever a Virgin.

The Son of God, being born of Mary, consecrated her Virginal integrity. Let us beg of him in to-day's Secret, to vouchsafe, in memory of his Mother, to purify us of every stain, and so render our offering acceptable to God on high.

SECRET.

Unigeniti tui, Domine, May the Humanity of thy nobis succurrat humanitas : Only- begotten Son succour us, ut, qui natus de Virgine, OLord; that Jesus Christ our matris integritatem non mi- Lord, who, when born of a nuit, sed sacravit : in Visi- Virgin did not diminish, but tationis ej us solemniis, nos- consecrated the integrity of his tris nos piaculis exuens, ob- Mother, may: on this solem- lationem nostram tibi faciat nity of her Visitation, deliver acceptam Jesus Christus us from our sins, aud make

Dominus noster. Qui te- ouroblation acceptable to thee, cum. Who liveth, <fcc.

Commemoration of SS. Processus and Martinianus.

Suscipe, Domine, preces Receive, O Lord, our prayers et munera : quae ut tuo sint and offerings, and that they digna conspectu, sanctorum may be worthy of thy regard. may we be helped by the prayers of thy Saints. Through our Lord, <fcc. tuorum precibus adjuvemur. Per Dominum.

PREFACE.

It is truly meet and just, right and available to salvation, that we should always, and in all

E laces, give thanks to thee, O oly Lord, Father Almighty, eternal God: And that we should praise, bless, and glorify the Visitation of the Blessed Mary ever a Virgin, who by the overshadowing of the Holy Ghost conceived thine Only- Begotten Son, and, the glory of her virginity still remaining, brought forth the eternal Light to the world, Jesus Christ our Lord. By whom the Angels praise thy Majesty, the Dominations adore it, the Powers tremble before it ; the Heavens, the heavenly Virtues, and blessed Seraphim, with common jubilee glorify it. Together with whom we beseech thee that we may be admitted to join our humble voices, saying : Holy, Holy, Holy.

Vere dignum et justum est, aequum et salutare, nos tibi semper et ubiquegratias agere, Domine sancte, Pater omnipotens, aeterne Deus : Et te in Visitatione beatae Mariae semper virginis collaudare, benedicere, et praedicare. Quae et Unigenitum tuum Sancti Spiritus obumbrationeconcepit, et virginitatis gloria permanente, lumen aeternum mundo effudit Jesum Christum Dominum nostrum. Per quern majestatem tuam laudant Angeli, adorant Dominationes, tremunt Potestates, Cceli, ccelorumque Virtutes, ac beata Seraphim, socia exsultatione concelebrant. Cum quibus et nostras voces ut admitti jubeas deprecamur, supplici confessione dicentes : Sanctus, Sanctus, Sanctus.

The Church possesses now within her, in the sacred Mysteries, the same Son of the Eternal Father whom Mary bore for nine months in her blessed womb. Therein did he take flesh, in order to come to us all. Let us then hail, in our Communion Antiphon, both the Mother and the Son.

COMMUNION.

Blessed is the womb of the Beata viscera Mariae Vir- Virgin Mary, which bore the ginis, quae portaverunt aater- Son of the Eternal Father. ni Patris Filium.

• The celebration of each one of the mysteries of our Salvation, by the participation of the divine Sacrament which contains them all, is a means of obtaining that evil be kept afar from us, both in this world and the next. This thought is expressed in the Postcommunion, touching on to-day's mystery.

POSTCOMMUNION.

Sumpsimus, Domine,celebritatis annuae votiva sacramenta : praesta, quaesumus ; ut et temporalis vitas nobis remedia prasbeant et aeternae. Per Dominum.

We have received, O Lord, the votive mysteries of this annual celebration, grant, we beseech thee, that they may bestow upon us remedies both for time and eternity. Through our Lord, &c.

Commemoration of SS. Processus and Martinianus.

Corporis sacri, et praetiosi Replenished with the nour-

Sangumis repleti libamine, ishment of thy sacred Body quaesumus Domine Dens and precious Blood, we beseech noster : ut quod pia devo- thee, O Lord our God, that tionegerimus,certa redemp- what we perform with pious tione capiamus. Per eum- devotion, we may receive with dem Dominum. assured redemption. Through the same, &c.

SECOND VESPERS.

The Antiphons, Psalms, Capitulum, Hymn, and Versicle are the same as in First Vespers, page 504.

ANTIPHON OF THE MAGNIFICAT.

Beatam me dicent omnes All generations shall call me generationes, quia ancillam Blessed, because God hath re- humilemrespexitDeus. Al- garded his humble handmaid, leluia. Alleluia.

The fourteenth and fifteenth centuries have hymned, in graceful compositions, the mystery of

THE VISITATION OF 6. M. V. this day. The following one, by its warm expressions of tender piety towards the Mother of God, more particularly excited the rage of the pretended Reformers, What specially roused their spleen was the call to unity, which it addresses to the erring. According to what we were saying, above, as to the motive which prompted holy Church to establish this festival of the Visitation, Mary is in like manner invoked, in other formula of this period, proper to the same feast, as the light which dissipates clouds, which puts an end to schisms.

SEQUENCE.

Come, sovereign Lady, O Mary, do thou visit us, illumine our sickly souls by the example of thy duties performed in life.

Come, O Co-redemptrix of the world, take away the filth of sin, by visiting thy people, remove their peril of chastisement.

Come, O Queen of nations, extinguish the flames of the guilty, rectify whatsoever is wrong, give us to live innocently.

Come, and visit the sick, O Mary, fortify the strong with the vigour of thy holy impetuosity, so that brave courage droop not.

Come, O thou Star, O thou Light of the ocean waves, shed thy ray of peace upon us ; let the heart of John exult with joy before the Lord.

Veni praecelsa Domina, Maria, tu nos visita, iEgras mentes illumina Per sacra vitae munia.

Yeni salvatrix sseculi, Sordes aufer piaculi, In visitando populum Pcenae tollas periculum.

Yeni regina gentium, Dele flammas reatuum, Rege quemcumque devium, Da vitam innocentium.

Yeni et »gros visites, Maria, vires robores Virtute sacri impetus, Ne fluctuetur animus.

Yeni stella, lux marium, Infunde pacis radium, Exsultet cor in gaudium Johannis ante Dominum.

1 Hymn. O Christi mater fulgida. Dan. iv. 276. 1 Hymn. O Christi mater coelica. Dan. iv. 236.

Veni virga regalium, Reduc fluctus errantium Ad unitatem fidei In qua salvantur ccelicl

Veni, deposce Spiritus Sancti dona propensius, Ut dirigamur rectius In hujus vitae actibus.

Veni, laudemus Filium, Laud em us Sanctum Spiritum, Laudemus Patrem unicnm, Qui nobis det auxilium.

Amen.

, PENTECOST.

Come, O thou Regal Sceptre, lead back the crowd of erring ones to the unity of the faith, in which the heavenly Citizens are saved.

Come, and right willingly implore for us the Gifts of the Holy Ghost, so that we may be directed aright in the actions of this life.

Come, let us praise the Son, let us praise the Holy Ghost, let us praise the Father, One God, who giveth us succour.

Amen.

Who is she that cometh forth beautiful as the morning rising, terrible as am army set in ' array t O Mary, this is the day that thine exquisite brightness, for the first time, gladdens our earth. Thou bearest within thee the Sun of Justice ; and his early beams striking first the mountain tops whilst the vales below are yet left in darkness, he at once illumines the precursor, than whom a greater hath not been bora of woman. The divine Luminary, swift on his ascending course, will soon bathe the lowly valleys in his radiant fires. But how full of grace and beauty are these his first gleams peering through the veiling cloud ! For thou, O Mary, art the light cloud, the hope of earth, the terror of bell. Contemplating from afar, through its heavenly transparency, the mystery of this day, Elias, the father of prophets, and Isaias, their prince, did both of them descry the Lord. They beheld thee speeding thy way across the mountains, and they blessed God ; " for/' saith the Holy Ghost, " when winter hath congealed the waters into " crystal, withered the valleys, and consumed as with

1 Cantic. vi. 9. 2 3 Kings, xviii. 44 ; Is. xix. 1.

" fire the green mountains, a present remedy to all " is the speedy coming of a cloud!

Haste thee, then, O Mary! Come thou to all of us, and let not the mountains alone enjoy thy benign influence; bend thee down to those lowly, ignoble regions wherein the greater part of mankind but vegetates, helpless to scale yonder mountain heights ; yea, let thy kindly visit reach down even to the deepest abyss of human perversity well nigh bordering on the gulf of hell ; let the beams of saving light reach even there. Oh ! would that from the thraldom of sin, from the plain where the vulgar throng is swaying to and fro, we were drawn to follow in thy train ! How beauteous are thy footsteps along these our humble pathways, how aromatic the perfumes wherewith thou dost inebriate earth this day I3 Thou wast all unknown, nay, thou wast even an enigma to thyself, O thou fairest among the daughters of Adam, until this thy first going forth, led thee unto our poor hovels, and manifested thy power. The desert, suddenly embalmed with heavenly fragrance, hails the passage, not of the figurative Ark, but of the " Litter of the true Solomon." in these days of the sublime nuptials which he has vouchsafed to contract. What wonder then, if at rapid pace thou dost speed across the mountains, since thou art bearing the Bridegroom who, as a giant, strideth from peak to peak?

Far different art thou, O Mary, from her who is portrayed in the divine Canticle as hesitating, in spite of the heavenly call, to betake herself to active work, foolishly captivated by the sweets of mystic repose, in such way as to dream of finding it elsewhere than in the absolute good pleasure of the

1 Ecclus. xliii. 21-24. 3 Cantic. i. 5. 5 Ibid. iii. 6-11. a Cantic. vii. 1. 4 Ibid. 7. 6 Ps. xviii. 6, 7.

Beloved ! Thou art not one, at the voice of the Spouse, to make difficulties about clothing thyself again with the garment of toil, of exposing thy feet, were it never so little, to be soiled with the dusty roads of earth. Nay, rather ; scarce has he given himself to thee immeasurably, as none else can know, than (ever on thy guard against the mistake of remaining all absorbed in selfish enjoyment of his love,) thou thyself dost invite him to begin at once the great work which brought him down from heaven to earth: " Come, my Beloved, let us go forth into the fields, " let us get up early to see if the vineyard flourish, "to hasten the budding of the fruits of salvation " in souls ; there, there it is, that I wish to be all "thine."2 And, leaning upon him, no less than he upon thee, without thereby losing aught of heavenly delights, thou dost traverse our desert ; and the holy Trinity perceiveth between this Mother and her Son sympathies, harmonious agreements, unknown until then even to her ; and the friends of the Bridegroom, hearing thy sweet voice, on their side also comprehend his love and partake in thy joy. With him, with thee, O Mary, age after age shall behold souls innumerable, who, swift footed even as the mystic roe and the young hart, will flee away from the valleys and gain the mountain heights where, in the warm sunshine, heaven's aromatic spices are ever fragrant* Bless, O Mary, those whom the better part so sweetly attracts. Protect that Order whose glory is to honour in a special manner thy Visitation. Faithful to the spirit of their illustrious Founders, they still continue to justify their sweet title by perfuming the Church on earth with the fragrance of that humility, gentleness, and hidden prayer, which made

1 Cantic, v. 2-6. . 2 Ibid. vii. 10-13. 3 Ibid. viii. 5.

4 Ibid. 13. 5 Ibid. 14. this day's mystery so dear to the angels eighteen hundred years ago. In fine, O Lady, forget not the crowded ranks of those whom grace presses, more numerously than ever, now-a-days, to tread in thy footsteps, mercifully seeking out every object of misery ; teach them the way in which alone it is possible to devote themselves to their neighbour, without in any way quitting God : for the greater glory of God and the happiness of man, multiply such faithful copies of thee. May all of us, having followed in the degree measured out to us by him who divides his gifts to each one as he wills, meet together in our home yonder, to sing in one voice together with thee, an Eternal Magnificat !

MCor. xii. 11.

July 3. THE FIFTH DAY i

WITHIN THE OCTAVE OF THE HOLY APOSTLES PETER AND PAUL.

Although amongst the saints there is none who is undeserving of earth's humble homage, or whose intercession is powerless in our behalf, yet the cultus rendered to each one, and the confidence evinced, necessarily vary in proportion to what we know of his or her glory. It is therefore only just, as Saint Leo remarks in to-day's Office, that we should honour in a most special manner those whom divine grace has exalted so far above all others, that they are considered, as it were, the two brilliant eyes of Chris fa Mystical Body, the Church, giving light to all of us, who are the members thereof. For this reason, the festival of these two Princes of the Apostles is held superior to that of any other servant of God occurring in the entire cycle.

When the Church's own practice gave tone to the particular customs of the various countries, national confidence and even private devotion knew no other preferences than those of the holy Liturgy ; and long were it to tell of all that can be produced by history, public charts, simple contracts, and monuments of

1 Sermo I. in Nat. Apos. Lect. II. Nocturni. every sort, in endless proof of our forefathers' love for the glorious Door-keeper of heaven and his illustrious companion armed with the sword. Faith was lively in those days. It was then well understood that of all God's boons to earth, none are comparable to the graces of sanctification, doctrine, and unity, of which Peter and Paul are the predestined instruments in our regard. The heart became dilated as the mind expanded. Men were eager, therefore, to know as much as they could touching the lives of these Fathers of the Christian people; and they made great account of the devotedness wherewith the two Apostles had so unsparingly poured out their sweat and blood for them.

Alas ! can it be said that such is the case now-adays ? How many baptized persons are there, Catholics not merely in name, but even considered practical Catholics, who scarcely possess such elementary notions of true Christianity as to appreciate the importance of the rdle performed amongst men by these Founders of the Church, nay, nor even to give it a passing thought! Yet some there are, and thanks be to God their number is now on the increase, who glory in studying the principles on which rests the divine constitution of society purchased by the Blood of our Lord. Such men as these understand and revere the august position which has been and always must be held by Peter and Paul in the economy of Christian dogma. But, nevertheless, do even these persons honour really as they ought these two Princes of the Apostles ? What they know on this subject shows them plainly enough that it cannot be the case with these two apostles, as it is with many other saints, whose cultus increases or diminishes according to circumstances of time, place, and such like : the cultus of Saints Peter and Paul has its roots in the very fundamentals of Catholicism ; whether in na- tioDS or in individual souls, it cannot wane, save to the great detriment of Catholicity itself. But then, no cultus is real, save that which implies devotion and love ; now, can it be really said of the class of persons to whom we refer, that their knowledge of the holy Apostles has penetrated deeply enough from their mind into their heart ?

The fact is, in the case of too many people, this knowledge being confined to the region of theory, is not sufficiently personal with regard to the two Apostles themselves; and, therefore, principles the most nicely drawn do by no means impart the spirit of faith, the seat of which is in the heart, and which animates the life. Let them but put the finishing stroke to their science. Without losing sight of dogmatic heights, let them seek in prayer and in humble study of the Gospel, of the Acts of the Apostles, of the Epistles, and of ecclesiastical tradition, that intimate revelation of the very soul of Peter and of Paul which cannot fail to make them admire, and, above all, love them personally as much as and even more than their sublime prerogatives. Then perhaps will they be astonished to have come so late to a knowledge of many precious details and thousands of instructive features about them, which little children in by-gone ages (now reputed barbarous) would have blushed not to know. As a necessary consequence, they will thus begin to feel more Catholic in soul; they will consider themselves happy to have learnt, at last, how to share the devotion of the humble peasant woman and her ingenuous confidence (not unmixed with fear) in the "Door-keeper" of Paradise.

The following beautiful Preface is taken from the Mozarabic Missal. Its theme is that assemblage of divine contrasts, amidst which Eternal Wisdom loves, f

I it w

FIFTH DAY WITHIN THE OCTAVE. were, to sport, and which are found wonderfully multiplied in the lives of these two Apostles.

ILLATIO.

It is truly meet and just, O Almighty Father, that we render our deepest thanks unto Thee, for the multiplied glory of thine Apostles Peter and Paul, which Thou hast by divers distribution of gifts largely bestowed upon them, of Thine immense goodness. Thou hast made them to be disciples of Thine Only-Begotten Son and Teachers of the Gentiles. On account of their preaching of the Gospel, though they are first in the heavenly Kingdom, yet are they shut up in strait prisons. They receive power to absolve sins ; yet are they enthralled in chains of iron. They give health ; and they endure bitter anguish. They command demons ; and they are scourged by men. They drive away death; and they themselves flee from the face of persecutors. They walk upon the waters; and sweat with toil. By their word are mountains removed; and by the labour of their own hands they earn their bread. They are appointed judges of Angels ; and they are put to the torture. With God they live ; in the world they are in peril Finally, Christ ministering unto them washes their feet ; and by the hands of blasphemers are their faces buffeted with blows. Scarce any-

Dignum et justum est, omnipotens Pater, nos tibi ingentes agere gratias pro multiplici Apostolorum Petri et rauli gloria : quameis per diversas munerum distributions larga satis pietate donasti. Quos et Unigeniti tui discipulos : et gentium fecisti esse magistros. Qui ob Evangelii praedicationem quum ccelorum praeficiantur in regnis: carcerum clauduntur angustiis. Potestatem accipiunt peccata solvendi: et ferri vinculis alligantur. Sanitatem donant: et aegritudines portant. Dsemonibusimperant: et ab hominibusflagellantur. Mortes fugant: et fugiunt persequentes. Super mare ambulant: et in labore desudan t. Montes ver bo transferunt: et propriis victum manibus quaerunt. Judicaturi Angelos: in quaestionem mittuntur. Cum Deo vivunt: in mundo periclitantur. Postremo Christus eis serWens pedes lavat : et facies eorum blasphemantiuui manus alapis colaphizat. Nihil sustinentibus pene def uit ad tolerantiam : nihil superantibus victoriae non adf uit ad coronam. Si recurramus quot ad testificandam fidei veritatem aerumnarum pertulerint in tormentis frequenter suis: superfuere Martyribus. Si in mirabilibus, hoc per quod Christus: si in passionibus, hoc sustinuerunt illi necessitate quod ille voluntate moriendi. Isti ejus viribus : ille suis. Probantes doctrinae auctoritatem similitudine : non sequalitate doc- thing was wanting of sufferings unto their endurance ; Chris- nor is anything now wanting turn fecere to the crown of victory, in their triumph. If we go over all that they suffered in their mortal i torments, they outstrip the Martyrs. If we look into their miracles, we see that they did the same by. Christ, as Christ Himself did : if we tons. consider their passion, we be-

Implevit Petrus suo ternpore : quod promiserat ante tempus. Posuit animam supro illo : quern se non credideratnegaturum. Quia lieved ad arduae sponsionis ceferitatem nimia charitate prseventus, non intellexit servum pro Domino dare non hold that they endured by mortal necessity, that which He did by voluntary death ; but they by His strength, — He by His own. To distinguish by authority of correct doctrine, — there was resemblance between Him and them, not equality in the teachers. Peter accomplished in due time that which he promised before his time. He laid down am his life for Him whom he bethat he would never deny. Since in the burning impetuosity of his great love, he had not understood that the servant cannot give to his Lord

S)sse quod pro servo ante ominus non dedisset : simiiiter non renuit crucifigi, sed sequaliter non prsesumpsit appendi. Obht ille rectus : iste subjectus. Ille ut limitate proferret : iste ut fragilitatem descendentis dehumilitate monstraret. clared that which his Lord hath not as yet given for his servant ; so in like manner, he refused not, when the time came, to be crucified; but he presumed not to hang in the same posimajestatemascendentissub- tion as his Lord. The One died upraised, the other placed downwards : the One thus His maiesty ascending on high; the other thus showed his fragility that tends unto earth.

Nec Paulus affectu minor, Nor in affection less, doth meminit quern sibi arroga- Paul remember what he had

FIFTH DAY WITHIN THE OCTAVE. to say for himself : Christ is my life, and to die is my gain. Glad is he, beneath the stroke of the raging murderer, to offer unto Christ a neck tamed down to the yoke : and for the True Head of the Body, to give the mortal head of his own body. Lo ! these two Soldiers of God. how they divide betwixt them the garment of the Lord's Passion ; the one on the gibbet, the other beneath the sword ; Peter in transfixion, Paul in blood-shedding.

These two, therefore, differ in the manner of their death, but not in the love shown forth in dying : the Catholic Church exults in their teaching ; nil religion, in the celebration of their death ; the Roman City, in their memory ; each Christian soul, in their patronage. Now, all these things Thou, O Lord, hast operated, Thou who wast pointed out by the Prophets, art adored by the Angels, art manifested throughout the world, by the light of the Apostles. To whom, meetly, all Angels and Archangels unceasingly cry out daily, saying: Holy, Holy, Holy. verat dicens: Mihi vivere Christus est, et mori lucrum. Gaudet, insanientes ictibus percussoris, domitas jugo Christo offerre cervices ; et pro corporis sui capite, dare corporis sui caput. Diviserunt sibi passionis dominicse vestimentum duo milites Dei : unus in patibulo, alter in gladio; Petrus in transfixione, Paulas in sanguine.

His igitur dispari mortis genere, non dispari moriendi amoreperfunctis: exsultetin eorum doctrinis Ecclesia catholica ; in exsequiis religiositas universa ; in memoriis Urbs Eomana; in patrociniis omnis anima Christiana. Hsec autem omnia tu, Domine,operaris: qui a Prophetis demonstraris ; ab Angelis adoraris ; etin omni saeculo Apostolorum lumine declararis. Cui merito omnes Angeli et Archangeli non cessant clamare quotidie, ita dicentes : Sanctus, Sanctus, Sanctus.

The same Mozarabic Liturgy makes use of the following Hymn on this Festival. It is attributed, not without some foundation, to Saint Ambrose, and seems to have preceded the Hymn of Elpis in Liturgical use.

HYMN.

The Apostles' Passion hath Apostolorum passio consecrated this immortal day, Diem sacra vit saeculis,

Petri triumphum nobilem, Pauli coronam proferens.

Conjunxit sequales vires Cruor triumphaJia necis ; Deum secutos presides Christi coronavit fides.

Primus Petrus Apostolus ; Nec Paulus impar gratia : Electionis vas sacre Petri adaequavit fidem.

Verso Crucis vestigio, Simon honorem dans Deo : Suspensus ascendit, dati Non immemor oraculi.

Praecinctus, ut dictum est senex, Elevatus ab altero, Quo nollet ivit, sed volens Mortem subegit asperam.

Hinc Roma celsum verticem

Devotionis extulit, Fundata tali sanguine Et vate tanto nobilis.

Tantaeper Urbis ambitum Stipata tendunt agmina: Trinis celebratur viis Festum sacrorum Martyrum.

Prodire quis mundum putet,

Concurrere plebem poli: Electa gentium caput, Sedes magistri gentium.

Deo Patri sit gloria, Ej usque soli Filio, Cum Spiritu Paraclito In sempiterna ssecuia. Amen. t PENTECOST. presenting Peter's noble triumph and Paul's crown.

The store of their victorious death hath cod joined these men, peers in fame ; the Faith of Christ hath crowned these jubilant followers of God.

The first, Peter the Apostle ; Next, Paul his peer in grace* The Vessel of sacred Election hath equalled the Faith of Peter.

Not unmindful of the oracle, Simon, suspended, ascends along the heaven-turned footprints of the Cross, giving glory to God.

Even as was foretold, the old man, girded by another's handr is upraised. Whither he would not, he has had to go ; but willing now, dire death hath he subdued.

Hence Borne hath become the exalted head of religious worship, founded, as she is, in such blood as this, and by so illustrious a Prophet.

Through all the vast extent of so great a City, close packed, crowds are pressing along, by three ways, for the celebration of the holy Martyrs' Festival.

It might be supposed that the whole world had come forth, that the people of all nations had assembled here ; Lo ! verily, the chosen head of the Gentiles, the seat of the Teacher of the Gentiles !

Glory be to God the Father, and to his Only Son, together with the Paraclete Spirit, for ever and ever. Amen.

July 4 THE SIXTH DAY

WITHIN THE OCTAVE OF THE HOLY APOSTLES PETER AND PAUL.

♦

Peter and Paul cease not to hearken to the prayer of their devout clients throughout the world. Time has wrought no change in their power; and in heaven, no more than formerly on earth, can the gravity of the general interests of holy Church so absorb them, as that they should neglect the petition of the humblest inhabitant of the glorious city of God, of which they were constituted, and still are, the Princes. One of the triumphs gained by hell, at this day, is the lulling to sleep of the faith even of just men ; hence we must be allowed to insist somewhat on our point, in order to disturb this dangerous slumber, which would end in nothing less than the utter oblivion of the most touching side in our Lord's intention, when he confided to mere men the continuing of his own work and the representing of his person visibly here below.

The error whereby the world has been turned away from Peter will only be decidedly overcome when it is brought to see in him, not alone the firmness of the rock in resisting the attacks of hell's gates, but likewise that tenderness of heart and that paternal solicitude which make him to be indeed the Vicar of Jesus in his love. For, in fact, the Church is not merely an edifice, the duration of which is eternal : she is moreover a family, a sheep-fold; and therefore, Oar Lord, wishing to leave to his work a triple guarantee when quitting this world, exacted of the chosen one, to whom he would confide all, a triple affirmation of love, before investing him with this sublime mystery, saying : Feed my sheep?

" Hence," exclaims Saint Leo, "far from us all " doubt as to whether Peter still exercises this fanc- " tion of Shepherd, or whether he remains faithful to "this engagement, which he once plighted, of an " eternal love, or whether he still observes with exquisite tenderness that command of Our Lord, to " confirm us in good by his exhortations, to pray " ceaselessly \ lest any temptation prevail against us. " Yea, this his tenderness embraces the whole people "of God; it is far more vast and potent now than "when he was in this mortal state; because now " all the duties and multiplied solicitudes of his im- " mense paternity do him honour, through Him with " Whom and by Whom he hath been glorified."6

" If in every place," again says Saint Leo, " the " martyrs have received in recompense for their death " and in manifestation of their merits, the power to " aid those in peril, to drive away diseases and un- " clean spirits, and to cure countless evils; who could " be so ignorant or so envious of the glory of blessed "Peter as to suppose that any portion of the Church " can escape his care, or must not be indebted to him " for its progress ? Ever burning, ever living, in the " Prince of the Apostles, is that love of God and of "men which nothing could daunt; neither chains, " nor the straitness of dungeons ; neither the fury of

1 Ambr. in Luc. x. 3 Sermo IV. de Natali ipsius.

2 St. John, xxi. 4 Ibid. 6 Serm. III. de Nat. ips.

" mobs, nor the wrath of kings ; victory has not cooled " that which battle could not conquer. Wherefore in " these our days, seeing that sorrow has given place " to joy, labour to repose, discord to peace, we recog- " nise in these helpful effects the merits and prayers " of our Head. Oftentimes do we experience how he "influences salutary counsels and just judgments; " the right of binding and loosing is exercised by Us, 4i but to blessed Peter is due the inclining of the "condemned to penitence, of the pardoned to grace. " Yea, this which We have personally experienced, "our forefathers knew also; in such sort, that we " believe and hold for certain, that in all the troubles ■" of this life, the Apostolic prayer must be our special "aid and safeguard before the throne of God's " mercy."2

St. Ambrose, Bishop of Milan, in his turn also extols the apostolic action ever efficacious and living in the Church. His exposition, so full of sweetness and always so sound, rises to the sublime, wherein his great soul soars at ease, when he comes to express with ineffable delicacy and depth the special rdle of Peter and Paul in the sanctification of the elect.

"The Church," says he, " is the ship where Peter " must fish ; and in this toil he is sometimes to us "the net, and sometimes the hook. O great mystery! for this fishing is wholly spiritual. The net " encloses, the hook wounds ; but into th« net go the " crowd ; unto the hook the solitary fish. Do not, there- " fore, O good Fish, dread Peter's hook ; it killeth not, " but consecrateth ; his is a precious wound, midst 44 the blood of which may be found the coin of "good metal, needed to pay the tribute both for

3 Sermo V. de Nat. ips. 2 Sermo I. in Nat. Apost. ; lect. II.

3 De Virginitate X VIII. Nocturni 5mae diei infra Oct.

"the Apostle and the Master. Hence undervalue " not thyself, for though thy body be feeble, in thy " mouth thou hast wherewith to pay both for Christ " and for Peter. Lo ! within us is a treasure, the " Word of God ; by confessing Jesus, he is placed " upon our lips. Wherefore is it said to Simon : " Launch out into the deep? that is to say, into the " heart of man ; for the heart of man in his counsels "is as deep water.* Launch out into the deep, that is "into Christ, for Christ is the Fovmtain of Living " waters? in Whom are the treasures of Wisdom and " Knowledge. Daily still doth Peter preach ; daily " the Lord crieth unto him : Launch out into the deep. " But, methinks I hear Peter answer him : Master, "we have laboured all the night, and have taken u nothing. Peter toils in us, when our devotedness is " laborious. Paul, too, is in labour ; lo ! even this very " day have ye not heard him saying : Who is weak, " and I am not weak ?s So behave, that the Apostles " may not have to toil thus hard for you."9

The Ambrosian Missal offers us the following Preface and Prayer for this Feast :

PREFACE. iEquum et salutare : nos It is truly meet and just for tibi semper, hie et unique, us here and everywhere, to give in honore Apoatolorum Petri thanks in honour of the Apos-

1 St. Matth. xvii. 23-26. 5 St. John, iv. 11.

2 Ambr. Hexaemeron, V. 6 Rom. xi. 33.

3 St. Luke, v. 4. 7 St. Luke, v. 5.

4 Prov. xviii. 4. 8 2 Cor. xi. 29.

9 Ambr. de Virginit. XVIII, XIX. This portion of the Booh on Virginity forms a part of a discourse which was delivered by Saint Ambrose on the festival of the holy Apostles. In the Ambrosian Liturgy, there is still read, for the Epistle of this Feast, the very passage containing the text cited above by St. Ambrose, from the Epistle of Saint Paul to the Corinthians.

SIXTH DAY WITHIN THE OCTAVE. ties, Peter and Paul. Whom thou hast vouchsafed to consecrate by such an election : so that the earthly fishing- craft of blessed Peter should be converted by thee into divine dogma, inasmuch as thou hast been pleased to deliver the human race from the depths of hell, by means of the nets of thy commandments ; and that the mind of his co-apostle Paul, as well as his name, should be changed by thee, so that he who at first was dreaded by the Church, should now make her gladsome by the teaching of the heavenly precepts which he hath received. Paul was struck blind, in order that he might see ; Peter denied, in order that he might believe. To the one belong the keys of the heavenly kingdom: to the other thou hast entrusted the knowledge of the divine Law, that he might call the Gentiles to the Faith. The one introduces ; the other opens ; and to both is awarded the prize of eternal dominion. The one as he walked upon the waters, was upheld by thy Right Hand when about to sink : the other, thrice shipwrecked, was by the same saved from the depths of the sea. The one resists the gates of hell ; the other overcomes the sting of death : and Paul has his head struck off, because he is the approved head of the nations in faith; but Peter with his feet turned heavenwards, hath followed Christ the Head of us all. et Pauli gratias agere. Quos ita electione tua consecrare dignatus es : ut beati Petri saecularem piscandi artem in divinum dogma converteres, quatenus humanum genus de profundo inferni praeceptorum tuorum retibus liberares; et coapostoli ejus Pauli mentem cum nomine mutares, ut quern prius persecutorem metuebat Ecclesia, nunc coelestium mandatorum laetetur se habere doctorem. Paulus caecatus est, ut videret : Petrus negavit, ut crederet. Huic claves coelestis imperii : illi ad evocandas gentes, divinae legis scientiam contulistL IUe introducit ; hie aperit : et ambo virtutis aeternaa praemia sunt adepti. Hunc dextera tua gradientem in elemento liquido, dum mergeretur, erexit: ilium autem, tertio nauf ragantem,

Srofunda pelagi fecit vitare iscrimina. Hie portas inferi, ille mortis vicit aculeum : et Paulus capite plectitur, quia gentium caput fidei probatur ; Petrus autem, sursum versisvestigiis, caput omnium nostrum secutus est Christum.

PRATER.

Deus qui confitentium tibi redemptor es animarum, quarum piscator beatus Petrus Apostolus, atque ovium pastor tua prseceptione cognoscitur: annue misericors precibus nostris, et populo tuo pietatis tuae dona concede. Qui vivis.

O God, the Redeemer of souls confessing unto thee ; of souls caught by thy Fisherman, blessed Peter the Apostle : of Sheep unto whom, according to thy command, he is known to be the Shepherd : be pleased, in thy mercy, to grant our petitions ; and to thy people, vouchsafe the gifts of thy Compassion.

Let us hail Rome and her two Princes in the words of this beautiful song, which breathes something of the inspiration found in the hymns of Elpis and of Saint Paulinus of Aquilea. It is supposed to date from about the seventh or eighth century.

HYMN.

O Roma nobilis, orbis et domina, Cunctarum urbium excel- lentissima, Roseo martyrum sanguine rubea,

Albis et virginum liliis Candida:

Salutem dicimus tibi per omnia,

Te benedicimus, salve per sgecula. Petre, tu praepotens coe- lorum claviger, Yota praecantium exaudi jugiter: Cum bissex tribuum sederis arbiter, Fact us placabilis judica le- niter,

Teque precantibus nunc temporaliter

O noble Rome, O Lady of the earth, O most excellent of all Cities, ruddy with the roseate blood of Martyrs, and white with the glistening lilies of Virgins: we salute thee throughout the earth : we bless thee ; for ever, hail !

O Peter, thou most potent key-bearer of the heavens, meetly hear the prayers of us suppliants : when thou dost sit as Judge of the twelve tribes, being appeased, judge us mildly } and now whilst time is still ours, mercifully lend thine intercession unto us who are beseeching thee.

SIXTH DAY WITHIN THE OCTAVE.

Ferto suffragia misericorditer.

O Paul, take in hand the O Paule, suscipe nostra cause of us guilty ones, thou peccamina, whose skill did conquer philo- Cujus philosophos vicit insophers : being made Dis- dustria :

Factus ceconomus in domo Divini muneris appone fer- Ut, quae repleverit te Sa-

Eenser in the royal houseold, hand unto us the sweet- regia, meats of divine gifts ; so that the same Wisdom that filled cula ; thee, may replenish us by thy teachings. pientia, Ipsa nos repleat tua per dogmata. Amen.

Amen.