The Octave of the Assumption

We beseech thee, O Lord, to be appeased, and to impart to us thy help: and, by the intercession of Blessed Timothy, Hippolytus, and Symphorian, thy Martyrs, extend over us the right hand of thy mercy. Through our Lord, <fcc.

Auxilium tuum nobis, Domine qusesumus,plaoatus impende: et intercedentibus beatis Martyribus tuisTimotheo, Hippoly to et Symphoriano, dexteram super nos tuse propitiationis extende. Per Dominum,

The inexhaustible Adam of St. Victor gives us another Sequence for the Assumption ; it was sung at Saint Victor on the Octave day.

SEQUENCE.

Let us rejoice on this day whereon is celebrated the Assumption of holy Mary; this day, this dear day, when from earth she was translated into heaven with joy.

Exalted above the choirs of Angels, she is set over all the citizens of heaven. She contemplates her Son in his beauty, and prays for all the faithful.

Let us cleanse away our stains, that clean of heart we may take part in her praises ; if our minds be in accord with our tongues, her ears will be attentive to our voices.

Let us then praise her with one accord, and in her praise cry out': Hail, full of grace ! hail, Virgin Mother of Christ, who didst conceive him by the presence of the Holy Spirit.

Gratulemur in hac die In qua sanct® fit Maria

Celebris Assumptio ; Dies ista, dies grata, Qua de terris est translata

In coelum cum gaudio.

Super choros exaltata Angelorum, est prselata

Cunctis cceli civibus. In decore contemplatur Natum suum, et precatur

Pro cunctis fidelibus.

Expurgemus nostras sordes Ut illius, mundicordes, Assistamus laudibus ; Si concordent Unguis mentes,

Aures ejus intendentes Erunt nostris vocibus.

Nunc Concordes hanc laudemus

Et in laude proclamemus :

Ave, plena gratia ! Ave, Virgo Mater Christi, Quae de Sancti concepisti

Spiritus praesentia !

Virgo sancta, Virgo munda, Tibi nostrae sit jocunda

Vocis modulatio. Nobis opem fer desursum, Et, post hujus vitas cursum, ' Tuo junge Filio.

Tu a sseclis praeelecta, Litterali diu tecta

Fuisti sub cortice ; De te? Christum genitura, Pradixerunt in Scriptura

Prophetas, sed typice.

Sacramentum patefactum Est, dum Verbum, caro factum,

Ex te nasci voluit, Quod nos sua pietate A maligni potestate

Potenter eripuit

Te. per thronum Salomonis, Te per vellus Gedeonis

Praesignatam credimus ; Et per rubum incombustum, Testamentum si vetustum

Mystice perpendimus.

Super vellus ros descendens Et in rubo flamma splendens,

(Neutrum tamen laeditur,) tFuit Christus carnem sumens,

In te tamen non consumens Pudorem, dum gignitur.

De te virga processurum Florem mundo prof uturum

:Isaia cecinit, Flore Christum praefigurans Cuius virtus semper durans Nee ccepit, nec desinit. l PENTECOST.

Holy Virgin, spotless Virgin, may the music of our voice be pleasing to thee. Bring us help from on high, and after this life's course, unite us to thy Son.

O thou elect from all eternity, long wast thou hidden in the shell of the letter; of thee as future Mother of Christ, the Prophets foretold in the Scripture, but in types.

The Mystery was unveiled when the Word made Flesh willed to be born of thee, who in his love did powerfully snatch us from the power of the wicked one.

Thee by the throne of Solomon, thee by the fleece of Gedeon, we believe to be foreshown, and by the bush unburnt, if the ancient Testament we mystically ponder.

On the fleece the dew descending, in the bush the flame resplendent (yet neither hurt thereby), was Christ assuming flesh in thee, yet not destroying thy purity by his birth.

The flower that was to spring from thee, the stem, and benefit the world, Isaias sang ; by the flower prefiguring Christ, whose power everlasting neither began nor endeth.

Thou art the reservoir of the fountain of life, thou art a lamp burning and shining : through thee the light supernal on us hath shed its ray ; burning with fire of charity, shining with light of chastity, bringing into the world thy Son, the light of supreme brightness.

O gate of our salvation, hear us and comfort us, and from our crooked ways hasten to call us back : we are calling on thee from the abyss, sailing on the sea of the world ; from the furious enemy deliver us by thy prayer.

O Jesus our salvation, by the incomparable merit of thy Mother, deign to visit us in this valley with the gift of thy grace. Thou who wiliest that no one be condemned, grant us to steer our course so straightly through this sea, that after death we may be worthy to be rewarded in thy rest.

Amen.

Fontis vitae tu cisterna, Ardens, lucens es lucerna ; Per te nobis lux superna

Suum fudit radium ; Ardens igne caritatis, Luce lucens castitatis, Lucem summed claritatis

Mundo gignens Filium.

O salutis nostras porta, Nos exaudi, nos conforta, Et a via nos distorta

Kevocare propera : Te vocantes de profundo, Navigantes in hoc mundo, Nos ab hoste furibundo

Tua prece libera.

Jesu, nostrum salutare, Ob meritum singulare Tuae Matris, visitare In hac valle nos dignare

Tuae dono gratiae. Qui neminem vis damnari, Sic directe conversari Nos concedas in hoc mari, Ut post mortem munerari

Digni simus requie.

Amen.

The following prayer is remarkable for the symbolism wherewith it is inspired. It is used at the blessing of medicinal herbs and fruits, given from time immemorial, in certain places, on the day of the AssumptioD.

PRATER.

O Qod, who on this day Deus, qui virgam Jesse, didst raise up to the height of Genitricem Filii tui Domini

508 time afte: nostri Jesu Christi, hodierna die ad coelorum f astigia ideo evexisti, ut per ejus suffragia et patrocinia fructum ventris illius, eumdem Fi- Hum tuum, mortalitati nostra communicares : te supplices exoramus ; ut ejusdem Filii tui virtute, ej usque Genitricis glorioso patrocinio, istorum terrse f ructuum prsesidiis per temporalem ad seternam salutem disponamur. Per eumdem Dominum nostrum.

\ PENTECOST. heaven the rod of Jesse, the Mother of thy Son our Lord Jesus Christ, in order that through her prayers and patronage thou mightest communicate to our mortality the same thy Son the fruit of her womb : we humbly beseech thee, that by the power of this thy Son, and by the glorious patronage of his Mother, we may, by the help of these fruits of the earth, be disposed by temporal health for eternal salvation. Through the same Christ our Lord,

But let us close the radiant Octave by hearing Mary herself speak in this beautiful Antiphon, appointed amongst others in certain manuscripts to accompany the Magnificat on the feast. Our Lady there appears, not in her own name alone, but as representing the Church, which begins in her its entrance in body and soul into heaven. The present happiness of the Blessed Virgin is the pledge for us all of the eternal felicity promised us; the triumph of the Mother of God will not be complete until the last of her children has followed her into glory. Let us then join in this prayer so full of sweet love : it is truly worthy to express the feelings of Mary, as she crossed the threshold of her heavenly home.

Maria exsultavit in spiritu, et dixit: Benedico te, qui dominaris super omnem benedictionem. Benedico habitaculum gloriae tuae, benedico te, cui factum est habitaculum in utero meo ;

Mary exulted in spirit and said: I bless thee who art Lord over every blessing. I bless the dwelling of thy glory, I bless thee for whom was made a dwelling in my womb, and I bless all the works of

THE OCTAVE OF r. thy hands which obey thee in all subjection. I bless thy love wherewith thou hast loved us. I bless all the words that have come forth from thy mouth and are given to us. For I believe in truth that as thou hast said, so shall it be done.

£lleluia. et benedico omnia opera manuum tuarum, quae obediunt tibi in omni subjectione. Benedico dilectionem tuam qua nos dUexisti . Benedico omnia verba quae exierunt de ore tuo, quae data sun t nobis. Ia veritate enim credam, quia sicut dixisti sic net. Alleluia.