November 4 — Saint Charles

who ended their days upon the scaffold. His suooessor, on the contrary, as the event testified, was actuated by the inspiration of the Holy Ghost, not by the dictates of flesh and blood.

Sixty years of that fatal century had already elapsed, while the evils consequent on Luther's revolt were ever increasing, and the Church was daily threatened with some new danger. The Protestants had just imposed upon the Catholics of Germany the treaty of Passau, which completed the triumph of the fanatics, and secured to them equality and liberty. The abdication of Charles V. in despair, left the empire to his brother Ferdinand ; while Spain, with its immense dominions in both hemispheres, fell to his son Philip II. Ferdinand I. inaugurated the custom of dispensing with Borne, by crowning himself with the diadem which St. Leo III. had placed upon the brow of Charlemagne ; and Philip, enclosing Italy by taking Naples in the South and Milan in the North, seemed to many to be threatening the independence of Rome herself. England, reconciled for a brief period under Mary Tudor, was replunged by Elizabeth into the schism which continues to the present day. Boy kings suooeeded one another on the throne of St. Louis, and the regency of Catharine de Medici involved Franoe in the wars of religion.

Such was the political situation whioh the minister of Pius IV. had to cope with, and to utilize to the best of his power for the interests of the Holy See and of the Church. Charles did not hesitate. "With faith to supply for his want of experience, he understood that to the torrent of errors, which threatened to deluge the world, Rome must first of all oppose, as an embankment, that undivided truth of whioh she is the guardian.

He saw how, in oontest with a heresy, whioh claimed the name of Reformation while it let loose every passion, the Churoh might take occasion from the struggle to strengthen her discipline, elevate the morals of her children, and manifest to the eyes of all her indefeotible sanctity. This thought had already, under Paul III. and Julius III., led to the convocation of the Council of Trent, and inspired its dogmatio definitions and reformatory deorees. But the Council, twice interrupted, had not completed its work, which was still under dispute. It had now been suspended for eight years, and the difficulties in the way of its resumption continued to increase, on account of the quarrelsome pretensions of prinoes. The Cardinal-nephew bent all his efforts to surmount the obstacles. He devoted day and night to the work, imbuing with his views the Sovereign Pontiff himself, inspiring with his zeal the nuncios at the various courts, vying in skill and firmness with diplomatic ministers in order to overcome the prejudices or the ill-will of monarchs. And when, after two years of these difficult negotiations, the Fathers of Trent gathered together once more, Charles was the providence and the tutelaryangel of this august assembly. To him it owed its material organization, its political security, the complete independence of its deliberations and their thenoeforward uninterrupted continuity. Himself detained at Rome, he was the intermediary between the Pope and the Council. The presiding legates soon gave him their full confidence, as is proved from the pontifical archives ; to him, as to the ablest counsellor and most reliable support, they daily had recourse in their solicitudes and anxieties.

For her (wisdom's) sake, says the Wise Man, / shall have glory among the multitude, and honour with the ancients, though I be young; .... and the faces of princes shall wonder at me. They shall wait for me

NOV. 4. SAINT CHARLBS. token I hold my peace, and they shall look upon me when I speak, and if I talk much they shall lay their hands on their mouths. 1 Such was truly the case with St. Charles, at this critical moment of the world's history. No wonder that divine Wisdom, to whom he listened with such docility, and who inspired him so copiously, rendered his name immortal in the memory of a grateful posterity.

In his Defence of the too famous Declaration, Bossuet, speaking of the Council of Trent which owed its completion to St. Charles, says that it brought the Church back to the purity of her origin, as far as the iniquity of the times would permit. 2 And when the oecumenical sessions at the Vatioan were opened, the Bishop of Poitiers, the future Cardinal Pie, spoke of " that Council of Trent, whioh " deserved, more truly even than that of Niosea, to " be called the great Council ; that Council, concern- " ing which we may confidently assert, that sinoe " the creation of the world no assembly of men has " succeeded in introducing among mankind such " great perfection ; that Council whereof it has been " said that, as a tree of life, it has for ever restored " to the Church the vigour of her youth. More than " three centuries have elapsed since its labours were " completed, and its healing and strengthening virtue "is still felt." 3

" The Council of Trent is perpetuated in the " Church by means of the Roman Congregations " charged with its continual application, and with " ensuring obedience to the pontifioal constitutions " whioh have followed and completed it." 4 Charles

1 Wisd. viii. 10-12. 2 Gallia orthodoxa, Pars III., Lib. xi. cap. 13. ; vii. cap. 40. 3 Discourse pronounced at Rome, in the church of St. Andrew delta Valle, Jan. 14 th , 1870. 4 Pastoral instruction on occasion of the approaching Council of Bordeaux, June 26*, 1850. suggested the measures adopted for this end by Pius IV., and approved and developed by succeeding Pontiffs. He caused the Liturgioal Books to be revised, and the Roman Catechism to be compiled. But first, and in all things, he was himself the living model of the renewed discipline, and thus acquired the right to exercise his zeal for or against others. Rome, initiated by him in the salutary reform, of which it was fitting she should set the first example, was in a few months completely transformed. The three churches now dedicated to St. Charles within her walls, 1 and the numerous altars which bear his name in other sanctuaries of the holy City, are the testimony of her enduring gratitude.

His administration, however, and his sojourn in Rome lasted only during the six years of Pius IV's pontifioate. On the death of that Pope, in spite of the entreaties of Pius V., whose election was due ohiefly to his exertions, Charles set out for Milan, which called for the presence of its Archbishop. For nigh a century, the great Lombard city had scarcely known its pastors save by name ; and this abandonment had delivered it, like so many others at that period, to the wolf that catcheth and scattereth the sheep. Our Saint understood far otherwise the responsibility of the cure of souls. He gave himself entirely to this duty, without oare for himself, without a thought for the judgments of men, without fear of the powerful. His maxim was : to treat of the interests of Jesus Christ in the spirit of Jesus Christ ; 2 his programme, the ordinances of Trent. Charles's episcopate was the carrying out of the great Council ; its living form ; the model of its practical application

1 St. Charles at the Catinari, one of the most beautiful in Home ; St. Charles on the Corso, which possesses his heart ; St. Charles at the four fountains. 2 Acta Eccl. Mediolanensis, Oratio habita in

ConcLL pro?, yi. in the whole Church ; and the proof of its efficiency, demonstrating that it sufficed for every reform, and could, of itself alone, sanctify both pastor and flook.

We would gladly have given more than a passing notice of these Acts of the church of Milan, which have been lovingly collected by faithful hands, and which show our Saint in so grand a light. Herein, after the six provincial councils and eleven diooesan synods over which he presided, follows the inexhaustible series of general or special mandates dictated by his zeal; pastoral letters, the most remarkable of which is the sublime Memorial written after the plague in Milan ; instructions upon the holy Liturgy, upon the tenure of churches, upon preaching, upon the administration of the Sacraments, and notably the celebrated instruction to Confessors ; ordinances concerning the archiepiscopal court, the chancellorship, oanonioal visitations ; regulations for the archbishop's domestic family, and his vicars and officials of all ranks, for the parish priests and their meetings in conference (a custom introduced by him), for the Oblates he had founded, the seminaries, schools, and confraternities ; edicts and decrees ; and lastly various tables, and complete forms of administrative acts, so drawn up that nothing remains but to insert names and dates. It is a true pastoral encyclopedia, which, in its magnificent amplitude, would appear to be the work of a long life ; yet St. Charles died at the early age of forty-six ; and moreover all this was written in the miclst of trials and combats sufficient to have been his sole pre-ocoupation.

But it is time to listen to the Church's account of him.

Borromseorum familia natus, quanta futurus esset meo. ■anotitate conspicuus, divi-

Carolus, Mediolani nobili Charles was born at Milan, of the noble family of Borro- His future pre-eminent sanctity was foreshown by a na lux super parientis matris cubiculum noctu coruscans prsBsignavit. A pueritia clericali militiao adscriptus, abbatia postmodum insignitus, patrem admonuit, ne reditus in rem familiarem converterentur : quorum ipse nactus administrationem, quidquid supererat, expendebat in pauperes. Adolescens liberalisms disciplinis Papiae operam dedit. Castitatem adeo coluit, ut impudicas etiam mulieres ad labefactandam ejus pudicitiam pluries immissas inyicta constantia fugaverit. Vigesimum tertium aetati annum agens, a Pio Quarto ejus avuuculo in sacrum Oardinalium collegium cooptatus, insigni pietatis ac yirtutum omnium splendore praeluxit. Mox ab eodem Mediolanensis archiepiscopus creatus, in eo plurimam operam adhibuit, ut juxta sacrosanctum Tridentinum concilium, o^uod ejus potissimum solbcitudine jam turn fuerat absolutum, ecclesiam sibi commissam componeret : atque ut depravatos plebis suae mores reformaret, prseter iteratam saepius synodorum celebrationem, seipsum eximiaa sanctitatis praebuit exemplar. In profligandis haereticis e partibus Khaetorum et Helvetiorum, quorum plurimos ad christianam ndem convertit, maxime laborayit. heavenly light shining at night over the room where he was born. He was enrolled in his boyhood in the ranks of the clergy, and soon provided with an Abbey ; but he warned his father not to turn its revenues to private use ; and as soon as •its administration was entrusted to him, he spent all the surplus income on the poor. As a youth he pursued his liberal studies at Pavia. He had the greatest love for holy chastity; and several times put to night, with the greatest firmness, some shameless women sent to tempt him. In the twenty-third year of his age, his uncle Pius IV. created him Cardinal ; and he adorned that dignity by his great piety and remarkable virtues. Being soon afterwards made Archbishop of Milan, he laboured strenuously to carry out, in his whole diocese, the decrees of the Council of Trent, which had just been concluded mainly through his exertions. To reform the evil customs of his people he held many synods, and moreover was ever himself a perfect model of virtue. He also laboured much to expel the heretics from Switzerland and the country of the Grisons, and converted many of them to the true faith.

Hujus viri caritas praecipue enituit, cum Uritano principatu vendito, pretium universum ad quadraginta aureorum millia, una die in pauperes erogavit. Nec minore pietate viginti millia, quae sibifuerant legata, distribuit. Ecclesiasticos proventus, quibus ab avunculo copiose fuerat cumulatus, dimisit, nonnullis retentis, quibus ad proprios usus et egenorum necessitates utebatur. Quo tempore pestis Mediolani grassabatur, domesticam supellectilem, ne relicto sibi lectulo, in eosdem alendos contulit, super nuda in posterum tabula discumbens; eoque morbo laborantes sedulo invisens, paterno reficiebat affectu, et Ecclesiae sacramenta propriis ipse manibus administrans, minim in modum solabatur : humillimis interim precibus reconciliator accedens, publica supplicatione indicta, fune sibi ad collum alligato, nudis pedibus, etiam offendiculo cruentatds, crucem bajulans, eemetipBum pro peccatis populi hostiam offerens, divinam indignationem avertere satagebat. Ecclesiasticee libertatis fuit acerrimus propugnator. Discipline vero restituendse sollicitus, a seditiosis, dum orationi insisteret, tormenti bellici laxata rota, igneo ^lobulo percussus, divina virtute servatur

The charity of this holy man was strikingly exhibited, when he sold the principality of Oria, and in one day distributed the price, amounting to about forty thousand gold pieces, among the poor. With no less generosity he, on another occasion, distributed twenty thousand gold pieces left him as a legacy. He resigned the many ecclesiastical benefices which his uncle had bestowed upon him, except a few which he retained for his own necessities and for relieving the poor. When the plague was raging in Milan, he gave up the furniture of his house, even his bed, for the support of the poor, and thenceforward always slept on a bare board. He visited the plague-stricken with unwearied zeal, assisted them with fatherly affection, and, administering to them with his own hands the Sacraments of the Church, singularly consoled them. Meanwhile he approached to God in humble prayer as a mediator for his people ; he ordered public sup-

Elications to be made, and imself walked in the processions, with a rope round his neck, his feet bare and bleeding from the stones, and carrying a cross ; and thus offering himself as a victim for the sins of the people, he endeavoured to turn away the anger of God. He strenuously aefended the liberty of the ill»8U3.

Abstinentia fuit admirabili: jejunabat ssepissime, pane tantum et aqua, solis quandoque lupinis contentus. Nocturnis vispliis, asperrimo cilicio, assiduis flagellis corpus domabat. Humilitatis ac mansuetudinia studiosis8imu fuit. Orationem ac verbi Dei prsedicationem, gravissimis licet curi occupatus, numquam intermisit. Multas ecclesias, monasteria, collegia sedificavit. Plura scripsit, ad episcoporum prsesertim in- ' structiouem utilissima : cujus etiam opera parochorum catechismu prodiit. Demum in solitudinem Varalli montis, ubi sculptis imaginibus Dominicae passionis mysteria ad vivum reprsesentantur, secessit: ibique, diebus aliquot voluntaria caetigatione asperam, sed Christi dolorum meditationibus suavem vitam ducens, in febrim incidit. Mediolanum reversus, ingravescente morbo, cinere ac cilicio coopertus, et oculis in crucifixi imaginem defixis, migravit in cesium, setatis anno quadragesimo septimo, Domini vero millesimo quingentesimo octogesimo quarto, tertio nonas

Church, and was most zealous in restoring discipline. For this reason some seditious persons fired upon him while he was engaged in prayer, but by the divine power he was preserved unharmed.

His abstinence was wonderful: he very often fasted on bread and water, and sometimes took only a little pulse. He subdued his body by night-watchings, a rough hairshirt and frequent disciplines. He was a great lover of humility and meekness. Even when occupied by weighty business, he never omitted his prayer or preaching. He built many churches, monasteries and colleges. He wrote many works of great value especially for the instruction of oishops ; and it was through his care that the catechism for parish -priests was drawn up. At length he retired to a solitary place on Mount Varallo, where the mysteries of our Lord's Passion are sculptured in a life-like manner, and there after spending some days in severe bodily mortifications sweetened by meditation on Christ's sufferings, he was seized by a fever. He returned to Milan; but the illness growing much worse, he was covered with sackcloth and ashes, and with his eyes fixed on the crucifix he passed to heaven, in the forty-seventh year of his age, on the third of the Nones of November, in the year of our Lord 1584.

NOV. 4. SAINT CHARLBS.

Novembris. Quern miraculis clarum Pauhis Quintus Pontifex Maximus in Sanctorum numerum retulit.

He was illustrated by miracles, and was enrolled among the Saints by Pope Paul V.

Successor of Ambrose, thou didst inherit his zeal for the house of God ; thy aotion also was powerful in the Church ; and though separated in time by a thousand years, your names are now united in one common glory. May your prayers also mingle before the throne of God for us in these times of decadenoe ; and may your power in heaven obtain for us pastors worthy to continue, or if need be to renew, your work on earth. How obviously applicable to both of you were those words of Holy Writ : What manner of man the ruler of the city is, such also are they that dwell therein. 1 And again : / will fill the soul of the jpriests with fatness ; and my people shall be filled toith my good things, saith the Lord. 2

Rightly didst thou say, 0 Charles : " Never did Is- " rael hear a more awful threat than this : Lexperibit " a sacerdote? Priests are divine instruments, upon " whom depends the welfare of the world ; their " abundance is the riches of all, their default is the " ruin of nations." 4

And when, from the midst of thy priests convoked in synod, thou didst pass to the venerable assembly of seventeen bishops thy suffragans, thy language became, if possible, still more vehement: "Let us " fear lest the angered Judge say to us : If you were " the enlighteners of my Church, why have you " closed your eyes ? If you pretended to be shep- " herds of the flook, why have you suffered it to

1 Eccli. x. 2. 2 Jerem. xxxi. 14.

Ezech. vii. 26. Acta Eccl. Mediolan. Constitutiones et regulae societatis scholarum doctrinse christianae, Concio I ad Clerum, in

3 The law shall perish, shall fail, shall be silent, in the heart of the priest &n& on his lips. Can. III. * Synod, dioeces. xi,

44 stray P Salt of the earth, you have lost your 44 savour. Light of the world, they that sat in dark- 44 ness and the shadow of death have never seen you " shine. You were Apostles ; who, then, put your " apostolio firmness to the test, sinoe you have done " nothing but seek to please men? You were the " mouth of the Lord, and you have made that mouth " dumb. If you allege in excuse that the burden was " beyond your strength, why did you make it the ob- 44 ject of your ambitious intrigues? " l

But, by the grace of God blessing thy zeal for the amendment of both sheep and lambs, thou oouldst add, 0 Charles : " Province of Milan, take heart " again. Behold, thy fathers have come to thee, and " are assembled once more for the purpose of remedy- 44 ing thy ills. They have no other care, than to see " thee bring forth the fruits of salvation ; and for " this end they multiply their united efforts." 2

My little children, of whom 1 am in labour again, until Christ be formed in you? Such is the aspiration of the Bride, which will cease only in heaven : and synods, visitations, reformation, deorees concerning preaching and government and ministry, were, in thy eyes, but the manifestation of this one desire of the Church, the expression of the mother's ory as she brings forth her children. 4

Deign, 0 blessed Pontiff, to restore in all places the love of holy discipline, wherein the pastoral solicitude that rendered thee so glorious 5 found the secret of its marvellous fecundity. It may be sufficient for the simple faithful merely to know that among the treasures of the Church there exists, side by side with her dootrine and Sacraments, an incomparable code, the work of ages, an object of legitimate pride to all

1 Oratio habita in concil. proy. ii. 2 In concil. prov. vi.

5 Gal. iv. 19, 4 Concio I ad Clerum, in Synod, dioeces. xi,

• Collect of the feast. her sons, whose divine privileges it protects. But the priest, entirely devoted to the Churoh, cannot serve her usefully without that profound and persevering study, which will give him the understanding of her laws in detail. But olergy and laity alike must beseech God, that the miseries of the times may not impede the meeting of our venerated superiors in the councils and synods prescribed at Trent, 1 and so grandly carried out by thee, 0 Charles, who didst prove by experience their value for the salvation of the world. May heaven, for thy sake, hear our prayer ; and then we shall be able to say with thee 2 to the Churoh : " 0 tender mother, let thy voice cease from weeping, . . . for there is a reward for thy work, saith the Lord ; and thy sons shall return out of the land of the enemy. And I will fill the soul of the priests with fatness : and my people shall be filed with my good things." 8

Let us offer our homage to two Martyrs, whose memory was celebrated on this day even before that of St. Charles. Vitalis the slaye and Agricola his master, combating together in the glorious arena proved that social inequality counts for nothing with regard to heaven's nobility. St. Ambrose, when sojourning at Bologna where they had suffered, discovered their bodies and oelebrated their triumph. 4 The Churoh, following his example, has ever assooiated them in one common homage.

PRAYER.

Praesta, qusesumus om- Grant, we beseech thee, Al-

1 Sessio xxiv, de Reformatione cap. II. 2 Concio I ad Clerum, in Synod xi. 3 Jerem. xxxi, 16,14, 4 Ambr. Lib, de Exhort. Virginitat. I.

TIMS AFTER PENTECOST. nipotens Deus, ut, qui sanctorum Martyrum tuorum Vitalis et Agricolae solemnia colimus, eorum apud te intercessionibus adjuvemur. Per Dominum. mighty God, that celebrating' the festival of thy holy martyrs, Vitalis and Agricola, wo may be assisted by their intercession with thee. Through our Lord.

Returning to the ootave of all Saints, let us say the following Sequence oomposed by Notker, and formerly sung in Germany on the day of the feast.

Omnes sancti Seraphim, Cherubim,

Throni quoque Dominationesque,

Principatus, Potestates, Virtutes,

Archangeli, Angeli, vos decet laus et honores.

Ordines novem spirituum beatorum,

Quos in Dei laudibus firmavit caritas,

Nos fragiles homines firmate precious :

Ut spiritales pravitates vestro juvamine vincentes fortiter,

Nuno et in sevum vestris simus digni sollemniis interesse sacris.

Vos quos Dei gratia vincere terrea,

Et angelis socios fecit esse polo :

Vos patriarch®, prophet©, apo9toli, confessores, martyres, monachi, virgines,

All ye holy Seraphim, Cherubim,

Thrones also and Dominations,

Principalities, Powers, Virtues,

Archangels, Angels, to you beseemeth praise and honour.

Te nine choirs of blessed spirits,

Whom charity has stablished in God's praises,

Make us frail mortals as stable, by your prayers :

So that by your assistance, resolutely overcoming the spirits of wickedness,

We may be worthy to take part, both now and for ever, in your sacred solemnities.

Ye whom the grace of God enabled to conquer the things of earth,

And associated with the Angels in heaven ;

Ye patriarchs, prophets, apostles, confessors, martyrs, monks, virgins,

Et viduarum sanctarum omniumque placentium populus supremo Domino,

Nos adjutorium nunc et perenniter foveat, protegat, ut vestrum

In die poscimus gaudiorum vestrorum.

Amen.

Assembly of holy widows, and of all who have been pleasing to the sovereign Lord,

May your assistance, now and ever, cherish and protect us,

As we pray on this day of your joys. Amen.

We gather from the Euohology or Ritual of the Greeks a few samples of their prayers for the dead.

IN OFFICIO EXSEQUI ARUM .

Venite, extremum vale, Deo gratias agentes, defuncto dicamus. Illi Dominus requiem conferat, precemur.

Qualis vita nostra est? Flosculus, vapor, matutinus ros vere. Adeste igitur et sepulcra circumlustremus. TJm corporis venustas ? Ubi juventus? Ubi ilia lumina P Ubi carnis species ? Ouncta velut foenum apparuerunt, dissipata sunt cuncta. Venite et Christo cum lacrymis procidamus.

Salva sperantes in te, Mater solis occasum nescientis ; Dei genitrix, optimum tuum natum precibus tuis interpella, nrecamur, ut ei qui nine migravit, det requiem, ubi justorum animae quiescunt : divinorum bonorum in aulis justorum hseredem ilium constitue, in memoria se tenia, o immaculata.

Christus verus Deus nos-

PBNT. VI.

Gome, let us bid a last farewell to the deceased, giving thanks to God. Let us pray that the Lord may give him rest.

What is our life P A little flower, a vapour, truly a morning dew. Oome, tnen, and let usgo round about the graves. Where is the beauty of the body? Where is youth P Where now are those eyes ? Where that comeliness of form ? All appeared as grass, all are now withered. Gome, and let us with tears prostrate before Christ.

0 Mother of the sun that knows no setting, save them that trust in thee. Mother of God, we beseech thee, entreat thy most loving Son to give unto him, who has left us, rest where the souls of the just repose. Establish him, 0 immaculate one, heir of divine possessions, and let him be in everlasting remembrance.

May Christ who rose from

TIKI AFTER PENTECOST. ter qui a mortuis surrexit, intercessionibus illibat® suss Matris et omnium Sanctorum, servi sui vita functi animam in justorum taham sinibus reclinet, justis reatur ut bonus et clemens. the dead, oar true God, moved by the intercession of his spotless Mother and of all the Saints, place the soul of his departed servant in the taberbernaculi collocet, in Abra- nacles of the just ; may he lay him to rest in the bosom of annumeret ; nostrique mise- Abraham, numbering him. among the just ; and may he, Amen. who is both good and kind, have mercy upon us. Amen. iEterna tibi sit memoria, May thy memory be eter- semper beande et jugi ani- nal, 0 our brother ; thou shalt mo recolende Frater noster. be for ever blessed, and shalt ever be cherished in our hearts.

Gloria Deo cui ita oom- Glory be to God, who hath placuit. so willed!

November 5.

FIFTH DAT WITHIN THE OCTAVE OF ALL SAINTS.

And the Spirit and the Bride say : Come ! And he that heareth y let him say : Come ! — Surely I come quickly : Amen. Come, Lord Jesus. 1

While we honour the Churoh triumphant with our chants, and succour the Church suffering with our prayers, let us also turn our thoughts to the Church militant, during these days when the dosing oyole presents her to us as about to oomplete her work on earth. Now the Churoh is our model ; but especially at the close of our pilgrimage ought we to make her attitude our own. The above-cited dialogue, which will terminate the world's history, shows clearly the sentiments wherewith the Holy Spirit inspires her in preparation for the final hour.

As the sufferings of the dying man break the last ties that bound him to the life of the senses ; so the last social convulsions, however violently they may shake the Church, will eventually disengage her from the trammels of a world, which she will no longer be able to save from ruin. Free, therefore, to give herself up to her desires, which had been pent up for ages and kept under control by so many labours, she will have but one word to utter : Come! And in the

1 Apoc. xxii. 17, 20.

TIMB AFTER PENTECOST. universal destruction, when the sun shall be darkened and the moon shall hide her light, and the powers of heaven shall be moved, she will rejoioe, knowing that in the midst of that awful night the cry will be heard : Behold the Bridegroom eometh !

Let him that heareth 9 let everyone of us say also : Come! If we love our Lord, if we would be reoognized as members of his dear Church, let us be worthy of that beautiful title ; let us see all things with the Church's eyes ; let us appreciate all things, and especially death, according to her heart ; let us look upon the last passage, both for our dear ones and for ourselves, as the entrance into the eternal nuptial feast. We know well that if anyone sincerely desires our Lord, our Lord will not be wanting to him. Even if, after this life, we have yet some debts to pay, if some adornment be wanting to our wedding garment ere we can take our plaoe at the heavenly panquet ; the blessed passage, nevertheless, plaoes all the just, at once and entirety, in a state of impeooa* bility, and in the seoure possession of eternal love. Such, as we shall have occasion to see, were the sentiments of our forefathers.

Many churches in France, Switzerland, and England, used formerly to sing the following Sequence in honour of the Saints.

8EQUENCE.

Ohristo inclyto Candida To Christ the all-glorious

Nostra canunt melodiam our white-robed choirs sing agmina, melody, giving praise to afl

Laudes omnibus dantia the Saints on this their sacred

Sanctis par hseo saorata fes- festival. talia.