Fifth Bat Within the Octave

um peccata. Angelorum concio tota Et Archangelorum turba in- clyta

Nostra diluant jam peccata, Parando supera coeli gaudia.

Tu propheta, prseco, lucerna,

Atque plus quam propheta, In lucida nos pone via, Mundans nostra corpora.

Apostolorum princeps Atque cuncta Juncta caterva, Jam oorrobora Vera in doctrina Plebis peotora.

Stepnane gloriose, Butilans in corona, Sanctorumgue Martyrum Turma valida, Fortia date corda, Corpora seque firma, Saora ut hostem vincant Bite spicula.

Martine inclyte Et prsBsulum omnia caterva, Suscipe nuno pia Modo nostra demons precata.

Begina Virginum permaxima,

Tu Mater es incorrupta, Yirgo et gravida ; Sacrata Domino est castitas : Nostras serva animas Mundaque corpora. Monachorum veneranda suifragia given to us the gift of life 0 Queen, who art both Mother and Virgin, through thy Son cancel our sins.

May the whole assembly of Angels, and the glorious multitude of Archangels, cleanse away our sins, and prepare us for the supernal delights of heaven.

0 thou, who wast prophet, and herald, and lamp, yea and more than a prophet, make us all pure and set us in the path of light.

Prince of Apostles, together with all thy colleagues, strengthen the hearts of thy people in true doctrine.

Glorious Stephen, glittering in thy crown ; mighty army of holy martyrs ; give us brave hearts and strong bodies, that the darts of our ho-

S faith may duly vanquish e enemy.

Illustrious Martin, and all the band of holy Pontiffs, kindly receive this day our filial prayers.

0 peerless Queen of virgins, thou art a Mother and yet spotless, a Maiden and yet fruitful ; chastity is sacred to our Lord ; preserve our souls and bodies pure.

May the venerable suffrages of the Monks, and may; the,

TIME AFTER PENTECOST.

Omniumque Sanctorum contubernia Per precata assidua Nostra gubernent tempora, Nosque ducant ad superna Polorum vera gaudia. Subjungant pium agmina Amen redempta. assembly of all the Saints by their prayers, rule our times, and lead us to the true and supernatural joys of heaven.

Let the ranks of the redeemed add a fervent Amen.

The hymn for the Vespers of the Dead in the Mozarabic Offioe is taken from the tenth song in the Oathemerinon of Prudentius.

Deus ignee fons animarum,

Duo qui socias elementa : Yivum simul, ae moribundum,

Hominem, Pater effigiasti. Tua sunt, tua Rector utraque : Tibi copula jungitur ho- rum ;

Tibi, dum vegetata cohserent

Spiritus simul et caro servit. Bescissa sed ista seorsum,

Solvunt hominem, perimuntque ;

Humus excipit arida corpus,

Animeerapit aura liquorem. Quia cuncta creata necesse est Labefacta senescere tandem, Oompactaque dissociari, Et dissona texta retexi.

Hinc maxima cura sepulchris

Impenditur: hinc resolutos gonor ultimus accipit artus,

0 God, thou fiery source of living beings, who, uniting two elements in one, the mortal and the immortal, didst fashion man, 0 our Father.

Both are thine, and thou art their Ruler ; their union is linked to thee ; and while they live and cleave together, both spirit and flesh serve thee.

But when they are rent asunder, dissolution and death come upon man ; the dry earth receives his body, while the swift spirit flees to heaven.

'Tis the lot of all created things to fail and grow old at last, for compound beings to be dissolved, for the union of dissimilar elements to be unknit.

Therefore is so great care bestowed upon the sepulchres ; therefore are the last honours paid to these lifeless limbs.

NOV. 5. FIFTH DA Et funeris ambitus ornat.

Hoc provida Christioolarum

Pietas studet, utpote credens

Fore protinus omnia viva, Quae nunc gelidus sopor urget.

Qui jacta cadavera passim Miserans tegit aggere terrae : Opus exhibet ille benignum Christo pius omnipotent*.

Quia lex eadem monet omnes

Gemitum dare sorte sub una,

Cognataque funera nobis Aliena in morte dolere. Sequimur tua dicta, Ee- demptor, Quibus atra e morte trium- phans, Tua per vestigia mandas Socium crucis ire latronem.

Patet ecce fidelibus ampli Via lucida jam paradisi; Licet et nemus lllud adire Homini, quod ademerat an- guis.

Ulic precor, Optime Ductor,

Famulam tibi praecipe mentern

Genitali in eede sacrari, Quam liquerat exsul, et errans.

Animas, non immemor ob hoc,

Quarum memores sumus ipsi. and the funeral pomp does them homage.

Such is the provident piety exercised by Christ's disciples, believing that all which now lies wrapt in icy slumber, shall suddenly spring to life again.

Whoever, then, in loving pity, shall cover with earth the corpses that lie unburied, does in his piety a kindly deed to Christ himself the Omnipotent.

Since the common law admonishes us that all groan under the same fate, it behoves us to mourn, in a stranger's death, the loss of one of our kin.

We follow therefore thy words, 0 Eedeemer, when, triumphing over dismal death, thou didst bid the thief, thy fellow-crucified, to tread in thy footprints.

Lo! now the shining path, that leads to the broad land of Eden, lies open to thy faithful; and man may again enter that beautiful garden, of which the serpent had despoiled him.

There, 0 best of guides ! we pray thee, bid the soul thy nandmaid be made holy in the place of her creation, which she had quitted as an exile and a wanderer.

Wherefore be mindful, 0 God, of the souls, whose memory we cherish ; let them, we beseech thee, be cleanse^

XIME AFTER PENTECOST.

Deus, sorde rogamus, piatas,

Erebi rogis fac alienas. Sit honor tibi, fons pietatis :

Laus, gloria, summa potestas

Patri, Genito, sive Domino Orbis Regi ; qui Deus unus. Amen. from all stain, and escape the fires of hell.

Honour to thee, 0 fount of mercy ! Praise, glory, sovereign power, to the Father, to the Son, to the Lord who rules the world, one only God. Amen.

The following Preface, which is well inspired and has a ring of the ancient formulae, is still used in some places in Masses for the Dead.

PREFACE.

Vere dignum et justum est, sequum et salutare, nos tibi semper et ubique gratias agere : Domine sancte, Pater omnipotens, aeterne Deus ; per Christum Dominum nostrum. In quo nobis spem beatae resurrectionis concessisti ; ut dum naturam contristat certa moriendi conditio, fidem consoletur futurae immortahtatis promissio. Tuis enim fidenbus, Domine, vita mutatur, non tollitur ; et dissoluta terrestris hujus habitationis domo, aeterna in coelis habitatio comparatur. Et ideo cum Angelis et Archangelis, cum Thronis et Dominationibus, cumque omni militia coelestis exercitus, hymnum glorias tuse canimus, sine fine dicentes : Sanctus, Sanctus, Sanctus.

It is truly meet and just, right and salutary, that we should always and in all places give thanks to thee, 0 holy Lord, Father Almighty, eternal God, through Christ our Lord. In whom thou hast bestowed on us the hope of a blessed resurrection : so that, although the inevitable sentence of death fills our human nature with sorrow, the promise of a future resurrection consoles our faith. For the life of thy faithful, 0 Lord, is altered, not taken away ; and when this house of our earthly habitation is destroyed, an eternal dwelling is prepared for us in heaven. And therefore with the Angels and Archangels, with the Thrones and Dominations, and with all the host of the heavenly army, we sing a hymn to thy flory, saying without ceasing : [oly, Holy, Holy.

November 6. SIXTH DAT WITHIN THE OCTAVE OF ALL SAINTS.

Thou art my portion, 0 Lord, Alleluia, in the land of the living, Alleluia, Alleluia. — Bring forth my soul out of prison, to confess to thy Name; in the land of the living, Alleluia, Alleluia. — Olory and honour be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost, world without end, Amen : in the land of the living, Alleluia, Alleluia}

Such is the opening chant for the departed, in the Mozarabio Missal. With the Greeks, in like manner, no word is of more frequent recurrence in the Office of the Dead, than the Alleluia. 2 Moreover, both Greeoe and Spain are but observing what was once a general practice throughout the Churoh.

St. Jerome tells us how, at the death of Fabiola, all the Roman people assembled, the ohant of psalms echoed on all sides, and the sublime Alleluia filled the temples till it shook their gilded roofs. 8 Two centuries later, the story of St. Radegonde's funeral, written by her daughter Baudonivia, proves that, if submissive tears were not forbidden to the survivors

1 In Missa defunctorum OJicium (sen Introittu). Tu es portio mea, Domine, alleluia, in terra viventium, alleluia, alleluia, ^f. Educ de carcere am* mam meam ad confitendum nomini tuo : in terra viventium, alleluia, alleluia. Gloria et honor Patri, et Filio, et Spiritui Sancto, in MBCula saculorum, amen : in terra viventium, alleluia, alleluia. in Euchologio.

TIME AFTER PENTECOST. and might at times even flow abundantly, the custom in Gaul was, nevertheless, the same as that of Borne. 1

And again with regard to a later period, the Manuscript of Kheims quoted by Dom Hugh Menard in his notes on the Gregorian Saoramentary, 2 prescribes as a prelude to the burial prayers, the chanting of the Psalm In exitu Israel de JEgypto, with Alleluia as Antiphon.

When St. Anthony buried in the desert the body of St. Paul the first hermit, the biographer of the latter relates that, in accordance with Christian tradition, Anthony sang hymns as well as psalms. 8 Such was actually the universal Christian tradition, identical in all lands.

St. John Ohrysostom remarks the same fact, and explains it thus : " Tell me, are they not oonquerors, " the dead whom we carry in procession with shining " torches and the singing of hymns P Yes ; we praise " God and give him thanks ; for he orowns the de- 11 parted one ; he has put an end to his labour ; and "he keeps him near himself, free from all fear. "Seek no other explanation for these hymns and " psalms : they are an expression of joy." 4

St. Dionysius speaks in the same strain, in his book on the Ecolesiastioal Hierarchy. After alluding to the joy of the dying Christian, as he sees approaching the end of his struggle and an eternal security, he adds : " The relatives of the deceased, his " friends in God and in holiness, proclaim him blessed "for having conquered at last; and they address " their songs of thanksgiving to the heavenly Author " of the victory. Praying that themselves may ob- " tain a similar lot, they bear him to the hieraroh the " distributor of the holy crowns, to whom it belongs

1 Baudonivia, Vita Radegundis,28. a Nota 680. 3 Hibrok. Vita S. Pauli, primi eremite, 16. * Chrys, In epist. ad Hebr.

Jlomil. iv.