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THE
LITURGICAL YEAR
ADVENT
THE
LITURGICAL YEAR.
VERY REV. DOM PROSPER GUERANGER,
ABBOT OF SOLESMES.
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BY THE
EEV. DOM LAUKENCE SHEPHERD,
MONK OF THE ENGLISH-BENEDICTINE CONGBEGATION.
ADVENT.
SECOND EDITION.
DUBLIN: JAMES DUFFY, 15, WELLINGTON-QUAY;
AND
22 PATERNOSTER-ROW, LONDON.
1870.
UNIVERSITY-LIBRARY
UNIVERSITY OF NORTH CAROLINA
AT CHAPEL HiLL
DUBLIN :
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INTRODUCTION.
The name of Dom Gueranger, Abbot of Soles- mes, needs no recommendation. He has been long known, both in his own country and in England, by his pious and edifying Works.
The Work which is now put within the reach of those, who use only our own language, is truly Benedictine in its aim and spirit. The Sons of Saint Dominic have attached themselves to the scientific Theology of the Church, and their mis- sion is to cry aloud in the streets as Preachers, and to stand in the breach as defenders of the Faith. The Sons of Saint Benedict have a more tranquil mission, within the walls of the Sanc- tuary, and on the steps of the Altar. The Annee Liturgique is the fruit of this interior and peaceful spirit. It is a prolonged medita- tion on the wonderful order of Divine Worship, which has formed itself around the Presence of the Incarnate Word. It is the adoration of
*>/*
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VI INTRODUCTION.
the Father in Spirit and in Truth in the circle of His Divine acts for the redemption of the world. The Calendar of the Church renews before our spiritual and intellectual vision, — it may almost be said, before our eyes of Sense, — the Suprem e Worship of the Ever Blessed Trinity, in the Communion of the Saints. Into this in- terior world of heavenly beauty, splendour, and peace, the Liturgy of the Church admits us day by day. And the Abbot of Solesmes has ren- dered a signal help to all who love this prelude of a better world, and this avenue to the Vision of peace, by his beautiful and spiritual com- mentary on our Seasons and Solemnities. Our thanks are also due to the Eev. Father Shep- herd, O.S.B., for the patience and care with which he has undertaken this Translation.
London,
Feast of the Maternity
of the B. V. Mary, 1867.
% Henry Edward, Archbishop of Westminster.
CONTENTS.
THE LITURGICAL YEAR.
PAGE
General Preface, 1
ADVENT.
Chapter I. — The History of Advent, . . .23 Chap. II. — The Mystery of Advent, . . .31 Chap. III. — Practice during Advent, ... 38 Chap. IV. — Morning and Night Prayers for Advent, 45 Chap. V. — On Hearing Mass, during Advent, . 62 Chap. VI. — On Holy Communion, during Advent, 97 Chap. VII. — On the Office of Sunday's Vespers, dur- ing Advent, 104
Chap. VIII. — On the Office of Compline, during Ad- vent 114
Proper of the Time, 125
The First Sunday of Advent, . . . .127
Mass, 130
Vespers, . 138
Vlll CONTENTS.
PAGE
Monday of the 1st Week of Advent, . . .141
Tuesday, 144
Wednesday, 148
Thursday, 153
Friday, 157
Saturday, 161
The Second Sunday of Advent, . . . .165 Mass, ......... 169
Vespers, 175
Monday of the 2nd Week of Advent, . . .177
Tuesday, 183
Wednesday, 188
Thursday, 193
Friday, . . . . . . . . .197
Saturday, 202
The Third Sunday of Advent, .... 206
Mass, . 209
Vespers, 215
Monday of the 3rd Week of Advent, . . .217
Tuesday, 221
Wednesday in Ember Week, . . ... 227
Thursday, 233
Friday in Ember Week, . . . . . 237
Saturday in Ember Week, 240
The Fourth Sunday of Advent, .... 243
Mass, ......... 246
Vespers, 251
Monday of the 4th Week of Advent, . . . 253
Tuesday, . . 257
Wednesday, 261
Thursday, . 265
Friday, 270
CONTENTS, IX
PAGE
Proper of the Saints, 277
November 30. Saint Andrew, Apostle, . . . 282
December 1 310
„ 2. Saint Bibiana, Virgin and Martyr, . 318 „ 3. Saint Francis Xavier, Confessor,
Apostle of the Indies, . . . 324 „ 4. Saint Peter Chrysologus, Bishop and
Doctor of the Church, . . . 333
Same Day. Saint Barbara, Virgin and Martyr, 341 „ 5. Commemoration of Saint Sabas,
Abbot, 351
„ 6. Saint Nicholas, Bishop of Myra, and
Confessor, . . . . .355 „ 7. Saint Ambrose, Bishop and Doctor
of the Church, . . . .371 „ 8. The Immaculate Conception of
the Blessed Virgin, . . . 393
First Vespers, .... 406
Mass, 415
Second Vespers, . . . 424 „ 9. Second day within the Octave of the
Immaculate Conception, . . 431 „ 10. Third day within the Octave, . . 435 Same Day. Saint Melchiades, Pope and Mar- tyr, 441
„ The Translation of the holy House
of Loretto, 443
„ Saint Eulalia, Virgin and Martyr, 448
„ 11. Saint Damasus, Pope and Confessor, 461
„ 12. Fifth day within the Octave, . . 468
„ 13. Saint Lucy, Virgin and Martyr, . 473
Same Day. Saint Odilia, Virgin and Abbess, . 478
„ 14. Seventh day within the Octave, . 488
„ 15. Octave of the Immaculate Conception, 492
x CONTENTS.
PAGE
December 16. Saint Eusebius, Bishop of Vercelli and
Martyr, . . . . .499
„ 17. The commencement of the Great An-
tiphons, 508
Same Day. 0 Sapientia ! . . . . 509
„ 18. 0 Adona'i! .512
Same Day. The Expectation of the Blessed
Virgin Mary, 513
„ 19. 0 Radix Jesse ! 516
„ 20. 0 Clavis David ! 518
„ 21. Saint Thomas, Apostle, .... 520
Same Day. 0 Oriens ! 526
„ 22. 0 Rex Gentium ! 528
„ 23. 0 Emmanuel ! . . . . . 530
„ 24. Christmas Eve, 532
Mass, 538
THE
LITURGICAL YEAR.
GENERAL PREFACE.
PRAYER is man's richest boon. It is his light, his nourishment, and his very life, for it brings him into communication with God, who is light? nourishment? and life? But, of ourselves, we know not what we should pray for as we ought ;4 we must needs, there- fore, address ourselves to Jesus Christ, and say to him as the Apostles did : Lord, teach us how to pray.5 He alone can make the dumb speak, and give elo- quence to the mouths of children ; and this prodigy he effects by sending his Spirit of grace, and of prayers,6 who delights in helping our infirmity, ashing for us with unspeakable groanings.7
Now, it is in the holy Church that this divine Spirit dwells. He came down to her as an impetuous wind, and manifested himself to her under the ex- pressive symbol of tongues of fire. Ever since that day of Pentecost, he has dwelt in this his favoured Spouse. He is the principle of everything that is in her. He it is that prompts her prayers, her desires,
i St. John, viii. 12. 4 Rom. viii. 26. 6 Zach. xii. 10.
2 Ibid. vi. 35. 5 St. Luke, xi. 1. r Rom. viii. 26.
3 Ibid. xiv. 6.
2 GENERAIi PREFACE.
her canticles of praise, her enthusiasm, and even her mourning. Hence, her Prayer is as uninterrupted as her existence. Day and night is her voice sound- ing sweetly on the ear of her divine Spouse, and her words are ever finding a welcome in his heart.
At one time, under the impulse of that Spirit, which animated the admirable Psalmist and the Pro- phets, she takes the subject of her canticles from the Books of the Old Testament ; at another, showing herself to be the daughter and sister of the holy Apostles, she intones the canticles written in the Books of the New Covenant; and finally, remember- ing that she, too, has had given to her the trumpet and harp, she at times gives way to the Spirit which animates her, and sings her own new canticle} From these three sources comes the divine element which we call the Liturgy,
The Prayer of the Church is, therefore, the most pleasing to the ear and heart of God, and therefore the most efficacious of all prayers. Happy, then, is he who prays with the Church, and unites his own petitions with those of this Spouse, who is so dear to her Lord, that he gives her all she asks. It was for this reason that our Blessed Saviour taught us to say our Father, and not my Father ; give us, forgive us, deliver us, and not give me, forgive me, deliver me. Hence, we find that, for upwards of a thousand years, the Church, who prays in her temples seven times in the day, and once again during the night, did not pray alone. The people kept her company, and fed
1 Ps. cxliii. 9.
GENERAL PREFACE. 8
themselves with delight on the manna which is hidden under the words and mysteries of the divine Liturgy. Thus initiated into the sacred Cycle of the mysteries of the Christian year, the faithful, atten- tive to the teachings of the Spirit, came to know the secrets of eternal life ; and, without any farther pre- paration, a Christian was not unfrequently chosen by the Bishops to be a Priest, or even a Bishop, that he might go and pour out on the people the treasures of wisdom and love, which he had drunk in at the very fountain-head.
For whilst Prayer said in union with the Church is the light of the understanding, it is the fire of divine love for the heart. The Christian soul neither needs nor wishes to avoid the company of the Church, when she would converse with God, and praise his greatness and his mercy. She knows that the com- pany of the Spouse of Christ could not be a distrac- tion to her. Is not the soul herself a part of this Church, which is the Spouse ? Has not Jesus Christ said : Father, may they be one, as we also are one ?l and, when many are gathered in his name, does not this same Saviour assure us that he is in the midst of them ? 2 The soul, therefore, may converse freely with her God, who tells her that he is so near her ; she may sing praise, as David did, in the sight of the Angels,3 whose eternal prayer blends with the prayer which the Church utters in time.
But for now many past ages, Christians have grown too solicitous about earthly things to frequent the
1 St. John, xvii. 11. 2 St. Matth. xviii. 20. 3 Ps. cxxxvii. 1.
4 GENEKAL PEEFACE.
holy Vigils, and the mystical Hours of the day. Long before the Rationalism of the sixteenth century became the auxiliary of the heresies of that period by curtailing the solemnity of the Divine Service, the days for the people's uniting exteriorly with the Prayer of the Church had been reduced to Sundays and Festivals. During the rest of the year, the solemn and imposing grandeur of the Liturgy was gone through, and the people took no share in it. Each new generation increased in indifference for that which their forefathers in the faith had loved as their best and strongest food. Social prayer was made to give way to individual devotion. Chanting, which is the natural expression of the prayers and even of the sorrows of the Church, became limited to the solemn feasts. That was the first sad revolu- tion in the Christian world.
But, even then, Christendom was still rich in churches and monasteries, and there, day and night, was still heard the sound of the same venerable prayers which the Church had used through all the past ages. So many hands lifted up to God drew down upon the earth the dew of heaven, averted storms, and won victory for those who were in battle. These servants of God, who thus kept up an untiring choir that sang the divine praises, were considered as solemnly deputed by the people, which was still Catholic, to pay the full tribute of homage and thanksgiving due to God, his Blessed Mother and the Saints. These prayers formed a treasury which be- longed to all. The faithful gladly united themselves in spirit to what was done. When any affliction, or
GENERAL PREFACE. 5
the desire to obtain a special favour, led them to the house of God, they were sure to hear, no matter at what hour they went, that untiring voice of prayer which was for ever ascending to heaven for the salva- tion of mankind. At times they would give up their worldly business and cares, and take part in the Office of the Church, and all still understood, at least in a general way, the mysteries of the Liturgy.
Then came the Reformation, and, at the onset, it attacked the very life of Christianity; — it would put an end to the sacrifice of man's praise of his God. It strewed many countries with the ruins of churches ; the Clergy, the Monks, and Virgins consecrated to God, were banished or put to death ; and in the churcheswhich were spared, the divine Offices were not permitted. In other countries, where the persecution was not so violent, many sanctuaries were devastated and irremediably ruined, so that the life and voice of Prayer grew faint. Faith, too, was weakened ; na- tionalism became fearfully developed ; and now, our own age seems threatened with what is the result of these evils, — the subversion of all social order.
For, when the Reformation had abated the violence of its persecution, it had other weapons wherewith to attack the Church. By these, several countries, which continued to be Catholic, were infected with that spirit of pride, which is the enemy of Prayer. The modern spirit would have it, that Prayer is not Action: — as though every good action, done by man, were not a gift of God ; a gift which implies two prayers : one of petition, that it may be granted ; and another of thanksgiving, because it is granted ! There
6 GENERAL PREFACE.
were found men who said, Let us abolish all the fes- tival days of God from the earth ;a and then came upon ns that calamity which brings all others with it, and which the good Mardochai besought God to avert from his nation, when he said, Shut not, 0 Lord, the mouths of them that sing to thee !2
But, by the mercy of God, we have not been con- sumed ; 3 there have been left remnants of Israel f and the number of believers in the Lord has increased.5 What is it that has moved the heart of our God to bring about this merciful conversion ? Prayer, which had been interrupted, has been resumed. Numerous choirs of Virgins consecrated to God, and, though far less in number, of men who have left the world to spend themselves in the divine praises, make the voice of the turtle-dove heard in our land.6 This voice is every day gaining more power: may it find acceptance from our Lord, and move him to show the sign of his covenant with us, the rainbow of reconciliation ! May our venerable Cathedrals again re-echo those solemn formulas of Prayer, which heresy has so long suppressed ! May the faith and munificence of the faithful reproduce the prodigies of those past ages, which owed their greatness to the acknowledgment, which all, even the very civic authorities, paid to the all-powerfulness of Prayer !
But this Liturgical Prayer would soon become powerless, were the faithful not to take a real share in it, or, at least, not to associate themselves to it in
1 Ps. Ixxiii. 8. 3 Lam. iii. 22. 5 Acts, v. 14.
2 Esther, xiii. 17. * Is. i. 5. 6 Cant. ii. 12.
GENERAL PREFACE, 7
heart. It can heal and save the world, but only on the condition that it be understood. Be wise, then, ye children of the Catholic Church, and get that largeness of heart which will make you pray the Prayer of your Mother. Come, and by your share in it, fill up that harmony which is so sweet to the ear of God. Where would you obtain the spirit of Prayer if not at its natural source ? Let us remind you of the exhortation of the Apostle to the first Christians : Let the peace of Christ rejoice in your hearts, — let the Word of Christ divell in you abun- dantly, in all wisdom ; teaching and admonishing one another, in Psalms, Hymns, and spiritual Canticles, singing in grace in your hearts to God} For a long time, a remedy has been devised for an evil which was only vaguely felt. The spirit of Prayer, and even Prayer itself, has been sought for in methods, and Prayer Books, which contain, it is true, laudable, yea, pious thoughts, but, after all, only human thoughts. Such nourishment cannot satisfy the soul, for it does not initiate her into the Prayer of the Church. In- stead of uniting her with the Prayer of the Church, it isolates her. Of this kind are so many of those collections of prayers and reflections, which have been published, under different titles, during the last two hundred years, and by which it was intended to edify the faithful, and suggest to them, either for hearing Mass, or going to the Sacraments, or keeping the Feasts of the Church, certain more or less com- monplace considerations and acts, always drawn up
1 Coloss. iii. 15, 16.
8 GENERAL PREFACE.
according to the manner of thought and sentiment peculiar to the author of each book. Each Manual had consequently its own way of treating these im- portant subjects. To Christians already formed to piety, such books as these, would, indeed, serve a pur- pose, especially as nothing better was offered to them : but they had not influence sufficient to inspire with a relish and spirit of Prayer such as had not other- wise received them.
It may perhaps be objected, that were all practical books of Christian piety to be reduced to mere expla- nations of the Liturgy, we should run the risk of impoverishing, and even destroying, by excessive for- malities, the spirit of Prayer and Contemplation, which is such a precious gift of the Holy Ghost to the Church of God. To this we answer firstly, that by asserting the immense superiority of Liturgical over individual Prayer, we do not say that indivi- dual methods should be suppressed; we would only wish them to be kept in their proper place. Then secondly, we answer that in the divine Psalmody there are several degrees : the lowest are near enough to the earth to be reached by souls that are still plod- ding in the fatigues of the purgative way ; but in proportion as a soul ascends this mystic ladder, she feels herself illuminated by a heavenly ray ; and still higher, she finds union and rest in the Sovereign Good. Whence, for instance, did the holy Doctors of the early ages, and the venerable Patriarchs of the desert, acquire their spiritual knowledge and tender devotion, of which they have left us such treasures in their writings and their works ? It was from those
GENERAL PREFACE. 9
long hours of Psalmody, during which Truth, simple yet manifold, unceasingly passed before the eyes of their soul, rilling it with streams of light and love. What was it that gave to the seraphic Bernard that wonderful unction, which runs in streams of honey through all his writings ? To the author of the Imi- tation of Christ that sweetness, that hidden manna, which seems ever fresh ? To Louis Blosius, that inex- pressible charm and tenderness which move the heart of every reader ? It was the daily use of the Liturgy, in the midst of which they spent their days, inter- mingling their songs of joy with those of their sorrow.
Let not then the soul, the spouse of Christ, that is possessed with a love of Prayer, be afraid that her thirst cannot be quenched by these rich streams of the Liturgy, which now flow calmly as a streamlet, now roll with the loud impetuosity of a torrent, and now swell with the mighty heavings of the sea. Let her come and drink this clear water which springeth up unto life everlasting ;* for this water flows from the very fountains of her Saviour f and the Spirit of God animates it by his virtue, rendering it sweet and refreshing to the panting stag.3 Neither let a soul, that is in love with the charms of Contemplation, be afraid of the pomp and harmony of the chants of Li- turgical Prayer, as though they could distract her; for what is this soul herself but an instrument of harmony responding to the touch of that divine Spirit which possesses her ? Would she, when she wishes to enjoy
1 St. John, iv. 14. 2 Is. xii. 3. 3 Ps. xli. 2.
10 GENERAL PREFACE.
the heavenly interview, comport herself differently from the Royal Psalmist himself, that model of all true Prayer, recognised as such by God and the Church ? Yet he, when he would enkindle the sacred flame within his breast, has recourse to his harp : My heart is ready, he says ; 0 God, my heart is ready ; I will sing, I will give forth a Psalm. A rise, my glory ! arise, psaltery and harp ! I will arise in the morning early. I will praise thee, 0 Lord, among the people ; and I will sing unto thee among the nations. For thy mercy is great above the heavens, and thy truth even unto the clouds.1 At other times, if, in the interior recollection of the senses, he have entered into the powers of the Lord,,2 then, in his meditation, afireflameth out,z a fire of holy excitement; and to assuage the heat which is burning within him, he bursts out into another canticle, saying : My heart hath uttered a good word; I speak my works to the King ; and publishes again and again the beauty and victories of the Bridegroom, and the graces of the Bride.4 So true is it, that for Contemplative souls, Liturgical Prayer is both the principle and the consequence of the visits they re- ceive from God.
But in nothing is the excellency of the Liturgy so apparent, as in its being milk for children, and solid food for the strong ; thus resembling the miraculous bread of the desert, and taking every kind of taste according to the different dispositions of those who
1 Ps. cvii. 5. 3 Ps. xxxviii. 4.
3 Ibid. lxx. 16. 4 Ibid. xliv. 2.
GENERAL PREFACE. 11
eat. It is, indeed* a divine property, which has not unfrequently been noticed even by those who are not of the number of God's children, and has forced them to acknowledge that the Catholic Church alone knows the secret of Prayer. Nay, might it not be said that the reason of the Protestants having no Ascetic writers, is that they have no real Liturgical Grayer ? It is true, that a sufficient explanation of the abso- lute want of unction, which characterises all that the Reformation has produced, is to be found in its deny- ing the Holy Sacrament of the Eucharist, which is the centre of all Religion : but this is virtually the same as saying that Protestants have no Liturgical Prayer, inasmuch as the Liturgy is so essentially and inti- mately connected with the Eucharist. So true is this, that wheresoever the dogma of the Real Presence has ceased to be believed, there also have the Canonical Hours ceased, and could not but cease.
It is therefore Jesus Christ himself who is the source as well as the object of the Liturgy; and hence the Ecclesiastical Year which we have undertaken to explain in this work, is neither more nor less than the manifestation of Jesus Christ, and his Mysteries, in the Church and the faithful soul. It is the divine Cycle, in which appear all the works of God, each in its turn ; the Seven Days of the Creation ; the Pasch and Pentecost of the Jewish people ; the ineffable Visit of the Incarnate Word ; His Sacrifice and His Victory; the Descent of the Holy Ghost; the Holy Eucharist ; the surpassing glories of the Mother of God, ever a Virgin ; the magnificence of the Angels ; the merits and triumphs of the Saints. Thus, the
12 GENERAL PREFACE.
Cycle of the Church may be said to have its beginning under the Patriarchal Law, its progress under the Written Law, and its completion under the Law of Love, in which, at length, having attained its last per- fection, it will disappear in eternity, as the Written Law gave way the day on which the invincible power of the Blood of the Lamb rent asunder the veil of the Temple.
Would that we might worthily describe the sacred wonders of this mystical Calendar, of which all others are bat images and humble auxiliaries ! Happy in- deed should we deem ourselves, if we could make the faithful understand the grand glory which is given to the Blessed Trinity, to our Saviour, to Mary, to the Angels, and to the Saints, by this annual commemo- ration of the wondrous works of our God ! If, every year, the Church renews her youth as that of the eagle,1 she does so because, by means of the Cycle of the Liturgy, she is visited by her divine Spouse, who supplies all her wants. Each year she again sees him an Infant in the manger, fasting in the desert, offer- ing himself on the Cross, rising from the grave, founding his Church, instituting the Sacraments, as- cending to the right hand of his Father, and sending the Holy Ghost upon men. The graces of all these divine mysteries are renewed in her ; so that, being made fruitful in every good thing, the mystic Garden yields to the Spouse, in every season, under the influence of the spirit he breathes into her, the sweet perfume of aromatic sfAces? Each year, the
1 Ps. cii. 5. 2 cant< iv. 16.
GENERAL PREFACE. 13
Spirit of God retakes possession of his well Beloved, and gives her light and love ; each year she derives an increase of life from the maternal influence which the Blessed Virgin exercises over her, on the feasts of her joys, her dolours, and her glories-, and lastly, the brilliant constellations formed by the successive ap- pearance of the nine choirs of the Angels, and the Saints in their varied orders of Apostles, Martyrs, Confessors, and Virgins, shed on her, each year, power- ful help and abundant consolation.
Now, what the Liturgical Year does for the Church at large, it does also for the soul of each one of the faithful th?4 is careful to receive the gift of God. This succession of mystic seasons imparts to the Christian the elements of that supernatural life, with- out which every other life is but a sort of death, more or less disguised. Nay, there are some souls, so far acted upon by the divine succession of the Catholic Cycle, that they experience even a physical effect from each evolution: the supernatural life has gained ascendency over the natural, and the Ca- lendar of the Church makes them forget that of Astronomers.
Let the Catholic who reads this work be on his guard against that coldness of faith, and that want of love, which have well-nigh turned into an object of indifference that admirable Cycle of the Church, which heretofore was, and always ought to be, the joy of the people, the source of light to the learned, and the book]of the humblest of the faithful.
The reader will rightly infer from what we have said, that the object we have in view is not, in any
14 GENEEAL PREFACE.
way, to publish some favourite or clever method of our own with regard to the Mysteries of the Ecclesi- astical Year, nor to make them subjects for eloquence, philosophy, or intellectual fancy. We have bat one aim, and we humbly ask of God that we may attain it ; it is to serve as interpreter to the Church, in order thus to enable the faithful to follow her in her Prayer of each mystic season, nay, of each day and hour. God forbid, that we should ever presume to put our human thoughts side by side with those which our Lord Jesus Christ, who is the Wisdom of God, inspires by the Holy Ghost to his well-beloved Spouse the Church ! All that we would do is to show what is the spirit which the Holy Ghost has put into each of the several periods of the Liturgical Year ; and for this purpose, to study attentively the most ancient and venerable Liturgies, and embody in our explana- tion the sentiments of the Holy Fathers and the old- est and most approved Liturgists. With these helps we hope to give to the faithful the flowers of Eccle- siastical Prayer, and thus unite, as far as possible, practical usefulness with the charm of variety.
In this work we shall lay great stress on the cultus of the Saints, inasmuch as it is always needed, but now more than ever. Devotion to the adorable Per- son of our Saviour has revived among us with a vigorous development; devotion to our Blessed Lady has wonderfully spread and increased ; let the Saints also receive our honour and our confidence, and then the last traces of the unhappy spirit introduced by Jansenism will disappear. But, since we cannot in- troduce all the Saints into our Calendar, we shall
GENERAL PREFACE. 15
limit ourselves, almost exclusively, to those inserted in that of Rome.
Nevertheless, the Roman Liturgy is not the only one we intend to give, though of course it will be the most prominent, as being the very basis of our Litur- gical Year. The Ambrosian, the Gallican, the Gothic or Mozarabic, the Greek, the Armenian, the Syriac Liturgies will, each in its turn, give us of their riches and form our treasury of Prayers ; and thus, never will the voice of the Church have been fuller and more impressive. The Western Churches, during the Middle Ages, have inserted, into the Liturgy oi some of the Feasts, Sequences so admirable for their unction and doctrine, that we shall consider it a duty to give them to the faithful as often as occasion serves.
The plan we shall follow in each volume of this Liturgical Year, will depend upon the subjects which must be treated of in each respectively. Everything that relates to the merely scientific bearing of the Liturgy, will be reserved for our " Liturgical Insti- tutions" The present work will be limited to those details, which are necessary to be understood by the faithful in order to their entering into the Spirit of the Church, during the several mystic seasons of the year. The sacred formulae will be explained and adapted to the use of the laity by means of a com- mentary, in which we shall endeavour to avoid both the imprudence of a literal translation, and the dul- ness of a tedious and insipid paraphrase.
Since, as we have already said, our aim is to pre- sent to the faithful the most solid and useful portions of the Liturgies, we have excluded from our selection
16 GENERAL PREFACE-
all such as seemed to us not to answer our purpose. This observation refers mainly to the portions selected from the Offices of the Greek Church. Nothing is finer and more impressive than this Liturgy, when read in chosen extracts; but nothing is so disap- pointing when taken as a whole. The monotony of phrases is insupportable, and the endless repetitions of the same idea spoil the real unction contained in it. We have therefore selected only the richest flowers of this over-stocked garden : more than these would have been a burden. These remarks apply especially to the Mencea and Anthologia of the Greek Church. The Liturgical books of the other Eastern Churches are generally drawn up with better taste and more discretion.
In order to conform with the wishes of the Holy See, we do not give, in any of the volumes of our Liturgical Year, the literal translation of the Ordi- nary and Canon of the Mass ; and have, in its place, endeavoured to give, to such of the laity as do not understand Latin, the means of uniting, in the closest possible manner, with everything that the Priest says and does at the altar.
The first part of the Liturgical Year is devoted to Advent. The second contains the explanation of the divine service from Christmas to the Purifica- tion. The third takes us from the Purification as far as Lent, and is called Septuagesima. The fourth comprises the four first weeks of Lent The fifth consists of Passion Week and Holy Week. The sixth includes the time of Easter. The seventh will ex- plain the Office of the Church from Trinity to the
GENEKAL PEEFACE. 17
end of July. The eighth will give the two months, August and September. The ninth will finish the year, and contain the Liturgy of October and No- vember.
The year thus planned for us by the Church her- self, produces a drama, the sublimest that has ever been offered to the admiration of man. God inter- vening for the salvation and sanctification of men, — the reconciliation of justice with mercy, — the humilia- tions, the sufferings, and the glories of the God-Man, — the coming of the Holy Ghost, and his workings in humanity and in the faithful soul, — the mission and the action of the Church, — all are there portrayed in the most telling and impressive way. Each mystery has its time and place by means of the sublime suc- cession of the respective anniversaries. A divine fact happened eighteen hundred years ago ; its anni- versary is kept in the Liturgy, and its impression thus reiterated every year in the minds of the faith- ful, with a freshness as though God were then doing for the first time, what he did so many ages past. Human ingenuity could never have devised a system of such power as this. And those writers who are bold and frivolous enough to assert, that Christianity has no longer an influence in the world, and is now but the ruin of an ancient thing, — what should they not say at seeing these undying realities, this vigour, this endlessness of the Liturgical Year ? For what is the Liturgy but an untiring affirmation of the works of God % — a solemn acknowledgment of those divine facts, which, though done but once, are imperishable in man's remembrance, and are every year renewed
c
18 GENERAL PREFACE.
by the commemoration he makes of them ? Have we not our Writings of the Apostolic Age, our Acts of the Martyrs, our Decrees of ancient Councils, our Writings of the Fathers, our Monuments, — taking us to the very origin of Christianity, and testifying to the most explicit tradition regarding our Feasts ? It is true that the Liturgical Cycle has its integrity and its development nowhere but in the Catholic Church ; but the sects which are separated from her, whether by schism or by heresy, all pay the homage of their testimony to the divine origin of the Liturgy, by the pertinacity with which they cling to the rem- nants they have preserved, — remnants, by the way, to which they owe whatever vitality they still retain. But, though the Liturgy so deeply impresses us by its annually bringing before us the dramatic solemnisation of those mysteries, which have been accomplished for the salvation of man and for his union with his God ; it is nevertheless wonderful how the succession of year after year diminishes not one atom of the freshness and vehemence of those im- pressions, and each new beginning of the Cycle of mystic seasons seems to be our first year. Advent is ever impregnated with the spirit of a sweet and mysterious expectation. Christmas ever charms us with the incomparable joy of the birth of the divine Child. We enter, with the well-known feeling, into the gloom of Septuagesima. Lent comes, and we prostrate ourselves before God's justice, and our heart is filled with a salutary fear and compunction, which seem so much keener than they were the year before. The Passion of our Redeemer, followed in every
GENERAL PREFACE. 19
minutest detail, does it not seem as though we never knew it till that year ? The pageant of Easter makes us so glad, that our former Easters appear to have been only half- kept. The triumphant Ascension discloses to us, upon the whole economy of the In- carnation, secrets which we never knew before this year. When the Holy Ghost comes down at Pente- cost, is it not the case, that we so thrill with the renewal of the great Presence, that our emotions of last Whit Sunday seem too" tame for this ? However habituated we get to the ineffable gift which Jesus made us on the eve of his Passion, the bright dear feast of Corpus Christi brings strange increase of love to our heart; and the Blessed Sacrament seems more our own than ever. The feasts of our Blessed Lady come round, each time revealing something more of her greatness ; and the Saints, — with whom we fancied we had become so thoroughly acquainted, — each year as they visit us, seem so much grander, we understand them better, we feel more sensibly the link there is between them and ourselves.
This renovative power of the Liturgical Year, to which we wish to draw the attention of our readers, is a mystery of the Holy Ghost, who unceasingly animates the work which he has inspired the Church to establish among men ; that thus they might sanctify that time which has been given to them for the worship of their Creator. The renovation works also a twofold growth in the mind of man, — the in- crease of knowledge of the truths of faith, and the development of the supernatural life. There is not a single point of Christian doctrine which, in the course
20 GENERAL PREFACE.
of the Liturgical Year, is not brought forward, nay, which is not inculcated, with that authority and unction, wherewith our Holy Mother the Church has so deeply impregnated her words and her elegant rites. The faith of the believer is thus enlightened more and more each year; the theological sensus is formed in him ; Prayer leads him to science. Mysteries con- tinue to be mysteries ; but their brightness becomes so vivid, that the mind and heart are enchanted, and we begin to imagine what a joy the eternal sight of these divine beauties will produce in us, when the glimpse of them through the clouds is such a charm to us.
Yes, there must needs be great progress in a Chris- tian soul, when the object of her faith is ever gaining greater light; when the hope of her salvation is almost forced upon her by the sight of all those wonders which God's goodness has wrought for his creatures ; and when charity is enkindled within her under the breath of the Holy Ghost, who has made the Liturgy to be the centre of his working in men's souls. Is not the formation of Christ within us1 the result of our uniting in his various nrysteries, the joyful, the sorroicful, and the glorious ? These mysteries of Jesus come into us, are incorporated into 11s, each year, by the powei of the special grace which the Liturgy produces by communicating them to us: the new man gradually grows up, even on the ruins of the old. Then again, in order that the divine type may the more easily be stamped upon us, wTe need examples ; we want to see how our fellow-men have
1 Gal. iv. 19.
GENERAL PREFACE. 21
realised that type in themselves ; and the Liturgy- does this for us, by offering us the practical teaching and the encouragement of our dear Saints, who shine like stars in the firmament of the ecclesiastical year. By dint of looking upon them we come to learn the way which leads to Jesus, just as Jesus is our Way which leads to the Father. But above all the Saints, and brighter than them all, we have Mary, showing us, in her single self, the Mirror of Justice, in which is reflected all the sanctity possible in a pure creature. Finally, the Liturgical Year, the plan of which we have been explaining, will bring continually before us the sublimest poetry that the human mind has conceived. Not only will it enable us to understand the divine songs of David and the Prophets, on which mainly the Liturgy has formed her own; but the Cycle will elicit from the Church, according as the different seasons and feasts come on, canticles and hymns the finest, the sublimest, and the worthiest of the subject. We shall hear the several countries, united as they are in one common faith, pouring forth their admiration and love in accents, wherein are blended the most perfect harmony of thought and sentiment, with the most marked diversity of genius and expression. We exclude from our collection, as duty requires we should, certain modern compositions, which had too close a resemblance to pagan literature, and which, as they had not received the sanction of the Church's acceptance, were likely to be short-lived : but the productions of liturgical genius, no matter of what age in the Church, are profusely admitted ; from Sedulius and Prudentius, down to Adam of Saint
22 GENERAL PEEFACE.
Victor and his cotemporaries, for the Latin Church ; and from St. Ephrem, down to the latest Catholic Byzantine Hymnologists, for the Greek Church. A rich vein of poetry will be found as well in the prayers which have been composed in simple prose, as in those which are presented to us in the garb of measure and rhythm. Poetry, being the only lan- guage adequate to the sublime thought which is to be expressed, is to be found everywhere in the Liturgy, as it is in the inspired Writings ; and a complete col- lection of the formulas of public prayer, would be, at the same time, the richest selection of Christian Poetry : — of that Poetry, which sings on earth the mysteries of heaven, and prepares us for the canticles of eternity.
In concluding this General Preface, we beg to re- mind our readers, that in a work like the present, the success of the writer is absolutely dependent upon the Holy Spirit, who breatheth where he willeth,1 and that the most which man can do is to "plant and water.2 We venture therefore to ask the children of the Church, who desire to see her Prayer loved and used above all others, to aid us by recommending our work to God, that so our unworthiness may not be an obstacle to what we have undertaken, and which we feel to be so much above our strength.
We have only to add, that we submit our work, both in its substance and its form, to the sovereign and infallible judgment of the Holy Roman Church, which alone is the guardian both of the Words of eternal life, and of the secret of Prayer.
1 St. John, iii. 8. 2 I. Cor. in. 6.
ADVENT
CHAPTER THE FIRST.
THE HISTORY OF ADVENT.
The name Advent1 is applied, in the Latin Church, to that period of the year, during which the Church requires the faithful to prepare for the celebration of the Feast of Christmas, the anniversary of the Birth of Jesus Christ. The mystery of that great day had every right to the honour of being prepared for by prayer and works of penance ; and, in fact, it is im- possible to state, with any certainty, when this season of preparation (which had long been observed before receiving its present name of Advent) was first instituted. It would seem, however, that its observance first began in the West, since it is evident that Advent could not have been looked on as a pre- paration for the Feast of Christmas, until that Feast was definitively fixed to the twenty-fifth of December : which was only done in the East, towards the close of the fourth century ; whereas, it is certain, that the Church of Rome kept the feast on that day at a much earlier period.
We must look upon Advent in two different lights : first, as a time of preparation, properly so called, for the Birth of our Saviour, by works of penance ; and
1 From the Latin word Adventus, which signifies a Coming.
24 ADVENT.
secondly, as a series of Ecclesiastical Offices drawn up for the same purpose. We find, as far back as the fifth century, the custom of giving exhortations to the people in order to prepare them for the Feast of Christmas. We have two Sermons of Saint Maximus of Turin on this subject, not to speak of several others, which were formerly attributed to St. Ambrose and St. Augustine, but which were proba- bly written by St. Cesarius of Aries. If these docu- ments do not tell us what was the duration and the exercises of this holy season, they at least show us how ancient was the practice of distinguishing the time of Advent by special sermons. St. Ivo of Chartres, St. Bernard, and several other Doctors of the eleventh and twelfth centuries, have left us set sermons de Adventu Domini, quite distinct from their Sunday Homilies on the Gospels of that season. In the Capitularia of Charles the Bald, in 846, the Bishops admonish that Prince not to call them away from their churches during Lent or Advent, under pretext of affairs of the State or the necessities of war, seeing that they have special duties to fulfil, and particularly that of preaching during those sacred times.
The oldest document, in which we find the length and exercises of Advent mentioned with anything like clearness, is a passage in the second book of the History of the Franks by St. Gregory of Tours, where he says that St. Perpetuus, one of his predecessors, who held that See about the year 480, had decreed a fast three times a week, from the feast of St. Martin until Christmas. It would be impossible to decide whether St. Perpetuus, by this regulation, established a new custom, or merely enforced an already existing law. Let us, however, note this interval of forty, or rather of forty-three days, so expressly mentioned, and consecrated to penance, as though it were a second
HISTOEY OF ADVENT. 25
Lent, though less strict and severe than that which precedes Easter.
Later on, we find the ninth canon of the first Council of Macon, he]d in 582, ordaining that during the same interval, between St. Martin's Day and Christmas, the Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, should be fasting days, and that the Sacrifice should be celebrated according to'^ihe Lenten Rite. Not many years before that, namely in 567, the second Council of Tours had enjoined the monks to fast from the beginning of December till Christmas. This practice of penance soon extended to the whole forty days, even for the laity ; and it was commonly called St. Martin's Lent. The Capitularia of Charlemagne, in the sixth book, leave us no doubt on the matter; and Rabanus Maurus, in the second book of his Institution of Clerics, bears tes- timony to this observance. There were even special rejoicings made on St. Martin's Feast, just as we see them practised now at the approach of Lent and Easter.
The obligation of observing this Lent, which, though introduced so imperceptibly, had by degrees acquired the force of a sacred law, began to be relaxed, and the forty days from St. Martin's Day to Christmas were reduced to four weeks. We have seen that this fast began to be observed first in France ; but thence it spread into England, as we find from Venerable Bede's History ; into Italy, as appears from a diploma of Astolphus, King of the Lombards, dated 758 ; into Germany, Spain, &c, of which the proofs may be seen in the learned work of Dorn Martene, On the Ancient Rites of the Church. The first allusion to Advent's being reduced to four weeks, is to be found in the ninth century, in a letter of Pope St. Nicholas the First to the Bulgarians. The testimony of Ratherius of Verona, and of Abbo of Fleurjr, both writers of the tenth century, goes also to prove that, even then, the ques-
26 ADVENT.
tion of reducing the duration of trie Advent fast by one-third was seriously entertained. It is true, that St. Peter Damian, in the eleventh century, speaks of the Advent fast as still being for forty days ; and that St. Louis, two centuries later, kept it for that length of time ; but as far as this holy King is concerned, it is probable that it was only his own devotion which prompted him to this prac- tice.
The discipline of the Churches of the West, after having reduced the time of the Advent fast, so far relented, in a few years, as to change the fast into a simple abstinence ; and we even find Councils of the twelfth century, for instance, Selingstadt in 1122, and Avranches in 1172, which seem to require only the clergy to observe this abstinence. The Council of Salisbury, held in 1281, would seem to expect none but monks to keep it. On the other hand, (for the whole subject is very confused, owing, no doubt, to there never having been any uniformity of discipline regarding it in the Western Church,) we find Pope Innocent III, in his letter to the Bishop of Braga, mentioning the custom of fasting during the whole of Advent, as being at that time observed in Rome ; and Durandus, in the same thirteenth century, in his Rational on the Divine Offices, tells us that, in France, fasting was uninterruptedly observed during the whole of that holy time.
This much is certain, that, by degrees, the custom of fasting so far fell into disuse, that when, in 1362, Pope Urban the Fifth endeavoured to prevent the total decay of the Advent penance, all he insisted upon was that all the clerics of his court should keep abstinence during Advent, without in any way including others, either clergy or laity, in this law. St. Charles Borromeo also strove to bring back his people of Milan, to the spirit, if not to the letter, of ancient times. In his fourth Council, he enjoins the parish
HISTORY OF ADVENT. 27
priests to exhort the faithful to go to communion on the Sundays, at least, of Lent and Advent; and after- wards addressed to the faithful themselves a Pastoral Letter, in which, after having reminded them of the dispositions wherewith they ought to spend this holy time, he strongly urges them to fast on the Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, at least, of each week in Advent. Finally, Pope Benedict the Fourteenth, when Archbishop of Bologna, following these illus- trious examples, wrote his eleventh Ecclesiastical Institution for the purpose of exciting in the mind of his diocesans the exalted idea which the Christians of former times bad of the holy season of Advent, and to the removing an erroneous opinion which prevailed in those parts, namely, that Advent only concerned Religious, and not the laity. He shows them, that such an opinion, unless it be limited to the two practices of fasting and abstinence, is strictly speaking, rash and scandalous, since it cannot be denied that, in the laws and usages of the universal Church, there exist special practices, having for their end the preparing the faithful for the great feast of the Birth of Jesus Christ.
The Greek Church still continues to observe the fast of Advent, though with much less rigour than that of Lent. It consists of forty days, beginning with the 14th of November, the day on which this Church keeps the feast of the Apostle St. Philip. During this entire period, the people abstain from flesh-meat, butter, milk, and eggs ; but they are allowed, which they are not during Lent, fish, oil, and wine. Fasting, in its strict sense, is only bind- ing on seven out of the forty days ; and the whole period goes under the name of St. Philip's Lent. The Greeks justify these relaxations by this distinction ; that the Lent before Christmas is, so they say, only an institution of the monks, whereas the Lent before Easter is of Apostolic institution.
28 ADVENT.
Bat, if the exterior practices of penance which for- merly sanctified the season of Advent, have been, in the Western Church, so gradually relaxed as to have become now quite obsolete except in monasteries ;l the general character of the Liturgy of this holy time has not changed; and it is by their zeal in foil owing its spirit, that the Faithful will prove their earnest- ness in preparing for Christmas.
The liturgical form of Advent as it now exists in the Roman Church, has gone through certain modi- fications. St. Gregory seems to have been the first to draw up the Office for this season, which originally included five Sundays, as is evident from the most ancient Sacramentaries of this great Pope. It even appears probable, and the opinion has been adopted by Amalarius of Metz, Berno of Bichenaw, Dom Martene, and Benedict the Fourteenth, that St. Gregory originated the ecclesiastical precept of Ad- vent, although the custom of devoting a longer or shorter period to a preparation for Christmas has been observed from time immemorial, and the absti- nence and fast of this holy season first began in France. St. Gregory therefore fixed, for the Churches of the Latin rite, the form of the Office for this Lent- like season, and sanctioned the fast which had been established, granting a certain latitude to the several Churches as to the manner of its observance.
The Sacramentary of St. Gelasius has neither Mass nor Office of preparation for Christmas; the first we meet with are in the Gregorian Sacramentary, and, as we just observed, these Masses are five in number. It is remarkable that these Sundays were then counted inversely, that is, the nearest to Christ- mas was called the first Sunday, and so on with the rest. So far back as the ninth and tenth centuries,
1 Our English observance of Fast and Abstinence on the Wed- nesdays and Fridays in Advent, may, in some sense, be regarded as a remnant of the ancient discipline. [Note of the Ti\~\
HISTOEY OF ADVENT. 29
these Sundays were reduced to four, as we learn from Amalarius, St. Nicholas the First, Berno of Richenaw, Ratherius of Verona, &c, and such also is their number in the Gregorian Sacramentary of Pamelius, which ap- pears to have been transcribed about this same period. From that time, the Roman Church has always ob- served this arrangement of Advent, which gives it four weeks, the fourth beings that in which Christmas Day falls, unless the 25th of December be a Sunday. We may therefore consider the present discipline of the observance of Advent as having lasted a thousand years, at least as far as the Church of Rome is con- cerned; for some of the Churches in France kept up the number of five Sundays as late as the thirteenth century.
The Ambrosian Liturgy, even to this day, has six weeks of Advent; so has the Gothic or Mozarabic Missal. As regards the Gallican Liturgy, the frag- ments collected by Dom Mabillon give us no informa- tion ; but it is natural to suppose with this learned man, whose opinion has been confirmed by Dom Marten e, that the Church of Gaul adopted, in this as in so many other points, the usages of the Gothic Church, that is to say, that its Advent consisted of six Sundays and six weeks.
With regard to the Greeks, their Rubrics for Ad- vent are given in the Mensea, immediately after the Office for the 14th of November. They have no proper Office for Advent, neither do they celebrate during this time the Mass of the Presanctified, as they do in Lent. There are only in the Offices for the Saints, whose feasts occur between the 14th of November and the Sunday nearest Christmas, fre- quent allusions to the Birth of the Saviour, to the Maternity of Mary, to the cave of Bethlehem, &c. On the Sunday preceding Christmas, in order to celebrate the expected coming of the Messias, they keep what they call the Feast of the Holy Fathers,
30 ADVENT.
that is the commemoration of the Saints of the Old Law. They give the name of Ante-Feast of the Nativity to" the 20th, 21st, 22nd, and 23rd December ; and although they say the office of several Saints on these four days, yet the mystery of the Birth of Jesus pervades the whole Liturgy.
CHAPTER THE SECOND.
THE MYSTEEY OF ADVENT.
If, now that we have described the characteristic features of Advent, which distinguish it from the rest of the year, we would penetrate into the profound mystery which occupies the mind of the Church during this season, we find that this mystery of the Coming, or Advent, of Jesus is at once simple and threefold. It is simple, for it is the one same Son of God that is coming; it is threefold, because he comes at three different times and in three different ways.
" In the first Coming," says St. Bernard, " he comes "in the flesh and in weakness; in the second, he " comes in spirit and in power ; in the third, he comes " in glory and in majesty ; and the second Coming is "the means whereby we pass from the first to the "third."1
This, then, is the mystery of Advent. Let us now listen to the explanation of this threefold visit of Christ, given to us by Peter of Blois, in his third Sermon de Adventu : " There are three Comings of " our Lord ; the first in the flesh, the second in the "soul, the third at the judgment. The first was at " midnight, according to those words of the Gospel : "At midnight there was a cry made, Lo the Bride- " groom cometh ! But this first Coming is long " since past, for Christ has been seen on the earth " and has conversed among men. We are now in " the second Coming, provided only we are such as " that he may thus come to us ; for he has said that " if we love him, he will come unto us and will take
1 Fifth Sermon for Advent.
32 ADVENT.
" up his abode with us. So that this second Coming " is full of uncertainty to us ; for who, save the Spirit " of God, knows them that are of God ? They that " are raised out of themselves by the desire of "heavenly things, know indeed when he comes ; but " whence he cometh, or whither he goeth, they know " not As for the third Coming, it is most certain " that it will be, most uncertain when it will be ; for "nothing is more sure than death, and nothing less " sure than the hour of death. When they shall say, " peace and security, says the Apostle, then shall " sudden destruction come upon them, as the pains " upon her that is with child, and they shall not " escape. So that the first Coming was humble and "hidden, the second is mysterious and full of love, the " third will be majestic and terrible. In his first " Coming, Christ was judged by men unjustly ; in his " second, he renders us just by his grace ; in his third, " he will judge all things with justice. In his first, a " Lamb ; in his last, a Lion ; in the one between the " two, the tenderest of Friends." -1
The holy Church, therefore, during Advent, awaits in tears and with ardour the arrival of her Jesus in his first Coming. For this, she borrows the fervid expressions of the Prophets, to which she joins her own supplications. These longings for the Messias expressed by the Church, are not a mere commemo- ration of the desires of the ancient Jewish people ; they have a reality and efficacy of their own, — an influence in the great act of God's munificence, whereby he gave us his own Son. From all eternity, the prayers of the ancient Jewish people and the prayers of the Christian Church ascended together to the prescient hearing of God ; and it was after receiving and granting them, that he sent, in the appointed time, that blessed dew upon the earth, which made it bud forth the Saviour. 1 De Adventu, Sermo III.
MYSTERY OF ADVENT. 33
The Church aspires also to the second Coming, the consequence of the first, which consists, as we have just seen, in the visit of the Bridegroom to the Spouse. This Coming takes place, each year, at the feast of Christmas, when the new birth of the Son of God delivers the faithful from that yoke of bondage, under which the enemy would oppress them.1 The Church, therefore, during Advent, prays that she may be visited by Him who is her Head and her Spouse ; visited in her hierarchy; visited in her members, of whom some are living, and some are dead, but may come to life again ; visited, lastly, in those who are not in communion with her, and even in the very infidels, that so they may be converted to the true light, which shines even for them. The expressions of the Liturgy which the Church makes use of to ask for this loving and invisible Coming, are those which she employs when begging for the coming of Jesus in the flesh; for the two visits are for the same object. In vain would the Son of God have come, eighteen hundred years ago, to visit and save mankind, unless he came again for each one of us and at every moment of our lives, bringing to us and cherishing within us that supernatural life, of which he and his Holy Spirit are the sole principle.
But this annual visit of the Spouse does not con- tent the Church ; she aspires after a third Coming, which will complete all things by opening the gates of eternity. She has caught up the last words of her Spouse, Surely, I am coming quickly ;2 and she cries out to him, Ah! Lord Jesus ! come !3 She is impatient to be loosed from her present temporal state ; she longs for the number of the elect to be filled up, and to see appear, in the clouds of heaven, the sign of her Deliverer and her Spouse. Her desires, expressed by her Advent Liturgy, go even as far as
1 Collect for Christmas Day. 2 Apoc. xxii. 20. 3 Ibid.
D
34 ADVENT.
this : and here we have the explanation of those words of the beloved Disciple in his prophecy : The nuptials of the Lamb are come, and his Spouse hath prepared herself}
But the day of this his last ComiDg to her, will be a day of terror. The Church frequently trembles at the very thought of that awful judgment, in which all mankind is to be tried. She calls it " a day of wrath, " on which, as David and the Sibyl have foretold, the " world will be reduced to ashes ; a day of weeping " and fear." Not that she fears for herself, since she knows that this day will for ever secure to her the crown, as being the Spouse of Jesus ; but her maternal heart is troubled at the thought that, on the same day, so many of her children will be on the left hand of the Judge, and, having no share with the elect, will be bound hand and foot, and cast into the darkness, where there shall be everlasting weeping and gnashing of teeth. This is the reason why the Church, in the Liturgy of Advent, so frequently speaks of the Com- ing of Christ as a terrible Coming, and selects from the Scriptures those passages, which are most calcu- lated to awaken a salutary fear in the mind of such of her children as may be sleeping the sleep of sin.
This, then, is the threefold mystery of Advent. The liturgical forms in which it is embodied, are of two kinds : the one consists of prayers, passages from the Bible, and similar formulas, in all of which, words themselves are employed to convey the sentiments which we have been explaining ; the other consists of external rites peculiar to this holy time, which, by speaking to the outward senses, complete the expressiveness of the chants and words.
First of all, there is the number of the days of Advent. Forty was the number originally adopted by the Church, and it is still maintained in the
1 Apoc. xix. 7.
MYSTERY OF ADVENT. 35
Ambrosian liturgy, and in the Eastern Church. If, at a later period, the Church of Rome, and those who follow her Liturgy, have changed the number of days, the same idea is still expressed in the four weeks which have been substituted for the forty days. The new Birth of our Redeemer takes place after four weeks, as the first Nativity happened after four thousand years, according to t)ie Hebrew and Yulgate Chronology.
As in Lent, so likewise during Advent, Marriage is not solemnised, lest worldly joy should distract Christians from those serious thoughts wherewith the expected Coming of the Sovereign Judge ought to inspire them, or from that dearly cherished hope which the friends of the Bridegroom1 have of being soon called to the eternal Nuptial-feast.
The people are forcibly reminded of the sadness which fills the heart of the Church by the sombre colour of the Vestments. Excepting on the Feasts of the Saints, purple is the only colour she uses ; the Deacon does not wear the Dalmatic, nor the Sub- deacon the Tunic. Formerly it wTas the custom, in some places, to wear Black Vestments. This mourn- ing of the Church shows how fully she unites herself with those true Israelites of old, who, clothed in sack- cloth and ashes, waited for the Messias, and bewailed Sion that she had not her beauty, and " Juda, that " the sceptre had been taken from him, till He should "come whowasto be sent, the expectation of nations."2 It also signifies the works of penance, whereby she prepares for the second Coming, full as it is of sweet- ness and mystery, which is realised in the souls of men, in proportion as they appreciate the tender love of that Divine Guest, who has said : My delights are to be with the children of men.3 It expresses, thirdly, the desolation of this Spouse wTho yearns after
1 St. John, iii. 29. 2 Gen. xlix. 10. 3 Prov. viii. 31.
36 ADVENT.
her Beloved, who is long a-coming. Like the turtle dove, she moans her loneliness, longing for the voice which will say to her : Come from Libanus, my Spouse ! come, thou shalt be crowned : — thou hast wounded my heart}
The Church also, during Advent, excepting on the Feasts of Saints, suppresses the Angelic Canticle, Gloria in excelsis Deo, et in terra pax hominibus bono3 voluntatis ; for this glorious Song was only sung at Bethlehem over the crib of the Divine Babe ; — the tongue of the Angels is not loosened yet ; — the Virgin has not yet brought forth her divine treasure ; — it is not yet time to sing, it is not even true to say, Glory be to God in the highest, and peace on earth to men of good will !
Again, at the end of Mass, the Deacon does not dismiss the assembly of the faithful by the words : Ite, Missa est. He substitutes the ordinary greeting : Benedicamus Domino I as though the Church feared to interrupt the prayers of the people, which could scarce be too long during these days of expectation.
In the Night Office, the Holy Church also suspends, on those same days, the hymn of jubilation, Te Deum laudamus. It is in deep humility that she awaits the supreme blessing which is to come to her; and in the interval, she presumes only to ask, and entreat, and hope. But let the glorious hour come, when, in the midst of darkest night, the Sun of Justice will suddenly rise upon the world, — then iudeed she will resume her hymn of thanksgiving, and all over the face of the earth, the silence of midnight will be broken by this shout of enthusiasm : " We praise thee, " O God ! we acknowledge thee to be our Lord ! Thou, " O Christ, art the King of glory, the everlasting Son " of the Father ! Thou, being to deliver man, didst " not disdain the Virgin's womb !"
iCant. iv. 8, 9.
MYSTEEY OF ADVENT. 37
On the Ferial Days, the Rubrics of Advent pre- scribe that certain prayers should be said kneeling, at the end of each Canonical Hour, and that the Choir should also kneel during a considerable portion of the Mass. In this respect, the usages of Advent are pre- cisely the same as those of Lent.
But there is one feature winch distinguishes Ad- vent most markedly from Lent : the word of gladness, the joyful Alleluia, is not interrupted during Advent, except once or twice during the ferial office. It is sung in the Masses of the four Sundays, and vividly contrasts with the sombre colour of the Vestments. On one of these Sundays — the third — the prohibition of using the organ is removed, and we are gladdened by its grand notes, and rose-coloured Vestments may be used instead of the purple. These vestiges of joy, thus blended with the holy mournfulness of the Church, tell us, in a most expressive way, that though she unites with the ancient people of God in praying for the coming of the Messias, (thus paying the debt which the entire human race owes to the justice and mercy of God,) she does not forget that the Emmanuel is already come to her, that he is in her, and that even before she has opened her lips to ask him to save her, she has been already redeemed and predestined to an eternal union with him. This is the reason why the Alleluia accompanies even her sighs, and why she seems to be at once joyous and sad, waiting for the coming of that holy night which will be brighter to her than the most sunny of days, and on which her joy will expel all her sorrow.
CHAPTER THE THIKD.
PRACTICE DURING ADVENT.
If our holy mother the Church spends the time of Advent in this solemn preparation for the threefold Coming of Jesus Christ ; if, after the example of the prudent Virgins, she keeps her lamp lit ready for the coming of the Bridegroom ; we, being her members and her children, ought to enter into her spirit, and apply to ourselves this warning of our Saviour : Let your loins be girt, and lamps burning in your hands, and ye yourselves be like unto men who wait for their Lord I1 The Church and we have, in reality, the same hopes. Each one of us is, on the part of God, an object of mercy and care as is the Church herself. If she is the temple of God, it is because she is built of living stones ; if she is the Spouse, it is because she consists of all the souls which are invited to eternal anion with God. If it is written that the Saviour hath purchased the Church with his own Blood? may not each one of us say of himself those words of St. Paul, Christ hath loved me, and hath delivered himself up for me f Our destiny being the same, then, as that of the Church, we should endeavour during Advent, to enter into the spirit of preparation, wThich is, as we have seen, that of the Church herself.
And firstly, it is our duty to join with the Saints of the Old Law in asking for the Messias, and thus pay the debt which the whole human race owes to the divine mercy. In order to fulfil this duty with fervour, let us go back in thought to those four
1 St. Luke, xii. 35. 2 Acts, xx. 28. 3 Gal. ii. 20.
PRACTICE DURING ADVENT. 39
thousand years, represented by the four -weeks of Advent, and reflect on the darkness and crime which filled the world before our Saviour's cominsr. Let our hearts be filled with lively gratitude towards Him who saved his creature Man from death, and who came down from heaven that he might know our miseries by himself experiencing them, yes, all of them, excepting sin. Let us cry to him with con- fidence from the depths of our misery; for, notwith- standing his having saved the work of his hands, he still wishes us to beseech him to save us. Let there- fore our desires and our confidence have their free utterance in the ardent supplications of the ancient Prophets, which the Church puts on our lips during these days of expectation; let us give our closest attention to the sentiments which they express.
This first duty complied with, we must next turn our minds to the Coming which our Saviour wishes to accomplish in our own hearts. It is, as we have seen, a Coming full of sweetness and mystery, and a consequence of the first ; for the Good Shepherd comes not only to visit the flock in general, but he extends his solicitude to each one of the sheep, even to the hundredth which is lost. Now, in order to appreciate the whole of this ineffable mystery, we must remember that, since we can only be pleasing to our Heavenly Father inasmuch as he sees within us his Son Jesus Christ, this amiable Saviour deigns to come into each one of us, and transform us, if we will but consent, into himself, so that henceforth we may live, not we, but he in us. This is, in reality, the one grand aim of the Christian Religion, to make man divine through Jesus Christ : it is the task which God has given to his Church to do, and she says to the faithful what St. Paul said to his Gala tians : My little children, of whom I am in labour again, until Christ be formed within you!1
1 Gal. i\r. 19?
40 - ADVENT.
But, as on his entering into this world, our divine Saviour first showed himself under the form of a weak Babe, before attaining the fulness of the age of manhood, and this to the end that nothing might be wanting to his sacrifice, — so does he intend to do in us ; there is to be a progress in his growth within us. Now, it is at the feast of Christmas that he delights to be born in our souls, and that he pours out over the whole. Church a grace of being born, to which, however, all are not faithful.
For, this glorious solemnity, as often as it comes round, finds three classes of men. The first, and the smallest number, are they who live, in all its pleni- tude, the life of Jesus who is within them, and aspire incessantly after the increase of this life. The second class of souls is more numerous ; they are living, it is true, because Jesus is in them ; but they are sick and weakly, because they care not to grow in this divine life : their charity has become cold I1 The rest of men make up the third division, and are they who have no part of this life in them, and are dead ; for Christ has said : "J am the Life/'2
Now, during the season of Advent, our Lord knocks at the door of all men's hearts, at one time so forcibly, that they must needs notice him ; at another, so softly that it requires attention to know that Jesus is asking admission. He comes to ask them if they have room for him, for he wishes to be born in their house. The house indeed is his, for he built it and preserves it ; yet he complains that his own refused to receive him;3 at least the greater number did. But as many as received him, he gave them power to be made the sons of God, born not of blood, nor of the flesh, but of God*
He will be born, then, with more beauty and lustre and might than you have hitherto seen in
1 Apoc. ii. 4. * St. John, xiv. 6. 3 Ibid. iii. * Ibid. i. 12, 13.
PRACTICE DURING ADVENT. 41
him, O ye faithful ones, who hold him within you as your only treasure, and who have long lived no other life than his, shaping your thoughts and works on the model of his. You will feel the necessity of words to suit and express your love; such words as he delights to hear you speak to him. You will find them in the holy Liturgy.
You, who have had him within you, without knowing him, and have possessed him without re- lishing the sweetness of his presence, open your hearts to welcome him, this time, with more care and love. He repeats his visit of this year with an untiring tenderness ; he has forgotten your past slights ; he would " that all things be new."1 Make room for the Divine Infant, for he desires to grow within your soul. The time of his coming is close at hand : let your heart, then, be on the watch ; and lest you should* slumber when he arrives, watch and pray, yea, sing. The words of the Liturgy are in- tended also for your use : they speak of darkness, which only God can enlighten ; of wounds, which only his mercy can heal ; of a faintness, which can only be braced by his divine energy.
And you, Christians, for whom the good tidings are as things that are not, because you are dead in sin, lo ! He who is very life is coining among you. Yes, whether this death of sin has held you as its slave for long years, or has but freshly inflicted on you the wound which made you its victim,— Jesus, your Life, is coming : why, then, will you die ? He desireth not the death of the sinner, but rather that he be converted and live.2 The grand Feast of his Birth will be a day of mercy for the whole world ; at least, for all who will give him admission into their hearts : they will rise to life again in him, their past life will be destroyed,
1 Apoc. xxi. 5. 2 Ezech. xviii. 31-5.
42 ADVENT.
and where sin abounded, there grace will more abound.1
But, if the tenderness and the attractiveness of this mysterious Coming make no impression on you, because your heart is too weighed down to be able to rise to confidence, and because, having so long drunk sin like water, you know not what it is to long with love for the caresses of a Father whom you have slighted, — then turn your thoughts to that other Coming, which is full of terror, and is to follow the silent one of grace that is now offered. Think within yourselves, how this earth of ours will tremble at the approach of the dread Judge ; how the heavens will flee from before his face, and fold up as a book f how man will wince under his angry look ; how the creature will wither away with fear, as the two-edged sword, which comes from the mouth of his Creator,3 pierces him; and how sinners will cry out, Ye mountains, fall on us ! ye rocks, cover us /* Those unhappy souls who would not know the time of their visitation, b shall then vainly wish to hide themselves from the face of Jesus. They shut their hearts against this Man-God, who, in his excessive love for them, wept over them ; — therefore, on the day of judgment they will descend alive into those everlasting fires, whose flame devoureth the earth with her increase, and burneth the foundations of the mountains.6 The worm that never dieth,7 the useless eternal repentance, will gnaw them for ever.
Let those, then, who are not touched by the tid- ings of the Coming of the Heavenly Physician and the Good Shepherd who giveth his life for his sheep, meditate during Advent on the awful yet certain truth, that so many render the redemption unavail- able to themselves by their refusing to co-operate in
1 Rom. v. 20. * St. Luke, xxiii. 30. 6 Deut. xxx. 22.
2 Apoc. vi. 14. 6 Ibid. xix. 44. 7 §t. Mark, ix. 43.
3 Ibid. i. 16.
PRACTICE DURING ADVENT. 43
their own salvation. They may treat the Child ivho is to be born1 with disdain ; but he is also the Mighty God, and do they think they can withstand him on that Day, when he is to come, not to save, as now, but to judge 1 Would that they knew more of this divine Judge, before whom the 'Tery Saints tremble ! Let them also use the Liturgy of this season, and they will there learn how much he is to be feared by sinners.
We would not imply by this that only sinners need to fear : no, every Christian ought to fear. Fear, when there is no nobler sentiment with it, makes man a slave; when it accompanies love, it is a feel- ing which fills the heart of a child who has offended his father, yet seeks for pardon; when, at length, love casteth out fear,2 even then this holy fear will sometimes come, and, like a flash of lightning, per- vade the deepest recesses of the soul. It does the soul good. She wakes up afresh to a keener sense of her own misery and of the unmerited mercy of her Redeemer. Let no one, therefore, think that he may safely pass his Advent without taking any share in the holy fear which animates the Church. She, though so beloved by God, prays to him to give her this fear ; and every day, in her Office of Sext, she thus cries out to him : Pierce my flesh with thy Fear. It is, however, to those who are beginning a good life, that this part of the Advent Liturgy will be peculiarly serviceable.
It is evident from what we have said, that Advent is a season specially devoted to the exercises of what is called the Purgative Life, and which is implied in that expression of St. John, so continually repeated by the Church during this holy -time: Prepare ye the way of the Lord ! Let all, therefore, strive earnestly to make straight the path by which Jesus
Is. ix. 6. 2 1. St. John, iv. 18.
44 ADVENT.
will enter into their souls. Let the just, agreeably to the teaching of the Apostle, forget the things that are behind,1 and labour to acquire fresh merit. Let sinners begin at once and break the chains which now enslave them. Let them give up those bad habits which they have contracted. Let them weaken the flesh, and enter upon the hard work of subject- ing it to the spirit. Let them, above all things, pray with the Church. And when our Lord comes, they may hope that he will not pass them by, but that he will enter and dwell within them : for he spoke of all when he said these words : Behold, I stand at the gate and knock: if any man shall hear my voice and open to me the door, I will come in unto him.2
1 Phil. iii. 13. 2 Apoc. iii. 20.
CHAPTER THE FOURTH.
MORNING AND NIGHT PRAYERS FOR ADVENT.
During Advent, the Christian, on waking in the morning, will unite himself with the Church, who, in her Office of Matins, says to us these solemn words, which choirs of religious men and women, throughout the universe, have been chanting during the deep silence of the night : —
Come, let us adore the Regem venturum Domi- King our Lord, who is to num, venite, adoremus. come !
He will profoundly adore this great King, whose Coming is so near at hand : and with this idea deeply impressed upon his mind, he will perform the first acts of religion, both interior and exterior, where- with he begins the day. The time for Morning Prayer being come, he may use the following me- thod, which is formed upon the very prayers of the Church : —
MORNING PRAYERS.
First, praise and adoration of the Most Holy Trinity :—
"ft. Let us bless the Father, $". Benedicamus Patrem,et
and the Son, and the Holy Filium, cum Sancto Spiritu. Ghost.
I£. Let us praise him and 1^. Laudemus et superex-
extol him above all for ever, altemus eum in ssecula.
J. Glory be to the Father, $\ Gloria Patri et Filio et
and to the Son, and to the Spiritui Sancto. Holy Ghost.
I£. As it was in the begin- I£. Sicut erat in principio,
ning, is now, and ever shall be, et nunc et semper, et in sse-
world without end. Amen. cula steculorum. Amen.
46 ADVENT.
Then, praise to our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ :—
ft. Adoranras te, Christe, ft. We adore thee, 0 Christ,
et benedicimus tibi. and we bless thee.
J$. Quia per Crucem tuam 1$. Because by thy Cross
redemisti mundum thou hast redeemed the world.
Thirdly, invocation of the Holy Ghost : —
Veni, Sancte Spiritus, re- Come, O Holy Spirit, fill
pie tuorum corda fidelium, the hearts of thy faithful,
et tui amoris in eis ignem and enkindle within them
accende. the fire of thy love.
After these fundamental acts of religion, you will recite the Lord's Prayer, asking of God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, to grant that his holy Name may be glorified on earth by sending his Son, who will found the kingdom of God; and that he will vouchsafe to give us this Saviour who is our Bread, and who will obtain for us, by the mediation so long looked for, the forgiveness of our sins ; finally, that he will deliver us from sin, which is the sove- reign evil.
THE LORD'S PEAYEK.
Pater noster, qui es in Our Father, who art in
ccelis, sanctificetur nomen heaven, hallowed be thy
tuum : adveniat regnum tu- name : thy kingdom come :
nm : fiat voluntas tua, sicut thy will be done, on earth,
in ccelo, et in terra. Panem as it is in heaven. Give us
nostrum quoticlianum da no- this day our daily bread ;
bis hodie : et dimitte nobis and forgive us our trespasses,
debita nostra, sicut et nos as we forgive them that tres-
dimittimus debitoribus nos- pass against us : and lead us
tris : et ne nos inducas in not into temptation : but de-
tentationem : sed libera nos liver us from evil. Amen, a malo. Amen.
Then address the Angelical Salutation to Mary, who is, in these days which precede the Nativity, so truly full of grace, since she has in her chaste womb Him who is the author of all grace. The Lord, the
MOKNING PRAYERS.
47
fruit of her womb, is with her ; and we may already give her the sublime and unshared title of Mother of God
THE ANGELICAL SALUTATION.
Hail Mary, full of grace ; the Lord is with thee ; bles- sed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus.
Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death. Amen.
Ave Maria, gratia plena : Dominus tecum : benedicta tu in muheribus, et bene- dictus fructus ventris tui, Jesus.
Sancta Maria, Mater Dei, ora pro nobis peccatoribus, nunc et in hora mortis nos- tras. Amen.
After this, recite the symbol of Faith ; and as you pronounce the words, Who was conceived by the Holy Ghost, dwell on them with a special attention, adoring the Saviour, who is as yet concealed in Mary's womb.
THE APOSTLES CREED.
I believe in God the Father Almighty, Creator of heaven and earth. And in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord, ivho was conceived by the Holy Ghost, born of the Virgin Mary ; suffered under Pon- tius Pilate, was crucified, dead, and buried ; he de- scended into hell, the third day he rose again from the dead ; he ascended into hea- ven, sitteth at the right hand of God the Father Almighty ; from thence he shall come to judge the living and the dead.
I believe in the Holy Ghost : the Holy Catholic Church ; the communion of Saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resur- rection of the body, and life everlasting. Amen.
Credo in Deum, Patrem omnipotentem, creatorem cceli et terras. Et in Jesum Christum Filium ejus uni- cum Dominum nostrum : qui conceptus est de Spiritu Sancto, natus ex Maria Vir- gine, passus sub Pontio Pi- lato, crucifixus, mortuus, et sepultus : descendit ad in- feros, tertia die resurrexit a mortuis : ascendit ad coelos, sedet ad dexteram Dei Patris omnipotentis : inde venturus est j udicare vivos et mortuos.
Credo in Spiritum Sanc- tum, sanctam Ecclesiam Ca- tholicam. Sanctorum commu- nionem, remissionem pecca- torum, carnis resurrectionem, vitam seternam. Amen,
48
ADVENT.
After having thus made the Profession of your Faith, excite within yourself sentiments of penance, by the remembrance of the sins you have committed ; of gratitude to the Lamb of God, who is coming in order to save us ; and of fear of the Last Day. For this end, say with the Church the following hymn, taken from the Office of Lauds for Advent.
HYMN.
En clara vox redarguit, Obscura quaeque personalis ; Procul fugentur somnia : Ab alto Jesus promicat.
Mens jam resurgat torpida, ISTon amplius jacens humi : Sidus reiulget jam novum, Ut tollat omne noxium.
En Agnus ad nos mittitur Laxare gratis debitum : Omnes simul cum lacrymis, Precemur indulgentiam.
Ut cum secundo fulserit Metuque mundum cinxerit, Non pro reatu puniat, Sed nos pius tunc protegat.
Virtus, honor, laus, gloria, Deo Patri cum Filio, Sancto simul Paraclito, In sseculorum sascula.
Amen.
The solemn voice of the Precursor is heard, explain- ing the obscurity of the ancient figures ; let our slum- bers cease ; Jesus is rising on our horizon.
f Let the sluggish soul now rise, and stay no more upon this earth ; a new star is shining, which will take all sin away.
Lo ! the Lamb is sent to forgive us freely our debt : let us unite in tears and prayers, that we may obtain pardon.
That when he comes the second time, filling the world with fear, he may not have to punish us for our sins, but may protect us in mercy.
Power, honour, praise, and glory, be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Paraclete, for ever and ever. Amen.
Here make an humble confession of your sins, reciting the general formula made use of by the Church.
THE CONFESSION OF SINS.
Confiteor Deo omnipotent, I confess to Almighty God, beatse Marise semper Vir- to blessed Mary ever Virgin, gini, beato Michaeli Arch- to blessed Michael the Arch-
MORNING PRAYERS.
49
angel, to Blessed John Bap- tist, to the holy Apostles Peter and Paul, and to all the saints, that I have sinned exceedingly in thought, word, and deed : through my fault, through my fault, through my most grievous fault. Therefore I beseech the Blessed Mary ever Virgin, blessed Michael the Arch- angel, blessed John Baptist, the holy Apostles Peter and Paul, and all the saints, to pray to our Lord God for me.
May Almighty God have mercy on us, and, our sins being forgiven, bring us to life everlasting. Amen.
May the Almighty and merciful Lord grant us par- don, absolution, and remis- sion of our sins.
angelo, beato Joanni Bap- tists, Sanctis Apostolis Petro et Paulo, et omnibus Sanctis, quia peccavi nimis cogita- tione, verbo, et opere : mea culpa, mea culpa, mea max- ima culpa. Ideo precor beatam Mariam semper Yir- ginem, beatum Michaelem Archangelum, beatum Joan- nem Baptistam, sanctos Apos- tolos Petrum et Paulum, et omnes sanctos, orare pro me ad Dominum Deum nostrum.
Misereatur nostri omnipo- tens Deus, et dimissis pec- catis nostris, perducat nos ad vitam seternam. Amen.
Indulgentiam, absolutio- nem, et remissionem pecca- torum nostrorum tribuat nobis omnipotens et miseri- cors Dominus. Amen.
This is the proper place for making your Medita- tion, as no doubt you practise this holy exercise. During Advent, its principal object ought to be the removing from ourselves those hindrances, which would oppose Jesus' coming and reigning within us. The love of sensual pleasures, avarice, and pride, that triple concupiscence which St. John so strongly con- demns in his first Epistle, must be withstood, else our preparation for Christmas is useless. And as the chief thing in every Prayer or Meditation, is to turn our thoughts to Jesus Christ, we must, during Advent, contemplate him in the womb of Mary, where he remains hidden, giving us, by this his state of abasement, a most telling lesson of devotedness to his Father's glory, of obedience to the divine decrees, and of humility ; but, at the same time, he gives us a most powerful proof of the greatness of his love of us.
50 ADVENT.
This thought will naturally suggest to us a variety of motives and resolutions for breaking those ties which keep us from a virtuous life. But should they not produce sufficient impression on us, we must then consider Jesus as oar Judge, in the dread magnifi- cence of his majesty, and all the severity of his in- evitable vengeance.
The next part of your Morning Prayer must be to ask of God, by the following prayers, grace to avoid every kind of sin during the day you are just begin- ning. Say, then, with the Church, whose prayers must always be preferred to all others :
$". Domine, exaudi ora- $\ 0 Lord, hear my prayer, tionem meam.
~f$. Et clamor meus ad te I£. And let my cry come
veniat. unto thee.
OREMXJS. LET US PRAY.
Domine, Deus omnipotens, Almighty Lord and God,
qui ad principium hujus diei who hast brought us to the
nos pervenire f ecisti, tua nos beginning of this day, let thy
hodie salva virtute, ut in hac powerful grace so conduct us
die ad nullum declinemus through it, that we may not
peccatum, sed semper ad fall into any sin, but that all
tuam justitiam faciendam our thoughts, words, and
nostra procedant eloquia, di- actions may be regulated
riganturcogitationeset opera, according to the rules of thy
Per Dominum nostrum Je- heavenly justice, and tend to
sum Christum Filium tuum, the observance of thy holy
qui tecum vivit et regnat in law. Through Jesus Christ
unitate Spiritus Sancti Deus, our Lord. Amen, per omnia saecula saeculoruni. Amen.
Then, beg the divine assistance for the actions of the day, that you may do them well ; and say thrice :
"ft. Deus, in adjutorium $". Incline unto my aid, O
meum intende. God.
3$. Domine, ad adjuvan- I£. 0 Lord, make haste to
dum me festina. help me.
$. Deus, in adjutorium $". Incline unto my aid, 0
meum intende. God.
MORNING PRAYERS.
51
]$. O Lord, make haste to help me.
W. Incline unto my aid, O God.
1$. O Lord, make haste to help me.
LET US PRAY.
Lord God, and King of heaven and earth, vouchsafe this day to rule and sanctify, to direct and govern our souls and bodies, our senses, words, and actions in conformity to thy law, and strict obedience to thy commands ; that by the help of thy grace, O Sa- viour of the world ! we may be fenced and freed from all evils. Who livest and reign- est for ever and ever.
]$. Amen.
1$. Domine, ad adjuvan- dum me festina.
y. Deus, in adjutorium meum intende.
1$. Domine, ad adjuvan- dum me festina.
OREMUS.
Dirigere et sanctificare, re- gere et gubernare dignare, Domine Deus, Rex cceli et terrse, hodie corda et corpora nostra, sensus, sermones et actus nostros in lege tua, et in operibus mandatorum tuo- rum, ut hie et in seternum, te auxiliante, salvi et liberi esse mereamur, Salvator mundL Qui vivis et regnas in ssecula saeculoruin.
1$. Amen.
After this, uniting yourself with the Church, which, both in the Divine Office, and during the Holy Sa- crifice, prays for the coming of Jesus Christ, say :
ft. Veni ad liberandum nos, Domine Deus virtutum.
I£. Ostende faciem tuam, et salvi erimus.
ft. Ostende nobis, Domine, misericordiam tuam.
1$. Et salutare tuum da nobis.
ft. Super te, Jerusalem, orietur Dominus.
1$. Et gloria ejus in te vi- debitur.
OREMUS.
Week)
Excita, qusesumus, Do- mine, potentiam tuam et veni ; ut ab imminentibus peccatorum nostrorum peri- culis, te mereamur protegente
ft. 0 Lord God of hosts, come and deliver us.
Ij&. Show thy face, and we shall be saved.
ft. Show us, O Lord, thy mercy.
1£. And grant us the Saviour, whom we expect from thee.
ft. TheLordshallriseupon thee, O Jerusalem !
I£. And his glory shall be seen upon thee.
LET US PRAY.
(First
Exert, we beseech thee, O Lord, thy power and come ; that by thy protection we may be freed from the immi- nent dangers of our sins, and
52
ADVENT.
eripi, te liberante, salvari. Qui vivis et regnas Deus, per omnia saecula saeculorum. J$. Amen.
(Second Excita, Domine, corda nos- tra ad praeparandas Unigeniti tui vias ; ut per ejus adven- tum puriiicatis tibi mentibus serviremereamur. Qui tecum vivit et regnat in saecula saeculorum. ^. Amen.
(Third Aurem tuam, quaesumus, Domine, precibus nostris ac- commoda : et mentis nostras tenebras gratia tuse visita- tionis illustra. Qui vivis et regnas Deus, per omnia sae- cula saeculorum. I£. Amen.
(Fourth Excita, quaesumus, Do- mine, potentiam tuam et veni, et magna nobis virtute succurre : ut, per auxilium gratiae tuse quod nostra pec- cata praepediunt, indulgentia tuse propitiationis acceleret. Qui vivis et regnas Deus, per omnia saecula saeculorum. 3$, Amen.
be saved by thy mercy ; who livest and reignest God, world without end. " 1$. Amen.
Week)
Stir up, O Lord, our hearts to prepare the ways of thy Only Begotten Son ; that by his coming, we may be en- abled to serve thee with pure minds ; who livest and reign- est God, world without end.
1$, Amen. Week)
Bend thine ear, O Lord, we beseech thee, to our prayers, and enlighten the darkness of our minds by the grace of thy visitation ; who livest and reignest God, world without end.
I£. Amen.
Week)
Exert, we beseech thee, O Lord, thy power and come ; and succour us by thy great might ; that by the assistance - of thy grace, thy indulgent mercy may hasten what is delayed by our sins; 'who livest and reignest God, world without end.
1$. Amen.
It would be well to add the special Prayer, which the Church says, during Advent, in honour of the Blessed Mother of God.
OREMUS.
m Deus, qui de beatae Ma- riae Virginis utero, Verbum tuum, Angelo nuntiante, car- nem suscipere voluisti : prae- sta supplicibus tuis, ut qui vere earn Genitricem Dei cre- dimus, ejus apud te inter-
LET US PEAY.
O God, who wast pleased that thy Word, when the Angel delivered his message, should take flesh in the womb of the Blessed Virgin Mary ; give ear to our humble peti- tions, and grant that we who
NIGHT PRATERS. 53
believe her to be truly the cessionibus adjuvemur. Per
Mother of God, may be help- eumdem Christum Dominum
ed by her prayers. Through nostrum, the same Christ our Lord.
1$. Amen. ]$. Amen.
During the day, you may use the instructions and prayers which you will find in this volume for each day of .Advent, both for the Proper of the Time, and the Proper of the Saints. In the evening, you may use the following prayers.
NIGHT PRATERS,
After having made the sign of the Cross, adore the Divine Majesty, who has so mercifully preserved you during this day, and so plentifully bestowed upon you, every hour, his grace and protection. Begin by re- citing the hymn which the Church sings at Vespers during Advent
HYMN,
O Jesus, thou kind Creator Creator alme siderum,
of the heavens, eternal Light yEterna lux credentium,
of believers, and Redeemer of Jesu, Redemptor omnium,
all mankind, hear the prayers Intende votis supplicum. of thy suppliants.
Lest the world should Qui daemonis ne fraudibus
perish by the fraud of the Periret orbis, impetu
devil, thou, impelled by the Amoris actus, languidi
vehemence of thy love for us, Mundi medela f actus es. didst thyself become the re- medy of all our weakness.
To expiate the sin of the Commune qui mundi nefas
whole world, thou didst come Ut expiares, ad crucem,
from the sanctuary of the E Virginis sacrario
Virgin's womb, a victim des- Intacta prodis victima. tined to the cross.
How glorious is thy power, Cujus potestas gloriae
when, at the very sound of Nomenque quum primum thy Name, heaven and hell sonat,
bend their trembling knee ! Et ccelites et inferi
Tremente curvantur genu.
54j advent.
Te deprecamur, ultimse We beseech thee, dread
Magnum diei judicem, Judge of the last day, defend
Armis supernse gratise us from our enemies by the
Def ende nos ab hostibus. armour of thy heavenly grace.
Virtus, honor, laus, gloria, Power, honour, praise, and
Deo Patri cum Filio, glory, be to the Father, and
Sancto simul Paraclito, to the Son, and to the holy
In sseculorum saecula. Paraclete, for ever and ever.
Amen. Amen.
After this Hymn, say the Our Father, the Hail Mary, and the Apostles' Greed, as in the Morning.
Then make the Examination of Conscience, going over in your mind all the faults you may have com- mitted during the day ; think how unworthy sin makes us of the merciful visit of our Saviour, and make a firm resolution to avoid sin for the future, to do penance for it, and to avoid the occasions which might lead you into it.
The Examination of Conscience concluded, recite the Confiteor (or I confess) with heartfelt contrition, and then give expression to your sorrow by the fol- lowing Act, which we have taken from the Venerable Cardinal Bellarmine's Catechism :
ACT OF CONTRITION.
O my God, I am exceedingly grieved for having offended thee, and with my whole heart 1 repent for the sins I have committed : I hate and abhor them above every other evil, not only because, by so sinning, I have lost Heaven and deserved Hell, but still more because I have offended thee, O Infinite Goodness, who art worthy to be loved above all things. I most firmly resolve, by the assistance of thy grace, never more to offend thee for the time to come, and to avoid those occasions which might lead me into sin.
You may then add the Acts of Faith, Hope, and Charity, to the recitation of which Pope Benedict XIV. has granted an indulgence of seven years and seven quarantines for each time.
ACT OF FAITH.
O my God, I firmly believe whatsoever the Holy Catholic Apostolic Roman Church requires me to believe : I believe
NIGHT PRAYERS.
55
it, because thou hast revealed it to her, thou who art the very- Truth.
ACT OF HOPE.
O my God, knowing thy almighty power, and thy infinite goodness and mercy,! hope in thee that, by the merits of the Passion and Death of our Saviour Jesus Christ, thou wilt grant me eternal life, which thou hast promised to all such as shall do the works of a good Christian ; and these I resolve to do with the help of thy grace.
ACT OF CHARITY.
0 my God, I love thee with my whole heart and above all things, because thou art the Sovereign Good : I would rather lose all things than offend thee. For thy love also, I love and desire to love my neighbour as myself.
Then say to our Blessed Lady, in honour of the ineffable dignity of her Maternity, the following Anthem :
ANTHEM TO THE BLESSED VIRGIN.
Sweet Mother of our Re- deemer^ Gate whereby we enter heaven, and Star of the sea ! help us, we fall ; yet do we long to rise. Nature looked upon thee with admi- ration, when thou didst give birth to thy divine Creator, thyself remaining, before and after it, a pure Virgin. Ga- briel spoke his Rail to thee ; we sinners crave thy pity.
f. The Angel of the Lord declared unto Mary.
IjL And she conceived of the Holy Ghost.
LET US PRAY.
Pour forth, we beseech thee, O Lord, thy grace into our hearts ; that we to whom the Incarnation of Christ thy Son was made known by the message of an Angel, may by his Passion and Cross be
Alma Redemptoris mater,
quae pervia cceli Porta manes, et stella maris,
succurre cadenti, Surgere qui curat populo : tu
quae genuisti, Natura mirante, tuum sanc- tum Genitorem, Virgo prius ac posterius, Ga-
brielis ab ore, Sumens illud Ave, peccato-
rum miserere.
y. Angelus Domini nun- tiavit Marise.
]$. Et concepit de Spiritu Sancto.
OREMUS.
Gratiam tuam, qusesumus, Domine, mentibus nostris in- f unde, ut qui, Angelo nunti- ante, ChristiFilii tui Incarna- tionem cognovimus, per Pas- sionem ejus et Crucem ad Resurrectionis gloriam perdu-
m
ADVENT.
camur. Per eumdem Chris- brought to the glory of his turn Dominum nostrum. Resurrection. Through the
same Christ our Lord. 3$. Amen. I£. Amen.
Yoti would do well to add the Litany of our Lady. An indulgence of three hundred days, for each time it is recited, has been granted by the Church.
THE LITANY OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN.
Kyrie, eleison.
Christe, eleison.
Kyrie, eleison.
Christe, audi nos.
Christe, exaudi nos.
Pater de ecelis, Deus, mise- rere nobis.
Fili, Redemptor mundi Deus, miserere nobis.
Spiritus Sancte, Deus, mise- rere nobis.
Sancta Trinitas, unus Deus, miserere nobis.
Sancta Maria, ora pro nobis.
Sancta Dei Genitrix, ora, etc.
Sancta Virgo virginum, Mater Christi, Mater divinse gratia?, Mater purissima, Mater eastissima, Mater inviolata, Mater intemerata, Mater amabilis, Mater admirabilis, Mater Creatoris, Mater Salvatoris, Virgo prudentissima, Virgo veneranda, Virgo praedicanda, Virgo potens, Virgo clemens, Virgo fidelis, Speculum justitise, Sedes sapientias,
Lord, have mercy on us. Christ, have mercy on us. Lord, have mercy on us. Christ, hear us. Christ, graciously hear us. God the Father of heaven,
have mercy on us. God the Son, Redeemer of
the world, have mercy on
us. God the Holy Ghost, have
mercy on us. Holy Trinity, one God, have
mercy on us. Holy Mary, pray for us. Holy Mother of God, pray,
etc. Holy virgin of virgins, Mother of Christ, Mother of divine grace, Mother most pure, Mother most chaste, Mother inviolate, Mother undefiled, Mother most amiable, Mother most admirable, Mother of our Creator, Mother of our Redeemer, Virgin most prudent, Virgin most venerable, Virgin most renowned, Virgin most powerful, Virgin most merciful, Virgin most faithful, Mirror of justice, Seat of Wisdom,
NIGHT PRAYERS.
57
Cause of our joy,
Spiritual vessel,
Vessel of honour,
Vessel of singular devotion,
Mystical Rose,
Tower of David,
Tower of ivory,
House of gold,
Ark of the covenant,
Gate of heaven,
Morning Star,
Health of the weak,
Refuge of sinners,
Comforter of the afflicted,
Help of Christians,
Queen of Angels,
Queen of Patriarchs,
Queen of Prophets,
Queen of Apostles,
Queen of Martyrs,
Queen of Confessors,
Queen of Virgins,
Queen of all Saints,
Queen conceived without ori- ginal sin.
O Lamb of God, who takest away the sins of the world, spare us, O Lord.
O Lamb of God, who takest away the sins of the world, graciously hear us, 0 Lord.
O Lamb of God, who takest away the sins of the world, have mercy on us.
Christ, hear us.
Christ, graciously hear us. $. Pray for us, 0 holy
Mother of God. 1$. That we may be made
worthy of the promises of
Christ
LET US PRAY.
Grant, O Lord, we beseech thee, that we thy servants may enjoy constant health of body and mind, and by the
Causa nostra? laetitiae, Vas spirituale, Vas honorabile, Vas insigne devotionis, Rosa mystica, Turris Davidica, Turris eburnea, Domus aurea, Foederis area, Janua cceli, Stella matutina, Salus infirmorum, Refugium peccatorum, Consolatrix afflictorum, Auxilium Christianorum, Regina Angelorum, Regina Patriarcharum, Regina Prophetarum, Regina Apostolorum, Regina Martyrum, Regina Confessorum, Regina Virginum, Regina Sanctorum omnium, Regina sine labe concepta.
Agnus Dei, qui tollis pec- cata mundi, parce nobis, Domine.
Agnus Dei, qui tollis pec- cata mundi, exaudi nos, Domine.
Agnus Dei, qui tollis pec- cata mundi, miserere no- bis.
Christe, audi nos.
Christe, exaudi nos.
$". Ora pro nobis, sancta
Dei Genitrix. 1$. Ut digni efficiamur pro-
missionibus Christi.
OREMTTS.
Concede nos famulos tuos, quaesumus, Domine Deus, perpetua mentis et corporis sanitate gaudere : et gloriosa
58
ADVENT.
beataa Marise semper Vir- glorious intercession of Bles- ginis intercessione, a praesenti sed Mary, ever a Virgin, be hberari tristitia, et aeterna delivered from all present perfrui laetitia. Per Christum affliction, and come to that Dominum nostrum. Amen, joy which is eternal. Through
Christ our Lord. Amen.
Here invoke the Holy Angels, whose protection is, indeed, always so much needed by us, but never so much as during the hours of night. Say with the Church :
Sancti Angeli, custodesnos- tri, defendite nos in praelio, ut non pereamus in tremendo judicio.
'ff. Angelis suis Deus man- davit de te.
1$. Ut custodiant te in om- nibus viis tuis.
OREMUS.
Deus, qui ineffabili provi- dentia sanctos Angelos tuos ad nostram custodiam mit- tere dignaris : largire suppli- cibus tuis, jet eorum semper protectione defendi, etaeterna societate gaudere. Per Chris- tum Dominum nostrum. Amen.
Holy Angels, our loving Guardians, defend us in the hour of battle, that we may not be lost at the dreadful judgment.
J. God hath given his Angels charge of thee.
%\ That they may guard thee in all thy ways.
LET US PRAY.
O God, who in thy wonder- ful providence hast been pleased to appoint thy holy Angels for our guardians : mercifully hear our prayer, and grant we may rest se- cure under their protection, and enjoy their fellowship in heaven for ever. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.
Then beg the assistance of the Saints by the fol- lowing Antiphon and Prayer of the Church :
Ant. Ecce Dominus ve- niet, et omnes Sancti ejus cum eo : et erit in die ilia lux magna. Alleluia.
y. Ecce apparebit Domi- nus super nubem candidam.
I£. Et cum eo Sanctorum millia.
Ant. Behold, the Lord will come, and with him all his Saints ; and on that day there shall be a great light. Alleluia.
$\ Behold, the Lord shall appear upon a white cloud.
%. And with him thou- sands of Saints.
NIGHT PRAYERS.
59
LET US PRAY.
Visit, we beseech thee, O Lord, and purify our hearts by thy grace : that when our Lord Jesus Christ thy Son shall come, together with all his Saints, he may find us ready to give him a place within us : who liveth and reigneth with thee for ever and ever. Amen.
OREMTTS.
Conscietitias nostras, quag- sumus, Domine, visitando purifica : ut veniens Jesus Christus Filius tuus Domi- nus noster, cum omnibus Sanctis suis, paratam sibi in nobis inveniat mansionem. Qui tecum vivit, <kc.
And here you may add a special mention of the Saints to whom you bear a particular devotion, either as your Patrons or otherwise ; as also of those whose feast is kept in the Church that day, or at least who have been commemorated in the Divine Office.
This done, remember the necessities of the Church Suffering, and beg of God that he will give to the souls in Purgatory a place of refreshment, light, and peace. For this intention recite the usual prayers.
PSALM 129.
From the depths I have cried to thee, O Lord ; Lord, hear my voice.
Let thine ears be attentive to the voice of my supplica- tion.
If thou wilt observe ini- quities, O Lord, Lord, who shall endure it % _ For with thee there is mer- ciful forgiveness ; and by reason of thy law I have waited for thee, O Lord.
My soul hath relied on his word ; my soul hath hoped in the Lord.
From the morning watch even until night, let Israel hope in the Lord.
Because with the Lord
De profundis clamavi ad te, Domine : Domine, exaudi vocem meam.
Fiant aures tuse intenden- tes : in vocem deprecationis mese.
Si iniquitates observave- ris, Domine : Domine, quis sustinebit %
Quia apud te propitiatio est : et propter legem tuam sustinui te, Domine.
Sustinuit anima mea in verbo ejus : speravit anima mea in Domino.
A custodia matutina usque ad noctem : speret Israel in Domino.
Quia apud Dominum mise-
60
ADVENT.
ricordia : et copiosa apud eum redemptio.
Et ipse redimet Israel : ex omnibus iniquitatibus ejus.
Requiem seternam dona eis, Domine.
Et lux perpetua luceat eis.
ft. A porta inferi.
I£. Erue, Domine, animas eorum.
ft. Requieseant in pace.
I£. Amen.
ft. Domine, exaudi ora- tionem meam.
]$. Et clamor meus ad te veniat.
OREMUS.
Fidelium Deus omnium Conditor et Redemptor, ani- mabus famulorum famula- rumque tuarum, remission em cunctorum tribue peccato- rum : ut indulgentiam, quam semper optaverunt, piis sup- plicationibus consequantur. Qui vivis et regnas in ssecula sseculorum. Amen.
there is mercy, and with him plentiful redemption.
And he shall redeem Israel from all his iniquities.
Eternal rest give to them, O Lord.
And let perpetual light shine upon them.
ft. From the gate of hell.
I£. Deliver their souls, O Lord.
ft. May they rest in peace.
1$. Amen.
ft. 0 Lord, hear my prayer.
3$. And let my cry come unto thee.
LET US PRAY.
O God, the Creator and Redeemer of all the Faithful, give to the souls of thy ser- vants departed the remission of their sins: that through the help of pious supplications, they may obtain the pardon they have always desired. Who livest and reignest for ever and ever. Amen.
Here make a special memento of such of the Faithful departed as have a particular claim upon your charity; after which, ask of God to give you his assistance, whereby you may pass the night free from danger. Say, then, still keeping to the words of the Church :
Ant. Salva nos, Domine, vigilantes, custodi nos dor- mientes : ut vigilemus cum Christo, et requiescamus in pace.
ft. Dignare, Domine, nocte ista.
1$. Sine peccato nos cus- todire.
Ant. Save us, O Lord, whilst awake, and watch us as we sleep ; that we may watch with Christ, and rest in peace.
ft. Vouchsafe, O Lord, this night.
1$. To keep us without sin.
NIGHT PKAYERS.
61
Jt. Miseiere nostri, Do mine.
1$. Miserere nostri.
p- .Fiat misericordia tua, Domine, super nos.
1$. Quemadmodum spera"j vimus in te.
^. Domine, exaudi ora- tionem meam.
I£. Et clamor mens ad te veniat.
OREMUS.
Visita,qua3sumus, Domine, habitationem istam, et omnes insidias inimici ab ea longe repelle : Angeli tui sancti habitent in ea, qui nos in pace custodiant, et benedictio tua sit super nos semper. Per Dominum nostrum Jesum Christum, Filiuin tuum, qui tecum vivit et regnat in uni- tate Spiritus Sancti Deus, per omnia ssecula sseculo- rum. Amen.
And tbat you may end the day in the same senti- ments with which you began it, repeat your prayer for the comingf of the Saviour:
$". Have mercy on us, O Lord.
Have mercy on us. r. Let thy mercy, O Lord, be upon us.
I£. As we have hoped in thee.
$f. 0 Lord, hear my prayer.
1$. And let my cry come unto thee.
[let us peay.
Visit, we beseech thee, O Lord, this house and family, and drive from it all snares of the enemy : let thy holy Angels dwell herein,who may keep us in peace, and may thy blessing be always upon us. Through Jesus Christ our Lord, thy Son, who liveth and reigneth with thee, in the unity of the Holy Ghost, God, world without end. Amen.
$". Drop down dew, ye heavens, from above, and let the clouds rain the Just One.
I£. Let theearthbe opened, and bud forth the Saviour.
$". Borate, cceli desuper, et nubes pluant justum.
1$. Aperiatur terra et ger- minet Salvatorem.
To which add one of the four prayers for Advent, taking the one which belongs to the week (as above, page 51), and then retire to rest in the expectation of Him who is to come in the mid-night
CHAPTER THE FIFTH.
ON HEARING MASS DURING THE TIME OF ADVENT.
There is no exercise which is more pleasing to God, or more meritorious, or which has greater influence in infusing solid piety into the soul, than the assist- ing at the holy Sacrifice of the Mass. If this be true at all the various seasons of the Christian Year, it is so, in a very especial manner, during the holy time of Advent. The Faithful, therefore, should make every effort in order to enjoy this precious blessing, even on those days when they are not obliged to it by the precept of the Church.
With what gratitude ought they not to assist at that divine Sacrifice, for which the world had been longing for four thousand years ! God has granted them to be born after the fulfilment of that stupendous and merciful oblation, and would not put them in the generations of men, who died before they could par- take of its reality and its riches ! This notwith- standing, they must earnestly unite with the Church, in praying for the coming of the Redeemer, so to pay their share of that great debt which God has put upon all, whether living before or after the fulfilment of the mystery of the Incarnation. Let them think of this in assisting at the holy Sacrifice.
Let them also remember, that this great Sacrifice, which perpetuates on this earth, even to the end of time, though in an unbloody manner, the real obla- tion of the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ, has this for its express aim, — to prepare the souls of the Faith- ful for the mysterious coming of God, who only re- deemed our souls that he might take possession of
MASS. 63
them. It not only prepares, it even effects this glorious Advent.
Let them, in the third place, lovingly profit by the presence of, and intimacy with, Jesus, to which this hidden yet saving mystery admits them; that so, when he comes in that other way, whereby he will judge the world in terrible majesty, he may recog- nise them as his friends, and even then, when mercy shall give place to justice, again save them.
We will now endeavour to embody these sentiments in our explanation of the Mysteries of the holy Mass, and initiate the Faithful into these divine secrets ; not, indeed, by indiscreetly presuming to translate the sacred formulae, but by suggesting such Acts, as will enable those who hear Mass, to enter into the cere- monies and sentiments of the Church and the Priest.
The Faithful, in assisting at Mass during Advent, should first know whether it is going to be said ac- cording to the Advent rite, or in honour of the Blessed Virgin, or of a Saint, or, finally, for the Dead. The colour of the Vestments worn by the Priest will tell them all this. Purple is used, if the Mass be of Advent ; white or red, if of our Lady or the Saints ; and black, if for the Dead. If the Priest be vested in purple, the Faithful must excite within themselves the spirit of penance, which the Church would signify by this colour. They should do the same, no matter what may be the colour of the Vestments ; for in every Mass during Advent, with the exception of Masses for the Dead, the Priest is obliged, even on the greatest feasts, to make a commemoration of Advent three separate times ; and thus to make use of the same expressions of repentance and sorrow as he would in a Mass proper to the time of Advent.
On the Sundays, if the Mass at which they assist be the Parochial, or, as it is often called, the Public Mass, two solemn rites precede it, which are full of
G4
ADVENT.
instruction and blessing, — the Asperges, or sprinkling of the Holy Water, and the Procession.
During the Asperges, let them ask for that purity of heart, which is necessary for the having a share in the twofold Coming of Jesus Christ; and in receiving the Holy Water, the sprinkling of which prepares us for the assisting worthily at the great Sacrifice, wherein is poured forth, not a figurative water, but the very Blood of the Lamb, they should think of that Baptism of water, by means of which St. John the Baptist prepared the Jews for that other Baptism, which the power and mercy of the Bedeemer were afterwards to give to mankind.
antiphon OF the Asperges.
Asperges me, Domine, hyssopo, et mundabor ; lava- bis me, et super nivem deal- babor.
Ps. Miserere mei, Deus, secundum magnam miseri- cordiam tuam.
ft. Gloria Patri, &c.
Ant. Asperges me, &c.
$\ Ostende nobis, Domine, misericordiam tuam.
J$. Et salutare tuum da nobis.
$". Domine, exaudi ora- tionem meam.
1$. Et clamor meus ad te veniat.
y. Dominus vobiscum.
1$. Et cum spiritu tuo.
Thou shalt sprinkle me with hyssop, O Lord, and I shall be cleansed ; thou shalt wash me, and I shall be made whiter than snow.
Ps. Have mercy on me, O God, according to thy great mercy.
f. Glory, &c.
Ant. Sprinkle me, &c.
"ft. Show us, 0 Lord, thy mercy.
Ijfc. And grant us the Sa- viour, whom we expect from thee.
"ft. 0 Lord, hear my prayer.
~tfd. And let my cry come unto thee. 'ff. The Lord be with you. I£. And with thy spirit.
OREMTJS.
Exaudi nos, Domine sancte, Pater omnipotens, seterne Deus : et mittere digneris sanctum Angelum tuum de
LET US PRAY.
Graciously hear us, O holy Lord, Father Almighty, eternal God : and vouchsafe to send thy holy Angel from
THE OEDINARY OF THE MASS.
65
heaven, who may keep, che- rish, protect, visit, and defend all who are assembled in this
Elace. Through Christ our iOrd. 1$. Amen.
ccelis qui custodiat, foveat, protegat, visitet atque de- fen dat omnes habitantes in hoc habitaculo. Per Chris- tum Dominum nostrum. J$. Amen.
The Procession, which immediately precedes the Mass, should remind us how we ought to be stand- ing with lamps burning in our hands, ready to go out and meet our Lord, who is coming.1 The Church is ever advancing towards her Spouse in an unbroken procession, and our souls should be ever hastening towards their Sovereign Good, never resting until they have found him.
But see, Christians, the Sacrifice begins ! The Priest is at the foot of the altar ; God is attentive, the Angels are in adoration, the whole Church is united with the Priest, whose priesthood and action are those of the great High Priest, Jesus Christ. Let us make the sign of the cross with him.
THE ORDINARY OF THE MASS.
In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost Amen.
I unite myself, O my God, with thy Church, who comes to seek consolation in Jesus Christ thy Son, who is the true Altar.
Like her, I beseech thee to defend me against the malice of the enemies of my salva- tion.
It is in thee that I have put my hope ; yet do I feel sad and troubled at being in the midst of the snares which are set for me.
In nomine Patris et Filii et Spiritus Sancti. Amen.
~ff. Introibo ad altare Dei. 1$. Ad Deum qui lsetificat juventutem meam.
Judica me, Deus, et dis- cern e causam meam de gente non sancta : ab homine iniquo et doloso erue me.
Quia tu es, Deus, fortitudo mea : quare me repulisti 1 et quare tristis incedo, dum affligit me inimicus ]
1 St. Luke, xii. 35.
66
ADVENT.
Emitte lucem tuam et ve- ritatem tuam : ipsa me de- duxerunt et adduxerunt in montem sanctum tuum, et in tabernacula tua.
Et introibo ad altare Dei : ad Deum qui lsetificat ju- ventutem meam.
Confitebor tibi in cithara Deus, Deus meus : quare tristis es anima mea 1 et quare conturbas me 1
Spera in Deo, quoniam ad- huc confitebor illi : salutare vultus mei, et Deus meus.
Gloria Patri, et Filio, et Spiritui Sancto.
Sicut erat in principio, et nunc et semper, et in saecula sseculorum. Amen.
ft. Introibo ad altare Dei.
3^. Ad Deum qui lsetificat juventutem meam.
ft. Adjutorium nostrum in nomine Domini.
1$. Qui fecit coelum et terram.
Send me, then, him who is light and truth ; it is he that will open to us the way to thy holy mount, to thy heavenly tabernacle.
He is the Mediator and the living Altar ; I will draw nigh to him, an d be filled with
joy.
When he shall have come, I will sing in my gladness. Be not sad, O my soul ! why wouldst thou be troubled ]
Hope in his Coming ; he who is thy Saviour and thy God, will soon be with thee.
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost.
As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.
I am to go to the altar of God, and feel the presence of him who consoles me !
This my hope comes not from any merits of my own, but from the all-powerful help of my Creator.
This announcement of the Coming of our Lord, excites in the soul of the Priest a lively sentiment of compunction. He cannot go further in the holy Sacrifice without confessing, and publicly, that he is a sinner, and deserves not the grace he is about to receive. Listen, with respect, to this confession of God's Minister, and earnestly ask our Lord to show mercy to him ; for the Priest is your Father ; he is answerable for your salvation, for which he every day risks his own. When he has finished, unite with the Servers, or the Sacred Ministers, in this prayer :
Misereatur tui omnipotens Deus, et dimissis peccatis
May Almighty God have mercy on thee, and, forgiving
THE ORDINARY OF THE MASS.
67
thy sins, bring thee to ever- lasting life.
tuis, perducat te ad vitam seternam.
The Priest having answered Amen, make your confession, saying with a contrite spirit :
I confess to Almighty God, to Blessed Mary ever Virgin, to blessed Michael the Arch- angel, to blessed John Bap- tist, to the"holy Apostles Peter and Paul, to all the saints, and to thee, Father, that I have sinned exceedingly in thought, word, and deed, through my fault, through my fault, through my most grievous fault. Therefore, I beseech the Blessed Mary ever Virgin, blessed Michael the Archangel, blessed John Baptist, the holy Apostles Peter and Paul, and all the saints, and thee, Father, to pray to our Lord God for
ConfiteorDeo omnipotenti, beatse Marias semper Virgini, beato Michaeli Archangelo, beato Joanni Baptistae, Sanc- tis Apostolis Petro et Paulo, omnibus Sanctis, et tibi, Pater : quia peccavi nimis cogitatione, verbo, et opere : mea culpa, mea culpa, mea maxima culpa. Ideo precor beatam Mariam semper Vir- ginem, beatum Michaelem Archangelum, beatum Joan- nem Baptistam, sanctos Apostolos Petrum et Paulum, omnes sanctos, et te, Pater, orare pro me ad Dominum Deum nostrum.
Receive with gratitude the paternal wish of the Priest, who says to you :
Misereatur vestri omnipo- tens Deus, et dimissis pec- catis vestris, perducat vos ad vitam seternam.
I£. Amen.
Iadulgentiam, absolutio- nem, et remissionem pec- catorum nostrorum, tribuat nobis omnipotens et iniseri- cors Dominus.
I£. Amen.
Invoke the divine assistance, that you may ap- proach to Jesus Christ.
$\ O God, it needs but one y. Deus, tu con versus vi- look of thine to give us life, vificabis nos.
May Almighty God be merciful to you, and, forgiv- ing your sins, bring you to everlasting life. .1$. Amen.
May the Almighty and merciful Lord grant us par- don, absolution, and remis- sion of our sins.
1$. Amen.
68
ADVENT.
1$. Et plebs tua lsetabitur in te.
ft. Ostende nobis, Domi- ne, misericordiam tuam.
1$. Et Salutare tuum da nobis.
ft. D online, exaudi ora- tionem meam.
1$. Et clamor meus ad te veniat.
1$. And thy people shall rejoice in thee.
ft. Show us, O Lord, thy mercy.
Ijfc. And give us the Saviour whom thou hast prepared for us.
ft. 0 Lord, hear my prayer.
]$. And let my cry come unto thee.
The Priest here leaves you to ascend to the altar; but first he salutes you:
ft. Dominus vobiscum. ft. The Lord be with you.
Answer him with reverence :
]$. Et cum spiritu tuo. 1$. And with thy spirit.
OEEMUS.
LET US PEAY.
He ascends the steps, and conies to the Holy of Holies. Ask, both for him and yourself, the deliver- ance from sin.
Aufer a nobis, qusesumus Domine, iniquitates nostras ; ut ad Sancta sanctorum puris mereamur mentibus introire. Per Christum Dominum nos- trum. Amen.
Take from our hearts, O Lord, all those sins, which make us unworthy of thy visit ; we ask this of thee by thy divine Son, our Lord.
When the Priest kisses the altar, out of reverence for the relics of the Martyrs which are there, say :
Generous soldiers of Jesus Christ, who have mingled your own blood with his, in- tercede for us that our sins may be forgiven ; that so we may, like you, approach unto God.
If it be a High Mass at which you are assisting, the Priest incenses the Altar in a most solemn man-
Oramus te, Domine, per merita sanctorum tuorum quorum reliquiae hie sunt, et omnium Sanctorum : ut in- dulgere digneris omnia pec- cata mea. Amen.
THE ORDINARY OF THE MASS. 69
ner ; and this white cloud which you see ascending from every part of the Altar, signifies the prayer of the Church, who addresses herself to Jesus Christ ; and which this Divine Mediator then causes to ascend, united with his own, to the throne of the majesty of his Father.
The Priest then says the Introit. In the Masses proper to Advent, it is a cry made to the Messias, which has so much the greater power with God, as it goes up to him from the holy Altar.
It is followed by nine exclamations, which are even more earnest, for they ask for mercy. In addressing them to God, the Church unites herself with the nine choirs of Angels, who are standing round the altar of Heaven, one and the same as this before which you are kneeling.
To the Father, who is to send us Ms Son :
Lord, have mercy on us ! Kyrie eleison.
Lord, have mercy on us ! Kyrie eleison.
Lord, have mercy on us ! Kyrie eleison.
To the Son, who is to come to us :
Christ, have mercy on us ! Christe eleison.
Christ, have mercy on us ! Christe eleison.
Christ, have mercy on us ! Christe eleison.
To the Holy Ghost, ivhose operation is to accomplish the mystery: *
Lord, have mercy on us ! Kyrie eleison.
Lord, have mercy on us ! Kyrie eleison.
Lord, have mercy on us ! Kyrie eleison.
If it be a Feast, the Priest says the Angelic Hymn, which the Church has made her own ever since the Birth of our Saviour : if the Mass be proper to Advent, the Church forbids the joyous Canticle until the New Birth of her spouse again comes to gladden her.
70
ADVENT,
THE ANGELIC HYMN.
Glory be to God on high, and on earth peace to men of good will.
We praise thee : we bless thee : we adore thee : we glorify thee : we give thee thanks for thy great glory.
O Lord God, Heavenly King, God the Father Al- mighty.
O Lord Jesus Christ, the Only Begotten Son.
O Lord God, Lamb of God, Son of the Father.
Who takest away the sins of the world, have mercy on us.
Who takest away the sins of the world, receive our humble prayer.
Who sittest at the right hand of the Father, have mercy on us.
For thou alone art holy, thou alone art Lord, thou alone, O Jesus Christ, to- gether with the Holy Ghost, art most high, in the glory of God the Father. Amen.
The Priest turns towards the people, and again salutes them, as it were to make sure of their pious attention to the sublime act, for which all this is but the preparation. The words of this greeting are especially beautiful during the weeks of Advent: The Lord be with you ! Isaias had foretold that it would indeed be verified, and the Angel confirms the prophecy to St. Joseph, when he thus says to him : " He shall be called Emmanuel, that is, God vrith us."}
1 St. Matth. i. 23.
Gloria in excelsis Deo, et in terra pax hominibus bonae voluntatis.
Laudamus te : benediei- miis te : adoramus te : glori- ficamus te : gratiaa agimus tibi propter magnam gioriam tuam.
Domine Deus Rex coeles- tis, Deus Pater omnipotens. -
Domine, Fili unigenite, Jesu Christe.
Domine Deus, Agnus Dei, Filius Patris.
Qui tollis peccata mundi. miserere nobis.
Qui tollis peccata mundi, suscipe deprecationem nos- tram.
Qui sedes ad dexteram Pa- tris, miserere nobis.
Quoniam tu solus sanctus, tu solus Dominus, tu solus Altissimus, Jesu Christe, cum Sancto Spiritu, in gloria Dei Patris. Amen.
THE ORDINARY OF THE MASS. 71
Then follows the Collect or Prayer, in which the Church formally expresses to the divine Majesty the special intentions she has in the Mass which is being celebrated. You may unite in this prayer, by recit- ing with the Priest the Collects which you will find in their proper places : but on no account omit to join with the server of the Mass in answering Amen.
Then follows the Epistle, which is, generally, a por- tion of one or other of the Epistles of the Apostles, or a passage from some Book of the Old Testament. Listen to this word of God's Messengers with respect and submission, and long for Him who is the eternal Word, and who is soon to be born among men and converse with them.
The Gradual is an intermediate formula of prayer between the Epistle and Gospel. It again brings to our attention the sentiments which were expressed in the Introit. Read it with devotion, so as to get more and more into the spirit of preparation for the coming of your Saviour.
The Alleluia is like a thrill of joy, which seizes the soul of the Church, and makes her exult, as she reflects that she already possesses the Spouse, of whom she is in expectation ; but this is only for a moment ; — she resumes her attitude of a suppliant, asking him to come, for she feels that she needs his new coming.
Until the happy hour when he will come in per- son, he comes to us by his words, which are spirit and life. The Gospel is about to be read aloud in the assembly of the faithful ; the poor are to have the gospel preached unto them. If it be a High Mass, the Deacon prepares to fulfil his noble office, that of announcing the Good Tidings of Salvation. He prays God to cleanse his heart and lips. Then kneeling, lie asks the Priest's blessing ; and having received it, he at once goes to the place where he is to sing the Gospel.
72 ADVENT.
As a preparation for hearing it worthily, you may thus pray, together with the Priest and Deacon :
Munda cor meum, ac labia Alas ! these ears of mine
mea, omnipotens Deus, qui are but too of ten denied with
labia Isaiae Prophetse calculo the world's vain words ;
mundasti ignito : ita me tua cleanse them, 0 Lord, that
grata miseratione dignare so I may hear the words of
mundare, ut sanctum Evan- eternal life, and treasure them
gelium tuum digne valeam in my heart. Through our
nuntiare. Per Christum Do- Lord Jesus Christ. Amen, mimim nostrum. Amen.
Dominus sit in corde meo, Grant to thy ministers thy
et in labiis meis : ut digne grace, that _ they may f aith-
et competenter annuntiem fully explain thy law ; that
Evangelium suum : In no- so all, both pastors and flock,
mine Patris, et Filii, et Spi- may be united to thee for
ritus Sancti. Amen. ever. Amen,
You will stand during the Gospel, as though you were waiting the orders of your Lord ; and at the commencement, make the sign of the Cross on your forehead, lips, and breast; and then listen to every word of the Priest or Deacon. Let your heart be ready and obedient. Whilst my beloved was speak- ing, says the Spouse in the Canticle, my soul melted within me.1 If you have not such love as this, have at least the humble submission of Samuel, and say : SpeaJc, Lord ! thy servant heareth.2
After the Gospel, if the Priest says the Symbol of Faith, the Credo, you will say it with him. Faith is that gift of God, without which we cannot please him. It is by it that we are now looking for the coming of our Redeemer, whom as yet we do not see ; and it is faith which will merit for us the grace of his ineffable visit. Faith is the mark of those true Israelites, who are looking for the Messias, and will find him. Let us then say with the Catholic Church, our Mother :
Cant. v. 6. a I. Kings, iii. 10.
THE ORDINARY OF THE MASS.
73
THE NICENE CREED.
I believe in one God, the Father Almighty, maker of heaven and earth, and of all things visible and invisible.
And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the Only Begotten Son of God. And born of the Father before all ages ; God of God, light of light ; true God of true God. Begotten, not made ; consubstantial to the Father : by whom all things were made. Who for us men and for our salvation, came down from heaven. And became Incarnate by the Holy Ghost, of the Virgin Mary ; and was made man. He was crucified also for us, under Pontius Pilate, suf- fered, and was buried. And the third day he rose again according to the Scriptures. And ascended into heaven, sitteth at the right hand of the Father. And he is to come again with glory, to judge the living and the dead ; of whose kingdom there shall be no end.
And in the Holy Ghost, the Lord and giver of life, who proceedeth from the Father and the Son. Who together with the Father and the Son, is adored and glori- fied ; who spoke by the Pro- phets. And one holy Catho- lic and Apostolic Church. I confess one Baptism for the remission of sins. And I expect the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the world to come. Amen.
Credo in unum Deum, Patrem omnipotentem, fac- torem cceli et terrae, visibi- lium omnium et invisibi- lium.
Et in unum Dominum Jesum Christum, Filium Dei unigenitum. Et ex Patre natum ante omnia ssecula, Deum de Deo, lumen de lumine, Deum verum de Deo vero. Genitum non factum, consubstantialem Patri : per quern omnia facta sunt. Qui propter nos homines, et prop- ter nostram salutem, descen- dit de coelis. Et incarnatus est de Spiritu Sancto, ex Maria Virgine ; et homo fac- tus est. Crucifixus etiam pro nobis sub Pontio Pilato, passus, et sepultus est. Et resurrexit tertia die, secun- dum Scripturas. Et ascendit in ccelum ; sedet ad dexteram Patris. Et iterum venturus est cum gloria judicare vivos et mortuos ; cujus regni non erit finis.
Et in Spiritum Sanctum, Dominum et _ vivificantem, qui ex Patre Filioque proce- dit. Qui cum Patre et Filio simul adoratur, et conglorifi- catur ; qui locutus est per Prophetas. Et unam sanctam Catholicam et Apostolicam Ecclesiam. Confiteor unum Baptisma inremissionem pec- catorum. Et exspecto resur- rectionem mortuorum, et vitam venturi saeculi. Amen.
74 ADVENT.
The Priest and the people should, by this time, have their hearts ready : it is time to prepare the offering itself. And here we come to the second part of the Holy Mass, which is called the Oblation, and which immediately follows that which was called the Mass of Catechumens, on account of its being for- merly the only part at which the candidates for Bap- tism had a right to be present.
See, then, dear Christians ! bread and wine are about to be offered to God, as being the noblest of inanimate creatures, since they are made for the nourishment of man ; and even that is only a poor material image of what they are destined to become in our Christian sacrifice. Their substance will soon give place to God himself, and of themselves nothing will remain but the appearances. Happy creatures, thus to yield up their own being, that God may take its place ! We, too, are to undergo a like transforma- tion, when, as the Apostle expresses it, that which in us is mortal shall put on immortality} Until that happy change shall be realised, let us offer ourselves to God as often as we see the bread and wine pre- sented to him in the Holy Sacrifice ; and let us prepare ourselves for the coming of Jesus, who will transform us, by making us partakers of the divine nature?
The Priest again turns to the people with the usual salutation, as though he would warn them to redouble their attention. Let us read the Offertory with him, and when he offers the Host to God, let us unite with him in saying :
Suscipe, sancte Pater, om- All that we have, 0 Lord,
nipotens seterne Deus, hanc comes from thee, and belongs
immaculatam hostiam, quam to thee ; it is just, therefore,
ego indignus famulus tuus that we return it unto thee,
offero tibi Deo meo vivo et But, how wonderful art thou
vero, pro innumerabilibus in the inventions of thy
1 I. Cor. xv. 53. £ II. St. Pet. i. 4.
THE ORDINARY OF THE MASS.
75
peccatis et offensionibus et negligentiis meis, et pro om- nibus circumstantibus, sed et pro omnibus fidelibus chris- tians vivis atque defunctis ; ut mihi et illis proficiat ad salutem in vitam aeternam. Amen.
immense love ! This bread which we are offering to thee, is to give place, in a few moments, to the sacred Body of Jesus. We beseech thee, receive, together with this oblation, our hearts, which long to live by thee, and to cease to live their own life of self.
When the Priest puts the wine into the chalice, and then mingles with it a drop of water, let your thoughts turn to the divine mystery of the Incarna- tion, which in a few days is to be manifested to the world ; and say :
O Lord Jesus, who art the true Vine, and whose Blood, like a generous wine, has been poured forth under the pressure of the Cross ! thou hast deigned to unite thy divine nature to our weak humanity, which is signified by this drop of water. Oh ! come, and make us partakers of thy divinity, by showing thyself to us in thy sweet and wondrous visit.
_ Deus qui humanae substan- tias dignitatem mirabiliter conclidisti, et mirabilius re- formasti : da nobis per hujus aquae et vini mysterium, ejus divinitatis esse consortes, qui humanitatis nostrae fieri dig- natus est particeps, Jesus ChristusFilius tuus Dominus noster : qui tecum vivit et regnat in unitate Spiritus Sancti Deus, per omnia sae- cula saeculorum. Amen.
The Priest then offers the mixture of wine and water, beseeching God graciously to accept this obla- tion, the figure of which is so soon to be changed into the reality, of which it is now hut the figure. Meanwhile, say, in union with the Priest :
Graciously accept these Offerimus tibi, Domine, gifts, O sovereign Creator of calicem salutaris, tuam de-
all things. Let them be fitted for the divine transforma- tion, which will make them, from being mere offerings of created things, the instru- ment of the world's salva- tion.
precantes clementiam : ut in conspectu divinae Majestatis tuae, pro nostra et totius mundi salute, cum odore sua- vitatis ascendat. Amen.
76 ADVENT.
After having thus held up the sacred gifts towards heaven, the Priest bows down: let us, also, humble ourselves, and say :
In spiritu humilitatis, et Though daring, as we do,
in animo contrito suscipia- to approach thy altar, 0 Lord,
niur a te, Doinine : et sic fiat we cannot forget that we are
sacrificium nostrum in con- sinners. Have mercy on ns,
spectu tuo hodie, ut placeat and delay not to send us thy
tibi, Domine Deus. Son, who is our saving Host.
Let us next invoke the Holy Ghost, whose opera- tion is about to produce on the altar the presence of the Son of God, as it did in the womb of the Blessed Virgin Mary, in the divine mystery of the Incarnation :
Veni, Sanctificator omni- Come, O Divine Spirit, potens seterne Deus, et bene- make fruitful the offering die hoc sacrificium tuo sancto which is upon the altar, and nomini praeparatum. produce in our hearts Him
whom they desire.
If it be a High Mass, the Priest, before proceeding any further with the Sacrifice, takes the thurible a second time. He first incenses the bread and wine which have been just offered, and then the altar itself; hereby inviting the faithful to make their prayer, which is signified by the incense, more and more fervent, the nearer the solemn moment ap- proaches. St. John tells us that the incense, which burns on the Altar in heaven, is made of the Prayers of the Saints ; thus, during the time of Advent, the incense, which envelopes our altar on earth with its fragrant cloud, may be taken as a symbol of the longings of the Patriarchs and Prophets after the Messias. Let us imitate them by our ardent desires for this same Jesus.
But the thought of his own unworthiness becomes more intense than ever in the heart of the Priest. The public confession, which he made at the foot of the altar, is not enough ; he would now, at the altar itself, express to the people, in the language of a
THE OKDINARY OF THE MASS.
77
solemn rite, how far he knows himself to be from that spotless sanctity wherewith he should approach to God. He washes his hands. Oar hands signify our works ; and the Priest, though by his priesthood he bear the office of Jesus Christ, is, by his works, but man. Seeing your Father thus humble himself, do you also make an act of humility, and say with him these verses of
PSALM 25.
I, too, would wash my hands, O Lord, and become like unto those who are in- nocent, that so I may be worthy to come near thy altar, and hear thy sacred Canticles, and then go and proclaim to the world the wonders of thy goodness. I love the beauty of thy House, which thou art about to make the dwelling-place of thy glory. Leave me not, O God, in the midst of them that are enemies both to thee and me. Thy mercy having separated me from them, I entered on the path of inno- cence, and was restored to thy grace ; but have pity on my weakness still ; redeem me yet more, thou who hast so mercifully brought me back to the right path. In the midst of these thy faith- ful people, T give thee thanks. Glory be to the Father and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost ; as it was in the be- ginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.
The Priest, taking encouragement from the act of humility he has just made, returns to the middle of
Lavabo inter innocentes manus meas : et circumdabo altare tuum, Domine.
Ut audiam vocem laudis : et enarrem universa niira- bilia tua.
Domine, dilexi decorem domus tuse, et locum habi- tations glorias tuae.
Ne perdas cum impiis, Deus, animam meam, et cum viris sanguinum vitam meam.
In quorum manibus ini- qritates sunt : dextera eorum repleta est muneribus.
Ego autem in innocentia mea ingressus sum : redime me, et miserere mei.
Pes meus stetit in directo ; in ecclesiis benedicam te, Domine.
Gloria Patri, et Filio, et Spiritui Sancto.
Sicut erat in principio, et nunc, et semper, et in ssecula sseculorum. Amen.
78 ADVENT.
the altar, and bows down full of respectful awe, begging of God to receive graciously the Sacrifice which is about to be offered to him, and expresses the inten- tions for which it is offered. Let us do the same.
Suscipe, sancta Trinitas, O Holy Trinity, graciously hanc oblationein, quam tibi accept the Sacrifice we have offerimus ob memoriam Pas- begun. We offer it in re- sionis, Resurrectionis, et As- membrance of the Passion, censionis Jesu Christi Do- Resurrection, and Ascension mini nostri : et in honore of our Lord Jesus Christ, beatse Mariae semper Virgi- Permit thy Church to join nis, et beati Joannis Bap- with this intention that of tistas, et sanctorum Aposto- honouring the ever glorious lorum Petri et Pauli, et isto- Virgin Mary, the blessed Bap- rum, et omnium Sanctorum : tist John, the holy Apostles lit illis proficiat ad honorem, Peter and Paul, the Martyrs nobis autem ad salutem : et whose relics lie here under illi pro nobis intercedere dig- our altar awaiting their re- nentur in ccelis quorum me- surrection, and the Saints moriam agimus in terris. Per whose memory we this day eumdem Christum Dominum celebrate. Increase the glory nostrum. Amen. they are enjoying, and receive
the prayers they address to
thee for us.
The Priest again turns to the people ; it is for the last time before the sacred Mysteries are accomplished. He feels anxious to excite the fervour of the people. Neither does the thought of his own unworthiness leave him ; and before entering the cloud with the Lord, he seeks support in the prayers of his brethren who are present. He says to them :
Orate, fratres : ut meum Brethren, pray that my Sa-
ac vestrum sacrificium ac- crifice, which is yours also,
ceptabile fiat apud Deum may be acceptable to God,
Patrem omnipotentem. our Almighty Father.
With this request he turns again to the altar, and you will see his face no more, until our Lord himself shall have come down from heaven upon that same altar. Assure the Priest that he has your prayers, and say to him :
THE ORDINARY OF THE MASS. 79
May our Lord accept this Suscipiat Dominus sacri-
Sacrifice at thy hands, to the ficiuui de manibus tuis, ad
praise and glory of his name, laudem et gloriam nominis
and for our benefit and that sui, ad utilitatem quoque
of4ris holy Church through- nostrani totiusque Ecclesiaj
out the world. suse sanctse.
Here the Priest recites the prayers called the Se- crets, in which he presents the petition of the whole Church for God's acceptance of the Sacrifice, and then immediately begins to fulfil that great duty of reli- gion, Thanksgiving. So far he has adored God, and has sued for mercy ; he has still to give thanks for the blessings bestowed on us by the bounty of our heavenly Father, and expressly for that chiefest of all his gifts, — the Messias. We are in the season of expectation of a new visit of this Son of God ; the Priest, in the name of the Church, is about to give expression to the gratitude of all mankind. In order to excite the faithful to that intensity of gratitude which is due to God for all his gifts, he interrupts his own and their silent prayer by terminating it aloud, saying :
For ever and ever ! Per omnia saecula saeculo-
rum !
In the same feeling, answer your A men ! Then he continues :
"ft. The Lord be with you. $". Dominus vobiscum. I£. And with thy spirit. 3$. Et cum spiritu tuo.
"ft. Lift up your hearts ! $". Sursum corda !
Let your response be sincere :
1$. We have them fixed on I£. Habemus ad Dominum. God.
And when he adds :
$"! Let us give thanks to $". Gratias agamus Domino the Lord our God. Deo nostro.
Answer him with all the earnestness of your soul ; 1$. It is meet and just. 1$. Dignum et justum est.
80
ADVENT.
Then the Priest:
THE PREFACE (For the Sundays.)
Vere dignum et justum est, aequum et salutare, nos tibi semper, et ubique gra- tias agere, Domine sancte, Pater omnipotens, aeterne Deus. Qui cum unigenito Filio tuo et Spiritu Sancto unus es Deus, unus es Do- minus : non in unius singu- laritate Personae, sed in unius Trinitate substantias. Quod enim de tua gloria, revelante te, credimus, hoc de Filio tuo, hoc de Spiritu Sancto, sine differentia dis- cretionis sentimus. Ut in confessione verae, sempiter- naeque Deitatis, et in Per- sonis proprietas, et in essen- tia unitas, et in maj estate adoretur aequalitas. Quam laudant Angeli atque Arch- angeli, Cherubim quoque ac Seraphim ; qui non cessant clamare quotidie, una voce dicentes, Sanctus, &c.
It is truly meet and just, right and available to salva- tion, that we should always and in all places give thanks to thee, 0 Holy Lord, Father Almighty, Eternal God. Who together with thy only begot- ten Son and the Holy Ghost art one God and one Lord : not in a singularity of one Person, but in a Trinity of one substance. For what we be- lieve of thy glory, as thou hast revealed, the same we believe of thy Son and of the Holy Ghost, without any difference or distinction. So that in the confession of the true and eternal Deity, we adore a dis- tinction in the Persons, an unity in the essence, and an equality in the Majesty. Whom the Angels and Arch- angels, the Cherubim also and Seraphim praise, and cease not daily to cry out with one voice, saying, Holy, &c~
THE PREFACE
(For the Week-days.)
Vere dignum et justum est, aequum et salutare, nos tibi semper et ubique gratias agere : Domine sancte, Pater omnipotens, aeterne Deus, per Christum Dominum nostrum ; per quern majes- tatem tuam laudant Angeli,
It is truly meet and just, right and available to salva- tion, that we should always and in all places give thanks to thee, 0 Holy Lord, Father Almighty, Eternal God : through Christ our Lord ; by whom the Angels praise
THE ORDINARY OF THE MASS.^- 81
thy majesty, the Domina- adorant Domination es, tre-
tions adore it, the Powers munt Potestates, Coeli, cce-
tremble before it ; the Hea- lorumqne Virtutes, ac beata
vens and the heavenly Vir- Seraphim, socia exsultatione
tues, and the blessed Sera- concelebrant. Cum quibus
phim, with common jubilee, et nostras voces, ut admitti
glorify it. Together with jubeas deprecamur, supplici
whom, we beseech thee that confessione dicentes. we may be admitted to join our humble voices, saying :
Here unite with the Priest, who, on his part, unites himself with the blessed Spirits, in giving thanks to God for the unspeakable Gift : bow down and say:
Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord Sanctus, Sanctus, Sane- God of hosts ! tus, Dominus Deus sabaoth !
Heaven and earth are full Pleni sunt cceli et terrse
of thy glory. gloria tua.
Hosanna in the highest I Hosanna in excelsis !
Blessed be the Saviour who Benedictns cjui venit in
is coming, to us in the name nomine Domini, of the Lord who sends him.
Hosanna be to him in the Hosanna in excelsis ! highest !
After these words commences the Canon, that mysterious prayer in the midst of which heaven bows down to earth, and God descends unto us. The voice of the Priest is no longer heard ; yea, even' at the altar, all is silence. It was thus, says the Book of Wisdom, in the quiet of silence, and while the night was in the midst of her course, that the Almighty Word came down from his royal throne.1 Let us await him in a like silence, and respectfully fix our eyes on what the Priest does in the holy place.
THE CANON OF THE MASS.
In this mysterious colloquy with the great God of heaven and earth, the first prayer of the sacrificing Priest is for the Catholic Church, his and our Mother.
1 Wisd. xviii. 14, 15.
82
ADVENT.
O God, who manifestest thyself unto us by means of the mysteries, which thou hast intrusted to thy holy Church, our Mother ; we be- seech thee, by the merits of this sacrifice, that thou wouldst remove all those hindrances which oppose her during her pilgrimage in this world. Give her peace and unity. Do thou thyself guide our Holy Father the Pope, thy Vicar on earth. Direct thou our Bishop, who is our sacred link of unity; and watch over all the orthodox children of the Catholic Apos- tolic Eoman Church.
Here pray, together with the Priest, for those whose interests should be dearest to you.
Te igitur, clementissime Pater, per Jesum Christum Filium tuum Dominum nos- trum supplices rogamus ac petimus, uti accepta habeas, et benedicas hsec dona, hsec munera, haec sancta sacrificia illibata, in primis quae tibi offerimus pro Ecclesia tua sancta Catholica : quam paci- ficare, custodire, adunare, et regere digneris toto orbe ter- rarum, una cum famulo tuo Papa nostro N., et Antistite nostro N., et omnibus ortho- doxis, atque catholicae et apostolicse fidei cultoribus.
Memento, Domine, famu- lorum famularumque tuarum N. et 1ST., et omnium circum- stantium, quorum tibi fides cognita est, et nota devotio : pro quibus tibi offerimus, vel qui tibi offerunt hoc sacrifi- cium laudis, pro se, suisque omnibus, pro redemptione animarum suarum, pro spe salutis et incolumitatis suae ; tibique reddunt vota sua asterno Deo, vivo et vero.
Permit me, 0 God, to in- tercede with thee in more earnest prayer for those, for whom thou knowest that I have a special obligation to pray : * * * Pour down thy blessings upon them. Let them partake of the fruits of this divine Sacrifice, which is offered unto thee in the name of all mankind. Visit them by thy grace, pardon them their sins, grant them the blessings of this present life and of that which is eternal.
Here let us commemorate the Saints : they are that portion of the Body of Jesus Christ, which is called the Church Triumphant.
Communicantes, et memo- riam venerantes, in primis gloriosaa semper Virginis Marise, Genitricis Dei et Domini nostri Jesu Christi :
But the offering of this Sacrifice, O my God, does not unite us with those only of our brethren who are still in this transient life of trial : it
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8.'
brings us closer to those also, who are already in possession of heaven. Therefore it is, that we wish to honour by it the memory of the glorious and ever Virgin Mary; of the Apostles, Confessors, Virgins, and of all the Saints • that so they may assist us, by their powerful intercession, to be- come worthy to contemplate thee, as they now do, in the mansion of thy glory.
sed et beatorum Apostolo- rum ac Martyrum tuorum, Petri et Pauli, Andreas, Ja- cobi, Joannis, Thorn ae, Ja- cobi, Philippi, Bartholomaei, Matthaei, Simon is, et Thad- daei : Lini, Cleti, Clementis, Xysti, Cornelii, Cypriani, Laurentii, Chrysogoni, Jo- annis et Pauli, Cosmae et Damiani, et omnium Sanc- torum tuorum, quorum men- tis precibusque concedas, ut in omnibus protectionis tuae muniamur auxilio. Per eum- dem Christum Dominum nos- trum. Amen.
The Priest, who, up to this time, had been praying with his hands extended, now joins them, and holds them over the bread and wine, as the High Priest of the Old Law did over the figurative victim : he thus expresses his intention of bringing these gifts more closely under the notice of the Divine Majesty, and of marking them as the material offering whereby we profess our dependence, and which, in a few instants, is to yield its place to the living Host, upon whom all our iniquities are to be laid.
Vouchsafe, O God, to ac- cept this offering which this thy assembled family presents to thee as the homage of its most happy servitude. In return, give us peace, save us from thy wrath, and number us amongst thy elect, through Him who is coming to us, thy Son our Saviour.
Yea, Lord, this is the mo- ment when this bread is to become his sacred Body, which is our food ; and this wine is to be changed into his Blood,
Hanc igitur oblationem servitutis nostrae, sed et cunctae familiae tuae, quae- sumus Domine, ut placatus accipias : diesque nostros in tua pace disponas, atque ab aeterna damnatione nos eripi, et in electorum tuorum ju- beas grege numerari. Per Christum Dominum nostrum. Amen.
Quam oblationem tu Deus in omnibus quaesumus, bene- dictam, adscriptam, ratam, rationabilem, acceptabilem- que f acere digneris ; ut nobis
84 ADVENT.
Corpus et Sanguis fiat dilec- which is our drink. Ah ! de- tissimi Filii tui Domini nos- lay no longer, but send to us tri Jesu Christi. this divine Son our Saviour !
And here the Priest ceases to act as man ; he now becomes more than a mere minister of the Church. His word becomes that of Jesus Christ, with all its power and efficacy. Prostrate yourself in profound adoration ; for the Emmanuel, the God with us, is coming down from heaven.
Qui pridie qnam patere- What, O God of heaven
tur, accepit panem in sane- and earth, my Jesus, the
tas ac venerabiles manus long expected Messias, what
suas : et elevatis oculis in else can I do. at this solemn
ccelum, ad te Deum Patrem moment but adore thee, in
suum omnipotentem, tibi gra- silence, as my sovereign Mas-
tias agens, benedixit, fregit, ter, and open my whole heart
deditque discipulis suis, di- to thee, as to its dearest
cens : Accipite, et manducate King ! Come, then, Lord
ex hoc omnes. Hoc est enim Jesus ! come ! Corpus metjm.
The Divine Lamb is now upon our altar. Glory and love be to him for ever ! But he has come that he may be immolated ; for which reason the Priest, who is the minister of the will of the Most High, immediately pronounces over the chalice those sacred words which will produce the great mystical immola- tion, by the separation of the Victim's Body and Blood. The substances of the bread and wine have .jased to exist : the species alone are left, veiling, as it were, the Body and Blood, lest fear should keep us from a mystery, which God gives us in order to give us confidence. Let us associate ourselves to the Angels, who tremblingly look upon this deepest wonder.
Simili modo postquam cce- O Precious Blood ! thou
natum est, accipiens et hunc price of my salvation ! I
prgeclarum Calicem in sane- adore thee ! Wash away my
tas ac venerabiles manus sins, and give me a purity
suas : item tibi gratias agens, above the whiteness of snow,
benedixit, deditque discipulis Lamb ever slain, yet ever
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85
living, thou comest to take suis, dicens : Accipite et bi-
away the sins of the world ! bite ex eo emnes. Hie est
Come also and reign in me entm Calix Sanguinis mei,
by thy power and by thy novi et ^eterni testamen-
love. ti : mysterium fidei : qui
PRO VOBIS ET PRO MULTIS EFFUNDETUR IN REMISSIO" NEM PECCATORUM. HseC qilO-
tiescumque feceritis, in mei memoriam facietis.
The Priest is now face to face with God. He again raises his hands towards heaven, and tells our heavenly Father, that the oblation, now on the altar, is no longer an earthly offering, but the Body and Blood, the whole Person, of his divine Son.
Father of infinite holiness, the Host so long expected is here before thee ! Behold this thy eternal Son, who suffered a bitter passion, rose again with glory from the grave, and ascended trium- phantly into heaven. He is thy Son ; but he is also our Host, — Host pure and spot less, — our Meat and Drink of everlasting life.
Heretofore thou didst ac- cept the sacrifice of the inno- cent lambs offered to thee by Abel ; and the sacrifice which Abraham made thee of his son Isaac, who, though immolated, yet lived ; and, lastly, the sacrifice, which Melchisedech presented thee, of bread and wine. Eeceive our Sacrifice, which is above all those others. It is the Lamb of whom all others could be but figures : it is the undying Victim : it is
Unde et memores, Bo- mine, nos servi tui, sed et plebs tua sancta, ejusdem Christi Filii tui Domini nos- tri tarn beatae Passionis, nec- non et ab inferis Resurrec- tionis, sed et in ccelos glo- riosae Ascensionis : offerimus praeclarae majestati tuae de tuis donis ac datis Hostiam puram, Hostiam sanctam, Hostiam immaculatam : Pa- nem sanctum vitae aeternae, et ■ Calicem saliitis perpetuae.
Supra quae propitio ac sereno vultu respicere dig- neris : et accepta habere, sicuti accepta habere digna- tus es munera pueri tui justi Abel, et sacrificium Patri- archae nostri Abrahae, et quod tibi obtulit summus Sacerdos tuus Melchisedech, sanctum sacrificium, immaculatam hostiam.
86
ADVENT.
the Body of thy Son, who is the Bread of Life, and his Blood, which, whilst a Drink of immortality for us, is a tribute adequate to thy glory.
The Priest bows down to the altar, and kisses it as the throne of love on which is seated the Saviour of men.
Supplices te rogamus, om- nipotens Deus : jube hsec perferri per manus sancti Angeli tui in sublime Altare tuum, in conspectu divinas Majestatis tuae : ut quotquot ex hac altaris participatione, sacrosanctumFiliitui Corpus et Sanguinem sumpserimus, omni benedictione coelesti et gratia repleamur. Per eumdem Christum Dominum nostrum. Amen.
But, O God of infinite power, these sacred gifts are not only on this altar here below ; they are also on that sublime Altar of heaven, which is before the throne of thy divine Majesty. These two altars are but one and the same, on which is accom- plished the great mystery of thy glory and our salvation. Vouchsafe to make us par- takers of the Body and Blood of the august Victim, from whom flow every grace and blessing.
Nor is the moment less favourable for making sup- plication for the Church Suffering. Let us therefore ask the divine Liberator, who has come down among us, that he mercifully visit, by a ray of his consoling light, the dark abode of Purgatory, and permit his Blood to flow, as a stream of mercy's dew, from this our altar, and refresh the panting captives there. Let us pray exjDressly for those among them, who have a claim on our suffrages.
Memento etiam, Domine, famulorum famularumque tuarum N". et N., qui nos praecesserunt cum signo fidei, et dormiunt in somno pacis. Ipsis Domine, et omnibus in Christo quiescentibus, locum refrigerii, lucis et pacis, ut
_ Dear Jesus ! let the hap- piness of this thy visit extend to every portion of thy Church. Thy face gladdens the elect in the holy City : even our mortal eyes can see beneath the veil of our de- lighted faith j ah ! hide not
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87
thyself from those brethren indulgeas, deprecamur. Per
of ours, who are imprisoned { eumdem Christum Dominum
in the place of expiation, nostrum. Amen.
Be thou refreshment to them
in their flames, light in their
darkness, and peace in their
agonies of torment.
This duty of charity fulfilled, let us pray for our- selves, sinners, alas ! and who profit so little by the visit which our Saviour pays us. Let us, together with the Priest, strike our breast, saying :
Alas ! we are poor sinners, O God of all sanctity ! yet do we hope that thy infinite mercy will grant us to share in thy kingdom, not, indeed, by reason of our works, which deserve little more than pu- nishment, but because of the merits of this Sacrifice, which we are offering to thee. Re- member, too, the merits of thy holy Apostles, of thy holy Martyrs, of thy holy Virgins, and of all thy Saints. Grant us, by their intercession, grace in this world, and glory eter- nal in the next: which we ask of thee, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, thy Son. It is by him thou bestowest upon us thy blessings of life and sanctification ; and by him also, with him, and in him, in the unity of the Holy Ghost, may honour and glory be to thee !
Nobis quoque peccatoribus famulis tuis, de multitudine miserationum tuarum speran- tibus, partem aliquam et societatem donare digneris cum tuis Sanctis Apostolis et Martyribus : cum Joanne, Stephano, Matthia, Barnaba, Ignatio, Alexandra, Marcel- lino, Petro, Felicitate, Perpe- tua, Agatha, Lucia, Agnete, Csecilia, Anastasia, et omni- bus Sanctis tuis ; intra quorum nos consortium, non sestimator meriti, sed venise, qusesumus, largitor admitte. Per Christum Dominum nostrum. Per quern haec omnia, Domine, semper bona creas, sanctificas, vivificas, benedicis, et praestas nobis : per ipsum, et cum ipso et in ipso, est tibi Deo Patri om- nipotent!, in unitate Spiritus Sancti, omnis honor et gloria.
Whilst saying these last few words, the Priest has taken up the sacred Host, which was on the altar; he has held it over the chalice, thus reuniting the Body and Blood of the divine Victim, in order to show that He is now immortal. Then raising up
88 ADVENT.
both Chalice and Host, he offers to God the most noble and perfect homage which the divine Majesty could receive.
This solemn and mysterious rite ends the Canon. The silence of the Mysteries is broken. The Priest concludes his long prayers, by saying aloud, and so giving the faithful the opportunity of expressing their desire that his supplications be granted :
Per omnia saecula saeculo- For ever and ever. rum.
Answer him with faith, and in a sentiment of union with your holy Mother the Church :
Amen. Amen ! I believe the mys-
tery which has just been ac- complished. I unite myself to the offering which has been made, and to the petitions of the Church.
It is time to recite the prayer, which our Saviour himself has taught us. Let it ascend up to heaven together with the sacrifice of the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ. How could it be otherwise than heard, when he himself who made it for us, is in our very hands now whilst we say it ? As this prayer belongs in common to all God's children, the Priest recites it aloud, and begins by inviting us all to join in it.
OREMUS. LET US PRAY.
_ Prasceptis salutaribus mo- Having been taught by a niti, et divina institutione saving precept, and following fonnati, audemus dicere : the form given us by a divine
instruction, we thus presume
to speak :
THE LOKD'S PRAYER.
Pater noster, qui es in Our Father, who art in
ccelis : Sanctificetur nomen heaven, hallowed be thy
tuum : Adveniat regnum name • thy kingdom come ;
tuum : Fiat voluntas tua, thy will be done on earth, as
sicut in ccelo, et in terra, it is in heaven. Give us this
Panem nostrum quotidianum day our daily Bread; and
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forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive them that trespass against us ; and lead us not into temptation.
cia nobis hodie : Et dimitte nobis debita nostra, sicut et nos dimittimus debitoribus nostris. Et ne nos inducas in tentationem.
Let us answer, with deep feeling of our misery : But deliver us from evil. Sed libera nos a malo.
The Priest falls once more into the silence of the holy Mysteries. His first word is an affectionate Amen to your last petition — deliver us from evil — on which he forms his own next prayer : and could he pray for anything more needed ? Evil surrounds us everywhere, and the Lamb on our altar has been sent to expiate it and deliver us from it.
How many, O Lord, are the evils which beset us ! Evils past, which are the wounds left on the soul by our sins, and strengthen her wicked propensities. Evils present, that is, the sins now at this very time upon our soul ; the weakness of this poor soul ; and the tempta- tions which molest her. There are, also, future evils, that is, the chastisement which our sins deserve from the hand of thy justice. In presence of this Host of our Salvation, we beseech thee, O Lord, to deliver us from all these evils, and to accept in our favour the intercession of Mary the Mother of Jesus, of thy holy Apostles Peter and Paul and Andrew. Liberate us, break our chains, give us peace : through Jesus Christ, thy Son, who with thee liveth and reigneth God,
Libera nos, qusesumus Do- mine, ab omnibus malis, prseteritis, pnesentibus, et futuris : et intercedente bea- ta et gioriosa semper Virgine Dei Genitrice Maria, cum beatis Apostolis tuis Petro et Paulo, atque Andrea, et om- nibus Sanctis, da propitius pacem in diebus nostris : ut ope misericordise tuae adjuti, et a peccato simus semper liberi, et ab omni perturba- tionesecuri. PereumdemDo- minum nostrum Jesum Chri- tum Filium tuum, qui tecum vivit et regnat in unitate Spiritus Sancti Deus,
90 ADVENT.
The Priest is anxious to announce the Peace which he has asked and obtained; he therefore finishes his prayer aloud, saying :
Per omnia saecula saeculo- World without end. rum. 1$. Amen. 1$. Amen.
Then he says :
Pax Domini sit semper May the Peace of our Lord vobiscum. be ever with you.
To this paternal wish reply :
]$. Et cum spiritu tuo. 1$. And with thy spirit.
The Mystery is drawing to a close : God is about to be united with man, and man with God, by means of Communion. But first, an imposing and sublime rite takes place at the altar. So far the Priest has announced the Death of Jesus ; it is time to proclaim his resurrection. To this end, he reverently breaks the sacred Host, and having divided it into three parts, he puts one into the Chalice, thus reuniting the Body and Blood of the immortal Yictim. Do you adore, and say :
Hsec commixtio et conse- Glory be to thee, 0 Saviour cratio Corporis et Sanguinis of the world, who didst, in Domini nostri Jesu Christi thy Passion, permit thy pre- fiat accipientibus nobis in cious Blood to be separated vitam seternam. Amen. from thy sacred Body, after-
wards uniting them again together by the divine power.
Offer now your prayer to the ever-living Lamb, whom St. John saw on the Altar of Heaven standing, though slain : say to this your Lord and King :
Agnus Dei, qui tollis pec- Lamb of God, who takest cata mundi, miserere nobis. away the sins of the world,
have mercy on us. Agnus Dei, qui tollis pec- Lamb of God, who takest cata mundi, miserere nobis. away the sins of the world,
have mercy on us.
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Lamb of God, who takest Agnus Dei, qui tollis pee- away the sins of the world, cata mundi, dona nobis pa- give us Peace. cem.
Peace is the grand object of our Saviour's coming into the world : he is the Prince of Peace. The divine Sacrament of the Eucharist ought therefore to be the Mystery of Peace, and the bond of Catholic Unity, for, as the Apostle says, all we who partake of one Bread, are all one Bread and one Body.1 It is on this account that the Priest, now that he is on the point of receiving, in Communion, the Sacred Host, prays that fraternal Peace may be preserved in the Church, and more especially in this portion of it, which is assembled round the altar. Pray with him and for the same blessing :
Lord Jesus Christ, who Domine Jesu Christe, qui
saidst to thy Apostles, " my dixisti Apostolis tuis : Pacem
peace I leave with you, my relinquo vobis, pacem meam
peace I give unto you :" re- do vobis : ne respicias pec-
gard not my sins, but the cata mea, sed fidem Ecclesiae
faith of thy Church, and tuse : eamque secundum vo-
grant her that peace and luntatem tuam pacificare, et
unity which is according to coadunare digneris. Qui vi-
thy will. Who livest and vis et regnas Deus, per omnia
reignest God for ever and ssecula sseculorum. Amen, ever. Amen.
If it be a High Mass, the Priest here gives the kiss of peace to the Deacon, who gives it to the Sub-Deacon, and he to the Choir. During this ceremony, you should excite within yourself feelings of Christian charity, and pardon your enemies, if you have any. Then continue to pray with the Priest :
Lord Jesus Christ, Son of Domine Jesu Christe, Fili
the living God,who,according Dei vivi, qui ex voluntate
to the will of thy Father, Patris, cooperante Spiritu
through the co-operation of Sancto, per mortem tuam
the Holy Ghost, hast by thy mundum vivificasti : libera
death given life to the world ; me per hoc sacrosanctum
1 I. Cor. x. 17.
92
ADVENT.
deliver me by this thy most Sacred Body and Blood from all my iniquities, and from all evils ; and make me al- ways adhere to thy command- ments, and never suffer me to be separated from thee, who with the same God the Father and the Holy Ghost, livest and reignest God for ever and ever. Amen.
If you are going to Communion at this Mass, say the following Prayer; otherwise, prepare yourself to make a Spiritual Communion :
Corpus et Sanguinem tuum, ab omnibus iniquitatibus meis, et universis malis, et f ac me tuis semper inhaerere mandatis, et a te nunquam separari permittas. Qui cum eodem Deo Patre et Spiritu Sancto vivis et regnas Deus in ssecula sseculorum. Amen.
Let not the participation of thy Body, O Lord Jesus Christ, which I, though un- worthy, presume to receive, turn to my judgment and condemnation ; but through thy mercy may it be a safe- guard and remedy both to my soul and body. Who with God the Father, in the unity of the Holy Ghost, livest and reignest God for ever and
Perceptio Corporis tui, Domine Jesu Christe, quod ego indignus sumere prae- sumo, non mihi proveniat in judicium et condemna- tionem : sed pro tua pietate prosit mihi ad tutamentum mentis et corporis, et ad medelam percipiendam. Qui vivis et regnas cum Deo Patre in unitate Spiritus Sancti Deus, per omnia saecula sse- culorum. Amen.
ever. Amen.
When the Priest takes the Host into his hands, in order to his receiving it in Communion, say :
Come, my dear Jesus, Panem ccelestem accipiam, come ! , et nomen Domini invocabo.
When he strikes his breast, confessing his unwor- thiness, say thrice with him these words, and in the same disposition as the Centurion of the Gospel, who first used them :
Domine, non sum dignus, ut intres sub tectum meum : sed tantum die verbo,et sana- bitur anima mea.
Lord, I am not worthy thou shouldst enter under my roof ; say it only with one word of thine, and my soul will be healed.
Whilst the Priest receives the sacred Host, if you also are to communicate, adore profoundly your God,
THE ORDINARY OF (THE MASS. 93
who is ready to take up his abode within you, and again say to him with the spouse : Come, Lord Jesus, come !
But should you not be going to receive sacramen- tally, make a Spiritual Communion. Adore Jesus Christ who thus visits your soul by his grace, and say to him :
I give thee, O Jesus, this Corpus Domini nostri Jesu
heart of mine, that thou Christi, custodiat animam
mayest dwell in it, and do meam in vitam seternam.
with me what thou wilt. Amen.
Then the Priest takes the Chalice in thanksgiving and says :
What return shall I make Quid retribuam Domino
to the Lord for all he hath pro omnibus, quae retribuit
given to me ? I will take the mihi 1 Calicem salutaris ac-
Chalice of salvation, and will cipiam, et nomen Domini in-
call upon the name of the vocabo. Laudans invocabo
Lord. Praising I will call Dominum, etabinimicismeis
upon the Lord, and I shall be salvus ero. saved from mine enemies.
But if you are to make a Sacramental Communion, you should, at this moment of the Priest's receiving the precious Blood, again adore the God who is coming to you, and keep to your Canticle : Come, Lord Jesus, come !
If, on the contrary, you are going to communicate only spiritually, again adore your divine Master, and say to him :
I unite myself to thee, my SanguisDomini nostri Jesu
beloved Jesus ! do thou unite Christi custodiat animam
thyself to me ! and never let meam in vitam seternam.
us be separated. Amen.
It is here that you must approach to the altar, if you are going to Communion. The dispositions suitable for Holy Communion during this season of Advent are given in the next chapter, page 97.
The Communion being finished, and whilst the Priest is purifying the Chalice the first time, say :
94 ADVENT.
Quod ore sumpsimus, Do- Thou hast visited me, O
mine, pura mente capiamus : God, in these days of my pil-
et de munere temporali fiat grimage ; give me grace to
nobis remedium sempiter- treasure up the fruits of this
num. visit for my future eternity.
Whilst the Priest is purifying the Chalice the second time, say :
Corpus tuum, Domine, Be thou for ever blessed, O quod sumpsi, et Sanguis my Saviour, for having ad- quem potavi, adhaereat vis- mitted me to the sacred mys- ceribus meis : et prsesta ut tery of thy Body and Blood, in me non remaneat scelerum May my heart and senses pre- macula, quern pura et sancta serve, by thy grace, the purity refecerunt Sacramenta. Qui which thou hast imparted to vivis et regnas in ssecula sse- them ; and thus fit me for culorum. Amen. that glorious light of thy
Coming, that I may not then be confounded.
The Priest having read the Antiphon called the Communion, which is the first part of his Thanks- giving for the favour just received from God, where- by he has renewed his divine presence among us, — turns to the people with the usual salutation ; after which, he recites the Prayers, called the Postcom- munion, which are the completion of the Thanks- giving. You will join him here also, thanking God for the unspeakable gift he has just lavished on you, and asking, with most earnest entreaty, for the coming of the Messias, who will accomplish those august mysteries, of which the Holy Mass is the renewal ; and for that reason, the chief support of the Christian life.
These Prayers having been recited, the Priest again turns to the people, and, full of joy for the ini- mense favour he and they have been receiving, he says :
Dominus vobiscum. The Lord be with you.
Answer him : Et cum spiritu tuo. And with thy spirit.
THE ORDINARY OF T&E MASS. 95
Then, if it be a Mass of a Feast, the Deacon (or the Priest himself, if it be not a High Mass) says these words :
Go, the Mass is finished. Ite, Missa est.
1£. Thanks be to God. I£. Deo gratias.
But if it be a Mass proper to Advent, he does not dismiss the faithful, because, in this holy season, it behoves us to increase our prayers ; he therefore says:
"fT. Let us bless the Lord. ft. Benedicamus Domino.
1$. Thanks be to God. 1$. Deo gratias.
The Priest makes a last prayer, before giving you his blessing : pray with him :
Eternal thanks be to thee, Placeat tibi, sancta Trini-
O adorable Trinity, for the tas, obsequiuin servitutis
mercy thou hast showed to meae, quod oculis tuse majes-
me, in permitting me to assist tatis indignus obtuli, tibi sit
at this divine Sacrifice. Par- acceptable, mihique, et om-
don me the negligence and nibus, pro quibusillud obtuli,
coldness wherewith I have sitte miserante, propitiabile.
received so great a favour, Per Christum Dominum nos-
and deign to confirm the trum. Blessing, which thy Minister is about to give me in thy Name.
The priest raises his hand, and thus blesses you :
May the Almighty God, Benedicat vos omnipotens Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, Deus, Pater, et Filius, et bless you ! Spiritus Sanctus.
He then concludes the Mass by reading the first fourteen verses of the Gospel according to St. John, which tell us of the eternity of the Word, and of the mercy which led him to take upon himself owe flesh, and to divell among us. Pray that you may be of the number of those, who will receive him, when he comes, this year, into the midst of his people.
96
ADVENT.
Initium sancti Evangelii se- cundum Joannem.
Cap. I. In principio erat Verbum, et Verbum erat apud Deum, et Deus erat Verbum. Hoc erat in principio apud Deum. Omnia per ipsum facta sunt ; et sine ipso factum est nihil. Quod factum est, in ipso vita erat, et vita erat lux homi- num: et lux in tenebris lucet, et tenebrse earn non compre- henderunt. Fuit homo mis- sus a Deo, cui nomen erat Joannes. Hie venit in testi- monium, ut testimonium perhiberet de lumine, ut omnes erederent per ilium. Non erat ille lux, sed ut testimonium perhiberet de lumine. Erat lux vera, quae illuminat omnem hominem venientem in hunc mundum. In mundo erat, et mundus per ipsum f actus est, et mun- dus eum non cognovit. In propria venit, et sui eum non receperunt. Quotquot autem receperunt eum, dedit eis potestatem filios Dei fieri, his, qui credunt in nomine ejus : qui non ex sanguinibus, neque ex voluntate carnis, neque ex voluntate viri, sed ex Deo nati sunt. Et Ver- bum caro factum est, et habi- tavit in nobis : et vidimus gloriam ejus, gloriam quasi Unigeniti a Patre, plenum gratise et veritatis.
I£. Deo gratias.
The beginning of the holy- Gospel according to John.
Ch.I. In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him, and without him was made nothing that was made. In him was life, and the life was the light of men ; and the light shineth in darkness, and the darkness did not compre- hend it. There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. This man came for a witness, to give testi- mony of the light, that all men might believe through him. He was not the light, but was to give testimony of the light. That was the true light, which enlighteneth every man that cometh into this world. He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not. He came unto his own, and his own received him not. But as many as received him, to them he gave power to be made the sons of God ; to them that believe in his name, who are born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us ; and we saw his glory, as it were the glory of the only- begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. 1$. Thanks be to God.
CHAPTER THE SIXTH.
ON HOLY COMMUNION DUEING ADVENT.
It is true, that everything in Advent is so ar- ranged as to be a preparation for the Coming of the Saviour at the Feast of Christmas, and that the spirit of the faithful should be one of earnest expec- tation of this same Saviour : and yet, such is the happy lot of the children of the New Law, that they can, if they wish it, really, and at once, receive this God whom the Church is expecting ; and thus this familiar visit of Jesus will become itself one of the preparations for his great and solemn visit. Let those, then, who are living the life of grace, and to whom the glorious day of the nativity of our Lord Jesus Christ will bring an increase of spiritual life, not omit to prepare, by Communion, for the recep- tion they intend to give to the heavenly Spouse on the sacred night of his Coming. These Communions will be interviews with their divine Lord, giving them confidence and love, and all those interior disposi- tions wherewith they would welcome him who comes to load them with fresh grace, — for this Jesus is full of grace and truth.
They will understand this better by reflecting on the sentiments which the august Mother of Jesus had in her blessed soul during the time which pre- ceded the divine Birth. This Birth is to be an event of more importance, both to the salvation of man- kind and to Mary's own glo^, than even that of the first accomplishment of the Incarnation ; for the Word was made Flesh in order that he might be born. The immense happiness of holding in her arms her Son and her God, would make the sacred
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hour of Jesus' Birth dearer and happier to Mary, than even that in which she was overshadowed by the Holy Ghost, and received from him the divine fruit of her womb. During those nine months, when she knew that her Jesus was so undividedly hers, what must have been the happiness which filled her heart ! It was a bliss which was a worthy prepara- tion for that more blissful night of Bethlehem.
Christians ! your Communions during Advent are to prepare you for your Christmas joy, by giving you something of the delight which Mary felt before the birth of Jesus. When you are in the House of God, preparing by recollection and prayer for receiving your Saviour in Holy Communion, you may per- haps be assisted in your preparation by the senti- ments and affections which we have ventured to offer
you in the following acts.
BEFORE COMMUNION.
ACT OF FAITH.
Knowing that thou art about to enter under my roof, O eternal God, Jesus Son of the Father, I have need of all my faith. Yes, it is thou who art coming to me, thou who didst enter into Mary's virginal womb, making it the sanctuary of thy Majesty. Thou didst send thine angel to her, and she believed bis word, when he said : Nothing is impossible to God ; the Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Most High shall overshadow thee. She believed, and then conceived in her chaste womb Him who had created her. Thou hast not sent an Angel to me, O my Saviour, to tell me thou art coming into my heart. Thou hast spoken thyself, and thou hast said : / am the living Bread, come down from heaven: he that eateth my flesh and drinketh my blood, abideth in me and I in him. Thou hast willed that these words of thine, spoken so many hundred years ago, should reach me by thy Church, that thus I might have both the certainty that they are thine, and the merit of bowing down my reason to the deepest of mysteries. I believe then, O Jesus ! Help the weakness of my faith. Enable me to submit, as Mary did, to thy infinite wisdom ; and since thou desirest to enter under my roof, I bow down
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my whole being before thee, using her blessed words : May it be done to me according to thy word ; for how dare I, who am but nothingness, resist thee, who art all wisdom and power !
ACT OF HUMILITY.
But, O my Saviour, when thou didst choose the womb of the glorious Virgin for thy abode, thou hadst but to leave one heaven for another. Thou hadst prepared her, from her Conception, with every grace ; and she, on her part, had been more faithful to thee than all Angels and men together. Whereas, my heart has nothing in it, which can induce thee to come and make it thy dwelling. How many times has it not refused thee admittance, when thou didst stand at the door asking me to receive thee 1 And even had I been always faithful, what proportion is there between its low- liness and thy infinite greatness ? Elizabeth humbled her- self when she was visited by Mary, and exclaimed, How comes such cm honour to me ? And I am to receive a visit, not merely of the Mother of God, but of God himself, and in such an intimate, familiar manner, that a greater union cannot be. Thou sayest, He that eateth me, abideth in me and I in him : 0 Son of God ! thou seekest, then, for what is lowest and poorest, and in that thy heart loves to dwell. I am overwhelmed with admiration at this condescension ; but when I reflect that thou art going to show it to me, I can do nothing but sink into my own nothingness and there beseech thee to show me more and more clearly that I am but nothing ; that so, when thou art come within me, my whole being may proclaim the glory, the mercy, the power of my Jesus.
ACT OF CONTRITION.
Happy me, O Jesus, if I could feel that this my nothing- ness was the only obstacle to the glorious union to which thou invitest me ! I would then approach to thee, after the example of thy Immaculate Mother, my august Queen, and would dare to partake of the banquet at which she is on thy right hand. But I am worse than nothing, — I am a sinner : and surely there can be no union between Infinite Sanctity and sin, between Light and darkness ! I have been thine enemy, O my Redeemer ! and yet thou wishest to come into my heart, with the sores of its shame and wounds barely closed ; and thou tellest me, that thou, who couldst delight to dwell in Mary's heart, canst find pleasure in mine ! Oh ! how this teaches me the malice of my sins, since they offended a God so generous, so wonderful in his love forme ! In these few moments, which precede thy descending into
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the midst of my darkness in order to change it into light, what can I do but renew my sorrow for those many sins whereby I lost thee, as also for those whereby I grieved thee without losing thy grace *? Accept this my contrition, O my Saviour ! It is thus that I would prepare thy way to my heart, by removing everything which is in opposition to the righteous path of thy holy Law.
ACT OF LOVE.
For, I would indeed love thee, O my Saviour, as Mary loved thee. Art thou not my God, as thou wast hers 1 Nay, by forgiving me my sins, hast thou not showed marks of tenderness to me, which Mary could not receive 1 I love thee then, sweet Jesus, who art coming into me. Most wel- come visit, which is to increase my love ! Thy blessed Mother had lived, up to the very moment when thou didst enter her womb, in all holiness and justice ; she had loved thee alone, and as no other had loved : but when she felt thee within her, when she felt that now thou wast one and the same with herself, her love redoubled, and lost all sight of limit. May it be so with my heart, when thou comest into it, my God and my all ! Yea, come quickly ; for though most un- worthy of thy visit, yet am I forced to desire it, seeing that thou art the Bread which giveth life unto the ivorld, and our daily Bread, by eating which, we support life until the day of our eternity arrives. Come, then, my Lord Jesus I my heart is ready, and trusts in thee.
And thou, O Mary, by the joy thou didst experience in containing within thyself Him, whom heaven and earth could not contain, help me, in this Communion, to have my heart pure and fervent. — Holy Angels, who looked with astonishment and awe upon this simple creature carrying God within her, have pity on me, that poor sinner, whose heart, so lately the abode of Satan, is this very hour to become the tabernacle of your same Sovereign Lord. — All ye Saints of heaven, and ye especially my ever faithful Patrons, come to my assistance now that there is coming down to me, a sinful mortal, He in whom ye live for ever, just and immortal. Amen.
Id order to make your Preparation complete, follow, with a lively faith and attention, all the mysteries of the Mass at which you are to receive Communion ; using, for this purpose, the method we have given in the preceding Chapter. After your Communion, you may sometimes make your Thanks- giving by reciting the prayers we here give.
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AFTER COMMUNION.
ACT OF ADOKATION.
O Sovereign Majesty of God ! thou hast, then, mercifully deigned to come down to me ! This favour, which thou didst heretofore grant to Mary, has been given to me too ! Would that I, during these happy moments, could adore thee as profoundly as she did ! The sentiment of her lowliness and un worthiness, at that solemn moment, would have over- powered her, had not thy tender love for her supported her to bear that ineffable union of the Creator with his creature. My lowliness, and, still more, my unworthiness, are of a very different kind from hers ; and yet I find it so hard to feel them. This much at least I know, that in order thus to come to me, and be my own infinite treasure, thou hast had to overcome immense obstacles. What, then, shall I do for thee, that is worthy of thee % How can I best compensate thee for the humiliation thou hast thus borne out of love for me? I can but adore thee, and humble myself to the furthest depths of my own nothingness. And because this my adora- tion is not worthy of thine acceptance, I presume to offer thee that which Mary herself offered thee the first moment she became Mother of God, and during the nine months thou wast so closely united with her. Thou hast given me her to be my own Mother ; permit me to make this use of her wealth, which she loves to see her children so freely giving to thy greater glory.
ACT OF THANKSGIVING.
But thy Blessed Mother, 0 Jesus, was not satisfied with adoring thee interiorly ; her glad heart soon gave expression to its intense gratitude. She saw that thou hadst preferred her to all the daughters of her people, nay, to all generations both past and to come ; her soul therefore thrilled with de- light, and her lips could scarce give utterance to her im- mense joy. He that is mighty, she said, hath done great things in me ; he hath regarded the lowliness of his hand- maid ; and all generations shall call me Blessed. And hast thou not favoured me, O Jesus, above thousands and tens of thousands, in giving me the wonderful gift I now hold with- in me 1 Thou hast made me live after the accomplishment
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of thine Incarnation. This very day, how many pious servants of thine have not had given to them what I have received from thee \ I possess thee here within me ; I know the worth of thy Coming ; but how many are there who neither possess thee, nor know thee 1 Thou hast indeed invited all to these graces, but a great number have refused them ; and while thou hast compelled me, by the powerful yet sweet ways of thy mercy, to come to thee, thou hast, in thy justice, permitted them to continue in their refusal. Mayest thou be for ever blessed, 0 my God ! who lovest, indeed, all the works of thy hands, and wishest all men to be saved ; so that none are lost, but them that refuse thy grace ; — yet, in the superabundant riches of thy mercy, thou dost multiply, for many, the boundless resources of thy love.
ACT OF LOVE.
I will love thee, then, 0 Jesus ! because thou hast first loved me ; and I will love thee the more because, by this thy visit to me, thou hast so greatly increased my power to love. It was thus with Mary, when thou didst choose her for thy Mother. Up to that time she had been the most faithful of thy creatures, and deserved the preference thou didst give her, above all women, of being honoured with the