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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.

nos in pace custodiant, et benedictio tua sit super nos semper. Per Dominum nostrum Jesum Christum, Filium tuum, qui tecum vivit et regnat in unitate Spiritus sancti Deus, per omnia sæcula sæculorum. Amen.

And finally, as a close to the day, you may recite those words, which were the last uttered, by our Redeemer, on the Cross. The Church offers them to God, each day, at Compline.

Into thy hands, O Lord, I commend my soul.

In manus tuas, Domine, commendo spiritum meum.

CHAPTER THE FIFTH.

ON HEARING MASS DURING THE TIME AFTER
PENTECOST.

Or all the good acts wherewith a Christian can sanctify his day, there is not one which bears comparison with that of assisting at the holy Sacrifice of the Mass. It is in that Sacrifice, which is the supreme act of Religion, that are centred all the homage due from man to his Creator; and it is, also, from the same Sacrifice, that God pours out upon his creature Man every sort of blessing, and profusely. The very Son of God is really present there; there he is offered up to his Father, and the offering is always wellpleasing; and they who assist at this divine immolation, with faith and love, receive into their souls graces of a far richer kind than are given by ordinary

means.

The assistance at Mass, if completed by the real participating with the divine Victim, unites man to God in an ineffable way, by the renovation of his whole being, for it produces an intimate communion between him and the Word Incarnate. But if the Christian, who is assisting at the holy Sacrifice, goes no further than the uniting his intentions with those of the divine Victim, even so, his mere presence at so great an Act includes a true participation in the supreme worship offered, by this earth of ours, to the Majesty of God, in Christ, and by Christ. So, too, he solemnly consecrates to God, by that same holy Act, the day he has just begun.

We have devoted the days within the Octave of Corpus Christi to the giving our Readers the fullest

instruction regarding the holy Sacrifice of the Mass. As to the dispositions wherewith they should assist at it, they are given in the present Chapter, in which we explain briefly, and yet, as we believe, completely, the meaning of each ceremony and expression. Whilst thus endeavouring to initiate the Faithful into these sublime mysteries, we have not given them a bare and indiscreet translation of the sacred formulæ, but have taken, what seemed to us so much. better a plan, of suggesting such Acts as will enable those, who hear Mass, to enter into the ceremonies and spirit of the Church and the Priest. The conclusion to be drawn from this is one of great importance: it is, that, in order to derive solid profit from the assisting at the Holy Sacrifice, the Faithful must attentively follow all that is being done at the Altar, and not stand aloof, as it were, by reading Books which are filled with devotions of a private and unseasonable character.

On the Sundays, if the Mass, at which the Faithful assist, be the Parochial, or, as it is often called, the Public Mass, two solemn rites precede it, and they are full of instruction and blessing:-the Asperges, or sprinkling of the Holy Water, and the Procession.

During the Asperges, you should unite with the intentions which the Church has in this ceremony, so venerable by its antiquity :-you should pray for that purity of heart, which is needed for worthily assisting at the Mysteries, wherein God himself becomes present, and unites heaven and earth so closely together.

ANTIPHON OF THE ASPERGES.

Asperges me, Domine, hyssopo, et mundabor: lavabis me, et super nivem dealbabor.

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.

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The procession, which, in many Churches, immediately precedes a Solemn Mass, is a prelude to the great Act which is about to be accomplished. It originated from the practice used in Monasteries, of going through the Cloisters, every Sunday, whilst chanting certain appointed Responsories; and during which, the Hebdomadarian went through all the Conventual Places, blessing each of them. The practice is still in use.

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 holy Church, who thrills with joy at the approach of Jesus Christ thy Son, who is the true Altar.

Like her, I, also, beseech thee to defend me against the malice of the enemies of my salvation.

It is in thee 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.

Let me, then, see him who is the light and the truth; it is he will open the way to thy holy mount, to thy heavenly tabernacle.

He is the Mediator, and the living Altar; I will draw nigh to him, and be filled with joy.

Having seen him, I will sing in my gladness. Be not sad, O my soul ! why wouldst thou be longer troubled ?

Hope in Him, who will soon show himself unto thee, as thy Saviour, and thy God.

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.

VOL. XI.

In nomine Patris, et Filii et Spiritus Sancti. Amen.

V. Introibo ad altare Dei: B. Ad Deum qui lætificat juventutem meam.

Judica me, Deus, et discerne causam meam de gente non sancta: ab homine iniquo et doloso erue

me.

Quia tu es, Deus, fortitudo mea: quare me repulisti? et quare tristis incedo, dum affligit me inimicus?

Emitte lucem tuam et veritatem tuam: ipsa me deduxerunt et adduxerunt in montem sanctum tuum, et in tabernacula tua.

Et introibo ad altare Dei: ad Deum qui lætificat ju

ventutem meam.

Confitebor tibi in cithara, Deus, Deus meus: quare tristis es anima mea? et quare conturbas me?

Spera in Deo, quoniam adhuc confitebor illi: salutare vultus mei, et Deus

meus.

Gloria Patri, et Filio, et Spiritui sancto:

Sicut erat in principio, et nuncet semper, et in sæcula sæculorum. Amen.

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