"has but a cord, and instead of the rich ornament of "her breast, she is vested in haircloth.1 Her lamen"tations and tears are ceaseless. Ceaseless is her "prayer, striving if, by some way, she may make the present as beautiful as in times past; and yet, as though it were impossible for her to call back that "lovely past, she seems wearied at such supplication. "The word of the prophet has come true: They are "all gone aside, they are become unprofitable together; "there is none that doth good, no, not one!2 The "manifold sins committed, by the Church's children, against the divine precepts, show that they who so sin are rotten members, members alien to the body of "Christ. Nevertheless, the Church forgets not that "she gave them birth in the laver of salvation; she

forgets not the promises they then made to renounce "the devil, and the pomps of the world, and all sin. "Therefore, does she weep over their fall, being their "true mother, and never losing the hope of winning "their resurrection by her tears. O what a flood of "tears is thus every day shed before God! What "fervent prayers does not this spotless virgin send, "by the ministry of the holy Angels, up to Christ, "who is the salvation of sinners! In the secret of "hearts, in lonely retreats, as well as in her public "temples, she cries out to the divine mercy, that they, "who are now buried in the filth of vice, may be restored to life. Who shall tell the joy of her "heart, when she receives back living, the children 'she mourned over as dead? If the conversion of "sinners is such a joy to heaven,3 what must it be to "such a Mother? According to the multitude of the sorrows of her heart, so will be the consolations, giving "joy to her soul."

It is the duty of us Christians, who, by God's mercy,

1 Is. iii. 24. 2 Ps. xiii. 3. s St. Luke, xv. 7. 4 Ps. xciii. 19. 5 S. LAUR. JUST. De compunct. et planctu christ. perfect.

have been preserved from the general decay, to share in the anguish of our Mother, the Church; we should humbly but fervently co-operate with her in all her zealous endeavours to reclaim our fallen brethren. We surely can never be satisfied with not being of the number of those senseless sons who are a sorrow to their Mother, and despise the labour of her that bore them.2 Had we not the Holy Spirit to tell us, how he that honoureth his Mother, is as one that layeth up to himself a treasure,3-the thought of what our birth cost her would force us to do everything that lies in our power to comfort her. She is the dear Bride of the Incarnate Word; and our souls, too, aspire to union with Him; let us prove that such Union is really ours, by doing as the Church does,— that is, by showing in our acts the one thought, the one love, which the divine Spouse always imparts to souls that enjoy holy intimacy with him, because there is nothing he Himself has so much at heart,the thought of bringing the whole world to give glory to his Eternal Father, and the love of procuring salvation for sinners.

Let us unite with the Church, our Mother, in singing now in the Offertory, the realisation, in part at least, of her expectations; let not our lips ever be shut up in senseless silence, when we have our God bestowing favours on us.

OFFERTORY.

With expectation, I have waited for the Lord, and he was attentive to me and he heard my prayer; and he put a new canticle into my mouth, a song to our God.

1 Prov. xvii. 25.
2 Ibid. xxx. 17.

Exspectans exspectavi Dominum, et respexit me: et exaudivit deprecationem meam, et immisit in os meum canticum novum, hymnum Deo nostro.

3 Ecclus. iii. 5.

4 Tob. iv. 4.

In the Secret let us put ourselves, and everything that belongs to us, under the custody, the keeping allpowerful, of the divine Mysteries.

Tua nos, Domine, sacramenta custodiant: et contra diabolicos semper tueantur incursus. Per Dominum.

SECRET.

May thy mysteries, O Lord, be custody unto us: and always defend us against the attacks of the devil. Through, etc.

The other Secrets, as in page 135.

Jesus' word called back from death the son of the widow of Naim; his Flesh is the Life of the world, for it is the Bread, whose praise we are now to celebrate in our Communion-Anthem.

COMMUNION.

Panis, quem ego dedero, caro mea est pro sæculi

vita.

The bread, which I will give, is my flesh for the life of the world.

Divine Union is not perfect in us, unless the Mystery of love so predominates over both our minds and bodies, as that they be fully possessed by it, as our Mother here words its efficacy; we must be influenced and directed by it, and not by nature, that is, by the dictates of flesh and blood and human

sense.

POSTCOMMUNION.

Mentes nostras et corpora possideat, quæsumus Domine, doni cœlestis operatio: ut non noster sensus in nobis, sed jugiter ejus præveniat effectus. Per Ďominum.

May the operation of the heavenly Gift possess our minds and bodies, we beseech thee, O Lord: that our own sense may not rule us, but may the efficiency (of that Gift) ever take the lead in us. Through, etc.

The other Postcommunion, as in page 137.

VESPERS.

The Psalms, Capitulum, Hymn and Versicle, as above, pages 74-84.

ANTIPHON OF THE MAGNIFICAT.

A great Prophet hath risen up among us, and God hath visited his people.

Propheta magnus surrexit, in nobis, et quia Deus visitavit plebem suam.

OREMUS.

Ecclesiam tuam, Domine, miseratio continuata mundet et muniat ; et quia sine te non potest salva consistere, tuo semper munere gubernetur. Per Dominum.

THE SIXTEENTH SUNDAY

AFTER PENTECOST.

MASS.

THE resuscitation of the son of the widow of Naim, on which our thoughts were fixed last Sunday, has reanimated the confidence of our beloved Mother the Church; her prayer goes up all the more earnestly to her Spouse, who leaves her on earth, for a time, that she may grow dearer to him, by sufferings and tears. Let us, of course, enter into these her sentiments, which guided her in the choice of to-day's Introit.

INTROIT.

Miserere mihi, Domine, quoniam ad te clamavi tota die : quia tu, Domine, suavis ac mitis es, et copiosus in misericordia omnibus invocantibus te.

Ps. Inclina, Domine, aurem tuam mihi, et exaudi me: quoniam inops et pauper sum ego. Gloria Patri. Miserere.

Have mercy on me, O Lord, for I have cried unto thee all the day; for thou, O Lord, art sweet and mild, and plenteous in mercy to all that call upon thee.

Ps. Incline thine ear unto me, O Lord, and hear me: for I am needy and poor. Glory, etc. Have mercy.

Such is our inability in the work of salvation, that, unless Grace prevent, that is, anticipate, us, we cannot have so much as the thought of doing what is holy; and again, unless it follow up the inspirations it has given us, and lead them to a happy termination, we shall never be able to pass, from the simple thought, to the act of any virtue whatsoever.