V. Qui regis Israel, intende; qui deducis velut ovem Joseph.

Recordare mei, Domine.

V. O thou that rulest Israel,
give ear; thou that leadest
Joseph like a sheep.
Remember me, O Lord.

The surest guarantee a christian can have against adversity, is freedom from sin. It is sin that stirs up the anger of God, and cries upon him for vengeance. Let us unite in the following prayer of the Church.

SECRET.

Da, misericors Deus: ut hæc salutaris oblatio, et a propriis nos reatibus indesinenter expediat, et ab omnibus tueatur adversis. Per Dominum.

Grant, O merciful God, that this sacrifice of salvation may, constantly, both free us from our sins, and protect us from all adversity. Through, etc.

The other Secrets, as in page 135.

The Communion-Anthem shows us with what perseverance and earnestness, the Church prays to her divine Lord. We must imitate her.

COMMUNION.

Ego clamavi quoniam exaudisti me, Deus: inclina aurem tuam, et exaudi verba mea.

I have cried out, because thou heardest me, O God; bend down thine ear, and graciously hearken to my words.

Whilst offering the sacred mysteries in memory of our Jesus, as he commanded us to do,-we must not forget, that these same are, also, our refuge in all our miseries. It would be presumption, or folly, to neglect to pray, that they may thus protect us. The Church, here again, is our model, in utilising these most powerful of all means for help.

POSTCOMMUNION.

Having received, O Lord, the sacred mysteries, we humbly beseech thee, that what thou hast commanded us to do in remembrance of thee, may be a help to us in our weakness. Who livest,

etc.

Sumpsimus, Domine, sacri dona mysterii, humiliter deprecantes: ut quæ in tui commemorationem nos facere præcepisti, in nostræ proficiant infirmitatis auxilium. Qui vivis.

The other Postcommunions, as in page 137.

VESPERS.

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

ANTIPHON OF THE MAGNIFICAT.

Render, therefore, to Cæsar the things that are Cæsar's: and to God, the things that are God's. Alleluia.

LET US PRAY.

O God, our refuge and strength! give ear to the holy prayers of thy Church, O thou, the author of holiness; and grant, that what we ask for with faith, we may effectually obtain. Through, etc.

Reddite ergo quæ sunt Cæsaris Cæsari; et quæ sunt Dei Deo. Alleluia.

OREMUS.

Deus refugium nostrum, et virtus: adesto piis Ecclesiæ tuæ precibus, auctor ipse pietatis, et præsta: ut quod fideliter petimus, efficaciter consequamur. Per Dominum.

THE TWENTY-THIRD SUNDAY

AFTER PENTECOST.

For the years when the number of the Sundays after Pentecost is only twenty-three, the Mass for to-day is taken from the twenty-fourth and last Sunday; and the Mass appointed for the twenty-third, is said on the previous Saturday, or on the nearest day of the preceding week, which is not impeded by a double or semi-double feast.

But, under all circumstances, the Antiphonary ends to-day. The Introits, Graduals, Communions, and Postcommunions, which are given below, are to be repeated on each of the Sundays till Advent, which may be more or less in number, according to the Years. Our readers will remember, how, in the time of St. Gregory, Advent was longer than we now have it;1 and that, in those days, its weeks commenced in that part of the Cycle, which is now occupied by the last Sundays after Pentecost. This is one of the reasons which explain there being a lack of liturgical riches in the composition of the dominical Masses which follow the twenty-third.

Even on this one, formerly, the Church, without losing sight of the Last Day, used to lend a thought to the new season which was fast approaching, the season, that is, of preparation for the great feast of Christmas. There used to be read, as Epistle, the following passage from Jeremias, which was after

See our "Advent:" Chap. i. page 23 et seq.

wards, in several Churches, inserted in the Mass of the first Sunday of Advent: Behold! the days come, saith the Lord, and I will raise up to David a just branch: and a King shall reign, and shall be wise: and shall execute judgment and justice in the earth. In those days, shall Juda be saved, and Israel shall dwell confidently and this is the name that they shall call Him: The Lord our Just One. Therefore, behold the days come, saith the Lord, and they shall say no more: The Lord liveth, who brought up the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt! But: The Lord liveth, who hath brought out, and brought hither, the seed of the house of Israel, from the land of the north, and out of all the lands, to which I had cast them forth! And they shall dwell in their own land.'

As is evident, this passage is equally applicable to the conversion of the Jews, and the restoration of Israel, which are to take place at the end of the world. This was the view taken by the chief liturgists of the Middle-Ages, in order to explain thoroughly the Mass of the twenty-third Sunday after Pentecost. First mentioning to our readers, that, originally, the Gospel of this Sunday was that of the multiplication of the five loaves, let us listen to the profound and learned Abbot Rupert, who, better than anyone, will teach us the mysteries of this day, which brings to a close the grand and varied Gregorian Melodies, that we have been having during the whole year.

Holy Church," says he, "is so intent on paying "her debt of supplication, and prayer, and thanksgiving, for all men, as the Apostle demands,' that we find her giving thanks also for the salvation of "the children of Israel, who, she knows, are one day to be united with her. And, as their remnants are "to be saved at the end of the world,3 so, on this last Sunday of the Year, she delights at having them,

1 Jerem. xxiii. 5-8.

21 Tim. ii. 1.

3 Rom. ix. 27.

"just as though they were already her members! In the Introit, calling to mind the prophecies concerning them, she thus sings every Year: My thoughts are thoughts of peace, and not of affliction. Verily, his thoughts are those of peace, for he pro"mises to admit to the banquet of his grace, the Jews, 'who are his brethren according to the flesh; thus "realising what had been prefigured in the history of "the patriarch Joseph. The brethren of Joseph, having sold him, came to him, when they were "tormented by hunger; for then he ruled over the "whole land of Egypt; he recognised them, he re"ceived them, and made, together with them, a great "feast; so too, our Lord who is now reigning over "the whole earth, and is giving the bread of life, in abundance, to the Egyptians, (that is, to the Gentiles,) will see coming to him the remnants of the chil"dren of Israel. He, whom they had denied and put to death, will admit them to his favour, will give "them a place at his table, and the true Joseph will "feast delightedly with his brethren.

"The benefit of this divine Table is signified, in "the Office of this Sunday, by the Gospel, which tells "us of our Lord's feeding the multitude with five "loaves. For, it will be then, that Jesus will open "to the Jews the five books of Moses, which are now being carried whole, and not yet broken,-yea, "carried by a child, that is to say, this people itself, "who, up to that time, will have been cramped up in "the narrowness of a childish spirit.

"Then will be fulfilled the prophecy of Jeremias, "which is so aptly placed before this Gospel: They "shall say no more: The Lord liveth, who brought up "the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt! But, "the Lord liveth, who hath brought out the seed of "Israel from the land of the north, and from all the "lands into which they had been cast.

"Thus delivered from the spiritual bondage which