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ywell no fruit. But that on the good ground are they who in a good and perfect heart, word, keep it, and bring forth fruit in patience. eart, hearing the OFFERT. Ps. xvi. Perfect thou my goings in. thy paths: that my footsteps be not moved: O incline thy ear unto me and hear my words. Shew forth thy, Wonderful mercies; who saveth them that hope in thee O Lord.

SECRET. May the sacrifice we have offered to thee, O Lord, always enliven us and defend us.

Thro'.

God, to God, who rejoiceth my youth.
COMM. Ps. xlii. I will go up to the altar of

P. COMM. Supplices. Grant, we humbly beseech thee, O Almighty God, that those whom thou refreshest with thy sacraments, may, by a life well pleasing to thee, worthily serve thee. Thro'.

QUINQUAGESIMA SUNDAY.

mey and nourish me.

V. Glory.

INTROIT PS. XXX. Esto mihi in, &c. BE thou unto me a God, a protector, and a house of refuge, to save me: for thou art my strength, and Thy refuge; and for thy name's sake thou wilt lead hoped, let me never be confounded: deliver me in Ps. In thee, O Lord, have I thy justice and rescue me. COLL. Preces. Mercifully hear our prayers, we beseech thee, chains of our sins, preserve us from all adversity. O Lord, and being freed from the EPISTLE. 1 Cor. xiii. 1, 13. Brethren: If I speak with the tongres of men and of angels, and have not charity, I'am become as sounding brass, tiskling cymbal. And if I should have propheey, and should know all mysteries, and all knowledge, and if I should have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, and have not charity, I am nothing. And if I should distribute all my goods to

Thro.

or a

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burned, and have not charity, it profiteth me no li feed the poor, and if I should deliver my body to be thing. Charity is patient, 15 is kind: Charity envietha ! not, dealeth not perversely: it is not puffed up, it is

ambitious, seeketh not her own,

is not provoked

toanger, thinketh no evil, rejoiceth not in iniquity, bangeeth with the truth: beareth all things, ba lieveth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things. Charity never falleth away; whether prophecies shall be made void, or tongues shall cease,

part, and we prophecy in part. But when that which is perfect is come, that which is in part shall be done away. When I was a child, I spoke as & child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child. But when I became a man, I put away the things of a child. We now see through a glass in a dark

in

part; but then I shall know, even as I am known And now there remain faith, hope, charity, these three: but the greatest of these is charity.

GRAD. Ps. xxvi. Thou art God that alone dost wonders: thou hast made thy power, known among the nations. V. Thou hast delivered thy people, the children of Israel and Joseph, by the strength of thy arm.

TRACT. Ps. xcix. Sing joyfully to God, all the earth; serve ye the Lord with gladness. V. Come in before his presence with joy. Know ye that the Lord he is God. V. He made us, and not we ourselves: we are his people, and the sheep of

GOSPEL. Luke xviii. 31, 43. At that time. Je sus took unto him the twelve, and said to them, Behold we go up to Jerusalem, and all things shall be accomplished which were, tabine prophets concerning the Son of Man. For he shall be delivered to the Gentiles, and shall be mocked, and scourged, and spit upon: and after they have scour

be meal

ged him, they will put him to death, and the third day be shall rise again. And they understood none of these things, and this word was hid from them, and they understood not the things that were said. Now it came to pass, that when he drew nigh to Jericho, a certain blind man sat by the way-side, begging. And when he heard the multitude passing by, he asked what this meant. And they told him that Jesus of Nazareth was passing by. And he cried out, Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me. And they that went before, rebuked him, that he should hold his peace. But he cried out much more: Son of David, have mercy on me. commanded him to be brought unto him. And when And Jesus standing, he was come near, he asked him, saying, What wilt thou that I do to thee? But he may see. And Jesus said to him, Receive thy sight; said, Lo Lord, that I thy faith hath made thee whole. And immediately he saw and followed him, glorifying God. And all the people when they saw it, gave praise to God.

The Creed.

thy mouth.

OFFERT. Ps. cxviii. Blessed art thou, O Lord, teach me thy justifications: with my lips have I pronounced all the judgments of SECRET. May this offering, we beseech thee, O Lord, cleanse away our sins: and sanctify the bodies and souls of thy servants, to prepare them for worthily celebrating this sacrifice. Thro'. COMM. Ps. Ixxvii. They did eat and were filled exceedingly, the Lord gave them their desire: they were not deprived of that which they craved. P. COMM. Quæsumus. We beseech thee, O Almighty God, that we who have taken this heavenly food, may by it be defended from all adver

sity.

ASH-WEDNESDAY.

THE ceremony of applying ashes in the form of a cross, to the heads of the faithful on this day, is a

relick of the ancient discipline of the church which, dalous sinners to public and canonical penance lese at the beginning of Lent, subjected public and scate wind

The priest, (having first heard their confession, clothed them with sackcloth-laid ashes on their heads, and sprinkled them with holy water) recited

Paten assisted therein by all the clergy lying prostrate on the ground. After the procession, in which they walked bare-foot in the penitential dress above de turned out of the church, not scribed, they were to be again admitted to assist at the sacred myste

ries, till Maunday-Thursday. The church doors

were then shut, and the Mass of the faithful began. Though public penances are not so frequent 2 they formerly were, the Council of Trent expressly Ses. xxiv. c. 8. Reform. And the directions given in the Roman Ritual, de Sacram. Penit. are: "Let not the priest absolve those who have given public scandal, tili they have made public satisfaction, and removed the

scandal."

We are therefore to perform this holy ceremony with an humble and contrite soul, with a firm reso lution of entering upon penitential practices in order to punish our sins, and to satisfy for them inn manner that may bear some proportion to the enor mity of our offences.

THE BLESSING OF THE ASHES.

ANT. HEAR us, O Lord, for thy mercy is kind: look on us, O Lord, according to the multitude of thy mercies. Ps. Save me, O God; for the w2ters have reached my soul. V. Glory. ANT. Hear us, &c. to Ps.

The Lord be with you, R. And with thy spirit. Let us pray. Omnipotens. O Almighty and eternal God, spare those that repent, shew mercy to those that humbly intreat thec: and vouchsafe to send from heaven thy holy

pay

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angel, bless, and sanctify these ashes, that they may be a wholesome remedy to all who humbly call upon thy holy name, and conscious of their sins, accuse themselves, and deplore their crimes in sight of thy divine Majesty, or humbly and earnestly have recourse to thy sovereign bounty: and grant, by our calling on thy most holy name, that who

ever should be touched by these ashes for the re

das and defence of soul. Thro'. and don of their

Let us pray. Deus, qui non mortem. O God, who desirest the conversion, and not the death of sinners, graciously consider the weakness of human nature, and mercifully vouchsafe to ☑ bless these ashes, which we design to receive on our heads, in token of our humiliation, and to obtain forgiveGel hess: that we, who know that we are but ashes, and must return to dust because of our wickedness, sins, and the recompence promised to penitents. Inay obtain, through thy mercy, pardon of all our

2

Thro'.

O God, who art appeased by humiliation, and Let us pray. Deus, qui humiliatione. pacified by satisfaction, incline to our prayers the rears of thy mercy; and pour upon the heads of th servants, covered with these ashes, the grace of thy blessing; so as both to fill them with the spirit of compunction, and to grant them the effects of their just desires, and when granted,

TH

untouched for ever. Thro'.

to remain stable and

Let us pray. Omnipotens. O Almighty and eternal God, who forgavest the Ninivites, when they did penance in sackcloth and ashes: mercifully grant us so to imitate their penance, that we may obtain pardon of our sins. The Priest having sprinkled the Ashes with Holy Water, saying the Antiphons, Asperges, &c. without the Psalm, and perfuming them thrices

Thro'.

R. Amen.