thy holy one to whom thou hast spoken, promising that thou wouldst multiply their seed as the stars of heaven, and as the sand that is on the sea shore. For we, O Lord, are diminished more than any nation, and are brought low in all the earth this day for our sins. Neither is there at this time prince, or leader, or prophet, or holocaust, or sacrifice, or oblation, or incense, or place of first-fruits before thee, that we may find thy mercy: nevertheless, in a contrite heart and humble spirit, let us be accepted. As in holocausts of rams, and bullocks, and as in thousands of fat lambs so let our sacrifice be made in thy sight this day, that it may please thee for there is no confusion to them that trust in thee. And now we follow thee with all our heart, and we fear thee, and seek thy face. Put us not to confusion, but deal with us according to thy meekness, and according to the multitude of thy mercies. And deliver us according to thy wonderful works, and give glory to thy name, O Lord; and let all them be confounded that shew evils to thy servants, let them be confounded in all thy might, and let their strength be broken; and let them know that thou art the Lord, the only God, and glorious over all the world, O Lord our God. servum : tuum, et Israël sanctum tuum: quibus locustus es, pollicens quod multiplicares semen eorum sicut stellas coli, et sicut arenam, quæ est in littore maris: quia, Domine, imminuti sumus plus quam omnes gentes, sumusque humiles in universa terra hodie propter peccata nostra. Et non est in tempore hoc princeps, et dux, et propheta, neque holocaustum, neque sacrificium, neque oblatio, neque incensum, neque locus primitiarum coram te, ut possimus invenire misericordiam tuam sed in animo contrito, et spiritu humilitatis suscipiamur. Sicut in holocausto arietum, et taurorum, et sicut in millibus agnorum pinguium : sic fiat sacrificium nostrum in conspectu tuo hodie, ut placeat tibi: quoniam non est confusio confidentibus in te. Et nunc sequimur te in toto corde, et timemus te, et quærimus faciem tuam. Ne confundas nos, sed fac nobiscum juxta mansuetudinem tuam, et secundum multitudinem misericordiæ tuæ. Et erue nos in mirabilibus tuis, et da gloriam nomini tuo, Domine: et confundantur omnes quia ostendunt servis tuis mala, confundantur in omnipotentia tua, et robur eorum conteratur; et sciant quia tu es Dominus Deus solus, et gloriosus super orbem terrarum, Domine Deus noster. Thus did Juda, when captive in Babylon, pour forth her prayers to God, by the mouth of Azarias. Sion was desolate beyond measure; her people were in exile; her solemnities were hushed. Her children were to continue in a strange land for seventy years; after which God would be mindful of them, and lead them, by the hand of Cyrus, back to Jerusalem, when the building of the second Temple would be begun, that Temple which was to receive the Messias within its walls. What crime had Juda committed, that she should be thus severely punished? The Daughter of Sion had fallen into idolatry; she had broken the sacred engagement which made her the Spouse of her God. Her crime, however, was expiated by these seventy years of captivity, and when she returned to the land of her fathers, she never relapsed into the worship of false gods. When the Son of God came to dwell in her, he found her innocent of idolatry. But scarcely had forty years elapsed after the Ascension of this Divine Redeemer, than Juda was again an exile; not, indeed, led captive into Babylon, but dispersed in every nation under the sun, after having first seen the massacre of thousands of her children. This time, it is not merely for seventy years, but for eighteen centuries, that she is without prince, or leader, or prophet, or holocaust, or sacrifice, or Temple. Her new crime must be greater than idolatry, for, after all these long ages of suffering and humiliation, the justice of the Father is not appeased! It is, because the blood that was shed, by the Jewish people, on Calvary, was not the blood of a man,-it was the blood of a God. Yes, the very sight of the chastisement inflicted on the murderers proclaims to the world that they were deicides. Their crime was an unparalleled one; its punishment is to be so too; it is to last to the end of time, when God, for the sake of Abraham his beloved, and Isaac his servant, and Jacob his holy one, will visit Juda with an extraordinary grace, and her conversion will console the Church, whose affliction is then to be great by reason of the apostacy of many of her children. This spectacle of a whole people bearing on itself the curse of God for having crucified the Son of God, should make a Christian tremble for himself. It teaches him, that Divine justice is terrible, and that the Father demands an account of the Blood of his Son, even to the last drop, from those that shed it. Let us lose no time, but go at once, and, in this precious Blood, cleanse ourselves from the share we have had in the sin of the Jews; and, throwing off the chains of iniquity, let us imitate those among them, whom we see, from time to time, separating themselves from their people and returning to the Messias let us, also, be converts, and turn to that Jesus, whose hands are stretched out on the Cross, ever ready to receive the humble penitent. GOSPEL. Sequel of the holy Gospel ac- Sequentia sancti Evangelii cording to Luke. Ch. VII. At that time: One of the Pharisees desired him to eat with him. And he went into the house of the Pharisee, and sat down to meat. And behold a woman that was in the city, a sinner, when she knew that he sat at meat in the Pharisee's house, brought an alabaster box of ointment; and standing behind at his feet, she began to wash his feet with tears, and wiped them with the hairs of her head, and kissed his feet, and anointed them with the ointment. Aud the Pharisee, who secundum Lucam. Cap. VII. In illo tempore: Rogabat Jesum quidam de Pharisæis, ut manducaret cum illo. Et ingressus domum Pharisæi, discubuit. Et ecce mulier, quæ erat in civitate peccatrix, ut cognovit quod accubuisset in domo Pharisæi, attulit alabastrum unguenti; et stans retro secus pedes ejus, lacrymis cœpit rigare pedes ejus, et capil lis capitis sui tergebat, et osculabatur pedes ejus, et unguento ungebat. Videns autem Pharisæus, qui vocaverat eum, ait intra se di cens: Hic si esset Propheta, sciret utique, quæ, et qualis est mulier, quæ, tangit eum quia peccatrix est. Et respondens Jesus, dixit ad illum: Simon, habeo tibi aliquid dicere. At ille ait: Magister, dic. Duo debitores erant cuidem fœneratori: unus debebat denarios quingentos, et alius quinquaginta. Non habentibus illis unde redderent, donavit utrisque. Quis ergo eum plus diligit? Respondens Simon, dixit: Estimo quia is, cui plus donavit. At ille dixit ei: Recte judicasti. Et conversus ad mulierem, dixit Simoni: Vides hanc mulierem? Intravi in domum tuam: aquam pedibus meis non dedisti hæc autem lacrymis rigavit pedes meos, et capillis suis tersit. Osculum mihi non dedisti; hæc autem, ex quo intravit, non cessavit osculari pedes meos. Oleo caput meum non unxisti; hæc autem unguento unxit pedes meos. Propter quod dico tibi: Remittuntur ei peccata multa, quoniam dilexit multum. Cui autem minus dimittitur, minus diligit. Dixit autem ad illam: Remittuntur tibi peccata. Et cœperunt qui simul accumbebant, dicere intra se Quis est hic, qui etiam peccata dimittit? Dixit autem ad mulierem: Fides tua te salvam fecit: vade in pace. had invited him, seeing it, spoke within himself, saying: This man, if he were a prophet, would know surely who and what manner of woman this is that touches him, that she is a sinner. And Jesus answering, said to him: Simon, I have somewhat to say to thee. But he said: Master, say it. A certain creditor had two debtors; the one owed five hundred pence, and the other fifty. And whereas they had not wherewith to pay, he forgave them both. Which therefore of the two loveth him most? Simon answering, said: I suppose that he to whom he forgave most. And he said to him: Thou hast judged rightly. And turning to the woman, he said unto Simon: Dost thou see this woman? I entered into thy house; thou gavest me no water for my feet, but she with tears hath washed my feet and with her hairs hath wiped them. Thou gavest me no kiss; but she, since she came in, hath not ceased to kiss my feet. My head with oil thou didst not anoint; but she with ointment hath anointed my feet. Wherefore I say to thee: Many sins are forgiven her, because she hath loved much. But to whom less is forgiven, he loveth less. And he said to her: Thy sins are forgiven thee. And they that sat at meat with him began to say within themselves: Who is this, that forgiveth sins also? And he said to the woman: Thy faith hath made thee safe: go in peace. What consolation there is for us in this Gospel, and how different are the reflections it suggests, from those we were just making upon the Epistle! The event here related does not belong to the time of our Saviour's Passion; but, during these days of mercy, does it not behove us to glorify the meekness. of that Divine Heart, which is preparing to grant pardon to countless sinners throughout the world? Besides, is not Magdalene the inseparable Companion of her dear Crucified Master, even to Calvary? Let us, then, study this admirable penitent, this type of love faithful even to death. Magdalene had led a wicked life: as the Gospel tells us elsewhere,1 seven devils had taken up their abode within her. But, no sooner has she seen and heard Jesus, than immediately she is filled with a horror for sin; divine love is enkindled within her heart; she has but one desire, and that is to make amends for her past life. Her sins have been public; her conversion must be so too. She has lived in vanity and luxury; she is resolved to give all up. Her perfumes are all to be for her God, her Jesus; that hair of hers, of which she has been so proud, shall serve to wipe his sacred feet; her eyes shall henceforth spend themselves in shedding tears of contrite love. The grace of the Holy Ghost urges. her to go to Jesus. He is in the house of a Pharisee, who is giving an entertainment. To go to him now, would be exposing herself to observation. She cares not. Taking with her an ointment of great worth, she makes her way into the feast, throws herself at Jesus' feet, washes them with her tears, wipes them with the hair of her head, kisses them, anoints them with the ointment. Jesus himself tells us with what interior sentiments she accompanies these outward acts of respect: but even had he not spoken, her 1 St. Mark, xvi. 9. |