Thus did God, in his power over men's hearts, procure a triumph for his Son, and in the very City, which, a few days after, was to clamour for his Blood. This day was one of glory to our Jesus, and the holy Church would have us renew, each year, the memory of this triumph of the Man-God. Shortly after the Birth of our Emmanuel, we saw the Magi coming from the extreme East, and looking in Jerusalem for the King of the Jews, to whom they intended offering their gifts and their adorations: but it is Jerusalem herself that now goes forth to meet this King. Each of these events is an acknowledgment of the Kingship of Jesus: the first, from the Gentiles; the second, from the Jews. Both were to pay him this regal homage, before he suffered his Passion. The Inscription to be put upon the Cross, by Pilate's order, will express the Kingly character of the Crucified: Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews. Pilate,the Roman Governor, the pagan, the base coward,— has been, unwittingly, the fulfiller of a prophecy; and when the enemies of Jesus insist on the Inscription being altered, Pilate will deign them no answer but this: What I have written, I have written. To-day, it is the Jews themselves that proclaim Jesus to be their King: they will soon be dispersed, in punishment for their revolt against the Son of David; but Jesus is King, and will be so for ever.

Thus were literally verified the words spoken by the Archangel to Mary, when he announced to her the glories of the Child that was to be born of her: The Lord God shall give unto him the throne of David, his father; and he shall reign in the house of Jacob for ever.1 Jesus begins his reign upon the earth this very day; and though the first Israel is soon to disclaim his rule, a new Israel, formed from the faithful few of the old, shall rise up in every nation of the earth, and

* St. Luke, i. 32.

become the Kingdom of Christ, a kingdom such as no mere earthly monarch ever coveted in his wildest fancies of ambition.

This is the glorious Mystery which ushers in the Great Week, the Week of Dolours. Holy Church would have us give this momentary consolation to our heart, and hail our Jesus as our King. She has so arranged the Service of to-day, that it should express both joy and sorrow; joy, by uniting herself with the loyal Hosannas of the City of David; and sorrow, by compassionating the Passion of her Divine Spouse. The whole function is divided into three parts, which we will now proceed to explain.

The first is the blessing of the Palms, and we may have an idea of its importance by the solemnity used by the Church in this sacred rite. One would suppose that the Holy Sacrifice has begun, and is going to be offered up in honour of Jesus' Entry into Jerusalem. Introit, Collect, Epistle, Gradual, Gospel, even a Preface, are said as though we were, as usual, preparing for the immolation of the Spotless Lamb; but, after the triple Sanctus! Sanctus! Sanctus! the Church suspends these sacrificial formulas, and turns to the Blessing of the Palms. The Prayers she uses for this Blessing are eloquent and full of instruction; and, together, with the sprinkling with Holy Water and the Incensation, impart a virtue to these Branches, which elevates them to the supernatural order, and makes them means for the sanctification of our souls and the protection of our persons and dwellings. The Faithful should hold these Palms in their hands during the procession, and during the reading of the Passion at Mass, and keep them in their homes as an outward expression of their faith, and as a pledge of God's watchful love.

It is scarcely necessary to tell our reader, that the Palms or Olive branches, thus blessed, are carried in memory of those wherewith the people of Jerusalem

At

strewed the road, as our Saviour made his trium phant Entry; but a word on the antiquity of our ceremony will not be superfluous. It began very early in the East. It is probable, that as far as Jerusalem itself is concerned, the custom was estabblished immediately after the Ages of Persecution. St. Cyril, who was Bishop of that City in the 4th century, tells us, that the Palm-tree, from which the people cut the branches when they went out to meet our Saviour, was still to be seen in the Vale of Cedron. Such a circumstance would naturally suggest an annual commemoration of the great event. In the following century, we find this ceremony established, not only in the Churches of the East, but also in the Monasteries of Egypt and Syria. the beginning of Lent, many of the holy monks obtained permission from their Abbots to retire into the desert, that they might spend the sacred season in strict seclusion; but they were obliged to return to their monasteries for Palm Sunday, as we learn from the Life of St. Euthymius, written by his disciple Cyril.2 In the West, the introduction of this ceremony was more gradual: the first trace we find of it, is in the Sacramentary of St. Gregory, that is, the end of the 6th, or the beginning of the 7th, century. When the Faith had penetrated into the North, it was not possible to have Palms or Olive branches; they were supplied by branches from other trees. The beautiful prayers used in the Blessing, and which are based on the mysteries expressed by the Palm and Olive trees, are still employed in the blessing of our willow, box, or other branches; and rightly, for they represent the symbolical ones which nature has denied us.

The second of to-day's ceremonies is the Procession, which comes immediately after the Blessing of

1 Cateches. X.

2 Act. SS.-xx. Januarii.

the Palms. It represents our Saviour's journey to Jerusalem, and his Entry into the City. To make it the more expressive, the Branches that have just been blessed, are held in the hand during it. With the Jews, to hold a branch in one's hand, was a sign of joy. The Divine Law had sanctioned the practice, as we read in the following passage from Leviticus, where God commands his people to keep the Feast of Tabernacles: And you shall take to you, on the first day, the fruits of the fairest tree, and branches of palm-trees, and boughs of thick trees, and willows of the brook, and you shall rejoice before the Lord your God. It was, therefore, to testify their delight at seeing Jesus enter within their walls, that the inhabitants, even the little children, of Jerusalem, went forth to meet him with Palms in their hands. Let us, also, go before our King, singing our Hosannas to him as the Conqueror of death, and the Liberator of his people.

During the Middle Ages, it was the custom, in many Churches, to carry the Book of the Holy Gospels in this Procession. The Gospel contains the words of Jesus Christ, and was considered to represent him. The Procession halted at an appointed place, or Station: the Deacon then opened the sacred Volume, and sang from it the passage which describes. our Lord's Entry into Jerusalem. This done, the Cross, which, up to this moment, was veiled, was uncovered; each of the clergy advanced towards it, venerated it, and placed at its foot a small portion of the palm he held in his hand. The Procession then returned, preceded by the Cross, which was left unveiled, until all had re-entered the Church. In England and Normandy, as far back as the 11th century, there was practised a holy ceremony, which represented, even more vividly than the one we have just been describing, the scene that was witnessed,,

1 Levit., xxiii. 40.

on this day, at Jerusalem:-the Blessed Sacrament was carried in Procession. The heresy of Berengarius, against the Real Presence of Jesus in the Eucharist, had been broached about that time; and, the tribute of triumphant joy here shown to the Sacred Host, was a distant preparation for the Feast and Procession, which were to be instituted at a later period.

A touching ceremony was also practised in Jerusalem, during to-day's Procession, and, like those just mentioned, was intended to commemorate the event related by the Gospel. The whole community of the Franciscans, (to whose keeping the Holy Places are intrusted,) went, in the morning, to Bethphage. There, the Father Guardian of the Holy Land, vested in pontifical robes, mounted upon an ass, on which garments were laid. Accompanied by the Friars and the Catholics of Jerusalem, all holding Palms in their hands, he entered the City, and alighted at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, where Mass was celebrated with all possible solemnity. This beautiful ceremony, which dated from the period of the Latin Kingdom in Jerusalem, has been forbidden, for now almost two hundred years, by the Turkish authorities of the City.

We have mentioned these different usages, as we have done others on similar occasions, in order to aid the Faithful to the better understanding of the several mysteries of the Liturgy. In the present instance, they will learn, that, in to-day's Procession the Church wishes us to honour Jesus Christ as though he were really among us, and were receiving the humble tribute of our loyalty. Let us lovingly go forth to meet this our King, our Saviour, who comes to visit the Daughter of Sion, as the Prophet has just told us. He is in our midst; it is to him that we pay honour with our Palms;-let us give him our hearts too. He comes that he may be our