King; let us welcome him as such, and fervently cry out to him: Hosanna to the Son of David!

At the close of the Procession, a ceremony takes place, which is full of the sublimest symbolism. On returning to the church, the doors are found to be shut. The triumphant Procession is stopped; but the songs of joy are continued. A hymn in honour of Christ our King is sung with its joyous chorus; and at length, the Subdeacon strikes the door with the staff of the cross; the door opens, and the people, preceded by the clergy, enter the church, proclaiming the praise of Him, who is our Resurrection and our Life.

This ceremony is intended to represent the entry of Jesus into that Jerusalem, of which the earthly one was but the figure, the Jerusalem of heaven, which has been opened for us by our Saviour. The sin of our first parents had shut it against us; but Jesus, the King of glory, opened its gates by his Cross, to which every resistance yields. Let us, then, continue to follow in the footsteps of the Son of David, for he is also the Son of God, and he invites us to share his Kingdom with him. Thus, by the Procession, which is commemorative of what happened on this day, the Church raises up our thoughts to the glorious mystery of the Ascension, whereby heaven was made the close of Jesus' mission on earth. Alas! the interval between these two triumphs of our Redeemer are not all days of joy; and no sooner is our Procession over, than the Church, that had laid aside, for a moment, the weight of her grief, falls back into sorrow and mourning.

The third part of to-day's Service is the offering of the Holy Sacrifice. The portions that are sung by the Choir are expressive of the deepest desolation; and the history of our Lord's Passion, which is to be now read by anticipation, gives to the rest of the day

that character of sacred gloom, which we all know so well. For the last five or six centuries, the Church has adopted a special chant for this narrative of the holy Gospel. The historian, or the Evangelist, relates the events in a tone that is at once grave and pathetic; the words of our Saviour are sung to a solemn yet sweet melody, which strikingly contrasts with the high dominant of the several other interlocutors and the Jewish populace. During the singing of the Passion, the Faithful should hold their Palms in their hands, and, by this emblem of triumph, protest against the insults offered to Jesus by his enemies. As we listen to each humiliation and suffering, all of which were endured out of love for us, let us offer him our Palm as to our dearest Lord and King. When should we be more adoring, than when he is most suffering?

These are the leading features of this great day. According to our usual plan, we will add to the Prayers and Lessons any instructions that seem to be needed.

This Sunday, besides its liturgical and popular appellation of Palm Sunday, has had several other names. Thus, it was called Hosanna Sunday, in allusion to the acclamation wherewith the Jews greeted Jesus on his Entry into Jerusalem. Our forefathers used also to call it Pascha Floridum, because the Feast of the Pasch (or Easter), which is but eight days off, is to-day in bud, so to speak," and the Faithful could begin from this Sunday to fulfil the precept of Easter Communion. It was in allusion to this name, that the Spaniards, having on the Palm Sunday of 1513, discovered the peninsula on the Gulf of Mexico, called it Florida. We also. find the name of Capitilavium given to this Sunday,

because during those times, when it was the custom to defer till Holy Saturday the baptism of infants born during the preceding months, (where such a delay entailed no danger,)—the parents used, on this day, to wash the heads of these children, out of respect to the Holy Chrism wherewith they were to be anointed. Later on, this Sunday was, at least in some Churches, called the Pasch of the Competents, that is, of the Catechumens, who were admitted to Baptism: they assembled to-day in the Church, and received a special instruction on the Symbol, which had been given to them in the previous scrutiny. In the Gothic Church of Spain, the Symbol was not given till to-day. The Greeks call this Sunday Baïphoros, that is, Palm-Bearing.

THE BLESSING OF THE PALMS. It begins with the chanting the following Anti phon, which serves as an Introit.

ANTIPHON.

Hosanna to the Son of David ! Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord. O King of Israel! Hosanna in the highest !

Hosanna filio David ! Benedictus qui venit in nomine Domine. O Rex Israel! Hosanna in excelsis!

The Priest then sums up, in the following Prayer, the petitions of the Faithful. This is what he asks for his people that after this short life is over, they may come to that eternal kingdom, which has been prepared for them by Jesus' Death and Resurrection.

V. The Lord be with you.
B. And with thy spirit.

V. Dominus vobiscum.
R. Et cum spiritu tuo.

OREMUS.

Deus quem diligere et amare, justitia est, ineffabilis gratiæ tuæ in nobis dona multiplica; et qui fecisti nos in morte Filii tui sperare quæ credimus, fac nos eodem resurgente per venire quo tendimus. Qui tecum vivit et regnat in unitate Spiritus Sancti Deus per omnia sæcula sæcuforum.

R. Amen.

LET US PRAY.

O God, whom to love is true righteousness, multiply in our hearts the gifts of thy holy grace; and since, by the death of thy only Son, thou hast made us to hope for those things which we believe, grant that by his resurrection, we may arrive at the happy end of our journey. Who liveth and reigneth with thee, in the unity of the Holy Ghost, world without end. B. Amen.

After this Prayer, the Subdeacon chants a passage from the Book of Exodus, which relates how the people of God, after they have gone forth from Egypt, pitch their tents at Elim, beneath the shade of seventy Palm-trees, where also are twelve fountains. Whilst here, they are told by Moses that God is about to send them manna from heaven, and that, on the very next morning, their hunger shall be appeased. These were figures of what is now given to the christian people. The Faithful, by a sincere conversion, have separated themselves from the Egypt of a sinful world. They are offering the Palms of their loyalty and love to Jesus, their King. The Fountains typify the Baptism, which, in a few days hence, is to be administered to our Catechumens. These Fountains are twelve in number; the Twelve articles of the Symbol of our Faith were preached to the world by the Twelve Apostles. And finally, on the Morning of Easter Day, Jesus, the Bread of life, the heavenly Manna, will arise from the tomb, and manifest his glory to us.

LESSON.