be gathered together.1 In every part of the Catholic world, a concert of prayer, more loving and earnest than at any other period of the Year, will be offered to our Jesus, in reparation for the outrages he underwent, during these very hours, from the Jews. Around this anticipated Tomb will be united both his long-tried and fervent servants, and those who are newly converted, or are preparing for their reconciliation. At Rome, the Station is in the Lateran Basilica. The metropolitan Church both of the Holy City and the World was deservedly chosen for this great Day of the Reconciliation of Sinners and the Consecration of the Chrism. The Papal function, however, now takes place at the Vatican; and, as we have already stated, the Apostolic Benediction is given by the Sovereign Pontiff from the loggia of Saint Peter's. MASS. In the Introit, the Church makes use of the words of St. Paul, in praise of the Cross of Christ. She is filled with gratitude for this her Redeemer, who has made himself our Salvation, by dying for us; our Life, by the Bread of Heaven he has given us; and our Resurrection, by his having risen from the grave. INTROIT. Nos autem gloriari oportet in cruce Domini nostri Jesu Christi, in quo est salus, vita, et resurrectio nostra: per quem salvati, et liberati sumus. Ps. Deus misereatur nostri, et benedicat nobis, illu We ought to glory in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ: in whom is our salvation, life, and resurrection: by whom we have been saved and delivered. Ps. May God have mercy on us, and bless us may his 1 St. Matth. xxiv. 28. countenance shine upon us, and may he have mercy on us. We ought. minet vultum suum super nos, et misereatur nostri. Nos autem. In the Collect, the Church reminds us of Judas and the Good Thief: both are guilty: and yet, the one is condemned, the other is pardoned. She prays for us to God, that the Passion of his Son, (during which were thus shown the Divine Justice and Mercy,) may procure us the forgiveness of our sins, and the fulness of grace. dum et bibendum? Aut Ecclesiam Dei contemnitis, et confunditis eos, qui non habent? Quid dicam vobis? Laudo vos? In hoc non laudo. Ego enim accepi a Domino, quod et tradidi vobis: quoniam Dominus Jesus in qua nocte tradebatur, accepit panem, et gratias agens fregit, et dixit: Accipite et manducate : hoc est Corpus meum, quod pro vobis tradetur; hoc facite in meam commemorationem. Similiter et calicem postquam cœnavit, dicens: Hic calix novum testamentum est in meo Sanguine. Hoc facite quotiescumque bibetis, in meam commemorationem. Quotiescumque enim manducabitis panem hunc, et calicem bibetis, mortem Domini annuntiabitis donec veniat. Itaque quicumque manducaverit panem hunc, vel biberit calicem Domini indigne, reus erit Corporis et Sanguinis Domini. Probet autem seipsum homo, et sic de pane illo edat, et de calice bibat. Qui enim manducat et bibit indigne, judicium sibi manducat et bibit, non dijudicans Corpus Domini. Ideo inter vos multi infirmi et imbecilles, et dormiunt multi. Quod si nosmetipsos dijudicaremus, non utique judicaremur. Dum judicamur autem, a Domino corripimur, ut non cum hoc mundo damnemur. ye the Church of God, and put them to shame that have not? What shall I say to you? Do I praise you? In this I praise you not. For I have received of the Lord that which also I delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus, the same night in which he was betrayed, took bread, and giving thanks, broke, and said: Take ye and eat: this is my Body which shall be delivered for you: this do for the commemoration of me. In like manner also the chalice, after he had supped, saying: This Chalice is the New Testament in my Blood: this do ye, as often as ye shall drink it, for the commemoration of me. For as often as you shall eat this bread, or drink the chalice, you shall show the death of the Lord, until he come. Therefore whosoever shall eat this bread or drink the chalice of the Lord unworthily, shall be guilty of the Body and Blood of the Lord. But let a man prove himself, and so let him eat of that bread, and drink of the chalice. For he that eateth and drinketh unworthily, eateth and drinketh judgment to himself, not discerning the Body of the Lord. Therefore are there many infirm and weak among you, and many sleep. But if we would judge ourselves, we should not be judged. But whilst we are judged, we are chastised by the Lord, that we be not condemned with this world. soon We After having rebuked the Christians of Corinth for the abuses into which they had fallen at the Feasts, (called Agape,) which had been introduced by a spirit of fraternal charity, but were abolished, the holy Apostle relates the history of the Last Supper. His account, which corresponds throughout with that given by the Evangelists, rests upon the testimony of our Blessed Saviour himself, who deigned to appear to him, and instruct him, in person, after his conversion. The Apostle does not omit to give the words, whereby our Lord empowered his Apostles to renew what he himself had done: he tells us, that as often as the Priest consecrates the Body and Blood of Christ, he shows the Death of the Lord, thus expressing the oneness there is between the Sacrifice of the Cross and that of the Altar. have explained this important doctrine in the 6th Chapter of the introduction to this present Volume. The consequence to be drawn from this teaching is evident; it is contained in these words of the Apostle: Let a man prove himself, and so let him eat of that bread and drink of the chalice. What could be more just, than that having to be initiated in so intimate a manner, with the Mystery of the Redemption, and contract so close a union with the Divine Victim,—we should banish from our hearts sin and affection to sin? He that eateth my Flesh and drinketh my Blood, abideth in me, and I in him, says our Lord.1 Could there be a closer union? God and man abiding in each other! Oh! how carefully ought we not to purify our soul, and render our will conformable with the will of Jesus, before approaching this Divine Banquet, to which he invites us! Let us beseech him to prepare us himself, as he did his Apostles, by washing their feet. He will grant us our request, not only to-day, but as often 1 St. John, vi. 57. as we go to Holy Communion, provided we are docile to his grace. The Gradual is made up of those admirable words, which the Church so often repeats during these three days, and by which St. Paul warms us to gratitude towards the Son of God, who delivered himself up for us. GRADUAL. Christus factus est pro nobis obediens usque ad mortem, mortem autem crucis. V. Propter quod et Deus exaltavit illum, et dedit illi nomen, quod est super om ne nomen. Christ became, for our sakes, obedient unto death, even to the death of the Cross. V. For which cause, God also hath exalted him, and hath given him a name, which is above all names. GOSPEL. Sequentia sancti Evangelii secundum Joannem. Cap. XIII. Ante diem festum Paschæ, sciens Jesus, quia venit hora ejus, ut transeat ex hoc mundo ad Patrem cum dilexisset suos, qui erant in mundo, in finem dilexit eos. Et cœna facta, cum diabolus jam misisset in cor, ut traderet eum Judas Simonis Iscariotæ sciens quia omnia dedit ei Pater in manus, et quia a Deo exivit et ad Deum vadit, surgit a cœna, et ponit vestimenta sua. Et cum accepisset linteum, præcinxit se. Deinde misit aquam in pelvim, et cœpit lavare pediscipulorum, et exter Sequel of the holy Gospel according to John. Ch. XIII. Before the festival day of the Pasch, Jesus knowing that his hour was come that he should pass out of this world to the Father: having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them unto the end. And when supper was done, (the devil having now put it into the heart of Judas Iscariot, the son of Simon, to betray him,) knowing that the Father had given him all things into his hands, and that he came from God, and goeth to God: he riseth from supper, and layeth aside his garments, and having taken a towel, girded himself. After that, he |