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ris, Domine Domine, quis sustinebit?

Quia apud te propitiatio est et propter legem tuam sustinui te, Domine.

Sustinuit anima mea in verbo ejus speravit anima mea in Domino. A custodia matutina usque ad noctem speret Israel in Domino. Quia apud Dominum misericordia et copiosa apud eum redemptio.

Et ipse redimet Israel; ex omnibus iniquitatibus ejus. Requiem æternam dona eis, Domine.

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ties, O Lord, Lord, who shall endure it?

For with thee there is merciful forgiveness; and by reason of thy law I have waited for thee, O Lord.

My soul hath relied on his word; my soul hath hoped in the Lord.

From the morning watch even until night, let Israel hope in the Lord.

Because with the Lord there is mercy, and with him plentiful redemption.

And he shall redeem Israel from all his iniquities.

Eternal rest give to them, O Lord.

And let perpetual light shine upon them.

V. From the gate of hell. B. Deliver their souls, O Lord.

V. May they rest in peace.
B. Amen.

. O Lord, hear my prayer

R. And let my cry come unto thee.

LET US PRAY.

O God, the Creator and Redeemer of all the faithful, give to the souls of thy servants departed the remission of their sins: that through the help of pious supplications, they may obtain the pardon they have always desired. Who livest and reignest for ever and ever. Amen.

Here make a special memento of such of the Faithful departed as have a particular claim upon your charity; after which, ask of God to give you his

assistance, whereby you may pass the night free from danger. Say then, still keeping to the words of the Church:

ANT. Save us, O Lord, whilst awake, and watch us as we sleep; that we may watch with Christ, and rest in peace. V. Vouchsafe, O Lord, this night. B. To keep us without sin.

. Have mercy on us, O

Lord.

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ANT. Salva nos, Domine, vigilantes, custodi nos dormientes: ut vigilemus cum Christo, et requiescamus in pace. V. Dignare, nocte ista.

R. todire.

Domine,

Sine peccato nos cus

V. Miserere nostri, Do

mine.

R. Miserere nostri.

Fiat misericordia tua,
Domine, super nos.
B. Quemadmodum spe-
ravimus in te.

V. Domine, exaudi orationem meam.

R. Et clamor meus ad te veniat.

OREMUS.

Visita, quæsumus, Domine, habitationem istam, et omnes insidias inimici ab ea longe repelle: Angeli tui sancti habitent in ea, qui nos in pace custodiant, et benedictio _tua_sit super nos semper. Per Dominum nostrum Jesum Christum, Filium tuum, qui tecum vivit et regnat in unitate Spiritus Sancti Deus, per omnia sæcula sæculorum. Amen.

And that you may end the day in the same sentiments wherewith you began it, say once more these words of the Apostle :

Christ became, for our sakes, obedient unto death, even to the death of the Cross.

Christus factus est pro nobis obediens usque ad mortem, mortem autem crucis.

CHAPTER THE FIFTH.

ON HEARING MASS, DURING PASSIONTIDE AND

HOLY WEEK.

IF there be any time in the Year, when the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass should excite the heart of the Christian to devotion, it is Passiontide. During these days, set apart for the celebration of the Death of our Redeemer, the faithful soul can scarcely turn her thoughts from her Jesus expiring on the Cross: she envies those who were witnesses of the sublime mystery on Calvary: she wishes that she could have stood at the foot of the Cross, have compassionated the Sufferings of her Saviour, have heard his last Words, and reverently have taken up each drop of the precious Blood and applied it to her own wounds.

These holy desires have not been given to the Christian that they might be nothing but desires: God has given him the means of carrying them into effect, for the Sacrifice of the Mass is no other than the Sacrifice of Calvary. Jesus offered himself but once on the Cross for our sins; but he renews the offering, by an unbloody, yet by a real and complete, immolation on our Altars. He comes down on the Altar as soon as the sacred words of Consecration are pronounced by the Priest, and he comes as the Victim of the world's salvation. His Body is really present there, under the appearance of bread; the chalice contains his Blood under the species of wine; and why this mystic separation of the Body and Blood of the Man-God, who can die now no more, if it be not to represent before the Divine Majesty the real Death which was once suffered in a bloody

manner on Calvary, and to renew, in man's favour, the merits and fruits of that Death?

This is the Sacrifice of the New Law, as far above all the sacrifices of the Old, both in holiness and efficacy, as the Creator is above all his creatures. The omnipotence of our Jesus' love has invented a means for uniting his dignity, as Immortal King of ages, with his office of our Victim. He can die now no more; but his Death is truly represented on the Altar it is the self-same Body, bearing on it its five precious Wounds; it is the self-same Blood, the Blood which redeemed us. If it were possible for him to die again, the power of the mysterious words, which produce the presence of his Blood in the chalice, would be the sword of his immolation.

Let, then, the Christian approach with confidence; on the holy Altar, he will find his Saviour dying for him, and offering himself as the great High Priest. Yes, he is there, with the same love he had for us on Calvary; he is there, making intercession for all men, but, in a special manner, for those who are present at the Mass, and unite themselves with him. Let us see, in the action of the Holy Sacrifice, that same Immolation of which we have read the history in the Gospel. Let us hope for everything from that adorable goodness, which thus makes use of omnipotence in order to facilitate, by such stupendous means, the salvation and santification of man.

We will now endeavour to embody these sentiments in our explanation of the Mysteries of the Holy Mass, and initiate the Faithful into these divine secrets; not, indeed, by indiscreetly presuming to translate the sacred formulæ, but by suggesting such Acts, as will enable those who hear Mass, to enter into the ceremonies and spirit of the Church and the Priest.

The purple vestments, and the other rites of which we have already treated, give to the Holy Sacrifice an appearance of mournfulness, so well suited to the

Season. Nevertheless, if there occur the Feast of a Saint, between Passion and Palm Sunday, the Church lays aside her purple, and celebrates the Mass in honour of the Saint. The Crucifix and the holy Images, however, continue to be veiled, beginning from the first Vespers of Passion Sunday.

On the Sundays, if the Mass, at which the Faithful assist, be the Parochial, or, as it is often called, the Public Mass, two solemn rites precede it, and they are full of instruction and blessing;-the Asperges, or sprinkling of the Holy Water, and the Procession.

During the Asperges, let us ask with David, whose words are used by the Church in this ceremony, that our souls may be purified by the hyssop of humility and become whiter than snow.

ANTIPHON OF THE ASPERGES.

Asperges me, Domine, hyssopo, et mundabor; lavabis me, et super, nivem dealbabor.

Ps. Miserere mei, Deus, secundum magnam misericordiam tuam.

ANT. Asperges me, &c. V. Ostende nobis, Domine, misericordiam tuam.

R. Et salutare tuum da nobis.

. Domine, exaudi orationem meam.

R. Et clamor meus ad te veniat.

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

OREMUS.

Exaudi Domine sancnos, te, Pater omnipotens, æterne Deus et mittere digneris sanctum Angelum tuum de

Thou shalt sprinkle me with hyssop, O Lord, and I shall be cleansed; thou shalt wash me, and I shall be made whiter than snow.

Ps. Have mercy on me, O God, according to thy great mercy.

ANT. Sprinkle me, &c.
V. Show us, O Lord, thy

mercy.

R. And grant us thy salvation.

V. O Lord, hear my prayer.

R. And let my cry come unto thee.

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

LET US PRAY.

Graciously hear us, O holy Lord, Father Almighty, Eternal God: and vouchsafe to send thy holy Angel from

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