will succeed. At last, their Victim is brought before them, and he shall not escape their vengeance! Here let us interrupt our History of the Passion, till the morrow shall bring us to the solemn hour, when the great Mystery of our instruction and salvation was accomplished. What a day is this that we have been spending! How full of Jesus' love! He has given us his Body and Blood to be our Food; he has instituted the Priesthood of the New Testament; he has poured out upon the world the sublimest instructions of his loving Heart. We have seen him struggling with the feelings of human weakness, as he beheld the Chalice of the Passion that was prepared for him; but he triumphed over all, in order to save us. We have seen him betrayed, fettered, and led captive into the holy City, there to consummate his Sacrifice. Let us adore and love this Jesus, who might have saved us by one and the least of all these humiliations; but whose love for us was not satisfied unless he drank, to the very dregs, the Chalice he had accepted from his Father. The following beautiful Preface of the Gothic Missal of Spain will assist us in our devotion towards the Mysteries we have been celebrating. ILLATION. It is meet and just, that we should give thanks to thee, O Holy Lord, Almighty Father! and to Jesus Christ thy Son. We have been fostered by his Humanity, exalted by his humility, set free by his betrayal, redeemed by his punishment, saved by his Cross, cleansed by his Blood, fed by his Flesh. He, on this day, delivered himself for us; and loosened the bonds of our sin. He showed to his : Dignum et justum est: nos tibi, Domine sancte, Pater omnipotens, gratias agere: et Jesu Christo Filio tuo. Cujus nos humanitas colligit: humilitas erigit: traditio solvit pœna redimit: crux salvificat: sanguis emaculat : caro saginat. Qui seipsum pro nobis hodie tradidit; et culpæ nostræ vincula relaxavit. Qui ad commendandam fidelibus bonitatis suæ, humilitatis que magnificentiam, etiam traditoris sui non dedignatus est pedes abluere: cujus jam manus prævidebat in scelere. Sed quid mirum: si dum ministerium formæ servilis voluntariæ morti vicinus adimplet, posuit vestimenta sua: qui cum in forma Dei esset, semetipsum exinanivit ? Quid mirum si præcinxit se linteo: qui formam servi accipiens, habitu est inventus ut homo? Quid mirum si misit aquam in pelvim: unde lavaret pedes discipulorum qui in terra sanguinem suum fudit: quo immunditias dilueret peccatorum? quid mirum, si linteo quo erat præcinctus, pedes quos laverat tersit qui carne qua erat indutus evangelistarum vestigia confirmavit? Et linteo quidem ut se præcingeret: posuit vestimenta quæ habebat: ut autem formam servi acciperet quando semetipsum exinanivit: non quod habebat deposuit: sed quod non habebat accepit. Crucifigendus sane suis expoliatus est vestimentis et mortuus involutus est linteis et tota illa ejus passio credentium est facta purgatio. Passurus igitur exitia; præmisit obsequia. Non solum eis pro quibus subiturus venerat mortem; sed etiam illi qui fuerat traditurus illum ad mortem. Tanta quippe est humanæ humilitatis utilitas: ut eam suo commendaret exemplo : Faithful people the riches of his goodness and humility, by deigning to wash the feet of his very betrayer, whose hand he already perceived to be engaged in his wicked deed. But, what wonder, that he, on the eve of his voluntary Death, when about to do the work of a servant, should take off his garments,-he, who being in the form of God, had emptied himself? What wonder, that he should gird himself with a towel, who, taking the form of a servant, was found in the habit of man? What wonder that he should put water into a basin, for the washing the feet of his Disciples, who shed his Blood upon the earth for the cleansing away the defilements of sinners? What wonder that with the towel, wherewith he was girt, he should wipe the feet he had washed, he that with the Flesh, wherewith he had clothed himself, had strengthened the feet of them that were to preach his Gospel? Before girding himself with the towel, he took off the garments he wore but, when he took the form of a servant, and emptied himself, he laid not aside what he had, but assumed what he had not. When he was crucified, he was stripped of his garments, and when dead, was wrapped in linen and his whole Passion was a purification of them that believe. When, therefore, he was on the eve of his sufferings, he prepared for them by benefits, given not only to them for whom he 1 was about to suffer Death, but even to him who was about to betray him unto Death. Such, indeed, is the importance of humility to man, that the very majesty of God taught it him by his own example. Proud man would have been for ever lost, had not the humble God found him and thus, he that had been ruined by the pride of the seducer, was saved by the humility of the most loving Redeemer, to whom deservedly all the Angels and Archangels cry out daily without ceasing, saying with one voice: Holy Holy! Holy! divina sublimitas. Quia homo superbus in æternum periret nisi illum Deus humilis inveniret. Ut qui periret superbia deceptorís : salvaretur humilitate piissimi redemptoris. Cui merito omnes Angeli et Archangeli non cessant clamare quotidie: una voce dicentes: Sanctus, sanctus, sanctus. GOOD FRIDAY. THE NIGHT OFFICE. THE ceremonies used by the Church for the Office of Tenebræ having been already explained, we deem it unnecessary to repeat our instructions. The reader may refer to them, should he require to refresh his memory. They are given in pages 304–306. THE FIRST NOCTURN. The first Psalm, after having spoken of the Eternal Generation of the Son of God, prophesies his Kingship over the Nations, and the vengeance he will take on his enemies, at the last day. As this magnificent Canticle also foretells the revolt of earthly Princes against Christ, the Church uses it on this day, when the Synagogue has plotted his Death. ANT. Adstiterunt reges terræ, et principes convenerunt in unum, adversus Dominum, et adversus Christum ejus. ANT. The kings of the earth stood up, and the princes met together, against the Lord, and against his Christ. PSALM 2. Quare fremuerunt Gentes: *et populi meditati sunt inania? Astiterunt reges terræ, et principes convenerunt in unum: * adversus Dominum, et adversus Christum ejus. Why have the Gentiles raged, and the people devised vain things? The kings of the earth stood up, and the princes_met together, against the Lord, and against his Christ. They said: Let us break their bonds asunder: and let us cast away their yoke from us. He that dwelleth in heaven shall laugh at them: and the Lord shall deride them. Then shall he speak to them in his anger: and trouble them in his rage. But I am appointed king by him over Sion his holy mountain, preaching his commandment. The Lord hath said to me: Thou art my son, this day have I begotten thee. Ask of me, and I will give thee the Gentiles for thy inheritance and the utmost parts of the earth for thy possession. : Thou shalt rule them with a rod of iron and shalt break them in pieces like a potter's vessel. And now, O ye kings, understand receive instruction, you that judge the earth. Serve ye the Lord with fear: and rejoice unto him with trembling. Embrace discipline, lest at any time the Lord be angry: and you perish from the just Apprehendite disciplinam, ne quando irascatur Dominus: et pereatis de via justa. Cum exarserit in brevi ira ejus: * beati omnes qui confidunt in eo. ANT. Adstiterunt reges terræ, et principes convenerunt in unum, adversus Dominum, et adversus Christum ejus. The second Psalm is pre-eminently the Psalm of |