:

Respondentes Sidrach, Sidrach, Misach, and AbdeMisach, et Abdenago, dixerunt regi Nabuchodonosor: Non oportet nos de hac re respondere tibi. Ecce enim Deus noster quem colimus, potest eripere nos de camino ignis ardentis, et de manibus tuis, o rex, liberare. Quod si noluerit, notum sit tibi rex: quia Deos tuos non colimus, et statuam auream quam erexisti, non adoramus. Tunc Nabuchodonosor repletus est furore; et aspectus faciei illius immutatus est super Sidrach, Misach, et Abdenago. Et præcepit, ut succenderetur fornax septuplum, quam succendi consueverat. Et viris fortissimis de exercitu suo jussit, ut ligatis pedibus Sidrach, Misach, et Abdenago, mitterent eos in fornacem ignis ardentis. Et confestim viri illi vincti, cum braccis suis, et tiaris, et calceamentis, et vestibus, missi sunt in medium fornacis ignis ardentis; nam jussio regis urgebat. Fornax autem succensa erat nimis. Porro viros illos, qui miserant Sidrach, Misach, et Abdenago, interfecit flamma ignis. Viri autem hi tres, id est Sidrach, Misach, et Abdenago, ceciderunt in medio camino ignis ardentis, colligati. Et ambulabant in medio flammæ laudantes Deum, et benedicentes Domino.

nago, answered and said to king Nabuchodonosor: We have no occasion to answer thee concerning this matter. For behold our God, whom we worship, is able to save us from the furnace of burning fire, and to deliver us out of thy hands, O king. But if he will not, be it known to thee, O king, that we will not worship thy gods, nor adore the golden statue which thou hast set up. Then was Nabuchodonosor filled with fury and the countenance of his face was changed against Sidrach, Misach, and Abdenago, and he commanded that the furnace should be heated seven times more than it had been accustomed to be heated. And he commanded the strongest men that were in his army, to bind the feet of Sidrach, Misach, and Abdenago, and to cast them into the furnace of burning fire. And immediately these men were bound, and were cast into the furnace ef burning fire, with their coats and their caps, and their shoes, and their garments. For the king's commandment was urgent, and the furnace was heated exceedingly. And the flame of the fire slew those men that had cast in Sidrach, Misach, and Abdenago. But these three men, that is, Sidrach, Misach, and Abdenago, fell down bound in the midst of the furnace of burning fire. And they walked in the midst of the flame, praising God, and blessing the Lord.

The Bishop says a Prayer after this, as well as after the other Prophecies; but the Deacon gives not his invitation to kneel. The Church omits the genuflexion, in order to inspire the Catechumens with a horror for the idolatry of the Babylonians, who bent their knee before the statue of Nabuchodonosor.

LET US PRAY.

O Almighty and Eternal God, the only hope of the world, who by the voice of the prophets, hast manifested the mysteries of this present time: graciously increase the desires of thy people: since none of the faithful can advance in any virtue, without thy inspiration. Through, &c. R. Amen.

OREMUS.

Omnipotens sempiterne Deus, spes unica mundi, qui Prophetarum tuorum præconio, præsentium temporum declarasti mysteria: auge populi tui vota placatus: quia in nullo fidelium, nisi ex tua inspiratione, proveniunt quarumlibet incrementa virtutum. Per Dominum.

R. Amen.

THE BLESSING OF THE FONT.

These Lessons, and Prayers, and Chants, have taken up a considerable portion of time: the sun has long since set, and the night is far advanced. All the preparatory exercises are over, and it is time to repair to the Baptistery. During the Prophecies, seven Subdeacons went thither, and there they have thrice recited the Litany; in the first recitation, they repeated each invocation seven times; in the second, five times; and in the third, three times. A Procession is formed towards this building, which is detached from the Church, and is either circular, or octagonal, in form. In the centre is a large Font, with several steps leading down to it. A stream of clear water flows into it from the mouth of a metal stag. Over the Font is suspended a canopy or cupola, in the

centre of which is a dove with extended wings, which represents the Holy Ghost giving virtue to the Water beneath. Round the Font is a railing, within which none may enter but they who are to be baptised, the Sponsors, the Bishop and the Priests. Two Pavilions, one for the men, the other for the women,— have been put up; they are for the Baptised, wherein, after they come from the Font, they may change their garments.

The Procession moves from the Church to the Baptistery in the following order. The Paschal Candle, (which represents the pillar of fire that guided the Israelites, by night, to the Red Sea, in whose waters they found salvation,) goes first, leading on the Catechumens. These follow, having their Sponsors on their right hand, for each candidate for Baptism is to be presented by a Christian. Then come two Acolytes; one carries the holy Chrism, the other the Oil of Catechumens. Next, the Clergy; and lastly, the Bishop and his assistant Ministers. The Procession is by torch-light. The stars are brightly shining in the canopy of heaven, and the air resounds with the melodious chanting. They are singing those verses of the Psalm, in which David compares his soul's pining after her God to the panting of a stag that thirsts for a fount of water. The Stag, an image of which is in the Font, is a figure of the Catechumen who longs for Baptism.

TRACT.

Sicut cervus desiderat ad fontes aquarum: ita desiderat anima mea ad te Deus.

V. Sitivit anima mea ad Deum vivum: quando veniam, et apparebo ante faciem Dei?

As the Stag panteth after the fountains of water: so my soul panteth after thee, O God!

V. My soul hath thirsted after the living God: when shall I come, and appear before the face of God?

V. My tears have been my bread day and night, whilst it is said to me daily: Where is thy God?

V. Fuerunt mihi lacrymæ meæ panes die ac nocte, dum dicitur mihi per singulos dies: Ubi est Deus tuus?

They soon reach the Baptistery. The Bishop, having come within sight of the Font, prefaces his blessing by a Prayer, in which he again uses the comparison of a panting Stag, to express to God the longing of this people after the new life, of which Christ is the source.

The blessing of water for Baptism is of Apostolic institution, as we learn from many of the Holy Fathers, among whom we may mention St. Cyprian, St. Ambrose, St. Cyril of Jerusalem, and St. Basil. It is just, that the instrument of so divine a work should receive every mark of honour, that could secure to it the respect of mankind: and, after all, does not this honour and respect redound to that God, who chose this creature to be, as it were, the co-operator of his mercies to us? It was from water that we came forth Christians. The early Fathers allude to this, when they call Christians the Fish of Christ. We