said: We know that this is our son, and that he was born blind: but how he now seeth we know not: or who hath opened his eyes we know not: ask himself; he is of age; let him speak for himself. These things his parents said, because they feared the Jews: for the Jews had already agreed among themselves, that if any man should confess him to be Christ, he should be put out of the synagogue. Therefore did his parents say: He is of age, ask him. They therefore called the man again that had been blind, and said to him: Give glory to God, We know that this man is a sinner. He said then to them: If he be a sinner, I know not: one thing I know, that whereas I was blind, now I see. Then they said to him: What did he to thee? How did he open thy eyes? He answered them: I have told you already, and you have heard: why would you hear it again will you also become his disciples? They reviled him, therefore, and said: Be thou his disciple; but we are the disciples of Moses. We know that God spoke to Moses: but as to this man, we know not from whence he is. The man answered, and said to them: Why, herein is a wonderful thing, that you know not from whence he is, and he hath opened my eyes. Now we know that God doth not hear sinners; but if a man be a server of God, and doth his will, him he heareth. From the beginning of the world it hath not been heard, that any man hath opened the eyes of one born blind. Unless this man were of God, he could not do any thing. They answered and said to him: Thou was wholly born in sins, and dost thou teach us? And they cast him out. Jesus heard that they had cast him out; and when he had found him, he said to him: Dost thou believe in the Son of God? answered, and said: Who is he, Lord, that I may believe in him? And Jesus said to him: Thou hast both seen him and it is he that talketh with thee

He

And he said: I believe, Lord. And falling down, he adored him.

OFFERT. Ps. lxv.-O bless the Lord our God, ye Gentiles; and make the voice of his praise be received who hath set my soul to live: and hath not suffered my feet to be moved. Blessed be the Lord, who hath not turned away my prayer, nor his mercy from me.

SECRET. We humbly beseech thee, O Almighty God, that our sins may be cleansed away by this sacrifice: because then thou wilt bestow on us true health both of body and soul. Thro'.

COMM. John ix.-The Lord made clay of spittle, and anointed my eyes: and I went and washed and saw, and believed in God.

P. COMM. Sacramenta.-May the mysteries, O Lord our God, which we have received, both feed our souls and protect our bodies. Thro'.

Let us pray.

Bow down your heads to God. PRAYER. Pateant.-May the ears of thy mercy, O Lord, be opened to the prayers of thy servants: and in order to obtain the effect of our petitions, grant we may ask what is pleasing to thee. Thro'.

THURSDAY.

INTROIT. Ps. civ.-Let the heart of them rejoice that seek the Lord: seek ye the Lord, and be strengthened: seek his face evermore. Ps. Praise the Lord, and call upon his name: publish his works among the Gentiles. V. Glory.

COLLECT. Præsta, quæsumus. — Grant, we beseech thee, O Almighty God, that the devotion, which makes us punish ourselves by this yearly fast, may also make us rejoice: to the end that, suppressing in ourselves all earthly affections, we may more easily receive thy heavenly inspirations. Thro'.

LESSON. 4 Kings iv. 25. 38.—In those days. A Sunamitess came to Eliseus on mount Carmel;

and when the man of God saw her coming towards him, he said to Giezi his servant: Behold that Sunamitess. Go therefore to meet her, and say to her: Is all well with thee, and with thy husband, and with thy son? And she answered: Well. And when she came to the man of God to the mount, she caught hold on his feet: and Giezi came to remove her. And the man of God said: Let her alone, for her soul is in anguish, and the Lord hath hid it from me, and hath not told me. And she said to him: Did I ask a son of my Lord? Did I not say to thec: Do not deceive me? Then he said to Giezi: Gird up thy loins, and take up my staff in thy hand, and go. If any man meet thee, salute him not: and if any man salute thee, answer him not: and lay my staff upon the face of the child. But the mother of the child said: As the Lord liveth, and as my soul liveth, I will not leave thee. He arose, therefore, and followed her. But Giezi was gone before them and laid the staff upon the face of the child, and there was no voice nor sense: and he returned to meet him, and told him, saying: The child is not risen. Eliseus therefore went into the house, and behold the child lay dead on his bed. And going in he shut the door upon him, and upon the child, and prayed to the Lord. And he went up, and lay upon the child and he put his mouth upon his mouth, and his eyes upon his eyes, and his hands upon his hands: and he bowed himself upon him, and the child's flesh grew warm. Then he returned and walked in the house, once to and fro: and he went up and lay upon him: and the child gaped seven times, and opened his eyes. And he called Giezi, and said to him: Call this Sunamitess. And she being called went in to him. And he said: Take

up thy son. She came and fell at his feet, and ⚫

worshipped upon the ground, and took up her son, and went out. And Eliseus returned to Galgal.

GRAD. Ps. lxxiii.-Look down, O Lord, on thy covenant, and forget not for ever the souls of thy poor servants. V. Arise, O Lord, judge thy cause: remember the reproaches that are cast on thy servants.

GOSPEL. Luke vii. 11. 16. At that time; Jesus went into a city called Naim: and there went with him his disciples, and a great multitude. And when he came nigh to the city, behold a dead man was carried out, the only son of his mother; and she was a widow: and much people of the city were with her. And when the Lord saw her, he had compassion on her, and said to her: Weep not. And he came near and touched the bier. And they that carried it, stood still. And he said: Young man, I say to thee, arise. And he that was dead, sat up, and began to speak. And he delivered him to his mother. And there came a fear on them all: and they glorified God, saying: A great prophet is risen up amongst us, and God hath visited his people.

OFFERT. Ps. lxix.-Lord, make haste to help me: let all be put to shame, who design evil to thy

servants.

SECRET. Purify us, O merciful God, that the prayers of thy Church, which are pleasing to thee, being accompanied with these offerings, may become more so by the purity of our minds. Thro'.

COMM. Ps. lxx.-Thy justice alone, O Lord, I will remember: thou, O God, hast instructed me from my youth: abandon me not, O God, in my old and decrepit age.

P. COMM. Calestia.-Let us not, we beseech thee, O Lord, receive, to our judgment, these heavenly gifts, which thou hast prepared as a remedy for thy faithful. Thro'.

Let us pray.

Bow down your heads to God. PRAYER. Populi.—O God, the author and governor of thy people, deliver them from the sins, by which they are assaulted, that they may be always well pleasing in thy sight, and safe under thy protection. Thro'.

FRIDAY.

INTROIT. Ps. xviii.-The meditation of my heart is always in thy sight: O Lord, my helper and my redeemer. Ps. The heavens shew forth the glory of God, and the firmament declareth the work of his hands. V. Glory.

COLLECT. Deus qui.-O God, who by thy ineffable mysteries givest new life to the world; grant, we beseech thee, that thy Church may advance in the observance of thy eternal precepts, and never be destitute of thy temporal assistance. Thro'.

LESSON. 3 Kings xvii. 17. 24.—In those days : The son of the woman, the mistress of the house, fell sick, and the sickness was very grievous, so that there was no breath left in him. And she said to Elias: what have I to do with thee, thou man of God? Art thou come to me, that my iniquities should be remembered, and that thou shouldst kill my son? And Elias said to her: Give me thy son. And he took him out of her bosom, and carried him into the upper chamber where he abode, and laid him upon his own bed. And he cried to the Lord and said: O Lord, my God, hast thou afflicted also the widow, with whom I am after a sort maintained, so as to kill her son? And he stretched, and measured himself upon the child three times, and cried to the Lord and said: O Lord may God, let the scul of this child, I beseech thee, return to us body And the Lord heard the voice of Flies and the soul of the child return