V. Crastina die delebitur iniquitas terræ ;

R. Et regnabit super nos Salvator mundi.

V. To-morrow, the iniquity of the earth shall be cancelled; R. And over us shall reign the Saviour of the world.

And now, Mary's own words are to resound in the holy place! The sweet Canticle, which she sang at her Visitation to Elizabeth, when, holding within herself the divine and secret Treasure, she celebrated the great things of God's power in her-this Canticle, without which the Church never lets the sun go down, is now going to be sung. O Mary! the hour is fast approaching, which will manifest to both heaven and earth, that divine Maternity of thine, which will make all generations call thee Blessed. Suffer us to unite our souls with thine in magnifying the Lord, and to rejoice in our spirit, as thou didst in thine, in God our Saviour, who is thy Son!

ANTIPHON OF THE MAGNIFICAT.

Cum ortus fuerit sol de cœlo, videbitis Regem regum procedentem a Patre, tanquam sponsum de thalamo suo.

When the sun shall have risen in the heavens, ye shall see the King of Kings coming from the Father, as a Bridegroom from his bride-chamber.

The Canticle, Magnificat, page 107.

Finally, the Church expresses all her desires in the following Prayer, which is to ascend to the Throne of God, not only at every Hour of Christmas Day, but several times each day during the Octave.

COLLECT.

Concede, quæsumus,_omnipotens Deus: ut nos Unigeniti tui nova per carnem nativitas liberet, quos sub peccati jugo vetusta servitus tenet. Per eumdem Dominum nostrum Jesum

Grant, we beseech thee, O Almighty God, that we who groan under the old captivity of sin, may be freed therefrom by the new Birth of thine Only Begotten Son. Through the same Jesus Christ thy

Son, our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee, in the unity of the Holy Ghost, God, world without end. Amen.

Christum Filium tuum, qui tecum vivit et regnat in unitate Spiritus Sancti Deus, per omnia sæcula sæculorum. Amen.

During our Vespers, the last rays of day have disappeared, and darkness has covered the earth. The Sacred Ministers, vested in their richest copes, have left the Sanctuary. In a few moments they will reenter the Church, and repair to the Tribunal of Penance, there to administer to penitent sinners the reconciliation they ask of God through the merciful Birth of his Only Begotten Son. All is solemn silence in the Church, which, but a few moments before, echoed with the glad chants of our praise. Let us adore the Majesty of our God, and once more present our prayer to the King of Ages, that he send down the Dew, for which our earth is thirsting; and with this prayer of our hope, let us, for a last time, mingle a thought of that salutary fear of the Last Judgment, which the Church has nurtured within our souls during the holy Season of Advent.

Let us embody these sentiments in a Prayer, taken from the Gothic, or Mozarabic, Liturgy it is a beautiful one, and most appropriate :

PRAYER FROM THE MOZARABIC BREVIARY.

(For the Nativity of our Lord, in the Evening Office, Capitula.)

Drop down Dew, ye heavens, from above-by prophesying Jesus to our earth; and let the clouds rain the Just One-let all the saintly prophets herald his coming. Let the earth be opened, that, as the Angel is speaking unto her, the Virgin may conceive and bring forth the Saviour. We pray and we beseech thee, O Almighty

Rorate cœli desuper, utique prophetando Christum, et nubes pluant justum; dum Sancti omnes ejus præconantur adventum. Aperiatur terra, ut, Angelo scilicet alloquente, Virgo concipiat, et pariat Salvatorem. Hic igitur ros, qui abs te est, omnipotens Pater, rogamus, et petimus, ut fiat

sanitas infirmorum; et hæc pluvia matutini temporis, præbe, nostri temporis infundat arentem, quæ infusa tanta gratia præteritum facinus abluat, et æternum credentibus justitiæ lumen infundat; nec non ejusdem Filii tui Domini nostri indemnes præsentiam contuentes, atque cum cœlicolis cœtui ejus in jubilo occurrentes, hoc canticum lætitiæ præcinamus orantes: Benedictus, qui venit in nomine Domini, Deus Dominus, et illuxit nobis ; cujus nos adventus redemit, et Nativitas illustravit : Qui veniens requisivit perditos, illuminavit in tenebris constitutos. Tribue ergo omnipotens Pater, ut diem Nativitatis ejus ita devotione piissima celebremus, ut judicii diem mitissimum sentiamus ut cujus benignitatem in redemptione cognovimus, ejus pietatem in judicio mansuetam sentia

mus.

Father, let this Dew, which comes down from thee, give health to the sick; and this Rain of morn, let it sink into the parched soil of our times, and, by the infusion of its abundant grace, cleanse away past sins, and shed, over them that believe, the eternal light of justice. Moreover, may we, looking with confidence at the presence of our Lord Jesus thy Son, and joyfully going to meet him in company with the heavenly citizens, sing to him this canticle of joy and prayer: Blessed be he that cometh in the name of the Lord: The Lord is God, and he hath shone upon us: his Coming hath redeemed us, and his Nativity hath enlightened us : He that came looking for the lost ones, hath given light to them that sat in darkness. Grant unto us, therefore, O Almighty Father, so most devoutly to celebrate the Day of his Birth, as that the Day of his Judgment may be to us a day of exceeding mercy : that thus, having felt how great is his goodness in redeeming, we may experience how gentle is his mercy in judging us.

And now, we will leave the House of God, and attend to the duties of our state of life at home, until the hour of Matins summons us to return and celebrate the Midnight Birth of our Saviour. In order to prepare ourselves for that most imposing Service, we shall do well to resume the reflections upon the Liturgy of our Feast, which we interrupted in order to assist at Vespers. How few would keep from the Service of

Christmas Night, and how still fewer would complain that they never seem to derive that benefit from it, which they are told is so great if they would but take the pains to ask themselves, why it is, that the Church attaches such importance to her children's joining her in the celebration of this gay Winter Mid-Night-To assist the devotion of the Faithful, we offer them these simple instructions, for

THE HOUR BEFORE THE

MIDNIGHT SERVICE.

We will begin by telling them, that in the early ages of the Church, every great Feast was prepared for by long Vigils; during which the people deprived themselves of their usual rest, and spent the hours in the Church, fervently joining in the Psalms and Lessons, which made up the Office, which we now call Matins. The Night was divided into three parts, called Nocturns. At dawn of Day, they resumed their chants, in an Office, which was even more solemn than the Matins: it was one of Praise, and, from this its characteristic, was called by the name of Lauds. This Service, which occupied a very considerable portion of the night, is still kept up, though at a time less trying to nature; Matins and Lauds are, every day, publicly recited in Cathedral and Monastic Churches, and privately by every one in Holy Orders. They are by far the longest portion of the Divine Öffice. The want of the old spirit of devoted appreciation of the Liturgy, has made the Laity indifferent to being present at the celebration of Matins, and this even in Countries where Protestantism has not rendered their presence almost an impossibility. Thus, there are very few places where the people assist at Matins, excepting four times in the year; namely, on the three last days of Holy Week, and on Christmas Night. It is only on the last named, that the Office is said at the

same hour as anciently; for, with regard to Tenebræ, they are recited on the afternoons respectively preceding each of the three Days.

The Office of Christmas Night has always been said or sung with extraordinary solemnity. Firstly, it was so just, that the moments immediately preceding the Hour, when the Holy Mother gave birth to her Jesus, should be spent in the most fervent prayers and watchings! But, secondly, the Church is not satisfied to-night with saying her Matins: she does so every night, and the faithful may come and assist at them as often as they wish-she follows them by the celebration of the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, that so she may the better solemnise the Divine Birth; and she begins her Mass at Mid-night, for it was at that silent hour that the Virgin-Mother gave us the Blessed Fruit of her Womb. We cannot be surprised that the Faithful, in many parts of Christendom, used to spend the whole Night in the Church.

In Rome, for many centuries-at least, from the 7th to the 11th,-two Matins were sung. The first in the Basilica of St. Mary Major. They commenced immediately after sun-set. There was no Invitatory. As soon as they were ended, the Pope celebrated the first or midnight Mass. No sooner was it finished, than the people accompanied him to the Church of St. Anastasia, and there he sang the second Mass, or, as it was called, of the Aurora. Again the Pontiff and people formed a procession— this time it was to St. Peter's-and having entered the Basilica, the second Matins were begun. They had an Invitatory, and were followed by Lauds. The other Hours having been sung, the Pope said the third and last Mass, at the hour of Tierce, which is our 9 o'clock. We are indebted for these details to Amalarius, and to the ancient Liturgist of the 13th century, published under the name of Alcuin. We also find them clearly indicated by the text of the