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it, let him repair the loss by repentance, and having done so, let him say with the Spouse in the Canticle: I have washed my feet; how shall I defile them ?1

In the Gradual, we have the Innocents blessing their God for having broken the snare, wherewith the world would have made them captive. They have fled as a bird set free; there was nothing to clog their flight.

The Tract expresses the lamentation of Rachel over the cruelty of Herod and his minions. It invokes the divine vengeance, which swept away the whole family of this vile Tyrant.

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If the Feast of Holy Innocents fall on a Sunday, the Tract is not sung, but, in its place, the usual Alleluia verse, as follows:

Alleluia, Alleluia.

V. Praise the Lord, ye children, praise ye the name of the Lord. Alleluia.

Alleluia, alleluia.

V. Laudate pueri Dominum, laudate nomen Domini. Alleluia.

1 Cant. v. 3.

GOSPEL.

Sequentia sancti Evangelii Sequel to the holy Gospel secundum Matthæum.

Cap. II.

In illo tempore: Angelus Domini apparuit in somnis Joseph, dicens: surge, et accipe puerum et matrem ejus, et fuge in Ægyptum, et esto ibi usque dum dicam tibi. Futurum est enim, ut Herodes quærat puerum ad perdendum eum. Qui consurgens, accepit puerum et matrem ejus nocte, et secessit in Ægyptum, et erat ibi usque ad obitum Herodis; ut adimpleretur quod dictum est a Domino per Prophetam dicentem: Ex Ægypto vocavi Filium meum. Tunc Herodes videns quoniam illusus esset a Magis, iratus est valde: et mittens, occidit omnes pueros qui erant in Bethlehem, et in omnibus finibus ejus, a bimatu et infra, secundum tempus quod exquisierat a Magis. Tunc adimpletum est quod dictum est per Jeremiam Prophetam dicentem: Vox in Rama audita est, ploratus et ululatus multus : Rachel plorans filios suos; et noluit consolari, quia non sunt.

according to Matthew.

Ch. II.

At that time: An Angel of the Lord appeared in sleep to Joseph, saying: Arise, and take the Child, and his Mother, and fly into Egypt, and be there until I shall tell thee. For it shall come to pass, that Herod will seek the Child, to destroy him. Who arose, and took the Child, and his Mother, by night, and retired into Egypt, and he was there until the death of Herod; that it might be fulfilled which the Lord spoke by the Prophet, saying: Out of Egypt have Í called my son. Then Herod, perceiving that he was deluded by the Wise Men, was exceedingly angry: and sending, killed all the men children, that were in Bethlehem, and in all the borders thereof, from two years old and under, according to the time, which he had diligently inquired of the Wise Men. Then was fulfilled that which was spoken by Jeremias, the Prophet, saying: A voice in Rama was heard, lamentation and great mourning: Rachel bewailing her children, and would not be comforted, because they are not.

Thus does the Gospel, in its sublime simplicity, relate the Martyrdom of the Innocents. Herod, sending, killed all the Children! The earth paid

no attention to the fell tyranny, which made so rich a harvest for heaven: there was heard a voice in Rama, Rachel wailing her little ones-it went up to heaven, and Bethlehem was still again, as though nothing had happened. But, these favoured Victims had been accepted by God, and they were to be the companions of his Son. Jesus looked at them from his crib, and blessed them; Mary compassionated with them and their mothers; the Church, which Jesus had come to form, would, for all future ages, glorify these youthful Martyrs, and place the greatest confidence in the patronage of these Children, for she knows how powerful their intercession is with her heavenly Spouse.

During the Offertory, it is the choir of our Holy Innocents again singing their beautiful Canticle: as birds set free, they give praise to Him who broke the snare which held them.

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Commemoration of Christmas Day.

Sanctify, O Lord, our offerings by the new Birth of thine Only Begotten Son, and cleanse us from the stains of our sins.

Oblata, Domine, munera, nova Unigeniti tui Nativitate sanctifica, nosque a peccatorum nostrorum maculis emunda.

Commemoration of St. Stephen.

Suscipe, Domine, munera, pro tuorum commemoratione Sanctorum: ut sicut illos passio gloriosos effecit, ita nos devotio reddat innocuos.

Receive, O Lord, these offerings in memory of thy Saints: and as their sufferings have made them glorious, so may our devotion render us free from sin.

Commemoration of St. John.

Suscipe, Domine, munera, quæ in ejus nos tibi solemnitate deferimus, cujus nos confidimus patrocinio liberari. Per Dominum.

Receive, O Lord, the offerings we make to thee on his feast, by whose intercession, we hope to be delivered. Through, &c.

In the Communion-Anthem, we again hear the voice of Rachel's lamentation. Now that the Church has been nourished by the mystery of divine charity, she could not forget the affliction of the mothers of her dear Innocents. She compassionates them all through her Office, and turns to Him who alone can comfort them that are in sorrow.

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Commemoration of Christmas Day.

Grant, we beseech thee, O Almighty God, that as the Saviour of the world, who was born this day, procured for us a divine birth, he may, also, bestow on us immortality.

Præsta, quæsumus, omnipotens Deus: ut natus hodie Salvator mundi, sicut divinæ nobis generationis est auctor, ita et immortalitatis sit ipse largitor.

Commemoration of St. Stephen.

May the mysteries we have received, O Lord, be a help to us, and, by the intercession of the blessed Martyr Stephen, strengthen us with thy perpetual protection.

Auxilientur nobis, Domine, sumpta mysteria, et intercedente beato Stephano, Martyre tuo, sempiterna protectione confirment.

Commemoration of St. John.

Being refreshed, O Lord, with this heavenly meat and drink, we humbly beseech thee, that we may be assisted by his prayers, on whose feast we have received these sacred mysteries. Through, &c.

Refecti cibo potuque cœlesti, Deus noster, te supplices deprecamur, ut in cujus hæc commemoratione percepimus, ejus muniamur et precibus. Per Dominum.

VESPERS.

The Antiphons and Psalms of Christmas-Day having been sung, as given in pages 234-241, the rest of the Office is of St. Thomas of Canterbury, and is the First Vespers of to-morrow's Feast.

CAPITULUM.

(Jas. I.)

Blessed is the man that endureth temptation: for, when he hath been proved, he shall receive the crown of life, which God hath promised to them that love him.

Beatus vir qui suffert tentationem: quoniam, cum probatus fuerit, accipiet coronam vitæ, quam repromist Deus diligentibus se.

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