VESPERS. The Psalms and Antiphons are given in page 101. CAPITULUM. (II. Cor. vi.) Brethren, we exhort you, that you receive not the grace of God in vain. For he saith: In an acceptable time have I heard thee, and in the day of salvation have I helped thee. Fratres, hortamur vos ne in vacuum gratiam Dei recipiatis. Ait enim : Tempore accepto exaudivi te, et in die salutis adjuvi te. For the Hymn and Versicle, see page 108. ANT. Behold now is the acceptable time, behold now is the day of salvation: in these days, therefore, let us exhibit ourselves as the ministers of God, in much patience, in fastings, in watchings, and in charity unfeigned. LET US PRAY. O God, who purifiest thy Church by the yearly observation of Lent: grant, that what thy children endeavour to obtain of thee by abstinence, they may put in execution by good works. Through, &c. ANT. Ecce nunc tempus acceptabile, ecce nunc dies salutis: in his ergo diebus exhibeamus nosmetipos sicut Dei ministros, in multa patientia, in jejuniis, in vigiliis, et in charitate non ficta. OREMUS. Deus, qui Ecclesiam tuam annua quadragesimali observatione purificas: præsta familiæ tuæ, ut quod a te obtinere abstinendo nititur, hoc bonis operibus exsequatur. Per Dominum. It sometimes happens, during Lent, that a Feast of a double class is kept on the Monday; in which case, the Sunday's Vespers are of the following Feast, and only a commemoration is made of the Sunday. We will finish our Sunday with the following two fine Prefaces; the first is from the Mozarabic, the second from the Ambrosian, Missal. The truths proposed to-day by the Church for our instruction, are here expressed with much unction and eloquence. PRAYER FROM THE MOZARABIC MISSAL. (Illatio. Feria VI. Hebdom. IV. Quadragesima.) Dignum et justum est: nos tibi gratias agere, æterne omnipotens Deus, per Jesum Christum Filium tuum Dominum nostrum. Qui gloriosum de diabolo triumphum jejunus obtinuit: et certandi formulam militibus propriis suo exemplo monstravit. Quadraginta igitur diebus et quadraginta noctibus Deus et Dominus omnium jejunavit: ut et verum Deum et hominem suscepisse monstraret: et quod Adam per escam perdiderat, suo jejunio repararet. Aggreditur itaque diabolus Virginis filium: Dei quoque nesciens unigenitum. Et licet veternosa calliditate, eisdem machinis quibus Adam primum dejecerat, etiam secundum seducere obtineret: nec fortissimum bellatorem in ulla potuit omnino fraude subripere. Ille etenim quadraginta diebus vel noctibus jejunavit et postea esuriit: qui quadraginta dudum annorum temporibus, innumeras pane cœlesti multitudines saginavit. Hic est qui virtute propria fretus, cum diabolo tenebrarum principe dimicavit : et prostrato victoriæ trophæum ad cœlos magnifice portavit. : It is meet and just, that we give thanks to thee, O Eternal and Almighty God, through Jesus Christ thy Son, our Lord: who, by fasting, obtained a glorious victory over the devil, and, by his own example, taught his soldiers how to fight. For forty days and forty nights did the God and Lord of all fast, that he might both show that he, the true God, had assumed human nature, and make good, by his fast, that which Adam had forfeited by intemperance. The devil attacks the Virgin's Son, not knowing that he was, moreover, the Only Begotten Son of God. And although, with his ancient craft, he used the same artifices to seduce the second Adam, wherewith he had vanquished the first yet did all his cunning fail with the most brave combatant. He who fasted forty days and forty nights, and afterwards was hungry, is the same that, of old, for the space of forty years, fed countless multitudes with bread from heaven. This is He that, by his own power, entered into battle with the devil, the prince of darkness; and having cast him down, gloriously bore up to heaven the trophy of his victory. PRAYER FROM THE AMBROSIAN MISSAL. (Præfatio. Dominica I. in Quadrag.) It is truly meet and just, right and available to salvation, that we should always, and in all places, give thanks to thee, O Holy Lord, Almighty Father, Eternal God, through Christ our Lord, in whom, they that fast, find the nourishment of their faith, the advancement of their hope, the strengthening of their charity. For He is the true and living Bread, who is the nourishment of eternity, and the food of virtue. For thy Word, whereby all things were made, is the Bread, not only of the souls of men, but likewise of the very Angels. With this Bread was thy servant Moses fed, when, receiving thy Law, he fasted forty days and forty nights, and abstained from bodily food, that he might be the better able to partake of thy sweetness. Hence, he felt not corporal hunger; and forgot all earthly food; for the sight of thy glory shone upon him, and, through the infusion of thy Spirit, his meat was the word of God. To us, likewise, thou ceasest not to administer this Bread, and biddest us unceasingly hunger after it. Vere quia dignum et justum est, æquum et salutare, nos tibi semper et ubique gratias agere, Domine sancte, Pater omnipotens, æterne Deus, per Christum Dominum nostrum, in quo jejunantium fides alitur, spes provehitur, charitas roboratur. Ipse enim est panis verus et vivus, qui est substantia æternitatis, et esca virtutis. Verbum enim tuum, per quod facta sunt omnia, non solum humanarum mentium, sed ipsorum quoque panis est Angelorum. Hujus panis alimento Moyses famulus tuus quadraginta diebus, et noctibus, legem suscipiens, jejunavit et a carnalibus cibis, ut tuæ suavitatis capacior esset, abstinuit. Unde nec famem corporis sensit, et terrenarum est oblitus escarum : quia illum et gloriæ tuæ clarificabat aspectus, et, influente Spiritu, Dei sermo pascebat. Hunc panem etiam nobis ministrare non desinas, quem ut indesinenter esuriamus hortaris. MONDAY OF THE FIRST WEEK OF LENT. EACH Feria of Lent has a proper Mass; whereas, in Advent, the Mass of the preceding Sunday is repeated during the week. This richness of the Lenten Liturgy is a powerful means for our entering into the Church's spirit, since she hereby brings before us, under so many forms, the sentiments suited to this holy time. From these Ferial Masses, we intend giving, for the respective days, the Collect, (which is always the principal prayer,) the Epistle, the Gospel, and the Prayer which is said, "over the people," at the end of the Mass. All this will provide us with most solid instruction; and as the selections from the Bible, which are, each day, brought before us, are not only some of the finest of the Sacred Volume, but are, moreover, singularly appropriate to Lent, their attentive perusal will be productive of a twofold advantage. At Rome, to day's Station is in the Church of St. Peter-ad-vincula. It was built in the 5th century, by the Empress Eudoxia, wife of Valentinian 3rd, and possesses the venerable relic of St. Peter's Chains. We shall speak more fully on this Basilica, when we keep the Feast of the Apostle's deliverance from prison, on the 1st of August. COLLECT. Converte nos, Deus salu taris noster et ut nobis Convert us, O God our Saviour and instruct our minds jejunium quadragesimale with thy heavenly doctrine, that this fast of Lent may be beneficial to us. Through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. proficiat, mentes nostras coelestibus instrue disciplinis. Per Dominum nostrum Jesum Christum. Amen. EPISTLE. Lesson from Ezechiel the Pro- Lectio Ezechielis Prophetæ. phet. Ch. XXXIV. Thus saith the Lord God: Behold I myself will seek my sheep, and will visit them. As the shepherd visiteth his flock in the day when he shall be in the midst of his sheep that were scattered; so will I visit my sheep, and will deliver them out of all the places where they have been scattered in the cloudy and dark day. And I will bring them out from the peoples, and will gather them out of the countries, and will bring them to their own land; and I will feed them in the mountains of Israel, by the rivers, and in all the habitations of the land. I will feed them in the most fruitful pastures, and their pastures shall be in the high mountains of Israel: there shall they rest on the green grass and be fed in fat pastures upon the mountains of Israel. I will feed my sheep; and I will cause them to lie down, saith the Lord God. I will seek that which was lost, and that which was driven away I will bring again; and I will bind up that which was broken, and I will strengthen that which was weak, and that which was fat and strong I will preserve; and I will feed them in judgment, saith the Lord Almighty. LENT. Cap. XXXIV. Hæc dicit Dominus Deus: Ecce ego ipse requiram oves meas, et visitabo eas. Sicut visitat pastor gregem suum in die quando fuerit in medio ovium suarum dissipatarum: sic visitabo oves meas, et liberabo eas de omnibus locis, in quibus dispersæ fuerant in die nubis et caliginis. Et educam eas de populis, et congregabo eas de terris, et inducam eas in terram suam, et pascam eas in montibus Israël, in rivis, et in cunctis sedibus terræ. In pascuis uberrimis pascam eas, et in montibus excelsis Israël erunt pascua earum ibi requiescent in herbis virentibus, et in pascuis pinguibus pascentur super montes Israël. Ego pascam oves meas et ego eas accubare faciam, dicit Dominus Deus. Quod perierat, requiram, et quod abjectum erat, reducam, et quod confractum fuerat, alligabo, et quod infirmum fuerat, consolidabo, et quod pingue et forte, custodiam : et pascam illas in judicio, dicit Dominus omnipotens. Ꮮ |