Let us address ourselves to the heavenly Physician of our souls, in these words of the Triodion of the Greek Church. HYMN. (Feria VI. Hebdomadæ I. Jejuniorum.) Do thou, O Lord, whose Passion has merited for us the deliverance from our passions, grant that my carnal affections may be quenched by the virtue of thy divine Cross, and that I may contemplate thy holy Resurrection. O Fount of purity, most merciful Saviour, preserve us by the merit of this our Fast. Behold us here prostrate before thee. Disdain not our uplifted hands, O thou the sovereign Lord of the Angels, that didst stretch forth thy hands on thy Cross for all mankind. The snares of the enemy have involved me in darkness: enlighten me, O Christ, who, when hanging on the Cross, didst obscure the sun, and bring to thy Faithful the rays of pardon. May I walk in the light of thy commandments, and, being purified, come to the brightness of thy saving Resurrection. Thou, O my Saviour, and Christ! hanging like a vine on the wood of the Cross, didst enrich the whole earth with the wine of immortality. Therefore do I cry out unto thee: I was miserably blinded by the intoxication of sin, but thou didst bestow upon me Qui passionibus tuis tradidisti omnibus vacuitatem a passonibus, effice, Domine, ut divina cruce carnis meæ affectionibus exstinctis, sanctam pariter Resurrectionem tuam conspiciam. Puritatis fons, conserva nos, misericors, jejunii ope, respice ad nos ante te procidentes, attende elevationi manuum nostrarum, qui manus tuas in ligno pro mortalibus omnibus crucifixus expandisti, Angelorum unus Dominus. Inimici fraudibus obtenebratum me illumina, Christe meus, qui cruci suspensus solem quondam obscurasti, et vero remissionis lumine fideles palam irradiasti, quo in mandatorum tuorum luce ambulans, purus ad salutiferæ resurrectionis tuæ splendorem perveniam. Salvator, vitis instar e ligno pendens, incorrup tionis mero fines terræ irrigasti, o Christe ! Unde exclamo: Mihi temulentia peccatorum miserum in modum semper obcæcato dulcem veræ compunctionis succum largitus, præbe nunc vires ut jejunare a voluptatibus valeam, utpote bonus, atque misericors. O crucis tuæ potentiam ! hoc abstinentiæ germen in Ecclesia efflorescere fecit, prisca in Eden Adami intemperantia radicitus evulsa; ex hac siquidem mors in homines derivavit, ex illa vero incorruptus immortalitatis latex mundo effluit, veluti ex alio paradisi fonte, vivifico sanguine tuo, atque aqua simul effusis, unde universa vitam receperunt; indeque dulces nobis effice jejunii delicias, Deus Israël, qui magnam habes misericordiam. the sweet refreshment of true compunction; grant me, now, the strength that I may fast from sinful pleasures, for thou art a good and merciful God. O wonderful power of thy Cross! It was thy Cross that made the plant of abstinence to bloom in the Church, after having uprooted the old intemperance of Adam in Eden. From the intemperance came death upon mankind; but from the other, the ever pure stream of immortality flowed upon the world, for from thy Side, as from a Fount of Paradise, there streamed thy life-giving Blood, mingled with Water, and from these have all creatures received life. Therefore do we beseech thee, O God of Israel, to grant us, in thy great mercy, that we may experience the sweet delights of Fasting. SATURDAY IN EMBER WEEK. THE Station is in the Basilica of Saint Peter, on the Vatican, where the people were wont to assemble, towards evening, that they might be present at the Ordination of the Priests and Sacred Ministers. This day was called Twelve-Lesson-Saturday, because, formerly, twelve passages from the Holy Scriptures used to be read, as upon Holy Saturday. The Mass, during which the Ordinations were given, was celebrated during the night; so that by the time it was over, the Sunday had begun. Later on, the Ordination Mass was said early on the Saturday, as we now have it; but, in memory of the ancient practice, the Gospel for Saturday is repeated on the Sunday. The same is observed on the Saturday in the Advent Ember Week; because the Ordination Mass of that Season was also anticipated. est Moyses ad populum dicens: Quando compleveris decimam cunctarum frugum tuarum, loqueris in conspectu Domini Dei tui: Abstuli quod sanctificatum est de domo mea, et dedi illud Levitæ et advenæ, et pupillo ac viduæ, sicut jussisti mihi non præterivi mandata tua, nec sum oblitus imperii tui. Obedivi voci Domini Dei mei, et feci omnia sicut præcepisti mihi. Respice de sanctuario tuo, et de excelso cœlorum habitaculo, et benedic populo tuo Israël, et terræ quam dedisti nobis, sicut jurasti patribus nostris, terræ lacte et melle mananti. Hodie Dominus Deus tuus præcepit tibi ut facias mandata hæc atque judicia; et custodias et impleas ex toto corde tuo, et ex tota anima tua. Dominum elegisti hodie, ut sit tibi Deus, et ambules in viis ejus, et custodias cæremonias illius, et mandata atque judicia, _et_obedias ejus imperio. Et Dominus elegit te hodie, ut sis ei populus peculiaris, sicut locutus est tibi, et custodias omnia præcepta illius: et faciat te excelsiorem cunctis gentibus quas creavit, in laudem, et nomen, et gloriam suam ut sis populus sanctus Domini Dei tui, sicut locutus est. to the people, saying: When thou hast made an end of tithing all thy fruits, that they may eat within thy gates, and be filled; and thou shalt speak thus in the sight of the Lord thy God: "I have taken that which was sanctified out of my house, and I have given it to the Levite and to the stranger, and to the fatherless and to the widow, as thou hast commanded me; I have not transgressed thy commandments, nor forgotten thy precepts. I have obeyed the voice of the Lord my God, and have done all things as thou hast commanded me. Look from thy sanctuary, and thy high habitation of heaven, and bless thy people Israel, and the land which thou hast given us, as thou didst swear to our fathers, a land flowing with milk and honey." This day the Lord thy God hath commanded thee to do these commandments and judg ments, and to keep and fulfil them with all thy heart, and with all thy soul. Thou hast chosen the Lord this day to be thy God, and to walk in his ways and keep his ceremonies, and precepts, and judgments, and obey his command. And the Lord hath chosen thee this day to be his peculiar people, as he hath spoken to thee, and to keep all his commandments; and to make thee higher than all nations, which he hath created, to his own praise, and name, and glory; that thou mayest be a holy people of the Lord thy God, as he hath spoken. God here assures us, that a nation, which is faithful in observing the laws regarding the Divine Service, shall be blessed above other nations. History is one long illustration of the truth of this promise. Of all the nations which have fallen, there is not one that has not brought the chastisement upon itself by its neglect of the Law of God. At times, the Almighty delays to strike; but it is only that the chastisement may be the more evident and produce a more salutary effect upon mankind. When we would know the future of a country, we need only observe how it comports itself with regard to the Laws of the Church. If its own Laws are based on the principles and practices of Christianity, that country is sound, in spite of certain weaknesses here and there: Revolutions may disturb its peace, but it will triumph over all. If the bulk of its people is faithful in the observance of external practices prescribed by the Church; for example, if they observe the Lord's Day, and the holy Fast of Lent; -there is a fund of morality in that country, which is sure to draw down upon it the blessings of heaven. Irreligious men will scoff at all this, and call it superstition, prejudice of weak minds, and out of date for an age of Progress like ours; but if their theories were to rule, and a country, which up to this time had been practically Catholic, were to seek progress by infringing the law of Christian Ritual, it would, in less than a hundred years, find that public and private morality had lost ground, and its own security would be menaced. Man may talk and write as he likes-God wishes to be served and honoured by his people, and it is for Him to prescribe what are to be the forms of this service and adoration. Every injury offered to external Worship, which is the great social link, is an injury to the interests of mankind. Even were there not the word of God for it, it is but just that such a consequence should follow. |