LAUDS Every day throughout the year, the Church offers a special Service to God, which is intended as the Office of the aurora. It is called Lauds, because it is mainly composed of Psalms of praise. The mystery honoured by this Morning-Service is the Resurrection: how fervently, how joyously, ought we to sing our Lauds on the very day of that grand mystery! Let us, therefore, unite with our dear mother the Church: she is beaming with gladness; for her Jesus, her Sun of justice, whose light has been clouded for three long days, is now risen in all His splendour. . Deus, in adjutorium meum intende. R. Domine, ad adjuvandum me festina. Gloria Patri, et Filio, et Spiritui Sancto. Sicut erat in principio, et nunc, et semper, et in sæcula sæculorum. Amen. Alleluia. V. Incline unto my aid, O God. R. O Lord, make haste to help me. Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost. As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen. Alleluia. The first Psalm of Lauds shows us our Jesus rising from His tomb like a King clothed with beauty, and like a conqueror girded with strength. By His resurrection, He restores man to the immortality he had forfeited. Wonderful are the surges of the sea; but far more so is the power of the risen Jesus, our Lord. Let us, by the holiness of our lives, prove ourselves worthy of heaven,-that House which He has now thrown open to us. ANT. Angelus autem Domini descendit de cœlo, et accedens revolvit lapidem, et sedebat super eum. Alleluia, alleluia. ANT. And the Angel of the Lord descended from heaven; and going to the stone, rolled it back, and sat on it. Alleluia, alleluia. PSALM 92 Dominus regnavit, decorum indutus est: indutus est Dominus fortitudinem, et præcinxit se. Etenim firmavit orbem terræ: qui non commovebitur. Parata sedes tua ex tunc: a sæculo tu es. Elevaverunt flumina Domine: elevaverunt flumina vocem suam. Elevaverunt flumina fluctus suos: a vocibus aquarum multarum. Mirabiles elationes maris: mirabilis in altis Domi nus. Testimonia tua credibilia facta sunt nimis: domum tuam decet sanctitudo, Domine, in longitudinem die rum. ANT. Angelus autem Domini descendit de cœlo, et accedens revolvit lapidem, et sedebat super eum. Alleluia, alleluia. The Lord hath reigned, he is clothed with beauty: the Lord is clothed with strength, and hath girded himself. For, to-day, by his Resurrection, he hath established the world, which shall not be moved. Thy throne, O conqueror of death, is prepared from old: thou art from everlasting. The floods have lifted up, O Lord, the floods have lifted up their voice. The floods have lifted up their waves, with the noise of many waters. Wonderful are the surges of the sea: wonderful is the Lord on high. Thy testimonies are become exceedingly credible: holiness becometh thy House, O Lord, which is thy Church, unto length of days. ANT. And the Angel of the Lord descended from heaven; and going to the stone, rolled it back, and sat on it. Alleluia, alleluia. The following Psalm invites to the courts of the Lord all the inhabitants of the earth, there to celebrate this great solemnity, this Feast of feasts. Jesus is our divine Shepherd, and we are the sheep of His pasture. Though the mighty conqueror and God, yet is He sweet and compassionate. Let us celebrate His triumph in exceeding great joy, and with grateful gladness. ANT. Et ecce terræmotus ANT. And behold! there factus est magnus: Angelus was a great earthquake: for enim Domini descendit de cœlo. Alleluia. an Angel of the Lord came down from heaven, alleluia. PSALM 99 Jubilate Deo omnis terra: servite Domino in lætitia. Introite in conspectu ejus: in exsultatione. Scitote quoniam Dominus ipse est Deus: ipse fecit nos, et non ipsi nos. Populus ejus, et oves pascuæ ejus, introite portas ejus in confessione: atria ejus in hymnis, confitemini illi. Laudate nomen ejus quoniam suavis est Dominus, in æternum misericordia ejus: et usque in generationem et generationem veritas ejus. ANT. Et ecce terræmotus factus est magnus: Angelus enim Domini descendit de cælo. Alleluia. Sing joyfully to God, all the earth! serve ye the Lord with gladness. Come in before his presence, with exceeding great joy. Know ye, that the Lord is God; he made us, and not we ourselves. We are his people, and the sheep of his pasture; go ye into his gates, with praise: into his courts, with hymns, and give glory to him. Praise ye his name, for the Lord is sweet; his mercy endureth for ever: and his truth to generation and generation. ANT. And behold! there was a great earthquake: for an Angel of the Lord came down from heaven, alleluia. The two following Psalms, which the Church here unites into one, are the prayer of the faithful soul to her God, at break of day. From the first waking, she thirsts after the great God, her Creator and Redeemer. But on this day of Easter, she delightedly contemplates Him in all the magnificence of His glory, and the whole world is filled with it. All men are now one in unity of sentiment; all are keeping the Pasch; there is not a nation under heaven where the great mystery is not known. Let us pray, that all may understand it, love it, and share in its joy. ANT. Erat autem aspectus ejus sicut fulgur, vestimenta PASCH, TIME I. ANT. And his countenance was as lightning, and his rai L autem ejus sicut nix. Alle- ment was as snow. Alleluia, luia, alleluia. alleluia. PSALM 62 Si memor fui tui super stratum meum, in matutinis meditabor in te: quia fuisti adjutor meus. Et in velamento alarum tuarum exsultabo, adhæsit anima mea post te: me suscepit dextera tua. Ipsi vero in vanum quæsierunt animam meam, introibunt in inferiora terræ: tradentur in manus gladii, partes vulpium erunt. Rex vero lætabitur in Deo, laudabuntur omnes qui jurant in eo: quia obstuctum est os loquentium iniqua. O God, my God, to thee do I watch, at break of day. For thee my soul hath thirsted, for thee my flesh, oh! how many ways! In a desert land, and where there is no way, and no water: so, in the sanctuary have I come before thee, to see thy power and thy glory. For thy mercy is better than lives: thee my lips shall praise. Thus will I bless thee all my life long: and in thy name I will lift up my hands. Let my soul be filled as with marrow and fatness, O Bread of life! and my mouth shall praise thee with joyful lips. If I have remembered thee upon my bed, I will meditate on thee in the morning: because thou hast been my helper. And I will rejoice under the covert of thy wings; my soul hath stuck close to thee: thy right hand hath received me. But they have sought my soul in vain; they shall go into the lower parts of the earth: they shall be delivered into the hands of the sword, they shall be portions of foxes. But man being set free shall, like a king, rejoice in God; all they shall be praised that swear by him: because the mouth is stopped of them that speak wicked things. PSALM 66 Deus misereatur nostri, et benedicat nobis: illuminet vultum suum super nos, et misereatur nostri. Ut cognoscamus in terra viam tuam: in omnibus gentibus salutare tuum. Confiteantur tibi populi Deus: confiteantur tibi populi omnes. et exsultent Lætentur gentes: quoniam judicas populos in æquitate, et gentes in terra dirigis. Confiteantur tibi populi Deus, confiteantur tibi populi omnes: terra dedit fructum suum. Benedicat nos Deus, Deus noster, benedicat nos Deus: et metuant eum omnes fines terræ. ANT. Erat autem aspectus ejus sicut fulgur, vestimenta autem ejus sicut nix. Alleluia, alleluia. May God have mercy on us, and bless us; may he, rising from the tomb, cause the light of his countenance to shine upon us, and may he have mercy on us. That we may know thy way upon earth, O Jesus! thy salvation in all nations. Let people confess to thee, O God, let all people give praise to thee. Let the nations be glad and rejoice: for thou judgest the people with justice, and directest the nations upon earth. Let the people, O God, confess to thee: let all the people give praise to thee: the earth hath yielded her fruit. May God, our God, bless us, may God bless us and all the ends of the earth fear him. ANT. And his countenance was as lightning, and his raiment was as snow. Alleluia, alleluia. The Canticle, in which the three children, in the fiery furnace of Babylon, bid all creatures of God bless His name, is sung by the Church in the Lauds of every Feast. It gives a voice to all creatures, and invites the whole universe to bless its divine author. How just it is, that on this day heaven and earth should unite in giving glory to the great God, who, by His death and resurrection, repairs the injury done to them by sin! ANT. Præ timore autem ANT. The guards were terejus exterriti sunt custodes, rified with fear of him, and |