sti; esto nobis prævius in solitudine vitæ hujus, quo et in die calorem tentationis nostræ quasi nubes protegens obumbres, et in nocte a tenebris peccatorum nos quasi columna ignis inlumines: ut, dum ades ad salutem, perducas ad requiem. Angel, by sprinkling them with the Blood of thy Lamb. Be unto us our guide in the wilderness of this life; that during the day, thou mayest be to us a cloud protecting and shadowing us from the heat of temptation; and, during the night, a pillar of fire, enlightening us amidst the darkness of sin. Here save us, that so thou mayst lead us to our rest. We would fain close this glorious solemnity by delighting our readers with selections from the various Liturgies in honour of our risen Jesus; but we have already exceeded our usual limits, though we have only said what was necessary to explain the Offices. We therefore reserve these liturgical riches for the days of our Octave, contenting ourselves, for to-day with a few stanzas from the hymn used by the Greek Church in her morning Office for Easter Sunday. HYMN (In Dominica Resurrectionis.) Dies est Resurrectionis: splendescamus populi. Pascha Domini, Pascha: etenim ex morte ad vitam, atque ex terra ad coelum Christus Deus deduxit nos, triumphale carmen canentes. Sensus emundemus, et Christum inaccesso lumine resurrectionis fulgentem videbimus, et Salvete dicentem perspicue audiemus, triumphale carmen canentes, It is the Resurrection day; let us be radiant with joy, O ye people! It is the Pasch of the Lord, the Passover: for Christ our God has led us, singing our song of triumph, from death to life and from earth to heaven. Let us purify our senses, and we shall see Christ refulgent in the inaccessible light of his Resurrection. We, singing our song of triumph, shall hear him saying to us: 'All hail!' Coeli digne lætentur, terraque glorietur: festum solemniter agat mundus, visibilis totus et invisibilis; surrexit enim Christus, lætitia æterna. Venite, potum in quo corroboramur bibamus novum, non ex infœcunda rupe mirabiliter eductum; et immortalitatis fontem ex Christi sepulchro manentem. Omnia lumine nunc repleta sunt, cœlum, terra et inferni; solemniter igitur agat omnis creatura Christi resurrectionem in qua fir matur. Heri tecum, Christe, sepeliebar; hodie tecum resurgente surgo: heri crucifigebar tecum; tu me conglorifica, Salvator, in regno tuo. Deiparens David coram adumbrante arca subsiliebat saltans; nos vero, populus Dei sanctificatus, figurarum exitum videntes in afflatu divino gaudeamus, quia surrexit Christus tanquam omnipotens. Valde mane eamus, et pro myrrha hymnum offeramus Domino; et Christum videbimus, justitiæ solem, vitam cunctis renascentem. Infinitam misericordiam tuam aspicientes illi quos alligabant inferni vincula, Let the heavens worthily rejoice, and let earth be in her glory. Let the whole world, visible and invisible, solemnize the Feast; for Christ, the eternal joy, hath risen. Come, let us receive the new drink, which strengthens us; it has not been miraculously drawn from a barren rock, but is a fount of immortality, flowing from the sepulchre of Christ. All things, heaven, earth, and what is beneath the earth, all are now filled with light; let every creature therefore, solemnize Christ's Resurrection, whereby all are strengthened. Yesterday, O Jesus! I was buried together with thee; today, I rise with thee. Yesterday, I was crucified with thee; do thou, my Saviour, give me to share with thee in the glory of thy kingdom. David, the ancestor of Christ our God, danced before the figurative Ark; but we the holy people of God, we who witness the fulfilment of the figures, must rejoice in the divine spirit that is within us, for Christ has risen, as the omnipotent One. Let us go at dawn of day, and offer to our Lord the myrrh of our hymns: we shall see Him rise who is the Sun of justice, and gives life to all creatures. They, whom the fetters of limbo kept bound, saw thy infinite mercy, O Jesus! and, ad lucem læto pede properarunt, Christe, Paschati plaudentes æterno. Adeamus lampadarii ad Christum, ex sepulchro progredientem tanquam sponsum; et in festivis agminibus Pascha Dei salutare concelebremus. with a joyful step, hastened to meet the light, thus celebrating the eternal Pasch. Let us, with lamps in our hands, go forth to meet Christ, coming forth, as a Bridegroom, from his sepulchre. Let us, in festive groups, celebrate together the saving Pasch of God. EASTER MONDAY Hæc dies quam fecit Dominus: exsultemus et lætemur in ea. This is the day which the Lord hath made: let us be glad and rejoice therein. So ample and so profound is the mystery of the glorious Pasch, that an entire week may well be spent in its meditation. Yesterday, we limited ourselves to our Redeemer's rising from the tomb, and showing Himself, in six different apparitions, to them that were dear to Him. We will continue to give Him the adoration, gratitude, and love, which are so justly due to Him for the triumph, which is both His and ours; but it also behoves us respectfully to study the lessons conveyed by the Resurrection of our divine Master, that thus the light of the great mystery may the more plentifully shine upon us, and our joy be greater. And first of all, what is the Pasch? The Scriptures tell us, that it is the immolation of the lamb. To understand the Pasch, we must first understand the mystery of the lamb. From the earliest ages of the Christian Church, we find the lamb represented, in the mosaics and frescoes of the basilicas, as the symbol of Christ's sacrifice and triumph. Its attitude of sweet meekness expressed the love, wherewith our Jesus shed His Blood for us; but it was put standing on a green hill, with the four rivers of Paradise flowing from beneath its feet, signifying the four Gospels which have made known the glory of His name throughout the earth. At a later period, the lamb was represented holding a cross, to which was attached a banner: and this is the form in which we now have the symbol of the Lamb of God. upon Ever since sin entered the world, man has need of the lamb. Without the lamb he never could have inherited heaven, but would have been, for all eternity, an object of God's just anger. In the very beginning of the world, the just Abel drew down himself the mercy of God, by offering on a sod-made altar, the fairest lamb of his flock: he himself was sacrificed, as a lamb, by the murderous hand of his brother, and thus became a type of our divine Lamb, Jesus, who was slain by His own Israelite brethren. When Abraham ascended the mountain to make the sacrifice commanded him by God, he immolated, on the altar prepared for Isaac, the ram he found amidst the thorns. Later on, God spoke to Moses, and revealed to him the Pasch: it consisted of a lamb that was to be slain and eaten. A few days back, we had read to us the passage from the Book of Exodus, where God gives this rite to His people. The Paschal Lamb was to be without blemish; its blood was to be sprinkled as a protection against the destroying Angel, and its flesh was to be eaten. This was the first Pasch. It was most expressive as a figure, but void of reality. For fifteen hundred years was it celebrated by God's people, and the spiritual-minded among the Jews knew it to be the type of a future Lamb. In the age of the great prophets, Isaias prayed God to fulfil the promise He made at the beginning of the world. We united in this his sublime and inspired prayer, when, during Advent, the Church read to us his magnificent prophecies. How fervently did we repeat those words: 'Send forth, O Lord, the Lamb, the ruler of the earth!" This Lamb was the long-expected Messias; and we said to ourselves; 1 Is. xvi. 1. |