Oratio (Title XXX.). The word oratio has various meanings. In the liturgy it is translated by the word "collect." The word "collect" means either that the priest who celebrates Mass collects in a short form the needs, the thanksgivings and the praises of the people, to offer them up to God; or most probably "the original meaning seems to have been this: it was used for the service held at a certain church on the days when there was a station held somewhere else. The people gathered together and became a collection at the first church; after certain prayers had been said they went in procession to the station church. Just before they started, the celebrant said a prayer, the oratio ad collectam (ad collectionem populi), the name would then be the same as oratio super populum, a title that still remains in our Missal, in Lent, for instance, after the Post-Communion. This prayer, the collect, would be repeated at the beginning of Mass at the station itself. Later writers find other meanings for the name. Innocent III. says that in this prayer the priest collects all the prayers of the faithful" (De Sacr. Altar. Mystic. ii., 2). See also Benedict XIV. (De SS. Missae Sacr. ii., 5,—Dr. A. Fortescue, Cath. Encyl., art. "collect").

Antiquity of collects. No one can say with certainty who the composers of the collects were. All admit the antiquity of these compositions. In the fourth century certain collects were believed to come from apostolic times; indeed, the collects read in the Mass on Good Friday, for Gentiles, Jews, heretics, schismatics, catechumens and infidels bear intrinsic notes of their antiquity. Other liturgical collects show that they were composed in the days of persecution. Others show their ages by their accurate expression of Catholic doctrine against, and their supplications for, heretics, Manicheans, Sabbelians, Arians, Pelagians and Nestorians. St, Jerome in his Life of St. Hilarion (291-371) writes, "Sacras Scriptures memoriter tenens, post orationes et psalmos quasi Deo praesente recitabat." It is said that St. Gelasius (d. 496), St. Ambrose (d. 397), St, Gregory the Great (d. 604) composed collects and corrected existing ones. The authorship and the period of composition of many of the Breviary collects are matters of doubt and difficulty. Even the date of the introduction of collects into the Divine Office is doubtful. In the early Christian Church there seems to have been one and only one prayer, the Pater Noster, in liturgical use. St. Benedict laid it down in his rule that there should be none other. It is generally held by students of liturgy that the collects were originally used in Mass only and were introduced into the Office at a time much later than their introduction into the Mass books.

In the Masses for Holy Week we see the collects in their oldest existing form. The rite of the Mass has been shortened at all other seasons, and there remains now only the greeting, Oremus, and the collect itself. The Oremus did not refer immediately to the collect, but rather to the silent prayer that went before it. This also explains the shortness of the older collects. They are not the prayer itself, but its conclusion. One short sentence summed up the petitions of the people. It is only since the original meaning of the collect has been forgotten that it has become itself a long petition with various references and clauses (compare the collects for the Sundays after Pentecost with those of modern feasts)—(Cath. Encyl., art. "Collects").

The following examples which are not extreme, may help to make clear and emphatic the matter of the shortness of the old and the length of the new collects.

"Protector in te sperantium, Deus, sine quo nihil est validum, nihil est sanctum: multiplica super nos misericordiam tuam; ut te rectore, te duce, sic transeamus per bona temporalia, ut non amittamus aeterna. Per Dominum."

Translation—"O God, the Protector of all that hope in Thee, without Whom nothing is sure, nothing is holy, bountifully bestow on us, Thy mercy, that Thou being our ruler and our guide, we may so pass through temporal blessings that we lose not the eternal. Through our Lord ..." (Collect for third Sunday after Pentecost.)

"Omnipotens et misericors Deus qui beatam Joannam Franciscam tuo amore succensam admirabili spiritus fortitudine per omnes vitae semitas in via perfectionis donasti, quique per illam illustrare Ecclesiam tuam nova prole voluisti: ejus meritis et precibus concede ut qui infirmitatis nostrae conscii de tua virtute confidimus coelestis gratiae auxilio, cuncta nobis adversantia vicamus. Per Dominum ..."

Translation-"Almighty and merciful God Who inflaming blessed Jane Frances with love, didst endow her with a marvellous fortitude of spirit to pursue the way of perfection In all the paths of life, and wast pleased through her to enrich Thy Church with a new offspring, grant by her merits and intercession that we, who, knowing our own weakness, trust in Thy strength, may by the help of Thy heavenly grace overcome all things that oppose us. Through our Lord" (Collect of St. Jane Frances Fremiot De Chantal, August 21).

Rubrics. In Vespers and Lauds the collect is said after the antiphons of the Magnificat and Benedictus, unless the Preces (q.v.) are to be said in these hours. Then the Preces are said after the antiphons, and the collects follow after them immediately. The collect of a ferial Office is found in Office of the previous Sunday, except in ferias of Lent and Rogation days which have special and proper collects.

At Prime and the other Hours the collect is said after the little respond, unless the Preces be recited. They precede the collect. At Compline the collect is said after the antiphon Salva nos if the Preces be not recited.

At Prime and Compline the collects of the Psalter are never changed except during the last three days of Holy Week. In this triduum, in all hours up to and including None on Holy Saturday the collect is said after the Psalm Miserere.

Before reciting the collect in the Office, everyone in deacon's orders or in priesthood says Dominus vobiscum, Et cum spiritu tuo, and this is said even if the Office be said privately. All others reciting the Office say Domine exaudi orationem meam. Et clamor meus ad te veniat. Then the word Oremus is prefixed to the recitation of the collect, and at the end, Amen is said. If there be only one collect, the Dominus vobiscum or the Domine exaudi with the responses Et cum spiritu tuo; Et clamor meus ad te veniat is repeated after the Amen. But if there be more than one collect, before each is said its corresponding antiphon and versicle and also the word, Oremus. After the last collect is said, the Dominus vobiscum and Et cum spiritu tuo are repeated. Then we add Benedicamus Domino; Deo Gratias, Fidelium animae.... This latter verse is not a constant sequel to the Benedicamus, as we see in Prime, where the verse Pretiosa succeeds it; and again in Compline it is succeeded by Benedicat et custodiet. The concluding words of the prayers or collects vary. If the prayer is addressed to God the Father, the concluding words are Per Dominum (see the collects given above). If the prayer be addressed to God the Son, the concluding words are Qui vivis et regnas—e.g., Deus qui in tuae caritatis exemplum ad fidelium redemptionem .... Qui vivis et regnas (Collect for St. Peter Nolasco's feast, 3ist January). If in the beginning of the prayer mention is made of God the Son, the ending should be Per eundem, e.g., Domine Deus noster? qui, beatae Brigittae per Filium tuurn unigenitum secreta coelestia revelasti; ... Per eundem Dominum (collect for feast, 8th October). But if the mention of God the Son is made near the end of the collect, the ending is Qui tecum vivit et regnal, e.g., "Famulorum tuorum, quaesumus, Domine.... Genitricis Filii tui Domini nostri intercessione salvemur: Qui tecum vivit et regnat" (collect of Assumption, 15th August). If the name of the Holy Ghost occur in the prayer, the conclusion is, In unitate ejusdem Spiritus sancti, e.g., "Deus, qui hodierna die corda ... in eodem spiritu recta ... in imitate ejusdem Spiritus" (collect: for Pentecost Sunday).

The following lines, giving the rules for terminations, are well known and are useful, as a help to the memory:—

Per Dominum dicas, si Patrem quilibet oras Si Christum memores, Per eundem, dicere debes Si loqueris Christo, Qui vivis scire memento; Qui tecum, si sit collectae finisin ipso Si Flamen memores ejusdem die prope finem

When there are several collects an ending or conclusion is added to the first and last only. Dominus vobiscum is said before the first collect only, but each collect is preceded by the word Oremus, unless in the Office for the Dead.

Explanation of the Rubric. Where a feast is transferred either occasionally or always and its collect contains words such as Hanc diem, hodiernom diem, it is not allowed to change the wording, without permission of the Congregation of Rites (S.R.C., 7th September, 1916).

If the collect of a commemoration be of the same form as the prayer of the feast, the former is taken from the common of saints, in proper place.

Dominus vobiscum. This salutation is of great antiquity. It was the greeting of Booz to his harvestmen (Ruth, ii. 4). The prophet used the selfsame salutation to Azas. And the Angel Gabriel expressed the same idea, Dominns tecum, to the Blessed Virgin. It was blessed and honoured by our Lord Himself, when to His apostles he said "Ecce ego vobiscum sum omnibus diebus" (St. Matt. 28. 20). This beautiful salutation passed into Church liturgy at an early date, probably in apostolic times. Its use in liturgy was mentioned at the Council of Braga (563), and it is found in the Sacramentarium Gelasianum (sixth century). These words are called the divine salutation. They mean that the priest who utters them is at peace with all clergy and people and thus wishes God to remain with them—the highest and holiest of wishes. For the presence of God, Who is the source of every good and the author of every best gift, is a certain pledge of divine protection and of that peace and consolation which the world cannot give. This formula is used even in private recitation of the Office, as the priest prays in union with and in the name of the Church.

The words Et cum spiritu tuo add a new and further significance to the salutation; for it is the spirit, the human soul, that prays, and when the spirit prays in the name of the Church for her children, its work is a work of high spiritual order, demanding the use of all the soul's powers,

Oremus. This exhortation is of very great antiquity, and in this form is found in the liturgies of St. James and of St. Mark. In those days it was said by the priest in a loud voice. The priest, the mediator, following the example of the great Mediator, Christ, calls others to join with him in prayer. St. Augustine tells us, that sometimes after pronouncing the word Oremus, the priest paused for a while and the people prayed in silence, and then the priest "collected" the united prayers of the congregation and offered them to God, hence the name collect (St. Augustine, Epistle 107), (cf. Probst., Abendl Messe, p. 126).

Invocation and Conclusion. Prayer is addressed generally to God the Father. This practice is in accordance with the example and doctrine of Christ, "Father, I give Thee thanks" (St. John, xi, 41); "Amen, amen, I say to you; if you ask the Father anything in My name, he will give it to you" (St. John, xvi. 23). "And He taught us to say 'Our Father.'" In the early ages of the Church, seldom was prayer addressed to God, the Son. Innocent III. tells us that the reason for the practice was a fear that such prayer might lead the catechumens, the Jews or the Pagans converted to Christianity, to allege or to believe that Christians worshipped several Gods. However, with the advent of the early heresies, it became necessary to formulate prayers witnessing the divinity of Christ and His equality in all things to the Father and the Holy Ghost. In some of the great prayers of the liturgy, the three Persons of the Holy Trinity are named to show their equality and unity of nature and substance. Nearly all the prayers of this kind are the products of the Church during the storms of early heresy against the divinity, nature or personality of Christ.

The conclusions of the prayers generally contain the words Per Dominum nostrum Jesum Christum, because all graces come through Jesus Christ, our Lord and Saviour, Who pleads, as Mediator between God and Man, as He Himself has said, "No man cometh to the Father but by Me" (St. John, xiv. 6).

Hence, in every collect, we may distinguish five parts: the invocation, the motive, the petition, the purpose, the conclusion.

(1) The Invocation takes some form such as Deus, Domine.

(2) The motive is commonly introduced by the relative qui; e.g., Deus, qui corda fidelium sancti spiritus illustratione docuisti.

(3) The petition, the body or centre or substance of the prayer, is always noted for the solemn simplicity of language, which marks liturgical prayer, e.g., Multiplica super nos misericordiam tuam.

(4) The purpose is an enforcement of the petition. It has reference, generally, to the need of the petitions and is marked usually with the word ut. "Multiplica super nos misericordiam tuam, ut quae, nobis agendis praecipis, te miserante adimplere possimus" (prayer for feast of St. Patrick).

(5) The conclusion varies, e.g., "Per Dominum nostrum," "Per eundem Dominum," etc.

"Those who pay intelligent attention to the liturgical chant at High Mass, and in particular to the chant of the celebrant, will be able to discover for themselves that the intonations used in the singing of the collect and the Post-Communion serve, as a rule, to mark off two at least of the main divisions indicated. Two inflections, a greater and a lesser, occur in the body of the prayer, the greater for the most part coming at the close of the 'motive,' while the lessor concludes the 'petition' and produces the purpose of the prayer. When the prayers are correctly printed, as in the authentic 'Missale Romanum,' the place of the inflexions is indicated by a colon, 'punctum principals,' and a semicolon, 'semi-punctum,' respectively. These steps, it will he observed, indicate, not precisely 'breaks in the sense' (as Haberl incorrectly says) but rather the logical divisions of the sentence, which is not quite the same thing" (Father Lucas, S.J., Holy Mass, chap, vi.).

The question is often asked, why Dominus vobiscum is said after the collect, or prayer. Writers on liturgy reply that it is so placed because Christ frequently used the salutation Pax vobis, and the priest in public prayer holds the place of Christ, and as he, the priest, used this formula of salvation before the collect to obtain the spirit of prayer and the grace of God, he repeats it so that these gifts may be retained.

In the collects, the fatherland of the saints is rarely found, because the saints' true home and fatherland is heaven, where they were born again to life eternal, and their fatherland is not this valley of exile where they spent their temporal life. Nor are their surnames given in the collects (see the collect of St. Jane Frances Fremiot de Chantel given on p. 180). But it is not infrequent in the collects to find certain appellations characterising a saint or noting some special prerogative or wonderful gift of grace. The Church's collects record the wonderful gifts of St. John Chrysostom ("the golden-mouthed"), St. Peter Chrysologus ("qui ob auream ejus eloquentiam Chrysologi cognomen adeptus est") (Rom. Brev.). Sometimes the nation or earthly home of a saint is given in a collect to distinguish one saint from another. This is seen in the case of saints bearing the name of Mary, which if used absolutely or unqualifiedly refers to the Mother of God. See the collects for St. Mary Magdalen, St. Mary of Egypt, etc.

The collect or prayer is placed at the end of the Hours to collect or gather up the fruits of all the prayers that precede; to beg from God that His grace may follow our actions as it precedes them; that the prayer may be a shield and buckler against all temptations which may be encountered. The prayers at Prime and at Compline never vary, to remind us, the old writers tell us, that all our acts should be invariably referred to God. In the early ages of the Church, all public prayers, both in Mass and in Office were offered up by both priests and people with outstretched arms. This practice is observed still, in a certain way, in Mass.

Benedicamus is the prayer to thank God for all His graces.

Fidelium animae. This prayer is said after every Hour, unless where the hour is said in choir and followed immediately by Mass. It Is omitted, too, before the Litany.

De Precibus (Title XXXIV.). These are prayers which are said at some of canonical Hours, before the collect or oratio. They commence with Kyrie eleison or Pater Noster. They consist of versicles and responses and these differ from other versicles and responses, which are generally historic, e.g., In omnem terram exivit sonus eorum, Amavit eum Dominus et laudavit eum. But the versicles and responses of the preces are always a call to God or an exhortation to praise God (e.g., Fiat misericordia tua, Domine), super nos, Quemadmodum speravimus in te (see Prime, infra, page 193). These prayers are of great antiquity, mention of them being found in the works of Amalare (ninth century).

They are said in some Offices in Vespers, Compline, Lauds, Prime and Little Hours. Before the reform of the Breviary by Pope Pius X,, the Preces at Vespers contained six short prayers and the Psalm, Miserere. In the new Breviary nine short prayers are given in the Preces—the six former prayers being retained and three new ones, Pro Papa; Pro antistite; Pro benefactoribus, being added. The Miserere is omitted. The same additions were made in Lauds and the Psalm, De Profundis omitted.

In Prime and the Little Hours, the preces are unchanged standing in the new Breviary as in the old.

Rubrics. The Preces are recited in the Office of—

(1) Prime and Compline on certain days;

(2) Lauds, Prime, Terce, Sext, None, Vespers and Compline of certain feasts.

The preces feriales at Lauds and Vespers are the same in structure. They have the same structure in Terce, Sext, None, but differ in character. The preces dominicales at Prime and Compline have a form of their own, additions being made in the preces of Prime when said on a feria.

1. The Preces Feriales are said at Lauds on Ferias of Lent, Advent and Passiontide, Ember days, except Ember day at Pentecost and on Vigils (except on Vigil of Christmas, Epiphany, Ascension, Friday after Ascension and Vigil of Pentecost)—when the Office on those days is of the current feria.

2. At Prime (i) Preces Dominicales are said in all semi-doubles, simples, Ferial Offices.

(i) They are said at Little Hours if said at Lauds.

(ii) At Prime, Preces Feriales are said if they have been said at Lauds.

3. At Vespers Preces Feriales are said (1) on ferias of Advent and Lent when office is of feria.

4. At Compline, Preces Dominicales are said on all (i) semi-doubles, (ii) simples, (iii) all Ferias, unless at Vespers a double or an octave was celebrated.



SOME TEXTS AND INTENTIONS WHICH MAY HELP TOWARDS THE DEVOUT RECITATION OF LAUDS.

1. "And very early in the morning, the first day of the week, they come to the sepulchre, the sun being now risen."

They said to one another, "Who shall roll us back the stone from the door of the sepulchre?" (St. Mark, xv.).

2. "And looking, they saw the stone rolled back.... And entering the sepulchre they saw a young man sitting on the right side, clothed with a white robe; and they were astonished. Who sayeth to them, Be not affrighted; you seek Jesus of Nazareth Who was crucified. He is risen, He is not here" (St. Mark, xv.).

3. "Behold Jesus sayeth to her (Magdalen) 'Woman, why weepest thou?'"

4. "Behold Jesus met them (the women) saying to them 'All hail.'"

(5) "See my hands and feet, that it is I myself, handle and see" (St. Luke, xxiv.).

6. "Bring hither thy hand and put it into My side and be not faithless."

7. "My Lord and my God" (St, John, xx.).

General Intentions. The wants of the Church, peace among nations—vocations to the priesthood—Church students—souls in Purgatory.

Personal Intentions. A glorious resurrection; fervour in saying the Office; fervour in saying Mass; fervour in priestly work; forgiveness of all sin.

Special Intentions. For Catholic Ireland; for the conversion of America; for peace throughout the world.



PRIME (TITLE XV.).

Etymology. The name Prime is derived from the Latin prima because this part of the Office was said at the first hour of the day, 6 a.m., with us, following the old Roman distribution of the day.

Origin. It was stated by some writers that this Hour was established by St. Clement and should therefore date from almost apostolic times. But modern writers, following the statement of Cassian, date the origin of this Hour from about the year 382. It was believed, too, that the monastery indicated by Cassian as the cradle of Prime was the monastery of Bethlehem, St. Jerome's monastery. But it was probably established not there, but in a monastery in the neighbourhood, Dair-er-Raociat (convent of the shepherds) or in Seiar-en-Ganheim (enclosure of the sheep). Cassian tells us the reason that led to the introduction of this Hour. Lauds ended at dawn, and the monks retired to rest. As no other choir work called them until Terce, at 9 a.m., some of them were inclined to rest until that hour and to neglect the spiritual reading and manual work laid down by their rule. To prevent this prolonged rest, it was decided to introduce a short choir service, the recital of a few psalms, and then the monks went to work until Terce (Cath. Encyclopedia, "Prime").

Contents. Originally the matter for Prime was drawn from Lauds and was a repetition of part of Lauds. Prime consists of two parts. The first part consists of hymn, psalms, little chapter and collect. The prayers and confiteor inserted before the collect and said on certain days are adjuncts. The second part contains the Martyrology (when Prime is said in choir) and other prayers peculiar to the Hour. "The reason for this divergence may be traced to the fact that Prime is of monastic institution and the second portion, which is said in the chapter house, has reference to monastic customs. The Martyrology and Necrology having been read, prayers were said for the dead recommended to the Community, as benefactors, friends, patrons, protectors, etc. Then followed a special prayer in preparation for manual labour of the day, and a chapter of the rule was read, on which the Abbot briefly commented or else gave some admonition to the Community. This monastic character will be easily recognised by a glance at the formulas used. The prayer, 'Sancta Maria et omnes sancti' forms a natural conclusion, to the reading of the Martyrology, The 'Deus in adjutorium,' the 'Pater Noster' with accompanying versicles, and the collect, are the prayers before manual labour: 'Respice,' etc., Look, O Lord, upon Thy servants and upon Thy works... and direct Thou the work of our hands. 'Dirige et sanctificare,' etc., 'Vouchsafe to direct and sanctify our senses, words and actions,' etc. Whilst the 'Dominus nos benedicat' and the 'Fidelium animae' are the conclusion of the prayers for the dead" (Dom Cabrol, Introduction to the Day Hours of the Church).

Structure:-i. Pater, Ave, Credo, silently. 2. Deus in adjutorium. ... Domine ad adjuvandum .. with sign of the cross, Gloria Patri. ... Sicut erat. ... 3. Hymn, fam lucis. 4. Antiphon, first words only. 5. Psalms for the Sunday or feria as rubrics direct, with the Athanasian Creed if it be ordered, then the antiphon in full. 6. Regi saeculorum ... or, Pacem et veritatem. ... Deo Gratias, Christie, Fili Dei vivi.... 7. Preces, if they are ordered in the Office of the Day, Preces Dominicales or Preces feriales as rubrics direct. These include versicles, responses, confiteor, misereatur... indulgentiam... versicles responses. 8. Dominus vobiscum. Et cum spiritu tuo. Oremus, Domine Deus..... Amen. Dominus vobiscum, Et cum spiritu tuo. 9. Benedicamus Domino, Deo Gratias. 10. In choir, the martyrology is here read, 11. Pretiosa... mors.... 12. Sancta Maria et omnes Sancti.... 13. Thrice, Deus in adjutorium meum intende, Domine ad adjuvandum... without the sign of cross, Gloria Patri.... Sicut erat. 14. Kyrie Eleison, Christe Eleison, Kyrie Eleison, Pater Noster, qui es in coelis... (in silence). Et ne nos inducas in tentationem. Sed libera nos a malo. 15. Respice in servos tuos.... Et sit splendor....16. Gloria Patri.... Sicut erat....Oremus, Dirigere et sanctificare.... l7. Jube, Domine.... Deus et actus nostros....Amen. 18. Lectio brevis, which in feast offices is the Capitulum from None. 19. Adjutorium nostrum in nomine Domine (with sign of cross on forehead, breast and shoulders); Qui fecit....20. Benedicite, Deus; Domine nos benedicat...in pace, Amen. To the lectio brevis at Prime, Tu autem Domine, miserere nobis, is added.

The Athanasian Creed. In the Roman Breviary prior to the reform of 1911, the title given to the formula of faith was Symbolum S. Athanasi. In the new Breviaries the title stands Symbolum Athanasianum. Why was the change made?

During the past two hundred years the authorship of this formula has led to great discussion and its reading has led to much bitter and heated controversy in Anglican and Protestant churches. Many contended for its retention in Protestant services and many rejoiced at its partial exclusion, its truncated revision and clamoured for its rejection everywhere from service. Controversy led to the study of its origin. In 1872 a Protestant author, Ffoulkes, maintained that it was not composed by St. Athanasius (296-373) but by Paulinus of Aquileia (A.D. 800). But the literature of the age of Charlemagne proves that this creed had at the beginning of the ninth century an antiquity of at least more than a century (Ommaney, History and Structure of the Athanasian Creed, Oxford, 1897). Scholars, basing their opinions on words found in the Expositio Fidei Fortunati, date the origin of this symbol from the fifth century. It contains certain expressions which a writer subsequent to the Council of Chalcedon (451) would have been most unlikely to employ, and omits certain expressions which such a writer would have been most unlikely to omit. However, it is likely that the creed dates from the fifth century. Who its author was, is quite doubtful. It was not St. Athanasius, it may have been St. Hilary of Aries, or St. Vincent of Lerins, or some local bishop in southern France, "But let us only suppose that the real author was some local bishop—or the theologian employed by some local bishop—and that it was composed in the first instance for purely local use in some district of southern France—then does not the difficulty disappear, and are not the facts of its silent and gradual adoption suitably explained? Not coming from an author of wide reputation, it would not at first have attracted much attention and would have been used only in the locality of its origin; from there its use would have spread to neighbouring districts; as it got more known it would have been more widely adopted, and the compactness and lucidity of its statements, and the enthusiasm-inspiring character of its style would have contributed to make it highly prized wherever it was known. Then would come speculation as to its authorship, and what wonder if in uncritical times an Athanasian authorship was first guessed, then confidently affirmed and believed?" (Father Sydney F. Smith, S.J., The Month, October, 1904).

This opinion is only one of several held by Catholic scholars. Dom Morin holds strongly, and gives very good reasons for his view, that it was written by Martin of Braga between the years 550 and 580. It was written, he says, for the people of Galicia in Spain, who had been recently converted from Arianism (Journal of Theological Studies, April, 1911). It was adopted into Gallican liturgy and office about 980, and in the Roman office only when the Curial Breviary was adopted.

"The liturgical use of the Athanasian Creed was Frankish in origin (ninth century) and spread through the influence of the Cluniac reform (tenth century), but only found its way to Rome in the Supplementary prayers in the twelfth and thirteenth century" (Burton and Myers, op. cit., p. 51).

Rubrics. Athanasian Creed, to be said (1) Trinity Sunday, (2) Sundays after Epiphany, (3) Sundays after Pentecost unless there be in (2) and (3) the commemoration of a double, or of an octave.

Why is prayer offered at this first hour of the day?

Writers on liturgy answer, 1st to offer to God the first fruits of our day, of our work, of our devotion, following in this the example of Christ, Who from His first entry into the world offered Himself to His Father for the salvation of mankind. 2d To beg of Him to keep us safe during the day, 3d To beg of Him to keep us free from sin, "ut in diurnis actibus nos servet a nocentibus."

"May God in all our words and deeds Keep us from harm this day. May He in love retain us still, From tones of strife and words of ill, And wrap around and close our eyes To earth's absorbing vanities. May wrath and thoughts that gender shame Ne'er in our breasts abide. And painful abstinences tame Of wanton flesh, the pride" (Hymn at Prime).

Rubrics. The Office of Prime begins in choir with the silent recitation of Pater Noster, Ave, Credo. Then, if in choir (aloud) Deus in adjutorium. ... Domine ad adjirvandum. ... Gloria Patri.... Alleluia, or Laus tibi.... Then the hymn fam lucis is said. The antiphon for the day is said as far as the asterisk (*), then the Psalms of the day's Office as arranged in the new Pian Psaltery, according to the day of the week, except on some special feasts, when the Psalms at Prime are the Sunday psalms. When the ordo recitandi marks an Office as officium solemne (an excepted feast), the psalms at Lauds and Hours are the Sunday psalms; and at Prime the psalm Deus in nomine tuo (Psalm 53) takes the place of Psalm Confitemini (Psalm 117). At Prime, and at the small Hours, Terce, Sext, None, only one antiphon is said. It is said in full at the end of the last Psalm in each Hour.

The Capitulum, the little Responsory, Christe, Fili Dei vivi ... is then said. In this responsory the versicle Qui sedes ad dexteram Patris is sometimes changed, e.g., in paschal time it is, Qui surrexisti a mortuis.

The manner of reciting this responsory is sometimes not correctly understood, owing, perhaps, to its printed form in some Breviaries. The normal method is to repeat the whole response, then say the versicle, and then the second portion of the response; then the Gloria Patri el Filio et Spiritui Sancto, without the Sicut erat, is said, and the response repeated. The versicle Exsurge and the response Et libera are then said. This is the method of recitation in all the small Hours and at Compline.

After this responsory, if the Office be of double rite or be an Office within an octave, or on the vigil of Epiphany or on Friday or Saturday after Ascension, or on a Sunday on which a double is commemorated, or an octave is celebrated, or on a semi-double feast within an octave, Dominus vobiscum, Et cum spiritu tuo, and the prayer Dominus Deus omnipotens is said. But if the Office be not any of these mentioned just now, the responsory is followed by the Preces.

Preces (Title XXXIV.) In the Breviary there are two sets of preces, the Preces Dominicales for Sunday and the Preces Feriales for ferial Offices. These ferial preces of Prime differ from the ferial preces of Lauds, and are said in Prime when the ferial preces are said in Lauds, That is, on the ferias of Advent, Lent, Passiontide, Ember days and Vigils. The ferial preces of Lauds are found in the Breviary, immediately after the second set of Psalms for ferial Lauds and after the short responsory in the psalm arrangements for the days of the week. (See Lauds, supra, p. 188.)

These prayers were introduced at a very early stage of Christian liturgy. St. Isidore writes that they come from Greek liturgy and the opening words Kyrie eleison seem to indicate remnants of an old litany. Formerly they were read oftener during the liturgical year than we now are called on to repeat them. They are sometimes referred to as the preces flebiles, tearful prayers, because they are said in times of penance, and are formed to excite tears. In choir recitation they are said kneeling. When the preces or the preces feriales are said the sign of the cross is made from the forehead to the breast, at the words Adjutorium nostrum in nomine Domini. Then the Confiteor is said.

The Confiteor was from an early date a prayer said privately as a preparation for Mass. It is found in several forms; Confiteor Deo, beatae Mariae, omnibus sanctis et vobis (Sarum Missal), but since the time of St. Pius V. (1566-1572) our present form alone was followed and allowed (S. R. C., 13th February, 1666). If the Office be recited privately or with one or two companions, the confiteor is said once only and simultaneously in the preces, and the words vobis fratribus and vos fratres, which priests say in the opening prayer of Mass are omitted. It should be remarked, too, that the Misereatur and Indulgentiam have not in this location vestri, vestris, vos, but nostri, nostris, nos. Sometimes errors in this part of the recitation of the Office are unnoticed, and this pronoun error makes the formula meaningless.

After the Indulgentiam come the concluding versicles of the preces, Dignare ... sine peccato ... miserere ... miserere ... Fiat ... Quemadmodum ... Domine ... Et ... Dominus vobiscum, Et cum spiritu tuo, and the prayer Domine Deus Omnipotens ... Amen. ... Dominus vobiscum, Et cum spiritu tuo. ... Benedicamus Domino, Deo gratias. If the Office be said in choir, the martyrology is read at this part of Prime. The reading of the martyrology is not of obligation in private recitation of the Office; but the reading of it was highly recommended, even in private recitation, by Pope Gregory XIII. (14th January, 1584; see his words in the beginning of the Martyrology).

Then are said, Pretiosa ... mors ... sancta Maria ... Deus in adjutorium... Domine ad adjuvandum (both the latter being repeated thrice) ... Gloria Patri ... Sicut erat ... Kyrie eleison ... Christe eleison ... Kyrie eleison ... Pater Noster (silently) until words "Et ne nos" ... Sed libera ... Respice ... Et sit ... Gloria Patri ... Sicut erat ... Oremus, Dirigere et ... Amen, Jube Domine ... Dies et actus ... Amen.

The short lesson which, on all feasts, is the same as the chapter which is said at None will be found in the proper or common, under that Hour, The new Psalter and new rubrics made no change in this matter. Hence, for example, on the feast of SS. Peter and Paul the short lesson at end of Prime is taken from None of the feast, "Et Petrus ad se reversus"; the short lesson for Prime on the feast of St. Aloysius is "Lex Dei ejus" and not the short lesson printed in the Psalter under the day's Office.

On all Sundays and week days it varies according to the season. Thus—

1. From the 14th January until the first Saturday in Lent, from Monday to Wednesday in Trinity week, from the Friday after the octave of Corpus Christi until the Saturday before Advent, the short lesson is "Dominus autem" (II. Thess. iii.),

2. From the first Sunday of Advent until the 23rd December inclusive it is "Domine miserere" (Isaias xxxiii,).

3. From the first Sunday of Lent until the Saturday before Passion Sunday inclusive it is "Quaerite Dominum" (Isaias iv.).

4. From Passion Sunday until Wednesday in Holy Week it is "Faciem meam" (Isaias, 1.),

5. From Easter Sunday to the Vigil of Ascension inclusive, the short lesson is "Si consurrexists" (Coloss. iii.).

At the end of the short lesson the words "Tu autem Domine, miserere nobis; Deo gratias" are added, and after these words are said "Adjutorium nostrum ... Qui fecit ... Benedicite Deus" and the Blessing, "Dominus nos benedicat ... requiescant in pace, Amen." Then Pater Noster is said silently, unless another Hour is to follow immediately.



TEXTS AND INTENTIONS FOR PIOUS RECITATION OF PRIME.

1. "Herod and his army set him at nought" (St. Luke, c. 25).

2. "Not this man, but Barrabas. Crucify Him."

3. "I find no cause in Him. I will chastise Him and let Him go" (St. Luke).

4. "But Jesus he delivered up to their will" (St. Luke, c. 23).

5. "Shall I crucify your King?," (St. John, 19).

General Intentions. The Pope and his intentions; the propagation of the Faith; the priesthood; the Catholic laity; Catholic Missions in the East; Catholic Europe.

Personal Intentions. The spirit of meekness and humility; greater devotion to the Eucharist; greater love of the Blessed Virgin; the priestly vows.

Special Intentions. For our friends; for the sick and sorrowful; for the Church in Scotland; for our enemies; for the priesthood of America.



CHAPTER III.

TERCE, SEXT, NONE (TITLE XVI.).

TERCE.

Etymology. The word Terce comes from the Latin word tertia (hora), third. Because this little Hour was said at the third hour of the Roman day, that is, about 9 o'clock in the forenoon,

Structure. It consists of Pater Noster, Ave, Deus in adjutorium, Gloria Patri ... Sicut erat ... Amen, Alleluia, Hymn, opening words of the antiphon, the three psalms, antiphon in full, capitulum, response, Dominus vobiscum, Et cum spiritu tuo, Oremus, collect, Dominus vobiscum, Et cum spiritu tuo, Benedicamus ... Deo gratias, Fidelium animae.... Amen. And Pater Noster is said silently if another Hour is not begun immediately.

Terce is called the golden Hour, hora aurea, because at this time of the day, the third Hour, the Holy Ghost, who is typified by gold, descended on the apostles. It is called sometimes the sacred Hour (hora sacra) because in conventional churches it is recited immediately before Holy Mass. It is the most solemn of all the small Hours.

Antiquity. The custom of praying at these three hours, terce, sext and none, is very ancient. It was in use amongst the devout Jews, and the early converts to Christianity retained the practice. The Apostolic Constitutions contain the words "Preces etiam vestras facite hora tertia."

Why does the Church wish us to pray at the third hour?

The question is asked by liturgists of olden times. Their replies are:—

1. to remind us of the hour when our Saviour was condemned (St. Mark, c. 15).

2. to remind us of the hour at which the Holy Ghost descended on the Church.

3. as the Church's hymn tells us that at this hour of the day when men are engrossed in worldly affairs, they especially need God's help,

"Come, Holy Ghost, Who ever One, Reignest with Father and with Son. It is the hour, our souls possess With Thy full flood of holiness. Let flesh and heart and lips and mind Sound forth our witness to mankind. And love light up our mortal frame Till others catch the living flame, Now to the Father, to the Son, And to the Spirit, Three in One, Be praise and thanks and glory given, By men on earth, by saints in heaven. Amen."

(Translation by Cardinal Newman of St. Ambrose's hymn, Nunc sancte).



TEXTS AND INTENTIONS FOR PIOUS RECITATION OF TERCE.

1. "Therefore, Pilate took Jesus and scourged Him."

2. "And the soldiers plaiting a crown of thorns put it on His head; and they put on Him a purple garment."

3. "And they came to Him and said, 'Hail, King of the Jews,' and they gave Him blows" (St. John).

4. "Jesus, therefore, came forth bearing the crown of thorns and the purple garment, and he (Pilate) sayeth to them 'Behold the Man!'"

General Intentions. The Pope's Intentions; the conversion of heretics; the conversion of the Jews.

Personal Intentions. Devotion to the Holy Ghost; devotion to the Passion.

Special Intentions. Vocations in America and Australia; for the Irish people throughout the world; for the souls of our deceased penitents.



SEXT.

Etymology. The word Sext comes from the Latin word sexta, (hora), the sixth hour, because the little Hour should be said at what was the sixth hour of the Roman day, about mid-day with us.

Structure. The structure of this hour is similar to that given in Terce above, the hymn, antiphon, psalms, little chapter and responses differing, but the order and form being similar in both.

Antiquity. The Psalmist wrote, "Vespere et mane et meridie narrabo et annuntiabo, et exaudiet vocem meam" (Ps. 54). This practice of devout Jews was maintained by the early Christians and in the Acts of the Apostles we read, "Ascendit Petrus in superiora ut oraret circam horam sextam" (Acts x, 9). At this hour, the Christians met for public, joint prayer.

Why does the Church wish us to pray at the sixth hour of the day?

1. Because at this hour Christ instructed the Samaritan woman, the type of the Gentiles; and He promised to give the living water, springing up unto life everlasting, which was His blood, poured out on Calvary at the sixth hour.

2. Because at this sixth hour Christ was raised on the cross for our salvation and it is right and just, daily, to remember Him and His great love for us. Besides, it is to realise His words "And if I be lifted up from the earth, I will draw all things to myself" (St. John xii. 32). And the Church, in the opening words of Sext for Sunday, impresses this idea on us "Deficit in salutare meum anima mea," "My soul hath fainted after thy salvation" (Ps. 118).

3. To ask God to grant us health and peace of heart, as the hymn for Sext sings:—

"O God, Who canst not change nor fail, Guiding the hours as they go by, Brightening with beam the morning pale, And burning in the midnight sky, Quench Thou the fires of hate and strife, The wasting fever of the heart; From perils guard our feeble life, And to our souls Thy grace impart. Grant this, O Father, only Son, And Holy Ghost, God of Grace, To whom all glory, Three in One, Be given in every time and place—Amen."

(Translation by Cardinal Newman of St. Ambrose's hymn, Rector potens).



TEXTS AND INTENTIONS FOR THE PIOUS RECITATION OF SEXT.

1. "And they took Jesus, and after they had mocked Him, they took off the purple from Him and put His own garments on Him and led Him out to crucify Him" (St. Mark, c. 15).

2. "Bearing His own cross, Jesus went forth to that place called Calvary."

3. "Daughters of Jerusalem, weep not for Me, but for yourselves."

General Intentions. The wants of the Church; for peace and goodwill amongst all States and peoples; for the Pope; for Church students.

Personal Intentions. For patience; for fraternal charity; for the love of the practice of mortification.

Special Intentions. For Catholic schools; for increase in number of daily communicants; for the success of catechists and their work.



NONE.

Etymology. The word None comes from the Latin word nona, ninth (hora nona), because this part of the Office was said at the ninth hour of the Roman day, that is, about three o'clock in our modern day.

Antiquity. This hour was set apart in Apostolic times for joint prayer, "Now Peter and John went up into the Temple at the ninth hour of prayer" (Acts iii. 1).

Structure. See note under this head at Terce.

Why does the Church desire prayer at the ninth hour?

1. In this she follows the example of her Founder, Christ, Who prayed at the ninth hour. "At the ninth hour, Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying 'Eloi, Eloi, lamma sabacthani?' which is, being interpreted, 'My God, my God, why hast Thou forsaken me?'" (St. Mark xv. 34).

2. That ninth hour was the long-wished-for and long-watched-for hour when reconciliation between earth and heaven was complete.

3. To beg from God light and grace, especially towards the end of life, for the day's decline in the afternoon is a figure of the waning of spiritual and corporal life. The hymn for None expresses this:—

"O God, unchangeable and true, Of all the light and power, Dispensing light in silence through Each successive hour; Lord, brighten our declining day, That it may never wane Till death, when all things round decay, Brings back the morn again. This grace on Thy redeemed confer, Father, Co-equal Son, And Holy Ghost, the Comforter, Eternal Three in One—Amen." (St. Ambrose's hymn, translated by Cardinal Newman).



TEXTS AND INTENTIONS TO AID THE PIOUS RECITATION OF NONE.

1. "Come down from the cross" (St. Matthew, c. 27).

2. "Lord, remember me when Thou shalt come into Thy Kingdom" (St. Matthew, c. 23).

3. "My God, my God, why has Thou forsaken me?" (St. Matthew, c. 27).

General Intentions. All the intentions of the Sacred Heart; the conversion of Britain; the Church in America.

Personal Intentions. Fervour in preparation for Mass; fervour in thanksgiving after Mass; fidelity to professional duties and studies.

Special Intentions. The temporal welfare of Ireland; to beg a blessing on her priests; to beg a blessing on her Church students; to beg a blessing on her Catholic laity; to beg a blessing on her elementary schools.



CHAPTER IV.

VESPERS AND COMPLINE.

Etymology. The word vespers comes directly from the Latin Vesper; Vespera or Espera was a name given to the star Venus, which rising in the evening was a call to prayer. This Hour is recited after None and before Compline. In structure, it resembles Lauds, Pater Noster, Ave, Gloria, Five Psalms with antiphons, Capitulum, Hymn, Versicle, antiphon, Magnificat, antiphon and collect.

It had several synonymous names. It was called Duodecima Hora (Antiphonary of Bangor), because it was said at the twelfth hour of the day, six o'clock, or, perhaps, the name came from the twelve psalms which made up the Hour in some churches. It was known, too, by the names Lucernarium, hora lucernalis, the hour of the candles; because at this hour a number of candles were lighted, not only to shed light but for symbolic purposes. It was sometimes referred to as hora incensi, from the custom of burning incense at this evening service, and sometimes it is called gratiarum actio (St. Isidore), because it gives thanks to God for the graces given during the day. It came to mean not the evening Hour, but the sunset Hour. And in the sixth century it was celebrated before daylight had gone and before there was any need for artificial light. In the fourth century it was recited by torchlight.

Antiquity. The Jews honoured God by special and solemn evening service. Their feasts by God's command began in the evening. "From evening unto evening you shall celebrate your sabbaths" (Lev. xxiii, 32). And David sang "Evening and morning and at noon I will speak and declare" (Psalm 54:32). The eariy Christians faithfully followed the practice.

"In the sixth century, the order of Psalms, etc., in Vespers differed little from the Vespers in our modern Breviaries. Long before the sixth century there were evening Offices in various forms. Its existence in the fourth century is also confirmed by St. Augustine, St. Ambrose, St. Basil, St. Ephraem ... Before the fourth century we find allusions to the evening prayer in the early Fathers, Clement I. of Rome, St. Ignatius, St. Clement of Alexandria, Tertullian, Origen, the Canons of St. Hippolytus, St. Cyprian (for texts see Baumer-Biron; 1. c.t. 20 seq. 73-74, 76, 78)"—(Dorn Cabrol, Cath. Ency., art "Vespers").

Why do we offer up public prayer in the evening? The old liturgists reply:—

1. To imitate the devout Christians of apostolic times.

2. To honour Jesus, the true Sun of the world, Who hid Himself at His Incarnation, and in His life, and Whose glory was hidden in His Passion.

3. To thank Christ for the Eucharist, which He instituted in the evening of His earthly life, ... "and they prepared the Pasch. But when it was evening (vespere autem) He sat down with His twelve disciples" (St. Matthew, xxvi. 20). At this vesper meeting He gave to priests the power to offer the sacrifice of the Mass, to change bread and wine into His body and blood. At this vesper service, too, Christ and His apostles celebrated the divine praises, "Hymno dicto" (St. Matthew xxvi. 30).

4. In the evening our Lord's body was taken down from the cross.

5. At the approach of evening Christ appeared to His disciples at Emmaus and revealed to them His divinity. "Stay with us because it is towards evening (advesperascit) and He went in with them. He took bread and blessed and brake and gave it to them and their eyes were opened and they knew Him" (St. Luke xxiv. 29-30). At Vespers we thank God for the Eucharist.

The hymns at Vespers date for the most part from the sixth century. They are of great beauty and have the peculiar characteristic of telling of the days of creation. Thus St. Gregory's (?) fine hymn, Lucis Creator optime, in Sunday's Vespers, refers to the creation of light; Monday's hymn, Immense coeli Creator, refers to the separation of land and water; Wednesday's hymn (written probably by St. Ambrose), Coeli Deus sanctissime, refers to the creation of the sun and moon; the hymns for Thursday's vespers, Magnae Deus potentiae, refers to the creation of fish and birds; Friday's hymn, Hominis superne conditor (St. Gregory), refers to the creation of the beasts of the earth; Saturday's hymn (St. Ambrose) is an exception, as it refers to the Trinity. All these hymns have been beautifully translated into English and the text and translations repay study.

Sunday's hymn, Lucis Creator optime, stands thus in translation:—

"O blest Creator of the light, Who makest the day with radiance bright, And o'er the forming world didst call The light from chaos first of all.

Whose wisdom joined in sweet array The morn and eve and named them day, Night comes with all its darkening fears; Regard Thy people's prayers and tears,

Lest sunk in sin, and whelmed with strife, They lose the gift of endless life; While thinking—but the thoughts of time, They weave new chains of woe and crime.

But grant them grace that they may strain The heavenly gate and prize to gain; Each harmful lure aside to cast, And purge away each error past.

O Father, that we ask be done, Through Jesus Christ, Thine only Son; Who, with the Holy Ghost and Thee, Doth live and reign eternally. Amen."

(Translation by Dr. J.M. Neale).

Structure. Vespers, in structure, resembles Lauds and consists of five Psalms. It begins with Pater Noster, Ave (said silently), Deus in adjutorium,... Domine ad adjuvandum.... Gloria Patri.... Sicut erat. Alleluia or Laus tibi.... Antiphon begun only if the feast be not double; if feast be a double the antiphon is said in full before and after each psalm. If feast be a semi-double or simple the antiphon is intoned at the beginning and is said in full at end of each psalm and then only. Then are said Capitulum, Deo gratias, Hymn, versicle and response, antiphon to Magnificat, the canticle Magnificat, Gloria Patri.... Sicut erat.... Dominus vobiscum.... Et cum spiritu tuo, Oremus, collect, commemoration if any made by versicle and response and antiphon of Magnificat proper to commemoration with collect, Dominus vobiscum, Et cum.... Benedicamus Domino; Deo gratias, Fidelium animae.... Amen. If Compline be not said immediately after Vespers, Pater Noster is added.

At the opening words of the Magnificat, Nunc Dimittis and Benedictus, it is a practice with many priests to make the sign of the cross from forehead to breast, as at Deus in adjutorium (cf. Ceremoniale Epis. lib. II. i. 14). This custom, where it exists, should be preserved (S.R.C., April, 1867).

Writers on liturgy tell us that the number of Psalms in Vespers have a symbolic meaning, typifying the five wounds of the Saviour, the last of which, the wound in the side, was inflicted on the evening of Good Friday, and the others, as the Church says in the hymn Vergente mundi vespere, at the waning of the day of the Old Law, before the dawn of salvation (Honorius of Autun, circa 1130). Other writers say that these five psalms should produce acts of contrition for the sins committed during the day, by the five senses; and that they should be for us, morally, what the five lighted lamps were for the wise virgins in the Gospel parable (Amalare of Metz, circa 850).

Magnificat. Author. The Blessed Virgin Mary is the author of this canticle. "The witness of the codices and of the Fathers is practically unanimous for the Vulgate reading: 'Et ait Maria,' but apart from this, the attribution of the Magnificat to Elizabeth would in St. Luke's context be highly abnormal" (Dr. H. T. Henry, Cath. Encyc., word, Magnificat)—The Roman Breviary entitles it Canticum Beatae Marine Virginis.

It is divided by commentators into three parts (St. Luke 1, vv. 46-49; 50-53; 54-55). It "is in many places very similar in thought and phrase to the Canticle of Anna (I. Kings ii. 1-10) and to various psalms (Ps. 33, vv. 3-4; Ps. 39, v. 9; Ps. 70, v. 9; Ps. 125, vv. 2-3; Ps. 110, v. 9; Ps. 97, v. 1; Ps. 117, v. 16; Ps. 32, v. 10; Ps. 92, v. 7; Ps. 33, v. 11; Ps. 97, v-3; Ps. 131, v. 11). Similarities are found in Hab. c. III. v. 18; Mal. c. III. v. 12; Job. c. 5, v. 11; Is, c. 41, v. 8; Is. c. 149, v. 3, and Gen. c. 17, v. 19. Steeped thus in scriptural thought and Phraseology, summing up in its inspired ecstasy the economy of God with His chosen people, indicating the fulfilment of olden prophecy, and prophesying anew until end of time, the Magnificat is the crown of the Old Testament singing, the last canticle of the Old and the first of the New Testament. It is an ecstasy of praise for the inestimable favour bestowed by God on the Virgin, for the mercies shown to Israel, and for the fulfilment of the promises made to Abraham and the patriarchs" (Dr. Henry, loc. cit.).

It is found universally in the ancient liturgies and affords a proof of the apostolic and universal praise of the Blessed Virgin. Durandus (thirteenth century) gives some reasons for the assignment of the Magnificat to Vespers. Because Vespers is the grandest liturgical Hour; because Mary probably arrived at the house of Elizabeth in the evening; because it was in the moral evening of the world that Mary consented to be the Mother of God; because she is the star of the sea, etc. The following interesting reason for the use of the Magnificat at Vespers is given by St. Bede (works 5, 306). "It comes to pass, by the bounty of the Lord, that if we were at all times to meditate upon the acts and sayings of the Blessed Virgin, the observance of chastity and the works of virtue will always continue with us. For, the excellent and salutary custom has grown up in Holy Church that all shall sing her hymn (the Magnificat) every day with the Vesper Psalms, in order that the recalling of the Lord's incarnation, by this means, may the oftener incite the souls of the faithful to devotion and that the consideration of the example set by His Mother may confirm them in the stability of virtue. And it is meet that this should be done at Vespers, so that the mind wearied in the course of the day, and distracted by various opinions, may, at the approach of the season of quiet, collect itself in oneness of meditation and through the wholesome reminder may hasten to cleanse itself, by the prayers and tears of the night, from everything useless or harmful which it had contracted by the business of the day."

Suffrages of the Saints. (Title XXXV.) In Sec.2 of rubrics of the new Breviary we read, "Deinceps, quando facienda erunt suffragia sanctorum, unum fiet suffragium, juxta formulam propositam in Ordinario novi Psalterii." Thus were abolished the old formulae of suffrages and a new one inserted.

Antiphon Beata Dei Genitrix.... V. Mitificavit .... R. Et exaudivit.... Oremus, A cunctis....

This will be said at Lauds and Vespers outside Paschal time (1) on all Sundays and ferias, (2) on semi-doubles and simples, except (a) in Advent and Passiontide, (b) when there is a commemoration of a double, a day within an octave. In Paschal time the Commemoration is of the Cross.

In this prayer the names of the Holy Angels and of St. John the Baptist, if they be titulars, are inserted before the name of St. Joseph. At the letter N. in the prayer, the name of the titular saint of the particular church should be inserted; but churches dedicated by the title of a mystery (e.g., the Ascension) are not to be named in this prayer (S.R.C., March, 1912).



TEXTS AND INTENTIONS TO AID THE PIOUS RECITATION OF VESPERS.

1. "Woman, behold thy Son; Behold Thy mother" (St. John, c. 19),

2. "I thirst" (St. John, c. 19).

3. "And they, putting a sponge full of vinegar about hyssop, put it to His mouth" (St. John, c. 19).

General Intentions. The conversion of sinners; the wants of the Church; those in death agony; spread of Eucharistic devotion; daily Communion; priest adorers; reparation for bad Communions; reparation for impieties and irreverences towards the Eucharist.

Personal Intentions. Regularity in visits to Blessed Sacrament; Fervour in Mass and in administering Holy Communion; a happy death; true and deep devotion to Mary.

Special Intentions. The Irish Daily Mass Crusade; Total Abstinence; devotion to the Passion; devotion to the agonising Heart of Jesus.



COMPLINE.

Etymology and synonym. The word compline comes from the Latin word complere, to complete, to finish, because this Hour completes or finishes the day Hours of the Office. It bore several names, Completa (St. Isidore), Initium noctis (St. Columbanus), Prima noctis hora (St. Fructeux).

Antiquity. The origin of this Hour has given rise to a great deal of controversy. Both Baumer and Battifol in their histories of the Breviary attribute the origin of this Hour to St. Benedict (480-543). Other scholars attribute its origin to St. Basil, and hence date it from the fourth century. It is admitted that before the time of St. Basil, Bishop of Caesarea (370-379) this Hour was in existence. Some hold that St. Basil established the Hour in the East and St. Benedict in the West. The latter certainly invested the Hour with the liturgical character and arrangement which were preserved by the Benedictines and adapted by the Roman Church. The Compline of the Roman Church is more ornate and solemn than the liturgy assigned to this Hour by St. Benedict, which was very simple. The addition of the response In manus tuas Domine, the Nunc dimittis and its anthem of the Blessed Virgin make this Hour one of great beauty.

Structure, The structure of the Hour seems to point to its monastic origin, "The reader begins, 'Pray, Father, a blessing' (jube, domne benedicere); the blessing, 'The Lord Almighty grant us a quiet night and a perfect end. Amen.' 'Noctem quietam....' Then follows a short lesson, which the Father Abbot gave to his monks. 'Brethren, be sober and watch; because your adversary, the devil, as a roaring lion, goeth about, seeking whom he may devour, whom resist ye, strong in faith. But Thou, O Lord, have mercy on us.' And the monks answer 'Thanks be to God.' 'Fratres sobrii estote et vigilate....' Then the Pater Noster (silently), and the presiding priest, who was the Abbot or his deputy, said the confiteor and the choir answered Misereatur.... 'May Almighty God have mercy upon thee and forgive thee thy sins, and bring thee to life everlasting.' The choir then repeats the Confiteor and the priest replies 'Misereatur vestri....' 'May Almighty God have mercy upon you, forgive you your sins and bring you to life everlasting.'" Of course, in private recitation, or where two or three recite the Office, these prayers are said only once, and in the Confiteor, tibi pater and te pater are omitted, and nostri, nostris, nos, nostrorum, nobis, are said in the Misereatur and Indulgentiam.

Then the Converte nos Deus.... At averte iram tuam.... Deus in adjutorium.... Domine ad adjuvandum.... Gloria Patri.... Antiphon (begun only) and three psalms, which vary, are said, Gloria Patri.... Sicut erat... being said at the end of each. In manus tuas... is said twice. Redemisti nos. ... Commendo spiritum meum; Custodi nos ... sub umbra.... Salva nos; Nunc dimittis.... Gloria Patri, Salva nos Domine vigilantes, custodi nos... pace. (Preces are said here if rubric orders; i.e., Kyrie eleison, Christie eleison... ad te veniat); Dominus vobiscum, Et cum.... Benedicamus Domino, Deo gratias; Benedicat et custodiat nos omnipotens. Amen; then the anthem of the Blessed Virgin, Alma Redemptoris Mater (from Saturday before first Sunday of Advent to the feast of the Purification, inclusive) with its antiphon; in Advent, Angelus Domini, response, Et concepit, Oremus and prayer, Gratiam tuam, or with antiphon (after Advent) Post partum... and response, Dei genetrix, Oremus, Deus qui salutis. After the Purification, until Holy Thursday the anthem is Ave regina coelorum, with versicle Dignare me ..., Da mihi, Oremus, Concedemisericors. From Holy Saturday until Saturday after Pentecost, the anthem is Regina coeli with versicle, Gaude... and response, Quia surrexit.... Oremus and prayer, Deus qui per resurrectionem. From Holy Trinity Sunday to the Saturday before Advent, the antiphon is Salve Regina with versicle, Ora pro nobis... response, Ut digni, Oremus and prayer, Omnipotens semipeterne Deus. Then the versicle Divinum auxilium.... Amen. Pater Noster, Ave, Credo, in silence, are said. The Sacro-sanctae is added (see pp. 133-135).

The study of the component parts of this Hour are of great interest. After the Abbot had given his blessing and begged of God to grant the two-fold favour of a quiet night and a good death, a monk read from Holy Scripture, and when a suitable portion was read, or at the end of a Scripture chapter or theme, the Abbot said, "Tu autem," and the reader "Tu autem, Domine, miserere nobis." This was to ask God to pardon faults both of reader in his reading and of monks, who, perhaps, were drowsy and inattentive. The Abbot terminated the exercise by the Adjutorium nostrum (the Pater Noster is of more recent introduction). Monks who were absent substituted for the Scripture lesson which they had missed, the pithy extract from St. Peter, "Fratres; sobrii estote," which we now read. The whole company of monks and their abbot then proceeded to the chapel where each made his examination of conscience, and at a sign from the abbot, the monks, two by two, in a subdued tone of voice, said the Confiteor, Misereatur, Indulgentiam and Converte nos. Gavantus and Merati hold that the Converte nos does not belong to this introductory matter, but formed part of Compline proper. This prayer is very beautiful: "Convert us, O God, our Saviour. And turn away Thine anger from us. Incline unto my aid, O God; O Lord, make haste to help us. Glory be to the Father,... Praise be to God."

The new arrangement of the Psalter did not retain the old traditional psalms, 4, 90, 133, in Compline, except for Sundays and solemn feasts. But the selection of psalms accords well with the idea of the hour—night prayer—and with the other prayers, which go to make up the close of the Office of the day. The hymn, Te lucis, so chastely simple, has ever been admired. Its ideas suit so admirably for the prayer before sleep and for reminding us of sleep and her sister death and the solemn petition made to God to be our guardian and defence in the solemn hour of death, are simply and solemnly set out in this daily hymn. How beautiful it reads in Father Caswall's translation:—

"Now with the fast departing light, Maker of all, we ask of Thee Of Thy great mercy, through the night, Our guardian and defence to be.

Far off let idle visions fly, No phantom of the night molest: Curb Thou our raging enemy, That we in chaste repose may rest.

Father of mercies! hear our cry; Hear us, O sole-begotten Son! Who, with the Holy Ghost most high, Reignest while endless ages run."

In Passiontide, the Breviary gives us the last verse, Deo Patri, and the translation renders it:—

"To Thee, Who dead again dost live, All glory, Jesus, ever be, Praise to the Father, infinite, And Holy Ghost eternally."

Little Chapter. This is a beautiful call to our Lord to remind Him, as it were, that we are His own, that we bear His name. In this invocation we express our confidence in Him and ask Him not to abandon us, but to dwell with us. "But Thou, O Lord, art among us, and Thy holy name is invoked upon us; forsake us not, O Lord our God"; and for past protection the Church adds to their invocation, taken from the prophet Jeremias, the words of gratitude, "Thanks be to God."

The Response. "In manus tuas, Domine, commendo spiritum meum... nos." "Into Thy hands, O Lord, I commend my spirit. Into Thy hands I commend my spirit. For Thou hast redeemed us, O Lord God of Truth. I commend my spirit. Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Ghost. Into Thy hands, O Lord, I commend my spirit. Keep us, O Lord, as the apple of Thine eye. Protect us under the shadow of Thy wings." No more sublime prayer exists in the liturgy than this response, which the Church orders us to say nightly. She wishes, in its daily recital, to prepare us for death, by reminding us of the sentiments and words of our dying Lord on the cross, "Into Thy hands I commend my spirit" (Ps. 30, v. 6), and by asking Him Who redeemed us on the bitter tree, to keep us safe as the apple of His eye and to protect us "under the shadow of His wings" (Ps. 40, v, 6). These solemn words of our dying Saviour have been, in all ages, and in all lands, the death prayer of many of those whom He redeemed, with the great price. St. Stephen, the proto-martyr, prayed "Lord Jesus receive my spirit." "Into Thy hands I commend my spirit," prayed St. Basil in his death agony. "Into Thy hands I commend my spirit," prayed thousands of God's servants, heroes and heroines, e.g., Savanarola, Columbus, Father Southwell, the martyr Mary, Queen of Scots, and countless other servants of God.

Nunc Dimittis. The canticle Nunc dimittis is the last in historical sequence of the three great canticles of the New Testament. It was spoken at the presentation of Christ, by Simeon, "This man was just and devout, waiting for the consolation of Israel; and the Holy Ghost was in him. And he had received an answer from the Holy Ghost, that he should not see death before he had seen the Christ of the Lord. And he came by the spirit into the temple. And when His parents brought the child Jesus to do for him according to the custom of the law. He also took Him in his arms and blessed God and said 'Now thou dost dismiss thy servant, O Lord, according to thy word in peace....'" (St. Luke ii. 29-33). This sublime canticle uttered by the holy old man at the close of his days is placed fittingly in the priest's Office at the close of the day. It breathes his thanks, expresses his love and his wish to die, having seen the Saviour.

Before the canticle are said the opening words of the antiphon, "Salva nos"; and it is repeated in full at the end. "Save us, O Lord, while we are awake, and guard us when we sleep, that we may watch with Christ and rest in peace."

The prayers, Kyrie eleison, Christie eleison, etc., are said always except when a double office or a day within an octave has been commemorated at Vespers. The prayer, Visita quaesumus is found in Breviaries of the thirteenth century and was introduced probably by the Friars Minor. The words habitationem istam are said to indicate that it is a prayer not only for the chapel of the friars, but for their dwellings on journeys. It was said in choir by the abbot or presiding priest. Like all prayers for Compline it begs God to drive far away the snares of the enemy; it begs Him to let His angels dwell in that house to keep the dwellers therein, in peace; and finally, it begs Him to "let Thy blessing be always upon us. Through Jesus Christ, Thy Son, our Lord, Who liveth and reigneth with Thee in the unity of the Holy Ghost, God, world without end. Amen."

After the Dominus vobiscum and its response, the abbot or presiding priest gave the solemn blessing "Benedicat et custodiet..., May the Almighty and merciful Lord, the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost, bless and preserve us. Amen."

Then one of the anthems of the Blessed Virgin Mary is said. From the Saturday before Advent until the feast of the Purification, inclusive, is said the anthem "Alma Redemptoris Mater"; translated by Father Caswall, it reads:—

"Mother of Christ, hear Thou thy people's cry, Star of the deep and portal of the sky, Mother of Him who Thee from nothing made, Sinking we strive and call to Thee for aid. Oh, by that joy which Gabriel brought to Thee, Thou Virgin first and last, let us Thy mercy see."

The Latin hexameters are attributed to Hermanus (circa 1054). It has been translated by several poets great and small, and is well known in Newman's translation, "Kindly Mother of the Redeemer." It was a popular hymn in Norman Ireland and in Catholic England, as we see in Chaucer's "Prioress's Tale." After this anthem are said its versicle, response, and prayer Oremus, Gratiam tuam quaesumus.

From the first Vespers of the Nativity, the versicle, response and prayer said are "Post partum ...; Dei Genetrix.... Oremus, Deus qui salutis." ... From the end of Compline on February 2nd until Holy Thursday exclusive the antiphon is "Ave Regina coelorum." It appears to be of monastic origin, and St. Jerome attributes it to St. Ephraem. Its expressions are borrowed from the works of St. Ephraem, of St. Athanasius and of other doctors, and its theme is Mary, as Queen of Heaven, the dawn of our salvation, and an extolling of her beauty.

From Compline of Holy Saturday, inclusive, until None of the Saturday after the feast of Pentecost, inclusive, the "Regina coeli" is said. It is a very old composition, but its author is unknown. Some authors attribute it to St. Gregory the Great (590-604). Others, following a venerable tradition, say that the three first lines were the composition of angels, and the fourth, Ora pro nobis Deum, alleluia, was added by Pope Gregory. The legend tells us that when in the year 596 Rome was desolated by the plague, Pope Gregory the Great exhorted his people to penance and prayer, and carrying in his hands the picture of the Blessed Virgin, said to be painted by St. Luke, he led them in procession to the church, Afa Coeli, on Easter morn. When the procession was passing Adrian's Mole, angel voices were heard chanting the Regina Coeli, and the Pope astonished and rejoiced added the words "Ora pro nobis Deum, Alleluia," and immediately a shining angel appeared and sheathed his sword, the plague ceased on that very day (Gueranger, Liturgical Year, "Paschal Time," Part I., p. iii; Duffy, Dublin). Attempts at translation have been indifferent.

From the first Vespers of the feast of the Most Hoiy Trinity to the None of the Saturday before Advent, the Salve Regina is said. The authorship was assigned to St. Bernard (1091-1153). But scholars reject this theory. It is assigned to Petrus de Monsoro (circa 1000) and to Adehemar, but the claims of both are doubtful. In 1220 the general chapter of Cluny ordered its daily chanting before the high altar, after the Capitulum. The use of the anthem at Compline was begun by the Dominicans about 1221 and the practice spread rapidly. It was introduced into the "modernised." Franciscan Breviary in the thirteenth century. The Carthusians sing it daily at Vespers; the Cistercians sing it after Compline, and the Carmelites say it after every Hour of the Office. It is said after every low Mass throughout the world. It was especially obnoxious to Luther, who several times denounced it, as did the Jansenists also. It is recorded in the lives of several saints that the Blessed Virgin, to show her love for this beautiful prayer, showed to them her Son, at the moment they said "Et Jesum ... nobis post hoc exilium ostende."

Speaking of these antiphons of the Blessed Virgin, Battifol, in his History of the Roman Breviary (English ed.), writes: "We owe a just debt of gratitude to those who gave us the antiphons of the Blessed Virgin ... four exquisite compositions, though in style enfeebled by sentimentality."

After the antiphon of the Blessed Virgin the versicle and response are said. Then Oremus and prayer "Omnipotens sempiterne Deus ... Divinum auxilium ... Amen," are said. Then the Pater Noster, Ave and Credo are said silently, and this finishes the Hour. The prayer Sacro-sanctae et individuae.... V. Beata viscera ... R. Et beata ubera ... Pater Noster and Ave are generally added though not of obligation. They are to be said kneeling. The reading of this well-known and oft-repeated prayer, in its English translation, may bring fresh and fervent thoughts to priests, for it is a sublime prayer:—

"To the most holy and undivided Trinity, to the humanity of our Lord Jesus Christ crucified, to the fruitful virginity of the most glorious Mary ever a Virgin, and to the company of all the saints, be given by every creature, eternal praise, honour, power and glory, and to us the remission of all our sins. Amen. Blessed be the womb of the Virgin Mary, which bore the Son of the Eternal Father. And blessed be the breasts which gave suck to Christ our Lord."



TEXT AND INTENTIONS TO AID THE PIOUS RECITATION OF COMPLINE.

1. "Into Thy hands, O Lord, I commend my spirit."

2. "It is finished."

3. "For this Thou hast redeemed us, O God of truth."

General Intentions. The spread of the faith; the Pope; the Church in France and in Spain; for the Church in Australia.

Personal Intentions. A happy death; fervour in administering the last sacraments; devotion to St. Joseph, patron of a happy death.

Special Intentions, For the sick poor of Ireland; for persons dying without the last sacraments; for those dying all alone; for dying sinners.



THE LITTLE OFFICE OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN, (TITLE XXXVII.).

Origin. This Office dates from the eighth century at least. Pope Gregory II. (715-731) and Pope Gregory III. (731-741) ordered the monks to say this little Office in addition to their great Office. The practice was observed by St. John Damascene (676-787) and by St. Peter Damien (1007-1072).This usage was confined to monasteries only. At the end of the eleventh century the practice became almost universal. Pope Urban II. (1088-1099) besought the special aid of the Blessed Virgin in his crusade against the Turks and recommended all clerics to recite the little Office. Provincial councils prescribed its use and some canonists held it to be obligatory. However, the Bull Quod a nobis of Pope Pius V. (9 July, 1568) removed all obligation of the private recital of this Office, but he exhorted all to continue the practice and granted indulgences for its recitation.



PART IV.

NOTES ON SOME FEASTS.



CHAPTER I.

PROPER OF THE TIME.

ADVENT.

Advent (Latin, advenire, to come to) is a period beginning with the Sunday nearest to the Feast of St. Andrew (November 30) and embracing four Sundays. In the early Church there was a divergence of date and practice in Advent celebration. Thus, in France it began on St. Martin's Day (11 November) and ended with Christmas, France kept Advent with tri-weekly fasts. Rome did not, in very early days, observe the Advent fasts, but maintained the shorter period, containing only four Sundays. (Father Thurston, The Month, No. 498).

Several authors stated that this period of preparation for the celebration of Christ's birthday was instituted by Gregory the Great. It is now traceable to the fourth century in France; in Rome it was of later date. The Church, as is seen in the Advent Offices in the Breviary, instituted this part of the liturgical year to honour and to recall the two comings of Christ—His first coming in human form at Bethlehem, as Saviour; and His second coming, as Judge of all mankind. In her liturgy she expresses repeatedly both sentiments, a sentiment of joy and a sentiment of sorrow. The former she expresses by her alleluias and the latter by her omission of the Te Deum and by her recital of the ferial prayers, the prayers of tears and grief.

In the Advent Offices are many phrases which were fulfilled at the Incarnation: "Rorate coeli desuper et nubes pluant Justum; O Adonai, veni ad redimendum nos; Emitte Agnum, Domine, Dominatorum terrae; Orietur sicut sol Salvator mundi et descendet in uterum Virginis." Centuries have passed since the Saviour came, and yet the Church wishes us to repeat the sublime prayers and prophecies which associate themselves with the coming of the Word made Flesh, and by our repetition to be animated with the ardent longings of olden days; and that by them we may awaken our faith, our hope, our charity, and obtain and augment God's grace in our souls.

Rubrics. The first Sunday of Advent has the invitatory hymn and the rest of the Office proper. The lessons are from Isaias, the prophet of the Incarnation. The first response to the lesson is unique in the Breviary for it has three verses (see p. 164). These three verses are spoken in the names of the holy people who lived before the law, during the law, and after the law. The Gloria Patri is added to honour the Holy Trinity, who has at length sent the long-watched-for Messias (Durandus). And the response is repeated from the beginning because the second coming of Christ is watched for, by His faithful (Honorius d'Autun). The Te Deum is not said, in order thereby to mark the sad thought of the second coming of Christ, then our judge.

Lessons. From the first Sunday of Advent until the first Sunday of August the lessons of the first and second nocturns are given in the Breviary in the Proprium de Tempore, after the Psaltery. The lessons of third nocturn for same period are given after those of second nocturn. The suffrages are not said in Advent. In Advent the lectio brevis is "Domine miserere." In Sunday Matins special versicles are given. The preces are said at Lauds and Vespers in ferias of Advent and at the small Hours; preces are said, too, if they be said at Lauds.

The great antiphons are the antiphons of the Magnificat which begin on the 17th December. They are sometimes called the great O's, or the O antiphons, as each begins with this letter. They begin "O Sapientia, quae ex ore Altissimi prodiisti ..." and continue "O Adonai, O radix Jesse," etc.... They are the most beautiful antiphons in the liturgy, expressing the prayers and ardent hopes for the coming Saviour. They have formed the subjects of study for poets, scholars and liturgists, ancient and modern. It is asked why these antiphons introduce the Magnificat and not the Benedictus. And liturgists reply: Because the Incarnation was of Mary, and hence these heralds of the Infant King more appropriately introduce Mary's canticle rather than that of Zachary. And the old liturgists add that these antiphons are said at Vespers, the evening Hour, because the Messias was expected and watched for in the world's evening. They tell us, too, why there are seven great antiphons. They are to excite our piety during this octave preparatory to the birthday of Christ. This number seven typifies the seven gifts of the Holy Ghost; it represents the seven miseries of mankind, ignorance, eternal punishment, the slavery of the devil, sin, gloom and exile from our fatherland, which is Heaven. And those wonderful men of mediaeval days tell us why we have need of a Teacher, O Sapientia; of a Redeemer, O Adonai; of a Liberator, O Radix Jesse; of a Guardian, O Clavis David; of a brilliant Instructor, O Oriens; of a Saviour to bring us, Gentiles, back to our Great Father, God; O Rex gentium; a Herald to the Jews. Honorius of Autun tells that these antiphons refer to the seven gifts of the Holy Ghost and are arranged in the well-known order in which these gifts are always arranged in works of piety. He says that Christ came in the Spirit of Wisdom, O Sapientia, that in the word "Adonai" is indicated that Christ redeemed us in the Spirit of Understanding. He says, too, that the antiphon "O Radix" signifies the sign of the cross, and that Christ redeemed us in the Spirit of Counsel. "O Clavis" indicates that Christ opened Heaven and closed Hell in the Spirit of Strength or Fortitude. "O Orient" shows forth Christ enlightening us in the Spirit of Knowledge. "Rex gentiam" points out the holy King who saved men by the Spirit of Piety. "O Emanuel" refers to Christ coming in the Spirit of Fear, but giving us also the Law of Love.

These antiphons have formed the theme of the oldest Christian poem in Europe—Cynewulf's "Christ," a work which is the admiration of modern scholars. They were celebrated with great pomp and joy in monastic life, the monks carrying their congruous symbolism into their recitation. For, to the gardener-monk was assigned, the chanting of "O Radix Jesse," and to the cellarer-monk, the "O clavis David"—typifying their work of root-growing and key keeping. (See The Month, No. 489; The Irish Ecclesiastical Record, December, 1918).

Christmas. Antiquity. "It was formerly taken for granted that Christ had actually been born on this day, and, accordingly, the learned were of opinion that the Church had observed it from the beginning, as the day of His birth. Even at the present day it will be dfficult for many to give up this idea. But there is no Christmas among the Christan feasts enumerated by Tertullian ([died] 220), Origen (185-254), and the recently published Testament of Jesus Christ. On the contrary, there is clear proof that even in the fourth and fifth centuries it was unknown in some parts of the Church, where its introduction, at a later period, can be proved historically" (vide Kellner, op. cit., pp. 127-158).

Christmas is one of the great festivals. In Rome there were two night Offices. The first, celebrated at nightfall in the Papal chapel, begins with the antiphon of the first psalm in the nocturn. It has nine lessons and the Te Deum. About midnight a more solemn Office began, this time with the invitatory and psalm Venite. The first of these Offices became the Office of the vigil.

In the Office of Christmas Day the lessons are read without the title of the book (Isaias) from which they are taken, because their author's name was so often repeated during the Advent that each one knew their source, or because at Christmas God speaks to us by His Son, rather than by His prophet. In the first response the Gloria Patri is said, to thank God for the great favour He has bestowed on us—His Son, the Christ. In the third nocturn, Alleluia is added to the antiphons, because the third nocturn typifies the time of grace, in which we should express the joy that is ours in the birth of the Saviour. In this nocturn, too, are given three Gospel extracts, corresponding with the Gospels in the Mass of Christmas. Matins are separated from Lauds by the first Mass because, it is said at midnight, and Lauds is a day Office. At Prime the versicle of the little response is Qui natus est.

Rubrics. Christmas is a primary double of the First Class. The third of the new Tres Tabellae (S.C.R., January, 1912) in the new Breviaries gives the rules for concurrence of Vespers in the Octave of Christmas.

Feast of St. Stephen. The worship of St. Stephen may be said to be as old as the Church herself, since St. Paul gave him the title of Martyr of Christ (Acts XXII. 20). His name is to be found in the earliest liturgical sources, e.g., the Arian martyrology belonging to about 360 and in all calendars, ancient and modern, excepting the Coptic. His cultus received great impulse from the discovery of his relics at Kaphar Gamala, on the shore of Lake Genesareth, and the wonderful miracles wrought by them, A basilica in his honour was erected, in Rome in the fourth century.

St. John the Apostle. The commemoration of St. John on the 27th December was formerly united with that of St. James the Less. In time, St. John's feast only was celebrated on this date, and such was the case as early as the time of Bede.

The Circumcision. This festival was originally called Octava Domini, and hence it may be inferred that it was not an independent festival and passed unnoticed if it fell on a week day. Thus, in the Homilarium of Charlemagne (786) it is referred to by this name. But very shortly after this, the name which we now use for the festival of the 1st January was used in Rome, and spread through the Church. In the early days of Christianity the first day of the civil year was given over to rejoicings, dancing, feasting and rioting. And these abuses lingered in France, though stripped of their pagan character, until the later middle ages. A remnant of them is found in the so-called Feast of Fools, which was held in churches, and which mocked several religious customs and ceremonies. These feasts lasted till the middle of the fifteenth century.

Epiphany. The name is derived from a Greek verb employed to describe the dawn, and the adjective derived from the Greek verb was applied in classic Greek, to the appearances of the gods bringing help to men. In Christian liturgy, the feast was instituted to celebrate the appearance, the manifestation of Christ, to the Gentiles, in the persons of the Magi. In later times, there were added to this commemoration of Christ's manifestation to the Gentiles, two further commemorations of his wonderful showings of His divine mission, viz., His manifestation in His baptism in the Jordan, a manifestation to the Jews, and His miracle at Cana, a showing forth to His friends and disciples. This feast is of early origin. Suarez thinks it should be attributed to the Apostles (De Relig. L.2. ch.5, n.9); and Benedict XIV. held that it was established by the infant Church at Rome to draw off the Christians from the profane and sinful revelry which marked the pagan feast of this date. However, these statements are hardly accurate. "With regard to the antiquity and spread of the feast, it was unknown in North Africa during the third century, for Tertullian makes no reference to it; and even in the time of St. Augustine, it was rejected by the Donatists as an oriental novelty. In Origen's time, at least, it was not generally observed as a festival in Alexandria, since he does not reckon it as such. For Rome, evidence is wanting for the earliest times, but since the daughter Church of Africa knew nothing—of the festival at first, it may be inferred that originally it was not kept at Rome, but was introduced there in course of time. In Spain it was a feast-day in 380, in Gaul in 361 ..." (Kellner, op. cit., p.172).

In the antiphons for the Magnificat and the Benedictus it may be noticed that the three manifestations are given not in the same order. "This day is the Church united to the Heavenly Spouse, for Christ, in the Jordan, washes away her sins; the Magi run to the royal nuptials with their gifts, and the guests of the feast are gladdened by the water changed into wine" (Ant. of Benedictus). The Magi, seeing the star, said to each other: "This is the sign of the King: let us go and seek him, and offer him gifts, gold, frankincense and myrrh" (Ant. of Magnificat, 1st Vesp.), "We celebrate a festival adorned by three miracles: this day, a star led the Magi to the manger; this day water was changed into wine at the marriage feast; this day Christ vouchsafed to be baptised by John, in the Jordan of our salvation" (Ant. of Magnificat, 2nd Vesp.). Now, the baptism is the special event commemorated by the Easterns on this feast, and on account of its connection with the baptism, this feast has, amongst the Greeks, the secondary title of the feast of lights. And, in Ireland (Synodus II., St. Patricii, can. 20), contrary to the ancient custom of the Church, solemn baptism was administered on this feast day. This subject of the baptism forms the only theme of the ancient sermons bearing on this feast. On the other hand, the visit of the Magi is the sole event commemorated by St. Augustine in his six sermons delivered on this feast day. The third event, the marriage feast, is of later commemoration; and Maximus of Turin doubted if they all actually happened on the same day.

The Octave to the feast dates from the eighth century. It was customary on this date, in the Eastern Church, to read publicly the epistola festalis of the Patriarch of Alexandria arranging the date of Easter and the practice was ordered by the fourth Council of Orleans in 541.

In Epiphany the invitatory is not said in the beginning of Matins, in order, say the liturgists, not to repeat the inquiry made by Herod from the scribes about the birthplace of Christ, an inquiry and invitation inspired by hatred and anger. The invitatory is omitted, they tell us, that we, like the Magi, may come to Christ, without other than a silent invitation. Teachers of olden time used to urge those who were slow to believe to imitate the Magi. But, the invitatory is not quite omitted. It is read in the third nocturn, which typifies the law of grace, in which the Apostles and their successors invite all to praise and worship God. The psalms of the feast are taken from the psalms of each day of the week, but chiefly from Friday's psalms, perhaps because the Magi's visit was on that day.



SEPTUAGESIMA.

"During the age of the persecutions it was scarcely possible for Christians to observe any other festival than Sunday, and so it is not surprising that the two writers who have occasion to speak of the institution of the festivals of the Church, mention only Easter and Pentecost, both of which fall on a Sunday. To these Christmas was added in the fourth century and Epiphany somewhat earlier. These chief festivals, along with others soon added to their number, formed the elements for the organisation of a festal system in the Church, as centres round which the lesser festivals grouped themselves. The last step of importance, however, in the development of the Church's year was to connect these chief festivals with one another, so as to make them parts of a whole. The Sundays afforded a convenient means for effecting this. They were associated with the festal character of the nearest feast and were connected with it as links in a chain. The way for this development had been prepared by the season of preparation for Easter, and the Sundays in the fifty days between Easter and Pentecost— Quinquagesima—were marked with the festal character with which antiquity invested the whole period. All that was needed was, first of all, to connect Christmas, Easter and Pentecost; and, in the second place, the institution of a season of preparation before Christmas. This was accomplished between the sixth, and the eighth centuries.

"During the first six centuries the ordinary Sundays of the year had neither liturgical position or character, since they were not even enumerated. There was a sort of commune dominicarum, i.e., a number of Masses existed from which one could be chosen at will for each Sunday. To these Sundays, which were called simply dominicae quotidianae, those after Epiphany and Pentecost belonged.

"They numbered altogether twenty-nine or thirty, according as the calendar gave fifty-two or fifty-three Sundays in the year.... The smaller number of these, six at most, come between Epiphany and Septuagesima, but the larger, twenty-three to twenty-eight, between Whit Sunday and Advent. The variation depends on the date of Easter. There is no historical circumstance forthcoming to give these a specially festal character. ..." (Kellner, op. cit., pp. 176, et seq.).

Septuagesima Sunday comes nine weeks before Easter. It cannot come before the 18th January, nor after the 22nd February. It is the first day of a period of mourning and penance, preparatory to the great penitential period of Lent. On the Saturday preceding Septuagesima two alleluias are added to the Benedicamus and Deo Gratias, to intimate that the period of rejoicing in the Saviour's birth has passed. Violet, the penitential colour, is used at Mass, and the chapters in Genesis recording the fall of Adam, warn man to think well, to humble himself and to do penance. Every part of the Office, the lessons, antiphons and hymns, bear the notes of mourning and penance.

LENT.

Lent.—The Teutonic word, Lent, originally meant the spring season. It has come to mean the forty days preceding Easter. Scholars used to maintain that this season of penance was of apostolic origin; but, modern scholars noting the diversity of practice and the diversity of duration in different churches and the Easter controversy, hold that it is not of apostolic origin, and that it dates from the third century or even from the fourth century. It is not mentioned in the Didascalia (circa 250 A.D.), but was enjoined by St. Athanasius upon his flock in 331.

EASTER AND PASCHAL TIME.

Easter is the chief festival of Christendom, the first and oldest of all festivals, the basis on which the Church's year is built, the connecting link with the festivals of the old covenant and the central point on which depends the date of the other movable feasts. Some of the very early Christian writers call it feast of feasts (festum festorum).

The English word Easter is from Eastre, the goddess of spring. In the liturgy we never find the word Pascha, always the words dominica resurrectionsis. Pascha has no connection with the Greek [Greek: Pascho], but is the Aramaic form of pesach.

Some points regarding this festival are to be noted, its antiquity, its connection with Jewish feasts and Christian feasts, its preparation, character and duration.

Antiquity. No mention of this feast is in the Didache, in Justin's Dialogue with Trypho, or in his apologies. But in the year 198 A.D. an exchange of letters between Pope Victor, Bishop Narcissus of Jerusalem, Polycrates of Ephesus, shows that the feast had been for years in existence. Many references are found in Tertullian and writers of his time to this festival.

Connection of the Christian Festival with the Jewish. "The connection between the Christian and the Jewish feasts is both historical and ideal—historical because our Lord's death happened on the 15th Nisan, the first day of the Jewish feast; ideal, because what took place had been prefigured in the Old Testament by types, of which itself was the antitype. The Jewish rites and ceremonies (Exodus XII.) are referred to in the prophecies of the Messias. Thus, Isaias calls Him the Lamb chosen by God, who bears the iniquities of others. The Baptist called Jesus, the Lamb of God. The Evangelist refers to the typical character of the Passover rites, when he applies, 'a bone of it shall not be broken' (Exod. XII. 46), to Christ on the Cross. Justin and Tertullian see in the Christian sacrifice the fulfilment of the imperfect sacrifices of the old law. Hence, there is no doubt that the Jewish Passover was taken over into Christianity. Thereby its typical ceremonies found their due fulfilment.

"To the real and historical connection between Easter and the Passover is due the explanation of a striking peculiarity in the Church's year, viz., the moveable feasts of which Easter is the starting point. Easter falls on no fixed date, because the Jewish 15th Nisan, unlike the dates of the Julian and Gregorian Calendars, varied year by year.

"The preparation for Easter was the Lenten fasts. The fare on fast days consisted of water and soup made with flour; fruit and oil and bread were also eaten. The catechumens also fasted on Wednesdays and Fridays. Among the faithful there were some who ate nothing from their repast on Sunday until the following Saturday, e.g., for five days, and who all the year round took only one meal a day. Others abstained in Lent from all food for two consecutive days, but others fasted by taking nothing to eat all day, until the evening" (Kellner, op. cit., p. 93).

The Easter celebrations were in the early ages chiefly noted for the great and solemn ceremonies of baptism conferred on a large number of catechumens, with solemn procession from the baptistry to the cathedral. The Easter Octave celebrates by festivals the supper at Emmaus, the appearance of our Lord (St. Luke xxiv.), His appearance by the sea (St. John xxi. 1-14), His appearance to Magdalen (St. John xx. 11-18), His appearance on the mountain (St. Matthew xxviii. 16-20), and His appearance just after He had risen (St. John xx, 1-9),

THE ASCENSION.

This day was kept as a festival in very early times, although it is not mentioned in the lists of Church festivals given by Tertullian (+220), nor by Origen (185-254). St. Augustine (354-430) (Epist. ad Januarium, 54, c.l.) attributes the institution of this festival to an apostolic ordinance or the injunction of a general council. But neither can be proved. But the festival dates from the days of the early Church, and as it was natural that the concluding act of our Saviour's life should be remembered and honoured, the celebration of the feast of His Ascension spread widely and rapidly. The feast was noted for the solemn processions held, to imitate and to commemorate our Lord's leading of the Apostles out of the city to the Mount of Olives.