LIBRARY OF ^ <~ c 7c Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away. (Matt. xxiv. 35.) Blessed art thou, Simon Bar Jona, because flesh and blood hath not re- vealed it to thee, but my Father who is in heaven. And I say to thee : that thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my Church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. (Matt. xvi. 17, IS.) also shall live by me. This is the bread that came down from heaven. Not as yonr fathers did eat manna and are dead. He that eateth this bread , shall live forever. John VI. 56—59. Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2008 with funding from Microsoft Corporation http://www.archive.org/details/explanationofepiOOgoffrich EXPLANATION OF THE EPISTLES AND GOSPELS FOR THE SUNDAYS, HOLIDAYS AND FESTIVALS THROUGHOUT THE ECCLESIASTICAL YEAR, TO WHICH ARE ADDED INSTRUCTIONS ON CHRISTIAN FAITH AND MORALS, EXPLANATIONS OF DIFFERENT CEREMONIES AND PRACTICES OF THE CHURCH, AND THE LIVES OF MANY SAINTS, BY REV. LEONARD GOFFINE, PRIEST OF THE ORDER OF PREMONSTRATENSIANS. EDITED AND ENLARGED BY REV. GEORGE OTT, DEAN ANT) PASTOR. WITH THE APPROBATION OF THE RIGHT REV. BISHOP OF RATISBOX. TRANSLATED FROM THE NEWEST GERMAN EDITION BY REV. GERARD M. PILZ, 0. S. B. IN TWO PARTS, PROFUSELY ILLUSTRATED. NEW YORK & CINCINNATI, 0. PUBLISHED BY FREDERICK P.USTET & C°. TYPOGRAPHER TO THE HOLY SEE. 1871. New York, 52 Barclay street. — Cincinnati, 0. 204 Yine street. IPAN STACK Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1871, by HERMAN BLtJMELINGr, of the firm of Fr.Pustet &Co., in the Office of the Librarian of Congress at Washington, D. C. 0X / 15(* mi PREFACE. THe merits of this devotional work have been so long known and recognized, that few, if any, remarks con- cerning them are now needed, but it is thought a slight sketch of the author's life may not be out of place at this moment. Leonard Goffine was born at Cologne on the 6. December 1648, and was received into the Premonstratensian Abbey of Steinfield, Westphalia, July 18., 1669. He labored with admiral: le zeal for many years in the parishes of Oberstein and Coesfield, yet finding time to write a number of devo- tional works, which by their excellent style, and manner gained him the esteem even of the Church's adversaries. The present work especially was received with undivided appro- bation, an approbation which has endured from its first appearance until now, and is now in no ways diminished, having only increased with time, as confirmed by the many editions which have been issued. The varying needs of the times have made additions necessary, and certain doctrines which have excited the particular enmity of outsiders, have been dwelt upon more at length by editors of recent editions, in. order that being more clearly understood, they might the more effectually disarm prejudice, but the general ar- rangement has in nowise been altered. After laboring with untiring zeal for the diffusion of Christian knowledge and consequently for the enlargement of the kingdom of God on earth, the Rev. Leonard Goffine 0£4 ■VI PKEFACE. died calmly and peacefully at Coesfield, August 11., 1719, in the seventy first year of his age. The present translation is from the twenty ninth German edition, and it has been the aim of the translator to make it at exact as possible, and nothing has been omitted or added — Symbolism by Buchman, Missal by Nickel, Beauties of the Church by Himmioben, Version of the Holy Bible by Allioli, and Ascetic Works of St. Liguori and St. Francis of Sales, &c. May this book, therefore, 'in our days in which on the one hand horrible hatred against all positive Christianity unmistakably develops itself, on the other happily the faith in Jesus, the Son of God, our Mediator, and the love for His spouse, the one, holy Roman Catholic Church begin to awaken in souls, partly cold, partly lukewarm, may this book contribute to this faith and love, that they may continually increase, strengthen, and bear fruit for time and eternity. This is the prayer and the sincere wish of the EDITOR. ALMANAC. The moveable feasts,, that is, those that do not come upon the same day every year, are all regulated according to Easter, and may be seen in the following table, so that when we know on which day of the month Easter comes, we can easily know all the other moveable feasts, if we only attend to the dominical letter, which is given in the second column and indicates the Sunday of the year opposite to which it stands. If in this table after the date of the years from 1870 till 1895 two letters stand beside each other, then that year is a leap-year, and the first letter shows the Sunday until the 25th February, the Feast of St. Matthias, from this date forward the second letter indicates the Sunday. A. TABLE OF MOVEABLE FEASTS. A. D, a t Ash- Septua- Wednes . gesima. day- Easter. Ascen- sion. Pente- cost. Corpus Christi. g £ g First a&J Sunday 111 in sg* Advent. 1871 A 1872 GF 1873 E 1874 D 1X75 C 1876 BA 1877 G 1878 F 1879 1880 1881 I 14 23 15 4 16 15 17 26 E DC B 18821 A 1883 1884 1885 1886 1887 1888 1889 1890 1891 1892 1893 1894 1895 1896 1897 1898 1899 1900 1901 1902 G FE D C B AG F E D CB A G F ED C B A G F E 903 D 1904 CB 19051 A 1906! G 5Febr. 28 Jan. 9Febr. lFebr. 24 Jan. 13Febr. 28 Jan. 17Febr. 9Febr. 21 Jan. 13Febr. 5Febr. 3 22 21 Jan. 4 yiOFebr. 5 14 lFebr. 6 25 2lFebr. 7 6 6Febr. 81729 Jan. 9 28 17Febr. 10i 9 2Febr. 22Febr. 9 April 18 May 28 May 8 June 14Febr. 31 March 9 May 19 May 30 May 26Febr. 13 April 22 May 1 June 12 June 18Febr. 5 April 14 May 24 May 4 June 18 19 1 2111 lOFebr. 28 March' 6 May 16 May 1 March 1 6 A pril 25 May 4 June 14Febr. 1 April 10 May 20 May 6 March 21 April 30 May 9 June 26 Febr. 13 April 22 May 1 June HFebr. 28 March 1 6 May; 16 May ■2 March: 17 April 26 May 1 5 June 22 Febr. | 9 April 18 May 28 May 7 Febr. 27 Febr. 18 Febr. 10 March 23 Febr. 15 Febr. 6 March 19 Febr. 25 March 13 April 5 April 25 April 10 April 1 April 21 April 6 April 3 May 13 Mav 22 May ! 1 June 14 May 24 May 3 June 13 June 19 May ! 29 May 10 May 20 May 30 May 9 June 15 Mav 25 May 20 25 Jan. 1 14 Febr 12 29 Jan. 23 21 Jan. 15 410Febr. 15 2 Febr. 14 Febr. 7 6 Febr. 18 29 Jan. 29 11 Febr 2 10 3 Febr 3 21 26 Jan. HFebr. '29 March. 7 Mav 47 May 2 March 17 April 26 Mav 5 June 15 Febr. 2 April 11 May 21 May 7 Febr. 25 March 3 May j 13 May 27 Febr. 114 April ;23 May i 2 June 19 Febr. 5 April 14 May 24 May 3 March] 18 April 27 May I 6 June 23 Febr. 10 April 19 May 29 May 15 Febr. 2 A pril 11 May 28 Febr. 14 April 23 May 20 Febr. 7 April 16 May 12Febr. 30 March 8 May 21 May 2 June 26 May 18 May 27 May 15 June. 31 May 20 June 12 June 27 May ; 16 June i 8 June 24 May 12 June 4 June 24 June 9 June 3lMay 20 June I 5 June 28 May 16 June 1 Uune ;24 May ! 13 June j 4 June 17 June 9 June 1 June 13 June 6 June 29 May 26 27 25 26 27 25 27 24 25 27 24 26 28 25 26 23 25 27 24 26 27 24 27 28 25 26 24 25 27 25 26 27 2 8 Febr. 25Febr. 12 April 21 May 31 May ;> 13 31 Jan. 17 Febr. 3 April 12 May 22 May 6 24 19 Febr. 8 March 23 April 1 June 111 June 7! 5 1 11 Febr. 28 Febr. 15 April 24 May! 3 June 11 June 25 1 2 June 26 22 June 24 14Junel 25 3 Dec. lDcc. 30Nov. 29 Nov. 28 Nov. 3 Dec. 2 Dec. IDec. 30 Nov. 28 Nov. 27 Nov. 3 Dec. 2 Dec. 30 Nov. 29 Nov. 28 Nov. 27 Nov. 2 Dec. IDec. 30 Nov. 29 Nov. 27 Nov. 3 Dec. 2 Dec. IDec. 29 Nov. 28 Nov. 27 Nov. 3 Dec. IDec. IDec. 30 Nov. 29 Nov. 27 Nov. 2 Dec. 3 Dec. VIII B. CALENDAR OF IMMOVEABLE FEASTS. The days printed in open print in the almanac of immoveable feasts, are Holidays. Emherdays are moveable and therefore are not given is this almanac; they are the Wednesdays, Fridays, and Saturdays, which come after the third Sunday in Advent, after the first Sunday in Lent, after Pentecost Sunday, and after the Feast of the Exaltation of the Cross. JANUARY. 1 a Circumcision of our Lord. Fulgentius, B.*) 2 b Makarius, Her. 3 c Genofieve, V. 4 d Titus, B. M. 5 e Simeon Styl, Her.; Teles- pliorus, P. 6 f Epiphany. (Second Sun- day after Epiphany, Feast of the Holy Name of Jesus.) 7 g Lucian, Pr. M. 8 a Erhardus, B. 9 b Julian and Basilissa, MM. 10 c Paul, Her. 11 d Theodosius, Abb. Her.; Hygynus, Pr. M. 12 e Arcadius, M. 13 f Godfrey, Count. 14 g Hilary, B.C.; Felix, Pr.C. 15 a Maurus, Abb.; Paul, Her. 16 b Honoratus, B ; Paula, W.; Marcellus, P. M. 17 c Anthony, Abb. Her. 18 d Peter's Chair at Rome ; Prisca, V. M. 19 e Canute, K. ; Marius, Mar- tha, MM. 20 f Fabian and Sebastian, MM. 21 g Agnes, V. M. 22 a Vincent and Anastasius, MM. 23 b John, Almon. ; Espousal B.V.M.;Ildephons,B.C; Emerentiana, V. M. 24 c Timothy, B. M. 25 d Conversion of St. Paul. 26 e Polycarp, B. M. 27 f John Chrysostom, B. C. 28 g Raymond de Penafort, C. ; Julian, B. C. 29 a Francis of Sales, B. 30 b Adelgundes, V.; Martina, V. M. 31 c Peter Nolascus, C; Ludo- vica, W. FEBRUARY. 1 d Ignatius, B.M.; Bridget, V. 2 e Purification of blessed Vir- gin Mary. 3 f Blase, B. M. 4 g Andrew Corsini, B. 5 a Agatha, V. M.; Paulus, John, and James, MM. 6 b Dorothy, V. M. 7 c Romuald, Abb. 8 d John of Matha, Founder of Order of Trinitarians. 9 e Apollonia, V. M. 10 f Scholastica, V. 11 g Euphrosina, V. 12 a Eulalia, V. M. 13 b Gregory II., P. ; Catharine of Ricci, V. 14 c Valentine, Pr. M. 15 d Faustinus and Jovita, MM. 16 e Juliana, V. M. 17 f Flavian, Arch-B.M.; Con- stantia, V. 18 g Simeon, B. M. 19 a Mansuetus, B. ; Conrad Piac, C. 20 b Eucherius, B. *) Explanation of abbreviations: Abb. — Abbot; Ap. — Apostle; B. — Bishop; C— Confessor; D — Doctor; Her.— Hermit; M — Martyr; MM.— Martyrs: P.— Pope; PP.— Popes; Pen.— Penitent; Pr.— Priest; V.— Virgin; VV.— Virgins. ALMANAC. . IX 21 c Adelaide, V. Abbess. 25 g Annunciation of the 22 d St. Peter's Chair at An- blessed Virgin Mary. tioch. ; Margareth of Cor- (The Feast of the Seven Dol- tona, Pen. ors is celebrated on the Friday 23 e Romana, V.; Peter *Dami- before Palm Sunday.) an, Her. 26 a Ludger, B. 21 f Matthias, Ap. 27 b Rupert, B. (In a leap-year the Feast of 28 c Gontran, King. St. Matthias is celebrated on the 29 d Eustasius, Abb. 25th, and then there are 29 days in February.) 25 g Walburge, V. Abbess. 30 e John Climacus. 31 f Guy, Abb. C. 26 a Dionysius, B. ; Alexander, P. APRIL. 27 b Leander, B. 1 g Hugh, B. 28 c Romanus, Abb. 2 a Francis of Paula, Founder. ."> b Mary of Egypt, Pen. MARCH. 4 c Isidore, B. C. 1 d Swidbert, B. 5 d Vincent Ferrer, C. 2 e Simplicius, P. 6 e William, Abb. 3 f Cunegundes, V. 7 f Herman Joseph. 4 g Casimir, King, Con.; 8 g Albert, B. Lucius, P. 9 a Mary Cleophas. 5 a Gerasimus, Her. Abb. 10 b Mechtildis, V. Abbess. 6 b Fridolin, Abb. lie Leo, the Great, P. ft 7 c Thomas Aquinas, C. D.; 12 d Zeno, B. M.; Julius, P. Perpetua and Felicitas, 13 e Justinus, M.; Hermene- MM. gildis, Queen, M.; Ida, V. 8 d John of God, C. 14 f Tiburtius, Valerianus, and 9 e Frances, W. Maximus, MM. 10 f The forty Martyrs, of Se- 15 g William, Her. baste. 16 a Gerauld, Duke; Turribius, 1 1 g Gumbert, B. B. C. 12 a Gregory, the Great, P.C.D. 13 b Euphrasia, V. 17 b Rudolph, M. ; Anicerus, Pr. M. 14 c Mathildis, Empress. 18 c Apollonius, M. 15 d Longinus, M. 19 d Wernerus, M. 16 e Heribert, Arch-B. 20 e Marcellus, B. ; Sulpicius 17 f Patrick, B. C; Gertrude, and Servilianus, MM. V. Abbess. 21 f Anselm, Arch-B. C. 18 g Cyrillus, B. 22 g Soter and Cajus, PP. MM. 19 a Joseph. 23 a George, M. 20 b Joachim, C, Father of the 24 b Mellitus, M.; Fidelis of blessed Virgin Mary. Sigmaringa, B. 21 c Benedict, Abb. 25 c Mark, Evangelist. 22 d Catherine of Sweden, V. 26 d CletusandMarcellinus,PP. 23 e Nicholas of the Flue, Her. MM.; Adalbert, B. 24 f Gabriel, Archangel. 27 e Zitta, Servant V.; Pere- 1 grinus, C. X ALMANAC. 28 f Vitalis and Valeria, MM. 29 b Theodosia, M. 29 g Peter, M.; Robert, Abb.; 30 c Felix, P. M.; Ferdinand, Antonia, V. M. King. 30 a Catherine of Sienna, V. 31 d Petronilla, V. MAY. JUNE. 1 b Philip and James, Ap. 1 e Pamphilus, Pr. M. 2 c Athanasius, B. C. 2 f Marcellinus, Peter, and 3 d Finding of the Holy Cross; Erasmus, MM. Alexander, Eventius, and 3 g Clotildis, Queen. Theodolus, MM.; Juveni- 4 a Optatus of Mileve, B. ; lis, B. C. Francis Caraciolo. 4 e Monica, W. ; Florian, M. 5 b Boniface, B. Ap. of Ger- 5 f Pius V., P. C. many, M. 6 g John Damascenus, D. 6 c Norbert, Founder. 7 a Stanislaus, B. M. 7 d Claudius, C. 8 b Apparition of St. Michael ; 8 e Maximinius, B. Victor, M. 9 f Pelagia, V. M. ; Primus and 9 c Gregory Nazianzen, B. C. Felicianus, MM. 10 d Anthony, B. C. ; Gordian 10 g Margaret, Queen; Bardo, and Epimachus, MM. Arch-B. 11 e Mamertus, Arch-B. 11 a Barnabas, Ap. 12 f Nereus,Aclrilleus,andPan- 12 b John a Sancto Facundo, C. ; cratius, MM. ; Flavia Do- Basilides, Cyrinus, Nabor, mitilla, V. and Nazarius, MM. 13 g Servatius, B. 13 c Anthony of Padua, C. 14 d Basil, the Great, B. C. 14 a Boniface, M. 15 b Dympna, V. M. 15 e Vitus, Modestus, and Cres- 16 c John Nepomucene, M.; centia, MM. Ubald,B. C. 16 f Luitgardis,V.;Benno,B.C. 17 d Paschal Baylon, C. 17 "g Montanus, Soldier. ' 18 e Vincent, M. ; Felix Canta- 18 a Marcus and Marcellinus, licio, C. MM. 19 f Peter Celestine, P.C.;Po- 19 b GervaseandProtase,MM.; tentiana, V. Juliana of Falconieri, V. 20 g Bernardine of Sienna, C. 20 c Florentina, V. ; Silverius, 21 a Hospitius, C. P.M. 22 b Julia, V. M. 21 d Aloysius Gonzaga, C. 23 c Desiderius, B. 22 e Paulinus, B. C. ; 10000 24 d Joan converted by Christ ; Martyrs. John Francis, King, C. 23 f Ediltrudis, V. 25 e Gregory VII., P. C; Urban, 24 g John Baptist. P. M. 25 a Febronia, V. M.; William 26 f Philip Neri, C; Eleuthe- of Monte Vergine, Abb. rius, P. M. 26 b John and Paul, MM. 27 g M. Magdalen of Pazzi, V.; 27 c Crescentius, B. M. John, P. M. 28 d Ireneus, B. M.; Leo, P. 28 a Germanus, B. C. 21) e Peter and Paul, App. 30 f Martial, B. JULY. 1 g Aaron, High Priest of Old Law. 2 a Visitation of blessed Virgin Mary ; Processus and Mar- tinianus, MM. 3 b Heliodorus, B. 4 c Ulric, B. 5 d Cyrilla, M. 6 c Goarius, Pr. 7 f Willibald, B.; Pulcheria, V. Empress. 8 g Kilian, B. M.; Elisabeth, Queen. 9 a Anatolia, V. M. ; Leonard and his companions, MM. 10 b Seven Brethren, MM.; and their mother Felicitas ; Ru- fina and Secunda, MM. 11 c Pius, B. M. 12 d John Gualbertus, Abb.; Nabor and Felix, MM. 13 e Anacletus, P. M. 14 f Bona venture, B. C. 15 g Henry, Emperor, C. ; Se- paration of the Apostles. 16 a B.V. Mary ofMt.Carmel; Faustus, M. 17 b Alexius, C. 18 c SymphorosawithherSeven Sons, MM.; Camillus of Leffis, C; • 19 d Arsenius, Her.; Vincent of Paul, Founder. 20 e Margaret, V. M. ; Jerome Aemil, C. 21 f Praxedis, V.; Victor, Sol- dier, M. 22 g Mary Magdalen, Pen. 23 a Apollinaris, B. M. ; Libo- rius, B. C. 24 b Christina, V. M.. 25 c James the Greater, Ap. ; Christophorus, M. 26 d Anne,Mother of B.V.Mary. ALMANAC. XI i 27 e Pantaleon, M. 28 f Nazarius, Celsus, Victor, PP. MM.; Innocent, P. C. 29 g Martha, V.; Felix, P.- Simplicius, Faustinus and Beatrix, MM. 30 a Julitta, M.; Abdon and Sennen, MM. 31 b Ignatius, C. AUGUST. 1 c Peter's Chair; Machabees, MM. 2 d Stephen, P. M. ; Portiun- cula ; Theodora with her three Sons, MM. ; Alphon- sus Liguori, B. Founder. 3 e Finding of the Relics of St. Stephen, first Martyr. 4 f Dominic, Founder. 5 g Dedication of St. Mary ad Nives; Afra, M.; Oswald, King. 6 a Transfiguration; Xystus, P. ; Felicissimus and Aga- pitus, MM. 7 b Cajetan, Founder; Dona- tus, B. M. 8 c Cyriacus, LargusandSma- ragdus, MM. 9 d Romanus, M. 10 e Laurentius, Levite, M. 11 f Tiburtius and Susanna, MM. 12 g Clara, V. Foundress; Hi- laria, M. 13 a Hippolytus and Cassianus, MM. 14 b Eusebius, C; Athanasia, W. 15 c Assumption of blessed Virgin Mary. 16 d Hyacinth, C. 17 e Liberatus, Abb. 18 f Agapitus, M.; Helena, Empress. 19 g Julius, M.; Louis, B. C. 20 a Bernard, Abb. XII ALMANAC. 21 b Jane Frances Fremiot of j Chantal, W. 22 c Timothy, Hippolitus and Symphorianus, MM. 23 d Sidonius, Philip Benit, C. . 24 e Bartholomew, Ap. 25 f Louis, King. 26 g Zephyrious, P. M. 27 a Gebhard, B. ; Joseph Ca- lasant, C. 28 b Augustine, B. C. D.; Her- mes, M. 29 c Decollation of St. John Bapt.; Sabina, M. 30 d Rose of Lima, V.; Felix and Andactus, MM.; He- lena, W. 31 e Isabella, V.; Raymond Nonnatus, C. SEPTEMBER. 1 f Giles, Her. Abb.; The twelve brethren, MM. 2 g Stephen, King of Hungary. 3 a Joachim,- Father of B. V. Mary. (Otherwise on the Sunday after the Assumption of the B. V.) Rosalia, V. Lawrence Justinian, B. C. Magnus, Abb. Regina, V. M. Nativity of B. V. M.; Adrian, M. (Sunday afterwards Feast of Holy Name of B. V. M.) Gorgonius, M. Nicholas of Tolentin, C. Protus and Hyacinth, MM. Sacerdos, B. Amatus, Abb. Exaltation of the holy Cross. Nicomedes, M. Cornelius P. and Cyprian, B., MM. 17 a. Holy Stigmas of St. Fran- cis; Lambert, B. M. 4 b 5 c 6 d 7 e 8 f 9g 10 a 11 b 12 c 13 d 14 e 15 f 16 g 18 b 19 c 20 d 21 e 22 f 23 g 24 a 25 20 27 28 e 29 f Joseph a Cupertino, C; Thomas of Villa nova, B. C. Januarius, B. M. Eustochis, &c. MM. Matthew, A p. Evangelist. Mauritius, &c. MM. Linus, P. M. ; Thecla, V. M. Mary deMercedc; Gerar- dus, B. M. Cleophas, M. Disc. Ch. Cyprian and Justin a, MM. Cosmas and Damian, Brethren and MM. Wenceslaus, Duke, M. Michael, Archangel. 30 g Jerome, Pr. D. OCTOBER. 1 a Remigius, B. C. 2 b Leodegarius, B. M.; Otto, B. 3 c Candidus, B. 4 d Francis Seraph, Founder. 5 e Placidus, Abb.; Flavia, V. M. 6 f Bruno, Founder. 7 g Mark, P. C. ; Sergius, Bacchus, &c. MM. 8 a Bridget, W. 9 b Dionysius,B.;Rusticus,Pr. and Eleutherius, Deacon, MM. 10 c Francis Borgia, C. ; Louis Bertrand, C. ; Gereon, &c. MM. 11 d Placida, V. 12 e Domnina, M. 13 f Edward, C; Sympertus, B. C. 14 g Callistus, P. M. ; Burchar- dus, B. 15 a Theresia, V. 16 b Gaul, Abb. 17 c Hedwtees, Duchess, W. 18 d Luke, Evangelist. 19 e Peter of Alcantara, John 19 a 21 c 22 d 23 e 24 f 25 g 26 a 27 b 28 c 29 d 30 c 20 f Wendelin, Abb. ; Cant., C. 21 g Hilarion, Abb.; Ursula, &c. 20 b VV. MM. 22 a Cordula, V. M. 23 b Severin,B.; Peter Paschal, B. M. 24 c Raphael, Archangel. 25 d Chrysanthus and Daria, MM. ; Gavinus,~Protus, and Januarius, MM. 26 e Evaristus, P. M. 27 f Florentinus, M. 28 g Simon and Judas, App. ; Anastasia, V. M. 29 a Narcissus, B. ; Eusebia, V. M. 30 b Marcellus, Centur. M. 31 c Wolfgang, B. NOVEMBER. 1 d All Saints. 2 e All Souls. 3 f Malachias, B. 4 g Charles Borr., Arch-B. ; Vitalis and Agricola, MM. 5 a Emmericius. 6 b Leonard, Her. Pr. 7 c Willibrordus, B. 8 d Four Crowned Brethren, MM.; Godfrey, B. 9 e Theodorus, Soldier, M. 10 f Andrew A veil., C; Try- phon and Respicius, MM.; Nympha, V. 11 g Martinus, B. C; Mennas, M. 12 a Martinus, P. M. 13 b Didacus, C; Stanislaus Costka, C. 14 c Veneranda, V. M. 15 d Gertrude, V.; Leopold, Margrave. 16 e Othniar, Abb.; Edmund, Arch-B. 17 f Gregory Thaumatur., B.C. 18 g Odo, Abb. of Clugny; Ma- ximus, B. of Mayence. ALMANAC. XIII Elisabeth, W. ; Pontianus, P.M. Felix de Valois, C. Presentation of B. V. M.; Albertus, B. M. Cecilia, V. M. Clement, P. M.; Felicitas, M. John of the Cross, C. ; Chrysogony, M. ; Colum- ban, Abb. Catharine, V. M. Peter, Alexander, B M.; Conrad, B. Virgilius, B. Sosthenes, Disciple of St. Paul. Saturninus, B. Andrew, Ap. DECEMBER. 1 f Eligius, B. 2 g Bibiana, V. M. 3 a Francis Xavier, Ap. of India, C. ; Lucius, B. C. 4 b Barbara, V. M. ; Peter Chrysologus, B. C. 5 c Sabba, Abb. 6 d Nicholas, B. C. 7 e Ambrose, B. 8 f Immaculate Concep- tion of B. V. M.; Euche- rius, B. ; Sophronius, B. 9 g Gorgonia, Leocadia, V. M. 10 a Melchiades, P. lib Damascus, P. 12 c Dionysia, &c. MM. 13 d Lucia, V. M.; Ottilia, V. 14 e Nicasius, B. 15 f Yalerianus, B. M. 16 g Eusebius, B. M. 17 a Adelaide, W. ; Florian, &c. MM. ; Lazarus, B. 18 b Expectation of theB.V.M.; Gratian, B. 19 c Timothy and Maura, MM. 20 d Philogonius, B. 21 e Thomas, Ap. XIV 22 f Ischyrion, M. ALMANAC. 27 d John, Ap. Evangelist. 23 g Victoria, V. M.; Semilus, 28 e Innocents; Doma, Agape, Beggar. 24 a Adam and Eve. 25 b Nativity of our Lord; Theophila, &c. VV. MM. 29 f Thomas of Canterbury, B. M. Anastasia, M.; Eugenia, 30 g Sabinus, B. M. V. M. 2G c Stephen, first Martyr 31 a Sylvester, B. C. GOFFINE'S ECCLESIASTICAL YEAR, PART lo EXPLANATION OF THE EPISTLES AND GOSPELS FOR THE SUNDAYS AND FESTIVALS, TO WHICH ARE ADDED INSTRUCTIONS ON CHRISTIAN FAITH AND MORALS. SHORT INSTRUCTION ON THE MANNER OF USING THIS BOOK. Before you, my dear Christian, commence to read these instructions, I. Place yourself in the presence of God, as much as if you were really sitting with Mary Magdalen at His feet, listening to His words. n. Humble yourself, as a weak sinner, before Him, sincer- ely imploring His forgiveness. ni. Pray that you may be enlightened and may love Him; recommend }^ourself to the blessed Virgin and to the saints. Then, step by step, read the instructions carefully. After each point pause a moment and reflect upon the truth which you have read, asking yourself: 1) What must I believe? That which I have just read. Then make an act of faith, saying: "0 Lord! I will believe this truth, help my faith, in- crease my faith!" 2) What have I now to do? I must correct the faults opposed to this truth. 3) What have I done hereto- fore ? Unhappily, God, I have acted in contradiction to this truth; how differently, Jesus, from Thee and from Thy saints ! 4) What shall I now do ? Here make a firm resolu- tion to put these truths into immediate practice, to contend against and overcome the faults opposed to them, and to acquire a new virtue. Then finish the reading with acts of faith, hope, charity, and contrition. Do this each time you read in this or in any book of devotion, and you will soon see, how great a benefit you will derive from it for your soul. EXPLANATIONS AND INSTRUCTIONS CONCERNING THE ECCLESIASTICAL YEAR. What is understood by the Ecclesiastical Year ? Y the Ecclesiastical Year is understood the suc- cession of those holy days and seasons, returning with each returning year, which the Church has appointed to be celebrated that the faithful may be reminded of the divine graces and my- steries, may praise God, and occupy themselves, at such times, with pious devotional exercises in His honor, and for their own sanctification and edification. When does the Ecclesiastical Year begin, and when does it end? It begins with the first Sunday in Advent and ends with the last Sunday after Pentecost. How is the Ecclesiastical Year divided? Into Sundays, weekdays, festivals, holidays and fastdays. What is Sunday? Sunday is the first day of the week, sanctified in an especial manner by God Himself, called by the Apostles the "Lord's Day", which should be devoted exclusively to the service of God. Why should the Sunday be devoted exclusively to God? Because it is but proper that man, who is created for the ser- vice of God only, should reserve at least one out of the seven days of the week for that service, and for the salvation of his own soul. So, in the beginning, God ordered that on the seventh day or Satur- day, on which He rested after finishing the work of creation , man also should rest, {Exodus ^jl^W.) abstain from all worldly employ- ment, and attend only to the worship of God. This was the Sab- bath, or day of rest, of the Jews which they were required to keep holy. {Lev. xxiii. 24 ) But the Catholic Church , authorized by Christ , inspired by the Holy Ghost, and directed by the Apostles, has made the first day of the week, or Sunday, of which the holy martyr Justin, even, speaks if 167 A. D.) , the day of rest for the Christians, partly to distinguish them from the Jews, and partly for these reasons : On this day God commenced the creation of the world and on this very day He completed its renovation by Christ's glorious resur- rection; on this day, as Bellarmine says, Christ was born, was 2 EXPLANATIONS AND INSTRUCTIONS circumcized, and was baptized; and on this day the Holy Ghost descended upon the Apostles. Why is this day called Sunday? Because on this day, as St. Ambrose says, Christ, the sun of justice, having scattered the darkness of hell, shone forth, as the rising sun, in the glory of the resurrection. (Malach. iv. 2.) How should the Catholic keep Sunday holy, and how does he desecrate it? Sunday is kept holy by abstaining from all servile work, performed for wages or gain, or not commanded by necessity; by passing the day in works of piety; in hearing Mass devoutly, listening to the word of God in church and at home in a quiet, God pleasing manner. If justly prevented from being present at church on Sundays and holidays of obligation, we should unite, in spirit, with the priest and the faithful assembled there, praying fervently ; during the rest of the day we should read books of devotion and endeavor to perform some work of charity. Sunday is desecrated by being spent either in idleness or in unnecessary servile work, or in that which is still worse, debauchery, gambling, dancing or in other sinful deeds. It would be better, that is, less bad, as St. Augustine says, to till the field on such days, than to spend them in frivolous, dangerous, and sinful pleasures. But it is not forbidden, having properly attended divine service, to par- ticipate on Sundays and holidays in honorable, decorous enter- tainment of the mind and heart. What, as a Catholic, is thought of dancing on Sundays and holidays of obligation? The amusement of dancing on these holy days cannot possibly be pleasing to God. Dancing, as its manner is now, is generally the grave of innocence. Dances are a festival of the devil, says St. Ephrem ; they are the coffin of innocence and the grave of modesty; they are nothing less than a circle of which the devil is the centre, and, they are, therefore, seldom or never indulged in without sin, says St. Charles Borromeo. How, then, can an honest girl and an honest young man meet in a ball-room and conjointly celebrate the devil's feast? How, then, can parents permit their children, masters and mistresses their servants, to go where their innocence is in such danger? Fairs are just as little pleasing to God. God never ordained His days for buying and selling, for the gratification of avarice and the greed of gain. But alas ! these fairs are made use of not only for traffic, but often by young people for forbidden meetings. On the way to them and back innocence is often buried. St. Jerome justly calls such gatherings the deathstruggle of innocence and purity. CONCERNING THE ECCLESIASTICAL YEAE. 3 What rewards are offered for keeping Sunday sacred, and what punishment incurred by its desecration? The Old Law {Lev. xxvi.) promised all fortune, well-being, and all blessing to those who kept holy the Sabbath day ; and all evils and misfortunes to those who desecrated it. Thus, to show how much He condemned its profanation, God caused a man to be stoned to death for gathering wood upon that day. (Num. xv. 32.) The Catholic Church from her very beginning, and in several councils (Coun. Eh. A. D.313, Paris 829.) has enjoined the keeping holy of Sundays and holidays, and experience proves in our days especially, that, as the consequence of the constantly increasing profanation of Sundays and holidays, that immorality and poverty are growing greater ; a manifest sign that God never blesses those who refuse to devote a few days of the year to His honor and service. PRAYER FOR ALL SUNDAYS. God, who hast appoint- ed this day, that during it we may serve Thee and partici- pate in Thy grace, grant that always on Sundays our faith may be renewed and our hearts incited to Thy praise and to the adoration of Thy Majesty; through Jesus Christ, Thy Son, our Lord. Amen. What are festivals? Festivals are days set apart by the Catholic Church, and observed with certain solemnities, in order to place the mysteries and graces of God, or the memory of the Saints, before the eyes of the faithful, that they may be incited to gratitude to God, and to the veneration and imitation of the Saints. Thus there are festivals of God, of Christ and of the Saints. Has the Church the, right to institute festivals and fast-days? To deny her such right would be to place her below the Jewish Synagogue, which in acknowledgment of benefits received, established many festivals, such as the Purim Feast (Esther ix. 26.), the festival in honor of Judith's victory over Holofernes (Judith, xvi, 31.), the feast of the Dedication of the Temple (Maab. iv, 52.; John x. 22 J, which our Lord himself celebrated with them. Should not the Catholic Church therefore celebrate with equal solemnity the far greater blessings she has received from God? God Himself through Moses commanded the Jews to celebrate, and as it were, to immortalize, by the Pasch, their redemption from Egyptian captivity ; the reception of the Ten Commandments on Mount Sinai, by the festival of Pentecost, their forty years journey through the wilderness and their living in huts by the feast of the Tabernacles. How unjustly, then, would the Church conduct herself, if she should not commemorate, as the Old Law did, by the institution of certain festivals in honor of God and His Saints, 4 EXPLANATIONS AND INSTRUCTIONS those graces of which He has made her partaker, through Christ and His Saints, since our Lord gave to the Apostles and to the bishops, their successors, the power to bind and to loose, that is, to make ordinances, and, as circumstances may require, changes {Matt, xviii. 18.), for the salvation of the people! Among these ordinances are festivals and holidays, instituted to assist the faithful in procuring their salvation. And from this very right of the Church to institute festivals follows her right to change or abolish them, at her option, whenever her object of directing them to the honor of God is no longer reached, and the faithful in this case would be as much bound to obey her, as when she established them, for: Who hears not the Church, says Christ, let him be to thee as the heathen and publican. {Matt, xviii. 17.) How are holidays and festivals to be observed? They are to be observed like Sunday. Besides which we should endeavor to understand well the mysteries and blessings of God, the lives and labors of the Saints, on whose account the festivals have been established, which we can do by hearing Mass and catechetical instruction, or at home by reading books written on devotional subjects, in order to induce ourselves to love and praise God and to imitate the Saints, for these are the objects the Church has in view in establishing festivals. But, unfortu- nately, as these objects of theChurch are responded to by but few, and as, on the contrary, partly on account Of their number, partly on account of the increasing laxity of the faithful, the holidays are spent very differently from the way the Church intended, she has done well in abolishing certain festivals, or transferring them to Sunday, that they may be, at least, better regarded, and God not offended by their profanation. However, on these days, which have been changed or done away with, there is no prohibition to hear Mass devoutly, but idleness and ill behavior are especially sinful on these days. What are fastdays? Fastdays are those days on which the Church commands us to mortify the body and offer God a sacrifice of mortification by abstaining from fleshmeat, or by taking but one full meal in the day. Those days on which besides the abstinence from meat, but one full meal is alio wed, are called Fast days of obligation; those days on which it is only required to abstain from meat, are called days of abstinence. Can the Church institute fastdays? She can, because the Church of Christ, as mother of the faith- ful, has the power to make all useful and necessary regulations for the salvation of their souls. In doing so she only follows the example of our Lord, her head, for He fasted, and of the Apostles CONCERNING THE ECCLESIASTICAL YEAR. 5 who, even in their day, ordered Christians to abstain from blood and things strangled (Acts xv. 28.), in order not to prevent the conversion of the Jews, who, on account of the Old Law, abhorred the blood and meat of strangled animals, but removed the pro- hibition when there was no longer danger of hindering the Jews. "Fasting is no new invention", writes the father of the Church Basil the Great (f 379 A. D.J, "as many imagine, it is a precious treasure, which our forefathers preserved long before our days, and have handed down to us". Why has the Church instituted fastdays and what is their use? The Catholic Church, from the very beginning, has looked upon external fasting, only as an accompaniment and outward sign of penance. Her object in instituting fastdays, therefore, was and is, that by fasting the faithful may mortify their flesh and their evil desires, seek to pacify God, make satisfaction for their sins, practice obedience to the Church their mother, and by performing these virtues become more zealous and fervent in prayer, and in the service of God. Because fasting aids in all this, as is proved by innumerable texts of Scripture, as well as by experience. The fathers are full of praise of the usefulness of fasting, and our Lord predicted that the Church, His spouse, would fast when He, her bridegroom, should be taken from her. (Matt. ix. 15.) What are we to think of those heretics and of those Catholics who contemn the Church's command to fast? Those Catholics who contemn the Church's command to fast, and who therefore transgress it fearlessly, contemn their mother, the Church, and Christ her founder and her head, who fasted: give scandal to others, obedient children of the Church, and do themselves great harm, because they make themselves slaves of the flesh, subject their souls to the evil desires of the body and so fall into many sins. They show that they have departed from the spirit of the early Christians who fasted with great strictness, and that they are too cowardly to overcome themselves, and offer God the sacrifice of obedience to His Church. The heretics have the Bible a gainst them if they assert that the Church's command to fast is useless and unnecessary: (/fcte.xiii.2, 3.) that Bible on which they so often call, as well as all Christian antiquity, experience arid reason. One of the fathers of the Church Basil writes: "Honor ever the ancient practice of fasting, for it is as old as the first human creation. We must fast if w r e would return to paradise from which gluttony expelled us". Every rational reflecting person must acknowledge, as experience teaches, that bodily health, and unimpaired soul-power are best preserved and Loproved by temperance and abstinence, especially from flesh- meat. By continual fasting it was that many of the old fathers 6 EXPLANATIONS AND INSTRUCTIONS of the desert preserved vigorous health, lasting beyond the usual limit of man's age, even lived more than a century in the hot coun- tries where the time of life is generally shorter than in our climate. St. Paul, the first hermit, lived one hundred and thirteen years ; St. Anthony one hundred and five; St. Arsenius one hundred and twenty; St. John, the silent, one hundred and four; St. Theodosius abbot, one hundred and five. The Catholic Church here proves herself a good mother to us, for in this command she regards not only the spiritual but the corporal welfare of her children. The words of our Lord: "Not that which goeth into the mouth defileth a man, but that which cometh out of the mouth this defileth a man", was meant for the Pharisees who judged certain kinds of food prohibited by law, or that had been touched by unclean hands, to be unclean. Had He intended it to be understood in the way the contemners of fasting assert, He would have declared intoxication by drinking, even the taking of poison, to be permitted; certainly food being the gift of God and therefore good, does not make man a sinner, but disobedience to the command and inordinate greediness and gluttony make him such. Which are the most important fast days? First, the Great or Forty Days fast (Lent), which will be spoken of in its proper place; secondly, the Ember-fasts; thirdly, the Vigils ; fourthly, Fridays and Saturdays throughout the year, as also the Sundays in Lent, which, however, are only days of ab- stinence. By special dispensation the command to abstain from meat on the Sundays of Lent, to fast and abstain on all Saturdays, and to fast on all Fridays throughout the year has been removed. All Fridays throughout the year are days of abstinence, all Fridays in Adrent, and all Fridays and Saturdays in Lent are days of fasting and abstinence. The Saturdays in Advent are days of abstinence but not fas/days of obligation. What are the Ember-days and why are they instituted? The Ember-da,} s are the first Wednesday, Friday and Satur- day at the commencement of each of the four seasons of the year, set apart as fastdays by the Catholic Church. According to the testimony of Pope Leo their origin was in the times of the Apostles, who were inspired by the Holy Ghost to dedicate each season of the year to God by a few days of penance, and, as it were, to pay three days interest every three months, on the graces received from God. The Church has also commanded us to fast at the beginning of each of the four seasons of the year, because it is at this time that she ordains the priests and other servants of the Church, which even the Apostles did with much prayer and fasting. Thus she desires that during the Ember-days the Christians should fervently ask of God by prayer, fasting and other good works, CONCERNING THE ECCLESIASTICAL YEAR. 7 that He would give her worthy pastors and servants, on whom depend the welfare of the whole Christian flock • she desires that in the spring Ember- days whe should ask for God's blessing for the fertility of the earth ; in summer for the preservation of the fruits of the field, in the fall when the harvest is ripe, and in the winter when it is brought in, that we should offer to (rod by fasting and prayer a sacrifice of thanks petitioning Him to assist us, that we may not use His gifts for our soul's detriment, but that we may give praise and thanks to Him, the fountain of all good, and assist our neighbor according to our means. What are Vigil-fasts? They are the eves of certain festivals, which the Church has ordered to be observed as fastdays. • Even the early Christians prepared themselves by fasting, praying and watching, as signified by the latin word "Vigil", for the coming festival. Thus to this day in the Vigil-Mass the priest does not say "Ite Missa est" (Go ye, Mass is over), but "Benedicamus Domino" (Let vs praise the Lord), because in olden times when Mass was celebrated at night, the Christians were invited to continue praising God in Church until the dawn of the festival ; but this nightwatch the Church has now abolished, partly on account of the decaying zeal of the Christians, and partly on account of the abuse of it to be feared, but has retained the fast, by which to honor God and his Saints, to obtain their intercession mortifying the flesh according to their example. "By fasting on the eves of festivals", says St. Bernard, "we learn that we can enter heaven only through many sufferings". Why does the Church forbid the use of fleshmeat on Fridays and Saturdays ? "The Church", as Pope Innocence says, "forbids the use of fleshmeat on Fridays because our Lord died on that day, and on Saturday because on it He rested in the sepulchre, and also that we may be better prepared by this abstinence for Sunday". In some dioceses the use of meat is allowed on Saturdays, and so marked in the calender and every year announced to the people, and for this dispensation the faithful should fast all the more conscientiously on Fridays. Who is bound to fast and who not ? All Christians over seven years of age, unless for some reason excused, are required under pain of mortal sin, to abstain from meat on all days of fasting and abstinence; all those who are over twenty one years of age are bound to take but one full meal a day. A severe illness or a dispensation obtained by valid reasons, and not by fraud or extorted by vain pretences, excuse from the necessity of abstinence on Fridays : those are dispensed from the necessity of fasting on one meal on fastdays, who cannot fulfill the 8 EXPLANATIONS AND INSTRUCTIONS &c. command without great inconvenience such as: those recovering from sickness, pregnant and nursing women, old and infirm people, those who are engaged in hard labor, undertaking severe journeys and the poor who have no full meals : also those who are preven- ted by the fast from some better work incumbent upon their office or dictated by Christian charity. These persons mentioned are excused from fasting in so far that they are permitted to eat whenever they need food, but must still abstain from the use of meat unless also dispensed from the command of abstinence. They should however be sincerely grieved to be unable to unite with the whole Church in such meritorious work, and should endeavor to make amends by prayer, alms-deeds, and other good works. Who sin against fasting ? First, those who deliberately and without sufficient cause do not abstain from the use of meat; secondly, those who without any of the excuses mentioned take more than one full meal in the day; thirdly, those who eat between the time of meals, although to drink, or a simple taste of food does not break the fast; fourthly, those who indulge in long extravagant, and temptingly prepared dinners, abundant drinking and excessive amusement which are all opposed to the spirit of penance and mortification. And lastly, when on a fastday neshmeat and fish are used at the same meal. /* it not allowable to eat any thing in the evening on fastday si The early Christians were so rigorous in their penance that they contented themselves with one temperate meal on fastdays, and that was generally by bread and water and taken only in the evening; but as, in the course of time, the penitential zeal declined, the Church like an indulgent mother permitted, besides the full meal at noon, a small quantity of food to be taken in the evening, that is about as much as would make the fourth part of a regular meal, or not to appear scrupulous, as much as would not cause too great aggravation, or exhaust the strength necessary for the next day's labor; but "to wish to feel no aggravation in fasting, is to wish not to fast at all". With what intentions should we fast? First, with the intention of doing penance and punishing the body for the sins which we have committed by yielding to its evil desires; secondly, to satisfy God and to unite ourselves with our Lord in his forty days fast: thirdly, to obtain the strength to lead a chaste, pure life ; fourthly, to give to the poor that which is saved by fasting. NOTE Whatever is necessary 'o be understood further in regard to this subject, will be found in the instructions on the forty days fast. INSTRUCTIONS IN REGARD TO THE ADVENT AND THE TIME OF ADVENT. What is the meaning of the word Advent, and what do we T understand by it? He word Advent signifies Coming, and by it is understood the visible coming of the Son of God, at two different times, to this world. When was (he first coming of Christ? It was when the Son of God, conceived by the Holy Ghost in the womb of the most pure Virgin Mary, was born, according to the flesh, in the fulness of time, and sanctified the world by His coming for which the patriarchs and prophets had so longed. (Gen. xlix, 10., Isai. lxiv. 1 , Luke x, 24.) Since Christ had not yet come how were the just of the Old Law saved? Immediately after their sin God revealed to our first parents {Gen. iii. 15.) that His only begotten Son would become man and redeem the world. In the hope of this Redeemer and through His future merits all in the old covenant who participated in His merits by innocence or by penance, and who died in the grace of God, were saved, although they were excluded from heaven until the ascension of Christ. When will the second coming of Christ take place? At the end of the world when Christ will come with great power and majesty to judge both the living and the dead. What is Advent, and why has the Church instituted it? Advent is that solemn time, immediately preceding Christmas, instituted by the Church in order that we should in the first place meditate on the Incarnation of Christ, the love, patience and hu- mility which He has shown us, and to prove our gratitude to Him that He came from the bosom of His heavenly Father into this valley of tears, to redeem us; secondly, that we may prepare ourselves by sincere repentance, by fasting, prayer, alms-deeds, and other works pleasing to God, for the coming of Christ and His birth in our hearts, and thus participate in the graces which He has obtained for us ; finally, that He may be merciful to us when He shall come again as judge of the world. "Watch ye and pray, for ye know not at what hour the Son of Man may come". {Matt. xxiv. 42. 44.) How was Advent formerly observed? Very differently from now. It then commenced with the feast of St. Martin, and was observed by the faithful like the Forty Days 10 INSTRUCTIONS IN REGARD TO THE ADVENT &c. Fast with strict fasting and pious devotional exercises; as even now the most religious communities fast, and the Church has for- bidden all noisy amusements, weddings, dancing and concerts among Christians during Advent. Pope Sylverius ordered that those who seldom receive Holy Communion should at least do so on every Sunday in Advent. Hoic should this solemn time be spent by pious Christians ? They should recall, during these four weeks, the four thousand years in which the just under the Old Law expected and desired the promised Redeemer, think of those days of darkness in which nearly all the nations were blinded by Satan and drawn into the most horrible crimes, then to consider their own sins and evil deeds and purify their souls from them by a worthy reception of the Sacraments, so that our Lord may come with His grace to dwell in their hearts and be merciful to them in life and in death. Further to awaken in the faithful the feelings of repentance so necessary for the reception of the Saviour in their hearts, the Church orders that besides the observance of certain fastdays, the altar shall be draped in violet, that Mass shall be celebrated in violet vestments, that the organ shall be silent and no Gloria sung. Unjust to themselves, disobedient to the Church, and ungrateful, indeed, to God are those Christians and Catholics who spend this solemn time of grace presented to them, without any special devotions, without performing any good works, with no longing for the coming of Christ into their hearts, without receiving the sacraments, perhaps in foolish, even sometimes in sinful amusements. What are Nor ate, High- Masses, and why are they celebrated? They are the solemn Highmasses celebrated in some coun- tries in commemoration of the tidings brought to the Blessed Virgin by the Archangel Gabriel, announcing to her that she was to become the Mother of God, and derive their name from the words of the Intro it in the Votive-Mass in honor of our beloved Lady "Rorate coeli desuper'"; and are also sometimes called the Angel's High-Mass. They arc celebrated very early in the morning because the Blessed Virgin preceded our Lord, as the aurora the rising sun. PRAYER IN ADVENT. God, who by Thy gracious advent hast brought joy into this world, grant us, we beseech Thee, Thy grace to prepare ourselves by sincere penance for its celebration and for the Last Judgment. Amen. 11 INSTRUCTION FOR THE FIRST SUNDAY IN ADVENT. He first Sunday in Advent is the first day of the Ecclesiastical Year, and the beginning of the holy season of Advent. The Church com- mences, on this day, to contemplate the great longing with which the just of the Old Law desired the coming of the Redeemer ; on these days and during the entire season of Advent she unites her prayers with their sighs in order to awaken in her children also the desire for the grace of the Redeemer; above all to move them to do true penance for their sins, because these are the greatest obstacles in the path of that gracious Advent ; therefore she sings at the Intro it of the day's Mass: "To Thee, Lord, have I lifted up my soul. In Thee, my God, 1 put my trust; let me not be ashamed. Neither let my enemies laugh at me: for none of them that wait on Thee shall be confounded. Show, Lord, Thy ways to me and teach meThy paths". {Psalm xxiv. 1— 4.) Glory be to the Father, and to the Son and to the Holy Ghost; as it was in the beginning, is now and ever shall be. Amen. PRAYER OF THE CHURCH. Show forth Thy power, Lord, and come that we may merit to be delivered by Thy protection from the imminent danger of our sins, and be saved by Thee, our Liberator. Who livest and reignest with God the Father together with the Holy Ghost, God for ever and ever. Amen. EPISTLE. (Bomansxiii.il — 14.) Brethren! you know the time, that it is now the hour for us to rise from sleep. For now our salvation is nearer than when we believed. The night is passed and the day is at hand. Let us therefore cast off the works of darkness and put on the armor of light. Let us walk honestly, as in the day, not in eating and drunkenness, not in chambering and impurities, not in con- tention and envy: but put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ. What does St. Paul teach us in this epistle ? After fully explaining the duties of a Christian life to the Ro- mans who were converted especially by St. Peter, he exhorts them to hesitate no longer to fulfill them, and seeks to move their hearts in this time of grace, presented to them by the Christian regulation. 12 FIRST SUNDAY IN ADVENT. What is meant here by sleep? The stupidity and blindness of the soul that, forgetting her God, is sunk in a luckwarm, effeminate, slothful and lustful life, which when it is gone, leaves behind nothing more than a dream had in sleep. Why does St. Paul say, "salvation is nearer"? He wishes to impress upon the Romans that they now have far greater hope of salvation than when they first became Chri- stians, and that they should secure it by a pious life, because death, and the moment on w r hich depended their salvation, or eternal reward, was drawing near. "What is our life", says St. Chryso- stom, "other than a course, a dangerous course to death, through death to immortality"? What is the signification of day and nig lit? The night signifies the time before Christ, full of darkness, of infidelity and of injustice; the day represents the present time, the time of grace and of the gospel light in the Church, in which Christ enlightens the whole world with the light of the true faith. What are "the works of darkness?" All sins, and especially those which are committed in the dark, and shun the eye of God and man. What is the "armor of light?" That faith, virtue and grace, the spiritual armor, with which we battle against our three enemies, the world, the flesh, and the devil, and in which we should walk honestly before all men. A Christian who in baptism has renounced the devil and all his pomps, dares not live in vice and impurities, but must put on Christ Jesus, that is, must adorn his soul with the imitation of Christ's virtues, as with a beautiful garment. This text (verse 13) moved St. Augustine to fly from all works of uncleanliness in which he has been involved, and to lead a pure life which he had before thought is difficult to do. ASPIRATION. Grant, Lord, that we may rise by penance from the sleep of our sins, may walk in the light of Thy grace by the performance of good works , may put on Thee, and adorn our souls with the imitation of Thy virtues. Amen. GOSPEL. {Luke xxi. 25—83.) And there shall be signs in the sun and in the moon, and in the stars: and upon the earth distress of nations, by reason of the confusion of the roaring of the sea, and of the waves. Men withering away for fear, and expectation of what shall come upon the whole world. For the powers of heavens shall be- moved: FIRST SUNDAY IN ADVENT. 13 and then they shall see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with great power and majesty. But when these things begin to come to pass, look up and lift up your heads: because your redemption is at hand. And He spoke to them a simili- tude. See the fig-tree and all the trees: when they now shoot forth their fruit, you know that summer is nigh. So you also, when you shall see these things come to pass, know that the kingdom of God is at hand. Amen, I say to you, this generation shall not pass away, till all things be fulfilled. Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away. 14 FIRST SUNDAY IN ADVENT. Why does the Church command the Gospel of the Last Judgment to he read to day? To move us to penance, and force us to prepare our souls for the coming of Christ by placing the terrible coming in the Last Judgment before our minds. For nothing can, and nothing should more deter us from sin and urge us on to virtue than the thought that in this judgment all good and all evil will be made public, and be either rewarded or punished in the presence of the whole world. What signs will precede the Last Judgment? The sun will be obscured, the stars will lose their light and disappear in the firmament (Isai. xiii. 10.), and in their place fiery objects will be seen in the heavens and will fall upon the earth; lightning and flames will surround the earth and wither up every thing ; the powers of heaven will be shaken, the elements be dis- solved and brought to confusion ; the waters of the earth will rise up and break in upon the land, and their roaring joined with the howling of the winds, and the beating of the storms, will fill man with terror and dread. Such evils and distress will come upon the world that men will wither away from fear not knowing whither to turn. Even the choirs of angels and the heavenly do- minations will be terrified, until at last the sign of the Son of Man, the sign of the cross, will appear in the heavens, the terror of the sinners who have scorned it, the consolation of the just who have loved it. {Matt. xxiv. 30.) Why will all this come to pass? Because the people have loved the creatures of God inordi- nately, more than the Creator, and used them only to His dishonor, He will destroy them in this terrible manner, arming all creatures for the vengeance of His enemies ( Wisdom v. 8.), and showing by the manner of their destruction the evils which will fall upon all sinners. The darkness of the sun will indicate the darkness of hell, the bloodred moon the anger and wrath of God ; the disap- pearance and falling of the stars the fall of sinners into the abysses of hell and their disappearance from earth ; and the madness of the elements the rage of the beast of hell (Ludw. d. P.). Sinners will then vainly and too late repent that they have attached their hearts to things which will end so horribly and that only increase their torments. Why through all this does Christ command: "Lift up your heads for your redemption is at hand"? These words are spoken to the just who as long as they live on earth are like prisoners and exiles, but at the Last Judgment will be taken body and soul into their long desired fatherland, the kingdom of heaven: into the freedom of the children of God. FIRST SUNDAY IN ADVENT. 15 These will have reason to raise their heads, now bowed in mourn- ing and to rejoice. How will the Last Judgment commence? By the command of God the angels will sound the trumpets summoning men from all the four parts of the earth to come to judgment (Thess. iv. 15.). Then the bodies of the dead, of the just and of the unjust, will unite with their souls, be brought to the valley of Jehosophat, and there placed, the just on the right, the unjust on the left {Matt. xxv. 33.). Then will appear the angels and also the devils, then Christ Himself will be seen coming in a cloud in such power and majesty, that the sinners will be filled with terror, will not dare to look at Him, and will cry to the mountains to fall upon them and to the hills to cover them up. {Luke xxiii. 30.) How will the judgment be held? The books of conscience closed with this life, upon which all men are to be judged, will be opened; all good and evil thoughts, words, deeds and motives, even the most secret known only to God, will then be as plainly revealed to the whole world as if they were written on each ones forehead; and by these each one will be judged, eternally rewarded or eternally punished. God ! If we must then give an account of every idle word {Matt. xii. 36), how can we stand in the face of so many sinful words and actions ! Why will God hold an universal public judgment? Although immediately after death a special, private judgment of each soul takes place, God has ordained a public and universal judgment for the following reasons : First, that it may be shown clearly to all how just has been His private judgment, and also that the body which has been the instrument of sin or of virtue, may share in the soul's punishment or reward; secondly, that the justice they could by no means obtain in this life, may be given before the whole world to the oppressed poor, and to persecuted innocence ; and that the wicked who have abused the righteous, and yet have been considered honest and good, may be shamed before all. Thirdly, that the graces and means of salvation bestowed upon each may be made known; fourthly, that the blessed providence of God which often permitted the righteous to suffer evil while the wicked prospered, may be vindicated, and it be shown, on that day, that His acts are acts of the greatest wisdom. Fifthly, that the wicked may learn the goodness of God, not for their comfort or benefit, but their greatest sorrow, that they may see how He rewards even the slightest work performed for His love and honor. Finally, that Christ may be exalted before the wicked on earth, as before the good in heaven, and that His word's truth may be solemnly made manifest. 16 SECOND SUNDAY IN ADVENT. ASPIRATION. Just art Thou, God, and just are Thy judgments. Ah, penetrate my soul with holy fear of them, that I may be kept always in awe of them, and saved from evil conduct. Would that I could say with the penitent St. Jerome: "Whether I eat or drink, and whatever I do, I seem to hear the awful sound of the trumpet in my ears: Arise ye dead, and come to judgment". INSTRUCTION FOR THE SECOND SUNDAY IN ADVENT. N this day the Church not only makes mention in the office of the priest, but also in the .Mass, of the two different advents of Christ, that by His gracious first advent we may be gladdened, and by His terrible last advent at the. Judgment Day, we maybe impressed with salutary fear. With this intention she sings at the Ititroit: "People of Sion, behold, the Lord stall come to save the nations, and the Lord shall make the voice of His glory heard in the joy of your heart. {lsai. xxx. 30.) Give ear, Thou, that rulest Israel, Thou, that leadest Joseph like a sheep. (Ps. lxxix. 2.) Glory be to the Father &c. PRAYER OF THE CHURCH. Stir up our hearts, Lord, to prepare the way of Thy only begotten Son, that by His advent we may be made worthy to serve Thee with purified mind and spirit; who livest aud reignest with God the Father, in union with the Holy Ghost, God for ever and ever. Amen. EPISTLE. (Romans xv. 4—13.) Brethren! For what things soever were written, were written for our learning: that through patience and the comfort of the scriptures, we might have hope. Now the God of patience and of comfort grant you to be of one mind one towards another, according to Jesus Christ: that with one mind and with one mouth, you may glorify God, and the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Wherefore receive one another; as Christ also hath received you unto the honor of God. For I say that Jesus Christ was minister of the circumcision for the truth of God, to confirm the promise made unto the fathers. But that the gentiles are SECOND SUNDAY IN ADVENT. 17 to glorify God for his mercy, as it is written: Therefore will I confess to Thee, Lord, among the gentiles, and will sing to Thy name. And again he saith: Re- joice, ye gentiles, with His people. And again: Praise the Lord, all ye gentiles, and magnify Him, all ye people. And again Isaias saith: There shall be a root of Jesse; and He that riseth up to rule the gentiles, in Him the gentiles shall hope. Now the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing: that you may abound in hope and in the power of the Holy Ghost. What does St. Paul teach in this Epistle? The Jews and Gentiles converted to the Christian faith were disputing among themselves at Rome, in regard to abstinence and the use of certain kinds of food, reproaching each other se- verely ; the Jews boasting over the Gentiles that the Saviour, accord- ing to promise, was born of their nation, thus claiming him from the Gentiles, who, in their turn, reproached the Jews for the hateful ingratitude with which they had crucified Him. To restore harmony St. Paul shows that each had reason, the Jews and Gen- tiles alike, to praise God, to whose grace and goodness they owed all, that each had in Him a Redeemer in whom they could hope for salvation, and warns them not to deprive themselves of that hope by contentions among themselves. By these words the Apostle teaches, also, that we, too, have great reason to praise God and thank Him, for calling us whose forefathers were heathens to the Christian faith, and to guard against losing our salvation by pride, envy,, impurity &c. Why should we read the scriptures? That we may know what we are to believe and to do in order to be saved, as all scripture inspired of God, is profitable to teach, to reprove, to correct, to instruct in justice {Tim. iii. 16.); that we may learn from that which Christ has done for us, and the Saints for Christ, to be patient in our sufferings, and to be consoled and encouraged in hope by their example. To derive this benefit from the scriptures they must be read by the light of that spirit through whose assistance they came into existence, who lives and remains forever with the Church: that is, the light of the Holy Ghost must be sought, that their meaning may be read according to the sense of the Church and not be explained by the reader's own judgment. He who reads the Holy Scriptures merely to satisfy his curio- sity, his enquiring spirit, and his quarrelsome temper, following his own private judgment in interpreting and explaining the many obscure passages, subject to so many different renderings, without considering that only the Holy Ghost, through whose in- 18 SECOND SUNDAY IN ADVENT. spiration the Bible exists, is and can be its only true and veritable expounder, that this Holy Ghost is working in the true Church only, and that this Church alone through the Holy Ghost, whom Christ has promised, shall remain with her for. all time, can inter- pret them, he who without reflecting upon this reads the Holy Scriptures by the light of his own private judgment simply, must, as experience shows, of necessity diverge from the right path, become entangled in manifold doubts, and at last, lose the faith entirely. For this reason the head of the Catholic Church has most properly limited the reading of the Bible, not, as has been falsely asserted, unconditionally forbidden it, and allows the reading of those editions only which are accompanied by notes and explanations in accordance with tradition and the exposition of the holy fathers, that the unity of faith may not be disturbed, and that among Catholics there may not be the terrible bewilder- ment of the human * intellect which has taken place among the different heretical sects, who have even declared murder, bigamy and impurity to be permissable on the authority of the Bible. — We are to consider, also, that God never commanded the Bible to be written or read, and that not the readers but the followers of the word of God, by which is meant those who hear the words of God in sermons, and keep it, will be saved. *) Why is God called a God of patience, of consolation, and of hope ? He is called a God of patience because He looks long on our sinful life, and awaits our repentance ; of consolation because He gives us grace to be patient in crosses and afflictions, and so con- soles us inwardly that we become not faint-hearted ; of hope be- cause He gives us the virtue of hope, and because He desires to be Himself the reward we are to expect after this life. ASPIRATION. God of patience, of consolation and of hope, fill our hearts with peace and joy, and grant that we may become perfect in all good, and by faith, hope and charity attain the promised salvation. GOSPEL. (Matt. xi. 2—10.) Now when John has heard in prison the works of Christ : sending two of his disciples he said to Him: Art thou He that art to come, or look we for another? And Jesus making answer said to them: Go and relate to John what you have heard and seen. The blind see, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead rise again, the poor have the gospel preached to *) Further instruction in regard to the doctrine of faith on this subject will be found in the "Instruction for Easter-Tuesday". SECOND SUNDAY IN ADVENT. 19 them. And blessed is he that shall not be scandalized in me. And when they went their way, Jesus began to say to the multitude concerning John: What went you out into the desert to see? A reed shaken with the wind? But what went you out to see? A man clothed in soft garments? Behold they that are clothed in soft garments are in the houses of kings. But what went you out to see? A prophet? Yea, I tell you, and more than a prophet. For this is he of whom it is written: BehoK I send my angel before thy face, who shall prepare thy way before thee. o* 20 SECOND SUNDAY IN ADVENT. Why was John in prison? He was in prison and later lost his life, because he had rebuked king Herod for his adulterous marriage with his brother's wife {Matt. xiv. 10.). Truth, as the proverb says, is certainly a very beautiful mother, but she usually bears a very ugly daughter: Hatred. St. John experienced that speaking the truth very often arouses hatred and enmity against the speaker.— Let us learn from him to speak the truth always when duty requires it, even at the cost of the greatest misfortunes, for if with St. John we patiently bear persecution, with St. John we shall become martyrs of truth. Why did St. John send his disciples to Christ? That they should learn from Christ, who was already shining by His doctrines and His miracles, He was really the promised Messiah, the Saviour of the world, whom they should folio w. Why does Christ say to the disciples of St. John: "Go and say to John, the blind see, the lame walk etc."? That they shoufd by His miracles judge Him to be the Messiah, because the prophets had predicted that He would work such miracles {Isai xxxv. 5, 6). "Christ", says St. Cyril, "proved that He was the Messiah by the grandeur as well as by the number of His miracles." Why does Christ add: "And blessed is he who is not scan- dalized in me"? Christ used these words in reference to those who would be scandalized by His poverty, humility and ignominious death on the cross, and who would, for these reasons, doubt and despise Him, and cast Him away; though "man", as St. Gregory says, "owes all the more love to the Lord, his God, the more humilia- tions He has born for him. " What was our Lord's object in the questions He asked concerning St. John? His object was to remove from St. John, all suspicion of failing in faith in Him ; to praise, as an example for all preachers, con- fessors, and superiors, that they might never be deterred by human respect, or fear of man, or other temporal consideration, from courageously fulfilling their duties, the perseverance with which St. John although imprisoned and threatened with death, con- tinued to fill his office of preacher; and to commend the rigorous penance shown by his coarse garments and simple food, that we might learn from his example penance and mortify our bodies. Why does Christ say that John is "more than a prophet"? Because St. John was foretold by the prophet Malachy as was no other prophet ; because of all the prophets he was the only one who with his own eyes saw Christ and could point His hand to Him, SECOND SUNDAY IN ADVENT. 21 and was the one to baptize Him: and because like an angel, a messenger of God, he announced the coming of the Saviour and prepared the way for the Lord. How did St. John prepare the way for the Saviour? By his sermons on penance, and by his own penitential life, he endeavored to move the hearts of the Jews, that by amending their lives, they might prepare to receive the grace of the Messiah. For God will not come with His grace into our hearts if we do not prepare His way by true repentance. ASPIRATION. Lord Jesus, by the 'praise Thou didst accord to Thy forerunner St. John, for his firmness and austerities, grant us Thy grace to have those confided to our care instructed in Christian doctrine, and inflame our hearts with such readiness to imitate his steadfastness and penance, that we may never do that to please man which may be dis- pleasing to Thee. CONSOLATION IN SUFFERING. "The God of patience and of comfort, the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believiny." {Rom. xv. 5, 13.) THe fervent and strong believe that each and every thing that happens to us, comes to us for our own good from God, and that every evil, of whatever description that befalls us, is by the will or by the permission of God. "Good things and evil, life and death, poverty and riches, are from God". (Eccl. xi. 14.) «If we have received good things at the hand of God", (Jolt. ii. 10.) said the pious Job in his affliction, "why should we not receive evil?" We should have the full persuasion that without the permission of God not a single hair of our head shall perish (Luke xxi. 18.), much less can other evil be done to us by man or devil i Job. i. i ; a steadfast confidence that if we ask Him, God can and will assist us in our sufferings, if it is good for our salvation that He should do so. "Can a woman forget her infant, so as not to have pity on the son of her womb? And if she should forget, yet will I not forget thee. Behold I have engraven thee in my hands" Isai. xlix. 15. 16.;; the hope of abundant reward in the future life which we shall merit by patience in our sufferings, "For our present tribulation which is momen- tary ^and light, worketh for us above measure ex- ceedingly an eternal weight of glory" (ii. Romans iv. 17. »; the thought that all complaints and murmurs against the dispens- ation of God are useless, and lead only to shame and harm, "Who hath resisted Him, and hath had peace"? \Joh. ix. 4.) the vivid remembrance of our sins for which we have long 2)2 THIRD SUNDAY IN ADVENT. deserved eternal punishment in hell,— hence the well known saying of St. Augustine: "Here cut, Lord, here scald and here burn, but spare me in eternity"; the consideration that no other way leads to the kingdom of heaven than the way of the cross, which Christ Himself. His sorrowing mother, and all the saints had to tread. "Ought not Christ to have suffered these things and so to enter into His glory?" (^w/^xxiv. 26. i ; "through many tribulations we must enter the kingdom of God" (Acts. xiv. 21.); finally, the certainty that sorrows and adversities are signs of God's love, and of being chosen: "Whom the L ord loveth He chastiseth, and he scourgeth every son whom he receiveth" PRAYER IN SORROW. Oh almighty, kind and merciful God! who hast said: "Call upon me in the day of trouble, I will deliver thee, and thou shalt glorify me" (Ps. xlix. 15.), behold I rely upon Thy word and take refuge with Thee in my trouble. Give honor to Thy name, therefore, and reserve me, if it be pleasing to Thee and well for me, that all may know Thou art our only help. Amen. INSTRUCTIONS FOR THE THIRD SUNDAY IN ADVENT. N this Sunday again, the Church calls on us to rejoice in the Advent of the Redeemer, and at the Introit sings: "Rejoice in the Lord always; again I say rejoice! Let your modesty be known to all men: the Lord is nigh. Be not solicitous about any o thing, but in every thing by prayer and supplication, with thanksgivings, let your peti- tions be made known to God (Piiil. iv. 4—6). Lord, Thou hast blessed Thy land, Thou hast turned away the captivity of Jacob. {Pi. lxxxiv. 1.) Glory be to the Father &c. PRAYER OF THE CHURCH. Bend Thine ear, Lord, we beseech Thee, to our prayers, and enlighten the darkness of our minds by the grace of Thy visitation. Who livest &c. EPISTLE. (Phil. iv. 4— 7.) Brethren, rejoice in the Lord always; again, I say, rejoice. Let your modesty be known to all men: the Lord is nigh. Be nothing solicitous: but in every thing by prayer and. supplication, with thanksgivings let your petitions be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasseth all understanding, keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. THIRD SUNDAY IN ADVENT. 23 What is meant by „rejoicing in the Lord?" By "rejoicing in the Lord" is meant rejoicing in the grace of the true faith we have received; in the hope of obtaining, by the grace of God, eternal happiness; in the protection of the most High under which we stand : and in the persecution for justice's sake in which Christ Himself exhorts us to rejoice, and in which the Apostle Paul so gloried, (ii. Cor. vii. 4.) What else does St. Paul teach in this epistle? He exhorts us to set to all a good example by a modest and edifying life, to which we should be directed by the remembrance of God's presence and His coming to judgment (Chrysostom.?i?>.in Joann.) ; warns us against solicitude about temporal affairs, advis- ing us to cast our care on God, who when we entreat Him in our needs with confidence and humility, grateful for graces received, will never abandon us. In what does the „peace of God" consist? It consists in a good conscience (Ambrose), in which St. Paul gloried and rejoiced beyond measure, (ii. Cor. i. 12.) This peace or quietness of the soul consoled all the martyrs and many other who have suffered for justice's sake. Thus St. Tibertius said to the tyrant: "We count all pain but little, for our conscience is at peace". There cannot be imagined a greater joy than that which proceeds from the peace of a good conscience. It must be expe- rienced to be understood. ASPIRATION. The peace of God that surpasseth all understanding preserve our hearts in Christ Jesus. Amen. COMFORT AND RELIEF IN SORROW. „Is any one troubled, let him pray." (James, v. 13.) THere is no greater or more powerful comfort in sorrow than in humble and trusting prayer, to complain to God of our wants and cares, as did the sorrowful Anna, mother of the prophet Sa- muel (i. Kings. 10), and the pure Susanna when she was falsely accused of adultery and sentenced to death {Dan. xiii. 35.). So the pious king Ezechias complained in prayer of the severe oppression with which he was threatened by Sennacherib (iv. Kings, xix. 14.). So also king Josophat made his trouble known to God only, saying: "Because we know not what to do, we can only turn our eyes to Thee" (ii. Paralip. xx. 13). And they all received aid and comfort from God. Are you sad and in trouble? Lift up your soul with David and say: "To Thee I have lifted up my eyes, who dwellest in heaven! Behold as the eyes of servants are on the hands of their masters, as the eyes of the handmaid are on the hands of her mistress, so are our eyes unto the Lord our God, until 24 THIRD SUNDAY IN ADVENT. He shall have mercy on us. Have mercy on us, Lord, have mercy on us". (Ps. cxxii.) "Give joy to the soul of Thy servant, for to Thee, Lord, I have lifted up my soul". {Ps. lxxxv. 4.) GOSPEL. {John, i. 19—28.) And this is the testimony of John, when the Jews sent from Jerusalem priests and levi- tes to him, to ask him: Who art thou? And He confessed and did not deny: and he confessed: I am not the Christ. And they asked him: What then? Art thou Elias? And he said: I am not. Art thou the prophet? And he answered: No. They said therefore unto him: Who art thou, that we may give an answer to them that sent us? What sayest thou of thy- THIRD SUNDAY IN ADVENT. 25 self? He said: I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness. Make straight the way of the Lord, as said the prophet Isaias. And they that were sent, were of the Pharisees. And they asked him, and said to him: Why then doest thou baptize, if thou be not Christ, nor Elias, nor the prophet*? John answered them, saying: I baptize with water; but there hath stood one in the midst of you whom you know not. The same is he that shall come after me, who is pre- ferred before me, the latchet of whose shoe I am not worthy to loose. These things were done in Bethania beyond the Jordan, where John was baptizing. Why did the Jews send messenyers to St. John to ask him who he was? Partly because of their curiosity, when they saw St. John leading such a pure, angelic and penitential life; partly, as St. Chrysostom says, out of envy, because St. John preached with such spiritual force, so baptized and exhorted the people to penance, that the inhabitants of Jerusalem came to him in great numbers; partly and principally they were impelled by the pro- vidence of God to demand publicly of St. John, if he was the Messiah, and so be directed to the real Messiah, to Christ, that they might be compelled to acknowledge Him as such, or have no excuse for rejecting Him. Why did the Jews ask St. John, if he were not Elias or the prophet? The Jews falsely believed, that the Redeemer was to come into this world but once, and then with great glory, and that Elias or one of the old prophets would come before Him, and prepare His way, as Malachy (iv. 6.) had prophesied of St. John; so when St."John said of himself that he was not the Messiah, they asked him, if then he were not Elias or one of the prophets. But Elias, who was taken alive from this world in a fiery chariot, will not reappear until just before the second coming of Christ. Why did John say, he was not Elias or the prophet? Because he was not Elias, and, in reality, not a prophet in the Jew's sense of the word, but more than a prophet, because he announced that Christ had come, and pointed Him out. Why does St. John call himself "the voice of one cryiny in the wilderness" ? Because in his humility, he desired to acknowledge that he was only an instrument, through whom the Redeemer announced to the abandoned and hopeless Jews, the consolation of the Mes- siah, exhorting them to bear fruits worthy of penance. 26 THIRD SUNDAY IN ADVENT. How do we bear- fruits of penance ? We bear fruits of penance, when, after our conversion, we serve God and justice with the same zeal with which we pre- viously served the devil and vanity ; when we love God as fer- vently as we once loved the flesh, — that is, the desires of the flesh, — and the pleasures of the world; when we give our members to justice as we once gave them to malice and impurity {Rom. vi. 19.), when the mouth that formerly uttered improprieties, when the ears that listened to detraction or evil speech, when the eyes that looked curiously upon improper objects, now rejoice in the utterance of words pleasing to God, to hear and to see things dear to Him; when the stomach that was given to the luxury of eating and drinking, now abstains; when the hands give back what they have stolen; in a word, when we put off the old* man, who was corrupted, and put on the new man, who is created in justice and holiness of truth. (Eph. iv. 22. 24.) What was the baptism administered by John, and what were its effects ? The baptism administered by John was only a baptism of penance for forgiveness of sins (Luke iii. 3.), and therefore did not, like the baptism afterwards instituted by Christ, effect the re- mission of sin ; it merely was taken in connection with the St. John's sermons, to move to penance, and as an acknowledgment of sin. What else can be learned from this gospel? We learn from it to be always sincere especially at the tri- bunal of penance, and to practice the necessary virtue of humility, by which St. John confessed the truth openly and without reserve, in reply of the questions of the Jews, considering himself, as shown by the words: "the latchet of whose shoe I am not worthy to loose, as the lowest of Christ's servants, giving us thereby an example of humility and sincerity, which should induce us always to speak the truth, and not only not to seek honor but to give to God all the honor shown us by men. Have you not far more reason than John, who was such a great saint, to esteem yourself but little, and to humble yourself before God and man? My son, says Tobias (iv. 14 ), never suffer pride to reign in thy mind or in thy words ; for from it all per- dition took its beginning. ASPIRATION. Lord, banish from my heart all envy, all jealousy and pride. Grant me instead to know myself and Thee, that by the knowledge of my nothingness, my misery and of my vices, I may always remain unworthy in my own eyes, and that by the contemplation of Thine infinite per- fections, I may seek to prize Thee above all, to love and to EMBER WEDNESDAY IN ADVENT. 27 glorify Thee, to look upon my neighbor as far more perfect than myself, and love him therefore from my heart. Amen. EMBER WEDNESDAY IN ADVENT. LESSON. (Isai. vii. 10 — 15. And the Lord spoke again to Achaz, saying: Ask thee a sign of the Lord thy God, either unto the depth of hell, or unto the height above. And Achaz said: I will not ask and I will not tempt the Lord. And he said: Hear ye therefore, house of David: Is it a small thing for ye to be grievous to men, that you are grievous to my God also 1 ? Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign. Behold a virgin shall conceive, and bear a s jn, and his name shall be called Emmanuel. He shall eat butter and honey that he may know to refuse the evil and to choose the good.*) EXPLANATION OF THE LESSON. In this lesson is con- tained the important prophecy of the Saviour's birth from a virgin. War was declared by the kings of Israel and Syria against Achaz, king of Juda, who at their approach was overpowered with fear, and thought of seeking aid from the Assyrians instead of looking to almighty God; and on account of this lack of confidence in the assistance of God, the prophet Isaiah was sent to announce to him the destruction of both the opposing kings, and his own pre- servation, desiring Achaz to prove the truth of his words by de- manding a sign from God; but he, being given to idolatry, did not wish to ask a sign from heaven, for he had more faith in the assistance of the demons and of the Assyrians. Then, because he had offended God by his refusal, the prophet rebuked him, saying: The Lord himself will give you (that is, your posterity), a sign, for a virgin will conceive and bear a son and he shall be called Emmanuel, that is — God with us. By these words Isaiah desired to impress upon the king, that as surely as he should be preserved from his enemies, so surely this Emmanuel, the Son of the Virgin, the Redeemer of the world, would appear to redeem the world from Satan's power. — Let us learn from this lesson always to trust in God, who can deliver us from all danger, and let us also be grateful to Him who seven hundred and forty three years before the time, permitted .the consoling coming of His Son, our Saviour, to be announced. ASPIRATION. Emmanuel, strong, holy God! Our Saviour and our Redeemer! be with us always in life and in death; for if Thou art with us who can be against us? *) This lesson is read also on the Feast ol the Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin, and in the Rorate Masses, as is the gospel {Luke i. 26—28) belonging to this day, which will be found in the second part of this book in the instruction on the Annunciation. 28 EMBER FRIDAY IN ADVENT. PRAYER OF THE CHURCH. Grant, we beseech Thee, Almighty God, that the approaching celebration of our re- demption may bring us the necessary graces for the present life, and prepare us for the rewards of eternal happiness, through our Lord Jesus Christ &c. EMBER FRIDAY IN ADVENT. LESSON. {Isai. xi. 1 — 5.) And there shall come forth a rod out of the root of Jesse, and a flower shall rise up out of his root. And the spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him, the spirit of wisdom and of understanding, the spirit of counsel and of fortitude, the spirit of knowledge and of godliness. And he shall be filled with the spirit of the fear of the Lord. He shall not judge according to the sight of the eyes, nor reprove according to the hearing of the ears. But he shall judge the poor with justice, and shall reprove with equity for the meek of the earth: and he shall strike the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips he shall slay the wicked. And justice shall be the girdle of his loins, and faith the girdle of his reins. EXPLANATION. In this lesson the Lord announced to the Jews, through the prophet, the consoling promise that when they were sufficiently punished and had come to the consciousness of their own misery, the Saviour would come and bring all things to order. The rod, spoken of by the prophet, is the Blessed Virgin who would proceed from the root of Jesse, that is, from the stem of David, and give birth to the flower: the Saviour, in whom the Holy Ghost, with His sevenfold gifts would descend: as a reader of the heart He would judge man not according to his outward seeming, but his inward intentions: would not natter the sinner, but with severe words punish his sinful life, and because He is just and faithful would reward every man without respect of persons. Let us be always reminded in all our omissions and commis- sions, that our Lord sees into our hearts, and judges not only according to our works, but especially according to" our intentions, and let us strive to have ever a pure motive in all our acts. ASPIRATION. Fragrant Flower of the Virgin, Jesus our Saviour, come and draw us to Thee, that we may walk in the perfume of Thy anointments, and obtain a merciful judgment from Thee. The gospel of this day will be found in the second part of this book in the instruction on the Visitation of the Blessed Virgin. EMBER SATURDAY IN ADVENT. 29 PRAYER OF THE CHURCH. Arouse, we beseech Thee, Lord, Thy power, that we who confidently trust Thy love, may be delivered from all adversities, who livest and reignest &c EMBER SATURDAY IN ADVENT. EPISTLE, (ii. Thess.ii. 1— 8.) And we beseech you, breth- ren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and of our gath- ering together unto him, that you be not easily moved from your mind, nor be frighted neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by epistle, as sent from us, as if the day of the Lord were at hand. Let no man deceive you by any means; for unless there come a revolt first, and the man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition, who opposeth, and is lifted up above all that is called God, or that is worshipped, so that he sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself as if he were God. Remember you not that when I was yet with you, I told you these things? And now you know what withholdeth, that he may be revealed in his time. For the mystery of iniquity already worketh: only that he who now holdeth, do hold, until he be taken out of the way. And then that wicked one shall be revealed whom the Lord Jesus shall kill with the spirit of His mouth: and shall destroy with the brightness of His coming. EXPLANATION. At the time when St. Paul wrote this epistle the false report was circulated that the Last Day was at hand, and Christ was coming to judgment. The Apostle warns the faithful against trusting this, telling them they should not permit themselves to be misled, for first the greater part of mankind would fall away from God, and Antichrist, the son of perdition, appear, and this not until the gospel was everywhere preached. The great falling off would be gradual, caused by the heresies which would arise from time to time, and completed by Antichrist, whom our Lord, at last, on the Judgment Day would kill with the breath of his mouth. Let us learn from this epistle not to be curious concerning the Last Day and the coming of Christ, but to prepare rather, for the coining of Jesus into our hearts, that He may be merciful to us in death, and at the judgment. ASPIRATION. Ah Jesus! when wilt Thou come and take my heart wholly into Thy possession, that I may be forever and ever Thine? 30 FOURTH SUNDAY IN ADVENT. The gospel of this day icill be found in the instruction on the Fourth Sunday of Advent. PRAYER OF THE CHURCH. God, who seeest us af- flicted through our own wickedness; mercifully grant, that by Thy coming we may be comforted. Who livest. INSTRUCTION FOR THE FOURTH SUNDAY IN ADVENT. "Dr the N this Sunday the Church manifests strongly her burning desire for the coming of the Re- deemer, and, in the Introit, places the sighs of the just of the Old Law upon the lips of the faithful, again exhorting them through the gospel of the day, to real penance as the best preparation for the worthy reception of the Saviour, therefore she sings at the Introit: op down dew, ye heavens, from above, and let clouds rain the just; let the earth be opened and forth a Saviour!" (Jsai. xlv. 8.) "The heavens show bud forth the glory of God, and the firmament declareth the works of his hands". (Ps. xviii. 1.) PRAYER OF THE CHURCH. Arouse, we beseech Thee, Lord, Thy power and come! hasten with Thy powerful aid; that our redemption which is more and more removed from us by our sins, may be accelerated by the power of Thy grace through the excess of Thy mercies. Who livest and reignest &c. EPISTLE, (i. Corinth, iv. 1 — 5.) Let a man so account of us as of the ministers of Christ and the dispensers of the mysteries of God. Here now it is required among the dispens- ers that a man be found faithful. But to me it is a very small thing to be judged by you, or by man's day: but neither do I judge my own self. For I am not conscious to myself of anything, yet am I not hereby justified: but he that judgeth me is the Lord. Therefore judge not before the time, until the Lord come, who both will bring to light the hidden things of darkness, and will make manifest the councils of the hearts : and then shall every man have praise from God. FOURTH SUNDAY IN ADVENT. 31 Why is this epistle read to-day? The Church desires by this epistle to impress those who re- ceived Holy Orders on Ember Saturday with the dignity of their office, and exhorts them to fill it with becoming fidelity and sanctity, excelling the laity by piety and virtue as well as by offi- cial dignity. She wishes again to remind the faithful of the terrible coming of Christ to judgment, urging them by purifying their conscience through a contrite confession to receive Christ at this holy Christmas time, as their Saviour, that they may not behold Him, in future, as their severe judge. How should the priest be regarded? As the servant, house-keeper, and vicar of Christ; as dispenser of the holy mysteries ; as ambassador of the Most High. (i. Cor. iv. 1., vi. Cor. v. 20.) For this reason God earnestly commands honor to the priest {Eccl. vii. 31.), and Christ says of the Apostles and their successors (Luke x. 16.): Who despiseth you, despiseth me; and St. Paul writes (i. Tim. v. iv.): Let ffhe priests who rule well be esteemed worthy of double honor; especially they who labor in the word and doctrine. Can the priest dispense the sacraments according to his own will? No, he must have power from the Church, and must exercise his office faithfully, in accordance with the orders of the Church, and act only as willed by Christ whose house-keeper he is. The priest dare not give that which is holy to dogs {Matt. vii. 7.), that is, he is not permitted to give absolution and administer the sacraments to impenitent, and, therefore, unworthy persons, under penalty of being damned with them. Why does St. Paul consider the judgment of men as a small thing? Because it is usually false, deceived, foolish, and is conse- quently not worth seeking or caring for, for man often counts as evil that which is in itself good and pleasing to God, and, on the contrary, esteems as good that which is evil and damnable, and displeases God. So, St. Paul says: If I yet pleased men, I should not be the servant of Christ. (Gal. i. 10.) Oh, how foolish, and what poor Christians, therefore, are they, who not to be unpleasant to man, so willingly adopt all silly customs, and fashions in dress, manners and appearance, making themselves contemptible to God, the angels and saints, whom to please is the only true honor and happiness ! Recall the beautiful words of the Seraphic St. Francis: "Our worth is as we are worth to God, no more"; and learn from it, to fulfill your duties faithfully and be indifferent to the world's judgment and its praise. Why does St. Paul not wish to judge himself? Because no one, without a special revelation from heaven, can know if he is just in the sight of God or not, even though his 32 FOURTH SUNDAY IN ADVENT. conscience may accuse him of nothing, for no one knows whether he merits the wrath or the love of God. (Eccl. ix. 1.) Thus St. Paul goes on to say, that though he was not conscious of any wrong, he did not judge himself to be justified, God only could decide upon that. Man should, certainly, examine himself as much as is in his power, to find if he has anything within him displeasing to God ; but he should not, finding nothing, judge himself more just than others, but should consider that his mind's eyes may be dimmed, and fail to see that which God sees, and will reveal to others at the Judgment Day. So the Pharisees saw no fault in themselves, and counted themselves saintly perfect, yet our Lord cursed them. ASPIRATION. Lord, enter not into judgment with Thy servant, for in Thy sight no man living can he justified. (Ps. cxlii. 2.) GOSPEL. (Luke iii. 1—6.) Now in the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Cesar, Pontius Pilate being governor of Judea, and Herod being tetrach of Galilee, and Philip, his brother, tetrarch of Iturea and the country of Trachonitis, and Lysanias tetrarch of Abilina, under the high priests Annas and Caiphas: the word of the Lord was made unto John, the son of Zachary, in the desert. And he came into all the country about the Jordan, preaching the baptism of penance for the remission of sins: as it was written in the book of the sayings of Isaias the prophet: A voice of one crying in the wilderness: Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make straight his paths. Every valley shall be filled, and every mountain and hill shall be brought low: and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough ways plain. And all flesh shall see the salvation of God. Why is the time in which St. John commenced to preach so minutely described ? The Evangelist, contrary to his usual custom, describes the time so minutely, and enumerates so exactly and in their precise order the religious and civil princes in office, that, in the first place, it could not be denied that this was truly the time and the year in which appeared in this world the promised Messiah, whom John baptized, and the Heavenly Father declared to be His beloved Son, and because it shows the fulfillment of the pro- FOURTH SUNDAY IN ADVENT. 33 phccy of the Patriarch Jacob (Gen. xlix. 10.) that when the sceptre would be taken away from Juda, that is, when the Jews would have no longer a king from their own tribes, the Saviour would come. What is mearil by : The word of the Lor d was made to John? It means that by an angel sent from God, or by a divine, in- ward inspiration, John was exhorted to preach penance, and to announce to the world the coming of the Lord, for which work he had prepared himself by a penitential, secluded life in inter- course with God. \Ve may learn from it that we should not intrude ourselves into office, least of all into a spiritual office, but await the call from God to it, preparing ourselves by sincere testing of ourselves in solitude and quiet, by fervent prayer for the necessary light, by seeking the advice of our spiritual guide, and by a holy life. 34 INSTRUCTION ON THE HOLY SACRAMENT OF PENANCE. What is meant by: Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make straight his paths? It means to make our hearts worthy for the reception, so re- plete with grace, of Christ, by penance, amendment of the pre- sent, and the preparation for a pious life. To do this, every valley should be filled, that is, all faint-heartedness, sloth and cowardice, all wordly, carnal sentiments should be thrown out of the heart, and their place filled up with a firm confidence in God, or ardent desire of eternal goodness, and the exercise of heavenly virtues, reaching towards God, the highest good ; the mountains and hills should be brought low, that is, pride, stubborness and am- bition should be humbled, and the obstinate will be broken. The crooked shall be made straight, that is, ill gotten goods should be restituted, hypocrisy and malice, and double dealing be pushed aside, and all motives be turned to God and His holy will. And the rough ways shall be made plain, which means, anger, revenge, and impatience must leave the heart, if the Lamb of God is to dwell there. And also it may signify that the Saviour put to shame the pride of the world, and its false wisdom, by building His Church upon the Apostles, who, by reason of their poverty and simplicity, may be considered the low valleys, while the way to heaven, formerly, because of the lack of grace, so rough and hard to tread, is now by His grace made smooth and easy. ASPIRATION. Would that my heart, my Jesus! was well prepared and smooth for Thee! Effect Thyself, my Saviour, that which of myself I cannot do. Make me an humble valley, fill me with Thy grace; turn my crooked and perverted will to Thy pleasure; change my rough and angry disposition, throw away and soften in me whatever is in Thy way, that Thou mayst come to me unimpeded, and Thou alone possess and rule me forever. Amen. INSTRUCTION ON THE HOLY SACRAMENT OF PENANCE. John preached the baptism of penance for the remission of sins. (Luke iii. 3 .) What is penance, and how many kinds of penance are there? PEnance. says the Roman Catechism {Cat. Horn. d. Pivnit. 54.), consists in this, that we turn with our whole soul to God, hate and detest the crimes we have committed, firmly resolving to amend our life, its evil habits, and corrupt ways, not without hope that through the mercy of God, we may obtain pardon. This is in- terior penance and the virtue of penance. The sincere acknowledg- ment of our sins to a priest and the absolution he accords, is exterior INSTRUCTION ON THE HOLY SACRAMENT OF PENANCE. 35 penance and the holy Sacrament of Penance, which Christ insti- tuted {John xx. 20, 22, 23.), through which the sins of the contrite penitent, committed after baptism, are remitted. Which of these is necessary for the forgiveness of sin? Both are necessary, for unless the conversion of the heart to God, a true consciousness and sorrow for sin, the firm purpose of amendment and confidence in God's mercy, precede it, confessing all our sins to a priest cannot obtain forgiveness for any great or mortal sin, committed after baptism. At the same time, a really contrite turning to God, will not, without confession to a priest, obtain forgiveness, except in the case of a person being prevented, but ardently desiring to make a confession, and actually doing so, afterwards, when possible. Can any one who has committed mortal sin be saved without penance ? No, for penance is as necessary to such a one as baptism if he wishes not to perish: Unless you do penance, says Christ, you shall all likewise perish. (Luke xiii. 3. 5.) 7* this penance performed all at once? This penance is necessary every day of our lives : that is, we must strive from day to day to be heartily sorry for our sins, to despice them, to eradicate the roots of sin, that is, our passions and evil inclinations, and by penance and go d works become more pleasing to God. How happens it that so many die impenitent? Because they do not accept and use the many graces (rod offers them, but nut off their repentance. If such sinners, like the godless king Antiochus (ii. Mach. ix.), intend to repent on their deathbed for fear of punishment, they usually find, God, most justly, will no longer permit them sincerely to repent, for who will not when he can, cannot when he will. "Who will not listen at the time of grace " , says St. Gregory, "will not be listened to in the time of anxiety." And it is to be feared that he who post- pones penance for his old age, will find justice where he looked for mercy. Can all sinners do penance? With the grace of God all can, even the greatest sinners; for God calls them as a real father when He says: As I live . . . I desire not the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way and live. Turn ye, turn ye from your evil ways: and why will ye die, house of Israel? And the wickedness of the wicked shall not hurt him, in what day soever he shall turn "[from his wicked- ness. (E&ech. xxxiii. 11. 12.) 9 * 30 INSTRUCTION ON TIIE HOLY SACRAMENT OF PENANCE. Do all who go lo confession perform true penance? Unfortunately, not all who confess; for with confession all is not accomplished. If there is no deep detestation of sin, its malice, shame, and evil ; no interior heartsorrow for the offence to God; if the evil inclinations and had habits are not eradicated; the ill gotten goods restored, and the calumny repaired ; the occa- sions of sin avoided ; and if a sincere amendment of life, or, at least, its earnest purpose does not follow and is not attempted, then, indeed there cannot be the least shadow of true repentance there, not even though such persons confessed weekly. And alas! how many such do we not now see? And why? Because many think, repentance consists simply in confession, and not in the amendment of their life. Only those obtain pardon in confession who are truly penitent, and perform all that is enjoined on them in confession. It is well, therefore, to read and carefully act according to the following instructions. I. ON THE EXAMINATION OF CONSCIENCE. The foundation of all true repentance, both of the interior and exterior (see the preceding pa^es), is the vivid knowledge of our sins. Precisely for want of this knowledge, we see many blinded by selflove, who are unconscious of the greatest and most grievous sins, in which they are buried, indeed, do not even regard them as sins, therefore! not only do not do penance for them, but do not even confess them, and so are eternally lost. To prevent this great evil, the Council of Trent {Hess. 14. c. 5.) ordered a careful examination of conscience before confession, and afterwards to confess the sins which were discovered by that examination. Why should we examine our conscience? Because, as St. Ignatius says, no one can become fully aware of his own faults, unless God reveals them by a special light; we should, therefore, first of all, and even every day, ask the Holy Ghost to enlighten us, and should then reflect upon our thoughts, desires, words, actions, and omissions of the good we are com- manded to perform, since our last valid confession, and whether we have sinned in these respects. To know this, we should let our conscience, that is, the inner voice which tells us, whutis good and what is evil, speak freely, without flattering ourselves, or pass- ing it by negligently; as St. Charles Borromeo says, we should place before our eyes the Ten Commandments of God (and of the Church\ and carefully compare our life and our morals with them ; it is well also to go through the list of the seven deadly sins, to think over the place where we live, and the persons with whom we live; the duties of our state of life, the vices to which we are most inclined, the consequences that were, or might have been produced upon ourselves or others. At the same time, we slwuld imagine ourselves standing before the judgment-seat of God, and INSTRUCTION ON THE HOLY SACRAMENT OF PENANCE. 37 whatever would cause us fear there, whatever we could not there answer for, we should look upon as sins, be sorry for, and confess. Is it a sin not to c.rainine ourselces long anil carefu/tt/ enough ? Certainly it is a sin for those who live unfaithfully and in mortal sin, and who seldom confess, to examine their consciences carelessly, because they expose themselves frivolously to the danger of leaving out great sins, consequently make an invalid confession, committing a new and grievous sin. Those who daily ask God: for enlightenment, and examine their conscience at least every evening before going to bed, will easily and properly examine their conscience before going to con- fession. "Behold, you have a book in which you write your daily expenses," says St. (hrysostom., "make a book of your con- science, also, and write there your daily sins. Before you go to bed, before sleep comes, take your book, your conscience, and recall your sins, whether of thought, word, or deed. Say then to your soul: Again, soul, a day is spent, what have we done of evil or of good? If you have accomplished some good, be grateful to God ; if evil, resolve to avoid it for the future. Shed tears in remembrance of your sins; ask forgiveness of God, and then let your body sleep." II. ON CONTRITION. "0 man", cries St. Augustine, "why dost thou weep over the body whence the soul, and not over the soul whence God has departed?" The idolatrous Michas {Judges xviii. 23. 24.) com- plained bitterly, because his idols were taken from him , Esau grieved greatly over the loss of his birthright and his father's blessing {Gen. xxvii. 34.), and why should we not be tilled with sorrow!, because by our sins we have lost God, God's grace, and heaven ? What is contrition, and how many kinds of contrition are there? "Contrition", says the Council of Trent l Sess. 14. c. 4.), "is a pain of the soul, a detestation of sins committed, and the resolve to sin no more. If this grief and detestation comes from a tem- poral injury, shame, or punishment, it is a natural sorrow 7 ; but if we are sorry for our sins, and detest them, because by them we have offended God, and have transgressed and dishonored His holy will, it is a supernatural sorrow; and is imperfect if we are sorry for having offended God, because He punishes sin by tem- poral and eternal punishment, and by exclusion fiom heaven, and perfect if we are sorry. for our sins and detest them, because they have offended God, the supreme Lord, the best and loveliest Good, the dearest Father. Js the natural sorrow sufficient for a good confession ? It is not, because it proceeds not fiom the love of God, whom alone we offend by our sins, but from the love or fear of thew r orld. 38 INSTRUCTION ON THE HOLY SACRAMENT OF PENANCE. Simply a sorrow of the world for our sins because of their temporal evils, worketh death (ii. Cor. vii. 10.); that is, it causes him who confesses his sins with only a natural sorrow for them, to commit a new mortal sin, because a necessary part of the Sacrament of Penance is wanting. What other attributes are necessary for a true contrition? Contrition should, also, be heartfelt, that is, the sinner must hate and detest his sins, be angry with himself for them, and be desirous of making all right again; it should be universal, that is, it must cover all the mortal sins he knows himself to have committed, without a single exception; it must be sovereign, that is, he must hate and detest nothing more than a grievous sin, and this because it so greatly offends God. What kind of sorrow obtains forgiveness of sin? That sorrow which proceeds from a perfect love of God, and which causes the sinner to abominate his sins for God's sake, and not for fear of temporal or eternal punishment. This perfect con- trition would even suffice for the forgiveness of sins, if, as for in- stance, in the case of danger of death, there should be the greatest desire, but no opportunity to confess to a priest. But the Holy Catholic Church has declared {Cone. Trid. s. 14. c. 4.) the imperfect contrition which proceeds from the knowledge of the shamefulness of sin, or from the fear of eternal punishment in hell, to be sufficient for a valid reception of the holy Sacrament of Penance. Who are those who have reason to fear they have aroused only a natural sorrow* for their sins, or no sorrow at all? Those who care little about knowing what true sorrow is; those who often commit grievous sins, and do not amend their life; for if these had aroused a true sorrow for sin in their hearts, their purpose of amendment, and their use of the necessary means for carrying it out, would be firmer, and, by the grace of God in this Sacrament, they would be made strong to avoid sin, at least for a time ; because they do not do this, one can justly doubt whether they had a true sorrow, whether they have validly received the Sacrament of Penance and its sanctifying grace; and those are to tear who are not sorry for their sins, and avoid them, until they have been brought to shame, mockery, or calamity by them. How can the sinner attain true sorrow? The sinner can attain true sorrow by ihe grace of God and his own cooperation with it. That both are necessary, is shown by the prophet Jeremias (Jer. xxxi. 18.) who prays: Convert me, Lord, and I shall be converted; for Thou art the Lord, myGod. For afterThou didst convert me, I did penance, and after Thou didst shew unto me. I struck my thigh (with sorrow). To which God replies: If thou wilt be con- INSTRUCTION ON THE HOLY SACRAMENT OF PENANCE. 39 verted, I will convert thee (Jer. xv. 19.). The grace of God is, therefore, the first and greatest necessity for the sorrow which converts the heart. It must begin and complete the work of con- version, but it will do this only when the sinner earnestly and faithfully cooperates with it. This cooperation is shown in the following manner {Cone. Trid. sess. vi. c. (>.): After the sinner, whom God, in whatever way, has admonished that he should be converted, has ardently implored God for the grace of a true con- version, has perhaps invoked the intercession of the Mother of the Saviour, his guardian angel, and the holy penitents, such as David, Peter, Magdalen, he meditates upon the truth that God is a just judge, who hates sin, and will punish it in the next world, in the eternal torments of hell ; having placed this certainty vi- vidly before his eyes, he reflects whether, by his sins, he has not himself deserved this punishment, and if by the enlightenment of God he finds he has, he will also see the danger in which he now is, that is, that if God should allow him to die impenitent, he would have to suffer forever in hell ; this fear of eternal punish- ment forces the sinner to hope in God's mercy, through the merits of Christ who has atoned for our sins; he recollects that God has sworn that He wishes not the death of the sinner, and that our Redeemer said, that He came to call the sinner to repen- tance, and that there is more joy in heaven over one sinner who does penance, than over ninety nine just, by which his heart is moved, and excited to confidence in God; he considers the patience with which God has so long waited for him, and the goodness which, during his sinful life, has heaped favors and graces upon him; he thinks of his creation by the supreme Heavenly Father, of his redemption by the most precious blood of the Son of God, of his sanctification in baptism when he became a child of God, and his heart the dwelling place of the Holy Ghost; he recalls how often and how paternally God has warned him by good books, by persons, by his own conscience, how ungratefully he had for- gotten all these graces and favors, despised and trampled on them by his sins; he will then hate his sins, and because of love for God who in spite of them has not cast him off, he will be sorry for them. But he will not rest here, he will go on to contemplate the beauty and perfection of God: "Who art Thou, my God", he cries, "who art Thou who hast loved me with such an unspeakable love, and lovest me still, ungrateful, abominable sinner, though I am ! What is all the beauty of this world, of the angels and of the blessed spirits compared to Thine ! Thou fountain of all beauty, of allgoodness, of all that is amiable. Thou supreme majesty, Thou infinite abyss of love and mercy! I for one vain glorious thought, a short, momentary pleasure, a small, mean gain, could forget, offend and despise Thee! Could sell, could forfeit heaven, and eternal joy with Thee ! 0, could I make good those crimes ! Could I but wash them out with my tears, even with my blood ! " Through 4() 1 NS TKUCTION ONTniE HOLY SACRAMENT OF PENANCE. such meditations tlie sinner, by the grace of God, will be easily moved to sorrow. But without such meditations, or toreador say by heart the formulas of sorrow or contrition in a praycrbook is to pray, but not to make acts of contrition. This would by no means suffice, because sorrow consists not in words, but in the pain and disgust of a contrite heart. Should we make an act of contrition before confession only? \Ye should make an act of contrition before confession, and not only then, but every evening after the examination of con- science, we should make one together with a firm purpose of amendment, also immediately after any fault committed, over all when in danger of death ; for we know not whence and when God will call us to judgment, or whether we shall then have the grace to receive the Sacrament of Penance with proper preparation. III. ON THE PURPOSE OF AMENDMENT. The purpose of amending our life is as necessary as contrition for the remission of sin; for how could he obtain forgiveness from God, who has no intention of ceasing to offend Him ? However, he who is truly contrite, has also a firm purpose of amendment, for the will to sin cannot exist with the hatred of sin. What is necessary for a firm purpose, and how can it be known if the light purpose is had in going to confession? A firm purpose of amendment requires: The avoidance of sin, and especially those in whose society sin is most usually committ- ed; the flying from all occasions that might bring the danger of sinning, all persons, places, societies in which we usually sin; and in bravely fighting ourselves, our evil inclinations and bad habits ; making use of all means prescribed by the confessor, or made known to us by God Himself; repairing the injustice and injury we have done; giving back the injured name of our neighbor, removing the scandal and enmity we have caused, &c. Of him who carefully observes these things, we can say that he has a right purpose. Who, then, hare no true purpose of amendment ? Those who do not leave the frivolous persons with whom they have associated and committed sin; those who do not diligently re- move the occasions of cursing, swearing carelessly, getting drunk, and committing secret sins, &c; those who borrow or make debts which they know they cannot pay, or do not even care to pay; those who squander away the property of women and children, letting them suffer want; those who sit day and night in barrooms, or saloons in the midst of fighting, gambling, vile, filthy conver- sation, and detraction, taking away the good name of others, murmuring against spiritual and temporal superiors, etc.; throwing away precious time, bringing, even compelling others to do the INSTRUCTION ON THE IN )EY SACRAMENT ( )F 1'ENANCE. 41 same. The saloon-keepers, who for money's sake allure such wretched people, keep them there, and what is still worse, help to intoxicate them, participate in their sins. All these, not having a linn purpose of amendment, are unfit for absolution. 'Uft IV. ON CONFESSION. Confession is a contrite acknowledgment of our sins in order to obtain forgiveness for them, to a priest ordained, in the name of the Church, by a bishop, and is, on this account, an important and necessary part of the holy Sacrament of Penance. Even in the Old Law, a certain kind of confession before a priest was prescribed, and connected with a sacrifice, called the sacrifice of Atonement; but the forgiveness of sins was effected only through faith in the coming Redeemer, towards whom this sacrifice pointed. (Lev. v. 5, 6. Num. v. 7.; compare Matt. iii. 6.1 In the New Law, Christ gave to the apostles and their suc- cessors, power to forgive sins, and to retain them (John xx. 21 — 23.), and in doing so made them judges. Without confession on the part of the sinner, they cannot act as judges, and do justice in regard to giving punishment and remedies (Cone. Trid. sess. 14. c. 6.). And as the sinner is but seldom able to make an act of perfect contrition, which obtains the forgiveness of sin without confession, it was necessary that the most merciful Lord, as the Roman Catechism says (de pcen. 5. 36.), through the means of confession to the priest, should care in an easier manner for the common salvation of man. Confession is, besides, the best means of bringing man to a knowledge of his sins and of their malice. Therefore even Adam was expressly obliged to acknowledge his sins, and in the same way Cain was asked by God concerning his brother's murder, although God, the Omniscient, knew the sins of both. Finally, the desire to ease the troubled conscience, seems born in man. Thus David says of his crime: Because I was silent, my bones grew old, whilst I cried out all the day long (Ps. xxxi. 3.); and in the book of Proverbs it is said: Heh t at hideth his sins, shall not prosper; but he that shall confess and forsake them, shall obtain mercy. (Pror. xxviii. 30.) Constant experience in life verifies these words, and the heretics could not entirely abolish private confession, though they rejected the Sacrament of Penance. Is confession a human laic, or human invention? No, confession is instituted by Christ Himself; for after His resurrection He appeared to His apostles and disciples, and said to them: Peace be with you! As the Father hath sent me, I also send you; that is, the same power to remove sin from man, and to sanctify him, which the Father hath given me, I give to you. When he had said this, he breathed on them,andhesaid tothem:Receive ye the Holy Ghost. 42 INSTRUCTION ON THE HOLY SACRAMENT OF PENANCE. Whose sins you shall forgive, they are forgiven them; and whose sins you shall retain, they are retained. (John xx. 21—24.; compare Malt, xviii. 18.) In these words Christ evidently gave to the apostles and to the priests, their successors, the power to forgive sins, or to retain them. But this they can do only, when the sins are made known to them, are confessed to them ; and, therefore, Christ when instituting the forgiveness of sins, instituted and connected with it the acknowledgment, that is, confession of sins. This regulation of Christ was complied with by the first Christians in humbleness of heart, as is proved in the Acts of ihe apostles, where we read: And many (referring to the Christians at Ephesus), and many of those who believed, came confessing and declaring their deeds. {Acts. xix. 18.) And the apostle James exhorts his own: Confess there- fore your sins one to another, and pray one for another that you may be saved. {St. James v. 16) And as the work founded by Christ, must stand as long as the world, and as the apostles and disciples of our Lord died, their successors necessarily continued the work, and received the same power from Christ. This is verified by the whole history of His Church. In the very beginning of Christianity, the faithful confessed to the priest, with sorrow, all their transgressions, even the smallest and most secret, after which they received absolution for their sins. " Let us be sincerely sorry as long as we live," says St. Clement of Rome, a disciple of St. Paul (A>. 1. ad Cor.}, "for all evil which we have committed in the flesh, for having once left the world, there will no longer be any confession and penance for us." Ter- tullian (217 after Christ) writes of those who hid their sins being ashamed to confess them : " Can we also hide from the knowledge of God that which we conceal from a fellow creature?" {Lib. de ^tf>w.r).36.)Origen(-]-254t, after speaking of baptism, says: '"There is still a severer and more tedious way of obtaining remission of sin : when the sinner moistens his pillow with tears, and is not ashamed to confess his sins to the priest of the Lord." {Horn. 3. in pep.) St. Cyprian (f 258) writes of those Christians who during the persecutions of his time, had not sinned by plainly denying the faith: "Yet because they had but thought of doing so, they make a sorrowful and simple confession to God's priests." (Lib. de laps.) Basil (-j- A. 1). 379) writes: "Necessarily the sins must be made plain to those to whom the power of the mysteries is con- fided, that is, the priests." ( In reg brer. 288.) Many more testi- monials could be brought from the earliest centuries of Christia- nity, which make it clear, that Christ Himself instituted confession, and that the faithful always availed themselves of it as a means of remission from sin. How would it otherwise have been possible for a human being, though he were the mightiest prince, to have imposed, without the special command of Christ, the Son of God, such a hard command as confession upon all Catholic Christianity, INSTRUCTION ON THE HOLY SACRAMENT OF PENANCE. 43 or even to have invented it without the faithful at once revolting against it; and how possible, besides, that in the oriental Churches which separated from the true Church in the earliest ages, private confession to a priest is yet valid as a divine institution, if it is but a human invention? The Catholic institution of confes- sion, with which, in the earliest centuries, there was even con- nected a public confession, before the whole congregation, for notorious sinners, is as old as the Church itself, as Pope Leo the Great (7 4G1) proves (/«/>. 136): "The secret, auricular confession was introduced into the Church as early as the times of the apostles, or their immediate successors/' It was instituted by Christ, the God-Man, and instituted for the purpose of enabling the apostles and the priests, their successors, to remit in the con- fessional the sins committed after baptism, if the sinner heartily regrets them, sincerely confesses, and renders satisfaction for them, or to retain them if he is unworthy of absolution. From this it is seen that the enemies of the Catholic Church, oppose, in rejecting confession, the plain expression of the holy Scriptures, and of entire Christian antiquity, and that it is a detestable ca- lumny to assert that confession is simply a human invention. The divine institution of confession always was and is a fountain of sweetest consolation for sinful man, and thousands have experi- enced that which is said by the Council of Trent (Sess. 14. c. 3. de part): "The effect of this Sacrament is reconciliation with God, followed often times, in pious men and those who devoutly receive this Sacrament, by peace and happiness of conscience, with deep consolation of the mind." What should aid in making confession easier? The repeated consideration of the manifold benefits arising from it; that by it forgiveness of all, even of the most grievous sins, is received, and the eternal guilt and punishment entirely remitted ; the certainty of having again been made a child of God ; the sweet consolation and desired peace of conscience; the neces- sary remedies which a pious and prudent confessor will prescribe for the cure of the soul's diseases; finally the prayer and exhor- tation of the priest which will also add to the complete conversion of the sinner. What should be done to participate in these bejiefils? Besides that which has already been said of the examination of conscience, and especially of sorrow for sin, there must be in confession a sincere heart opening; that is, a correct and exact confession not only of all grievous, mortal sins, their kind, circum- stances and number, without excuses, or veiling or lessening of them, but also a faithful revelation of all other spiritual affairs, fears, doubts, and other soul wounds in general ; for a wound which is not shown to the physician, cannot be healed; those confessors who are only "mute dogs" {IsaLiyi, 10.), and give absolution 44 INSTRUCTION ON THE HOLY SACRAMENT OF PENANCE without hesitation, should not be consciously sought after, but, when possible, we should trust ourselves to learned, pious, and zealous priests, keep to them as in physical sickness to an expe- rienced physician, and accept their words as if Christ Himself had spoken. How should the false shame which prevents confession be overcome ? It should be remembered that not a human being, but Christ Himself sits in the confessional, and that whoever lies to the con- fessor, seeks to deceive God Himself, who abominates a lie, and at the Last Day will publicly put such a liar to shame. The con- fessor takes the place of Christ, and after His example must be merciful to the sinner if, a sinful man himself, lie hopes to receive mercy and grace from God. At the same time, no confessor is allowed to make public the slightest tiling heard in confession, even if it should cost him his life. It may be considered further that he who conceals a sin in confession, and thus obtains absolu- tion by false pretences, receives no remission, but, on the contrary, commits a new sin. "When man uncovers his sins, God covers them; when man conceals his sins, God reveals them," says St. Augustine. Man can be lied to and deceived, but not God, the Omniscient; and who is ashamed to show his wounds to the phy- sician ? Why should it be a cause of shame to throw out the poison of sin by a sincere confession? To sin is shameful only, to confess sin is not shameful. But if by all these reflections we are still unable to so overcome ourselves as to confess our sins to this or that confessor, we can look for one in whom we have confi- dence, or to whom we are strangers. V. ON SATISFACTION OR PENANCE AFTER CONFESSION. Satisfaction or penance after confession consists, in so far as it belongs to the Sacrament of Penance, in the diligent performance of all the works of penance imposed upon us by the confessor. With this, however, a true penitent will not be satisfied; for as in our times, on account of the weakness and small zeal of Christians, a light penance is imposed that they may not be deterred from the reception of the holy Sacraments, a true penitent will volun- tarily impose penance. upon himself, and, if he does not wish to fall back, lie must once for all perform penance, and bring forth fruits worthy of it. [fAike xiii. 3.) God cannot be induced to give the grace of perseverance, otherwise than by the penance by which we punish ourselves for the offences committed against Him. The luxurious flesh will not cease to sin, if it is not continually punished. Because they omit the voluntary penance it happens that so few sinners after confession persevere in virtue and keep their pro- mises and good resolutions. Those who love their souls, should be careful, besides the exact performance of the penance given in Confession, to render,- by fasting, prayer, almsdeeds, avoidance of INSTRUCTION ON THE HOLY SACRAMENT OF PENANCE. 45 the world, diffidence in themselves, and especially by patient en- durance of the afflictions and sufferings God imposes "as penance, to His Majesty as complete satisfaction as possible for their sins, or endanger their salvation, or risk being forced, in the next world to perform severe and ever lasting penance. Is the unbeliever right in asserting that, because Christ on the cross has already rendered complete satisfaction, man does not need to render any? He is entirely wrong. Christ on the cross did indeed render satisfaction for all the sins of the whole world, and man is not in the condition to render the indispensable satisfaction for one single sin, but it does not follow from this that man is not required to render something. To render satisfaction means to do something for that which has been committed. Instead of obeying God, the sinner, by his sins, disobeys God. Satisfaction for diso- bedience requires perfect obedience from the sinner; but this, be- cause of his weakness and corruption, no man is able to render, therefore Christ rendered it for us by His perfect obedience even unto the death of the cross. But because Christ has been thus obedient for us, must we not be somewhat obedient, too? or what is the same, because Christ for love of us has atoned for our sins by perfect obedience to His Heavenly Father, are we to do no penance for ourselves? It is precisely by this atonement made by Christ that we receive the power of rendering satis- faction. But for this we must, first of all, ask the grace (nrayer) to restrain our earthly desires (fasting), and by means of active love i, charity) make ourselves susceptible to this grace. This it is that St. Paul the Apostle, who calls himself the greatest of sinners, writes of himself : Who now rejoice in my sufferings for you, and fill up those things that are wanting for the sufferings of Christ in my flesh for his body, which is the Church {Col. L 24); and to the Corinthians he writes : But I chastise my body and bring it into subjection; lest perhaps when I have preached to others (meaning: of penance and conversion), I myself should become cast away (i. Cor. ix. 27). Christ Himself. did not censure the Ninivi- tes for their fasting and their penance in sackcloth and ashes, but used them as an example. {Matt. xii. 27. \ And in the Old Testa- ment we find that even after remitting the sin, God imposed a punishment for it. Thus He let the child of King David die, as punishment for his adultery, even though He had forgiven the sin (ii. Kings xii. 13, 14.); thus Moses and Aaron, because they once distrusted God, were not permitted to enter the Promised Land. {Num. xx. 24 ; Dent, xxxiv. 4.) According to this doctrine of the Bible, the Catholic Church teaches that though truly on account of the infinite merits of Christ and in His name, the eternal guilt and punishment of sin are taken away, in confession, by the abso- 46 INSTRUCTION FOR CHRISTMAS EVE. lution given by the priest, there remains a temporal punishment, which the sinner must expiate either in this world or in the next; for this reason, in the earliest times of the Church certain works of penance were imposed, which were then very severe, and in the course of time, owing to the indolence of the faithful, were very much moderated. INSTRUCTION FOR CHRISTMAS EVE. Et us therefore make him a little chamber, and put a little bed in it for him, and a table, and a stool, and a candlestick, that when he cometh to us, he may abide there". (\vJ{inys,\\. 10.) Such was the Sammamite woman's regard for the , prophet Eliseus that she would make such pre- parations for his entertainment ! Will we do as much for Christ who is ready to come to us? Take pains, Christian, to occupy this night in pious thoughts, and aspirations, for the love of God and for the good of your own soul, making yourself worthy to receive the graces which He is ready when he comes, to give you. Think how St. Joseph, and Mary, his holy spouse, who was very near her time, obedient to the imperial command, and perfectly submissive to the will of God, journeyed with the greatest incon- venience to Bethlehem, and when, because of the multitude of people, they found no place to receive them, they stayed, as God willed it, in a most miserable stable at the extreme end of the town. What love does not the Saviour deserve who for love of us so humbled Himself! PRAYER OF THE CHURCH. God, who givest ns to rejoice yearly in the expectation of our redemption, grant, that Thy only begotten Son, whom we receive with joy as our Saviour into our hearts, may be seen by us with confidence, when He shall come into the world as its judge. Through Thy Son Christ Jesus, our Lord, who livest &c. INSTRUCTION FOR CHRISTMAS DAY. I What is Christmas Day? T is the day on which Christ Jesus, our Redeemer and our Joy, . was born of the Blessed Virgin in a stable at Bethlehem. INSTRUCTION FOR CHRISTMAS DAY. 47 Why is this festival culled "the Holy Night?" Because this night has been especially blessed and sanctified by the holy, mysterious birth of the Redeemer of the world. Why are there three Masses said on this day? In commemoration of the threefold birth of the Redeemer: of His birth from all eternity in the bosom of His Heavenly Father; of His birth in the fulness of time ; and of His spiritual birth in the hearts of the pious who, by lively faith in Him, receive the power to become children of God. {John i. 2.) Why is the first Mass said at midnight? Because Christ, the true light which came into the world to enlighten those who stood in darkness and the shadow of death, that is, of unbelief and of sin {Luke i. 79.), was born at night, and because the divine birth is incomprehensible to us. Why is the next Mass said at daybreak , and the third in broad daylight? To signify that the birth of Christ, expelling the darkness of ignorance and infidelity, brought us the clear daylight of the knowledge of God, and that the spiritual birth of Christ can take place at any time in the pure soul. When does this spiritual birth take place? It takes place when the soul, having been cleansed from all sin, makes the firm, unalterable resolution to die to the world and all carnal desires, and arouses in itself the ardent desire henceforth to live only for Christ, and, by His grace, to practise all the virtues. INSTRUCTION ON THE FIRST MASS. The Introit of this Mass speaks of the eternal birth of Christ, the Lord. The Lord hath said to me: "Thou art my Son, this day (that is, from all eternity) I have begotten thee!" (Ps. ii. 7.) Why have the gentiles raged, and the people devised vain things? {Ps. ii. 1.) Glory be to the Father &c. PRAYER OF THE CHURCH. God, who hast illumined this most blessed night with the splendor of the true light, grant that we may enjoy the happiness of that light in heaven, whose mysterious apparition we have recognized on earth. Through Jesus Christ, Thy Son, our Lord, who livest&c. EPISTLE. (Titus ii. 11 — 14.) Dearly Beloved ! The grace of God our Saviour hath appeared to all men, instructing us that, denying ungodliness and worldly desires, we should live 48 INSTRUCTION FOB CHRISTMAS DAY. soberly, and justly, and godly in this world, looking for the blessed hope, and coming of the glory of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and might cleanse to himself a people acceptable, a pursuer of good works. /;/ ichat special manner has the grace and goodness of God been manifested to us? In the incarnation and birth of Christ, His Son, whom, in His infinite love, He has made like unto us, our brother and our tea- cher, by whom we have become children of God, and coheirs of His kingdom. What does Christ by His Incarnation especially desire to teach us? That we should put aside all unrighteousness, all infidelity and injustice, and strive to become like Him, who, except in sin, has become altogether like unto us. But especially that we re- press the desires of lust, wealth, and honor, and not rest until we have uprooted them from our heart. How do ire lire soberly, jaslly, and godly? We live soberly, when we fulfil all duties towards oursel- ves; justly, when we fulfil all duties to our neighbor; and godly, when we fulfil all duties to God: or, when we seek only our own salvation, the honor and glory of God, and do to our neighbors as we would have done to ourselves. ASPIRATION. Blessed art Thou, newborn Saviour, who hast descended from on high to teach me the ways of justice, hast become man and equal to me. In return for this goodness of Thine, I renounce all evil, all sinful desires, words, and deeds. In return for Thy loye, I will ever uproot from my heart all carnal desires, and live always soberly, justly, and godly; and do Thou by Thy grace strengthen me in this resolve. GOSPEL. {Luke ii. 1 — 14.) And it came to pass that in those days there went out a decree from Cesar Augustus, that the whole world should be enrolled. This enrolling was first made by Cyrinus, the governor of Syria. And all went to be enrolled, every one into his own city. And Joseph also went up from Galilee out of the city of Nazareth into Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and family of David, to be enrolled with Mary, his espoused wife, who was with child. And it came to pass INSTRUCTION FOR CHRISTMAS DAY. 49 that when they were there, her days were accomplished that she should be delivered. And she brought forth her first-born son, and wrapped him up in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger; because there was no room for them in the inn. And there were in the same country shepherds watching, and keeping the nightwatch over their flock. And behold an angel of the Lord stood by them, and the brightness of God shone round about them, and they feared with a great fear. And the angel said to them: Fear not: for behold I bring you tidings of great joy, that shall be to all the people; for this day is born to you a Saviour, who is Christ the Lord, in 50 INSTRUCTION FOR CHRISTMAS DAY. the city of David. And this shall be a sign unto you: you shall find the infant wrapped in swaddling clothes, and laid in a manger. And suddenly there was with the angel a multi- tude of the heavenly army, praising God, and saying: Glory to God in the highest : and on earth peace to men of good will. Why, at the time of Augustus, were all the Roman subjects enrolled ? This was by special order of God, that Mary and Joseph should thus be obliged to go to Bethlehem, and it be made known to all the world, that Jesus was really born in Bethlehem, of the tribe of Juda and the house of David, that the predictions of the prophets were fulfilled, and that He was the Messiah. (Mich. v. 2.) Let us learn from this how the providence of God directs all things according to His will, and consider the obedience which Mary rendered to the command of a heathen emperor, or to God who caused the command. Why is Christ called the "first born" of Mary? Because she gave birth to no child before Him ; and as she had none after Him, He was the only Son of Mary as He was the only begotten Son of the Heavenly Father. Why was Christ so poor born in a stable, and laid in a manyer? To teach, not by words, but by example, that which He after- wards so often preached, and so forcibly taught: the love of po- verty, humility, patience, and contempt of the world ; and to put to shame by this manner of His birth the foolish wisdom of the world which aims only for honor, pleasures, and riches. Why was the birth of Christ announced to poor shepherds , and not to King Herod and the chief priests, §-c. ? That it might be known that God loves to dwell with poor, simple, pious, faithful people, such as the shepherds were, and reveals Himself to those who are small in their own eyes; while He despises the proud and hands them over to their own spiri- tual blindness. {Matt. xi. 25.) Let us learn from this to acquire simplicity and humility, and despise pride and cunning, that God may reveal Himself to us by His interior inspirations. What is meant by the angelic song of praise: "Glory be to G o d o n h i g h " ? By this song of praise which the priests usually say in the holy Mass, the angels meant, that the greatest praise and the most heartfelt thanks are due to God, for He had sent His Son into the world; and that those who now had the good will to glo- INSTRUCTION FOR CHRISTMAS DAY. 51 rify God by all their actions, would receive peace, that is, all happiness, blessings, and salvation. Rejoice thou also with the angels over the birth of the Sa- viour; give thanks to Him, and honor to Him alone, so thou also wilt be given peace: peace with God, peace with thyself, peace with airmen. Learn also from the angels, who rejoiced in the graces which man would receive from the birtli of Christ, to re- joice and thank God for the favors which He gives thy neighbor, and by rejoicing participate in them. INSTRUCTION ON THE SECOND MASS. In the Introit of this Mass the Church avails herself of the Prophet Isaias: This day a light shall spread over us, because the Lord is born to us; He shall be called Wonderful, God, the Prince of Peace, the Father of the world to come, of whose kingdom there shall be no end (hat. ix. 6.). The Lord hath reigned; he is cloth- ed with beauty; the Lord is clothed with strength, and hath girded himself. (Ps. xcii. 1.) PRAYER OF THE CHURCH. Grant us, Almighty God,' that the new light of Thy word, made flesh, may shine upon us in its fulness, and that the faith which illumines our minds, may be resplendent in our works. EPISTLE. (Titus iii. 4—7.) But when the goodness and kindness of God our Saviour appeared: not by the works of justice, which we have done, but according to his mercy, he saved us, by the laver of regeneration, and renovation of the Holy Ghost, whom he hath poured forth upon us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Saviour: that being justified by his grace, we may be heirs, according to hope of life everlasting. To whom do we owe our salvation? Not to ourselves and any good works w r e may have performed, but entirely to the mercy "of God alone, who from all eternity decreed our redemption," and sent His only begotten Son into this world to accomplish it; which redemption is bestow r ed upon us in baptism, where we are washed from the stain of sin, and by the rich infusion of the Holy Ghost are born again, heirs of eternal life. Why, then, had God no mercy on the fallen angels? To this question St. John of Damascus replies: "We must know here that the fall was to the angels, what death is to man ; for the angels there w r as no repentance after the fall, as for man there is no repentance after death". (l)e fid. orthod. lib. 2. c. 4.) 4* 52 INSTRUCTION FOR CHRISTMAS DAY. In eternity there is no available contrition and penance, so God snowed no mercy to the fallen angels. Let us learn from this, while there is yet time, to make ourselves by contrition and pe- nance participators in the mercy of God. GOSPEL. {Luke ii. 15—20.) And it came to pass, after the angels departed from them into heaven, the shepherds said one to another: Let us go over to Bethlehem, and let us see this word that has come to pass which the Lord hath shewed to us. And they came with haste: and they found Mary and Joseph, and the infant lying in the manger. And seeing, they understood of the word which had been spoken to them concerning this child. And all that heard wondered: and at those things that were told them by the shepherds. But Mary kept all these words, pondering them in her heart. And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, as it was told unto them. INSTRUCTION. I. The shepherds follow at once the voice of God which calls them to the manger ; they exhort one another to do so; they seek the Redeemer and happily find Him; they make Him known to others, and tenderly thank God for the grace given them. Let us follow the inspirations of God with ready obedience ; let us exhort one another to virtue by our good example and edifying conversation; let us make good use of the knowledge given us by God, give it to others, and praise God for it. II. Mary kept all these words, spoken about her Son, and pondered them in her heart. Let us learn from her to make food for our souls by careful meditation of the divine truths that are made known to us : so that we may be preserved and strengthened in spiritual life. INSTRUCTION ON THE THIRD MASS. The Introit of this Mass reminds us of the spiritual birth of Christ, by which He is spiritually born in us: A child is born to us; and a son is given to us; and the government is upon his shoulder; and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, (/sal ix. 6.) Sing ye to the Lord a new canticle; because he hath done wonderful things. (Ps. xcvii. 1.) Glory be to the Father, &c. PRAYER OF THE CHURCH. Grant, we beseech Thee, Almighty God, that we who are bound in the old servitude, i INSTRUCTION FOR CHRISTMAS DAY. 53 bearing the yoke of sin, may by the incarnation of Christ Thy Son, which we celebrate to day, be freed from our bondage, through the same Jesus Christ, our Lord, &c. EPISTLE. (Hebr. i. 1—12.) God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spoke in times past to the fathers by the prophets, last of all, in these days hath spoken to us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the world; who being the brightness of his glory, and the figure of his substance, and upholding all things by the word of his power, making purgation of sin, sitteth on the right hand of Majesty on high: being made so much better than the angels as he hath inherited a more excellent name than they. For to which of the angels hath he said at any time, Thou art my son, to-day have I begotten thee? And again, I will be to him a father, and he shall be to me a son. And again when he bringeth in the first begotten into the world, he saith: And let all the angels of God adore him. And to the angels indeed he saith: He that maketh his angels, spirits, and his ministers a flame of fire. But to the son: Thy throne, God, is for ever and ever; a sceptre of justice is the sceptre of thy kingdom. Thou hast loved justice and hated iniquity; therefore, God, thy God, hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows. And, Thou, in the beginning, Lord, didst found the earth, and the works of thy hands are the heavens. They shall perish, but thou shalt continue: and they shall all grow old as a garment. And as a vesture shalt thou change them, and they shall be changed: but thou art the selfsame and thy years shall not fail. INSTRUCTION. The greatness of Christ Jesus, the dignity of His divinity and humanity, the love and goodness of His Hea- venly Father, who has given Him to us as our teacher, could not be more gloriously described than in this epistle. Learn from it how much you are obliged, because of this, to serve God, to be grateful to Him, and to follow after Christ who governs heaven and earth, and whom the angels serve. ASPIRATION. I thank Thee, a thousand times, Heavenly Father, that Thou hast deigned to speak to us 54 INSTRUCTION FOR CHRISTMAS DAY. through Thy only begotten Son, in whom Thou hast Thine only pleasure. With my whole heart, Father of Mercy, will I listen to Him, and be obedient to all His instructions. GOSPEL. (Johni, 1 — 14.) In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him: and without him was made nothing that was made. In him was life, and the life was the light of men: and the light shineth in darkness, and the darkness did not com- prehend it. There was a man sent from heaven whose name was John. This man came for a witness, to give testimony of INSTRUCTION FOR CHRISTMAS DAY. 55 the light, that all men might believe through him. He was not the light, but was to give testimony of the light. That was the true light, which enlighteneth every man that cometh into this world. He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not. He came unto his own, and his own received him not. But as many as received him, he gave them power to be made the sons of God, to them that believe in his name. Who are born not of the blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. And the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us (and we saw his glory, the glory as it were of the only begotten of the Father), full of grace and truth. What does St. John mean by the expression the Word? That the Son of God, who was begotten and brought forth like a word of the mouth from the Father, but in a manner incompre- hensible and inscrutable to us, is one with the Father in the di- vine nature, but different from Him in person; He is also called the Word of the Father, because through Him the Father has spoken and made known the divine will. (Hebr. i. 2.; Matt. xvii. 5.) What is meant by: In the beyinniny was the Word, and the Word was with God? That the Son of God already was, when all things had their beginning, not made or created, but born of the Father from eter- nity, with whom and in whom He therefore existed from all eter- nity. St. John here teaches the divinity, the eternity, and the equality of Christ with the Father. What is meant by: All thing 9 were made by Him? That the Son of God, true God with the Father and the Holy Ghost, has made all things from the angels to the smallest worm. (Comp. Coloss. i. 16.) What is meant by: In Him was the life? It means : The Son of God is the origin and fountain of all the spiritual life of our soul upon earth, and of the glorious life in eternity. To give this true life to us, he became man, whereby we are born again, newly created, as it were, from the death of sin to the life of grace and righteousness. Why is this life the liyht of men? Because this true life of the soul which Christ has obtained for us and given us, consists in the ever increasing knowledge of God and his salvation, which knowledge also comes from Christ, 56 INSTRUCTION FOR CHRISTMAS DAY. either externally through holy words and examples, or inwardly by divine inspiration. How did the light shine in darkness? In this manner, that the Son of God has always given, in dif- ferent ways, the light of true knowledge to all men, even to the wicked, and to infidels, and especially so, by His example and His doctrines, since His incarnation. But the wicked closed their eyes to the light and perished. And now He gives the necessary light of knowledge to all men, especially by the preaching of His holy word, but the hardened sinners throw it from them, because they wish not to hear of faith, penance, and repentance. How did St. John the Baptist give testimony of the light? By announcing the Saviour to the world, and when He appeared, even pointing Him out. Who receive Christ? Those who walk in the light of His grace, cooperate with it, and so become the children of God. How are we to understand : The Word was made flesh? This is not to be understood to mean that the Word, that is, the Son of God, was changed into human nature, but to mean that He took upon Himself flesh from the Virgin Mary, and became man, having therefore two natures inseparably united in Himself: the divine and the human. So Christ is true God, and at the same time true man, therefore God- Man. From this it follows, that Christ in His humanity is less than His Father {John xiv. 28.), but in His divinity is equal to the Father {John x. 30.), and that there were in Christ two wills, the human and the divine. His humanity filled Him with a natural terror of His sufferings, but His divinity was perfectly united with the will of His Heavenly Father, and could pray: Not my will, but thine be done. ASPIRATION. God, our Heavenly Father, who hast given us, Thy lost people, this night in the form of a child from the immaculate womb of Mary, Thine only begotten Son as our mediator and joygiver, we give Thee thanks with heart and lips, and humbly beseech Thee that Thou wilt never per- mit us to forget such a grace, and that we may sustain our- selves by it in all temptations; that we may be ever grateful to Thee for it, and until death praise, honor, and serve Thee in sanctity. Amen. Whence comes the custom of putting cribs in our Churches and houses at this time? This custom originated with St. Francis of Assisi who espe- cially loved and contemplated the poor, newborn child Jesus, and INSTRUCTION FOR CHRISTMAS DAY. 57 further to increase his love, was accustomed to represent to him- self in this way the stable and manger at Bethlehem ; and as this pious practice is calculated to assist exceedingly in the instruction of the unlearned, especially of children, it was introduced into many Churches. THE SOCIETY OF THE HOLY CHILDHOOD FOR THE SALVATION OF THE HEATHEN CHILDREN. MAny thousands of the heathen children die every year with- out baptism, and what is most terrible, a great number of these unfortunate children die the most miserable death, and thus perish, soul and body. In the heathen countries, espe- cially in China, a country that contains more than three hundred millions of inhabitants, it is the horrible custom for parents, wjjen they have too many children, or when sickly, weak, or deformed children are born to them, exposing them on the streets, or throw- ing them with a weight around the neck into the water. On the streets the poor little worms die of hunger, or are eaten up by the dogs and pigs, in the water their flesh becomes the food of the fishes. Many, especially girls, are picked up by the wicked heathens, carried home, and so trained that when they grow up, they may serve vice for money. A multitude of others are strangled immediately after birth, their bodies thrown into the water, or into the dirt. No law forbids this horrible custom, no law punishes it. Often from twenty to thirty thousand of these unfortunate children are killed in one year. The missionaries, who preach the gospel to this heathenland, seeking to win them to Christ, see with terror this cruelty, without being able to pre vent it. It especially grieves them, to see these little ones die without baptism. Some of these missionaries wished to take those left on the streets, to baptize, and to educate them ; to find wo- men who would privately baptize them, and bring them in from the street. But how provide for these children, how educate them? how support the women who gathered up the children? Money was necessary, but they were poor, and had none. They turned therefore to Christian Europe, and in touching letters begged alms for these little unfortunates. Moved by their mis- fortunes, the pious Bishop Forbin- Janson of Nancy in France in- stituted the Society of the Holy Childhood of Jesus, invit- ing all the children of his diocese to form themselves into a society in the name of the child Jesus, and under the patronage of the Blessed Virgin, for the benefit of the miserable heathen children, giving alms out of love for the child Jesus. All children under twenty one years of age were to belong to it, forming clubs of twelve among themselves, in honor of the twelve years of Christ's childhood; each child to give one kreutzer (about one cent. Tr.) to the society's treasury, one a month, and to say one 58 INSTRUCTION FOR THE SUNDAY AFTER CHRISTMAS. "Hail Mary" every day with the invocation: "Holy Mary, pray for us and for the poor children of the heathens . By means of the money thus collected, the missionaries who saved the heathen children from spiritual and temporal death, were to be supported. The society has been in existence since 1841, and has already embraced all Catholic countries; thousands of pious Christian children give the alms from their own hands to do a good work by it for the love of the child Jesus and the sal- vation of the children of the heathen. Adults are admitted as honorary members, and would it not be well, beloved reader, if you were to join it, and by prayers and alms aid in saving those little ones? This would be indeed a good work, for which rich reward would be given in heaven. INSTRUCTION FOR THE SUNDAY AFTER CHRISTMAS. INtroit. While all things were in quiet silence, and the night was in the midst of her course, thy al- mighty Word leapt down from heaven, from thy royal throne ( Wis. xviii. 14. 15.). The Lord hath reigned; he is clothed with beauty; the Lord is clothed with strength, and hath girded himself {Ps. xcii. 1.). Glory be to the Father &c. PRAYER OF THE CHURCH. Almighty and eternal God, govern all our actions according to Thy pleasure, that all we do, we may do in the name of Thy beloved Son, and thus bear rich fruit in good works. This grant through the same Christ our Lord, &c. EPISTLE. (Galat. iv. 1—7.) Brethren! As long as the heir is a child, he differeth nothing from a servant, though he be Lord of all: but is under tutors and governors until the time appointed by the father: so we also when we were children, were serving under the elements of this world. But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent his Son, made of a woman, made under the law; that he might re- deem them who were under the law; that we might receive the adoption of sons. And because you are sons, God hath sent the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying: Abba, Father! Therefore now he is not a servant, but a son. And if a son, an heir also through God. INSTRUCTION FOR THE SUNDAY AFTER CHRISTMAS. 59 EXPLANATION. St. Paul desired to instruct the Galatians, many of whom still clung to the Mosaic law, that this was no long- er necessary , because Christ had freed them from its hard bond- age, which contained merely the rudiments, so to speak, of the one only saving faith, and had made them children and heirs of God, at which they should rejoice and congratulate each other. Ours is an even much greater happiness than the Jews re- ceived, because we, through our ancestors, were converted by apostolic messengers of the faith from heathenism to the true, saving Catholic faith, and by this holy religion tfere changed from vassals of Satan, into children and heirs of God. What a great advantage is this ! Must it not be dearer to us than all the kingdoms of the world? Let us thank the Lord for it, and be careful not to lose this prerogative of being a child of God, and heir of heaven, not by sin to give ourselves anew, as voluntary slaves of Satan. GOSPEL. (Luke ii. 33 — 40.) At that time: Joseph, and Mary his mother, were wondering at those things which were spoken concerning him. And Simeon blessed them, and said to Mary his mother: Behold, this child is set for the fall , and for the resurrection of many in Israel , and for a sign which shall be contradicted: and thy own soul a sword shall pierce, that out of many hearts thoughts may be re- vealed. And there was one Anna, a prophetess, the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asar; she was far advanced in years, and had lived with her husband seven years from her virginity. And she was a widow until fourscore and four years; who departed not from the temple, by fastings and prayers serving day and night. Now she at the same hour coming in, confessed to the Lord; and spoke of him to all that looked for the redemption of Israel. And after they had performed all things according to the law of the Lord, they returned into Galilee to their city Nazareth; and the child grew and waxed strong, full of wisdom, and the grace of God was in him. Why did Mary and Joseph wonder at the things ichich were spoken of the child Jesus? They wondered, not because that which was said of the child Jesus by Simeon, was new to them, for they already knew, why He was sent from God, but because of the marvellous ways in 60 INSTRUCTION FOR THE SUNDAY AFTER CHRISTMAS. which God revealed the mysteries of the newborn Saviour to Si- meon, the shepherds, and to other pious people. : How is Christ set for the fall of many? Christ is set for the fall, that is, for the eternal damnation, of all those who have heard His doctrine, but have not received it, and those who have received it, but have not lived in accordance with it. Christ is not the cause of their fall, but they themselves are the cause, on accomit of their hard-heartedness and voluntary obduracy. These would not have committed this great sin, if Christ had not come, preached, and offered them the grace of knowledge and of conversion. {John xii. 22.) For whom is Christ the resurrection? For those who receive faith in Him, and in His doctrines, and live in accordance with it: these if they persevere, will rise in the future into eternal life. INSTRUCTION FOR THE SUNDAY AFTER CHRISTMAS. (Jl Why is Christ a sign that shall he contradicted? Because, by His unexampled birth from a virgin, by His life and death, and especially by His heavenly doctrine, which is en- tirely opposed to the carnal spirit of this world, Christ became an object of mockery and blasphemy. Even now, according to the saying of St. Bernard, Christ is such a sign of contradiction for many Christians who by their pride constantly contradict His humility, by their avarice His poverty, by their gluttony His fast- ing, by their impurity His purity, by their indolence His zeal, &c. ; denying by their actions that which they profess with their lips, thus publicly showing that they are Christians but in name, of whom it is written: Thou hast the name of being alive, but thou art dead. {Apoc. iii. 1.) What is meant by : And thy own soul a sword shall pierce? It means that the greatest grief should cut like a sword through the inmost parts of the soul, which came to pass, when Mary heard the calumnies and blasphemies of the Jews against her Son, and when she saw Him die on the cross between two thieves. Meditating on this grief of the most loving mother Mary, St. Bonaventura exclaims: u Never was there grief so great, for never was there Son so loved ! " What else do we learn from this gospel? The widows should learn from Anna, who spent nearly all her life in the temple, to serve God by prayer and fasting; for a widow who prays not, but- lives in pleasures, is dead, while she is living, (i. Tim.v.6.) Parents should learn from it, to be careful, not only that their children increase in growth and in knowledge, but much more that by a pious life they advance in grace before God and man. ASPIRATION. Jesus, Thou newborn Saviour, do Thou move our hearts to the fulfilment of Thy precepts that Thou mayst never be set for our fall; for it would be much better for us, not to have known the ways of righteousness, than having known them, to have departed from them. INSTRUCTION CONCERNING BLESSINGS. And he blessed them. (Luke \\. 34.) What is meant by "blessing" ? A Blessing on the part of God, means the giving to man some corporal or spiritual grace; a blessing on the part of an angel or a man, means the expression in prayer of a wish or de- sire that God would give to some particular person a corporal or spiritual grace. In the proper sense of the word, only God can 62 INSTRUCTION FOR THE SUNDAY AFTER CHRISTMAS. give a blessing, because all good of the body and soul comes from Him; angels and men can only wish and ask of God, that He would give His gifts. Have we examples of this in the Bible? Yes, for the angels blessed Jacob {Gen. xxxii. 26.), and Jacob blessed his grandson {Gen.xlviii. 15.), Melchisedech blessed Abra- ham {Gen. xxiv. 60.), and Rebecca was blessed by her brothers. {Gen. xxvii. 27. xlix.) Is it well for parents to bless their children? Yes, for God sometimes fulfils the blessings wished by the parents, as in the case of Jsaac who blessed Jacob, and Jacob who blessed his own sons {Gen. xlix.). And, on the contrary, God lets the curses of parents upon their children be fulfilled, as hi- story shows. "The father's blessing establisheth the houses of the children; but the mother's curse rooteth up the foundation". {Eccl. iii. 11.) What power has the priest's blessing? A very great one, because it is given by the priest, the vicar of Christ on earth, in the name of Jesus, and of the Church found- ed by Him, in which He has deposited the plenitude of His bless- ings. The Church expresses this, when the bishop, anointing the hands of the newly ordained, makes the sign of the cross over them : " All that they bless, is blessed ; that they consecrate, is consecrated and sanctified in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ". The blessing of the priest is to be prized therefore, and a hin- derance not set to it by a sinful life. The parents should let their children be blessed by them, when they come to them, as the children were brought" to Christ that He might lay His hands on them and bless them. {Matt. xix. 13.) [See the instruction in re- gard to benedictions, sixth Sunday after Pentecost] What effects has the blessing of God? In spiritual life it gives great joy and strength to do right, and avoid evil ; and in physical life it gives fruitful prosperity in our business and undertakings. Therefore, all is in the blessing of God, and he who possesses it, is richer than though he possess- ed the whole world. So one should endeavor by a pious life to secure this blessing, for it rests only on the head of the just. ( Prov. x. 6.) 63 INSTRUCTION FOR NEW YEARS DAY. BWhy is this day so called? E cause the secular year begins with this day, as the eccle- siastical year begins with the first Sunday in Advent. What should be performed on this day f An offering of the new year should be made to God, asking for His grace' that it may be commenced and spent in a holy manner, for the welfare of the soul. Why do we wish each other a "happy new year"? Because to wish well to each other, is an act of Christian love ; but this wish should come from the heart and not merely from worldly politeness, or we would be like the heathens (Matt. v. 47.), and receive no other reward than they. What festival of the Church is celebrated to-day ? The festival of the Circumcision of our Lord, who, for love of us, voluntarily subjected Himself to the painful law of the Old Covenant, that we might be freed from it. What was the Circumcision? It was an external sign of the Old Law, by which the people of that day were numbered among the chosen people of God, as now they become, by baptism, members of the Church of Christ. What is the signification of Circumcision in the moral or spiritual sense ? Its signification is the mortification of the senses, of evil desires, and inclinations. This is even now practised by Chri- stians, because they promise it in baptism which would be useless without it; just as little as the Jew is a true Jew by the Cir- cumcision only, so little is the baptized a true Christian without a virtuous life. Beg of Christ, therefore, to-day, to give you the grace to work out the spiritual Circumcision. PRAYER. I thank Thee, Lord Jesus, because to-day Thou hast willed to shed Thy blood for me in the Circumcision for the first time, and beg Thee, for the sake of that shedding of Thy blood, to grant that, for the love of Thee, I may cir- cumcise and mortify my eyes, ears, mouth, and hands, and all sensual desires, that I may not look, listen, speak, touch, desire, or do anything wrong. Amen. [The Introit of the Mass is the same that is said in the third Mass on Christmas.] 64 INSTRUCTION FOR NEW YEAR'S DAY. PRAYER OF THE CHURCH. God, who by means of the fruitful virginity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, hast given eternal salvation to the world, grant, we beseech Thee, that we may experience her powerful intercession, through whom we were made worthy to receive the Author of Life, Jesus Christ, Thy Son, our Lord, who livest and reignest , &c. [The Epistle is the same that is said in the first Mass on Christmas.] GOSPEL. (Luke ii. 21.) And after eight days were ac- complished that the child should be circumcised, his name was called Jesus, which was called by the angel, before he was conceived in the womb. INSTRUCTION FOR NEW YEAR'S DAY. 65 Why did Jesus submit to be circumcised? That He might show His ^reat love for us, which caused Him, even at the very beginning of His life , to shed His blood for us, to wash us by it from all our sins; and to teach us obedience to the commandments of God and His Church, by voluntarily sub- jecting Himself, although He was not in the least bound by it to the Jewish law, which ordered that every male-child should be circumcised on the eighth day after its birth. {Lev. xii. 3.) Why was He named Jesus ? Because Jesus means the same as Redeemer and Saviour, and He had come to redeem and save the world [Matt. i. 21.\ and this is the holiest, most venerable, and most powerful name, by which we can be saved. What power has this name ? The greatest power, for it repels all attacks of the wicked enemy, as Jesus Himself says {Mark xvi. 17.). And so great is the efficacy of this most holy name that even those who are not righteous, can drive out devils by using it {Matt. vii. 22.). It has power to cure physical pains and evils, as when used by the apost- les {Acts ii\. 3-7.), and as Christ promised, could be done by all the faithful {Mark. xvi. 17.). St. Bernard calls the name of Jesus a "Medicine"; and St. Chrysostom says, "This name cures all ills; it gives succor in all the ailments of the soul, in tempta- tions, in faint-heartedness, in sorrow, and in all evil desires, &c." "Let him who cannot excite contrition in his heart for the sins he has committed, think of the loving, meek, and suffering Jesus, invoke His holy name with fervor and confidence, and he will feel his heart touched and made better", says St. Laurent Justi- nianus. It overcomes and dispels the temptations of the enemy : "When we fight against Satan in the name of Jesus", says the martyr St. Justin, "Jesus fights for us, in us, and with us, and the enemies must fly as soon as they hear the name of Jesus". It pre- pares and secures us help and blessings in all corporal and spiri- tual necessities, because nothing is impossible to him who asks in the name of Jesus, und whatever tends to his salvation, will be given him {John xiv. 13.). Therefore it is useful above all things, to invoke this holy name in all dangers of body and soul, in doubtful thoughts, in great temptations, especially in temptations against holy chastity, and still more so when one has fallen into sin, from which he desires to be delivered; for this name is like oil (Cant. i. 2.) which cures, which nourishes, and which illumines. How must this name he pronounced to experience its power? With lively faith, with steadfast, unshaken confidence, with deepest reverence and devotion, for in the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those that are in heaven, on earth, and under the earth. (Philipp. ii. 10.) What (J6 INSTRUCTION FOR NEW YEAR'S DAY. . wickedness, then, is theirs who habitually pronounce this name carelessly and irreverently, upon every occasion! Such a habit is certainly an abortion of hell ; for what the damned and the devils are eternally doing, he imitates who abuses this name. Why does this name so seldom manifest Us power in our days? Because Christian faith is becoming ever weaker, confidence less, while complete submission to the will of God is wanting. As faith grows more vivid among people, confidence stronger, and submission to God more sincere, so will the power of this most sacred name manifest itself in more wonderful and consoling aspects. PRAYER TO JESUS IN DIFFERENT DIFFICULTIES. Jesus! Thou Consolation of the afflicted! Thy name is indeed diffused like oil; for Thou dost illumine those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death; Thou dost disperse the blindness of the soul and dost cure its ills; Thou givest food and drink to those who hunger and thirst after justice. Be also, Jesus! my Saviour, the physician of my soul, the healer of its wounds. Jesus! Succor of those who are in need, be my protector in temptations! Jesus! Father of the poor, do Thou nourish me! Jesus! Joy of the angels, do Thou comfort me! Jesus! my only hope and refuge, be my helper in the hour of death , for there is given us no other name beneath the sun by which we may be saved, but Thy most blessed name Jesus ! EXHORTATION. St. Paul says: "All whatsoever you do in word or in work, all things do ye in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ". (Colos. hi. 17.). We should, there- fore, follow the example of the saints, and continually say, or, at least, think: "For love of Thee, Jesus, I rise; for love of Thee I lie down; for love of Thee I eat, drink, and enjoy myself; for love of Thee I work, speak, or am silent". In tliis way we will accustom ourselves to do all in the name of Jesus, by which we will obtain that all will pass easily, or at least meritoriously. PRAYER FOR NEW YEAR'S DAY. God, Heavenly Father, Father of Mercy, God of all Consolation! we thank Thee that from our birth to this day, Thou hast so well preserved us, and hast protected us in so many dangers; we beseech Thee, through the merits of Thy beloved Son, and by His sacred blood which He shed for us on this day in His circumcision, to forgive us all the sins which, during the past year, we have committed against INSTRUCTION FOR THE SUNDAY FOLLOWING NEW YEAR'S DAY. (J 7 Thy commandments, by which we have aroused Thy indig- nation and wrath against ourselves. Preserve us in the com-* ing year and always from all sins , and from all misfortunes of body and soul. Grant that from this day to the encTof our life, all our senses, thoughts, words, and works, which we here dedicate to Thee for all time, may be directed in accordance with Thy will, and we may finally die in the true Catholic faith, and enjoy with Thee in Thy kingdom a joyful new year, that shall know no end. Amen. INSTRUCTION FOR THE SUNDAY FOLLOWING NEW YEAR'S DAY. [The lntroit, the Prayer of the Church, and the Epistle, are the same that are said on the Sunday after Christmas./ GOSPEL. (Matt. ii. 19 — 23.) But when Herod was dead, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared in sleep to Jo- seph in Egypt, saying: Arise, and take the child and his mo- ther, and go into the Land of Israel. For they are dead that sought the life of the child. Who arose, and took the child and his mother, and came into the Land of Israel. But hearing that Archelaus reigned in Judea in the room of Herod, his father, he was afraid. to go thither: and being warned in sleep, retired into the quarters of Galilee. And coming, he dwelt in a city called Nazareth: that it might be fulfilled which was said by the prophets: that he shall be called a Nazarite. INSTRUCTION. In this we see how wonderfully God deals with His own. He indeed permits them to be persecuted and oppressed, but never to be suppressed, and in longer or shorter times He gives them many consolations. Jesus was forced to fly into Egypt to escape the persecution of Herod, because God did not desire to save Him by a visible miracle, but in the natural manner. He lives in misery in Egypt, but for no longer time than God wills, who having put His enemies to shame, and taken them out of His way, calls Him back and leaves Him to pass His youth in quietness and peace. The conduct of God to His Son, and the care He has for Him, should be a consolation for the just; they must be happy if God deals with them as with Him ; they K* (J8 INSTRUCTION FOR THE SUNDAY FOLLOWING NEW YEAR'S DAY. will certainly, like Christ, be made to suffer no more than God permits, and their sufferings will be ever accompanied by conso- lations, and the misery last but a short time. St. Joseph avoided the Land of Judea, because he feared that Archelaus would suc- ceed to Herod's cruelty, as he had to his government. A N a z a- rite means, a low person, a despised person. Jesus was so call- ed, because He grew up at Nazareth, and spent the greater part of His life in this city, which was held in such contempt by the Jews that they could not believe, any thing good could come out of Nazareth. {John 1. 40.) 69 INSTRUCTION FOR THE FESTIVAL OF THE EPIPHANY. What is this festival? His festival is set apart for the solemn commemoration of the coming of the three wise men, kings, from the East, guided by a miraculous star which God has caused to ap- pear to them, to Bethlehem, where they found Christ in the stable, adored, honored, "* and offered gifts to Him. Why is this day called Epiphania Domini, or Apparition of the Lord? Because the Church wishes to present the three important times in the life of Christ, when He made His divinity known to man: the coming of the wise men from the East, to whom He revealed Himself as the Son of God to the gentiles; His baptism in the Jordan, when He revealed Himself to the Jews, and His first miracle at the marriage in Cana, by which He revealed Him- self to His disciples. In joy the Church sings to-day in the Introit of the Mass: Behold, the sovereign comes, the Lord, and in his hand is the kingdom, power, and sovereignty. Give to the king thy judgment, God, and to the king's son thy justice. (A. lxxi. 1.) Glory be to the Father, &c PRAYER OF THE CHURCH. God, who on this day didst reveal Thyself to the gentiles, led by a star to Thee, mercifully grant, that we who know Thee now by faith, may be led to behold Thy glory face to face. Through the same Jesus Christ, our Lord, &c. LESSON. (Isaias lx. 1 — 6.) Arise, be enlightened, Jerusalem, for thy light is come, and the glory of thy Lord is risen upon thee. For behold, darkness shall cover the earth, and a mist the people: but the Lord shall arise upon thee, and his glory shall be seen upon thee. And the genti- les shall walk in thy light, and kings in the brightness of thy rising. Lift up thy eyes round about, and see: all these are gathered together, they are come to thee, thy sons shall come from afar, and tlry daughters shall rise up at thy side. Then shalt thou see and abound, and thy heart shall wonder and be enlarged, when the multitude of the sea shall be 70 INSTRUCTION FOR THE FESTIVAL OF THE EPIPHANY. converted to thee, the strength of the gentiles shall come to thee. The multitude of camels shall cover thee, the drome- daries of Madian and Epha: all they from Saba shall come, bringing gold and frankincense, and shewing forth praise to the Lord. EXPLANATION. The Prophet Isaias in this epistle predicts that the light of the Lord, Avhich is Christ, will rise over Jerusa- lem, the prototype of the Church, and that the gentiles who knew nothing of the true God, would come to walk in that light which Christ, by His doctrine and holy life, would cause to shine, and that numberless nations, from all parts of the world, would as- semble as her children to adore the one true God. The fulfilment of this prophecy commenced with the adoration of the magi, who are to be regarded as the first Christian converts from the genti- les; the Church, therefore, very properly celebrates this day with great solemnity. We ought also to share in the joy of the Church, because our ancestors were gentiles, and like the three wise men were called to the true faith. Let us exclaim with Isaias: Give praise, ye heavens, and rejoice, earth: ye mountains give praise, with jubilation: be- cause the Lord hath comforted his people, and will have mercy on his poor ones. (hat. xlix. 13.) GOSPEL. (Matt. ii. 1 — 12.) When Jesus therefore was born in Bethlehem of Juda , in the days of King Herod , be- hold, there came wise men from the East to Jerusalem, saying: Where is he that is born King of the Jews? For we have seen his star in the East, and have come to adore him. And King Herod hearing this, was troubled, and all Jerusa- lem with him. And assembling together all the chief priests and the scribes of the people, he inquired of them where Christ should be born. But they said to him: In Bethlehem of Juda. For so it is written by the prophet: And thou Bethlehem the Land of Juda art not the least among the princes of Juda; for out of thee shall come forth the captain that shall rule my people Israel. Then Herod privately calling the wise men, learned diligently of them the time of the star which appeared to them: and sending them into Bethlehem, said: Go and diligently inquire after the child; and when you have found him, bring me word again, that I also may come and adore him. Who hav- INSTRUCTION FOlt THE FESTIVAL OF THE EPIPHANY 71 ing heard the king, went their way; and behold , the star which they had seen in the East, went before thein, until it came and stood over where the child was. And seeing the star, they rejoiced with exceeding great joy. And entering into the house, they saw the child with Mary his mother, and falling down they adored him: and opening their trea- sures, they offered him gifts: gold, frankincense, and myrrh. And having received an answer in sleep that they should not return to Herod, they went back another way into their own country. 72 INSTRUCTION FOR THE FESTIVAL OF THE EPIPHANY. What caused the three kings to undertake so severe a journey ? A star which God permitted to appear in their land, at the sight of which they were inwardly enlightened, so that they at once recognized its signification. Let us" learn from these kings who so readily responded to the inspiration of God, by immedia- tely undertaking so difficult a journey, also to respond at once to the inspirations of God, and seek the Saviour without delay ; and from their zeal, and the fearlessness with which they asked of Herod where the Messiah would be found, we should learn to seek and practise, without fear of men, whatever is necessary for our salvation. Why did Herod fear, and all Jerusalem with him? Because Herod, a proud, imperious, cruel, and therefore su- spicious king, was afraid, when he heard of a new-born king, that he would be driven from the throne, and brought to punishment for his vices. A bad conscience is always ill at ease, and never at rest. There is no peace for the wicked, saith the Lord God. (Isai. lvii. 21.) Jerusalem, that is, the inhabitants of Jeru- salem, feared because many of them were attached to Herod, and others, especially the chief priests and the scribes, because they feared they would be punished for their secret crimes, when the Messiah would come, of whom they knew that He would judge the poor with justice, and with the breath of his mouth (would) slay the wicked. (Isai. xi. 4.) Why did Herod call together the chief priests and the scribes? Partly to find from them where the Messiah was to be born, partly and principally because God so directed it, that Herod and the chief priests, knowing the time and place of the Messiah's birth, would have no excuse for their infidelity. In the same way God often gives us the plainest understanding of the most whole- some truths, which we follow as little as the Jews who had suffi- cient knowledge of the Messiah, indeed, even showed the way to the three kings, but made no use of it for themselves, and were therefore cast away. Why did Herod say, he wished to adore the child? This he did out of wicked hypocrisy and cunning. He had no other intention than that of putting Jesus to death, and therefore affected piety to find out exactly the time and place of His birth. Thus do those soul-murderers who desire the fall of an innocent person; they dare not show themselves as wolves, that is, they dare not, at once, let their evil intentions be suspected, and so they put on sheep's clothing, feign piety and devotion, until they creep into the heart from which, by flattery, and irony about religion and virtue, and by presents, they have expelled the sense of shame, and the fear of God, and then they murder the soul. INSTRUCTION FOR THE FESTIVAL OF THE EPIPHANY. 73 Why did the kings adore Christ kneeling? Because by the light received from God, they saw God Him- self in the little child in the stable at Bethlehem, although they saw nothing glorious, nothing but poverty surrounding the child Jesus and His virgin mother. How do these gentile kings shame those lukewarm Catholics, who conduct themselves with such irreverence towards their God, present in the Blessed Sacrament, not even bending their knees before Him ! Why did the kings offer gold, frankincense, and myrrh? Because it was the ancient Eastern custom, never to appear without presents before a prince or king, the three kings, as the holy fathers universally teach, enlightened by the Holy Ghost, desired by their presents to honor Christ as God, king, and as man. Of this the venerable Beda writes: "The first of the kings, named Melchior, offered gold to Christ the Lord and king ; the second, named Kaspar, frankincense to the divinity of Christ; and the third, Balthasar, myrrh, by which was expressed that Christ, the Son of man, must die." How can we bring similar offerings to Christ? We offer gold to Him, when we love Him from our whole heart, and out of love for Him, present Him our will, which is our most precious treasure, by perfect obedience and continual selfdenial, at the same time assisting the poor with alms in His name. Frankincense we burn for Him, when we devoutly and ardently pray to Him, especially when we meditate upon His omnipotence, love, goodness, justice, and mercy. We offer Him myrrh, when we avoid carnal desires, mortify our evil inclina- tions and passions, even though it be as bitter as the fruit of myrrh to do so, and strive for purity of body and soul. Why did the kings return by another way to their own country ? This they did by command of God, who revealed to them in a dream the evil intentions of Herod, and thus they did not act as this malicious man desired. From this we should learn to obey God rather than man, that we must be obedient to His directions, even if we do not understand them ; so the three kings obeyed, although they could not see, as they had just adored His only begotten Son as almighty God and king, how God could command them to fly from Herod; and we, after we are once converted, must take a very different way from that we walked before. "Our fatherland is paradise, heaven," writes St. Gregory. " We have departed from it by pride, disobedience, abuse of visible things, therefore it is needed that we return to it by obedience, contempt of the world, by taming the desires of the flesh. We return to our own country by another road. By forbidden joys have we left the joys of paradise, by the pains of penance we return to it." 74 INSTRUCTION FOR THE FIRST SUNDAY AFTER EPIPHANY. ASPIRATION. Give me, divine Saviour, the faith of those Eastern kings. Enlighten my understanding with the light which enlightened theirs, and move my heart, so that I may in future follow this light, and sincerely seek Thee who hast first sought me. Grant, also, that I may really find Thee, with the wise men may adore Thee in spirit and in truth , and bring to Thee the gold of love , the frankin- cense of prayer, and the myrrh of penance and mortification, that, having here offered Thee the sacrifice of my faith, I may adore Thee in glory. Amen. INSTRUCTION FOR THE FIRST SUNDAY AFTER EPIPHANY. N the Introit of this Mass the Church ex- horts us in these words to a joyous adoration of Christ: I saw on an elevated throne a man sitting, whom a multitude of angels adored, singing together: Be- hold Him, the name of whose glory ^ is eternal {Dan. 7.) Sing joyfully to God, all the earth; serve ye the Lord with gladness. (P*. xcix. 2.) Glory be to te Father, &c. Thus in the Mass all seeks to fill us with joyful obedience to God and His holy com- mandments. PRAYER OF THE CHURCH. Lord, let the desires of Thy suppliant people be pleasing to Thee , and by Thy heavenly goodness effect that they may plainly see what they should do, and have strength to perform that which they see. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, &c. EPISTLE. {Romans xii. 1 — 5.) Brethren: I beseech you, therefore, by the mercy of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, pleasing unto God, your reasonable service. And be not conformed to this world, but be reform- ed in the newness of your mind , ! that you may prove what is the good, and the acceptable, and perfect will of God. For I say, by the grace that is given me, to all that are among you, not to be more wise than it behooveth to be wise , but to be wise unto sobriety, and according as God hath divided INSTRUCTION FOR THE FIRST SUNDAY AFTFR EIPHANY. 75 to every one the measure of faith. For as in one body we have many members, but all the members have not the same office, so we, being many, are one body in Christ, and every one members of one another. EXPLANATION. The apostle entreats, even conjures us by all the mercies which God has shown us, to bring Him a liv- ing sacrifice, that is, one dead to the carnal desires, but alive to all virtue; a holy, that is, pure, immaculate; God pleasing, that is, a sacrifice intended for His glory only; not a dead sa- crifice as the Jews offered by killing animals, nor, as the gen- tiles by polluting their bodies, an unholy one. This living, holy, God pleasing sacrifice, we should offer in our body; but this does not exclude the sacrifice of our spirit, because all our actions, the corporal as well as spiritual, should be directed to God, the end for which we were created. We should in body as well as in spi- rit, offer God a living, holy sacrifice, which we do, when all our works are performed solely in His honor , and so are sanctified ; when we mortify our carnal desires, for example : our eating and drinking, and all impure desires; subdue our five senses: the sense of sight, of hearing, of speaking, &c. ; if we overcome the spirit of pride, anger, impatience, and not suffer ourselves to be dis- tracted during prayer, Church service, and have before God, as had David, a contrite heart, which is the most pleasing sa- crifice in His eyes, and which He never despises. In this way we render a reasonable service, and are, as St. Peter says (i. Peter 2. 9.), a kingly priesthood, because we govern like kings over our evil inclinations, and offer with body and soul a con- tinual sacrifice to God. The apostle further exhorts us not to become like the world, that is, that we do not follow the cor- rupt manners and principles of the evil children of the world ; not to desire those things at which the world aims: not to love that which the world loves; not to act as the world acts; but rather constantly seek to change our entire disposition, and make it anew by combatting our corrupted, evil inclinations, and re- placing them with the opposite ones. "We must cease to be the old worldly man, and become a new heavenly man, whose life is in heaven; and to be such, we must carefully seek to know in all things what is pleasing to God, and therefore perfect and good. This is the necessary science to which St. Paul alludes, when he says, We should not wish to know more than is pro- per. All the arts and sciences will not help us to gain heaven, if we do not strive to learn thoroughly what faith teaches, and to know what God demands ; and having even progressed far in this God pleasing science, we should not boldly think more of ourselves than is right, and not violate charity by contempt of others less instructed ; for God gives to every one, in some mea- sure, the gift of faith. This gift of faith we should use in order 76 INSTRUCTION FOR THE FIRST SUNDAY AFTER EPIPHANY. to more and more glorify the body of Christ, His Church, whose members we are, and to increase the number of her members. ASPIRATION. Grant, Jesus, that by mortification, humility, and contrition, I may offer my body and my soul as a living, holy, and pleasing sacrifice to Thee, and that I may never defile them by impurities. GOSPEL. (Luke ii. 42—52.) And when he was twelve years old, they went up to Jerusalem according to the cu- stom of the feast; and having fulfilled the days when they returned, the child Jesus remained in Jerusalem, and his parents knew it not. And thinking he was in the company, INSTRUCTION FOR THE FIRST SUNDAY AFTER EPIPHANY. 77 they came a day's journey, and sought him among their kinsfolks and acquaintance. And not finding him \ they re- turned into Jerusalem, seeking him. And it came to pass, that after three days they found him in the temple sitt- ing in the midst of the doctors , hearing them , and asking them questions. And all that heard him, were astonished at his wisdom and his answers. And seeing him, they won- dered. And his mother said to him: Son, why hast thou done so to us*? Behold, thy father and I have sought thee sorrowing. And he said to them: How is it that you sought me? Did you not know that I must be about my father's business? And they understood not the word that he spoke unto them. And he went down with them, and came to Na- zareth, and was subject to them. And his mother kept all these words in her heart. And Jesus advanced in wisdom, and age, and grace with God and man. Why did our Saviour yo with His parents to Jerusalem to the temple ? Because God Himself by Moses {Dent. xvi. 16.) commanded that all the male Israelites should appear, three times a year on certain festivals, and oifer sacrifice before Him in the temple ; Je- sus fulfilled this commandment to set us an example that we, according to the will of the holy Catholic Church, should willingly and devoutly be present at the services of the Church on Sundays and holidays of obligation, and not be kept away by bad weather, bad roads, or by other trivial excuses, when Jesus did not shun a three day's journey to the temple. Why does the gospel say "as usual"? That we may understand that, like Mary and Joseph, we should keep the ecclesiastical festivals and usages exactly, and how proper it is that true Catholics should live by them. As Mary and Joseph took the child Jesus with them, parents should learn to require of their children, at an early age, to take part in prayer, attend school and Church, and see that they conduct themselves quietly and reverently while there. Why did the child Jesus remain in Jerusalem ? Because of His love of prayer and communion with His Hea- venly Father, and to show even then some rays of His divinity, by which to let it be known that He had come for the glory of His Father, and to procure our salvation. This should be our chief object, also. 78 INSTRUCTION FOR THE FIRST SUNDAY AFTER EPIPHANY. Why did Mary and Joseph so diligently search for Jesus? Because they were fearful that they would lose Jesus, whom they loved so unspeakably. We should learn from this, how care- ful we should be, not to lose Jesus by sin, or having lost Him, how anxiously we should seek by penance to find Him again. By the search and inquiries of the parents of Jesus, those parents are taught and made ashamed who care less for the education of their children than for their temporal advantages, and pay no attention whether they are in good or in bad company, whether they are learning things that are useful or not, indeed, for the sake of some temporal advantage, for example, or for support, even permit their children sinful intimacy with evil minded persons. From these parents God, one day, with sternest justice, will demand the sOuls of their children. Why was our Saviour found in the temple with the doctors, listening to them, and asking them questions? That we might be shown that we ought to seek the knowledge necessary for our salvation, and so attend carefully to the sermons and instructions on Christian doctrine ; we should by no means be ashamed to ask questions of our pastors, when we are in doubt, and should listen to their answers. Was Christ, the Eternal Wisdom, ashamed to ask questions and to answer? Why should we ignorant people hesitate to do it? It is much to be regretted that persons who have many important things concerning their spiri- tual welfare on their minds, from pride and false shame, would rather go to perdition than ask advice, solely for fear of showing their ignorance. Why did Mary say: Son, why hast thou done so to us? Those words were forced from her by pain at the absence of her Son, whom she loved above all things, and not by indignation, for He was blameless. But Mary's conduct should teach parents to remember their duty to care for their children, and punish them when they do wrong. MORAL INSTRUCTION ON THE VIRTUE OF OBEDIENCE. He was subject to them. {Luke ii. 51.) FRom this all Christians should learn to be obedient to the commandments of God, of the Church, and of their pannts. God with obedience or disobedience to His commandments, has united life or death, blessing or curses, and shows in the Bible (i. Kings xv. 22.), that obedience pleases Him more than sacrifices or the fat of rams ; that He despises disobedience as He does witchcraft and idolatry. We must be obedient to the Church, be- cause Christ Himself with His holy Spirit lives in her, and go- verns her, and has said: Who hears not the Church, let INSTRUCTION FOR THE FIRST SUNDAY AFTER EPIPHANY 79 him be to thee a heathen and a publican, therefore, shut out from eternal life. We must be obedient to our parents, because they stand to us in place of God, and we owe to them, under Him, our life and many benefits. Those children have rea- son to be afraid who do not assist their parents, when they are old, poor, and helpless, are even ashamed of them, since even Christ Jesus, the God-Man, was obedient and subject in all things to His poor mother, and to an humble mechanic who was only His fosterfather. Cursed be he who honoureth not his father and mother (Dent, xxvii. 16.); how much more cursed those who despise, deride, and abandon their parents? Their eyes will one day be picked out by ravens (Prov. xxx. 17.). And if God commanded obstinate and disobedient children to be stoned (Deut. xxi. 20.), what do those not deserve who even strike their pa- rents, or otherwise lay hands upon them ? How did Jesus increase in age, wisdom, and grace? As He increased in age, He showed new effects of the wisdom and grace with which He was fijled, and so teaches us to advance farther and farther in the path of virtue, for each age has its pe- culiar virtues and duties , which we should strive to fulfil , that we may attain to the perfection of the next. ASPIRATION. Most amiable Jesus! who in the twelfth year of Thy age, didst permit Thyself to be found in the temple by Thy parents, and, as an example for us, wast humbly obedient to them, grant that we may diligently serve the important affair of our salvation , willingly carry the yoke of Thy law from our youth, and be always obedient to the laws of Thy Church, to our parents, and superiors. Prevent uneducated youth from growing up recklessly and impertinently to a scandalous life. Give parents wisdom and grace to educate their children according to Thy will in all virtue. Grant to us all, that we may never lose Thee by sin, or if we have lost Thee, to anxiously seek Thee, happily find Thee, and with Thy grace more and more increase in wisdom and in virtue. Amen. TRUE PIETY. Theg found Him in the temple. (Luke\\. 6.4.) VEry many people deceive themselves in regard to true piety, because their imagination represents it to them, ac- cording to the effect produced by their passions or disposition of mind. He who fasts willingly, believes, if he only fasts often, that he is pious, though in his heart he nourishes a secret hatred, and 80 INSTRUCTION FOR THE FIRST SUNDAY AFTER EPIPHANY. while he fears to wet the tip of his tongue with wine, even with water, lest he should not live temperately enough, yet finds plea- sure in detraction and slander, that unquenchable thirst for the blood of his neighbor. Another, because he is accustomed daily to recite a long string of prayers, esteems himself pious, though he overflows afterwards with haughty, bitter, offensive language, hurting people at home and abroad. One keeps his purse open for the poor, but keeps his heart ever closed to the love of his enemy, whom he will not forgive; another forgives his enemy with all his heart, but will not pay his creditors, until forced by law to do so. All these think themselves pious, and are perhaps so regard- ed by the world, but in truth they are anything rather than pious. Then, in what does true piety consist? It consists in the perfect love of God, or to speak more accurately, it is the perfect love of God itself. This love is called the beautiful love, because it is the adornment of the soul, and attracts to itself with compla- cency the eyes of the Divine Majesty. When it strengthens us to do good, it is called the strong love ; when it causes us to do that good quickly, carefully, and repeatedly, it is called piety. The ostrich has wings, it is true, but never uses them for flying; the chickens fly heavily and not high ; but the eagles, the doves, and the swallows, fly high and swiftly, and do not easily tire. The sin- ners are but earth people, they creep upon the ground; the just, who are still imperfect, rise, it is true, towards heaven, but sel- dom, and then but slowly and heavily. But some there are, true, pious souls, who like the doves and the eagles soar high on strong, swift wings to God. In a word, piety is nothing else than a certain active, swift energy of the spirit, with which the strong love in us, or we with it, perform, as far as it is possible to us, all good. As the strong love urges us to keep God's commandments, the perfect love, that is, piety, urges us to keep them carefully and with nil possible zeal. No one is just or pious who does not keep all, without exception, of God's commandments; for to be just we must possess the strong love, and to be pious we must possess besides an active, lively attention to all the good that can possibly be done by us. Thus St. Francis de Sales writes in his Philothea, from which it is seen that true piety consists not in special devotions, or the practice of special good works, but in the zealous, earnest, continuous obedience to the commandments, and performance of duty for the love of God. 81 INSTRUCTION FOR THE SECOND SUNDAY AFTER EPIPHANY. N the Intro it of this day's Mass the Church calls upon all creatures to thank God for the Incarnation of His only begotten Son. Let all the earth adore Thee, and sing to Thee; let it sing a psalm to Thy name. {Ps. lxv. 4.) Shout with joy all the earth, ML- sing ye a psalm to His name, give glory to His praise. {Ps. lxv. 1.) Glory be to the Father, &c. PRAYER OF THE CHURCH. Almighty and eternal God! Heaven and earth stand under Thy great direction. Bless our days with Thy peace! Behold Thy people bowed to the dust, awaiting the merciful grant of this petition, through Jesus Christ our Lord, &c. EPISTLE. (Bomans xii. 6—16.) Brethren: We have different gifts, according to the grace that is given us: either prophecy, to be used according to the rule of faith, or mini- stry in ministering, or he that teacheth in doctrine, he that exhorteth in exhorting, he that giveth with simplicity, he that ruleth with carefulness, he that sheweth mercy with cheerfulness. Let love be without dissimulation. Hating that which is evil, cleaving to that which is good. Loving one another with the charity of brotherhood, with honour pre- venting one another. In carefulness not slothful. In spirit fervent. Serving the Lord. Rejoicing in hope. Patient in tri- bulation. Instant in prayer. Communicating to the necessi- ties of the saints. Pursuing hospitality. Bless them that persecute you: bless and curse not. Rejoice with them that rejoice, weep with them that weep. Being of one mind, one towards another. Not minding high things, but consenting to the humble. Be not wise in your own conceits. EXPLANATION. St. Paul here exhorts every Christian to make good use of God's gifts ; if one receives an office, he must see well to it, that he fills it in such a manner that he can, one day, stand before God. He especially exhorts to brotherly love which we should practise by charitable works, such as, receiv- ing strangers hospitably, giving alms to those who are in need, and to those who by misfortune or injustice have lost their pro- 82 INSTRUCTION FOR THE SECOND SUNDAY AFTER EPIPHANY. perty; lie commands us, at the same time, to joy in the welfare of our neighbor, and to take his misfortunes to heart, as we re- joice at our own good fortune, or are grieved at our misfortune. How is brotherly love best preserved? Brotherly love, by which we love our neighbor as our own brother, is especially preserved by the virtue of humility, by which we esteem our neighbor above ourselves, consider his good qualities only, bear his defects patiently, and always meet him in a friendly, respectful, and indulgent manner. This humility thus causes us to live always in peace with our fellowmen, while among the proud, where each wants to be higher than the rest, there is continual strife and dissatisfaction. {Prov. xiii. 10.) MORAL INSTRUCTION FOR SUPERIORS. THose have to expect a severe sentence from God, who merely for temporal gain, seek profitable offices, and thrust them- selves into them, whether fit for them or not; and when capable care very little whether or not they fulfil the duties required by their office, even perhaps making the fulfilment of them depend upon bribes. Of such God makes terrible complaint: Thy prin- ces (judges) are faithless, companions of thieves: they all love bribes, they run after rewards; they' judge not for the fatherless; and the widow's cause comes not into them. {Isai. i. 23.) But horribly and speedily will God appear to you; for a most severe judgment shall be for them that bear rule. (Wisd. vi. 6.) ASPIRATION. Grant us, Lord, Thy grace, that, ac- cording to Thy will, we may follow the instructions of St. Paul in regard to humility and love, have compassion upon all suffering from need, esteem ourselves as nothing, and descend to the lowest, that we may, one day, be elevated with them in heaven. GOSPEL. (John ii. 1 — 11.) And the third day there was a marriage in Cana of Galilee; and the mother of Jesus was there. And Jesus also was invited with his disciples, to the marriage. And the wine failing, the mother of Jesus saith to him: They have no wine. And Jesus saith to her: Woman, what is it to me and to thee? My hour is not yet come. His mother saith to the waiters: Whatsoever he shall say to you, do ye. Now there were set there six waterpots of stone, according to the manner of the purifying of the Jews, INSTRUCTION FOR THE SECOND SUNDAY AFTER EPIPHANY. 83 containing two or three measures apiece. Jesus said to them: Fill the waterpots with water. And they filled them up to the brim. And Jesus saith: Draw out now, and carry to the chief steward of the feast. And they carried it. And when the chief steward had tasted the water made wine, and knew not whence it was, but the waiters knew who had drawn the water, the chief steward calleth the bride- groom, and saith to him: Every man at first setteth forth good wine, and when men have well drunk, then that which is worse. But thou hast kept the good wine until now. This 6* 84 INSTRUCTION FOR THE SECOND SUNDAY AFTER EPIPHANY. beginning of miracles did Jesus in Cana of Galilee: and he manifested his glory, and his disciples believed in him. Why did Christ go with His mother to this marriage? That He might honor this humble and God fearing couple who, with faithful hearts had invited Him and His mother to their wedding; that He might give us, by deigning to be pre- sent at the marriage of these poor people, an example of humi- lity; that by changing the water into wine, He might come to their assistance in their poverty, and save their good name; to reveal His dignity as the Messiah to His disciples by this mi- racle; and to sanctify by His presence the marriages that are formed with proper modesty. Alas! how few marriages of our time could Jesus honor with His presence, because He is invited neither by fervent prayer, nor by the chaste life of the couple: He is excluded, rather, by the frequent immorality of the married couple and their guests. Why was Mary interested in this newly married couple? Because she is merciful and the Mother of Mercy, and wil- lingly assists all the poor or afflicted, who fear God. From this incident St. Bonaventura judges of the many graces which we can hope for through Mary (that is, through her intercession. Tr.), now that she reigns in heaven; "for", he says, "if Mary while yet on earth, was so compassionate, how much more so is she now reigning in heaven ! " and he gives the reason when adding: "Mary now that she sees the face of God, knows our necessities far better than when she was on earth, and that in proportion to the increase of her compassion, has increased her power to aid us." Ah! why do we not take refuge in all our necessities with this most merciful mother, who, unasked, is so anxious for the wretched? Why did Christ say to Mary: Woman, what is it to me and to thee? This seemingly harsh reply of Christ was no reproach, for Mary had made her request only in love and mercy, and Christ praises even those happy ones who are merciful, but He wished to show that in the performance of divine work, only the di- vine will should have force. .He thus meant to say: "In this thou, mother, art not my mother, because I received from thee my humanity, not my divinity, which alone performs miracles, and this only by the will of my Heavenly Father. In accordance with this will, I will do that which thou dost ask, when the hour designed by God shall come." Though the hour had not come, He yet granted His mother's wish, who knew that her divine Son refused none of her requests, and so she said to the INSTRUCTION ON THE HOLY SACRAMENT OF MATRIMONY. 85 servants: Whatsoever He shall say to you, do ye. Behold the great power of Mary's intercession ! Neglect not therefore to take refuge with this most powerful mother ! What are we taught by the words : My hour has not yet come? These words teach us, that we should in all things await God's appointed time, and in things belonging to God and His honor, should act only by divine direction, without any human motives. What does the lack of wine signify? In the spiritual sense the lack of wine may be understood to signify the lack of love between married people, which happens mostly in the case of those who enter this state with impure motives, for the sake of riches, beauty of person, so, or who have before marriage kept up sinful intercourse. For these it only remains to ask God for forgiveness of their sins, to bear the hard- ships of married life in the spirit of penance, and^ to change the wrong motives they had before marriage, so will God supply the lack of wine, that is, the lack of true love, and change the waters of misery into the wine of patient affection. Why did Christ command them to take the wine to the steward? That the steward, whose office required him to be attentive to the conduct of the guests, and to know the quality of the wine, should give his judgment in regard to the excellence of this, and be able to testify to the miracle before all the guests. ASPIRATION. my most merciful Jesus! I would ra- ther drink in this world the sour wine of misery than the sweet wine of pleasure, that in heaven I may taste the per- fect wine of eternal joy. INSTRUCTION ON THE HOLY SACRAMENT OF MATRIMONY. MWhat is Matrimony? Atrimony is the perfect, unlimited union and connection of two free persons of different sex {Cor. vii. 3. 4.), that the association between man and woman may be advanced by the hope of mutual assistance, that supported each by the other, they may more easily bear the burdens of life, and the weakness of age; and by the procreation of children they may leave not heirs to temporal estates, but rather to raise preservers of the true faith and religion {Tob.vi. 16, 17, 22.); that it may be a means of pre- venting sins of the flesh. {Cor. i. 72., Cat. rom. de malr. 313, 14.) Who instituted Matrimony? God Himself, the Creator of all tilings, instituted it, and ordered the manner in which it should be kept [Gen. i. 2(5, 27., and ii. 18, 21—24.). He Himself brought to man the helpmate, whom he had 8 (J INSTRUCTION ON THE HOLY SACRAMENT OF MATRIMONY. formed from his side, that she who came from his heart, might never depart from his heart, but cling to him in the indissoluble bond of love. To this original divine institution Christ refers (Mutt. xix. 4—6.), and the Church declares the bond of marriage per- petual and indissoluble. Is Matrimony a Sacrament? Yes; according to the testimony of the fathers, the Church has held it such from the times of the apostles, which she could not do, had Christ not raised it to the dignity of a Sacrament. St. Paul even calls it a great Sacrament, because it is symbolical of the perpetual union of Christ with His Church; and the Council of Trent declares: "If any one says, that Matrimony is not really and truly one of the seven Sacraments of the Church instituted by Christ, but an invention of men, that imparts no grace, let him be anathema." (Cone- Tricl. Sess. 24. c. 1.) What graces does this Sacrament impart? The grace of preserving matrimonial fidelity inviolate; the grace of educating children as Christians; of patiently enduring the unavoidable difficulties of married life, and of living peaceably with each other. For all this married people greatly need the grace of God, and without it they can scarcely fulfil their duties at all, to the great detriment of their own and their children's salvation. What is the external sign of grace in the Sacrament of Matrimony? The union of two single persons in Matrimony which, accord- ing to the regulations of the Council of Trent {Cone. Trid. Sess. 24. c. 1.), must not be formed privately, but publicly in the face of the Church, that is, before the pastor, or, with his permission, by another priest, in the presence of two witnesses. What preparations are to be made to receive the grace of this Sacrament? The first and best preparation is a pure and pious life, joined to the invocation of the Holy Ghost that we may know, Avhether or not we are called to this state of life. Next, the parents and the father -confessor should be asked for advice, and that the choice is not made because of wealth, beauty, or station, but be- cause of true Christian sentiment and education. The third and nearest preparation is, to purify the conscience, if it has not already been done, by a good general confession, and the reception of the most holy Sacrament of the Altar. Before their marriage the young coupie should ask their parents' blessing, should hear the marriage Mass with the greatest devotion, with the intention of obtaining God's grace to begin their new state of life well, and finally, they should commend themselves with confidence to the protection of the Blessed Virgin Mary and her spouse St. Joseph. INSTRUCTION ON THE HOLY SACRAMENT OF MATRIMONY. $7 Why are there so many unhappy marriages? Because so many people prepare the way to marriage by sins and vices, continue to sin without interruption, and without true amendment until marriage; therefore always confess unworthily, even perhaps before the very wedding. Besides this, many enter the married life only on account of carnal intentions, or other earthly motives ; often they do not in the least think to ask God for His grace; on their marriage day without any proper prepa- ration for such an important, sacred act, they go to Church even in immorality, and afterwards celebrate their wedding with but little modesty. Is it any wonder, that such married people receive no blessing, no grace, when they render themselves so unworthy, so unfit for it? Why did God institute married life ? That children might be brought up honestly and as Christians, and that they should be especially educated in matters of faith ; that married people should sustain each the other in the diffi- culties of life , and mutually exhort themselves to a pious life ; that the sin of impurity might be avoided. For they who in such manner receive matrimony as to shut out God from themselves, and from their mind, and to give themselves to their lust, as the horse and mule which have not un- derstanding, over them the devil hath power. {Tob.Yi. 17.) With was intentions should the married state he entered? With such intentions as had the young Tobias and his bride Sara, who before the marriage ceremony, both ardently prayed God for His grace, and took their wedding breakfast in the fear of the Lord {Tod. xiv. 15.). Hence God was with them with His blessing until death. If all young couples would so enter the mar- riage state, it would certainly be holy, God pleasing, and blessed for them, and the words of St. Paul, spoken to wives, would come true for them: Yet she shall be saved by bearing children, if she continue in faith, and love, and sanctification with sobriety, (i. Tim. ii. 15.) Why are those engaged to be married, published three times in Church? That those things such as affinity, clandestine marriages, or public dishonesty which are impediments to the marriage of the persons, and would render it invalid, may be known in time. Therefore any one who is aware of such impediments, is bound to make them known to the pastor. Why is the marriage performed in the presence of a priest? Because the Catholic Church expressly declares, that those marriages which are not performed in presence of a priest , or, with his permission, by another priest, and without witnesses, are null and void (Sess. xxiv. c. 1.); and because the blessing of 88 INSTRUCTION ON THE HOLY SACRAMENT OF MATRIMONY. the priest, which he imparts in the name of the Church, gives the couple, if they are in a state of grace, strength, power and grace to be faithful to each other, to endure all trials patiently, and be safe from all the influences of the evil enemy. Why do they join hands before the priest and two witnesses? By this they bind themselves before God and His Church to remain true to each other, and to be ready to assist each other in all adversities, for which reason the priest winds the stole around their hands*), the bridegroom puts a ring on the bride's finger which exhorts her to inviolate fidelity, for which purpose the priest signs and seals this holy union with the unbloody Sa- crifice of the New Law. Can the bond of marriage be dissolved in the Catholic Church ? A valid marriage, contracted with the free consent of each of the parties, can according to the plain doctrine of the holy Scrip- tures, the constant teaching and practice of the Church, be dis- solved only by the death of one of the parties. If the pope or a bishop, for important reasons, gives a divorce, this is only from bed and board, and neither can marry again while the other lives, without committing a grievous sin. (Such a second marriage would not be valid at all. Trans.) How pure and holy do the doctrine and practice of the Catholic Church show themselves to be in this, the most important and the most sacred of all human relations, preserving its inviolability and sanctity; while, on the contrary, by means of the wanton doctrine of the heretics, which for trivial reasons entirely dissolves the marriage contract, this sacred union is made the deepest ignominy of mankind, and the playball of human passions and caprice ! What is thought of mixed marriages, or marriages between Catholics and Protestants? The Catholic Church has always condemned such marriages, because of the great dangers for the Catholic party and for the children, which unavoidably spring from them. Such marriages promote religious indifference, by which the spiritual life of the soul is destroyed ; they put an end to domestic peace, cause mutual aversion, quarrels, and confusion; they give scandal to the ser- vants; they interfere with the education of the children, even render it purely impossible, and they frequently lead to apostacy and despair. But the Catholic Church especially condemns those mixed marriages, in which either all or a number of the children are brought up in heresy, and she can never look upon those as her children and give them her blessing, who do not fear to with- draw themselves and their own children from the only saving faith, and expose them to the danger of eternal ruin. Therefore, *) This ceremony of the stole is not mentioned in the Ritual, and is simply a custom of some parts of Europe. Trans. INSTRUCTION ON THE HOLY SACRAMENT OF MATRIMONY. gcj those Catholics who enter the matrimonial union with heretics, and permit their children to be brought up in heresy, although the marriage, if lawfully contracted, is valid, commit a mortal sin, and if, at the same time, they receive the holy Sacraments of Penance and of the Altar, commit also a terrible sacrilege. What should the newly married couple do immediately after the ceremony is performed? They should kneel down and thank God for the graces received in this holy Sacrament, in these words: "Ratify, we beseech Thee, Lord, that which by Thy grace Thou hast wrought in us, that we may keep that which in Thy pre- sence we have promised unto the day of our Lord Jesus Christ." And that they may keep it, they should remember the duties placed before them by the priest in their marriage bless- ing, and the exhortations given by him, which are taken from the epistle of St. Paul to the Ephesians (Eph. v. 29. 31.), wherein he instructs married people how they should comport themselves to each other, and recalls to them as an example the union of Christ with His Church, and His love for her. To the husbands he says, that they should love their wives as Christ loved His Church, for which He even gave Himself up to death, from which is seen, that men should assist their wives even unto death, in all need, and not treat them as servants. To the wives St. Paul says, that they as the weaker should be in all reasonable things obe- dient to their husbands as the Church is obedient to Christ; for as Christ is the head of the Church, so is the husband the head of the wife. Experience proves, there is no better way for women to win the hearts of their husbands than by amiable obedience and ready love, while, on the contrary, a querulous, imperative deportment robs them of their husbands' affections, and even causes them to be regarded with aversion. St. Paul says further, that husbands should love their wives (and consequently wives their husbands) as their own bodies, because married people are, as it were, one. They shall be two in one flesh; no man ever hated his own flesh, but nourisheth and cherisheth it, as also Christ doth the Church. {Eph. v. 29. 31.) How un- justly and barbarously do those, then, act, who, instead of loving one another, caring for one another, rather hate and outrage each other, and by detraction cause the loss of their property, and steal away their honor! These do not consider that he who hates and disgraces his life's partner, hates and disgraces himself; while he, according to St. Paul's words, who loves her, loves himself. If married people would remain in constant love and unity, it is most necessary that they should patiently bear with each other's infirmities, wrongs, and defects, exhort one another with mildness and affection, keep their adversities, trials, and sufferings as much as possible to themselves, and complain only to God, in prayer, 90 INSTRUCTION FOR THE FEAST OF THE HOLY NAME OF JESUS. who alone can aid them. By impatience, quarrels, and complaints the cross becomes only heavier and the evil worse. Finally, not only on their wedding day but often through life, they should earnestly consider, that they have not entered the married state that they may inordinately serve the pleasures of the body, but to have children, according to the will of God, who will one day inhabit heaven; for, said the angel to Tobias: For they who in such manner receive matrimony, as to shut out God from themselves and from their mind, and to give them- selves to their lust as the horse and mule, which have not understanding, over them the devil hath power. {Tob.vi. 17.) PRAYER. Most merciful Jesus! who to reveal us Thy power and to honor married life, didst work Thy first miracle at the wedding in Cana, by changing water into wine: grant, we beseech Thee, that Thy faithful may keep ever sacred and inviolate the holy Sacrament of Matrimony, and that they may so live in it truthfully, with the fear of the Lord, that they may not put an obstacle in the way of ob- taining heaven for themselves, and for their children. INSTRUCTION FOR THE FEAST OF THE HOLY NAME OF JESUS. [Second Sunday after Epiphany.] Who instituted this festival? j§g^ Ope Innocent xiii. who, in the year 1721 , com- manded that the most holy name of Jesus should be festively honored throughout the Catholic world, although, a few centuries before this, St. Bernard, with the sanction of the Apostolic See, had established the solemn veneration of this most holy name, in his order. In the Introit of this day's Mas?, the Church thus shows the glory of this name: "In the name of Jesus every knee should bow of those that are in heaven, on eartli, and under the earth; and every tongue should confess that the Lord Jesus Christ is in the glory of God the Father." (Phil.ii. 10. 11.) "Lord, our God, how admirable is Thy name in the whole earth!" (Ps. vii. 1.) Glory be to the Father, etc. PRAYER OF THE CHURCH. God, who didst design Thy only begotten Son for the Redeemer of mankind, and INSTRUCTION FOR THE FEAST OF THE HOLY NAME OF JESUS. yj commanded the name of Jesus to be given Him, mercifully grant, that we may, one day, be made worthy to behold His face in heaven whose holy name we honor on earth. Through the same Jesus Christ, &c. LESSON. (Acts. iv. 8—13.) Then Peter, filled with the Holy Ghost, said to them : Ye princes of the people and an- cients, hear: If we this day are examined concerning the good deed done to this infirm man, by what means he hath been made whole, be it known to you all, and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ of Nazareth , whom you crucified , whom God has raised from the dead, even by him this man standeth before you whole. This is the stone which was rejected by you the builders, which is become the head of the corner: neither is there salvation in any other. For there is no other name under heaven given to men whereby we must be saved. EXPLANATION. This lesson speaks of the omnipotence of the name of Jesus, through which not only are miracles per- formed, but on which alone our salvation depends. For Jesus alone can give us redemption and happiness; He alone under heaven has been given to man by God, that through Him hap- piness could be reached; He alone can break the fetters of error and sin in which all mankind, every human being, lies captured. He alone is the truth, He alone, as the Son of God, has power to give perfect satisfaction for sin, and to make us truly good; and the good alone can be saved. Cling, therefore, ever faithfully and firmly to Jesus, and depart not from Him ; without Him you can accomplish nothing ; with Him, through Him you can accomplish all things. [For the gospel of this day, see the gospel of New- Year's day.] REMARKS OF ST. BERNARD ON THE SWEET NAME OF JESUS. THe holy name of Jesus produces holy thoughts in us, fills the soul with noble sentiments, strengthens virtue, lets good works bloom, and nourishes pure affections. All nourishment leaves our soul dry, if it contains not that penetrating oil, the name Jesus. When you take up your pen, write the name Jesus: you may make books, but if the name of Jesus is not in them, you are without strength and flavor for me; you may speak, or you may reply, but if the name of Jesus sounds not from your lips, you are without unction and without charm. Yes, it must be owned : 92 INSTRUCTION FOR THE THIRD SUNDAY AFTER EPIPHANY. Jesus is honey in our mouth, light in our eyes, a flame in our heart. This name is the cure for all the ills of the soul. Art thou troubled? think but of Jesus, speak but the name of Jesus, the clouds disperse, and peace descends anew from heaven.*) Hast thou fallen into sin? and doest thou fear the net of death? invoke the name of Jesus, and soon wilt thou feel life returning. No obduracy of the soul, no weakness, no coldness, resists this holy name; no heart is so closed that it is not moved, and opens not in tears, to the name of Christ Jesus. Art thou surrounded by sorrow and danger? invoke the name of Jesus, and thy fears will vanish. Never yet was human being in urgent need, and on the point of perishing, who invoked this helpgiving name, and was not powerfully sustained. It was given us ior the cure of all our ills; it softens the impetuosity of anger, the fire of concupiscence, the movements of pride, the smart of our wounds, the thirst of avarice, the sensual passions, and the desires of low pleasures. If we call it to our minds, the very name of Jesus brings before us the most meek and humble heart of Jesus, and gives us a new knowledge of the most loving and tender compassion that ever yet was seen. The name of Jesus Christ, the purest and holiest, the noblest and most indulgent of men, of the God-Man, of sanctity itself, the name of all blessings and of all virtues! To think of Jesus is to think of the infinite great God, who, while He has given His life as an example to ours, has also given us the needful understanding and energy, and the assistance necessary to enable us to follow and imitate Him, in our thoughts and inclinations, and in our words and actions. If the name of Jesus reaches the depths of our heart, it leaves heavenly virtue there. We say, therefore, with our great master, St. Paul, the Apostle: If any man love not our Lord Jesus Christ, let him be ana- thema, (i. Cor. xvi. 22.) INSTRUCTION FOR THE THIRD SUNDAY AFTER EPIPHANY. He Intro it of the day's Mass says : "Adore the Lord, all you his angels. Sion heard his voice, and rejoiced; and the daugh- ters of Juda exulted. The Lord hath reigned, let the earth rejoice, let many islands be glad {Ps. xcvi. 1.) Glory be to the Father, etc. *) St. Bernardine says the same: "Does grief bow us heavily, then we but the more loudly call on Jesus." INSTRUCTION FOR THE THIRD SUNDAY AFTER EPIPHANY. t)3 PRAYER OF THE CHURCH. Almighty and eternal God! look mercifully on our weakness, and extend the right hand of Thy majesty for our protection. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, &c. EPISTLE. (Bom. xii. 16 — 21.) Brethren: Be not wise in your own conceits. To no man rendering evil for evil. Pro- viding good things not only in the sight of God, but also in the sight of all men. If it be possible, as much as in you, having peace with all men. Not revenging yourselves, my dearly beloved, but give place unto wrath. For it is written : Revenge to me : I will repay, saith the Lord. But if thy enemy be hungry, give him to eat : if he thirst, give him to drink. For doing this, thou shalt heap coals of fire upon his head. Be not overcome by evil, but overcome evil by good. When are we overcome by evil? When we wish to take revenge. "Revenge is no sign of cour- age," says St. Ambrose, "but rather of weakness and cowardice. As it is the sign of a very weak stomach, to be unable to digest its food, so it is the mark of a very weak mind, to be unable to bear a harsh word." „Are you impatient," says the same saint, „you are overcome; are you patient, you have overcome." What should we do, if our reputation is injured? We should leave its revenge, or its defence and protection to God, who has retained that for Himself. "But as a good name," says St. Francis de Sales, "is the main support of human society, and as without it we could not be useful to that society, but even hurtful to it, on account of the scandal, Ave should feel bound, for love of our neighbor, to aim after a good reputation, and to pre- serve it." We should not be too sensitive about this, however, for too great sensitiveness makes one obstinate, excentric, and in- tolerable, and only excites the malice of the detracters all the more. The silence and contempt with which we meet a slander or an injustice, is generally a more efficacious antidote than sensiti- veness, anger, or revenge. The contempt for a slander at once disperses it all, but anger shows a weakplace, and gives the accu- sation an appearance of probability. If this does not suffice, and the slander continues, let us persevere in humility, and lay our honor and our soul into the hands of God, and they will be more speedily cared for than in any other manner. How do ice "heap coals of fire on the head of our enemy?" When we return good to him, for the sake of God, and seeing how well me mean towards him, the flush of shame reddens his 94 INSTRUCTION FOR THE THIRD SUNDAY AFTER EPIPHANY. face for the wrongs he has done us. St. Augustine explains the words also in this manner: "By giving food and drink or doing other kindnesses to your enemy, you will heap coals, not of anger, but of love, upon his head, which will inflame him to return love for love." Learn, therefore, from the example of Christ and His saints not to allow yourself to be overcome by evil, but do good to those that hate and persecute you. ASPIRATION. Ah, that I might, according to the words of St. Paul, so act that I might be a child of the Heavenly Father, who lets His sun shine on the just and the unjust ! GOSPEL. (Matt. viii. 1 — 13.) At that time: When Jesus was come down from the mountain, great multitudes INSTRUCTION FOR THE THIRD SUNDAY AFTER EPIPHANY. 95 followed him. And behold, a leper came and adored him, saying : Lord, if thou wilt, thou canst make me clean. And Jesus stretching forth his hand, said : I will, be thou made clean. And forthwith his leprosy was cleansed. And Jesus saith to him : See thou, tell no man : but go shew thyself to the priest, and offer the gift which Moses commanded for a testimony unto them. And when he had come into Caphar- naum, there came to him a centurion, beseeching him, and saying: Lord, my servant lieth at home sick of the palsy, and is grievously tormented. And Jesus saith to him : I will come and heal him. And the centurion making answer said : Lord, I am not worthy that thou shouldst enter under my roof; but only say the word, and my servant shall be healed. For I also am a man subject to authority, having under me soldiers, and I say to this, Go, and he goeth, and to another, Come, and he cometh, and to my servant, Do this, and he doeth it. And Jesus hearing this, marvelled; and said to them that followed him : Amen, I say to you, I have not found so great faith in Israel. And I say to you, that many shall come from the East and the West, and shall sit down with Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven : but the children of the kingdom shall be cast out into the exterior darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth. And Jesus said to the centurion : Go, and as thou hast believed* so be it done to thee. And the servant was healed at the same hour. Why did the leper say : "Lord, if Thou wilt, Thou canst make me clean?" He thus showed his faith that Christ, the Redeemer promised to the world, being the true God, could make him well. From this we learn to have confidence in the omnipotence of God, who is a helper in all need (Ps. cvi. 6. 13. 19.), and to leave all to the divine will of God, in such words as these : "Lord, if it be pleasing to Thee, and well for me, grant me this or that." Why did Jesus extend His hand to touch the leper ? To show that He was above the law which forbade the touch- ing of a leper for fear of infection, which could not apply to Jesus; to reveal the health-giving, curative power of His flesh, % INSTRUCTION FOR THE THIRD SUNDAY AFTER EPIPHANY. which dispelled leprosy by the simple touch of His hand; to give us an example of humility and of love to the poor sick, that we may learn from Him to have no aversion to the infirm, but lov- ingly to assist the unfortunate sick, for the sake of Jesus, who took upon Himself the leprosy of our sins, whom the saints have so faithfully imitated in their tender care of the most disgusting- diseases. Oh, how hard it will be for those to stand before the Tribunal of God at the Last Day, who cannot even bear to look at the poor and sick! Why did Christ command the leper to tell no man? To instruct us that we should not trumpet around our good works in order to obtain frivolous praise {Matt. vi. 1 .), by which we deprive ourselves of their heavenly reward. Why did Christ send the healed leper to the priest? That he might observe the law, which required all the healed lepers to show themselves to the priests, to offer a sacrifice, to be examined and pronounced clean; that the priest if he beheld the miracle of the sudden cure of the leper, might know Him who had wrought the cure, to be the Messiah ; and finally, to teach us that we must honor the priests because of their high position, even when they do not live in a manner worthy of their dignity, as was the case with the Jewish priests. What is taught by the centurion's care for his serrant? That masters should take care of their sick servants, see that they are attended to in their illness, and above all that they are provided with the Sacraments. It is unchristian, yes, even cruel and barbarous, to drive from the house a poor, sick servant, or to leave him lying in his distress without assistance or care. Why did Christ say: J will come, and heal him? Because of His humility, by which He, although God and Lord of Lords, did not hesitate to visit a sick servant. Christ's humility in this, shames many persons of position who think themselves too exalted to move hand or foot for a poor servant. Why did the centurion say : Lord, J am not worthy that Thou shouldst enter under my roof? Because he recognised Christ's divinity and his own nothing- ness, and therefore regarded himself as unworthy to receive Him in his house. From this we learn to humble ourselves, especially when, in holy Communion, we receive Christ into our hearts, for which purpose the priest in its administration generally uses the cen- turion's words, to exhort those who are about to receive, to humility. ON RESIGNATION TO THE WILL OF GOD. 97 Why did he add: But only say the word, and my servant shall be healed? " By this he publicly manifested his faith in Christ's divinity and omnipotence, of whom he believed that, though absent, He could heal the servant, with a word. If a gentile centurion had such faith in Christ, and such con- fidence in His power, should we Christians not be ashamed that we are of such little faith, and so distrustful of God? What is meant by this: Many shall come from the East and the West, and shall sit down with Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob in the kinydom of heaven; but the children of the kingdom shall be cast out? This was said by Christ in reference to the obdurate Jews, who would not believe in Him, nor accept His doctrine. Many pagans who live near the rising and the setting sun, will receive the gospel, live in accordance with it, and will enjoy heavenly bliss with the patriarchs Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, who were the most ardent friends of God, while the Jews, God's chosen people, who as such, possessed the first claim to heaven, will, because of their unbelief and other sins, be cast into outer darkness, that is, into the deepest abyss of hell, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Thus will it be with those Christians who do not live in ac- cordance with their faith. Therefore, fear lest you, for want of cooperation with God's grace, be eternally rejected, while others who have faithfully cooperated with it, will enter in your place into the kingdom of heaven. ASPIRATION. Jesus, rich in consolations! grant me the leper's faith and confidence, that in all things I may rely upon Thine omnipotence, and may resign myself to Thy di- vine will, and may ever honor Thy priests. Grant me, also, most humble Jesus! the centurion's humility, that, for Thy sake, I may compassionately assist my neighbor, and by doing so, render myself worthy of Thy grace and mercy. T ON RESIGNATION TO THE WILL OF GOD. Lord, if thou wilt. (Matt. viii. 2.) Hose who in good as in evil fortune are perfectly resigned to the will of God, or conform their will to His, and accept whatever He sends them with joy and thanks, possess heaven, as St. Chrysostom says, while yet upon earth. Those who have gained this resignation, are saddened by no adversity, because they are satisfied with all that God, their best Father, sends them, be it honor or disgrace, wealth or poverty, life or death. All happens 98 INSTRUCTION FOR MASTERS AND SERVANTS. as they will, because they know no will but God's, and He does as the} r will, because they desire nothing but that which He does and wills. God does the will of those that fear Him (Ps. cxliv. 19.). In the lives of the old fathers, we find the following: The fields and vineyards belonging to one farmer, were much more fertile and yielding than were his neighbors'. They asked how it happened, and he said: they should not wonder at it, be- cause he always had the weather he wished. At this they won- dered more than ever: How could that be? "I never wish for other weather," he replied, "than God wishes; and because I wish as He wishes, He gives me the fruits I wisfc." This sub- mission to the divine Will is also the cause of that constant peace and undimned joy of the saints of God, with which their hearts have owerflowed here below, even in the midst of the greatest sufferings and afflictions. Who would not aspire to so happy a state? We will attain to it, if we believe that nothing in this world can happen to us except by the will and through the di- rection of God, sin and guilt excepted, for God can never be the cause of them. This the Holy Ghost inculcates by the mouth of the wiseman: Good things and evil, life and death, po- verty and riches, are from God (Eccl. xi. 14.), that is, are permitted or sent by God ; that all that comes from God, is for the best, for God doeth all things well. (Mark. vii. 37.) Whoever keeps these two fundamental truths always in mind, will certainly be ever contented with the will of God, and always consoled ; he will taste while yet on earth the undisturbed peace of mind and foretaste of happiness which the saints had while here, and which they now eternally enjoy in heaven, because of the union of their will with the divine. INSTRUCTION FOR MASTERS AND SERVANTS. THe master of a house should be careful to have not only obe- dient, faithful, willing, and industrious servants in his home, as had the centurion in the gospel, but still more pious and god- fearing ones, for God richly blesses the master because of pious servants. Thus God blessed Laban on account of the pious Jacob (Gen. xxx. 30.), and the house of Potiphar because of the just Joseph (Gen. xxxix. 5.). Thus the master should look to the morals and Christian conduct of his servants, and not suffer unrighteous ones in his house, for he must, after this life, give an account before the Tribunal of God, and he makes himself unworthy of the blessing of God, and even of the most terrible punishment by retaining such. For will God not punish those masters and mistres- ses who suffer those under them to seek the dangerous occasions of sin, keep sinful company, go about at night, and lead scanda- lous lives? Will not God, one day, demand the souls of servants from their masters? The same punishment which will befall those INSTRUCTION FOR THE FOURTH SUNDAY AFTER EPIPHANY. 99 who deny their faith, will rest upon the careless masters and mistresses, for St. Paul, the Apostle, writes: For if any man have not care of his own, and especially of those of his house, he hath denied his faith, and is worse than an infidel, (i. Tim. v. 8.) Servants should learn from the centurion's servants who obeyed his single word, that they also should willingly, industriously, and quickly do every thing ordered by their masters, unless it be something not lawful or sinful. They should recollect that what- ever they do for their masters, is done for God Himself. Servants, obey in all things your masters according to the flesh, not serving to the eye, as pleasing men, but in simpli- city of heart, fearing God. Whatsoever you do, do it from the heart, as to the Lord, and not to men, know- ing that you shall receive of the Lord the reward of inheritance. Serve ye the Lord Christ. (CW,iii. 22—24.) INSTRUCTION FOR THE FOURTH SUNDAY AFTER EPIPHANY. [The Introit of the Mass as on the preceding Sunday / PRAYER OF THE CHURCH. God, who knowest that exposed to so many dangers, we through human weakness cannot stand, give us strength of mind and body, that by Thy aid we may overcome that which, on account of our sins, we may be called on to endure. Through the same Jesus Christ, our Lord, &c. EPISTLE. {Romans xiii. 8 — 10.) Brethren: Owe no man anything, but to love one another. For he that loveth his neighbor, hath fulfilled the law. For: "Thou shalt not com- mit adultery : Thou shalt not kill : Thou shalt not steal : Thou shalt not bear false witness: Thou shalt not covet 1 ': and if there be any other commandment, it is comprised in these words: "Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. 11 The love of our neighbor worketh no evil. Love therefore is the fulfilling of the law. What is meant by St. Paul's words: Who loves his neighbor, Shath fulfilled the law? T. Augustine says in reference to this, that he who loves his neighbor, fulfils not only the first, but also the second tablet of the law. The reason is, that the love of our neighbor contains and presupposes the love of God as its fountain and foundation. 100 INSTRUCTION FOR THE FOURTH SUNDAY AFTER EPIPHANY. For the neighbor must be loved on account of God; for the neighbor cannot be loved with true love, if God is not loved first, and at the same time. On this account, the holy Evangelist St. John gave, in his old age, among his instructions the exhortation: Little children, love one another. And when asked why, he answered: Because it is the command of the Lord, and it is enough that it should be fulfilled. Therefore in this love of the neighbor which comes from the love of God and is contained in it, consists the fulfilment of the whole law. {Matt. xxii. 40.) GOSPEL. (Matt. viii. 23—27.) At that time: When Jesus entered into a boat, his disciples followed him : and behold, a great tempest arose in the sea, so that the boat INSTRUCTION FOR THE FOURTH SUNDAY AFTER EPIPHANY. 101 was covered with waves, but he was asleep. And they came to him, and awakened him, and said : Lord, save us, we perish. And Jesus saith to thern : Why are ye fearful, ye of little faith? Then rising up, he commanded the winds and the sea, and there came a great calm. But the men wondered, saying: What manner of man is this, for the winds and the sea obey him l ? Why did Christ sleep in the boat? To test His disciples' faith and trust; to exercise them in enduring the persecutions which would come to them later; to teach us that we should not waver in the storms of temptations. So St. Augustine writes: "Christ slept, and because of the danger the disciples were confused. Why? Christ slept. Even so thy heart becomes confused, unquiet thy ship, when the waves of temptation break over it? Why? Thy faith sleeps. Then shouldst thou awaken Christ in thy heart; then will thy faith be awak- ened, quieted thy conscience, calm thy ship." Why did Christ reproach His disciples when they awakened Him and asked for help? Because of their little faith and trust; for if they firmly be- lieved Him to be true God, they would necessarily believe He could aid them sleeping as well as waking. Nothing so displeases God as doubt of His powerful assistance. Cursed be the man that trusteth in man, and maketh flesh (mortal man) his arm (aid), and whose heart depart- ethfrom the Lord. Blessed be the man that trusteth in the Lord, and the Lord shall be his confidence. (Jerem. xvii. 5. 7.) God sometimes permits storms to come about us, such as poverty, persecution, sickness, so that we may have occasion to put our confidence in Him alone. Of this St. Bernard very beautifully says: "When the world rages, when the wicked be- come furious, when the flesh turns against the spirit, I will hope in Him. Who has trusted Him, and been brought to shame?" We should therefore trust in God only, and take refuge with Him, invoking Him as did the disciples: Lord, save us, we perish; or cry out with David: Arise, why sleepest thou, Lord? Arise, and cast us not off to the end. (Ps. xliii. 23.) Why did Jesus stand up and command the sea to be still? To show His readiness to aid us, and His omnipotence to which all things were subject. Thus the people who saw this mi- racle, wondered and said : What manner of man is this, for the winds and the sea obey Him? We daily see in all creatures the wonders of the omnipotence, of the wisdom, and the goodness of God, and yet we are not 102 0N THE PROVIDENCE OF GOD. touched ; we continue cold and indifferent to God. The reason is, that we look upon all with the eyes of the body and not with the eyes of the soul ; that is, we do not seek to ascend by medi- tation to the Creator, and to judge from the manifold beauty and usefulness of created things the goodness and the wisdom of God. The saints rejoiced in all the works of the Lord ; a flower, a little worm of the earth would move the heart of St. Francis of Sales, the Seraph, to wonderment and the love of God; they ascended, as on a ladder, from the contemplation of creatures to Him, who gives to every thing life, motion, and existence. If we were to follow their example, we would certainly love God more, and more ardently desire Him ; if we do not, we live like irrational men, we who were certainly created only to know and to love God. ASPIRATION. Grant us, best Jesus ! in all our needs, a great confidence in Thy divine assistance, and do not allow us to become faint-hearted; let Thy assistance come to us in the many dangers to which we are exposed; command the turbulent winds and waves of persecution to be still, and give peace and calmness to Thy Church which Thou hast re- deemed with Thy precious blood, that we may serve Thee in sanctity and justice, and arrive safely at the desired haven of eternal happiness. Amen. ON THE PROVIDENCE OF GOD. But he was asleep. {Matt. viii. 24.) I T is an article of faith in the holy Catholic Church, that God X. has not only created the world, but that He sustains and governs it ; this preservation and ruling of the whole world and of each individual creature in it, is called Providence. There are people who think, that God is too great a Lord, to busy Him- self about the care of this world, that to do so is beneath His majesty; it was enough for Him to create the world (and they hardly believe He has done this), and, for the rest, He leaves it to itself, or to fate, enjoys His own happiness, and, as it were, sleeps in regard to us. Thus think some, but only the unwise and unrighteous. For what manner of God would He be, who is of the nature, these imagine? Either He will not, or cannot have aught to do with creation. Can He not? then He is neither all- wise nor almighty. Will He not? then He is not good; and if He knows nothing of the world, then He is not omniscient. If we once believe that God created the world (and what rational man can doubt it?), then we must also believe He rules and sustains it. Can any work of art, however well constructed and arranged, subsist without some one to take charge and watch over it? Would not the greatest of all masterpieces, the world, ON THE PEOV1DENCE OF GOD. 103 therefore, come to the greatest confusion and fall back into its original nothingness, if God who had taken it from that nothing- ness, did not take care of its further order and existence? It is indeed true that the ways of God's providence or the ways and means of His government, are often so concealed that, when con- sidering some events, one is persuaded to admit a necessary fate, an accident, the course of nature, the ill will of the devil or man, as the fundamental cause. Yet in all this the providence of God is not denied. In regard to God nothing does or can happen ac- cidentally, not the smallest thing occurs without the knowledge, permission, or direction of God. Not one sparrow shall fall on the ground without your Father; hut the very hairs of your head are numbered. (Matt. x. 29. 30.) Chance, fate, and luck are but the phantoms of insane or wicked men, which even the more rational heathens have rejected, and the course of nature is but the constant, uninterrupted. a T lwise, and bountiful preservation and government, through God, of creation. The perverted will of men or of the devil, is but the instrument which God, in His allwise intention, uses to effect the good, for He knows how to produce good from the evil He permits, and, there- fore, as St. Augustine says, "permits the evil that the good may not be left undone." The holy Scriptures give testimony in almost every page of this manner of God's acting. If we peruse the hi- story of our first parents, of Abraham, of Joseph in Egypt, of Moses, of the people of Israel, of Job, Ruth, David, Tobias, Esther, Judith, and others, we will easily everywhere see the plainest signs of the wisest providence, the best and most careful absolute pow r er, by virtue of which God knows how to direct all things according to His desire, and for the best good of His chosen ones. The gospel of this day is also a proof of this. Why did Christ go into the boat? Why did a storm arise? Why was He as ] eep? Did all this occur by accident? No, it came about designedly by direction of Christ, that His omnipotence might be seen, and the faith and confidence of His disciples be strengthened. Thus it is certain that God foresees, directs, and governs all ; as Scripture, reason, and daily experience prove. Would we but pay more attention to many events of our lives, we would cert- ainly plainly notice the providence of God, and give ourselves up to His guidance and dispensations. The Lord ruleth me, and I shall want for nothing, says David. (Ps. xxii. 1.) And we also, we shall want for nothing if w r e resign ourselves to God's will, and are contented with His dispensations in our regard; while, on the contrary, if we oppose His will, we shall fall into misfortune and error. For God must rule over us with goodness, or with sternness. He is no sleeping God. Behold! He shall neither slumber nor sleep that keepeth Israel. (Ps.cxxA.) 104 INSTRUCTION FOR THE FIFTH SUNDAY AFTER EPIPHANY. [For the Introit of this day, see the Introit in the Mass of the third Sunday after Epiphany.] On this Sunday mention is made of the practice of the Chris- tian virtues, and of God's sufferance of the wicked upon earth, that by them the just may be exercised in patience. PRAYER OF THE CHURCH. Guard Thy family with Thy eternal mercy, we beseech Thee, Lord, that, as it sets its hope on Thy heavenly grace alone, it may always find security in Thy protection. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, &c. EPISTLE. {Col. iii. 12—17.) Brethren: Put ye on, there- fore , as the elect of God , holy, and beloved, the bowels of mercy, benignity, humility, modesty, patience : bearing with one another, and forgiving one another, if any have a com- plaint against another. Even as the Lord hath forgiven you, so you also. But above all these things have charity, which is the bond of perfection : and let the peace of Christ rejoice in your hearts, wherein also you are called in one body: and be ye thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you abun- dantly, in all wisdom : teaching and admonishing one ano- ther in psalms, hymns, and spiritual canticles, singing in grace in your hearts to God. All whatsoever you do in word or in work, all things do ye in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, giving thanks to God and the Father by Him. Why does St. Paul call charity the bond of perfection? Because charity comprises in itself, and links together all the virtues in which perfection consists. For whoever truly loves God and his neighbor, is also good, merciful, humble, modest, patiently bears the weakness of his neighbor, willingly forgives offences, in a word, practises all virtues for the sake of charity, without which there is no true virtue. When does the peace of God rejoice in our hearts ? When we have learned to conquer our evil inclinations, pas- sions, and desires, and have replaced them in oiir hearts by order and quiet. This peace then, like a queen, keeps all the wishes of the soul in harmony, and causes us to enjoy constant peace with our neighbor, and thus serve Christ in concord, as the members of one body serve the head. The best means of preserving this INSTRUCTION OF THE FIFTH SUNDAY AFTER EPIPHANY.. 105 peace, are an earnest attention to the word of God, and mutual imparting of pious exhortations and admonitions, and singing of hymns, psalms, and spiritual canticles. Why should we do all in the name of Jesus ? Because only then can our works have real worth in the sight of God, and be pleasing to Him, when they are performed for love of Jesus, in His honor, in accordance with His spirit and will. Therefore the apostle admonishes us that we should do all, eat, drink, sleep, work, &c, in the name of Jesus, and so honor God, the Heavenly Father, and show our gratitude to Him. Oh, how grieved on their deathbed will they be who have neglected to offer God their daily work by a good intention, when they will see, too late, how devoid they are of meritorious deeds, and, on the contrary, how will they rejoice whose consciences testify, that in all their actions they had in view only the will and the honor of God! Would that this might be taken to heart especially by those who have to earn their bread with difficulty and in dis tress, that they might always unite their hardships and trials with the sufferings and merits of Jesus, offering them to the Heavenly Father, and thus imitating Christ, who had no other motive than the will and the glory of His Heavenly Father. ASPIRATION. God of love, of patience, and of mercy, turn our hearts to the sincere love of our neighbor, and grant, that whatever we do in thoughts, words, and actions, we may do in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, and through Him render thanks to Thee. ON THE CHOIR OR CHURCH SINGING. Admonish one another in psalms, hymns , and spiritual canticles , singiny in yrace in your hearts to God. ^^ {Col. iii. 16.) He custom of singing in the Church-choir*) has its founda- JL tion as far back as the Old Testament, when, by the ar- rangement of David, Solomon, and Ezechias, the psalms and other sacred canticles were sung by the priests and levites. This custom the Catholic Church has preserved, after the precepts of the apostles (i. Cor. xiv. 26.; Eph. v. 19.), and the example of Jesus who, after they had eaten the pasch, intoned a hymn of praise with His apostles (Matt. xxvi. 30.), that Christians on earth, like the angels and saints in heaven (Apoc. v. 8. 9., xiv. 3.), who un- ceasingly sing His praises, might at certain hours of the day, at least, give praise and thanks to God. In the earliest times of the *) The choir is usually a gallery in the Church in which the singers are stationed; the place in which the clergy sing or recite their office, is also called the choir. 106 INSTRUCTION FOR THE FIFTH SUNDAY AFTER EPIPHANY. Church, the Christians sang hymns of praise and tkanksgiving, during the holy Sacrifice and other devotional services, often continuing them throughout the whole night; in which case the choir-singers probably sang in certain order, and according to a settled agreement This singing, in time, ceased to be general, became confined to the choir, which was accompanied, later, by instruments, as incited by David who calls to the praise of the Lord with trumpets, with timbrels, with pleasant psaltery and harps. (Ps. cl. 3. 4., lxxx. 3. 4.) In many Churches, however, the praiseworthy habit of all the faithful singing together during the service, is retained, and if this is done with pure, godpleasing hearts, and true devotion, it is, as St. Basil says, "a heavenly oc- cupation, a spiritual burnt offering; it enlightens the spirit, raises towards heaven, leads man to communion with God, makes the soul rejoice, ends idle talk, puts away laughter, reminds us of the judgment, reconciles enemies. Where the singing of songs resounds from the contrite heart, there God with the angels is present." GOSPEL. (Matt xiii. 24— 30.) At that time: Jesus proposed another parable to them, saying: The kingdom of heaven is likened to a man, who sowed good seed in his field. But while men were asleep, his enemy came and oversowed cockle among the wheat, and went his way. And when the blade was sprung up, and had brought forth fruit, then ap- peared also the cockle, and the servants of the good man of the house coming, said to him : Sir, didst thou not sow good seed in thy field ? whence then hath it cockle ? And he said to them : An enemy hath clone this. And the servants said to him : Wilt thou that we go and gather it up ? And he said : No, lest perhaps gathering up the cockle, you root up the wheat also together with it. Suffer both to grow until the harvest, and in the time of the harvest I will say to the reapers: Gather up first the cockle, and bind it into bundles to burn, but the wheat gather ye into my barn. What is understood by the kingdom of heaven? The Church of God, or the collection of all orthodox Chris- tians on earth, destined for heaven. What is meant by the good seed, and by the cockle? The good seed, as Christ Himself says {Matt. xiii. 38.), signifies the children of the kingdom, that is, the true Christians, the living members of the Church, also the word of God, which INSTRUCTION FOR THE FIFTH SUNDAY AFTER EPIPHANY. 107 makes us children of God. The cockle means the children of iniquity, of the devil {John iii. 8.), that is, those who do evil; also every wrong, false doctrine which leads men to evil. Who sows the good seed? The good seed is sown by Jesus, the Son of Man, not only directly, but also through His apostles, and the priests, their successors; the evil seed is sown by the devil, or by wicked men whom he uses as his tools. ' Who are the men teho were asleep? Those superiors in the Church, those bishops and pastors, who take no care of their flock, and do not warn them against seduction, when the devil comes and by wicked men sows the cockle of erroneous doctrine and of crime; and those men who 108 ON INCLINATION TO EVIL. are careless and neglect to hear the word of God and holy Mass? to practise prayer, and avail themselves of the holy Sacraments, so, in whose souls the devil sows the seeds of bad thoughts, evil imaginings and desires, from which spring, later, the cockle of pride, impurity, anger, envy, avarice, &c. Why does God not allow the cockle, that is, the tricked people, to be rooted out and destroyed? Because of His patience and long suffering towards the sinner to whom He gives time for repentance, and because of His love for the just from whom He would not, by weeding out the un- just, take away the occasion of practising virtue and gathering up merits for themselves ; for because of the unjust, the just have numerous opportunities to exercise patience, humility, &c. When is the time of the harvest? The day of the last judgment when the reapers, that is, the angels, will go out and separate the wicked from the just, and throw the wicked into the furnace of fire, while the just will be taken into everlasting joy. (Malt. xiii. 49.) PRAYER. faithful Jesus, Thou greatest lover of our souls, who hast sown the good seed of Thy divine word in our hearts, that it may bear rich fruit for eternal life, grant that this seed may live and be productive in us; protect us from our evil enemy, that he may not oversow his erroneous and false doctrine in our hearts, and corrupt the good; keep us from the sleep of sin, and from indolence in the good, that we may remain always vigilant and armed against the temptations of the world, the flesh, and the devil, overcome them manfully, and die a happy death. Amen. ON INCLINATION TO EVIL. Whence comes the cockle? (Matt.xiii. 29.) I Whence comes the inclination to evil in man? T is the sad consequence of original sin, that is, of that sin, which our first parents, by their disobedience, committed in paradise, and which we have inherited as their descendants. This inclination to evil remains even in those who have been baptized, although original sin with its guilt and eternal punishment, is taken away in baptism", but it is no sin as long as man does not voluntarily yield to it. [Cat. Bom. Part. ii. c. 2. §. 43.) Why, the sin being removed, does the inclination remain? To humble us, to make us see our weakness, our great mi- sery, that we may turn to God as our best and mightiest Father, as did St. Paul when he was much annoyed by the devil of the INSTRUCTION FOR THE SIXTH SUNDAY AFTER EPIPHANY. 109 flesh (ii. Cor. xii. 7. 8.); that the glory of God and the power of Christ should be manifested in us, which except for our weakness could not be ; that we might have occasion to fight and to con- quer, and not become idle. A soldier cannot battle without op- position, nor win victory and the crown without a contest. Nor can we win the heavenly crown, if no occasion is given us, by temptations, for fight and for victory. "That which tires the com- batant," says St. Bernard, "crowns the conqueror." Finally, the inclination remains, that we may learn to endure, in all meek- ness, the faults and infirmities of others and to watch ourselves, lest we fall into the same temptations. INSTRUCTION FOR THE SIXTH SUNDAY AFTER EPIPHANY. [For the Introit of this day's Mass, see the Introit of the third Sunday after Epiphany. J PRAYER OF THE CHURCH. Grant, we beseech Thee, Almighty God, that we may always consider that which is reasonable, and in words and in actions do only that which is pleasing to Thee. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, &c. EPISTLE, (i. Thess. i. 2—10.) Brethren: We give thanks to God always for you all : making a remembrance of you in our prayers without ceasing; being mindful of the work of your faith, and labour, and charity, and of the enduring of the hope of our Lord Jesus Christ, before God and our Father: knowing, brethren beloved of God, your election: for our gospel hath not been unto you in word only, but in power also, and in the Holy Ghost, and in much fulness, as you know what manner of men we have been among you for your sakes. And you became followers of us and of the Lord: receiving the word in much tribulation, with joy of the Holy Ghost: so that you were made a pattern to all who believe in Macedonia and Achaia. For from you were spread abroad the word of the Lord ,, not only in Macedonia and Achaia, but also in every place your faith, which is towards God, is gone forth, so that we need not to speak anything. For they themselves relate of us, what manner of entering in we had unto you; and how you turned to God from idols, to serve the living and true God, and to wait for his Son from HO INSTRUCTION FOR THE SIXTH SUNDAY AFTER EPIPHANY. heaven (whom he raised up from the dead), Jesus, who hath redeemed us from the wrath to come. EXPLANATION. The apostle here gives God thanks in prayer for those inhabitants of Thessalonia, who have been con- verted to Christianity by his words, and gives them to understand his joy at their Christian life, which they prove by their good works and their perseverance, even through all trials, in expec- tation of eternal reward through Christ. He assures them also of their salvation (election), because God had caused the preach- ing of His gospel, which they so willingly received, to produce such extraordinary fruit in them. He praises them not only for having listened to the gospel and abandoned idolatry, but for having directed their life in accordance with the faith, and be- come a model to distant nations, for the report of their faith had spread far, and everywhere their zealous reception of the gospel was spoken of. Would that the same could be said of us Christians ! GOSPEL. {Matt. xiii. 31 — 35.) At that time: Jesus pro- posed another parable unto them, saying: The kingdom of heaven is like to a grain of mustard-seed, which a man took and sowed in his field: which is the least indeed of all seeds: but when it is grown up, it is greater than all herbs, and becometh a tree, so that the birds of the air come and dwell in the branches thereof. Another parable he spoke to them: The kingdom of heaven is like to leaven, which a woman took and hid in three measures of. meal, until the whole was leavened. All these things Jesus spoke in parables to the multitudes; and without parables he did not speak to them, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, saying: I will open my mouth in parables, I will utter things hidden from the foundation of the world. What is here understood by the kingdom of heaven? The Church and the doctrine of Christ, that lead to heaven. Why is the Church compared to a grain of mustard-seed? Because there is a great likeness between them. The mustard- seed, though so small, grows in Palestine so high and so rapidly, that it becomes a broad tree, in which birds can build their nests. And small, like the mustard-seed, was the beginning of Christ's Church; but it soon spread so widely that numberless people, even great philosophers and princes, came to find peace and pro- tection under her branches. INSTRUCTION FOR THE SIXTH SUNDAY AFTER EPIPHANY. \\\ Why is Christ's doctrine compared to leaven? Because like the leaven, which quickly penetrates the flower, and makes it palatable bread, the doctrine of Christ, spreading with surprising swiftness over the then known three parts of the globe, gave the gentiles a taste for divine things and for heavenly wisdom. Thus Christ's doctrine penetrates him who receives it, sanctifies all his thoughts, words, and deeds, and makes him pleasing to God. What are the principal causes of the spreading of Christ's Church and doctrine? The omnipotence of God and the miracles which He so fre- quently wrought for their propagation; the sublimity of the doctrine itself, the divine origin of which becomes evident to 112 INSTRUCTION FOR THE SIXTH SUNDAY AFTER EPIPHANY. careful examination and industrious practice; the courageous faith, and the pure, moral life of the early Christians, which led many pagan minds towards it, and moved them to accept the doctrine of Christ; and the persecution of Christianity, for, as Tertullian says: "The blood of the martyrs was the seed from which the Christians grew." The false doctrine of Mahomet, the erroneous teachings of Luther, Calvin, and older and newer he- retics have, it is true, also spread quickly, far and wide ; but this is not to be wondered at, for it is easy to lead people to a doctrine that encourages sensuality, and to which they are carried by their evil inclinations themselves, as was the case with the doc- trine of the impostor Mahomet, and three hundred years ago with the heresy of Luther; but to spread a doctrine which de- mands the subduing of the carnal, earthly inclinations, and to bend the will to the yoke of obedience to faith, something more than human eloquence is required! Thus Thomas More, the Chan- cellor of England, who gave his blood for the true doctrine of Christ, wrote to Luther, who was boasting of the rapid increase of his sect, that: "it was easy to descend, and seducing the people to a bad life was nothing more marvellous than that a heavy stone should fall of its own accord to the ground ;" and Melanch- ton, a friend of Luther, in answer to his mother's question, whether she should remain a Catholic or receive Luther's doc- trine, wrote : " In this religion it is easy to live, in the Catholic it is easy to die." Why did Christ always speak in parables? That His teaching might by being simple, be so much more easily understood, and better remembered. He who is called upon to teach others, should, as did Christ, always speak to them ac- cording to their ability to understand, and by no means seek his own honor, but the honor of God, and the benefit of those who hear him. PRAYER. most benign Jesus ! How much do we give Thee thanks that Thou hast permitted us to be born in Thy holy Church, and instructed in Thy holy doctrine, which, like the mustard-seed, has grown a large tree, spreading over the whole earth. Grant that under the shadow of this tree, in Thy holy Church, we may ever rest securely, cling to her faithfully, and penetrated, as by leaven, with her doctrine, may bring Thee pleasant fruits of faith and virtue. Amen. 113 INSTRUCTION FOR SEPTUAGESIMA SUNDAY. Why is this Sunday called "Septuayesima"? Ecause in accordance with the words of the First Council of Orleans, some pious Christian congregations in the earliest ages of the Church, especially the clergy, began to fast seventy days before Easter, on this Sunday, which was there fore called "Septuagesima" — the seventieth day. The same is the case with the Sundays follow- ing, which are called Sexagesima, Quinquagesima, Quadragesima,' because some Christians commenced to fast sixty days, others fifty, others forty days before Easter, until finally, to make it properly uniform, Popes Gregory and Gelasius arranged that all Christians should fast forty days before Easter, commencing with Ash-Wednesday. Why, from this day until Easter, does the Church omit from her service all joyful canticles, allelujas, and the Gloria in e.rce/sis, $c? To gradually prepare the minds of the faithful for the serious time of penance and sorrow, for sins committed, and for the actual fast. So the priest appears on the altar in violet, the color of penance, and half of the altar is covered with a violet curtain. 'To arouse our sorrow for our sins, and the need of repentance, the Church at the Introit cries, in the name of all mankind, with David: "The sorrows of death surrounded me, the sor- rows of hell encompassed me. In my affliction I called upon the Lord, and he heard my voice from his holy temple." (Ps. xvii. 5-9.) I will love thee, Lord, my strength; the Lord is my firmament, my refuge, my de- liverer. (Ps. xvii. 2—3.) Glory be to the Father, $&. PRAYER OF THE CHURCH. Mercifully hear, we be- seech Thee, Lord, the cry of Thy people, that for the glory of Thy name, we who are justly afflicted for our sins, may through the fulness of Thy mercy be saved from all punishment. Through our Lord, Jesus Christ, &c. EPISTLE, (i. Cor. ix. 24—27., and x. 1 — 5.) Brethren: Know you not that they that run in the race, all run in- deed, but one receiveth the prize? So run that you may obtain. And every one that striveth for the mastery, re- fraineth himself from all things : and they indeed that they may receive a corruptible crown: but we an incorruptible 114 INSTRUCTION FOR SEPTUAGESIMA SUNDAY. one. I therefore so run, not as at an uncertainty: I so fight, not as one beating the air: but I chastise my body, and bring it into subjection : lest perhaps, when I have preached to others, I myself should become a castaway. For I would not have you ignorant, brethren, that our fathers were all under the cloud, and all passed through the sea. And all in Moses were baptized in the cloud, and in the sea: and did all eat the same spiritual food, and all drank the same spi- ritual drink: (and they drank of the spiritual rock that followed them, and the rock was Christ). But with the most of them God was not well pleased. EXPLANATION. Besides having exhorted us to penance in the Introit of the Mass, the Church desires to indicate to us, by the reading of this epistle, the effort we should make to reach the kingdom of heaven by the narrow path {Malt. vii. 13.) of pe- nance and mortification, whither only those enter who use force. (Matt. 12.) This St. Paul illustrates by three different examples. By the example of those who in a race run to one point, or in a prize-fight practise and prepare themselves for the victor's reward by the strongest exercise, and by the strictest abstinence from everything that might weaken the physical powers. If to win a laurel-crown that passes away, these will subject them- selves to the severest trials and deprivations, how much more should we, for the sake of the heavenly crown of eternal hap- piness, abstain from those improper desires, by which the soul is weakened, and practise those holy virtues, such as prayer, love of God and our neighbor, patience, to which the crown is pro- mised ! Next, by his own example, bringing himself before them as one running a race, and fighting for an eternal crown, but not as one running blindly he knows not where, or fighting as one who strikes not his antagonist, but the air; but, on the contrary, with his eyes firmly fixed on the eternal crown, certain to be his who lives by the precepts of the gospel, who chastises his spirit and his body, as a valiant champion, with a strong hand, that is, by severest mortification, fasting, and prayer. If St. Paul, not- withstanding the extraordinary graces which he received, thought it necessary to chastise his body that he might not be cast away, how does the sinner expect to be saved, living a soft and luxu- rious life, without penance and mortification? St. Paul's third example is that of the Jews who all perished on their journey to the Promised Land, even though God had granted them so many graces; for He shielded them from their enemies by a cloud which made light for them at night, and a cooling shade by day; He led them, dryfooted, through the sea; He caused manna to fall from heaven to be their food, and water to gush from the rock INSTRUCTION FOR SEPTUAGESIMA SUNDAY. H5 for their drink. These physical benefits which God bestowed upon the Jews in the wilderness had a spiritual meaning for them; for the cloud and the sea in which Moses spiritually baptized them (not in reality, only as in a picture), had reference to the baptism Christ instituted, which enlightens the soul, tames the concu- piscence of the flesh, and purities from sin ; the manna was a type of the most holy Sacrament of the Altar, the soul's true bread from heaven; the water from the rock, the blood flowing from Christ's wound in the side ; and yet with all these physical graces, which God gave them, and with all the spiritual graces they were to receive by faith from the coming Redeemer, of the six hundred thousand men who left Egypt, only two, Joshua and Caleb, en- tered the Promised Land. Why? Because they were so fickle, murmured so often against God, and so desired the pleasures of the flesh. How much, then, have we need to fear that we may be excluded from the truly happy Land, Heaven, if we do not con- tinuously struggle for it, by penance and mortification ! ASPIRATION. Assist me, Jesus, with Thy grace that, following St. Paul's example, I may be anxious, by the con- stant pious practice of virtue and prayer, to arrive at per- fection and to enter heaven. GOSPEL. {Matt. xx. 1 — 16.) At that time: Jesus said to his disciples this parable : The kingdom of heaven is like to a householder, who went out early in the morning to hire laborers into his vineyard. And having agreed with the la- borers for a penny a day , he sent them into his vineyard. And going out about the third hour, he saw others standing in the market-place idle. And he said to them : Go you also into my vineyard, and I will give you what shall be just. And they went their way. And again he went out about the sixth and the ninth hour, and did in like manner. But about the eleventh hour he went out and found others standing, and he saith to them : Why stand you there all the day idle? They said to him: Because no man has hired us. He saith to them : Go you also into my vineyard. And when evening was come, the Lord of the vineyard saith to the steward : Call the laborers and pay them their hire, beginning from the last even to the first. When therefore they were come, that came about the eleventh hour, they received every man a penny. But when the first also came, they thought that they 8* 116 INSTRUCTION FOR SEPTUAGESIMA SUNDAY. should receive more: and they also received every man a, penny. And receiving it, they murmured against the master of the house, saying: These last have worked but one hour, and thou hast made them equal to us that have borne the burden of the day and the heats. But he answering one of them, said: Friend, I have done thee no wrong: didst thou not agree with me for a penny? Take what is thine, and go thy way: I will also give to this last as to thee. Or, is it not lawful for me to do what I will? Is thy eye evil, because I am good? So shall the last be first, and the first last. For many are called, but few chosen. INSTRUCTION FOR SEPTUAGESIMA SUNDAY. \\1 In this parable, what is to be understood by the householder, the vineyard, the laborers, and the penny? The householder represents God, who in different ages of the world, in the days of Adam, Noah, Abraham, Moses, and finally in the days of Christ and the apostles, has sought to call men as workmen into His vineyard, the true Church, that they might labor there industriously, and receive the penny of eternal glory. How and when does God call people ? By inward inspiration, by preachers, confessors, spiritual books, and conversations, etc., in flourishing youth and in ad- vanced age, which periods of life may be understood by the dif- ferent hours of the day. What is meant by workiny in the vineyard? It means laboring, fighting, suffering for God and His honor, for our own and other's salvation. As in a vineyard we spade, dig, root out weeds, cut off the useless and noxious, manure, plant, and bind up, so in the spiritual vineyard of our soul we must, by frequent meditation on death, hell, and by examination of conscience, dig up the evil inclinations by their roots, and by true repentance the weeds of vice, and cut away, by mortification, especially by prayer and fasting, the ever springing concupiscen- ces; by the recollection of our sins, we must humble ourselves, and amend our life; in place of the bad habits we must plant the opposite virtues, and bind our unsteady will to the trellis of the fear of God and of His judgment, that we may continue firm. How is a vice or bad habit to be rooted up? It requires so much labor to root up a vice, that it is needed that a great hatred of it should be aroused , that the greatest desire to destroy it, should be created, and that God should be entreated for His grace, without which nothing can be accom- plished ; it is useful also to read some spiritual book which speaks against the vice, as for instance against anger, impurity, &c. ; that the Sacraments of Penance and Of holy Communion should be often received, and that some particular saint, who had the same vice, but by the grace of God rooted it up, should be honored, as Mary Magdalen and St: Augustine who each had the habit of impurity, but with the help of God resisted and destroyed it in themselves; there should be fasting, almsdeeds, or other good works, performed for the same object, and it is of great impor- tance, every necessity, that the conscience should be carefully examined in regard to it. Who are slandiny idle in the market-place? In the market-place, that is the world, they are standing idle who, however much business they perform, do not work for God and for their own salvation; for the only necessary employment I ! : i 118 INSTRUCTION FOR SEPTUAGESIMA SUNDAY. is the service of God and the working out of our salvation. There are three ways of being idle: doing nothing whatever; doing evil; doing other things than the duties demanded by the position in life and its office requires, or if this work is done without a good intention, or not from the lo.ve of God. This threefold idleness deprives us of our salvation, as the servant loses his wages if he works not at all, or not according to the will of his master. We are all servants of God, and we, none of us, can say with the laborers in the vineyard that no man has hired us; for God, when He created us, hired us at high wages, and we must serve Him at all times and constantly, as He cares for us at all times and constantly; and if, in the gospel, the householder reproaches the workmen, whom no man had hired, for their idleness, what will God, one day, say to those Christians whom He hired for the work in His vineyard, the Church, if they have remained idle? Why do the last comers receive as much as those who worked all day? Because God rewards not the time or length of the work, but the industry and diligence employed in virtue. It may indeed happen, that many a one who has served God but for a short time, excels in merits another who has lived long, but has not labored as diligently. ( Wis. iv.) What is signified by the murmurs of the earliest workmen when the wages were paid? As the Jews were properly the first who were called by God, Christ intended to indicate that they, who were displeased that the gentiles, the last called, should one day receive the same reward with them in heaven, would find fault and murmur, which they afterwards did. But it will not be so in heaven; there envy, malevolence, and murmurs will find no place. On the contrary, the saints who long served God, wonder at the goodness of God to the converted sinners, and those who have served Him for but a short time, for these also there will be the same penny, that is, the vision, the enjoyment, and possession of God and His king- dom. Only in the heavenly glory there will be a difference, be- cause the divine lips have assured us, that each one shall be rewarded according to his works. The murmurs of the workmen and the answer of the householder, serve to teach us, that we should not murmur against the merciful proceedings of God towards our neighbor, nor envy him; for envy and jealousy are abominable vices, hated by God, yes, devilish. Through the envy of Satan, death hath come into the world. (Ms.ii.24.) The envious, therefore, imitate Lucifer, but they hurt only them- selves, because they are consumed by their envy. "Envy," says St. Basil, "is an institution of the serpent, an invention of the devils, an obstacle to piety, a road to hell, the depriver of the heavenly kingdom." INSTRUCTION FOR SEXAGESIMA SUNDAY. H and forgettest our want and our trouble? for our soul is humbled down to the dust, our belly cleaveth to the earth. (Ps. xliii. 23. 26.) Glory be to the Father, &c. PRAYER OF THE CHURCH. God, who seest that we confide in no action of our own, let us find grace with Thee, [20 INSTRUCTION FOR SEXAGESIMA SUNDAY. and grant us by the intercession of St. Paul, the Teacher of Nations, that we may be preserved from all adversities. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, &c. EPISTLE, (ii. Cor. xi. 19—33.; xii. 1—9.) Bretheen: You gladly suffer the foolish : whereas yourselves are wise. For you suffer if a man bring you into bondage, if a man devour you, if a man take from you, if a man be lifted up, if a man strike you on the face. I speak according to dishonor, as if we had been weak in this part. Wherein any man dares (I speak foolishly), I dare also. They are Hebrews: so am I. They are Israelits : so am I. They are the seed of Abraham : so am I. They are ministers of Christ (I speak as one less wise), lam more: in many more labors, in prisons more frequently, in stripes above measure, in deaths often. Of the Jews five times did I receive forty stripes, save one. Thrice was I beaten with rods, once was I stoned, thrice I suffered shipwreck, a night and a day I was in the depth of the sea ; in journeying often, in perils of waters, in perils of robbers, in perils from my own nation, in perils from the gentiles, in perils in the city, in perils in the wilderness, in perils in the sea, in perils from false brethren, in labor and painfulness, in many watchings, in hunger and thirst, in many fastings, in cold and nakedness. Besides those things which are with- out: my daily instance, the solicitude for all the Churches. Who is weak, and I am not weak? Who is scandalized, and I am not on fire ? If I must needs glory : I will glory of the things that concern my infirmity. The God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who is blessed forever, knoweth that I lie not. At Damascus the governor of the nation under Aretas the king guarded the city of the Damascenes to ap- prehend me. And through a window in a basket was I let down by the wall, and so escaped his hands. If I must glory (it is not expedient indeed) : but I will come to the visions and revelations of the Lord. I know a man in Christ above fourteen years ago, (whether in the body I know not, or out of the body , I know not , God knoweth) , such a one rapt even to the third heaven. And I know such a man (whether in the body, or out of the body, I know not : God knoweth) : that he was caught up into paradise, and heard secret words, which it is not granted to man to utter. For such a one will INSTRUCTION FOR SEXAGESIMA SUNDAY. 121 I glory : but for myself I will glory in nothing, but in my infirmities. For even if I should have a mind of glory, I shall not be foolish: for I will say the truth. But I forbear, lest any man should think of me above that which he seeth in me, or anything he heareth from me. And lest the greatness of the revelations should lift me up, there was given me a sting of my flesh, an angel of Satan, to buffet me. For which thing thrice I besought the Lord, that it might depart from me, and he said to me: My grace is sufficient for thee; for power is made perfect in infirmity. Gladly therefore will I glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may dwell in me. Why is St. Paul mentioned in the' Mass of this day, and why is this epistle read? Because, in Rome, the Station or Church service is held, on this day, in the Church of St. Paul, and because the Church con- tinues to encourage us to work according to the example given by St. Paul who, with the grace of God, accomplished and suf- fered so much; also because we should labor for the honor of God, and the salvation of our souls, and as faithfully cooperate with the grace of God. Why, in the beginning of this epistle, does St. Paul say so much in his own praise? Not out of ambition for honor and glory, but to honor God, and for the love and advantage of the Corinthians, who allowed themselves to be deceived by mercenary impostors, and false prophets, who beguiled them out of their goods. That he might make public the craftiness of those deceivers who assumed the appearance of the true apostles, as Satan the form of a good angel. To shame these, and remove the obstacles they had placed in the way of the gospel, St. Paul was obliged to reveal to the Co- rinthians the things he had performed and endured in propagat- ing the holy gospel.— By trials and sufferings is the true apostle known; the false apostles, the hirelings, as Christ calls them, only care for their own bodies, for temporal advantages, not for the salvation of souls. We see this examplified in Our days by the heretical missionaries who, when there is suffering, when there is martyrdom, take to flight, for their eyes are directed only to the present life and a large income, while the Catholic missiona- ries rejoice if, for Christ s sake, and for the salvation of souls, they are permitted to suffer, and made worthy to endure the cruel death of the martyr. Who is it of whom St. Paid relates such mar r els? Of himself, but from humility and modesty he does not say so; fourteen years before, forty four years after the birth of 122 INSTRUCTION FOR SEXAGESIMA SUNDAY. Christ, St. Paul was wrapt to tJie third heaven, that is, to the abode of happy spirits; but to preserve him in humility God per- mitted Satan to use the concupiscence of the flesh, which is like a sting in the body of man, as a temptation to the apostle, and continually tormented him with it. ASPIRATION. Give me the grace, God, in these evil days of the ever increasing uprising of false doctrines and delusions, to persevere in holding to Thy gospel, which in the holy Catholic Church remains unadulterated, that I may not allow myself to be drawn from it, neither by the charms of the world, nor by its mockery and reproaches. INSTRUCTION FOR SEXAGESIMA SUNDAY. 123 GOSPEL. (Luke viii. 4 — 15.) At that time: When a very great multitude was gathered together and hastened out of the cities unto him, he spoke by a similitude: The sower went out to sow his seed. And as he sowed, some fell by the wayside, and it was trodden down, and the fowls of the air devoured it. And other some fell upon a rock; and as soon as it was sprung up, it withered away, because it had no moisture. And other some fell among thorns, and the thorns growing up with it, choked it. And other some fell upon good ground, and being sprung up, yielded fruit an hundred- fold. Saying these things, he cried out : He that hath ears to hear, let him hear. And his disciples asked him what this parable might be. To whom he said: To }T)u it is given to know the mystery of the kingdom of God : but to the rest in parables, that seeing they may not see, and hearing they may not understand. Now the parable is this : The seed is the word of God. And they by the wayside, are they that hear: then the devil cometh, and taketh the word out of their heart, lest believing they should be saved. Now they upon the rock, are they who when they hear, receive the word with joy: and these have no roots, who believe for a while, and in time of temptation fall away. And that which fell among thorns, are they who have heard, and going their way, are choked with the cares, and riches, and pleasures of this life, and yield no fruit. But that on the good ground, are they who in a good and perfect heart, hearing the word, keep it, and bring forth fruit in patience. Why is the word of God compared to a seed? Because from the word of God germinates the fruit of good works, as from good seed grows good fruit; as it is impossible, therefore, for an unsown field to produce good fruit, so is it im- possible for man without the seed of God's word to produce good fruits of the spirit. Why, in the parable, does Christ cry out: He that hath ears to hear, let him hear? Because of the importance and necessity of the doctrine which was contained in the parable. For to hear the word of God is an absolute necessity for salvation, as the Apostle indicates: How 124 0N TIIE STRENGTH OF GOD'S WORD. shall they believe in him (Jesus) of whom they have not heard? (Rom.x. 14.) And Jesus praises those happy ones who hear the word of God and keep it {Luke xi. 28.) And on this subject St. Augustine says: "Be assured, my brethren, that as the body becomes weakened by want and hunger, and wastes to a mere shadow, so the soul that is not nourished by the word of God, becomes shrunken, worthless, and unfit for any good work." Whence comes so much evil cockle, when the seed of God's word is so abundantly sown? Because, as Christ says, the seed falls now by the wayside, now upon a rock, now among thorns, seldom upon good soil, this is to say, those who hear the word of God are as a highway, over which many distracted thoughts are travelling which tread down the scattered seed, or, like fowls of the air devour it, or they are like rocks, hardened by their prejudices or repeated crimes, so that the divine word cannot take root; or, again, they are so overgrown by the thorns of worldly cares, the constant desire for wealth and riches and sensual delights, that even if they re- ceive the seed, it is unable to grow and bear fruit. TON THE STRENGTH OF GOD'S WORD. He word of God is compared, by the Prophet Jeremias, to a hammer which crushes hearts as hard as rocks, and to a fire that dries up the swamps of vice, and consumes the inve- terate evil habits. {Jer. xxiii. 29.) The Psalmist compares it to thunder that makes all tremble, a storm -wind that bends and breaks the cedars of Libanon, that is, proud and obstinate spirits; a light that dispels the darkness of ignorance; and a remedy that cures sin. {Ps. xxviii. 3. 5., cxviii., cv., and cxxix.. 11.) St. Paul compares it to a sword that divides the body from the soul, that is, the carnal desires from the spirit {Hebr. iv. 12.); the Apostle James to a mirror in which man sees his stains and his wrongs. {Jam. i. 23.) The Prophet Isaias to a precious rain that moistens the soil of the soul and fertilizes it {Isai. Iv. 10. 11.); and Jesus Himself compares it to a seed that when it falls on good ground, brings forth fruit an hundredfold. {Lukevm. 8.) One single grain of this divine seed produced the most marvellous fruits of sanctity in St. Augustine, St. Anthony the Great, in St. Nicholas of Tolen- tino, and others ; for St. Augustine was converted by the words : "Let us walk honestly as in the day: not in rioting and drunkenness, not in chambering and impurities, not in contention and envy." {Horn. xiii. 13.) St. Anthony by the words: "If thou wilt be perfect, go, sell what thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven; and, come, follow me." {Matt. xxi. 15.) Nicholas of Tolentino was brought to Christian perfection by the words: "Love not the world, nor those things which are in the world." (i. John ii. 15.) ON THE STRENGTH OF GOD'S WORD. 125 How should we prepare ourselves to be benefitted by the word of God? We must be good, well tilled soil, that is, we must have a heart that loves truth, desires to learn, and humbly and sincerely seeks salvation; we must listen to the word of God with due pre- paration and attention, keep the divine truths we have heard, in our heart, frequently consider, and strive to fulfil them. What should be done before the sermon? We should endeavor to purify our conscience, for, as St. Chry- sostom demands: "Who would pour precious juice into a vessel that is not clean, without first washing it?" We should, there- fore, at least cleanse our hearts by an ardent sorrow for our sins, because the spirit of truth enters not into the sinful soul ( WU. i. 4.) ; we should ask the Holy Ghost for the necessary en- lightenment, for little or no fruit can be obtained from a sermon if it is not united with prayer; w T e should listen to the sermon with a good motive, that is, with a view to hearing some thing edifying and instinctive; if we listen to a sermon only from cu- riosity, the desire to hear something new, to criticize the preacher, or to see and to be seen, we are like the Pharisees who for such and similar motives went to hear Christ, and derived no benefit therefrom. 'As a straight sword goes not into a crooked sheath, so the word of God enters not into a heart that is filled with im- proper motives;" we should strive to direct our minds rightly, that is, to dispel all temporal thoughts, all needless distraction, otherwise the wholesome words would fall but upon the ears, would not penetrate the heart, and the words of Christ be ful- filled: They have ears, and hear not. Now should we comport ourselres during the sermon? We should listen to the sermon with earnest, reverent atten- tion, for God speaks to us through the preachers, and Christ says to them: Who hears you, hears me. {Luke x. 6.) We must listen to the preachers, therefore, not as to men, but as to God's ambassadors, for every preacher can say with St. Paul: We are ambassadors for Christ, God, as it were, exhorting by us. (ii. Cor. v. 20.) "If," says St. Chrysostom, "when the letter of a king is read, the greatest quiet and attention prevail, that noth- ing the king's letter contains, may be lost, how much more should we listen with reverence and perfect silence to the word of God?" The word of God is, and ever will be, a divine seed, which, when properly received, produces precious fruit, by whomsoever sowed ; for in the sowing it matters not who sows, but what soil is sowed. Be careful, also, that you do not apply that which is said, to others, but take it to yourself, or the sermon will be of no benefit for you. Are you free from those vices which the preacher decries and against which he battles? then, thank God, but do not despice j 26 ON THE STRENGTH OF GOD'S WORD. others who are perhaps laboring under them, rather pray, that they may be released and you preserved from falling into them. Keep also from sleeping, talking, and other extravagances, and remember, that whoever is of God, also willingly hears his word. {John vim 47.) What should be done after the sermon? We should then strive to put into action the good we have heard, for God justifies not those who hear the law, but those who keep it {Rom. ii. 13.), and those who hear the word of God and do not conform their lives to it, are like the man who looks in the glass, and having looked in the glass goes away and pre- sently forgets what manner of man he is. {Jam. i. 23. 24.) To practise that which has been heard, it is above all necessary, that it should be kept constantly in mind, and thoughtfully con- sidered. St. Bernard says: "Preserve the word of God as you would your body's meat, for it is a life giving bread, and the food of your soul." Happy those, says Christ, who keep it. Receive it, therefore, into your soul's interior, and let it reach your morals, and your actions. That food which cannot be digested, or is at once thrown out, is useless ; the food should be well masticated, retained, and by the digestive powers worked up into good blood. So, not only on the day, but often during the week, that which was heard in the sermon, should be thought of, whether it has already been, or if it can and will be now put into practice. Speak of it to others, thus will much idle talk be saved, many souls with the grace of God roused to good, and enlightened in regard to the evil they had not before seen in themselves, and kept from it; let us hoar others speak of the sermon, and especially should heads of fami- lies require their children and domestics to tell about it; let us also particularly entreat God to give us grace, that we may be enabled to practise the precepts given us. PRAYER. How much am I shamed, my God, that the seed of Thy divine word, which Thou hast sowed so often and so abundantly in my heart, has brought forth so little fruit! Ah! have mercy on me, and so change my heart, that it may become good soil, in which Thy word may take root, grow without hinderance, and finally bring forth fruits of salvation. Amen. 127 INSTRUCTION FOR QUINQUAGESIMA SUNDAY. lie Intro it of this day's Mass is the sigh of an afflicted, but in God confiding soul: Be thou unto me a God, a protector, and a house of refuge to save me, for thou art my strength, and my refuge; and for thy name's sake thou wilt lead me, **> and nourish me. {Ps. xxx. 34.) In thee, Lord, have I hoped, let me never be confounded; de- liver me in thy justice and rescue me. (Ps. xxx. 2.) PRAYER OF THE CHURCH. Hear our prayer, we be- seech Thee, Lord, that being freed from the claims of our sins, we may be preserved from all adversity. Through our Lord, &c. EPISTLE, (i. Cor. xiii. 1 — 13.) Brethren: If I speak with the tongues of men and of angels , and have not charity, I am become as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal. And if I should have prophecy, and should know all mysteries, and all knowledge, and if I should have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, and have not charity, I am nothing. And if I should distribute all my goods to feed the poor, and if I should deliver my body to be burned, and have not charity, it proflteth me nothing. Charity is patient, is kind : Charity envieth not, dealeth not perversely: it is not puffed up, it is not ambitious, seeketh not her own, is not provoked to anger, thinketh no evil, rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejo- iceth with the truth : beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things. Charity never falleth away: whether prophecies shall be made void, or tongues shall cease, or knowledge shall be destroyed. For we know in part, and we prophesy in part. But when that which is perfect is come, that which is in part shall be done away. When I was a child, I spoke as a child, I understoQd as a child, I thought as a child. But when I became a man, I put away the things of a child. We now see through a glass in a dark manner; but then face to face. Now I know in part : but then I shall know, even as I am known. And now 128 INSTRUCTION FOR QUINQUAGESIMA SUNDAY. there remain faith, hope, charity,. these three: but the great- est of these is charity. EXPLANATION. In this epistle St. Paul speaks of the ne- cessity, the excellence, and the nature of true charity. He says, that all natural and supernatural gifts, all good works, even mar- tyrdom, do not avail to salvation, if they are not united and animated by the love of God ; because that love alone can render our works pleasing to Him. Therefore, though ever so much good is accomplished, so many alms given, prayers, fasting, and good deeds performed but not for love of God, or while not in the state of grace, no reward in heaven can be hoped for. Strive then, Christian soul, to lead always a pious life in love, and to remain always in a state of grace. Can faith alone, as the reformers assert, render man just, and save him? Faith alone, however strong, though it could move mount- ains, without love, that is, without good works performed for love of God and our neighbor, can never justify or save us. For, when St. Paul says, that man is justified by faith without works {Rom iii. 28.; xi. 6.; Jiph.n.S.), he means to refer to those works which were done by command of the law of Moses, and which, as they were external rnd without true charity, were of no avail; he did not refer to those works which are performed in a state of grace with a living, love-inspired faith. Thus the same apostle writes to the Galatians (Gat. v. 6.), that faith only availeth which worketh by charity; to Titus {Tit. iii. 8.) - It is a faithful saying: and these things I will have thee affirm to the faithful constantly: that they, who be- lieve in God, may be careful to excel in good works. These things are good and profitable unto men; and he exhorts the Colossians {Colos. i. 10.) to be fruitful in every good work. This St. James confirms who writes {Jamesii. 17.24.): So faith if it have not works, is dead in itself; by works man is justified and not by faith only. That this is the true doctrine of Christ, is evident from His own words, when He says: "Every tree that yieldeth not good fruit, shall be cut down, and shall be cast into the fire." (Matt. vii. 19.) At the day of judgment Christ will demand good works of all men {Matt. xxv. 35.), and will not judge them only accord- ing to their faith, but by their good works, which true faith must always produce. {Apoc. xx. 12.; Ecd. xxxii. 24.) Would Christ and His 5 apostles demand good works, if faith alone would suffice? "The devils also believe and tremble" (JamesW. 19.), they believe, but they are not saved, and their faith but increases their torments. Therefore, the assertion that faith without good works is sufficient for justification and salvation, is plainly against the INSTRUCTION FOR QUINQUAGESIMA SUNDAY. 129 doctrine of Christ and His Church, and must of necessity lead man to the greatest debaucheries, as is shown by the unhappy separation of the sixteenth century. Are good icorks performed while in a stale of mortal sin available? Good works performed while in a state of mortal sin, avail nothing in regard to eternal life, writes St. Lawrence Justinian, but aid in moderating the punishment imposed for disobedience and the transgression of God's commandments. They give tem- poral goods, such as honor, long life, health, earthly happiness, etc. ; they prevent from falling deeper into sin, and prepare the heart for the reception of grace; so the pious Gerson writes: "Do as much good as you can even though in the state of mortal sin, that God may give light to your heart." ASPIRATION. God of love, pour the spirit of true charity into my heart, that, as taught by St. Paul, I may endeavor to be always in a state of grace, that all my works may be pleasing to Thee, and meritorious for me. GOSPEL. {Luke xviii. 31 — 43.) At that time: Jesus took to him the twelve, and said to them: Behold, we go up to Jerusalem, and all things shall be accomplished which were written by the prophets concerning the Son of Man. For he shall be delivered to the gentiles, and shall be mocked, and scourged, and spit upon: and after they have scourged him, they will put him to death, and the third day he shall rise again. And they understood none of these things, and this word was hid from them, and they understood not the things that were said. Now it came to pass, that when he drew nigh to Jericho, a certain blind man sat by the way- side, begging. And when he heard the multitude passing by, he asked what this meant. And they told him, that Jesus of Nazareth was passing by. And he cried out, saying : Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me. And they that went be- fore, rebuked him, that he should hold his peace. But he cried out much more : Son of David, have mercy on me. And Jesus standing, commanded him to be brought unto him. And when he was come near, he asked him, saying: What wilt thou that I do to thee? But he said: Lord, that I may see. And Jesus said to him: Receive thy sight: thy faith 130 INSTRUCTION FOR QUINQUAGESIMA SUNDAY. hath made thee whole. And immediately he saw, and fol- lowed him, glorifying God. And all the people, when they saw it, gave praise to Clod. Why did Christ so often foretell His passion to His disciples? Because of His great desire to suffer for us, for we speak often of that which we desire; aud because He wished, that His disciples when they shou d see Him, later, treated as a criminal and martyred, would not think evil of Him, or imagine them- selves deceived, hut remember, that He had foretold all, minutely, that all happened of His own will, and hence they would not be cast down. INSTRUCTION FOR QUINQUAGESIMA SUNDAY. , 131 Did not the disciples understand anything of that which He told of His future sufferings? They may, certainly, have well understood He was to suffer, for which reason Peter tried to keep Him from it {Matt. xvi. 22.); but they did not comprehend why or for what He would suffer, or how He would rise again. All this the Holy Ghost gave them to understand, after it had come to pass. {John xvi. 26.) The light of the Holy Ghost is of so much value, that without it even the clearest doctrines taught by faith, are not understood. Why here, as in other places, does Christ speak of Himself as the Son of Man? He wished to show, in the Jews' way of speaking, He was also man, a descendant of Adam, that we should be humble, and not look for high titles. Why did the blind man call Christ the So?i of David? Because, like all the Jews, he believed that the Messiah, ac- cording to humanity, would be of the house of David, as was promised. (Ps. cxxxi. 11.) Why did Christ ask the blind man: What wilt thou that 1 do to thee? This He asked, not because He was unaware of the blind man's wish, but to enable him to better show his faith and hope, that through Christ he would receive his sight; and that He might show us how He loves to do good to us, and how it pleases Him if we trustfully place our wants before Him. We should learn from this blind man who would not be restrained by the passing crowd, in his ardent and reiterated request, not to pay attention, in the work we have commenced, to human respect, or human judgment, but to persevere, and not allow ourselves to be led astray by the world's mockery or contempt. We should also learn to thank God, and faithfully cling to Him, if He has once opened the eyes of our mind, and healed our spiritual blindness, which is far more deplorable than physical blindness, for nothing can be more miserable than not to see and understand God, ourselves, what is necessary for our salvation, and what is pernicious to it. Why is this gospel read on this Sunday? The Church wishes to remind us of the painful passion and death of Jesus, and so impress us by the contemplation, that we may avoid and despise the wicked, heathenish amusements of the carnival, sinful pleasures which the Church has always condemned, because they come from dark paganism, and, to detain the people from them, commands, that during the three days of the carnival the Blessed Sacrament shall be exposed for public adoration, sermons given, and the faithful exhorted, to have recou se at this time to the Sacraments of Penance and of the Altar, with the 9* I 132 INSTRUCTION FOR LENT. reception of which Pope Clement xiiii. (Breve, 23. June 1765) connects a plenary indulgence. A true Catholic will conform to the desire of his holy Church, considering the words St. Augustine spoke, at this time, to the faithful, "The heathens (as also the worldly people of our days) shout songs of love and merriment, but you should delight in the preaching of the word of God ; they rush to the dramatic plays, but you should hasten to Church; they are intoxicated, but you should be sober and fast." PRAYER. most benign Jesus ! who didst so desire to suffer for us, grant, that we may willingly suffer for love of Thee; that we may hate and fly from the detestable pleas- ures of the world and the flesh, and practise penance and mortification, that by so doing we may merit to be released from our soul-blindness, to love Thee more and more ard- ently, and finally possess Thee forever. INSTRUCTION FOR LENT. A Who instituted Lent? Ccording to the fathers of the Church, Justinus and Ire- naeus, the fast before Easter was instituted and sanctified by Christ Himself; according to the saints Leo and Jerome, the holy apostles ordained it after Jesus' example. Why is the fast required, and why for forty days before Easter? In imitation of Christ's forty days' fast for us; to participate in the fasting and sufferings of Christ, by voluntary mortification, as did St. Paul, who sought thus to fill up what was wanting of the sufferings of Christ {Col. i. 24.); that we may subject our flesh to the spirit, and mortify our evil desires; that we may lead a pure life, and thus prepare for the holy festival of Easter, and the reception of the divine Lamb, Jesus; and, finally, that we may render God satisfaction for our sins, and do penance, as Pope Gregory says, by one short fast, lasting for only the tenth part of a year, for the sins of one whole year. Was fas tiny observed in old limes as well as in the present? Yes, but much more strictly; for the people then not only abstained from meat, as now, but also from all that which is con- nected with it, such as: eggs, butter, cheese, Ac, even from wine and fish, although this was not the general command of the Church; they fasted all day, and only ate in the evening after vespers, in remembrance of which, vespers are now said before dinner-time, because the Church, as a kind mother, now permits the supper to be changed into a dinner, and also allows something INSTRUCTION FOR ASH- WEDNESDAY. 133 to be taken in the evening, that the body may not be too much weakened, and unfitted for labor. How much does this ancient custom shame the Christians of to-day who think the fast in our times too strict! "But," asks St. Ambrose, "what sort of Christians are they? Christ, who never sinned, fasted for our sins, and we will not fast lor our own great and numerous sins?" How should the holy season of Lent be spent ? As according to the teaching of St. Leo, the main thing in fasting is not the abstinence from food, which is unavailing!? kept from the body, if the mind is not at the same time withdrawn from wickedness, we should strive during Lent, not only to be temperate in eating and drinking, but especially to lead a modest life, sanctifying the days by persevering prayer and devoutly at- tending church. PRAYER FOR THE BEGINNING OF LENT. Almighty God! I unite myself at the beginning of this holy season of penance with the Church militant, endeavor- ing to make these really days of sorrow for my sins and crucifixion of the sensual man. Lord Jesus! in union with Thy fasting and passion, I offer Thee my fasting in obedience to the Church, for Thy honor, and in thanksgiving for the many favors I have received, in satisfaction for mine and others' sins, and that I may receive the grace to avoid such and such a sin, and to practise such and such a virtue. INSTRUCTION FOR ASH-WEDNESDAY. BWhy is this day thus named? Ecause on this day the Church blesses ashes, and places them on the heads of her faithful children, with the words: "Remember, man, thou art dust, and unto dust thou shalt return." Why is this done? St. Charles Borromeo gives us the following reasons for this practice: that the faithful may be moved to the heart's sincere humility; that the heavenly blessing may descend upon them, by which they, being really penitent, will weep with their whole j qui for their sins, remembering how earth was cursed because of sin, and we thus have all to retnrn to the dust of earth; that strength to do true penance may be given the, body; and that our soul may be endowed with divine force to persevere in penance. 134 INSTRUCTION FOR ASH- WEDNESDAY. With such thoughts let the ashes be put upon your head, while you ask in all humility and with a contrite heart, for God's mercy and grace. Does it please God, that for such reasons, ashes should be put upon our heads? It does, for God Himself commanded the Israelits to put ashes on themselves for a sign of repentance. (Jer. xxv. "4.) Thus did David (Ps. ci. 10.) who even strewed ashes on his bread; the Ni- nivites (Jonas iii. 5.), Judith (Jud. ix.), Mardochai (Esth. iv.), Job (Job xlii. 6.), &c. The Christians of the earliest times followed this practice as often as they did public penance for their sins. Why from this day until the end of Lent, are the altars draped in violet? Because, as has been already said, the holy season of Lent is a time of sorrow and penance for sin, and the Church desires externally to demonstrate, by the violet with which she drapes the altar, by the violet vestments worn by the priests, and by the cessation of the organ and festive singing, that we in quiet mourn- ing are bewailing our sins ; and to still further impress the spirit of penance upon us, there is usually only a simple crucifix or a picture from Christ's passion, left visible upon the altar, and de- voutly gazing it, the heart is generally prepared for contrition. In the Introit of this day's Mass the Church uses the fol- lowing words by which to make known her zeal for penance, and to move God to mercy: Thou, o Lord, hast mercy on all, and hatest none of those things, which thou hast cre- ated; thou winkest at the sins of men, to draw them to repentance, and thou pardonest them; because thou art the Lord our God. (Wis. xi. 24. 25.) Have mercy on me, God, have mercy on me; for my soul trusteth in thee. (Ps. lvi. 2.) Glory be to the Father, &c. PRAYER OF THE CHURCH. Grant, o Lord, that Thy faithful may enter on this solemn fast with suitable piety, and go through it for the benefit of their salvation. Through Jesus Christ, our Lord, &c. LESSON. (Joel ii. 12— 19.) Thus saith the Lord: Be converted to me with all your heart, in fasting, in weeping, and in mourning. And rend your hearts, and not your gar- ments, and turn to the Lord your God: for he is gracious and merciful, patient and rich in mercy, and ready to repent of the evil. Who knoweth but he will return, and forgive, and leave a blessing behind him, sacrifice and libation to the Lord your God? Blow the trumpet in Sion, sanctify a fast, call a solemn assembly, gather together the people, INSTRUCTION FOR ASH WEDNESDAY. 135 sanctify the Church, assemble the ancients, gather together the little ones and them that suck at the breasts: let the bridegroom go forth from his bed, and the bride out of the bride-chamber. Between the porch and the altar the priests, the Lord's ministers, shall weep and shall say: Spare, OLord, spare thy people : and give not thine inheritance to reproach, that the heathens should rule over them. Why should they say among the nations: Where is their God? The Lord hath been zealous for his land, and hath spared his people. And the Lord answered and said to his people : Behold, I will send you corn, and wine, and oil, you shall be filled with them : and I will no more make you a reproach among the nations : saith the Lord Almighty. EXPLANATION. The Prophet Joel exhorts the Jews to sorrow and penance for their sins, that they might evade the ex- pected judgment to be sent by God upon the city of Jerusalem. He required of them to show their repentance not merely by rending their garments, a sign of mourning with the Jews, but by a truly contrite heart. By this lesson from the prophet, the Church wishes, we should see plainly what qualities our penance should possess, if we desire reconciliation with God, forgiveness of our sins, and delivrance at the Last Day, which qualities are not merely abstinence from food and amusements, but the prac- tice of real mortification of our evil inclinations, thus becoming with our whole heart converted to God. GOSPEL. (Matt. vi. 16— 21.) At that time: Jesus said to his disciples : When you fast be not as the hypocrites, sad. For they disfigure their faces, that they may appear to men to fast. Amen I say to you, they have received their reward. But thou, when thou fastest, anoint thy head, and wash thy face: that thou appear not to men to fast, but to thy Father, who is in secret: and thy Father, who seeth in secret, will reward thee. Lay not up for yourselves treasures on earth : where the rust and moth consume, and where thieves break through and steal. But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven: where neither rust nor moth doth consume, and where thieves do no break through, nor steal. For where thy treasure is, there is thy heart also. EXPLANATION. Jesus forbids us to look for the praises of men, when performing good works, of which the fast is one, and 136 THURSDAY AFTER ASH- WEDNESDAY. that which is still worse, to do good, as the Pharisees, from hy- pocrisy. He also warns us against avarice and the desire for temporal riches, urging us to employ our temporal goods, in giving alms, and doing works of charity, thus laying up treasures of meritorious deeds in heaven, which are there rewarded and will last there forever. "What folly," says St. Chrysostom, "to leave our goods where we cannot stay, instead of sending them before us where we are going— to heaven!" THURSDAY AFTEK ASH- WEDNESDAY. LESSON. (Isai. xxxviii. 1 — 6.) In those days Ezechias was sick even to death, and Isaias the son of Amos the pro- phet came unto him, and said to him: Thus saith the Lord: Take order with thy house for thou shalt die, and not. live. And Ezechias turned his face towards the wall, and prayed to the Lord, and said: I beseech thee, Lord, remember how I have walked before thee in truth, and with a perfect heart, and have done that which is good in thy sight. And Ezechias wept with great weeping. And the word of the Lord came to Isaias, saying : Go and say to Ezechias : Thus eaith the Lord the God of David thy father: I have heard thy prayer, and I have seen thy tears, behold, I will add to thy days fifteen years : And I will deliver thee and this city out of the hands of the king of the Assyrians, and I will protect it, saith the Lord Almighty. EXPLANATION. In the fourteenth year of his reign, death, by the command of the Lord, was announced by the Prophet Isaias to Ezechias, King of Juda, and he, no longer young, turned confidently to God, and asked that his life might be prolonged, which was granted. The Church by this exhorts us, by a pious life and by fervent prayer to be ready for death, that we may receive, if not the pro- longation of our temporal life, eternal life. GOSPEL. (Matt. viii. 5—13.) I See this gospel, commencing with the words: "And when he had entered into Caphamaum" and its explanation in the instruction for the third Sunday after Epiphany.] PETITION. Teach me, Lord, to love my neighbor, as did this centurion, and grant me Thy grace, that I may imitate his great humility, and always as confidently as he believe in Thee, and trust Thy power and goodness. 137 FRIDAY AFTER ASH- WEDNESDAY. LESSON. (Isai. lviii. 1—9.) Thus saith the Lord God: Cry, cease not, lift up thy voice like a trumpet, and shew my people their wicked doings, and the house of Jacob their sins. For they seek me from day to day, and desire to know my ways, as a nation that hath done justice, and hath not forsaken the judgment of their God: they ask of me the judg- ments of justice: they are willing to approach to God. Why have we fasted, and thou hast not regarded: why have we humbled our souls, and thou hast not taken notice I Behold, in the day of your fast, your own will is found, and you exact of all your debtors. Behold, you fast for debates and strife, and strike with the fist wickedly. Do not fast as you have done until this day, to make your cry to be heard on high. Is this such a fast, as I have chosen: for a man to afflict his soul for a day? is this it, to wind his head about like a circle, and to spread sackcloth and ashes? wilt thou call this a fast, and a day acceptable to the Lord ? Is not this rather the fast that I have chosen? loose the bands of wickedness, undo the bundles that oppress, let them that are broken go free, and break asunder every burden. Deal thy bread to the hungry, and bring the needy and the har- bourless into thy house: when thou shalt see one naked, cover him, and despise not thy own flesh. Then shall thy light break forth as the morning, and thy health shall spee- dily arise, and thy justice shall go before thy face, and the glory of the Lord shall gather thee up. Then shalt thou call, and the Lord shall hear: thou shalt cry, and he shall say; Here I am, for I the Lord thy God am merciful. EXPLANATION. Of the true fast such as God, through the prophet, demands, St. Bernard writes: "If only the tickling of the palate has sinned, let it fast, it is enough ; but since all the members of the body have sinned as well, why should they not also fast? The eye should, therefore, abstain from all vain and curious sights; the ears from listening to idle talk and tales; the tongue from all detraction and frivolous words; but far more let the soul abstain from all sin and evil pleasures. Without this fast the Lord reproves all others, as it is written: Behold, on the day of your fast, your own will is found, that is, you fast as it pleases you, not as God requires." 1 38 SATURDAY AFTER ASH- WEDNESDAY. GOSPEL. {Matt, v. 43—48.; vi. 1—4.) At that time: Jesus said to his disciples: You have heard that it hath been said: Thou shalt love thy neighbor, and hate thy enemy. But I say to you, love your enemies, do good to them that hate you: and pray for them that persecute and calumniate you: that you may be the children of your Father who is in heaven, who maketh his sun to rise upon the good and bad, and raineth upon the just and the unjust. For if you love them that love you, what reward shall you have % do not even the publicans the samel And if you salute your breth- ren only, what do you do more ? do not also the heathens the same ? Be you therefore perfect, as also your heavenly Father is perfect. Take heed that you do not your justice before men, to be seen by them : otherwise you shall not have a reward of your Father who is in heaven. Therefore when thou dost an alms deed, sound not a trumpet before thee, as the Irypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may be honoured by men. Amen I say to you they have received their reward. But when thou dost alms, let not thy left hand know what thy right hand doth. That thy alms may be in secret, and thy Father who seeth in secret, will repay thee. EXPLANATION. In regard to the loving of our enemies which Christ so emphatically enforces in this day's gospel, St. Chrysostom gives nine degrees or steps, when he says: "The first degree in loving your enemy is, that you do not begin the enmity; the second, that you do not continue it in the same way, after it has begun ; the third, that you repay not like for like, but that you yield; the fourth, that you advance yourself to bear the in- sult \ the fifth, that you yourself offer more than the offender demands; the sixth, that you do not hate him by whom you suf- fer; the seventh, that you love him who offends you; the eighth, that you willingly bestow benefits upon him; the ninth, that you even pray to God for your enemy. Do this and you will follow Jesus, who even on the cross loved His enemies and prayed for them." SATURDAY AFTER ASH-WEDNESDAY. LESSON. (Isai. lviii. 9 — 14.) Thus saith the Lord God: If thou wilt take away the chain out of the midst of thee, SATURDAY AFTER ASH-WEDNESDAY. 189 and cease to stretch out the finger, and to speak that which is good for nothing. When thou shalt pour out thy soul to the hungry, and shalt satisfy the afflicted soul, then shall thy light rise up in darkness, and thy darkness shall be as the noonday. And the Lord will give thee rest continually, and will fill thy soul with brightness, and deliver thy bones, and thou shalt be like a watered garden, and like a fountain of water, whose waters shall not fail. And the places that have been desolate for ages, shall be built in thee: thou shalt raise up the foundations of generation and generation: and thou shalt be called the repairer of the fences, turning the paths into rest. If thou turn away thy foot from the sabbath, from doing thy own will in my holy day, and call the sab- bath delightful, and the holy of the Lord glorious, and glorify him, while thou dost not thy own ways, and thy own will is not found, to speak a word : Then shalt thou be delighted in the Lord, and I will lift thee up above the high places of the earth, and will feed thee with the inheritance of Jacob thy father. For the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it. EXPLANATION. In this lesson God promises peace and happiness to those who keep from usury, which is understood by the chain, by which the rich bind the poor, and who are peaceful, practise silence, and aid the poor in their needs; He likewise promises abundance of blessing to those who celebrate the Lord's festivals with due devotion and sanctity. Let us learn from these words to be at peace with all men, to subdue our tongues, to exercise mercy towards those in want, and to celebrate the days of the Lord with sacred joy, and deep reverence, that glorious reward may be ours here and hereafter. GOSPEL. {Mark. vi. 47—56.) At that time: When it was late, the ship was in the midst of the sea, and himself alone on the land. And seeing them labouring in rowing (for the wind was against them) and about the fourth watch of the night he cometh to them walking upon the sea, and he would have passed by them. But they seeing him walking upon the sea, thought it was an apparition, and they cried out. For they all saw him, and were troubled. And imme- diately he spoke* with them, and said to them : Have a good heart, it is I, fear ye not. And he went up to them into the ship, and the wind ceased. And they were far more aston- 140 INSTRUCTION FOR THE FIRST SUNDAY IN LENT. ished within themselves : for they understood not concerning the loaves : for their heart was blinded. And when they had passed over, they came into the land of Genesareth, and set to the shore. And when they were gone out of the ship, im- mediately they knew him; and running through that whole country, they began to carry about in beds those that were sick, where they heard he was. And whithersoever he ent- ered, into towns, or into villages, or cities, they laid the sick in the streets, and besought him that they might touch but the hem of his garment: and as many as touched him, were made whole. EXPLANATION. Three things we have to consider in this gospel: The omnipotence of Jesus, the impotence of man; the apostles and disciples had been the whole night on the sea, unable to reach the shore; in the morning, at the fourth watch of the night, Jesus is seen coming, walking on the waves, the wind ceases, and the ship speeds to the shore; — and the blindness of the disciples, who, the day before, had seen Jesus feed many thousands of men with a few loaves of bread, and yet could no*t see, that the Lord, omnipotent in all things, could also walk upon the waves of the sea. From this we learn the need we have of God's assistance and of His light, and let us often cry in our wants and temptations: "Send us light and strength, Lord, that we may happily reach the shore of the heavenly fatherland!'' INSTRUCTION FOR THE FIRST SUNDAY IN LENT, called INVOGABIT. THis Sunday is called Invocabit, because the Intro it of the Mass begins with this word, which is taken from the ninetieth psalm, wherein we are urged to confidence in God, who willingly hears the prayer of the penitent: He shall cry to me, and I will hear him: I will deliver him and I will glo- rify him: I will fill him with length of days. {Ps. lxc. 15. 16.) He that dwelleth in the aid of the Most High, shall abide under the protection of the God of heaven. (Ps. lxc. 1 ) Glory be to the Father, &c. PRAYER OF THE CHURCH. God, wo dost purify Thy Church by the annual observance of Lent; grant, that what INSTRUCTION FOR THE FIRST SUNDAY IN LENT. X41 Thy children strive to obtain of Thee by abstinence, they may secure by good works. Through our Lord, &c. EPISTLE, (ii. Cor. vi. 1 — 10.) Brethren: We exhort you, that you receive not the grace of God in vain. For he saith : "In an acceptable time have I heard thee; and in the day of salvation have I helped thee." Behold, now is the acceptable time: behold, now is the day of salvation. Giving no offence to any man, that our ministry be not blamed : but in all things let us exhibit ourselves as the ministers of God, in much patience, in tribulation, in necessities, in distresses, in stripes, in prison, in seditions, in labours, in watchings, in fastings, in chastity, in knowledge, in long-suffering, in sweetness, in the Holy Ghost, in charity unfeigned, in the word of truth, in the power of God ; by the armour of justice on the right-hand, and on the left: by honour, and dishonour: by evil report, and good report: as deceivers, and yet true: as unknown, and yet known: as dying, and behold we live: as chastised, and not killed: as sorrowful, yet always rejoic- ing: as needy, yet enriching many: as having nothing, and possessing all things. EXPLANATION. The Church very appropriately has read on this day this epistle of St. Paul, in which he exhorts the Chris- tians to make use of the time of grace. A special time of grace is Lent, in which everything invites to conversion and penance, a time, therefore, in which God is ready to make rich bestowal of His graces. As St. Ansehn says, those do not use the grace who do not cooperate with it. Let us, therefore, follow St. Paul's example, and earnestly practise those virtues he places before us, and especially those of temperance, patience, chastity, liberality, love of God and of our neighbor. Let us arm ourselves with the arms of justice at the right and the left, that is, let us strive to be humble in prosperity, in adversity trustful of God's help. Let us be never led from the path of virtue, by mockery, contempt, nor by persecution, by torments, or death. ASPIRATION. Grant, Jesus, that we may always faithfully cooperate with Thy graces, and well employ the time Thou hast again given for our salvation. GOSPEL. {Matt. iv. 1 — 11.) At that time: Jesus was led by the spirit into the desert, to be tempted by the devil. And when he had fasted forty days and forty nights, he was afterwards hungry. And the tempter coming, said to him: 142 INSTRUCTION FOR THE FIRST SUNDAY IN LENT. If thou ! be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread. But he answered and said: It is written, "Not by bread alone doth, man live, but by every word that pro- ceedeth out of the mouth of God." Then the devil took him into the holy city, and set him upon a pinnacle of the temple, and said to him : If thou be the Son of God, cast thyself clown; for it is written: "He hath given his angels charge over thee, and in their hands shall they bear thee up, lest perhaps thou dash thy foot against a stone." Jesus said to him: It is written again, "Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God." Again the devil took him up into a very high mount- INSTRUCTION FOR THE FIRST SUNDAY IN LENT. 143 ain, and shewed him all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them, and said to him: All these will I give thee, if thou wilt fall down and adore me. Then Jesus said to him : Begone, Satan: for it is written: "The Lord thy God shalt thou adore, and him only shalt thou serve.'" Then the devil left him; and behold, angels came and ministered to him. INSTRUCTION. I. Christ went into the desert by inspiration of the Holy Ghost to prepare by fasting and prayer, for His mis- sion of preacher, and to endure the temptations of Satan, that, as St. Paul says, He might be one tempted in all things like as we are, without sin, and so become for us a Highpriest who knew how to have compassion on our infirmities {llebr. iv. 15.), and to show us by His own example, how we should, armed with the word of God, as with a sword, overcome the tempter. (Eph.Yi. 17.) — Let us, therefore, courageously follow Christ to the combat against all temptations, with His assistance it will not be hard to conquer them. He has certainly taught us to overcome the hardest ones : the lust of the eyes, of the flesh, and the pride of life, and if we overcome these, it will be easy to conquer the rest II. If Christ, the only Son of God, permitted Himself to be tempted by Satan, even, taken up a high mountain, and to the pinnacle of the temple, it should not appear strange to us, that we are assailed by many temptations, or that we should find in the lives of so many saints, that the evil spirit tormented them by various images of terror and vexation. This we find in the hi- story of the pious Job, where we also find at the same time, that the evil spirit cannot bend a hair of our head without God's permission. III. From the coming of the angels to minister to Christ, after He had conquered Satan, we see that all who bravely resist temptations, will enjoy the assistance and consolations of the be- loved angels. DOCTRINAL AND MORAL INSTRUCTION ON TEMPTATIONS. To be tempted by the devil. (Matl.iv. 1.) A What is a temptation? Temptation is either a trial for instruction and exercise in virtue, or a deception and incitement to sin. In the first sense God tempts man, in the second the devil, the world or bad people, and the flesh, by evil thoughts, feelings, words, or works. Through what are we principally tempted? By our own evil concupiscence and inclination to sin which adhere to us through original sin (Jam. i. 14.), on account of which 144 INSTRUCTION FOR THE FIRST SUNDAY IN LENT. it is said, that the flesh lusteth against the spirit. {Gal. v. 17.) Does the devil also tempt us? He does, and is therefore called, in this day's gospel, the tempter. St. Peter teaches us this, having himself experienced it: Be sober and watch, because your adversary, the devil, as a roaring lion, goeth about, seeking whom he may devour, (i. Peter v. 8.) Not all temptations are to be as- cribed to the devil, however, but often come from our own cor- rupted nature, our own incautiousness, or looseness of our senses, by which we expose ourselves to the danger of falling into sin. How does the devil tempt us to sin? In a twofold manner: He incites the concupiscence of man to those sins to which he sees him inclined, and then seeks so to blind and confuse his imagination, that he neither reflects, nor properly sees the temporal injury, disgrace, and derision, nor the shamefulness of sin and its eternal punishment, but throws him- self into it. Thus the devil seduced Eve, our first mother, and thus he tempted Christ, with whom he could not, of course, suc- ceed, for He was incapable of sin. He tempts bad people to per- secute us, or to tempt us by their wicked vanities, as he did with the friends of Job. Can the devil force us to evil? He cannot; "for as a chained dog," says St. Augustine, "can bite none but those who go near him, so the devil cannot harm with his temptations those who do not consent to them. Like the dog he can bark at you, but cannot bite you against your will." Not by force but by persuasion Satan strives to injure, he does not force our consent, but entreats it. Seek, therefore, to subdue your passions and your senses, especially your eyes, and you will either remain free from all temptations, or easily overcome them. Does God also tempt us ? God does indeed tempt us, but not to sin, as St. James ex- pressly teaches. {Jam. i. 13.) God either Himself proves us by sufferings and adversities, or He permits the temptations of the devil or evil minded people to come upon us, to give us oppor- tunity to practise the virtues of love, patience, obedience, etc. Thus He said to the Jews through Moses: The Lord, your God, trieth you, that it may appear, whether you love him with all your heart and with all your soul, or not. (I)eut. xiii. 3.) Does God permit us to be tempted by man also? He does, and for the same reasons. Thus He permitted the chaste Joseph to be tempted by Potiphar's wife {Gen. xxxix. 7.); Job by his wife and his friends. {Job ii. 9.) But He never permits us to be tempted beyond our strength, but gives us always suf- MONDAY IN THE FIRST WEEK OF LENT. 145 ficient grace to overcome and even gain benefit from the tempta- tion, (i. Cor. x. 13.) Are the temptations pernicious and bad? No; tliey are useful and necessary, rather. "Hard is the fight," St. Bernard writes, "but meritorious, for although it is accompanied by suffering, it is followed by the crown" (Apoc. ii. 12.); and Origen says {Libr. Num.}, "As meat becomes corrupt without salt, so does the soul without temptations." Temptations, then, are only injurious when consent is given, and we suffer our- selves to be overcome by them. When is consent giren to temptations? No sooner than we consciously and voluntarily decide to do the evil to which we are tempted; so long as we resist it, and feel an aversion for it, so long we do not consent, and commit no sin. What are the best means of overcoming temptations? Humility is one; for thus answered St. Anthony, when he saw the whole earth covered with snares, and was asked, "Who will escape?" "The humble;" he who knows his own frailty, distrusts himself, and relies only on God, who resists the proud and gives His grace to the humble (Jam. iv. 6.); other means are: the fervent invocation of the Mother of God, of our holy guardian angel, and patron saints; the pronouncing of the holy name of Jesus, making the sign of the cross, sprinkling holy water; the remembrance of the presence of God, who knows our most secret thoughts, and before whom we are indeed ashamed to think or do that which would cause us shame in the presence of an honorable person; frequent meditation on death, hell, and eternal joys; flying from all those persons and places by whom and in which we are ge- nerally tempted; fervent prayers, especially socalled ejaculations as: "Lord, save me, I perishf Lord, hasten to help me!" finally, the sincere acknowledgment of our temptations at the tribunal of penance, which is a remedy especially advised by pious spiritual teachers. PRAYER. Lord Jesus! who spent forty days in the desert without food or drink, and didst permit Thyself, be- sides, to be tempted by the evil spirit, give me, I beseech Thee by that holy fast, the grace to combat, during this holy season of Lent, under Thy protection, against intem- perance, and to resist the suggestions of Satan, that I may win the crown of eternal life. Amen. MONDAY IN THE FIRST WEEK OF LENT. LESSON. (Msek. ssxW. 11—16.) Thus saith the Lord God: Behold, I myself will seek my sheep, and will visit them. 10 146 MONDAY IN THE FIRST WEEK OF LENT. As the shepherd visiteth his flock, in the day when he shall be in the midst of his sheep that were scattered: so will I visit my sheep, and will deliver them out of all the places where they have been scattered in the cloudy and dark day. And I will bring theni out from the peoples, and will gather them out of the countries, and will bring them to their own land: and I will feed them in the mountains of Israel, by the rivers, and in all the habitations of the land: I will feed them in the most fruitful pastures, and their pastures shall be in the high mountairs of Israel: there shall they rest on the green grass, and be fed in fat pastures upon the mount- ains of Israel. I will feed my sheep : and I will cause them to lie down, saith the Lord God. I will seek that which was lost: and that which was driven away, I will bring again: and I will bind up that which was broken, and I will strengthen that which was weak, and that which was fat and strong, I will preserve: and I will feed them in judgment, saith the Lord Almighty. EXPLANATION. After these words to the Jews, to whom God promised, that He would free them from Babylonian capti- vity, and then pasture and protect them like a good pastor, the prophet describes, in a higher sense, the time when all nations will be united under one shepherd, namely Christ Jesus, in one sheep fold. These words may be applied, at the same time, to a soul, that by a true conversion lias been released by the Good Shepherd Jesus, who has everywhere followed it, from the power of Satan, and is now carefully nourished, by Him, by His word and His blessed Sacraments, and filled with heavenly consolations. Christian, who, perhaps, hast strayed away by sin from Jesus, the Good Shepherd, hasten back to Him in sorrow; with joy He will receive you, and present you His love! GOSPEL. (Matt. xxv. 31 — 46.) At that time: Jesus said to his disciples: When the Son of Man shall come in his ma- jesty, and all the angels with him, then shall he sit upon the seat of his majesty. And all nations shall be gathered together before him, and he shall separate them one from another, as the shepherd separateth the sheep from the goats: and he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on his left. Then shall the king say to them that shall be on his right hand: Come, ye blessed of my Father, possess the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. TUESDAY IN THE FIRST WEEK OF LENT. 147 For I was hungry, and you gave me to eat: I was thirsty, and you gave me to drink : I was a stranger, and you took me in: naked, and you clothed me: sick, and you visited me: I was in prison, and you came to me. Then shall the just answer him, saying: Lord, when did we see thee hungry, and feed thee: thirsty, and gave thee drink? And when did we see thee a stranger, and took thee in: or naked, and clothed thee ? Or when did we see thee sick or in prison, and came to thee ? And the king answering, shall say to them : Amen I say to you, as long as you have done it to one of these my least brethren, you did it to me. Then shall he say to them also that shall be on his left hand : Depart from me, you cursed, into everlasting fire which was prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry, and you gave me not to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave me not to drink. I was a stranger, and you took me not in: naked, and you clothed me not: sick, and in prison, and you did not visit me. Then shall they also answer him, saying : Lord, when did we see thee hungry, or thirsty, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison and did not minister to thee '? Then he shall answer them, saying: Amen I say to you, as long as you did it not to one of these least ones, neither did you it to me. And these shall go into everlasting punishment , but the just into life everlasting. EXPLANATION. From the words of this gospel we see how imperative it is upon us to be charitable to the poor, since Jesus gives such great reward to the charitable, and so severely pu- nishes the uncharitable. Why.? To this St. Francis the Seraph replies: "In the poor Christ reveals Himself to us as in a mirror; as often, therefore, as a poor or feeble person meets you, re- member the poverty and weakness Christ took upon Himself for us, and revere in him Christ Himself, who says: As long as you did it to one of these least in my name, you did it to me." TUESDAY IN THE FIRST WEEK OF LENT. LESSON. (Isai. lv. 6 — 11.) In those days: Isaias the pro- phet spake, saying: Seek ye the Lord, while he may be found: call upon him, while lie is near. Let the wicked forsake his 148 TUESDAY IN THE FIRST WEEK OF LENT. way, and the unjust man his thoughts, and let him return to the Lord, and he will have mercy on him, and to our God, for he is bountiful to forgive. For my thoughts are not your thoughts: nor your ways my ways, saith the Lord. For as the heavens are exalted above the earth, so are my ways exalted above your ways, and my thoughts above your thoughts. And as the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and return no more thither, but soak the earth and water it, and make it to spring, and give seed to the sower, and bread to the eater : so shall my word be which shall go forth from my mouth : it shall not return to me void, but it shall do whatsoever I please, and shall prosper in the things for which I sent it, saith the Lord Almighty. EXPLANATION. The prophet here exhorts the sinner to use the time of grace, for real conversion, when God is so wil- lingly ready to receive him. He should not permit himself to be kept back, neither by the number nor the enormity of his sins ; for greater than all his sins is the mercy of God. — Consider St. Bernard's words on this text: Seek the Lord, while he may be found: "Three reasons there are that render fruitless the search for the Lord,— not to seek Him at the proper time, in the proper manner, and there where He can be found. The proper time is in this life, for with death the search is ended, the door is locked; the proper manner is to seek with ardent desire and with perse verance ; the right place is in meditating on the life, passion, and death of Jesus, and His glory in heaven. Seek the Lord in time, therefore, seek Him with all zeal, in prayer and contemplation. GOSPEL. (Matt. xxi. 10— 17.) At that time: When he was come into Jerusalem, the whole city was moved, saying: Who is this? And the people said: This is Jesus the prophet, from Nazareth of Galilee. And Jesus went into the temple of God, and cast out all them that sold and bought in the temple, and overthrew the tables of the money-changers, and the chairs of them that sold doves : and he saith to them : Tt is written, "My house shall be called the house of prayer; but you have made it a den of thieves." And there came to him the blind and the lame in the temple: and he healed them. And the chief priests and scribes seeing the wonderful things that he did, and the children crying in the temple, and saying: "Hosanna to the son of David,' 1 were moved WEDNESDAY IN THE FIRST WEEK OF LENT. 14»J with indignation, and said to him: Hearest thon what these say? And Jesus said to them: Yea, have you never read: "Out of the mouths of infants and of sucklings thou hast perfected praise? 11 And leaving them, he went out of the city into Bethania, and remained there. EXPLANATION. The spirit of usury induced many Jews to trade even in the vestibu'e of the temple. Condemning this dis- graceful disorder, Jesus with divine force turned out the buyers and sellers. If Jesus thus condemned and punished those who desecrated the entrance of the temple, how will He scorn and punish those Christians who desecrate the Church, the house in which Jesus is present in the blessed Sacrament, by talking, laugh- ing, and other misdemeanors? Always conduct yourself, there- fore, with reverence in the house of God, and consider that even the angels prostrate before the eyes of God, cover their faces, adoring the Lord of heaven and earth. WEDNESDAY IN THE FIRST WEEK OF LENT. [Emberday.J LESSON, (iii. Kinr/sxix. 3 — 8.) In those days: Elias came into Bersabee of Juda, and left his servant there. And he went forward one day's journey into the desert. And when he was there, and sat under a juniper tree, he requested for his soul that he might die, and said: It is enough for me, Lord, take away my soul: for I am no better than my fa- thers. And he cast himself down, and slept in the shadow of the juniper tree: and behold, an angel of the Lord touched him and said to him : Arise and eat. And he looked, and behold, there was at his head a hearth-cake and a vessel of water: and he ate and drank, and he fell asleep again. And the angel of the Lord came again the second time and touched him, and said to him: Arise, eat: for thou hast yet a great way to go. And he arose, and ate, and drank, and walked in the strength of that food forty days and forty nights, unto the mount of God. EXPLANATION. The Prophet Elias had caused the death of the idolatrous priests of Baal at the brook Cison, in the Land of Juda, after he had demonstrated to them, by a great miracle, the worship of the one true God. This was announced to the impious Queen Jezabel, who then threatened Elias with death. Elias fled to the desert, but God did not abandon His servant, and sent him food, strengthened by which Elias walked forty 150 WEDNESDAY IN THE FIRST WEEK OF LENT. days and forty nights to Mount Horeb, where God appeared to him, and gave him important messages. The holy fathers regard the juniper tree, under which Elias rested, as prefiguring the cross of Christ, under the shadow of which there is rest for all who suffer; the food by which Elias was strengthened, was a type of holy Communion by which we are strengthened on the road to heaven, and the forty days and forty nights which Elias passed without food are a figure of Christ's forty days fast. GOSPEL. (Matt. xii. 38—50.) At that time: Some of the Scribes and Pharisees answered him, saying: Master, we would see a sign from thee. Who answering said to them: An evil and adulterous generation seeketh for a sign; and a sign shall not be given it, but the sign of Jonas the prophet. For as Jonas was in the whale's belly three days and three nights : so shall the Son of Man be in the heart of the earth three days and three nights. The men of Ninive shall rise in judgment with this generation, and shall condemn it; be- cause they did penance at the preaching of Jonas. And be- hold a greater than Jonas here. The queen of the south shall rise in judgment with this generation, and shall condemn it: because she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon, and behold a greater than Solomon here. When an unclean spirit is gone out of a man, he walketh through dry places, seeking rest, and findeth none. Then he saith : I will return into my house, from whence I came out. And coming he findeth it empty, swept, and garnished. Then he goeth, and taketh with him seven other spirits more wicked than himself, and they enter in and dwell there : and the last state of that man is made worse than the first. So shall it be also to this wicked generation. As he was yet speaking to the multitudes, behold, his mother and his breth- ren stood without, seeking to speak to him. And one said unto him, Behold, thy mother and thy brethren stand without, seeking thee. But he answering him that told him, said: Who is my mother, and who are my brethren ? and stretching forth his hand towards his disciples, he said : Behold my mother and my brethren. For whosoever shall do the will of my Father that is in heaven; he is my brother and sister, and mother. THURSDAY IN THE FIRST WEEK OF LENT. \ f,l EXPLANATION. All signs and miracles which Christ the Lord wrought, were confirmed only by His resurrection. Had Christ not risen, all His miracles would have been without avail. For this reason He drew the attention of the Pharisees to His re- surrection, which was already prefigured by the Prophet Jonas, who was three days inside the whale, and on the third day came forth from it unharmed. The inhabitants of Ninive repented, through the preaching of the Prophet Jonas without asking for a miracle. What will become of us if we do not repent, we who know of so many miracles of our Lord and His apostles, and have received so many graces from Him ! But our repentance must be real, for terrible is his condition who carelessly relapses into the old grievous sins. Not one, but seven devils will possess him. By a firm, animated faith, we are in a spiritual manner made a brother or sister of Christ, and if by our example and our words we cause the love of Christ to be born in the heart of our neigh- bor, so that he fulfils the will of the Heavenly Father, we are also spiritually made the mother of Christ. Ah, what dignity is his who believes in Jesus, and loves Him above all! THURSDAY IN THE FIRST WEEK OF LENT. LESSON. (Ezek. xviii. 1 — 9.) In those bays: The word of the Lord came to me, saying: What is the meaning that you use among you this parable as a proverb in the land of Israel, saying: The fathers have eaten sour grapes, and the teeth of the children are set on edge? As I live, saith the Lord God, this parable shall be no more to you a proverb in Israel. Behold, all souls are mine : as the soul of the father, so also the soul of the son is mine : the soul that sinneth, the same shall die. And if a man be just, and do judgment and jus- tice, and hath not eaten upon the mountains, nor lifted up his eyes to the idols of the house of Israel, and hath not de- filed his neighbour's wife, nor come near to a menstruous woman: and hath not wronged any man, but hath restored the pledge to the debtor, hath taken nothing awa}^ by vio- lence : hath given his bread to the hungry, and hath covered the naked with a garment : hath not lent upon usury, nor taken any increase: hath withdrawn his hand from iniquity, and hath executed true judgment between man and man: hath walked in my commandments and kept my judgments, to do according to the truth: he is just, he shall surely live, saith the Lord God. 152 THURSDAY IN THE iTEST WEEK OF LENT. EXPLANATION. As the Jews had complained to God, at different times, that they were made to suffer for the sins of their forefathers, God, by the prophet, told them their complaints were unfounded, for He loved and judged all men, the father as the son, and punished the sinner only. It is indeed frequently stated in the holy Scriptures, that God visits the sins of parents upon the children, but this is the case only with those who, born with their parents' evil inclinations, do not resist, but imitate the bad habits of their parents. Live in accordance with God's will, and you will never have reason to complain of Him. GOSPEL. {Matt. xv. 21 — 28.) At that time: Jesus went from thence, and departed into the coasts of Tyre and Sidon. And behold a woman of Canaan who came out of those FRIDAY IN THE FIRST WEEK OF LENT. 153 coasts, crying out, said to him. Have mercy on me, Lord, thou Son of David, my daughter is grievously troubled by a devil. Who answered her not a word. And his disciples came and besought him, saying: Send her away, for she crieth after us : and he answering, said : I was not sent but to the sheep that are lost of the house of Israel. But she came and adored him, saying: Lord, help me. Who answering said: It is not good to take the bread of the children, and to cast it to the dogs. But she said, Yea, Lord; for the whelps also eat of the crumbs that fall from the table of their masters. Then Jesus answering, said to her: woman, great is thy faith: be it done to thee as thou wilt: and her daughter was cured from that hour. EXPLANATION. How true it is as the prophet says: "God at all times hears the desires of the poor." The distressed mother ceased not to implore Jesus' help, and she was heard. St. Augu- stine beautifully says of this: "The continued sighs of a desiring and longing heart, are sweet music unto Christ;" and St. Chry- sostom: "Whether or not we receive that for which we ask, let us ever persevere in prayer; if we receive, we are thankful; are we refused, we remain patient. For if God refuses anything, it is the same as if He had granted us something. For we know not what is for our benefit, only God knows it." FRIDAY IN THE FIRST WEEK OF LENT. [Emberday.J LESSON. {Ezek. xviii. 20—28.) Thus saith the Lord: The soul that sinneth, the same shall die: the son shall not bear the iniquity of the father, and the father shall not bear the iniquity of the son: the justice of the just shall be upon him, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon him. But if the wicked do penance for all his sins, which he hath com- mitted, and keep all my commandments, and do judgment and justice : living he shall live, and shall not die. 1 will not remember all his iniquities that he hath done: in his justice which he hath wrought, he shall live. Is it my will that a sinner should die, saith the Lord God, and not that he should be converted from his ways, and live? But if the just man turn himself away from his justice, and do iniquity accord- ing to all the abominations, which the wicked man useth to 154 FRIDAY IN THE FIRST WEEK OP LENT. work, shall he live? All his justices which he hath done, shall not be remembered : in the prevarication, by which he hath prevaricated, and in his sin, which he hath committed, in them he shall die. And you have said : The way of the Lord is not right. Hear ye, therefore, house of Israel : is it my way that is not right, and are not rather your ways per- verse'? For when the just turneth himself away from his justice, and committeth iniquity, he shall die therein: in the injustice that he hath wrought, he shall die. And when the wicked turneth himself away from his wickedness, which he hath wrought, and doeth judgment and justice, he shall save his soul alive. Because he considereth and turneth away himself, from all his iniquities, which he hath wrought, he shall surely live, and not die, saith the Lord Almighty. EXPLANATION. How consoling are the words of the Lord for every one, even for the greatest sinner, if he only sincerely returns to God, and abandons the way of sin! How dreadful, on the contrary, are they for him who postpones his conversion from day to day, and will "finally die in his sins ! Despair not, then, sinner, only follow instantly the call to repentance; "God pardons, yes, forgets all thy sins !" GOSPEL. {John v. 1 — 15.) At that time: There was a festival of the Jews, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. Now there is at Jerusalem a pond, called Probatica, which in Hebrew is named Bethsaida, having five porches. In these lay a great multitude of sick, of blind, of lame, and of with- ered, waiting for the moving of the water. And the angel of the Lord descended at certain times into the pond; and the water was moved. And he that went down first into the pond after the motion of the water, was made whole of whatsoever infirmity he lay under. And there was a certain man there, that had been eight and thirty years under his infirmity. Him when Jesus had seen lying, and knew that he had been now a long time, he saith to him : Wilt thou be made whole? The infirm man answered him: Sir, 1 have no man, when the water is troubled, to put me into the pond. For whilst I am coming, another goeth down before me. Jesus saith to him: Arise, take up thy bed, and walk. And immediately the man was made whole: and he took up his SATURDAY IN THE FIRST WEEK OF LENT. 155 bed and walked. And it was the Sabbath that day. The Jews therefore said to him that was cured : It is the Sabbath, it is not lawful for thee to take up thy bed. He answered them: He that made me whole, he said to me: Take up thy bed, and walk. They asked him therefore : Who is that man that said to thee: Take up thy bed, and walk? But he that was healed, knew not who it was. For Jesus went aside from the multitude standing in the place. Afterwards Je^us findeth him in the temple, and saith to him : Behold, thou art made whole: sin no more, lest some worse thing happen to thee. The man went his way, and told the Jews that it was Jesus that had made him whole. EXPLANATION. At a certain, but unknown time, an angel came clown and moved the water in the sheep-pond, by which that patient, and he only, who first descended into it, was healed of his infirmity. The sheep-pond is a figure of the holy Sacrament of Penance. When God moves your heart by His grace to sorrow for your sins, then hasten at once to the tribunal of penance, where not one, but all who come, find healing at all times. But take to heart the exhortation of Jesus: "Sin no more, lest some worse thing happen to thee." SATURDAY IN THE FIRST WEEK OF LENT. [Emberday.] EPISTLE, (i. Thess.v. 11—23.) Brethren: We beseech you, rebuke the unquiet, comfort the feebleminded, support the weak, be patient towards all men. See that none render evil for evil to any man : but ever follow that which is good towards each other, and towards all men. Always rejoice. Pray without ceasing. Jn all things give thanks : for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you all. Extinguish not the spirit. Despise not prophecies. But prove all things: hold fast that which is good. From all appearance of evil refrain yourselves. And may the God of peace himself sanctify 3 r ou in all things: that your whole spirit and soul, and body may be preserved blameless in the coming of our Lord Christ Jesus. EXPLANATION. Among other admonitions the apostle ex- horts us not to extinguish by sin, levity, and a distracted life the spirit in ourselves, that is, the graces, the inspirations, and the 15G INSTRUCTION FOR THE SECOND SUNDAY IN LENT. enlightenment of the Holy Ghost; and tells us, that we should not despise prophecies, that is, the gift of expounding the Scrip- tures, preaching the mysteries of faith, but rather examine if they agree with the teachings of the Church. Let us in all things follow the inspirations of the Holy Ghost, and the teachings of our holy Church, and we will never go wrong, but confidently look for the day of Christ's coming in judgment. [For the gospel and its explanation see instruction for to-morrow.] INSTRUCTION FOR THE SECOND SUNDAY IN LENT. (REMINISCERE.) He Introit of this day's Mass, which begins with the word Reminiscere, from which this Sunday derives its name, is the prayer of a soul begging God's assistance, that she may sin no more: "Remember, o Lord, thy bowels of compassion: and thy mercies that are from the beginning of the world. Let not our enemies ever rule over us: deliver us, God of Israel, from all our distress. To thee, Lord, have I lifted up my soul; in thee, my God, I put my trust; let me not be ashamed." (Ps. xxiv r ) Glory be to the Father, &c. PRAYER OF THE CHURCH. God, who seest how de- stitute we are of all strength, preserve us both within and without, that our bodies may be free from all adversity, and our souls purified from all evil thoughts. Through our Lord ., &c. EPISTLE, (i. Thess. iv. 1— 7.) Brethren: We pray and beseech you in the Lord Jesus, that as you have received of us, how you ought to walk and to please God, so also you would walk, that you may abound the more. For you know what precepts I have given to you by the Lord Jesus. P^or this is the will of God, your sanctification : that you should abstain from fornication, that every one of you should know how to possess his vessel in sanctification and honour : not in the passion of lust, like the Gentiles that know not God : and that no man over-reach, nor circumvent his brother in business : because the Lord is the avenger of all these things, as we have told you before, and have testified. For God hath not called us, unto uncleanness, but unto sanctification. INSTRUCTION FOR THE SECOND SUNDAY IN LENT. 157 EXPLANATION. From these words we see, that the great Teacher of Nations as carefully showed the Christian congrega- tions the sanctity of their calling, as he labored to lead them from the blindness and abominations of heathenism. ASPIRATION. Grant, Clod, that I may live honestly, chastely, and holily, in accordance with my vocation, and go not after earthly and carnal pleasures, as the heathens who know Thee not. GOSPEL. (Mm. xvii. 1—9.) At that time: Jesus taketli unto him Peter and James, and John his brother, and bring- eth them up into a high mountain apart: and he was trans- figured before them. And his face did shine as the sun: and 1 58 INSTRUCTION FOE THE SECOND SUNDAY IN LENT. his garments became white as snow. And behold there ap- peared to them Moses and Elias talking with him. Then Peter answering, said to Jesus : Lord, it is good for us to be here: if thou wilt, let us make here three tabernacles, one for thee, and one for Moses, and one for Elias. And as he was yet speaking, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them. And lo a voice out of the cloud, saying: This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased: hear ye him. And the disciples hearing, fell upon their face, and were very much afraid. And Jesus came and touched them: and said to them: Arise, and be not afraid. And when they lifted up their eyes, they saw no one, but only Jesus. And as they came down from the mountain, Jesus charged them, saying: Tell the vision to no man, till the Son of Man shall be risen from the dead. Why was Christ transfiyured in presence of His apostles, on Mount Tabor? To permit them to see the glorious majesty of His divinity; to guard them from doubts when they should afterwards see Him die on Mount Calvary ; to encourage because of the future glory the disciples, and with them all the faithful, to be patient in all crosses and afflictions, for the bodies of the just at the resurrection will be made like the glorified body of Christ. {Phil. iii. 21.) Why did Moses and Elias appear there? That they might testify, that Jesus was really the Saviour, announced by the law and the prophets, and that the law and the prophets received fulfilment in Him. The law was represented by Moses, the prophets by Klias. Why did Peter wish to build three tabernacles there? The delightful sweetness of the apparition in which Jesus made him participator, so enraptured him, that he knew not what he said, not considering that glory cannot be attained with- out labor, the crown without fight, joy without crosses and afflictions. ASPIRATION. Draw us, Jesus, to Thee, that by the contemplation of the sacred joys awaiting us, we may, by Thy grace, be not defeated in the spiritual contest, by the conqueror, and carry off the unfading crown of victory. 159 MONDAY IN THE SECOND WEEK OF LENT. LESSON. (Ban. ix. 15—19.) In those days: Daniel prayed to the Lord, saying : Lord our God, who hast brought forth thy people out of the land of Egypt with a strong hand and made thee a name as at this day: we have sinned, we have committed iniquity, Lord, against all thy justice : let thy wrath and thy indignation he turned away, I beseech thee, from thy city Jerusalem, and from thy holy mountain. For by reason of our sins, and the iniquities of our fathers, Je- rusalem and thy people are a reproach to all that are round about us. Now therefore, our God, hear the supplication of thy servant, and his prayers: and shew thy face upon thy sanctuary which is desolate, for thy own sake. Incline, my God, thy ear, and hear: open thy eyes, and see our desola- tion, and the city upon which thy name is called: for it is not for our justifications that we present our prayers before thy face, but for the multitude of thy tender mercies. Lord hear: Lord, be appeased: hearken and do: delay not for thy own sake, my God: because thy name is invocated upon thy city, and upon thy people, Lord our God. EXPLANATION. Under the reign of King Joachim in punish- ment for their wickedness, the Jews with their king were led into the Babylonian captivity, and Jerusalem and the temple destroyed. Daniel, also, though a faithful follower of the divine law, was among the captives. Because of his wisdom, he was raised to great dignities by King Nabuchodonosor, but he could not forget the destruction of the temple, of Jerusalem, and the sad condition of the Jews. But the Jews were to remain seventy years in painful servitude, before they could return to their own country. For the restoration of the city and temple, and for the speedy return of his people, it is that the prophet cries to God in this lesson; by which we are taught, at the same time, to entreat God for redemption from the servitude of sin, and for the resto- ration of the immaculate purity of our soul, destroyed by sin. GOSPEL. ( John viii. 21^-29.) At that time : Jesus said to the multitude of the Jews: I go and you shall seek me, and you shall die in your sin. Whither 1 go, you cannot come. The Jews therefore said: Will he kill himself, . because he said: Whither T go, you cannot come? And he said to them: You are from beneath, I am from above. You are of this •160 TUESDAY IN THE SECOND WEEK OF LENT. world, I am not of this world. Therefore I say to you, that you shall die in your sins. For if you believe not that I am he, you shall die in your sin. They said therefore to him : Who art thou ? Jesus said to them : The beginning, who also speak unto you. Many things I have to speak, and to judge of you. But he that sent me is true : and the things I have heard of him, the same I speak in, the world. Now they un- derstood not that he called God his Father. Jesus therefore said to them: When you shall have lifted up the Son of Man, then shall you know that I am he, and that I do nothing of myself, but as the Father has taught me, these things I speak. And he that sent me, is with me, and he hath not left me alone : for I do always the things that please him. EXPLANATION. Christ here tells the Jews, who, out of hatred, intended to put Him to death, and were lying in wait for an opportunity to do so, that where He was going, they could not come, that is, to His Father in heaven, because they were from beneath, that is, earthly minded, taken up with the riches and pleasures of this world only, and, therefore, did not believe, that He had come from heaven to redeem the world, and so they die in their sins. — Let us learn from this how needful it is, that we should despise the world, for the friendship of this world is the enmity of God, and whoever is a friend of this world, becomes an enemy of God (Jam.iv. 4.), loses his living faith, and dies in his sins. TUESDAY IN THE SECOND WEEK OF LENT. LESSON, (iii. Kings xviii. 8—16.) In those days: The word of the Lord came to Elias the Thesbite, saying: Arise, and go to Sarephta a city of the Sidonians, and dwell there : for I have commanded a widow woman there to feed thee. He arose, and went to Sarephta. And when he was come to the gate of the city, he saw the widow woman gathering sticks, and he called her, and said to her. Give me a little water in a vessel, that I may drink. And when she was going to fetch it, he called after her, saying: Bring me, also, I beseech thee, a morsel of bread in thy hand. And she an- swered: As the Lord thy God liveth, I have no bread, but only a, handful of meal in a pot, and a little oil in a cruse: behold, I am gathering two sticks, that I may go in and dress it for me and my son, that we may eat it, and die. And Elias TUESDAY IN THE SECOND WEEK OF LENT. \Q\ said to her: Fear not, but go, and do as thou hast said: but first make for me of the same meal a little hearth cake, and bring it to me : and after make for thyself and thy son. For thus saith the Lord the God of Israel: The pot of meal shall not waste, nor the cruse of oil be diminished, until the day wherein the Lord will give rain upon the face of the earth. She went, and did according to the word of Elias : and he ate, and she, and her house : and from that day the pot of meal wasted not, and the cruse of oil was not diminished, according to the word of the Lord, which he spoke in the hand of Elias. EXPLANATION. In this lesson the Church calls our atten- tion , by the example of the widow of Sarephta who was willing to share her last morsel with God's servant, Elias, to the pleasure it gives God to see charity shown the poor, which He rewards even in this world. "Almsgiving," says St. Chrysostom, "is the most profitable profession ; and St. John, Archbishop of Alexan- dria, who on account of his charity to the poor received the name of "Almsgiver", often said: "The more I give to the poor, the more and the greater do I receive from God." Do this likewise, and thou wilt find, that even now the hand of the Lord is not shortened. GOSPEL. (Matt. xiii. 1 — 12.) At that time: Jesus spoke to the multitudes and to his disciples, saying, the Scribes and the Pharisees have sitten on the chair of Moses. All things therefore, whatsoever they shall say to you, observe and do: but according to their works do ye not: for they say, and do not. For they bind heavy and insupportable burdens : and lay them on men's shoulders : but with a finger of their own they will not move them. And all these works they do to be seen of men. For they make their phylacteries broad and enlarge their fringes. And they love the first places at feasts, and the first chairs in the synagogues, and salutations in the market-place, and to be called by men Rabbi. But be not you called Rabbi. For one is your master and all you are brethren. And call none your father upon earth: for one is your father, who is in heaven. Neither be ye called mas- ters: for one is your master, Christ. He that is the greatest among you, shall be your servant. And whosoever shall exalt 11 162 WEDNESDAY IN THE SECOND WEEK OF LENT. himself, shall be humbled: and he that shall humble himself, shall be exalted. EXPLANATION. Christ warns us against the hypocrisy and ambition of the Pharisees who not seeing how miserable they were, sought only to be honored and praised. — Fly from vain glory, ambition, and hypocrisy, for "all a man's virtues and ex- cellent qualities, if he is bloated with pride and vanity, have only the appearance of good without inward value," says St. Francis de Sales {Phil. iii. 4.), and St. Gregory says, " All that we do, is lost, if it is not founded on humility;" and St. Bernard, "Narrow is the door of heaven, and only the small can pass through it," that is, only those who, like children, walk simply and humbly. WEDNESDAY IN THE SECOND WEEK OF LENT. LESSON. {Esther xiii. 8—17.) In those days: Mardochai besought the Lord, remembering all his works, and said: Lord, Lord, almighty King, for all things are in thy power, and there is none that can resist thy will, if thou determine to save Israel. Thou hast made heaven and earth, and all things that are under the cope of heaven. Thou art Lord of all, and there is none that can resist thy majesty. Thou knowest all things, and thou knowest that it was not out of pride and contempt, or any desire of glory, that I refused to worship the proud Aman (for I would willingly and readily for the salvation of Israel have kissed even the steps of his feet :) but I feared, lest I should transfer the honour of my God to a man, and lest I should adore any one except my God. And now, Lord, King, God of Abraham, have mercy on thy people, because our enemies resolve to destroy us, and extinguish thy inheritance. Despise not thy portion which thou hast redeemed for thyself out of Egypt. Hear my supplication, and be merciful to thy lot and inheritance, and turn our mourning into joy, that we may live and praise thy name, Lord, and shut not the mouths of them that sing to thee, Lord our God. EXPLANATION. Aman, one of the favorites of the Persian King Assuerus, aspired in his pride and conceit to divine honors. Mardochai, a Jew and fosterfather of Queen Esther, refused them to him, because they are due only to God. In revenge Aman sought to destroy all the Jews, and bring Mardochai to the gal- lows, which he had already erected for him. In this strait Mar- dochai prayed to God, and his prayer was heard. Aman himself, WEDNESDAY IN THE SECOND WEEK OF LENT. 163 when his evil intentions became known, was hung on the very gallows he had prepared for Mardochai. — Consider the effect of Mardochai's prayer, and on the truth that God ruins the proud {Luke i. 52.), and that he who diggeth a pit for his neighbor, ge- nerally falls in it himself. *$ GOSPEL. (Matt. xx. 17—28.) At that time: Jesus going up to Jerusalem, took the twelve disciples apart, and said to them: Behold, we go up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man shall be betrayed to the chief priests and the scribes, and they shall condemn him to death, and shall deliver him to the Gentiles to be mocked, and to be scourged, and to be crucified, and the third day he shall rise again. Then came to him the mother of the sons of Zebedee with her sons, adoring and asking something of him. Who said to her: What wilt thou ? She saith to him : Say that these my two sons may sit, the one on thy right hand, and the other on thy left, in thy kingdom. And Jesus answering, and said: You know not what you ask. Can you drink the chalice that I shall drink ? They say to him : We can. He saith to them : Of my chalice indeed you shall drink : but to sit on my right hand or left hand, is not mine to give to you, but to them for whom it is prepared by my Father. And the ten hearing it, were moved with indignation against the two brethren. But Jesus called them to him, and said: You know that the princes of the Gentile, lord it over them: and they that are the greater, exercise power upon them. It shall not be so among you, but whosoever will be the greater among you, let him be your minister: and he that will be first among you, shall be your servant. Even as the Son of Man is not come to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a redemption for many. EXPLANATION. I. For the last time the Saviour goes to Jerusalem, and, on His way, announces His death on the cross to the twelve apostles. Of this St. Chrysostom says: "The salvation of men is all in the death of Christ, and there is nothing for which we should thank God more than for the death of His Son. There- fore, Christ took the twelve apostles aside, and told them of the mystery of His death, that this precious treasure might be en- IP 164 THURSDAY IN THE SECOND WEEK OF LENT. closed in the best hearts, that is, in the hearts of the apostles," that they might give it to all men. II. To the ambitious request of the mother of James andJohn, Jesus replied, that they must indeed suffer, but to sit on His right hand He could^iot give. Of this St. Remigius and St. Bede write: "It is not suitable for me to give them the place on my right hand, because you are ambitious. This place is prepared for the humble. If you are humble, it is also ready for you." See how necessary is humility, for even martyrdom is not rewarded without it. THURSDAY IN THE SECOND WEEK OF LENT. LESSON". (Jer. xvii. 5—10.) Thus saith the Lord: Cursed be the man that trusteth in man, and maketh flesh his arm, and whose heart departeth from the Lord. For he shall be like tamarick in the desert, and he shall not see when good shall come: but he- shall dwell in dryness in the desert, in a salt land and not inhabited. Blessed be the man that trusteth in the Lord, and the Lord shall be his confidence. And he shall be as a tree that is planted by the waters, and spreadeth out its roots towards moisture: and it shall not fear when the heat cometh. And the leaf thereof shall be green, and in the time of drought it shall not be solicitous, neither shall it cease at any time to bring forth fruit. The heart is per- verse above all things, and unsearchable, who can know it? I am the Lord that search the heart, and prove the reins; who give to every one according to his way, and according to the fruit of his devices, saith the Lord Almigthy. INSTRUCTION. In a threefold way the curse of God is manifested in him who trusts Him not: God, angels, and saints abandon him ; all divine grace and assistance in good works are withdrawn from him; all the merit of his w r ork is taken away, and all his actions and performances will bring no good fruit.— Never place your confidence, therefore, in miserable, fickle man, but in the omnipotent, eternal God, and you will always receive assistance. GOSPEL. (Luke xvi. 19 — 31.) At that time: Jesus said to the Pharisees: There was a certain rich man, who was clothed in purple and fine linen: and feasted sumptuously every day. And there was a certain beggar, named Lazarus, who lay at his gate, full of sores, desiring to be fed with the crumbs that fell from the rich man's table, and no one did FRIDAY IN THE SECOND WEEK OF LENT. 165 give him, moreover the dogs came and licked his sores. And it came to pass that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels into Abraham's bosom. And the rich man also died, and he was buried in hell. And lifting up his eyes, when he was in torments, he saw Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom. And he cried, and said: Father Abra- ham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus that he may dip the tip of his finger in water, to cool my tongue, for I am tormented in this flame. And Abraham said to him: Son, remember that thou didst receive good things in thy life- time, and likewise Lazarus evil things': but now he is com- forted, and thou art tormented. And besides all this, between us and you there is fixed a great chaos: so that they who would pass from hence to you, cannot, nor from thence come hither. And he said: Then father, 1 beseech thee that thou wouldst send him to my father's house. For I have five brethren, that he may testify unto them, lest they also come into- this place of torments. And Abraham said to him: They have Moses and the prophets: let them hear them. But he said: No, Father Abraham, but if any one went to them from the dead, they will do penance. And he said to him: If they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they believe, if one rise again from the dead. EXPLANATION. Christ, in this parable, teaches that those who make bad use of earthly riches, and only abuse them by vain luxuries, will be deprived of eternal good and punished with eternal torments, while those, who following Christ's example, lead a poor, toilsome, but virtuous life, will be eternally rewarded. "It is difficult, even impossible," writes St. Jerome, "for those who here enjoy present riches, should enjoy eternal ones in fu- ture; impossible for one here to fill his stomach, and in the next world his soul, passing over from earthly pleasures to heavenly joys, receiving honor on earth and honor also in heaven." FRIDAY IN THE SECOND WEEK OF LENT. LESSON. {Gen. xxxvii. 6—22.) In those days: Joseph said to his brethren: Hear my dream which I have dreamed: I thought, we were binding sheaves in the field: and my sheaf 166 FKIDAY IN THE SECOND WEEK OF LENT. arose as it were, and stood, and your sheaves standing about bowed down before my sheaf. His brethren answered: Shalt thou be our king? or shall we be subject to thy dominion? Therefore this matter of his dreams and words ministered nourishment to their envy and hatred. He dreamed also another dream which he told his brethren, saying: I saw in a dream, as it were the sun, and the moon, and eleven stars, worshipping me. And when he had told this to his father, and brethren, his father rebuked him, and said: What mean- eth this dream that thou hast dreamed? shall I and thy mother, and thy brethren, worship thee upon the earth? His brethren therefore envied him: but his father considered the thing with himself. And when his brethren abode in Sichem, feeding their father's flocks, Israel said to him: Thy brethren feed the sheep in Sichem: come, I will send thee to them. And when he answered: I am ready: he said to him: Go, and see if all things be well with thy brethren, and the cattle: and bring me word again what is doing. So being sent from the vale of Hebron, he came to Sichem. And a man found him there wandering in the field, and asked him what he sought. But he answered: I seek my brethren: tell me where they feed their flocks. And the man said to him: They are departed from this place: for I heard them say: let us go to Dothain. And Joseph went forward after his breth- ren, and found them in Dothain. And when they saw him afar off, before he came nigh them, they thought to kill him: and said one to another: Behold, the dreamer cometh, come let us kill him, and cast him into some old pit; and we will say: some evil beast hath devoured him; and then it shall appear what his dreams avail him. And Ruben hearing this, endeavoured to deliver him out of their hands, and said: Do not take away his life, nor shed his blood : but cast him into this pit that is in the wilderness, and keep your hands harm- less: now he said this, being desirous to deliver him out of their hands and restore him to his father. INSTRUCTION. This history shows us to what great crimes men may be led by envy. "Envy," says St. Cyprian, "is the root of all evil, the foundation of war, the seed of crime," and St. Chrysostom, "The envious are worse than wild beasts, and equal to the devils, even still worse than they ; for the devils injure neither themselves nor their kind, while the envious honor not FRIDAY IN THE SECOND WEEK OF LENT. 167 the ties of nature, nor spare even themselves." The Christian, therefore, should guard and take care against nothing more than the snares of envy. INSTRUCTION ON THE VICE OF ENVY, AND THE CURE FOR IT. ENvy is either a pain, a kind of sadness because of another's prosperity, or joy at his misfortunes. He is envious who is inwardly disturbed, grieved, and sad, if his neighbor possesses more, is more honored, or gains more than he, or who rejoices if his neighbor is injured, if shame falls upon him, or if he loses his reputation. Envy' is felt towards those who occupy a higher posi- tion, because the envious one cannot become their equal ; towards those of inferior condition, because he fears they will become equal to him; and to his equals, because he possesses no more than they. Such envy had Saul on account 01 David, the Phari- sees of Christ. Envy is one of the most detestable of vices, because it is so frequently found on earth, and because none so destroys indivi- dual happiness, as well as the welfare of whole nations. Its con- sequences are often enmity, vengeance, murder. It at once opposes the love of our neighbor, and is therefore hated by God. To exterminate the roots of this vice as soon as they germi- nate in the heart, it is well to consider often: I. that envious people are like the devil whom our good works make dissatisfied, and who feels the greatest pain at them be- cause of the eternal reward promised, which we can obtain, for he has lost it and can never regain it. "Would that God," writes St. Augustine, "turn away the pest of envy out of all Christian souls, for envy is a diabolical crime, the only one of which the devil is in an unforgiving manner properly guilty, because as a fallen spirit, he feels the most furious envy of man who remains standing;" II. that nothing is gained by envy, but the envious one im- bitters his own life; the peace of heart abandons him, whether he sees his neighbor in prosperity or in adversity; III. that the envious loses the benefit of all his neighbor's good works, because he has no love for him, and is not in the state of grace. The envious becomes constantly poorer and more corrupt the more his neighbor increases in good works. This St. Gregory indicates, when he says: "Love, by its love, has a share in the ^ood deeds of its neighbor, but envy turns them, by its hatred, into so many heart sores ;" IV. that envy devours the heart, consumes the body, tortures the spirit and frightens away all joy from the soul. The Scriptures call envy the rottenness of the bones (Prov. xiv. 30.) ; some fathers 168 FRIDAY IN THE SECOND WEEK OF LENT. of the Church call it the judge and executioner of man, because the envious destroys himself by his own selftorments ; finally, V. that envy is generally born from the mother of all sins: Pride. The proud cannot endure, that any one of higher standing should be made his equal or possess more than he, so envy springs up in his heart towards those who excel him, who gain or possess more than he. Strive, therefore, to practise the virtue of humi- lity, and consider that God regards not the dignity, nor the wealth, or honor of man, but the humble, meek, and loving heart, which he makes still richer with His blessings. ASPIRATION. Jesus who wast made to suffer so much by the envy of the Pharisees, grant, that I may despise this vice, and always love my neighbor, thus imitating Thee who didst shed Thy blood for love of us. GOSPEL. {Matt. xxi. 33—46.) At that time Jesus spoke to the multitude of the Jews, and to the chief priests this parable: There was a householder who planted a vineyard, and made a hedge round about it, and dug in it a press, and built a tower, and let it out to husbandmen: and went into a strange country. And when the time of the fruits drew nigh, he sent his servants to the husbandmen, that they might receive the fruits thereof. And the husbandmen lay- ing hands on his servants, beat one, and killed another, and stoned another. Again he sent other servants more than the former: and they did to them in like manner. And last of all he sent them his Son, saying: They will reverence my Son: But when the husbandmen seeing the Son, they said among themselves: This is the heir, come, let us kill him, and we shall have his inheritance. And taking him they cast him forth out of the vineyard, and killed him. When therefore the lord of the vineyard shall come, what will he do to those husbandmen? They say to him: He will bring those evil men to an evil end: and will let out his vineyard to other husbandmen, that shall render him the fruit in due season. Jesus saith to them: Have you never read in the Scriptures: "The stone which the builders rejected, the same is become the head of the corner? By the Lord this hath been done, and it is wonderful in our eyes.' 1 Therefore I say SATURDAY IN THE SECOND WEEK OF LENT. \ 69 to you, the kingdom of God shall be taken from you, and shall be given to a nation yielding the fruits thereof. And whosoever shall fall on this stone, shall be broken : but on whomsoever it shall fall, it shall grind him to powder. And when the chief priests and pharisees had heard his parables, they knew that he spoke of them. And seeking to lay hands on him, they feared the multitude: because they held him as a prophet. EXPLANATION. The householder in this parable, is God; the vineyard is the Church before and after Christ; the hedge the protection of God's providence and His angels; the winepress is the word of God, which exhorts man to good ; the tower the earthly protection of the superiors; the husbandmen, who are the priests, the kings, the judges, and the learned; the going away of the householder represents the invisibility of God; the time of the fruits, that is, of good works, should always be at hand, because we should be always serving God, and producing the fruit of good works; the servants are the prophets, the apostles; the son Christ Jesus, whom the Jews crucified, and whom sinners and the enemies of Christianity still crucify. The kingdom of God was, therefore, taken away from the Jews, and will be taken from sinners and Christ's enemies, because they despise and persecute the Lord, and by their sins crucify Him anew. Woe to you, if you acknowledge not the truth, and if you bring not forth good fruits ! SATURDAY IN THE SECOND WEEK OF LENT. LESSON. (Gen. xxvii. 6 — 40.) In those days: Rebecca said to her son Jacob: I heard thy father talking with Esau thy brother, and saying to him: Bring me of thy hunting, and make me meats that I may eat, and bless thee in the sight of the Lord, before I die. Now therefore, my son, follow my counsel: and go thy way to thy flock, bring me two kids of the best, that I may make of them meat for thy father, such as he gladly eateth: which when thou hast brought in, and he hath eaten, he may bless thee before he die. And he answered her: Thou knowest that Esau my brother is a hairy man, and I am smooth: if my father shall feel me, and per- ceive it, I fear lest he will think, I would have mocked him, and I shall bring upon me a curse instead of a blessing. And his mother said to him : Upon me be this curse , my son : 170 SATURDAY IN THE SECOND WEEK OF LENT. only hear thou my voice, and go, fetch me the things which I have said. He went, and brought, and gave them to his mother. She dressed meat such as she knew his father liked. And she put on him very good garments of Esau, which she had at home with her: and the little skins of the kids she put about his hands, and covered the bare of his neck. And she gave him the savoury meat, and delivered him bread that she had baked. Which when he had carried in, he said: My father? But he answered: I hear. Who art thou my son? And Jacob said: I am Esau thy first-born: I have done as thou didst command me, arise, sit and eat of my venison, that thy soul may bless me. And Isaac said to his son: How couldst thou find it so quickly, my son? He answered: It was the will of God that what I sought came quickly in my way. And Isaac said: Come hither, that I may feel thee my son, and may prove whether thou be my son Esau or no: He came near to his father, and when he had felt him, Isaac said: The voice indeed is the voice of Jacob, but the hands, are the hands of Esau. And he knew him not, because his hairy hands made him like to the elder. Then blessing him, he said: Art thou my son Esau? He answered: I am. Then he said: Bring me the meats of thy hunting, my son, that my soul may bless thee. And when they were brought and he had eaten, he offered him wine also, which after he had drunk, he said to him: Come near me, and give me a kiss, my son. He came near, and kissed him. And immediately as he smelled the fragrant smell of his garments, blessing him, he said: Behold, the smell of my son is as the smell of a plentiful field, which the Lord hath blessed. God give thee of the dew of heaven, and of the fatness of the earth, abun- dance of corn and wine. And let peoples serve thee, and tribes worship thee: be thou lord of thy brethren, and let thy mother's children bow down before thee. Cursed be he that curseth thee : and let him that blesseth thee, be filled with blessings. Isaac had scarce ended his words, when, Jacob being now gone out abroad, Esau came, and brought in to his father meats made of what he had taken in hunting, saying: Arise, my father, and eat of thy son's venison: that thy soul may bless me. And Isaac said to him: Why! who art thou? He answered: I am thy first-born son Esau. Isaac SATURDAY IN THE SECOND WEEK OF LENT. 171 was struck with fear, and astonished exceedingly: and won- dering beyond what can be believed, said : Who is he that even now brought me venison that he had taken, and I ate of all before thou earnest? and I have blessed him, and he shall be blessed. Esau having heard his father's words, roared out with a great cry: and being in a consternation, said: Bless me also, my father. And he said: Thy brother came deceitfully and got thy blessing. But he said again: Rightly is his name called Jacob: for he hath supplanted me lo this second time: my first birth-right he took away before, and now this second time he hath stolen away my blessing. And again he said to his father: Hast thou not reserved me also a blessing? Isaac answered: I have appointed him thy lord, and have made all his brethren his servants: I have esta- blished him with corn and oil, and after this, what shall I do more for thee my son? And Esau said to him: Hast thou only one blessing, father? I beseech thee, bless me also. And when he wept with a loud cry, Isaac being moved, said to him: In the fat of the earth, and in the dew of heaven from above shall thy blessing be. INSTRUCTION. The two sons of Isaac so esteemed their father's blessing, that one of them even strove to gain it by a fraud, and the other wept and lamented in grief at losing it. Let us not disregard the blessing of our parents, because, as the Bible says, it builds houses for the children, while their curse uproots their foundations. (Eccl. iii. 11.) If the holy Patriarch Jacob sin- ned by a lie, we must bear in mind, that we are not to imagine ourselves secure, and that we should never let ourselves be led into even the smallest sin to gain any good however great. GOSPEL. (Luke xv. 11 — 32.) At that time: Jesus spoke to the Scribes and Pharisees this parable: A certain man had two sons: and the younger of them said to his father: Father, give me the portion of substance that falleth to me. And he divided unto them his substance. And not many days after, the younger son gathering all together, went abroad into a far country: and there wasted his substance with living riotously. And after he had spent all, there came a mighty famine in that country, and he began to be in want. And he went and cleaved to one of the citizens of that coun- try. And he sent him into his farm to feed swine. And he 172 SATURDAY IN THE SECOND WEEK OF LENT. would fain have filled his belly with the husks the swine did eat: and no man gave unto him. And returning to himself he said: How many hired servants in my father's house abound with bread, and I here perish with hunger? I will arise, and will go to my father, and say to him : Father, I have sinned against heaven, and before thee: I am not now worthy to be called thy son: make me as one of thy hired servants. And rising up he came to his father. And when he was yet a great way off, his father saw him, and was moved with compassion, and running to him fell upon his neck and kissed him. And the son said to him: Father, I have sinned against heaven, and before thee, I am not now worthy to be called thy son. But the father said to his servants : Bring forth quickly the first robe, and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet: and bring hither the fatted calf, and kill it, and let us eat, and make merry: be- cause this my son was dead, and is now come to life again: was lost, and is found. And they began to be merry. Now his eldest son was in the field: and when he came and drew nigh to the house, he heard music and dancing: and he cal- led one of the servants, and asked what these things meant. And he said to him: Thy brother is come, and thy father hath killed the fatted calf, because he hath received him safe. And he was angry, and would not go in. His father therefore coming out began to entreat him. And he an- swering, said to his father : Behold, for so many years do I serve thee, and I have never transgressed thy commandments, and yet thou hast never given me a kid to make merry with my friends: but as soon as this thy son is come, who hath devoured his substance with harlots, thou hast killed for him the fatted calf. But he said to him: Son, thou art always with me, and all I have is thine. But it was fit, we should make merry and be glad, for this thy brother was dead, and is come to life again; he was lost and is found. EXPLANATION. This parable was spoken principally for the Pharisees, who reproached our Saviour's loving behavior INSTRUCTION FOR THE THIRD SUNDAY IN LENT. 173 towards publicans and sinners, at the same time it is a trust- worthy testimony, for all sinners, to the willingness of God, the best Father, to receive at all times, and with most compassionate love, every one, even the greatest sinner, who truly repents, for- giving and forgetting all his misdeeds. "The food of the Heavenly Father is our salvation," says St. Ambrose, "and His joy is our redemption from our sins." Should not this unspeakable love and goodness of God move you to conversion, when, like the prodigal son, you have seen it? INSTRUCTION FOR THE THIRD SUNDAY IN LENT, called OCULI. He Introit of this day's Mass, which begins with the word Oculi, is the prayer of a soul imploring deliverance from the snares of the devil: My eyes are ever towards the Lord: for he shall pluck my feet out of the snare: look thou upon me, and » have mercy on me; for I am alone and poor. To thee, Lord, have I lifted up my soul: in thee, my God, I put my trust, let me not be ashamed. (Ps. xxiv.) Glory be to the Father, &c. PRAYER OF THE CHURCH. Be attentive, we beseech Thee, Almighty God, to the prayers of Thy servants: and stretch forth the arm of Thy divine majesty in our defence. Through Jesus Christ, our Lord, &c. EPISTLE. {Ephes. v. 1—9.) Brethren: Be ye therefore followers of God, as most dear children, and walk in love, as Christ also loved us, and hath delivered himself for us, an oblation and a sacrifice to God, for an odour of sweetness. But fornication and all uncleannes, or covetousness, let it not so much as be named among you, as becometh saints, or obscenity, or foolish talking, or scurrility, which is to no purpose : but rather giving of thanks. For know ye this and understand, that no fornicator, or unclean, or covetous per- son, (which is serving of idols) hath inheritance in the king- dom of Christ and of God. Let no man deceive you with vain words. For because of these things cometh the anger of God upon the children of unbelief. Be ye not therefore partakers with them. For you were heretofore darkness, but now light 174 INSTRUCTION FOR THE THIRD SUNDAY IN LENT. in the Lord. Walk ye as children of the light. — For the fruit of the light is in all goodness, and justice, and truth. EXPLANATION. The apostle requires us to imitate God, as good children their father, in well doing and in well wishing; be- sides which he declares that all covetousness, fornication, all disgraceful talk and equivocal jokes should he banished from Christian meetings, even that such things should not be so much as mentioned among us ; because these vices unfailingly deprive us of heaven. He also admonishes us, not to let ourselves be de- ceived by the seducing words of those who seek to make these vices appear small, nothing more than pardonable human weak- nesses ; those who speak thus, are the children of darkness and of the devil, and bring down the wrath of God upon themselves, and all who assent to their words. A Christian, a child of light, that is, of faith, should regard as a sin that which faith and con- science tell him, is such, and must live by the line they place, and not by the rash judgment of the wicked. Should any one seek to lead you away, ask yourself, my Christian, whether you would dare appear with such a deed before the judgment seat of God. Listen to the voice of your conscience, and let it decide, whether that which you are expected to do, is good or bad, lawful or unlawful. ASPIRATION. Place Thy fear, God, before my mouth, that I may utter no vain, careless, much less improper and scandalous words, which may be the occasion of sin to my neighbor. Strengthen me, that I may not be deceived by nattering words, and become faithless to Thee. GOSPEL. (Luke xi. 14 — 28.) At that time: Jesus was casting out a devil, and the same was dumb, and when he had cast out the devil, the dumb spoke: and the multitude were in admiration at it. But some of them said : he casteth out devils, by Belzebub the prince of devils. And others tempting, asked of him a sign from heaven. But he seeing their thoughts, said to them: Every kingdom divided against itself, shall be brought to desolation, and house upon house shall fall. And if Satan also be divided against himself, how shall his kingdom stand, because you say, that through Bel- zebub I cast out devils? Now if I cast out devils by Belze- bub: by whom do your children cast them out? Therefore they shall be your judges. But if I by the finger of God cast out devils: doubtless the kingdom of God is come upon you. INSTRUCTION FOR THE THIRD SUNDAY IN LENT. 175 When a strong man armed keepeth his court, those things are in peace which he possesseth. But if a stronger than he come upon him and overcome him, he will take away all his armour wherein he trusted, and will distribute his spoils. He that is not with me, is against me: and he that gathereth not with me, scattereth. When the unclean spirit is gone out of a man, he walketh through places without water, seeking rest: and not finding, he saith: I will return into my house whence I came out. And when he is come, he findeth it swept and garnished. Then he goeth and taketh with him seven other spirits more wicked than himself, and entering 176 INSTRUCTION FOR THE THIRD SUNDAY IN LEN.T. in, they dwell there. And the last state of that man becometh worse than the first. And it came to pass, as he spoke these things, a certain woman from the crowd lifting up her voice, said to him: Blessed is the womb that bore thee, and the paps that gave thee suck. But he said: Yea, rather, blessed are they who hear the word of God, and keep it. Can the devil really possess a man? It is the faith of the Catholic Church, that the evil spirit most perniciously influences man in a twofold manner: by enticing his soul to sin, and then influencing his body which he often entirely or partially possesses, manifesting himself through it by madness, convulsions, insanity,