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Carnis optans gaudium.

Ob amorem ergo Christi Certant illi, certant isti, Tam mares quam feminæ: Qui plus sudat in agone Plus mercedis et coronæ Refert pro certamine.

Omnes Deo sunt electi : Velit Deus horum flecti Meritis et precibus, Ut quum dies erit dira Non nos sua subdat ira Tartari tortoribus.

Sed hunc nostra laudet lyra Cum cœlorum civibus.

Amen.

choose the struggle against the pleasures of the flesh.

'Tis therefore for the love of Christ that strive the former and the latter, whether men or women; and he that labours most in the strife, carries off a higher prize, a brighter crown for his combat.

All are elected by God: may God allow himself to be moved by their merits and prayers, that when the terrible day shall come, he may not in his wrath hand us over to the infernal torturers.

But rather may our lyre be permitted to praise him in the company of the heavenly citizens. Amen.

The

Let us next pray for our dear departed ones. Missals of several churches furnish us with this earnest supplication.

SEQUENCE.

De profundis exclamantes
Audi, Christe, nostras voces
In cœlesti curia :
Pro defunctis fidelibus
Orat nunc mater omnibus,
Te supplex Ecclesia.
Fiant ergo intendentes
Ut audiant tuæ aures

Vocis hæc suffragia:
Vox hæc orat, Rex gloriæ
Fidelibus ut hodie

Concedas remedia. Peccatores quamvis simus, Sustinere nec possimus, Si observes vitia ;

As we cry out from the depths, hear, O Christ, our Voices from thy heavenly court mother Church now suppliantly implores thee for all the faithful departed.

Let, then, thine ears be attentive to hear her prayerful voice this voice that calls on thee, O King of glory, to grant this day some relief to the faithful.

Although we are sinners and unable to endure if thou consider our vices: still, let

Fiat tamen salutaris
Quæ offertur nunc a nobis
Pro defunctis hostia.
Hæc quam Patri obtulisti
Offerimus et nos ipsi ;
Sit eis propitia:
Propitius esto eis ;
Solve vincla, Jesu, reis
In tua potentia.

Propter legem quam dedisti,
Te sustinent quos fecisti:
Averte supplicia:
Te sustinent, eruantur;
In te sperant, educantur
Ad coeli palatia.

In te sperant, in te credunt; Ad te tendunt et suspirant

De fæcis miseria: In te die, in te nocte, In te mane et vespere Sit eis fiducia.

Sit apud te quem rogamus,
Pro qua tibi supplicamus,
Pietatis copia:
Ut redimas eas, Christe,
Supplex rogat cœtus iste,
Ab omni nequitia.
Reginarum imperatrix,
Tua roget te genitrix :
Fiat horum impetratrix,
Quæ rogamus, Maria.
Bone Jesu Rex gloriæ,
Omnes sancti præcipue
Te rogantes sint hodie
Pro eorum venia.
Qui per crucem exaltatus
Peccatorum es misertus,
Audi preces queis devotus
Ad te clamat noster coetus
Cum misericordia,

the victim now offered by us avail for the dead.

See, we offer the same as thou didst offer to the Father: may it be a succour to them; yea, be thou propitious to them, and in thy might, O Jesus, loose the bonds of the guilty.

Because of the law which thou hast given, the creatures thou hast made wait for thee; turn away the punishment: they wait for thee, may they be delivered; they trust in thee, lead them forth to the heavenly dwellings.

In thee they trust, in thee they believe, towards thee they yearn and sigh from their awful depth of misery; in thee by day, in thee by night, in thee at morn and evening be their sure confidence.

With thee, we implore, be that abundant mercy for which we pray; that thou wouldst redeem them, O Christ, from all evil, this suppliant crowd beseeches thee.

Let the Queen of queens, thy Mother, intercede; may Mary obtain for us what we ask. O good Jesus, King of glory, let all thy Saints ask pardon for them, especially on this day.

O thou who, raised upon the cross, didst take pity on sinners, mercifully hear the prayers wherewith our assembly cries to thee. By thee

Per te vincla confringantur,
Portæ mortis destruantur,
Diaboli confundantur,
Et animæ consequantur
Sempiterna gaudia.
Amen.

may all bonds be broken, the gates of death destroyed, the devils put to confusion, and souls obtain possession of never-ending joys. Amen.

SUNDAY WITHIN THE OCTAVE OF ALL SAINTS.

THE DEDICATION OF CHURCHES.1

Domum Dei decet sanctitudo: Sponsum ejus Christum adoremus in ea. Such is the Invitatory Antiphon, which sums up the liturgical thought of the day: "Holiness becometh the House of God: let us adore "therein Christ her Spouse." What is this mystery of a house that is at the same time a bride ?— Our churches are holy because they belong to God, and on account of the celebration of the holy Sacrifice therein, and the prayer and praise offered to the divine Guest who dwells there. More truly than the figurative tabernacle or the ancient temple, they are separated, solemnly and for ever by their dedication, from all the dwellings of men, and exalted far above all earthly palaces. Still, notwithstanding the magnificent rites performed within them on the day they were consecrated to God, notwithstanding the holy oil with which their walls remain for ever impregnated, they themselves are devoid of feeling and life. What else, then, can be meant, but that the solemn

1 This is the day fixed for this solemnity in all the churches of France. Ireland observes a similar feast in October. We have thought it well to insert the teaching here given, in the place assigned it in the original work, inasmuch as each of our consecrated churches in England, the number of which is now so happily increasing, has the privilege of celebrating the actual anniversary of its own dedication. Translator,

function of the dedication, and the annual Feast that commemorates it, do not point merely to the material building, but rise to living and more sublime realities ? The principal glory of the noble edifice will be to symbolize those great realities. Under the shelter of its roof, the human race will be initiated into ineffable secrets, the mystery whereof will be consummated in another world, in the noonday light of heaven. Let us listen to some doctrine on this subject.

God has but one sanctuary truly worthy of him, viz: his own divine life; the tabernacle, with which he is said to surround himself when he bends the heavens; though impenetrable darkness to the eyes of mortals, it is the inaccessible light wherein dwells in glory the ever-tranquil Trinity. And yet, O God most high, this same divine life, which cannot be contained by the heavens, much less by the earth, thou deignest to communicate to our souls, and thereby to make man a partaker in the divine nature. Henceforth there is no reason why the holy Trinity should not reside in him, just as in the highest heavens. Thus, from the beginning, thou couldst lay it down as the law of the newly-created world, and couldst declare to the abyss, to the earth, to the heavens, that it would be thy delight to dwell with the children of men.

When, therefore, the fulness of time came, God sent his Son, making him the son of Adam, in order that in man might dwell all the fulness of the Godhead corporally. From that day forward earth has had the advantage over heaven. Every Christian has participation in Christ; and having become the temple of the Holy Ghost, bears God in his body. This temple of God, says the Apostle, is holy, which you are; the temple is the individual Christian; it is also the Christian assembly.

1

1 Cf. Ps. xvii.

2 Col. ii. 9. 3 Cor. vi. 20.

PENT. VI.

4 Ibid. iii. 17.

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