be baptised, shall be saved;1 but he adds, that Baptism is to be given in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Henceforward man must not only confess the unity of God, by abjuring a plurality of gods, but he must, also, adore a Trinity of Persons in Unity of Essence. The great secret of heaven is now a truth which is published through the whole world.

But, whilst humbly confessing the God whom we have been taught to know as he is in himself, we must, likewise, pay a tribute of eternal gratitude to the ever glorious Trinity. Not only has It vouchsafed to impress Its divine image on our soul, by making her to Its own likeness; but, in the supernatural order, It has taken possession of our being, and raised it to an incalculable pitch of greatness. The Father has adopted us in his Son become Incarnate; the Word illumines our minds with his light; the Holy Ghost has chosen us for his dwelling: and this it is that is expressed by the form of holy Baptism. By those words pronounced over us, together with the pouring out of the water, the whole Trinity took possession of Its creature. We call this sublime marvel to mind as often as we invoke the Three divine Persons, making upon ourselves, at the same time, the sign of the Cross. When our mortal remains are carried into the house of God, there to receive the last blessings and farewell of the Church on earth, the Priest will beseech the Lord "not to enter into judgment with his servant;" and in order to draw down the divine mercy upon this Christian, who has gone to his eternity, he will say to the Sovereign Judge, that this member of the human family "was marked, whilst in this life, with the sign of the Holy Trinity." Let us respect this divine impress which we bear upon us; it is to be eternal;

1 St. Mark, xvi., 16.

hell itself will not be able to blot it out. Let it, then, be our hope, our dearest title; and let us live for the glory of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost. Amen!

In the Offertory the Church begins the immediate preparation of the Sacrifice, by invoking on the oblation the Name of the Three Persons, and again proclaiming the mercy of God.

OFFERTORY.

Blessed be God the Father, and the Only Begotten Son of God, likewise the Holy Ghost: for he hath shown his mercy unto us.

Benedictus sit Deus Pater, unigenitusque Dei Filius, sanctus quoque Spiritus: quia fecit nobiscum misericordiam suam.

In the Secret, holy Church asks, that the homage we are making, in this Sacrifice, of ourselves to the sacred Trinity, may be presented to It not to-day only, but may become eternal by our being admitted into heaven, where we shall contemplate, and without a veil, the glorious mystery of God, One in Three Persons.

SECRET.

Sanctify, we beseech thee, O Lord, our God, by the invocation of thy holy Name, the victim of this oblation: and, by it, make us an eternal offering to thee. Through, etc.

Sanctifica, quæsumus Domine Deus noster, per tui sancti Nominis invocationem hujus oblationis hostiam: et per eam nosmetipsos tibi perfice munus æternum. Per Dominum.

COMMEMORATION OF THE FIRST SUNDAY AFTER
PENTECOST.

Mercifully receive, we beseech thee, O Lord, the sacrifice we offer thee and grant that it may be a continual help to us. Through, etc.

Hostias nostras, quæsumus Domine, tibi dicatas placatus assume: et ad perpetuum nobis tribue provenire subsidium. Per Domi

num.

Then follows the Preface; it is proper for this Feast, and for all Sundays, throughout the Year, which have no other assigned to them.

PREFACE.

Vere dignum et justum est, æquum et salutare, nos tibi semper, et ubique gratias agere, Domine sancte, Pater omnipotens, æterne Deus. Qui cum unigenito Filio tuo et Spiritu Sancto, unus es Deus, unus es Dominus: non in unius singularitate Personæ, sed in unius Trinitate substantiæ. Quod enim de tua gloria, revelante te, credimus, hoc de Filio tuo, hoc de Spiritu Sancto, sine differentia discretionis sentimus. Ut in confessione veræ, sempiternæque Deitatis, et in Personis proprietas, et in essentia unitas, et in Majestate adoretur æqualitas. Quam laudant Angeli atque Archangeli, Cherubim quoque ac Seraphim; qui non cessant clamare quotidie, una voce dicentes, Sanctus,

etc.

It is truly meet and just, right and available to salvation, that we should always, and in all places, give thanks to thee, O Holy Lord, Father Almighty, eternal God. Who together with thy only begotten Son and the Holy Ghost, art one God, and one Lord: not in a singularity of one Person, but in a Trinity of one substance. For what we believe of thy glory, as thou hast revealed, the same we believe of thy Son, and of the Holy Ghost, without any difference or distinction. So that in the confession of the true and eternal Deity, we adore a distinction in the Persons, an unity in the essence, and an equality in the Majesty. Whom the Angels and Archangels, the Cherubim also and Seraphim praise, and cease not daily to cry out with one voice, saying, Holy, etc.

In the Communion-Anthem, the Church continues her praise of the mercy of the great God, who has made use of his own blessings upon us, in order to enlighten and instruct us regarding his incomprehensible Nature.

COMMUNION.

Benedicimus Deum cœli, et coram omnibus viventibus confitebimur ei: quia fecit nobiscum misericordiam suam.

We bless the God of heaven, and we will praise him in the sight of all the living, because he hath shown us his mercy.

Two things are needed for our reaching God: the light of Faith, which gives our understanding to know him; and the divine Food, which unites us to him. In the Postcommunion, holy Church prays that we may have both; and be thus brought to that union, which is the happy end of our creation.

POSTCOMMUNION.

May the receiving of this Sacrament, O Lord our God, avail us to the salvation of body and soul together with the confession of an everlasting holy Trinity, and of the undivided Unity thereof. Through, etc.

Proficiat nobis ad salutem corporis et animæ, Domine Deus noster, hujus Sacramenti susceptio: et sempiternæ sanctæ Trinitatis, ejusdemque individuæ Unitatis confessio. Per Domi

num.

COMMEMORATION OF THE FIRST SUNDAY AFTER
PENTECOST.

Grant, we beseech thee, O Lord, that the great sacrifice, we have partaken of, may avail us unto salvation, and make us never cease praising thee. Through, etc.

Tantis, Domine, repleti muneribus, præsta, quæsumus: ut et salutaria dona capiamus, et a tua numquam laude cessemus. Per Domi

num.

The Last Gospel is that of the first Sunday after Pentecost; it is read, by the Priest, instead of that of St. John.