sole refuge of the Church in these sad times. There have been pilgrimages made of thousands, from every country, to the favoured sanctuary of Paray-le-Monial, where it pleased the Divine Heart to first manifest itself, in its visible form, to us mortals.

We now put before our readers the Mass, which has been approved of for our Feast.

MASS.

In the liturgy of this Feast, there is scarcely any mention made of the Heart of Flesh assumed by our Saviour. When, in the last century, there was question of approving a Mass and Office in honour of the Sacred Heart, the Jansenists, who had zealous partisans even in Rome, excited so much opposition, that the Apostolic See did not deem it prudent to speak openly, at that early period, on the points which some so angrily disputed. It, however, readily granted, both to Portugal and the Republic of Venice, an Office, in which the Heart of Jesus, victim of love, and pierced with a spear, was offered to the adorations of the Faithful. But, in the Mass and Office which Rome afterwards gave for the general use, she, out of a motive of prudence, kept to the glorification of our Redeemer's love, of which it could not reasonably be denied that his Heart of Flesh was the true and direct symbol.

Thus, the Introit, which is taken from Jeremias, extols the infinite mercies of him, whose heart has not cast off the children of men.

INTROIT.

Miserebitur secundum multitudinem miserationum suarum; non enim humi

He will have mercy according to the multitude of his mercies: for he hath not

willingly afflicted, nor cast off the children of men: the Lord is good to them that hope in him, to the soul that seeketh him, alleluia, alleluia.

Ps. The mercies of the Lord I will sing for ever to generation and generation.

V. Glory, etc. He will have mercy.

liavit ex corde suo, et abjecit filios hominum: bonus est Dominus sperantibus in eum, animæ quærenti illum, alleluia, alleluia.

Ps. Misericordias Domini in æternum cantabo: in generationem et generationem.

V. Gloria Patri. Miserabitur.

The Church, deeply moved with gratitude for the immense blessings brought to her by the Sacred Heart, prays, in her Collect, that her children may have the grace to appreciate those divine benefits, and receive, with holy joy, the fruits they are intended to produce.

Dominus, et factus est mihi in salutem. Haurietis aquas in gaudio de fontibus Salvatoris, et dicetis in die illa Confitemini Domino, et invocate Nomen ejus: mementote quoniam excelsum est Nomen ejus. Cantate Domino quoniam magnifice fecit annuntiate hoc in universa terra. Exsulta, et lauda, habitatio Sion: quia magnus in medio tui Sanctus Israël.

cause the Lord is my strength, and my praise, and he is become my salvation. Ye shall draw waters, with joy, out of the Saviour's fountains, and ye shall say, in that day : Praise ye the Lord, and call upon his Name: remember that his Name is high. Sing ye unto the Lord, for he hath done great things: show this forth, in all the earth. Rejoice, and praise, O thou habitation of Sion: for great is he, that is in the midst of thee, the Holy One of Israel.

My people have done two evils, said God, in the ancient Covenant: they have forsaken me, the fountain of living water, and have digged to themselves cisterns, broken cisterns, that can hold no water. How wonderful is this complaint! it is made by infinite love, on seeing his proffered benefits refused. And what is still more wonderful, the God who is thus slighted by his ungrateful children, who pretend to find their happiness in something which is not Himself, overlooks the insult, to consult for the remedying of their misery. He is touched at seeing these poor mistaken children trying to get their burning thirst quenched by created things, whereas He alone can quench it. Material goods, and outward beauty, have misled them, and made them slaves to their sensual appetites their soul, which was created for infinite good, has thought it might find its rest in those feeble and flittering reflections of the sovereign beauty,reflections and images which were intended to lead them to the divine reality. How lead back to the living fountain the poor creature who has been made a dupe of the mirage of the desert, and is rushing on

1 Jerem. ii. 13.

deeper and deeper into the scorching sands? Israel! sing praise to thy Lord! And thou, Sion, bless thy God for his infinite mercy towards thee ! Water has sprung forth from the Rock which thou hast met in the wilderness, where the madness of thy guilty fever kept thee a wanderer. On the very steep which was urging thee to flesh, thou hast met thy Jesus; he has made himself thy companion on the way of this earth's life; he is God, but he has been made Flesh, that so, for thy soul's good, he might draw thee as the Prophet foretold, with the cords of Adam,' that is, by the love and loveliness of that Heart of his own sacred Flesh, lead thee to the object which was to satisfy thine own heart, and for which thou wast created. Thus made captive to the Infinite by the bands of this love which Jesus showed thee, thou hast found thyself within reach of the fountain of water, which springeth up into life everlasting; and thy joy at finding thy Saviour's fountains has made thee loathe the muddy water of the broken cisterns of old. Thy thirst keeps on, but the water is ever there for thee to drink in as deeply as thou willest thou hast the Sacred Heart, which was opened for thee by the soldier's spear. Thirst, and drink, and both for ever!

2

The immense love which fills the Heart of the Man-God, and has led him to undergo unparalleled sufferings in order to save us; the meekness and humility of that divine Heart, which he himself would have us take as the chief characteristic of his whole life; these are the mysteries proposed by the Gradual and Alleluia-Verse, that we may know them, and let them influence our conduct.

1 Osce, xi. 4.

2 Ibid.

St. John, iv.

In illo tempore: Judæi (quoniam Parasceve erat) ut non remanerent in cruce corpora Sabbato (erat enim magnus dies ille Sabbati) rogaverunt Pilatum ut frangerentur eorum crura, et tollerentur. Venerunt ergo milites et primi quidem fregerunt crura, et alterius, qui crucifixus est cum eo. Ad Jesum autem cum venissent, ut viderunt eum jam mortuum, non fregerunt ejus crura; sed unus militum lancea latus ejus aperuit, et continuo exivit sanguis et aqua. Et qui vidit testimonium perhibuit: et verum est testimonium ejus.

Sequel of the holy Gospel according to John.

Ch. XIX.

At that time: The Jews, (because it was the Parasceve), that the bodies might not remain upon the cross on the Sabbath-day, (for that was a great Sabbath-day), besought Pilate that their legs might be broken, and that they might be taken away. The soldiers, therefore, came: and they broke the legs of the first, and of the other that was crucified with him. But, after they were come to Jesus, when they saw that he was already dead, they did not break his legs; but one of the soldiers, with a spear, opened his side, and, immediately, there came out blood and water. And he that saw it, hath given testimony and his testimony is true.

We have already explained this passage of St.