After having thus made the Profession of your Faith, excite within yourself sentiments of penance and compunction, by the remembrance of the sins you have committed, and of lively gratitude of the Lamb of God, who is come that he may wash away our sins by his Blood, and give us to partake of his divinity. For this end, make use of the following words of the Church, as the fittest way of celebrating these ineffable mysteries, the remembrance of which will keep up within your hearts a sorrow for having offended so merciful a God. ANTIPHONS FOR CHRISTMAS. ANT. O admirable Interchange! The Creator of mankind, assuming a living Body, deigned to be born of a Virgin; and, becoming Man without man's aid, bestowed on us his Divinity. ANT. When thou wast born ineffably of the Virgin, the Scriptures were fulfilled. As dew upon Gedeon's fleece, thou camest down to save mankind. O Lord our God! we praise thee. ANT. LO! Mary hath brought forth a Saviour unto us, whom John seeing exclaimed: Behold the Lamb of God! Behold him that taketh away the sins of the world. Alleluia. ANT. O admirabile commercium Creator generis humani, animatum corpus sumens, de Virgine nasci dignatus est; et procedens homo sine semine, largitus est nobis suam deitatem. ANT. Quando natus es ineffabiliter ex Virgine, tunc impletæ sunt Scripturæ: sicut pluvia in vellus descendisti, ut salvum faceres genus humanum: te laudamus, Deus noster. ANT. Ecce Maria genuit nobis Salvatorem, quem Joannes videns exclamavit dicens: Ecce Agnus Dei ecce qui tollit peccata mundi. Alleluia. i; Here make an humble confession of your sins, reciting the general formula made use of by the Church. THE CONFESSION OF SINS. I confess to Almighty God, to blessed Mary ever Virgin, to blessed Michael the Arch Confiteor Deo Omnipotenti, beatæ Mariæ semper Virgini, beato Michaeli Archangelo, beato Joanni Baptistæ, sanctis Apostolis Petro et Paulo, et omnibus sanctis, quia peccavi nimis cogitatione, verbo, et opere: mea culpa, mea culpa, mea maxima culpa. Ideo precor beatam Mariam semper Virginem, beatum Michaelem Archangelum, beatum Joannem Baptistam, sanctos Apostolos Petrum et Paulum, et omnes sanctos, orare pro me ad Dominum Deum nostrum. Misereatur nostri omnipotens Deus, et dimissis peccatis nostris, perducat nos ad vitam æternam. Amen. Indulgentiam, absolutionem, et remissionem peccatorum nostrorum tribuat nobis omnipotens et misericors Dominus. Amen. angel, to blessed John Baptist, to the holy Apostles Peter and Paul, and to all the saints, that I have sinned exceedingly in thought, word, and deed: through my fault, through my fault, through my most grievous fault. Therefore I beseech the blessed Mary ever Virgin, blessed Michael the Archangel, blessed John Baptist, the holy Apostles Peter and Paul, and all the saints, to pray to our Lord God for me. May Almighty God have mercy on us, and, our sins being forgiven, bring us to life everlasting. Amen. May the Almighty and merciful Lord grant us pardon, absolution, and remission of our sins. Amen. This is the proper time for making your Meditation, as no doubt you practise this holy exercise. During Christmas, our Meditation should turn principally upon the Birth of Jesus Christ in our souls. At this period of the Liturgical Year, we must return to the very basis of our spiritual life, and yield, with childlike docility, to the inspirations of the Holy Ghost. The object of our contemplation, as well as the source of our confidence, is Jesus, the Incarnate Word, swathed in the bands of infancy, laid in his Crib, presented in the Temple, and fleeing into Egypt. His love for us has induced him to subject himself to these weaknesses of childhood, in order that even we may imitate our God! St. Luke tells us, that his Blessed Mother kept all these mysteries in her heart, and pondered them :1 let us follow her 1 St. Luke, i. 19 and 51. sweet example, and feed our souls with the heavenly Manna. Let the rays of this hidden but penetrating Light illumine us. If we would follow Jesus to Thabor, let us begin to follow him in the way he now shows us of a Child's simplicity and humility. The higher the architect wishes to carry up the building, the deeper does he sink the foundations. Jesus humbles himself so profoundly, because the work he has undertaken is to go up even to the highest heavens. As his members, we must go with him; we must bear him company, now in his humble Crib, and, later, on his Cross, if we would be associated with him, when the day of his triumph comes, and he is seated at the right hand of his Father. The next part of your Morning Prayer must be to ask of God, by the following prayers, grace to avoid every kind of sin during the day you are just beginning. Say, then, with the Church, whose prayers must always be preferred to all others: V. O Lord, hear my prayer. B. And let my cry come unto thee. LET US PRAY. Almighty Lord and God, who has brought us to the beginning of this day, let thy powerful grace so conduct us through it, that we may not fall into any sin, but that all our thoughts, words, and actions may be regulated according to the rules of thy heavenly justice, and tend to the observance of thy holy law. Through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. . Domine, exaudi orationem meam. R. Et clamor meus ad te veniat. OREMUS. Domine, Deus omnipotens, qui ad principium hujus diei nos pervenire fecisti, tua nos hodie salva virtute, ut in hac die ad nullum declinemus peccatum, sed semper ad tuam justitiam faciendam nostra procedant eloquia, dirigantur cogitationes et opera. Per Dominum nostrum Jesum Christum Filium tuum, qui tecum vivit et regnat in unitate Spiritus Sancti Deus, per omnia sæcula sæculorum. Amen. Then, beg the divine assistance for the actions of the day, that you may do them well; and say thrice: After this, uniting yourself with the Church,who celebrates with holy enthusiasm the rising of the Sun of Justice, by whose Light she does the works which render her agreeable to this her divine Spouse, say together with her: V. Verbum caro factum est. Alleluia! R. Et habitavit in nobis. Alleluia ! . The Word was made Flesh. Alleluia ! R. And dwelt among us. Alleluia ! LET US PRAY. Grant, we beseech thee, O Almighty God, that, as we are enlightened by the new light of thy Word made Flesh, we may show in our actions the effects of that faith that shineth in our minds. Through the same Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. OREMUS. Da nobis, quæsumus, omnipotens Deus, ut qui nova incarnati Verbi tui luce perfundimur; hoc in nostro resplendeat opere quod per fidem fulget in mente. Per eumdem Christum Dominum nostrum. Amen. During the day, you will do well to use the instructions and prayers which you will find in this volume, for each day of the Season, both for the Proper of the Time, and the Proper of the Saints. In the Evening, you may use the following Prayers. NIGHT PRAYERS. After having made the sign of the Cross, begin by adoring and praising the Son of God made Flesh, and dwelling amongst us his creatures, for our salvation. For this end, you may recite the following stanzas of one of the Hymns sung by the Church during Christmas. HYMN. O Jesu! Redeemer of mankind! born before the light was made, and born of the Eternal Father, equal to Him in infinite glory; O thou the Light and brightness of the Father! O thou the everlasting hope of all men! hear the prayers offered thee by thy servants throughout the world. Be mindful, O Creator of all things! that heretofore thou didst assume a Body like unto ours, and wast born from the sacred womb of a Virgin. Jesu, Redemptor omnium, Tu lumen et splendor Patris, ces, Tui per orbem servuli. Memento, rerum conditor, |