At the censing of the Altar. LET my prayer, O Lord, ascend like incense in thy sight; and let the lifting up of my hands be like the evening sacrifice. Place, O Lord, a guard upon my mouth, and a gate of prudence before my lips, that my heart may not wander after words of malice, to seek excuses in sin.

On returning the Censer to the Deacon he says: MAY AY the Lord kindle in us the fire of his love, and the flame of everlasting charity. Then he washes his fingers without saying any thing; afterwards he bows down at the middle of the altar, and says:

ACCEPT us, O Lord, coming to thee in the spirit of humility, and with a contrite heart; and grant that the sacrifice of this day may be so celebrated by us as to be well pleasing to thee, O Lord our God.

Then turning about towards the people, he says: Pr. BRETHREN, pray that this my sacrifice and yours may be acceptable to God the Father

Almighty.

R. May the Lord receive this sacrifice from thy hands to the praise and glory of his own name, to our benefit, and that of all his holy Church.

Pr.

Let us pray.

INSTRUCTED by thy saving precepts, and following thy divine directions, we presume

to say: Our Father, &c. p. xxix.

R. Deliver us from all evil.

Having answered Amen in silence, he then says aloud: Deliver us, we beseech thee, O Lord, &c. as in

p. xl.

Having elevated the Sacred Host, and divided it into three parts, he puts one of them into the Chalice saying:

LET not the participation of thy body, O Lord Jesus Christ, which I, though unworthy, pre

HOLY SATURDAY.

sume to receive, turn to my judgment and condemnation; but let it, through thy mercy, become a safe-guard and remedy both to soul and body: who with God the Father, in unity with the Holy Ghost, livest and reignest, one God, world without end. Amen.

Taking up the Sacred Host on the Paten, he says: WILL receive the bread of heaven, and call on the name of the Lord.

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Then he strikes his breast, repeating thrice: LORD, I am not worthy thou shouldst enter under my roof; speak therefore but the word, and my soul shall be healed.

When he receives the Sacred Host, he says:

MAY the body of our Lord Jesus Christ preserve my soul to everlasting life. Amen.

Having received the Chalice, and taken the Ablution, bowing down, he says:

GRANT, O Lord, that what we have taken with our mouths, we may receive with a pure heart; that as we now receive it in this mortal life, it may procure us that which is eternal.

VESPERS.

ANTHEMS and PSALMS, as yesterday, p. 275. except the ANT. At the Magnificat.

ANT. Cum accepisset acetum dixit; consummatum est: et inclinato capite, emisit spiritum.

V. Christus factus est pro nobis obediens usque ad mortem, mortem autem crucis.

Our Father being said in secret, the office concludes with the Ps. Miserere, p. 279, and the Prayer Respice, p. 270.

N the first ages of the Church there was no Mass celebrated either on this day or yesterday. The faithful silently adored Jesus Christ in the sepulchre till towards evening, when they assembled in the Church,

and occupied themselves in praying, reading lessous from the holy Scriptures, singing psalms, baptising and confirming catechumens, &c. &c. until about midnight, when the Mass of the Resurrection began. Wherefore in order to perpetuate the remembrance of the fervent piety of her first children, the Church still retains the word night in the Office of this day.

The BLESSING of the FIRE.

The Lord be with you. R. And with thy spirit. Let us pray. Deus, qui.

GOD, who by thy only Son, the chief cornerstone of thy Church, hast bestowed on the faithful the fire of thy divine love: bless this new fire produced from a flint for our use: and grant that during this paschal solemnity, we may be so inflamed with heavenly desires, that with purity of mind, we may come to those festivals, where we may enjoy a light which will never end. Thro' the R. Amen.

same.

Let us pray. Domine, Deus.

LORD God, Almighty Father, never-failing light, who art the Creator of all the lights; bless this light, which hath been before blessed and sanctified by thee, who hast enlightened the whole world; that we may be inflamed by that same light, and enlightened by the fire of thy brightness: and as thou didst enlighten Moses when he went out of Egypt, so enlighten our hearts and senses, that we may obtain that light and life which will have no end. Thro' Christ our Lord. R. Amen.

Let us pray. Domine sanete.

HOLY Lord, Almighty Father, Eternal God, vouchsafe to assist us, while we bless this fire in thy name, and in that of thy only Son Jesus Christ, our Lord and God, and the Holy Ghost: assist us against the fiery darts of the enemy, and enlighten us with thy heavenly grace. Who livest and reignest with the same, &c. R. Amen.

The BLESSING of the five Grains of INCENSE. PLENTIFULLY pour forth, we beseech thee, O Almighty God, thy blessing on this incense; and kindle, O invisible regenerator, the brightness of this night; that not only the sacrifice which is offered this night may shine by the sacred mixture of thy light; but also, that into whatever place any thing sanctified by these mystical prayers shall be carried, there by the power of thy majesty, all the malicious artifices of the devil may be defeated. Thro' Christ our Lord. R. Amen.

After an Acolyte has put some of the blessed Fire into the Censer, the Priest adds incense saying: "May thou be blessed by him, in whose honour thou art to be burnt." Here he sprinkles the Grains of Incense and the Fire thrice saying: Sprinkle me, &c. p. xiii. Then having fumed them thrice with Incense, he takes the Cane with the three Candles to the entrance of the Church, where one is lighted by an Acolyte with a candle from the new fire, whilst the Deacon sings alone: "Behold the light of Christ," to which, all kneeling, add: R. Thanks be to God."

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The same is repeated at lighting the second in the middle of the Church, and the third at the foot of the altar; after which the Deacon says: Pray, Sir, give me your blessing." To which the Priest replies: May the Lord be in your heart and. lips, that you may worthily and fitly proclaim his Paschal praise: in the name of the Father, and of the Son, &c. R. Amen. During the BLESSING of the PASCHAL CANDLE, all stand up.

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ET now the heavenly troop of angels rejoice: let these divine mysteries be joyfully celebrated: and let the heavenly trumpet publish the victory of our great King, and let the earth also triumph, being beautified with such resplendent beams; and let

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it see the darkness which overspread the whole world chaced away by the splendor of our Eternal King. Let our Mother the Church also rejoice, being adorned by the rays of so great a light; and let this temple echo with the joyful acclamations of all the people. And therefore I beseech you, dear brethren, who behold the wonderful brightness of this holy light, to join with me in invoking the mercy of Almighty God; that he who hath been pleased, without any merit on my side, to admit me into the number of his Levites, may by the effusion of light upon me, enable me to go through with the encomium of this taper. Through our Lord Jesus Christ his Son, who with him and the Holy Ghost liveth and reigneth one God world without end. R. Amen.

R. And with thy

V. The Lord be with you. spirit. V. Raise up your hearts on high. R. We have them raised up to the Lord. V. Let us give thanks to the Lord our God. R. It is meet and just.

IT is truly meet and just to proclaim with all the affection of heart and soul, and sound of voice, the invisible God, the Father Almighty, and his only Son our Lord Jesus Christ': who paid for us to his eternal Father the debt of Adam; and, by his sacred blood, cancelled the guilt of the original of fence. For this is the Paschal solemnity, in which the true Lamb was slain, by whose blood the doors of the faithful are consecrated. This is the night, in which thou formerly didst bring forth our forefathers, the children of Israel, out of Egypt, leading them dry-foot through the Red-Sea. This also is that night which dissipated the darkness of sin by the light of a pillar of fire. This is the night, which, withdrawing all those who, through the whole world, believe in Christ, from the vices of the world, and the darkness of sin, restores them to grace, and