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my lips;* and my mouth shall declare thy praise.

For if thou hadst desired sacrifice, I would indeed have given it: *with burntofferings thou wilt not be delighted.

A sacrifice to God is an afflicted spirit;* a contrite and humble heart, O God, thou wilt not despise.

Deal favourably, O Lord, in thy good-will with Sion, *that the walls of Jerusalem may be built up.

Then shalt thou accept the sacrifice of justice, oblations, and whole burntofferings;* then shall they lay calves upon thy altar.

V. O Lord, deal not with us according to our sins. R. Nor reward us according to our iniquities.

ries: * et os meum annuntiabit laudem tuam.

Quoniam si voluisses sacrificium, dedissem utique: *holocaustis non delectaberis.

Sacrificium Deo spiritus contribulatus: *cor contritum et humiliatum, Deus, non despicies.

Benigne fac, Domine, in bona voluntate tua Sion :* ut ædificentur muri Jerúsalem.

Tunc acceptabis sacrificium justitiæ, oblationes et holocausta: *tunc imponent super altare tuum vitulos.

V. Domine, non secundum peccata nostra facias nobis. R. Neque secundum iniquitates nostras retribuas nobis

Prayer. Deus, qui peccato.

God, who by sin art offended, and pacified by repentance mercifully regard the prayers of thy people, who make supplication to thee; and turn away the scourges of thy anger, which we deserve for our sins. Thro'

THE

ADVENT.

INSTRUCTION.

HE church employs the four weeks that precede Christmas in preparing the faithful for that great solemnity'; and for this reason the beginning of the ecclesiastical year is called Advent, from a Latin word which signifies the arrival or coming, viz. of Jesus Christ. Our first parents, soon after their fall, were comforted with the prediction of this great event, when God assured them that the time would come, in which the seed of the woman should crush the head of the serpent. This promise was renewed to Abraham, confirmed to Isaac, determined to the tribe of Juda, fixed in the house of David; and, lastly, the moment, as I may say, of its perfect accomplishment was exactly calculated by the prophet Daniel.

But the church of Christ contents not herself with the bare contemplation of this early and comfortable promise, and the exact accomplishment thereof; she wishes moreover to prepare her children to receive the happy effects of the coming of Jesus Christ in their souls. Hence, for several ages, this holy time was spent in an almost general fast, and the church still points it out to her children as a time of pennance, by reciting in Advent those prayers which are usually said only on vigils and fast-days.

Let us therefore endeavour to enter into the pious views of the church. She desires that Jesus Christ, at his coming, may find our hearts ready to receive him. To obtain this mercy, we must remember that the hour is come for us to arise from the sleep of sin, as we are exhorted in the epistle of the first Sunday, to lament them, to expiate them by works of pennance and mortification, and to make a humble confession of them during this holy time, that our hearts, being thus purified, may be made a habitation worthy of Jesus Christ at the approaching solemnity.

On Saturday before the first Sunday in Advent, the commemoration.

AT VESPERS.

Anth. Behold the name of the Lord cometh from afar off, and his brightness filleth the whole earth. V. Send down dew, O you heavens, from above, and let the clouds rain down the Just One. R. Let the earth open, and bud forth the Saviour.

Ant. Ecce nomen Domini venit de longinquo & claritas ejus replet orbem terrarum. V. Rorate coœli desuper, & nubes pluant Justum. R. Aperiatur terra, & germinet Salvato

rem.

Prayer. Collect at Mass, as to-morrow,

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Then is repeated the INTROIT: To thee have I raised up &c. to Ps. And thus the INTROIT is always said. Gloria in excelsis is not said from this Sunday till CHRISTMASS, unless on Feasts.

E

COLLECT. Excita, quæsumus.

O Lord, thy power and

XERT, we beseech thee, come: that by thy protection, we may be freed from the imminent dangers of our sins, and be saved by thy mercy, who livest and reignest with God the Father, in the unity of the Holy Ghost, God, world without end. R. Amen.

From this day to Christmas Eve, after the Collect of the day are said the two following Collects,

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Of the B. V. MARY. Deus, qui de beatæ. GOD, who wast pleased that thy word, when the angel delivered his message, should take flesh in the womb of the blessed Virgin Mary; give ear to our humble petitions: and grant, that we who believe her to be truly the Mother of God, may be helped by her prayers.

For the CHURCH. Ecclesiæ tuæ.

MERCIFULLY bear, O Lord, we beseech there, the

prayers of thy Church, that all oppositions and errors being removed, she may serve thee with a secure and undisturbed devotion. Thro' our Lord Jesus Christ, who with thee, and the Holy Ghost, liveth and reigneth one God, world without end. Amen.

Instead of the foregoing, may be said the following Collect for the POPE. Deus omnium.

0

God, the pastor and governor of all the faithful, look down in thy mercy on thy servant N. whom thou hast appointed pastor over thy church: and grant, we beseech thee, that, both by word and example, he may edify all those that are under his charge, and with the flock intrusted to him arrive, at length, at eternal happiness. Thro'.

B

EPISTLE. Rom. xiii. 11, 14.

RETHREN: Know that it is now the hour for us to rise from sleep. For now our Salvation is nearer, than when we believed*. The night is past, and the day is at hand: let us therefore cast off the works of darkness, and put on the armour of light. Let us walk honestly as in the day-time: not in revelling and drunkenness: not in chambering and impurities: not in contention and envy: but put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ.

GRADUAL.

None, O Lord, who wait for thee, shall be disappointed. V. Thy ways, O Lord, make known to me; and thy paths do thou teach me. Alleluia, Alleluia. V. Psalm 84. Shew us, O Lord, thy mercy, and grant us thy salvation. Alleluia.

A

Psalm xxiv.

Universi, qui te expectant, non confundentur, Domine. V. Vias tuas, Domine, notas fac mihi; et semitas tuas edoce me. Alleluia, Alleluia. V. Ostende nobis, Domine, misericordiam tuam, et salutare tuum da nobis. Alleluia.

GOSPEL. Luke xxi. 25, 33.

T that time : Jesus said to his disciples: There shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars: and on earth distress of nations, by reason of the confusion of the roaring of the sea, and of the waves, men withering away for fear, and expectation of what shall come upon the whole world. For the powers of the heavens shall be moved: and then shall they see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with great power and majesty. But when these things begin to come to pass, look up, and raise your heads: because your redemption

Expl. The salvation, or Saviour thou promisedst.

VOL. I.

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is at hand. And he spake unto them a parable: See the fig-tree and all the trees: when they now shoot forth their fruit, you know the summer is nigh: so likewise when you see these things come to pass, know that the kingdom of God is at hand. Amen, I say to you, this generation shall not pass away, till all things be fulfilled. Heaven and earth shall pass away: but my word shall not pass away. CREDO.

OFFERTORY.

To thee have I raised up my soul: O my God, in thee I put my trust, let me not be put to shame: neither let my enemies scoff at me: for none shall be disappointed, who wait for thee.

G

RANT,

Psalm xxiv:

Ad te levavi animam : Deus meus, in te confido, non erubescam: neque irrideant me inimici mei : etenim universi, qui te expectant, non confundentur.

SECRET.

O Lord, that these sacred mysteries may cleanse us by their powerful virtue, and bring us with greater purity to him, who was the author and institutor of them. Thro'

STR

Of the B. V. MARY.

TRENGTHEN, we beseech thee, O Lord, in our souls, the mysteries of the true faith: that we, who confess him, that was conceived of a Virgin, to be true God, and true man, may, by the power of his saving resurrection, deserve to come to eternal joys. Thro' the same, &c.

P

For the CHURCH.

ROTECT us, O Lord, while we assist at thy sacred mysteries, that being employed in acts of religion, we may serve thee both in body and mind. Thro'.

BE

Or, for the POPE.

E appeased, O Lord, with the offerings we have made, and cease not to protect thy servant N. whom thou hast been pleased to appoint Pastor over thy Church. Thro'

COMMUNION.

The Lord will give his kind blessing, and our land shall yield its fruit.

Psalm 1xxxίν.

Dominus dabit benignitatem, et terra nostra dabit fructum suum.

Or, Leaves.

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