THUS Solomon finished the house of the LORD, and the king's house: and all that came into Solomon's heart to make in the house of the LORD, and in his own house, he prosperously effected. And the LORD appeared to Solomon by night, and said unto him, I have heard thy prayer, and have chosen this place to myself for an house of sacrifice. If I shut up heaven that there be no rain, or if I command the locust to devour the land, or if I send pestilence among my people; if my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land. Now mine eyes shall be open, and mine eyes attent unto the prayer that is made in this place. For now have I chosen and sanctified this house, that my name may be there for ever: and mine eyes and mine heart shall be there perpetually. Ry. Bless, O LORD, this house which I have built for Thy Name: if they come and pray in this house, then hear Thou in heaven, Thy dwelling place. Y. LORD, if Thy people return unto Thee, and pray unto Thee towards Thy sanctuary. Then. Glory. Then. SECOND NOCturn. Ant. This is none other * but the House of GOD, and this is the gate of heaven. Ps. lxxxiv. Quam dilecta, p. 49. Ant. Jacob beheld a ladder, * and the top of it reached to heaven: and the Angels of God descending; and he said: Surely this place is holy. Ps. lxxxvii. Fundamenta, p. 50. Ant. And Jacob set up a stone for a pillar, and poured oil on the top of it. Ps. lxxxviii. Domine Deus, p. 51. y. My house. Ry. Shall be called a house of prayer. Our FATHER. Abs. His pity. V. Sir, pray. Ben. GOD A Sermon of S. Augustine the Bishop. 256th Sermon of the Seasons. AS often, dear brethren, as we cele brate the dedication of an altar, or of a Church, so often, if we faithfully and diligently take heed, and live righteously and godly, all that is done in the temple made with hands is likewise altogether fulfilled in us to spiritual edification. For he lied not who said, The Temple of GOD is holy, which temple ye are. And again, Know ye not that your bodies are the temples of the HOLY GHOST, Who dwelleth in you? Therefore, beloved brethren, since without any previous merits on our part deserving it, we have been by the grace of GoD made worthy to become the temples of Gop, let us as fully as possible, with His help, labour, that our LORD, when He cometh, may find in His temple, that is, in ourselves, nothing offensive to the eyes of His Majesty. Ry. If they pray toward this place, * O GOD, forgive the sins of Thy people, that Thou teach them the good way wherein they should walk, and give glory in this place. Y. Hear, O Thou Shepherd of Israel, Thou that leadest Joseph like a sheep, that sittest upon the cherubim. O GOD. Ben. CHRIST give us the joys. Lesson V. BUT let the dwelling of our hearts be emptied of vices, and filled with virtues; closed to the devil, and opened to CHRIST; and let us labour hereunto, that with the keys of good works we may open to ourselves the gates of the kingdom of Heaven. For since through evil works the door of everlasting life is closed against us, as with so many bolts and bars, in like 2 I will say unto the LORD, Thou art my hope, and my strong hold: my GoD, in him will I trust. 3 For he shall deliver thee from the snare of the hunter: and from the noisome pestilence. 4 He shall defend thee under his wings, and thou shalt be safe under his feathers: his faithfulness and manner, without doubt, it is opened to us by good works. Therefore, dear brethren, let each one search narrowly into his own conscience, and wherein he shall perceive himself to have been wounded by any crime, let him carefully cleanse his conscience by prayer, fastings, or alms-giving: and thus let him venture to receive the Eucharist. Ry. How dreadful is this place! *truth shall be thy shield and buckler. This is none other but the House of GOD, and this is the gate of Heaven. . This is the House of the LORD, strongly built it is founded well on a strong rock. This. Ben. GOD kindle. : Lesson VI. FOR if, recognising his guilt, he holds himself back from the divine altar, he will quickly attain to reconciliation with the divine mercy. For whoso exalteth himself shall be abased; but, on the other hand, he that humbleth himself shall be exalted. And he, who as I have just said, acknowledging his sin, humbly desires to withdraw from the altar of the Church, for the amendment of his life, such an one has no cause to fear that he will be finally shut out from that Eternal and Heavenly Banquet. 5 Thou shalt not be afraid for any terror by night: nor for the arrow that flieth by day; 6 For the pestilence that walketh in darkness: nor for the sickness that destroyeth in the noon-day. 7 A thousand shall fall beside thee, and ten thousand at thy right hand : but it shall not come nigh thee. 8 Yea, with thine eyes shalt thou behold and see the reward of the ungodly. 9 For thou, LORD, art my hope : thou hast set thine house of defence very high. 10 There shall no evil happen unto thee: neither shall any plague come nigh thy dwelling. 11 For he shall give his angels charge over thee: to keep thee in all thy ways. 12 They shall bear thee in their hands that thou hurt not thy foot against a stone. 13 Thou shalt go upon the lion and adder: the young lion and the dragon shalt thou tread under thy feet. 14 Because he hath set his love upon me, therefore will I deliver him: I will set him up, because he hath known my Name. 15 He shall call upon me, and I will hear him : yea, I am with him in trouble; I will deliver him, and bring him to honour. 16 With long life will I satisfy him and shew him my salvation. Ant. The Temple of GoD* is holy, Whose Maker and Builder is GOD. Ps. xcvi. Cantate Domino, p. 53. Ant. Blessed be the glory of the LORD out of His holy place. Alleluia. Ps. xcix. Dominus regnavit, p. 55. y. This is the House of the LORD, | by faith in the Resurrection, transstrongly built. Ry. It is founded well cended the unfruitful glory of the on a strong rock. Our FATHER. Jews, even as by a certain corporeal elevation. Zaccheus then was in the sycamore; the blind man in the way: for one the LORD waits that He may have mercy upon him, the other He ennobles by the glory of His abiding; one He questions when about to heal Abs. The Almighty. y. Sir, pray. to S. Luke. Lesson VII. Chap. xix. AT that time: JESUS entered and him; to the house of the other, unpassed through Jericho,. and behold there was a man named Zacchæus, which was the chief among the publicans, and he was rich. And that which follows. A Homily of S. Ambrose the Bishop. not. bidden, He bids Himself. For He knew that the reward for hospitality shown to Himself is abundant. But though He heard not yet the voice of one bidding Him, yet He saw his inward affection. * Ry. All thy walls are of precious stones, and thy towers, O Jerusalem, shall be built up with jewels. . The gates of Jerusalem shall be built up with sapphires and emeralds, and her walls round about with every precious stone. And thy towers. Glory. Ben. The King of And thy towers. Angels. Lesson IX. BUT lest we should seem disdainfully to have quickly left the poor Zacchæus, who was little of stature (that is, not great by dignity of noble birth) and mean in merit, is like the Gentile nation, which, when it heard of the SAVIOUR's Advent, desired to behold Him Whom His own received But none can easily behold JESUS: none can behold Him who still tarry on the ground. And because it had no Prophets, nor the Law, it climbed into the sycamore, as it were into the grace of natural order, spurn-blind man to pass on to the rich man, ing under foot the vanity of the Jews, let us wait for him, for the LORD and correcting the error of its own also waited for him: let us question earlier days; and therefore received him, for CHRIST also questioned him. JESUS as a guest into the inner We may ask, because we know not: He, chamber of the house. because He knew. We may ask, that we may learn how he was healed: He asked, that by this one, we, being many, might learn how to become meet to behold the LORD. He questioned him that we might believe, for none can be saved except he confess Him. R. My House shall be called a House of Prayer, saith the LORD: herein everyone that asketh shall receive and he that seeketh shall find: and to him that knocketh it shall be opened. V. Ask, and ye shall receive seek, and ye shall find. And to him. Ben. The Divine help. Lesson VIII. AND rightly did he climb up into a tree, that the good tree might bear good fruit and that being cut from the olive tree wild by nature, and being grafted contrary to nature into the good olive tree, he might bear the fruits of the law. For the root is holy, though the branches be worthless: the people of the Gentiles, Te Deum. p. 15. SECOND DAY IN THE OCTAVE. the occurrent Scripture. SECOND NOCTURN. On Ps. cxxii. JERUSALEM which is built as a city. Brethren, when David said this, that city was finished, and not yet to be built. THIRD NOCTURN. I know not of what Lesson of the Holy Gospel according city he speaks, which is now being built, save of that to which lively stones hasten in faith; of which saith Peter: Ye also as lively stones are built up a spiritual house, that is a holy temple of GOD. What is this, Built up as lively stones? Thou livest, if thou believest; and if thou believest, thou shalt be made the temple of GOD; for the Apostle Paul saith: The temple of GOD is holy, which temple ye are. Ry. If they pray. p. 117. Lesson V, THAT city, therefore, is now being built. The stones are being hewn out of the mountains by the hands of those who preach the truth; they are being squared that they may enter into the eternal structure. Many of these stones are yet in the hands of the Builder. May they not fall from His hands, that they may be perfectly built together in the structure of the temple. This, therefore, is that Jerusalem which is built as a city: whose foundation is CHRIST. The Apostle Paul saith: Other foundation can no man lay, than that is laid, which is CHRIST JESUS. Ry. How dreadful. p. 118. Lesson VI. WHEN a foundation is laid in the earth, the walls are built above, and the weight of the walls tends downwards, because the foundation is placed below. But if our foundation is in heaven, we shall be built up to heaven. The structure of this spacious church which you have before your eyes was raised by bodily labour: and because bodily labour built it, its foundation is placed below. But because we are built up spiritually, our foundation is laid in the highest. Thither then let us hasten; there we shall be built up; for of this same Jerusalem it is said: Our feet shall stand in thy gates, O Jerusalem. Rz. And Jacob. p. 118. to S. Luke. Lesson VII. Chap. xix. A Homily of S. Ambrose the Bishop. AND immediately, it says, he received his sight, and followed Him, glorifying GOD. For he could not have received his sight, except he had followed CHRIST, and preached the LORD, and forsaken the world. With the rich, also, let us return to grace. For we who desire, if it be possible, to heal all, desire not to offend the rich; lest, withheld by the parable of the camel, and too soon distanced by the example of Zacchæus, they have just cause to be troubled. Ry. My House. p. 119. Lesson VIII. LET the rich learn, that sin is not in possessions, but in them who For riches, as they are a hindrance to know not how to use possessions. the wicked, so are they an aid to virtue for the good. Zacchæus verily was rich, yet chosen of CHRIST; but by giving half his goods unto the poor, and restoring fourfold to any man whom he had wronged, he received greater largess than he conferred. For the first-mentioned bounty is insufficient alone, nor doth liberality find favour, if injustice continue: because gifts, not plunder, are required. Ry. All thy walls. p. 119. Lesson IX. WELL is the chief among the pub licans brought forward. Who shall despair of himself, when even this man, whose fortune came from fraud, attained salvation? And he, saith the Scripture, was rich. That ye may know that not all rich men are miserly. Because he was little of stature. What means this? Scripture mentions the stature of none other, but of this man. Perhaps because he was little in malice, or as yet little in faith. For not yet had he promised to make restitution: not yet had he seen CHRIST: accordingly he was yet little. But John was great; for he had seen both CHRIST, and the SPIRIT as a dove remaining upon CHRIST, as he saith himself: I saw the SPIRIT descending from heaven like a dove, and It abode upon Him. Te Deum. p. 15. THIRD DAY IN THE OCTAVE. together, in a certain manner love one another, none could enter herein. Only when thou seest the stone and wood well knit together in any building, thou enterest confidently, and fearest no danger. Therefore CHRIST our LORD, desiring to enter and to dwell within us, spake as if building: A new commandment give I unto you, that ye love one another. A new commandment, saith He, give I unto you. For ye were worn out with age; ye did not as yet form My House, ye lay in your ruins. There In the 1st Nocturn, Lessons of the fore, that ye may be rescued from the occurrent Scriptures. SECOND NOCTURN. A Sermon of S. Augustine the Bishop. Lesson IV. Serm. 256 on the Seasons. of this world. THE festival of this gathering is the dedication of a house of prayer. This is indeed the house of our prayers, but we are ourselves the house of GOD. If we ourselves are the house of GOD, we are being built up in this world, that we may be dedicated at the end The building, yea, rather, the act of building, hath labour; the dedication hath joy. What was done here, while the walls were rising, is done now when the believers in CHRIST are gathered together. For by believing, the wood and stones are as it were cut from the forests and mountains: and when they are catechized, baptized, and instructed, they are, so to speak, hewn, levelled, and planed by the hands of carpenters and masons. Yet they ruins of your old time, love one another. Ry. How dreadful. p. 118. Lesson VI. THEREFORE, dear friends, consider, that this house is yet to be built throughout the whole world, as is foretold and promised. For when the house was built after the captivity, it is said, as another Psalm hath it: O sing unto the LORD a new song: sing unto the LORD, all the whole earth. What is there said, A new song; this the LORD saith, A new commandment. For what new song is there, but new love? Singing is for them that love. The voice of this singer is the fervour of holy love. Let us love: let us love freely. For we love the LORD, than Whom we find nothing better; let us love Him for Himself, and ourselves in Him, but yet for Himself. Ry. And Jacob. p. 118. THIRD NOCTURN. form not the house of the LORD, Lesson of the Holy Gospel according save when they are joined together by love. Ry. If they pray. p. 117. Lesson V. IF these timbers and stones clave not together in regular order, if to S. Luke. Lesson VII. Chap. xix. As on the Festival. A Homily of S. Ambrose the Bishop. Book 8 on S. Luke. they were not peaceably joined to- BUT what is the crowd, save the gether, if they did not, clinging confusion of the ignorant multi |