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FIRST NOCTURN.

Ant. 1. Whither goest thou forth without thy son, O father?: whither, holy priest, hastenest thou without thy deacon? . Blessed Laurence said.

Name openly, but when he sought to
see His Face, God said, Thou canst
not see My Face, and live: but thou
shalt see My back parts. The people
of Israel, represented by Moses, saw in
name, and in deed, the Incarnation,
Circumcision, Passion, and Ascension,
which are called the back parts of
God, while Moses could not see the
front parts of the glory of God in the is

bush, and live.

Ry. Behold. p. lxxviii.

Lesson VIII.

Ant. 2. Desert me not, holy father: because I have now spent the treasures y. What thou committedst unto me. there in me that hath displeased thy

fatherliness?

Ant. 3. I desert thee not, my son, neither forsake thee: but greater conflicts shall be thine for the faith of

FOR God willed that His Name Christ. . Blessed Sixtus said.

should not be known unto the fulness of salvation from Heaven, until He was born in the fulness of time and named upon earth. God is called I AM in His Face, in His back I

parts He is called Jesus. The first is a Name of an unknown God and of fear; Jesus is a Name adapted for all, a Name of love. Jesus is unspeakable Love, delightful Love, inextinguishable Love. Jesus washes away the stain of sin, sanctifies the soul lest sin should defile it, and justifies unto glory lest guilt should bring punishment. Therefore the Apostle says, Ye are washed, ye are sanctified, ye are justified in the Name of the Lord Jesus. Therefore whosoever shall call on the Name of the Lord shall be

saved.

Ry. When Jesus. p. lxxviii.
Lesson IX. of the Vigil of S. Laurence.

Of the Homily, If any man. Lesson VII. of the Common of one Martyr. p. 86.

AUGUST 10.

Festival of S. Laurence, Martyr.

Inv. The everlasting King devoutly let us serve: * Who worthily crowned His worthy martyr Laurence. Venite. Ps. xcv. p. 3.

Hymn and Pss. of the Common of a Martyr. p. 78, except the Second Psalm of the Third Nocturn.

Of the Book of Ecclesiasticus.

Lesson I. Chap. li.

WILL thank Thee, O Lord and King, and praise Thee, O God my Saviour: I do give praise unto Thy Name: for Thou art my defender and helper, and hast preserved my body from destruction, and from the snare of the slanderous tongue, and from the lips that forge lies, and hast been mine helper against mine adversaries: and hast delivered me, according to the multitude of Thy mercies and greatness of Thy Name, from the teeth of them that were ready to devour me, and out of the hands of such as sought after my life, and from the manifold afflictions which I had; from the choking of fire on every side, and from the midst of the fire which I kindled not; from the depth of the belly of hell, from an unclean tongue, and from lying words.

Rz. The deacon Laurence wrought a good work: who by the sign of the Cross enlightened the blind: * and gave to the poor the treasures of the Church. y. He hath dispersed abroad, and given to the poor, and his righteousness remaineth for ever. And.

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I CALLED upon the Lord, the Father

of my Lord, that He would not leave me in the days of my trouble, and in the time of the proud, when there was no help. I will praise Thy Name continually, and will sing praise with thanksgiving; and so my prayer was heard for Thou savedst me from destruction, and deliveredst me from the evil time: therefore will I give thanks and praise Thee, and bless Thy Name, O Lord.

Rz. Desert me not, holy father, because I have now spent thy treasures. I desert thee not, my son, neither forsake thee; * but greater conflicts shall be thine for the faith of Christ. y. We as aged, take the course of a lighter conflict, but there awaits thee, as youthful, a more glorious triumph over the tyrant: after three days thou, O deacon, shalt follow me the priest. But. Glory. But.

have

SECOND NOCTURN.

Ant. 1. Blessed Laurence prayed, saying: Lord Jesus Christ, God of God, mercy upon me Thy servant. V. Because, being accused, I have not denied Thy holy Name, being questioned, I confessed Thee to be the Christ.

Ant. 2. Blessed Laurence said: My night hath no darkness, but all glows in light. . For the Lord Himself knoweth that being accused I denied not.

Laurence, I see before me a youth most fair: hasten to baptize me. ỹ. Bringing a vessel with water, he placed himself at his feet.

Ant. 3. Romanus said to blessed

A Sermon of S. Leo the Pope.
Lesson IV.

WE
WHEN the fury of the Gentile
rulers was raging against the
most choice members of Christ, chiefly
assailing those who were of the sacer-
dotal order, the impious persecutor
made an assault upon the deacon
Laurence, who was not only con-

spicuous as a minister of the sacraments, but as a steward of the property of the Church, thus promising himself a double prey by seizing this one man: for if he had succeeded in inducing him to give up the money of the Church, he would also have deprived him of his part in the true faith. This man, covetous and inimical to truth, was therefore armed with a double incentive avarice, whereby to seize on gold, impiety, whereby to drive away Christ. He demanded from the blameless steward the treasures of the Church, which he greedily desired. To whom this most pure deacon, shewing where he had laid them up, brought forward large numbers of holy poor, in the feeding and clothing of whom the imperishable riches had been stored, being so much the more perfectly saved, as they were holily expended.

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Christ; and prepares to shake the deacon's unflinching fortitude by means of dreadful torments. And when the first of these availed nothing, they were succeeded by such as were more violent. After his limbs had been torn and mangled with repeated scourgings, a fire was kindled underneath him, that by the movement of his limbs in a red-hot iron basket, the torment might become more vehement, and the pain be prolonged.

enhancing the glory of the victor, when even the instruments of punishment became the honourable signs of triumph? Let us rejoice, therefore, beloved, with spiritual joy, and on account of the happy end of this illustrious man, let us glory in the Lord, Who is wonderful in His Saints,

whom He has appointed both as a protection and an example to us; and has so caused His glory to shine throughout the whole world, that from the rising of the sun to its setting, through the bright beams shining from His deacons, as Jerusalem was made illustrious by Stephen, so should Rome be by Laurence.

Ry. Blessed Laurence said: * I have offered myself a sacrifice to God, * in the odour of sweetness. . I rejoice exceedingly that I have attained to be a victim of Christ. I. Glory. In.

THIRD NOCTURN.

the body laid on the gridiron: the Ant. 1. They racked the limbs of deacon of Christ derided them that supplied the burning coals.. But the executioners diligently laid much coal under the iron grating.

Ant. 2. Thou hast tried me with fire: and hast found no wickedness in

Ry. They racked the limbs of the body laid on the gridiron : * the deacon of Christ derided those who supplied the burning coals. V. But the executioners diligently laid much coal under. Thou hast proved my heart, O Exaudi, Domine, Ps. xvii. p. 11. the iron grating. The deacon. Lord and visited me in the night

Lesson VI.

THOU gainest nothing, thou effectest nothing, O savage cruelty. The robe of mortality is removed by thy torments, and as Laurence departs to heaven, thou art brought to nought. The flame of the love of Christ cannot be vanquished by thy flames; and the fire which burnt outwardly had less

power than that which burnt within. Thou didst rage, O persecutor, against the Martyr, thou didst rage, and didst add to the glory of his victory, while thou increasedst the pain. For what hath not thine ingenuity found for

me.

season.

Ant. 3. Being questioned, I have confessed Thee to be the Lord: being scorched, I render thanks. Y. I render thanks to Thee, O Lord.

Of the Holy Gospel according to S. John.

Lesson VII. Chap. xii.

AT that time: Jesus said to His

disciples: Verily, verily I say unto you, Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone; but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit. And that which follows.

An Epistle of S. Ignatius, Bishop and suffering of my God. If any one have

Martyr.

Epistle to the Romans.

Ye can do nothing better for me than that I should be offered unto God,

since the altar is now ready. Only seek power for me both from within and from without, that I may not only speak, but may also will; that I may not only be called a Christian, but may also be found one. For if I be found a Christian, I can truly be called one; and then I can be faithful, when I appear no longer to the world. Nothing that appears is eternal. For the things that are seen are temporal, but the

things that are not seen are eternal. For our Lord Jesus Christ, being in the Father, is the more seen. The work is not only one of silence, but Christianity is a matter of great

ness.

Ry. On the iron grating I have not denied Thee to be God: and lying over the fire* I have confessed Thee to be the Lord Jesus Christ. . Being accused, I denied not Thy Holy Name. I have.

Lesson VIII.

Him in himself, let him know what I mean, and let him sympathize with me, knowing the things that encompass me.

Ry. I rejoice exceedingly that I have attained to be a victim of Christ; being accused, I denied not I confessed Thee to be the Christ; Thy holy Name:* being questioned, being scorched, I render thanks. . I have offered myself a sacrifice to God, in the odour of sweetness. Being questioned.

Lesson IX.

ALIVE I write unto you, desiring

to die. My love is crucified, and there is not in me any earthly fire, but living water which speaketh in me, and saith from within, Come hither unto the Father. Idelight not in the nurture of corruption, nor in the pleasures of this life. I desire the bread of God, the heavenly bread, the bread of life, which is the flesh of Jesus Christ the Son of God, Who was born in the latter time of the seed of David and Abraham. I desire His blood for my drink; which is love incorruptible, and everflowing life. Ask concern

I AM the corn of God. Let me being me that I may obtain. I have ground by the teeth of the wild not written unto you according to beasts, that I may be found the pure the flesh, but according to the will of bread of Christ. The delights of the God. world and the kingdoms of this life Ry. A worthy victim of Christ was will profit me nothing. Better is it for the deacon Laurence, who, being me to die unto Jesus Christ than to scorched, denied not the Lord: * and reign over the ends of the earth. For therefore became a sacrifice of praise. what is a man profited, if he shall gain. Laid on the gridiron, he denied not the whole world, but lose his own soul? God; brought to the fire, he confessed I seek Him Who died for us; Him I Christ. And. Glory. And. desire, Who rose for us; the pains of Te Deum. p. 15. birth are come upon me. brethren; do not prevent me from living; do not wish me to die, me who

Pardon me,

AUGUST 11.

HOLY NAME.

desire to belong to God. Give me not FIFTH DAY IN THE OCTAVE OF THE over unto the world. Suffer me to receive the pure light. When I have arrived there, I shall be a man of God. Permit me to be an imitator of the

In the First Nocturn, Lessons of the cccurrent Scripture.

SECOND NOCTURN.

A Homily of Origen.

Lesson IV.

REJOICE therefore, with great joy, O shield-bearer of Jesus Christ; for when thou art plunged into the sacred pool, and anointed with the holy ointment, and signed in thy forehead with the sign of the Cross, Jesus is written in every part of thee. An indelible character of gracious import is impressed upon thy soul, the Name of Jesus. Hence it is written in the

Apocalypse: They shall see His face, and His Name shall be written in their foreheads. For that which the high priest wore a plate of gold on his forehead to typify, every just man now bears eternally in his soul under this

Name.

Ry. In the way. p. lxxvi.

Lesson V.

O HOLY nation, chosen race, royal priesthood, redeemed people, to you, believers, is given honour and power, that you should show forth the virtues of Jesus from day to day, until the moon is taken away, which has called you out of darkness into the

have written, I have written. I suppose that this action of unjust Pilate was no more without a prophetic signification than that prophecy unwittingly made by the high priest Caiaphas when he said, It is better that one that the whole nation should perish. man should die for the people, than That title was written in Hebrew, Greek, and Latin, that the faith of Christ might be published unto salvation, through the whole circle of the world. Jerusalem on earth set up the Name of Jesus in contempt, and it shall be found in glory in the Jerusalen in Heaven, in which we have a share through that very Name. Whence John in the Apocalypse saw the holy city Jerusalem, having the glory of

God. He saw in the foundations of stones the names of the Apostles and the twelve gates adorned with precious of the Lamb Christ Jesus, gloriously inscribed. And there the Temple was God, and that Lamb Christ Jesus, filled with all the glory of majesty. Into this, beloved, let us hasten to enter, that as it restores good to us, so we may remain in it. Ry. Jesus. p. lxxvii.

THIRD NOCTURN.

marvellous light of His Name and His Lesson of the Holy Gospel according

glory. Rejoice, I say again, and exult, for your names are written in heaven, through Jesus Christ, Who is the First

to S. Matthew.

Lesson VII. Chap. i.

Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream, saying, Joseph, thou son of David, fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife. And that which follows.

born from the dead, the Son of God pre-AT that time: The Angel of the destinated with power. Therefore He had of old foretold the fitness of the Name that was written of Him, in that saying of the Prophet: In the volume of the book it is written of Me, that I should do Thy will.

Ry. Now I. p. lxxvii.

Lesson VI.

LASTLY, when Pilate had set up as a triumphal title, Jesus of Nazareth the King of the Jews, he said to the mocking Jews, What I

A Homily of S. Bernard the Abbot.

It is of His own nature that He is a Saviour; the name is innate, and not given Him by any creature, human or angelical. Rejoicing greatly, and praising God, the Prophet said: Unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given, and the government shall be

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