Body of Christ, and the particles which might separate from the consecrated host.

St. Bonaventure, in his "Exposition of the Mass,' sees in the chalice the image of the sepulchre of Christ; in the patena, the stone which closed the entrance; in the corporal, the winding-sheet in which He was wrapped; and in the purificatory, the sponge full of vinegar and gall presented to Him when He asked for a drink in His excessive thirst. Finally, the veil which covers the chalice calls to mind the darkness which covered the earth on the Saviour's death.

The Vestments.If civil society has a distinctive dress for the different grades of the magistracy, the army, the navy, and the various officials of the state-if the form and color of these vestments change and vary according to the days of solemnity, joy, or mourning-it is not surprising that the great Christian society, the Church, should use particular dresses in its holiest mysteries. The weakness of our senses requires this pomp, which exalts the exterior splendor of the divine mysteries, without adding any thing to their real greatness.

Originally, however, these vestments were like the ordinary apparel of the time, only, to show respect, they used in church more clean and precious robes, intended exclusively for the occasion. The ancient form has been preserved, with some modification. They should be blessed before being used in divine worship; and prayers analogous to their mysterious signification are recited every time they are put on. These vestments are

1. The amict, or white veil, with which the sacred minister covers his neck. It is a sign which reminds the priest of the modesty and respect with which he should approach the holy mysteries. This vestment, says Pope Innocent III., reminds us that Christ, to effect our salvation, veiled His divinity beneath the cloud of our nature.

2. The alb, or robe of white linen, was the toga worn in the Roman empire by persons of distinction. The Church has preserved it because, by its whiteness, it shows the exalted purity which priests should have to

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approach the altar and immolate the Lamb without spot. It may remind us of the white garment in which Herod clothed our divine Lord as a fool, and teaches us to bear patiently, after His example, the railleries of men who insult us for our virtue.

3. The cincture, or cord, with which he girds the alb, is the sign of chastity, which should be the priest's first virtue. It may also remind us of the bonds with which our Saviour was attached to the pillar during the flagellation.

4. The stole was a fine linen used by the wealthy to wipe the face. In the sixth century it changed its use and form. Since then it has been made a long narrow band of stuff as at present, and became a vestment of honor, and the symbol of the power attached to the sacerdotal character. Innocent III. regards it as the mark of obedience and servitude which Christ assumed to restore us to the liberty of the children of God. Priests cross it over the breast during Mass, to show that all their power is derived from the cross of Christ.

5. The maniple was anciently a little handkerchief, which replaced the stole when the latter became only an ornament, and served as the stole did, to wipe the perspiration from the face. Since the twelfth century, the maniple, too, has become a mere ornament, of the same stuff and color as the vestment, and is placed on the left arm; but it preserves its original signification, that of evangelical labors, sweat, and tears.

6. The chasuble was formerly a circular cloak, in which the priest was enveloped, and having only a small slit in the centre to pass the head through. When the wearer wished to use his hands, he raised it in folds on his arms, and it then hung down before and behind, much like the modern chasuble, which, for convenience sake, has had the superfluous part cut away. The priest's assistants, in early times, had to support this heavy cloak at the sides, at certain stages of the service, and, in remembrance of this, the clerk still raises the hem of the chasuble. This vestment represents charity, which should, as it were, cover the whole priest; and the amiable yoke of Christ, which the sac

rificer should bear with grace and joy, is denoted by the cross which is worked on the back of it.

We may also regard the chasuble as the purple robe which was thrown over our Saviour's shoulders. The pillar to which He was bound during the flagellation is represented before: the cross on the other side may remind us of the Man-God, proceeding along the rugged path to Calvary, with the cross upon his shoulders.

7. The dalmatic and tunic were formerly the dress of servants: they have become the vestments put over the alb by the deacon and subdeacon, when attending the priest at the altar.

8. The cope was anciently a cloak with a hood, worn in rainy weather in processions, and was accordingly called pluviale. This cloak became subsequently a mere ornament used in sacred ceremonies, and may signify, like the chasuble, the evangelical charity which should transform the sacred minister into a new man.

The interior dispositions of the faithful ought in some sort to harmonize with these virtues proper to the sacrifice which they offer with Jesus Christ and His representative. The amict should teach them the decency of attire, the recollectedness and silence proper in the house of God; the alb and cincture of purity and modesty; the maniple, the good life and works of faith which they should unite to the holy Victim; the stole, the dignity of their vocation, which calls upon them to sacrifice on earth, and reign in heaven; the chasuble, the yoke of faith to which they should submit in all the details of life: in fine, this exterior pomp should speak to the eyes, but still more to the soul, in order to exalt the greatness of the sacrifice, its long preparation, and the abundant fruit we should derive from it.

We have next to speak of the color of the sacred vestments.

White is used on the joyous and glorious mysteries of our Lord Jesus Christ, on the festivals of the blessed Virgin and saints, not martyrs. This color denotes joy, splendor, purity.

Red is used or Whitsunday, the festivals of the mar tyrs, and portrays a spirit of sacrifice, the effusion of blood, the ardor of charity.

Green is for Sandays and ordinary days, when the office is of the feria, from Trinity Sunday to Advent, and from Christmas to Septuagesima. It is the emblem of the fecundity of the earth, and the richness of spiritual labors.

Violet, a sombre color, is the symbol of penance, and worn in Advent, and from Septuagesima to the close of Lent.

Black is for the mourning of the Church and her children.

A requiem is a mass said in black; but a mass may be offered for the dead on any day, even when by the rubrics it cannot be in black.

Holy Water.-On Sundays, before High Mass, the celebrant, clothed in his sacred vestments, except the chasuble, blesses water to sprinkle it on the people.

This blessing of water, the custom of sprinkling it over the faithful, and of taking it on entering the church to form the sign of the cross on the forehead, are of the highest antiquity. The earliest fathers of the Church speak of its use, and, as St. Augustine observes, "When we see a practice universally admitted into the Church, spread over all the nations that have embraced the faith, and for the origin of which no point in the lapse of ages between the apostles and our own times can be assigned, we must suppose that it has come down from the apostolic days.

The Church blesses water in order that, by virtue of the prayers which it offers in blessing and exorcising it, the evil spirits may have no power over what the water will touch, but that the Holy Ghost may deign to diffuse over it His sanctifying power. She mingles blessed salt with the holy water, because salt being the symbol of prudence and wisdom, as our Lord says, and having the power of preserving from corruption, its mixture with water, the symbol of candor and purity, indicates the salutary effects of God's grace in our souls-simplicity, the purity of the dove, the prudence of the serpent, that true wisdom which preserves from the corruption of sin.

With this water the priest sprinkles the altar and the sanctuary, to banish all that might disturb the recolsanctuary, to banish all fl

lectedness of the ministers--the people to dispose them for the sacrifice, and excite in all hearts the sentiments of penance expressed in the psalm Miserere, recited during the aspersion.

Holy water is put at the porch of the church, that the faithful may, while taking this water, ask God's grace to be purified from their sins, in order to render their prayers more pure and efficacious.

It is good to use this water on rising, going to bed, before prayer, in temptation, during a tempest, to sprinkle it over the sick or the dead, and on spots where we fear the malignity of the devil. These are practices approved by the Church of Jesus Christ, and she can approve and recommend only what is holy. But to make the use of holy water salutary, it must be used in a spirit of faith and compunction, because this water operates naught of itself, independently of the faith of him who uses it joined to the prayers of the Church.

SECTION IV.

THE LANGUAGE OF THE MASS.

In the eastern churches several languages were from the first used in the celebration of the Mass. In the west it has always been Latin. To many persons who have not been accustomed to reflect upon the doctrines of the Catholic Church, this appears strange, but their great difficulty arises from an almost inevitable error to which they are exposed. They know nothing of religion but praying, preaching, and reading; and because they have known nothing else in religion, they imagine that religion has nothing else. This is a most erroneous impression. Religion has a Sacrifice and Sacraments, which are not any of those acts, though much prayer and some instruction are found to accompany them. They are acts; thus Baptism, which is more efficacious than either prayer, or preaching, or reading, is neither one, nor two, nor all of those-but it is an act instituted by Christ, upon the performance of which He has bound Himself to produce a certain