The Catholic bulletin. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1911-1995, 1913-07-12

you. And again, no one can come to
the Father but through Me. At the
end of the prayer the people all
answer, Amen, which signifies, so be
it. AS much as if they were to say,
God grant what the priest has prayed
for We unite our wishes with his,
we pray for the same thing, may it be
granted us, may it be so. After the
prayer the Epistle is Immediately
read 1t takes it's name from being in
general from the Epistles of st. Paul,
or the other Apostles. Sometimes, but
not so frequently, it is a lesson from
the Prophets, or some other part of
the Old Testament. For those who
can read, the best occupation of this
time is to read with great attention
and respect the Epistles as you have
them translated in your English Mis-
sails, to mediate deeply upon, and
take great notice of the important
truths which they teach you, and to
make resolutions to reduce them to
practice in your conduct. Those who
can not read, may still cherish within
themselves this same spirit of docil-
ity, may pray that the Almighty
would open their minds and under
standings to comprehend and keep
His holy will, which is made manifest
to us in these inspired writings. For
the benefit OF these latter the Epis-
ties and Gospels are generally read
aloud to the public after Mass on
Sundays, that they may not lose the
benefit of the instructions they con-
tain. At the end we say, Dec Graf
las, or thanks be to God for His
great goodness in having furnished
us with these instructions, in having
inspired His apostles to write them
for our edification.
Between the Epistle and Gospel is
read the Gradual and Tract. These
consist of short expressions of praise,
extracted chiefly from the Psalms
On great solemnities, and particularly
at Easter, we make great use of the
Alleluia, which is Hebrew word,
that signifies, Praise the Lord. In
Lent and penitential times. instead of
these expressions of joy, we use only
strains of the deepest regret and COM
junction.
These being concluded, the book is
removed to the other side of the al
tar, when all the people rise, to
show, by the posture of standing,
their eagerness to hear, and readiness
to follow the call of our Saviour,
which is going to be communicated
to them in the Gospel. The priest
also, as he passes from one side of
the altar to the other, bows down in
the middle, and rejecting how I'M
worthy he is to utter with his own
mouth the inspired words of Christ,
he begs that the Almighty would
purify his heart and lips, as he once
did those of the prophet Isaiah, with
burning coal, and enable him
worthily to announce the sacred
scriptures to the people. In naming
the Evangelist from which the Cos
pei is taken, for it is always taken
from one of the four Evangelists,
and never out of any other part of
the scripture, he signs the Cross
upon his forehead, his mouth, and
his breast. This use of the Cross is
familiar to us; by it we are reminded
of the great blessings conferred upon
us by our Saviour's passion, which
are unfolded in the sacred volume we
are then reading. We sign it on our
foreheads, to show that we are not
ashamed of Christ's doctrine-on our
mouths to show our readiness to pro-
claim it to others, and on our breasts,
to show that we entertain a sincere
affection for it in our hearts, where
we shall often feel the comfort of
meditating and rejecting upon it.
See how every ceremony that accom-
panies each part of the Mass is appro-
pirate, and calculated to stir up in
your minds sentiments of attention,
docility and respect.