The Catholic bulletin. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1911-1995, 1913-05-31

count of her perseverance. Let us
with the same earnestness repeat this
fervent supplication, and We shall not
fail to obtain our request.
There is no one who may not apply
this short but expressive prayer to
himself We call three times to God
the Father, as our Creator, as our
Protector, as our Parent. Being our
Creator and the all-knowing Lord,
He knows our miseries and the in
trinity of our nature. We also feel
the heavy yoke that gals our necks;
we sink under our heavy load OF sin,
and CRY to Him for mercy. When His
providence exerts itself in our favor,
we abuse even His goodness-He is a
father to us, but we are rebellious and
obstinate children, frequently do we
revolt against Him, and have there
fore great occasion to say, 20 Lord,
have mercy upon us"
We call upon the Son, in the Sec
ond place, for mercy. AS it is now
the time of sacrifice, we look up to
Him as our High Priest, who being
spotless and undefiled, has no occa-
sion to offer for His own sins, but may
apply the merit of the whole sacri-
flee for the remission OF ours. we
look upon Him as our victim OF IN
finite value, more than enough to
atone for the sins of the whole world.
We look upon Him as our brother, and
as He has not disdained to take upon
Himself human nature for our sakes,
we raise our voices with confidence,
and. are sure He will have mercy on
us.
Lastly, we call upon the Holy Ghost
as the author of grace, the inspirer OF
prayer, the sanctif1er of our souls.
Now, as we frequently offend Him by
resisting His grace-as we are slOthful
in prayer, and filled with indevotion-
as we are in every respect short OF
that sanctity, which it is His province
and His wish to give us, we repeat
with increased vehemence, 20 Lord,
have mercy on u.s." Many other ap-
plications might be made of these
same words, but for the sake of short
ness 1 mention only this one, leaving
it to each ones devotion to suggest
others to himself One thing I hope
will remain impressed upon your
minds, when you hear these words in
future which is, that we are then
praying to each person of the Blessed
Trinity with all the fervor of our souls
that he would have mercy on us and
that every one, who does not join in
the same spirit, must expect not tC
partake of the blessings we are Their
soliciting.
Gloria in ExceIss.
This being finished, the priest with
out moving from his place begins the
Gloria in Excelsis. It is called the
hymn of the angels, because the frs
words of it were sung by the angels a.
our Saviour's birth. 1t is, indeed,
hymn worthy of angels, which they
might sing among those eternal can
ticles they are necessarily pouring
forth to the Lord of Glory. Among al
the forms of praise and alteration, b!
which we attempt to express our HON
age to God, l think this one of the
finest specimens that ever was com
posed by man. We can never read i
, attentively, without being filled with {
} great sense of the majesty of God
: and the homage due to Him from al
, His creatures. What can be more
simple, yet more profound, than thes'
beautiful words: I'VE praise Thew
bless Thee-we glorify Thew
thank Thee for Thy own great glory
o Lord God, the King of Heaven, tn,
Father Almighty" In these words W.
offer Him the highest tribute which
the mind of man is capable of-w,
proclaim Him to be worthy of praise
of blessing, of thanksgiving for Hi
, own sake alone, as the Almighty Kin;
of heaven and earth, independent,
of the favors conferred upon us tn,
most unworthy of His creatures. W.
thank Him for His own great glory TO
having manifested that glory t.
us. Then calling to mind the thre
persons that subsist in the godhead
/ we renew our alterations again, an,
/ proclaim, Thou only art holy-Tho1
only art Lord-Thou only art Mos
High, o Jesus Christ, with the Hol
| Ghost in the glory of God the Father.
< Between these two parts which form
2 the beginning and end of this hymn
! there are few words of supplicatioI
2 in which we call upon the Lamb O
q God to have mercy on us and hear GU
:. prayer. But these are short, and W
} soon return again to acts of praise, i
e repeating which we are so occupie
: with the Greatness of God Whom w
q are exalting, that we forget for a me
d ment our own wants; or if the meI
d ton of our Saviour's name brings the1
:, to our mind, the greatness of His al
s tributes Immediately expels ther
b again, and let's us finish our hymn a
e we began it, by proclaiming the unite
o glory of Father, Son and Holy Ghos
l do not know, dear Christian.
s with what feelings you have hithert
9 repeated this hymn, nor what imprel
sion this explanation has made upo
you, but for my part l must say, ths
|, if the Deity condescends to allo,
such Insignificant creatures as GU
e selves to pronounce his praises-if b
, nuOrs ho0rc Tho foohlo xy0ioa - ~o1-