The Catholic bulletin. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1911-1995, 1913-07-12
THE DoMINUs VoBIscUM, PRAY
Frs, EPISTLE AND GOSPEL.

In the admirable series of papers,
eat the Altar Steps," which Rev. E.
B. Glover, o. S. B., contributes to the
Monitor of San Francisco he thus ex-
plains the significance of those parts
of the Mass following the Gloria.
God who at sundry times, and in
divers manners, spoke in times past
to the fathers by the prophets; last
of all in these days, hath spoken to
us by His n."-Heb. i. 1, 2.
The Gloria being ended, the priest
kissing the altar, and turning to-
wards the people with extended arms,
salutes them in these words, Dom
mus vobuscum," the Lord be with
you. The people answer by applying
the same earnest wish to him, say
ing, "and with thy spirit" The arms
are extended and then closed, to ex-
press by that gesture the affection
with which he embraces his flock.
These words are borrowed from the
address which the angel Gabriel
made to the blessed Virgin, when he
to be the Mother of God. The Lord,
he then said,- is with thee. Perhaps,
dear Christians, you have hitherto
thought little of this short prayer,
which the priest frequently repeats
during the Mass; but though short in
words, in meaning it is most abundant.
What better blessing can he wish
for you than that the Lord should
be always with you? If you have Him
with you you possess all things
without Him every other thing is of
no avail Whenever, therefore, you
hear the priest pronounce these words,
call to mind the vast Importance OF
their meaning. He prays that the
Lord may be with you, that He may
accompany you wherever you go, may
be present with you in every place,
may protect you in every danger, may
guide you by His watchful providence
into every good. That He may be with
YOU in the midst of temptations, to
enable you to overcome them; in your
doubts and difficulties to enlighten you;
in your prosperity to make you use it
we'll; in your adversely to soften down
it's severity, and strengthen you with
patience That He may be with you
in your houses, in your families, in all
your labors and undertakings, direct
ing them all to His greater glory and
your advantage. In fine, that He may
be with you by his grace, and inf1u-
ence all your thoughts, and words,
and actions-and that you may also
be with Him, walking always in His
presence, having your minds perpet-
ually fixed on Him, frequently renew
ing your intention by which you offer
to Him all you do or suffer. See
what an extensive meaning these few
words possess. You may also under
stand them as applying Immediately
to the object before you; thus, may
the Lord be with you during the
time of Mass, may He be always in
your mind, and keep you recollected
may He fill you with the spirit Of
prayer, that you may go through the
sacrifice in manner worthy of Him.
In whichever way you understand
them, they are highly important and
worthy of your attention. If you re-
fleet on them at all, you must admire
their meaning-and l hope that
henceforward you will never hear
them pronounced, but you will at the
same time be filled with the most
fervent desires of all these blessings
which they signify, that you may at
least partake of some, if not of all OF
them.
The priest then Immediately turns
to the book, and reads the prayer OF
the day. On great festivals there is
only one prayer, which has always
some reference to the solemnlty we
are celebrating. Thus, at Easter we
allude to the Resurrection of oul
Saviour, at Christmas to His Nativity
in Masses for the dead we mention
the souls we pray for, on the feast
of the Saints that we initiate the
particular virtues for which they were
each distinguished. In Lent anC
penitential times, there are othel
prayers, besides that of the day, still
bearing some allusion to the circum
stances of the time. They are gen
orally addressed to God the Father
and always ended by these words:
Through our Lord Jesus Christ, who
with the Father and the Holy Ghost
liveth and reigneth world without
end" BY this mention of the Blessed
Trinity, we acknowledge that it il
from God, one and indivisible. tina
we expect to receive whatever W.
pray for. BY the mention of on
Saviour, we own that it is through Hi
merits alone that we hope to be heard
We comply also with His own instruC
tons, when He says, whatever you asl
the Father in My name He viii gran