opened; and many bodies of the saints that had slept arose. And coming out of the tombs after · his resurrection, came into the holy city and appeared to many. Now the centurion, and they that were with him, watching Jesus, having seen the earthquake, and the things that were done, were sore afraid, saying: Indeed this was the Son of God. And there were there many women afar off who had followed Jesus from Galilee, ministering unto him; among whom were Mary Magdalen, and Mary the mother of James and Joseph, and the mother of the sons of Zebedee. And when it was evening, there came a certain rich man of Arimathea, named Joseph, who also himself was a disciple of Jesus. He went to Pilate, and asked the body of Jesus. Then Pilate commanded that the body should be delivered. And Joseph taking the body wrapped it up in a clean linen cloth, and laid it in his own new monument, which he had hewed out in a rock. And he rolled a great stone to the door of the monument, and went his way. And there was there Mary Magdalen, and the other Mary, sitting over against the sepulchre.

And the next day, which followed the day of preparation, the chief priests and the Pharisees came together to Pilate, saying: Sir, we have remembered, that that seducer said, while he was yet alive: After three days I will rise again. Command therefore the sepulchre to be guarded until the third day: lest perhaps his disciples come and steal him away, and say to the people he is risen from the dead: and the last error shall be worse than the first. Pilate said to them: You have a guard; go, guard it as you know. And they departing, made the sepulchre sure, sealing the stone, and setting guards.

Monday before Easter, or in Holy Week *.

The Collect.

GRANT, we beseech thee, O Almighty God, that we, who thro' our weakness faint under so many adversities, may recover by the passion of thy only begotten Son. Who with thee and the Holy Ghost liveth, &c.

For the Epistle. Isaias 1. 5. 10.

In those days: Isaias said: The Lord God hath opened my ear, and I do not resist: I have not gone back. I have given my body to the strikers, and my cheeks to them that plucked them: I have not turned away my face from them that rebuked me, and spit upon me. The Lord God is my helper, therefore am I not confounded. He that is near justifyeth me, who will contend with me? let us stand together. Who is my adversary? let him come near to me. Behold the Lord God is my helper: who is he that shall condemn me? Lo, they shall all be destroyed like a garment, the moth shall eat them up. there among you that feareth the Lord, that heareth the voice of his servant, that hath walked in darkness, and hath no light? let him hope in the name of the Lord, and lean upon his God.

The Gospel. John xii. 1. 9.

Who is

Now Jesus, six days before the pasch, came to Bethania, where Lazarus had been dead, whom

It cannot be doubted but the faithful are more disposed to prayer and acts of religion in some circumstances than in others. On account of the great and sublime mysteries commemorated this week, it has received the name of hebdomada Major, or the great Week, or Holy Week. During this period, the churches are almost continually open; and the Clergy are incessantly employed either in giving instruction, administering the Sacraments, or attending. the duties of public prayer.

Jesus raised to life. And they made him a supper there: and Martha served, but Lazarus was one of them, that were at table with him. Mary therefore took a pound of ointment of right spikenard, of great price, and anointed the feet of Jesus, and wiped his feet with her hair: and the house was filled with the odour of the ointment. Then one of his disciples, Judas Iscariot, he that was about to betray him, said: Why was not this ointment sold for three hundred pence, and given to the poor? Now he said this, not because he cared for the poor, but because he was a thief, and having the purse, carried what was put therein. But Jesus said: Let her alone, that she may keep it against the day of my burial. For the poor you have always with you, but me you have not always. A great multitude therefore of the Jews knew that he was there; and they came, not for Jesus's sake only, but that they might see Lazarus, whom he had raised from the dead.

Tuesday before Easter, or in Holy Week.
The Collect.

O ALMIGHTY and everlasting God, grant that we may so celebrate the mysteries of our Lord's passion, as to obtain thy pardon. Thro'.

For the Epistle. Jer. xi. 18. 20.

In those days: Jeremias said: Thou, O Lord, hast shewn it to me, and I have known: then thou shewedst me their doings. And I was as a meek lamb, that is carried to be a victim: and I knew not that they had devised counsels against me, saying: Let us put wood on his bread, and cut him off from the land of the living, and let his name be remembered no more. But thou, O Lord of Sabaoth, who judgest justly, and triest

the reins and the heart, let me see thy revenge on them: for to thee I have revealed my cause.

The Gospel. Mark xv. 42. 46.

AND when evening was now come, (because it was the Parasceve, that is, the day before the Sabbath) Joseph of Arimathea, a noble counsellor, who was also himself looking for the kingdom of God, came and went in boldly to Pilate, and begged the body of Jesus. But Pilate wondered that he should be already dead. And sending for the centurion, he asked him if he were already dead. And when he understood it by the centurion, he gave the body to Joseph. And Joseph buying fine linen, and taking him down, wrapped him up in the fine linen, and laid him in a sepulchre which was hewn out of a rock, and he rolled a stone to the door of the sepulchre.

Wednesday before Easter, or in Holy Week.*

The Collect.

GRANT, we beseech thee, O Almighty God, that we, who continually are punished for our excesses, may be delivered by the passion of thy only begotten Son. Who, &c.

In the evening of this and the two following days, they being the vigils of Holy Thursday, Good-Friday, and Holy-Saturday, the Church publicly performs her solemn offices by reciting passages from the sacred Prophecies, and such of the Psalms as immediately refer to the Passion of Christ, together with homilies extracted from the writings of the holy Fathers for the occasion. The lights in the sanctuary during this office are emblematical of the Prophets having been lights to the world, previously to the coming of Christ, the gradual extinction of which represents the gradual completion of all the Prophecies; and the office itself is called TENEBRÆ, a latin word signifying darkness, on account of its terminating with the extinction of all the lights.

For the Epistle. Isaias lxii. 11. Ixíii. 1. 7.

Thus saith the Lord God: Tell the daughter of Sion: Behold thy Saviour cometh, behold his reward is with him, and his work before him. And they shall call them the holy people, the redeemed of the Lord. But thou shalt be called, a city sought after, and not forsaken. Who is it that cometh from Edom, with dyed garments from Bosra, this beautiful one in his robe, walking in the greatness of his strength? I, that speak justice, and am a defender to save. Why then is thy apparel red, and thy garments like them that tread in the wine-press? I have trodden the wine-press alone, and of the Gentiles there is not a man with me: I have trampled on them in my indignation, and have trodden them down in my wrath, and their blood is sprinkled upon my garments, and I have stained my apparel. For the day of vengeance is in my heart, the year of my redemption is come. I looked about, and there was none to help; I sought, and there was none to give aid: and my own arm hath saved me, and my indignation itself hath helped me. And I have trodden down the people in my wrath, and made them drunk in my indignation, and have brought down their strength to the earth. I will remember the tender mercies of the Lord, the praise of the Lord for all the things that the Lord hath bestowed on us.

The Gospel. Luke xxiii. 50. 53.

AND behold there was a man named Joseph, who was a counsellor, a good and just man (the same had not consented to their counsel and doings) of Arimathea, a city of Judea, who also himself looked for the kingdom of God. This man went to Pilate and begged the body of Jesus. And taking him down he wrapped him in fine linen, and laid him in a sepulchre that was hewed