This day brings us to the middle of Lent, and is called mid-Lent Thursday. It is the twentieth of the forty fasts imposed upon us, at this holy season, by the Church. The Greeks call the Wednesday of this week Mesonestios, that is, the mid-fast. They give this name to the entire week, which, in their liturgy, is the fourth of the seven that form their Lent. But the Wednesday is, with them, a solemn feast, and a day of rejoicing, whereby they animate themselves to courage during the rest of the season. The Catholic nations of the west, though they do not look on this day as a feast, have always kept it with some degree of festivity and joy. The Church of Rome has countenanced the custom by her own observance of it; but, in order not to give a pretext to dissipation, which might interfere with the spirit of fasting, she postpones to the following Sunday the formal expression of this innocent joy, as we shall see further on. Yet, it is not against the spirit of the Church that this mid-day of Lent should be marked by some demonstration of gladness; for example, by sending invitations to friends, as our Catholic forefathers used to do; and serving up to table choicer and more abundant food than on other days of Lent, taking care, however, that the laws of the Church are strictly observed. But alas! how many even of those calling themselves Catholics have been breaking, for the past twenty days, these laws of abstinence and fasting! Whether the dispensations they trust to be lawfully or unlawfully obtained, the joy of mid-Lent Thursday scarcely seems made for them. To experience this joy, one must have earned and merited it, by penance, by privations, by bodily mortifications; which is just what so many, nowadays, cannot think of doing. Let us pray for them, that God would enlighten them, and enable them to see what they are bound to do, consistently with the faith they profess.
At Rome, the Station is at the church of Saints Cosmas and Damian, in the forum. The Christians of the middle ages (as we learn from Durandus, in his Rational of the Divine Offices) were under the impression that this Station was chosen because these two saints were, by profession, physicians. The Church, according to this explanation, would not only offer up her prayers of this day for the souls, but also for the bodies of her children: she would draw down upon them—fatigued as she knew they must be by their observance of abstinence and fasting—the protection of these holy martyrs, who, whilst on earth, devoted their medical skill to relieving the corporal ailments of their brethren. The remarks made by the learned liturgiologist Gavantus, in reference to this interpretation, lead us to conclude that, although it may possibly not give us the real motive of the Church’s selecting this Station, yet it is not to be rejected. It will, at least, suggest to the faithful to recommend themselves to these saints, and to ask of God, through their intercession, that they may have the necessary courage and strength for persevering to the end of the holy season in what they have, so far, faithfully observed.
Collect
Magnificat te, Domine, sanctorum tuorum Cosrnæ et Damiani beata solemnitas: qua et illis gloriara sem pi temara, et opem nobis ineffabili providentia contulisti. Per Christum Dominum nostrum. Amen.
May this sacred solemnity of thy servants, Cosmas and Damian, show thy greatness, O Lord; by which, in thy unspeakable providence, thou hast granted them eternal glory, and us the aid of their prayers. Through Christ our Lord Amen.
Epistle
Lectio Jeremiæ Prophetæ.
Cap. vii.
In diebus illis: Factum est verbum Domini ad me dicens: Sta in porta domus Domini, et prædica ibi verbum istud, et die: Audite verbum Domini, omnis Juda, qui ingredimini per portas has, ut adoretis Dominum. Hæc dicit Dominus exercituum, Deus Israël: Bonas facite vias vestras, et studia vestra: et habitabo vobiseum in loco isto. Nolite confidere in verbis mendaeii, dicentes: Templum Domini, templum Domini, templum Dominiest. Quoniam si bene direxeritis vias vestras, et studia vestra: ei feceritis judicium inter virum et proximum ejus: ad venae et pupillo, et viduae non foceritis calumniam, nec sanguinem innoeentem effuderitis in loco hoc, et post deos alienos non ambulaveritis in malum vobismetipeis: habitabo vobiscum in loco isto, in terra quam dedi patribus vestris, a sæculo et usque in saeculum, ait Dominus omnipotens.
Lesson from the Prophet Jeremias.
Ch. vii
In those days: The word of the Lord came to me, saying: Stand in the gate of the house of the Lord, and proclaim there this word, and say: Hear ye the word of the Lord, all ye men of Juda, that enter in at these gates, to adore the Lord. Thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: Make your ways and your doings good; and I will dwell with you in this place. Trust not in lying words, saying: The temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord, it is the temple of the Lord. For if you will order well your ways and your doings; if you will execute judgment between a man and his neighbour; if you oppress not the stranger, the fatherless and the widow, and shed not innocent blood in this place, and walk not after strange gods to your own hurt; I will dwell with you in this place, in the land which I gave to your fathers from the beginning and for ever more, saith the Lord almighty.
There is not a single duty in which the Church does not instruct her children. If, on the one hand, she insists on their fulfilling certain exterior practices of penance, she, on the other, warns them against the false principle of supposing that exterior observances, however carefully complied with, can supply the want of interior virtues. God refuses to accept the homage of the spirit and the heart, if man, through pride or sensuality, refuse that other service which is equally due to his Creator, namely, his bodily service; but to make one’s religion consist of nothing but material works, is little better than mockery; for God bids us serve Him in spirit and in truth.[1] The Jews prided themselves on having the temple of Jerusalem, which was the dwelling-place of God’s glory; but this privilege, which exalted them above other nations, was not unfrequently turned against themselves, inasmuch as many of them were satisfied with a mere empty respect for the holy place; they never thought of that higher and better duty, of showing themselves grateful to their divine Benefactor, by observing His Law. Those Christians would be guilty of a like hypocrisy, who, though most scrupulously exact in the exterior duty of fasting and abstinence, were to take no pains to amend their lives, and to follow the rules of justice, charity, and humility. They would deserve that our Lord should say of them what He said of Israel: ‘This people glorify Me with their lips; but their heart is far from Me.’[2] This Christian pharisaism is very rare now-a-days. What we have to fear is a disregard for the exterior practices of religion. Those of the faithful who are diligent in the fulfilment of the laws of the Church, are not, generally speaking, behindhand in the practice of other virtues. Still, this false conscience is sometimes to be met with, and is a scandal which does much spiritual injury. Let us, therefore, observe the whole law. Let us offer to God a spiritual service, which consists in the heart's obedience to all His commandments; and to this let us join the homage of our bodies, by practising those things which the Church has prescribed. The body is intended to be an aid to the soul, and is destined to share in her eternal happiness; it is but just that it should share in the service of God.
Gospel
Sequentia sancti Evangelii secundum Lucam.
Cap. iv.
In illo tempore: Surgens Jesus de synagoga, introivit in domum Simonis.Socrus autem Simonis tenebatur magnis febribus: et rogaverunt ilium pro ea. Et stans super illam, imperavit febri: et dimisit illam. Et continuo surgens, minist ra bat illis. Cum autem sol occidisset, omnes qui habebant infirmos variis languoribus, ducebant illos ad eum. At file singulis manus imponens, curabat eos. Exibant autem dæmonia a multis, clamantia et dicentia: Quia tu ee Filius Dei. Et increpans non sinebat ea loqui, quia sciebant ipsum esse Christum. Facta autem die egreseus ibat in desertum locum, et turbæ requirebant eum, et venerunt usque ad ipsum: et detinebant ilium ne discederet ab eis. Quibus file ait: Quia et aliis eivitatibus oportet me evangelizare regnum Dei, quia ideo missus sum; et erat prædicans in synagogis Galilææ.
Sequel of the holy Gospel according to Luke.
Ch. iv.
At that time: Jesus rising up out of the synagogue, went into Simon’s house. And Simon’s wife’s mother was taken with a great fever, and they besought him for her. And standing over her, he commanded the fever, and it left her. And immediately rising, she ministered to them. And when, the sun was down, all they that had any sick with divers diseases, brought them to him. But he, laying his hands on every one of them, healed them. And devils went out from many, crying out and saying: Thou art the Son of God. And rebuking them, he suffered them not to speak, for they knew that he was Christ. And when it was day, going out, he went into a desert place, and the multitude sought him, and came unto him; and they stayed him that he should not depart from them. To whom he said: To other cities also I must preach the kingdom of God; for therefore am I sent. And he was preaching in the synagogues of Galilee.
Let us here admire the goodness of our Redeemer, who deigns to exercise His power for the cure of bodily infirmities. How much more ready will He be to heal our spiritual ailments! Our fever is that of evil passions; Jesus alone can allay it. Let us imitate the eagerness of these people of Galilee, who brought all their sick to Jesus; let us beseech Him to heal us. See with what patience He welcomes each poor sufferer! Let us also go to Him. Let us implore of Him not to depart from us, but abide with us for ever; He will accept our petition, and remain. Let us pray for sinners: the days of the great fast are quickly passing away: we have reached the second half of Lent, and the Passover of our deliverance will soon be here. Look at the thousands that are unmoved, with their souls still blind to the light, and their hearts hardened against every appeal of God’s mercy and justice; they seem resolved on making their eternal perdition lees doubtful than ever, by neglecting both the Lent and the Easter of this year. Let us offer up our penances for them; and beg of Jesus by the merits of His sacred Passion, to redouble His mercies towards them, and to deliver from satan these souls, for whose sake He is about to shed His Blood.
Humiliate capita vestra Deo.
Subjectum tibi populum, quæsumus Domine, propitiatio cœlestis amplificet: et tuis semper faciat servire mandatis. Per Christum Dominnm nostrum. Amen.
Bow down your heads to God.
May thy heavenly mercy, O Lord, always increase thy people, and make them ever obedient to thy commandments. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.
The Mozarabic liturgy offers us this beautiful exhortation. It will inspire us to persevere in our lenten penances and duties.
Missa (Missale Gothicum. Dominica IV. in Quadragesima)
Expectantes beatam illam spem passionis ac resurrectionis Filii Dei, fratres charisgimi: et manifestationem gloriæ beati et Salvatoris nostri Jesu Christi, resumite virium fortitudinem: et non quasi futuro terreamini de labore: qui ad Paschalis Dominicæ eupitis anhelando pervenire celebritatem. Sacratæ etenim Quadragesimæ tempore mediante, arripite de futuro labore fiduciam: qui præteriti jejunii jam transegietis ærumnas. Dabit Jesus lassis fortitudinem: qui pro nobis dignatus est infirman. Tribuet perfectionem futuri: qui initia donavit præteriti. Aderit in auxilio, filii: qui suæ nos cupit præstolari gloriam Pasaionis. A men.
Looking forward, dearly beloved brethren, to the hope of the Passion and Resurrection of the Son of God, as also to the manifestation of the glory of our blessed Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ: resume your strength and courage. Be not daunted by the labour you have to go through, but remember the solemnity of the holy Pasch, for which you are so ardently longing. One half of holy Lent is over: you have gone through the difficulties of the past, why should you not be courageous about the future fast T Jesus, who deigned to suffer fatigue for our sake, will give strength to them that are fatigued. He that granted us to begin the past, will enable us to complete the future. Children! He will be with us to assist us, who wishes us to hope for the glory of his Passion. Amen.
The faithful have not forgotten that on the first Sunday of Lent the Greeks keep one of their greatest solemnities, that of Orthodoxy. History proves that the Church of Constantinople, the new Rome, did not share the indefectibility of that of the old Rome, for it passed through a cycle of heresies on the dogma of the Incarnation. It rejected successively the consubstantiality of the Word, the unity of Person in Jesus Christ, and the integrity of His two natures. It seemed as though there were nothing left for heretical emperors and patriarchs to deny. Yet there was one more error to proclaim before the measure of false teaching was filled up.
Christ enthroned in heaven could not be belittled, but His images might be proscribed on earth. Heresy was powerless to touch the King even in these pictorial representations, but schism could at least shake off the yoke of His Vicar, and this last denial rolled the stone to the door of a tomb which the Crescent was one day to seal.
The heresy of the Iconoclasts or Image-breakers represents the last phase of Oriental error with regard to the Incarnation of the Son of God. It was right that the feast which commemorates the restoration of the holy Images should receive the glorious name of the Feast of Orthodoxy. It celebrates the last blow struck at Byzantine dogma, and recalls all those delivered by the councils of the Church between the first and second of Nicæa. A peculiar solemnity was given to this feast by the fact that all the anathemas formulated in previous times against the adversaries of revealed truth were renewed in the Church of St. Sophia while the Cross and the holy Images were exalted in triumph and the emperor stood at his throne.
Satan, the sworn foe of the Word, showed clearly that he looked upon the doctrine of the Iconoclasts as his last resource. There is no heresy which has caused more martyrdoms or more destruction. Nero and Diocletian seemed to be reincarnate in the baptized Caesars who defended it: Leo the Isaurian, Constantine Copronymus, Leo the Armenian, Michael the Stammerer and his son Theophilus. The edicts of persecution, published in defence of the idols of former times, were renewed for the destruction of the idolatry which was said to defile the Church.
In the early days of the heresy, St. Germanus of Constantinople reminded the crowned theologian of Isauria that Christians do not adore images but give them a relative honour, which is due to the persons of the saints whom they represent. The imperial pontiff replied by sending the patriarch into exile. The soldiers, whom the emperor charged to carry out his will, gave themselves up to the pillage of churches and private houses. On all sides venerated statues fell under the hammer of the destroyer. Mural paintings were covered with chalk, vestments and sacred vessels mutilated and destroyed on account of images in embroidery or enamel. Masterpieces of art, which had nourished the devotion of the people, were publicly burnt, and the artist who dared to represent Christ, Our Lady, or the saints, was himself subjected to fire and torture together with those of the faithful who had not been able to restrain their sorrow at the sight of such destruction. The shepherds bowed beneath the storm and yielded to re grettable compromises, and the reign of terror was soon supreme over the deserted flock.
But the noble family of St. Basil, both monks and consecrated virgins, rose en masse to withstand the tyrant. They passed through exile, imprisonment, starvation, scourging, death by drowning and the sword, but they saved the tradition of ancient art and the faith of their ancestors. The whole Order seems personified in the holy monk and painter Lazarus, who was first tempted by flattery and threats, then tortured and put in chains. It was impossible to repress him. His hands were burned with red-hot plates, but he still continued to exercise his art for the love of the saints, for the sake of his brethren, and for God, and he outlived his persecutors.
The heresy of the Iconoclasts helped, moreover to establish the temporal independence of the Roman pontiffs, for when the Isaurian threatened to enter Rome and destroy the statue of St. Peter, all Italy rose to repel the invasion of these new barbarians, defend the treasures of her basilicas and withdraw the Vicar of Christ from the yoke of Byzantium.
It was a glorious period, a hundred and twenty years, comprising the reigns of great popes, from St. Gregory II. to St. Paschal I. In the history of the Eastern Church it begins with John Damascene, who saw the opening of the conflict, and ends with Theodore the Studite, whose indomitable firmness secured the final triumph. For many centuries this period, which gave so many saints to the Greek Kalendar, was unrepresented in the Latin Liturgy. The feast of to-day was added by Pope Leo XIII. in 1892, and now John Damascene, the quondam vizier, the protege of Our Lady, the monk, whose excellent doctrine won for him the name of ‘Golden stream,’ commemorates in the Western cycle the heroic struggle in which the East rendered such glorious services to the Church and to the world.
The account given by the Liturgy of the life of this holy Doctor is so complete that we need add nothing further. But it will be well to give a short summary of the definitions by which in the eighth and sixteenth centuries the Church has avenged the holy Images from the attacks made on them by hell. The second Council of Nicæa declares that: ‘It is lawful to place in churches, in frescoes, in pictures, on vestments and the sacred vessels, on the walls of houses and in public streets, images, whether painted or mosaic or of other suitable material, representing Our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, our most pure Lady, the holy Mother of God, the angels and the saints; and it is equally lawful to burn incense before them and surround them with lights.’[1] ‘Not that we must believe that these images have any divinity or virtue of their own,’ says the Council of Trent against the Protestants, ‘or that we must put our confidence in them as the pagans did in their idols. But the honour which is given to the images is referred to Christ the prototype,[2] to whom through them all our adoration is addressed, and to the saints whom we venerate in their portraits.’[3]
Joannes a patrio loco Damaecenus dictus, nobili genere natue, humanis divinisque litteris a Cosma monacho Constantinopoli fuit excultus; cumque ea tempestate imperator Leo Isauricus nefario bello sacrarum Imaginum cultum insectaretur, Joannes hortatu Gregorii Tertii Romani Pontificis, et sermone et scriptis eanctitatem illius cultus sedulo propugnavit. Quo facto tantum Leonis adversum se invidiam concita vit, ut hic confictis litteris ipsum tanquam proditorem accusarit apud Damasci Calipham, qui Joanne consiliario et administro utebatur. Credulus fraudi princeps Joanni nequidquam calumniam ejuranti præcidi dexteram jussit. Verum innocentiæ vindex adfuit clienti suo sanetissima Virgo, cujus opem precibus enixe imploraverat, ejusque beneficio trunca manus restituia ita brachio coaluit, ac si divisa nunquam fuisset. Quo maxime miraculo permotus Joannes, quod pridem animo conceperat, exsequi statuit. Itaque ægre a calipha impetrato secessu, suas omnes facultates in egenos distribuit, et servos libertate dona vit; tum eacra Palæstinas loca peregrinus lustravit, ac demum una cum Cosma institutore suo in lauram sancti Sabbæ prope Hierosolymam concessit, ibique presbyter initiatus est.
In religiosæ vitæ palæstra præclariora virtutum exempla monachis præbuit, demissionis potissimum et obe dientiæ. Abjectissima quæque cænobii munia veluti sibi propria deposcebat ac sedulo obibat. Contextas a se sportulas venditare Damasci jussus, in ea nimirum civitate ubi olim surnmis honeribus perfunctus fuerat, irrisiones ac ludibria vulgi avide captabat. Obedientiam adeo coluit, ut non modo ad quemlibet præsidum nutum præsto esset, sed ne causam quidem eorum quæ præcipiebantur, quamvis ardua essent et insolita, quærendam sibi un·quam putarit. Inter has virtutum exercitationes, catholicum dogma de sanctarum Imaginum cultu impense tueri nunquam destitit. Quare ut ante Leonis Isaurici, ita postmodum Constantini Copronymi adversum se odia vexationesque provocavit; eo vel magis quod libere arrogantiam imperatorum retunderet, qui fidei negotia pertractare, deque his sententiam arbitratu suo ferre audebant.
Mirum sane est quam multa turn ad fidem tutandam, turn ad pietatem fovendam, et soluta et adstricta numeris oratione, Joannes elucubraverit, dignus sane qui ab altera Nicæna sy nodo ampliseimis laudibus celebraretur, et ob aureum orationis flumen Chrysorrhoas appellaretur. Neque solum contra Iconomachos orthodoxam fidem defendit; sed omnes ferme hereticos, præsertim Acephalos, Monothelitas, Theopaschitas strenue impugnavit: Ecclesiæ jura potestatemque egregie vindicavit: primatum Principis Apostolorum disertissimis verbis assemit; ipsumque ecclesiarum columen, infractam petram, orbis terrarum magistrum et moderatorem saepius nominat. Universa autem ejus scripta non modo eruditione et doctrina præstant, sed etiam quemdam ingenuæ pietatis sensum præferunt, præcipue cum Genitricis Dei laudes prædicat, quam singular! cultu et amore prosequebatur. Illud vero maxime in laudem Joannis cedit, quod primus universam theologiam recto ordine comprelienderit et sancti Thomæ viam complanaverit ad sacram doc trin am tam præclara methodo tractandam. Tandem vir eanctissiraus meritis pienus devexaque ætate, in pace Chrieti quievit anno circiter septingentesimo quinquagesimo quarto. Ejus officium et missam Leo decimus tertius Pontifex Maximus, addito Doctoris titulo, universæ Ecclesiæ concessit.
John, who received the name of Damascene from his native place, was of noble birth, and studied sacred and profane letters at Constantinople under the monk Cosmas. When the Emperor Leo the Isaurian made a wicked attack upon the cult of the holy Images, John, at the desire of Pope Gregory III., earnestly defended the holiness of this cult both by words and writings. By this ho enkindled so great a hatred in the heart of Leo that the Emperor accused him, by means of forged letters, of treachery to the Caliph of Damascus, whom he was serving as a councillor and minister. John denied the charge, but the Caliph was deceived by it and ordered his right hand to be cut off. John implored most earnestly the help of the blessed Virgin, and she manifested the innocence of her servant by reuniting the hand and arm as though they had never been severed. This miracle moved John to carry out a design which he had long had in mind. He obtained, though not without difficulty, the Caliph’s permission to leave him, distributed all his goods to the poor and freed all his slaves. He then made a pilgrimage to the holy places in Palestine, and at length withdrew with his teacher Cosmas to the monastery of St. Sabbas near Jerusalem, where he was ordained priest.
In the religious life he was an example of virtue to all the monks, especially in his humility and obedience. He sought for the· lowest offices in the community as though they were peculiarly his own, and fulfilled them with the greatest care. When he was sent to Damascus to sell baskets made by himself, he welcomed the mockery and jests of the lowest classes in that city where he had once held the most honourable offices. He was so devoted to obedience, that not only was he ready to obey the nod of his superiors, but he never thought it right to ask the reason of any command, however strange or difficult. While practising these virtues, he never ceased earnestly to defend the Catholic doctrine as to the honouring of holy Images. Thus he drew upon himself the hatred and persecution of the Emperor Constantine Copronymus, as he had once done that of Leo the Isaurian, and this all the more because he freely rebuked the arrogance of these Emperors, who meddled with matters concerning the faith, and pronounced sentence on them according to their own judgment.
It is a marvel how much John wrote both in prose and verse for the protection of the faith and the enoouragement of devotion. He was worthy of the high praise which was given him by the second Council of Nicæa. He was surnamed Chrysorrhoas on account of the golden streams of his eloquence. It was not only against the enemies of the holy Images that he defended the orthodox faith, for he also etoutly opposed the Acephali, the Monothelites and the Theopaschites. He maintained the laws and the power of the Church. He asserted the primacy of the Prince of the Apostles in eloquent words, and often called him the pillar of the Churches, the unbroken rock and the teacher and ruler of the world. His writings are not only distinguished for doctrine and learning, but have a savour of simple piety, especially when he praises the Mother of God whom he honoured with a singular love and devotion. But the greatest praise of John is that he was the first to arrange in order a complete course of theology, thus preparing the way in which St. Thomas Aquinas has so clearly dealt with the whole body of sacred doctrine. This holy man, full of day s and good works, fell asleep in the peace of Christ about the year 754. Pope Leo XIII. declared him to be a Doctor of the Church, and ordered his office and mass to be said throughout the world.
O champion of the holy Images, obtain for us as the Church asks of thee,[4] that we may imitate the virtues and experience the aid of those whom we see thus represented. The image directs our veneration and our prayers to those to whom they are due, to Christ the King and to the saints, who are the princes of His army and the most valiant of His soldiers, for it is right that the King should share with His army the honours of His triumph.[5] The image is the book of those who cannot read, and even the learned may gain more from an instant’s gazing at an eloquent picture than from the prolonged study of many volumes.[6] The work of the Christian artist is not only an act of religion but also an apostolate; thus it is easy to understand the opposition raised by hell in all times of disturbance against Christian art. We unite ourselves with thee, O glorious saint, in thy warfare against the devil, and cry: ‘Get thee behind us, Satan, with that envy which will not suffer us to look upon the image of Our Lord and thus be sanctified. Thou wilt not permit us to contemplate those sufferings which were the source of our salvation, to admire the gracious condescension of our God, to recognize and praise the power displayed in His miracles. Thou art envious of the saints and of the glory they have received from God, and wilt not have us contemplate this glory, lest the sight inspire us to imitate their courage and their faith. Thou canst not endure the thought that our confidence in them will profit us both in soul and in body. We will not follow thee, O jealous demon, thou enemy of mankind.’[7]
Be thou rather our guide, dear saint, whom sacred science salutes as one of her earliest Doctors.
‘Knowledge is the most precious of all treasures,’[8] as thou didst once tell us, and it was thy desire to lead men to the only master who cannot lie, Christ the power and the wisdom of God. If they hear His voice in Holy Scripture, they will gain a true knowledge of all things. If they dispel all darkness of heart and mind, they will not stay on the threshold of the truth, but will pass into the secret of the nuptial chamber.[9]
Our Blessed Lady herself foretold the teaching and the works of John. She appeared to the master, whose voice he obeyed as that of God, and said to him: ‘Suffer the waters to flow, the clear sweet waters whose abundance will spread throughout the whole world, whose virtue will refresh souls athirst for knowledge and purity, whose power will stay the floods of heresy and transform them into a marvellous sweetness.’
The queen of the heavenly minstrels declared that thou, dear John, hadst received the prophetic harp and psaltery to sing the new canticle of the Lord our God in rivalry with the Cherubim.[10] The daughters of Jerusalem, who are the Churches, sing the death and resurrection of Christ,[11] and thou art one of the chief cantors. Lead us from the feasts of our exile— the Pasch of time—through the Red Sea and the desert to the eternal feast where all images of earth will vanish before the realities of heaven, where all knowledge will pass into vision, where reigns in glory the queen who inspired thy song, Mary, the mother of us all.
[1] Concil., Nic. II., sees. vii. [2] This formula, which gives the true theological basis of the cult of images, is borrowed by the Council of Trent from the second Council of Nicæa, and was originally taken word for word from St. John Damascene, De fide Orthodoxy iv. 16. [3] Concil., Trident,, sess. xxv. [4] Collect of the feast. [5] Damasc., De Imaginibus, i. 19-21. [6] Damasc., Comment, in Basil. [7] Ibid., De Imaginibus, iii. 3. [8] Ibid., Dialectica, i. [9] Ibid. [10] Joan. Hierosolymit., Vita J. Dama&ceni, xxxi. [11] Ibid
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