Novena Prayer to St. Michael

  

St. Francis de Sales: 

"Veneration of St. Michael is the greatest remedy against despising the rights of God, against insubordination, skepticism and infidelity" 

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(Pray for nine consecutive days)

Saint Michael the Archangel, loyal champion of God and His Catholic people, I turn to thee with confidence and seek thy powerful intercession. For the love of God, Who hast made thee so glorious in grace and power, and for the love of the Mother of Jesus, the Queen of the Angels, be pleased to hear my prayer.

Thou knowest the value of my soul in the eyes of God. May no stain of evil ever disfigure its beauty. Help me to conquer the evil spirit who tempts me. I desire to imitate thy loyalty to God and Holy Mother Church and thy great love for God and men. And since thou art God’s messenger for the care of His people, I entrust to thee this special request: (here mention your request).

Saint Michael, since thou art, by the will of the Creator, the powerful intercessor of Christians, I have great confidence in thy prayers. I earnestly trust that if it is God’s holy will, my petition will be granted.

Pray for me, Saint Michael, and also for those I love. Protect us in all dangers of body and soul. Help us in our daily needs. Through thy powerful intercession, may we live a holy life, die a happy death and reach Heaven where we may praise and love God with thee forever. Amen.

Our Father. Hail Mary. Glory Be.

St. Michael, Guardian of souls, Vanquisher of rebel spirits, Pray for us.

The archangel Saint Michael will lead the fight against Satan during the end times

Daniel 12:1 

But at that time shall Michael rise up, the great prince, who standeth for the children of thy people: and a time shall come such as never was from the time that nations began even until that time. And at that time shall thy people be saved, every one that shall be found written in the book. 

Feast of the Seven Sorrows of the Blessed Virgin

 

by the Priests of the Congregation of St. Paul, 1893

"Now there stood by the Cross of Jesus His Mother."--St. John xix. 23.

A month ago Holy Church placed before us for our contemplation the triumphant entry of the Mother of Jesus into heaven, and invited us on the great Feast of the Assumption to glory in our Blessed Lady's triumph and rejoice in her joy. Today Holy Church places before us for our contemplation the sorrows of the Mother of Jesus, and invites us to mourn over her sufferings and sorrow in her sorrows. One is the feast of hope, the other the feast of faith; one is of heaven, the other is of earth. And our Blessed Lady's sorrows, being of earth, come close to us and teach us a practical lesson--sojourners as we are in a vale of tears.

Sorrow is in very truth the monarch of this lower world, and sooner or later every soul is sure to feel the touch of his sceptre. There is nothing that men find so difficult to understand and account for as the mighty wail of sorrow that rises up from generation to generation throughout the whole wide sea of mortal life, and extends to its most distant shores. What is the reason of all this suffering that exists in the world around us? is a question that has been asked day after day, and year after year, and century after century, since the first human tear fell upon the unconscious earth. And the attempt to solve this enigma of mankind has founded schools of philosophy and philanthropy, systems of religion, and methods of life, from the dawn of human history and before it to the present hour. Yet the reason of sorrow, though it has escaped the search of mankind, is not far to seek--it is sin, and sin is everywhere. On any other theory than the religious one of the probation and fall of man, this present existence is a dark and hopeless riddle. But even Christians, to whom this explanation is the first lesson of their faith, seem to lose sight of it in their practical views of life. We have not the heart to meet the stern truth face to face, and recognize that our life in this world is not a season of joy, but rather of sorrow; that we are not here to loiter through the light of a long summer day, but to endure and to labor in darkness and storm. And this is the great lesson of the feast of today.

Picture the Mother of Jesus in her early childhood, when, a fair vision of innocence, she rested in the arms of St. Ann; behold her growing up a spotless flower in the Temple of God; contemplate her in the tranquil purity and beauty of her girlhood and the bright hopes it inspired. And then behold her, a Virgin Mother, sword-pierced in the Temple, a fugitive in a foreign land, a distracted pilgrim seeking her lost Son, the mother of a persecuted, betrayed, and convicted Man, the saddest follower in that sad procession to Calvary, meeting her Son face to face on His way to death, standing by His gibbet, the witness of His ignominy, the sharer of His suffering, the partner in His sorrows, the sentinel by His Cross, the mourner over His corpse, the guardian of His tomb, and learn from her that suffering is the portion of all who follow faithfully in the footsteps of our Lord Jesus Christ and secure His salvation. For '' Unless you take up the Cross and follow Me you cannot be My disciple."

Prayer to Our Lady of Sorrows for a Happy Death

Oh Mary, Refuge of Sinners, sweet Mother, I entreat thee by the Sorrows thou didst experience in beholding thy Diving Son dying on the Cross, help me by thy merciful intercession when my soul is about to leave this world; drive away all evil spirits, come to meet my soul, and present it to the Eternal Judge. O! Queen of Heaven, do not abandon thy child. Next to Jesus thou wilt be my comfort in that fearful hour. Ask of Him to grant me the grace to die kissing in spirit His holy feet, adoring His sacred wounds, and saying with my last breath, "Jesus and Mary, I give you my heart and my soul." Amen

Seven Hail Marys

(Pius VII. granted an Indulgence of 300 days)

Prayer to Our Lady of Sorrow for the Conversion of Sinners

Oh! afflicted Mother, dearest Mother, what made thee stand beneath the Cross? It was love for Jesus--it was also love for sinners. Like Jesus thou didst willingly offer thyself, amid the sorrows of Calvary, for poor sinners. Oh! then by the Blood of Jeus--by thy own tears--by His sufferings and thy sorrows, look down upon sinners and bring them to thy dying Son that He may triumph in their repentance and perseverance. Especially do thou lead to Jesus and to pardon our friends and relations.

Oh! remember, dear Mother, that word of Jesus, "I thirst." For what did He thirst but for the salvation of souls? Remember how He prayed for His executioners and how He absolved the dying thief. Remember too, sweet Mother, that it was amid the agonies of thy dying Son, and amid thy own unutterable grief, that Jesus spoke those wonderous words, "Mother, behold thy son." "Son, behold thy Mother." Oh! we then are thy children--thou art our Mother. Sinners are thy children--thou art their Mother. To thy loving heart we commend the poor sinner. Pray for us, most loving, most dear, and most sorrowful Virgin Mary. Amen

The Rosary of the Seven Sorrows of Our Lady

The feast of Our Lady of Sorrows originated in Cologne in the 15th century as a response to the Protestant Hussite heretics

 The formal feast of the Our Lady of Sorrows was originated by a provincial synod of Cologne in 1423. It was designated for the Friday after the third Sunday after Easter and had the title: Commemoratio angustiae et doloris B. Mariae V. Before the sixteenth century this feast was limited to the dioceses of North Germany, Scandinavia, and Scotland. By a Decree of 22 April 1727, Pope Benedict XIII extended it to the entire Latin Church.

The Church has always taught that the Virgin is Co-redemptrix.

Excerpt from the Liturgical Year:

O all ye that pass by the way, attend, and see if there be any sorrow like to my sorrow! Is this, then, the first cry of that sweet babe whose coming brought such pure joy to our earth? Is the standard of suffering to be so soon unfurled over the cradle of such lovely innocence? Yet the heart of mother Church has not deceived her; this feast, coming at such a time, is ever the answer to that question of the expectant human race: What shall this child be?

The Savior to come is not only the reason of Mary’s existence, he is also her exemplar in all things. It is as his Mother that the Blessed Virgin came, and therefore as the Mother of sorrows; for the God, whose future birth was the very cause of her own birth, is to be in this world a Man of sorrows and acquainted with infirmity. To whom shall I compare thee? sings the prophet of lamentations: O Virgin … great as the sea is thy destruction. On the mountain of the Sacrifice, as mother she gave her Son, as Bride she offered herself together with him; by her sufferings both as Bride and as Mother, she was the co-redemptress of the human race. This teaching and these recollections were deeply engraved on our hearts on that other feast of our Lady’s dolors which immediately preceded Holy Week.

Christ dieth now no more: and Our Lady’s sufferings are over. Nevertheless the Passion of Christ is continued in his elect, in his Church, against which hell vents the rage it cannot exercise against himself. To this Passion of Christ’s mystical Body of which she is also a Mother, Mary still contributes her compassion; how often have her venerated images attested the fact, by miraculously shedding tears! This explains the Church’s departure from liturgical custom by celebrating two feasts, in different seasons, under one title.

(...)

Oh, the greatness of our Judith among all creatures! “God,” says the pious and profound Father Faber, “vouchsafed to select the very things about him which are most incommunicable, and in a most mysteriously real way communicate them to her. See how he had already mixed her up with the eternal designs of creation, making her almost a partial cause and partial model of it. Our Lady’s cooperation in the redemption of the world gives us a fresh view of her magnificence. Neither the Immaculate Conception nor the Assumption will give us a higher idea of Mary’s exaltation than the title of co-redemptress. Her dolors were not necessary for the resurrection of the world, but in the counsels of God they were inseparable from it. They belong to the integrity of the divine plan. Are not Mary’s mysteries Jesus’ mysteries, and his mysteries hers? The truth appears to be that all the mysteries of Jesus and Mary were in God’s designs as one mystery. Jesus himself was Mary’s sorrow, seven times repeated, aggravated sevenfold. During the hours of the Passion, the offering of Jesus and the offering of Mary were tied in one. They kept pace together; they were made of the same materials; they were perfumed with kindred fragrance; they were lighted with the same fire; they were offered with kindred dispositions. The two things were one simultaneous oblation, interwoven each moment through the thickly crowded mysteries of that dread time unto the Eternal, out of two sinless Hearts, that were the Hearts of Son and Mother, for the sins of a guilty world which fell on them contrary to their merits, but according to their own free will.”

Prayer to Our Lady of Sorrow for the Conversion of Sinners

Oh! afflicted Mother, dearest Mother, what made thee stand beneath the Cross? It was love for Jesus--it was also love for sinners. Like Jesus thou didst willingly offer thyself, amid the sorrows of Calvary, for poor sinners. Oh! then by the Blood of Jesus--by thy own tears--by His sufferings and thy sorrows, look down upon sinners and bring them to thy dying Son that He may triumph in their repentance and perseverance. Especially do thou lead to Jesus and to pardon our friends and relations.

Oh! remember, dear Mother, that word of Jesus, "I thirst." For what did He thirst but for the salvation of souls? Remember how He prayed for His executioners and how He absolved the dying thief. Remember too, sweet Mother, that it was amid the agonies of thy dying Son, and amid thy own unutterable grief, that Jesus spoke those wonderous words, "Mother, behold thy son." "Son, behold thy Mother." Oh! we then are thy children--thou art our Mother. Sinners are thy children--thou art their Mother. To thy loving heart we commend the poor sinner. Pray for us, most loving, most dear, and most sorrowful Virgin Mary. Amen

The Exaltation of the Holy Cross

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by Father Francis Xavier Weninger, 1876

This festival was instituted in commemoration of the day on which the holy Cross of Christ, was, with great solemnities, brought back to Jerusalem. Chosroes, king of Persia, had invaded Syria with a powerful army, and had conquered Jerusalem, the capital. He caused the massacre of eighty thousand men, and also took many prisoners away with him, among whom was the Patriarch Zachary. But more painful than all this to the Christians was, that he carried away the holy, Cross of our Saviour, which, after great pains, had been discovered by the holy empress, St. Helena. The pagan king carried it with him to Persia, adorned it magnificently with pearls and precious stones, and placed it upon the top of his royal throne of pure gold. Thus was the holy Cross held in higher honor by the heathen king, than Martin Luther would have manifested; for, in one of his sermons, he says of it: "If a piece of the holy Cross were given to me and I had it in my hand, I would soon put it where the sun would never shine on it."

Heraclius, the pious emperor, was greatly distressed at this misfortune, and as he had not an army sufficiently large to meet so powerful an enemy, he made propositions for peace. Chosroes, inflated by many victories, refused at first to listen to the emperor's proposal, but at length consented, on condition that Heraclius should forsake the faith of Christ and worship the Sun, the god of the Persians. Indignant at so wicked a request, the emperor, seeing that it was a question of religion, concerning the honor of the Most High, broke off all negotiation with his impious enemy. Taking refuge in prayer, he assembled all the Christian soldiers of his dominions, and commanded all his subjects to appease the wrath of the Almighty, and ask for His assistance, by fasting, praying, giving alms and other good works. He himself gave them the example. After this, he went courageously, with his comparatively small army, to meet the haughty Chosroes, having given strict orders that his soldiers, besides abstaining from other vices, should avoid all plundering and blaspheming, that they might prove themselves worthy of the divine assistance.

Taking a crucifix in his hand, he animated his soldiers by pointing towards it, saying they should consider for whose honor they were fighting, and that there was nothing more glorious than to meet death for the honor of God and His holy religion. Thus strengthened, the Christian army marched against the enemy. Three times were they attacked by three divisions of the Persian army, each one led by an experienced general; and three times they repulsed the enemy, so that Chosroes himself had at last to flee. His eldest son, Siroes, whom he had excluded from the succession to the throne, seized the opportunity, and not only assassinated his own father, but also his brother, Medarses, who had been chosen by Chosroes as his associate and successor. To secure the crown which he had thus forcibly seized, Siroes offered peace to Heraclius, restored to him the conquered provinces, and also sent back the holy Cross, the patriarch Zachary, and all the other prisoners of war. Heraclius, in great joy, hastened with the priceless wood to Jerusalem, to offer due thanks to the Almighty for the victory, and to restore the holy Cross, which the Persians had kept in their possession during fourteen years, to its former place.

All the inhabitants of the city, the clergy and laity, came to meet the pious emperor. The latter had resolved to carry the Cross to Mount Calvary, to the church fitted up for its reception. A solemn procession was formed, in which the Patriarch, the courtiers and an immense multitude of people took part. The clergy preceded, and the emperor, arrayed in sumptuous robes of state, carried the holy Cross upon his shoulder. Having thus passed through the city, they came to the gate that leads to Calvary, when suddenly the emperor stood still and could not move from the spot. At this miracle, all became frightened, not knowing what to think of it. Only to St. Zachary did God reveal the truth. Turning to the emperor the patriarch said: "Christ was not arrayed in splendor when He bore His Cross through this gate. His brow was not adorned with a golden crown, but with one made of thorns. Perhaps, O emperor, your magnificent robe is the cause of your detention."

The pious Heraclius humbly gave ear to the words of the patriarch, divested himself of his imperial purple, and put on poor apparel, he took the crown from his head and the shoes from his feet. Having done this, the sacred treasure was again laid on his shoulder: when, behold! nothing detained him, and he carried it to the place of its destination. The holy patriarch then deposited the Cross in its former place, and duly venerated it with all who were present. God manifested how much He was pleased with the honor they had paid to the holy Cross of Christ, by many miracles wrought on the same day. A dead man was restored to life by being touched by the sacred wood; four paralytic persons obtained the use of their limbs; fifteen who were blind received sight; many sick recovered their health; and several possessed were freed from the devil by devoutly touching it.

PRACTICAL CONSIDERATIONS.

I. The Cross on which Christ had died was raised and greatly honored by all the faithful. I suppose that if you possessed a particle of the true Cross, you would greatly honor and cherish it. But why do you not love and honor that cross, those trials which God sends you? They are, in a spiritual sense, a particle of the Cross of Christ, which will be most beneficial to you, if you bear it patiently. Christ, the Lord, called His crucifixion an exaltation, saying: "The Son of Man must be exalted; "because by it He was exalted in heaven and on earth, as He bore His sufferings and His death out of love for His heavenly Father and for the salvation of men. You also will be exalted in heaven, if, in carrying your cross, you follow the example of Christ. Many carry their crosses, like the thief on the left of Christ, with murmuring and impatience, others, like the one on His right, with patience and resignation, knowing that they deserve them. Jesus carried His Cross not only with patience, but, according to the words of the Apostle, with joy, although He was innocent. With whom do you carry yours? With whom will you carry it in future? If you carry it with the first, you will not be exalted, but precipitated into the depth of hell.

Novena to Christ Crucified

for the Exaltation of the Holy Cross

by St. Pius V.

with the Apostles Creed five times.

I. O my Lord Jesus Christ crucified, Son of the most Blessed Virgin Mary, open thine ears, and listen to me as Thou didst listen to the Eternal Father on Mount Tabor. Credo (I believe in God etc.)

II. O my Lord Jesus Christ crucified, Son of the most Blessed Virgin Mary, open thine eyes, and look upon me as Thou didst look from the tree of the Cross upon thy dear Mother sorrowing and afflicted. Credo (I believe in God etc.)

III. O my Lord Jesus Christ crucified, Son of the most Blessed Virgin Mary, open thy blessed mouth, and speak to me as Thou didst speak to St John when Thou gavest him for a son to thine own most beloved Mother. Credo (I believe in God etc.)

IV. O my Lord Jesus Christ crucified, Son of the most Blessed Virgin Mary, open thine arms and embrace me as Thou didst open them upon the Cross to embrace the whole human race. Credo (I believe in God etc.)

V. O my Lord Jesus Christ crucified, Son of the most Blessed Virgin Mary, open thy Heart and receive therein my heart, and hear me in all that I ask of Thee, if so be it be agreeable to thy most holy will. Credo (I believe in God etc.)

(Indulgence of 60 days)

The Exaltation of the Holy Cross

 

from the Liturgical Year, 1903

"Through thee the precious Cross is honoured and worshipped throughout the world (Cyrill, Alex. Hom. iv. Ephesi habits.)." Thus did St. Cyril of Alexandria apostrophize our Lady on the morrow of that great day, which saw her divine maternity vindicated at Ephesus. Eternal Wisdom has willed that the Octave of Mary's birth should he honoured by the celebration of this Feast of the triumph of the holy Cross. The Cross indeed is the standard of God's armies, whereof Mary is the Queen; it is by the Cross that she crushes the serpent's head, and wins so many victories over error, and over the enemies of the Christian name. 

By this sign thou shalt conquer. Satan had been suffered to try his strength against the Church by persecution and tortures; but his time was drawing to an end. By the edict of Sardica, which emancipated the Christians, Galerius, when about to die, acknowledged the powerlessness of hell. Now was the time for Christ to take the offensive, and for his Cross to prevail. Towards the close of the year 311, a Roman army lay at the foot of the Alps, preparing to pass from Gaul into Italy. Constantine, its commander, thought only of revenging himself for an injury received from Maxentius, his political rival; but his soldiers, as unsuspecting as their chief, already belonged henceforward to the Lord of hosts. The Son of the Most High, having become, as Son of Mary, king of this world, was about to reveal himself to his first lieutenant, and, at the same time, to discover to his first army the standard that was to go before it. Above the legions, in a cloudless sky, the Cross, proscribed for three long centuries, suddenly shone forth; all eyes beheld it, making the Western sun, as it were, its footstool, and surrounded with these words in characters of fire: IN HOC VINCE : by this be thou conqueror! A few months later, 27th October 312, all the idols of Rome stood aghast to behold, approaching along the Flaminian Way, beyond the Bridge Milvius, the Labarum with its sacred monogram, now become the standard of the imperial armies. On the morrow was fought the decisive battle, which opened the gates of the Eternal City to Christ, the only God, the everlasting King. 

"Hail, O Cross, formidable to all enemies, bulwark of the Church, strength of princes; hail in thy triumph! The sacred Wood still lay hidden in the earth, yet it appeared in the heavens announcing victory; and an emperor, become Christian, raised it up from the bowels of the earth (Ap. Graec. Menae. in profesto Exaltationis)." Thus sang the Greek Church yesterday, in preparation for the joys of today; for the East, which has not our peculiar Feast of the 3rd of May, celebrates on this one solemnity both the overthrow of idolatry by the sign of salvation revealed to Constantine and his army, and the discovery of the holy Cross a few years later in the cistern of Golgotha. 

But another celebration, the memory of which is fixed by the Menology on the 13th September, was added in the year 335 to the happy recollections of this day; namely, the dedication of the basilicas raised by Constantine on Mount Calvary and over the holy Sepulchre, after the precious discoveries made by his mother St. Helena. In the very same century that witnessed all these events, a pious pilgrim, thought to be St. Silvia, sister of Rufinus the minister of Theodosius and Arcadius, attested that the anniversary of this dedication was celebrated with the same solemnity as Easter and the Epiphany. There was an immense concourse of Bishops, clerics, monks, and seculars of both sexes, from every province ; and the reason, she says, is that the Cross was found on this day; which motive had led to the choice of the same day for the primitive consecration, so that the two joys might be united in one. 

Through not being aware of the nearness of the dedication of the Anastasia, or Church of the Resurrection, to the feast of the holy Cross, many have misunderstood the discourse pronounced on this feast by Sophronius, the holy patriarch of Jerusalem. "It is the feast of the Cross; who would not exult? It is the triumph of the Resurrection; who would not be full of joy? Formerly, the Cross led to the Resurreotion; now it is the Resurreotion that introduces us to the Cross. Resurrection and Cross: trophies of our salvation (Sophron. in Exaltat. venerandae Crucis)!" And the Pontiff then developed the instructions resulting from this connection.

It appears to have been about the same time that the West also began to unite in a certain manner these two great mysteries; leaving to the 14th September the other memories of the Holy Cross, the Latin Churches introduced into Paschal Time a special feast of the finding of the Wood of Redemption. In compensation, the present solemnity acquired a new lustre to its character of triumph by the contemporaneous events which, as we shall see, form the principal subject of the historical Legend in the Roman Liturgy. 

About the end of the reign of the Emperor Phocas, Chosroes king of the Persians invaded Egypt and Africa. He then took possession of Jerusalem; and after massacring there many thousand Christians, he carried away into Persia the Cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, which Helena had placed upon Mount Calvary. Phocas was succeeded in the empire by Heraclius; who, after enduring many losses and misfortunes in the course of the war, sued for peace, but was unable to obtain it even upon disadvantageous terms, so elated was Chosroes by his victories. In this perilous situation he applied himself to prayer and fasting, and earnestly implored God's assistance. Then, admonished from heaven, he raised an army, marched against the enemy, and defeated three of Chosroes' generals with their armies. 

Subdued by these disasters Chosroes took to flight; and, when about to cross the river Tigris, named his son Medarses his associate in the kingdom. But his eldest son Siroes, bitterly resenting this insult, plotted the murder of his father and brother. He soon afterwards overtook them in flight, and put them both to death. Siroes then had himself recognized as king by Heraclius, on certain conditions, the first of which was to restore the Cross of our Lord. Thus, fourteen years after it had fallen into the hands of the Persians, the Cross was recovered; and on his return to Jerusalem, Heraclius, with great pomp, bore it back on his own shoulders to the mountain whither our Saviour had carried it. 

This event was signalized by a remarkable miracle. Heraclius, attired as he was in robes adorned with gold and precious stones, was forced to stand still at the gate which led to Mount Calvary. The more he endeavored to advance, the more he seemed fixed to the spot. Heraclius himself and all the people were astounded; but Zacharias, the bishop of Jerusalem said: Consider, O emperor, how little thou imitatest the poverty and humility of Jesus Christ, by carrying the Cross clad in triumphal robes. Heraclius thereupon laid aside his magnificent apparel, and barefoot, clothed in mean attire he easily completed the rest of the way, and replaced the Cross in the same place on Mount Calvary, whence it had been carried off by Persians. From this event, the feast of the Exaltation of the holy Cross, which was celebrated yearly on this day, gained fresh lustre, in memory of the Cross being replaced by Heraclius on the spot where it had first been set up for our Saviour. 

Prayer:

The victory thus chronicled in the sacred books of the Church, was not, O Cross, thy last triumph; nor were the Persians thy latest enemies. At the very time of the defeat of these fire-worshippers, the prince of darkness was raising up a new standard, the Crescent. By the permission of God, whose ensign thou art, and who, having come on earth to struggle like us, flees not, before any foe, Islam also was about to try its strength against thee: a twofold power, the sword and the seduction of the passions. But here again, alike in the secret combats between the soul and Satan, as in the great battles recorded in history, the final success was due to the weakness and folly of Calvary. 

Thou, O Cross, wert the rallying-standard of all Europe in those sacred expeditions which borrowed from thee their beautiful title of Crusades, and which exalted the Christian name in the East. While on the one hand thou wert thus warding off degradation and ruin, on the other thou wert preparing the conquest of new continents; so that it is by thee that our West remains at the head of nations. Through thee, the warriors in those glorious campaigns are inscribed on the first pages of the golden book of nobility. And now the new orders of chivalry, which claim to hold among their ranks the elite of the human race, look upon thee as the highest mark of merit and honour. It is the continuation of today's mystery, the exaltation, even in our times of decadence, of the holy Cross, which in past ages was the standard of the legions, and glittered on the diadems of emperors and kings. 

It is true, men have appeared in France, who have made it their aim to overthrow the sacred sign, wheresoever our fathers had honoured it. This invasion of the servants of Pilate into the country of the Crusaders was inexplicable, until it was discovered that they were in Jewish pay. These, as St Leo says of the Jews in today's Office, see in the instrument of salvation nothing but their own crime (Homily of the 3rd Nocturn ex Leon. Serm. viii de Passione); and their guilty conscience makes them hire, to pull down the holy Cross, the very men whom they formerly paid to set it up. The coalition of such enemies is but one more homage to thee! O adorable Cross, our glory and our love here on earth, save us on the day when thou shalt appear in the heavens, when the Son of Man, seated in his majesty, is to judge the world!