E SACRIFICE OF THE MASS

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THE INTROIT.
short, every feeling of the heart finds its expression in
the Introit. Let us take a few examples :
In Masses for the Dead, the Church says :
Eternal rest give unto them, O Lord, and let
perpetual light shine upon them. Ps. A Hymn,
O God, becometh Thee in Sion ; and a vow
shall be paid to Thee in Jerusalem. O hear
my prayer;
all flesh shall come to Thee. The
Gloria Patvi is omitted, as its tone is joyful.
For the great feast of the Immaculate Conception,
the Church selects Isaias, ch. Ixi. : Rejoicing I
will rejoice in the Lord and my soul shall exult
in my God, because He has clad me with the
garments of salvation, and has surrounded me
with the vesture of gladness, like a bride adorned
by her jewels.
Ps. xxix : I will extol Thee, O Lord, for Thou
hast upheld me :
and hast not made my enemies
to rejoice over me. Our Lady, into whose mouth
these words are put by the Church, rejoices because
she has always been free from stain of original sin and
her enemies never had power over her.
The Third Sunday of Advent is called Gaudete,
Sunday, from the first word of the Introit : Rejoice
in the Lord always, again I say, rejoice (Philip.
iv.), because the Church rejoices at the near of Jesus Christ.
coming
The Fourth Sunday of Lent is called Laetare
from the first word of the Introit. The Church
Sunday,
is again rejoicing because she draws nearer to the day
of her deliverance through the Passion, and above all,
through
Tomb.
the Resurrection of her Founder from the
Saints have special Introits which point to their