The faith of our fathers - Carmel Apologetics

256 THE FATTH OF OUR FATHERS.evening devotions. They prayedfor them in theirdaily office, and in the sacrifice of the Mass. The^asked the prayers of the congregation, for the soulsof the deceased, in the public services of Sunday.And on the monuments which were erected to thedead, some of which are preserved even to this day,epitaphs were inscribed, earnestly invoking for theirsouls the prayers of the living. How gratifyingitisto our Catholic hearts, that a devotion so soothingto afflicted spirits is at the same time so firmlygrounded on the tradition of ages!4. That the practice of praying for the dead hasdescended from Apostolic times is also evident fromthe Liturgies of the Church. A Liturgyis the established formulary of public worship, containing theauthorized prayers of the Church. The Missal, orMass-book, for instance, which you see on our altars,contains a portion of the Liturgy of the CatholicChurch. The principal Liturgies are, the Liturgyof St. James the Apostle, who founded the Churchof Jerusalem the ;Liturgy of St. Mark the Evangelist, founder of the Church of Alexandria, and theLiturgy of St. Peter, who established the Churchin Rome. These Liturgies are called after theApostles who compiled them.There are, besides, theLiturgies of St. Chrysostorn and St. Basil, whicharu chiefly based on the model of that of St. James.Now, all these Liturgies, without an exception,have prayers for the dead, and their providentialpreservation serves as another triumphant vindica-