9781644135945

The Light of the World
Thou, of all consolers best,
Thou, the soul’s most welcome guest,
Sweet refreshment constantly.
In our labor, rest most sweet,
Grateful coolness in the heat,
Solace in adversity.
O Thou light most pure and blest,
Shine within the inmost breast
Of Thy faithful company.
Lacking Thy divinity
Nothing good in man can be,
Nothing but iniquity.
What is sordid, make Thou pure,
What is wounded, do Thou cure,
Slake now our aridity.
What is rigid, gently bend;
What is frigid, warmly tend;
Strengthen what goes erringly.
Fill Thy faithful who confide
In Thy power to guard and guide,
With Thy sevenfold mystery.
Give them virtue’s sure reward,
Give them Thy salvation, Lord,
Give eternal felicity. Amen.
Vigil of Pentecost
In ancient Rome those who for some reason or other had not been able to receive baptism at
Easter, received the sacrament on the vigil of Pentecost, which is similar to the vigil of Easter.
It expresses the idea of our baptism by the Holy Ghost.
The Epistle relates that St. Paul came to Ephesus and found there certain disciples who had already
been baptized, and he inquired whether they had received the Holy Ghost after their baptism.
They, however, said that they had not so much as heard of the Holy Ghost. Paul concluded from
this reply that they had not received the baptism of Jesus, otherwise they would have received
the Holy Ghost. As a matter of fact, they had received the baptism of John; that is, the baptism
which John had given at the Jordan, and not the sacrament of baptism established by Christ.
Then “they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. And when Paul had imposed his hands
on them, the Holy Ghost came upon them, and they spoke with tongues and prophesied.”
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