Oh adorable Face, washed and perfumed by Mary and the holy women, and covered with a shroud, have pity on us.

Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus have obtained the body of Jesus Christ from Pilate. It is the most precious relic the earth has ever possessed. The divinity has not quitted it, and if our eyes see only the Face of the Savior covered with the shades of death, our faith beholds the rays of uncreated light, alone worthy of the adoration of angels and saints.

1st POINT. — THE HOLY FACE INANIMATE

Let us represent to ourselves the emotion with which Mary received the precious deposit of the body of the Savior into her arms. For a long time she kept her eyes fixed upon the wounds of his feet and of his pierced hands, kissed his open side with John, the beloved disciple, whose head had rested upon it the previous day, and with Magdalen, who kneeling at the feet of Jesus as she had done on the day when she had received forgiveness, watered them with her tears and dried them with her hair. But there was a portion of the holy humanity of the Savior which above all attracted the eyes of the divine Mother; it was his Holy Face. What a change in his features! The mouth which smiled on her in the stable, which so often at Nazareth whispered to her words of consolation and of life, is henceforth silent; but Mary hears it still. She has kept all his words, pondering them in her heart(1).” His eyes are dim; Mary kisses them reverently, thinking the while that soon they will illuminate the blessed in heaven with the light which will be their eternal happiness. His ears are closed, but they still hear the sighs of love and compassion which come from the heart of the Queen of Dolors.

Oh Mary, permit me, in common with St John and Mary Magdalen to render my homage to thy Son reposing in thy arms, and, if I dare, to reverently kiss his feet, his hands, his side, and to pause and piously to meditate upon his disfigured features, beneath which I still recognize my Savior and my God.

2nd POINT. — I OUGHT TO DIE TO THE WORLD

In order to prove to Jesus that I really love him, I will die at his feet and in the arms of Mary. To die, what does it mean? It means to make all that belongs to the old man in me disappear, my weakness, my imperfections, my faults, which have occasioned his death. To die to my self-love, to my pride, to culpable desires for enjoyment and pleasure, to that spirit of criticism and fault finding which injures holy charity: to that frivolity of spirit, to that dissipation which is the greatest obstacle to my fervent prayers, and to my union with God. The face of my soul thus freed of the links which attached me to the old man, will become like to Jesus Christ. To the world it may seem livid, and no recognizable; to Jesus and Mary on the contrary, it will be resplendent with peace and beauty! My eyes will be closed to worldly vanities, but they will see the splendor of uncreated riches; my mouth will no longer open to speak calumnious words, but will enjoy the happiness of silence and of a life hidden in God; my ears will no longer hear the vain noises of rolling flood, which pass away; they will listen to the celestial symphonies, shall be insensible to the attractions which seduced me for a moment, in order to leave me afterwards nothing but bitterness. disgust and remorse.

Humility, gentleness, charity and self abnegation, behold, oh my Jesus, the virtues I desire to possess, that I may resemble thee, and deserve to repose with thee in the arms of thy august Mother.

SPIRITUAL BOUQUET

Mortui estis, et vita vestra abscondita cum Christo in Deo

For you are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God. (Col., iii, 3.)

CURE OF A DOMINICAN NUN AT CHINON.

Mlle. Susanne de la Martinière, in religion Sister Marie du Coeur-de-Jésus, of the Convent of the Dominican nuns at Chinou, was the subject of a cure obtained on the anniversary of the death of M. Dupont, the 18th of March 1880. This cure, an account of which was given in the Universe, was related by the Nun before the ecclesiastical tribunal in the following terms—

“I entered into religion in the order of St Dominic on the 8th April 1869. I am professed and assistant prioress of the Convent of the Saint-Coeur-de- Marie de Chinon. Some time after my entrance into the convent, I felt the first symptoms of an internal malady with alternatives of improvement and relapse. At the end of 1872, the malady became much worse, and I was obliged to rest during some time. Then from the mouth of October 1873, I could not any longer walk, and I was obliged to remain in a reclining posture for more than a year. I then obtained a little amelioration, which was attributed to homeopathic treatment; but the malady was not cured. In 1877, by the aid of mechanical contrivances, the doctor enabled me to walk a few steps. It is perfectly certain, however, that the mischief still continued.

“I did not desire to be cured, but my superioress laid an obligation upon me to ask for my cure in a succession of novenas. On the 13th of March 1880, I began, still by the formal order of the Reverend Mother prioress, a novena to the Holy Face and to M. Dupont; but the invocation to the servant of God was very precisely and formally present to my mind. From the day that the novena was begun, the improvement was more marked, and on the seventh day, which was the anniversary of the death of M. Dupont, I was completely cured. At the very hour that he died, I invoked him and I took off one of the mechanical instruments. If I kept wearing the other one for two days longer, it was simply from being under obedience. In reality, my definite cure dates from the anniversary of the servant of God. My conviction is that I owe this favor to his miraculous intervention with the Holy Face.”

INVOCATION.

Oh Savior Jesus, who dost send afflictions to thy faithful friends that thy great mercy may shine forth upon them, grant us grace always to seek, in presence of thy adorable Face, the remedy for our ills and strength to support, for thy love, the crosses which thy providence permits for our sanctification and for thy glory.

(1) Maria conservabat omnia verba haec conferens in corde suo. (Luc. ii. 19.)