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Priest. Peace be to thee.

R. And with thy spirit.

Having removed the Chrism from his thumb and from the head of the child with cotton-wool, or some similar substance, the Priest places on the head of the child either a small white garment or some white substitute, and says:

Receive this white garment, and see thou carry it without stain before the judgment-seat of our Lord Jesus Christ, that thou mayest have eternal life. R. Amen.

He then gives to him, or to the Sponsors, a lighted taper, saying: Receive this burning light, and keep thy baptism, so as to be without blame; keep the commandments of God, that, when the Lord shall come to the nuptials, thou mayest meet Him in the company of all the Saints in the heavenly court, and have eternal life, and live for ever and ever. R. Amen. Then the Priest says:

Priest. N., go in peace, and the Lord be with thee.

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When an unbaptised infant or adult is in danger of dying before a Priest can be had, any person (man, woman, or child) may administer the Sacrament of Baptism. The way to baptise in such a case of necessity is to pour common water on the head or face, and while pouring the water to say the following words:"I baptise thee in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Amen.'

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A child in danger of death ought not to be baptised by its father or mother if there be any other person to baptise it.

THE CHURCHING OF WOMEN

As it frequently happens that the mother of a child comes to be blessed, or to be churched, at the same time that the child is brought to be baptised, the ceremony is here appended.

Our blessed Lord, though free from all sin, submitted to the law of circumcision; so did His blessed mother observe the law of purification, although she still remained a pure and perfect virgin, not only in conceiving, but in giving birth to the divine infant. From the earliest ages of the Church Christian mothers imitated the example of the Blessed Virgin and made their first visit after childbirth to the church to thank God for having bestowed on them "the blessings of the breasts and of the womb" (Gen. xlix. 25), for having brought them safe through the pains and dangers of childbirth, and to ask for a special blessing to enable them to bring up in the love and the fear of God the immortal souls that had been entrusted to their care. In the old Law the mother had to "offer at the door of the tabernacle of the testimony a lamb of a year old for a holocaust; and a young pigeon or a turtle for sin;' and the text con

tinues: "if she is not able to offer a lamb, she shall take two turtles, or two young pigeons, one for a holocaust and another for sin; and the priest shall pray for her" (Leviticus xii. 6-8). In the ceremony of the New Law, the woman to be blessed, or churched, should provide herself, according to her means or devotion, and as a part of her offering, with a wax taper or candle, which can generally be procured from the sacristan of the church where the ceremony is to take

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place. At the appointed time the woman lights the taper, and kneels in the porch, or at the entrance of the church, having the lighted taper in her hand. Here she is met by the priest in surplice and white stole, attended by a server carrying the sprinkler with Holy Water. The priest, sprinkling her with the Holy Water, says:

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Our help is in the name of the Lord.

R. Who made heaven and earth.

Ant. This one shall receive a blessing from the Lord, and mercy from God her Saviour: for this is the generation of those who seek the Lord.

Psalm xxiii.

The earth is the Lord's, and the fulness thereof: the world, and all they that dwell therein.

For He hath founded it upon the seas: and hath prepared it upon the rivers.

Who shall ascend into the mountain of the Lord? Or who shall stand in His holy place?

The innocent in hands, and clean of heart; who hath not taken his soul in vain, nor sworn deceitfully to his neighbour.

He shall receive a blessing from the Lord: and mercy from God his Saviour. This is the generation of them that seek Him: of them that seek the face of the God of Jacob.

Lift up your gates, O ye princes, and be ye lifted up, O eternal gates; and the King of Glory shall enter in. Who is this King of Glory?

mighty in battle.

The Lord who is strong and mighty, the Lord

Lift up your gates, O ye princes, and be ye lifted up, O eternal gates: and the King of Glory shall enter in.

Who is this King of Glory? The Lord of hosts, He is the King of Glory. Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost.

As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.

Ant. This one shall receive a blessing from the Lord, and mercy from God her Saviour: for this is the generation of those who seek the Lord.

The Priest now presents the part of the stole that hangs on his left side to the woman, who takes it in her right hand; and, having the taper in her left hand, she rises up and enters the church, walking on the left of the Priest, who says: Come unto the temple of God, adore the Son of the Blessed Virgin Mary, who hath bestowed on thee the fruitfulness of offspring.

Having entered the Church, the woman kneels before the altar, and loosing the end of the stole, prays and thanks God for the blessings that He has bestowed on her. The Priest, having made the proper reverence, ascends the predella, and turning towards her, says:

Lord have mercy on us.
Christ have mercy on us.

Lord have mercy on us.

Our Father, continued privately.

Y. And lead us not into temptation.

R. But deliver us from evil.

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Let us pray.

R. And with thy spirit.

O Almighty, everlasting God, who, through the fruitfulness of the Blessed Virgin Mary, hast turned into joy the sorrows of childbirth, mercifully regard this Thy handmaid, who has gladly come to Thy temple to render thanks to Thee; and grant that through the merits and intercession of the same Blessed Mary, she and her offspring may deserve to arrive at the joys of eternal happiness. Through Christ our Lord. R. Amen.

The Priest then sprinkles her while she kneels in front with the Holy Water in the form of the cross, that is, first on the centre, then on the right, and lastly on the left, and says:

May the peace and the blessing of Almighty God, Father, Holy Ghost, descend upon you, and remain for ever. Amen.

ORDER OF CONFIRMATION

Son, and

THE BISHOP proceeds to the faldstool, before the altar, or in some other convenient place, and sits thereon, with his face to the people, holding his pastoral staff in his left hand. Having washed his hands, he rises up, and stands with his face towards the persons to be confirmed, who kneel before him with their hands joined before their breasts. He then says:

May the Holy Ghost come upon you, and may the power of the Most High preserve you from sins. R. Amen.

Then, signing himself with his right hand with the sign of the cross

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R. And let my cry come unto Thee.

V. The Lord be with you.

R. And with thy spirit.

Then, with his hands extended towards those to be confirmed, he says:

Let us pray.

Almighty everlasting God, who hast vouchsafed to regenerate these thy servants by water and the Holy Ghost, and hast given unto them the remission of all their sins, send forth upon them thy sevenfold Spirit, the Holy Paraclete, from heaven. R. Amen.

The Spirit of wisdom and of understanding.
The Spirit of counsel and of fortitude.
The Spirit of knowledge and of godliness.

R. Amen.

R. Amen.

R. Amen.

Replenish them with the Spirit of thy fear, and sign them with the sign of the cross of Christ, in thy mercy unto life eternal. Through the same Jesus Christ, thy Son, our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee in the unity of the same Holy Spirit, God world without end. R. Amen. The Bishop inquires separately the name of each person to be confirmed, who is presented to him by the Godfather or Godmother, kneeling; and having dipped the end of his right thumb in Chrism, he says:

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In the name of the

Whilst saying these words he makes the sign of the cross with his thumb on the forehead of the person to be confirmed, and then says: And I confirm thee with the Chrism of salvation. Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Then he strikes him gently on the cheek, saying: Peace be with thee.

R. Amen.

When all have been confirmed, the Bishop wipes his hands with bread crumb, and washes them over a basin. Whilst he is washing his hands, the following antiphon is sung or read by the ministers:

Ant. Confirm, O Lord, what thou hast wrought in us, from thy holy temple which is in Jerusalem.

Y. Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost: as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen. Then the antiphon Confirma hoc Deus, is repeated; after which the Bishop, laying aside his mitre, rises up, and, standing towards the altar, with his hands joined before his breast, says:

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Then with his hands still joined before his breast, while all the persons

confirmed devoutly kneel, he says:

Let us pray.

O God, who didst give to thine Apostles the Holy Spirit, and didst will that by them and their successors He should be delivered to the rest of the faithful; look mercifully on the service of our humility; and grant that the hearts of those whose foreheads we have anointed with the sacred Chrism, and signed with the sign of the holy cross, may, by the same Holy Spirit descending upon them, and vouchsafing to dwell therein, be made the temple of his glory. Who, with the Father and the same Holy Spirit, liveth and reignest, God, world without end. R. Amen.

Then the Bishop says:

Behold, thus shall every man be blessed that feareth the Lord.

And, turning to the persons confirmed, he makes over them the sign of

the cross, saying:

May the Lord bless you out of Sion, that you may see the good things of Jerusalem all the days of your life, and have life everlasting.

R. Amen.

THE MARRIAGE SERVICE

He first asks the

In the presence of two or three witnesses the Priest shall question both the Man and Woman separately concerning their consent to marry. Bridegroom, who stands at the right hand of the Woman.

N. Wilt thou take N. here present for thy lawful Wife, according to the rite of our holy Mother the Church?

The Bridegroom answers: I will.

The Priest then asks the Bride:

N. Wilt thou take N. here present for thy lawful Husband, according to the rite of our holy Mother the Church? R. I will.

The Woman is then given away by her Father or Friend; if she has never been married, she has her hand uncovered, but covered if she is a widow. The Man receives her to keep in God's faith and his own, and holds her right hand in his right hand; and so taught by the Priest, plights her his troth, saying:

I, N., take thee, N., to my wedded Wife, to have, and to hold, from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness, and in health, till death do us part, if holy Church will it permit; and thereto I plight thee my troth.

Then loosing hands and joining them again, the Woman taught by the Priest says: I, N., take thee, N., to my wedded Husband, to have, and to hold, from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness, and in health, till death do us part, if holy Church will it permit; and thereto I plight thee my troth.

Both having thus plighted their troth, their right hands being joined

the Priest says:

I join you together in marriage, in the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Amen.

Then he sprinkles them with holy water. The Bridegroom next puts on the book or on a salver gold and silver (which are presently to be delivered to the Bride) and the Ring, which the Priest blesses, saying:

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Bless

Our help is in the name of the Lord.

Who made heaven and earth.

O Lord, hear my prayer.

And let my cry come unto Thee.

The Lord be with you.

And with thy spirit.

Let us pray.

O Lord, this ring, which we blessin Thy name, that she who shall wear it may ever keep true faith unto her Husband, and so, abiding in Thy peace and in obedience to Thy will, may ever live with him in love unchanging. Through Christ our Lord. R. Amen.

The Priest then sprinkles the ring with holy water in the form of a cross; and the Bridegroom, receiving the ring at the Priest's hands, gives the gold and silver to the Bride, and says:

With this ring I thee wed: this gold and silver I thee give: with my body I thee worship and with all my worldly goods I thee endow.

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