"MAY the holy and eternal Virgin, Mother of God, curse him! May St. Michael, the advocate of holy souls, curse him! May all the Angels, and Archangels, principalities, and powers, and all the Heavenly Armies, curse him!

"MAY St. John the Beloved, and St. John the Baptist, and St. Peter, and St. Paul, and St. Andrew, and all other of Christ's Apostles together, curse him! and may the rest of his Disciples, and the Four Evangelists, who by their preaching converted the universal world, and may the holy and wonderful company of Martyrs, and Confessors, who by their holy works are found pleasing to God Almighty, curse him! May the holy choir of the Holy Virgins, who for the honour of Christ have despised the things of the world, damn him! May all the Saints, who from the beginning of the world to everlasting ages, are found to be beloved of God, damn him! May the heavens and earth, and all the holy things contained therein, damn him!

"MAY he be damned wherever he shall be; whether in the house or in the field, in the way or in the path, in the wood or in the water, or in the church! May he be cursed in living, dying, eating, drinking; in being hungry, in being thirsty; in fasting, sleeping, slumbering, watching, walking, sitting, lying, working, resting,

blood letting.

"MAY he be cursed in all the faculties of his body!

*

and in

"MAY he be cursed inwardly and outwardly! May he be cursed in the hair of his head! May he be cursed in his brains, and in the crown of his head; in his temples, in his forehead, in his ears, in his eyebrows, in his cheeks, in his jawbones, in his nostrils, in his fore teeth and grinders; in his lips, in his throat, in his shoulders, in his wrists, in his arms, in his fingers!

* * *

"MAY he be damned in his mouth, in his breast, and in all his inward parts, down to his very stomach! May he be cursed in his veins, and in his groin, in his in his hips, in his knees, in his legs, in his feet, and toe-nails! May he be cursed in all the joints and articulations of his members; from the crown of his head to the sole o his foot, may there be no soundness in him!

"MAY the Son of the living God, with all the glory of his Majesty, curse him! And may heaven, with all the powers which rejoice therein, rise up against him to DAMN him, unless he repent and make satisfaction! Amen. So be it. So be it. Amen."

The following is another form of Excommunication observed in the Roman Church, translated most correctly and literally from the Roman Pontificial-Roman Edition, 1595, and approved of by Pope Clement the 8th, in a Bull, dated 10th February, 1596, and by Pope Urban the 8th, in a Bull, dated 17th June, 1644, in both which Bulls the faithful are commanded to receive, and forbidden to receive any other Roman Pontificial than it.

The Bishop, or a Priest, delegated by him, is to stand before the altar in an elevated position, and with a lighted candle in his hand, and if there be any other priest present, he also must have a lighted candle, at a certain part of the Mass called the Offertory, and pronounce the following curse :—

"Whereas (such a person) at the instigation of the devil, has violated by his backsliding the Christian promise which he made at his baptism, and has not feared to lay waste the Church of God, to usurp the property of the Church, and to oppress violently the poor of Christ; for this reason, We have admonished him according to the Canons, once, twice, thrice, and even a fourth time, to reprove his malice, to correct him, inviting and reproving him with paternal affection, to make satisfaction and to do penance, lest through pastoral neglect he may perish, for whom We are to render an account before the terrible tribunal of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Prince of Pastors, according to the awful threatening of our Lord himself, who says, 'If thou declare not unto the wicked his iniquity, I shall require his blood at thy hand;' but he, alas! has despised the salutary counsels of the Church which he has injured, and puffed up with the spirit of pride, has disdained to make satifaction. We are distinctly informed by the precepts of our Lord, and those of the Apostles, how to act againt prevaricators of this description; for our Lord says, 'If thy hand or thy foot scandalize thee, cut it off, and cast it from thee;' and the Apostle says, ' Remove the evil from among you;' and again, 'If any called a brother is a fornicator, or a miser, or an idolater, or a drunkard, or a robber, not to eat meat with him;'. and St. John, who was especially the beloved disciple of Christ, forbids us to salute such a wicked man, when he says, Receive him not into thy house, nor say unto him, hail, for he that saith unto him hail, participates in his works,' for this reason, fulfilling the precepts of our Lord and of the Apostles. Therefore, We, with sword of excommunication, cut him off from the body of the Church, as a rotten and incurable member, that receiveth no medicine, lest the other members of the body may be infected with this deadly disease, as with poison, and as he hath despised our counsels and frequent exhortations, and neglected to be corrected or do penance, after he was cited two or three times according to our Lord's precept, and as he hath not considered his fault nor confessed it, nor sent any embassy to give an excuse, or beg pardon, but perseveres in his malice, the devil having hardened his heart, according to the apostle, According to his hardness and his impenitent heart, he treasureth up wrath for himself unto the day of wrath.' Wherefore, by the authority of God Almighty, Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, of St. Peter, the Prince of the Apostles, and of all the Saints, and by our own humble authority, and by the power of binding and loosing in heaven and in earth, given to us by God, We separate him, with all his accomplices and abettors, from

the reception of the precious body and blood of Christ, and from the society of all Christians, and We exclude him from the threshold of our Holy Mother the Church, in heaven and in earth, and We declare him excommunicated and accursed, and he being damned, with the devil and his angels, We condemn him to eternal fire, unless he fly from the snares of the devil, and return to correction and satisfaction, and satisfy the Church of God, which he hath injured, having delivered him up to Satan unto the destruction of his flesh, that his spirit may be saved in the day of judgment."

As these last words are pronounced, all present answer, AMEN, AMEN, AMEN. Then the Bishop, or Priest, who excommunicates, and all the other priests present, dash their lighted candles to the ground; darkness ensues, and the most profound silence reigns, mingled with ejaculations of horror emitted by the Congregation. After this awful ceremony the Mass is continued as usual.

We certify that the above is a full and faithful translation (with the exception of what should not meet the female eye) of the Priest's Curse, which is used in the Church of Rome. It is directly opposed, both in word and spirit, to the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ-who, blessed be his holy name, says, "Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you. That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust " (Matt. v. 44, 45).

Again, he says, "Come unto me all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will refresh you" (Matt. xi. 28).

"For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, to the end that all who believe in him should not perish, but have everlasting life" (St. John iii. 16).

Saint Paul saith, "This is a true saying, and worthy of all men to be received, That Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners' (1 Tim. i. 15).

Saint John saith, "If any man sin, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous, and he is the propitiation for our sins (1 John ii. 1).

Roman Catholic countrymen, we ask, we implore, we beseech you, to read the curse of Rome, and the blessing of the only Saviour, Jesus Christ. Your own good sense will tell you which to choose. The curse leads to death-the blessing to eternal life. And believe us to be,

Your faithful, sincere, and best friends in the Lord, Solomon Frost, late Roman Catholic Curate of Drumcolloher, diocese of Limerick,

W. J. Burke, late Parish Priest of Liscannor, and Vicar-General, pro tem., of the diocese of Kilfenora,

D. L. Brasbie, late Roman Catholic Curate of Kilmacheader, diocese of Ardfert,

R. Ryder, late Roman Catholic Curate of the Parish of Craughwell and Ballimana, diocese of Kilmacduagh and Kilfenora,

W. Davock, late Roman Catholic Curate of St. Michael's and St. John's, diocese of Dublin,

Nicholas Beatty, D.D., late superior of the Convents in Drogheda, Athlone, Waterford, and Multifarnham,

Patrick Brennan, late Parish Priest of Crieve, diocese of Elphin.

Office of the Priest's Protection Society for Ireland,

23, Upper Sackville-street, Dublin.

25th March, 1847.

MEDITATIONS ON THE GETHSEMANE AND CALVARY SUFFERINGS OF JESUS CHRIST OUR LORD.

:

(Continued from page 172).

"Now he that betrays him, had given them a sign, saying, 'Whomsoever I shall kiss, that same is he; hold him fast!" " Hold thee fast! Far easier would it be to stay the sun in its orbit, to drive impetuously back the stars in their courses, than to hold thee, my Jesus, against thine own will. Hold thee fast! How drivelling are my highest thoughts of thee, and of thy love! How prone am I to imagine thee altogether such an one as myself; so changeable and inconstant-so cold and unloving-so weak and helpless. No one could take thy life from thee lovingly thou layest it down of thyself, for me. And "Judas cometh to Jesus, and saith, Hail, master! and kisses him." Avaunt! thou child of iniquity-thou reprobate sinner-nor dare to touch with thy unhallowed lips, my dear Lord Jesus. But I must not be too severe against thee; how often hast thou, oh, my soul! acted the Judas part to Jesus; and even now, precious Lord, I know there are many Judases-many, thinking they know the truth, whilst the truth does not make them free. Oh! my dear Lord Jesus, let me never more so dishonour thee, so wound thee in the house of thy friends. And Jesus saith to Judas, "Friend, wherefore art thou come ?" Friend!—to him who betrayed him-it is indeed just like Jesus; it is indeed just unlike thee, oh, my soul. This is indeed loving thine enemies, Jesus; this is indeed how thou didst love me, thine enemy. This broke my heart,

and brought me to thy cross, and feet. Wherefore, dost thou say, wherefore art thou come? Ah! my Jesus, thou knowest they have come for thy blood-they have come to nail thee to a tree.

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Now, Simon Peter having a sword, drew it, and smote the high priest's servant, and cut off his right ear; the servant's name was Malchus." Thou hast taught me, oh, my Jesus, not to resist evil; oh then, make me to love mine enemies; to bless them that curse me, to do good to them that bate me, and to pray for them that despitefully use me, and persecute me. Teach me in thy service to add the boldness of the lion with the wisdom of the serpent, and the innocence of the dove. "And Jesus answered, suffer ye thus far; and he touched his ear and healed him." Give me grace that I may follow in the steps of thy bright example. Touch me-press me to thy bosom-I need healing. Oh! physician of souls, apply the balm of Gilead-thy precious blood-to my wounds, my bruises, and my putrifying sores; may I hear thy voice, speaking peace to my soul (Jer. viii. 22; Isaiah i. 6). "And Jesus saith unto Peter, put up thy sword into the sheath: the cup which my Father hath given me, shall I not drink it?" Oh, what wonders are there in grace! Jesus before prayed, "If it be possible, let this cup pass from me.' As God was inflicting this punishment, God alone could unshrinkingly endure it: and therefore does my Jesus say, "The cup which my Father hath given me, shall I not drink it?" So bitter was the cup, so enormous the amount of guilt (Isaiah liii. 6) and of punishment laid upon him, that the mightiest archangel would have sunk beneath it. Thou hast then, oh, my soul! an almighty Being on thy side, who loves thee equally with himself.

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of the Jews, take Have they not yet and that it wants

"Now the band, and the captain, and officers Jesus, and bind him." And why those bands? been convinced that thou art mightier than them all, but thy will, ere they roll in the dust again. But as a lamb thou art led to the slaughter. Thou dost not resist! cup! Thou wilt save thy people. Oh! my Immanuel, thine I am by gift and purchase, by love and blood, may I be also by thy constraining

grace.

Thou wilt drink the

"Now they take him, and lead him, and bring him into the high priest's house. And the servants and officers having kindled a fire in the midst of the hall, and having sat down together, Peter sits down with them." Dear Lord, lead me not into temptation; and when thou shalt see fit to "try" me, hold thou me up, that my footsteps slip not; deliver me from evil; keep me from all self-confidence, and presumption. "But a certain maid beholds him, as he sits by the fire, and she looking upon him, saith, this man was also with him;' and he denied him (i. e. Christ), saying, Woman, I know him not.'" Ah, Lord! I cannot fling a stone, I have often been as culpable myself, and thou hast, I would fain be brief in this parenthesis, in order not to break the continuation

of the narrative.