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Show ; THE AGNUS DEL !' i CEREMONY OF THE ELESSINQ BY ! THE HOLY FATHER. i i I now the Waxen Lambs Are Distrib-i Distrib-i tited by His Holiness and Find l Their Way to AH Parts of ths ! World Wearing the Holy Aginle. j At the present day and for soma j time past the Agnus Dei is blessed on-! on-! ly by the pope. The ceremony takes I place, according. to Molanus, during ! Easter time, in tho first year of the i reign of the sovereign pontiff and once ; every seven years thereafter. The "Catholic Dictionary"' says the bless-; bless-; ing is performed on the Thursday cf Easter week, while Barry will have it on Low Sunday. This last opinion is ' evidently enoneous, as will be seen from the ceremony of the distribution, which takes place ou the Saturday before be-fore Low Sunday. The ceremony of the blessing is as follows: The pope first blesses water, after which he pours balsam and oil into it in the form cf a cross. He then recites a number of prayers and blessings over the masses of wax fashioned into the form of lambs. This done, the wax images are carried on silver trays with great solemnity by tho attendants to the holy father, who immerses them in the blessed water. The prelates who are in attendance on the occasion lift them out of the water and, having dried them, put them in a place prepared pre-pared for their reception, where they remain till the following Saturday. It may be remarked in passing that at first water only was used in the blessing of the Agnus Dei, but that afterward oil and balsam were added. It may also be noted that although the masses of wax are formed into lambs, these are not all of the same size; and, further, that certain inscriptions and the images of saints, as well as the figure of a lamb, are sometimes stamped stamp-ed on them. On the Saturday of Easter week during dur-ing the mass of the holy father a sub-deacon sub-deacon carries the Agnus Deis to the altar on a large silver tray before the pope's communion, singing at the same time: "Holy father, these are the young lambs which have announced to you, alleluia. Behold, they have just come i from the fountains. They are filled with light, alleluia," words which evidently evi-dently apply rather to the newly baptized bap-tized than to the wax images. The pope then distributes the Agnus Deis, with appropriate ceremony, during dur-ing the singing of the Agnus Del of the mass first to the cardinals, who on receiving them kiss his hand; next to ! the bisho-ps, wearing of their miters, j ! who kiss his right knee, and finally to the prothonotarics, who prostrate i themselves and kiss the cross on his sandal. From the hands of these several sev-eral persons the Agnus Deis find their way by subdivision and distribution to all parts of the world, where, with the care of pious persons, religious women for the most part they are divided into small portions and incased in appropriate appro-priate covers generally in the form of a heart for the use of the faithful. After having learned something of the manner in which the Agnus Dei is blessed and reaches us a very practical question is, What spiritual benefit may j we expect to derive from the devout use of this holy amulet? But first it may be said as to the manner of wearing wear-ing it that it differs from the scapular, for, while the latter must be worn so that one part hangs upon the breast and the other on the back, with one string passing over each shoulder, the latter may be worn attached to the scapular or it may be carried in any other way about the person. The manner man-ner of wearing it is not prescribed as a condition for securing the benefits attached at-tached to it. This premised, it may be said that the benefits which the devout wearer of the Agnus Dei may expect to reap from it are well expressed in the prayers recited in the blessing which it receives at the hands of the holy father. By "these several benedictions the church, the diviuely appointed dispenser dispens-er of the mysteries of God, causes inanimate in-animate objects to become vehicles for conveying grace and the divine protection protec-tion to such of the faithful as use them with lively faith, ardent charity and firm confidence in God; and not only so, but the divine mercy sometimes goes, if we may be allowed the expression, expres-sion, to extraordinary lengths, and by means of them bestows graces upon some persons who, to all human discernment, dis-cernment, are manifestly unworthy of them, to convince us that the spirit breathes where he will and to encourage encour-age sinners to repentance. Few priests but have witnessed a greater or less number of these extraordinary manifestations mani-festations of the divine mercy. Let every ev-ery one take the Agnus Dei and wear it devoutly, and God himself will show what great benefits it bestows. Weekly Week-ly Bouquet |