"SALVETE FLORES MARTYRUM." (From Hymn 12th of the Cathemerinon of Aurelius Prudentius Clemens.) THIS beautiful hymn, which the Church adopts in her office at Vespers for the Holy Innocents, occurs in the twelfth of the Cathemerinon, which is intituled "Hymnus Epiphania"; in which, with much poetical beauty, Prudentius illustrates and celebrates the Christmas of the Gentiles. There are fifty-two stanzas, but as these would take up too much space in our pages, and may probably be published in a separate form, we have selected from the MS. before us, only a few of the verses which precede that commencing "Salvete flores martyrum." Our readers will, we think, be pleased with the graphic and powerful imagery which characterises so generally the conceptions of this distinguished and truly Christian poet. 03 With frantic haste, his foul command Herod sends forth: "A king is come! "Search Bethlehem all-each male babe slay, Though on their mothers' breast they lay,— Ah! would that in abortive birth, Had wept the Bethlehem mother's erst, Their little limbs can scarce afford, Room for the shaft, that cuts in two, O barbarous sight; dashed on a stone, Or thrown upon the waters deep, The victims pure are cast away, And then give up their short-lived day. Oh, flowers of holy martyrdom, Who, in the very dawn of light, Suffered for Christ, that ye might come band for Heaven dight. A rosy First offerings ye to JESUS made, A martyred fold of early lambs, And sported with the martyrs' palms. But, ah! what profit crowns thine aim? Herod what boots a deed so foul ? Alone, amidst so dark a shame, Escapes THE CHRIST, unscaithed and whole! Alone, untouched, amid a flow So vast of gory blood defiled, While mothers weep their several woe, Unharmed is kept THE VIRGIN'S CHILD! In Fest. Sta. Eulalia, 1841. INSTITUTIONS FOR THE RELIEF OF THOSE SUFFERING UNDER INCURABLE DISEASES. AMONG the many proofs of the divine origin of our holy faith, there are, perhaps, none so satisfactory to a reflecting mind, as those which have their source in the interior and hidden springs of the soul; from whence emanating we may judge of the purity of the fountain from the clearness of the waters that flow from it, as well as from the rich verdure of the meadows which they refresh and make fertile. Hence, to the lover of the Catholic faith, there is no subject more full of contentment than the reflection of the consequences that have flowed on the human race from the genial and blessed influence of its doctrine and discipline. Till the spouse of GOD arose in her comeliness and beauty to take possession of the land which the meek inherit, and › stretch forth her hand of mercy, through the prerogative of th beatific vision, not even in the half-reflected light of the typic Church, were there ever any institutions founded for the relief and support of the aged, the poor, the sick, and the afflicted. It is true that the law of Moses commanded that the poor should be regarded tenderly, and with affection as brethren; and throughout the whole canon of the Old Testament we are delighted to find that this was not only repeatedly inculcated, but continually supported by many and various examples. But it was reserved for our blessed Saviour to propound, for the first time, the doctrine that poverty was blessed; both by word and example. "Blessed are the poor," he says; and He himself was poor; he was laid in a manger, and gave up the ghost, naked on the cross. By innumerable examples, instructions, precepts, and parables, every page of the Gospel and the apostolic writings declare that this doctrine was, as it were, the life and soul of the faith, seeing that without poverty, at least in spirit, it was as moral an impossibility to enter into the kingdom of heaven, as it was physically, for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle. Hence it was, that in the earliest records of the Church, we perceive the first importance is given to the care of the poor. Thus we read in the apostolic acts, that estates were sold, and the proceeds given to a common fund; that the Gospel was no sooner preached to those who heard it for the first time, but simultaneously with their profession, the neophytes of the faith forwarded alms to the poor of the Church of Jerusalem. Hence, too, we find that there were peculiar officers, male and female, set apart for the administration of the alms of the faithful; and that in succeeding records, as the Church increased, so charitable institutions, and houses for the sick and afflicted grew up, and kept pace with the increase of the faith, and the extension of the Church. We all remember the touching incident in the life of St. Lawrence, so beautifully related by Prudentius.* How, when called on by the prefect of Rome, to deliver up the treasures of the Church, he confessed that the Church was indeed rich, but besought a little time to set every thing in order, and to make an inventory. On his request being granted, the blessed man went about the city seeking all those who were supported by the Church. "On the third day he gathered together a great number of them before the church, and placed them in rows, the decrepid, the blind, the lame, the maimed, the lepers, orphans, *Hymn 2. See Butler in vita Sti. Laurentii, August. 10. widows, and virgins; then he went to the prefect, invited him to come and see the treasures of the Church, and conducted him to the place. "The prefect," continues Butler, following Prudentius, “astonished to see such a number of poor wretches, who made a horrid sight, turned to the holy deacon with looks full of disorder and threatenings, and asked him what all this meant, and where the treasures were, which he had promised to show him. St. Lawrence answered: What are you displeased at? The gold which you so eagerly desired is a vile metal, and serves to incite men to all manner of crimes. The light of heaven is the true gold which these poor objects enjoy. and sufferings are the subject of their patience, and the highest advantages; vices and passions are the real diseases by which the great ones of the world are often most truly miserable and despicable. Behold in these poor persons the treasures which I promised to show you to which I will add, pearls and precious stones,-those widows and consecrated virgins, which are the Church's crown, by which it is pleasing to Christ;* it hath no other riches; make use of them for the advantage of Rome, of the emperor, and yourself." And, indeed, they were soon proved to be real treasures; for that very day the holy deacon was found worthy to receive the highest grace of martyrdom. Nor is this tone of the faith to be wondered at. From the very first, the poor, the wretched, the sick, and the afflicted were looked on by the Church as so many objects in whom they might corporally relieve the sufferings of JESUS in their persons, according as he himself hath said: "I was hungry, and you gave me to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave me to drink; I was a stranger, and you took me in; naked, and you covered me; sick, and you visited me; I was in prison, and you came to me." And when the just answered him, "Lord, when did we see theẻ hungry, and fed thee; thirsty, and gave thee drink? And when did we see thee a stranger, and took thee in? or naked, and covered thee? or when did we see thee sick, or in prison, and came to thee?" He will answer them and say: Amen; I say to you, as long as 66 *The original is most beautiful. Monile is more properly a necklace than a crown (suspensa monilia collo.—Ovid), and much more expressive, in reference to the comparison of consecrated virgins to the pearls and precious jewels in the Church,— Nunc addo genimas nobiles, Gemmas corusci luminis- Dotata sic Christo placet. VOL. VI. 35 35 you did it to one of these my least brethren, you did it to ME. (St. Matth. xxv. 35-41.) And from that hour the Church has ever taught that in the persons of the poor and the afflicted, we minister unto Christ. Nor is this all; it is not wealth that is required, but good-will -the widow's mite, in the aspect of GOD, is as valuable as the abundance of the rich. A kind word or a helping hand are equally acceptable, should other means be wanting; for even a cup of cold water, given for Christ's sake, shall by no means lose its reward. Thus it is that in the comprehensive heart of the Catholic faith, not one, but all, may be equally acceptable to GOD, no matter what their means, so only as they use what they have for God's sake, and their neighbour's good. “Da terram, accipe cœlum," says St. Augustine, and what shall ever countervail the joy that shall flow for ever in heaven, on those, who in their humility on earth, have lent a heart, or hand, or kindly word, to ameliorate the condition of God's suffering poor; for all who pour oil and wine into the wounds of the afflicted Lazarus, shall assuredly, by intercession and prayer, be received hereafter into everlasting dwellings. With the return of peace to the Church after the persecutions of the early centuries, we find that the first effect that followed, was the foundation of hospitals where the afflicted might be tended with that tender charity and kindly forbearance, which is peculiarly the consequence of so exalted a belief, as that which we have noticed as being the foundation of all works of corporal mercy, namely, the love of GOD, in our neighbour, or rather the seeing in his person the vicarious representative of the suffering JESU. Hence, as peace was established, the number and variety of these hospitals marvellously increased; so that there has never been an affliction which mortality has been heir to, but that the thoughtful charity of God's Church has provided severally for its wants or its relief. A fact that it should be well to bear constantly in mind, as the erection of hospitals is the exclusive invention of the Catholic Church; to Her alone we owe that copious stream of brotherly kindness and charity, which in unobtrusive silence has been ministering, from her first establishment on earth until this day, in the corporal as well as spiritual wants of her suffering members. But this is not all; it is not required by her that the object needing relief should be anything but afflicted.-She sees that he is in suffering, and she ministers to him accordingly, although the unfortunate afflicted may have been himself the inducing cause of his scourge, by his own imprudence, misconduct, or vice. Rather, on the contrary, she exercises a more heroic charity in ministering to those who are all |