"When the priest unveils the chalice for the Offertory, he represents Christ stripped of his garments and bound to the pillar. The offering of the bread on the paten, denotes Christ offering up his body to be scourged. The mingling of the water with the wine, denotes the water and blood that flowed from his side on the cross. The offering the chalice with the wine, represents Christ scourged, and the streams of his blood flowing down upon the ground. The covering the chalice with the paten, represents him crowned with thorns, and treated as a mock king. The washing of the fingers at the _Lavabo_, reminds us how Pilate washed his hands before the multitude, and pronounced Christ innocent and just. The _Orate Fratres_ reminds us that Christ was shown to the people with ensigns of mock royalty, Pilate crying out at the same time: _Ecce Homo_, Behold the man. The priest saying the Secret Prayers in silence, represents Christ condemned to be crucified, and submitting to the unjust sentence without any defence or reply. The Preface, (so called because it serves as an introduction to the Canon of the Mass,) and the Canticle of the Hebrew children, which are repeated with a loud voice, remind us that Christ was loaded with the cross; the pious Hosanna being changed into the clamorous and cruel _Crucifige_, or crucify him." Prayer At The Offertory, Lavabo, And Preface. O my soul! run to thy suffering Lord, and at his feet pour out thyself in thanksgiving, and in all the ecstasies of love and praise. It is thy God that suffers, that he may redeem a slave, a poor sinful worm of the earth. When I behold thee, O dear Jesus, stripped naked, fastened to the pillar, cruelly scourged, torn, and mangled, I see the immensity of thy love for us, and the greatness of our sins against thee. I see in thy wounds, the slavery into which we are degraded, and the punishment due to our crimes. Our sins bound thy hands, and every stroke thou didst receive was the effect of our iniquities. {377} I offer thee my heart and soul, to be eternally consecrated to thy divine service, and to be washed and purified in the purple streams that gushed forth from every pore of thy sacred body. I throw myself into the arms of thy infinite mercy, with a firm resolution to die rather than renew thy passion, by relapsing into any mortal sin. No, dear Redeemer, I never will prefer Barabbas to thee; I never will set thee in competition with the world, or its delusive charms, sinful pleasures, or sordid interests. O amiable Jesus, thou shalt be my choice for ever. I will strike no more nails into thy hands by my evil deeds. I will add no more thorns to thy painful crown by my sinful thoughts. I will no more pierce thy sacred side by any unlawful desires. I will not scourge thy holy flesh by curses or blasphemies, nor crucify thee over again by any fresh crime. I am determined, with