The appearance of Christianity gave to the rose another origin, and we cite the legend. Once, a holy virgin of Bethlehem, falsely accused and calumniated, was condemned to perish by fire. She prayed to our Lord, beseeching him to come to her aid, because he knew she was not guilty of what they reproached her with. The fire went out immediately; the burning fagots were transformed into red-rose bushes covered with flowers, and those that were not lit into white ones. These roses were the first ever seen, and became from that time the flower of the martyrs.
The rose appeared at a very distant epoch as the emblem of the Virgin; it was particularly recognized as such by St. Dominic, when he instituted the devotion of the rosary, in direct allusion to the life of holy Mary.
Prayer appears always to have been symbolized by roses. There is a story told of a servant who, having to carry an immense amount of treasure belonging to his master through a wood, was there awaited by a band of robbers. On entering the forest, he remembered that he had that morning omitted his Ave Marias, so he knelt down to say them. As he prayed, the Virgin placed a beautiful garland on his head, to which at each Ave she added a rose. The brilliancy around him became intense, and the whole wood was illuminated. The good man knew nothing of his beautiful crown of roses, but the robbers saw the vision and let him pass unharmed.
NEW PUBLICATIONS.
The Divine Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom. Translated by H. C. Romanoff. London, Oxford, and Cambridge: Rivingtons. 1871.
This is a neat little book, translated, by a Russian, from the original Greek. The catechism contained in the front is so very ancient and Catholic that it will be a difficult task indeed for those members of the Protestant Episcopal Church in England and America who dream of union with the Greek schism, ever to reconcile it with the catechism that begins, "What is your name? N. or M."
There is a note at the bottom of page 79, to the effect that, when the priest signs the elements and says the words, "And make this bread to be thy Holy Body, and what is in this cup to be thy Holy Blood," it is supposed that the consecration takes place, or, as the translator says, transubstantiation. This is an error invented by the modern Greeks and introduced by one Nicholas Cabasilas, contrary to the Council of Florence and to all Catholic tradition. For it is the universal teaching and belief that the consecration or transubstantiation takes place when the priest does what Christ did, and says the very same words that Christ said: "This is my body; this is my blood." That is the form of the sacrament of the Eucharist. The ritualists object to the Roman vestments on the ground that they are not of the ancient shape. We would like them to look at page 18, and answer this question: Which is the more like the ancient vestment—the Roman or the Greek? Any candid man would answer that the former is. The Greek chasubles are cut away in front, the Roman at the sides. However, we hope that the day will soon come when these good people will learn that the essence of religion does not consist in the shape of a chasuble or the cut of a cope, but rather in a childlike obedience to that Infallible Authority which is able to regulate matters of discipline and worship as well as to define matters of faith and morals.
The Holy Communion, Etc. By Hubert Lebon. Translated from the French by M. A. Garnett. Baltimore: John Murphy. New York: The Catholic Publication Society. 1871.