In the first creation of the human race the Body of Christ is not only foretold but prefigured, not only prefigured but expressed in the very words uttered by Adam in his ecstasy, the words of God delineating that act of God, the greatest of all His acts of power, wisdom, and goodness, whereby becoming man, and leaving his father and his mother,* He would cleave to the wife He so took, the human nature which in redeeming He espoused. This, and no other, was the reason why Eve was formed out of Adam. It is the beginning of the divine plan, which is coherent throughout, which was formed in the state of innocency, which remains intended through the state of guilt, which is unfolded in the state of grace, which is completed in the state of glory, when what that forming of Eve from the side of Adam, and of the Church from the side of her Lord, what that growth through thousands of years, through multitudinous conflicts, through unspeakable sorrows, through immeasurable triumphs, shall finally issue in, shall be seen by those whom the Second Adam has made worthy of that vision, and by whom it is seen enjoyed. ON ART. VII.—THE CENTENARY OF 1867.+ N the 29th of June, 1867, Rome celebrated the eighteenth centenary of the martyrdom of SS. Peter and Paul; and on that same day the Holy Father pronounced the decree of the canonization of twenty-five Saints. He had sent forth his invitations to all the bishops in communion with the Holy * See Origen on Matt. xiv. 17—καὶ ὁ κτίσας γε ἀπ' ἀρχῆς τὸν κατ ̓ εἰκόνα ὃς ἐν μορφῇ Θεοῦ ὑπάρχων ἄῤῥεν αὐτὸν ἐποίησε, καὶ θῆλυ τὴν ἐκκλησίαν, ἓν τὸ κατ' εἰκόνα ἀμφοτέροις χαρισάμενος· καὶ καταλέλοιπέ γε διὰ τὴν ἐκκλησίαν κύριος ὁ ἀνὴρ πατέρα ὃν ἑώρα, ὅτε ἐν μορφῇ Θεοῦ ὑπῆρχε, καταλέλοιπε δὲ καὶ τὴν μητέρα καὶ αὐτὸς υἱὸς ὢν τῆς ἄνω Ιερουσαλὴμ, καὶ ἐκολλήθη τῇ ἐνταῦθα καταπεσούση γυναικὶ αὐτοῦ, καὶ γεγόνασιν ἐνθάδε οἱ δύο εἰς σάρκα μίαν. διὰ γὰρ αὐτὴν γέγονε καὶ αὐτὸς σὰρξ, ὅτε ὁ λόγος σὰρξ ἐγένετο καὶ ἐσκήνωσεν ἐν ἡμῖν, καὶ οὐκέτι γέ εἰσι δύο, ἀλλὰ νῦν μία γέ ἐστι σὰρξ, ἔπει τῇ γυναικὶ λέγεται τὸν ὑμεῖς δέ ἐστε σῶμα Χριστοῦ καὶ μέλη ἐκ μέρους, οὐ γάρ ἔστι τι ἰδίᾳ Χριστοῦ σῶμα ἕτερον παρὰ τὴν ἐκκλησίαν οὖσαν σῶμα αὐτοῦ, καὶ μέλη ἐκ μέρους. καὶ ὁ Θεός γε τούτους τοὺς μὴ δύο ἀλλὰ γεγομένους σάρκα μίαν συνέζευξεν, ἐντελλόμενος ἵνα ἄνθρωπος μὴ χωρίζῃ τὴν ἐκκλησίαν ἀπὸ τοῦ κυρίου. In the first of our "Notices," we have a few remarks on the theological bearing of this truly unparalleled celebration. But our readers will perhaps not be unwilling to receive from an eye-witness some particulars on the external features of the magnificent event. See, and from every quarter of the world they responded to his invitation. The official list before us gives the names and sees of four hundred and ninety-four bishops; but this list was printed two days before the canonization, and does not, therefore, contain the names of those who arrived even on the vigil of the festival; so that we may put them down in round numbers as five hundred. Of this number forty-six were cardinals, five being cardinal-bishops, thirty-two cardinalpriests, and nine cardinal-deacons; there were six patriarchs Constantinople, Alexandria, Antioch (Maronite), Antioch (Greek), Jerusalem, and the East Indies,-ninety-five archbishops, and three hundred and forty-seven bishops. Amongst the cardinals, Ireland was represented by Cardinal Cullen, and by Dr. Leahy, of Cashel amongst the archbishops. England sent its one archbishop, and the bishops of Birmingham, Southwark, Plymouth, Clifton, Nottingham, Beverley, and Hexham; and Ireland sent the bishops of Clogher, Galway, Dromore, Ross, Down and Connor, Kilmore, Limerick, Meath, and Cork. The English dependencies and colonies contributed one archbishop (Trinidad) and eight bishops; Scotland three bishops-the Right Reverend Doctors Gray, Sterain, and Lynch; and America sent three archbishops-St. Louis, Cincinnati, and Baltimore, and fourteen bishops. From these statistics we see that the English-speaking Catholics in the world had forty-nine representatives at Rome-no less than one-tenth of the bishops who gathered around the successor of S. Peter on this great occasion. But these five hundred bishops were followed by nearly forty thousand priests, who, animated by the same spirit of love and devotedness, had left their homes and journeyed to Rome to give proof of their attachment to the Holy See, and to take back to their flocks the blessing of the Father of the Faithful. French priests predominated; they were here, there, and everywhere, and their enthusiasm knew no bounds. No one could see them gathered round S. Peter in such numbers, and witness their enthusiasm, without feeling that the reign of Gallicanism in France is past and gone. It may linger here and there, and may, perhaps, be occasionally found in an episcopal palace, but the great body of the French clergy is devoted, heart and soul, to the Holy See. Most memorable was the scene that took place when the Holy Father delivered his Allocution to the secular clergy. The reception was to have taken place in the Sistine Chapel, but it was found that the numbers were too great, so at the last moment they were turned off to the Loggia above the piazza of S. Peter's. Every sentence of the Allocution teemed with meaning, and the words that he spoke can never be forgotten by those who heard them. Powerful as is the voice of the Holy Father, much that he said was lost through the noise and confusion engendered by the anxious desire of some to approach nearer to his throne, and by the misplaced applause of others. But all had an opportunity of reading his words in print, and felt that they contained the very essence and epitome of an ecclesiastical retreat. At Pentecost the series of festivals and celebrations commenced. Even then, large numbers of bishops and priests had arrived, and by the festival of Corpus Christi the great majority of the visitors were there. But up to the very day itself there were numerous arrivals, the last to come being, as a rule, those who lived nearest, and whose pilgrimage, in many cases, was confined to the day itself. Thousands slept in the streets that night-on the steps of churches, under the trees at the Piazza Barberini, or beside the fountains; and they were up and thronging S. Peter's before daybreak. Although the ceremony did not begin till eight, those who were wise arrived as early as six o'clock. So great was the press of carriages that the drive from the Piazza d'Espagna to S. Peter's occupied fully an hour. Some of the lamps of the previous evening's illumination were still burning by the road-side, and on the piazza of the building; from every quarter thousands were flocking to the one point of attraction, and already the square in front of the Basilica contained a great mass of human beings. Everything had been admirably arranged; and without the slightest confusion, though with some delay, owing to their numbers, the ticket-holders passed through the crowd and each one found his place, provided he arrived in time. Of course the tickets issued were more numerous than the sitting accommodation justified, but those who came too late for a seat found standing room; and the sight which they witnessed was cheaply purchased by a few hours' fatigue. It was a wonderful sight to look uponthat church, the largest in the world, filled with men and women from almost every nation under the sun. We could well understand why so great a crowd was collected outside, for there was no more room within. From midnight had pilgrims patiently awaited there, and those who had been sluggard were obliged to content themselves with seeing the procession as it came round the Piazza from the Vatican. Having yet nearly two hours to wait we employed the time in examining in its more minute detail the elaborate decorations of the Basilica. This work had been entrusted to the architect Fontana, and though one would have wished the thing undone, we could not but acknowledge that what he had to do he had done well. S. Peter's is truly most adorned when unadorned. But it is the rule to decorate it for a canonisation. The beautiful columns were hidden by crimson cloth, the fluting being marked out by stripes of gold braiding which, it is said, was over forty miles in length. To understand this, one must take into consideration the stupendous size of the building, where everything is so gigantic and yet so well proportioned that nothing looks extravagantly large. The arches too were draped with crimson silk curtains bordered with gold lace, and from the centre of each arch hung suspended a magnificent crystal chandelier. Around the tomb of the Apostles, over which the High Altar is raised, were thirty silver candlesticks, in which burnt wax candles, both of unusual size, but neither looking out of proportion in S. Peter's. The Altar, at which only the Pope says Mass, was prepared for the Holy Sacrifice. Every one had prepared for another hour of prayer or listlessness or sleepiness when the lighting of the chandeliers commenced. For the wakeful in the transepts this was interesting; for the sleepy it was not so: for they were soon awakened by the crash of an enormous chandelier that fell from an arch just about the spot where an hour later on, its fall would have created a vacancy in the Episcopate. But this excitement was very mild in comparison with that which was raised a short time after. A cry of fire was heard, and on looking round we saw that the red curtains of one of the three windows of the right hand transept had really taken fire. In a minute the window was broken in and the curtain dragged out; but some of it had fallen on to the candles below and the woodwork that supported them. In a few minutes the next window was on fire; the ornamental wood beneath was again attacked, and some began to fear that the whole building would soon be a prey to the flames. It was wonderful to behold the quiet that pervaded during those moments of excitement. A few English speaking ladies-we know not whether they were English, Irish, or American-insisted on going out; but with almost this single exception the great mass of people remained quiet and confident. And their confidence was well rewarded. In a very few minutes the firemen were at work; and in one quarter of an hour no trace of this accident was left. Another rumour speedily circulated through the reserved seats far more startling than even that of fire: "A man has been killed; the building is desecrated, and the celebration cannot proceed. The revolutionists have done it to mar the ceremony." fact was that some maniac had really committed suicide within The the sacred edifice; but whether his madness was the result of extra devotion, as some said, or whether it was the effect of possession by the devil, no one can say. The infidel papers of Italy first of all said that he was mad, and then gave an account of his actions as though every one of them had been the result of a chain of logical reasoning. Whatever may have been the cause of this unfortunate contretemps it did not stay the ceremony for one moment. The Cardinal-Vicar was called out from the procession; and after administering what sacraments he could sub conditione to the dying man, he at once reconciled the Church. Soon after this incident, the voices of the Processionalists were heard intoning the Ave Maris Stella. We had indeed waited for the Holy Father, but He had not been idle during the time of our waiting. Before we had arrived at S. Peter's he was in the Sistine Chapel, and after having prayed a while he had intoned the first verse of that beautiful hymn that had been caught up, and continued, and repeated by the many choirs, and by the bishops and clergy of the procession. That procession had already been formed, and when the Holy Father was raised upon his sedia gestatoria it moved onwards through the two Piazzas to the Basilica. It was a scene well worth the journey to Rome. This was the secret of the multitudes we had seen in the Square and around the Piazzas. They knew that they had no chance of getting a place in the Church, so they contented themselves with a sight of the procession. When we heard the Ave Maris we knew that the beginning of the end had come; and as the Processionalists approached the tomb of the Apostles we perceived that it was the Corpus Christi procession reiterated, with but very few alterations. The orphans supported and educated by the Holy Father led the van; then came the religious of every order. The secular clergy of Rome followed, accompanied by their parochial choirs; and these choirs had agreed, it seems, to sing in unison, and to amalgamate their forces. The real procession of the beatification began with the banners of the Saints, borne beside the members of the Congregation of Rites. The special banners borne in the procession were carried by members of the order to which the canonized belonged. As they advance we note them one by one, and we wait patiently the arrival of the Holy Father. Monks, priests, bishops, archbishops, patriarchs, and cardinals have passed before us, and still they are singing the Ave Maris Stella. Suddenly they cease their chant-the sound of trumpets is heard-and the choirs burst forth "Tu es Petrus." The Holy Father has entered the Church. But why does he not come straight |