ng with beam the morning pale,
And burning in the midnight sky,
Quench Thou the fires of hate and strife,
The wasting fever of the heart;
From perils guard our feeble life,
And to our souls Thy grace impart.
Grant this, O Father, only Son,
And Holy Ghost, God of Grace,
To whom all glory, Three in One,
Be given in every time and place--Amen."

(Translation by Cardinal Newman of St. Ambrose's
hymn, _Rector potens_).

TEXTS AND INTENTIONS FOR THE PIOUS RECITATION OF SEXT.

1. "And they took Jesus, and after they had mocked Him, they took off
the purple from Him and put His own garments on Him and led Him out to
crucify Him" (St. Mark, c. 15).

2. "Bearing His own cross, Jesus went forth to that place called
Calvary."

3. "Daughters of Jerusalem, weep not for Me, but for yourselves."

_General Intentions._ The wants of the Church; for peace and goodwill
amongst all States and peoples; for the Pope; for Church students.

_Personal Intentions._ For patience; for fraternal charity; for the love
of the practice of mortification.

_Special Intentions._ For Catholic schools; for increase in number of
daily communicants; for the success of catechists and their work.

NONE.

_Etymology._ The word _None_ comes from the Latin word _nona_, ninth
(_hora nona_), because this part of the Office was said at the ninth
hour of the Roman day, that is, about three o'clock in our modern day.

_Antiquity._ This hour was set apart in Apostolic times for joint
prayer, "Now Peter and John went up into the Temple at the ninth hour of
prayer" (Acts iii. 1).

_Structure._ See note under this head at Terce.

Why does the Church desire prayer at the ninth hour?

1. In this she follows the example of her Founder, Christ, Who prayed at
the ninth hour. "At the ninth hour, Jesus cried out with a loud voice,
saying 'Eloi, Eloi, lamma sabacthani?' which is, being interpreted, 'My
God, my God, why hast Thou forsaken me?'" (St. Mark xv. 34).

2. That ninth hour was the long-wished-for and long-watched-for hour
when reconciliation between earth and heaven was complete.

3. To beg from God light and grace, especially towards the end of life,
for the day's decline in the afternoon is a figure of the waning of
spiritual and corporal life. The hymn for None expresses this:--

"O God, unchangeable and true,
Of all the light and power,
Dispensing l