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great scrutiny *. The Church thus brought them some
distance from the city to the tomb of the great Apostle
of the Gentiles close to the spot where he had shed his
blood for the faith of Jesus Christ; she there taught
them the source whence, following his example, they
should draw the sanctifying waters of Christian doc
trine. She wishes also penitent sinners to come
there that near his tomb, they may draw strength and
confidence from him, who, by his own confession, before
he became a vessel of election, had been a blasphemer
and a persecutor.
Like the FIRST LESSON, the Introit is taken from the
Prophet Ezechiel. The Lord through His envoy says
"
I will sanctify my great name that
to the nations :
the gentiles may know that I am the Lord when I
shall be sanctified in you before their eyes And I will
pour upon you clean water and you
shall be cleansed
from all your filthiness ; and I will give you a new heart,
and put a new spirit within you and you shall be my
people, and I will be your God.
"
In a few days, this
consoling promise would be fulfilled for the catechumens.
Thus the Church encouraged them in the work of pre
paration which she imposed on them. The SECOND
LESSON taken from Isaias is also an encouragement for
both penitents and catechumens. To obtain remis
sion of their sins they must amend their lives, and in
all their thoughts and aspirations they must have a
wholly different end in view to that which they have
had hitherto.
The first Collect teaches us the benefit of fasting as
a means of expiation, and the necessity of humble con
fession of our sins as a condition of forgiveness. The
1 See Chap. xvii.