400 CIRCLE OF THE HOURS. 



I. O'CLOCK P.M. 



Obs. Dinner Time took place when Sext was finished. The fol- 

 lowing was the ordinary grace : 



+In nomine, &c. Pro tui cihis qnos sumptnri snmns atque pro omnibus 

 bonis a Dei dementia nobis datis Dens ipse laudatur, in Nomine, &c.+ 



And after dinner : 



4-Agimus tibi gratias, omnipotens Dens, pro uniTersis beneficiis tnis, qui 

 Tivis & regnas in saecula saeculonim. 

 Beaedicamns Domini. Deo gratias. 



Hymmis ad I. P.M. 



Jam solis excelsnm jubar 

 Toto coruscat limine ; 

 Sinusque pandens Purees, 

 Ignita vibrat spicula. 

 Tu, Christe, qui mundnm novS, 

 Sol verus, acceudis face ; 

 Fac nostra plenam ciritas 

 Crescendo surgat ad diem. 

 Deo Patri sit gloria, 

 Ejusque soli Filio, 

 Sancto siinul cum Splritn, 

 Nunc, & per omae sfeculum. 



II. O'CLOCK P.M. 



Ohs. The second, and indeed great part of the third, hour usedf 

 to be devoted to repose by the Religious Orders of the middle ages. 

 The customary dinner hour was after Sext, that is, soon after noon. 

 They then retired to rest or to quiet study till Nones, which were 

 recited at or before three in the afternoon. This is a salutary prac- 

 tice at all times ; as those whose laborious and sttuiious habits 

 require that they should take care to have a good digestion cannot 

 better serve this end than by taking exercise before dinner, and rest 

 after it ; so that the Benedictine Rule was a very salutary one, and 

 conduced to the health and length of life of this order. That this 

 recreation time should be devoted to repose, particularly in warm 

 climates and in summer, cannot be wondered at when we reflect on 

 their severe vigilance, and the nightly disturbance of rest necessary 

 to the performance of the Nocturnal Office. Our word Noon and 

 Noontide is therefore derived from this period of repose preceding 

 the Nones or Ninthhour's Office intervening between midday and 

 our 3 P.M. 



The Mouseear Hawkweed Hieracium Pilosella and several other 

 syngenecious plants close soon after two o'clock. The heat of the 

 day is now usually at its maximum in Europe, but it is often re- 

 freshed again now by the springing up of seabreezes and gentle 

 winds, particularly in countries situated not far from the ocean. 



About two o'clock Swallows and Martins, who have been lying 



