24 MAY – PENTECOST SUNDAY

Dom Prosper Gueranger:

The great day which consummates the work that God had undertaken for the human race has, at last, shone upon the world. “The days of Pentecost,” as Saint Luke says, “are accomplished” (Acts ii. 1). We have had seven weeks since the Pasch, and now comes the day that opens the mysterious number of Fifty. This day is the Sunday, already made holy by the creation of the light, and by the Resurrection of Jesus: it is about to receive its final consecration and bring us the fullness of God (Ephesians iii. 19).

In the Old and figurative Law God foreshadowed the glory that was to belong, at a future period, to the Fiftieth Day. Israel had passed the waters of the Red Sea, thanks to the protecting power of His Paschal Lamb! Seven weeks were spent in the desert, which was to lead to the Promised Land, and the very morrow of those seven weeks was the day on which was made the alliance between God and His people. The Pentecost (the Fiftieth Day) was honoured by the promulgation of the ten commandments of the Divine Law, and every following year the Israelites celebrated the great event by a solemn festival. But their Pentecost was figurative, like their Pasch: there was to be a second Pentecost for all people, as there was to be a second Pasch, for the redemption of the whole world. The Pasch, with all its triumphant joys, belongs to the Son of God, the conqueror of death: Pentecost belongs to the Holy Ghost, for it is the day on which He began His mission into this world, which, henceforward, was to be under His Law.

But, how different are the two Pentecosts! The one, on the rugged rocks of Arabia, amid thunder and lightning, promulgates a Law that is written on tablets of stone. The second is in Jerusalem, on which God’s anger has not as yet been manifested, because it still contains within its walls the first fruits of that new people over whom the Spirit of love is to reign. In this second Pentecost the heavens are not overcast, nor is the roar of thunder heard. The hearts of men are not stricken with fear, as when God spoke on Sinai Repentance and gratitude — these are the sentiments which are now uppermost. A divine fire burns within their souls and will spread throughout the whole world. Our Lord Jesus had said: “I am come to cast fire on the earth; and what will I, but that it be kindled?” (Luke xii. 49). The hour for the fulfilment of this word is come: the Spirit of Love, the Holy Ghost, the eternal uncreated Flame, is about to descend from Heaven, and realise the merciful design of our Redeemer.

Jerusalem is filled with pilgrims who have flocked there from every country of the Gentile world: they feel a strange mysterious expectation working in their souls. They are Jews, and are come from every foreign land where Israel has founded a Synagogue . They are come to keep the feasts of Pasch and Pentecost. Asia, Africa, and even Rome, have here there representatives. Amid these Jews properly so-called, are to be seen many Gentiles, who from a desire to serve God more faithfully, have embraced the Mosaic law and observances. They are called Proselytes. This influx of strangers who have come to Jerusalem out of a desire to observe the Law gives the city a Babel-like appearance, for each nation has its own language. They are not, however, under the influence of pride and prejudice, as are the inhabitants of Judea. Neither have they, like these latter, known and rejected the Messiah, nor blasphemed His works by which He gave testimony of His divine character. It may be that they took part with the other Jews in clamouring for Jesus’ death, but they were led to it by the Chief Priests and Magistrates of the Jerusalem which they reverenced as the holy City of God, and to which nothing but religious motives have brought them.

It is the hour of Tierce — the third hour of the day (Act ii. 13) — fixed from all eternity, for the accomplishment of a divine decree. It was at the hour of midnight that the Father sent into this world, that He might take flesh in Mary’s womb, the Son eternally begotten of Himself: so now, at this hour of Tierce, the Father and Son, send upon the earth the Holy Spirit who proceeds from them both. He is sent to form the Church, the Spouse, and Kingdom of Christ. He is to assist and maintain her. He is to save and sanctify the souls of men, and this His mission is to continue to the end of time. Suddenly is heard, coming from Heaven, the sound of a violent wind: it startles the people in the city, it fills the Cenacle with its mighty breath. A crowd is soon round the house that stands on Mount Sion. The hundred and twenty Disciples that are within the building feel that mysterious emotion within them, of which their Master once said: “The Spirit breathes where He will, and you hear His voice” (John iii. 8).

Like that strange invisible creature which probes the very depth of the sea and makes the waves heave mountains high, this Breath from Heaven will traverse the world from end to end, breaking down every barrier that would stay its course. The holy assembly have been days in fervent expectation: the Divine Spirit gives them this warning of His coming, and they, in the passiveness of ecstatic longing, await His will. As to them that are outside the Cenacle and have responded to the appeal thus given, let us, for the moment, forget them. A silent shower falls in the House: it is a shower of Fire, which, as holy Church says, “burns not, but enlightens; consumes not, but shines.” Flakes of fire in the shape of tongues rest on the heads of the hundred and twenty Disciples. It is the Holy Ghost taking possession of all and each. The Church is now, not only in Mary, but also in these hundred and twenty Disciples. All belong now to the Spirit that has descended upon them. His kingdom is begun, it is manifested, its conquests will be speedy and glorious.

But let us consider the symbol chosen to designate this divine change. He who showed Himself under the endearing form of a dove on the occasion of Jesus’ Baptism in the Jordan now appears under that of Fire. He is the Spirit of Love, and love is not only gentle and tender, it is also, ardent as fire. Now, therefore, that the world is under the influence of the Holy Ghost, it must needs be on fire, and the fire will not be checked. And why this form of Tongues? To show that the heavenly fire is to be spread by the word, by speech. These hundred and twenty Disciples need but to speak of the Son of God, made Man, and our Redeemer; of the Holy Ghost, who renews our souls; of the heavenly Father, who loves and adopts us as His children — their word will find thousands to believe and welcome it. Those that receive it will all be united in one faith. They will be called the Catholic Church, that is, universal, existing in all places and times. Jesus had said: “Go, teach all nations!” (Matthew xxviii. 19) — the Holy Ghost brings from Heaven both the tongue that is to teach, and the fire (the love of God and mankind), which is to give warmth and efficacy to the teaching. This Tongue and Fire are now given to these first Disciples who, by the assistance of the Holy Spirit, will transmit them to others: so will it be to the end of time.

An obstacle, however, opposes the mission at the very onset. Since the confusion at Babel, there have been as many languages as countries. Communication by word has been interrupted. How, then, is the word to become the instrument of the world’s conquest, and make one family out of all these nations, that cannot understand each other? Fear not: the Holy Spirit is all-powerful, and has provided for this difficulty. With the other gifts with which He has enriched the hundred and twenty Disciples, He has given them that of understanding all languages, and of making themselves understood in every language. In a transport of holy enthusiasm, they attempt to speak the languages of all nations — their tongue and their ear take in, not only without effort, but even with charm and joy, this plenitude of word and speech which is to re-unite mankind together. The Spirit of love has annulled the separation of Babel. Men are once more made brethren by the unity of language.

How beautiful are you, dear Church of our God! Heretofore, the workings of the Holy Ghost have been limited, but now H breathes freely where He wills. He brings you forth to the eyes of men by this stupendous prodigy. You are the image of what this Earth was when all its inhabitants spoke the same language. The prodigy is not to cease with the day of Pentecost, nor with the Disciples who are its first receivers. When the Apostles have terminated their lives and preaching, the gift of tongues, at least in its miraculous form, will cease, because no longer needed: but you, Church of Christ! will continue to speak all languages, even to the end of time, for you are to dwell in every clime. The one same Faith is to be expressed in the language of every country, and thus transformed, the miracle of Pentecost is to be kept up forever within you, as one of your characteristic marks.

The great Saint Augustine alluded to this when he spoke the following admirable words: “The whole body of Christ — the Church — now speaks in all tongues. Nay, I myself speak all tongues, for I am in the body of Christ, I am in the Church of Christ. If the body of Christ now speaks all languages, then am I in all languages. Greek is mine, Syriac is mine, Hebrew is mine, and all are mine, for I am one with all the several nations that speak them.” During the Ages of Faith, the Church (which is the only source of all true progress), succeeded in giving one common language to all the nations that were in union with her. For centuries, the Latin language was the bond of union between civilised countries. However distant these might be from one another, there was this link of connection between them. It was the medium of communication for political negotiations, for the spread of science, or for friendly epistolary correspondence. No one was a stranger, in any part of the West, or even beyond it, who could speak this language. The great heresy of the sixteenth century robbed us of this as of so many other blessings. It dismembered that Europe which the Church had united, not only by her Faith, but by her language. But let us return to the Cenacle and continue our contemplation of the wondrous workings of the Holy Spirit within this still closed sanctuary.

First of all, we look for Mary: for her who now, more than ever, is full of grace. After those measureless gifts lavished upon her in her Immaculate Conception; after the treasures of holiness infused into her by the Incarnate Word during the nine months she bore Him in her womb; after the special graces granted her for acting and suffering in union with her Son, in the work of the world’s Redemption; after the favours with which this same Jesus loaded her when in the glory of His Resurrection — after all this, we should have thought that Heaven had given all it could to a mere creature, however sublime the destiny of that creature might be. But no. Here is a new mission opened for Mary. The Church is born: she is born of Mary. Mary has given birth to the Spouse of her Son. New duties fall upon the Mother of the Church. Jesus has ascended into Heaven, leaving Mary upon the Earth that she may nurse the infant-Church. Oh! how lovely, and yet how dignified, is this infancy of our dear Church, cherished as she is, fed and strengthened by Mary! But this second Eve, this true Mother of the living (Genesis iii. 20), must receive a fresh infusion of grace to fit her for this her new office: therefore it is that she has the first claim to, and the richest portion of, the gifts of the Holy Ghost. Heretofore, He overshadowed her and made her Mother of the Son of God. Now He makes her the Mother of the Christian people. It is the verification of those words of the Royal Prophet: “The stream” (literally, the impetuosity) of the river makes the City of God joyful: the Most High has sanctified His own Tabernacle” (Psalms xlv. 5). The Spirit of Love here fulfils the intention expressed by our Redeemer when dying on the Cross. “Woman!” said Jesus to her, “behold your Son!” Saint John was this son, and he represented all mankind. The Holy Ghost now infuses into Mary the plenitude of the grace needful for her maternal mission. From this day forward she acts as Mother of the infant Church: and when, at length, the Church no longer needs her visible presence, this Mother quits the Earth for Heaven, where she is crowned Queen. But there, too, she exercises her glorious title and office of Mother of men.

Let us contemplate this masterpiece of Pentecost, and admire the new loveliness that beams in Mary from this second Maternity. She is inflamed by the fire of divine love, and this in a way not felt before. She is all devoted to the office put upon her, and for which she has been left on earth. The grace of the Apostolate is granted to her. She has received the tongue of fire, and although her voice is not to make itself heard in public preaching, yet will she speak to the Apostles, directing and consoling them in their labours. She will speak, too, to the faithful, but with a force, sweetness and persuasiveness becoming one whom God has made the most exalted of His creatures. The primitive Christians, with such a training as this, will have a vigour and an energy enough to resist all the attacks of Hell, and, like Stephen, who had often listened to her inspiring words, die martyrs for the Faith.

Let us next look at the Apostolic College. The frequent instructions they have been receiving from their Lord during the forty days after His Resurrection have changed them into quite other men, but now that they have received the Holy Ghost, the change and conversion is complete. They are filled with the enthusiasm of faith. Their souls are on fire with divine love. The conquest of the whole world — this is their ambition, and they know it is their mission. What their Master had told them, is fulfilled: they are “endued with power from on high” (Luke xxiv. 49) and are ready for the battle. Who would suppose that these are the men who crouched with fear, when their Jesus was in the hands of His enemies? Who would take these to be the men that doubted of His Resurrection? All that this beloved Master has taught them is now so clear to them! They see it all, they understand it all. The Holy Ghost has infused into them, and in a sublime degree, the gift of Faith. They are impatient to spread this Faith throughout the whole earth. Far from fearing, they even long to suffer persecution in the discharge of the office entrusted to them by Jesus — that of preaching His name and His glory to all nations.

Look at Peter. You easily recognise him by that majestic bearing, which, though sweetly tempered by deep humility, bespeaks his pre-eminent dignity. A few hours ago it was the tranquil gravity of the Head of the Apostolic College. Now his whole face gleams with the flash of enthusiasm, for the Holy Ghost is now sovereign possessor of this Vicar of Christ, this Prince of the word, this master-teacher of truth. Near him are seated the other Apostles: Andrew, his elder brother, who now conceives that ardent passion for the Cross, which is to be his grand characteristic; John, whose meek and gentle eye now glistens with the fire of inspiration, betokening the Prophet of Patmos; James, the brother of John, and called like him the “son of thunder” (Mark iii. 17) bears in his whole attitude the appearance of the future chivalrous conqueror of Iberia. The other James, known and loved under the name of Brother of Jesus, feels a fresh and deeper transport of joyousness as the power of the Spirit thrills through his being. Matthew is encircled with a glowing light which points him out to us as the first writer of the New Testament. Thomas, whose faith was the fruit he took from Jesus’ wounds, feels that faith now made perfect: it is generous, free, unreserved, worthy of the brave Apostle of the far East. In a word, all Twelve are a living hymn to the glory of the almighty Spirit whose power is thus magnificently evinced even at the onset of His reign.

The Disciples, too, are sharers, though in a less degree than the Apostles, of the divine gift. They receive the same Spirit, the same sacred Fire, for they too are to go forth, conquer the world, and found Churches. The holy women, also, who form part of the assembly of the Cenacle, have received the graces of this wondrous Descent of the Holy Ghost. It was love that emboldened them to stand near the Cross of Jesus and be the first to visit His sepulchre on Easter morning: this love is now redoubled. A tongue of fire has stood over each of them, and the time will come when they will speak with fervid eloquence of Jesus to both Jews and Gentiles. The Synagogue will banish Magdalene and her companions: the Gentiles of our western Europe will receive them, and the word of these holy exiles will produce a hundredfold of fruit.

Meanwhile, a large crowd of Jews has collected round the mysterious Cenacle. Not only has the mighty wind excited their curiosity but, moreover, that same divine Spirit who is working such wonders upon the holy assembly within, is impelling them to visit the House in which is the new-born Church of Christ. They clamour for the Apostles, and these are burning with zeal to begin their work: so, too, are all. At once, then, the crowd sees these men standing in its midst, and relating the prodigy that has been wrought by the God of Israel. What is the surprise of this multitude, composed as it is of people of so many different nations, when these poor uneducated Galileans address them, each in the language of his own country? They have heard them speak before this, and they expected a repetition of the jargon now — when, lo! there is the correct accent and diction of every country, and with such eloquence! The symbol of unity is here shown in all its magnificence. Here is the Christian Church, and it is One — One though consisting of such varied elements: the walls of division which divine justice had set up between nation and nation, are now removed. Here, also, are the heralds of the Faith of Christ: they are ready for their grand mission. They long to traverse the earth, and save it by the word of their preaching.

But in the crowd there are some who are shocked at witnessing this heavenly enthusiasm of the Apostles. These men, say they, are full of new wine! It is the language of rationalism, explaining away mystery by reason. These Galileans, these drunken men, are, however, to conquer the whole world to Christ, and give the Holy Ghost, with His inebriating unction, to all mankind. The holy Apostles feel that it is time to proclaim the new Pentecost. Yes, this anniversary of the Old is a fitting day for the New to be declared. But, in this proclamation of the law of mercy and love, which is to supersede the law of justice and fear — who is to be the Moses? Our Emmanuel, before ascending into Heaven, had selected one of the Twelve for the glorious office: it is Peter, the Rock on whom is built the Church. It is time for the Shepherd to show himself and speak, for the flock is now to be formed. Let us hearken to the Holy Ghost who is about to speak, by his chief organ, to this wondering and attentive multitude. The Apostle, though he speaks in one tongue, is understood by each of his audience, no matter what his country and language may be. The discourse is, of its own self, a guarantee of the truth and divine origin of the new law. The fisherman of Grenesareth thus pours forth his wondrous eloquence:

“You men of Judea, and all you that dwell in Jerusalem, be this known to you, and, with your ears, receive my words! For these are not drunk, as you suppose, seeing it is but the third hour of the day. But this is that which was spoken of by the Prophet Joel: ‘And it will come to pass in the last days, says the Lord, I will pour out of my spirit upon all flesh: and your sons and your daughters will prophesy, and your young men will see visions, and your old men will dream dreams. And upon my servants indeed, and upon my handmaids, will I pour out, in those days of my Spirit, and they will prophesy.’ You men of Israel, hear these words: Jesus of Nazareth, “a man approved of God among you, by miracles and wonders and signs, which God did by Him in the midst of you, as you also know. This same being delivered up, by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, you, by the hands of wicked men, have crucified and slain. Whom God has raised up, having loosed the sorrows of Hell (the tomb), as it was impossible that He should be held by it. For David says concerning Him: ‘My flesh will rest in hope, because you will not leave my soul in the tomb, nor suffer your Holy One to see corruption.’ You men, brethren, let me freely speak to you of the Patriarch David: that he died and was buried, and his sepulchre is with us to this day. Whereas, therefore, he was a Prophet, he spoke of the Resurrection of Christ; for neither was he ‘left in the tomb,’ neither did His ‘flesh see corruption.’ This Jesus has God raised again, whereof all we are witnesses. Being exalted by the right hand of God, and having received of the Father the promise of the Holy Ghost, He has poured forth this which you see and hear. Therefore, let all the House of Israel know most certainly, that God has made both Lord and Christ this same Jesus, whom you have crucified” (Acts ii. 14-36).

Thus did the second Moses promulgate the New Law. How must not his hearers have welcomed the stupendous gift of this new Pentecost, which put them in possession of the divine realities foreshadowed by that figurative one of old! Here again it was God revealing Himself to His creatures and, as usual, by miracles. Peter alludes to the wonders wrought by Jesus, who thus bore testimony of His being the Messiah. He tells his audience that the Holy Ghost has been sent from Heaven, according to the promise made to this Jesus by His Father: they have proof enough of the great fact, in the gift of tongues of which themselves are witnesses. The Holy Spirit makes His presence and influence to be felt in the hearts of these favoured listeners. A few moments previous, and they were disciples of Sinai who had come from distant lands to celebrate the by-gone Pasch and Pentecost. Now they have faith, simple and full faith, in Christ. They repent the awful crime of His death, of which they have been accomplices. They confess His Resurrection and Ascension. They beseech Peter and the rest of the Apostles to put them in the way of salvation: “Men and brethren!” say they, “what shall we do?” (Acts ii. 37). Better dispositions could not be: they desire to know their duty, and are determined to do it. Peter resumes his discourse, saying: “Do penance, and be baptised, every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ, for the remission of your sins; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. For the promise is to you, and to your children, and to all that are afar off, whomever the Lord our God will call” (Acts ii. 38-39).

The Jewish Pentecost pales at each word of the new Moses. The Christian Pentecost manifests itself with clearer light. The reign of the Holy Ghost is inaugurated in Jerusalem, and under the very shadow of that Temple which is doomed to destruction. Peter continued his instructions, but the sacred Volume has left us only these few words with which, probably, the Apostle made his final appeal to his hearers: “Save yourselves from this perverse generation!” (Acts ii. 40).

Yes, these children of Israel had to make this sacrifice, or they never could have shared in the graces of the new Pentecost — they had to cut themselves off from their own people, they had to leave the Synagogue for the Church. There was a struggle in many a heart at that moment, but the Holy Spirit triumphed. Three thousand declared themselves disciples of Christ and received the mark of adoption in holy Baptism. Church of the living God! How lovely are you in your first reception of the divine Spirit! How admirable is your early progress! Your first abode was in the Immaculate Mary, the Virgin full of grace, the Mother of God. Your second victory gave you the hundred and twenty Disciples of the Cenacle, and now three thousand elect proclaim you as their Mother and, leaving the unhappy Jerusalem, will carry your name and kingdom to their own countries. Tomorrow Peter is to preach in the Temple, and five thousand men will enrol themselves as Disciples of Jesus of Nazareth. Hail! Then, dear creation of the Holy Ghost! Militant on Earth, Triumphant in Heaven. Beautiful, noble, immortal Church! All hail! — And you, bright Pentecost! Day of our truest birth! How fair, how glorious, you make these first hours of Jesus’ Spouse on Earth! The Divine Spirit you give us has written, not on stone, but on our hearts, the Law that is to govern us. In you, Pentecost! we find realised the hopes foreshadowed in the mystery of the Epiphany, for though yourself are promulgated in Jerusalem, yet your graces are to be extended to all that are afar off, that is, to us Grentiles. The Magi came from the East . We watched them as they visited the crib of the Divine Babe, for we knew that we, too, were to have our season of grace. It was you, Holy Spirit! that attracted them to Bethlehem, and now in this Pentecost of your power you call all men. The Star is changed into Tongues of Fire, and the face of the Earth is to be renewed. Oh grant that we may be ever faithful to the graces you offer us, and carefully treasure the gifts sent us, with you and through you, by the Father and the Son!

The mystery of Pentecost holds so important a place in the Christian dispensation that we cannot be surprised at the Church’s ranking it, in her Liturgy, on an equality with her Paschal Solemnity. The Pasch is the redemption of man by the victory of Christ. Pentecost is the Holy Ghost taking possession of man redeemed. The Ascension is the intermediate mystery: it consummates the Pasch by placing the Man-God, the conqueror of death and our Head, at the right hand of the Father. It prepares the mission of the Holy Ghost to our Earth. This mission could not take place until Jesus had been glorified, as Saint John tells us (John vii. 39), and there are several reasons assigned for it by the Holy Fathers. It was necessary that the Son of God — who, together with the Father, is the principle of the procession of the Holy Ghost in the divine essence —should also personally send this Divine Spirit upon the Earth. The exterior mission of one of the Three Persons is but the sequel and manifestation of the mysterious and eternal production which is ever going on within the Divinity. Thus the Father is not sent either by the Son or by the Holy Ghost, because He does not proceed from them. The Son is sent to men by the Father, of whom He is eternally begotten. The Holy Ghost is sent by the Father and the Son, because He proceeds from both. But, in order that the mission of the Holy Ghost might give greater glory to the Son, there was a congruity in its not taking place until such time as the Incarnate Word should be enthroned at the right hand of the Father. How immense the glory of Human Nature, that it was hypostatically united to the Person of the Son of God when this mission of the Holy Ghost was achieved! and that we can say, in strict truth — the Holy Ghost was sent by the Man-God!

This divine Mission was not to be given to the Third Person until men were deprived of the visible presence of Jesus. As we have already said, the hearts of the faithful were henceforward to follow their absent Redeemer by a purer and wholly spiritual love. Now, who was to bring us this new love, if not He who is the link of the eternal love of the Father and the Son? This Holy Spirit of love and union is called, in the Sacred Scriptures, the “Gift of God”, and it is on the day of Pentecost that the Father and Son send us this ineffable Gift. Let us call to mind the words spoken by our Emmanuel to the Samaritan Woman at the Well of Sichar: “If you knew the Gift of God!” (John iv. 10) He had not yet been given, He had not yet been manifested, otherwise than in a partial way. From this day forward, He inundates the whole earth with His Fire, Ge gives spiritual life to all, He makes his influence felt in every place. We know the Gift of God, so that we have but to open our hearts to receive Him, as did the three thousand who listened to St. Peter’s sermon.

Observe, too, the Season of the Year, in which the Holy Ghost comes to take possession of his earthly kingdom. Our Jesus, the Sun of Justice, arose in Bethlehem in the very depth of winter. Humble and gradual was His ascent to the zenith of His glory. But the Spirit of the Father and the Son came in the Season that harmonises with His own divine characteristic. He is a consuming Fire (Deuteronomy iv. 24). He comes into the world when summer is in his pride, and sunshine decks our earth with loveliest flowers. Let us welcome the life-giving heat of the Holy Ghost, and earnestly beseech Him that it may ever abide within us. The Liturgical Year has brought us to the full possession of Truth by the Incarnate Word. Let us carefully cherish the Love which the Holy Ghost has now enkindled within our hearts. The Christian Pentecost, prefigured by the ancient one of the Jews, is of the number of the Feasts that were instituted by the Apostles. As we have already remarked, it formerly shared with Easter the honour of the solemn administration of Baptism. Its Octave, like that of Easter, and for the same reason, ended with the Saturday following the Feast. The Catechumens received Baptism on the night between Saturday and Sunday. So that the Pentecost Solemnity began on the Vigil, for the Neophytes at once put on their white garments: on the eighth day, the Saturday, they laid them aside. In the Middle-Ages the Feast of Pentecost was called by the beautiful name of The Pasch of Roses, just as the Sunday within the Octave of the Ascension was termed the Sunday of Roses. The colour and fragrance of this lovely flower were considered by our Catholic Forefathers as emblems of the Tongues of Fire, which rested on the heads of the hundred and twenty Disciples, and poured forth the sweet gifts of love and grace on the infant Church. The same idea suggested the red- coloured vestments for the Liturgical Services during the whole Octave. In his Rational, (a work which abounds in most interesting information regarding the Medieval Liturgical usages), Durandus tells us, that in the thirteenth century a dove was allowed to fly about in the church, and flowers and lighted tow were thrown down from the roof during the Mass on Whit-Sunday. These were allusions to the two mysteries of Jesus’ Baptism, and of the Descent of the Holy Ghost on the Day of Pentecost.

Epistle – Acts ii. 1‒11

When the days of the Pentecost were accomplished, they were all together in one place and suddenly there came a sound from heaven, as of a mighty wind coming, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. And there appeared to them parted tongues as of fire and they sat on every one of them. They were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to talk in different languages as the Holy Spirit gave them to speak. Now there were dwelling at Jerusalem Jews, devout men, of every nation under heaven. And at this sound the multitude came together, and were confounded in mind, because every man heard them speak in his own language. They were amazed and wondered, saying, “Behold, are not all these that speak Galileans? And how have we heard every man our own language in which we were born? Parthians, and Medes, and Elamites, and inhabitants of Mesopotamia, Judea, and Cappadocia, Pontus, and Asia, Phrygia, and Pamphylia, Egypt, and the parts of Libya about Cyrene, and strangers, of Rome, Jews also, and proselytes, Cretans and Arabians: we have heard them speak in our own languages the wonderful works of God.”

Thanks be to God.

Dom Prosper Gueranger:

Four great events mark the sojourn of man on Earth, and each of them is a proof of God’s infinite goodness towards us. The first is the creation of man and his vocation to a supernatural state which gives him, as his last end, the eternal vision and possession of God. The second is the Incarnation of the Divine Word, who by uniting the Human to the Divine Nature, raises a created being to a participation of the Divinity, and, at the same time, provides the Victim needed for redeeming Adam and his race from the state of perdition into which they fell by sin. The third event is that which we celebrate today— the Descent of the Holy Ghost. The fourth is the Second Coming of the Son of God, when He will free his Spouse, the Church, from the shackles of mortality and lead her to Heaven, there to celebrate His eternal nuptials with her. In these four divine acts, the last of which has not yet been accomplished, is included the whole history of mankind. All other events bear, more or less, upon them. Of course, the animal man perceives not these things (1 Corinthians ii. 14). He never gives them a thought. The light shines in darkness, and darkness does not comprehend it (John i. 5).

Blessed, then, be the God of mercy, who has called us out of darkness, into His marvellous lights — the light of Faith! (1 Peter ii. 9) He has made us children of that generation which is “not of flesh, nor of blood, nor of the will of man, but of God” (John i. 13). It is by this grace that we are now all attention to the third of God’s great works, the Descent of the Holy Ghost. We have been listening to the thrilling account given us of His coming. That mysterious storm, that fire, those tongues, that sacred enthusiasm of the Disciples, have told us so much of God’s plans upon this our world! We could not but say within ourselves: “Has God loved the world so much as this?” When our Redeemer was living with us on the Earth, He said to one of His disciples: “God has so loved the world, as to give it His Only Begotten Son” (John iii. 16). The mystery achieved today forces us to complete these words, and say: “The Father and the Son have so loved the world, as to give it their own Divine Spirit!” Let us gratefully accept the Gift, and learn what Man is. Rationalism and Naturalism will have it that man’s true happiness consists in his following their principles which are principles of pride and sensuality. Faith, on the contrary, teaches us humility and mortification, and these bring us to union with our Infinite Good.

Gospel – John xiv. 23‒31

At that time, Jesus said to His disciples, “If anyone love me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him, and will make our abode with him. He who loves me not, keeps not my words: and the word which you have heard is not mine, but the Father’s who sent me. These things have I spoken to you, abiding with you: but the Paraclete, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, He will teach you all things, and bring all things to your mind, whatever I have said to you. Peace I leave with you, my peace I give to you; not as the world gives, do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, nor let it be afraid. You have heard that I said to you, ‘I go away, and I come to you.’ If you loved me, you would indeed be glad, because I go to the Father; for the Father, is greater than I. And now I have told you before it comes to pass, that when it comes to pass you may believe. I will not speak many things with you; for the prince of this world comes, and in me he has not anything. But that the world may know that I love the Father, and as the Father has given me the commandment, so do I.”

Praise to you, O Christ.

Dom Prosper Gueranger:

The coming of the Holy Ghost is not only an event which concerns mankind at large: each individual of the human race is invited to receive this same visit which today “renews the face of the Earth” (Psalms ciii. 30). The merciful design of the sovereign Lord of all things is to contract a close alliance with each one of us. Jesus asks but one thing of us: that we love Him and keep His word. If we do this, He promises us that the Father will love us, and will take up His abode in our soul. He tells us that the Holy Ghost is to come, and He is coming that He may, by His presence, complete the habitation of God within us. The sacred Trinity will turn this poor dwelling into a new Heaven until such time as we will be taken, after this life, to the abode where we will see our infinitely dear guest — Father, Son and Holy Ghost — whose love of us is so incomprehensibly great. In this same passage of the Gospel, which is taken from His Sermon at the Last Supper, Jesus teaches us that the Holy Spirit, who this day descends upon us, is sent indeed by the Father, but sent in the name of the Son. A little further on, in the same Sermon, Jesus says that it is He Himself who sends the Paraclete (John xvi. 7). These modes of expression show us the relations which exist in the Trinity between the first two Persons and the Holy Ghost. This divine Spirit is the Spirit of the Father, but He is also the Spirit of the Son. It is the Father who sends Him, but the Son also sends Him, for He proceeds from the Two as from one principle. On this great day of Pentecost our gratitude should therefore be the same to the Son who is Wisdom, as to the Father who is Power, for the Gift that is sent to us from Heaven comes from both. From all eternity, the Father has begotten His Son and, when the fullness of time came, He gave Him to men that He might assume our human nature and be our Mediator and Saviour. From all eternity, the Father and Son have produced the Holy Ghost and, when the time marked in the divine decree came, they sent Him here upon our Earth that He might be to us as He is between the Father and the Son— the principle of Love. Jesus teaches us that the mission of the Holy Ghost followed His own because men required to be initiated into truth by Him who is Wisdom. For, how could they love what they did not know? But no sooner had Jesus consummated His work and exalted His Human Nature to the throne of God His Father, than He, together with the Father, sends the Holy Ghost in order that He may maintain within us that word which is spirit and life (John vi. 64) and leads us on to Love.

23 MAY – VIGIL OF PENTECOST

Dom Prosper Gueranger:

The dazzling splendour of tomorrow’s solemnity forecasts its beauty on this day of its Vigil. The faithful are preparing themselves by fasting to celebrate the glorious mystery. But the Mass of the Neophytes which formerly was said during the night is now anticipated as on Easter Eve, so that by today’s noon, we will have already begun the praises of the Holy Ghost. The Office of Vespers in the afternoon will solemnly open the grand Festival. The reign of the Holy Spirit is, therefore, proclaimed by the Liturgy of this very day. Let us unite ourselves in spirit with the holy ones who are awaiting the fulfilment of Jesus’ promise. Whilst following the Mysteries of the past Seasons of the Liturgical Year, we have been frequently told of the action of the Third Person of the Blessed Trinity. The Lessons read to us, from both the Old and New Testament, have more than once excited our respectful attention towards this Divine Spirit, who seemed to be shrouded in mystery, the time of His being made manifest not having yet arrived.

The workings of God in His creatures do not come all at once. There is a succession in their coming, but come they certainly will. The sacred historian describes how the heavenly Father, acting through His Word, employed six days in arranging, into its several parts, this world which He had created. But He also tells us, though under the veil of a mysterious expression, that the Spirit moved over the waters, which the Son of God was about to divide from the earth.

If, then, the Holy Ghost’s visible reign on our Earth was deferred until such time as the Man-God should be enthroned on the Father’s right hand, we must not conclude that this Divine Spirit has been inactive. What are the Sacred Scriptures, from which the Liturgy has selected so many sublime passages for our instruction — what are they but the silent production of Him who, as the venerable Symbol has it, “spoke by the Prophets?” It was He gave us the Word — the Wisdom of God — by the Scripture, who gave us, at a later period, this same Word in the flesh of Human Nature.

He has never been a moment of all the past ages without working. He prepared the world for the reign of the Incarnate Word. He did so by bringing together the various races of once separate nations, and by keeping up that universal expectation of a Redeemer, which was held alike by the most barbarous and by the most highly civilised. The Earth had not as yet heard the name of the Holy Ghost, but He moved over the universe, of mankind, as He moved over the dead mass of water at the beginning of the world.

Meanwhile, the Prophets spoke of Him in several of the prophecies in which they foretold the coming of the Son of God. The Lord thus spoke by the lips of Joel: “I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh” (Joel ii. 29). He said to us through Ezechiel: “I will pour upon you clean water, and you will be cleansed from all your filthiness, and I will cleanse you from all your idols. And I will give you a new heart, and put a new Spirit within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and will give you a heart of flesh; and I will put my Spirit in the midst of you” (Ezechiel xxxvi.25, 27).

But previously to the manifestation of Himself, the Holy Ghost was to effect that of the Divine Word. When infinite power called into existence the body and soul of the future Mother of God, it was He that prepared the dwelling for the Sovereign Majesty, by sanctifying Mary from the instant of her Conception, and taking possession of her as the temple into which the Son of God was soon to enter. When the ever blessed day of the Annunciation came, the Archangel declared unto Mary that the Holy Ghost would come upon her, and that the power of the Most High would overshadow her. No sooner did the Virgin consent to the fulfillment of the eternal decree, than the operation of the Divine Spirit produced within her the most ineffable of mysteries: The Word was made Flesh, and dwelt among us!

Upon this flower that sprang from the branch of the tree of Jesse, upon this humanity divinely produced in Mary, there rested complacently the Spirit of the Father and the Son: He enriched it with His gifts, He fitted it for its glorious and everlasting destiny (Isaias xi. 1, 3). He that had so filled the Mother with the treasures of His grace, so that it seemed to border on infinity, gave incomparably more to her child. And as ever heretofore, so also then, the Holy Spirit worked these stupendous wonders silently, for the time of His manifestation had not come. The Earth is to catch but a glimpse of Him on the day of Jesus’ baptism when He will rest with outstretched wings on the head of the well-beloved Son of the Father. The holy Baptist, John will understand the glorious vision, as he had felt, when yet unborn, the presence of the Blessed Fruit in Mary’s womb. But as to the rest of the bystanders, they saw but a dove, and the dove revealed not His eternal secrets.

The reign of the Son of God, our Emmanuel, is established upon its predetermined foundations. In Him we have a Brother, for he has assumed our weak human nature; a Teacher, for He is the Wisdom of the Father, and leads us into all truth; a Physician, for He heals all our infirmities; a Mediator, for by His sacred Humanity He brings all creation to its Creator. In Him we have our Redeemer, and in His Blood, our Ransom, for sin had broken the link between God and ourselves, and we needed a divine Redeemer. In Him we have a Head who is not ashamed of His Members, however poor they may be; a king whom we have seen crowned with an everlasting diadem; a Lord, whom the Lord has made to sit on his right hand (Psalms cix. 1).

But if He rules over this earth for all ages, it is from His throne in Heaven that He is to rule until the Angel’s voice is heard proclaiming that Time is no more (Apocalypse x. 6), and then He will return again to crush the heads (Psalms cix. 6) of sinners. Meanwhile, long ages are to flow onwards in their course, and these ages are to be the reign of the Holy Ghost. But as we learn from the Evangelist, the Spirit was “not given until such time as Jesus was glorified” (John vii. 39), so that our beautiful mystery of the Ascension stands between the two divine reigns on earth: the visible reign of the Son of God, and the visible reign of the Holy Ghost. Nor is it only the Prophets who announce the succession of the second to the first. It is our Emmanuel Himself, who, during the days of His mortal life, heralded the approaching reign of the Divine Spirit. We have not forgotten His words: “It is expedient for you that I go; for if I go not, the Paraclete will not come to you” (John xvi. 7). Oh how much the world must have needed this Divine Guest of whom the very Son of God made Himself the precursor! And that we might understand how great is the majesty of this new Master who is to reign over us, Jesus thus speaks of the awful chastisements which are to befall them that offend Him: “Whoever will speak a word against the Son of Man, it will be forgiven him; but he that will speak against the Holy Ghost it will not he forgiven him, neither in this world nor in the world to come” (Matthew xii. 32). This Divine Spirit is not, however, to assume our human nature, as did the Son. Neither is He to redeem the world, as did the Son. But He is to come among men with a love so immeasurable, that woe to them who despise it! It is to Him that Jesus intends to confide the Church, His Spouse, during the long term of her widowhood. To Him will He make over His own work, that He may perpetuate and direct it in all its parts. We, then, who are to receive, in a few hours hence, the visit of this Spirit of Love, who is to renew the face of the earth (Psalms ciii. 30) — we must be all attention as we were at Bethlehem when we were awaiting the birth of our Emmanuel. The Word and the Holy Ghost are co-equal in glory and power, and their coming upon the Earth proceeds from the one same eternal and merciful decree of the Blessed Trinity, who, by this twofold visit, would make us partakers of the divine nature (2 Peter i. 4) We, who were once nothingness, are destined to become, by the operation of the Word and the Spirit, children of the heavenly Father. And if we would know what preparation we should make for the visit of the Paraclete, let us return, in thought, to the Cenacle, where we left the Disciples assembled, persevering, with one mind, in prayer, and waiting, as their Master had commanded them, for the Power of the Most High to descend upon them, and arm them for their future combat.

The first we look for in this sanctuary of recollectedness and peace, is Mary, the Mother of Jesus, the masterpiece of the Holy Ghost, the Church of the living God, from whom is to be born, on the morrow, and by the action of the same Divine Spirit, the Church Militant. For this second Eve represents and contains it within herself. Well, indeed, does this incomparable creature now deserve our honour! Have we not seen her glorious share in all the mysteries of the Man-God? And is she not to be the dearest and worthiest object of the Paraclete’s visit? Hail, then, Mary full of grace! You are our Mother, and we rejoice in being your children. The holy Church expresses this joy of ours when she thus comments the words of David’s Canticle: “Our dwelling in you, holy Mother of God! is as of them that are all rejoicers!” In vain would you decline the honours that await you on the morrow! Mother Immaculate! Temple of the Holy Ghost! There is no escape, and receive you must a new visit of the Spirit, for a new work is entrusted to you — the care of the infant Church for several years to come!

The Apostolic College is clustered around the holy Mother. It is such a feast to them to look upon her, for they see the likeness of their Jesus in her face! In the very Cenacle where they are now assembled, and in Mary’s presence, an event occurred which was one of deep importance. As God, when He formed his Israelite people, chose the twelve sons of Jacob that they might be the fathers of that privileged race, so did Jesus choose twelve men, and they too were Israelites, that they might be the foundations of the Church, of which he Himself, and Peter together with and in Him, is the chief Corner-Stone. The terrible fall of Judas had reduced the number to eleven. The mysterious number was broken, and the Holy Ghost was about to descend upon the College of the Apostles. Jesus had not thought proper to fill up the vacancy before His Ascension into Heaven: and yet the number must be completed before the coming of the Power from on high. The Church surely could not be less perfect than the Synagogue. Who, then, will take Christ’s place in designating the new Apostle? Such a right, says Saint John Chrysostom, could not belong to any but to Peter. But he humbly waived his right, and expressed his wish that there should be an election. The choice fell upon Matthias, who immediately took his place among the Apostles and awaited the promised Comforter.

In the Cenacle, and in the Blessed Mother’s company, there are also the Disciples, less honoured, it is true, than the Twelve, and yet have they been witnesses of the works and mysteries of the Man-God. They too are to share in preaching the Good Tidings. And finally, Magdalene and the other holy women are there, preparing, as the Master had prescribed, for the visit from on high, which is to tell upon them also. Let us honour this fervent assembly of the hundred and twenty Disciples. They are our models. The Holy Spirit is to descend first upon them, for they are His First-Fruits. But He is to come down upon us also, and it is with a view to prepare us for our Pentecost that the Church imposes on us today the obligation of fasting.

Epistle – Acts xix. 1‒8

In those days it came to pass while Apollo was at Corinth that Paul, having passed through the upper coasts, came to Ephesus and found certain disciptes; and he said to them, “Have you received the Holy Spirit since you believed?” But they said to him, “e have not so much as heard whether there be a Holy Spirit.” And he said, “In what then were you baptised?” Who said, “In John’s baptism.” Then Paul said, “John baptised the people with the baptism of penance, saying that they should believe in Him who was to come after him, that is to say, in Jesus. Having heard these things, they were baptised in the name of the Lord Jesus.” And when Paul had imposed his hands on them, the Holy Spirit came upon them, and they spoke with tongues, and prophesied. And all the men were about twelve. And entering into the synagogue, he spoke boldly for the space of three months, disputing, and persuading, concerning the kingdom of God.

Thanks be to God.

Gospel – John xiv. 5‒21

At that time Jesus said to His disciples, “If you love me, keep my commandments; and I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Paraclete, that He may abide with you forever, the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it sees Him not, nor knows Him. But you will know Him because He will abide with you and will be in you. I will not leave you orphans. I will come to you. Yet a little while, and the world sees me no more. But you see me because I live, and you will live. In that day you will know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you. He who has my commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves me. And he who loves me will be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him.”

Praise be to you, O Christ.

22 MAY – SAINT RITA OF CASCIA (Widow)

Born Margherita Lotti in 1381, Rita was married for 18 years. After the death of her husband and two sons she entered a community of religious of the Rule of Saint Augustine at Cascia, Italy. Rita bore the stigmata on her forehead and worked many miracles both before and after her death on 22 May 1456. She was canonised by Pope Leo XIII in 1900. Saint Rita is the patron of lost and impossible causes. Her incorrupt body lies in a glass coffin in the great Basilica di Santa Rita da Cascia.

Also on this day according to the ROMAN MARTYROLOGY:

At Rome, the holy martyrs Faustinus, Timothy and Venustus.

In Africa, the holy martyrs Castus and Æmilius who consummated their martyrdom by fire. St. Cyprian says that they were overcome in the first combat, but in the second God made them victorious so that, though at first yielding to the fire, they became finally stronger than the fire.

In Corsica, St. Julia, virgin, who won her crown by being crucified.

At Comana in Pontus, under the emperor Maximian and the governor Agrippa, the holy martyr Basiliscus who was forced to wear iron shoes pierced with heated nails, and endured many other trials. Being at last decapitated and thrown into a river, he obtained the glory of martyrdom.

In Spain, St. Quiteria, virgin and martyr.

At Ravenna, St. Marcian, bishop and confessor.

In the diocese of Auxerre, the abbot St. Romanus who ministered to St. Benedict in his cave. Going later to France, he built a monastery there, and leaving many disciples and imitators of his sanctity, went to rest in the Lord.

At Aquino, St. Fulk, confessor.

At Pistoja in Tuscany, the blessed Attho, of the Vallumbrosan Order.

At Auxerre, St. Helena, virgin

And in other places, many other holy martyrs, confessors and virgins.

Thanks be to God.

22 MAY – FRIDAY AFTER THE OCTAVE OF THE ASCENSION

Dom Prosper Guéranger:

The Octave is over. The mystery of the glorious Ascension is completed, and our Jesus is never again to be seen upon this Earth until He comes to judge the living and the dead. We are to see Him only by faith. We are to approach Him only by love. Such is our probation, and if we go well through it, we will, at last, be permitted to enter within the Veil as a reward for our faith and love.

Let us not complain at our lot. Rather let us rejoice in that hope, which, as the Apostle says, “confounds not” (Romans v. 5). And how can we be otherwise than hopeful when we remember that Jesus has promised to abide with us “even to the consummation of the world” (Matthew xxviii. 20). He will not appear visibly, but He will be always really with us. How could He abandon His Spouse the Church? And are not we the children of this His beloved Spouse?

But this is not all: Jesus does something more for us. One of His last words was this, and it shows us how dearly He loved us: “I will not leave you orphans” (John xiv. 18). When He used those other words upon which we have been meditating during the last few days: “It is expedient for you that I go,” He added: “For if I go not, the Paraclete will not come to you” (John vii. 39). This Paraclete, this comforter, is the Holy Ghost, the Spirit of the Father and Son. He is to descend upon us in a few short hours hence. He will abide with us (making us feel His presence by His works) until Jesus will again come from Heaven that He may take His elect from a world which is to be condemned to eternal torments for its crimes. But the Holy Ghost is not to come until He be sent. And, as the sacred text implies, He is not to be sent until Jesus “will have been glorified” (John xvi. 7). He is coming that He may continue the great work, but this work was to be begun by the Son of God, and carried on by Him as far as the eternal decrees had ordained (John xvii. 4).

Jesus laboured in this work, and then entered into His rest, taking with Him our Human Nature, which, by His assuming it, He had exalted to the Divine. The Holy Ghost is not to assume our Humanity, but He is coming to console us during Jesus’ absence. He is coming to complete the work of our sanctification. It was He that produced those prodigies which we have been admiring — the faith and love of men in and for Jesus. Yes, it is the Holy Ghost who produces faith in the soul. It is the Holy Ghost who pours the charity of God into our hearts. So, then, we are about to witness fresh miracles of God’s love for man! In a few hours hence, the reign of the Holy Ghost will have begun on Earth. There is but the interim of this one short day for, tomorrow evening, the Solemnity of Pentecost will be upon us.

Let us then linger in our admiration of our Emmanuel. The holy Liturgy has daily gladdened us with His presence, beginning with those happy weeks of Advent when we were awaiting the day on which the Virgin-Mother was to give us the ever Blessed Fruit. And now He is gone! Sweet memories of the intimacy we enjoyed with our Jesus when we were permitted to follow Him day by day — we have you treasured within us! Yes, the Holy Spirit Himself is coming to impress you still deeper on our hearts, for Jesus told us, that when the Paraclete should come to us, He would help us to remember all that we have heard, and seen and felt in the company of the God who deigned to live our life, that so He might teach us to live His for all eternity (John xiv. 26).

Neither let us forget how, when quitting this His earthly home where He was conceived in Mary’s womb, where He was born, where He spent the three and thirty years of His mortal life, where He died, where He rose from the grave, and from which He ascended to the right hand of His Father — He left upon it an outward mark of His love. He left the impress of His sacred Feet upon Mount Olivet, as though He felt separating Himself from the Earth to which so many years and mysteries had endeared him. Saint Augustine, Saint Paulinus of Nola, Saint Optatus, Sulpicius Severus, and the testimony of subsequent ages, assure us of the prodigy. These venerable authorities tell us that when the Roman army under Titus was encamped on Mount Olivet, while besieging Jerusalem, Divine Providence protected these holy marks, the farewell memorial left by our Lord to His Blessed Mother, to His Disciples and to us: it is here that He stood when last seen on Earth, it is here that we will again see Him when He comes to judge mankind.

Neither the rude tramp of the soldiers, nor the ponderous chariots, nor the horses’ hoofs, were permitted to efface or injure the sacred footsteps. Yes, it was on this very Mount, forty years after the Ascension, that the Roman banner was first unfurled when the time of God’s vengeance came upon the City of Deieide. Let us call to mind, firstly, how the Angels announced that the same Jesus who had just ascended would again come to judge us, and secondly, how our Lord Himself had compared the two awful events, the destruction of Jerusalem, and the end of the world. These sacred marks of Jesus’ feet, are therefore the memorial of His affectionate farewell, and the prophecy of His return as our terrible Judge. At the foot of the Hill lies the Valley of Josaphat, the Valley of the Judgment, and the Prophet Zacharias has said: “His feet will stand in that day, upon the Mount of Olives, which is over against Jerusalem, towards the East” (Zacharias xiv. 4)

Let us humbly give admission to the feeling of fear with which our Lord thus inspires us, that we may be more solidly grounded in His love, and let us affectionately venerate the spot on which our Emmanuel left the impress of His feet. The holy Empress Saint Helena was entrusted with the sublime mission of finding and honouring the objects and places that our Redeemer had sanctified by His visible presence. Mount Olivet was sure to elicit her devoted zeal. She ordered a magnificent church of a circular form to be built upon it, but when the builders came to pave the church with rich marble, they were prevented by a miraculous power from covering the spot on which were imprinted the holy footmarks. The marble broke into a thousand pieces, which struck them on the face and after several attempts, they resolved to leave that part of the rock uncovered.

This fact is attested by many holy and creditable authors, several of whom lived in the fourth century when it occurred. But our Lord would do more than keep open to our view these His last footprints, which seem to be ever saying to us, “Your Jesus is but now gone, and will soon return.” He would, moreover, have them teach us that we are to follow Him to Heaven. When the time came for roofing the church, the men found that they had not power to do so: the stones fell as often as they attempted to put them up, and the building was left roofless, as though it had to be our reminder that the way opened by Jesus on the summit of Mount Olivet is ever open for us, and that we must be ever aspiring to rejoin our Divine Master in Heaven.

In his first Sermon for the Feast of the Ascension, Saint Bernardine of Sienna relates an edifying story which is in keeping with the reflections we have been making. He tells us, that a pious nobleman, desirous to visit the places that had witnessed the mysteries of our Redemption, passed the seas. Having reached Palestine, he would begin his pilgrimage by visiting Nazareth, and there, on the very spot where the Word was made Flesh, he gave thanks to the infinite love that had drawn our God from Heaven to Earth in order that He might save us from perdition. The next visit was to Bethlehem where our pilgrim venerated the place of our Saviour’s birth. As he knelt on the spot where Mary adored her new-born babe, the tears rolled down his cheeks, and as Saint Francis of Sales says, (for he also has related this affecting story), “he kissed the dust on which the divine infant was first laid.”

Our devout pilgrim who bravely travelled the country in every direction, went from Bethlehem to the banks of the Jordan. He stopped near Bethabara, at a little place called Bethany where Saint John baptised Christ. The better to honour the mystery, he went down into the bed of the river and entered with much devotion into the water thinking within himself how that stream had been sanctified by its contact with Jesus’ sacred body. Thence he passed to the desert, for he would follow, as nearly as might be, the footsteps of the Son of God. He contemplated the scene of our Master’s fasting, temptation and victory. He next went on towards Thabor. He ascended to the top, that he might honour the mystery of the Transfiguration by which our Saviour gave to three of His Disciples a glimpse of His infinite glory. At length, the good pilgrim entered Jerusalem. He visited the Cenacle, and we can imagine the tender devotion with which he meditated on all the great mysteries that had been celebrated there, such as Jesus washing His Disciples’ feet, and the Institution of the Eucharist. Being resolved to follow His Saviour in each Station, he passed the Brook Cedron, and came to the garden of Gethsemani, where his heart well-nigh broke at the thought of the Bloody Sweat endured by the Divine Victim of our sins. The remembrance of Jesus’ being manacled, fettered and dragged to Jerusalem, next filled his mind. “He at once starts off,” says the holy Bishop of Geneva, whom we must allow to tell the rest of the story:

“He at once starts off, treading in the footsteps of his beloved Jesus. He sees Him dragged to and fro, to Annas, to Caiphas, to Pilate, to Herod; buffeted, scoffed at, spit upon, crowned with thorns, made a show of to the mob, sentenced to death, laden with a Cross, and meeting, as He carries it, with his heart-broken Mother and the weeping daughters of Jerusalem. The good Pilgrim mounts to the top of Calvary where he sees in spirit the Cross lying on the ground, and our Saviour stretched on it, while the executioners cruelly nail Him to it by His hands and feet. He sees them raise the Cross and the Crucified in the air, and the blood gushing from the wounds of the sacred body. He looks at the poor Mother who is pierced through with the sword of sorrow. He raises up his eyes to the Crucified and ' listens with most loving attention to His Seven Words. And at last, sees Him dying and dead, and His side opened with a spear, so that the Sacred Heart is made visible. He watches how He is taken down from the Cross and carried to the tomb, and as he treads along the path all stained with His Redeemer’s blood, he sheds floods of tears. He enters the sepulchre, and buries his heart side by side by his Jesus’ corpse. After this, he rises again together with Him. He visits Emmaus and thinks on all that happened between Jesus and the two disciples. Finally, he returns to Mount Olivet, the scene of the Ascension, and seeing there the last footprints of his dear Lord, he falls down and covers them with untiring kisses. Then, like an archer stretching his bow-string to give his arrow speed, he concentrates into one intense act the whole power of his love, and stands with his eyes and hands lifted up towards heaven: ‘Jesus!’ he says, ‘my sweet Jesus! where else am I now to go on earth seeking you? Ah Jesus! my dearest Jesus, let this heart of mine follow you yonder!’ Saying this, his heart kept darting upwards to heaven, for the brave archer had taken too sure an aim to miss his divine object.”

Saint Bernardine of Siena tells us that the companions and attendants of the noble pilgrim, seeing that he was sinking under the vehemence of his desire, hastened to call a physician, that they might bring him to himself again. But it was too late: the soul had fled to her God, leaving us an example of the love that the mere contemplation of the divine mysteries can produce in man’s heart. And have not we been following all these same mysteries under the guidance of the holy Liturgy? God grant that we may now keep within us the Jesus, whom we have had so truly given to us! and may the Holy Spirit, by His coming visit, maintain and intensify in our souls the resemblance we have thus received with our Divine King!

21 MAY – THURSDAY, THE OCTAVE OF THE ASCENSION

 

Dom Prosper Guéranger:

We have already seen how the Ascension of our Emmanuel won Him the empire over our understanding: it was the triumph of Faith. The same mystery gave Him a second victory — the victory of Love, which makes Him reign in our hearts. For [two thousand] in whom have men believed, firmly and universally, except in Jesus? In what else have men agreed, except in the dogmas of Faith? What countless errors has not this divine torch dispelled? What light has it not given to the nations that received it? And in what darkness has it not left those which rejected it after having once received it?

In like manner, no one has been loved as our Jesus has been ever since the day of His Ascension: no one is so loved now or ever will be, as He. But, that He might thus win our love, He had to leave us, just as He had to do in order to secure our Faith. Let us return to our text, that we may get deeper into the beautiful mystery. “It is expedient for you that I go!” (John xvi. 7) Before the Ascension, the Disciples were as inconstant in their love, as they were in their faith. Jesus could not trust them. But no sooner had He left them, than they became warmly devoted to Him. Instead of complaining at their bereavement, they returned full of joy to Jerusalem. The thought of their Master’s triumph made them forget their own loss, and they hastened, as He bade them, to the Cenacle, where they were to be endued with Power from on high. Watch these men during the subsequent years. Examine what their conduct was from that time to the day of their death. Count, if you can, their acts of devotedness in the arduous labour of preaching the Gospel. And say, if any other motive than love for their Master, could have enabled them to do what they did? With what cheerfulness did they not drink His chalice? (Matthew xx. 23) With what raptures did they not hail His Cross, when they saw it being prepared for themselves?

But let us not stop at these first witnesses. They had seen Jesus, and heard Him, and touched Him (1 John i. 1). Let us turn to those who came after them, and knew Him by faith only. Let us see if the love which burned in the hearts of the Apostles has been kept up by the Christians of the past [twenty] centuries. First of all, there is the contest of martyrdom, which has never been altogether interrupted since the Gospel began to be preached. The opening campaign lasted three hundred years. What was it that induced so many millions to suffer, not only patiently but gladly, every torture that cruelty could devise? Was it not their ambition to testify how much they loved their Jesus? Let us not forget how these frightful ordeals were cheerfully gone through, not only by men hardened to suffering, but also by delicate women, by young girls, yes even by little children. Let us call to mind the sublime answers they gave to their persecutors, by which they evinced their generous ardour to repay the death of Jesus by their own. The Martyrs of our own times, in China, Japan, the Korea and elsewhere have repeated, without knowing it, the very same words to their judges and executioners as were addressed to the Proconsuls of the third and fourth centuries by the martyrs of those days.

Yes, our divine King who has ascended into Heaven, is loved as no other ever was or could be. Think of those millions of generous souls who, that they might be exclusively His, have despised all earthly affections, and would know no other love than His. Every age, even our own, in spite of all its miseries, has produced souls of this stamp, and only God knows how many. Our Emmanuel has been, and to the end of time will ever be loved on this earth. Have we not reason to say so when we consider how many there have always been, even among the wealthiest ones of the world, who, in order that they might bear a resemblance to the babe of Bethlehem, have given up everything they possessed? What an irresistible proof of the same truth have we not in the countless sacrifices of self-love and pride, made with a view to imitate the Obedience of the God-Man on earth? And what else but an ardent love of Jesus could have prompted those heroic acts of mortification and penance by which the sufferings of His Passion have been emulated and, as the Apostle says, “filled up?” (Colossian i. 24)

But grand as all this is, it was not enough to satisfy man’s devoted love of his absent Lord. Jesus had said, at least, implicitly: “Whatever you do to the leas of your brethren, you do it to me” (Matthew xxv. 40). Love is ever quick at catching the meaning of our Redeemer’s words. It took advantage of these, and saw in them another means for reaching its Jesus, reaching Him through the poor. And as the worst of poverties is the ignorance of divine truths, because it would make a man poor and miserable for eternity — therefore have there risen up, in every age, zealous apostles who, bidding farewell to home and fatherland, have carried the light of the Gospel to them that sat in darkness and in the shadow of death. They heeded not the fatigues or the perils of such a mission: what cared they for all these things, if they could but make Jesus known and honoured, and loved, by one poor savage or Hindu?

But what of those other poor ones — the sick — in whom Jesus suffers? Fear not: He is too much loved to be forgotten there. Once let the Church be free enough to develop her plans of charity, and there will be an Institute of relief for every class of sufferers. The poor, the sick — all will be cared for and comforted. There will be vocations to charity to meet every want, and women, too, urged by the love of their Divine Lord, will deem it an honour to be the nurses and attendants of a suffering or dying Lazarus. The world itself is in admiration at their heroism, and though it knows not the divine principle which originates these charitable Institutions, yet is it obliged to acknowledge the extraordinary good they effect.

But man’s observation can only reach the exterior. The interior is the far grander reality, and it is beyond his notice. What we have said so far is, therefore, but a very feeble description of the ardour with which our Lord Jesus Christ has been, and still is, loved on this Earth. Let us picture to ourselves the millions of Christians who have lived since the first foundation of the Church. Many, it is true, have had the misfortune to be unfaithful to the object of their existence. But, what an immense number have loved Jesus with all their heart, and soul and strength? Some have never flagged in their love. Others have needed a conversion from vice or tepidity, returned to Him, and slept in the kiss of peace. Count, if you can, the virtuous actions, the heroic sacrifices, of those countless devoted servants of His, who are to be arrayed before him in the Valley of Josaphat. His memory alone can hold and tell the stupendous total of what has been done. This well-nigh infinite aggregate of holy deeds and thoughts — from the seraphic ardour of the greatest Saint, down to the cup of cold water given in the name of the Redeemer, what is it all but the ceaseless hymn of our earth to its beloved Absent One, its never-forgotten Jesus ?

Who is the man, however dear his memory may be, for whom we would be devoted, or sacrifice our interests, or lay down our lives, especially if he had been ten or twenty ages gone from us? Who is that great Dead, the sound of whose name can make the hearts of men vibrate with love, in every country, and in every generation? It is Jesus, who died, who rose again, who ascended into Heaven. But we humbly confess, Jesus, that it was necessary for us that you should go from us, in order that our faith might soar up to you in Heaven, and that our hearts, being thus enlightened, might burn with your love. Enjoy your Ascension, you King of Angels and men! We, in our exile, will feast on the fruits of the great mystery, waiting for it to be fulfilled in ourselves. Enlighten those poor blind infidels whose pride will not permit them to recognise you, notwithstanding these most evident proofs. They continue in their errors concerning you, though they have such superabundant testimony of your Divinity, in the faith and love you have received in every age. The homage offered you by the universe represented, as it has ever been, by the chief nations of the earth, and by the most virtuous and learned men of each generation — all this is, to these unbelievers, as though it had never happened. Who are they to be compared with such a cloud of faithful witnesses? Have mercy on them, Lord! Save them from their pride. Then will they unite with us in saying: “It was indeed expedient for this world to lose your visible presence, Jesus, for never were your greatness, your power, and your Divinity, so recognised and loved, as when you departed from us. Glory, then, be to the mystery of your Ascension, by which as the Psalmist prophesied, you received gifts that you might bestow them upon men” (Psalms lxvii. 19).

20 MAY – SAINT BERNARDINE OF SIENA (Confessor)

Bernardino Albizeschi was born in 1380 of parents who were of a noble family of Siena. He was well brought up by his pious parents and gave evident marks of sanctity from his earliest years. When studying the first rudiments of grammar he despised the favourite pastimes of children and applied himself to works of piety, especially fasting, prayer and devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary. His charity to the poor was extraordinary. In order the better to practise these virtues, he later on entered the Confraternity which gave to the Church so many saintly men, and was attached to the hospital of our Lady of Scala in Siena. It was there that, while leading a most mortified life himself, Bernardino, with incredible charity, took care of the sick during the time when a terrible pestilence was raging in the city. Among his other virtues, he was pre-eminent for chastity, although he had many dangers to encounter owing to the beauty of his person. Such was the respect he inspired that no-one, however lost to shame, ever dared to say an improper word in his presence.

After a serious illness of four months, which he bore with the greatest patience, Bernardino began to think of entering the religious life. As a preparation for such a step he hired, in the farthest outskirts of the city, a little hut in which he hid himself, leading a most austere life and assiduously beseeching God to make known to him the path he was to follow. A divine inspiration led him to prefer to all other Orders that of Saint Francis. Accordingly, he entered and soon began to excel in humility, patience and the other virtues of a religious man. The guardian of the Convent perceiving this and having previously known that Bernardino was well versed in the sacred sciences, he imposed the duty of preaching upon him. The Saint most humbly accepted the office, though he was aware that the weakness and hoarseness of his voice unfitted him for it: but he sought God’s help, and was miraculously freed from these impediments.

Italy was, at that time, overrun with vice and crime, and in consequence of deadly factions, all laws, both divine and human, were disregarded. It was then that Bernardino went through the towns and villages, preaching the Name of Jesus which was ever on his lips and heart. Such was the effect of his words and example that piety and morals were in great measure restored. Several important cities that had witnessed his zeal petitioned the Pope to allow them to have Bernardino for their bishop, but the Saint’s humility was not to be overcome, and he rejected every offer. At length, after going through countless labours in God’s service, after many and great miracles, after writing several pious and learned books, he died a happy death at the age of 66 in Aquila in the Abruzzi. New miracles were daily being wrought through his intercession and, at length, in the sixth year after his death, he was canonised by Pope Nicholas V.

Dom Prosper Guéranger:

In that season of the Liturgical Year when we were loving and praying around the crib of the Infant Jesus, one of its days was devoted to our celebrating the glory and sweetness of His Name. Holy Church was full of joy in pronouncing the dear Name chosen from all eternity by her heavenly Spouse, and mankind found consolation in the thought that the great God who might so justly have bid us call Him the Just and the Avenger, willed us henceforth to call Him the Saviour. The devout Bernardino of Siena, whose feast we keep today, stood then before us, holding in his hands this ever blessed Name surrounded with rays. He urged the whole Earth to venerate, with love and confidence, the sacred Name which expresses the whole economy of our salvation. The Church, ever attentive to what is for the good of her children, adopted the beautiful device. She encouraged them to receive it from the Saint as a shield that would protect them against the darts of the evil spirit, and as an additional means for reminding us of the exceeding charity with which God has loved this world of ours. And finally, when the loveliness of the Holy Name of Jesus had won all Christian hearts, she instituted, in its honour, one of the most beautiful solemnities of Christmastide.

Bernardino, the worthy son of Saint Francis of Assisi, returns to us on this twentieth day of May, and the sweet flower of the Holy Name is, of course, in his hand. But it is not now the prophetic appellation of the new-born babe. It is not the endearing Name, respectfully and lovingly whispered by the Virgin-Mother over the crib — it is the Name whose sound has gone through the whole creation, it is the trophy of the grandest of victories, it is the fulfilment of all that was prophesied. The Name of Jesus was a promise to mankind of a Saviour. Jesus has saved mankind by dying and rising again. He is now Jesus in the full sense of the word. Go where you will and you hear this Name— the Name that has united men into the one great family of the Church. The chief priests of the Synagogue strove to stifle the Name of Jesus, for it was even then winning men’s hearts. They forbade the Apostles to teach in this Name, and it was on this occasion that Peter uttered the words which embody the whole energy of the Church: We ought to obey God, rather than men (Acts v. 28, 29). The Synagogue might as well have tried to stay the course of the sun. So too, when the mighty power of the Roman Empire set itself against the triumphant progress of this Name and would annul the decree that every knee should bow at its sound (Philippians ii. 10), there was not merely a failure, but, at the end of three centuries, the Name of Jesus was heard and loved in every city and hamlet of the Empire.

Armed with this sacred motto, Bernardino traversed the towns of Italy which, at that period (the fifteenth century) were at enmity with each other and, not infrequently, were torn with domestic strifes. The Name of Jesus, which he carried in his hand, became as a rainbow of reconciliation, and wherever he set it up, there every knee bowed down, every vindictive heart was appeased, and sinners hastened to the sacrament of pardon. The three letters (IHS) which represent this Name, became familiar to the faithful. They were everywhere to be seen, carved or engraved or painted. And the Catholic world thus gained a new form by which to express its adoration and love of its Saviour.

Bernardino was a preacher whose eloquence was of Heaven’s inspiring. He was also a distinguished master in the science of sacred things, as is proved by the writings he has left us. We regret not being able, from want of space, to give our readers his words on the greatness of the Paschal mystery, but we cannot withhold from them what he says regarding Jesus appearing to his Blessed Mother after the Resurrection. They will be rejoiced at finding unity of doctrine on this interesting subject existing between the Franciscan School, represented by Saint Bernardino and the School of Saint. Dominic, whose testimony we have already given, on the feast of Saint Vincent Ferrer:

“From the fact of there being no mention made in the Gospel of the visit with which Christ consoled His Mother after His Resurrection, we are not to conclude that this most merciful Jesus — the source of all grace and consolation who was so anxious to gladden His Disciples by His presence — forgot His Mother who He knew had drunk so deeply of the bitterness of His Passion. But it has pleased divine Providence that the Gospel should be silent on this subject, and this for three reasons. In the first place, because of the firmness of Mary’s faith. The confidence which the Virgin-Mother had of her Son rising again, had never faltered, not even by the slightest doubt. This we can readily believe if we reflect on the special grace with which she was filled, she the Mother of the Man-God, the Queen of Angels, and the Mistress of the world. To a truly enlightened mind, the silence of the Scripture on this subject says more than any affirmation could have done. We have learned to know something of Mary by the visit she received from the Angel when the Holy Ghost overshadowed her. We met her again at the foot of the Cross where she, the Mother of Sorrows, stood near her dying Son. If then the Apostle could say: “As you are partakers of the sufferings, so will you be also of the consolation” (2 Corinthians i. 7) —what share must not the Virgin-Mother have had in the joys of the Resurrection? We should hold it as a certain truth that her most sweet Jesus, after His Resurrection, consoled her first of all. The holy Roman Church would seem to express this by celebrating at Saint Mary Major’s the Station of Easter Sunday. Moreover, if from the silence of the Evangelists you would conclude that our Risen Lord did not appear to her first you must go farther and say that He did not appear to her at all, inasmuch as these same Evangelists, when relating the several apparitions, do not mention a single one as made to her. Now such a conclusion as this would savour of impiety.”

In the second place, the silence of the Gospel is explained by the incredulity of men. The object of the Holy Spirit, when dictating the Gospels, was to describe such apparitions as would remove all doubt from carnal-minded men with regard to the Resurrection of Christ. The fact of Mary being his Mother would have weakened her testimony, at least in their eyes. For this reason she was not brought forward as a witness, though, most assuredly, there never was or will be any creature (the humanity of her Son alone excepted) whose assertion better deserved the confidence of every truly pious soul. But the text of the Gospel was not to adduce any testimonies, save such as might be offered to the whole world. As to Jesus’ apparition to His Mother, the Holy Ghost has left it to be believed by those that are enlightened by His light.

In the third place, this silence is explained by the sublime nature of the apparition itself. The Gospel says nothing regarding the Mother of Christ after the Resurrection, and the reason is that her interviews with her Son were so sublime and ineffable that no words could have described them. There are two sorts of visions: one is merely corporal and feeble in proportion, the other is mainly in the soul and is granted only to such as have been transformed. Say, if you will, that Magdalene was the first to have the merely corporal vision provided that you admit that the Blessed Virgin saw, previously to Magdalene, and in a far sublimer way, her Risen Jesus, that she recognised Him, and enjoyed His sweet embraces in her soul more even than in her body.”

*****

How beautiful, O Bernardino, are the rays that form the aureola round the Name of Jesus! How soft their light on that eighth day after His birth when He received this Name! But how dazzling now that this Jesus achieves our salvation, not only by humiliation and suffering, but by the triumph of His Resurrection! You come to us, O Bernardino, in the midst of the Paschal glory of the Name of Jesus. This Name, for which you so lovingly and zealously laboured, gives you to share in its immortal victory. Now, therefore, pour forth upon us, even more abundantly than when you were here on Earth, the treasures of love, admiration and hope of which this divine Name is the source, and cleanse the eyes of our soul that we may, one day, be enabled to join you in contemplating its beauty and magnificence.

Apostle of peace, Italy whose factions were so often quelled by you, may well number you among her protectors. Behold her now a prey to the enemies of Jesus, rebellious against the Church of God and abandoned to her fate. Oh forget not that she is your native land, that she was obedient to your preaching, and that your memory was long most dear to her. Intercede in her favour. Deliver her from her oppressors, and show that when earthly armies fail the hosts of Heaven can always save both cities and countries.

Illustrious son of the great Patriarch of Assisi, the seraphic Order venerates you as one of its main supports. You re-animated it to its primitive observance. Continue now, from Heaven, to protect the work you commenced here on Earth. The Order of Saint Francis is one of the grandest consolations of holy Mother Church. Make this Order for ever flourish, protect it in its trials, give it increase in proportion to the necessities of the faithful, for you are the second Father of this venerable family and your prayers are powerful with the Redeemer whose glorious Name you confessed upon the Earth.

Also on this day according to the ROMAN MARTYROLOGY:

At Rome, on the Via Salaria, the birthday of St. Basilla, virgin, who was of royal race and betrothed to an illustrious personage. As she refused to marry him, he accused her of being a Christian. The emperor Gallienus gave orders that she should accept him or die by the sword. Answering that she had for her spouse the King of kings, she was transpierced with a sword.

At Nimes in France, St. Baudelius, martyr. Being arrested, but refusing to sacrifice to idols and remaining immovable in the faith of Christ, despite blows and tortures, he gained the palm of martyrdom by a precious death.

At Edessa in Syria, the holy martyrs Thalalaeus, Asterius, Alexander and their companions who suffered under the emperor Numerian.

In Thebais, St. Aquila, martyr to the faith, whose body was torn with iron combs.

At Bourges in France, St. Austregisil, bishop and confessor.

At Brescia, St. Anastasius, bishop.

At Pavia, St. Theodore, bishop.

At Rome, St. Plautilla, wife of an ex-consul and mother of the blessed Flavia Domitilla. She was baptised by the blessed Apostle St. Peter and after giving the example of all virtues, rested in peace.

And in other places, many other holy martyrs, confessors and virgins.

Thanks be to God.