4 APRIL – SAINT ISIDORE OF SEVILLE (Bishop and Doctor of the Church)

Isidore, by birth a Spaniard, was an illustrious Doctor of the Church. He was born at Carthagena and his father Severianus was governor of that part of the country. He was solidly trained to piety and learning by his two brothers, Leander, Bishop of Seville, and Fulgentius, Bishop of Carthagena. He was taught Latin, Greek and Hebrew. He was put through a course of canon and civil law, and there was no science or virtue in which he did not excel. While yet a youth, he so courageously combated the Arian heresy which had long before infested the Goths who had entered Spain, that he with difficulty escaped being put to death by the heretics. After the death of Leander, he was, in spite of himself, raised to the episcopal See of Seville by the influence of king Eeccared, and with unanimous consent of both clergy and people. His election was not only confirmed by Apostolic authority, but Saint Gregory the Great, when sending him as usual, the Pallium, is said to have appointed him his own vicar, and that of the Apostolic See throughout all Spain.

 

It would be impossible to describe the virtues of Isidore as Bishop: how firm, humble, patient and merciful; how zealously he laboured for the restoration of Christian morals and ecclesiastical discipline, and how untiring he was in his efforts, both by word and writing, to establish them among his people; and, finally, how he excelled in every virtue. He was a fervent promoter of the monastic life in Spain and built several monasteries. He also built colleges in which he himself applied himself to the teaching the sacred sciences to the many disciples that flocked to him, among whom may be mentioned those two glorious Pontiffs, Ildephonsus Bishop of Toledo, and Braulio Bishop of Saragossa. In a Council held at Seville, he spoke with such power and eloquence that he may be said to have destroyed the heresy of the Acephali who were threatening to destroy the true faith in Spain. So great, indeed, was the universal reputation he had gained for piety and learning, that he had scarcely been dead sixteen years when, in a Council held at Toledo at which 52 bishops were present, Saint Ildephonsus himself among them, he was called the Illustrious Doctor, the new Glory of the Catholic Church, the most learned man who had been seen in those ages, and one whose name should never be mentioned but with great respect.

Saint Braulio not only compared him to Saint Gregory the Great, but said that he looked on him as having been sent by Heaven as a second Saint James the Apostle, to instruct the people of Spain. Isidore wrote a book On Etymologies, and another On Ecclesiastical Offices, and several others of such importance to Christian and ecclesial discipline that Pope Saint Leo IV hesitated not to say, in a letter addressed to the Bishops of Britain, that one ought to adhere to the words of Isidore with that same respect as is shown to those of Jerome and Augustine, as often as a difficult case should arise which could not be settled by Canon Law. Several sentences of his works have been inserted into the body of the Canon Law. He presided over the Fourth Council of Toledo, which is the most celebrated of all those that have been held in Spain. At length, after having driven the Arian heresy out of Spain, he publicly foretold the day of his death, and the devastation of the country by the Saracens. And having governed his See for about forty years, he died at Seville in 636. His body was first buried, as himself had requested, between those of his brother and sister, Leander and Florentina.

Afterwards, Ferdinand I, King of Castille and Leon, purchased it, for a large sum of money from Enetus, the Saracen governor of Seville, and had it translated to Leon. Here, a Church was built in his honour, and the miracles that are wrought by his intercession, have led the people to honour him with great devotion.

Dom Prosper Guéranger:

The Church presents to us today, for our devout admiration, the memory of one of the holiest of her Bishops — Isidore, the Bishop of Seville, the most learned man of his age and, what is a still greater praise, the most zealous patriot and friend of his noble country. Let us study his virtues and confide in his patronage: both will help us to fervour during this holy Season.

Among Christian lands, there is one that has gained for herself the glorious name of the Catholic Kingdom. Towards the close of the seventh century Divine Providence subjected her to a most severe trial by permitting the Saracen hordes to invade her, so that her heroic children had to struggle for eight hundred years for the recovery of their country. Contemporaneously with Spain, Asia, also, and Africa fell under the Mussulman yoke, and have continued in their slavery up to the present day. Whence comes it that Spain has triumphed over her oppressors and that tyranny has never been able to make her children degenerate? The answer is easily given: Spain, at the period of her invasion, was Catholic, and Catholicity was the very spirit of the land: whereas those other nations that yielded themselves slaves to the Saracens were already separated from the Christian Church by heresy or schism. God abandoned them because they had rejected both the truth of Faith, and unity with the Church. They fell an easy prey to the infidel conqueror.

Nevertheless, Spain had incurred an immense risk. The race of the Goths, by their long invasion of her territory, had sowed the seeds of heresy: Arianism had set up its sacrilegious altars in Iberia. But God did not permit this privileged country to be long under the yoke of error. Before the Saracens came upon her, she had been reconciled to the Church, and God had chosen one family to be the glorious instrument in the completion of this great work. Even to this day, the traveller through Andalusia will find the squares of its cities adorned with four statues: they are those of three brothers and a sister: Saint Leander, Bishop of Seville; Saint Isidore, whose feast we are keeping today; Saint Fulgentius, Bishop of Carthagena; and their sister, Saint Florentina, a nun. It was by the zeal and eloquence of Saint Leander that King Reccared and his Goths were converted from Arianism to the Catholic Faith in 589. The learning and piety of our glorious Isidore consolidated the great work. Fulgentius gave it stability by his virtues and erudition, and Florentina co-operated in it by her life of sacrifice and prayer.

Let us unite with the Catholic Kingdom in honouring this family of Saints, and today in a special manner, let us pay the tribute of our devotion to Saint Isidore.

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Faithful Pastor! The Christian people honour your virtues and your services. They rejoice in the recompense with which God has crowned your merits. Hear the prayers that are offered to you during these the days of salvation. When on Earth your vigilance over the flock entrusted to thy care was untiring. Consider us as a part of it, and defend us from the ravenous wolves that cease not to seek our destruction. May your prayers obtain for us that fullness of graces needed for our worthily completing the holy Season which is so near its close. Keep up our courage. Incite us to fervour. Prepare us for the great mysteries we are about to celebrate. We have bewailed our sins, and though feebly, we have done penance for them. The work of our conversion has, therefore, made progress, and now we must perfect it by the contemplation of the Passion and Death of our Redeemer. Assist us, his faithful and loving Servant! Do thou, whose life was ever pure, take sinners under your care, and hear the prayers offered to you on this day by the Church. Look down from Heaven on your beloved Spain which honours thee with such earnest devotion. Revive her ancient ardour of Faith. Restore to her the vigour of Christian morality. Remove from her the tares that have sprung up among the good seed. The whole Church reveres your noble country for her staunch adhesion to the truths of Faith. Pray for her that she may come unhurt from the ordeal she is now being put through, and ever prove herself worthy of that glorious title of The Catholic Kingdom, which you helped her to gain.

Also on this day according to the ROMAN MARTYROLOGY:

At Thessalonica, in the time of the emperor Maximian and the governor Faustinus, the holy martyrs Agathopodes, a deacon, and Theodulus, a lector, who, for the confession of the Christian faith, were thrown into the sea with stones tied to their necks.

At Milan, the demise of St. Ambrose, bishop and confessor, through whose labours, learning and miracles almost all Italy returned to the Catholic faith at the time when the perfidious Arian heresy was widely diffused.

At Constantinople, St. Plato, a monk, who for many years combated with invincible courage the heretics that were breaking sacred images.

In Palestine, the anchoret St. Zozimus, who buried the remains of St. Mary of Egypt.

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

Thanks be to God.

4 APRIL – HOLY SATURDAY

  Dom Prosper Guéranger:

A night has passed over the tomb in which lies buried the body of the Man-God. Death is triumphant in that silent cave, and holds captive Him that gives life to every creature — but His triumph will soon be at an end. The soldiers may watch as best they will, over that grave: they cannot hold Jesus prisoner, as soon as the moment fixed for His Resurrection comes. The holy angels are there, profoundly adoring the lifeless body of Him whose Blood is to reconcile all things, both on earth and in heaven (Colossians i. 20). This body, though for a brief interval, separated from the soul, is still united to the Person of the Son of God. So, likewise, the soul, during its separation from the body, has not, for an instant, lost its union with the Word. The Divinity remains also united with the Blood that lies sprinkled on Calvary, and which, at the moment of the Resurrection of the Man-God, is to enter once more into His sacred veins.

Let us also return to the sepulchre and adore the body of our buried Jesus. Now, at last, we understand what sin has done: by sin death entered into the world, and it passed upon all men (Romans v. 12) Though Jesus knew no sin (2 Corinthians v. 21), yet has He permitted death to have dominion over Him in order that He might make it less bitter to us, and by His Resurrection restore to us that eternal life of which we had been deprived by sin. How gratefully we should appreciate this death of our Jesus! By becoming Incarnate, He became a servant (Philippians ii. 7). His death was a still deeper humiliation. The sight of this tomb in which His body lies lifeless and cold teaches us something far more important than the power of death — it reveals to us the immense, the incomprehensible love of God for man. He knew that we were to gain by His humiliations: the greater His humiliations, the greater our exaltation. This was His principle, and it led Him to what seems like an excess!

Let us, then, love this sacred sepulchre which is to give us life. We have thanked Him for having died for us on the Cross. Let us thank Him, but most feelingly, for having humbled Himself, for our sakes, even to the tomb.

And now let us visit the Holy Mother who has passed the night in Jerusalem going over, in saddest memory the scenes she has witnessed. Her Jesus has been a Victim to every possible insult and cruelty: He has been crucified. His Precious Blood has flowed in torrents from those Five Wounds. He is dead and now lies buried in yonder tomb as though he were but a mere man, yea the most abject of men. How many tears have fallen during these long hours from the eyes of the Daughter of David, and yet her Son has not come back to her! Near her is Magdalene, heart-broken by yesterday’s events, she has no words to tell her grief, for Jesus is gone, and as she thinks forever. The other women, less loved by Jesus than Magdalene, yet most dear to Him, stand around the disconsolate Mother. They have braved every insult and danger in order to remain on Calvary till all was over, and they intend returning there with Magdalene, as soon as the Sabbath is over, to honour the tomb and the body of Jesus.

John, the adopted son of Mary, and the Beloved Disciple of Jesus, is oppressed with sorrow. Others, also, of the Apostles and disciples visit the house of mourning. Peter, penitent and humble, fears not to appear before the Mother of Mercy. Among the disciples are Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus. We may easily imagine the conversation — it is on the sufferings and death of Jesus, and on the ingratitude of the Jews. The Church, in the Seventh Responsory of today’s Tenebrae represents these men as saying: “Behold! how the Just One dies, and there is none that takes it to heart. Iniquity has had its way. He was silent as a Lamb under his shearer, and he opened not his mouth. He was taken away from distress and judgment: but his memory will be in peace.”

Thus speak the men. The women are thinking of their morrow’s visit to the sepulchre. The saintliness of Jesus, His goodness, His power, His sufferings, His death — everything is remembered, except His Resurrection which they had often heard Him say should certainly and speedily take place. Mary alone lives in expectation of His triumph. In her was verified that expression of the Holy Ghost, where, speaking of the Valiant Woman, He says: “Her lamp will not be put out in the night” (Proverbs xxxi. 18) Her courage fails not because she knows that the sepulchre must yield up its Dead, and her Jesus will rise again to life. Saint Paul tells us that our religion is vain unless we have faith in the mystery of our Saviour’s Resurrection — where was this faith on the day after our Lord’s death? In one heart only, and that was Mary’s. As it was her chaste womb that had held within it Him whom heaven and earth cannot contain, so on this day, by her firm and unwavering faith, she resumes within her single self the whole Church. How sacred is this Saturday, which, notwithstanding all its sadness, is such a day of glory to the Mother of Jesus! It is on this account that the Church has consecrated to Mary the Saturday of every week.

Epistle – Colossians iii. 1‒4

Brethren, if you be risen with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is sitting at the right hand of God: mind the things that are above, not the things that are upon the earth. For you are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God. When Christ will appear, who is your life, then you also will appear with Him in glory.

Thanks be to God.

Gospel – Matthew xxviii. 1‒7

In the end of the Sabbath, when it began to dawn towards the first day of the week, came Mary Magdalene and the other Mary to the sepulchre. And behold there was a great earthquake. For an Angel of the Lord descended from heaven, and coming, rolled back the stone, and sat on it. And his countenance was as lightning, and his raiment as snow. And for fear of him, the guards were struck with terror, and became as dead men. And the Angel answering, said to the women: “Fear not you, for I know that you seek Jesus who was crucified. He is not here, for he is risen, as he said. Come, and see the place where the Lord was laid. And going quickly, tell his disciples that he is risen: and behold he will go before you into Galilee: there you will see him. Lo, I have foretold it to you.”

Praise be to you, O Christ.

3 APRIL – GOOD FRIDAY

THE STATIONS OF THE CROSS

 

Dom Prosper Guéranger:

Here commences “The Way of the Cross:” The House of Pilate where our Jesus receives the sentence of death, is the FIRST STATION.

Our Redeemer is consigned by the Governor’s order into the hands of the Jews. The soldiers seize Him, and drag Him from the court. They strip Him of the scarlet cloak and bid Him clothe Himself with His own garments as before the scourging. The cross is ready and they put it on His wounded shoulders. The place where the new Isaac loads himself with the wood of his sacrifice, is the SECOND STATION.

To Calvary! This is the word of command, and it is obeyed: soldiers, executioners, priests, scribes, people — these form the procession. Jesus moves slowly on, but after a few paces, exhausted by the loss of Blood and by his Sufferings, he falls under the weight of His cross. It is the first fall, and marks the THIRD STATION. He falls, not so much by the weight of His cross, as by that of our sins!

The soldiers roughly lay their hands on Him, and force Him up again. Scarcely has He resumed his steps, than He is met by His afflicted Mother. The Valiant Woman whose love is stronger than death, was not to be absent at such an hour as this. She must see her Son, follow Him, keep close to Him, even to His last breath. No tongue could tell the poignancy of her grief. The anxiety she has endured during the last few days has exhausted her strength. All the sufferings of Jesus have been made known to her by a divine revelation. She has shared each one of them with Him. But now she cannot endure to be absent and makes her way through the crowd. The sacrifice is near its consummation: no human power could keep such a Mother from her Jesus. The faithful Magdalene is by her side, bathed in tears. John, Mary (the mother of James the Less) and Salome, (the mother of John) are also with her: they weep for their Divine Master, she for her Son. Jesus sees her, but cannot comfort her, for all this is but the beginning of what He is to endure. Oh, what an additional suffering was this for His loving Heart, to see His Mother agonising with sorrow! The executioners observe the Mother of their Victim, but it would be too much mercy in them to allow her to speak to Him. She may follow, if she please, with the crowd. It is more than she could have expected, to have been allowed this Meeting, which we venerate as the FOURTH STATION of the Way of the Cross.

But from this to the last there is a long distance, for there is a law that criminals are to be executed outside the city walls. The Jews are afraid of Jesus expiring before reaching the place of sacrifice. Just at this time, they behold a man coming from the country: his name is Simon of Cyrene. They order him to help Jesus to carry His cross. It is out of a motive of cruelty to our Lord, but it gives Simon the honour of sharing with Him the fatigue of bearing the instrument of the world’s salvation. The spot where this happens is the FIFTH STATION.

A little further on, an incident occurs which strikes the executioners themselves with astonishment. A woman makes her way through the crowd, and setting the soldiers at defiance, comes close up to Jesus. She holds her veil in her hands, and with it respectfully wipes the face of our Lord, for it is covered with blood, sweat and spittle. She loves Jesus and cares not what may happen to her, so she can offer Him this slight comfort. Her love receives its reward: she finds her Veil miraculously impressed with the likeness of Jesus’ face. This courageous act of Veronica marks the SIXTH STATION of the Way of the Cross.

Jesus grows weaker at each step: He falls a second time. It is the SEVENTH STATION. Again do the soldiers violently raise Him up, and push Him along the road. It is easy to follow in His footsteps, for a streak of blood shows where He has passed.

A group of women is following close behind the soldiers. They heed not the insults heaped on them. Their compassion makes them brave. But the last brutal treatment shown to Jesus is more than they can bear in silence. They utter a cry of pitiful lamentation. Our Saviour is pleased with these women, who, in spite of the weakness of their sex, are showing more courage than all the men of Jerusalem put together. He affectionately turns towards them, and tells them what a terrible chastisement is to follow the crime they are now witnessing. The chief Priests and Scribes recognise the dignity of the Prophet that had so often spoken to them: they listen with indignation, and, at this the EIGHTH STATION of the Great Way, they hear these words: “Daughters of Jerusalem! Weep not over me, but weep for yourselves and for your children. For behold the days will come when they will say: Blessed are the barren, and the womb that have not borne, and the paps that have not given suck. Then will they begin to say to the mountains: Fall upon us! And to the hills: Cover us!”

At last, they reach the foot of the hill. Calvary is steep, but is the place of Jesus’ sacrifice. He begins the ascent, but falls a third time: the hallowed spot is counted as the NINTH STATION.

A third time the soldiers force Jesus to rise and continue His painful journey to the summit of the hill, which is to serve as the altar for the holocaust that is to surpass all others in holiness and power. The executioners seize the cross and lay it on the ground, preparatory to their nailing the Divine Victim to it. According to a custom practised both by the Romans and the Jews, a cup containing wine and myrrh is offered to Jesus. This drink, which had the bitterness of gall, was given as a narcotic, in order to deaden, in some degree, the feeling of the criminal, and lessen his pain. Jesus raises to His lips the cup, which was proffered him rather from custom than from any idea of kindness, but He drinks not its contents, for He wishes to feel the full intensity of the sufferings He accepts for our sakes. Then the executioners, having violently stripped Him of his garments which had fastened to His wounds, lead Him to the cross. The place where He was thus stripped of His garments, and where the cup of bitter drink was presented to Him, is venerated as the TENTH STATION of the Way of the Cross.

The executioners lead Jesus to the spot where the cross is lying on the ground: it is the ELEVENTH STATION. Like a lamb destined for a holocaust, He lays Himself on the wood that is to serve as the altar. They violently stretch His hands and feet to the places marked for them, and fasten them with nails to the wood. The Blood gushes forth from these four life-giving founts, in which our souls are to find their purification. This is the fourth Blood shedding. Mary hears the strokes of the hammer, and every blow wounds her heart. Magdalene’s grief is intensified by her incapability of helping her tortured Master.

Jesus is heard to speak: it is His first Word on Calvary: “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do!” Infinite goodness of our Creator! He has come into this world, which is the work of His hands, and men nail Him to a cross: and on that cross He prays for them, and in His prayer He seems to excuse them! The Victim is fastened to the wood on which He is to die. But the cross is not to be left, as it is, lying on the ground. Isaias has foretold that the Root of Jesse is to be raised up as a Standard of all nations. Yes, our Crucified God must be raised up, and, by that elevation, purify the polluted atmosphere of this world, infested as it is by the spirits of wickedness. He is the Mediator between God and men. He is our High Priest, our Intercessor: He is lifted up between earth and heaven, making reconciliation between them.

Not far from the spot where the cross now lies on the ground, they have made a hole in the rock, in which to fix it, so that all may have a sight of Him that hangs upon it. It is the TWELFTH STATION. It needs a great effort to raise and plant the Tree of the world’s Redemption. The soldiers lift it up, and then with impatient vehemence let it fall into the hole. The shock tears the four wounds. Oh! see Him now exposed naked before the multitude, this good Jesus who is come to clothe the nakedness that sin has caused in us! The soldiers have done their work, and now they claim His garments. They tear them into four lots, and each takes a share: but a strange feeling induces them to respect His tunic which was without a seam, and, as we are told by a pious tradition, was woven by the hand of His Blessed Mother.” Let us not cut it,” say they, “but let us cast lots for it, whose it shall be.” It is a symbol of the unity of the Church, which is never to be broken under any pretext whatsoever. Above our Redeemer’s head there are written these words, in Hebrew, Greek and Latin: Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews. The people read this inscription, and say it to each other. Without wishing it, they are once more proclaiming the royalty of the Son of David. The enemies of Jesus are quick enough to perceive this: they hasten to Pilate and beseech him to have the title changed. The only answer he deigns to make them is: “What I have written, I have written.”

His enemies pass before Him, making insulting gestures, and saying: “You that destroy the temple of God, and in three days rebuilds it, save yourself! If you be the Son of God, come down from the cross!” The Chief Priests and the Ancients continue the blasphemy, but adding their own emphasis to it: “He saved others. Himself he cannot save! If he be King of Israel, let him now come down from the cross, and we will believe in him. He trusted in God. Let Him now deliver him, if He will have him, for he said: ‘I am the Son of God.” The two thieves, who were crucified with Him, insult Him in like manner. It is the Sixth hour, or, as we call it, midday. The sun immediately withdraws his light, and darkness covers the face of the earth. The stars appear in the heavens, and a gloomy silence pervades throughout the world. All is silent as death. The thief whose cross was at the right of Jesus’, feels himself touched with repentance and hope. Turning to his companion, he upbraids him for what he had been saying: “Do you not fear God, seeing you are under the same condemnation? And we, indeed, justly, for we receive the due reward of our deeds: but this Man has done no evil.” Turning his head towards our Saviour’s cross, he thus prays to Him: “Lord! Remember me, when you will come into your kingdom!” Jesus is pleased to find in this poor criminal the faith he had vainly sought for from Israel: He thus grants his humble prayer: “Amen I say to you, this day you will be with me me in Paradise.” It is the second of Jesus’ Words on the Cross. The happy penitent is filled with joy, and awaits in patient silence the blissful moment when death will set him free.

Meanwhile Mary draws near to the cross on which hangs her Son. She recognises Him in spite of all the darkness: her love was her light. The eclipse has dispersed the crowd. All is silent and the soldiers can find no reason for keeping the afflicted Mother from approaching her Son. Jesus looks with tenderest affection on Mary. The sight of her sorrow is a new grief to His sacred Heart. He is dying, and His Mother cannot console or embrace Him. Magdalene, too, is there, distracted with grief. Those feet, which, a few days before, she had anointed with her most precious perfumes, are now pierced through with nails, and the Blood is clotting round the wounds. They are near enough to the ground for her to reach and bathe them with her tears,; but her tears cannot stay the pain. She is come to see the Death of Him that forgave her all her sins. John, the Beloved Disciple, the only Apostle that has followed Jesus to Calvary, is overwhelmed with sorrow. He thinks of the favour bestowed on him last night, when he rested his head on the breast of this dear Master, and the remembrance intensifies his grief. He grieves for the Son, he grieves for the Mother. He little knows the reward he is soon to receive for this his love! Mary of Cleophas has followed the Holy Mother up to the foot of the Cross. At some distance off there stands a group of women, who loved Jesus, and had ministered to Him during His life. The silence is again broken: Jesus speaks His third Word, and it is to His Mother: but He does not call her by that dear name, for it would redouble her pain: “Woman!” He says, “behold your son!” Then looking upon John, He says to him: “Son! Behold your Mother!” What an exchange was here for Mary, but what a blessing it brought upon John, and through him to all mankind! The Mother of God was made our Mother!

It is close upon the Ninth hour — the third hour after midday — and it is the one fixed by the eternal decree of God for the Death of Jesus. The feeling of abandonment which had caused our Redeemer to suffer an agony in the Garden now returns. He has taken on Himself the sins of mankind: the whole weight of God’s justice now presses on His soul. The bitter Chalice of God’s anger, which He is drinking to the very dregs, extorts from His lips this plaintive cry: “My God! My God! Why have you forsaken me?” It is the fourth Word. He does not say “My Father!” He speaks as though He were but a poor sinner trembling before the judgement seat of God. A burning thirst elicits from Him the fifth Word: “I thirst,” upon which one of the soldiers presents to His dying lips a sponge full of vinegar,; and this is all the refreshment He receives from that earth on which He daily pours a heavenly dew, and to which He has given ever-flowing fountains and rivers. The moment is at length come, when Jesus is to yield up His soul to His Father. He has fulfilled every single prophecy that had been foretold of Him, even that of His receiving vinegar when parched with thirst. He therefore speaks this His Sixth Word: “It is consummated.” He has, then, but to die.

His Death is to put the finishing stroke to our Redemption, as the Prophet assures us. But He must die as God. This man, worn out by suffering, exhausted by His three hours’ agony, whose few words were scarce audible to them that stood round His cross, now utters a loud cry which is heard at a great distance off, and fills the Centurion, who commands the guard, with fear and astonishment: “Father! Into your hands I commend my spirit!” This is His Seventh and last Word, after which He bows down His head and dies. At this awful moment, the sun re-appears in the heavens, and darkness ceases: but the earth is shaken by an earthquake, and the rocks are split. The space between the cross of Jesus and that of the bad thief is violently rent asunder, and the opening is shown to this day. The Jewish Priests, who are in the Temple, are terrified at seeing the Veil which hides the Holy of Holies torn from top to bottom: the time for figures and types is over, the great realities are come. Many holy personages arise from their graves, and return to life. But it is in Hell itself that the Death of Jesus is most felt. Satan now sees who He is, against whom he has excited all this persecution. He sees,that the Blood which he has caused to be shed has saved mankind and opened the gates of heaven. This Jesus, whom he dared to tempt in the desert, he now recognises as the Son of God, whose Precious Blood has purchased for men a Redemption that was refused to the rebel Angels.

An hour has scarcely elapsed since Jesus died, when a troop of soldiers, led on by a centurion, come up the hill, breaking the silence with their tramp and voices. They are sent by Pilate. The Chief Priests lost no time in returning to the Governor’s house: and he, at their request, has sent these men to break the legs of the three crucified, detach them from their crosses, and bury them before night. The Jews count the days of their week from sunset, so that the great Sabbath-Day is close upon them. The soldiers come to the crosses. They begin with the two thieves, and put an end to their sufferings and life by breaking their legs. Dimas dies in saintly dispositions, for the promise made to him by Jesus is his consolation: his companion dies blaspheming. The soldiers now advance towards Jesus: Mary’s heart sinks within her: what fresh outrage are these men about to offer to the lifeless and bleeding body of her Son? On inspection, they find that He is dead but that no doubt may be left, and no blame for neglect of orders fall upon them, one of the company raises up his spear and thrusts it into the right Side of the divine Victim, even to the Heart, and when he draws his spear out, there gushes forth a stream of Water and Blood. This is the fifth Blood shedding, and the fifth Wound inflicted on our Jesus on the cross. The soul of the Holy Mother is pierced by this cruel spear, and they that are with her redouble their sobs and tears. How is this terrible day to end? Who will take the body of her Jesus from His cross? Who will enable her to give it a last embrace? The soldiers return to the city, and with them Longinus, he that pierced Jesus’ side, but is already feeling within himself the workings of that faith, for which he is one day to lay down his life as a martyr. But two other men are seen coming towards the cross: they are not enemies, they are faithful disciples of Jesus: one is the wealthy counsellor Joseph of Arimathea, the other is Nicodemus, a ruler among the Jews. Mary gratefully welcomes their arrival: they are come to take the body of Jesus from the cross and give it an honourable burial. They have the requisite authorisation, for Pilate has given permission to Joseph to take the body of Jesus. They lose no time in doing so, for the sun is near to setting, and then begins the Sabbath. Within a few yards from where stands the cross, at the foot of the hillock which forms the summit of Calvary, there is a garden, and in this garden a sepulchre cut into the rock. No one has yet been buried in this tomb. It is to be Jesus’ sepulchre.

To here Joseph and Nicodemus carry the sacred body: they lay it on a slab of stone near to the sepulchre. It is here that Mary receives into her arms the body of her Jesus: she kisses each wound and bathes it with her tears. John, Magdalene, and all that are present, compassionate the holy Mother. She resigns it into the hands of the two disciples, for they have but a few moments left. Upon this slab, which even to this day, is called the Stone of the Anointing, and designates the THIRTEENTH STATION of the way of the Cross, Joseph unfolds a piece of linen, and Nicodemus, whose servants have brought a hundred pound weight of myrrh and aloes, makes every arrangement for the embalming. They reverently wash the body, for it was covered with Blood. They remove the Crown of Thorns from the Head and, after embalming it with their perfumes, they wrap it in the Winding-Sheet. Mary gives a last embrace to the remains of her Jesus, who is now hidden under these swathing bands of the tomb.

Joseph and Nicodemus take the body into their arms, and enter the sepulchre. It is the FOURTEENTH STATION of the Way of the Cross. It consists of two open cells. It is into the one on the right hand that they enter, and there in a cavity cut into the side of the rock, they lay the body of Jesus. They then retire and, with the assistance of their servants, they close up the entrance of the sepulchre with a large square stone, which Pilate, at the request of the Jews, orders to he fastened with his own seal, and guarded by a patrol of soldiers. The sun is just setting. The great Sabbath with its severe legal prescriptions is just about to begin. Magdalene and the other women carefully notice the place where Jesus’ body has been laid, and return with all speed to Jerusalem that they may have time to purchase and prepare a quantity of materials for a more careful embalming of the body early on the Sunday morning, that is, immediately after the Sabbath is over. The holy Mother takes a farewell look at the tomb in which lies her Jesus, and then follows the rest into the city. John, her adopted son, keeps close to her. He is the guardian of Her, who, without ceasing to be Mother of God, has been made, also, Mother of men.

Faithful Cross, above all others.
One and only noble Tree,
None in foliage, none in blossom,
None in fruit thy peer may be;

Sweetest Wood, and sweetest Iron;
Sweetest weight is hung on thee.
Sing, my tongue, the glorious battle,
Sing the last, the dread affray;

O’er the Cross, the Victor’s trophy,
high triumphal lay,
How, the pains of death enduring,
Earth’s Redeemer won the day.

He, our Maker, deeply grieving
That the first-made Adam fell,
When he ate the fruit forbidden
Whose reward was death and hell,

Marked e’en then this Tree the ruin
Of the first tree to dispel.
Thus the work for our salvation,
He ordained to be done;

To the traitor’s art opposing,
Art yet deeper than his own;
Thence the remedy procuring
When the fatal wound begun.

Therefore, when at length the fulness
Of the appointed time was come,
He was sent, the world’s Creator,
From the Father’s heavenly home,
And was found in human fashion,
Offspring of the Virgin’s womb.

Lo! he lies, an infant weeping,
Where the narrow manger stands,
While the Mother-Maid his members,
Wraps in mean and lowly bands,
And the swaddling clothes is winding
Round his helpless feet and hands.

Thirty years among us dwelling,
His appointed time fulfilled,
Born for this, he meets his Passion,
For that this he freely willed:
On the Cross the Lamb is lifted,
Where his Life-Blood shall be spilled.

He endured the nails, the spitting,
Vinegar, and spear, and reed;
From that Holy Body broken
Blood and Water forth proceed:

Earth and stars, and sky and ocean.
By that flood from stain are freed.
Faithful Cross! above all other,
One and only noble Tree
None in foliage, none in blossom,
None in fruit thy peers may be:

Sweetest Wood and sweetest Iron!
Sweetest weight is hung on thee.
Bend thy boughs, O tree of Glory!
Thy relaxing sinews bend;
For a while the ancient rigor,
That thy birth bestowed, suspend;
And the King of heavenly beauty
On thy bosom gently tend.

Thou alone wast counted worthy
This world’s ransom to uphold;
For a shipwrecked race preparing
Harbor, like the ark of old;
With the Sacred Blood anointed
From the smitten Lamb that rolled.

To the Trinity be glory,
Everlasting, as is meet;
Equal to the Father, equal
To the Son, and Paraclete:
Trinal Unity, whose praises
All created things!

2 APRIL – HOLY (MAUNDY) THURSDAY

 

Dom Prosper Guéranger:

This is the first day of the Azymes, or Feast of the Unleavened Bread. At sunset the Jews must eat the Pasch in Jerusalem. Jesus is still in Bethany, but He will return to the city before the hour for the Paschal supper. The Law commands this and, until He has abrogated the Law by the shedding of His Blood, He wishes to observe its ordinances. He therefore sends two of His disciples to get everything ready for the Pasch, without, however, telling them the great mystery with which it is to terminate.

We who know it, and that it was at this Last Supper that was instituted the Sacrament of the Eucharist, we can understand why He sends Peter and John in preference to any of the other disciples to prepare what is needed (Luke xxii. 8). Peter, who was the first to confess the Divinity of Jesus, represents Faith, and John, who leaned upon the breast of the Man-God, represents Love. The mystery which is to be instituted at tonight’s Supper, is revealed to Love by Faith. It is this that Jesus would have us learn from His choice of the two Apostles, but they themselves see not the intention of their Master.

Jesus, who knew all things, tells them by what sign they are to know the house which He intends to honour with His presence: they have but to follow a man who they will see carrying a pitcher of water. The house to which this man is going belongs to a rich Jew who recognises Jesus as the Messiah. The two Apostles apprise him of their Master’s wishes and immediately he puts at their disposal a large and richly furnished room. It was fitting that the place where the most august mystery was to he instituted should he something above the common. This room where the reality was to he substituted for all the ancient figures, was far superior to the Temple of Jerusalem. In it was to be erected the first altar for the offering up of the clean oblation, foretold by the Prophet (Malachi i. 11): in it was to commence the Christian priesthood. In it, finally, fifty days later on, the Church of Christ, collected together and visited by the Holy Ghost, was to make herself known to the world and promulgate the new and universal Covenant of God with men. This favoured sanctuary of our faith is still venerated on Mount Sion.

During the course of the day, Jesus has entered Jerusalem with the rest of His disciples. He has found all things prepared. The Paschal Lamb, after being first presented in the Temple, has been brought to the house where Jesus is to celebrate the Supper: it is prepared, together with the wild lettuce and the unleavened bread. In a few hours, the Divine Master and His disciples will be standing round the table, their loins girt, and staves in their hands. And, for the last time, they will observe the solemn rite prescribed by God to His people when they first went forth from Egypt.

Jesus is in the Supper chamber, where the Paschal Lamb is to be eaten. All the Apostles are with Him. Judas is there, also, but his crime is not known to the rest. Jesus approaches the table on which the Lamb is served. His disciples stand around Him. The ceremonies prescribed by God to Moses are religiously observed. At the beginning of the repast, Jesus speaks these words to His Apostles: “With desire I have desired to eat this Pasch with you, before I suffer” (Luke xxii. 15). In saying this, He does not imply that the Pasch of this year is intrinsically better than those that have preceded it, but that it is dearer to Him, inasmuch as it is to give rise to the institution of the new Pasch, which He has prepared for mankind, and which Hhe is now going to give them as His last gift, for as Saint John says, “having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end” (John xiii. 1)

During the repast, Jesus, who reads the hearts of all men, utters these words which cause great consternation among the disciples: “Amen I say to you, that one of you is about to betray me: he that dips his hand with me in the dish, he will betray me” (Matthew xxvi. 21, 23). The sadness with which He speaks is enough to soften any heart. And Judas who knows his Master’s goodness, feels that they imply a merciful pardon, if he will but ask it. But no: the passion of avarice has enslaved his soul, and he, like the rest of the Apostles, says to Jesus: “Is it I, Rabbi?” Jesus answers him in a whisper, in order not to compromise him before his brethren: “You have said it.” But Judas yields not. He intends to remain with Jesus until the hour comes for betraying Him. Thus the august mystery, which is on the point of being celebrated, is to be insulted by his presence!

The legal repast is over. It is followed by a feast, which again brings the disciples around their Divine Master. It was the custom in the East that guests should repose two and two on couches round the table. These have been provided by the disciple who has placed his house at Jesus’ service. John is on the same couch as Jesus, so that it is easy for him to lean his head on his Master’s breast. Peter is on the next couch, on the other side of Jesus, who is thus between the two disciples whom He had sent in the morning to prepare the Pasch and who, as we have already observed, represent Faith and Love. This second repast is a sorrowful one, in consequence of Jesus having told the guests that one of them is a traitor. The innocent and affectionate John is overwhelmed with grief, and seeks consolation on the Heart of his dear Lord, whom someone is about to deliver to His enemies. But the Apostles little expect a third Supper, Jesus has not told them of His intention. But He had made a promise, and He would fulfil it before His Passion. Speaking one day to the people, He had said: “I am the Living Bread which came down from heaven: if any man eat of this Bread, he will live forever, and the Bread that I will give, is my Flesh for the life of the world. My Flesh is meat indeed, and my Blood is drink indeed. He that eats my Flesh and drinks my Blood, abides in me, and I in him” (John vi. 51‒57).

The time has come for the fulfillment of this His loving promise. But as it was both His Flesh and His Blood that He promised us, He waited till the time of His sacrifice. His Passion has begun. He is sold to his enemies. His life is already in their hands. He may at once, therefore, offer Himself in sacrifice, and give to His disciples the very Flesh and Blood of the Victim. As soon as the second repast was over, Jesus suddenly rises and, to the astonishment of His Apostles, takes off His upper garment, girds Himself as a servant with a towel, pours water into a basin, and prepares to wash the feet of the guests. It was the custom in the East to wash one’s feet before taking part in a feast. It was considered as the very extreme of hospitality when the master of the house himself did this service to his guest. Jesus is about to regale His Apostles with a Divine Banquet. He wishes to treat them with every possible mark of welcome and attention. But in this, as in every other action of His, there is a fund of instruction: He would teach us, by what He is now doing, how great is the purity with which we should approach the Holy Table. He that is washed, says He, needs not but to wash his feet, as though He would say: “The holiness of this Table is such, that they who come to it, should not only be free from grievous sins, but they should moreover strive to cleanse their souls from those lesser faults, which come from contact with the world, and are like the dust that covers the feet of one that walks on the highway.” We will explain further on, the other teachings conveyed by this action of our Lord.

It is with Peter, the future head of His Church, that Jesus begins. The Apostle protests. He declares that he will never permit his Master to humble Himself so low as this, but he is obliged to yield. The other Apostles (who, as Peter himself, are reclining on their couches), receive the same mark of love: Jesus comes to each of them in turn, and washes their feet. Judas is not excepted: he has just received a second warning from his merciful Master, for Jesus, addressing himself to all the Apostles, said to them: “You are clean, but not all” (John xiii. 10), but the reproach produced no effect on this hardened heart. Having finished washing the feet of the Twelve, Jesus resumes His place, side by side with John. Then taking a piece of the unleavened bread that had remained over from the feast, He raises his eyes to heaven, blesses the bread, breaks it, and distributes it to His disciples, saying to them: “Take and eat. This is my Body” (Matthew xxvi. 26). The Apostles take the bread which is now changed into the Body of their Divine Master. They eat, and Jesus is now not only with them, but in them. But, as this sacred mystery is not only the most holy of the Sacraments, but, moreover, a true sacrifice. And as a sacrifice requires the shedding of blood, our Jesus takes the cup, and changing the wine into His own Blood, he passes it round to His disciples, saying to them “Drink you all, of this, for this is my Blood of the new testament, which will be shed for many, to remission of sins” (Matthew xxvi. 27, 28). The Apostles drink from the sacred chalice thus proffered them. When it comes to Judas, he too partakes of it, but he drinks his own damnation, as he ate his own judgement, when he received the Bread of Life (1 Corinthians xi. 29). Jesus, however, mercifully offers the traitor another grace by saying, as he gives the cup to His disciples: “The hand of him that betrays me is with me on the table” (Luke xxii. 21).

Peter is struck by Jesus thus frequently alluding to the crime which is to be committed by one of the Twelve. He is determined to find out who the traitor is. Not daring himself to ask Jesus, at whose right hand He is sitting, he makes a sign to John, who is on the other side, and begs him to put the question. John leans on Jesus’ breast, and says to Him in a whisper: “Lord, who is it?” Jesus answers him in an equally suppressed tone: “He to whom I will reach bread dipped.” And having taken one of the pieces of bread that remained over from the repast, He dipped it and gave it to Judas. It was one more grace offered and refused, for the Evangelist adds: “And after the morsel, Satan entered into him”(John xiii. 27). Jesus again addresses him, saying: “That which you do, do quickly” (John xiii. 27) The wretch then leaves the room, and sets about the perpetration of his crime.

Such is the history of the Last Supper, of which we celebrate the anniversary on this day. But there is one circumstance of the deepest interest to us, and to which we have so far only made an indirect allusion. The institution of the Holy Eucharist, both as a Sacrament and Sacrifice, is followed by another — the institution of a new Priesthood. How could our Saviour have said: “Except you eat the Flesh of the Son of Man, and drink his Blood, you will not have life in you” (John vi. 54) unless He had resolved to establish a ministry on earth by which He would renew, even to the end of time, the great mystery He thus commands us to receive? He begins it today, in the Cenacle. The twelve Apostles are the first to partake of it: but observe what He says to them: “Do this for a commemoration of me.” By these words He gives them power to change bread into His Body, and wine into His Blood, and this sublime power will be perpetuated in the Church by holy Ordination, even to the end of the world. Jesus will continue to operate, by the ministry of mortal and sinful men, the mystery of the Last Supper. By thus enriching His Church with the one and perpetual Sacrifice, He also gives us the means of abiding in Him, for He gives us as He promised, the Bread of heaven.

Today, then, we keep the anniversary, not only of the Institution of the Holy Eucharist, but, also, of the equally wonderful Institution of the Christian Priesthood.

Epistle – 1 Corinthians xi. 20‒32

Brethren, when you come together therefore into one place, it is not now to eat the Lord’s supper; for everyone takes before his own supper to eat: and one indeed is hungry, and another is drunk. What, have you not houses to eat and drink in? Or do you despise the church of God, and put them to shame that have not? What shall I say to you? Do I praise you? In this I praise you not. For I have received of the Lord that which also I delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus, the same night in which He was betrayed, took bread and giving thanks, broke it and said, “Take and eat: this is my body which will be delivered for you. Do this for the commemoration of me.” In like manner also the chalice, after He had supped, saying, “This chalice is the New Testament in my blood; do this, as often as you will drink, for the commemoration of me.” For as often as you will eat this bread, and drink this chalice, you will show the death of the Lord until He comes. Therefore, whoever will eat this bread, or drink the chalice of the Lord unworthily, he will be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord. But let a man prove himself; and so let him eat of that bread, and drink of the chalice. For he that eats and drinks unworthily, eats and drinks judgment to himself; not discerning the body of the Lord. Therefore are there many infirm and weak among you, and many sleep. But if we would judge ourselves, we should not be judged: but while we are judged, we are chastised by the Lord, that we be not condemned with this world.

Thanks be to God.

Dom Prosper Guéranger:

After having rebuked the Christians of Corinth for the abuses into which they had fallen at the feasts called Agape, which had been introduced by a spirit of fraternal charity, but were soon abolished, the holy Apostle relates the history of the Last Supper. His account, which corresponds throughout with that given by the Evangelists, rests on the testimony of our Blessed Saviour Himself, who deigned to appear to him and instruct him in person after his conversion. The Apostle does not omit to give the words by which our Lord empowered His Apostles to renew what He Himself had done: He tells us, that as often as the priest consecrates the Body and Blood of Christ, he shows the death of the Lord, thus expressing the oneness there is between the Sacrifice of the Cross and that of the Altar. The consequence to be drawn from this teaching is evident. It is contained in these words of the Apostle: “Let a man prove himself, and so let him eat of that bread and drink of the chalice.” What could be more just than that having to be initiated in so intimate a manner to the Mystery of the Redemption, and contract so close a union with the Divine Victim, we should banish from our hearts sin and affection to sin? “He that eats my Flesh and drinks my Blood, abides in me, and I in him,” says our Lord (John vi. 57). Could there be a closer union? God and man abiding in each other! Oh how carefully ought we not to purify our soul, and render our will conformable with the will of Jesus, before approaching this Divine Banquet to which He invites us! Let us beseech Him to prepare us Himself, as He did His Apostles, by washing their feet. He will grant us our request, not only today, but as often as we go to Holy Communion, provided we are docile to His grace.

Gospel – John xiii. 1‒15

Before the festival day of the Passover, Jesus knowing that His hour had come that He should pass out of this world to the Father, having loved His own who were in the world, He loved them until the end. And when supper was done (the devil having now put into the heart of Judas Iscariot, the son of Simon, to betray Him), knowing that the Father had given Him all things into His hands, and that He came from God, and goes to God; He rising from supper and laying aside his garments, and having taken a towel, He girded Himself and after that He put water into a basin and began to wash the feet of the disciples, and to wipe them with the towel with which He was girded. He came therefore to Simon Peter. And Peter said to Him, “Lord, you will wash my feet?” Jesus answered, and said to him, “What I do you know not now, but you will know hereafter.” Peter said to Him, “You will never wash my feet.” Jesus answered him, “If I wash you not, you will have no part with me.” Simon Peter said to Him, “Lord, not only my feet, but also my hands and my head.” Jesus said to him, “He that is washed needs not but to wash his feet and is clean wholly. And you are clean, but not all.” For He knew who he was that would betray Him. Therefore he said, “You are not all clean.” Then after He had washed their feet and taken His garments, having sat down again, He said to them, “Do you know what I have done to you? You call me Master and Lord; and you say well, for so I am: if then I, being your Lord and Master, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet; for I have given you an example, that as I have done to you, so you are to do also.”

Praise be to you, O Christ. 

Dom Prosper Guéranger:

Our Saviour’s washing the feet of His disciples before permitting them to partake of His Divine Mystery conveys an instruction to us. The Apostle has just been telling us that we should prove ourselves: and here we have Jesus saying to His disciples: “You are clean.” “It is true,” He adds: “but not all” just as the Apostle assures us that there are some who render themselves guilty of the Body and Blood of the Lord. God forbid we should ever be of the number! Let us prove ourselves. Let us sound the depths of our conscience before approaching the Holy Table. Mortal sin, and the affection to mortal sin, would change the Bread of Life into a deadly poison for our souls. But, if respect of the holiness of God, who is about to enter within us by Holy Communion, should make us shudder at the thought of our receiving Him in the state of mortal sin, which robs the soul of the image of God and gives her that of Satan — ought not that same respect urge us to purify our souls from venial sins, which dim the beauty of grace? He, says our Saviour, that is washed, needs not but to wash his feet. The feet are those earthly attachments which so often lead us to the brink of sin. Let us watch over our senses and the affections of our hearts. Let us wash away these stains by a sincere confession, by penance, by sorrow and by humility, that thus we may worthily receive the Adorable Sacrament, and derive from it the fulness of its power and grace.

1 APRIL – WEDNESDAY OF HOLY WEEK

Dom Prosper Guéranger:

On this day in the Roman Church was held the sixth Scrutiny for the admission of catechumens to Baptism. Those upon whom there had been previous doubts were now added to the number of the chosen ones if they were found worthy. There were two Lessons read in the Mass, as on the day of the great Scrutiny, the Wednesday of the fourth Week of Lent. As usual, the catechumens left the church after the Gospel, but, as soon as the Holy Sacrifice was over they were brought back by the Door-Keeper, and one of the priests addressed them in these words: “On Saturday next, the Eve of Easter, at such an hour, you will assemble in the Lateran Basilica, for the seventh Scrutiny. You will then recite the Symbol which you must have learned, and lastly, you will receive by God’s help the sacred laver of regeneration. Prepare yourselves zealously and humbly by persevering fasts and prayers in order that, having been buried, by this holy Baptism, together with Jesus Christ, you may rise again with Him to life everlasting. Amen.”

Lesson – Isaias lxii. 11, lxiii. 1‒7

Thus says the Lord God: “Tell the daughter of Sion: Behold your Saviour comes: behold his reward is with him. Who is this that comes from Edom, with dyed garments from Bosra, this beautiful one in his robe, walking in the greatness of his strength? I, that speak justice, and am a defender to save. Why then is your apparel red, and your garments like them that tread in the wine-press? I have trodden the wine-press alone, and of the Gentiles there is not a man with me. I have trampled on them in my indignation, and have trodden them down in my wrath, and their blood is sprinkled on my garments, and I have stained all my apparel. For the day of vengeance is in my heart, the year of my redemption is come. I looked about, and there was none to help. I sought, and there was none to give aid, and my own arm has saved me, and my indignation itself has helped me. And I have trodden down the people in my wrath, and made them drunk in my indignation and have brought down their strength to the earth. I will remember the tender mercies of the Lord, the praise of the Lord, for all that the Lord has bestowed on us.”

Thanks be to God.

Dom Prosper Guéranger:

How terrible is this our Defender, who tramples His enemies beneath His feet, as they that tread in the wine-press so that their blood is sprinkled on His garment! But is not this the fittest time for us to proclaim His power, now that He is being treated with ignominy, and sold to His enemies by one of His disciples? These humiliations will soon pass away: He will rise in glory, and His might will be shown by the chastisements with which He will crush them that now persecute Him. Jerusalem will stone them that will preach in His name. She will be a cruel step-mother to those true Israelites, who, docile to the teaching of the Prophets, have recognised Jesus as the promised Messiah. The synagogue will seek to stifle the Church in her infancy, but no sooner will the Church, shaking the dust from her feet, turn from Jerusalem to the Gentiles, than the vengeance of Christ will fall on the city which bought, betrayed and crucified Him. Her citizens will have to pay dearly for these crimes. We learn from the Jewish historian, Josephus (who was an eye-witness to the siege), that the fire which was raging in one of the streets, was quenched by the torrents of their blood. Thus were fulfilled the threats pronounced by our Lord against this faithless city as he sat on Mount Olivet the day after his triumphant entry.

And yet, the destruction of Jerusalem was but a faint image of the terrible destruction which is to befall the world at the last day. Jesus, who is now despised and insulted by sinners, will then appear on the clouds of heaven, and reparation will be made for all these outrages. Now He suffers Himself to be betrayed, scoffed at, and spit upon, but when the day of vengeance is come, happy they that have served Him, and have compassionated with Him in His humiliations and sufferings! Woe to them that have treated Him with contempt! Woe to them, who not content with their own refusing to bear His yoke, have led others to rebel against him! For He is King. He came into this world that He might reign over it, and they that despise His mercy will not escape His justice.

Epistle – Isaias liii. 1‒12

In those days Isaias said: “Who has believed our report? And to whom is the arm of the Lord revealed? And he will grow up as a tender plant before him, and as a root out of a thirsty ground. There is no beauty in him, nor comeliness. And we have seen him, and there was no sightliness that we should be desirous of him; despised, and the most abject of men, a man of sorrows, and acquainted with infirmity. And his look was as it were hidden and despised; upon which we esteemed him not. Surely he has borne our infirmities, and carried our sorrows. And we have thought him as it were a leper, and as one struck by God and afflicted. But he was wounded for our iniquities, he was bruised for our sins; the chastisement of our peace was upon him, and by his bruises we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray, every one has turned aside into his own way: and the Lord has laid upon him the iniquity of us all. He was offered because it was his own will, and he opened not his mouth. He will be led as a sheep to the slaughter, and will be dumb as a lamb before his shearer; and he will not open his mouth. He was taken away from distress, and from judgement. Who will declare his generation? because he is cut off out of the land of the living. For the wickedness of my people have I struck him. And he will give the ungodly for his burial, and the rich for his death; because he has done no iniquity, neither was there deceit in his mouth. And the Lord was pleased to bruise him in infirmity. If he will lay down his life for sin, he will see a long-lived seed, and the will of the Lord will be prosperous in his hand. Because his soul has laboured, he will see and be filled: by his knowledge will this my just servant justify many, and he will bear their iniquities. Therefore will I distribute to him very many, and he will divide the spoils of the strong, because he has delivered his soul to death, and was reputed with the wicked; and he has borne the sins of many, and has prayed for the transgressors.

Thanks be to God.

Dom Prosper Guéranger:

Again it is Isaias that instructs us, not indeed upon the triumph which our Emmanuel is to win over His enemies, but upon the sufferings of the Man of Sorrows. So explicit is his description of our Lord’s Passion, that the holy Fathers have called him the fifth Evangelist. What could be more sublimely plaintive than the language here used by the son of Amos? And we, after hearing both the Old and New Testament upon the sufferings which Jesus went through for our sins, how shall we sufficiently love this dear Redeemer, who bore our infirmities and carried our Sorrows, so as to look as a leper, and as one struck by God and afflicted?

We are healed by his bruises! Heavenly Physician, that takes upon Himself the sufferings of them He comes to cure! But not only was He bruised for our sins, He was also slaughtered as a lamb: and this not merely as a Victim submitting to the inflexible justice of His Father who has laid on Him the iniquity of us all, but, (as the Prophet here assures us), because it was His own will. His love for us, as well as his submission to His Father, led him to the great sacrifice. Observe, too, how He refuses to defend Himself before Pilate who could so easily deliver Him from his enemies: He will be dumb as a lamb before his shearers, and he will not open his mouth. Let us love and adore this divine silence which works our salvation. Let us not pass over an iota of the devotedness which Jesus shows us — a devotedness which never could have existed, save in the Heart of a God. Oh! how much He has loved us — His children, the purchase of His Blood, His Seed, as the Prophet here calls us. Holy Church! Long-lived Seed of Jesus that laid down his life! You are dear to Him, for He bought you at a great price. Faithful souls! Give Him love for love. Sinners! Be converted to this your Saviour. His Blood will restore you to life, for if we have all gone astray like sheep, remember what is added: The Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all. There is no sinner however great may be his crimes, there is no heretic or infidel who has not his share in this Precious Blood, whose infinite merit is such that it could redeem a million worlds, more guilty even than our own.

Gospel – The Passion of our Lord Jesus Christ according to Luke (xxii‒xxiii)

At that time the feast of Unleavened Bread, which is called the Pasch, was at hand. And the chief priests and the scribes sought how they might put Jesus to death, but they feared the people. And Satan entered into Judas, who was surnamed Iscariot, one of the twelve. And he went and discoursed with the chief priests and the magistrates, how he might betray Him to them. And they were glad, and covenanted to give him money. And he promised. And he sought opportunity to betray Him in the absence of the multitude.

And the day of the unleavened bread came, on which it was necessary that the Pasch should be killed. And He sent Peter and John, saying:” Go and prepare us the Pasch, that we may eat.” But they said: “Where will you that we prepare?” And He said to them: “Behold, as you go into the city, there will meet you a man carrying a pitcher of water. Follow him into the house where he enters in, and you will say to the good man of the house: ‘The Master says to you: Where is the guest-chamber, where I may eat the Pasch with my disciples?’ and he will show you a large dining-room furnished. And there prepare.” And they going found as He had said to them, and they made ready the Pasch. And when the hour was come, He sat down, and the twelve apostles with Him. And He said to them: “With desire I have desired to eat this Pasch with you before I suffer. For I say to you, that from this time I will not eat it, till it be fulfilled in the kingdom of God.” And having taken the chalice He gave thanks and said: “Take and divide it among you. For I say to you, that I will not drink of the fruit of the vine, till the kingdom of God comes.” And taking bread, He gave thanks, and broke it, and gave it to them, saying: “This is my Body, which is given to you: do this for a commemoration of me.” In like manner the chalice also, after He had supped, saying: “This is the chalice, the new testament of my Blood, which will be shed for you. But yet behold, the hand of him that betrays me is with me on the table. And the Son of Man indeed goes according to that which is determined, but yet woe to that man by whom he will be betrayed.” And they began to enquire among themselves which of them it was that should do this thing.

And there was also a strife among them, which of them should seem to be greater. And He said to them: “The kings of the Gentiles lord it over them, and they that have power over them, are called beneficent. But you not so. But he that is the greater among you, let him be as the younger, and he that is the leader, as he that serves. For which is greater, he that sits at table, or he that serves? Is not he that sits at table? But I am in the midst of you, as he that serves, and you are they who have continued with me in my temptations. And I dispose to you, as my Father has disposed to me, a kingdom, that you may eat and drink at my table in my kingdom, and may sit upon thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel.” And the Lord said: “Simon, Simon, behold Satan has desired to have you, that he may sift you as wheat. But I have prayed for you that your faith fail not: and you, being once converted, confirm your brethren.” Who said to Him: “Lord, I am ready to go with you, both into prison, and to death.” And He said: “I say to you, Peter, the cock will not crow this day till you thrice deny that you know me.” And He said to them: “When I sent you without purse, and scrip, and shoes, did you want anything?” But they said: “Nothing.” Then said he to them: “But now he that has a purse, let him take it, and likewise a scrip: and he that has no sword, let him sell his coat and buy one. For I say to you, that this that is written must yet be fulfilled in me, ‘And he was reckoned among the wicked:’ for the things concerning me have an end.” But they said: “Lord, here are two swords.” And He said to them: “It is enough.”

And going out, He went according to His custom to the mount of Olives. And His disciples also followed Him. And when He was come to the place, He said to them: “Pray, lest you enter into temptation.” And He was withdrawn away from them a stone’s cast, and kneeling down He prayed, saying: “Father, if you will, remove this chalice from me. But yet not my will, but yours be done.” And there appeared to Him an Angel from heaven, strengthening Him. And being in an agony, He prayed the longer. And His sweat became as drops of blood trickling down on the ground. And when He rose up from prayer and was come to His disciples, He found them sleeping for sorrow. And He said to them: “Why sleep you? Arise, pray, lest you enter into temptation.” As He was yet speaking, behold a multitude, and he that was called Judas, one of the twelve, went before them, and drew near to Jesus to kiss Him. And Jesus said to Him: “Judas, do you betray the Son of Man with a kiss?” And they that were about Him, seeing what would follow, said to Him: “Lord shall we strike with the sword?” And one of them struck the servant of the High Priest, and cut off his right ear. But Jesus answering, said: “Suffer ye thus far.” And when He had touched his ear, He healed him. And Jesus said to the chief priests and magistrates of the temple, and the ancients that were come to Him: “Are you come out, as it were against a thief, with swords and clubs? When I was daily with you in the temple, you did not stretch forth your hands against me. But this is your hour and the power of darkness.”

And apprehending Him, they led him to the High Priest’s house, but Peter followed afar off. And when they had kindled a fire in the midst of the hall and were sitting about it, Peter was in the midst of them. Whom when a certain servant maid had seen sitting at the light, and had earnestly beheld him, she said: “This man also was with him.” But he denied, saying: “Woman, I know him not.” And after a little while, another seeing him, said: “You also are one of them.” But Peter said: “Man, I am not.” And after the space as it were of one hour, another certain man affirmed, saying: “Of a truth this man was also with him: for he is also a Galilean.” And Peter said: “Man, I know not what you say.” And immediately as he was yet speaking the cock crew. And the Lord turning looked on Peter. And Peter remembered the word of the Lord, as He had said: “Before the cock crows, you will deny me thrice.” And Peter going out wept bitterly.

And the men that held Him, mocked Him and struck Him. And they blindfolded Him, and smote Him on the face. And they asked Him, saying: “Prophesy, who is it that struck you?” And blaspheming, many other things they said against Him. And as soon as it was day, the ancients of the people, and the chief priests, and scribes came together, and they brought Him into their council, saying: “If you be the Christ, tell us.” And He said to them: “If I will tell you, you will not believe me. And if I will also ask you, you will not answer me, nor let me go. But hereafter the Son of man will be sitting on the right hand of the power of God.” Then said they all: “Are you the Son of God?” And He said: “You say that I am.” And they said: “What need we any further testimony? For ourselves have heard it from his own mouth.” And the whole multitude of them rose up, and led Him away to Pilate. And they began to accuse Him, saying: “We have found this man perverting our nation, and forbidding to give tribute to Caesar, and saying that he is Christ the King.” And Pilate asked Him, saying: “Are you the King of the Jews?” But He answering, said: “You say it.” But Pilate said to the chief priests and to the multitude: “I find no cause in this man.” But they were more earnest, saying: “He stirs up the people, teaching throughout all Judea, beginning from Galilee to this place.” But Pilate hearing Galilee, asked if the man were of Galilee. And when he understood that He was of Herod’s jurisdiction, he sent Him away to Herod, who himself was also at Jerusalem in those days. And Herod seeing Jesus was very glad, for he was desirous of a long time to see Him, because he had heard many things of Him and he hoped to see some sign wrought by Him. And he questioned Him with many words. But He answered him nothing. And the chief priests and the scribes stood by, earnestly accusing Him. And Herod with his army set Him at naught, and mocked Him, putting on him a white garment and sent Him back to Pilate. And Herod and Pilate were made friends that same day: for before they were enemies to one another. Then Pilate calling together the chief priests, and the magistrates, and the people, said to them: “You have brought this man to me as one that perverts the people and, behold I, having examined him before you, find no cause in this man touching those things in which you accuse him. No, nor Herod neither. For I sent you to him, and behold, nothing worthy of death is done to him. I will chastise him therefore and release him.”

Now of necessity he was to release to them one upon the feast day. But the whole multitude together cried out at once saying: “Away with this man, and release to us Barabbas.” Who, for a certain sedition made in the city, and for a murder, was cast into prison. And Pilate again spoke to them, desiring to release Jesus, But they cried out again, saying: “Crucify him, crucify him.” And he said to them the third time: “Why, what evil has this man done? I find no cause of death in him. I will chastise him therefore, and let him go.” But they were instant with loud voices requiring that He might be crucified, and their voices prevailed. And Pilate gave sentence that it should be as they required. And he released to them him who for murder and sedition had been cast into prison, whom they had desired: but Jesus he delivered up to their will.

And as they led him away, they laid hold on one Simon of Cyrene, coming from the country: and they laid the cross on him to carry after Jesus. And there followed Him a great multitude of people, and of women, who bewailed and lamented Him. But Jesus turning to them, said: “Daughters of Jerusalem, weep not over me, but weep for yourselves, and for your children. For behold the days will come in which they will say, ‘Blessed are the barren, and the wombs that have not borne, and the paps that have not given suck.’ Then will they begin to say to the mountains: ‘Fall on us,’ and to the hills: ‘Cover us.’ For if in the green wood they do these things, what will be done in the dry?” And there were also two other malefactors led with Him to be put to death. And when they were come to the place which is called Calvary, they crucified Him there, and the robbers, one on the right hand, and the other on the left. And Jesus said: “Father forgive them, for they know not what they do.” But they dividing His garments, cast lots. And the people stood beholding, and the rulers with them derided Him, saying: “He saved others. Let him save himself, if he be Christ, the elect of God.” And the soldiers also mocked Him, coming to Him and offering Him vinegar, and saying: “If you be the King of the Jews, save yourself.” And there was also a superscription written over Him in letters of Greek, and Latin, and Hebrew: “This is the King of the Jews.” And one of the robbers who were hanged, blasphemed Him saying: “If you be Christ, save yourself and us.” But the other answering, rebuked him, saying: “Neither do you fear God, seeing you are under the same condemnation. And we indeed justly, for we receive the due reward of our deeds. But this man has done no evil.” And he said to Jesus: “Lord, remember me when you come into your kingdom.” And Jesus said to him: “Amen I say to you, this day you will be with me in paradise.” And it was almost the sixth hour, and there was darkness over all the earth until the ninth hour. And the sun was darkened, and the veil of the Temple was rent in the midst. And Jesus crying with a loud voice, said: “Father, into your hands I commend my spirit.” And saying this, He gave up the ghost.

And behold there was a man named Joseph who was a counsellor, a good and just man (the same had not consented to their counsel and doing), of Arimathea, a city of Judea, who also himself looked for the kingdom of God. This man went to Pilate and begged the body of Jesus. And taking Him down He wrapped him in fine linen, and laid Him in a sepulchre that was hewn in stone, in which never yet any man had been laid.