27 MARCH – SAINT JOHN OF DAMASCUS (Confessor and Doctor of the Church)

The last of the Greek Fathers, John was born at Damascus where his father was the Caliph’s Vizier. He was educated with great care by Cosmas, a Greek monk who had been brought into Syria as a slave. On his father’s death he succeeded him as Vizier, and had thus all that the world could give him — wealth, honours, power, learning. But realising the danger of his high position at a Muslim court, he divided his riches among the poor and went as a pilgrim to Jerusalem, eventually settling in the famous Laura or monastery of Saint Sabbas. His life henceforth is a simple record of humility, prayer, labour and Obedience. He passed away 6 May 780 AD, being as is asserted one hundred and four years old. On account of the flowing eloquence of his writings Saint John acquired the surname “Chrysorrhoes”(Golden Stream). His chief work, that on the Orthodox Faith, is the first systematic Treatise on Dogmatic Theology we possess and has been a model to the writers of succeeding ages. His convincing discourses in defence of the veneration of icons marked him out as a champion of the faith against Leo the Isaurian, the iconoclast emperor of Constantinople, through whose machinations he was sentenced to have his right hand cut off. It was afterwards miraculously restored to him by Our Blessed Lady, whose devout client he ever was. Venerated from his own age as a Saint, Pope Leo XIII numbered him among the Doctors of the Church.

Also on this day according to the ROMAN MARTYROLOGY:

At Drizipara in Pannonia, St. Alexander, a soldier, in the time of emperor Maximian. Having overcome many tribulations for Christ, and wrought many miracles, he completed his martyrdom by decapitation.

The same day, the Saints Philetus, senator, his wife Lydia, and their sons Macedon and Theoprepides. Also Amphilochius, an officer in the army, and Chronidas, a notary, who were put to death for the confession of Christ.

In Persia, in the reign of King Sapor, the holy martyrs Zanitas, Lazarus, Marotas, Narses, and five others, who merited the palm of martyrdom by being barbarously murdered.

At Salzburg, St. Rupert, bishop and confessor, who spread the Gospel extensively in Bavaria and Austria.

In Egypt, the hermit St. John, a man of great holiness, who among other virtues, was replenished with the spirit of prophecy, and predicted to the emperor Theodosius that he would gain the victory over the tyrants Maximus and Eugenius.

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

Thanks be to God.

27 MARCH – THE SORROWS OF OUR LADY AT THE FOOT OF THE CROSS

 

Dom Prosper Guéranger:

This Friday of Passion Week is consecrated, in a special manner, to the sufferings which the Holy Mother of God endured at the foot of the Cross. The whole of next week is fully taken up with the celebration of the mysteries of Jesus’ Passion, and although the remembrance of Mary’s share in those sufferings is often brought before the faithful during Holy Week, yet, the thought of what her Son, our Divine Redeemer, goes through for our salvation so absorbs our attention and love that it is not then possible to honour, as it deserves, the sublime mystery of the Mother’s Compassion.

It was but fitting, therefore, that one day in the year should be set apart for this sacred duty, and what day could be more appropriate than the Friday of this Week which, though sacred to the Passion, admits the celebration of saints’ feasts, as we have already noticed? As far back as the fifteenth century (that is, in the year 1423), we find the pious Archbishop of Cologne, Theodoric, prescribing this feast to be kept by his people. It was gradually introduced, and with the knowledge of the Holy See, into several other countries and at length, in the last century, Pope Benedict XIII by a decree dated August 22nd 1727 ordered it to be kept in the whole Church under the name of the Feast of the Seven Dolours of the Blessed Virgin Mary, for, up to this time, it had gone under various names. We will explain the title thus given to it, as also the first origin of the devotion of the Seven Dolours, when our Liturgical Year brings us to the Third Sunday of September, the second Feast of Mary’s Dolours.

What the Church proposes to her children’s devotion for this Friday of Passion Week is that one special Dolour of Mary — her standing at the Foot of the Cross. Among the various titles given to this feast before it was extended by the Holy See to the whole Church, we may mention, Our Lady of Pity, The Compassion of our Lady, and the one that was so popular throughout France, Notre Dame de la Pamoison. These few historical observations prove that this feast was dear to the devotion of the people even before it received the solemn sanction of the Church.

That we may clearly understand the object of this feast, and spend it, as the Church would have us do, in paying due honour to the Mother of God and of men, we must recall to our minds this great truth: that God in the designs of His infinite wisdom has willed that Mary should have a share in the work of the world’s Redemption. The mystery of the present feast is one of the applications of this Divine law, a law which reveals to us the whole magnificence of God’s plan. It is also one of the many realisations of the prophecy that Satan’s pride was to be crushed by a woman. In the work of our Redemption there are three interventions of Mary, that is, she is thrice called upon to take part in what God Himself did. The first of these was in the Incarnation of the Word, who takes not flesh in her virginal womb until she has given her consent to become his Mother. And this she gave by that solemn fiat which blessed the world with a Saviour. The second was in the sacrifice which Jesus consummated on Calvary, where she was present that she might take part in the expiatory offering. The third was on the day of Pentecost, when she received the Holy Spirit, as did the Apostles, in order that she might effectively labour in the establishment of the Church. We have explained on the Feast of the Annunciation the share Mary had in that wonderful mystery of the Incarnation, which God wrought for His own glory and for man’s redemption and sanctification. On the Feast of Pentecost we will speak of the Church commencing and progressing under the active influence of the Mother of God. Today we must show what part she took in the mystery of her Son’s Passion. We must tell the sufferings, the Dolours, she endured at the foot of the Cross, and the claims she thereby won to our filial gratitude.

On the fortieth day after the Birth of our Emmanuel, we followed to the Temple the happy Mother carrying her divine babe in her arms. A venerable old man was there waiting to receive her child , and, when he had him in his arms, he proclaimed Him to be the Light of the Gentiles, and the glory of Israel. But, turning to the Mother, he spoke to her these heart-rending words: “Behold! This child is set to be a sign that will be contradicted, and a sword will pierce your own soul.”

This prophecy of sorrow for the Mother told us that the holy joys of Christmas were over, and that the season of trial, for both Jesus and Mary, had begun. It had, indeed, begun for, from the night of the Flight into Egypt, up to this present day, when the malice of the Jews is plotting the great crime, what else has the life of our Jesus been but the bearing humiliation, insult, persecution and ingratitude? And if so, what has the Mother gone through? What ceaseless anxiety? What endless anguish of heart? But, let us pass by all her other sufferings, and come to the morning of the great Friday. Mary knows that on the previous night her Son has been betrayed by one of His disciples, that is, by one that Jesus had numbered among His intimate friends. She herself had often given Him proofs of her maternal affection. After a cruel agony, her Son has been manacled as a malefactor and led by armed men to Caiphas, his worst enemy. From there they have dragged him before the Roman Governor whose sanction the Chief Priests and the Scribes must have before they can put Jesus to death. Mary is in Jerusalem. Magdalene and the other holy women, the friends of Jesus, are with her, but they cannot prevent her from hearing the loud shouts of the people, and if they could, how is such a heart as hers to be slow in its forebodings? The report spreads rapidly through the city that the Roman Governor is being urged to sentence Jesus to be crucified. While the entire populace is on the move towards Calvary, shouting out their blasphemous insults at her Jesus will His Mother keep away, she that bore Him in her womb, and fed Him at her breast? Will His enemies be eager to glut their eyes with the cruel sight, and His own Mother be afraid to be near Him?

The air resounded with the yells of the mob. Joseph of Arimathea, the noble counsellor, was not there, neither was the learned Nicodemus. They kept at home grieving over what was done. The crowd that went before and after the Divine Victim was made up of wretches without hearts, saving only a few who were seen to weep as they went along. They were women. Jesus saw them and spoke to them. And if these women from mere sentiments of veneration, or, at most, of gratitude, thus testified their compassion — would Mary do less? Could she bear to be elsewhere than close to her Jesus? Our motive for insisting so much upon this point, is that we may show our detestation of that school of modern rationalism, which regardless of the instincts of a mother’s heart and of all tradition, has dared to call in question the Meeting of Jesus and Mary on the way to Calvary. These systematic contradictors are too prudent to deny that Mary was present when Jesus was crucified. The Gospel is too explicit — Mary stood near the Cross (John xix. 25), but they would persuade us that while the Daughters of Jerusalem courageously walked after Jesus, Mary went up to Calvary by some secret path! What a heartless insult to the love of the incomparable Mother.

No — Mary, who is by excellence the Valiant Woman (Proverbs xxxi. 10), was with Jesus as he carried His Cross. And who could describe her anguish and her love, as her eye met that of her Son tottering under His heavy load? Who could tell the affection, and the resignation of the look He gave her in return? Who could depict the eager and respectful tenderness with which Magdalene and the other holy women grouped around this Mother, as she followed her Jesus up Calvary, there to see Him crucified and die?

The distance between the Fourth and Tenth Station of the Dolorous Way is long: it is marked with Jesus’ Blood, and the Mother’s tears. Jesus and Mary have reached the summit of the hill that is to be the altar of the holiest and cruelest sacrifice: but the divine decree permits not the Mother as yet to approach her Son. When the Victim is ready, then she that is to offer Him will come forward. Meanwhile they nail her Jesus to the Cross, and each blow of the hammer was a wound to Mary’s heart. When, at last, she is permitted to approach, accompanied by the Beloved Disciple (who has made amends for his cowardly flight) and the disconsolate Magdalene and the other holy women, — what unutterable anguish must have filled the soul of this Mother, when raising up her eyes, she sees the mangled Body of her Son, stretched upon the Cross, with His face all covered with blood and His head wreathed with a crown of thorns!

Here, then, is this King of Israel, of whom the Angel had told her such glorious things in his prophecy! Here is that son of hers, whom she has loved both as her God and as the fruit of her own womb! And who are they that have reduced Him to this pitiable state? Men, for whose sakes, rather than for her own, she conceived Him, gave Him birth and nourished Him! Oh, if by one of those miracles which His Heavenly Father could so easily work, He might be again restored to her! If that Divine Justice which He has taken upon Himself to appease, would be satisfied with what He has already suffered! But no, He must die. He must breathe forth His blessed soul after a long and cruel agony.

Mary then is at the foot of the Cross, there to witness the death of her Son. He is soon to be separated from her. In three hours’ time, all that will be left her of this beloved Jesus will be a lifeless body, wounded from head to foot. Our words are too cold for such a scene as this: let us listen to those of Saint Bernard, which the Church has inserted in her Matins of this feast:

“Blessed Mother! A sword of sorrow pierced your soul, and we may well call you more than Martyr, for the intensity of your compassion surpassed all that a bodily passion could produce. Could any sword have made you smart so much as that word which pierced your heart, reaching to the division of the soul and the spirit: ‘Woman! Behold your son!’ What an exchange! John, for Jesus! The servant, for the Lord! The disciple, for the Master! the Son of Zebedee, for the Son of God! A mere man, for the very God! How must not your most loving heart have been pierced with the sound of these words, when even ours, that are hard as stone and steel, break down as we think of them! Ah, my brethren, be not surprised when you are told that Mary was a Martyr in her soul. Let him alone be surprised, who has forgotten that Saint Paul counts it as one of the greatest sins of the Gentiles that they were without affection. Who could say that of Mary? God forbid it be said of us, the servants of Mary!”

Amidst the shouts and insults vociferated by the enemies of Jesus, Mary’s quick ear has heard these words which tell her that the only son she is henceforth to have on earth is one of adoption. Her maternal joys of Bethlehem and Nazareth are all gone. They make her present sorrow the bitterer. She was the Mother of a God, and men have taken Him from her! Her last and fondest look at her Jesus, her own dearest Jesus, tells her that he is suffering a burning thirst, and she cannot give Him to drink! His eyes grow dim. His head droops. All is consummated! Mary cannot leave the Cross. Love brought her there. Love keeps her there, whatever may happen! A soldier advances near that hallowed spot. She sees Him lift up His spear, and thrust it through the breast of the sacred corpse. “Ah,” cries out Saint Bernard, “that thrust is through your soul, Blessed Mother! It could but open His side, but it pierced your very soul. His soul was not there. Yours was, and could not but be so.” No, the undaunted Mother keeps close to the body of her Son. She watches them as they take it down from the Cross, and when at last the friends of Jesus, with all the respect due to both Mother and Son, enable her to embrace it, she raises it upon her lap, and He that once lay upon her knees receiving the homage of the Eastern Kings, now lays there cold, mangled, bleeding, dead! And as she looks upon the wounds of the divine Victim, she gives them the highest honour in the power of creatures — she kisses them, she bathes them with her tears, she adores them, but oh! with what intensity of loving grief! The hour is far advanced, and before sunset, He — Jesus —the author of life — must be buried. The Mother puts the whole vehemence of her love into a last kiss, and oppressed with a bitterness great as is the sea (Lamentations i. 4, ii. 13) she makes over this adorable body to them that have to embalm and then lay it on the sepulchral slab. The sepulchre is closed, and Mary accompanied by John, her adopted son, and Magdalene and the holy women, and the two disciples that have presided over the burial, returns sorrowing to the deicide city.

Now, in all this, there is another mystery besides that of Mary’s sufferings. Her Dolours at the Foot of the Cross include and imply a truth which we must not pass by, or we will not understand the full beauty of today’s feast. Why would God have her assist in person at such a scene as this of Calvary? Why was not she as well as Joseph taken out of this world before this terrible day of Jesus’ Death? Because God had assigned her a great office for that day, and it was to be under the Tree of the Cross that she, the second Eve, was to discharge her office. As the heavenly Father had waited for her consent before He sent His Son into the world, so likewise He called for her obedience and devotedness when the hour came for that Son to be offered up in sacrifice for the world’s Redemption.

Was not Jesus hers? Her child? Her own and dearest treasure? And yet God gave Him not to her until she had assented to become His Mother. In like manner, He would not take Him from her, unless she gave Him back. But see what this involved, see what a struggle it entailed upon this most loving Heart! It is the injustice, the cruelty, of men that rob her of her son. How can she, His Mother, ratify by her consent the Death of Him whom she loved with a twofold love — as her Son, and as her God? But, on the other hand, if Jesus be not put to death, the human race is left a prey to Satan, sin is not atoned for, and all the honours and joys of her being Mother of God are of no use or blessing to us. This Virgin of Nazareth, this noblest heart, this purest creature, whose affections were never blunted with the selfishness which so easily makes its way into souls that have been wounded by original sin — what will she do? Her devotedness to mankind, her conformity with the will of her Son who so vehemently desires the world’s salvation, lead her, a second time, to pronounce the solemn fiat: she consents to the immolation of her Son. It is not God’s justice that takes Him from her. It is she herself that gives Him up. But in return she is raised to a degree of greatness which her humility could never have suspected was to be hers: an ineffable union is made to exist between the two offerings, that of the Incarnate Word and that of Mary. The Blood of the Divine Victim, and the Tears of the Mother, flow together for the redemption of mankind.

We can now understand the conduct and the courage of this Mother of Sorrows. Unlike that other mother, of whom the Scripture speaks, the unhappy Agar, who after having sought in vain how she might quench the thirst of her Ismael in the desert, withdrew from him that she might not see him die, Mary no sooner hears that Jesus is condemned to death than she rises, hastens to Him, and follows Him to the place where He is to die. And what is her attitude at the foot of His Cross? Does her matchless grief overpower her? Does she swoon or fall? No, the Evangelist says, “There stood by the Cross of Jesus, his Mother” (John xix. 25). The sacrificing priest stands, when offering at the altar. Mary stood for such a sacrifice as hers was to be. Saint Ambrose whose affectionate heart and profound appreciation of the mysteries of religion have revealed to us so many precious traits of Mary’s character, thus speaks of her position at the foot of the Cross: “She stood opposite the Cross, gazing, with maternal love, on the wounds of her Son, and thus she stood, not waiting for her Jesus to die, but for the world to be saved.”

Thus, this Mother of Sorrows, when standing on Calvary, blessed us who deserved but maledictions. She loved us. She sacrificed her Son for our salvation. In spite of all the feelings of her maternal heart, she gave back to the Eternal Father the divine treasure he had entrusted to her keeping. The sword pierced through and through her soul, but we were saved and she, though a mere creature, co-operated with her Son in the work of our salvation. Can we wonder, after this, that Jesus chose this moment for the making her the Mother of men in the person of John the Evangelist who represented us? Never had Mary’s Heart loved us as she did then. From that time forward, therefore, let this second Eve be the true Mother of the Living! The Sword, by piercing her Immaculate Heart, has given us admission there. For time and eternity, Mary will extend to us the love she has borne for her Son, for she has just heard Him saying to her that we are her children. He is our Lord, for He has redeemed us. She is our Lady, for she generously co-operated in our redemption.

ANIMATED by this confidence, Mother of Sorrows, we come before you on this feast of your Dolours to offer you our filial love. Jesus, the Blessed Fruit of your Womb, filled you with joy as you gave Him birth. We, your adopted children, entered into your Heart by the cruel piercing of the sword of suffering. And yet, Mary, love us, for you co-operated with our Divine Redeemer in saving us. How can we not trust in the love of your generous Heart when we know, that, for our salvation, you united yourself to the sacrifice of your Jesus? What proofs have you not unceasingly given us of your maternal tenderness, Queen of Mercy! Refuge of Sinners! Untiring Advocate for us in all our miseries! Deign, sweet Mother, to watch over us, during these days of grace. Give us to feel and relish the Passion of your Son. It was consummated in your presence. Your own share in it was magnificent. Oh make us enter into all its mysteries, that so our souls, redeemed by the Blood of your Son, and helped by your Tears, may be thoroughly converted to the Lord and persevere henceforward faithful in His service.

27 MARCH – FRIDAY IN PASSION WEEK

Lesson – Jeremias xvii. 13–18

In those days Jeremias said: “O Lord, the hope of Israel, all that forsake you will be confounded: they that depart from you will be written in the earth (as on sand, from which their names will soon he effaced), because they have forsaken the Lord, the vein of living waters. Heal me, O Lord, and I will be healed, save me and I will be saved: for you are my praise. Behold they say to me: where is the word of the Lord? Let it come. And I am not troubled, following you for my pastor, and I have not desired the day of man, you know it. That which went out of my lips has been right in your sight. Be not a terror to me: you are my hope in the day of affliction. Let them be confounded that persecute me, and let me not be confounded: let them be afraid, and let not me be afraid: bring upon them the day of affliction, and with a double destruction destroy them.”

Thanks be to God.

Gospel – John xi. 47–54

At that time the chief priests and Pharisees assembled in council against Jesus, and said: “What do we, for this man does many miracles? If we let him alone so, all men will believe in him, and the Romans will come, and take away our place and nation.” But one of them, named Caiphas, being the high priest that year, said to them: “You know nothing, neither do you consider that it is expedient for you that one man should die for the people, and that the whole nation perish not.” And this he spoke not of himself, but being the high priest that year, he prophesied that Jesus should die for the nation, and not only for the nation, but to gather in one the children of God, that were dispersed. From that day therefore they devised to put Him to death. Wherefore Jesus walked no more openly among the Jews, but he went into a country near the desert, to a city that is called Ephrem, and there he abode with His disciples.

Praise be to you, O Christ.

Dom Prosper Guéranger:

Jesus is more than ever in danger of losing His life. The Council of the nation assembles to devise a plan for His destruction. Listen to these men, slaves of that vilest of passions — jealousy. They do not deny the miracles of Jesus. Therefore they are in a condition to pass judgement on Him, and the judgement ought to be favourable. But they have not assembled to examine if He be or be not the Messiah. It is to discuss the best plan for putting Him to death. And what argument will they bring forward to palliate the evident murder they contemplate? Political interests, their country’s good. They argue thus: “If Jesus be longer allowed to appear in public and work miracles, Judea will rise up in rebellion against the Romans, who now govern us, and will proclaim Jesus to be their King. Rome will never allow us, the weakest of her tributaries, to insult her with impunity, and, in order to avenge the outrage offered to the Capitol, her armies will come and exterminate us.” Senseless Counsellors! If Jesus had come that He might be King after this world’s fashion, all the powers of the earth could not have prevented it. Again, how is it that these Chief Priests and Pharisees who know the Scriptures by heart never once think of that prophecy of Daniel which foretells that in seventy weeks of years, after the going forth of the decree for the rebuilding of the Temple, the Christ will be slain, and the people that will deny Him will cease to be His (Daniel ix. 25). Moreover, that after this crime a people led on by a commander will come and destroy Jerusalem. The abomination of desolation will enter the Holy Place, the temple will be destroyed, and the desolation will last even to the end (Daniel ix. 26‒27). How comes it that this prophecy is lost sight of? Surely if they thought of it they would not put Christ to death, for by putting Him to death they ruin their country! But to return to the Council. The High Priest who governed the Synagogue during the last days of the Mosaic Law is a worthless man, by name Caiphas. He presides over the Council. He puts on the sacred Ephod, and he prophesies. His prophecy is from God, and is true. Let us not be astonished: the veil of the temple is not yet rent asunder. The covenant between God and Juda is not yet broken. Caiphas is a bloodthirsty man, a coward, a sacrilegious wretch. Still, he is High Priest and God speaks by his mouth. Let us hearken to this Balaam: Jesus will die for the nation, and not only for the nation, but to gather in one the children of God that were dispersed. Thus, the Synagogue is near her end, and is compelled to prophesy the birth of the Church, and that this birth is to be by the shedding of Jesus’ Blood. Here and there, throughout the world, there are children of God who serve Him among the Gentiles, as did the centurion Cornelius, but there was no visible bond of union among them. The time is at hand when the great and only City of God is to appear on the mountain, and all nations will flow to it (Isaias i. 2). As soon as the Blood of the New Testament will have been shed and the Conqueror of death will have risen from the grave, the day of Pentecost will convoke, not the Jews to the Temple of Jerusalem, but all nations to the Church of Jesus Christ. By that time Caiphas will have forgotten the prophecy he uttered. He will have ordered his servants to piece together the veil of the Holy of Holies, which was torn in two at the moment of Jesus’ death. But this veil will serve no purpose, for the Holy of Holies will be no longer there. A clean oblation will be offered up in every place, the Sacrifice of the New Law (Malachi i. 11), and scarcely will the avengers of Jesus’ death have appeared on Mount Olivet, than a voice will be heard in the Sanctuary of the repudiated Temple, saying: “Let us go out from this place!”

26 MARCH – THURSDAY IN PASSION WEEK

 

Lesson – Daniel iii. 34‒45

In those days, Azarias prayed to the Lord, saying: “Lord our God, deliver us not up forever, we beseech you, for your name’s sake, and abolish not your covenant: and take not away your mercy from us, for the sake of Abraham your beloved, and Isaac your servant, and Israel your holy one: to whom you have spoken, promising that you would multiply their seed as the stars of heaven, and as the sand that is on the sea shore. For we, Lord, are diminished more than any nation, and are brought low in all the earth this day for our sins. Neither is there at this time prince, or leader, or prophet, or holocaust, or sacrifice, or oblation, or incense, or place of first-fruits before you, that we may find your mercy: nevertheless, in a contrite heart and humble spirit, let us be accepted. As in holocausts of rams, and bullocks, and as in thousands of fat lambs: so let our sacrifice be made in your sight this day, that it may please you: for there is no confusion to them that trust in you. And now we follow you with all our heart, and we fear you, and seek your face. Put us not to confusion, but deal with us according to your meekness, and according to the multitude of your mercies. And deliver us according to your wonderful works, and give glory to your name, O Lord; and let all them be confounded that show evils to your servants, let them be confounded in all your might, and let their strength be broken; and let them know that you are the Lord, the only God, and glorious over all the world, Lord our God.”

Thanks be to God.

Dom Prosper Guéranger:

Thus did Judah when captive in Babylon pour forth her prayers to God by the mouth of Azarias. Sion was desolate beyond measure. Her people were in exile. Her solemnities were hushed. Her children were to continue in a strange land for seventy years, after which God would be mindful of them, and lead them by the hand of Cyrus back to Jerusalem, when the building of the second Temple would be begun, that Temple which was to receive the Messiah within its walls. What crime had Judah committed that she should be thus severely punished? The Daughter of Sion had fallen into idolatry. She had broken the sacred engagement which made her the Spouse of her God. Her crime, however, was expiated by these seventy years of captivity, and when she returned to the land of her fathers, she never relapsed into the worship of false gods.

Gospel – Luke vii. 36‒50

At that time, one of the Pharisees desired Him to eat with him. And He went into the house of the Pharisee, and sat down to meat. And behold a woman that was in the city, a sinner, when she knew that He sat at meat in the Pharisee’s house, brought an alabaster box of ointment. And standing behind at His feet, she began to wash His feet, with tears, and wiped them with the hairs of her head, and kissed His feet, and anointed them with the ointment. And the Pharisee, who had invited Him, seeing it, spoke within himself, saying: ‘This man, if he were a prophet, would know surely who and what manner of woman this is that touches him, that she is a sinner” And Jesus answering, said to him: “Simon, I have somewhat to say to you.” But he said: “Master, say it.” A certain creditor had two debtors, the one owed five hundred pence, and the other fifty. And whereas they had not with what to pay, he forgave them both. Which therefore of the two loves him most?” Simon answering, said: “I suppose that he to whom he forgave most.” And He said to him: “You have judged rightly.” And turning to the woman, He said to Simon: “Do you see this woman? I entered into your house, you gave me no water for my feet; but she with tears has washed my feet, and with her hairs has wiped them. You gave me no kiss; but she, since she came in, has not ceased to kiss my feet. My head with oil you did not anoint; but she with ointment has anointed my feet. Wherefore I say to you: Many sins are forgiven her, because she has loved much. But to whom less is forgiven, he loves less.” And He said to her: “Your sins are forgiven you.” And they that sat at meat with Him began to say within themselves: “Who is this that forgives sins also?” And He said to the woman: “Your has made you safe, go in peace.”

Praise be to you, O Christ.

Dom Prosper Guéranger:

What consolation there is for us in this Gospel, and how different are the reflections it suggests, from those we were just making on the Epistle! The event here related does not belong to the time of our Saviour’s Passion, but during these days of mercy does it not behove us to glorify the meekness of that Divine Heart which is preparing to grant pardon to countless sinners throughout the world? Besides, is not Magdalene the inseparable companion of her dear crucified Master, even to Calvary? Let us then study this admirable penitent, this type of love faithful even to death.

Magdalene had led a wicked life, as the Gospel tells us elsewhere (Mark xvi. 9). Seven devils had taken up their abode within her. But no sooner has she seen and heard Jesus, than immediately she is filled with a horror for sin. Divine love is enkindled within her heart. She has but one desire, and that is to make amends for her past life. Her sins have been public: her conversion must be so too. She has lived in vanity and luxury. She is resolved to give all up. Her perfumes are all to be for her God, her Jesus. That hair of hers, of which she has been so proud, will serve to wipe His sacred feet. Her eyes will henceforth spend themselves in shedding tears of contrite love. The grace of the Holy Spirit urges her to go to Jesus. He is in the house of a Pharisee who is giving an entertainment. To go to him now would be exposing herself to observation. She cares not. Taking with her an ointment of great worth, she makes her way into the feast, throws herself at Jesus’ feet, washes them with her tears, wipes them with the hair of her head, kisses them, anoints them with the ointment. Jesus Himself tells us with what interior sentiments she accompanies these outward acts of respect: but even had He not spoken, her tears, her generosity, her position at His feet, tell us enough. She is heart-broken, she is grateful, she is humble. Who but a Pharisee could have mistaken her?

The Pharisee, then, is shocked! His heart had within it much of that Jewish pride which is soon to crucify the Messiah. He looks disdainfully at Magdalene. He is disappointed with his guest and murmurs out his conclusion: This man, if he were a Prophet, would surely know who and what manner of woman this is! Poor Pharisee! If he had the spirit of God within him, he would recognise Jesus to be the promised Saviour, by this wonderful condescension shown to a penitent. With all his reputation as a Pharisee, how contemptible he is, compared with this woman! Jesus would give him a useful lesson, and draws the parallel between the two — Magdalene and the Pharisee — He passes His own divine judgement on them, and the preference is given to Magdalene. What is it that has thus transformed her and made her deserve, not only the pardon, but the praise, of Jesus? Her love. She has loved her Redeemer, she has loved him much and, therefore, she was forgiven much. A few hours ago, and this Magdalene loved but the world and its pleasures. Now she cares for nothing, sees nothing, loves nothing, but Jesus: she is a convert. Henceforward, she keeps close to her Divine Master. She is ambitious to supply his wants, but above all, she longs to see and hear Him. When the hour of trial will come, and His very Apostles dare not be with Him, she will follow Him to Calvary, stand at the foot of the Cross, and see Him die that has made her live. What an argument for hope is here, even for the worst of sinners! He to whom most is forgiven, is often the most fervent in love! You, then, whose souls are burdened with sins, think of your sins and confess them. But most of all think how you may most love. Let your love be in proportion to your pardon, and doubt it not: Your sins will be forgiven.

25 MARCH – THE ANNUNCIATION

Dom Prosper Guéranger:

This is a great day, not only to man, but even to God Himself, for it is the anniversary of the most solemn event that time has ever witnessed. On this day the Divine Word by which the Father created the world was made flesh in the womb of a virgin and dwelt among us (John i. 14). We must spend it in joy. While we adore the Son of God who humbled Himself by thus becoming Man let us give thanks to the Father who so loved the world as to give His Only Begotten Son (John iii. 16). Let us give thanks to the Holy Ghost whose almighty power achieves the great mystery. We are in the very midst of Lent and yet the ineffable joys of Christmas are upon us: our Emmanuel is conceived on this day, and nine months hence will be born in Bethlehem, and the Angels will invite us to come and honour the sweet babe.

During Septuagesima Week we meditated on the fall of our First Parents and the triple sentence pronounced by God against the serpent, the woman and Adam. Our hearts were filled with fear as we reflected on the divine malediction, the effects of which are to be felt by all generations, even to the end of the world. But in the midst of the anathemas then pronounced against us, there was a promise made us by our God. It was a promise of salvation, and it kindled hope within us. In pronouncing sentence against the serpent, God said that his head should one day be crushed, and that, too, by a woman.

The time has come for the fulfilment of this promise. The world has been in expectation for four thousand years, and the hope of its deliverance has been kept up in spite of all its crimes. During this time God has made use of miracles, prophecies and types as a renewal of the engagement He has entered into with mankind. The blood of the Messiah has passed from Adam to Noah; from Sem to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob; from David and Solomon to Joachim. And now it flows in the veins of Mary, Joachim’s daughter. Mary is the woman by whom is to be taken from our race the curse that lies upon it. God has decreed that she should be Immaculate, and thereby has set an irreconcilable enmity between her and the serpent. She, a daughter of Eve, is to repair all the injury done by her mother’s fall. She is to raise up her sex from the degradation into which it has been cast. She is to co-operate, directly and really, in the victory which the Son of God is about to gain over His and our enemy.

A tradition which has come down from the Apostolic Ages tells us that the great mystery of the Incarnation was achieved on the twenty-fifth day of March. It was at the hour of midnight when the most Holy Virgin was alone and absorbed in prayer that the Archangel Gabriel appeared before her and asked her, in the name of the Blessed Trinity, to consent to become the Mother of God. Let us assist, in spirit, at this wonderful interview between the Angel and the Virgin. And at the same time let us think of that other interview which took place between Eve and the serpent. A holy Bishop and Martyr of the second century, Saint Irenaeus — who had received the tradition from the very disciples of the Apostles — shows us that Nazareth is the counterpart of Eden. In the garden of delights there is a virgin and an angel. And a conversation takes place between them. At Nazareth, a virgin is also spoken to by an angel, and she answers him. But the angel of the earthly Paradise is a spirit of darkness, and he of Nazareth is a spirit of light. In both instances it is the Angel that has the first word. “Why,” said the serpent to Eve, “why has God commanded you that you should not eat of every tree of paradise?” His question implies impatience and a solicitation to evil. He has contempt for the frail creature to whom he addresses it, but he hates the image of God which is upon her.

See, on the other hand, the Angel of light. See with what composure and peacefulness he approaches the Virgin of Nazareth, the new Eve. And how respectfully he bows himself down before her: “Hail, full of grace! The Lord is with thee! Blessed art thou among women!” Such language is evidently of Heaven: none but an Angel could speak thus to Mary.

Eve imprudently listens to the tempter’s words. She answers him. She enters into conversation with one that dares to ask her to question the justice of God’s commands. Her curiosity urges her on. She has no mistrust in the serpent. This leads her to mistrust her Creator.

Mary hears what Gabriel has spoken to her, but this Most Prudent Virgin is silent. She is surprised at the praise given her by the Angel. The purest and humblest of virgins has a dread of flattery, and the heavenly Messenger can get no reply from her until he has fully explained his mission by these words: “Fear not, Mary, for you have found grace with God. Behold, you will conceive in your womb, and will bring forth a son: and you will call his name Jesus. He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give him the throne of David his father: and he will reign in the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.” What magnificent promises are these, which are made to her in the name of God! What higher glory could she, a daughter of Judah, desire? knowing, too, as she does, that the fortunate Mother of the Messiah is to be the object of the greatest veneration! And yet, it tempts her not. She has forever consecrated her virginity to God in order that she may be the more closely united to Him by love. The grandest possible privilege, if it is to be on the condition of her violating this sacred vow, would be less than nothing in her estimation. She thus answers the Angel: “How will this be done because I know not man?”

The first Eve evinces no such prudence or disinterestedness. No sooner has the wicked spirit assured her that she may break the commandment of her divine benefactor and not die, that the fruit of her disobedience will be a wonderful knowledge which will put her on an equality with God Himself, than she immediately yields. She is conquered. Her self-love has made her at once forget both duty and gratitude: she is delighted at the thought of being freed from the two-fold tie which binds her to her Creator.

Such is the woman that caused our perdition! But how different is She that was to save us! The former cares not for her posterity. She looks but to her own interests. The latter forgets herself to think only of her God, and of the claims He has to her service. The Angel, charmed with this sublime fidelity, thus answers the question put to him by Mary and reveals to her the designs of God: “The Holy Ghost will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. And therefore also the Holy which will be born of you will be called the Son of God. And behold your cousin Elizabeth, she also has conceived a son in her old age. And this is the sixth month with her that is called barren, because no word will be impossible with God.” This said, he is silent and reverently awaits the answer of the Virgin of Nazareth.

Let us look once more at the Virgin of Eden. Scarcely has the wicked spirit finished speaking than Eve casts a longing look at the forbidden fruit: she is impatient to enjoy the independence it is to bring her. She rashly stretches forth her hand. She plucks the fruit. She eats it and death takes possession of her: death of the soul, for sin extinguishes the light of life, and death of the body, which, being separated from the source of immortality, becomes an object of shame and horror, and finally crumbles into dust.

But let us turn away our eyes from this sad spectacle and fix them on Nazareth. Mary has heard the Angel’s explanation of the mystery. The will of Heaven is made known to her and how grand an honour it is to bring upon her! She, the humble maid of Nazareth, is to have the ineffable happiness of becoming the Mother of God, and yet the treasure of her virginity is to be left to her! Mary bows down before this sovereign will and says to the heavenly Messenger: “Behold the handmaid of the Lord: be it done to me according to your word.”

Thus, as the great Saint Irenaeus and so many of the Holy Fathers remark, the obedience of the second Eve repaired the disobedience of the first: for no sooner does the Virgin of Nazareth speak her fiat — be it done — than the Eternal Son of God (who, according to the divine decree, awaited this word) is present by the operation of the Holy Ghost in the chaste womb of Mary, and there He begins his human life. A Virgin is a Mother, and Mother of God. And it is this virgin’s consenting to the divine will that has made her conceive by the power of the Holy Ghost.

This sublime Mystery puts between the Eternal Word and a mere woman the relations of Son and Mother. It gives to the Almighty God a means by which He may, in a manner worthy of His Majesty, triumph over Satan who had hitherto seemed to have prevailed against the divine plan. Never was there a more entire or humiliating defeat than that which was this day gained over Satan. The frail creature, over whom he had so easily triumphed at the beginning of the world, now rises and crushes his proud head. Eve conquers in Mary. God would not choose man for the instrument of his vengeance. The humiliation of Satan would not have been great enough. And therefore she who was the first prey of Hell, the first victim of the tempter, is selected as the one that is to give battle to the enemy. The result of so glorious a triumph is that Mary is to be superior not only to the rebel angels, but to the whole human race, yes, to all the Angels of Heaven. Seated on her exalted throne, she, the Mother of God, is to be the Queen of all creation. Satan, in the depths of the abyss, will eternally bewail his having dared to direct his first attack against the woman, for God has now so gloriously avenged her. And in Heaven the very Cherubim and Seraphim reverently look up to Mary and deem themselves honoured when she smiles upon them, or employs them in the execution of any of her wishes, for she is the Mother of their God.

Therefore is it that we, the children of Adam who have been snatched by Mary’s obedience from the power of Hell, solemnise this day of the Annunciation. Well may we say of Mary those words of Deborah when she sang her song of victory over the enemies of God’s people: “The valiant men ceased, and rested in Israel, until Deborah arose, a Mother arose in Israel. The Lord chose new wars, and He Himself overthrew the gates of the enemies” (Judges v. 7, 8). Let us also refer to the holy Mother of Jesus these words of Judith who by her victory over the enemy was another type of Mary: “Praise the Lord our God, who has not forsaken them that hope in Him. And by me, His handmaid, He has fulfilled His mercy, which He promised to the house of Israel; and He has killed the enemy of His people by my hand this night... The Almighty Lord has struck him, and has delivered him into the hands of a woman, and has slain him” (Judith xiii. 17, 18; xvi. 7).

Lesson – Isaias vii.

In those days the Lord spoke to Achaz, saying: “Ask a sign of the Lord your God, either to the depth of Hell, or to the height above.” And Achaz said: “I will not ask, and I will not tempt the Lord.” And he (Isaias) said: “Hear, therefore, O house of David: Is it a small thing for you to to be grievous to men, that you are grievous to my God also? Therefore the Lord Himself gives you a sign. Behold: “a Virgin will conceive and bear a son, and his name will be called Emmanuel. He will eat butter and honey, that he may know to refuse the evil, and to choose the good.”

Thanks be to God.

Dom Prosper Guéranger:

The Prophet is speaking to a wicked king who refused to accept a miraculous proof of God’s merciful protection over Jerusalem. And he makes this an opportunity for announcing to Judah the great portent which we are celebrating today: “A Virgin will conceive and bear a son.” And when was it that God fulfilled the prophecy? It was in an age when mankind seemed to have reached the highest pitch of wickedness, and when idolatry and immorality reigned throughout the whole world. The fullness of time came, and the tradition which had found its way into every country, that a Virgin should bring forth a Son, was exciting much interest. This is the day on which the mystery was accomplished. Let us adore the power of God and the fidelity with which He fulfils His promises. The author of the laws of nature suspends them. He acts independently of them: Virginity and Maternity are united in one and the same creature, for the child that is to be born is God. A Virgin could not bring forth other than God Himself: the Son of Mary is therefore called Euunanuel, that is, God with us.

Let us adore this God, the Creator of all things visible and invisible, who thus humbles Himself. Henceforth, He will have every tongue confess not only His Divinity, but also His Human Nature, which He has assumed in order that He might redeem us. From this day forward He is truly the Son of Man. He will remain nine months in His Mother’s womb, as other children. Like them, He will, after His birth, be fed on milk and honey. He will sanctify all stages of human life, from infancy to perfect manhood, for He is the New Man who has come down from Heaven that he might restore the Old. Without losing anything of His Divinity, He shares in our weak finite being that He may make us partakers of the divine nature (1 Peter i. 4).

Gospel – Luke i.

At that time the Angel Gabriel was sent from God into a city of Galilee called Nazareth, to a virgin espoused to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. And the virgin’s name was Mary. And the Angel being come in, said to her: “Hail, Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee: blessed art thou among women.” Who having heard, was troubled at his saying, and thought with herself what manner of salutation this should be. And the Angel said to her: “Fear not, Mary, for you have found grace with God. Behold you will conceive in your womb, and will bring forth a son, and you will call his name Jesus. He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give him the throne of David his father: and he will reign in the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.” And Mary said to the Angel: “How will this be done, because I know not man?” And the Angel answering, said to her: “The Holy Ghost will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. And therefore also the Holy which will be born of you will be called the Son of God. And behold your cousin Elizabeth she also has conceived a son in her old age, and this is the sixth month with her that is called barren: because no word will be impossible with God.” And Mary said: “Behold the handmaid of the Lord, be it done to me according to your word.”

Praise be to you, O Christ.

Dom Prosper Guéranger:

By these last words of yours, Mary, our happiness is secured. You consent to the desire of Heaven, and your consent brings us our Saviour. Virgin-Mother! Blessed among women! We unite our thanks with the homage that is paid you by the Angels. By you is our ruin repaired. In you is our nature restored, for you have wrought the victory of man over Satan! Saint Bernard, in one of his Homilies on this Gospel thus speaks: “Rejoice, our father Adam! But you, mother Eve, still more rejoice! You were our Parents, but you were also our destroyers. And what is worse, you had wrought our destruction before you gave us birth. Both of you must be consoled in such a Daughter as this: but you, Eve, who was the first cause of our misfortune, and whose humiliation has descended upon all women, you have a special reason to rejoice in Mary. For the time is now come when the humiliation is taken away, neither can man any longer complain against the woman as of old when he foolishly sought to excuse himself, and cruelly put all the blame on her, saying: “The woman whom you gave me, gave me of the Tree, and I did eat. Go, Eve, to Mary. Go, Mother, to your Daughter. Let your Daughter take your part, and free you from your disgrace, and reconcile you to her father: for, if man fell by a woman, he is raised up by a woman. What is this you say, Adam? The woman whom you gave me, gave me of the Tree, and I did eat? These are wicked words. Far from effacing your fault, they aggravate it. But divine Wisdom conquered your wickedness by finding in the treasury of His own inexhaustible mercy a motive for pardon which He had in vain sought to elicit by questioning you. In place of the woman of whom you complain He gives you another: Eve was foolish, Mary is wise. Eve was proud, Mary is humble. Eve gave you of the tree of death, Mary will give you of the Tree of life. Eve offered you a bitter and poisoned fruit, Mary will give you the sweet Fruit she herself is to bring forth, the Fruit of everlasting life. Change, then, your wicked excuse into an act of thanksgiving, and say: The woman whom you have given me, Lord, has given me of the Tree of Life, and I have eaten thereof. And it is sweeter than honey to my mouth, for by it you have given me life.”

Also on this day according to the ROMAN MARTYROLOGY:

At Rome, St. Quirinus, martyr, who after losing his goods, suffering imprisonment in a dark dungeon, and being severely scourged, was put to death with the sword and thrown into the river Tiber. Christians found his body on the Island of St. Bartholomew and buried it in the Pontian cemetery.

In the same city, two hundred and sixty-two holy martyrs.

At Sirmium, the martyrdom of St. Irenaeus, bishop. In the time of the emperor Maximian under the governor Probus, after undergoing bitter torments and a painful imprisonment for many days, he was beheaded.

At Nicomedia, St. Dula, the servant of a soldier, who was killed for the preservation of her chastity and deserved the crown of martyrdom.

At Jerusalem, the commemoration of the Good Thief who confessed Christ on the cross and deserved to hear from Him the words, “This day you will be with Me in Paradise.”

At Laodicea, St. Pelagius, bishop, who having endured exile and other afflictions for the Catholic faith under Valens, rested in the Lord.

At Pistoja, the holy confessors Barontius and Desiderius.

In Indre, an island of the Loire, the abbot St. Hermelandus, whose glorious life is attested by signal miracles.

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

Thanks be to God.

25 MARCH – WEDNESDAY IN PASSION WEEK

Lesson – Leviticus xix. 1‒18 

In those days the Lord spoke to Moses, saying: “Speak to all the assembly of the children of Israel, and you will say to them: ‘I am the Lord your God. You must not steal. You must not lie: neither may any man deceive his neighbour. You must not swear falsely by my name, nor profane the name of your God. I am the Lord. You must not calumniate your neighbour, nor oppress him by violence. The wages of him that has been hired by you will not abide with you until the morning. You must not speak evil of the deaf, nor put a stumbling block before the blind: but you must fear the Lord your God, because I am the Lord. You must not do that which is unjust, nor judge unjustly. Respect not the person of the poor, nor honour the countenance of the mighty. Judge your neighbour according to justice. You must not be a detractor nor a whisperer among the people. You must not stand against the blood of your neighbour. I am the Lord. You must not hate your brother in your heart, but reprove him openly, lest you incur sin through him. Seek not revenge, nor be mindful of the injury of your citizens. You must love your friend as yourself. I am the Lord. Keep my laws, for I am the Lord your God.’”

Thanks be to God. 

Dom Prosper Guéranger:

This passage from Leviticus in which our duties to our neighbour are so clearly and so fully defined, is read to us today in order that we may see how we fulfil these important duties and correct whatever shortcomings we may discover in ourselves. It is God who here speaks. It is God who commands. Observe that phrase: “I am the Lord.” He repeats it several times to show us that if we injure our neighbour, He, God himself, will become the avenger. How strange must not such doctrine have seemed to the catechumens who had been brought up in the selfish and heartless principles of paganism. Here they are told that all men are brethren, and that God is the common Father of all, commanding all to love one another with sincere charity, and without distinction of nation or class. Let us Christians resolve to fulfil this precept to the letter: these are days for good resolutions. Let us remember that the commandments we have been reading were given to the Israelite people many ages before the preaching of the Law of Love. If, then, God exacted from the Jew a cordial love of his fellow-men, when the divine law was written on mere tablets of stone, what will He not require from the Christian who can now read that Law in the Heart of the Man-God who has come down from heaven and made Himself our brother in order that we might find it easier and sweeter to fulfil the precept of charity? Human nature united in his Person to the Divine, is henceforth sacred. It has become an object of the heavenly Father’s love. It was out of fraternal love for this our nature that Jesus suffered death, teaching us, by His own example, to have such love for our brethren, that, if necessary, we ought to lay down our lives for them (John iii. 16). It is the Beloved disciple that teaches us this, and he had it from his Divine Master.

Gospel – John x. 22‒38

At that time it was the feast of the dedication at Jerusalem, and it was winter. And Jesus walked in the temple, in Solomon’s porch. The the Jews therefore came round about Him, and said to him: “How long do you hold our souls in suspense? If you are the Christ, tell us plainly.” Jesus answered them: “I speak to you and you believe not. The works that I do in the name of my Father, they give testimony of me. But you do not believe because you are not of my sheep. My sheep hear my voice: and I know them, and they follow me: and I give them eternal life: and they will not perish forever, and no man will pluck them out of my hand. That which my Father has given me, is greater than all: and no man can snatch it out of the hand of my Father. I and the Father are one.” The Jews then took up stones to stone him. Jesus answered them: “Many good works I have showed you from my Father: for which of those works do you stone me?” The Jews answered Him: “For a good work we stone you not, but for blasphemy: and because that you, being a man, make yourself God.” Jesus answered them: “Is it not written in your law: I said you are gods? If he called them Gods, to whom the word of God was spoken, and the Scripture cannot be broken; do you say of him, whom the Father has sanctified and sent into the world: You blaspheme; because I said I am the Son of God? If I do not the works of my Father, believe me not. But if I do, though you will not believe me, believe the works: that you may know and believe that the Father is in me, and I in the Father.”

Praise be to you, O Christ.
 

Dom Prosper Guéranger:

After the Feast of Tabernacles came that of the Dedication, and Jesus remained in Jerusalem. The hatred His enemies bore Him is greater than ever. They come round about him, that they may make Him say he is the Christ, and then accuse Him of claiming a mission which does not belong to Him. Jesus deigns not to reply to their question, but tells them that they have seen His works, and that these give ample testimony of His being Christ, the Son of God. It is by faith, and by faith alone, that man can here know his God. God manifests Himself by His divine works: man sees them, and is bound to believe the truth to which they bear testimony. By thus believing, he has both the certitude of what he believes, and the merit of his believing. The proud Jew rebels against this: he would fain dictate to God how he should act, and sees not that such a pretension is impious and absurd.

But if Jesus openly declares the truth, He will scandalise these evil-minded men! Be it so. The truth must be preached. Our Lord has others to consult besides them. There are the well-intentioned, and they will believe what He teaches. He therefore utters these sublime words by which He declares not only that He is Christ, but that He is God: “I and the Father are one.” He knew that this would enrage His enemies, but He had to make Himself known to the world and arm the Church against the false doctrines of heretics who were to rise up in future ages. One of these is to be Arius, who will teach that Jesus is not God, but only the most perfect of creatures. The Church will answer that Jesus is one with the Father — consubstantial to the Father, and, then, after causing much trouble and sin, Arianism will die out and be forgotten. The Jews mentioned in today’s Gospel are the fore-runners of Arius. They understand what our Lord says — He says He is God, and they seek to stone Him. Jesus gives them a fresh grace. He shows them why they should receive what He here teaches: He reminds them, by the Scriptures they knew off by heart, that the name god has sometimes been applied, in a limited sense, to men who had certain high offices put upon them by heaven, and then He bids them think of all the miracles they have seen Him work, which so plainly testify to His being assisted by His Father, and once more declares Himself to be God, saying: “The Father is in me, and I in the Father.” But men hardened in obstinacy as these are cannot be convinced, and the sin they have committed against the Holy Spirit is working its effects. How different is it with the sheep of this divine Shepherd! They hear His voice. They follow Him. He gives them eternal life: no man will pluck them out of His hand. Happy sheep indeed! They believe because they love, and as it is through the heart that truth gains ascendency over them, so is it by pride of intellect that darkness gets admission into the soul of the unbeliever, and lasts as long as pride lasts. Alas, poor unbeliever! He loves his darkness. He calls it light. He blasphemes when he thinks he reasons, just as these Jews crucified the Son of God, that, as they said, they might give glory to God.

24 MARCH – SAINT GABRIEL THE ARCHANGEL

 Dom Prosper Guéranger:

So far in the Church’s Calendar we have not met with any feast in honour of the Holy Angels. Amid the ineffable joys of Christmas night, we mingled our timid but glad voices with the hymns of these heavenly Spirits who sang around the crib of our Emmanuel. The very recollection brings joy to our hearts, saddened as they now are by penitential feelings and by the near approach of the mournful anniversary of our Jesus’ death. Let us, for a moment, interrupt our sadness and keep the feast of the Archangel Gabriel. Later on we will have Michael, Raphael and the countless host of the Angel Guardians. But today, the seventh from the Annunciation, it is just that we should honour Gabriel. Yes, a week hence and we will see this heavenly Ambassador of the Blessed Trinity coming down to the Virgin of Nazareth. Let us, therefore, recommend ourselves to him and beseech him to teach us how to celebrate, in a becoming manner, the grand Mystery of which he was the Messenger.

Gabriel is one of the first of the Angelic Kingdom. He tells Zachary that he stands before the face of God (Luke i. 19). He is the Angel of the Incarnation because it is in this Mystery, which apparently is so humble, that the power of God is principally manifested and Gabriel signifies the strength of God. We find the Archangel preparing for his sublime office even in the Old Testament. First of all, he appears to Daniel after this Prophet had the vision of the Persian and Grecian Empires. And such was the majesty of his person that Daniel fell on his face trembling (Daniel vii. 17). Shortly afterwards he appears again to the same Prophet, telling him the exact time of the coming of the Messiah: “Know and take notice: that from the going forth of the word to build up Jerusalem again, to Christ the Prince, there will be seven weeks and sixty-two weeks (Daniel ix. 25) that is, sixty-nine weeks of years.

When the fullness of time had come and Heaven was about to send the last of the Prophets — he, who after preaching to men the approach of the Messiah is to show Him to the people, saying: “Behold the Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world” — Gabriel descends from Heaven to the Temple of Jerusalem and prophesies to Zachary the birth of John the Baptist (Luke i. 13) which was to be followed by that of Jesus Himself. Six months later on the holy Archangel again appears on the Earth, and this time it is Nazareth that he visits. He brings the great message from Heaven. Angel as he is, he reveres the humble maid whose name is Mary. He has been sent to her by the Most High God to offer her the immense honour of becoming the Mother of the Eternal Word. It is Gabriel that receives the great Fiat, the consent of Mary. And when he quits this Earth, he leaves it in possession of Him, for whom it had so long prayed in those words of Isaiah: “Drop down dew, ye heavens!” (Isaias xlv. 8).

The hour at length came when the Mother of the Emmanuel was to bring forth the Blessed Fruit of her virginal womb. Jesus was born amid poverty, but Heaven willed that His crib should be surrounded by fervent adorers. An Angel appeared to some shepherds, inviting them to go to the stable near Bethlehem. He is accompanied by a multitude of the heavenly army sweetly singing their hymn: “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men of good will” Who is this Angel that speaks to the shepherds, and seems as the chief of the other blessed Spirits that are with him? In the opinion of several learned writers, it is the Archangel Gabriel who is keeping up his ministry as Messenger of the Good Tidings (Luke ii. 10).

Lastly, when Jesus is suffering His Agony in the Garden of Gethsemani, an Angel appears to Him, not merely as a witness of His suffering, but that He might strengthen Him under the fear His human nature felt at the thought of the chalice of the Passion He was about to drink (Luke xxii. 42, 43) Who is this Angel? It is Gabriel, as we learn not only from the writings of several holy and learned authors, but also from a hymn which the Holy See has permitted to be used in the Liturgy. These are the claims of the great Archangel to our veneration and love. These are the proofs he gives of his deserving his beautiful name — the Strength of God. God has employed him in each stage of the great work in which He has chiefly manifested His power, for Jesus, even on His Cross, is the power of God (1 Corinthians i. 24), as the Apostle tells us. Gabriel prepares the way for Jesus. He foretells the precise time of His Coming. He announces the birth of His Precursor. He is present at the solemn moment when the Word is made Flesh. He invites the shepherds of Bethlehem to come to the crib and adore the Divine Babe and when Jesus, in His Agony, is to receive strength from one of His own creatures, Gabriel is found ready in the Garden of Gethsemani, as he had been at Nazareth and Bethlehem.

* * * * *

The whole human race is indebted to you, Gabriel, and on this day we would fain pay you the honour and gratitude we owe you. You were moved to holy compassion when seeing the miseries of the world, for all flesh had corrupted its way, and the forgetfulness of God increased with each new generation of men. Then did the Most High commission you to bring to the world the good tidings of its salvation. How beautiful your steps, Prince of the heavenly court, as you came down to this our humble sphere! How tender and fraternal is your love of man whose nature, though so inferior to your own, was to be raised by the mystery of the Incarnation to union with God Himself! With what respectful awe did you not approach the Virgin who surpassed all the Angels in holiness! Blessed Messenger of our Redemption whom God selects as His Minister when He would show His power, we beseech you, offer the homage of our gratitude to Him that thus sent you. Help us to pay the immense debt we owe to the Father who so loved the world as to give it His only begotten Son (John iii. 16): to the Son, who emptied Himself, taking the form of a servant (Philippians ii. 7), and to the Holy Ghost who rested on the Flower that sprang up out of the root of Jesse (Isaias xi. 1).

’Twas you, Gabriel, that taught us the salutation with which we should greet Mary full of grave. You were the first to pronounce these sublime words, which you brought from Heaven. The children of the Church are now, day and night, repeating these words of yours. Pray for us that we may say them in such a manner as that our Blessed Mother may find them worthy of her acceptance.

Angel of Strength, Friend of Mankind, relent not in your ministry of aiding us. We are surrounded by terrible enemies. Our weakness makes them bold. Come to our assistance, get us courage. Pray for us during these days of conversion and penance. Obtain for us the knowledge of all we owe to God in consequence of that ineffable mystery of the Incarnation of which you were the first witness. We have forgotten our duties to the Man-God, and we have offended Him: enlighten us, that so, henceforth, we may be faithful to His teachings and examples.

Raise up our thoughts to the happy abode where you dwell. Assist us to merit the places left vacant by the fallen Angels, for God has reserved them for His elect among men. Pray, Gabriel, for the Church Militant, and defend her against the attacks of Hell. The times are evil. The spirits of malice are let loose, nor can we make stand against them unless with God’s help. It is by His holy Angels that He gives victory to His Spouse. Be thou, Strength of God, foremost in the ranks. Drive heresy back, keep schism down, foil the false wisdom of men, frustrate the policy of the world, arouse the well-minded from apathy that thus, the Christ whom you announced may reign over the Earth He has redeemed, and that we may sing together with you and the whole angelic choir: Glory be to God! Peace to men!

On this day according to the ROMAN MARTYROLOGY:

At Rome, the holy martyrs Mark and Timothy, who were crowned with martyrdom under the emperor Antoninus.

In the same city, St. Epigmenius, priest, who consummated his martyrdom by the sword in the persecution of Diocletian under the judge Turpius.

Also at Rome, in the time of Julian the Apostate, the passion of blessed Pigmenius, a priest, who was killed for the faith of Christ by being precipitated into the river Tiber.

At Caesarea in Palestine, the birthday of the holy martyrs Timolaus, Denis, Pausides, Romulus, Alexander, another Alexander, Agapius and another Denis, who merited the crown of life by being beheaded in the persecution of Diocletian under the governor Urban.

In Mauritania (Barbary), the birthday of the saintly brothers Romulus and Secundus, who suffered for the faith of Christ.

At Trent, the martyrdom of the holy child Simeon, who was barbarously murdered by the Jews. He became celebrated for many miracles.

At Synnadas in Phrygia, St. Agapitus, bishop.

At Brescia, St. Latinus, bishop. In Syria, St. Seleucus, confessor.

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

Thanks be to God.

24 MARCH – TUESDAY IN PASSION WEEK

 

Lesson – Daniel xiv. 28‒42

In those days the people of Babylon gathered together against the king, and said to him: “Deliver up to us Daniel who has destroyed Bel and killed the Dragon, otherwise we will destroy you and your house.” And the king saw that they pressed on him violently, and being constrained by necessity he delivered Daniel to them. And they cast him into the den of lions, and he was there six days. And in the den there were seven lions, and they had given to them two carcasses every day, and two sheep: but then they were not given to them, to the intent that they might devour Daniel. Now there was in Judea a prophet called Habacuc, and he had boiled pottage, and had broken bread in a bowl, and was going into the field to carry it to the reapers. And the Angel of the Lord said to Habacuc: “Carry the dinner which you have into Babylon to Daniel,who is in the lions’ den.” And Habacuc said: “Lord, I never saw Babylon, nor do I know the den.” And the Angel of the Lord took him by the top of his head, and carried him by the hair of his head, and set him in Babylon over the den in the force of his spirit. And Habacuc cried, saying: “O Daniel, you servant of God, take the dinner that God has sent you.” And Daniel said: “You have remembered me, O God, and you have not forsaken them that love you.” And Daniel arose and ate. And the Angel of the Lord presently set Habacuc again in his own place. And on the seventh day the king came to bewail Daniel, and he came to the den and looked in, and behold Daniel was sitting in the midst of the lions. And the king cried out with a loud voice, saying: “Great are you, O Lord, the God of Daniel.” And he drew him out of the lions’ den. But those that had been the cause of his destruction, he cast into the den and they were devoured in a moment before him. Then the king said: “Let all the inhabitants of the whole earth fear the God of Daniel, for He is the Saviour, working signs and wonders in the earth, who has delivered Daniel out of the lions’ den.”

Thanks be to God.

Dom Prosper Guéranger:

This Lesson was intended in an especial manner as an instruction to the catechumens. They were preparing to enroll themselves as Christians. It was therefore necessary that they should have examples put before them, which they might study and imitate. Daniel, cast into the lions’ den for having despised and destroyed the idol Bel was the type of a martyr. This Prophet had confessed the true God in Babylon. He had put to death a Dragon to which the people, after Bel had been destroyed, had given their idolatrous worship: nothing less than Daniel’s death could appease their indignation. The holy man full of confidence in God allowed himself to be thrown into the lions’ den, thus setting an example of courageous faith to the future Christians: they would imitate him, and for three centuries would nobly shed their blood for the establishment of the Church of Christ. In the Roman catacombs we continually meet with the representation of Daniel surrounded by lions, and many of these paintings date from the ages of persecution. Thus, the eye of the catechumens could see what their ear heard. Both told them to be ready for trial and sacrifice. It is true, the history of Daniel showed them the power of God interfering and delivering him from death, but they were fully aware that in order to merit a like deliverance they would have to show a like constancy, and be ready to suffer death, rather than deny their faith. From time to time, a Christian was led to the amphitheatre, and the wild beasts would fawn at his feet: but such miracles only put off the martyr’s sacrifice, and perhaps won others to the faith.

It was the Prophet’s courage, and not his victory over the lions, that the Church proposed to her catechumens. The great thing for them to bear in mind was this maxim of our Lord: “Fear not them that kill the body, and are not able to kill the soul; but rather fear him that can destroy both soul and body into hell” (Matthew x. 28). We are the descendants of these early Christians, but our faith has not cost us what it cost them. And yet we have a tyrant to try even ours: we have to confess our faith, not indeed before proconsuls or emperors, but before the world. Let the example of the brave martyrs send us forth from our Lent with a courageous determination to withstand this tyrant, with his maxims, his pomps, and his works. There has been a truce between him and us during these days of retirement and penance, but the battle will soon be renewed, and then we must stand the brunt and show that we are Christians.

Gospel – John vii. 1‒13

At that time Jesus walked in Galilee, for He would not walk in Judea, because the Jews sought to kill Him. Now the Jews’ feast of Tabernacles was at hand. And His brethren said to Him: “Depart from here and go into Judea that your disciples also may see your works which you do. For there is no man that does anything in secret, and he himself seeks to be known openly; if you do these things, manifest yourself to the world.” For neither did His brethren believe in Him. Then Jesus said to them: “ My time is not yet come; but your time is always ready. The world cannot hate you, but me it hates because I give testimony of it that the works of it are evil. Go up to this festival day, but I go not up to this festival day, because my time is not accomplished.” When He had said these things, He Himself stayed in Galilee. But after His brethren had gone up, then He also went up to the feast, not openly, but as it were in secret. The Jews therefore sought Him on the festival day and said: “Where is he?” And there was much murmuring among the multitude concerning Him. For some said: “He is a good man.” And others said: “No, but he seduces the people.” Yet no man spoke openly of Him for fear of the Jews.

Praise be to you, O Christ.

Dom Prosper Guéranger:

The facts here related refer to an earlier part of our Lord’s life, but the Church proposes them to our consideration today on account of their connection with those given us in the Gospels read to us during the last few days. We learn from these words of Saint John that the Jews were plotting the death of Jesus, not only when this the last Pasch for the synagogue was approaching, but even so far back as the Feast of Tabernacles, which was kept in September. The Son of God was reduced to the necessity of going from place to place as it were in secret. if He would go to Jerusalem, He must take precautions! Let us adore these humiliations of the Man-God who has deigned to sanctify every position of life, even that of the just man persecuted and obliged to hide himself from his enemies. It would have been an easy matter for Him to confound His adversaries by working miracles, such as those which Herod’s curiosity sought for. He could have compelled them to treat Him with the reverence that was due to Him. But this is not God’s way. He does not force man to duty. He acts and then leaves man to recognise his Creator’s claims. In order to do this man must be attentive and humble, he must impose silence on his passions. The divine light shows itself to the soul that thus comports herself. First, she sees the actions, the works, of God. Then, she believes and wishes to believe: her happiness, as well as her merit, lies in faith, and faith will be recompensed in eternity with light —with the Vision. Flesh and blood cannot understand this. They love show and noise. The Son of God having come down on this earth could not subject Himself to such an abasement as that of making a parade of His infinite power before men. He had to work miracles in order to give a guarantee of His mission, but as Man everything He did was not to be a miracle. By far the longest period of His life was devoted to the humble duties of a creature. Had it not been so, how should we have learned from Him what we so much needed to know? His brethren (the Jews gave the name of brothers to all who were collaterally related), His brethren wished Jesus to make a display of His miraculous power, for some of the glory would have accrued to them. This their ambition caused our Lord to address them in these strong words on which we should meditate during this holy season, for later on we will stand in need of the teaching: “The world cannot hate you, but me it hates.” Let us, therefore, for the time to come, not please the world. Its friendship would separate us from Jesus Christ.