Catholic Caucus: Daily Mass Readings, 04-19-14, Holy Saturday, Easter Vigil-Holy Night of Easter

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The Angelus

The Angel of the Lord declared to Mary:
And she conceived of the Holy Spirit.

Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee; blessed art thou among women and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus.
Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death. Amen.

Behold the handmaid of the Lord: Be it done unto me according to Thy word.

Hail Mary . . .

And the Word was made Flesh: And dwelt among us.

Hail Mary . . .

Pray for us, O Holy Mother of God, that we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ.

Let us pray:

Pour forth, we beseech Thee, O Lord, Thy grace into our hearts; that we, to whom the incarnation of Christ, Thy Son, was made known by the message of an angel, may by His Passion and Cross be brought to the glory of His Resurrection, through the same Christ Our Lord.

Amen.

All saint's days all superseded by the Easter liturgy.

Information: St. Leo IX

Feast Day: April 19

Born: 21 June 1002 at Egisheim, Alsace

Died: 19 April 1054 in Saint Peter's Basilica, Rome, Italy

Canonized: 1082

Matthew
	English: Douay-Rheims	Latin: Vulgata Clementina	Greek NT: Byzantine/Majority Text (2000)
	Matthew 28
1.	AND in the end of the sabbath, when it began to dawn towards the first day of the week, came Mary Magdalen and the other Mary, to see the sepulchre.	Vespere autem sabbati, quæ lucescit in prima sabbati, venit Maria Magdalene, et altera Maria, videre sepulchrum.	οψε δε σαββατων τη επιφωσκουση εις μιαν σαββατων ηλθεν μαρια η μαγδαληνη και η αλλη μαρια θεωρησαι τον ταφον
2.	And behold there was a great earthquake. For an angel of the Lord descended from heaven, and coming, rolled back the stone, and sat upon it.	Et ecce terræmotus factus est magnus. Angelus enim Domini descendit de cælo : et accedens revolvit lapidem, et sedebat super eum :	και ιδου σεισμος εγενετο μεγας αγγελος γαρ κυριου καταβας εξ ουρανου προσελθων απεκυλισεν τον λιθον απο της θυρας και εκαθητο επανω αυτου
3.	And his countenance was as lightning, and his raiment as snow.	erat autem aspectus ejus sicut fulgur : et vestimentum ejus sicut nix.	ην δε η ιδεα αυτου ως αστραπη και το ενδυμα αυτου λευκον ωσει χιων
4.	And for fear of him, the guards were struck with terror, and became as dead men.	Præ timore autem ejus exterriti sunt custodes, et facti sunt velut mortui.	απο δε του φοβου αυτου εσεισθησαν οι τηρουντες και εγενοντο ωσει νεκροι
5.	And the angel answering, said to the women: Fear not you; for I know that you seek Jesus who was crucified.	Respondens autem angelus dixit mulieribus : Nolite timere vos : scio enim, quod Jesum, qui crucifixus est, quæritis.	αποκριθεις δε ο αγγελος ειπεν ταις γυναιξιν μη φοβεισθε υμεις οιδα γαρ οτι ιησουν τον εσταυρωμενον ζητειτε
6.	He is not here, for he is risen, as he said. Come, and see the place where the Lord was laid.	Non est hic : surrexit enim, sicut dixit : venite, et videte locum ubi positus erat Dominus.	ουκ εστιν ωδε ηγερθη γαρ καθως ειπεν δευτε ιδετε τον τοπον οπου εκειτο ο κυριος
7.	And going quickly, tell ye his disciples that he is risen: and behold he will go before you into Galilee; there you shall see him. Lo, I have foretold it to you.	Et cito euntes, dicite discipulis ejus quia surrexit : et ecce præcedit vos in Galilæam : ibi eum videbitis : ecce prædixi vobis.	και ταχυ πορευθεισαι ειπατε τοις μαθηταις αυτου οτι ηγερθη απο των νεκρων και ιδου προαγει υμας εις την γαλιλαιαν εκει αυτον οψεσθε ιδου ειπον υμιν
8.	And they went out quickly from the sepulchre with fear and great joy, running to tell his disciples.	Et exierunt cito de monumento cum timore et gaudio magno, currentes nuntiare discipulis ejus.	και εξελθουσαι ταχυ απο του μνημειου μετα φοβου και χαρας μεγαλης εδραμον απαγγειλαι τοις μαθηταις αυτου
9.	And behold Jesus met them, saying: All hail. But they came up and took hold of his feet, and adored him.	Et ecce Jesus occurrit illis, dicens : Avete. Illæ autem accesserunt, et tenuerunt pedes ejus, et adoraverunt eum.	ως δε επορευοντο απαγγειλαι τοις μαθηταις αυτου και ιδου ιησους απηντησεν αυταις λεγων χαιρετε αι δε προσελθουσαι εκρατησαν αυτου τους ποδας και προσεκυνησαν αυτω
10.	Then Jesus said to them: Fear not. Go, tell my brethren that they go into Galilee, there they shall see me.	Tunc ait illis Jesus : Nolite timere : ite, nuntiare fratribus meis ut eant in Galilæam ; ibi me videbunt.	τοτε λεγει αυταις ο ιησους μη φοβεισθε υπαγετε απαγγειλατε τοις αδελφοις μου ινα απελθωσιν εις την γαλιλαιαν και εκει με οψονται

1. In the end of the sabbath, as it began to dawn toward the first day of the week, came Mary Magdalene and the other Mary to see the sepulcher.
2. And, behold, there was a great earthquake: for the angel of the Lord descended from heaven, and came and rolled back the stone from the door, and sat upon it.
3. His countenance was like lightning, and his raiment white as snow:
4. And for fear of him the keepers did shake, and became as dead men.
5. And the angel answered and said to the women, Fear not you: for I know that you seek Jesus, which was crucified.
6. He is not here: for he is risen, as he said. Come, see the place where the Lord lay.
7. And go quickly and tell his disciples that he is risen from the dead; and, behold, he goes before you into Galilee; there shall you see him: lo, I have told you.

PSEUDO-CHRYS. After the mocking and scourging, after the mingled draughts of vinegar and gall, the pains of the cross, and the wounds, and finally after death itself and Hades, there rose again from the grave a renewed flesh, there returned from obstruction a hidden life, health chained up in death broke forth, with fresh beauty from its ruin.

AUG. Concerning the hour when the women came to the sepulcher there arises a question not to be overlooked. Matthew here says, On the evening of the Sabbath. What then means that of Mark, Very early in the morning, the first day of the week? Truly Matthew, by naming the first part of the night, to wit, the evening, denotes the whole night in the end of which they come to the sepulcher. But seeing the Sabbath hindered them from doing this before, he designates the whole night by the earliest portion of it in which it became lawful for them to do whatever, during some period of the night, they designed to do.

Thus, On the evening of the sabbath, is just the same as if he had said, On the night of the sabbath, i.e. the night which follows the day of the sabbath, which is sufficiently proved by the words which follow, As it began to dawn towards the first day of the week. This could not be if we understood only the first portion of the night, its beginning, to be conveyed by the word, evening. For the evening or beginning of the night does not begin to dawn towards the first day of the week, but only the night which is concluded by the dawn. And this is the usual mode of speaking in Holy Scripture, to express the whole by a part. By evening therefore he implied the night, in the end of which they came to the sepulcher.

BEDE; Otherwise; It may be understood that they began to come in the evening, but that it was the dawn of the first day of the week when they reached the sepulcher; that is, that they prepared the spices for anointing the Lord's body in the evening, but that they took them to the sepulcher in the morning. This has been so shortly described by Matthew, that it is not quite clear in his account, but the other Evangelists give the order more distinctly. The Lord was buried on the sixth day of the week, and the v omen returning from the sepulcher prepared spices and ointments as long as it was lawful to work; on the sabbath they rested, according to the commandment, as Luke plainly declares; and when the Sabbath was past and the evening was come, and the season of labor returned, with zealous devotion they proceeded to purchase such spices as they yet lacked, (this is implied in Mark's words, when the sabbath was past, that they might go and anoint Jesus, for which purpose they come early in the morning to the sepulcher.

JEROME; Or, otherwise; This apparent discrepancy in the Evangelists as to the times of their visits is no mark of falsehood, as wicked men urge? but shows the sedulous duty and attention of the women, often going and coming, and not enduring to be long absent from the sepulcher of their Lord.

REMIG. It is to he known that Matthew designs to hint to us a mystical meaning, of how great worthiness this most holy night drew from the noble conquest of death, and the Resurrection of Our Lord. With this purpose he says, On the evening of the Sabbath. For whereas according to the wonted succession of the hours of the day, evening does not dawn towards day, but on the contrary darkens towards night, these words show that the Lord shed, by the light of His resurrection joy and brilliance over the whole of this night.

BEDE; For from the beginning of the creation of the world until now, the course of time has followed this arrangement, that the day should go before the night, because man, fallen by sin from the light of paradise, has sunk into the darkness and misery of this world. But now most fitly night goes before day, when, through faith in the resurrection, we are brought back from the darkness of sin and the shadow of death to the light of life, by the bounty of Christ.

CHRYSOLOGUS. Because the sabbath is illuminated, not taken away, by Christ, Who said, I am not come to destroy the Law, but to fulfill it. It is illuminated that it may lighten into the Lord's day, and shine forth in the Church, when it had hitherto burnt dim, and been obscured by the Jews in the Synagogue.

It follows, Came Mary Magadalen, and the other Mary, &c. Late runs woman for pardon, who had run early to Sill; in paradise she had taken up unbelief, from the sepulcher she hastens to take up faith; she now hastens to snatch life from death, who had before snatched death from life. And it is not, They come, but came, (in the singular,) for in mystery and not by accident, the two came under one name. She came, but altered; a woman, changed in life, not in name; in virtue, not in sex.

The women go before the Apostles, bearing to the Lord's sepulcher a type of the Churches; the two Marys, to wit. For Mary is the name of Christ's mother; and one name is twice repeated for two women, because herein is figured the Church coming out of the two nations, the Gentiles and the Jews, and being yet one. Mary came to the sepulcher, as to the womb of the resurrection, that Christ might be the second time born out of the sepulcher of faith, who after the flesh had been born of her womb; and that as a virgin had borne Him into this life present, so a sealed sepulcher might bring Him forth into life eternal. It is proof of Deity to have left a womb virgin after birth, and no less to have come forth in the body from a closed sepulcher.

JEROME; And, behold, there was a great earthquake. Our Lord, Son at once of God and man, according to His twofold nature of Godhead and of flesh, gives a sign one while of His greatness, another while of His lowliness. Thus, though now it was man who was crucified, and man who was buried, yet the things that were done around show the Son of God.

HILARY. The earthquake is the might of the resurrection, when the sting of death being blunted, and its darkness illuminated, there is stirred up a quaking of the powers beneath, as the Lord of the heavenly powers rises again.

CHRYS. Or the earthquake was to rouse and waken the women' who had come to anoint the body; and as all these things were done in the night-time, it was probable that some of them had fallen asleep.

BEDE; The earthquake at the Resurrection, as also at the Crucifixion, signifies that worldly hearts must be first moved to penitence by a health-giving fear through belief in His Passion and Resurrection.

CHRYSOL. If the earth thus quaked when the Lord rose again to the pardon of the Saints, how will it quake when He shall rise again to the punishment of the wicked; As the Prophet speaks, The earth trembled when the Lord rose again to judgment. And how will it endure the Lord's presence, when it was unable to endure the presence of His Angel? And the Angel of the lord descended from heaven. For when Christ arose, death was destroyed, commerce with heaven is restored to things on the earth; and woman, who had of old held communication to death with the Devil, now holds communication to life with the Angel.

HILARY. This is an instance of the mercy of God the Father, to supply the ministry, of heavenly power to the Son on His resurrection from the grave; and he is therefore the proclaimer of this first resurrection, that it may be heralded by some attendant token of the Father's good pleasure.

BEDE; Forasmuch as Christ is both God and man, therefore there lack not amidst the acts of His humanity the ministrations of Angels, due to Him as God. And came and rolled back the stone; not to open the door for the Lord to come forth, but to give evidence to men that He was already come forth. For He who as mortal had power to enter the world through the closed womb of a Virgin, He when become immortal, was able to depart out of the world by rising from a sealed sepulcher.

REMIG. The rolling back of the stone signifies the opening of Christ's sacraments, which were covered by the letter of the Law. For the Law having been written on stones, is here denoted by the stone.

CHRYSOL. He said not 'rolled,' but rolled back; because the rolling to of the stone was a proof of death; the rolling it back asserted the resurrection. The order of things is changed; The Tomb devours death, and not the dead; the house of death becomes the mansion of life; a new law is imposed upon it, it receives a dead, and renders up a living, man. It follows, And sat thereon. He sat down, who was incapable of weariness; but sat as a teacher of the faith, a master of the Resurrection; upon the stone, that the firmness of his seat might assure the steadfastness of the believers; the Angel rested the foundations of the Faith upon that rock, on which Christ was to found His Church. Or, by the stone of the sepulcher may be denoted death, under which we all lay; and by the Angel sitting thereon, is shown that Christ has by His might subdued death.

BEDE; And rightly did the Angel appear standing, who proclaimed the Lord's coming into the world to show that the Lord should come to vanquish the prince of this world. But the Herald of the Resurrection is related to have been seated, to show that now He had overcome him that had the power of death, He had mounted the throne of the everlasting kingdom. He sate upon the stone, now rolled back, wherewith the mouth of the sepulcher had been closed, to teach that He by His might had burst the bonds of the tomb.

AUG. It may disquiet some, how it is that according to Matthew the Angel sat upon the stone after it had been rolled back from the sepulcher, whereas Mark says that the women having gone into the sepulcher, saw a young man sitting on the right hand. Either we may suppose that they saw two, and that Matthew has not mentioned him whom they saw within, nor Mark him whom they saw without the sepulcher; but that they heard from each severally what the Angels said concerning Jesus. Or the words, entering into the sepulcher, may mean entering into some enclosed place, which probably there might be in front of the rock out of which the sepulcher was hewn; and thus it might be the same Angel whom they saw sitting on the right hand, whom Matthew describes as sitting on the stone which he had rolled . back.

CHRYSOL. The splendor of his countenance is distinct from the shining of his raiment; his countenance is compared to lightning, his raiment to snow; for the lightning is in heavier, snow on the earth; as the Prophet said, Praise the Lord from the earth; fire and hail, snow and vapors. Thus in the Angel's countenance is preserved the splendor of his heavenly nature; in his raiment is shown the grace of human communion. For the appearance of the Angel that talked with them is so ordered, that eyes of flesh might endure the still splendor of his robes, and by reason of his shining countenance they might tremble before the messenger of their Maker.

ID. But what means this raiment where there is no need of a covering? The Angel figures our dress, our shape, our likeness in the Resurrection, when man is sufficiently clothed by the splendor of his own body.

JEROME; The Angel in white raiment signifies the glory of His triumph.

GREG. Or otherwise; Lightning inspires terror; snow is an emblem of equity; and as the Almighty God is terrible to sinners and mild to the righteous, so this Angel is rightly a witness of His resurrection, and is exhibited with a countenance as lightning, and with raiment as snow, that by His presence He might terrify the wicked, and comfort the good; and so it follows, And for fear of him the keepers did shake.

RABAN. These who had not the faith of love were shaken with a panic fear; and they who would not believe the truth of the resurrection become themselves as dead men.

CHRYSOL. For they kept watch over Him with a purpose of cruelty, not with the solicitude of affection. And no man can stand who is forsaken by his own conscience, or troubled with a sense of guilt. Hence the Angel confounds the wicked, and comforts the good.

JEROME; The guards lay like dead men in a trance of terror, but the Angel speaks comfort not to them, but to the women, saying, Fear not you; as much as to say, Let them fear with whom unbelief abides; but do you who seek the crucified Jesus hear that He has risen again, and has accomplished what He promised.

CHRYSOL. For their faith had been bowed by the cruel storm of His Passion, so that they sought Him yet as crucified and dead; I know that you seek Jesus which was crucified; the weight of the trial had bent them to look for the Lord of heaven in the tomb, but, He is not here.

RABAN. His fleshly presence, that is; for His spiritual presence is absent from no place. He is risen, as he said.

CHRYS. As much as to say, If you believe me not, remember His own words. And then follows further proof, when he adds, Come, see the place where the Lord lay.

JEROME; That if my words fail to convince you, the empty tomb may.

CHRYSOL. Thus the Angel first announces His name, declares His Cross, and confesses His Passion; but straightway proclaims Him risen and their Lord. An Angel after such sufferings, after the grave acknowledges Him Lord; how then shall man judge that the Godhead was diminished by the flesh, or that His Might failed in His Passion. He says, Which was crucified, and points out the place where the Lord was laid, that they should not think that it was another, and not the same, who had risen from the dead. And if the Lord reappears in the same flesh, and gives evidence of His resurrection, why should man suppose that he himself shall reappear in other flesh? Or why should a slave disdain his own flesh, seeing the Lord did not change ours?

RABAN. And this glad tiding is given not to you alone for the secret comfort of your own hearts, but you must extend it to all who love Him; Go quickly, and tell his disciples.

CHRYSOL. As much as to say, Woman, now thou art healed, return to the man, and persuade him to faith, whom you did once persuade to treachery. Carry to man the proof of the Resurrection, to whom you did once carry counsel of destruction.

CHRYS. And, behold, he shall go before you, that is, to save you from danger, lest fear should prevail over faith.

JEROME; Mystically; He shall go before you into Galilee, that is, into the wallowing style of the Gentiles, where before was wandering and stumbling, and the foot had no firm and steady resting-place.

BEDE; The Lord is rightly seen by His disciples in Galilee, forasmuch as He had already passed from death to life, from corruption to incorruption; for such is the interpretation of Galilee, 'Transmigration.' Happy women! who merited to announce to the world the triumph of the Resurrection! More happy souls, who in the day of judgment, when the reprobate are smitten with terror, shall have merited to enter the joy of the blessed resurrection!

8. And they departed quickly from the sepulcher with fear and great joy; and did run to bring his disciples word.
9. And as they went to tell his disciples, behold, Jesus met them, saying, All hail. And they came and held him by the feet, and worshipped him.
10. Then said Jesus to them, Be not afraid: go tell my brethren that they go into Galilee, and there shall they see me.

HILARY; The women having been comforted by the Angel, are straightway met by the Lord, that when they should proclaim His resurrection to the disciples, they should speak rasher from Christ's own mouth than from an Angel's.

AUG. They departed forth of the tomb, that is, from that spot of the garden which was before the tomb hewn in the rock.

JEROME; A twofold feeling possessed the minds of the women, fear and joy; fear, at the greatness of the miracle; joy, in their desire of Him that was risen; but both added speed to their women's steps, as it follows, And did run to bring his disciples word. They went to the Apostles, that through them might be spread abroad the seed of the faith. They who thus desired, and who thus ran, merited to have their rising Lord come to meet them; whence it follows, And, behold, Jesus met them, saying, All hail.

RABAN. Hereby He showed that He will meet with His help all those who begin the ways of virtue, and enable them to attain to e, everlasting salvation.

JEROME; The women ought first to hear this Hail, that the curse of the woman Eve may be removed in these women.

CHRYSOL. That in these women is contained a full figure c of the Church is shown hereby, that Christ convinces His disciples when in doubt concerning the Resurrection, and confirms them when in fear; and when He meets them He does not terrify them by His power, but prevents them with the ardor of love. And Christ in His Church salutes Himself, for He has taken it into His own Body.

AUG. We conclude that they had speech of Angels twice at the sepulcher; when they saw one Angel, of whom Matthew and Mark speak; and again when they saw two Angels, as Luke and John relate. And twice in like manner of the Lord; once at that time when Mary supposed Him to be the gardener, and now again when He met them in the way to confirm them by repetition, and to restore them from their faintness.

CHRYSOL. Then Mary was not suffered to touch Him; now she has permission not only to touch, but to hold Him altogether; they came and held him by the feet, and worshipped him.

RABAN. It was told above how He rose when the sepulcher was closed, to show that that body which had been shut up therein dead, was now become immortal. He now offers His feet to be held by the women, to show that He had real flesh, which can be touched by mortal creatures.

CHRYSOL. They hold Christ's feet, who in the Church present the type of Evangelic preaching, and merit this privilege by their running to Him; and by faith so detain their Savior's footsteps, that they may come to the honor of His perfect Godhead. She is deservedly bid to touch me not, who mourns her Lord upon earth, and so seeks Him dead in the tomb, as not to know that He reigns in heaven with the Father. This, that the same Mary, one while exalted to the summit of faith, touches Christ, and holds Him with entire and holy affection; and again, cast down in weakness of flesh, and womanly infirmity, doubts, undeserving to touch her Lord, causes us no difficulty. For that is of mystery, this of her sex; that is of divine grace, this of human nature. And so also we, when we have knowledge of divine things, live to God; when we are wise in human things, we are blinded so by our own selves.

ID. They held His feet to show that the head of Christ is the man, but that the woman is in Christ's feet, and that it was given to them through Christ, not to go before, but to follow the man. Christ also repeats what the Angel had said, that what an Angel had made sure, Christ might make yet more sure. It follows, Then said Jesus to them, Fear not.

JEROME; This may be always observed, both in the Old and New Testament, that when there is an appearance of any majestic person, the first thing done is to banish fear, that the mind being tranquilized may receive the things that are said.

HILARY; The same order as of old now followed in the reversal of our woe, that whereas death began from the female sex, the same should now first see the glory of the Resurrection, and be made the messenger thereof. Whence the Lord adds, Go tell my brethren that they go into Galilee, there shall they see me.

CHRYSOL. He calls them brethren whom He has made akin to His own body; brethren whom the generous Heir has made His co-heirs; brethren, whom He has adopted to be sons of His own Father.

AUG. That the Lord, both by His own mouth, and by the Angel, directs them to seek for Him, not in that place in which He was to show Himself first but in Galilee, makes every believer anxious to understand in what mystery it is spoken. Galilee is interpreted 'transmigration,' or 'revelation'. And according to the first interpretation what meaning offers itself, save this, that the grace of Christ was to pass from the people of Israel to the Gentiles, who would not believe when the Apostles should preach the Gospel to them, unless the Lord Himself should first make ready their way in the hearts of men. This is the signification of that, He shall go before you into Galilee. There shall you see him, means, there shall you find His members, there shall you perceive His living Body in such as shall receive you. According to the other interpretation, 'revelation,' it is to be understood, you shall see him no longer in the form of a servant, but in that in which He is equal with the Father. That revelation will be the true Galilee, when we shall be like him, and shall see him as he is. That will be the blessed passing from this world to that eternity.

Catena Aurea Matthew 28

Resurrection of Christ

Marco Basaiti

1520
Oil on canvas, 140 x 100 cm
Accademia Carrara, Bergamo

Resurrection of Our Lord Jesus Christ

Russian icon

Greek icon

Resurrection and Harrowing of Hades with post-Resurrection scenes

18th Century, Russia

(Courtesy Printery House)

Myrrh-Bearing Women at the Tomb of Christ

Interactive Saints for Kids

Blessed James Duckett

Feast Day: April 19
Died: 1602

James Duckett was born at Gilfortrigs, Westmorland in Englad. He lived at a time when Elizabeth I was Queen of England. As a young man he became an apprentice (trainee) printer in London. There he came across a book called The Firm Foundation of the Catholic Religion.

He studied the book carefully and believed that the Catholic Church was the true Church. In those days, Catholics were ill-treated in England. James decided that he wanted to be a Catholic anyway and would bravely face any trouble that came his way.

The priest from his previous church came to look for him because James had been a regular church goer. James refused to go back. He was sent to prison twice for his stubbornness and both times the owner of the printing press he worked for, helped free him. But then the man asked James to find himself another job.

James Duckett knew there was no turning back and was able to find a disguised Catholic priest in the Gatehouse prison. The old priest, "Mr. Weekes," taught him about the Catholic faith and soon Duckett was received into the Catholic Church. He married a Catholic widow and their son became a Carthusian monk.

Blessed Duckett never forgot that it was a book that had changed his life. He made it his duty to provide his neighbors with Catholic books as he knew these books would help encourage and teach them about the faith and the Catholic Church.

So dangerous was this "work" that he was in prison for nine years out of the twelve that he was married. Finally, he was condemned to death by one man’s witness. Peter Bullock, a book binder testified that he had bound Catholic books for Blessed Duckett, a very "serious crime." Peter Bullock turned traitor because he himself was sent to prison for a crime and hoped to be set free.

But he was not set free. Instead, both men were sent to die on the same day. Before they were hanged, Blessed Duckett told Bullock that he was forgiven. He kept encouraging the man as they were dying to accept the Catholic faith. Then the ropes were placed around their necks. Blessed Duckett was martyred and died for his faith in 1602.

Reflection: Today we pray for all those who work in the media that God may guide them always.

Myrrh-Bearing Women at the Tomb of Christ

6th century
Basilica di Sant’Apollinare Nuovo, Ravenna

Catholic

Almanac:

Saturday, April 19

Liturgical Color: White

Pope St. Leo IX died on this day in

1054. Known as the pilgrim pope, he

traveled across Europe ensuring

reforms he instituted in the Church

were implemented in the individual

dioceses and parishes.

Catholic Culture

Daily Readings for:April 19, 2014
(Readings on USCCB website)

Collect: O God, who make this most sacred night radiant with the glory of the Lord's Resurrection, stir up in your Church a spirit of adoption, so that, renewed in body and mind, we amy render you undivided service. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.

RECIPES

o Casatiella (Egg Pizza)

o Babka I (Polish Easter Bread)

o Babka II (Polish Easter Bread)

o Paskha (Ukrainian Easter Bread)

o Beranek

o Easter Eggs

o Hard-Cooked Egg Cookies

o Italian Easter Baskets

o Moravian Love Cakes

o Babka (Polish Easter Bread)

o Koulich (Russian Sweet Easter Bread)

o Easter Baba (Polish Easter Coffee Cake)

o Easter Story Cookies

o Italian Easter Bread Eggs

ACTIVITIES

o A Jonas (Jonah) Project

o Alleluia Egg

o Baptismal Candles

o Blessing of the Easter Foods

o Creating a Lumen Christi (Light of Christ)

o Cross of Victory

o Easter Breakfast Picnic

o Easter Eggs Decorations

o Easter Marian Hymn: Rejoice, O Rejoice, Heavenly Queen

o Easter or Paschal Candle

o Easter Song: Three Women at Break of Day

o Easter Standard

o Easter Vigil

o Holy Saturday Activities in the Home

o Holy Saturday and Easter in the Home

o Holy Saturday Festivities

o Holy Saturday with the Slovaks

o Holy Week in the Catholic Tradition

o Home Altar Hangings

o Home Easter Vigil

o Jonas and Holy Week

o Lent Hymn: Open, O Hard and Sinful Heart!

o Lenten Customs of the Russian Germans

o Music for Lent and Easter: St. Matthew Passion by Bach

o New Fire of Easter

o Paschal Candle as a Centerpiece

o Paschal Candle for Home

o Sacred Triduum in the Home

o Symbolism of the Easter Eggs

o Tenebræ

o Traditional Easter Hymns

o Triptych

o Window Transparencies

o Wreath of Victory

o Decorating Easter Eggs

PRAYERS

o Prayer Before a Crucifix

o Prayer for Palm Sunday and Holy Week

o Prayer for Holy Saturday

o Polish Easter Blessing

o Blessing of the Home with Easter Water

o Way of the Cross

o To Keep A True Lent

o Holy Saturday Table Blessing

o Book of Blessings: Blessing of Food for the First Meal of Easter

o Book of Blessings: Blessing Before and After Meals: Sacred Triduum (2nd Plan)

o Easter Blessing of Food

o Divine Mercy Novena

o Family Evening Prayer for Holy Week

o Book of Blessings: Blessing Before and

· Lent: April 19th

· Holy Saturday — Easter Vigil

Old Calendar: Holy Saturday — Easter Vigil

On Holy Saturday the Church waits at the Lord's tomb, meditating on his suffering and death. The altar is left bare, and the sacrifice of the Mass is not celebrated. Only after the solemn vigil during the night, held in anticipation of the resurrection, does the Easter celebration begin, with a spirit of joy that overflows into the following period of fifty days.

Stational Church

Holy Saturday

Holy Saturday (from Sabbatum Sanctum, its official liturgical name) is sacred as the day of the Lord's rest; it has been called the "Second Sabbath" after creation. The day is and should be the most calm and quiet day of the entire Church year, a day broken by no liturgical function. Christ lies in the grave, the Church sits near and mourns. After the great battle He is resting in peace, but upon Him we see the scars of intense suffering...The mortal wounds on His Body remain visible....Jesus' enemies are still furious, attempting to obliterate the very memory of the Lord by lies and slander.

Mary and the disciples are grief-stricken, while the Church must mournfully admit that too many of her children return home from Calvary cold and hard of heart. When Mother Church reflects upon all of this, it seems as if the wounds of her dearly Beloved were again beginning to bleed.

According to tradition, the entire body of the Church is represented in Mary: she is the "credentium collectio universa" (Congregation for Divine Worship, Lettera circolare sulla preparazione e celebrazione delle feste pasquali, 73). Thus, the Blessed Virgin Mary, as she waits near the Lord's tomb, as she is represented in Christian tradition, is an icon of the Virgin Church keeping vigil at the tomb of her Spouse while awaiting the celebration of his resurrection.

The pious exercise of the Ora di Maria is inspired by this intuition of the relationship between the Virgin Mary and the Church: while the body of her Son lays in the tomb and his soul has descended to the dead to announce liberation from the shadow of darkness to his ancestors, the Blessed Virgin Mary, foreshadowing and representing the Church, awaits, in faith, the victorious triumph of her Son over death. — Directory on Popular Piety and the Liturgy

Although we are still in mourning, there is much preparation during this day to prepare for Easter. Out of the kitchen comes the smells of Easter pastries and bread, the lamb or hams and of course, the Easter eggs.

There are no liturgies celebrated this day, unless the local parish priest blesses the food baskets. In Slavic countries there is a blessing of the traditional Easter foods, prepared in baskets: eggs, ham, lamb and sausages, butter and cheeses, horseradish and salt and the Easter breads. The Easter blessings of food owe their origin to the fact that these particular foods, namely, fleshmeat and milk products, including eggs, were forbidden in the Middle Ages during the Lenten fast and abstinence. When the feast of Easter brought the rigorous fast to an end, and these foods were again allowed at table, the people showed their joy and gratitude by first taking the food to church for a blessing. Moreover, they hoped that the Church's blessing on such edibles would prove a remedy for whatever harmful effects the body might have suffered from the long period of self-denial. Today the Easter blessings of food are still held in many churches in the United States, especially in Slavic parishes.

If there is no blessing for the Easter foods in the parish, the father of the family can pray the Blessing over the Easter foods.

It is during the night between Holy Saturday and Easter Sunday that the Easter Vigil is celebrated. The service begins around ten o'clock, in order that the solemn vigil Mass may start at midnight.

Activities

Today we remember Christ in the tomb. It is not Easter yet, so it's not time for celebration. The day is usually spent working on the final preparations for the biggest feast of the Church year. The list of suggested activities is long, but highlights are decorating Easter eggs and attending a special Easter food blessing.
For families with smaller children, you could create a miniature Easter garden, with a tomb. The figure of the risen Christ will be placed in the garden on Easter morning.
Another activity for families is creation of a paschal candle to use at home.
The Directory on Popular Piety discusses some of the various devotions related to Easter, including the Blessing of the Family Table, Annual Blessing of Family Home, the Via Lucis and the Visit to the Mother of the Risen Christ.

The Station today is at St. John Lateran. During the afternoon of Holy Saturday the faithful were summoned here for the final scrutiny of the catechumens. Then, in the evening began the vigil or night of watching which concluded at dawn with the solemn baptisms — the neophytes, plunged into the baptismal waters and there buried with Christ, were born to the life of grace at the very time when our Savior came forth triumphant from the tomb at dawn on Easter morning.

The Word Among Us

Meditation: Matthew 28:1-10

Holy Saturday / Easter Vigil

Do not be afraid. (Matthew 28:5)

A powerful earthquake shook the ground. An angel, unearthly in electric might, caused tough Roman soldiers to faint in terror. Sometimes, God acts and we are afraid: afraid of his power, afraid of the upheaval it causes, or afraid because we simply can’t comprehend his ways.

The resurrection was like that. But what did the angel say? “Do not be afraid” (Matthew 28:5). Jesus said it, too: “Do not be afraid” (28:10). God is always out for your good. And so he tells you as well: “Do not be afraid!”

For the past forty days, you have been pursuing a deeper relationship with the Lord. You have probably prayed more and fasted or engaged in other kinds of self-denial intended to bring you closer to him. The truth is, when you draw near to him, you can be sure he will draw near to you, too. And so, if God has done something in your life this Lent, don’t be afraid! If he has spoken to you or caused your heart to pound over some Scripture passage you have read or some hymn you have sung or some homily you have heard, don’t be afraid.

Maybe he has brought up old hurts or patterns of sin. Maybe he has pointed out someone you need to forgive or ask forgiveness of. Don’t be afraid. If the Holy Spirit has nudged you in a new direction, to a new service or activity or away from an old one, don’t be afraid. You may be longing for more of Jesus but feeling reluctant to move out of your comfort zone. Or maybe you hesitate because you don’t know where the Spirit will lead. Don’t be afraid. Join Jesus in stepping out of the tomb and into the dawn of a new day!

Approach him. Embrace him. Surrender your ideas and plans and activities to him. But don’t be afraid! Come to him so that you can have life. He is near you right now, and as you approach him, he will meet you on the way, just as he met Mary Magdalene. What joy to hold onto as you celebrate the resurrection of our Lord! You have nothing to be afraid of!

“Jesus, I cast aside all fear in your presence. Take my hand, Lord, and lead me in the joy of new life.”

Romans 6:3-11; Psalm 118:1-2, 16-17, 22-23

A Christian Pilgrim

TODAY we experience the silence of the tomb while Jesus “slept in death,” as if resting from His harrowing passion. Then, tonight at the Easter Vigil, we will proclaim with the Creed that Jesus had descended into hell, trampled its gates, and broken Satan’s stranglehold on the human race. All night, we will wait in anticipation for His resurrection to fee us from the curse of sin and restore us to life in God.

We will also be reminded tonight of the night the Israelites passed on the shores of the Red Sea. Escaping into the desert after the angel of death had passed over them, they found themselves hemmed in, the sea before them and Pharaoh’s troops behind them. There they kept vigil, with a mysterious angel and a pillar of cloud guarding them through the night (Exodus 14:19). How keenly they must have hoped for deliverance! Their lives hung in the balance, and they could only stand firm in faith (Exodus 14:14). There was nothing else they could do. Everything depended on God.

Jesus’ disciples found themselves in a similar situation after his crucifixion. No amount of effort – not Peter’s grief at denying his Master nor the women’s kindly preparations to anoint Jesus’ body with spices – could bring the Master back to life. There was nothing they could do bug wait. But it is precisely here, at the end of all human resources, that God’s power shines through most gloriously. When we were enslaved to the devil, God loosed our chains.

Let us wait on the Lord tonight, expecting His power to move in us. We have only to “keep still,” and He will act on our behalf. Even if we are not able to attend the vigil, let us spend some time this evening “keeping watch” and waiting for the light of Christ to flood our hearts and break into our world. This is the “most blessed of all nights, chosen by God to see Christ rising from the dead!”

Marriage=One Man and One Woman 'Til Death Do Us Part

Daily Marriage Tip for April 19, 2014:

Today, as we mourn Christ’s death and await Easter morning, remember those who grieve. Perhaps it is your own family. Share in each other’s grief to make the burden lighter.

Vultus Christi

Life’s Troubles

Saturday, 19 April 2014 12:40

I am profoundly touched by the many messages of encouragement that came to us following the events of early Good Friday morning in our guesthouse. Heartfelt thanks to all of you who have affirmed your support of Silverstream Priory. Not a few friends saw in the nocturnal burst of hot water and steam a manifestation of the Evil One’s discontent with what is happening at Silverstream. A brother monk in an English abbey was kind enough to write:

Just a word to say to you and the brethren to hang in there! You must be doing something right if the Devil sees fit to try to throw you off during the Triduum. Stand up to him, strong in faith. Make do as best you can and the Lord, and the Church, will supply. I have no doubt that the Lord will provide for you, in his own good way and in his own good time.

Another dear friend in California wrote:

I also want to encourage you as others have already done on your blog to stay strong and not allow this to get the better of you. Others have said it quite well i.e. that the evil one wants nothing more than to assault and destroy efforts to honor and praise the Lord—not to mention those committed to honoring, loving, and living for Him alone. In just such a time, He is closer to you than ever, and your efforts to carry on and not let this incident daunt you honor Him and draw down a flood of graces for priests and for a world full of sinners in need of God’s mercy. Trust in Him and praise Him, and all will be well in a little while.

The plumbers are here again today, trying to restore heat and hot water to the monks’ rooms and to the guestrooms. As soon as we can reach our insurance providers, we shall have the damage assessed and make the appropriate claims, so that things can be repaired in a timely manner.

This morning I opened, seemingly at random, the volume of Mother Mectilde’s unedited letters, and came upon this one addressed to her friend Marguerite de Lorraine, the Duchess of Orleans (1613–1672). It so struck me as appropriate that I took some time to translate it today.

Mother Mectilde’s allusion to “the vapours” — a quaint Victorian–sounding expression in English — may cause certain readers to smile. The term is no longer used but the reality it signifies is as prevalent today as it was in the 17th century. “The vapours” was used to designate depressive illness in women; generally speaking, the term “melancholy” was used to designate the same disease in men. The Duchess of Orleans was struggling with her own demons within as well as suffering trials and afflictions from without. These, Mother Mectilde refers to as crosses. Mother Mectilde offers wise counsel on how to cope with the things that get one down. All such things, she says, are opportunities to surrender to the Providence of God, trusting blindly in His wisdom and in His love.

You Are Shutting Down

It seems to me that you are shutting down so much, that you no longer want to soothe your heart by sharing in some little way the crosses that you are suffering without almost any respite. One doesn’t give up showing compassion for so many sufferings, but it is with even more sorrow when one sees oneself incapable of giving you relief, because you close yourself up with your pain to devour it all alone in the presence of God.

The Counsel of Few Good Servants of God

I know well that this is heroic, and that great souls display their courage by overcoming life’s afflictions, but however generous one may be by nature, the heart cannot protect itself from being wounded in a thousand different circumstances, and God does not forbid one to confide in another in order to bear one’s burden. The Son of God allowed Simon of Cyrene to carry part of the cross, so as to diminish His pain a little. I know well that when God wills that a soul suffer, He suspends all the consolations in heaven and on earth, but I do not believe, Madame, that God wants you in so great a destitution. It is certainly permitted you to take some help in the counsel of few good servants of God. Consult them, Madame, and see, before God, if there is not some remedy for your troubles. See what is causing your troubles and what can be done to free you of them.

The One Who Crucifies Also Secretly Sustains

There are crosses which are, in no wise, good to keep, and which Providence sends us, without limiting the means by which we may seek relief [from them]. There are others which the hand of God presses upon us so sensitively and so deeply that He places the soul in the incapacity of being able to get out from under them. One must resign oneself to crosses such as these and, with the patience of Jesus Christ, suffer and die upon their wood. The One who crucifies also secretly sustains; He knows how to put to death and bring to life all at the same time.

Both the Sword and the Remedy

Abandon yourself to the unknown designs of His love, for He knows how to plunge one into hell and draw one out of it. Never will a soul, subjected to His divine operations, perish. The hand that wounds in such dispositions is rigorous and gentle, opening the wound and healing it, bringing together both the sword and the remedy. You must not trouble yourself in this trial; it is what divine love does in souls who, without reserve, want to be all transformed into Jesus Christ. Such souls must be purified and, to this end, tribulations serve as fire.

Image of Mother Mectilde courtesy of the Benedictines of Perpetual Adoration of Warsaw, Poland

Someone to Help You

You need [while] in this crucible someone to help you bear it with courage, by a loving confidence in God and the surrender of your whole self to His good pleasure. For the rest, let this lovable Saviour act; He has no motive apart from sanctifying your soul and transforming it in His love.

God Will Sort It Out

When, however, crosses are caused and produced by temporal things, take counsel and look for the remedies. If none of these succeed, leave everything to the divine disposition and, with unshakeable faith, hope that the all–good God will infallibly sort it out, by the workings of His divine wisdom, which cannot deceive, and which acts for our good in all things, even though the human spirit is not always very persuaded of this.

Leave the Outcome to Him

We must not remain crushed under the weight of the things that afflict us. If they are turning us away from God and taking away our interior peace, we must overcome them by a holy disdain and by withdrawing our spirit into God, so as to leave to Him the outcome of such afflictions. Accept them gently and lovingly, [together with] the setbacks, the abjections, and the contradictions that come of them. Until a soul is totally resigned to God in all that pleases Him and in the manner He wills, it is altogether impossible for that soul to have a solid inward calm. May it please God, Madame, that you should possess the One whom I wish for you. The vapours would then have no power to vex you.

How He Makes Saints

Place all things in God, and leave yourself there. He will, according to His holy will, look after everything that affects you. Embrace this blindly, and disentangle yourself gently from all things so as to attach yourself to God alone. If He turns everything upside down, you must bless him together with the holy man Job; this is how He makes saints.

He Is Operating Divinely in You

God is admirable in His works; by means of all your crosses, He is operating divinely in you; He is doing there a work worthy of Himself and of the eternal felicity that will crown all your sufferings by changing them into joy. Does it matter what we are in this world, provided that we joy eternally in God?

Rest in God Forever

Courage, then, the end will come. All created things will return into the nothingness whence they came, and you will pass over into Jesus to rest in God forever. Cujus regni non erit finis. (And of His kingdom there shall be no end.) Pardon me for putting you to the trouble of reading this scrap; it will be enough for me if it helps to relieve you for a moment. I am not worthy to serve you, even though my zeal and my tenderness would push me to do more. God will supply for the rest; this I pray with all my heart. May He give you to know, Madame, what I am to you in His love, and with profound respect.