Free Republic

White   ℣. In resurrectione tua Christe, alleluia. ℣. In thy resurrection, O Christ, alleluia. ℟. Cœli et terra lætentur, alleluia. ℟. let heaven and earth rejoice, alleluia. WE ARE NOT TO SUPPOSE that because the sacred Humanity of our Risen Jesus is resplendent with glory and majesty, it is therefore less accessible to mortals. His kindness and condescension are the same as before; nay, he seems to have become more affectionate than ever, and more desirous to be with the children of men. Surely we have not forgotten what happened during the joyous Octave of the Pasch! His...

White   ℣. In resurrectione tua Christe, alleluia. ℣. In thy resurrection, O Christ, alleluia. ℟. Cœli et terra lætentur, alleluia. ℟. let heaven and earth rejoice, alleluia. WHAT ARE THESE WOUNDS in the midst of thy hands?—Such was the exclamation of the Prophet Zacharias, who lived five hundred years before the Birth of our Emmanuel: and we are almost forced to use it, now that we behold the Wounds that shine so brightly in the glorified Body of our Risen Lord. His hands and feet bear the mark of the Nails, and his side that of the Spear;...

White   ℣. In resurrectione tua Christe, alleluia. ℣. In thy resurrection, O Christ, alleluia. ℟. Cœli et terra lætentur, alleluia. ℟. Let heaven and earth rejoice, alleluia. THE FIRST WEEK has been devoted to the joyous celebration of our Emmanuel’s return to us. He has been visiting us each day, in order to make us sure of his Resurrection. He has said to us: See me! Touch me! Feel! it is indeed I! But we know that his visible presence among us is not to last beyond forty days. This happy period is rapidly advancing; the time seems...

White Semidouble Hæc dies quam fecit Dominus; exsultemus et lætemur in ea! This is the day which the Lord hath made; let us be glad and rejoice therein! THE SEVENTH DAY of the gladdest of weeks has risen upon us, bringing with it the memory of the Creator’s rest, after the six days of creation. It also reminds us of that other rest, which this same God took in the tomb; like a warrior who, when sure of the victory, calmly reposes before the final combat with the enemy. Our Jesus slept His rest in the sepulcher, after permitting...

White Semidouble Hæc dies quam fecit Dominus; exsultemus et lætemur in ea! This is the day which the Lord hath made; let us be glad and rejoice therein! EIGHT DAYS AGO, we were standing near the cross, on which died the Man of Sorrows, abandoned by His Father, and rejected, by a solemn judgment of the Synagogue, as a false Messias: and lo! this is the sixth time the sun has risen upon our earth since the voice of the Angel was heard proclaiming the Resurrection of this adorable Victim. The Church, His widowed spouse, then lay prostrate before...

White Semidouble Hæc dies quam fecit Dominus; exsultemus et lætemur in ea! This is the day which the Lord hath made; let us be glad and rejoice therein! AFTER HAVING GLORIFIED the Lamb of God, and the Passover whereby our Lord destroyed our enemies; after having celebrated our deliverance by water, and our entrance into the Promised Land; let us now fix our respectful gaze upon Him whose triumph is prefigured by all these prodigies. So dazzling is the glory that now beams from this Man-God that, like the prophet of Patmos, we shall fall prostrate before Him. But...

White Semidouble Hæc dies quam fecit Dominus; exsultemus et lætemur in ea! This is the day which the Lord hath made; let us be glad and rejoice therein! THE HEBREW WORD FOR PASCH signifies passage, and we explained yesterday how this great day first became sacred by reason of the Lord’s Passover. But there is another meaning which attaches to the word, as we learn from the early Fathers, and the Jewish rabbis. The Pasch is, moreover, the passage of the Israelites from Egypt to the Promised Land. These three great facts really happened on one and the same...

White Double of the First Class Hæc dies quam fecit Dominus; exsultemus et lætemur in ea! This is the day which the Lord hath made; let us be glad and rejoice therein! OOUR PASCH IS THE LAMB, and we meditated upon the mystery yesterday: now let us attentively consider those words of sacred Scripture, where, speaking of the Pasch, it says: It is the Phase, that is, the passage of the Lord. God Himself adds these words: I will pass through the land of Egypt that night, and will kill every first-born in the land of Egypt, both man...

Violet Privileged Feria THE CHIEF PRIESTS and the Ancients of the people are met today, in one of the rooms adjoining the Temple, for the purpose of deliberating on the best means of putting Jesus to death. Several plans are discussed. Would it be prudent to lay hands upon him at this season of the Feast of the Pasch, when the City is filled with strangers who have received a favorable impression of Jesus from the solemn ovation given to him three days back? Then, too, are there not a great number of the inhabitants of Jerusalem, who took...

Violet Simple TODAY AGAIN, our Savior sets out in the morning for Jerusalem. His intention is to repair to the temple, and continue his yesterday’s teachings. It is evident that his mission on earth is fast drawing to its close. He says to his Disciples: You know that after two days shall be the Pasch, and the Son of Man shall be delivered up to be crucified. On the road from Bethania to Jerusalem, the Disciples are surprised at seeing the fig-tree, which their Divine Master had yesterday cursed, now dead. Addressing himself to Jesus, Peter says: Rabbi, behold,...

Violet Simple THIS MORNING ALSO, Jesus goes with his Disciples to Jerusalem. He is fasting, for the Gospel tells us that he was hungry. He approaches a fig-tree, which is by the wayside; but finds nothing on it, save leaves only. Jesus, wishing to give us an instruction, curses the fig-tree, which immediately withers away. He would hereby teach us what they are to expect, who have nothing but good desires, and never produce in themselves the fruit of a real conversion. Nor is the allusion to Jerusalem less evident. This City is zealous for the exterior of Divine...

Violet Simple TODAY WE BEGIN, as does the holy Gospel, to number the days which precede the Death, the Sacrifice, of the Lamb of God. St. John, in the 12th Chapter of his Gospel, tells us that this is the Sixth day before the Pasch. Jesus is in Bethania, where a feast is being given in his honor. Lazarus, he whom Jesus has restored to life, was present at this repast, which was given in the house of Simon the Leper. Martha is busy looking after the various arrangements; her sister, Mary Magdalene, has a heavenly presentiment that the...

Violet Simple THE STATION AT ROME is in the Church of Saint Stephen, on Monte Celio. By a sort of prophetic presentiment, this Church of the great Proto-Martyr was chosen as the place where the Faithful were to assemble on the Friday of Passion Week, which was to be, at a future time, the Feast consecrated to the Queen of Martyrs. COLLECT Cordibus nostris, quæsumus, Domine, gratiam tuam benignus infunde: ut peccata nostra castigatione voluntaria cohibentes, temporaliter potius maceremur, quam suppliciis deputemur æternis. Per Christum Dominum nostrum. Amen. Mercifully, O Lord, we beseech thee, pour forth thy grace into...

Violet Simple THE STATION AT ROME is in the Church of Saint Apollinaris, who was a disciple of St. Peter, and afterwards Bishop of Revenna, and Martyr. COLLECT Præsta, quæsumus, omnipotens Deus, ut dignitas conditionis humanæ per immoderantiam sauciata, medicinalis percimoniæ studio reformetur. Per Christum Dominum nostrum. Amen. Grant, we beseech thee, O Almighty God, that the dignity of human nature, which hath been wounded by excess, may be cured by the practice of healing temperance. Through Christ our Lord. Amen. EPISTLE LECTIO DANIELIS PROPHETÆ. LESSON from DANIEL the PROPHET. Cap. iii Ch. iii In diebus illis: Oravit Azarias...

Violet Simple AT ROME, THE STATION, is in the Church of Saint Marcellus, Pope and Martyr. This Church was once the house of the holy lady Lucina, who gave it to the Pontiff, that he might consecrate it to God. COLLECT Sanctificato hoc jejunio, Deus, tuorum corda fidelium miserator illustra: et quibus devotionis præstas affectum, præbe supplicantibus pium benignus auditum. Per Christum Dominum nostrum. Amen. Enlighten, O God of mercy, the hearts of thy people by means of this holy fast; and since all our devotion is the effect of thy bounty, mercifully hear the petitions we make. Through...

Violet Simple THE STATION, in Rome, was formerly the Church of the Martyr Saint Cyriacus, and as such it is still given in the Roman Missal; but this holy sanctuary having been destroyed, and the relics of the holy Deacon translated to the Church of Saint Mary in Via lata, it is here that the Station is now held. COLLECT Nostra tibi, Domine, quæsumus, sint accepta jejunia: quæ nos expiando, gratia tua dignos efficiant; et ad remedia perducant æterna. Per Christum Dominum nostrum. Amen. May our fast, O Lord, we beseech thee, be acceptable to thee, and, having purified...

Violet Simple THE STATION, at Rome, is in the Church of Saint Chrysogonus, one of the most celebrated Martyrs of the Church of Rome. His name is inserted in the Canon of the Mass. COLLECT Sanctifica, quæsumus, Domine, nostra jejunia: et cunctarum nobis indulgentiam propitius largire culparum. Per Christum Dominum nostrum. Amen. Sanctify, O Lord, we beseech thee, our fasts, and mercifully grant us the pardon of all our sins. Through Christ our Lord. Amen. EPISTLE LECTIO JONAS PROPHETÆ. LESSON from JONAS the PROPHET. Cap. iii Ch. iii In diebus illis: Factum est verbum Domini ad Jonam Prophetam secundo,...

THE HISTORY OF PASSIONTIDE AND HOLY WEEK AFTER HAVING PROPOSED the forty-days’ Fast of Jesus in the Desert to the meditation of the Faithful, during the first four weeks of Lent, the Holy Church gives the two weeks, which still remain before Easter, to the commemoration of the Passion. she would not have her children come to the great Day of the immolation of the Lamb, without their having prepared for it by compassionating with him in the Sufferings he endured in their stead. The most ancient Sacramentaries and Antiphonaries of the several Churchest attest, by the Prayers, the...

Violet Simple THIS SATURDAY, in the early ages of Christianity, was called Sitientes, from the first word of the Introit of the Mass, in which the Church addresses her Catechumens in the words of Isaias, and invites them that thirst after grace, to come and receive it in the holy Sacrament of Baptism. At Rome, the Station was originally in the Basilica of Saint Laurence outside the walls; but it was found inconvenient, on account of its great distance from the City; and the Church of Saint Nicholas in carcere, which is within the walls, was selected for today’s...

Violet Simple THE STATION is in the Church of Saint Eusebius, Priest of Rome, who suffered for the faith, in the Arian persecution, under the Emperor Constantius. COLLECT Deus, qui ineffabilibus mundum renovas sacramentis: præsta quæsumus, ut Ecclesia tua et æternis proficiat institutis, et temporalibus non destituatur auxiliis. Per Christum Dominum nostrum. Amen. O God, who by thy ineffable mysteries givest new life to the world; grant, we beseech thee, that thy Church may advance in the observance of thy eternal precepts, and never be destitute of thy temporal assistance. Through Christ our Lord. Amen. EPISTLE LECTIO LIBRI REGUM....