The Crucifixion
Don Silvestro dei Gherarducci
c. 1365
Tempera on panel, 137 x 82 cm
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
Posted on 09/13/2018 10:24:46 PM PDT by Salvation
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From: Numbers 21:4-9
The Bronze Serpent
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Commentary:
21:4-9. The people continue to complain against Moses, this time because
they have to go right around Edom. But their protest is also directed against
God. When they are punished, Moses once again intercedes on their behalf.
The events covered in this account may have taken place in the region of Araba,
where copper mines existed from the 13th century BC onwards. In the town now
called Timna, an Egyptian shrine has been unearthed which contained a copper
serpent, indicating that some sort of magical power was attributed to these ser-
pents.
This passage in Numbers is interpreted in Wisdom 16:5-12, where the point is
emphasized that it was not the bronze serpent that cured them but the mercy
of God; the serpent was a sign of the salvation which God offers all men. The
bronze serpent is mentioned later, in the Gospel, as typifying Christ raised up
on the cross, the cause of salvation for those who look at him with faith: “As
Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of man be lif-
ted up; that whosoever believes in him may have eternal life” (Jn 3:14-15) When
Christ is raised above all human things, he draws them towards himself; so his
glorification is the means whereby all mankind obtain healing for evermore.
*********************************************************************************************
Source: “The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries”. Biblical text from the
Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries by members of
the Faculty of Theology, University of Navarre, Spain.
Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, Ireland, and
by Scepter Publishers in the United States.
From: Philippians 2:6-11
Hymn in Praise of Christ’s Self-Emptying
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Commentary:
5. The Apostle’s recommendation, “’Have this mind among yourselves, which
was in Christ Jesus, requires all Christians, so far as human power allows, to
reproduce in themselves the sentiments that Christ had when He was offering
Himself in sacrifice — sentiments of humility, of adoration, praise, and thanks-
giving to the divine majesty. It requires them also to become victims, as it were;
cultivating a spirit of self-denial according to the precepts of the Gospel, willingly
doing works of penance, detesting and expiating their sins. It requires us all, in
a word, to die mystically with Christ on the Cross, so that we may say with the
same Apostle: ‘I have been crucified with Christ’ (Galatians 2:19)” Pius XII, “Me-
diator Dei”, 22).
6-11. In what he says about Jesus Christ, the Apostle is not simply proposing
Him as a model for us to follow. Possibly transcribing an early liturgical hymn
(and) adding some touches of his own, he is — under the inspiration of the Holy
Spirit — giving a very profound exposition of the nature of Christ and using the
most sublime truths of faith to show the way Christian virtues should be prac-
ticed.
This is one of the earliest New Testament texts to reveal the divinity of Christ.
The epistle was written around the year 62 (or perhaps before that, around 55)
and if we remember that the hymn of Philippians 2:6-11 may well have been in
use prior to that date, the passage clearly bears witness to the fact that Chris-
tians were proclaiming, even in those very early years, that Jesus, born in Beth-
lehem, crucified, died and buried, and risen from the dead, was truly both God
and man.
The hymn can be divided into three parts. The first (verses 6 and the beginning
of 7) refers to Christ’s humbling Himself by becoming man. The second (the end
of verse 7 and verse 8) is the center of the whole passage and proclaims the ex-
treme to which His humility brought Him: as man He obediently accepted death
on the cross. The third part (verses 9-11) describes His exaltation in glory.
Throughout St. Paul is conscious of Jesus’ divinity: He exists from all eternity.
But he centers his attention on His death on the cross as the supreme example
of humility. Christ’s humiliation lay not in His becoming a man like us and cloa-
king the glory of His divinity in His sacred humanity: it also brought Him to lead
a life of sacrifice and suffering which reached its climax on the cross, where He
was stripped of everything He had, like a slave. However, now that He has ful-
filled His mission, He is made manifest again, clothed in all the glory that befits
His divine nature and which His human nature has merited.
The man-God, Jesus Christ, makes the cross the climax of His earthly life;
through it He enters into His glory as Lord and Messiah. The Crucifixion puts
the whole universe on the way to salvation.
Jesus Christ gives us a wonderful example of humility and obedience. “We
should learn from Jesus’ attitude in these trials,” St. J. Escriva reminds us.
“During His life on earth He did not even want the glory that belonged to Him.
Though He had the right to be treated as God, He took the form of a servant,
a slave (cf. Philippians 2:6-7). And so the Christian knows that all glory is due
God and that he must not use the sublimity and greatness of the Gospel to
further his own interests or human ambitions.
“We should learn from Jesus. His attitude in rejecting all human glory is in per-
fect balance with the greatness of His unique mission as the beloved Son of
God who becomes incarnate to save men” (”Christ Is Passing By”, 62).
6-7. “Though He was in the form of God” or “subsisting in the form of God”:
“form” is the external aspect of something and manifests what it is. When refer-
ring to God, who is invisible, His “form” cannot refer to things visible to the sen-
ses; the “form of God” is a way of referring to Godhead. The first thing that St.
Paul makes clear is that Jesus Christ is God, and was God before the Incarna-
tion. As the “Nicene-Constantinopolitan Creed” professes it, “the only-begotten
Son of God, born of the Father before time began, light from light, true God from
true God.”
“He did not count equality with God as something to be grasped”: the Greek
word translated as “equality” does not directly refer to equality of nature but ra-
ther the equality of rights and status. Christ was God and He could not stop be-
ing God; therefore, He had a right to be treated as God and to appear in all His
glory. However, He did not insist on this dignity of His as if it were a treasure
which He possessed and which was legally His: it was not something He clung
to and boasted about. And so He took “the form of a servant”. He could have be-
come man without setting His glory aside — He could have appeared as He did,
momentarily, as the Transfiguration (cf. Matthew 17:1ff); instead He chose to be
like men, in all things but sin (cf. verse 7). By becoming man in the way He did,
He was able, as Isaiah prophesied in the Song of the Servant of Yahweh, to bear
our sorrows and to be stricken (cf. Isaiah 53:4).
“He emptied Himself”, He despoiled Himself: this is literally what the Greek verb
means. But Christ did not shed His divine nature; He simply shed its glory, its
aura; if He had not done so it would have shone out through His human nature.
From all eternity He exists as God and from the moment of the Incarnation He
began to be man. His self-emptying lay not only in the fact that the Godhead
united to Himself (that is, to the person of the Son) something which was cor-
poreal and finite (a human nature), but also in the fact that this nature did not
itself manifest the divine glory, as it “ought” to have done. Christ could not
cease to be God, but He could temporarily renounce the exercise of rights that
belonged to Him as God — which was what He did.
Verses 6-8 bring the Christian’s mind the contrast between Jesus and Adam.
The devil tempted Adam, a mere man, to “be like God” (Genesis 3:5). By trying
to indulge this evil desire (pride is a disordered desire for self-advancement) and
by committing the sin of disobeying God (cf. Genesis 3:6), Adam drew down the
gravest misfortunes upon himself and on his whole line (present potentially in
him): this is symbolized in the Genesis passage by his expulsion from Paradise
and by the physical world’s rebellion against his lordship (cf. Genesis 3:16-24).
Jesus Christ, on the contrary, who enjoyed divine glory from all eternity, “emptied
Himself”: He chooses the way of humility, the opposite way to Adam’s (opposite,
too, to the way previously taken by the devil). Christ’s obedience thereby makes
up for the disobedience of the first man; it puts mankind in a position to more
than recover the natural and supernatural gifts with which God endowed human
nature at the Creation. And so, after focusing on the amazing mystery of Christ’s
humiliation or self-emptying (”kenosis” in Greek), this hymn goes on joyously to
celebrate Christ’s exaltation after death.
Christ’s attitude in becoming man is, then, a wonderful example of humility.
“What is more humble”, St. Gregory of Nyssa asks, “than the King of all crea-
tion entering into communion with our poor nature? The King of kings and Lord of
lords clothes Himself with the form of our enslavement; the Judge of the universe
comes to pay tribute to the princes of this world; the Lord of creation is born in a
cave; He who encompasses the world cannot find room in the inn...; the pure and
incorrupt one puts on the filthiness of our nature and experiences all our needs,
experiences even death itself” (”Oratio I In Beatitudinibus”).
This self-emptying is an example of God’s infinite goodness in taking the initiative
to meet man: “Fill yourselves with wonder and gratitude at such a mystery and
learn from it. All the power, all the majesty, all the beauty, all the infinite harmony
of God, all His great and immeasurable riches. God whole and entire was hidden
for our benefit in the humanity of Christ. The Almighty appears determined to
eclipse His glory for a time, so as to make it easy for His creatures to approach
their Redeemer.” (St. J. Escriva, “Friends of God”, 111).
8. Jesus Christ became man “for us men and for our salvation”, we profess in the
Creed. Everything He did in the course of His life had a salvific value; His death
on the cross represents the climax of His redemptive work for, as St. Gregory of
Nyssa says, “He did not experience death due to the fact of being born; rather,
He took birth upon Himself in order to die” (”Oratio Catechetica Magna”, 32).
Our Lord’s obedience to the Father’s saving plan, involving as it did death on the
cross, gives us the best of all lessons in humility. For, in the words of St. Thomas
Aquinas, “obedience is the sign of true humility” (”Commentary on Phil., ad loc.”).
In St. Paul’s time death by crucifixion was the most demeaning form of death, for
it was inflicted only on criminals. By becoming obedient “unto death, even death
on a cross”, Jesus was being humble in the extreme. He was perfectly within His
rights to manifest Himself in all His divine glory, but He chose instead the route
leading to the most ignominious of deaths.
His obedience, moreover, was not simply a matter of submitting to the Father’s
will, for, as St. Paul points out, He made Himself obedient: His obedience was
active; He made the Father’s salvific plans His own. He chose voluntarily to give
Himself up to crucifixion in order to redeem mankind. “Debasing oneself when
one is forced to do so is not humility”, St. John Chrysostom explains; “humility
is present when one debases oneself without being obliged to do so” (”Hom. on
Phil., ad loc.”).
Christ’s self-abasement and his obedience unto death reveals His love for us, for
“greater love has no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends”
(John 15:13). His loving initiative merits a loving response on our part: we should
show that we desire to be one with Him, for love “seeks union, identification with
the beloved. United to Christ, we will be drawn to imitate His life of dedication,
His unlimited love and His sacrifice unto death. Christ brings us face to face with
the ultimate choice: either we spend our life in selfish isolation, or we devote our-
selves and all our energies to the service of others” (St. J. Escriva, “Friends of
God”, 236).
9-11. “God highly exalted Him”: the Greek compounds the notion of exaltation,
to indicate the immensity of His glorification. Our Lord Himself foretold this when
He said, “He who humbles himself will be exalted” (Luke 14:11).
Christ’s sacred humanity was glorified as a reward for His humiliation. The Chur-
ch’s Magisterium teaches that Christ’s glorification affects his human nature only,
for “in the form of God the Son was equal to the Father, and between the Beget-
ter and the Only-begotten there was no difference in essence, no difference in
majesty; nor did the Word, through the mystery of incarnation, lose anything
which the Father might later return to Him as a gift” St. Leo the Great, “Promi-
sisse Me Memini”, Chapter 8). Exaltation is public manifestation of the glory
which belongs to Christ’s humanity by virtue of its being joined to the divine per-
son of the Word. This union to the “form of a servant” (cf. verse 7) meant an im-
mense act of humility on the part of the Son, but it led to the exaltation of the
human nature He took on.
For the Jews the “name that is above every name” is the name of God (Yahweh),
which the Mosaic Law required to be held in particular awe. Also, they regarded
a name given to someone, especially if given by God, as not just a way of refer-
ring to a person but as expressing something that belonged to the very core of
his personality. Therefore, the statement that God “bestowed on Him the name
which is above every name” means that God the Father gave Christ’s human na-
ture the capacity to manifest the glory of divinity which was His by virtue of the
hypostatic union: therefore, it is to be worshipped by the entire universe.
St. Paul describes the glorification of Jesus Christ in terms similar to those used
by the prophet Daniel of the Son of Man: “To Him was given dominion and glory
and kingdom, that all peoples, nations and languages should serve His Kingdom,
one that shall not be destroyed” (Daniel 7:14). Christ’s lordship extends to all cre-
ated things. Sacred Scripture usually speaks of “heaven and earth” when refer-
ring to the entire created universe; by mentioning here the underworld it is empha-
sizing that nothing escapes His dominion. Jesus Christ can here be seen as the
fulfillment of Isaiah’s prophecy about the universal sovereignty of Yahweh: “To Me
every knee shall bow, every tongue shall swear” (Isaiah 45:23). All created things
come under His sway, and men are duty-bound to accept the basic truth of Chris-
tian teaching: “Jesus Christ is Lord.” The Greek word “Kyrios” used here by St.
Paul is the word used by the Septuagint, the early Greek version of the Old Tes-
tament, to translate the name of God (”Yahweh”). Therefore, this sentence
means “Jesus Christ is God.”
The Christ proclaimed here as having been raised on high is the man-God who
was born and died for our sake, attaining the glory of His exaltation after under-
going the humiliation of the cross. In this also Christ sets us an example: we
cannot attain the glory of Heaven unless we understand the supernatural value
of difficulties, ill-health and suffering: these are manifestations of Christ’s cross
present in our ordinary life. “We have to die to ourselves and be born again to
a new life. Jesus Christ obeyed in this way, even unto death on a cross (Philip-
pians 2:18); that is why God exalted Him. If we obey God’s will, the cross will
mean our own resurrection and exaltation. Christ’s life will be fulfilled step by
step in our own lives. It will be said of us that we have tried to be good children
of God, who went about doing good in spite of our weakness and personal short-
comings, no matter how many” (St. J. Escriva, “Christ Is Passing By”, 21).
*********************************************************************************************
Source: “The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries”. Biblical text from the
Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries by members of
the Faculty of Theology, University of Navarre, Spain.
Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, Ireland, and
by Scepter Publishers in the United States.
From: John 3:13-17
The Visit of Nicodemus (Continuation)
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Commentary:
13. This is a formal declaration of the divinity of Jesus. No one has gone up into
Heaven and, therefore, no one can have perfect knowledge of God’s secrets, ex-
cept God Himself who became man and came down from Heaven — Jesus, the
second Person of the Blessed Trinity, the Son of Man foretold in the Old Testa-
ment (cf. Daniel 7:13), to whom has been given eternal lordship over all peoples.
The Word does not stop being God on becoming man: even when He is on earth
as man, He is in Heaven as God. It is only after the Resurrection and the Ascen-
sion that Christ is in Heaven as man also.
14-15. The bronze serpent which Moses set up on a pole was established by
God to cure those who had been bitten by the poisonous serpents in the desert
(cf. Numbers 21:8-9). Jesus compares this with His crucifixion, to show the va-
lue of His being raised up on the cross: those who look on Him with faith can
obtain salvation. We could say that the good thief was the first to experience the
saving power of Christ on the cross: he saw the crucified Jesus, the King of Isra-
el, the Messiah, and was immediately promised that he would be in Paradise
that very day (cf. Luke 23:39-43).
The Son of God took on our human nature to make known the hidden mystery of
God’s own life (cf. Mark 4:11; John 1:18; 3:1-13; Ephesians 3:9) and to free from
sin and death those who look at Him with faith and love and who accept the cross
of every day.
The faith of which our Lord speaks is not just intellectual acceptance of the truths
He has taught: it involves recognizing Him as Son of God (cf. 1 John 5:1), sharing
His very life (cf. John 1:12) and surrendering ourselves out of love and therefore
becoming like Him (cf. John 10:27; 1 John 3:2). But this faith is a gift of God (cf.
John 3:3, 5-8), and we should ask Him to strengthen it and increase it as the
Apostles did: Lord “increase our faith!” (Luke 17:5). While faith is a supernatural,
free gift, it is also a virtue, a good habit, which a person can practise and thereby
develop: so the Christian, who already has the divine gift of faith, needs with the
help of grace to make explicit acts of faith in order to make this virtue grow.
16-21. These words, so charged with meaning, summarize how Christ’s death
is the supreme sign of God’s love for men (cf. the section on charity in the “Intro-
duction to the Gospel according to St. John”: pp. 31ff above). “For God so loved
the world that He gave His only Son for its salvation. All our religion is a revela-
tion of God’s kindness, mercy and love for us. ‘God is love’ (1 John 4:16), that is,
love poured forth unsparingly. All is summed up in this supreme truth, which ex-
plains and illuminates everything. The story of Jesus must be seen in this light.
‘(He) loved me, St. Paul writes. Each of us can and must repeat it for himself —
‘He loved me, and gave Himself for me’ Galatians 2:20)” (Paul VI, “Homily on
Corpus Christi”, 13 June 1976).
Christ’s self-surrender is a pressing call to respond to His great love for us: “If it
is true that God has created us, that He has redeemed us, that He loves us so
much that He has given up His only-begotten Son for us (John 3:16), that He
waits for us — every day! — as eagerly as the father of the prodigal son did (cf.
Luke 15:11-32), how can we doubt that He wants us to respond to Him with all
love? The strange thing would be not to talk to God, to draw away and forget
Him, and busy ourselves in activities which are closed to the constant promp-
tings of His grace” (St. J. Escriva, “Friends of God”, 251).
“Man cannot live without love. He remains a being that is incomprehensible for
himself, his life is senseless, if love is not revealed to him, if he does not encoun-
ter love, if he does not experience it and make it his own, if he does not partici-
pate intimately in it. This [...] is why Christ the Redeemer ‘fully reveals man to
himself’. If we may use the expression, this is the human dimension of the mys-
tery of the Redemption. In this dimension man finds again the greatness, dignity
and value that belong to his humanity.[...] The one who wishes to understand
himself thoroughly [...] must, with his unrest and uncertainty and even his weak-
ness and sinfulness, with his life and death, draw near to Christ. He must, so to
speak, enter into Him with all his own self, he must ‘appropriate’ and assimilate
the whole of the reality of the Incarnation and Redemption in order to find himself.
If this profound process takes place within him, he then bears fruit not only of
adoration of God but also of deep wonder at himself.
How precious must man be in the eyes of the Creator, if he ‘gained so great a
Redeemer’, (”Roman Missal, Exultet” at Easter Vigil), and if God ‘gave His only
Son’ in order that man ‘should not perish but have eternal life’. [...]
‘Increasingly contemplating the whole of Christ’s mystery, the Church knows with
all the certainty of faith that the Redemption that took place through the Cross
has definitively restored his dignity to man and given back meaning to his life in
the world, a meaning that was lost to a considerable extent because of sin. And
for that reason, the Redemption was accomplished in the paschal mystery, lea-
ding through the Cross and death to Resurrection” (Bl. John Paul II, “Redemptor
Hominis”, 10).
Jesus demands that we have faith in Him as a first prerequisite to sharing in His
love. Faith brings us out of darkness into the light, and sets us on the road to sal-
vation. “He who does not believe is condemned already” (verse 18).
“The words of Christ are at once words of judgment and grace, of life and death.
For it is only by putting to death that which is old that we can come to newness
of life. Now, although this refers primarily to people, it is also true of various world-
ly goods which bear the mark both of man’s sin and the blessing of God.[...] No
one is freed from sin by himself or by his own efforts, no one is raised above him-
self or completely delivered from his own weakness, solitude or slavery; all have
need of Christ, who is the model, master, liberator, savior, and giver of life. Even
in the secular history of mankind the Gospel has acted as a leaven in the inte-
rests of liberty and progress, and it always offers itself as a leaven with regard to
brotherhood, unity and peace” (Vatican II, “Ad Gentes”, 8).
*********************************************************************************************
Source: “The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries”. Biblical text from the
Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries by members of
the Faculty of Theology, University of Navarre, Spain.
Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, Ireland, and
by Scepter Publishers in the United States.
| John | |||
| English: Douay-Rheims | Latin: Vulgata Clementina | Greek NT: Byzantine/Majority Text (2000) | |
| John 3 |
|||
| 13. | And no man hath ascended into heaven, but he that descended from heaven, the Son of man who is in heaven. | Et nemo ascendit in cælum, nisi qui descendit de cælo, Filius hominis, qui est in cælo. | και ουδεις αναβεβηκεν εις τον ουρανον ει μη ο εκ του ουρανου καταβας ο υιος του ανθρωπου ο ων εν τω ουρανω |
| 14. | And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the desert, so must the Son of man be lifted up: | Et sicut Moyses exaltavit serpentem in deserto, ita exaltari oportet Filium hominis : | και καθως μωσης υψωσεν τον οφιν εν τη ερημω ουτως υψωθηναι δει τον υιον του ανθρωπου |
| 15. | That whosoever believeth in him, may not perish; but may have life everlasting. | ut omnis qui credit in ipsum, non pereat, sed habeat vitam æternam. | ινα πας ο πιστευων εις αυτον μη αποληται αλλ εχη ζωην αιωνιον |
| 16. | For God so loved the world, as to give his only begotten Son; that whosoever believeth in him, may not perish, but may have life everlasting. | Sic enim Deus dilexit mundum, ut Filium suum unigenitum daret : ut omnis qui credit in eum, non pereat, sed habeat vitam æternam. | ουτως γαρ ηγαπησεν ο θεος τον κοσμον ωστε τον υιον αυτου τον μονογενη εδωκεν ινα πας ο πιστευων εις αυτον μη αποληται αλλ εχη ζωην αιωνιον |
| 17. | For God sent not his Son into the world, to judge the world, but that the world may be saved by him. | Non enim misit Deus Filium suum in mundum, ut judicet mundum, sed ut salvetur mundus per ipsum. | ου γαρ απεστειλεν ο θεος τον υιον αυτου εις τον κοσμον ινα κρινη τον κοσμον αλλ ινα σωθη ο κοσμος δι αυτου |
The Canon of the Cross as sung in the Orthodox Church today:
Katavasias of the Cross
Ode i. Mode pl. 4.
Moses prefigured the Cross. * Lifting up the rod, he stretched out his hand and split the Sea for Israel to cross on land. * Then he stretched it out again, * and the sea returned and covered Pharaoh’s chariots. * The Cross was thus portrayed as our invincible armor. * So let us sing to the Lord, * Christ our God, for He is greatly glorified.
Ode iii.
The rod of Aaron is seen as typifying the mystery; * for it budded, and thus was the priest selected. * Now in the Church, that was barren once, the Cross of Christ, like a tree, * has blossomed forth, * as power and a firm support.
Ode iv.
I have heard the report, O Lord, * of Your incarnation, which is a mystery. * I considered Your astounding works, * and I glorified Your divinity.
Ode v.
Tree of the Cross, you are thrice-blessed, * for Jesus Christ, who is King and Lord, was crucified on you. * Through you fallen is the one who by a tree deceived us, * for he was lured by God who in the flesh indeed * was hung and nailed to you, * and who grants to our souls His peace.
Ode vi.
In the belly of the sea beast * the prophet Jonah prayed with his arms extended crosswise; * thus he clearly prefigured the saving Passion of Christ. * When after three days he emerged, * he was depicting the supernal resurrection from the dead * of Christ God, who was physically nailed to the Cross * and by His third-day arising illumined the universe.
Ode vii.
The impious tyrant’s preposterous decree disturbed the populace, * breathing threats and blasphemous pronouncements hateful to God. * His brutal anger did not intimidate * the three Servants, nor did the consuming fire. * But when the dew-laden breeze whistled against the fire, they joined it and together sang, * “Blessed are You, O Lord. You are highly praised, O God, the God of our fathers.”
Ode viii.
We praise and we bless and we worship the Lord.
You three pious Servants, * same in number as the Trinity, * bless God the Father, Maker of all; * sing a hymn to the Word who condescended * and who changed the fire in the furnace into dew; * as for the all-holy Spirit, who gives life to all, exalt It * beyond measure unto the ages.
Ode ix.
Mode pl. 4. Heirmos.
Theotokos, you are mystical Paradise, * for without husbandry you have blossomed Christ, * by whom on earth the Cross, as a life-bearing tree, has been planted and watered. * As it is now exalted, * we adore Him and worship Him and magnify you. (2x)
Troparia.
[All-holy] Cross of Christ, guard us by your power.
Let all the trees of the forest greatly rejoice, * because their nature was sanctified when Christ, * by whom they were originally planted on earth, * was crucified upon one. * As it is now exalted, * we adore Him and worship Him and magnify Him.
[All-holy] Cross of Christ, guard us by your power.
A sacred horn of the Head of all has been raised up, * the Cross of Christ, for people of godly mind. * By it are all the horns of intelligible sinners completely crushed and broken. * As it is now exalted, * we adore Him and worship Him and magnify Him.
Another Heirmos.
Mode pl. 4. Heirmos.
Eating the tree’s forbidden fruit once * in Paradise brought death to the human race. * But through the Cross, today death has no effect, * because the curse that fell on the entire human race through mother Eve * was undone by the Offspring of the all pure Mother of God, who now is by all the hosts of heaven magnified.
Troparia.
[All-holy] Cross of Christ, guard us by your power.
You did not let the bitter taste of the tree annihilate us, O Lord our God, * but by Your Cross You eradicated it. * And to prefigure what Your Cross would do, * the wood dissolved the bitterness * of the water of Marah in times of old. * This power of the Cross is by all the hosts of heaven magnified.
Glory to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit.
We were continually plunged in our forefather’s darkness, O Lord our God; * but through the Cross, today You have raised us up. * Even as all of human nature was swept down by error uncontrollably, * so the light of Your Cross lifted the entire human race. * And therefore we the believers magnify the Cross.
Both now and ever and unto ages of ages, Amen.
Wishing to show the world that truly * the figure of Your Cross is most glorious * and should be venerated by everyone, * O Lord, You formed it in the sky above resplendently with boundless light, * the invincible armor that Constantine the Emperor adopted, * which all the hosts of heaven magnify.
Ode ix. Katavasia. Mode pl. 4.
Theotokos, you are mystical Paradise, * for without husbandry you have blossomed Christ, * by whom on earth the Cross, as a life-bearing tree, has been planted and watered. * As it is now exalted, * we adore Him and worship Him and magnify you. [SD]
Another Katavasia. Mode pl. 4.
Eating the tree’s forbidden fruit once * in Paradise brought death to the human race. * But through the Cross, today death has no effect, * because the curse that fell on the entire human race through mother Eve * was undone by the Offspring of the all pure Mother of God, who now is by all the hosts of heaven magnified.
Pray for Pope Francis.
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We thank you, God our Father, for those who have responded to your call to priestly ministry.
Accept this prayer we offer on their behalf: Fill your priests with the sure knowledge of your love.
Open their hearts to the power and consolation of the Holy Spirit.
Lead them to new depths of union with your Son.
Increase in them profound faith in the Sacraments they celebrate as they nourish, strengthen and heal us.
Lord Jesus Christ, grant that these, your priests, may inspire us to strive for holiness by the power of their example, as men of prayer who ponder your word and follow your will.
O Mary, Mother of Christ and our mother, guard with your maternal care these chosen ones, so dear to the Heart of your Son.
Intercede for our priests, that offering the Sacrifice of your Son, they may be conformed more each day to the image of your Son, our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen.
Saint John Vianney, universal patron of priests, pray for us and our priests
This icon shows Jesus Christ, our eternal high priest.
The gold pelican over His heart represents self-sacrifice.
The border contains an altar and grapevines, representing the Mass, and icons of Melchizedek and St. Jean-Baptiste Vianney.
Melchizedek: king of righteousness (left icon) was priest and king of Jerusalem. He blessed Abraham and has been considered an ideal priest-king.
St. Jean-Baptiste Vianney is the patron saint of parish priests.
1. Sign of the Cross: In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
2. The Apostles Creed: I BELIEVE in God, the Father almighty, Creator of heaven and earth, and in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord, who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried. He descended into hell; on the third day he rose again from the dead; he ascended into heaven, and is seated at the right hand of God, the Father Almighty; from there He shall come to judge the living and the dead.
I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy catholic Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting. Amen.
3. The Lord's Prayer: OUR Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. Amen.
4. (3) Hail Mary: HAIL Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou amongst women and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now, and in the hour of our death. Amen. (Three times)
5. Glory Be: GLORY be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit. As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.
6. Fatima Prayer: Oh, my Jesus, forgive us our sins, save us from the fires of hell, lead all souls to heaven, especially those in most need of your mercy.
Announce each mystery, then say 1 Our Father, 10 Hail Marys, 1 Glory Be and 1 Fatima prayer. Repeat the process with each mystery.
End with the Hail Holy Queen:
Hail, Holy Queen, Mother of Mercy, our life, our sweetness and our hope! To thee do we cry, poor banished children of Eve! To thee do we send up our sighs, mourning and weeping in this vale of tears! Turn then, most gracious advocate, thine eyes of mercy towards us; and after this, our exile, show unto us the blessed fruit of thy womb, Jesus!
O clement, O loving, O sweet Virgin Mary! Pray for us, O holy Mother of God, that we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ.
Final step -- The Sign of the Cross
The Mysteries of the Rosary By tradition, Catholics meditate on these Mysteries during prayers of the Rosary. The biblical references follow each of the Mysteries below.
The Sorrowful Mysteries
(Tuesdays and Fridays)
1. The Agony in the Garden (Matthew 26:36-46, Luke 22:39-46) [Spiritual fruit - God's will be done]
2. The Scourging at the Pillar (Matthew 27:26, Mark 15:15, John 19:1) [Spiritual fruit - Mortification of the senses]
3. The Crowning with Thorns (Matthew 27:27-30, Mark 15:16-20, John 19:2) [Spiritual fruit - Reign of Christ in our heart]
4. The Carrying of the Cross (Matthew 27:31-32, Mark 15:21, Luke 23:26-32, John 19:17) [Spiritual fruit - Patient bearing of trials]
5. The Crucifixion (Matthew 27:33-56, Mark 15:22-39, Luke 23:33-49, John 19:17-37) [Spiritual fruit - Pardoning of Injuries]
St. Michael the Archangel
~ PRAYER ~
St. Michael, the Archangel, defend us in battle
Be our protection against the wickedness
and snares of the devil;
May God rebuke him, we humbly pray,
and do thou, O Prince of the heavenly host,
by the power of God,
Cast into hell Satan and all the evil spirits
who prowl through the world seeking the ruin of souls.
Amen
+
Sea of Sorrow
Oh! on what a sea of sorrow
Was the Virgin-Mother cast,
When her eyes with tears o'erflowing
Gazed upon her Son aghast,
From the bloodstained gibbet taken,
Dying in her arms at last.
In her bitter desolation,
His sweet mouth, His bosom too,
Then His riven side beloved,
Then each hand, both wounded through,
Then His feet, with blood encrimsoned,
Her maternal tears bedew.
She, a hundred times and over,
Strains Him closely to her breast
Heart to Heart, arms arms enfolding,
Are His wounds on her impressed:
Thus, in sorrow's very kisses,
Melts her anguished soul to rest.
Oh, dear Mother! we beseech thee,
By the tears thine eyes have shed,
By the cruel death of Jesus
And His wounds' right royal red,
Make our hearts o'erflow with sorrow
From thy heart's deep fountainhead.
To the Father, Son, and Spirit,
Now we bend on equal knee:
Glory, sempiternal glory,
To the Most High Trinity;
Yea! perpetual praise and honor
Now and through all ages be.
Novena Prayer To Our Sorrowful Mother
Most Blessed and afflicted Virgin, Queen of Martyrs, who didst stand generously beneath the cross, beholding the agony of thy dying Son; by the sword of sorrow which then pierced thy soul, by the sufferings of thy sorrowful life, by the unutterable joy which now more than repays thee for them; look down with a mother's pity and tenderness, as I kneel before thee to compassionate thy sorrows, and to lay my petition with childlike confidence in thy wounded heart. I beg of thee, O my Mother, to plead continually for me with thy Son, since He can refuse thee nothing, and through the merits of His most sacred Passion and Death, together with thy own sufferings at the foot of the cross, so to touch His Sacred Heart, that I may obtain my request,
For to whom shall I fly in my wants and miseries, if not to thee, O Mother of mercy, who, having so deeply drunk the chalice of thy Son, canst most pity us poor exiles, still doomed to sigh in this vale of tears? Offer to Jesus but one drop of His Precious Blood, but one pang of His adorable Heart; remind Him that thou art our life, our sweetness, and our hope, and thou wilt obtain what I ask, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Hail Mary
Virgin Most Sorrowful, pray for us
(Seven times each)
Mary, most holy Virgin and Queen of Martyrs, accept the sincere homage of my filial affection. Into thy Heart, pierced by so many swords, do thou welcome my poor soul. Receive it as the companion of thy sorrows at the foot of the Cross, on which Jesus died for the redemption of the world. With thee, O sorrowful Virgin, I will gladly suffer all the trials, contradictions, and infirmities which it shall please Our Lord to send me. I offer them all to thee in memory of thy sorrows, so that: every thought of my mind and every beat of my heart may be an act of compassion and of love for thee. And do thou, sweet Mother, have pity on me, reconcile me to thy Divine Son, Jesus; keep me in His grace and assist me in my last agony, so that I may be able to meet thee in Heaven and sing thy glories.
Most holy Virgin and Mother, whose soul was pierced by a sword of sorrow in the Passion of thy Divine Son, and who in His glorious Resurrection wast filled with never ending joy at His triumph, obtain for us who call upon thee, so to be partakers in the adversities of Holy Church and the Sorrows of the Sovereign Pontiff, as to be found worthy to rejoice with them in the consolations for which we pray, in the charity and peace of the same Christ our Lord. Amen.
Litany of the Seven Sorrows
| Lord, have mercy on us. Lord, have mercy on us. Christ, hear us. Christ, graciously hear us. God, the Father of heaven, God the Son, Redeemer of the world, . God the Holy Ghost, Holy Mary, Mother of God, Holy Virgin of virgins, Mother of the Crucified, Sorrowful Mother, Mournful Mother, Sighing Mother, Afflicted Mother, Foresaken Mother, . Desolate Mother, Mother most sad, Mother set around with anguish, Mother overwhelmed by grief, Mother transfixed by a sword, Mother crucified in thy heart, Mother bereaved of thy Son, Sighing Dove, Mother of Dolors, Fount of tears, Sea of bitterness, Field of tribulation, Mass of suffering, Mirror of patience, Rock of constancy, Remedy in perplexity, Joy of the afflicted, Ark of the desolate, Refuge of the abandoned,. Shiled of the oppressed, Conqueror of the incredulous, Solace of the wretched, Medicine of the sick, Help of the faint, Strength of the weak, Protectress of those who fight, Haven of the shipwrecked, Calmer of tempests, Companion of the sorrowful, Retreat of those who groan, Terror of the treacherous, Standard-bearer of the Martyrs, Treasure of the Faithful, Light of Confessors, Pearl of Virgins, . Comfort of Widows, . Joy of all Saints, Queen of thy Servants, Holy Mary, who alone art unexampled, Pray for us, most Sorrowful Virgin, |
Christ, have mercy on us. Christ, graciously hear us. |
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| Let us pray, --- O God, in whose Passion, according to the prophecy of Simeon, a sword of grief pierced through the most sweet soul of Thy glorious Blessed Virgin Mother Mary: grant that we, who celebrate the memory of her Seven Sorrows, may obtain the happy effect of Thy Passion, Who lives and reigns world without end, Amen. |
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| The Seven Sorrows of Our Lady 1. The Prophecy of Simeon 2. The Flight into Egypt . 3. The Loss of Jesus in the Temple 4. Mary meets Jesus Carrying the Cross 5. The Crucifixion 6. Mary Receives the Dead Body of Her Son 7. The Burial of Her Son and Closing of the Tomb. |
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| Consecration to Our Lady of Sorrows Most holy Virgin and Queen of Martyrs, Mary, would that I could be in Heaven, there to contemplate the honors rendered to thee by the Most Holy Trinity and by the whole Heavenly Court! But since I am still a pilgrim in this vale of tears, receive from me, thy unworthy servant and a poor sinner, the most sincere homage and the most perfect act of vassalage a human creature can offer thee. In thy Immaculate Heart, pierced with so many swords of sorrow, I place today my poor soul forever; receive me as a partaker in thy dolors, and never suffer that I should depart from that Cross on which thy only begotten Son expired for me. With thee, O Mary, I will endure all the sufferings, contradictions, infirmities, with which it will please thy Divine Son to visit me in this life. All of them I offer to thee, in memory of the Dolors which thou didst suffer during thy life, that every thought of my mind, every beating of my heart may henceforward be an act of compassion to thy Sorrows, and of complacency for the glory thou now enjoyest in Heaven. Since then, O Dear Mother, I now compassionate thy Dolors, and rejoice in seeing thee glorified, do thou also have compassion on me, and reconcile me to thy Son Jesus, that I may become thy true and loyal son (daughter); come on my last day and assist me in my last agony, even as thou wert present at the Agony of thy Divine Son Jesus, that from this painful exile I may go to Heaven, there to be made partaker of thy glory. Amen. |
Litany of Sorrows
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Prayer To Our Lady of Sorrows, by St. Bridget
O Blessed Virgin Mary, Immaculate Mother of God, who didst endure a martyrdom of love and grief beholding the sufferings and sorrows of Jesus! Thou didst cooperate in the benefit of my redemption by thine innumerable afflictions and by offering to the Eternal Father His only begotten Son as a holocaust and victim of propitiation for my sins. I thank thee for the unspeakable love which led thee to deprive thyself of the Fruit of thy womb, Jesus, true God and true Man, to save me, a sinner. Oh, make use of the unfailing intercession of thy sorrows with the Father and the Son, that I may steadfastly amend my life and never again crucify my loving Redeemer by new sins, and that, persevering till death in His grace. I may obtain eternal life through the merits of His Cross and Passion. Amen.
Mother of love, of sorrow and of mercy, pray for us.
Saint Alphonsus Liguori's Prayer To The Mother Of Sorrows
O, my Blessed Mother, it is not one sword only with which I have pierced thy heart, but I have done so with as many as are the sins which I have committed. O, Lady, it is not to thee, who art innocent, that sufferings are due, but to me, who am guilty of so many crimes. But since thou hast been pleased to suffer so much for me, by thy merits, obtain me great sorrow for my sins, and patience under the trials of this life, which will always be light in comparison with my demerits; for I have often deserved Hell.
Amen.
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The Seven Dolors (Sorrows) of Mary [Catholic/Orthodox Devotional]
Apparition in Africa: Our Lady of Sorrows [Catholic/Orthodox Caucus]
Feast of the Seven Sorrows of the Blessed Virgin Mary [Catholic Caucus Devotional]
Feast of Our Lady/Mother of Sorrows
Homilies on Our Lady of Sorrows
Starkenburg:Pilgrimage to Our Lady of Sorrows Shrine
Our Mother of Sorrows
ST. ALPHONSUS LIGUORI, OF THE DOLOURS OF MARY, The Glories [Sorrows] of Mary
Our Lady of Sorrows - Sep 15
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