Third Sunday In Lent
INSTRUCTION ON THE THIRD SUNDAY IN LENT
called OCULI.Taken from Fr. Goffine’s Explanations of the Epistles and Gospels for the Sundays, Holydays, and Festivals throughout the Ecclesiastical Year36th edition, 1880
THE Introit of this day’s Mass, which begins with the word Oculi, is the prayer of a soul imploring deliverance from the snares of the devil: My eyes are ever towards the Lord: for he shall pluck my feet out of the snare: look thou upon me, and have mercy on me, for I am alone and poor. To thee, O Lord, have I lifted up my soul: in thee, O my God, I put my trust: let me not be ashamed. (Fs. xxiv.) Glory be to the Father, &c.
PRAYER OF THE CHURCH. We beseech Thee, Almighty God, regard the desires of the humble, and stretch forth the right hand of Thy majesty to be our defence. Through Jesus Christ, our Lord, &c.
EPISTLE. (Ephes. v. i — 9.) Brethren, be ye followers of God. as most dear children; and walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us, and hath delivered himself for us an oblation and a sacrifice to God, for an odor of sweetness. But fornication, and all uncleanness, or covetousness, let it not so much as be named among you as becometh saints; nor obscenity, nor foolish talking, nor scurrility, which is to no purpose: but rather giving of thanks: for know yet his, and understand, that no fornicator, nor unclean, nor covetous person, which is a serving of idols. hath any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God. Let no man deceive you with vain words; for because of these things cometh the anger of God upon the children of unbelief. Be ye not therefore partakers with them. For you were heretofore darkness; but now light in the Lord. Walk, then, as children of the light: for the fruit of the light is in all goodness, and justice, and truth.
EXPLANATION. The apostle requires us to imitate God, as good children, their father, in well-doing and in well-wishing; besides he declares that all covetousness, fornication, all disgraceful talk and equivocal jokes should be banished from Christian meetings, even that such things should not be so much as mentioned among us; because these vices unfailingly deprive us of heaven. He admonishes us not to let ourselves be deceived by the seducing words of those who seek to make these vices appear small, nothing more than pardonable human weaknesses; those who speak thus are the children of darkness and of the devil, they bring down the wrath of God upon themselves, and all who assent to their words. A Christian, a child of light, that is, of faith, should regard as as in that which faith and conscience tell him is such, and must live according to their precepts and not by false judgment of the wicked. Should any one seek to lead you away, ask yourself, my Christian soul, whether you would dare appear with such a deed before the judgment seat of God. Listen to the voice of your conscience, and let it decide, whether that which you are expected to do is good or bad, lawful or unlawful.
ASPIRATION. Place Thy fear, O God, before my mouth, that I may utter no vain, careless, much less improper and scandalous words. which may be the occasion of sin to my neighbor. Strengthen me; that I may not be deceived by flattering words, and become faithless to Thee.
GOSPEL. (Luke xi. 14—28. At that time, Jesus was casting out a devil, and the same was dumb. And when he had cast out the devil, the dumb spoke, and the multitudes were in admiration at it. But some of them said: He casteth out evils by Beelzebub the prince of devils. And others tempting, asked of him a sign from heaven. But he seeing their thoughts, said to them: Every kingdom divided against itself shall be brought to desolation, and house upon house shall fall. And if Satan also be divided against himself, how shall his kingdom stand? because you say, that through Beelzebub I cast out devils. Now if I cast out devils by Beelzebub, by whom do your children cast them out? Therefore they shall be your judge. But if I by the finger of God cast out devils, doubtless the kingdom of God is come upon you. When a strong man armed keepeth his court, those things which he possesseth are in peace; but if a stronger than he come upon him, and overcome him, he will take away all his armor wherein he trusted, and will distribute his spoils. He that is not with me Is against me; and he that gathereth not with me, scattereth. When the unclean spirit is gone out of a man, he walketh through places without water, seeking rest; and not finding, he saith, I will return into my house whence I came out: and when he is come, he findeth it swept and garnished. Then he goeth, and taketh with him seven other spirits more wicked than himself, and entering in they dwell there. And the last state of that man becomes worse than the first. And it came to pass, as he spoke these things, a certain woman from the crowd, lifting up her voice, said to him: Blessed is the womb that bore thee, and the paps that gave thee suck. But he said: Yea rather blessed are they who hear the word of God, and keep it.
Can a man be really possessed of a devil?
It is the doctrine of the Catholic Church that the evil spirit most perniciously influences man in a twofold manner: by enticing his soul to sin, and then influencing his body which he often entirely or partially possesses, manifesting himself by madness, convulsions, insanity, &c. Many texts of Scripture, and the writings of the Fathers speak of this possession. St. Cyprian writes: “We can expel the swarms of impure spirits, who for the ruin of the soul, enter into the bodies of men, and we can compel them to acknowledge their presence, by the force of powerful words.” Possession takes place by the permission of God either for trial or as a punishment of sin committed, (i Cor. v. 5.) and the Church from her Head, Jesus, who expelled so many devils, has received the power of casting them out as He did. (Mark xvi. 17.; Acts v. 16., viii. 6. 7., xvi. 18.&c.) She however warns her ministers, the priests, who by their ordination have received the power to expel the evil spirits, to distinguish carefully between possession and natural sickness, that they may not be deceived, (Rit. Rom.§.3. §. 5—10.) and the faithful should guard against looking upon every unusual, unhealthy appearance as an influence of Satan, and should give no ear to impostors,but in order not to be deceived, should turn to an experienced physician or to their pastor.
What is understood by a dumb devil?
The literal meaning of this is the evil enemy, who sometimes so torments those whom he possesses that they lose the power of speech; in a spiritual sense, we may understand it to mean the shame which the devil takes away from the sinner, when he commits the sin, but gives back again, as false shame, before confession, so that the sinner conceals the sin, and thereby falls deeper.
How does Christ still cast out dumb devils?
By His grace with which He inwardly enlightens the sinner, so that he becomes keenly aware that the sins which he has concealed in confession, will one day be known to the whole world, and thus encourages him to overcome his false shame. “Be not ashamed to confess to one man,” says St. Augustine, “that which you were not ashamed to do with one, perhaps, with many.” Consider these words of the same saint: “Sincere confession subdues vice, conquers the evil one, shuts the door of hell, and opens the gates of paradise.”
How did Christ prove, that He did not cast out devils by Beelzebub?
By showing that the kingdom of Satan could not stand, if one evil spirit were cast out by another; that they thus reproached their own sons who also cast out devils, and had not been accused of doing so by power from Beelzebub; by His own life and works which were in direct opposition to the devil, and by which the devil’s works were destroyed. There is no better defence against calumny than an innocent life, and those who are slandered, find no better consolation than the thought of Christ who, notwithstanding His sanctity and His miracles, was not secure against calumniation.
What is is meant by the finger of God?
The power of God, by which Christ expelled the evil spirits, proved himself God, and the promised Redeemer.
Who is the strong man armed?
The evil one is so called, because he still retains the power and intellect of the angels, and. practiced by long experience, seeks in different ways to injure man if God permits.
How is the devil armed?
With the evil desires of men, with the perishable riches, honors, and pleasures of this world, with which he entices us to evil, deceives us, and casts us into eternal fire.
Who is the stronger one who took away the devil’s armor?
Christ the Lord who came into this world that He might destroy the works and the kingdom of the devil, to expel the prince of darkness, (John xii. 31.) and to redeem us from his power. “The devil,” says St Anthony, “is like a dragon caught by the Lord with the fishing-hook of the cross, tied with a halter, like a beast of burden, chained like a fugitive slave, and his lips pierced through with a ring, so that he may not devour any of the faithful. Now he sighs, like a miserable sparrow, caught by Christ and turned to derision, and thrown under the feet of the Christians. He who flattered himself, that he would possess the whole orbit of the earth, behold, he has to yield!”
Why docs Christ say: He who is not with me, is against me?
These words were intended in the first place for the Pharisees who did not acknowledge Christ as the Messiah, would not fight with Him against Satan’s power, but rather held the people back from reaching unity of faith and love of Christ. Like the Pharisees, all heretical teachers who, by their false doctrines, draw the faithful from communion with Christ and His Church, are similar to the devil, the father of heresy and lies. May all those, therefore, who think they can serve Christ and the world at the same time, consider that between truth and falsehood, between Christ and the world, there is no middle path; that Christ requires decision, either with Him, or against Him, either eternal happiness with Him, or without Him, everlasting- misery.
Who are understood by the dry places through which the evil spirit wanders and finds no rest?
“The dry places without water,” says St. Gregory, “are the hearts of the just, who by the force of penance have drained the dampness of carnal desires.” In such places the evil one indeed finds no rest, because there his malice finds no sympathy, and his wicked will no satisfaction.
Why does the evil spirit say: I will return into my house?
Because he is only contented there where he is welcomed and received: those who have purified their heart by confession, and driven Satan from it, but labor not to amend, again lose the grace of the Sacraments by sin, and thus void of virtue and grace, offer a beautiful and pleasant dwelling to the devil.
Why is it said: The last state becomes worse than the first?
Because a relapse generally draws more sins with it, and so it is said: the devil will return with seven other spirits more wicked than himself, by which may be understood the seven deadly sins, because after a relapse into sin conversion to God becomes more difficult, as a repeated return of the same sickness makes it harder to regain health; because by repetition sin easily becomes a habit and renders conversion almost impossible; because repeated relapses are followed by blindness of intellect, hardness of heart, and in the end eternal damnation.
Why did the woman lift up her voice?
This was by the inspiration of the Holy Ghost to shame the Pharisees who, blinded by pride, neither professed nor acknowledged the divinity of Christ, whilst this humble woman not only confessed Jesus as God, but praised her who carried Him, whom heaven and earth cannot contain. Consider the great dignity of the Blessed Virgin, Mother of the Son of God, and hear her praises from the holy Fathers. St. Cyril thus salutes her: “Praise to thee, Blessed Mother of God: for thou art virginity itself, the sceptre of the true faith!” and St. Chrysostom: Hail, Mother, the throne, the glory, the heaven of the Church!” St. Ephrem: “Hail, only hope of the Fathers, herald of the apostles, glory of the martyrs, joy of the saints, and crown of the virgins, because of thy vast glory, and inaccessible light!”
Why did Christ call those happy who hear the word of God and keep it?
Because, as has been already said, it is not enough for salvation to hear the word of God, but it must also be practiced. Because Mary, the tender Mother of Jesus, did this most perfectly. Christ terms her more happy in it, than in having conceived, borne, and nursed Him.
SUPPLICATION. O Lord Jesus! true Light of the world, enlighten the eyes of my soul, that I may never be induced by the evil one to conceal a sin, through false shame, in the confessional, that on the day of general judgment my sins may not be published to the whole world. Strengthen me, O Jesus, that I may resist the arms of the devil by a penitent life, and especially by scorning the fear of man and worldly considerations, and guard against lapsing into sin, that I may not be lost, but through Thy merits may be delivered from all dangers and obtain heaven.
THIRD SUNDAY OF LENTTaken from The Liturgical Year by Dom Prosper Gueranger (1841-1875)
The holy Church gave us, as the subject of our meditation for the First Sunday of Lent, the Temptation which our Lord Jesus Christ deigned to suffer in the Desert. Her object was to enlighten us how to conquer them. Today, she wishes to complete her instruction on the power and stratagems of our invisible enemies; and for this, she reads to us a passage from the Gospel of St. Luke. During Lent, the Christian ought to repair the past, and provide for the future; but he can neither understand how it was he fell, nor defend himself against a relapse, unless he have correct ideas as to the nature of the dangers which have hitherto proved fatal, and are again threatening him. Hence, the ancient Liturgists would have us consider it as a proof of the maternal watchfulness of the Church that she should have again proposed such a subject to us. As we shall find, it is the basis of all today’s instructions.
Assuredly, we should be the blindest and most unhappy of men if—surrounded as we are by enemies who unceasingly seek to destroy us, and are so superior to us both in power and knowledge—we were seldom or never to think of the existence of these wicked spirits. And yet, such is really the case with innumerable Christians nowadays; for truths are diminished from among the children of men. So common, indeed, is this heedlessness and forgetfulness of a truth which the Holy Scriptures put before us in almost every page, that it is no rare thing to meet with persons who ridicule the idea of Devils being permitted to be on this earth of ours! They call it a prejudice, a popular superstition, of the Middle Ages! Of course they deny that it is a dogma of Faith. When they read the History of the Church or the Lives of the Saints, they have their own way of explaining whatever is there related on this subject. To hear them talk, one would suppose that they look on Satan as a mere abstract idea, to be taken as the personification of evil.
When they would account for the origin of their own or others’ sins, they explain all by the evil inclination of man’s heart, and by the bad use we make of our free will. They never think of what we are taught by Christian doctrine; namely, that we are also instigated to sin by a wicked being whose power is as great as is the hatred he bears us. And yet, they know, they believe, with a firm faith, that Satan conversed with our First Parents, and persuaded them to commit sin, and showed himself to them under the form of a serpent. They believe that this same Satan dared to tempt the Incarnate Son of God, and that he carried him through the air and set him first upon a pinnacle of the Temple, and then upon a very high mountain. Again: they read in the Gospel, and they believe, that one of the Possessed, who were delivered by our Savior, was tormented by a whole legion of devils who, upon being driven out of the man, went by Jesus’ permission, into a herd of swine, and the whole herd ran violently into the see of Genesareth, and perished in the waters. These and many other such like facts are believed by the persons of whom we speak, with all the earnestness of faith; yet, notwithstanding, they treat as a figure of speech, or a fiction, all they hear or read about the existence, the actions or the craft of these wicked spirits. Are such people Christians, or have they lost their senses? One would scarcely have expected that this species of incredulity could have found its way into an age like this, when sacrilegious consultations of the devil have been, we might almost say, unfashionable. Means which were used in the days of paganism have been resorted to for such consultations; and they who employed them seemed to forget or ignore that they were committing what God, in the Old Law, punished with death, and which for many centuries was considered by all Christian nations as a capital crime.
But if there be one Season of the Year more than another in which the Faithful ought to reflect upon what is taught us by both Faith and experience, as to the existence and workings of the wicked spirits—it is undoubtedly this of Lent, when it is our duty to consider what have been the causes of our past sins, what are the spiritual dangers we have to fear for the future, and what means we should have recourse to for preventing a relapse. Let us, then, hearken to the holy Gospel. Firstly, we are told that the devil had possessed a man, and that the effect produced by this possession was dumbness. Our Savior cast out the devil, and immediately the dumb man spoke. So that, the being possessed by the devil is not only a fact which testifies to God’s impenetrable justice; it is one which may produce physical effects upon them that are thus tried or punished. The casting out the devil restores the use of speech to him that had been possessed. We say nothing about the obstinate malice of Jesus’ enemies, who would have it that his power over the devils came from his being in league with the prince of devils;—all we would now do is to show that the wicked spirits are sometimes permitted to have power over the body, and to refute, by this passage from the Gospel, the rationalism of certain Christians. Let these learn, then, that the power of our spiritual enemies is an awful reality; and let them take heed not to lay themselves open to their worst attacks by persisting in the disdainful haughtiness of their Reason.
Ever since the promulgation of the Gospel, the power of Satan over the human body has been restricted by the virtue of the Cross, at least in Christian countries: but this power resumes its sway as often as the faith and the practice of Christian piety lose their influence. And here we have the origin of all those diabolical practices which, under certain scientific names, are attempted first in secret, and then are countenanced by being assisted at by well-meaning Christians. Were it not that God and his Church intervene, such practices as these would subvert society. Christians! remember your Baptismal vow; you have renounced Satan: take care, then, that by a culpable ignorance you are not dragged into apostasy. It is not a phantom that you renounced at the Font; he is a real and formidable being who, as our Lord tells us, was a Murderer from the beginning.
But if we ought to dread the power he may be permitted to have over our bodies; if we ought to shun all intercourse with him and take no share in practices over which he presides, and which are the worship he would have men give him—we ought, also, to fear the influence he is ever striving to exercise over our souls. See what God’s grace has to do in order to drive him from your soul! During this holy Season, the Church is putting within your reach those grand means of victory—Fasting, Prayer, and Almsdeeds. The sweets of peace will soon be yours, and once more you will become God’s temple, for both soul and body will have regained their purity. But be not deceived; your enemy is not slain. He is irritated; penance has driven him from you, but he has sworn to return. Therefore, fear a relapse into mortal sin; and in order to nourish within you this wholesome fear, meditate upon the concluding part of our Gospel.
Our Savior tells us that when the unclean spirit is gone out of a man, he walketh through places without water. There he writhes under his humiliation; it has added to the tortures of the hell he carries everywhere with him, and to which he fain would give some alleviation, by destroying souls that have been redeemed by Christ. We read in the Old Testament that sometimes, when the devils have been conquered, they have been forced to flee into some far-off wilderness: for example, the holy Archangel Raphael took the devil that had killed Sara’s husbands, and bound him in the desert of Upper Egypt. But the enemy of mankind never despairs of regaining his prey. His hatred is as active now as it was at the very beginning of the world, and he says: I will return into my house, whence I came out. Nor will he come alone. He is determined to conquer; and therefore, he will, if he think it needed, take with him seven other spirits, even more wicked than himself. What a terrible assault is this that is being prepared for the pour soul unless she be on the watch, and unless the peace which God has granted her be one that is well armed for war! Alas! with many souls, the very contrary is the case; and our Savior describes the situation in which the devil finds them on his return: they are swept and garnished, and that is all! No precautions, no defense, no arms. One would suppose that they were waiting to give the enemy admission. Then Satan, to make his repossession sure, comes with a seven-fold force. The attack is made;—but there is no resistance, and straightways the wicked spirits entering in, dwell there; so that, the last state becometh worse than the first; for before, there was but one enemy, and now there are many.
In order that we may understand the full force of the warning conveyed to us by the Church in this Gospel, we must keep before us the great reality that this is the acceptable Time. In every part of the world, there are conversions being wrought; millions are being reconciled with God; divine Mercy is lavish of pardon to all that seek it. But will all persevere? They that are now being delivered from the power of Satan—will they all be free from his yoke when next year’s Lent comes around? A sad experience tells the Church that she may not hope so grand a result. Many will return to their sins, and that too before many weeks are over. And if the Justice of God overtake them in that state—what an awful thing it is to say it, yet it is true;—some, perhaps many, of these sinners will be eternally lost! Let us, then, be on our guard against a relapse; and in order that we may ensure our Perseverance, without which it would have been to little purpose to have been for a few days in God’s grace—let us watch, and pray; let us keep ourselves under arms; let us ever remember that our whole life is to be a warfare. Our soldier-like attitude will disconcert the enemy, and he will try to gain victory elsewhere.
The Third Sunday of Lent is called Oculi from the first word of the Introit. In the primitive Church, it was called Scrutiny Sunday, because it was on this day that they began to examine the Catechumens, who were to be admitted to Baptism on Easter night. All the Faithful were invited to assemble in the Church, in order that they might bear testimony to the good life and morals of the candidates. At Rome, these examinations, which were called the Scrutinies, were made on seven different occasions, on account of the great number of aspirants to Baptism; but the principal Scrutiny was that held on the Wednesday of the Fourth Week. We will speak of it later on.
The Roman Sacramentary of St. Galasius gives us the form in which the Faithful were convoked to these assemblies. It is as follows. “Dearly beloved Brethren: you know that the day of Scrutiny, when our elect are to receive the holy instruction, is at hand. We invite you, therefore, to be zealous and to assemble on N., (here, the day was mentioned), at the hour of Sext; that so we may be able, by the divine aid, to achieve, without error, the heavenly mystery, whereby is opened the gate of the kingdom of heaven, and the devil is excluded with all his pomps.” The invitation was repeated, if needed, on each of the following Sundays. The Scrutiny of this Sunday ended in the admission of a certain number of candidates: their names were written down and put on the Diptychs of the Altar, that they might be mentioned in the Canon of the Mass. The same also was done with the names of their Sponsors.
The Station was, and still is, in the Basilica of Saint Laurence outside the walls. The name of this, the most celebrated of the Martyrs of Rome, would remind the Catechumens that the Faith they were about to profess would require them to be ready for many sacrifices.
MassThe Catechumen that is now promised the grace of Baptism, and the Penitent who is looking forward to the day of his Reconciliation, express, in the Introit, the ardor of their longings. They humbly confess their present misery; but they are full of hope in Him who is soon to set them free from the snare.
Introit
Oculi mei semper ad Dominum, quia ipse evellet de laqueo pedes meos: respice in me, et miserere mei; quoniam unicus et pauper sum ego.
Ps. Ad te, Domine, Domine, levavi animam meam: Deus meus, in te confido, non erubescam. ℣. Gloria Patri.
Oculi.[/i]
My eyes are ever towards the Lord, for he shall pluck my feet out of the snare: look thou upon me, and have mercy on me, for I am alone and poor.
Ps. To thee, O Lord, have I lifted up my soul; in thee, O my God, I put my trust, let me not be ashamed. ℣. Glory, &c.
My eyes.
The great battle with the enemy of mankind is now fiercely raging: the Church beseeches her God to stretch forth his right hand in her defense. Such is the petition she makes in today’s Collect.
Collect
Quæsumus, omnipotens Deus, vota humilium respice: atque ad defensionem nostram, dexteram tuæ majestatis extende. Per Dominum.
Be attentive, we beseech thee, O Almighty God, to the prayers of thy servants, and stretch forth the arm of thy divine Majesty in our defense. Through, &c.
The second and third Collects are given on the First Sunday of Lent.
Epistle
Lesson of the Epistle of Saint Paul the Apostle to the Ephesians. Ch. V.
Brethren: Be ye therefore followers of God, as most dear children; and walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us, and hath delivered himself for us, an oblation and a sacrifice to God, for an odor of sweetness. But fornication, and all uncleanness, or covetousness, let it not such as be named among you, as becometh saints; or obscenity, or foolish talking, or scurrility, which is to no purpose: but rather giving of thanks. For know ye this and understand, that no fornicator, or unclean, or covetous person, which is serving of idols, hath inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God. Let no man deceive you with vain words: for because of these things cometh the anger of God upon the children of unbelief. Be ye not therefore partakers with them. For you were heretofore darkness, but now light in the Lord. Walk ye as children of the light: for the fruit of the light is in all goodness, and justice and truth.
The Apostle, speaking to the Faithful of Ephesus, reminds them how they once were darkness; but now, he says, ye are Light in the Lord. What joy for our Catechumens to think that the same change is to be their happy lot! Up to this time, they have spent their lives in all the abominations of paganism; and now they have the pledge of a holy life, for they have been received as candidates for Baptism. Hitherto, they have been serving those false gods, whose worship was the encouragement to vice; and now, they hear the Church exhorting her children to be followers of God, that is to say, to imitate Infinite Holiness. Grace—that divine element which is to enable even them to be perfect as their Heavenly Father is perfect—is about to be bestowed upon them. But they will have to fight hard in order to maintain so elevated a position; and of their old enemies two, in particular, will strive to re-enslave them: impurity and avarice. The Apostle would not have these vices so much as named among them from this time forward; for they, he says, that commit such sins are Idolaters, and by your vocation to Baptism you have abandoned all your idols.
Such are the instructions given by the Church to her future children. Let us apply them to ourselves, for they are also intended for us. We were sanctified almost as soon as we came into the world; have we been faithful to our Baptism? We, heretofore, were Light; how comes it that we are now darkness? The beautiful likeness to our Heavenly Father, which was once upon us, is perhaps quite gone! But thanks to Divine Mercy, we may recover it. Let us do so, by again renouncing Satan and his idols. Let our repentance and penance restore within us that Light whose fruit consists in all goodness, justice and truth.
The Tract is taken from the 122nd Psalm, which is a canticle of confidence and humility. The sincere avowal of our misery always draws down the mercy of God upon us.
Gradual
Exsurge, Domine, non prævaleat homo: judicentur gentes in conspectu tuo.
℣. In convertendo inimicum meum retrorsum, infirmabuntur, et peribunt a facie tua.
Arise, O Lord, let not man prevail: let the Gentiles be judges in thy sight.
℣. When my enemy shall be turned back, they shall be weakened and perish before thy face.
Tract
Ad te levavi oculos meos, qui habitas in cœlis.
℣. Ecce sicut oculi servorum in manibus dominorum suorum:
℣. Et sicut oculi ancillæ in manibus dominæ suæ: ita oculi nostri ad Dominum Deum nostrum, donec misereatur nostri.
℣. Miserere nobis, Domine, miserere nobis.
To thee have I lifted up my eyes, who dwellest in heaven.
℣. Behold as the eyes of servants are on the hands of their masters:
℣. And as the eyes of the handmaid are on the hands of her mistress, so are our eyes unto the Lord our God, until he have mercy on us.
℣. Have mercy on us, O Lord, have mercy on us.
Gospel
Sequel of the Holy Gospel according to Luke. Ch. XI.
At that time: Jesus was casting out a devil, and the same was dumb: and when he had cast out the devil, the dumb spoke: and the multitudes were in admiration at it: But some of them said: He casteth out devils by Beelzebub, the prince of devils. And others tempting, asked of him a sign from heaven. But he seeing their thoughts, said to them: Every kingdom divided against itself, shall be brought to desolation, and house upon house shall fall. And if Satan also be divided against himself, how shall his kingdom stand? because you say, that through Beelzebub I cast out devils. Now if I cast out devils by Beelzebub, by whom do your children cast them out? Therefore they shall be your judges. But if I by the finger of God cast out devils; doubtless the kingdom of God is come upon you. When a strong man armed keepeth his court, those things are in peace which he possesseth. But if a stronger than he come upon him, and overcome him; he will take away all his armour wherein he trusted, and will distribute his spoils. He that is not with me, is against me; and he that gathereth not with me, scattereth. When the unclean spirit is gone out of a man, he walketh through places without water, seeking rest; and not finding, he saith: I will return into my house whence I came out. And when he is come, he findeth it swept and garnished. Then he goeth and taketh with him seven other spirits more wicked than himself, and entering in they dwell there. And the last state of that man becomes worse than the first. And it came to pass, as he spoke these things, a certain woman from the crowd, lifting up her voice, said to him: Blessed is the womb that bore thee, and the paps that gave thee suck. But he said: Yea rather, blessed are they who hear the word of God, and keep it.
As soon as Jesus had cast out the devil, the man recovered his speech, for the possession had made him dumb. It is an image of what happens to a sinner who will not, or dare not, confess his sin. If he confessed it, and asked pardon, he would be delivered from the tyranny which now oppresses him. Alas! how many there are who are kept back by a dumb devil from making the Confession that would save them! The holy Season of Lent is advancing; these days of grace are passing away; let us profit by them; and if we ourselves be in the state of grace, let us offer up our earnest prayers for sinners, that they may speak, that is, may accuse themselves in Confession, and obtain pardon.
Let us also listen, with holy fear, to what our Savior tells us with regard to our invisible enemies. They are so powerful and crafty that our resistance would be useless, unless we had God on our side, and his holy Angels, who watch over us and join us in the great combat. It was to these unclean and hateful spirits of hell that we delivered ourselves when we sinned: we preferred their tyrannical sway to the sweet and light yoke of our compassionate Redeemer. Now we are set free, or are hoping to be so; let us thank our Divine Liberator; but let us take care not to re-admit our enemies. Our Savior warns us of our danger. They will return to the attack; they will endeavor to force their entrance into our soul, after it has been sanctified by the Lamb of the Passover. If we be watchful and faithful, they will be confounded, and leave us: but if we be tepid and careless, if we lose our appreciation of the grace we have received, and forget our obligations to Him who has saved us, our defeat is inevitable; and as our Lord says, our last state is to be worse than the first.
Would we avoid such a misfortune? Let us meditate upon those other words of our Lord, in today’s Gospel: He that is not with me is against me. What makes us fall back into the power of Satan, and forget our duty to our God, is that we do not frankly declare ourselves for Jesus, when occasions require us to do so. We try to be on both sides, we have recourse to subterfuge, we temporize: this takes away our energy; God no longer gives us the abundant graces we received when we were loyal and and generous; our relapse is all but certain. Therefore, let us be boldly and unmistakeably with Christ. He that is a soldier of Jesus should be proud of his title!
The Offertory describes the consolation that a soul, rescued from Satan’s grasp, feels in doing the will of her Divine Master.
Offertory
Justitiæ Domini rectæ, lætificantes corda, et judicia ejus dulciora super mel et favum; nam et servus tuus custodit ea.
The justices of the Lord are right, rejoicing hearts; his ordinances are sweeter than honey and the honey-comb: therefore thy servant observeth them.
In the Secret, the Church expresses her confidence in the Sacrifice she is about to offer to God; it is the Sacrifice of Calvary, which redeemed the whole world.
Secret
Hæc hostia, Domine, quæsumus, emundet nostra delicta: et ad sacrificium celebrandum, subditorum tibi corpora mentesque sanctificet. Per Dominum.
May this offering, O Lord, we beseech thee, cleanse us from our sins, and sanctify the bodies and souls of thy servants for the celebrating of this sacrifice. Through, &c.
The second and third Secrets are given on the First Sunday of Lent.
Borrowing the words of David, the Church, in her Communion-Anthem, describes the happiness of a soul that is united to her God in the Sacrament of love. It is the lot that is reserved for the Catechumens, who have just been received as candidates for Baptism; it is to be also that of the Penitents, who shall have washed away their sins in the tears of repentance.
Communion
Passer invenit sibi domum, et turtur nidum, ubi reponat pullos suos: altaria tua, Domine virtutum, Rex meus et Deus meus: beati qui habitant in domo tua; in sæculum sæculi laudabunt te.
The sparrow hath found herself a house, and the turtle a nest where she may lay her young ones; in like manner, O Lord of armies, my King and my God, let my abode be near thy altar: blessed are they that dwell in thy house, they shall praise thee for ever and ever.
In the Postcommunion, the Church beseeches her Lord to grant, through the merits of the Mystery just partaken of by her Children, that Sinners may be loosened from the fetters of their sins, and delivered from the danger they have incurred—the danger of eternal perdition.
Postcommunion
A cunctis nos, quæsumus Domine, reatibus et periculis propitiatus absolve: quos tanti mysterii tribuis esse participes. Per Dominum.
Mercifully, O Lord, we beseech thee, deliver us from all guilt and from all danger, since thou admittest us to be partakers of this great mystery. Through, &c.
The second and third Postcommunions are given on the First Sunday of Lent.
VESPERS
The psalms and antiphons are given earlier in the volume.
CAPITULUM
Brethren: Be ye followers of God, as most dear children: and walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us, and hath delivered himself for us, an oblation and a sacrifice to God for an odour of sweetness.
For the hymn and versicle, see earlier in the volume.
ANTIPHON OF THE MAGNIFICAT
A certain woman from the crowd, lifting up her voice, said: Blessed is the womb that bore thee, and the paps that gave thee suck. But Jesus said to her: Yea rather, blessed are they who hear the word of God and keep it.
LET US PRAY
Be attentive, we beseech thee, O almighty God, to the prayers of thy servants, and stretch forth the arm of thy divine Majesty in our defense. Through, etc.
The Mozarabic Breviary offers us this beautiful Prayer for the commencement of the third week of Lent.
Prayer(In Dominica iii. Quadragesimæ.)
Quarti nunc et decimi diei de nostrorum dierum decimis curriculo jam peracto, ad te levamus oculos nostros, Domine, qui habitas in cœlis; impende jam et misericordiam miseris, et medelam porrige vulneratis; to nobis adgressum iter placidum effice: tu cor nostrum in mandatorum tuorum semitis dirige: per te lucis inveniamus viam: per te luminosa amoris tui capiamus incendia; tu laboribus requiem, tu laborantibus tribue mansionem; ut horum dierum observatione tibi placentes, gloriæ tuæ mereamur esse participes.
Having now passed the fourteenth day of this Season, which forms the tithe of our year, we lift up our eyes to thee, O Lord, who dwellest in heaven. Show mercy to the miserable, and heal them that are wounded. Grant that the journey we have begun, may be prosperous. Direct our hearts in the way of thy commandments. Through thee may we find the way of light; through thee, may we be inflamed with the bright burning of thy love. Grant rest to our labors, and a home to us that labor; that having gained thy good pleasure by our observance of these days, we may deserve to be partakers of thy glory.
Third Sunday in Lent by Fr. Francis Xavier Weninger, 1876
“And He was casting out a devil and the same was dumb.”–Luke 11: 14.As St. James remarks, and as we are taught by experience, Satan exercises a great power over the tongue of man. There is, in fact, nothing through which man sins more than through the tongue, beginning with sinful gossiping, breaking the commandment of charity towards our neighbor, and ending with blasphemy.
Cursing and blasphemy is the language of devils, and they stamp men here upon earth as children of the Evil One! But Satan knows also how to offend God, and lead man to ruin, by influencing the tongue in the opposite direction, namely, by inducing him to maintain a sinful silence.
Let us consider, today, in how many ways this may be done, and I wish I could deliver every soul here present, who is possessed of a dumb demon, whose number, I fear, is greater than we suppose.
O Mary, thou who didst raise thy voice so powerfully in the “Magnificat” to glorify God, and who, after saying: “Be it done to me according to Thy word,” didst become the mother of the Incarnate Word, pray for us, that we may obtain the grace to glorify God by every word which our tongue pronounces! I speak in the most holy name of Jesus, to the greater glory of God!
I said that there is a silence which is sinful, and which, in the words of the Gospel, may be called a dumb devil. I shall, in today s sermon, particularize and explain this assertion.
The greater part of men every morning commit sin by silence, in not opening their lips to honor God by prayer. They rise from their bed like dumb animals. It is a sin of omission not to give thanks to God for the night that has passed, not to worship Him with our first thoughts as our Creator, our Father, our final end, and not to beseech Him to bestow upon us the grace to glorify Him by our conduct during the day.
The dawn of morning, the first rays of the rising sun, ought to remind man of this holy duty, as well as the joyful songs of the birds, especially of the lark, which, rising high in the sky early every morning, shows man that it is his duty to praise with his tongue the Lord, to give Him thanks, to pray to Him as soon as he awakens.
But in order to serve Him well we should, not only in the morning, but also during the day, raise our hearts piously to God, and animate ourselves by short, pious prayers and ejaculations. We must also make use of every opportunity to remind others, by word and action, to serve and glorify God; and we must, further, admonish sinners, and instruct those in their faith, that are erring. How many opportunities we have of doing this during the day, had we but the will!
Such remarks and exhortations, however short, fall like seed upon the soil of the heart, and in due time bear fruit. Let us remember the exhortation of St. Ignatius to St. Francis Xavier: “Friend, what does it profit a man to gain the whole world, and lose his soul?” and his oft-repeated admonition: “Xavier, conquer thyself!” These short exhortations were for Xavier the seed from which the holiness of his entire life proceeded.
Why are we silent when we have reason, in our association with our neighbor, to call his attention to the salvation of his soul, the only real necessary labor of man’s life, to speak to him of the truth of our holy religion,–to warn him of the evil of sin, to point out to him the corrupt principles of the enemies of the Church in these days, and to converse with him on the dogmas of our holy faith? Why is it that we are silent and do not speak to him of these things when ever an opportunity presents itself?
The reason is that we ourselves are not zealous enough in the service of God, and too little instructed in our faith, and think that it is the duty of the priest to teach others, and lead them upon the path of virtue, and not of every zealous child of the Church. What a deception! We speak to others of so many useless things, why not, rather, on this most important subject! Fear of man is what mostly prevents us. We do not possess the courage to speak, and are silent, even when the honor of the Church and her servants are publicly attacked. This is all sinful silence.
We can, however, sin still in another manner, by culpable silence, while associating with others. This is the case when we hear others spoken ill of, and omit, by a word uttered at the right moment, to remind the speaker that he is doing wrong. St. Augustine had placed on the wall of his dining-room the words: “Let all remain away, who would speak evil of others.”
Further, we frequently omit to admonish others, simply through a contemptible fear of man. This silence becomes the more sinful when false rumors are spread and the good name of any one is defamed by false hoods. Who knows but the slandered person may thereby lose his position, his office, his fortune? and yet, we are silent from fear of man how heartless! We do speak in behalf of the injured party, with the excuse: It is not my affair. Yes, it is your affair, for it is said: “Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.”
The same takes place when, knowing that some one exposes himself to a danger, which threatens either his person or his possessions, we remain silent and do not warn him in time. So also in regard to personal enmity. How few misunderstandings would arise, or would be quickly righted, how seldom would neighborly love be wounded, were a word of excuse or of explanation spoken at the right time!
This admonition, concerning sinful silence, regards, in particular, parents and superiors, who, by their station and office, are obliged to speak to others, to instruct, to warn, and to punish them. Unhappy those children who, in youth, have not been instructed by their parents, in the truths and principles of their holy faith, on the necessity of perseverance in prayer, and who have not been taught in such a manner that when they leave home they are in no great danger of losing their faith! Unhappy the children, whose parents, when asked if their children know how to pray or receive the holy Sacraments, answer: I can not tell; I do not know. Father, mother, why are you silent? why do you not question your child in regard to this matter? Woe to the children whose parents are too indulgent, who never reprove them, but pass over their sinful life in silence, without warning or punishing!
The silent devil causes the greatest evil there, where all other bad spirits are forced to flee, when man speaks the truth; namely, in the confessional. How many confess, but confess unworthily, and why? They are possessed by the silent devil, who keeps them by a false shame from confessing fully and candidly.
They confess, but they confess only a few, instead of all their great sins! They confess, but they do not confess their great sins according to their number and kind as they should they are prevented by false shame. They pass over, for instance, in silence, a sin against the sixth commandment, or the circumstance that the persons with whom they sinned were married or related to them. They confess their mortal sins, but do not mention their number as accurately as they might; they either say nothing of the number, or seek to lessen it.
They confess that they sinned in words, but not that they were guilty in thought and desire. They are silent and conceal, and do not answer frankly when questioned by the confessor. They confess what they have done themselves, but speak of none of the nine ways of being accessory to another’s sin, such as provocation, approval, bad advice or example.
They are willfully silent concerning all this, and thus confess unworthily and what is the result? All the evil spirits, that is, the sins by which the sinner was possessed, remain in the heart. If they are to be driven out by absolution, the dumb devil must be the first sent hence.
God grant that this may be the case with all those of my listeners, who are possessed by the dumb devil! May it be so! Amen!
“And the last state of that man becometh worse than the first.”–Luke 11.If there were no relapses into sin, few children of the Church would lose their souls. For where is the Catholic, who, having had the misfortune of falling into mortal sin, has not, at least once, confessed with the intention and purpose of sinning no more? But Satan endeavors to destroy the good which the Lord works in the heart of the sinner by confession, and if he succeed again in forcing an entrance into that heart, it will be difficult indeed to dislodge him.
In that case, as Christ himself both assures aud warns us, the last state will be worse than the first. Why? Let us consider this question today. Mary, thou faithful Virgin, refuge of sinners, protect us by thy prayers, in order that reconciled to God, we may not relapse and thus sink the deeper into the abyss of hell! I speak in the most holy name of Jesus, to the greater glory of God!
The evil spirit driven out of a house, which had opened its doors to him withdraws, as Christ says, into the wilderness; which means that when the sinner has returned to God, the tempter is careful not to approach him immediately. He has cause to fear that the newly converted man will, in his first zeal, withstand and repulse his temptations. He bides his time, and after the first fervor of penitential zeal has cooled, he tries again; and should he succeed, then the second state of the sinner is worse than the first. The reasons for this are obvious:
First, the sinner’s guilt is greater, because he committed the sin with a clearer knowledge of its malice, and with a greater abuse of divine grace. It is true there are some people who live wickedly from day to day, and who commit sin with so little concern, that the words of Christ: “Father, they know not what they do,” seem particularly applicable to them; but with these the sinner who once did penance and again relapsed, can not be classed. It is deliberate and forewarned opposition to God that makes a sin particularly odious and culpable. Hence, the rebellion of the angels was so grievous an offense in the eyes of God, that not one was offered time for repentance; for they opposed His will with full knowledge and consent. It is this same malice that, more or less, brands the relapse of a sinner.
If a person offends us once, but soon after shows signs of repentance, we easily condone the injury, even though it be great. But if the offense be again and again repeated, and if the transgressor manifest utter contempt for our feelings, we are far more sensible of the injury, and much less inclined to receive him again into our friendship, even though we do not hate him, we mistrust such an individual.
Secondly; These relapses open the door to levity, and the sinner becomes gradually insensible to the reproaches of his conscience and to the admonitions of that penitential spirit, by which, in the beginning, he was moved. Even the threats of divine judgment and the terrors of eternal punishment do not touch him. He endeavors to excuse himself.
What a dangerous state this is, especially when is joined with it the awful abuse of the Sacrament of Penance, and when a man, after changing this spiritual medicine into a deadly poison of the soul, quiets his conscience by saying: I have confessed that sin!
What is confession without true contrition and repentance? what is repentance without an earnest resolution of amendment? and of what avail, in the end, are good resolutions, if they are not put into execution? Confessions without true sorrow for sin or without firm purposes of amendment are, at best, delusions. St. Chrysostom calls them plays, in which actors pretend to be struck and fall down, but as soon as the curtain drops, get up and depart. St. Augustine calls them mock confessions.
The relapsing sinner, seeking to excuse himself, says: Men are weak, and God is good. This is certainly true, but not in the sense in which the sinner applies it to himself. Man is weak in regard to venial sins and slight defections; but with the aid of divine grace he is strong and invincible where mortal sins are concerned, especially those mortal sins, which easily become habitual, as, for instance: impurity, intemperance, enmity, and cursing.
The nullity of the excuse, that man is weak, becomes especially obvious from one fact which every relapsing sinner must admit to be decisive and convincing, namely: had he been persuaded that a relapse into his former sin would result, owing to his peculiar constitution, in complete blindness–had he been convinced, by the sad experience of others, that escape was impossible–had his physicians predicted the same inevitable fate if he disregarded nature’s laws–he would, whatever temptation might have assailed him, have avoided that sin.
Is this not sufficient evidence that man is strong enough to conquer every temptation to mortal sin, if his faith be really strong, and if he only has the will to co-operate with divine grace?
Thirdly: The condition of such a sinner is very dangerous, because his relapse makes him despondent, should he feel an inclination to repent. Satan desires to discourage him, and whispers into his ear that it is useless for him to think of conversion, for he has before now endeavored to cast off the yoke, but in vain.
In this case the sinner endeavors to persuade himself that it would be impossible to free himself entirely from this or that sin, and so delays his conversion from day to day, from week to week, from year to year, and finally falls into that depth of which the Holy Ghost says: “The wicked man when he is come into the depth of sins, contemneth.” Yes, he holds in contempt at last the means of salvation, communication with God, holy Mass, the Church, the Sacraments, even heaven, until his soul finally becomes a prey to despair. What awful condition!
And what means must we use in order to avoid this state? The last words of today’s Gospel answer this question: “Blessed are they who hear the word of God, and keep it.” That is to say, we must meditate upon what the word of God says of this state, and be penetrated with a holy fear. It is not a priest, a confessor, a human being who has uttered these words, but it is Christ, the Lord Himself, who likewise warns us: “And the last state of that man becomes worse than the first.”
If we be lastingly penetrated with the fear of such an evil, such a misfortune, we shall attend also to what this same word of God teaches us concerning the means of avoiding in future all those temptations which threaten us with a relapse. We shall especially heed the admonition of the Lord: “If thy eye scandalize thee, pluck it out; if thy hand scandalize thee, cut it off,” which means that, should anything whatever lead us into sin, though it be as dear to us as our eye or our hand, we must not hesitate to avoid it on all occasions.
But while doing this, you must watch and pray as Christ tells us. The tempter may seize other occasions, perhaps even more dangerous, to tempt you. Pray! pray! unite yourself to God by morning and evening prayers. Walk in His presence, receive frequently the blessed Sacrament, clothe yourself in the armor of God, as the Apostle exhorts you; put on the girdle of truth, the breastplate of justice; put on your feet the preparation of the Gospel; seize the helmet of salvation, the shield of faith, the sword of the Spirit, and repeat in your heart at the moment of temptation the most holy Name of Jesus. Do this, and you will be preserved from relapses into sin! Amen!
Sermon XVII Third Sunday In Lent
On Concealing Sins In Confession
by St. Alphonsus Liguori
“And he was casting out a devil, and the same was dumb.” LUKE xi. 14.
The devil does not bring sinners to hell with their eyes open: he first blinds them with the malice of their own sins. ”For their own malice blinded them.” (Wis. ii. 21.) He thus leads them to eternal perdition. Before we fall into sin, the enemy labours to blind us, that we may not see the evil we do and the ruin we bring upon ourselves by offending God. After we commit sin, he seeks to make us dumb, that, through shame, we may conceal our guilt in confession. Thus, he leads us to hell by a double chain, inducing us, after our transgressions, to consent to a still greater sin the sin of sacrilege. I will speak on this subject today, and will endeavour to convince you of the great evil of concealing sins in confession
In expounding the words of David”Set a door O Lord, round about my lips,” (Ps. cxl. 3) St. Augustine says: “Non dixit claustrum, sed ostium: ostium et aperitur et clauditur: aperiatur ad confessionem peccati: claudatur ad excusationem peccati.” “We should keep a door to the mouth, that it may be closed against detraction, and blasphemies, and all improper words, and that it may be opened to confess the sins we have committed. ”Thus,” adds the holy doctor, ”it will be a door of restraint, and not of destruction.” To be silent when we are impelled to utter words injurious to God or to our neighbour, is an act of virtue; but, to be silent in confessing our sins, is the ruin of the soul. After we have offended God, the devil labours to keep the mouth closed, and to prevent us from confessing our guilt. St. Antonine relates, that a holy solitary once saw the devil standing beside a certain person who wished to go to confession. The solitary asked the fiend what he was doing there. The enemy said in reply: ”I now restore to these penitents what I before took away from them; I took away from them shame while they were committing sin; I now restore it that they may have a horror of confession.” “My sores are putrefied and corrupted, because of my foolishness.” (Ps. xxxvii. 6.) Gangrenous sores are fatal; and sins concealed in confession are spiritual ulcers, which mortify and become gangrenous.
“Pudorem,” says St. Chrysostom, ”dedit Deus peccato, confessioni nduciam: invertit rem diabolis, peccato fiduciam præbet, confessioni pudorem.” (Proem, in Isa.) God has made sin shameful, that we may abstain from it, and gives us confidence to confess it by promising pardon to all who accuse themselves of their sins. But the devil does the contrary: he gives confidence to sin by holding out hopes of pardon; but, when sin is committed, he inspires shame, to prevent the confession of it.
A disciple of Socrates, at the moment he was leaving a house of bad fame, saw his master pass: to avoid being seen by him, he went back into the house. Socrates came to the door and said: My son, it is a shameful thing to enter, but not to depart from this house. ”Non te pudeat, fili egredi ex hoc loco, intrasse pudeat.” To you also, brethren, who have sinned, I say, that you ought to be ashamed to offend so great and so good a God. But you have no reason to be ashamed of confessing the sins which you have committed. Was it shameful in St. Mary Magdalene to acknowledge publicly at the feet of Jesus Christ that she was a sinner? By her confession she became a saint. Was it shameful in St. Augustine not only to confess his sins, but also to publish them in a book, that, for his confusion, they might be known to the whole world? Was it shameful in St. Mary of Egypt to confess, that for so many years she had led a scandalous life? By their confessions these have become saints, and are honoured on the altars of the Church.
We say that the man who acknowledges his guilt before a secular tribunal is condemned, but in the tribunal of Jesus Christ, they who confess their sins obtain pardon, and receive a crown of eternal glory. “After confession,” says St. Chrysostom, ”a crown is given to penitents.” He who is afflicted with an ulcer must, if he wish to be cured, show it to a physician: otherwise it will fester and bring on death. ”Quod ignorat,” says the Council of Trent, ”medicina non curat.” If, then, brethren, your souls be ulcerated with sin, be not ashamed to confess it; otherwise you are lost. ”For thy soul be not ashamed to say the truth.” (Eccl. iv. 24.) But, you say, I feel greatly ashamed to confess such a sin. If you wish to be saved, you must conquer this shame. ”For there is a shame that bringeth sin, and there is a shame that bringeth glory and grace.” (Ib. iv. 25.) There are, according to the inspired writer, two kinds of shame: one of which leads souls to sin, and that is the shame which makes them conceal their sins at confession; the other is the confusion which a Christian feels in confessing his sins; and this confusion obtains for him the grace of God in this life, and the glory of heaven in the next.
St. Augustine says, that to prevent the sheep from seeking assistance by her cries the wolf seizes her by the neck, and thus securely carries her away and devours her. The devil acts in a similar manner with the sheep of Jesus Christ. After having induced them to yield to sin, he seizes them by the throat, that they may not confess their guilt; and thus he securely brings them to hell. For those who have sinned grievously, there is no means of salvation but the confession of their sins. But, what hope of salvation can he have who goes to confession and conceals his sins, and makes use of the tribunal of penance to offend God, and to make himself doubly the slave of Satan? What hope would you entertain of the recovery of the man who, instead of taking the medicine prescribed by his physician, drank a cup of poison? God! What can the sacrament of penance be to those who conceal their sins, but a deadly poison, which adds to their guilt the malice of sacrilege? In giving absolution, the confessor dispenses to his patient the blood of Jesus Christ; for it is through the merits of that blood that he absolves from sin. What, then, does the sinner do, when he conceals his sins in confession? He tramples under foot the blood of Jesus Christ. And should he afterwards receive the holy communion in a state of sin, he is, according to St. Chrysostom, as guilty as if he threw the consecrated host into a sink. ”Non minus detestabile est in os pollutum, quam in sterquilinum mittere Dei Filium.” (Hom. Ixxxiii., in Matt.) Accursed shame! how many poor souls do you bring to hell? ”Magis memores pudoris,” says Tertullian, ”quam salutis.” Unhappy souls! they think only of the shame of confessing their sins, and do not reflect that, if they conceal them, they shall be certainly damned.
Some penitents ask: ”What will my confessor say when he hears that I have committed such a sin ?” What will he say? He will say that you are, like all persons living on this earth, miserable and prone to sin: he will say that, if you have done evil, you have also performed a glorious action in overcoming shame, and in candidly confessing your fault.
”But I am afraid to confess this sin.” To how many confessors, I ask, must you tell it? It is enough to mention it to one priest, who hears many sins of the same kind from others. It is enough to confess it once: the confessor will give you penance and absolution, and your conscience shall be tranquillized. But, you say: ”I feel a great repugnance to tell this sin to my spiritual father.” Tell it, then, to another confessor, and, if you wish, to one to whom you are unknown. ”But, if this come to the knowledge of my confessor, he will be displeased with me.” What then do you mean to do? Perhaps, to avoid giving displeasure to him, you intend to commit a heinous crime, and remain under sentence of damnation. This would be the very height of folly.
Are you afraid that the confessor will make known your sin to others? Would it not be madness to suspect that he is so wicked as to break the seal of confession by revealing your sin to others? Remember that the obligation of the seal of confession is so strict, that a confessor cannot speak out of confession, even to the penitent, of the smallest venial fault; and if he did so, * he would be guilty of a most grievous sin.
But you say: “I am afraid that my confessor, when he hears my sin, will rebuke me with great severity.” God! Do you not see that all these are deceitful artifices of the devil to bring you to hell? No; the confessor will not rebuke you, but he will give an advice suited to your state. A confessor cannot experience greater consolation than in absolving a penitent who confesses his sins with true sorrow and with sincerity. If a queen were mortally wounded by a slave, and you were in possession of a remedy by which she could be cured, how great would be your joy in saving her life! Such is the joy which a confessor feels in absolving a soul in the state of sin. By his act he delivers her from eternal death: and by restoring to her the grace of God, he makes her a queen of Paradise.
*That is, without the permission of the penitent
But you have so many fears, and are not afraid of damning your own soul by the enormous crime of concealing sins in confession. You are afraid of the rebuke of your confessor, and fear not the reproof which you shall receive from Jesus Christ, your Judge, at the hour of death. You are afraid that your sins shall become known (which is impossible), and you dread not the day of judgment, on which, if you conceal them, they shall be revealed to all men. If you knew that, by concealing sins in confession, they shall be made known to all your relatives and to all your neighbours, you would certainly confess them. But, do you not know, says St. Bernard, that if you refuse to confess your sins to one man, who, like yourself, is a sinner, they shall be made known not only to all your relatives and neighbours, but to the entire human race?”Si pudor est tibi uni homini, et peccatori peccatum exponere, quid facturus es in die judicii, ubi omnibus exposita tua conscientia patebit ?” (S. Ber. super illud Joan., cap. xi.)”Lazare veni foras.” If you do not confess your sin, God himself shall, for your confusion, publish not only the sin which you conceal, but also all your iniquities, in the presence of the angels and of the whole world. ”I will discover thy shame to thy face, and will show thy wickedness to the nations.” (Nah. iii. 5.)
Listen, then, to the advice of St. Ambrose. The devil keeps an account of your sins, to charge you with them at the tribunal of Jesus Christ. Do you wish, says the saint, to prevent this accusation? Anticipate your accuser: accuse yourself now to a confessor, and then no accuser shall appear against you at the judgment-seat of God. ”Præveni accusatorem tuum; si to accusaveris, accusatorem nullum timebis.” (Lib. 2 de Pœnit., cap. ii.) But, according to St. Augustine, if you excuse yourself in confession, you shut up sin within your soul, and shut out pardon. “Excusas te, includis peccatum, excludis indulgentiam.” (Hom. xii. 50.)
If, then, brethren, there be a single soul among you who has ever concealed a sin, through shame, in the tribunal of penance, let him take courage, and make a full confession of all his faults. ”Give glory to God with a good heart.” (Eccl. xxxv. 10.) Give glory to God, and confusion to the devil. A certain penitent was tempted by Satan to conceal a sin through shame; but she was resolved to confess it; and while she was going to her confessor, the devil came forward and asked her where she was going. She courageously answered: “I am going to cover myself and you with confusion.” Act you in a similar manner; if you have ever concealed a mortal sin, confess it candidly to your director, and confound the devil. Remember that the greater the violence you do yourself in confessing your sins, the greater will be the love with which Jesus Christ will embrace you.
Courage, then! expel this viper which you harbour in your soul, and which continually corrodes your heart and destroys your peace. Oh! what a hell does a Christian suffer who keeps in his heart a sin concealed through shame in confession! He suffers an anticipation of hell. It is enough to say to the confessor: ”Father, I have a certain scruple regarding my past life, but I am ashamed to tell it.” This will be enough: the confessor will help to pluck out the serpent which gnaws your conscience. And, that you may not entertain groundless scruples, I think it right to tell you, that if the sin which you are ashamed to tell be not mortal, or if you never considered it to be a mortal sin, you are not obliged to confess it; for we are bound only to confess mortal sins. Moreover, if you have doubts whether you ever confessed a certain sin of your former life, but know that, in preparing for confession, you always carefully examined your conscience, and that you never concealed a sin through shame; in this case, even though the sin about the confession of which you are doubtful, had been a grievous fault, you are not obliged to confess it because it is presumed to be morally certain that you have already confessed it. But, if you know that the sin was grievous, and that you never accused yourself of it in confession, then there is no remedy; you must confess it, or you must be damned for it. But, lost sheep, go instantly to confession. Jesus Christ is waiting for you; he stands with arms open to pardon and embrace you, if you acknowledge your guilt. I assure you that, after having confessed all your sins, you shall feel such consolation at having unburdened your conscience and acquired the grace of God, that you shall for ever bless the day on which you made this confession. Go as soon as possible in search of a confessor. Do not give the devil time to continue to tempt you. and to make you put off your confession: go immediately: for Jesus Christ is waiting for you.
“And he was casting out a devil, and the same was dumb.” LUKE xi. 14.
The devil does not bring sinners to hell with their eyes open: he first blinds them with the malice of their own sins. ”For their own malice blinded them.” (Wis. ii. 21.) He thus leads them to eternal perdition. Before we fall into sin, the enemy labours to blind us, that we may not see the evil we do and the ruin we bring upon ourselves by offending God. After we commit sin, he seeks to make us dumb, that, through shame, we may conceal our guilt in confession. Thus, he leads us to hell by a double chain, inducing us, after our transgressions, to consent to a still greater sin the sin of sacrilege. I will speak on this subject today, and will endeavour to convince you of the great evil of concealing sins in confession
In expounding the words of David”Set a door O Lord, round about my lips,” (Ps. cxl. 3) St. Augustine says: “Non dixit claustrum, sed ostium: ostium et aperitur et clauditur: aperiatur ad confessionem peccati: claudatur ad excusationem peccati.” “We should keep a door to the mouth, that it may be closed against detraction, and blasphemies, and all improper words, and that it may be opened to confess the sins we have committed. ”Thus,” adds the holy doctor, ”it will be a door of restraint, and not of destruction.” To be silent when we are impelled to utter words injurious to God or to our neighbour, is an act of virtue; but, to be silent in confessing our sins, is the ruin of the soul. After we have offended God, the devil labours to keep the mouth closed, and to prevent us from confessing our guilt. St. Antonine relates, that a holy solitary once saw the devil standing beside a certain person who wished to go to confession. The solitary asked the fiend what he was doing there. The enemy said in reply: ”I now restore to these penitents what I before took away from them; I took away from them shame while they were committing sin; I now restore it that they may have a horror of confession.” “My sores are putrefied and corrupted, because of my foolishness.” (Ps. xxxvii. 6.) Gangrenous sores are fatal; and sins concealed in confession are spiritual ulcers, which mortify and become gangrenous.
“Pudorem,” says St. Chrysostom, ”dedit Deus peccato, confessioni nduciam: invertit rem diabolis, peccato fiduciam præbet, confessioni pudorem.” (Proem, in Isa.) God has made sin shameful, that we may abstain from it, and gives us confidence to confess it by promising pardon to all who accuse themselves of their sins. But the devil does the contrary: he gives confidence to sin by holding out hopes of pardon; but, when sin is committed, he inspires shame, to prevent the confession of it.
A disciple of Socrates, at the moment he was leaving a house of bad fame, saw his master pass: to avoid being seen by him, he went back into the house. Socrates came to the door and said: My son, it is a shameful thing to enter, but not to depart from this house. ”Non te pudeat, fili egredi ex hoc loco, intrasse pudeat.” To you also, brethren, who have sinned, I say, that you ought to be ashamed to offend so great and so good a God. But you have no reason to be ashamed of confessing the sins which you have committed. Was it shameful in St. Mary Magdalene to acknowledge publicly at the feet of Jesus Christ that she was a sinner? By her confession she became a saint. Was it shameful in St. Augustine not only to confess his sins, but also to publish them in a book, that, for his confusion, they might be known to the whole world? Was it shameful in St. Mary of Egypt to confess, that for so many years she had led a scandalous life? By their confessions these have become saints, and are honoured on the altars of the Church.
We say that the man who acknowledges his guilt before a secular tribunal is condemned, but in the tribunal of Jesus Christ, they who confess their sins obtain pardon, and receive a crown of eternal glory. “After confession,” says St. Chrysostom, ”a crown is given to penitents.” He who is afflicted with an ulcer must, if he wish to be cured, show it to a physician: otherwise it will fester and bring on death. ”Quod ignorat,” says the Council of Trent, ”medicina non curat.” If, then, brethren, your souls be ulcerated with sin, be not ashamed to confess it; otherwise you are lost. ”For thy soul be not ashamed to say the truth.” (Eccl. iv. 24.) But, you say, I feel greatly ashamed to confess such a sin. If you wish to be saved, you must conquer this shame. ”For there is a shame that bringeth sin, and there is a shame that bringeth glory and grace.” (Ib. iv. 25.) There are, according to the inspired writer, two kinds of shame: one of which leads souls to sin, and that is the shame which makes them conceal their sins at confession; the other is the confusion which a Christian feels in confessing his sins; and this confusion obtains for him the grace of God in this life, and the glory of heaven in the next.
St. Augustine says, that to prevent the sheep from seeking assistance by her cries the wolf seizes her by the neck, and thus securely carries her away and devours her. The devil acts in a similar manner with the sheep of Jesus Christ. After having induced them to yield to sin, he seizes them by the throat, that they may not confess their guilt; and thus he securely brings them to hell. For those who have sinned grievously, there is no means of salvation but the confession of their sins. But, what hope of salvation can he have who goes to confession and conceals his sins, and makes use of the tribunal of penance to offend God, and to make himself doubly the slave of Satan? What hope would you entertain of the recovery of the man who, instead of taking the medicine prescribed by his physician, drank a cup of poison? God! What can the sacrament of penance be to those who conceal their sins, but a deadly poison, which adds to their guilt the malice of sacrilege? In giving absolution, the confessor dispenses to his patient the blood of Jesus Christ; for it is through the merits of that blood that he absolves from sin. What, then, does the sinner do, when he conceals his sins in confession? He tramples under foot the blood of Jesus Christ. And should he afterwards receive the holy communion in a state of sin, he is, according to St. Chrysostom, as guilty as if he threw the consecrated host into a sink. ”Non minus detestabile est in os pollutum, quam in sterquilinum mittere Dei Filium.” (Hom. Ixxxiii., in Matt.) Accursed shame! how many poor souls do you bring to hell? ”Magis memores pudoris,” says Tertullian, ”quam salutis.” Unhappy souls! they think only of the shame of confessing their sins, and do not reflect that, if they conceal them, they shall be certainly damned.
Some penitents ask: ”What will my confessor say when he hears that I have committed such a sin ?” What will he say? He will say that you are, like all persons living on this earth, miserable and prone to sin: he will say that, if you have done evil, you have also performed a glorious action in overcoming shame, and in candidly confessing your fault.
”But I am afraid to confess this sin.” To how many confessors, I ask, must you tell it? It is enough to mention it to one priest, who hears many sins of the same kind from others. It is enough to confess it once: the confessor will give you penance and absolution, and your conscience shall be tranquillized. But, you say: ”I feel a great repugnance to tell this sin to my spiritual father.” Tell it, then, to another confessor, and, if you wish, to one to whom you are unknown. ”But, if this come to the knowledge of my confessor, he will be displeased with me.” What then do you mean to do? Perhaps, to avoid giving displeasure to him, you intend to commit a heinous crime, and remain under sentence of damnation. This would be the very height of folly.
Are you afraid that the confessor will make known your sin to others? Would it not be madness to suspect that he is so wicked as to break the seal of confession by revealing your sin to others? Remember that the obligation of the seal of confession is so strict, that a confessor cannot speak out of confession, even to the penitent, of the smallest venial fault; and if he did so, * he would be guilty of a most grievous sin.
But you say: “I am afraid that my confessor, when he hears my sin, will rebuke me with great severity.” God! Do you not see that all these are deceitful artifices of the devil to bring you to hell? No; the confessor will not rebuke you, but he will give an advice suited to your state. A confessor cannot experience greater consolation than in absolving a penitent who confesses his sins with true sorrow and with sincerity. If a queen were mortally wounded by a slave, and you were in possession of a remedy by which she could be cured, how great would be your joy in saving her life! Such is the joy which a confessor feels in absolving a soul in the state of sin. By his act he delivers her from eternal death: and by restoring to her the grace of God, he makes her a queen of Paradise.
*That is, without the permission of the penitent
But you have so many fears, and are not afraid of damning your own soul by the enormous crime of concealing sins in confession. You are afraid of the rebuke of your confessor, and fear not the reproof which you shall receive from Jesus Christ, your Judge, at the hour of death. You are afraid that your sins shall become known (which is impossible), and you dread not the day of judgment, on which, if you conceal them, they shall be revealed to all men. If you knew that, by concealing sins in confession, they shall be made known to all your relatives and to all your neighbours, you would certainly confess them. But, do you not know, says St. Bernard, that if you refuse to confess your sins to one man, who, like yourself, is a sinner, they shall be made known not only to all your relatives and neighbours, but to the entire human race?”Si pudor est tibi uni homini, et peccatori peccatum exponere, quid facturus es in die judicii, ubi omnibus exposita tua conscientia patebit ?” (S. Ber. super illud Joan., cap. xi.)”Lazare veni foras.” If you do not confess your sin, God himself shall, for your confusion, publish not only the sin which you conceal, but also all your iniquities, in the presence of the angels and of the whole world. ”I will discover thy shame to thy face, and will show thy wickedness to the nations.” (Nah. iii. 5.)
Listen, then, to the advice of St. Ambrose. The devil keeps an account of your sins, to charge you with them at the tribunal of Jesus Christ. Do you wish, says the saint, to prevent this accusation? Anticipate your accuser: accuse yourself now to a confessor, and then no accuser shall appear against you at the judgment-seat of God. ”Præveni accusatorem tuum; si to accusaveris, accusatorem nullum timebis.” (Lib. 2 de Pœnit., cap. ii.) But, according to St. Augustine, if you excuse yourself in confession, you shut up sin within your soul, and shut out pardon. “Excusas te, includis peccatum, excludis indulgentiam.” (Hom. xii. 50.)
If, then, brethren, there be a single soul among you who has ever concealed a sin, through shame, in the tribunal of penance, let him take courage, and make a full confession of all his faults. ”Give glory to God with a good heart.” (Eccl. xxxv. 10.) Give glory to God, and confusion to the devil. A certain penitent was tempted by Satan to conceal a sin through shame; but she was resolved to confess it; and while she was going to her confessor, the devil came forward and asked her where she was going. She courageously answered: “I am going to cover myself and you with confusion.” Act you in a similar manner; if you have ever concealed a mortal sin, confess it candidly to your director, and confound the devil. Remember that the greater the violence you do yourself in confessing your sins, the greater will be the love with which Jesus Christ will embrace you.
Courage, then! expel this viper which you harbour in your soul, and which continually corrodes your heart and destroys your peace. Oh! what a hell does a Christian suffer who keeps in his heart a sin concealed through shame in confession! He suffers an anticipation of hell. It is enough to say to the confessor: ”Father, I have a certain scruple regarding my past life, but I am ashamed to tell it.” This will be enough: the confessor will help to pluck out the serpent which gnaws your conscience. And, that you may not entertain groundless scruples, I think it right to tell you, that if the sin which you are ashamed to tell be not mortal, or if you never considered it to be a mortal sin, you are not obliged to confess it; for we are bound only to confess mortal sins. Moreover, if you have doubts whether you ever confessed a certain sin of your former life, but know that, in preparing for confession, you always carefully examined your conscience, and that you never concealed a sin through shame; in this case, even though the sin about the confession of which you are doubtful, had been a grievous fault, you are not obliged to confess it because it is presumed to be morally certain that you have already confessed it. But, if you know that the sin was grievous, and that you never accused yourself of it in confession, then there is no remedy; you must confess it, or you must be damned for it. But, lost sheep, go instantly to confession. Jesus Christ is waiting for you; he stands with arms open to pardon and embrace you, if you acknowledge your guilt. I assure you that, after having confessed all your sins, you shall feel such consolation at having unburdened your conscience and acquired the grace of God, that you shall for ever bless the day on which you made this confession. Go as soon as possible in search of a confessor. Do not give the devil time to continue to tempt you. and to make you put off your confession: go immediately: for Jesus Christ is waiting for you.
Third Week in Lent (Monday – Saturday)
Monday of the Third Week of LentTaken from The Liturgical Year by Dom Prosper Gueranger (1841-1875)
The Station is in the Church of Saint Mark, which was built in the fourth century, in honour of the Evangelist, by the holy Pope Mark, whose relics are kept there.
Collect
Cordibus nostris, quæsumus, Domine, gratiam tuam benignus infunde: ut sicut ab escis carnalibus abstinemus, ita sensus quoque nostros a noxiis retrahamus excessibus. Per Christum Dominum nostrum. Amen.
We beseech thee, O Lord, mercifully to pour forth thy grace into our hearts; that, as we abstain from flesh, so we may keep our senses from all noxious excesses. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.
Epistle
Lesson from the book of Kings. IV. Ch. V.
In those days: Naaman, general of the army of the king of Syria, was a great man with his master, and honorable: for by him the Lord gave deliverance to Syria, and he was a valiant man and rich, but a leper. Now there had gone out robbers from Syria, and had led away captive out of the land of Israel a little maid, and she waited upon Naaman’s wife. And she said to her mistress: I wish my master had been with the prophet that is in Samaria; he would certainly have healed him of the leprosy which he hath. Then Naaman went in to his lord, and told him, saying: Thus and thus saith the girl, that come from the land of Israel. And the king of Syria said to him: Go, and I will send a letter to the king of Israel. And he departed, and took with him ten talents of silver, and six thousand pieces of gold, and ten changes of raiment, and brought the letter to the king of Israel, in these words: When thou shalt receive this letter, know that I have sent to thee Naaman my servant, that thou mayest heal him of his leprosy. And when the king of Israel had read the letter, he rent his garments, and said: Am I God, to be able to kill and to give life, that this man hath sent to me, to heal a man of his leprosy? Mark, and see how he seeketh occasions against me. And when Eliseus the man of God had heard this, to wit, that the king of Israel had rent his garments, he sent to him, saying: Why hast thou rent thy garments? Let him come to me, and let him know that there is a prophet in Israel. So Naaman came with his horses and chariots, and stood at the door of the house of Eliseus; and Eliseus sent a messenger to him, saying: Go, and wash seven times in the Jordan, and thy flesh shall recover health, and thou shalt be clean. Naaman was very angry, and went away, saying: I thought he would have come out to me, and standing, would have invoked the name of the Lord his God, and touched with his hand the place of the leprosy, and healed me. Are not the Abama, and the Pharphar, rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel, that I may wash in them, and be made clean? So as he turned, and was going away with indignation, his servants came to him, and said to him: Father, if the prophet had bid thee do some great thing, surely thou shouldst have done it; how much rather what he now hath said to thee, “Wash, and thou shalt be clean?” Then he went down, and washed in the Jordan seven times, according to the word of the man of God; and his flesh was restored, like the flesh of a little child, and was made clean. And returning to the man of God with all his train, he came and stood before him, and said: In truth I know there is no other God in all the earth, but only in Israel.
Yesterday, the Church made known to our Catechumens that the day of their Baptism was at hand; today she reads them a passage from the Old Testament which relates a history that admirably symbolizes the saving Font prepared for them by divine Mercy. Naaman’s leprosy is a figure of sin. There is but one cure for the loathsome malady of the Syrian officer: he must go, and wash seven times in the Jordan, and he shall be made clean. The Gentile, the infidel, the infant, with its stain of original sin—all may be made just and holy; but this can only be effected by water and the invocation of the Blessed Trinity. Naaman objects to the remedy as being too simple; he cannot believe that one so insignificant can be efficacious; he refuses to try it; he expected something more in accordance with reason—for instance, a miracle that would have done honor both to himself and the Prophet. This was the reasoning of many a Gentile, when the Apostles went about preaching the Gospel; but they that believed, with simple-hearted faith, in the power of Water sanctified by Christ, received Regeneration; and the Baptismal Font created a new people, composed of all nations of the earth. Naaman, who represents the Gentiles, was at length induced to believe; and his faith was rewarded by a complete cure. His flesh was restored like that of a little child, which has never suffered taint or disease. Let us give glory to God, who has endowed Water with the heavenly power it now possesses; let us praise him for the wonderful workings of his grace, which produces in docile hearts that Faith whose recompense is so magnificent.
Gospel
Sequel of the Holy Gospel according to Luke. Ch. IV.
At that time: Jesus said to the Pharisees: Doubtless you will say to me this similitude: Physician, heal thyself; as great things as we have heard done in Capharnaum, do also here in thy own country. And he said: Amen, I say to you, that no prophet is accepted in his own country. In truth, I say to you, there were many widows in the days of Elias in Israel, when heaven was shut up three years and six months, when there was a great famine throughout all the land; and to none of them was Elias sent, but to Sarephta of Sidon, to a widow woman. And there were many lepers in Israel in the time of Eliseus the prophet; and none of them was cleansed but Naaman the Syrian. And all they in the synagogue, hearing these things, were filled with anger, and they rose up and thrust him out of the city; and they brought him to the brow of the hill, whereon their city was built, that they might cast him down headlong. But he passing through the midst of them, went his way.
Here again, we find our Savior proclaiming the mystery of the Gentiles being called to take the place of the incredulous Jews; and he mentions Naaman as an example of this merciful substitution. He also speaks, in the same sense, of the widow of Sarephta, whose history we had a few days ago. This terrible resolution of our Lord to transfer his light from one people to another irritates the Pharisees of Nazareth against the Messias. They know that Jesus, who has only just commenced his public life, has been working great miracles in Capharnaum: they would have him honor their own little city in the same way; but Jesus knows that they would not be converted. Do these people of Nazareth so much as know Jesus? He has lived among them for eighteen years, during all which time he has been advancing in wisdom and age and grace before God and men; but they despise him, for he is a poor man, and the son of a carpenter. They do not even know that, though he has passed so many years among them, he was not born in their city, but in Bethlehem. Not many days before this, Jesus had gone into the synagogue of Nazareth, and had explained, with marvelous eloquence and power, the Prophet Isaias; he told the audience that the time of mercy was come, and his discourse excited much surprise and admiration. But the Pharisees of the city despised his words. They have heard that he has been working great things in the neighborhood; they are curious to see one of his miracles; but Jesus refuses to satisfy their unworthy desire. Let them recall to mind the discourse made by Jesus in their synagogue, and tremble at the announcement he then made to them, that the Gentiles were to become God’s chosen people. But the divine Prophet is not accepted in his own country; and had he not withdrawn himself from the anger of his compatriots of Nazareth, the blood of the Just would have been shed that very day. But there is an unenviable privilege which belongs exclusively to Jerusalem;—a Prophet cannot perish out of Jerusalem!
Humiliate capita vestra Deo.
Bow down your heads to God.
Subveniat nobis, Domine, misericordia tua: ut ab imminentibus peccatorum nostrorum periculis, te mereamur protegente, eripi, te liberante, salvari. Per Christum Dominum nostrum. Amen.
May thy mercy, O Lord, assist us, that by thy protection we may be delivered from the dangers of sin that surround us, and so brought to eternal happiness. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.
Let us, on this day, offer to God the following solemn Supplication, taken from the Gothic Missal.Supplication(In Dominica Quadragesimæ.)
Rogamus te, Rex sæculorum, Deus sancte, jam miserere; peccavimus tibi.
We beseech thee, O King Eternal! O holy God! have mercy now upon us, for we have sinned against thee.
℣. Audo clamantes, Pater altissime, et quæ precamur, clemens attribue: exaudi nos Domine.
℣. Hear our cry, O Father, most high God! and mercifully grant us our requests. Graciously hear us, O Lord!
℟. Jam miserere.
℟. Have mercy now upon us.
℣. Bone Redemptor, supplices quæsumus de toto corde flentes; requirimus, adsiste propitius.
℣. O good Redeemer! we suppliantly beseech thee, and with our whole heart we pour out our tears before thee. We seek after thee; be propitious, and show thyself unto us.
℟. Jam miserere.
℟. Have mercy now upon us.
℣. Emitte manum, Deus omnipotens, et invocantes potenter protege ex alto, piissime.
℣. Stretch forth thy hand, O Almighty God! and, in thy exceeding goodness, powerfully protect us from on high.
℟. Jam miserere.
℟. Have mercy now upon us.
℣. Fertilitatem et pacem tribue: remove bella, et famen cohibe, Redemptor sanctissime.
℣. Grant us fertility and peace, O most holy Redeemer! Drive wars away from us, and deliver us from famine.
℟. Jam miserere.
℟. Have mercy now upon us.
℣. Indulge lapsis: indulge perditis, dimitte noxia: ablue crimina: acclines tu libera.
℣. Grant pardon to the fallen; pardon them that have gone astray; forgive us our sins; cleanse us from our iniquities; deliver us who are here prostrate before thee.
℟. Jam miserere.
℟. Have mercy now upon us.
℣. Gemitus vide: fletus intellige: extende manum: peccantes redime.
℣. See our sighing; hear our weeping; stretch forth thy hand; redeem us sinners.
℟. Jam miserere.
℟. Have mercy now upon us.
℣. Hanc nostram, Deus, hanc pacem suscipe: supplicum voces placatus suscipe: et parce, piissime.
℣. Receive, O God, receive this our prayer for reconciliation; be appeased, and receive the petition of thy suppliants; and spare us, O most loving God!
℟. Rogamus te, Rex sæculorum, Deus sancte, jam miserere: peccavimus tibi.
℟. We beseech thee, O King Eternal! O holy God! have mercy now upon us, for we have sinned against thee.
Tuesday of the Third Week of LentTaken from The Liturgical Year by Dom Prosper Gueranger (1841-1875)
The Station is in the Church of St. Pudentiana daughter of Pudens, the Senator. This holy virgin of Rome lived in the 2nd century. She was remarkable for her charity, and for the zeal wherewith she sought for and buried the bodies of the Martyrs. Her Church is built on the very spot where stood the house, in which she lived with her father, and her sister St. Praxedes. St. Peter, the Apostle, had honoured this house with his presence, during the lifetime of Pudentiana’s grandfather.
Collect
Exaudi nos, omnipotens et misericors Deus; et continentiæ salutaris propitius nobis dona concede. Per Christum Dominum nostrum. Amen.
Graciously hear us, O Almighty and merciful God, and grant us the gift of salutary continence. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.
Epistle
Lesson from the book of Kings. ii Ch. iv.
In those days: A certain woman cried to Eliseus, saying: Thy servant my husband is dead, and thou knowest that thy servant was one that feared God, and behold the creditor is come to take away my two sons to serve him. And Eliseus said to her: What tilt thou have me do for thee? Tell me what hast thou in thy house? And she answered: I thy handmaid have nothing in my house but a little oil, to anoint me. And he said to her: Go, borrow of all thy neighbors empty vessels not a few. And go in, and shut thy door, when thou art within, with thy sons, and pour out thereof into all these vessels; and when they are full take them away. So the woman went, and shut the door upon her, and upon her sons; they brought her the vessels and she poured in. And when the vessels were full, she said to her sons: Bring me yet a vessel. And he answered: I have no more. And the oil stood; and she came and told the man of God. And he said: Go, sell the oil, and pay the creditor; and thou and thy sons live of the rest.
It is not difficult to unravel the mystery of this day’s Lesson. Man’s creditor is Satan; our sins have made him so. Go, says the Prophet, and pay the creditor. But how is this to be done?—We shall obtain the pardon of our sins by works of mercy, of which Oil is the symbol. Blessed are the Merciful, for they shall obtain mercy. Let us, then, during these days of salvation, secure our reconciliation and forgiveness by doing all we can to assist our brethren who are in want; let us join Almsdeeds to our Fasting, and practice works of mercy. Thus shall we touch the heart of our Heavenly Father. Putting our debts into His hands, we shall take away from Satan all the claims he had upon us. Let us learn a lesson from this woman. She lets no one see her as she fills the vessels with oil: let us also shut the door when we do good, so that our left hand shall know not what our right hand doth. Take notice, too, that the woman goes on pouring out the oil as long as she has vessels to hold it. So our mercy towards our neighbors must be proportionate to our means. The extent of these means is known to God, and he will not have us fall short of the power he has given us for doing good. Let us, then, be liberal in our alms during this holy Season; let us make the resolution to be not so at all times. When our material resources are exhausted, let us be merciful in desire, by interceding with those who are able to give, and by praying to God to help the suffering and the poor.
Gospel
Sequel of the Holy Gospel according to Matthew. Ch. XVIII.
At that time: Jesus said to his disciples: If thy brother shall offend against thee, go and rebuke him between thee and him alone. If he shall hear thee, thou shalt gain thy brother. But if he will not hear thee, take with thee one or two more; that in the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may stand. And if he will not hear them, tell the Church; and if he will not hear the Church, let him be to thee as the heathen and publican. Amen I say to you, whatsoever you shall bind upon earth, shall be bound also in heaven: and whatsoever you shall loose upon earth, shall be loosed also in heaven. Again, I say to you, that if two of you shall consent upon earth, concerning anything whatsoever they shall ask, it shall be done to them by my Father, who is in heaven; for where there are two or three gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them. Then came Peter unto him, and said: Lord, how often shall my brother offend against me, and I forgive him? till seven times? Jesus saith to him: I say not to thee, till seven times, but till seventy times seven times.
The Mercy which God commands us to show our fellow creatures does not consist only in corporal and spiritual almsdeeds to the poor and the suffering; it includes, moreover, the pardon and forgetfulness of injuries. This is the test whereby God proves the sincerity of our conversion. With the same measure that you shall mete withal, it shall be measured to you again. If we, from our hearts, pardon our enemies, our Heavenly Father will unreservedly pardon us. These are the days when we are hoping to be reconciled with our God; let us do all we can to gain our brother; and for this end, pardon him, if needs be, seventy times seven times. Surely we are not going to allow the miserable quarrels of our earthly pilgrimage to make us lose heaven! Therefore, let us forgive insults and injuries, and thus imitate our God himself, who is ever forgiving us.
But how grand are these other words of our Gospel: Whatsoever you shall loose upon earth, shall be loosed also in heaven! Oh! the hope and joy they bring to our hearts! How countless is the number of sinners who are soon to feel the truth of this consoling promise! They will confess their sins and offer to God the homage of a contrite and humble heart; and at the very moment that the hand of the Priest shall loosen them upon earth, the hand of God will loosen them from the bonds which held them as victims to eternal punishment.
And lastly, let us not pass by unnoticed this other sentence, which has a close relation with the one we have just alluded to: If a man hear not the Church, let him be to thee as a heathen and publican. What is this Church? Men to whom Jesus Christ said: He that heareth you, heareth me; and he that despiseth you, despiseth me. Men from whose lips comes to the world the Truth, without which there is no salvation: Men who are the only ones on earth who have the power to reconcile the sinner with his God, save him from the hell he has deserved, and open to him the gates of heaven. Can we be surprised, after this, that our Savior—who would have these Men to be his instruments, and as it were, the communication between himself and mankind—should treat as a heathen, as one that has never received Baptism, him that refuses to acknowledge their authority? There is no revealed truth, except through their teaching; their is no salvation, except through the Sacraments which they administer; there is no hoping in Christ Jesus, except where there is submission to the spiritual laws which they promulgate.
Humiliate capita vestra Deo.
Bow down your heads to God.
Tus nos, Domine, protectione defende: et ab omni semper iniquitate custodi. Per Christum Dominum nostrum. Amen.
Defend us, O Lord, by thy protection, and ever preserve us from all iniquity. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.
Let us address ourselves to God in these words of a Hymn composed by St. Andrew of Crete. We take it from the Greek Liturgy.Hymn(In V. Feria V. Hebdomadæ)
Audivit Propheta adventum tuum, Domine, et timuit: quod esses nasciturus ex Virgine et mundo exhibendus; dixitque: Audivi auditum tuum et timui. Sit gloria, Domine, tuæ potentiæ.
The Prophet trembled when he heard that thou, O Lord, wast to come: that thou wast to be born of a Virgin, and made visible to the world. He said: I heard thy hearing, and was afraid. Glory be to thy power, O Lord!
No despexeris tua opera, ac tuum figmentum juste Judex, neglexeris: quanquam peccavi solus, tu o clemens, qua Homo supra hominem omnem, potestatem tamen dimittendi peccata, qua es Dominus universorum, habes.
Despise not, O just Judge, thy works: turn not away from the creature thou hast formed. My sins are indeed all my own work; but thou, O merciful Jesus, as Man above all men, hast power to forgive sin, for thou art the Lord of the universe.
Prope est finis, o anima, prope est, nec es solicita? non te præparas? tempus urget, exsurge: prope est judex in januis: velut somnium, velut flos, vita decurrit; ut quid vero frustra conturbamur?
Thy end is near, O my soul! How comes it thou art heedless? How is it, that thou art making no preparation? Time presses; arise! The Judge is near, even at the very gate. Life is passing away, as a dream, and as a flower. Why trouble we ourselves with vain things?
Resipisce, o anima mea, actus quos es operata, recogita, eosque ob oculos statue, atque ab oculis lacrymarum stillas funde. Die palam Christo actiones tuas et cogitationes, et justificare. Recover thyself, O my soul! Recall to mind the acts of thy life; bring them before thee, and let thine eyes shed tears over them. Openly confess thy deeds and thoughts to Christ, and be justified.
Non fuerit in vita peccatum, actiove, aut malitia, quam ego, Salvator, intellectu et cogitatione atque proposito non peccaverim, affectu, mentis judicio, et actione, ut nemo unquam gravius peccaverit.
There is no sin, or evil action, or wickedness, which I, O Jesus! have not committed in mind and thought and intention. None ever sinned more grievously than I, in desire, in judgment, and in deed.
Inde etiam damnationis incurri reatum; inde, miser ego, conscientia propria judice, qua nihil mundus violentius habet, causa cecidi: tu judex et redemptor, cognitorque meus, parce et libera, salvumque fac servum tuum.
Therefore have I incurred damnation; therefore is sentence given against me, a wretched sinner, whose own conscience is my judge, and whose crimes surpass all that this world has seen. Do thou, my Judge, my Redeemer, and my Witness, spare and deliver and save thy servant.
Tempus vitæ meæ exisguum est, laboribusque et molestia plenum: verum pœnitentem suscipe et revoca agnoscentem. Ne fiam alieni possessio et esca: tu ipse Salvator, mei miserere. My life is short, and filled with labor and trouble: but do thou receive me, for I repent; call me back unto thee, for I acknowledge thee to be my Lord. Let me not become the property and prey of any but thee. Thou art my Savior; have mercy on me.
Jam grandiloquum ago, et corde temere audacem. Ne me condemnes cum Pharisæo: imo Publicani, qui solus misericors sis, humilitatem concede: tu me, juste judex, huic adcense.
My words are haughty, and my heart presumptuous. Condemn me not with the Pharisee, but give me, O thou the one only merciful God, the humility of the Publican, and number me with him, O my just Judge!
Ipse mihi factus sum idolum, vitiis corrumpens animam: verum pœnitentem suscipe, et revoca agnoscentem. Ne efficiar alieno in possessionem et escam: tu ipse Salvator mei miserere.
I have made myself my idol, and my sins have corrupted my soul: but do thou receive me, for I repent; call me back unto thee, for I acknowledge thee to be my Lord. Let me not become the property and prey of any but thee. Thou art my Savior; have mercy on me.
Wednesday of the Third Week of LentTaken from The Liturgical Year by Dom Prosper Gueranger (1841-1875)
The Station, at Rome, is in the Church of Saint Xystus, on the Appian Road. It now goes under the name of Saint Xystus the Old, in order to distinguish it from another Church that is dedicated to the same holy Pope and Martyr.
Collect
Præsta nobis, quæsumus, Domine, ut salutaribus jejuniis eruditi, a noxiis quoque vitiis abstinentes, propitiationem tuam facilius impetremus. Per Christum Dominum nostrum. Amen. Grant, O Lord, we beseech thee, that being improved by this wholesome fast, we may abstain from all pernicious vice, and by that means, more easily obtain thy mercy. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.
Epistle
Lesson from the Book of Exodus. Ch. XX.
Thus saith the Lord God: Honor thy father and thy mother, that thou mayest be long lived upon the land which the Lord thy God will give thee. Thou shalt not kill. Thou shalt not commit adultery. Thou shalt not steal. Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor. Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor’s house, neither shalt thou desire his wife, nor his servant, nor his handmaid, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor any thing that is his. And all the people saw the voices and the flames, and the sound of the trumpet, and the mount smoking; and being terrified and struck with fear, they stood afar off, saying to Moses: Speak thou to us, and we will hear; let not the Lord speak to us, lest we die. And Moses said to the people: Fear not; for God is come to prove you, and that the dread of him might be in you, and you should not sin. And the people stood afar off. But Moses went to the dark cloud wherein God was. And the Lord said to Moses: Thus shalt thou say to the children of Israel: You have seen that I have spoken to you from heaven. You shall not make gods of silver, nor shall you make to yourselves gods of gold. You shall make an altar of earth unto me, and you shall offer upon it your holocausts and peace-offerings, your sheep and oxen, in every place where the memory of my Name shall be.
The Church reminds us today of the divine Commandments which relate to our duties towards our neighbor, beginning with that which enjoins respect to Parents. Now that the Faithful are intent on the great work of the conversion and amendment of their lives, it is well that they should be reminded that their duties towards their fellow men are prescribed by God himself. Hence, it was God whom we offended when we sinned against our neighbor. God first tells us what he himself has a right to receive from our hands: he bids us adore and serve him; he forbids the worship of idols; he enjoins the observance of the Sabbath, and prescribes Sacrifices and Ceremonies: but at the same time, he commands us to love our neighbors as ourselves, and assures us that he will be their avenger when we have wronged them, unless we repair the injury. The voice of Jehovah on Sinai is not less commanding when it proclaims what our duties are to our neighbor, than when it tells us our obligations to our Creator. Thus enlightened as to the origin of our duties, we shall have a clearer view of the state of our conscience, and of the atonement required of us by Divine Justice. But if the Old Law that was written on tablets of stone thus urges upon us the precept of the love of our neighbor, how much more will not the New Law—that was signed with the blood of Jesus when dying upon the Cross for his ungrateful brethren—insist that our observance of fraternal charity? These are the two Laws on which we shall be judged; let us, therefore, carefully observe what they command on this head, that thus we may prove ourselves to be Christians, according to those words of our Savior: By this shall all men know that you are my disciples, if you have love one for another.
Gospel
Sequel of the Holy Gospel according to Matthew. Ch. XV.
At that time: The Scribes and Pharisees came from Jerusalem to Jesus, and saying to him: Why do thy disciples transgress the tradition of the ancients? For they wash not their hands when they eat bread. But he answering, said to them: Why do you also transgress the commandment of God for your tradition? For God said: “Honor thy father and mother:” and “He that shall curse father or mother, let him die the death.” But you say: Whosoever shall say to his father or mother, The gift whatsoever proceedeth from me, shall profit thee; and he shall not honor his father or mother, and you have made void the commandment of God for your tradition. Hypocrites, well has Isaias prophesied of you, saying: “This people honoreth me with their lips, but their heart is far from me. And in vain do they worship me, teaching doctrines and commandments of men.” And having called together the multitudes unto him, he said to them: Hear ye and understand. Not that which goeth into the mouth, defileth a man; but what cometh out of the mouth, this defileth a man. Then came his disciples, and said to him: Dost thou know that the Pharisees, when they heard this word, were scandalized? But he answering, said: Every plant which my heavenly Father hath not planted, shall be rooted up. Let them alone; they are blind, and leaders of the blind. And if the blind lead the blind, both fall into the pit. And Peter answering, said to him: Expound to us this parable. But he said: Are you also yet without understanding? Do you not understand, that whatsoever entereth into the mouth, goeth into the belly, and is cast out into the privy? But the things which proceed out of the mouth, come forth from the heart, and those things defile a man. For out of the heart come forth evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false testimonies, blasphemies. These are the things that defile a man. But to eat with unwashed hands, doth not defile a man.
The Law that was given by God to Moses enjoined a great number of exterior practices and ceremonies; and they that were faithful among the Jews, zealously and carefully fulfilled them. Jesus himself, though he was the Divine Lawgiver, most humbly complied with them. But the Pharisees had added their own superstitious traditions to these divine laws and ordinances, and made religion consist in the observance of these fanciful inventions. Our Savior here tells the people not to be imposed upon by such teaching, and instructs them as to what is the real meaning of the external practices of the Law. The Pharisees prescribed a great many ablutions or washings to be observed during the course of the day. They would have it that they who eat without having washed their hands (and indeed the whole body, some time during the day), were defiled, and that the food they thus partook of was unclean, by reason, as they said, that they themselves had become defiled by having come near or touched objects which were specified by their whims. According to the Law of God, these objects were perfectly innocent; but according to the law of the Pharisees, almost everything was contagious, and the only escape was endless washings! Jesus would have the Jews throw off this humiliating and arbitrary yoke, and reproaches the Pharisees for having corrupted and made void the Law of Moses.
He tells them that there is no creature which is intrinsically and of its own nature unclean; and that a man’s conscience cannot be defiled by the mere fact of his eating certain kinds of food. Evil thoughts and evil deeds, these, says our Savior, are the things that defile a man. Some heretics have interpreted these words as being an implicit condemnation of the exterior practices ordained by the Church and more especially of Abstinence. To such reasoners and teachers we may justly apply what our Savior said to the Pharisees: They are blind and leaders of the blind. From this, that the sins, into which a man falls by his use of material things, are only sins on account of the malice of the Will, which is spiritual—it does not follow that therefore, man may, without any sin, make use of material things, when God or his Church forbid their use. God forbade our First Parents, under pain of death, to eat the fruit of a certain tree; they ate it, and sin was the result of their eating. Was the fruit unclean of its own nature? No; it was a creature of God as well as the other fruits of Eden; but our First Parents sinned by eating it, because their doing so was an act of disobedience. Again, when God gave his Law on Mount Sinai, he forbade the Hebrews to eat the flesh of certain animals; if they ate it, they were guilty of sin, not because this sort of food was intrinsically evil or cursed, but because they that partook of it disobeyed the Lord. The commandments of the Church regarding Fasting and Abstinence are of a similar nature with these. It is that we may secure to ourselves the blessing of Christian Penance—in other words, it is for our spiritual interest that the Church bids us abstain and fast at certain times. If we violate her law, it is not the food we take that defiles us, but the resisting a sacred power, which our Savior, in yesterday’s Gospel, told us we are to obey under the heavy penalty which he expressed in those words: He that will not hear the Church, shall be counted as a heathen and publican.
Humiliate capita vestra Deo.
Bow down your heads to God.
Concede, quæsumus, omnipotens Deus: ut qui protectionis tuæ gratiam quærimus, liberati a malis omnibus, secura tibi mente serviamus. Per Christum Dominum notrum. Amen.
Grant, we beseech thee, O Almighty God, that we who beg the favor of thy protection, being delivered from all evils, may serve thee with a secure mind. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.
Let us take for today one of the solemn Supplications offered to God by the Gothic Church of Spain during Lent.Supplication(Breviar. Mozarab. In Dominica Quadragesimæ)
℣. Ad te, Redemptor omnium, rex summe, oculos nostros sublevamus flentes: exaudi, Christe, supplicantium preces.
℣. To thee, O Redeemer of all mankind! O sovereign King! we raise up our tearful eyes. Graciously hear, O Christ, the prayers of thy suppliants.
℟. Et miserere.
℟. And have mercy.
℣. Dextra Patris, lapis angularis, via salutis, janua cœlestis, ablue nostri maculas delicti.
℣. O thou that art the right hand of the Father, the Corner Stone, the Way of Salvation, the Gate of heaven, wash away the stains of our sin.
℟. Et miserere.
℟. And have mercy.
℣. Rogamus, Deus, tuam majestatem; auribus sacris gemitus exaudi, crimina nostra placitus indulge.
℣. We beseech thy Majesty, O God! Bow down thy divine ear to our sighs, and mercifully pardon our crimes.
℟. Et miserere.
℟. And have mercy.
℣. Tibi fatemur crimina admissa, contrito corde pandimus occulta: tua, Redemptor, pietas ignoscat.
℣. We confess unto thee the crimes we have committed, we make known to thee, with a contrite heart, what is hidden in our conscience. Do thou, O Redeemer, in thy clemency forgive.
℟. Et miserere.
℟. And have mercy.
℣. Innocens captus, nec repugnans ductus; testibus falsis pro impiis damnatus: quos redemisti, tu conserva, Christe.
℣. Thou wast led captive though innocent; thou wast led, and didst not resist. Thou wast condemned by false witnesses for the wicked. O Jesus! Save us, whom thou hast redeemed.
℟. Et miserere.
℟. And have mercy.
Thursday of the Third Week of LentTaken from The Liturgical Year by Dom Prosper Gueranger (1841-1875)
This day brings us to the middle of Lent, and is called Mid-Lent Thursday. It is the twentieth of the forty fasts imposed upon us at this holy Season by the Church. The Greeks call this Thursday Mesonēstios, that is, the mid-Fast. They give this name to the entire week, which, in their Liturgy, is the fourth of the seven which form their Lent. But the Thursday of this week is, with them, a solemn feast, and a day of rejoicing, whereby they animate themselves to courage during the rest of the Season. The Catholic nations of the West, though they do not look on this day as a Feast, yet have they always kept it with some degree of festivity and joy. The Church of Rome has countenanced the custom by her own observance of it; but in order not to give a pretext to dissipation, which might interfere with the spirit of fasting—she postpones to the following Sunday the formal expression of this innocent joy, as we shall see further on. Yet it is not against the spirit of the Church that this Mid-Day of Lent should be marked by some demonstration of gladness; for example, by sending invitations to friends, as our Catholic forefathers used to do; and serving up to table choicer and more abundant food than on other days of Lent, taking, however, that the laws of the Church are strictly observed. But alas! how many there are, even of them that call themselves Catholics, who have been breaking, for the past twenty days, these laws of abstinence and fasting! Whether the Dispensations they trust to be lawfully or unlawfully obtained, the joy of Mid-Lent Thursday seems scarcely made for them. To experience this joy, one must have earned and merited it, by penance, by privations, by bodily mortifications; which is just what so many nowadays cannot think of doing. Let us pray for them, that God would enlighten them, and enable them to see what they are bound to do, consistently with the Faith they profess.
There is not a single duty in which the Church does not instruct her Children. If, on the one hand, she insists on their fulfilling certain exterior practices of penance, she, on the other, warns them against the false principle of supposing that exterior observances, however carefully complied with, can supply the want of interior virtues. God refuses to accept the homage of the spirit and the heart if man, through pride or sensuality, refuse that other service which is equally due to his Creator, namely, his bodily service; but to make one’s religion consist of nothing but material works, is little better than mockery; for God bids us serve him in spirit and in truth. The Jews prided themselves on having the Temple of Jerusalem, which was the dwelling place of God’s glory; but this privilege, which exalted them above other nations, was not unfrequently turned against themselves, inasmuch as many of them were satisfied with a mere empty respect for the holy Place; they never thought of that higher and better duty of showing themselves grateful to their divine Benefactor, by observing his Law. Those Christians would be guilty of a like hypocrisy who, though most scrupulously exact in the exterior duty of fasting and abstinence, were to take no pains to amend their lives, and follow the rules of justice, charity, and humility. They would deserve that our Lord should say of them what he said of Israel: This people glorify me with their lips; but their heart is far from me. This Christian pharisaism is very rare nowadays. What we have to fear is a disregard for the exterior practices of religion. Those of the Faithful who are diligent in the fulfilment of the laws of the Church are not, generally speaking, behindhand in the practice of other virtues. Still, this false conscience is sometimes to be met with, and is a scandal which does much spiritual injury. Let us, therefore, observe the whole law. Let us offer to God a spiritual service, which consists in the heart’s obedience to all his commandments; and to this let us join the homage of our bodies, by practicing those things which the Church has prescribed. The body is intended to be an aid to the soul, and is destined to share in her eternal happiness: it is but just that it should share in the service of God.
Collect
Magnificet te, Domine, sanctorum tuorum Cosmæ et Damiani beata solemnitas: qua et illis gloriam sempiternam, et opem nobis ineffabili providentia contulisti. Per Christum Dominum nostrum. Amen.
May this sacred solemnity of thy servants, Cosmas and Damian, show thy greatness, O Lord; by which, in thy unspeakable providence, thou hast granted them eternal glory, and us the aid of their prayers. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.
Epistle
Lesson from Jeremias the Prophet. Ch. VII.
In those days: The word of the Lord came to me, saying: Stand in the gate of the house of the Lord, and proclaim there this word, and say: Hear ye the word of the Lord, all ye men of Juda, that enter in at these gates, to adore the Lord. Thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: Make your ways and your doings good; and I will dwell with you in this place. Trust not in lying words, saying: The temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord, it is the temple of the Lord. For if you will order well your ways and your doings; if you will execute judgment between a man and his neighbor; if you oppress not the stranger, the fatherless and the widow, and shed not innocent blood in this place, and walk not after strange gods to your own hurt; I will dwell with you in this place, in the land which I gave to your fathers from the beginning and for ever more, saith the Lord Almighty.
Gospel
Sequel of the Holy Gospel according to Luke. Ch. IV.
At that time: Jesus rising up out of the synagogue, went in to Simon’s house. And Simon’s wife’s mother was taken with a great fever, and they besought him for her. And standing over her, he commanded the fever, and it left her. And immediately rising, she ministered to them. And when the sun was down, all they that had any sick with divers diseases, brought them to him. And devils went out from many, crying out and saying: Thou art the Son of God. And he, rebuking them, suffered them not to speak, for they knew that he was Christ. And when it was day, going out, he went into a desert place, and the multitude sought him, and came to him; and they stayed him that he should not depart from them. To whom he said: To other cities I must preach the kingdom of God; for therefore am I sent. And he was preaching in the synagogues of Galilee.
Let us here admire the goodness of our Redeemer, who deigns to exercise his power for the cure of bodily infirmities. How much more ready will he not be to heal our spiritual ailments! Our fever is that of evil passions; Jesus alone can allay it. Let us imitate the eagerness of these people of Galilee, who brought all their sick to Jesus; let us beseech him to heal us. See with what patience he welcomes each poor sufferer! Let us also go to him. Let us implore of him not to depart from us, but abide with us forever; he will accept our petition, and remain. Let us pray for sinners: the days of the great Fast are quickly passing away: we have reached the second half of Lent, and the Passover of our deliverance will soon be here. Look at the thousands that are unmoved, with their souls still blind to the light, and their hearts hardened against every appeal of God’s mercy and justice; they seem resolved on making their eternal perdition less doubtful than ever, by neglecting both the Lent and the Easter of this year. Let us offer up our penances for them; and beg of Jesus, by the merits of his sacred Passion, to redouble his mercies towards them, and deliver from Satan these souls, for whose sakes he is about to shed his Blood.
Humiliate capita vestra Deo.
Bow down your heads to God.
Subjectum tibi populum, quæsumus Domine, propitiatio cœlestis amplificet: et tuis semper faciat servire mandatis. Per Christum Dominum nostrum. Amen.
May thy heavenly mercy, O Lord, always increase thy people, and make them ever obedient to thy commandments. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.
The Mozarabic Liturgy offers us this beautiful exhortation. It will inspire us to persevere in our Lenten penances and duties.Missa(Missale Gothicum. Dominica IV. in Quadragesima.)
Exspectantes illam spem passionis ac resurrectionis Filii Dei, fratres charissimi: et manifestationem gloriæ beati et Salvatoris nostri Jesu Christi, resumite virium fortitudinem: et non quasi futuro terreamini de labore: qui ad Paschalis Dominicæ cupitis anhelando pervenire celebritatem. Sacratæ etenim Quadragesimæ tempore mediante, arripite de futuro labore fiduciam: qui præteriti jejunii jam transegistis ærumnas. Dabit Jesus lassis fortitudinem: qui pro nobis dignatus est infirmari. Tribuet perfectionem futuri: qui initia donavit præteriti. Aderit in auxilio, filii: qui suæ nos cupit præstolari gloriam passionis. Amen.
Looking forward, dearly beloved Brethren, to the hope of the Passion and Resurrection of the Son of God, as also to the manifestation of the glory of our Blessed Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ: resume your strength and courage. Be not daunted by the labor you have to go through, but remember the solemnity of the holy Pasch, for which you are so ardently longing. One half of holy Lent is over; you have gone through the difficulties of the past, why should you not be courageous about the future Fast? Jesus, who deigned to suffer fatigue for our sakes, will give strength to them that are fatigued. He that granted us to begin the past, will enable us to complete the future. Children! He will be with you to assist us, who wishes us to hope for the glory of his Passion. Amen.
Friday of the Third Week of LentTaken from The Liturgical Year by Dom Prosper Gueranger (1841-1875)
The Station is at the Church of Saint Laurence in Lucina, In this venerable and celebrated Church is kept the Gridiron, on which the holy Archdeacon consummated his martyrdom.
Collect
Jejunia nostra, quæsumus, Domine, benigno favore prosequere: ut, sicut ab alimentis abstinemus in corpore, ita a vitiis jejunemus in mente. Per Christum Dominum nostrum. Amen.
Let thy kind favor, O Lord, accompany our fast, that as we abstain from corporal food, so we may likewise refrain from all vice. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.
Epistle
Lesson from the book of Numbers. Ch. XX.
In those days: The children of Israel came together against Moses and Aaron: and making a sedition they said: Give us water to drink. And Moses and Aaron leaving the multitude, went into the tabernacle of the covenant, and fell flat upon the ground, and cried to the Lord and said: O Lord God, hear the cry of this people, and open to them thy treasure, a fountain of living water, that being satisfied, they may cease to murmur. And the glory of the Lord appeared over them. And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying: Take the rod, and assemble the people together, thou and Aaron thy brother, and speak to the rock before them, and it shall yield waters. And when thou hast brought forth water out of the rock, all the multitude and their cattle shall drink. Moses therefore took the rod, which was before the Lord, as he had commanded him, and having gathered together the multitude before the rock, he said to them: Hear, ye rebellious and incredulous; can we bring you forth water out of this rock? And when Moses had lifted up his hand, and struck the rock twice with the rod, there came forth water in great abundance, so that the people and their cattle drank. And the Lord said to Moses and Aaron: Because you have not believed me, to sanctify me before the children of Israel, you shall not bring these people into the land which I will give them. This is the water of contradiction, where the children of Israel strove with words against the Lord, and he was sanctified in them.
Here we have one of the most expressive figures of the Old Testament: it symbolizes the Sacrament of Baptism, for which our Catechumens are now preparing. A whole people asks for Water; if it be denied them, they must perish in the wilderness. St. Paul, the sublime interpreter of the types of the Old Testament, tells us that the Rock was Christ, from whom came forth the fountain of living Water, which quenches the thirst of our souls and purifies them. The Holy Fathers observe that the Rock yielded not its water until it had been struck with the Rod which signifies the Passion of our Redeemer. The Rod itself, as we are told by some of the earliest commentators of the Scriptures, is the symbol of the Cross; and the two strokes, wherewith the Rock was struck, represent the two parts of which the Cross was formed.
The paintings which the primitive Church has left us in the Catacombs of Rome frequently represent Moses in the act of striking the Rock, from which flows a stream of Water; and a glass, found in the same Catacombs, bears an inscription, telling us that the first Christians considered Moses as the type of St. Peter, who, in the New Covenant, opened to God’s people the fountain of grace, when he preached to them on the day of Pentecost; and gave also to the Gentiles to drink of this same Water, when he received Cornelius, the Centurion, into the Church. This symbol of Moses striking the Rock, and the figures of the Old Testament, which we have already come across, or shall still meet with, in the Lessons given by the Church to the Catechumens—are not only found in the earliest frescoes of the Roman Catacombs, but we have numerous proofs that they were represented in all the Churches both in the East and West. Up to the thirteenth century, and even later, we find them in the windows of our Cathedrals, and in the traditional form or type which was given to them in the early times. It is to be regretted that these Christian symbols, which were so dear to our Catholic forefathers, should now be so forgotten as to be almost treated with contempt. Let us love them and, by the study of the holy Liturgy, let us return to those sacred traditions which inspired our ancestors with heroic faith, and made them undertake such grand things for God and their fellow men.
Gospel
Sequel of the Holy Gospel according to John. Ch. IV.
At that time: Jesus came to a city of Samaria which is called Sichar, near the land which Jacob gave to his son Joseph. Now Jacob’s well was there. Jesus therefore being wearied with his journey, sat thus on the well. It was about the sixth hour. There cometh a woman of Samaria to draw water. Jesus saith to her: Give me to drink. For his disciples were gone into the city to buy meats. Then that Samaritan woman saith to him: How dost thou, being a Jew, ask of me to drink, who am a Samaritan woman? For the Jews do not communicate with the Samaritans. Jesus answered, and said to her: If thou didst know the gift of God, and who he is that saith to thee, Give me to drink: thou perhaps wouldst have asked of him, and he would have given thee living water. The woman saith to him: Sir, thou hast nothing wherein to draw, and the well is deep; from whence then hast thou living water? Art thou greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well, and drank thereof himself, and his children, and his cattle? Jesus answered, and said to her: Whosoever drinketh of this water shall thirst again: but he that shall drink of the water that I shall give him, shall not thirst for ever. But the water that I shall give him, shall become in him a fountain of water springing up into life everlasting. The woman saith to him: Sir, give me this water, that I may not thirst, nor come hither to draw. Jesus saith to her: Go, call thy husband, and come hither. The woman answered, and said: I have no husband. Jesus saith to her: Thou hast said well, I have no husband; for thou hast had five husbands; and he whom thou now hast, is not thy husband. This thou hast said truly. The woman saith to him: Sir, I perceive that thou art a prophet. Our fathers adored on this mountain, and you say that at Jerusalem is the place where men must adore. Jesus saith to her: Woman, believe me, the hour cometh, when you shall neither on this mountain, nor in Jerusalem, adore the Father. You adore that which you know not; we adore that which we know, for salvation is of the Jews. But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true adorers shall adore the Father in spirit and truth. For the Father also seeketh such to adore him. God is a spirit; and they that adore him, must adore him in spirit and in truth. The woman saith to him: I know that the Messias cometh (who is called Christ). Therefore when he is come, he will tell us all things. Jesus saith to her: I am he, who am speaking with thee. And immediately his disciples came; and they wondered that he talked with the woman. Yet no man said: What seekest thou, or why talkest thou with her? The woman therefore left her waterpot, and went her way into the city, and saith to the men there: Come, and see a man who hath told me all things whatsoever I have done. Is not he the Christ? They went therefore out of the city, and came unto him. In the meantime the disciples prayed him, saying: Rabbi, eat. But he said to them: I have meat to eat which you know not of. The disciples therefore said one to another: Hath any man brought him to eat? Jesus saith to them: My meat is to do the will of him that sent me, that I may perfect his work. Do not you say, there yet four months, and then the harvest cometh? Behold I say to you, life up your eyes, and see the countries, for they are white already to harvest. And he that reapeth receiveth wages, and gathereth fruit unto life everlasting; that both he that soweth, and he that reapeth may rejoice together. For in this is that saying true: that it is one man that soweth, and it is another that reapeth. I have sent you to reap that in which you did not labor; others have labored, and you have entered into their labors. Now of that city many of the Samaritans believed in him, for the word of the woman giving testimony: He told me all things whatsoever I had done. So when the Samaritans were come to him, they desired him that he would tarry there. And he abode there two days. And many more believed in him because of his own word. And they said to the woman: We now believe, not for thy saying; for we ourselves have seen him, and know that he is indeed the Savior of the world.
Our Gospel shows us the Son of God continuing the ministry of Moses by revealing to the Samaritan woman, who represents the Gentiles, the mystery of the Water that gives life everlasting. We find this subject pained on the walls of the Catacombs and carved on the tombs of the Christians, as far back as the 5th, and even the 4th century. Let us, then, meditate upon this event of our Lord’s life, for it tells us of his wonderful mercy. Jesus is wearied with his journey; He, the Son of God, who had but to speak and the world was created, is fatigued seeking after his lost sheep. He is obliged to rest his wearied limbs; he sits; but it is near a well. He finds a Samaritan woman there; she is a Gentile, an idolatress; she comes to draw water from the well; she has no idea of there being a Water of eternal life—Jesus intends to reveal the mystery to her. He begins by telling her that he is tired and thirsty. A few days hence, when expiring on his Cross, he will say: I thirst: and so now, he says to this woman: Give me to drink. So true is it, that in order to appreciate the grace brought by our Redeemer, we must first know this Redeemer in his weakness and sufferings.
But before the woman had time to give Jesus what he asks, he tells her of a Water, of which he that drinks shall not thirst for ever; he invites her to draw from a fountain, that springeth up into life everlasting. The woman longs to drink of this Water; she knows not who he is that is speaking with her, and yet she has faith in what he says. This idolatress evinces a docility of heart which the Jews never showed to their Messias; and she is docile, notwithstanding her knowing that he who speaks to her belongs to a nation which despises all Samaritans. The confidence wherewith she listens to Jesus is rewarded by his offering still greater graces. He begins by putting her to the test. Go, he says, call thy husband, and come hither. She was living in sin, and Jesus would have her confess it. She does so without the slightest hesitation; her humility is rewarded, for she at once recognizes Jesus to be a Prophet, and she begins to drink of the Living Water. Thus was it with the Gentiles. The Apostles preached the Gospel to them; they reproached them with their crimes, and showed them the holiness of the God they had offended; but the Gentiles did not therefore reject their teaching; on the contrary, they were docile, and only wanted to know what they should do to render themselves pleasing to their Creator. The Faith had need of Martyrs; and they were found in abundance amidst these converts from paganism and its abominations.
Jesus, seeing such simple-heartedness in the Samaritan, mercifully reveals to her who he is. He tells this poor sinner that the time is come when all men shall adore God; he tells her that the Messias has come upon the earth, and that he himself is that Messias. It is thus that Christ treats a soul that is simple and obedient. He shows himself to her without reserve. When the Disciples arrived, they wondered; they had as yet too much of the Jew in them; they therefore could not understand how their Master could show anything like mercy to this Samaritan. But the time will soon come when they will say with the great Apostle St. Paul: There is neither Jew nor Greek; there is neither bond nor free; there is neither male nor female; for all are one in Christ Jesus.
Meanwhile, the Samaritan becomes an apostle, for she is filled with heavenly ardor. She leaves her pitcher at the well—what cares she for its water, now that Jesus has given her to drink of the Living Water? She goes back to the city; but it is that she may preach Jesus there, and bring to him, if she could, all the inhabitants of Samaria. In her humility, she gives this proof of his being a great Prophet—that he had told her all the sins of her life! These pagans, whom the Jews despised, hasten to the well, where Jesus had remained, speaking to his Disciples on the coming harvest. They acknowledge him to be the Messias, the Savior of the world; and Jesus condescends to abide two days in this city, where there was no other religion than that of idolatry, with a fragment here and there of some Jewish practice. Tradition tells us that the name of the Samaritan woman was Photina. She and the Magi were the first fruits of the new people of God. She suffered martyrdom for him who revealed himself to her at Jacob’s Well. The Church honors her memory each year, in the Roman Martyrology, on the 20th of March.
Humiliate capita vestra Deo.
Bow down your heads to God.
Præsta, quæsumus, omnipotens Deus: ut qui in tua protectione confidimus, cuncta nobis adversantia, te adjuvante, vincamus. Per Christum Dominum nostrum. Amen.
Grant, we beseech thee, O Almighty God, that we who confide in thy protection, may, through thy grace, overcome all the enemies of our salvation. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.
The Mozarabic Liturgy celebrates the vocation of the Samaritan woman in the following beautiful Preface.Illatio(In Dominica I. Quadragesimæ.)
Dignum et justum est nos tibi semper gratias agere, Domine sancte, Pater æterne, omnipotens Deus, per Jesum Christum Filium tuum Dominum nostrum. Qui ad salvationem humani generis veniens e cœlo: sitiens atque fatigatus sedisse ad puteum dicitur. Ille est enim in quo omnis plenitudo divinitatis corporaliter permanebat: quia nostræ mortalitatis corpus assumpserat: veritatem assumptæ carnis quibusdam significationibus demonstrabat. Fatigatum enim eum non aliter credimus ab itinere, nisi infirmatum in carne. Exivit quippe ad currendam viam, per significationem carnis assumptæ; ideo igitur etsi fatigatus ille in carne, non tamen nos sinit infirmari in sua infirmitate. Nam quod infirmum est illius, fortius est hominibus. Ideoque per humilitatem veniens eripere mundum a potestate tenebrarum: sedit et sitivit quando aquam mulieri petivit. Ille etenim humiliatus erat in carne: quando sedens ad puteum loquebatur cum muliere, sitivit aquam, et exegit fidem ab ea. In ea quippe muliere, fidem quam quæsivit, quamque petivit, exegit: atque venientibus dicit de ea discipulis: Ego cibum habeo manducare quem vos nescitis. Ille jam qui in ea creaverat fidei donum: ipse poscebat aquæ sibi ab ea porrigi potum. Quique eam dilectionis suæ flamma cremabat: ipse ab ea poculum quo refrigeraretur sitiens postulabat. Ob hoc nos ad ista tantarum virtutum miracula quid apponemus, sancte et immaculate et piisime Deus: nisi conscientiam mundam et voluntatem dilectioni tuæ omni modo præparatam? Tuo igitur Nomini offerentes victimam mundam: rogamus atque exposcimus: ut opereris in nobis salutem: sicut in muliere illa operatus es fidem. Operare in nobis extirpationem carnalium vitiorum, qui in illa idolalatriæ pertulisti figmentum, Sentiamus quoque te in illa futura examinatione mitissimum: sicut illa te promeruit invenire placatum. Opus enim tuum sumus: qui nisi per te salvari non possumus. Subveni nobis, vera redemptio: pietatis indeficiens plenitudine. Non perdas quod tuum est: quibus dedisti rationis naturam, da æternitatis gloriam indefessam. Ut qui te in hac vita laudamus, in æterna quoque beatitudine multo magis glorificemus. Tu es enim Deus noster: non nos abjicias a facie tua: sed jam respice quos creasti miseratione gratuita: ut cum abstuleris a nobis omne debitum culpæ: et placitos reddideris aspectibus gratiæ tuæ: eruti ab illa noxialis putei profunditate facinorum, hydriam nostrarum relinquentes cupiditatum, ad illam æternam civitatem Hierusalem post hujus vitæ transitum convolemus.
It is meet and just that we should always give thanks to thee, O Holy Lord, Eternal Father, Almighty God, through Jesus Christ, thy Son, our Lord. Who, having come from heaven for the salvation of mankind, sat near a well, thirsting and wearied. For this is he, in whom dwelt all the fulness of the Godhead corporally. But whereas he had assumed the body of our mortality, he wished to show, by certain signs, the reality of the flesh thus assumed; for when we say that he was wearied with a journey, we believe that this weakness was only in the flesh. He went forth to run the way, that he might show that he had taken a true body; hence, although he was wearied in the flesh, yet would he not that our faith should grow weak at the sight of this his weakness; for that which is weak in him, is stronger than men. Having, therefore, come in humility, that he might deliver the world from the power of darkness, he sat and thirsted, when he asked the woman to give him to drink. For he was humbled in the flesh, when, sitting at the well, he spoke with the woman, and thirsted after water, and required of her her faith. Yea, he required from her the faith, which he sought and asked for; and when his disciples came he said to them concerning it: I have meat to eat which you know not of. He that had already created in her the gift of faith, asked her to give him water to drink; and he that had enkindled within her the fire of his love, asked her to give him a cup, whereby to refresh his thirst. Seeing these miracles of divine power, what else shall we offer unto thee, O holy and immaculate and most merciful God, but a pure conscience, and a heart that is well prepared to receive thy love? Now, therefore, whilst offering to thy Name this clean Oblation, we pray and beseech thee, that thou mayest work salvation in us, as thou didst work faith in that woman. Thou didst destroy in her the delusion of idolatry; produce in us the extirpation of our carnal vices. May we find thee full of most tender mercy when thou comest to judge us, as she deserved to find thee. We are the work of thy hands, neither can we be otherwise saved than by thee. Come to our assistance, O thou our true Redeemer, the fulness of whose mercy faileth not. Destroy not what is thine own. Thou hast given us a rational nature; bestow upon us exhaustless glory of eternity, that so we who praise thee in this life, may still more fervently glorify thee in a blessed eternity. Thou art our God; cast us not away from thy face, but look upon us, whom thou didst create out of thy pure mercy: that when thou hast taken from us the whole debt of our guilt, and rendered us worthy of thy gracious sight, we, being drawn out from the deep well of our sins, and leaving behind us the pitcher of our evil desires, may, after passing through this life, take our flight to Jerusalem, the eternal City.
Saturday of the Third Week of LentTaken from The Liturgical Year by Dom Prosper Gueranger (1841-1875)
The Station is in the Church of Saint Susanna, Virgin and Martyr of Rome. The reason of this Church having been chosen is, that, today, there is read the history of the chaste Susanna, the daughter of Helcias.
Collect
Præsta, quæsumus, omnipotens Deus; ut qui se, affligendo carnem, ab alimentis abstinent, sectando justitiam, a culpa jejunent. Per Christum Dominum nostrum. Amen.
Grant, we beseech thee, O Almighty God, that they who mortify themselves by abstinence from food, may, by observing thy holy law, also fast from all sin. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.
Epistle
Lesson from Daniel the Prophet. Ch. XIII.
In those days: There was a man that dwelt in Babylon, and his name was Joakim; and he took a wife whose name was Susanna, the daughter of Helcias, a very beautiful woman, and one that feared God. For her parents being just, had instructed their daughter according to the Law of Moses. Now Joakim was very rich, and had an orchard near his house; and the Jews resorted to him, because he was the most honorable of them all. And there were two of the ancients of the people appointed judges that year, of whom the Lord said: Iniquity came out from Babylon from the ancient judges, that seemed to govern the people. These men frequented the house of Joakim, and all that had any matters of judgment came to them. And when the people departed away at noon, Susanna went in, and walked in her husband’s orchard. And the old men saw her going in every day, and walking; and they were inflamed with lust towards her; and they perverted their own mind, and turned away their eyes, that they might not look unto heaven, nor remember just judgments. And it fell out, as they watched a fit day, she went in on a time, as yesterday and the day before, with two maids only, and was desirous to wash herself in the orchard for it was hot weather. And there was nobody there but the two old men, that had hid themselves and were considering her. So she said to the maids: Bring me oil and washing balls, and shut the doors of the orchard, that I may wash me. And they did as she bade them; and they shut the doors of the orchard, and went out by a back door to fetch what she had commanded them, and they knew not that the elders were hid within. Now when the maids were gone forth, the two elders arose, and ran to her, and said: Behold the doors of the orchard are shut, and nobody seeth us, and we are in love with thee; wherefore consent to us, and lie with us. But if thou wilt not, we will bear witness against thee, that a young man was with thee, and therefore thou didst send away thy maids from thee. Susanna sighed, and said: I am straitened on every side; for if I do this thing, it is death to me, and if I do it not, I shall not escape your hands. But it is better for me to fall into your hands without doing it, than to sin in the sight of the Lord. With that Susanna cried out with a loud voice, and the elders also cried against her; and one of them ran to the door of the orchard, and opened it. So when the servants of the house heard the cry in the orchard, they rushed in by the back door, to see what was the matter. But after the old men had spoken, the servants were greatly ashamed, for never had there been any such word said of Susanna. And on the next day, when the people were come to Joakim her husband, the two elders also came, full of their wicked device against Susanna, to put her to death. And they said before the people: Send to Susanna, daughter of Helcias, the wife of Joakim. And they presently sent; and she came with her parents, and children, and all her kindred. Therefore her friends and all her acquaintance wept. But the two elders, rising up in the midst of the people, laid their hands upon her head. And she weeping looked up to heaven, for her heart had confidence in the Lord. And the elders said: As we walked in the orchard alone, this woman came in with two maids, and shut the doors of the orchard, and sent away the maids from her. Then a young man that was there hid, came to her, and lay with her. But we that were in the corner of the orchard, seeing this wickedness, ran up to them, and we saw them lie together. And as for him we could not take him, because he was stronger than we, and opening the doors he leaped out; but having taken this woman, we asked who the young man was, but she would not tell us. Of this thing we are witnesses. The multitude believed them, as being the elders and judges of the people, and they condemned her to death. Then Susanna cried out with a loud voice, and said: O eternal God, who knowest hidden things, who knowest all things before they come to pass, thou knowest that they have borne false witness against me; and behold I must die, whereas I have done none of these things, which these men have maliciously forged against me. And the Lord heard her voice. And when she was led to be put to death, the Lord raised up the holy spirit of a young boy, whose name was Daniel; and he cried out with a loud voice: I am clear form the blood of this woman. Then all the people turning towards him, said: What meaneth this word that thou hast spoken? But he standing in the midst of them, said: Are ye so foolish, ye children of Israel, that without examination or knowledge of the truth, ye have condemned a daughter of Israel? Return to judgment, for they have borne false witness against her. So all the people turned again in haste. And Daniel said to the people: Separate these two far from one another, and I will examine them. So when they were put asunder one from the other, he called one of them and said to him: O thou that art grown old in evil days, now are thy sins come out which thou hast committed before, in judging unjust judgments, oppressing the innocent, and letting the guilty go free, whereas the Lord saith: The innocent and the just thou shalt not kill. Now then, if thou sawest her, tell me under what tree thou sawest them conversing together. He said: Under a mastick tree. And Daniel said: Well hast thou lied against thy own head; for behold the Angel of God, having received the sentence of him, shall cut thee in two. And having put him aside, he commanded that the other should come, and he said to him: O thou seed of Chanaan, and not of Juda, beauty hath deceived thee, and lust hath perverted thy heart; thus did you do as the daughters of Israel, and they for fear conversed with you; but a daughter of Juda would not abide your wickedness. Now, therefore, tell me under what tree didst thou take them conversing together? And he answered: Under a holm tree. And Daniel said to him: Well hast thou also lied against thy own head; for the Angel of the Lord waiteth with a sword to cut thee in two, and to destroy thee. With that all the assembly cried out with a loud voice, and they blessed God, who saveth them that trust in him. And they rose up against the two elders (for Daniel had convicted them of false witness by their own mouth), and they did to them as they had maliciously dealt against their neighbor, and they put them to death, and innocent blood was saved in that day.
Yesterday, we shared in the joy felt by our Catechumens, as they listened to the Church describing that limpid and life-giving fountain, which flows from the Savior; in these Waters they were soon to receive a new life. Today, the instruction is for the Penitents, whose reconciliation is drawing near. But how can they hope for pardon, who have sullied the white robe of their baptism, and trampled on the precious Blood that redeemed them? And yet, they are really to be pardoned and saved. If you would understand the mystery, read and meditate upon the Sacred Scriptures; for there you will learn that there is a Salvation which comes from justice, and a Salvation that proceeds from mercy. Today we have an example of both. Susanna, who is unjustly accused of adultery, receives from God the recompense of her virtue; he avenges and saves her: another woman, who is really guilty of the crime, is saved from death by Jesus Christ himself. Let the just, therefore, confidently and humbly await the reward they have merited; but let sinners also hope in the mercy of the Redeemer, who is come for them rather than for the just. Thus does the holy Church encourage her Penitents, and call them to conversion, by showing them the riches of the Heart of Jesus, and the mercies of the New Covenant, which this same Savior has signed by his Blood.
In this history of Susanna, the early Christians saw a figure of the Church, which in their time was solicited by the Pagans to evil, but remained faithful to her Divine Spouse, even though death was the punishment of her resistance. A holy Martyr of the 3rd century, St. Hippolytus, mentions this interpretation. The carvings on the ancient Christian Tombs, and the frescoes of the Roman Catacombs, represent this history of Susanna’s fidelity to God’s law, in spite of the death that threatened her, as a type of the Martyrs’ preferring death to apostasy; for apostasy, in the language of the Sacred Scriptures, is called Adultery, which the soul is guilty of by denying her God, to whom she espoused herself when she received Baptism.
Gospel
Sequel of the Holy Gospel according to John. Ch. VIII.
At that time: Jesus went to Mount Olivet. And early in the morning he came again into the temple, and all the people came to him, and sitting down he taught them. And the Scribes and Pharisees bring unto him a woman taken in adultery, and they set her in the midst, and said to him: Master, this woman was even now taken in adultery. Now, Moses in the law commanded us to stone such a one: but what sayest thou? And this they said tempting him, that they might accuse him. But Jesus bowing himself down, wrote with his finger on the ground. When therefore they continued asking him, he lifted up himself, and said to them: He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her. And again stooping down, he wrote on the ground. But they hearing this went out one by one, beginning at the eldest; and Jesus alone remained, and the woman standing in the midst. Then Jesus lifting up himself, said to her: Woman, where are they that accused thee? Hath no man condemned thee? Who said: No man, Lord. And Jesus said: Neither will I condemn thee. Go, and now sin no more.
This is the Salvation that proceeds from Mercy. The woman is guilty: the Law condemns her to be put to death; her accusers are justified in insisting on her being punished—and yet she shall not die. Jesus saves her; and all he asks of her is that she sin no more. What must have been her gratitude! How must she not have desired to obey, henceforward, that God who would not condemn her, and to whom she owed her life! Let us enter into like dispositions towards our Redeemer, for we too are sinners. Is it not He that has stayed the arm of Divine Justice when it was raised to strike us? Has he not turned the blow upon himself? Our salvation, then, has been one of Mercy; let us imitate the Penitents of the primitive Church, and during these remaining days of Lent, consolidate the foundations of the new life we have begun.
The answer made by Jesus to the Pharisees, who accused this woman, deserves our respectful attention. It not only shows his compassion for the humble sinner, who stood trembling before him; it contains a practical instruction for us. He that is without sin among you, let him be the first to cast a stone at her. During these days of conversion and repentance, let us recall to mind the detractions we have been guilty of against our neighbor. Alas! these sins of the tongue are looked upon as mere trifles; we forget them almost as soon as we commit them; nay, so deeply rooted in us is the habit of finding fault with everyone that we scarcely know ourselves to be detractors. If this saying of our Redeemer had made the impression it ought to have done upon us; if we had thought of our own numberless defects and sins—how could we have dared to criticize our neighbor, publish his faults, and pass judgment upon his very thoughts and intentions? Jesus knew what sort of life these man had led, who accuse the woman; he knows what ours has been! Woe to us if, henceforth, we are not indulgent with others!
And lastly, let us consider the malice of Jesus’ enemies; what they said, they said, tempting him, that they might accuse him. If he pronounce in the woman’s favor, they will accuse him of despising the Law of Moses, which condemns her to be stoned: if he answer in conformity with the Law, they will hold him up to the people as a man without mercy or compassion. Jesus, by his divine prudence, eludes their stratagem; but we can foresee what he will have to suffer at their hands when, having put himself in their power, that they may do with him what they please, he will make no other answer to their calumnies and insults than the silence and patience of an innocent Victim condemned to death.
Humiliate capita vestra Deo.
Bow down your heads to God.
Prætende, Domine, fidelibus tuis dexteram cœlestis auxilii: ut te toto corde perquirant; et quæ digne postulant, consequi mereantur. Per Christum Dominum nostrum. Amen.
Stretch forth, O Lord, over thy people, the right hand of thy heavenly aid, that they may seek thee with their whole heart, and mercifully obtain what they ask for us as they ought. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.
Let us offer to Mary, as we are accustomed to do on the last day of each week, some special expression of our love.
Let us say, in her honor, the following Sequence, which is taken from the ancient Roman-French Missals.Sequence
Mariæ præconio
Serviat cum gaudio,
Fervens desiderio,
Verus amor.
Let this be our joyous praise of Mary,—true and fervent love.
Amoris suffragio
Præsentetur Filio
Matris in obsequio,
Cordis clamor.
Let the cry of our heart, as it sings in the Mother’s honor, be presented to her Son as a tribute of love.
Ave salus hominum,
Virgo decus virginum,
Te decet post Dominum
Laus et honor.
Hail thou that broughtest Salvation to men! O Virgin, and Queen of Virgins! to thee, after God, are due praise and honor.
Tu rosa, tu lilium,
Cujus Dei Filium
Carnis ad connubium
Traxit odor.
Thou art the fair Rose and Lily, whose fragrance drew the Son of God to assume our human nature.
Ave manans satie
Fons misericordiæ,
Vera mentis sauciæ
Medicina.
Hail overflowing fount of Mercy! Hail true balm of the wounded heart!
Tu pincerna veniæ,
Tu lucerna gratiæ,
Tu supernæ gloriæ
Es regina.
Thou art the ministress of pardon, the flame richly fed with grace, the Queen of matchless glory.
Ave carens carie
Speculum munditiæ,
Venustans Ecclesiæ
Sacramentum.
Hail spotless Mirror of purity, that givest beauty to the holy Church of God!
Tu finis miseriæ,
Tu ver ees lætitiæ,
Pacis et concordiæ
Condimentum.
Where thou art, there can be no sadness, for thou art the Spring-time of joy; thou art the bond of peace and concord.
O felix puerpera,
Nostra pians scelera,
Jure matris impera
Redemptori.
O happy Mother! use a Mother’s right; and bid thy Son, our Redeemer, forgive us our sins.
Da fidei fœdera,
Da salutis opera,
Da in vitæ vespera
Bene mori. Amen.
These are the gifts we ask of thee: firmness of faith, works available to salvation, and in the evening of life, a happy death. Amen.
Second Sunday After the the Epiphany
SECOND SUNDAY AFTER THE EPIPHANY
Taken from The Liturgical Year by Dom Prosper Gueranger (1841-1875)
The third Mystery of the Epiphany shows us the completion of the merciful designs of God upon the world, at the same time that it manifests to us, for the third time, the glory of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. The Star has led the soul to faith; the sanctified Waters of the Jordan have conferred purity upon her; the Marriage Feast unites her to her God. We have been considering, during this Octave, the Bridegroom revealing himself to the Spouse; we have heard him calling her to come to him from the heights of Libanus; and now, after having enlightened and purified her, he invites her to the heavenly feast, where she is to receive the Wine of his divine love.
A Feast is prepared; it is a Marriage Feast; and the Mother of Jesus is present at it, for it is just that having cooperated in the mystery of the Incarnation of the Word, she should take part in all that her Son does, and in all the favors he bestows on his elect. But in the midst of the Feast, the Wine fails. Wine is the symbol of Charity or Love, and Charity had failed on the earth; for the Gentiles had never tasted its sweetness; and as to the Synagogue, what had it produced but wild grapes? The True Vine is our Jesus, and he calls himself by that name. He alone could give that Wine which gladdeneth the heart of man; He alone could give us that Chalice which inebriateth, and of which the Royal Psalmist prophesied.
Mary said to Jesus: They have no Wine. It is the office of the Mother of God to tell him of the wants of men, for she is also their Mother. But Jesus answers her in words which are apparently harsh: Woman! what is it to me and to thee? My hour is not yet come. The meaning of these words is that, in this great Mystery, he was about to act not as the Son of Mary, but as the Son of God. Later on, the hour will come when, dying upon the Cross, he will do it as Man, that is, according to that human nature which he has received from her. Mary at once understands the words of her Son, and she says to the waiters of the Feast what she is now ever saying to her children: Do whatsoever he shall say to you.
Now, there were six large waterpots of stone there, and they were empty. The world was then in its Sixth Age, as St. Augustine and other Holy Doctors tell us. During these six ages, the earth had been awaiting its Savior, who was to instruct and redeem it. Jesus commands these waterpots to be filled with water; and yet, water does not suit the Feast of the Spouse. The figures and the prophecies of the ancient world were this water, and until the opening of the Seventh Age, when Christ, who is the Vine, was to be given to the world, no man had contracted an alliance with the Divine Word.
But when the Emmanuel came, he had but to say, Now draw out, and the waterpots were seen to be filled with the wine of the New Covenant, the Wine which had been kept to the end. When he assumed our human nature—a nature weak and unstable as Water—he effected a change in it; he raised it up even to himself, by making us partakers of the divine nature; he gave us the power to love him, to be united to him, to form that one Body of which he is the Head, that Church of which he is the Spouse, and which he loved from all eternity, and with such tender love, that he came down from heaven to celebrate his nuptials with her.
St. Matthew, the Evangelist of the Humanity of our Lord, has received from the Holy Ghost the commission to announce to us the Mystery of Faith by the Star; St. Luke, the Evangelist of Jesus’ Priesthood, has been selected, by the same Holy Spirit, to instruct us in the Mystery of the Baptism in the Jordan; but the Mystery of the Marriage Feast was to be revealed to us by the Evangelist John, the Beloved Disciple. He suggests to the Church the object of this third Mystery by this expression: This beginning of miracles did Jesus in Cana of Glailee, and he manifested his glory. At Bethlehem, the Gold of the Magi expressed the Divinity of the Babe; at the Jordan, the descent of the Holy Ghost and the voice of the Eternal Father proclaimed Jesus (known to the people as a carpenter of Nazareth) to be the Son of God; at Cana, it is Jesus himself that acts, and he acts as God, for, says St. Augustine, He who changed the water into wine in the waterpots could be no other than the same who, every year, works the same miracle in the vine. Hence it was that, from that day, as St. John tells us, his disciples believed in him, and the Apostolic College began to be formed.
Mass
The Introit proclaims the joy of this day, which shows us the human nature espoused to the Son of the eternal Father. Surely the earth will henceforth surrender itself wholly to the love and praise of this sacred Name which, in the Marriage Feast, has become that of the Son of Adam.
Introit
Omnis terra adoret te, Deus, et psallat tibi: psallmum dicat nomini tuo, Altissime.
Ps. Jubilate Deo omnis terra, psalmum dicite nomini ejus: date gloriam laudi ejus. Gloria Patri. Omnis terra.
Let all the earth adore thee, and sing to thee, O God: let it sing a psalm to thy name, O Most High.
Ps. Shout with joy to God, all the earth, sing ye a psalm to his name; give glory to his praise. Glory be to the Father. Let all the earth.
This name of Sons of God which has become ours by right through the bond of the sacred nuptials is none other, as Jesus himself tells us in his Beatitudes, than Peace—the Peace of God, ours truly through the action of his grace ever working it out within us. In the Collect Peace again figures as the final end of God’s government both in heaven and on earth, likewise as the supreme desire of the Church.
Collect
Omnipotens sempiterne Deus, qui cœlestia simul et terrena moderaris: supplicationes populi tui clementer exaudi, et pacem tuam nostris concede temporibus. Per Dominum.
Almighty and Eternal God, supreme Ruler both of heaven and earth, mercifully give ear to the prayers of thy people, and grant us peace in our time. Through, etc.
Commemoration is made, by their proper Collects, of the Saint whose feast may occur with this Sunday; the third prayer will be that of the Blessed Virgin.
Commemoration of the Blessed Virgin Mary
Deus qui salutis æternæ, beatæ Mariæ virginitate fœcunda, humano generi præmia præstitisti; tribue, quæsumus, ut ipsam pro nobis intercedere sentiamus, per quam meruimus auctorem vitæ suscipere, Dominum nostrum Jesum Christum Filium tuum. Qui tecum.
O God, who, by the fruitful Virginity of the Blessed Mary, hast given to mankind the rewards of eternal salvation, grant, we beseech thee, that we may experience her intercession, by whom we received the Author of life, our Lord Jesus Christ, thy Son. Who liveth, etc.
Epistle
Lesson from the Epistle of St. Paul the Apostle, to the Romans. Ch. xii.
Brethren: Having different gifts, according to the grace that is given us, either prophecy, to be used according to the rule of faith; Or ministry, in ministering; or he that teacheth, in doctrine; He that exhorteth, in exhorting; he that giveth, with simplicity; he that ruleth, with carefulness; he that sheweth mercy, with cheerfulness. Let love be without dissimulation. Hating that which is evil, cleaving to that which is good. Loving one another with the charity of brotherhood, with honour preventing one another. In carefulness not slothful. In spirit fervent. Serving the Lord. Rejoicing in hope. Patient in tribulation. Instant in prayer. Communicating to the necessities of the saints. Pursuing hospitality. Bless them that persecute you: bless, and curse not. Rejoice with them that rejoice; weep with them that weep. Being of one mind one towards another. Not minding high things, but consenting to the humble.
This peace which characterizes, in the abode of saints, the Sons of God, effects in like measure on earth the oneness of the Bride, that is of the Church: peace it is that makes her to be but one body wherein the many members find their multiplicity upheld and guided by the head, the one lord; their functions, so diverse in themselves, regulated and brought under the rule and love of the Bridegroom, Christ Jesus. The Epistle which has just been read sets before us the different operations of this peace which has as its ruling motive Charity, the Queen of virtues, and which is so essential to Christianity; the Apostle specifies in detail its forms and conditions and adapts its practice to every social condition and circumstances of life. Of such value does the Church judge these considerations, that, on the following Sunday, she resumes the text of the Apostle where today she has interrupted it.
Far from a divine life in the peace of God which was its precious gift, the human race incurred death with its penalty of separation. Let us then in the Gradual sing of this wonder that has been wrought in our midst, and with the angelic choirs exalt the Lord in praise and admiration.
Gradual
Misit Dominus verbum suum, et sanavit eos: et eripuit eos de interitu eorum.
℣. Confiteantur Domino misericordiæ ejus, et mirabilia ejus filiis hominum. Alleluia, allelluia.
℣. Laudate Deum omnes Angeli ejus: laudate eum omnes virtutes ejus. Alleluia.
The Lord sent his word and healed them: and delivered them out of their distresses.
℣. Let the mercies of the Lord give glory to him: and his wonderful works to the children of men. Alleluia, alleluia.
℣. Praise ye the Lord, all his angels, praise him all his hosts. Alleluia.
Gospel
Sequel of the holy Gospel according to St. John. Ch. ii.
At that time: there was a marriage in Cana of Galilee: and the mother of Jesus was there. And Jesus also was invited, and his disciples, to the marriage. And the wine failing, the mother of Jesus saith to him: They have no wine. And Jesus saith to her: Woman, what is that to me and to thee? my hour is not yet come. His mother saith to the waiters: Whatsoever he shall say to you, do ye. Now there were set there six waterpots of stone, according to the manner of the purifying of the Jews, containing two or three measures apiece. Jesus saith to them: Fill the waterpots with water. And they filled them up to the brim. And Jesus saith to them: Draw out now, and carry to the chief steward of the feast. And they carried it. And when the chief steward had tasted the water made wine, and knew not whence it was, but the waiters knew who had drawn the water; the chief steward calleth the bridegroom, And saith to him: Every man at first setteth forth good wine, and when men have well drunk, then that which is worse. But thou hast kept the good wine until now. This beginning of miracles did Jesus in Cana of Galilee; and manifested his glory, and his disciples believed in him.
O the wonderful dignity of man! God has vouchsafed, says the Apostle, to show the riches of his glory on the vessels of mercy, which had no claim to, nay, were unworthy of such an honor. Jesus bids the waiters fill them with water and the water of Baptism purifies us; but, not satisfied with this, he fills these vessels, even to the brim, not to be drunk save in the kingdom of his Father. Thus, divine Charity, which dwells in the Sacrament of Love, is communicated to us; and that we might not be unworthy of the espousals with himself, to which he called us, he raises us up even to himself. Let us, therefore, prepare our souls for this wonderful union, and, according to the advice of the Apostle, let us labor to present them to our Jesus with such purity as to resemble that chaste Virgin, who was presented to the spotless Lamb.
During the Offertory, the Church resumes her songs of joy and give free course to her holy transports. All faithful souls are invited by her to the celebration of this adorable Mystery, the intimate union of man with God.
Offertory
Jubilate Deo universa terra: psalmum dicite nomini ejus, venite et audite, et narrabo vobis omnes qui timetis Deum, quanta fecit Dominus animæ meæ. Alleluia.
Shout with joy to God, all the earth, sing ye a psalm to his name. Come and hear, all ye who fear God, and I will tell you what great things he hath done for my soul. Alleluia.
Secret
Oblata, Domine, munera sanctifica: nosque a peccatorum nostrorum maculis emunda. Per Dominum.
Sanctify, O Lord, our offerings, and cleanse us from the stains of our sins. Through, etc.
After the Secret of the Saint who is being commemorated today, that of the Blessed Virgin is said.
Commemoration of the Blessed Virgin Mary
Tua, Domine, propitiatione, et beatæ Mariæ semper Virginis intercessione, ad perpetuam atque præsentem hæc oblatio nobis proficiat prosperitatem et pacem. Per Dominum.
By thy merciful forgiveness, O Lord, and by the intercession of blessed Mary, ever a Virgin, let this offering avail us for welfare and peace, both now and for evermore. Through our Lord.
The Communion Antiphon recalls once more the miracle of the changing of the water into wine. This was only a dim figure of that wondrous transformation which is accomplished on our altars, only a symbol of that divine Sacrament, the food of our souls whereby, in an unspeakable way, is realized our union with God.
Communion
Dicit Dominus: Implete hydrias aqua et fert5e architriclino. Cum gustasset architriclinus aquam vinum factam, dicit sponso: Servasti vinum bonum usque adhuc. Hoc signum fecit Jesus primum coram discipulis suis.
The Lord saith: Fill the waterpots with water and carry to the chief steward of the feast. When the chief steward had tasted the water made wine, he said to the bridegroom: Thou hast kept the good wine until now. This beginning of miracles did Jesus before his disciples.
Postcommunion
Augeatur in nobis, quæsumus Domine, tuæ virtutis operatio: ut divinis vegetati sacramentis, ad eorum promissa capienda tuo munere præparemur. Per Dominum.
May the efficacy of thy power, O Lord, be increased in us, that being fed with thy divine sacraments, we may, through thy bounty, be prepared to receive what they promise. Through, etc.
Commemoration of the Blessed Virgin Mary
Hæc nos communio, Domine, purget a crimine: et intercedente beata Virgine Dei Genitrice Maria, cœlestis remedii faciat esse consortes.
May this communion, O Lord, cleanse us from sin, and by the intercession of blessed Mary, the Virgin-Mother of God, make us partakers of thy heavenly remedy.
Propers for the Second Sunday after Epiphany
Taken from here.
2nd Sunday after Epiphany
Introit • Score • Omnis terra adoret te
Gradual • Score • Misit Dominus
Alleluia • Score • Laudate Deum omnes Angeli
Offertory • Score • Jubilate Deo universa terra
Communion • Score • Dicit Dominus: Implete hydrias
TAGS: Christmas
Vigil of All Saints
October 31st is the Vigil of All Saints Day. Traditionally, it is a day of fasting and partial abstinence.
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In the first ages, during the night before every feast, a vigil was kept. In the evening the faithful assembled in the place or church where the feast was to be celebrated and prepared themselves by prayers, readings from Holy Writ (now the Offices of Vespers and Matins), and sometimes also by hearing a sermon. On such occasions, as on fast days in general, Mass also was celebrated in the evening, before the Vespers of the following day. Towards morning the people dispersed to the streets and houses near the church, to wait for the solemn services of the forenoon. This vigil was a regular institution of Christian life and was defended and highly recommended by St. Augustine and St. Jerome. – The Catholic Encyclopedia 1909
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Collect of the Vigil All Saints
O Lord, our God, multiply Thy graces upon us, and grant that joy may follow in the holy praise of those whose glorious festival we anticipate. Through our Lord Jesus Christ Thy Son, Who liveth and reigneth with Thee, in the unity of the Holy Ghost, one God, world without end. Amen.
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Canticum Magnificat (from Vespers on the Vigil of All Saints)
{Antiphon from the Proper of Saints}
Ant. O ye Angels, * ye Archangels, ye Thrones and Dominions, ye Principalities and Powers, ye mighty ones of the heavens, ye Cherubim and Seraphim, O ye Patriarchs and Prophets, ye holy Teachers of the Law, O ye Apostles, O all ye Martyrs of Christ, ye holy Confessors, ye Virgins of the Lord, ye Hermits, O all ye holy children of God, make intercession for us.
Let us prepare our souls for the graces heaven is about to shower upon the earth in return for its homage.
Tomorrow the Church will be so overflowing with joy, that she will seem to be already in possession of eternal happiness; but today she appears in the garb of penance, confessing that she is still an exile.
Let us fast and pray with her; for are not we too pilgrims and strangers in this world, where all things are fleeting and hurry on to death?
Year by year, as the great solemnity comes round, it has gathered from among our former companions new saints, who bless our tears and smile upon our songs of hope.
Year by year the appointed time draws nearer, when we ourselves, seated at the heavenly banquet, shall receive the homage of those who succeed us, and hold out a helping hand to draw them after us to the home of everlasting happiness.
Let us learn, from this very hour, to emancipate our souls; let us keep our hearts free, in the midst of the vain solicitudes and false pleasures of a strange land: the exile has no care but his banishment, no joy but that which gives him a foretaste of his fatherland.
With these thoughts in mind, let us say with the Church the Collect of the vigil.
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Domine Deus noster, multiplica super nos gratiam tuam: et, quorum prævenimus gloriosa solemnia, tribue subsequi in sancta professione lætitiam. Per Dominum.
O Lord our God, multiply thy grace upon us; and grant us in our holy profession to follow the joy of those, whose glorious solemnity we anticipate. Through our Lord.
domprospergueranger #theliturgicalyear #vigilofallsaints
The councils of Spain and Gaul, as early as the sixth century, (Concil. Gerund, an. 517, can. 3; Lugdun. II. an. 567, can. 1.) mention a custom then existing, of sanctifying the commencement of November by three days of penance and litanies, like the Rogation days which precede the feast of our Lord’s Ascension.
The fast on the Vigil of All Saints is the only remaining vestige of this custom of our forefathers, who, after the institution of the feast, advanced the triduum of penance, so as to make it a preparation for the solemnity itself. “Let our devotion be complete,” is the recommendation of a contemporaneous author; “let us prepare ourselves for this most holy solemnity by three days of fasting, prayer and almsdeeds.” (Inter Opera ALUINI, Epist. xci. ad calcem.)
When extended to the entire world, the feast became complete; it was made equal to the greatest solemnities, and widened its horizon till it reached the infinite, embracing uncreated as well as created sanctity. Its object was now, not only Mary and the martyrs; not only all the just children of Adam, but moreover the nine choirs of Angels, and above all the Holy Trinity Itself, God who is all in all, the King of kings, that is, of the Saints, the God of gods in Sion. Hear now the Church awakes her children on this day: Come let us adore the Lord, the King of kings, for he is the crown of all the Saints.” (Invitatory of the Feast.) Such was the invitation addressed by our Lord himself to St. Mechtilde, the chantress of Helfta, the privileged one of his divine Heart: “Praise me, for that I am the crown of all the Saints.” The virgin then beheld all the beauty of the elect and their glory drawing increase from the Blood of Christ, and resplendent with the virtues practiced by him; and responding to our Lord’s appeal, she praised with all her might the blissful and ever adorable Trinity, for deigning to be to the Saints their diadem and their admirable dignity. (Liber specialis gratiae, P . I. cap . xxxi.) – Dom Prosper Gueranger