Holy Week

Holy Saturday

Day 46: Holy Saturday
 
A night has passed over the Tomb, in where it lies buried the Body of the Man-God. Death is triumphant in that silent cave, and holds captive Him, that gives life to every creature—but his triumph will soon be at an end. The Soldiers may watch, as best they will, over that Grave: they cannot hold Jesus prisoner, as soon as the moment fixed for his Resurrection comes. The holy Angels are there, profoundly adoring the lifeless Body of Him whose Blood is to reconcile all things, both on earth, and in heaven. This Body, though, for a brief interval, separated from the Soul, is still united to the Person of the Son of God; so likewise, the Soul, during its separation from the Body, has not, for an instant, lost its union with the Word. The Divinity remains also united with the Blood that lies sprinkled on Calvary, and which, at the moment of the Resurrection of the Man-God, is to enter once more into his sacred veins.
 
Let us, also, return to the Sepulcher, and adore the Body of our Buried Jesus. Now, at last, we understand what sin has done: By sin, death entered into the world; and it passed upon all men. Though Jesus knew no sin, yet has he permitted Death to have dominion over him, in order that he might make it less bitter to us, and, by his Resurrection, restore unto us that eternal life, of which we had been deprived by sin. How gratefully we should appreciate this Death of our Jesus! By becoming Incarnate, he became a Servant; his Death was a still deeper humiliation. The sight of this Tomb, wherein his Body lies lifeless and cold, teaches us something far more important than the power of death: it reveals to us the immense, incomprehensible love of God for man.
 
He knew that we were to gain by his humiliations—the greater his humiliations, the greater our exaltation: this was his principle, and it led him to what seems like an excess! Let us, then, love this sacred Sepulcher, which is to give us Life. We have thanked him for having died for us upon the Cross; let us thank him, but most feelingly, for having humbled himself, for our sakes, even to the Tomb!
 
And now, let us visit the Holy Mother, who has passed the night in Jerusalem, going over, in saddest memory, the scenes she has witnessed. Her Jesus has been a Victim to every possible insult and cruelty: he has been crucified: his precious Blood has flowed in torrents from those Five Wounds: he is dead, and now lies buried in yonder Tomb, as thou he were but a mere man, yea the most abject of men. How many tears have fallen during these long hours from the eyes of the Daughter of David! and yet, her Son has not come back to her! Near her is Magdalene; heartbroken by yesterday’s events, she has no words to tell her grief, for Jesus is gone, and, as she thinks, forever. The other Women, less loved by Jesus than Magdalene, yet still dear to him, stand round the disconsolate Mother. They have braved every insult and danger in order to remain on Calvary till all was over, and they intend returning thither with Magdalene, as soon as the Sabbath is over, to honor the Tomb and the Body of Jesus.
 
John, the adopted son of Mary, and the Beloved Disciple of Jesus, is oppressed with sorrow. Others, also, of the Apostles and Disciples visit the house of mourning. Peter, penitent and humble, fears not to appear before the Mother of Mercy. Among the Disciples are Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus. We may easily imagine the conversation—it is on the Sufferings and Death of Jesus, and on the ingratitude of the Jews. The Church, in the 7th Responsory of today’s Tenebræ, represents these men as saying: “Behold! how the Just One died, and there is none that taketh it to heart. Iniquity has had its way. He was silent as a Lamb under his shearer, and he opened not his mouth. He was taken away from distress and judgment: but his memory shall be in peace.”
 
Thus speak the men!—the women are thinking of tomorrow's visit to the Sepulchre! The saintliness of Jesus, his goodness, his power, his Sufferings, his Death—everything is remembered, except his Resurrection, which they had often heard him say should certainly and speedily take place. Mary alone lives in expectation of his triumph. In her was verified that expression of the Holy Ghost where, speaking of the Valiant Woman, he says: Her lamp shall not be put out in the night. Her courage fails not, because she knows that the Sepulcher must yield up its Dead, and her Jesus will rise again to Life. St. Paul tells us that our religion is vain unless we have faith in the mystery of our Savior’s Resurrection: where was this faith on the day after our Lord’s Death? In one heart only—and that was Mary’s. As it was her chaste womb that had held within it Him whom heaven and earth cannot contain, so on this day, by her firm and unwavering faith, she resumes within her single self the whole Church. How sacred is this Saturday, which, despite all its sadness, is such a day of glory to the Mother of Jesus! 
It is on this account that the Church has consecrated to Mary the Saturday of every week.
 
But it is time to repair the House of God. The Bells are still silent: our faith must speak to us, and make us eager to assist at the grand Mysteries which the Liturgy is about to celebrate.
 
Thus, we conclude our Lenten journey through the Sacred Triduum. As we eagerly await the Resurrection of Our Lord, we hope that this Paschaltide is filled with many graces to you and your family. May the Light of the World, which is Christ, Our Lord bring about a conversion of heart and a renewed spirit of conversion and holiness.
 
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Good Friday

Our Holy Mother Church will soon be calling us once more to join with her in the holy Offices: meanwhile, let us keep our hearts and thoughts upon our Redeemer, for these are the very Hours when He wrought our Salvation. Our morning’s meditation brings us to Calvary, where we were considering how the executioners stripped Jesus of His clothes, in preparation to their nailing Him to the Cross. Let us reverently assist at the consummation of the Sacrifice, which He offers, for us, to the Justice of His Eternal Father.
 
A reading from the Holy Gospel according to John:
 
In the Parasceve of the Pasch, about the sixth hour; Pilate said to the Jews: Behold your King. But they cried out: Away with Him. Away with Him: Crucify Him. Pilate said to them: Shall I crucify your King?The chief priests answered: We have no king but Caesar. Then, therefore, he delivered Him to them to be crucified. And they took Jesus and led Him forth. And bearing His cross, He went forth to that place which is called Calvary but in Hebrew, Golgotha.; where they crucified Him, and with Him two others, one on each side and Jesus in the midst. And Pilate wrote a title also: and he put it upon the cross. And the writing was: Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews. This title therefore many of the Jews did read: because the place where Jesus was crucified was nigh to the city. And it was written in Hebrew, Greek, and in Latin. Then the chief priests of the Jews said to Pilate: Write not: The King of the Jews; but that He said: I am the King of the Jews. Pilate answered: What I have written, I have written. The soldiers therefore, when they had crucified Him, took His garments and they made four parts, to every soldier a part and also His coat. Now the coat was without seam, woven from the top throughout. They said then one to another: Let us not cut it, but let us cast lots for it, whose it shall be: that the Scripture might be fulfilled which said: They have parted My garments among them, and upon My vesture they have cast lots. And the soldiers indeed did these things. Now there stood by the cross of Jesus His Mother, and His Mother's sister, Mary of Cleophas, and Mary Magdalen. When Jesus therefore had seen His Mother and the disciple standing whom He loved, He said to His Mother: Woman, behold your son. After that, He said to the disciple: Behold your mother. And from that hour, the disciple took her to his own. Afterwards, Jesus, knowing that all things were now accomplished, that the Scripture might be fulfilled, said: I thirst. Now there was a vessel set there, full of vinegar. And they, putting a sponge full of vinegar about hyssop, put it in His mouth. Jesus therefore, when He had taken the vinegar, said: It is consummated. And bowing His head, He gave up the ghost.
Then the Jews because it was the Parasceve, that the bodies might not remain upon the cross on the Sabbath day, for that was a great Sabbath day, besought Pilate that their legs might be broken and that they might be taken away. The soldiers therefore came, and they broke the legs of the first, and of the other that was crucified with Him. But after they came to Jesus, when they saw that He was already dead, they did not break His legs. But one of the soldiers with a spear opened His side, and immediately there came out blood and water. And he that saw it gave testimony: and his testimony is true. And he knows that what he said is true: that you also may believe. For these things were done that the Scripture might be fulfilled: you shall not break a bone of Him. And again another Scripture says: They shall look on Him whom they pierced.
After these things, Joseph of Arimathea (because he was a disciple of Jesus, but in secret, for fear of the Jews) besought Pilate that he might take the body of Jesus. And Pilate gave leave. He came therefore and took away the body of Jesus. And Nicodemus also came, he who had at first come to Jesus by night, bringing a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about one hundred pound weight. They took the body of Jesus, and bound it in linen cloth with the spices, according to the burial custom of the Jews. Now there was in the place where he was crucified, a garden; and in the garden a new sepulcher, in which no man had yet been laid. There, therefore, because of the Parasceve of the Jews, they laid Jesus, because the sepulcher was near at hand.
Reflection:
The Tree of our Salvation, as it falls into the hole prepared for it, strikes against a tomb: — and the Tomb is that of our First Parent. The blood of the Redeemer flows down from the Cross, and falls upon a skull: it is the skull of Adam, whose sin has called for this great expiation. In His mercy, the Son of God wills that the instrument, in which He has gained pardon for the guilty world, should rest amidst the very bones of Him that first caused its guilt. Thus is Satan confounded: the creation is not, as he had thought, turned by his deceits, to the shame of its Creator. The hill, on which is raised the Standard of our Salvation, is called Calvary, which signifies a skull. Here, according to the tradition of the Jews, was buried our First Parent, the first Sinner. Among the Holy Fathers of the early Ages, who have handed down this interesting tradition to us, we may cite St. Basil, St. Ambrose, St. John Chrysostom, St. Epiphanius and St. Jerome. Origen, who had such opportunities of knowing the Jewish traditions, mentions this as well. At a very early period, Christian Art introduced the custom of placing a human skull at the feet of Jesus’ image on the Cross. It was done to commemorate the great fact, to which we have been alluding.
But let us look up and see this Jesus of ours, whose life is so soon to end upon this instrument of torture. Here, we behold Him exposed to the view of the Jewish people, as the Serpent was, of old, lifted up, by Moses, in the desert. (John 3:14) His enemies pass before Him, making insulting gestures, and saying: “You who said that you would destroy the temple of God, and in three days rebuild it: save Yourself! If you are the Son of God, come down from the cross!” (Matthew 27:40) The chief priests and the ancients continue the blasphemy, but adding their own emphasis to it: “He saved others; Himself He cannot save! If He is King of Israel, let Him now come down from the cross, and we will believe in Him. He trusted in God; let Him now deliver Him, if He will have Him; for He said: I am the Son of God.” (Matthew 27:42-43) The two thieves, who were crucified with Him, insulted Him in a similar way.
Never had God conferred on His creatures a blessing comparable to this: and yet, never did man so boldly insult his God! Let us Christians, who adore Him whom the Jews blaspheme, offer Him, at this moment, the Reparation He so infinitely deserves. These impious men cite his own words, and turn them against Him: let us reverently remind our Jesus of an expression He once deigned to use, which should fill us with hope: “And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all things to Myself.” (John 12:32) Sweet Jesus! the time has come: You have been lifted up from the earth: fulfill Your promise, draw us to Yourself! This earth has such hold upon us, we are chained fast to it by so many ties; self-love binds us; and when we attempt to fly to You, our flight is delayed. Oh! break our chains, and draw us to Yourself, that we may at length reach You, and that we may console you by the conquest of our souls!
O Jesus! Son of the Eternal Father! We adore You now lying dead on the wood of Your Sacrifice. Your bitter Death has given us Life. Like those Jews who saw You expire, and returned to Jerusalem striking their breasts, — we, also, confess that it is our sins that have caused Your death. You have loved us, as none but a God could love. From now on, we must be Yours, and serve You, as creatures redeemed at the infinite price of Your Blood. You are our God; we are Your  people. Accept, we beseech You, our most loving thanks for this final proof of Your goodness towards us. Your holy Church now silently invites us to celebrate Your praise. We leave Calvary for a time; but will soon return there, to assist at Your holy Burial. Mary, Your Mother, remains immoveable at the foot of Your cross. Magdalene clings to Your feet. John and the holy women stand around You. Once more, dearest Jesus! We adore Your sacred Body, Your precious Blood, and Your holy cross, that have brought us Salvation.
 

The Seven Last Words - Fr. Joseph Moreno

A beautiful meditation on the Seven Last Words of Our Lord in the Cross by Father Joseph Moreno of the Diocese of Fort Worth, Texas.
We invite you to match Christ’s every step and breath with Him until He takes His last breath. Join us as we accompany Christ in His Passion and Death, so that we too may accompany Him in His glorious resurrection.
Connect with Father Joseph: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rev-joseph-moreno-19a5b52

Holy Thursday

The Church intends, on this day, to renew, in a most solemn manner, the mystery of the Last Supper: for our Lord himself, on this occasion of the institution of the Blessed Sacrament, said to his Apostles: Do this for a Commemoration of me. Let us, therefore, resume the Gospel narrative.
 
Jesus is in the Supper chamber, where the Paschal Lamb is to be eaten. All the Apostles are with him; Judas is there also, but his crime is not known to the rest. Jesus approaches the table on which the Lamb is to be served. His Disciples stand around him. The ceremonies prescribed by God to Moses are religiously observed. At the beginning of the repast, Jesus speaks these words to his Apostles: With desire, I have desired to eat this Passover with you, before I suffer. In saying this, he does not imply that the Passover of this year is intrinsically better than those that have preceded it; but, that it is dearer to him, inasmuch as it is to give rise to the institution of the new Passover, which he has prepared for mankind, and which he is now going to give them as his last gift: for as St. John says, having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them unto the end.
 
A reading from the Holy Gospel according to John:
 
Before the Passover feast, Jesus knowing that His hour had come, that He should pass out of this world to the Father, having loved His own who were in the world. He loved them unto the end. And when supper was done - the devil having now put into the heart of Judas, the son of Simon the Iscariot, to betray Him, - knowing that the Father had given Him all things into His hands and that He came from God and was going to God: He rose from supper and lay aside His garments and, having taken a towel, girded Himself. After that, He poured water into a basin and began to wash the feet of the disciples and to wipe them with the towel He was girded with. He came therefore to Simon Peter. And Peter said to Him: Lord, do You wash my feet? Jesus answered and said to him: What I do, you know not now: but you will know afterwards. Peter said to Him: You shall never wash my feet. Jesus answered him: If I do not wash you, you shall have no part with Me. Simon Peter said to Him: Lord, not only my feet, but also my hands and my head. Jesus said to him: He that is washed has no need but to wash his feet, he is clean wholly. And you are clean, but not all. For He knew who he was that would betray Him; therefore He said: You are not all clean. Then after He had washed their feet and taken His garments, returned to the table and said to them: Do you know what I have done to you? You call Me Master and Lord. And you say well; for so I am. If then I, being your Lord and Master, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another's feet. For I have given you an example, that as I have done to you, so you must do also.
 
Reflection:
 
Our Savior’s washing the feet of his Disciples before permitting them to partake of his Divine Mystery, conveys an instruction to us. Here, we have Jesus saying to his Disciples: You are clean. It is true, he adds: but not all: just as the Apostle St. Paul assures us in the Epistle to the Corinthians that there are some who render themselves guilty of the Body and Blood of the Lord. God forbid we should ever be of the number! Let us prove ourselves; let us sound the depths of our conscience, before approaching the Holy Table. Mortal sin, and the affection to mortal sin, would change the Bread of Life into a deadly poison for our souls. But if respect for the holiness of God, who is about to enter within us by Holy Communion, should make us shudder at the thought of our receiving him in the state of mortal sin, which robs the soul of the image of God and gives her that of Satan—ought not that same respect urge us to purify our souls from venial sins, which dim the beauty of grace? “He”, says our Savior, “that is washed has no need but to wash his feet.” The feet are those earthly attachments, which so often lead us to the brink of sin. Let us watch over our senses, and the affections of our hearts. Let us wash away these stains by a sincere confession, by penance, by sorrow, and by humility; that thus we may worthily receive the Adorable Sacrament, and derive from it the fullness of its power and grace.
 
Let us pray,
 
O God, from whom Judas received the punishment of his guilt, and the thief the reward of his confession: grant unto us the full fruit of Thy clemency; that even as in His Passion, our Lord Jesus Christ gave to each a retribution according to his merits, so having taken away our old sins, He may bestow upon us the grace of His Resurrection Who livest and reignest with God the Father, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, world without end.
 
Amen.

Wednesday in Holy Week

A reading from the Book of the Prophet Isaiah:
 
In those days, Isaiah said: Who has believed our report? and to whom is the arm of the Lord revealed? And he shall grow up as a tender plant before him, and as a root out of a thirsty ground: there is no beauty in him, nor comeliness: and we have seen him, and there was no sightliness, that we should be desirous of him: Despised, and the most abject of men, a man of sorrows, and acquainted with infirmity: and his look was as it were hidden and despised, whereupon we esteemed him not. Surely he bore our infirmities and carried our sorrows: and we have thought him as it were a leper, and as one struck by God and afflicted. But he was wounded for our iniquities, he was bruised for our sins: the chastisement of our peace was upon him, and by his bruises we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray, everyone has turned aside into his own way: and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all. He was offered because it was his own will, and he opened not his mouth: he shall be led as a sheep to the slaughter, and shall be dumb as a lamb before his shearer, and he shall not open his mouth. He was taken away from distress, and from judgment: who shall declare his generation? because he is cut off from the land of the living: for the wickedness of my people have I struck him. And he shall give the ungodly for his burial, and the rich for his death: because he has done no iniquity, neither was there deceit in his mouth. And the Lord was pleased to bruise him in infirmity: if he shall lay down his life for sin, he shall see a long-lived seed, and the will of the Lord shall be prosperous in his hand. Because his soul has labored, he shall see and be filled: by his knowledge shall this my just servant justify many, and he shall bear their iniquities. Therefore will I distribute to him very many, and he shall divide the spoils of the strong, because he has delivered his soul unto death, and was reputed with the wicked: and he bore the sins of many, and prayed for the transgressors.
 
A reflection upon the sacred scriptures:
 
Again it is Isaiah that instructs us, not indeed upon the triumph which our Emmanuel is to win over his enemies, but upon the sufferings of the Man of Sorrows. So explicit is his description of our Lord’s Passion that the holy Fathers have called him the fifth Evangelist. What could be more sublimely plaintive than the language here used by the son of Amos? And we, after hearing both the Old and New Testament upon the sufferings which Jesus went through for our sins—how shall we sufficiently love this dear Redeemer, who bore our infirmities and carried our sorrows, so as to look as a leper, and as one struck by God, and afflicted?
 
We are healed by his bruises! O heavenly Physician, that takes upon himself the sufferings of them he comes to heal! But not only he was bruised for our sins; he was also slaughtered as a lamb: and this not merely as a Victim submitting to the inflexible justice of his Father who has laid upon him the iniquity of us all, but because it was his own will. His love for us, as well as his submission to his Father, that led him to the great Sacrifice. Observe how he refuses to defend himself before Pilate, who could so easily deliver him from his enemies: He shall be dumb as a lamb before his shearers, and he shall not open his mouth. Let us love and adore this divine silence, which works our salvation. Let us not pass over an iota of the devotedness which Jesus shows us—a devotedness which never could have existed, save in the Heart of a God. Oh! how much he has loved us—his children, the purchase of his Blood, his Seed, as the Prophet here calls us. O Holy Church! You long-lived Seed of Jesus, that laid down his life!—You are dear to him, for he bought you at a great price. Faithful Souls! give him love for love! sinners! be converted to this your Savior; his Blood will restore you to life, for if we have all gone astray like sheep, remember what is added: The Lord has laid upon him the iniquity of us all. There is no sinner, however great may be his crimes; there is no heretic, or infidel, who has not his share in this precious Blood, whose infinite merit is such that it could redeem a million worlds, more guilty even than our own.
 
Let us pray,
 
Look down we beseech thee, O Lord, on this thy family on whose sake our Lord Jesus Christ refused not to yield himself into the hands of the wicked and to suffer the torments of the cross. Who livest and reignest with God the Father, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, world without end.
 
Amen.

Tuesday in Holy Week

A reading from the book of the prophet Jeremiah: 
In those days Jeremiah said: You O Lord, has shown me, and I have known: then You showed me their doings. And I was as a meek lamb, that is carried to be a victim: and I knew not that they had devised plots against me, saying: Let us put wood on his bread, and cut him off from the land of the living, and let his name be remembered no more. But you, O Lord of hosts, who judges justly, and tries the reins and hearts, let me see your revenge on them: for you I have revealed my cause, O Lord our God.
Reflection:
 
Again, we have the plaintive words of Jeremias: he gives us the very words used by his enemies, when they conspired his death. It is evident, however, that the Prophet is here a figure of one greater than himself. Let us, say these enemies, put wood upon his bread: that is, let us put poisonous wood into what he eats, so that we may cause his death. This is the literal sense of these words, as applied to the Prophet; but how much more truly were they fulfilled in our Redeemer! He tells us that his Divine Flesh is the True Bread that came down from heaven. This Bread, this Body of the Man-God, is bruised, torn, and wounded; the Jews nail it to the Wood; so that it is, in a manner, made one with the Wood, and the Wood is all covered with Jesus’ Blood. This Lamb of God was on the Wood I of the Cross: it is by his immolation that we have had given to us a Sacrifice which is worthy of God; and it is by this Sacrifice that we participate in the Bread of Heaven, the Flesh of the Lamb, our true Passover.
 
Let us pray,
 
May thy mercy, O God, cleanse us from all traces of our old nature, and enable us to be formed anew unto holiness. Through Jesus Christ, thy Son our Lord, Who liveth and reigneth with thee, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, world without end.
Amen.

Monday in Holy Week

A reading from the Book of the Prophet Isaiah:
 
In those days, Isaiah said: The Lord has opened my ear making known his will to me, and I do not resist: I have not gone back. I have given my body to the strikers, and my cheeks to them that plucked them: I have not turned away my face from them that rebuked me, and spit upon me. The Lord God is my helper, therefore am I not confounded. He is near that justifies me, who will contend with me? Let us stand together. Who is my adversary? let him come near to me. Behold, the Lord God is my helper: who is he that shall condemn me? Lo, they shall all be destroyed as a garment, the moth shall eat them up. Who is there among you that fears the Lord, that hears the voice of his servant? He that has walked in darkness, and has no light, let him hope in the name of the Lord, and lean upon his God.
 
A reflection upon the Sacred Scripture:
 
The Sufferings of our Redeemer, and the patience which with he is to bear them, are prophesied like this by Isaiah, who is always so explicit on the Passion. Jesus has accepted the office of Victim for the world’s salvation; he shrinks from no pain or humiliation: he turns not his Face from those that strike him and spit upon him. What reparation can we make to this Infinite Majesty, who, that he might save us, submitted himself to such sufferings as these? Observe these vile and cruel enemies of our Divine Lord: now that they have him in their power, they fear him not. When they came to seize him in the Garden, he had but to speak, and they fell back upon the ground; but he has now permitted them to bind his hands and lead him to the High Priest. They accuse him; they cry out against him; and he answers but a few words. Jesus of Nazareth, the great Teacher, the wonder-worker, has seemingly lost all his influence; they can do what they will with him. It is thus with the sinner; when the thunderstorm is over, and the lightning has not struck him, he regains his courage. The holy Angels look on with amazement at the treatment shown by the Jews to Jesus, and falling down, they adore the Holy Face, which they see thus bruised and defiled: let us, also, prostrate and ask pardon, for our sins have outraged that same Face.
 
But let us remember the last words of our reading: He that has walked in darkness, and has no light, let him hope in the name of the Lord, and lean upon his God. Who is this but the Gentile, abandoned to sin and idolatry? He knows not what is happening at this very hour in Jerusalem; he knows not that the earth possesses its Savior, and that this Savior is being trampled beneath the feet of his own chosen people: but in a very short time, the light of the Gospel will shine upon this poor Gentile: he will believe; he will obey; he will love his Redeemer, even to the laying down his life for him. Then will be fulfilled the prophecy of the unworthy Pontiff, who prophesied against his will that the death of Jesus would bring salvation to the Gentiles, by gathering into one family the children of God, that until then had been dispersed.
 
Let us pray,
 
Help us, O God, our Savior, and grant that we may draw nigh with joy, to keep the memory of those mercies, whereby thou didst deign to restore us to life.
Through Jesus Christ, thy Son our Lord, Who liveth and reigneth with thee, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, world without end.
 
Amen.