Quote:St. Peter spoke these words to Cornelius, the centurion, and to the household and friends of this Gentile who had called them together to receive the Apostle whom God had sent to him. He had come to prepare them for Baptism, and thus make them the first-fruits of the Gentile world, for up to this time, the Gospel had been preached only to the Jews. Let us take notice how it is St. Peter, and not any other of the Apostles, who throws open to us Gentiles the door of the Church, which Christ has built upon him, as upon the impregnable rock. This passage from the Acts of the Apostles is an appropriate Lesson for this day, whose Station is in the basilica of St. Peter: it is read near the Confession of the great Apostle, and in presence of the neophytes, who have been converted from the worship of false gods to the true faith. Let us observe, too, the method used by the Apostle in the conversion of Cornelius and the other Gentiles. He begins by speaking to them concerning Jesus. He tells them of the miracles He wrought; then, having related how He died the ignominious death of the cross, he insists on the fact of the Resurrection as the sure guarantee of His being truly God. He then instructs them on the mission of the Apostles, whose testimony must be received—a testimony which carries persuasion with it, seeing it was most disinterested, and availed them nothing save persecution. He, therefore, that believes in the Son of God made Flesh, who went about doing good, working all kinds of miracles; who died upon the cross, rose again from the dead, and entrusted to certain men, chosen by Himself, the mission of continuing on earth the ministry He had begun—he that confesses all this is worthy to receive, by holy Baptism, the remission of his sins. Such is the happy lot of Cornelius and his companions; such has been that of our neophytes.

Quote:Let us attentively consider these three travelers on the road to Emmaus, and go with them in spirit and affection. Two of them are frail men like ourselves, who are afraid of suffering; the cross has disconcerted them; they cannot persevere in the faith unless they find it brings them glory and success. O foolish and slow of heart! says the third: ought not Christ to have suffered, and so to enter into His glory? Hitherto, we ourselves have been like these two disciples. Our sentiments have been more those of the Jew than of the Christian. Hence our love of earthly things, which has made us heedless of such as are heavenly, and has thereby exposed us to sin. We cannot, for the time to come, be thus minded. The glorious Resurrection of our Jesus eloquently teaches us how to look upon the crosses sent us by God. However great may be our future trials, we are not likely to be nailed to a cross between two thieves. It is what the Son of God had to undergo: but did the sufferings of the Friday mar the kingly splendor of the Sunday’s triumph? Nay, is not His present glory redoubled by His past humiliations?

Therefore, let us not be cowards when our time for sacrifice comes; let us think of the eternal reward that is to follow. These two disciples did not know that it was Jesus who was speaking to them; and yet, He no sooner explained to them the plan of God’s wisdom and goodness, than they understood the mystery of suffering. Their hearts burned within them at hearing Him explain how the cross leads to the crown; and had He not held their eyes that they should not know Him, they would have discovered from his words that their instructor was Jesus. So will it be with us, if we will allow Him to speak to us. We shall understand how the disciple is not above the Master. Let us, this Easter, delight in gazing at the resplendent glory of our risen Lord, and we shall exclaim with the Apostle: No! “the sufferings of this time are not worthy to be compared with the glory to come, that shall be revealed in us.”

Now that the efforts made by the Christian for his conversion are being recompensed with the honor of approaching the holy banquet clothed in the nuptial-garment, there is another consideration that forces itself upon our attention, from the reading of today’s Gospel. It was during the breaking of bread that the eyes of the two disciples were opened to recognize their Master. The sacred Food which we receive, and whose whole virtue comes from the word of Christ, gives light to our souls, and enables them to see what before was hidden. Yes, this is the effect produced in us by the divine mystery of our Pasch, provided we be of the number of those who are thus described by the pious author of the Following of Christ: “They truly know their Lord in the breaking of Bread, whose heart burneth so mightily within them from Jesus’ walking with them.” Let us, therefore, give ourselves unreservedly to our risen Jesus. We belong to Him now more than ever, not only because of His having died, but also for his having risen for us. Let us imitate the disciples of Emmaus, and, like them, become faithful, joyful, and eager to show forth by our conduct that “newness of life” of which the Apostle speaks, and which alone befits us, seeing that Christ has so loved us as to wish His own Resurrection to be ours also.

The reason for the choice of this Gospel for today is that the Station is held in the basilica of St. Peter. St. Luke here tells us that the two disciples found the Apostles already made cognizant of the Resurrection of their Master: He hath, said they, appeared to Simon! We spoke yesterday of the favor thus shown to the Prince of the Apostles, which the Roman Church so justly commemorates in today’s Office.

Taken from The Liturgical Year by Dom Prosper Gueranger (1841-1875)

Quote:This discourse, which was made at Antioch in Pisidia, in the synagogue, shows us that the Doctor of the Gentiles followed the same method in his instructions as did the Prince of the Apostles. The great subject of their preaching was the Resurrection of Christ; for it is the fundamental truth, it is the fact above all others which proves the divine mission of the Son of God upon earth. It is not enough to believe in Christ crucified; we must also believe in Christ risen. The Resurrection is not only the indisputable fact on which rests the whole certainty of our faith, but it is also the dogma which energizes the whole Christian world. Nothing ever happened on this earth which produced a like impression. See how throughout the whole world it is now celebrated by millions of men of every race and nation! Nineteen centuries have passed away since the relics of St. Paul were first laid in this tomb on the Ostian Way; during that time, how many events have happened which, in their time, were looked on as of momentous importance and are now completely forgotten? For more than two hundred years the storm of persecution was almost ceaseless over Christian Rome; it even became necessary, in the third century, to remove these sacred remains and hide them, for a time, in the catacombs. After this came Constantine, who built this basilica, and erected the triumphal arch near this altar, under which lies the body of the Apostle. Since then, how many changes have taken place in the world! Dynasties, empires, forms of government, have succeeded each other, and only one institution has stood unchanged—the Church. Every year, during these fifteen centuries, she has gone to the basilica of St. Paul, and there, near his tomb, has read this discourse, in which the Apostle proclaimed the Resurrection of Christ to the Jews. Seeing such perpetuity, such unchangeableness, even in things like this, we cannot help exclaiming: Oh! truly, Christ is risen! He is the Son of God! for man could never have given duration to any work of his hand. Our Pasch alone tells us who Jesus is. Let us learn from the circumstance suggested to us by today’s Epistle, how the dazzling beauty of our risen Jesus is reflected even in the minutest details of our happy worship, the Liturgy.

Quote:Jesus shows Himself to all His Apostles, on the evening of the day on which He rose from the grave; and He greets them with the wish of peace. He wishes the same to us, during this Feast of the Pasch. He desires to establish peace among us—peace between man and God, peace in the conscience of the repentant sinner, peace between man and man by the forgiveness of injuries. Let us welcome this wish of our risen Lord, and jealously preserve the peace He thus deigns to bring us. At His birth in Bethlehem, the Angels announced this peace to men of good will; but now, it is Jesus Himself who brings it to us, for He has accomplished His work of pacification by dying for us on the cross. The first word He addresses to His Apostles, and through them to us, is Peace! Let us lovingly accept the blessing, and show ourselves to be, in all things, children of peace.

The conduct of the Apostles, on this occasion, deserves our attention. They believe in their Lord’s Resurrection; they eagerly announced the great event to the two disciples of Emmaus: but how weak is their faith! They are troubled and frighted at Jesus’ sudden apparition; and when He graciously permits them to handle Him, they are overpowered with joy, and yet there is a certain inexplicable doubt still lingering in their minds. Our Lord has to condescend even to eat in their presence, in order fully to convince them that it is really Himself, and not a phantom. What a strange inconsistency there is in all this! Had they not already believed and confessed the Resurrection of their Master, before receiving this visit? We have a lesson to learn here: it is that there are some people who believe, but their faith is so weak, that the slightest shock would endanger it; they say they have faith, but it is of the most superficial kind. And yet, without a lively and vigorous faith, what can we do in the battle we have to be incessantly waging against the devil, the world, and our own selves? He who wrestles with an enemy is desirous to have a sure footing; if he stand on slippery ground, he is sure to be thrown. Nothing is so common nowadays as unstable faith, which believes as long as there is nothing to try it: but let it be put to the test, and it gives way.

One principal cause of this weakness of faith is that subtle naturalism, which now fills the atmosphere in which we live, and which it is so difficult not to imbibe. Let us earnestly pray for an invincible and supernatural faith, which may be the ruling principle of our conduct, which may never flinch, and may triumph over both our internal and external enemies. Thus shall we be able to apply to ourselves those words of the Apostle St. John: This is the victory which overcometh the world, our faith.

Quote:Today, again, we have the Prince of the Apostles proclaiming in Jerusalem the Resurrection of the Man-God. On this occasion, he was accompanied by St. John, and had just worked his first miracle, of curing the lame man, near one of the gates of the temple. The people had crowded round the two Apostles, and St. Peter preached to them; it was the second time he had spoken in public. His first sermon brought three thousand to receive Baptism; the one of today, five thousand. Truly did the Apostle exercise on these two occasions his office of fisher of men, which our Lord gave him when He first called him to be His disciple. Let us admire the charity wherewith St. Peter bids the Jews acknowledge Jesus as their Messias. These are the very men who have denied Him; and yet the Apostle by partially excusing their crime on the score of ignorance, encourages them to hope for pardon. They clamored for the death of Jesus in the days of His voluntary weakness and humiliation; let them, now that He is glorified, acknowledge Him as their Messias and King, and their sin shall be forgiven. In a word, let them humble themselves and they shall be saved. Thus did God call unto Himself those who were of a good will and an upright heart; thus does He also in these our days. There were some in Jerusalem who corresponded to the call; but the far greater number refused to follow it. It is the same now. Let us earnestly beseech our Lord that the nets of His fishermen may be filled, and the Paschal banquet be crowded with guests.

Quote:Jesus had shown Himself to all His Apostles on the Sunday evening; He repeated His visit to them eight days after, as we shall see further on. The Gospel for today tells us of a third apparition, wherewith seven of the eleven were favored. It took place on the shore of Lake Genesareth, which, on account of its size, was called the Sea of Tiberias. The seven are delighted beyond measure at seeing their divine Master; He treats them with affectionate familiarity, and provides them with a repast. John is the first to recognize Jesus; nor can we be surprised: his purity gives keen perception to the eye of his soul, as it is written: Blessed are the clean of heart, for they shall see God. Peter throws himself from the ship, that he may the more quickly reach his Lord. His natural impetuosity shows itself here as on so many other occasions; but in this impetuosity we see that he loved Jesus more than his fellow disciples did. But let us attentively consider the other mysteries of our Gospel.

The seven disciples are fishing: it is the Church working out her apostolate. Peter is the master fisherman; it belongs to him to decide when and where the nets are to be thrown. The other six Apostles unite with him in the work, and Jesus is with tham all, looking upon their labor and directing it, for whatever is got by it is all for Him. The fish are the faithful, for, as we have already had occasion to remark, the Christian was often called by this name in the early ages. It was the font, it was water, that gave him his Christian life. Yesterday, we were considering how the Israelites owed their safety to the waters of the Red Sea; and our Gospel for today speaks of a Passover, a passing from Genesareth’s waters to a banquet prepared by Jesus. There is a mystery, too, in the number of the fishes that are taken; but what it is that is signified by these hundred and fifty-three, we shall perhaps never know, until the day of Judgment reveals the secret. They probably denote some divisions or portions of the human race that are to be gradually led, by the apostolate of the Church, to the Gospel of Christ: but once more, till God’s time comes, the book must remain sealed.

Having reached the shore, the Apostles surround their beloved Master, and lo! He has prepared them a repast: bread, and a fish lying on hot coals. This fish is not one of those they themselves have caught; they are to partake of it, now that they have come from the water. The early Christians thus interpret the mystery: the fish represents Christ, who was made to suffer the cruel torments of the Passion, and whose love of us was the fire that consumed Him; and He became the divine food of them that are regenerated by water. We have elsewhere remarked that in the primitive Church, the Greek word for fish (Ikthus) was venerated as a sacred symbol, inasmuch as the letters of this word formed the initials of the titles of our Redeemer.

But Jesus would unite, in the same repast, both the divine Fish, which is Himself, and those other fishes, which represent all mankind, and have been drawn out of the water in Peter’s net. The Paschal Feast has the power to effect, by love, an intimate and substantial union between the Food and the guests, between the Lamb of God and the other lambs who are His brethren, between the divine Fish and those others that He has associated with Himself by the closest ties of fellowship. They, like Him, have been offered in sacrifice; they follow Him in suffering and in glory. Witness the great deacon Laurence, around whose tomb the faithful are now assembled. He was made like to his divine Master, when he was burned to death on his red-hot gridiron; he is now sharing with Him, in an eternal Pasch, the glories of Jesus’ victory, and the joys of His infinite happiness.

Quote:O Lord God, almighty Father, Creator of the elements, preserver of mankind, author of grace and eternal salvation! who badest the rivers, that flowed from paradise, to water the whole earth! O thou, whose only-begotten Son walked dry-shod on the waters, and in the same was baptized, who also gave forth from his most sacred side water mingled with Blood, and commanded his disciples to baptize all nations; be merciful unto us, and pour forth thy blessing upon us who celebrate all these wonders; that thus, the creatures which we are about to plunge into this water, may be blessed and sanctified by thee, and that the honor and veneration, which shall be shown to them, may draw down upon us, thy servants, the forgiveness of sins, pardon and grace, and finally life eternal together with thy saints and elect.

Quote:O God, the author of all sanctification, and whose goodness is ever with us; thou who, when Abraham, the father of our faith, was preparing to slay his son Isaac in obedience to thy commands, didst will him to consummate his sacrifice by offering up the ram that was entangled in the briers: thou who didst prescribe, through thy servant Moses, the yearly sacrifice of the spotless lambs; deign, we pray thee, to bless, and sanctify, by the invocation of thy holy Name, these forms of wax, which bear the impress of the most innocent Lamb; that by their contact and presence, the faithful may be incited to pray, storms and tempests be driven away, and the wicked spirits put to flight by the virtue of the holy cross hereon marked, before which every knee bends, and every tongue confesses that Jesus Christ, having conquered death on the gibbet of the cross, now reigneth in the glory of God the Father. He it is who, when led to death as a sheep to slaughter, offered unto thee his Father the sacrifice of his own Body, that he might bring back the lost sheep that had been led astray by the devil’s fraud, and carry it, on his shoulders, to the fold of heaven.

O almighty and eternal God, the institutor of the ceremonies and sacrifices of the Law, who didst deign to turn away thine anger from sinful men, as often as he offered victims of propitiation unto thee; who didst graciously accept the sacrifices made by Abel, Melchisedech, Abraham, Moses and Aaron, which sacrifices were indeed but figures, yet, by thy blessing, were made holy and profitable to them that humbly offered them; grant, we beseech thee, that as the innocent Lamb, Jesus Christ thy Son when immolated at thy will on the altar of the cross, delivered our first parent from the power of the devil, so may these spotless lambs, which we present to thy divine Majesty for a blessing, be endued with power unto good. Deign to bless them, to sanctify them, to consecrate them, to give them the power to protect those who devoutly carry them against the malice of demons, against tempests, pestilence, sickness, fire, and enemies; and make them efficacious in protecting the mother and her child, in the dangers of travail. Through Jesus Christ, thy Son, our Lord.

Quote:O Holy Spirit! who makest the waters fruitful, and usest them as the instrument of thy greatest mysteries; who didst take away their bitterness, and give them sweetness; and, sanctifying them by thy breathing, dost employ them for washing away all sins, by the invocation of the holy Trinity; vouchsafe to bless, sanctify, and consecrate these lambs that have been cast into the holy water, and have imbibed of the balm and holy chrism. May they receive power from thee against the efforts of the devil’s malice; may they who wear them abide in safety; may they have nought to fear from danger; may the wickedness of men have no power to hurt them; and do thou mercifully be their strength and consolation.

Lord Jesus Christ, Son of the living God! who art the innocent Lamb, the Priest and the Victim; whom the prophets called the vine and the corner stone; who didst redeem us by thy Blood, and, with that same, didst sign our hearts and foreheads, that the enemy, when passing our dwellings, might not wreak his anger upon us; who art the spotless Lamb, offered in ceaseless sacrifice; who art the Paschal Lamb, become, under the sacramental species, the remedy and salvation of our souls; who guidest us across the sea of this present life to the resurrection and glory of eternity; deign, we beseech thee, to bless, sanctify, and consecrate these spotless lambs, which, in thy honor, we have formed out of virgin wax, and have impregnated with holy water, and sacred balm and chrism, intending hereby to commemorate thy being divinely conceived by the operation of the Holy Ghost. Protect those that wear them from fire, and lightning, and tempests, and every adversity; grant them to be a safeguard to mothers in the pains of childbirth, as thou didst assist thine own when she gave thee birth. And as thou, heretofore, didst save Susanna from her false accusers, and the blessed martyr and virgin Thecla from torture, and Peter from his prison chains; so, now, vouchsafe to deliver us from the dangers of this world, and give us to merit life eternal with thee.

Quote:The Church, by this passage from the Acts of the Apostles, would remind her neophytes of the sublime grace of their Baptism, and under what condition they have been regenerated. God put the opportunity of salvation in their path, as He sent Philip to the eunuch. He gave them a desire to know the truth, in the same manner as He inspired this servant of Queen Candace to read what was to occasion his being instructed in the faith of Christ. This pagan, had he chosen, might have received the instructions of God’s messenger with mistrust and indifference, and so have resisted the grace that was offered him; but no, he opened his heart, and faith filled it. Our neophytes did the same: they were docile, and God’s word enlightened them; they went on from light to light, until at length the Church recognized them as true disciples of the faith. Then came the Feast of the Pasch, and this mother of souls said to herself, Lo, here is water,—the water that purifies, the water that issued from Jesus’ side when opened by the spear: what hinders them from being baptized? Having confessed that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, they were baptized, as was the Ethiopian of our Epistle, in the life-giving waters; like him, they are about to continue the journey of life, rejoicing, for they are risen with Christ, who has graciously vouchsafed to associate the joy of their new birth with that of His own triumph.

Quote:Today’s Station is in the basilica of the twelve Apostles; and instead of putting before us any of the apparitions related by the Gospel as having been made to His Apostles by our Savior, after His Resurrection, the Church reads to us the one wherewith Magdalene was honored. Why thus apparently forget the very heralds and ambassadors of the New Law? The reason is obvious. By thus honoring her whom our Lord selected as the Apostle of His apostles, the Church would put before us, in their full truth, the circumstances of the day of the Resurrection. It was through Magdalene and her companions that began the apostolate of the grandest mystery of our Jesus’ life upon earth; they have every right, therefore, to be honored today in the basilica, which is sacred to the holy Apostles.

God is all-powerful, and delights in showing Himself in that which is weakest; He is infinitely good and glorious in rewarding such as love Him. This explains how it was that our Jesus gave to Magdalene and her companions the first proofs of His Resurrection, and so promptly consoled them. They were even weaker than the Bethlehem shepherds; they were, therefore, the objects of a higher preference. The Apostles themselves were weaker than the weakest of the earthly powers they were to bring into submission; hence, they too were initiated in the mystery of Jesus’ triumph. But Magdalene and her companions had loved their Master even to the cross and in His tomb, whereas the Apostles had abandoned Him; they therefore had a better claim than the Apostles to Jesus’ generosity, and richly did He satisfy the claim.

Let us attentively consider the sublime spectacle of the Church receiving the knowledge of that mystery, which is the basis of her faith, the Resurrection. After Mary—in whom the light of faith never waned, and to whom, as the sinless Mother, was due the first manifestation—who were the first to be illumined with that faith whereby the Church lives? Magdalene and her companions. For several hours, this was the “little flock” on which Jesus looked with complacency: little, indeed, and weak in the world’s estimation, but grand, as being the noblest work of grace. Yet a short time, and the Apostles will be added to the number; yea, the whole world will form a part of this elect group. The Church now sings these words in every country of the earth: “Tell us, O Mary! what thou sawest on the way!” And Mary Magdalene tells the Church the mystery: “I saw the sepulcher of Christ, and the glory of Him that arose.”

Nor must we be surprised that women were the first to form, around the Son of God, the Church of believers, the Church resplendent with the brightness of the Resurrection: it is the continuation of that divine plan, the commencement of which we have already respectfully studied. It was by woman that the work of God was marred in the beginning; He willed that it should be repaired by woman. On the day of the Annunciation, we found the second Eve making good by her own obedience the disobedience of the first; and now, at Easter, God honors Magdalene and her companions in preference even to the Apostles. We repeat it: these facts show us not so much a personal favor conferred upon individuals as the restoration of woman to her lost dignity. “The woman,” says St. Ambrose, “was the first to taste the food of death; she is destined to be the first witness of the Resurrection. By proclaiming this mystery, she will atone for her fault … therefore is it that she, who heretofore had announced sin to man, was sent by the Lord to announce the tidings of salvation to men, and to make known to them His grace.” Others of the holy Fathers speak in the same strain. They tell us that God, in the distribution of the gifts of His grace, gives woman the first place. And in what happened at the Resurrection, they recognize not merely an act of the supreme will of the Master, but moreover a well-deserved reward for the love Jesus met with from these humble women; a love which He did not receive from His Apostles, though He had treated them, for the last three years of His life, with every mark of intimacy and affection, and had every right to expect them to be courageous in their devotedness towards Him.

Magdalene stands as a queen amidst her holy companions. She is most dear to Jesus; she has loved Him more than all the rest of His friends did; she has been more heartbroken at seeing Him suffer; she has been more earnest in paying honor to the sacred Body of her buried Master. She is well-nigh beside herself until she has found Him; and when she at length meet Him and finds Jesus Himself still living and still full of love for Magdalene, she could die for very joy! She would show Him her delight, but Jesus checks her, saying: Touch me not! for I am not yet ascended to my Father!

Jesus is no longer subject to the conditions of mortality. True, His human Nature will be eternally united with His divine; but His Resurrection tells the faithful soul that His relations with her are no longer the same as before. During His mortal life, He suffered Himself to be approached as Man; there was little, in His exterior, to indicate His Divinity; but now, His external splendor gleams through His very Body, and bespeaks the Son of God. Henceforth, then, we must see Him with the heart rather than with the eye, and offer Him a respectful love, rather than one of sentiment, however tender. He allowed Magdalene to touch Him so long as she was weak in her conversion, and He Himself was mortal; but now, she must aspire to that highest spiritual good, which is the life of the soul—Jesus, in the bosom of the Father. In her first estate Magdalene is the type of the soul when commencing its search after Jesus. But her love needs a transformation: it is ardent, but not wise: so that the Angel has to chide her: “Why,” says he, “seekest thou the Living among the dead?” The time is come for her to ascend to something more perfect, and seek in spirit Him who is Spirit.

Jesus says to Magdalene: I am not yet ascended to my Father! as though He would say: “The mark of love thou wouldst show me is not what I now wish to receive from thee. When I have ascended into heaven, and thou art there with Me, the sight of My human Nature shall be no obstacle to thy soul’s vision of My Divinity: then thou shalt embrace Me!” Magdalene takes in the lesson of her dear Master; she loves Him more, because her love is spiritualized. After His Ascension, she retires into the holy cave. There she lives, pondering upon all the mysteries of her Jesus’ life. Her love feeds on the memory of all He has done for her, from His first word which converted her, to the favor He showed her on the morning of His Resurrection. Each day she advances in the path of perfect love. The Angels visit and console her. Her probation completed, she follows her Jesus to heaven, where she lavishes on Him the ardor of her love in an unrestrained and eternal embrace.

Quote:Again it is the Apostle St. Peter who speaks to us, and his instructions are of peculiar interest to our neophytes. He begins by telling them how the Soul of our Redeemer descended into Limbo; and how, among the prisoners detained there, were some of those who had perished in the deluge, yet had found salvation in its waters. They were at first incredulous, and despised the threats made known to them by Noe; but when the flood came and swept them away, they repented of their sin, and asked and obtained pardon. The Apostle then goes on to speak of the favored inhabitants of the Ark; they are a type of our neophytes, whom we have seen pass through the waters of the font and thereby become, as did the sons of Noe, fathers of a new generation of children of God. Baptism, says the Apostle, is not like other washings of the body; it is the cleansing of the soul, provided she be sincere in the solemn promise she vows at the font, to be faithful to the Christ who saves her, and to renounce satan and all that is his. The Apostle concludes by telling us that the mystery of our Savior’s Resurrection is the source of the grace of Baptism: hence, the Church has chosen the Feast of Easter for the solemn administration of this Sacrament.

Quote:St. Matthew’s description of the Resurrection is shorter than those given by the other Evangelists; his few brief words on Jesus’ appearing to the Apostles in Galilee, are the subject of today’s Gospel. It was in Galilee that our Lord vouchsafed to show Himself not only to the Apostles, but moreover to several other persons. The Evangelist tells us how some of those that were thus favored, readily believed; and how others doubted, before yielding the assent of their faith. He then relates the words wherewith Jesus gave His Apostles the mission to preach the Gospel to all nations; and since He is to die no more, He promises to be with them forever, even to the end of the world. But the Apostles are not to live to the end of the world: how, then, will He fulfill His promise? The Apostles, as we said before, are perpetuated by the Church; the two testimonies—of the Apostles and of the Church—are inseparably linked together; and our Lord Jesus Christ preserves this united testimony from error or interruption. The liturgy of today brings before us a proof of its irresistible power. Peter, Paul, and John preached Jesus’ Resurrection, and established the Christian faith in Rome; five centuries after, the Church, which continued their work, received from an Emperor the gift of the temple, which had once been consecrated to all the false gods, but which St. Peter’s successor dedicated to Mary, the Mother of God, and to that legion of witnesses of the Resurrection, whom we call Martyrs. At the sight of this magnificent edifice, which for three hundred years had been deserted by the pagans, but now is reconciled by the Church, and holds within its walls the Christian people, our neophytes could not refrain from exclaiming: “Oh! truly is Christ risen, who, after being put to death on the cross, thus triumphs over the Cæsars, and over the gods of Olympus!”

Quote:The neophytes could not have received any more appropriate instruction than this, which the Prince of the Apostles addresses to us all. St. Peter wrote this first Epistle to the newly baptized of those days. He affectionately calls them new-born babes. He urges them to that virtue which so becomes the age of infancy—the virtue of simplicity. He tells them that the doctrine they have been taught will be to them a milk, which will feed and strengthen them. He invites them to taste how sweet is the Lord they have now vowed to serve.

After this, he speaks of one of the leading characteristics of Christ, namely, His being the foundation and corner Stone of God’s house. It is upon Him that must rest the faithful, who are the living stones of the spiritual edifice. He alone can give them solidity; and hence, when about to return to His Father, He chose and established upon earth another rock—a rock that should be ever visible, united with and based upon His own divine self, and partaking of His solidity. The Apostle’s humility forbids this developing the whole truth as related in the Gospel, which tells us of his glorious prerogative; but if we remember the words spoken by our Lord to St. Peter, we understand the whole doctrine implied in our Epistle.

The Apostle is silent about his own dignity as the rock, on which Jesus has built His Church; but observe the glorious titles he gives to us, who have been made members of that Church by Baptism. You are, says he, a chosen generation, a kingly priesthood, a holy nation, a purchased people! Oh, yes! what a difference there is between one that is baptized and one that is not! Heaven is opened to the one, and shut against the other; the one is a slave of the devil, and the other is a king in Christ Jesus, the eternal King, whose brother he has now become; the one cut off from God, the other offering Him a sacrifice of infinite worth by the hands of the great High Priest, Jesus. And all these gifts have been bestowed upon us by a purely gratuitous mercy; we had done nothing to merit them. Let us, then, offer to the Father who has thus adopted us, our humble acts of thanksgiving; let us go back, in thought, and renew the promises which were made in our name, as the essential condition of our being admitted to all these graces.

Quote:This incident, which happened on the morning of our Lord’s Resurrection, has been reserved by the Church for today’s liturgy, because it again brings St. Peter before our notice. This is the last day on which the neophytes assist at the holy Sacrifice in their white garments; after this, there will be nothing to distinguish them, exteriorly, from the rest of the faithful. It is important, therefore, to give them a clear idea of the foundation of the Church—a foundation, without which the Church could not exist, and upon which they must rest, if they would persevere in the faith wherein they have been baptized. They cannot obtain salvation unless they keep their faith inviolate. Now they alone have this firm and pure faith, who are docile to the teachings of Peter, and recognize him as the rock on which our Lord has built His Church. In the episode related in our Gospel, we are taught by an Apostle what respect and deference are due to him, whom Christ appointed to feed both lambs and sheep, that is, the whole flock. Peter and John run together to the sepulcher; John, the younger of the two, arrives there before Peter; he looks in, but does not enter. What means this humble reserve of the disciple who was so specially beloved of Jesus? for whom does he wait? He waits for him whom the Master has placed over all, and who is to act as their Head. Peter, at length, comes to the sepulcher; he goes in; he examines the holy place; and then John also enters. It is John himself who writes this, and gives us the admirable instruction embodied in what he relates. Yes, it is for Peter to lead the way, and judge, and decide as master; it is the Christian’s duty to follow him, to listen to his teachings, to honor and obey him. How can we have any difficulty in doing this, when we see an Apostle behaving thus to Peter, and this, too, at a time when Peter had received the promise only of the keys of the kingdom of heaven, which were not really given to him until some days after?

And lastly, let us turn to the blessed Mother, for this is her day.
Let us congratulate her upon the Resurrection of her divine Son, in the words of this devout sequence, taken from the ancient missals of the churches of Germany.