<![CDATA[The Catacombs - Lenten Devotions ]]>

<![CDATA[The Catacombs - Lenten Devotions ]]> https://thecatacombs.org/ Wed, 29 Apr 2026 14:32:25 +0000 MyBB <![CDATA[The Forgotten Feasts of Lent’s Fridays]]> https://thecatacombs.org/showthread.php?tid=8110 Tue, 24 Mar 2026 14:17:31 +0000 Stone]]> https://thecatacombs.org/showthread.php?tid=8110 The Forgotten Feasts of Lent’s Fridays

TIA | March 23, 2026

Our Holy Mother Church has given so many rich liturgical ceremonies and feasts to the season of Lent! While the ceremonies of Holy Week and the Triduum are widely known, there are other feasts of lesser degree that were once commonly celebrated in many churches to increase devotion to Our Lord’s Passion.

In the Middle Ages devotion to the instruments of Christ’s Passion was widely spread. These instruments were called Arma Christi, the Arms or Weapons of Christ,” and included the Holy Cross, Lance, Nails and Crown of Thorns. Medieval men had such a sublime view of Our Lord that they saw Him as the victorious Warrior King who vanquished Sin, Death and the Devil.

Arma Christi, from a 15th century Book of Hours

They understood that the instruments of His Passion, although seemingly signs of ignominy, were glorious since they were the weapons Our Lord had used to gain the Victory. Just as every earthly King bears his arms before him as he rides into battle, so also did Our Lord bear His arms as he entered the Battlefield of Calvary. This symbols were used by countless Catholic Kings and soldiers who bore the Arma Christi on their banners and shields.

The Crusades inspire zeal for the Passion

It was during the Crusades, when zeal and holy ambitions raised such epic horizons for the glory of God, that relics of Our Lord’s Passion were found and triumphantly brought to the cities of Christendom. Kings and Crusaders who had fought bravely against the Moors were thus instrumental in spreading love of the Cross and veneration for Our Lord’s Passion.

The feast of the Crown of Thorns was inaugurated by King St. Louis in 1239 when he brought a relic of the Crown of Thorns along with a point of the Holy Lance to the Sainte Chapelle in Paris. This event was commemorated each year on August 11 and the feast soon spread throughout northern France. In the following century parts of Spain, Germany and Scandinavia also established a Feast of the Holy Crown on May 4.

Crusaders embark for the Holy Land,
below, St. Louis carrying the relic of the Crown of Thorns

[Image: D095_Lou.jpg]

As early as 1092, a feast of the Winding Sheet (Shroud) was celebrated in Compiègne, France on the Fourth Sunday in Lent to commemorate the translation of a relic of the Shroud to a new shrine. This relic, whose origins are unknown, had been brought to Compiègne from Aachen in 877.

In 1204, after taking part in the siege of Constantinople, the crusader Otto de La Roche obtained the precious relic of the Shroud of Christ, which he displayed in Athens where he had been appointed Lord. Around the year 1225, he brought this relic to Besançon; thereafter the feast of its arrival – Susceptio – was celebrated on July 11 in the Diocese of Besançon.

Geoffroy de Charny, a knight renowned for his courage in battle, brought the Shroud to Livrey, Burgundy, around the year 1353. How he acquired this relic is unknown, but there is a convincing hypothesis that he obtained it from his wife, Jeanne de Vergy, who was a descendent of Otto de La Roche. Its authenticity has been attested to by miracles and it is known as the Shroud of Turin.

In 1432, the Shroud was transferred to Chambéry in Savoy, and May 4 became the patronal feast of the royal House of Savoy; it was celebrated in Savoy, Piedmont and Sardinia.

The Holy Lance

The relic of the Holy Lance is still somewhat shrouded in mystery. By the end of the Middle Ages several spearheads emerged, each with claims to be authentic and each popularly venerated as the one owned by Longinus.

One of these spearheads was discovered by the Crusaders in the year 1098 under the Cathedral of St. Peter in Antioch through a revelation of St. Andrew. Animated by the discovery, the Crusaders went on with newfound courage and zeal to win a glorious victory against the Muslims who were seeking to retake the city.

Years later the spear fell into the hands of Turks until the year 1492, when the Sultan Bajazet sent it to Innocent VIII. This relic has never since left Rome, where it is preserved under the dome of St. Peter's. Popes and scholars have defended it as being the authentic Holy Lance.

A Canon at St. Peter’s Basilica lifts the Holy Lance relic to be venerated by the public – Lent 2024

Another spearhead is preserved among the Imperial Insignia at Vienna and is known as the Lance of St. Maurice. This weapon was used as early as 1273 in the coronation ceremony of the Holy Roman German Emperor. In 1424, it was brought to Nuremberg and is believed to be the lance of Emperor Constantine, which enshrined a nail of the Crucifixion. Tradition holds that it was this lance that Charlemagne carried on his 47 victorious campaigns to unite Europe under the Catholic Church; thus it became a sacred relic of the Holy Roman Emperors.

The Lance in Vienna surely must be a sacred relic relating to Our Lord’s Passion, even though it does not seem to be the one that pierced Our Lord’s side. Regardless of the origins popular devotion led to the establishment of a liturgical feast in 1345. Pope Innocent VI instituted the Feast of the Holy Lance and Nails for Germany and Bohemia at the request of Emperor Charles IV, who enshrined the lance at Vienna in a distinctive gold cuff so that it could receive due honor. Soon, the Feast spread to other areas.

The first record known of a Feast of the Arma Christi is found in the Breviary of Meissen (1517) where it is listed as a Festum Simplex for November 15. As Lutheranism spread its poisonous doctrine, this Feast, along with many of the others, disappeared. But Our Lord gave the world a great Saint in the 18th century who would restore some o the ancient fervor for His Passion.

St. Paul of the Cross revives devotion to the Passion

In the 1700s, St. Paul of the Cross founded the Discalced Clerics of the Holy Cross and the Passion of Christ, the Passionists. In addition to the three ordinary vows of religion, the Passionists took a fourth vow – to propagate devotion to the Sacred Passion of Our Lord.

St. Paul of the Cross, founder of the Passionists

They did this admirably, being led on by their heroic founder whom Dom Guéranger describes: “A new Paul, recalling both in his name and his works the great Apostle of the Gentiles, rises in the midst of a generation intoxicated with pride and falsehood, to whom the Cross has become once more a folly and a scandal.” (The Liturgical Year, vol. VIII, p. 364)

Thus, St. Paul of the Cross, together with Bishop Thomas Struzzieri, composed an Office for the Feast of the Commemoration of Our Lord’s Passion and brought it to Pope Pius VI, who approved its use by the Passionist Order, which celebrated it as a double of the first class with an octave. In Rome, this feast was established as the Tuesday of Sexagesima

At the same time he authorized this Feast, Pius VI also approved the other Offices and feasts associated with Our Lord’s Passion:

The Feast of the Prayer of Our Lord in the Garden (Tuesday after Septuagesima);
The Feast of the Crown of Thorns (Friday after Ash-Wednesday);
The Feast of the Holy Lance and Nails (Friday after the first Sunday in Lent):
For the three following Fridays, the Feasts of the Holy Winding Sheet, the Five Wounds and the Precious Blood of Christ.

These feasts were adopted by many Dioceses and Religious Orders. In 1831, Rome added the seven Offices of the Mysteries of the Passion of Christ to the Breviary.

Restoration of devotion to the Passion

In his Apostolic Constitution Divino afflatu, Pope St. Pius X stressed the importance of the ancient ferial offices, including those of Lent, which were seldom being said due to the great number of other feasts celebrated throughout the year. This caused the Friday offices of Lent to regain their places of honor, resulting in the offices of the mysteries of the Passion being seldom said. The offices of the Passion were, however, still given the honor of being present in the Missal under the feasts pro Aliquibus Locis, which were celebrated in some places.

Votive panel, Wrocław, 1443

Suppression & invitation

John XIII’s 1960 Rubrics led to the suppression of these feasts altogether unless “truly special reasons” required their continued observance. Naturally, the result was that they were almost entirely forgotten.

It is a great tragedy that the ancient sources of true doctrine and liturgy have been lost or hidden due to the apostasy of the Church Hierarchy. And yet, all is not lost if fervent Catholics re-discover those sources and regain the spirit of the love of the Cross. Through the intercession of Our Lady Co-Redemptrix, may this spirit once again fill the hearts of Catholics with a desire to honor once again the Arma Cristi.

For such Catholics, below are links to documents with the Mass readings for each feast day provided by the Society of St. Bede:
The Prayer of Our Lord in the Garden (Tuesday or Friday after Septuagesima)

The Commemoration of the Passion of Our Lord (Tuesday or Friday after Sexagesima)

The Most Holy Crown of Thorns (Friday after Ash Wednesday)

The Most Sacred Lance and Nails (Friday in the First Week of Lent)

The Most Holy Winding Sheet (Friday in the Second Week of Lent)

The Holy Five Wounds of Our Lord (Friday in the Third Week of Lent)

The Most Precious Blood of Our Lord (Friday in the Fourth Week of Lent)

A PDF including Matins readings for all the above Feasts: Matins Readings for the Feasts of Our Lord’s Passion, can be found here.

Coat of Arms of Christ
Wernigerode/Schaffhausen Armorial, c. 1490

Arma Christi, from a 15th century Book of Hours

Crusaders embark for the Holy Land,
below, St. Louis carrying the relic of the Crown of Thorns

[Image: D095_Lou.jpg]

A Canon at St. Peter’s Basilica lifts the Holy Lance relic to be venerated by the public – Lent 2024

St. Paul of the Cross, founder of the Passionists

The Feast of the Prayer of Our Lord in the Garden (Tuesday after Septuagesima);
The Feast of the Crown of Thorns (Friday after Ash-Wednesday);
The Feast of the Holy Lance and Nails (Friday after the first Sunday in Lent):
For the three following Fridays, the Feasts of the Holy Winding Sheet, the Five Wounds and the Precious Blood of Christ.

Votive panel, Wrocław, 1443

Coat of Arms of Christ
Wernigerode/Schaffhausen Armorial, c. 1490

Sources:
Francis X Weiser, The Easter Book (San Diego, California: The Firefly Press, 1996), p. 49.
http://www.foodsofengland.co.uk/carlinpe...adgers.htm
E. I. Robson, A Guide to French Fêtes (London: Methuen and Company, 1930), p. 55.
W.M. Hackwood, Christ Lore: Being the Legends, Traditions, Myths, Symbols, Customs, and Superstitions of the Christian Church (London: Elliot Stock, 1902), p. 159.
Erna Fergusson, Fiesta in Mexico (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1934), p. 237.
http://www.allthesaintsyoushouldknow.com...exico-city.]]> <![CDATA[The Passion of the Christ]]> https://thecatacombs.org/showthread.php?tid=6035 Fri, 22 Mar 2024 00:48:06 +0000 Stone]]> https://thecatacombs.org/showthread.php?tid=6035 The Passion of the Christ: Jesus in the Garden (Part 1 of the Extended Mystic Version)

]]> The Passion of the Christ: Jesus in the Garden (Part 1 of the Extended Mystic Version)

]]> <![CDATA[The Passion as seen by Mystic Ven. Mary of Agreda]]> https://thecatacombs.org/showthread.php?tid=5059 Sat, 08 Apr 2023 08:47:55 +0000 Stone]]> https://thecatacombs.org/showthread.php?tid=5059 The Passion as seen by Mystic Ven. Mary of Agreda

The Last Supper as seen by Mystic Venerable Mary of Agreda (The Catholic Storyteller)

The Agony in the Garden and How Mary joined Therein (The Catholic Storyteller)

Jesus brought before Annas and Caiphas as seen by the Mystic Ven Mary of Agreda

The Scourging and Crowning with Thorns as seen by Mystic Ven. Mary of Agreda

The Way of the Cross as seen by Mystic Ven. Mary of Agreda

The Crucifixion as seen by the Mystic Venerable Mary of Agreda]]> The Passion as seen by Mystic Ven. Mary of Agreda

The Last Supper as seen by Mystic Venerable Mary of Agreda (The Catholic Storyteller)

The Agony in the Garden and How Mary joined Therein (The Catholic Storyteller)

Jesus brought before Annas and Caiphas as seen by the Mystic Ven Mary of Agreda

The Scourging and Crowning with Thorns as seen by Mystic Ven. Mary of Agreda

The Way of the Cross as seen by Mystic Ven. Mary of Agreda

The Crucifixion as seen by the Mystic Venerable Mary of Agreda]]> <![CDATA[St. Francis DeSales Lenten Sermons - Audio]]> https://thecatacombs.org/showthread.php?tid=5017 Sun, 26 Mar 2023 10:11:29 +0000 Stone]]> https://thecatacombs.org/showthread.php?tid=5017 St. Francis DeSales Lenten Sermons
Taken from here

[Image: ?u=https%3A%2F%2Fi.pinimg.com%2F736x%2Fc...ipo=images]

[Image: ?u=https%3A%2F%2Fi.pinimg.com%2F736x%2Fc...ipo=images]

Ash Wednesday: Fasting (34 Minutes)
First Sunday In Lent: Temptation (43 Minutes)
Second Sunday In Lent: Eternal Happiness (32 Minutes)
Third Sunday In Lent: Mutual Charity (35 Minutes)
Fourth Sunday In Lent: God’s Spiritual Providence (28 Minutes)
Passion Sunday: Hearing The Word Of God (28 Minutes)
Palm Sunday: Humility And Obedience (36 Minutes)
Good Friday: The Passion What It Means (68 Minutes)]]> <![CDATA[Anne Catherine Emmerich: The Dolorous Passion of Our Lord Jesus Christ]]> https://thecatacombs.org/showthread.php?tid=4904 Mon, 27 Feb 2023 10:30:08 +0000 Stone]]> https://thecatacombs.org/showthread.php?tid=4904 The Dolorous Passion of Our Lord Jesus Christ
From the Meditations of Anne Catherine Emmerich
London, Burns and Lambert [1862]
Taken from here

PREFACE TO THE FRENCH TRANSLATION
BY THE ABBÉ DE CAZALÈS.

THE writer of this Preface was travelling in Germany, when he chanced to meet with a book, entitled, The History of the Passion of our Lord Jesus Christ, from, the Meditations of Anne Catherine Emmerich, which appeared to him both interesting and edifying. Its style was unpretending, its ideas simple, its tone unassuming, its sentiments unexaggerated, and its every sentence expressive of the most complete and entire submission to the Church. Yet, at the same time, it would have been difficult anywhere to meet with a more touching and life-like paraphrase of the Gospel narrative. He thought that a book possessing such qualities deserved to be known on this side the Rhine, and that there could be no reason why it should not be valued for its own sake, independent of the somewhat singular source whence it emanated.

Still, the translator has by no means disguised to himself that this work is written, in the first place, for Christians; that is to say, for men who have the right to be very diffident in giving credence to particulars concerning facts which are articles of faith; and although he is aware that St. Bonaventure and many others, in their paraphrases of the Gospel history, have mixed up traditional details with those given in the sacred text, even these examples have not wholly reassured him. St. Bonaventure professed only to give a paraphrase, whereas these revelations appear to be something more. It is certain that the holy maiden herself gave them no higher title than that of dreams, and that the transcriber of her narratives treats as blasphemous the idea of regarding them 6in any degree as equivalent to a fifth Gospel; still it is evident that the confessors who exhorted Sister Emmerich to relate what she saw, the celebrated poet who passed four years near her couch, eagerly transcribing all he heard her say, and the German Bishops, who encouraged the publication of his book, considered it as something more than a paraphrase. Some explanations are needful on this head.

The writings of many Saints introduce us into a now, and, if I may be allowed the expression, a miraculous world. In all ages there have been revelations about the past, the present, the future, and even concerning things absolutely inaccessible to the human intellect. In the present day men are inclined to regard these revelations as simple hallucinations, or as caused by a sickly condition of body.

The Church, according to the testimony of her most approved writers, recognises three descriptions of ecstasy; of which the first is simply natural, and entirely brought about by certain physical tendencies and a highly imaginative mind; the second divine or angelic, arising from intercourse held with the supernatural world; and the third produced by infernal agency.1 Lest we should here write a book instead of a preface, we will not enter into any development of this doctrine, which appears to us highly philosophical, and without which no satisfactory explanation can be given on the subject of the soul of man and its various states.

The Church directs certain means to be employed to ascertain by what spirit these ecstasies are produced, according to the maxim of St. John: ‘Try the spirits, if they be of God.’ When circumstances or events claiming to be supernatural have been properly examined according to certain rules, the Church has in all ages made a selection from them

Many persons who have been habitually in a state of ecstasy have been canonised, and their books approved. 7But this approbation has seldom amounted to more than a declaration that these books contained nothing contrary to faith, and that they were likely to promote a spirit of piety among the faithful. For the Church is only founded on the word of Christ and on the revelations made to the Apostles. Whatever may since have been revealed to certain saints possesses purely a relative value, the reality of which may even be disputed—it being one of the admirable characteristics of the Church, that, though inflexibly one in dogma, she allows entire liberty to the human mind in all besides. Thus, we may believe private revelations, above all, when those persons to whom they were made have been raised by the Church to the rank of Saints publicly honoured, invoked, and venerated; but, even in these cases, we may, without ceasing to be perfectly orthodox, dispute their authenticity and divine origin. It is the place of reason to dispute and to select as it sees best.

With regard to the rule for discerning between the good and the evil spirit, it is no other, according to all theologians, than that of the Gospel. A fructibus eorum, cognoscetis eos. By their fruits you shall know them. It must be examined in the first place whether the person who professes to have revelations mistrusts what passes within himself; whether he would prefer a more common path; whether far from boasting of the extraordinary graces which he receives, he seeks to hide them, and only makes them known through obedience; and, finally, whether he is continually advancing in humility, mortification, and charity. Next, the revelations themselves must be very closely examined into; it must be seen whether there is anything in them contrary to faith; whether they are conformable to Scripture and Apostolical tradition; and whether they are related in a headstrong spirit, or in a spirit of entire submission to the Church.

Whoever reads the life of Anne Catherine Emmerich, and her book, will be satisfied that no fault can be found in any of these respects either with herself or with her revelations. Her book resembles in many points the writings of a great number of saints, and her life also bears the 8most striking similitude to theirs. To be convinced of this fact, we need but study the writings or what is related of Saints Francis of Assissium, Bernard, Bridget, Hildegarde, Catherine of Genoa, Catherine of Sienna, Ignatius, John of the Cross, Teresa, and an immense number of other holy persons who are less known.. So much being conceded, it is clear that in considering Sister Emmerich to have been inspired by God’s Holy Spirit, we are not ascribing more merit to her book than is allowed by the Church to all those of the same class. They are all edifying, and may serve to promote piety, which is their sole object. We must not exaggerate their importance by holding as an absolute fact that they proceed from divine inspiration, a favour so great that its existence in any particular case should not be credited save with the utmost circumspection.

With regard, however, to our present publication, it may be urged that, considering the superior talents of the transcriber of Sister Emmerich’s narrations, the language and expressions which he has made use of may not always have been identical with those which she employed. We have no hesitation whatever in allowing the force of this argument. Most fully do we believe in the entire sincerity of M. ClÃ¨ment Brentano, because we both know and love him, and, besides, his exemplary piety and the retired life which he leads, secluded from a world in which it would depend but on himself to hold the highest place, are guarantees amply sufficient to satisfy any impartial mind of his sincerity. A poem such as he might publish, if he only pleased, would cause him to be ranked at once among the most eminent of the German poets, whereas the office which he has taken upon himself of secretary to a poor visionary has brought him nothing but contemptuous raillery. Nevertheless, we have no intention to assert that in giving the conversations and discourses of Sister Emmerich that order and coherency in which they were greatly wanting, and writing them down in his own way, he may not unwittingly have arranged, explained, and embellished them. But this would not have the 9effect of destroying the originality of the recital, or impugning either the sincerity of the nun, or that of the writer.

The translator professes to be unable to understand how any man can write for mere writing’s sake, and without considering the probable effects which his work will produce. This book, such as it is, appears to him to be at once unusually edifying, and highly poetical. It is perfectly clear that it has, properly speaking, no literary pretensions whatever. Neither the uneducated maiden whose visions are here related, nor the excellent Christian writer who has published them in so entire a spirit of literary disinterestedness, ever had the remotest idea of such a thing. And yet there are not, in our opinion, many highly worked-up compositions calculated to produce an effect in any degree comparable to that which will be brought about by the perusal of this unpretending little work. It is our hope that it will make a strong impression even upon worldlings, and that in many hearts it will prepare the way for better ideas,—perhaps even for a lasting change of life.

In the next place, we are not sorry to call public attention in some degree to all that class of phenomena which preceded the foundation of the Church, which has since been perpetuated uninterruptedly, and which too many Christians are disposed to reject altogether, either through ignorance and want of reflection, or purely through human respect. This is a field which has hitherto been but little explored historically, psychologically, and physiologically; and it would be well if reflecting minds were to bestow upon it a careful and attentive investigation. To our Christian readers we must remark that this work has received the approval of ecclesiastical authorities. It has been prepared for the press under the superintendence of the two late Bishops of Ratisbonne, Sailer and Wittman. These names are but little known in France; but in Germany they are identical with learning, piety, ardent charity, and a life wholly devoted to the maintenance and propagation of the Catholic faith. Many French priests have 10given their opinion that the translation of a book of this character could not but tend to nourish piety, without, however, countenancing that weakness of spirit which is disposed to lend more importance in some respects to private than to general revelations, and consequently to substitute matters which we are simply permitted to believe, in the place of those which are of faith.

We feel convinced that no one will take offence at certain details given on the subject of the outrages which were suffered by our divine Lord during the course of his passion. Our readers will remember the words of the psalmist: ‘I am a worm and no man; the reproach of men, and the outcast of the people;’ and those of the apostle: ‘Tempted in all things like as we are, without sin.’ Did we stand in need of a precedent, we should request our readers to remember how plainly and crudely Bossuet describes the same scenes in the most eloquent of his four sermons on the Passion of our Lord. On the other hand, there have been so many grand platonic or rhetorical sentences in the books published of late years, concerning that abstract entity, on which the writers have been pleased to bestow the Christian title of the Word, or Logos, that it may be eminently useful to show the Man-God, the Word made flesh, in all the reality of his life on earth, of his humiliation, and of his sufferings. It must be evident that the cause of truth, and still more that of edification, will not be the losers.

1See, on this head, the work of Cardinal Bona, De Descretione Spirituum.]]> The Dolorous Passion of Our Lord Jesus Christ
From the Meditations of Anne Catherine Emmerich
London, Burns and Lambert [1862]
Taken from here

PREFACE TO THE FRENCH TRANSLATION
BY THE ABBÉ DE CAZALÈS.

THE writer of this Preface was travelling in Germany, when he chanced to meet with a book, entitled, The History of the Passion of our Lord Jesus Christ, from, the Meditations of Anne Catherine Emmerich, which appeared to him both interesting and edifying. Its style was unpretending, its ideas simple, its tone unassuming, its sentiments unexaggerated, and its every sentence expressive of the most complete and entire submission to the Church. Yet, at the same time, it would have been difficult anywhere to meet with a more touching and life-like paraphrase of the Gospel narrative. He thought that a book possessing such qualities deserved to be known on this side the Rhine, and that there could be no reason why it should not be valued for its own sake, independent of the somewhat singular source whence it emanated.

Still, the translator has by no means disguised to himself that this work is written, in the first place, for Christians; that is to say, for men who have the right to be very diffident in giving credence to particulars concerning facts which are articles of faith; and although he is aware that St. Bonaventure and many others, in their paraphrases of the Gospel history, have mixed up traditional details with those given in the sacred text, even these examples have not wholly reassured him. St. Bonaventure professed only to give a paraphrase, whereas these revelations appear to be something more. It is certain that the holy maiden herself gave them no higher title than that of dreams, and that the transcriber of her narratives treats as blasphemous the idea of regarding them 6in any degree as equivalent to a fifth Gospel; still it is evident that the confessors who exhorted Sister Emmerich to relate what she saw, the celebrated poet who passed four years near her couch, eagerly transcribing all he heard her say, and the German Bishops, who encouraged the publication of his book, considered it as something more than a paraphrase. Some explanations are needful on this head.

The writings of many Saints introduce us into a now, and, if I may be allowed the expression, a miraculous world. In all ages there have been revelations about the past, the present, the future, and even concerning things absolutely inaccessible to the human intellect. In the present day men are inclined to regard these revelations as simple hallucinations, or as caused by a sickly condition of body.

The Church, according to the testimony of her most approved writers, recognises three descriptions of ecstasy; of which the first is simply natural, and entirely brought about by certain physical tendencies and a highly imaginative mind; the second divine or angelic, arising from intercourse held with the supernatural world; and the third produced by infernal agency.1 Lest we should here write a book instead of a preface, we will not enter into any development of this doctrine, which appears to us highly philosophical, and without which no satisfactory explanation can be given on the subject of the soul of man and its various states.

The Church directs certain means to be employed to ascertain by what spirit these ecstasies are produced, according to the maxim of St. John: ‘Try the spirits, if they be of God.’ When circumstances or events claiming to be supernatural have been properly examined according to certain rules, the Church has in all ages made a selection from them

Many persons who have been habitually in a state of ecstasy have been canonised, and their books approved. 7But this approbation has seldom amounted to more than a declaration that these books contained nothing contrary to faith, and that they were likely to promote a spirit of piety among the faithful. For the Church is only founded on the word of Christ and on the revelations made to the Apostles. Whatever may since have been revealed to certain saints possesses purely a relative value, the reality of which may even be disputed—it being one of the admirable characteristics of the Church, that, though inflexibly one in dogma, she allows entire liberty to the human mind in all besides. Thus, we may believe private revelations, above all, when those persons to whom they were made have been raised by the Church to the rank of Saints publicly honoured, invoked, and venerated; but, even in these cases, we may, without ceasing to be perfectly orthodox, dispute their authenticity and divine origin. It is the place of reason to dispute and to select as it sees best.

With regard to the rule for discerning between the good and the evil spirit, it is no other, according to all theologians, than that of the Gospel. A fructibus eorum, cognoscetis eos. By their fruits you shall know them. It must be examined in the first place whether the person who professes to have revelations mistrusts what passes within himself; whether he would prefer a more common path; whether far from boasting of the extraordinary graces which he receives, he seeks to hide them, and only makes them known through obedience; and, finally, whether he is continually advancing in humility, mortification, and charity. Next, the revelations themselves must be very closely examined into; it must be seen whether there is anything in them contrary to faith; whether they are conformable to Scripture and Apostolical tradition; and whether they are related in a headstrong spirit, or in a spirit of entire submission to the Church.

Whoever reads the life of Anne Catherine Emmerich, and her book, will be satisfied that no fault can be found in any of these respects either with herself or with her revelations. Her book resembles in many points the writings of a great number of saints, and her life also bears the 8most striking similitude to theirs. To be convinced of this fact, we need but study the writings or what is related of Saints Francis of Assissium, Bernard, Bridget, Hildegarde, Catherine of Genoa, Catherine of Sienna, Ignatius, John of the Cross, Teresa, and an immense number of other holy persons who are less known.. So much being conceded, it is clear that in considering Sister Emmerich to have been inspired by God’s Holy Spirit, we are not ascribing more merit to her book than is allowed by the Church to all those of the same class. They are all edifying, and may serve to promote piety, which is their sole object. We must not exaggerate their importance by holding as an absolute fact that they proceed from divine inspiration, a favour so great that its existence in any particular case should not be credited save with the utmost circumspection.

With regard, however, to our present publication, it may be urged that, considering the superior talents of the transcriber of Sister Emmerich’s narrations, the language and expressions which he has made use of may not always have been identical with those which she employed. We have no hesitation whatever in allowing the force of this argument. Most fully do we believe in the entire sincerity of M. ClÃ¨ment Brentano, because we both know and love him, and, besides, his exemplary piety and the retired life which he leads, secluded from a world in which it would depend but on himself to hold the highest place, are guarantees amply sufficient to satisfy any impartial mind of his sincerity. A poem such as he might publish, if he only pleased, would cause him to be ranked at once among the most eminent of the German poets, whereas the office which he has taken upon himself of secretary to a poor visionary has brought him nothing but contemptuous raillery. Nevertheless, we have no intention to assert that in giving the conversations and discourses of Sister Emmerich that order and coherency in which they were greatly wanting, and writing them down in his own way, he may not unwittingly have arranged, explained, and embellished them. But this would not have the 9effect of destroying the originality of the recital, or impugning either the sincerity of the nun, or that of the writer.

The translator professes to be unable to understand how any man can write for mere writing’s sake, and without considering the probable effects which his work will produce. This book, such as it is, appears to him to be at once unusually edifying, and highly poetical. It is perfectly clear that it has, properly speaking, no literary pretensions whatever. Neither the uneducated maiden whose visions are here related, nor the excellent Christian writer who has published them in so entire a spirit of literary disinterestedness, ever had the remotest idea of such a thing. And yet there are not, in our opinion, many highly worked-up compositions calculated to produce an effect in any degree comparable to that which will be brought about by the perusal of this unpretending little work. It is our hope that it will make a strong impression even upon worldlings, and that in many hearts it will prepare the way for better ideas,—perhaps even for a lasting change of life.

In the next place, we are not sorry to call public attention in some degree to all that class of phenomena which preceded the foundation of the Church, which has since been perpetuated uninterruptedly, and which too many Christians are disposed to reject altogether, either through ignorance and want of reflection, or purely through human respect. This is a field which has hitherto been but little explored historically, psychologically, and physiologically; and it would be well if reflecting minds were to bestow upon it a careful and attentive investigation. To our Christian readers we must remark that this work has received the approval of ecclesiastical authorities. It has been prepared for the press under the superintendence of the two late Bishops of Ratisbonne, Sailer and Wittman. These names are but little known in France; but in Germany they are identical with learning, piety, ardent charity, and a life wholly devoted to the maintenance and propagation of the Catholic faith. Many French priests have 10given their opinion that the translation of a book of this character could not but tend to nourish piety, without, however, countenancing that weakness of spirit which is disposed to lend more importance in some respects to private than to general revelations, and consequently to substitute matters which we are simply permitted to believe, in the place of those which are of faith.

We feel convinced that no one will take offence at certain details given on the subject of the outrages which were suffered by our divine Lord during the course of his passion. Our readers will remember the words of the psalmist: ‘I am a worm and no man; the reproach of men, and the outcast of the people;’ and those of the apostle: ‘Tempted in all things like as we are, without sin.’ Did we stand in need of a precedent, we should request our readers to remember how plainly and crudely Bossuet describes the same scenes in the most eloquent of his four sermons on the Passion of our Lord. On the other hand, there have been so many grand platonic or rhetorical sentences in the books published of late years, concerning that abstract entity, on which the writers have been pleased to bestow the Christian title of the Word, or Logos, that it may be eminently useful to show the Man-God, the Word made flesh, in all the reality of his life on earth, of his humiliation, and of his sufferings. It must be evident that the cause of truth, and still more that of edification, will not be the losers.

1See, on this head, the work of Cardinal Bona, De Descretione Spirituum.]]> <![CDATA[St. Alphonsus Liguori's The Stations of the Cross]]> https://thecatacombs.org/showthread.php?tid=4900 Fri, 24 Feb 2023 23:50:29 +0000 Stone]]> https://thecatacombs.org/showthread.php?tid=4900 The Stations of the Cross by St. Alphonsus Liguori

The Stations of the Cross by St. Alphonsus Liguori]]> The Stations of the Cross by St. Alphonsus Liguori

The Stations of the Cross by St. Alphonsus Liguori]]> <![CDATA[The Love of Jesus Christ in Being Willing to Satisfy the Divine Justice for Our Sins]]> https://thecatacombs.org/showthread.php?tid=3651 Mon, 18 Apr 2022 10:42:08 +0000 Stone]]> https://thecatacombs.org/showthread.php?tid=3651 The Love of Jesus Christ in Being Willing to Satisfy the Divine Justice for Our Sins

by St. Alphonsus Di Liguori

[Image: ?u=https%3A%2F%2Ftse1.mm.bing.net%2Fth%3...ipo=images]

I.

We read in history of a proof of love so prodigious that it will be the admiration of all ages. There was once a king, lord of many kingdoms, who had one only son , so beautiful, so holy, so amiable, that he was the delight of his father, who loved him as much as himself. This young prince had a great affection for one of his slaves; so much so that, the slave having committed a crime for which he had been condemned to death, the prince offered himself to die for the slave; the father, being jealous of justice, was satisfied to condemn his beloved son to death, in order that the slave might remain free from the punishment that he deserved: and thus the son died a malefactor's death, and the slave was freed from punishment.

This fact, the like of which has never happened in this world, and never will happen, is related in the Gospels, where we read that the Son of God, the Lord of the universe, seeing that man was condemned to eternal death in punishment of his sins, chose to take upon Himself human flesh , and thus to pay by His death the penalty due to man: He was offered because it was His own will (1). And His Eternal Father caused him to die upon the cross to save us miserable sinners : He spared not His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all (2) . What dost thou think, O devout soul , of this love of the Son and of the Father?

Thou didst, then , O my beloved Redeemer, choose by Thy death to sacrifice Thyself in order to obtain the pardon of my sins. And what return of gratitude shall I then make to Thee? Thou hast done too much to oblige me to love Thee; I should indeed be most ungrateful to Thee if I did not love Thee with my whole heart. Thou hast given for me Thy divine life; I , miserable sinner that I am, give Thee my own life . Yes, I will at least spend that period of life that remains to me only in loving Thee, obeying Thee, and pleasing Thee.

II.

O men, men! let us love this our Redeemer, who, being God, has not disdained to take upon Himself our sins, in order to satisfy by His sufferings for the chastisement which we have deserved: Surely He hath borne our infirmities, and carried our sorrows (3).

St. Augustine says that our Lord in creating us formed us by virtue of His power, but in redeeming us He has saved us from death by means of His sufferings: "He created us in His strength; He sought us back in His weakness (4)."

How much do I not owe Thee, O Jesus my Saviour! Oh, if I were to give my blood a thousand times over, if I were to spend a thousand lives for Thee, --it would yet be nothing. Oh, how could any one that meditated much on the love which Thou hast shown him in Thy Passion, love anything else but Thee? Through the love with which Thou didst love us on the cross, grant me the grace to love Thee with my whole heart. I love Thee, infinite Goodness; I love Thee above every other good; and I ask nothing more of Thee but Thy holy love.

"But how is this?" continues St. Augustine. How is it possible, O Saviour of the world, that Thy love has arrived at such a height that when I had committed the crime, Thou shouldst have to pay the penalty? "Whither has Thy love reached? I have sinned; Thou art punished (5)."

And what could it then signify to Thee, adds St. Bernard, that we should lose ourselves and be chastised, as we well deserved to be ; that Thou shouldst choose to satisfy with Thy innocent flesh for our sins, and to die in order to deliver us from death! "O good Jesus, what doest Thou? We ought to have died, and it is Thou who diest. We have sinned and Thou sufferest. A deed without precedent, grace without merit, charity without measure (6)." O deed which never has had and never will have its match! O grace which we could never merit! O love which can never be understood!

III.

Isaias had already foretold that our blessed Redeemer should be condemned to death , and as an innocent lamb brought to the sacrifice: He shall be led as a sheep to the slaughter (7). What a cause of wonder it must have been to the angels, O my God, to behold their innocent Lord led as a victim to be sacrificed on the altar of the cross for the love of man! And what a cause of horror to heaven and to hell, the sight of a God extended as an infamous criminal on a shameful gibbet for the sins of His creatures! Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us (for it is written , Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree): that the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles through Jesus Christ (8). "He was made a curse upon the cross," says St. Ambrose, "that thou mightest be blessed in the kingdom of God (9)."

O my dearest Saviour! Thou wert, then, content, in order to obtain for me the blessing of God, to embrace the dishonor of appearing upon the cross accursed in the sight of the whole world , and even forsaken in Thy sufferings by Thy Eternal Father, --a suffering which made Thee cry out with a loud voice, My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me (10)? Yes, observes Simon of Cassia, it was for this end that Jesus was abandoned in His Passion in order that we might not remain abandoned in the sins which we have committed: "Therefore Christ was abandoned in His sufferings that we might not be abandoned in our guilt (11)." O prodigy of compassion! O excess of love of God towards men! And how can there be a soul who believes this, O my Jesus, and yet loves Thee not?

IV.

He hath loved us, and washed us from our sins in His own blood (12). Behold, O men, how far the love of Jesus for us has carried Him , in order to cleanse us from the filthiness of our sins. He has even shed every drop of His blood that He might prepare for us in this His own blood a bath of salvation: "He offers His own blood," says a learned writer, "speaking better than the blood of Abel: for that cried for justice; the blood of Christ for mercy (13)."

Whereupon St. Bonaventure exclaims, "O good Jesus, what hast Thou done (14)?" O my Saviour, what indeed hast Thou done? How far hath Thy love carried Thee? What hast Thou seen in me which hath made Thee love me so much? "Wherefore hast Thou loved me so much? Why, Lord, why? What am I (15)? " Wherefore didst Thou choose to suffer so much for me? Who am I that Thou wouldst win to Thyself my love at so dear a price? Oh, it was entirely the work of Thy in finite love! Be Thou eternally praised and blessed for it.

O all ye that pass by the way, attend and see if there be any sorrow like to My sorrow (16). The same seraphic Doctor, considering these words of Jeremias as spoken of our blessed Redeemer while He was hanging on the cross dying for the love of us, says, " Yes, Lord , I will attend and see if there be any love like unto Thy love (17)." By which he means, I do indeed see and understand, O my most loving Redeemer, how much Thou didst suffer upon that infamous tree; but what most constrains me to love Thee is the thought of the affection which Thou hast shown me in suffering so much, in order that I might love Thee.

V.

That which most inflamed St. Paul with the love of Jesus was the thought that He chose to die, not only for all men, but for him in particular: He loved me, and delivered Himself up for me (18). Yes, He has loved me, said he, and for my sake He gave himself up to die. And thus ought every one of us to say; for St. John Chrysostom asserts that God has loved every individual man with the same love with which He has loved the world: "He loves each man separately with the same measure of charity with which He loves the whole world (19)." So that each one of us is under as great obligation to Jesus Christ for having suffered for every one, as if He had suffered for him alone.

F or supposing, my brother, Jesus Christ had died to save you alone, leaving all others to their original ruin , what a debt of gratitude you would owe to him! But you ought to feel that you owe Him a greater obligation still for having died for the salvation of all. For if he had died for you alone, what sorrow would it not have caused you to think that your neighbors, parents, brothers, and friends would be damned, and that you would, when this life was over, be forever separated from them? If you and your family had been slaves, and some one came to rescue you alone, how would you not entreat of him to save your parents and brothers together with yourself! And how much would you thank him if he did this to please you! Say, therefore, to Jesus:

O my sweetest Redeemer! Thou hast done this for me without my having asked Thee; Thou hast not only saved me from death at the price of Thy blood, but also my parents and friends, so that I may have a good hope that we may all together enjoy Thy presence forever in paradise. O Lord! I thank Thee, and I love Thee, and I hope to thank Thee for it, and to love Thee forever in that blessed country.

VI.

Who could ever, says St. Laurence Justinian, explain the love which the divine Word bears to each one of us, since it surpasses the love of every son towards his mother, and of every mother for her son? "The intense charity of the Word of God surpasses all maternal and filial love; neither can human words express how great his love is to each one of us (20)!" So much so, that our Lord revealed to St. Gertrude that He would be ready to die as many times as there were souls damned, if they were yet capable of redemption: "I would die as many deaths as there are souls in hell (21)."

O Jesus, O treasure more worthy of love than all others! why is it that men love Thee so little? Oh! do Thou make known what Thou hast suffered for each of them, the love that Thou bearest them , the desire Thou hast to be loved by them , and how worthy Thou art of being loved . Make Thyself known, O my Jesus, make Thyself loved .

VII.

I am the good shepherd, said our Redeemer; the good shepherd gives his life for his sheep (22). But, O my Lord, where are there in the world shepherds like unto Thee? Other shepherds will slay their sheep in order to preserve their own life. Thou, O too loving Shepherd, didst give Thy divine life in order to save the life of Thy beloved sheep. And of these sheep, I , O most amiable Shepherd, have the happiness to be one. What obligation, then, am I not under to love Thee, and to spend my life for Thee, since Thou hast died for the love of me in particular! And what confidence ought I not to have in Thy blood, knowing that it has been shed to pay the debt of my sins! And thou shalt say in that day, I will give thanks to Thee, O Lord. Behold, God is my Saviour; I will deal confidently, and will not fear (23). And how can I any longer mistrust Thy mercy, O my Lord, when I behold Thy wounds? Come, then , O sinners, and let us have recourse to Jesus, who hangs upon that cross as it were upon a throne of mercy. He has appeased the divine justice, which we had insulted. If we have offended God, He has done penance for us; all that is required for us is contrition for our sins. O my dearest Saviour, to what have Thy pity and love for me reduced Thee? The slave sins, and Thou, Lord , payest the penalty for him. If, therefore, I think of my sins, the thought of the punishment I deserve must make me tremble; but when I think of Thy death, I find I have more reason to hope than to fear. O blood of Jesus! thou art all my hope.

VIII.

But this blood, as it inspires us with confidence, also obliges us to give ourselves entirely to our Blessed Redeemer. The Apostle exclaims, Know you not that you are not your own? For you are bought with a great price (24).

Therefore, O my Jesus, I cannot any longer, without injustice, dispose of myself, or of my own concerns, since Thou hast made me Thine by purchasing me through Thy death. My body, my soul, my life are no longer mine; they are Thine, and entirely Thine. In Thee alone, therefore, will I hope. O my God, crucified and dead for me, I have nothing else to offer Thee but this soul, which Thou hast bought with Thy blood ; to Thee do I offer it. Accept of my love, for I desire nothing but Thee, my Saviour, my God, my love, my all. Hitherto I have shown much gratitude towards men; to Thee alone have I, alas! been most ungrateful. But now I love Thee, and I have no greater cause of sorrow than my having offended Thee. O my Jesus, give me confidence in Thy Passion; root out of my heart every affection that belongs not to Thee. I will love Thee alone, who dost deserve all my love, and who hast given me so much reason to love Thee. And who, indeed, could refuse to love Thee, when they see Thee, who art the beloved of the Eternal Father, dying so bitter and cruel a death for our sake? O Mary, O Mother of fair love, I pray thee, through the merits of thy burning heart, obtain for me the grace to live only in order to love thy Son, who, being in himself worthy of an infinite love, has chosen at so great a cost to acquire to Himself the love of a miserable sinner like me. O love of souls, O my Jesus! I love Thee, I love Thee, I love Thee; but still I love Thee too little. Oh, give me more love, give me flames that may make me live always burning with Thy love! I do not myself deserve it; but Thou dost well deserve it, Ðž infinite Goodness. Amen. This I hope, so may it be. Amen

1. "Oblatus est, quia ipse voluit." --Isa. liii . 7.
2. Proprio Filio suo non pepercit, sed pro nobis omnibus tradidit illum." --Rom . viii . 32 .
3. Vere languores nostros ipse tulit , et dolores nostros ipse portavit."--Isa . liii . 4 .
4. "Condidit nos fortitudine sua, quaesivit nos infirmitate sua."--In Jo. tr . 15.
5. Quo tuus attigit amor? Ego inique egi , tu poena mulctaris." --Medit. c. 7.
6. "O bone Jesu! quid tibi est? Mori nos debuimus, et tu solvis? Nos peccavimus, et tu luis?--Opus sine exemplo, gratia sine merito, charitas sine modo:'--Apud Lohn . Bibl. tit . 110, $ 3.
7. "Sicut ovis ad occisionem ducetur. "--Isa. liii . 7.
8. "Christus nos redemit de maledicto legis, factus pro nobis male. dictum, quia scriptum est : Maledictus omnis qui pendet in ligno ; ut in gentibus benedictio AbrahÃ¦ fieret in Christo Jesu."--Gal. iii . 13 .
9. "Ille maledictum in cruce factus est, ut tu benedictus esses in Dei regno."--t.pist. 47.
10. "Deus meus ! Deus meus ! ut quid dereliquisti me?"--Matt. xxvii . 46.
11. "Ideo Christus derelictus est in penis, ne nos derelinquamur in culpis." --Lib. xiii , de Pass. D.
12. "Dilexit nos, et lavit nos a peccatis nostris in sanguine suo."--Apoc. i . 5 .
13. "Offert sanguinem melius clamantem quam Abel ; quia iste justitiam, sanguis Christi misericordiam interpellabat."--Contens. 1. 10, d . 4, c. 1 , sp. 1 .
14. "O bone Jesu! quid fecisti?"
15. "Quid me tantum amasti? quare, Domine, quare? quid sum ego?"--Stim . div. am. p. I , C. 13.
16. " O vos omnes qui transitis per viam! attendite , et videte si est dolor sicut dolor meus."--Lam . i . 12.
17. "Imo, Domine, attendam , et videbo si est amor sicut amor tuus, "
18. "Dilexit me, et tradidit semetipsum pro mene."--Gal. ii . 20.
19. " Adeo singulum quemque hominum pari charitatis modo diligit, quo diligit universum orbem."--In Gal. ii . 20.
20. "Praecellit omnem maternum ac filialem affectum Verbi Dei immensa charitas; neque humano valet explicare eloquio, quo circa unumquemque moveatur amore."--De Tr. Chr. Ag. c . 5 .
21. "Toties morerer, quot sunt animae in inferno."--Rev. 1. 7 , c . 19.
22. " Ego sum Pastor bonus. Bonus Pastor animam suam dat pro ovibus suis."--John , x . 11 .
23. " Et dices in die illa: Confitebor tibi , Domine! . . . Ecce Deus Salvator meus; fiducialiter agam, et non timebo."--Isa. xii . 1 .
24. "An nescitis quoniam . . . non estis vestri? Empti enim estis pretio magno."--1 Cor . vi . 19.]]> The Love of Jesus Christ in Being Willing to Satisfy the Divine Justice for Our Sins

by St. Alphonsus Di Liguori

I.

We read in history of a proof of love so prodigious that it will be the admiration of all ages. There was once a king, lord of many kingdoms, who had one only son , so beautiful, so holy, so amiable, that he was the delight of his father, who loved him as much as himself. This young prince had a great affection for one of his slaves; so much so that, the slave having committed a crime for which he had been condemned to death, the prince offered himself to die for the slave; the father, being jealous of justice, was satisfied to condemn his beloved son to death, in order that the slave might remain free from the punishment that he deserved: and thus the son died a malefactor's death, and the slave was freed from punishment.

This fact, the like of which has never happened in this world, and never will happen, is related in the Gospels, where we read that the Son of God, the Lord of the universe, seeing that man was condemned to eternal death in punishment of his sins, chose to take upon Himself human flesh , and thus to pay by His death the penalty due to man: He was offered because it was His own will (1). And His Eternal Father caused him to die upon the cross to save us miserable sinners : He spared not His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all (2) . What dost thou think, O devout soul , of this love of the Son and of the Father?

Thou didst, then , O my beloved Redeemer, choose by Thy death to sacrifice Thyself in order to obtain the pardon of my sins. And what return of gratitude shall I then make to Thee? Thou hast done too much to oblige me to love Thee; I should indeed be most ungrateful to Thee if I did not love Thee with my whole heart. Thou hast given for me Thy divine life; I , miserable sinner that I am, give Thee my own life . Yes, I will at least spend that period of life that remains to me only in loving Thee, obeying Thee, and pleasing Thee.

II.

O men, men! let us love this our Redeemer, who, being God, has not disdained to take upon Himself our sins, in order to satisfy by His sufferings for the chastisement which we have deserved: Surely He hath borne our infirmities, and carried our sorrows (3).

St. Augustine says that our Lord in creating us formed us by virtue of His power, but in redeeming us He has saved us from death by means of His sufferings: "He created us in His strength; He sought us back in His weakness (4)."

How much do I not owe Thee, O Jesus my Saviour! Oh, if I were to give my blood a thousand times over, if I were to spend a thousand lives for Thee, --it would yet be nothing. Oh, how could any one that meditated much on the love which Thou hast shown him in Thy Passion, love anything else but Thee? Through the love with which Thou didst love us on the cross, grant me the grace to love Thee with my whole heart. I love Thee, infinite Goodness; I love Thee above every other good; and I ask nothing more of Thee but Thy holy love.

"But how is this?" continues St. Augustine. How is it possible, O Saviour of the world, that Thy love has arrived at such a height that when I had committed the crime, Thou shouldst have to pay the penalty? "Whither has Thy love reached? I have sinned; Thou art punished (5)."

And what could it then signify to Thee, adds St. Bernard, that we should lose ourselves and be chastised, as we well deserved to be ; that Thou shouldst choose to satisfy with Thy innocent flesh for our sins, and to die in order to deliver us from death! "O good Jesus, what doest Thou? We ought to have died, and it is Thou who diest. We have sinned and Thou sufferest. A deed without precedent, grace without merit, charity without measure (6)." O deed which never has had and never will have its match! O grace which we could never merit! O love which can never be understood!

III.

Isaias had already foretold that our blessed Redeemer should be condemned to death , and as an innocent lamb brought to the sacrifice: He shall be led as a sheep to the slaughter (7). What a cause of wonder it must have been to the angels, O my God, to behold their innocent Lord led as a victim to be sacrificed on the altar of the cross for the love of man! And what a cause of horror to heaven and to hell, the sight of a God extended as an infamous criminal on a shameful gibbet for the sins of His creatures! Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us (for it is written , Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree): that the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles through Jesus Christ (8). "He was made a curse upon the cross," says St. Ambrose, "that thou mightest be blessed in the kingdom of God (9)."

O my dearest Saviour! Thou wert, then, content, in order to obtain for me the blessing of God, to embrace the dishonor of appearing upon the cross accursed in the sight of the whole world , and even forsaken in Thy sufferings by Thy Eternal Father, --a suffering which made Thee cry out with a loud voice, My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me (10)? Yes, observes Simon of Cassia, it was for this end that Jesus was abandoned in His Passion in order that we might not remain abandoned in the sins which we have committed: "Therefore Christ was abandoned in His sufferings that we might not be abandoned in our guilt (11)." O prodigy of compassion! O excess of love of God towards men! And how can there be a soul who believes this, O my Jesus, and yet loves Thee not?

IV.

He hath loved us, and washed us from our sins in His own blood (12). Behold, O men, how far the love of Jesus for us has carried Him , in order to cleanse us from the filthiness of our sins. He has even shed every drop of His blood that He might prepare for us in this His own blood a bath of salvation: "He offers His own blood," says a learned writer, "speaking better than the blood of Abel: for that cried for justice; the blood of Christ for mercy (13)."

Whereupon St. Bonaventure exclaims, "O good Jesus, what hast Thou done (14)?" O my Saviour, what indeed hast Thou done? How far hath Thy love carried Thee? What hast Thou seen in me which hath made Thee love me so much? "Wherefore hast Thou loved me so much? Why, Lord, why? What am I (15)? " Wherefore didst Thou choose to suffer so much for me? Who am I that Thou wouldst win to Thyself my love at so dear a price? Oh, it was entirely the work of Thy in finite love! Be Thou eternally praised and blessed for it.

O all ye that pass by the way, attend and see if there be any sorrow like to My sorrow (16). The same seraphic Doctor, considering these words of Jeremias as spoken of our blessed Redeemer while He was hanging on the cross dying for the love of us, says, " Yes, Lord , I will attend and see if there be any love like unto Thy love (17)." By which he means, I do indeed see and understand, O my most loving Redeemer, how much Thou didst suffer upon that infamous tree; but what most constrains me to love Thee is the thought of the affection which Thou hast shown me in suffering so much, in order that I might love Thee.

V.

That which most inflamed St. Paul with the love of Jesus was the thought that He chose to die, not only for all men, but for him in particular: He loved me, and delivered Himself up for me (18). Yes, He has loved me, said he, and for my sake He gave himself up to die. And thus ought every one of us to say; for St. John Chrysostom asserts that God has loved every individual man with the same love with which He has loved the world: "He loves each man separately with the same measure of charity with which He loves the whole world (19)." So that each one of us is under as great obligation to Jesus Christ for having suffered for every one, as if He had suffered for him alone.

F or supposing, my brother, Jesus Christ had died to save you alone, leaving all others to their original ruin , what a debt of gratitude you would owe to him! But you ought to feel that you owe Him a greater obligation still for having died for the salvation of all. For if he had died for you alone, what sorrow would it not have caused you to think that your neighbors, parents, brothers, and friends would be damned, and that you would, when this life was over, be forever separated from them? If you and your family had been slaves, and some one came to rescue you alone, how would you not entreat of him to save your parents and brothers together with yourself! And how much would you thank him if he did this to please you! Say, therefore, to Jesus:

O my sweetest Redeemer! Thou hast done this for me without my having asked Thee; Thou hast not only saved me from death at the price of Thy blood, but also my parents and friends, so that I may have a good hope that we may all together enjoy Thy presence forever in paradise. O Lord! I thank Thee, and I love Thee, and I hope to thank Thee for it, and to love Thee forever in that blessed country.

VI.

Who could ever, says St. Laurence Justinian, explain the love which the divine Word bears to each one of us, since it surpasses the love of every son towards his mother, and of every mother for her son? "The intense charity of the Word of God surpasses all maternal and filial love; neither can human words express how great his love is to each one of us (20)!" So much so, that our Lord revealed to St. Gertrude that He would be ready to die as many times as there were souls damned, if they were yet capable of redemption: "I would die as many deaths as there are souls in hell (21)."

O Jesus, O treasure more worthy of love than all others! why is it that men love Thee so little? Oh! do Thou make known what Thou hast suffered for each of them, the love that Thou bearest them , the desire Thou hast to be loved by them , and how worthy Thou art of being loved . Make Thyself known, O my Jesus, make Thyself loved .

VII.

I am the good shepherd, said our Redeemer; the good shepherd gives his life for his sheep (22). But, O my Lord, where are there in the world shepherds like unto Thee? Other shepherds will slay their sheep in order to preserve their own life. Thou, O too loving Shepherd, didst give Thy divine life in order to save the life of Thy beloved sheep. And of these sheep, I , O most amiable Shepherd, have the happiness to be one. What obligation, then, am I not under to love Thee, and to spend my life for Thee, since Thou hast died for the love of me in particular! And what confidence ought I not to have in Thy blood, knowing that it has been shed to pay the debt of my sins! And thou shalt say in that day, I will give thanks to Thee, O Lord. Behold, God is my Saviour; I will deal confidently, and will not fear (23). And how can I any longer mistrust Thy mercy, O my Lord, when I behold Thy wounds? Come, then , O sinners, and let us have recourse to Jesus, who hangs upon that cross as it were upon a throne of mercy. He has appeased the divine justice, which we had insulted. If we have offended God, He has done penance for us; all that is required for us is contrition for our sins. O my dearest Saviour, to what have Thy pity and love for me reduced Thee? The slave sins, and Thou, Lord , payest the penalty for him. If, therefore, I think of my sins, the thought of the punishment I deserve must make me tremble; but when I think of Thy death, I find I have more reason to hope than to fear. O blood of Jesus! thou art all my hope.

VIII.

But this blood, as it inspires us with confidence, also obliges us to give ourselves entirely to our Blessed Redeemer. The Apostle exclaims, Know you not that you are not your own? For you are bought with a great price (24).

Therefore, O my Jesus, I cannot any longer, without injustice, dispose of myself, or of my own concerns, since Thou hast made me Thine by purchasing me through Thy death. My body, my soul, my life are no longer mine; they are Thine, and entirely Thine. In Thee alone, therefore, will I hope. O my God, crucified and dead for me, I have nothing else to offer Thee but this soul, which Thou hast bought with Thy blood ; to Thee do I offer it. Accept of my love, for I desire nothing but Thee, my Saviour, my God, my love, my all. Hitherto I have shown much gratitude towards men; to Thee alone have I, alas! been most ungrateful. But now I love Thee, and I have no greater cause of sorrow than my having offended Thee. O my Jesus, give me confidence in Thy Passion; root out of my heart every affection that belongs not to Thee. I will love Thee alone, who dost deserve all my love, and who hast given me so much reason to love Thee. And who, indeed, could refuse to love Thee, when they see Thee, who art the beloved of the Eternal Father, dying so bitter and cruel a death for our sake? O Mary, O Mother of fair love, I pray thee, through the merits of thy burning heart, obtain for me the grace to live only in order to love thy Son, who, being in himself worthy of an infinite love, has chosen at so great a cost to acquire to Himself the love of a miserable sinner like me. O love of souls, O my Jesus! I love Thee, I love Thee, I love Thee; but still I love Thee too little. Oh, give me more love, give me flames that may make me live always burning with Thy love! I do not myself deserve it; but Thou dost well deserve it, Ðž infinite Goodness. Amen. This I hope, so may it be. Amen

1. "Oblatus est, quia ipse voluit." --Isa. liii . 7.
2. Proprio Filio suo non pepercit, sed pro nobis omnibus tradidit illum." --Rom . viii . 32 .
3. Vere languores nostros ipse tulit , et dolores nostros ipse portavit."--Isa . liii . 4 .
4. "Condidit nos fortitudine sua, quaesivit nos infirmitate sua."--In Jo. tr . 15.
5. Quo tuus attigit amor? Ego inique egi , tu poena mulctaris." --Medit. c. 7.
6. "O bone Jesu! quid tibi est? Mori nos debuimus, et tu solvis? Nos peccavimus, et tu luis?--Opus sine exemplo, gratia sine merito, charitas sine modo:'--Apud Lohn . Bibl. tit . 110, $ 3.
7. "Sicut ovis ad occisionem ducetur. "--Isa. liii . 7.
8. "Christus nos redemit de maledicto legis, factus pro nobis male. dictum, quia scriptum est : Maledictus omnis qui pendet in ligno ; ut in gentibus benedictio AbrahÃ¦ fieret in Christo Jesu."--Gal. iii . 13 .
9. "Ille maledictum in cruce factus est, ut tu benedictus esses in Dei regno."--t.pist. 47.
10. "Deus meus ! Deus meus ! ut quid dereliquisti me?"--Matt. xxvii . 46.
11. "Ideo Christus derelictus est in penis, ne nos derelinquamur in culpis." --Lib. xiii , de Pass. D.
12. "Dilexit nos, et lavit nos a peccatis nostris in sanguine suo."--Apoc. i . 5 .
13. "Offert sanguinem melius clamantem quam Abel ; quia iste justitiam, sanguis Christi misericordiam interpellabat."--Contens. 1. 10, d . 4, c. 1 , sp. 1 .
14. "O bone Jesu! quid fecisti?"
15. "Quid me tantum amasti? quare, Domine, quare? quid sum ego?"--Stim . div. am. p. I , C. 13.
16. " O vos omnes qui transitis per viam! attendite , et videte si est dolor sicut dolor meus."--Lam . i . 12.
17. "Imo, Domine, attendam , et videbo si est amor sicut amor tuus, "
18. "Dilexit me, et tradidit semetipsum pro mene."--Gal. ii . 20.
19. " Adeo singulum quemque hominum pari charitatis modo diligit, quo diligit universum orbem."--In Gal. ii . 20.
20. "Praecellit omnem maternum ac filialem affectum Verbi Dei immensa charitas; neque humano valet explicare eloquio, quo circa unumquemque moveatur amore."--De Tr. Chr. Ag. c . 5 .
21. "Toties morerer, quot sunt animae in inferno."--Rev. 1. 7 , c . 19.
22. " Ego sum Pastor bonus. Bonus Pastor animam suam dat pro ovibus suis."--John , x . 11 .
23. " Et dices in die illa: Confitebor tibi , Domine! . . . Ecce Deus Salvator meus; fiducialiter agam, et non timebo."--Isa. xii . 1 .
24. "An nescitis quoniam . . . non estis vestri? Empti enim estis pretio magno."--1 Cor . vi . 19.]]> <![CDATA[The Clock of the Passion]]> https://thecatacombs.org/showthread.php?tid=1493 Fri, 02 Apr 2021 10:51:51 +0000 Stone]]> https://thecatacombs.org/showthread.php?tid=1493 The Clock of the Passion

Summary listing from the work The Clock of the Passion, or the Affectionate Reflexions on the Sufferings of our Lord Jesus Christ,

by the blessed Bishop Saint Alphonsus Marie de Liguori

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THURSDAY

Hour 1 - 6:00 p.m. Jesus says good-bye to His Mother before the Supper.

Hour 2 - 7:00 p.m. Jesus washes the feet of His Disciples, and institutes the Most Holy Sacrament.

Hour 3 - 8:00 p.m. Jesus gives the Sermon of the Supper, and goes to the Garden of Olives.

Hour 4 - 9:00 p.m. Jesus prays at the Garden.

Hour 5 - 10:00 p.m. Jesus enters into His agony.

Hour 6 - 11:00 p.m. Jesus sweats blood in His agony.

Hour 7 - MIDNIGHT. Jesus is handed over by Judas, and bound.

FRIDAY

Hour 8 - 1:00 a.m. Jesus is led to the house of Annas.

Hour 9 - 2:00 a.m. Jesus is taken to the house of Caiphas, and slapped.

Hour 10 - 3:00 a.m. Jesus is blindfolded, mistreated and mocked.

Hour 11 - 4:00 a.m. Jesus is dragged before the Great Council, and is judged worthy of death.

Hour 12 - 5:00 a.m. Jesus is taken to Pilate, and accused.

Hour 13 - 6:00 a.m. Jesus is mocked and ridiculed by Herod.

Hour 14 - 7:00 a.m. Jesus is returned to Pilate, and Barabbas is preferred over Him.

Hour 15 - 8:00 a.m. Jesus is cruelly scourged at the pillar.

Hour 16 - 9:00 a.m. Jesus is crowned with thorns, and presented to the people.

Hour 17 - 10:00 a.m. Pilate condemns Jesus to death, and begins His walk to Calvary.

Hour 18 - 11:00 a.m. Jesus is stripped naked and his Crucifixion is commenced.

Hour 19 - MIDDAY. Jesus is now Crucified, and pleads for those who have Crucified Him.

Hour 20 - 1:00 p.m. Jesus commends His Spirit to the Father.

Hour 21 - 2:00 p.m. Jesus undergoes His last hour of agony.

Hour 22 - 3:00 p.m. Jesus dies [offer a moment of silence now], and is then pierced with the lance.

Hour 23 - 4:00 p.m. Jesus is lowered from the Cross, and delivered to His Mother.

Hour 24 - 5:00 p.m. Jesus is buried, and left in the Holy Sepulchre.

Translated from the Italian by Abate J. Gaume, Barcelona, Spain, 3rd corrected edition, 1859 (pg 279-280) and translated from the Spanish by Jan Paul von Wendt - cdigital.dgb.uanl.mx]]> The Clock of the Passion

Summary listing from the work The Clock of the Passion, or the Affectionate Reflexions on the Sufferings of our Lord Jesus Christ,

by the blessed Bishop Saint Alphonsus Marie de Liguori

[Image: ?u=https%3A%2F%2Ftse3.mm.bing.net%2Fth%3...ipo=images]

[Psalms 21:1-32 - Deus Deus meus. Christ's passion: and the conversion of the Gentiles]

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[1] Unto the end, for the morning protection, a psalm for David. [2] O God my God, look upon me: why hast thou forsaken me? Far from my salvation are the words of my sins. [3] O my God, I shall cry by day, and thou wilt not hear: and by night, and it shall not be reputed as folly in me. [4] But thou dwellest in the holy place, the praise of Israel. [5] In thee have our fathers hoped: they have hoped, and thou hast delivered them.

[6] They cried to thee, and they were saved: they trusted in thee, and were not confounded. [7] But I am a worm, and no man: the reproach of men, and the outcast of the people. [8] All they that saw me have laughed me to scorn: they have spoken with the lips, and wagged the head. [9] He hoped in the Lord, let him deliver him: let him save him, seeing he delighteth in him. [10] For thou art he that hast drawn me out of the womb: my hope from the breasts of my mother.

[11] I was cast upon thee from the womb. From my mother's womb thou art my God, [12] Depart not from me. For tribulation is very near: for there is none to help me. [13] Many calves have surrounded me: fat bulls have besieged me. [14] They have opened their mouths against me, as a lion ravening and roaring. [15] I am poured out like water; and all my bones are scattered. My heart is become like wax melting in the midst of my bowels.

[16] My strength is dried up like a potsherd, and my tongue hath cleaved to my jaws: and thou hast brought me down into the dust of death. [17] For many dogs have encompassed me: the council of the malignant hath besieged me. They have dug my hands and feet. [18] They have numbered all my bones. And they have looked and stared upon me. [19] They parted my garments amongst them; and upon my vesture they cast lots. [20] But thou, O Lord, remove not thy help to a distance from me; look towards my defence.

[21] Deliver, O God, my soul from the sword: my only one from the hand of the dog. [22] Save me from the lion's mouth; and my lowness from the horns of the unicorns. [23] I will declare thy name to my brethren: in the midst of the church will I praise thee. [24] Ye that fear the Lord, praise him: all ye the seed of Jacob, glorify him. [25] Let all the seed of Israel fear him: because he hath not slighted nor despised the supplication of the poor man. Neither hath he turned away his face from me: and when I cried to him he heard me.

[26] With thee is my praise in a great church: I will pay my vows in the sight of them that fear him. [27] The poor shall eat and shall be filled: and they shall praise the Lord that seek him: their hearts shall live for ever and ever. [28] All the ends of the earth shall remember, and shall be converted to the Lord: And all the kindreds of the Gentiles shall adore in his sight. [29] For the kingdom is the Lord's; and he shall have dominion over the nations. [30] All the fat ones of the earth have eaten and have adored: all they that go down to the earth shall fall before him.

[31] And to him my soul shall live: and my seed shall serve him. [32] There shall be declared to the Lord a generation to come: and the heavens shall shew forth his justice to a people that shall be born, which the Lord hath made.]]> Psalms 21

[Psalms 21:1-32 - Deus Deus meus. Christ's passion: and the conversion of the Gentiles]

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The Seven Sorrows of the Blessed Virgin
Friday in Passion Week

Today, the Friday of Passion Week is consecrated, in a special manner, to the sufferings which the Holy Mother of God endured at the foot of the Cross. The whole of next week is fully taken up with the celebration of the mysteries of Jesus' Passion; and, although the remembrance of Mary's share in those sufferings is often brought before the Faithful during Holy Week, yet, the thought of what her Son, our Divine Redeemer, goes through for our salvation, so absorbs our attention and love, that it is not then possible to honor, as it deserves, the sublime mystery of the Mother's Compassion.

It was but fitting, therefore, that one day in the year should be set apart for this sacred duty; and what day could be more appropriate, than the Friday of this Week, which, though sacred to the Passion, admits the celebration of Saints' Feasts, as we have already noticed? As far back as the 15th century, (that is, in the year 1423,) we find the pious Archbishop of Cologne, Theodoric, prescribing this Feast to be kept by his people (Labb, Concil. t. xiiu p. 365). It was gradually introduced, and with the connivance of the Holy See, into several other countries; and at length, in the last century, Pope Benedict the Thirteenth, by a decree dated August 22nd, 1727, ordered it to be kept in the whole Church, under the name of the Feast of the Seven Dolors of the Blessed Virgin Mary, for, up to that time, it had gone under various names. We will explain the title thus given to it, as also the first origin of the devotion of the Seven Dolors, when our Liturgical Year brings us to the Third Sunday of September, the second Feast of Mary's Dolors. What the Church proposes to her children's devotion for this Friday of Passion Week, is that one special Dolour of Mary, her standing at the Foot of the Cross. Among the various titles given to this Feast, before it was extended, by the Holy See to the whole Church, we may mention, Our Lady of Pity, The Compassion of our Lady, and the one that was so popular throughout France, Notre Dame de la Pamoison. These few historical observations prove that this Feast was dear to the devotion of the people, even before it received the solemn sanction of the Church.

That we may clearly understand the object of this Feast, and spend it, as the Church would have us do, in paying due honor to the Mother of God and of men, we must recall to our minds this great truth: that God, in the designs of his infinite wisdom, has willed that Mary should have a share in the work of the world's Redemption. The mystery of the present Feast is one of the applications of this Divine law, a law which reveals to us the whole magnificence of God's Plan; it is also, one of the many realizations of the prophecy, that Satan's pride was to be crushed by a Woman. In the work of our Redemption, there are three interventions of Mary, that is, she is thrice called upon to take part in what God Himself did. The first of these was in the Incarnation of the Word, Who takes not Flesh in her virginal womb until she has given her consent to become His Mother; and this she gave by that solemn Fiat which blessed the world with a Saviour. The second was in the sacrifice which Jesus consummated on Calvary, where she was present, that she might take part in the expiatory offering. The third was on the day of Pentecost, when she received the Holy Ghost, as did the Apostles, in order that she might effectively labor in the establishment of the Church. We have already explained on the Feast of the Annunciation, the share Mary had in that wonderful mystery of the Incarnation, which God wrought for His own glory and for man's redemption and sanctification. On the Feast of Pentecost we shall speak of the Church commencing and progressing under the active influence of the Mother of God. Today we must show what part she took in the mystery of her Son's Passion; we must tell the sufferings, the Dolors, she endured at the foot of the Cross, and the claims she thereby won to our filial gratitude.

On the fortieth day after the Birth of our Emmanuel, we followed, to the Temple, the happy Mother carrying her Divine Babe in her arms. A venerable old man was there, waiting to receive her Child; and, when he had Him in his arms, he proclaimed Him to be the Light of the Gentiles, and the glory of Israel. But, turning to the Mother, he spoke to her these heart-rending words: Behold! this Child is set to be a sign that shall be contradicted, and a sword shall pierce thine own soul. This prophecy of sorrow for the Mother told us that the holy joys of Christmas were over, and that the season of trial, for both Jesus and Mary, had begun. It had, indeed, begun; for, from the night of the Flight into Egypt, up to this present day, when the malice of the Jews is plotting the great crime, what else has the life of our Jesus been, but the bearing humiliation, insult, persecution, and ingratitude? And if so, what has the Mother gone through? what ceaseless anxiety? what endless anguish of heart? But, let us pass by all her other sufferings, and come to the morning of the great Friday.

Mary knows, that on the previous night, her Son has been betrayed by one of his Disciples, that is, by one that Jesus had numbered among his intimate friends; she herself had often given him proofs of her maternal affection. After a cruel Agony, her Son has been manacled as a malefactor, and led by armed men to Caiphas, His worst enemy. Thence, they have dragged Him before the Roman Governor, whose sanction the Chief Priests and the Scribes must have before they can put Jesus to death. Mary is in Jerusalem; Magdalene, and the other holy women, the friends of Jesus, are with her; but they cannot prevent her from hearing the loud shouts of the people, and if they could, how is such a heart as hers to be slow in its forebodings? The report spreads rapidly through the City that the Roman Governor is being urged to sentence Jesus to be crucified. Whilst the entire populace is on the move towards Calvary, shouting out their blasphemous insults at her Jesus, will His Mother keep away, she that bore Him in her womb, and fed Him at her breast? Shall His enemies be eager to glut their eyes with the cruel sight, and His own Mother be afraid to be near Him?

The air resounded with the yells of the mob. Joseph of Arimathia, the noble counselor, was not there, neither was the learned Nicodemus; they kept at home, grieving over what was done. The crowd that went before and after the Divine Victim was made up of wretches without hearts, saving only a few who were seen to weep as they went along; they were women; Jesus saw them, and spoke to them. And if these women, from mere sentiments of veneration, or, at most, of gratitude, thus testified their compassion, would Mary do less? could she bear to be elsewhere than close to her Jesus? Our motive for insisting so much upon this point, is that we may show our detestation of that school of modern rationalism, which, regardless of the instincts of a mother's heart and of all tradition, has dared to call in question the Meeting of Jesus and Mary on the way to Calvary. These systematic contradictors are too prudent to deny that Mary was present when Jesus was crucified; the Gospel is too explicit, Mary stood near the Cross (St. John, xix. 25.): but, they would persuade us, that whilst the Daughters of Jerusalem courageously walked after Jesus, Mary went up to Calvary by some secret path! What a heartless insult to the love of the incomparable Mother.

No, Mary, who is, by excellence, the Valiant Woman, (Prov. xxxi. 10.)" was with Jesus as He carried his Cross. And who could describe her anguish and her love, as her eye met that of her Son tottering under his heavy load? Who could tell the affection, and the resignation, of the look He gave her in return? Who could depict the eager and respectful tenderness wherewith Magdalene and the other holy women grouped around this Mother, as she followed her Jesus up Calvary, there to see Him crucified and die? The distance between the Fourth and Tenth Station of the Dolorous Way is long: it is marked with Jesus' Blood, and the Mother's tears.

Jesus and Mary have reached the summit of the hill, that is to be the Altar of the holiest and cruelest Sacrifice: but the divine decree permits not the Mother as yet to approach her Son. When the Victim is ready, then She that is to offer him shall come forward. Meanwhile, they nail her Jesus to the Cross; and each blow of the hammer was a wound to Mary's heart. When, at last, she is permitted to approach, accompanied by the Beloved Disciple, (who has made amends for his cowardly flight,) and the disconsolate Magdalene and the other holy women, what unutterable anguish must have filled the soul of this Mother, when, raising up her eyes, she sees the mangled Body of her Son, stretched upon the Cross, with his face all covered with blood, and his head wreathed with a crown of thorns!

Here, then, is this King of Israel, of whom the Angel had told her such glorious things in his prophecy! Here is that Son of hers, whom she has loved both as her God and as the fruit of her own womb! And who are they that have reduced Him to this pitiable state? Men, for whose sake, rather than for her own, she conceived him, gave him birth, and nourished him! Oh! if, by one of those miracles, which his Heavenly Father could so easily work, He might be again restored to her! If that Divine Justice, which He has taken upon Himself to appease, would be satisfied with what He has already suffered!--but no; He must die; He must breathe forth His blessed Soul after a long and cruel agony.

Mary, then, is at the foot of the Cross, there to witness the death of her Son. He is soon to be separated from her. In three hours' time, all that will be left of her beloved Jesus will be a lifeless Body, wounded from head to foot. Our words are too cold for such a scene as this: let us listen to those of St. Bernard, which the Church has inserted in her Matins of this Feast. "O Blessed Mother! a sword of sorrow pierced thy soul, and we may well call thee more than Martyr, for the intensity of thy compassion surpassed all that a bodily passion could produce. Could any sword have made thee smart so much as that word which pierced thy heart, reaching unto the division of the soul and the spirit: 'Woman! behold thy son!' What an exchange! John, for Jesus! the servant, for the Lord! the disciple, for the Master! the son of Zebedee, for the Son of God! a mere man, for the very God! How must not thy most loving heart have been pierced with the sound of these words, when even ours, that are hard as stone and steel, break down as we think of them! Ah! my Brethren, be not surprised when you are told that Mary was a Martyr in her soul. Let him alone be surprised, who has forgotten that St. Paul counts it as one of the greatest sins of the Gentiles, that they were without affection. Who could say that of Mary? God forbid it be said of us, the servants of Mary! (Sermon On the Twelve Stars.)"

Amidst the shouts and insults vociferated by the enemies of Jesus, Mary's quick ear has heard these words, which tell her, that the only son she is henceforth to have on earth is one of adoption. Her maternal joys of Bethlehem and Nazareth are all gone; they make her present sorrow the bitterer: she was the Mother of a God, and men have taken Him from her! Her last and fondest look at her Jesus, her own dearest Jesus, tells her that He is suffering a burning thirst, and she cannot give Him to drink! His eyes grow dim; His head droops; all is consummated!

Mary cannot leave the Cross; love brought her thither; love keeps her there, whatever may happen! A soldier advances near that hallowed spot; she sees him lift up his spear, and thrust it through the breast of the sacred Corpse. "Ah,"cries out St. Bernard, "that thrust is through thy soul, O Blessed Mother! It could but open His side, but it pierced thy very soul. His Soul was not there; thine was, and could not but be so (Sermon On the Twelve Stars.)." No, the undaunted Mother keeps close to the Body of her Son. She watches them as they take it down from the Cross; and when, at last, the friends of Jesus, with all the respect due to both Mother and Son, enable her to embrace it, she raises it upon her lap, and He that once lay upon her knees receiving the homage of the Eastern Kings, now lays there cold, mangled, bleeding, dead! And as she looks upon the wounds of this divine Victim, she gives them the highest honor in the power of creatures, she kisses them, she bathes them with her tears, she adores them, but oh! with what intensity of loving grief!

The hour is far advanced; and before sunset, He, Jesus, the author of life, must be buried. The Mother puts the whole vehemence of her love into a last kiss, and oppressed with a bitterness great as is the sea (Lament, i. 4, ii, 13), she makes over this adorable Body to them that have to embalm and then lay it on the sepulchral slab. The sepulchre is closed; and Mary, accompanied by John, her adopted son, and Magdalene, and the holy women, and the two disciples that have presided over the Burial, returns sorrowing to the deicide City.

Now, in all this, there is another mystery besides that of Mary's sufferings. Her Dolors at the Foot of the Cross include and imply a truth, which we must not pass by, or we shall not understand the full beauty of today's Feast. Why would God have her assist in person at such a scene as this of Calvary? Why was not she, as well as Joseph, taken out of this world before this terrible day of Jesus' Death? Because God had assigned her a great office for that day, and it was to be under the Tree of the Cross that she, the second Eve, was to discharge her office. As the heavenly Father had waited for her consent before He sent His Son into the world; so, likewise, He called for her obedience and devotedness, when the hour came for that Son to be offered up in sacrifice for the world's Redemption. Was not Jesus hers? her Child? her own and dearest treasure? And yet, God gave Him not to her, until she had assented to become His Mother; in like manner, He would not take Him from her, unless she gave Him back.

But, see what this involved, see what a struggle it entailed upon this most loving Heart! It is the injustice, the cruelty, of men that rob her of her Son; how can she, His Mother, ratify, by her consent, the Death of Him, Whom she loved with a twofold love, as her Son, and as her God? But, on the other hand, if Jesus be not put to death, the human race is left a prey to Satan, sin is not atoned for, and all the honors and joys of her being Mother of God are of no use or blessing to us. This Virgin of Nazareth, this noblest heart, this purest creature, whose affections were never blunted with the selfishness which so easily makes its way into souls that have been wounded by original sin, what shall she do? Her devotedness to mankind, her conformity with the will of her Son Who so vehemently desires the world's salvation, lead her, a second time, to pronounce the solemn Fiat: she consents to the immolation of her Son. It is not God's justice that takes Him from her; it is she herself that gives Him up; but, in return, she is raised to a degree of greatness, which her humility could never have suspected was to be hers: an ineffable union is made to exist between the two offerings, that of the Incarnate Word and that of Mary; the Blood of the Divine Victim, and the Tears of the Mother, flow together for the redemption of mankind.

We can now understand the conduct and the courage of this Mother of Sorrows. Unlike that other mother, of whom the Scripture speaks, the unhappy Agar, who, after having sought in vain how she might quench the thirst of her Ismael in the desert, withdrew from him that she might not see him die; Mary no sooner hears that Jesus is condemned to death, than she rises, hastens to Him, and follows Him to the place where He is to die. And what is her attitude at the foot of His cross? Does her matchless grief overpower her? Does she swoon? or fall? No: the Evangelist says: "There " stood by the Cross of Jesus, his Mother.(St. John, six. 25.)" The sacrificing Priest stands, when offering at the altar; Mary stood for such a sacrifice as hers was to be. St Ambrose, whose affectionate heart and profound appreciation of the mysteries of religion have revealed to us so many precious traits of Mary's character, thus speaks of her position at the foot of the Cross: "She stood opposite the Cross, gazing, with maternal love, on the wounds of her Son; and thus she stood, not waiting for her Jesus to die, but for the world to be saved (In Lucam, cap. xxiii.)."

Thus, this Mother of Sorrows, when standing on Calvary, blessed us who deserved but maledictions; she loved us; she sacrificed her Son for our salvation. In spite of all the feelings of her maternal heart, she gave back to the Eternal Father the divine treasure He had entrusted to her keeping. The sword pierced through and through her soul, but we were saved; and she, though a mere creature, cooperated with her Son in the work of our salvation. Can we wonder, after this, that Jesus chose this moment for the making her the Mother of men, in the person of John the Evangelist, who represented us? Never had Mary's Heart loved us as she did then; from that time forward, therefore, let this second Eve be the true Mother of the living (Gen., iii. 20)! The Sword, by piercing her Immaculate Heart, has given us admission there. For time and eternity, Mary will extend to us the love she has borne for her Son, for she has just heard Him saying to her that we are her children. He is our Lord, for He has redeemed us; She is our Lady, for she generously cooperated in our redemption.

Animated by this confidence, O Mother of Sorrows! we come before thee, on this Feast of thy Dolors, to offer thee our filial love. Jesus, the Blessed Fruit of thy Womb, filled thee with joy as thou gavest Him birth; we, thy adopted children, entered into thy Heart by the cruel piercing of the Sword of Suffering. And yet, O Mary! love us, for thou didst cooperate with our Divine Redeemer in saving us. How can we not trust in the love of thy generous Heart, when we know, that, for our salvation, thou didst unite thyself to the Sacrifice of thy Jesus? What proofs hast thou not unceasingly given us of thy maternal tenderness, O Queen of Mercy! O Refuge of Sinners! O untiring Advocate for us in all our miseries! Deign, sweet Mother, to watch over us, during these days of grace. Give us to feel and relish the Passion of thy Son. It was consummated in thy presence; thine own share in it was magnificent! Oh! make us enter into all its mysteries, that so our souls, redeemed by the Blood of thy Son, and helped by thy Tears, may be thoroughly converted to the Lord, and persevere, henceforward, faithful in His service.

- From The Liturgical Year by Dom Prosper Gueranger, O.S.B.

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Regina Martyrum, ora pro nobis

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The Seven Sorrows of the Blessed Virgin
Friday in Passion Week

- From The Liturgical Year by Dom Prosper Gueranger, O.S.B.

Regina Martyrum, ora pro nobis

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]]> <![CDATA[Practice of Christian Mortification]]> https://thecatacombs.org/showthread.php?tid=1323 Tue, 09 Mar 2021 16:11:53 +0000 Stone]]> https://thecatacombs.org/showthread.php?tid=1323 Practice of Christian Mortification

by Cardinal Mercier (d. 1926)
Adapted from the Dominicans of Avrillé

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N.B.: All the practices of mortification which we have collected here are derived from the examples of the saints, especially Saint Augustine, Saint Thomas Aquinas, Saint Teresa, Saint Francis de Sales, Saint John Berchmans; or they are recommended by acknowledged masters of the spiritual life, such as the Venerable Louis de Blois, Rodriguez, Scaramelli, Msgr Gay, Abbé Allemand, Abbé Hamon, Abbé Dubois, etc…

Mortification of the body

1 — In the matter of food, restrict yourself as far as possible to simple necessity. Consider these words which Saint Augustine addressed to God: “O my God, Thou hast taught me to take food only as a remedy. Ah! Lord, who is there among us who does not sometimes exceed the limit here? If there is such a one, I say that man is great, and must give great glory to Thy name.” (Confessions, book X, ch. 31)

2— Pray to God often, pray to God daily to help you by His grace so that you do not overstep the limits of necessity and do not permit yourself to give way to pleasure.

3— Take nothing between meals, unless out of necessity or for the sake of convenience.

4— Practise fasting and abstinence, but practise them only under obedience and with discretion.

5— It is not forbidden for you to enjoy some bodily satisfaction, but do so with a pure intention, giving thanks to God.

6— Regulate your sleep, avoiding in this all faint-heartedness, all softness, especially in the morning. Set an hour, if you can, for going to bed and getting up, and keep strictly to it.

7— In general, take your rest only in so far as it is necessary; give yourself generously to work, not sparing your labour. Take care not to exhaust your body, but guard against indulging it; as soon as you feel it even a little disposed to play the master, treat it at once as a slave.

8— If you suffer some slight indisposition, avoid being a nuisance to others through your bad mood; leave to your companions the task of complaining for you; for yourself, be patient and silent as the Divine Lamb who has truly borne all our weaknesses.

9— Guard against making the slightest illness a reason for dispensation or exemption from your daily schedule. “One must detest like the plague every exception when it comes to rules,” wrote Saint John Berchmans.

10 —Accept with docility, endure humbly, patiently and with perseverance, the tiresome mortification called illness.

Mortification of the senses, of the imagination and the passions

1 — Close your eyes always and above all to every dangerous sight, and even – have the courage to do it – to every frivolous and useless sight. See without looking; do not gaze at anybody to judge of their beauty or ugliness.

2—Keep your ears closed to flattering remarks, to praise, to persuasion, to bad advice, to slander, to uncharitable mocking, to indiscretions, to ill-disposed criticism, to suspicions voiced, to every word capable of causing the very smallest coolness between two souls.

3 — If the sense of smell has something to suffer due to your neighbour’s infirmity or illness, far be it from you ever to complain of it; draw from it a holy joy.

4 — In what concerns the quality of food, have great respect for Our Lord’s counsel: “Eat such things as are set before you.” “Eat what is good without delighting in it, what is bad without expressing aversion to it, and show yourself equally indifferent to the one as to the other. There,”says Saint Francis de Sales, “is real mortification.”

5 — Offer your meals to God; at table impose on yourself a tiny penance: for example, refuse a sprinkling of salt, a glass of wine, a sweet, etc.; your companions will not notice it, but God will keep account of it.

6— If what you are given appeals to you very much, think of the gall and the vinegar given to Our Lord on the cross: that cannot keep you from tasting, but will serve as a counterbalance to the pleasure.

7— You must avoid all sensual contact, every caress in which you set some passion, by which you look for passion, from which you take a joy which is principally of the senses.

8— Refrain from going to warm yourself, unless this is necessary to save you from being unwell.

9— Bear with everything which naturally grieves the flesh, especially the cold of winter, the heat of summer, a hard bed and every inconvenience of that kind. Whatever the weather, put on a good face; smile at all temperatures. Say with the prophet: “Cold, heat, rain, bless ye the Lord.” It will be a happy day for us when we are able to say with a good heart these words which were familiar to Saint Francis de Sales: “I am never better than when I am not well.”

10— Mortify your imagination when it beguiles you with the lure of a brilliant position, when it saddens you with the prospect of a dreary future, when it irritates you with the memory of a word or deed which offended you.

11— If you feel within you the need to day-dream, mortify it without mercy.

12— Mortify yourself with the greatest care in the matter of impatience, of irritation, or of anger.

13— Examine your desires thoroughly; submit them to the control of reason and of faith: Do you never desire a long life rather than a holy life, wish for pleasure and well-being without trouble or sadness, victory without battle, success without setbacks, praise without criticism, a comfortable, peaceful life without a cross of any sort – a that is to say, a life quite opposite to that of Our Divine Lord?

14—Take care not to acquire certain habits which, without being positively bad, can become injurious, such as habits of frivolous reading, of playing at games of chance, etc..

15— Seek to discover your predominant failing and, as soon as you have recognised it, pursue it all the way to its last retreat. To that purpose, submit with good will to whatever could be monotonous or boring in the practice of the examination of conscience.

16— You are not forbidden to have a heart and to show it, but be on your guard against the danger of exceeding due measure. Resist attachments which are too natural, particular friendships and all softness of the heart.

Mortification of the mind and of the will

1— Mortify your mind by denying it all fruitless imaginings, all ineffectual or wandering thoughts which waste time, dissipate the soul, and render work and serious things distasteful.

2— Every gloomy and anxious thought should be banished from your mind. Concern about all that could happen to you later on should not worry you at all. As for the bad thoughts which bother you in spite of yourself, you should, in dismissing them, make of them a subject for patience. Being involuntary, they will simply be for you an occasion of merit.

3—Avoid obstinacy in your ideas, stubbornness in your sentiments. You should willingly let the judgments of others prevail, unless there is a question of matters on which you have a duty to give your opinion and speak out.

4— Mortify the natural organ of your mind, which is to say the tongue. Practise silence gladly, whether your rule prescribes it for you or whether you impose it on yourself of your own accord.

5— Prefer to listen to others rather than to speak yourself; and yet speak appropriately, avoiding as extremes both speaking too much, which prevents others from telling their thoughts, and speaking too little, which suggests a hurtful lack of interest in what they say.

6— Never interrupt somebody who is speaking and do not forestall, by answering too swiftly, a question he would put to you.

7— Always have a moderate tone of voice, never abrupt or sharp. Avoid exaggeration, as being horrible.

Mortifications to practice in our exterior actions

1 — You ought to show the greatest exactitude in observing all the points of your rule of life, obeying them without delay, remembering Saint John Berchmans, who said: “Penance for me is to lead the common life”; “To have the highest regard for the smallest things, such is my motto”; “Rather die than break a single rule.”

2 —In the exercise of your duties of state, try to be well-pleased with whatever happens to be most unpleasant or boring for you, recalling again here the words of Saint Francis: “I am never better than when I am not well.”

3 — Never give one moment over to sloth: from morning until night keep busy without respite.

4 — If your life is, at least partly, spent in study, apply to yourself this advice from Saint Thomas Aquinas to his pupils: “Do not be content to take in superficially what you read and hear, but endeavour to go into it deeply and to fathom the whole sense of it. Never remain in doubt about what you could know with certainty. Work with a holy eagerness to enrich your mind; arrange and classify in your memory all the knowledge you are able to acquire. On the other hand, do not seek to penetrate mysteries which are beyond your intelligence.”

5 — Devote yourself solely to your present occupation, without looking back on what went before or anticipating in thought what will follow. Say with Saint Francis: “While I am doing this I am not obliged to do anything else”; “let us make haste very calmly; all in good time.”

6 — Be modest in your bearing. Nothing was so perfect as Saint Francis’s deportment; he always kept his head straight, avoiding alike the inconstancy which turns it in all directions, the negligence which lets it droop forward and the proud and haughty disposition which throws it back. His countenance was always peaceful, free from all annoyance, always cheerful, serene and open; without however any merriment or indiscreet humour, without loud, immoderate or too frequent laughter.

He was as composed when alone as in a large gathering. He did not cross his legs, never supported his head on his elbow. When he prayed he was motionless as a statue. When nature suggested to him he should relax, he did not listen.

7 — Regard cleanliness and order as a virtue, uncleanness and untidyness as a vice; do not have dirty, stained or torn clothes. On the other hand, regard luxury and worldliness as a greater vice still. Make sure that, on seeing your way of dressing, nobody calls it “slovenly” or “elegant”, but that everybody is bound to think it “decent”.

Mortifications to practice in our relations with our neighbour

1 — Bear with your neighbour’s defects; defects of education, of mind, of character. Bear with everything about him which irritates you: his gait, his posture, tone of voice, accent, or whatever.

2 — Bear with everything in everybody and endure it to the end and in a Christian spirit. Never with that proud patience which makes one say: “What have I to do with so and so? How does what he says affect me? What need have I for the affection, the kindness or even the politeness of any creature at all and of that person in particular?” Nothing accords less with the will of God than this haughty unconcern, this scornful indifference; it is worse, indeed, than impatience.

3 — Are you tempted to be angry? For the love of Jesus, be meek.

To avenge yourself? Return good for evil; it is said the great secret of touching Saint Teresa’s heart was to do her a bad turn.

To look sourly at someone? Smile at him with good nature.

To avoid meeting him? Seek him out willingly.

To talk badly of him? Talk well of him.

To speak harshly to him? Speak very gently, warmly, to him.

4 — Love to give praise to your companions, especially those you are naturally most inclined to envy.

5 — Do not be witty at the expense of charity.

6 — If somebody in your presence should take the liberty of making remarks which are rather improper, or if someone should hold conversations likely to injure his neighbour’s reputation, you may sometimes rebuke the speaker gently, but more often it will be better to divert the conversation skillfully, or indicate by a gesture of sorrow or of deliberate inattention that what is said displeases you.

7 — It costs you an effort to render a small service: offer to do it. You will have twice the merit.

8 — Avoid with horror posing as a victim in your own eyes or those of others. Far be it from you to exaggerate your burdens; strive to find them light; they are so, in reality, much more often than it seems; they would be so always if you were more virtuous.

Conclusion

In general, know how to refuse to nature what she asks of you unnecessarily.

Know how to make her give what she refuses you for no reason. Your progress in virtue, says the author of The Imitation of Christ, will be in proportion to the violence that you succeed in doing to yourself.

“It is necessary to die,” said the saintly Bishop of Geneva, “it is necessary to die in order that God may live in us, for it is impossible to achieve the union of the soul with God by any means other than by mortification. These words ‘it is necessary to die’ are hard, but they will be followed by a great sweetness, because one dies to oneself for no other reason than to be united to God by that death.”

Would to God we had the right to apply to ourselves these beautiful words of Saint Paul to the Corinthians: “In all things we suffer tribulation… Always bearing about in our body the death of Jesus, that the life also of Jesus may be made manifest in our bodies.” (II Cor 4:8-10)]]> Practice of Christian Mortification

by Cardinal Mercier (d. 1926)
Adapted from the Dominicans of Avrillé

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To avenge yourself? Return good for evil; it is said the great secret of touching Saint Teresa’s heart was to do her a bad turn.

To look sourly at someone? Smile at him with good nature.

To avoid meeting him? Seek him out willingly.

To talk badly of him? Talk well of him.

To speak harshly to him? Speak very gently, warmly, to him.

From The Treasures of the Rosary, by Fr Charles Hyacinth McKenna O.P., written 1835; edited by P.J. Kenedy and Sons, New York, 1917

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We now come to consider the last of the Sorrowful Mysteries of the Rosary, and one of the greatest events in the history of our sad and sinful old world.

“This mystery, said Bishop Martin of Paderborn, contains, accentuates and consummates the other four Sorrowful Mysteries. It renews the Agony in the garden, reopens the wounds of the flagellation; the crown of thorns is replaced on the head of our Redeemer; the Cross now bears Him who was forced to drag it to Calvary”1

As soon as the doleful procession of that first Good Friday attained the summit of the mountain, Our Lord, faint and weary, was given to drink wine mingled with myrrh and gall. “But when He had tasted it, He would not drink.”

Then, laying violent hands upon Jesus, His tormentors roughly tore off His garments, to which the flesh of His lacerated body had adhered, thereby reopening all His wounds and causing the blood to flow afresh. What must have been the confusion of our modest Lord, He who is incarnate purity, to be shamelessly exposed for the second time to the derision of that vast multitude! Ah, to what profound depths of humiliation did He not descend for our sakes!

Despoiled of His raiment, He was then rudely thrown upon the cross, and four of His inhuman executioners began the work of nailing Him to it. First, His right hand was fastened to the wood with a rude spike — not a sharp nail, but one blunt and rough, which would mangle and tear the sensitive nerves of the palm of the hand and cause indescribable agony. The left hand was next seized. His sacred feet were then nailed to the cross in the same inhuman fashion — and the bloody work of the crucifixion was completed!

The soldiers then gathered around our Blessed Lord to place the cross in position. Carrying it to the spot which they dug for it in the rock, instead of lowering it gently, they roughly dropped it into the hole, thereby jarring most painfully the whole sacred body, enlarging the wounds in the blessed hands and feet, and causing the precious blood to flow in streams. His malicious enemies now behold their helpless Victim uplifted in His agony.

Is there no heart among them to regret or condemn this terrible immolation of the sinless Lamb of God? Ah, no! Far from being moved to pity for the Just One in His extremity of anguish, the hearts of the spectators seem to grow fiercer and more obdurate, if that be possible. No word of compassion falls from their lips, but priests and soldiers, alike, vie with one another in mocking and blaspheming Him.

Draw near now, faithful souls, to the foot of the cross, and gazing upon this hideous spectacle of your dying Redeemer, learn the malice of sin, as well as the inexorable justice of God, which exacts for it so tremendous an expiation. It was our sins rather than the nails which fastened Him to the rough wood of the cross; it was for the secret sins of the world, especially, that He was thus exposed, naked, to the profane gaze of a rude, reviling rabble.

Let us approach still nearer, and catch the faint words which fall from the livid lips of our Blessed Lord in His last agony. Does He, like other victims of injustice, proclaim His innocence, and call down the maledictions of Heaven upon His persecutors? Ah, no, very different are the sentiments of the meek and forgiving Son of God! He becomes, instead, the advocate of His cruel crucifiers before His heavenly Father. He utters that sublime sentence which should ever find an echo in our hearts and influence our conduct toward those who have done evil to us: “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do!”

Of the two robbers who were crucified with Him, one was touched by this evidence of divine patience and gentleness, by this tender prayer for mercy for His enemies; and, already believing in Christ’s innocence, by a special grace Dismas, the thief, received faith to believe also in His divinity. Upbraiding his guilty companion for blaspheming Jesus, he turned to the Master and begged Him to be mindful of him in His kingdom. In return for this dying act of faith he had the ineffable happiness of hearing from Our Lord’s lips these consoling words: “This day shalt thou be with Me in paradise.”

In this merciful promise there are grounds of hope for the greatest sinners of the world. The penitent thief, after a life of sin, finds mercy in his dying moments; yet even here we behold a contrast, a presentation of eternal issues calculated to strike the sinner with fear and trembling. Of two criminals in like danger of death and damnation, only one was saved! Reflect well upon this consideration. Both men had the same Redeemer, dying for the world’s salvation, in their midst. The precious Blood of Jesus was flowing close to them, ready to ransom their souls. Both had before them the same example of divine patience; both were offered the grace of the Mediator to do penance — yet one is forever lost; the other saved for all eternity. Have you not, then, O sinner of to-day! less reason to hope than to fear? I exhort you, if you desire to secure yourself in so important an affair, hasten your conversion. Do immediately what the good thief did in his extremity, lest his salvation, which was a miracle of grace, should prove the rock of your destruction, the ordinary chastisement of sinners who forget God during their lives2.

Up to this point, we have said little of the part our Blessed Mother took in Calvary’s tragedy. Present, as she was, during the fearful fastening of her Son to the tree of shame3, she heard the sound of the hammer driving the rude nails into His sacred hands and feet. Alas! those violent strokes were as so many cruel blows upon her immaculate heart. She saw the soldiers raise the cross and drop it roughly into position; she heard the exultant shouts of the multitude as her Son was thus elevated above them the blasphemies that were then uttered by the High Priest and the rabble. As soon as she saw the soldiers withdraw from the cross, she hastened with her companions to take her position at its foot.

With eyes streaming with tears, she gazes upon the agonized face of her dying Son, upon His brow drenched with blood from the thorny crown, upon His eyes dim with the excess of His pain, upon His pale lips, parched with the consuming thirst attendant on His great loss of blood. She would give a thousand lives, did she possess them, for the privilege of putting to His lips a draught of cold water to relieve His fevered mouth and throat; but even this poor consolation is denied her. Jesus knows full well the agonizing desires of her devoted heart; and from His cross He casts upon her a look of tender pity. It is then that, commending her to the care of St. John, He leaves her as a precious legacy to all His followers until the end of time. In that supreme moment she becomes, in truth, our Mother, our mediator, our intercessor with her Divine Son.

Soon after this, Our Lord gives expression to the bitterest anguish of His heart in that piteous cry: ” My God! My God! why hast Thou forsaken me?” These appealing words reveal to us the secret of His intense agony in the Garden of Gethsemani, of His torments on the cross. His keenest suffering is caused by His apparent abandonment by His beloved Father. Unconsoled and unsupported, He is left alone to battle with the powers of earth and hell, at the mercy of the spirits of darkness, only such aid being rendered as is necessary to prolong His life until His sacrifice shall reach its supreme consummation in death. This is that poignant anguish which draws forth the bitter cry: “My God! My God! why hast Thou forsaken Me?”

Now nature, less insensible than man, commences to manifest her horror at the spectacle of a God crucified by His creatures. The sun begins to withdraw its light from the heavens; an awe-inspiring pall of darkness settles down upon that blood-stained city. Violent convulsions of the earth are felt; Calvary’s rocks are rent; the veil of the Temple, which hides the Holy of Holies from the gaze of the people, is torn asunder, and the dead arise from their graves and appear to many.

The vast multitude on Calvary, who have gathered there to gloat over the death agony of their innocent Victim, hasten to leave that dreadful scene. Hushed now are the blasphemies, the imprecations, the mockeries of the rabble! In terror and confusion, they flee over the quaking ground through a darkness which has now grown intense and awful. A horrible fear assails them. May we not believe that they then began to realize the enormity of their crime, and feeling that they were indeed guilty of deicide, were moved to exclaim with Longinus: ” Indeed, this was the Son of God!” (Mark xv. 39.)

Only a few remained to witness the end of the great tragedy. And now the afflicted Mother and her faithful attendants draw nearer to the cross whereon hangs the world’s Redeemer. Again is heard the voice of the dying Saviour: “All is consummated.” Having commended His soul to His heavenly Father, He yielded up His spirit.

A little later, the centurion pierced Our Lord’s dead body with a lance, and from the wound there issued forth water and blood, thus testifying that the Sacred Heart of Jesus, the ever-flowing fountain of divine love and mercy, was opened to all mankind.

Still later, Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus took down His sacred body and placed it for a few moments in the arms of His afflicted Mother. Poor Mother! with what looks of silent agony you gazed on the mangled body of your adorable Son! Removing the cruel crown of thorns from His blessed brow, Mary placed it, with the sacred nails, in her heaving bosom, close to her immaculate heart.

Not long after, the dead Christ was removed by Joseph of Arimathea and laid “in his own new monument, which he had hewed out in a rock.” (Matt, xxvii. 60.) A great stone was rolled to the door of the sepulcher, and Joseph went his way, leaving Mary Magdalen and the other Mary sitting beside the tomb.

Thus ends the Fifth Sorrowful Mystery. Here, at the door of Christ’s sepulcher, let us kneel with these holy women and ask of our crucified Lord the grace to bear our crosses unto death in meek resignation to His adorable will. Let us resolve to be ever faithful to His teachings and commandments — to follow closely in His footsteps up the bloodstained mountain of self-sacrifice, and, having died with Him upon Golgotha, merit one day to rise with Him to a happy and glorious eternity.

1. See Mgr. Martin, Beauties of the Rosary: Fifth Sorrowful Mystery.
2. Nouet’s Meditations, Wednesday in Passion Week.
3. Hautrive, Vol. XVI. p. 361.]]> The Crucifixion and Death of Our Lord

From The Treasures of the Rosary, by Fr Charles Hyacinth McKenna O.P., written 1835; edited by P.J. Kenedy and Sons, New York, 1917

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]]> † The Stations of The Cross † Lent 2020

]]> <![CDATA[Prudentius: Hymn For Those Who Fast]]> https://thecatacombs.org/showthread.php?tid=1219 Mon, 01 Mar 2021 14:22:41 +0000 Stone]]> https://thecatacombs.org/showthread.php?tid=1219 Hymn For Those Who Fast

The Hymns of Prudentius

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O Jesus, Light of Bethlehem,
True Son of God, Incarnate Word;
Thou offspring of a Virgin's womb,
Be present at our frugal board;
Accept our fast, our sacrifice,
And smile upon us, gracious Lord.

For by this holiest mystery
The inward parts are cleansed from stain,
And, taming all the unbridled lusts,
Our sinful flesh we thus restrain,
Lest gluttony and drunkenness
Should choke the soul and cloud the brain.

Hence appetite and luxury
Are forced their empire to resign;
The wanton sport, the jest obscene,
The ignoble sway of sleep and wine,
And all the plagues of languid sense
Feel the strict bonds of discipline.

For if, full fed with meat and drink,
The flesh thou ne'er dost mortify,
The mind, that spark of sacred flame,
By pleasure dulled, must fail and die,
And pent in its gross prison-house
The soul in shameful torpor lie.

So be thy carnal lusts controlled,
So be thy judgment clear and bright;
Then shall thy spirit, swift and free,
Be gifted with a keener sight,
And breathing in an ampler air
To the All-Father pray aright.

Elias by such abstinence,
Seer of the desert, grew in grace,
Who left the madding haunts of men
And found a peaceful resting-place,
Where, far from sinful crowds, he trod
The pure and silent wilderness.

Till by those fiery coursers drawn
The swift car bore him through the air,
Lest earth's defiling touch should mar
The holiness it might not share,
Or some polluting breath disturb
The peace attained by fast and prayer.

Moses, through whom from His dread throne
The will of God to man was told,
No food might touch till through the sky
The sun full forty times had rolled,
Ere God before him stood revealed,
Lord of the heavens sevenfold.

Tears were his meat, while bent in prayer
Through the long night he bowed his head
E'en to the thirsty dust, that drank
The drops in bitter weeping shed;
Till, at God's call, he saw the flame
No eye may bear, and was afraid.

The Baptist, too, was strong in fast --
Forerunner in a later day
Of God's Eternal Son -- who made
The byepaths plain, the crooked way
A road direct, wherein His feet
Might travel on without delay.

This was the messenger's great task
Who for God's advent zealously
Prepared the way, the rough made smooth,
The mountain levelled to the sea;
That, when Truth came from heaven to earth,
All fair and straight His path should be.

He was not born in common wise,
For dry and wrinkled was the breast
Of her that bare him late in years,
Nor found she from her labour rest,
Till she had hailed with lips inspired
The Maid with unborn Godhead blest.

For him the hairy skins of beasts
Furnished a raiment rude and wild,
As forth into the lonely waste
He fared, an unbefriended child,
Who dwelt apart, lest he should be
By evil city-life defiled.

There, vowed to abstinence, he grew
To manhood, and with stern disdain
He turned from meat and drink, until
He saw night's shadow fall again;
And locusts and the wild bees' store
Sufficed his vigour to sustain.

The first was he to testify
Of that new life which man might win;
In Jordan's consecrating stream
He purged the stains of ancient sin,
And, as he made the body clean,
The radiant Spirit entered in.

Forth from the holy tide they came
Reborn, from guilt's pollution free,
As bright from out the cleansing fire
Flows the rough gold, or as we see
The glittering silver, purged of dross,
Flash into polished purity.

Now let us tell, from Holy Writ,
Of olden fasts the fairest crown;
How God in pity stayed His hand,
And spared a doomed and guilty town,
In clemency the flames withheld
And laid His vengeful lightnings down.

A mighty race of ancient time
Waxed arrogant in boastful pride;
Debauched were they, and borne along
On foul corruption's loathsome tide,
Till in their stiff-necked self-conceit
They e'en the God of Heaven denied.

At last Eternal Mercy turns
To righteous judgment, swift and dire;
He shakes the clouds; the mighty sword
Flames in His hand, and in His ire
He wields the roaring hurricane
'Mid murky gloom and flashing fire.

Yet in His clemency He grants
To penitence a brief delay,
That they might burst the bonds of lust
And put their vanities away;
His sentence given, He waits awhile
And stays the hand upraised to slay.

To warn them of the wrath to come
The Avenger in His mercy sent
Jonah the seer; but, -- though he knew
The threatening Judge would fain relent
Nor wished to strike, -- towards Tarshish town
The prophet's furtive course was bent.

As up the galley's side he climbed,
They loosed the dripping rope, and passed
The harbour bar: then on them burst
The sudden fury of the blast;
And when their peril's cause they sought,
The lot was on the recreant cast.

The man whose guilt the urn declares
Alone must die, the rest to save;
Hurled headlong from the deck, he falls
And sinks beneath the engulfing wave,
Then, seized by monstrous jaws, is plunged
Into a vast and living grave.

* * * * *

At last the monster hurls him forth,
As the third night had rolled away;
Before its roar the billows break
And lash the cliffs with briny spray;
Unhurt the wondering prophet stands
And hails the unexpected day.

Thus turned again to duty's path
To Nineveh he swiftly came,
Their lusts rebuked and boldly preached
God's judgment on their sin and shame;
"Believe!" he cried, "the Judge draws nigh
Whose wrath shall wrap your streets in flame."

Thence to the lofty mount withdrew,
Where he might watch the smoke-cloud lower
O'er blasted homes and ruined halls,
And rest beneath the shady bower
Upspringing in swift luxury
Of twining tendril, leaf and flower.

But when the guilty burghers heard
The impending doom, a dull despair
Possessed their souls; proud senators,
Poor craftsmen, throng the highways fair;
Pale youth with tottering age unites,
And women's wailing rends the air.

A public fast they now decree,
If they may thus Christ's anger stay:
No food they touch: each haughty dame
Puts silken robes and gems away,
In sable garbed, and ashes casts
Upon her tresses' disarray.

In dark and squalid vesture clad
The Fathers go: the mourning crowd
Dons rough attire: in shaggy skins
Enwrapped, fair maids their faces shroud
With dusky veils, and boyish heads
E'en to the very dust are bowed.

The King tears off his jewelled brooch
And rends the robe of Coan hue;
Bright emeralds and lustrous pearls
Are flung aside, and ashes strew
The royal head, discrowned and bent,
As low he kneels God's grace to sue.

None thought to drink, none thought to eat;
All from the table turned aside,
And in their cradles wet with tears
Starved babes in bitter anguish cried,
For e'en the foster-mother stern
To little lips the breast denied.

The very flocks are closely penned
By careful hands, lest they should gain
Sweet water from the babbling stream
Or wandering crop the dewy plain;
And bleating sheep and lowing kine
Within their barren stalls complain.

Moved by such penitence, full soon
God's grace repealed the stern decree
And curbed His righteous wrath; for aye,
When man repents, His clemency
Is swift to pardon and to hear
His children weeping bitterly.

Yet wherefore of that bygone race
Should we anew the story tell?
For Christ's pure soul by fasting long
The clogging bonds of flesh did quell;
He Whom the prophet's voice foretold
As GOD WITH US, Emmanuel.

Man's body -- frail by nature's law
And bound by pleasure's easy chain --
He freed by virtue's strong restraint,
And gave it liberty again:
He broke the bonds of flesh, and Lust
Was driven from his old domain.

Deep in the inhospitable wild
For forty days He dwelt alone
Nor tasted food, till, thus prepared,
All human weakness overthrown
By fasting's power, His mortal frame
Rejoiced the spirit's sway to own.

The Adversary, marvelling
To see this creature of a day
Endure such toil, spent all his guile
To learn if God in human clay
Had come indeed; but soon rebuked
Behind His back fled shamed away.

Therefore let each with all his might
Follow the way the Master taught,
The law of consecrated life
Which Christ unto His servants brought;
Till, with the lusts of flesh subdued,
The spirit reigns o'er act and thought.

'Tis this our jealous foe abhors,
'Tis this the Lord of earth and sky
Approves; by this the soul is made
Thy holy altar, God Most High:
Faith stirs within the slumbering heart
And sin's corroding power must fly.

Swifter than water quenches fire,
Swifter than sunshine melts the snow,
Crushed out by soul-restoring fast
Vanish the sins that rankly grow,
If hand in hand with Abstinence
Sweet Charity doth ever go.

This too is Virtue's noble task,
To clothe the naked, and to feed
The destitute, with kindly care
To visit sufferers in their need;
For king and beggar each must bear
The lot by changeless Fate decreed.

Happy the man whose good right hand
Seeks but God's praise, and flings his gold
Broadcast, nor lets his left hand know
The gracious deed; for wealth untold
Shall crown him through eternal years
With usury an hundredfold.]]> Hymn For Those Who Fast

The Hymns of Prudentius

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