186. RECITING THE AVE
MARIA AS GOOD FOR YOU AS YOGA.
Reciting the Ave Maria is good for a person’s health because
of the
calming power of prayer, a study says today.
Repeating the rosary prayer slows down breathing, thereby
improving
the workings of the heart and lungs, according to a team
from Italy.
They found that the Catholic practice was as effective as
yoga in
controlling breathing, enhancing concentration and inducing
a
feeling of calm.
Researches from the University of Pavia
published their findings in
the British Medical Journal following an analysis of
breathing rates
in 23 adults.
The beneficial effects of the familiar prayer emerged after
participants
were examined while talking normally, chanting a yoga
mantra, reciting
the Ave Maria, and during six minutes of controlled
breathing.
The team found that both the Ave Maria, the Latin version of
the
Hail Mary, and the mantra, slowed breathing to around six
breaths
per minute, a rate believed to be favourable to the
functioning of the
heart. It also is thought to improve concentration and
induce calm.
187.
SUBJECT 26 ANGELS.
Here’s a message that will give you
chills. Have you ever felt the urge to pray for someone and then just put it on
a list and said, “I’ll pray for them later”? Or has anyone ever called you and
said “I need you to pray for me, I have this need?”
Read this following story that was sent
to me and it may change the way that you may think about prayer and also the
way you pray. You will be blessed by this. A missionary on furlough told this
story while preaching in his home church in Michigan….
“While serving at a small field
hospital in Africa, ever two weeks I traveled
by bicycle through the jungle to a nearby city for supplies. This was a journey
of two days and required camping overnight at the halfway point. On one of
these journeys, I arrived in the city where I planned to collect money from a
bank, purchase medicine supplies, and then begin my two-day journey back to the
field hospital. Upon arrival in the city, I observed two men fighting, one of
them had been seriously injured. I treated him for his injuries and at the same
time talked to him about the Lord. I then traveled two days, camping overnight,
and arrived home without incident. Two weeks later I repeated my journey. Upon
arriving in the city, I was approached by the young man I had treated. He told
me that he had known that I carried money and medicines. He told me that along
with some friends he had followed me
into the jungle. knowing I would camp overnight. They planned to kill me and
take the money and drugs. But just as they were about to move into the camp
they saw that I as surrounded by 26 armed guards. At this I laughed
and said that I was certainly all alone
in that jungle campsite. The young man pressed the point. “No sir,” he said “I
was not the only person to see the guards. My five friends also saw them and we
all counted them. It was because of those guards that we were afraid and left
you alone.””
At this point in the sermon, one of the
men in the congregation jumped to his feet and interrupted the missionary and
asked him if he could tell him the exact day this happened. The missionary told
the congregation the date, and the man who interrupted told him this story: “On
the night of your incident in Africa, it was
morning here and I was playing golf. I was just about to putt when I felt the
urge to pray for you. In fact, the urging of the Lord was so strong that I
called men in this church to meet with me here in the sanctuary to pray for you.
Would all of those men who met with me on that day stand up?” The men who had
met together to pray that day stood up. The missionary wasn’t concerned with
who they were, he was too busy counting how many men he saw. There were 26!
This story is an incredible example of
how the ‘Spirit of the Lord moves in mysterious ways. If you ever hear such
prodding, go along with it. Nothing is ever hurt by prayer except the gates of
hell. I encourage you to forward this to as many people as you know. If we all
take it to heart, we can turn this world towards God once again. As the above
true story clearly illustrates “With God all things are possible” and more
importantly, how God hears and answers the prayers of the faithful.
After you read this, please pass it on and
give God thanks for the beautiful gift of your faith, for the powerful gift of
prayer. and the many miracles he works in your own daily life. We walk on this
earth but one time………each time we touch someone, we leave a part of
ourselves…….and we walk away with a part of them. Touch kindly…..
(This story was sent to me by a friend
in London, who had received it from the USA.)
188.
A Psalm for Busy People.
The Lord is my Pacesetter, I will not
rush.
He makes me stop and rest for quiet
intervals.
He provides me with images of
stillness, which restore my serenity.
He leads me in ways of efficiency,
through calmness of mind.
And His guidance is peace.
Even though I have a great many things
to
accomplish each day, I will not fret.
For his presence is here; His
timeliness,
His all-importance will keep me in
balance.
He prepares refreshment and renewal for
me
in the midst of activity.
By anointing my mind with His oil of
tranquility,
my cup of joyous energy overflows.
Surely harmony and effectiveness shall
be
the fruits of my hours,
For I shall walk in the pace of my Lord
forever.
189. WHAT A DIFFERENCE A DAY MAKES
New York September 11th 2001
The following was received from someone in the USA and
seems to capture many
people’s reactions to recent events.
On Monday people were fighting against
prayers in schools.
On Tuesday you would
have been hard pressed to find a
school
where someone was not praying.
On Monday people were trying to separate
each other
by
race, sex, colour and creed.
On Tuesday they
were holding hands.
On Monday we thought we were secure.
On Tuesday we learnt better.
On Monday we were
talking about athletes as heroes.
On Tuesday we
learnt what ‘hero’ means.
On Monday people went to work at
the World Trade Centre as usual.
On
Tuesday they died.
On Monday people were fighting the
teaching of
The Ten
Commandments in schools.
On Tuesday the same people
all said “God help us all” while
thinking “Thou shalt not kill.”
On Monday people argued with their kids about
cleaning up their room.
On Tuesday the same people could not get
home fast enough to hug them.
On Monday people were upset that their dry
cleaning was not ready on time.
On Tuesday they were lining up to
give blood.
On Monday some children had solid
families.
On
Tuesday they were orphans.
On Monday we emailed jokes.
On Tuesday we did not.
190. To Love
To love, and
be rejected; to spend every
effort to help, and be turned down;
To be in a
situation of having to compete to
be heard, and be silent;
To have
answers, and not be able to
convey them;
To love, knowing
you can win, and not be
political;
To go to the
end of the line
when you were there first;
To tell the
truth, and it be made a lie…
To try to be
saintly, and be made out to be a devil…
To be on the
inside – and be cast outside…
To be with many, and know you are really
alone;
To give
yourself unreservedly to others…
And be a victim of their envy…
To dedicate
your life to a purpose…
And have that purpose turn against you;
To be
innocent, and be accused…
As Jesus was…
To be stripped
of all authority,
earthly power, and position…
And be nothing…
Is to have our
hearts lacerated with humility…
To the greatest depth;
And receive,
at the greatest heights,
God’s blessing of walking Jesus’ path…
This is Love!
191. The Farmer and the Mule.
A parable is told of
a farmer who owned an old mule.
The mule fell into a
farmer’s well. The farmer heard the mule ‘braying’ – or whatever mules do when
they fall in wells. After carefully assessing the situation. the farmer
sympathized with the mule, but decided that neither the mule nor the well was worth the trouble of saving.
Instead, he called his neighbors together and told them what had happened….and
enlisted them to haul dirt to bury the mule in the well and put him out of his
misery.
Initially, he old
mule was hysterical! But as the farmer an his neighbors continued shoveling and
the dirt hit his back…..a thought struck him. It suddenly dawned on him that
every time a shovel load of dirt landed in his back HE SHOULD SHAKE IT OFF AND STEP UP! This he
did, blow after blow.
Shake it off and step
up…..shake it off and step up……shake it off and step up!” he repeated to
encourage himself. No matter how painful the blows, or distressing the
situation seemed the old mule fought ‘panic’ and just kept on SHAKING IT OFF
AND STEPPING UP!
You’re right! It
wasn’t long before the old mule battered and exhausted STEPPED TRIUMPHANTLY
OVER THE WALL OF THAT WELL! What seemed like it would bury him, actually blessed
him all because of the manner in which
he handled his adversity.
THAT’S LIFE! If we
face our problems and respond to them positively, and refuse to give in to
panic, bitterness, or self-pity…THE ADVERSITIES THAT COME ALONG TO BURY US
USUALLY HAVE WITHIN THEM THE POTENTIAL BENEFIT AND BLESS US!
Remember that
FORGIVENESS – FAITH – PRAYER – PRAISE – and HOPE are all excellent ways to “SHAKE IT OFF AND
STEP UP” out of the wells in which we find ourselves!
With each Ave Maria,
we shake loose our ties to this earth –
TAKE A STEP UP!
192. A Dot.Com Prayer.
Every single evening
As I’m lying here in
bed
This tiny little
prayer
Keeps running though
my head.
God bless all my
family
Wherever they may be
Keep them warm and
safe from harm
For they’re so close
to me.
And God there is one
more thing
I wish that you could
do
Hope you don’t mind
me asking
Bless my computer
too.
Now I know that it’s
not normal
To bless a
motherboard
But listen just a second
While I explain ‘My
Lord’.
You see that little
metal box
Holds more than odds
and ends
Inside those small
compartments
Rest so many of my
FRIENDS.
I know so much about
them
By the kindness that
they give
And this little scrap
of metal
Takes me in to where
they live.
By faith is how I
know them
Much the same as you
We share in what life
brings us
And from that our
friendships grew.
Please take an extra
minute
From your duties up
above,
To bless those in my
address book
That’s filled with so
much love!
Wherever else this
prayer may reach
To each and every
friend,
Bless each e-mail box
And the person who
hits ‘Send.’
When you update your
heavenly list
On your own CD-Rom,
Remember each who’ve
said this prayer Sent up to God.com. Amen.
193. The Passion of
Jesus.
It will never be possible to understand Jesus’ complete
suffering (it isn’t even possible to know how much our nearest and dearest are
suffering when they are ill. Pain is a very personal thing. We only know how much
we can bear ourselves.)
We know the cause of Jesus’ suffering was our sins but are
we able to consider the mental anguish which Jesus had to control? In Jesus we
have someone who is truly God and truly Man. Dare we suggest that during the
Passion Jesus became only Man? Certainly not! But accepting that Jesus remained
always truly God and truly Man brings with it an incredible situation. As God
Jesus could, at any moment, have called on angels who would have come and saved
him.
[Pilate
said] “Art thou the king of the Jews? ‘Jesus answered, “Dost
thou say
this of thyself, or have others told thee of me?” Pilate
answered. Am
I am Jew? Thy own people and the chief priests have
delivered
thee to me. What has thou done?” Jesus answered, “My
kingdom is
not of this world. If my kingdom were of this world, my
followers
would have fought that I might not be delivered to the Jews.
But, as it
is my kingdom is not from here John 18:33-36.
So Jesus, as God, could at any moment of the Passion, have
called on the heavenly choirs of angels to rescue him. His passion can
therefore be considered in two quite separate phases. 1. The physical pain. 2.
The Mental pain caused by his complete acceptance of His Father’s Will that he
should suffer.
Can we even begin to comprehend what that means? That at any
time during the passion, when the scourging was taking place, when the crowning
with thorns was taking place, when the carrying of the cross was taking place,
when the nails were being driven through his hands and feet, when he was
undergoing the unbelievable pain of hanging on the cross, trying to reduce the
pain on his arms by pressing on his feet, then in turn trying to reduce the
pain in his feet by taking the weight on his arms; he could at any moment have
brought all this pain to an end.
So it wasn’t only a matter of accepting His Father’s will
and enduring the pain of the Passion. But on top of all that Jesus had to use
His own will power to stop Him using his God given power to release himself
from the torments of the passion.
So in the Garden
of Gethsemane, in
accepting His Father’s Will, Jesus also accepted the mental pain of saying “No”
to his own Will. He couldn’t put that Will on ‘hold’. He had to control that
Will. What sort of mental anguish would that have caused? It is difficult, even
impossible, for us to understand.
194. A LITTLE
PERSPECTIVE
If we could shrink the earth’s population to a village of
precisely 100 people, with all the existing human ratios remaining the same, it
would look something like the following;
There would be:
57 Asians.
21 Europeans.
14 From the Western Hemisphere, both north and south.
8 Africans.
52 Would be
female.
48 Would be
male.
70 Would be
non-white.
30 Would be
white.
70 Would be
non Christian.
30 Would be
Christian.
89 Would be
heterosexual.
11 Would be
homosexual.
6 People would possess 59% of the (village’s)
world’s wealth.
(And all six would be from the USA.)
80 Would live
in substandard housing.
70 Would be
unable to read.
50 Would
suffer from malnutrition.
1 Would be near death.
1 Would be near birth.
1 (Yes, only one) would have a college
education.
1 Would own a computer.
When one considers our world
from such a compressed perspective, the need
for both acceptance,
understanding and education becomes glaringly apparent.
The following is something to ponder;
If you wake up in our real world with more health than
illness then you are more blessed than the million (1,000,000) who will not
survive this week.
If you have never experienced the danger of battle, the
loneliness of imprisonment, the agony of torture, or the pangs of starvation
then you are ahead of 500 million (500,000,000) people in the world.
If you can attend a church meeting without fear of
harassment, arrest, torture, and death then you are more blessed than the 3
Billion (3,000,000,000) people in the world.
If you have food in the refrigerator, clothes on your back, a roof over
your head and a place to sleep then you
are richer then 75% of the people of this world.
If you have money in the bank, in your wallet, and spare
change in a dish some place, you are among the top 8% of the world’s wealthy.
A little perspective helps, doesn’t it?
N.B. I have no way of confirming
these figures but, sadly, I suspect they are true.
Michael Blackburn. May 2002.
195 Who Will Gain
Entry To Heaven? May 2002.
At this time, around the world, fighting is taking place in
the name of religion, in the name of freedom, and in the name of a God who only
wants peace. Those who are fighting think that their efforts will gain them an
immediate entry to heaven. Theirs is a false logic because what they are doing
will ensure that they are refused entry. What they are doing is completely
contrary to what God wants. Only after a time in purgatory will they be granted
access.
The appalling situation in Palestine between the Jews, Muslims and
Christians, and in other parts of the world where religion is used to wage war
will ensure that the perpetrators will find heaven’s door firmly closed. The
present situation in the Sudan
where those in the North are arbitrarily killing those in the South,n and all in the name of oil, will ensure a closed
heavenly gate. Similar situations exist in Laos
and Burma.
A time in Purgatory is the only place for the perpetrators of such atrocities.
Another false logic is the misuse of the word ‘Martyr.’
Nowadays a martyr is considered to be someone who is prepared to kill
themselves while, at the same time, killing others. These people are not
martyrs they are murderers. A true martyr is one who is put to death for their
faith. To kill oneself is suicide and to kill others in the process is murder.
People who carry out these atrocities will not gain the immediate entry to
heaven which they anticipate. Once again Purgatory will be their reward.
It is sad, because many have been falsely led to believe
that, after their atrocities, heaven’s gates will be open to them. The moment
when they realise that they have been badly misled will be a terrible time for
them. But the fact that “I didn’t know” will be no excuse. It does not take
much brain power to realise ‘right’ from ‘wrong.’ In due course those who teach
what is ‘wrong’ will receive the result of their wrongdoing.
The same applies to anyone who, although not physically
fighting, have hate in their hearts. No-one with hate in their hearts will
enter heaven. Think of the situation in Northern Ireland between Catholics
and Protestants. Any of those who harbour hate will not gain entry to heaven
without a time of cleansing.
Another section of people who will find Heaven’s door closed
is those who have racist feelings. Racism is a sin in whatever form it takes.
It can be the indigenous with racist feelings to the immigrants or the
immigrants with racist feelings to the indigenous. Racism is neither black nor
white. In either case the Heavenly gates will be closed until a cleansing has
taken place.
If only everyone world-wide would realise that love, and
love alone, is the passport to heaven. ‘Religious conflicts’, ‘hate’ and
‘racism’ in any form will be the cause of great distress to those who find
themselves outside the Heavenly Gates for as long as it takes for them to be
cleansed.
In all cases ‘Love’ is the passport for entry to Heaven.
196. A Burning
Candle.
The symbol of a burning candle is at the heart of t-oday’s
feast. I invite you simply to look at the candle before you and let your mind
flow freely between what you observe and what is symbolised.
Our gaze is drawn, I think, immediately to the tongue of the
flame, a moving column of light and heat. This represents, of course, Christ,
the light of the world. In the radiance of this light, we see the face of the
Father looking on us with love, sending his Son to redeem us and to give us
communion in his own eternal life through the gift of the Holy Spirit, in whom
we are sons and daughters. The heat the flame gives off is the warmth of love.
The flame is communicated to us as one candle is lighted
from another. The image comes to mind of the tongues of flame that descended on
each of the apostles at Pentecost. And the spirit of charity can be
communicated from one human heart to another, the surging of prayer from
teacher to disciple.
You will notice that the flame is not part of the candle as
such, ie, the cylinder of tallow or wax with a wick through its centre. It must
receive the flame from outside itself, but it can do so, it has the capacity to
receive the flame of the Spirit. And what happens then? The flame is nourished
on the inert wax and, bit by bit, consumes it and converts it into flame. It
the terms of our analogy, the Spirit-flame that is given us transforms our
heavy natural substance into Spirit, into love and light.
In one sense the candle loses itself, it is consumed by the
flame, just as we must lose ourselves to become spiritual men and women, that
is, animated by the Spirit. A reasonable candle might object to this process.
He might point to the laborious effort of so many bees who had fabricated the
wonderful substance of wax. And had they not been programmed by God in his
wisdom to do so? He might demand that his waxen nature be respected, that he be
given a happiness suited to that nature. Why should he
be sacrificed to this ephemeral flame and the folly of its
prodigal giving of light to all without discrimination? O Lord, let me, dull
and opaque as I am. Must I die? ‘If you wish
to become light and love, then yes,’ says Christ, ‘you must
follow me in my death to self so that my Spirit-flame may live and shine in
you. Sacrifice is your hidden name, your anointed destiny. That is why you must
be presented in God’s temple.’
The Orthodox speak of this in terms of the light of Mount Tabor,
the light that shone from Christ on the mountain of the Transfiguration. The
idea is that in the saint, the man or woman totally animated by the Spirit of
Christ, this same light should be visible, in some degree. And there have been
persons in whom it indeed has.
197. The Spiritual Mobile Phone.
In a
hospital, a priest was been taken to the Intensive
Care
Department, and the nurse who was with him said,
“Do you have a mobile phone?”
“No”, said the priest. “I don’t!”
The nurse replied “But you should
have one.” “I’m sorry”, the
priest replied, ”I don’t have
one.” “Then take mine!” said the
nurse and handed the priest her
Rosary Beads. The priest
looked puzzled and the nurse
explained; “It’s a good one. You
can always get through, you never
get a wrong number and
you always get an answer!”
198. GOOD EXAMPLE.
One day an Indian woman brought her daughter of 7 to Mahatma
Gandhi. Knowing his purity of heart and the immense impact he had on people,
she was hoping that a word from him would convince the little girl not to east
sugar anymore, for she was severely sick from diabetes. Gandhi listened to the
mother and when he spoke to the little girl, he was very loving to her but
didn’t mention at all the necessity for her to avoid sugar. The mother was
puzzled and a little upset. Gandhi simply greeted her and said: “Come again
next week!” So both mother and the child came back a week later and the same
request was made by the mother. This time, Gandhi did ask the girl to avoid
sugar. Then the mother asked him why he had not said so the very first time? He
replied “I was myself enjoying sugar. Therefore how could I ask the child not
to? I needed to renounce it myself first before I could demand the same thing
from the child!”
199. OBLATES OF THE RULE OF
ST BENEDICT.
Prologue.
The
labour of obedience should bring back the Oblate from where they may have
drifted through sloth and disobedience.
First
of all, every time Oblates begin good works, they must pray to God, most
earnestly, to bring those works to perfection. Remembering to make such prayers
will remind Oblates of their commitment to the Rule of St Benedict.
THE CHAPTER
NUMBERS ARE TAKEN FROM THE RULE OF ST BENEDICT.
Chapter 4. The Tools for Good
Works.
The
whole of this chapter appertains to Oblates. It involves the wonder and beauty
of ‘Love of God and Love of your Neighbour’.
Chapter 5. Obedience.
This
is another which applies to Oblates. Obedience to the orders of our superiors
without cringing, sluggishness, half-heartedness or reaction or unwillingness.
Chapter 6. Restraint of
Speech.
The
rule tells us: ‘….so important is silence that permission to speak should
seldom be granted even to mature disciples, no matter how good or holy or
constructive their talk.’ Learning to refrain for unnecessary speech will be
another reminder of our Oblate commitment.
Chapter 7 Humility.
‘In
his dream Jacob saw the angels ascending and descending.’ We need to have our
own ladder which we erect during our life on earth. Our body and soul are the
sides of the ladder. The rungs, on which we climb, are the various steps of
humility. There are twelve rungs as follows:
1. Keep the fear of God always before
your eyes knowing that all we do
or say or think is known by God.
2. We must love the will of the Lord
and not our own pleasures and will.
3. We must submit to our superiors.
For Oblates that might mean
maintaining the speed limit and
obeying other laws of the land.
4. To be prepared to be obedient even
when things are unjust and
unfavourable even to the point of
quietly embracing such suffering.
(The words of Job might help: “If
we take happiness from God’s hand,
must we not take sorrow too?” Job
2:10.)
5. A regular examination of
conscience.
6. Regard yourselves as poor and
worthless in whatever you do. If we
do a job well then it is by God’s
grace that we have done it. We must
take no credit for it. We must not
be reluctant to accept menial tasks.
7. We must verbally admit that we are
inferior to all. If we are of any
worth then the praise must be to
God who made us and sustains us.
8. As Oblates we must ensure that all
our actions are in accordance
with the Rule of St Benedict.
9. Controlling our tongues. The tongue
gives abundant cause for
uncharitableness. Thinking before
we speak will save us from this
evil.
10. Spiritual happiness does not
necessitate laughter. Out in the world
not to laugh might be regarded as
strange. But be careful of sinful
laughter. Make it known that you
will not listen to perverted humour.
11. Similar to Rule 9; when we do speak
we should do so quietly without
unnecessary laughter “A wise man is known by his few words.”
12. We must manifest humility in our
bearing and in our speech.
Constantly repeat the words;
“Lord, I am a sinner, not worthy to look
up to heaven.”
If
we can practice and accept these twelve steps then we will arrive at the perfect love of God which casts out all fear.
20. Reverence in Prayer.
Our
prayers must have great reverence knowing that we are talking to the God who
made us. God can read our hearts and knows whether we are sincere. Prayers need
to be pure but do not need not be lengthy.
25. Serious Faults.
If
we are aware of our serious faults then we must endeavour by all means to
correct them. Not to do so means that we are being unfaithful to the
Benedictine Community to which we belong and to our promises made at our final
Oblation.
34. Distribition of Goods
According to Need.
Do
we really need that extra material luxury which we have set our hearts on? As
soon as we have it aren’t we going to realise that its acquisition was unnecessary and without it
we could have increased our contribution to the latest
3rd
World Disaster?
39. The Proper Amount of
Food.
Overindulgence
is a sin Gluttony (one of the seven ‘capital sins’). Let us be temperate in our
eating.
40 The Proper Amount of
Drink.
Overindulgence
in drink can quickly lead on a path to destructive alcoholism.
48. The Daily Manual Labour.
‘Idleness
is the enemy of the soul.’ We must keep ourselves busy. Try to always have a
project to look forward to.
49. The Observance of Lent.
Lent
can give us to opportunity to examine ourselves as Oblates. Are we living up to
the promises made at our Final Oblation. Do we need talk to the Oblate Director
who will be able to help us with our difficulties?
52. The Oratory of the
Monastery.
As
our churches become more and more noisy we are reminded of Jesus driving the
noisy rabble out of the
Temple. John 2:14. Oblates can set
an example by their reverent silence.
55. The Clothing and Footwear
of The Brothers.
Modesty
at all times. Do not give cause for offence.
71. Mutal Obedience.
We
must show respect to everyone and
especially to those who may see us as their superiors.
72.
The Good Zeal of Monks
We
must encourage ourselves in good zeal which fosters love. Support everyone with
great patience and compete in obedience to one another.
73. This Rule is Only the
Beginning of Perfection.
So
when we have perfected all the rules we have not crossed the finishing line we
are only at the starting line! Then we can proceed forward with courage in the
knowledge that the Rules have taught us the safe and narrow path which will
lead us to everlasting life.
200. GOOD NIGHT TO OUR BLESSED MOTHER.
Night is
falling dear Mother, the long day is o’er!
And before thy
loved image I am kneeling once more.
To thank thee
for keeping me safe through the day.
To ask thee
this night to keep evil away.
Many times have
I fallen today, Mother Dear,
Many graces
neglected. since last I knelt here;
Wilt thou not
in pity, my own Mother mild,
Ask Jesus to
pardon the sins of thy child?
I am going to
rest, for the day’s work is done,
Its hours and
its moments have passed one by one;
And the God who
will judge me has noted them all,
He has numbered
each grace, He has counted each fall.
In His book
that are written against the last day,
O Mother, ask
Jesus to wash them away;
For one drop of
his blood for which sinners was spilt,
Is sufficient
to cleanse the whole world of its guilt.
And if ere the
dawn I should draw my last breath
And the sleep
that I take be the long sleep of death,
Be near me,
dear Mother, for dear Jesus’ sake
When my soul on
Eternity’s shore shall awake.
201. ACCIDENT PROOF?
In my car I
have a small crucifix, medallions of Our Lady, St Christopher, and St
Padre Pio, car
stickers of St Philomena, St Padre Pio and The Christian Road
Safety
Association and on my key ring I have a Benedictine Medal.
I reckon it
would take a miracle for me to have an accident!
Henry John.
202 Prayer of St.
Francis de Sales.
Do not look forward to what may
happen tomorrow.
The same loving Father who looks
after us today will look after us
tomorrow and every day.
Either, he will shield us from suffering,
Or, he will give us unfailing strength to
bear it.
Be at peace then, and put aside all
anxious thoughts and imaginings.
203. Getting the
Lapsed to Pray.
Like all other parents and grandparents I worry about my
lapsed children and granddaughters. Perhaps they do pray, but I have my doubts.
Then an opportunity came to ask my granddaughters to pray. A ten month old baby
is to have a serious operation on two holes in its heart. I know that my three
granddaughters love babies and little children, surely it wouldn’t be too
difficult for me to ask them to pray for a successful operation. As I had
probably never spoken to them about prayer (my fault not theirs) I did find it
difficult to make the first call. But I had no need to worry. “Yes” they were
concerned for the baby. “Yes” they would pray and one of them has since
confirmed that she is remembering to do so. I now have a means of communication
which I will use, but hopefully not abuse. My thanks must go to the Holy Spirit
and Our Lady who I suspect, between them, gave me the idea.
Ignatius.
204 Telephoning
Heaven.
You know how modern-day phone calls involve ‘talking’ to an
electronic voice giving endless instructions to press various buttons. We
thought you would enjoy the following as an example:
“Thank you for calling Heaven. Please select one of the
following options. Press 1 for Requests; Press 2 for Thanksgivings; Press 3 for
complaints; Press 4 for other inquiries.
I am sorry all our angels and saints are busy helping other
sinners right now. However your prayer is important to us, and we will answer
it in the order it was received. Please stay on the line.
If you would like to speak to God the Father, Press 1; God
the Son, Press 2; God the Holy Spirit, Press 3. If you would like to hear King
David sing a Psalm while you are holding, Press 4.
To find a loved one who has been assigned to Heaven, Press
5, then enter his/her social security number followed by the Pound sign. (If
you receive a negative response, hang up and try area code 666).
For reservations at Heaven, please enter J-O-H-N followed by
the numbers
3-1-6.
For answers to nagging questions about dinosaurs, the age of
the Earth, life on other Planets, and where Noah’s Ark is, please wait until you arrive. Our
computers show that you have already prayed today; please hang up and try again
tomorrow. This office is now closed for the weekend to observe a religious
holiday; please pray again on Monday after 9.00a.m.; if you are calling after
hours and need emergency assistance, please contact your local Parish Priest. Thank
you and have a heavenly day.”
Questions to be answered before entering Heaven –
you have three seconds to answer.
How many days in the week begin
with T excluding Tuesday and Thursday?
Two – Today and Tomorrow.
How many
seconds in the year?
Twelve –
January 2nd, February 2nd etc.
What is God’s Christian Name?
Hallowed.
205. A GIFT FROM GOD.
What is life if we don’t know God?
We travel on not knowing and just plod.
We look around with wonder but blind.
The things we see but leave them behind.
Just stop and think at what you see.
The world was made for you and me.
It is a wonderful gift we can’t ignore.
So open up your eyes and minds we implore.
Let God into your hearts then you will know.
That life on earth is a wonderful show.
Jim Kilgannon. (An octogenarian)..
206. A GIFT OF LIFE.
Our life is a gift from God no matter what you think.
So let us stop abortion and pull back from the brink.
A woman’s body has a womb.
Don’t let us turn it into a tomb.
A child starts life a little seed when into the womb it
goes.
But a woman’s body feeds it and it slowly grows.
It does not ask for favours but only to survive,
And we all wait to see the little one arrive.
Some mothers may think their child will be a strain,
And may abort them, so let’s hope they will think again.
They can get help and advice and will have help with the
cost.
So think what you will suffer when your child is lost.
We know it won’t be easy but life is a precious thing.
So let’s thank God above and his praises we can sing.
His son gave his life that we might live and the world a
better place.
So don’t abort our children and throw it back in his face.
Jim Kilgannon. (An octogenarian).
207. TO ALL WHO ARE EIGHTY THIS YEAR.
Today, Dear Lord, I’m 80
and
there’s much I haven’t done.
I hope, Dear
Lord, you’ll let ,me live until I’m 81.
But if
I haven’t finished all I want to do
Would you
let me stay awhile – until I’m 82?
So many lands to visit, so very much to
see
Do you think
you could manage to make it 83?
The world is changing very fast,
there is much in store,
I’d like
it very much to live until I’m 84.
And if by then
I’m still alive, I’d like to stay till 85.
There’s
more to air travel – can you fix
for me to last till 86?
I
know Dear Lord, it’s much to ask
(and it must be nice in Heaven)
But I
would really like to stay until I’m 87.
I
know by then I won’t move fast
and sometimes will be late,
But it would
be so pleasant to be around at 88.
I will have seen
so many things and had a lovely time.
So I’m sure
that I’ll be willing to leave at 89.
Reproduced from The Crusader.
208. Life’s Clock.
The
Clock of Life is wound but once,
And no man has the power
To
tell just where the hands will stop
At late or early hour.
To
lose one’s wealth is sad indeed;
To lose one’s health is more;
To
lose one’s soul is such a loss
As no man can restore.
The
‘present’ only is our own,
Live, love, toil with a will –
Place
no faith in ‘Tomorrow’ – for
The Clock may then be still.
209. Peace. We can
make difference.
We all want peace. But are we doing anything to promote it
or do we feel helpless and just leave it to politicians and governments to sort
out?
Governments have ‘trade agreements’ which mean that they are
obliged to supply goods to various ‘warring’ countries even though those same
goods may be used against us. Basically it is all to do with ‘business’. If we
stop supplying, then companies will lose orders and people will be out of work.
We have to accept that decisions which politicians have to make are not easy.
We can thank God that they are not decisions which we have to make. We can
wonder why anyone wants to become a politician!
The only way that peace will come is if I promote I myself.
But how can I make a difference? Is anyone going to listen to me? Certainly
they won’t if I don’t try. Let’s give it a try.
How? After the resurrection, when Jesus appeared to the
disciples with the doors locked he came and stood among them a said “Peace be
with you.” By using those same words we can spread ‘Peace’. Yes, to start with
it might be embarrassing. But watch the face of the person who you have just
spoken to. Their faces light up, they will probably comment on the words and,
from my experience, they will welcome the words and, when you leave them it is
with a feeling of peace. I use the words in shops, in banks, in restaurants and
especially where the staff seem to be working under pressure.
Go on! Give it a try. It helps to spread ‘Peace’ and means
that we are doing something positive towards an eventual world Peace. Believe
in it. It is possible.
Reprinted from Catena. The Magazine of the Catenian
Association.
210. Where is God?
“Where is God?” we ask. The standard answer seems to be “God
is everywhere?” But rather than answering the question that leaves us in
greater confusion. What does ‘everywhere’ mean? To satisfy our desire to know
and Love God we need a more specific answer. So where can we find God? We can
find Him in the beauty of His creation, in the flora and fauna around us. But
it still leaves the question “where is God?” My answer to finding God is that
He is in every person I see. But I must be prepared to look. Not like the
person who came back from a holiday in Switzerland and was asked how they
had enjoyed the scenery. “Didn’t see any” was the reply “the mountains were in
the way!” We must prepared to look searchingly. Although sometimes God is so
obvious that we hardly need to look at all. For instance think of Mother
Teresa. God was so obviously present in her that a glance was sufficient. But
it can be more difficult. Someone might dash past me to get into a shop and let
the door slam in my face. “Ah”, I say “There’s God in a hurry!” God is in the
polite seller of The Big Issue and, despite our protestations at “He should get
a job” God is in the beggar with his notice ‘Cold, Hungry please help.’ At
times it can seem to be an almost impossible challenge but, If we keep looking,
we will find God in everyone we see.
Reprinted from Catena. The Magazine of the Catenian
Association.
211. Poetry Corner.
Dear Lord I have a problem
My Memory is failing
I do such stupid things these days
It really is degrading.
I wake up in the morning
Is it Tuesday? Is it Monday?
To make things worse I often find
The fact is – it is Sunday!
My hearings not so good now
And its hard to be inspired,
Especially now my eyesight
Leaves a lot of be desired.
But much of this I can accept
Its all to do with age,
Its just this darned confusion
Which gets me in a rage
I lose things and mislay things
It isn’t very nice,
Some things I forget to do
And others I do twice.
And now I sit here on the stairs
Brows furrowed in a frown.
Dear Lord – please tell me
Was I going up or coming down?
212 Unchained Melody
(By Mark Salzman).
An oversized cello case looks exactly like a coffin, so as I
pushed mine through the facility for juvenile offenders, I attracted plenty of
attention. I was on my way to the chapel, after getting roped into performing
for the young inmates by Sister Janet Harris, who co-ordinated volunteer
activities. The project closest to her heart was a writing course she had
helped to create on which I’d recently started teaching.
My students were high-risk offenders, who’d been charged
with murder of armed robbery and were waiting for their cases to be tried.
Somehow Sister Janet had learnt that I played the cello as a
hobby and asked me to perform. I tried to reason with her, recalling the last
time I played for a group of kids. It was a birthday party where the birthday
boy kicked the end pin of my instrument and declared that the cello stupid.
Only the accordion is more uncool.
“Sister Janet”, I said ”Have you ever been to a school assembly
where classical music is on the programme? It can get ugly,”
“Ah.” she had replied, smiling “but that was school. The
boys here would never behalf like that.” “Here” was the Central Juvenile Hall
in Los Angeles.
After passing through a maze of chain-link fencing, I
reached a building with a cross on its roof. Over the roar of amplified music
coming from inside, I introduced myself to someone with a clipboard and a
walkie-talkie, and he leafed through a schedule until he found my name. “You’re
up next.”
He led me to the chaplain’s office, where I could unpack my
cello and warm up. “When we call you, go through that door and you’ll be right
on the stage,” he explained.
After he left. I decided to open the door just enough to
peek in; I was curious to see what kind of act I’d be following. It was a
hip-hop group; their music was heavily amplified and the audience of prisoners
was swaying and clapping along. One of the performers was an attractive young
woman wearing tight jeans and a shirt that revealed her belly button. Although
she did not sing and her use of the tambourine suggested a minimum of training,
a glance at the all-male prisoner audience confirmed that she was the star of
the show.
I closed the door and slumped into the chaplain’s chair. “Am
I disturbing you?” a voice asked from behind me. It was Sister Janet.
I don’t think that having me play was such a good idea.” I
told her.
“Why not?”
“Listen to what’s going on in there! They’re stamping their
feet and working up a sweat, and that’s just from watching the girl in the
bikini, never mind the music. Can you imagine the let-down when I go out
there?”
“They’ve got a girl in a bikini.” Sister Janet asked.
“It might as well be a bikini. This isn’t gong to work.”
“Have a little faith,” she urged.
At precisely two o’clock the amplification was
unceremoniously turned off and the group left. Unlike most concerts, where
people cheer and shout for encores at the end of a performance, this audience
had to sit quietly. But no-one looked happy.
A man with an ill-fitting toupee shuffled down the aisle
between the pews, turned to face the audience, then read from a clipboard: “And
now, Mr Slazman will play the violin. He shuffled away out of the chapel.
The silence in the room so unnerved me that I failed to see
the raised platform on the stage, I walked right into it, stubbing my big toe
and careering forward. I narrowly avoided a fall by using the cello as a ski
pole, planting the end pin into the dais and pivoting towards the audience. I
hadn’t intended to enter like Buster Keaton, but that’s how it came across and
the inmates rewarded me with laughter and a round of applause.
I stalled for time explaining to my audience that almost
everything they saw on the cello, except for the metal strings and the end pin,
had once been part of a living thing: the spruce top, the maple back with its
tiger-stripe grain, the ebony fingerboard, the snakewood bow with hair from a
horse’s tail and the pieces of ivory from the tusks of a mammoth frozen in the
tundra for tens of thousands of years. When we play the instrument, I said we bring
these pieces to life again.
About then I ran out of little-known facts about the cello,
so I told the boys that the first piece I was going to play, “The Swan” by
Camille Saint-Saens, always made me think of my mother,. Then I started to
play. With its high ceiling, bare walls and hard floor, the chapel was as
resonant as a giant shower room. The cello sounded divine in that room, which
excited me, but then a rustling from the audience brought me back to reality.
The boys were bored as I had feared..
The rustling grew in intensity. It wasn’t quite the sound of
fidgeting and wasn’t quite the sound of whispering. I glanced at the audience
and saw a roomful of boys with tears running down their faces. What I’d heard
was the sound of sniffling and nose wiping – music to my musicians ears.
I played the rest of the piece better than I’d ever played
it in my life, and when I had finished the applause was deafening. It was a
mediocre cellist’s dream come true. For my next piece I chose a saraband from
one of the Bach suites. The boys rewarded me with another round of applause.
Then someone shouted, “Play the one about mothers again”. A cheer rose up from
the crowd. I realised then that it was the invocation of motherhood that had
moved them so deeply.
I played “The Swan” again, some more Bach and “The Swan” a
third time. When the man with the toupee signalled that my time was up, the
inmates booed him.. Then they gave me a final ovation.
From an Article in Reader’s Digest.
213. Be very kind, for
everyone you meet is fighting a great battle - St Philo of Alexandra
Subject: Fw: Thoughtful lines...
|
I asked God to take away my habit.
God said, No.
It is not for me to take away, but for you to give it up.
I asked God to make my handicapped child whole.
God said, No.
His spirit is whole, his body is only temporary
I asked God to grant me patience.
God said, No.
Patience is a by-product of tribulations; it isn't granted, it is learned.
I asked God to give me happiness.
God said, No.
I give you blessings; Happiness is up to you.
I asked God to spare me pain.
God said, No.
Suffering draws you apart from worldly cares and brings you closer to me.
I asked God to make my spirit grow.
God said, No.
You must grow on your own! , but I will prune you to make you fruitful.
I asked God for all things that I might enjoy
life.
God said, No.
I will give you life, so that you
may enjoy all things.
I asked God to help me LOVE others, as much as He loves
me.
God said...Ahhhh, finally you're getting the idea.
If you love God, send this to ten people and
back to the person that sent it.
THIS DAY IS YOURS DON'T THROW IT AWAY
May God Bless You,
"To the world you might be one person,
but to one person you just might be the world"
|
|
215. My Twelve Days
of Christmas.
On the first day
of Christmas,
my true love said
to me
“I’m glad we bought fresh turkey,
and a proper Christmas
tree”.
On the second day
of Christmas
much laughter could
be heard
As we tucked into
our turkey,
a most
delicious bird.
On the third day
we entertained the people from next door
The turkey tasted
just as good,
as it had the day before.
Day four,
relations came to stay;
poor gran is
looking old
We finished up the Christmas pud,
and ate he
turkey cold.
On the fifth day of Christmas,
outside the snow
flakes flurried
But we were nice and warm inside,
for we had our
turkey curried
On the sixth day, I must admit,
the Christmas
spirit died
The children fought
and bickered,
we ate the turkey
rissoles fried.
On the seventh day
of Christmas
my true love he did
wince
When he sat down at
the table
and was offered
turkey mince.
Day eight and
nerves were getting frayed,
the dog had
run for shelter
I served up
turkey pancakes
with a glass
of Alka Seltzer
On day nine our
cat left home,
by lunch time dad
was blotto
He said he had to have a drink
to face turkey
risotto
By the tenth day,
the booze had gone
(except our home
made brew)
As if that wasn’t
bad enough,
we suffered
turkey stew.
On the eleventh day
of Christmas,
the Christmas tree
was moulting
The mince pies were as hard as rock
and the turkey was
revolting
On the twelfth day.
my true love had a smile upon his lips
The guests had gone, the turkey too,
and we dined on fish
and chips.
Written by a Mr E R Colthorpe of Slough.
216. Signing
Petitions.
There seem to be a plethora of petitions. “Sign this; sign
that; disagree with this; disagree with that”. We are under constant pressure.
Is it a good thing? Yes, but only up to a point. Signing petitions can give us
a false sense of security. Having signed we feel we have done our bit. Can we
walk away with a clear conscience? No we can’t. After the signing comes the
important part - praying! If we rely on signing alone then we are living in
‘cloud cuckoo land!’ Prayer and Prayer alone will ensure that we have put our
seal on our signature.
Ignatius.
217 JESUS THE GOOD SHEPHERD
In
the time of Jesus one of the lowest jobs but nevertheless an important one was
being a shepherd. It was considered to be so lowly that the Priests and
Pharisees looked down on shepherds. The reason for that is that Shepherds could
not leave their flocks to attend the Temple
or Synagogue. Those who did not attend were considered unworthy – no account
was made for their devotion to their flocks.
The best known reference to
The Shepherd has to be Psalm 23 ‘The Lord is my Shepherd’. It pictures God, the
Good Shepherd. He provides all that his people need. He leads them through
life. He secures them from all harm. The psalm tells of God, the perfect host,
feasting his people with good things. And it goes further: because ‘in the Old
Testament world, to eat and drink at someone’s table created a bond of loyalty’
the picture is not simply of a guest but of a friend.
At the instructions of God,
the prophet Ezekiel condemns the Shepherds of those times for their greed,
cruelty and selfishness. The Sheep; ‘sleek and strong’, are also condemned for
having oppressed the other sheep. Ezekiel continues: ‘I will place over them
one shepherd, my servant David (a ruler like David and from his line) he will
tend them and be their shepherd. Ezekiel 37:24. That shepherd is Jesus.
We
must bear in mind that being a shepherd could be a dangerous job. In the time
of Jesus wild animals roamed the countryside intent on getting a meal and a
sheep or lamb was an excellent way of feeding one’s appetite.
Everyone
knew the shepherd’s lot and Jesus brought them into his sermons so it would
make it easier for his audience to understand. But his most poignant words were
when he equated himself with being a shepherd.
To
understand Jesus’ words we have to visualise the sheepfold. A large enclosure
surrounded by a fence. There is just one entrance gate and every evening each
shepherd brings his sheep and drives them into the enclosure. A night watch is
kept. Next morning each shepherd comes and calls his sheep. They recognise his
voice and they follow him to the pasture.
In John’s gospel Jesus said:
“In all truth I tell you, anyone who does not enter the sheepfold through the
gate, but climbs in some other way, is a thief and a bandit. He who enters
through the gate is the shepherd of the flock, the gatekeeper lets him in, the
sheep hear his voice, one by one he calls his own sheep and leads them out.
When he has brought out all those that are his, he goes ahead of them, and the
sheep follow because they know his voice. They will never follow a stranger,
but will run away from him because they do not recognise the voice of
strangers.” John 10:1-5
John’s gospel continues: ‘Jesus told them
this parable but they failed to understand what he was saying to them.’ So
Jesus spoke to them again.
“In all truth I tell you, I am the gate of
the sheepfold. All who have come before me are thieves and bandits, but the
sheep took no notice of them”.
“I am the gate. Anyone who enters through me
will be safe: such a one will go in and out and will find pasture.”
“The thief comes only to steal and kill and
destroy. I have come so that they may have life and have it to the full.”
“I am
the good shepherd: the good
shepherd lays down his life for his sheep. The hired man, since he is not the
shepherd, and the sheep do not belong to him, abandon the sheep as soon as he
sees the wolf coming, and runs away, and then the wolf attacks and scatters he
sheep; he runs away because he is only a hired man he has no concern for the
sheep.”
“I am
the good shepherd; I know my own
and my own know me, just as the Father knows me and I know the Father; and I
lay down my life for the sheep.”
“And there are other sheep I have that are
not of this fold, and I must lead these too. They too will listen to my voice
and there will be only one flock, and one shepherd.” John 10:6-16.
There
are times when Jesus has to be cruel to be kind and that is explained very graphically
by Ronald Rolheiser who is known for his weekly column in The Catholic Herald.
In
his book ‘The Shattered Lantern’ he tells the following story:
‘Some years
ago, in a class I was teaching, a woman shared with us this story. She had been
raised in a religious home and had been a pious and regular churchgoer. During
her years at university, however, her interest and practice in religion had
progressively slipped so that by the time she graduated she no longer attended
church or prayed. This indifference to prayer and churchgoing continued for
several years after her graduation. The story she told us focused on how all
that changed.
One day, some
four years after having given up all practice of prayer and church, she flew to
Colorado to spend some time with her sister and do some skiing. She arrived on a Saturday evening and the
next morning, Sunday, her sister invited her to go to Mass with her. She
politely refused and went skiing instead. On her first run down the ski-slopes
she hit a tree and broke a leg. Sporting a huge cast, she was released from
hospital the following Saturday. The next morning, her sister again invited her
to come to Mass.
This time (‘there wasn’t anything else to do’) she accepted the invitation.
As luck would
have it, it was Good Shepherd Sunday. As
chance would have it, there happened to be a priest visiting from Israel. He
could not see her, complete with cast, sitting in the pews and yet he began his
homily in this way.
There is a
custom among shepherds in Israel
that existed at the time of Jesus and is still practiced today that needs to be
understood in order to appreciate this text. Sometimes very early on in the
life of a lamb, a shepherd senses that it is going to be a congenital stray,
one forever drifting away from the herd. What the shepherd does then is to take
the lamb and
deliberately break its leg so that he has to carry it until its leg is healed.
By that time the lamb has become so attached to the shepherd that it never
strays again.
I may be
dense!’ concluded the woman, ‘but given my broken leg and this chance
coincidence, hearing this woke up something inside me. Fifteen years have
passed since then and I have prayed and gone to church regularly ever since!’
218.
JESUS THE LAMB OF GOD
The
reason that Jesus is called ‘The Lamb of God’ is because he was sacrificed for
us, as was the lamb in the Jewish ritual.
The
Old Testament has many references to a Lamb and many of them are a direct
prophecy to Jesus who, by dying on the Cross, became the Sacrificial Lamb for
the whole world.
Here
are just three of those references:
As Isaac and Abraham
climbed Mount Moriah Isaac said to his father“. Where is the lamb for the burnt
offering?” Abraham replied “My son, God himself will provide the lamb”. The
words “God himself” are very poignant. God, in the person of Jesus, did provide the Lamb on Calvary.
Genesis 22:7-8.
At the first Passover
on the night when the Israelites were to be
released from the slavery of the Egyptians Moses tells the elders “Go
and choose a lamb…….and kill the Passover victim.” Exodus 12:21. One thousand
three and sixty years later at the time of The Passover. Jesus is the lamb who
is sacrificed on the Cross.
The Prophet Jeremiah
writes ‘I for my part was like a trustful lamb being led to the slaughterhouse’
Jeremiah 11:19. Jesus trusts us not to sin, and ‘will not allow us to be
tempted beyond our strength’ 1 Corinthians 10:13. But we repeatedly let him
down and he suffers for our sins. Effectively ‘we lead him to the
slaughterhouse’.
The
lamb is surely the meekest of the sheep family. But it is the one which Jesus adopts as a comparison to himself. I
recall years ago when I had a black Labrador
called Brutus. One day I took him a walk in the countryside where he had never
been before. In the middle of a field we came across a small flock of sheep.
Despite my calls to ‘heel’ & ‘come’ it made no difference. Brutus set off
at high speed to play with what he probably thought were a pack of white dogs.
As he approached them one sheep bravely separated itself from the flock and
faced the oncoming dog. Then I noticed its big horns – it was a ram. When
Brutus got to it, it lowered is head and gave him a thump! Brutus came running
back to me equally as fast as he had gone. He had learnt a lesson in a far
better way than I could ever have taught him.
Surely
Jesus, who protects us, could be called ‘The Ram of God.’ But the words ‘Ram of
God who takes away the sins of the world, have mercy on us’, don’t sound right
do they? A ram being led to the slaughter might buck and fight – Jesus didn’t
fight; and in the garden
of Gethsemani, even
stopped his apostles from defending him. “Put
your sword back, for all who draw the sword will die by the sword”. Matthew
26:52.
In
the New Testament the first person to call Jesus ‘The Lamb of God’ was John the
Baptist. The Baptist was preparing his disciples to leave him and follow Jesus.
He sees Jesus and says “Look, there is
the lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world.” John 1:29. By these
words The Baptist was saying that Jesus would be the sacrifice that would atone
for the sin of the world.
In
the Acts of the Apostles Philip explains to the Ethiopian eunuch the passage
from Isaiah which he was reading:
‘Like a lamb led to the
slaughter-house, like a sheep dumb in front of its shearers, he never opens his
mouth. In his humiliation fair judgement was denied him.’ Acts 8:32.
St Peter in his first
Epistle calls Jesus ‘The spotless lamb…’ 1 Peter 1:19.
But
it is when we come to the book of Revelation that we find a veritable explosion
of Jesus being called ‘the lamb’. Here are a few quotes:
‘Worthy is the Lamb
that was sacrificed to receive power, riches, wisdom, strength, honour, glory
and blessing.’ Revelation 5:12.
‘These are the people
who have been through the great trial; they have washed their robes white again
in the blood of the Lamb. Revelation 7:14.
‘I did not see a
temple in the city because the Lord God Almighty and the lamb are its temple.
Revelation 21:22.
‘The throne of God
and of the Lamb will be in the city and his servants will serve him’.
Revelation 22:3.
The
essence of ‘sacrifice’ was not in the killing of the lamb but in the releasing
of its blood. Life was seen as being in the blood (Leviticus 17:11). With that
in mind we can see how far Jesus went in bleeding for us. He bled at the
scourging, he bled at the crowning with thorns, he bled during his journey to Calvary, he bled when the nails were driven into his
hands and feet and as if that wasn’t enough, even after death, he bled when the
lance pierced his heart.
Jesus
is truly the Lamb of God.
So
at Holy Mass we can proudly and reverently say:
“Lamb
of God, you take away the sins of the world: have mercy on us”.
“Lamb
of God, you take away the sins of the world: have mercy on us”.
“Lamb
of God, you take away the sins of the world: grant us peace”.
219 SYNOPSIS OF
VENERABLE MARY OF AGREDA’S BOOK
THE MYSTICAL
CITY OF GOD
Preface - The book is written in what at first appears to be
an overtly religious style. One becomes
used to this and realises that it would have been difficult to have written of
the subject in any other way. Our Lady’s
words are recorded in similar fashion, but how else can we expect Our Lady to
have spoken? The fact that the mode of
speech is strange to us reflects on the mundane matters on which we normally
converse compared to the heavenly matters on which Our Lady was conversing.
Mary of Agred came from a very holy family. In 1619 her father entered a Franciscan
friary where her two brothers were already living as religious. Her father had left the family home so that
it could become a convent of disalced nuns of The Immaculate Conception. Mary’s mother, Mary’s sister and Mary herself
were the first to take the habit. After
receiving many ‘commands from the Most High’ Mary commenced her writing in 1637
at which time she was abbess of the order.
Mary was filled with many fears and after finishing the writings she
burned them on the order of a confessor (in the absence of her regular
confessor). For this she had to endure
‘most severe reproaches ... from my superiors and from the regular
confessor. In order to force me to
rewrite this history, they threatened me with censures’. (This makes an interesting comparison with
the Polish nun, Sister Faustina, 1905-1938, who kept a diary of her visions of
Jesus and who also had to rewrite the diary after destroying it on the
instructions of a temporary confessor).
Testimonies - These tell us that The Mystical City of God
has been accepted by almost all faculties.
In writing about the book the University of Louvain, one of the greatest
universities in Europe, said ‘All can easily persuade themselves that, if the
interior life of Christ our Lord and of the most Holy Virgin was not just as
described in the book, it could certainly have been like it’. They go on to state ‘Of course, there are
certain points in this work which might give rise to apparent difficulties ...
we must confess that we might possibly be ourselves mistaken in making these
objections.’
The book has been recommended by the following Popes:
Innocent XI, Alexander VIII, Clement IX, Benedict XIII, Benedict XIV, Clement
XIV. In 1912 the book was granted an
imprimatur by Bishop H J Aldering of Fort
Wayne, USA.
The most recent formal sanction of the book was in 1949 when an imprimatur was
granted by Archbishop Edwin V Byrne D.D. of Santa Fe, New Mexico.
The book has
four headings: Conception, Incarnation, Transfixion and Coronation.
The Conception
In encouraging Mary of Agreda to write the book, the Lord
said to her, ‘I do not intend that the descriptions and declarations of the
life of the Blessed Virgin shall be mere opinions or contemplations, but
reliable truth. Thus speaks the Lord God
Almighty.’
Mary of Agreda started by receiving an understanding of God
himself, ‘God comprehends in himself all things by one indivisible, most simple
and instantaneous act. He does not go on
from the understanding of one thing to the understanding of another.’
Then an understanding of God’s creation of man, ‘The divine
mind prearranged the harmony and adornment of the human nature composed of an
organic and a vivifying soul, endowed with faculties to know and enjoy its
creator, to discern between good and evil, and with a free will to love that
same Lord.’
The Creation of the Angels and the Fall of Lucifer: The
angels were made aware of God’s intention to create a human nature of reasoning
creatures lower than the angels. The
good angels gave their assent to this creation, but Lucifer, full of envy and
pride, resisted and induced his followers to resist likewise. Also at this time it was revealed to the
angels that they would have to admit as a superior, conjointly with God, a
woman, in whose womb the only begotten Son of the Father was to assume
flesh. Once again, the good angels
assented but Lucifer and confederates
rose to a high pitch of pride. He
aspired to be himself the head of all the angels and of the human race. He opposed the fact that the Mother of God
was to be superior to him. It was at
this juncture that God told Lucifer, ‘This woman, whom thou refusest to honour,
shall crush thy head ...’. Then followed
the great heavenly battle when St Michael and his angels threw Lucifer and his
followers out of Heaven. Lucifer
threatened to destroy the whole human race.
Creation and Fall of Man: God deceived Lucifer. God had told Lucifer that ‘the Word’ was to
assume human nature from the womb of a woman, but not how and when. Therefore when God created Adam and Eve,
Lucifer was confused. He thought that Adam
had come forth from Eve and that he was ‘the Word’ and Eve was the woman who
would ‘crush his head’. It was because
of this that he first tempted the woman.
He did not dare first tempt the person who he thought was Christ. Lucifer’s temptation worked and he celebrated
in triumph. He expected God to be cruel
in his treatment of Adam and Eve. But he
saw God’s love and forgiveness in giving Adam and Eve the chance of repentance
and giving them hope of pardon and return of grace. When the effect of penance and forgiveness
were perceived all hell was in confusion.
More than ever Lucifer was watchful for the ‘woman who would crush his
head.’
Expectation of a Redeemer: God commenced the coming of his
Son by choosing St Joachim and St Anne to be the parents of Our Lady. St Joachim lived in Nazareth
and St Anne in Bethlehem. Both were good holy people. God sent the Archangel Gabriel to St Anne to
tell her that she was to marry St Joachim.
The angel Gabriel knew that St Anne’s child was to be the Mother of
Christ but did not mention this.
Likewise, the Archangel appeared to St
Joachim as a dream in his sleep telling him that he should marry St Anne. St Joachim and St Anne were married and lived
in Nazareth,
but neither of them told the other of their angelic manifestations until
several years later.
They were perfect in their charity and in this respect each
year they divided their income into three parts, one part being given to the
temple, another part distributed to the poor and the third part retained for
their own sustenance. (The book states
‘The rents of their income and estates ..’ and ‘Joachim hastened ... to a farm
or storehouse which he possessed ...’ which gives the impression that St
Joachim and St Anne were not poor).
St Joachim and St Anne lived together for 20 years without
issue. In those times and amongst the
Jews this was considered a disgrace.
Because of this they had to bear many insults from neighbours and
acquaintances. They made a vow that if
God would give them issue then they would consecrate it to his service in the
temple in Jerusalem. They prayed for an issue and God sent the
angel Gabriel to St Joachim to tell him that St Anne would conceive and bear a
daughter who was to be called ‘Mary’. St
Joachim was not told that Mary was to be the Mother of God. The Archangel Gabriel also appeared to St
Anne telling her that she would conceive and bear a daughter who would be
called Mary and St Anne was also told that this same Mary would be the Mother
of God. Following these heavenly
manifestations, St Joachim and St Anne told each other of the secrets of their
manifestations with the Archangel 20 years
earlier. But St Anne never disclosed the
secret that her daughter was to be the Mother of God.
The Immaculate Conception: This chapter gives the impression
that Our Lady was conceived miraculously, rather than by the intervention of St
Joachim. There are two quotes which give
this impression. ‘I will descend from
Heaven into her womb and in it vest myself from her substance with human
nature’ and ‘On the Saturday next following, the Almighty created the soul of
his mother and infused it into the body ...’.
If this is correct, then the birth was miraculous, but not a virgin
birth. In this creation God had made the
most perfect being to be honoured and loved above the angels, second only to
himself. God appointed 900 angels to be
guardians and servants of this beautiful soul.
He also assigned 12 others who would assist Our Lady by taking visual
form. 18 other angels were chosen who
would ascend and descend the mystical stairs of Jacob with messages from Our
Lady to God and from God to Our Lady.
From the moment of the first instant in the womb of St Anne
Our Lady ‘was wiser, more prudent, more enlightened and more capable of
comprehending God and all his works, than all creatures have been or ever will
be in eternity, excepting of course her most Holy Son.’ At this first instant God showed her the
angels who were to protect her and endowed her with knowledge of her genealogy
and of all the holy people chosen by God.
She asked the angels to help her to glorify God. (It is difficult for us to comprehend that
from the very moment of conception Our Lady was able to think and understand in
a mature way. Mary of Agreda had similar
difficulties of belief but reports what she is instructed to report).
The Birth of Mary Immaculate: Lucifer was ever watchful for
‘the woman who would crush his head’ and whilst he sensed that St Anne was a
good and holy woman the knowledge that the woman who he feared was to be born
from St Anne was withheld from him.
Nevertheless he vented his rage on St Anne by tempting her. When this did not work, he tempted a woman of
her acquaintance to quarrel with her.
Then he tempted a servant girl who worked for St Anne to be annoying and
malicious towards her mistress. St Anne
bore everything with a great holiness.
At the time of the birth Our Lady was ‘ravished into a most high
ecstasy. Hence she was born into the
world without perceiving it by her senses, for their operations and faculties
were held in suspense’. At the time of
the birth St Anne was freed from the ‘toils and labours, which other mothers
usually endure in such circumstances’.
(Hence, it can be understood that the birth was miraculous). So was born into the world ‘the most
exquisite treasure of all the universe, inferior only to God and superior to
all other creatures.’
God gave St Anne an interior message to tell her that she
should inwardly hold her child in reverence but outwardly treat her as other
mothers treat their daughters. At the
moment of Our Lady’s birth the angel Gabriel went, as an envoy, to Limbo to
give the joyful news to the souls awaiting their release into Heaven. After her birth God had his angels take Our
Lady into Heaven where ‘for a short time she might be ... where later on she
was to be placed for all eternity.’
‘This was the first time in which the most holy soul of Mary saw the
Blessed Trinity in unveiled beatific vision’.
It was hidden from Our Lady that she was to be the Mother of God
incarnate. Her simple humility did not
allow her to even think this could be the purpose for which God had created
her.
Our Lady’s Early Years: As a child, Our Lady was treated
like others of her age. In every way she
was the perfect child. She would have
moments of sighing and weeping for the sins of the world. Her pleasant countenance was often mixed with
gravity and a strange majesty. She
remained in enforced silence as appertaining to her age though from the moment of
conception she was in possession of her faculties. Her nor speaking was a virtue and a great
perfection though an exception was made in respect of the angels which
surrounded her. St Anne did not know of
Our Lady’s ability to speak from birth.
Our Lady was totally obedient to her parents and she knew beforehand all
their thoughts and was anxious to fulfil them.
At the age of two, Our Lady began to exercise special pity
and charity towards the poor. Never did
she give alms to the poor without conferring still greater favours on their
souls. As Our Lady approached the age of
three there grew in St Anne the dread of punctually fulfilling her promise of
presenting her child to the temple. Six
months before her third birthday Our Lady began to prepare for living in the
temple. St Anne and St Joachim suffered
greatly at the thought of giving their perfect child to the temple but they
reminded themselves of their promise and determined to fulfill it with humble
submission.
St Anne and St Joachim took Our Lady from Nazareth
to Jerusalem so
that they could keep their promise. On
Our Lady’s third birthday they entered the temple and after praying together
they took Our Lady to ‘the portion of the temple buildings, where many young
girls lived to be brought up in virtuous habits until old enough to assume the
state of matrimony.’ ‘15 stairs led up
to the entrance of these apartments.
Priests came down these stairs in order to welcome the blessed child
Mary. The one that had received them,
being according to the law one of a minor order, placed her on the first
step. Mary, with his permission, turned,
and kneeling down before Joachim and Anne, asked their blessing and kissed
their hands, recommending herself to their prayers before God. The holy parents in tenderest tears gave her
their blessing; whereupon she ascended the 15 stairs without any
assistance. She hastened upward with
incomparable fervour and joy, neither turning back, nor shedding tears, nor
showing any childish regrets at parting from her parents. To see her, in so tender an age, so full of
strange majesty and firmness of mind, excited the admiration of all those
present. The priests received her among
the rest of the maidens, and Saint Simeon consigned her to her teachers, one of
whom was the prophetess Anne’.
Shortly after entering her apartment ‘... accompanied by her
angels ... the celestial child was raised body and soul to heaven where she was
received by the Holy Trinity.’ ‘The Most
high was much pleased with ... the heavenly child, and he gave her to
understand that he would admit her to suffering and labour for his love in the
course of her life, without at the time revealing to her the order and the
manner in which he was to dispense them’.
Our Lady offered to make the vows of chastity, poverty, obedience and
perpetual enclosure. She was told that
she could accept the vows of chastity, poverty and obedience but it was
indicated to he that the course of her life, which was not yet known to her,
would not make it possible to fulfill all her desires ... Heavenly music bore
back the holy child from Heaven to her place in the temple’. Back in the temple Our Lady
gave all her possessions to her instructress, the prophetess Anne. The only possessions she kept were her
clothes and some books.
Those who were to have charge of Our Lady and to teach her
‘felt within themselves a great enlightenment and a divine impulse to attend
especially to this heavenly child.’ They
gave Our Lady the following routine ‘At eight (p.m.) thou will retire for sleep
and at the beginning of dawn thou wilt arise in order to praise the Lord until
the third hour (9 am). From the third
hour until the evening thou wilt occupy thyself in some manual works, in order
that thou mayest be instructed in all things.
At meals, of which thou wilt partake after thy exercise, observe
befitting moderation. Then thou wilt go
to hear the instructions of thy teacher: the rest of the day thou wilt engage
thyself in the reading of Holy Scriptures...’.
Our Lady followed the directions of her superiors to perfection and was
also perfect in the virtues of faith, hope and charity.
During her time in the temple, Our Lady became an adult in
her wisdom whilst remaining a child in years.
Our Lady was given prior notice of her father’s, St Joachim’s, death,
which took place six months after she had entered the temple. She did not go to her father’s bedside but
sent angels who not only appeared to him, but also consoled him and gave him
messages of love from his daughter. When
St Joachim entered Limbo, where the souls of the just awaited their redemption,
he was given the duty of announcing that the dawn of redemption was at hand.
During her time in the temple, Our Lady was given
trials. One was that God suspended the
continual visions which he had so far vouchsafed her. Also the angels surrounding her concealed
themselves. These things surprised Our
Lady. She had been told to expect trials
but not the nature of those trials. She
accepted them with humility and great fortitude. The devil took the opportunity of tempting
Our Lady. He did not know that she was
to be the Mother of God, but he could sense her great courage and
constancy. Our Lady distinguished
herself in all virtues and the devil was vanquished and left to his pride and
arrogance. The devil turned his
attention to other maidens in the temple and encouraged them to turn against
Our Lady. The temple maidens began to
plot amongst themselves and agreed to molest and persecute Our Lady. She bore all this with great fortitude. The more they persecuted her, the more humble
she became and this drove them into an even greater rage against her. The period of time when these trials were
given to Our Lady was ten years commencing eight days before the death of her
father, St Joachim. At about this time
Our Lady was told that her mother was about to die. During the night, Our Lady was transported by
angels to her mother’s sick bed where she was able to converse with and console
St Anne.
The Incarnation
At the age of 13 and a half years, God informed her that she
was to become betrothed. Our Lady had, from an early age, taken a vow of
chastity. In complete obedience she had to suspend this vow, although she felt
sadness at doing so. God spoke to the
high priest Simeon and commanded him to arrange the marriage of Mary. Our Lady told Simeon of her desire to remain
a virgin, but also her desire to obey the Lord. Simeon told her that ‘no maiden
of Israel
abstains from marriage as long as we expect the coming of the Messiah’. This happened nine days before the date by
which a marriage should be arranged, which was Our Lady’s 14th
birthday. On that day male descendants
of the tribe of Judea and of the race of David
came to the temple, and amongst them was Joseph of Nazareth. He was then 33 years old and was handsome but
was also most chaste in thought and conduct.
In order to choose Mary’s husband-to-be, the Holy Spirit spoke to the
High Priest and asked that all the men be given a dry stick to hold. They then prayed. Of all the men, Joseph was the most humble in
his thoughts for he had also taken a vow of chastity. Nevertheless, it was his stick which was seen
to blossom. At this, the priests declared
Joseph to be the spouse of Mary.
Mary went with Joseph to Nazareth where she had inherited her parents’
possessions and estates. They were welcomed and visited by friends and
relations with joyful congratulations.
It was the custom that for the first few days of their married state the
husband and wife should enter upon a study or trial of each other. During this time, Our Lady and St Joseph declared to
each other their previous vows of chastity.
Both ratified their vows and agreed to live as companions. At this the two felt an incomparable joy and
consolation. They immediately set about
dividing the property inherited from St Joachim and St Anne. One part they offered to the temple, another
they gave to the poor and the third was kept for their sustenance. St
Joseph was trained as a carpenter. He and Our Lady agreed that he should
exercise that trade. They agreed to
remain poor and be lovers of the poor.
In the six months and 17 days which intervened between her
espousal and the incarnation of the Word, Our Lady busied herself in charitable
works to her friends and neighbours. God
prepared Our Lady in a special manner in the nine days prior to the
incarnation. (As we will see later,
‘nine days’ became very special to Our Lady).
Each day he gave her more and more knowledge and graces. When praying she would prostrate herself on
the ground in the form of a cross. The
Holy Ghost had taught her this way to pray.
Our Lady, while aware of the promise of a Messiah, had no idea that she
was to be the virgin who would conceive.
Her complete humility made it impossible for her to consider this. At this time she was 14 years and six months
and 17 days old. At the time when the
‘embassy of Heaven’ came to her she was engaged in prayer. It was on a Thursday at 6 pm in the
evening. Her complete humility protected
her from considering that the incarnation could happen through her. Therefore when the angel Gabriel appeared to
her, she was disturbed. On account of
this perturbation the angel Gabriel proceeded to explain to her the decree of
the Lord, saying: ‘Do not fear, Mary, for thou hast found grace before the
Lord; behold, thou shalt conceive a son in thy womb, and thou shalt give birth
to him, and thou shalt call him Jesus ...’.
Our Lady realised the greatness of what was being said to her. She replied: ‘How shall this happen, that I
conceive as I know not, nor can know, man?’
Gabriel replied: ‘Lady, it is easy for the divine power to make thee a
mother without the co-operation of man; the Holy Spirit shall remain with thee
by a presence and the virtue of the most high shall overshadow thee, so that
the Holy of Holies can be born of thee, who shall himself be called the Son of
God. And behold, thy cousin Elizabeth has likewise
conceived a son in her sterile years and this is the sixth month of her
conception; for nothing is impossible with God.
He that can make her conceive, who is sterile, can bring it about, that
thou, Lady, be his mother, still preserving thy virginity and enhancing thy
purity’. Mary having considered all that
had been said to her, inclined her head, joined her hands and said, ‘May it be
to me as you have said’. At this four
things happened. Firstly, the most holy
body of Christ our Lord was formed from three drops of blood furnished by the
heart of the most holy Mary. Secondly,
the most holy soul of the same Lord was created, just as the other souls. Thirdly, the soul and the body united, in
order to compose his perfect humanity.
Fourthly, the divinity united itself in the person of the Word with the
humanity which together became one. Thus
was formed Christ, true God and man, our Lord and Redeemer. This happened in springtime on the 25th
day of March, at break of dawning day...
The Visitation: The City of God
states the story as given in the Bible that Our Lady and St Joseph went to visit St Elizabeth, but it
gives a definite reason for the visit.
Our Lady wanted to be with her cousin, Elizabeth, so that she could
sanctify the child in Elizabeth’s
womb and release it from the bond of original sin. Elizabeth and Zacharias lived 26 leagues (approximately
60 miles) from Nazareth. The journey took four days. After the initial salutations between Our
Lady and Elizabeth they retired to a private place where they continued their
discourse. Our Lady said: ‘May God save thee, my dearest cousin, and may his
divine light communicate to thee grace and life’. At these words, the child in Elizabeth’s womb was sanctified from original
sin. After three days, St
Joseph returned alone to Nazareth,
as yet unaware of the child in Mary’s womb.
During her stay, Our Lady looked after her cousin as handmaid. Our Lady was still with Elizabeth when her baby was born. Shortly after that St Joseph was sent for so that he could
accompany Our Lady back home.
Our Lady was five months into her pregnancy when Joseph noticed
the condition of the virgin. He was
confused and wounded to his inmost heart.
One of his great fears was the dread of being obligated to hand his
spouse over to the authorities to be stoned.
St Joseph
persevered in prayer in order to decide what action he should take. Sometimes, carried away by his grief, he
spoke to his heavenly spouse with some degree of severity such as he had not
shown before. This was the natural
effect of the affliction of heart, not of anger or vengeful feelings. Our Lady became aware of St Joseph’s resolve to leave her. One night St Joseph decided to depart and packed some
clothes and other trifles for his journey, having also claimed some wages which
were due to him. Before leaving he
prayed for guidance and resolved to offer up some of the money to the temple to
ask God to protect Our Lady. Then the
prepared himself for a short sleep with the intention of leaving at
midnight. Our Lady was allowed, by
divine intervention, to observe all that took place and she was filled with
tender compassion and prayed to the Lord for his providence. In his sleep all was revealed to him and he
awoke with the full consciousness that his spouse was the true Mother of God
and he gave thanks to the Lord. The Lord
looked on him in benevolence and kindness as upon no other man, for he accepted
him as his foster father.
The Bible story, whereby Mary and Joseph had to travel to Bethlehem to register
under the decree of Caesar Augustus is followed in Mary Agred’s book. Joseph was especially concerned at this
journey as Our Lady was now far advanced in her pregnancy. As so many were travelling St Joseph had
difficulty in obtaining a donkey to carry Our Lady. But eventually one was found. Joseph and Mary being modest and retiring
found the noisy taverns disagreeable and had many hardships on their
journey. Thus did our weary travellers
arrive at Bethlehem
at four o’clock on the fifth day of travelling.
It was a Saturday. It was winter
and the sun was already sinking in the sky.
They wandered through many streets trying to find somewhere to stay, but
everywhere they were turned away and at some places they were met with harsh
words and insults. While wandering the
streets they passed the office of the public registry and they inscribed their
names and paid the fiscal tribute in order to comply with the edict and not be
obliged to return. Finally, after being
turned away from more than 50 places, St Joseph, full of sorrow, told his
spouse that he was heartbroken and could only think that Heaven, in thus
allowing the hearts of men to be so unmoved, must conceal some mystery. Then he
remembered that outside the city walls there was a cave which served as a
shelter for shepherds and their flocks.
They found the cave unoccupied and thanked God for this favour.
The Birth of Christ our Saviour: The cave was formed
entirely of bare and coarse rocks without any natural beauty or artificial
adornment; a place intended merely for the shelter of animals. The angelic spirits showed themselves in their
visible forms also to St Joseph. Our Lady set about cleaning the cave with her
own hands. St Joseph joined in this work and cleaned the
floor of the cave. The holy angels in
their visible form also joined in the work of cleaning the cave, also filling
it with a holy fragrance. St Joseph started a fire
and he and Mary sat by the fire and partook of the food which they had brought
with them. The Queen of Heaven was so
absorbed with the thought of her impending divine delivery that she would not
have partaken of any food had she not been urged to by obedience to her spouse.
After supper they gave thanks to God and spent a short time
in prayer. Our Lady felt the approach of
the most blessed birth. She requested
her spouse to betake himself to rest and sleep as the night was already far
advanced. St Joseph yielded to her request and urged
her to do the same. For this purpose he
prepared a sort of couch with the articles of wear in their possession, making
use of a manger that had been left by shepherds for their animals. Leaving the most holy Mary in the portion of
the cave thus furnished, St Joseph
retired to a corner of the entrance where he began to pray. He was immediately visited by a divine spirit
and went into an ecstasy from which he did not return until his heavenly spouse
called him.
Meanwhile, Our Lady was called from her resting place by a
loud voice of the most High. This was
one of the most admirable ecstasies of her most holy life. She remained in this ecstasy for a whole hour
preceding her divine deliverance. At the
moment when she came out of the ecstasy she felt and saw the body of the infant
God begin to move in her womb, releasing and freeing himself from the place
which in the course of nature he had occupied for nine months. He now prepared to issue forth from that
sacred bridal chamber. This movement not
only did not cause any pain or hardship, as happens with other daughters of
Adam and Eve in their child births, but filled Our Lady with incomparable joy
and delight. In this way, Our Lady gave
to the world the only begotten Son of the Father whilst her virginity was not
impaired (a miraculous birth). This
happened at the hour of midnight on a Sunday.
Saints Michael and Gabriel were present when the incarnate Word issued
forth. They received him in their hands
in great reverence in the same way a priest exhibits the sacred Host. So these two celestial ministers presented to
the divine Mother her glorious Son.
Immediately the Son was able to speak to his mother and they held a
heavenly discourse.
It was now time to call St Joseph who, having adored the child King,
assisted holy Mary with the wrappings and swaddling clothes, before laying the
child in the crib. Our Lady had prepared
the crib by arranging the straw and hay.
An ox from a neighbouring field ran up in haste and, entering the cave,
joined the donkey which had brought Our Lady from Nazareth.
Thus God made man was placed between the two animals, wrapped in
swaddling clothes, wonderfully fulfilling the prophesy that ‘the ox knoweth his
owner, and the ass his master’s crib.’ (Isaiah 13).
The Adoration of the Shepherds: At the birth of Jesus, St
Michael visited Limbo to tell the souls there that Christ had been born. He gave special congratulation to St Anne and
St Joachim and told them that their daughter now held in her arms him who had
been foretold by the prophets. Another
angel was sent, with the good news, to St Elizabeth and her son John. Mary of Agreda’s writings of the shepherds is
similar to that given in the Bible. The
shepherds are said to have conversed with Our Lady and to have stayed in the
cave from the beginning of dawn until midday, when Our Lady gave them something
to eat before they departed. Our Lady
and St Joseph
showed great reverence when approaching the child Jesus. They made three genuflections, kissing the
earth and making acts of humility and worship.
The Circumcision: Our Lady had been given no command or
intimation of the will of God regarding the circumcision of Jesus. She decided that as her holy Son had come to
honour and confirm the law by fulfilling it, he should therefore conform to it
by being circumcised. This was despite
her knowledge that circumcision was intended to cleanse from original sin, and
her child did not have that stain. St Joseph agreed with Our
Lady’s wishes. Our Lady asked Joseph to
obtain a crystal or glass vessel for preserving the sacred relic of the
circumcision and Our Lady prepared linen cloths to catch the sacred blood which
for the first time would be shed. Our
Lady told St Joseph
that, when the baby was in her womb, it had been revealed to her that his name
should be ‘Jesus’. All preparations
being made, the priest came to the cave along with two other officials. The sparseness of the cave astonished them,
but Our Lady spoke a welcome with such modesty and grace that their constraint
was soon changed into one of admiration.
Thus Jesus was circumcised. At
the moment of the circumcision, Jesus offered up to his eternal Father three
sacrifices. One that he, being innocent
and the Son of the true God, assumed the condition of a sinner by subjecting
himself to a rite instituted as a remedy for original sin. Second was his willingness to suffer
pain. Third was the most ardent love
with which he began to shed his blood for the human race. When the priest asked for the name, Our Lady
asked St Joseph
to state the name, which he did, ‘Jesus’.
The Adoration of the Magi: The three magi kings came from Persia, Arabia and Sabba, which are all countries
to the east of Palestine. A holy angel had brought the news of the
birth to the kings. Although the kings
set off separately from their various countries, they soon met as they were
following the same star. The kings
conferred among themselves and discovered that their plans were identical. The star guided them to the cave where Our
Lady awaited, standing, with the child in her arms. The kings entered and were, for a considerable
space of time, overwhelmed with wonder.
They worshipped and adored the infant, acknowledging him as the true God
and man, and as the Saviour of the human race.
They congratulated Our Lady and St
Joseph and expressed their wonder and compassion at
the great poverty, beneath which were hidden the great mysteries of heaven and
earth. They spent three hours with the
Holy Family and then went to find lodgings as there was no room for the in the
cave. Whilst with the Holy Family, the
kings had perceived the multitude of angelic spirits who, as servants and
ministers of the King of Kings and Lord of Lords, attended upon him. Some others had attended the kings but they
had only seen the destitute and neglected condition of the mother and her
husband. Though wondering at the strange
events, they perceived nothing of its mystery.
Having found themselves lodgings, the kings spent much of the night
talking in wonder about what they had seen.
Recognising the poverty of the Holy Family, they sent their servants
with many gifts, which Mary and Joseph received with humble acknowledgement. These gifts enabled Our Lady to offer
sustenance to ordinary guests and alms for the poor and the needy. The next day, at dawn, the kings returned to
the cave and offered special gifts which they had prepared. As the Scriptures tell us, they offered gold,
incense and myrrh. They questioned Our
Lady in regard to many mysteries and practices of faith. Our Lady heard them and conferred interiorly
with her infant son concerning all they had asked in order to properly answer
and instruct these sons of the new law.
The kings were so overcome with the sanctity, sweetness and attraction
of her words that they could scarcely part from her. But an angel of the Lord appeared to them
reminding them of the necessity that they should return to their countries. Before leaving and in accordance with the
custom of their countries, the offered to Our Lady some gems of great
value. Because these gifts had no
mysterious significance and did not refer to Jesus, she returned them to the
kings, keeping only the gifts of gold, incense and myrrh. In order not to send the kings away empty
handed, Our Lady gave them some of the clothes in which she had wrapped
Jesus. The kings accepted these with
great joy and encased them in gold and precious stones. These relics spread a great fragrance a
league in circumference (approximately 2 miles). Only those who believed in God’s coming into
the world were able to perceive the fragrance.
Back in their own countries the magi performed great miracles through
the use of these relics. Before taking
their leave of the Holy Family the magi offered property and possessions to Our
Lady or to build a house for her. These
kind offers were kindly refused and there was a tearful parting. The kings asked Our Lady and St Joseph to always remember them. The kings went back a different way to avoid
meeting Herod and were led by another star provided by an angel.
Presentation in the Temple: St Joseph and Our Lady,
having provided themselves with a turtle dove and two candles, wrapped Jesus in
swaddling clothes and make their way to the temple. Having arrived at the temple gate, Our Lady
joined other women in bowing and kneeling to adore the Lord in his holy
temple. The high priest, Simeon, moved
by the Holy Ghost, came to the temple.
As he approached Our Lady and the child Jesus, he saw them enveloped in
splendour and glory. The prophetess
Anne, had also come to the temple and she also saw the wonderful light which
surrounded Our Lady and Jesus. The high
priest received Jesus into his arms and gave his testimony that the Lord,
having kept his promise, could now release him from this earth. He also prophesied Our Lady’s future
sufferings. At the mention of these
sufferings, Our Lady felt a great sorrow and thus, in advance, she was wounded
by the sword which Simeon had predicted.
When the ceremony of the presentation was over Our Lady kissed the hand
of the priest and of Anne, her former teacher.
Then she and St Joseph
returned to their lodgings. Our Lady and
St Joseph planned to stay in Bethlehem for a further nine days in order to
visit the temple each day to repeat the offering of their son. Our Lady has a special veneration for number
nine in memory of the nine days during which she prepared for the incarnation
of the Word. She commenced a novena when
she presented her child in the temple.
As an answer to her petitions God have her special privileges amongst
which was that as long as the world would last she could obtain all that she
would ever ask for her clients and that the greatest sinners, if they availed
themselves of her intercession, would find salvation.
homeland, as Herod was attempting to find Jesus and kill
him. They would be told when it was safe
to return. St Joseph Flight into Egypt:
On the fifth day of the novena Our Lady was told that she was not to complete
it, but that she and St Joseph must take the child to Egypt and flee their was
given the same message in a dream. They
wasted no time, but immediately started on their journey. They stopped for two days in the town of Gaza so that they could
rest as they were worn out by the journey.
St Elizabeth had sent a man servant carrying gifts for the child
Jesus. This servant was sent back to St
Elizabeth for Gaza
carrying messages from the Holy Family. St Joseph cautioned him
not to tell anyone of their whereabouts.
But God provided against this danger by taking away his memory, leaving
only the message which he was to convey.
During their two days in Gaza Our Lady did many kind deeds. She freed two sick people from the danger of
death and restored a crippled woman to full health. After leaving Gaza they had to cross the sandy deserts of
Bersabe, which was a journey of 60 leagues (approximately 130 miles). During the desert crossing, which was made in
winter, great privations had to be overcome by the Holy Family. Eventually they entered Heliopolis,
which is today’s Cairo. In order to provide for his family, St Joseph carried out his
trade as a carpenter. During their seven
years in Egypt,
Our Lady performed many miracles and was always perfect in her alms
giving. During Jesus’ early years Our
Lady noticed that he preferred not to use any footwear. He agreed to her request that he should do
so, but only until his time of public preaching would commence. Then he would have to be barefooted. He agreed to Our Lady making him a seamless
garment. Our Lady made this herself,
choosing the wool and spinning it herself.
She wove a garment of one piece and without a seam. During this time the mystery of Jesus’ love
and devotion to mankind was apparent. He
would often prostrate himself on the ground and was sometimes raised from the
ground in the shape of a cross. On other
occasions, in the presence of his holy Mother, he would perspire blood. This happened many times before his agony in
the garden. Eventually they received the
message that it was safe to return to Nazareth.
The Transfixion
The Finding in the Temple: In
accordance with the Jewish law, all men were obliged to present themselves in
the temple in Jerusalem
three times a year. St
Joseph and Our Lady agreed that she and Jesus would accompany St Joseph on two of these
occasions each year. When Jesus was 12
years old the Holy Family went to Jerusalem
in accordance with the law. It was the
feast of the Passover. The festival
lasted for seven days and at the end of this time Our Lady and St Joseph commenced their journey home. Jesus withdrew himself from them without
their knowledge. This was not difficult
to do as the men and women walked in separate groups and Our Lady and St Joseph both thought
that Jesus was with the other group.
They travelled a whole day before realising that Jesus was not with
them. When they discovered their loss
they were, for quite a while, both struck dumb with amazement and
surprise. They both felt over-whelmed
with self reproach at being so remiss.
They blamed themselves for his loss.
After their initial shock, they felt profound sorrow and discussed what
should be done. They agreed to return at
once to Jerusalem
to search for Jesus. Their initial
search proved fruitless. None of their
relatives or friends were able to help.
Thus they continued their search for three days ‘without sleeping or
eating anything’.On the third day Our Lady decided that Jesus must have gone to
join St John in the desert and she resolved to go into the desert to search for
him there. At this the Holy Angels
intervened telling her that her son was not in the desert. But they did not disclose his
whereabouts. She also thought of going to
Bethlehem to
see whether he had gone to the cave of his birth. Once again the angels dissuaded her telling
her that he was not far off. Our Lady
suffered many trials and much sorrow and, in dealing with the problem, God left
her to her natural resources. Eventually
when asking a woman whether she had seen Jesus and giving a description the
woman said that a boy of that description had been at her door the day before
asking for alms to give to the poor. Our
Lady came across other women who had given alms to a boy of Jesus’
description. She went to the hospital to
be told that a boy similar to her description had been coming to the hospital
giving alms to the poor and speaking words of consolation to the afflicted. It then occurred to Our Lady that as Jesus
was not at this moment in the hospital he would probably be at the temple, so
she made her way there. St Joseph, who had been making his own search
for Jesus, happened to meet Our Lady as she was on her way to the temple, so
they went together. St Joseph had worked so hard in trying to
find Jesus that he had put himself in danger of death by his privations. He had not slept for three days and would not
have eaten if it were not for Our Lady begging him to take some
sustenance. On the day in question, the
learned Rabbis were discussing the coming of the Messiah when Jesus came to
listen and to question them. During
their discourse Our Lady and St Joseph
came into the temple. Then were spoken
the words as recorded in the New Testament: ‘Son, why hast thou done so to
us? Behold, thy Father and I have sought
thee sorrowing.’ And Jesus’ reply: ‘Why
is it that you sought me? Did you not
know that I must be about my Father’s business?’ Thus they returned to Nazareth where Jesus was subject to his parents. Our Lady explains this occurrence by saying
that Jesus absented himself in order that, seeking him in sorrow and tears, she
might find him in joy and with abundant fruits for her soul.
The Death of St Joseph: For
eight years St Joseph
had been ailing. Our Lady realised that
his death was approaching and asked Jesus to ensure that his death might be
peaceful and that he might be rewarded for his love and care of the Holy
Family. Jesus assured his mother that
all that she asked would be granted. For
nine nights prior to his death, St
Joseph had the continuous company of either Our Lady
or Jesus. The day before he died he was
wrapped in an ecstasy and was inflamed with divine love. Just before he died he asked Our Lady to give
him her blessing but she requested Jesus to do this on her behalf. Jesus gave him his blessing and said, ‘My
father, rest in peace and in the grace of my eternal father and mine; and to
the prophets and the saints, who await thee in Limbo, bring the joyful news of
the approach of their redemption’. At
these words of Jesus, and reclining in his arms, St Joseph expired. He was 66 and a few days when he died.
Jesus Commences His Ministry: Our Lady knew that her son was
to commence his work towards redemption and by prayer prepared herself for his
leaving Nazareth. Jesus was 29 and 30 days old when he was
baptised by St John. After he was baptised, angels brought news of
it to Our Lady. Jesus then made his way
into the desert to commence his fast.
This fast continued for 40 days, during which time Jesus prayed to his
Father. Our Lady locked the doors of her
dwelling, retired to her room, and made a similar fast. Angels kept her informed of all that her son
did. So she saw the devil tempt her son and also saw his victory, with the
devil vanquished. After the fast and the
temptation, Jesus made his way back to the Jordan. It was through the word of St John, ‘This is he of whom I said: After me
there cometh a man who is preferred before me ...’ that Jesus’ first two
disciples decided to follow Jesus. Other
disciples also followed. At all times
Our Lady’s angelic assistants kept her informed. Eventually Jesus brought his disciples to Nazareth and there they
met his mother and saw the great reverence which Jesus had for his mother and
they also saw her great humility.
Our Lady Follows Jesus on His Travels: Our Lady was absent
from Jesus only on a few occasions, such as when he went by himself to Mount Tabor. During all the journeys, Our Lady went on
foot and was at times very fatigued.
Sometimes she suffered such weakness that Jesus was constrained to
relieve her miraculously. Other pious
women commenced to follow Jesus. Some of
these Jesus had cured. Our Lady
ministered to them showing them special attention. Jesus gathered his apostles around him and
they were favoured by having the reverence and love of the Holy Mother. Our Lady gave special attention to St Peter
and St John. The first because he was to be the head of
the church on earth and the second because he was to take the place of the Lord
after his passion.
Our Lady soon perceived that Judas was full of treachery and
she spent much time ministering to him and trying to correct his wrong
ways. But for all she tried the beam in
his eye became larger while he complained of the splints in the eyes of
others. Our Lady never stopped trying to
correct Judas by ministering to him.
The Transfiguration: Two and a half years had passed since
Jesus had commenced his ministry and the time was drawing near when he would
redeem the human race. Jesus wanted some
disciples to see him bodily transfigured in glory before they saw that same
body disfigured on the cross. At the
transfiguration on Mount Tabor were St Peter, St James and his bother St John. They saw Moses and Elias discoursing with
Jesus and also heard the voice of God, the Father, saying ‘This is my beloved
son in whom I am well pleased: hear ye him’.
Mary of Agreda was given to understand that at the same time that Holy
Angels were commissioned to fetch the souls of Moses and Elias, they also
carried Our Lady to the mountain so that she too could see her son
transfigured.
After the transfiguration, Our Lady was brought back to her
house in Nazareth and Jesus came to visit her to
take his final leave of his parental province and set out for Jerusalem.
There, on the following pasch, he was to enter on his passion. Having spent a few days in Nazareth,
Jesus, his mother and apostles along with some holy women departed, travelling
through Galilee and Samaria before entering
Judea and Jerusalem. Our Saviour continued to perform miracles,
among them being the raising of Lazarus.
As this miracle took place near Jerusalem
the report of it was soon spread throughout the city. The priests and pharisees were irritated by
this miracle and held a council in which they resolved upon the death of Jesus.
The Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem: At dawn on the eve of the passion
and death of Our Saviour, Jesus called his beloved mother and she hastened to
him and prostrated herself at his feet.
He raised her up from the ground and spoke to her in words of greatest
tenderness and love. He told her that
the hour when he should enter upon his passion had now arrived and asked her
consent and co-operation for him to fulfil the will of his Father. The sorrowing mother and her son held a
loving discourse in which she gave her consent but asked that she might be
allowed to suffer the pain of the passion.
During their discourse Our Lady heralded the coming sacrament of the
Eucharist, saying that she had foreknowledge of this sacrament by which her son
would remain in the church under the species of bread and wine. After this holy discourse, Jesus left his
mother and, with his apostles, entered Jerusalem
in the manner described in the Gospels.
The Last Supper: Christ had partaken of the prescribed
supper with his apostles and disciples ‘reclining on the floor around a table,
which was elevated from it little more than a distance of six or seven
fingers’. After the washing of the feet
he ordered another higher table to be prepared.
By this arrangement he wished to put an end to one order and start a new
order. The table was covered with a rich
cloth and upon it was placed a plate or salver and a large cup. The Lord seated himself at the table and then
ordered some unleavened bread to be placed on the table and some wine to be
brought. He then spoke to his disciples
and apostles words of most endearing love which consumed their souls. Thereupon Jesus took the bread, raised his
eyes toward heaven with such an expression of sublime majesty that he inspired
all who were there, and the angels and his virgin mother, with new and deepest
reverence. (Mary of Agreda does not
suggest that Our Lady was present at the Last Supper but that she was allowed
to miraculously witness the events from her retreat). Jesus then pronounced the words of
consecration over the bread, changing its substance into the substance of his
true body. As an answer to the words of
consecration was heard the voice of the eternal Father, saying: ‘This is my
beloved Son, in whom I delight, and shall take my delight to the end of the
world.’ The blessed body and blood of
our Lord were taken by the angel Gabriel to Our Lady who received with great
love and tenderness.
The Agony in the Garden and How Our Lady Joined
Therein. As Jesus left the place of the
Last Supper Our Lady also left her retreat and they met. At this sorrowful meeting a sword pierced Our
Lady’s heart inflicting a pain beyond all human thought. Our Lady received a blessing from her son and
also received a special favour of being able to see all that passed in
connection with her divine son. She then
retired to the place of the cenacle where 1,000 angels formed her guard in
forms visible to her, together with some of the pious women of her company.
Jesus, followed by his 12 apostles, made his way in the
direction of the Mount of Olives. Judas, who had made up his mind to betray
Jesus, realised that Jesus was going to spend the night in prayers as was his
custom. He considered this to be an
opportune time to deliver Jesus to the scribes and Pharisees. Having made this decision he lagged behind
the others and unnoticed lost them from view and departed in haste. Lucifer had never been sure that Jesus was
the Messiah but was watching all the events and perceived what Judas was about
to do. Realising that the death of Jesus
could be the promised redemption and hoping to stop it he appeared to Judas in
a live form and tried to persuade Judas that perhaps it was not a good idea to
betray Jesus. But Judas continued on his
way in order to fulfil his mission of betrayal.
Jesus made his way to Mount Olivet and into the Garden of Gethsemane
where the gospel story of his agony was fulfilled. Our Lady was able to share this agony with
him from her retreat in the cenacle.
Eventually the time came for Judas to approach Jesus and
offer his feigned kiss of peace. Our
Lady witnessed this with great sorrow knowing that a short time earlier Judas
had been among the first to partake of the body and blood of her son. She made a prayer of immense charity asking
that Judas might be granted graces to save himself from ruin. When the servants of the high priest bound
Jesus with ropes and chains Our Lady felt the pains as if she herself was
fettered. She felt the blows and
torments which were inflicted on her son.
Jesus Brought Before Annas and Caiphas: Judas had told the
soldiers that Jesus was a sorcerer and could easily escape. They were therefore very thorough and took
all precautions in binding him. As well
as ropes they also used a chain which wound round his waist and his neck and
with the two ends of the chain manacled his hands. The chain had been brought from the house of
Annas where it had served to raise the portcullis of the dungeon. Two ropes were used. One wound around Jesus’ throat and then
around his body with the two ends used by the soldiers in order to pull him
forwards. The other rope was used to tie his arms and them around his waist
with the two ends held by soldiers who used them for jerking him from
behind. The Gospel story of Jesus’
religious trial before Annas and Caiphas and Peter’s denial is exactly followed
in Mary of Agreda’s writings. Our Lady
wept bitterly at Peter’s third denial but then perceived that the Lord would
not refuse him the necessary help for eventually rising from the fall. Jesus was accused of blasphemy for which the
punishment was death. The soldiers
increased their torture by striking him, kicking him, pulling his hair and
spitting on him. Others slapped or
struck him in the neck which was a treatment reserved among Jews for only the
most abject and vile criminals.
It was now past midnight and so that Jesus could not escape
during the night they kept him bound by the chains and ropes and locked him in
a subterranean dungeon. Scarcely any
light penetrated into this prison. It
was filled with uncleanliness and stench.
It had not been cleaned for many years.
No one thought it worth cleaning as it was used to house the very worst
of criminals.
Jesus Before Pilate: At dawn, Jesus was brought from the
dungeon and was once again questioned by Caiphas. The priests and scribes were anxious to show
a semblance on justice before the people.
Their questioning led them to the decision that Jesus was worthy of the
death sentence and should be sent to Pontius Pilate to have this
confirmed. This was to be a political
trial. The sun had already risen when
this took place. Our Lady who saw it all
from afar now decided to leave her retreat and follow her divine son to the
house of Pilate and to his death on the cross.
As she, and the holy women who accompanied her, made their way through
the streets they met Jesus being dragged to the house of Pontius Pilate. Their eyes met but they did not speak. During Jesus’ trial by Pontius Pilate, Our
Lady and her retinue were miraculously but invisibly allowed into the house of
Pilate to witness all that took place.
When Pilate learnt that Jesus was a Galilean he sent him to Herod who
was the governor of Galilee. Herod was the son of the Herod who had tried
to kill Jesus at the time of the slaughter of the holy innocents. Pilate realised that Jesus was innocent and
had only been brought before him due to the envy of the priests. He was therefore hoping that Herod would let
Jesus go free. Jesus’ trial before Herod
follows the Gospel story with Herod hoping to see some trick performed by
Jesus, who he took to be an enchanter and conjurer. When Jesus made no reply and performed no tricks
Herod mocked and ridiculed him and sent him back to Pilate. Pilate continued to try and find a way of
releasing Jesus but all of his efforts came to nothing and eventually Pilate
washed his hands of the death of Jesus.
The Scourging of Jesus: Lucifer saw all that was happening
and became more and more concerned that Jesus was to be put to death. Nevertheless, he saw his opportunity of
causing Jesus to suffer as much pain as possible and put into Pilate’s mind that
if Jesus was scourged then the priests and people might relent in asking for
his death. For the scourging the
soldiers removed the chains and ropes but were so rough in doing this that they
widened the wounds which his bonds had made on his arms and wrists. They then made him remove the seamless tunic
which was the one which Our Lady had made for him in Egypt when he first began to
walk. Six torturers tied him to a column
and then, two at a time, commenced the scourging. Their scourging was of such intensity that a
large portion of shoulder bones were left exposed. They also beat him in the face and on the
feet and on the hands, thus not leaving unwounded a single spot in which they
could exert their fury. The number of
blows inflicted on Jesus was 5,115. They
also spat on him and shouted insults at him.
The Crowning With Thorns: After the scourging they took
Jesus to the pretorium where, with great cruelty, they mocked him as a
counterfeit king and placed on his head a ‘crown’ woven out of thorns. Some of the thorns pierced his skull, others
his ears, and others his eyes. Hence one
of the greatest tortures suffered by Jesus was the crown of thorns. He was given a cane to hold so as to resemble
a sceptre. Then the soldiers, in the presence of the priests and Pharisees,
gathered around him and heaped upon him their derision and mockery. Some snatched the cane from his hand and
struck him on his crowned head driving the thorns even deeper into his flesh.
Jesus is Condemned to Death: When Pilate saw the terrible
cruelty which his torturers had inflicted on Jesus he felt sure that the sight
would move the crowd to compassion and shame in their hearts. But the priests and Pharisees encouraged the
crowd to demand that Jesus be crucified.
So Pilate handed him over to the Jews.
The Way of the Cross: The sentence of death having been
published in a loud voice, the executioners loaded the heavy cross onto Jesus’
tender and wounded shoulders. In order
that he might carry it they loosened the bonds holding his hands, but not the
others, since they wished to drag him along by the loose ends of the ropes
which bound his body. In order to
torment him more they dew two long loops of ropes around his throat. The cross was 15 feet long, of thick and
heavy timbers. The herald began to
proclaim the sentence and the whole confused and turbulent multitude of the
people, the executioners and soldiers, with great noise, uproar and disorder,
began to move from the house of Pilate to Mount Calvary. None of these happenings were hidden from Our
Lady. The events she could not see with
her eyes she was allowed to perceive by miraculous means. Lucifer and his throng were troubled by the
happenings to Jesus. They were allowed
to feel great misgivings at the coming death of Jesus even though they didn’t
fully understand it. They therefore
decided to leave Jesus to his end and retire to their caverns in hell. But Our Lady perceiving their desire to flee
was granted power over them and made them stay to watch Jesus live out his life
which would bring torment to Lucifer and all his followers. Therefore, according to a way of speaking,
Lucifer and his devils were also made to walk the way of Calvary
like criminals condemned to a terrible death and seized by the dismay and
consternation of an inevitable punishment.
The executioners, bereft of any human compassions, dragged
Jesus along with incredible cruelty. On
account of being pulled in different directions by the ropes, the weight of the
cross caused him to sway and often to fall to the ground. The hard knocks he received when falling on
the rough stones caused great wounds to open up, especially on his knees. The heavy cross also inflicted a wound on his
shoulders. The unsteadiness caused the
cross to knock against his head, thus the thorns were driven even deeper into
the wounded parts. Our Lady followed her
son through the streets, but the surging crowds hindered her from getting near
to Jesus. She prayed that she might be
allowed to meet her son on his journey to Calvary. Her prayer was answered and her holy angels
speedily led her through some side streets so that she came face to face with
her son. They did not speak but looked
in sweet recognition of each other. Our
Lady prayed that they executioners might find some way of lightening the load
of the cross and her prayer was answered when Simon of Cyrene was made to help
Jesus.
The Crucifixion: It was the sixth hour which corresponds to
our noon and the executioners, intending to crucify Jesus naked, removed his
seamless tunic and garments. In order to
remove the tunic they pulled it over his head and in so doing tore off the
crown of thorns. Thus were opened anew
all the wounds of his head, ears, eyes and face. With heartless cruelty they again forced the
crown down upon his head opening up wounds upon wounds. The cross was lying on the ground and the
executioners were making the necessary preparations for crucifying him and the
two thieves. To make it easier to nail
Jesus to the cross they wanted to make preparatory holes which would accept the
nails as they were driven through Jesus’ hands and feet. In order to find the position of these holes
they commanded Jesus to stretch himself out on the cross. The executioners then, following their human
instinct of cruelty, marked the places for the holes, not according to the size
of his body, but larger, having in mind a new torture for their victim. This inhuman intent was known to Our Lady and
was one of the greatest causes of affliction to her during the whole
passion. She anticipated the torments to
be endured by her beloved son when his limbs should be wrenched out of their
sockets in being nailed to the cross. As
the executioners bored the holes Jesus stood awaiting to be nailed to the
cross. His mother approached and took
one of his hands and kissed it with great reverence. The executioners allowed this as they thought
that the sight of his mother would cause him greater affliction. Presently one of the executioners seized the
hand of Jesus and placed it upon the auger hole while another hammered a large
rough nail through the palm. The veins
and sinews were torn and the bones of the hand were forced apart. When they stretched out the other hand they
found, as expected, that it did not reach the auger hole. In order to overcome the difficulty they took
the chain, with which the Saviour had been bound in the garden, and looping one
end through a ring around his wrist, they pulled the hand over the hole and
fastened it with another nail. They then
seized his feet, and placing them one above the other, they tied the same chain
around both and stretched them with barbarous ferocity down to the third hole.
Then they drove through both feet a large nail into the cross. They inflicted further barbarities on Jesus
as they raised the cross. Some of the
soldiers put the sharp heads of their lances to his body and caused fearful
lacerations under his armpits. Then they
crucified the two thieves one either side of Jesus, thereby they wanted to
indicate that the one in the most conspicuous place was the greatest
malefactor. Our Lady was allowed to feel
all the sufferings of her son. Such was
her abandonment and sharing in all his sufferings that she would have died with
him except that she was spared that fate.
Lucifer and his followers were made to watch the crucifixion, realising
that what they were seeing was the great mystery of the salvation of man and
the ruin of themselves. When Jesus spoke
the words ‘Father, forgive them for they know not what they do’ Lucifer knew
that this was the Messiah, the Son of God and that God had permitted his son to
offer himself as a sacrifice for the redemption of man. When Jesus spoke the words ‘Woman, behold
your son’ the demons knew that this was the woman who was to crush their
head. All other writings of Mary of
Agreda concerning the crucifixion are as the Gospel writings regarding Jesus’
last hours on the cross.
The Resurrection: After the crucifixion, Our Lady retired to
the cenacle. In the meantime the divine
soul of Jesus remained in Limbo from 3:30 pm on Friday afternoon until 3:00 am
on the Sunday morning following. During
this hour he returned to the sepulchre as the victorious prince of the angels
and saints. In the sepulchre were many
angels as its guard, venerating the sacred body. The angels had, at the request of Our Lady,
gathered up all the relics of the sacred blood and particles of flesh which had
been scattered about at the scourging on the way of the cross and at the
crucifixion. Before the divine soul of
Jesus returned to his battered body it was shown to the patriarchs, prophets
and saints who confessed him as the incarnate word. Then, in the presence of all those saints,
through the ministry of those angels, were united to the sacred body all the
relics, which they had gathered. In the
same moment the holy soul reunited with the body giving it immortal life and
glory. Jesus left the sepulchre by
penetrating the rocks miraculously without removing or displacing them just as
he had issued forth from the womb of his most blessed mother. The sacred wounds which had disfigured his
body, now shone forth from his hands and feet and side so radiant and brilliant
that they added a most entrancing beauty and charm. In all this glory and heavenly adornment the
Saviour arose from the grave. Our Lady
participated in these mysteries from her retreat in the cenacle. Christ’s first appearance was to Our Lady in
her retreat where they spent several hours together lost in the wonder of their
immense love for each other.
The Ascension of Christ: A few days before the ascension the
Father and Holy Ghost came to the cenacle and along with Jesus appeared to Our
Lady who knelt in profound humility and reverence. She was called to join the Trinity and sit with
them at which great admiration was caused among the saints that a mere creature
should be exalted to such dignity. The
Father then spoke to blessed Mary saying, ‘My daughter, to thee do I entrust
the church founded by my only begotten, the new law of grace he established in
the world, and the people which he redeemed: to thee I consign them all’. Jesus told his mother that it was time for
him to return to his Father and charged her to take care of his church. On that same day there gathered in the
cenacle the 11 apostles, pious women and others to the number of 120. Jesus appeared to them telling them of his
return to his father and recommending them to his mother who he left as their
protectress, consoler and advocate and telling them to hear her and obey her in
all things. Then those in the cenacle
followed Jesus as he led them through the streets of Jerusalem
and out of the city on the road to Bethany which
was half a league (about a mile) from Jerusalem. When they reached the highest point on the
Mount of Olives Our Lady prostrated herself at the feet of Jesus. All present imitated her and Jesus gave them
his last blessing. Having taken leave of
this holy gathering, Jesus joined his hands and, by his own power, began to
raise himself from the earth and into the aerial regions. On this occasion Our Lady was also raised up
with her son, and remained three days in the celestial heavens before returning
to the cenacle. While she was in heaven
she was given a place on the right hand of her son, a place which she will
occupy for all ages.
The Coronation
Descent of the Holy Ghost: In the company of the Queen of
Heaven and encouraged by her, the 12 apostles and the rest of the disciples and
faithful waited for the fulfilment of the promise of the Saviour that he would
send them the Holy Ghost, the consoler, who would instruct them and administer
unto them all that they had heard in the teaching of their Lord. On Pentecost morning the Blessed Virgin Mary
exhorted the apostles, the disciples and the pious women, numbering about 120,
to pray more fervently and renew their hopes, since the hour was at hand in
which they were to be visited by the Holy Spirit. At the third hour (9 am), when all of them
were gathered around their heavenly mistress and engaged in fervent prayer, the
air resounded with a tremendous thunder and the blowing of a violent wind mixed
with the brightness of fire or lightning, all centring upon the house of the
cenacle. The house was enveloped in
light and the divine fire was poured out over all of that holy gathering. Over the head of each of the 120 appeared a
tongue of that same fire, in which the Holy Ghost had come, filling each one
with divine influences. Following this
mysterious event the apostles went into the city and preached openly as
described in the Gospels.
Our Lady followed her son’s command by instructing the
faithful and advising the apostles whilst always living a life of service and
great humility. From the earliest days
Mass was celebrated and Our Lady would receive the body and blood of her son
with great devotion and love. Due to the
persecution of Herod it was decided that, for safety, Our Lady should move to
Ephasus. St John made the necessary arrangements and
on 5 January of the 40 Our Lady left the cenacle and commenced her
journey. During all her life she never
rested from prayer and from curing the sick and performing miraculous
cures. The same happened on this sea
journey to Ephasus. When she arrived in
Ephasus she was offered the homes of many of the faithful but she accepted to
stay in the home of some poor women who lived together free from intercourse
with men. During all her time in Ephasus
Our Lady was able to keep in touch with all that was happening in the church. She was able to know instantly when one of
the apostles was in danger and if necessary her angels would carry her to the
place where they were suffering and dying so that she could be with them when
they left this earth and went to their heavenly reward. The apostles couldn’t decide whether
Christians should be circumcised and in order to discuss this they decided to
hold a council (this was the first council of the church). St Peter wrote to Our Lady asking her to
return from Ephasus to be present at the council. By this time Herod was dead which made it
safer for her return. Our Lady acting
with complete obedience, submissiveness and humility made immediate
arrangements for her return to Jerusalem. This sea journey was made most dangerous by
‘the dragons of hell who stirred up the sea by a tempest such as had not been
seen before ...’. The ship was lashed
and battered to splinters at each shock.
During some of the onsets of this furious hurricane the ship was held in
the air by angels in order to save it.
In the midst of this confusion and distress the most holy Mary preserved
her tranquillity. She was moved to
compassion for all voyagers at sea. A
large share of suffering fell to the evangelist St John on account of his deep solicitude for
his true mother and mistress of the world.
Although the voyage from Ephesus to Palestine usually lasted
only about six days, this one lasted 15, of which 14 were tempestuous. The council started with Mass after which
they commenced their deliberations and with Our Lady’s help reached a decision
which was accepted by all the church.
Our Lady Celebrates her Immaculate Conception: On the 8th
December each year Our Lady celebrated her immaculate conception with a jubilee
and with gratitude beyond all human words.
She imagined herself altogether incapable of ever acknowledging it with
sufficient gratitude. She commenced her
exercises on the evening before and spent the whole night in admirable
devotions, shedding tears of joy, humiliating herself, prostrating herself, and
singing praised of the Lord. After she
had thus spent the night Christ descended from heaven and angels raised her to
his royal throne in heaven where the celebration of the feast was continued
with new glory.
The Archangel Gabriel Brings Notice of Our Lady’s Death: Our
Lady reached the age of 67 without ever having ceased in her inestimable love
for God the Father, her Son, the Holy Spirit and the world. All of this had continued to grow in each
moment of her life. The gifts, benefits
and favours of the Lord had made her entirely God-like and spiritual. The bounds of the human body were irksome to
her but the overwhelming attraction of the divinity to unite itself with her
had attained the summit of power in her.
The Almighty resolved to delight and console her by giving her definite
notice of the term still remaining of her life and revealing the day and the
hour of the longed for end of her earthly life.
For this purpose the Archangel Gabriel, along with other celestial
hierarchies, descended to the cenacle in Jerusalem
and entered the oratory of the great lady.
There they found her prostrate on the ground praying for sinners. Hearing the sound of their music she arose to
her knees in order to hear the message.
Then Gabriel saluted her with a Ave Maria and told her that the hour and
day was approaching when her mortal life would end. She was told that exactly three years from
that day she would be taken up and received into everlasting joy. Our Lady answered in the same words as at the
Annunciation: ‘Behold the handmaid of the Lord, be it done according to thy
word’.
Our Lady resolved to take leave of the holy places before
her departure into heaven. With the
consent of St John
she left the house with him and with her guard of angels. Our Lady visited the many places she recalled
the sorrowful memories of what her son had suffered. On Calvary
she remained a longer time, asking her divine son the full effects of his
redeeming death.
The Glorious Death of the Virgin Mary: Three days before the
day of Our Lady’s death, the apostles and disciples gathered in Jerusalem in the
cenacle. The first to arrive was St
Peter who was transported from Rome
by the hands of an angel. Next came St Paul and then the other
apostles and disciples. Others, apart
from St Peter, had been transported by angels.
Our Lady’s physical appearance was the same as when she was 33, she had
never aged as people normally do. The
unchangeableness was the privilege of the most Blessed Mary alone. On the day of her transition to heaven, St
Peter, on behalf of all the gathering, spoke words of such love and tenderness
that everyone wept. Our Lady responded
with great humility and was eventually unable to continue because of her own
tears. The angels, who had been her
guardians all her life began to sing in celestial harmony. At this Our Lady reclined back on her
couch. Her tunic was folded about her
sacred body, her hands were joined and her eyes fixed on her divine son. The angels intoned the canticle ‘Arise,
haste, my beloved, my dove, my beautiful one, and come the winter has passed’
etc and Our Lady pronounced the words of her son upon the cross: ‘Into thy
hands O Lord, I commend my spirit’. Then
she closed her eyes and expired. She did
not die of any disease. She died of
love. Her soul was carried to the throne
at the right hand of her son, meanwhile her body shone with a bright light and
gave off a wonderful fragrance. Her
death took place at 3:00 pm on Friday 13 August. At the time of her death she was 26 days
short of her 70th birthday.
She had survived the death of her son by 21 years, 4 months and 19
days. Many wonders happened at the
moment of her death. There was an
eclipse of the sun and many sick people who had come to witness her death were
cured. At the moment of her death a man
in Jerusalem
and two women who lived near the cenacle died in states of grievous sin. Our Lady interceded for them and they were
restored to life and so mended heir conduct that they afterwards died in grace
and were saved.
Burial and Assumption of Our Lady: The apostles held a conference
concerning the burial of Our Lady. They
selected a new sepulchre which had been prepared mysteriously by the providence
of her son. In order to carry out the
anointing of the body, as was the custom, they asked two holy women, who had
assisted Our Lady during her life, to carry out this task. The two entered the room where Our Lady’s
body lay but the radiance coming from the body was so bright that it made it
physically impossible to approach. The
two women left the room and told the apostles what had happened. They came to the conclusion, not without
divine inspiration, that this sacred ark of the covenant was not to be touched
or handled in any way. St Peter and St John entered the room
and heard the voice of angels singing; ‘Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is
with thee’. Others responded: ‘A virgin
before childbirth, in childbirth and after childbirth’. The two apostles were lost in admiration and
sank down to their knees beseeching the Lord to make known his wishes. They heard a voice saying: ‘Let not the
sacred body be either uncovered or touched’.
Having thus been informed of the will of God they brought a bier and,
the radiance having diminished, they approached the couch and with their own hands
reverently took hold of the tunic at the two ends. Thus without changing its posture, they
raised the virginal treasure and placed it on the bier in the same position as
it had occupied on the couch. They could
easily do this as they felt no more weight than that of the tunic. The body of Our Lady lay on the bier for
three whole days in which time the lighted candles which surrounded her were
not consumed or wasted in any shape or manner.
The power of God inspired all the inhabitants of Jerusalem to be present at the burial. Thus when the apostles took upon their
shoulders the sacred body, to carry it to the sepulchre, the whole of the
population came to watch. Many
miraculous cures occurred and many conversions were wrought among both Jews and
gentiles. All the people were seized with
astonishment at the fragrance diffused about and the sweet music. When the procession came to the Holy
Sepulchre in the valley
of Josaphat, the same two
apostles placed the bier into the sepulchre and covered it with a linen cloth,
the hands of the angels performing more of these last rites than the hands of
the apostles. Then a large stone was
used to close the tomb as was the custom.
A beautiful fragrance diffused about the sepulchre and sweet music was
heard. The apostles returned to the
cenacle but decided that they should keep watch over the tomb as long as they
could hear the celestial music. Some
apostles therefore returned immediately to the sepulchre and a constant watch
was kept with St Peter and St John
being especially devoted to maintaining the watch. On the third day after the most pure soul of
Mary had taken possession of its glory, never to leave it, the Lord manifested
to the saints his divine will that his holy mother should return to earth, resuscitate
her sacred body and unite herself with it so that she might be body and soul in
heaven seated at the right hand of her son.
When the time for this wonder arrived Christ our Saviour himself
descended from heaven bringing with him, at his right hand, the soul of his
blessed mother and accompanied by many legions of angels, the patriarchs and
the prophets. At the command of the Lord
the purest soul of Our Lady entered the body, reanimated it and raised it up,
giving it a new life of immortality and glory.
Endowed with these gifts the most Blessed Mary issued from the tomb in
body and soul, without raising the stone cover and without disturbing the
position of the tunic and mantle which had enveloped her body. Then from the sepulchre was started a most
solemn procession, moving with celestial music through the regions of the air
and towards heaven. This happened in the
hour immediately after midnight, in which also the Lord had risen from the
grave. The apostles who were, at that
time, keeping their watch at the sepulchre, witnessed this great wonder. Amid this glory the most Blessed Mary arrived
body and soul at the throne of the most blessed Trinity and the three divine
persons received her on it with an embrace eternally undissolvable.
The Coronation of the Mother of God: After placing the most
Blessed Mary on this exalted throne the Lord declared to the courtiers of
heaven all the privileges she should enjoy in virtue of her participation in
his majesty. The Eternal Father,
speaking to his angels and saints, said: ‘Our daughter Mary was chosen
according to our pleasure from amongst all creatures, the first one to delight
us, and who never fell from the title and position of a true daughter, such as
we had given her in our divine mind; she has a claim on our dominion, which we
shall recognise by crowning her as the legitimate and peerless lady and
sovereign’. The Incarnate Word said: ‘To
my true and natural mother belong all the creatures which were created and
redeemed by me; and all things over which I am king, she too shall be the
legitimate and supreme queen’. The Holy
Ghost said: ‘Since she is called my beloved and chosen spouse, she deserves to
be crowned as queen for all eternity’.
Having thus spoken, the three divine persons placed upon the head of the
most Blessed Mary a crown of such new splendour and value, that the like has
been seen neither before nor after by any mere creature. At the same time a voice sounded from the
throne saying: ‘My beloved, chosen among creatures, our kingdom is thine; thou
shalt be the lady and the sovereign of the seraphim, of all the ministering
spirits, the angels and of the entire universe of creatures ... Thou hast
humiliated thyself in thy own estimation to the lowest place; receive now the
supreme dignity deserved by thee ... Thou shalt be the empress and mistress of
the militant church. Its protectress,
its advocate, its mother and teacher.
Grace shall be diffused in thy lips for obtaining all that thou wishest
and ordainest in heaven and on earth, and everywhere shall angels and men obey
thee; because whatever is ours shall be thine, just as thou hast always been
ours; and thou shalt reign with us forever’.
220 The Mass
Preface
The following is an attempt to follow the progress of The
Mass from the time of Christ to the present time. Most of the information has come from a
booklet ‘The Mass’ by Father Lucian Deiss, C.S.Sp. a French professor of
theology. Father Deiss does not totally
agree with all the changes and gives his arguments against some of the
alterations. Some of the small details
are from my own memory and are from previous readings regarding the history of
The Mass. I have also included some
personal comments but these are clearly marked [MHB] so that they will not be
attributed to Father Deiss!
On the first Sunday of Advent, 30 November 1969, the
official edition of the new Lectionary was introduced at Mass.
The oldest Lectionary of the Roman Catholic Church, containing Epistles
and Gospels, dates from the seventh century.
Thus the new Lectionary replaces a book which had served the community
for twelve centuries.
But how had this new Lectionary been devised? Where had the information come from? How can we tell that the liturgy isn’t
something new, ‘change for the sake of change’?
The purpose of this report is to answer these questions.
Two thousand years have clothed this celebration with a
cloak of many splendours. All those
years have also accumulated layers of dust and introduced practices which,
through continual use, have assumed the mask of principles. If the apostles were to attend one of our
Masses today, they would have difficulty recognising the Paschal meal that they
celebrated with the Lord in the Upper Room.
But in the same way, if Moses had attended the Last Supper of Jesus,
would he likewise have had difficulty recognising the Pasch that he used to
celebrate? That is the law: everything
that is living - and the liturgical celebration is alive to the highest degree
- is in constant evolution.
Certain elements in a cathedral - such as the pillars that
support the structure - are essential, one could say constitutive; they cannot
be taken away without the entire edifice collapsing. Other parts - such as the statues, for
example - are accessories, sometimes simply decorations: they can be moved, replaced,
taken away, or even placed in a museum of memories without infringing on the
solidity of the edifice. In the
cathedral of the Eucharistic celebration, Vatican II restored and disentangled
the constitutive elements - the pillars - of the celebration. The structure of the celebration now appears
simpler, more luminous, more beautiful.
Vatican II also removed the dust from the accessory parts - the statutes
- by restoring some and by placing others in the museum of memories. It also unmasked certain practices which had
inserted themselves in the liturgy as laws and dominated the celebration.
NB: Father Deiss’ text uses several rarely used words, eg,
Anamnesis, Epiclesis. Rather than
attempt to translate these words I have copied the relevant words in the
Glossary at the end of this report.
General Structure of The Mass
Throughout the ages, people have been able to underline
sometimes the sacrificial aspect (The Mass is the memorial of the sacrifice of
the cross), other times the Eucharist aspect (The Mass is the thanksgiving of
the Christian community), still other times the real Presence (the presence of
Christ in the Eucharistic bread and wine), and sometimes even the ceremonial
splendour (in imitation of the royal courts, The Mass is the celebration of the
heavenly King). Each of these aspects
possesses an element of truth; they correspond to the theological concerns of
the various ages. But if one could
abstract from the fluctuations of history, what would one say when referring
only to Scripture?
When Jesus celebrated the first Eucharist, he said: ‘This is
the blood of the New Covenant.’ (Luke
22:20). Therefore, Jesus refers
explicitly to the Old Covenant, the one that Moses proclaimed on Sinai when he
said: ‘This is the blood of the Covenant that Yahweh has made with you.’
(Exodus 24:8)
Therefore the Mass of the Christian Community is the single
act of worship and is the celebration of the New Covenant of the Last Supper.
The Holy Water Font
Whilst no change has taken place it is interesting to know
how the act of crossing ourselves when entering church came into being. This commenced, possibly in the early church,
when workers would come into Church straight from the fields. Their hands would be dirty and so water was
set aside for them to be able to wash themselves. Our present Holy Water Fonts are a direct
result of that washing. It follows that
we should only be using the font on the way into church and not when leaving!
[MHB].
Introductory Rites
(Father Deiss refers mostly to High Mass [MHB]).
By singing at Mass we find ourselves following
tradition. They were singing songs of
the Hallel (Psalms 113 to 118) which concluded the Paschal Meal. (Our Orthodox Jewish brothers and sisters
still sing these psalms when celebrating the Passover, [MHB]).
In Rome,
the Entrance Song itself seems to go back to the middle of the sixth century.
Prior to that the Entrance Antiphon was read as mentioned in
the following details from Saint
Augustine of a miraculous healing in 426 AD.
The beginning of
Easter Mass in 426 AD at Hippo, at the time of Saint Augustine.
Paul and Palladia,
brother and sister, were miraculously cured right before the Easter Mass on
Sunday morning. Augustine relates:
On
all sides, the church was filled with cries of joy and thanksgiving. People ran to the place where I was sitting,
already ready to come forward. Each one
hurried after the other, the last one telling me as new what the first had
already told me. Quite joyous, I gave
thanks to God in myself when the young man himself arrived, well surrounded; he
threw himself at my knees and arose to receive my kiss.
We
came forward toward the people. The
church was full; it resounded with cries of joy: Thanks be to God! No one stays quiet; from the right, from the
left, rose up cries!
I
greeted the people. The acclamation
started again with redoubled intensity.
Finally
silence was established and the passage from the Holy Scriptures was read which
dealt with the feast.
Who celebrates the Mass?
Formerly, one would answer: the priest. Today we answer: the community with its
priest, each one celebrating at his or her own level. Second question: Who presides over the
celebration? Formerly, one would answer:
the priest. Today we answer: Christ.
The Penitential Preparation
The origin of the Kyrie is lost in the mist that covers the
ancient liturgy. It is thought that the
three Kyrie, Christe, and Kyrie were fixed in the eighth century. Originally, the invocations were addressed to
Christ. Then they were given a
Trinitarian orientation: the first Kyrie was supposed to be addressed to the
Father, the Christie naturally to Christ, and the last Kyrie to the Holy
Spirit. The liturgical reform gave back
to the Kyrie its Christological dimension.
Prayer of the Kyrie
at the evening
service of the Church of
the Resurrection,
in Jerusalem
circa 381/382
When the people
finish saying the Psalms and the antiphons according to custom, the Bishop
rises and stands before the grill, that is, in front of the grotto. One of the deacons commemorates persons, as
is the custom. At each name, children
who are standing there, in great number, constantly respond ‘Kyrie eleison’
which we say: ‘Lord have mercy’, and their voices are innumerable.
The community recognises that it has sinned a great deal ‘in
thought, in word, through actions and through omission’. It insists: ‘Yes, I have sinned
exceedingly’. The priest then declares
forgiveness on the part of God: ‘May Almighty God have mercy on us, may he
forgive us our sins, and lead us to everlasting life’.
One then thinks that everything is settled and forgiven.
·
Not at all.
We ask for mercy again in the Kyrie.
·
One enters then onto joy of the Gloria but a new
penitential cloud arises when we sing ‘Lamb of God who takes away the sin of
the world have mercy on us’.
·
One takes advantage of the washing of hands to
beseech again: ‘Wash my faults away, purify me of my sin’.
·
In the Lord’s Prayer, we pray as Jesus asked us:
‘Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us’.
·
In the prayer before Communion we insist once
again: ‘Lord Jesus Christ, may your body and blood deliver me from my sins’,
and further: ‘May this communion bring me neither judgement nor condemnation’.
·
This prayer is directly linked to the one of the
Lamb of God which, once again, takes away the sin of the world.
Enough is enough!
(Father Deiss is obviously not happy at the repeated
requests for forgiveness. It is as if we
don’t believe that God has heard our original prayer or that He hasn’t answered
it. It is true to say that our most
difficult forgiveness is to forgive ourselves.
But the repeated appeals in the Mass only tend to exaggerate our lack of
faith in God’s immediate and everlasting forgiveness. [MHB])
How then can we celebrate the penitential rite so that it
does not become a tearful and moralising introspection of guilt? We should transform it into an acclamation of
the mercy of God.
In fact, the heart of the celebration of forgiveness is not
the penitential preparation but the celebration of the Eucharist itself.
Greek ‘Kyrie’ or ‘Lord, Have Mercy’
At the end of the (Vatican II) Council, the wave of living
language unfurled on the shores of the liturgy with such violence and such
spontaneity that it swept away almost all the texts in a dead language. It only spared a few islets like the Hebrew
Amen, Alleluia, Hosanna.
(Father Deiss is saddened by the loss of the Kyrie [MHB]).
The Kyrie represents symbolically the presence of the Church
of the East in the Roman Liturgy: it is the only Greek prayer that the people
know.
Glory to God in the Highest
The Eastern Liturgy calls this ‘The Great Doxology’, as
opposed to the little doxology (Glory to the Father, to the Son and to the Holy
Spirit).
According to Saint Athanasius, 373, the Gloria originally
appeared in the praise of morning prayer.
The beginning takes up the hymn of the angels at the birth of Jesus in Bethlehem. That is why bishops integrated it into the
Christmas Mass towards the sixth century.
And since priests always like to imitate bishops, they integrated it
into their own Masses. This was done in
the eighth century.
The Gloria is a ‘sacred song’ and should never be ‘recited’
any more than anyone should recite the song ‘Happy Birthday to you’. (As I said in the preface, Father Deiss’
comments relate especially to the Sung Mass.
Nevertheless this last comment shows how far away we have strayed from
Father Deiss’ suggestions. [MHB]).
Necessary Beauty of Vestments
There is a danger of vestments which instead of having that
first beauty which is to be an attire for prayer, disguise the priest in an
operetta and the children of the sanctuary into mini princes. Patiently we must elude the temptations of
aestheticism and put beauty back into the service of prayer.
The Prayer or Collect
(Father Deiss criticises the translations from the Latin,
some of which have left a lot to be desired.
Much of this translation was done in haste [MHB]).
‘Amen’ is the transcription of a Hebrew word whose root
evokes that which is solid, stable, true and faithful. As an adverb ‘Amen’ means either ‘it is so’
or ‘May it be so’. As an adjective
‘Amen’ is the personal name of Jesus.
John writes in his Book of Revelation: ‘Thus speaks the Amen, the
faithful and true witness’ (Revelation 3:14).
The Celebration of the Word
Saint Jerome,
419 AD, affirmed: ‘I think that the Gospel is the body of Christ and that the
Holy Scriptures are his doctrine. When
the Lord speaks about eating his flesh and drinking his blood certainly this can
mean the mystery of the Eucharist.
However, his true body and blood are also the Word of the Scripture and
its doctrine’.
The Alleluia
‘Alleluia’ is the transcription of the Hebrew ‘Halelu-Yah’,
which means ‘Praise Yah’ which means ‘Yahweh’, which means Jehovah which is the
Hebrew name used by Christians to indicate God.
The Gospel Book
From the sixth century, Christian veneration surrounded with
honour the book which contained the Gospels.
The Exposition of the Gospel Book on the Altar
Cyril of Alexandria, 444AD, reports that at the time of the
Council of Ephasus in 431 AD ‘the holy synod, assembled at the Church dedicated
to Mary, instituted Christ in some way as a member and head of the
Council. In fact, the venerable Gospel
was placed on a throne’. Vatican II had
splendidly restored this rite of enthronement.
(This is something of a mystery as I can’t recall anything like this
taking place. And I include recent
Masses at my old Benedictine Monastery school where the liturgy is revered.
[MHB]).
Until the ninth and tenth centuries, only the Gospel Book
and the Eucharist enjoyed the privilege of being placed on the altar, the
symbol of Christ. It would be good to go
back to the ancient tradition and remove from the altar the objects that do not
strictly have any purpose there, such as the cruets of water and wine, with the
bowl for washing hands and the towel ... .
When one is invited to dinner, one does not wash one’s hands at the
family table. Why, then, do some priests
wash their hands at ‘the Lord’s table’?
In the same way, one does not place towels on the table. Why, then, should the hand towel lie on the
altar? Not does one place one’s hat on
the table. Why do some Bishops - may God
forgive them - place their skull caps on it?
I wish to heaven these remarks were unnecessary! (He doesn’t seem to mind who he has a go at,
does he? [MHB]).
The Proclamation of the Gospel
In the eighth century, all the clergy venerated the Gospel
Book by kissing it. In some communities
(Coptic and Ethiopian), the entire community kisses the book as it does the
cross of Christ on Good Friday.
Homily. The Word
of God
The Greek ‘homilia’ means reunion, company or familiar
conversation. The homily shares in the
very mystery of Jesus. He appeared like
an ordinary man, but he was at the same time the Son of God. The homily appears like familiar
conversation, but it is at the same time the Word of God.
The Profession of Faith
The Creed was inserted into the Mass slowly. In Rome,
the Creed was introduced into the Mass at the beginning of the eleventh
century. When the Emperor Henry came to Rome in 1014, he put
pressure on Pope Benedict VIII to adopt, in the Papal city, the custom of the
Creed which was in use in the imperial court.
The Prayer of the Faithful
This prayer is a direct legacy of the Jewish tradition which
liked to add prayers of request to its benedictions.
In Rome,
the Prayer of the Faithful disappeared from the Mass towards the sixth
century. That is the same time that the
Kyrie appeared at the beginning of Mass.
By restoring the Prayer of the Faithful, Vatican II put an
end to fourteen centuries of liturgical nonchalance.
First Litanic Prayer
(Prayer of the Faithful)
in the Post-Apostolic Tradition
Dating from Clement of Rome, 95AD
We pray you, Master,
be our help and protection.
Save the afflicted among us,
have mercy on the lowly.
Raise up the fallen,
show yourself to those in need.
Heal the sick
and bring back those who have strayed.
Fill the hungry,
give freedom to our prisoners.
Raise the weak,
console the fainthearted.
(Let us pray:)
Let all peoples acknowledge
that you alone are God,
and Jesus Christ is your child,
that we are your people,
the sheep to whom you give pasture.
In the celebration of the Word, the Community presents its
face to God and allows the features of the divine message to be drawn there, as
in a mirror. In the Prayer of the
Faithful, it presents to God this face marked by the Word. In the time of Isaiah, when King Hezekiah
received a letter from Sennecherb telling him that the Assyrians were going to
burn Jerusalem and put the inhabitants to the sword, he went up to the Temple,
unfolded the letter before Yahweh and said: ‘Yahweh, open your eyes and see!’
(1 Kings 19:16). In the Prayer of the
Faithful the community presents its face by the Word and likewise says to God:
‘Lord open your eyes and see!’
The Bringing of the Bread
In the first description of the Mass, 150 AD, Justin notes
that after the Prayers and the Kiss of Peace, ‘one brought bread and a cup of
wine to the one who presided over the assembly of the faithful’. This custom was dear to Christian piety. The people recognised in the practice the
exercise of their royal priesthood.
Hippolytus, 235 AD, notes that catechumens bring what is necessary for
the Eucharist of the baptismal Mass because they have become worthy of it. Augustine, 335 AD, relates that his mother,
Monica, ‘did not let a day go by without bringing her offering to the altar’.
At the Last Supper, Jesus had used unleavened bread,
according to the Passover ritual. The
Christian community which celebrated the Lord’s Supper not once a year - like
the feast of the Passover - but every Sunday and even during the week, quite
naturally used homemade bread. The round
hosts that we know appeared towards the twelfth century. The use of these wafers stopped the baking of
the Eucharistic bread by the faithful.
‘Blessed are you, Lord, God of all creation’
This prayer is in fact inspired by the Jewish blessing that
the father of the family says over the bread at the beginning of the meal. Therefore it would have been recited by Jesus
at the Last Supper.
Jewish Blessings
The Kiddush
for the Sabbath and
Feast Days
The word ‘kiddush’ means ‘sanctification’ and it is the name
of the blessing pronounced at the beginning of each Sabbath and feast day, at
the moment when the first stars appear and the Sabbath lamp has been lit. It separates profane time from time which is
more specially consecrated to God.
The prayer comprises a blessing over the wine, a blessing
over the bread. These blessings are said
at the table by the father of the family, with his family and guests around
him.
Blessing
for the Wine
Blessed are
you, Lord our God
King of the
Universe,
you who
created the fruit of the vine.
Blessing
for the Feast
Blessed are
you, Lord our God,
King of the
universe.
You have
sanctified us by your commandments,
you have
given us as an inheritance the Sabbath
of your
holiness out of love and good will,
as a
memorial of the works of your creation.
This day is
the first of your holy convocations.
It is the
memorial of the exodus from Egypt.
You have
chosen us among all the peoples.
You have
sanctified us.
You have
given us an inheritance the Sabbath of
your
holiness out of your love and good will.
Blessed are
you, O Lord, who sanctifies the
Sabbath!
Blessing
for the Bread
Blessed are
you, Lord our God,
King of the
universe,
you who
have brought bread forth from the earth.
The Bringing of the Wine
At the Last Supper, Jesus used red wine. Tradition kept this practice until the
sixteenth century. At that time, a linen
napkin called the purificator was used to clean the chalice. White wine was preferred because it stains
less than red wine.
The Eastern liturgies have transformed the transfer of the
gifts to the altar into a procession of solemn majesty. This procession of the oblations - which
probably goes back to the seventh century - is thought to symbolise the entrance
of Christ into Jerusalem
where he was going to suffer and rise again.
The Mixing of Water and Wine
The diluting of wine was a rather general practice in
antiquity, both in Greek and in the Palestinian milieu. Sometimes it was even
necessity when the wine was heavy and thick.
For the wine of Saron, which was particularly generous, one advised
mixing one third wine to two thirds water.
The gesture of adding a little water to the wine does not
add anything to the beauty of the celebration.
To give meaning, it has been enriched with different symbolisms. The oldest symbolism which is found
throughout the ages in different variations is proposed by Cyprian of Carthage,
258 AD: ‘If someone offers us wine, the blood of Christ is without us. If someone offers only water, its is the
people who are without Christ’.
The Other Offerings: A Fraternal Sharing
Communion with Christ is lived in communion with all our
brothers and sisters. The breaking of
the bread of heaven includes the breaking of the bread of earth with all our
brothers and sisters, especially the poor and the needy. Paul recalls this with vehemence when he
reproaches the Corinthians for claiming to share the ‘Lord’s Supper’ without
accepting to share their own meal with the needy. What is this ‘Church of God’
where one is hungry while another is drunk and where one humiliates those who
have nothing? (1 Corinthians 11:20-22).
The Christian community is an heir to the Jewish tradition
which practised the service of charity each day by distributing ‘the bowl of
the poor’ for the needy passing through, and on the eve of the Sabbath by
distributing ‘the bread of the poor’ for the needy of the land. From the eleventh century, money
progressively replaced the gifts of nature.
The collection is a legacy of this practice.
The Eucharistic Prayer
How can we sum up the meaning of the Preparation of the
bread and the wine?
The law requires: ‘No one will appear before me empty handed
... . You shall bring to the house of
the Lord you God the best of the first fruits of your land’ (Exodus 23:15-19).
The First Description
of the Mass
Circa 150
On the day named after the sun
(that is, Sunday) all who live in city or countryside assemble.
The memoirs of the Apostles or
the writings of the Prophets are read for as long as the time allows.
When the lector has finished, the
presider addresses us and exhorts us to imitate the splendid things we have
heard.
Then we all stand and pray ... .
Then the bread and a cup
containing water and wine mixed with water are brought to the one who presides
over the assembly.
He takes them, gives praise and
glory to the Father of the universe, through the name of the Son and the Holy
Spirit, and then makes a long ‘eucharist’ (thanksgiving) for having been judged
worthy of these good things.
When he is finished, all the
people present give their assent with an ‘Amen!’ (‘Amen’ in Hebrew means ‘So be
it’).
When the presider has finished
the Eucharist and all the people have signified their assent, those whom we
call ‘deacons’ distribute to each one present the consecrated bread, wine and
water; and they also carry them to those who are absent.
This food we call ‘Eucharist’.
The Christian prayer which is the closest to the Eucharistic
Prayer is the Prayer of the Didache. The
most that can be affirmed is that it was indeed a Eucharistic Prayer of the
Judeo-Christian community. In spite of
its great age - nearly twenty centuries of existence - this prayer keeps the
fascinating beauty of its youth. Not a
word has a wrinkle! Not a phrase has
aged!
Eucharistic Prayer of
the Didache
With regard to the Eucharist,
give thanks in this way:
First, for the cup: ‘We give you
thanks, our Father, for the holy vine of David, your servant, which you have
revealed to us through Jesus, your Child.
Glory to you forever.’
Then for the bread broken: ‘We
give you thanks, our Father, for the life and knowledge which you have revealed
to us through Jesus, your Child. Glory
to you forever.’
Just as the bread broken,
was first
scattered on the hills,
then was
gathered and became one,
so let your
Church be gathered
from the
ends of the earth into your Kingdom!
For the
power and the glory are yours forever!
Let no one
eat or drink of your Eucharist
except
those who have been baptised in the name of the Lord.
For it is
of this that the Lord was speaking when he said:
‘Do not
give what is holy to dogs.’
When your hunger has been satisfied,
give thanks in this way:
‘We thank
you, holy Father,
for your
holy name
which you
have made to dwell in our hearts,
and for the
knowledge, faith, and immortality
which you
have revealed to us through Jesus, your Child.
Glory to
you for ever!’
All-powerful
Master, you have created the universe to the praise of
your name;
you have
given food and drink to the children of humanity for their
enjoyment;
but to us
you graciously have bestowed a spiritual
food and
drink for eternal life, through Jesus, your Child.
Above all,
we thank you because you are almighty.
Glory to
you for ever!
Amen.
Lord,
remember your Church
and deliver
it from evil;
make it
perfect in your love.
Gather together this sanctified
Church from the four winds into your kingdom which you have prepared for
it.
For power
and glory are yours for ever!
Amen.
May the
Lord come and this world pass away!
Amen.
Hosanna to
the house of David!
If any are
holy, let them come!
If any are
not, let them repent.
Maranatha!
Amen.
The oldest Eucharistic Prayer is the one of Hippolytus of
Rome, circa 215. It represents a
structure of solid and incomparable simplicity.
First Eucharistic
Prayer
Hippolytus of Rome, circa 215
Acclamation: Let the deacons
present the oblation to the Bishop.
Laying hands upon it with all the presbytery, let him say the
thanksgiving:
The Lord be with you! Let them respond: And with your spirit! Let us lift up our hearts! They are turned to the Lord. Let us give thanks to the Lord! It is right and just!
Thanksgiving: We give you thanks,
O God, through your beloved Child, Jesus Christ, whom you sent to us in the
last days as Saviour, Redeemer, and Messenger of your will. He is your inseparable Word through whom you
created everything and in whom you placed your kindness.
You sent him from heaven into the
womb of a virgin. He was consecrated and
became incarnate; he manifested himself as your Son, born of the Spirit and the
Virgin.
He fulfilled your will, and, to
acquire for you a holy people, he stretched out his hands in suffering to
deliver from suffering those who believe in you.
Institution Narrative: Before
giving himself up to voluntary suffering in order to destroy death, the break
the chains of the devil, tread hell under his feet, to pour out his light upon
the just, to establish the Covenant and manifest his Resurrection, he took
bread; he gave thanks and said: ‘Take, eat, this is my body which is broken for
you.’ The same way for the cup, he said:
‘This is my blood which is poured out for you.
When you do this, do (it) in memory of me.’
Anamnesis: Remembering,
therefore, your death and your Resurrection, we offer you bread and wine, we
give you thanks for having judged us worthy to stand before you and serve you.
Epiclesis: And we ask you to send
your Holy Spirit on the offering of your holy Church, to bring together in
unity all those who receive you. May
they be filled with the Holy Spirit who strengthens their faith in the
truth. May we be able thus to praise and
glorify you through your Child, Jesus Christ.
Doxology: Through him, glory to
you and honour to the Father and the Son, with the Holy Spirit, in your holy
Church, now and for ever and ever! Amen.
The Four Eucharistic Prayers
In the fourth and fifth centuries, the oral tradition of the
Eucharistic Prayer was fixed in written formulas.
Eucharistic Prayer I:
Eucharistic Prayer I is based on the old Roman Canon. It dates from the fourth century, at the time
when Greek was definitely abandoned in Rome
for Latin. Its oldest vestigaes are read
in the treatise ‘De Sacramentis’ that Saint Ambrose drafted around 378 AD. It appears fixed in a definitive way around
the seventh century. From the eleventh
and twelfth centuries, it became the only Canon of the entire Church of the
West. It reigned in an absolute manner
until November 30, 1969 (the date the Missal came into use), therefore for
about fifteen centuries, it was even forbidden to translate it.
Eucharistic Prayer
II: This Eucharistic Prayer is an adaption of the oldest Eucharistic
Prayer, the one of Hippolytus of Rome.
It has been enriched with the Sanctus (that it did not possess) as well
as with an invocation to the Holy Spirit before the consecration. After almost fifteen centuries of oblivion,
this old prayer reappeared in the Roman liturgy, adorned with incomparable
youth.
Eucharistic Prayer
III: Eucharistic Prayer III is a recasting of a Eucharistic Prayer that had
been worked out by the Consilium on the Liturgy as an alternate prayer of the
Canon. This is without doubt the most
elaborate on the theological level.
Eucharistic Prayer
IV: Eucharistic Prayer IV draws its inspiration from the Eastern Church,
especially the one of Saint Basil, 330 AD.
The Full Extent of the Eucharistic Prayer
Dialogue of
Introduction. The oldest witness of
this dialogue is read in the Eucharistic Prayer of Hippolytus.
Saint Cyprian, in his treatise on prayer, which dates from
the years 251-252 AD, adds this: ‘When we rise for the orison, beloved
brothers, we must watch and apply ourselves with all our hearts to prayer. Let all carnal and worldly thoughts be cast
aside, let the soul think of nothing other than praying. And it is really for that reason that the
priest, before the orison, prepares the spirit of brothers by saying the
preface: ‘Let us lift up our hearts!’
The people respond: ‘We turn them to the Lord.’ We are exhorted in this way to think of
nothing than the Lord.’
Thanksgiving or
Preface. Formerly, each Mass could
have its Preface (the Leonine Sacramentary counts 269 of them). Today, the reform has set out again on the
path of true tradition. The site of the
creation of new Prefaces should remain open.
For much creativity and patience are needed to give birth to a single
masterpiece.
Sanctus. Acclamation
of the Universe. The Sanctus is
presented as a cento of biblical texts:
Holy, holy,
holy Lord
God of
power and might (Isaiah 6:3; Revelation 4:8)
Heaven and
earth are full of your glory (Isaiah 6:3)
Hosanna in
the highest (Matthew 21:9; Mark 11:10)
Blessed is
he who comes
in the name
of the Lord (Psalms 118:9; Mark 11; Luke 19:38)
Hosanna in
the highest (Matthew 21:9; Mark 11:10)
The first two acclamations are borrowed from the account of
the vision which will inaugurate the ministry of Isaiah around the year 740
BC. The prophet is in the Temple. The heavens open before him and God appears
to him in glory and Isaiah hears the song of the Seraphim.
Holy, holy,
holy is the Lord Almight!
The earth
is full of his glory (Isaiah 6:3)
(‘Hosanna’ comes from the Hebrew ‘Hosiahna’ and literally
means: ‘Give salvation’ (Psalm 188:25).
‘In the highest’ is a Hebrew expression.
It means ‘Hosanna to God who lives in the highest of heavens’).
The Sanctus in the Eucharist Prayer
As mentioned earlier the Eucharistic Prayer of Hippolytus
did not have the Sanctus. How then did
it enter into the Eucharistic Prayer? No
doubt this happened through a sort of osmosis or imitation of a Jewish
prayer. The ‘Yoster’, a benediction that
accompanies the recitation of the ‘Shema Israel’, is actually made up of
blessings of a ‘Sanctus’ and of prayers of intercession. That is the oldest structure of our
Eucharistic Prayer:
Blessing:
You are blessed, Lord our God,
King of the universe, you who form the light and create the darkness, who shed
the light of your mercy upon the earth and those who dwell on it, out of
goodness, unceasingly renew every day the works of your creation ...
Sanctus:
May your name be glorified for
eternity, our King, who create the angels ... .
They bless, they magnify, they adore, they proclaim:
Holy,
holy, holy is the Lord Sabaoth!
The
earth is full of his glory ...
Blessed
be the glory of the Lord!
Intercession:
Illumine Zion with a new light!
Blessed be
the glory of the Lord.
The Moment of Consecration
Popular belief has sometimes exaggerated the quasi-magical
and instantaneous power of the words called consecratory. It used to be affirmed that when the priest
said ‘Hoc’ (this): there was nothing.
‘Est’ (is): there was nothing. ‘Enim’
(indeed): there was nothing. ‘Corpus’
(the body): there was nothing. ‘Meum’
(of mine): there was everything, there was the body of Christ.
In popular language we even say: ‘hocus pocus’ (abbreviation
of ‘Hoc Est Corpus’) to signify a conjuring trick.
Actually, the question of the precise moment of the
consecration, quite like the discussion of the consecratory value of the
epiclesis or of the narration of the Institution, is a bad question. It arose at the turn of the
thirteenth/fourteenth century in the course of the controversies between the
East and the West. And a badly posed
problem cannot receive a correct solution.
In reality, the Eucharistic Prayer forms a unity of praise, blessing,
thanksgiving and request. It is the
entirety of this prayer which is consecratory.
Who Consecrates?
The epiclesis reveals exactly what the priest does: he says
the prayer through which the celebrating community asks the Father to send his
Holy Spirit over the bread and wine so that they may become the body and blood
of Jesus. Eucharistic Prayer III says
explicitly:
Father, we
bring you these gifts.
We ask you
to make them holy
by the
power of your Spirit,
that they
may become the body and blood
of your
Son, our Lord, Jesus Christ.
Therefore, it is the Father who consecrates through the
Spirit. The priest merely says the
prayer, in the name of the community.
The Elevation
At the beginning of the thirteenth century began the
practice of elevating the host after the consecration, and at the end of the
thirteenth century, one elevated the chalice.
Popular belief attached great importance to this elevation at precisely
a time when people received Eucharistic communion less and less. It was thought that whoever looked at the
host during the elevation was preserved on that day from sudden death, and his
house and barn and were sheltered from fire.
Intercessions
One can be astonished at the presence of new prayers of
intercession after the epiclesis of communion: have we not interceded enough at
the time of the Prayer of the Faithful?
Actually, the Eucharistic Prayer follows a bipartite structure of the
old Jewish blessing: Thanksgiving and request.
It could be affirmed that the Eucharistic Prayer is nothing but a Jewish
prayer at the centre of which one has intercalated the account of the
Institution, with the epilcesis and the anamnesis.
Communion in Praise
with the Saints in Heaven
Anaphora of Saint
Basil, circa 360
It is a commandment of your only
Son, Lord, that we remember the saints.
Therefore deign also to remember those who pleased you from the
beginning:
- the holy fathers, patriarchs,
apostles, prophets, preachers, evangelists, martyrs, confessors and all the
just who kept the faith of Christ until the end.
- especially be mindful of our
holy, glorious immaculate, most blessed Lady, Mother of God and ever-Virgin
Mary;
- of your holy and glorious
prophet, John the Baptist, forerunner and martyr;
- of Saint Stephen, first deacon
and first martyr;
- of our holy father Saint Mark,
apostle and evangelist;
- of our holy father Basil, the
wonder-worker;
- of Saint N. whose memory we
celebrate today, and of all your choir of saints.
Through their prayers and
intercession, have mercy on us and save us for the sake of your name which is
invoked upon us.
Doxology
‘To the Father, through the Son, in the Holy Spirit’. Describing the Mass around the year 150,
Justin relates:’When the prayer is ended, bread and wine, and water are brought
up. The one who presides then prays and
gives thanks accordingly to his ability and all the people respond with the acclamation,
‘Amen!’
The ‘Our Father’
In the Eastern Churches the ‘Our Father’ was recited by the
entire community as it is today. In Rome, on the contrary, in
the time of Saint Gregory, 604, it was considered a presidential prayer. Therefore, the priest recited it alone. Undoubtedly it was Spain that had the most original
custom. The priest sang the ‘Our Father’
alone, and the assembly ratified each request through the acclamation of its
Amen.
Fortunately, the Missal has restored what is the ‘prayer of
children’ par excellence to the entire
Christian community.
The Doxology of the ‘Our Father’
The Our Father ends with the doxology:
For the
kingdom, the power and the glory are yours
now and
forever.
It was inserted into Matthew’s text no doubt around the
third century, perhaps at Antioch. It is used by the majority of the Churches of
the East as well as by the Protestants and the Anglicans. By integrating it into the Roman Mass, the
new Missal joins the tradition of the other Christian Churches.
According to the rubrics, the doxology that ends the
Eucharistic Prayer (‘Through him, with him, in him ...’) is reserved for the
priest alone. Here and there, a
community, caught up in the fervour of its participation joins in
spontaneously, especially if this doxology is recited or sung by a group of
concelebrating priests. Is it necessary
to hold it against them for singing the glory of God?
The Rite of Peace
Here one thinks quite naturally of Christ: ‘If you present
your offering at the altar and there you remember that your brother has
something against you, leave your offering at the altar, and go first to
reconcile yourself with your brother’.
The sign of peace can be exchanged whenever it is judged
opportune. (I have always thought that
it would be better taking place straight after the Confiteor or Penitential
Prayer. We have made Peace with God so
let us share it with each other. I once
attended a Convent Mass where this was done. [MHB])
The Rite of Breaking of the Bread
Formerly, this rite took a long time since one had to break
the consecrated bread for all the assembly.
Beginning in the thirteenth century, the rite lost some of its
significance, the hosts having being prepared and cut in advance.
The Rite of Commingling
The Missal does not give any explanation for this rite. We no longer see the necessity for it and we
are not sure of its significance.
Nevertheless, it has been kept through faithfulness to tradition. Diverse explanations have been offered.
It is supposed that originally it was a matter of
‘fermentum’: a piece of the Eucharistic bread from the Papal Mass was carried
to the priests of the churches of Rome
who, because of the service that they fulfilled for their faithful, could not
attend the Papal Mass.
We can also think of the consecrated bread - called sancta -
that was kept for the communion of the dying.
When those breads became hard, they were replaced. In order to consume them more easily, they
were softened by placing them in consecrated wine.
The Singing of the Agnus Dei
The title ‘Lamb of God’ comes no doubt from the fourth song
of the Servant of Yahweh. (Isaiah 53:6-11)
In principle, the invocation ‘Lamb of God’ is used three
times under the litanic form. The Missal
adds: ‘it can be repeated as many times as necessary in order to accompany the
breaking of the bread’. This last
disposition is somewhat theoretic. In
practice, small hosts are generally used for the assembly and a single host for
the priest. Because of that, the rite of
breaking lasts only a moment: it is ordinarily finished before one has the time
to sing the first invocation of the Lamb of God.
Communion, ‘The Body of Christ!’, ‘Amen!’
In antiquity, the most usual formula for the distribution of
Communion was: ‘The Body of Christ’. The
communicant responded: ‘Amen!’ In this
way he made a true profession of faith. Saint Augustine explains:
If you are the body of Christ and
its members, it is the sacrament of what you are which is placed on the Lord’s
table: it is the sacrament of what you are which you receive. It is to what you are that you respond
‘Amen’. This response is your
signature. You hear: ‘Body of
Christ’. You respond ‘Amen!’. Be a member of the Body of Christ so that
your ‘Amen!’ may be true.
Communion in the Hand
The reception of the host on the lips was established in the
ninth century. Previously, the general
rule was to receive the host in the hand.
Cyril of Jerusalem, 387, explains to the neophytes of Jerusalem:
When you come forward, do not
draw near with your hands wide open or with your fingers spread apart; instead,
with your left hand make a throne for the right hand, which will receive the
King. Receive the Body of Christ in the
hollow of your hand and give the response
‘Amen’ ... . Draw near also to the cup of his Blood. Do not stretch out your hands, but bow in
adoration and respect, and say: ‘Amen’ ... .
And while your lips are still wet, touch them with your fingers and
sanctify your eyes, your forehead and your senses. Then, while awaiting for the prayer, give
thanks to God who judged you worthy of such great mysteries.
The custom of receiving Communion while kneeling was
established progressively from the eleventh to the sixteenth centuries. The table of Communion (altar rails) dates
from the eighteenth century.
Communion from the Chalice
Communion from the chalice was the general rule until the
twelfth century. The Missal explains
well: ‘Holy Communion has a more complete form as a sign when it is received
under both kinds’.
It is possible that for diverse reasons - either hygienic or
psychological - people may not want to drink directly from the cup. In that case they can use a straw to drink
from the cup; this practice is attested after the eighth century. One can also receive Communion by
‘intinction’: the consecrated bread is dipped into the chalice; this custom is
attested in the seventh century. (I came
across this method of receiving Communion at a church in Daventry. It seemed a very sensible and practical
method of receiving the Body and Blood of Christ. [MHB])
Frequency of Communion
It has been noted that ‘until the fourth century, communion
of the faithful was not only the rule at each Mass, but it was more frequent
than the celebration of the Mass, which was limited in general to Sunday’. Actually, the faithful carried the Eucharist
home. Hippolytus of Rome advised them to
commune every day before taking any other food.
The conservation of the Eucharistic bread could pose problems. Hippolytus recommended: ‘Let each one take
care that no unbeliever, or mouse, or other animal taste the Eucharist and that
no piece of the Eucharist fall on the ground or get lost. It is really the body of the Lord that the
faithful eat, and it must not be scorned.’
From the fourth century forward, we note a rapid decline in
the frequency of communion. From the
tenth century forward, sacramental penitence was required before a
communion. Saint Caesar d’Arles, 542,
asked married couples who had had relations not to set foot in church for 30
days! In the eleventh century the Church
imposed communion three times a year: at Christmas, Easter and Pentecost. At the Council of Lateran in 1215, it imposed
it once a year.
The Council of Trent encouraged communion. Pope Pius X reestablished it
effectively. Today, due to the fact that
the prayers are all in a living language, it is assumed that the faithful
receive communion at each Mass.
Post Communion
It is highly desirable that the priest not pollute the time
of silence after communion by ‘purifying’ the paten and chalice at that moment. This purification has nothing to do with a
celebration. No more that one would
clean the kitchen or wash the dishes in front of the guests, one should not
proceed with the purification while the assembly is still present. Therefore, it is with much good sense that
the Missal recommends doing the purification ‘after the Mass, populo dimisso, when the people have
left’.
Final Blessing
Before sending his disciples into the world to bear witness
to his resurrection before all nations, Jesus Christ, ‘lifting up his hands,
blessed them. And while he was blessing
them, he was taken up into heaven’ (Luke 24:50-51).
In his description of the liturgy in use in Jerusalem (between 381 and
384), the pilgrim Egerius reports that when the liturgical service was ended,
the faithful approached the bishop and he blessed them before retiring.
The Dismissal of the Assembly
In the East, the formula of dismissal is: ‘Go in peace’ (Antioch and Egypt),
or: ‘Let us go in the peace’ (Byzantium) and, a
little more religiously: ‘Let us go in the peace of Christ’ (Eastern
Syria). The people respond:
‘In the name of the Lord’. That was also
the formula used in the Church
of Milan.
In Rome,
they used a formula of juridic character: ‘Ite missa est’, which means simply:
‘Go, this is the dismissal’.
Fortunately, the French Missal was inspired by the formula of Eastern Syria: ‘Go in the peace of Christ’. The English Missal does the same. It unites the East with Rome by proposing further: ‘The Mass is
ended. Go in peace’. Finally, it adds a third, very beautiful
formula: ‘Go in peace to love and serve the Lord!’
Postscript
In a World History book written by Rodney Castleden I came
across an unusual piece of information: ‘500 AD incense is introduced in
Christian Church services to cover up the smell of unwashed worshippers!’ True or false? I don’t know. [MHB]
Conclusion
It remains that no reform is eternal. Blessed the community which has joy as the
principle rubric of its liturgy! Which,
when it celebrates the Word, encounters the face of the risen Christ on each
page of the Bible! Which, when it shares
the bread and wine of the Eucharist, shares at the same time the love between
brothers and sisters! Which, to preside
over its celebration, has a priest not to dominate, but to serve!
The Mass is the heart of the Christian community. The beauty of each Mass is the beauty of
Christ in our life.
Glossary
Agape Greek, love.
Signifies the meal of the first Christians, meant
to symbolise charity and Christian unity.
Ambo From Greek anabainein, ‘to go up’. The place, usually
elevated from where
the Word of God is proclaimed.
Anamnesis From Greek meaning ‘to remember’. Prayer after the
consecration where we remember the death and
the
Resurrection of Jesus.
Anaphora From the Greek meaning ‘an
offering’. In Eastern liturgies,
this word indicated Eucharistic Prayer.
Cento Poem made up from different
authors.
Didache Greek meaning ‘teaching’. Refers to the oldest Christian
‘manual’. It possibly dates back to the
Apostolic period,
60
AD.
Epiclesis From Greek ‘klesis’ - invocation and
‘epi’ - over. Prayer
which involves the sending of the Holy Spirit
on the bread
and
wine.
Orison
A prayer.