Holy Thursday

Therefore, whosoever shall eat this Bread, 

or drink the Chalice of the Lord unworthily, 

shall be guilty of the Body and of the Blood of the Lord.

Commentaries by Dom Gueranger's Liturgical Year

After having rebuked the Christians of Corinth for the abuses into which they had fallen at the feasts (called Agape), which had been introduced by a spirit of fraternal charity but were soon abolished, the Holy Apostle relates the history of the Last Supper. His account, which corresponds throughout with that given by the evangelists, rests upon the testimony of our Blessed Savior Himself, Who deigned to appear to him and instruct him in person, after his conversion. The Apostle does not omit to give the words, whereby our Lord empowered His Apostles to renew what He Himself had done: he tells us that, as often as the priest consecrates the Body and Blood of Christ, he shows the death of the Lord, thus expressing the oneness there is between the Sacrifice of the Cross and that of the Altar. The consequence to be drawn from this teaching is evident; it is contained in these words of the Apostle: “Let a man prove himself, and so let him eat of that Bread and drink of the Chalice.” What could be more just, than that, having to be initiated in so intimate a manner to the Mystery of the Redemption and to contract so close a union with the Divine Victim, we should banish from our hearts sin and affection to sin? “He that eateth My Flesh and drinketh My Blood, abideth in Me, and
I in Him,” says our Lord. (John 6: 57) Could there be a closer union? God and man abiding in each other? Oh! How carefully ought we to purify our soul, and render our will conformable to the Will of Jesus, before approaching this Divine Banquet, to which He invites us! Let us beseech Him to prepare us Himself, as He did His Apostles by washing their feet. He will grant us our request, not only today, but as often as we go to Holy Communion, provided we are docile to His grace.

 In the Offertory antiphon, the soul, confiding in the promise made to her by Christ that He will feed her with the Bread of Life, gives way to a transport of joy. She praises her God for this Divine Nourishment, which keeps death from them that eat.

We find this act of humble charity practiced in the ages of persecution, and even later. The acts of the saints of the first six centuries, and the homilies and writings of the holy fathers, are filled with allusions to it. Afterwards, charity grew cold, and this particular way of exercising it was confined, and almost exclusively, to monasteries. Today, in every church of any importance, the prelate, or superior, honors our Savior’s condescension, by the ceremony we call the Washing of the Feet. 

 Our Savior’s washing the feet of His disciples before permitting them to partake of His Divine Mystery, conveys an instruction to us. The Apostle has just been telling us, that we should prove ourselves: and here we have Jesus saying to His disciples: “You are clean. It is true,” He adds: “but not all”: just as the Apostle assures us, that there are some who render themselves guilty of the Body and Blood of the Lord. God forbid we should ever be of the number! Let us prove ourselves; let us sound the depths of our conscience, before approaching the Holy Table. Mortal sin, and the affection to it, would change the Bread of Life into a deadly poison for our souls. But if respect for the Holiness of God, Who is about to enter within us by Holy Communion, should make us shudder at the thought of receiving Him in the state of mortal sin, which robs the soul of the Image of God and gives her that of satan, ought not that same respect urge us to purify our souls from venial sins, which dim the beauty of grace? “He,” says our Savior, “that is washed needeth not but to wash his feet.” The feet are those earthly attachments, which so often lead us to the brink of sin. Let us watch over our senses, and the affections of our hearts. Let us wash away these stains by a sincere confession, by penance, by sorrow, and by humility; that thus we may worthily receive the adorable Sacrament, and derive from it the fullness of its power and grace.

 Having come as far as Gethsemani, He goes into a garden, whither He had often led His Apostles and rested there with them. Suddenly, His Soul is overpowered with grief; His human Nature experiences, as it were, a suspension of that beatitude which results from its union with the Divinity. This His Humanity will be interiorly supported, even to the very last moment of His Passion; but It must bear everything that it is possible for It to bear. Jesus feels such intense sadness, that the very presence of His disciples is insupportable; He leaves them, taking with Him only Peter, James, and John, who, a short time before, had been witnesses of His glorious Transfiguration: will they show
greater courage than the rest, when they see their Divine Master in the hands of His enemies?  His words show them what a sudden change has come over Him: “My Soul is sorrowful even unto death: stay you here, and watch with Me.” (Matt. 26: 38)

He leaves them, and goes to a grotto, which is about a stone’s throw distant. There does our Jesus prostrate Himself and pray, saying: “Father! All things are possible to Thee. Remove this chalice from Me: but not what I will, but what Thou wilt.” (Mark 14: 36) While He was thus praying, a sweat of Blood flows from His Body and bathes the ground. It is an agony, that He suffers. God sends help to His sinking frame. Jesus is treated as man; His Humanity, exhausted as it is, is to receive no other sensible aid than that which is now brought Him by an angel (whom tradition affirms to have been Gabriel). Hereupon He rises, and again accepts the Chalice prepared for Him. But what a Chalice! Every pain that body and soul can suffer; the sins of the whole world taken upon Himself, and crying
out vengeance against Him; the ingratitude of men, many of whom will make His Sacrifice useless. He begins His prayer by asking that the Chalice may be taken from Him; He ends it by saying to His Father: “Not My will, but Thine be done!” (Luke 22: 42)

Jesus then rises, leaving the earth covered with the Blood of His Agony; it is the first blood-shedding of His Passion. He goes to His three disciples, and, finding them asleep, says to them, “What! Could you not watch one hour with Me?: (Matt 26: 40) This is the beginning of that feature of His sufferings which consists in His being abandoned. He twice returns to the grotto, and repeats His sorrowful, but submissive, prayer; twice He returns to His disciples, whom He had asked to watch near Him, but at each time, finds them asleep. At length, He speaks to them, saying, “Sleep ye now, and take your rest! Behold, the hour is at hand, and the Son of Man shall be betrayed into the hands of sinners.” Then resuming the energy of His Divine Courage, He adds, “Rise! Let us go! Behold, he is at hand that will betray Me.” (Matt 26: 45, 46)

While He is speaking these last few words, a numerous body of armed men enter the garden with torches in their hands. Judas is at their head. The betrayal is made by a profanation of the sign of friendship. “Judas! Dost thou betray the Son of Man with a kiss?” (Luke 22: 48) These piercing words should have made the traitor throw himself at his Master’s Feet, and ask pardon; but it was too late; he feared the soldiers. Jesus says to them with all the majesty of a King, “If you see Me, let these go their way. You are come out, as it were against a thief with swords and clubs. When I was daily with you in the Temple, you did not stretch your hands against Me; but this is your hour, and the 

power of darkness.” Then turning to Peter, who has drawn and used his sword, He says to him, “Thinkest thou that I cannot ask my Father and He will give me presently more than twelve legions of Angels? How then shall the Scriptures be fulfilled?” (Matthew 26: 53-54)

And now, Jesus permits Himself to be led. Whereupon, His Apostles run away in fear. Peter and another disciple follow Him, but as far off as they can. The soldiers lead Jesus by the same road, along which He had passed on the previous Sunday, when the people met Him with palm and olive branches in their hands. They cross the brook Cedron; and there is a tradition of the Church of Jerusalem that the soldiers, as they passed the bridge, threw Jesus into the water. Thus was fulfilled the prophecy of David, “He shall drink the torrent in the way.” (Ps. 59: 7)

They reach the city walls. The gate is opened, and the Divine Prisoner enters. The enemies of Jesus have arranged to take Him, in the morning, to Pontius Pilate. At last, their Victim is brought before them, and He shall not escape their vengeance!

Here let us interrupt our history of the Passion, till the morrow shall bring us to the solemn hour, when the Great Mystery of our instruction and salvation was accomplished.What a day is this that we have been spending! How full of Jesus’ love! He has given us His Body and Blood to be our Food; He has instituted the priesthood of the new Testament; He has poured out upon the world the most sublime instructions of His loving Heart. We have seen Him struggling with the feelings of human weakness, as He beheld the Chalice of the Passion that was prepared for Him; but He triumphed over all, in order to save us. We have seen Him betrayed, fettered, and led captive into the Holy City, there to consummate His Sacrifice. Let us adore and love this Jesus, who might have saved us by one and the least of all these humiliations; but Whose love for us was not satisfied unless He drank, to the very dregs, the Chalice He had accepted from His Father.

Eternal Rest

Please pray for the soul of Tom's Uncle Charles who passed away on Holy Thursday.
Eternal Rest grant unto him, O Lord and let Perpetual Light shine upon him. May he rest in Peace.

Palm Sunday

Commentaries from Dom Guearanger's Liturgical Year.

Early in the morning of this day, Jesus sets out for Jerusalem, leaving Mary His Mother, and the two sisters Martha and Mary Magdalene, and Lazarus, at Bethania. The Mother of Sorrows trembles at seeing her Son thus expose Himself to danger, for His enemies are bent upon His destruction; but it is not death, it is triumph, that Jesus is to receive today in Jerusalem. The Messiah, before being nailed to the Cross, is to be proclaimed King by the people of the great city; the little children are to make her streets echo with their Hosannas to the Son of David; and this in the presence of the soldiers of Rome’s emperor, and of the high priests and Pharisees: the first, standing under the banner of their eagles; the second, dumb with rage.

The prophet Zachary had foretold this triumph which the Son of Man was to receive a few days before His Passion, and which had been prepared for Him from all eternity. “Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Sion! Shout for joy, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold thy King will come to thee; the Just and the Saviour. He is poor, and riding upon an ass, and upon a colt, the foal of an ass.” Jesus, knowing that the hour has come for the fulfillment of this prophecy, singles out two from the rest of His disciples, and bids them lead to Him an ass and her colt, which they would find not far off. He has reached Bethphage, on Mount Olivet. The two disciples lose no time in executing the order given them by their divine Master; and the ass and the colt are soon brought to the place where He stands. The holy fathers have explained to us the mystery of these two animals. The ass represents the Jewish people, which had been long under the yoke of the Law; the colt, upon which, as the evangelist says, no man yet hath sat, is a figure of the Gentile world, which no one had ever yet brought into subjection. The future of these two peoples is to be decided a few days hence: the Jews will be rejected, for having refused to acknowledge Jesus as the Messias; the Gentiles will take their place, to be adopted as God's people, and become docile and faithful.  The disciples spread their garments upon the colt; and our Saviour, that the prophetic figure might be fulfilled, sits upon him, and advances towards Jerusalem. As soon as it is known that Jesus is near the city, the Holy Ghost works in the hearts of those Jews, who have come from all parts to celebrate the feast of the Passover. They go out to meet our Lord, holding palm branches in their hands, and loudly proclaiming Him to be King. They that have accompanied Jesus from Bethania, join the enthusiastic crowd. Whilst some spread their garments on the way, others cut down boughs from the palm-trees, and strew them along the road. Hosanna is the triumphant cry, proclaiming to the whole city that Jesus, the Son of David, has made His entrance as her King. Thus did God, in His power over men's hearts, procure a triumph for His Son, and in the very city which, a few days later, was to clamour for His Blood.

**†**

Let us now go over in our minds, the other events which happened to our Divine Lord on this day of His solemn entry into Jerusalem. St. Luke tells us that it was on His approach to the city, that Jesus wept over it, and spoke these touching words: “If thou also hadst known, and that in this thy day, the things that are to thy peace! But now they are hidden from thine eyes. For the days shall come upon thee, and thine enemies shall cast a trench about thee, and compass thee round, and straighten thee
on every side, and beat thee flat to the ground, and thy children who are in thee; and they shall not leave in thee a stone upon a stone; because thou hast not known the time of thy visitation.” (Luke 19:42-44)

A few days ago, we were reading in the Holy Gospel how Jesus wept over the tomb of Lazarus; today He sheds tears over Jerusalem. At Bethania His weeping was caused by the sight of bodily death, the consequence and punishment of sin; but this death is not irremediable: Jesus is the Resurrection and the Life, and he that believeth in Him shall live. (John 11:25) Whereas, the state of the unfaithful Jerusalem is a figure of the death of the soul, and from this there is no resurrection, unless the soul, while time is given to her, return to the Author of Life. Hence, it is, that the tears shed by Jesus over
Jerusalem are so bitter. Amidst the acclamations which greet His entry into the city of David, His heart is sad; for He sees that many of her inhabitants will not profit of the time of her visitation. Let us console the Heart of our Jesus, and be to Him a faithful Jerusalem.

The sacred historian tells us that Jesus, immediately upon His entrance into the city, went to the Temple, and cast out all them that sold and bought there. (Matt. 21: 12)  This was the second time that He had shown His authority in His Father’s house, and no one had dared to resist Him. The chief priests and Pharisees found fault with Him and accused Him to His face, of causing confusion by His entry into the city; but our Lord confounded them by the reply He made. It is thus, that in after ages, when it has pleased God to glorify His Son and the Church of His Son, the enemies of both have
given vent to their rage; they protested against the triumph, but they could not stop it. But when God, in the unsearchable ways of His Wisdom, allowed persecution and trial to follow these periods of triumph, then did these bitter enemies redouble their efforts to induce the very people, that had cried “Hosanna” to the Son of David, to clamour for His being delivered up and crucified. They succeeded in fomenting persecution, but not in destroying the Kingdom of Christ and His Church. The Kingdom seemed, at times, to be interrupted in its progress; but the time for another triumph came. Thus will it be to the end; and then after all these changes from glory to humiliation, and from humiliation to glory, the Kingdom of Jesus and of His Bride will gain the last and eternal triumph over this world, which would not know the time of its visitation.

We learn from St. Matthew (Matt. 21: 17) that our Savior spent the remainder of this day at Bethania. His Blessed Mother and the house of Lazarus were comforted by His return. There was not a single offer of hospitality made to Him in Jerusalem, at least there is no mention in the Gospel of any such offer. We cannot help making the reflection, as we meditate upon this event of our Lord’s life: - an enthusiastic reception is given to Him in the morning, He is proclaimed by the people as their King; but when the evening of that day comes on, there is not one of all those thousands to offer Him food or lodging.

Long Over Due Pictures

 I'm long over-due for pictures as Aragorn and I went over to Eurpose for an x-ray congress in Vienna and then a trip down to Rome.  I have over 900 pictures from the trip so I suppose my blogging will increase a bit.  It was a most fabulous trip.

 In the meantime my baby is turning into a tot rather quickly.

 We had 2 calves born in February. One survived, one didn't

 Kili eagerly awaiting a slice of Valentine's cake.

 Some of the older children went to a swing dance.

 Kili loves the velour silky feel of Eowyn's dress!

 Some mornings we awaken to a cow outside the window. Oh Joy...

 This was a bald eagle out in our field , I was too slow with the camera so he took off quicker than I could react.

 The abominable snow cutie.

 Friends' baby Katherine Rose was born the day before we left for Europe... actually she's the reason we left a day later.  Scheduled c-section and health of the mom and baby was top on our minds. Katherine was a hefty weighing in at some 9 pounds 14 oz at birth!!

 She's already 3 weeks old and weighing over 10 pounds. Sweet bundle of joy!

 Taking the pony-horse out for a spin.

 Happy St. Patrick's Day!

We had a splendid Pontifical High Mass for Candlemas on Feb 2.  We are so blessed to have a Bishop who supports and says! the Traditional Latin Mass. Deo Gratias!

Happy Birthday Eleanor!

Happy 12th Birthday Eleanor!
Yes, those are tea-candles.  We had plenty of those but no birthday candles... it works and no wax on the cake :D

She chose mint brownies for her cake.
Just a little late here as her birthday was over a month ago!
Delinquent blogger!

Hobbit DVD Release

It might be noted that the Hobbit - Battle of Five Armies DVD comes out on March 24th....  :D

Transifguration

After the Mass, I must again descend from the Tabor of

union with God, to the affairs of workaday life; from the

brilliant heights, where it was so good to be, to the 

darkness of this world with its dangers, its scandals, its 

temptations, and its sufferings. Stay Thou with me, O 

Lord, for the night cometh.

Dom Dominic Johner

This is My Beloved Son, in Whom I am well pleased; hear Him.

Today, in the Traditional Latin Mass, the Church encourages us on our Lenten journey with the Transfiguration....

"Thus did Jesus encourage His apostles, when the time of temptation was near; He sought to impress them with His glory, that it might keep up their faith in that trying time, when the outward eye would see nothing in His Person but weakness and humiliation. Oh, the loving considerateness of Divine Grace, which is never wanting, and which shows us in so strong a light the goodness and the justice of our God! Like the Apostles, we also have sinned; like them, we have neglected to profit of the help 

that was sent us from Heaven; we have shut our eyes against the light; we have forgotten the fair vision that was granted us, and which made us so fervent and happy; and we fell. We have not, then, been tempted above our strength and it is indeed our own fault that we committed sin. The three Apostles were exposed to a terrible temptation, when they beheld their Divine Master robbed of all His majesty; but how easy for them to resist the temptation, by thinking of what they had seen, but a few days before! Instead of that, they lost their courage, and forgot prayer, which would have brought their courage back; and thus the favored witnesses for Thabor became cowards and deserters in the Garden of Mount Olivet. 

"There was but one thing left them to do: throw themselves upon the loving mercy of their Jesus, as soon as He had triumphed over His enemies; they did so, and His generous Heart pardoned them. Let us imitate them here too. We have abused the Grace of God and rendered it fruitless, by our want of correspondence. The fountain of this Grace is not yet dried up; as long as we are in this world, we may always draw from this source, which comes from the Blood and merits of our Redeemer. It is grace that is now urging us to the amendment of our lives. It is given to us in abundance during the present time, and it is given mainly by the holy exercise of Lent. Let us go up the mountain with Jesus; there we shall not be disturbed by the noise of earthly things. Let us there spend our forty days 

with Moses and Elias, who long ago sanctified this number by their fasts. Thus, when the Son of Man shall have risen from the dead, we will proclaim the favors He has mercifully granted us on Thabor."

Dom Gueranger: