Easter Tuesday: “They yet believed not”

Christ is truly risen! Best week of the year, folks. Don’t let the mundane creep in. Party must continue.

Pray for eyes to be opened. Mine, yours, your loved ones’. He is the opener of eyes, on His schedule. The fruit of the fourth sorrowful mystery is patience. This is primarily patience with yourself, so as not to become frustrated as you stumble along the uneven path toward sanctity. But it is also patience with others, and even patience with God. Think about it. Think about how patient He is with us, but how we demand immediate results from Him. Abandon yourself to the Divine Providence… the inventor of time is Himself the timekeeper.

Yesterday’s Gospel had us on the road to Emmaus, on the very first Easter Monday. After their miraculous encounter with Christ as He consecrated the first post-resurrection Eucharist, the disciples immediately set out back to Jerusalem. Having traveled all day to Emmaus, they traveled all night back. So today’s Gospel is the immediate continuation of yesterday’s, taking place on the very first Easter Tuesday. As they are all gathered together, Jesus pops in for some fish. Because even though they had left everything behind in order to follow him, and had received more teaching directly from God than anyone else, “they yet believed not.” Meditate on how this dynamic is at play in your life today. Happy Easter!


By blood-sealed covenant, by prophetic utterances and figures, and by prescriptions for sacrificial worship, God tried to prepare His people to expect a Redeemer who would have to bleed and die. But they wanted only a glorious conqueror with a universal and endless reign. Even when Jesus  appeared to the Eleven, who had received two and one-half years of special training and instruction, He found them confused and wondering. As a doctrine, Christ crucified is central to Christian life. In practice, is there not much insistence on a comfortable Christ, a Christ without wounds?

https://tridentine-mass.blogspot.com/2022/04/easter-tuesday.html

GOSPEL Luke 24:36-47.
At that time, Now, whilst they were speaking these things, Jesus stood in the midst of them and saith to them: “Peace be to you. It is I: Fear not.” But they being troubled and frightened, supposed that they saw a spirit. And he said to them: “Why are you troubled, and why do thoughts arise in your hearts? See my hands and feet, that it is I myself. Handle, and see: for a spirit hath not flesh and bones, as you see me to have.” And when he had said this, he shewed them his hands and feet. But while they yet believed not and wondered for joy, he said: “Have you here any thing to eat?” And they offered him a piece of a broiled fish and a honeycomb. And when he had eaten before them, taking the remains, he gave to them. And he said to them: “These are the words which I spoke to you while I was yet with you, that all things must needs be fulfilled which are written in the law of Moses and in the prophets and in the psalms, concerning me.” Then he opened their understanding, that they might understand the scriptures. And he said to them: “Thus it is written, and thus it behoved Christ to suffer and to rise again from the dead, the third day: And that penance and remission of sins should be preached in his name, unto all nations.” 

Easter Monday: The party is just getting started!

YAAAS. Happy Easter, everyone! It’s the biggest party of the year, and it lasts all week. Proper First Class Feast every day of the Octave. Go to Mass, spread the joy, let the milk and honey flow!

INTROIT Ex. 13:5, 9 The Lord has brought you into a land flowing with milk and honey, alleluia! so that the law of the Lord may ever be on your lips, alleluia, alleluia! Ps. 104:1. Praise the Lord and invoke his name; make His deeds known among the nations.

Today’s Gospel is from Luke 24, the account of the “stranger” with the two disciples on the road to Emmaus. They don’t recognize this stranger as Jesus, and the reason should give us pause:

But their eyes were held, that they should not know him. -Luke 24:16

Got that? The disciples didn’t fail to recognize Him because they were distracted, distraught, or ignorant. They didn’t recognize Him because it was He who held their eyes, for the very purpose that they should not know Him. It was God’s will for this to play out exactly as it did. So much so, that He remained unrecognized to them even after a full day of Jesus reciting the whole of the Old Testament prophesies which pointed toward Him; they knew Him not, and they doubted. Upon arrival at Emmaus, while at table, the climactic scene comes at the consecration of the Eucharist.

And their eyes were opened: and they knew him. And he vanished out of their sight. -Luke 24:31

Pray that your eyes might be opened to whatever it is that He may yet be hiding from you. Pray that your confreres, family, enemies, might have their eyes opened. As we especially commemorate the very newest members of the Church this week, let us also remember in our prayers those yet fallen away, especially those closest to us, that they may see. Fill your prayers with hope and joy, knowing that nothing is impossible with God. Blessed Octave, everyone!

GOSPEL Luke 24:13-35
At that time, two of the disciples of Jesus went, the same day, to a town which was sixty furlongs from Jerusalem, named Emmaus. And they talked together of all these things which had happened. And it came to pass that while they talked and reasoned with themselves, Jesus himself also, drawing near, went with them. But their eyes were held, that they should not know him. And he said to them: “What are these discourses that you hold one with another as you walk and are sad?” And the one of them, whose name was Cleophas, answering, said to him: “Art thou only a stranger in Jerusalem, and hast not known the things that have been done there in these days?” To whom he said: “What things?” And they said: “Concerning Jesus of Nazareth, who was a prophet, mighty in work and word before God and all the people. And how our chief priests and princes delivered him to be condemned to death and crucified him. But we hoped that it was he that should have redeemed Israel. And now besides all this, to-day is the third day since these things were done. Yea and certain women also of our company affrighted us who, before it was light, were at the sepulchre, And not finding his body, came, saying that they had all seen a vision of angels, who say that he is alive. And some of our people went to the sepulchre and found it so as the women had said: but him they found not.” Then he said to them: “O foolish and slow of heart to believe in all things, Which the prophets have spoken. Ought not Christ to have suffered these things and so, to enter into his glory?” And beginning at Moses and all the prophets, he expounded to them in all the scriptures the things that were concerning him. And they drew nigh to the town whither they were going: and he made as though he would go farther. But they constrained him, saying: “Stay with us, because it is towards evening and the day is now far spent.” And he went in with them. And it came to pass, whilst he was at table with them, he took bread and blessed and brake and gave to them. And their eyes were opened: and they knew him. And he vanished out of their sight. And they said one to the other: “Was not our heart burning within us, whilst he spoke in the way and opened to us the scriptures?”
And rising up, the same hour, they went back to Jerusalem: and they found the eleven gathered together, and those that were with them, Saying: “The Lord is risen indeed and hath appeared to Simon.” And they told what things were done in the way: and how they knew him in the breaking of bread.

Descendit ad infernos: Holy Saturday and meditating on Hell

Originally posted

Holy Saturday: descendit ad infernos

Blessed Triduum to all. I’m off to church to meditate on Hell, where the souls of poor sinners go. Our Lord went there on this day to rescue the souls of the righteous, who were waiting in Limbo (not the place of eternal damnation, but a section of Hell nonetheless) for the redemptive act of Good Friday to take place.

The imagery of Hell is meant to be used as a tool; a deterrent. The actual horror of being separated from God, forever, by our own free choice, is something our intellect can barely grasp. The physical torments are but a proxy for the never ending sense of loss, and the pain of having made that personal choice, despite knowing better. Developing your relationship with Jesus Christ is the key to making right choices. He has told you what is important to Him, what hurts Him, and what He expects from you. He wants you to be with Him forever.

“For God hath not appointed us unto wrath, but unto the purchasing of salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ, Who died for us; that, whether we watch or sleep, we may live together with him.” 1 Thes 5:9-10

Below is adapted from a previous post:

Credo in Deum Patrem omnipotentem, Creatorem caeli et terrae,
et in Iesum Christum, Filium Eius unicum, Dominum nostrum,
qui conceptus est de Spiritu Sancto, natus ex Maria Virgine,
passus sub Pontio Pilato, crucifixus, mortuus, et sepultus,
descendit ad infernos, tertia die resurrexit a mortuis,
ascendit ad caelos, sedet ad dexteram Dei Patris omnipotentis,
inde venturus est iudicare vivos et mortuos.
Credo in Spiritum Sanctum,
sanctam Ecclesiam catholicam, sanctorum communionem,
remissionem peccatorum,
carnis resurrectionem,
vitam aeternam.
Amen.

I believe in God, the Father Almighty, Creator of heaven and earth;
And in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord;
Who was conceived by the Holy Ghost, born of the Virgin Mary,
suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died and was buried.
He descended into hell; On the third day He rose again from the dead.
He ascended into heaven, and sitteth at the right hand of God the Father Almighty.
From thence He will come to judge the living and the dead.
I believe in the Holy Ghost,
the Holy Catholic Church, the communion of saints,
the forgiveness of sins,
the resurrection of the body,
and life everlasting.
Amen

This is the Apostles’ Creed. It’s most commonly recited during the Rosary. Some N.O. parishes in the U.S. use it during Lent, but it’s uncommon. I believe it’s used during all Sunday Masses in Canada and some other countries. Pious legend has it that each of the apostles contributed one the twelve articles of faith (represented by the twelve lines the creed is broken into).

Today is Holy Saturday, the day Jesus descended into Hell, a real actual place, to rescue the just souls who had been waiting there in limbo for the coming of our Lord. Although they had died free from mortal sin, the gates of Heaven could not be opened to them without the redeeming sacrifice of the cross. So the day after the Crucifixion, Jesus went to free them.

Except, that’s not exactly accurate. To say that the gates of Heaven “could not” be opened prior to Christ’s redeeming sacrifice would be to place limits on God’s omnipotence. Time is a construct, and God is not bound by it. If He had so desired, He could have retroactively applied the merits of the cross to the righteous souls at the time of their earthly death, but He chose not to. Instead, He reserved the job to Himself to apply it “in person.”

An interesting contrast is the Immaculate Conception, which was the unique result of God preserving Mary from the stain of original sin by applying the redemptive value of the Crucifixion to her at the moment of her conception. Mary, the first tabernacle, could not possibly be impure in any way, because God will not dwell within anything impure (and nothing impure can dwell within God, hence mine will be a long, long Purgatory, God willing). So not being bound by time, and since all events of all eternity occur simultaneously and eternally for God, He chose to preserve Mary from original sin by the retroactive application of grace from an event that had not yet occurred in “real time”.

Back to the descendit ad infernos. Go ahead and picture yourself in the scene. Meditate on how hard it must have been for the righteous of antiquity to die in the state of grace. Think about how much easier we have it, with access to the fullness of Truth, the Barque, the Eucharist, the example of the saints. If they could make it, shouldn’t it be easy for us?

And yet.

The event has been stunningly depicted in iconography through the ages. Much of it is pretty graphic in terms of the furnishings of the place, and demons certainly do come in a variety of shapes and sizes. I’m reproducing a few tame examples here.

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Related image
Public Domain / Wikimedia Commons

I leave you with the famous “Ancient Homily” for Holy Saturday:


Something strange is happening – there is a great silence on earth today, a great silence and stillness. The whole earth keeps silence because the King is asleep. The earth trembled and is still because God has fallen asleep in the flesh and he has raised up all who have slept ever since the world began. God has died in the flesh and hell trembles with fear.

He has gone to search for our first parent, as for a lost sheep. Greatly desiring to visit those who live in darkness and in the shadow of death, he has gone to free from sorrow the captives Adam and Eve, he who is both God and the son of Eve. The Lord approached them bearing the cross, the weapon that had won him the victory. At the sight of him, Adam, the first man he had created, struck his breast in terror and cried out to everyone: “My Lord be with you all.” Christ answered him: “And with your spirit.” He took him by the hand and raised him up, saying:

“Awake, O sleeper, and rise from the dead, and Christ will give you light.

“I am your God, who for your sake have become your son. Out of love for you and for your descendants I now by my own authority command all who are held in bondage to come forth, all who are in darkness to be enlightened, all who are sleeping to arise.

“I order you, O sleeper, to awake. I did not create you to be held a prisoner in hell. Rise from the dead, for I am the life of the dead. Rise up, work of my hands, you who were created in my image. Rise, let us leave this place, for you are in me and I am in you; together we form only one person and we cannot be separated. For your sake I, your God, became your son; I, the Lord, took the form of a slave; I, whose home is above the heavens, descended to the earth and beneath the earth.

“For your sake, for the sake of man, I became like a man without help, free among the dead. For the sake of you, who left a garden, I was betrayed to the Jews in a garden, and I was crucified in a garden.

“See on my face the spittle I received in order to restore to you the life I once breathed into you. See there the marks of the blows I received in order to refashion your warped nature in my image. On my back see the marks of the scourging I endured to remove the burden of sin that weighs upon your back. See my hands, nailed firmly to a tree, for you who once wickedly stretched out your hand to a tree.

“I slept on the cross and a sword pierced my side for you who slept in paradise and brought forth Eve from your side. My side has healed the pain in yours. My sleep will rouse you from your sleep in hell. The sword that pierced me has sheathed the sword that was turned against you.

“Rise, let us leave this place. The enemy led you out of the earthly paradise. I will not restore you to that paradise, but I will enthrone you in heaven. I forbade you the tree that was only a symbol of life, but see, I who am life itself am now one with you. I appointed cherubim to guard you as slaves are guarded, but now I make them worship you as God.

“The throne formed by cherubim awaits you, its bearers swift and eager. The bridal chamber is adorned, the banquet is ready, the eternal dwelling places are prepared, the treasure houses of all good things lie open. The kingdom of heaven has been prepared for you from all eternity.”

Instruction on Good Friday

APRIL 15, 2022 SOURCE: FSSPX.NEWS

Discover the profound spiritual meanings that the special ceremonies of Good Friday intend to convey!

From The Church’s Year of Fr. Leonard Goffine, we offer some instructive points about the Solemn Afternoon Liturgy of Good Friday, one of the most unique and poignant ceremonies of the Roman Rite. Included is the text of St. John’s Passion account as well as some important concluding words about seriously living the example of Our Lord’s Cross in our daily Catholic lives.

Fr. Goffine’s instruction was written prior to Pius XII’s Holy Week Reform (1955), and thus we have included some notes in square brackets [] so his comments match the Ordo Hebdomadae Sanctae Instauratus.


Instruction on Good Friday

This day was formerly for the Jewish people a day of preparation for Easter, and was called by them the Parasceve; for us Christians it is the anniversary of the death and burial of our Lord who on this day, being Himself both High-Priest and Victim, offered Himself upon the cross for the salvation of the world.

Why do Catholics hold this day in such veneration?

Because it is one of the greatest days from the beginning of the world to its end. On this day the designs which God had from all eternity were perfected, as Jesus Himself expressed when He said, all is consummated; for on this day He was given up toy the Gentiles by the Jews, was scourged, crowned with thorns, loaded with the cross, dragged to Calvary amid taunts and sneers, there nailed to the cross between two thieves, and by His painful death finished the great work of redemption.

Why did Christ suffer so much to, redeem, us?

To show us what an immense evil sin is, on account of which He underwent such cruel sufferings that He might satisfy divine justice. His love for us was so great that He gave the last drop of His blood to save us. He rendered satisfaction for all men without exception, that none might be lost, that every one might possess eternal life. Look up today, and every day of thy life, to Christ on the cross, and see how God punishes sin, since He did not even spare His only-begotten Son, who took upon Himself our sins, and for them died this cruel death. What death is due to thee, if thou dost not despise and flee from sin?

Why does the Church celebrate the commemoration of the passion of Christ in such solemn quietness?

That we may be induced to thank the Savior for our redemption, and to move us to sincere love for Him by serious meditation on His passion. For this reason St. Paul ordered the observance of this day, and the Christians even in his time sanctified it by deep mourning, and rigorous fasting.

Why do we not observe Good Friday with such festivities as do the Protestants [in Europe]?

Because our grief for our Savior’s death is too great to permit us to celebrate it joyously, even nature mourned His death; the sun was darkened, the earth trembled and the rocks were rent. Although the Christian rejoices on this day in the grace of redemption through Christ, he is aware that his joy cannot be pleasing to God unless he endeavors to participate in the merits of the passion and death of Christ by sorrow for his sins, by amendment and penance; and this is the very reason why the Church solemnizes this day in a sad and touching manner.

Why are there no candles lighted at the beginning of the service?

To signify that on this day Christ, the Light of the world, became, as it were, extinguished.

Why does the priest prostrate himself before the altar at the beginning of the service?

That with him we should consider in deepest sorrow and humility how the Savior died on the cross for our sins, and how unworthy we are on account of them to lift up our faces.

Why does the service commence with the reading of two lessons?

Because Christ died for Jews and Gentiles. The first lesson is from the Prophet Osee, (Osee 6:1-6) and the other from Exodus (Exod. 12:1-11) from them we infer that by the bloody death of the immaculate Lamb Jesus we are healed of our sins, and redeemed from death.

After the first lesson the priest says the following:

COLLECT O God! from whom Judas received the punishment of his sin, and the thief the reward of his confession: grant us the effects of Thy mercy; that as our Lord Jesus Christ at the time of His passion bestowed on each a different recompense of his merits, so having destroyed the old man in us, He may give us the grace of His Resurrection. Who liveth, etc.

REMARK After the Passion the priest prays in behalf of the one, only true Church, that she may increase, and that peace and unity may always remain with her; for the pope, that his government may be blessed; for the bishops, priests, the clergy, and the people, that they may serve God in justice; for those converted to the faith, that they may continue to grow an knowledge and an zeal for the holy religion; for rulers as defenders of the Church, that they may govern with wisdom and justice, and that those under them may be loyal to them with fidelity and obedience; for the unfortunate, that God may have mercy on them; for heretics and apostates, that they may be brought back from error to the truth of the Catholic faith; for the Jews, that they may be enlightened; for the heathens, that they may be converted.

Before each prayer the priest says “Oremus” (“Let us pray”), “Flectamus genua” (“Let us kneel”) and at the call “Levate” (“Rise up”) we rise. [At the conclusion of the prayer the faithful respond “Amen”.] As Christ on this day prayed for all men, the Church desires, that we do the same; say, therefore, the following:

PRAYER O Lord Jesus! who on the cross, while enduring the most excruciating pain, didst pray with a loud voice for all men, we humbly pray Thee for Thy vicar, Pope N., for our bishop N., for all the priests and clergy, for our civil government, for the neophytes, for the unfortunate and oppressed, for all Catholics, that Thou mayst preserve them in the true faith, and strengthen them, that they may serve Thee according to their different vocations. We pray Thee also for all unbelievers, and those separated from the true fold, for the Jews, and for the heathens, that Thou mayst unite all in Thy holy Church, and bring them to eternal salvation. Amen.

What is done by the priest after these prayers?

The priest then goes down from the epistle side of the altar, takes the veiled crucifix, and extending it towards the people, uncovers it so much that the head is seen, and sings in a low voice: “Ecce lignum crucis, etc.”: “Behold the wood of the cross on which the Salvation of the world was hanged!” The choir answers: “Venite, adoremus”: “Come, let us adore!” at which all kneel, adoring Christ who died on the cross for us.

The priest then advances to the corner of the altar, uncovers the right arm of the Crucifix, and sings in a higher tone: “Ecce lignum crucis, etc.”; to which the choir responds as before.

Then at the middle of the altar he uncovers the entire Crucifix, and elevating it, sings in a still higher tone than before: “Ecce lignum, etc.” The choir responds again: “Venite adoremus.”

The image of the crucified Redeemer, which has been hidden from our view since Passion Sunday should make a deep impression upon us; it teaches us at the same time how the Savior became gradually known to the world. Jesus is adored three times, because He was mocked three times: in the courtyard of the high-priest, in Pilate’s house, and on Mt. Calvary.

When the crucifix is unveiled the priest [gives it to an acolyte to hold while he removes his shoes] like Moses, when he was about to approach Almighty God [and then venerates the crucifix, making three genuflections while approaching he] meditates on the passion of Christ [until he is] directly in front of the crucifix. He adores Jesus with humility, considers His infinite love, which brought Him to the cross and laid Him in the sepulcher for our Redemption; and then kisses with reverence the image of the crucified Savior.

During this veneration of the cross the choir chants alternately the versicles called the Reproaches, and between each part of the canticle the following words in Greek and Latin: “Holy God! Holy and strong God! Holy and immortal God! have mercy on us!” In these versicles Christ tenderly and lovingly reproaches the people who crucified Him, which we may also take to ourselves, who have so often crucified Jesus anew by sin. They are therefore called reproaches, words of complaint, and continue during the veneration of the cross by the priest. Afterwards a hymn of praise composed by St. Fortunatus [Crux fidelis] is sung in honor of the victory gained on the cross by our Savior, which calls upon us also to render praise and thanks to Jesus crucified.

Adore also in deepest humility the Savior who died on the cross, and is now victoriously enthroned; ask with sincere contrition the forgiveness of your sins, and by a threefold advance, kiss with sincere love His sacred wounds, promising to love all men, even your enemies, and to have pity on all in distress, according to His example.

What follows the veneration of the cross?

[The Hosts in the ciborium reserved at the altar of repose since Holy Thursday evening are brought in solemn procession by the priest to the high altar. The Pater noster is then recited by all as part of the preparation for Holy Communion followed by the Fraction of a Host during the Libera me and the usual prayers said before the priest communicates with the Sacred Body of Our Lord during Mass. After Communion, the Solemn Liturgy is concluded with three prayers recalling “the blessed Passion and death” of Our Savior and begging the “merciful Lord” that through these redemptive acts we might be saved.]

Is there, then, no Mass said on this day?

No; for on this day there is no bread and wine consecrated, which is the essential part of the Sacrifice of the Mass.

Why is no Mass said on this day?

Because Jesus Christ having this day sacrificed Himself on the altar of the cross in a bloody offering, it is not meet that His death sacrifice should be today repeated even in an unbloody manner. Besides this, Mass is a joyous and comforting sacrifice, and is therefore omitted because of our mourning.

What devotions may be practiced today?

Besides adoring Jesus in the holy sepulcher, the stations may be said, meditations made on the sufferings of our Lord. Let the words of St. Augustine touch your heart, when he places the crucified Redeemer before our mind in the following words:

Behold the wounds of Jesus who is hanging on the cross, the blood of the dying, the price of our redemption! His head is bowed to give the kiss of peace; His side is open to love; His arms are extended to embrace us; His whole body sacrificed for our redemption. Let these words be the subject of your meditation that He may be wholly in your heart who is nailed to the cross for you.” 

Manner of contemplating Christ’s bitter Passion

Christ also suffered for us: leaving you an example that you should follow his steps. (I Peter 2:21)

St. Alphonsus Ligouri writes:

Whence does it come that so many of the faithful look with so much indifference at Christ on the cross? They generally assist during Holy Week at the commemoration of His death without any feeling of gratitude or compassion, as if it were a fable or an event in which they had no interest. Know they not, or believe they not what the gospel relates of Christ’s passion? Indeed they know it, and believe it, but do not think of it. It is impossible that he who believes and meditates, should fail, to become burning with love for God who suffers and dies for love of him.” 

But why, we may ask here, are there so many who draw so little benefit even from the contemplation of the passion and death of Jesus? Because they fail to consider and imitate the example which Christ gives in His sufferings.

The cross of Christ,” says St. Augustine, “is not only a bed of death, but a pulpit of instruction.” It is not only a bed upon which Christ dies, but the pulpit from which He teaches us what we must do. It should now be our special aim to meditate upon the passion of Christ, and to imitate those virtues which shone forth so preeminently in His passion and death. But many neglect to do this: They usually content themselves with compassion when they see Christ enduring such great pains, but they see not with what love, humility, and meekness He bears them; and so do not endeavor to imitate His example. That you, O Christian soul, may avoid this mistake, and that you may draw the greatest possible benefit for your soul, from the contemplation of the passion, and death of Christ, attend to that which is said of it by that pious servant of God, Alphonse Rodriguez:

We must endeavor to derive from the meditation on the mysteries of the passion and death of Christ this effect, that we may imitate His virtues, and this by slowly and attentively considering each virtue by itself, exercising ourselves in forming a very great desire for it in our hearts, making a firm resolution to practice it in words and works, and also to conceive a holy aversion and horror of the opposite vice; for instance, when contemplating Christ’s condemnation to the death of the cross by Pilate, consider the humility of Jesus Christ, who being God, as humble as He was innocent, voluntarily submitted and silently accepted the unjust sentence and the ignominious death. Here you see from the example given by Jesus, how you should despise yourself, patiently bear all evil, unjust judgment; and detraction, and even seek them with joy as giving you occasion to resemble Him. To produce these necessary effects and resolutions, you should at each mystery contemplate the following particulars:

  • First, Who is it that suffers? The most innocent, the holiest, the most loving; the only-begotten Son of the Almighty Father, the Lord of heaven and earth.
  • Secondly; What pains and torments, exterior and interior, does He suffer?
  • Thirdly, In what manner does He suffer, with what patience, humility, meekness and love, does He bear all ignominy and outrage?
  • Fourthly, For whom does He suffer? For all men, for His enemies and His executioners.
  • Fifthly, By whom does He suffer? By Jews and heathens, by soldiers and tyrants, by the devil and all impious children of the world to the end of time, and all who were then united in spirit with His enemies.
  • Sixthly, Why does He suffer? To make reparation for all the sins of the whole world, to satisfy the justice of God, to reconcile the Heavenly Father, to open heaven, to give us His infinite ‘merits that we may from them have strength to follow the way to heaven.

At the consideration of each of these points, and indeed at each mystery of the passion of Christ, the imitation of the example of His virtues is the main object, because the true life of the Christian consists in the imitation of Jesus. In considering each stage of the passion of Christ place vividly before your mind the virtue which He practiced therein; contemplate it and ask yourself whether you possess this virtue, or whether you still cherish the opposite vice. If you find the latter to be the case make an act of contrition, with the firm resolution to extirpate this vice, and excite in yourself a sincere desire for the opposite virtue. In this way you will draw the greatest advantage from the contemplation of Christ’s passion, and will resemble Christ, and, as the pious Louis of Granada says, there can be no greater honor and adornment for a Christian than to resemble his divine Master, not in the way that Lucifer desired, but in that which He pointed out, when He said: “I have given you an example, that as I have done to you, so do you also.”

https://fsspx.news/en/news-events/news/instruction-good-friday-3931

Meditation on the Seven Last Words

Go here for Latin and English text of this Good Friday Service:

http://divinumofficium.com/cgi-bin/missa/missa.pl

Seven Last Words of Christ

The Seven Last “Words” of Jesus Christ from the cross are actually 7 short phrases that Jesus uttered on Calvary. To find all of the seven last words of Jesus Christ, one must read all the gospels since none of the evangelists records all 7 last words. The sayings would have been originally uttered by Jesus in the Aramaic language, but only one of the last seven words of Jesus is preserved for us in the original Aramaic, namely “Eli, Eli, lama sabacthani” or “My God, My God, why have you forsaken me,” which is actually a direct quote of the opening verse of Psalm 22. The rest of the seven last words of Jesus are found in the gospels after having been translated into Greek by the four Evangelists. We reproduce them here in Latin as well as English, since the Latin version of the Seven Last Words of Christ has been used so extensively in sacred music, notably by composers such as Franz Josef Hayden. For centuries these seven last words of Jesus have been also used as meditation points for spiritual conferences, retreats, and Lenten missions. They are particularly wonderful to use for prayer during Holy Week, especially on Good Friday. For more food for prayer during Lent and Holy Week, visit the Lenten/Holy Week on-line resource library of the Crossroads Initiative.




1. “Father, forgive them, they know not what they do.” Lk. 23: 34 Pater, dimitte illis, quia nesciunt, quid faciunt.

2. “This day thou shalt be with me in Paradise.” Hodie mecum eris in Paradiso. Lk. 23: 43

3. “Woman, behold thy son.” Mulier, ecce filius tuus. Jn. 19: 26-7

4. “My God, My God, why hast thou forsaken me?” Deus meus, Deus meus, utquid dereliquisti me? Mk. 15: 34 (Mt. 27: 46)

5. “I thirst.” Sitio. Jn. 19: 28.

6. “It is finished.” Consummatum est. Jn 19: 30

7. “Into thine hands, O Lord, I commend my spirit.” In manus tuas, Domine, commendo spiritum meum. Lk. 23:46


https://tridentine-mass.blogspot.com/2022/04/good-friday-celebration-of-lords.html

They have divided my garments among them, and for my vesture they have cast lots

Holy Thursday marks the institution of the priesthood and the Eucharist. What an incredible gift, and yet how very much it is ignored, or worse. Get to Confession, folks. Sorrowful Mysteries these three days. Blessed Triduum, all.


Holy Thursday celebrates especially the institution of the Mass at the Last Supper as the Sacrifice and Sacrament of Christian unity. On this day also, Jesus first shared His priesthood with men by ordaining the Apostles. Then He uttered the command that is the reason for every Mass: “Do this in remembrance of Me.” This is a day to think of the great love Jesus showed in instituting the Eucharist and to return that love by receiving Him in Holy Communion. Through Holy Communion we are united to Christ and to one another.

THE STRIPPING OF THE ALTARS
During the Stripping of the Altars, the celebrant recites the following antiphon and begins Psalm 21.

They have divided my garments among them, and for my vesture they have cast lots.

Psalm 21: O God my God, look upon me: why hast thou forsaken me? Far from my salvation are the words of my sins. O my God, I shall cry by day, and thou wilt not hear: and by night, and it shall not be reputed as folly in me. But thou dwellest in the holy place, the praise of Israel. In thee have our fathers hoped: they have hoped, and thou hast delivered them. They cried to thee, and they were saved: they trusted in thee, and were not confounded.
But I am a worm, and no man: the reproach of men, and the outcast of the people.
All they that saw me have laughed me to scorn: they have spoken with the lips, and wagged the head.
“He hoped in the Lord, let him deliver him: let him save him, seeing he delighteth in him.”
For thou art he that hast drawn me out of the womb: my hope from the breasts of my mother.
I was cast upon thee from the womb. From my mother’s womb thou art my God,
Depart not from me. For tribulation is very near: for there is none to help me.
Many calves have surrounded me: fat bulls have besieged me.
They have opened their mouths against me, as a lion ravening and roaring.
I am poured out like water; and all my bones are scattered. My heart is become like wax melting in the midst of my bowels.
My strength is dried up like a potsherd, and my tongue hath cleaved to my jaws: and thou hast brought me down into the dust of death.
For many dogs have encompassed me: the council of the malignant hath besieged me. They have dug my hands and feet.
They have numbered all my bones. And they have looked and stared upon me.
They parted my garments amongst them; and upon my vesture they cast lots.
But thou, O Lord, remove not thy help to a distance from me; look towards my defense.
Deliver, O God, my soul from the sword: my only one from the hand of the dog.
Save me from the lion’s mouth; and my lowness from the horns of the unicorns.
I will declare thy name to my brethren: in the midst of the church will I praise thee.
Ye that fear the Lord, praise him: all ye the seed of Jacob, glorify him.
Let all the seed of Israel fear him: because he hath not slighted nor despised the supplication of the poor man. Neither hath he turned away his face form me: and when I cried to him he heard me.
With thee is my praise in a great church: I will pay my vows in the sight of them that fear him.
The poor shall eat and shall be filled: and they shall praise the Lord that seek him: their hearts shall live for ever and ever.
All the ends of the earth shall remember, and shall be converted to the Lord: And all the kindreds of the Gentiles shall adore in his sight.
For the kingdom is the Lord’s; and he shall have dominion over the nations.
All the fat ones of the earth have eaten and have adored: all they that go down to the earth shall fall before him.
And to him my soul shall live: and my seed shall serve him.
There shall be declared to the Lord a generation to come: and the heavens shall shew forth his justice to a people that shall be born, which the Lord hath made.

They have divided my garments among them, and for my vesture they have cast lots.

https://tridentine-mass.blogspot.com/2022/04/holy-thursday.html

U.S. Military Intelligence Official Refutes ‘Russian Atrocities’ Claims

U.S. Military Intelligence Official Refutes ‘Russian Atrocities’ Claims

Posted by b on April 13, 2022 at 14:55 UTC

Russian soldiers left the town Bucha in Ukraine on March 30. Two days later the Ukrainian Gestapo like SBU and men of the fascist Azov battalion moved in to find and remove ‘traitors’. On April 2/3 video was published that showed freshly killed men laying on the streets of Bucha. Several of them had white arm bands signaling to Russian forces to see them as friendlies.

The ‘west’ and Ukrainian officials immediately called those dead the result of ‘Russian atrocities’.

had called it a provocation:

The Bucha ‘Russian’ atrocities propaganda onslaught may have worked well in the ‘west’ but it lacks evidence that Russia had anything to do with it.

The former Indian ambassador M.K. Bhadrakumar calls it an outright fake: …

And a fake it was.

Thankfully there are still some sane U.S. Defense Intelligence Agency officials and William Arkin is talking with them:

Last Wednesday, Bucha Mayor Anatolii Fedoruk said that 320 people had been killed in the town of 37,000.

“It is ugly,” a senior official with the Defense Intelligence Agency tells Newsweek. “But we forget that two peer competitors fought over Bucha for 36 days, and that the town was occupied, that Russian convoys and positions inside the town were attacked by the Ukrainians and vice versa, that ground combat was intense, that the town itself was literally fought over.”

“I am not for a second excusing Russia’s war crimes, nor forgetting that Russia invaded the country,” says the DIA official. “But the number of actual deaths is hardly genocide. If Russia had that objective or was intentionally killing civilians, we’d see a lot more than less than .01 percent in places like Bucha.”

320 of 37,000 is not .01 percent. But we do not know how many of those dead were Russian or Ukrainian soldiers. Some of the dead were so called ‘civilian defenders’ which were supposedly local civilians to whom the government had handed guns to ‘fight the Russians’. During a war a ‘civilian’ with a government issued gun shooting at enemy soldiers is a combatant, not a civilian.

The DIA official continues:

“Have the Russians been indiscriminate? Absolutely. But it shouldn’t too surprising. It’s part and parcel of the Russian way of war, lining up their artillery guns and letting loose,” the DIA official says. “But here in particular, in Bucha and the other towns around it—Irpin and Hostomel—there was intense ground fighting that involved almost 20 battalion tactical groups.”

I doubt that there is really intentional ‘indiscriminate’ Russian artillery fire. The Russians have held back quite a lot and paid in blood for it.

One should also note that the often shown mass graves in Bucha were not from recent actions but had been dug on March 10 after heavy fighting when Russian soldiers tried to enter the town:

Maxar Technologies, which collects and publishes satellite imagery of Ukraine, said the first signs of excavation for a mass grave at the Church of St. Andrew and Pyervozvannoho All Saints were seen on March 10.

“More recent coverage on March 31st shows the grave site with an approximately 45-foot-long trench in the southwestern section of the area near the church,” Maxar said.

The DIA official clearly says the civilian casualties in Ukraine, which are quite low, get overplayed and that attributing them solely to Russia is wrong…

https://www.moonofalabama.org/2022/04/us-military-intelligence-official-refutes-russian-atrocities-claims.html#more