Category: 27.iii.22 Quadragesima IV

This Saturday is called sitientes from the opening words of the Introit. Since the time of Pope Gelasius it has been a day for conferring Holy Orders, and was therefore once a day of great fast, extending through the night. In the Epistle the prophet Isaias sees hastening from all sides the Christian people who are waiting with holy impatience for the Easter Feast, when at last their souls may quench their thirst in the springs of grace through the Sacraments of Baptism and Penance.

The resurrection of Lazarus may be regarded as a type of the sacrament of Penance. Jesus alone has power to convert the heart, but He delegates to his apostles and ministers the office of freeing Lazarus from the bands and the winding­sheet which envelop him.