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This Sunday, the first of the ecclesiastical year, is called, in the chronicles and charts of the middle ages, Ad te levavi Sunday, from the first words of the Introit; or, Aspiciens a longe, from the first words of one of the responsories of Matins…
The Saturday brings us back to Mary. Let us again contemplate her prerogatives; and yet, while so doing, let us still keep our thoughts on holy Church, which has been the subject of our meditations during this week. Let us, today, consider the relations existing between Mary and the Church:—they will make us the better understand these two Mothers of mankind.
Church of Jesus! that wast promised by him to the earth during the days of his mortal life; that camest forth from his sacred Side when wounded by the Spear upon the Cross; that wast organized and perfected by him during the last days of his sojourn here below///
There is nothing on earth so grand, nothing so exalted, as the Princes of the Church—the Pastors appointed by the Son of God—who are to follow on, in unbroken succession, to the end of time: but let us not suppose that the subjects of this vast empire called the Church are devoid of dignity and greatness.
There is nothing on earth so grand, nothing so exalted, as the Princes of the Church—the Pastors appointed by the Son of God—who are to follow on, in unbroken succession, to the end of time: but let us not suppose that the subjects of this vast empire called the Church are devoid of dignity and greatness.
Our neophytes closed the Octave of the Resurrection yesterday. They were before us in receiving the admirable mystery; their solemnity would finish earlier than ours. This, then, is the eighth clay for us who kept the Pasch on the Sunday, and did not anticipate it on the vigil. It reminds us of all the glory and joy of that Feast of Feasts, which united the whole of Christendom in one common feeling of triumph.
The seventh day of the gladdest of weeks has risen upon us, bringing with it the memory of the Creator’s rest, after the six days of creation. It also reminds us of that other rest, which this same God took in the tomb; like a warrior who, when sure of the victory, calmly reposes before the final combat with the enemy. Our Jesus slept His rest in the sepulcher, after permitting death to vanquish Him: but when He awoke by His Resurrection, what a victory over the tyrant! Let us, today, visit this holy sepulcher and venerate it: it will speak to us of Him we love, and make our love the warmer. Here, we shall say to ourselves, here rested our dear Master, after He had died for us! Here was the scene of the glorious victory, when He arose again, and this, too, for us!
Eight days ago, we were standing near the cross, on which died the Man of Sorrows, abandoned by His Father, and rejected, by a solemn judgment of the Synagogue, as a false Messias: and lo! this is the sixth time the sun has risen upon our earth since the voice of the Angel was heard proclaiming the Resurrection of this adorable Victim. The Church, His widowed spouse, then lay prostrate before the justice of the eternal God and Father who spared not even His own Son, because He had taken upon Himself the likeness of sin; but now she is feasting in the sight of her Jesus’ triumph, for He bids her be exceedingly glad. But if within this glad Octave there be one day, rather than another, on which she should proclaim His triumph, it surely is the Friday; for it was on that day she saw Him filled with reproaches and crucified.
After having glorified the Lamb of God, and the Passover whereby our Lord destroyed our enemies; after having celebrated our deliverance by water, and our entrance into the Promised Land; let us now fix our respectful gaze upon Him whose triumph is prefigured by all these prodigies. So dazzling is the glory that now beams from this Man-God that, like the prophet of Patmos, we shall fall prostrate before Him. But He is so wonderful, too, in his love, that He will encourage us to enjoy the grand vision…
The Hebrew word Pasch signifies passage, and we explained yesterday how this great day first became sacred by reason of the Lord’s Passover. But there is another meaning which attaches to the word, as we learn from the early Fathers, and the Jewish rabbis. The Pasch is, moreover, the passage of the Israelites from Egypt to the Promised Land. These three great facts really happened on one and the same night: the banquet of the lamb, the death of the first-born of the Egyptians, and the departure from Egypt. Let us, today, consider how this third figure is a further development of our Easter mystery.