Ä f r j 611 S~ DIGEST O F T H E LITURGICAL SEASONS from the works of Dont Prosper Gueranger, O.S.B. by Bernard Beck, O.S.B., S.T.D. A G r a i l P u b l i c a t i o n St. Meinrad Indiana D I G E S T of the L I T U R G I C A L S E A S O N S from the works of Dom Prosper Gueranger, O.S.B. by Bernard Beck, O.S.B., S.T.D. Price twenty-five cents A G r a i l P u b l i c a t i o n St. Meinrad Indiana Imprimi potest: 4« Ignatius Esser, O.S.B. Abbot of St. Meinrad's Abbey Nihil obstat: Reverend Cyril Gaul, O.S.B. Censor librorum Imprimatur: 4« Joseph E. Ritter, D.D. Archbishop of Indianapolis Feast of All Saints Note: Reprinted from THE MASS YEAR for 191*3. Copyrighted by St. Meinratfa Abbey, Inc. 1942. All rights reserved. TABLE OF CONTENTS Advent - • Christmas 11 Epiphany - 21 Lent - - 31 Paschal Time 4 7 Pentecost ----- D v a s A l o x \n S v o C v u w A t e D I V M I T E R 4 4 A M W T C K v i l P O T S r t S S £ R / * \ O T v V S " D O A A I / S E T > £ C A E J J ^ V J E / S I T - h Out o/ tfce darknees of the night of sin, Christ, the Word- Made-Flesh cornea to the Virgin Mary to give Himself to the world for its salvation. A D V E N T History of Advent © H E N A M E A d v e n t ( f r o m the L a t i n word adventus, which signifies a coming) is ap- plied to t h a t period of the y e a r during which the Church requires the f a i t h f u l to prepare f o r the celebration of the f e a s t of Christmas, the anniversary of the birth of Jesus Christ. The mystery of that great day has every r i g h t to the honor of being prepared f o r by p r a y e r and w o r k s of penance. W e do not know w i t h certainty when this season of preparation w a s first instituted. Still i t would seem t h a t its observance first began in the Western Church, because the Church of Rome kept the f e a s t of Christmas on December 25 a t a much earlier time than did the Eastern Church, which ob- served Christmas on December 25 only towards the close of the f o u r t h century. A d v e n t is a time of preparation f o r the b i r t h of our Savior by w o r k s of penance. W e find, as f a r back as the fifth century in the Western Church, the custom of g i v i n g exhortations to the people in order to prepare them f o r the f e a s t of Christmas. It w a s likened to the time of Lent, the period of preparation f o r E a s t e r . Although n o t ' s o strictly consecrated to penance as Lent, still in various places w e see that the f a i t h f u l were expected to f a s t three days a week, Mon- days, Wednesdays, and F r i d a y s f r o m the f e a s t of St. Martin (Nov. 1 1 ) until Christmas, a period of forty-three days. T h i s interval was commonly 2 Advent called St. Martin's Lent. Later on (some time after the year 800) the practice of fasting dur- ing Advent, which had the force of sacred law, began to be relaxed so that only abstinence was observed. A s time went on, even abstinence was no longer observed. The length of the period, moreover, was shortened to four weeks. The Eastern Churches still continue to observe the fast of Advent, though with much less vigor than that of Lent. It consists of forty days, beginning with November 14, the day on which the fast of the Apostle St. Philip is kept. Fast- ing, hi its strict sense, is binding only on seven out of the forty days, while the whole period goes under the name of St. Philip's Lent. But if the exterior practices of penance which formerly sanctified the season of Advent have been, in the Western Church, so gradually re- laxed as to have become quite obsolete except in monasteries, the general character of the liturgy of this holy time has not changed; and it is by their zeal m following its spirit, that the faithful will prove their earnestness in preparing for Christmas. The liturgical form of Advent as it now ex- ists in the Roman Church has gone through certain modifications. St. Gregory the Great (+ 604) seems to have been the first to draw up the office f o r this season, which originally in- cluded five Sundays. He it is who probably originated the ecclesiastical precept of Advent, although the custom of devoting a longer or shorter period to a preparation f o r Christmas Advent 3 had been observed from the earliest times, and the abstinence and fast of this holy season first began in France. St. Gregory therefore fixed for the churches of the Latin rite the form of the Office for this Lent-like season, and sanctioned the fast which had already been established, granting a certain latitude to the several church- es as to the manner of its observance. It is remarkable that the five Sundays of Ad- vent of ancient times were counted inversely, that is, the nearest to Christmas was called the first Sunday, and so on with the rest. So f a r back as the ninth and tenth centuries, these Sundays were reduced to four. From that time, the Roman Church has always observed this arrangement of Advent, which gives it four weeks, the four being that in which Christmas days falls, .unless December 25 be a Sunday. We may therefore consider the present discipline of the observance of Advent as having lasted a thousand years, at least as f a r as the Church of Rome is concerned; f o r some of the churches in France kept up the number of five Sundays as late as the thirteenth century, while the Ambro- sian liturgy, even to this day, has six weeks of Advent. The Eastern Churches have no proper office for Advent, neither do they celebrate during this time the Mass of the Presanctified, as they do in Lent. In the offices f o r the saints whose feasts occur between November 14 and the Sunday nearest Christmas, there are frequent allusions to the birth of the Savior, to the mater- nity of Mary, to the from the date of the Jewish Pasch which could be celebrated on any day of the week, and de- cided that Easter, the Christian Pasch, should always be celebrated on Sunday. In deference to the great solemnity of Easter, decrees were passed by the early Christian em- perors which forbade all law proceedings from Palm Sunday to White Sunday. St. Augustine, in a sermon he preached on the octave of Easter, exhorts the faithful to extend to the whole year this suspension of lawsuits, disputes, and enmi- ties, which the civil law forbade during these fifteen days. The Church imposes upon her children the obligation of receiving Holy Communion at Easter. In early ages Communion was frequent, even daily. By degrees the fervor of the faithful grew cold towards this august mystery. In the sixth century the faithful were required to re- ceive Holy Communion at least at Christmas, Easter, and Pentecost. In the thirteenth century the Church, seeing the ever-growing indiiference 49 Paschal Time of her children, decreed w i t h r e g r e t that Chris- tians should be strictly bound to Holy Commun- ion only once a year, and that a t E a s t e r time. The fifty days between E a s t e r and Pentecost have ever been considered b y the Church as most holy. The first week, which is more expressly devoted to celebrating Our Lord's Resurrection, is kept as one continued f e a s t ; but the remain- der of the fifty days is also marked w i t h special honors. To say nothing of the j o y which is the characteristic of this period of the year, and of which the Alleluia is the expression, Christian tradition has assigned to E a s t e r t i d e two prac- tices, which distinguish i t f r o m every other season. The first is that f a s t i n g is not pre- scribed during the entire interval. I t is an ex- tension of the ancient precept of never f a s t i n g on a Sunday, and the whole of E a s t e r t i d e is con- sidered as one long Sunday. T h i s practice, which would seem to have come down f r o m the time of the Apostles, w a s accepted by the Religious Rules of both E a s t and West, even by the severest. The second consists in not kneeling at the Divine Office f r o m E a s t e r to Peentecost. Inasmuch as the f a i t h f u l seldom assist at the canonical hours, this practice is little known to them. The Mystery of Paschal Time Of all the seasons of the liturgical y e a r Eastertide is by f a r the richest in mystery. One might even say that E a s t e r is the summit of the M y s t e r y of the sacred l i t u r g y . The Christian 50 Paschal Time who is happy enough to enter with his whole mind and heart into the knowledge and love of the Paschal Mystery has reached the very center of the supernatural life. Hence it is that the Church uses every effort in order to effect this. What she has hitherto done was all intended as a preparation f o r Easter. The holy longings of Advent, the sweet joys of Christmas, the severe truths of Septuagésima, the contrition and pen- ance of Lent, the heart-rending sight of the Passion—all were given us as preliminaries, as paths, to the substance and glorious Pasch, which is now ours. God prepared f o r the Christian Easter and Pentecost by those of the Jewish law—a thou- sand five hundred years of typical beauty pre- figured the reality. During the Paschal season, then, we have brought before us the two great manifestations of God's goodness towards man- kind, the Pasch of Israel and the Christian Pasch, the Pentecost of Sinai and the Pente- cost of the Church. The figures of the Old Law were fulfilled in the realities of the new Easter and Pentecost, and the twilight of the Mosaic Law made way f o r the full daylight of the Gospel. Eternity in heaven is the true Pasch. Hence, our Pasch here on earth is the feast of feasts, the solemnity of solemnities. The human race was dead; i t was the victim of that sentence whereby it was condemned to lie, mere dust, in the tomb; the gates of life were shut against it. But the Son of God rises from His grave and takes possession of eternal life. Since, aa 51 Paschal Time St. Paul says, "He is the first-born from the dead," (Coloss. 1 : 1 8 ) , that is, we shall rise as Christ has risen, the Church would have us consider ourselves as having already risen with Jesus and as having already taken possession of eternal life. The holy Fathers bid us look on these fifty days of Easter as the image of our eternal happiness. They are days devoted ex- clusively to j o y ; every sort of sadness is for- bidden; and the Church cannot speak to her divine Spouse without the glorious cry of heav- en, the Alleluia. Our Lord chose Sunday f o r His resurrection. It was on this favored day of the week that He had, four thousand years previously, created light. By selecting it now f o r the commencement of the new life which He graciously imparts to man, He would show us that Easter is the re- newal of the entire creation. Not only is the anniversary of His glorious resurrection to be henceforth the greatest of days, but every Sun- day throughout the year is to be a sort of Easter, a holy and sacred day. Now that she is illumined with the brightness of the resurrection, she de- votes to the contemplation of His work, the first day of the week. It is the day of light, f o r on it He called forth material light (which was the first manifestation of life upon chaos) and on the same, He that is the "Brightness of his glory" (Heb. 1 : 3 ) and the " L i g h t of the world" (John 8:12) rose from the darkness of the tomb. Let, then, the week with its Sabbath pass b y ; what we Christians want is the eighth day, the day that is beyond the measure of time, the day 52 Paschal Time of eternity, the day whose light is not intermit- tent or partial, but endless and unlimited. Thus speak the holy Fathers when explaining the sub- stitution of the Sunday f o r the Saturday. The ancient Sabbath was a memorial of the visible creation. But our Sabbath has been transferred from the seventh to the eighth day, and the eighth is the first. And rightly was the seventh changed into the eighth, because we Christians put our joy in a better work than the creation of the world. This is no less than the salvation of the world. The mystery of the seventh followed by an eighth day, as the holy one, is again brought before us by the number of weeks which form Eastertide. These weeks are seven; they form a week of weeks, and their morrow is again a Sunday, the glorious feast of Pentecost. These mysterious numbers—which God Himself fixed when He instituted the first Pentecost after the first Pasch—were adopted by the Apostles when they regulated the Christian Easter, as we learn from all the ancient interpreters of the mysteries of the holy liturgy. The whole season of Easter, then, is marked with the mystery expressed by each Sunday of the year. Sunday is to us the great day of our week, because it is beautified with the splendor of our Lord's resurrection, of which the creation of material light was but a type. The Christian Paschal Time was prefigured in the Old Law. Their Pentecost fell on the fiftieth day a f t e r the Pasch; it was the morrow of the seven weeks. Another figure of our Eastertide 53 Paschal Time w a s the y e a r of Jubilee, which God bade Moses to prescribe to His people. E a c h fiftieth y e a r the houses and lands that had been alienated dur- i n g the preceding forty-nine y e a r s returned to their original o w n e r s ; and those Israelites who had been compelled by poverty to sell themselves as slaves recovered their liberty. T h i s year, which was properly called the sabbatical year, was the sequel of the preceding seven weeks of years, and w a s thus the image of our eighth day, whereon the Son of Mary, b y H i s Resur- rection, redeemed us f r o m the slavery of the tomb and restored us to the inheritance of our immortality. The rites peculiar to Eastertide are t w o : the unceasing repetition of the Alleluia, and the color of the vestments used f o r its two g r e a t solemni- t i e s : white f o r the first, E a s t e r ; and red f o r the second, Pentecost. White is appropriate to the resurrection, f o r i t is the m y s t e r y of eternal light, which knows neither spot nor s h a d o w ; i t is the m y s t e r y t h a t produces in a f a i t h f u l soul the sentiment of p u r i t y and j o y . Pentecost, which gives us the Holy Spirit, the "consuming fire" (Heb. 1 2 : 2 9 ) , is symbolized b y the red vestments, which express the m y s t e r y of the divine Paraclete coming down in the f o r m of fiery tongues upon them that were assembled in the Cenacle. Practice During Paschal Time The practice f o r t h i s holy season mainly con- sists in the spiritual j o y w h i c h i t should produce 54 Paschal Time in every soul that is risen with Jesus. This joy is a foretaste of eternal happiness, and the Christian ought to consider it a duty to keep it up within him by ardently seeking a f t e r that life which is in our divine Head, and by care- fully shunning sin which causes death. During the last nine weeks we have mourned for our sins and done penance for them; we have fol- lowed "Jesus to Calvary; but now our Holy Mother the Church is urgent in bidding us, re- joice. She herself has laid aside all sorrow. The voice of her weeping is changed into the song of a delighted Spouse. Among the children of the Church there are two classes, the strong and spiritual minded and the weak and carnal minded. In order that she might impart the Paschal joy to all her children, the Church has taken their weakness into ac- count. While she requires a strict fast of forty days in preparation for the feast of the resur- rection, she holds out at the same time the bright promise of the gladness, light, life, joy, and peace of Easter when the restraint of the Lenten mortification comes to an end. Thus does she produce in those of her children who have no elevation of soul sentiments in harmony with the great feast, such as the most perfect feel. By this means all, both fervent and tepid, unite their voices in one same hymn of praise to the risen Lord. The reason why many people are not much affected by Easter lies in this that a love of ease and a false conscience lead so many Christians to treat the law of Lent with as much indiffer- 55 Paschal Time ence as if there were no such law existing. Hence, Easter comes upon them as a f e a s t — i t may be as a great feast—but that is all; they experience little of that thrilling joy which fills the heart of the Church during this season, and which she evinces in everything she does. And if this be their case even on the glorious day itself, how can it be expected that they should keep up, f o r the whole fifty days, the spirit of gladness which is the very essence of Easter? They have not observed the f a s t or the absti- nence of Lent. Even the mitigated form in which the Church now presents them to her children, in consideration of their weakness, wa? too severe for them. They sought, or took, a total dispensation from this law of Lenten mortifica- tion, and without regret or remorse. Easter comes with its Alieluia, and it finds no response in their soul. How could i t ? Penance has not done its work of purification; it has not spirit- ualized them; how then could they follow their risen Jesus, whose life is henceforth more of heaven than of earth? To her faithful children the Church holds out her Easter joy, from which, now, nothing can distract them. "Can the wedding guests mourn, as long as the Bridegroom is with them?" (Matt. 9 : 1 5 ) . Jesus is to be with us f o r forty days; He is to suffer no more and die no more; let our feelings be in keeping with His now endless glory and bliss. True, He is to leave us, He is to ascend to the right hand of His Father, but He will not leave us orphans. He will send us the Divine Comforter, who will abide with us 56 Easter f o r e v e r (John 1 4 : 1 6 - 1 8 ) . The consoling words j u s t quoted above must be our E a s t e r t i d e text. T h e y are the key to the whole l i t u r g y of t h i s holy season. W e must have them before us, and we shall find by experience that the j o y of Eastertide is as salutary as the contrition and penance of Lent. Easter T h i s is the day which the Lord hath made; let us be glad and rejoice t h e r e i n ! T h i s is the glad day on which Jesus rose triumphant f r o m the tomb. A t its dawn Mary, the Mother of Sorrows, is w a i t i n g in hope and patience f o r the blissful moment of her Son's return f r o m the g r a v e and death. Magdalen and the other holy women are preparing to s t a r t f o r the sepulchre to anoint the body of Jesus. In limbo the soul of our crucified Lord is about to give the glad word of departure to the m y r i a d s of long-imprisoned holy souls who surround Him in adoring love. Death is still holding silent sway over the sepulchre, where rests the body of Jesus. N e v e r has Death held in his g r a s p a prey so noble as this that now lies in the tomb near C a l v a r y ; but, too, never has Death re- ceived such a defeat as the one about to take place. T h e V i c t i m of C a l v a r y is to conquer him forever, f o r this is He of whom i t is w r i t t e n in the prophecy: " 0 D e a t h ! I will be t h y d e a t h ! " (Osee 1 3 : 1 4 ) . Divine Justice could not allow the body t h a t w a s united to the Word of God to see corruption. So neither could i t permit the dominion of death Easter 57 to be long over such a Victim. The sign of Jonas the prophet is about to be given to the world. Three days in the tomb—the afternoon and night of Friday, the whole of Saturday, and a few hours of the Sunday—were enough to satis- f y divine justice, enough to certify the death of the Crucified, enough to complete the martyrdom of the Queen of Sorrows. A s the dawn of Sunday struggles with the gloom of night, the soul of Jesus darts from the prison of limbo, followed by the whole multitude of the holy souls that are around Him. It reaches and enters the sepulchre, where it re- unites itself with its body. The sacred body re- turns to life, raises itself up and throws aside the winding-sheet, the spices, and the bands. The bruises have disappeared, the blood has been brought back to the veins, and from those limbs that had been torn by the scourging, from that head that had been mangled by the thorns, from those hands and feet that had been pierced with nails, there darts forth a dazzling light that fills the'tomb. The holy angels had clustered round the stable and adored the Babe of Beth- lehem; they are now around the sepulchre adoring the conqueror of death. Quicker than a ray of light Jesus passed through the stone that closed the entrance to the tomb. Unmoved was the stone and untouched the seal of Pilate upon it, and yet Jesus was free. Thus, as the Holy Fathers teach us, was it at His birth. He appeared to the gaze of Mary without having offered the slightest violence to her maternal womb. The birth and the resurrec- 58 Easter tion bear on them the seal of resemblance: in the first, it is a Virgin Mother; in the last, it is a sealed tomb giving forth its captive God. As at the death of Jesus, so at His resurrec- tion an earthquake shakes the foundations of the world. The stone is rolled back by an angel. His presence struck the guards with fear and terror. Recovering from their shock they rush to the city and relate what they have seen. Jesus, however, not yet seen by mortal eye, speeds to His holy Mother. She stood near Him to the last. She had united the sacrifice of her mother's heart with that He made upon the cross. It is just, therefore, that she should be the first to partake of the joy of His resurrec- tion. The gospel does not speak of it. The reason why it mentions other appearances of Jesus and not this one is that the former were intended as proofs of the resurrection, while this visit to His Mother was made by Jesus because of the tender love of His sacred heart for her. Both nature and grace required that this first visit should be to such a mother, and Christian hearts dwell with delight on the meditation of the mystery. What must have been the rapture of the soul of Mary during the visit of her Divine Son? Certainly the joy of it must have made her forget all the sorrow she had endured and bathed her soul in consolation. A f t e r this first manifestation of Jesus to His holy mother, He leaves her to show Himself to others, that so the glory of His resurrection may be made known to the world. His next mani- festation is again to a woman, Mary Magdalen, Easter 59 to whom much had been forgiven because she had loved much. Neither death nor the tomb has shaken her faith in Jesus or her love f o r Him. She is one of the holy women who go, before the sun is risen, to embalm the body of Jesus. A f t e r their disappointment at the tomb in not finding the body of Jesus and when they are taught by the angels to believe in the resur- rection of Jesus, they are commissioned to "go, tell His disciples and Peter, that He goes before you into Qalilee" (Mark 1 6 : 7 ) . The holy women faithfully and joyfully deliver their message, but it is all set down as womanish excitement. Magdalen hastens once more to the tomb of her dear Master. A soul like hers, ever earnest, and now tormented with anxiety, cannot endure to rest. Where is the body of Jesus? Suddenly she sees a man standing before her, but she does not recognize him. Her love dis- tracts her, f o r it is not guided by faith. Her desire to find Him as she thinks Him to be, that is, dead, blinds her from seeing Him as He really is, living and near her. A single word from Him, however, is enough to make her understand. Jesus says to her in the tone of voice she so well understands: "Mary." "Master," exclaims the delighted and humble Magdalen. All is now clear; she believes. Jesus does not allow a demonstration of her affection by allowing her to kiss His sacred feet as on the happy day when she received her pardon in the house of the pharisee. Instead, He sends her, the first witness of His resurrection, to publish the great mystery -to His apostles. 60 Easter She becomes, as the Fathers express it, the Apostle of the very apostles. The second apparition of Jesus, then, is to Mary Magdalen; it is the first in testimony of His resurrection, f o r the one to His Blessed Mother was f o r another reason. We see in the apparition to Magdalen the infinite goodness of the Redeemer, Who, before seeking to fix the faith of His resurrection in them that are to preach it to all nations, deigns to recompense the love of this woman, who followed Him even to the cross, was faithful to Him a f t e r His death, and loved Him most, because most forgiven. By thus showing Himself to Magdalen, Jesus teaches us that He is more anxious to satisfy the love He bears His faithful creature than to provide f o r His own glory. The third apparition of Jesus is again td women, to Salome and Mary, the mother of James, the companions of Magdalen in the early morning. They are going back to the city of Jerusalem when Jesus meets and greets them. Overcome with joy, they fall down and adore Him and kiss His sacred feet. These two favored women are permitted to do what was denied the more favored and fervent Magdalen. Before the day is over, Jesus will show Himself to them whom He has chosen as the heralds of His glory. But He first wishes to honor these generous women who, braving every danger, and triumph- ing over the weakness of their sex, were more faithful to Him in His passion than the men He had so highly honored as to make them His Apostles. Easter 61 For His first worshippers at Bethlehem, Jesus chose a few simple-minded shepherds, whose power to herald the great event was confined to their own village. And yet the birthday of this little Child is now the era of every civilized nation. For the first witnesses of His resurrec- tion, He chose three weak women, and yet the whole earth now celebrates the anniversary of His resurrection. God's thoughts are not our thoughts, and His ways not our ways. He does not need the apparently great ones of this world to advance His cause, but He uses the humble and lowly in order that proud man may learn to know the power of God and be constrained to exclaim with Moses at the crossing of the Red Sea: "Who, 0 Lord, is like unto Thee among the strong?" (Exod. 1 5 : 1 ) . The day is fast advancing and Jesus has not yet shown Himself to His disciples. They have heard of His resurrection through the holy women, but being disappointed in their Master, they will not believe. Although Jesus has often spoken of His resurrection to them, this does not recur to their minds. They are still carnal- minded men. To these men, however, who are to preach His divinity to the farthest ends of the world, Jesus must now show Himself. He must now provide f o r His own honor and glory. But again He sets that aside to show the generosity of His heart. Peter, the head of the apostolic college, had denied Him. Touched by the look of reproach and pardon of his Master, he had done nothing since then, save shed tears. Jesus would how console the humble penitent, tell him with 62 Easter His own lips that He has pardoned him, and confirm him by this mark of His divine predilec- tion in his high office. Jesus appears suddenly before him, the conqueror, the glorious Messias. Yet, what most affects the apostle is the unspeak- able goodness of his Lord who comes to console him. Who shall describe this interview between the penitent Peter and his offended but forgiving Master? What joy must have filled the apostle's heart? This was the fourth of Jesus's mani- festations. The Sunday is slowly drawing to its end. Still Jesus does not make His apostles the witnesses of His next manifestation. He would first con- sole two hearts that are grieving on His account, though their grief comes from their want of faith. These are the two disciples who went to Emmaus on that first Easter Day. So absorbed are they in their sorrow that they do not recog- nize Jesus as He overtakes and walks with them. Their hearts burn to hear Him talk £hd they take Him into their house at Emmaus. But as yet they do not recognize Him. We are like these disciples when we allow ourselves to be influenced by human thoughts and feelings. Jesus is near us, He speaks to us, He instructs us, He con- soles u s ; and yet, oftentimes, it is long before we recognize Him. A t length they recognize Him in the breaking of bread. They would throw themselves at His feet, but He is gone, leaving them mute with surprise, and yet transported with exceeding joy. It is the fifth apparition. The two disciples cannot wait. They hurry back to Jerusalem to Easter 63 inform the rest of their grand experience. The apostles have j u s t been informed b y P e t e r that he had seen Jesus. Y e s , they are convinced now that the Lord is risen. B u t how f e a r f u l they are. T h e y are all to- gether in one house behind bolted doors. The people, believing the story of grave-robbing as told b y the soldiers, might attempt to use vio- lence against them. A s the ten of them, f o r Thomas had gone into the city under cover of darkness, were discussing the great events of this day, lo! Jesus stands before them. T h a t well-known voice and figure and f a c e ! — y e s , i t is J e s u s ! " P e a c e be to you." B u t they are a f r a i d . T h e y firmly believe Jesus to be risen, but might not this be a phantom? T h e r e f o r e Jesus invites them to touch Him, and He eats in their pres- ence. T h i s loving f a m i l i a r i t y of t h e i r Master makes them weep w i t h joy, and when Thomas returns to them, they express their delight in these simple w o r d s : " W e have seen the L o r d " (John 2 0 : 2 5 ) . I t is the sixth apparition of Jesus on the day of His resurrection. Thus did Jesus give abundant proof of His victory over death. He appeared six times on that first glorious E a s t e r D a y to content His own love and confirm our f a i t h . Lord Jesus, may we so live as to merit to enjoy the eternal E a s t e r w i t h Thee in heaven. The Ascension of Our Lord A f t e r His glorious resurrection Jesus spent f o r t y days w i t h His dear ones on earth before t a k i n g possession of His eternal glory at the 64 Easter right hand of His Father. The angelic choirs are preparing to receive Jesus, their promised King, into heaven. The holy souls that were liberated from limbo on the morning of the resurrection are waiting f o r the happy moment when they will enter heaven's gate in company with their Redeemer. Meanwhile Jesus has to visit His disciples and bid them farewell, f o r they are to be left f o r some years longer in this vale of tears. They are in the cenacle impatiently awaiting His com- ing. Suddenly He appears in their midst. His mother is carried away with joy. His disciples and the holy women fall down and affectionately adore the Master, Who has come to take His leave of them. He sits down to table with them and this celebrated company eats its last repast with Jesus. Their ears are attuned to hear Him speak, f o r His parting words will be highly treasured. His language is not all affection. He begins by chiding them f o r their incredulity, wherewith they heard of His resurrection. He is going to entrust His apostles with the most sublime mission ever given to man. He would, therefore, prepare them f o r it by humbling them. Then assuming a tone of authority, He says to them: "Go into the whole world, and preach the gospel to every creature" (Mark 1 6 : 1 4 ) . They are to accomplish their mission by miracles. These grand signs are to be the foundation of His Church just as He had made them the ar- gument of His own divine mission. Here, then, we have men unknown to the world and devoid of every human means, and yet commissioned Easter 65 to conquer the earth and make it acknowledge Jesus as its King. The world ignores their very existence. But they will be strengthened f o r their great expedition. "But wait here in the city," says Jesus, "until you are clothed with power from on high" (Luke" 24:19). The armor that they are to put on consists in this that "you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days hence" (Acts 1:4-5). But now the hour of separation is come. Jesus rises; His Blessed Mother and the hundred and twenty persons assembled there prepare to follow Him. The holy group makes its way to the Mount of Olives. It is the last time Jesus walks through the faithless city. He is invisible to the eyes of people who denied Him, but visible to His disciples, and goes before them, as hereto- fore the pillar of fire led on the Israelites. How beautiful and imposing a sight! Mary, the dis- ciples, and the holy women accompanying Jesus in His heavenward journey, which is to lead Him to the right hand of His eternal Father! It was commemorated in the Middle Ages by a solemn procession before the Mass of Ascension Day. What religious times were those, when Chris- tians took delight in honoring every action of our Redeemer! They could not be satisfied as we are with a few vague notions which can produce nothing but an equally vague devotion. Jesus proceeded to the very place, the Mount of Olives, where He had begun His passion, to begin His life in heaven. The path to humilia- tion aiid death becomes the path to triumph and glory. A s the holy group stands on the elevation 66 Easter overlooking the city of Jerusalem, the apostles, still dreaming their vain dreams of an earthly kingdom, venture to ask the Master: "Lord, wilt thous at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?" (Acts 1 : 6 ) . Something great is about to happen, and their carnal thoughts can con- jecture only a material future. To their query Jesus answers in a tone of severity that it is not for them to know the times or days appoint- ed by the Father. Their task, and this ought to be uppermost in the minds of the disciples, is the conversion of the pagan world, the establish- ment of the Church. Jesus reminds them of the mission He has just given to them: "You shall receive," He says, "power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you; and you shall be witness- es f o r me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and Samaria, and even to the very ends of the earth" (Acts 1:8). According to a tradition which has been hand- ed down from the earliest ages of Christianity, it is midday, the same hour at which He was raised up when nailed to His cross. Giving His blessed mother a look of filial affection, and an- other of fond farewell to the rest of the group that stand around Him, Jesus raises up His hands and blesses them all. While thus blessing them, He is raised up from the ground whereon He stands, and ascends into heaven. Their eyes follow Him until a cloud comes and receives Him out of their sight. The Master is gone! For four thousand years the world had waited f o r its Redeemer. He came and spent thirty-three years with us, the God- Easter 67 Man, the Emmanuel, to show us the path to heaven and to redeem us. A f t e r His resurrection He spends forty days more manifesting Himself to-His loved ones that they might bear the testi- mony of this fact to the ends of the world. We believe in Him; we love Him. But to us as to His mother and disciples Jesus says: "If you loved me, you would indeed rejoice that I am going to the Father (John 14:28). Therefore, today we rejoice that Jesus goes to heaven, be- cause He thereby enters into His eternal glory. The disciples are still steadfastly looking up towards heaven when two angels clad in white robes appear and promise them that Jesus will return some day. He has ascended a Savior; He is to return a Judge. Between these two events is comprised the whole life of the Church on earth. Now we live under the reign of Jesus the Savior. The apostles must invite all men to live under the gentle sway of so gentle a king. The spirit of the feast of the Ascension is that of joy and triumph. This solemnity is the com- pletion of the mysteries of our redemption; it is one that was instituted by the very apostles. It has impressed a character of sacredness on the Thursday of each week, the day already so highly honored by the institution of the Eucharist. + < C £ L £ S T I + + * P O N S O + + I V W C I A S S T + 4 - E « J _ E * > I A + Christ's union with the Church is consummated through the union of the Holy Spirit with His Spouse, the Church. P E N T E C O S T ©H E F E A S T of Pentecost is the feast of the reign of the Holy Spirit. We have frequently been told, while following the mysteries of the liturgical year, of the action of the Third Person of the Blessed Trinity. Our respectful attention was turned towards this divine Spirit, Who seemed to be shrouded in mystery, the time f o r Him to be made manifest not having yet arrived. But the workings of God in His creatures, while not coming all at orice, that is, coming in slow suc- cession, will most certainly come. Now the Holy Spirit's visible reign on earth was deferred until the Man-God should be en- throned on the Father's right hand. He was not, however, inactive before that time. Allusion is made again and again to Him in the Old Testa- ment. It was through His divine operation that the Word of God was made flesh in the womb of the Immaculate V i r g i n Mary. The earth was to catch the first glimpse of Him as He manifested Himself on the day of Jesus's baptism. Even then, to the bystanders, John excepted, He did not deign to reveal His eternal secrets. When Jesus returned to heaven, He sent the Holy Spirit, the Paraclete, to reign over the Church He had founded. These middle ages, that is, between Christ's ascension and His com- ing again as Judge, are under the reign of the Holy Spirit. " I t is expedient f o r you that I depart," said Jesus, " f o r if I do not, the Advo- cate will not come to you" (John 1 6 : 7 ) . This new sovereign is not to become man or redeem 70 Pentecost the world. He is to come among men with an immensurable love. To Him Jesus entrusts His bride, the Church, that He may perpetuate His work and direct it in her. We, who were once nothingness, are destined to become, by the operation of the Word and the Spirit, children of the heavenly Father. And if we would know what preparation we should make for the visit of the Paraclete, let us return in thought to the cenacle, where we left the dis- ciples assembled, persevering with one mind in prayer, and waiting, as their Master had com- manded them, f o r the power of the Most High to descend upon them and arm them f o r their future combat. The first we find there is Mary, the Mother of Jesus, the masterpiece of the Holy Ghost, the Church of the living God, from whom is to be born, by the action of the same divine Spirit, the Church militant. The apostles are gathered around this temple of the Holy Ghost. They are to be the pillars and foundations of the true Church of Jesus, of which He Himself, and Peter with and in Him, is the chief cornerstone. Mat- thias, elected to fill the place of Judas, and many other disciples and the holy women are all present. A hundred and twenty souls are gath- ered in recollectedness to receive the Holy Spirit and become His first-fruits. The great day which consummates the work that God has undertaken f o r the human race has at last dawned. We have had seven weeks since the Pasch and now comes the day that opens the mysterious number Qf fifty. It is to bring us Pentecost 71 to the fulness of God. The Pentecost (or fiftieth day after the Pasch, or deliverance of the Jew- ish people from Egypt) in the Old Law was the day on which God promulgated the Ten Com- mandments ; and every following year the Israelites celebrated the great event by a solemn festival. But their Pentecost was figurative, like their Pasch; there was to be a second Pentecost f o r all people, as there was to be a second Pasch for the redemption of the whole world. The Pasch with all its triumphant joys, belongs to the Son of God, the conqueror of death; Pentecost belongs to the Holy Spirit, for it is the day whereon He began His mission into this world, which henceforward was to be under His law. Jerusalem is filled with pilgrims who have flocked thither from every country in the Gentile world. They are Jews or converts to Judaism. This influx of strangers gives the city a Babel- like appearance, f o r each nation has its own language. It is the middle of the morning. Sud- denly is heard, coming from heaven, the sound of a violent wind. It startles the people in the c i t y ; it fills the cenacle with its mighty breath. A crowd is soon round the house that stands on Mount Sion. Within, a silent shower, a show- er of fire, falls on all present, a fire that burns not but enlightens, consumes not but shines. Flakes of fire, in the shape of tongues, rest on the heads of the hundred and twenty disciples; it is the Holy Spirit taking possession of all and each. The Church is now not only in Mary, but also in these hundred and twenty disciples. All 72 Pentecost belong now to the Spirit that has descended upon them: His kingdom is begun, it is manifested, its conquests will be speedy and glorious. The Holy Spirit, who appeared on the occasion of Jesus's baptism in the Jordan under the en- dearing form of a dove, now appears under that of fire. He is the Spirit of love; and love is not only gentle and tender but is also ardent as fire. Now, therefore, that the world is under the influence of the Holy Spirit, it must needs be on fire, and the fire shall not be checked. And why this form of tongues ? To show that the heaven- ly fire is to spread by the word, by speech. The words of these hundred and twenty will find thousands to believe and welcome it. Those that receive it shall be united in one f a i t h ; they shall be called the Catholic Church, that is, universal, existing in all places and times. The tongue and the fire are now given to these first disciples, who by the assistance of the Holy Spirit will transmit them to others. So will it be to the end of time. The workings of the Holy Spirit were wondrous in the souls that received Him. First of all, Mary is now more than ever full of grace. A f t e r all the grace Jesus has already given her we should think that heaven had nothing more in store f o r her. But no. Here is a new mission opened for Mary. The Church is born; she is born of Mary. New duties fall upon the mother of the Church, the mother of the Bride of her Son. She is left upon earth to nurse the infant Church. For this office she received the Holy Spirit at Pentecost. Therefore she received the richest portion of the g i f t s of the Holy Spirit. Pentecost 73 She is become the mother of the Christian peo- ple. The Spirit of love now fulfils the intention expressed by our Redeemer when dying on the cross: "Woman, behold thy son." For this Pentecost day she acts as mother of the infant Church; and when at length the Church no longer needs her visible presence, this mother quits the earth for heaven, where she is crowned Queen; but there, too, she exercises her glorious title and office of Mother of Men. The apostles receive the next richest portion of the outpouring of the Holy Spirit on Pentecost Day. The frequent instructions they have been receiving from their Lord during the forty days after His resurrection have changed them into quite other men, but now that they have received the Holy Spirit, the change and conversion is complete. They are filled with the enthusiasm of f a i t h ; their souls are on fire with divine love; the ̂ conquest of the whole world is their ambi- tion, and they know it is their mission. All that their beloved Master has taught them is now clear to them. They understood it all. F a r from suffering any fear, they are ready and even long to suffer persecution in the discharge of the office entrusted to them by Jesus, that of preach- ing His name and His glory unto all nations. The disciples, too, and the holy women, though in a less degree than the apostles, are sharers of the divine g i f t . They too are to go forth and preach the resurrection. The love the holy women showed at the foot of the cross and at the tomb is now redoubled. Their words will pro- duce a hundredfold of fruit. 74 Pentecost The apostles immediately begin their great work of preaching. So full of unction were they, and so powerfully did the Holy Spirit make His presence and influence felt in the hearts of their hearers, that three thousand, filled with the simple and full faith in Christ, are baptized. How admirable is the early progress of the Church of Christ! How wonderful is the first reception of the divine Spirit by the multitude of disciples. Truly is Pentecost the birthday of the Church of Jesus Christ under the reign of His divine and Holy Spirit. The mystery of Pentecost holds so important a place in the Christian dispensation that the Church ranks it in her liturgy on an equality with the Paschal solemnity. The Pasch is the redemption of man by the victory of Christ. Pentecost is the Holy Spirit taking possession of man redeemed. The Ascension is the inter- mediate mystery; it consummates the Pasch by placing the Man-God at the right hand of the Father; it prepares the mission of the Holy Spirit to our earth. This mission could not take place until Jesus had been glorified. This divine mission was not to be given to the Third Person until men were deprived of the visible presence of Jesus. The hearts of the faithful were hence- forward to follow their absent Redeemer by a purer and wholly spiritual love. Now who was to bring us this new love if not He who is the link of the eternal love of the Father and of the Son ? This Holy Spirit of love and union- is called in the sacred Scripture the " G i f t of God"; and it is on the day of Pentecost that the Pentecost 75 Father and the Son send us this ineffable Gift. From this day forward He inundates the whole earth with His fire, He gives spiritual life to all, He makes His influence felt in every place. We I know the G i f t of God; we have but to open our hearts to receive Him, as did the three thousand i who became members of the Church on the first Pentecost Day. BOOKLETS ON THE LITURGY 1. DIGEST OF THE LITURGICAL SEASONS. 2. F R U I T F U L DAYS. Reflections on the Com- munio of the Sundays and greater Feast Days. 3. LITURGICAL ESSAYS. Essays on various liturgical themes. 4. ROUSE THY MIGHT. Reflections on the Sun- day and greater Feast Day Collects. 5. THE NEWNESS OF L I F E . Reflections on the Introits of the Sundays and greater Feast Days. Price 25