Second Week in Lent [Monday - Saturday]

[Stone]

Monday of the Second Week of Lent

Taken from The Liturgical Year by Dom Prosper Gueranger (1841-1875)

The Station is in the Church of Saint Clement, Pope and Martyr. In this, more than in any other Church of the City of Rome, there has been preserved the ancient arrangement of the early Christian Basilicas. Under its altar there reposes the body of its holy Patron, together with the Relics of St. Ignatius of Antioch, and of the Consul St. Flavius Clemens.

Collect
Præsta, quæsumus, omnipotens Deus, ut familia tua quæ se, affligendo carnem, ab alimentis abstinet, sectando justitiam, a culpa jejunet. Per Christum Dominum nostrum. Amen. 
Grant, we beseech thee, O Almighty God, that thy people who mortify themselves by abstinence from meat, may likewise fast from sin, and follow righteousness. Through Christ, our Lord. Amen.


Epistle
Lesson from Daniel the Prophet. Ch. ix.

In those days: Daniel prayed to the Lord, saying: O Lord our God, who hast brought forth thy people out of the land of Egypt with a strong hand, and hast made thee a name as at this day; we have sinned, we have committed iniquity, O Lord, against all thy justice. Let thy wrath and thy indignation be turned away, I beseech thee, from thy city Jerusalem, and from thy holy mountain. For, by reason of our sins, and the iniquities of our fathers, Jerusalem and thy people are a reproach to all that are round about us. Now, therefore, our God, hear the supplication of thy servant, and his prayers: and show thy face upon thy sanctuary which is desolate, for thy own sake. Incline, O my God, thy ear, and hear; open thine eyes, and see our desolation, and the city upon which thy name is called; for it is not for our justifications that we present our prayers before thy face, but for the multitude of thy tender mercies. O Lord, hear; O Lord, be appeased; hearken, and do; delay not for thy own sake, O my God; because thy name is invocated upon thy city, and upon thy people, O Lord our God.

Such was the prayer and lamentation of Daniel, during the captivity in Babylon. His prayer was heard; and after seventy years’ exile, the Jews returned to their country, rebuilt the Temple, and were once more received by the Lord as his chosen people. But what are the Israelites now? What has been their history for the last nineteen hundred years? If we apply to them the words of Daniel’s lamentation, they but faintly represent the sad reality of their present long chastisement. God’s anger lies heavily on Jerusalem; the very ruins of the Temple have perished; the children of Israel are dispersed over the whole earth, a reproach to all nations. A curse hangs over this people; like Cain, it is a wanderer and fugitive; and God watches over it, that it become not extinct. The Rationalist is at a loss how to explain this problem; whereas the Christian sees in it the punishment of the greatest of crimes. But what is the explanation of this phenomenon? The Light shone in darkness; and the darkness did not comprehend it! If the darkness had received the Light, it would not be darkness now; but it was not so; Israel, therefore, deserved to be abandoned. Several of its children did, indeed, acknowledge the Messias, and they became children of the Light; nay, it was through them that the Light was made known to the whole world. When will the rest of Israel open its eyes? When will this people address to God the prayer of Daniel? They have it; they frequently read it; and yet it finds no response in their proud hearts. Let us, the Gentiles, pray for the Jews—the younger for the older. Every year there are some who are converted, and seek admission into the new Israel of the Church of Christ. Right welcome are they! May God, in his mercy, add to their number; that thus, all men may adore the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob, together with Jesus Christ, his Son, whom he sent into this world.

Gospel
Sequel of the Holy Gospel according to John. Ch. viii.

At that time: Jesus said to the multitude of the Jews: I go, and you shall seek me, and you shall die in your sin. Whither I go, you cannot come. The Jews, therefore, said: Will he kill himself, because he said: “Whither I go, you cannot come?” And he said to them: You are from beneath, and I am from above. You are of this world, I am not of this world. Therefore, I say to you, that you shall die in your sins. For if you believe not that I am he, you shall die in your sin. They said therefore to him: Who art thou? Jesus said to them: The beginning, who also speak unto you. Many things I have to speak, and to judge of you. But he that sent me is true; and the things I have heard of him, the same I speak in the world. Now they understood not that he called God his Father. Jesus therefore said to them: When you shall have lifted up the Son of man, then shall you know that I am he, and that I do nothing of myself, but as the Father hath taught me, these things I speak: and he that sent me is with me, and he hath not left me alone: for I do always the things that please him.

I go: could Jesus say anything more awful? He is come to save this people; he has given them every possible proof of his love. A few days ago, we heard him saying to the Canaanite woman that he was sent not but for the sheep that are lost of the house of Israel. Alas! these lost sheep disown their Shepherd. He tells the Jews that he is soon going to leave them, and that they will not be able to follow him; but it makes no impression on them. His works testify that is from above; they, the Jews, are of this world, and they can think of no other. The Messias they hope for is to be one of great earthly power; he is to be a great conqueror. In vain, then, does Jesus go about doing good; in vain is nature obedient to his commands; in vain do his wisdom and teaching exceed all that mankind has ever heard—Israel is deaf and blind. The fiercest passions are raging in his heart; nor will he rest, till the Synagogue shall have imbrued its hands in the blood of Jesus. But then, the measure of iniquity will be filled up, and God’s anger will burst upon Israel in one of the most terrible chastisements that the world has ever witnessed. It makes one tremble to read the horrors of the siege of Jerusalem, and the massacre of that people that had clamored for the death of Jesus. Our Lord assures us that nothing more terrible had ever been from the beginning of the world, or ever would be.

God is patient; he waits a long time: but when his anger bursts upon a guilty people like the Jews, the chastisement is without mercy, and one that serves as an example to future generations. O sinners! you who, so far, have turned a deaf ear to the admonitions of the Church, and have refused to be converted to the Lord your God—tremble at these words of Jesus: I go. If this Lent is to be spent like so many others, and leave you in your present state—are you not afraid of that terrible threat: You shall die in your sin? By remaining in your sins, you number yourselves with those who cried out against Jesus: Crucify him, Crucify him! Oh! if he chastised a whole people—a people that he had loaded with favors, and protected and saved innumerable times—think you, he will spare you? He must triumph; if it is not by mercy, it will be by justice.

Humiliate capita vestra Deo. 
Bow down your heads to God.

Adesto supplicationibus nostris, omnipotens Deus: et quibus fiduciam sperandæ pietatis indulges: consuetæ misericordiæ tribue benignus effectum. Per Christum Dominum nostrum. Amen. 
Hear our prayers and entreaties, O Almighty God; and grant that those, to whom thou givest hopes of thy mercy, may experience the effects of thy usual clemency. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.

We will begin today the beautiful Hymn of Prudentius on Fasting. Its extreme length obliges us to divide it into fragments. We reserve the stanzas which refer to the Fast of Ninive for Monday in Passion Week. Formerly, several Churches of the Roman Rite introduced this Hymn into the Divine Office, but they only made a selection from it; whereas the Mozarabic Breviary gives the whole Hymn from beginning to end.

Hymn

O Nazarene, lux Bethlem, verbum Patris,
Quam partus alvi virginalis protulit,
Adesto castic, Christe, parcimoniis,
Festumque nostrum REx serenus aspice,
Jejuniorum dum litamus victimam. 

O Jesus of Nazareth! O Light of Bethlehem! O Word of the Father! born to us from a Virgin’s womb! be thou with us in our chaste abstinence. Do thou, our King, look with a propitious eye upon our feast, whereon we offer thee the tribute of our Feast.


Nil hoc profecto purius mysterio,
Quo fibra cordis expiatur vividi:
Intemperata quo domantur viscera,
Arvina putrem ne resudans crapulam,
Obstrangulatæ mentis ingenium premat. 

Truly, nothing can be more holy than this Fast, which purifies the inmost recesses of man’s heart. By it is tamed the unruly carnal appetite; that thus the ardent soul may not be choked by the filthy surfeiting of a pampered body.


Hinc subjugatur luxus et turpis gula;
Vini, atque somni degener socordia,
Libido sordens, inverecundus lepos,
Variæque pestes languidorum sensuum
Parcam subactæ disciplinam sentiunt. 

By Fasting are subdued luxury and vile gluttony. The drowsiness that comes of wine and sleep; lust with its defilements; the impudence of buffoonery; yea, all the pests that come from our sluggish flesh, are hereby disciplined into restraint.


Nam si licenter diffluens potu, et cibo,
Jejuna rite membra non coerceas,
Sequitur, frequenti marcida oblectamine
Scintilla mentis ut tepescat nobilis,
Animusque pigris stertat in præcordiis. 

For, if thou freely indulgest in meat and drink, and bridlest not thine appetite by Fasting, it needs must be, that the noble fire of the spirit, smothered by the frequent indulgence of the body, should grow dull, and the soul, like the drowsy flesh it inhabits, fall into heavy sleep.


Frænentur ergo corporum cupidines,
Detersa et intus emicet prudentia:
Sic excitato perspicax acumine,
Liberque statu laxiore spiritus
Rerum parentem rectius precabitur. 


Therefore, let us bridle our bodily desires, and follow the clear interior light of prudence. Thus the soul—having her sight made keener, and herself set free from the bondage of easy living—will pray to the Creator with the stronger hope.

[Stone]

Tuesday of the Second Week of Lent

Taken from The Liturgical Year by Dom Prosper Gueranger (1841-1875)

The Station is in the Church of St. Balbina, This holy virgin of Rome was the daughter of the tribune Quirinus, and suffered martyrdom during the pontificate of Alexander I, in the second century. She consecrated her virginity to God, and led a life rich in good works.

Collect
Perfice, quæsumus, Domine, benignus in nobis observantiæ sanctæ subsidium: ut quæ, te auctore, facienda cognovimus, te operante impleamus. Per Christum Dominum nostrum. Amen. Grant us, O Lord, we beseech thee, thy assistance, whereby we may go through the observance of this holy fast, that what we have undertaken by thy appointment, we may accomplish by thy grace. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.

Epistle
Lesson from the book of Kings. III Ch. xvii.

In those days: The word of the Lord came to Elias the Thesbite, saying: Arise, and go to Sarephta, a city of the Sidonians, and dwell there; for I have commanded a widow woman there to feed thee. He arose, and went to Sarephta. And when he was come to the gate of the city, he saw the widow woman gathering sticks, and he called her, and said to her: Give me a little water in a vessel that I may drink. And when she was going to fetch it, he called after her, saying: Bring me, also, I beseech thee, a morsel of bread in thy hand. And she answered: As the Lord thy God liveth, I have no bread, but only a handful of meal in a pot, and a little oil in a cruse; behold I am gather two sticks, that I may go in and dress it for me and my son, and we may eat it, and die. And Elias said to her: Fear not, but go, and do as thou hast said; but first make for me of the same meal a little hearth cake, and bring it to me: and after, make for thyself and thy son. For thus saith the Lord the God of Israel: The pot of meal shall not waste, nor the cruse of oil be diminished, until the day wherein the Lord will give rain upon the face of the earth. She went, and did according to the word of Elias; and he ate, and she, and her house: and from that day the pot of meal wasted not, and the cruse of oil was not diminished, according to the word of the Lord, which he spoke in the hand of Elias.

The instruction of the Catechumens is continued by means of the Gospel facts, which are each day brought before them; and the Church read to them the prophecies from the Old Testament, which are to be fulfilled by the rejection of the Jews, and the vocation of the Gentiles. Elias, who is our faithful companion during Lent, is represented to us today as foreshadowing, in his own conduct, the treatment which God is one day to show towards his ungrateful people. A three years’ drought had been sent upon the kingdom of Israel; but the people continued obstinate in their sins. Elias goes in search of someone that will provide him with food. It is a great privilege to entertain the Prophet; for God is with him. Then whither will he go? Is it to any family in the kingdom of Israel? Or will he pass into the land of Juda? He neglects them both, and directs his steps towards the land of the Gentiles. He enters the country of Sidon; and coming to the gates of a city called Sarephta, he sees a poor widow; it is to her that he transfers the blessing which Israel had rejected. Our Lord himself has taken notice of this event in the Prophet’s life, which portrays, in such strong colors, the justice of God towards the Jews, and his mercy towards us Gentiles: In truth I say to you, there were many widows in the days of Elias in Israel: and to none of them was he sent, but to Sarephta of Sidon, to a widow woman.

So, then, this poor woman is a figure of the Gentiles, who were called to the faith. Let us study the circumstances of this prophetic event. The woman is a widow; she has no one to defend or protect her: she represents the Gentiles, who were abandoned by all, and had no one that could save them from the enemy of mankind. All the mother and her child had to live upon was a handful of meal and a little oil: it is an image of the frightful dearth of truth, in which the pagans were living at the time that the Gospel was preached to them. Notwithstanding her extreme poverty, the widow of Sarephta receives the Prophet with kindness and confidence; she believes what he tells her, and she and her child are saved: it was thus that the Gentiles welcomed the Apostles, when these shook the dust from their feet, and left the faithless Jerusalem. But what mean the two pieces of wood, which the widow holds in her hands? St. Augustine, St. Cesarius of Arles, and St. Isidore of Seville (who, after all, are but repeating what was the tradition of the early Church) tell us that this wood is a figure of the Cross. With this wood, the widow bakes the bread that is to support her: it is from the Cross that the Gentiles receive life by Jesus, who is the Living Bread. While Israel dies of famine and drought, the Gentile Church feeds abundantly on the heavenly Wheat, and on the Oil, which is the symbol of strength and charity. Glory then be to Him who hath called us out of darkness into his marvellous light of faith! But let us tremble at witnessing the evils which the abuse of grace has brought upon a whole people. If God’s justice has not spared a whole nation, but cast it off, will he spare me or you if we dare to resist his call?

Gospel
Sequel of the Holy Gospel according to Matthew. Ch. xxiii.

At that time: Jesus spoke to the multitudes and to his disciples, saying: The Scribes and the Pharisees have sitten on the chair of Moses. All things therefore whatsoever they shall say to you, observe and do; but according to their works, do ye not; for they say, and do not. For they bind heavy and insupportable burdens, and lay them on men’s shoulders; but with a finger of their own they will not move them. And all these works they do to be seen of men: for they make their phylacteries broad, and enlarge their fringes. And they love the first places at feasts, and the first chairs in the synagogues, and salutations in the market-place, and to be called by men, Rabbi. But be not you called Rabbi; for one is your master, and all you are brethren. And call none your father upon earth; for one is your Father, who is in heaven. Neither be ye called masters; for one is your Master, Christ. He that is the greatest among you, shall be your servant. And whosoever shall exalt himself shall be humbled; and he that shall humble himself, shall be exalted.

The doctors of the law were sitting on the Chair of Moses; therefore, Jesus bids the people abide by their teachings. But this Chair—which, in spite of the unworthiness of them that sit on it, is the Chair of truth—is not to remain long in Israel. Caiphas, because he is a High Priest for the year, will prophesy; but his crimes have rendered him unworthy of his office; and the Chair on which he sits is to be taken away and set in the midst of the Gentiles. Jerusalem, which is preparing to deny her Savior, is to be deprived of her honors; and Rome, the very center of the Pagan world, is to possess within her walls that Chair which was the glory of Jerusalem, and from which were proclaimed the prophecies so visibly fulfilled in Jesus. Henceforth, this Chair is never to be moved, though all the fury of the gates of hell will seek to prevail against it; it is to be the unfailing source, at which all nations are to receive the teaching of revealed truths. The torch of faith has been removed from Israel, but it has not been extinguished. Let us live in its light, and merit by our humility that its rays ever shine upon us.

What was it that caused Israel’s loss? His pride. The favors he had received from God excited him to self-complacency; he scorned to recognize anyone for the Messias who was not great in this world’s glory; he was indignant at hearing Jesus say that the Gentiles were to participate of the grace of redemption; he sought to imbrue his hands in the blood of the God-Man, and this because he reproached him for the hardness of his heart. These proud Jews, even when they saw that the day of God’s judgment was close upon them, kept up their stubborn haughtiness. They despised the rest of the world as unclean and sinners. The son of God became the Son of Man. He is our Master, and yet he ministered to us, as though he were our Servant. Does not this show us how precious a virtue is Humility? If our fellow creatures call us Master or Father, let us not forget that no one is Master or Father but by God’s appointment. No one deserves to be called Master but he by whose lips Jesus gives us the lessons of divine wisdom; he alone is truly a Father, who acknowledges that his paternal authority comes from God alone; for as the Apostle says: I bow my knee to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, of whom all paternity in heaven and earth is named.

Humiliate capita vestra Deo. 
Bow down your heads to God.

Propitiare, Domine, supplicationibus nostris, et animarum nostrarum medere languoribus: ut remissione percepta, in tua semper benedictione lætemur. Per Christum Dominum nostrum. Amen. 
Be appeased, O Lord, by our prayers, and heal the infirmities of our souls: that our sins being forgiven, we may ever rejoice in thy blessings. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.

Let us continue the Hymn we began yesterday; our readers will remember it is by Prudentius, the Prince of Christian Poets.

Hymn

Helia tali crevit observantia,
Vetus sacerdos ruris hospes aridi:
Fragore ab omni quem remotum segregem
Sprevisse tradunt criminum frequentiam,
Casto fruentem syrtium silentio. 

It was by the observance of a forty days’ Fast, that Elias, the venerable Priest, the guest of the desert, received his great glory. We read that he fled far from the noisy world, and the wickedness of cities, and lived in the happy innocence of silent deserts.


Sed mox in auras igneis jugalibus,
Curruque raptus evolavit præpeti,
Ne de propinquo sordium contagio
Dirus quietum mundus afflaret virum,
Olim probatis inclytum jejuniis. 

But soon he was carried to heaven in a chariot drawn by swift fiery steeds; for so long as he remained nigh this wretched world, it might breathe something of the contagion of its vices upon the Prophet, though his life was one of retirement, and his spirit had long been fortified by holy Fasts.


Non ante cœli Principem septemplicis
Moses tremendi fidus interpres throni
Potuit videre, quam decem recursibus
Quater volutis sol peragrans sidera,
Omni carentem cerneret substantia. 

Moses, the faithful interpreter of the dread Throne, was not permitted to see the King of the seventimes holy heaven, until the sun had forty times passed over his head and witnessed him abstaining from every food.


Victus precanti solus in lacrymis fuit:
Nam fiendo pernox irrigatum pulverem
Humi madentis ore pressit cernuo:
Donec loquentis voce præstrictus Dei
Expavit ignem non ferendum visibus. 

Prayer and weeping—these were his only nourishment. He spent the night in weeping, and lay prostrate on the ground, which was bedewed with his tears; till at length, aroused by the voice of God, he directed his steps towards the fire, on which no man could fix his gaze.


Joannes hujus artis haud minus potens,
Dei perennis præcucurrit Filium,
Curvos viarum qui retorsit tramites,
Et fluxuosa corrigens dispendia,
Dedit sequendam calle recto lineam. 

John, too, was fervent in the practice of Fasting. He was the Precursor of the Son of God, who was to make the crooked ways straight, and the rough ways plain, and was to teach men the right path wherein to walk.


Hanc obsequelam præparabat nuncius,
Mix affuturo construens iter Deo,
Clivosa planis, confragosa ut lenibus
Converterentur, neve quidquam devium
Illapsa terris inveniret Veritas. 

The Baptist, as a herald that was preparing the way of the Lord who was soon to come, exacted this of men—that every mountain and hill should be made low, and that all should be in the right path, when Truth should come down upon the earth.


Non usitatis ortus hic natalibus,
Oblita lactis jam victo in pectore
Matris tetendit serus infans ubera:
Nec ante partu de senili effesus est,
Quam prædicaret Virginem plenam Deo. 

His birth was not like that of other children. Elizabeth, old as she was, was made to bear this child within her hitherto barren womb. She fed him, too at her own breast. Before his birth, he announced to his Mother the presence of the Virgin that was full of God.


Post in patentes ille solitudines,
Amictus hirtis bestiarum pellibus,
Setisve tectus, hispida et lanugine,
Secessit, horrens inquinari ac pollui
Contaminatis oppidorum moribus. 

He retired into the vast wilderness, clad in the rough and bristly skins of wild beasts, and in camels’ hair; for he trembled lest he might become defiled and contaminated by the wickedness of them that dwelt in cities.


Illic dicata parcus abstinentia,
Potum, cibumque vir severæ industriæ
In usque serum respuebat vesperum,
Parvum locustis, et favorum agrestium
Liquore pastum corpori suetus dare. 

There did he lead a life of Fasting. This man of rigid penance neither ate nor drank till the evening was far spent; and then, a few locusts and a little wild honey were the only refreshment he took.


Hortator ille primus et doctor novæ
Fuit salutis: nam sacrato in flumine
Veterum piatas lavit errorum notas:
Sed tincta postquam membra defæcaverat,
Cœlo refulgens influebat Spiritus. 


He was the first to teach the new salvation, and the first to invite men to receive it. In the sacred stream, he washed away the stains of the old errors; but after he had administered to men this outward Baptism, the heavenly Spirit worked within their souls.

[Stone]

Wednesday of the Second Week of Lent

Taken from The Liturgical Year by Dom Prosper Gueranger (1841-1875)

The Station is in the Basilica of Saint Cecily. This Church, one of the most venerable in Rome, was the house of the illustrious Virgin and Martyr whose name it bears. The body of St. Cecily is under the high altar, together with those of Saints Valerian, Tiburtius, Maximus, and of the holy Popes Urban and Lucius, all Martyrs.

Collect
Populum tuum, quæsumus, Domine, propitius respice: et quos ab escis carnalibus præcipis abstinere, a noxiis quoque vitiis cessare concede. Per Christum Dominum nostrum. Amen. Mercifully regard thy people, O Lord, we beseech thee; and grant that those whom thou commandest to abstain from flesh, may likewise cease from all sin. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.

Epistle
Lesson from the book of Esther. Ch. xiii.
In those days: Mardochai besought the Lord, and said: O Lord, Lord, Almighty King, for all things are in thy power, and there is none that can resist thy will, if thou determine to save Israel. Thou hast made heaven and earth, and all things that are under the cope of heaven. Thou art Lord of all, and there is none that can resist thy majesty. And now, O Lord, O King, O God of Abraham, have mercy on thy people, because our enemies resolve to destroy us, and extinguish thine inheritance. Despise not thy portion, which thou hast redeemed for thyself out of Egypt. Hear my supplication, and be merciful to thy lot and inheritance, and turn our mourning into joy, that we may live and praise thy name, O Lord, and shut not the mouths of them that sing to thee, O Lord our God.

This petition, which Mardochai presented to God in favour of a whole nation that was doomed to destruction, represents the prayers which the Saints of the Old Testament offered for the salvation of the world. The human race was, to a great extent, in the power of satan, who is figured by Aman. The almighty King had given sentence against mankind: “Ye shall die the death.” Who was there, that could induce him to revoke the sentence? Esther made intercession with Assuerus, her lord; and she was heard. Mary presented herself before the throne of fhe Eternal God: and it is she that, by her Divine Son, crushes the head of the serpent, who was to have tormented us for ever. The sentence, then, is to be annulled; all shall live that wish to live.

Today, we have the Church praying for her children, who are in the state of sin. She trembles at seeing them in danger of being eternally lost. She intercedes for them, and she uses Mardochai’s prayer. She humbly reminds her Divine Spouse, that He has redeemed them out of Egypt; and, by Baptism, has made them his members, His inheritance. She beseeches Him to change their mourning into joy, even into the great Easter joy. She says to him: Oh! shut not the mouths of them that sing to thee! It is true, these poor sinners have, in past times, offended their God by word, as well as by deed and thought; but now they speak not but words of humble prayers for mercy; and, when they shall have been pardoned, how fervently will they sing to their divine deliverer, and bless him in canticles of grateful love!

Gospel
Sequel of the Holy Gospel according to Matthew. Ch. xx.

At that time: Jesus going up to Jerusalem, took the twelve disciples apart, and said to them: Behold we go up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man shall be betrayed to the chief priests and the scribes, and they shall condemn him to death, and shall deliver him to the Gentiles, to be mocked, and to be scourged, and to be crucified, and the third day he shall rise again. Then came to him the mother of the sons of Zebedee, with her sons, adoring and asking something of him. Who said to her: What wilt thou? She saith to him: Say that these my two sons may sit, the one on thy right hand, and the other on thy left, in thy kingdom. And Jesus answering, said: You know not what you ask. Can you drink the chalice that I shall drink? They say to him: We can. He saith to them: Of my chalice, indeed, you shall drink; but to sit on my right hand, or left hand, is not mine to give to you, but to them for whom it is prepared by my father. And the ten hearing it, were moved with indignation against the two brethren. But Jesus called them to him, and said: You know that the princes of the gentiles lord it over them; and they that are the greater, exercise power upon them. It shall not be so among you, but whosoever will be the greater among you, let him be your minister; and he that will be first among you, shall be your servant. Even as the Son of Man is not come to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a redemption for many.

This is He that gave his own life in order to appease the anger of the Almighty King, and redeem his people from death. It is Jesus, the Son of the new Esther, and the Son of God, who comes forward to humble the pride of Aman, at th every time that this perfidious enemy of ours is making sure of his victory. He goes up to Jerusalem, for it is there that the great battle is to be fought. He foretells his Disciples all that is to happen. He will be delivered up to the chief priests, who will condemn him to death, and hand him over to the Roman Governor and soldiers. He will be mocked, scourged, and crucified; but he will rise again on the third day. The Apostles heard this prophecy, for the Gospel says that Jesus took the twelve apart in order to tell them these things. Judas, consequently, was present; so were Peter, James, and John, the three that had witnessed the Transfiguration of their Master on Thabor, and had a clearer knowledge of his Divinity. And yet, all abandoned him. Judas betrayed him, Peter denied him, and the whole flock fled away in fear when the Shepherd was in the power of his enemies. Not one of them recollected how he had said that, on the third day, he would rise again; unless it were Judas, who was perhaps encouraged to commit his crime by the reflection that Jesus would soon triumph over his enemies and be again free. The rest could see no further than the scandal of the Cross; that put an end to all their Faith, and they deserted their Master. What a lesson for all future generations of Christians! How very few there are who look upon the Cross, either for themselves or for others, as the sign of God’s special love!

We are men of little faith; we cannot understand the trials God sends to our brethren, and we are often tempted to believe that he has forsaken them, because he sends them the cross. We are men of little love, too; worldly tribulations seems an evil to us, and we think ourselves hardly dealt with, at the very time that our God is showing us the greatest mercy. We are like the mother of the sons of Zebedee: we would hold a high and conspicuous place near the Son of God, forgetting that we must first merit it by drinking of the chalice that he drank, that is, the chalice of Suffering. We forget too that saying of the Apostle: That we may be glorified with Jesus, we must suffer with him! He, the just by excellence, entered not into his rest by honors and pleasures—the sinner cannot follow him, save by treading the path of penance.

Humiliate capita vestra Deo. 
Bow down your heads to God.

Deus innocentiæ restitutor et amator, dirige ad te tuorum corda servorum: ut Spiritus tui fervore concepto, et in fide inveniantur stabiles, et in opere efficaces. Per Christum Dominum nostrum. Amen. 
O God, the restorer and lover of innocence, draw to thyself the hearts of thy servants, that being inflamed by thy holy Spirit, they may be constant in faith, and zealous in good works. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.

The Christian Poet continues his subject—the merits of Fasting. Today he is going to show us how Jesus consecrated it by his own practicing it.

Sed cur vetustæ gentis exemplum loquor?
Pridem caducis quum gravatus artubus
Jesus, dicato corde jejunaverit:
Prænuncupatus ore qui prophetico
Emmanuel est, sive nobiscum Deus. 

But why give I examples from the Old Law? Jesus—He that the Prophet had announced to the world as the Emmanuel, that is, God with us—when here on earth sharing the miseries of our mortality, fasted rigidly, and out of love for us.


Qui corpus istud molle naturaliter,
Captumque laxo sub voluptatum jugo,
Virtutis arcta lege fecit liberum,
Emancipator servientis plasmatis,
Regnantis ante victor et cupidinis. 

’Twas He, that by the stringent law of virtue, set these our bodies free from their natural effeminacy, and from the yoke of unbridled indulgence. He emancipated his creatures from their slavery; he conquered the tyrant Concupiscence, that had reigned till them.


Inhospitali namque secretus loco,
Quinis diebus octies labentibus,
Nullam ciborum vindicavit gratiam,
Firmans salubri scilicet jejunio
Vas appetentis imbecillum gaudiis. 

He withdrew into a desert place, and for forty days refused himself the use of food. By this salutary fast, he strengthened the weakness of our bodies, which crave after gratification.


Miratur hostis, posse limum tabidum
Tantum laboris sustinere ac perpeti.
Explorat arte sciscitator callida,
Deusne membris sit receptus terreis:
Sed, increpata fraude, post tergum ruit. 

The enemy wonders within himself how a frail body, that is but clay, can bear and suffer pain so long, and sharp as this. He, by cunning craft, contrives a plot, whereby to sift this Jesus, and see if he perchance be God in human form. But, rebuked and foiled, he flees away with shame.

[Stone]

Thursday of the Second Week of Lent

Taken from The Liturgical Year by Dom Prosper Gueranger (1841-1875)

The Station for today is in the celebrated Basilica St. Mary’s across the Tiber. It was consecrated in the 3rd century under the pontificate of St. Callixtus, and was the first Church built in Rome in honor of our Blessed Lady.

Collect
Præsta nobis, quæsumus, Domine, auxilium gratiæ tuæ, ut jejuniis et orationibus convenienter intenti, liberemur ab hostibus mentis et corporis. Per Christum Dominum nostrum. Amen. Grant us, we beseech thee, O Lord, the assistance of thy grace; that while we duly apply ourselves to fasting and prayer, we may be delivered from all enemies both of soul and body. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.

Epistle
Lesson from Jeremias the Prophet. Ch. XVII.

Thus saith the Lord: Cursed be the man that trusteth in man, and maketh flesh his arm, and whose heart departeth from the Lord. For he shall be like tamaric in the desert, and he shall not see when good shall come; but he shall dwell in dryness in the desert, in a salt land and not inhabited. Blessed be the man that trusteth in the Lord, and the Lord shall be his confidence. And he shall be as a tree that is planted by the waters, and spreadeth out its roots towards moisture; and it shall not fear when the heat cometh. And the leaf thereof shall be green, and in the time of drought it shall not be solicitous, neither shall it cease at any time to bring forth fruit. The heart is perverse above all things, and unsearchable; who can know it? I am the Lord that search the heart, and prove the reins; who give to every one according to his way, and according to the fruit of his devices, saith the Lord Almighty.

The Epistle and Gospel for today are intended as instructions upon Christian morality. Let us, for a moment, turn away our eyes from the sad spectacle of the plot which is being got up against our Redeemer by his enemies; let us today think of our own sins, and how to apply a remedy. The Prophet Jeremias here gives us the description of two classes of men: to which class do we belong? There are some men who make flesh their arm; that is to say, they only care for the present life and for created things; and this disposition of mind necessarily leads them to frequent violations of the commandments of their Creator. It was so with us, when we sinned: we lost sight of our last end, and the threefold concupiscence blinded us. Let us lose no time, but return to the Lord our God; a delay might bring upon us that curse which our Prophet says overtakes the unrepenting sinner: he shall not see good, when good shall come. The holy Season of Lent is fast advancing; the choicest graces are being daily offered us: woe! to the man whose mind is distracted by the fashion of this world that passeth away, and takes no thought for eternity and heaven and, even in this time of grace, is like tamaric, a worthless weed of the desert. Oh! how numerous is this class! and how terrible is their spiritual indifference! Pray for them, O ye faithful children of the Church, pray for them without ceasing. Offer up your penances and your almsgivings for them. Despair not; and remember that each year, many straying sheep are brought to the fold by such intercession as this.

The Prophet next describes the man that trusteth in the Lord; his whole hope is in God, and his whole care is to serve him and do his blessed will. He is like a beautiful tree that is planted near a stream of water, with its leaf ever green, and its fruit abundant. I have appointed you, says our Redeemer, that you should go, and should bring forth fruit, and your fruit should remain. Let us become this favored and ever fruitful tree. The Church, during this holy time, is pouring out upon our hearts rich streams of God’s grace: let us faithful welcome them. The Lord searchest the heart: if he find that our desire to be converted is sincere, what an Easter will not the coming one be to us!

Gospel
Sequel of the Holy Gospel according to Luke. Ch. XVI.

At that time: Jesus said to the Pharisees: There was a certain rich man, who was clothed in purple and fine linen, and feasted sumptuously every day. And there was a certain beggar, named Lazarus, who lay at his gate, full of sores, desiring to be fed with the crumbs that fell from the rich man’s table, and no one did give him; moreover the dogs came and licked his sores. And it came to pass that the beggar died, and was carried by the Angels into Abraham’s bosom. And the rich man also died, and he was buried in hell. And lifting up his eyes, when he was in torments, he saw Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom. And he cried, and said: Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus that he may dip the tip of his finger in water, to cool my tongue, for I am tormented in this flame. And Abraham said to him: Son, remember that thou didst receive good things in thy lifetime, and likewise Lazarus evil things; but now he is comforted, and thou art tormented. And besides all this, between us and you there is fixed a great chaos; so that they who would pass from hence to you, cannot, nor from thence come hither. And he said: Then, father, I beseech thee that thou wouldst send him to my father’s house; for I have five brethren, that he may testify unto them, lest they also come into this place of torments. And Abraham said to him: They have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them. But he said: No, father Abraham, but if any one went to them from the dead, they will do penance. And he said to him: If they hear not Moses and the Prophets, neither will they believe if one rise again from the dead.

The commandments of God cannot be broken with impunity; he that sins shall be punished. This is the teaching of today’s Gospel; and after reading it, we exclaim with the Apostle: How fearful a thing it is to fall into the hands of the living God! What a terrible truth is here told us! A man is in the enjoyment of every comfort and luxury this life can give; when suddenly death surprises him, and he is buried in hell! In the midst of those eternal burnings, he asks for a drop of water, and that drop is refused him. Other men, whom he knew on earth a few hours ago, are now in the abode of eternal happiness, and a great chaos separates him from them forever. Oh! what misery! To be in despair for endless ages! And yet there are men that live and die without giving so much as one day to think upon hell! Happy, then, are they that fear! for this fear will aid them to lighten that weight of their sins, which would drag them into the bottomless pit.

Alas! what strange darkness has come upon the mind of man as a consequence of sin! People that are shrewd, and prudent, and far-sighted in everything that regards their temporal concerns, are mere idiots and fools in every question that regards eternity. Can we imagine anything more frightful than their surprise when they awaken in the next world and find themselves buried in hell? Observe, too, that our Savior, in order to make his instruction more impressive, has not here described the condemnation of one of those whose crimes scandalize the neighborhood, and make even worldlings look upon him as a pure prey of hell. The history he gives us is that of a man who led a quiet life; he was agreeable in company, and sought after; he was respected, and did honor to the position he held in society. He is not accused of any public scandals; there is no mention made of any atrocious crime; our Savior simply says of him: he was clothed in purple and fine linen, and feasted sumptuously every day. It is true, he was not charitable to the poor man who lay at his gate; but he did not ill-treat him: he allowed him to lie there, and did not even insult his misery.

When, then, was this rich man condemned to burn eternally in that fire which God created for the wicked? It is because a man who leads a life of luxury and feasting, such as he lived—never thinking of eternity—caring for nothing but this world, which we are told to use as though we used it not—with nothing about him of the spirit of the Cross of Christ—such a man as this is already a victim to the triple concupiscence of pride, avarice, and luxury; he is their slave, and seems determined to continue so, for he never makes an effort to throw off their tyranny. He has yielded himself up to them; and they have worked their work in him—the death of the soul. It was not enough that he should not ill-treat the poor man who sat as his gate, he ought to have showed him kindness and charity, for such is God’s commandment. His very dogs had more compassion than he; therefore, his condemnation and perdition were most just. But had he been told of his duty? Yes, he had the Scriptures; he had Moses and the Prophets; nay more, he had Jesus and the Church. Men who are leading a life like him are now surrounded by the graces of the holy Season of Lent. What excuse will they have, if they so far neglect them, that they do not even give themselves the trouble to think of them? They will have turned their Lent into judgment against themselves, and it will have been but one great step nearer to eternal misery.

Humiliate capita vestra Deo. 
Bow down your heads to God.

Adesto, Domine, famulis tuis, et perpetuam benignitatem largire poscentibus: ut iis qui te auctore et gubernatore gloriantur, et congregata restaures, et restaurata conserves. Per Christum Dominum nostrum. Amen. 
Be favorable, O Lord, to thy servants, and hear their prayers in the grant of everlasting mercy; that glorying in thee their Creator and Governor, they may have all things perfected and perpetuated to them. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.

The Hymn of Prudentius, which we have followed with so much interest during this week, thus closes.

Hymn

Hoc nos sequamur, quisque nunc pro viribus,
Quod consecrati tu magister dogmatis
Tuis dedisti, Christe, sectatoribus;
Ut quum vorandi vicerit libidinem,
Late triumphet imperator spiritus. 

O Jesus! Teacher of holy doctrine! grant that we may all now walk courageously in the path thou hast marked out for thy followers; that our spirit, having subdued gluttony, may in all things triumph and be master.


Hoc est, quod atri livor hostis invidet.
Mundi, polique quod gubernator probat,
Altaris aram quod facit placabilem,
Quod dormientis excitat cordis fidem,
Quod limat ægram pectorum rubiginem. 

O blessed Fasting! It is the object of the devil’s hatred; it is dear to the King of earth and heaven; it makes the great Sacrifice of the Altar acceptable; it stirs up the faith of the drowsy heart; it takes from the soul the rust that clogs her power.


Perfusa non sic amne flamma exstinguitur,
Nec sic calente sole tabescunt nives,
Ut turbidarum scabra culparum seges
Vanescit almo trita sub jejunio,
Si blanda semper misceatur largitas. 

As fire is quenched by water, or as snow is melted by a scorching sun; so (but by a higher law) are the wild weeds of our base sins uprooted by the sacred power of Fasting, when joined with charitable alms unstintingly bestowed.


Est quippe et illud grande virtutis genus
Operire nudos; indigentes pascere,
Opem benignam ferre supplicantibus,
Unam, paremque sortis humanæ vicem
Inter potentes, atque egenos ducere.

For this, too, is a great virtue—to clothe the naked, to feed the hungry, to kindly help the needy, and to behave towards all, both rich and poor, as members of the one great family of mankind.

Satis beatus quisque dextram porrigit
Laudis rapacem, prodigam pecuniæ,
Cujus sinistra dulce factum nesciat.
Illum perennes protinus complent opes,
Ditatque fructus fœnerantem centuplex. 


Right blessed is he, whose right hands works the praiseworthy deed of lavish alms, but whose left hands knows not the sweet charity done! Such a man shall receive eternal riches, and interest a hundred-fold shall be given to him that thus lends to the poor.

[Stone]

Friday of the Second Week of Lent

Taken from The Liturgical Year by Dom Prosper Gueranger (1841-1875)

The Station for today is in the Church of Saint Vitalis, Martyr, the father of the two illustrious Milanese Martyrs, Saints Gervasius and Protasius.

Collect
Da, quæsumus omnipotens Deus; ut sacro nos purificante jejunio, sinceris mentibus ad sancta ventura facias pervenire. Per Christum Dominum nostrum. Amen. 
Grant, O Almighty God, that being purified by this fast, we may come to the approaching solemnity with clean hearts. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.

Epistle
Lesson from the Book of Genesis. Ch. xxxvii.

In those days: Joseph said to his brethren: Hear my dream which I have dreamed. I thought we were binding sheaves in the field; and my sheaf arose, as it were, and stood, and your sheaves, standing about, bowed down before my sheaf. His brethren answered: Shalt thou be our king? or shall we be subject to thy dominion? Therefore this matter of his dreams and words ministered nourishment to their envy and hatred. He dreamed also another dream, which he told his brethren, saying: I saw in a dream, as it were, the sun, and the moon, and eleven stars, worshiping me. And when he had told this to his father and brethren, his father rebuked him, and said: What meaneth this dream that thou hast dreamed? shall I and thy mother, and thy brethren, worship thee upon the earth? His brethren therefore envied him, but his father considered the thing with himself. And when his brethren abode in Sichem, feeding their father’s flocks, Israel said to him: Thy brethren feed the sheep in Sichem; come, I will send thee to them. And when he answered: I am ready; he said to him: Go, and see if all things be well with thy brethren and the cattle, and bring me word again what is doing. So being sent from the vale of Hebron, he came to Sichem. And a man found him there wandering in the field, and asked him what he sought. But he answered: I seek my brethren; tell me where they feed their flocks. And the man said to him: They are departed from this place; for I heard them say: “Let us go to Dothain.” And Joseph went forward after his brethren, and found them in Dothain. And when they saw him afar off, before he came nigh them, they thought to kill him, and said one to another: Behold the dreamer cometh; come, let us kill him, and cast him into some old pit: and we will say: Some evil beast hath devoured him; and then it shall appear what his dream avail him. And Ruben hearing this, endeavored to deliver him out of their hands, and said: Do not take away his life, nor shed his blood; but cast him into this pit that is in the wilderness, and keep your hands harmless. Now he said this, being desirous to deliver him out of their hands, and restore him to his father.

Today the Church reminds us of the apostasy of the Jewish nation, and of the consequent vocation of the Gentiles. This instruction was intended for the Catechumens; let us, also, profit by it. The history here related from the Old Testament is a figure of what we read in today’s Gospel. Joseph is exceedingly beloved by his father Jacob, not only because he is the child of his favorite spouse Rachel, but also because of his innocence. Prophetic dreams have announced the future glory of this child; but he has Brothers; and these Brothers, urged on by jealousy, are determined to destroy him. Their wicked purpose is not carried out to the full; but it succeeds at least this far, that Joseph will never more see his native country. He is sold to some merchants. Shortly afterwards, he is cast into prison; but he is soon set free, and is made the Ruler, not of the land of Chanaan, that had exiled him, but of a pagan country, Egypt. He saves these poor Gentiles from starvation during a most terrible famine, nay, he gives them abundance of food, and they are happy under his government. His very Brothers, who persecuted him, are obliged to come down into Egypt and ask food and pardon from their victim. We easily recognize in this wonderful history our Divine Redeemer, Son of God and Son of Mary: he was the victim of his own people’s jealousy, who refuse to acknowledge in him the Messias foretold by the Prophets, although their prophecies were so evidently fulfilled in him. Like Joseph, Jesus is the object of a deadly conspiracy; like Joseph, he is sold. He traverses the shadow of death, but only to rise again, full of glory and power. But it is no longer on Israel that he lavishes the proofs of his predilection; he turns to the Gentiles, and with them he henceforth dwells. It is to the Gentiles that the remnant of Israel will come seeking him when, pressed by hunger after the truth, they are willing to acknowledge, as the true Messias, this Jesus of Nazareth, their King, whom they crucified.

Gospel
Sequel of the Holy Gospel according to Matthew. Ch. xxi.

At that time: Jesus spoke to the multitude of the Jews, and to the chief priests this parable: There was a house-holder who planted a vineyard, and made a hedge round about it, and dug in it a press, and built a tower, and let it out to husbandmen, and went into a strange country. And when the time of the fruits drew nigh, he sent his servants to the husbandmen, that they might receive the fruits thereof. And the husbandmen laying hands on his servants, beat one, and killed another, and stoned another. Again he sent other servants, more than the former; and they did to them in like manner. And last of all he sent them his son, saying: They will reverence my son. But when the husbandmen saw the son, they said among themselves: This is the heir, come, let us kill him, and we shall have his inheritance. And taking him, they cast him forth out of the vineyard, and killed him. When, therefore, the lord of the vineyard shall come, what will he do to those husbandmen? They say to him: He will bring those evil men to an evil end: and will let out his vineyard to other husbandmen that shall render him the fruit in due season. Jesus saith to them: Have you never read in the Scripture: “The stone which the builders rejected, the same is become the head of the corner? By the Lord this hath been done, and it is wonderful in our eyes.” Therefore I say to you, the kingdom of God shall be taken from you, and shall be given to a nation yielding the fruits thereof. And whosoever shall fall on this stone, shall be broken; but on whomsoever it shall fall, it shall grind him to powder. And when the chief priests and Pharisees had heard his parables, they knew that he spoke of them. And seeking to lay hands on him, they feared the multitude; because they held him as a prophet.

Here we have more than the mere figures of the Old Law, which show us our Redeemer in the far distant future; we have the great reality. Yet a little while, and the thrice-holy Victim will have fallen beneath the blows of his persecutors. How awful and solemn are the words of Jesus, as his last hour approaches! His enemies feel the full weight of what he says; but in their pride, they are determined to keep up their opposition to Him who is the Wisdom of the Father. They have made up their minds not to acknowledge him to be what they well know he is—the Stone on which he that falls, shall be broken, and which shall grind to powder him on whom it shall fall. But what is the Vineyard, of which our Lord here speaks? It is Revealed Truth; it is the Rule of Faith and Morals; it is the universal expectation of the promised Redeemer; and lastly, it is the family of the Children of God, his inheritance, his Church. God had chosen the Synagogue as the depository of such a treasure; he willed that his Vineyard should be carefully kept, that it should yield fruit under their keeping, and that they should always look upon it as his possession, and one that was most dear to him. But in its hard-heartedness and avarice, the Synagogue appropriated the Lord’s Vineyard to themselves. In vain did he, at various times, send his Prophets to reclaim his rights; the faithless husbandmen put them to death. The Son of God, the Heir, comes in person. Surely they will receive him with due respect, and pay him the homage due to his Divine character! But no; they have formed a plot against him; they intend to cast him forth out of the Vineyard, and kill him. Come, then, ye Gentiles, and avenge this God! Leave not a stone on stone of the guilty City that has uttered this terrible curse, May his blood be upon us and upon our Children! But you shall be more than the ministers of the divine justice; you yourselves are now the favored people of God. The apostasy of these ungrateful Jews is the beginning of your salvation. You are to be keepers of the Vineyard to the end of time; you are to feed on its fruits, for they now belong to you. From East and West, from North and South, come to the great Pasch that is being prepared! Come to the font of salvation, O ye new people, who are gathered unto God from all nations under the sun! Your Mother the Church will fill up from you, if you be faithful, the number of the elect; and when her work is done, her Spouse will return, as the dread Judge, to condemn those who would not know the time of their visitation.

Humiliate capita vestra Deo. 
Bow down your heads to God.

Da, quæsumus, Domine, populo tuo salutem mentis et corporis: ut bonis operibus inhærendo, tuæ semper virtutis mereatur protectione defendi. Per Christum Dominum nostrum. Amen. Grant, we beseech thee, O Lord, to thy people health both of soul and body, that by the continual practice of good works they may always be defended by thy powerful protection. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.

Let us encourage within ourselves the spirit of humility and penance by the following Hymn, which we take from the Greek Liturgy. It was composed by St. Andrew of Crete.

Hymn

(Feria V. quintæ Hebdomadæ.)

Unde primum miseræ vitæ meæ actiones lamenter? quod, Christe, hodierni planctus initium faciam? enim vero, qui misericors sis, debitorum veniam concede. 
I would mourn over the sins of my wretched life; but where shall I begin? O Jesus! how shall I commence the lamentation I fain would make this day? Do thou, my merciful God, forgive me my sins.

Veni, misera anima, tua carne comite, omnium confitere Creatori, deincepsque antiqua abstine aliena a ratione affectione, ac Deo lacrymas pœnitens exhibe. 
Come, my poor soul, and thou, too, my body, come, and confess to the great Creator; and henceforth, restrain your senseless passions, and offer to God the tears of repentance.

Qui Adam protoplastum prævericando sim æmulatus; Deo, æternoque regno et voluptate, meis cognovi peccatis me nudatum. 
I have imitated my First Parent in his sin; I acknowledge my nakedness, for I have lost my God, and the kingdom and the joys of eternity.

Heu, me, misera anima! ut quid primæ Evæ similis facta es? male quippe vidisti, direque vulnerata es; ac manum admovisti ligno, petulansque escam absonam gustasti. 
Alas, unhappy soul! wherefore hast thou made thyself like unto Eve! Oh! that guilty look! Oh! that cruel wound! Thou didst stretch forth thy hand to the tree; and, in thy frowardness, didst eat the forbidden fruit.

Jure merito Adam, ut qui unum tuum mandatum, O Salvator, non custodivisset, Eden illa ejectus est: at ego, qui continue vivifica eloquia tua spernam, quid sustinuero? 
Adam was deservedly driven out of Paradise, because he broke one of thy commandments, Oh! my Savior! I, then, who am forever setting thy life-giving words at defiance, what punishment shall I not have?

Tempus est pœnitentiæ: ad te accedo, fictorem meum: grave a me tolle peccati jugum: mihique, ut misericors, tribue veniam delictorum. 
Now is the time for repentance. I come to thee, O my Creator! Take from me the heavy yoke of sin, and, for thy mercy’s sake, pardon me my crimes.

Ne me, Salvator, abomineris, ne projicias a facie tua: grave a me tolle peccati jugum: mihique, ut misericors, tribue veniam delictorum. 
Despise me not, my Savior! Cast me not away from thy face. Take from me the heavy yoke of sin, and, for thy mercy’s sake, pardon me my crimes.

Voluntaria mea debita præterque voluntatem, manifestaque et occulta, cognita omnia et incognita, tu Salvator, condona, velut Deus indulgens; propitius esto, ac me salvum facito. 

Do thou, my Savior, and my merciful God, pardon me my sins, deliberate or indeliberate, public or private, known or unknown. Have mercy on me, and save me!

[Stone]

Saturday of the Second Week of Lent

Taken from The Liturgical Year by Dom Prosper Gueranger (1841-1875)

The Station is the Church of Saints Peter and Marcellinus, two celebrated Martyrs of Rome, under the persecution of Diocletian. Their names are inserted in the Canon of the Mass.

Collect
Da, quæsumus, Domine, nostris effectum jejuniis salutarem: ut castigatio carnis assumpta, ad nostrarum vegetationem transeat animarum. Per Christum Dominum nostrum. Amen. 
Grant, O Lord, we beseech thee, this saving effect of our fast, that the chastisement of the flesh, which we have undertaken, may become the improvement of our souls. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.


Epistle
Lesson from the book of Genesis. Ch. xxvii.

In those days: Rebecca said to her son Jacob: I heard thy father talking with Esau thy brother, and saying to him, “Bring me of thy hunting, and make me meats that I may eat, and bless thee in the sight of the Lord, before I die.” Now, therefore, my son, follow my counsel; and go thy way to thy flock, bring me two kids of the best, that I may make of them meat for thy father, such as he gladly eateth; which when thou hast brought in, and he hath eaten, he may bless thee before he die. And he answered her: Thou knowest that Esau my brother is a hairy man, and I am smooth; if my father shall feel me, and perceive it, I fear lest he will think I would have mocked him, and I shall bring upon me a curse instead of a blessing. And his mother said to him: Upon me be this curse, my son; only hear thou my voice, and go, fetch me the things which I have said. He went, and brought, and gave them to his mother. She dressed meat such as she knew his father liked. And she put on him very good garments of Esau, which she had at home with her; and the little skins of the kids she put about his hands, and covered the bare of his neck. And she gave him the savory meat, and delivered him bread that she had baked. Which when he had carried in, he said: My father? But he answered: I hear; who art thou my son? And Jacob said: I am Esau thy first-born; I have done as thou didst command me; arise, sit, and eat of my venison, that thy soul may bless me. And Isaac said to his son: How couldst thou find it so quickly, my son? He answered: It was the will of God, that what I sought came quickly in my way. And Isaac said: Come hither, that I may feel thee my son, and may prove whether thou be my son Esau or no. He came near to his father, and when he had felt him, Isaac said: The voice, indeed is the voice of Jacob, but the hands are the hands of Esau. And he knew him not, because his hairy hands made him like to the elder. Then blessing him, he said: Art thou my son Esau? He answered: I am. Then he said: Bring me the meats of thy hunting, my son, that my soul may bless thee. And when they were brought and he had eaten, he offered him wine also; which after he had drunk, he said to him: Come near me, and give me a kiss, my son. He came near, and kissed him. And immediately as he smelled the fragrant smell of his garments, blessing him, he said: Behold the smell of my son is as the smell of a plentiful field, which the Lord hath blessed. God give thee of the dew of heaven, and of the fatness of the earth, abundance of corn and wine. And let peoples serve thee, and tribes worship thee; be thou lord of thy brethren, and let thy mother’s children bow down before thee. Cursed be he that curseth thee, and let him that blesseth thee be filled with blessings. Isaac had scarce ended his words, when Jacob being now gone out abroad, Esau came, and brought into his father meats of of what he had taken in hunting, saying, Arise, my father, and eat of thy son’s venison; that thy soul may bless me. And Isaac said to him: Why! who art thou? He answered: I am thy first-born son Esau. Isaac was struck with fear, and astonished exceedingly, and wondering beyond what can be believed, said: Who is he that even now brought me venison that he had taken, and I ate of all before thou camest? and I have blessed him, and he shall be blessed. Esau having heard his father’s words, roared out with a great cry, and being in a consternation said: Bless me also, my father. And he said: Thy brother came deceitfully and got thy blessing. But he said again: Rightly is his name called Jacob, for he hath supplanted me lo! this second time; my first birth-right he took away before, and now this second time he hath stolen away my blessing. And again he said to his father: Hast thou not reserved me also a blessing? Isaac answered: I have appointed him thy lord, and have made all his brethren his servants: I have established him with corn and oil, and after this, what shall I do more for thee, my son? And Esau said to him: Hast thou only one blessing, father? I beseech thee, bless me also. And when he wept with a loud cry, Isaac being moved, said to him: In the fat of the earth, and in the dew of heaven from above, shall thy blessing be.

The two sons of Isaac are another illustration of God’s judgments upon Israel, and his Vocation of the Gentiles. The instruction contained in this passage from Genesis was intended for the Catechumens. Here we have two brothers, Esau the elder, and Jacob the younger; Esau represents the Jewish people; he is his father’s heir, and, as such, he has a glorious future before him. Jacob, though twin brother to Esau, is the second born, and has no right to the special blessing which Esau claimed: he is the figure of the Gentiles. How, then, is it that Jacob receives the blessing, and not Esau? The sacred volume tells us that Esau is a carnal-minded man. Rather than deny himself the momentary gratification of his appetite, he sacrifices the spiritual advantages, which his father’s blessing is to bring him: he sells his birth-right to Jacob for a mess of pottage. We know the mother’s plan for the securing Jacob’s claim; and how the aged father is, unsuspectingly, the instrument in God’s hands, by ratifying and blessing this substitution, of which he himself had no knowledge. Esau, having returned home, is made aware of the greatness of his loss; but it is too late, and he becomes an enemy to his Brother. The same thing happens with the Jewish people; they are carnal-minded and lose their birth-right—their pre-eminence over the Gentiles. They refuse to acknowledge a Messias who is poor and persecuted; their ambition is for earthly triumph and earthly greatness; and the only Kingdom that Jesus holds out to his followers is a spiritual one. The Jews, then, reject this Messias; but the Gentiles receive him, and they become the first-born, the favored people. And whereas the Jews repudiate this substitution (—to which, however, they assented, when they said to Pilate: We will not have this Man to reign over us:—) they are indignant at seeing the Heavenly Father bestowing all his love and blessings on the Christian people. They that are children of Abraham, according to the flesh, are disinherited; and they that are the children of Abraham by faith only, are evidently the children of the Promise; according to those words of the Lord, which he spoke to that great Patriarch: I will multiply thy seed as the stars of Heaven, and as the sand that is by the sea-shore … In thy seed (that is, “in Him who is to be born of thy race,”) all the nations of the earth shall be blessed.

Gospel
Sequel of the Holy Gospel according to Luke. Ch. xv.

At that time: Jesus spoke to the Scribes and Pharisees this parable: A certain man had two sons; and the younger of them said to his father: Father, give me the portion of substance that falleth to me. And he divided unto them his substance. And not many days after, the younger son, gathering all together, went abroad into a far country, and there wasted his substance with living riotously. And, after he had spent all, there came a mighty famine in that country, and he began to be in want. And he went and cleaved to one of the citizens of that country. And he sent him into his farm to feed swine. And he would fain have filled his belly with the husks the swine did eat; and no man gave unto him. And returning to himself he said: How many hired servants in my father’s house abound with bread, and I here perish with hunger? I will arise, and will go to my father, and say to him: Father, I have sinned against heaven, and before thee; I am not now worthy to be called thy son; make me as one of thy hire servants. And rising up, he came to his father. And when he was yet a great way off, his father saw him, and was moved with compassion; and running to him, fell upon his neck, and kissed him. And the son said to him: Father, I have sinned against heaven, and before thee; I am not now worthy to be called thy son. But the father said to his servants: Bring forth quickly the first robe, and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand, and shes on his feet; and bring hither the fatted calf, and kill it, and let us eat, and make merry; because this my son was dead, an dis now come to life again, was lost, and is found. And they began to be merry. Now his eldest son was in the field; and when he came and drew nigh to the house, he heard music and dancing, and he called one of the servants, and asked what these things meant. And he said to him: Thy brother is come, and thy father hath killed the fatted calf, because he hath received him safe. And he was angry, and would not go in. His father therefore coming out began to entreat him. And he answering said to his father: Behold, for so many years do I serve thee, and I have never transgressed thy commandments, and yet thou hast never given me a kid to make merry with my friends; but as soon as this thy son is come, who hath devoured his substance with harlots, thou hast killed for him the fatted calf. But he said to him: Son, thou art always with me, and all I have is thine. But it was fit we should make merry and be glad; for this thy brother was dead, and is come to life again, he was lost, and is found.

The mystery brought before us in the Epistle is repeated in our Gospel. Again, it is the history of two Brothers; the elder is angry at seeing his father show mercy to the younger. This younger Brother has gone abroad into a far country; he has quitted his father’s house, that he might be under no control, and indulge in every kind of disorder. But when a mighty famine came, and he was perishing with hunger, he remembered that he had a Father; and, at once he arose, and humbly besought his father to receive him, and give him the last place in that House which, but for his own folly, might have been all his own. The father received the prodigal with the tenderest affection; not only did he pardon him, he restored him to all his family rights; nay, he would have a feast kept in honor of this happy return. The elder Brother hearing what the father had done, was indignant, and conceives the bitterest jealousy against his younger Brother.—Let the Jews be jealous, if they will; let them be indignant with their God for showing his mercy to any but themselves. The time is come when all the nations of the earth are to be called to the One Fold. The Gentiles, notwithstanding all the misery into which their errors and their passions had led them, are to receive the preaching of the Apostles. Greeks and Romans, Scythians and Barbarians, are to come, humbly acknowledging the evil of their ways, and ask to share in the favors offered to Israel. Not only are they to be allowed to eat of the crumbs the fall from the table, which was all the poor woman of Chanaan dared to hope for; they are to be made Sons and Heirs of the Father, with all the attendant rights and privileges. Israel will be jealous, and will protest; but to no purpose. He will refuse to take part in the feast; it matters not, the feast is to be. This Feast is the Pasch. The Prodigals that have come, starved and naked, to the Father’s house, are our Catechumens, on whom God is about to bestow the grace of adoption.

But there are also the public Penitents, who are being prepared by the Church for Reconciliation; they too are the Prodigals, who come seeking mercy from their offended Father. This Gospel was intended for them as well as for the Catechumens. But now that the Church has relaxed her severe discipline, she offers this Parable to all those who are in the state of sin, and are preparing to make their peace with God. They know not as yet how good is the God from whom they have strayed by sin: let them read today’s Gospel, and see how Mercy exalteth itself above Judgment, in that God who so loved the world, as to give his Only Begotten Son. How far soever they may have gone astray, or how great soever may have been their ingratitude, let them take courage; a feast is being prepared in their Father’s House, to welcome them home again. The loving Father is waiting at the door to receive and embrace them; the first robe, the robe of innocence, is to be restored to them; the ring, which they alone wear that are of God’s family, is to be once more placed on their hand. There is a Banquet being prepared for them at which the Angels, out of joy, will sing their glad songs. Let these poor sinners, then, cry out with a contrite heart: Father! I have sinned against heaven, and before thee; I am not now worthy to be called thy son; make me as one of thy hired servants. This tender-hearted Father asks only this much of them: sincere sorrow for their sins, humble confession, and a firm resolution of being faithful for the time to come. Let them accept these easy terms, and he will receive them, once more, as his dearest children.

Humiliate capita vestra Deo. 
Bow down your heads to God.

Familiam tuam, quæsumus, Domine, continua pietate custodi: ut quæ in sola spe gratiæ cœlestis innititur, cœlesti etiam protectione miniatur. Per Christum Dominum nostrum. Amen. Protect, O Lord, we beseech thee, thy family by thy continual goodness, that as it relieth on the hopes of heavenly grace, so it may be defended by thy heavenly aid. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.

This being Saturday, let us have recourse to Mary, the Queen of Mercy. Let us address ourselves to her in these devout words of a Sequence taken from the ancient Cluny Missals.
This is our request: that she would obtain for us the pardon of our sins.

Sequence

Ave novi luminis
Stella promens radium,
Quo nostræ propaginis
Deletur opprobruim. 

Hail, fair Star! that yieldest a ray of new Light, whereby is blotted out the shame of our race.


Tu sola spes hominis;
Tu nostrum refugium,
In hora discriminis
Placa nobis Filium. 

O thou the singular hope of man! O thou, our Refuge! Appease thy Son, at the hour of our judgment.


Florens Jesse virgula,
Vera veris primula,
Salutem initians. 

Thou art the flowery Rod of Jesse: thou art the true first spring-flower, bringing us our Jesus.


Rosa semper vernula,
Tota sine macula,
Maculosos expians. 

O ever blooming Rose! there is not a stain upon thee, and thy Fruit taketh our stains away.


Uterus virginens,
Fons hortorum, puteus
Aquarum viventium. 

Thy virginal womb is the Fount of the Garden, the source of Him that is the Water of Life.


Imo thronus aureus,
In quo Rex æthereus
Coronavit Filium. 

Yea, thou art the golden Throne, whereon the King of heaven crowned his Son.


Domus aromatica,
Quam arte mirifica
Fecit summus Artifex. 

The Palace of sweet perfumes, formed with exquisite skill by the hand of the great Artificer;


In qua Christus unica
Sumpta carnis tunica,
Consecratur Pontifex.

Wherein Jesus, having put on the garment of our flesh, was consecrated High Priest.


Fons distillans oleum,
Imo rorem melleum,
Per amoris fistulas. 

Thou art the Fount that givest forth oil, yea a dew sweet as honey; for thou art all love.


Inde surgit balneum,
Purgans omne felleum,
Et peccati maculas. 

Hence came to us the Font that washeth away the bitterness and stains of sin.


Mater cujus viscera
Penetrarunt vulnera
Patientis Filii. 

O Mother! whose Heart was pierced by the wounds of thy suffering Son.


Lac profer et ubera;
Nos a pœnis libera
Tremendi judicii. Amen. 


Show us a Mother’s care and love; and when the dread judgment comes, deliver us from punishment. Amen.