Lenten devotions and renewal of Consecration
The Psalms of the Little Office of the Blessed Virgin Mary
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👉 Psalm 8 👉 Psalm 18 👉 Psalm 23
🠙 King David, author of the Psalms, by Willem Vrelant (early 1460s), Bruges, Belgium.
Troisième semaine (Jours 27 à 33)
Third week (Days 27 to 33)
Feast of St Joseph 2022: Sancte Joseph, ora pro nobis.
Jesu Infans dulcissime, benedic et protege nos!
Sujet de la semaine : Connaissance de Jésus Christ
Jesu Infans dulcissime, benedic et protege nos!
Theme of the week : Knowledge of Jesus Christ
Démarche :
Actes d’Amour de Dieu, de charité envers le prochain.
Support des épreuves et pardon des injures.
Chemin de la croix.
Actions de grâces pour les bienfaits de Jésus, pour ses Sacrements, pour le don qu’il nous a fait de sa Mère.
Résolution de faire ou de renouveler notre consécration à Marie. [Totus tuus ego sum, Et omia mea tua sunt; Tecume semper tutus sum: Ad Jesum per te, Maria.]
Programme: Meditation on Our Lord Jesus Christ. Acts of love, of charity towards our neighbour. Bearing trials and forgiving injuries. The Way of the Cross. Thanksgiving for what Jesus has done for us, for His Sacraments, for giving us His Mother. Resolving to make or renew our consecration to Mary.
Nous étudierons donc Notre Seigneur. Mais qu’étudier dans le Christ-Jésus ?
- D’abord l’Homme-Dieu, sa grâce et sa gloire ;
- puis ses titres à son domaine souverain sur nous :
- Verbe par qui tout a été créé, et duquel nous dépendons en toute chose ;
- notre Rédempteur qui nous a tiré du péché par sa mort et qui nous abreuve de son sang ;
- notre Chef qui nous anime et à qui nous devons sans cesse obéir ;
- l’Époux de notre âme qui s’est livré pour elle aux souffrances de la Passion, et à qui nous devons rendre amour pour amour.
During this period we shall apply ourselves to the study of Jesus Christ. What is to be studied in Christ? First the God-Man, His grace and glory; then His rights to sovereign dominion over us; the Word, through Whom all things were created and upon Whom we rely for all things; Our Redeemer Who saved us from sin by His death and who nourishes us with His most precious blood; our Prince Who gives us life and Whom we must always obey; the Spouse of our soul, Who delivered Himself for souls unto the sufferings of His Passion and to Whom we must render love for love.
Après avoir renoncé à Satan et au monde, nous avons pris Notre-Seigneur pour notre Roi et notre unique Maître et Seigneur. Qu’étudier encore ?
- Ses actions extérieures dans l’Évangile,
- sa vie intérieure aussi, c’est-à-dire les vertus et les actes de son Sacré Cœur ;
- ses rapports avec Marie dans le mystère de l’Annonciation et de l’Incarnation, dans la sainte Eucharistie et la vie cachée, aux noces de Cana et sur le calvaire ; au ciel même où Il règne en compagnie de sa virginale Mère, qu’il a associée à sa gloire et à tous ses pouvoirs…
After having renounced Satan and the world, we have taken Our Lord for our King and our only Master and Lord. What next shall be the object of our study? His exterior actions in the Gospel, as well as His interior life; namely, the virtues and acts of His Sacred Heart; His association with Mary in the mysteries of the Annunciation and Incarnation, in the Holy Eucharist, during His infancy and hidden life, at the feast of Cana and on Calvary; even in Heaven where He reigns, together with His Virgin Mother, whom He has associated with His glory and all His power.
Readings
Saint Matthew - Chapter 26:1-2, 26-29, 36-46
Chapter 26:1-2
Commentary by Cornelius A Lapide
[1] Et factum est : cum consummasset Jesus sermones hos omnes, dixit discipulis suis :And it came to pass, when Jesus had ended all these words, he said to his disciples:
And it came to pass, when He had finished, or completed, all that He had spoken in the last chapter concerning the destruction of Jerusalem and the end of the world, then He girded Himself to meet His Passion, which was nigh at hand, and foretold it. He would not seem to be ignorant of the things which were shortly to come to pass, whilst He prophesied of those in the far distant future. He would not have His disciples suppose that Christ was ignorant of the things which were to befall Him, or that they happened to Him against His will; but that they might know that all was foreseen by Him. The meaning is, as S. Thomas expresses it, “When Christ had fulfilled His office as a Teacher, He began to prepare Himself for the office of a Redeemer and a Saviour.”
[2] Scitis quia post biduum Pascha fiet, et Filius hominis tradetur ut crucifigatur.You know that after two days shall be the pasch, and the son of man shall be delivered up to be crucified:
Ye know, &c., after two days. He said, therefore, these things on the Tuesday evening, when, after the Hebrew custom, the fourth day of the week, or Wednesday, was about to begin. This was the reckoning employed with respect to festivals. For, as Pererius says (on Gen. 1:5, on the words, “The evening and the morning were one day”), “It is certain that the ancient Jews reckoned their days by a threefold method.” First, the legal day from evening to evening. Secondly, the natural day from sunrise to sunrise. Thirdly, the common day from midnight to midnight.
Wherefore Christ saith truly, After two days shall be the feast of the Passover, because after two days, that is to say, Wednesday and Thursday, on the evening of Thursday, when Friday is about to begin, is the Passover.
The Passover. This means in Hebrew, passing over, because the angel passed over the houses of the Hebrews. For pasach means to pass over. But the Syrians write pascha not with samech, as the Hebrews, but with tsade, and then pascha signifies joy and gladness, for the feast of the Passover was a time of utmost joyfulness.
And it came to pass, when He had finished, or completed, all that He had spoken in the last chapter concerning the destruction of Jerusalem and the end of the world, then He girded Himself to meet His Passion, which was nigh at hand, and foretold it. He would not seem to be ignorant of the things which were shortly to come to pass, whilst He prophesied of those in the far distant future. He would not have His disciples suppose that Christ was ignorant of the things which were to befall Him, or that they happened to Him against His will; but that they might know that all was foreseen by Him. The meaning is, as S. Thomas expresses it, “When Christ had fulfilled His office as a Teacher, He began to prepare Himself for the office of a Redeemer and a Saviour.”
[2] Scitis quia post biduum Pascha fiet, et Filius hominis tradetur ut crucifigatur.
The Passover. This means in Hebrew, passing over, because the angel passed over the houses of the Hebrews. For pasach means to pass over. But the Syrians write pascha not with samech, as the Hebrews, but with tsade, and then pascha signifies joy and gladness, for the feast of the Passover was a time of utmost joyfulness.
Chapter 26: 26-29
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| Corpus Christii custodiat animam tuam... J-J Tissot |
[26] Cœnantibus autem eis, accepit Jesus panem, et benedixit, ac fregit, deditque discipulis suis, et ait: Accipite, et comedite : hoc est corpus meum.
And whilst they were at supper,[1] Jesus took bread,[2] and blessed,[3] and broke: and gave to his disciples, and said: Take ye, and eat. This is my body.[4]
[1] Whilst they were at supper, &c. This is My Body. Thus the Syriac, Arabic, and Persian. But the Ethiopic more significantly renders, This is My very Flesh. The Egyptian adds for: For this is My Body. The rest, indeed, understand for. For that the word must here be supplied is sufficiently plain from the account of the consecration of the wine in ver. 28, For this is My Blood. The word for gives the reason why they must eat and drink, namely, because it is the Body and Blood of Christ which are offered to them by Him to be eaten and drunken. For who would not most eagerly receive such Divine and precious meat and drink?
[1] At supper, i.e., after the supper, as Luke and Paul have it, of the paschal Iamb, but whilst they were still reclining at the table as it was spread for the feast. Therefore Matthew says, whilst they were at supper. Here take notice that this supper of Christ was threefold.
- First, that of the paschal lamb, which Christ and His Apostles celebrated standing, according to the law in Exod. 12.
- Secondly, a common supper of other food after the lamb, which they ate reclining upon couches. For all the members of a family, especially if it were a numerous one, would not have sufficient food in the lamb alone.
- Thirdly, Christ added a most sacred, yea, a Divine Supper, that is to say, the institution of the Eucharist.
For Christ before the Eucharist partook of the lamb and the ordinary supper, since it was fitting that the type of the lamb should precede the Eucharistic Verity; and that the Eucharist should be the final memorial of Him who was about to die, as it were the highest pledge of love. So Jansen, Maldonatus, and others. Suarez, however, in speaking of this passage, thinks that the Eucharist was instituted between the paschal and the ordinary supper. At present, indeed, for the sake of reverence of so great a Sacrament, it is, says S. Augustine (Epist. 128), an Apostolic tradition that the Eucharist should only be taken by those who are fasting. Wherefore the heretics falsely and deceitfully call the Eucharist “the Supper,” although it be true the first Christians for some time celebrated the Eucharist at supper, after the example of Christ, as we gather from 1 Cor. 11:25. Moreover, in the place of the second and ordinary supper, which Paul calls the Lord’s Supper, there succeeded in ancient times, among Christians, the Agape, that is, a feast common to all, as a sign and incentive of charity, but taken after the reception of the Eucharist. Lastly, Christ, after the supper upon the lamb and the ordinary supper, but before the institution of the Eucharist, washed the disciples’ feet. He did this to signify with what purity we ought to approach so great Mysteries. This is plain from John 13:4. After the washing, He took and consecrated bread and wine, which were still upon the table, and converted them into the Eucharist, that is, into His own Body and Blood.
From all this it is gathered that Christ instituted the Eucharist about the first or second hour of the night. For after taking the Eucharist, Judas went out to summon the servants of the rulers, that they might seize Christ. Christ in the meanwhile delivered His prolonged discourse, of which John gives an account, chaps. 14–17. When this was ended, He went out to the Mount of Olives, and there continued a long time in prayer. Then He was taken by the Jews and dragged back from Gethsemane to Jerusalem. Then He was taken to Annas, and after that to Caiaphas. Still there was a great part of the night left, during which He was beaten by the hands of the servants of the priests, was spat upon and mocked by them, whilst they were waiting for the day, that they might take Him to Pilate to be condemned. From all this it appears that Christ instituted the Eucharist about the beginning of Thursday night.
Lastly, listen to the Council of Trent (Sess. 22, c. 1): “After Christ had celebrated the ancient Passover, which the multitude of the sons of Israel sacrificed in memory of their going out of Egypt, He instituted a new Passover, that He Himself should be immolated by the Church (ab ecclesia), by means of (per) the priests, under (sub) visible signs, in memory of His passage from this world to the Father, when He redeemed us by the shedding of His Blood, and delivered us from the power of darkness, and translated us to His Kingdom.”
[2] Jesus took bread. Observe here five actions of Christ.
- He took bread.
- He gave thanks to the Father.
- He blessed bread.
- He brake bread.
- He extended it, and as He was extending it to them He said, Take and eat; this is My Body. For these are the words by which He offered it to them as well as by which He consecrated it.
This annihilates Calvin’s argument, who says, all these words, namely, took, blessed, brake, gave, have respect only unto bread. Therefore the Apostles received and ate bread, not the Body of Christ. I reply to the major premise: These words refer to bread, not as it remained bread, but as it was in the act of being bestowed (inter dandum), changed by virtue of the words and consecration of Christ into the Body of Christ. For thus might Christ have said at Cana of Galilee, “Take and drink, for this is wine,” if He had wished by these words to turn water into wine. For so we say in ordinary speech, “Herod shut up S. John in prison, killed and buried him, or permitted him to be buried.” And yet it was not the same that he shut up in prison whom he buried. For he imprisoned a man, he buried a corpse. After a similar and common way of speaking is what the Evangelists and S. Paul say of the Eucharist.
Observe, secondly, from what Christ said, Take ye, for this is, &c, it would seem that Christ took one loaf, and during the act of consecration broke it into twelve parts, and gave one of these parts to each of the Apostles, which they appear to have received in their hands. Wherefore also, for a long time in the Church, the Eucharist was given to the faithful in their hands, as is plain from Tertullian (lib. de Spectac.), and from S. Cryil of Jerusalem (Catechesi Mystagog. 5), and from S. Austin (Serm. 244).
Afterwards, however, from fear of desecration, and through reverence, it was given in the mouth.
Lastly, the Apostles were not troubled at this unaccustomed action of Christ, and this new and wonderful Sacrament, for two reasons. First, because they had been already instructed and premonished (John 6), as S. Chrysostom teaches (Hom. 83, in Matth.). The other, because the same Christ who delivered the Mysteries, illuminated their minds by faith, that they might simply believe. For they had heard and believed many other more marvellous things without being troubled; as, chiefly that that Man, whom they saw eat, drink, sleep, be weary, was true God. Yea, that He was in Heaven at the very same time that He was speaking with them on earth, when He said (John 3:13), “And no man hath ascended up to Heaven, but He that came down from Heaven, even the Son of Man, which is in Heaven.
[3] Blessed. Observe, Christ before consecration,
1st. gave thanks to God the Father, as Luke and Paul say; and that, after His manner, with His eyes lifted up to Heaven, as it is in the Canon of the Mass and the Liturgy of S. James. Whence this Sacrament is called the Eucharist, i.e., Giving of Thanks, because it is itself the greatest and chief Thanksgiving.
2d. Christ blessed, not the Father, as the heretics choose to say, but the bread and wine, as S. Paul says expressly, the cup of blessing which we bless, &c. (1 Cor. 10). Now Christ blessed the bread and the chalice, that is to say, He invoked the blessing and almighty power of God upon the bread and wine, that it might be then at that time, and in all future consecrations, converted, the bread into the Body, and the wine of the chalice into the Blood of Christ, whensoever the words of consecration are rightly and duly (legitime) pronounced. Similar was the blessing of the loaves (Luke 9:16). Not, therefore, was this benediction the same as consecration, though S. Thomas thinks otherwise (see Council of Trent, Sess. 13, cap. 1). Whence in the Liturgies of S. James and S. Basil, and in our Canon, we pray, after Christ’s example, that God would bless these gifts, that the Divine power may descend upon the bread and the chalice, to perfect the consecration. Hence it is called the chalice of benediction, i.e., blessed by Christ. Whence also S. Paul says (1 Cor. 10:16), “The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not the communication of the Blood of Christ?”
Lastly, it seems that Christ blessed the bread by making over it the sign of the cross, and in blessing, invoked the power of God, that it might become consecrated and transubstantiated. For, according to the practice of the Church, priests in consecration bless the bread and the wine with the sign of the cross. This they do after the example of Christ.
[4] This is My Body. From hence it is plain that the Eucharist is not the figure of the Body of Christ, as the Innovators perversely say, but the true and proper Body of Christ, which was born of the Virgin Mary, and crucified on Calvary, as the Church has believed in all ages, and defined in many Councils. This I have shown on 1 Cor. 11:24. There Paul, in the same words, repeats and relates the institution of the Eucharist. We must add, that some have been torn away from this faith, because they are not able to comprehend how the Body of Christ, so lofty and so great, can be contained whole in (sub) a very little host. But these persons ought to remember that God is Almighty; and that as He constituted nature, so also He often works, as He wills, contrary to nature, in a supernatural manner, that He may show Himself to be the Lord and God of nature and of all things. Wherefore, whatsoever there is peculiar in nature may be inverted and altogether changed (everti). Consequently, God is able to effect that a great quantity may be contained in a little space, yea, in a point. This is the theological reason.
But in order to give full satisfaction to some weak minds, I will subjoin two evidential arguments for this mystery to show that it is possible—arguments which derive their force from analogy. Take, therefore, the following demonstration, drawn from a physical analogy—from the eye and a mirror. For both a looking-glass and a small eye receive into themselves the whole quantity of the very greatest things, not only men, but houses, temples, trees, mountains, &c., and clearly reproduce and represent them whole. Why then should not a small host, by God’s power, set forth (exhibeat) whole Christ? You will say that in the eye and in the mirror what takes place is done in a spiritual manner, by means of optical or visual appearances. I reply, in like manner the Body of Christ in the Eucharist assumes a spiritual mode of existence, so that, as a spirit, it should be spiritually in the very small portion of the host.* Let us add this, that the objective appearances themselves are not spiritual in such a sense as that they are not really natural and physical, yes, corporeal, entities. For they are inseparable from corporeal entities, such as the atmosphere. And of these things we see that very many, and as it were an infinite number, are received and comprehended in a mirror and in the eye. If all this constantly takes place in a natural manner, with respect to the appearances received by the eye, much more can the omnipotence of God do the same thing supernaturally in respect to the Body of Christ, miraculously in the Eucharist.
(Here follows in the original what the Author calls an analogical mathematical demonstration. This is omitted, both because it would involve the printing of two intricate mathematical diagrams, as also because such a species of argument seems less likely to convince now than it did when à Lapide wrote.)
You may add here a third proof drawn from condensation and rarefaction, which I have brought forward on 1 Cor. 11:25. Water in a vessel, made dense by means of cold, occupies only half of the vessel, but when it is made hot and rarefied by means of fire, it bubbles up and fills the whole vessel. And yet the water continues the same as regards matter, volume (molem), and, as many celebrated philosophers are of opinion, as regards intrinsic bulk; for nothing is added to the water by rarefaction except extension in space. If, then, this takes place according to natural laws, why should God be unable to do the same thing supernaturally, as respects the body of Christ?
Luke adds (22:19), This is My Body which is given for you, i.e., which is about to be given. S. Paul (1 Cor. 11.) has, which shall be delivered (Vulg.); Gr. κλώμενον, broken.
Luke also adds, This do ye for a commemoration of Me. By these words Christ gave to the Apostles, and to the Priests who were to be ordained by them, power, as well as commandments, to consecrate and transubstantiate bread into His Body, and wine into His Blood. Wherefore by these words Christ constituted and ordained His Apostles Priests and Bishops, as the Council of Trent teaches (Sess. 22, cap. 1). For by these words He commanded His Apostles, as Bishops, to ordain Priests to celebrate as well the Sacrament as the Sacrifice of the Eucharist, continuously and perpetually throughout all ages. And this He did both for the perpetual praise and worship of God, and also for the spiritual nourishment of the faithful, that they might, by this means, ask and obtain of God every grace for the Church. And this is the doctrine and faith of the whole Church. This do, therefore, is as though He said, “Do what I do, i.e., consecrate, sacrifice, transubstantiate bread and wine, and eat them, as I have consecrated, sacrificed, transubstantiated, eaten the same. Moreover, also, ordain Priests and Bishops, who, by a perpetual succession, may do the same, even unto the end of the world.”
For a commemoration of Me. “That, namely, by the consecration and receiving of the Eucharist, ye may commemorate, and, as S. Paul says (1 Cor. 11:26), may announce (Vulg.), My death.” For consecrating Priests are here bidden not only to remember the Death of Christ, but to recall the same to memory with Christian people, that they may be always mindful of so great a benefit, and of Christ’s great condescension and redemption, and thankful for it, and so by it ask and obtain all grace from God.
[27] Et accipiens calicem, gratias egit : et dedit illis, dicens : Bibite ex hoc omnes.
And taking the chalice,[1] he gave thanks, and gave to them, saying: Drink ye all of this.[2]
[1] And taking the chalice, &c. Bellarmine (lib. iv. de Eucharist. c. xxvii) is of opinion that Christ did not consecrate the chalice immediately after the consecration of the bread, but that many actions and words of His intervened. He endeavours to prove this from the fact that S. Matthew says, whilst they were at supper; but Luke and Paul say concerning the chalice, likewise also the cup after supper.
But it is far more probable that Christ, after the consecration of the bread, proceeded immediately with the consecration of the chalice. For Matthew, Mark, and Luke so relate. Moreover, the rationale of the Sacrament and the Eucharistic Sacrifice so required that there should not be any division or interruption, but that the whole matter should be accomplished at one and the same time. And we know that to the rationale of the Sacrifice pertains the consecration of the wine as well as the bread. For Christ instituted this Sacrifice after the manner of a feast, for which wine is required for drink, as well as bread for food. Thus likewise in the Old Testament, in the sacrifice of the mincha, that is, of fine flour, equally as in the sacrifice of animals, there was added a drink-offering, i.e., a pouring forth of wine and oil. For sacrifice is offered to God that it should be a refection of God. But for a refection, drink is required as well as food, that is to say, both wine and bread.
[2] Drink ye all of this. Christ said this before the consecration of the chalice. Wherefore, in Mark 14:23 there is an hysterologia [The inversion of the logical or conventional order of elements in speech or writing, esp. for rhetorical effect] when it is said, and they all drank of it. And presently he relates that Christ consecrated it, saying, This is My Blood of the New Testament. But it is certain from Matthew and Luke that Christ first consecrated the chalice, and then gave it to His Apostles to drink. For otherwise they would have drunk mere wine, and not the Blood of Christ.
Observe, that Christ divided the bread into thirteen parts, one of which He took first Himself, and then gave the remaining parts to the Apostles, one by one. But with the contents of the chalice, being liquid, He could not do this. Wherefore, after it was consecrated, Christ first drank of it Himself, and then gave it to his next neighbour, whether John or Peter, bidding him pass it to his nearest neighbour, and thus the chalice passed round the company, and all the Apostles drank of it. Wherefore it does not follow, as the Hussites and Luther say, that the chalice ought to be given to the laity, and that they ought to communicate in both kinds, because Christ and the Apostles communicated in both kinds, and that the same is Christ’s command. For this precept of drinking, where He said, Drink ye all of this (as the Church has always understood), pertained only to the Apostles, who alone were then present. For Christ at that time was consecrating them Priests, and He bade them consecrate the Sacrament and Sacrifice of the Eucharist under both kinds, and bade them receive both kinds, that they might complete a perfect Sacrifice. But He did not command this to the laity, to whom, inasmuch as they do not sacrifice, but only receive the Eucharist as a Sacrament, it is sufficient that they take it under one kind, because in one kind they receive the whole effect and fruit of the Sacrament. And it is especially to be considered that in so great a number of lay people communicating, the chalice might easily be overturned, and the Blood of Christ contained in it spilt upon the ground, which would be an act of great irreverence. Similarly the command of Christ, This do ye for a commemoration of Me, in what refers to consecration, pertains only to Priests; but to the laity pertains only the receiving of the consecrated Bread, as is plain. For when several precepts are mingled together, their variety may be limited and distributed, according to the condition of the persons intended, and the intention of the legislator, who in this place is Christ, and His interpreter the Church.
S. Cyprian, or whoever is the author of the treatise (de Cæna Dom.), observes that formerly it was forbidden to the Hebrews to drink the blood of animals, as is plain from Heb. 9:22, Lev. 4:6, &c., but that now the Blood of Christ is drunk by His Priests. First, because the Blood of Christ is life-giving. 2nd. Because by It we have been redeemed. 3rd. Because by It, being made spiritual, we shudder at the sins of a carnal life, as at impure blood.
[28] Hic est enim sanguis meus novi testamenti, qui pro multis effundetur in remissionem peccatorum.
For this is my blood of the new testament,[1] which shall be shed for many[2] unto remission of sins.
[1] For this is My Blood of the New Testament. Syr. Covenant, &c. The Ethiopic has, This is My very Blood. He means, “in this chalice, by this My consecration, wine is turned into My Blood. Wherefore, after this consecration, there is no longer wine there, but My Blood, by which the new Covenant and Testament are confirmed and rectified, by means of My mediation between God and man.” For Christ by His Blood, shortly to be shed, merited and confirmed for us the hope and the right of eternal inheritance in Heaven, which was the chief and the last will of Christ the Testator. And the Sacraments afford this right to us, especially the Eucharist, in the same way that a testament consigns in writing to the heir a right to the testator’s goods.
Observe: Matthew and Mark have, My Blood of the New Testament. But Luke and Paul have, This chalice is the New Testament in My Blood. The meaning in both is the same, but Christ would seem to have actually uttered what Matthew and Mark relate. For this is an expression of clearer meaning. Christ, by instituting the Eucharist at His last supper, rather than upon the Cross, ratified His testament and covenant with the Church. For all the Apostles were here present. And they personified and represented the Church.
Observe, secondly: In the form of consecrating the chalice which we now use in the Sacrifice of the Mass, there are added these words, The eternal testament, the mystery of the faith. Tradition says they have been handed down from S. Peter, who is the author of our Liturgy. So teach Leo IX. (Epist. ad. Michael. imp. c. ix) and S. Thomas (3 p. q. 78, art. 2, ad. 4). For although they do not concern the essence of the form (and yet S. Thomas in 1 Cor. 11 seems to say they do), wherefore they are not found in the Liturgies of S. James, S. Basil, S. Chrysostom, and S. Clement, yet they pertain to its complete integrity. And this is the common opinion of the whole Latin Church, which, in the form of consecrating the chalice in the Mass, writes and pronounces these words as spoken by Christ, and enjoined by the Apostles, equally with the rest.
Where observe: The mystery of the faith signifies—1st. That the Blood of Christ veiled beneath the species is a hidden (arcanam) thing, which can be recognised and believed by faith alone. 2nd. That the very Blood of Christ, as it was shed in His Passion, is the object of faith whereby we are justified. For we believe that we are justified and cleansed from our sins by the merits of the Passion and Death of Christ.
[2] For many, i.e., for all men, who are very many.
Shall be shed (Vulg.). But the Greek of Matthew, Mark, and Luke has ἐρχυνόμενον, is shed, in the present, i.e., is offered in this Sacrifice of the Eucharist under the species of wine, and which shall be presently shed upon the Cross in its own species and natural form of blood. For the blood of the victim was wont to be shed in the sacrifice itself, and so was a libation made to God. Whence the shedding itself is called a libation, a drink-offering. Wherefore this chalice of the Blood of Christ, as it was the drink-offering of the Sacrifice of Christ, was poured into the mouth of Christ and His Apostles, and for this reason the reception of the species, both of bread and wine, pertains to the object and the perfection of the Sacrifice.
Hence, then, it is plain that the Eucharist is not only a Sacrament, but a Sacrifice, in truth, the only Sacrifice of the New Law, which has succeeded to all the ancient sacrifices, and which contains them all in their completeness in Itself. Therefore Christ is called “a Priest after the order of Melchizedek,” not of Aaron. For Aaron offered sheep, but Melchizedek bread and wine, even as Christ did, and transubstantiated them into His Body and Blood (see Ps. 110:4 and Heb. 5:6, 7). The Eucharist is, therefore—1st. A burnt-offering; 2nd. A sin-offering; 3rd. A peace-offering; 4th. A mincha, or meat-offering (Lev. 1, &c.).
That this is so is plain—1st. Because Christ did not say of His Blood, “which is poured upon many,” as a Sacrament, but “which is shed for many,” as a sacrifice and drink-offering.
2nd. Because the Greek of all three Evangelists is ἐκχυνόμενον, which is shed, in the present tense, that is to say, now, in this Supper and consecration of the Eucharist. Therefore He speaks of the present Sacrifice of the Eucharist, and not only of that which was about to take place upon the Cross. And so S. Ambrose understands (in Ps. 38). But the Vulgate translates, shall be shed, because it has respect to the Sacrifice of the Cross, which was just about to take place, in which the Blood of Christ was most evidently and most perfectly shed for the salvation of sinners, of which this sacramental shedding of His Blood in the Eucharist was a type and figure, and therefore was, typically, one and the same with It.
3rd. Because Luke and Paul, to the words of consecration, This is My Body, add, which is given, that is, is offered, for you in sacrifice, Paul has, which is broken for you, that is to say, under the species of bread in the Eucharist, and actually by the nails and lance upon the Cross. Wherefore Paul calls the Eucharist, the bread which we break, viz., in the Sacrament, because we break and eat the species of bread, as offering this in sacrifice to God, by receiving and consuming them, none of which things were done upon the cross. Therefore to break bread signifies, the Sacrifice, not of the Cross, but of the Eucharist.
4th. Because Luke has expressly, τοῦτο τὸ ποτήριον ἡ καινὴ διαθήκη ἐν τῷ αἵματί μου, τὸ ὑπὲρ ὑμῶν ἐκχυνόμενον i.e., this cup is the New Testament in My Blood, which, i.e., the cup, shall be poured forth for you. For the word which must be referred to the cup, not to the Blood; since αἵματι is in the dative case, τό in the nom. Therefore the chalice of the Blood of Christ is poured out for us; but it is poured out in the Eucharist, not on the Cross, for then there was no chalice. Therefore the pouring out of the Blood is a drink-offering and a sacrifice.
The Sacrifice of the Eucharist, then, is
- a whole burnt-offering, because in consecrating and eating we offer whole Christ to God. The same is
- a peace-offering, because by It we ask and obtain peace, that is, all good things from God. The same also is a
- sin-offering, because it is offered to God, and obtains from Him remission of venial sins and temporal punishments. But It obtains remission of mortal sins indirectly, because It obtains from God prevenient [Theology. Coming before or antecedent to human action.] grace and contrition, by which they are blotted out. (See Council of Trent, Sess. 22. q. 2. See also S. Thomas and the Scholastics on the Eucharistic Sacrifice.)
Lastly, to the Blood of Christ rather than to His Body is ascribed remission of sins, although it pertains to both. The reason is, that in the Old Testament expiation is attributed to blood, and in the sin-offering the victim’s blood was poured out. Also by the shedding of His Blood the Death of Christ is signified, which was the all worthy price, expiation and satisfaction for our sins.
The first reason, then, which moved Christ to institute the Eucharist, was to ordain a most excellent and Divine Sacrament in the New Law, by means of which He might feed the faithful with Divine Food. And that the Church might worthily, by It, as well unceasingly honour and worship God. For the victim which is offered to God in the Eucharistic Sacrifice is of infinite value. It is commensurate and co-equal with God Himself. For the victim is Christ Himself, who is both God and man. God Himself therefore is offered to God. Wherefore, since all our other worship, inasmuch as it is but that of creatures, is poor and worthless, therefore Christ made Himself to be the Victim in the Eucharist, that by It, as being God’s equal, we might render due and equal worship to God, even such as He of right requires. Moreover, this Sacrifice chiefly consists in the consecration. For by it Christ is mystically slain, when His Body and His Blood are severally apportioned (seorsim allocantur) under the species of bread and wine, as Suarez and Lessius (lib. 12, de Perfect. Div. c. 13, n. 94) teach from SS. Gregory, Irenæus, Nyssen, &c. By the word “severally” (seorsim), “by themselves,” understand only as regards the effect (vis) of consecration. For by concomitance, where there is the Body of Christ, there also is His Blood, and vice versâ.
The second reason was, that He might leave unto us a perpetual exhibition (ideam) of His Life and Passion, to continually stir up in every one the memory of so great a redemption. For in the Eucharist the Blood is consecrated by Itself, and the Body of Christ is consecrated by Itself, that His Passion may thereby be set forth, in which His Blood was shed, and separated from His Body. The species therefore of wine shows forth (representat) the Blood of Christ shed. The species of bread exhibits the lifeless Body of Christ. This is what He said, Do this, &c. And S. Paul, 1 Cor. 11:26, says, As oft as ye shall eat, &c., ye shall announce the Lord’s Death until He come.
The third reason was, the greatness of the love of Christ towards His faithful people, by which, as He united our flesh, hypostatically, in the Incarnation, to His Deity, so in the Eucharist, sacramentally, He unites the same together with His Godhead, to each faithful communicant, and as it were incorporates them, that each may become Divine, and in a certain sense a Christ and God. For this is what S. John says of Christ when He was about to institute the Eucharist, before He washed the Disciples’ feet. John 13:1: Jesus, knowing that His hour was come, and that He was about to pass out of this world to the Father, having loved His own that were in the world, He loved them to the end.
To the end, to the extremity both of life and love. That is, He loved them with extremest and highest love, when He left Himself to them in the Eucharist, that they might always have Him present with them, that they might associate and converse with Him, consult Him, open to Him all their difficulties, troubles, and temptations, ask and obtain His assistance. For as He Himself says in Prov. (8:31), “My delights are with the sons of men.”
Hence, as the Church sings, with S. Thomas:
“Himself as born for brotherhood,
Feasting He gives His brethren food:
Their price He gives Himself to die,
Their guerdon [A reward, requital, or recompense when they reign on high].”
That by this extremity of love He may entice, yea, compel us, ardently to love Him back. For a “magnet is the love of love.” It was this love which, as a sharp goad, drove S. Laurence to the flames, S. Vincent to the “wooden horse,” S. Sebastian to the arrows, S. Ignatius to the lions, and all the other martyrs bravely to endure and overcome all manner of pains and torments, that they might pay back love for love, life for life death for Christ’s death. This was why they were ambitious of martyrdom, and rejoiced and triumphed in it. And these things were the effect of the Eucharist. This supplied them with strength and gladness in all temptations and sufferings. Wherefore, of old time, the Christians in days of persecution used to communicate daily, that they might strengthen themselves for martyrdom. Indeed, they took the Eucharist home with them, and received It with their own hands (as Mary Stuart, Queen of Scotland, when she was kept captive in England, and had no Priest with her). Christ before His Passion instituted the Eucharist, that by means of It He might arm the Apostles to meet temptation.
A fourth reason was, that in the Eucharist Christ might give us the opportunity of exercising every virtue. For in it our faith is exercised, when we believe that He who is true God and man is invisibly, but really and truly, contained in a small host. Hope is exercised, because when we believe that Christ giveth Himself unto us, we hope that He will give us all other things, which are far less than Himself. Charity is exercised, because the Eucharist is a furnace of love, which Christ exhales, and breathes upon us, that we may love Him again. Religion is exercised, because we worship and invoke God with the highest form of worship, and sacrifice to Him Christ Himself. Humility is exercised, because we ignore our eyes and senses and natural judgment, which suggests to us that there is only bread and wine in the Eucharist, and humbly submit ourselves to the words of Christ, who says, This is My Body: This is My Blood. Gratitude is exercised, because by it we render highest thanks to God for all His benefits, which is why it is called Eucharist. Abstinence is exercised, because it is not right to communicate otherwise than fasting. Patience and mortification are exercised, because it is a lively mirror of Christ’s sufferings and crucifixion, and so on.
The tropological reason is, that by feeding us with His Divine Flesh, He may call us away from earthly flesh, and its pleasures and concupiscences, that we may live a life that is not carnal, but spiritual and divine, and may say with S. Paul, “I live, yet not I, but Christ liveth in me.” A Christian ought therefore so to live, speak, work, as though it were not he himself, but Christ who is living, speaking, working in him. Let him live, therefore, like an angel, “For man did eat angels’ food.” And S. Cyril of Jerusalem says (Cateches. 4, Myst.), “In the Eucharist we are made concorporate, and of the same blood with Christ.”
Moreover, S. Chrysostom says (Hom. 36, in 1 Cor.), “Where Christ is eucharistically, there is not wanting the frequent presence of angels. Where there is such a King and such a Prince, there is the celestial palace, yea, there is Heaven itself.” Wherefore we read concerning S. Ammon in the Lives of the Fathers, that when he was celebrating, an angel was seen to stand at the altar, sign the communicants with the sign of the cross, and write their names in a book. And S. Chrysostom (lib. 3, de Sacerdotio) relates that choirs of angels have been seen round about the altar, who, with bowed heads, showed deepest reverence to Christ their King, and uttered awe-inspiring voices. When, therefore, we communicate, or say or hear Mass, let us think that we are sitting by the side of Christ at the Last Supper. Let us think that Christ is speaking by the mouth of the Priest, is celebrating, is transubstantiating bread and wine into His Body and Blood, and is feeding us therewith. For it is Christ who is the chief Agent, and works the Eucharistic miracle, as the Council of Trent teaches (Sess. 22). Wherefore S. Ambrose (lib. 8, in Luc.) says, “It is this Body of which it is said, My Flesh is meat indeed. About this Body are the true eagles, which fly round about It with spiritual wings.” And (lib. 4 de Sac.) “well may the eagles be about the altar where the Body is.” Wherefore S. Francis says, in his epistle to Priests, “It is a great misery, and a miserable infirmity, when you have Him Himself present, and care for anything else in the world.”
The anagogical reason is, that Christ, in the Eucharist, gave us a pledge, a prelibation and a foretaste of the celestial inheritance. Wherefore the Church sings, with S. Thomas, in the Office of the Adorable Sacrament, “O sacred Feast, in which Christ is received, in which the memory of His Passion is recalled, the soul is filled with grace, and to us is given a pledge of future glory.”
S. Thomas says, “In the Eucharist spiritual sweetness is tasted at the very fountain.” This was what S. Francis, S. Monica, S. Catherine of Sienna, and many others were wont to feel at the Holy Eucharist, who were inebriated with heavenly delights, and kept jubilee, exulted, and were rapt in ecstasy, saying with the Psalmist, “My heart and my flesh exult in the living God. For whom have I in Heaven but Thee, and who is there upon earth that I desire in comparison of Thee? God is the strength of my heart, and my portion for ever.”
“My Jesus, my Love, my God, and my all.”
Again, the Eucharist is the Food of immortality, because by virtue of It our bodies rise to the life immortal, according to that saying of Christ (John 6), “Whoso eateth of this Bread shall live for ever.” The Eucharist therefore stamps upon our bodies a certain force, not physical, but moral, which is the seed of immortality, that by means of it we may rise again. Whence S. Chrysostom rightly concludes (Hom. 83, in Matth.), “How, then, does it not behove that he should be purer who enjoys such a sacrifice? Should not the hand which divides this Flesh be more resplendent than a solar ray? Should not the mouth be filled with spiritual fire; and the tongue, which is ruddy, with that tremendous Blood?”
And our Thomas, taught of God, says in the 4th Book of the Imitation, chap. 2, “It ought to seem as great, as new, and as pleasant to thee, when thou celebratest or hearest Mass, as though Christ on that self-same day descended into the Virgin’s womb, and became man; or was hanging upon the Cross, suffering and dying for man’s salvation.” Whence he gathers (chap. v.), “that when a Priest celebrates devoutly, he honours God, makes glad the angels, builds up the Church, assists the living, affords rest to the departed, and makes himself to have a share in all these good things.” “For what is His goodness, and what is His beauty, unless it be the wheat of the elect, and the wine that bringeth forth virgins?” (Zech. 9:17) Vulgate.
[29] Dico autem vobis : non bibam amodo de hoc genimine vitis usque in diem illum, cum illud bibam vobiscum novum in regno Patris mei.
And I say to you, I will not drink from henceforth of this fruit of the vine,[1] until that day when I shall drink it with you new in the kingdom of my Father.[2]
[1] I say unto you … fruit of the vine; Arab., juice of the vine, &c. S. Austin (lib. de Consens. Evang. iii. 1), and from him Jansen and others, are of opinion that Matthew intimates that Christ spake these words after the Eucharistic Supper. Let us here consider the following objection. “The fruit of the vine, is wine produced from it, pressed from its grapes; therefore in the Eucharistic Chalice there is not the Blood of Christ, but only wine sprung from a vine.” I answer, the pronoun this in this fruit, &c., does not signify exactly that wine which was in the consecrated Chalice, but in general the wine upon the table, from which the cup was filled, which was used both at the Passover and at the consecration of the Eucharist. Secondly, the Blood of Christ may be called wine, as the Body of Christ is called bread by S. Paul, on account, indeed, of the substance of bread and wine, as it was before consecration, and because of the species of bread and wine which remain after consecration. In truth, the species themselves, or the accidents of the wine, are rightly called the fruit of the vine, because they are produced by the vine. Thirdly, as all kinds of food, both by Scriptural and common usage, are often called bread, because it is the staple of all food, so in like manner is any kind of drink called wine, especially by the Italians, Syrians, and others.
But it is far more probable that Christ spake these words before the institution of the Eucharist, concerning the supper and the chalice of the paschal lamb. For at that supper a cup of wine was carried round, which the father of the family tasted first, and then sent round about to all who partook of the lamb, as the Jewish tradition is. This second view is proved, because Luke expressly asserts as much. He distinctly gives an account of the two suppers of Christ,—that upon the lamb, and the Eucharistic Supper,—which Matthew, for the sake of brevity, condensed into one. And he says that these words concerning the chalice were spoken before the Eucharist at the paschal supper. We may see that the same conclusion must be drawn from what Christ said previously concerning the eating of the lamb (Luke 22:15, 16). “And he said unto them, With desire I have desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer: for I say unto you, I will not any more eat thereof, until it be fulfilled in the kingdom of God.” Then immediately afterwards He subjoins what is said concerning the cup of the paschal lamb, “And he took the cup, and gave thanks, and said, Take this, and divide it among yourselves: for I say unto you, I will not drink of the fruit of the vine, until the kingdom of God shall come.” Then, immediately afterwards, he relates the institution of the Eucharist, and of the Eucharistic cup, which Christ consecrated, saying, “Likewise also the cup after supper, saying, This cup is the new testament in my blood, which is shed for you.” Where there is no mention made of the fruit of the vine, nor of drinking new wine in the kingdom of God.
Christ intended, therefore, by these words only to signify that He, from henceforth, would not sup with His disciples after the accustomed manner; but that this was His last supper, after which He was about to be taken and put to death. Wherefore here, as proceeding to die, He bids the Apostles His last farewell. Wherefore these words do not refer to the Eucharistic Chalice, which does not contain the fruit of the vine, in the sense of wine, but the Blood of Christ, into which it has been changed by consecration. This is the opinion of Jerome, Bede, and many others.
[2] When I will drink it new with you, &c. New, i.e., of a new and different kind. For in Heaven the Blessed drink no earthly wine, but heavenly, even the wine and nectar of everlasting glory and joy; according to the words of Psalm 36:9, “They shall be inebriated with the fatness of Thy house: Thou shalt give them to drink of the torrent of Thy pleasure.” So Origen on this passage, and Nazianzen (Orat. de Pascha.). For Scripture is wont to express the spiritual joys of the Blessed by means of corporeal pleasures, such as food and drink.
You will say that Christ after His Resurrection, in order to prove it to His Apostles, ate with them, and, as it would appear, also drank wine with them. How, then, does He here say that He will no more drink wine with them? I answer, that Christ did indeed both eat and drink with His Apostles after the Resurrection, but only by the way as it were, and to prove to them that He had risen, but not to satisfy the requirements of nature, as He had done before His death. Wherefore, speaking after the manner of men, that reception of food after the Resurrection cannot be counted eating.
Chapter 26: 36-46
[36] Tunc venit Jesus cum illis in villam, quae dicitur Gethsemani, et dixit discipulis suis : Sedete hic donec vadam illuc, et orem.Then Jesus came with them into a country place which is called Gethsemani;[1] and he said to his disciples: Sit you here, till I go yonder and pray.[2]
[1] Then cometh Jesus with them unto a place called Gethsemane, &c. Gethsemane is the valley of oil or fatness, or more precisely, the oil-press, for pressing the oil from the olives which grew on Mount Olivet. It was somewhat more than half an (Italian) mile from the cænaculum (upper chamber). Christ withdrew there—(1) for retirement and prayer, and to be free from distraction; (2) to show that He did not fly from death, but rather sought for it, for the place was well known to the traitor; and (3) to show that He suffered out of pure love and compassion for men. For oil is the type of compassion; and as oil was in that spot pressed from the olives, so in His agony was the Blood of Christ pressed forth, with which we are refreshed as with oil, are anointed and are fed. See Cant. 1:3.
[2] Sit ye here, while I go and pray yonder. That is, in the garden, about a stone’s throw distant. See John 18:1; Luke 22:41. Adrichomius describes the hut of S. Pelagia the penitent and the tomb of the Blessed Virgin as close by, and above it Mount Olivet, the place of the ascension; humility and exaltation being fitly associated together, as is oft the case with God’s elect. To speak accurately, Christ neither prayed nor suffered His agony in Gethsemane, but in the garden close by; and He began His Passion in a garden as expiating the sin of Adam, which was committed in a garden. For he ruined therein himself and all his descendants, and subjected them to sin, death, and hell. And all these did Christ expiate in a garden by the agony He there endured. As in the Canticle, “I raised thee up under the apple tree: there was thy mother defiled: there was she violated that bare thee” (Cant. 8:5). Christ therefore in the garden restored us to Paradise, from which we had been expelled by Adam, and planted there the garden of His Church, verdant with the anguish of mortification, the saffron of charity, the spikenard of humility, the lilies of virgins, the roses of martyrs, the chaplets of doctors; for “a garden enclosed is my sister, a garden enclosed, a fountain sealed. Thy sendings forth (shoots) are of Paradise” (Cant. 4:12, 13).
[37] Et assumpto Petro, et duobus filiis Zebedaei, cœpit contristari et moestus esse.And taking with him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee,[1] he began to grow sorrowful and to be sad.[2]
[1] And He took with Him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, &c. He took only these three to be witnesses of His sorrow and agony, lest the other Apostles should be troubled and scandalised thereby. Moreover, Christ most relied on these three as His special intimates, and also because it was but fitting that they who had seen the glory of His transfiguration should contemplate His agony, and learn that the way to glory is through agony and suffering, and that the way of Calvary and the Cross leads to the Mount and glory of Tabor.
[2] And began to be sorrowful and very heavy. Of His own free will, and not by compulsion. He began to be so sore distressed as to be almost lifeless and beside Himself. “My soul is exceeding sorrowful,” He says, “even unto death.” S. Luke calls it “an agony,” like those who are at the last struggle with death. Vulg. in Mark reads “fœdet,” for sorrow makes a man weary of life. S. Mark adds, to be stupefied (ἐκθαμβεῖσθαι), for excessive fear has this effect, as a lion stupefies other animals with its roar. Note, first, that Christ had true sorrow. For though from the moment of His conception He enjoyed the vision of God, as hypostatically united to Him, and thus enjoyed the highest happiness, He was yet supremely sorrowful, God supernaturally enlarging the capacity of His soul, that it might experience the highest joy and the deepest sorrow at the same time. This is the general opinion of theologians, though Melchior Canus (de Locis xii. 14) says that the joy naturally arising from the sight of God was suspended while He was but a sojourner, in order that He might feel sorrow. (See S. Thomas, p. iii. q. 46, art. 8, and Suarez, p. 111, q. 18, Disp. 38, sect. 8.) Christ was both on His journey and had reached the end (viator et comprehensor). In the one character He was full of sorrow, in the other full of joy. But even when on the way He had both the greatest joy and the greatest sorrow in His Passion. He was sorrowful in His lower nature, since it was painful; He rejoiced in His higher nature, since it was the will of God, and ordained for man’s salvation.
2. This sorrow was not only in His feelings, but also in His will (at least in its lower part), which naturally regards that which is for itself good as life and death, and hates the contrary. This is clear from His own prayer, “Father, not what I will, but what Thou wilt.” He naturally wished to be saved from death. As in Luke, “Not my will, but Thine be done.”
3. The primary cause of His sorrow was not the flight of His Apostles, which He foresaw, but the vivid apprehension of His approaching Passion and death, as is plain from His prayer, “Let this cup pass from Me.” For Christ foresaw all the torments, one by one, which the Jews would inflict on Him, and fully entered into and weighed the magnitude and bitterness of His several sorrows, so as to seem to be already suffering them, even to the shedding of His blood. For Christ doubtless wished to atone by His sorrow for the pleasure which Adam had in eating the forbidden fruit, and which sinners now experience in their sins.
There were, moreover, other grounds of sorrow, which He experienced in the highest degree from the very moment of His conception to His death. First, the sins of all men, which He undertook to atone for, and thus make satisfaction for the injury done to His Father. For the soul of Christ saw them all in God, and manifested for them the greatest sorrow and compunction, as though they had been His own. For He saw how great was their gravity, how the majesty of God was offended, and consequently what wrong had been done to Him. All which elicited condign and commensurate sorrow. So He says Ps. 22:1.
2. The second was His foreseeing all the pains which martyrs, confessors, virgins, married people also would suffer in their several ways. Prelates too and pastors in governing the faithful; the faithful in withstanding the temptations of the world, the flesh, and the devil. All which sorrows Christ generally and severally mentally took upon Him, that by His sorrow He might obtain for them from God the Father grace and strength to bear and overcome them all. For He loves His children as Himself, and feels for their affliction. See Matt. 25:35, 40.
3. The third was the ingratitude of men. For He foresaw that His Passion would be of use to but very few, and that the many would be lost through their own negligence and ingratitude. As the poet sings,—
“ ’Tis not my grief, ’tis love; my only painIs that to thousands ’twill be all in vain.”
4. The fourth was the affliction of His mother; for the sorrows of the Son pierced, as a sword, the soul of the mother, and from her were reflected on Christ. For His greatest sorrow was that His mother suffered so grievously on His account. All other sorrows Christ suppressed and overcame, manifesting this only to His disciples. Now, observe this sorrow of Christ was not by compulsion, or involuntary, so as to prevent the exercise of reason, but was freely undergone by Christ. Whence theologians say that in Christ were not passions, but their first suggestions (propassiones);* for all His affections resulted from the ordering of His reason and His own free choice. For to this all the inferior powers were perfectly subjected, both in Adam and in Christ. For original righteousness, which was in Christ as in Adam before his fall, required this. See S. Augustine, de Civ. xiv. 9, and Damascene (de Fid. iii. 23). Nothing was compulsory in Christ, for of His own will He hungered, was fearful, and was sad.
5. S. Luke adds, that He sweated blood, and was comforted by an angel; while Isaiah (53:3) calls Him a man of sorrows.
But the final and moral grounds of this were manifold. S. Chrysostom gives as the 1st: “To show that He took on Himself true flesh, He endures human sufferings.” So Jerome and Origen; and S. Leo (Serm. vii. de Pass.) says, “He was despised in our humility, made sad with our sadness, and crucified with our pain.” 2nd. S. Gregory (Mor. xxiv. 17), “As His death was approaching, He set forth in His own person our struggles of mind, for we fear greatly the approach of death.” The 3rd. S. Ambrose sets forth (in Luke xxii. 44), “In no point do I more admire the tenderness and majesty of Christ than in this, which most men dread. He would have done much less for me had He not taken on Himself my feelings; He took on Him my sorrow, that He might now give me joy. I confidently make mention of His sorrow, for I preach the Cross. He was obliged to endure pain, that He might conquer. Insensibility wins not the praise of fortitude. But He wished to instruct us to overcome the sorrow of coming death, and perhaps He was sad because, after the fall of Adam, death was a necessity, and again because He knew that His persecutors would have to pay the penalty of their monstrous sacrilege.” And again, “Thou smartest not for Thine own wounds, but for ours; not for Thine own death, but for our infirmity.” S. Athanasius (de Cruce) writes thus elegantly,
“Christ descended to win for us our ascension; was born that we might be reconciled to the unborn Father; was made weak for our sakes, that we might be raised up by His strength, and say with S. Paul, I can do all things through Jesus Christ that strengtheneth me. He assumed a corruptible body, that the corruptible might put on incorruption; a mortal body, that mortality might put on immortality. Lastly, He became man, and died, that we men might by dying become gods, and no longer have death reigning over us.”
4th. The fourth was to mitigate the dread of death, which was inflicted as a punishment for Adam’s sin, and turn it into joy and the hope of attaining a better life. Christ then obtained for the martyrs exemption from pain and fear in their grievous torments, and caused them to undergo them willingly, and even to rejoice in them. “Christ came,” says S. Chrysostom, “to bear our infirmities, and to give us His strength. And again, Christ by His agony enabled His faithful ones not to fear death, but patiently and even joyfully to meet it from their hope in the resurrection, saying with Hosea and S. Paul, as triumphing over death, ‘Death is swallowed up in victory’ ” (1 Cor. 15:55).
5th. The fifth was to cure by His sorrow our sloth, weakness, fear, &c. As Isaiah (53:4) says, “Surely He hath borne our griefs and carried our sorrows.” And accordingly our best remedy in all these trials is to look at Christ in His agony, that by the pattern and merits of the agony He endured in the garden He may heal our sorrow. As S. Leo (Serm. iv. de Pass.) says, “He healed our weaknesses by partaking them, and drove away the fear of suffering punishment by undergoing it Himself: our Lord trembled with our fear, that He might take on Himself our weakness, and robe our weakness with His strength.” It was, again, to remove the dread of difficulty, which occurs in every virtuous act. For this dread keeps many back from virtue and holiness. Whenever, therefore, any difficulty or temptation assails, let us strengthen ourselves by meditating on the agony of Christ; for if He overcame His by the struggle and bloody sweat, we ought also to overcome ours by manly resistance. See Heb. 12:1.
Christ then taught us to fight against our passions with reason and judgment, especially our sloth, sadness, and anxiety. Calvin and Beza here impiously and unlearnedly accuse Christ of timidity, inconstancy, and vacillation, as being indeed more cowardly than the martyrs; rather He not only willingly underwent these sufferings, but brought them of His own accord on Himself, that He might by His bold struggle overcome them in Himself, and subdue them also in us. For, as S. Augustine says, “Christ was troubled when exercising His power, and not in His weakness” [John 11:33].
[38] Tunc ait illis : Tristis est anima mea usque ad mortem : sustinete hic, et vigilate mecum.Then he saith to them: My soul is sorrowful even unto death: stay you here, and watch with me.
Then saith He unto them, My soul is exceeding sorrowful, even unto death: tarry ye here, and watch with Me. I am as sorrowful from the lively apprehension of My sufferings and death, as if I were now dying; I seem to be lifeless with sorrow and dread. My pain well-nigh takes away My life and breath. It is not My flesh, but My soul, which is so very sad, for sorrow penetrates the inmost parts of My soul, and cuts it in sunder as a sword. “The waters have come in even to My soul,” Ps. 69:1. I am but the smallest point removed from death, so that the slightest addition to My sorrow would crush Me, and take away My life. Consider with what feeling of sorrow and love Christ spake these words,—His pathos, His look, His voice, His countenance,—Tarry ye here. Wait and behold Me here, deeply sorrowing and praying in the agony of death, both as witnesses of My sorrow, and to learn from Me in every tribulation to betake yourselves to prayer; so that thus watching ye may be some solace to Me in My affliction. But it is not so; for sorrow hath overwhelmed you, and forces you to sleep. Whence Christ complains (Ps. 69:21), “I waited for some to have pity on Me, but there was no man, neither found I any to comfort Me.” Christ from the vehemence of His love wished to pass through His unmitigated and wondrous Passion without any consolation or consoler. He wished to drain the chalice of gall and bitterness unmixed with the sweetness of honey, both in order that His redemption should be plenteous, and for an example of heroic virtue. For Christ manifested in His Passion the most perfect acts of heroic virtue. And He Himself was therein a prodigy of humanity; for though “He was in the form of God … He became obedient as far as unto death, even the death of the Cross,” Phil. 2:8. He was also therein a prodigy of patience, fortitude, and of charity; for “greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends” (John 15:13). But Christ laid down His for His enemies (Rom. 5:8).
[39] Et progressus pusillum, procidit in faciem suam, orans, et dicens : Pater mi, si possibile est, transeat a me calix iste : verumtamen non sicut ego volo, sed sicut tu.And going a little further, he fell upon his face, praying, and saying: My Father, if it be possible, let this chalice pass from me. Nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt.
[2] Sit ye here, while I go and pray yonder. That is, in the garden, about a stone’s throw distant. See John 18:1; Luke 22:41. Adrichomius describes the hut of S. Pelagia the penitent and the tomb of the Blessed Virgin as close by, and above it Mount Olivet, the place of the ascension; humility and exaltation being fitly associated together, as is oft the case with God’s elect. To speak accurately, Christ neither prayed nor suffered His agony in Gethsemane, but in the garden close by; and He began His Passion in a garden as expiating the sin of Adam, which was committed in a garden. For he ruined therein himself and all his descendants, and subjected them to sin, death, and hell. And all these did Christ expiate in a garden by the agony He there endured. As in the Canticle, “I raised thee up under the apple tree: there was thy mother defiled: there was she violated that bare thee” (Cant. 8:5). Christ therefore in the garden restored us to Paradise, from which we had been expelled by Adam, and planted there the garden of His Church, verdant with the anguish of mortification, the saffron of charity, the spikenard of humility, the lilies of virgins, the roses of martyrs, the chaplets of doctors; for “a garden enclosed is my sister, a garden enclosed, a fountain sealed. Thy sendings forth (shoots) are of Paradise” (Cant. 4:12, 13).
[37] Et assumpto Petro, et duobus filiis Zebedaei, cœpit contristari et moestus esse.
[1] And He took with Him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, &c. He took only these three to be witnesses of His sorrow and agony, lest the other Apostles should be troubled and scandalised thereby. Moreover, Christ most relied on these three as His special intimates, and also because it was but fitting that they who had seen the glory of His transfiguration should contemplate His agony, and learn that the way to glory is through agony and suffering, and that the way of Calvary and the Cross leads to the Mount and glory of Tabor.
[2] And began to be sorrowful and very heavy. Of His own free will, and not by compulsion. He began to be so sore distressed as to be almost lifeless and beside Himself. “My soul is exceeding sorrowful,” He says, “even unto death.” S. Luke calls it “an agony,” like those who are at the last struggle with death. Vulg. in Mark reads “fœdet,” for sorrow makes a man weary of life. S. Mark adds, to be stupefied (ἐκθαμβεῖσθαι), for excessive fear has this effect, as a lion stupefies other animals with its roar. Note, first, that Christ had true sorrow. For though from the moment of His conception He enjoyed the vision of God, as hypostatically united to Him, and thus enjoyed the highest happiness, He was yet supremely sorrowful, God supernaturally enlarging the capacity of His soul, that it might experience the highest joy and the deepest sorrow at the same time. This is the general opinion of theologians, though Melchior Canus (de Locis xii. 14) says that the joy naturally arising from the sight of God was suspended while He was but a sojourner, in order that He might feel sorrow. (See S. Thomas, p. iii. q. 46, art. 8, and Suarez, p. 111, q. 18, Disp. 38, sect. 8.) Christ was both on His journey and had reached the end (viator et comprehensor). In the one character He was full of sorrow, in the other full of joy. But even when on the way He had both the greatest joy and the greatest sorrow in His Passion. He was sorrowful in His lower nature, since it was painful; He rejoiced in His higher nature, since it was the will of God, and ordained for man’s salvation.
2. This sorrow was not only in His feelings, but also in His will (at least in its lower part), which naturally regards that which is for itself good as life and death, and hates the contrary. This is clear from His own prayer, “Father, not what I will, but what Thou wilt.” He naturally wished to be saved from death. As in Luke, “Not my will, but Thine be done.”
3. The primary cause of His sorrow was not the flight of His Apostles, which He foresaw, but the vivid apprehension of His approaching Passion and death, as is plain from His prayer, “Let this cup pass from Me.” For Christ foresaw all the torments, one by one, which the Jews would inflict on Him, and fully entered into and weighed the magnitude and bitterness of His several sorrows, so as to seem to be already suffering them, even to the shedding of His blood. For Christ doubtless wished to atone by His sorrow for the pleasure which Adam had in eating the forbidden fruit, and which sinners now experience in their sins.
There were, moreover, other grounds of sorrow, which He experienced in the highest degree from the very moment of His conception to His death.
2. The second was His foreseeing all the pains which martyrs, confessors, virgins, married people also would suffer in their several ways. Prelates too and pastors in governing the faithful; the faithful in withstanding the temptations of the world, the flesh, and the devil. All which sorrows Christ generally and severally mentally took upon Him, that by His sorrow He might obtain for them from God the Father grace and strength to bear and overcome them all. For He loves His children as Himself, and feels for their affliction. See Matt. 25:35, 40.
3. The third was the ingratitude of men. For He foresaw that His Passion would be of use to but very few, and that the many would be lost through their own negligence and ingratitude. As the poet sings,—
“ ’Tis not my grief, ’tis love; my only pain
4. The fourth was the affliction of His mother; for the sorrows of the Son pierced, as a sword, the soul of the mother, and from her were reflected on Christ. For His greatest sorrow was that His mother suffered so grievously on His account. All other sorrows Christ suppressed and overcame, manifesting this only to His disciples. Now, observe this sorrow of Christ was not by compulsion, or involuntary, so as to prevent the exercise of reason, but was freely undergone by Christ. Whence theologians say that in Christ were not passions, but their first suggestions (propassiones);* for all His affections resulted from the ordering of His reason and His own free choice. For to this all the inferior powers were perfectly subjected, both in Adam and in Christ. For original righteousness, which was in Christ as in Adam before his fall, required this. See S. Augustine, de Civ. xiv. 9, and Damascene (de Fid. iii. 23). Nothing was compulsory in Christ, for of His own will He hungered, was fearful, and was sad.
5. S. Luke adds, that He sweated blood, and was comforted by an angel; while Isaiah (53:3) calls Him a man of sorrows.
But the final and moral grounds of this were manifold.
5th. The fifth was to cure by His sorrow our sloth, weakness, fear, &c. As Isaiah (53:4) says, “Surely He hath borne our griefs and carried our sorrows.” And accordingly our best remedy in all these trials is to look at Christ in His agony, that by the pattern and merits of the agony He endured in the garden He may heal our sorrow. As S. Leo (Serm. iv. de Pass.) says, “He healed our weaknesses by partaking them, and drove away the fear of suffering punishment by undergoing it Himself: our Lord trembled with our fear, that He might take on Himself our weakness, and robe our weakness with His strength.” It was, again, to remove the dread of difficulty, which occurs in every virtuous act. For this dread keeps many back from virtue and holiness. Whenever, therefore, any difficulty or temptation assails, let us strengthen ourselves by meditating on the agony of Christ; for if He overcame His by the struggle and bloody sweat, we ought also to overcome ours by manly resistance. See Heb. 12:1.
Christ then taught us to fight against our passions with reason and judgment, especially our sloth, sadness, and anxiety. Calvin and Beza here impiously and unlearnedly accuse Christ of timidity, inconstancy, and vacillation, as being indeed more cowardly than the martyrs; rather He not only willingly underwent these sufferings, but brought them of His own accord on Himself, that He might by His bold struggle overcome them in Himself, and subdue them also in us. For, as S. Augustine says, “Christ was troubled when exercising His power, and not in His weakness” [John 11:33].
[38] Tunc ait illis : Tristis est anima mea usque ad mortem : sustinete hic, et vigilate mecum.
[39] Et progressus pusillum, procidit in faciem suam, orans, et dicens : Pater mi, si possibile est, transeat a me calix iste : verumtamen non sicut ego volo, sed sicut tu.
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| The agony in the garden. J-J Tissot |
And He went a little farther, and fell on His face. For a few steps, that He might pray in secret, and yet be seen and heard by them. By this prostration He manifested His extreme suffering, gave a striking example of humility, and the highest reverence to God the Father. Again, to set forth the heavy burden of our sins, which He had taken upon Him, and present Himself to the Father in our stead as though guilty and penitent, and submit Himself entirely to chastisement, I surrender Myself, He says, to Thee, O Father, as guilty, in the place of men. I give up Myself entirely to Thee, and present to Thee the punishment due to them. I offer My back to the scourger, My head to the crown of thorns, My hands and feet to the nails, and My entire body to the cross. Wound and crucify Me, that man may be spared and received back into Thy favour.
And prayed, saying. For as man He in a true and proper sense prayed to the Father, yea, even to Himself as God. On the spot where He prayed a church was erected, and the marks of His footsteps were said by Baronius to be still there.
O My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from Me. Absolutely this was possible, but it was impossible according to God’s decree that man was to be redeemed by Christ’s death. Christ knew this, and therefore did not wish for it absolutely, and asks for nothing contrary to His own and the Father’s will. But He merely expresses His natural shrinking from death, His ineffectual and conditionated will, and yet freely submitted Himself to the contrary will of God, that He should die.
Let this cup pass from Me. Calvin here accuses our Lord of hastiness, forgetfulness, ignorance, darkness of mind, inconstancy, and opposition to the Divine will—in fact, ascribing to Him sin. But, as I before observed, Christ took all this upon Him voluntarily, yet in accordance with the will of God. His first act was subordinated to the latter act, and was therefore regulated and ordered by right reason; for nothing in Christ could be disordered and out of place. Reason, then, and the higher nature were justly unwilling that His inferior nature should feel sorrow and horror of death, as stated above. 2. S. Jerome understands by the “cup,” the sin of the Jews. I pray, O Father, that I may not suffer at the hand of the Jews, my kinsmen. For in killing Me they commit a most awful crime, and will be punished most severely in hell. But this is too restricted a meaning.
3. The full and adequate meaning is, that this cup of suffering should pass away, even though Thou hast decreed that I should drink it to the dregs; and thus (as Origen says) it should pass away from Himself, and the whole race of mankind.
4. S. Catharine of Sienna offered two other explanations, which she said were revealed to her by Christ. The first, that Christ most eagerly thirsted for this cup, to manifest His love to the Father, and to effect our redemption. He wished to die and suffer immediately. His love admitted not any delay. I wish the cup to pass away, and that I may return at once to Thee. This was the prayer of His spirit, though in His flesh He dreaded death. The two meanings are compatible. But why did He not effect His wish? It was (1) in order to give the martyrs an example of longing for the Cross; (2) Because so many would be unthankful for His Passion, and would die in their sins; and as this was His greatest sorrow, He prays that this “cup” might be taken away, and that all might be saved. But yet He chose to conform Himself to His Father’s will, “Not My will,” &c. So S. Catharine, not taking it literally, but expressing the holy and ardent affection of Christ.
Symbolically: S. Hilary says, “Christ took all our infirmities and nailed them to the Cross, and therefore that cup could not pass away from Him without His drinking it, for we cannot suffer except through His Passion.” May that cup, O Father, pass over to My own followers, that when enduring My sufferings they may experience also through My gift My strength and power to endure.
S. Bernard (Serm. x. in Cant.) piously and wisely remarks, “The cup Thou didst drink, the mark of our redemption, makes Thee above all things lovely. It is this which readily claims our entire love. It both more tenderly attracts our devotion, more justly demands it, binds us to Thee the more firmly, and affects us the more vehemently. For great was the Saviour’s labour, greater than in the work of creation. For He spake and it was done. But here He had those who contradicted His words, watched His actions, jested at Him in His torments, and reproached Him in His death. Behold how He loved! Learn thou, O Christian, from Christ Himself, how to love Him. Learn to love Him sweetly, wisely, and firmly: sweetly, that we may not be allured away; wisely, that we be not deceived; and firmly, that we may not by force be drawn away from the love of the Lord,” &c.
Nevertheless, not as I will, but as Thou wilt. Here it is plain, as against the Monothelites, that there are two wills in Christ: not only the Divine, to supply the place of the human will, as they said, but the will He had as man, by which He obtained our redemption. The Sixth Synod (Acts 4 and 10) proves that there were in Him two wills, and that the human was by obedience subject to the Divine; and this on the authority of SS. Athanasius, Augustine, Ambrose, and Leo. Nay, rather, though the human will was in itself one, yet in its power and action it was twofold, the one natural, with which it shrank from death; the other rational and free, with which He subjected Himself to the will of God. “Nevertheless, not what I will” naturally, “but what Thou wilt.” By My reasonable will I subject My natural will to Thee, O Father, and only will what Thou wiliest. And, accordingly, the natural will of Christ was conditional and of no avail, because it wished to escape death only under the condition that it pleased God. But His rational will was absolute and effectual, because He embraced death for the same reason that God willed it, that is, for man’s redemption. But the natural will of Christ seemed materially contrary to the Divine will. But by the rule of subordination it was conformable to it, as suffering itself to be guided by the rational will, and thus by the Divine will; and, on the other hand, the will of God, as well as the rational will of Christ, wishes on deliberate and just ground that His natural will should express this natural fear of death. In both aspects, therefore, was the will of Christ in all respects conformable to the Divine. Christ here teaches us, as a moral duty, that our sole remedy in affliction is submission to the Divine will, and that in every temptation we must betake ourselves to the aid of God, who alone can free us from them or strengthen us under them if we submit ourselves humbly, reverently, and lovingly to His will. “This voice of the Head,” says S. Leo, “is the salvation of the whole body. It taught the faithful, it inspired confessors, it crowned the martyrs. For who could overcome the hatred of the world, the whirlwinds of temptations, the terrors of persecution, had not Christ in all and for all said in submission to His Father, Thy will be done?”
[40] Et venit ad discipulos suos, et invenit eos dormientes, et dicit Petro : Sic non potuistis una hora vigilare mecum?
And he cometh to his disciples, and findeth them asleep, and he saith to Peter: What? Could you not watch one hour with me?
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| The spirit is willing but the flesh is weak. J-J Tissot |
And He cometh to His disciples and findeth them asleep, and saith unto Peter, What, could ye not watch with Me one hour? To gain some consolation, little though it were, and also as having care for His people; thus teaching bishops and pastors to do the like, and to break off prayer in order to visit them. They were sleeping for sorrow, and He speaks to Peter as the head of the rest, and as having so boldly professed his allegiance to Christ.
But observe how gently and tenderly He reproves them. He does not reproach them with their grand promises; but He merely says, “Could ye not?” Ye wished indeed to watch, but I attribute your sleep not to your will, but to your weakness: arouse yourselves, overcome your infirmity, shake off sleep.
Mystically: “He signified,” says S. Irenæus, “that His Passion is the awakening of sleepers.”
[41] Vigilate, et orate ut non intretis in tentationem. Spiritus quidem promptus est, caro autem infirma.
Watch ye, and pray that ye enter not into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh weak.
Watch and pray, lest ye enter into temptation. Of denying and forsaking Me for fear of the Jews. If My dangers move you not, may your own do so. There hangs over you the great temptation of denying Me; watch and pray to overcome it. “The more spiritual a man is,” says Origen, “the more anxious should he be lest his great goodness should have a great fall.” Watchfulness and prayer are the great means of foreseeing and overcoming the arts of devils and men.
Enter into temptation. Be not ensnared, as birds in a net and fishes with a hook. Not to be tempted is often not in our own power, nor is it God’s will for us. He wills we should be tempted, to try our faith, to increase our virtue, and to crown our deserts. But we must not enter into temptation, so that it should occupy, possess, and rule over us. So Theophylact and S. Jerome.
The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak. I know your readiness in spirit, but your weakness in the flesh. By the flesh is meant our natural feelings, which shrink from suffering and death. Pray, therefore, that your weak flesh may not enfeeble your spirit and compel it to deny Me; but may God by His grace so strengthen both your spirit and your flesh, that ye may not only be ready, but strong to overcome all adversities, so that for My sake ye may eagerly wish for death, and bravely endure it. “The more, therefore,” says S. Jerome, “we trust to the warmth of our feelings, the more let us fear for the weakness of the flesh.” Some understand (less suitably) by “spirit” the devil, by the “flesh” man. That is, the devil is powerful to tempt, man is feeble to resist. Origen, moreover, observes “the flesh of all is weak, but it is only the spirit of the saints which is ready to mortify the deeds of the flesh.” S. Mark adds, “And they knew not what to answer, for they were struck down by their grief, and oppressed with sleep, and had neither sense nor understanding.
[42] Iterum secundo abiit, et oravit, dicens : Pater mi, si non potest hic calix transire nisi bibam illum, fiat voluntas tua.
Again the second time, he went and prayed, saying: My Father, if this chalice may not pass away, but I must drink it, thy will be done.
He went away again the second time, and prayed, saying, O My Father, if this cup may not pass away unless I drink it, Thy will be done. S. Mark says that He used the same words as before. But S. Matthew omitted the first part of the prayer as without efficacy or meaning, and in order to insist on the latter part, in which the whole force of the passage consists, and set it forth for our imitation. For Christ absolutely wished and prayed to drink the cup of His Passion, which was decreed and destined for Him by the will of God. For He plainly and expressly asked that the will of God might be fulfilled in Him in and through all things.
[43] Et venit iterum, et invenit eos dormientes : erant enim oculi eorum gravati.
And he cometh again and findeth them sleeping: for their eyes were heavy.
And He came and found them asleep again, for their eyes were heavy. With sorrow and watching, and afterwards with sleep. “For,” says S. Chrysostom, “it was a wild night,” adding that “Christ did not reprove them, since their weakness was great.”
[44] Et relictis illis, iterum abiit, et oravit tertio, eumdem sermonem dicens.
And leaving them, he went again: and he prayed the third time, saying the selfsame word.
And He left them, and went away again, and prayed the third time, using the same words. 1st. To show the intensity of His sorrow; for, as S. Luke says, He sweated blood, and an angel comforted Him. But this was only when He prayed the third time, and not the first and second time, as Jansen maintains. 2nd. To teach us that if God hears us not in our first prayer, we should pray more frequently and fervently, till He hears us, and we obtain our request. Perseverance crowns the work, in prayer especially. And if Christ was not heard in His first and second prayer, what wonder if we are not heard at once? Let us persevere, and we shall gain the fruit of our prayer, strengthening, calming of sorrow, and power of mind to withstand and overcome our trials.
Symbolically: 1. Remigius says, “He prays thrice for the Apostles, and especially for Peter, who was about to deny Him thrice.” 2. Rabanus says “that He prayed thrice, in order that we should ask pardon for past sins, protection in present, and caution in future perils; that we should direct all our prayers to the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit; and that our body, soul, and spirit should be preserved blameless.” 3. S. Augustine (Quæst. Evang. in loc.) says, “It is not unreasonable to conclude that our Lord prayed thrice, in consequence of our temptation being threefold. For as the temptation of desire is threefold, so also is the temptation of fear. The fear of death is opposed to the desire of curiosity. For as in the one there is the desire of knowledge, so in the other is the fear of losing it. But to the desire for honour or praise there is opposed the fear of disgrace and contumely, and to the desire of pleasure there is opposed the fear of pain.”
[45] Tunc venit ad discipulos suos, et dicit illis : Dormite jam, et requiescite : ecce appropinquavit hora, et Filius hominis tradetur in manus peccatorum.
Then he cometh to his disciples, and saith to them: Sleep ye now and take your rest; behold the hour is at hand, and the Son of man shall be betrayed into the hands of sinners.
Then cometh He to His disciples, and saith unto them. Being after His third prayer strengthened by an angel, He resumed His former courage and spirit, and nobly composed Himself to meet His Passion (see on Luke 22:41).
Sleep on now, and take your rest. S. Chrysostom and others suppose that this was said ironically. This is no time for sleeping in our moment of extreme peril; rouse yourselves now, if ever.
But S. Augustine (de Cons. Evan. iii. 4), and Bede after him, suppose that Christ spoke seriously, and in compassion for them granted them a little longer rest. “Sleep on for the short time that remains till Judas arrives.”
Behold, the hour has arrived. Fixed from eternity by the Father, and decreed for My Passion and death.
And the Son of Man is betrayed, i.e., is about to be betrayed into the hands of sinners—sinners in a special manner, such as Judas and the Jews who were raging against Him. For there was no nation more wicked at that time, and therefore Christ had resolved to be born and die at that very time, in order that He might suffer more atrocious cruelties from such a people. His supreme goodness resolved to do battle with their consummate malice, in order that He might crush in them, as its head, the malice of all men, subject it to Himself, and convert it into goodness. The divine clemency and power of Christ were equally manifested in converting to Himself and making saints of those self-same wicked Jews, by Peter and the other apostles.
[46] Surgite, eamus : ecce appropinquavit qui me tradet.
Rise, let us go: behold he is at hand that will betray me.
Rise, let us be going: behold, he hath come who will betray Me. He bids them rise, not in order to fly with Him, but to go forth to meet Judas. It is hence clear that Christ was heard in His last prayer; that, comforted of God by the angel, He had thrown off His sadness and sorrow, and went forth to meet Judas and the death of the cross with great and noble resolution. “For,” as Origen says, “He saw in the spirit Judas the traitor drawing nigh, though he was not yet seen by the disciples.” “He therefore in every way teaches His disciples,” says S. Chrysostom, “that this was not a matter of necessity or of weakness, but of a certain incomprehensible dispensation, for He foresaw that they were coming, and so far from flying, He went forth to meet them.”
Christ in thus going forth, as indeed in the whole of His Passion, left three points most worthy of notice,
1st. His innocence in boldly going forth to meet His enemies.
2nd. His majesty, forethought, and power, wherewith as God He orders and foretells the approach of His enemies, and so moderates their fury that they could do no more than He permitted and foreordained.
3rd. The readiness with which He voluntarily met Judas, to show that it was not from weakness or unwillingness, but with the highest dignity, condescension, and generous love that He suffered and died for us. “Rise, let us be going,” to meet Judas; and, as S. Jerome says, “let us go of our own accord to death.”
Morally: Christ here teaches us to arouse ourselves, and go forth to meet our sufferings. It is the act of an heroic mind to weaken by its own resolution the force of any imminent evil, and by voluntarily embracing it to overcome and subdue it. Great evils are more easily overcome by a great mind than minor evils by a small one. As says the poet, “Yield not to trials; boldly go to meet them, as a lion shuts its eyes when rushing on its foes” (Plin. N. H. viii. 16). The cross therefore pursues those who fly from it, and flies those who seek for it. As is said of honour.
Troisème Semaine: Prières quotidiennes
Third week: daily prayers
- Litaniæ de Sancto Spiritu
- Ave Maris Stella
- Litaniæ Sanctissimi Nominis Iesu
- Oraison à Jésus:
- Prier un Rosaire ou un Chapelet
Third week: daily prayers
- Litaniæ de Sancto Spiritu
- Ave Maris Stella
- Litaniæ Sanctissimi Nominis Iesu
- Oraison à Jésus:
- Prier un Rosaire ou un Chapelet
Litaniæ de Sancto Spiritu
Per sanctam in baptismo Christi apparitionem tuam. J-J Tissot
From the Cœleste Palmetum, 1741 edition. Courtesy of Thesaurus Precum Latinarum.
Kyrie, eleison
R. Kyrie, eleison.
Christe, eleison
R. Christe, eleison.
Kyrie, eleison
R. Kyrie, eleison.
Spiritus sancte a Patre Filioque procedens,
*R. Miserere nobis.
Spiritus Domini Deus Israel,*
Dominator hominum,*
Replens orbem terrarum,*
Habens omnem virtutem,*
Omnia bona operans, et omnia prospiciens,*
Ornans cælos, stabilis, et securus,*
Spiritus veritatis omnia suggerens, et distribuens,*
Spiritus sapientiæ et intellectus,*
Spiritus consilii, fortitudinis, scientiæ, et pietatis,*
Spiritus timoris Domini et prudentiæ,*
Spiritus, quo inspirante locuti sunt sancti Dei homines,*
Quæ ventura annuntians,*
Donum et promissio Patris,*
Spiritus sancte Paraclite arguens mundum,*
Spiritus, in quo dæmonia eiiciuntur,*
Spiritus, ex quo renascimur,*
Spiritus, per quem caritas Dei diffusa est in cordibus nostris,*
Spiritus adoptionis filiorum Dei,*
Spiritus gratiæ et misericordiæ,*
Spiritus adiuvans infirmitatem nostram et reddens testimonium spiritui nostro, quod simus filii Dei,*
Spiritus suavis, benigne, super mel dulcis,*
Spiritus pignus hereditatis nostræ, deducens nos in terram rectam,*
Spiritus principalis, vivificans et confortans,*
Spiritus salutis, iudicii et gaudii,*
Spiritus fidei, pacis, et ardoris,*
Spiritus humilitatis, caritatis, et castitatis,*
Spiritus benignitatis, bonitatis, longanimitatis, ac mansuetudinis,*
Spiritus lenitatis, veritatis, unitatis ac consolationis,*
Spiritus compunctionis, promissionis, renovationis, ac sanctificationis,*
Spiritus vitæ, patientiæ, continentiæ, ac modestiæ,*
Spiritus omnium gratiarum,*
Propitius esto,
R. Parce nobis sancte Spiritus.
Propitius esto,
R. Exaudi nos sancte Spiritus.
A spiritu erroris,
**R. Libera nos, Spiritus Dei vivi.
A spiritu immundo,**
A spiritu blasphemiæ**
Ab omni obstinatione et desperatione,**
Ab omni præsumptione et veritatis contradictione,**
Ab omni malitia, et prava consuetudine,**
Ab invidia fraternæ caritatis,**
A finali impænitentia,**
Per æternam a Patre et Filio processionem tuam,**
.
Per invisibilem unctionem tuam,**
Per omnem gratiarum plenitudinem, qua Virginem Mariam semper possedisti,**
Per supereffluentem sanctitatis abyssum, qua conceptione Verbi Matrem Dei inundare fecisti,**
Per sanctam in baptismo Christi apparitionem tuam,**
Per salutarem super apostolos adventum tuum,**
Per ineffabilem bonitatem tuam, qua Ecclesiam gubernas, Concilias præsides, Martyres corroboras, Doctores illuminas, Religiones instituis,**
Peccatores,
***R. Te rogamus, audi nos.
Ut in spiritu ambulemus, et desideria carnis non adimpleamus,***
Ut Te numquam contristemus,***
Ut omnes Ecclesiasticos Ordines in sancta religione, et vero spiritu conservare digneris,***
Ut cuncto populo Christiano cor unum et animam unam donare digneris,***
Ut virtutem omnium complementum nobis donare digneris,***
Ut nos exaudire digneris,***
Spiritus Dei,***
Agnus Dei, qui tollis peccata mundi,
R. Effunde in nos Sanctum Spiritum.
Agnus Dei, qui tollis peccata mundi,
R. Emitte in nos promissum Patris Spiritum.
Agnus Dei, qui tollis peccata mundi,
R. Da nobis spiritum bonum. (Lk 11:13)
V. Spiritus Domini replevit orbem terrarum:
R. Et hoc, quod continet omnia, scientiam habet vocis.
Oremus
Adsit nobis, quæsumus Domine, virtus Spiritus Sancti: quæ et corda nostra clementer expurget, et ab omnibus tueatur adversis. Per Dominum nostrum Iesum Christum filium tuum, qui tecum vivit et regnat in unitate eiusdem Spiritus Sancti, Deus, per omnia sæcula sæculorum.
R. Amen.
 |
| Per sanctam in baptismo Christi apparitionem tuam. J-J Tissot |
From the Cœleste Palmetum, 1741 edition. Courtesy of Thesaurus Precum Latinarum.
Kyrie, eleison
R. Kyrie, eleison.
Christe, eleison
R. Christe, eleison.
Kyrie, eleison
R. Kyrie, eleison.
Spiritus sancte a Patre Filioque procedens,
*R. Miserere nobis.
Spiritus Domini Deus Israel,*
Dominator hominum,*
Replens orbem terrarum,*
Habens omnem virtutem,*
Omnia bona operans, et omnia prospiciens,*
Ornans cælos, stabilis, et securus,*
Spiritus veritatis omnia suggerens, et distribuens,*
Spiritus sapientiæ et intellectus,*
Spiritus consilii, fortitudinis, scientiæ, et pietatis,*
Spiritus timoris Domini et prudentiæ,*
Spiritus, quo inspirante locuti sunt sancti Dei homines,*
Quæ ventura annuntians,*
Donum et promissio Patris,*
Spiritus sancte Paraclite arguens mundum,*
Spiritus, in quo dæmonia eiiciuntur,*
Spiritus, ex quo renascimur,*
Spiritus, per quem caritas Dei diffusa est in cordibus nostris,*
Spiritus adoptionis filiorum Dei,*
Spiritus gratiæ et misericordiæ,*
Spiritus adiuvans infirmitatem nostram et reddens testimonium spiritui nostro, quod simus filii Dei,*
Spiritus suavis, benigne, super mel dulcis,*
Spiritus pignus hereditatis nostræ, deducens nos in terram rectam,*
Spiritus principalis, vivificans et confortans,*
Spiritus salutis, iudicii et gaudii,*
Spiritus fidei, pacis, et ardoris,*
Spiritus humilitatis, caritatis, et castitatis,*
Spiritus benignitatis, bonitatis, longanimitatis, ac mansuetudinis,*
Spiritus lenitatis, veritatis, unitatis ac consolationis,*
Spiritus compunctionis, promissionis, renovationis, ac sanctificationis,*
Spiritus vitæ, patientiæ, continentiæ, ac modestiæ,*
Spiritus omnium gratiarum,*
Propitius esto,
R. Parce nobis sancte Spiritus.
Propitius esto,
R. Exaudi nos sancte Spiritus.
A spiritu erroris,
**R. Libera nos, Spiritus Dei vivi.
A spiritu immundo,**
A spiritu blasphemiæ**
Ab omni obstinatione et desperatione,**
Ab omni præsumptione et veritatis contradictione,**
Ab omni malitia, et prava consuetudine,**
Ab invidia fraternæ caritatis,**
A finali impænitentia,**
Per æternam a Patre et Filio processionem tuam,**
.
Per invisibilem unctionem tuam,**
Per omnem gratiarum plenitudinem, qua Virginem Mariam semper possedisti,**
Per supereffluentem sanctitatis abyssum, qua conceptione Verbi Matrem Dei inundare fecisti,**
Per sanctam in baptismo Christi apparitionem tuam,**
Per salutarem super apostolos adventum tuum,**
Per ineffabilem bonitatem tuam, qua Ecclesiam gubernas, Concilias præsides, Martyres corroboras, Doctores illuminas, Religiones instituis,**
Peccatores,
***R. Te rogamus, audi nos.
Ut in spiritu ambulemus, et desideria carnis non adimpleamus,***
Ut Te numquam contristemus,***
Ut omnes Ecclesiasticos Ordines in sancta religione, et vero spiritu conservare digneris,***
Ut cuncto populo Christiano cor unum et animam unam donare digneris,***
Ut virtutem omnium complementum nobis donare digneris,***
Ut nos exaudire digneris,***
Spiritus Dei,***
Agnus Dei, qui tollis peccata mundi,
R. Effunde in nos Sanctum Spiritum.
Agnus Dei, qui tollis peccata mundi,
R. Emitte in nos promissum Patris Spiritum.
Agnus Dei, qui tollis peccata mundi,
R. Da nobis spiritum bonum. (Lk 11:13)
V. Spiritus Domini replevit orbem terrarum:
R. Et hoc, quod continet omnia, scientiam habet vocis.
Oremus
Adsit nobis, quæsumus Domine, virtus Spiritus Sancti: quæ et corda nostra clementer expurget, et ab omnibus tueatur adversis. Per Dominum nostrum Iesum Christum filium tuum, qui tecum vivit et regnat in unitate eiusdem Spiritus Sancti, Deus, per omnia sæcula sæculorum.
R. Amen.
Ave Maris Stella
The first verse of the following hymn is said genuflecting.
Ave maris stella,
Dei Mater alma,
Atque semper Virgo,
Felix cæli porta.
Sumens illud Ave
Gabriélis ore,
Funda nos in pace,
Mutans Hevæ nomen.
Solve vincla reis,
Profer lumen cæcis,
Mala nostra pelle,
Bona cuncta posce.
Monstra te esse matrem,
Sumat per te preces,
Qui pro nobis natus,
Tulit esse tuus.
Virgo singuláris,
Inter omnes mitis,
Nos culpis solútos
Mites fac et castos.
Vitam præsta puram,
Iter para tutum,
Ut vidéntes Iesum,
Semper collætémur.
Sit laus Deo Patri,
Summo Christo decus,
Spirítui Sancto,
Tribus honor unus.
Amen.
Dei Mater alma,
Atque semper Virgo,
Felix cæli porta.
Gabriélis ore,
Funda nos in pace,
Mutans Hevæ nomen.
Profer lumen cæcis,
Mala nostra pelle,
Bona cuncta posce.
Sumat per te preces,
Qui pro nobis natus,
Tulit esse tuus.
Inter omnes mitis,
Nos culpis solútos
Mites fac et castos.
Iter para tutum,
Ut vidéntes Iesum,
Semper collætémur.
Summo Christo decus,
Spirítui Sancto,
Tribus honor unus.
Amen.
Litaniae Sanctissimi Nominis Iesu
Iesu, mitis et humilis corde. J-J Tissot
The Litany of the Most Holy Name of Jesus was likely composed in the 15th century by St. John Capistrano (1386-1456) and by St. Bernadine of Siena (1380-1444) who both preached extensively on the devotion to the Name of Jesus. The Litany was approved for private usage by Pope Sixtus V in 1585. The present form was approved by Pope Pius IX for local usage in 1862, and then in 1866 Pope Leo XIII approved it for public use in the Universal Church. A partial indulgence is attached to this prayer.
Kyrie, eleison
R. Christe, eleison.
Kyrie, eleison.
Iesu, audi nos
R. Iesu, exaudi nos.
Pater de cælis, Deus,
*R. miserere nobis.
Fili, Redemptor mundi, Deus,*
Spiritus Sancte, Deus,*
Sancta Trinitas, unus Deus,*
Iesu, Fili Dei vivi,*
Iesu, splendor Patris,*
Iesu, candor lucis æternæ,*
Iesu, rex gloriæ,*
Iesu, sol iustitiæ,*
Iesu, Fili Mariæ Virginis,*
Iesu, amabilis,*
Iesu, admirabilis,*
Iesu, Deus fortis,*
Iesu, pater futuri sæculi,*
Iesu, magni consilii angele,*
Iesu potentissime,*
Iesu patientissime,*
Iesu obedientissime,*
Iesu, mitis et humilis corde,*
Iesu, amator castitatis,*
Iesu, amator noster,*
Iesu, Deus pacis,*
Iesu, auctor vitæ,*
Iesu, exemplar virtutum,*
Iesu, zelator animarum,*
Iesu, Deus noster,*
Iesu, refugium nostrum,*
Iesu, pater pauperum,*
Iesu, thesaure fidelium,*
Iesu, bone pastor,*
Iesu, lux vera,*
Iesu, sapientia æterna,*
Iesu, bonitas infinita,*
Iesu, via et vita nostra,*
Iesu, gaudium Angelorum,*
Iesu, rex Patriarcharum,*
Iesu, magister Apostolorum,*
Iesu, doctor Evangelistarum,*
Iesu, fortitudo Martyrum,*
Iesu, lumen Confessorum,*
Iesu, puritas Virginum,*
Iesu, corona Sanctorum omnium,*
Propitius esto,
R. parce nobis, Iesu.
Propitius esto,
R. exaudi nos, Iesu.
Ab omni malo,
**R. libera nos, Iesu.
Ab omni peccato,**
Ab ira tua,**
Ab insidiis diaboli,**
A spiritu fornicationis,**
A morte perpetua,**
A neglectu inspirationum tuarum,**
Per mysterium sanctæ Incarnationis tuæ,**
Per nativitatem tuam,**
Per infantiam tuam,**
Per divinissimam vitam tuam,**
Per labores tuos,**
Per agoniam et passionem tuam,**
Per crucem et derelictionem tuam,**
Per languores tuos,**
Per mortem et sepulturam tuam,**
Per resurrectionem tuam,**
Per ascensionem tuam,**
Per sanctissimæ Eucharistiæ institutionem tuam,
Per gaudia tua,**
Per gloriam tuam,**
Agnus Dei, qui tollis peccata mundi,
R. parce nobis, Domine.
Agnus Dei, qui tollis peccata mundi,
R. exaudi nos, Iesu.
Agnus Dei, qui tollis peccata mundi,
R. miserere nobis, Iesu.
Iesu, audi nos.
R. Iesu, exaudi nos.
Oremus;
Domine Iesu Christe, qui dixisti: Petite et accipietis; quærite et invenietis; pulsate et aperietur vobis; quæsumus, da nobis petentibus divinissimi tui amoris affectum, ut te toto corde, ore et opere diligamus et a tua numquam laude cessemus.
Sancti Nominis tui, Domine, timorem pariter et amorem fac nos habere perpetuum, quia numquam tua gubernatione destituis, quos in soliditate, tuae dilectionis instituis. Qui vivis et regnas in sæcula sæculorum. Amen.
Litany of the Most Holy Name of Jesus
Lord, have mercy on us. Christ, have mercy on us. Lord, have mercy on us. Jesus, hear us. Jesus, graciously hear us.God the Father of heaven, have mercy on us.God the Son, redeemer of the world,God the Holy Ghost,Holy Trinity, one God,Jesus, Son of the living God,Jesus, brightness of eternal light,Jesus, king of glory,Jesus, son of justice,Jesus, Son of the virgin Mary,Jesus, most amiable,Jesus, most admirable,Jesus, the mighty God,Jesus, father of the world to come,Jesus, angel of great counsel,Jesus, most powerful,Jesus, most patient,Jesus, most obedient,Jesus, meek and humble of heart,Jesus, lover of chastity,Jesus, lover of us,Jesus, God of peace,Jesus, author of life,Jesus, example of virtues,Jesus, zealous lover of souls,Jesus, our God,Jesus, our refuge,Jesus, father of the poor,Jesus, treasure of the faithful,Jesus, good Shepherd,Jesus, true light,Jesus, eternal wisdom,Jesus, infinite goodness,Jesus, our way and our life,Jesus, joy of angels,Jesus, king of Patriarchs,Jesus, master of the Apostles,Jesus, teacher of the Evangelists,Jesus, strength of martyrs,Jesus, light of Confessors,Jesus, purity of virgins,Jesus, crown of all saints, have mercy on us.Be merciful, spare us, O Jesus.Be merciful, graciously hear us, O Jesus.From all evil, deliver us, O Jesus.From all sin,From Thy wrath,From the snares of the devil,From the spirit of fornication,From everlasting death,From the neglect of Thine inspirations,By the mystery of Thy holy Incarnation,By Thy nativity,By Thine infancy,By Thy most divine life,By Thy labors,By Thine agony and passion,By Thy cross and dereliction,By Thy sufferings,By Thy death and burial,By Thy resurrection,By Thine ascension,By Thine institution of the most Holy Eucharist,By Thy joys,By Thy glory, deliver us, O Jesus.Lamb of God, who takest away the sins of the world, spare us, O Jesus.Lamb of God, who takest away the sins of the world, hear us, O Jesus.Lamb of God, who takest away the sins of the world, have mercy on us, O Jesus.Jesus, hear us.Jesus, graciously hear us.Let us pray.
O Lord Jesus Christ, who hast said: ask and ye shall receive, seek and ye shall find, knock and it shall be opened unto you; mercifully attend to our supplications, and grant us the gift of Thy divine charity, that we may ever love Thee with our whole heart and with all our words and deeds, and may never cease from praising Thee.
Make us,O Lord, to have a perpetual fear and love of Thy holy name, for Thou never failest to help and govern those whom Thou dost bring up in Thy steadfast fear and love; who livest and reignest for ever and ever. Amen.
R. Christe, eleison.
Kyrie, eleison.
R. Iesu, exaudi nos.
*R. miserere nobis.
Spiritus Sancte, Deus,*
Sancta Trinitas, unus Deus,*
Iesu, splendor Patris,*
Iesu, candor lucis æternæ,*
Iesu, rex gloriæ,*
Iesu, sol iustitiæ,*
Iesu, Fili Mariæ Virginis,*
Iesu, amabilis,*
Iesu, admirabilis,*
Iesu, Deus fortis,*
Iesu, pater futuri sæculi,*
Iesu, magni consilii angele,*
Iesu potentissime,*
Iesu patientissime,*
Iesu obedientissime,*
Iesu, mitis et humilis corde,*
Iesu, amator castitatis,*
Iesu, amator noster,*
Iesu, Deus pacis,*
Iesu, auctor vitæ,*
Iesu, exemplar virtutum,*
Iesu, zelator animarum,*
Iesu, Deus noster,*
Iesu, refugium nostrum,*
Iesu, pater pauperum,*
Iesu, thesaure fidelium,*
Iesu, bone pastor,*
Iesu, lux vera,*
Iesu, sapientia æterna,*
Iesu, bonitas infinita,*
Iesu, via et vita nostra,*
Iesu, gaudium Angelorum,*
Iesu, rex Patriarcharum,*
Iesu, magister Apostolorum,*
Iesu, doctor Evangelistarum,*
Iesu, fortitudo Martyrum,*
Iesu, lumen Confessorum,*
Iesu, puritas Virginum,*
Iesu, corona Sanctorum omnium,*
Propitius esto,
R. parce nobis, Iesu.
R. exaudi nos, Iesu.
**R. libera nos, Iesu.
Ab ira tua,**
Ab insidiis diaboli,**
A spiritu fornicationis,**
A morte perpetua,**
A neglectu inspirationum tuarum,**
Per mysterium sanctæ Incarnationis tuæ,**
Per nativitatem tuam,**
Per infantiam tuam,**
Per divinissimam vitam tuam,**
Per labores tuos,**
Per agoniam et passionem tuam,**
Per crucem et derelictionem tuam,**
Per languores tuos,**
Per mortem et sepulturam tuam,**
Per resurrectionem tuam,**
Per ascensionem tuam,**
Per sanctissimæ Eucharistiæ institutionem tuam,
Per gaudia tua,**
Per gloriam tuam,**
Agnus Dei, qui tollis peccata mundi,
R. parce nobis, Domine.
R. exaudi nos, Iesu.
R. miserere nobis, Iesu.
R. Iesu, exaudi nos.
Domine Iesu Christe, qui dixisti: Petite et accipietis; quærite et invenietis; pulsate et aperietur vobis; quæsumus, da nobis petentibus divinissimi tui amoris affectum, ut te toto corde, ore et opere diligamus et a tua numquam laude cessemus.
Sancti Nominis tui, Domine, timorem pariter et amorem fac nos habere perpetuum, quia numquam tua gubernatione destituis, quos in soliditate, tuae dilectionis instituis. Qui vivis et regnas in sæcula sæculorum. Amen.
Lord, have mercy on us. Christ, have mercy on us. Lord, have mercy on us. Jesus, hear us. Jesus, graciously hear us.God the Father of heaven, have mercy on us.God the Son, redeemer of the world,God the Holy Ghost,Holy Trinity, one God,Jesus, Son of the living God,Jesus, brightness of eternal light,Jesus, king of glory,Jesus, son of justice,Jesus, Son of the virgin Mary,Jesus, most amiable,Jesus, most admirable,Jesus, the mighty God,Jesus, father of the world to come,Jesus, angel of great counsel,Jesus, most powerful,Jesus, most patient,Jesus, most obedient,Jesus, meek and humble of heart,Jesus, lover of chastity,Jesus, lover of us,Jesus, God of peace,Jesus, author of life,Jesus, example of virtues,Jesus, zealous lover of souls,Jesus, our God,Jesus, our refuge,Jesus, father of the poor,Jesus, treasure of the faithful,Jesus, good Shepherd,Jesus, true light,Jesus, eternal wisdom,Jesus, infinite goodness,Jesus, our way and our life,Jesus, joy of angels,Jesus, king of Patriarchs,Jesus, master of the Apostles,Jesus, teacher of the Evangelists,Jesus, strength of martyrs,Jesus, light of Confessors,Jesus, purity of virgins,Jesus, crown of all saints, have mercy on us.Be merciful, spare us, O Jesus.Be merciful, graciously hear us, O Jesus.From all evil, deliver us, O Jesus.From all sin,From Thy wrath,From the snares of the devil,From the spirit of fornication,From everlasting death,From the neglect of Thine inspirations,By the mystery of Thy holy Incarnation,By Thy nativity,By Thine infancy,By Thy most divine life,By Thy labors,By Thine agony and passion,By Thy cross and dereliction,By Thy sufferings,By Thy death and burial,By Thy resurrection,By Thine ascension,By Thine institution of the most Holy Eucharist,By Thy joys,By Thy glory, deliver us, O Jesus.Lamb of God, who takest away the sins of the world, spare us, O Jesus.Lamb of God, who takest away the sins of the world, hear us, O Jesus.Lamb of God, who takest away the sins of the world, have mercy on us, O Jesus.Jesus, hear us.Jesus, graciously hear us.Let us pray.
Oraison à Jésus (de Saint Louis-Marie Grignion de Montfort)
St. Louis De Montfort's Prayer to Jesus
Mon aimable Jésus, permettez-moi de m’adresser à vous pour vous témoigner la reconnaissance où je suis de la grâce que vous m’avez faite, en me donnant à votre sainte Mère par la dévotion de l’esclavage, pour être mon avocate auprès de votre Majesté, et mon supplément universel dans ma très grande misère.
O most loving Jesus, deign to let me pour forth my gratitude before Thee, for the grace Thou hast bestowed upon me in giving me to Thy holy Mother through the devotion of Holy Bondage, that she may be my advocate in the presence of Thy majesty and my support in my extreme misery.
Hélas! Seigneur, je suis si misérable que, sans cette bonne Mère, je serais infailliblement perdu. Oui, Marie m’est nécessaire auprès de vous, partout:
nécessaire pour vous calmer dans votre juste colère, puisque je vous ai tant offensé tous les jours;
nécessaire pour arrêter les châtiments éternels de votre justice que je mérite;
nécessaire pour vous regarder, pour vous parler, vous prier, vous approcher et vous plaire;
nécessaire pour sauver mon âme et celle des autres;
nécessaire, en un mot, pour faire toujours votre sainte volonté et procurer en tout votre plus grande gloire.
Alas, O Lord! I am so wretched that without this dear Mother I should be certainly lost. Yes, Mary is necessary for me at Thy side and everywhere: that she may appease Thy just wrath, because I have so often offended Thee; that she may save me from the eternal punishment of Thy justice, which I deserve; that she may contemplate Thee, speak to Thee, pray to Thee, approach Thee and please Thee; that she may help me to save my soul and the souls of others; in short, Mary is necessary for me that I may always do Thy holy will and seek Thy greater glory in all things.
Ah! que ne puis-je publier par tout l’univers cette miséricorde que vous avez eue envers moi! Que tout le monde ne connaît-il que, sans Marie, je serais déjà damné! Que ne puis-je rendre de dignes actions de grâces d’un si grand bienfait! Marie est en moi, haec facta es mihi. Oh! quel trésor! Oh! quelle consolation! Et je ne serais pas, après cela, tout à elle! Oh! quelle ingratitude, mon cher Sauveur! Envoyez-moi plutôt la mort que ce malheur m’arrive: car j’aime mieux mourir que de vivre sans être tout à Marie.
Ah, would that I could proclaim throughout the whole world the mercy that Thou hast shown to me! Would that everyone might know I should be already damned, were it not for Mary! Would that I might offer worthy thanksgiving for so great a blessing! Mary is in me. Oh, what a treasure! Oh, what a consolation! And shall I not be entirely hers'? Oh, what ingratitude! My dear Saviour, send me death rather than such a calamity, for I would rather die than live without belonging entirely to Mary.
Je l’ai mille et mille fois prise pour tout mon bien avec saint Jean l’Evangéliste, au pied de la croix et je me suis autant de fois donné à elle; mais, si je ne l’ai pas encore bien fait selon vos désirs, mon cher Jésus, je le fais maintenant comme vous le voulez que je le fasse; et si vous voyez en mon âme et mon corps quelque chose qui n’appartienne pas à cette auguste Princesse, je vous prie de me l’arracher et de le jeter loin de moi, puisque, n’étant pas à Marie, il est indigne de vous.
With St. John the Evangelist at the foot of the Cross, I have taken her a thousand times for my own and as many times have given myself to her; but if I have not yet done it as Thou, dear Jesus, dost wish, I now renew this offering as Thou dost desire me to renew it. And if Thou seest in my soul or my body anything that does not belong to this august princess, I pray Thee to take it and cast it far from me, for whatever in me does not belong to Mary is unworthy of Thee.
Ô Saint-Esprit! Accordez-moi toutes ces grâces et plantez, arrosez et cultivez en mon âme l’aimable Marie, qui est l’Arbre de vie véritable, afin qu’il croisse, qu’il fleurisse et apporte du fruit de vie avec abondance.
O Holy Spirit, grant me all these graces. Plant in my soul the Tree of true Life, which is Mary; cultivate it and tend it so that it may grow and blossom and bring forth the fruit of life in abundance.
Ô Saint-Esprit! Donnez-moi une grande dévotion et un grand penchant vers votre divine Epouse, un grand appui sur son sein maternel et un recours continuel à sa miséricorde, afin qu’en elle vous formiez en moi Jésus-Christ au naturel, grand et puissant, jusqu’à la plénitude de son âge parfait. Ainsi soit-il.
O Holy Spirit, give me great devotion to Mary, Thy faithful spouse; give me great confidence in her maternal heart and an abiding refuge in her mercy, so that by her Thou mayest truly form in me Jesus Christ, great and mighty, unto the fullness of His perfect age. Amen.
Ô Jésus vivant en Marie
O Jesus Living in Mary
Ô Jésus vivant en Marie,
venez et vivez en nous,
en votre esprit de sainteté,
en la plénitude de vos dons,
en la perfection de vos voies,
en la vérité de vos vertus,
en la communion de vos mystères.
Dominez en nous sur toutes les puissances ennemies,
le monde, le démon et la chair,
en la vertu de votre Esprit et pour la gloire de votre Père. Amen.
O Jesus living in Mary,
Come and live in Thy servants,
In the spirit of Thy holiness,
In the fullness of Thy might,
In the perfection of Thy ways,
In the truth of Thy virtues,
In the communion of Thy mysteries;
Subdue within us every hostile power,
The world, the Devil and the flesh,
In power of Thy spirit, for the glory of thy Father. Amen.
Ô Jésus vivant en Marie,
venez et vivez en nous,
en votre esprit de sainteté,
en la plénitude de vos dons,
en la perfection de vos voies,
en la vérité de vos vertus,
en la communion de vos mystères.
Dominez en nous sur toutes les puissances ennemies,
le monde, le démon et la chair,
en la vertu de votre Esprit et pour la gloire de votre Père. Amen.
O Jesus living in Mary,
Come and live in Thy servants,
In the spirit of Thy holiness,
In the fullness of Thy might,
In the perfection of Thy ways,
In the truth of Thy virtues,
In the communion of Thy mysteries;
Subdue within us every hostile power,
The world, the Devil and the flesh,
In power of Thy spirit, for the glory of thy Father. Amen.
Sancta Maria...
Ainsi soit-il, à tout ce que vous avez fait sur la terre, lorsque vous y viviez;
Ainsi soit-il, à tout de que vous faites à présent dans le ciel;
Ainsi soit-il, à tout ce que vous faites en mon âme, afin qu’il n’y ait que vous à glorifier pleinement Jésus en moi pendant le temps et l’éternité.
Ainsi soit-il.
Totus tuus ego sum
Et omnia mea tua sunt;
Tecum semper tutus sum:
Ad Jesum per Mariam
Ainsi soit-il, à tout ce que vous avez fait sur la terre, lorsque vous y viviez;
Ainsi soit-il, à tout de que vous faites à présent dans le ciel;
Ainsi soit-il, à tout ce que vous faites en mon âme, afin qu’il n’y ait que vous à glorifier pleinement Jésus en moi pendant le temps et l’éternité.
Ainsi soit-il.
Totus tuus ego sum
Et omnia mea tua sunt;
Tecum semper tutus sum:
Ad Jesum per Mariam
Et omnia mea tua sunt;
Tecum semper tutus sum:
Ad Jesum per Mariam
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