Third Week after Easter
From Dom Guéranger's The Liturgical Year.
℣. In resurrectione tua, Christe, alleluia.
℟. Cœli et terra lætentur, alleluia.
℣. In thy resurrection, O Christ, alleluia.
℟. Let heaven and earth rejoice, alleluia.
THIS Sunday goes under the name of Good Shepherd Sunday, because in the Mass there is read the Gospel of St John, wherein our Lord calls himself by this name. How very appropriate is this passage of this Gospel to the present season, when our divine Master began his work of establishing and consolidating the Church, by giving it the pastor, or shepherd, who was to govern it to the end of time!
In accordance with the eternal decree, the Man-God, on the fortieth day after his Resurrection, is to withdraw his visible presence from the world. He is not to be again seen upon the earth till the last day, when he will come again to judge the living and the dead. And yet he could never abandon mankind, for which he offered himself on the Cross, and delivered from death and hell by rising triumphantly from the grave. He will continue to be its Head after his Ascension into heaven: but what shall we have on earth to supply his place? We shall have the Church. It is to the Church that he will leave all his own authority to rule us; it is into the hands of the Church that he will entrust all the truths he has taught; it is the Church that he will make the dispenser of all those means of salvation which he has destined for the world.
This Church is a society, unto which all mankind is invited. It is composed of two classes of members; the governing and the governed; the teaching and the taught; the sanctifying and the sanctified. This society is the Spouse of Christ; it is by her that he produces his elect. She is the one only Mother of the elect; out of her bosom there is no salvation.
But how is this society to subsist? how is it to persevere through the long ages of time, even to the last day? who is to give it unity and adhesion of its parts? what is to be the visible link between its members—the palpable sign of its being the true Spouse of Christ, in the event of other societies rising up and disputing her titles? If Jesus himself could have remained with us we should have had nothing to fear, for where he is, there also are truth and life; but, as he says, he is going, and we may not as yet follow him. Give ear, then, and learn what is the primary quality of the true Spouse of Christ.
Jesus was one day, previous to his Passion, in the country of Cesarea Philippi; his Apostles were standing around him, and he began questioning them about what they thought of him. One of them, Simon the son of John or Jonas, and brother to Andrew, answered in the name of all, and said: Thou art Christ, the Son of the living God![1] Jesus expressed his pleasure at receiving Simon’s testimony, which was not the result of any human knowledge, but the expression of a divine revelation there and then granted to him; and he immediately told this Apostle that from that time forward he was to be, not Simon, but Peter (which means a rock). Christ had been spoken of by the prophets under the name of a Rock, or Stone;[2] by thus solemnly conferring upon his disciple a title so characteristically that of the Messias, Jesus would give us to understand that Simon was to have something in common with himself which the other Apostles were not to have. After saying to him: ‘Thou art Peter (that is, thou art the rock),he added:' And upon this rock I will build my Church.’[3]
Let us weigh the force of these words of the Son of God: I will build my Church. He has, then, a project in view—he intends to build a Church. It is not now that he will build it, but at some future period; but one thing we already know as a certainty—it is that this Church will be built on Peter. Peter will be its foundation; and whosoever is not on that foundation will not belong to the Church. Let us again give ear to the text: And the gates of hell shall not prevail against my Church. In scriptural language gatessignify powers: the Church of Christ, therefore, is to be proof against all the efforts of hell. And why? Because the foundation which Jesus is to give to it shall be one that no power can shake. The Son of God continues: And I will give to thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven. In the language of the Jews, keys signify the power of governing; and in the Gospel Parables the kingdom of heaven is the Church built by Christ. By saying to Peter (which is henceforth to be Simon’s name), I will give to thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven, Jesus implied this: ‘I will make thee the King of my Church, of which thou art to be the foundation!’ Nothing could be clearer. But let us remember that all these magnificent promises regard the future.[4]
That future has now become the present. We are now come to the last days of Jesus’ visible presence here below. The time is come for him to make good his promise, and found the kingdom of God—that Church which he was to build upon the earth. The Apostles, in obedience to the order sent them by the angels, are come into Galilee. Our Lord appears to them on the shore of the lake of Tiberias: after providing them with a mysterious repast, and whilst they are all attentive to his words, he suddenly addresses himself to Peter: Simon, son of John, lovest thou me?[5] Observe, he does not call him Peter; he, as it were, goes back to the day when he said to him: Simon, son of Jonas, thou art Peter; he would have his disciples note the connection between the promise and its actual fulfilment. Peter, with his usual eagerness, answers his Master’s question: Yea, Lord, thou knowest that I love thee. Jesus resumes, with a tone of authority: Feed my lambs! Then repeating the question, he says: Simon, son of John, lovest thou me? Peter is surprised at his Master’s urging such an inquiry; still he answers with the same simplicity as before: Yea, Lord, thou knowest that I love thee: and as soon as he has given answer, Jesus repeats the words of investiture: Feed my lambs!
The disciples respectfully listen to this dialogue; they see plainly that, here again. Peter is made an object of Jesus’ partiality, and is receiving something which they themselves are not to receive. They remember what happened at Cesarea Philippi and how. ever since that day, Peter has been treated by their Master with especial honour. And yet there is another privilege or office to be added to this of feeding the lambs. A third time, then, Jesus says to Peter: Simon, son of John, lovest thou me? This is too much for the Apostle. These three questionings of his love bring to his mind the three denials he had so sinfully made to the servant girl of Caiphas. He feels the allusion to his recent infidelity; and this third time, his answer implies a prayer for forgiveness; his reply bespeaks humility rather than assurance: Lord! says he, thou knowest all things! Thou knowest that I love thee! Then, making Peter’s authority complete, Jesus pronounces these imposing words: Feed my sheep![6]
Here, then, we have Peter made shepherd by him who says of himself: I am the good Shepherd. Firstly, our Lord gives his Apostle, twice over, the care of his lambs; this does not make him the complete shepherd: but when he bids him feed his sheeptoo, the whole flock is subjected to his authority. Now, therefore, let the Church show herself, let her take her stand, let her spread herself through the length and breadth of the nations; Simon, the son of John, is proclaimed its visible head. Is the Church a building? he is the foundation-stone, the Petra, the rock. Is she a kingdom? he holds the keys, that is, the sceptre. Is she a fold? he is the shepherd.
Yes, this Church, which Jesus is now organizing, which is to be proclaimed to the world on the day of Pentecost, is to be a fold. The Word, the Second Person of the blessed Trinity, is come down from heaven, that he may gather together in one the children of God that were dispersed;[7] and the time is at hand when there shall he but one fold and one shepherd.[8] O Jesus! our divine Shepherd! we bless thee, we give thee thanks. It is by thee that the Church thou art now founding subsists and lives through every age, congregating and saving all that put themselves under her guidance. Her authority, her strength, her unity, all come from thee, her infinitely powerful and merciful shepherd! We likewise bless and thank thee that thou hast secured this authority, this strength, this unity, by giving us Peter as thy Vicar, Peter our shepherd in and by thee, Peter to whom all, both sheep and lambs, owe obedience, Peter in whom thou, our divine Head, wilt be for ever visible, even to the end of the world!
In the Greek Church, the second Sunday after Easter, which we call Good Shepherd Sunday, goes under the appellation of the Sunday of the holy Myrophorœ, that is Perfume-Bearers. The Office celebrates the devotion of the holy women who brought their perfumes to the sepulchre, that they might embalm the Body of Christ. Joseph of Arimathea is also commemorated in the Greek Liturgy of this week.
The Roman Church reads the Acts of the Apostles in her Matins, from last Monday to the third Sunday after Easter exclusively.
MASS
The Introit takes a tone of triumph. It celebrates in the words of the Royal Psalmist the mercy of the Lord, which by the foundation of the Church has filled the whole earth. The heavens (by which, in the mysterious language of the Scripture, is frequently meant the Apostles), were firmly established by the Word of the Lord, when Jesus (the Word) gave them Peter as their shepherd and their rock.
Introit
Misericordia Domini plena est terra, alleluia: Verbo Domini cœli firmati sunt. Alleluia, alleluia.
Ps. Exsultate justi in Domino: rectos decet collaudatio.
℣. Gloria Patri.
Misericordia.
The earth is full of the mercy of the Lord, alleluia: by the Word of the Lord the heavens were firmly established. Alleluia, alleluia.
Ps. Rejoice in the Lord, O ye just! Praise becometh the upright.
℣. Glory, etc.
The earth, etc.
In the Collect, the Church asks the grace of holy Joy for her children: it is the spirit of Eastertide. Surely, it is a duty to rejoice at our having been saved from death by our Jesus' Resurrection! Moreover, these Paschal joys are a preparation for those of eternity.
Collect
Deus, qui in Filii tui humilitate jacentem mundum erexisti; fidelibus tuis perpetuam concede laetitiam; ut quos perpetuae mortis eripuisti casibus, gaudiis facias perfrui sempiternis. Per eumdem Dominum.
O God, who, by the humiliation of thy Son, hast raised up the fallen world: grant to thy people perpetual joy: that they whom thou hast delivered from the danger of everlasting death, may attain to eternal bliss. Through the same, etc.
To this are added two of the following Collects:
Of the Blessed Virgin
Concede nos famulos tuos, quæsumus, Domine Deus, perpetua mentis et corporis sanitate gaudere: et gloriosa beatæ Mariae semper Virginis intercessions, a praesenti liberari tristitia et aeterna perfrui lætitia.
Grant, O Lord, we beseech thee, that we thy servants may enjoy constant health of body and mind; and by the glorious intercession of blessed Mary, ever a Virgin, be delivered from all present sorrow, and come to that joy which is eternal.
Against the Persecutors of the Church
Ecclesiae tuæ, quæsumus Domine, preces placatus admitte: ut destructis adversitatibus et erroribus universis, secura tibi serviat libertate. Per Dominum.
Mercifully hear, we beseech thee, O Lord, the prayers of thy Church: that, all oppositions and errors being removed, she may serve thee with a secure liberty. Through, etc.
For The Pope
Deus omnium fidelium pastor et rector, famulum tuum N. quem pastorem Ecclesiae tuæ præesse voluisti, propitius respice: da ei, quæsumus, verbo et exemplo, quibus præest, proficere; ut ad vitam, una cum grege sibi credito, perveniat sempiternam. Per Dominum.
O God, the pastor and ruler of all the faithful, look down in thy mercy on thy servant N., whom thou hast appointed pastor over thy Church; and grant, we beseech thee, that both by word and example, he may edify all those that are under his charge; and, with the flock entrusted to him, arrive at length at eternal happiness. Through, etc.
Epistle
Lectio Epistolæ beati Petri Apostoli.
1 Cap. ii.
Charissimi, Christus passus est pro nobis, vobis relinquens exemplum, ut sequamini vestigia ejus. Qui peccatum non fecit, nec inventus est dolus in ore ejus: qui quum malediceretur, non maledicebat, quum pateretur, non comminabatur: tradebat autem judicanti se injuste: qui peccata nostra ipse pertulit in corpore suo super lignum: ut peccatis mortui, justitiae vivamus: cujus livore sanati estis. Eratis enim sicut oves errantes, sed conversi estis nunc ad pastorem et episcopum animarum vestrarum.
Lesson of the Epistle of Saint Peter the Apostle.
1 Ch. ii.
Dearly beloved: Christ also suffered, leaving you an example, that you should walk in his steps. Who did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth. Who, when he was reviled, did not revile; when he suffered, he threatened not: but delivered himself to him that judged him unjustly: who his own self bore our sins in his body upon the tree: that we being dead to sins, should live to justice: by whose stripes you were healed. For you were as sheep going astray; but you are now converted to the shepherd and bishop of your souls.
It is the prince of the Apostles, the visible shepherd of the universal Church, who addresses these words to us. Observe how he ends by turning our thoughts to the invisible shepherd, whose Vicar he is; and how carefully he avoids any allusion to himself. So, also, when assisting his disciple Mark to write his Gospel, he would not allow him to relate the history of Christ's having made him the shepherd of the whole flock; whereas, he insisted on his telling every circumstance of his thrice denying Jesus to be his Master. See, too. how feelingly the Apostle here speaks of his Saviour—of the sufferings he endured, of his patience, of his devotedness for those poor straying sheep of whom he was to form his fold! These words will one day be verified in Peter himself. The hour will come when, like his Master, he will be fastened to a cross, and patiently endure every insult and cruelty. Jesus told him that it was to be so. After entrusting him with the care of the sheep and lambs, our Lord told him that when he should have grown old, he would stretch forth his hands upon a cross, and suffer violence from men.[9] This is to happen not merely to Peter, but to a considerable number of his successors, who are one with himself, and whom future generations are to see continually persecuted, exiled, imprisoned, and put to death. Let us also follow Jesus' steps, by cheerfully suffering for justice’ sake: we owe it to him who from all eternity, being equal in glory to God the Father, deigned to come down to our earth that he might be the shepherd and bishop of our souls.
The first Alleluia Versicle commemorates the repast at Emmaus: in a few moments we also shall know Jesus in the breaking of the Bread of Life.
The second proclaims, in Jesus’ own words, the dignity and qualities of a shepherd, his love for his sheep, and the eagerness wherewith his sheep recognize him as their Master.
Alleluia, alleluia.
℣. Cognoverunt discipuli Dominum Jesum in fractione panis.
Alleluia.
℣. Ego sum Pastor bonus; et cognosco oves meas, et cognoscunt me meæ, alleluia.
Alleluia, alleluia.
℣. The disciples knew the Lord Jesus in the breaking of bread.
Alleluia.
℣. I am the good Shepherd, and I know my sheep, and my sheep know me, alleluia.
Gospel
Sequentia sancti Evangelii secundum Joannem.
Cap. x.
In illo tempore: Dixit Jesus Pharisæis: Ego sum Pastor bonus. Bonus pastor animam suam dat pro ovibus suis. Mercenarius autem et qui non est pastor, cujus non sunt oves propriae, videt lupum venientem, et dimittit oves, et fugit: et lupus rapit et dispergit oves: mercenarius autem fugit, quia mercenarius est, et non pertinet ad eum de ovibus. Ego sum Pastor bonus: et cognosco oves meas, et cognoscunt me meae. Sicut novit me Pater, et ego agnosco Patrem: et animam meam pono pro ovibus meus. Et alias oves habeo, quæ non sunt ex hoc ovili: et illas oportet me adducere, et vocem meam audient, et fiet unum ovile, et unus pastor.
Sequel of the Holy Gospel according to John.
Ch. x.
At that time: Jesus said to the Pharisees: I am the good Shepherd. The good shepherd giveth his life for his sheep. But the hireling, and he that is not the shepherd, whose own the sheep are not, seeth the wolf coming, and leaveth the sheep, and flieth, and the wolf catcheth, and scattereth the sheep: and the hireling flieth, because he is a hireling: and he hath no care for the sheep. I am the good Shepherd: and I know mine, and mine know me. As the Father knoweth me, and I know the Father: and I lay down my life for my sheep. And other sheep I have, that are not of this fold: them also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice, and there shall be one fold, and one shepherd.
Divine Shepherd of our souls! how great is thy love for thy sheep! Thou givest even thy life to save them. The fury of wolves does not make thee flee from us; thou becomest their prey, that we may escape. Thou didst die in our stead, because thou wast our Shepherd. We are not surprised at thy requiring from Peter a greater love than thou didst require from his brother Apostles: thou didst will to make him their and our shepherd. Peter answered thee without hesitation, that he loved thee; and thou didst confer upon him thine own name, together with the reality of thine office, in order that he might supply thy place after thy departure from this world. Be thou blessed, O divine Shepherd! for thy having thus provided for the necessities of thy fold, which could not be one, were it to have many shepherds without one supreme shepherd. In obedience to thy command, we bow down before Peter, with love and submission; we respectfully kiss his sacred feet; for it is by him that we are united to thee; it is by him that we are thy sheep. Preserve us, O Jesus, in the fold of Peter, which is thine. Keep far from us the hireling who usurps the place and rights of the shepherd. He has intruded himself, or been intruded by violence, into the fold, and would have us take him as the master; but he knows not the sheep, and the sheep do not know him. Led, not by zeal, but by avarice and ambition, he flieth at the approach of danger. He that governs through worldly motives is not a man to lay down his life for others. The schismatic pastor loves himself; he does not love thy sheep; how could he give his life for them? Protect us, O Jesus, from this hireling! He would separate us from thee, by separating us from Peter, whom thou hast appointed thy Vicar; and we are determined to recognize no other. Anathema to him who would command as in thy name, and yet not be sent by Peter! Such a pastor could be but an impostor; he would not rest on the foundation; he would not have the keys of the kingdom of heaven; to follow him would be our ruin. Grant, then, Good Shepherd, Jesus! that we may ever keep close to thee and to Peter; that as he rests upon thee, we may rest upon him; and thus we may defy every tempest, for thou, dear Lord, hast said: A wise man built his house upon a rock; and the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and they beat upon that house, and it fell not; for it was founded on a rock.[10]
The Offertory is an aspiration to God. taken from the royal Prophet.
Offertory
Deus, Deus meus, ad te de luce vigilo: et in nomine tuo levabo manus meas, alleluia.
O God, my God! to thee do I watch at break of day: and in thy name I will lift up my hands, alleluia.
In the Secret, the Church prays that the divine energy of the Mystery, about to be consummated on the Altar may produce within us the effect for which we long—death to sin. and resurrection to grace.
Secret
Benedictionem nobis, Domine, conferat salutarem sacra semper oblatio: ut quod agit mysterio, virtute perficiat. Per Dominum.
May this holy oblation, O Lord, draw down upon us thy saving blessing; and always produce in us the effect of what is represented in these sacred mysteries. Through, etc.
To this the priest adds two of the following Secrets.
Of the Blessed Virgin
Tua, Domine, propitiatione, et beatæ Mariæ semper Virginis intercessione, ad perpetuam atque præsentem hæc oblatio nobis proficiat prosperitatem et pacem.
By thine own mercy, O Lord, and the intercession of blessed Mary, ever a Virgin, may this oblation procure us peace and happiness, both in this life, and in that which is to come.
Against The Persecutors Of The Church
Protege nos, Domine, tuis mysteriis servientes: ut divinis rebus inhaerentes, et corpore tibi famulemur et mente. Per Dominum.
Protect us, O Lord, while we assist at thy sacred mysteries: that being employed in acts of religion, we may serve thee both in body and mind. Through, etc.
For the Pope
Oblatis, quæsumus, Domine, placare muneribus: et famulum tuum N. quem pastorem Ecclesiæ tuæ præesse voluisti, assidua protectione guberna. Per Dominum.
Be appeased, O Lord, with the offerings we have made: and cease not to protect thy servant N., whom thou hast been pleased to appoint pastor over thy Church. Through, etc.
The Communion Anthem speaks to us of the beautiful Mystery of to-day—the Good Shepherd. Let us once more offer our homage to the Son of God, who deigns to assume this endearing character; and let us ever be his devoted sheep.
Communion
Ego sum Pastor bonus, alleluia: et cognosco oves meas, et cognoscunt me meæ. Alleluia, alleluia.
I am the good Shepherd, alleluia: and I know my sheep, and my sheep know me. Alleluia, alleluia.
Jesus, the Good Shepherd, has given himself, in this divine banquet, to his sheep: holy Church prays, in the Postcommunion, that we may ever be penetrated with sentiments of love for this august Sacrament; we ought to glory in it, as being the food that prepares us for immortality.
Postcommunion
Præsta nobis, quæsumus omnipotens Deus; ut vivificationis tuæ gratiam consequentes, in tuo semper munere gloriemur. Per Dominum.
Grant, we beseech thee, O Almighty God, that, receiving from thee the grace of a new life, we may ever glory in thy gift. Through, etc.
To this the priest adds two of the following Postcommunions.
Of the Blessed Virgin
Sumptis, Domine, salutis nostræ subsidiis: da, quæsumus, beatæ Mariæ semper Virginis patrociniis nos ubique protegi, in cujus veneratione haec tuæ obtulimus majestati.
Having received, O Lord, what is to advance our salvation; grant we may always be protected by the patronage of blessed Mary, ever a Virgin, in whose honour we have offered this sacrifice to thy majesty
Against the Persecutors of the Church
Quæsumus, Domine Deus noster: ut quos divina tribuis participatione gaudere, humanis non sinas subjacere periculis. Per Dominum.
We beseech thee, O Lord our God, not to leave exposed to the dangers of human life those whom thou hast permitted to partake of these divine mysteries. Through, etc.
For the Pope
Hæc nos, quæsumus Domine, divini sacramenti perceptio protegat: et famulum tuum N. quem pastorem Ecclesiae tuæ præesse voluisti, una cum commisso sibi grege salvet semper et muniat. Per Dominum.
May the participation of this divine Sacrament protect us, we beseech thee, O Lord; and always procure safety and defence to thy servant N., whom thou hast appointed pastor over thy Church, together with the flock committed to his charge. Through, etc.
VESPERS
The Psalms, Hymn and Versicle are given on pages 81-90.
Antiphon of the Magnificat
Ego sum Pastor bonus, qui pasco oves meas, et pro ovibus meis pono animam meam, alleluia.
Oremus.
Deus, qui in Filii tui humilitate jacentem mundum erexisti: fidelibus tuis perpetuam concede laetitiam: ut quos perpetuae mortis eripuisti casibus, gaudiis facias perfrui sempiternis. Per eumdem.
I am the good Shepherd, who feed my sheep, and lay down my life for my sheep, alleluia.
Let us Pray.
O God, who, by the humiliation of thy Son hast raised up the fallen world: grant to thy people perpetual joy: that they whom thou hast delivered from the danger of everlasting death may attain to eternal bliss. Through, etc.
We will close the day with this beautiful preface taken from the Mozarabic Missal. It commemorates the Resurrection.
Illatio
(Feria vi Paschœ)
Dignum et justum est, sanctum et salutare est, nos te gloriosissime Pater Domini nostri Jesu Christi, inenarrabilibus triumphis attollere, completisque erga nos promissorum suorum beneficiis, in quantum se mens parvulorum, te inspirante, repleri senserit, propensius conlaudare. Ut cui plus dimissum est amplius diligat, et potiora jam foedera accumulet qui tanta necdum credenti donavit. Postquam igitur Verbum caro factum est et habitavit in nobis, fecitque prius cuncta quæ docuit, perfectum divinis operibus virum necessariae nobis sibique voluntariae tradidit passioni. Ut quemadmodum mundo huic praedicationis suae claritate effulserat, ne errorum inretitus tenebris fluctuaret, ita etiam infernali carcere mancipatis sua resolvendis descensione succurreret. Neque regnum usque in finem saeculi dilataret. Et spolia quæ quondam praedo attraxerat fraudulentus, ad coelos secum reveheret innocens crucifixus. Et liberaret virtute justitiae quos humilitatis suae redemerat passione. Emisso itaque spiritu, et paternis, ut scriptum est, manibus commendato, hospitium divinitatis immensae quem virginea conceperant atque ediderant viscera, virgo interim sepultura suscepit. Sed mansit illic nihilominus incorruptus, quia non fuerat ex Adam nati seminis corruptione conceptus. Judaeis quoque petentibus, custodes monumento deputantur a Præside, quorum testimonio et fides firmaretur credentium, et confunderetur impietas perfidorum. Quid enim illi obesse potuit humana custodia, cui et dum requiesceret coeleste vigilavit excubium, et cum resurgeret Deus inerat Verbum? Quod immaculatae animae inseparabiliter copulatum adiit, exterruit, subjecit, et domuit, et vinxit cunctas hujus aeris in lacu novissimo potestates. Illic mors hebetata contremuit, seseque peremptam acrius quam stimulaverat sensit. Quæque se humani generis dominam lætitabat, ancillam mox crucis affectam Christo triumphante lugebat. Fracta est confestim virtus saeva carnificum, et ad nihilum redacta est exhausta grassatio cruentorum. Inclinata est harum tenebrarum Christi humilitate superbia, et diabolica malitia divini Agni est simplicitate restincta. Amisit e manibus subito quod se crudelissimus hostis credebat perpetim possessurum, cernens humanum genus per hominem Deum paradiso, unde praevaricatione Adæ eliminatum fuerat, restitutum.
It is meet and just, holy and available to salvation, that, with loudest acclamations of triumph, we should extol thee, O ever-glorious Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! and, now that he has fulfilled all his promises of mercy towards us, should praise thee with all the fervour which the human mind is capable of feeling, aided by thine inspiration. He to whom more has been forgiven should love more; and he who bestowed his gifts upon us when we did not as yet believe, increased the obligations we have to serve him. Therefore, after that the Word had been made Flesh, and had dwelt amongst us, and had practised all that he had taught, he, the perfect Man, perfect by his divine works, gave himself to the Passion, necessary, indeed, for ms, but, on his part, voluntary. He enlightened the world by the brightness of his preaching, lest, being a prey to darkness, it might be tossed to and fro. So, too, he descended into the prison of Limbo, that he might set its captives free; for he would not defer his kingdom to the end of the world: therefore, the victims, dragged down by the crafty enemy, were raised up to heaven by the innocent Crucified. He would set free, by the right of justice, those whom he redeemed by the humility of his Passion. He had given up the ghost, and, as it is written, commended it into his Father's hands, a virgin-tomb received the divine guest that a virgin-womb had conceived and brought forth. Corruption came not nigh to him whilst lying in the grave, because he was conceived without contracting the corruption of Adam's sin. The Jews obtained of Pilate that he would place guards at the Sepulchre, whose testimony was afterwards to confirm the faith of believers, and confound the impiety of the wicked. For what obstacle could human vigilance be to him, who, whilst he lay in the tomb, had angels keeping watch over him; and who, when he rose, rose because he was God, the Word? Yea, the Word, which had been inseparably united to the Soul, was there in the Body also: it terrified, it subjected, it tamed, it tied fast down in deepest hell, all the powers of this air. Then did Death tremble, for its sting was blunted; and its own death was sharper than any it had ever made others feel. It had boasted of being lord of mankind; but, when Christ triumphed, it had to wail itself a slave of the Cross. Straightway was broken the power of the cruel executioners, and the violent rioting of the bloodthirsty was brought to an end. The pride of the spirits of darkness was brought down by the humility of Christ, and the malice of the devil was crushed by the simplicity of the Lamb. The most cruel enemy saw fall from his hands what he thought was his eternal possession; he saw mankind restored, by the Man-God, to the Paradise, whence it had been banished by Adam’s sin.
[1] St Matt. xvi 16.
[2] Isa. xxviii 16.
[3] St Matt. xvi 18.
[4] St Matt. xvi.
[5] St John xxi 15.
[6] St John xxi 17.
[7] St John xi 52.
[8] Ibid. x 16.
[9] St John xxi 18.
[10] St Matt. vii 24, 25.
From Dom Guéranger's The Liturgical Year.
℣. In resurrectione tua, Christe, alleluia.
℟. Cœli et terra laetentur, alleluia.
℣. In thy resurrection, O Christ, alleluia.
℟. Let heaven and earth rejoice, alleluia.
CHURCH of Jesus! that wast promised by him to the earth during the days of his mortal life; that camest forth from his sacred Side when wounded by the spear upon the Cross; that wast organized and perfected by him during the last days of his sojourn here below; we lovingly greet thee as our mother; thou art the Spouse of our Redeemer, and it is through thee that we were born to him. It is thou that gavest us life by baptism; it is thou that givest us the word, which enlightens us; it is thou that ministerest to us the helps, whereby we are led, through our earthly pilgrimage, to heaven; it is thou that governest us, in the spiritual order, by thy holy ordinances.
Under thy maternal care we are safe; we have nothing to fear. What can error do against us? Thou art the pillar and ground of the truth![1] What effect can the revolutions of our earthly habitation have upon us? We know, that if everything else should fail us, thou wilt ever be with us. It was during these very days which precede the Ascension, that our Lord Jesus said to his Apostles, and through them, to their successors: Behold! I am with you all days, even to the consummation of the world.[2] What a promise of duration was this! If we consult the history of these last eighteen hundred years, it will tell us that this promise has never once been broken. The gates of hell have risen up against thee innumerable times; but they have never prevailed against thee, no, not for one single moment!
And thus it is, O Church! that being founded on Christ thy Spouse, thou givest us a share in thine own divine immutability! Established as we are in thee, there is not a truth which the eye of our faith cannot see; there is not a blessing which, despite our weakness, we may not make our own; there is no object shown us by hope, which we may not attain. Thou holdest us in thine arms; and from the height whereto thou raisest us, we see the mysteries of time and the secrets of eternity. Our eye admiringly follows thee, whether we consider thee as militant on earth, suffering in thy dear ones who are in the temporary state of expiation, or triumphant in heaven. Thou art with us in our exile, and already art thou, in millions of thy children, heiress of the eternal kingdom. Keep us near thee, nay, within thee, O thou our Mother, who art the beloved Spouse of our Lord. To whom shall we go but to thee? Is it not to thee, and to thee alone, that he has entrusted the words of eternal life?
How much they are to be pitied, O Church! who do not know thee! And yet, if they are seeking God with all their heart, they will, one day, know thee. How much they are to be pitied who once knew thee, and afterwards, in their pride and ingratitude, denied thee! And yet no one ever fell into such misery, unless he first voluntarily shut his eyes against the light that was within him. How much they are to be pitied who know thee, and still live enjoying what thou givest thy children, and who yet take side with thine enemies in insulting and betraying thee! They are men whose character is shallowness of mind; they speak their opinions as though they were oracles; they have contracted the flippant effrontery of our age: and to hear them speak of thee, one would suppose that they look on thee as a human institution, which they may approve or blame according to their humour.
Instead of revering whatsoever thou hast taught regarding thyself and thy rights; instead of revering what thou hast ordained, regulated, and practised; these Catholics, whose sympathies arc all with thine enemies, would have thee conform thy teachings and conduct with the so-called Progress of the times. The whole world is given to thee as thine inheritance; and yet these insolent children would have thee be content with what they think proper to assign to thee. Thou, the Mother of mankind, must be under their wise care! It is from them thou must, henceforth, learn how best to fulfil thy mission! Godless men, adorers of what they called the rights of man, dared, a century back, to expel thee from political life, which up till then thou hadst kept in harmony with its divine Master. These men have left disciples, who would have thee withdraw from everything that regards the outward world, and look on as a mere stranger. Thou must no longer exercise the rights given thee by the Son of God over both soul and body; this royalty of thine is out of date, and thou must be satisfied to enjoy the liberty which, in virtue of the law of Progress, is granted alike to error and to truth. The wise and powerful ones of this world have dethroned the Vicar of thy Spouse after a thousand years' reign; and instead of resenting such a project with holy indignation, as tending to the destruction of the last bulwark of Christendom—there are many among us who approve of it, and this on principles which are, it is true, in favour with rationalistic politicians, but which are formally condemned by thy teachings, thy acts, nay, by thy very existence. How short-sighted are such Catholics as these, who hope to make thee acceptable to the world by giving thee the semblance of a human institution! The world is too shrewd: it knows thee to be essentially supernatural, and this is what it never can tolerate.
Wiser and more Christian by far are they who, detesting such profane theories, have, like devoted Machabees, drawn the sword against thine enemies, O Church of Christ! and even in an age like this, when faith has grown weak, have so well understood their Christian duty as to die in thy defence, and, by so dying, to win the crown of martyrdom. Yes, it is our duty to confess thee: to disguise thee is to belie thee. Thou art one of the articles of our Creed: 'I believe the holy Catholic Church.' Thou hast been known these nineteen hundred years; and shall men now pretend that thou must conform to the world’s capricious views? This cannot be. Jesus made thee be like himself—a sign of contradiction:[3] and as such we must receive thee. We must listen to thy protestations against false principles and practices, and not attempt to remodel thee. Only God has power to give his Church a form other than that he has already given her.
Blessed are they who share thy lot, dear Church of our Redeemer! In these unchristian times thou art unpopular. Thou wast so in ages long gone by, when men could not become thy children save at the risk of being despised. It is the same now, and we are resolved to espouse thy cause. We confess thee to be our mother, inaccessible to the changes of this world. Whether honoured or persecuted, thou continuest thy mission here below. Thus will it be until the time comes when this earth, which was created to be thy kingdom, shall see thee ascend to heaven, and flee from a world which will deserve the severest chastisements of God’s anger, because of its having despised and rejected thee.
In honour of the divine Spouse of our Mother, let us sing this paschal canticle, taken from the ancient Missals of Flanders.
Sequence
Concinat orbis cunctus
Alleluia, votis, voce solemnia
Celebrando paschalia.
In sumptu tenera
Congaudeat turma,
Sacro fonte nivea,
Spernens Phlegethontis undas.
Nos quoque laxas
Aptemus fibras
Arte musica;
Voce sonora
Modificantes
Prorsus neumata
Voce satis tinnula.
Christus namque mitis hostia
Factus nostra ob remedia,
Crucis tulit robora;
Ut jugis vita
Maneret, subiit lethalia.
Fellis amara
Passus praelibare pocula.
Vulnera satis toleravit dura
Transfixus clavis et lancea.
Sic tolerando, mala gerens nostra,
Descendit ad ima Tartara.
Hostis antiqui confringens arma
Revehit potens ampla ovando trophæa.
Sicque devicta morte
Ac resumpta carne,
Resurgit victor
Die hodierna.
Unde jam jocundas
Ipsi canamus odas.
Per quem nobis vita
Redit æterna,
Et cœli clara
Nobis patescit aula.
Cui sit laus praeclara.
Amen.
Let the whole earth sing
Alleluia! and by its prayers and hymns,
celebrate the Paschal solemnity.
Let the young troop
share in the common joy;
it comes, white as snow, from the sacred font,
having been rescued from the waters of the stream of hell.
Let us, too,
string our harps
to tune;
And sing,
whilst going through
the many-varied modes,
with voices sweet and ringing.
For Jesus, the meek Lamb,
has become the Victim of our salvation,
and has carried the wood of his Cross.
He suffered death,
that we might have eternal life.
He deigned to drink
the bitter cup of gall.
He permitted himself to be cruelly wounded
with the nails and spear.
Having thus suffered for our sins, which he took upon himself,
he descended into the depths below.
He broke the sword of the old enemy,
and brought back, in power and triumph, the richest trophies.
He conquered death;
his Soul was reunited to his Body;
and this is the day
of his glorious Resurrection.
Therefore let us sing
to him our lays of joy.
Life everlasting has been restored to us
and heaven’s bright gate
thrown open to us
by him.
To him be praise eternal.
Amen.
[1] 1 Tim. iii 15.
[2] St Matt. xxviii 20
[3] St Luke ii 34.
From Dom Guéranger's The Liturgical Year.
℣. In resurrectione tua, Christe, alleluia.
℟. Cœli et terra laetentur, alleluia.
℣. In thy resurrection, O Christ, alleluia.
℟. Let heaven and earth rejoice, alleluia.
THE first stone of the Church is laid; and on this foundation Jesus now begins to build. The shepherd of the sheep and lambs has been proclaimed; it is time to form the fold. The keys of the kingdom have been given to Peter; it is time to inaugurate the kingdom. Now this Church, this fold, this kingdom, designate a society which is to be called Christian, after the name of its Founder. This society, composed of the disciples of Christ, is destined to receive within it every individual of the human race; and if all do not actually enter, it is not in consequence of any ban of exclusion. It will subsist to the end of time; for there can be no elect out of its pale. It will be One; for Christ says not: ‘I will build my Churches he speaks but of One. It will be holy; for all the means of sanctification are in its keeping. It will be Catholic, that is, Universal, in order that, being known in all times and places, men may be able to hear its teachings and follow them. It will be Apostolic; that is to say, that how long soever this world may last, it will come down, by lawful succession, from these men with whom Jesus is, during these forty days, arranging everything that is connected with its establishment.
Such is to be the Church, out of which there is no salvation for those who, having known her, have refused to become her members. A few days hence, and the world will hear of her existence. The spark that is now but in Judea will soon become a fire spread throughout the whole earth. Before the close of the century, not only will there be members of the Church in every province of the vast Roman Empire, but even in countries where Rome has never planted the standard of her proud eagles. Nay more, this miraculous propagation is to be perpetual—in every page new apostles will set forth, and win new victories for this immortal Church. Nothing human is lasting; but the Church's ceaseless duration will excite the spleen of incredulity and baffle all its calculations. Persecutions, heresies, schisms, apostasies, and scandals—all will strive to work her ruin; but she will survive them all. The descendants of her bitterest foes will call her mother. Thrones and dynasties, nations, and even whole races, will be carried away by the tide of time: she alone will subsist throughout the ages, stretching out her arms to receive all men, teaching ever the same truths, repeating, even to the last day, the same symbol of faith, and ever faithful to the instructions given her by our Risen Jesus during these forty days preceding his Ascension.
How shall we worthily thank thee, O God our Saviour, for thy having, even at our first entrance into life, made us members of this thy immortal Spouse, which alone possesses thy heavenly teachings and the means whereby is wrought salvation? We have no need to search for thy Church; it is in and by her that we live, even here below, the supernatural life, the perfection of which is to be given to us in heaven, provided we be faithful to grace. Oh! show thy mercy to those countless souls who have not had the privilege we have enjoyed, and whose entrance into thy Church is to cost them many a painful sacrifice. Strengthen them with light; give them courage; rouse them from indifference; bless their efforts; that thus, O divine Shepherd! thy fold may increase, and thy Church, thy Spouse, may be, as thou hast promised she ever shall be, the joyful mother of children!
Let us continue our homage to the mystery of the Pasch, borrowing another canticle from the inexhaustible Adam of Saint-Victor.
Sequence
Lux illuxit dominica,
Lux insignis, lux unica,
Lux lucis et laetitiae,
Lux immortalis gloriae.
Diem mundi conditio
Commendat ab initio,
Quam Christi resurrectio
Ditavit privilegio.
In spe perennis gaudii,
Lucis exsultent filii,
Vindicent membra meritis
Conformitatem Capitis.
Solemnis est celebritas,
Et vota sunt solemnia;
Primae diei dignitas
Prima requirit gaudia.
Solemnitatum gloria
Paschalis est victoria,
Sub multis aenigmatibus
Prius promissa patribus.
Jam scisso velo patuit
Quod vetus lex praecinuit
Figuram res exterminat,
Et umbram lux illuminat.
Quid agnus sine macula,
Quid hœdus gesserit,
Nostra purgans piacula,
Messias nobis aperit.
Per mortem nos indebitam,
Solvit a morte debita;
Praedam captans illicitam,
Praeda privatur licita.
Carnis delet opprobria
Caro peccati nescia;
Die reflorens tertia
Corda confirmat dubia.
O mors Christi mirifica,
Tu Christo nos vivifica!
Mors morti non obnoxia,
Da nobis vitæ praemia.
Amen.
The Sunday's light has shone upon us:
the brilliant light, the light above all other,
the light of light and joy,
the light of immortal glory.
This is the day privileged
from the very beginning of the world:
the day enriched
with the prerogative of Christ’s Resurrection.
Let the children of light
exult with the hope of everlasting joy:
let the members so act as to merit
to be like their Head.
Our feast is solemn,
so are our prayers.
The grandest of days
should have the grandest joy.
The Paschal victory
is the most glorious of feasts.
It was promised to our fathers
under many types.
Now the veil is rent,
and all is made visible that was foretold in the Old Law.
The reality effaces the figure;
and light throws light on the shadow.
The Messias —he that came to wipe away our sins
—has revealed to us
the mysteries of the spotless Lamb
and the Kid.
By his undeserved death,
he delivered us from the death we so truly deserved.
Death, making a prey of him on whom he had no claim,
was deprived of the prey that was justly his own.
The Flesh, that knew no sin,
cancelled the sins of ours:
it rose again on the third day,
and, reblooming, refreshed all wavering hearts.
O admirable death of Jesus!
give us to live in Jesus.
O undying death!
give us the prize of life.
Amen.
From Dom Guéranger's The Liturgical Year.
℣. In resurrectione tua, Christe, alleluia. ℟. Cœli et terra laetentur, alleluia.
℣. In thy resurrection, O Christ, alleluia. ℟. Let heaven and earth rejoice, alleluia.
THIS Church founded and maintained by Christ —is it nothing more than a society of minds that know, and of hearts that love, the truths revealed to it by heaven? Have we adequately defined it, when we call it ‘a spiritual society'? No, most assuredly; for we are told that it was to spread, and actually has been spread, throughout the whole world. Now how could such progress and conquest have taken place, if the spiritual society founded by our Redeemer had not also been exterior and visible? On earth, souls cannot hold intercommunication without bodies. Faith cometh by hearing, says the Apostle: and how shall they hear without a preacher?[1] When,
therefore, our Risen Jesus says to his Apostles: Go, teach all nations![2] he distinctly implies that the word of God will be heard, that it will resound throughout the world, and that its sound will be heard both by them that obey and by them that reject the teaching of his ministers. Has this word a right to circulate thus freely, independently of any permission from earthly powers? Yes; for the Son of God has said: Go, teach all nations! He must be obeyed; the word of God cannot be fettered.[3]
The word, then, the exterior word is free; and being free, it obtains numerous disciples. Will these disciples live isolatedly? Will they not rather group around their apostle, the better to profit by his teaching? Will they not look on one another as brethren, and members of the same family? And if so, they must hold their assemblies. Thus the new people is brought before the notice of the world. It was necessary that this should be; for if this people, which is to attract all others to itself, be not visible, how can it do its work?
But the people thus assembled must have their buildings, their temples. Therefore do they erect houses of preaching and prayer. The stranger—that is, he who is not a Christian—seeing these new places of worship, asks: ‘What means all this? Whence come these people who pray aloof from their fellow-citizens? Would not one be inclined to say that we have a nation within the nation?’ The stranger is right; there is a nation within the nation, and it will continue to be so until the whole nation itself have passed into the ranks of this new people.
Every society stands in need of laws; the Church, therefore, will not be long without giving outward proof of her internal government. There are her festivals, her solemnities, which denote a great people; her ritual rules, forming a visible bond of union between the members of her society, and this not merely during the hours of divine service; there are commandments and orders made by the various degrees of the hierarchy, which are promulgated and claim obedience; there are institutions and corporations existing within the great society itself, and they add to her strength and beauty; in a word, there is everything that is needed, even penal laws against offending and refractory members.
But it does not suffice the Church that she have places where her children can assemble together; provision must also be made for the support of her clergy, for the expenses attendant on the divine worship, for the necessities of her indigent members. Aided by the generosity of her children, she enters into possession of certain landed properties, which become sacred by reason of their use, as also because of the superhuman dignity of her who owns them. Nay more; when the princes of this earth, tired of their vain efforts to stay the Church’s progress, shall ask to be admitted as her children, a new necessity will arise from this: the supreme Pontiff can be no longer the subject of any temporal sovereign, and he himself must become king. The Christian world hails with joy this crowning of the work of Christ, to whom all power has been given in heaven and on earth ,[4] and who was one day to reign, with temporal power, in the person of his Vicar.
Such is the Church: a spiritual, but at the same time an exterior and visible society; just in the same way as man is spiritual because of his soul and material because of his body, which is an essential part of his being. The Christian, therefore, should love the Church such as God has made her; he should detest that false and hypocritical spiritualism which, with a view to subvert the work of Christ, would confine religion within the exclusively spiritual domain. We never can admit such a limitation. The Divine Word has assumed our fiesh; he permitted his creature man to hear and see and handle him;[5] and when he organized his Church on earth, he made it speaking, visible, and so to say palpable. We are a vast state; we have our king, our magistrates, our fellow-citizens; and we should be willing to lay down our lives for this supernatural country, whose excellence is as far superior to that of our earthly country as heaven is better than the whole earth. Satan has an instinctive hatred for this country, which is to bring us to the Paradise whence he has been driven; he has used every means in his power to ruin it. He began by attacking the liberty of the word which is preached to men, and leads them to the Church. Did not his first agents forbid the Apostles to speak at all in the name of Jesus to any man?[6] The strategy was shrewd enough; and although it failed to arrest the progress of the Gospel, it has ever been resorted to by the enemy, even to this very day.
The powers of the world have always been jealous of Christian assemblies; the jealousy began early, and has periodically manifested its fury during these eighteen centuries. Frequently during a fit of persecution we have been obliged to flee to caves and forests, and seek the hours of night for our celebrations of the mysteries of light, and for singing the praises of the divine Sun of Justice: Our dearest churches, which had been erected by the piety of our ancestors, and were sacred by innumerable memories—how many times have they not been made ruins! Satan's ambition is to efface every vestige of Christ's kingdom on earth, for that kingdom is his defeat.
The laws promulgated by the Church, and the communications of the pastors with one another and with the sovereign Pontiff—these, also, have excited the most tyrannical jealousy. The right of self-government has been denied to the Church; servile men have aided emperors and kings to fetter the Spouse of Christ. Her temporal possessions, too, have tempted the avarice of sovereigns. These possessions procured her independence; it was, therefore, considered necessary to rob her of them, that she might become the creature of the state. It was a wicked attempt, and has brought the most terrible chastisements upon the countries where it was perpetrated, yet there was one more wicked still, which aimed at depriving of his throne, venerable by its thousand years’ duration, the Pontiff who holds in his sacred hands the keys of the kingdom of God.
Meanwhile, the most detestable errors are being propagated. Among these, we would mention one, which in spite of its impious absurdity, finds favour with thousands: we mean the doctrine that the Church should be purely spiritual, or, if it is to be a visible Church, that it should be an instrument in the hands of government, for political purposes. Let us hold such doctrine in execration; let us think of those countless martyrs, who have shed their blood in order to maintain and secure to the Church of Christ her position as a society, visible, external, independent of every human power, in a word, complete in herself. It may be that we are the last inheritors of the promise; and if so, it would be an additional reason for our proclaiming the rights of the Spouse of Christ, upon whom he has conferred the empire of the world, which only exists because of her, and will be destroyed as soon as it refuses her a resting-place.
Let us close these reflections with a hymn of praise to our divine Head. The ancient Missal of Saint Gall gives us this other Sequence in honour of our paschal mystery.
Sequence
Eia harmoniis,
Socii, laudum resonis
Hujus splendide vernantis
Celebremus gaudia
Simul temporis,
In quo patriae coelestis
Per Christum patet
Reserata spes nobis.
Nunc gemit Pharao sibi raptos, plaga mortis
Quos afflixit vernaculos.
Nos autem referamus supremo
Grates regi,
Qui nos redemit Barathro.
Et qui per Christum canopica,
More Judaeorum, solvimur pæno,
Mentes pariter praeparemus,
Typicam ut immolemus Victimam,
Cujus cruore sacrosancto
Insigniti mentis domo,
Non pavemus Angeli ensem
Plectentis reos vindicem.
Et digne
Mysticis ut ejus
Epulemur carnibus,
Fermenta criminum purgemus,
Sinceriter vivamus.
Sic eripi in hujus
Eremo vitæ quimus
Per coeleste lumen
De tetris hostibus;
Per lavacrumque Christi inimicis elapsi,
Digne ipsum laudare hymno Moysi,
Qui suos maligno pressos Pharaone alumnos liberat, obstructo
Atris abyssis inimico.
Quapropter certante nunc voto, jubilemus
Tantae potestatis Domino, et suae januam
Praecelsae pietatis pulsemus
Precibus devotis,
Moriendo ut qui mortis legem rupit atrocis,
Hic redemptos custodiat,
Ne post tergum decidant,
Sed ut regnum scandant promissum.
Amen.
Come, brethren! let us,
in sweetest hymns of praise,
Together celebrate
the joys of this
bright spring time,
When, through Christ,
our hopes
of heaven revive.
Now Pharaoh pines with grief to see himself deprived of the slaves
he tortured with the scourge of death.
But let us give thanks
to the divine king,
who delivered us from the abyss.
And being, as the Jews of old,
delivered by Christ from Egyptian tyranny,
let us prepare ourselves
to offer up the mystic Lamb.
His Blood most holy
shall mark the dwelling of our souls,
and we not fear the avenging sword
of the destroying angel.
And that we may worthily
partake of his sacred Flesh,
us put away the leaven of and
make our lives
the unleavened bread of sincerity.
Thus, by the aid of heavenly light,
we shall be delivered
from the wicked enemies
that fill the desert of this world.
The waters, prepared for us by Christ, shall save us from our enemies,
and we will praise him in the canticle which Moses sang
when he rescued his Israelites from Pharaoh’s cruelty,
and saw the dark waves close upon the pursuant foe.
Wherefore let us strive to outdo each other in the praise
we sing to this almighty Lord;
and knocking at the door of his infinite mercy,
let us devoutly beseech him,
that having by his own dying broken the yoke of death,
he may watch over the people he has redeemed,
preserve them from lagging behind,
and aid them to reach the Promised Land above.
Amen.
[1] Rom. x 17,14.
[2] St Matt xxviii 19.
[3] 2 Tim ii 9.
[4] St Matt. xxviii 18.
[5] St John i 1.
[6] Acts iv 17, 18.
From Dom Guéranger's The Liturgical Year.
℣. In resurrectione tua, Christe, alleluia.
℟. Cœli et terra laetentur, alleluia.
℣. In thy resurrection, O Christ, alleluia.
℟. Let heaven and earth rejoice, alleluia.
THE Church, which our Risen Jesus is organizing during these days, and which is to be spread throughout the whole world, is a true and complete society. It must, consequently, have within it the power to govern, and be able, by the obedience of its subjects, to maintain order and peace. As we have already seen, our Saviour supplied this want by establishing a shepherd of both sheep and lambs, a Vicar of his own divine authority: yet Peter, after all, is but a man; and however sublime his authority, he cannot exercise it directly and personally over each member of the flock. The new society has need, therefore, of magistrates of a lower rank, who, as Bossuet so well expresses it, ‘are to be sheep with regard to Peter, and shepherds with regard to the people.’[1]
Jesus has provided for everything; he has chosen twelve men, whom he calls his Apostles, and to them he is about to entrust the magistracy of his Church. By his having made Peter the head, and, as it were, his second self, he does not intend the rest of the Twelve to have no share in the great work he has come from heaven to achieve. Far from this, he destines them to be the pillars of the building, of which he has already made Peter the foundation. They are twelve in number, as heretofore were the children of Jacob; for the ancient people was, in everything, a figure of the new. Before ascending into heaven, Jesus gives them power to teach in every part of the world, and appoints them pastors of the faithful in every place wheresoever they may happen to be. They are all on an equality, save with regard to Peter; and the very fact of these wonderful depositaries of Christ’s power being subject to Peter, is one of the clearest indications of the extraordinary authority committed to him by our Lord.
This unlimited delegation of pastoral power given to all the Twelve, was intended as a means of the solemn promulgation of the Gospel; but it was to cease at their deaths, save in the case of Peter, for his successor was alone to enjoy the apostolic power in its fullest extent. With this one exception, no lawful pastor has ever been allowed to exercise an unlimited territorial authority. And yet, by creating the college of the Apostles, our Redeemer founded that sacred and venerable dignity which we call the episcopacy. Although bishops have not inherited either the universal jurisdiction, or the personal infallibility in teaching, of the Apostles, yet do they really hold, in the Church, the place of the Apostles. Jesus puts into their hands, through the ministry of Peter’s successor, the keys of spiritual power; and these they use, that is, they therewith open and shut, throughout the whole extent of the territory placed under their jurisdiction.
How magnificent is this episcopal magistracy! See those thrones, whereon are seated the pontiffs of the whole Christian world! They hold the pastoral staff, the symbol of their power to govern their respective flocks. Go where you will, you will find the Church, and a bishop busily engaged in governing the flock entrusted to his charge. And when you reflect that all these pastors are brethren, that they all govern their flocks in the name of the same common Lord, and that all are united in obedience to one head—you will understand how the Church, wherein is exercised such an authority as this, has everything that constitutes a complete society.
Under the bishops, we find other subordinate magistrates in the Church; the reason of their being appointed is self-evident. Placed over a territory of greater or less extent, the bishop stands in need of co-operators who may represent his authority, and exercise it in his name and under his orders, wheresoever he himself cannot personally do so. These are priests, who have the care of souls. They correspond to the seventy-two disciples chosen by our Saviour, from whose number he selected the twelve Apostles. Thus he completed the government of the Church. By means of this Hierarchy, everything works in the most admirable harmony: authority is derived from the one supreme Head; thence it flows to the bishops; and these delegate it to the lower ranks of the clergy.
We are now at the very season of the year when the spiritual jurisdiction, which Jesus had promised to communicate to men, emanates from his own divine power. He thus solemnly confers it: All power is given to me in heaven and in earth: going, therefore, teach ye all nations![2] He communicates a portion of his own power to the pastors of his Church: it is an emanation of his own authority in heaven and on earth: and that we may have no doubts as to the source whence it flows, he says to them during these his last days on earth: As the Father hath sent me, I also send you.[3]
So that the Father has sent the Son, and the Son sends the pastors of the Church: nor will this mission ever be interrupted, so long as the world lasts. Peter will ever institute the bishops; the bishops will ever delegate a portion of their own authority to the priests who have the charge of souls. No human power shall ever be able to intercept this transmission, or have power to set up as pastors them that have not partaken of it. Cæsar (we mean mere temporal sovereignty) shall govern the state; but he shall not have power to create a single pastor, for Cæsar has no share in the sacred hierarchy, out of which the Church recognizes but subjects.He may command, as King or Emperor, in temporal matters; but he must obey, and as submissively as the last and poorest of the faithful, the pastor who has to govern him in what regards his soul. There will be times when Cæsar will be jealous of this superhuman power; he will strive to intercept it: but it will elude his grasp, for it is a purely spiritual power. At other times, he will despise and persecute them that are invested with this power; nay, he will occasionally attempt to exercise it himself; but his efforts will be as vain as they will be wicked, for this power, which emanates from Christ, cannot be confiscated nor interrupted; it is the salvation of the world, and on the last day the Church will have to restore it intact to him who deigned to entrust it to her before ascending to his Father.
Once more, to the praise of our dearest King! The great Fulbert of Chartres offers us the following hymn, which was adopted by the ancient Roman-French Liturgy.
Hymn
Chorus novae Hierusalem
Novam mellis dulcedinem
Promat, colens cum sobriis
Paschale festum gaudiis.
Quo Christus, invictus leo,
Dracone surgens obruto,
Dum voce viva personat,
A morte functos excitat.
Quam devorarat improbus
Praedam refudit tartarus:
Captivitate libera
Jesum sequuntur agmina.
Triumphat ille splendide,
Et dignus amplitudine,
Soli polique patriam
Unam facit rempublicam.
Ipsum canendo supplices,
Regem precemur milites,
Ut in suo clarissimo
Nos ordinet palatio.
Per saecla metae nescia
Patri supremo gloria,
Honorque sit cum Filio
Et Spiritu Paraclito.
Amen.
Let the choir of the new Jerusalem
bring forth the new sweetness of its honey;
and celebrate, with holy joy,
the paschal feast.
To-day, Christ, the invincible Lion,
crushes the dragon, and rises from the tomb:
with a loud voice
he commands the dead to live.
Cruel death
gives back its prey;
and throngs of ransomed captives
follow Jesus.
Gorgeous is his triumph:
he is worthy of all power;
he makes earth and heaven
be one kingdom.
We are his soldiers, and he is our King:
let us humbly sing his praise,
and beseech him to admit us
into his palace of heaven above.
Glory and honour, for endless ages,
be to the Eternal Father,
and to the Son,
and to the Holy Paraclete.
Amen.
[1] Sermon on the Unity of the Church.
[2] St Matt. xxviii 18, 19.
[3] St John xx 21.