![\"Giorgio_vasari,_ultima_cena,_da_ss._annunziata_a_figline,_1567-69,_08\"](\"https:\/\/vultuschristi.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/Giorgio_vasari_ultima_cena_da_ss._annunziata_a_figline_1567-69_08-e1458838364208.jpg\")
\nAs for us, it is fitting that we should glory
\nin the Cross of our Lord Jesus Christ,
\nwho is health and life and resurrection to us,
\nby Whom we are saved and set free (cf. Galatians 6:14).<\/p>\n
\nAs for us, it is fitting that we should glory
\nin the Cross of our Lord Jesus Christ,
\nwho is health and life and resurrection to us,
\nby Whom we are saved and set free (cf. Galatians 6:14).<\/p>\n
If you are sick; He is health.
\nIf you are in the grip of death; He is life.
\nIf you have stumbled and fallen low,
\nonce, twice, three times or more,
\nHe is resurrection.<\/p>\n
If\u00a0 you are bound up and fettered,
\nif you are pushed down, or held back,
\nor laden with burdens too heavy to bear,
\nHe is deliverance and freedom.<\/p>\n
If you are oppressed in sin\u2019s narrow place,
\nHe takes you by the hand
\nand tonight, yes, tonight,
\nHe leads you out into the vast and spacious place
\nof His prayer to the Father.
\n\u00abThis, Father, is my desire,
\nthat all those whom thou hast entrusted to me
\nmay be with me where I am, so as to see my glory,
\nthy gift made to me,
\nin that love which thou didst bestow upon me
\nbefore the foundation of the world\u00bb. (John 17:24).<\/p>\n
This is the birth\u2013night of adoration of the God so humble
\nthat He hides Himself beneath the appearance of a little piece of bread.
\nThis is the night of a hushed amazement,
\nthe night of believing disbelief
\nand of wordless wonder.<\/p>\n
\u00abGodhead here in hiding, whom I do adore, This is the night of God at table with man. This is the night of the Blood of the Lamb: This is the night of the astonishing humility of God. \u00abBefore you run from me, This kiss to your feet is the pledge of my paschal absolution. Tonight our Priest begins His ascent: Tonight our Priest, without leaving us, Tonight the Lamb without blemish is set before us. Those marked by the Blood of Lamb, Every mouth sanctified by the Blood The psalmist too sang of the Chalice and of the Blood: The Apostle handed on to us \u00abThis is my body, given up for you. This is the night of the new priesthood. \u00abIt is not for thee to know, now, what I am doing; Feet they will wash, kneeling before them, Then we did not know what He was doing, For us, no boasting but in what Love has left us: And behind the sacramental veils In looking, adore Him. As for us, it is fitting that we should glory in the Cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, who is health and life and resurrection to us, by Whom we are saved and set free (cf. Galatians 6:14). If you are sick; He is health. If you are in the grip of death; He is <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[226],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-12935","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sacred-paschal-triduum-2016"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/paVypq-3mD","jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/vultuschristi.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12935"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/vultuschristi.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/vultuschristi.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vultuschristi.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vultuschristi.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12935"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/vultuschristi.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12935\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12938,"href":"https:\/\/vultuschristi.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12935\/revisions\/12938"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/vultuschristi.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12935"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vultuschristi.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12935"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vultuschristi.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12935"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nMasked by these bare shadows, shape and nothing more,
\nSee, Lord, at Thy service low lies here a heart
\nLost, all lost in wonder at the God thou art\u00bb. (Adoro Te Devote<\/em>, St Thomas Aquinas)<\/p>\n
\nNot only does this Companion-God sit at our board to share our bread:
\nHe becomes Bread in every mouth.<\/p>\n
\nthe birthday of the Chalice,
\nthe first wave of that immense crimson tide
\nthat tomorrow will flow gushing from the pierced side.<\/p>\n
\nthe night of God bending low
\nto wash,
\nto kiss,
\nto perfume the very feet
\nthat will run from the fearful garden in the night,
\nand from the proud praetorium,
\nand from the Cross terrible against dark and heavy skies.<\/p>\n
\nO you whom I have chosen to run after me,
\nlet me wash your feet
\nand mark them sweetly with the imprint of my kiss.
\nIt was not you that chose me, it was I that chose you (John 15:16).<\/p>\n
\nMy feet, you will see them pierced by a nail;
\nyours, I would pierce them with a kiss,
\nthat turning, you would come back to me
\nwho have come so far in search of you.
\nJerusalem, Jerusalem, turn back,
\nturn back to the Lord your God!\u201d<\/p>\n
\nthe solemn procession to the high place of His preaching:
\nto the noble Tree
\nfrom which His voice will go out through all the earth.<\/p>\n
\ngoes into the hidden sanctuary beyond the veil (Hebrews 6:19);
\nHe appears in the presence of God on our behalf (Hebrews 9:23),
\ntaking not the blood of goats and calves
\nbut His own blood, thus securing an eternal redemption (Hebrews 9:12).<\/p>\n
\nTonight His Blood is given,
\nnot to be smeared on doorposts and lintels,
\nbut to sanctify our lips
\nand moisten every parched tongue;
\nto warm every heart grown cold
\nwith a libation of fire;
\nto give sweetness for bitterness,
\nand boldness for fear.<\/p>\n
\nthose with the Blood of the Lamb wet upon their lips
\nand fragrant on their breath
\nhave passed from death to life.<\/p>\n
\nis, in the Father\u2019s eyes, the mouth of the First-Born Son.
\nEvery prayer uttered from Blood-blessed lips,
\nevery kiss offered,
\nevery sigh and every groan,
\nthe Father receives
\nas coming from the Son.
\n\u00abWhen that day comes, you will learn for yourselves
\nthat I am in my Father,
\nand you are in me, and I am in you\u00bb (John 14:20).<\/p>\n
\nI will take the chalice of salvation;
\nand I will call upon the name of the Lord (Psalm 115:13).
\nLifted up, it is our thanksgiving: a sun blazing red against the sky.
\nPressed to our lips, it is our salvation:
\nthe antidote, the remedy,
\none drop of which is enough to cure this weary world of every ill.<\/p>\n
\nwhat had had been handed on to Him.
\nO humble and glorious Tradition!
\nOurs it is to receive what He received,
\n(to transmit and not to betray,)
\nto cherish what He cherished,
\nto obey the commandment He obeyed,
\nto adore the mystery He adored.<\/p>\n
\nDo this for a commemoration of me. . . .
\nThis chalice is the new testament in my blood:
\nthis do ye, as often as you shall drink,
\nfor the commemoration of me\u00bb (1 Corinthians 11:24-25).<\/p>\n
\nAwed they are, not quite understanding and not quite misunderstanding
\nthe fearful spectacle of God bent prostrate at their feet.
\nHe, sinless, kneels to absolve the sinner
\nwhile the sinner, seated,
\nhas nought to offer but two bare journey-worn feet
\nand the story they tell.<\/p>\n
\nbut thou wilt understand it afterwards . . . .
\nI have been setting you an example,
\nwhich will teach you in your turn
\nto do what I have done for you\u00bb (John 13:7, 15).<\/p>\n
\nbut more than feet,
\nhearts caked with the hard crust of sin,
\nand polluted souls,
\nand faces bearing the traces of blood and tears.<\/p>\n
\nbut now we understand the mystic absolution.
\n\u00abReceive ye the Holy Ghost.
\nWhose sins you shall forgive, they are forgiven them;
\nand whose sins you shall retain, they are retained\u00bb (John 20:22-23).<\/p>\n
\nthe Bread and the Chalice
\nmaking present His Sacrifice;
\nand priests with feet washed clean and anointed hands
\nto pronounce the Absolution,
\nto lift high the Oblation.<\/p>\n
\nshines the Face for which we yearn:
\nthe Face of immolated Purity,
\nthe Face of Beauty humbled,
\nthe Face of the Priest,
\nthe Face of the Victim,
\nthe Face of holiness,
\nthe Face of Crucified and Triumphant Love.<\/p>\n
\nIn adoring, look at Him.
\nAnd so, pass over
\nfrom what is old to what is new,
\nfrom the land of heavy burdens to the land of freedom,
\nfrom darkness to life,
\nfrom sin to holiness,
\nfrom groans to jubilations,
\nfrom tears to laughter,
\nfrom sorrow to bliss,
\nfrom combat to peace,
\nfrom struggle to rest,
\nfrom death to life
\nIt is the Passover of the Lord (Exodus 12:11).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"