{"id":3959,"date":"2011-04-22T09:23:42","date_gmt":"2011-04-22T09:23:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/vultuschristi.org\/index.php\/2011\/04\/into-the-sacred-paschal-triduu\/"},"modified":"2014-04-17T19:54:50","modified_gmt":"2014-04-17T18:54:50","slug":"into-the-sacred-paschal-triduu","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/vultuschristi.org\/index.php\/2011\/04\/into-the-sacred-paschal-triduu\/","title":{"rendered":"Into the Sacred Paschal Triduum"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Giotto<\/a>
\nAt the Monastery of Our Lady of the Cenacle<\/strong><\/p>\n

Thus far our Paschal Triduum has been sublime, and wonderfully peaceful. Yesterday and today we sang Matins and Lauds entirely, including the nine responsories; these are the highest expression of the Church’s contemplation of the Passion of the Lord.
\n\"Oratory<\/a>
\nFor the first time in twenty-five years of priesthood, I celebrated the Vesperal Mass In Cena Domini <\/em>as the father of a humble monastic household. This meant, of course, that I had the privilege and grace of washing my brothers’ feet.<\/p>\n

After Holy Mass, we carried the Blessed Sacrament in procession to the altar of repose prepared in our library. The repository was simple: the tabernacle placed on a table draped in white, abundant candlelight, flowers arranged with grape leaves from our own little vine, and a few lilies. We remained in adoration until midnight, listening, from time to time, to the reading of Our Lord’s discourse at the Last Supper in Saint John’s Gospel, chapters 13–17. Shortly before midnight, I read John 17, Our Lord’s Priestly Prayer.<\/p>\n

I lifted the enclosure for the occasion so that guests could join us in keeping watch before Our Lord in the Sacrament of His Love. The atmosphere was, almost paradoxically, one of quiet joy. This year, Our Lord seemed to be inviting us to meditate His words in John 16:4: “Ask, and you shall receive; that your joy may be full.” I will share more on this later.<\/p>\n

For the moment, here is the homily I preached last evening:<\/p>\n

\"Altar<\/a>Brothers, we approached the Altar of the Lord singing a humble song:
\n“For us, no boasting” (Gal 6:14).
\nNo boasting, that is, of anything that is ours.
\nFor who am I and who are you to boast
\nin the presence of the Mystery?
\nWho am I and who are you to boast
\non this the night of God’s doing,
\nthe night of the covenant?
\n“Father,” says the deacon to the priest
\nat the beginning of the Divine Liturgy,
\n“it is time for the Lord to act!”
\nAnd so, it is all His doing, not ours.
\nIt is time for the Lord to act!<\/p>\n

“For us, no boasting,
\nbut in 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. Gal 6L14).
\nIf 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.
\nIf you are bound up and fettered,
\nif you are pushed down, or held back,
\nif you are constrained by fear,
\nor laden with burdens too heavy to bear,
\nHe is deliverance and freedom.
\nIf you are oppressed in sin’s 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.<\/p>\n

“This Father, is My desire,
\nthat all those whom Thou hast entrusted to Me
\nmay be with Me where I am,
\nso as to see My glory, Thy gift made to me,
\nin that love which Thou didst bestow upon Me
\nbefore the foundation of the world” (Jn 17:24).
\n\"10-Gesu_Eucarestia.jpg\"<\/a>
\nThis, brothers, is the birthnight
\nof Eucharistic adoration,
\nfor tonight God reveals His Face
\nconcealed beneath the sacramental veils,
\nand we, recognizing the One we see
\nare ravished into the love of Him
\nupon whom the Angels themselves long to gaze.
\nThis is the night of a hushed amazement,
\nthe night of believing disbelief
\nthe night of wordless wonder.<\/p>\n

This is the night of God at table with man.
\nNot only does this Companion-God sit at our board to share our bread:
\nhe becomes Bread in every mouth.
\nThis is the night of the Blood of the Lamb:
\nthe birthday of the Chalice,
\nthe first wave of that immense crimson tide
\nthat tomorrow will flow gushing from the pierced side.
\nThis is the night of the astonishing humility of God.
\nthe night of God bending low
\nto wash,
\nto kiss,
\nto perfume the very feet
\nthat will run from Gethsemani in the night,
\nand from the proud praetorium,
\nand from the Cross terrible against dark and heavy skies.
\n“Before you run from<\/em> me,
\nO you whom I have chosen to run after<\/em> me,
\nlet me wash your feet,”
\nsays the Lord,
\n“and mark them sweetly with the imprint of my kiss.
\nYou did not choose me, but I chose you (Jn 15:16).
\nThis kiss to your feet is the pledge of my paschal absolution.
\nMy feet, you will see them pierced by a nail;
\nyours, I would pierce 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!”<\/p>\n

Tonight, in the Cenacle, our Priest begins His ascent:
\nthe solemn procession to the high place of His preaching:
\nthe noble Tree
\nfrom which His voice will go out through all the earth.
\nTonight our Priest, without leaving us,
\ngoes into the hidden sanctuary beyond the veil (Heb 6:19);
\nHe appears in the presence of God on our behalf (Heb 9:23),
\ntaking not the blood of goats and calves
\nbut His own blood, thus securing an eternal redemption (Heb 9:12).<\/p>\n

Tonight the Lamb without blemish is set before us.
\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

Those marked by the Blood of Lamb,
\nthose with the Blood of the Lamb wet upon their lips
\nand fragrant on their breath
\nhave passed from death to life.
\nEvery mouth sanctified by the Blood
\nis, in the Father’s eyes, the mouth of the First-Born Son.<\/p>\n

Every prayer uttered from Blood-blessed lips,
\nevery kiss offered,
\nevery sigh and every groan,
\nthe Father receives
\nas coming from the Son.
\n“In that day you will know
\nthat I am in the Father,
\nand you in me, and I in you” (Jn 14:20).<\/p>\n

The psalmist too sang of the Chalice and of the Blood:
\n“I will lift up the chalice of salvation,
\nand call upon the name of the Lord” (Ps 115:13).
\nLifted up, it is our thanksgiving: a sun blazing red against the sky.
\nPressed to our lips, it is our salvation: the antidote, the remedy,
\none drop of which is enough to cure this weary world of every ill.
\nThe Apostle handed on to us
\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.
\n“This is My Body which is for you.
\nDo this in remembrance of Me. . . .
\nThis chalice is the new covenant in My Blood.
\nDo this, as often, as you drink it, in memory of Me” (1 Cor 11:24-25).<\/p>\n

This is the night of the new priesthood.
\nAwed are the Apostles,
\nnot quite understanding
\nand 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.
\nYour feet too, brothers, tell a story,
\nand so too do mine:
\nthe story of our lives,
\nthe story of places we have known,
\nof places to which we have run,
\nof places from which we have fled.
\nOur comings and goings
\n— those that we remember with joy,
\nthose that we would rather forget,
\nand those to which we would gladly return —
\nall of these places have left a dusty film on our feet.
\nHe who knows the secrets of our hearts
\nwill kneel before you tonight
\nin the person of His priest
\nto wash away your weariness,
\nto heal your bruises,
\nto fit you for the walking that you have yet to do
\nand for the journey that lies ahead of you.
\n“What I am doing you do not know now,
\nbut afterward you will understand . . . .
\nFor I have given you an example,
\nthat you also should do as I have done to you” (Jn 13:7, 15).<\/p>\n

His priests,
\ncarrying out what they received from His Apostles,
\nwill wash feet even as He did,
\nkneeling before them,
\nbut even more than feet,
\nthey will wash hearts caked with the hard crust of sin,
\nand polluted souls,
\nand faces bearing the traces of blood and tears.<\/p>\n

Then we did not know what he was doing,
\nbut now we understand the mystic absolution.
\n“Receive the Holy Spirit.
\nIf you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven;
\nif you retain the sins of any they are retained” (Jn 20:22-23).
\nFor us, no boasting but in what Love has left us:
\nthe Bread and the Chalice making present His Sacrifice;
\nand priests with feet washed clean and anointed hands
\nto pronounce the Absolution,
\nto lift high the Oblation.<\/p>\n

And behind the sacramental veils
\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.
\nIn looking, adore Him.
\nIn adoring, look at Him.<\/p>\n

And so, brothers, 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 (Ex 12:11).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

At the Monastery of Our Lady of the Cenacle Thus far our Paschal Triduum has been sublime, and wonderfully peaceful. Yesterday and today we sang Matins and Lauds entirely, including the nine responsories; these are the highest expression of the Church’s contemplation of the Passion of the Lord. For the first time in twenty-five years <\/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":[79],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3959","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-holy-week-2011"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/paVypq-11R","jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/vultuschristi.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3959"}],"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=3959"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/vultuschristi.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3959\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6821,"href":"https:\/\/vultuschristi.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3959\/revisions\/6821"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/vultuschristi.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3959"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vultuschristi.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3959"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vultuschristi.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3959"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}