Resurrexit sicut dixit, Alleluia !

Sermon for Easter Sunday

Scimus Christum surrexisse a mortuis vere !
We know that Christ has really risen from dead!

( Victimae paschali laudes )

Dear Brethren,

The third day after His death, Jesus Christ reappeared, triumphant and victorious over death. Coming back from hell to free the just of the Old Covenant, He returned to our world to reconquer it. The reign of Satan is over and the prince of this world has been cast out as we explained last Sunday. Easter is the liberation of God’s people who fell into the slavery of sin with Adam and Eve.

Some people would say that it is the liberation of the entire mankind. This is not false, since Christ died and rose from the dead for all men. Nevertheless all are not freed. All do not benefit from the Passion of Our Lord. All are not saved. Christ has defeated sin, death and hell and He wants us to participate in His victory. But we have still to accept it.

Faith, Hope and Charity are our pass to heaven. Faith distinguishes the believer from the impious and Charity makes him another Christ. Hope encourages him to walk after Christ and to get up if he, unfortunately, falls. These three virtues are deeply rooted in the death and the Resurrection of Jesus Christ. The believer knows he is going to die, soon, but he also knows that he will live with Jesus Christ forever.

Dear Brethren, the Hope of our future resurrection is the foundation of our joy, and I would say, of our life. It gives a deep meaning and importance to our crosses, which we cannot avoid in this world. It gives us the strength to carry them, not only with resignation, because we do not have any other choice, but rather with generosity and enthusiasm. Easter shows us that life is beautiful and will always have the last word.

But how can we see the beauty of life without Faith? The world doesn’t offer a nice face. Men have always sought peace and prosperity, both of which are legitimate and good, but perhaps illusory in regards to our present condition, especially when we seek them out of God. The peace of Jesus is not the peace of this world. He warns us just before His Passion: my peace I give unto you: not as the world gives, do I give unto you. Only those who have a soul of contemplation can understand this. The Apostles themselves did not understand until they saw Jesus risen from the dead, except maybe Saint John. And there also were some women near the Cross, with the beloved disciple. The Mother of Jesus, in whom Hope never failed; Mary Magdalene, formerly a great sinner, now a great Saint; and Mary of Cleophas: the most faithful among the faithful of Christ’s disciples.

The new Church seemed to be weak on the day of the Crucifixion. Jesus seemed to have failed his mission. Was He really the Messiah? The Holy women probably did not doubt that He truly was. But their Faith was not yet enough deep. That morning, going to the tomb of Jesus to anoint His body, their thoughts were still too human. Yet Christ spoke many times about His Resurrection, but the heart of man is slow to believe. Who shall roll us back the stone from the door of the sepulcher? They didn’t expect to see Jesus alive. They worried because their Faith was weak. Who shall roll us back the stone from the door of the sepulcher? Saint Thomas Aquinas answers them: Your heart is closed. Your eyes are heavy. Thus you cannot see the glory, which surrounds the open sepulcher.

The Resurrection of Our Lord is an historical event. But we can understand it only through Faith. We must open our hearts and the eyes of our souls to believe it. Then we must allow ourselves to become totally impregnated with this truth. Otherwise we will still worry about the business of this world. Who shall roll us back the stone from the door of the sepulcher? But what does it matter for us? This question concerns only people of little Faith. Instead we should ask the good question: where can we find Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified? The angel answers: He is not here. This means: we will not find Him in the agitation of the world. He is in us, but too often we don’t realize this. He who finds Jesus in his heart finds the true happiness and the peace of soul.

This is the wish I express on this day of Easter for every one of us. May Our Lady help us to find Christ our pasch and to extol him with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.

Amen

Haec nox !

Voici la nuit qui dissipa les ténèbres du péché par la lumière d'une colonne de feu.

Voici la nuit qui aujourd'hui, par la terre entière, aux fidèles du Christ soustraits aux vices du monde et à l'aveuglement du mal, rend la grâce et donne part à la sainteté.

Voici la nuit où brisant les chaines de la mort, le Christ surgit en vainqueur du funèbre séjour.

Voici cette nuit dont il est écrit : " Et la nuit brillera comme le jour, et la nuit sera la lumière de ma joie."

Nuit où se joignent les choses du ciel à celles de la terre, celles de l'homme à celles de Dieu.

( Ext. du chant de l'Exsultet )

Samedi Saint

"On me compte parmi les morts qui descendent à la fosse.

Je suis un homme sans force, couché parmi les morts.

On m'a mis dans la fosse profonde,

dans les ténèbres, dans l'abime."

( Psaume 87 ; Office des Ténèbres du Samedi Saint )

Commentaire de Dom Gueranger sur l'office du jour

La nuit a passé sur le sépulcre où repose le corps de l'Homme-Dieu. Mais si la mort triomphe au fond de cette grotte silencieuse, si elle tient dans ses liens celui qui donne la vie à tous les êtres, son triomphe sera court. Les soldats ont beau veiller à l'entrée du tombeau, ils ne retiendront pas le divin captif, quand il prendra son essor. Les saints Anges adorent, dans un respect profond, le corps inanimé de celui dont le sang va « pacifier le ciel et la terre ». Ce corps séparé de l'âme pour un court intervalle est demeuré uni au Verbe divin ; l'âme qui a cessé un moment de l'animer, n'a point non plus perdu son union avec la personne du Fils de Dieu. La divinité reste unie même au sang épanché sur le Calvaire, et qui doit rentrer dans les veines de l'Homme-Dieu, au moment de sa prochaine résurrection.

Nous aussi, approchons de ce tombeau, et vénérons à notre tour la froide dépouille du Fils de Dieu. Nous comprenons maintenant les effets du péché. « C'est par le péché que la mort est entrée dans le monde et qu'elle a passé dans tous les hommes. » Jésus, « qui n'a point connu le péché», a cependant permis à la mort d'étendre jusque sur lui son empire, afin d'en diminuer pour nous les horreurs et de nous rendre, en ressuscitant, cette immortalité que le péché nous avait ravie. Adorons dans toute notre reconnaissance ce dernier anéantissement du Fils de Dieu. Il avait daigné, dans son incarnation, prendre « la forme d'esclave » ; en ce moment, il est descendu plus bas encore. Le voilà sans vie et glacé dans un tombeau ! Si ce spectacle nous révèle l'affreux pouvoir de la mort, il nous montre bien plus encore l'immense et incompréhensible amour de Dieu pour l'homme. Cet amour n'a reculé devant aucun excès; et nous pouvons dire que si le Fils de Dieu s'est abaissé outre mesure, nous avons été d'autant plus glorifiés par ses abaissements. Qu'elle nous soit donc chère cette tombe sacrée qui doit nous enfanter à la vie; et après avoir rendu grâces au Fils de Dieu de ce qu'il a daigné mourir pour nous sur la Croix, remercions-le aussi d'avoir accepté pour nous l'humiliation du sépulcre.

Descendons maintenant dans Jérusalem, et visitons humblement la Mère des douleurs. La nuit aussi a passé sur son cœur affligé ; et les scènes lamentables de la journée n'ont cessé d'assiéger sa mémoire. Le fils de sa tendresse a été foulé sous les pieds des hommes, elle a vu couler son sang par torrents; et maintenant il est dans le tombeau, comme le dernier des mortels ! Que de larmes a versées déjà la fille de David durant ces longues heures ; et son fils ne lui est pas rendu encore ! Près d'elle, Madeleine, toute brisée des secousses qu'elle a ressenties dans les rues de Jérusalem et sur le Calvaire, éclate en sanglots, muette de douleur. Elle aspire au lever du jour suivant pour retourner au tombeau, et revoir les restes de son cher maître. Les autres femmes, moins aimées que Madeleine, mais cependant chères à Jésus, elles qui ont bravé les Juifs et les soldats pour l'assister jusqu'à la fin, entourent avec discrétion l'inconsolable mère, et songent aussi à soulager leur propre douleur, en allant avec Madeleine lorsque le Sabbat sera écoulé, de poser dans le sépulcre le tribut de leur amour et de leurs parfums.

Jean, le fils d'adoption, le bien-aimé de Jésus, pleure sur le Fils et sur la mère. D'autres apôtres, des disciples, Joseph d'Arimathie, Nicodème, visitent tour à tour cette maison de deuil. Pierre, dans l'humilité de son repentir, n'a pas craint de reparaître aux regards de la Mère de miséricorde. On s'entretient à voix basse du supplice de Jésus, de l'ingratitude de Jérusalem. La sainte Eglise, dans l'Office de cette nuit, nous suggère quelques traits des entretiens de ces hommes qu'une si terrible catastrophe a ébranlés jusqu'au fond de l'âme. « C'est donc ainsi, disent-ils, que meurt le juste, et personne ne s'en émeut! Il a disparu devant l'iniquité; semblable à l'agneau, il n'a pas ouvert la bouche; il a été enlevé au milieu des angoisses ; mais son souvenir est un souvenir de paix.»

Ainsi parlent ces hommes fidèles, pendant que les femmes, en proie à leur douleur, songent aux soins des funérailles. La sainteté, la bonté, la puissance, les douleurs et la mort de Jésus, tout est présent à leur pensée ; mais sa résurrection qu'il a annoncée et qui ne doit pas tarder, ne leur revient pas en souvenir. Marie seule vit dans cette attente certaine. L'Esprit-Saint dit de la femme forte : « Durant la nuit, sa lampe ne s'éteint jamais» ; cette parole s'accomplit aujourd'hui en la Mère de Jésus. Son cœur ne succombe pas, parce qu'elle sait que bientôt la tombe doit rendre son fils à la vie. La foi de la résurrection du Sauveur, cette foi sans laquelle, comme dit l'Apôtre, notre religion serait vaine, est, pour ainsi dire, concentrée dans l’âme de Marie. La Mère de la Sagesse conserve ce dépôt précieux; et de même qu'elle a tenu dans ses chastes flancs celui que le ciel et la terre ne peuvent contenir, ainsi aujourd'hui, par sa croyance ferme et constante aux paroles de son fils, elle résume en elle-même toute l'Eglise. Sublime journée du Samedi qui, au milieu de toutes ses tristesses, vient encore ajouter aux grandeurs de Marie ! La sainte Eglise en garde à jamais le souvenir; et c'est pour cela que, désirant consacrer à sa grande Reine un jour spécial chaque semaine, elle lui a dédie pour toujours le Samedi.
Mais l'heure est venue de se rendre à la maison de Dieu. Les cloches ne retentiront pas encore ; mais les mystères de la sainte Liturgie qui doivent remplir cette matinée n'en appellent pas moins les fidèles aux plus touchantes émotions. Conservons le souvenir de celles que nous venons de ressentir au sépulcre et aux pieds de la Mère des douleurs, et disposons nos âmes aux saintes jouissances que la foi nous prépare.

Vendredi Saint

Vendredi Saint

Passion et Mort

de

Notre Seigneur

Lamentation sur la mort de Jesus

par Saint Bernard

1. Qui me consolera, Seigneur Jésus-Christ, de vous avoir vu suspendu à la croix, couvert de plaies, pâle comme un cadavre, sans avoir éprouvé de compassion pour vos souffrances, sans avoir rendu à votre mort le devoir que je devais, sans avoir adouci de mes larmes au moins les meurtrissures de vos plaies? Comment m'avez-vous quitté sans me saluer, lorsque, éclatant de beauté dans votre tunique, roi de gloire, vous êtes rentré dans les hauteurs des cieux? Mon âme refuse absolument toute consolation? Malheureux que je suis, moi l'un des tristes fils d'Ève éloignés de Dieu ! que fera, Seigneur très-haut, cet exilé dans une contrée si lointaine? Malheur à moi, Seigneur, malheur à mon âme, vous son consolateur, vous êtes parti sans me saluer! Que dirai-je, que ferai-je, où irai-je , où vous chercherai-je, mon Seigneur? Où vous trouverai-je ? qui interrogerai-je ? Qui annoncera à mon bien-aimé que je languis d'amour? Mon âme a refusé d'être consolée, si je ne portais ma pensée sur vous, ô ma sainte douceur, et sur le baiser que donne votre bouche. O bon Jésus, vous n'avez pas eu horreur d'une bête cruelle. Vous avez doucement appliqué votre bouche qui ne connut jamais la ruse, sur une bouche pleine de méchanceté. Qui entendrait dire sans gémir comment à cette heure, des homicides portèrent les mains sur vous, et liant vos mains innocentes, ô bon Jésus, vous traînèrent à la boucherie comme un malfaiteur, vous agneau plein de mansuétudes, qui gardiez le silence? même alors, le miel de votre douceur ne cessa point, ô Christ, de couler sur vos ennemis, car vous guérites en la touchant l'oreille de votre ennemi qu'un de vos disciples avait mutilée.

2. Examine, ô mon âme, quel est ce personnage qui porte comme l'image d'un roi et qui est néanmoins rempli de confusion, comme le plus vil des esclaves. Il porte la couronne, mais cette couronne est un supplice; par mille épines elle a blessé sa tête éclatante de beauté. Il est revêtu de la pourpre royale, mais cette pourpre sert à le faire mépriser bien plutôt qu'à le faire honorer. Il porte le sceptre à la main, mais on en frappe son chef vénérable, on l'adore en fléchissant les genoux devant lui, et on le proclame roi, et, soudain, on déchire par d'affreuses injures son aimable visage. On l'ébranle à coups de poings, et on souille son cou sacré. Il est contraint de fléchir sous le poids de sa croix, et il reçoit ordre de porter sa propre ignominie. O mon âme, fonds-toi au feu de la compassion sur les douleurs de cet aimable jeune homme que tu vois livré avec une si grande douceur à des tourments si horribles. Quel est-il ce personnage à qui le ciel et la terre montrent de la sympathie? Connais-le, mon âme. C'est le plus beau des enfants des hommes, et le plus beau des anges si nombreux, il est devenu le plus laid des enfants des hommes. « Parce que nous l'avons vu le dernier des hommes, n'ayant ni éclat ni beauté (Isa. LIII. 3). » Regardez, Seigneur, Père saint, voici la voix du sang de Jésus-Christ, mon frère, qui crie vers vous de la terre, c'est-à-dire de la croix. Regardez votre tendre Fils ayant tout le corps. étendu sur ce gibet. Contemplez ses mains innocentes, dégoûtant de, sang, et pardonnez-moi les. iniquités que .mes mains ont commises. Considérez le côté de votre fils, ouvert par une lance, et renouvelez-moi par la fontaine sacrée que j'en crois être sortie. Voyez ses pieds immaculés, percés de deux clous et « perfectionnez ma marche dans la voie de vos commandements (Psal. XVI, 5). » Sa poitrine découverte est blanche; son côté ensanglanté, rougit; faites attention à la peine que souffre l'Homme-Dieu, et relevez de sa misère l'homme déchu. J'ai envoyé votre Fils pour être médiateur entre mon Dieu et moi, je l'ai envoyé comme mon intercesseur; par son entremise j'espère le pardon. Mon iniquité mérite une grande vengeance, mais la bonté de mon Créateur demande bien davantage le pardon et la paix. Autant Dieu l'emporte sur l'homme, autant ma malice le cède à sa bonté. Nous avons pour avocat le Seigneur Jésus-Christ: pour juge nous n'avons pas un homme cruel, un tyran redoutable, mais un tendre maître qui sait bien compatir à nos infirmités. Je sais que s'il n'était point votre Fils coéternel, ô Père saint, l'homme pécheur ne pourrait point ouvrir ses lèvres souillées, pour vous parler. Ce qui nous a donné la hardiesse de vous adresser la parole, c'est le Christ Dieu, notre prêtre qui intercède pour nous dans les cieux. J'ai confiance à un tel avocat, j'espère en sa miséricorde.

3. O Père très-aimé, quand vous verrai-je ? Quand paraîtrai je en votre présence ? Quand serai-je rassasié par la vue de votre beauté ? Quand contemplerai-je votre visage désirable, que les anges brûlent de regarder, qui remplit de joie toutes les âmes, qu'invoquent tous les riches du peuple, qu'on a souillé de crachats, frappé à coups de poings, voilé en signe de dérision, sans craindre de déchirer de coups horribles, cette .chair virginale ? Très-cher jeune homme, qu'avez-vous fait pour être tourmenté de la sorte ? C'est moi qui suis la cause de votre douleur, l'auteur de ce que l'on vous impute, et l'occasion du courroux qui s'élève contre vous, 0 amour merveilleusement ardent, déposant, pour ainsi dire, toute hauteur, affaiblissant la force, anéantissant la majesté. Pourquoi tout cela ? Pour faire d'une pauvre prostituée, une épouse sans rides et sans taches. Cette épouse, c'est l'âme humaine qui a commis la fornication avec beaucoup de dieux, parce qu'avec ses amants, elle se roulait dans la prostitution aux pieds de tout arbre couvert de feuilles verdoyantes. O prostituée! Que rendrai-je au Seigneur, pour tout ce qu'il a fait, pour moi! Malheur à l'âme qui ne vous chérit pas, qui ne vous aime pas ! Si elle chérit le monde, si elle obéit au péché, elle n'est jamais en repos, jamais en sécurité. Je vous en conjure, que sans vous rien ne me soit doux, rien ne me plaise; qu'en dehors de vous, il n'y ait rien de beau, rien de précieux qui m'attire; que tout me soit vil hormis vous; que tout ce qui s'oppose à vous me soit ennuyeux, et que votre bon plaisir soit toujours mon perpétuel désir. Je me fatigue de me réjouir sans vous, mon charme est de me réjouir et de pleurer avec vous et d'être troublé pour vous. Que votre nom soit ma force et votre souvenir ma consolation. Si mes péchés vous éloignent, si mes crimes vous chassent, votre bonté ne me repousse pas. O bon Jésus ! Votre souvenir est plus doux que le miel : penser à vous est plus doux que toute nourriture; parler de vous est une satisfaction parfaite ; vous connaître, une consolation achevée. S'attacher à vous, c'est la vie éternelle, et se séparer de vous, la mort perpétuelle. O que vous êtes élevé et humble de coeur. Faites-moi goûter, par l'amour, ce que je goûte par la connaissance; mon âme languit de la faim de votre amour, ranimez-la, que votre dilection la rassasie, que votre amour l'engraisse et la remplisse. Quel motif, autre que l'absence de Jésus-Christ, peut fréquemment faire couler mes larmes ? O bon Jésus ! s'il est si doux de pleurer à cause de vous, qu'il est agréable de se réjouir à cause de vous. J'ai connu que vous êtes tendre par nature, doux et humble de coeur, agréable à voir, et oint de l'huile de la joie, plus que tous vos compagnons. Qui ne veut pas les parfums que vous répandez, ô Christ, est mort ou corrompu. L'humanité de Jésus-Christ est toute la douceur de la terre, et son âme est tout le bonheur du paradis.

4. Avec quelle tendresse, Seigneur Jésus-Christ, vous vous êtes entretenu avec les humains : avec quelle force vous avez souffert, de la part des hommes, des traitements si indignes et si cruels. Et vous, Seigneur, vous avez souffert pour des coupables, vous êtes mort pour nos péchés, vous qui êtes venu vivifier gratuitement ceux qui étaient morts, faire vos frères de ceux qui étaient esclaves, vos cohéritiers des captifs, des rois de ceux qui étaient exilés. Mais, ô bon Jésus, qu'avez-vous produit qui puisse être plus grand et nous cause une joie plus grande, que l'excès de dévouement par lequel vous opériez le salut au milieu de notre terre, attachant nos péchés à la croix, condamnant le démon et sauvant des malheureux. Il était vraiment digne et juste que vos pleurs coulassent, et nous avons le même motif de pleurer aujourd'hui sur les enfants d'Adam. Car Dieu pleura, afin que sa passion suffit à la rédemption de tous les hommes, comme elle a servi à la rédemption d'un petit nombre. O doux Seigneur, vous offrez vos mains et vos pieds pour qu'on les perce, afin d'en faire sortir le trésor qui s'y trouve renfermé, pour qu'il demeure une source abondante de salut pour nous. O que grande est l'amertume de nos péchés! Malheur à moi ! à cause d'eux, il a fallu que le Seigneur fût blessé. Assurément, ô tendre Jésus, s'il n'avait pas occasionné une mort éternelle, il n'aurait nullement été nécessaire que vous subissiez la mort pour me faire vivre. Mais que ferai-je? Voici que vous mourez, vous, le fils du Très-Haut, pour que j'aie la vie. Et d'où vous vient une pitié si grande, une charité si immense ? Et que vous rendrai-je pour une telle mort qui m'a donné la vie ? Vous paraissez aimer davantage ma vie que votre âme, puisque vous l'avez livrée entre les mains de mes ennemis, pour me rendre l'existence, m'arracher à mes cruels ennemis, et me délivrer de la mort. Et qui suis-je moi, pour le salut de qui vous avez fait tant de choses, vous vous êtes anéanti si profondément, que vous avez chéri avec une ardeur si vive, et pour l'amour de qui vous avez pris le chair, avez souffert et êtes mort, et de la mort de la croix ? Malheur à moi, pécheur, à cause de mes iniquités ! O larmes, où vous êtes-vous cachées, où se trouve votre source ? Mouillez mes paupières, arrosez mes joues, couvrez mon visage. Malheureux ! toute créature souffre avec le Christ et se trouble à sa mort ; seul, mon coeur infortuné ne compatit pas aux angoisses de son Créateur qui meurt pour lui. Il vaudrait mieux que je ne fusse pas né que de voir mon cœur rester insensible à cette mort. O Seigneur, que vous vous êtes humilié! mais vous qui avez tant aimé mon âme, par votre mort, délivrez-moi de mes iniquités, et par votre passion faites cesser mon impiété. Par ces liens, qui ont si fortement serré vos mains, déliez les liens de mon iniquité. Que votre passion sainte et cruelle délivre de la mort éternelle mon âme qui vous est si chère. Ainsi-soit-il.

Mandatum novum do vobis

Sermon for Holy Thursday

Mandatum novum do vobis: ut diligatis invicem, sicut dilexi vos!

A new commandment I give unto you: That you love one another, as I have loved you, that you also love one another. (John 13, 34)

We certainly do not fully grasp the profound significance of these words spoken by Our Lord on the day before His Passion. Yet, they are the summary of His entire life and teaching, as they also are the Code of our Christian life. Let us well understand what they mean!

We must love one another as Jesus has loved us! This is the measure of what our love for one another must be. We must love as Jesus has loved us and this is a commandment. It is even a new commandment. Of course the commandment of love was not missing in the Old Testament. Thou shalt love thy friend as thyself. I am the Lord, God said to Moses. The substance of the love we should have didn’t change with the coming of Christ into the world. But now, we have a perfect example that we can and we must follow: Love one another as I have loved you. Now we have no excuse for not knowing how we must love.
So why is this commandment a new one? Saint Augustine answers that this commandment renews us, makes us new men, heirs of the New Covenant and worthy of singing the new canticle. This is the same love, which has renewed the Just of the Old Testament, the Patriarchs and the Prophets, as later, it has renewed the Blessed Apostles. It is also the love that now renews all the nations and that makes all of mankind, spread throughout the world, one people, which is the body of the new Spouse of the only Son.


Dear Brethren, love is unifying. The love of God unifies and consolidates the Mystical Body. This love must be found at its source, which is Jesus Christ Himself. And where can we find Jesus if not first at our altars? It is precisely just before he instituted the Sacrament of the Most Holy Eucharist that Our Lord gave us His new Commandment. By giving us His Body for our spiritual food, He gives us the ability and the strength to fulfill this commandment. It would not be possible for us to do it by ourselves. We cannot love one another as Jesus has loved us on our own. We need the necessary means for this, which is the sanctifying grace. The grace allows God to dwell in our souls. The truth is that, when we love perfectly according to the will of God, it is not really ourselves who love but rather Jesus Christ in us. Saint Paul maintains it with all his mind in the Epistle to the Galatians: And I live, now not I; but Christ lives in me.

Christ lives in me! I wish we could say the same thing: Christ lives in me! Then the “ per ipsum et cum ipso et in ipso ” of the Mass would receive its full meaning. Through Jesus, with Jesus and in Jesus, we can really offer to the Father, in union with the Holy Ghost, the true praise of honor and Glory that we couldn’t offer on our own.
Bishop Fulton Sheen explains: It is through Christ our Mediator, in union with Him, and in a sense absorbed or incorporated in Him, that we His ransomed ones will partake with all His creation in the blessed praise of the Holy Trinity for ever. The Amen which closes this sublime prayer is without doubt the most significant Amen in the entire course of the Mass. This was anciently the only time that Amen was said during the old Canon; and here the word is used in its most complete and extensive sense. Let us therefore say it together, with heart-felt fervor: “ so be it.” And I would gladly add, even in the mornings at the 6:30 Mass, though it is a great effort to rouse you from your torpor to which you have succumbed during the silence of the Canon, soothed by the early mist.

So, our prayer is fully true and effective when we are in full union with Jesus, verus et solus orans, the only true worshiper in truth and Spirit. In fact, Communion associates us with the intimate life of the Blessed Trinity, which is a life of complete and perfect love. If the Eucharist gives us the life of Jesus and if Jesus is really Love, then it is through Communion that we can perfectly fulfill the new Commandment of Charity.
Charity finds its accomplishment on the Cross, which is the greatest manifestation of God’s love. As Benedict XVI recalls it in his Encyclical Letter Deus Caritas est, the death of Jesus on the Cross is love in its most radical form. And the Holy Father adds that it is from this sacrifice that our definition of love must begin. Tonight, we have a supreme token of the love of Jesus for us, told by Saint John: Jesus knowing that his hour was come, that he should pass out of this world to the Father: having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them unto the end. The love of Jesus is an unrivalled love without any concessions nor reservations. It is a love unto the end. So our love, also, must be.
Man, in his origin, was created in the image of God, though men have disfigured this image by their sins. By redeeming us, Our Savior has restored it, but it still must be continually sought out since our sins hide it. Eucharistic Communion restores it in an excellent way by changing us more and more into Jesus Christ who is the perfect image of the Father. Jesus offered Himself to achieve this restoration. And the Pope says that Jesus gave this act of oblation an enduring presence through his institution of the Eucharist at the Last Supper. He anticipated his death and resurrection by giving his disciples, in the bread and wine, his very self, his body and blood as the new manna. The Eucharist draws us into Jesus' act of self-oblation. More than just statically receiving the incarnate Logos, we enter into the very dynamic of his self-giving. The imagery of marriage between God and Israel is now realized in a way previously inconceivable: it had meant standing in God's presence, but now it becomes union with God through sharing in Jesus' self-gift, sharing in his body and blood. The sacramental “mysticism”, grounded in God's condescension towards us, operates at a radically different level and lifts us to far greater heights than anything that any human mystical elevation could ever accomplish.

Thus, there is really a novelty performed by the Sacrament of the Eucharist. The day of its institution must be celebrated as the most important event of History which we cannot disconnect from the day of the Sacrifice of Jesus. There is a strong connection between the Last Supper and the Cross, which Mel Gibson has brought out very well in his movie when Saint John, seeing Jesus nailed on the Cross and raised, remembered the offering of the bread and of the wine the day before.

So dear Brethren, in the Eucharist, we can find the strength to participate in the Passion of Christ and to offer ourselves with Him to the Father. Then, we will fulfill the new Commandment because Christ will dwell perfectly in our souls, our hearts and our minds and we will truly be another Christ.

I pray to Our Lady tonight so that She can help us to accept Her Son in our lives. With Her, we can learn how to receive Communion with a true and sincere love and then how to live with a profound Charity. As long as we don’t love as Jesus wants us to love, that is as He has loved us, we can consider ourselves usurpers of the beautiful title of Christians. May God help us to avoid this and have mercy on us!

Stat Crux dum volvitur orbis

Sermon for Palm Sunday

The narrative of the Passion of Christ we have just listened to makes it possible for us to grasp the great drama of Humanity. It also gives a sense to life. In fact, the death of Christ is the most beautiful and powerful lesson of life. Beyond the atrocities of the Passion, beyond the betrayal, beyond the cowardice, beyond the hypocrisy and beyond the weakness, a strong message emerges from the floods of human baseness: there are still hope and love in this world. But let the world understand this message well! The foundations of hope and love must be found in the Cross of Jesus, not in the world. The world? Christ told us in yesterday’s gospel; It has already been judged! Now is the judgment of the world: now shall the prince of this world be cast out.

What is this judgment? We know that at the end of time, there will be the last judgment, which will concede to each and every person his eternal reward or his eternal punishment according to his life. Saint Augustine calls it the judgment of condemnation. But now, what is the judgment Christ is talking about?
It is what Saint Augustine calls, a judgment of discernment. We hear about it very often, at least at every Mass we attend, but, perhaps, we do not take enough notice of it. It is the judgment mentioned in Psalm 42, from which the prayers at the foot of the altar are composed: Judica me Deus, et discerne causam meam de gente non sancta: ab homine iniquo, et doloso erue me. - Judge me, O God, and distinguish my cause from the nation that is not holy: deliver me from the unjust and deceitful man.
Thus, this judgment of discernment is the release of the faithful of Christ from the yoke of Satan. From the first day of original sin, Satan reigned in the hearts of men. But now, Christ retakes his possessions. This reconquest is won on the Cross, where Jesus offers Himself in Sacrifice, and it is renewed at every Mass, which is the same and unique Sacrifice of Jesus. At the beginning of each Mass, we ask God to judge us and to distinguish our cause from the impious people. So, it is a judgment of Faith. By their Faith, founded on Jesus Christ and consummated by His Passion and His Resurrection, the believers are freed from the slavery of Satan and united to Christ from Whom they receive life. Faith is really our Victory as Saint John claims it.

And the prince of this world shall be cast out! Saint Augustine explains that Satan loses the souls he held captive until the Passion of Christ. After the death and the Resurrection, many people have renounced Satan and turned to God. The Prince of this world is cast out from the souls of the believers regenerated by the waters of Baptism.
Thus, the Cross of Jesus is truly the place where the verdict is rendered. Justification and liberation for some; condemnation for others. This is the Cross we worship in a special manner beginning on Passion Sunday, the beginning of the Liturgical time of the Passion. The Hymn of Vespers during this time is Vexilla Regis, composed in the 6th century. It shows how Christ the King recovers His Kingdom: Abroad the regal banners fly; now shines the Cross's mystery: upon it Life did death endure, and yet by death did life procure. O Crux, spes unica - Hail Cross, of hopes the most sublime!

The Cross, dear brethren, is the throne from which Christ rules the world even though the world doesn’t recognize it. The Carthusian order’s motto proclaims the timelessness of the Cross: Stat Crux dum volvitur orbis – The Cross stands while the world is changing! It shows the permanence of the Faith and the fidelity of God who cannot change. Jesus Christ, yesterday, and today; and the same for ever as Saint Paul exclaims. Assuredly, the Word of God came into the world at a precise time in a precise place. It is also true that His sacrifice was made at one particular place in the world and on one particular day in the History of Humanity. But the sacrifice of the Cross transcends Time and Space. Remember that any Mass celebrated anywhere and at anytime is the very same Sacrifice. The teaching of Jesus cannot be limited, constrained, or relegated to any one particular set of thoughts and precepts that someone may hold in any given society with its own particular rules, customs and traditions.
For example, it is not rare to hear some feminists say that Jesus was dependant on the social rules of His time. This very brilliant assertion is supposed to explain why Jesus didn’t choose any women to be Apostles. Jesus was dependant on the social rules of his time! I guess our feminists didn’t read the gospel. He who publicly called the Scribes and the Pharisees generation of vipers and condemned their hypocrisy in very strong language, He who used to eat and speak with notorious sinners, He who stood face to face with the Priests and stated plainly that He is the Son of God would have been dependant on the social rules of his time? Well, that’s really a good joke!
This example indeed shows that we have to accept the message of Jesus just as it is and not try to adapt it to our own ideas. It is really amazing, and often funny, to read the so called explanations of the miracles of Jesus by the rationalists of the XIX century. The theories of a century swing back and forth. They are like our ideas, our resolutions, our projects and our feelings: very often progressive and evanescent and rarely stable. They are the works of the world.
Stat Crux dum volvitur orbis! The Cross is now permanent. It is the rock upon which we can confidently set the foundations of a stable life. It is a hard way. We have to renounce many things, and first ourselves, our ideas and theories, our intelligence and our will. This a sacrifice, but a useful sacrifice. Then the prince of this world will be cast out of our soul, and Jesus Christ our King can take possession of us. He has already done this the day of our Baptism. But that was just the first fruits. Now we have to live in the Spirit and offer ourselves to God each and every single day of our lives. Jesus has prepared the way for us. He is still showing us this way.

May Our Lady help us to leave this chaotic world of constant flux so that we may definitively find the stable and peaceful Kingdom of Her Son, which is a Kingdom established by the Cross.

O crux Ave, spes unica. There is still hope, because the Cross is still there.

Amen !

Do we desire the Eucharist?

Sermon for Passion Sunday

Saint Paul tells us: Christ, the High Priest entered once into the holy of holies and obtained eternal redemption by his own blood. In his blood, He set the seal on a new and eternal Covenant. Eternal means that this Covenant is not only in force in this present life, but will be forever in the eternity too. The temporal death of Jesus affects all of creation, and, in fact, gives birth to a new one. Heaven and Earth are now marked by this Sacrifice so profoundly that even the glorious body of Jesus, after his resurrection, retains the marks of the wounds of His Passion. The celestial Liturgy, in Heaven, as far as we know, will be the exalting of the Immolated Lamb in his glory. Our earthly Liturgy is an anticipation of this Liturgy. An anticipation is not yet the achievement.
We are invited to participate in the celestial banquet to celebrate the wedding of the Spouse. But now we are still on the way and we have to walk, following Jesus in his Passion and carrying our cross. The Liturgy, especially the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, makes us participate in an excellent manner in the Sacrifice of Jesus. And since the goal of our life is union with God through Our Lord Jesus Christ, mediator between God and men, the most excellent way to unite ourselves to God has to be found in Holy Communion.

The Council of Trent already expressed the desire of the Church to see the faithful receiving Communion at every Mass they attend. The text says: The sacred and holy Synod would fain indeed that, at each mass, the faithful who are present should communicate, not only in spiritual desire, but also by the sacramental participation of the Eucharist, that thereby a more abundant fruit might be derived to them from this most holy sacrifice.
Now, during the Lent season, when we are supposed to mortify our flesh according to the entire tradition of the Church, we can find in the Eucharist a very precious help. While we are making sacrifices and penances, we would be well advised to follow the recommendations of the Church regarding Holy Communion. The Roman Catechism points out the effects of the Eucharist. It says: It also restrains and represses the lusts of the flesh, for while it inflames the soul more ardently with the fire of charity, it of necessity extinguishes the ardor of concupiscence.
So, if it is good to fast during Lent, it may be profitable to receive Communion more frequently in order to find more strength for our Lenten exercises. Fast of terrestrial food for a more frequent reception of the celestial bread would be beneficial.
Christians who love Jesus feel the need to receive the Eucharist. But that presupposes a good preparation. On a practical level, frequent communion means frequent confession. In fact, one calls the other. The Church, as our Mother, wants to feed us with the spiritual food, which is the Eucharist, but on the other hand, She warns us that we must be well disposed to receive, and well aware of the dignity of this Sacrament. We shouldn’t approach the communion rail without a certain fear. But our fear shouldn’t divert us from receiving Our Lord. Confession, in particular, helps us in this way.
The sacrament of penance gives us the objective sanctity which allows us to receive Our Lord Jesus Christ under the veil of the Eucharistic species. A necessary condition for receiving Holy Communion is that one must be in the state of grace. Whoever feels unworthy to receive Jesus in his soul is right, but should also remember that Jesus, knowing that, has no other desire but to come into our souls to sanctify us. So we have to receive Our Lord with a great humility but also with a great confidence.
Then, it is true that this Sacrament, as every other Sacrament, is effective in itself by virtue of what we call in Latin ex opere operato. This means that the power of Our Lord Jesus Christ works through the Sacraments when the necessary conditions of validity are present. But a Sacrament is not magic. God wants us to collaborate with Him to our own sanctification, because He has created us rational beings. Sacraments are given to us to produce or increase the grace in our souls, and from Baptism to Extreme Unction, they are the divine instruments which give us life or keep us in life. The Most Holy Sacrament of the Altar, which is the culmination and center of the Christian religion according to Pius XII, should be the center and the culmination of our lives too.
And if it really and truly is the center of our lives , it will change our lives. Through this sacrament God will strengthen us so that we can resist temptations more easily. A life centered on Jesus Christ is not compatible with a life of sin and if you fall regularly into mortal sins, it is because Our Lord Jesus Christ is not yet the center of your life. Your Faith is not enough enlivened by your Charity, and in fact, if you are in state of sin, you have no Charity in your soul at all because sin and Charity exclude each other. Ultimately and simply, our religion is just a matter of love. And we have now during the liturgical time of the Passion a great opportunity to contemplate the purest and most beautiful act of love ever performed: the death of Jesus Christ on the Cross.
Dear brethren, let us well understand that Charity leads us to the Cross. Where there is no cross, there is no Charity. And the mystery of the Cross is made present today by the Sacrifice of the Mass. I have already asked you this question and I ask you again now: Do you come to Mass just to fulfill a commandment of the Church or because you truly love God? I think there is a major difference.
If you come for the first reason, I have to recognize that it is not very exciting. I can also understand why you are so late for Mass on a regular basis. I can understand why you make no effort to say the responses of the Mass or to sing in spite of the recommendations of the Church. I can understand why you go to the communion rail casually, your hands in your pockets, looking so bored. I can understand why you leave the church right after Mass without giving thanks to God. I can understand why you are immodestly dressed, preferring to show your body to men rather than your soul to God. But in your case, I don’t think that the Sacrament of the Eucharist can be very useful.
If you come for the second reason, because you love God and because you understand that the Holy Mass is the time and the place where you can be united to your Savior who offered Himself in sacrifice for your salvation, in this case, your communions will be your provisions for your journey toward Heaven. You look for the help of the Sacrament every day because you are tempted every day and because your flesh is still weak. Or maybe, you just want to have Jesus in your soul, which is probably the best reason for desiring your daily communion.

May Our Lady of Sorrows who knows the price of our Redemption, rekindle our Faith in the Sacrament of the Altar, so that, animated by the Hope of the future glory, we can receive Communion frequently with a sincere Charity and united ourselves to the Sacrifice of Jesus for the glory of God and the salvation of souls. We are going now to Calvary, but it is not our final destination. It is the necessary step before Heaven. The Eucharist will give us the strength to pesevere.

Sermon for the 4th Sunday in Lent

The joy of this Laetare Sunday is only really experienced by those who have made some efforts during this first half of Lent. They have had to force themselves to remain faithful to their Lenten resolutions and they still have to do so for twenty more days. They must continue to resist the attractions of the flesh and the spirit of the world. Lent is not an easy way for those who choose to take it. They declared war on themselves, desirous of taming their rebellious flesh, so that they can free their spirit. The true liberty of the spirit means to be freed from the passions of the flesh. But, many think the opposite: they believe that freedom is the physical ability to do what they want.

If my dog could speak, she would probably say the same thing, because she has no ability to reason. For a dog, liberty - if we can truly speak about liberty - would be to follow its instincts. In other words, for a dog, liberty would consist in satisfying its biological functions, which are the sustenance of the individual by eating and of the species by the reproduction.

Original sin has caused us to also live as animals, in that, we live solely, and driven by, our biological needs and urges. A French saying tells: Qui fait l'ange, fait la bête! - which means, whoever wants to act as an angel, in the end acts as an animal. Desiring to raise themselves to the rank of God by having the knowledge of good and evil, Adam and Eve fell and lost the supremacy of their reason. Now, every man on earth feels this internal tension that even Saint Paul had and called the law of sin. The great Apostle recognized that even he didn't do the good which he wanted and did the evil which he didn't want.
Spiritual persons suffer in this condition and want to be freed from the body. The carnal persons make the best of it and follow their instincts in order to enjoy life as much as they can. To speak bluntly, their life is essentially about food and sex, as it is for an animal: sustenance of the body and of the species, except that men have abused the proper use of these biological functions and diverted from their proper end, especially in regards to sexuality.

Dear brethren, we are all made with the same natural instincts and so we all have to struggle with the same temptations to greater or lesser degrees. We are all tempted by the flesh and the flesh is threatened by gluttony, laziness, lust, pride, anger, envy and covetousness; what we call the seven deadly sins. At first, they are just temptations, and I remind you that a temptation is not a sin because it doesn't involve your will. A sin is a personal act of a human person. That means an act which involves your intelligence and your will. A temptation is an inclination towards the flesh - when I use the term flesh, I use it the in the manner of Saint Paul. In this way, it does not, necessarily, mean the physical body, but rather something that leads to sin such as a sin of pride.

So, we are all tempted. But there are some Christians who take their spiritual life seriously and act upon the knowledge that the grace of God is more important than the satisfaction of natural instincts. When faced with a temptation, they use the means and the weapons given by God in order to conquer it. This attitude presupposes a regular life of prayer and of mortification. Recall the epistle of Septuagesima Sunday. A sportsman has to train for the victory. How can you resist the temptation of gluttony if you don't fast on occasion? How can you resist the temptation of impurity if you never mortify your senses? How can you resist the temptation of pride if you never accept the humiliations of the life?

Others Christians don't really care about their spiritual life. They think that a sin is not very serious, and that they can just go to confession later. They seem to forget that confession removes the guilt, but not all the consequences of sins. They still must make reparation, and not only in the case of a sin against justice. If they don't make reparation now, they will make reparation in purgatory, that is, if they die without a mortal sin on their souls. But for these people, dying with a mortal sin on their souls is a real possibility and danger because since they don't mortify their flesh and don't strengthen their will, they will fall at the first temptation.

Dear Brethren, if you belong to the first category of Christians, those who use well the time of Lent for the good of their souls, you can really enjoy this Sunday, knowing that your efforts are not vain. You are working for the salvation of your souls, with the help of grace, and I can only encourage you to continue.
If you belong to the other category, may God have mercy on you. You have to choose between God and the world. There is no compromise possible. I can only tell you that you should change your life and start to follow Jesus Christ. You have nothing to loose except your temporal interests. But what do you prefer?

May Our Lady help us to continue our Lenten efforts so that we can enjoy the Solemnity of Easter to the fullest by contemplating Our Lord in His glory. But now, we are still on the way of the Cross, which is the way of life and truth.

The Liturgical Stakes

The following text is the first speech I gave Monday March 20th in Naples, Florida for a group of Una Voce.

The liturgical stakes

Introduction – Historical overview

The liturgical question is at the core of the current crisis in the Church. The XX century was the century of the liturgical movement. Paradoxically, it was also the century that brought a great many errors and abuses in liturgical matters. But let us not limit this liturgical problem to the only XX century. The History of the Church shows us that this is not the first liturgical crisis we have struggled through. The Church and the faithful didn’t wait for the XX century to take an interest in liturgy. As a matter of fact, the entire History of the Church, back to the very beginning is marked by liturgical questions. And this is perfectly understandable since liturgy is the expression of the faith of the Church and it involves men, who, by our very nature are imperfect.

With the help of Dom Gueranger, I am going to give you a quick overview of the liturgical errors of the past. I will preface by telling you that I am going to speak only about the Roman liturgy, even though the study and the history of other liturgies is very interested. Unfortunately we don’t have time to consider them. In addition to our time limits, I am not the best one to speak on the topic of the liturgies of other rites, since they are not my 'specialty' like the Roman Rite is.

· Early Church to Middle Ages

In the earliest years of the Church, heretics attacked the liturgy, in order to change the Faith. Paul of Samosata, Arius and then the Donatists changed the liturgy of the Church in order to teach their own doctrine. They composed their own hymns and even their own psalms in order to corrupt the Faith by their false prayers as Dom Gueranger says.
Then we have a period of few centuries during which the Liturgy further develops. It is not my purpose to speak about that today, but let us say that the Roman liturgy and the Gallican liturgy merged together into one with a pre-eminence of the Roman liturgy. The unification of the Empire under the reign of Charlemagne helped a lot. The Roman liturgy finally became predominant throughout all Europe.
The XIV and XV centuries knew a certain adulteration, especially in the area of chant. Novelties in the way of singing appeared and Pope John XXII had to intervene with his bull “Docta Sanctorum” in 1322.

· Renaissance

Then came the Humanist period, which provoked some unfortunate attempts at reform. The idea was that the ecclesiastical Latin was too rudimentary. The pontifical court was then full of poets and writers for whom the goal was to reform the Latin and they started to compose again all the hymns for the liturgical year. Pope Leo X himself ordered the composition of a new hymnal. The hymnal of Ferreri – Bishop Zacharie Ferreri was the artisan of this hymnal – was finally approved by a Brief of Pope Clement VII in 1525. According to this Brief, every cleric could choose the prayers he wanted for the Divine Office. Ten years later a new breviary was also approved. It is known as the Breviary of Quignonez, from the name of its composer Francois Cardinal Quignonez. Cardinal Quignonez had the reputation of being a man of great piety and a sincere love for the liturgy. The intention was good: it was to renew the devotion of the clerics. Nevertheless the effects were disastrous, since they were made at the expense of Tradition.
If we take stock of this reform made under the authority of these three Popes – Leo X, Clement VII and Paul III – we can only say that is was a disaster – the word is from Dom Gueranger for whom Romanita cannot be suspected. It must be acknowledged that the University of Paris has censored this Breviary promulgated by the highest authority of the Church
The commentary of Dom Gueranger is pretty interesting. The character of the influence The Holy See exercised on the publication of this Breviary of Quignonez contradicts all that we can see in all the centuries before or after. (That was written in the XIX century!) Rome seems to desire that we use this form of Office but on other hand seems to timid to make it law. We feel as though we are in a state of transition that will last until a Pontiff – Saint Pius V – chosen by God to succeed Leo, Gelasius or Gregory comes and reforms in a saintly way the Divine worship as the Church speaks.
This reform was about the Breviary and didn’t concern the Holy Mass. But the Divine office is still a part of the Liturgy of the Church and what happened in the XVI century can help us deal with the actual liturgical wreck. Dom Gueranger gives us some considerations we can apply, mutatis mutandis, to the actual situation.
- In order first to last, the reform of the liturgy must be done by pious persons and not by erudite persons.
- In a reform of the liturgy, we must beware of novelties.
- Shortening the liturgy is not reforming it!

· The Reformation

The Protestant heresy had much impact on the Liturgy. The idea of Luther was to free man from the servitude of thought regarding the teaching power of the Church and from the servitude of the body regarding the liturgical power.
Dom Gueranger gives the principles of what he calls the “ anti-liturgical heresy.”
- Hatred of the Tradition in the expressions of the Divine worship.
- Replacing the ecclesiastical style words with readings from the Bible. The purpose is to delete what is born from Tradition and to promote the Protestant doctrine with a judicious choice of texts from the Bible. All heresies have their origin in Scriptures, but not on Scripture as a whole, only on carefully chosen passages which support their particular ideas. By the way, the meaning of the word “heresy” in Greek is “choice”.
- The fabrication and introduction into the liturgy of different words in order to spread their doctrine.
- Removing all the words that express the mysteries of the Faith. For examples, they prefer to speak about a table rather than an altar, or about the Lord’s Supper rather than the sacrifice.
- The use of the vernacular for the liturgy. Dom Gueranger says about that: The hatred of the Latin language is in the heart of all the enemies of Rome. They consider it as the good of the Catholics in the whole world, the arsenal of orthodoxy against the subtleties of the sectarian spirit.
- The hatred of the papacy, which is the foundation stone of the entire edifice that is the Church.
- The destruction of priesthood.

· The answer of the Church - a true Catholic Reform: The Council of Trent – Saint Pius V

At the 25th Session of the Council of Trent, it had been decided to entrust the Pope with the reform of the Liturgy. Pius IV began a reform of the breviary but he died and his successor, Pius V continued. The breviary of Quignonez was abolished and replaced by the Roman Breviary.
Then the Roman Missal was restored in 1570. All the dioceses had to embrace this missal except those who had a missal more than 200 years old. Almost all the dioceses of Europe accepted the Missal and the Breviary of Saint Pius V except Milan in Italy and Lyon in France, which had their own antique liturgies.
Then the occidental Church knew many decades of liturgical unity. The reform continued with the publication of the Martyrology, the Pontificale and the Rituale.

· The liturgical deviation in France ( XVII – XVIII )

It sometimes happens that the eldest daughter of the Church is also rebellious daughter. Two important trends would have a great impact on the Church in France until the XX century, these are Jansenism and Gallicanism. These trends had consequences in liturgical matter.
In 1660 Joseph de Voisin, Doctor of the University of Sorbonne published a translation in French of the Roman Missal. The Assembly of the clergy of France immediately condemned this translation. Pope Alexander VII approved this condemnation. In his Brief, He condemned those who have the impudence to translate the Roman Missal, written in the Latin language, into the French language. For the Pope this is a deterioration of the most sacred rites, which debases the majesty that the Latin language gives to them. It is a mark of the hatred of mystery. Finally the Pope prohibited the printing and the reading of the Missal in French under a sentence of excommunication.
That seems to be excessive, especially today since we have now many translations of the Missal in vernacular languages. In the XIX century, when Dom Gueranger wrote his book, there were already many translations available. And Dom Gueranger explains that it is now possible but a translation has to be accompanied by some commentary approved by the Church. Giving the translated text to the faithful without any explanations of the mysteries of the Faith would open the door to numerous and faulty personal explanations.

Then the liturgical attacks came. First was the Rituale of Alet in 1667 whose Jansenist influence was great. The Breviary of Vienne in 1678 and the Breviary of Harlay in 1680 brought more novelties. This Breviary marked the reversal of the work of Charlemagne and the Popes. This Breviary, for the use of the diocese of Paris, created a new Office which had nothing to do with the Roman Breviary. After the Breviary, Harlay, who was archbishop of Paris, published his own missal. The principle was to use only texts from the Bible that was the idea Luther had. Nevertheless, the Missal of the diocese of Paris, in spite of unfortunate changes, was still the Roman Missal.
The Abbey of Cluny went further by exchanging its old breviary for a new one. Once again the idea was to use only the words from the Scriptures. Yet some new compositions by writers of this century appeared anyway, contradicting the purpose the innovators of this breviary had claimed to be their reasoning for the changes. They even changed the liturgical calendar. The admitted goal was to diminish the cult of the Saints, especially the cult of Our Lady.
You will not be surprised to learn that among the members of the committees for the redaction of the breviary of Paris and the breviary of Cluny, were some notorious Jansenists. They attacked the true Faith through the Liturgy.

The attacks were more virulent in the XVIII century. The recitation of the Canon of the Mass in a loud voice appeared as a trend. As Dom Gueranger points out, this was: the seeds of a revolution. Indeed, if we read the Canon in a loud voice, people would ask to read it in the vernacular language. And then, people could become judges in the teaching of the Faith, which is exactly what we see today in so many places. And once again, that had already been the strategy of Luther and Calvin.
The Council of Trent had already condemned this audacity during the 22nd session. Listen to the 9th canon: CANON IX.--If anyone says, that the rite of the Roman Church, according to which a part of the canon and the words of consecration are pronounced in a low tone, is to be condemned; or, that the mass ought to be celebrated in the vulgar tongue only; let him be anathema.
But this didn’t prevent the abuses of the innovators. Thus a new Missal was printed for the diocese of Meaux – the diocese of the famous Bossuet, just few years earlier! Regardless of the integrity of the Liturgy, they introduced novelties in the rubric of the Missal, such some responses preceded by the a big letter R in red to indicate that the congregation has to make the responses just after the words of the consecration and the words of the communion. Thanks be to God, the Bishop of Meaux, who was the successor of Bossuet, did not approve this missal and prohibited it under the sentence of suspension.
But in spite of the orthodoxy of many good bishops and priests – as Father Le Brun, for example, who wrote a very good book about the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass – the novelties increased throughout the entire country.
The Missal of Troye was published in 1736. Its rubrics dictates that the Canon has not to be said “ submissa voce ” – in a low voice – but “ submissiora voce ” – in a lower voice! The Troyen Missal also dictates that a priest who says a solemn Mass does not have to say the prayers and readings sung by the choir or said by other ministers. The altar crucifix and the candles are no longer mandatory. The second Confiteor before the communion was removed. Many texts born from Tradition throughout the centuries were replaced by texts from the Scriptures. A good Bishop, Jean-Joseph Languet de Gergy, archbishop of Sens denounced this Missal for being full of Calvinist conceptions.
The rabid trend of secularization and naturalization of the Liturgy did not abate. The symbolism and mysticism of the rites was attacked. In the name of reason – this was the “Century of Lights” – when it seemed necessary to find an explanation for all, even for the mysteries of the Faith. In accordance with this, they claimed that people needed to understand all the ceremonies of the Liturgy. Hence a simplification of the rites.

The parish of Asnières, a town near Paris, embodied perfectly the goals of the innovators. The pastor at Asnières was Father Jacques Jubé, a zealous Jansenist. Now, let me describe how the liturgy of this parish was – and I remind you this liturgy I am about to describe was a liturgy in the XVIII century.
There was only one altar in the church, called “Sunday altar” because Mass took place only on Sunday and feast days. When there was no Mass, this altar was totally stripped, as every altar has to be on Good Friday. For Mass, they just put one altar cloth and nothing else: no crucifix, no candle. The only crucifix in the sanctuary was the crucifix of procession that preceded the priest as he ascended the altar. After the beginning prayers of the Mass, he went to sit on a seat on the epistle side from where he started the Gloria and the Credo without reciting them in full, nor were the pieces sung by the choir. During the offertory, there was a procession and bread and wine were offered to the priest. Dom Gueranger says this custom was not reprehensible in itself since it was usual in France in many dioceses at this time, and came from an old tradition. The problem was that in the church of Father Jubé, they added fruits and vegetables which they placed on the altar along with the bread and wine to be consecrated. Then the chalice was brought to the altar without a veil. The priest and the deacon said the prayers of the offering of the chalice in a loud voice to signify that they offered it in the name of the congregation. The Canon was in a loud voice also. And there were no specific prayers before communion.
Are you not familiar with this liturgy? I would say, yes, except for one thing. It was still all in Latin. But as you see, our innovators of today have not come up with anything new. They have simply copied the liturgy of the Jansenists from the XVIII century.
We now look at the Missal of Vintimille, published by the Archbishop of Paris, Charles-Gaspard de Ventimille in 1738. In addition to all previous changes made to the Roman Missal, there was now a complete modification of the parts of the Proper in this new Missal of Ventimille. The intention of Archbishop Vintimille was to arouse piety, to make the chant easier to sing and to renew the Faith, Hope and Charity of the people. But as Dom Gueranger continuous to point out, this was also the goal of Popes Saint Gregory and Saint Pius V and there was no need to change what the Church had established. In order to infuse a new richness in the Liturgy, the doctors of the Sorbonne composed new Prefaces, instead of using the traditional Prefaces available in the old Sacramentaries. At the height of these innovations one of the authors was expulsed from the University of Sorbonne as a heretic. Once again, the consequences were disastrous. By the second half of the XVIII century, three quarters of the French dioceses have abandoned the Roman Liturgy. The French Revolution with its Civil Constitution of the Clergy, which created a schismatic Church, would soon foment further confusion.

· The Synod of Pistoia (Italy 1786)

Scipion de Ricci, Bishop of Pistoia, wanted to introduce to Italy the ideas of his friends from France. With the approbation of the Grand Duke of Tuscany, he convoked a “Diocesan Council” as he called it. Here are some of the reforms they tried to impose:
- They wanted to rid the churches of much of their precious and exquisite decorations.
- Reforming religious orders. They shouldn’t have churches open to the congregations. Their Divine Office would be diminished and they would be permitted to have only one or two Masses a day in their churches. The other priests would have to concelebrate.
- Suppressing processions in honor of Our Lady or the Saints.
- Removing pictures of the Sacred heart and any other pictures that express a “false dogma”
- Only one altar in every churches, which should be without relics or flowers
- Use of the vernacular language in a loud voice
- There would be exposition of the Most Holy Sacrament only once a year for the feast of Corpus Christi. A blessing with the ciborium could be given every Sunday.
- They advised against the Station of the Cross


Fortunately, this Synod was condemned by Pope Pius VI with his famous Bull Auctorem Fidei in 1794.

· First efforts of restoration in the XIX

The coming of Pope Pius VII to France for the coronation of Napoleon proved that the love for the true liturgy was not dead in France. The Pope remained four months in the country and everywhere he went, the churches were full and thousands of faithful tried to receive communion from his hand. The spectacle of these crowds singing the Credo in unison with the Pope was a sign of the beginning of the restoration of the Roman Liturgy in France.

This restoration would be done time after time in the dioceses of the country. The restoration of the Benedictine Order by Dom Gueranger in Solesmes would have an important role.

*
* *

Let us now draw some conclusions from this historical overview. First I would say that the Novus Ordo is not, as its name says, new at all. It is rather the outcome – or should I say the triumph? – of the assault by what Dom Gueranger calls “anti liturgical sect.” It appears that Bugnini is not an innovator, but rather a copier of the Jansenists of the XVIII century. But there is a major difference, and herein lies the problem.
In the past all the so-called reforms were made against the will of the Pope, or at least without his approbation. We can wonder about the silence of the Vatican regarding the liturgical experimentation in France in the XVII and XVIII centuries. But a silence from the highest authority doesn’t necessarily mean approbation. In fact, Rome had already spoken at Trent and then through the pen of Pius V. Rome spoke again through Pius VI who condemned the liturgical abuses proposed by the Synod of Pistoia.
But today, the Missal of Bugnini has been requested, approved and promulgated by the Pope, so that we don’t call it the Missal of Bugnini, but the Missal of Paul VI. The Vatican itself has tried to make everybody believe that this Missal is now the only missal for the Roman Church and that the Missal of Saint Pius V has been abolished. Yet, this is a lie.
Thanks be to God, after 30 years of resistance, the Vatican has had to acknowledge that this old and venerable Missal is still in effect, and further, that every priest of the Roman Rite may freely celebrate Mass according to this Missal of Saint Pius V without any specific permission. But this right has yet to be recognized everywhere. The Tridentine Mass still has many enemies everywhere within the Church, as is apparent right here in Naples Florida, even at this very Catholic University.

In fact there is a precedent in History with the Hymnal of Ferreri and the Breviary of Quignonez promulgated with the approbation of the Pope. And for this particular precedent I say, thanks be to God, because this precedent shows us that even with the authority of the Pope, a liturgical reform can be wrong. A good reform, indeed, is not a creation of something new, but a restoration of the Tradition when it happens to have been damaged in some way. And that is what distinguishes the true reformer Popes from the others. On one hand, we find some Popes as Saint Gregory the Great, Saint Gregory VII, Saint Pius V and Saint Pius X. On the other hand, we have Leo X, Clement VII, Paul III and Paul VI.
My intention is not to set these Popes in opposition or necessarily to say that some Popes are better than others, although it is a fact that the great reformers of the Liturgy have been canonized. Maybe it is a strong indication that a good reform can be done only holy persons rather than erudite persons as we have already said. But what is true – and this will be my conclusion for today – is that a good reform brings unity and harmony. We judge the tree by its fruits.

Islam... Religion of peace ??

London, heart of the old British Empire....

Watch the video!

http://www.nefafoundation.org/video/protest.wmv

Meditation of Lent

Giving up movies can be a good penance during Lent, nevertheless there is still one that can help us to enter into the great mystery of Love of Our Lord Jesus Christ. The meditation of the Passion of the Christ is a very fruitful exercice, recommended by all the Doctors and Saints of the Church.The beautiful movie of Mel Gibson is such a grace that can help us for that!

Watch the trailer: http://www.thepassionofthechrist.com/window/med.wmv

La soumission de la femme

Soyez mes imitateurs, comme je le suis moi-même du Christ.
Je vous loue, [mes frères], de ce que vous vous souvenez de moi à tous égards, et de ce que vous retenez mes instructions telles que je vous les ai données. Je veux cependant que vous sachiez que le chef de tout homme c'est le Christ, que le chef de la femme, c'est l'homme, et que le chef du Christ, c'est Dieu. Tout homme qui prie ou qui prophétise la tête couverte, déshonore sa tête. Toute femme qui prie ou qui prophétise la tête non voilée, déshonore sa tête : elle est comme celle qui est rasée. Si une femme ne se voile pas la tête, qu'elle se coupe aussi les cheveux. Or, s'il est honteux à une femme d'avoir les cheveux coupés ou la tête rasée, qu'elle se voile. L'homme ne doit pas se couvrir la tête, parce qu'il est l'image de la gloire de Dieu, tandis que la femme est la gloire de l'homme. En effet, l'homme n'a pas été tiré de la femme, mais la femme de l'homme; et l'homme n'a pas été créé pour la femme, mais la femme pour l'homme. C'est pourquoi la femme doit, à cause des anges, avoir sur la tête un signe de sujétion. Toutefois, ni la femme n'est sans l'homme, ni l'homme sans la femme, dans le Seigneur. Car, si la femme a été tirée de l'homme, l'homme aussi naît de la femme, et tout vient de Dieu. Jugez-en vous-mêmes : est-il bienséant qu'une femme prie Dieu sans être voilée? La nature elle-même ne nous enseigne-t-elle pas que c'est une honte à un homme de porter de longs cheveux, tandis que c'est une gloire pour la femme qu'une longue chevelure, parce que la chevelure lui a été donnée en guise de voile? Si quelqu'un se plaît à contester, nous n'avons pas cette habitude, non plus que les Eglises de Dieu. " ( 1 CO XI ; 1-16)

"Que les femmes soient soumises à leurs maris, comme au Seigneur; 23 car le mari est le chef de la femme, comme le Christ est le chef de l'Eglise, son corps, dont il est le Sauveur. Or, de même que l'Eglise est soumise au Christ, les femmes doivent être soumises à leurs maris en toutes choses.
Maris, aimez vos femmes, comme le Christ a aimé l'Eglise et s'est livré lui-même pour elle, afin de la sanctifier, après l'avoir purifiée dans l'eau baptismale, avec la parole, pour la faire paraître, devant lui, cette Eglise, glorieuse, sans tache, sans ride, ni rien de semblable, mais sainte et immaculée. C'est ainsi que les maris doivent aimer leurs femmes, comme leurs propres corps. Celui qui aime sa femme s'aime lui-même. Car jamais personne n'a haï sa propre chair; mais il la nourrit et l'entoure de soins, comme fait le Christ pour l'Eglise, parce que nous sommes membres de son corps, [formés " de sa propre chair et de ses os]. " " C'est pourquoi l'homme quittera son père et sa mère pour s'attacher à sa femme, et de deux ils deviendront une seule chair. " Ce mystère est grand; je veux dire, par rapport au Christ et à l'Eglise. Au reste, que chacun de vous, de la même manière, aime sa femme comme soi-même, et que la femme révère son mari. "

( Eph V ; 22 - 32 )

Qu'en est-il de la soumission de la femme à l'homme, souvent mal comprise, y compris parmi de nombreux croyants ? Avec l'aide des Docteurs de l'Eglise, nous allons tenter d'y répondre.

Saint Paul nous dit dans sa première épître aux Corinthiens que le Christ est le chef de l’homme, et l’homme le chef de la femme. Pour bien comprendre cette affirmation, il convient d’abord de la situer dans son contexte.
Nous sommes au début du chapitre 11ème. Saint Paul commence par demander que l’on soit ses imitateurs comme lui même l’est du Christ. Puis il félicite les Corinthiens pour avoir suivi son enseignement et conservé les traditions. Toutefois, il semble que ce ne soit pas le cas de tous. Déjà à l’époque il semblait y avoir des récalcitrants, ce n’est donc pas nouveau. Aussi après avoir loué les uns, il ajoute comme pour reprendre les autres : « Toutefois je veux que vous le sachiez, le chef de tout homme, c’est le Christ ; le chef de la femme, c’est l’homme. »
De quoi s’agit-il ? Saint Jean Chrysostome va nous aider à le comprendre. « Des femmes découvertes, la tête nue, priaient et prophétisaient. Les hommes laissaient pousser leur chevelure, comme étant versés dans la philosophie ; et ils se couvraient la tête en priant et en prophétisant. Ces deux pratiques étaient d’origine païenne. »
Saint jean Chrysostome explique ensuite que saint Paul s’était déjà exprimé a ce sujet, probablement oralement lors de son séjour a Corinthe. Mais tous n’ont pas suivi son enseignement à e sujet. Aussi y revient-il par écrit en expliquant la cause du précepte : le Christ est le chef de l’homme et l’homme, le chef de la femme.
Il convient ici de s’interroger sur le sens du mot chef. D’abord, comme le fait remarquer Saint Jean Chrysostome, le Christ aussi a un chef : c’est Dieu. Nous avons donc : Dieu est le chef du Christ ; Le Christ est le chef de l’homme ; l’homme est le chef de la femme. En ce qui concerne le Christ par rapport à son Père, il ne peut s’agir ici d’un rapport d’autorité ou de sujétion. Si tel avait été le cas, Saint Jean Chrysostome fait remarquer que
« Saint Paul n’aurait pas parlé de la femme, mais il aurait proposé comme exemple l’esclave et le maitre. Car si la femme nous est soumise, elle reste toujours femme, elle reste libre, elle reste notre égale en honneur. Et le fils aussi obéit à son Père, mais Il reste le Fils de Dieu, il reste Dieu. »
Maintenant, qu’en est-il de la sujétion de la femme à l’homme ? La cause en est dans « la séduction de la première femme » explique encore saint jean Chrysostome. En effet, elle ne fut pas assujettie à l’homme dès la création. Elle fut créée « os des os et chair de sa chair » comme dit Adam. Mais l’Ecriture n’exprime nulle idée de sujétion…. Jusqu’au verdict qui suit la faute en Genèse III,16 : « Tu dépendras de tom mari »
La soumission de la femme à l’homme est donc une conséquence du péché originel et est voulue par Dieu. Je dirais que si l’on à la Foi, cela ne se discute même pas. Et comprenons bien que cette soumission n’est pas une marque d’infériorité, car la femme demeure libre et égale en honneur à l’homme comme Saint Jean Chrysostome nous le rappelait plus haut. Saint Luc ne nous dit-il pas que Jésus était soumis à Joseph et Marie ? Qui irait imaginer qu’Il leur était inférieur ?
D’ailleurs saint Paul précise bien ensuite : « Ni l’homme n’est point sans la femme, ni la femme sans l’homme, en Notre Seigneur », ce qui marque bien la complémentarité des sexes, déjà exprimé au livre de la Genèse. Ceci aussi pour signifier aux Messieurs, que certes, s’ils sont bien le chef de la femme, ils n’en demeurent pas moins que sans la femme, il leurs manquerait quelqu’un. D’ailleurs Dieu a donné la femme à l’homme pour être son associée.

Et où cette association s’exprime t’elle le mieux, sinon dans le mariage ? Voilà pourquoi Saint Paul exige de l’épouse la soumission à son mari, de la même façon que l’Eglise est soumise au Christ. Or qui oserait parler d’une servitude servile de l’Eglise envers le Christ ? Elle est l’épouse pure et Immaculée qui engendre ses enfants et les nourrit par les Sacrements, devenant ainsi vecteur pour les âmes de la vie divine. Est-ce une honte ? Est-ce une infamie ? C’est au contraire une gloire dont nous pouvons légitimement être fiers. Et bien la soumission de la femme envers son mari n’est pas moins noble que la soumission de l’Eglise envers son Christ : elle en est au contraire une belle image.
Et à cette soumission est attaché un grave devoir pour l’homme : aimez vos femmes comme le Christ à aimé l’Eglise et s’est livré pour elle. Tous les maris comprennent-ils le sens de cette phrase ? Comprennent-ils qu’ils ont à ce sacrifier pour leur femme et que s’il le faut, ils doivent donner jusqu’à leur vie ? A y regarder de près, qui a le beau rôle ?
Voici le beau commentaire de Saint Jean Chrysostome :
« Maris, aimez vos femmes comme le Christ a aimé l'Eglise ». Vous avez entendu quelle complète soumission il prescrit : vous avez approuvé et admiré Paul comme un homme supérieur et spirituel, pour avoir resserré ainsi notre société. Ecoutez maintenant, hommes, ce qu'il exige de vous; il recourt encore au même exemple « Maris, aimez vos femmes comme le Christ a aimé l'Eglise ». Vous avez vu jusqu'où doit aller l'obéissance : écoutez maintenant jusqu'où doit aller la tendresse. Tu veux que ta femme t'obéisse, comme l'Eglise au Christ? Veille donc sur elle comme le Christ sur l'Eglise : Fallût-il donner ta vie pour elle, être déchiré mille fois, tout souffrir, tout endurer, ne recule devant rien : quand tu aurais fait tout cela, tu n'aurais encore rien fait de comparable à ce qu'a fait le Christ... Car avant de te dévouer pour ta femme, tu es uni à elle : tandis que le Christ s'est immolé pour ceux qui le haïssaient et l'avaient en aversion. Fais donc pour ta femme ce qu'il a fait pour ce peuple qui le haïssait, l'abhorrait, le méprisait, l'insultait ; sans menaces, sans injures, sans terreur , par l'unique instrument de son infinie sollicitude, il a amené son Eglise à ses pieds. De même, quand bien même ta femme ne te témoignerait que dédain, mépris, insolence, il ne tient qu'à toi de la ramener à tes pieds à force de bonté, d'amour, de tendresse. Car il n'y a pas d'attache plus forte, principalement entre homme et femme. Par la crainte on peut lier les mains à un serviteur, et encore ne tardera-t-il pas à s'échapper : mais la compagne de ta vie, la mère de tes enfants, la source de tout ton bonheur, ce n'est point par la crainte , par les menaces qu'il faut l'enchaîner , mais par l'amour et l'affection. Qu'est-ce qu'un ménage où la femme tremble devant le mari? Quelle joie y a-t-il pour l'époux, quand il vit avec son épouse comme avec une esclave, et non comme avec une femme libre? Quand bien même vous auriez souffert quelque chose pour elle, ne le lui reprochez pas : suivez en cela même l'exemple du Christ... »

A suivre....

Message de Careme du Saint Père

Texte intégral de la catéchèse de Benoît XVI sur le carême

ROME, Mercredi 1er mars 2006 (ZENIT.org) –

Voici le texte intégral de la catéchèse que Benoît XVI a prononcée en italien lors de l’audience générale de ce mercredi matin, toute consacrée au Mercredi des Cendres.

Chers frères et sœurs, Aujourd'hui, avec la liturgie du Mercredi des Cendres, commence l'itinéraire quadragésimal de quarante jours, qui nous conduira au Triduum pascal, mémoire de la passion, de la mort et de la résurrection du Seigneur, cœur du mystère de notre salut. Il s'agit d'un temps favorable, où l'Eglise invite les chrétiens à prendre une conscience plus vive de l'œuvre rédemptrice du Christ et à vivre plus profondément leur Baptême.

En effet, en cette période liturgique, le Peuple de Dieu, depuis les premiers temps, se nourrit avec abondance de la Parole de Dieu pour se renforcer dans la foi, en re-parcourant toute l'histoire de la création et de la rédemption. De par sa durée de quarante jours, le Carême possède une force évocatrice indéniable. Il entend en effet rappeler plusieurs des événements qui ont rythmé la vie et l'histoire de l'antique Israël, en nous en re-proposant également la valeur de paradigme: pensons, par exemple, aux quarante jours du déluge universel, qui débouchèrent sur le pacte de l'alliance scellée par Dieu avec Noé, et ainsi, avec l'humanité, et aux quarante jours passés par Moïse sur le Mont Sinaï, qui furent suivis par le don des tables de la Loi. La période quadragésimale veut surtout nous inviter à revivre avec Jésus les quarante jours qu'il passa dans le désert, en priant et en jeûnant, avant d'entreprendre sa mission publique. Nous aussi, nous entreprenons aujourd'hui un chemin de réflexion et de prière avec tous les chrétiens du monde, pour nous diriger spirituellement vers le Calvaire, en méditant sur les mystères centraux de la foi. Nous nous préparerons ainsi à faire l'expérience, après le mystère de la Croix, de la joie de la Pâque de résurrection.

On accomplit aujourd'hui, dans toutes les communautés paroissiales, un geste austère et symbolique: l'imposition des cendres. Ce rite est accompagné par deux formules riches de sens, qui constituent un appel pressant à se reconnaître pécheurs et à retourner à Dieu. La première formule dit : « Souviens-toi que tu es poussière, et que tu retourneras à la poussière » (cf. Gn 3, 19). Ces paroles, tirées du livre de la Genèse, évoquent la condition humaine placée sous le signe de la caducité et de la limite, et entendent nous pousser à placer toutes nos espérances uniquement en Dieu. La deuxième formule se réfère aux paroles prononcées par Jésus au début de son ministère itinérant : « Convertissez-vous et croyez à l’Evangile » (cf. Mc 1, 15). C'est une invitation à adhérer de manière ferme et confiante à l'Evangile comme fondement du renouveau personnel et communautaire. La vie du chrétien est une vie de foi, fondée sur la Parole de Dieu et nourrie par elle.

Dans les épreuves de la vie et face à chaque tentation, le secret de la victoire réside dans l'écoute de la Parole de vérité et dans le ferme refus du mensonge et du mal. Tel est le programme véritable et central du temps du Carême: écouter la Parole de vérité, vivre, parler et faire la vérité, refuser le mensonge qui empoisonne l'humanité et qui ouvre la porte à tous les maux. Il est donc urgent d'écouter à nouveau, au cours de ces quarante jours, l'Evangile, la Parole du Seigneur, parole de vérité, afin qu’en chaque chrétien, en chacun de nous, se renforce la conscience de la vérité donnée, qui nous est donnée, afin que nous en vivions et en devenions le témoin. Le Carême nous invite à laisser la Parole de Dieu pénétrer dans notre vie et à connaître ainsi la vérité fondamentale: qui sommes-nous, d'où venons-nous, où devons-nous aller, quel est le chemin à prendre dans la vie ? Et ainsi, le temps du Carême nous offre un parcours ascétique et liturgique qui, alors qu'il nous aide à ouvrir les yeux sur notre faiblesse, nous fait ouvrir notre cœur à l'amour miséricordieux du Christ.

En nous rapprochant de Dieu, le chemin quadragésimal nous permet de poser sur nos frères et leurs besoins un regard nouveau. Celui qui commence à voir Dieu, à regarder le visage du Christ, contemple également son frère avec un autre regard. Il découvre son frère, son bien, son mal, ses nécessités. C'est pourquoi le Carême, comme écoute de la vérité, est un moment favorable pour se convertir à l'amour, car la vérité profonde, la vérité de Dieu, est dans le même temps amour. En nous convertissant à la vérité de Dieu, nous devons nécessairement nous convertir à l'amour. Un amour qui sache adopter l'attitude de compassion et de miséricorde du Seigneur, comme j'ai voulu le rappeler dans le Message pour le Carême, qui a pour thème les paroles évangéliques: «Voyant les foules, Jésus eut pitié d'elles » (Mt 9, 36). Consciente de sa mission dans le monde, l'Eglise ne cesse de proclamer l'amour miséricordieux du Christ, qui continue à tourner son regard plein d'émotion vers les hommes et les peuples de tous les temps. « Face aux terribles défis de la pauvreté d'une si grande part de l'humanité — ai-je écrit dans le Message de Carême mentionné ci-dessus —, l'indifférence et le repli sur son propre égoïsme se situent dans une opposition intolérable avec le « regard du Christ ». La prière, le jeûne et l'aumône, que l'Eglise propose de manière spéciale dans le temps du Carême, sont des occasions propices pour se conformer à ce « regard »», au regard du Christ, et nous voir nous-mêmes, l'humanité et les autres, avec ce regard. Dans cet esprit, nous entrons dans le climat d'austérité et de prière du Carême, qui est véritablement un climat d'amour pour nos frères.

Que ce soient des jours de réflexion et d'intense prière, au cours desquels nous nous laissons guider par la Parole de Dieu, que la liturgie nous propose en abondance. En outre, que le Carême soit un temps de jeûne, de pénitence et de vigilance sur nous-mêmes, convaincus que la lutte contre le péché ne finit jamais, car la tentation est une réalité de chaque jour et la fragilité et l'illusion sont l'expérience de tous. Enfin, que le Carême soit, à travers l'aumône et les actions de bien à l'égard de nos frères, une occasion de partage sincère des dons reçus avec nos frères et d'attention aux besoins des plus pauvres et des laissés-pour-compte. Que Marie, la Mère du Rédempteur, modèle d'écoute et de fidèle adhésion à Dieu, nous accompagne dans cet itinéraire pénitentiel. Que la Très Sainte Vierge nous aide à arriver, purifiés et renouvelés dans notre cœur et notre esprit, à célébrer le grand mystère de la Pâque du Christ. Avec ces sentiments, je souhaite à tous un bon et fructueux Carême.

[Texte original : italien – Traduction réalisée par Zenit]

About Lent

Et cum ieiunasset quadraginta diebus et quadraginta noctibus postea esuriit. Et accedens temptator dixit ei : si Filius Dei es, dic ut lapides isti panes fiant!
Qui respondens, dixit : scriptum est :non in pane solo vivet homo sed in omni verbo quod procedit de ore Dei

( Matthew, chapter 4 )

Our annual exercises of penance begin today for 40 days. During the Septuagesima time the Church reminded us of the necessity to join in the work of Redemption of Our Lord by the spirit of penance. Now it is time to take actions and to do penance. A spirit of penance without any proper act of penance would be an illusion or a kind of hypocrisy.

So, what do we have to do?

First, we must obey the Church who reminds us of something that we are inclined to forget easily:

Can. 1249 The divine law binds all the Christian faithful to do penance each in his or her own way!

But as a good Mother and educator, She clarifies: In order for all to be united among themselves by some common observance of penance, however, penitential days are prescribed on which the Christian faithful devote themselves in a special way to prayer, perform works of piety and charity, and deny themselves by fulfilling their own obligations more faithfully and especially by observing fast and abstinence, according to the norm of the following canons.

We must do penance, but when?
Can. 1250 The penitential days and times in the universal Church are every Friday of the whole year and the season of Lent.
I would add, even if it is not any longer a canonical obligation, that it is also good to do penance during Ember days and vigil days for the faithful of the Traditional Latin Rite.

What kind of penance do we have to do?
Can. 1251 Abstinence from meat, or from some other food as determined by the Episcopal Conference, is to be observed on all Fridays, unless a solemnity should fall on a Friday. Abstinence and fasting are to be observed on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday.

Who is bound by the law of abstinence and fasting?
Can. 1252 The law of abstinence binds those who have completed their fourteenth year. The law of fasting binds those who have attained their majority (18 years), until the beginning of their sixtieth year.
But the canon immediately adds: Pastors of souls and parents are to ensure that even those who by reason of their age are not bound by the law of fasting and abstinence, are taught the true meaning of penance.
So it is important to teach children how much penance is important in their life.

Can we do more than the strict obligation of the Law?
Sure, and you are encouraged by the Church to do more. But you have to be prudent. To do only what the Church command would be a sign of a certain laziness or of a lack of interest for your spiritual life, and finally a lack of love for God. But to do too much would be imprudent or even a sign of pride. In fact, it is good to ask your spiritual director or your confessor for advice.

Here are some examples of penance you can do during Lent :
- Go to Mass more often. If you cannot, read your Missal every day. There is a proper Mass each day during Lent.
- Go to confession more often
- Take more time for the care of your soul ( spiritual reading, meditation, prayer )
- In order to find this time, it would be good to renounce certain activities, as theater, television, parties…
- Give up something ( alcohol, tobacco, sweets…) A certain temperance and moderation is to be observed.
- Make some efforts about charity: helpfulness, visit sick or old persons…

Remember that penance is not an end in itself but a means to be more united to God, especially to Our Lord Jesus Christ who suffered and died for us. Beyond the materiality of our works of penance, a true spirit of love for Jesus Christ and for the souls should animate our penances. Giving up something is a good way to turn to Someone… Someone who loves us and who waits for us. That’s why Lent is not necessarily a time of sadness:

But thou, when thou fastest anoint thy head, and wash thy face; That thou appear not to men to fast, but to thy Father who is in secret: and thy Father who seeth in secret, will repay thee (Mt 6, 17-18)

May God bless you during this Lent.

Father Laurent Demets, FSSP