Alleluia!

In the following passage from the Acts of the Apostles, Saint Peter explains the mystery of Christ's Resurrection, understanding David's Psalm 15 prophetically:

God raised him up, releasing him from the throes of death, because it was impossible for him to be held by it. 
For David says of him:

I keep Lord ever in my sight,
since he is at my right hand I shall stand firm.
And so my heart rejoices, my soul is glad;
even my body shall rest in safety,
for you will not leave my soul among the dead,
nor let your beloved know decay.
You will show me the path of life;
the fullness of  joy in your presence.

The Lord Jesus our Hope is risen from the dead. Ever confident in the Father's love, he trusted that he would "not let his beloved know decay." Thus Jesus has trampled down death by death. With him and in him, our hearts rejoice and our souls are glad, for in Christ wounded and risen we have found the path of life and the fullness of joy in God's presence forever. Alleluia!

The Risen Christ, Ambrogio de Stefano Borgognone, 1510.

Holy Saturday

We await Christ's rising in prayerful expectation.

Photograph of the paschal moon by Charles O'Connor.

The Patience of Jesus

Nothing animates us so much to love of enemies as grateful consideration of the Lord's admirable patience. By it, the fairest of all men offered his beautiful face to the ungodly to be spit upon. By it, he subjected to the veil of the iniquitous the eyes whose glance governs all creation. By it, he bared his back to scourges. By it, he bowed beneath the sharpness of thorns the head before which principalities and powers tremble. By it, he delivered himself up to insults and outrage. By it, finally, he patiently endured the cross, the nails, the lance, the gall, the vinegar, all that while remaining mild, meek and calm. Oh human pride, Oh proud impatience consider what he bore. Who is there whose wrath would not be cooled at this marvelous sight?

 Crucifix of Fra Innocenzo da Palermo, 1637, Assisi, San Damiano.
 Lines from the Cistercian Father, Aered of Rievaulx in The Mirror of Charity, III.5.

On Holy Thursday

"I will not serve," man says to his Creator. "Then I will serve you," his Creator says to man. "You sit down, I will minister, I will wash your feet. You rest; I will bear your weariness, your infirmities. Use me as you like in all your needs, not only as your slave but also as your beast of burden and as your property. If you are tired or burdened I will carry both you and your burden.

Marveling at the breadth of Christ's love for us revealed in His passion, our Cistercian Father, Guerric of Igny puts these words on Christ's lips. 

Will I allow Christ Jesus to wash my feet?

Lines from First Sermon for Palm Sunday by Guerric of Igny.
Photograph of the Holy Thursday Mandatum ceremony in the Abbey Chapterhouse.

Mocked

At the central axis of this rather modest panel painting by Hieronymus Bosch is the quiet  face of Christ Jesus. Bosch's depiction seems a visualization of these words of the prophet Isaiah:

Though he was harshly treated, he submitted
and opened not his mouth;
like a lamb led to the slaughter
or a sheep before the shearers,
he was silent and opened not his mouth.
Oppressed and condemned, he was taken away,
and who would have thought any more of his destiny?
When he was cut off from the land of the living,
and smitten for the sin of his people.

Veronica's elegant profile in the lower left quadrant is the second place of peace in this crowded composition. Legend says she bravely risked the scorn of crowd and soldiers to wipe Christ's blood and sweat stained face. 

Hieronymus Bosch, The Carrying of the Cross, 1515-1516,  oil on panel, 29" x 32", Ghent.

Reclining at Table

In this detail of a thirteenth century window from the Sainte Chapelle in Paris,  Jesus reclining at table with his disciples is deeply troubled and says, “Amen, amen, I say to you, one of you will betray me.” The disciples look at one another, wondering whom he means.

Judas receives a dipped morsel from Jesus and Scripture says,  "Satan entered him." And Jesus tells him, “What you are going to do, do quickly.”

When he departs, Jesus says, “Now is the Son of Man glorified, and God is glorified in him. If God is glorified in him, God will also glorify him in himself, and he will glorify him at once."

As Father William reminded us at this morning's Mass, Jesus' hour of glorification is the hour of his passion and death, for his divinity will be revealed most clearly in his abasement.

Let us follow, trusting that our transformation in Christ will be accomplished as we entrust our lowest selves to his mercy.

Above Every Name

As we follow Christ during these days, we monks will sing the following antiphon in Latin many times, as if the repetition were a reminder. 

Christ became obedient for us unto death,
even to the death, death on the cross.
Therefore God exalted Him and gave Him a name
which is above all names.

Jesus is the Name above every other name; we try to follow him in obedience and self-emptying love- relentless, ordinary and hidden.