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Palm Sunday - Jesus Commends His Disciples to His Holy Mother's Care

3/24/2024

Read St. John xix. 25-27.

1. Our Divine Saviour did not depart from those He loved without providing them with a Mother who should be their Consoler, their Protector, their Advocate with God. In the person of St. John, He entrusted them all to Mary's care. If He had simply been providing Mary with a home, He would first have addressed St. John and commended to him the pious task of sheltering the Mother of God. By speaking first to Mary, He showed that it was she who was to shelter all those who were desolate and in sorrow. St. John was the representative of all who love Jesus, when Jesus said to Mary respecting him, "Woman, behold thy son."

2. This was the occasion when Our Lady for a second time became a mother. The birth of her first-begotten Jesus cost her no pang of travail ; the birth of her spiritual children, the sinful sons of men, brought to her unspeakable anguish. The Queen of heaven became the Queen of Dolors before she could earn the right to exercise over each of us a mother's fostering care. How we ought to value the privilege of being her children, when it cost Mary such unspeakable suffering!

3. When Jesus said to Mary, "Woman, behold thy son," He asked Our Lady to regard us with a mother's love for His sake. Her love for Him was to be transferred to us, without, however, becoming one whit the less. She was to love us for Jesus' sake ; to show her love for Him by loving us. With what perfect confidence can we go to Mary, who sees in each of us, in spite of our sins, the image of her Divine Son!

Source: The Sacred Passion of Jesus Christ - Short Meditations for Everyday in Lent,
by Richard F. Clarke, S.J. Imprimatur 1889

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Palm Sunday - Perseverance

3/23/2024

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"Hosanna to the Son of David," is the joyful acclamation with which the Jews greeted our Lord to-day as He made His entrance into the royal city. But how quickly that has changed, for within a few days after the same people begin to cry out: "Crucify Him." Who would imagine such inconstancy possible? Sad to say, children, this occurs every day. Just think what have you done, for as often as you commit a mortal sin you have rejected Jesus and crucified Him anew. The glorious Hosanna which arose in your heart at the reception of Holy Communion was by your sinful deeds exchanged for the fearful "Away with Him, crucify Him." You have, indeed, done this, and not like the Jews through blindness, but with the full knowledge that Jesus is your Saviour. You have been shamefully inconstant to Him, who has never injured you, who loved you and died for you. Should not the greatest sorrow penetrate your hearts? Should you not with your whole heart renew your resolution to remain loyal to your Saviour.

A pious mother who had brought up her son with great care, seeing him about to leave her to enter the world, desired to give him a lesson. For two days she gave him nothing to eat but sweet food. At first the young man was pleased with it, thinking that his mother was very kind to him before leaving home. But when the evening of the first day had come, he asked her to give him some solid food. But she told him that he must be content.

The next day when he received the same kind of food, he became so disgusted with it that he could not even look at it, and he asked his mother to give him some plain bread. His mother said to him: "My dear child, I had a special object in placing before you all these dainty dishes. You are about to enter the world that is full of wickedness and ungodliness. It will put before your eyes many pleasing things— glory, honor, riches and pleasures. They simply dazzle the eye. They may be very pleasant for the moment, but they engender remorse. Do not allow yourself to be deceived by them. Yesterday I saw how you loved the sweets I placed before you. Today you are filled with disgust. So it is with those who allow themselves to be deceived by the world. Pleasures soon bring bitterness. Learn a lesson, as soon as you are tempted by these things, thrust them aside and be content with the plain food of the Christian—that is bearing patiently with all your crosses here on earth, that you may obtain an eternal reward in Heaven."
What will it avail us to begin in the grace of God if we do not persevere in it? Not the beginning, but the end of life decides our fate. Judas began well, but how did he end? On the other hand, St. Mary Magdalen and the good thief on the cross persevered in good, that is why they ended as elect children of God.

In a certain college there lived a boy by the name of Paul who was remarkable amongst all the other boys for his gentleness, his piety, and his good conduct; every one loved him. To look at him one would have thought that he had never committed any sin. But such was not the case. There had been a time when that boy, now so gentle, so mild and good, had been a slave to sin. The following is the story of his life and conversion; it was himself who told it to one of his masters: "I was once a good boy; so long as I was near my good mother, and until I was eleven years old, I did not know what mortal sin was. At that time it happened that one day when I was in the fields playing with my companion who was a little older than myself, he taught me to do what was a mortal sin. From that moment I became most unhappy; I could find no peace night nor day, because I knew that if I died in that state I should be sent to hell for all eternity.
"What made my state more awful still was this, that I also went and made two other innocent companions commit a grievous sin. When I came to this college I was quite as bad. I was perfectly miserable, and when I saw others who were so pious and so good I wondered if it. were possible that I could be like them.

"Some of my companions came and asked me to become a member of one of the sodalities of the children of Mary. I joined it just for appearance's sake. It was then for the first time I heard of that little prayer: “O my Queen and my Mother, protect me, help me, for I am thine.' I began to say it every day, and it was not long before I went to confession. I made a good confession; and oh, how happy I felt then.

"But I began to think of the terrible things I did in making the two children commit sin, so I am going to become a brother of that religious community which has specially for its object the pious education of the young, that I may be the means of saving more souls than I may have caused to be lost.

"Temptations often come back to me; but when they come I immediately remember the little aspiration: 'O my Queen and my Mother.' I at once say it, and then the temptation soon goes away."

Take away perseverance and what remains ? All else is vain and useless ; to no purpose all your good works and piety, mortification and mercy, to no purpose so many sufferings endured. Perseverance is the crown of all good, for without it we cannot obtain that which alone is good and desirable. Perseverance is the narrow way through which we must force ourselves at any cost. Perseverance is the pearl of all graces, since those who have obtained it now dwell in the land of peace and happiness.

There was once a rich count called Otho, who had a daughter whom he loved with great affection. One day the child was amusing herself with some beads of glass, with which she seemed to be much pleased. Her father was sitting by the fire watching her. My child," he said, "these are pretty beads you are playing with." Yes, papa, they are very beautiful, and I am delighted with them." Well, then," said the father, "take them up and throw them all into the fire." The child looked up into her father's face to see if he was in earnest. One glance told her he was. "Well, dear child, you may do as you please, but you know that when I ask you to do something, it is always because I, who love you so tenderly, see that it will be best for you." The girl at these words gathered up the beads and threw them into the fire. Her father said nothing, but he seemed much pleased at the ready obedience of his dear little girl.

"Now, my child, you will soon see how your father can reward you for that heroic sacrifice you made to please him. He then drew forth from a little draw a little casket and drew out a beautiful necklace, made of glittering diamonds. "This, my child, is for you. I wanted to see if you loved me more than yourself. Take this then, my dearest little one, and when you wear it, it will remind you that your Father in Heaven will reward you with a reward surpassing all understanding in the world to come, if you obey Him in this life, and sacrifice everything rather than displease Him by breaking His commandments."

The saints have persevered unto the end and what they have done we also with a good will can accomplish. Children, we must faithfully cooperate with the graces which our Lord will abundantly grant us for our salvation. We must fight the good fight, scrupulously avoid the dangers and occasions of sin, be diligent in prayer, in the reception of the sacraments and mindful of our last end.

Source: Story Sermonettes for the Children's Mass, Imprimatur 1921

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Palm Sunday - The Cenacle

4/14/2019

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PALM SUNDAY opens the great week, or, as it is called by excellence, the Holy Week. It is so . . . called because it is in this week the grandest mysteries of our holy religion are accomplished. You cannot better enter into the spirit of the Church than by meditating each day on one of the circumstances of the Passion of our blessed Lord. Today let us enter the cenacle and consider the different circumstances associated with the institution of the most lovable and the most august of all the sacraments.

The first circumstance which presents itself to your meditations is the strange command which Jesus gives to His apostles, viz., to prepare a room which shall be at once large and beautifully appointed. In fact, it is a strange command, since it is the first time that the divine Master shows that He is particular in the choice of a place which He shall honor by His presence. For a palace, He chose a stable; for a cradle, He selected a manger; for a refuge of His infancy, He is content with the house of a poor artisan; to offer His last sacrifice, a wooden cross sufficed. It is only now that He does not wish to appear poor. He wishes to surround His Eucharistic body with honors; and why? These surroundings are intended more for us than for Him. He wishes to give us a lesson. He teaches us that we cannot surround the Blessed Eucharist with too much respect or magnificence. He justifies His Church from the reproach of too much pomp, which unthinking men would make against her, and who would wish to see her offer the holy sacrifice under a roof of straw and in vessels of wood and potter's clay, while they themselves walk on richest tapestry and eat and drink from gold and silver vessels. Ah, if gold and silver were ever legitimately employed, it is certainly when there is question of erecting a throne to the God of the Eucharist and to heighten the splendor of its festivals.

This has been the mind and conduct of all thesaints, and of all who have with David loved the "beauty of God's house." They have all considered it a duty and a joy to contribute to the ornamentation of the place which He has chosen to make His dwelling among men. St. Cajetan wished that the churches and the altars should be decorated with all possible splendor, and, in spite of his love for poverty, he sought for the richest ornaments, saying that nothing was too precious for the Lord of the world. Are these your sentiments? By this command Jesus warns us specially concerning the interior dispositions which we should bring to the reception of the Holy Eucharist. He asks that the room in which the institution of the Blessed Eucharist takes place should be grand and vast and spacious. But that which constitutes the grandeur of the heart are the exalted sentiments and a complete detachment from earthly things.

Our souls ascend or descend with the objects which preoccupy them. If the soul habitually loves and seeks after what is beneath her, the weight of these things compel her to descend. There is nothing so little or contracted as a soul whose intelligence revolves habitually in the narrow circle of purely material interests. The ideas are narrow, the tastes are low, and the mind is frivolous; grand and serious thoughts are too heavy for such a soul to carry. Do you wish to possess a grand and noble heart? Then banish from it every earthly affection. Jesus can be but ill at ease in a heart which is also occupied by creatures. The throne of your heart is by far too beautiful to allow some earthly idol to possess it; He only is worthy to occupy it who has formed it by His own hands, and then can enrich it by His grace from the treasury of His virtues.

When approaching the holy table, offer to your King, Jesus, a heart void of all earthly affection or whatever is purely human. If you would possess a truly great heart, let it be filled with a holy confidence. Confidence dilates the soul, unfolds all her faculties, and opens them to receive the dews of heavenly grace. It is precisely to facilitate this unfolding of the soul when approaching the holy table, that Jesus veils there His majesty under the Eucharistic species, and invites us in words that are full of tenderness : " Come, My well beloved, and eat the bread which I have prepared for you, and drink also of the wine; be inebriated by the delights of My table. Oh, with what ardor I have desired to eat of this Pasch with you!" How then can you be wanting in confidence when Jesus calls you to Him with so much goodness? Not only does Jesus wish a room vast and spacious, but also beautifully adorned. If your soul should be a dwelling-place worthy of God, she should be adorned with many virtues. This is a necessary condition for a worthy and fervent communion. And you know what these virtues should be: you should possess a lively faith, which shall present to you Jesus, true God and true man, under the sacred veils which hide Him from your corporal eyes—even as He was in the crib, when He received the adorations of the shepherds and the wise men; and even as He is in heaven, where He offers to His Father for you the wounds of His sacred humanity, the scars of which are still evident.

While approaching the holy table, let your soul be filled with an ardent charity. The Eucharist is by excellence the sacrament of love. Love begets love. When Jesus opens His heart for you with unspeakable tenderness, should you close yours to Him? What to Him are your protestations, your words of devotion, your sterile assurances? It is your heart that He desires, and it is your love He yearns for. He says to you, with an incomparable sweetness: " My son, give Me thy heart." I ask it of thee, not as the world asks it, to fill it with trouble, agitation, and often remorse; but I ask it that I may bless it, purify it, and enrich it with My graces. "My son, give Me thy heart." What an enemy you shall be to yourself if you refuse to give it!

To a lively faith and an ardent charity add a profound humility. Alas, who are you to merit the distinguished honor which awaits you at the holy table? Moses, while thinking that he was only"dust and ashes," was astonished that God should hear him; St. Elizabeth, on seeing the Blessed Virgin, who had come to visit her, exclaimed: "Whence is this to me, that the Mother of my God should come to me?" The centurion acknowledged he was unworthy to receive Jesus in his house. But it is in your heart that Jesus is going to descend; He is about to unite Himself to you, and you to Him. Even were you an angel, you could not sufficiently merit such a favor. But oh! how far you are from being an angel!

These preparatory dispositions for communion are indicated to us by a circumstance in which Jesus gives us at once the example and the precepts. Before the mysterious repast at which the Blessed Eucharist was instituted, He put aside His garments, and, after having girded Himself as the servants
do, He washed the feet of His apostles. What a lesson for us who are so jealous of our rank and dignity, so particular concerning precedence, and so desirous of honor ! The God of heaven and earth is on His knees before His apostles, washing their feet with those hands which can hurl the thunders, heal the sick, and lavish blessings. And Peter, at the sight of his Master's conduct, is seized with a holy indignation. "What ! Lord, Thou wash my feet! I shall never permit Thee." Peter fully realized the dignity of his Master, says Bossuet, and he only wished to hinder Him because of the lowliness of the ministry which He performed; he did not understand that this was, for him, an indispensable preparation for the Holy Eucharist, and that he could not participate in it unless his body and his feet also were purified ; that is to say, that the least stains, as well as the greatest faults, must be wiped away. But scarcely has Jesus declared to him that without this preparation he should have no part in His kingdom, than he exclaimed with greatest fervor: "Ah, Lord, wash not only my feet, but my hands and my head. Purify me wholly."

From this let us learn with what purity we should approach the holy table. After having effaced our grievous faults, do not neglect those which are venial. You have been purified in the sacred waters of penance, but we have something yet to do. Besides those sins which kill the soul, there are others which disfigure it, and these also must be effaced. Then, before approaching the holy table, repeat with St. Peter: "Lord, my God, wash me, my feet, my head, my hands, that nothing in me shall be displeasing to Thy eyes, that I may be pure and without stain, to receive Thee into my heart, God of purity!"

Source: Short Instructions on the Feasts of the Year, Imprimatur 1897

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Holy Week - Its Meaning and Practice

4/9/2017

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The following is taken from: The Ecclesiastical Year for Catholic Schools and Institutions, Imprimatur 1903
HOLY WEEK
1. The last week of Lent in which sympathy with our suffering Lord, and a penitential spirit should reach its highest degree is called Holy Week, because in this week the Passion and death of our Lord is presented to us.

2. Until the seventh century, during the entire Holy Week, the faithful abstained from all servile work and lived a life of penance; later, the faithful attended Mass every day, practiced severe works of penance and celebrated the last three days as Sunday. They also endeavored to obliterate past evils, prisoners were liberated; enemies were reconciled; penitents were forgiven, and debts were paid.

3. The Christian should endeavor in this week to be recollected in spirit, to meditate on the Passion of Christ, and to do penance for his sins. He should increase his love for God and his neighbor and fervently participate in the Divine Services of Holy Week.

4. On Palm Sunday, also on Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday of Holy Week the Passion of our Lord is read or sung, each time from a different Evangelist. This custom is found in the earliest Christian times; it is to remind us that we should have the Passion of Christ as much as possible before our eyes during Holy Week.

As soon 'as the priest at the reading of the Passion comes to the place where the death of Christ is mentioned he, with all the servers at the altar, kneels down, in order, thereby, to express the mourning of the Church,—at the same time, also, to offer to God, in the name of the people, the worship due him, and to express their gratitude for the redemption of mankind by the death of our Lord Jesus Christ,

5. During the last three days of Holy Week, in some Churches where there are more priests, the Office of Matins and Lauds, or of the so-called Tenebrae is solemnly recited, the evening before, accompanied by the singing of the Lamentations of Jeremiah, bewailing the destruction of Jerusalem.

When the Lamentations are sung fifteen candles in the form of a triangle are lit,—the one at the top being white, the others yellow. At the end of each psalm a candle is extinguished, and, finally, those which are upon the altar, only the white one at the point of the triangle being left; at last it is carried behind the altar. At the close the wooden clappers are used and the burning candle is brought back again and placed on the altar. The significance of this ceremony is as follows:

(1) The gradual extinction of the candles is to remind us of the Prophets, who gave testimony of Christ, for which they were persecuted and put to death; it reminds us also of the Apostles and Disciples who hid themselves during His Passion.

(2) The fourteen unbleached wax candles tell us of His human nature; the one of white bleached wax, on the top, signifies His divine nature. All the unbleached candles are extinguished to show that His human nature died. The white candle is not quenched, to show that His divine nature did not die.

(3) The gloom caused by the extinction of the lights typifies the growing darkness, when Christ, the Light of the World, was taken ; and the clapping made at the close of the Office is said to symbolize the confusion and earthquake which took place at our Lord's death.

(4) The reappearance of the white candle represents the resurrection of Christ.

The origin of the Tenebrae dates from the first centuries; the early Christians celebrated these three days by night watches, or vigils, with prayer and the singing of psalms. Other vigils had long ceased to be kept ; this vigil alone was retained until the tenth century, and celebrated at midnight; from this time until the fourteenth century it was celebrated at eight o'clock in the evening. Since the fourteenth century it has been kept as we have it at the present day. The Tenebrae is to remind us of the deep sorrow of the Church on the Passion and Death of Christ, and also her grief for the ingratitude of sinful man, to move him, therefore, to compassion for Christ's suffering and to do penance for his sins.

PALM SUNDAY
1. Holy Week begins with Palm Sunday,—the name is derived from the blessing of palms, and the procession which takes place on this day.

2. The procession on Palm Sunday is of very ancient origin, dating even from the fourteenth century; it reminds us in the first place of the triumphant entry of Jesus into Jerusalem, when the people went forth with palm branches to meet Him and to lead Him as their King in triumph into the city.

So even now the faithful go in procession with palms in their hands to offer their homage with prayer and psalmody to Christ their King. This procession also reminds us of the solemn entry of Jesus into the heavenly Jerusalem, after having conquered death and hell by His crucifixion and resurrection, when upon His ascension all the just awaiting Him in Limbo, adorned with the palms of merit, led Him into heaven, where adoring Him they offered their allegiance to Him as Lord and King.

It reminds us also of that most solemn and great entry into the heavenly Jerusalem after the Last Judgment. All His faithful servants who have won the crown of victory under His banner will then offer Him their homage, and partake of His triumph and eternal glory.

3. The palms are blessed before the procession, because the Church wishes that whatever is used in the Divine Service should be blessed in order to remove the curse of sin, and to sanctify it for its sacred purpose. The Church prays especially for the bearers of these palms that they may have the grace of gaining many palms of victory over the enemy of salvation, and acquire many palms of good works, wherewith to follow the Lord in His triumphant entry, also that God may bless the houses in which these palms are preserved.

4. After blessing the palms the priest distributes them to the faithful as a sign that the Church shows the way to heaven, and must lead them in the battle against the enemy of their salvation. Then the palm bearers follow the cross in the procession, proclaiming thereby that they will fight and struggle all their life long in order to follow Jesus on the way of the Cross.

5. When the procession returns to the Church door, which is closed, it is opened only after being struck three times with the staff of the cross. This teaches us that heaven was only opened by the death of Jesus on the Cross, and that we of our own strength cannot gain heaven, except through the merits of our crucified Jesus.

6. The faithful carry the palms home and preserve them, in order to partake of the blessings that the Church invokes on those dwellings where they are preserved. Thus the faithful express that even in their homes they will remain true followers of Jesus Christ.

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Palm Sunday

3/24/2013

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"It is called Palm Sunday because the palm betokeneth victory, wherefore all Christian people should bear palms in processions to signify that the Lord hath fought with the fiend, our enemy, and hath the victory over him." But palms are also used on this day in memory of the acclamations of the Jewish crowds on Christ's journey into Jerusalem and their waving of palm branches before him.

Once it was the custom to have a palm procession with the Blessed Sacrament, before which the people waved green branches and sang Hosannahs. Occasionally, instead of the Blessed Sacrament the priest bore a copy of the New Testament which was
intended to represent our Lord.

Actual palm, of course, was not used. Box and willow branches, and sometimes yew, were all called palm. On this day, parties of boys or girls used to go out collecting willow. Everyone decorated their houses with it on Palm Sunday, while the church too was adorned. Generally the countryside is beautiful now, and nothing there is lovelier than the willow tree. This day could see family or school or club expeditions into the spring countryside to find willow branches both for their homes and for their parish church.

Just before beginning the decorating of the house all could say this prayer, adapted from the ceremony of the blessing of the palms:

"O God who didst bless the people who carried branches to meet Jesus; bless also these branches which we have gathered and with which we mean to honor thy name, so that wherever they are placed people may obtain thy blessing and may be protected from all adversity by thy right hand. Through Christ our Lord."
- A Candle is Lighted, Imprimatur 1945 -

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Palm Sunday - Jesus Commends His Disciples to His Holy Mother's Care

Palm Sunday - Perseverance

Palm Sunday - The Cenacle

Holy Week - Its Meaning and Practice

Palm Sunday

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