THE WORLD HATED ME FIRST.
Tuesday in Passion Week
STATION AT ST. CYRIACUS
(Indulgence
of 10 years and 10 quarantines)
Violet
Vestments
Commentary by
Abbot Dom Guéranger
The
Station, in Rome, was formerly the Church of the Martyr Saint Cyriacus, and as
such it is still given in the Roman Missal; but this holy sanctuary having been
destroyed, and the relics of the holy Deacon translated to the Church of Saint
Mary in Via lata, it is here that the Station is now held.
INTROIT - Psalm 26: 14, 1
Exspecta
Dóminum, viríliter age: et confortétur cor tuum, et sústine Dóminum. Ps 26: 1.
Dóminus illuminátio mea et salus mea: quem timebo?
Wait
for the Lord with courage; be stouthearted, and wait for the Lord. Ps. The Lord
is my light and my salvation; whom should I fear?
COLLECT
May
our fasting be acceptable to You, we beseech You, O Lord; may it be atonement
for our sins, make us worthy of Your grace, and lead us to the everlasting
remedy of the life to come. Through our Lord.
EPISTLE - Daniel 14: 27-42
In
those days, the Babylonians went to the king and demanded: Hand over to us
Daniel, who has destroyed Bel and killed the dragon, or we will kill you and
your family. When he saw himself threatened with violence, the king was forced
to hand Daniel over to them. They threw Daniel into a lions’ den, where he
remained six days. In the den were seven lions, and two carcasses and two sheep
had been given to them daily. But now they were given nothing, so that they
would devour Daniel. In Judea there was a prophet, Habacuc; he mixed some bread
in a bowl with the stew he had boiled, and was going to bring it to the reapers
in the field, when an Angel of the Lord told him, Take the lunch you have to
Daniel in the lions’ den at Babylon. But Habacuc answered, Babylon, sir, I have
never seen, and I do not know the den! The Angel of the Lord seized him by the
crown of his head and carried him by the hair; with the speed of the wind, he
set him down in Babylon above the den. Daniel, servant of God, cried Habacuc,
take the lunch God has sent you. You have remembered me, O God, said Daniel;
You have not forsaken those who love You. While Daniel began to eat, the Angel
of the Lord at once brought Habacuc back to his own place. On the seventh day
the king came to mourn for Daniel. As he came to the den and looked in, there
was Daniel, sitting in the midst of the lions! The king cried aloud, You are
great, O Lord, the God of Daniel! Daniel he took out of the lions’ den, but
those who had tried to destroy him he threw into the den, and they were
devoured in a moment before his eyes. Then the king said: Let all the
inhabitants of the whole earth fear the God of Daniel; for He is the Saviour,
working signs and wonders in the earth, Who has delivered Daniel out of the
lions’ den.
This Lesson was intended, in an especial manner, as an instruction
to the Catechumens. They were preparing to enroll themselves as Christians; it
was, therefore, necessary that they should have examples put before them, which
they might study and imitate. Daniel, cast into the Lions' Den for having
despised and destroyed the idol Bel, was the type of a Martyr. This Prophet had
confessed the true God in Babylon; he had put to death a Dragon, to which the
people, after Bel had been destroyed, had given their idolatrous worship:
nothing less than Daniel's death could appease their indignation. The holy man,
full of confidence in God, allowed himself to be thrown into the Lions' Den, thus
setting an example of courageous faith to the future Christians: they would
imitate him, and, for three centuries, would nobly shed their blood for the
establishment of the Church of Christ. In the Roman catacombs, we continually
meet with the representation of Daniel surrounded by lions, and many of these
paintings date from the ages of Persecution. Thus, the eye of the Catechumens
could see what their ear heard, — both told them to be ready for trial and
sacrifice.
It is true, the history
of Daniel showed them the power of God interfering and delivering him from
death; but they were fully aware, that in order to merit a like deliverance,
they would have to show a like constancy, and be ready to suffer death, rather
than deny their faith. From time to time, a Christian was led to the
amphitheatre, and the wild beasts would fawn at his feet; but such miracles
only put off the Martyr’s sacrifice, and perhaps won others to the faith. It
was the Prophet's courage, and not his victory over the lions, that the Church
proposed to her Catechumens. The great thing for them to bear in mind, was this
maxim of our Lord: Fear not them that kill the body, and are not able to kill
the soul; but rather fear him that can destroy both soul and body into hell.
We are the descendants
of these early Christians; but our faith has not cost us what it cost them. And
yet we have a tyrant to try even ours: we have to confess our faith, not indeed
before Proconsuls or Emperors, but before the World. Let the example of the
brave Martyrs send us forth from our Lent with a courageous determination to
withstand this tyrant, with his maxims, his pomps, and his works. There has
been a truce between him and us, during these days of retirement and penance;
but the battle will soon be renewed, and then we must stand the brunt, and show
that we are Christians.
GRADUAL - Psalm 42: 1, 3
Fight
my fight, O Lord; from the deceitful and impious man rescue me. V. Send forth
Your light and Your fidelity; they shall lead me on and bring me to Your holy
mountain.
GOSPEL - John 7: 1-13
At
that time, Jesus went about in Galilee, for He did not wish to go about in
Judea because the Jews were seeking to put Him to death. Now the Jewish feast
of Tabernacles was at hand. His brethren therefore said to Him, Leave here and
go into Judea that Your disciples also may see the works that You do; for no
one does a thing in secret if he wants to be publicly known. If You do these
things, manifest yourself to the world. For not even His brethren believed in
Him. Jesus therefore said to them, My time has not yet come, but your time is
always at hand. The world cannot hate you, but it hates Me because I bear
witness concerning it, that its works are evil. As for you, go up to the feast,
but I do not go up to this feast, for My time is not yet fulfilled. When He had
said these things He stayed on in Galilee. But as soon as His brethren had gone
up to the feast, then He also went up, not publicly, but as it were privately. The
Jews therefore were looking for Him at the feast, and were saying, Where is He?
And there was much whispered comment among the crowd concerning Him. For some
were saying, He is a good man. But others were saying, No, rather He seduces
the crowd. Yet for fear of the Jews no one spoke openly of Him.
The facts here related refer to an earlier part of our Lord's life;
but the Church proposes them to our consideration today, on account of their
connection with those given us in the Gospels read to us during the last few
days. We learn from these words of St. John, that the Jews were plotting the
death of Jesus, not only when this the last Pasch for the Synagogue was
approaching, but even so far back as the Feast of Tabernacles, which, was kept
in September. The Son of God was reduced to the necessity of going from place
to place as it were in secret: if he would go to Jerusalem, he must take
precautions! Let us adore these humiliations of the Man-God, who has deigned to
sanctify every position of life, even that of the just man persecuted and
obliged to hide himself from his enemies. It would have been an easy matter for
him to confound his adversaries by working miracles, such as those which
Herod's curiosity sought for; he could have compelled them to treat him with
the reverence that was due to him. But this is not God's way; he does not force
man to duty; he acts, and then leaves man to recognize his Creator's claims. In
order to do this, man must be attentive and humble, he must impose silence on
his passions. The divine light shows itself to the soul that thus comports herself
First, she sees the actions, the works, of God; then, she believes, and wishes
to believe; her happiness, as well as her merit, lies in Faith, and faith will
be recompensed in eternity with Light,—with the Vision.
Flesh and blood cannot
understand this; they love show and noise. The Son of God, having come down
upon this earth, could not subject himself to such an abasement as that of
making a parade of his infinite power before men. He had to work miracles, in
order to give a guarantee of his mission; but, as Man, everything he did was
not to be a miracle. By far the longest period of his life was devoted to the
humble duties of a creature; had it not been so, how should we have learned
from him what we so much needed to know? His Brethren, (the Jews gave the name
of Brothers to all who were collaterally related,) his Brethren wished Jesus to
make a display of his miraculous power, for some of the glory would have
accrued to them. This their ambition caused our Lord to address them in these
strong words, upon which we should meditate during this holy season, for, later
on, we shall stand in need of the teaching: "The world cannot hate you;
but me it hateth." Let us, therefore, for the time to come, not please the
world; its friendship would separate us from Jesus Christ.
PRAYER OVER THE PEOPLE
Bow down your heads to God.
Grant
us, O Lord, we beseech thee, perseverance in thy service; that in our days, thy
faithful may increase both in number and goodness. Through Christ our Lord.
Amen.
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