Christus Resurrexit! Vere Resurrexit! Alleluia.
EASTER SUNDAY
MORNING
From the Liturgical
Year
By Abbot Dom Prosper
Guéranger
The Night between Saturday and Sunday has well nigh
run its course, and the day-dawn is appearing. The Mother of Sorrows is
waiting, in courageous hope and patience, for the blissful moment of her Jesus'
return. Magdalene and the other holy Women have spent the Night in watching,
and are preparing to start for the Sepulchre. In Limbo, the Soul of our
Crucified Lord is about to give the glad word of departure to the myriads of
the long-imprisoned holy Souls, who cluster round him in adoring love. Death is
still holding his silent sway over the Sepulchre, where rests the Body of
Jesus. Since that day when he gained his first victim, Abel, he has swept off
countless generations; but never had he held in his grasp a Prey so noble as
this that now lies in the Tomb near Calvary. Never had the terrible sentence of
God, pronounced against our First Parents, received such a fullfilment as this;
but, never had Death received such a defeat as the one that is now preparing.
As divine justice could not allow the Body that was
united to the Word to see corruption, and there wait, like ours must, for the
Archangel’s word to ‘rise and come to judgment,’ so neither could it permit the
dominion of death to be long over such a Victim. Jesus had said to the Jews: ‘A
wicked generation seeketh a sign; and a sign shall not be given it, but that of
Jonas the prophet.’ Three days in the tomb,—the afternoon and night of Friday,
the whole of Saturday, and a few hours of the Sunday,—-yes, these are enough:
enough to satisfy divine justice; enough to certify the death of the Crucified,
and make His triumph glorious; enough to complete the martyrdom of that most
loving of mothers, the Queen of sorrows.
No man
taketh away my life from Me: I lay it down of Myself: I have power to lay it
down, and
I have power to take it up again.’ Thus spoke our Redeemer
to the Jews before His Passion: now is the hour for the fulfillment of His words,
and death shall feel their whole force. The day of light, Sunday, has begun,
and its early dawn is struggling with the gloom. The Soul of Jesus immediately
darts from the prison of limbo, followed by the whole multitude of the holy
souls that are around Him. In the twinkling of an eye, it reaches and enters
the sepulchre and reunites itself with that Body, which, three days before, it
had quitted amidst an agony of suffering. The sacred Body returns to life,
raises itself up, and throws aside the winding-sheet, the spices, and the
bands. The bruises have disappeared, the Blood has been brought back to the
veins; and from these limbs that had been torn by the scourging, from this head
that had been mangled by the thorns, from these bands and feet that had been pierced with nails,
there darts forth a dazzling light that fills the cave. The holy Angels had
clustered round the stable and adored the Babe of Bethlehem; they are now
around the sepulchre, adoring the conqueror of death. They take the shrouds,
and reverently folding them up, place them on the slab, whereon the Body had
been laid by Joseph and Nicodemus.
But Jesus
is not to tarry in the gloomy sepulchre. Quicker than a ray of light through a
crystal, He passes through the stone that closes the entrance of the cave.
Pilate had ordered his seal to be put upon this stone, and a guard of soldiers
is there to see that no one touches it. Untouched it is, and unmoved; and yet
Jesus is free! Thus, as the holy Fathers unanimously teach us, was it at His
birth: He appeared to the gaze of Mary, without having offered the slightest
violence to her maternal womb. The birth and the resurrection, the commencement
and the end of Jesus’ mission, these two mysteries bear on them the seal of
resemblance: in the first, it is a Virgin Mother; in the last, it is a sealed
tomb giving forth its captive God.
And while
this Jesus, this Man-God, thus breaks the sceptre of death, the stillness of
the night is undisturbed. His and our victory has cost Him no effort. O death!
where is now thy kingdom? Sin had made us thy slaves; thy victory was complete;
and now, lo! thou thyself art defeated! Jesus, whom thou didst exultingly hold
under thy law, has set Himself free; and we, after thou hast domineered over us
for a time, we too shall be free from thy grasp. The tomb thou makest for us,
will become to us the source of a new life, for He that now conquers thee is ‘the
First-born among the dead; and today is the Pasch, the Passover, the
deliverance, for Jesus and for us. His brethren. He has led the way; we shall
follow; and the day will come, when thou, the enemy, that destroyest all things,
shalt thyself be destroyed by immortality. Thy defeat dates from this moment of
Jesus’ resurrection, and, with the great Apostle, we say to thee: ‘O death!
where is thy victory? O death! where is thy sting?
But the
sepulchre is not to remain shut: it must be thrown open, and testify to men,
that He, whose lifeless Body lay there, is indeed risen from the dead. As when
our Jesus expired upon the Cross, so now, immediately after His resurrection,
an earthquake shook the foundations of the world; but, this time, it was for joy. ‘The Angel of the Lord descended from heaven, rolled back the stone, and
sat upon it. And his countenance was as lightning, and his raiment as snow. And
for fear of him, the guards were struck with terror,’ and fell on the ground ‘as
dead men.’
God has mercy on them; they return to themselves, and
quitting the dread sepulchre, they hasten to the city, and relate what they
have seen.
Meanwhile,
our risen Jesus, seen by no other mortal eye, has sped to His most holy Mother.
He
is the Son of God; He is the vanquisher of death; but
He is, likewise, the Son of Mary. She stood near Him to the last, uniting the
sacrifice of her mother’s heart with that He made upon the Cross; it is just, therefore,
that she should be the first to partake of the joy of His resurrection. The
Gospel does not relate the apparition thus made by Jesus to His Mother, whereas
all the others are fully described.
It is not difficult to assign the reason. The other apparitions
were intended as proofs of the resurrection; this to Mary was dictated by the
tender love borne to her by her Son. Both nature and grace required that His
first visit should be to such a Mother, and Christian hearts dwell with delight
on the meditation of the mystery. There was no need of its being mentioned in
the Gospel; the tradition of the holy Fathers, beginning with St. Ambrose, bears
sufficient testimony to it; and even had they been silent, our hearts would have
told it us. And why was it that our Saviour rose from the tomb so early on the
day He had fixed for His resurrection? It was because His filial love was
impatient to satisfy the vehement longings of His dearest and most afflicted
Mother. Such is the teaching of many pious and learned writers; and who that
knows aught of Jesus and Mary could refuse to accept it?
But who is
there would attempt to describe the joy of such a meeting of Those eyes, that
had grown dim from wakefulness and tears, now flash with delight at beholding
the brightness which tells her Jesus is come. He calls her by her name; not
with the tone of voice which pierced her soul when He addressed her from the
Cross, but with an accent of joy and love, such as a son would take When
telling a mother that he had triumphed. The Body, which, three days ago, she
had seen covered with Blood and dead, is now radiant with life, beaming with
the reflections of divinity. He speaks to her, words of tenderest affection, He
embraces her, He kisses her. Who, we ask, would dare to describe this scene, which
the devout Abbot Rupert says so inundated the soul of Mary with joy, that it
made her forget all the sorrows she had endured.
Nor must we
suppose that the visit was a short one. In one of the revelations granted to
the
seraphic St. Teresa, our Lord told her, that when He appeared
to His blessed Mother immediately after His resurrection, He found her so
overwhelmed with grief that she would soon have died; that it was not until several
moments had passed, that she was able to realize the immense joy of His
presence; and that He remained a long time with her, in order to console her.
Let us who
love this Blessed Mother, and have seen her offer up her Son on Calvary for our
sakes, let us affectionately rejoice in the happiness wherewith Jesus now
repays her, and let us learn to compassionate her in her Dolours. This is the
first manifestation of our Risen Jesus: it is a just reward for the unwavering
Faith which has dwelt in Mary's soul during these three days, when all but she
had lost it. But it is time for him to show himself to others, that ' so the
glory of his Resurrection may be made known to the world. His first visit was
to her that is the dearest to him of all creatures, and well deserves the
favour; Now, in his goodness, he is about to console those devoted Women, whose
grief is, perhaps, too human, — but their love is firm, and neither death nor
the tomb have shaken it.
Yesterday,
when sun-set proclaimed to the Jews the end of the great Sabbath and the
commencement of the Sunday, — Magdalene and her companions went into the City
and bought perfumes, wherewith, this morning, at break of day, they purpose
embalming the Body of their dear Master. They have spent a sleepless night.
Before the dawn of day, Magdalene, Mary (the mother of James), and Salome, are
on the road that leads to Calvary, for the Sepulchre is there. So intent are
they on the one object, that it never occurs to them, until it is too late, to
provide for the removing of the heavy stone, which closes the Sepulchre. There
is the seal, too, of the Governor, which must be broken before they can enter:
there are the soldiers who are keeping guard: these difficulties are quite overlooked.
It is early daybreak when they reach the Tomb. The first thing that attracts
their attention is, that the Stone has been removed, so that one can see into
the Sepulchre. The Angel of the Lord, who had received the mission to roll back
the Stone, is seated on it, as upon a throne; he thus addresses the three holy
women, who are speechless from astonishment and fear: Be not affrighted! Ye
seek Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified: he is risen, he is not here. Then
encouraging them to enter the Sepulchre, he adds: Behold the place where they
laid him.
These
words should fill them with joy: but, no, their faith is weak, and, as the
Evangelist says, a trembling and fear seize them. The dear Remains they are in
search of are gone: the Angel tells them so: his saying that Jesus is Risen
fails to awaken their faith in the Resurrection: they had hoped to find the
Body! Whilst in the Sepulchre, two other Angels appear to them, and the place
is filled with light. St. Luke tells us that Magdalene and her companions bowed
down their heads, for they were overpowered with fear and disappointment. Then
the Angels said to them: Why seek ye the living with the dead? Remember how he
spake unto you, when he was yet in Galilee, saying: "The Son of man must
be delivered into the hands of sinful men, and be crucified, and the third day
rise again! These words make some impression upon the holy women, and they
begin to remember something of what our Lord had said of his Resurrection. Go!
said one of the Angels, tell his disciples and Peter, that he is going before
you into Galilee.
The three
women leave the Sepulchre and return with haste to the City: they are full of
fear, and yet there is an irresistible feeling of joy mingled with their fear.
They relate what they have seen, they have seen Angels, and the Sepulchre open,
and Jesus' Body was not there. All three agree in their account; but the
Apostles, as the Evangelist tells us, set it down to womanish excitement: their
words seem idle tales, and they believe them not. The Resurrection, of which
their Divine Master had so clearly and so often spoken, never once crosses
their mind. It is particularly to Peter and John that Magdalene relates the
wonderful things she has seen and heard: but her own faith is still so weak!
She went with the intention of embalming the Body of Jesus, and she found it
not! She can speak of nothing but of her dis appointment: They have taken away
the Lord out of the Sepulchre, and we know not where they have laid him!
Peter and John
determine to go themselves to the Sepulchre. They enter. They see the linen
cloths lying upon the slab whereon the Body of Jesus had been placed; but the
Angels who are now keeping guard in the holy Cave, appear not to them. St. John
tells us, that this was the moment of his receiving the Faith in the
Resurrection: he believes.* We are now merely giving the history of the events
of this greatest of Days, in the order in which they occurred: we will
afterwards meditate upon them more leisurely, when the holy Liturgy brings them
before us. So far, Jesus has appeared to no one save to his Blessed Mother; the
holy Women have only seen the Angels, who spoke to them. These heavenly Spirits
bade them go and announce the Resurrection of their Master to the Disciples and
Peter. They are not told to bear the message to Mary: the reason is obvious:
Jesus has already appeared to his Mother, and is with her whilst all these
events are happening. The Sun is now shedding his beams upon the earth, and the
hours of the grand Morning are speeding onwards: the Man-God is about to
proclaim the triumph he has won for us over Death. Let us reverently follow him
in each of these manifestations, and attentively study the lessons they teach
us.
As soon as
Peter and John returned, Magdalene hastens once more to the Tomb of her dear
Master. A soul like hers, ever earnest, and now tormented with anxiety, cannot
endure to rest: where is the Body of Jesus? perhaps being insulted by his
enemies? Having reached the door of the Sepulchre, she bursts into tears.
Looking in, she sees two Angels, seated at either end of the slab on which her
Jesus had been laid. They speak to her, for she knows not what to say: Woman!
why weepest thou? Because they have
taken away my Lord, and I know not where they have laid him. Without waiting
for the Angels to reply, she turns as though she would leave the Sepulchre;
when lo! she sees a man standing before her, and this Man is Jesus. She does
not recognize him; she is in search of the dead Body of her Lord; she is
absorbed in the resolution of giving it a second Burial! Her love distracts
her, for it is a love that is not guided by faith: her desire to find him, as
she thinks him to be, blinds her from seeing him as he really is, living, and
near her.
Jesus, with
his wonted condescension, speaks to her: Woman! why weepest thou? Whom seekest
thou? Magdalene recognizes not this voice: her heart is dulled by an excessive
and blind sentiment of grief: her spirit does not as yet know Jesus. Her eyes
are fixed upon him; but her imagination persuades her that this Man is the
Gardener, who has care of the ground about the Sepulchre. She thinks within
herself, this, perhaps, is he that has taken my Jesus! and thereupon, she thus
speaks to him: Sir, if thou hast taken him hence, tell me where thou hast laid
him, and I will take him away. How is our loving Redeemer to withstand this?
If he praised her for the love she showed him in the Pharisee's house, we may
be sure he will now reward this affectionate simplicity. A single word, spoken
to her with the tone of voice she so well understood, is enough: Mary! Master!
exclaims the delighted and humble Magdalene. All is now clear: she believes.
She rushes
forward: she would kiss those sacred Feet, as on the happy day when she
received her pardon: but Jesus stays her:
this is not the time for such a demonstration of her affection. Magdalene, the
first witness of the Resurrection, is to be raised, in reward for her love, to
the high honour of publishing the great mystery. It is not fitting that the
Blessed Mother should reveal the secret favour she has received from her Son:
Magdalene is to proclaim what she has seen and heard at the Sepulchre, and
become, as the Holy Fathers express it, the Apostle of the very Apostles. Jesus
says to her: Go to my Brethren, and say to them: I ascend to my Father and your
Father, to my God and your God?
The second
apparition of Jesus, then, is to Mary Magdalene: it is the first in testimony
of his Resurrection, for the one to his Blessed Mother was for another object.
The Church will bring it before us on the Thursday of this week, and we will
then make it the subject of our meditation: at present, let us adore the
infinite goodness of our Redeemer, who, before seeking to fix the faith of his
Resurrection in them that are to preach it to all nations, deigns to recompense
the love of this Woman, who followed him even to the Cross, was faithful to him
after his Death, and loved him most, because most forgiven. By thus showing
himself to Magdalene, Jesus teaches us, that he is more anxious to satisfy the
love he bears his faithful creature, than to provide for his own glory.
Magdalene
loses no time in doing her Master's bidding. She hastens back to the City, and
having come to the Disciples, says to them: I have seen the Lord, and these
things he said to me. But as yet, they have not Faith; John alone has received
that gift, although he has seen nothing more than the empty Sepulchre. Let us
remember, that, after having fled like the rest of the Disciples, he followed
Jesus to Calvary, was present at his Death, and was made the adopted Son of
Mary.
Meanwhile,
Magdalene's two companions, Salome, and Mary the mother of James, are following
her, though slowly and at some distance, to Jerusalem. Jesus meets them, and greets
them, saying: All hail, Overcome with joy, they fall down and adore him, and
kiss his sacred feet. It is the third Apparition: and they that are favoured
with it, are permitted to do what was denied to the more favoured and fervent
Magdalene. Before the day is over, Jesus will show himself to them whom he has
chosen as the heralds of his glory; but he first wishes to honour those
generous Women, who, braving every danger, and triumphing over the weakness of
their sex, were more faithful to him, in his Passion, than the men he had so
highly honoured as to make them his Apostles. When he was born in the stable at
Bethlehem, the first he called to worship him in his Crib, were some poor
Shepherds; he sent his Angels to invite them to go to him, before he sent the star
to call the Magi. So now, when he has
reached the summit of his glory, put the finish to all his works by his
Resurrection, and confirmed our faith in his divinity by the most indisputable
miracle, he does not begin by instructing and enlightening his Apostles, but by
instructing, consoling, and most affectionately honoring, these humble but
courageous Women. How admirable are the dispensations of our God! How sweet,
and yet, how strong! Well does he say to us by his Prophet: My thoughts are not
your thoughts!
Let us
suppose, for a moment, that we had been ' permitted to arrange the order of
these two Mysteries. We should have summoned the whole world, kings and people,
to go and pay homage at the Crib. We should have trumpeted to all nations the
miracle of miracles, the Resurrection of the Crucified, the Victory over Death,
the restoration of mankind to Immortality! But He who is the power and wisdom
of God, Christ Jesus our Lord, has followed a very different plan. When born in
Bethlehem, he would have for his first worshippers a few simple minded
shepherds, whose power to herald the great event was confined to their own
village: and yet, the Birth-Day of this Little Child is now the era of every civilized
nation. For the first witnesses of his Resurrection, he chose three weak Women;
and yet, the whole earth is now, at this very moment, celebrating the
anniversary of this Resurrection. There is in it a mysterious feeling of joy
unlike that of any other day throughout the year: no one can resist it, not
even the coldest heart. The infidel who scoffs at the believer, knows at least
that this is Easter Sunday. Yea, in the very countries where paganism and
idolatry are still rife, there are Christians whose voices unite with ours in
singing the glorious Alleluia to our Risen Jesus. Let us, then, cry out as
Moses did, when the Israelites had crossed the Red Sea, and were keeping their
first Pasch: Who, O Lord, is like unto thee, among the strong?
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