Good Friday 25 March 2016!

March 25 - Feast of the Annunciation, March 25 - 2016 - Good Friday, March 25 - 25 years ago, Archbishop Lefebvre was called to eternal rest.

on the 25 March ... 

This day approximately 2016 yrs ago: the Angel of the Lord declared unto Mary and she conceived of the Holy Ghost

This day approximately 1983 yrs ago Jesus Christ: suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died and was buried

This day 25 years ago our beloved Archbishop Lefebvre was called to eternal rest.

Via Crucis

Good Friday

[31] For if in the green wood they do these things, what shall be done in the dry? 

Quia si in viridi ligno haec faciunt, in arido quid fiet?

said Jesus to the Filiae Jerusalem 

with His Cross, bearing heavily on His most precious, yet bruised and scourged body,

on His Way to Mount Calvary

Parce Domine, parce populo tuo. Ne in aeternum, irascaris nobis. 

Parce Domine, parce populo tuo. Ne in aeternum, irascaris nobis. 

Parce Domine, parce populo tuo. Ne in aeternum, irascaris nobis. 

Juxta crucem tecum stare,

Et me tibi sociare

In planctu desidero

By the †cross with thee to stay,

There with thee to weep and pray,

Is all I ask of thee to give.

(From the Stabat Mater)

[Prayer for the Sovereign Pontiff] St Catherine of Siena

O Most High and ineffable God, I have sinned and am not worthy to pray to Thee, but Thou canst render me less unworthy. Punish, O Lord, my sins and do not look upon my misery. 

I received a body from Thee. I give it back to Thee and I offer it to Thee. Here is my person and my very blood; strike, destroy! Reduce my bones to dust, but grant that which I ask for the Sovereign Pontiff, Unique Spouse of Thy Unique Spouse.

May he always know Thy Will. May he love and follow it, so that we do not perish. Give to him, O my God, a new heart; so that Thy grace may always grow in him. May he not tire in carrying the standard of Thy Holy Cross. May he dispense to the [unbelievers], the treasures of Thy Mercy, as he does to us who benefit from the Passion and Blood of the Lamb without blemish, Thy beloved Son. 

I have sinned, Lord. Eternal God, have mercy on me. Amen.

Jesus, Mary, Joseph, Anne, Therese, I love You; Save Souls!

Jesu mitis et humilis corde, Fac cor nostrum secundum Cor tuum. (ter)

Deus propitius esto mihi peccatori. 

First Friday and First Saturday of the month of April

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First Friday & First Saturday of

April

(Good Friday & Holy Saturday)

It so happened that the FIrst Friday and First Saturday of this month were respectively on Good Friday and Holy Saturday this year, so we went for the Holy Hour of Reparation on Maundy Thursday instead, when the Blessed Sacrament was transferred to the Altar of Repose and there was an adoration till midnight at our chapel.

"Could you not, then, watch one hour with me?"

Mt. 26:40

Taken from 20 Holy Hours, Chapter XVI: Meditation on the Holy Thursday Dungeon and the Tabernacle Prison by Fr. Mateo Crawley-Boevey, SS.CC.

Page 236

Come, draw near this evening, for we wish to look on the Word in another phase of His glory, that of the prison of Holy Thursday. Contemplate with great faith, the scene that astounded the angelic choirs: instead of a royal palace, an underground prison; for a scepter, the reed of contempt, and finally, for this King's court, soldiers drunk with wine, intoxicated with satanic hate!

Together let us look upon our King Jesus in this prison the butt of mockery, sarcasm, and blows: meek, but majestic in His humility, a supplication for love and for pity in His eyes, and dire anguish portrayed on His beautiful face, bathed in His blood, and yet always thirsting for the gall of sorrow!

Such is the state we find You in, Jesus, after twenty centuries have gone by. You are in the same prison of love and glorious ignominy, a prison that Your Heart wishes to perpetuate forever.

The pomp of Your royal but bloody Majesty is always the same, immortal King. Nothing is altered, neither the chains of love that make You our prisoner, nor the wretched attendants who load You with insults and with ignominy, nor the hatred of the judges and the cruelty of the jailors.

But above all, Your Heart has not changed, O Jesus. It remains what it always was, always the same, immutable in Its merciful resolution to remain our captive even to the consummation of the world.

Indeed, divine Master, it is we who should and would change our rebellion into an altogether glorious captivity and transform the chains of sin into the chains of burning love uniting us faithfully to You.

Deus propitius esto mihi peccatori.

Jesu mitis et humilis corde, Fac cor nostrum secundum Cor Tuum. (ter)

Jesus, Mary, Joseph, Anne, Therese, I love You; Save Souls!

Maundy Thursday

"O My God, I am heartily sorry for having offended Thee; and I detest all my sins, because I dread the loss of heaven and the pains of hell, but most of all because they offend Thee, my God, who art all-good and deserving of all my love. I firmly resolve, with the help of Thy grace, to confess my sins, to do penance and to amend my life. Amen."

This is such a beautiful prayer!

And as we accompany Jesus in this Holy Night of Adoration and Prayer, Mother dearest please help us, help us, help me. Dankeschoen. Amen.

Jesus, Mary, Joseph, I love You; Save Souls!

Jesu mitis et humilis corde, Fac Cor nostrum secundum Cor tuum. (ter)

He is dead. The author of life, the only begotten of the Father, the Lord of the world, is dead. O infinite love! A God to sacrifice Himself entirely! And for whom? For us, ungrateful creatures. Raise your eyes and behold the crucified Man-God. Behold the Divine Lamb, sacrificed on that altar of pain. See how His arms are stretched out to embrace you; His head bowed down to give you the kiss of peace; His side opened to receive you. How can you behold Him dead, hanging on the tree, and not love Him with all your heart?

"My children, see if there is anyone in this world who has loved you more than I, thy God, has loved you. This is My beloved Son, in whom I have found all My delights. This in My beloved Son in whom I am well pleased. Behold how I have willed to see Him ill-treated on account of your iniquities. Behold how I have condemned Him to die upon this cross, afflicted, and abandoned even by Myself, who loves Him so much. This have I done in order that you may love Me."

Good Friday

VEXILLA REGIS PRODEUNT, FULGET CRUCIS MYSTERIUM

BEHOLD, THE ROYAL ENSIGNS FLY, BEARING THE CROSS’S MYSTERY

Alone with God
By Father J. Heyrman, S.J.

Good Friday

1. Today’s liturgical colour is black; yet during the adoration of the cross the Church sings, “By this wood has joy come to the whole world.” While with the entire congregation we pay homage to the cross, we meditate with wonder and gratitude on “the mystery of the cross”.

2. Petition: We pray for the grace to draw light, strength and confidence from the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ.

I. The Mystery of the Cross

This mystery has “the breadth and length, and height, and depth of the charity of Christ which surpasseth all knowledge” (Eph 3: 18, 19). There is superabundant matter for meditation, wonder and grateful praise in the thought that here Good conquered evil through love.

Thy mystery of the cross is a mystery of weakness, of impotence, of consummate failure: Jesus is betrayed, denied, condemned as a blasphemer and sedition-monger, mocked as a fool.

A mystery of God’s power: “And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all things to myself” (John 12:32). By His death on the cross He overcomes powers which till then had ruled supreme: the prince of the world, sin and death.

A mystery of foolishness: To the Gentiles, who search for wisdom, a crucified God is foolishness; more so His resurrection, which is sheer absurdity.

A mystery of divine Wisdom: “It is written, I will destroy the wisdom of the wise; and the prudence of the prudent I will reject” (1 Cor. 1:19). The wisdom of the Greeks has only scorn for Christian wisdom; yet the day comes when the latter will illumine the former.

A mystery of wickedness: Was it possible that men could treat so ignominiously Him, who not only was absolutely guiltless, but also infinitely good? How could they prefer Barabbas to Him? These were not the deeds of human beings, but the works of the prince of darkness, of Satan himself.

A mystery of righteousness: Man, who had rebelled against God, owed his Creator a debt, which he could not pay. Jesus assumed the burden and paid our debt on the cross. “He blotted out the handwriting of the decree that was against us, which was contrary to us. And he hath taken the same out of the way, fastening it to the cross” (Col. 2:14).

It is a mystery of deadly hatred and of life-giving love.

II. Until the End of Time

Still in our own days the cross is to the world a stumbling block, and utter foolishness (1 Cor. 1:24). To worldlings Christ and His Cross are the enemies of life, the destroyers of earthly enjoyment. Even in many a Christian land the Crucifix is ordered to be removed from schools, judgement halls and hospital wards. In his epistle to the Philippians St. Paul mourned over those Christians who behaved “as enemies of the cross of Christ … whose god is their belly” (Phil. 2:18, 19).

On Good Friday the solemn adoration of the cross is held in all the churches: the whole congregation, the entire family, offer public homage to the cross, which has been just unveiled by the celebrant and is displayed for the veneration of all.

During this moving ceremony we should ponder over the place we give to the cross in our personal life: how eagerly we embrace it, when in the shape of trials, it is offered to us, how patiently we carry it, whether we truly tread the “Royal Road of the Holy Cross”, of which The Imitation of Christ speaks with such unction.

“If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily and follow me” (Luke 9: 23). “He has gone before you, carrying His cross, and died for you upon the cross, that you too might have strength to carry your cross, and be willing to die upon the cross … In the cross is salvation, in the cross is life, in the cross is sure protection from enemies, in the cross is an abundance of heavenly delight, in the cross is courage, in the cross is gladness of heart, in the cross is height of virtue, in the cross is perfection of sanctity.” (Imitation of Christ 12:2).

The cross is the symbol of love, of suffering and salvation: “Then shall appear the sign of the Son of Man in heaven … Then shall all the tribes of the earth see the Son of Man coming in the clouds of heaven with much power and majesty” (Mt. 24:30). In what measure “the tribes of the earth” and each individual human being shall have paid homage to, or rejected, Christ and His cross, in that measure they will, on that day and throughout eternity, rejoice or lament.

“The cross stands; the world moves on.” Such is the trustful and triumphal motto of the Carthusian Order.

Prayer: Hail, Cross, our hope, on thee we call, Who keep this mournful festival. Grant to the just increase of grace, And every sinner’s crimes efface. Blest Trinity! We praises sing To Thee, from whom all graces spring; Celestial crowns on those bestow, Who conquer by the Cross below. (Vexilla Regis).