``Where the
Bishop is, there let the multitude of believers be;
even as where Jesus is, there is the Catholic Church'' Ignatius of
Antioch, 1st c. A.D
Passion Sunday
The two weeks of Passiontide begin at the Vespers for Passion
Sunday (on the eve of Passion Sunday) -- the first week
being known as "Passion Week," and the second week being known as "Holy
Week."
Passion Sunday, also known as Judica Sunday because of the
Introit Júdica me (Psalm
42) -- memorializes the increasing antipathy
against Christ from the Jews who would not accept Him and accused Him
of sorcery and of being blasphemous and possessed by a devil. After
today and until Easter, the Júdica me and the Glória
patris at the Introit and Lavabo are omitted from Masses of the
Season. This signifies Christ's hiding His glory from the world during
these next few weeks as He hides Himself away from the Jews until the
time has come for Him to enter into Jerusalem (commemorated on Palm
Sunday) and to be crucified (commemorated on Good Friday) -- after
which comes the Resurrection on Easter.
Today statues, Crucifixes, and other sacred images (except for the
Stations
of the Cross) are veiled with purple cloth beginning at the Vespers of
Passion Sunday, and they remain covered until the Gloria of Holy
Saturday, at which point Lent ends and Eastertide begins -- a most
glorious, beautiful moment in the Church's liturgy. Some Catholics
cover statues and icons, etc., in their homes for the same time period
(the cloth shouldn't be transluscent or decorated in any way).
Like the disappearence of the Gloria, this veiling of the statues and
icons stems from the Gospel reading of
Passion Sunday (John 8:46-59), at the end of which the Jews take up
stones to cast at Jesus, leading Him to hide Himself away.
In Rome, after Vespers, the veil used by St. Veronica to wipe the Face of Christ when He
walked the Via Dolorossa (the Sorrowful Path) on His way to His
Crucifixion is displayed for a few moments. The veil -- known as the
"veronica" -- is kept hidden away in a special chapel in St. Peter's
Basilica, and only on Passion Sunday is it shown to the world as bells
peal.
As to music for
the day, the hymn Vexillis Regis
is traditionally sung at Vespers from Passion Sunday to Holy Thursday:
Vexilla Regis
prodeunt;
fulget Crucis mysterium,
quo carne carnis conditor
suspensus est patibulo.
Quo vulneratus insuper
mucrone diro lanceae,
ut nos lavaret crimine,
manavit unda et sanguine.
Impleta sunt quae concinit
David fideli carmine,
dicendo nationibus:
regnavit a ligno Deus.
Arbor decora et fulgida,
ornata Regis purpura,
electa digno stipite
tam sancta membra tangere.
Beata, cuius brachiis
pretium pependit saeculi:
statera facta corporis,
praedam tulitque tartari
O Crux ave, spes unica,
hoc Passionis tempore!
piis adauge gratiam,
reisque dele crimina.
Te, fons salutis Trinitas,
collaudet omnis spiritus:
quos per Crucis mysterium
salvas, fove per saecula. Amen.
Abroad the regal
banners fly,
now shines the Cross's mystery:
upon it Life did death endure,
and yet by death did life procure.
Who, wounded with a direful spear,
did purposely to wash us clear
from stain of sin, pour out a flood
of precious water mixed with blood.
That which the prophet-king of old
hath in mysterious verse foretold,
is now accomplished, whilst we see
God ruling the nations from a Tree.
O lovely and refulgent Tree,
adorned with purpled majesty;
culled from a worthy stock, to bear
those limbs which sanctified were.
Blest Tree, whose happy branches bore
the wealth that did the world restore;
the beam that did that Body weigh
which raised up Hell's expected prey.
Hail Cross, of hopes the most sublime!
Now, in the mournful Passion time;
grant to the just increase of grace,
and every sinner's crimes efface.
Blest Trinity, salvation's spring
may every soul Thy praises sing;
to those Thou grantest conquest by
the Holy Cross, rewards supply. Amen.
Reading
"The Mystery
of Passiontide and Holy Week"
from Dom Gueranger's "The Liturgical Year"
The holy liturgy
is rich in mystery during these days of the Church's celebrating the
anniversaries of so many wonderful events; but as the principal part of
these mysteries is embodied in the rites and ceremonies of the
respective days, we shall give our explanations according as the
occasion presents itself. Our object in the present chapter, is to say
a few words respecting the general character of the mysteries of these
two weeks.
We have nothing to add to the explanation, already given in our Lent,
on the mystery of forty. The holy season of expiation continues its
course until the fast of sinful man has imitated, in its duration, that
observed by the Man-God in the desert. The army of Christ's faithful
children is still fighting against the invisible enemies of man's
salvation; they are still vested in their spiritual armour, and, aided
by the angels of light, they are struggling hand to hand with the
spirits of darkness, by compunction of heart and by mortification of
the flesh.
As we have already observed, there are three objects which principally
engage the thoughts of the Church during Lent. The Passion of our
Redeemer, which we have felt to be coming nearer to us each week; the
preparation of the catechumens for Baptism, which is to be administered
to them on Easter eve; the reconciliation of the public penitents, who
are to be readmitted into the Church on the Thursday, the day of the
Last Supper. Each of these three object engages more and more the
attention of the Church, the nearer she approaches the time of their
celebration.
The miracle performed by our Savior almost at the very gates of
Jerusalem, by which He restored Lazarus to life, has roused the fury of
His enemies to the highest pitch of frenzy. The people's enthusiasm has
been excited by seeing him, who had been four days in the grave,
walking in the streets of their city. They ask each other if the
Messias, when He comes, can work greater wonders than these done by
Jesus, and whether they ought not at once to receive this Jesus as the
Messias, and sing their Hosanna to Him, for He is the Son of David.
They cannot contain their feelings: Jesus enters Jerusalem, and they
welcome Him as their King. The high priests and princes of the people
are alarmed at this demonstration of feeling; they have no time to
lose; they are resolved to destroy Jesus. We are going to assist at
their impious conspiracy: the Blood of the just Man is to be sold, and
the price put on it is thirty silver pieces. The divine Victim,
betrayed by one of His disciples, is to be judged, condemned, and
crucified. Every circumstance of this awful tragedy is to be put before
us by the liturgy, not merely in words, but with all the expressiveness
of a sublime ceremonial.
The catechumens have but a few more days to wait for the fount that is
to give them life. Each day their instruction becomes fuller; the
figures of the old Law are being explained to them; and very little now
remains for them to learn with regard to the mysteries of salvation.
The Symbol of faith is soon to be delivered to them. Initiated into the
glories and the humiliations of the Redeemer, they will await with the
faithful the moment of His glorious Resurrection; and we shall
accompany them with our prayers and hymns at that solemn hour, when,
leaving the defilements of sin in the life-giving waters of the font,
they shall come forth pure and radiant with innocence, be enriched with
the gifts of the holy Spirit, and be fed with the divine flesh of the
Lamb that liveth for ever.
The reconciliation of the penitents, too, is close at hand. Clothed in
sackcloth and ashes, they are continuing their work of expiation. The
Church has still several passages from the saved Scriptures to read to
them, which, like those we have already heard during the last few
weeks, will breathe consolation and refreshment to their souls. The
near approach of the day when the Lamb is to be slain increases their
hope, for they know that the Blood of this Lamb is of infinite worth,
and can take away the sins of the whole world. Before the day of Jesus'
Resurrection, they will have recovered their lost innocence; their
pardon will come in time to enable them, like the penitent prodigal, to
join in the great Banquet of that Thursday, when Jesus will say to His
guests: ' With desire have I desired to eat this Pasch with you before
I suffer.'
Such are the sublime subjects which are about to be brought before us:
but, at the same time, we shall see our holy mother the Church
mourning, like a disconsolate widow, and sad beyond all human grief
Hitherto she has been weeping over the sins of her children; now she
bewails the death of her divine Spouse. The joyous Alleluia has long
since been hushed in her canticles; she is now going to suppress
another expression, which seems too glad for a time line the present.
Partially, at first, but entirely during the last three days, she is
about to deny herself the use of that formula, which is so dear to her:
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost. There is
an accent of jubilation in these words, which would ill suit her grief
and the mournfulness of the rest of her chants.
Her lessons, for the night Office, are taken from Jeremias, the prophet
of lamentation above all others. The colour of her vestments is the one
she had on when she assembled us at the commencement of Lent to
sprinkle us with ashes; but when the dreaded day of Good Friday comes,
purple would not sufficiently express the depth of her grief; she will
clothe herself in black, as men do when mourning the death of a
fellow-mortal; for Jesus, her Spouse, is to be put to death on that
day: the sins of mankind and the rigours of the divine justice are then
to weigh him down, and in all the realities of a last agony, He is to
yield up His Soul to His Father.
The presentiment of that awful hour leads the afflicted mother to veil
the image of her Jesus: the gross is hidden from the eyes of the
faithful. The statues of the saints, too, are covered; for it is but
just that, if the glory of the Master be eclipsed, the servant should
not appear. The interpreters of the liturgy tell us that this ceremony
of veiling the crucifix during Passiontide, expresses the humiliation
to which our Savior subjected Himself, of hiding Himself when the Jews
threatened to stone Him, as is related in the Gospel of Passion Sunday.
The Church begins this solemn rite with the Vespers of the Saturday
before Passion Sunday. Thus it is that, in those years when the feast
of our Lady's Annunciation falls in Passion-week, the statue of Mary,
the Mother of God, remains veiled, even on that very day when the
Archangel greets her as being full of grace, and blessed among women.