FSSP 2026 Priestly Ordinations

On May 28th, 2026, twelve Our Lady of Guadalupe seminarians were ordained to the sacred priesthood by Archbishop Thomas Wenski of the Archdiocese of Miami. The ceremony was held at St. Cecilia Cathedral in Omaha, Nebraska. May God bless the ordinati!

Blessing of Lilies

by Rev. Cav. William Rock, FSSP, SMOCSG

On 26 February 1901, the Sacred Congregation of Rites approved a blessing of lilies (benedictio liliorum) in honor of St. Anthony of Padua, Confessor and Doctor of the Church, to be used on his feast day (13 June).  The lily has long been associated with this Saint.  Indeed, “in the earliest pictures [of St. Anthony] we find nothing more distinctive than a book, emblematic of his knowledge of Holy Scripture, or a lily,”¹ which “signifies his love for purity.”²  The translation of the blessing, found in the Roman Ritual, is as follows:³

The priest vests in surplice and white stole, and says:

℣. Our help is in the Name of the Lord.
℟. Who made heaven and earth.
℣. The Lord be with you.
℟. And with your spirit.

Let us pray.

God, the Creator and preserver of the human race, the lover of holy purity, the giver of supernatural grace, and the dispenser of everlasting salvation; bless ✠ these lilies which we, Thine humble servants, present to Thee today as an act of thanksgiving and in honor of St. Anthony, Thy confessor, and with a request for Thy blessing.  Pour out on them, by the saving sign ✠ of the holy cross, Thy dew from on high.  Thou in Thy great kindness have given them to man, and endowed them with a sweet fragrance to lighten the burden of the sick.  Therefore, let them be filled with such power that, whether they are used by the sick, or kept in homes or other places, or devoutly carried on one’s person, they may serve to drive out evil spirits, safeguard holy chastity, and turn away illness – all this through the prayers of St. Anthony – and finally impart to Thy servants grace and peace; through Christ our Lord.
℟. Amen.

Then he sprinkles the lilies with holy water, saying:

Sprinkle me, O Lord, with hyssop, and I shall be clean of sin. Wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.

℣. Pray for us, St. Anthony.
℟. That we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ.

Let us pray.
We beg Thee, O Lord, that Thy people may be helped by the constant and devout intercession of Blessed Anthony, Thy illustrious confessor.  May he assist us to be worthy of Thy grace in this life, and to attain everlasting joys in the life to come; through Christ our Lord.
℟. Amen.

After this the lilies are distributed to the people.

As might be expected, the main blessing fittingly contains two references to purity, one at the beginning (“holy purity”) and one at the end (“holy chastity”), which is symbolized by the lily.  A point of interest is that the blessing begins by offering the lilies to God, something rare in such blessings.  In addition to the references to purity, a central intention of this main prayer is the prevention of and restoration from illness by the power of the sacramentalized flowers.  This intention regarding the prevention of and restoration from illness may be inspired by an event which occurred when the Saint was interred – “St. Anthony was buried on the Tuesday following his death, in the Church called Santa Maria Maggiore, in Padua.  On that very day, all the sick who had themselves taken to his grave, recovered.”⁴  This event also provides the foundation for holding devotions to St. Anthony on Tuesdays.  The concluding prayer is concerned with receiving supernatural benefits through the intercession of the Saint.

Another unique feature of this blessing is that the concluding rubric directs that they should be distributed to the faithful.  This rubric, then, envisions this ceremony as something done publicly, with a group of the faithful, and with the flowers grouped together for the blessing, rather than something more singular or with the faithful holding the flowers as they are blessed.  The use of the Asperges text (“Sprinkle me…”) while sprinkling the lilies with holy water is also something rare among the blessings of the Ritual, but is used in the three major blessings during the course of the liturgical year, that of the Candles on Candlemas, of the Ashes on Ash Wednesday, and of the Palms on Palm Sunday.  This, again, indicates that this blessing of lilies is foreseen as something major, especially as this ceremony is restricted to one day of the year.  What great honor is thus given to the lily, which is, according to St. Thomas Aquinas, “the most beautiful flower.”⁵

Rev. Cav. William Rock, FSSP, SMOCSG was ordained in the fall of 2019 and was invested as an Ecclesiastical Knight of the Sacred Military Constantinian Order of St. George in the summer of 2025.  He currently resides at the FSSP Canonical House of St. Casimir in Nashua, NH, and ministers at St. Stanislaus parish.

In support of the causes of Blessed Maria Cristina, Queen, and Servant of God Francesco II, King 

1. Butler, Alban. The Lives of the Saints, vol. 6 (June). Edited and expanded by Thurston, Herbert and Leeson, Norah. (New York: P. J. Kenedy & Sons, 1937), p. 166.
2. Deymann, Clementinus. Devotion to St. Anthony of Padua; or, A novena in His Honor, 3rd ed. (San Francisco: A. Waldteufel, 1888), p. 11.
3. Rituale Romanum [1957], Titulus IX – Caput 10, 5; English adapted from the Weller translation provided online by EWTN (2, XI, VII, 23).
4. Deymann, 12.
5. “est pulcherrimus flos“-St. Thomas Aquinas’ Commentary on Isaias 35:1 (745).

First Sunday after Pentecost

by Fr. Mark Wojdelski, FSSP

(This is part of a series of articles, and will make little sense without the introductory articles: (1) , (2), (3), and (4).  There are more than four articles in the series, but the first four are very important to understanding the conceptual framework.  There is also an index available here for the rest of the articles which includes a calendar with links.)

We left Moses on the mountain in the previous article, but we have not exhausted the topic.

However long it took for the octave of Pentecost to take final shape, the Ember days after Pentecost are very old, possibly going back as far as the early third century.¹ The Sunday that follows them is now celebrated as Trinity Sunday, but there is an even more ancient Sunday buried underneath that feast, which would be celebrated during the week in green vestments if a ferial Mass were being celebrated.

In terms of how this fits with the Exodus and the lunar calendar, the Ember Saturday after Pentecost would be the last day that Moses spends on the mountain before entering the cloud. (13 Sivan)

So Moses rose with his servant Joshua, and Moses went up into the mountain of God.  And he said to the elders, “Wait here for us, until we come to you again; and, behold, Aaron and Hur are with you; whoever has a cause, let him go to them.” Then Moses went up on the mountain, and the cloud covered the mountain. The glory of the Lord settled on Mount Sinai, and the cloud covered it six days; and on the seventh day he called to Moses out of the midst of the cloud. Now the appearance of the glory of the Lord was like a devouring fire on the top of the mountain in the sight of the sons of Israel. And Moses entered the cloud, and went up on the mountain. And Moses was on the mountain forty days and forty nights. (Ex 24:13–18)

It is always interesting to see Joshua son of Nun mentioned, since the name in Hebrew is identical to “Jesus.” Joshua is here called the servant of Moses. In the old covenant, the law of Moses is imposed upon the Israelites, and the law of charity existed in a subordinate role until the fullness of time arrived. In the new covenant, the law of Jesus Christ reigns supreme in the hearts of men of good will, and this due to the love of God (and our fellow man) which “has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.” (Rom 5:5) This passage just quoted is used in the introit for the Ember Saturday Mass, which we should regard as the final day of the seven days of Pentecost, just as the seven days of Easter begin after sunset (Vespers) of Holy Saturday and continue until Vespers of the following Saturday.

At this point it is worth noting that the feast of Pentecost as later instituted by Moses was an observance of a single day. However, since according to the more literal determination of its date, it would always fall on a Sunday, that would mean that there would always be two consecutive days of Sabbath rest for Pentecost, since the Saturday and the Sunday would always be concurrent. Regardless, it was certainly not a week-long celebration like Passover or Sukkot.

This is significant because of a very early tradition:  “Therefore, after you have kept the festival of Pentecost, keep one week more festival, and after that fast; for it is reasonable to rejoice for the gift of God, and to fast after that relaxation: for both Moses and Elijah fasted forty days, and Daniel for ‘three weeks of days did not eat desirable bread, and flesh and wine did not enter into his mouth.’ (Dan 10:3)”  ²

While this might seem to imply that there were no Ember Days at first, this merely reflects a primitive conflict between two different traditions, which eventually resolved by having liturgical rejoicing³ in the Mass and office of these Ember Days combined with fasting and penance for the rest of the day. This continued to be the practice until the observance of the Ember Days, one of the crown jewels of Roman liturgical distinctiveness, was eliminated in the 20th century. In recent years, a resurgence of interest in the Ember days (as well as the constant need for penance) has led a few diocesan bishops to restore them as days of penance for their subjects. Perhaps we can pray for their eventual full restoration for the entire Roman church.

The Ember Days that we are concerned with here, as was alluded to above, are an overlap of feast and fast and this phenomenon is unique to Pentecost week. This would have been the week during which Moses was on the mountain, but had not yet been called into the cloud. (see above Ex 24:15–16)

The day that he went into the cloud would be 14 Sivan, corresponding to our first Sunday after Pentecost. As previously noted, this Mass is rarely celebrated since it was replaced by the feast of the Holy Trinity, but it remains in the missal, in the background, as it were. The texts of the Mass act as a sort of “octave day” celebration of Pentecost, similar to the octave of Easter (Quasimodo/Low Sunday). For example, the epistle simply begins:

God is love. In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only-begotten Son into the world, so that we might live through him. In this is love, not that we loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the expiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No man has ever seen God; if we love one another, God abides in us and his love is perfected in us.

Before continuing, it is worth observing that “Love” is also one of the proper names of the Holy Spirit,⁴ once again making this a highly appropriate passage of scripture on this “octave day” of Pentecost.

Before Moses went into the cloud, presumably it was acting like most clouds and was preventing him from seeing inside it. He might have been afraid, but his love for God and his people allowed him to conquer his fear. The epistle concludes:

By this we know that we abide in him and he in us, because he has given us of his own Spirit. And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent his Son as the Savior of the world. Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God. So we know and believe the love God has for us. God is love, and he who abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him. In this is love perfected with us, that we may have confidence for the day of judgment, because as he is so are we in this world. There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and he who fears is not perfected in love. We love, because he first loved us. If any one says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen, cannot love God whom he has not seen. And this commandment we have from him, that he who loves God should love his brother also. (1 Jn 4:8–21)

The gospel reading assigned for this Sunday is likewise appropriate instruction in the Christian life that every adult Christian who has received the Holy Spirit should be aware of:

“Be merciful, even as your Father is merciful. Judge not, and you will not be judged; condemn not, and you will not be condemned; forgive, and you will be forgiven; give, and it will be given to you; good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap. For the measure you give will be the measure you get back.” He also told them a parable: “Can a blind man lead a blind man? Will they not both fall into a pit? A disciple is not above his teacher, but every one when he is fully taught will be like his teacher. Why do you see the speck that is in your brother’s eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye? Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Brother, let me take out the speck that is in your eye,’ when you yourself do not see the log that is in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take out the speck that is in your brother’s eye.” (Lk 6:36–42)

Our Lord reminds us that perfection consists in being like the Divine Teacher, with all the sacrifices that entails. We are told to be merciful, since it is only by being merciful that we can be truly prudent, with our sights set on the next life, when we will be forgiven to the extent that we have forgiven others and shown them mercy, as almighty God continuously shows us mercy during our lives.⁵

The communion antiphon and postcommunion prayer complete the framework of the Christian life. First the communion antiphon: “I will tell of all your wonderful deeds. I will be glad and exult in you, I will sing praise to your name, O Most High.” (Ps. 9:1–2) The postcommunion prayer reflects the same sentiment: “Filled with such great gifts, O Lord, grant, we beseech Thee, that we may both receive these saving benefits and never cease from Thy praise.”

We can and should praise God “in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs” (Eph 5:19) but the greatest praise that we can offer to almighty God is opening ourselves to the Holy Spirit and maintaining a clean heart, ready to receive his inspiration and to do his will. The collect of the Mass summarizes all these things: “O God, the strength of all them that put their trust in Thee, mercifully hear our prayers; and because through the weakness of our mortal nature we can do nothing without Thee,⁶ grant us the help of Thy grace, that in keeping Thy commandments we may please Thee both in will and in deed.”

The church now enters into the long period of time after Pentecost, the longest season of the liturgical year. Moses went into the cloud, was surrounded by it, breathed it in and out, and came out after 33 days. We are meant to go into the cloud of the Holy Spirit and remain within it until we come to our eternal home.

The Fast of the Fourth Month

by Rev. Cav. William Rock, FSSP, SMOCSG

As readers of the Missive may recall, previous articles discussed the Autumn and Winter Ember Fasts, those of the Seventh Month/September and of the Tenth Month/December/Advent respectively.  In these articles, it was related that, the keeping of the Ember Days (Latin Quatuor Tempora, “four times”) is one of the most ancient practices of Christianity as practiced in the city of Rome.  According to the old Catholic Encyclopedia, “the ‘Liber Pontificalis’ ascribes to Pope Callistus (217-222) a law ordering the fast, but probably it is older.  Pope St. Leo the Great (440-461) considers it an Apostolic institution.”¹

For those who may be unfamiliar, the Ember Days are four sets of three days (Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday) somewhat evenly spaced throughout the year which are kept as days of penance.  With respect to their origin, the Ember Days seem to be a christianization of Roman agricultural celebrations with the December Ember Days, falling yearly in the Third Week of Advent, being the christianization of the feriæ sementivæ (“for the seeding”), the Summer Ember Days, falling yearly during the Octave of Pentecost, of the feriæ messis (“for a bountiful harvest”), and the Autumn Ember Days, falling yearly in the third liturgical week of September, of the feriæ vindimiales (“for a rich vintage”).²  The Spring Ember Days, falling yearly in the week following the First Sunday of Lent, which seem to be without an agricultural precedent, were added, presumably, to balance out the year.  The Autumn and Winter Ember Days are also called, as was noted, the Fast of the Seventh Month and Fast of the Tenth Month, respectively.  Lest there be any confusion regarding calling the September Ember Days the Fast of the Seventh, and not the Ninth, Month and the December Ember Days the Fast of the Tenth, and not the Twelfth, Month, it is important to note that the Roman calendar, prior to the reform under Julius Caesar (d. 44 B.C.), originally marked the beginning of the year in the spring with March being the first month,³ thus making September the seventh and December the tenth, hence their names (septem, “seven”; decem, “ten”).⁴  So while September and December were not the seventh and tenth calendar months at the dawn of Roman Christianity, they were still the seventh and tenth months by name.

As was stated, the Ember Days were historically and traditionally kept as days of penance, particularly as days of fasting and abstinence.  In the 1917 Code of Canon Law, the Ember Days were to be kept as days of fasting and abstinence, with no exception for those which corresponded with the Octave of Pentecost (the Ember Days, it should be noted, predate this Octave) (canon 1252.2).  By 1962, the abstinence on Ember Wednesdays and Saturdays was reduced to partial.  These sets of days are observed, as they correspond, some better than others, with the changes of natural seasons, as a way to give thanks to God for the blessings of the previous season and to ask His blessing on the one beginning.  As ordinations at Rome historically occurred on Ember Saturdays, these days were also days of preparation for this event.  Uniquely, the Ember Days of Pentecost also served as the reintroduction of the practice of keeping days of fasting, which practice had, according to ancient observance, been suspended since the Feast of the Resurrection.⁵

Some authors, such as Servant of God Dom Prosper Guéranger,⁶ attempt to justify the keeping of the Ember Day fasts by invoking the Prophet Zacharias (8:19): “Thus saith the Lord of hosts: The fast of the fourth month, and the fast of the fifth, and the fast of the seventh, and the fast of the tenth shall be to the house of Juda, joy, and gladness, and great solemnities: only love ye truth and peace.”  The Fasts of the Seventh Month and of the Tenth Month mentioned by the Prophet, then, would correspond with the September and December Ember Days.  The Fast of the Fourth Month would correspond with the Ember Days following the Feast of Pentecost which can fall between 20 May (the third month) and 13 June (the fourth month).  Indeed, “for a time in the Carolingian period, Gallican canonists placed the [Ember] fasts in the first week of the first month [those of March], the second week of the fourth month [of June], the third week of the seventh month [of September], and the fourth week of the tenth month [of December].”⁷  If one were to assign a correspondence in the Roman liturgical calendar for the Fast of the Fifth Month, the fasts before the Feast of the Nativity of St. John the Baptist and before the Feast of Sts. Peter and Paul, both celebrated in late June, close to July, the original fifth Roman month, serve as possible candidates.  It is not by coincidence, then, such authors would argue, that this passage of the Prophet is read as part of the Fourth Lesson on September’s Ember Saturday (Zach 8:14-19).  Rather, it is the Church’s liturgy itself giving witness to the origin of these fasts.

It is clear, however, that there is not a perfect correspondence between the passage from Zacharias and the Roman liturgical calendar.  This is most likely due to the Prophet being invoked as a justification for a practice which was already being kept rather than the passage serving as the inspiration of the practice.  As was said above, the origin of the Ember Days is more likely a christianization of Roman agricultural celebrations at a very early date rather than the application of the writings of an Old Testament Prophet to the Christian liturgical year, although the Scripture text may have inspired the names of these christianized observances.  Dom Guéranger himself notes that “in the early writers” there is mention “of the three times [of fasting] and not the four,”⁸ but argues this is because the Ember Days of Lent add nothing to the Lenten fast already being observed.  Again, it seems more likely that the Spring Ember Days were added later, but by the time of Pope Gelasius (A.D. 492-496), to balance out the calendar.

As was explained above, the Summer/Pentecost Ember Days seem to be a christianization of Roman agricultural celebrations of the feriæ messis (“for a bountiful harvest”).  This is, perhaps, reflected in the choice of the Epistle for the Ember Friday of Pentecost (Joel 2:23-24; 26-27) as well as the Second (Lev 23:9-11; 15-17, 21), Third, (Deu 26:1-3; 7-11), and Fourth (Deu 26:1-3; 7-11) Lessons for the Ember Saturday of Pentecost which all refer to harvests and other agricultural work.  The Second and Third Lessons of Ember Saturday are doing double-duty in that, not only do they treat of agricultural work and harvests which can be seen as associated with the summer Roman harvest celebration, they relate specifically to the offering of the first fruits of the barley harvest associated with the Israelite Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread (see Lev 23:9-14) and the offering of the first fruits of the wheat harvest associated with the Israelite Pentecost, or Feast of Weeks (see Exo 23:16), elevations into Israelite worship of post-fall agricultural festivals.  The Israelite Passover was, of course, elevated into the Christian Pasch (Easter), and the Israelite Pentecost into the Christian Pentecost, so it is fitting that the account from Leviticus in the Second Lesson, recounting the institution of the Israelite Pentecost, is read during the Christian Pentecost Octave.⁹

As was also related in the previously mentioned articles, on Sundays related to the Autumn and Winter Ember Days, prior to the changes made to the Breviary under Pope John XXIII (d. A.D. 1963),¹⁰ the readings for the second nocturns in the Office of Matins related to the ancient Ember fasts.  Knowing this, it would be expected that something similar would occur on the Sundays associated with the Summer Ember Fasts.  But, unfortunately, this is not the case.  Traditionally, mirroring Easter and its Octave, Matins during Pentecost and its Octave only has one nocturn daily with its three lessons being of the patristic commentary on the Gospel of the day.  As such, there is no room on Pentecost or during its Octave in Matins for a patristic sermon on the Summer Ember Fast.  It is worth noting at this point that, in the whole liturgical year, only these two great feasts and their octaves have Matins with just three psalms and three lessons consisting of patristic commentary on the Gospel of the day.

The lack of a patristic sermon on the Summer Ember Fast in the Divine Office, of course, does not mean such sermons do not exist.  Therefore, to assist our readers to enter into the spirit of these Pentecost Ember Days, here is provided the First Sermon on the Whitsuntide Fast of Pope St. Leo the Great whose sermons on the Fasts of the Seventh and Tenth Months are read at their appropriate times by the Church in the Divine Office:

Today’s festival, dearly-beloved, hallowed by the descent of the Holy Ghost, is followed, as you know by a solemn fast, which being a salutary institution for the healing of soul and body, we must keep with devout observance.  For when the Apostles had been filled with the promised power, and the Spirit of Truth had entered their hearts, we doubt not that among the other mysteries of heavenly doctrine this discipline of spiritual self-restraint was first thought of at the prompting of the Paraclete in order that minds sanctified by fasting might be fitter for the chrism to be bestowed on them.  The disciples of Christ had the protection of the Almighty aid, and the chiefs of the infant Church were guarded by the whole Godhead of the Father and the Son through the presence of the Holy Ghost.  But against the threatened attacks of persecutors, against the terrifying shouts of the ungodly, they could not fight with bodily strength or pampered flesh, since that which delights the outer does most harm to the inner man, and the more one’s fleshly substance is kept in subjection, the more purified is the reasoning soul.

And so those teachers, who have instructed all the Church’s sons by their examples and their traditions, began the rudiments of the Christian warfare with holy fasts, that, having to fight against spiritual wickednesses, they might take the armour of abstinence, wherewith to slay the incentives to vice.  For invisible foes and incorporeal enemies will have no strength against us, if we be not entangled in any lusts of the flesh.  The desire to hurt us is indeed ever active in the tempter, but he will be disarmed and powerless, if he find no vantage ground within us from which to attack us.  But who, encompassed with this frail flesh, and placed in this body of death, even one who has made much decided progress, can be so sure of his safety now, as to believe himself free from the peril of all allurements?  Although Divine Grace gives daily victory to His saints, yet He does not remove the occasion for fighting, because this very fact is part of our Protector’s Mercy, Who has always designed that something should remain for our ever-changing nature to win, lest it should boast itself on the ending of the battle.

Therefore, after the days of holy gladness, which we have devoted to the honour of the Lord rising from the dead and then ascending into heaven, and after receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost, a fast is ordained as a wholesome and needful practice, so that, if perchance through neglect or disorder even amid the joys of the festival any undue licence has broken out, it may be corrected by the remedy of strict abstinence, which must be the more scrupulously carried out in order that what was on this day Divinely bestowed on the Church may abide in us.  For being made the Temple of the Holy Ghost, and watered with a greater supply than ever of the Divine Stream, we ought not to be conquered by any lusts nor held in possession by any vices in order that the habitation of Divine power may be stained with no pollution.

And this assuredly it is possible for all to obtain, God helping and guiding us, if by the purification of fasting and by merciful liberality, we take pains to be set free from the filth of sins, and to be rich in the fruits of love.  For whatever is spent in feeding the poor, in healing the sick, in ransoming prisoners, or in any other deeds of piety, is not lessened but increased, nor will that ever be lost in the sight of God which the loving-kindness of the faithful has expended, seeing that whatever a man gives in relief, he lays up for his own reward.  For blessed are the merciful, since God shall have mercy on them (Matthew 5:7); nor will shortcomings be remembered, where the presence of true religion has been attested.  On Wednesday and Friday, therefore, let us fast, and on Saturday let us keep vigil in the presence of the most blessed Apostle, Peter, by whose prayers we surely trust to be set free both from spiritual foes and bodily enemies; through our Lord Jesus Christ, who with the Father and the Holy Ghost, lives and reigns for ever and ever. Amen.¹¹

Rev. Cav. William Rock, FSSP, SMOCSG was ordained in the fall of 2019 and was invested as an Ecclesiastical Knight of the Sacred Military Constantinian Order of St. George in the summer of 2025.  He currently resides at the FSSP Canonical House of St. Casimir in Nashua, NH, and ministers at St. Stanislaus parish.

In support of the causes of Blessed Maria Cristina, Queen, and Servant of God Francesco II, King 

1. The old Catholic Encyclopedia, s.v. “Ember Days.”
2. Ibid.
3. Ibid., s.v. “New Year’s Day.”
4. Whitaker’s Words, s.vv. “Septem” and “Decem.”
5. Talley, T. J. The Origins of the Liturgical Year.  (New York: Pueblo Books, 1986), pp. 66-67, 68-69, 147-148.  See also: New Liturgical Movement: Fifty Days of Easter?  As witnessed to by the 1917 Code of Canon Law, canon 1252.2, and, more importantly, by “the Sacramentary of St. Leo I” (no later than ~A.D. 540), the Vigil of Pentecost began to kept at some point as a day of fasting and abstinence, a slight deviation from the practice of no days of fast during the 50 days between Easter and Pentecost, but one made somewhat early on.  This deviation in the observance of the 50 days between Easter and Pentecost arguably arose from the keeping of the Vigil of Pentecost, like the Vigil of Easter, in the Roman tradition, as a time for the solemn celebration of Baptism and also the ancient discipline which directed that those who were to receive Baptism and those baptizing should do so fasting (e.g.: The Didache [first-second century A.D.]: “But before the baptism let the baptizer fast, and the baptized, and whatever others can; but you shall order the baptized to fast one or two days before.” [7, 4]).  By 1962, the Vigil of Pentecost was kept as a day of fasting and partial abstinence.
6. Guéranger, Prosper. The Liturgical Year, vol. 1 (Advent). Trans. Shepherd, Laurence. (Fitzwilliam: Loreto Publications, 2000), pp. 218-221.
7. Talley, p. 148.  See also: New Liturgical Movement: The Feast and Fast of Pentecost.
8. Guéranger, p. 219.
9. More information about the Mass readings of Ember Saturday during the Octave of Pentecost, see New Liturgical Movement: The Ancient Character of Pentecost in the Roman Rite (Part 2).
10. In the changes made by Pope John XXIII in 1960, Sunday Matins was reduced to one nocturn and the readings of the second nocturns omitted.  With respect to the matter at hand, it seems to be a great loss that the Autumn and Winter Ember Day, which testify to their antiquity, are no longer part of the Church’s official liturgy.
11. Translated by Charles Lett Feltoe. From Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Second Series, Vol. 12. Edited by Philip Schaff and Henry Wace. (Buffalo, NY: Christian Literature Publishing Co., 1895.) Revised and edited for New Advent by Kevin Knight. <https://www.newadvent.org/fathers/360378.htm>.  Pope Leo also makes reference to the keeping of the Pentecost Ember Days in his first On Whitsuntide sermon at the conclusion: “On Wednesday and Friday, therefore, let us fast, and on Saturday let us keep vigil in the presence of the most blessed Apostle, Peter, by whose prayers we surely trust to be set free both from spiritual foes and bodily enemies; through our Lord Jesus Christ, who with the Father and the Holy Ghost, lives and reigns for ever and ever. Amen.”

Pentecost

by Fr. Mark Wojdelski, FSSP

(This is part of a series of articles, and will make little sense without the introductory articles: (1) , (2), (3), and (4).  There are more than four articles in the series, but the first four are very important to understanding the conceptual framework.  There is also an index available here for the rest of the articles which includes a calendar with links.)

Although a great deal has been written by others about the feast of Pentecost and how it ties in to ancient Israelite worship, I wish to make a few observations as regards how it fits in with our (if you are still reading these, it’s not just mine any more) lunar calendar schema. Even though I wrote about the second year of the Exodus in the last article, we have not yet had a chance to look at the Pentecost of the first year of the Exodus (before it was even instituted as one of the chief feasts of the Israelites).

First of all, we need to look at the exact day the feast of Pentecost falls on. This is determined based on a reading of the book of Leviticus:

 

“And you shall count from the day after the sabbath, from the day that you brought the sheaf of the wave offering; seven full weeks shall they be, counting fifty days to the day after the seventh sabbath; then you shall present a cereal offering of new grain to the Lord.  You shall bring from your dwellings two loaves of bread to be waved, made of two tenths of an ephah; they shall be of fine flour, they shall be baked with leaven, as first fruits to the Lord. And you shall present with the bread seven lambs a year old without blemish, and one young bull, and two rams; they shall be a burnt offering to the Lord, with their cereal offering and their drink offerings, an offering by fire, a pleasing odor to the Lord. And you shall offer one male goat for a sin offering, and two male lambs a year old as a sacrifice of peace offerings.  And the priest shall wave them with the bread of the first fruits as a wave offering before the Lord, with the two lambs; they shall be holy to the Lord for the priest.  And you shall make proclamation on the same day; you shall hold a holy convocation; you shall do no laborious work: it is a statute for ever in all your dwellings throughout your generations. (Lev 23:15–21)

 

 

This might seem fairly straightforward, but a there is a dispute regarding precisely when the counting of the fifty days should begin. When that count begins will, of course, determine the date of Pentecost. There are two schools of thought in this regard. The one that is a product of later rabbinic (post-second-temple) Judaism, and the one that is held to today (outside of the fundamentalist sect called the Karaites) begins counting the days to Pentecost immediately after the first day of the feast of Unleavened Bread, which the rabbis regard as the “sabbath” spoken of in the text quoted above. Thus in present day Judaism, Pentecost or “Shavuot”¹ always falls on the 6th day of Sivan, no matter what day of the week that might be.

The other school of thought was followed by the Sadducees, who were in power around the time of Christ until the destruction of the second temple in 70 AD. This tradition is only retained today by the aforementioned Karaites. It is possible this represents the more primitive tradition. It is important to keep in mind that until the destruction of the second temple, the end of the “grace period” for the Jews to receive Christ, the high priests at that time were Sadducees. This priestly line was preserved by the grace of almighty God from the time of Moses and Aaron, and even enjoyed certain special divine privileges (cf. Jn 11:51, when the high priest prophesies). By this literal—and likely original—reading of the text, the counting of the days to Pentecost began after the Sabbath (Saturday) within the week of Passover. If the feast began on Friday, 15 Nisan, then, the count would begin on Saturday evening (after sunset) and end on the Sunday seven weeks thence. One can see that if the counting of the days until Pentecost is done in this manner, Pentecost itself would always fall on a Sunday, the first day of the week, as it always does in Christian worship, and so there is a certain fittingness to this.

The events that took place before, during, and after the first Pentecost (which did not yet exist as a formal observance) are recorded in Exodus, chapter 19:

On the third new moon after the sons of Israel had gone forth out of the land of Egypt, on that day they came into the wilderness of Sinai.  And when they set out from Rephidim and came into the wilderness of Sinai, they encamped in the wilderness; and there Israel encamped before the mountain. And Moses went up to God, and the Lord called to him out of the mountain, saying, “Thus you shall say to the house of Jacob, and tell the sons of Israel: You have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I bore you on eagles’ wings and brought you to myself. Now therefore, if you will obey my voice and keep my covenant, you shall be my own possession among all peoples; for all the earth is mine, and you shall be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation. These are the words which you shall speak to the children of Israel.”

So Moses came and called the elders of the people, and set before them all these words which the Lord had commanded him. And all the people answered together and said, “All that the Lord has spoken we will do.” And Moses reported the words of the people to the Lord. And the Lord said to Moses, “Behold, I am coming to you in a thick cloud, that the people may hear when I speak with you, and may also believe you for ever.”

Then Moses told the words of the people to the Lord. And the Lord said to Moses, “Go to the people and consecrate them today and tomorrow, and let them wash their garments, and be ready by the third day; for on the third day the Lord will come down upon Mount Sinai in the sight of all the people. And you shall set bounds for the people round about, saying, ‘Take heed that you do not go up into the mountain or touch the border of it; whoever touches the mountain shall be put to death; no hand shall touch him, but he shall be stoned or shot; whether beast or man, he shall not live.’ When the trumpet sounds a long blast, they shall come up to the mountain.” So Moses went down from the mountain to the people, and consecrated the people; and they washed their garments. And he said to the people, “Be ready by the third day; do not go near a woman.”

On the morning of the third day there was thunder and lightning, and a thick cloud upon the mountain, and a very loud trumpet blast, so that all the people who were in the camp trembled. Then Moses brought the people out of the camp to meet God; and they took their stand at the foot of the mountain. And Mount Sinai was wrapped in smoke, because the Lord descended upon it in fire; and the smoke of it went up like the smoke of a kiln, and the whole mountain quaked greatly. And as the sound of the trumpet grew louder and louder, Moses spoke, and God answered him in thunder. And the Lord came down upon Mount Sinai, to the top of the mountain; and the Lord called Moses to the top of the mountain, and Moses went up.  And the Lord said to Moses, “Go down and warn the people, lest they break through to the Lord to gaze and many of them perish. And also let the priests who come near to the Lord consecrate themselves, lest the Lord break out upon them.” And Moses said to the Lord, “The people cannot come up to Mount Sinai; for you yourself charged us, saying, ‘Set bounds about the mountain, and consecrate it.’ ”  And the Lord said to him, “Go down, and come up bringing Aaron with you; but do not let the priests and the people break through to come up to the Lord, lest he break out against them.” So Moses went down to the people and told them. (Ex 19:1–25)

After this, God reveals the Ten Commandments and other basic observances of the law. Many of the other minute observances would not be given until after the incident with the golden calf.  Additionally, we have here a parallel, frequently commented upon, between the public establishment of the people of God at Sinai and the public establishment of the new people of God on the first Pentecost after the resurrection.

Although a much later development in the liturgy, we can at least see a biblical justification for an octave of the feast of Pentecost (at least in the Christian calendar), for after receiving the law:

Then Moses went up on the mountain, and the cloud covered the mountain. The glory of the Lord settled on Mount Sinai, and the cloud covered it six days; and on the seventh day he called to Moses out of the midst of the cloud. Now the appearance of the glory of the Lord was like a devouring fire on the top of the mountain in the sight of the sons of Israel. And Moses entered the cloud, and went up on the mountain. And Moses was on the mountain forty days and forty nights. (Ex 24:15–18)

It is unfortunate to end on a low note, but we recall what happened at the end of those forty days, on the 17th day of Tammuz. (see here)

The Israelites in the Wilderness (23 Iyar)

by Fr. Mark Wojdelski, FSSP

(This is part of a series of articles, and will make little sense without the introductory articles: (1) , (2), (3), and (4).  There are more than four articles in the series, but the first four are very important to understanding the conceptual framework.  There is also an index of all articles that includes a calendar with links for convenience.

In this part of the lunar calendar, we continue to accompany the Israelites on their Exodus out of Egypt.  The correspondences with the Roman liturgy continue.  We have already to seen some of what happened in the second month after the Exodus in one of the first articles on this topic. By way of brief reminder: on what corresponds to the fourth Sunday after Easter in the Roman liturgical calendar, the people begin to receive manna from heaven, which they would continue to receive for the entire time of their wandering in the desert. We have seen (above) that this date, no matter what else might have been going on, was a Sunday, specifically the 16th day of the second month, called Iyar.1  They continued to journey after this, with the manna sustaining them.  According to an old tradition, they make it a whole week before complaining again.2 On the 23rd day of Iyar (also a Sunday in this arrangement) we read:

All the congregation of the sons of Israel moved on from the wilderness of Sin by stages, according to the commandment of the Lord, and camped at Rephidim; but there was no water for the people to drink.  Therefore the people found fault with Moses, and said, “Give us water to drink.” And Moses said to them, “Why do you find fault with me? Why do you put the Lord to the test?” But the people thirsted there for water, and the people murmured against Moses, and said, “Why did you bring us up out of Egypt, to kill us and our children and our cattle with thirst?”  So Moses cried to the Lord, “What shall I do with this people? They are almost ready to stone me.”  And the Lord said to Moses, “Pass on before the people, taking with you some of the elders of Israel; and take in your hand the rod with which you struck the Nile, and go.  Behold, I will stand before you there on the rock at Horeb; and you shall strike the rock, and water shall come out of it, that the people may drink.” And Moses did so, in the sight of the elders of Israel. And he called the name of the place Massah and Meribah, because of the fault-finding of the sons of Israel, and because they put the Lord to the test by saying, “Is the Lord among us or not?” (Ex 17:1-7)

Now, the fact of the human body’s need for water on a fairly regular basis in order to avert death allows us to establish that the Israelites’ request for water in the desert was not nearly so frivolous as e.g. the desire for the fleshpots of Egypt because one tires of the food that one has (we will see this later on). God knows that the people are thirsty, and He will provide water in due time. God mildly rebukes the Israelites, but does not afflict them for their reasonable petition. Their fault did not consist in asking, but in asking wrongly, i.e. without faith. Even Moses appears to be at the end of his rope, perhaps fearing the mob (and death) when he expresses his fear of being stoned, as though God could not rescue him from every harm.3 If we despair of obtaining some earthly good that we need very much, that is not a sin against hope, but it might be a sin against faith if we do not believe that God will provide for us in our need (and our greatest need is to be with Him in heaven).

We can contrast this with what happens exactly one (lunar) year later. Keep in mind what has happened in the intervening time. The Israelites continued on to Mt. Sinai, where they remained until the following year “in the presence of God,” as it were. Their time there was not without incident.

Less than seven weeks after arriving at the holy mountain, the Israelites committed the sin of idolatry with the golden calf and the covenant was broken. In witness of this, Moses smashed the tablets of the law in the sight of the people. Moses then had to remake the covenant between God and the Israelites, making a new pair of tablets. This took place traditionally on 10 Tishri, the Day of Atonement, after Moses had spent another 40 days on the mountain in the presence of God. After his return with the new tablets, the tabernacle and the ark could be constructed, and these were assembled on the first day of Nisan in the second year of the Exodus. The Israelites remained there a bit longer, then:

In the second year, in the second month, on the twentieth day of the month, the cloud was taken up from over the tabernacle of the covenant, and the sons of Israel set out by stages from the wilderness of Sinai; and the cloud settled down in the wilderness of Paran. They set out for the first time at the command of the Lord by Moses. (Num 10:11–13)

So they set out from the mount of the Lord three days’ journey; and the ark of the covenant of the Lord went before them three days’ journey, to seek out a resting place for them.  And the cloud of the Lord was over them by day, whenever they set out from the camp. And whenever the ark set out, Moses said, “Arise, O Lord, and let your enemies be scattered; and let them who hate you flee before you.” And when it rested, he said, “Return, O Lord, to the ten thousand thousands of Israel.” (Num 10:33–36)

Three days’ journey would bring them to the afternoon of 22 Iyar:

Now the rabble that was among them had a strong craving; and the people of Israel also wept again, and said, “O that we had meat to eat! We remember the fish we ate in Egypt for nothing, the cucumbers, the melons, the leeks, the onions, and the garlic; but now our strength is dried up, and there is nothing at all but this manna to look at.” (Num 11:4–6)

As was observed above when we were looking at the first 23 Iyar, it was perfectly reasonable for the Israelites to desire water, a basic necessity of life. This “craving” the people have now is holding the gifts that God is already providing (manna) in contempt, the exact opposite of gratitude.

Moses then spoke to the Lord and He told him:

And say to the people, ‘Consecrate yourselves for tomorrow, and you shall eat meat; for you have wept in the hearing of the Lord, saying, “Who will give us meat to eat? For it was well with us in Egypt.” Therefore the Lord will give you meat, and you shall eat.  You shall not eat one day, or two days, or five days, or ten days, or twenty days,  but a whole month, until it comes out at your nostrils and becomes loathsome to you, because you have rejected the Lord who is among you, and have wept before him, saying, “Why did we come forth out of Egypt?” ’ ” But Moses said, “The people among whom I am number six hundred thousand on foot; and you have said, ‘I will give them meat, that they may eat a whole month!’ Shall flocks and herds be slaughtered for them, to satisfy them? Or shall all the fish of the sea be gathered together for them, to satisfy them?” And the Lord said to Moses, “Is the Lord’s hand shortened? Now you shall see whether my word will come true for you or not.” (Num 11:18–23) And there went forth a wind from the Lord, and it brought quails from the sea, and let them fall beside the camp, about a day’s journey on this side and a day’s journey on the other side, round about the camp, and about two cubits above the face of the earth. And the people rose all that day, and all night, and all the next day, and gathered the quails; he who gathered least gathered ten homers; and they spread them out for themselves all around the camp.  While the meat was yet between their teeth, before it was consumed, the anger of the Lord was kindled against the people, and the Lord struck the people with a very great plague. (Num 11:31–33)

A “homer” in this context is about 9 gallons of volume, so imagine two big barrels almost filled with quail per person.  This would be more than anyone could eat or even process before the meat spoils, and that spoilage might have been the very cause (on the natural level) of the plague that they suffered. This story is meant to remind us that God will provide for us, as He did for them (with the manna) but if we put Him to the test He will “reward” us with more than we can possibly handle, and this might overwhelm us. We must remember that it is important to be content with the blessings that God has given to us, and not to wish for more than we have been given, unless it is God’s will. The manna came to them for the first time on a Sunday morning, the first day of the week. Now that they despise the manna, they are stuffed with quail and punished with a plague. If we imagine that the Exodus began on a Friday, then after a (lunar) year, this second round of quail would come on Thursday, 23 Iyar. They gather “all day, all night, and all the next day” (Friday) and then they are struck with a plague. Is it a coincidence that eating meat on Friday leads to a plague? This time, most likely.

This leads to the connection to be made with the Roman liturgy. The twenty-third day of Iyar in our artificial calendar corresponds to the fifth Sunday after Easter. This Sunday serves as an introduction to the lesser Rogation Days, which occur on the Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday leading up to Ascension Thursday. The lesser (or minor) Rogation days were originally a local custom and were introduced by St. Mamertus, Bishop of Vienne, some time in the fifth century. They did not appear in Rome until the time of Leo III (795-816).4  Nevertheless, the fifth Sunday after Easter, at least as it appears in the Roman missal, serves as a very appropriate introduction to them and may have influenced their placement. What would not have influenced their placement, but is certainly interesting in the context of this long study of seemingly random coincidences, is that they were originally instituted in response to a local plague.

In the gospel for the 5th Sunday after Easter, our Lord says, “Amen, amen, I say to you: if you ask the Father any thing in my name, he will give it you. Hitherto, you have not asked any thing in my name. Ask, and you shall receive; that your joy may be full.” (Jn 16:23–24)

We are meant to understand by this, and from the two stories from the book of Exodus that we can tie into this, that all our prayers of petition must be made well, in a spirit of thanksgiving, whether the petition is granted or not. It would be preferable also, as we saw from the story of the quail, if our petition is not tied a spirit of ingratitude, as though what we have is somehow not sufficient for us at that exact moment. If our hearts are conformed to the heart of Jesus, then we will always ask the Father in the name of His Son, just as he asked the Father in the garden of Gethsemani, “Father, if you are willing, remove this chalice from me; nevertheless not my will, but yours, be done.” (Lk 22:42) All of our prayers made in such a spirit are answered. Often the answer is “no,” but it comes with knowing God’s will in a particular case. It is worth reiterating that every prayer of petition made in this spirit will result in God’s will being done, and we the petitioners gain merit from it, no matter what the result, and so thanksgiving (at least in our minds) must come before and after every prayer of petition, or it is scarcely prayer at all.

The Eschatological Lord’s Day – Worship, Rest, and Communion

by Rev. Cav. William Rock, FSSP, SMOCSG

The current Code of Canon Law, promulgated in 1983 and subsequently revised, in Canon 1247, contains the following regarding the keeping of Sundays, the Lord’s Day, and Holy Days:

On Sundays and other holy days of obligation, the faithful are obliged to participate in the Mass.  Moreover, they are to abstain from those works and affairs which hinder the worship to be rendered to God, the joy proper to the Lord’s day, or the suitable relaxation of mind and body.¹

The corresponding canon (n. 1248) in the 1917 Code of Canon Law reads as follows:

On feast days of precept, Mass is to be heard; there is an abstinence from servile work, legal acts, and likewise, unless there is a special indult or legitimate customs provide otherwise, from public trade, shopping, and other public buying and selling.²

According to the Catholic moral tradition, the motivation behind the content of these canons is as follows:

• Man’s natural powers are rested
• valuable help is given to man’s spiritual and religious life
• family life is fostered
• social worship and universal religion are encouraged ³

But, more simply stated, it can be said that the purpose of the Church’s law regarding the keeping of Sunday is to encourage worship, rest, and communion.  This article will quickly explore each of these points before explaining the deep reason for the Church’s association of these three with the proper keeping of the Lord’s Day.

To begin with, the faithful are required to worship God on Sunday.  Specifically, they are required, unless legitimately excused, to attend Mass.  While other religious activities are encouraged, such as spiritual reading, catechism, and devotions, the Church requires attendance at Mass and only in-person participation at Mass fulfills this requirement.  In this precept, the Church has codified in her law this directive found in the Letter to the Hebrews: “Not forsaking our assembly” (Heb 10:25).

Next, the faithful are expected to rest on Sundays.  Historically, the Catholic moral tradition has identified four types of work:

1. Servile work is that which a) requires mainly bodily activity, b) has as its immediate purpose the welfare of the body, c) was formerly done by slaves; e.g., farm work such as digging or ploughing, mechanical work like sewing or making shoes.
   N.B. The character of servile work is not determined by the worker’s intention or by the fatigue involved, or by the fact that wages are received, etc., but solely by the nature of the work itself which remains servile even if done out of charity or for the sake of recreation.
2. Cultural work is that which a) is the product chiefly of the mental facilities, b) is immediately directed towards the development of the mind, c) used to be performed by persons who were not slaves, such as reading, writing, singing, playing the organ.  These acts remain cultural even if energy is lost in their performance and wages received.
3. Ordinary (natural) work is that which is done indiscriminately by all classes and is chiefly intended for the daily sustenance of the body, such as eating, hunting, travelling, cooking.
4. Judicial and commercial work is that which is transacted in the courts or in the course of public trading, such as sitting in court, defending criminals, buying, selling, leasing, etc.⁴

The canon in the 1917 Code makes it clear that unnecessary servile, judicial, and commercial work are forbidden (generally) on Sundays (there can be situations where servile, judicial, and/or commercial work become necessary and, thus, would not be forbidden).  This reflects the traditional Catholic moral position that these activities are, per se, incompatible with the proper keeping of the Lord’s Day as a day of rest and worship, but cultural work and ordinary (natural) work are allowed.⁵  While the canon in the 1983 Code is less precise on the types of “works and affairs” which are incompatible with the keeping of the Lord’s Day, there is a certain advantage to this.  In interpreting this canon, the traditional prohibition against servile, judicial, and commercial work is still present, but there is also a prohibition against the improper use of those types of work which are allowed, namely cultural work and ordinary (natural) work, a prohibition not expressed in the earlier version.  As was stated, cultural work and ordinary (natural) work are not per se incompatible with the proper keeping of the Lord’s Day, but they can become so if undertaken immoderately.  For example, while practicing an instrument is not per se contrary to the keeping of the Lord’s Day, prolonging the practice to such an extent that no rest was actually had and/or that one spent the day isolated from others would violate the purpose of the law, which is there to foster communion and rest.  While it is true that in the early Church, existing in a Roman world, had to treat Sundays as normal days of work, once it was possible, the Church imposed the expectation of rest on Sundays.

Lastly, on Sundays, the faithful are expected to have and build communion with, first, the members of their family, their natural household, but also with the other members of the Church, the household of faith.  This is part of the reason why attendance at Mass is required.  Mass is not a private devotion, but an act of the Church in common, although there is a differentiation of roles.  The time of Sunday outside of Mass, additionally, should not be spent in isolation, with each pursuing his or her own interests.  But, rather, it should be spent with others, particularly those of the natural household and the household of faith, so that the ties of relationship may be established or strengthened.

After this brief explanation, the question can be explored as to why the Church promotes, nay more, demands worship, rest, and communion of her faithful on the Lord’s Day.  The answer is that each Lord’s Day is, in a certain sense, a proclamation of, an expectation of, and a participation, in a limited yet real way, in the “life of the world to come,” as it is said in the Creed.  In the world to come, the blessed will be eternally, communally worshiping God – “And I heard as it were the voice of a great multitude, and as the voice of many waters, and as the voice of great thunders, saying: Alleluia: for the Lord our God, the Almighty, hath reigned.  Let us be glad and rejoice and give glory to him.  For the marriage of the Lamb is come: and his wife hath prepared herself” (Apoc 19:6-7); be at rest in God – “Write: Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord.  From henceforth now, saith the Spirit, that they may rest from their labours” (Apoc 14:13); and be in communion with God and with each other – “And I heard a great voice from the throne, saying: Behold the tabernacle of God with men: and He will dwell with them.  And they shall be His people: and God himself with them shall be their God” (Apoc 21:3).  Each Lord’s Day, then, is eschatological, a fancy word meaning being associated with the last things, in that each and every Sunday should point forward, by the behavior of the faithful, to how they hope to, and how the blessed will, spend their eternity.  This is contrasted with the damned who do not join the heavenly worship nor have rest – “And the smoke of their torments, shall ascend up for ever and ever: neither have they rest day nor night, who have adored the beast and his image and whoever receiveth the character of his name” (Apoc 14:11); and who are cut off from communion with God – “And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the pool of fire” (Apoc 20:15).

The faithful, then, are required to attend Mass, because Mass, unlike private devotions or other religious activities, is a participation in, in a real yet limited way, and thus a foretaste of, the heavenly liturgy.  The faithful are required to rest, not in imitation of the rest of the Jewish Sabbath, which marks the seventh day and the completion of creation, but, rather, in order to mark the day which is now, because of the resurrection of the Lord, the eighth day, which is richer and more supernaturally abundant by far than the seventh, and a day which is now a proclamation and foretaste, in a real yet limited way, of the day of eternity.  Lastly, the faithful are expected to build communion because they will not spend their eternity, God willing, in isolation with just God, but, rather, they will be with all of the blessed communally worshiping God and enjoying His beatitude for eternity.

The requirements and expectations set by the Church, then, are an invitation to begin living here below, if only for a day weekly, and occasionally during the week on Holy Days, in the manner of proclamation and foretaste of how the blessed will spend their eternity.  Viewed in this light, these requirements and expectations no longer seem as impositions but rather as something which elevates, something which can be entered into joyfully.  For, ultimately, how we spend our Sundays indicates how we hope to spend our eternity.  May these reflections change, if necessary, how we approach the keeping of Sundays and let us keep the Lord’s Day, the whole day, as a proclamation of, in expectation of, and as a participation, in real yet limited way, in the “life of the world to come,” by worship, rest, and communion.

Rev. Cav. William Rock, FSSP, SMOCSG was ordained in the fall of 2019 and was invested as an Ecclesiastical Knight of the Sacred Military Constantinian Order of St. George in the summer of 2025.  He currently resides at the FSSP Canonical House of St. Casimir in Nashua, NH, and ministers at St. Stanislaus parish.

In support of the causes of Blessed Maria Cristina, Queen, and Servant of God Francesco II, King 

1. Code of Canon Law – Book IV – Function of the Church (Cann. 1244-1253).
2. The 1917 or Pio-Benedictine Code of Canon Law. (San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 2001).
3. Prümmer, Dominic M. Handbook of Moral Theology. Trans. Sheldon, Gerald W. Edit. Nolan, John Gavin. (New York: P. J. Kenedy & Sons, 1957), pp. 193-194 (n. 420).
4. Ibid., p 196 (n. 426).
5. Ibid. (n. 427).

Sacred Triduum and Easter

by Fr. Mark Wojdelski, FSSP

(This is part of a series of articles, and will make little sense without the introductory articles: (1) , (2), (3), and (4).  There are more than four articles in the series, but the first four are very important to understanding the conceptual framework.  Here also is a link to the complete calendar for reference. (“complete” lunar calendar)

In this article I would like to tie together chronologically certain events in the stories of Esther, the Exodus, and the Passion and Death of our Lord, all three of which seem to line up in the last half of Holy Week. This will then be a little journey through the last days of Holy Week and Easter through those three different lenses. Please note that this article is purely for devotional purposes, making no claim to historical accuracy, and the handful of people reading this may wish to skip this one and wait for the next installment. The precise timelines of these events might forever remain a mystery, but a convergence of three different and very important biblical timelines upon the same days demands some sort of analysis, even though this present analysis departs slightly from the “accepted” timeline.

First of all, as a reminder, the days under consideration will be 13 Nisan (Spy Wednesday), 14 Nisan (Holy Thursday/Passover), 15 Nisan (Good Friday/First Day of Unleavened Bread), and 16 Nisan (Holy Saturday/Sabbath within the Feast of Unleavened Bread). Subsequently, we will look at Easter itself (17 Nisan) and also take a look at Easter Monday (18 Nisan), still a very important day in formerly Catholic countries, but a day which never attained any real measure of popular observance in the United States outside of immigrant communities.

To help visualize what we are looking at, consider referring back to this table while you read, and recall that the days begin after sunset, so the end of the day is preceded by a full night and a full day:

14 Nisan (Thurs)	15 Nisan (Friday)	16 Nisan (Saturday)	17 Nisan (Sunday)	18 Nisan (Monday)
Esther fasts.	Esther continues her fast.	Afternoon: Esther concludes her fast, visits king for the first time, first banquet in the evening (Sunday).	Banquet continues into the night, the king cannot sleep. In the morning the gallows is built. Second banquet takes place in the evening. (Monday)	Haman is hanged in the morning.
Pachal Lamb killed at the end of the day.	Lamb eaten, Israelites depart Rameses, arrive at Succoth.	Depart Succoth, arrive at Etham	Depart Etham, backtrack to arrive in front of Pi-hahiroth opposite Baal-Zephon. Cross Red Sea overnight. (Monday)	Egyptians are drowned in the sea in the morning. Canticle of Moses and Miriam is sung.
Judas meets with the chief priests some time during the night. The “old Lamb” is killed at the end of the day.	The first day of Unleavened Bread begins; the Last Supper is eaten when it is dark; . That same afternoon the New Lamb is slain at Calvary.	Christ in the tomb preaching release to the holy fathers.	During the night Christ rises from the dead (no earlier than sunset on Saturday). Other appearances later that day.	After dark on Sunday they walk to Bethany, where our Lord is taken up (perhaps at sunrise?).

First of all on the 13th day of Nisan, we have Esther, a figure of the Blessed Virgin Mary, receiving word of the decree against the Jews issued by the Persian king under the influence of the wicked Haman, the enemy of the Jews:

Then the king’s secretaries were summoned on the thirteenth day of the first month, and an edict, according to all that Haman commanded, was written to the king’s satraps and to the governors over all the provinces and to the princes of all the peoples, to every province in its own script and every people in its own language; it was written in the name of King Ahasuerus and sealed with the king’s ring. Letters were sent by couriers to all the king’s provinces, to destroy, to slay, and to annihilate all Jews, young and old, women and children, in one day, the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, which is the month of Adar, and to plunder their goods. (Esth 3:12–13)

Upon learning of this, Esther asks everyone to fast and pray for three days, after which time she will intercede on their behalf before the king:

Then Esther told them to reply to Mordecai, “Go, gather all the Jews to be found in Susa, and hold a fast on my behalf, and neither eat nor drink for three days, night or day. I and my maids will also fast as you do. Then I will go to the king, though it is against the law; and if I perish, I perish.” Mordecai then went away and did everything as Esther had ordered him. (Esth 4:15–17)

Esther fasts for three days: the 14th, 15th, and 16th of the month.

In the time of the Exodus, on the 14th day of the month in the evening the Paschal lamb is slain. The same thing would happen on the 14th day of the month during the week of Christ’s passion. Our Lord would eat of that paschal lamb after sunset, just as the Law required.

On the fifteenth day of that same month (after sunset on the 14th), after finishing the Passover meal, the Israelites begin their departure from Egypt. We are told, “And the sons of Israel journeyed from Rameses to Succoth, about six hundred thousand men on foot, besides women and children.” (Ex 12:37) At the same time, our Lord begins His great “Exodus” as well, the journey from the Garden of Gethsemane to His kangaroo-court trial and execution. (Lk 9:31)

The Israelites reach Succoth at the end of that day, around the same time of day that our Lord would have been taken down from the cross. This place was somewhere in the northeast Nile delta in Egypt, but scholars dispute its precise location. Nevertheless, various locations that would correspond to a reasonable day’s journey from Rameses are offered as possibilities.¹ We should not concern ourselves with the logistics of moving such a large number of people (as well as children and livestock) so quickly. This journey was being miraculously sped along by the power of God, just as the life of suffering that our Lord had to endure was quickly brought to a close. The new Lamb has been slain, with the old Lamb still within His body (it would not yet have passed through His digestive tract). The New Covenant thus contains the Old Covenant forever, since Christ died having eaten the Old Covenant, represented by the paschal lamb. In like manner, the Old Covenant is a container for the New in the sense that all of the New Covenant is prefigured in the Old within the sacred histories and the words of the prophets.

Over these three days (14–16 Nisan), Esther continues her fast, just as our Blessed Mother almost certainly did during her Son’s passion, death, and burial.

On the next day of the Exodus (16 Nisan): “And they moved on from Succoth, and encamped at Etham, on the edge of the wilderness. And the Lord went before them by day in a pillar of cloud to lead them along the way, and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light, that they might travel by day and by night; the pillar of cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night did not depart from before the people.” (Ex 13:20–22)

We are told that they have made it to “the edge of the wilderness.” The average person might see this as a very good thing, as this would mean they were right at the edge of escaping from Egypt for good. We will soon see that God has other plans.

This would correspond to the afternoon of Holy Saturday (16 Nisan), when our Lord, presumably, is finishing His preaching of the gospel to the holy Fathers of the Old Covenant, “the spirits in prison.” (1 Pet 3:19) Esther concludes her fast and goes to see the king for the first time:

And the king said to her, “What is it, Queen Esther? What is your request? It shall be given you, even to the half of my kingdom.” And Esther said, “If it please the king, let the king and Haman come this day to a dinner that I have prepared for the king.” Then said the king, “Bring Haman quickly, that we may do as Esther desires.” So the king and Haman came to the dinner that Esther had prepared. And as they were drinking wine, the king said to Esther, “What is your petition? It shall be granted you. And what is your request? Even to the half of my kingdom, it shall be fulfilled.”  But Esther said, “My petition and my request is:  If I have found favor in the sight of the king, and if it please the king to grant my petition and fulfil my request, let the king and Haman come tomorrow to the dinner which I will prepare for them, and tomorrow I will do as the king has said.” (Esth 5:3–9)

Haman is regarded as a special enemy, a “spiritual Amalek,” by the Jewish people. It is then very easy to regard him as a type of the devil, the enemy of the entire human race.

Our Lord will rise at some point during the night. Liturgical tradition has this taking place at sunset on Saturday going into Sunday, just as we celebrate the beginning of Easter with the vigil, which originally took place in the later afternoon and concluded with Vespers at sunset. Catholic mystics traditionally have Him visiting His Blessed Mother first, some time in the night. At this time in the book of Esther,

On that night the king could not sleep; and he gave orders to bring the book of memorable deeds, the chronicles, and they were read before the king. And it was found written how Mordecai had told about Bigthana and Teresh, two of the king’s eunuchs, who guarded the threshold, and who had sought to lay hands upon King Ahasuerus. And the king said, “What honor or dignity has been bestowed on Mordecai for this?” The king’s servants who attended him said, “Nothing has been done for him.” And the king said, “Who is in the court?” Now Haman had just entered the outer court of the king’s palace to speak to the king about having Mordecai hanged on the gallows that he had prepared for him.  So the king’s servants told him, “Haman is there, standing in the court.” And the king said, “Let him come in.”  So Haman came in, and the king said to him, “What shall be done to the man whom the king delights to honor?” And Haman said to himself, “Whom would the king delight to honor more than me?”  And Haman said to the king, “For the man whom the king delights to honor, let royal robes be brought, which the king has worn, and the horse which the king has ridden, and on whose head a royal crown is set; and let the robes and the horse be handed over to one of the king’s most noble princes; let him clothe the man whom the king delights to honor, and let him conduct the man on horseback through the open square of the city, proclaiming before him: ‘Thus shall it be done to the man whom the king delights to honor.’ ” Then the king said to Haman, “Make haste, take the robes and the horse, as you have said, and do so to Mordecai the Jew who sits at the king’s gate. Leave out nothing that you have mentioned.” So Haman took the robes and the horse, and he clothed Mordecai and made him ride through the open square of the city, proclaiming, “Thus shall it be done to the man whom the king delights to honor.” (Esth 6:1–11)

It would make no sense to parade a man in the city square in the middle of the night, and so it is now Sunday during the day.

Our Lord is raised gloriously from the dead at some point in the night, and so He is alive and well. But more honors need to be bestowed upon Him, and so later that day He appears first to the women at the tomb. Then later that evening, after meeting the disciples on the road to Emmaus (so it is already Monday):

And they rose that same hour and returned to Jerusalem; and they found the Eleven gathered together and those who were with them, who said, “The Lord has risen indeed, and has appeared to Simon!” Then they told what had happened on the road, and how he was known to them in the breaking of the bread.

As they were saying this, Jesus himself stood among them, and said to them, “Peace to you.” But they were startled and frightened, and supposed that they saw a spirit. And he said to them, “Why are you troubled, and why do questionings rise in your hearts? See my hands and my feet, that it is I myself; handle me, and see; for a spirit has not flesh and bones as you see that I have.” And when he had said this he showed them his hands and his feet. And while they still disbelieved for joy, and wondered, he said to them, “Have you anything here to eat?” They gave him a piece of broiled fish, and he took it and ate before them.

Then he said to them, “These are my words which I spoke to you, while I was still with you, that everything written about me in the law of Moses and the prophets and the psalms must be fulfilled.” Then he opened their minds to understand the Scriptures, and said to them, “Thus it is written, that the Christ should suffer and on the third day rise from the dead, and that repentance and forgiveness of sins should be preached in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things. And behold, I send the promise of my Father upon you; but stay in the city, until you are clothed with power from on high.”

At this point, they go for a pleasant late-night stroll towards Bethany (less than 2 miles):

Then he led them out as far as Bethany, and lifting up his hands he blessed them. While he blessed them, he parted from them, and was carried up into heaven. And they worshiped him, and returned to Jerusalem with great joy, and were continually in the temple blessing God. (Lk 24:33–53)

Luke’s account of the Resurrection appearances seems to suggest that this is our Lord’s first visit to the apostles, on the day of His resurrection, when He breathed the Holy Spirit on them. (cf. Jn 20:19–23) We are told by St. Luke that they then immediately went out to Bethany (presumably without Thomas) where our Lord was taken up. This “taking up” may have even happened at other times when He appeared to His followers during the forty days before His “Ascension” properly speaking. (Acts 1)

Meanwhile, back at the Exodus,

Then the Lord said to Moses, “Tell the sons of Israel to turn back and encamp in front of Piha-hiroth, between Migdol and the sea, in front of Baal-zephon; you shall encamp over against it, by the sea. For Pharaoh will say of the sons of Israel, ‘They are entangled in the land; the wilderness has shut them in.’ And I will harden Pharaoh’s heart, and he will pursue them and I will get glory over Pharaoh and all his host; and the Egyptians shall know that I am the Lord.” And they did so. (Ex 14:1–4)

Instead of letting them continue on to freedom, God tells Moses to double back and encamp with their backs to the sea. The Egyptians then come in pursuit.

And Moses said to the people, “Fear not, stand firm, and see the salvation of the Lord, which he will work for you today; for the Egyptians whom you see today, you shall never see again. The Lord will fight for you, and you have only to be still.” The Lord said to Moses, “Why do you cry to me? Tell the sons of Israel to go forward. Lift up your rod, and stretch out your hand over the sea and divide it, that the sons of Israel may go on dry ground through the sea. And I will harden the hearts of the Egyptians so that they shall go in after them, and I will get glory over Pharaoh and all his host, his chariots, and his horsemen. And the Egyptians shall know that I am the Lord, when I have gotten glory over Pharaoh, his chariots, and his horsemen.” (Ex 14:13–18)

The Israelites cross the sea overnight, with the pillar of fire leading them. This could perhaps be the origin of the chanting of Psalm 113 (In exitu) at Vespers on Sunday evening. On the following morning, the waters turn upon the Egyptians. Their chariots are now stuck in the mud and the Egyptians all drown in the sea, and Moses sings his canticle of praise, which is chanted in the Roman Liturgy (in anticipation) at the Easter Vigil. He is accompanied in song by the choir of women, led by his sister Miriam.

Meanwhile, back in the time of Esther:

So the king and Haman went in to feast with Queen Esther. And on the second day, as they were drinking wine, the king again said to Esther, “What is your petition, Queen Esther? It shall be granted you. And what is your request? Even to the half of my kingdom, it shall be fulfilled.” Then Queen Esther answered, “If I have found favor in your sight, O king, and if it please the king, let my life be given me at my petition, and my people at my request. For we are sold, I and my people, to be destroyed, to be slain, and to be annihilated. If we had been sold merely as slaves, men and women, I would have held my peace; for our affliction is not to be compared with the loss to the king.” Then King Ahasuerus said to Queen Esther, “Who is he, and where is he, that would presume to do this?” And Esther said, “A foe and enemy! This wicked Haman!” Then Haman was in terror before the king and the queen.  And the king rose from the feast in wrath and went into the palace garden; but Haman stayed to beg his life from Queen Esther, for he saw that evil was determined against him by the king.  And the king returned from the palace garden to the place where they were drinking wine, as Haman was falling on the couch where Esther was; and the king said, “Will he even assault the queen in my presence, in my own house?” As the words left the mouth of the king, they covered Haman’s face. Then said Harbona, one of the eunuchs in attendance on the king, “Moreover, the gallows which Haman has prepared for Mordecai, whose word saved the king, is standing in Haman’s house, fifty cubits high.”  And the king said, “Hang him on that.” So they hanged Haman on the gallows which he had prepared for Mordecai. Then the anger of the king abated.

On that day King Ahasuerus gave to Queen Esther the house of Haman, the enemy of the Jews. And Mordecai came before the king, for Esther had told what he was to her;  and the king took off his signet ring, which he had taken from Haman, and gave it to Mordecai. And Esther set Mordecai over the house of Haman. (Esth 7:1–8:2)

Haman is hanged by the gallows that he himself made, and remains there for all to see (Monday morning, 18 Nisan). Haman, representing the devil, is stripped of his dominion (and indeed, his life) and humiliated while Esther (Mary) takes his possessions from him, having finally struck the head of the serpent. (Gen 3:15)

There is one last matter to attend to. Even though Haman is dead, recall that he had convinced the king to allow the Jews to be destroyed, which was supposed to happen on the thirteenth day of Adar. However, the following happens the next month:

Then Esther spoke again to the king; she fell at his feet and besought him with tears to avert the evil design of Haman the Agagite and the plot which he had devised against the Jews.  And the king held out the golden scepter to Esther, and Esther rose and stood before the king. And she said, “If it please the king, and if I have found favor in his sight, and if the thing seem right before the king, and I be pleasing in his eyes, let an order be written to revoke the letters devised by Haman the Agagite, the son of Hammedatha, which he wrote to destroy the Jews who are in all the provinces of the king. For how can I endure to see the calamity that is coming to my people? Or how can I endure to see the destruction of my kindred?” Then King Ahasuerus said to Queen Esther and to Mordecai the Jew, “Behold, I have given Esther the house of Haman, and they have hanged him on the gallows, because he would lay hands on the Jews. And you may write as you please with regard to the Jews, in the name of the king, and seal it with the king’s ring; for an edict written in the name of the king and sealed with the king’s ring cannot be revoked.”

The king’s secretaries were summoned at that time, in the third month, which is the month of Sivan, on the twenty-third day; and an edict was written according to all that Mordecai commanded concerning the Jews to the satraps and the governors and the princes of the provinces from India to Ethiopia, a hundred and twenty-seven provinces, to every province in its own script and to every people in its own language, and also to the Jews in their script and their language. The writing was in the name of King Ahasuerus and sealed with the king’s ring, and letters were sent by mounted couriers riding on swift horses that were used in the king’s service, bred from the royal stud. By these the king allowed the Jews who were in every city to gather and defend their lives, to destroy, to slay, and to annihilate any armed force of any people or province that might attack them, with their children and women, and to plunder their goods, upon one day throughout all the provinces of King Ahasuerus, on the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, which is the month of Adar. (Esth 8:3–12)

Our Lord won for us the victory over sin and death by His passion and death and resurrection. This was acceptable to His heavenly Father. Christ vanquished the devil but his terrible legacy (the genocidal order of Haman) remained. Only through the further intercession of Esther did we win a reprieve, but not a quick victory. All we received in that decree of the king was the permission to fight. Applying this to the Christian life, we were given the permission (and indeed the obligation) not necessarily to defend our property or our goods, but our souls. Protecting the lesser (temporal goods) is not forbidden as long as our priorities are properly arranged. It is not an easy fight, but it is winnable with the grace of God, especially those graces gained through baptism. Through baptism, we are meant to participate in the benefits gained from new life in Christ: the devil (Haman) is destroyed, the Egyptians (our past lives) are put behind us, and we are made adopted sons of God (symbolized by Christ being taken up into heaven). All these events seem to have taken place on what we now call “Easter Monday.”

We know that Vespers, the evening prayer of the church, is supposed to begin at sunset, and sunset marks the start of a new day, liturgically speaking. So Sunday Vespers marks the beginning of the second day of the week. Dom Gueranger describes a peculiar ancient custom at Vespers on Easter Sunday evening, the previous evening being that in which the catechumens were baptized. The custom involved the newly baptized going to “visit” the baptismal font in which they were baptized the day before, while Psalms 112 (“Praise the Lord, ye children”) and 113 (“When Israel went out of Egypt”) were being chanted.² In the current day, near the end of every Sunday Vespers in the classical Roman rite, Psalm 113 is always recited, perhaps to remind us of this event. We wake up every Monday morning to another week of toil after the celebration of Our Lord’s resurrection, but it is really a week of celebration, since we have risen to new life through baptism, and nothing can take that away from us. Sunday evening is meant to remind us of that, and thus it was not uncommon for people in large populated areas to attend Sunday Vespers at their parish after morning Mass and their leisurely Sunday dinner.

The importance of Easter Monday must not be neglected. At my home parish in one of the adjacent suburbs of Chicago, there are at least five Masses that day, all well attended. There are many customs in Catholic Europe that were traditionally observed on Easter Monday, but those from Central Europe (Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary) all involve throwing water on people in various ways, sometimes completely symbolic. This has traditionally been interpreted as a reminder of our baptism, but there could be more at work. My mother told me that her father met her mother (my grandparents) while the water was being hurled to and fro on Easter Monday. However, given what we have just seen, the connection with water might perhaps better be meant to remind us of the destruction of Pharaoh’s forces in the sea. The waters drown the wicked, but give life to the pure of heart.

It is not difficult to imagine that the feast of the Resurrection has always been a two-day feast, starting on Holy Saturday at sunset, when the Israelites positioned themselves against the sea, opposite the forces of Pharaoh, and ending on Easter Monday at sunset, the day when the apostles were rejoicing in the temple after seeing our risen Lord, Moses and Miriam were leading the people in song after crossing the Red Sea and seeing Pharaoh’s destroyed, and the devil Haman was hanging from a gallows that he himself had made.

1 Jo Ann H. Seely, “Succoth (Place),” in The Anchor Yale Bible Dictionary, ed. David Noel Freedman (New York: Doubleday, 1992), 217.

2 Dom Gueranger, Liturgical Year, Vol. 7

Tolkien and the Angels

by Fr. Matthew Vierno, FSSP

Countless enthusiasts would agree that the world that J.R.R. Tolkien created resonates with our lived reality. The histories are complex, the languages realistic, and the list goes on. One might stop me here and point out that there are neither elves nor gold-loving dragons encountered in day-to-day life. While Tolkien did not present his works as “Catholic allegory,” it is certainly still something that came from a man who had a Catholic world view, and his perception does indeed include many beings greater (by nature) than man. His fictional tales echo a belief in and an awareness of beings beyond count, each differing in nature from one another: the angels.

[Before going any further, I would like to point out that no work of fiction and mythology should ever be our source of theology; Tolkien would be shocked if he were to hear that the faithful were to use The Fellowship of the Ring as spiritual reading or tried to understand the nature of God better by reading The Silmarillion.  That being said, we can appreciate the “echoes” and reminders of spiritual realities as they appear in these myths.]

Even though Tolkien himself did not present these works as allegory, he left some striking hints, nonetheless. Take this scene for example, when Frodo wakes up in Rivendell, mostly healed from a mortal and poisonous wound:

‘Where am I, and what is the time?’ he said aloud to the ceiling. ‘In the house of Elrond, and it is ten o’clock in the morning,’ said a voice. ‘It is the morning of October the twenty-fourth, if you want to know… And you are lucky to be here, too, after all the absurd things you have done since you left home.’¹

There are a number of dates mentioned in The Lord of the Rings, and the one that people often talk about is March 25^th when the “one ring” is destroyed. Just as interesting to me, however, is this use of October 24^th, the feast of St. Raphael in the 1962 calendar. Frodo is dying from a wound which is beyond human medicine but is fortunate to be under the care of the elves. The representation of the elves is rather curious: they are like men in many ways, but they vary one from another in power; their abilities go beyond those of man and of course they are immortal.

While I cannot speak for Tolkien regarding his devotion to St. Raphael, there are a few historical notes worth mentioning. When J.R.R. Tolkien was a young man, he had to serve in the Great War (World War I). He fought in the battle of the Somme, France, one of the most catastrophic battles in human history. Among the dead were two of his close friends. The trauma of these experiences come out from time to time in his writings, such as Frodo’s description of the “dead marshes”:

They lie in all the pools, pale faces, deep deep under the dark water. I saw them: grim faces and evil, and noble faces and sad. Many faces proud and fair, and weeds in their silver hair. But all foul, all rotting, all dead.²

In the end, this English author was one of the fortunate souls who made it home after the war. Like the rest, he had to piece life back together and somehow move forward. Many had to recover from physical wounds, and wounds of trauma were deeper still. In the wake of the war’s end, indeed only about three years later, Pope Benedict XV extended a feast to the universal Roman calendar: St. Raphael, October 24^th. I suspect that this feast would have had a particular importance for Tolkien. Rafael (רְפָאֵל), “God Heals,” a higher being, joined to the faithful by charity, is finally celebrated by the universal church by a special feast … and not a day too soon. Tolkien was surrounded by peers who suffered wounds that were above man’s skill to heal. This theme of healing is repeated throughout his writings.

St. Raphael is that powerful intercessor, and the only angel who has a complete book practically dedicated to him (Tobit). Though easily forgotten, devotion to St. Raphael and all the angels should be part of our life, our very perception of reality. For those who have not read the book of Tobit (or Tobias), I would highly recommend doing so. The words of the epistle of St. Raphael’s Mass (Tob 12:7-15) should resonate with any man who, like Tolkien, has suffered the sight of so much death:

In those days, the Angel Raphael said to Tobias: It is good to hide the secret of a king: but honorable to reveal and confess the works of God. Prayer is good with fasting and alms, more than to lay up treasures of gold: for alms delivers from death, and the same is that which purges away sins, and makes to find mercy and life everlasting. But they who commit sin and iniquity are enemies to their own soul. I discover then the truth to you, and I will not hide the secret from you. When you prayed with tears, and buried the dead, and left your dinner, and hid the dead by day in your house, and buried them by night, I offered your prayer to the Lord. And because you were acceptable to God, it was necessary that temptation should prove you. And now the Lord has sent me to heal you, and to deliver Sara your son’s wife from the devil. For I am the angel Raphael, one of the seven who stand before the Lord.

St. Raphael and all the Holy Angels, pray for us.

Fr. Matthew Vierno was ordained for the Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter in May 2017, and has been assigned in Mexico, Texas, and Pennsylvania.  He currently serves as the director of vocations in Latin America.

1. The Fellowship of the Ring, Book II, Chapter 1: “Many Meetings.”
2. The Two Towers, Book IV, Chapter 2: “The Passage of the Marshes.”

The Beginning of the Lunar Year

by Fr. Mark Wojdelski, FSSP

(This is part of a series of articles, and will make little sense without the introductory articles: (1) , (2), (3), and (4).  There are more than four articles in the series, but the first four are very important to understanding the conceptual framework.  Here also is a link to the complete calendar for reference. (“complete” lunar calendar)

At long last, we “officially” reach the beginning of the religious year, the month of Nisan.  In our hypothetical calendar, this falls on the Friday after the Fourth Sunday of Lent. On the first day of the first new year after the Exodus (according to the religious calendar), the Tabernacle is erected for the first time, and divine worship begins. “The Lord said to Moses, ‘On the first day of the first month you shall erect the tabernacle of the tent of meeting.’” (Ex 40:1–2) Of course, if the Exodus began on a Friday, the first day of the second year would be a Tuesday, not a Friday, but this should not matter for our purposes.

After this, the priests are ordained:

At the door of the tent of meeting you shall remain day and night for seven days, performing what the Lord has charged, lest you die; for so I am commanded.” And Aaron and his sons did all the things which the Lord commanded by Moses. (Lev 8:35–36)

This ritual either began on the first day of the month, coinciding with the erection of the tabernacle, and lasted until the following 7th day of Nisan, or it began on the 2nd day of Nisan and stretched to the 8th of Nisan. It makes no difference, but if we choose the latter possibility, 2 Nisan would coincide with the Saturday known as “Sitientes,” from the introit of the Mass of the day. There were several days on which ordinations were conferred.  Although sacred ordination can take place on (almost) any day of the year, the most common days for conferring them were the Ember Days.  The reason for this is that the five extra lessons on the Ember Days provided very convenient places to insert the conferral of tonsure and the minor orders (one before each of the extra lessons).  This day departs from that arrangement, since it is in every way a typical Saturday of Lent.  This day is however the day on which ordinations were traditionally conferred before the beginning of Passiontide, when any festivities associated with the ordination of clergy would be prohibited until Easter. Beginning on the second day of the month, the 7-day ordination of the Levitical priests would then conclude on the eve of the Sabbath of the following week, which would be more fitting (see the previous article that suggests the appropriateness of this sort of timing). This might also explain the fact that in Jewish tradition, the first through the eighth days of Nisan are days when mourning is prohibited, because “From the 1st until the 8th of Nisan was established the Daily offering.”¹ The “daily offering” spoken of is the twice-daily sacrifice offered in the tabernacle (and later in the temple) every morning and every evening.

Now this is what you shall offer upon the altar: two lambs a year old day by day continually. One lamb you shall offer in the morning, and the other lamb you shall offer in the evening; and with the first lamb a tenth measure of fine flour mingled with a fourth of a hin of beaten oil, and a fourth of a hin of wine for a libation. And the other lamb you shall offer in the evening, and shall offer with it a cereal offering and its libation, as in the morning, for a pleasing odor, an offering by fire to the Lord. (Ex 29:38–41)

Also on the first day of this month, from the apocryphal book of Jubilees: “And again Jacob went in unto Leah, and she conceived, and bare him a third son, and he called his name Levi, in the new moon of the first month in the sixth year of this week.”² Corresponding with the erection of the tabernacle we have the traditional birth of Levi, the patriarch of the priestly tribe of Israel.

At the same time the tabernacle was being consecrated, a series of sacrifices were begun. In modern Jewish worship, there is a series of twelve short readings that record the initial offerings of each of the tribal leaders. The thirteenth day is devoted to a recapitulation of the consecration of the altar. (Num 7:12-88)

All of the offerings from the various tribes follow this formula:

He who offered his offering the first day was Nahshon the son of Amminadab, of the tribe of Judah;  and his offering was one silver plate whose weight was a hundred and thirty shekels, one silver basin of seventy shekels, according to the shekel of the sanctuary, both of them full of fine flour mixed with oil for a cereal offering; one golden dish of ten shekels, full of incense; one young bull, one ram, one male lamb a year old, for a burnt offering; one male goat for a sin offering; and for the sacrifice of peace offerings, two oxen, five rams, five male goats, and five male lambs a year old. This was the offering of Nahshon the son of Amminadab. (Num 7:12–17)

The offering for this first day was assigned to Nahshon, the son of Amminadab. Amminadab was also the father of Elisheba (or “Elisabeth” in the same way “Joshua” = “Jesus”) the wife of Aaron. “Aaron took to wife Elisheba, the daughter of Amminadab and the sister of Nahshon; and she bore him Nadab, Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar.” (Ex 6:23) These four sons (two actually, since Nadab and Abihu died childless [Num 3:4]) would continue the line of priests after the death of Aaron, and so every priest in the old covenant comes from a union of the tribe of Levi in the person of Aaron, the first high priest, and the tribe of Judah, of which Elizabeth was probably the most prominent woman at the time.

Nahshon was a direct ancestor of King David, and therefore of Christ. By making this offering on Levi’s birthday on behalf of the tribe of Judah, the tribe solidifies its link to the priestly line, which will ultimately be joined forever in the New Testament with the coming of Christ.

It is also interesting to ponder the idea that although the weights of the various dishes and bowls were set, the design was not necessarily identical, and each tribe might have had distinguishing features in their vessels. If we are to believe that the twelve tribes of Israel are fulfilled in the twelve apostles, then this individuality manifested in the fabrication of the vessels will point to the diversity in liturgical and spiritual expressions of the one same Catholic religion, transmitted to the world via the twelve apostles.

Another interesting event occurred at this same time of year under the rule of King Hezekiah, something only mentioned in the books of Chronicles:

“And the priests went into the temple of the Lord to sanctify it, and brought out all the uncleanness that they found within to the entrance of the house of the Lord, and the Levites took it away, and carried it out abroad to the torrent Cedron. And they began to cleanse on the first day of the first month, and on the eighth day of the same month they came into the porch of the temple of the Lord, and they purified the temple in eight days, and on the sixteenth day of the same month they finished what they had begun.” (2 Chr 29:16–17)

The Chronicler includes Hezekiah among those kings who did right in the sight of the Lord. (2 Chr 29:2) He was “cleaning up” after the disastrous reign of his father Ahaz, who had actually closed the temple and set up altars to false gods all over his kingdom. (2 Chr 28:24) Due to their inability to celebrate the passover at the proper time, its celebration was moved to the following month, an eventuality that was provided for in the law of Moses. (Num 9:11)

The sixteenth day of the month would correspond to Holy Saturday, which goes in to Easter Sunday after sunset. “On the sixteenth day of the same month they finished what they had begun.” (2 Chr 29:17) “And he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had done.” (Gen 2:2) This will be discussed further in a future installment.

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On a somewhat (but not completely) unrelated note, on the third day of this month, Daniel begins a three-week fast that ends on the 23rd day of the month.

In those days I, Daniel, was mourning for three weeks.  I ate no delicacies, no meat or wine entered my mouth, nor did I anoint myself at all, for the full three weeks.  On the twenty-fourth day of the first month, as I was standing on the bank of the great river, that is, the Tigris, I lifted up my eyes and looked, and behold, a man clothed in linen, whose loins were belted with gold of Uphaz. His body was like beryl, his face like the appearance of lightning, his eyes like flaming torches, his arms and legs like the gleam of burnished bronze, and the sound of his words like the noise of a multitude. And I, Daniel, alone saw the vision, for the men who were with me did not see the vision, but a great trembling fell upon them, and they fled to hide themselves.  So I was left alone and saw this great vision, and no strength was left in me; my radiant appearance was fearfully changed, and I retained no strength. Then I heard the sound of his words; and when I heard the sound of his words, I fell on my face in a deep sleep with my face to the ground. (Dan 10:2–9)

The third day of the first month corresponds to Passion Sunday, while the twenty-fourth day of the first month would correspond with the first Sunday after Easter (Low Sunday). This is perhaps interesting since that is the day after the 7-day celebration of the Resurrection, which begins on Holy Saturday (in the evening) and ends at sunset on the following Saturday, which begins the eighth or “octave” day celebration. In the original catalog of feasts enumerated in the book of Leviticus (23:36) the only feast that has an eighth day associated with it is the feast of Booths, or Tabernacles, which (as we have seen previously) seems to have been instituted as a figure of our “earthly habitation” contrasted with our eternal dwelling in heaven. (2 Cor 5)  Now this is also the day in the liturgy on which our Lord appears to the apostles in the upper room for the second time, and Thomas is with them. When in the presence of the risen Lord (apparently not manifesting Himself as transfigured), St. Thomas is given the grace to see past the living man who was showing him His pierced hands, feet, and side. It is at this moment that he sees, in his mind’s eye, the truth of the matter, and is able to utter his famous confession: “My Lord and my God!” (Jn 20:28) Such a grace of faith cannot come from any amount of physical evidence, although the evidence is further confirmation of the truth. Such faith can only come from the superabundant love of God for humanity. “When the goodness and loving kindness [lat. humanitas]³ of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of deeds done by us in righteousness, but in virtue of his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal in the Holy Spirit, which he poured out upon us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior.” (Tit 3:4–6)