De quinquagesima
The Meaning of the Fiftieth Day
The season of Quinquagesima is established as a time of penance, mirroring the Jubilee and preparing the soul for the beatitude of the Resurrection.
Quinquagesima lasts from the Sunday on which the antiphon 'Be to me a protecting God' is sung. It ends on Easter Sunday. It was established for the sake of supplementation, meaning, and representation. It serves as a supplement because, while we should fast for fifty days to imitate Christ, there are only thirty-six days available for fasting. We don't generally fast on Sundays, out of both joy and reverence for the Resurrection, and following the example of Christ, who ate on the day of his Resurrection—when he appeared to his disciples behind locked doors and they offered him a piece of broiled fish and a honeycomb, and again when he was with the disciples on the road to Emmaus, according to some. Therefore, four days were added to supplement the Sundays. And again, the clergy, seeing that just as they preceded the people in rank, they ought to precede them in holiness, began to abstain and fast for two more days before those four, and thus one week was added, which is called Quinquagesima; and Pope Telesphorus ordained this, as Ambrose says. Another reason is for the sake of its meaning, since fifty signifies a time of remission—that is, a time of penance—in which all things are remitted; for the fiftieth year was the Jubilee, which was a year of remission, because then debts were forgiven, slaves were set free, and everyone returned to their own possessions. This signified that through penance, the debts of sins are dismissed, all are freed from the servitude of demons, and they return to the possession of heavenly mansions. The third reason is for the sake of representation, as Quinquagesima represents not only a time of remission but also the state of beatitude.
The Pillars of Penance
True penance is sustained by the triad of charity, faith, and the memory of Christ's passion, turning the soul's cry of despair into a prayer for divine protection.
There are three necessary things proposed to us in the Epistle and the Gospel to show that the works of penance are complete: charity, which is proposed in the Epistle; the memory of the Lord's passion; and faith, which is understood through the illumination of the blind man. These are set forth in the Gospel, for faith itself makes works acceptable and pleasing—since without faith it is impossible to please God—and the memory of the Lord's passion makes them easy. Hence Gregory says: if the passion of Christ is brought to mind, there is nothing that cannot be endured with a calm spirit. Charity makes these things continuous, because, as Gregory says, the love of God cannot be idle; it works great things if it exists, but if it neglects to work, it is not love. It is. And just as the Church had cried out in the beginning, as if in despair: “They have surrounded me,” and so on, and afterward, returning to itself, it sought help; so here, having now conceived confidence and the hope of forgiveness through penance, it prays and says: “Be to me a God, a protector,” and so on. , where four.
A Prayer for Every State
The liturgical prayers of the season address the needs of all believers, whether in grace or sin, prosperity or adversity, culminating in the penitential spirit of the fiftieth psalm.
It asks for these things: a reading, a firm foundation, a refuge, and guidance. Everyone is included. His children are either in a state of grace or in a state of sin, or they are facing adversity or prosperity. For those who are in a state of grace, it asks for a firm foundation, so that they may be strengthened in that very grace; for those who are in a state of sin, it asks that God may be their refuge; for those who are in adversity, it asks for protection, so that they may be shielded in their very tribulations; for those who are in prosperity, it asks for guidance, so that they may be led innocently by God in those very circumstances. The period of fifty days ends, as has been said, on Easter Day, because penance makes us rise again to a newness of life. During this time, the fiftieth psalm—'Have mercy on me, O God'—which is a psalm of penance and forgiveness, is used very frequently.
Read the original Latin
Quinquagesima durat a dominica, in qua cantatur: esto mihi in Deum protectorem etc. et terminatur in ipso die paschae. Instituta est autem propter suppletionem et propter significationem et propter repraesentationem. Propter suppletionem, quoniam cum debeamus NL diebus jejunare ad similitudinem Christi et non sunt ibi nisi XXXVI dies jejunabiles, quia in dominicis non jejunatur generaliter, tum propter laetitiam et reverentiam resurrectionis, tum exemplo Christi, qui ipsa die resurrectionis his comedit, scilicet quando intravit ad discipulos januis clausis et ibi obtulerunt ei partem piscis assi et favum mellis, et iterum cum discipulis euntibus in Emaus seeundum quosdam. Ideo pro suppletione dominicarum additi sunt quattuor dies. Et iterum clerici videntes, quod sicut praecedebant populum ordine, ita praecedere deberent sanctitate, per duos iterum dies ante illos quattuor abstinere et jejunare incipiunt et sic una septimana addita est, quae et quinquagesima nominatur, et hoc papa Telesphorus ordinavit, ut ait Ambrosius, Alia ratio est propter significationem , quoniam quinquaginta significat tempus remis sionis, id est, tempus poenitentiae, in qua omnia remittuntur, quinquagesimus enim annus erat jubilaens, qui erat annus remissionis, quia tunc debita remittebantur, servi liberabantur et omnes ad suas possessiones revertebantur. Per quod significabatur, quod per poeuitentiam dimittuntur debita peccatorum et liberantur omnes à servitute daemonum et revertuntur ad possessionem coelestium mansionum, Tertia ratio est propter repraesentationem , nam quinquagesima non solum tempus remissionis, sed etiam statum beatitudinis repraesentat. Nam in quinquagesimo anno servi efficiebantur liberi, in quinquagesimo die a die agni immolati lex data est, in quinquagesimo die a pascha datus est spiritus sanctus , et ideo numerus beatitudinem repraesentat, ubi erat adeptio libertatis, cognitio veritatis et perfectio caritatis.
Tria autem sunt necessaria, quae proponuntur nobis in epistola et in evangelio ad hoec, quod opera poenitentiae sunt perfecta, scilicet caritas, quae proponitur in epistola, memoria dominicae passionis et fides, quae intelligitur per illuminationem caeci. Et haec ponuntur in evangelio, nam fides ipsa opera facit acceptabilia et placabilia, quia sine fide impossibile est placere Deo, memoria dominicae passionis facit esse facilia. Unde Gregorius: si passio Christi ad memoriam reducitur, nihil est, quod non aequo animo toleretur. Caritas facit esse continua, quia, sicut dicit Gregorius, amor Dei non potest esse otiosus, operatur antem magna, si est, si autem operari negligit, amor non. est. Et sicut in principio ecclesia quasi desperans clamaverat:. circumdederunt me etc, et postmodum ad se rediens adjuvari petebat, ita hic jam concepta fiducia et spe veniae propter poenitentiam orat et dicit: esto mihi in Deum protectorem etc. , ubi quattuor.
petit, scilicet prolectionem , firmamentum, refugium et ducatum. Omnes enim. filii sui aut sunt in gratia aut sunt in culpa aut in adversis aut in prosperis. Iis, qui sunt in gratia, petit firmamentum, nt scilicet in ipsa gratia conlirmentur; illis, qui sunt in culpa, petit, ut Deus sit eorum refugium; illis, qui sunt in adversis, petit protectionem , ut in ipsis tribulationibus protegantar ; illis, qui sunt in prosperis, petit duca tum, ut scilicet in ipsis a Deo innocenter ducantur. — Terminatur antem quinquagesima, ut diclum est, in die paschae, qnia poenitentia ad novitatem vitae facit resurgere. In hoc tempore psalmus quinquagesimus, scilicet: miserere mei dominus, qui est psalmus poenitentiae el remissionis, plurimum frequentatur.
The Golden Legend (Legenda Aurea) companion
Continue through all 240 chapters, one saint a day
Chosen Portion serves the Golden Legend as a daily portion on iOS, free, alongside the full Sub Rosa archive
The Legenda Aurea was organized for day-by-day use across the liturgical year, and Chosen Portion restores that original one-feast-per-day reading rhythm
- A complete saint's life or feast reading most days in 5-10 minutes
- 240 chapters - enough daily readings to cover a full liturgical year and beyond
- Daily reminders so the plan survives busy weeks