Epilogus apparitionum Domini post
The Certainty of the Resurrection
The author reflects on the Lord's post-resurrection appearances and the necessity of proving His physical reality to the disciples.
He confirmed the resurrection. You have, therefore, twelve appearances after the Lord's Resurrection up to the Ascension, not counting the two that will be mentioned shortly in connection with the Ascension; and so there were fourteen appearances, of which only ten are written in the Gospel. You can also meditate on more, for it's likely the kind Lord often visited His Mother, the disciples, and Magdalene—His beloved disciple—comforting and cheering those who had been so terribly terrified and saddened by His Passion. Blessed Augustine seems to feel the same way when speaking of the time after the Lord's Resurrection. Not everything is written, he says, for His conversation with them was frequent before He ascended into heaven. And perhaps the holy Fathers themselves—especially Abraham and David, to whom the special promise of the Son of God was made—were coming with Him to see that most excellent daughter of theirs, the Mother of the Lord, who found grace for them and for everyone, and gave birth to the Redeemer. Oh, how gladly they looked upon her, and how reverently they bowed to her, filling her with every blessing they could, even though they weren't seen by those who were there in the flesh! You can also consider here the kindness, love, and humility of the Lord, which, as usual, shine through in all His actions; for even after He had gloriously conquered and risen, He still chose to wander for forty days so that He might confirm and strengthen His disciples. After so many years of struggle, after so many labors and afflictions, and after such a cruel, shameful, and bitter death, the Conqueror could rightly have returned to His glory and comforted the Apostles through His angels, confirming them by His mere will; but His love wouldn't allow this. He chose to live among them personally and confirmed the truth of the Resurrection with many proofs—that is, with sensible and most evident signs—showing many things in His own body that were beyond the nature of an immortal body, so that He might establish the truth of the Resurrection and remove every possible cause for hesitation from the Apostles and those who would come after them. He showed the scars in His own body, even though any deformity of a scar is entirely foreign to the nature of an immortal body; He ate and drank with them, even though a spiritual body has no need for the nourishment of food. But it must be understood that the food the Lord took before His death was converted into His own nourishment, because He turned it into Himself; but the food He took after the Resurrection provided Him with no nourishment, because He didn't turn it into Himself, since He possessed a glorified and incorruptible body, but rather it was immediately consumed by His spiritual power, just as water is consumed when thrown into a fire. A thirsty earth absorbs water in one way, while the sun's hot ray dries it up in another: the former absorbs and draws it into itself out of need; the latter dries it up and consumes it by power. The Lord ate after the Resurrection, therefore, by power, not by necessity, so that in this way He might show the Resurrection and true life, not a phantom; for if the truth of the Resurrection weren't shown, the fruit of the Passion would have been lost. Hence Augustine says: "The Christian faith does not doubt that the Savior, after the Resurrection, took food and drink with His disciples in a spiritual, yet true, body—not out of a need for nourishment, but by the same power through which He was able to do this." For the power to eat and drink is not taken away from such bodies, but the need is, since they are clothed with the certain and inviolable gift of immortality, so that they eat only if they wish, by possibility, not by necessity." These are the words of Augustine. Beyond these proofs, Luke, in writing the history of the Acts of the Apostles, provides others as well. It was evidence of the true Resurrection that He appeared to them in many ways over the course of forty days, speaking about the kingdom of God; yet it should not be understood that He appeared to them every single day, showing Himself to be seen by their eyes and touched by their hands, or eating and drinking with them as He used to do before His Resurrection, in order to show it in many ways, but rather to demonstrate the glory of His Resurrection. It was not fitting for Him to live with them continuously, lest it be thought that He had returned to this life. He had risen in a mortal body. By creating intervals, He appeared to the disciples and did not live with them continuously, so that He might show that He had risen to an immortal life, separated from the people of this life.
The Love of the Risen Lord
Christ's forty-day stay after the resurrection is presented as an act of divine love, intended to comfort the disciples and prepare them for the kingdom.
He didn't ascend immediately after the Resurrection, so that He might prove His Resurrection in many ways, restore the disciples by comforting them, and instruct our patience, since we must wait calmly for our reward. Just as there were forty days of His life—namely, forty days of preparation and waiting—so He spent forty days with them after the Resurrection, because divine consolation overcomes the darkness of sadness; God remains with us for those days, even if we don't always notice it. He wanted to be loved intensely, and He never fails to love. Yet we shouldn't just be moved by such things. Rather, we ought to burn with love. Bede says it this way: “He deigned to prove His Resurrection with evidence, to establish faith and to root out perfidy and every doubt about His Resurrection from the heart.” Bernard says that Christ is the threefold bread: the bread of the Incarnation, the bread of the Resurrection, and the bread of the divinity. Therefore, He who was hidden in human form is the same Christ who rose again. The bread is returned from the hook, specifically after the Resurrection. Before, he hid the bread as if it were ash; yet in truth, he was like bread when he possessed a body. At that time, his humanity was hidden within him. When his humanity was made manifest in him, his divinity lay hidden. So, at that time, it was necessary to prove his divinity through miracles and preaching, and to show it to the world; but after the Resurrection, he insisted more on the proof of his humanity than of his divinity. At that time, by faith, touch, and other arguments, he proved himself to be a true man. The bread is pure, without chaff, and without enigma, but is made from the finest flour. This bread is God. For it is a matter of devotion to say once: God; for the soul is devout when it says: God, God, and this makes God mine, and this adds light so that God may be my God; for what good is it to me if God is God, but not my God? We should know that we read that the Savior did not appear after His Resurrection to the wicked people of the world, but only to the apostles and other believers; nor was it fitting that Christ... ...rising, made by God... Christ is, separated, he hastened. Hence, even when He said, 'A little while, and you will not see me, and again a little while, and you will see me,' Theophilus says: 'From then on, He did not walk among the common people, because after the Resurrection His manner of life was not suited to men, but was rather divine; which is also a pattern of the future Resurrection, in which we shall live as the angels and children of God.' He manifested Himself, however, to His disciples and other believers, so that He might be seen as living by the living. Augustine says that when He rose, He was seen only by His own. Hence also in the Acts: "God raised Him on the third day and made Him manifest, not to all the people, but to witnesses chosen beforehand by God, to us who ate and drank with Him after He rose from the dead." It was fitting, however, that He should manifest His Resurrection not to everyone, but only to witnesses chosen beforehand, because He leads the lowest things through the middle things into the highest; therefore, He chose certain mediators through whom the Resurrection could be manifested to the whole world. Thus, therefore, the Lord, appearing in many ways to the disciples for forty days, approaching and speaking with them, enlightened us with arguments toward faith and raised us with promises toward hope, so that finally, with gifts given from heaven, He might inflame us toward love.
Moral Reflections on the Appearances
The author applies the various appearances of the Lord to the interior life of the faithful, showing how He remains present in our daily struggles and joys.
And, as Jerome says, he reveals immortality to mortals so that we might offer the thanks we owe, understanding what we once were and knowing what we will become. 4. The Lord's appearances have a moral application for the faithful. Regarding the mystery of these appearances, and the two that follow, Bede says: "By this frequent bodily manifestation, the Lord wished to show that he is divinely present everywhere to the desires of the good." He appeared at the tomb to the women who were mourning; he is present to us, too, when we are healthily saddened by the memory of his absence. He met those returning from the tomb so they might proclaim the joys of the Resurrection they had recognized; he is present to us, too, when we rejoice to announce faithfully to our neighbors the good things we have come to know. He appeared in the breaking of the bread to those who, thinking he was a stranger, invited him to their lodging; he is present also to us when we willingly spend whatever goods we can on strangers and the poor; he is present also to us in the breaking of the bread when we receive the Sacrament of his Body—that is, the bread and wine—with a pure and simple conscience. He appeared in secret to those speaking of his Resurrection; he is present to us who, by his gift, do the same; he is always present to us when, resting for a time from external works, we gather to speak of his grace. He appeared when they were sitting inside with the doors locked for fear of the Jews; He appeared when, with that same fear lessened, they sought Him with open steps on the mountain top. He was present once to strengthen the Church with His Spirit when it was pressed by unbelievers and forbidden to come into the open or to spread; He is present to it even now, when the royal heights have been raised to the faith, the terror of persecution has quieted, and all the world's power has been placed beneath the Apostles' feet. He appeared to the fishermen, and by appearing, helped them with divided blessings; He is present to us, too, when we attend to the necessities of this temporal life with a right intention, and He adds the support of His mercy to our just labors. He appeared to those reclining at table; He is present to us, too, when, according to the Apostle's advice, whether we eat or drink or do anything else, we do everything for the glory of God. He appeared first in Judea, then in Galilee, and after that in Judea again on the day He ascended, when He was first confined to the borders of Judea alone; He is present now, when the Jews have been abandoned for the guilt of their faithlessness and He has moved on to the Gentiles; and He will be present in the future, when before the end of the age He returns to Judea, and as the Apostle says, when the full number of the Gentiles has come in, so all Israel will be saved. He appeared to them last of all as He ascended into heaven; He will be present to us, too, so that we may deserve to follow Him to heaven after death, if before death we take care to follow Him to Bethany, where He ascended—that is, to the house of obedience. For He Himself, about to ascend into heaven, came to Bethany, because as the Apostle says: He became obedient even to death, even death on a cross, for which reason God also exalted Him; we come there too, if we do what He advises and intend what He promised. Be faithful, He says, even to death, and I will give you the crown of life. It also happens, by the grace of His generosity, that He who remains with us until the end of this life lifts us up after this life to see the rewards of heavenly life with Him.
The Sacred Times of the Church
The liturgical significance of the forty and fifty days is explained as a mystical instruction for the soul, concluding with a prayer for grace.
Just as Christ sanctified the forty days for us, He also sanctified the fifty days, and through both solemnities He has mystically instructed us. Regarding these, Bede says: "Truly, this double solemnity—that is, of the forty days and the fifty—was established for us not by the authority of any men, but by the primary authority of our Lord and Savior Himself." The forty days represent the time He fasted in the desert. Having overcome the tempter's cunning, He enjoyed the ministry of angels, where He might instruct us by His example: that through the mortification of the flesh we ought to avoid the snares of our spiritual adversary and arrive at the fellowship of the angels. Furthermore, He showed that the joys of the fifty days are to be kept by us in that, after His Resurrection, He presented Himself alive to His disciples with many proofs for forty days, and by the frequency of His visits, He made this time a joyful and festive one for them. In this, He not only prefigured the joys of the future age that we are to have with Him, but He also showed the ineffable affection of His mercy toward us. Having already laid aside the infirmity of the body—and having changed it into heavenly glory through the power of the Resurrection—He still deigned to join in the disciples' meal, so that He might have them as companions in heaven. He did this so that He might more vividly commend to them, through that very familiarity, the precepts by which they might reach the kingdom of God, and strengthen them with the memory of that time of which He had foretold them before His Passion, promising: 'I assign to you, just as my Father assigned to me, a kingdom, that you may eat and drink at my table in my kingdom.' Moreover, even as He ascended into heaven, He didn't take away from them the sweetness of His former presence, but rather heaped upon them the promise of the gift of the Holy Spirit.✦ Finally, they soon returned to Jerusalem with great joy and were constantly in the temple, praising and blessing God. They taught that this joy of the solemnity—which we also celebrate with joy, praise, and heavenly blessing, awaiting the coming of the Holy Spirit until the fiftieth day, which the Greeks call Pentecost—should be extended. Rightly, therefore, do we spend these holy days in greater feasting and heavenly hymns: out of reverence for the Lord's Resurrection, in memory of the Lord's meal with His disciples, and for the hope of our future rest and immortal life. But we don't bend the knee in prayer. For the bending of the knee is a sign of penance and mourning. The Fathers also established that this should be observed every Sunday, whether because of the Resurrection itself, the Lord's Day, or our own sacraments. It is right, therefore, that we celebrate the fast annually for forty days, so that we might be spiritually reminded that as long as we live in this world, we must always labor to attain heavenly rewards. Rightly, too, do we honor the state of our future beatitude in the image of the fifty-day period, by relaxing fasts, singing Alleluia, and praying while standing—which are the most fitting signs of eternal rest, resurrection, and praise: so says Bede. PRAYER: Lord Jesus Christ, through Your glorious Resurrection, by which You appeared alive and immortal to Your disciples and the faithful; through the welcome time and sweet conversations You shared with them for forty days—appearing to them with many proofs, speaking of the kingdom of God, comforting them, and eating with them so they might prove and believe in the true Resurrection in You, and taking away all doubt from their hearts: I beseech You, good and loving Jesus, grant that I may become a witness of Your Resurrection among those ordained by God as witnesses, not in word and tongue alone, but in deed and in truth. Amen.
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rectionem comprobavit. — Habes igitur duodecim apparitiones, post Domini Resurrectionem usque ad Ascensionem, absque duabus cum Ascensione proximo dicendis ; et sic apparitiones quatuordecim fuorunt; de quibus tantum decem in Evangelio scriptae sunt. Potes etiam meditari de pluribus : nam verisimile est, quod benignus Dominus saepe Matrem et discipulos, et Magdalenam dilectam discipulam visitavit , confortans et exhilarans eos, qui sic vehementer de sua 739 Passione conterriti et contristati fuerant. Quod etiam beatus Augustinus, sentire videtur loquens de tempore post Domini Resursurrectionem. Non omnia, inquit, scripta sunt, crebra cnim erat ejus cum illis conversatio, priusquam ascendisset in coelum. Et forte ipsi sancti Patres, maxime Abraham, et David, ad quos specialis facta fuit promissio Filii Dei, veniebant cum eo, ad videndum illam excellentissimam filiam suam, Matrem Domini, qux pro eis et on^nibus gratiam invenit, et Redemplorem genuit. O quam libenter eam conspiciebant, et quam reverenter se eidem inclinabant, et omni qua poterant benedictione complebant, quamvis ipsi non viderentur ab illis, qui corporaliter ibi erant ! Potes etiam hic considerare benignitatcm , caritatem et humilitatem Domini , quae , more solito, in omnibus factis ejus relucent; quod etiam postquam gloriose vicerat et resurrexerat peregrinari adhuc per dies quadraginta voluit, ut suos discipuios confirmaret et roboraret.
Digne namque post tot annorum curricula, post tot labores et afflictiones, post tam crudelem, ignominiosam et acerbam mortem poterat triumphator ad suam gloriam remeare, et Apostolos per suos Angelos confortare, et pro suo nutu confirmare; sed hoc non patiebatur caritas sua. Personaliter voluit conversari cum eis , et veritatem Resurrectionis multis comprobavit argumentis, id est sensibiiibus et evidentissimis signis, multa in corpore proprio ostendens praeter naturam corporis immortalis, ut sic veritatem Resurrectionis astrueret, et ab Apostolis eorumque posteris omnem omnino causam haesitationis amoveret. In corpore enim proprio cicatrices ostendit, cum tamen a natura corporis iromortalis penitus aliena sit omnis deformitas cicatricis; comedit cum eis et bibit, cum tamen corpus spirituale ciborum alimonia minime indigeret. Sed sciendum est, cibos a Domino ante mortem sumptos in ejus alimoniam cessisse, quia ilios in se convertit; post Resurrectionem vero sumptos, nullam ei alimoniam praebuisse , quia illos in se non convertit, cum haberet corpus glorificatum et incorruplibile, sed mox spirituali ejus ' virtute absumptos, sicut absumitur aqua missa in ignem. Aliter absorbet aquam terra sitiens, aliter exsiccat radius solis calen's : illa absorbat et in se trahit, indigentia ; iste exsiccat et consumit, potentia. Manducavit ergo Dominus post Resurrectionem potestate, non necessitate, ut eo modo Resurrectionem et vitam veram, non imaginaritm ostenderet ; si enim non ostenderetur veritas Resurrectionis, perditus esset fructus Passionis. Unde Augustinus : « Et de Salvatore quidem fides Christiana non ambigit, quin post Resurrectionem in carne spirituali, sed tamen vera, cibum et potum cum discipulis sumpserit, non alimentorum indigentia, sed ea qua et hoc poterat potestate. Non enim edendi et bibendi talibus corporibus aufertur potestas, sed egestas, quoniam certo et inviolabili munere immortalitatis induuntur; ut non nisi velint possibilitate, non necessitate vescantur : » haec Augustinus» Praeter haec argumenta Lucas scribens historiam Actuum Apostolorum, ponit et alia.
Fuit enim argumentum verae Resurrectionis, quod per dies quadraginta multiformiter apparuit eis, loquens de regno Dei, Non est intelligendum, quod singulis quadraginta diebus apparuit eis, exhibendo se oculis videndum, et manibuspalpandum, cum eis comedendo et bibendo, sicut ante consueverat, p uL Resurreciioiiem suam pluribus modia o&tendcrct ; scd ad demonSErandum gloriani suce Hesurreclioais. non dccebat eum cxim illis, ut pruii , cDnversarL conlinuc, nc pularetur ad vitam. mortalem resurteiisse. Facto erga intervftllo spparebat discipulis, et non coa~ versabatur conlinuc cum i;is ; ul ostenderet se resurreiisscs ad immurtalem Tilam , ab hominibus hujus vitx scparalam.
Non siatim itaque post Resurrectionem ascendit, ut multipUcittir Rcsurrcciionem probarel, ct diacipulos uinsolando reCoveret, et ut noElram infbrmara pttienliam, quia debemus xquaninuier exspectare mercedem nostram. Unde sicut fuerunt quadnginla tiorie oiortia ejus, scilicet k^uatuor Parasceves veEpertinte , et trtgiata sex duarum Dociium et unius diei; ita quadraginia diebuE cum eia conversalus est post Resuriectionem, quia divina consolatio exciidit liuminam tristiiona Deus lacei Pro c diebu B CMU eis convers»tuB nobis spd non advertimus. DiJexitei diligi SLC vehementer et non dilipit. jm tamen ad lalem et ign ■m non solum caletieri. Spdpl am ardere debcremua. Unde Beda . - " Resurreclionem suam documentis persuadcre dignatue est : propter sililtcandam fidem et rugaodam de corde perfidiam, omiiemque dLibitationem de sua Resucreciione tuUeodam. n Unde el B&rnardus : u Christus dicinu' triplex panis : subciaericius, In Incamatione; ceversatus, in Resurrein nudte deitatis 1 suticinericius esl 1 quid est Ueus, panis; Quid esl horao, et jnilvisr £i quid csi, ; Pani ergo lat£ns stli homine; ei hoc erai Christaa i Resurreciioncm.
Panis reveni est e converso hamo-l>eua, tcilicCli posl Resurrectionem. Prius e quasi cinis panem occullayil; vero quasi panis cinercm cdl quando eniiu habuii corpua g! licalum, tunc humanltas in eo ■ si celaia fuil. Unde anic Pauio humanilas in eo manifeslH fuit, dcilas latebat. et ideo lunc pe racula et prsedicationem deitUCBI probare, et miindo osiendere opoitebat; posl Resiirrectioneia vea raagis probationi humanitatis quam divinitatis insislebat. aodi lunc fisu, tactu, csu, et Ufulfu alil| argwnentis se verum homtitem ei se approbabat. Panis tritieflut riol orani cinere est, sine furfure, riw l eenigmate, sed de simila purtssiinat htcc csl nuda dcius. Hic panisa Deus Deus.
Nam devotiani bd Bufftcil semel dicere : Deus; jo enim devota est : Deus Deus mcMS hoc fadl mihi Deus, et hoc addsr lur ui sit Deus Deus meue, Q.aid eniiQ proderil mihi Deus, si sil Deus meus : <• hi£c BemardMt i NoN [HlUUIS KEC QUmLTBCUMQUB, KuiT CaHistus. — lii Bciendi quod non iniquis homiaibus, mundi amaioribuB, aed solis J^ stolis aliisquc tideiibus posiReioi' rectionem suara Salvaloreni paruisse legimus; neque ( convenicns eral ut Chrisius a. ' luis resurgens, factusqi I Deo lorulis. Christus est, separaiis, festaret. Unde et antt Adhuc niodicum, el ini licet qui modo non me videt o videt, 741 antem videbitis me, Unde TTieO' philtts : « De cetero non conversabatiar inter plebem, quia scilicet post Resurrectionem conversatio ejus non erat digna hominihus, sed divina magis; quod etiam est forma Resurrectionis futurae, in qua sicut Ajigeli conversabimur et filii Dei : » haec Tlieophilus, Manifestavit autem se discipulis suis, et aliis fidelibus, ut vivus videretur a viventibus. Unde dicit Augustinus, quod quando surrexit, non est visus nisi a suis. Unde et in Actibus : Hunc Deus suscitavit tertia die, et dedit eum manifestum fieri non omni populo, sed testibus prceordinatisa Deo; nobis qui manducavimus et bibimus cum itlOj postquam resurrexit a mortuis, Fuit autem conveniens quod non omnibus, sed testibus tantum prceordinatis Resurrectionem suam manifestaret ; quia infima per media reducit in suprema, et ideo quosdam mediatores elegit, per quos universo orbi Resurrectio manifestari posset. Sic ergo Dominus per dies quadraginta multiformiter apparens discipulis, accedens loquensque cum eis : et argumentis nos iiluminavit ad fidem, et promissis erexit ad spem, ut sic tandem, donis ccelitus datis, accendertt ad amorem.
Et„ secundum Hieronymum , ostendit immortalitatem mortalibus, ad gratiarum actionem debitam, ut intelligamus quid fuerimus, ex sciamus quid futuri erimus. 4. Apparitiones Domini moraliTER FIDELIBUS APPLICATiE. — Dc mysterio autem praedictarum apparitionum, el duarum sequentium, sic dicit Beda : a Haec ergo frequentia corporalis suae manifeslationis, ostendere voluit Dominua, in omni loco se bonorum desideriis praes^ntem esse divinitus. Apparuit namque ad monumentum lugcntibus feminis; adest et nobis ejus absentiae recordatione salubrrter contristatis. Occurrit revertentibus a monumento, ut agnita Resurrectionis gaudia praedicarent; adest et nobis, dum bona, quae novimus , prpximis fideliter annunttare gaudemus. Apparuit in fractione panis his, qui se peregrinum esse putantes, ad hospitium vocaverunt; adest et nobis, cum peregrinis et pauperibus quaecunque possumus bona libenter impendimus; adest et nobis in fractione panis , cum sacramentum Corporis ejus^ videlicet panis et vini, casta et simpiici conscientia sumimus. Apparuit in abdito de sua Resurrectione loquentibus ; adest et nobis, qui modo ejus dono idem agimus; adest et nobis semper, cum ab extrinsecis operibus ad tempus vacantes, de ejus gratia locuturi convenimus.
Apparuit, cum foribus dausis intus Judaeorum metu residerent, apparuit cum minorato eodem metu, apertis eum gressibus in montis vertice quaererent ; afFuit quondam confortaturus suo Spiritu Ecclesiam, cum ab infidelibus premeretur, et ad publicum venire, ac dilatare prohiberetur ; adest eidem et nunc, cum incrmato ad fidem culmine regali, terror quievit persecutionis, et omnis mundi sublimitas Apostolicis est substrata vestigiis. Apparuit piscatoribus, eosque apparens divisis adjuvit ' beneficiis ; adest et nobis, cum necessaria vitae temporaJis recta intentione curamus , justisque nostris laboribus subsidium adjungit suae pietatis. Apparuit recumbentibus; adest et nobis cum juxta Apostoli monita, sive manducamus , sive bibimus, sive aliud quid agimus, omnia in gloriam Dei facimus. Apparuit primo in Judaea, deinde in Galilaea, post haec in Judaea rursum , die , quo ascendit itv cc&VMm\ ^di^x^x "^^yO^^siae cum primo solius Judae terminis clauderetur; adest modo, cum Judaeis ob culpam perfidiae derelictis , transmigravit ac Gentes ; et aderit in futuro, cum ante finem seculi revertetur ad Judaeam, et sicut Apostolus ait, intrante Gentium plenitudine, sic omnis Israel salvus erii, Novissime illis apparuit ascendens in ccelum ; aderit et nobis ut eum post mortem ad coelos sequi mereamur , si ante mortem eum in Bjthaniam unde ascendit, id est in domum obedientice sequi curamus. Ipse etenim coelum ascensurus Beihaniam venii, quia sicut Apostolus ait : Facius est obediens usque ad mortem, mortem auiem crucis, propter quod et Dciis exaltavit illum; venimus ibidem ct nos, si quod ille monet agimus, quod promisit intendimus. Esto fidelis, ait, usque ad mortem, et dabo tibi coronam vitce, Fit quoque ipsius gratia largiente, ut qui nobiscum usque ad vitae hujus terminum manet, post hanc nos vitam ad videnda secum coelestis vitae praemia sublevet :
Sicut ergo quadragesimam, sic et quinquagesimam Christus nobis sacravit, et nos utraque solemnitate mystice instituit; de quibus simul Beda sic ait : u Utramque sane hanc solemnitatem, hoc est quadragesimae et quinquagesimae, non quorumlibet hominum, sed ipsius Domini ac Salvatoris nostri prima nobis sanxit auctoritas. Quadragesimae videlicet in eo, quod diebus ac noctibus quadraginti jejunavit in deserto; victaque versutia tentatoris, ministeriis fruebatur angelicis, ubi suo nos informarct exemplo : quia per macerationem carnis adversarii spiritualis machinas cvitare , et ad Angelorum debeamus consortium pervenire. Porro quinquagesimae nobis gaudia in eo servanda monstravit , quod post Resurrectionem seipsum discipulis vivum, in multis argumentis, per dies quadraginta prcebuit , et illos suae frequentia visitationis laetabundum hoc tempus habere fecit, ac festivum. In quo non solum futuri seculi gaudia, quae cum illo sumus habituri praesignavit, verum et ineffabilem circa nos suae pietatis affectum ostendit, qui deposita jam infirmitate corporis, et per Resurrectionis virtutem in ccelestem gloriam commutata, dignatur tamen adhuc discipulorum interesse convivio : ut socios cos habere possit in ccelo, et praecepta quibus ad regaum Dei perveniant vivacius ipsa familiaritate commendet, atque memoria illius temporis roboret, de quo eis ante Passionem suam promittendo praedixerat : Et ego dispono vobis, sicut disposuit mihi Pater meus regnum, ut edatis et bibatis super mensam meam in regno meo ; sed et in coelum ascendens nequaquam eis priscae suae praesentiae dulcediirem abstulit, quin eamdem potius promisso Spiritus Sancti charismate cumulavit. Denique mox illi regressi sunt in Jerusalem, cum gaudio magno, et erant super in iemplo , laudantes et benedicentes Deum; hoc quoque nobis gaudio, ac laude et benedictione coelesti, qua Spiritus Sancti praestoiabantur adventum, usque ad diem quinquagesimum, quem Graeci Pentecosten appellant^ solemnitatis hujus laetitiam docuerunt esse protelandam. Merito ergo sacrosanctis diebus his nos majoribus epulis atque hymnis coelestibus vacamus : ob reverentiam Dominicae Resurrectionis, ob memoriam Dominici convictus cum discipulis simul» et ob spem futurae nostrae quietisi ac vitae immortalis. Sed et genu in oratione minime flectimus;. quia tiexio genuum, posnitentiae ec luctus est indicium.
Quod etiam omnibus diebus Dominicis observandum, propter ejusdem Resurrectionis vel Dominica;, vel nostra; sacramenta, patres instituerunt. Recte ergo quadragenario dierum numero jejunium annue celebramus, ut per hoc spiritualius admoneamur, quia quamdiu in mundo vivimus, pro coelestium praemiorum adeptione semper laborare debeamus. Recte etiam quinquagenario dierum numero statum futurae nostrae beatitudinis in imagine veneramur, jejunia videlicet relaxando, alleluia canendo, stantes orando, quae sunt aptissima perpetuae quietis, resurrectionis et iaudis praesagia : » haec Beda. ORATIO Domine Jc5u Christe, pergloriosam Resurrectionem tuam, qua discipulis et fidelibus tuis, vivus et immortalis apparuisti ; per gratissimam moram et colioquia dulcissima, quae cum cis per quadraginta dies habuisti, in quibus multis argumentis apparens eis et loquens de regno Dei, eosque confortans, et cum eis convescens, ut Resurrectionem veram in te probarent et crederent, totalem dubitationem de ipsorum cordibus abstulisti : obsecro te, Jesu bone et pie, da mihi inter testes praeordinatos a Deo testem fieri Resurrectionis tuae, non lingua tantum, et verbo; sed Qperc, et veritate. Amen.
Scripture echoes
- ↩Luke.22.29-Luke.22.30 — And I appoint to you a kingdom, just as my Father appointed one to me. Luke.22.30 — that you may eat and drink at my table in my kingdom, and sit on thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel.
The Life of Christ (Vita Christi) companion
A prayer for every moment, already on your phone
Chosen Portion puts a curated historic prayer in front of you each day — so the words are there before the moment arrives.
Chosen Portion is the digital descendant of the carried prayer book: the short daily prayers this collection preserves, delivered one a day to your pocket.
- One short, memorable prayer delivered daily — build your repertoire a card at a time
- Prayers matched to real situations: fear, gratitude, decisions, grief, sleep
- Save favourites into your personal pocket collection you can open anywhere