PrayTheRosary Apostolate

On this night we solemnly celebrate the Lord's Supper:

The First Mass and The Institution of The Holy Eucharist.

Festive vestments are worn, the altars are decorated,
the Gloria—not heard during Lenten Masses—is sung to the ringing of bells,
only to be silenced and brought to the reality of the approaching Passion.
The ceremony of the Mandatum, or Washing of the Feet, is observed in many churches.

After Mass on Holy Thursday, the Blessed Sacrament
is carried in procession to a richly decorated altar,
known as the Repository. 

 At the Repository watch is kept with the Blessed Sacrament until Midnight,
when all withdraw in silence. Immediately after the reposition of the Blessed Sacrament, the altar, the symbol of Christ is "denuded"—stripped.

During this ancient ceremony, all of the decorations, which vest the altar are removed. Robbed of their vesture, the bare altars now represent the body of Christ,
who was stripped of His garments. Afterwards, the altar is washed, a reminder of the burial preparation of Our Lord.

"And on the first day of the Azymes, the disciples came to Jesus saying:
Where will Thou have that we prepare for Thee to eat the pasch?
But Jesus said: go ye into the city to a certain man and say to him:
My time is near at hand, with thee I make the pasch with my disciples.
And the disciples did as Jesus appointed them, and they prepared the pasch.
But when it was evening, He sat down with the twelve disciples.
And while they were eating He said to them:
Amen I say to you, one of you is about to betray Me.
And they being very much troubled began every one to say:
Is it I, Lord?
But He answering said:
He that dips his hand with Me in the dish, he shall betray me.
The Son of man indeed goes, as it is written of Him,
but woe to that man by whom the Son of man will be betrayed:
it were better for him if that man had not been born.
And Judas that betrayed Him, answering, said: Is it I, Rabbi?
Jesus said to him, Thou hast said it."
                                                                                          ~ Matthew 26:17-25

" And when supper was done,
(the devil having now put into the heart of Judas Iscariot,
the son of Simon, to betray him,) 
Knowing that the Father had given him all things into his hands,
and that he came from God, and goeth to God; 
He riseth from supper, and layeth aside his garments,
and having taken a towel, girded himself. 
After that, he putteth water into a basin,
and began to wash the feet of the disciples,
 and to wipe them with the towel wherewith he was girded.
He cometh therefore to Simon Peter. And Peter saith to him:
Lord, dost thou wash my feet? 
Jesus answered, and said to him:
What I do thou knowest not now; but thou shalt know hereafter. 
Peter saith to him: Thou shalt never wash my feet.
Jesus answered him: If I wash thee not, thou shalt have no part with me. 
Simon Peter saith to him:
Lord, not only my feet, but also my hands and my head." 
                                                                                            ~ John 13:1-9

"Then after he had washed their feet, and taken his garments,
being set down again, he said to them:
Know you what I have done to you? 
You call me Master, and Lord; and you say well, for so I am. 
If then I being your Lord and Master, have washed your feet;
you also ought to wash one another's feet. 
For I have given you an example, that as I have done to you,
so you do also.  Amen, amen I say to you:
The servant is not greater than his lord;
neither is the apostle greater than he that sent him. 
If you know these things, you shall be blessed if you do them."

                                                                                                             ~ John 13:12-17

 "And while  they were at supper, Jesus took bread, and blessed it,
and broke it: and gave to His disciples and said:
Take ye and eat. This is My Body.
And taking the chalice, He gave thanks,
and gave to them saying:
Drink ye all of this. For this is My Blood of the new testament,
which shall be shed for many
unto the remission of sins."
                                                            ~ Matthew 26:26-28
"Do this in memory of Me."
                                                      ~ Luke 22:19

In these divinely simple words Jesus instituted
the Holy Eucharist, the Sacrament of Love.

Prepared long ago for the mystery, the Apostles evince no surprise.
A year ago in the synagogue of Capharnaum the Divine Master had promised them,
with such literalness as to shock many of the disciples,
that He would give them His flesh to eat
and His blood to drink.

Had He not told them that if they did not eat His flesh and drink His blood
they would have no life in them?
Had not many of the disciples, scandalized at such a statement,
left Him and “walked no more with Him”?

When the Savior turned to the twelve and asked if they too wished to leave Him,
had not Peter expressed the faith of all of them in the truth of Christ’s teaching?

Now here, they see the promise fulfilled and their hearts are full of gratitude and love.

The words of Jesus are clear, simple, and unmistakable.
Could even infinite Wisdom find clearer language in which to teach
that He is truly, really, and substantially present under the Eucharistic species,
that He gives us His body to eat and His blood to drink?

To designate this transformation of the substance of the bread and wine
into the Body and Blood of Christ,
the Church uses the word “transubstantiation.”

This transubstantiation takes place at the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass.

“Do this in memory of Me.”

By these words, the Apostles are made sharers in the priesthood of Christ
and are ordained priests according to the order of Melchisedech
to offer in every place the spotless victim of which the prophets speak...

They are invested with the power to consecrate in turn, other priests,
who will perpetuate the same sacrifice, even to the consummation of the world.

The Holy Eucharist is both sacrament and sacrifice:
sacrament because of the outward sign containing the body and blood of Christ;
sacrifice because the Body of Christ is delivered for us and His Blood is shed for us.

The Sacrifice of the Mass is not only the commemoration of the sacrifice of the Cross, but is its reenactment in an unbloody manner.

The body of the Redeemer is delivered for us in the Eucharist
as on the Cross,
and in both ways it gives life to the world.
The Blood, first shed on Calvary and mystically shed again for us on the Altar,
effects the remission of sins and seals the New Covenant.

In both, the victim and the sacrifice are the same;
the only difference is in the manner of offering.

PRAYER

O good and merciful Savior,
it is the desire of my heart to return Thee love for Love.
My greatest sorrow is that Thou are not loved by all men
and, in particular, that my heart is so cold, so selfish, so ungrateful.
Deeply sensible of my own weakness and poverty,
I trust that Thy own grace will enable me to offer Thee an act of pure love.
And I wish to offer Thee this act of love
in reparation for the coldness and neglect that are shown to Thee
in the Sacrament of Thy love by Thy creatures.
O Jesus, my sovereign good, I love thee,
not for the sake of the reward which Thou has promised
to those who love Thee, but purely for thyself.
I love Thee above all things that can be loved,
above all pleasures, and in fine, above myself and all that is not of Thee,
protesting in the presence of heaven and earth
that I will live and die, purely and simply in Thy holy love,
and that if to love Thee thus
I must endure persecution and suffering,
I am perfectly satisfied,
and will ever say with St. Paul:
"Nothing shall separate me from the love of Christ."
O Jesus, Supreme Master of all hearts,
I love Thee, I adore Thee, I praise Thee, I thank Thee,
because I am now all Thine own.
Rule over me, and transform my soul into the likeness of Thyself,
so that it may bless and glorify Thee forever in the abode of the Saints.
Amen

 GOOD FRIDAY

 MUSIC: Confirma Hoc Deus , Josef Rheinberger, The Cathedral Singers