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April 13, 2006
Easter Triduum
The three days of the holy week that commemorates the passion, death and resurrection of Jesus is called the Triduum. Do not miss it for the world. Christ died once and for all. This truth is perpetuated in the commemoration of the sacred liturgy that celebrates this eternal truth, that Christ died for us all even while we were sinners. This liturgy is handed down by the apostles through the apostolic Tradition. That even though we were not there two thousand years ago when this act of redemption- the passion death and resurrection of Christ - took place in real time, the same efficacy of those salvific moments are made present in and through liturgy today and for all times.
Today, we celebrate the Maundy Thursday. According to Scripture and Tradition, it is on this day, that Jesus having loved His own to end, would use the very night of passover,(that commemorated the liberation of Israel from the bondage of Egypt, as a momentous one to give Himself as a nourishment for our body and soul. Remember the discourse of John 6:the miracle that preceded the discourse was a sign of what was to come. I am the living bread come down from heaven. Unless you eat the flesh of the son of man and drink of his blood, you will not have life in you.
It is on this very night, he took the bread and gave it as His body and the wine as His blood.
For in the night in which he was betrayed, (a) he took Bread; and when he had given thanks, (b) he brake it, and gave it to his disciples, saying, Take, eat, (c) this is my Body, which is given for you; Do this in remembrance of me. Likewise, after supper, (d) he took the Cup; and when he had given thanks, he gave it to them, saying, Drink ye all of this; for (e) this is my Blood of the New Testament, which is shed for you, and for many, for the remission of sins; Do this, as oft as ye shall drink it, in remembrance of me.
Again in the Book of Common Prayer, the Prayer of Humble access recognizes this fact.
WE do not presume to come to this thy Table, O merciful Lord, trusting in our own righteousness, but in thy manifold and great mercies. We are not worthy so much as to gather up the crumbs under thy Table. But thou art the same Lord, whose property is always to have mercy: Grant us therefore, gracious Lord, so to eat the flesh of thy dear Son Jesus Christ, and to drink his blood, that our sinful bodies may be made clean by his Body, and our souls washed through his most precious Blood, and that we may evermore dwell in him, and he in us. Amen.
It is on this very night, that Christ instituted the command of love and set an example by washing the feet of His disciple. If the Lord of heaven and earth, the son of God, should come down to wash your feet, how we ought to wash each other's feet. Though he was in the form of God, He did not count equality with God. He emptied himself taking the form of a slave (Phil 2) As St. Paul admonishes us, we need to have the same mind as that of Jesus.
It is on this very night, he instituted priesthood, to perpetuate the sacraments, "Do this in remembrance of me". Priests and Deacons are ordinary men. They have not descended from above, but are always aiming to perfect themselves after the model of the Good Shepherd as pastors. They are consecrated men, designated to make available God' saving grace through the celebration of the sacraments. Human as they are, they are one of us and yet having been anointed by the Lord, they belong to Him and therefore they deserve our respect.
On the ordering of the Deacons, the collect thus reads:
THEN the twelve called the multitude of the disciples unto them, and said, It is not reason that we should leave the word of God, and serve tables. Wherefore, breth-ren, look ye out among you seven men of honest report, full of the Holy Ghost and wisdom, whom we may appoint over this business. But we will give ourselves continually to prayer, and to the ministry of the word. And the saying pleased the whole multitude: and they chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Ghost, and Philip, and Prochorus, and Nicanor, and Timon, and Parmenas, and Nicolas a proselyte of Antioch: whom they set before the apostles: and when they had prayed, they laid their hands on them. And the word of God increased; and the number of the disciples multiplied in Jerusalem greatly; and a great company of the priests were obedient to the faith.
On the ordering of the priests, the collect thus reads:
ALMIGHTY God, giver of all good things, who by thy Holy Spirit hast appointed divers Orders of Ministers in thy Church; Mercifully behold these thy servants now called to the Office of Priesthood; and so replenish them with the truth of thy Doctrine, and adorn them with inno-cency of life, that, both by word and good example, they may faithfully serve thee in this Office, to the glory of thy Name, and the edification of thy Church; through the merits of our Saviour Jesus Christ, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the same Holy Spirit, world without end. Amen.
On the ordering of the bishops,the collect reads thus:
ALMIGHTY God, and heavenly Father, who, of thine infinite love and goodness towards us, hast given to us thy only and most dearly beloved Son Jesus Christ, to be our Redeemer, and the Author of everlasting life; who, after he had made perfect our redemption by his death, and was ascended into heaven, sent abroad into the world his Apostles, Prophets, Evangelists, Doctors, and Pastors; by whose labour and ministry he gathered together a great flock in all the parts of the world, to set forth the eternal praise of thy holy Name: For these so great benefits of thy eternal goodness, and for that thou hast vouchsafed to call these thy servants here present to the same Office and Ministry, appointed for the salvation of mankind, we render unto thee most hearty thanks, we praise and worship thee; and we humbly beseech thee, by the same thy blessed Son, to grant unto all, which either here or elsewhere call upon thy holy Name, that we may continue to show ourselves thankful unto thee for these and all thy other benefits; and that we may daily increase and go forwards in the know-ledge and faith of thee and thy Son, by the Holy Spirit. So that as well by these thy Ministers, as by them over whom they shall be appointed thy Ministers, thy holy Name may be for ever glorified, and thy blessed kingdom enlarged; through the same thy Son Jesus Christ our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee in the unity of the same Holy Spirit, world without end. Amen.
Come and celebrate these great events of our redemption, where Jesus renewed the covenant on our behalf with the Father in the Lord's Supper, taught us how to love in the Washing of feet and left us His eternal presence in a special manner in the Sacrament of the Holy Eucharist and wanted this to be perpetuated through the institution of the sacraments of the Holy Orders ~ to make available the plenitude of God's richest mercies for all times.
Posted by frleo at April 13, 2006 8:51 AM
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