From The Liturgical Year, by Dom Prosper Gueranger
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After
having proposed the forty-days’ fast of Jesus in the desert to the meditation
of the faithful during the first four weeks of Lent, the holy Church gives the
two weeks which still remain before Easter to the commemoration of the Passion.
She would not have her children come to that great day of the immolation of the
Lamb, without having prepared for it by compassionating with Him in the
sufferings He endured in their stead.
The
most ancient sacramentaries and antiphonaries of the several Churches attest,
by the prayers, the lessons, and the whole liturgy of these two weeks, that the
Passion of our Lord is now the one sole thought of the Christian world. During
Passion-week, a saint’s feast, if it occur, will be kept; but Passion Sunday
admits no feast, however solemn it may be; and even on those which are kept
during the days intervening between Passion and Palm Sunday, there is always
made a commemoration of the Passion, and the holy images are not allowed to be
uncovered.
We
cannot give any historical details upon the first of these two weeks; its
ceremonies and rites have always been the same as those of the four preceding
ones. [It would be out of place to enter here on a discussion with regard to
the name Mediana under which title we find Passion Sunday
mentioned both in ancient liturgies and in Canon Law.] We, therefore, refer the
reader to the following chapter, in which we treat of the mysteries peculiar to
Passiontide. The second week, on the contrary, furnishes us with abundant
historical details; for there is no portion of the liturgical year which has
interested the Christian world so much as this, or which has given rise to such
fervent manifestations of piety.
This
week was held in great veneration even as early as the third century, as we
learn from St. Denis, bishop of Alexandria, who lived at that time [Epist.
ad Basilidem, Canon i]. In the following century, we find St. John
Chrysostom, calling it the great week [Hom. xxx in
Genes.]:- ‘Not,’ says the holy doctor, ‘that it has more days in it than
other weeks, or that its days are made up of more hours than other days; but we
call it great, because of the great mysteries which are then
celebrated.’ We find it called also by other names: the painful week
(hebdomada poenosa), on account of the sufferings of our Lord Jesus Christ,
and of the fatigue required from us in celebrating them; the week of
indulgence, because sinners are then received to penance; and, lastly, Holy
Week, in allusion to the holiness of the mysteries which are
commemorated during these seven days. This last name is the one under which it
most generally goes with us; and the very days themselves are, in many
countries, called by the same name, Holy Monday, Holy Tuesday, Good
Friday, Holy Saturday.
The
severity of the lenten fast is increased during these its last days; the whole
energy of the spirit of penance is now brought out. Even with us, the
dispensation which allows the use of eggs ceases towards the middle of this
week. The eastern Churches, faithful to their ancient traditions, have kept up
a most rigorous abstinence ever since the Monday of Quinquagesima week. During
the whole of this long period, which they call Xerophagia, they
have been allowed nothing but dry food. In the early ages, fasting during Holy
Week was carried to the utmost limits that human nature could endure. We learn
from St. Epiphanius [Expositio fidei, ix Haeres. xxii.],
that there were some of the Christians who observed a strict fast from Monday
morning to cock-crow of Easter Sunday. Of course it must have been very few of
the faithful who could go so far as this. Many passed two, three, and even four
consecutive days, without tasting any food; but the general practice was to
fast from Maundy Thursday evening to Easter morning. Many Christians in the
east, and in Russia, observe this fast even in these times. Would that such
severe penance were always accompanied by a firm faith and union with the
Church, out of which the merit of such penitential works is of no avail for
salvation!
Another
of the ancient practices of Holy Week were the long hours spent, during the
night, in the churches. On Maundy Thursday, after having celebrated the divine
mysteries in remembrance of the Last Supper, the faithful continued a long time
in prayer [St. John Chrysostom, Hom. xxx in Genes.].
The night between Friday and Saturday was spent in almost uninterrupted vigil,
in honour of our Lord’s burial [St. Cyril of Jerusalem, Catech. xviii.].
But the longest of all these vigils was that of Saturday, which was kept up
till Easter Sunday morning. The whole congregation joined in it: they assisted
at the final preparation of the catechumens, as also at the administration of
Baptism; nor did they leave the church until after the celebration of the holy
Sacrifice, which was not over till sunrise [Const. Apost. lib. 1.
cap. xviii.].
Cessation
from servile work was, for a long time, an obligation during Holy Week. The
civil law united with that of the Church in order to bring about this solemn
rest from toil and business, which so eloquently expresses the state of
mourning of the Christian world. The thought of the sufferings and death of
Jesus was the one pervading thought: the Divine Offices and prayer were the
sole occupation of the people: and, indeed, all the strength of the body was
needed for the support of the austerities of fasting and abstinence. We can
readily understand what an impression was made upon men’s minds, during the
whole of the rest of the year, by this universal suspension of the ordinary
routine of life. Moreover, when we call to mind how, for five full weeks, the
severity of Lent had waged war on the sensual appetites, we can imagine the
simple and honest joy wherewith was welcomed the feast of Easter, which brought
both the regeneration of the soul, and respite to the body.
In
the preceding volume, we mentioned the laws of the Theodosian Code, which
forbade all law business during the forty days preceding Easter. This law of
Gratian and Theodosius, which was published in 380, was extended by Theodosius
in 389; this new decree forbade all pleadings during the seven days before, and
the seven days after, Easter. We meet with several allusions to this then
recent law, in the homilies of St. John Chrysostom, and in the sermons of St.
Augustine. In virtue of this decree, each of these fifteen days was considered,
as far as the courts of law were concerned, as a Sunday.
But Christian princes were not satisfied with the mere suspension of human justice during these days, which are so emphatically days of mercy: they would, moreover, pay homage, by an external act, to the fatherly goodness of God, who has deigned to pardon a guilty world, through the merits of the death of His Son. The Church was on the point of giving reconciliation to repentant sinners, who had broken the chains of sin whereby they were held captives; Christian princes were ambitious to imitate this their mother, and they ordered that prisoners should be loosened from their chains, that the prisons should be thrown open, and that freedom should be restored to those who had fallen under the sentence of human tribunals. The only exception made was that of criminals whose freedom would have exposed their families or society to great danger. The name of Theodosius stands prominent in these acts of mercy. We are told by St John Chrysostom [Homil. in magn. Hebdom.Homil. xxx. in Genes. Homil. vi ad popul. Antioch.] that this emperor sent letters of pardon to the several cities, ordering the release of prisoners, and granting life to those that had been condemned to death, and all this in order to sanctify the days preceding the Easter feast. The last emperors made a law of this custom, as we find in one of St. Leo’s sermons, where he thus speaks of their clemency: ‘The Roman emperors have long observed this holy practice. In honour of our Lord’s Passion and Resurrection, they humbly withhold the exercise of their sovereign justice, and, laying aside the severity of their laws, they grant pardon to a great number of criminals. Their intention in this is to imitate the divine goodness by their own exercise of clemency during these days, when the world owes its salvation to the divine mercy. Let, then, the Christian people imitate their princes, and let the example of kings induce subjects to forgive each other their private wrongs; for, surely it is absurd that private laws should be less unrelenting than those which are public. Let trespasses be forgiven, let bonds be taken off, let offences be forgotten, let revenge be stifled; that thus the sacred feast may, by both divine and human favours, find us all happy and innocent.’ [Sermon xl. de Quadragesima, ii].
But Christian princes were not satisfied with the mere suspension of human justice during these days, which are so emphatically days of mercy: they would, moreover, pay homage, by an external act, to the fatherly goodness of God, who has deigned to pardon a guilty world, through the merits of the death of His Son. The Church was on the point of giving reconciliation to repentant sinners, who had broken the chains of sin whereby they were held captives; Christian princes were ambitious to imitate this their mother, and they ordered that prisoners should be loosened from their chains, that the prisons should be thrown open, and that freedom should be restored to those who had fallen under the sentence of human tribunals. The only exception made was that of criminals whose freedom would have exposed their families or society to great danger. The name of Theodosius stands prominent in these acts of mercy. We are told by St John Chrysostom [Homil. in magn. Hebdom.Homil. xxx. in Genes. Homil. vi ad popul. Antioch.] that this emperor sent letters of pardon to the several cities, ordering the release of prisoners, and granting life to those that had been condemned to death, and all this in order to sanctify the days preceding the Easter feast. The last emperors made a law of this custom, as we find in one of St. Leo’s sermons, where he thus speaks of their clemency: ‘The Roman emperors have long observed this holy practice. In honour of our Lord’s Passion and Resurrection, they humbly withhold the exercise of their sovereign justice, and, laying aside the severity of their laws, they grant pardon to a great number of criminals. Their intention in this is to imitate the divine goodness by their own exercise of clemency during these days, when the world owes its salvation to the divine mercy. Let, then, the Christian people imitate their princes, and let the example of kings induce subjects to forgive each other their private wrongs; for, surely it is absurd that private laws should be less unrelenting than those which are public. Let trespasses be forgiven, let bonds be taken off, let offences be forgotten, let revenge be stifled; that thus the sacred feast may, by both divine and human favours, find us all happy and innocent.’ [Sermon xl. de Quadragesima, ii].
This
Christian amnesty was not confined to the Theodosian Code; we find traces of it
in the laws of several of our western countries. We may mention France as an
example. Under the first race of its kings, St. Eligius bishop of Noyon, in a
sermon for Maundy Thursday, thus expresses himself: ‘On this day, when the
Church grants indulgence to penitents and absolution to sinners, magistrates,
also, relent in their severity and grant pardon to the guilty. Throughout the
whole world prisons are thrown open; princes show clemency to criminals;
masters forgive their slaves.’ [Sermon x]. Under the second race, we learn from
the Capitularia of Charlemagne, that bishops had a right to exact from the
judges, for the love of Jesus Christ (as it is expressed), that prisoners
should be set free on the days preceding Easter [We learn from the same
capitularia, that this privilege was also extended to Christmas and Pentecost];
and should the magistrates refuse to obey, the bishops could refuse them
admission into the church [Capitular. lib. vi.]. And lastly, under
the third race, we find Charles VI, after quelling the rebellion at Rouen,
giving orders, later on, that the prisoners should be set at liberty, because
it was Painful Week, and very near to the Easter feast [Joan Juvénal
des Ursins, year 1382].
A
last vestige of this merciful legislation was a custom observed by the
parliament of Paris. The ancient Christian practice of suspending its sessions
during the whole of Lent, had long been abolished: it was not till the Wednesday
of Holy Week that the house was closed, which it continued to be from that day
until after Low Sunday. On the Tuesday of Holy Week, which was the last day
granted for audiences, the parliament repaired to the palace prisons, and there
one of the grand presidents, generally the last installed, held a session of
the house. The prisoners were questioned; but, without any formal judgment, all
those whose case seemed favourable, or who were not guilty of some capital
offence, were set at liberty.
The
revolutions of the last eighty years have produced in every country in Europe
the secularization of society, that is to say, the effacing from our national
customs and legislation of everything which had been introduced by the
supernatural element of Christianity. The favourite theory of the last half
century or more, has been that all men are equal. The people of the ages of
faith had something far more convincing than theory, of the sacredness of their
rights. At the approach of those solemn anniversaries which so forcibly remind
us of the justice and mercy of God, they beheld princes abdicating, as it were,
their sceptre, leaving in God’s hands the punishment of the guilty, and
assisting at the holy Table of Paschal Communion side by side with those very
men, whom, a few days before, they had been keeping chained in prison for the
good of society. There was one thought, which, during these days, was strongly
brought before all nations: it was the thought of God, in whose eyes all men
are sinners; of God, from whom alone proceed justice and pardon. It was in
consequence of this deep Christian feeling, that we find so many diplomas and
charts of the ages of faith speaking of the days of Holy Week as being the reign
of Christ: such an event, they say, happened on such a day, ‘under the
reign of our Lord Jesus Christ:’ regnante Domino nostro Jesu Christo.
When
these days of holy and Christian equality were over, did subjects refuse
submission to their sovereigns? Did they abuse the humility of their princes,
and take occasion for drawing up what modern times call the rights of
man? No: that same thought which had inspired human justice to humble
itself before the cross of Jesus, taught the people their duty of obeying the
powers established by God. The exercise of power, and submission to that power,
both had God for their motive. They who wielded the sceptre might be of various
dynasties: the respect for authority was ever the same. Now-a-days, the liturgy
has none of her ancient influence on society; religion has been driven from the
world at large, and her only life and power is now with the consciences of
individuals; and as to political institutions, they are but the expression of
human pride, seeking to command, or refusing to obey.
And
yet the fourth century, which, in virtue of the Christian spirit, produced the
laws we have been alluding to, was still rife with the pagan element. How comes
it that we, who live in the full light of Christianity, can give the name of
progress to a system which tends to separate society from every thing that is
supernatural? Men may talk as they please, there is but one way to secure
order, peace, morality, and security to the world; and that is God’s way, the
way of faith, of living in accordance with the teachings and the spirit of
faith. All other systems can, at best, but flatter those human passions, which
are so strongly at variance with the mysteries of our Lord Jesus Christ, which
we are now celebrating.
We must mention another law made by the Christian emperors in reference to Holy Week. If the spirit of charity, and a desire to imitate divine mercy, led them to decree the liberation of prisoners; it was but acting consistently with these principles, that, during these days when our Saviour shed His Blood for the emancipation of the human race, they should interest themselves in what regards slaves. Slavery, a consequence of sin, and the fundamental institution of the pagan world, had received its death-blow by the preaching of the Gospel; but its gradual abolition was left to individuals, and to their practical exercise of the principle of Christian fraternity. As our Lord and His apostles had not exacted the immediate abolition of slavery, so, in like manner, the Christian emperors limited themselves to passing such laws as would give encouragement to its gradual abolition. We have an example of this in the Justinian Code, where this prince, after having forbidden all law-proceedings during Holy Week and the week following, lays down the following exception: ‘It shall, nevertheless, be permitted to give slaves their liberty; in such manner, that the legal acts necessary for their emancipation shall not be counted as contravening this present enactment.’ [Cod. lib. iii. tit. xii. de feriis. Leg. 8.]. This charitable law of Justinian was but applying to the fifteen days of Easter the decree passed by Constantine, which forbade all legal proceedings on the Sundays throughout the year, excepting only such acts as had for their object the emancipation of slaves.
We must mention another law made by the Christian emperors in reference to Holy Week. If the spirit of charity, and a desire to imitate divine mercy, led them to decree the liberation of prisoners; it was but acting consistently with these principles, that, during these days when our Saviour shed His Blood for the emancipation of the human race, they should interest themselves in what regards slaves. Slavery, a consequence of sin, and the fundamental institution of the pagan world, had received its death-blow by the preaching of the Gospel; but its gradual abolition was left to individuals, and to their practical exercise of the principle of Christian fraternity. As our Lord and His apostles had not exacted the immediate abolition of slavery, so, in like manner, the Christian emperors limited themselves to passing such laws as would give encouragement to its gradual abolition. We have an example of this in the Justinian Code, where this prince, after having forbidden all law-proceedings during Holy Week and the week following, lays down the following exception: ‘It shall, nevertheless, be permitted to give slaves their liberty; in such manner, that the legal acts necessary for their emancipation shall not be counted as contravening this present enactment.’ [Cod. lib. iii. tit. xii. de feriis. Leg. 8.]. This charitable law of Justinian was but applying to the fifteen days of Easter the decree passed by Constantine, which forbade all legal proceedings on the Sundays throughout the year, excepting only such acts as had for their object the emancipation of slaves.
But
long before the peace given her by Constantine, the Church had made provision
for slaves, during these days when the mysteries of the world’s redemption were
accomplished. Christian masters were obliged to grant them total rest from
labour during this holy fortnight. Such is the law laid down in the apostolic
constitutions, which were compiled previously to the fourth century. ‘During
the great week preceding the day of Easter, and during the week that follows,
slaves rest from labour, inasmuch as the first is the week of our Lord’s
Passion, and the second is that of His Resurrection; and the slaves require to
be instructed upon these mysteries.’ [Constit. Apost. lib. viii.
cap. xxxiii].
Another
characteristic of the two weeks, upon which we are now entering, is that of
giving more abundant alms, and of greater fervour in the exercise of works of
mercy. St. John Chrysostom assures us that such was the practice of his times;
he passes an encomium on the faithful, many of whom redoubled, at this period,
their charities to the poor, which they did out of this motive: that they
might, in some slight measure, imitate the divine generosity, which is now so
unreservedly pouring out its graces on sinners.
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