The two sisters, Martha and Mary, are full of grief, yet full of confidence in Jesus. Let us observe how their two distinct characters are shown on this occasion. Jesus tells Martha that he is the Resurrection and the Life, and that they who believe in him shall not die, that is, shall not die the death of sin. But when Mary came to him, and he saw her weeping, he groaned in the spirit, and troubled himself, because he knew the greatness of her love. His divine Heart was touched with compassion as he beheld these who were so dear to him smarting under that chastisement of death, which sin had brought into the world. Having reached the sepulchre where Lazarus was buried, he wept, for he loved Lazarus. Thus did our Redeemer by his own weeping, sanctify the tears which Christian affection sheds over the grave of a relative or friend. Lazarus has been in the sepulchre four days: it is the image of the sinner buried in his sin. To see him, now, is what even his sister shudders at: but Jesus rebukes her, and bids them take away the stone. Then, with that voice which commands all nature and makes hell tremble, he cries out Lazarus, come forth! He that had been dead rises up in the sepulchre; but his feet and hands are tied, his face is covered with a napkin; he lives, but he can neither walk nor see. Jesus orders him to be set free; and then, by the hands of the men that are present, he recovers the use of his limbs and eyes. So is it with the sinner that receives pardon. There is no voice but that of Jesus which can call him to conversion, and touch his heart, and bring him to confess his sins; but Jesus has put into the hands of Priests the power to loosen, enlighten, and give movement. This miracle, which was wrought by our Saviour at this very season of the year, filled up the measure of his enemies' rage, and set them thinking how they could soonest put him to death. The few days he has still to live, are all to be spent at Bethania, where the miracle has taken place, and which is but a short distance from Jerusalem. In nine days from this, he will make his triumphant entry into the faithless city, after which he will return to Bethania, and after three or four days, will once more enter Jerusalem, there to consummate the Sacrifice, whose infinite merits are to purchase resurrection for sinners. The early Christians loved to see this history of our Lord's raising Lazarus to life painted on the walls of the Catacombs. We also find it carved on the Sarcophagi of the fourth and fifth centuries; and later on, it was not unfrequently chosen as a subject for the painted windows of our Cathedrals. This symbol of spiritual resurrection was formerly honoured by a most solemn ceremony, in the great Monastery of Holy Trinity, at Vendôme, in France. Every year, on this day, a criminal who had been sentenced to death was led to the Church of the Monastery. He had a rope round his neck, and held in his hand a torch weighing thirty-three pounds, in memory of the years spent on earth by our Saviour. The Monks made a procession, in which the criminal joined; after which, a sermon was preached, at which he also assisted. He was then taken to the foot of the Altar, where the Abbot, after exhorting him to repentance, imposed on him, as a penance, the pilgrimage to Saint Martin's Church, at Tours. The Abbot loosened the rope from his neck, and declared him to be free. The origin of this ceremony was, that when Louis of Bourbon, Count of Vendôme, was prisoner in England, in the year 1426, he made a vow, that if God restored him to liberty, he would establish this custom in the Church of Holy Trinity, as a return of gratitude, and as a homage to Christ, who raised up Lazarus from the tomb. God accepted the vow, and the Prince soon recovered his freedom. Bow down your heads to God. Grant, we beseech thee, O Almighty God, that we, who are sensible of our own weakness, and confide in thy power, may always rejoice in the effects of thy goodness. Through Christ our Lord. Amen. Humiliate capita vestra Deo. Da nobis, quæsumus, omnipotens Deus, ut qui, infirmitatis nostræ conscii, de tua virtute confidimus, de tua semper pietate gaudeamus. Per Christum Dominum nostrum. Amen. Let us pray to-day for the conversion of sinners, using this devout formula given by the Roman Pontifical in the Reconciliation of Penitents. PRAYER. O God, the most loving Creator, and most merciful Redeemer, of mankind! who, when man, through the devil's malice, forfeited eternal life, didst redeem him by the Blood of thine Only Son; restore to life these thy servants, whom thou willest not should be dead to thee. Thou abandonest not them that go astray; receive these that have returned to the right path. We beseech thee, O Lord, let thy mercy be moved by the tears and sighs of these thy servants; heal their wounds; stretch forth thy saving hand, and raise them up lest thy Church be robbed of a part of her body; lest thy flock should suffer loss; lest the enemy should rejoice in the perdition of them that are of thy family; lest the second death should seize them that were regenerated in the waters of salvation. To thee, therefore, O Lord, do we thy suppliants pour forth our Deus, humani generis benignissime conditor, et misericordissime reformator, qui hominem invidia diaboli ab æternitate dejectum unici Filii tui sanguine redemisti, vivifica hos famulos tuos, quos tibi nullatenus mori desideras; et qui non derelinquis devios, assume correctos; moveant pietatem tuam, quæsumus, Domine, horum famulorum tuorum lacrymosa suspiria; tueorum medere vulneribus; tu jacentibus manum porrige salutarem; ne Ecclesia tua aliqua sui corporis portione vastetur; ne grex tuus detrimentum sustineat: ne de familiæ tuæ damno inimicus exsultet ; ne renatos lavacro salutari mors secunda possideat. Tibi ergo, Domine, supplices fundimus preces, tibi fletum cordis effundimus, tu parce confidentibus, ut imminentibus pœnis sententiam futuri judicii, te miserante non incidant; nesciant quod terret in tenebris, quod stridet in flammis, atque ab erroris via ad iter reversi justitiæ, nequaquam ultra novis vulneribus saucientur, sed integrum sit eis, ac perpetuum, et quod gratia tua contulit, et quod misericordia reformavit. Per eumdem Dominum nostrum Jesum Christum. Amen. prayers, to thee the weeping of our heart. Spare them that trust in thee, and, in thy mercy, suffer them not to fall under the sentence of thy judgment to come, whereby they would be condemned to punishment. Let not the horrors of darkness, or the scorching of flames come nigh to them. They have returned from the way of error to the path of justice; let them not be again wounded. What thy grace hath conferred, and thy mercy hath reformed, let it remain in them whole and for ever. Through the same Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. SATURDAY OF THE FOURTH WEEK OF LENT. THIS Saturday, in the early ages of Christianity, was called Sitientes, from the first word of the Introit of the Mass, in which the Church addresses her Catechumens in the words of Isaias, and invites them that thirst after grace, to come and receive it in the holy Sacrament of Baptism. At Rome, the Station was originally in the Basilica of Saint Laurence outside the walls; but it was found inconvenient, on account of its great distance from the City; and the Church of Saint Nicholas in carcere, which is within the walls, was selected for to-day's Station. |