The following Preface, taken from the Ambrosian missal, provides a worthy reflection for this evening’s Vigil service. It is one of the finest pieces of this venerable liturgy, and is the blessing of the Paschal candle. The mystery of this great night is here treated with an eloquence and poetry worthy of the subject.
Truly it is meet and just, right and available to salvation, that we should here and in all places give thanks to thee, O holy Lord, almighty Father, eternal God! Thou hast consecrated the Pasch, unto which thou invitest all mankind, not only by the gore and fat of sheep, but by the Blood and Flesh of thine only-begotten Son, Jesus Christ our Lord: that thus the rite of an ungrateful people being abolished, grace should succeed the law, and the sins of the whole world be expiated by one Victim, offered up once, and by himself , to they Majesty.
This is the Lamb that was prefigured on tablets of stone. He was not taken from the flock, but was brought from heaven. He needed not a shepherd, but was himself the one Good Shepherd, who laid down his life for his sheep, and again assumed it, that his divine condescension might show us how to be humble, and his body’s Resurrection teach us to hope. No plaintive voice came from him when under his shearer, but thus spake he the prophecy of his Gospel: ‘Hereafter, ye shall see the Son of man sitting on the right hand of Majesty.’ May he, O almighty Father, reconcile us with thee, and, by the majesty wherewith he is coequal with thee, may he be merciful unto us.
For those things which happened in figure to our fathers, have become realities to us. Lo now shineth that pillar of fire, which on that blessed night, went before the people of God, leading to waters that saved them: for in them was the persecutor drowned, and from the same came liberated the people of Christ. Conceived in the stream made fruitful by the Holy Ghost, man, that was born of Adam unto death, is regenerated by Christ unto life. Let us, therefore, bid farewell to the fast we have been voluntarily keeping, for Christ, our Pasch, is slain. Let us not only feast on the Flesh of the Lamb, but let us also be inebriated with his blood. Yes, let us also eat the Unleavened, for not by bread alone doth man live, but by every word of God. For Christ is the Bread that came down from heaven, more excellent far than manna of old which fell in abundant showers and of which the Israelites, who then were, ate, yet died. Whereas he that eats of this Body, is made a possessor of everlasting life.
Lo the old things have passed away: all things are made new. The knife of the Mosaic circumcision has become blunted, and the cruel sharp stone of Jesus has gone out of use: but the people of Christ is signed on the forehead, and not secretly; by a Baptism, not by a wound; by chrism, not by blood.
Rightly, therefore, during this night – when we are the Resurrection of the Lord our Savior – do we burn a rich waxen torch, whose properties are fair whiteness, sweet fragrance and bright light: which flows not down as it melts, nor sends forth an offensive smell as it burns. For what could be more appropriate, what more festive, than that we should keep watch for the Flower of Jesse with torches that are the juice of flowers? The more so as Wisdom thus sang in her own praise: ‘I am the flower of the field, and the lily of the valley.’ Wax is not the sweat that oozes from a burnt pin, nor the tear that trickles from the cedar when wounded with many blows of the axe: it is a mysterious virginal production; and one that is transfigured into the whiteness of snow. Its fount-like melted stream feeds the (wick of) papyrus, which, as a guileless soul, stands, with its unbent, unjointed oneness, surrounded by the virginal substances, and becomes, by the flame, the stream’s much-cherished guest.
Therefore doth it behoove the Church to await, with sweet lights, the coming of the Spouse, and with all possible devotion, to weigh the holy gift she has received. Holy vigils, such as this, should have no fellowship with darkness. We should be wise, and make the light of our lamp be unceasing; lest, while we are preparing to trim it with oil, our Lord should come, and we be too late to do him homage, for we are assured that he will come in the twinkling of the eye, as a flash of light.
Therefore, this day’s evening is rich in the fullness of the most august mysteries, which, though prefigured or accomplished at various times, are all brought before us during the course of this night. For firstly, we have this evening torch, which leads the way, as did the star that guided the Magi. Then follows the font of spiritual regeneration, as it were the river of Jordan
Westminster , Maryland
From The Liturgical Year,
Passiontide and Holy Week
Passiontide and Holy Week
by Abbot Guéranger OSB
(Translated from the French
by Dom Laurence Shepherd OSB,
The Newman Press,
No comments:
Post a Comment