Easter Sunday, March 27, 2016
Jeremiah,
Chapter 44, Verse 10
To this day they have not been crushed down, nor have they
shown fear. They have not followed my
law and my statutes that I set before you and your ancestors.
God knows the human
heart we tend to trust in our human strength, or our clout, or our wealth, or
weapons. God knows and He wants us to trust in Him not any of these things.
Even to this very day we have not learned this lesson we in America have
learned to trust in the strength of our Army; which is the greatest Army in the
world and have forgotten the true basis of our strength which is printed on our
money: In God We Trust. Many people in high offices like to play the prophet:
but “A wise person is superior to a prophet” (Bava Basra 12a) Think a prophet
can see the future but a wise person can
see the present. God asks us to be present to each other each and every
day. Live in the Present!
Words of wisdom Saint Teresa
of Avila:
“I am afraid that if we begin to put
our trust in human help, some of our Divine help will fail us.”
“The most potent and acceptable prayer
is the prayer that leaves the best effects. I don’t mean it must immediately
fill the soul with desire . . . The best
effects [are] those that are followed up by actions—–when the soul not only
desires the honor of God, but really strives for it. “
“You pay God a compliment by asking
great things of Him.”[1]
Easter
Sunday[2]
WHAT is the feast of Easter? The celebration of the day on which Jesus Christ, according
to the predictions both of Himself and the prophets, by His almighty power, reunited
His body and soul, and arose alive from the grave.
Why is Easter Sunday sometimes called Pasch or Passover? It is from the Latin Pascha, and the Hebrew Phase, meaning “the
passing over” because the destroyer of the firstborn in Egypt passed over the houses
of the Israelites who had sprinkled the transom and posts of the door with the blood
of the paschal lamb and because the Jews were in that same night delivered from
bondage, passing over through the Red Sea into the land of promise. Now we Christians
are by the death and resurrection of Christ redeemed and passed over to the freedom
of the children of God, so we call the day of His resurrection Pasch or Passover.
How should we observe the feast of Easter? We observe the feast in such manner as to confirm our faith
in Jesus Christ and in His Church, and to pass over from the death of sin to the
new life of grace.
What is the meaning of Alleluia, so often repeated at Easter-time? “Alleluia” means “Praise God.” In the Introit of the Mass of
the day the Church introduces Jesus Christ as risen, addressing His heavenly
Father as follows “I rose up and am still with Thee, alleluia ; Thou hast laid Thy
hand upon Me, alleluia. Lord, Thou hast proved me, and know me; Thou hast known
my sitting down and my rising up.”
Why did the holy women desire to anoint the body of Jesus with
sweet spices? The women wanted to anoint Jesus’
body out of love for him. This love God rewarded by sending to them an angel, who
rolled back the great stone from before the mouth of the sepulcher, comforted
them, and convinced them that Christ was really raised from the dead. From this
we learn that God always consoles those who seek Him. The angel sent the holy women
to the disciples to console them for Christ s death, and in order that they might
make known His resurrection to the world. St. Peter was specially named not only
because he was the head of the apostles, but because he was sadder and more dispirited
than the others on account of his denial of Our Savior.
How did Our Savior prove that He was really risen from the dead? Our Lord proved Himself risen by showing Himself first to the
holy women, then to His disciples, and finally to five hundred persons at once.
His disciples not only saw Him, but ate and drank with Him, not once only, but repeatedly,
and for forty days.
It was through
combat and inexpressible sufferings that Our Savior gained victory. So also with
us we gain heaven only by labor, combat, and sufferings shall we win the crown of
eternal life; though redeemed by Christ from the servitude of Satan and sin, we
shall not be able to enter the kingdom of Christ unless, after His example and
by His grace, we fight till the end against the flesh, the devil, and the world;
for only he that perseveres to the end shall receive the crown (n. Tim. ii. 5).
The Easter Kiss
and Greeting
The day that the risen Christ
appeared to His apostles, breathed the Spirit on them, and wished them peace is
the day that Christians greet each other with special fraternal affection.
Early Latin Christians embraced each other on Easter with the greeting, Surrexit
Dominus vere ("The Lord is truly risen"). The appropriate
response is Deo gratias ("Thanks be to God"). Greek
Christians, on the other hand, say, Christos aneste ("Christ is
risen"), to which is answered, Alethos aneste ("Truly He is
risen"). The mutual kiss and embrace last throughout the Easter Octave.
Blessings
There was a time in both the
Eastern and Western churches that no one would dream of eating unblessed food
on Easter. Priests would either visit families on Holy Saturday night and bless
the spread made ready for the following day, or they would bless the food
brought to church after the Easter Sunday Mass. The old Roman ritual attests to
this tradition by its title for Food Blessings: Benedictiones Esculentorum,
Praesertim in Pascha - "The Blessings of Edibles, Especially for
Easter".
New Clothes & the Easter Parade
Most people are familiar with the
old-fashioned images of ladies bedecked in crisp new bonnets and dapper escorts
during the annual Easter parade. What at first blush appears to be no more than
a spectacle of vanity, however, is a combination of two deeply religious
practices. The first is the custom of wearing new clothes for Easter.
This stems from the ancient practice of newly baptized Christians wearing a
white garment from the moment of their baptism during the Easter Vigil until
the following week. The rest of the faithful eventually followed suit by
wearing something new to symbolize the new life brought by the death and
resurrection of Christ. Hence an old Irish saying: "For Christmas, food
and drink; for Easter, new clothes." There was even a superstition that
bad luck would come to those who could afford new clothes for Easter but did
not buy them. The second practice is the Easter walk, in which the
faithful (mostly couples) would march through town and country as a part of a
religious procession. A crucifix or the Paschal candle would often lead the
way, and the entourage would make several stops in order to pray or sing hymns.
The rest of the time would be spent in light banter. This custom became
secularized after the Reformation and thus became the "Easter parade"
so popular before the 1960s.
Easter Eggs
Two kinds of activities (besides
eating) surround this famous feature of Paschal celebration. The first is the decoration
of the egg, a custom that goes back to the first centuries of Christianity.
Colored dyes are the easiest way this is done, though different customs from
various cultures sometimes determine which colors are used. The Chaldean,
Syrian, and Greek Christians, for example, give each other scarlet eggs in
honor of the most precious blood of Christ. Other nations, such as the
Ukrainians and Russians, are famous for their beautiful and ornate egg
decorations. Egg games are also a familiar part of Easter merriment.
Most Americans are familiar with the custom of Easter egg hunts, but
there are other forms as well. Egg-pecking is a game popular in Europe
and the Middle East (not to mention the White House lawn), where hard-boiled
eggs are rolled against each other on the lawn or down a hill; the egg left
uncracked at the end is proclaimed the "victory egg."
The Dancing Sun
There is an old legend that the sun
dances for joy or makes three cheerful jumps on Easter morning. In England and
Ireland families would place a pan of water in the east window to watch the
dancing rays mirrored on it. Other "sun" customs involve some kind of
public gathering at sunrise. Greeting the daybreak with cannons, gunfire,
choirs, or band music was once very popular, as was holding a prayer service,
followed by a procession to the church where Mass would be offered.
"Sacred" Theater
According to some scholars the
beautiful sequence Victimae Paschali Laudes sung during the Easter Mass
in the traditional Roman rite is the inspiration for the development of medieval
religious drama. The poem's dialogic structure, with its question and
answer format, became the foundation on which more lines were added until a
separate play was formed. This play, in turn, inspired the composition of the
other medieval "mystery" plays held on Christmas, Epiphany, Corpus
Christi, and so on.
Solemn vespers and benediction were
a traditional part of every Sunday afternoon in many parishes, but especially
so on Easter. Perhaps one reason for this was the medieval custom of Easter
fables where, prior to the service, the priest would regale the
congregation with amusing anecdotes and whimsical yarns. This served as a sort
of antidote to the many sad or stern Lenten sermons of the previous weeks.
The Easter Octave
The entire Octave of Easter
constitutes an extended exultation in Christ's victory over death. Obviously,
the two most important days of this Octave are the two Sundays. As mentioned elsewhere,
Low Sunday was once the day that the neophytes took off their white
robes and resumed their lives in the daily world, and it was also the
traditional time for children to receive Holy Communion. Other days of the
Octave, however, also had distinctive customs of their own. Easter Monday
was reserved as a special day for rest and relaxation. Its most distinctive
feature is the Emmaus walk, a leisurely constitution inspired by the
Gospel of the day (Luke 24.13-35). This can take the form of a stroll through
field or forest or, as in French Canada, a visit to one's grandparents. Games
of mischief dating to pre-Christian times also take place on Easter Monday
and Tuesday. Chief among them are drenching customs, where boys
surprise girls with buckets of water, and vice versa, or switching customs,
where switches are gently used on each other. Easter Thursday in Slavic
countries, on the other hand, was reserved for remembering departed loved ones.
Mass that day would be offered for the deceased of the parish. Finally, Easter
Friday was a favorite day for pilgrimages in many parts of Europe. Large
groups would take rather long processions to a shrine or church, where Mass
would be offered.
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