St. Thomas a Becket, Bishop and Martyr

"In the Name of Jesus and the protection of the Church, I am ready to embrace death."

Feast of St. John, Apostle and Evangelist

Today is the feast of St. John, Apostle and Evangelist. He needs no introduction. Out of all the evangelists, he is my favorite.

Fr. Leonard Goffine (1648 - 1719), in his Devout Meditations, has the following summary of the Beloved Disciple:

John, the brother of St. James the Greater, was a son of Zebedee, a fisherman of Galilee, and of Salome, a cousin of the Blessed Virgin Mary (Matt. iv. 21). He was the youngest of the apostles, and with Peter and James, was the most trusted of the disciples of Jesus, by Whom he was tenderly loved, on which account he is called the Disciple of Love. Of this Jesus gave the most convincing evidence when, at the Last Supper, He allowed that disciple to lean upon His breast, and when, from the cross, He committed to the care of John His own Mother. After the ascension John preached the Gospel in Palestine; afterwards went to Asia Minor, fixed his residence in Ephesus, and established many churches there. He was, with the other apostles, taken prisoner and scourged by the Jews, and in the year 95, under the Emperor Domitian, before the Latin Gate, at Rome, was thrown into a vessel of boiling oil. Having endured this torture without injury, he was then banished to the island of Patmos, where, by command of the Lord, he wrote the Apocalypse, or Revelation, concerning the fortunes of the Church. On returning from his banishment, he again governed the churches of Asia Minor as chief pastor, as he had done before, and, at the age of nearly one hundred years, died at Ephesus a peaceful and natural death.

Fr. Goffine also has the following to say about St. John and purity:

'He that loves wisdom,' saith the Holy Ghost, 'will obtain it, for it will not enter into a malicious soul, nor dwell in a body subject to sins' (Wis. i. 4). St. John was from his childhood an angel of purity, on which account he was particularly beloved by Jesus, and endowed by the Holy Ghost with such wisdom and knowledge that, as St. Augustine has remarked, he begin his gospel in a manner more lofty and sublime than the other three evangelists. For while they walk with the God-man upon earth, speaking comparatively little of His divinity, St. John, as if despising the world, soars beyond the vault of heaven, above the host of angels, and comes to Him by Whom all things are made, saying, "In the beginning was the Word." At the Last Supper he was permitted to lean on the bosom of Jesus, but what he there drank in secretly he imparted openly. Apply thyself, therefore, to purity of heart, and thou shalt be like St. John, a beloved disciple of Jesus, and shalt be filled with heavenly wisdom.

Ora pro nobis, Sante Johannes!

Feast of St. Thomas, Apostle and Martyr

Today is the feast of St. Thomas, Apostle and Martyr. He is commonly referred to as "Doubting Thomas," from the account in John 20:24-29. The account John gives is marvelous, and invites plenty of reflection. Before the "reforms" of 1969, the Church encouraged Her Faithful to silently say what Thomas said when he realized he had touched the Word Made Flesh - "My Lord and my God!" - at the Major Elevations at Mass. This is a practice that has fallen to the wayside, and is worthy of revival in one's life.

However, it would be an injustice to focus on Thomas' doubt. (In our day and age, sadly, this is often the case.) After the Upper Room, St. Thomas went on to be an Apostle and Martyr in the truest sense of the words. Here is what Fr. Leonard Goffine (1649 - 1719) wrote about the Saint for December 21st:

Thomas, also called Didymus, or the twin, was a fisherman of Galilee. After having been received among the apostles he accompanied Jesus in all His journeys, and uniformly showed docility, zeal, and love towards Him, particularly on the occasion of His going to Bethany to raise Lazarus from the dead. For when the apostles were afraid to go thither, because the Jews desired to kill Jesus, Thomas, full of courage, said, "Let us also go, that we may die with Him" (John xi.16). His faith, indeed, wavered for a moment in regard to the resurrection of Christ; but no sooner had Christ satisfied him thereof by showing His wounds, than he cried out with firm faith, "My Lord and my God." St. Gregory thereupon says, "God overruled the doubting of Thomas to our good, since that very doubt has profited us more than the ready belief of the other disciples, inasmuch as thereby Christ was induced to give so much clearer proofs of His resurrection, in order to confirm us in the belief of it." Thomas showed the firmness of his faith by the innumerable labors which he undertook, and by the sufferings that he endured for Christ. He traversed the most extensive and remote countries, and preached Jesus to the Armenians, Medes, Persians, Parthians, Hyrcanians, Bactrians, and other barbarous and wicked nations, enduring in the course of his labors, with astonishing firmness, the greatest sufferings for the honor of God and the salvation of men. Finally he came to India, when, in the city of Calamina, or Meliapor, he underwent a glorious martyrdom, being pierced through with lances, by order of the idolatrous priests, as he was praying at the foot of the cross. So much did the apostle do to repair a single fault; but we, who every day commit so many - what do we do to repair them? 

The Feast of St. Thomas supersedes all but the Sundays in Advent.

Ora pro nobis, Sancte Thoma!

St. Raphael

Magnificat

Salve Regina

FUNERAL OF HER MAJESTY, QUEEN ELIZABETH II

 

BATTLE OF BRITAIN DAY ~ 82nd ANNIVERSARY

 

QUEEN ELIZABETH II: REQUIESCAT IN PACE

Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II died today at Balmoral at the age of 96. May Our Lord Jesus Christ be merciful upon her soul. 

 

"Come on out, come on out, there's going to be a war". Reflections on the Anniversary of World War 2

This day, 83 years ago, the forces of Satan crossed the Polish border and unleashed on the world a torrent of bloodshed. In the early hours of that fateful day, Nazi aircraft began to bomb Warsaw leading to the eventual occupation of that nation with co-conspirator, Soviet Russia. The Bolsheviks attacked Poland on the 17th, following the secret protocols in the vile Ribbentrop-Molotov Pact. In fact, Nazis had even been training in the Soviet Union in the late 1930s. The right and left hand of Satan met at the river San - the dividing line between the two totalitarian States. Eventually, due to far greater organization and international connections and assorted fellow travellers,  the communist empire would devour more than half of Europe and lead to its monstrous extension over the globe leading to such a death count, that even the fiendish Hitler would end up looking like a choir boy. 

 "Come on out, come on out, there's going to be  a war", were the words my mother recalled to me of her mother hurrying down to the ocean side as she played with my uncle at Southend on Sea. That fateful day was September 3rd, and Britain and France had just declared war on Germany. A few hundred miles away, in my father's country the forces of Satanic evil were busily at work, already bombing hospitals and murdering civilians. 

Stalin directing Hitler into a losing war 

The result for Poland was the virtual extermination of Poland's Jews - protected by King Kazimir the Great centuries earlier, when Jews were being hounded out of other European states. Nazi hatred for the Catholic Church too was on display with arrests and executions of priests. Mass was proscribed, with the sole Mass at the Wawel Cathedral under the eye of the Gestapo. It was in this environment that the great Archbishop Sapiecha would take on a seminarian named Karol Wojtyla. 

My father was a witness to Nazi brutality. Early during the war, he and my grandmother on a number of occasions would sneak food to the Jews of Przemysl and pass food through the wired off area where the Jews were kept, prior to deportation to the death camps. My father always remembered this, and he remembered to his horror seeing behind the wire a young teenage boy from his class in school. Eventually my father would be arrested in a "Lapanka" (or street catch) and sent to Germany for slave labour. He then ended up in Norway on an island doing tree cutting; transferred to a camp near the Swedish border, he and another teenager escaped up into the mountains and to freedom in Sweden. He always remembered seeing the German Army motorbikes travelling along the road far below looking for them. In fact, this escape was even more daring for two young men had tried it earlier and had been shot. From Stockholm he eventually he would end up in Scotland in the armed forces... from then, onto London where he met my very English mother (who left London and spent her war years in Llandudno, Wales) - and the rest is history. 

So, please pray for Poland that she may remain true to her ancient Faith.

Saints Peter and Paul, ora pro nobis

EMANUEL JAQUES: Toronto's little saint of purity

It was July 29, 1977 when 12 year old Emanuel Jaques was abducted and tortured for over 12 hours by four homosexual sadists. [warning graphic content]. 

Having raped and tortured Emanuel for half a day, the monsters murdered Emanuel by holding his head in a kitchen sink filled with urine. 

Yes, urine. 

 

 

Torture, sadism, perversion, abuse...

This is homosexual depravity at it demonic, satanic conclusion. 

 

 

 

St. John Chrysostom wrote about this great evil, its causes and effects. 

Emanuel, a Catholic, had recently immigrated to Canada with his family from Portugal. I have written about Emanuel before, and will continue to do so. It is indeed scandalous that Emanuel is forgotten by the local Church. 

Holy Cross Cemetery in north Toronto,
where Emanuel's mortal remains are buried

I call upon the Archdiocese of Toronto to declare Emanuel "venerable".  

 

Today, in downtown Toronto, a so-called "gay pride parade" will be staged. A degenerate hoard ("hell appearing before its time" St. John Chrysostom) will gather to blaspheme God and His creation ("male and female He created them" Gn 1:27) and to "celebrate" sexual perversion. We cannot forget that many - if not most - of the homosexuals come from broken families, have suffered abuse in their childhood. Far worse than these sad people are the hedonistic non-homosexuals who cheer them on, who encourage them in their sin. But perhaps even worse than these reprobates are the silent bishops and clergy; who, if not encouraging and/or excusing this evil, just sit quietly by and allow this attack on God, the family to proceed without a word. Just as they have sat for decades in virtual silence on the scourge of abortion, allowing over 2 million Canadian babies to be butchered.

 

While this demonically inspired orgy takes place let us not forget that one of Emanuel's murderers is out on partial parole in B.C. This is how much children are "valued" in our society. But how could they be valued when children are dragged off to be exposed and abused by the horror of drag queens?

Let us turn to Emanuel in prayer. Let us pray that through his death, graces will be accepted by homosexuals who will repent and turn away from sin. 

Let us now once again implore Emanuel to pray for us and for the conversion of homosexuals.

Emanuel Jaques, pray for us. 

"To all homosexuals we say: Peace, Hope, and Joy in your daily pursuit of chastity and holiness. God be with you! May you always keep in your hearts the words of St. Paul, 'You are not called to immorality but to holiness' ".  

Very Rev. Mgr. Vincent Foy 

THE EVILNESS OF "PRIDE"

 

"PRIDE is not a thing that can be destroyed by a single stroke of the sword. One has to put it to death every day. 

PRIDE is self-love. To deny oneself all the time, there you have a good way of killing pride: to starve it out". 

St. Elizabeth of the Trinity

D-Day: June 6, 1944. May we NEVER forget

Seventy eight ago, this very day, the Allies stormed ashore upon the Normandy Beaches... may we never forget their incredible sacrifice.

Eternal rest grant unto them, O Lord, and may perpetual light shine upon the them. May the souls of the faithfully departed, through the mercy of God rest in peace. Amen.

Last year, the Prince of Wales opened a memorial to fallen British veterans. 

Address of H.M. King George VI on D-Day, 6 June 1944

Four years ago our Nation and Empire stood alone against an overwhelming enemy with our backs to the wall. Tested as never before in our history, in God's Providence we survived that test.

The spirit of the people, resolute, dedicated, burnt like a bright flame lit surely from those unseen fires which nothing can quench.

Once more a supreme test has to be faced. This time the challenge is not to fight to survive, but to fight to win the final victory for the good cause. Once again what is demanded from us all is something more than courage, more than endurance. We need the revival of spirit, the new unconquerable resolve.

After nearly five years of toil and suffering we must renew that crusading impulse on which we entered the war and met its darkest hour.

We and our allies are sure that our fight is against evil and for a world in which goodness and honour may be the foundation of the life of men in every land.

That we may be worthily matched with these new summons of destiny I desire solemnly to call my people to prayer and dedication.

We are not unmindful of our own shortcomings, past and present. We shall ask not that God will do our will, but that we may be enabled to do the will of God. And we dare to believe that God has used our Nation and Empire as an instrument for fulfilling His high purpose.

I hope that throughout the present crisis of the liberation of Europe there may be offered us earnest, continuous and widespread prayer.

We, who remain in this land, can most effectively enter into the suffering of subjugated Europe by prayer. Whereby we can fortify determination of our sailors, soldiers and airmen who go forth to set the captives free.

The Queen joins with me in sending you this message. She well understands the anxieties and cares of our womenfolk at this time. And she knows that many of them will find, as she does herself, fresh strength and comfort in such waiting upon God.

She feels that many women will be glad in this way to keep vigil with their men as they man the ships, storm the beaches and fill the skies.

At this historic moment surely not one of us is too busy, too young, or too old to play a part in a nationwide, a worldwide vigil of prayer as the great Crusade sets forth.

If from every place of worship, from home and factory, from men and women of all ages and many races and occupations, our intercessions rise, then, please God, both now and in the future not remote, the predictions of an ancient song may be fulfilled: "The Lord will give strength unto His people, the Lord will give His people the blessing of peace."

 

Canada's bishops have yet to apologize for two years of abuse and degradation they imposed on Catholics

 

The above photo of the faithful in Montreal, locked out of their churches, marginalized, ignored by their pastors; reduced to kneeling on hard cement in the freezing cold of Montreal is a reflection of the abuse inflicted on them by the men who outwardly occupy the sees of the successors of the Apostles in Canada. 

We Catholics are still waiting for these sad men to admit their guilt, their abuse, their collusion with the State. May they repent and do penance. Perhaps a start might be actually taking a pro-life stand? Perhaps they could show repentance by rebuking the political abusers? Silence, in this case, means consent. When the man who is the Prime Minister of Canada called Canadian truckers "Nazis" the bishops remained silent. When he called them racists the bishops were silent. And so it goes. 

The perverse irony of this is that he and his Deputy came out as fanatical supporters of real Nazis and racists involved in a foreign war half a world away (shipping them bombs and bullets on the backs of long-suffering taxpayers). 

Friends, pray for these men to repent and convert. They have abused us as neo-Gallican satraps of Caesar. They even allowed the Sacred Liturgy to be trodden underfoot by surrendering to State bureaucrats the rubrics of the Mass: the greatest crime of which was turning over the Most Holy Eucharist to the control of godless sinners.  

Queen Victoria: the Monarch who oversaw the founding of the Dominion of Canada

 

Today, in Canada, is celebrated the birthday of Queen Victoria (which is actually on the 25th). Though the enemies of this country toppled her statue in a desperate bid to destroy her memory, we commemorate her reign in which she oversaw the formation of the Dominion of Canada. 

 

 

President Putin rebukes war-mongering West who continue to arm Nazis and Banderites

 

Today, on Victory Day, President Vladimir Putin  - once again - outlined the real truths that precipitated this tragic war in the Ukraine. Yesterday, for us in the now decadent West, it was VE in Europe Day. One would have never had known it. It was a day devoted to by, for example, the repugnant Banderite Justin Trudeau to pay homage to globalist "Elensky" (after all "Z" has been banned in the Ukraine). 

 

In fact we found out on VE Day that Canada has "for years" (Trudeau's words) trained up to 30,000 Ukrainian troops. We also know that they and other NATO imperialists also trained Nazis, such as those of the Azov and Aidar Battalions. It is only fitting then, that Nazi and fascist, racist Banderite enablers would be silent on the day we should be solemnly recalling the sacrifice given to rid the world of - so we thought - Nazism and Banderism. 

 

Banks and Military Industrial Complex PROFIT from the Ukraine-Russia War

The US, EU, and their "allies" (Canada, Australia) have ensured that the war over the Donbas will make handsome profits for their masters, the international banksters. And indeed massive profits are being made; by banks and the ever present military industrial complex. The involvement of BIG globalist money also explains the MSM dutifully spewing out the war-mongering agitprop. This is a war about Russia, not about "democracy", "human rights", etc. Otherwise, for example, the US would not have reduced Raqqa to rubble through carpet bombing, resulting in thousands of civilian deaths. Or the 78 days of non-stop bombing of Belgrade by the imperial forces of the globalists, NATO. 

Perhaps the saddest thing in all this is that the churchmen are silent. Or, if not silent, dutifully joining their paymasters (Caesar) and pushing the propaganda. 

 

Contrary to the lies spread by the war mongers, the people of the Donbas have suffered horribly over the last 8 years. You never hear about them. But you will if you watch this... 

 

 

 

 

 

LIVE: Easter Vigil (pre-1955 Traditional Liturgy)

LIVE: Mass of the Presanctified

Good Friday

FIRST LESSON: Osee 6:1-6

In their affliction they will rise early to me: Come, and let us return to the Lord: 

For he hath taken us, and he will heal us: he will strike, and he will cure us. He will revive us after two days: on the third day he will raise us up, and we shall live in his sight. We shall know, and we shall follow on, that we may know the Lord. His going forth is prepared as the morning light, and he will come to us as the early and the latter rain to the earth. What shall I do to thee, O Ephraim? what shall I do to thee, O Juda? your mercy is as a morning cloud, and as the dew that goeth away in the morning. For this reason have I hewed them by the prophets, I have slain them by the words of my mouth: and thy judgments shall go forth as the light. For I desired mercy, and not sacrifice: and the knowledge of God more than holocausts.

SECOND LESSON: Exodus 12: 1-11

And the Lord said to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt: 

This month shall be to you the beginning of months: it shall be the first in the months of the year.

 

Speak ye to the whole assembly of the children of Israel, and say to them: On the tenth day of this month let every man take a lamb by their families and houses. 

But if the number be less than may suffice to eat the lamb, he shall take unto him his neighbour that joineth to his house, according to the number of souls which may be enough to eat the lamb. 

And it shall be a lamb without blemish, a male, of one year: according to which rite also you shall take a kid. 

And you shall keep it until the fourteenth day of this month: and the whole multitude of the children of Israel shall sacrifice it in the evening. 

And they shall take of the blood thereof, and put it upon both the side posts, and on the upper door posts of the houses, wherein they shall eat it. 

And they shall eat the flesh that night roasted at the fire, and unleavened bread with wild lettuce. 

You shall not eat thereof any thing raw, nor boiled in water, but only roasted at the fire: you shall eat the head with the feet and entrails thereof. 

Neither shall there remain any thing of it until morning. If there be any thing left, you shall burn it with fire.

 

And thus you shall eat it: you shall gird your reins, and you shall have shoes on your feet, holding staves in your hands, and you shall eat in haste: for it is the Phase (that is the Passage) of the Lord.

THE PASSION OF OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST ACCORDING TO ST. JOHN

John 18:1-40; 19:1-42

The apprehension of Jesus

When Jesus had said these things, he went forth with his disciples over the brook Cedron, where there was a garden, into which he entered with his disciples. 

And Judas also, who betrayed him, knew the place; because Jesus had often resorted thither together with his disciples. 

Judas therefore having received a band of soldiers and servants from the chief priests and the Pharisees, cometh thither with lanterns and torches and weapons. 

Jesus therefore, knowing all things that should come upon him, went forth, and said to them: Whom seek ye? 

They answered him: Jesus of Nazareth. Jesus saith to them: I am he. And Judas also, who betrayed him, stood with them. 

As soon therefore as he had said to them: I am he; they went backward, and fell to the ground. 

Again therefore he asked them: Whom seek ye? And they said, Jesus of Nazareth. 

Jesus answered, I have told you that I am he. If therefore you seek me, let these go their way, 

That the word might be fulfilled which he said: Of them whom thou hast given me, I have not lost any one. 

Then Simon Peter, having a sword, drew it, and struck the servant of the high priest, and cut off his right ear. And the name of the servant was Malchus. 

Jesus therefore said to Peter: Put up thy sword into the scabbard. The chalice which my Father hath given me, shall I not drink it? 

Then the band and the tribune, and the servants of the Jews, took Jesus, and bound him: 

And they led him away to Annas first, for he was father in law to Caiphas, who was the high priest of that year. 

Jesus at the palace of the High Priest

Now Caiphas was he who had given the counsel to the Jews: That it was expedient that one man should die for the people. 

And Simon Peter followed Jesus, and so did another disciple. And that disciple was known to the high priest, and went in with Jesus into the court of the high priest. 

But Peter stood at the door without. The other disciple therefore, who was known to the high priest, went out, and spoke to the portress, and brought in Peter. 

The maid therefore that was portress, saith to Peter: Art not thou also one of this man’s disciple? He saith: I am not. 

Now the servants and ministers stood at a fire of coals, because it was cold, and warmed themselves. And with them was Peter also, standing, and warming himself. 

The high priest therefore asked Jesus of his disciples, and of his doctrine. 

Jesus answered him: I have spoken openly to the world: I have always taught in the synagogue, and in the temple, whither all the Jews resort; and in secret I have spoken nothing. 

Why askest thou me? ask them who have heard what I have spoken unto them: behold they know what things I have said. 

And when he had said these things, one of the servants standing by, gave Jesus a blow, saying: Answerest thou the high priest so? 

Jesus answered him: If I have spoken evil, give testimony of the evil; but if well, why strikest thou me? 

And Annas sent him bound to Caiphas the high priest. 

And Simon Peter was standing, and warming himself. They said therefore to him: Art not thou also one of his disciples? He denied it, and said: I am not. 

One of the servants of the high priest (a kinsman to him whose ear Peter cut off) saith to him: Did not I see thee in the garden with him? 

Again therefore Peter denied; and immediately the cock crew. 

Jesus before Pilate

Then they led Jesus from Caiphas to the governor’s hall. And it was morning; and they went not into the hall, that they might not be defiled, but that they might eat the pasch. 

Pilate therefore went out to them, and said: What accusation bring you against this man? 

They answered, and said to him: If he were not a malefactor, we would not have delivered him up to thee. 

Pilate therefore said to them: Take him you, and judge him according to your law. The Jews therefore said to him: It is not lawful for us to put any man to death; 

That the word of Jesus might be fulfilled, which he said, signifying what death he should die. 

Pilate therefore went into the hall again, and called Jesus, and said to him: Art thou the king of the Jews? 

Jesus answered: Sayest thou this thing of thyself, or have others told it thee of me?

 

Pilate answered: Am I a Jew? Thy own nation, and the chief priests, have delivered thee up to me: what hast thou done? 

Jesus answered: My kingdom is not of this world. If my kingdom were of this world, my servants would certainly strive that I should not be delivered to the Jews: but now my kingdom is not from hence. 

Pilate therefore said to him: Art thou a king then? Jesus answered: Thou sayest that I am a king. For this was I born, and for this came I into the world; that I should give testimony to the truth. Every one that is of the truth, heareth my voice. 

Pilate saith to him: What is truth? And when he said this, he went out again to the Jews, and saith to them: I find no cause in him. 

But you have a custom that I should release one unto you at the pasch: will you, therefore, that I release unto you the king of the Jews? 

Then cried they all again, saying: Not this man, but Barabbas. Now Barabbas was a robber. 

Then therefore, Pilate took Jesus, and scourged him. 

And the soldiers platting a crown of thorns, put it upon his head; and they put on him a purple garments. 

And they came to him, and said: Hail, king of the Jews; and they gave him blows. 

Pilate therefore went forth again, and saith to them: Behold, I bring him forth unto you, that you may know that I find no cause in him. 

(Jesus therefore came forth, bearing the crown of thorns and the purple garment.) And he saith to them: Behold the Man. 

When the chief priests, therefore, and the servants, had seen him, they cried out, saying: Crucify him, crucify him. Pilate saith to them: Take him you, and crucify him: for I find no cause in him. 

The Jews answered him: We have a law; and according to the law he ought to die, because he made himself the Son of God. 

When Pilate therefore had heard this saying, he feared the more. 

And he entered into the hall again, and he said to Jesus: Whence art thou? But Jesus gave him no answer. 

Pilate therefore saith to him: Speakest thou not to me? knowest thou not that I have power to crucify thee, and I have power to release thee? 

Jesus answered: Thou shouldst not have any power against me, unless it were given thee from above. Therefore, he that hath delivered me to thee, hath the greater sin. 

And from henceforth Pilate sought to release him. But the Jews cried out, saying: If thou release this man, thou art not Cæsar’s friend. For whosoever maketh himself a king, speaketh against Cæsar. 

Now when Pilate had heard these words, he brought Jesus forth, and sat down in the judgment seat, in the place that is called Lithostrotos, and in Hebrew Gabbatha. 

And it was the parasceve of the pasch, about the sixth hour, and he saith to the Jews: Behold your king. 

But they cried out: Away with him; away with him; crucify him. Pilate saith to them: Shall I crucify your king? The chief priests answered: We have no king but Cæsar. 

Then therefore he delivered him to them to be crucified. 

The Crucifixion

And they took Jesus, and led him forth. 

And bearing his own cross, he went forth to the place which is called Calvary, but in Hebrew Golgotha. 

Where they crucified him, and with him two others, one on each side, and Jesus in the midst. 

And Pilate wrote a title also, and he put it upon the cross. And the writing was: JESUS OF NAZARETH, THE KING OF THE JEWS. 

This title therefore many of the Jews did read: because the place where Jesus was crucified was nigh to the city: and it was written in Hebrew, in Greek, and in Latin. 

Then the chief priests of the Jews said to Pilate: Write not, The King of the Jews; but that he said, I am the King of the Jews. 

Pilate answered: What I have written, I have written. 

The soldiers therefore, when they had crucified him, took his garments, (and they made four parts, to every soldier a part,) and also his coat. Now the coat was without seam, woven from the top throughout. 

They said then one to another: Let us not cut it, but let us cast lots for it, whose it shall be; that the scripture might be fulfilled, saying: They have parted my garments among them, and upon my vesture they have cast lot. And the soldiers indeed did these things. 

Now there stood by the cross of Jesus, his mother, and his mother’s sister, Mary of Cleophas, and Mary Magdalen. 

When Jesus therefore had seen his mother and the disciple standing whom he loved, he saith to his mother: Woman, behold thy son. 

After that, he saith to the disciple: Behold thy mother. And from that hour, the disciple took her to his own. 

The Death of Jesus

Afterwards, Jesus knowing that all things were now accomplished, that the scripture might be fulfilled, said: I thirst. 

Now there was a vessel set there full of vinegar. And they, putting a sponge full of vinegar about hyssop, put it to his mouth. J

esus therefore, when he had taken the vinegar, said: It is consummated. And bowing his head, he gave up the ghost. 

(Here all kneel and pause for a few moments.)

Then the Jews, (because it was the parasceve,) that the bodies might not remain upon the cross on the sabbath day, (for that was a great sabbath day,) besought Pilate that their legs might be broken, and that they might be taken away. 

The soldiers therefore came; and they broke the legs of the first, and of the other that was crucified with him. 

But after they were come to Jesus, when they saw that he was already dead, they did not break his legs. 

But one of the soldiers with a spear opened his side, and immediately there came out blood and water. 

And he that saw it, hath given testimony; and his testimony is true. And he knoweth that he saith true; that you also may believe. 

For these things were done, that the scripture might be fulfilled: You shall not break a bone of him. 

And again another scripture saith: They shall look on him whom they pierced. 

Here the Munda cor meum is said and the remainder is sung in the Gospel tone. No incense nor candles are used, and the book is not kissed.

And after these things, Joseph of Arimathea (because he was a disciple of Jesus, but secretly for fear of the Jews) besought Pilate that he might take away the body of Jesus. And Pilate gave leave. He came therefore, and took away the body of Jesus. 

And Nicodemus also came, (he who at the first came to Jesus by night,) bringing a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about an hundred pound weight. 

They took therefore the body of Jesus, and bound it in linen cloths, with the spices, as the manner of the Jews is to bury. 

Now there was in the place where he was crucified, a garden; and in the garden a new sepulchre, wherein no man yet had been laid. 

There, therefore, because of the parasceve of the Jews, they laid Jesus, because the sepulchre was nigh at hand.

There is no Credo.

Maundy Thursday

EPISTLE: 1 Corinthians 11:20-32

Lesson from the Epistle of Blessed Paul the Apostle to the Corinthians. When you come therefore together into one place, it is not now to eat the Lord’s supper. 

For every one taketh before his own supper to eat. And one indeed is hungry and another is drunk.

 

What, have you not houses to eat and to drink in? Or despise ye the church of God; and put them to shame that have not? What shall I say to you? Do I praise you? In this I praise you not. 

For I have received of the Lord that which also I delivered unto you, that the Lord Jesus, the same night in which he was betrayed, took bread, 

And giving thanks, broke, and said: Take ye, and eat: this is my body, which shall be delivered for you: this do for the commemoration of me. 

In like manner also the chalice, after he had supped, saying: This chalice is the new testament in my blood: this do ye, as often as you shall drink, for the commemoration of me. 

For as often as you shall eat this bread, and drink the chalice, you shall shew the death of the Lord, until he come. 

Therefore whosoever shall eat this bread, or drink the chalice of the Lord unworthily, shall be guilty of the body and of the blood of the Lord. 

 

But let a man prove himself: and so let him eat of that bread, and drink of the chalice. 

For he that eateth and drinketh unworthily, eateth and drinketh judgment to himself, not discerning the body of the Lord. 

Therefore are there many infirm and weak among you, and many sleep. 

But if we would judge ourselves, we should not be judged. 

But whilst we are judged, we are chastised by the Lord, that we be not condemned with this world.

GOSPEL: John 13:1-15

Before the festival day of the pasch, Jesus knowing that his hour was come, that he should pass out of this world to the Father: having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them unto the end. 

And when supper was done, (the devil having now put into the heart of Judas Iscariot, the son of Simon, to betray him,) 

Knowing that the Father had given him all things into his hands, and that he came from God, and goeth to God; 

He riseth from supper, and layeth aside his garments, and having taken a towel, girded himself. 

After that, he putteth water into a basin, and began to wash the feet of the disciples, and to wipe them with the towel wherewith he was girded. 

He cometh therefore to Simon Peter. And Peter saith to him: Lord, dost thou wash my feet 

Jesus answered, and said to him: What I do thou knowest not now; but thou shalt know hereafter. 

Peter saith to him: Thou shalt never wash my feet. Jesus answered him: If I wash thee not, thou shalt have no part with me. 

Simon Peter saith to him: Lord, not only my feet, but also my hands and my head. 

Jesus saith to him: He that is washed, needeth not but to wash his feet, but is clean wholly. And you are clean, but not all. 

For he knew who he was that would betray him; therefore he said: You are not all clean. 

Then after he had washed their feet, and taken his garments, being set down again, he said to them: Know you what I have done to you? 

You call me Master, and Lord; and you say well, for so I am. 

f then I being your Lord and Master, have washed your feet; you also ought to wash one another’s feet.

For I have given you an example, that as I have done to you, so you do also.

CREDO.

Monday in Holy Week

EPISTLE (Is. 50:5-10)

The Lord God hath opened my ear, and I do not resist: I have not gone back. 

I have given my body to the strikers, and my cheeks to them that plucked them: I have not turned away my face from them that rebuked me, and spit upon me. 

The Lord God is my helper, therefore am I not confounded: therefore have I set my face as a most hard rock, and I know that I shall not be confounded. 

He is near that justifieth me, who will contend with me? let us stand together, who is my adversary? let him come near to me. 

Behold the Lord God is my helper: who is he that shall condemn me? Lo, they shall all be destroyed as a garment, the moth shall eat them up.

 

Who is there among you that feareth the Lord, that heareth the voice of his servant, that hath walked in darkness, and hath no light? let him hope in the name of the Lord, and lean upon his God.

GOSPEL (John 12:1-9)

Jesus therefore, six days before the Pasch, came to Bethania, where Lazarus had been dead, whom Jesus raised to life. 

And they made him a supper there: and Martha served: but Lazarus was one of them that were at table with him.

 

Mary therefore took a pound of ointment of right spikenard, of great price, and anointed the feet of Jesus, and wiped his feet with her hair; and the house was filled with the odour of the ointment.

 

Then one of his disciples, Judas Iscariot, he that was about to betray him, said: 

Why was not this ointment sold for three hundred pence, and given to the poor? 

Now he said this, not because he cared for the poor; but because he was a thief, and having the purse, carried the things that were put therein.

 

Jesus therefore said: Let her alone, that she may keep it against the day of my burial. 

For the poor you have always with you; but me you have not always. 

A great multitude therefore of the Jews knew that he was there; and they came, not for Jesus’ sake only, but that they might see Lazarus, whom he had raised from the dead.