ANONYMOUS SAYS IT WILL BE ATTACKING ISRAEL ON BEHALF OF AND IN SOLIDARITY WITH THE PALESTINIAN PEOPLE
Fear them not: for the Lord your God will fight for you. DRB – Deuteronomy 3:22
The clip is edited in the style of a television news report and features a masked and suited individual sitting behind a desk and reading from a prepared script as he declares plans for a massive cyber attack on April 7 – one week before Holocaust Remembrance Day.
Declaring Palestinians youths a ‘symbol of freedom’, Anonymous says it will take down ‘servers, government websites, Israeli military websites, and Israeli institutions’ in a move that will ‘erase Israel from cyberspace in our electronic Holocaust‘.
‘Our message to the foolish Benjamin Netanyahu and all leaders in the Zionist entities, we will continue to electronically attack until the people of Palestine are free,‘ it adds.
The video threatens Israel with an ‘electronic Holocaust’ on April 7 – just one week before Holocaust Remembrance Day, known in Israel as Yom HaShoah.
The clip is edited in the style of a television news report and features a masked and suited individual sitting behind a desk and reading from a prepared script as he declares plans for a massive cyber attack on April 7 – one week before Holocaust Remembrance Day.
The event is observed as Israel’s day of commemoration for the approximately six million Jews who perished in the Holocaust as a result of the actions carried out by Nazi Germany.
News of Anonymous threat comes as a Jerusalem district court indicted a Palestinian from east Jerusalem on charges of traveling to Syria to join the Islamic State terrorist group.
Today, again, our Savior sets out in the morning for Jerusalem. His intention is to repair to the temple, and continue his yesterday’s teachings. It is evident that his mission on earth is fast drawing to its close. He says to his Disciples: You know that after two days shall be the Pasch, and the Son of Man shall be delivered up to be crucified.
On the road from Bethania to Jerusalem, the Disciples are surprised at seeing the fig-tree, which their Divine Master had yesterday cursed, now dead. Addressing himself to Jesus, Peter says: Rabbi, behold, the fig-tree, which thou didst curse, is withered away. In order to teach us that the whole of material nature is subservient to the spiritual element, when this last is united to God by faith, Jesus replies: Have the faith of God. Amen I say to you, that whosoever shall say to this mountain: Be thou removed and cast into the sea! And shall not stagger in his heart, but believe, that whatsoever he saith shall be done, it shall be done unto him? Having entered the City, Jesus directs his steps towards the Temple. No sooner has he entered, than the Chief Priests, the Scribes, and the Ancients of the people, accost him with these words: By what authority dost thou these things?
And who has given thee this authority that thou shouldst do these things, we shall find our Lord’s answer given in the Gospel. Our object is to mention the leading events of the last days of our Redeemer on earth; the holy Volume will supply the details. As on the two preceding days, Jesus leaves the City towards evening: he passes over Mount Olivet, and returns to Bethania, where he finds his Blessed Mother and his devoted friends.
In today’s Mass, the Church reads the history of the Passion according to St. Mark, who wrote his Gospel the next after St. Matthew: hence it is, that the second place is assigned to him. His account of the Passion is shorter than St. Matthew’s, of which it would often seem to be a summary; and yet certain details are peculiar to this Evangelist, and prove him to have been an eye-witness. Our readers are aware that St. Mark was the disciple of St. Peter, and that his Gospel was written under the very eye of the Prince of the Apostles.
In Rome, the Station for today is in the Church of St. Prisca, which is said to have been the house of Aquila and his wife Prisca, to whom St. Paul sends his salutations, in his Epistle to the Romans. In the 3rd century, Pope St. Eutychian had translated thither, on account of the sameness of the name, the body of St. Prisca, a Virgin and Martyr of Rome.
Three days hence, and the Cross will be lifted up on Calvary, bearing upon itself the Author of our Salvation. The Church, in the Introit of today’s Mass, bids us at once pay our homage to this trophy of our victory, and glory in it.
INTROIT
But God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ; by whom the world is crucified to me, and I to the world.
Ps. May God have mercy on us, and bless us: may he cause the light of his countenance to shine upon us, and may he have mercy on us.
EPISTLE
Jeremiah 11: 18 -20
In those days: Jeremias said: Thou, O Lord, hast shewed me, and I have known: then thou shewedst me their doings. And I was as a meek lamb, that is carried to be a victim; and I knew not that they had devised counsels against me, saying: Let us put wood on his bread, and cut him off from the land of the living, and let his name be remembered no more. But thou, O Lord of Sabaoth, who judgest justly, and triest the reins of the heart, let me see thy revenge on them; for to thee I have revealed my cause, 0 Lord, my God!
THE PASSION AND GOSPEL
Passion of our Lord Jesus Christ, according to St. Mark
Mark 14:1-72; 15:1-46
Now the feast of the pasch, and of the Azymes was after two days; and the chief priests and the scribes sought how they might by some wile lay hold on him, and kill him. But they said: Not on the festival day, lest there should be a tumult among the people. And when he was in Bethania, in the house of Simon the leper, and was at meat, there came a woman having an alabaster box of ointment of precious spikenard: and breaking the alabaster box, she poured it out upon his head.
Now there were some that had indignation within themselves, and said: Why was this waste of the ointment made? For this ointment might have been sold for more than three hundred pence, and given to the poor. And they murmured against her. But Jesus said: Let her alone, why do you molest her? She hath wrought a good work upon me. For the poor you have always with you: and whensoever you will, you may do them good: but me you have not always.
She hath done what she could: she is come beforehand to anoint my body for burial. Amen, I say to you, wheresoever this gospel shall be preached in the whole world, that also which she hath done, shall be told for a memorial of her. And Judas Iscariot, one of the twelve, went to the chief priests, to betray him to them.
Who hearing it were glad; and they promised him they would give him money. And he sought how he might conveniently betray him. Now on the first day of the unleavened bread, when they sacrificed the pasch, the disciples say to him: Whither wilt thou that we go, and prepare for thee to eat the pasch? And he sendeth two of his disciples, and saith to them: Go ye into the city; and there shall meet you a man carrying a pitcher of water, follow him; And whithersoever he shall go in, say to the master of the house, The master saith, Where is my refectory, where I may eat the pasch with my disciples? And he will shew you a large dining room furnished; and there prepare ye for us.
And his disciples went their way, and came into the city; and they found as he had told them, and they prepared the pasch. And when evening was come, he cometh with the twelve. And when they were at table and eating, Jesus saith: Amen I say to you, one of you that eateth with me shall betray me. But they began to be sorrowful, and to say to him one by one: Is it I? Who saith to them: One of the twelve, who dippeth with me his hand in the dish.
And the Son of man indeed goeth, as it is written of him: but woe to that man by whom the Son of man shall be betrayed. It were better for him, if that man had not been born. And whilst they were eating, Jesus took bread; and blessing, broke, and gave to them, and said: Take ye. This is my body. And having taken the chalice, giving thanks, he gave it to them. And they all drank of it. And he said to them: This is my blood of the new testament, which shall be shed for many. Amen I say to you, that I will drink no more of the fruit of the vine, until that day when I shall drink it new in the kingdom of God.
And when they had said a hymn, they went forth to the mount of Olives. And Jesus saith to them: You will all be scandalized in my regard this night; for it is written, I will strike the shepherd, and the sheep shall be dispersed. But after I shall be risen again, I will go before you into Galilee. But Peter saith to him: Although all shall be scandalized in thee, yet not I. And Jesus saith to him: Amen I say to thee, today, even in this night, before the cock crow twice, thou shall deny me thrice. But he spoke the more vehemently: Although I should die together with thee, I will not deny thee. And in like manner also said they all. And they came to a farm called Gethsemane. And he saith to his disciples: Sit you here, while I pray. And he taketh Peter and James and John with him; and he began to fear and to be heavy. And he saith to them: My soul is sorrowful even unto death; stay you here, and watch. And when he was gone forward a little, he fell flat on the ground; and he prayed, that if it might be, the hour might pass from him.
And he saith: Abba, Father, all things are possible to thee: remove this chalice from me; but not what I will, but what thou wilt. And he cometh, and findeth them sleeping. And he saith to Peter: Simon, sleepest thou? couldst thou not watch one hour? Watch ye, and pray that you enter not into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak. And going away again, he prayed, saying the same words. And when he returned, he found them again asleep, (for their eyes were heavy,) and they knew not what to answer him.
And he cometh the third time, and saith to them: Sleep ye now, and take your rest. It is enough: the hour is come: behold the Son of man shall be betrayed into the hands of sinners. Rise up, let us go. Behold, he that will betray me is at hand. And while he was yet speaking, cometh Judas Iscariot, one of the twelve: and with him a great multitude with swords and staves, from the chief priests and the scribes and the ancients. And he that betrayed him, had given them a sign, saying: Whomsoever I shall kiss, that is he; lay hold on him, and lead him away carefully. And when he was come, immediately going up to him, he saith: Hail, Rabbi; and he kissed him.
But they laid hands on him, and held him. And one of them that stood by, drawing a sword, struck a servant of the chief priest, and cut off his ear. And Jesus answering, said to them: Are you come out as to a robber, with swords and staves to apprehend me? I was daily with you in the temple teaching, and you did not lay hands on me. But that the scriptures may be fulfilled. Then his disciples leaving him, all fled away.
And a certain young man followed him, having a linen cloth cast about his naked body; and they laid hold on him. But he, casting off the linen cloth, fled from them naked. And they brought Jesus to the high priest; and all the priests and the scribes and the ancients assembled together. And Peter followed him from afar off, even into the court of the high priest; and he sat with the servants at the fire, and warmed himself. And the chief priests and all the council sought for evidence against Jesus, that they might put him to death, and found none.
For many bore false witness against him, and their evidences were not agreeing. And some rising up, bore false witness against him, saying: We heard him say, I will destroy this temple made with hands, and within three days I will build another not made with hands. And their witness did not agree. And the high priest rising up in the midst, asked Jesus, saying: Answerest thou nothing to the things that are laid to thy charge by these men?
But he held his peace, and answered nothing. Again the high priest asked him, and said to him: Art thou the Christ the Son of the blessed God? And Jesus said to him: I am. And you shall see the Son of man sitting on the right hand of the power of God, and coming with the clouds of heaven.
Then the high priest rending his garments, saith: What need we any further witnesses? You have heard the blasphemy. What think you? Who all condemned him to be guilty of death. And some began to spit on him, and to cover his face, and to buffet him, and to say unto him: Prophesy: and the servants struck him with the palms of their hands.
Now when Peter was in the court below, there cometh one of the maidservants of the high priest. And when she had seen Peter warming himself, looking on him she saith: Thou also wast with Jesus of Nazareth. But he denied, saying: I neither know nor understand what thou sayest. And he went forth before the court; and the cock crew. And again a maidservant seeing him, began to say to the standers by: This is one of them. But he denied again. And after a while they that stood by said again to Peter: Surely thou art one of them; for thou art also a Galilean.
But he began to curse and to swear, saying; I know not this man of whom you speak. And immediately the cock crew again. And Peter remembered the word that Jesus had said unto him: Before the cock crow twice, thou shalt thrice deny me. And he began to weep. And straightway in the morning, the chief priests holding a consultation with the ancients and the scribes and the whole council, binding Jesus, led him away, and delivered him to Pilate. And Pilate asked him: Art thou the king of the Jews? But he answering, saith to him: Thou sayest it. And the chief priests accused him in many things. And Pilate again asked him, saying: Answerest thou nothing? behold in how many things they accuse thee. But Jesus still answered nothing; so that Pilate wondered.
Now on the festival day he was wont to release unto them one of the prisoners, whomsoever they demanded. And there was one called Barabbas, who was put in prison with some seditious men, who in the sedition had committed murder. And when the multitude was come up, they began to desire that he would do, as he had ever done unto them. And Pilate answered them, and said: Will you that I release to you the king of the Jews? For he knew that the chief priests had delivered him up out of envy.
But the chief priests moved the people, that he should rather release Barabbas to them. And Pilate again answering, saith to them: What will you then that I do to the king of the Jews? But they again cried out: Crucify him. And Pilate saith to them: Why, what evil hath he done? But they cried out the more: Crucify him. And so Pilate being willing to satisfy the people, released to them Barabbas, and delivered up Jesus, when he had scourged him, to be crucified.
And the soldiers led him away into the court of the palace, and they called together the whole band: And they clothe him with purple, and platting a crown of thorns, they put it upon him. And they began to salute him: Hail, king of the Jews. And they struck his head with a reed: and they did spit on him. And bowing their knees, they adored him. And after they had mocked him, they took off the purple from him, and put his own garments on him, and they led him out to crucify him.
And they forced one Simon a Cyrenian who passed by, coming out of the country, the father of Alexander and of Rufus, to take up his cross. And they bring him into the place called Golgotha, which being interpreted is, The place of Calvary. And they gave him to drink wine mingled with myrrh; but he took it not. And crucifying him, they divided his garments, casting lots upon them, what every man should take. And it was the third hour, and they crucified him. And the inscription of his cause was written over: THE KING OF THE JEWS. And with him they crucify two thieves; the one on his right hand, and the other on his left. And the scripture was fulfilled, which saith: And with the wicked he was reputed. And they that passed by blasphemed him, wagging their heads, and saying: Vah, thou that destroyest the temple of God, and in three days buildest it up again; Save thyself, coming down from the cross.
In like manner also the chief priests mocking, said with the scribes one to another: He saved others; himself he cannot save. Let Christ the king of Israel come down now from the cross, that we may see and believe. And they that were crucified with him reviled him. And when the sixth hour was come, there was darkness over the whole earth until the ninth hour. And at the ninth hour, Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying: Eloi, Eloi, lamma sabacthani? Which is, being interpreted, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? And some of the standers by hearing, said: Behold he calleth Elias.
And one running and filling a sponge with vinegar, and putting it upon a reed, gave him to drink, saying: Stay, let us see if Elias come to take him down. And Jesus having cried out with a loud voice, gave up the ghost. And the veil of the temple was rent in two, from the top to the bottom. And the centurion who stood over against him, seeing that crying out in this manner he had given up the ghost, said: Indeed this man was the son of God. And there were also women looking on afar off: among whom was Mary Magdalen, and Mary the mother of James the less and of Joseph, and Salome:
Who also when he was in Galilee followed him, and ministered to him, and many other women that came up with him to Jerusalem. And when evening was now come, (because it was the Parasceve, that is, the day before the sabbath,) Joseph of Arimathea, a noble counsellor, who was also himself looking for the kingdom of God, came and went in boldly to Pilate, and begged the body of Jesus. But Pilate wondered that he should be already dead. And sending for the centurion, he asked him if he were already dead. And when he had understood it by the centurion, he gave the body to Joseph.
And Joseph buying fine linen, and taking him down, wrapped him up in the fine linen, and laid him in a sepulchre which was hewed out of a rock. And he rolled a stone to the door of the sepulchre.
‘Haunted house on the hill’: Rachel Griffiths describes abuse history at destroyed Melbourne church
The destruction of St James Church in Brighton would be a relief to many former parishioners because of its history of sexual abuse, actress and former parishioner Rachel Griffiths has told 774 ABC Melbourne. The heritage-listed church was destroyed in an early morning blaze that took hours for fire crews to bring under control.
A heritage-listed church in Melbourne’s south-east has been destroyed in an early morning blaze, with fire crews able to only save the building’s facade. More than 20 fire trucks and 80 firefighters were called to the 124-year-old St James Church on the corner of North Road and St James Close in Brighton.
Incident controller Ken Brown said it was a very sad morning for the community. “The church looks like it’s totally destroyed at this stage,” he said. Onlookers heard loud crashes and it appeared parts of the roof had collapsed inside the old bluestone building. “We’ll have a building inspector down to try and do what we can to protect the facade,” Mr Brown said.
“But the entire inside and the spires are all really badly damaged by this fire.” Authorities said the fire was being treated as suspicious.
The church is located next to St James Catholic Primary School and close to Star of the Sea College, but the MFB said the fire was not currently posing a threat to the school. It is currently school holidays in Victoria, so students are not near the fire.
MFB spokesperson David Jarwood said the smoke could be seen from 50 kilometres away. Road closures remain in place on surrounding streets andMr Jarwood said people should avoid the area. He said the bluestone building likely had “a lot of wood on the inside”. “We got called at about 6:40am and we’ve been steadily increasing resources out there. It’s a pretty big fire,” he said. Fire crews are also inspecting nearby residents’ yards for embers, the MFB said.
The Roman Catholic Church, is described by the Victorian Heritage Database as a site of “great importance in the early history of Catholicism in Victoria”.
Ms Griffiths said when she heard the news of the fire, she went to visit a friend who lives a couple of doors down from the church. “I was quite elated, like many of my generation, when I heard the news this morning,” she said. “It’s always been a difficult building for us to drive past because there’s been so much tragedy and complicated feelings, I guess.
“We’ve all attended many funerals of boys that we now know were abused by [Father Ronald] Pickering and other perpetrators in the parish – at the actual church that it occurred in.”
Authorities say the cause of the fire is being treated as suspicious and police are now investigating.
Ms Griffiths said she was still a practicing Catholic, but had not been a member of the St James parish for many years. “We’ve all avoided being married here and found other churches and it’s kind of been a bit of a thorn, I think, to see it standing,” she said.
ST JAMES CHURCH: ABUSE AND SUICIDES!!
Ronald Pickering was a priest in Melbourne, including St James Church, for more than 40 years before he emigrated to Britain in the 1990s.
A 2013 Victorian government inquiry into the handling of child abuse by religious and other organizations heard that Pickering had preyed on young boys at St James Church in the late 1970s and 80s.
Raymond De Brass told the inquiry that as a choir and altar boy aged between 9 and 13, he was regularly abused by Pickering from 1979. “He groomed me by giving me cigarettes, money and alcohol,” Mr De Brass said.
“Over this four-year period I am aware that two other boys were also sexually abused by Father Ronald Pickering. “I was regularly fondled and petted by Pickering, as were other boys. “This occurred within the change rooms of the church and within the presbytery. “I began smoking cigarettes and drinking alcohol with Pickering from the age of nine and on many occasions passed out from consuming the alcohol, which left me vulnerable to such abuse.”
Mr De Brass also told the inquiry that another boy that was abused died after Pickering provided him money for drugs. “Around 1987 to 1988 I lost contact with one of the boys who was abused at [St James], but I was aware that he was still getting money from Pickering and was now using it to purchase heroin,” he said.
“I would later learn that this boy died from a heroin overdose in 1992.”
But Griffiths said she could not relate to the callers who rang in to express their sorrow.
It’s sometimes out of the burning ruins that something true and authentic can be re-born and I hope that’s true for this parish. – Rachel Griffiths
I think my grandmother’s generation were absolutely horrified to find out their grandsons were abused, and suicides,” she said.
“It’s been hard for priests to really cleanse this parish, it’s been very difficult to rebuild a community and we pretty much all scattered after the revelations came out and found other parishes. “For the community here, it’s kind of the haunted house on the hill.”
Griffiths said she was now part of the Catholic community in Elwood and St Kilda, after her family left the St James Church when she was a young woman.
“My mother was told after my father left our family that [the priest] wouldn’t have a divorced woman in the church and I think that’s probably one thing that saved our family that so many of my friends’ brothers got involved with,” she said. “We stopped going because he stopped my mother at the door.”
She said in light of the “tremendous work” of the royal commission into sex abuse, the sight of the St James Church smoking was a “relief”.
“I really hope that we can heal and move forward and I think that’s why this particular fire – to create a metaphor – it’s sometimes out of the burning ruins that something true and authentic can be reborn and I hope that’s true for this parish,” Griffiths said.
A POPULAR LOCAL CHURCH: PARISHIONER
Tony Conquest told reporters at the scene of the fire that he was married at the church 47 years ago. He said about 150 people attended mass at the parish each Saturday night. “[I’m] a bit stunned, I suppose,” he said.
“Like anything else you never expect [the church] you’ve been to, last Saturday week suddenly and completely gutted.”
Joan from Toorak called 774 ABC Melbourne to say she was distressed to hear about the fire.
“I woke up this morning and was horrified to hear about the church that I was married in, today, March 30, 56 years ago. Um, bizarre – not a very good omen, is it?”
“It is a fine complex of Roman Catholic church, rectory and church close, mostly dating from the last century but with additions made in 1908 and in the 1920s,” the site said. “The nave was built in 1891 to the design of the architect Edgar J Henderson followed by the transepts and chancel in 1924, designed by Schreiber and Jorgensen.”
Kate, who lives in the neighborhood, said the church would be a significant loss to the area. “I want to cry, it’s sad and horrible,” she said. “To think how would it ever have started, something like that doesn’t start itself. “The people will be very upset around here, because it’s very very busy.” The heritage database said the church contained a rare pipe organ by Alfred Fuller of Kew.
Bishop Juan Barros accused of covering up crimes of paedophile priest
Critics charge Pope Francis with going back on pledge to curb church abuse
The Vatican has issued a rare statement of support for a bishop in Chile who has been accused by abuse victims of covering up for a notorious paedophile priest, in a case that is sure to infuriate critics who say Pope Francis is straying from his commitment to ending the church’s legacy of abuse.
amid a growing controversy over Bishop Juan Barros, the Holy See confirmed on Tuesday that the congregation for bishops had vetted Barros and found no “objective reason” to stop his appointment to the southern Chilean diocese of Osorno.
Barros has been accused by victims of turning a blind eye to abuse that was committed against them by Barros’s former mentor, Reverend Fernando Karadima, a priest who the Vatican found guilty of molestation in 2011.
Karadima is now living a cloistered life of “penitence and prayer” in a convent in Chile.
In some cases, Karadima’s victims have alleged that Barros not only helped to cover up the crimes decades ago, but that he had observed the abuse.
Barros has denied the allegations, and said that he did not know about the abuse until it was reported by newspapers in 2010.
The Holy See’s statement will be seen as an unequivocal show of support for Barros at a time when some members of the pope’s committee to address church abuse of minors – and the systematic cover-up of such crimes – have said they wanted the bishop removed from the diocese.
Marie Collins, an abuse survivor and a member of the committee, told the Associated Press that the Vatican was ignoring the safety of children in Osorno by leaving them in the hands of a bishop “about whom there are grave concerns”.
Other commission members said before the statement was released that they were planning an emergency meeting with Cardinal Seán O’Malley, the archbishop of Boston who heads the sex abuse committee, to air their concerns.
The Vatican’s statement is also likely to rile up clergy in Chile that have expressed their own opposition to Barros’s appointment.
About 30 priests from the Chilean diocese, more than 1,300 church members, and 51 out of 120 members of Chile’s parliament have sent letters to the pope asking him to reverse his decision.
Barros’s installation in Osorno earlier this month was mostly boycotted by the diocese’s priests, a rare show of rebellion in the otherwise devoutly Catholic country.
The Vatican did not immediately respond to questions about how it had vetted Barros, including whether it interviewed any victims who alleged that he observed their abuse.
Two renegade Catholic bishops on Tuesday at a remote monastery in Nove Friburgo, Brazil, expressed their willingness to consecrate a new generation of bishops in apparent challenge to Rome.
French Bishop Jean-Michel Faure, said the new group “rejected Pope Francis and his new religion” and would not engage in a dialogue with Rome until the Vatican reversed some of its actions.
Richard Williamson and Faure, who were both excommunicated from the Roman Catholic Church when the former made the latter a bishop without Vatican approval. Faure said the fact they planned to consecrate bishops was important because it means their schism can continue as a rebel form of Catholicism.
“We follow the Popes of the past not the current one. It is likely that in maybe one or two years we will have more consecration.
“There were already two candidates to be promoted to bishop’s rank,’’ he said. Faure said the group was first addressed as Roman Catholic now St Pius X, and later the Resistance. He said the St of St Pius X (SSPX) was a larger ultra-traditionalist group that was excommunicated in 1988 when its founder consecrated four new bishops, including Williamson, despite warnings from the Vatican. Faure said they rejected the modernizing reforms of the 1962-65 “Second Vatican Council’’ and stuck with Catholicism’s old Latin Mass after the Church switched to simpler liturgy in local languages.
He said the resistance group would not engage in dialogue with Rome. “We resist capitulation, we resist conciliation of St Pius X with Rome,” he said. Faure said he was not sure what it would take for Rome to return to its old traditions but conflict could be a catalyst. “If there is another World War maybe the Church will go back to the way it was before,” he said.
A report said former Pope Benedict readmitted the four SSPX bishops to the Catholic fold in 2009, but the SSPX soon expelled Williamson because of an uproar over his Holocaust denial. It said in contrast to Benedict, Pope Francis pays little attention to the SSPX ultra-traditionalists, They claim to have a million followers around the world and a growing number of new priests at a time that Rome faces priest shortages.
The report stated that under Catholic law, Williamson and Faure are excommunicated from the Church but remain validly consecrated bishops.It explained that the duo could ordain priests into their schismatic group and claim to be Catholic, albeit without Vatican approval.
It added that by contrast, women supposedly made priests by dissident Catholic bishops are not validly ordained because Catholic law reserves the priesthood only for men.
Honors student set to receive communications award at Barry University in Miami told college officials she wanted to start a club to support ISIS
Student organizations chief told her she could get funding for group called ‘Sympathetic Students in Support of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria’
‘They are terrorists,’ she told him, ‘but we’re trying to help them, we’re trying to educate them and give them funding’
‘We’re not here to limit people,’ the university administrator replied, and agreed with her request to ‘pass out Islamic State flags’ at a school event
The VP for student affairs told Daily Mail Online, ‘Barry University would not approve any group supporting a terrorist organization’
Project Veritas, a conservative group run by guerilla filmmaker James O’Keefe, made the startling video
Group previously filmed a Cornell University dean saying an ISIS ‘freedom fighter’ could host a training camp at the Ivy League school
Hidden camera footage released Monday morning shows officials and faculty at Barry University advising a senior – identified only as ‘Laura’ – about the best way to secure funding for a club she called ‘Sympathetic Students in Support of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria.’ ‘I want to start fundraising efforts on campus, and what I want to do is raise funds to send overseas,’ she told Derek Bley, the school’s Coordinator for Leadership Development and Student Organizations. Bley offered to help her create the organization and agreed with her request to ‘pass out Islamic State flags and educate people’ at an annual student ‘Festival of Nations’ fair. The video is from Project Veritas, a conservative ‘guerilla film-making group’ that last week captured a Cornell University dean agreeing that ISIS and Hamas would be welcome at the Ivy League school.
SCROLL DOWN FOR VIDEO
When an honors student at Barry University in Florida asked campus administrators about getting college funds for a club supporting the ISIS terror army, her idea was met with approval
The Barry professor in charge of the undergraduate honors program agreed to serve as the pro-ISIS group’s faculty advisor after hearing that its mission would include ‘raising money and sending it to the Islamic State’
‘We’re not here to limit people,’ Derek Bley, ‘leadership development’ coordinator, told ‘Laura’ as the student filmed him with a hidden camera
Barry University, based in Miami Shores, has received more than $112 million in federal grants and contracts, and another $109 million from Florida taxpayers since 2000, Project Veritas said Monday, citing figures from OpenTheBooks.com.
It also once received tuition money from retired NBA great Shaquille O’Neal, who graduated in 2012 with a doctorate in Education. His final ‘capstone project’ – a load-lightened version of a doctoral dissertation – focused on ‘humor and seriousness in leadership styles,’ according to the Miami New Times. The school’s mission statement says ‘all members of our community’ must ‘accept social responsibility to foster peace and nonviolence.’ Yet Bley was enthusiastic about Laura’s terror-funding venture. ‘We’re not here to limit people and their clubs, he said. ‘If there a demand or a need, or an interest that students have to do this, we’re here to support that.’
‘If you’ve got … people who are interested, and this is something you want take and run with,’ he added. ‘we’re here to help you get that done.’
‘WE’RE HERE TO SUPPORT THAT’: Bley explained that his office wouldn’t make judgments about the kinds of activities and clubs college students wanted to sign up for
The only objection? Asking students to support a group with ‘ISIS’ in its name, a multicultural program coordinator thought, might hold the organization back – so why not rename it?
Laura put the murderous ISIS army’s credentials front-and-center. ‘They are terrorists,’ she told Bley, ‘but, like, we’re trying to help them. We’re trying to, like, educate them and give them funding so that they don’t have to be impoverished and get involved in acts of violence.’ ‘You should create jobs and help promote education in the Islamic State,’ she added later, ‘because that’s what helps reduce terrorism.’
That was a subtle jab at U.S. State Department deputy spokeswoman Marie Harf, who said last month on MSNBC that ‘we cannot kill our way out of this war’ with ISIS.’ The Obama administration, Harf said, should instead ‘go after the root causes that lead people to join these groups’ – including ‘lack of opportunity for jobs.’ At one point Laura expanded her fictional club’s mandate to include providing paper and pencils to the ‘widows and orphans’ of dead ISIS jihadis.
Barry University is a Catholic institution founded in 1940; its enrollment includes more than 9,000 students, about half of whom are undergrads like Laura
CAMPUS COLLABORATORS: Barry University administrators Derek Bley (left) and Frederique Frage (center), and professor Pawena Sirimangkala, helpfully counseled an undercover investigator about how to start a pro-ISIS student club
FLY THE FLAG: Laura was told her fictional pro-ISIS group would be allowed to pass out ISIS flags and ‘educate’ people during a campus ‘Festival of Nations’ event
Another part of her pitch to college officials was a mission that included providing flashlights to ISIS fighters and their families. ‘A lot of the facilities have been destroyed’ in Iraq and Syria, she said, ‘so there is not a lot of electricity and power.’ ‘A lot of the fighters, they can’t see at night, you know?’ she continued. ‘So, like, people are attacking them and they can’t see at night. And because they are so poor, like, they don’t have night vision and stuff.’ Bley explored the idea, speculating about the ‘thousands of dollars’ it might cost to send ‘bulk shipments’ of flashlights to the Middle East, ‘like the ones at Costco and stuff.’ The only objection Laura encountered was related to the group’s proposed name. ‘The only thing, as far as the name [goes],’ she heard from Frederique Frage, the university’s associate director of international and multicultural programs, is that ‘technically our country is at war with ISIS’.
Frage was quick to add: ‘I am not saying that – at all – ISIS represents Islam.’
But students might have ‘some reservation’ supporting a group engaged in a ‘humanitarian effort’ aimed at the terror group, she said. ‘It’s just unfortunate.’ Another multicultural program administrator, Daisy Santiago, chimed in that Laura should rename her group ‘Students in Support of the Middle East’ – ‘as opposed to having the ‘ISIS’ [name].’
Project Veritas has already stung a Cornell University dean who said on camera that the Ivy League school would welcome an ISIS ‘freedom fighter’ who wanted to run a training camp
JOBS FOR JIHADIS? State Department deputy spokeswoman Marie Harf insisted in February on MSNBC that an employment program in the Iraq and Syria could stem the tide of ISIS
A professor who runs the university’s honors program later agreed to serve as the pro-ISIS club’s faculty advisor. Laura explained that despite a less focused name that didn’t include any mention of terror groups, her organization’s mission would remain ‘raising money and sending it to the Islamic State.’ Professor Pawena Sirimangkala responded: ‘I’ll sign. I’m glad to do it.’ Laura, an email from a Barry University administrator confirms, is set to receive an award on Monday from the school, as the ‘outstanding senior in the Communication Department.’ In December the Corporation for National and Community Service, a federal government agency, named Barry University to the President’s Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll. The distinction acknowledges universities that place a premium on community service efforts.
Daily Mail Online has contacted the university staff named in the video and has not received a comment from them. In a statement provided to Daily Mail Online by the university, Scott Smith, vice president for student affairs, said, ‘There has been no formation of an ISIS-related humanitarian aid group at Barry University’ and that ‘ no paperwork’ has ‘ever’ been filed to create such an organization.
‘If a student or students are interested in forming a recognized student organization, they are advised on the established processes to follow for approval,’ Smith stated. ‘However, submitting a request does not guarantee approval since the purpose of all student groups must be in accordance with Barry University’s Mission Statement and Core Commitments.
‘Barry University would not approve any group supporting a terrorist organization.’
Priest carries out mass exorcism at religious camp for children — leaving them screaming and in tears…
SCHOOL children at a religious camp to celebrate Lent were left screaming and in tears when instead of singing songs and praying, the priest carried out a mass exorcism.
The 1000 children from schools in the town of Gryfice in north-western Poland had gone to the camp for a three-day trip for what was billed as a way of helping “young people explore God and devote themselves to spiritual renewal through prayer.”
But when they got there, they found priest Tomas Wieczorek, 37, was more interested in exorcising their demons and replacing them with God.
Horrified mum Magda Rutkowska, 43, said: “On the first day he took a few of the children on stage and placed his hand on their foreheads one by one and started repeating ‘Holy Spirit, Come. Holy Spirit, Come.’
“Some of the children fainted while others started crying.”
Outrage: Exorcism at a religious camp to celebrate Lent in Poland. Picture – Australscope
When school pals went to help the semiconscious friends they were told by the priest to stay where they were, telling them: “God is entering their souls and banishing the Devil.”
Other children the priest had touched began screaming while others burst out into fits of laughter.
One of the students said: “It was really scary, almost like a mental asylum.
“Some of them were writhing on the floor, others were laughing hysterically and others were screaming and crying.
“The priest said he was purifying them but it was all too much for most of us.
“The next day we didn’t turn up because we were scared about what would happen.”
School psychologist Halina Wysocka said: “Children are not emotionally mature enough to experience prayer during which the Holy Spirit may enter them.
“The methods presented were similar to those in religious sects.”
A church spokesman for the area said: “We haven’t received any complaints so far, so there’s no problem.”
He was offered because it was his own will, and he opened not his mouth:
he shall be led as a sheep to the slaughter, and shall be dumb as a lamb before his shearer,
and he shall not open his mouth. – Isaiah 53: 7
Unbelievable! Compares our Lord’s passion, suffering and death to ‘unjust’ death penalty, for scum of the earth, criminals!
A series of reflections to be used by Pope Francis in Rome on Good Friday make connections between the crucifixion of Jesus and the modern-day use of the death penalty.
The reflections, to be used by the pope at an annual public service in and near Rome’s historic Colosseum, pointedly ask: “When will the death penalty, still practiced in many states, be abolished?”
That question is part of a service known as the “Way of the Cross,” a type of liturgical service frequently celebrated by Christians on Good Friday. The service follows Jesus through different stations of his torture and eventual crucifixion, with reflections on his suffering at each point.
Good Friday, the day Christians mark the death of Jesus, is marked this year by the Catholic church and most western churches on April 3.
Francis will mark the occasion by presiding over a “Way of the Cross” service Friday night that begins in the Colosseum and continues onto Rome’s Palatine Hill. At each station of Jesus’ suffering, the pontiff and those attending the outdoor celebration will reflect using a text prepared for the event by retired Italian Bishop Renato Corti.
At the station that marks Jesus being nailed to the cross, Francis and the pilgrims will use a reflection that questions modern-day uses of both the death penalty and torture.
“We gaze at you, Jesus, as you are nailed to the cross,” states the reflection. “And our conscience is troubled.”
“We anxiously ask: When will the death penalty, still practiced in many states, be abolished?”it continues. “When will every form of torture and the violent killing of innocent persons come to an end? Your Gospel is the surest defense of the human person, of every human being.”
While Catholic teaching holds that the death penalty can be used in a situation where the public authority can find no other way to contain a dangerous person, the last several popes have said that such situations likely no longer exist. (Vatican II popes)
Francis has been even more publicly opposed to the practice, saying March 20
“today the death penalty is inadmissible, no matter how serious the crime committed.”
Corti, who wrote the reflections for the Good Friday service at Francis’ request, was the bishop of the northern Italian town of Novara from 1990 until his retirement in 2011. He had previously served as an auxiliary bishop in Milan under the late Cardinal Carlo Martini.
The retired bishop’s reflections for the papal Good Friday service have a theme of God’s protective love for humanity. Throughout the service, the bishop presents some possible feelings and thoughts of Jesus during his suffering and then offers a “resonance” reflection for those present at the ceremony.
In another part of the service, Corti also connects Jesus’ suffering with persecution of Christians around the world. At the station that marks when Jesus was forced to carry the cross of his own crucifixion, the bishop says such persecution “has happened repeatedly throughout history.”
“In our day too, men and women are imprisoned, condemned and even slaughtered for the simple reason that they are believers or engaged in promoting justice and peace,” states the reflection. “They are not ashamed of your cross.For us they are wonderful examples to imitate.”
Bergoglio ashamed of Cross… Hides Christ for Jews!
WAY OF THE CROSS MEDITATIONS – creating “bridges of solidarity”, “winning the fear of isolation, job insecurity, unemployment, financial speculation , suicides entrepreneurs!
The Catholic Church tries a new way to get people closer to God – they’ve opened a bar…
Bergoglio backs bar but is silent on Church Closures. Why am I not surprised?
Drinking leads to poverty
Because they that give themselves to drinking, and that club together shall be consumed; and drowsiness shall be clothed with rags. Who hath woe? whose father hath woe? who hath contentions? who falls into pits? who hath wounds without cause? who hath redness of eyes? Surely they that pass their time in wine, and study to drink of their cups. Look not upon the wine when it is yellow, when the color thereof shineth in the glass: it goeth in pleasantly, But in the end, it will bite like a snake, and will spread abroad poison like a basilisk. Thy eyes shall behold strange women, and thy heart shall utter perverse things. And thou shalt be as one sleeping in the midst of the sea, and as a pilot fast asleep, when the stern is lost. And thou shalt say: They have beaten me, but I was not sensible of pain: they drew me, and I felt not: when shall I awake, and find wine again?
– Proverbs 23: 21, 29-35 DRV
The Tavern is the house of the devil, the market where the souls are lost, where family harmony is broken, where fights start, and assassinations are committed. The devil does not care much for the owners of the taverns; he despises them and spits them out.” St. John Vianney
A bar being run by the Catholic Church might sound like the setting for a lame Irish joke, but it’s not Irish and it’s no joke.
AFP reports that a bar recently opened in northern France with the backing of the Catholic Church. Bar Cana in Lille launched this month as part of an effort to reach out to younger people, who might be more willing to interact in a bar on a Saturday night than in church on Sunday morning.
“It is, at heart, an effort to reach young people and those who have never had the idea of entering a church. And perhaps it is easier to go into a bar,”said Benjamin Florin a 29-year-old Lille diocesan worker who was one of the initiators of the project.
The bar’s name is significant, referring to the wedding feast at Cana, where Jesus is said to have performed his first miracle – turning water into wine, rather than the infinitely easier and much more common practice of turning wine into water.
Although we can’t help thinking that the type of interaction likely among young people in a bar on a Saturday night is not quite what would be acceptable during Mass the next morning.
Bar Cana was inspired by the Pope, who has told the church to think outside the square when it comes to going about its pastoral business and this is certainly a left-field idea.
It took two years of planning applications and a financial kick-start from the church to get started, but customers have seen it as a blessing.
Aurélien, Constance and Sylvain were sipping Trappist beer at the bar when AFP spoke to them. “The concept of a Catholic bar intrigued us,” said practicing Catholic Sylvain. “They want to break the traditional image; you can feel a new way to live the Gospel, even if this time they change water into beer.”
The bar has one full-time employee and a dozen volunteers who will be serving food, slinging drinks and performing the traditionally sacred bartender service of offering a friendly ear, presumably in lieu of an official confession session.
“They will be there mainly for talking to people, if they wish, and for listening,” explained Régis Héaulme, a deacon and president of the Bar Cana Association.
There are nods to traditional Catholicism throughout the bar: the wifi password is Deo Gratias (God be thanked), and a carafe of house wine is referred to as a Madonna. Above the beer pumps (all the beers come from abbeys and monasteries, naturally) is a figurine of Pope Francis, and Biblical verses adorn the walls. Sadly, AFP doesn’t say if the wine is Châteauneuf-du-Pape or if the top shelf is filled with holy spirits.
While it might not sound like the sort of place to hit up for a raging Friday night, the bar does focus more on the “good works” end of religion, rather than the “thou shalt not” side. Patrons come in and buy two coffees and get one; the other is paid forward for someone who can’t afford one. And the profits from the operation go towards humanitarian projects in needy areas.
They might have to look more closely at their business model if they want to make a real difference to the world’s needy, however; the bar opened on March 18, thereby missing out on the world’s most profitable drinking occasion, Saint Patrick’s Day, by 24 hours.
Early in the morning of this day, Jesus sets out for Jerusalem, leaving Mary, his Mother, and the two sisters Martha and Mary Magdalene, and Lazarus, at Bethania. The Mother of Sorrows trembles at seeing her Son thus expose himself to danger, for his enemies are bent upon his destruction; but it is not Death, it is Triumph that Jesus is to receive to day in Jerusalem. The Messias, before being nailed to the Cross, is to be proclaimed King by the people of the great City; the little children are to make her streets echo with their Hosannas to the Son of David; and this in presence of the soldiers of Rome’s Emperor, and of the High Priests and Pharisees, the first, standing under the banner of their Eagles; the second, dumb with rage. The Prophet Zachary had foretold this Triumph which the Son of Man was to receive a few days before his Passion, and which had been prepared for him from all eternity.
Rejoice greatly, 0 Daughter of Sion! Shout for joy, daughter of Jerusalem! Behold thy King will come to thee; the Just and the Saviour, He is poor, and riding upon an ass, and upon a colt, the foal of an ass. Jesus, knowing that the hour was come for the fulfillment of this prophecy, singles out two from the rest of his Disciples, and bids them lead to him an ass and her colt, which they would find not far off. He had got to Bethphage, on Mount Olivet. The two Disciples lose no time in executing the order given them by their divine Master; and the ass and the colt are soon brought to the place where he stands.
The holy Fathers have explained to us the mystery of these two animals. The ass represents the Jewish people, which had been long under the yoke of the Law; the colt, upon which, as the Evangelist says, no man yet hath sat, is a figure of the Gentile world, which no one had ever yet brought into subjection. The future of these two people is to be decided in a few days hence: the Jews will be rejected, for having refused to acknowledge Jesus as the Messias; the Gentiles will take their place, be adopted as God’s people, and become docile and faithful
The Disciples spread their garments upon the colt; and our Savior, that the prophetic figure might be fulfilled, sat upon him, and advances towards Jerusalem. As soon as it was known that Jesus was near the City, the Holy Spirit worked in the hearts of those Jews, who had come, from all parts, to celebrate the Feast of the Passover. They go out to meet our Lord, holding palm branches in their hands, and loudly proclaiming him to be King. They that had accompanied Jesus from Bethania, join the enthusiastic crowd. Whilst some spread their garments on the way, others cut down boughs from the Palm- trees, and strewed them along the road. Hosanna is the triumphant cry, proclaiming to the whole city, that Jesus, the Son of David, has made his entrance as her King.
STATION AT ST. JOHN LATERAN
(Indulgence of 25 years and 25 Quarantines)
The Station, at Rome, is in the Basilica of Saint John Lateran, the Mother and Mistress of all Churches. The Papal function, however, now takes place at Saint Peter’s; but the usual Indulgences are still granted to those who visit the Arch- Basilica. The Mass of this Sunday retains no vestige of the joy, which characterized the ceremony of the Palms. The Introit is taken from the 21st Psalm, in which the Royal Prophet expresses the anguish of soul suffered by Jesus on the Cross.
Semi-double / Privilege of the First Class /Violet
MASS PROPERS – Missa “Domine, ne longe”
The Introit is taken from the 21st Psalm, in which the Royal Prophet expresses the anguish of soul suffered by Jesus on the Cross.
INTROIT
Domine, ne longe fácias auxílium tuum a me, ad defensiónem meam, áspice: líbera me de ore leónis, et a córnibus unicórnium humilitátem meam.
Psalm 21:2 Deus, Deus meus, réspice in me: quare me dereliquísti? longe a salúte mea verba delictórum meórum.
Domine, ne longe fácias auxílium tuum a me, ad defensiónem meam, áspice: líbera me de ore leónis, et a córnibus unicórnium humilitátem meam.
O Lord, keep not Thy help far from me: look to my defense: deliver me from the lion’s mouth, and my lowness from the horns of the unicorns.
Ps. O God, my God, look upon me; why hast Thou forsaken me? Far from my salvation are the words of my sins.
O Lord, keep not Thy help far from me: look to my defense: deliver me from the lion’s mouth, and my lowness from the horns of the unicorns.
In the Collect, the Church prays that we may have grace to imitate the patience and humility of our Saviour. Jesus suffers and humbles himself for us; it is but just that we should work out our salvation by following his example, that we should suffer, and be humble.
COLLECT
O Almighty and Eternal God, who wouldst have our Saviour become man, and suffer on a cross, to give man kind an example of humility; mercifully grant, that we may improve by the example of his patience, and partake of his resurrection. Through the same our Lord.
In obedience to the wishes of the Church, we have knelt down at those words of the Apostle, where he says, that every knee should bow at the Holy Name of Jesus. If there be one time of the Year rather than another, when the Son of God has a right to our fervent adorations, it is this Week, when we see him insulted in his Passion. Not only should his Sufferings excite us to tender compassion; we should, also, keenly resent the insults that are heaped upon this Jesus of ours, this God of infinite Majesty. Let us strive, by our humble homage, to make him amends for the indignities he suffered in atonement for our pride. Let us unite with the holy Angels, who, witnessing what he has gone through out of love for man, prostrate themselves, in profoundest adoration, at the sight of his humiliations.
EPISTLE
Lesson of the Epistle from Saint Paul the Apostle to the Philippians
Brethren, let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus: who being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God; but emptied Himself, taking the form of a servant, being made in the likeness of men, and in habit found as a man. He humbled Himself, becoming obedient unto death, even to the death of the cross. For which cause God also hath exalted Him, and hath given Him a name which is above all names: (Here all genuflect) that in the name of Jesus every knee should bend, of those that are in heaven, on earth, and under the earth: and that every tongue should confess that the Lord Jesus Christ is in the glory of God the Father.
In the Gradual, the Church makes use of the words of the Royal Prophet, who foretells the future glories of the victim that dies on Calvary; but he also confesses, that the success permitted to the enemies of Jesus had well nigh shaken his confidence.
GRADUAL
Thou hast held me by my right hand; and by Thy will Thou hast conducted me, and with Thy glory Thou hast received me. V. How good is God to Isræl, to those of an upright heart! but my feet were almost moved, my steps had well-nigh slipped: because I was jealous of sinners, seeing the prosperity of sinners.
The Tract consists of several verses taken from the 22nd Psalm, the last words of which were spoken by our Redeemer on the Cross. So clear and explicit are the words of this Psalm, that it might almost be called a history, as well as a prophecy, of the Passion.
Deus Deus meus
Psalm 21: 2-9, 18, 19, 22, 24, 32
Deus, Deus meus, réspice in me: quare me dereliquísti? Longe a salúte mea verba delictórum meórum. Deus meus, clamábo per diem, nec exáudies: in nocte, et non ad insipiéntiam mihi. Tu autem in sancto hábitas, laus Israël. In te speravérunt patres nostri: speravérunt, et liberásti eos. Ad te clamavérunt, et salvi facti sunt: in te speravérunt, et non sunt confúsi. Ego autem sum vermis, et non homo: oppróbrium hóminum et abjéctio plebis. Omnes qui vidébant me, aspernabántur me: locúti sunt lábiis et movérunt caput. Sperávit in Dómino, erípiat eum: salvum fáciat eum, quóniam vult eum. Ipsi vero consideravérunt et conspexérunt me: divisérunt sibi vestiménta mea, et super vestem meam misérunt sortem. Líbera me de ore leónis: et a córnibus unicórnium humilitátem meam. Qui timétis Dóminum, laudáte eum: univérsum semen Jacob, magnificáte eum. Annuntiábitur Dómino generátio ventúra: et annuntiábunt cæli justítiam ejus. Pópulo, qui nascétur, quem fecit Dóminus.
O God my God, look upon me: why hast thou forsaken me? Far from my salvation are the words of my sins. O my God, I shall cry by day, and thou wilt not hear: and by night, and it shall not be reputed as folly in me. But thou dwellest in the holy place, the praise of Israel. In thee have our fathers hoped: they have hoped, and thou hast delivered them. They cried to thee, and they were saved: they trusted in thee, and were not confounded. But I am a worm, and no man: the reproach of men, and the outcast of the people. All they that saw me have laughed me to scorn: they have spoken with the lips, and wagged the head. He hoped in the Lord, let him deliver him: let him save him, seeing he delighteth in him. But they have looked and stared upon me; they parted my garments amongst them; and upon my vesture they cast lots. Save me from the lion’s mouth; and my lowness from the horns of the unicorns. Ye that fear the Lord, praise him: all ye the seed of Jacob, glorify him. There shall be declared to the Lord a generation to come: and the heavens shall shew forth his justice to a people that shall be born, which the Lord hath made.
It is now time that we should hear the history of our Savior’s Passion: but, in order that we may show both heaven and earth that we are not scandalized, as were the Disciples, at the sight of his apparent weakness and the triumph of his enemies, we hold in our hands the Palms, wherewith we have been proclaiming him as our King. The Church reads, on four different days of this Week, the four Evangelists’ narration of the Passion. She begins with that of St. Matthew, who was the first to write the Gospel. To express the sorrow which fills the hearts of the Faithful, the Acolytes do not carry the lights, nor is the Book incensed. Omitting the customary salutation, the Deacon, who is to take the part of the Evangelist, at once begins the mournful history of our Lord’s Sufferings and Death.
Taking of Christ – by Caravaggio
THE PASSION AND GOSPEL
The Passion of our Lord Jesus Christ according to St. Matthew
At that time: Jesus spake unto his disciples, saying: Ye know that after two days is the feast of the passover, and the Son of man is betrayed to be crucified. Then assembled together the chief priests, and the scribes, and the elders of the people, unto the palace of the high priest, who was called Caiaphas, and consulted that they might take Jesus by subtilty, and kill him. But they said, Not on the feast day, lest there be an uproar among the people. Now when Jesus was in Bethany, in the house of Simon the leper, there came unto him a woman having an alabaster box of very precious ointment, and poured it on his head, as he sat at meat. But when his disciples saw it, they had indignation, saying, To what purpose is this waste?
St Mary Magdalene – DOLCI, Carlo
For this ointment might have been sold for much, and given to the poor. When Jesus understood it, he said unto them, Why trouble ye the woman? for she hath wrought a good work upon me. For ye have the poor always with you; but me ye have not always. For in that she hath poured this ointment on my body, she did it for my burial. Verily I say unto you, Wheresoever this gospel shall be preached in the whole world, [there] shall also this, that this woman hath done, be told for a memorial of her. Then one of the twelve, called Judas Iscariot, went unto the chief priests, and said unto them, What will ye give me, and I will deliver him unto you? And they covenanted with him for thirty pieces of silver. And from that time he sought opportunity to betray him. Now the first day of the feast of unleavened bread the disciples came to Jesus, saying unto him, Where wilt thou that we prepare for thee to eat the passover? And he said, Go into the city to such a man, and say unto him, The Master saith, My time is at hand; I will keep the passover at thy house with my disciples. And the disciples did as Jesus had appointed them; and they made ready the passover. Now when the even was come, he sat down with the twelve. And as they did eat, he said, Verily I say unto you, that one of you shall betray me. And they were exceeding sorrowful, and began every one of them to say unto him, Lord, is it I? And he answered and said, He that dippeth his hand with me in the dish, the same shall betray me. The Son of man goeth as it is written of him: but woe unto that man by whom the Son of man is betrayed! it had been good for that man if he had not been born. Then Judas, which betrayed him, answered and said, Master, is it I? He said unto him, Thou hast said. And as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and blessed it, and brake it, and gave it to the disciples, and said, Take, eat; this is my body. And he took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, Drink ye all of it; for this is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins. But I say unto you, I will not drink henceforth of this fruit of the vine, until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father’s kingdom. And when they had sung an hymn, they went out into the mount of Olives. Then saith Jesus unto them, All ye shall be offended because of me this night: for it is written, I will smite the shepherd, and the sheep of the flock shall be scattered abroad. But after I am risen again, I will go before you into Galilee. Peter answered and said unto him, Though all men shall be offended because of thee, yet will I never be offended. Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, That this night, before the cock crow, thou shalt deny me thrice.
The Denial of Saint Peter (Caravaggio), 1610
Peter said unto him, Though I should die with thee, yet will I not deny thee. Likewise also said all the disciples. Then cometh Jesus with them unto a place called Gethsemane, and saith unto the disciples, Sit ye here, while I go and pray yonder. And he took with him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, and began to be sorrowful and very heavy. Then saith he unto them, My soul is exceeding sorrowful, even unto death: tarry ye here, and watch with me. And he went a little further, and fell on his face, and prayed, saying, O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me: nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt. And he cometh unto the disciples, and findeth them asleep, and saith unto Peter, What, could ye not watch with me one hour? Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation: the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak. He went away again the second time, and prayed, saying, O my Father, if this cup may not pass away from me, except I drink it, thy will be done. And he came and found them asleep again: for their eyes were heavy. And he left them, and went away again, and prayed the third time, saying the same words. Then cometh he to his disciples, and saith unto them, Sleep on now, and take your rest: behold, the hour is at hand, and the Son of man is betrayed into the hands of sinners. Rise, let us be going: behold, he is at hand that doth betray me. And while he yet spake, lo, Judas, one of the twelve, came, and with him a great multitude with swords and staves, from the chief priests and elders of the people. Now he that betrayed him gave them a sign, saying, Whomsoever I shall kiss, that same is he: hold him fast. And forthwith he came to Jesus, and said, Hail, master; and kissed him. And Jesus said unto him, Friend, wherefore art thou come? Then came they, and laid hands on Jesus, and took him. And, behold, one of them which were with Jesus stretched out his hand, and drew his sword, and struck a servant of the high priest’s, and smote off his ear. Then said Jesus unto him, Put up again thy sword into his place: for all they that take the sword shall perish with the sword. Thinkest thou that I cannot now pray to my Father, and he shall presently give me more than twelve legions of angels? But how then shall the scriptures be fulfilled, that thus it must be? In that same hour said Jesus to the multitudes, Are ye come out as against a thief with swords and staves for to take me? I sat daily with you teaching in the temple, and ye laid no hold on me. But all this was done, that the scriptures of the prophets might be fulfilled. Then all the disciples forsook him, and fled. And they that had laid hold on Jesus led him away to Caiaphas the high priest, where the scribes and the elders were assembled. But Peter followed him afar off unto the high priest’s palace, and went in, and sat with the servants, to see the end. Now the chief priests, and elders, and all the council, sought false witness against Jesus, to put him to death; but found none: yea, though many false witnesses came, yet found they none. At the last came two false witnesses, and said, This fellow said, I am able to destroy the temple of God, and to build it in three days. And the high priest arose, and said unto him, Answerest thou nothing? what is it which these witness against thee? But Jesus held his peace. And the high priest answered and said unto him, I adjure thee by the living God, that thou tell us whether thou be the Christ, the Son of God. Jesus saith unto him, Thou hast said: nevertheless I say unto you, Hereafter shall ye see the Son of man sitting on the right hand of power, and coming in the clouds of heaven. Then the high priest rent his clothes, saying, He hath spoken blasphemy; what further need have we of witnesses? behold, now ye have heard his blasphemy. What think ye? They answered and said, He is guilty of death. Then did they spit in his face, and buffeted him; and others smote him with the palms of their hands, Saying, Prophesy unto us, thou Christ, Who is he that smote thee? Now Peter sat without in the palace: and a damsel came unto him, saying, Thou also wast with Jesus of Galilee. But he denied before them all, saying, I know not what thou sayest. And when he was gone out into the porch, another maid saw him, and said unto them that were there, This fellow was also with Jesus of Nazareth. And again he denied with an oath, I do not know the man. And after a while came unto him they that stood by, and said to Peter, Surely thou also art one of them; for thy speech bewrayeth thee. Then began he to curse and to swear, saying, I know not the man. And immediately the cock crew. And Peter remembered the word of Jesus, which said unto him, Before the cock crow, thou shalt deny me thrice. And he went out, and wept bitterly. When the morning was come, all the chief priests and elders of the people took counsel against Jesus to put him to death: And when they had bound him, they led him away, and delivered him to Pontius Pilate the governor. Then Judas, which had betrayed him, when he saw that he was condemned, repented himself, and brought again the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and elders, saying, I have sinned in that I have betrayed the innocent blood. And they said, What is that to us? see thou to that. And he cast down the pieces of silver in the temple, and departed, and went and hanged himself. And the chief priests took the silver pieces, and said, It is not lawful for to put them into the treasury, because it is the price of blood. And they took counsel, and bought with them the potter’s field, to bury strangers in. Wherefore that field was called, The field of blood, unto this day. Then was fulfilled that which was spoken by Jeremy the prophet, saying, And they took the thirty pieces of silver, the price of him that was valued, whom they of the children of Israel did value; and gave them for the potter’s field, as the Lord appointed me. And Jesus stood before the governor: and the governor asked him, saying, Art thou the King of the Jews? And Jesus said unto him, Thou sayest. And when he was accused of the chief priests and elders, he answered nothing. Then said Pilate unto him, Hearest thou not how many things they witness against thee? And he answered him to never a word; insomuch that the governor marvelled greatly. Now at that feast the governor was wont to release unto the people a prisoner, whom they would. And they had then a notable prisoner, called Barabbas. Therefore when they were gathered together, Pilate said unto them, Whom will ye that I release unto you? Barabbas, or Jesus which is called Christ? For he knew that for envy they had delivered him. When he was set down on the judgment seat, his wife sent unto him, saying, Have thou nothing to do with that just man: for I have suffered many things this day in a dream because of him. But the chief priests and elders persuaded the multitude that they should ask Barabbas, and destroy Jesus. The governor answered and said unto them, Whether of the twain will ye that I release unto you? They said, Barabbas. Pilate saith unto them, What shall I do then with Jesus which is called Christ? They all say unto him, Let him be crucified. And the governor said, Why, what evil hath he done? But they cried out the more, saying, Let him be crucified. When Pilate saw that he could prevail nothing, but that rather a tumult was made, he took water, and washed his hands before the multitude, saying, I am innocent of the blood of this just person: see ye to it. Then answered all the people, and said, His blood be on us, and on our children. Then released he Barabbas unto them: and when he had scourged Jesus, he delivered him to be crucified. Then the soldiers of the governor took Jesus into the common hall, and gathered unto him the whole band of soldiers. And they stripped him, and put on him a scarlet robe. And when they had platted a crown of thorns, they put it upon his head, and a reed in his right hand: and they bowed the knee before him, and mocked him, saying, Hail, King of the Jews! And they spit upon him, and took the reed, and smote him on the head. And after that they had mocked him, they took the robe off from him, and put his own raiment on him, and led him away to crucify him. And as they came out, they found a man of Cyrene, Simon by name: him they compelled to bear his cross. And when they were come unto a place called Golgotha, that is to say, a place of a skull, they gave him vinegar to drink mingled with gall: and when he had tasted thereof, he would not drink. And they crucified him, and parted his garments, casting lots: that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, They parted my garments among them, and upon my vesture did they cast lots. And sitting down they watched him there; and set up over his head his accusation written, THIS IS JESUS THE KING OF THE JEWS. Then were there two thieves crucified with him, one on the right hand, and another on the left. And they that passed by reviled him, wagging their heads, and saying, Thou that destroyest the temple, and buildest it in three days, save thyself. If thou be the Son of God, come down from the cross.
Christ Crucified with the Virgin, Saint John and Mary Magdalene – Van Dyck, Sir Anthony
Likewise also the chief priests mocking him, with the scribes and elders, said, He saved others; himself he cannot save. If he be the King of Israel, let him now come down from the cross, and we will believe him. He trusted in God; let him deliver him now, if he will have him: for he said, I am the Son of God. The thieves also, which were crucified with him, cast the same in his teeth. Now from the sixth hour there was darkness over all the land unto the ninth hour. And about the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani? that is to say, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? Some of them that stood there, when they heard that, said, This man calleth for Elias. And straightway one of them ran, and took a spunge, and filled it with vinegar, and put it on a reed, and gave him to drink. The rest said, Let be, let us see whether Elias will come to save him. Jesus, when he had cried again with a loud voice, yielded up the ghost. (Here all genuflect, and pause for a time) And, behold, the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom; and the earth did quake, and the rocks rent; and the graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints which slept arose, and came out of the graves after his resurrection, and went into the holy city, and appeared unto many. Now when the centurion, and they that were with him, watching Jesus, saw the earthquake, and those things that were done, they feared greatly, saying, Truly this was the Son of God. And many women were there beholding afar off, which followed Jesus from Galilee, ministering unto him: Among which was Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James and Joseph, and the mother of Zebedee’s children. When the even was come, there came a rich man of Arimathaea, named Joseph, who also himself was Jesus’ disciple: He went to Pilate, and begged the body of Jesus. Then Pilate commanded the body to be delivered. And when Joseph had taken the body, he wrapped it in a clean linen cloth, and laid it in his own new tomb, which he had hewn out in the rock: and he rolled a great stone to the door of the sepulchre, and departed. And there was Mary Magdalene, and the other Mary, sitting over against the sepulchre.
The Entombment of Christ, (1602–1603) – Caravaggio
That the Mass of this Sunday may not be deprived of that essential rite, which we call the Gospel, the Deacon reserves a portion of his narrative; and going to the Altar, he asks the Priest to bless the Incense. Which done, the Deacon himself also having received the Priest’s blessing, goes to the place appointed for chanting the Gospel; but the Acolytes do not carry their Lights. After having thurified the book, he thus closes the history of the Passion.
And the next day, which followed the day of preparation, the chief priest and the Pharisees came together to Pilate, saying: Sir, we have remembered, that that seducer said, while he was yet alive : After three days I will rise again. Command therefore the sepulchre to be guarded until the third day: lest perhaps his disciples come and steal him away, and say to the people he is risen from the dead: and the last error shall be worse than the first. Pilate said to them: You have a guard; go, guard it as you know. And they departing, made the sepulchre sure, sealing the stone, and setting guards.
SERMON – Palm Sunday 2015 ~ Father Pfeiffer
Let us now go over in our minds the other events, which happened to our Divine Lord on this day of his solemn Entry into Jerusalem. St. Luke tells us, that it was on his approach to the City, that Jesus wept over it, and spoke these touching words : If thou also hadst known, and that in this thy day, the things that are to thy peace! But now they are hidden from thine eyes. For the days shall come upon thee, and thine enemies shall cast a trench about thee, and compass thee round, and straiten thee on every side, and beat thee flat to the ground, and thy children who are in thee; and they shall not leave in thee a stone upon a stone; because thou hast not known the time of thy visitation. A few days ago, we were reading in the holy Gospel, how Jesus wept over the tomb of Lazarus; to-day, he sheds tears over Jerusalem. ‘At Bethania, his weeping was caused by the sight of bodily death, the consequence and punishment of sin; but this death is not irremediable: Jesus is the resurrection and the life, and he that believeth in Him, shall live? Whereas, the state of the unfaithful Jerusalem is a figure of the death of the soul, and from this there is no resurrection, unless the soul, whilst time is given to her, return to the Author of life. Hence it is, that the tears shed by Jesus, over Jerusalem, are so bitter. Amidst the acclamations which greet his Entry into the City of David, his heart is sad; for he sees that many of her inhabitants will not profit of the time of her visitation. Let us console the Heart of our Jesus, and be to him a faithful Jerusalem. The sacred historian tells us, that Jesus, immediately upon his entrance into the City, went to the Temple, and cast out all them that sold and bought there. This was the second time that he had shown his authority in his Father’s House, and no one had dared to resist him. The Chief Priests and Pharisees found fault with him, and accused him to his face of causing confusion by his entry into the City ; but our Lord confounded them by the reply he made. It is thus, that in after ages, when it has pleased God to glorify his Son and the Church of his Son, the enemies of both have given vent to their rage; they protested against the triumph, but they could not stop it. But, when God, in the unsearchable ways of his wisdom, allowed persecution and trial to follow these periods of triumph, then did these bitter enemies redouble their efforts to induce the very people, that had cried Hosanna to the Son of David, to clamor for his being delivered up and crucified. They succeeded in fomenting persecution, but not in destroying the kingdom of Christ and his Church. The kingdom seemed, at times, to be interrupted in its progress; but the time for another triumph came. Thus will it be to the end; and then, after all these changes from glory to humiliation, and from humiliation to glory, the kingdom of Jesus and his Spouse will gain the last and eternal triumph over this world, which would not know the time of its visitation. We learn from St. Matthew, that our Saviour spent the remainder of this day at Bethania. His Blessed Mother and the house of Lazarus were comforted by his return.
There was not a single offer of hospitality made to him in Jerusalem, at least, there is no mention in the Gospel of any such being offered. We cannot help making the reflection, as we meditate upon this event of our Lord’s life: an enthusiastic reception is given to him in the morning, he is proclaimed by the people as their King; but, when the evening of that day comes on, there is not one of all those thousands to offer him food or lodging. In the Carmelite Monasteries of St. Teresa’s Reform, there is a custom, which has been suggested by this thought, and is intended as a reparation for this ingratitude shown to our Redeemer. A table is placed in the middle of the Refectory; and after the Community have finished their dinner, the food, which was placed upon that table, is distributed among the poor, and Jesus is honored in them.
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