This is the day which the Lord hath made; let us be glad and rejoice therein!

Introit

They praised with one accord thy victorious hand, O Lord, alleluia: for wisdom hath opened the mouth of the dumb, and made the tongues of infants eloquent. Alleluia, alleluia. Ps. Sing to the Lord a new song: for he hath done wonderful things. ℣. Glory, etc. They praised, etc.

The Collect alludes to the effect produced by the preaching of the Apostles—the union of all nations into one family. The neophytes, by their Baptism, have been admitted into this great unity: the Church prays that God would preserve them in it by His grace.

Collect

O God, who has united various nations in the confession of thy name: grant that they who have been born again by the water of baptism, may have the same faith in their hearts, and the same piety in their actions. Through, etc.

Epistle

Lesson from the Acts of the Apostles, chap. 8

Now an angel of the Lord spoke to Philip, saying: Arise, go towards the south, to the way that goeth down from Jerusalem into Gaza: this is desert. And rising up, he went. And behold a man of Ethiopia, an eunuch, of great authority under Candace the queen of the Ethiopians, who had charge over all her treasures, had come to Jerusalem to adore. And he was returning, sitting in his chariot, and reading Isaias the prophet. And the Spirit said to Philip: Go near, and join thyself to this chariot. And Philip running thither, heard him reading the prophet Isaias. And he said: Thinkest thou that thou understandest what thou readest? Who said: And how can I, unless some man shew me? And he desired Philip that he would come up and sit with him. And the place of the scripture which he was reading was this: He was led as a sheep to the slaughter; and like a lamb without voice before his shearer, so openeth he not his mouth. In humility his judgment was taken away. His generation who shall declare, for his life shall be taken from the earth? And the eunuch answering Philip, said: I beseech thee, of whom doth the prophet speak this? of himself, or of some other man? Then Philip, opening his mouth, and beginning at this scripture, preached unto him Jesus. And as they went on their way, they came to a certain water; and the eunuch said: See, here is water: what doth hinder me from being baptized? And Philip said: If thou believest with all thy heart, thou mayest. And he answering, said: I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. And he commanded the chariot to stand still; and they went down into the water, both Philip and the eunuch: and he baptized him. And when they were come up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord took away Philip; and the eunuch saw him no more. And he went on his way rejoicing. But Philip was found in Azotus; and passing through, he preached the gospel to all the cities, till he came to Caesarea.

The Church, by this passage from the Acts of the Apostles, would remind her neophytes of the sublime grace of their Baptism, and under what condition they have been regenerated. God put the opportunity of salvation in their path, as He sent Philip to the eunuch. He gave them a desire to know the truth, in the same manner as He inspired this servant of Queen Candace to read what was to occasion his being instructed in the faith of Christ. This pagan, had he chosen, might have received the instructions of God’s messenger with mistrust and indifference, and so have resisted the grace that was offered him; but no, he opened his heart, and faith filled it. Our neophytes did the same: they were docile, and God’s word enlightened them; they went on from light to light, until at length the Church recognized them as true disciples of the faith. Then came the Feast of the Pasch, and this mother of souls said to herself, Lo, here is water,—the water that purifies, the water that issued from Jesus’ side when opened by the spear: what hinders them from being baptized? Having confessed that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, they were baptized, as was the Ethiopian of our Epistle, in the life-giving waters; like him, they are about to continue the journey of life, rejoicing, for they are risen with Christ, who has graciously vouchsafed to associate the joy of their new birth with that of His own triumph.

Gradual

This is the day which the Lord hath made: let us be glad and rejoice therein.
℣. The stone which the builders rejected, the same is become the head of the corner: this is the Lord’s doing, and it is wonderful in our eyes. Alleluia, alleluia.
℣. Christ is risen, who created all things, and hath shewn mercy to mankind.

Sequence

Let Christians offer to the Paschal Victim the sacrifice of praise.
The Lamb hath redeemed the sheep: the innocent Jesus hath reconciled sinners to His Father.
Death and life fought against each other, and wondrous was the duel: the King of life was put to death; yet now He lives and reigns.
Tell us, O Mary! what sawest thou on the way?
I saw the sepulchre of the living Christ; I saw the glory of Him that had risen.
I saw the Angels that were the witnesses; I saw the winding-sheet and the cloth.
Christ, my hope, hath risen; He shall go before you into Galilee.
We know that Christ hath truly risen from the dead. Do Thou, O conqueror and King! have mercy upon us. Amen. Alleluia.

Gospel

Sequel of the holy Gospel according to John - Chap. 20
But Mary stood at the sepulchre without, weeping. Now as she was weeping, she stooped down, and looked into the sepulchre, And she saw two angels in white, sitting, one at the head, and one at the feet, where the body of Jesus had been laid. They say to her: Woman, why weepest thou? She saith to them: Because they have taken away my Lord; and I know not where they have laid him. When she had thus said, she turned herself back, and saw Jesus standing; and she knew not that it was Jesus. Jesus saith to her: Woman, why weepest thou? whom seekest thou? She, thinking it was the gardener, saith to him: Sir, if thou hast taken him hence, tell me where thou hast laid him, and I will take him away. Jesus saith to her: Mary. She turning, saith to him: Rabboni (which is to say, Master). Jesus saith to her: Do not touch me, for I am not yet ascended to my Father. But go to my brethren, and say to them: I ascend to my Father and to your Father, to my God and your God. Mary Magdalen cometh, and telleth the disciples: I have seen the Lord, and these things he said to me.

Meditation

Today’s Station is in the basilica of the twelve Apostles; and instead of putting before us any of the apparitions related by the Gospel as having been made to His Apostles by our Savior, after His Resurrection, the Church reads to us the one wherewith Magdalene was honored. Why thus apparently forget the very heralds and ambassadors of the New Law? The reason is obvious. By thus honoring her whom our Lord selected as the Apostle of His apostles, the Church would put before us, in their full truth, the circumstances of the day of the Resurrection. It was through Magdalene and her companions that began the apostolate of the grandest mystery of our Jesus’ life upon earth; they have every right, therefore, to be honored today in the basilica, which is sacred to the holy Apostles.

God is all-powerful, and delights in showing Himself in that which is weakest; He is infinitely good and glorious in rewarding such as love Him. This explains how it was that our Jesus gave to Magdalene and her companions the first proofs of His Resurrection, and so promptly consoled them. They were even weaker than the Bethlehem shepherds; they were, therefore, the objects of a higher preference. The Apostles themselves were weaker than the weakest of the earthly powers they were to bring into submission; hence, they too were initiated in the mystery of Jesus’ triumph. But Magdalene and her companions had loved their Master even to the cross and in His tomb, whereas the Apostles had abandoned Him; they therefore had a better claim than the Apostles to Jesus’ generosity, and richly did He satisfy the claim.

Let us attentively consider the sublime spectacle of the Church receiving the knowledge of that mystery, which is the basis of her faith, the Resurrection. After Mary—in whom the light of faith never waned, and to whom, as the sinless Mother, was due the first manifestation—who were the first to be illumined with that faith whereby the Church lives? Magdalene and her companions. For several hours, this was the “little flock” on which Jesus looked with complacency: little, indeed, and weak in the world’s estimation, but grand, as being the noblest work of grace. Yet a short time, and the Apostles will be added to the number; yea, the whole world will form a part of this elect group. The Church now sings these words in every country of the earth: “Tell us, O Mary! what thou sawest on the way!” And Mary Magdalene tells the Church the mystery: “I saw the sepulcher of Christ, and the glory of Him that arose.”

Nor must we be surprised that women were the first to form, around the Son of God, the Church of believers, the Church resplendent with the brightness of the Resurrection: it is the continuation of that divine plan, the commencement of which we have already respectfully studied. It was by woman that the work of God was marred in the beginning; He willed that it should be repaired by woman. On the day of the Annunciation, we found the second Eve making good by her own obedience the disobedience of the first; and now, at Easter, God honors Magdalene and her companions in preference even to the Apostles. We repeat it: these facts show us not so much a personal favor conferred upon individuals as the restoration of woman to her lost dignity. “The woman,” says St. Ambrose, “was the first to taste the food of death; she is destined to be the first witness of the Resurrection. By proclaiming this mystery, she will atone for her fault … therefore is it that she, who heretofore had announced sin to man, was sent by the Lord to announce the tidings of salvation to men, and to make known to them His grace.” Others of the holy Fathers speak in the same strain. They tell us that God, in the distribution of the gifts of His grace, gives woman the first place. And in what happened at the Resurrection, they recognize not merely an act of the supreme will of the Master, but moreover a well-deserved reward for the love Jesus met with from these humble women; a love which He did not receive from His Apostles, though He had treated them, for the last three years of His life, with every mark of intimacy and affection, and had every right to expect them to be courageous in their devotedness towards Him.

Magdalene stands as a queen amidst her holy companions. She is most dear to Jesus; she has loved Him more than all the rest of His friends did; she has been more heartbroken at seeing Him suffer; she has been more earnest in paying honor to the sacred Body of her buried Master. She is well-nigh beside herself until she has found Him; and when she at length meet Him and finds Jesus Himself still living and still full of love for Magdalene, she could die for very joy! She would show Him her delight, but Jesus checks her, saying: Touch me not! for I am not yet ascended to my Father!

Jesus is no longer subject to the conditions of mortality. True, His human Nature will be eternally united with His divine; but His Resurrection tells the faithful soul that His relations with her are no longer the same as before. During His mortal life, He suffered Himself to be approached as Man; there was little, in His exterior, to indicate His Divinity; but now, His external splendor gleams through His very Body, and bespeaks the Son of God. Henceforth, then, we must see Him with the heart rather than with the eye, and offer Him a respectful love, rather than one of sentiment, however tender. He allowed Magdalene to touch Him so long as she was weak in her conversion, and He Himself was mortal; but now, she must aspire to that highest spiritual good, which is the life of the soul—Jesus, in the bosom of the Father. In her first estate Magdalene is the type of the soul when commencing its search after jesus. But her love needs a transformation: it is ardent, but not wise: so that the Angel has to chide her: “Why,” says he, “seekest thou the Living among the dead?” The time is come for her to ascend to something more perfect, and seek in spirit Him who is Spirit.

Jesus says to Magdalene: I am not yet ascended to my Father! as though He would say: “The mark of love thou wouldst show me is not what I now wish to receive from thee. When I have ascended into heaven, and thou art there with Me, the sight of My human Nature shall be no obstacle to thy soul’s vision of My Divinity: then thou shalt embrace Me!” Magdalene takes in the lesson of her dear Master; she loves Him more, because her love is spiritualized. After His Ascension, she retires into the holy cave. There she lives, pondering upon all the mysteries of her Jesus’ life. Her love feeds on the memory of all He has done for her, from His first word which converted her, to the favor He showed her on the morning of His Resurrection. Each day she advances in the path of perfect love. The Angels visit and console her. Her probation completed, she follows her Jesus to heaven, where she lavishes on Him the ardor of her love in an unrestrained and eternal embrace.

Communion

Ye, who are a purchased people, publish his might, alleluia: it is he who hath called you from darkness to his wonderful light, alleluia.

Postcommunion

Graciously hear our prayers O Lord, that by frequenting these sacred mysteries of our redemption, we may obtain the necessary helps of this life, and the endless joys of the next. Through, etc.

(Easter Thursday ~ Dom Prosper Gueranger)