Sanctus Simplicitus

We are interrupting our usual Keeping It Catholic Monday posts with a 50 day celebration of Easter! There is no greater day in the Catholic Church than the Resurrection of Jesus on Easter Day and the Church gives us 50 wonderful days to celebrate it!! In honor of those 50 days we will be sharing many (maybe not 50) different articles from traditional Catholic resources, traditions, quotes, and ways to help children celebrate Easter. Sunday will also be included as every Sunday is a little Easter!

"If you love feasts, you will find plenty among us Christians; not merely feasts that last only for a day, but such as continue for several days together. The pagans keep each of their feasts once in the year; but you have to keep each of yours many times over, for you have the eight days of its celebration." -Tertullian


The Liturgical Year - Paschal Season Vol. 1
By: Abbot Dom Gueranger Imprimatur 1867

The History of Paschal Time
We give the name of Paschal Time to the period between Easter Sunday and the Saturday following Whit Sunday. It is the most sacred portion of the Liturgical Year, and the one towards which the whole Cycle converges. We shall easily understand how this is, if we reflect upon the greatness of the Easter Feast, which is called the Feast of feasts, and the Solemnity of solemnities, in the same manner, says St. Gregory,1 as the most sacred part of the Temple was called the Holy of Holies; and the Book of Sacred Scripture, wherein are described the espousals between Christ and the Church, is called the Canticle of canticles. It is on this day, that the mission of the Word Incarnate attains the object towards which it has hitherto been unceasingly tending: mankind is raised up from his fall, and regains what he had lost by Adam’s sin.
Christmas gave us a Man-God; three days have scarcely passed, since we witnessed His infinitely precious Blood shed for our ransom; but now, on the day of Easter, our Jesus is no longer the Victim of death: He is a Conqueror, that destroys death, the child of sin, and proclaims life, that undying life which He has purchased for us. The humiliation of His swathing-bands, the sufferings of His Agony and Cross, these are passed; all is now glory,- glory for Himself, and glory also for us. On the day of Easter, God regains, by the Resurrection of the Man-God, His creation such as He made it at the beginning; the only vestige now left of death, is that likeness to sin which the Lamb of God deigned to take upon Himself. Neither is it Jesus alone that returns to eternal life; the whole human race also has risen to immortality together with our Jesus. ‘By a man came death,’ says the Apostle; ‘and by a Man the Resurrection of the dead: and as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all shall be made alive.’’
1 1 I’oi. xv. 21, 22.


The anniversary of this Resurrection is, therefore, the great Day, the day of joy, the day by excellence; the day to which the whole year looks forward in expectation, and on which its whole economy is formed. But as it is the holiest of days,- since it opens to us the gate of Heaven, into which we shall enter because we have risen together with Christ,- the Church would have us come to it well prepared by bodily mortification and by compunction of heart. It was for this that she instituted the Fast of Lent, and that she bade us, during Septuagesima, look forward to the joy of her Easter, and be filled with sentiments suit able to the approach of so grand a solemnity. We obeyed; we have gone through the period of our preparation; and now the Easter sun has risen upon us!

But it was not enough to solemnize the great Day when Jesus, our Light, rose from the darkness of the tomb: there was another anniversary which claimed our grateful celebration. The Incarnate Word rose on the first day of the week,- that same day, where on, four thousand years before, He, the Uncreated Word of the Father, had begun the work of the Creation, by calling forth light, and separating it from darkness. The first day was thus ennobled by the creation of light. It received a second consecration by the Resurrection of Jesus; and from that time forward Sunday, and not Saturday, was to be the Lord’s Day. Yes, our Resurrection in Jesus which took place on the Sunday, gave this first day a pre eminence above the others of the week: the divine precept of the Sabbath was abrogated together with the other ordinances of the Mosaic Law, and the Apostles instructed the faithful to keep holy the first day of the week, which God had dignified with that twofold glory, the creation and the regeneration of the world. Sunday, then, being the day of Jesus’ Resurrection, the Church chose that day, in preference to every other, for its yearly commemoration. The Pasch of the Jews, in consequence of its being fixed on the fourteenth of the moon of March, (the anniversary of the going out of Egypt,) fell by turns on each day of the week. The Jewish Pasch was but a figure; ours is the reality, and puts an end to the figure. The Church, therefore, broke this her last tie with the Synagogue; and proclaimed her emancipation, by fixing the most solemn of her Feasts on a day, which should never agree with that on which the Jews keep their now unmeaning Pasch. The Apostles decreed, that the Christian Pasch should never be celebrated on the fourteenth of the moon of March, even were that day to be a Sunday; bat that it should be everywhere kept on the Sunday following the day on which the obsolete calendar of the Synagogue still marks it.

Nevertheless, out of consideration for the many Jews who had received Baptism, and who formed the nucleus of the early Christian Church, it was resolved that the law regarding the day for keeping the new Pasch, should be applied prudently and gradually. Jerusalem was soon to be destroyed by the Romans, according to our Saviour’s prediction; and the new City, which was to rise up from its ruins and receive the Christian colony, would also have its Church, but a Church totally free from the Jewish element, which God had so visibly rejected. In preaching the Gospel and founding Churches, even far beyond the limits of the Roman Empire, the majority of the Apostles had not to contend with Jewish customs; most of their converts were from among the Gentiles. Saint Peter, who in the Council of Jerusalem had pro claimed the cessation of the Jewish Law, set up the standard of emancipation in the City of Rome; so that the Church, which through him was made the Mother and Mistress of all Churches, never had any other discipline regarding the observance of Easter, than that laid down by the Apostles, namely, that it should be kept on a Sunday.

There was, however, one province of the Church, which for a long time stood out against the universal practice: it was Asia Minor. The Apostle St. John, who lived for many years at Ephesus,- where indeed he died,- had thought it prudent to tolerate, in those parts, the Jewish custom of celebrating the Pasch; for many of the converts had been members of the Synagogue. But the Gentiles themselves, who, later on, formed the mass of the faithful, were strenuous upholders of this custom, which dated from the very foundation of the Church of Asia Minor. In the course of time, however, this anomaly became a source of scandal: it savoured of Judaism, and it prevented unity of religious observance, which is always desirable, but particularly so in what regards Lent and Easter.

Pope St. Victor, who governed the Church from the year 193, endeavoured to put a stop to this abuse; he thought the time had come for establishing unity in so essential a point of Christian worship. Already, that is in the year 160, under Pope St. Amiicetus, the Apostolic See had sought, by friendly negociations, to induce the Churches of Asia Minor to conform to the universal practice; but it was difficult to triumph over a prejudice, which rested on a tradition held sacred in that country. St. Victor, however, resolved to make another attempt. He would put before them the unanimous agreement which reigned throughout the rest of the Church. Accordingly, he gave orders, that Councils should be convened in the several countries where the Gospel had been preached, and that the question of Easter should be examined. Everywhere there was perfect uniformity of practice; and the historian Eusebius, who lived a hundred and fifty years later, assures us, that the people of his day used to quote the decisions of the Councils of Rome, of Gaul, of Achaia, of Pontus, of Palestine, and of Osrhoena in Mesopotawia. The Council of Ephesus, at which Polycrates, the Bishop of that city, presided, was the only one that opposed the Pontiff, and disregarded the practice of the universal Church.
Deeming it unwise to give further toleration to the opposition, Victor separated from communion with the Holy See the refractory Churches of Asia Minor. This severe penalty, which was not inflicted until Rome had exhausted every other means of removing the evil, excited the commiseration of several Bishops. St. Ireneus, who was then governing tile See of Lyons, pleaded for these Churches, which, so it seemed to him, had sinned only through a want of light; and he obtained from the Pope the revocation of a measure which seemed too severe. This indulgence produced the desired effect. In the following century, St. Anatohjus, Bishop of Laodicea, in his Book on the Pasch, written in 276, tells us that the Churches of Asia Minor had then, for some time past, conformed to the Roman practice.

I S1~ieil~qium Sal imn.~. t. iv. p. 341. 2 Epi~t. ad At~-o.9 ~p~(opoI.
About the same time, and by a strange co-incidence, the Churches of Syria, Cilicia. and Mesopotamia, gave scandal by again leaving the Christian and Apostolic observance of Easter, and returning to the Jewish rite of the fourteenth of the ~arch moon. This Schism in the Liturgy grieved the Church; and one of the ~uints to which the Council of Nicaea directed its first attention, was the promulgation of the universal obligation to celebrate Easter on the Sunday. The Decree was unanimously passed, and the Fathers of the Council ordained, that ‘all controversy being laid aside, the Brethren in the East should solemnize the Pasch on the same day as the Romans, the Alexandrians, and the rest of the faithful.” So important seemed this question, inasmuch as it affected the very essence of the Christian Liturgy, that St. Athanasius, assigning the reasons which had led to the calling of the Council of Nictea, mentions these two: the condemnation of the Arian heresy, and the establishment of uniformity in the observance of Easter.’

The Bishop of Alexandria was commissioned by the Council to see to the drawing up of astronomical tables, whereby the precise day of Easter might be fixed for each future year. The reason of this choice was, that the astronomers of Alexandria were looked upon as the most exact in their calculations. These tables were to be sent to the Pope, and he would address letters to the several Churches, instructing them as to the uniform celebration of the great Festival of Christendom. Thus was the unity of the Church made manifest by the unity of the holy Liturgy; and the Apostolic See, which is the foundation of the first, was likewise the source of the second. But, even previous to the Council of Nicaea, the Roman Pontiff had addressed to all the Churches, every year, a Paschal Encyclical, instructing them as to the day on which the solemnity of the Resurrection was to be kept. This we learn from the synodical Letter of the Fathers of the great Council held at Arles, in 314. The Letter is addressed to Pope St. Sylvester, and contains the following pas sage: ‘In the first place, we beg that the observance of the Pasch of the Lord may be uniform, both as to time and day, ut the whole world, and that You would, according to the custom, address Letters to all concerning this matter.’1

1 (io,~ed, ‘a~iiict’. t. i.
This custom, however, was not kept up for any length of time, after the Council of Nicaea. The want of precision in astronomical calculations occasioned confusion in the method of fixing the day of Easter. It is true, this great Festival was always kept on a Sunday; nor did any Church think of celebrating it on the same day as the Jews; but, since there was no uniform understanding as to the exact time of the Vernal Equinox, it happened sane years, that the Feast of Easter was not kept., in all places, on the same day. By degrees, there crept in a deviation from the rule laid down by the Council, of taking the 21st of March as the day of the Equinox. There was needed a reform in the Calendar, and no one seemed competent to bring it about. Cycles were drawn up contradictory to one another; Rome and Alexandria had each its own system of calculation; so that, some years, Easter was not kept with that perfect uniformity which the Nicene Fathers had so strenuously laboured for: and yet, this variation was not the result of anything like party-spirit.
[Great Britain adopted the New Style, by Act of Parliament, in the year 1732. - Tr.]

The West followed Rome. The Churches of Ireland and Scotland, which had been misled by faulty Cycles, were, at length, brought into uniformity. Finally, science was sufficiently advanced in the 16th century, for Pope Gregory XIII. to undertake a reform of the Calendar. The Equinox had to be restored to the 21st of March, as the Council of Nicaea had pre scribed. The Pope effected this by publishing a Bull, dated February 24, 1581, in which be ordered that ten days of the following year, namely from the 4th to the 15th of October, should be suppressed. He thus restored the work of Julius Caesar, who had, in his day, turned his attention to the rectification of the Year. Easter was the great object of the reform, or, as it is called, the New Style, achieved by Gregory XIII. The principles anti regulations of the Nicene Council were again brought to bear on this the capital question of the Liturgical Year; and the Roman Pontiff thus gave to the whole world the intimation of Easter, not for one year only, but for centuries. Heretical nations were forced to acknowledge the divine power of the Church in this solemn act, which interested both religion and society. They protested against the Calendar, as they had protested against the Rule of Faith. England and the Lutheran States of Germany preferred following, for many years, a Calendar which was evidently at fault, rather then accept the New Style, which they acknowledged to be indispensable; but it was the work of a Pope! The only nation in Europe that keeps up the Old Style is Russia, whose antipathy to Rome obliges her to be thus ten or twelve days behind the rest of the civilized world.

1 The modcru J[co’.~a/a. ‘ Sti. Leonis Opera, Epist. iii.
All this shows us how important it was to ~x the precise day of’ Easter; and God has several times shown by miracles, that the date of so sacred a Feast was not a matter of indifference. During the ages when the confusion of the Cycles and the want of correct astronomical computations occasioned great uncertainty as to the Vernal Equinox, miraculous events more than once supplied the deficiencies of science and authority. In a letter to St. Leo the Great, in the year 444, Paschasinus, Bishop of Lilybea’ in Sicily, relates that under the Pontificate of St. Zozinius,- Honorius being Consul for the eleventh, and Constantius for the second time,- the real day of Easter was miraculously revealed to the people of one of the churches there. In the midst of a mountainous and thickly wooded district of the Island was a village called Meltinas. Its church was of the poorest, but it was dear to God. Every year, on the night preceding Easter Sunday, as the Priest went to the Baptistery to bless the Font, it was found to be miraculously filled with water, for there were no human means wherewith it could be ‘supplied. As soon as Baptism was administered, the water disappeared of itself, and left the Font perfectly dry. In the year just mentioned, the people, misled by a wrong calculation, assembled for the ceremonies of Easter Eve. The Prophecies having been read, the Priest and his flock repaired to the Baptistery,- but the Font was empty. They waited, expecting the miraculous flowing of the water, wherewith the Catechumens were to receive the grace of regeneration: but they waited in vain, and no Baptism was ad ministered. On the following 22nd of April, the Font was found to be filled to the brim, and thereby the people understood that that was the true Easter for that year.2
‘ Cassiodorus, Vara,’u,a, lii,. vii. epist. xxxiii.

Cassiodorus, writing in the name of king Athalaric to a certain Severus, relates a similar miracle, which happened every year on Easter Eve, in Lucania, near the small Island of Leucothea, at a place called Marcilianum. There was a large fountain there, whose water was so clear, that the air itself was not more transparent. It was used as the Font for the administration of Baptism on Easter Night. As soon as the Priest, standing under the rock where with nature had canopied the fountain, began the prayers of the Blessing, the water, as though taking part in the transports of the Easter joy, arose in the Font; so that, if previously it was to the level of the fifth step, it was seen to rise up to the seventh, impatient, as it were, to effect those wonders of grace whereof it was the chosen instrument. God would show by this, that even inanimate creatures can share, when He so wills it, in the holy gladness of the greatest of all days.1

St. Gregory of Tours tells us of a Font, which existed even then, iii a church of Andalusia, in a place called Osen, and whereby God miraculously certified to His people the true day of Easter. On the Maundy Thursday of each year, the Bishop, accompanied by the faithful, repaired to this church. The bed of the Font was built in the form of a cross, and was paved with mosaics. It was carefully examined, to see that it was perfectly dry; and after several prayers had been recited, every one left the church, and the Bishop sealed the door with his seal. On Holy Saturday the Pontiff returned, accompanied by his flock; the seal was examined, and the door was opened. The Font was found to be filled, even above the level of the floor, and yet the water did not overflow. The Bishop pronounced the exorcisms over the miraculous water, and poured the Chrism into it. The Catechumens were then baptized; and as soon as the sacrament had been administered, the water immediately disappeared, and no one could tell what became of it.’ Similar miracles were witnessed in several churches in tie East. Joba Moschus, a writer in the 7th century, speaks of a Baptismal Font in Lycia, which was thus filled every Easter Eve; hut the water remained in the Font (luring the whole fifty days, and suddenly disappeared after the Festival of Pentecost.

We alluded, in our History of Passiontide, to the decrees passed by the Christian Emperors, which forbade all law proceedings during the fortnight of Easter, that is, from Pal in Sunday to the Octave day of the Resurrection. S. Augustine, in a sermon he preached on this Octave, exhorts the faithful to extend to the whole year this suspension of law-suits, disputes, and enmities, which the civil law interdicted during these fifteen days.

The Church puts upon all her children the obligation of receiving Holy Communion at Easter. rIlhis precept is based upon the words of our Redeemer, who left it to His Church to determine the time of the year, when Christians should receive the Blessed Sacrament. In the early ages, Communion was frequent, and, in some places, even daily. By degrees, the fervour of the faithful grew cold towards this august Mystery, as we gather from a decree of the Council of Agatha (Agde), held in 506, where it is defined, that those of the laity who shall not approach Communion at Christmas, Easter, and Pentecost, are to be considered as having ceased to be Catholics.3 £his Decree of the Council of Agatha was accepted as the law of almost the entire Western Church. We find it quoted among the regulations drawn up by Egbert, Archbishop of York, as also in the third Council of’ Tours. In many places, however, Communion was obligatory for the Sundays of Lent, and for the last three days of Holy Week, independently of that which was to be made on the Easter Festival.

1De Gloria Jfaeo~itim, lib. i. Cap. XX1V.
2 Pratum spirittwle, cap. ccxv.
~ Uooeil. Agrf/t. Canon xviii.
It was in the year 1215, in the 4th General Council of Lateran, that the Church, seeing the ever growing indifference of her children, decreed with regret that Christians should be strictly bound to Communion only once. in the year, and that that Communion of obligation should be made at Easter. In order to show the faithful that this is the uttermost limit of her condescension to lukewarmness, she declares, in the same Council, that he that shall presume to break this law, may be forbidden to enter a church during life, and he deprived of Christian burial after death, as he would be if he had, of his own accord, separated himself from the exterior link of Catholic unity.’ These regulations of a General Council show how important is the duty of the Easter Communion; but, at the same time, they make us shudder at the thought of the millions, throughout the Catholic world, who brave each year the threats of the Church, by refusing to comply with a duty, which would both bring life to their souls, and serve as a profession of their faith. And when we again reflect upon how many even of those who make their Easter Communion, have paid no more attention to the Lenten Penance than if there were no such obligation in existence, we cannot help feeling sad, and we wonder within ourselves, how long God will bear with such infringements of the Christian Law.

‘Two centuries after this, Pope Eugenius the Fourth, in the Constitution Di~jna File, given in the year 1440, allowed this annual Communion to i)C iiiadc ~n any day between Palm Sunday and Low Sunday inclusively. [In England, by permission of the Holy See, the time for making the Easter Communion extends from Ash Wednesday to Low Sunday. - Tr.]

The fifty days between Easter and Pentecost have ever been considered by the Church as most holy. The first week, which is more expressly devoted to celebrating our Lord’s Resurrection, is kept up as one continued Feast; but the remainder of the fifty days is also marked with special honours. To say nothing of the joy, which is the ,characteristic of this period of the year, and of which the Alleluia is the expression,- Christian tradition has assigned to Eastertide two practices, which distinguish it from every other Season. The first is, that fasting is not permitted during the entire interval: it is an extension of the ancient precept of never fasting on a Sunday, and the whole of Eastertide is considered as one long Sunday. This practice, which would seem to have come down from the time of the Apostles, was accepted by the Religious Rules of both East and West, even by the severest. The second consists in not kneeling at the Divine Office, from Easter to Pentecost. The Eastern Churches have faithfully kept up the practice, even to this day. It was ob served for many ages by the Western Churches also; but now, it is little more than a remnant. The Latin Church has long since admitted genuflexions in the Mass during Easter time. The few vestiges of the ancient discipline in this regard, which still exist, are not noticed by the faithful, inasmuch as they seldom assist at the Canonical Hours.

Eastertide, then, is like one continued Feast. It is the remark made by Tertullian, in the 3d century. He is reproaching those Christians who regretted having renounced, by their Baptism, the festivities of the pagan year; and he thus addresses them: If you love Feasts, you will find plenty among us Christians; not merely Feasts that last only for a day, but such as continue for several days together. The Pagans keep each of their Feasts once in the year; but you have to keep each of yours many times over, for you have the eight days of its celebration. Put all the Feasts of the Gentiles together, and they do not amount to our fifty days of Pentecost.’1 St. Ambrose speaking on the same subject, says: ‘If the Jews are not satisfied with the Sabbath of each week, but keep also one which lasts a whole month, and another which lasts a whole year;- how much more ought not we to honour our Lord’s Resurrection? Hence our ancestors have taught us to celebrate the fifty days of Pentecost as a continuation of Easter. They are seven weeks, and the Feast of Pentecost commences the eighth.

D~ I’lo(olo/,’iu., cap. xiv.
2 In Lucam, lii). viii. cap. xxv.
During these fifty days, the Church observes no fast, as neither does she on any Sunday, for it is the day on which our Lord rose: and all these fifty days are like so many Sundays.’2

THE FOURTH SUNDAY OF LENT
By: Dom Gueranger Impr. 1867

This Sunday, called, from the first word of the Introit, Laetare Sunday, is one of the most solemn of the year. The Church interrupts her Lenten mournfulness; the chants of the Mass speak of nothing but joy and consolation; the Organ, which has been silent during the preceding three Sundays, now gives forth its melodious voice; the Deacon resumes his Dalmatic, and the Subdeacon his Tunic; and instead of purple, Rose-coloured Vestments are allowed to be used. These same rites were practised in Advent, on the third Sunday, called Gaudete. The Church’s motive for introducing this expression of joy in to-day’s Liturgy, is to encourage her Children to persevere fervently to the end of this holy Season. The real Mid-Lent was last Thursday, as we have already observed; but the Church, fearing lest the joy might lead to some infringement on the spirit of penance, has deferred her own notice of it to this Sunday, when she not only permits, but even bids, her children to rejoice!

The Station at Rome, is in the Basilica of Holy Cross in Jerusalem, one of the seven principal Churches of the Holy City. It was built in the fourth century, by the Emperor Constantine, in one of his villas, called Sessorius, on which account it goes also under the name of the Sessorian Basilica. The Emperor’s mother, St. Helen, enriched it with most precious relies, and wished to make it the Jerusalem of Rome. It was with this intention that she ordered a great quantity of earth, taken from Mount Calvary, to be put on the site. Among the other Relics of the Instruments of the Passion which she gave to this Church, was the Inscription which was fastened to the Cross; it is still kept there, and is called the Title of the Cross. The name of Jerusalem, - which has been given to this Basilica, and which recals to our minds the heavenly Jerusalem, towards which we are tending, - suggested the choosing it as to-day’s Station. Up to the fourteenth century, (when Avignon became, for a time, the City of the Popes,) the ceremony of the Golden Rose took place in this Church; at present, it is blessed in the Palace where the Sovereign Pontiff happens to be residing at this Season.

The blessing of the Golden Rose is one of the ceremonies peculiar to the Fourth Sunday of Lent, which is called on this account Rose Sunday. The thoughts suggested by this flower harmonise with the sentiments wherewith the Church would now inspire her Children. The joyous time of Easter is soon to give them a spiritual Spring, of which that of nature is but a feeble image. Hence, we cannot be surprised that the institution of this ceremony is of a very ancient date. We find it observed under the Pontificate of St. Leo the Ninth (eleventh century); and we have a Sermon on the Golden Rose preached by the glorious Pope Innocent the Third, on this Sunday, and in the Basilica of Holy Cross in Jerusalem. In the Middle Ages, when the Pope resided in the Lateran Palace, having first blessed the Rose, he went on horseback to the Church of the Station. He wore the mitre, was accompanied by all the Cardinals, and held the blessed Flower in his hand. Having reached the Basilica, he made a discourse on the mysteries symbolised by the beauty, the colour, and the fragrance of the Rose. Mass was then celebrated. After the Mass, the Pope returned to the Lateran Palace. Surrounded by the sacred College, he rode across the immense plain which separates the two Basilicas, with the mystic Flower still in his hand. We may imagine the joy of the people as they gazed upon the holy symbol. When the procession had got to the Palace gates, if there were a Prince present, it was his privilege to hold the stirrup, and assist the Pontiff to dismount; for which filial courtesy he received the Rose, which had received so much honour and caused such joy.

At present, the ceremony is not quite so solemn; still the principal rites are observed. The Pope blesses the Golden Rose in the Vestiary; he anoints it with Holy Chrism, over which he sprinkles a scented powder, as formerly; and when the hour for Mass is come, he goes to the Palace Chapel, holding the Flower in his hand. During the Holy Sacrifice, it is fastened to a golden rose-branch prepared for it on the Altar. After the Mass, it is brought to the Pontiff, who holds it in his hand as he returns from the Chapel to the Vestiary. It is usual for the Pope to send the Rose to some Prince or Princess, as a mark of honour; sometimes, it is a City or a Church that receives the Flower.

We subjoin a free translation of the beautiful Prayer used by the Sovereign Pontiff when blessing the Golden Rose. It will give our readers a clearer appreciation of this ceremony, which adds so much solemnity to the Fourth Sunday of Lent. “O God! by whose word and power all things were created, and by whose will they are all governed! O thou, that art the joy and gladness of all thy Faithful people! we beseech thy Divine Majesty, that thou vouchsafe to bless and sanctify this Rose, so lovely in its beauty and fragrance. We are to bear it, this day, in our hands, as a symbol of spiritual joy; that thus, the people that is devoted to thy service, being set free from the captivity of Babylon, by the grace of thine Only Begotten Son, who is the glory and the joy of Israel, may show forth, with a sin cere heart, the joys of that Jerusalem, which is above, and is our Mother. And whereas thy Church seeing this symbol, exults with joy, for the glory of thy Name;- do thou, O Lord! give her true and perfect happiness. Accept her devotion, forgive us our sins, increase our faith; heal us by thy word, protect us by thy mercy; remove all obstacles; grant us all blessings; that thus, this same thy Church may offer unto thee the fruit of good works; and walking in the odour of the fragrance of that Flower, which sprang from the Root of Jesse, and is called the Flower of the Field, and the Lily of the Valley, may she deserve to enjoy an endless joy in the bosom of heavenly glory, in the society of all the Saints, together with that Divine Flower, who liveth and reigneth with thee in the unity of the Holy Ghost, world without end. Amen.”

We now come to the explanation of another name given to the Fourth Sunday of Lent, which was suggested by the Gospel of the day. We find this Sunday called in several ancient documents, the Sunday of the Five Loaves. The miracle alluded to in this title not only forms an essential portion of the Church’s instructions during Lent, but it is also an additional element of to-day’s joy. We forget for an instant the coming Passion of the Son of God, to give our attention to the greatest of the benefits he has bestowed on us; for under the figure of these Loaves multiplied by the power of Jesus, our Faith sees that Bread which came down from heaven, and given life to the world’[ St. John, vi. 33]. The Pasch, says our Evangelist, was near at hand; and, in a few days, our
Lord will say to us: With desire I have desired to eat this Pasch with you [St. Luke, xxii. 15]. Before leaving this world to go to his Father, Jesus desires to feed the multitude that follows him; and in order to this, he displays his omnipotence. Well may we admire that creative power, which feeds five thousand men with five loaves and two fishes, and in such wise, that even after all have partaken of the feast as much as they would, there remain fragments enough to fill twelve baskets. Such a miracle is, indeed, an evident proof of Jesus’ mission; but he intends it as a preparation for something far more wonderful; he intends it as a figure and a pledge of what he is soon to do, not merely once or twice, but every day, even to the end of time; not only for five thousand men, but for the countless multitudes of believers. Think of the millions, who, this very year, are to partake of the banquet of the Pasch; and yet, He whom we have seen born in Bethlehem, (the House of Bread,) He is to be the nourishment of all these guests; neither will the Divine Bread fail. We are to feast as did our fathers before us; and the generations that are to follow us, shall be invited as we now are, to come and taste how sweet is the Lord [Ps. xxxiii. 9].

But observe, it is in a desert place, (as we learn from St. Matthew, [St. Matth, xiv. 13]) that Jesus feeds these men, who represent us Christians. They have quitted the bustle and noise of cities in order to follow him. So anxious are they to hear his words, that they fear neither hunger nor fatigue; and their courage is rewarded. A like recompense will crown our labours, - our fasting and abstinence, - which are now more than half over. Let us, then, rejoice, and spend this day with the light-heartedness of pilgrims, who are near the end of their journey. The happy moment is advancing, when our soul, united and filled with her God, will look back with pleasure on the fatigues of the body, which, together with our heart’s compunction, have merited for her a place at the Divine Banquet.

The primitive Church proposed this miracle of the multiplication of the loaves as a symbol of the Eucharist, the Bread that never fails. We find it frequently represented in the paintings of the Catacombs and on the bas-reliefs of the ancient Christian tombs. The Fishes, too, that were given together with the Loaves, are represented on these venerable monuments of our faith; for the early Christians considered the Fish to be the symbol of Christ, because the word Fish in Greek, is made up of five letters, each of which is the initial of these words: Jesus Christ, Son (of) God, Saviour.

The Greek Church, too, keeps this Sunday with much solemnity. According to her manner of counting the days of Lent, this is the great day of the week called, as we have already noticed, Mesonestios. The solemn adoration of the Cross takes place to-day; and breaking through her rule of never admitting a Saint’s Feast during Lent, this mid-Lent Sunday is kept in honour of the celebrated Abbot of the Monastery of Mount Sinai, St. John Climacus, who lived in the 6th century.

There seem to be many small traditions for this 'Catholic Mother's Day'. Visit our 2011 Mothering Sunday post here. The first week of March we also shared about Lent with the Von Trapp family which contained a bit about how they celebrated Laetare Sunday.

On this day we plan a special meal of some sort, no certian traditional recipes just something we enjoy. Last year we made Simmel Cookies and this year I'm not sure yet if we will do the Simmel Cookies or the Simmel Cake but which ever we do we will be adding them them the Mothering Sunday Prayer Cards.

What are you doing on this 4th Sunday of Lent? Please leave us a comment!

The month of March is dedicated to the foster father of Jesus, St. Joseph. His feast day also falls on the 19th of this month! Below are the files available for download to create the March 2012 Liturgical Year Bulletin Board. All of the pieces are reusable each year with the exception of the March title piece.

A friend also recommended buying velcro at the fabric store by the yard for the back side of the calendar pieces. That way you are able to purchase the side you need instead of having a lot of one side left over. If anyone is in need of the hook side of some velcro dots I have a stash! ;)

A few notes on this month's pieces:
* The Feast of the Annunciation is transferred this year from March 25th to the 26th because it falls on Passion Sunday this year. You will find two pieces for the Feast of the Assumption, one for each day. This year the correct one would be the 26th, please save the one for the 25th for the following year.

*On the monthly prayers to St. Joseph there are two cards that will have a front AND back side. They are indicated with red arrows. Please attache these two cards back to back in order to have the complete prayer available.

For full directions on how to put your bulletin board together and for the Lenten season pieces please visit our Liturgical Year Bulletin Board page.

God bless!

March Title Piece & March Dedication Prayers to Saint Joseph

March Saint's Pieces

The next months bulletin board pieces are ready to download! I separated the files so that those of you who have already downloaded some pieces will not get repeats and if you need to reprint something it will hopefully make it easier. So this month there are MORE files but hopefully less work for you. All pieces can also now be found on the page dedicated to the Liturgical Year Bulletin Board.

*Saint's Pieces for February (numbered calendar pieces)

* Title Pieces for the Month of February 2012

* 2012 Liturgical Year Wheel (for those who have not yet downloaded or need the UPDATED Wheel)

* Rosary Mysteries (For those who have not yet downloaded or need the corrected pieces ... sorrowful mysteries were previously in the wrong order)

* Lent/Advent Pieces - Lavender

Some of our readers are having troubles finding a pre-made calendar template that is laminated for their bulletin board. I made one up that you can download via .jpeg image file or PDF file to have printed some where. Costco and Wal-mart both do printing for the 16x20 for under $6. It is cheaper to find one at a local school supply store but if all else fails here is another option! Also if you are looking for the 2ft by 3 ft Bulletin Board Wal-mart has them HERE.

If this is the first time you are putting your Liturgical Year Bulletin Board together please visit the original instructions.

1.) Download all of the pieces listed above, or at least the new pieces if you have already done so with the Liturgical Wheel & Rosary Mysteries.

2.) Cut out all pieces. Laminate the numbered pieces for the calendar, the circle pieces, the piece that says 'Today's Rosary Mysteries are:' and the piece that says 'This Sunday is:'.

3.) Place velcro dots on the back side, making sure that they are the opposite of those dots you have placed on your calendar. Then place on the calendar, the 1st starts on a Wed.

4.) Staple your Feb. Title piece to the top of the calendar/bulletin board.

5.) Using three Popsicle sticks, trim them down a bit so they will fit inside of your weekly pockets without covering up your calendar. Tape your laminated circle pieces (today, tomorrow, yesterday) to the Popsicle sticks.

6.) Fold the weekly pockets according to the original directions, place the pockets under the appropriate week day near your calendar.

8.) Cut out the 'extras' for Ash Wedensday, Ember Days, Septuegeisma ect. Use some rolled tape or tacky puddy to place them on your calendar. These dates always change so this makes them easily moveable.

7.) Finish by placing your daily Rosary mystery card and your weekly Sunday card up on either side of your already placed Liturgical Wheel and you are set to go! May you have a blessed February and most profitable start to the Lenten season!! Ash Wednesday is on February 22nd!

Could You Explain Catholic Practices? By: Rev. Charles J. Mullaly, S.J. Impr. 1937

The Ecclesiastical Year

The first Sunday of Advent marks the beginning of the ecclesiastical year. There is a difference between the ecclesiastical year and the calendar year. Could you explain this difference?

The ecclesiastical year starts on the first Sunday of Advent, while the calendar year begins on January 1. As the season of Advent, or "the coming" of our Redeemer, includes the four Sundays that precede Christmas, the ecclesiastical year may begin as early as November 27 or as late as December 3.

Advent is a season of penance, and of preparation by the Faithful for the spiritual joy of Christmas. It is a time when the Church admonishes us to lifed our hearts to God and to trust in Him who is to free us from our sins. Aas Advent is a season of penance, the color of the vestments used at its seasonal Masses is violet and the altar is not decorated with flowers, except on the third Sunday which is called Guadete, or "Rejoice Sunday," because the Introit of the Mass of that day reminds us of the near approach of our Lord's birth: "Rejoice in the Lord always; again I say rejoice. Let your modesty be known to all men. The Lord is nigh." During this season of penance, as in Lent, the solemn celebration of marriage, that is with Nuptial Mass, ect., is forbidden.

The ecclesiastical year includes fixed and moveable feasts. Many of the fixed feasts of the Church are determined by their relation to Christmas Day: the Feast of the Circumcision, January 1, being eight days after the birth of Christ; the Purification, February 2, forty days after Christmas; while the Annunciation, March 25, is nine months before the Feast of the Nativity. Epiphany,  commemorating the coming of the Wise Men from the East to Jerusalem to adore the Christ Child, is also on a fixed day because of its relation to Christmas.

There are variable feasts which depend upon the changing date of Easter. Ash Wednesday and the feasts of Ascension and Pentecost come earlier or later in the year with the variation of the date of Easter, which rangers from March 22 to April 25. It is easy to remember that Easter is always on the first Sunday following the first full moon after March 21, the beginning of Spring. Our Divine Saviour rose from the dead on the Sunday after the Passover, the Jewish feast commemorating the night when the Lord, smiting the firs-born of the Egyptians, "passed over" the houses of the children of Israel. This Jewish feast was determined by the time of the first full moon after March 21.

Certian days of the ecclesiastical year are marked Rogation Days, while others are noted as Vigils, and still others as Ember Days. A Rogation Day is one of prayer, and formerly also of fasting, insituted by the Church to appease God's just anger at man's sin, to ask Heavenly protection in calmities, and to beg a bountiful harvest. The Rogation Days are April 25, called Major, and the three days, called Minor, are before the Feast of the Ascension.

A Virgil is the day preceding certian feasts and observed as a preparation threfore, and formerly always with a fast attached. The Vigils of Pentecost, Assumption, All Saints, and Cristmas are fast-days, except when the feast falls on a Monday. (*see note below)

Ember Days (Quatutor Tempora, four times) are days of abstinence and fasting at the beginning of the seasons. Their purpose is to thank God for the gifts of nature and, at the same time, to teach us to use the gifts in moderation and to assist those in need. December 13, after Ash-Wednesday, after Pentecost and after September 14.

* Note that the fasting rules for the list of  Vigils was changed by Pope Pius XII in 1957 with his document Motu Proprio.

Many of you have already downloaded your pieces for this months Liturgical Year Bulletin Board. I've made some updates to the files and wish to share them. The MOST IMPORTANT is that the Liturgical Year is incorrect for the 2012 Liturgical Year. It was used for the 2011 Liturgical Year and as Easter moves along with other feasts so to will all the parts on the Liturgical Calendar.

Also the Month and Year piece has been changed featuring the dedication of the Month according to the Church, thanks to the suggestion of a dear friend. Also the Rosary Mysteries have a new piece to cut and laminate, so that Velcro dots may be added to make it easier to move the Rosary mysteries each day. To download the updated pieces please visit HERE and for the updated directions please visit the original blog post. As always if there are questions please either leave a comment or contact us.

While the new Liturgical Year started back in November, another New Year is upon. I created this bulletin board for our little family because I wanted my children to know how the Liturgical Year works, just like any calendar. I needed some way to teach them the days of the week, the months of the year, what a year is and looks like, how to know which Rosary mysteries to on which day, what is an Ember Day? A Rogation Day? Saint's Feast Day? What special prayers are said on each day of the week, what day of the week is dedicated to St. Joseph? To the Angels? To the Crucifixion? What days do we not eat meat on? So on and so forth, that is a lot for one person to learn at any age, let alone a wee one! I learn best visually and so that is how I teach our kiddos at home to. I've found I have one visual learner and one that likes to move around doing things so this was our solution to all of the above.

Below you will find the files and a tutorial on how to make our Liturgical Year Bulletin Board. Save your pieces from month to month as they ARE reusable and you should only need to make the pieces one time and be good for year after year. Some of the pieces get reused throughout the year, such as the purple pockets from Advent will be used for Lent, the Gold pockets from Christmas will be used again at Easter time and so forth.

* 2ft by 3ft Bulletin Board

* 20 in x 16 in plain laminated calendar with grid(any size that fits the above bulletin board will do so long as it is not smaller... the saint pieces are made to fit this size)

6-9 sheets of card stock (110 lb works best, 65 lb will do)

* Color Printer

* 1-2 Lamination Sheets (optional)

*Scissors

* Stapler that unlatches backwards for attaching items to bulletin board (and staples)

* Tape

* Three Popsicle sticks or tongue depressors

* 60 + Velcro Dot sets
You will need more throughout the year so if you see them at the $1 store stock up! Or find a deal online... that sticky puddy stuff will do as well. A friend also recommeded buying velcro at the fabric store by the yard. That way you are able to purchase the side you need instead of having a lot of one side left over.  

*** These Files!!! Please print one copy of each file in COLOR on CARD STOCK ***

                        January Saint's                       Bulletin Board Pieces

** Note, if you have already printed the Liturgical Calendar from the Advent Board you do not need all of the second file as you can reuse the pieces **

1.) After attaching your calendar grid to the bulletin board: Print out above files (January Saint's and Bulletin Board Pieces) on card stock using a color ink printer.

2.) Laminate Saints pieces; today, tomorrow & yesterday pieces ; This Sunday Is: piece; Rosary Mystery piece; Today's Rosary Mystery piece and pieces for the Liturgical Wheel (the wheel itself as well as the arrow to attach to it.)

3.) Cut all pieces out, laminated and regular card stock.

4.) Cut out and fold all 7 pockets (one for each day of the week). Directions for cutting and folding Days of the week pocket are below:

5.) Make your Today, Tomorrow and Yesterday moveable sticks. Your round pieces should be laminated and cut out by now. Take your three Popsicle sticks and trim them about one inch with a good set of kitchen shears. Then tape the circles to the top of the sticks as show below:

6.) Place Velcro dots to the calendar. Make sure that you place all the same side on the calendar so that your other pieces will stick. So always use either the hook or either the loop side but don't mix and match the pieces.

7.) Attach the other Velcro dots to the back side of your laminated Saint's pieces and then place on your calendar according to their appropriate day. So the first this month (Jan. 2012) is on a Sunday.

8.) Cut the Month/Year and monthly dedication out, tape pieces together so they line up. Attach Month and Year to the top of your Bulletin Board using your stapler.

9.) Attach Days of the Week pockets below your calendar in-line with the days of the week grid on your calendar (this makes for less confusion for the kids) using your stapler.

10.) Attach your Liturgical Wheel to the bottom middle of your board with the stapler and then attach the arrow to your liturgical wheel using a push pin right in the center. This allows the arrow to spin and move according the the season that we are on.

11.) Attach the remaining pieces with a stapler using the picture at the top of this blog as a guide for placement. With a dry erase marker write the up coming Sunday's name on the "This Sunday Is" piece. This coming Sunday is the Feast of the Circumcision.

12.) Add Velcro dots to the back of your Rosary Mysteries and one dot to 'Today's Rosary Mysteries Are" making sure that they will stick correctly. Use either the loop or hook on the mysteries and then the opposite on the piece that they are attached to each day.

13.) Place the Rosary mystery pieces in the pockets with the 'Today, Yesterday and Tomorrow' pieces on the day they will be needed next.

In my online browsing I saw this cute Bulletin Board Storage Bag and thought I would share. For now we are just using manilla envelopes for our pieces that are not currently being used.

Have you downloaded all of our File Folder games too? There are several for math and phonics, and soon some for preschool learning. I also spotted this File Folder Game Storage Hanging Pocket while online, that looks like a good way for kids to easily access file folder games.

Enjoy! We will be sharing again next month for February's files! I hope you enjoy and that it helps provide a little hands on learning for your little one's this New Year!