• St. Anicetus (175). Martyr, Priest. (Traditional)
• St. Stephen Harding (1134). Abbot or Abbess. (Historical)

MAUNDY THURSDAY.

ON Thursday, the eve of the Passion, Jesus Christ took bread, and having blessed it, broke and distributed it to His apostles, saying to them, “Take and eat: THIS IS MY BODY, which shall be delivered for you.” Then taking the chalice, He blessed and gave it to them, saying. “Drink ye all of this, for this is the chalice of my blood which shall be shed for you.” He thereafter added, “This do in remembrance of me.” These words, in all their precision, simplicity, and clearness, contain the institution of the adorable Sacrament of the Eucharist, an irrefragable proof of the Real Presence of Jesus Christ in this Sacrament, and the demonstration of His perpetuity in the Church. But rather than indulge in reasoning, let us set forth briefly the principal effect. Jesus Christ, before instituting it, had said that this sacrament would communicate life eternal to those receiving it; and this, in one aspect at least, and so far as it is given to man to understand the mysteries of God, is comprehensible. Sin had implanted in man the germ of death and vice. By reason of his disobedience man had become incapable of good, or even of a holy thought, as the great Apostle tells us. Now, in God is the source of being, life, good, virtue, and all excellence. God, by communicating Himself substantially to man by means of this august sacrament, implants the germ of immortality and virtue. Man, if limited to his own powers, could not even think out a useful way of becoming virtuous, for whence should he take the principle of virtue and the means of putting it in practice? He would consequently have to incur eternal loss, since salvation without virtue is a thing utterly impossible. But once pervaded with the principle of grace by an intimate union with God, he has but to let it develop and to cultivate the good seed sown in him. Thus does the diamond, of itself colorless and dim, absorb the light when exposed thereto, becoming a sparkling centre of light, and shining with a radiant lustre. The more vivid the light, the more brightly will the diamond shine, if it be pure. In like manner, the more man launches himself into the Divine substance, the more will he therewith be inundated by holy communion; the more potent also will his life become in virtues strong and manifold, and, consequently, in sure claims to salvation.

REFLECTION: With what respect, love, and ardor ought we not to receive this divine food, “which maketh to live forever.”

ST. ANICETUS, POPE, MARTYR.

ST. ANICETUS succeeded St. Pius, and sat about eight years, from 165 to 173. If he did not shed his blood for the faith, he at least purchased the title of martyr by great sufferings and dangers. He received a visit from St. Polycarp, and tolerated the custom of the Asiatics in celebrating Easter on the 4th day of the first moon after the vernal equinox, with the Jews. His vigilance protected his flock from the wiles of the heretics, Valentine and Marcion, who sought to corrupt the faith in the capital of the world. 

The thirty-six first bishops at Rome, down to Liberius, and, this one excepted, all the popes to Symmachus, the fifty-second, in 498, are honored among the Saints; and out of two hundred and forty-eight popes, from St. Peter to Clement XIII seventy-eight are named in the Roman Martyrology. In the primitive ages, the spirit of fervor and perfect sanctity, which is nowadays so rarely to be found, was conspicuous in most of the faithful, and especially in their pastors. The whole tenor of their lives breathed it in such a manner as to render them the miracles of the world, angels on earth, living copies of their divine Redeemer, the odor of whose virtues and holy law and religion they spread on every side.

REFLECTION: If, after making the most solemn protestations of inviolable friendship and affection for a fellow-creature, we should the next moment revile and contemn him, without having received any provocation or affront, and this habitually, would not the whole world justly call our protestations hypocrisy, and our pretended friendship a mockery? Let us by this rule judge if our love of God be sovereign, so long as our inconstancy betrays the insincerity of our hearts.

WORD OF THE DAY

SACRIFICE, NEW TESTAMENT. While Christ allowed the Mosaic sacrifice in his day, he predicted the end of the Temple and its worship (Mark 13:2; John 4:20-23). At the Last Supper, when instituting the Eucharist, he declared, "This is my body which will be given up for you; do this as a memorial of me . . . This cup is the new covenant in my blood which will be poured out for you" (Luke 22:19-20). Throughout the writings of St. Paul, Christ is identified as the Sacrificial Victim (I Corinthians 5:7; Ephesians 5:2) and further confirmed by the Catholic Epistles (I Peter 1:19; I John 2:2). The eternal nature of the Lord’s Sacrifice is assumed (Revelation 13:8), and the whole letter to the Hebrews is about the high priesthood of Christ, who by his perfect obedience has "offered one single sacrifice for sins, and then taken his place forever at the right hand of God" (Hebrews 10:12-13). He is, therefore, the eternal priest who even now intercedes with his heavenly Father for a sinful humanity.

Modern Catholic Dictionary, Fr. John Hardon SJ (Get the real one at Eternal Life — don’t accept an abridged or edited version of this masterpiece!)

HOLY WEEK MEDITATIONS

Special meditations focused on Holy Week: VISITS TO THE SEPULCHRE

HOLY WEEK MEDITATIONS

Special meditations focused on Holy Week: MAUNDY THURSDAY

LENT MEDITATION DAY 44

Enjoy daily meditations this lent from Fr. Richard Clarke, SJ. Short and powerful, written in 1880 for busy lay people to reap rewards through lent. (includes audio): Lent Day 44: Maundy Thursday— Jesus’ Mystical Death in the Blessed Eucharist.