The Eucharistic Fast & Midnight Mass

By the turn of the 20th century, the Eucharistic Fast, as practiced under the reign of Pope St. Pius X, remained one of complete abstinence from all “food or drink” as the Catholic Encyclopedia published in 1910 testifies to:

“That Holy Communion may be received not only validly, but also fruitfully, certain dispositions both of body and of soul are required. For the former, a person must be fasting from the previous midnight from everything in the nature of food or drink. The general exception to this rule is the Viaticum, and, within certain limits, communion of the sick. In addition to the fast it is recommend with a view to greater worthiness, to observe bodily continence and exterior modesty in dress and appearance. The principal disposition of soul required is freedom from at least mortal sin and ecclesiastical censure. For those in a state of grievous sin confession is necessary. This is the proving oneself referred to by St. Paul (1 Corinthians 11:28).” 

The traditional Eucharistic fast of abstinence from all food and water, with limited exceptions, was enshrined in the 1917 Pio-Benedictine Code in Canon 858. Such a fast applied to priests as well as anyone approaching Holy Communion:

“Those who have not kept the natural fast from midnight are not allowed to receive, except in danger of death, or in case it should become necessary to consume the Blessed Sacrament to safeguard it against irreverence.” 

Father Dominic Prummer, in his Handbook of Moral Theology, writes in a commentary on this law:

"The eucharistic fast, i.e. abstinence from all food and drink from midnight immediately preceding reception. This is a univeral and most ancient custom which has been confirmed by many Councils in the Code of Canon Law, cc. 808 and 858. The law of fasting admits of no parvity of matter either in the quantity of food and drink taken or in time. Three conditions are required in order that what is taken have the character of food or drink: a) it must be digestible, and accordingly such things as small bones, human nails or human hair do not violate the fast; b) it must be taken exteriorly, because what is taken interiorly is not eaten or drunk in the proper sense of the word. This it is not a violation of the fast to swallow saliva or blood from the teeth or nasal cavities; c) it must be taken by the action of eating or drinking. Therefore the fast is not violated by anything received into the stomach a) mixed with saliva, such as a few drops of water swallowed while cleaning the teeth, b) through the action of breathing, v.g. when a man smokes or inhales tobacco smoke, c) through the injection of a nutritive substance.” 

He adds how the fast should be calculated by noting concerning midnight:

“Midnight may be computed in accordance with solar or legal time (whether this be regional or otherwise).” 

And most importantly, he notes six exceptions from the Eucharistic Fast:

“1. In order to complete the sacrifice of the Mass (after the consecration of a least the bread or the wine) 2. In order to preserve the Blessed Sacrament from irreverence; 3. In order to avoid public scandal (when, for instance, ill-repute would be incurred if the priest did not celebrate Mass); 4. In order to receive Viaticum; 5. In order that Holy Communion may be given to the sick who have been confined to bed for a month without any certain hope of speedy recovery. These may receive Holy Communion twice a week though they have taken medicine or liquid food (c. 858, § 2). The words “liquid food” include anything that is drunk even though ti be nutritive food, such as raw eggs (but not cooked eggs); 6. In order that catechumens may receive Holy Communion after tasting salt during their Baptisms.” 

Hence, while the law requiring abstinence from all food and drink from midnight was one of universal law, there were several exceptions permitted in 1917, the most common of which was Viaticum. As a result, even in the centuries before the time of Pope Pius XII, the Church mandated a strict fast before the reception of the Holy Eucharist but did prudently permit various unique exceptions. 

Yet even beyond the letter of the law, the spirit of the law always shone. This is seen in particular by the counsel given in the 1946 book “Questions of Catholics Answers” by Father Windfrid Herbst on Holy Communion at Midnight Mass:

“There is no special universal law for the Christmas midnight Mass. If there were any good reason for it, one might take food or drink just before twelve o’clock and yet receive Communion during the Mass. No sin would thereby be committed. However, it is to be strongly recommended that those who receive Holy Communion during the midnight Mass be fasting from at least 8:00 PM out of reverence for the Blessed Sacrament. One should have enough spirit of sacrifice to offer the Eucharistic Savior this little tribute of respect.” 

Why 8 PM? Father Herbst explains:

“We say 8:00 PM because when permission was granted some years ago that a Mass beginning at midnight might be regularly said at a certain famous European shrine, at which Mass the faithful might also receive Holy Communion, it was expressly prescribed that they be fasting from 8:00 o’clock on. We here see the mind of the Church, legislating in a particular instance; and we say that this is at least the earnest wish of the Church in all instances, unless otherwise specified.” 

This Christmas, if you attend Midnight Mass, make it an effort to conclude your meatless meat on Christmas Eve by 8 PM so that you may have a sufficient fast before receiving the newborn King in Holy Communion. 

Want to learn more about the history of fasting and abstinence? Check out the Definitive Guide to Catholic Fasting and Abstinence.

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Early Christians Fasted Even from Water During Lent

The history of the Lenten fast is replete with inspiration for us. Whereas modern man has steadily over the centuries given in to laxities and has abandoned fasting - and prayer and almsgiving too - it is necessary for those Catholics faithful to the Traditions to restore some of the fervor of our forefathers in the Faith. 

To the Early Christians, fasting was performed until sundown, in imitation of the previous Jewish tradition. Dom Gueranger’s writings affirm, “It was the custom with the Jews, in the Old Law, not to take the one meal, allowed on fasting days, till sun-set. The Christian Church adopted the same custom. It was scrupulously practiced, for many centuries, even in our Western countries." 

Liquids Broke the Fast In the Early Church

In the early Church, fasting also included abstinence from wine, taking man back to his antediluvian diet before God permitted Noah to eat meat and drink wine. As such, in apostolic times, the main meal was a small one, mainly of bread and vegetables. Fish, but not shellfish, became permitted on days of abstinence around the 6th century. Hence, some Eastern Rites will abstain from meat, animal products, wine, oil, and fish on fasting days which harkens back to these ancient times.

Remarkably, even water was forbidden during fasting times in the very ancient church. Fr. Alban Butler in Moveable Feasts and Fasts provides testimony of this when he writes: 

"St. Fructuosus, the holy bishop of Tarragon in Spain, in the persecution of Valerian in 259, being led to martyrdom on a Friday at ten o'clock in the morning, refused to drink, because it was not the hour to break the fast of the day, though fatigued with imprisonment, and standing in need of strength to sustain the conflict of his last agony. 'It is a fast,' said he: 'I refuse to drink; it is not yet the ninth hour; death itself shall not oblige me to abridge my fast.'"

The Pulpit Orator published in 1884 by Fr. Pustet & Company similarly notes: "That we take only one full meal, Sundays excepted. The Christians of the first ages observed this ecclesiastical ordinance very exactly, after the setting of the sun. Nor did they drink water, unless there was a necessity. A council at Aix-la-Chapelle declares: 'Only when necessity requires it, on account of hard labor or weakness, is it allowed to drink.'"

Father Alban writes elsewhere, "It is undoubted, that anciently to drink on fasting days was no less forbidden than to eat, only in the refection after sunset." The account of St. Fructuosus illustrates that while water would break the fast, water was permitted when the meal was taken later in the evening. This reference to taking the meal after a set time prescribed by the Church would last for centuries, even though it would be moved up ultimately to noon by the 14th century. 

Father Alban also insightfully remarks, "Even the first allowance of a collation, which consisted only of a draught of drink, shows it was not allowed before to drink at all on fasting days before the hour of the meal...The Mahometans, though immersed in sensuality and vice, keep up this essential law in their fasts, which consist in neither eating, nor drinking, nor smoking the whole day, from morning to the rising of the stars in the evening." The custom of fasting even from water was similarly practiced in ancient Judaism.

The American Ecclesiastical Review in a 1938 piece on the Lenten fast notes that in the Early Church, even after water became allowed, liquids other than water would break the fast:

The fast observed in the early Church was much more severe than that of later centuries. The law of fasting did not permit the use of any food earlier than sunset during Lent and not earlier than three o'clock in the afternoon on fast days outside of Lent. Even in St. Thomas's time, the hour for the taking of food was circa horam sextam or noon. The earlier custom prohibited all liquids except water outside the meal, later liquids were allowed according to the principle that they do not break the fast. It was not until the thirteenth century that the custom of taking a little food such as fruit bread salad and the like in the evening was introduced. This refection received the name of collation apparently from the Collations of Cassian usually read by the monks at this repast. The frustulum or small quantity of food allowed in the morning is a practice of comparatively recent origin. Only when we consider the rigor of fasting as practised by our forefathers in the Faith can we appreciate the indulgence that the Church has accorded Catholics in this age.

Water Broke the Eucharistic Fast Until 1953

The final vestige of abstaining from even water was in the form of the Eucharistic fast leading up to the reception of Holy Communion. This was changed by Pope Pius XII on January 6, 1953, in Christus Dominus, which stated: “In the future, it shall be a general and common principle for all, both priests and faithful, that natural water does not break the Eucharistic fast.” Further changes were introduced on March 25, 1957, in Sacram Communionem by Pope Pius XII again. While legislating on a number of finer details, as a whole, Pope Pius XII’s legislation mitigated the fast to be for three hours before Holy Communion from all solid food and all alcoholic beverages. Nonalcoholic beverages were subject to a one hour fast, though water was permitted at any time as stated in Christus Dominus. Those old enough to remember Masses before 1953 may recall that Catholic schools would cover the drinking fountains until after Holy Mass had ended.

Conclusion

While this practice of abstaining from liquids may not be something we want to practice this Lent, it is worthwhile to consider for the sake of inspiration the remarkable discipline that Early Christians kept in the Lenten fast. And we too can keep an austere Lent this year by retaining some of the practices kept by our forefathers in the Early and/or Medieval Church.

Want to learn more about the history of fasting and abstinence? Check out the Definitive Guide to Catholic Fasting and Abstinence.

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History of Lenten Fasting: How to Observe the Traditional Lenten Fast

The Purpose of Fasting

In principio, in the beginning, the very first Commandment of God  to Adam and Eve was one of fasting from the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil (cf. Genesis 2:16-17), and their failure to fast brought sin and disorder to all of creation. The second sin of mankind was gluttony. Both are intricately tied to fasting.

Both Elijah and Moses fasted for forty days in the Old Testament before seeing God. Until the Great Flood, man abstained entirely from the flesh meat of animals (cf. Genesis 9:2-3). Likewise, in the New Testament, St. John the Baptist, the greatest prophet (cf. Luke 7:28) fasted and his followers were characterized by their fasting. And our Blessed Lord also fasted for forty days (cf. Matthew 4:1-11) not for His own needs but to serve as an example for us. Our Redeemer said, “Unless you shall do penance, you shall all likewise perish” (Luke 13:3). Fasting and abstinence from certain foods characterized the lives of man since the foundation of the world.

The Church has hallowed the practice of fasting, encourages it, and mandates it at certain times. Why? The Angelic Doctor writes that fasting is practiced for a threefold purpose: 

“First, in order to bridle the lusts of the flesh…Secondly, we have recourse to fasting in order that the mind may arise more freely to the contemplation of heavenly things: hence it is related of Daniel that he received a revelation from God after fasting for three weeks. Thirdly, in order to satisfy for sins: wherefore it is written: ‘Be converted to Me with all your heart, in fasting and in weeping and in mourning.’ The same is declared by Augustine in a sermon: ‘Fasting cleanses the soul, raises the mind, subjects one's flesh to the spirit, renders the heart contrite and humble, scatters the clouds of concupiscence, quenches the fire of lust, kindles the true light of chastity.’”  

St. Basil the Great also affirmed the importance of fasting for protection against demonic forces: “The fast is the weapon of protection against demons. Our Guardian Angels more really stay with those who have cleansed our souls through fasting.”

The Baltimore Catechism echoes these sentiments: “The Church commands us to fast and abstain, in order that we may mortify our passions and satisfy for our sins” (Baltimore Catechism #2 Q. 395). Concerning this rationale, Fr. Thomas Kinkead in “An Explanation Of The Baltimore Catechism of Christian Doctrine” published in 1891 writes, “Remember it is our bodies that generally lead us into sin; if therefore we punish the body by fasting and mortification, we atone for the sin, and thus God wipes out a part of the temporal punishment due to it.” 

Pope St. Leo the Great in 461 wisely counseled that fasting is a means and not an end in itself. For those who could not observe the strictness of fasting, he sensibly said, "What we forego by fasting is to be given as alms to the poor.”  To simply forgo fasting completely, even when for legitimate health reasons, does not excuse a person from the universal command to do penance (cf. Luke 13:3).

The Lenten Fast in the Early Church

The great liturgical Dom Gueranger writes that the fast which precedes Easter originated with the Apostles themselves:

“The forty days' fast, which we call Lent, is the Church's preparation for Easter, and was instituted at the very commencement of Christianity. Our blessed Lord Himself sanctioned it by fasting forty days and forty nights in the desert; and though He would not impose it on the world by an express commandment (which, in that case, could not have been open to the power of dispensation), yet He showed plainly enough, by His own example, that fasting, which God had so frequently ordered in the old Law, was to be also practiced by the children of the new…The apostles, therefore, legislated for our weakness, by instituting, at the very commencement of the Christian Church, that the solemnity of Easter should be preceded by a universal fast...”

The Catechism of the Liturgy by a Religious of the Sacred Heart published by The Paulist Press, New York, 1919 affirms the apostolic origin of the Lenten fast: “The Lenten fast dates back to Apostolic times as is attested by Saint Jerome, Saint Leo the Great, Saint Cyril of Alexandria and others.” In the 2nd century, St. Irenaeus wrote to Pope St. Victor I inquiring on how Easter should be celebrated, while mentioning the practice of fasting leading up to Easter.

Initially, the Lenten fast was practiced by catechumens preparing for their Baptism with a universal fast for all the faithful observed only during Holy Week, in addition to the weekly fasts that were devotionally practiced. But early on, the baptized Christians began to join the catechumens in fasting on the days immediately preceding Easter.  The duration of the fast varied with some churches observing one day, others several days, and yet others observing intensive 40-hour fasting, in honor of the forty hours that the Lord spent in the sepulcher. By the third and fourth centuries, the fast became forty days in most places. St. Athanasius, in 339 AD, referred to the Lenten fast as a forty-day fast that “the whole world” observed. 

Heortology: A History of the Christian Festivals from their Origin to the Present Day by Dr. K.A. Heinrich Kellner states the following regarding the Lenten fast in the ancient Church, noting the strictness that intensified in Holy Week and even more so on Good Friday and Holy Saturday:

"Among Catholics also abstinence was pushed to great lengths. The canons of Hippolytus prescribe for Holy Week only bread and salt. The Apostolic Constitutions will only permit bread, vegetables, salt and water, in Lent, flesh and wine being forbidden; and, on the last two days of Holy Week, nothing whatsoever is to be eaten. The ascetics, whose acquaintance the Gallic pilgrim made in Jerusalem, never touched bread in Lent, but lived on flour and water. Only a few could keep so strict a fast, and generally speaking people were satisfied with abstaining from flesh and wine. But this lasted throughout the entire Lent, and Chrysostom tells us that in Antioch no flesh was eaten during the whole of Lent. Abstinence from milk and eggs (the so-called lacticinia) was also the general rule."

Shortly after the legislation of Christianity in the Roman Empire, the bishops at the Council of Nicea in 325 AD fixed the date of Easter as the first Sunday after the first full moon after the vernal equinox. The canons emerging from that council also referenced a 40-day Lenten season of fasting.

To the Early Christians, fasting was performed until sundown, in imitation of the previous Jewish tradition. Dom Gueranger’s writings affirm, “It was the custom with the Jews, in the Old Law, not to take the one meal, allowed on fasting days, till sun-set. The Christian Church adopted the same custom. It was scrupulously practiced, for many centuries, even in our Western countries. But, about the 9th century, some relaxation began to be introduced in the Latin Church.”

And notably in the early Church, fasting also included abstinence from wine, taking man back to the same diet that mankind practiced before God permitted Noah to eat meat and drink wine. As such, in apostolic times, the main meal was a small one, mainly of bread and vegetables. Fish, but not shellfish, became permitted on days of abstinence around the 6th century. Hence, some Eastern Rite Catholics will abstain from meat, animal products, wine, oil, and fish on fasting days which harkens back to these ancient times.

Remarkably, even water was forbidden during fasting times in the very ancient church. Fr. Alban Butler, in Moveable Feasts and Fasts, provides testimony of this when he writes: "St. Fructuosus, the holy bishop of Tarragon in Spain, in the persecution of Valerian in 259, being led to martyrdom on a Friday at ten o'clock in the morning, refused to drink, because it was not the hour to break the fast of the day, though fatigued with imprisonment, and standing in need of strength to sustain the conflict of his last agony. 'It is a fast,' said he: 'I refuse to drink; it is not yet the ninth hour; death itself shall not oblige me to abridge my fast.'"

The Lenten Fast in the Early Middle Ages

The Lenten fast began under the Apostles themselves and was practiced in various forms in the Early Church. As time went on, the fast became uniformly observed under pain of sin. 

St. Augustine in the fourth century remarked, “Our fast at any other time is voluntary; but during Lent, we sin if we do not fast.” At the time of St. Gregory the Great at the beginning of the 7th century, the fast was universally established to begin on what we know as Ash Wednesday. While the name "Ash Wednesday" was not given to the day until Pope Urban II in 1099, the day was known as the “Beginning of the Fast.” 

In 604, in a letter to St. Augustine of Canterbury, Pope St. Gregory the Great announced the form that abstinence would take on fast days. This form would last for almost a thousand years: "We abstain from flesh meat and from all things that come from flesh, as milk, cheese, and eggs."  When fasting was observed, abstinence was likewise always observed.

Regarding Holy Saturday's fast in particular, Canon 89 of the Council in Trullo in 692 AD provides an account of the piety and devotion of the faithful of that time: “The faithful, spending the days of the Salutatory Passion in fasting, praying and compunction of heart, ought to fast until the midnight of the Great Sabbath: since the divine Evangelists, Matthew and Luke, have shewn us how late at night it was [that the resurrection took place].” That tradition of fasting on Holy Saturday until midnight would last for centuries.

Historical records further indicate that Lent was not a merely regional practice observed only in Rome. It was part of the universality of the Church. Lenten fasting began in England, for instance, sometime during the reign of Earconberht, the king of Kent, who was converted by the missionary work of St. Augustine of Canterbury in England. During the Middle Ages, fasting in England, and many other then-Catholic nations, was required both by Church law and the civil law. Catholic missionaries brought fasting, which is an integral part of the Faith, to every land they visited.

The Lenten fast included fasting from all lacticinia (Latin for milk products) which included butter, cheese, eggs, and animal products. And this abstinence was practiced even on the Sundays of Lent. From this tradition, Easter Eggs were introduced, and therefore the Tuesday before Ash Wednesday is when pancakes are traditionally eaten to use leftover lacticinia. And similarly, Fat Tuesday is known as Carnival, coming from the Latin words carne levare – literally the farewell to meat.

Collations Are Introduced on Fasting Days in the 8th Century

The rules on fasting remained largely the same for hundreds of years. Food was to be taken once a day after sunset. After the meal, the fast resumed and was terminated only after the sun had once again set on the horizon. But relaxations were to soon begin. 

By the eighth century, the time for the daily meal was moved to the time that the monks would pray the Office of None in the Divine Office. This office takes place around 3 o'clock in the afternoon. As a consequence of moving the meal up in the day, the practice of a collation was introduced. The well-researched Father Francis Xavier Weiser summarizes this major change with fasting:

"It was not until the ninth century, however, that less rigid laws of fasting were introduced. It came about in 817 when the monks of the Benedictine order, who did much labor in the fields and on the farms, were allowed to take a little drink with a morsel of bread in the evening...Eventually the Church extended the new laws to the laity as well, and by the end of the medieval times they had become universal practice; everybody ate a little evening meal in addition to the main meal at noon." 

The Lenten Fast in the High Middle Ages

Through the writings of St. Thomas Aquinas, we can learn how Lent was practiced in his own time and attempt to willingly observe such practices in our own lives. The Lenten fast as mentioned by St. Thomas Aquinas constituted of the following: 

• Monday through Saturday were days of fasting. The meal was taken at 3 PM and a collation was allowed at night.
• All meat or animal products were prohibited throughout Lent.
• Abstinence from these foods remained even on Sundays of Lent, though fasting was not practiced on Sundays. 
• No food was to be eaten at all on either Ash Wednesday or Good Friday, if possible.
• Holy Week was a more intense fast that consisted only of bread, salt, water, and herbs. 

The Lenten Fast in the Renissance

By the fourteenth century, the meal had begun to move up steadily until it began to take place even at 12 o’clock. The change became so common it became part of the Church’s discipline. In one interesting but often unknown fact, because the monks would pray the liturgical hour of None before they would eat their meal, the custom of called midday by the name “noon” entered into our vocabulary as a result of the fast. With the meal moved up, the evening collation remained.

In the Middle Ages, abstinence from meat on Fridays and during Lent was not only Church law – it was civil law as well. And people gladly obeyed these laws out of respect for the teaching authority of the Church. Yet after the Protestant revolt which began in 1517 and continued through the middle of the 1600s, this was to change.

English Royalty proclamations, even after Henry VIII's illegal separation from the Church, supporting abstinence of meat continued to occur in England in 1563, 1619, 1625, 1627, and 1631. The same likewise occurred in 1687 under King James II. After the Revolution in 1688 and the overthrow of Catholicism by William III and Mary II, the laws were no longer enforced and officially removed from the law books by the Statue Law Revision Act in 1863. Similar changes occurred throughout Europe as Protestants reviled the fast. 

But changes continued even in Catholic nations. St. Epiphanius (367 - 403 AD), the bishop of Salamis at the end of the 4th century, wrote that "Wednesday and Friday are days of fasting up to the ninth hour because, as Wednesday began the Lord was arrested and on Friday he was crucified." Wednesday abstinence persisted for centuries. In Ireland for instance the use of meat on all Wednesdays of the year was prohibited until around the middle of the 17th century. This harkened back to the vestige of those earlier times when Wednesdays were days of weekly fasting as Father Slater notes in “A Short History of Moral Theology” published in 1909:

"The obligation of fasting on all Wednesdays and Fridays ceased almost entirely about the tenth century, but the fixing of those days by ecclesiastical authority for fasting, and the desire to substitute a Christian observance at Rome for certain pagan rites celebrated in connection with the seasons of the year, seem to have given rise to our Ember Days…About the tenth century the obligation of the Friday fast was reduced to one of abstinence from flesh meat, and the Wednesday fast after being similarly mitigated gradually disappeared altogether."

The Lenten Fast Begins Deteriorating in the 1700s

Some of the most significant changes to fasting would occur under the reign of Pope Benedict XIV who reigned from 1740 – 1758. 

On May 31, 1741, Pope Benedict XIV issued Non Ambiginius which granted permission to eat meat on fasting days while explicitly forbidding the consumption of both fish and flesh meat at the same meal on all fasting days during the year in addition to the Sundays during Lent. Beforehand, the forty days of Lent were held as days of complete abstinence from meat. The concept of partial abstinence was born even though the term would not appear until the 1917 Code of Canon Law. Yet even with these changes, Pope Benedict XIV implored the faithful to return to the devotion of earlier eras:

"The observance of Lent is the very badge of the Christian warfare. By it we prove ourselves not to be enemies of the cross of Christ. By it we avert the scourges of divine justice. By it we gain strength against the princes of darkness, for it shields us with heavenly help. Should mankind grow remiss in their observance of Lent, it would be a detriment to God's glory, a disgrace to the Catholic religion, and a danger to Christian souls. Neither can it be doubted that such negligence would become the source of misery to the world, of public calamity, and of private woe." 

Yet changes continued during the 18th and 19th centuries as Antoine Villien's "History of the Commandments" from 1915 documents:

The use of meat on Sundays [of Lent] was at first tolerated, then expressly permitted, for the greater part of Lent. Old people still remember the time when its use was completely forbidden in France from the Friday of Passion week to Easter. Later, new dispensations allowed the gradual extension of the Sunday privilege to Tuesday and Thursday of each week, up to Thursday before Palm Sunday. About the beginning of the pontification of Pius IX [c. 1846], Monday was added to the days on which abstinence need not be observed; a few years later the use of meat on those four days began to be permitted up to Wednesday of Holy Week. Lastly the Saturdays, expect Ember Saturday and Holy Saturday, were included in the dispensations."

Mitigations to fasting also began to accelerate for other periods in the 18th and 19th centuries and this is seen strikingly in the series of changes to occur to fasting in the American Colonies which can be read in detail in the two-part series: A History of Holy Days of Obligation & Fasting for American Catholics.

Father Anthony Ruff relates in his article "Fasting and Abstinence: The Story" the changes made by Pope Leo XIII in the document entitled Indultum quadragesimale:

"In 1886 Leo XIII allowed meat, eggs, and milk products on Sundays of Lent and at the main meal on every weekday [of Lent] except Wednesday and Friday in the [United States]. Holy Saturday was not included in the dispensation. A small piece of bread was permitted in the morning with coffee, tea, chocolate, or a similar beverage."

While the evening collation had been widespread since the 14th century, the practice of an additional morning snack (i.e. a frustulum) was introduced only around the 18th century as part of the gradual relaxation of discipline. Volume 12 of The Jurist, published by the Catholic University of America in 1952, writes, "It is stated that the two-ounce breakfast arose at the time of St. Alphonsus, since which time the usage of the popular two and eight-ounce standards for the breakfast and the collation, respectively, has been extant." 

Mara Morrow in Sin in the Sixties elaborates on the concessions given by Pope Leo XIII which in the late 19th century expanded the practice of the frustulum and further reduced strict abstinence:

"It also allowed for the use of eggs and milk products at the evening collation daily during Lent and at the principal meal when meat was not allowed. [It] further allowed a small piece of bread in the morning with a beverage, the possibility of taking the principal meal at noon or in the evening, and the use of lard and meat drippings in the preparation of foods. Those exempt from the law of fasting were permitted to eat meat, eggs, and milk more than once a day." 

Consequently, the Baltimore Manual published by the Third Plenary Council of Baltimore in 1884 states: "Only one full meal is allowed, to be taken about noon or later. Besides this full meal, a collation of eight ounces is allowed. If the full meal is taken about the middle of the day, the collation will naturally be taken in the evening; if the full meal is taken late in the day, the collation may be taken at noon. Besides the full meal and collation, the general custom has made it lawful to take up to two ounces of bread (without butter) and a cup of some warm liquid - as coffee or tea - in the morning. This is important to observe, for by means of this many persons are enabled - and therefore obliged - the keep the fast who could not otherwise do so."

The Catechism of Father Patrick Powers published in Ireland in 1905 mentions that abstinence includes flesh meat and "anything produced from animals, as milk, butter, cheese, eggs." However, Father Patrick notes, "In some countries, however, milk is allowed at collation." The United States was one of those nations whereas Ireland and others were not granted such dispensations. The use of eggs and milk during Lent was to drastically change in a few years with the 1917 Code of Canon Law.

In 1895, the workingmen's privilege gave bishops in the United States the ability to permit meat in some circumstances. Mara Morrow summarizes that these circumstances occurred when there was "difficulty in observing the common law of abstinence, excluding Fridays, Ash Wednesday, Holy Week, and the Vigil of Christmas. This workingmen's privilege (or indult) allowed only for meat once a day during Lent, taken at the principal meal, and never taken in conjunction with fish. This particular indult was extended not only to the laborer but to his family, as well. The motivation of such an indult was no doubt to allow for enough sustenance such that the many Catholic immigrants to the United States who worked as manual laborers could perform their difficult, energy-demanding physical work without danger to their health" (Sin in the Sixties).

The Remnant of the Lenten Fast Left by the 20th Century

The Catholic Encyclopedia from 1909 in describing that fast immediately before the changes to occur under St. Pius X enumerates them as follows: "In the United States of America all the days of Lent; the Fridays of Advent (generally); the Ember Days; the vigils of Christmas and Pentecost, as well as those (14 Aug.) of the Assumption; (31 Oct.) of All Saints, are now fasting days. In Great Britain, Ireland, Australia, and Canada, the days just indicated, together with the Wednesdays of Advent and (28 June) the vigil of Saints Peter and Paul, are fasting days." 

The days of obligatory fasting as listed in the 1917 Code of Canon Law were the forty days of Lent (including Ash Wednesday, Good Friday, and Holy Saturday until noon); the Ember Days; and the Vigils of Pentecost, the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, All Saints, and Christmas. Partial abstinence, the eating of meat only at the principal meal, was obligatory on all weeks of Lent (Monday through Thursday). And of course, complete abstinence was required on all Fridays, including Fridays of Lent, except when a holy day of obligation fell on a Friday outside of Lent. Saturdays in Lent were likewise days of complete abstinence. Fasting and abstinence were not observed should a vigil fall on a Sunday as stated in the code: "If a vigil that is a fast day falls on a Sunday the fast is not to be anticipated on Saturday, but is dropped altogether that year." Eggs and milk (i.e. lacticinia) became universally permitted.

But additional changes quickly ensued. Mara Morrow, writing on the fasting days around this time, states, "In 1917 Pope Benedict XV granted the faithful of countries in World War I the privilege of transferring Saturday Lenten abstinence to any other day of the week, excepting Friday and Ash Wednesday. In 1919 Cardinal Gibbons was granted his request of transferring Saturday Lenten abstinence to Wednesday for all bishops’ dioceses in the U.S. This permission, as well as the workingmen’s privilege, were frequently renewed, but, after 1931, this permission was only on the basis of personal requests from individual bishops."

Pope Pius XII accelerated the changes to fasting and abstinence as Father Ruff relates: "In 1941 Pope Pius XII allowed bishops worldwide to dispense entirely from fast and abstinence except on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday, provided that there was abstinence from meat every Friday, and fast and abstinence on these two days and the vigil of the Assumption and Christmas. Eggs and milk products were permitted at breakfast and in the evening." And effective in 1956 per the decree in Maxima Redemptionis Nostrae Mysteria, Holy Saturday's fast and abstinence were extended from noon to midnight.

By 1962, the laws of fasting and abstinence were as follows as described in "Moral Theology" by Rev. Heribert Jone and adapted by Rev. Urban Adelman for the "laws and customs of the United States of America" copyright 1961: 

"Complete abstinence is to be observed on all Fridays of the year, Ash Wednesday, the Vigils of Immaculate Conception and Christmas. Partial abstinence is to be observed on Ember Wednesdays and Saturdays and on the Vigil of Pentecost. Days of fast are all the weekdays of Lent, Ember Days, and the Vigil of Pentecost." If a vigil falls on a Sunday, the law of abstinence and fasting is dispensed that year and is not transferred to the preceding day. 

Thus, even before the Second Vatican Council opened, the fasting customs were drastically reduced within only a few hundred years. 

The Lenten Fast Virtually Eliminated Post Vatican II

Shortly after the close of the Second Vatican Council, Paul VI an apostolic constitution on fasting and abstaining on February 17, 1966, called Paenitemini, whose principles were later incorporated into the 1983 Code of Canon Law. Paenitemini allowed the commutation of the Friday abstinence to an act of penance at the discretion of the local ordinaries and gave authority to the episcopal conferences on how the universal rules would be applied in their region. Abstinence which previously began at age 7 was modified to begin at age 14. Additionally, the obligation of fasting on the Ember Days and on the remaining Vigils was abolished. Paenitemini maintained the traditional practice that "abstinence is to be observed on every Friday which does not fall on a day of obligation."

The NCCB issued a statement on November 18, 1966. Abstinence was made obligatory on all Fridays of Lent, except Solemnities (i.e. First Class Feasts), on Ash Wednesday, and on Good Friday. Abstinence on all Fridays throughout the year was "especially recommended," and the faithful who did choose to eat meat were directed to perform an alternative penance on those Fridays outside of Lent, even though the US Bishops removed the long-establish precept of requiring Friday penance. The document stated in part: "Even though we hereby terminate the traditional law of abstinence binding under pain of sin, as the sole prescribed means of observing Friday, we ... hope that the Catholic community will ordinarily continue to abstain from meat by free choice as formerly we did in obedience to church law." And finally, fasting on all weekdays of Lent was "strongly recommended" but not made obligatory under penalty of sin.

The 1983 Code of Canon Law largely took Paul VI's apostolic constitution aside from the modification of the age at which fasting binds. Per the 1983 Code of Canon Law, the age of fast was changed to begin at 18 - previously it was 21 - and to still conclude at midnight when an individual completes his 59th birthday. Friday penance is required per these laws on all Fridays of the year except on Solemnities, a dramatic change from the previous exception being only on Holy Days of Obligation.

Per the 1983 Code of Canon Law, fasting and complete abstinence per these rules are required only on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday. The notion of "partial abstinence," introduced under Pope Benedict XIV in 1741, was also removed along with nearly all fast days. 

So What Should Traditional Catholics Do To Restore the Lenten Fast?

While no authority in the Church may change or alter any established dogmas of the Faith, the discipline of both Holy Days of Obligation and fast days may change. The days of obligation and the days of penance are matters of discipline, not matters of dogma. Lawful authorities in the Church do have the power to change these practices.

In the observance of the two precepts, namely attending Holy Mass on prescribed days and fasting and abstaining on commanded days, we obey them because the Church has the power by Christ to command such things. We do not abstain from meat on Fridays for instance because the meat is unclean or evil. It is the act of disobedience that is evil. As Fr. Michael Müller remarks in his Familiar Explanation of Christian Doctrine from 1874: "It is not the food, but the disobedience that defiles a man." To eat meat on a forbidden day unintentionally, for instance, is no sin. As the Scriptures affirm it is not what goes into one's mouth that defiles a man but that disobedience which comes from the soul (cf. Matthew 15:11).

Yet, even with such a distinction, the Church has historically been wise to change disciplines only very slowly and carefully. As Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen once remarked, "It is a long-established principle of the Church never to completely drop from her public worship any ceremony, object or prayer which once occupied a place in that worship." The same may be said for matters concerning either Holy Days of Obligation or fast days. What our forefathers held sacred should remain sacred to us in an effort to preserve our catholicity not only with ourselves but with our ancestors who see God now in Heaven.

St. Francis de Sales remarked in the 16th / early 17th century, “If you’re able to fast, you will do well to observe some days beyond what are ordered by the Church.” 

This Lent, I propose for Traditional Catholics the following Lenten fasting plan:

• Fasting applies for those age 18 or older (but not obligatory for those 60 years of age or older)
• Ash Wednesday and Good Friday: No solid food. Only black coffee, tea, or water.
• Mondays through Saturdays: Only one meal preferably after sunset. A morning frustulum and evening collation are permitted but not required. No meat or animal products are allowed for anyone, regardless of age - that includes fish. No olive oil.
• Sundays: No meat or animal products allowed except on Laetare Sunday. Exceptions for Palm Sunday are mentioned below.
• Annunciation Day (March 25) and Palm Sunday: Fish and olive oil permitted.
• Holy Week (except Good Friday): Only Bread, Salt, and Herbs are permitted for the main meal. Frustulum and collation permitted (of bread, herbs, and salt) but omitted if possible
• Holy Saturday: No food until Noon. Abstinence including from all animal products continues until Easter begins.

And for those looking for ideas on what to make to eat on fasting days, the Lenten Cookbook produced by Sophia Institute Press has a section on vegan recipes that is worth checking out.

Want to learn more about the history of fasting and abstinence? Check out the Definitive Guide to Catholic Fasting and Abstinence.

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The Jubilee Medal of St. Benedict

According to the Catholic Encyclopedia: 

FRONT One side of the medal bears an image of St. Benedict, holding a cross in the right hand and the Holy Rule in the left. On the one side of the image is a cup, on the other a raven, and above the cup and the raven are inscribed the words: “Crux Sancti Patris Benedicti” (Cross of the Holy Father Benedict). Round the margin of the medal stands the legend “Ejus in obitu nostro praesentia muniamus” (May we at our death be fortified by his presence).

BACK The reverse of the medal bears a cross with the initial letters of the words: “Crux Sacra Sit Mihi Lux” (The Holy Cross be my light), written downward on the perpendicular bar; the initial letters of the words, “Non Draco Sit Mihi Dux” (Let not the dragon be my guide), on the horizontal bar; and the initial letters of “Crux Sancti Patris Benedicti” in the angles of the cross. Round the margin stand the initial letters of the distich: “Vade Retro Satana, Nunquam Suade Mihi Vana — Sunt Mala Quae Libas, Ipse Venena Bibas” (Begone, Satan, do not suggest to me thy vanities — evil are the things thou profferest, drink thou thy own poison). At the top of the cross usually stands the word Pax (peace) or the monogram I H S (Jesus).

The History of the Jubilee Medal:

Any priest may receive the faculties to bless these medals.

The medal was made  in 1880, to commemorate the fourteenth centenary of St. Benedict’s birth. The Archabbey of Monte Cassino has the exclusive right to strike this medal. The ordinary medal of St. Benedict usually differs from the preceding in the omission of the words “Ejus in obitu etc.”, and in a few minor details. (For the indulgences connected with it see Beringer, “Die Ablässe”, Paderborn, 1906, p. 404-6.) The habitual wearer of the jubilee medal can gain all the indulgences connected with the ordinary medal and, in addition: (1) All the indulgences that could be gained by visiting the basilica, crypt, and tower of St. Benedict at Monte Cassino (Pius IX, 31 December, 1877) (2) A plenary indulgence on the feast of All Souls (from about two o’clock in the afternoon of 1 November to sunset of 2 November), as often as (toties quoties), after confession and Holy Communion, he visits any church or public oratory, praying there according to the intention of the pope, provided that he is hindered from visiting a church or public oratory of the Benedictines by sickness, monastic enclosure or a distance of at least 1000 steps. (Decr. 27 February, 1907, in Acta S. Sedis, LX, 246.)

[Note the toties quoties indulgence was extended in 1914 to anyone, even those who do not have or use the Jubilee Medal]

It is doubtful when the Medal of St. Benedict originated. During a trial for witchcraft at Natternberg near the Abbey of Metten in Bavaria in the year 1647, the accused women testified that they had no power over Metten, which was under the protection of the cross. Upon investigation, a number of painted crosses, surrounded by the letters which are now found on Benedictine medals, were found on the walls of the abbey, but their meaning had been forgotten. Finally, in an old manuscript, written in 1415, was found a picture representing St. Benedict holding in one hand a staff which ends in a cross, and a scroll in the other. On the staff and scroll were written in full the words of which the mysterious letters were the initials. Medals bearing the image of St. Benedict, a cross, and these letters began now to be struck in Germany, and soon spread over Europe. They were first approved by Benedict XIV in his briefs of 23 December, 1741, and 12 March, 1742.

Specific Promises associated with the St. Benedict Medal:

1. To destroy witchcraft and all other diabolical and haunting influences;
2. To impart protection to persons tempted, deluded, or tormented by evil spirits;
3. To obtain the conversion of sinners into the Catholic Church, especially when they are in danger of death;
4. To serve as an armor against temptation;
 5. To destroy the effects of poison;
6. To secure a timely and healthy birth for children;
7. To afford protection against storms and lightning;
8. To serve as an efficacious remedy for bodily afflictions and a means of protection against contagious diseases.

How to wear the medal:

1. On a chain around the neck;
2. Attached to one’s rosary;
3. Kept in one’s pocket or purse;
4. Placed in one’s car or home;
5. Placed in the foundation of a building;
6. Placed in the center of a cross.

How to Order One: Amazon has a variety of Jubilee Medals

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Receive Holy Communion as an Act of Reparation

An Act of Reparation From the Angel of of Peace at Fatima as taught to the three young children one year before Mary appeared in Fatima.  Let us pray this prayer during this Feast of Corpus Christi:

Most Holy Trinity, Father, Son and Holy Ghost, I adore You profoundly and I offer You the most precious Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity of Jesus Christ, present in all the tabernacles of the world, in reparation for the outrages, sacrileges and indifferences by which He Himself is offended. And by the infinite merits of His Most Sacred Heart and the Immaculate Heart of Mary, I beg of You the conversion of poor sinners.

As we celebrate today the Most Glorious Eucharist, let us consider this article and perservere in our acts of reparation this day against sin.  Recall that Our Lord is already much offended as our Lady said at Fatima:

Reparation to the Sacred Heart
Fr. Raoul Plus, S. J.
Section III: The Practice of Reparation

THE spirit of reparation, if it is sincere and profound, will seek to manifest itself by a number of tangible proofs, by certain practices, which may be ranged under the following three heads: Affective reparation, effective reparation, and aiffictive reparation, according as the virtue especially exercised is love, self-sacrifice, or penance.

AFFECTIVE REPARATION

Sin and indifference deprive our Lord of love; therefore to make up for this we must give Him love. Hearts are turned away from God; then we must give Him ours. It is in prayer especially that the heart is given; and hence we have the practice of offering reparation by means of the Holy Hour. Our Lord is forgotten in His most Holy Sacrament. The object of this devotion is to give to our Lord not only one's own homage, but also the homage of those who deny His Real Presence, and so, according as one's duties permit, a certain time is spent in reparation before the Blessed Sacrament. These turns of prayer and watching before the Blessed Sacrament are organized and facilitated by certain Associations founded for the purpose.

Others may prefer to make a Novena of Reparation from the 1st to the 9th of each month. The purpose of this devotion is to console and compensate our Saviour for the insults He receives in the Blessed Sacrament. No exercises or set prayers are prescribed; you are advised to assist at Mass as often as possible, to receive Communion in reparation at least once, and to have a Mass said for the same intention at least once a year.

By reason of the fewness of vocations, in France alone 12,000 priests are lacking. This means that every day 12,000 Masses are not offered; there are 12,000 altars upon which the Precious Blood is not shed for the remission of sins, upon which Christ does not appear daily to restore the balance between Divine justice and man's iniquity. Why should there not be some souls who would take the place of these priests, souls devoted to the Passion and the Eucharistic sacrifice, filled with the spirit of redemption and love, who would try to make up, by the complete sacrifice of their hearts, for all these Masses that are lacking? The following method might be suggested: In the case of one who attends Mass daily, to offer the Mass for the said intention. If one is unable to attend Mass every day, to offer a particular half-hour of the day for that purpose, reciting the following or a similar prayer: "O Jesus, eternal Priest, deign to raise up numerous priests in whom Thou may fully livest Thy priestly life . . . Deign also to raise up many souls which by their detachment from the earth and their zeal for the salvation of souls will be coadjutors of the priesthood, and in a manner take the place of the priests that are lacking."

A practice taught by our Lord Himself is the devotion, in the spirit of reparation, of the First Friday. It is too well known to need much emphasis. Suffice it to quote two extracts from St. Margaret Mary's letters: "My Divine Saviour had bidden me to go to Communion on the first Friday of every month, to make reparation, so far as in me lies, for the insults that are offered to Him each month in the Blessed Sacrament of the Altar." . . . "Let those who wish to honour the Sacred Heart of Jesus in a special way choose for this purpose the first Friday of each month, to offer Him homage according as their piety inspires them." (Ed. Paray, t. II, p. 72.)

Everyone knows the promises -----at first sight rather surprising-----which our Lord has attached to the faithful fulfilment of these practices. No wonder he speaks of the "exceeding mercy of His Divine Heart." Those who receive Holy Communion on the first Friday of nine consecutive months "will not die in My disfavour, nor without receiving the Sacraments, and my Heart will be their refuge at their last hour." And it must be admitted that it is partly in view of these wonderful promises that the devotion of the faithful to the Nine Fridays has increased so rapidly.

But it must be understood that these promises of our Lord are not to be set on the same footing as the words of the Gospels. Their value -----though it must not be minimized-----is simply such as attaches to a private revelation approved by the Church.

Moreover, it may be asked whether these words are to be taken absolutely, or are we to add the implicit condition: "Provided that he who has made the nine Fridays does not wilfully expose himself to the peril of damnation"? Authors are disagreed as to the answer. It seems to us that in this, as in the case of the sabbatine promise connected with the scapular of Mount Carmel, the second explanation is the better one.

Another practice popular among devotees of reparation, and recommended by our Lord, is that of Holy Communion offered in reparation. Really if everyone properly understood the doctrine of the Eucharist and the intention with which Christ instituted this Sacrament, no Communion would ever be received except in a sacrificial spirit. Our Lord instituted the Eucharist not so much to give us the benefit of His Presence as to associate us closely with His sacrifice. On the altar, as we have said above, He still has the intention of offering Himself absolutely to His Father for His glory and for the salvation of the world; and as by our Baptism we have become an integral part of His Person, He asks us as members of Christ to unite our sacrificial oblation to that of the Head. Thus, while the minimum disposition for the reception of the Eucharist is the state of grace, the disposition which is necessary in order to receive the fullest benefit from the Sacrament is the spirit of sacrifice.

Since, however, many of those who go to Communion are far from having this comprehensive, and yet only truly exact, idea of the Eucharist, also because it is permissible to each individual to emphasize more or less the reparative aspect of  Holy Communion, we can understand why our Lord should have recommended in a particular way the offering of Masses and the reception of Holy Communion in reparation for the insults offered to the Blessed Sacrament.

In accordance with this desire of our Lord an Association was founded in I854 -----and erected canonically at Paray in I865-----with the special object of "consoling our Lord by the frequent reception of Holy Communion, of turning away from us the scourge of His anger and His chastisements, and of making reparation and expiation in a certain measure for the continual blasphemies committed against the Divine Majesty and the Blessed Sacrament of the Altar." These are Pius Xl's own words.

This offering of oneself in reparation is specially recommended at Mass and Communion. But it may profitably be renewed at other moments during the day. Our Lord had suggested to St. Margaret Mary that she should offer a prayer or an act of reparation thirty-three times during the day in honour of the thirty-three years of His life on earth. The practice is a praiseworthy one, as long as too much stress is not laid on the mathematical aspect of the devotion. Others will prefer to make an offering to God for the sake of reparation at the thought that at this very minute our Lord is offering Himself to the Father in a Mass which is now being celebrated. Given the number of priests in the world it may be calculated that about four consecrations take place every second; hence it is certain that at whatever moment we may make the oblation of ourselves, our Lord is offering Himself too. In any case is not our Lord in the constant act of offering Himself, since in our tabernacles He remains always in the state of perpetual victimhood?

It is significant that in the Memoirs of St. Margaret Mary we find this request of our Lord: "Every time that I tell you of the ill-treatment which I receive from this soul, I want you, after receiving Me in Holy Communion, to prostrate yourself at My feet, to make amends to My love, offering to My eternal Father the bloody sacrifice of the Cross for this intention, and offering your whole being to give homage to Mine, and to make reparation for the indignities that are put upon Me by this soul. Setting Me on the throne of your heart, you will adore Me prostrate at My feet. You will offer yourself to My eternal Father to appease His just anger, and to urge His mercy to forgive them." (Ed. Paray, t. II, p. 147.)

More efficacious for reparation, because free from any defect whatever, are the acts of homage and reparation of our Lord Himself. It is true that we are called upon to fill up what is wanting of the sufferings of Christ, but however generous we may be, our offering will never be more than a mere drop in the wine of the chalice. Our Lord, fortunately, supplies all our deficiencies. Let us, then, offer our drop of water, but still more let us offer the Precious Blood of the Divine Head. The offering of that Blood is the great act of reparation, and by reason of my Baptismal vocation whereby I am one with Christ, I can take my humble part in it.

To give God a moment of the day in reparation is an excellent thing. But what if one could give Him the entire day? "I don't like sleeping," said a little girl once to her mother; "I don't like going to bed; so much time given to sleeping is so much time lost to loving." And what she said of sleep may be said too of external occupations. As a matter of fact, as we have explained elsewhere, both our sleep and our external occupations, although they are not explicit acts of prayer, may be transformed by us into a state of prayer through our intention. So that the child is not quite right, when it is a matter of the love of God.


Nevertheless, supposing that we were able to make every moment of our day an explicit act of prayer, what a harvest there would be! But what is not possible for one individual may become possible where there is a group; and this is the principle of the "Guard of Honour." In a celebrated vision to St. Margaret Mary the Angels offered to make an alliance with her, undertaking to adore the Blessed Sacrament in her place while she was busy with her domestic occupations (Ed. Paray, t. II, p. 108), and to make reparation "for all the daily acts of irreverence committed before the face of God."

The Saint thereupon desired that this idea should become widely known. In the year 1863 the practical formula was invented at the Visitation Convent at Bourg. Each member of the Guard of Honour chooses an hour of the day, undertaking during that time to think more than usual of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, and to offer to him at least one sacrifice and an act of love. No special practice of piety is prescribed; nothing more than the duty of the moment.

But sin abounds during the night as well as during the day. So some have adopted the pious custom of devoting an hour to prayer during the night from Thursday to Friday to commemorate the terrible night which Christ passed during His Agony. How can we think of the horrors of Gethsemane without wishing to offer to our Lord the homage of our adoration and reparation? Every devout soul must feel inclined to say with the young girl who was later to be Sister Claire of Jesus: "When you have meditated on the Passion of Christ how is it possible to lie down in bed, when you think that it is the hour in which our Lord suffered His Agony in the Garden! Can I think of Christ bowed under that weight of suffering and yet not seek with my tears, my prayers, my sacrifices and my love, to console my Divine Master and give Him a word of comfort?"

"The darkness of night seemed to open," so writes Huysmans of the Agony in the Garden, "and as in a frame of sombre shadows there appeared pictures lit up by a mysterious light. On a background that glowed with menacing radiance the centuries passed in procession, pushing before them sins of idolatry and incest, sacrileges and murders, all the ancient crimes that had been committed since the fall of Adam; and the cheers of wicked Angels greeted them as they passed. Jesus, overcome with grief, lowered His eyes. When He raised them again, these phantoms of past generations had disappeared; but there before Him now were the crimes of the Jews to whom He was preaching the Gospel, drawn up in menacing array. He saw Judas, He saw Caiphas, He saw Pilate . . . He saw Peter. He saw the brutes who would strike Him on the face, who would encircle His brow with the crown of thorns. Gaunt against the sinister sky rose the Cross, and groans were heard from the nether regions. He rose to His feet, and dizzy and tottering, reached out for a supporting arm. He was alone.

"He dragged Himself as far as the spot where He had left His disciples; and there they were asleep in the peaceful night. He aroused them. They looked at Him agape, filled with fright, wondering whether this man with the distraught gestures and strained eyes was indeed the same Jesus Whom they had seen transfigured before them on Mount Thabor, with radiant face and garment of snow. Our Lord could not but give them a pitying smile. He only reproached them with not having kept awake, and twice more He went back to suffer in his corner of the Garden.

"He knelt to pray, and this time it was no longer the past and the present, but still more terrible, the future that unfolded itself before His eyes; the centuries to come followed one after another, showing changing countries and changing towns; even the seas and the continents changed their form before His eyes; only men remained the same, though their costumes altered from age to age; they continued to steal and to kill, they persisted in crucifying their Saviour, to sate their greed for luxury and gain. Amidst the changing civilization of the ages, the Golden Calf stood there immovable, ruler of mankind. Then it was that, overcome with sorrow, Jesus sweated Blood and cried: 'Father, if it be possible let this chalice pass from Me.  . . . But Thy will be done.' "

Jesus Himself has asked for souls generous enough to share and thus console Him in His Agony: "Every Thursday night," He said to St. Margaret Mary, "I will make you share in the mortal sorrow that I suffered in the Garden of Olives, a sorrow which will give you an agony harder to bear even than death. And to keep Me company in the humble prayer which I then offered to the Father, you will prostrate yourself on your face, to appease the Divine justice, asking mercy for sinners." (Ed. Paray, t. II, p. 126.)

Compare this request with those sad words related in the Gospels: "Could you not watch one hour with Me?" (Mark xiv:38), and ask yourself whether you would not do well to adopt this beautiful devotion of the Holy Hour. Since it is not always possible or desirable for all to get up in the middle of the night, the Church permits that the Holy Hour should begin at any time after four, or even from two o'clock onwards during the shorter days of the year. Evidently, where it is possible, eleven o'clock at night is the hour indicated, because this is approximately the hour at which our Lord was in the Garden; this was the hour chosen by St. Margaret Mary; and moreover prayer at that time has an additional merit from the sacrifice of one's sleep. Plenty of pretexts may be found for refusing this act of devotion. A little generosity is needed. Why is it that a person who does not hesitate to sacrifice his or her night for some social function or to listen to the wireless, finds that it would be injurious to health to pray for an hour during the night once a week or once a month? Let us confess that we are weak; but let us not add hypocrisy to our weakness.

A very practical form of the Holy Hour is that invented by P ère Mateo; it is called "Night Watching in the Home." Seven persons, either in the same house or in different houses, undertake once a month to make an hour's adoration before the picture of the Sacred Heart, between ten o'clock in the evening and five in the morning. By December, 1928-----that is, within eighteen months from its inception-----this devotion had rallied 21,766 adherents, thus ensuring 2723 nights of adoration, or an average of 900 adorers every night, or 110 a minute. This movement has received the august approval of the Cardinal Archbishop of Paris, all the archbishops and bishops of Portugal, eleven bishops of France, and several other prelates of Spain, Belgium, Uruguay and Venezuela. 

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Gabriel Garcia Moreno's Rule of Life

Gabriel Garcia Moreno's Rule of Life

1. Every morning when saying my prayers I will ask specially for the virtue of humility.

2. Every day I will hear Mass, say the Rosary, and read, besides a chapter of the Imitation, this rule and the annexed instructions.

3. I will take care to keep myself as much as possible in the presence of God, especially in conversation, so as not to speak useless words. I will constantly offer my heart to God, and principally before beginning any action.

4. I will say to myself continually: I am worse than a demon and deserve that Hell should be my dwelling place. When I am tempted, I will add: What shall I think of this in the hour of my last agony?

5. In my room, never to pray sitting when I can do so on my knees or standing. Practice daily little acts of humility, like kissing the ground, for example. Desire all kinds of humiliations, while taking care at the same time not to deserve them. To rejoice when my actions or my person are abused and censured.

6. Never to speak of myself, unless it be to own my defects or faults.

7. To make every effort, by the thought of Jesus and Mary, to restrain my impatience and contradict my natural inclinations. To be patient and amiable even with people who bore me; never to speak evil of my enemies.

8. Every morning, before beginning my work, I will write down what I have to do, being very careful to distribute my time well, to give myself only to useful and necessary business and to continue it with zeal and perseverance. I will scrupulously observe the laws of justice and truth, and have no intention in all my actions save the greater glory of God.

9. I will make a particular examination twice a day on my exercise of different virtues, and a general examination every evening. I will go to confession every week.

10. I will avoid all familiarities, even the most innocent, as prudence requires. I will never pass more than an hour in any amusement, and in general, never before eight o'clock in the evening.

Click here for a printable version in PDF

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Catholic Friday Fast

Today is Friday, the day in which we commemorate Our Lord's passion and death. It was our own sins that condemned our glorious Lord to death on Good Friday - death on a Cross. As Catholics, we are still bound to either abstain from meat or rather to do some act of penance each Friday of the entire year.

It was on this day of the week that our glorious Redeemer died for us. Please, never forget this, especially at 3 o'clock, the hour that He died. At 3 o'clock attempt to pray a prayer of reparation and remember Our Lord's love and sacrifice today.

Code of Canon Law:

Can. 1249 All Christ's faithful are obliged by divine law, each in his or her own way, to do penance. However, so that all may be joined together in a certain common practice of penance, days of penance are prescribed. On these days the faithful are in a special manner to devote themselves to prayer, to engage in works of piety and charity, and to deny themselves, by fulfilling their obligations more faithfully and especially by observing the fast and abstinence which the following canons prescribe.

Can. 1250 The days and times of penance for the universal Church are each Friday of the whole year and the season of Lent.

Can. 1251 Abstinence from meat, or from some other food as determined by the Episcopal Conference, is to be observed on all Fridays, unless a solemnity should fall on a Friday. Abstinence and fasting are to be observed on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday.

Can. 1252 The law of abstinence binds those who have completed their fourteenth year. The law of fasting binds those who have attained their majority, until the beginning of their sixtieth year. Pastors of souls and parents are to ensure that even those who by reason of their age are not bound by the law of fasting and abstinence, are taught the true meaning of penance.

Can. 1253 The Episcopal Conference can determine more particular ways in which fasting and abstinence are to be observed. In place of abstinence or fasting it can substitute, in whole or in part, other forms of penance, especially works of charity and exercises of piety.

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Traditional 1954 Mass Propers for Good Friday

The primary differences in the pre-1955 Good Friday vs. the revisions found in the 1962 Missal may be found by reading the New Liturgical Movement. Included on this page is the traditional prayer for the Jews (before the 1955 changes and before Pope Benedict XVI attended to change it for those who say the pre-1955 Holy Week). The kneeling for the Jews is also omitted. And Holy Communion is not given to the Faithful on Good Friday in the pre-1955 service. The full text of the pre-1955 readings may be found in PDF by clicking here. Those looking only for the 1962 rubrics should visit Romanitas Press.

Note: This is not a Mass. No consecration takes place. We may refer to them as "Mass proper" but strictly speaking, this is not a Mass. It is called the Liturgy of the Presanctified. After 1955, it has become known as the "Solemn Liturgical Action" of Good Friday.

Good Friday¹

Black

1st Class Feria

   The instruction given by Pope Pius XII stipulates that Good Friday's solemn liturgy take place after noon; the best time would be three o'clock, and on no account may it begin later than six o'clock. The same Pope revives the old practice of all receiving Communion this day as a necessary part of the liturgical function. This consists of four main divisions, the whole forming a dramatic representation of the Sacred Passion.

   I, II -- The first two parts consists of readings from Scripture, and a prayer followed by St. John's Passion, and is concluded by a long series of prayers for various intentions. In this part we have preserved the form of the earliest Christian prayer meeting -- a service which was derived from the Jewish Synagogue. To this service of Scriptural readings the celebration of the Eucharist was afterwards joined to form the one solemn act of worship now called the Mass. This Mass still preserves these distinct divisions: the first from the beginning to the Offertory, in which the Introit and Gloria are included; the second from the Offertory to the Communion. The first division is called the Mass of the Catechumens, (for they were not permitted to remain for the celebration of the Eucharist); the second, the Mass of the Faithful.

   III -- The third part consists of the unveiling and adoration of the Cross. This ceremony was originally connected with the relic of the true Cross, and had its origin in Jerusalem. A veiled crucifix is gradually exposed to view, and three times at the words Venite, adoremus the faithful kneel in adoration to the Redeemer.

   IV -- The fourth part, the Communion of the Priest and people, completes what used to be known as the Mass of the Presanctified. Today's liturgy does not constitute a Mass, for there is no consecration: all who communicate receive sacred particles consecrated at Mass the previous day. This form of Mass is familiar in the Greek Rite.

   The service opens with a Mass of the Catechumens in what is perhaps its oldest and simplest form. It has neither Introit, Gloria, nor Credo, but consists merely of two lessons, followed each by a Tract, also taken from the prophets. The Gospel is the story of the Passion according to St. John. This is followed by the most ancient form of intercession. The priest (formerly the deacon) makes a solemn appeal to the faithful, telling them for whom each Prayer is to be offered: for the Church, the Pope, the Bishops, priests, etc., the Jews, pagans, heretics, prisoners, etc. The Flectamus genua is said and all kneel down to pray until the subdeacon bids them to rise. Then the celebrant turns to God, Almighty and Eternal, and formulates the prayer in the name of all. This was the oldest form of the Collect or public prayer.

   The adoration of the Cross is followed by a short Communion service. The ciborium containing the sacred hosts consecrated yesterday is brought in silence with the simplest of ceremonial from the Altar of Repose. Preparation for Communion is fittingly made by all standing to recite the Pater Noster in unison, and the Communion itself is followed at once by three prayers of thanksgiving. These end the day's solemn functions.

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The sacred ministers, wearing black stoles, come to the altar, lie prostrate before it, and pray silently for a few moments. A signal is given; whereupon all kneel upright except the celebrant who stands facing the altar steps and sings in the ferial tone:
	Deus, qui peccati veteris hereditarium mortem, in qua posteritatis genus omne successerat, Christi tui, Domini nostri, passione solvisti: da, ut, conformes eidem facti; sicut imaginem terrenae naturae necessitate portavimus, ita imaginem coelestis gratiae sanctificatione portemus. Per eundem Christum Dominum nostrum. R. Amen.		O God who, by the Passion of Thy Christ, our Lord, hast loosened the bonds of death, that heritage of the first sin to which all men of later times did succeed: make us so conformed to Him that, as we must needs have bourne the likeness of earthly nature, so we may by santification bear the likeness of heavenly grace. Through the same Christ our Lord. R. Amen.
I. -- Readings from Scripture, Passion, and the Great Intercessions
The Sacred Ministers sit while a lector reads the first lesson without title.
PROPHECY  Osee 6. 1-6 [The infinite mercies of God are about to be poured down on the Christians, doing penance.]
	Haec dicit Dominus: In tribulatione sua mane consurgent ad me: Venite, et revertamur ad Dominum: quia ipse cepit, et sanabit nos: percutiet, et curabit nos. Vivificabit nos post duos dies: in die tertia suscitabit nos, et vivemus in conspectu eius. Sciemus, sequemurque, ut cognoscamus Dominum: quasi diluculum praeparatus est egressus eius, et veniet quasi imper nobis temporaneus, et serotinus terrae. Quid faciam tibi Ephraim? quid faciam tibi Iuda? Misericordia vestra quasi nubes matutina, et quasi ros mane pertransiens. Propter hoc dolavi in prophetis, occidi eos in verbis oris mei: et iudicia tua quasi lux egredientur. Quia misericordiam volui, et non sacrificium, et scientiam Dei plus quam holocausta.		Thus saith the Lord: In their affliction they will rise early to Me: Come, and let us return to the Lord, for He hath taken us, and He will heal us, He will strike, and He will cure us. He will revive us after two days: on the third day He will raise us up and we shall live in His sight. We shall know and we shall follow on, that we may know the Lord. His going forth is prepared as the morning light and He will come to us as the early and the latter rain to the earth. What shall I do to thee, O Ephraim? What shall I do to thee, O Juda? Your mercy is as a morning cloud and as the dew that goeth away in the morning. For this reason have I hewed them by the Prophets, I have slain them by the words of my mouth: and thy judgements shall go forth as the light. For I desired mercy and not sacrifice: and the knowledge of God more than holocausts.
TRACT  Habacuc 3.
	Domine, audivi auditum tuum, et timui: consideravi opera tua, et expavi. V.: In medio duorum animalium innotesceris: dum appropinquaverint anni cognosceris: dum advenerit, tempus, ostenderis. V.: In eo, dum conturbata fuerit anima mea: in ira, misericordiae memor eris. V.: Deus a Libano veniet, et Sanctus de monte umbroso, et condenso. V.: Operuit coelos maiestas eius: et laudis eius plena est terra.		O Lord, I have heard Thy hearing and was afraid: I have considered Thy works and trembled. V.: In the midst of two animals Thou shalt be made known: when the years shall draw nigh Thou shalt be known: when the time shall come, Thou shalt be manifested. V.: When my soul shall be in trouble, Thou wilt remember mercy, even in Thy wrath. V.: God will come from Libanus, and the Holy One from the shady and thickly covered mountain. V.: His majesty covered the heavens: and the earth is full of His praise.
COLLECT
	S. Oremus.		Priest: Let us pray.
	V. Flectamus genua.		Deacon: Let us kneel.
	R. Levate.		Subdeacon: Arise.
	Deus, a quo et Iudas reatus sui poenam, et confessionis suae latro praemium sumpsit, concede novis tuae propitiationis effectum: ut sicut in passione sua Iesus Christus Dominus noster diversa utrisque intulit stipendia meritorum; ita nobis, ablato vetustatis errore, resurrectionis suae gratiam largiatur: Qui tecum vivit et regnat in unitate Spiritu Sancti, Deus, per omnia saecula saeculorum.		O God, from whom Judas received the punishment of his guilt, and the thief the reward of his confession: grant unto us the full fruit of Thy clemency; that even as in His Passion, our Lord Jesus Christ gave to each a retribution according to his merits, so having taken away our old sins, He may bestow upon us the grace of His Resurrection. Who with Thee liveth and reigneth in the unity of the Holy Ghost, God, world without end.
LESSON  Exodus 12. 1-11 [The children of Israel are to sacrifice the Paschal Lamb; the Israelites will put the Lamb of God to death on the Cross.]
	In diebus illis: Dixit Dominus ad Moysen et Aaron in terra Aegypti: Mensis iste, vobis principium mensium: primus erit in mensibus anni. Loquimini ad universum coetum filiorum Israel, et dicite eis: Decima die mensis huius tollat unusquisque agnum per familias et domos suas. Sin autem minor est numerus, ut sufficere possit ad venscendum agnum, assumet vicinum suum qui iunctus est domui suae, iuxta numerum animarum quae sufficere possunt ad esum agni. Erit autem agnus absque macula, masculus, anniculus: iuxta quem ritum tolletis et haedum. Et servabitis eum usque ad quartamdecimam diem mensis huius: immolabitque eum universa multitudo filiorum Israel ad vesperam. Et sument de sanguine eius, ac ponent super utrumque postem, et in superliminaribus domorum, in quibus comedent illum. Et edent carnes nocte illa assas igni, et azymos panes cum lactucis agrestibus. Non comedetis ex eo crudum quid, nec coctum aqua, sed tantum assum igni: caput cum pedibus eius et intestinis vorabitis. Nec remanebit quidquam ex eo usque mane. Si quid residuum fuerit, igne comburetis. Sic autem comedetis illum: menta habebitis in pedibus, tenentes baculos in manibus, et comedetis festinanter: est enim Phase (id est transitus) Domini.		In those days the Lord said to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt: This month shall be to you the beginning of months: it shall be the first in the months of the year. Speak ye to the whole assembly of the children of Israel, and say to them: On the tenth day fo this month let every man take a lamb by their families and houses. But if the number be less than may suffice to eat the lamb, be shall take unto him his neighbor that joineth to his house, according to the number of souls which may be enough to eat the lamb. And it shall be a lamb without blemish, a male, of one year: according to which rite also you shall take a kid. And you shall keep it until the fourteenth day of this month: and the whole multitude of the children of Israel shall sacrifice it in the evening. And they shall take of blood thereof, and put it upon both the side posts, and on the upper door posts of the houses, wherein they shall eat it. And they shall eat the flesh that night roasted at the fire: and unleavened bread with wild lettuce. You shall not eat thereof any thing raw, nor boiled in water, but only roasted at the fire. You shall eat the head with the feet and entrails thereof. Neither shall there remain any thing of it until morning. If there be an thing left, you shall burn it with fire. And thus you shall eat it: You shall gird your reins, and you shall have shoes on your feet, holding staves in your hands, and you shall eat in haste; for it is the Phase (that is the Passage) of the Lord.
TRACT  Ps. 139. 2-10, 14
	Eripe me, Domine, ab homine malo: a viro iniquo libera ma. V.: Qui cogitaverunt militias in corde: tota die constituebant praelia. V.: Acuerunt linguas suas sicut serpentis: venenum aspidum sub labiis eorum. V.: Custodi me, Domine, de manu peccatoris: et ab hominibus iniquis libera me. V.: Qui cogitaverunt supplantare gressus meos: absconderunt superbi laqueum mihi. V.: Et funes extenderunt in laqueum pedibus meis, iuxta iter scandalum posuerunt mihi. V.: Dixi Domino, Deus meus es tu: exaudi, Domine, vocem orationis meae. V.: Domine, Domine virtus salutis meae obumbra caput meum in die belli. V.: Ne tradas me a desiderio meo peccatori: cogitaverunt adversus me: ne derelinquas me, ne unquam exaltentur. V.: Caput circuitus eorum: labor labiorum opsorum operiet eos. V.: Verumtamen iusti confitebuntur nomini tuo: et habitabunt recti cum vultu tuo.		Deliver me, O Lord, from the evil man: rescue me from the unjust man. V.: Who have devised iniquities in their hearts: all the day long they designed battles. V.: They have sharpened their tongues like a serpent; the venom of asps is under their lips. V.: Keep me, O Lord, from the hand of the wicked: and from unjust men deliver me. V.: Who have proposed to supplant my steps. The proud have hidden a net for me. V.: And tehy have stretched out cords for a snare for my feet; they have laid for me a stumbling-block by the wayside. V.: I said to the Lord: Thou art my God. Hear, O Lord, the voice of my supplication. V.: O Lord, Lord, the strength of my salvation: overshadow my head in the day of battle. V.: Give me not up from my desire to the wicked: they have plotted against me. Do not Thou forsake me, lest at any time they should triumph. V.: The head of them compassing me about: the labor of their lips shall overwhelm them. V.: But the just shall give glory to Thy Name: and the upright shall dwell with Thy countenance.
The Deacons of the Passion then kneel and bow low before the celebrant, who pronounces in a clear voice:.
	Dominus sit in cordibus vestris et in labiis vestris. R. Amen.		May the Lord be in your hearts and on your lips. R. Amen.
PASSION  John 18. 1-40; 19. 1-42 The Passion of Our Lord Jesus Christ according to St. John. Passio Domini nostri Iesu Christi secundum Ioannem.
	In illo tempore: Egressus est Iesus cum discipulis suis trans torrentem Cedron, ubi erat hortus, in quem introivit ipse, et discipuli eius Sciebat autem et Iudas, qui tradebat eum, locum: quia frequenter Iesus convenerat illuc cum discipulis suis. Iudas ergo cum accepisset cohortem, et a pontificibus et pharisaeis ministros, venit illuc cum laternis, et facibus, et armis. Iesus itaque sciens omnia quae ventura erant super eum, processit, et dixit eis: † Quem quaeritis? C. Responderunt ei: S. Iesum Nazarenum. C. Dicit eis Iesus: † Ego sum. C. Stabat autem et Iudas, qui tradebat eum, cum ipsis. Ut ergo dixit eis: Ego sum: abierunt retrorsum, et ceciderunt in terram. Iterum ergo interrogavit eos: † Quem quaeritis? C. Illi autem dixerunt, S. Iesum Nazarenum. C. Respondit Iesus: † Dixi vobis, quia ego sum: si ergo me quaeritis, sinite hos abire. C. Ut impleretur sermo, quem dixit: Quia quos dedisti mihi, non perdidi ex eis quemquam. Simon ergo Petrus habens gladium eduxit eum: et percussit pontificis servum: et abscidit auriculam eius dexteram. Erat autem nomen servo Malchus. Dixit ergo Iesus Petro: † Mitte gladium tuum in vaginam. Calicem, quem didit mihi Pater, non bibam illum? C. Cohors ergo, et tribunus, et ministri Iudaeorum comprehenderunt Iesum, et ligaverunt eum: et adduxerunt eum ad Annam primum; erat autem socer Caiphae, qui erat pontifex anni illius.    Erat autem Caiphas, quo consilium dederat Iudaeis: Quia expedit unum hominem mori pro populo. Sequebatur autem Iesum Simon Petrus, et alius discipuluS. Discipulus autem ille erat notus pontifici, et introivit cum Iesu in atrium pontificiS. Petrus autem stabat ad ostium foris. Exivit ergo discipulus alius, qui erat notus pontifici, et dixit ostiariae: et introduxit Petrum. Dicit ergo Petro ancilla ostiaria: S. Numquid et tu ex discipulis es hominis istius? C. Dicit ille: S. Non sum. C. Stabant autem servi, et ministri ad prunas, quia frigus erat, et calefaciebant se. Erat autem cum eis et Petrus stans, et califaciens se. Pontifex ergo interrogavit Iesum de discipulis suis, et de doctrina eius. Respondit ei Iesus: † Ego palam locutus sum mundo: ego semper docui in synagoga, et in templo, quo omnes Iudaei conveniunt: et in occulto locutus sum nihil. Quid me interrogas? interroga eos, qui audierunt quid locutus sim ipsis: ecce hi sciunt quae dixerim ego. C. Haec autem cum dixisset, unus assistens ministrorum dedit alapam Iesu, dicens: S. Sic respondes pontifici? C. Respondit ei Iesus: † Si male locutus sum, testimonium perhibe de malo: si autem bene, quid me caedis? C. Et misit eum Annas ligatum ad Caipham pontificem. Erat autem Simon Petrus stans, et calefaciens se. Dixerunt ergo ei: S. Numquid et tu ex discipulis eius es? C. Negavit ille, et dixerit: S. Non sum. C. Dicit ei unus ex servis pontificis, cognatus eius, cuius abscidit Petrus auriculam: S. Nonne ego te vidi in horto cum illo? C. Iterum ergo negavit Petrus: et statim gallus cantavit.    Adducunt ergo Iesum a Caipha in praetorium. Erat autem mane: et ipsi non introierunt in praetorium, ut non contaminarentur, sed ut manducarent pascha. Exivit ergo Pilatus ad eos foras, et dixit: S. Quam accusationem affertis adversus hominem hunc? C. Responderunt, et dixerunt ei: S. Si non esset hic malefactor, non tibi tradidissemus eum. C. Dixit ergo eis Pilatus: S. Accipite eum vos, et secundum legem vestram iudicate eum. C. Dixerunt ergo ei Iudaei: S. Nobis non licet interficere quemquam. C. Ut sermo Iesu impleretur, quem dixit, significans qua morte esset morituruS. Introivit ergo iterum in praetorium Pilatus et vocavit Iesum, et dixit ei: S. Tu es Rex Iudaeorum? C. Respondit Iesus: † A temetipso hoc dicis, an alii dixerunt tibi de me? C. Respondit Pilatus: S. Numquid ego Iudaeus sum? Gens tua, et pontifices tradiderunt te mihi: quid fecisti? C. Respondit Iesus: † Regnum meum non est de hoc mundo. Si ex hoc mundo esset regnum meum, ministri mei utique decertarent ut non traderer Iudaeis: nun autem regnum meum non est hinC. C. Dixit itaque est Pilatus: S. Ergo Rex es tu? C. Respondit Iesus: † Tu dicis quia Rex sum ego. Ego in hoc natus sum, et ad hoc veni in mundum, ut testimonium perhibeam veritati: omnis, qui est ex veritate, audit vocem meam. C. Dicit ei Pilatus: S. Quid est veritas? C. Et cum hoc dixisset, iterum exivit ad Iudaeos, et dicit eis: S. Ego nullam invenio in eo causam. Est autem consuetudo vobis ut unum dimittam vobis in Pasha: vultis ergo dimittam vobis Regem Iudaeorum? C. Clamverunt ergo rursum omnes, dicentes: S. Non hunc, sed Barabbam. C. Erat autem Barabbas latro. Tunc ergo apprehendit Pilatus Iesum, et flagellavit. Et milites plectentes coronam de spinis, imposuerunt capiti eius: et veste purpurea circumdederunt eum. Et veniebant ad eum, et dicebant: S. Ave Rex Iudaeorum. C. Et dabant ei alapas. Exivit ergo iterum Pilatus foras, et dicit eis: S. Ecce adduco vobis eum foras, ut cognoscatis quia nullam invenio in eo causam. C. (Exivit ergo Iesus portans coronam spineam, et purpureum vestimentum.) Et dicit eis: S. Ecce homo. C. Cum ergo vidissent cum pontifices et ministri, clamabant, dicentes: S. Crucifige, crucifige eum. C. Dicit eis Pilatus: S. Accpipte eum vos, et crucifigite: ego enim non invenio in eo causam. C. Responderunt ei Iudaei: S. Nos legem habemus, et secundum legem debet mori, quia Filium Dei se fecit. C. Cum ergo audisset Pilatus hunc sermonem, magis timuit. Et ingressus est praetorium iterum: et dixit ad Iesum: S. Unde es tu? C. Iesus autem responsum non dedit ei. Dicit ergo ei Pilatus: S. Mihi non loqueris? Nescis quia potestatem habeo crucifigere te, et potestatem habeo dimittere te? C. Respondit Iesus: † Non haberes potestatem adversum me ullam, nisi tibi datum esset desuper. Propterea qui me tradidit tibi, maius peccatum habet. C. Et exinde quaerebat Pilatus dimittere eum. Iudaei autem clamabant, dicentes: S. Si hunc dimittis, non es amicus CaesariS. Omnis enim qui se regem facit, contradicit Caesari. C. Pilatus autem cum audisset hos sermones, adduxit foras Iesum, et sedit pro tribunali, in loco qui dicitur Lithostrotos, hebraice autem Gabbatha. Erat autem Parasceve Paschae, hora quasi sexta, et dicit Iudaeis: S. Ecce Rex vester. C. Illi autem clamabant: S. Tolle, tolle, crucifige eum. C. Dicit eis Pilatus: S. Regem vestrum crucifigam? C. Responderunt pontifices: S. Non habemus regem, nisi Caesarem. C. Tunc ergo tradidit eis illum ut crucifigeretur.    Susceperunt autem Iesum, et eduxerunt. Et baiulans sibi crucem, exivit in eum, qui dicitur Calvariae, locum, hebraice autem Golgotha: ubi crucifixerunt eum, et cum eo alios duos hinc et hinc, medium autem Iesum. Scripsit autem et titulum Pilatus: et posuit super crucem. Erat autem scriptum: Iesus Nazarenus, Rex Iudaeorum. Hunc ergo titulum multi Iudaeorum legerunt, quia prope civitatem erat locus ubi crucifixus est Iesus. Et erat scriptum hebraice, graece et latine. Dicebant ergo Pilato pontifices Iudaeorum: S. Noli scribere, Rex Iudaeorum, sed quia ipse dixit: Rex sum Iudaeorum. C. Respondit Pilatus: S. Quod scripsi, scripsi. C. Milites ergo cum crucifixissent eum, acceperunt vestimenta eius (et fecerunt quatuor partes: unicuique militi partem), et tunicam. Erat autem tunica inconsutilis, desuper contexta per totum. Dixerunt ergo ad invicem: S. Non scindamus eam, sed sortiamur de illa cuius sit. C. Ut Scriptura impleretur, dicens: Partiti sunt vestimenta mea sibi: et in vestem meam miserunt sortem. Et milites quidem haec fecerunt. Stabant autem iuxta crucem Iesu mater eius, et soror matris eius Maria Cleophae, et Maria Magdalene. Cum videsset ergo Iesus matrm, et discipulum stantem, quem diligebat, dicit matri suae: † Mulier, ecce filius tuuS. C. Deinde dicit discipulo: † Ecce mater tua. C. Et ex illa hora accepit eam discipulus in sua.    Postea sciens Iesus quia omnia consummata sunt, ut consummaretur Scriptura, dixit: † Sitio. C. Vas ergo erat positum aceto plenum. Illi autem spongiam plenam aceto, hyssopo circumponentes, obtulerunt ori eiuS. Cum ergo accepisset Iesus acetum, dixit: † Consummatum est. C. Et inclinato capite, tradidit spiritum.		At that time Jesus went forth with His disciples over the brook Cedron, where there was a garden, into which He entered with His disciples. And Judas also, who betrayed Him, knew the place: because Jesus had often resorted thither together with His disciples. Judas therefore having received a band of soldiers and servants fro the chief priests and the Pharisees, cometh thither with lanterns and torches and weaponS. Jesus therefore, knowing that all things that should come upon Him, went forth and said to them: † Whom seek ye? C. They answered Him: S. Jesus of Nazareth. C. Jesus saith to them: † I am He. C. And Judas also, who betrayed Him, stood with them. As soon therefore as He had said to them: † I am He; they went backward and fell to the ground. Again therefore He asked them: † Whom seek ye? C. And they said: S. Jesus of Nazareth. C. Jesus answered: † I have told you that I am He. If therefore you seek Me, let these go their way; C. That the word might be fulfilled which He said: Of them whom Thou hast given Me, I have not lost anyone. Then Simon Peter, having a sword, drew it and struck the servant of the high priest and cut off his right ear. And the name of the servant was Malchus. Jesus therefore said to Peter: † Put up thy sword in the scabbard. The chalice which My Father hath given Me, shall I not drink it? C. Then the band and the tribune and the servants of the Jews took Jesus, and bound Him. And they led Him away to Annas first, for he was father-in-law to Caiphas, who was the high priest that year.    Now Caiphas was he who had given the counsel to the Jews: that it was expedient that one man should die for the people. And Simon Peter followed Jesus: and so did another disciple. And that disciple was known to the high priest and went in with Jesus into the court of the high priest. But Peter stood at the door without. The other disciple therefore, who was known to the high priest, went out and spoke to the portress and brought in Peter. The maid therefore that was portress saith to Peter: S. Art not thou also one of this man's disciples? C. He saith: S. I am not. C. Now the servants and ministers stood at a fire of coals, because it was cold, and warmed themselves. And with them was Peter, also, standing and warming himself. The high priest therefore asked Jesus of His disciples and of His doctrine. Jesus answered him: † I have spoken openly to the world. I have always taught in the synagogue and in the temple, whither all the Jews resort: and in secret I have spoken nothing. Why asketh thou Me? Ask them who have heard what I have spoken unto them. Behold they know what things I have said. C. And when He had said these things, one of the servants, standing by, gave Jesus a blow, saying: S. Answerest Thou the high priest so? C. Jesus answered him: † If I have spoken evil, give testimony of the evil; but if well, why strikest thou Me? C. And Annas sent Him bound to Caiphas the high priest. And Simon Peter was standing and warming himself. They said therefore to him: S. Art not thou also one of His disciples? C. He denied it and said: S. I am not. C. One of the servants of the high priest (a kinsman to him whose ear Peter cut off) saith to him: S. Did I not see thee in the garden with Him? C. Again therefore Peter denied; and immediately the cock crew.    Then they led Jesus from Caiphas to the governor's hall. And it was morning; and they went not into the hall, that they might not be defiled, but that they might eat the Pasch. Pilate therefore went out to them, and said: S. What accusation bring you against this man? C. They answered and said to him: S. If He were not a malefactor, we would not have delivered Him up to thee. C. Pilate therefore said to them: S. Take Him you, and judge Him according to your law. C. The Jews therefore said to him: S. It is not lawful for us to put any man to death. C. That the word of Jesus might be fulfilled, which He said, signifying what death He should die. Pilate therefore went into the hall again and called Jesus and said to Him: S. Art Thou the King of the Jews? C. Jesus answered: † Sayest thou this thing of thyself, or have other told it thee of Me? C. Pilate answered: S. Am I a Jew? Thine own nation and the chief priests have delivered Thee up to me. What hast Thou done? C. Jesus answered: † My kingdom is not of this world. If My kingdom were of this world, My servants would certainly strive that I should not be delivered to the Jews: but now My kingdom is not from hence. C. Pilate therefore said to Him: S. Art Thou a King then? C. Jesus answered: † Thou sayest I am a king. For this was I born, and for this came I into the world; that I should give testimony of the truth. Every one that is of the truth heareth My voice. C. Pilate saith to Him: S. What is truth? C. And when he had said this, he went out again to the Jews and saith to them: S. I find no cause in Him. But you have a custom that I should release one unto you at the Pasch. Will you, therefore, that I release unto you the King of the Jews? C. Then cried they all again, saying: S. Not this man, but Barabbas. C. Now Barabbas was a robber. Then therefore Pilate took Jesus and scourged Him. And the soldiers platting a crown of thorns, put it upon His head; and they put on Him a purple garment. And they came to Him and said: S. Hail, King of the Jews. C. And they gave Him blows. Pilate therefore went forth again and saith to them: S. Behold, I bring Him forth unto you, that you may know that I find no cause in Him. C. (Jesus therefore came forth, bearing the crown of thorns and the purple garment.) And he saith to them: S. Behold the man. C. When the chief priests, therefore, and the servants had seen Him, they cried out, saying: S. Crucify Him, crucify Him. C. Pilate saith to them: S. Take Him you, and crucify Him; for I find no cause in Him. C. The Jews answered him: S. We have a law, and according to the law He ought to die, because He made Himself the Son of God. C. When Pilate, therefore, had heard this saying, he feared the more. And he entered into the hall again; and he said to Jesus: S. Whence art Thou? C. But Jesus gave him no answer. Pilate therefore saith to Him: S. Speakest Thou not to me? Knowest Thou not that I have power to crucify Thee, and I have power to release Thee? C. Jesus answered: † Thou shouldst not have any power against Me, unless it were given thee from above. Therefore, he that hath delivered Me to thee hath a greater sin. C. And from henceforth Pilate sought to release Him. But the Jews cried out, saying: S. If thou release this Man, thou art not Caesar's friend. For whosoever maketh himself a king speaketh against Caesar. C. Now when Pilate had heard these words, he brought Jesus forth and sat down in the judgment seat, in the place that is called Lithostrotos, and in Hebrew Gabbatha. And it was Parasceve of the Pasch, about the sixth hour; and he saith to the Jews: S. Behold your King. C. But they cried out: S. Away with Him. Away with Him: Crucify Him. C. Pilate saith to them: S. Shall I crucify your King? C. The chief priests answered: S. We have no king but Caesar. C. Then, therefore, he delivered Him to them to be crucified.    And they took Jesus and led Him forth. And bearing His cross, He went forth to that place which is called Calvary but in Hebrew Golgotha.; where they crucified Him, and with Him two others, one on each side and Jesus in the midst. And Pilate wrote a title also: and he put it upon the cross. And the writing was: Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews. This title therefore many of the Jews did read: because the place where Jesus was crucified was nigh to the city. And it was written in Hebrew, Greek, and in Latin. Then the chief priests of the Jews said to Pilate: S. Write not: The King of the Jews; but that He said: I am the King of the Jews. C. Pilate answered: S. What I have written, I have written. C. The soldiers therefore, when they had crucified Him, took His garments (and they made four parts, to every soldier a part) and also His coat. Now the coat was without seam, woven from the top throughout. They said then one to another: S. Let us not cut it, but let us cast lots for it, whose it shall be: that the Scripture might be fulfilled which saith: They have parted My garemnts among them, and upon My vesture they have cast lots. And the soldiers indeed did these things. Now there stood by the cross of Jesus His Mother, and His Mother's sister, Mary of Cleophas, and Mary Magdalen. When Jesus therefore had seen His Mother and the disciple standing whom He loved, He saith to His Mother: † Woman, behold thy son. C. After that, He saith to the disciple: † Behold thy mother. C. And from that hour, the disciple took her to his own.    Afterwards, Jesus, knowing that all things were now accomplished, that the Scripture might be fulfilled, said: † I thirst. C. Now there was a vessel set there, full of vinegar. And they, putting a sponge full of vinegar about hyssop, put it to His mouth. Jesus therefore, when He had taken the vinegar, said: † It is consummated. C. And bowing His head, He gave up the ghost.
Here all kneel and pause a few moments.
	Iudaei ergo (quoniam Parasceve erat) ut non remanerent in cruce corpora sabbato (erat enim magnus dies ille sabbati), rogaverunt Pilaum, ut frangerentur eorum crura, et tollerentur. Venerunt ergo milites: et primi quidem fregerunt crura, et alterius qui crucifixus est cum eo. Ad Iesum autem cum venissent, ut viderunt eum iam mortuum, non fregerunt eius crura: sed unus militum lancea latus eius aperuit, et continuo exivit sanguis et aqua. Et qui vidit, testimonium perhibuit: et verum est testimonium eius. Et ille scit, quia vera dicit: ut et vos credatis. Facta sunt enim haec ut Scriptura impleretur: Os non comminuetis ex eo. Et iterum alia Scriptura dicit: Videbunt in quem transfixerunt.    Post haec autem rogavit Pilatum Ioseph ab Arimathaea (eo quod esset discipulus Iesu, occultus autem propter metum Iudaeorum), ut tolleret corpus Iesu. Et permisit Pilatus. Venit ergo, et tulit corpus Iesu. Venit autem et Nicodemus, qui venerat ad Iesum nocte primum, ferens mixturam myrrhae, et aloes, quasi libras centum. Acceperunt ergo corpus Iesu, et ligaverunt illud linteis cum aromatibus, sicut mos est Iudaeis sepelire. Erat autem in loco, ubi crucifixus est, hortus: et in horto monumentum novum, in quo nondum quisquam positus erat. Ibi ergo propter Parasceven Iudaeorum, quia iuxta erat monumentum, posuerunt Iesum.		Then the Jews (because it was the Parasceve), that the bodies might not remain upon the cross on the Sabbath day (for that was a great Sabbath day), besought Pilate that their legs might be broken and that they might be taken away. The soldiers therefore came, and they broke the legs of the first, and of the other that was crucified with Him. But after they were come to Jesus, when they saw that He was already dead, they did not break His legs. But one of the soldiers with a spear opened His side, and immediately there came out blood and water. And he that saw it hath given testimony: and his testimony is true. And he knoweth that he saith true: that you also may believe. For these things were done that the Scripture might be fulfilled: you shall not break a bone of Him. And again another Scripture saith: They shall look on Him whom they pierced.    And after these things, Joseph of Arimathea (because he was a disciple of Jesus, but secretly for fear of the Jews) besought Pilate that he might take away the Body of Jesus. And Pilate gave leave. He came therefore and took away the Body of Jesus. And Nicodemus also came (he who at the first came to Jesus by night), bringing a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about a hundred pound weight. They took therefore the Body of Jesus and bound it in linen cloths, with the spices, as the manner of the Jews is to bury. Now there was in the place where He was crucified a garden: and in the garden a new sepulchre, wherein no man yet had been laid. There, therefore, because of the Parasceve of the Jews, they laid Jesus, because the sepulchre was nigh at hand.
II. -- The Great Intercessions
While the Sacred Ministers put on black vestments, two acolytes spread a cloth on the altar and place the Missal in the center of it. The Great Intercessions are sung from here.
	Oremus, dilectissimi nobis, pro Ecclesia sancta Dei: ut eam Deus et Dominus noster pacificare, adunare, et custodire dignetur toto orbe terrarum: subiiciens ei principatus, et potestates: detque nobis quietam et tranquilam vitam degentibus, glorificare Deum Patrem omnipotentem.		Let us pray, dearly beloved, for the holy Church of God: that our Lord and God may deign to give it peace, keep it in unity, and guard it throughout the world, subjecting to it principalities and powers: and may grant unto us that, leading a peaceful and quiet life, we may glorify God, the Father almighty.
	S. Oremus.		Priest: Let us pray.
	V. Flectamus genua.		Deacon: Let us kneel.
	R. Levate.		Subdeacon: Arise.
	Omnipotens sempiterne Deus, qui gloriam tuam omnibus in Christo gentibus revelasti: custodi opera misericordiae tuae; ut Ecclesia tua toto orbe diffusa, stabili fide in confessione tui nominis perseveret. Per eumdem Dominum nostrum, Iesum Christum, filium tuum, qui tecum vivat et regnat in unitate Spiritu Sancti, Deus, per omnia saecula saeculorum. R. Amen.		Almighty and everlasting God, Who in Christ hast revealed Thy glory too all nations: guard the works of Thy mercy; that Thy Church, spread over the whole world, may with steadfast faith persevere in the confession of Thy Name. Through the same Jesus Christ, Thy Son, our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with Thee in the unity of the Holy Ghost, God, world without end. R. Amen.
	Oremus et pro beatissimo Papa nostro N., ut Deus et Dominus noster, qui elegit eum in ordine episcopatus, salvum atque incolumem custodiat Ecclesiae suae sanctae, ad regendum populum sanctum Dei.		Let us pray for our most holy Father Pope N., that our Lord and God, Who chose him to the order of the Episcopate, may keep him in health and safety for His holy Church to govern the holy people of God.
	S. Oremus.		Priest: Let us pray.
	V. Flectamus genua.		Deacon: Let us kneel.
	R. Levate.		Subdeacon: Arise.
	Omnipotens sempiterne Deus, cuius iudicio universa fundantur: respice propitius ad preces nostras, et electum nobis Antistitem tua pietate conserva; ut christiana plebs, quae te gubernatur auctore, sub tanto pontifice, credulitatis suae meritis augeatur. Per Dominum nostrum, Iesum Christum, filium tuum, qui tecum vivat et regnat in unitate Spiritu Sancti, Deus, per omnia saecula saeculorum. R. Amen.		Almighty and everlasting God, by Whose judgement all things are established, mercifully regard our prayers, and in Thy goodness preserve the Bishop chosen for us: that the Christian people who are ruled by Thine authority, may under so great a Pontiff, be increased in the merits of faith. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, Thy Son, who liveth and reigneth with Thee in the unity of the Holy Ghost, God, world without end. R. Amen.
	Oremus et pro omnibus Episcopis, Presbyteris, Diaconibus, Subdiaconibus, Acolythis, Exorcistis, Lectoribus, Ostiariis, Confessionibus, Virginibus, Viduis: et pro omni populi sancto Dei.		Let us pray also for all Bishops, Priests, Deacons, Subdeacons, Acolytes, Exorcists, Readers, Porters, Confessors, Virgins, Widows, and for all the holy people of God.
	S. Oremus.		Priest: Let us pray.
	V. Flectamus genua.		Deacon: Let us kneel.
	R. Levate.		Subdeacon: Arise.
	Omnipotens sempiterne Deus, cuius spiritu totum corpus Ecclesiae sanctificatur et regitur: exaudi nos pro universis ordinibus supplicantes; ut gratiae tuae munere, ab omnibus tibi gradibus fideliter serviatur. Per Dominum nostrum, Iesum Christum, filium tuum, qui tecum vivat et regnat in unitate Spiritu Sancti, Deus, per omnia saecula saeculorum. R. Amen.		Almighty and everlasting God, by Whose Spirit the whole body of the Church is sanctified and rules, hear our humble pleading for all the orders thereof; that by the gift of Thy grace in all their several degrees may faithfully serve Thee. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, Thy Son, who liveth and reigneth with Thee in the unity of the Holy Ghost, God, world without end. R. Amen.
	Oremus et pro catechumenis nostris: ut Deus et Dominus noster adaperiat aures praecordiorum ipsorum, ianuamque misericordiae; ut per lavacrum regenerationis accepta remissione omnium peccatorum, et ipsi inveniantur in Christo Iesu Domino nostro.		Let us pray also for our Catechumens: that our Lord and God would open the ears of their hearts, and the gate of mercy; that, having received by the font of regeneration the remission of all their sins, they also may be found in Christ Jesus our Lord.
	S. Oremus.		Priest: Let us pray.
	V. Flectamus genua.		Deacon: Let us kneel.
	R. Levate.		Subdeacon: Arise.
	Omnipotens sempiterne Deus, qui Ecclesiam tuam nova semper prole foecundas: auge fidem et intellectum catechumenis nostris; ut renati fonte bbaptismatis, adoptionis tuae filiis aggregentur. Per Dominum nostrum, Iesum Christum, filium tuum, qui tecum vivat et regnat in unitate Spiritu Sancti, Deus, per omnia saecula saeculorum. R. Amen.		Almighty and everlasting God, who dost ever make Thy Church fruitful with new offspring: increase the faith and understanding of our Catechumens; that being born again in the font of Baptism, they may be associated wiht the children of Thine adoption. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, Thy Son, who liveth and reigneth with Thee in the unity of the Holy Ghost, God, world without end. R. Amen.
	Oremus, dilectissimi nobis, Deum Patrem omnipotentem, ut cunctis mundum purget erroribus: morbos auferat: famem depellat: aperiat carceres: vincula dissolvat: peregrinantibus reditum: infirmantibus sanitatem: navigantibus portum salutis indulgeat.		Let us pray, dearly beloved, to God the Father almighty, that He would cleanse the world of all errors: take away diseases, drive away famine, open prisons, break chains, grant a sure return to travellers, health to the sick, and a safe haven to those at sea.
	S. Oremus.		Priest: Let us pray.
	V. Flectamus genua.		Deacon: Let us kneel.
	R. Levate.		Subdeacon: Arise.
	Omnipotens sempiterne Deus, moestorum consolatio, laborantium fortitudo: perveniant ad te preces de quacumque tribulatione clamantium; ut omnes sibi in necessitatibus suis misericordiam tuam gaudeant affuisse. Per Dominum nostrum, Iesum Christum, filium tuum, qui tecum vivat et regnat in unitate Spiritu Sancti, Deus, per omnia saecula saeculorum. R. Amen.		Almighty and everlasting God, the comfort of the sorrowful, and the strength of those that labor: hasten the prayers of those that call upon Thee in any trouble reach Thee; that all may rejoice that in their necessities Thy mercy has helped them. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, Thy Son, who liveth and reigneth with Thee in the unity of the Holy Ghost, God, world without end. R. Amen.
	Oremus et pro haereticis et schismaticis: ut Deus et Dominus noster eruat eos ab erroribus universis; et ad sanctam matrem Ecclesiam Catholicam atque Apostolicam revocare dignetur.		Let us pray also for heretics and schismatics: that our Lord God would be pleased to rescue them from all their errors; and recall them to our holy mother the Catholic and Apostolic Church.
	S. Oremus.		Priest: Let us pray.
	V. Flectamus genua.		Deacon: Let us kneel.
	R. Levate.		Subdeacon: Arise.
	Omnipotens sempiterne Deus, qui salvas omnes, et neminem vis perire: respice ad animas diabolica fraude deceptas; ut omni haeretica pravitatae deposita, errantium corda resipiscant, et ad veritatis tuae redeant unitatem. Per Dominum nostrum, Iesum Christum, filium tuum, qui tecum vivat et regnat in unitate Spiritu Sancti, Deus, per omnia saecula saeculorum. R. Amen.		Almighty and everlasting God, who savest all, and wouldst that no one should perish: look on the souls that are led astray by the deceit of the devil: that having set aside all heretical evil, the hearts of those that err may repent, and return to the unity of Thy truth. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, Thy Son, who liveth and reigneth with Thee in the unity of the Holy Ghost, God, world without end. R. Amen.2
	Oremus et pro perfidis Iudaeis: ut Deus et Dominus noster auferat velamen de cordibus eorum; ut et ipsi agnoscant Iesum Christum Dominum nostrum.		Let us pray also for the perfidious Jews: that our God and Lord would remove the veil from their hearts: that they also may acknowledge our Lord Jesus Christ.
	S. Oremus.		Priest: Let us pray.
	Omnipotens sempiterne Deus, qui etiam iudaicam perfidiam a tua misericordia non repellis: exaudi preces nostras, quas pro illius populi obcaecatione deferimus; ut, agnita veritatis tuae luce, quae Christus est, a suis tenebris eruantur. Per Dominum nostrum, Iesum Christum, filium tuum, qui tecum vivat et regnat in unitate Spiritu Sancti, Deus, per omnia saecula saeculorum. R. Amen.		Almighty and everlasting God, who drivest not away from Thy mercy even the perfidious Jews: hear our prayers, which we offer for the blindness of that people: that, acknowledging the light of Thy truth, which is Christ, they may be rescued from their darkness. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, Thy Son, who liveth and reigneth with Thee in the unity of the Holy Ghost, God, world without end. R. Amen.
	Oremus et pro paganis: ut Deus omnipotens auferat iniquitatem a cordibus eorum; ut relictis idolis suis, convertantur ad Deum vivum et verum, et unicum Filium eius Iesum Christum Deum et Dominum nostrum.		Let us pray also for the pagans: that almighty God would remove iniquity from their hearts: that, putting aside their idols, they may be converted to the true and living God, and His only Son, Jesus Christ our God and Lord.
	S. Oremus.		Priest: Let us pray.
	V. Flectamus genua.		Deacon: Let us kneel.
	R. Levate.		Subdeacon: Arise.
	Omnipotens sempiterne Deus, qui non mortem peccatorum, sed vitam semper inquiris: suscipe pro vitam semper inquiris: suscipe propitius orationem nostram, et libera eos ab idolorum cultura; et aggrega Ecclesiae tuae sanctae ad laudem et gloriam nominis tui. Per Dominum nostrum, Iesum Christum, filium tuum, qui tecum vivat et regnat in unitate Spiritu Sancti, Deus, per omnia saecula saeculorum. R. Amen.		Almighty and everlasting God, who ever seekest not the death, but the life of sinners: mercifully hear our prayer, and deliver them from the worship of idols: and join them to Thy holy Church for the praise and glory of Thy Name. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, Thy Son, who liveth and reigneth with Thee in the unity of the Holy Ghost, God, world without end. R. Amen.

III. -- Adoration of the Cross

After these Collects, the Ministers lay aside their cope and chasubles and stand at the sedilia. The Deacon goes with the Acolytes to the Sacristy, whence they return in procession with lighted candles carrying the veiled cross (which should be as large as possible), the Celebrant and Subdeacon coming forward to meet them before the center of the altar. The Celebrant carries the Cross (with assistance, if necessary) to the Epistle side of the sanctuary and, turning towards the people, he uncovers the upper portion of the Cross and intones the verse:
	V. Ecce lignum Crucis, in quo salus mundi pependit.		V. Behold the wood of the Cross, on which hung the Savior of the world.
The choir answers:
	R. Venite, adoremus.		R. Come, let us adore.
When the choir sings these words, all kneel, except the celebrant. The priest then advances to the front corner, and uncovers the right arm; elevating the Crucifix a little, he sings on a higher tone than before:
	V. Ecce lignum Crucis, in quo salus mundi pependit.		V. Behold the wood of the Cross, on which hung the Savior of the world.
The choir answers, while all kneel:
	R. Venite, adoremus.		R. Come, let us adore.
Then at the middle of the altar the Celebrant uncovers the whole Cross, and, lifting it up, begins still higher, the ministers and choir continuing as before:
	V. Ecce lignum Crucis, in quo salus mundi pependit.		V. Behold the wood of the Cross, on which hung the Savior of the world.
The choir answers, while all kneel:
	R. Venite, adoremus.		R. Come, let us adore.
Two assistants take the unveiled Cross to the center of the sanctuary, where they stand facing the people and supporting the Cross upright by the arms; the acolytes place their candles at either side of the Cross and themselves kneel down facing the Cross throughout the adoration that follows. The celebrant and his ministers and assistants take off their shoes, and each in turn approaches, genuflecting thrice, and kisses the feet of the Crucifix.    The Cross, still supported by the two assistants and candles and acolytes, is then placed more conveniently for the adoration of the faithful; these should form a procession past the Cross, men first, women afterwards, and after one simple genuflection devoutly kiss the feet of the Crucified.    Meanwhile two choirs should be singing the Improperia or Reproaches.
REPROACHES
Two cantors sing the following:
	V. Popule meus, quid feci tibi? aut in quo contristavi te? Responde mihi. V. Quia eduxi te de terra Aegypti, parasti crucem Salvatori tuo.		V. O my people, what have I done to thee? or wherein have I afflicted thee? Answer me. V. Because I led thee out of the land of Egypt, thou hast prepared a cross for thy Savior.
The two choirs then sing alternately:
	Agios o Theos! Sanctus Deus! Agios ischyros! Sanctus fortis! Agios athanatos, eleison imas. Sanctus immortalis, miserere nobis.		O holy God! O holy God! O holy strong One! O holy strong One! O holy immortal one, have mercy on us. O holy immortal one, have mercy on us.3
Two cantors:
	V. Quia eduxi te per desertum quadraginta annis, et manna cibavi te, et introduxi te in terram satis bonam: parasti Crucem Salvatori tuo.		V. Because I led thee out through the desert forty years: and fed thee with manna, and brought thee into a land exceeding good, thou hast prepared a Cross for thy Savior.
Alternately the two choirs repeat as before:
	Agios o Theos! Sanctus Deus! Agios ischyros! Sanctus fortis! Agios athanatos, eleison imas. Sanctus immortalis, miserere nobis.		O holy God! O holy God! O holy strong One! O holy strong One! O holy immortal one, have mercy on us. O holy immortal one, have mercy on us.
Two cantors:
	V. Quid ultra debui facere tibi, et non feci? Ego quidem plantavi te vineam meam speciosissimam: et tu facta es mihi nimis amara: aceto namque sitim meam potasti: et lancea perforasti latus Salvatori tuo.		V. What more ought I have done for thee, that I have not done? I planted thee, indeed, My most beautiful vineyard: and thou hast become exceeding bitter to Me: for in My thirst thou gavest Me vinegar to drink: and with a lance thou hast pierced the side of thy Savior.
Alternately the two choirs repeat as before:
	Agios o Theos! Sanctus Deus! Agios ischyros! Sanctus fortis! Agios athanatos, eleison imas. Sanctus immortalis, miserere nobis.		O holy God! O holy God! O holy strong One! O holy strong One! O holy immortal one, have mercy on us. O holy immortal one, have mercy on us.
The verses of the following reproaches are sung alternately by two cantors of each choir. The choirs respond after each verse: Popule meus . . . as far as the verse Quia.
	V. Ego propter te flagellavi Aegyptum cum primogenitus suis: et tu me flagellatum tradidisti. R. Popule meus, quid feci tibi? aut in quo contristavi te? Responde mihi.		V. For thy sake I scourged Egypt with its first-born: and thou hast scourged Me and delivered Me up. R. O my people, what have I done to thee? or wherein have I afflicted thee? Answer me.
	V. Ego eduxi te de Aegypto, demerso Pharaone in Mare Rubrum: et tu me tradidisti principibus sacerdotum. R. Popule meus, quid feci tibi? aut in quo contristavi te? Responde mihi.		V. I led thee out of Egypt having drowned Pharao in the Red Sea: and thou hast delivered Me to the chief priests. R. O my people, what have I done to thee? or wherein have I afflicted thee? Answer me.
	V. Ego ante te aperui mare: et tu aperuisti lancea latus meum. R. Popule meus, quid feci tibi? aut in quo contristavi te? Responde mihi.		V. I opened the sea before thee: and thou with a spear hast opened My side. R. O my people, what have I done to thee? or wherein have I afflicted thee? Answer me.
	V. Ego ante te praeivi in columna nubis: et tu me duxisti ad praetorium Pilati. R. Popule meus, quid feci tibi? aut in quo contristavi te? Responde mihi.		V. I went before thee in a pillar of cloud: and thou hast led Me to the judgement hall of Pilate. R. O my people, what have I done to thee? or wherein have I afflicted thee? Answer me.
	V. Ego te pavi manna per desertum: et tu me cecidisti alapis et flagellis. R. Popule meus, quid feci tibi? aut in quo contristavi te? Responde mihi.		V. I fed thee with manna in the desert; and thou hast beaten Me with whips and scourges. R. O my people, what have I done to thee? or wherein have I afflicted thee? Answer me.
	V. Ego te potavi aqua salutis de petra: et tu me potasti felle, et aceto. R. Popule meus, quid feci tibi? aut in quo contristavi te? Responde mihi.		V. I gave thee the water of salvation from the rock to drink: and thou hast given Me gall and vinegar. R. O my people, what have I done to thee? or wherein have I afflicted thee? Answer me.
	V. Ego propter te Chananaeorum reges percussi: et tu percussisti arundine caput meum. R. Popule meus, quid feci tibi? aut in quo contristavi te? Responde mihi.		V. For thy sake I struck the kings of the Chanaanites: and thou hast struck My head with a reed. R. O my people, what have I done to thee? or wherein have I afflicted thee? Answer me.
	V. Ego dedi tibi sceptrum regale: et tu dedisti capiti meo spineam coronam. R. Popule meus, quid feci tibi? aut in quo contristavi te? Responde mihi.		V. I gave thee a royal sceptre: and thou hast given to My head a crown of thorns. R. O my people, what have I done to thee? or wherein have I afflicted thee? Answer me.
	V. Ego te exaltavi magna virtute: et tu me suspendisti in patibulo Crucis. R. Popule meus, quid feci tibi? aut in quo contristavi te? Responde mihi.		V. I exalted thee with great strength: and thou hast hanged Me on the gibbet of the Cross. R. O my people, what have I done to thee? or wherein have I afflicted thee? Answer me.
The following anthem is then sung:
	Crucem tuam * adoramus, Domine: et sanctam resurrectionem tuam laudamus, et glorificamus: ecce enim propter lignum venit gaudium in universo mundo. Deus misereaturr nostri, et benedicat nobis: illuminet vultum suum super nos, et misereatur nostri. -- V. Crucem tuam . . .		We adore Thy Cross, O Lord: and we praise and glorify Thy holy Resurrection: for behold by the wood of the Cross joy has come into the whole world. -- (Ps. 66. 2) May God have mercy on us, and bless us: may He cause the light of His countenance to shine upon us, and have mercy on us. -- V. We adore Thy Cross . . .
CRUX FIDELIS
Afterwards the hymn Pange lingua lauream is sung in the following manner with the Crux fidelis.
	Crux fidelis, inter omnes Arbor una nobilis! Nulla silva talem profert, Fronde, flore, germine, Dulce lignum, dulces clavos, Dulce pondus sustinet.		Faithful Cross! above all other, One and only noble Tree! None in foliage, none in blossom, None in fruit thy peer may be; Sweetest wood and sweetest iron, Sweetest weight is hung on thee.
	V. Pange, lingua, gloriosi, Lauream certaminis, Et super Crucis trophaeo Dic triumphum nobilem: Qualiter Redemptor orbis Immolatus vicerit.		V. Sing, my tongue, the glorious battle! With completed victory rife! And above the Cross's trophy Tell the triumph of the strife: How the world's Redeemer conquer'd By the offering of His life.
	R. Crux fidelis, inter omnes Arbor una nobilis! Nulla silva talem profert, Fronde, flore, germine.		R. Faithful Cross! above all other, One and only noble Tree! None in foliage, none in blossom, None in fruit thy peer may be.
	V. De parentis protoplasti Fraude Factor condolens, Quando pomi noxialis In necem morsu ruit: Ipse lignum tunc notavit. Damna ligni ut solveret.		V. God, his Maker, sorely grieving, That the first-made Adam fell, When he ate the fruit of sorow, Whose reward was death and hell, Noted then this Wood the ruin, Of the ancient wood to quell.
	R. Dulce lignum, dulces clavos, Dulce pondus sustinet.		R. Sweetest wood and sweetest iron, Sweetest weight is hung on thee.
	V. Hoc opus nostrae salutis Ordo depoposcerat: Multiformis proditoris Ars ut artem falleret: Et medelam ferret inde, Hostes unde laeserat.		V. For this work of our salvation Needs must have its order so, And the manifold deceiver's Art by art would overthrow, And from thence would bring the healing, Whence the insult of the foe.
	R. Crux fidelis, inter omnes Arbor una nobilis! Nulla silva talem profert, Fronde, flore, germine.		R. Faithful Cross! above all other, One and only noble Tree! None in foliage, none in blossom, None in fruit thy peer may be.
	V. Quando venit ergo sacri Plenitudo temporis, Missus est ab arce Patris Natus, orbis Conditor: Atque ventre virginali Carne amictus prodiit.		V. Wherefore when the appointed fullness Of the holy time was come, He was sent who maketh all things From th' eternal Father's home, And proceeded, God Incarnate, Offspring of the Virgin's womb.
	R. Dulce lignum, dulces clavos, Dulce pondus sustinet.		R. Sweetest wood and sweetest iron, Sweetest weight is hung on thee.
	V. Vagit infans inter arcta Conditus praesepia: Membra pannis involuta Virgo Mater alligat: Et Dei manus, pedesque Stricta cingit fascia.		V. Weeps the Infant in the manger That in Bethlehem's stable stands: And His Limbs the Virgin Mother Doth compose in swaddling bands, Meetly thus in linen folding Of her God the feet and hands.
	R. Crux fidelis, inter omnes Arbor una nobilis! Nulla silva talem profert, Fronde, flore, germine.		R. Faithful Cross! above all other, One and only noble Tree! None in foliage, none in blossom, None in fruit thy peer may be.
	V. Lustra sex qui iam peregit, Tempus implens corporis, Sponte libera Redemptor Passioni deditus, Agnus in Crucis levatur Immolandus stipite.		V. Thirty years among us dwelling, His appointed time fulfilled, Born for this, He meets His Passion, For that this He freely willed: On the Cross the Lamb is lifted, Where His life-blood shall be spilled.
	R. Dulce lignum, dulces clavos, Dulce pondus sustinet.		R. Sweetest wood and sweetest iron, Sweetest weight is hung on thee.
	V. Felle potus ecce languet: Spina, clavi, lancea, Mite corpus perforarunt, Unda manat, et cruor: Terra, pontus, astra, mundus. Quo lavantur flumine!		V. He endured the nails, the spitting, Vinegar, and spear, and reed; From that holy Body broken Blood and water forth proceed: Earth, and stars, and sky, and ocean, By that flood from stain are freed.
	R. Crux fidelis, inter omnes Arbor una nobilis! Nulla silva talem profert, Fronde, flore, germine.		R. Faithful Cross! above all other, One and only noble Tree! None in foliage, none in blossom, None in fruit thy peer may be.
	V. Flecte ramos, arbor alta, Tensa lax viscera, Et rigor lentescat ille, Quem dedit nativitas: Et superni membra Regis Tende miti stipite.		V. Bend thy boughs, O Tree of glory! Thy relaxing sinews bend; For awhile the ancient rigor, That thy birth bestowed, suspend: And the King of heavenly beauty On thy bosom gently tend!
	R. Dulce lignum, dulces clavos, Dulce pondus sustinet.		R. Sweetest wood and sweetest iron, Sweetest weight is hung on thee.
	V. Sola digna tu fuisti Ferre mundi victimam: Atque portum praeparare Arca mundo naufrago: Quam sacer cruor perunxit, Fusus Agni corpore.		V. Thou alone wast counted worthy This world's ransom to uphold; For a shipwrecked race preparing Harbor, like the Ark of old; With the sacred Blood anointed From the smitten Lamb that rolled.
	R. Crux fidelis, inter omnes Arbor una nobilis! Nulla silva talem profert, Fronde, flore, germine.		R. Faithful Cross! above all other, One and only noble Tree! None in foliage, none in blossom, None in fruit thy peer may be.
	V. Sempiterna sit beatae Trinitate gloria: Aequa Patri, Filioque; Par decus Paraclito: Unus Trinique nomen Laudet universitas.    Amen.		V. To the Trinity be glory Everlasting, as is meet: Equal to the Father, equal To the Son, and Paraclete: Trinal Unity, Whose praises All created things repeat.    Amen.

IV. -- The Communion

The Cross is placed at the center of the altar so that it can be seen by all in the church, and the acolytes' candles are placed on either side. The Sacred Ministers change into purple vestments, but only the Deacon goest to the Altar of Repose with the acolytes. There he withdraws the Ciborium from the tabernacle without incensation, and returns to the High Altar, each acolyte carrying one of the lighted candles from the Altar of Repose. Meanwhile everyone else kneels, and the choir sings these antiphons:
	Adoramus te, Christe, et benedicimus tibi, quia per Crucem tuam redemisti mundum.		We adore Thee, O Christ, and we bless Thee, because by Thy Cross Thou hast redeemed the world.
	Per lignum servi facti sumus, et per sanctam Crucem liberati sumus: fructus arboris seduxit nos, Filius Dei redemit nos.		Through a tree we were enslaved, and through a holy Cross have we been set free: the fruit of a tree led us astray, the Son of God bought us back.
	Salvator mundi, salva nos: qui per Crucem et Sanguinem tuum redemisti nos, auxiliare nobis, te deprecamur, Deus noster.		Savior of the world, do Thou save us, do Thou, who through Thy Cross and Blood didst redeem us, do Thou help us, our God, we beseech Thee.
At the High Altar the Deacon places the Ciborium on a corporal, and the Celebrant and Subdeacon with double genuflections join him there. Without delay the Celebrant recites:
	Oremus. -- Praeceptis salutaribus moniti, et divina institutione formati, audemus dicere:		Let us pray. -- Instructed by Thy saving precepts, and following Thy divine institution, we make bold to say:
Whereupon all present, clergy and faithful, recite the Pater Noster in Latin, as preparation for Communion; this recitation should be "solemn, grave, distinct."
	Pater noster, qui es in coelis, sanctificetur nomen tuum. Adveniat regnum tuum. Fiat voluntas tua, sicut in coelo, et in terra. Panem nostrum quotidianum da nobis hodie: et dimitte nobis debita nostra, sicut et nos dimittibus debitoribus nostris. Et ne nos inducas in tentationem; sed libera nos a malo. Amen.		Our Father, who art in Heaven: hallowed be Thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done on earth as it is in Heaven. Give us this day our daily bread: and forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation; but deliver us from evil. Amen.
The Celebrant continues alone with:
	Libera nos, quaesumus, Domine, ab omnibus malis, praeteritis, praesentibus, et futuris: et intercidente beata et gloriosa semper Virgine Dei Genetrice Maria, cum beatis Apostolis tuis Petro et Paulo, atque Andrea, et omnibus Sanctis, da propitius pacem in diebus nostris: ut ope misericordiae tuae adiuti, et a peccato simus semper liberi, et ab omni perturbatione securi. Per eumdem Christum Dominum nostrum Iesum Christum Filium tuum, qui tecum vivit et regnat in unitate Spiritus Sancti Deus, per omnia saecula saeculorum.		Deliver us, we beseech Thee, O Lord, from all evils, past, present, and to come; and by the intercession of the blessed and glorious ever Virgin Mary, Mother of God, and of the Holy Apostles, Peter and Paul, and of Andrew, and of all the Saints, mercifully grant peace in our days, that through the assistance of Thy mercy we may be always free from sin, and secure from all disturbance. Through the same Jesus Christ, Thy Son, our Lord, Who with Thee in the unity of the Holy Ghost liveth and reigneth God, world without end.
And all answer together:
	Amen.		Amen.
The celebrant joins his hands and bows, and in a lower voice continues:
	Perceptio Corporis tui, Domine Iesu Christe, quod ego indignus sumere praesumo, non mihi proveniat in iudicium et condemnationem: sed pro tua pietate prosit mihi ad tutamentum mentis, et corporis, et ad medalem percipiendam. Qui vivis et regnas cum Deo Patre in unitate Spiritus Sancti Deus, per omnia saecula saeculorum. Amen.		Let not the partaking of Thy Body, O Lord Jesus Christ, which I, though unworthy, presume to receive, turn to my judgment and condemnation; but let it, through Thy mercy, become a safeguard and remedy, both for soul and body; Who with God the Father, in the unity of the Holy Ghost, livest and reignest God, for ever and ever. Amen.
He opens the Ciborium, genuflects, and takes out a sacred particle. He then makes his Communion as usual:
	Domine, non sum dignus, ut intres sub tectum meum: sed tantum dic verbo, et sanabitur anima mea. (three times)		Lord, I am not worthy that Thou shouldst enter under my roof; say but the word, and my soul shall be healed. (three times)
	Corpus Domini nostri Iesu Christi custodiat animam meam in vitam aeternam. Amen.		May the body of our Lord Jesus Christ preserve my soul unto life everlasting. Amen.
[For post-1955: Holy Communion is now distributed as on Maundy Thursday, except that priests wear a purple stole, not white.]
When done, the Celebrant purifies his fingers and places the Ciborium in the tabernacle in silence. All stand, in order to join him in his thanksgiving, which he recites in ferial tone:
	Oremus. -- Super populum tuum quaesumus, Domine, qui passionem et mortem Filii tui devota mente recoluit, benedictio copiosa descendat, indulgentia veniat, consolatio tribuatur, fides sancta succrescat, redemptio sempiterna firmetur. Per eundem Christum Dominum nostrum. Amen.		Let us pray. -- Upon Thy people who with devout hearts aave recalled the Passion and Death of Thy Son, we beseech Thee, O Lord, may plentiful blessings descend: may gentleness be used with us, and consolation given us, may our faith increase in holiness, our redemption for ever made firm. Through the same Christ our Lord. Amen.
And everyone answers:
	Amen.		Amen.
	Oremus. -- Omnipotens et misericors Deus, qui Christi tui beata passione et morte nos reparasti: conserva in nobis operam misericordiae tuae; ut huius mysterii participatione, perpetua devotione vivamus. Per eundem Christum Dominum nostrum. Amen.		Let us pray. -- Almighty and merciful God, who hast restored us by the Passion and Death of Thy Christ: preserve within us the work of Thy mercy; that by our entering into this mystery we may ever live devoutly. Through the same Christ our Lord. Amen.
And everyone answers:
	Amen.		Amen.
	Oremus. -- Reminiscere miserationum tuarum, Domine, et famulos tuos aeterna protectione sanctifica, pro quibus Christus, Filius tuus, per suum cruorem instituit paschale mysterium. Per eundem Christum Dominum nostrum. Amen.		Let us pray. -- Be mindful of Thy mercies, O Lord, and hallow us with eternal protection us Thy servants, from whom Christ Thy Son established through His Blood this mystery of the Pasch. Through the same Christ our Lord. Amen.
And everyone answers:
	Amen.		Amen.
The Ministers genuflect before retiring to the Sacristy.

---

¹   The faithful who, on Good Friday during three hours, shall meditate, in public or in private, the sufferings of Our Lord on the Cross, and shall remember the words He spoke on the Cross, or say some psalms, hymns or other mental prayers, can gain: Plenary indulgence after confession and communion on Maundy Thursday or during the Octave of Easter with a prayer for the intention of His Holiness. -- P.P.O. n. 165.
   Those who on other Fridays of the year shall remember His holy agony, and pray at least on quarter of an hour, in the manner described above, can gain: Indulgence of 7 years on each of these Fridays. -- Plenary, under the usual conditions, on the last Fridays of each month, if they have performed this devout exercise on the consecutive Fridays. -- P.P.O. n. 165.
   The faithful, who, on a Friday they may choose, shall recite seven times the Our Father, Hail Mary, and Glory Be to the Father, and this before a picture of the Crucified, can gain: Indulgence of 7 years. -- Plenary, on the usual conditions, if this devout exercise is performed on each Friday of the month. -- P.P.O. n. 166.
   The faithful who, on Good Friday at 3 o'clock p.m. till 12 o'clock a.m. of the following Saturday, shall meditate some moments or recite a prayer in honor of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of Sorrows, in private or in public, can gain a plenary indulgence under the usual conditions. -- P.P.O. n. 345.
²   Indulgence of 5 years. -- Plenary, under the usual conditions, if this prayer is recited daily during a month. -- P.P.O. n. 577.
³   Indulgence of 50 days. -- P.P.O. n. 16a.
⁴   Indulgence of 5 years. -- Plenary, under the usual conditions, if this Hymn is recited daily during a month. -- P.P.O. n. 163.

Full Video of the Pre-1955 Liturgy of the Pre-Sanctified for Good Friday:

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