Thursday, 30 May 2024 : Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ, Corpus Christi (Second Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

Hebrews 9 : 11-15

But, now, Christ has appeared, as the High Priest, with regard to the good things of these new times. He passed through a Sanctuary more noble and perfect, not made by hands, that is not created. He did not take with Himself the blood of goats and bulls, but His own Blood, when He entered, once, and for all, into this Sanctuary, after obtaining definitive redemption.

If the sprinkling of people, defiled by sin, with the blood of goats and bulls, or with the ashes of a heifer, provides them with exterior cleanness and holiness, how much more will it be, with the Blood of Christ? He, moved by the eternal Spirit, offered Himself, as an unblemished Victim, to God, and His Blood cleanses us from dead works, so that we may serve the living God.

So, Christ is the Mediator of a new Covenant, or testament. His death made atonement for the sins committed under the old testament, and the promise is handed over, to all who are called to the everlasting inheritance.

Thursday, 30 May 2024 : Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ, Corpus Christi (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : White

Psalm 115 : 12-13, 15 and 16bc, 17-18

How can I repay the Lord for all His goodness to Me? I will lift up the cup of salvation and call on the Name of the Lord.

It is painful to the Lord to see the death of His faithful. Truly Your servant, Your handmaid’s Son. You have freed Me from My bonds.

I will offer You a thanksgiving sacrifice; I will call on the Name of the Lord. I will carry out My vows to the Lord in the presence of His people.

Thursday, 30 May 2024 : Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ, Corpus Christi (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

Exodus 24 : 3-8

Moses came and told the people all the words of YHVH and all His laws. The people replied with one voice : “Everything that YHVH has said, we shall do.”

Moses wrote down all the words of YHVH, then rose early in the morning and built an altar at the foot of the mountain with twelve raised stones for the twelve tribes of Israel. He then sent young men from among the sons of Israel to offer burnt offerings and sacrifice bullocks as peace offerings to YHVH.

And Moses took half the blood and put it in basins; and with the other half of the blood he sprinkled the altar. He then took the Book of the Covenant and read it in the hearing of the people. They said, “All that YHVH said we shall do and obey.”

Moses then took the blood and sprinkled it on the people saying, “Here is the blood of the Covenant that YHVH has made with you in accordance with all these words.”

(Usus Antiquior) The Feast of Corpus Christi (I Classis) – Thursday, 30 May 2024 : Offertory, Secret Prayer of the Priest, Communion and Post-Communion Prayer

Liturgical Colour : White

Offertory

Leviticus 21 : 6

Sacerdotes Domini incensum et panes offerunt Deo : et ideo sancti erunt Deo suo, et non polluent Nomen Ejus. Alleluja.

English translation

The priests of the Lord offer incense and loaves to God, and therefore they shall be holy to their God, and shall not defile His Name. Alleluia.

Secret Prayer of the Priest

Ecclesiae Tuae, quaesumus, Domine, unitatis et pacis propitius dona concede : quae sub oblatis muneribus mystice designantur. Per Dominum nostrum Jesum Christum Filium Tuum, qui Tecum vivit et regnat in unitate Spiritus Sancti Deus, per omnia saecula saeculorum. Amen.

English translation

Of Your goodness, we beseech You, o Lord, grant to Your Church the gifts of unity and peace which are mystically represented under the gifts we offer. Through our Lord Jesus Christ Your Son, who with You lives and reigns in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, world without end. Amen.

Communion

1 Corinthians 11 : 26-27

Quotiescumque enim manducabitis panem hunc et calicem bibetis, mortem Domini annuntiabitis, donec veniat : Itaque quicumque manducaverit panem hunc vel biberit calicem Domini indigne, reus erit Corporis et Sanguinis Domini, Alleluja.

English translation

As often as you shall eat this bread, and drink this chalice, you shall show the death of the Lord until He comes. Therefore whosoever shall eat this bread, or drink of the chalice of the Lord unworthily, shall be guilty of the Body and Blood of the Lord. Alleluia.

Post-Communion Prayer

Fac nos, quaesumus, Domine, divinitatis Tuae sempiterna fruitione repleri : quam pretiosi Corporis et Sanguinis Tui temporalis perceptio praefigurat : Qui vivis et regnat in Spiritui Sancti Deus, per omnia saecula saeculorum. Amen.

English translation

Grant us, we beseech You, o Lord, to be filled with the everlasting enjoyment of Your divinity, which the temporal partaking of Your precious Body and Blood had foreshown. You who lives and reigns in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, world without end. Amen.

(Usus Antiquior) The Feast of Corpus Christi (I Classis) – Thursday, 30 May 2024 : Holy Gospel

Liturgical Colour : White

Sequentia Sancti Evangelii secundum Joannem – Continuation of the Holy Gospel according to St. John

John 6 : 56-59

In illo tempore : Dixit Jesus turbis Judaeorum : Caro Mea vere est cibus et Sanguis Meus vere est potus. Qui manducat Meam Carnem et bibit Meum Sanguinem, in Me manet et Ego in illo.

Sicut misit Me vivens Pater, et Ego vivo propter Patrem : et qui manducat Me, et ipse vivet propter Me. Hic est Panis, qui de caelo descendit. Non sicut manducaverunt patres vestri manna, et mortui sunt. Qui manducat hunc Panem, vivet in aeternum.

English translation

At that time, Jesus said to the multitudes of the Jews, “My Flesh is meat indeed, and My Blood is drink indeed. He who eats My Flesh, and drinks My Blood abides in Me, and I in him.”

“As the living Father had sent Me, and I live by the Father, so he who eats Me, the same shall also live by Me. This is the Bread that came down from heaven. Not as your fathers had eaten manna and are dead. He who eats this Bread shall live forever.”

(Usus Antiquior) The Feast of Corpus Christi (I Classis) – Thursday, 30 May 2024 : Sequence

Liturgical Colour : White

Sequence of St. Thomas Aquinas, 13th Century

Lauda Sion Salvatorem, Lauda ducem et pastorem in hymnis et canticis.

Quantum Potes, Tantum Aude : Quia major omni laude, Nec laudare sufficis.

Laudis Thema Specialis, Panis vivus et vitalis, Hodie proponitur.

Quem in Sacrae Mensa Coenae, Turbae fratrum duodenae datum non ambigitur.

Sit Laus Plena, Sit Sonora, Sit jucunda, sit decora mentis jubilatio.

Dies Enim Solemnis Agitur, In qua mensae prima recolitur hujus institutio.

In Hac Mensa Novi Regis, Novum Pascha novae legis, Phase vetus terminat.

Vetustatem Novitas, Umbram fugat veritas, Noctem lux eliminat.

Quod in Coena Christus Gessit, Faciendum hoc expressit in Sui memoriam.

Docti Sacris Institutis, Panem, vinum, in salutis Consecramus hostiam.

Dogma Datur Christianis, Quod in Carnem transit panis, Et vinum in Sanguinem.

Quod Non Capis, Quod Non Vides, Animosa firmat fides, Praeter rerum ordinem.

Sub Diversis Speciebus, Signis tantum, et non rebus, Latent res eximiae.

Caro Cibus, Sanguis Potus : Manet tamen Christus totus, Sub utraque specie.

Asumente Non Concisus, Non confractus, non divisus : Integer accipitur.

Sumit Unus, Sumunt Mille : Quantum isti, tantum ille : Nec sumptus consumitur.

Sumunt Boni, Sumunt Mali : Sorte tamen inaequali, Vitae vel interitus.

Mors est Malis, Vita Bonis : Vide paris sumptionis quam sit dispar exitus.

Fracto Demum Sacramento, Ne vacilles, sed memento, Tantum esse sub fragmento, Quantum toto tegitur.

Nulla Rei Fit Scissura : Signi tantem fit fractura : Qua nec status nec statura signati minuitur.

Ecce Panis Angelorum, Factus cibus viatorum : Vere panis filiorum, Non mittendus canibus.

In Figuris Praesignatur, Cum Isaac immolatur : Agnus paschae deputatur datur manna patribus.

Bone Pastor, Panis Vere, Jesu, nostri miserere : Tu nos pasce, nos tuere : Tu nos bona fac videre in terra viventium.

Tu, Qui Cuncta Scis Et Vales : Qui nos pascis hic mortales : Tuos ibi commensales, Coheredes et sodales, Fac sanctorum civium.

Amen. Alleluja.

English translation

Praise, o Sion, your Saviour, praise your Leader and your Shepherd in hymns and canticles.

As much as you can, so much you dare, for He is above all praise, nor you are able to praise Him enough.

Today there is given us a special theme of praise, the Bread both living and life-giving.

Which, is not to be doubted, was given to the assembly of the brethren, Twelve in number, at the table of the Holy Supper.

Let our praise be full and sounding, let the jubilations of the soul be joyous and becoming.

For that solemn day is now being celebrated, on which is commemorated the first institution of this table.

At this table of the new King, the new Passover of the New Law puts an end to the ancient Passover.

The new supplants the old, truth puts to flight the shadow, day banishes night.

What Christ did at that Supper, the same He commanded to be done in remembrance of Him.

Taught by His sacred precepts, we consecrate bread and wine into the Victim of salvation.

This is the dogma given to Christians, that bread is changed into Flesh, and wine into Blood.

What you do not understand, what you do not see, a lively faith confirms in a supernatural manner.

Under different species in externals only, and not in reality, wondrous substances lie hidden.

Flesh is good, Blood is drink, nevertheless Christ remains entire under each species.

By the recipient the whole Christ is received, He is neither cut, broken nor divided.

One receives Him, a thousand receive Him, as much as the thousand receive, so much does the one receive, though consumed, He is not diminished.

The good receive Him, the bad receive Him, but with what unequal consequences of life or death.

It is death to the unworthy, life to the worthy, behold then of a like reception, how unlike may be the result!

When the Sacrament is broken, doubt not, but remember, that there is just as much hidden in a fragment, as there is in the whole.

There is no division of the substance, only a breaking of the species takes place, by which neither the state nor stature of the substance signified is diminished.

Lo, the Bread of Angels is made the food of earthly pilgrims. Truly, it is the Bread of children, let it not be cast to dogs.

It was prefigured in types, when Isaac was immolated, when the Paschal Lamb was sacrificed, when Manna was given to the fathers.

O Good Shepherd, True Bread, o Jesus, have mercy on us, feed us and protect us. Make us see good things in the land of the living.

You who knows all things and can do all things, who here feeds us mortals, make us there be Your guests, the co-heirs and companions of the heavenly citizens.

Amen. Alleluia.

(Usus Antiquior) The Feast of Corpus Christi (I Classis) – Thursday, 30 May 2024 : Gradual and Alleluia

Liturgical Colour : White

Psalm 144 : 15-16 and John 6 : 56-57

Oculi omnium in Te sperant, Domine : et Tu das illis escam in tempore opportuno.

Response : Aperis Tu manum Tuam : et imples omne animal benedictione.

Alleluja, Alleluja.

Response : Caro Mea vere est cibus, et Sanguis Meus vere est potus : qui manducat Meam Carnem et bibit Meum Sanguinem, in Me manet et Ego in eo.

English translation

The eyes of all hope in You, o Lord, and You give them meat in due season.

Response : You opened Your hand, and fill every living creature with Your blessing.

Alleluia, Alleluia.

Response : My Flesh is meat indeed, and My Blood is drink indeed. He who eats My Flesh and drinks My Blood, abides in Me, and I in him.

(Usus Antiquior) The Feast of Corpus Christi (I Classis) – Thursday, 30 May 2024 : Epistle

Liturgical Colour : White

Lectio Epistolae Beati Pauli Apostoli ad Corinthios – Lesson from the Epistle of Blessed Paul the Apostle to the Corinthians

1 Corinthians 11 : 23-29

Fratres : Ego enim accepi a Domino quod et tradidi vobis, quoniam Dominus Jesus, in qua nocte tradebatur, accepit panem, et gratias agens fregit, et dixit : Accipite, et manducate : hoc est Corpus Meum, quod pro vobis tradetur : hoc facite in Meam commemorationem.

Similiter et calicem, postquam cenavit, dicens : Hic calix Novum Testamentum est in Meo Sanguine. Hoc facite, quotiescumque bibetis, in Meam commemorationem. Quotiescumque enim manducabitis panem hunc et calicem bibetis, mortem Domini annuntiabitis, donec veniat.

Itaque quicumque manducaverit panem hunc vel biberit calicem Domini indigne, reus erit Corporis et Sanguinis Domini. Probet autem seipsum homo : et sic de pane illo edat et de calice bibat. Qui enim manducat et bibit indigne, judicum sibi manducat et bibit : non dijudicans Corpus Domini.

English translation

Brethren, I have received of the Lord, that which I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus, the same night in which He was betrayed, took bread, and giving thanks, broke it, and said, ‘Take all of you and eat, this is My Body which shall be delivered for you, do this for the commemoration of Me.’

In like manner He also took the chalice, after He had finished supper, saying, ‘This chalice is the New Testament in My Blood, this all of you do, as often as you shall drink, for the commemoration of Me.’ For as often as you shall eat this bread, and drink this chalice, you shall show the death of the Lord until He comes.

Therefore whosoever shall eat this bread, or drink of the chalice of the Lord unworthily, shall be guilty of the Body and Blood of the Lord. But let a man prove himself, and so let him eat of that bread, and drink of the chalice. For he who eats and drinks unworthily, eats and drinks judgment to himself, not discerning the Body of the Lord.

(Usus Antiquior) The Feast of Corpus Christi (I Classis) – Thursday, 30 May 2024 : Introit and Collect

Liturgical Colour : White

Introit

Psalm 80 : 17, 2

Cibavit eos ex adipe frumenti, Alleluja : et de petra, melle saturavit eos, Alleluja, Alleluja, Alleluja.

Exsultate Deo, adjutorio nostro : jubilate Deo Jacob.

Response : Gloria Patri et Filio et Spiritui Sancto, sicut erat in principio, et nunc, et semper : et in saecula saeculorum. Amen.

English translation

He fed them with the fat of wheat, Alleluia, and filled them with honey out of the rock, Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia.

Rejoice to God our Helper, sing aloud to the God of Jacob.

Response : Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.

Collect

Deus, qui nobis sub Sacramento mirabili passionis Tuae memoriam reliquisti : tribue, quaesumus, ita nos Corporis et Sanguinis Tui sacra mysteria venerari; ut redemptionis Tuae fructum in nobis jugiter sentiamus : Qui vivis et regnat in unitate Spiritui Sancti Deus, per omnia saecula saeculorum. Amen.

English translation

O God, Who in this wonderful sacrament has left us a memorial of Your passion, grant us, we beseech You, so to venerate the sacred mysteries of Your Body and Blood that we may constantly experience in ourselves the fruit of Your redemption. You Who lives and reigns in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, world without end. Amen.

Sunday, 26 May 2024 : Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, this Sunday we celebrate the occasion of the Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity, or also known as Trinity Sunday. On this Sunday we commemorate and focus our attention on this important tenet in our Christian faith, one that is truly Christian in nature, and one of the core tenets and beliefs of our faith in God. This is because unlike any other monotheistic beliefs, there is none other that beliefs in the Holy Trinity of One God in Three Divine Persons as we have believed in, the belief in the Triune God Who is One and only One, and yet manifesting Himself in Three Divine Persons of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, distinct and yet indivisible and perfectly united to each other as One.

This is our Christian faith, our Trinitarian beliefs and our faith in the One Lord Who in His Person of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit have each interacted with us, and shown us all His love and truth, His compassion and grace. But what is the Holy Trinity all about? Do we truly know and understand what it means for us to believe in the One Lord in Three Divine Persons? There are many people both within and outside the Church who misunderstood what the Holy Trinity is all about, and there are not few of those who think that we worship not one but three Gods. This is definitely false, and it does not help that there are quite a lot of falsehoods and inaccurate representations of the Holy Trinity that are believed by those outside the Church, misrepresentations of the Holy Trinity that perpetuated this misunderstandings, that even quite a number within the Church also followed and believed in.

What is the Holy Trinity? As mentioned, as Christians we believe in the One and only True God, Creator and Master of all the Universe, which has Three Divine Persons or Aspects just as we profess every time we say the Creed. The Nicene Creed begins with, ‘I believe in One God’, which states clearly this belief in the Oneness of God, and then continues with ‘The Father Almighty, Maker of Heaven and Earth’, and then ‘I believe in One Lord Jesus Christ, the only Begotten Son of God, born of the Father before all ages… consubstantial with the Father’ which highlights that there has always been only One Lord and God, and the Father, Son and the Holy Spirit are all part of this One God, with Jesus Christ, the Son of God being ‘begotten’ and not ‘created’. The Son and the Holy Spirit are part of this Holy Trinity together with the Father, from before the beginning of time.

The Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit are all co-equal and co-eternal, having existed before the beginning of time, for eternity. And unlike what some heresies and false teachings propagated, we all believe that the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit are all equal to each other, and the Son and/or the Holy Spirit are not subordinated to any of the other members of the Holy Trinity. Then, at the same time, the Holy Trinity is incomplete without any of its members, and this highlights the fact mentioned earlier that the Three Divine Persons of the Holy Trinity are both distinct and indivisible at the same time. Each and every members of the Holy Trinity are present at the moment of Creation and throughout all history. The Father willed the Creation and the Universe into being, through the Son, the Word of God, by His words, ‘Let there be…’, and the Holy Spirit being the Spirit of Creation and Life present in all of Creation, making all things coming to be.

At the moment of the Incarnation, the Holy Spirit was also present, with the Father’s will again making the impossible to be possible, that the Son of God, the Divine Word, became incarnate in the flesh, taking up our human form and existence, our nature to be the Son of Man, in the Person of Jesus Christ our Lord, by the power of the Holy Spirit that made it all happen, in the holy womb of Mary, the Holy Mother of God. The Holy Trinity has been mentioned in the many parts of the Scriptures, and throughout the history of the world, and at the supreme moment of our salvation when the Lord died on the Cross, the Holy Trinity is again present, as the Son of God, lay dying on His Cross, gave up His Spirit, the Holy Spirit, back to God the Father, with the words, ‘Father, into Your hands, I commend My Spirit.’ Truly, the Lord in His Most Holy Trinity, has been always present in our midst, all these time, just as through His Son, He has made Himself visible, approachable and tangible to us.

The most tangible proof of the Holy Trinity itself is the words of the Lord, Who said that ‘I and the Father are One.’ and in another occasion with, ‘May they all be one, just as We are One.’, referring to the Oneness and the Unity of the Holy Trinity in the One God, and the relationship between the Father and the Son, and then also the Holy Spirit, which the Lord Jesus in more than one occasion send upon the disciples, with the words, ‘Receive the Holy Spirit.’ And the Lord Himself told the disciples and all of His Church as we heard in our Gospel passage, the Great Commission that He has entrusted to each and every one of us, that is to go forth to all the peoples and all the nations so that everyone from all the nations may receive the Good News of God, believe in Him and be baptised in the Name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. All these are the reasons why although throughout time and history, there were those who denied the Holy Trinity, and yet the belief in the Triune God remains strong to this very day.

Now, after we have discussed the nature of the Holy Trinity and our belief in the Triune God, we also need to ask ourselves, why the Lord then created us all? In our first reading this Sunday, we heard from the Book of Deuteronomy in which Moses spoke to the people of Israel during the time of the Exodus about their great privilege to have been called and chosen as the holy people of God, as the ones whom God had first made to be His own people, to be loved and cared for by Him. Why did God then create all of us if He is already perfect and all good? First of all, we must understand that the Holy Trinity of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit is united by the perfect bond of love, which overflows from the Holy Trinity to all of us. God is Love, and He is so full of love that He wants to share this love with each and every one of us. We were created so that we may share in God’s love.

That was why we heard from the Book of Deuteronomy, of Moses reminding the people of just how much God had loved them, taken care of them and provided for them despite of their many disobedience and rebellious attitudes. God is so full of love that He has done all that were necessary to bring them out of their slavery and bondage in Egypt, and providing them with the means to survive the long journey in the desert, protecting them all from harm and from their enemies. And while they were also chastised and punished by the Lord for their disobedience and rebellion, but God did so with the intention to help His people to find their way back towards Him, and for them all to realise that their attitudes and actions were causing them to be sundered and separated from His wonderful love, grace and kindness.

In our second reading today, we heard from the Epistle of St. Paul to the Church and the faithful people of God in Rome in which he spoke of how every one of them have become and have indeed been made to be the children of God, as through His Spirit and by His Son sharing in our human nature and existence, all of us have received this adoption, by becoming members and parts of the Body of Christ, the One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church that just as Christ Our Lord called God the Father as His Heavenly Father, thus we are all also able to call the Lord our God as our Father as well. This is what all of us have received from the Lord Himself, showing us just how loving and compassionate He is, and how fortunate all of us indeed are, to have been beloved in such a way.

What we all now need to do as Christians is that we need to first of all remember this core tenet of our faith in the Most Holy Trinity, our Lord and God, Creator and Master of all the Universe, Who is One, but having Three Divine Persons in the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. We have to appreciate and understand the significance of this Trinitarian Doctrine so that we may help many others both within and outside the Church to know what it is that we all as Christians truly believe in the Lord, in one God Who manifested Himself in the Three Divine Persons, co-equal and co-eternal, distinct and yet indivisible from one another. We must also give thanks to Him Who has loved us so much that this overflowing love from the perfect bond in the Holy Trinity has been outpoured on us from the very beginning.

Then, reflecting upon the unity within the Most Holy Trinity, let us also remember our own community of believers as Christians, who are all members of the same Body of Christ, the One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church. If Our Lord Himself is perfectly united in the indivisible bond of love in the Most Holy Trinity, then we ourselves cannot and should not be divided against each other. Unfortunately and sadly, such divisions are quite common both in the past and present, as there were various schisms and heresies that led to the splintering of the unity of the Body of Christ, the One Church of God. This is why on this Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity, we must renew our faith in the Lord and strive to advance and champion unity among all the believers in Christ, our Lord.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, let us all therefore as Christians, as those who believe in the One Lord in Three Divine Persons, the Most Holy Trinity and Triune God, continue to live our lives most worthily, so that by our most exemplary lives, we may truly be the bearers of Our Lord’s truth and Good News, and be the worthy bearers of His love and compassion, His ways and examples into this world. O Most Holy God, forever worthy of praise, honour and worship, Our Lord and God in the Most Holy Trinity of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, have mercy on us all sinners and be with Your Church, so that in all that we do and in our every good efforts and endeavours, may You continue to bless and guide us all in our path, in serving You at all times. Amen.