Benedict XVI's homily for the Chrism Mass of Holy Thursday 2009. The annual occasion on which the bishop, who is the only one who do so, blesses sacred chrism and other holy oils to be used throughout the diocese in the coming year. ...
This piece by St. Bernard of Clairvaux on the wounds of Christ is very fitting to be used in Lent and especially during Holy Week as we meditate on the Passion of the Lord Jesus & his mercy. St. Bernard, perhaps the greatest preacher...
One great way to observe the early Christian tradition of the Octave or eight days of Easter is to read a different resurrection account from the gospels each day of Easter week. Here is a list of the resurrection accounts, one for each day...
Saint Gregory of Nyssa here provides a moving explanation of a phrase from Psalm 118 that is a traditional refrain for the great resurrection feast known as Great Pascha or Easter: This is the Day the Lord has made, let us rejoice and be...
Melito of Sardis, a 2nd century Father of the Church, shows how the Passover Lamb and many Old Testament realities, prefigure Christ and his suffering. This marvelous Holy Week reading is a great example of the spiritual sense of Scripture....
Leo the Great reflects on the passion of Jesus Christ and sees in it not shame, but glory. He sees in the cross not weakness, but power. In his passion and death on the cross, Jesus fulfills all the sacrifices of the Old...
Jesus sacrifice of himself for our sake on the cross has brought redemption to the whole world, says St. John Fisher, the fifteenth century English bishop whose own self-sacrifice would recall that of his master....
he blood and water that flowed from Christ's side on the cross were symbols of the eucharist and baptism, prefigured by the blood of the Passover Lamb, says one of the greatest preachers of the early Church....
Irenaeus explains how the Son, the Word, became man so that he might share with his immortality with us who are corruptible and mortal. Christ is, then, the first fruits of the Resurrection....
Augustine here connects the passion of Jesus beginning in the Garden of Gethsemane and culminating on the cross, with the sufferings of the whole body of Christ, commenting on Psalm 141 along with the passion narratives of Mark and Luke....