+ In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

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Come Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of your faithful and kindle in them the fire of your love. Send forth your Spirit and they shall be created. And You shall renew the face of the earth.

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O, God, who by the light of the Holy Spirit, did instruct the hearts of the faithful, grant that by the same Holy Spirit we may be truly wise and ever enjoy His consolations, Through Christ Our Lord, Amen.

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St. Ignatius of Loyola: pray for us.

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Introduction

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After Christ expired on the Cross, his body remained separated from the soul, but always united with the Divinity. His soul, likewise united with the divinity, descended into hell. There he sets free the souls of the just, then comes to the sepulchre, and rising, appears in body and soul to His Blessed Mother.

 

Preparatory Prayer: “The preparatory prayer is to ask grace of God our Lord that all my intentions, actions and operations may be directed purely to the service and praise of His Divine Majesty”.

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Composition of Place: Here it will be to see the arrangement of the holy sepulchre and the place or house of our Lady. I will note its different parts, and also her room, her oratory, etc.

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Petition: “[It] is to ask God our Lord for what I want and desire. We will ask the grace to be glad and rejoice intensely because of the great joy and the glory of Christ our Lord.”

 

Corpus of the Meditation

 

The four Evangelists documented the Resurrection and its principal points, and each one presents its details in his own individual style.

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• Saint Matthew reports the earthquake, the sight of the angel and the empty tomb. He relates the angel’s words to the holy women to “go quickly and tell” what they have learned; and also Jesus appearance to his apostles in Galilee.

 

• Saint Mark tells us how Mary Magdalene and Mary, the mother of James, standing in the first rays of sunlight, discussed the problem of rolling the stone from its door. He relates their amazement on discovering the sacred body gone, the message of the angel within the tomb and how they were to tell the news to the Apostles.

 

• Saint Luke describes the appearance to the holy women of two angels, the women’s report to the Eleven, and the Apostle’s incredulity at the story.  Saint Luke also tells us how two disciples mistook Jesus for a stranger, and this stranger taught to them the Messianic prophecies and finally how he broke the bread for them and they believed in him.

 

• Saint John presents Peter and John in the tomb examining with awe the folded bandages and shroud, Mary Magdalene looking for Jesus and Christ calling her by her name, Jesus standing among his disciples in the Cenacle, Thomas and his disbelieve, his presence among them in the morning on the shore of the sea of Galilee, and his commission to Peter to feed his sheep.

 

Faith in the Resurrection has as its object an event which is historically attested to by the disciples, who really encountered the Risen One.

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The empty tomb and the linen clothes lying there signify in themselves that by God's power, Christ's body had escaped the bonds of death and corruption. Theses historical facts prepared the disciples to encounter the Risen Lord.

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Christ, 'the first-born from the dead' (Colossians 1, 18), is the principle of our own resurrection, even now by the justification of our souls (cf. Romans 6, 4), and one day by the new life he will impart to our bodies (cf. Romans 8, 11)

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We can focus our attention on two moments of this Glorious Christ:

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1.  Christ appears to the souls of the just;

2. Christ appears to his Mother.

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I. CHRIST APPEARS TO THE SOULS OF THE JUST

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All who have passed away in God’s grace, the Patriarchs, the Prophets, Joachim, Anne, Zacharias, Elizabeth, Joseph, John the Baptist, all those who were waiting with expectation this day. There, also our first parents Adam and Eve were in silence waiting for their Creator.

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An ancient homily relates this moment:

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“The whole earth keeps silence because the King is asleep. God has died in the flesh and hell trembles with fear. He has gone to search for our first parent, as for a lost sheep. With great desire to visit those who live in darkness and in the shadow of death, he has gone to free from sorrow the captives Adam and Eve, he who is both God and the son of Eve. The Lord approached them bearing the cross, the weapon that had won him the victory. At the sight of him, Adam, the first man he had created, struck his chest in terror and cried out to everyone: “My Lord be with you all.” Christ answered him: “and with your spirit”. He took him by the hand and raised him up, saying: “Awake, O sleeper, and rise from the dead, and Christ will give you light.”

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"I order you to awake. I did not create you to be held a prisoner in hell. Rise from the dead, for I am the life of the dead. Rise, let us leave this place!"

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"For your sake, I, your God, became your son; I, the Lord, took the form of a slave; I, whose home is above the heavens, descended to the earth and beneath the earth. For your sake, for the sake of man, I became like a man without help."

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"Rise, let us leave the place! The enemy led you out of the earthly paradise. I will not restore you to that paradise, but I will enthrone you in heaven. The banquet is ready. The eternal dwelling places are prepared. The kingdom of heaven has been prepared for you from all eternity”.

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II. CHRIST APPEARS TO HIS MOTHER①

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Christ’s first appearance after the resurrection to His Blessed Mother is taken for granted. For although not mentioned in Scripture, if He appeared to many others besides the few named, it is clear that among these His Mother was the most worthy and therefore the first to be consoled by His risen humanity.

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All the known sources that Ignatius consulted took the fact for granted, as Suarez explains in commenting on this mystery: “there is not the slightest doubt that after the resurrection, Christ appeared to His Mother before anyone else. This is so intrinsically credible as to be almost universally accepted by the great doctors of the Church, the faithful in general and by all Catholic writers who touch upon the subject.”

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When Mark says that Christ “appeared first to Mary Magdalene,” this should be taken to mean either that she was the first among those whom the Gospels describe as witnesses of the resurrection or among those to whom Christ appeared in order to confirm their faith. This is the reason for the omission of any reference to the Blessed Virgin②.

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III. Effect of the Resurrection: Joy

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From the Resurrection of the Lord arises an essential element of our spirituality, and of all Christian spirituality, joy. For us, joy must be manifested in special ways: in the celebration of the Lord’s Day, Sunday; in having a sense of feasting; and in the recreation, that we call eutrapelia.

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Joy, the gigantic secret of the Christian, is spiritual and supernatural, and arises from meditating on the mystery of the Incarnate Word. The angel Gabriel said to Mary, “Rejoice, be glad”. She would say, my spirit rejoices (Luke 1:47) after Elizabeth had witnessed, the babe in my womb leapt for joy (Luke 1:44).

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Joy is also born from witnessing the mystery of the Resurrection of the Lord: “so they departed quickly from the tomb with fear and great joy” (Mt 28:8). Likewise, the disciples of Emmaus experienced joy: “did not our hearts burn within us while he talked to us on the road?” (Luke 24:32). Saint Paul insists: “rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice” (Philippians 4:4).

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• Therefore, the Christian must always be joyful in everything.

• The Christian has to be joyful in the practice of virtues.

• The Christian also has to be joyful in sufferings.

• The Christian must also rejoice in the community of followers of the Risen One.

• Christian must rejoice in the proclamation of Christ: Christ is proclaimed.

• Ultimately, joy springs forth by considering that God is.

• “God is infinite joy” ③.

 

Colloquy

 

We can finish with a colloquy with our Lord or with Mary.

 

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Footnotes:

① Fr. John Hardon, All my Liberty.

② Francis Suarez, De Mysteriis Vitae Christi, Disp. XLIX, sec. 1, num 2.

③ St. Teresa of the Andes, Letters, 101.