SIXTEENTH LESSON
Wednesday of the Holy Week.
"The kings of the earth stood up, and the princes assembled together against the Lord, and against his Christ. "—Acts iv. 26.
On the Monday and Tuesday of the holy week, my children, nothing particular takes place in Church. On the Wednesday begins the service of the Tenebrae, which is also celebrated on the two following days. This service is so called because it is sung in the evening; it is also called Nocturn, because formerly it began at midnight. The Tenebrae are composed of psalms, of passages taken from the writings of the holy Fathers, and from the Lamentations of Jeremiah. These lamentations are sorrowful chants, which were inspired to Jeremiah by the knowledge imparted him by God, of the impending ruin of Jerusalem. All the prayers of Tenebrae are sung in a slow and mournful tone. During this office it is customary to light a triangular candlestick composed of fifteen branches, in each of which is fixed a wax-taper; at the end of each psalm, one of these wax-tapers is extinguished. These wax-tapers represent the light of heavenly knowledge gradually diffused over the world by the succeeding prophets until the coming of the Son of God on earth. The last taper alone remains lit; and is emblematic of Jesus Christ, who is the true light of man during all eternity.
Our Lord, my children, had returned from Jerusalem to Bethania; where he lived in the house of Simon the leper. On the eve of the day on which he was for the last time to eat the Pasch with his disciples, our Lord foretold his approaching death. On that same day the chief priests and ancients of the people were gathered together in the house of Caiphas, the high priest; they all hated Jesus Christ, on account of the affection the people showed him, and also because the virtues preached by our Lord were the condemnation of their vices. They met together accordingly to deliberate on the means of putting Jesus to death, and they said: "Not on the festival day, lest perhaps there should be a tumult among the people." In the meantime Judas Iscariot, one of the twelve Apostles, inspired by the demon of covetousness, shamefully plotted to sell his divine Master. He went to the princes of the priests, and said to them: "What will you give me, and I will deliver him up to you?" They promised him thirty pieces of silver, and from thenceforth he sought for an opportunity to betray our Lord.
All the secrets of men's hearts are known to Jesus, who was therefore fully aware of Judas's criminal design. We can all the more easily imagine how deeply the ingratitude of one he had so loved must have wounded the heart of our Saviour. He most assuredly felt then what David experienced when persecuted and betrayed by his son Absalom: "I am torn with anguish in the depths of my soul," said the holy king; "It is not my enemy who insults me: it is thou, my son, thou whom I loved, thou, a part of myself."
How effectually do these sorrowful words express the sadness thou must have felt, O my Saviour, at thy Apostle's treason! How can I explain the sentiments with which such odious conduct inspires me? I feel my heart swell with indignation. And yet, my God, when I prefer my pleasure to thy holy will, as I often have had the misfortune to do, when I disobey thy laws after promising thee to be faithful, do I not also betray thee? Do I not, to a certain degree, imitate the ingratitude of Judas?
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