The Catholic bulletin. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1911-1995, 1918-03-23
(ContinBed from page ~
Ceremonies Of Holy Week

Ceremonies Of Holy Week
let US be glad and rejoice therein"
and the refrain, Alleluja! Alleluja!
resound throughout the Mass, Vespers
and the entire liturgical office
We have SO much reason to be
thankful to our Saviour on Easter
| Sunday, because the resurrection is
the proof of our redemption. The
Apostle of the Gentiles writes: IF
Christ be not risen again, your faith
| is in vain, for you are yet in your
sins" True, by His death on the
cross Christ merited for us the for
givere@s of sin and eternal life. But
in His resurrection we have the I'M
deniable proof. that He was the One
Who could reconcile man with God.
He lad foretold His resurrection.
| Therefore if He had not risen again,
He would have proved Himself an
| impOstor.
Day of Triumph.
Easter is the day of our Lords
! triumph. 1t is tho day on which the
Redecmer of mankind showed most
Enthusiastically His divine mission.
| During His public life Jesus had
wrought many miracles that would
convince the sincere and upright of
| His divinity. From His birth to His
death our Lord showed Himself as
| the One in Whom all the prophecies
about the Messiah were fulfilled And
| yet even at the hour of His death
they Knocked Him, as the Psalmist
foretold: All they that saw me have
| laughed me to Scorn: they have
spoken with their lips and wagged
their heads While nature itself
was proclaiming the divinity of the
Crucified and bewailing the death of
| natures God, few only were found
who like the Roman centurion struck
! their breasts and confessed: Verify,
this is the Son of God" When Jesus
| died on the cross, His enemies may
| have thought that they had won the
victory, but how they were undo
ceived on Easter morning! Satan and
all the powers of hell may have re-
| joiced in the thought that after the
death of Jesus their power and reign
upon earth would be undisputed, but
by that very death Christ broke the
| power Of hell, and by His resurrec
ton He showed that His might is in
vincible and His reign upon earth will
endure to the end Of time.
There have not been wanting nor
are wanting such as denied or still
deny the resurrection Of Christ. This
seems almost incredible in the face
Of the facts presented both by sacred
and profane history Yet it has been
and is still done, because the resur-
rection being denied the whole Cath
olic doctrine falls fat to the ground
and intidelity reigns supreme. But it is
vain to argue with unbelievers. They
deny this truth not because they do
not sec it, but because they do not
wish to submit to the doctrine of
Christ and the teaching of his Church.
which they must provided they adj
nit Christ's resurrection.
Value of Resurrection.
Without the resurrection there
could have been no Church, for
though the foundation of Gods i'm
mortal edifice has been laid in the
great sacraments of Baptism and
Eucharist instituted by Christ before
His passion and death, His resurrec-
ton was of supreme value to the
young Church and the unborn myri-
ads of human beings destined to round
out the ages. 1t was not until the
resurrection had been accomplished
that God could send the Paraclete to
illumine and strengthen the disciples
and fill them with that knowledge
whereby they were able to convince
the world of the truth of Christianity
He is risen!" How these words
must have thrilled the chosen ones
who had not as yet seen Him, when
the two moro privileged ones who
had met Him on the road to Emmaus
brought in the joyful news! Gle is
risen" These three little words
were big with the fate of all the
earth and all its future generations.
No Church was born ere they were
| pronounced; there was no salvation
for the world until the fact which
they announced had been accom-
plished. Christ taught the immortal
ity of the human soul, the truth of
which He proved by His glorious res
direction, by which He likewise
| proved that He is very God. These
are the fundamental principles on
which Christianity rests-belief in
the Immortality of the human soul
and belief in God Who created that
soul, and who will judge it according
to it's deserts when its allotted time
in this mundane sphere has run it's
course.