The Liturgy
This week began with the celebration of our Blessed Savior’s entry into his own city of Jerusalem with the beautiful shouts of “Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.” Those shouts of praise for the King of Israel quickly turned to cries of “Crucify him!” The Lord announces his glorification and what exactly that will mean for him, for “the hour” had come for him, in obedience, to fulfill the Father’s plan. Our Blessed Savior teaches all of us the depths of God’s love. We are asked to accept the saving reality of Christ’s words, “Amen, amen, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains just a grain of wheat; but if it dies, it produces much fruit. Whoever loves his life loses it, and whoever hates his life in this world will preserve it for eternal life. Whoever serves me must follow me, and where I am, there also will my servant be. The Father will honor whoever serves me.” (John 12:24-26)
May our participation in the liturgical celebrations of the Sacred Triduum strengthen our resolve to cooperate with grace and be willing to follow our Lord in a sacrificial way of life, thanking God for all that we have received through the Paschal Mystery, so we may continue to follow our Savior into eternal glory through lives of service to God and neighbor.
A way to enter more deeply into the Sacred Triduum is to consider the “Holy Stairs.” The Scala Sancta, also known as the “Holy Stairs,” is the staircase which our Savior ascended during his Passion while proceeding to Pilate’s praetorium. It is piously held that the Holy Stairs were brought from Jerusalem to Rome around 326 A.D. by St. Helena, mother of the Emperor Constantine, along with other relics from the Holy Land, including those of the true cross. Once part of the Lateran Place, the longtime residence of the popes, the stairs are now part of a special pilgrimage site across from the Basilica of St. John Lateran. At the top of the stairs is the Sancta Sanctorum, or “Holy of Holies,” chapel that was, until the Renaissance, the private chapel of the popes.
Call to mind the 28 steps of this staircase made holy by the footsteps of our Blessed Savior, Jesus Christ, along with this prayer:
“O merciful Jesus! For the salvation of the world, you did submit to the suffering of the scourging and crowning with thorns! You did allow yourself to be dragged by impious hands on these stairs to be led before Pilate. I desire to venerate with deep respect the bloodstained traces of your divine feet, and I humbly beg you, by the merits of your Passion, to grant, that I may one day ascend to the throne of glory, where you live and reign with the Father and the Holy Spirit forever and ever. Amen.”
Conclude your contemplation of our Lord’s saving Passion with the following prayer:
“Your Resurrection, O Jesus, is the pledge of ours. But I know that the one who will not share your sufferings on earth will not rejoice with you in heaven; the one who will not combat with you to the end will not be crowned with thee. O Savior of my soul, I beg you, grant me the grace to bear patiently the trials of this life. Yes, I wish to save my soul that you have redeemed at the price of so much suffering; I wish to love you for ever in heaven and there share your happiness throughout eternity. Amen.”
