Catechism, Psalms 34:4-19, Isaiah 55:10-11, Matthew 6:7-15, Saint Boniface of Brussels, Diocese of Lausanne, Geneva and Fribourg, Lausanne Switzerland, Catholic Catechism Part One Section 2 The Creeds Chapter 2 Article 4:2 Jesus Died Crucified
Good Day Bloggers! Wishing everyone a Blessed Week!
Year of Faith - October 11, 2012 - November 24, 2013
P.U.S.H. (Pray Until Serenity Happens). It has a remarkable way of producing solace, peace, patience and tranquility and of course resolution...God's always available 24/7.
The world begins and ends everyday for someone. We are all human. We all experience birth, life and death. We all have
flaws but we also all have the gift of knowledge and free will,
make the most of these gifts. Life on earth is a stepping stone to our eternal home in
Heaven. Its your choice whether to rise towards eternal light or lost to
eternal darkness. Material items, though needed for sustenance and
survival on earth are of earthly value only. The only thing that passes
from this earth to Purgatory and/or Heaven is our Soul, our Spirit...it's God's perpetual
gift to us...Embrace it, treasure it, nurture it, protect it...
"Raise not a hand to another unless it is to offer in peace and goodwill." ~ Zarya Parx 2012
Heed the Solemnity of Lent! This Lent instead of "Giving Up" something, why not "Give" by volunteering time to a worthy cause, or extending a simple act of kindness!
34 “Then the King will say to those on His right, ‘Come, you who are blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. 35 For I was hungry, and you gave Me something to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me something to drink; I was a stranger, and you invited Me in; 36 naked, and you clothed Me; I was sick, and you visited Me; I was in prison, and you came to Me.’ 37 Then the righteous will answer Him, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry, and feed You, or thirsty, and give You something to drink? 38 And when did we see You a stranger, and invite You in, or naked, and clothe You? 39 When did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?’ 40 The King will answer and say to them, ‘Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did it to one of these brothers of Mine, even the least of them, you did it to Me.’(Matthew 25:34-40)
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Prayers for Today: Tuesday in Lent
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Prayer For the Holy Election of Our New Pope
May the Lord preserve the sanctity of the enclave as they embark on electing our new Holy Father, give him life, and make him blessed upon earth, and deliver him not to the will of his enemies.
LET US PRAY:
O God, the Shepherd and Ruler of all the faithful, in Thy mercy look down upon Thy servant, (Our New Pope), whom Thou will appoint to preside over Thy Church, and grant we beseech Thee that both by word and example he may edify those who are under his charge; so that, with the flock entrusted to him, he may attain life everlasting. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.
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February 2, 2013 Message From Our Lady of Medjugorje to World:
"Dear children, love is bringing me to you - the love which I desire to
teach you also - real love; the love which my Son showed you when He
died on the Cross out of love for you; the love which is always ready to
forgive and to ask for forgiveness. How great is your love? My motherly
heart is sorrowful as it searches for love in
your hearts. You are not ready to submit your will to God's will out of
love. You cannot help me to have those who have not come to know God's
love to come to know it, because you do not have real love. Consecrate
your hearts to me and I will lead you. I will teach you to forgive, to
love your enemies and to live according to my Son. Do not be afraid for
yourselves. In afflictions my Son does not forget those who love. I will
be beside you. I will implore the Heavenly Father for the light of
eternal truth and love to illuminate you. Pray for your shepherds so
that through your fasting and prayer they can lead you in love. Thank
you."
January 25, 2013 Message From Our Lady of Medjugorje to World:
"Dear children! Also today I call you to prayer. May your prayer be as strong as a living stone, until with your lives you become witnesses. Witness the beauty of your faith. I am with you and intercede before my Son for each of you. Thank you for having responded to my call."
"Dear children! Also today I call you to prayer. May your prayer be as strong as a living stone, until with your lives you become witnesses. Witness the beauty of your faith. I am with you and intercede before my Son for each of you. Thank you for having responded to my call."
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Today's Word: catechism cat·e·chism [kat-i-kiz-uh
m]
Origin: 1495–1505; < Late Latin catēchismus apparently equivalent to catēch ( izāre ) to catechize + -ismus -ism
noun
noun
1. Ecclesiastical .
a. an elementary book containing a summary of the principles of the Christian religion, especially as maintained by a particular church, in the form of questions and answers.
b. the contents of such a book.
2. a similar book of instruction in other subjects.
3. a series of formal questions put, as to political candidates, to bring out their views.
4. catechetical instruction.
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Today's Old Testament Reading - Psalms 34:4-19
4 I seek Yahweh and he answers me, frees me from all my fears.
5 Fix your gaze on Yahweh and your face will grow bright, you will never hang your head in shame.
6 A pauper calls out and Yahweh hears, saves him from all his troubles.
7 The angel of Yahweh encamps around those who fear him, and rescues them.
16 But Yahweh's face is set against those who do evil, to cut off the memory of them from the earth.
17 They cry in anguish and Yahweh hears, and rescues them from all their troubles.
18 Yahweh is near to the broken-hearted, he helps those whose spirit is crushed.
19 Though hardships without number beset the upright, Yahweh brings rescue from them all.
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Today's Epistle - Isaiah 55:10-11
10 For, as the rain and the snow come
down from the sky and do not return before having watered the earth, fertilizing it and making it germinate to provide seed for the sower and
food to eat,
11 so it is with the word that goes from my mouth: it will not return to me unfulfilled or before having carried out my good pleasure and having achieved what it was sent to do.
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Today's Gospel Reading - Matthew 6:7-15
'In your prayers do not babble as the
gentiles do, for they think that by using many words they will make
themselves heard. Do not be like them; your Father knows what you need
before you ask him. So you should pray like this: Our Father in
heaven, may your name be held holy, your kingdom come, your will be
done, on earth as in heaven. Give us today our daily bread. And forgive
us our debts, as we have forgiven those who are in debt to us. And do
not put us to the test, but save us from the Evil One. 'Yes, if you
forgive others their failings, your heavenly Father will forgive you
yours; but if you do not forgive others, your Father will not forgive
your failings either.
Reflection
Reflection
• There are two versions of the Our
Father: Luke (Lk 11, 1-4) and Matthew (Mt 6, 7-13). In Luke the Our
Father is shorter. Luke writes for the communities which came from
Paganism. In Matthew the Our Father is found in the Discourse on the
Mountain, in the part where Jesus orientates the disciples in the
practice of the three works of piety: alms (Mt 6, 1-4), prayer (Mt 6,
5-15) and fasting (Mt6, 16-18). The Our Father forms part of a catechists for the converted Jews. They were accustomed to pray, but had
some vices which Matthew tries to correct.
• Matthew 6, 7-8: The faults to be corrected. Jesus criticizes the persons for whom prayer was a repetition of magic formulae, of strong words, addressed to God to oblige him to respond to our needs. The acceptance of our prayer by God does not depend on the repetition of words, but on God’s goodness, on God who is Love and Mercy. He wants our good and knows our needs even before we pray to him.
• Matthew 6, 9a: The first words: “Our Father” Abba Father, is the name which Jesus uses to address himself to God. It reveals the new relationship with God which should characterize the life of the communities (Ga 4, 6; Rm 8, 15). We say “Our Father” and not “My Father”. The adjective “our” places the accent on the awareness or knowledge that we all belong to the great human family of all races and creeds. To pray to the Father is to enter in intimacy with him, it also means to be sensitive to the cry of all the brothers and sisters who cry for their daily bread. It means to seek in the first place the Kingdom of God. The experience of God as our Father is the foundation of universal fraternity.
• Matthew 6, 9b-10: Three requests for the cause of God: The Name, the Kingdom, the Will. In the first part we ask that our relationship with God may be re-established again. To sanctify his Name: The name JAHVE means I am with you! God knows. In this NAME of God he makes himself known (Ex 3, 11-15). The name of God is sanctified when it is used with faith and not with magic; when it is used according to its true objective, that is not for oppression but for the liberty or freedom of the people and for the construction of the Kingdom. The coming of the Kingdom: The only Lord and King of life is God (Is 45, 21; 46, 9). The coming of the Kingdom is the fulfilment of all the hopes and promises. It is life in plenitude, the overcoming of frustration suffered with human kings and governments. This Kingdom will come when the Will of God will be fully accomplished. To do his Will: The will of God is expressed in his Law. His will be done on earth as it is in Heaven. In Heaven the sun and the stars obey the laws of their orbit and create the order of the universe (Is 48, 12-13). The observance of the law of God will be a source of order and well-being for human life.
• Matthew 6, 11-13: Four petitions for the cause of the brothers: Bread, Pardon, Victory, Liberty. In the second part of the Our Father we ask that the relationship among persons may be restored. The four requests show how necessary it is to transform or change the structures of the community and of society in order that all the sons and daughters of God may have the same dignity. The daily bread. In Exodus the people received the manna in the desert every day (Ex 16, 35). Divine Providence passed through the fraternal organization, the sharing. Jesus invites us to live a new Exodus, a new fraternal way of living together which will guarantee the daily bread for all (Mt 6, 34-44; Jo 6, 48-51). Forgive us our debts: Every 50 years, the Jubilee Year obliged people to forgive their debts. It was a new beginning (Lv 25, 8-55). Jesus announces a new Jubilee Year, “a year of grace from the Lord” (Lk 4, 19). The Gospel wants to begin everything anew! Do not lead us into temptation, do not put us to the test: In Exodus, people were tempted and fell (Dt 9, 6-12). The people complained and wanted to go back (Ex 16, 3; 17, 3). In the new Exodus, the temptation will be overcome by the force which people receive from God (I Co 10, 12-13). Deliver us from evil: The Evil One is Satan, who draws away from God and is a cause of scandal. He succeeds in entering in Peter (Mt 16, 23) and to tempt Jesus in the desert. Jesus overcomes him (Mt 4, 1-11). He tells us: “Courage, I have conquered the world!” (Jn 16, 33).
• Matthew 6, 14-15: Anyone who does not forgive will not be forgiven. In praying the Our Father, we pronounce the phrase which condemns us or absolves us. We say: “Forgive our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass us” (Mt 6, 12). We offer God the measure of pardon that we want. If we forgive very much, He will forgive us very much. If we forgive little, he will forgive little. If we do not forgive, he will neither forgive us.
Personal questions
• Jesus prayer says “forgive our
debts”. In some countries it is translated as “forgive our offenses”.
What is easier to forgive, the offenses or to forgive the debts?
• Christian nations of the Northern Hemisphere (Europe and USA) pray everyday: “Forgive our debts as we forgive those who are in debt with us!” But they do not forgive the external debt of poor countries of the Third World. How can we explain this terrible contradiction, source of impoverishment of millions of persons?
• Christian nations of the Northern Hemisphere (Europe and USA) pray everyday: “Forgive our debts as we forgive those who are in debt with us!” But they do not forgive the external debt of poor countries of the Third World. How can we explain this terrible contradiction, source of impoverishment of millions of persons?
Reference: Courtesy of Order of Carmelites, www.ocarm.org.
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Featured Item of the Day from Litany Lane
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Saint of the Day: St Boniface of Brussels
Feast Day: February 19
Patron Saint: n/a
Attributes: n/a
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| Mocking of Christ, Abbey La Cambre |
The Abbey of La Cambre or Ter Kameren Abbey (French: Abbaye de La Cambre, Dutch: Abdij Ter Kameren) is a former Cistercian abbey in Ixelles, Brussels, Belgium. It is located in the Maelbeek valley between the Bois de la Cambre and the Ixelles Ponds. The abbey church is a catholic parish of the Archdiocese of Malines-Brussels while other parts of the monastery are housing the headquarters of the Belgian National Geographic Institute and La Cambre, a prestigious visual arts school.
The abbey was founded about 1196. It was suppressed at the French Revolution. Today's buildings are from the 18th century. The simple abbey church houses Albert Bouts' early 16th-century The Mocking of Christ.
The cloister adjoins the abbey church and the refectory. The 18th-century abbesses' residence, with its cour d'honneur and formal gardens, has preserved the presbytery and the stables and other dependencies.
Saint Boniface of Brussels (1182–1260), a native of Ixelles, canon of Sainte-Gudule (future cathedral of Brussels), who taught theology at the University of Paris and was made bishop of Lausanne (1231), lived eighteen years in the abbey and is interred in the church. The mystic leper saint Alix lived in the community at the same epoch.
During the numerous wars of the 16th and 17th centuries, the abbey was largely destroyed, but it was rebuilt in the 18th century, in the French form it largely retains.
The terraced garden and formal clipped bosquets were restored in the 18th-century manner starting in 1924.
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Today's Snippet I: Diocese of Lausanne, Geneva and Fribourg
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| Cathedral Lausanne |
As of 2 November 2011, Swiss radio stations have reported that Charles Morerod, O.P., has been named Bishop-elect. Bishop-elect Morerod, up until now, has been serving as the rector of the Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas in Rome, and as Secretary-General of the International Theological Commission.
Lausanne
The origin of the See of Lausanne can be traced to the ancient See of Windisch (Vindonissa). Bubulcus, the first Bishop of Windisch, appeared at the imperial Synod of Epao in Burgundy in 517.[1] The second and last known Bishop of Windisch was Gramatius (Grammatius), who signed the decrees of the Synods of Clermont in 535,[2] of Orléans, 541,[3] and that of Orléans in 549.[4] It was generally believed that shortly after this the see was transferred from Windisch to Konstanz, until investigations, particularly by Marius Besson, made it probable that, between 549 and 585, the see was divided and the real seat of the bishops of Windisch transferred to Avenches (Aventicum), while the eastern part of the diocese was united with the Diocese of Konstanz.According to the Synod of Mâcon of 585[5] St. Marius seems to have been the first resident Bishop of Avenches. The Chartularium of Lausanne[6] affirms that St. Marius was born in the Burgundian Diocese of Autun about 530, was consecrated Bishop of Avenches in May, 574, and died 31 December, 594.[7] To him we owe a valuable addition (455-581) to the Chronicle of St. Prosper of Aquitaine.[8] The episcopal see of Avenches may have been transferred to Lausanne by Marius, or possibly not before 610.
Lausanne was originally a suffragan of the archbishopric of Lyon (certainly about the seventh century), later of Besançon, from which it was detached by the French Napoleonic Concordat of 1801. In medieval times the diocese extended from the Aar, near Soleure, to the northern end of the Valley of St. Imier, thence along the Doubs and the ridge of the Jura to where the Aubonne flows into the Lake of Geneva, and thence along the north of the lake to Villeneuve whence the boundary-line followed the watershed between Rhône and Aar to the Grimsel, and down the Aar to Attiswil. Thus the diocese included the town of Soleure and part of its territory that part of the Canton of Berne which lay on the left bank of the River Aar, also Biel, the Valley of St. Imier, Jougne and Les Longevilles in the Franche-Comté, the countships of Neuchâtel and Valangin, the greater part of the Canton of Vaud, the Canton of Fribourg, the countship of Gruyère and most of the Bernese Oberland. The present Diocese of Lausanne includes the Cantons of Fribourg, Vaud and Neuchâtel.
Of the bishops who in the seventh century succeeded St. Marius almost nothing is known. Between 594 and 800 only three bishops are known: Arricus, present at the Council of Chalon-sur-Saône,[9] Protasius, elected about 651, and Chilmegisilus, about 670. From the time of Charlemagne until the end of the ninth century the following bishops of Lausanne are mentioned: Udalricus (Ulrich), a contemporary of Charlemagne; Fredarius (about 814); David (827-50), slain in combat with one of the lords of Degerfelden; Hartmann (851-78); Hieronymus (879-92).
The most distinguished subsequent bishops are: Heinrich von Lenzburg (d. 1019), who rebuilt the cathedral in 1000; Hugo (1019–37), a son of Rudolf III of Burgundy, in 1037 proclaimed the "Peace of God"; Burkart von Oltingen (1057–89), one of the most devoted adherents of Emperor Henry IV, with whom he was banished, and made the pilgrimage to Canossa; Guido von Merlen (1130–44), a correspondent of St. Bernard; St. Amadeus of Hauterive, a Cistercian (1144–59), who wrote homilies in honour of the Blessed Virgin;[10] Boniface of Brussels, much venerated (1230/1-39), formerly a master in the Sorbonne University of Paris and head of the cathedral school at Cologne, resigned because of physical ill-treatment, afterwards auxiliary bishop in Brabant (see Ratzinger in "Stimmen aus Maria-Laach", L, 1896, 10-23, 139-57); the Benedictine Louis de la Palud (1432–40), who took part in the Councils of Konstanz (1414), Pavia-Siena (1423) and Basle (1431--) and at the last-named was chosen, in January, 1432, Bishop of Lausanne, against Jean de Prangins, the chapter's choice; Palud was later vice-chamberlain of the conclave whence Amadeus VIII of Savoy emerged as the antipope Felix V, by whom he was made a cardinal; George of Saluzzo, who published synodical constitutions for the reform of the clergy; Cardinal Giuliano della Rovere (1472–76), who in 1503 ascended the papal throne as Julius II.
Meanwhile the prince-bishops of Lausanne, who had been Counts of Vaud since the time of Rudolf III of Burgundy (1011), and until 1218 subject only to imperial authority, were in 1270 granted the status of prince of the Holy Roman Empire, but their temporal power only extended over a small part of the diocese, namely over the city and district of Lausanne, as well as a few towns and villages in the Cantons of Vaud and Fribourg; on the other hand, the bishops possessed many feoffees among the most distinguished of the patrician families of Western Switzerland.
The guardians of the ecclesiastical property (advocati, avoués) of the see were originally the counts of Genevois, then the lords of Gerenstein, the dukes of Zähringen, the counts of Kyburg, lastly the counts (later dukes) of Savoy. These guardians, whose only duty originally was the protection of the diocese, enlarged their jurisdiction at the expense of the diocesan rights and even filled the episcopal see with members of their families. Wearisome quarrels resulted, during which the city of Lausanne, with the aid of Berne and Fribourg, acquired new rights, and gradually freed itself from episcopal suzerainty. When Bishop Sebastian de Montfaucon (1517–60) took sides with the Duke of Savoy in a battle against Berne, the Bernese used this as a pretext to seize the city of Lausanne. On 31 March 1536, Hans Franz Nägeli entered Lausanne as conqueror, abolished Catholicism, and began a religious revolution. The bishop was obliged to flee, the ecclesiastical treasure was taken to Berne, the cathedral chapter was dissolved (and never re-established), while the cathedral was given over to the Swiss Reformed Church. Bishop Sebastian died an exile in 1560, and his three successors were likewise exiles. It was only in 1610, under Bishop Johann VII of Watteville, that the see was provisionally re-established at Fribourg, where it has since remained.
The cantons of Vaud, Neuchâtel and Berne were entirely lost by the See of Lausanne to the Reformation. By the French revolutionary Constitution Civile du Clergé (1790) the Parishes of the French Jura fell to the Diocese of Belley, and this was confirmed by the Concordat of 1801. In 1814 the parishes of Soleure, in 1828 those of the Bernese Jura, and in 1864 also that district of Berne on the left bank of the Aar were attached to the bishopric of Basle. In compensation, Pius VII assigned, in a papal brief of 20 September 1819, the city of Geneva and twenty parishes belonging to the old Diocese of Geneva (which in 1815 had become Swiss) to the See of Lausanne. The bishop (in 1815 Petrus Tohias Yenni) retained his residence at Fribourg, and since 1821 has borne the title and arms of the Bishops of Lausanne and Geneva. His vicar general resides at Geneva, and is always parish priest of that city.
Geneva
Geneva (Genava of Geneva, also Janua and Genua), capital of the Swiss canton of the same name situated where the Rhône issues from the Lake of Geneva (Lacus Lemanus), first appears in history as a border town, fortified against the Celto-Germanic Helvetii, which the Romans took in 120 B.C. In A.D. 443 it was taken by Burgundy, and with the latter fell to the Franks in 534. In 888 the town was part of the new Kingdom of Burgundy, and with it was taken over in 1033 by the German Emperor. According to legendary accounts found in the works of Gregorio Leti ("Historia Genevrena", Amsterdam, 1686) and Besson,[11] Geneva was Christianised by Dionysius Areopagita and Paracodus, two of the seventy-two disciples, in the time of Domitian. Dionysius went thence to Paris and Paracodus became the first Bishop of Geneva, but the legend is based on an error, as is that which makes St. Lazarus the first Bishop of Geneva, arising out of the similarity between the Latin names Genava (Geneva) and Genua (Genoa, in northern Italy). The so-called "Catalogue de St. Pierre", which gives St. Diogenus (Diogenes) as the first Bishop of Geneva, is untrustworthy.A letter of St. Eucherius to Salvius makes it almost certain that St. Isaac (c. 400) was the first bishop. In 440 St. Salonius appears as Bishop of Geneva; he was a son of St. Eucherius, to whom the latter dedicated his Instructiones'; he took part in the Councils of Orange (441), Vaison (442) and Arles (about 455), and is supposed to be the author of two small commentaries, In parabolas Salomonis and on Ecclesisastis.[12] Little is known about the following Bishops Theoplastus (about 475), to whom St. Sidonius Apollinaris addressed a letter; Dormitianus (before 500), under whom the Burgundian Princess Sedeleuba, a sister of Queen Clotilde, had the remains of the martyr and St. Victor of Soleure transferred to Geneva, where she built a basilica in his honour; St. Maximus (about 512-41), a friend of Avitus, Archbishop of Vienne and Cyprian of Toulon, with whom he was in correspondence.[13]
Bishop Pappulus sent the priest Thoribiusas his substitute to the Synod of Orléans (541). Bishop Salonius II is only known from the signatures of the Synods of Lyons (570) and Paris (573) and Bishop Cariatto, installed by King Guntram in 584, was present at the two Synods of Valence and Macon in 585. From the beginning the bishopric of Geneva was a suffragan of the archbishopric of Vienne. The bishops of Geneva had the status of prince of the Holy Roman Empire since 1154, but had to maintain a long struggle for their independence against the guardians (advocati) of the see, the counts of Geneva and later the counts of Savoy. In 1290 the latter obtained the right of installing the vice-dominus of the diocese, the title of Vidame of Geneva was granted to the family of count François de Candie of Chambéry-Le-Vieux a Chatellaine of the Savoy, this official exercised minor jurisdiction in the town in the bishop's. In 1387 Bishop Adhémar Fabry granted the town its great charter, the basis of its communal self-government, which every bishop on his accession was expected to confirm. When the line of the counts of Geneva became extinct in 1394, and the House of Savoy came into possession of their territory, assuming after 1416 the title of Duke, the new dynasty sought by every means to bring the city of Geneva under their power, particularly by elevating members of their own family to the episcopal see. The city protected itself by union with the Swiss Federation (Eidgenossenschaft), uniting itself in 1526 with Berne and Fribourg.
The Reformation caused major transformations in the religious and political life of Geneva. Berne favoured the introduction of the new teaching and demanded liberty of preaching for the Reformers Guillaume Farel and Antoine Froment, but in 1531 Catholic Fribourg renounced its allegiance with Geneva. Calvin went to Geneva in 1536, and, following a period of exile, returned in 1541 to spend the rest of his life there. The city became a stronghold of Calvinism, and became nicknamed the Protestant Rome for its dominant influence in the Calvinist movement. As early as 1532 the bishop had been obliged to leave his residence, never to return; in 1536 he fixed his see at Gex, in 1535 at Annecy. The Apostolic zeal and devotion of St. Francis de Sales, who was Bishop of Geneva from 1602–21, restored a large part of the diocese back to Catholicism.
Formerly the Diocese of Geneva extended well into Savoy, as far as Mont Cenis and the Great St. Bernard. Nyon, also often erroneously considered a separate diocese, belonged to Geneva. Under Charlemagne Tarantaise was detached from Geneva and became a separate diocese. Before the Reformation the bishops of Geneva ruled over 8 chapters, 423 parishes, 9 abbeys and 68 priories. In 1802 the diocese was united with that of Chambéry. At the Congress of Vienna (1814–15) the territory of Geneva was extended to cover 15 Savoyard and 6 French parishes, with more than 16,000 Catholics; at the same time it was admitted to the Swiss Confederation. The Congress expressly provided—and the same proviso was included in the Treaty of Turin (16 March 1816) -- that in these territories transferred to Geneva the Catholic religion was to be protected, and that no changes were to he made in existing conditions without agreement with the Holy See.
Pius VII in 1819 united the city of Geneva and 20 parishes with the Diocese of Lausanne, while the rest of the ancient Diocese of Geneva (outside of Switzerland) was reconstituted, in 1822, as the French Diocese of Annecy. The Great Council of Geneva (cantonal council) afterwards ignored the responsibilities thus undertaken; in imitation of Napoleon's "Organic Articles", it insisted upon the Placet, or previous approval of publication, for all papal documents. Catholic indignation ran high at the civil measures taken against Marilley, the parish priest of Geneva and later bishop of the see. On 30 June 1907, most of the Catholics of Geneva voted for the separation of Church and State. By this act of separation they were assured at least a negative equality with the Protestants and Old Catholics. Since then the Canton of Geneva has given aid to no creed out of either the state or the municipal revenues.
Lausanne and Geneva
Bishop Yenni died on 8 December 1845 and was succeeded by Etienne Marilley. Deposed in 1848 by the Cantons of Berne, Geneva, Vaud and Neuchâtel, owing to serious differences with the Radical regime at Fribourg, Marilley was kept a prisoner for fifty days in the Château de Chillon, on the Lake of Geneva, and then spent eight years in exile in France; he was allowed to return to his diocese on 19 December 1856.In 1864 Pius IX appointed the vicar-general of Geneva, Gaspard Mermillod, auxiliary bishop, and in 1873 Vicar Apostolic, of Geneva, thus detaching the Genevan territory from the diocese and making it a (missionary) vicariate. As this new Apostolic vicariate was however not recognized by either the State Council of Geneva or the Swiss Federal Council, Mermillod was banished from Switzerland by a decree of 17 February 1873. After the Holy See condemned this measure, the government responded on 12 December 1873 by expelling the papal nuncio. After Marilley had resigned his diocese in 1879, Monsignor Christophore Cosandey, provost at Fribourg's seminary, was elected Bishop of Lausanne and Geneva, and after his death, Mermillod. Thus the Apostolic Vicariate of Geneva was given up, the conflict with the Government ended, and the decree of expulsion against Mermillod was revoked. In 1890, Leo XIII made Mermillod a cardinal and he removed to Rome. Monsignor Joseph Déruaz was named as his successor.
Bishops of Lausanne, Geneva and Fribourg
The see had its borders changed in 1924 and became the diocese of Lausanne, Geneva and Fribourg- Marius Besson † (7 May 1920 Appointed - 22 Feb 1945 Died)
- François Charrière † (20 Oct 1945 Appointed - 29 Dec 1970 Retired)
- Pierre Mamie † (29 Dec 1970 Appointed - 9 Nov 1995 Retired)
- Amédée (Antoine-Marie) Grab, O.S.B. (9 Nov 1995 Appointed - 12 Jun 1998 Confirmed, Bishop of Chur)
- Bernard Genoud † (18 Mar 1999 Appointed - 21 Sep 2010 Died)
- Charles Morerod, O.P. (3 Nov 2011 Appointed - )
Statistics
According to Büchi (see bibliography) and the Dictionnaire géographique de la Suisse (Neuchâtel, 1905), III, 49 sqq., the diocese numbered approximately 434,049 Protestants and 232,056 Catholics; consequently, the latter formed somewhat more than one-third of the whole population of the bishopric. The Catholics inhabit principally the Canton of Fribourg (excepting the Lake District) and the country parishes transferred to Geneva in 1515, four communes in the Canton of Neuchâtel, and ten in the Canton of Vaud. The Catholic population in the Cantons of Fribourg and Geneva consisted principally of farmers, in both of the other cantons it is also recruited from the labouring classes. The Catholics were distributed among 193 parishes, of which 162 allotted to Lausanne, 31 to Geneva. The number of secular priests was 390, those belonging to orders 70.Among the more important educational establishments of diocese, besides those already mentioned, are: the University of Fribourg ; the theological seminary of St. Charles at Fribourg, with seven ecclesiastical professors; the cantonal school of St. Michel, also at Fribourg, which comprises a German and French gymnasium, a Realschule (corresponding somewhat to the English first-grade schools) and commercial school, as well as a lyceum, the rector of which was a clergyman. This school had in 1910 about 800 pupils, with 40 ecclesiastical and as many lay professors. Three other cantonal universities existed in the diocese: Geneva (founded by Calvin in 1559, and in 1873 raised to the rank of a university with five faculties); Neuchâtel (1866, academy; 1909, university); Lausanne (1537, academy; university since 1890, with five faculties). Geneva and Lausanne both have cantonal Protestant theological faculties, Neuchâtel a "Faculté de théologie de l'église indépendante de l'état".
For the government of the diocese there were, besides the bishop, two vicars-general, one living at Geneva, the other at Fribourg. There were, moreover, a provicarius generalis, who is also chancellor of the diocese, and a secretary. The cathedral chapter of Lausanne (with 32 canons was suppressed at the time of the Protestant Reformation and has never been re-established, in consequence of which the choice of a bishop rests with the Holy See. In 1512 Julius II established a collegiate chapter in the church of St. Nicholas at Fribourg, which is immediately subject to the Holy See, with a provost appointed by the Great Council, also a dean, a cantor and ten prebendaries. This collegiate church took the place of the diocesan cathedral, lacking since the cathedral of St. Pierre at Geneva and that of Notre-Dame at Lausanne were given over to Protestantism at the time of the Reformation.
References
- ^ Friedrich Maassen, "Concilia ævi merov." in "Monumenta Germaniae Historica: Leges", III, I, Hanover, 1893, 15-30
- ^ Maassen, "Concilia", pp. 65–71
- ^ Maassen, "Concilia", 86-99
- ^ Maassen, "Concilia", 99-112
- ^ Maassen, "Concilia", 163-73
- ^ ed. G. Waitz in "Monumenta Germaniae Historica: Scriptores", XXIV, Hanover, 1879, 794; also in Mémoires et documents pull, par la Société de la Suisse Romande, VI, Lausanne, 1851, 29
- ^ For his epitaph in verse, formerly in the church of St. Thyrsius at Lausanne, see"Monumenta Germaniae Historica: Scriptores", XXIV, 795
- ^ Patrologia Latina. LXXII, 793-802; also in "Mon. Germ.: Auctores Antiquissimi", XI, Berlin, 1894,232-39
- ^ Maassen, "Concilia", 208-14
- ^ P. L., CLXXXVIII, 1277–1348
- ^ "Memoires pour l'histoire ecclésiastique des diocèses de Genève, Tantaise, Aoste et Maurienne", Nancy, 1739; new ed. Moutiers, 1871
- ^ Published in Patrologia Latina, LII, 967 sqq., 993 sqq. as works of an otherwise unknown bishop, Salonius of Vienne
- ^ Wawra in Tubinger Theolog. Quartalschrift, LXXXV, 1905, 576-594
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Today's Snippet II: Lausanne, Switzerland
Lausanne (French pronunciation: [loˈzan]) is a city in Romandy, the French-speaking part of Switzerland, and is the capital of the canton of Vaud. The seat of the district of Lausanne, the city is situated on the shores of Lake Geneva (French: Lac Léman).[3] It faces the French town of Évian-les-Bains, with the Jura mountains to its north-west. Lausanne is located 62 km (39 mi) northeast of Geneva.
Lausanne has a population (as of December 2011) of 129,383, making it the fourth largest city of the country, with the entire agglomeration area having 336,400 inhabitants.[4] The Metropolitan Area of Lausanne-Geneva is over 1.2 million inhabitants. The headquarters of the International Olympic Committee are located in Lausanne – the IOC officially recognizes the city as the Capitale Olympique – as are the headquarters of the Court of Arbitration for Sport. It lies in the middle of a wine region. The city has a 28-station metro system, making it the smallest city in the world to have a rapid transit system.
History
After the fall of the Roman Empire, insecurity forced the transfer of Lausanne to its current centre, a hilly, easier to defend site. The city which emerged from the camp was ruled by the Dukes of Savoy and the Bishop of Lausanne. Then it came under Bern from 1536 to 1798 and a number of its cultural treasures, including the hanging tapestries in the Cathedral, were permanently removed. Lausanne has made a number of requests to recover them.
After the revocation of the Edict of Nantes in 1685, Lausanne became (along with Geneva) a place of refuge for French Huguenots. In 1729 a seminary was opened by Antoine Court and Benjamin Duplan. By 1750 ninety pastors had been sent back to France to work clandestinely; this number would rise to four hundred. Official persecution ended in 1787; a faculty of Protestant theology was established at Montauban in 1808, and the Lausanne seminary was finally closed on 18 April 1812. During the Napoleonic Wars, the city's status changed. In 1803, it became the capital of a newly formed Swiss canton, Vaud under which it joined the Swiss Federation.
Modern history
In 1964 the city hosted the 'Swiss National Exhibition', displaying its newly found confidence to host major international events. From the 1950s to 1970s a large number of Italians, Spaniards and Portuguese immigrated, settling mostly in the industrial district of Renens and transforming the local diet. The city has been traditionally quiet but in the late 1960s and early 1970s there were a series of mainly youth demonstrations confronted by the police. The next vigorous demonstrations took place to protest against the high cinema prices and since then the city returned to its old very sleepy self, until the protest against the G8 meetings in 2003.Geography
In addition to its generally southward-sloping layout, the centre of the city is the site of an ancient river, the Flon, which has been covered since the 19th century. The former river forms a gorge running through the middle of the city south of the old city centre, generally following the course of the present Rue Centrale, with several bridges crossing the depression to connect the adjacent neighbourhoods. Due to the considerable differences in elevation, visitors should make a note as to which plane of elevation they are on and where they want to go, otherwise they will find themselves tens of metres below or above the street which they are trying to negotiate. The name Flon is also used for the Metro station located in the gorge. The municipality includes the villages of Vidy, Cour, Ouchy, Mornex, Chailly, La Sallaz, Vennes, Montblesson, Vers-chez-les-Blanc, Montheron and Chalet-à-Gobet (871 m (2,858 ft)) as well as the exclave of Vernand.
Lausanne is located at the limit between the extensive wine-growing regions of Lavaux (to the east) and la Côte (to the west). Lausanne has an area, as of 2009, of 41.38–41.33 square kilometers (15.98–15.96 sq mi) (depending on calculation method). Of this area, 6.64 km2 (2.56 sq mi) or 16.0% is used for agricultural purposes, while 16.18 km2 (6.25 sq mi) or 39.1% is forested. Of the rest of the land, 18.45 km2 (7.12 sq mi) or 44.6% is settled (buildings or roads), 0.05 km2 (12 acres) or 0.1% is either rivers or lakes and 0.01 km2 (2.5 acres) or 0.0% is unproductive land.
Of the built-up area, industrial buildings made up 1.6% of the total area while housing and buildings made up 21.6% and transportation infrastructure made up 12.5%. Power and water infrastructure as well as other special developed areas made up 1.4% of the area while parks, green belts and sports fields made up 7.5%. Out of the forested land, all of the forested land area is covered with heavy forests. Of the agricultural land, 11.1% is used for growing crops and 4.2% is pastures. All the water in the municipality is in lakes. The municipality was part of the old Lausanne District until it was dissolved on 31 August 2006, and it became the capital of the new district of Lausanne.
Climate
Lausanne has an average of 123 days of rain or snow per year and on average receives 1,150 mm (45 in) of precipitation. The wettest month is June during which time Lausanne receives an average of 117 mm (4.6 in) of rain. During this month there is precipitation for an average of 10.8 days. The month with the most days of precipitation is May, with an average of 12.4, but with only 107 mm (4.2 in) of rain or snow. The driest month of the year is February with an average of 78 mm (3.1 in) of precipitation over 10.2 days.Culture
The building was inaugurated on the 3 November 1902, although building work continued until 1904. It housed facilities such as the library of the University of Lausanne, and scientific and artistic collections belonging to the Canton of Vaud. In the 1980s, the university moved to its current location by Lake Geneva due to lack of space, and the Palais was restructured. The building currently hosts one of the four sites of the Cantonal and University Library of Lausanne. Additionally, it contains the following museums:
- Cantonal museum of fine art
- Museum of Archeology and history
- Numismatic museum
- Geological museum
- Zoological museum
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In January, The Prix de Lausanne is an International dance competition held annually in Lausanne, Switzerland at the Théâtre de Beaulieu. The competition is for young dancers seeking to pursue a professional career in classical ballet, and many former prize winners of the competition are now leading stars with major ballet companies around the world. The competition is managed by a non-profit foundation organised by the Fondation en faveur de l'Art chorégraphique and is maintained by various sponsors, patrons and donors.
The Braunschweigs created the competition after noticing the lack of financial support to young dance students, particularly those from small regional schools, wishing to attend professional level programs.
He started by approaching Rosella Hightower and Maurice Béjart who drew up the rules for the competition.
What started as small event has grown into an internationally acclaimed institution that draws candidates from all over the world. Over the past few years the competition has seen a big boom in Asian candidates. Because of the great demand by Japanese students to study abroad, an office was also set up in Japan.
The Braunschweigs announced their resignation at the end of the Prix in 1996. In March 1997, as the competition came to its 25th anniversary, the philantropists handed over the Prix's direction to an executive committee composed of the Swiss Secretary of State, Franz Blankart and an artistic committee headed by Jan Nuyts, who worked with the Prix for many years. Mr Charles Gebhard is in charge of finances and Ms Patricia Leroy heads the actual organization. The Braunschweigs remain available as consultants and have managed to maintain the original mission of the competition.
The town hosted the Eurovision Song Contest 1989. Each July, the "Festival de la Cité" is held in the old part of town. There are also film and music festivals, such as the Lausanne Underground Film and Music Festival and the Bach Festival, Le Festival et Concours Bach de Lausanne, which follows "La Nuit de Musées" (museums' night, occurring in May) in the fall season. Lausanne is also the home of the Béjart Ballet.
Religion
Education
In Lausanne about 40,118 or (32.1%) of the population have completed non-mandatory upper secondary education, and 22,934 or (18.4%) have completed additional higher education (either university or a Fachhochschule).
Of the 22,934 who completed tertiary schooling, 38.7% were Swiss men,
31.3% were Swiss women, 17.1% were non-Swiss men and 12.9% were
non-Swiss women.
In the 2009/2010 school year there were a total of 12,244 students in
the Lausanne school district. In the Vaud cantonal school system, two
years of non-obligatory pre-school are provided by the political
districts.
During the school year, the political district provided pre-school care
for a total of 2,648 children of which 1,947 children (73.5%) received
subsidized pre-school care. The canton's primary school
program requires students to attend for four years. There were 6,601
students in the municipal primary school program. The obligatory lower
secondary school program lasts for six years and there were 5,244
students in those schools. There were also 399 students who were home
schooled or attended another non-traditional school.
Lausanne is home to a number of museums including; the Collection de l'art brut, the Espace Arlaud, the Fondation de l'Hermitage, the Musée cantonal d'archéologie et d'histoire, the Musée cantonal de géologie, the Musée cantonal de zoologie, the Musée cantonal des Beaux-Arts, the Musée de design et d'arts appliqués contemporains, the Musée de l'Élysée and the Musée historique de Lausanne. In 2009 the Collection de l'art brut was visited by 27,028 visitors (the average in previous years was 33,356). The Espace Arlaud was visited by 9,222 visitors (the average in previous years was 14,206). The Fondation de l'Hermitage was visited by 89,175 visitors (the average in previous years was 74,839). The Musée cantonal d'archéologie et d'histoire was visited by 14,841 visitors (the average in previous years was 15,775). The Musée cantonal de zoologie was visited by 30,794 visitors (the average in previous years was 30,392). The Musée cantonal de géologie was visited by 28,299 visitors (the average in previous years was 24,248). The Musée cantonal des Beaux-Arts was visited by 26,456 visitors (the average in previous years was 26,384). The Musée de design et d'arts appliqués contemporains was visited by 28,554 visitors (the average in previous years was 22,879). The Musée de l'Élysée was visited by 36,775 visitors (the average in previous years was 37,757). The Musée historique de Lausanne was visited by 23,116 visitors (the average in previous years was 22,851).
As of 2000, there were 12,147 students in Lausanne who came from
another municipality, while 2,258 residents attended schools outside the
municipality.
Lausanne is home to 8 large libraries or collections of libraries. These libraries include; the BCU Lausanne, the Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, the libraries of the Réseau EPFL, the Bibliothèque municipale Lausanne, the Haute école de travail social et de la santé (EESP), the HECV Santé, the Haute école de la santé La Source and the Ecole cantonale d'art de Lausanne - ECAL. There was a combined total (as of 2008) of 3,496,260 books or other media in the libraries, and in the same year a total of 1,650,534 items were loaned out.
Lausanne enjoys some world class education and research
establishments, including private schools attended by students from
around the world.
- École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne - EPFL ("Swiss Federal Institute of Technology - Lausanne") - ranked 35th in the world according to 2011 QS world university rankings
- University of Lausanne (UNIL)
- University Hospital of Lausanne (CHUV), a hospital centre with associated research
- HEC Lausanne - Hautes études commerciales, (Faculty of Business and Economics of the University of Lausanne)
- Institute for Advanced Studies in Public Administration
- AISTS ("International Academy of Sports Science and Technology")
- BSL, Business School Lausanne
- International Institute for Management Development (IMD)
- École hôtelière de Lausanne
- The Lausanne campus of the university of the Nations
- Pepperdine University maintains an international study campus in Lausanne
Sights
Heritage sites of national significance
There are 46 buildings or sites that are listed as Swiss heritage site of national significance. Additionally, the entire old city of Lausanne and the Vernand-Dessus region are listed in the Inventory of Swiss Heritage Sites.
- Religious Buildings: Notre-Dame Cathedral, Swiss Reformed Church of Saint-François, Swiss Reformed Church of Saint-Laurent and the Synagogue at Avenue de Florimont.
- Civic Structures: Former Hôpital at Rue Mercerie 24, Former Federal Tribunal, the Former Académie at Rue Cité-Devant 7, Casino de Montbenon, St-Maire Castle, Bois-de-Vaux Cemetery, Fondation de l’Hermitage and House de maître, Main Train Station, Hôtel Beau-Rivage Palace, City Hall, Hôtel des Postes, Administration Building of André & Cie. S.A., Administration Building of the Vaudoise Assurances, Apartment and Office Building at Rue du Grand-Chêne 8, Les Bains de Bellerive, l’Estérel House, House at Chemin de Chandolin 4, the Mon-Repos estate at Parc de Mon-Repos 1, Olympic Museum and Archives of the CIO, the vessels of the CGN (La Suisse (1910), Savoie (1914), Simplon (1920), Rhône (1927)), Pont Chauderon, the Vernand-Dessus rural site, Site de l’Expo 64 avec théatre de Vidy, the Tour Bel-Air and the Centre hospitalier universitaire vaudois (CHUV).
- Museums and Libraries: Former Residence of the Bishop of Lausanne which is now the Historical Museum of Lausanne, Bibliothèque des Cèdres (ancienne Library des pasteurs), Beaulieu Castle and the Collection de l'art brut, Fondation Toms Pauli Collection de tapisseries and d’art textile, Galeries Saint-François, l’Elysée House and Museum, Museum de design and d’arts appliqués contemporains (MUDAC), Cantonal Museum and Botanical Gardens, the Roman Museum, the Palais de Rumine with the Musée cantonal de géologie, Musée cantonal de zoologie, Musée Cantonal des Beaux-Arts, Musée monétaire cantonal (Cabinet des médailles) and Musée d’archéologie et d’histoire.
- Archives: Archives of the Banque Vaudoise, Archives of the City of Lausanne, Archives of l’Energie Ouest Suisse (EOS), the Radio Suisse Romande archives and the Tribunal Fédéral Suisse with Archives.
- Archeological sites: The Roman era/medieval hill-top city and the prehistoric settlement and Roman era Vicus of Vidy / Lousanna,
References
- "Lausanne", Switzerland, Together with Chamonix and the Italian Lakes (26th ed.), Leipzig: Karl Baedeker, 1922, OCLC 4248970
- ^ Lasserre, Claude (1997) (in French). Le séminaire de Lausanne, 1726-1812 : instrument de la restauration du protestantisme français : étude historique fondée principalement sur les documents inédits. Bibliothèque historique vaudoise, no 112. Lausanne: Bibliothèque historique vaudoise. ISBN 978-2-88454-112-1.
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Catechism of the Catholic Church
Part One: Profession of Faith, Sect 2 The Creeds, Ch 2 Art 4:2
CHAPTER TWO
I BELIEVE IN JESUS CHRIST, THE ONLY SON OF
GOD
Article 4
Article 4
Paragraph 2. JESUS DIED CRUCIFIED
I. THE
TRIAL OF JESUS
Divisions
among the Jewish authorities concerning Jesus
595
Among
the religious authorities of Jerusalem, not only were the Pharisee Nicodemus
and the prominent Joseph of Arimathea both secret disciples of Jesus, but there
was also long-standing dissension about him, so much so that St. John says of
these authorities on the very eve of Christ's Passion, "many.. . believed
in him", though very imperfectly.Jn 12:42 This is not surprising, if
one recalls that on the day after Pentecost "a great many of the priests
were obedient to the faith" and "some believers. . . belonged to the
party of the Pharisees", to the point that St. James could tell St. Paul,
"How many thousands there are among the Jews of those who have believed;
and they are all zealous for the Law."Acts 6:7
596
The
religious authorities in Jerusalem were not unanimous about what stance to take
towards Jesus.Jn 9:16 The Pharisees threatened to excommunicate his
followers.Jn 9:22 To those who feared that "everyone will believe in
him, and the Romans will come and destroy both our holy place and our nation",
the high priest Caiaphas replied by prophesying: "It is expedient for you
that one man should die for the people, and that the whole nation should not
perish."Jn 11:48-50 The Sanhedrin, having declared Jesus deserving of
death as a blasphemer but having lost the right to put anyone to death, hands
him over to the Romans, accusing him of political revolt, a charge that puts
him in the same category as Barabbas who had been accused of
sedition.Mt 26:66 The chief priests also threatened Pilate politically so
that he would condemn Jesus to death.Jn 19:12
Jews are
not collectively responsible for Jesus' death
597
The historical complexity of Jesus' trial is apparent in the Gospel accounts.
the personal sin of the participants (Judas, the Sanhedrin, Pilate) is known to
God alone. Hence we cannot lay responsibility for the trial on the Jews in
Jerusalem as a whole, despite the outcry of a manipulated crowd and the global
reproaches contained in the apostles' calls to conversion after
Pentecost.Mk 15:11 Jesus himself, in forgiving them on the cross, and Peter
in following suit, both accept "the ignorance" of the Jews of
Jerusalem and even of their leaders.Lk 23:34 Still less can we extend
responsibility to other Jews of different times and places, based merely on the
crowd's cry: "His blood be on us and on our children!", a formula for
ratifying a judicial sentence.Mt 27:25 As the Church declared at the Second
Vatican Council: . . .
Neither all Jews
indiscriminately at that time, nor Jews today, can be charged with the crimes
committed during his Passion. . . the Jews should not be spoken of as rejected
or accursed as if this followed from holy Scripture.NA 4
All sinners
were the authors of Christ's Passion
598
In her Magisterial teaching of the faith and in the witness of her saints, the
Church has never forgotten that "sinners were the authors and the
ministers of all the sufferings that the divine Redeemer
endured."Roman Catechism I, 5, 11; cf. ⇒ Heb 12:3 Taking into account the fact that our sins affect
Christ himself,Mt
25:45 The Church does not hesitate to impute to Christians
the gravest responsibility for the torments inflicted upon Jesus, a
responsibility with which they have all too often burdened the Jews alone:
We must regard as guilty all
those who continue to relapse into their sins. Since our sins made the Lord
Christ suffer the torment of the cross, those who plunge themselves into
disorders and crimes crucify the Son of God anew in their hearts (for he is in
them) and hold him up to contempt. and it can be seen that our crime in this
case is greater in us than in the Jews. As for them, according to the witness
of the Apostle, "None of the rulers of this age understood this; for if
they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory." We, however,
profess to know him. and when we deny him by our deeds, we in some way seem to
lay violent hands on him.Roman Catechism
I, 5, 11; cf. ⇒ Heb
6:6; ⇒ 1 Cor 2:8.
Nor did demons crucify him; it
is you who have crucified him and crucify him still, when you delight in your
vices and sins. St. Francis of Assisi, Admonitio 5, 3
II.
CHRIST'S REDEMPTIVE DEATH IN GOD'S PLAN OF SALVATION
"Jesus
handed over according to the definite plan of God"
599
Jesus' violent death was not the result of chance in an unfortunate coincidence
of circumstances, but is part of the mystery of God's plan, as St. Peter
explains to the Jews of Jerusalem in his first sermon on Pentecost: "This
Jesus (was) delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of
God."Acts 2:23 This Biblical language does not mean that those who
handed him over were merely passive players in a scenario written in advance by
God.Acts 3:13
600
To God, all moments of time are present in their immediacy. When therefore he
establishes his eternal plan of "predestination", he includes in it
each person's free response to his grace: "In this city, in fact, both
Herod and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles and the peoples of Israel, gathered
together against your holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed, to do whatever
your hand and your plan had predestined to take place."Acts 4:27-28 For the
sake of accomplishing his plan of salvation, God permitted the acts that flowed
from their blindness.Mt 26:54
"He died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures"
601
The Scriptures had foretold this divine plan of salvation through the putting
to death of "the righteous one, my Servant" as a mystery of universal
redemption, that is, as the ransom that would free men from the slavery of
sin.Is 53:11 Citing a confession of faith that he himself had
"received", St. Paul professes that "Christ died for our sins in
accordance with the scriptures."1 Cor 15:3 In particular Jesus'
redemptive death fulfils Isaiah's prophecy of the suffering Servant.Is 53:7-8
Indeed Jesus himself explained the meaning of his life and death in the light
of God's suffering Servant.Mt 20:28 After his Resurrection he gave this
interpretation of the Scriptures to the disciples at Emmaus, and then to the apostles.Lk 24:25-27
"For
our sake God made him to be sin"
602
Consequently, St. Peter can formulate the apostolic faith in the divine plan of
salvation in this way: "You were ransomed from the futile ways inherited
from your fathers... with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb
without blemish or spot. He was destined before the foundation of the world but
was made manifest at the end of the times for your sake."Pt 1:18-20 Man's
sins, following on original sin, are punishable by death.Rom 5:12 By sending
his own Son in the form of a slave, in the form of a fallen humanity, on
account of sin, God "made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we
might become the righteousness of God."2 Cor 5:21
603
Jesus did not experience reprobation as if he himself had sinned.Jn 8:46
But in the redeeming love that always united him to the Father, he assumed us
in the state of our waywardness of sin, to the point that he could say in our
name from the cross: "My God, my God, why have you forsaken
me?"Mk 15:34 Having thus established him in solidarity with us sinners,
God "did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all", so that
we might be "reconciled to God by the death of his Son".Rom 8:32
God takes
the initiative of universal redeeming love
604
By giving up his own Son for our sins, God manifests that his plan for us is
one of benevolent love, prior to any merit on our part: "In this is love,
not that we loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the expiation
for our sins."I John 4:10 God "shows his love for us in that while we
were yet sinners Christ died for us."Rom 5:8
605
At the end of the parable of the lost sheep Jesus recalled that God's love excludes
no one: "So it is not the will of your Father who is in heaven that one of
these little ones should perish."Mt 18:14 He affirms that he came
"to give his life as a ransom for many"; this last term is not
restrictive, but contrasts the whole of humanity with the unique person of the
redeemer who hands himself over to save us.Mt 20:28 The Church, following
the apostles, teaches that Christ died for all men without exception:
"There is not, never has been, and never will be a single human being for
whom Christ did not suffer."Council of Quiercy (853): DS 624; cf
III. CHRIST
OFFERED HIMSELF TO HIS FATHER FOR OUR SINS
Christ's
whole life is an offering to the Father
606
The Son of God, who came down "from heaven, not to do (his) own will, but
the will of him who sent (him)",Jn 6:38 said on coming into the world,
"Lo, I have come to do your will, O God." "and by that will we
have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for
all."Heb 10:5-10 From the first moment of his Incarnation the Son embraces
the Father's plan of divine salvation in his redemptive mission: "My food
is to do the will of him who sent me, and to accomplish his
work."Jn 4:34 The sacrifice of Jesus "for the sins of the whole
world"Jn 2:2 expresses his loving communion with the Father.
"The Father loves me, because I lay down my life", said the Lord,
"(for) I do as the Father has commanded me, so that the world may know
that I love the Father."Jn 10:17
607
The desire to embrace his Father's plan of redeeming love inspired Jesus' whole
life,Lk 12:50 for his redemptive passion was the very reason for his
Incarnation. and so he asked, "and what shall I say? 'Father, save me from
this hour'? No, for this purpose I have come to this hour."Jn 12:27 and
again, "Shall I not drink the cup which the Father has given
me?"Jn 18:11 From the cross, just before "It is finished", he
said, "I thirst." Jn 19:30
"The
Lamb who takes away the sin of the world"
608
After agreeing to baptize him along with the sinners, John the Baptist looked
at Jesus and pointed him out as the "Lamb of God, who takes away the sin
of the world".Jn 1:29 By doing so, he reveals that Jesus is at the
same time the suffering Servant who silently allows himself to be led to the
slaughter and who bears the sin of the multitudes, and also the Paschal Lamb,
the symbol of Israel's redemption at the first Passover.Is 53:7 Christ's
whole life expresses his mission: "to serve, and to give his life as a ransom
for many."Mk 10:45
Jesus
freely embraced the Father's redeeming love
609
By embracing in his human heart the Father's love for men, Jesus "loved
them to the end", for "greater love has no man than this, that a man
lay down his life for his friends."Jn 13:1 In suffering and death his
humanity became the free and perfect instrument of his divine love which
desires the salvation of men.Heb 2:10 Indeed, out of love for his Father and
for men, whom the Father wants to save, Jesus freely accepted his Passion and
death: "No one takes [my life] from me, but I lay it down of my own
accord."Jn 10:18 Hence the sovereign freedom of God's Son as he went
out to his death.Jn 18:4-6
At the Last
Supper Jesus anticipated the free offering of his life
610
Jesus gave the supreme expression of his free offering of himself at the meal
shared with the twelve Apostles "on the night he was
betrayed". Roman Missal,
EP III; cf. ⇒ Mt
26:20; ⇒ I Cor 11:23 On the eve of his Passion, while still free, Jesus
transformed this Last Supper with the apostles into the memorial of his
voluntary offering to the Father for the salvation of men: "This is my
body which is given for you." "This is my blood of the covenant,
which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins."Lk 22:19
611
The Eucharist that Christ institutes at that moment will be the memorial of his
sacrifice.1 Cor 11:25 Jesus includes the apostles in his own offering and bids
them perpetuate it. Lk
22:19 By doing so, the Lord institutes his apostles as
priests of the New Covenant: "For their sakes I sanctify myself, so that
they also may be sanctified in truth."Jn 17:19; cf. Council of
Trent: DS 1752; 1764
The agony
at Gethsemani
612
The cup of the New Covenant, which Jesus anticipated when he offered himself at
the Last Supper, is afterwards accepted by him from his Father's hands in his
agony in the garden at Gethsemani,Mt 26:42 making himself "obedient
unto death". Jesus prays: "My Father, if it be possible, let this cup
pass from me. . ."Phil 2:8 Thus he expresses the horror that death
represented for his human nature. Like ours, his human nature is destined for
eternal life; but unlike ours, it is perfectly exempt from sin, the cause of
death.Rom 5:12 Above all, his human nature has been assumed by the divine
person of the "Author of life", the "Living
One".Acts 3:15 By accepting in his human will that the Father's will be
done, he accepts his death as redemptive, for "he himself bore our sins in
his body on the tree."Pt 224
Christ's
death is the unique and definitive sacrifice
613
Christ's death is both the Paschal sacrifice that accomplishes the definitive
redemption of men, through "the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the
world",Jn 1:29 and the sacrifice of the New Covenant, which restores
man to communion with God by reconciling him to God through the "blood of
the covenant, which was poured out for many for the forgiveness of
sins". Mt 26:28
614
This sacrifice of Christ is unique; it completes and surpasses all other
sacrifices.Heb 10:10 First, it is a gift from God the Father himself, for the
Father handed his Son over to sinners in order to reconcile us with himself. At
the same time it is the offering of the Son of God made man, who in freedom and
love offered his life to his Father through the Holy Spirit in reparation for
our disobedience. Jn 10:17-18
Jesus
substitutes his obedience for our disobedience
615
"For as by one man's disobedience many were made sinners, so by one man's
obedience many will be made righteous."Rom 5:19 By his obedience unto
death, Jesus accomplished the substitution of the suffering Servant, who
"makes himself an offering for sin", when "he bore the sin of
many", and who "shall make many to be accounted righteous", for
"he shall bear their iniquities". Is 53:10-12 Jesus atoned for our
faults and made satisfaction for our sins to the Father.Cf. Council
of Trent (1547): DS 1529
Jesus
consummates his sacrifice on the cross
616
It is love "to the end" Jn 13:1 that confers on Christ's sacrifice
its value as redemption and reparation, as atonement and satisfaction. He knew
and loved us all when he offered his life.Gal 2:20 Now "the love of
Christ controls us, because we are convinced that one has died for all;
therefore all have died."2 Cor 5:14 No man, not even the holiest, was
ever able to take on himself the sins of all men and offer himself as a
sacrifice for all. the existence in Christ of the divine person of the Son, who
at once surpasses and embraces all human persons, and constitutes himself as
the Head of all mankind, makes possible his redemptive sacrifice for all.
617
The Council of Trent emphasizes the unique character of Christ's sacrifice as
"the source of eternal salvation"Heb 5:9 and teaches that
"his most holy Passion on the wood of the cross merited justification for
us."Council of Trent: DS 1529 and the Church venerates his cross as she sings:
"Hail, O Cross, our only hope."LH, Lent, Holy Week, Evening Prayer, Hymn Vexilla Regis
Our
participation in Christ's sacrifice
618
The cross is the unique sacrifice of Christ, the "one mediator between God
and men".1 Tim 2:5 But because in his incarnate divine person he has in
some way united himself to every man, "the possibility of being made
partners, in a way known to God, in the paschal mystery" is offered to all
men.GS 22 # 5; cf. # 2 He calls his disciples to "take up [their] cross and
follow (him)",Mt 16:24 for "Christ also suffered for (us), leaving
(us) an example so that (we) should follow in his steps."Pt 2:21 In
fact Jesus desires to associate with his redeeming sacrifice those who were to
be its first beneficiaries.Mk 10:39 This is achieved supremely in the case
of his mother, who was associated more intimately than any other person in the
mystery of his redemptive suffering.Lk 2:35 Apart from the cross there is
no other ladder by which we may get to heaven.St. Rose of Lima: cf. P. Hansen, Vita mirabilis (Louvain, 1668)
IN BRIEF
619 "Christ died for our
sins in accordance with the scriptures" (⇒ I Cor
15:3).
620 Our salvation flows from
God's initiative of love for us, because "he loved us and sent his Son to
be the expiation for our sins" (⇒ I Jn
4:10). "God was in Christ reconciling the world to himself"
(⇒ 2 Cor 5:19).
621 Jesus freely offered
himself for our salvation. Beforehand, during the Last Supper, he both symbolized
this offering and made it really present: "This is my body which is given
for you" (⇒ Lk 22:19).
622 The redemption won by
Christ consists in this, that he came "to give his life as a ransom for many"
(⇒ Mt 20:28), that is, he "loved [his
own] to the end" (⇒ Jn 13:1), so that
they might be "ransomed from the futile ways inherited from [their]
fathers" (⇒ I Pt 1:18).
623 By his loving obedience
to the Father, "unto death, even death on a cross"
(⇒ Phil 2:8), Jesus fulfils the atoning mission
(cf ⇒ Is 53:10) of the suffering Servant, who
will "make many righteous; and he shall bear their iniquities"
(⇒ Is 53:11; cf. ⇒ Rom
5:19).
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