The masculine piety of soldiers of the Spanish Foreign Legion

 

Every year in Malagá in the morning of Holy Thursday there is a ceremony known as El Traslado del Cristo de Mena (The Transfer of the Christ of Mena) where members of the Spanish Foreign Legion carry El Cristo de la Buena Muerte (The Christ of a Good Death). They sing El Novio de la Muerte (Death’s Bridegroom; lyrics in Spanish and English here) while carrying the very large and heavy crucifix.

This is not a hymn but a song written in 1921 by Fidel Prado Duque (lyrics) and Juan Costa Casals (music). It tells of the death of a soldier in battle, one who is very aware of the possibility of death in action. The Spanish Foreign Legion adopted it as their anthem and slow march. While the Legion now has women soldiers, the crucifix is carried by men.

As a man I find this procession very moving, an expression of masculine piety, soldiers identifying themselves with the Crucified Jesus, ready to lay down their lives for others. 

We are now celebrating the Easter Octave but without the Crucified Christ there would be no Easter.

St Longinus

Bernini (Web Gallery of Art)

And when the centurion, who stood facing him, saw that in this way he[a] breathed his last, he said, 'Truly this man was the Son of God!' (Mark 15:39).

According to tradition St Longinus was the soldier who pierced the side of the dead Jesus with his lance and who uttered the words recorded by Mark, Truly this man was the Son of God. While there seems to be no solid foundation for the tradition, there is no doubt about the words of the centurion, recorded in slightly different ways by St Matthew and St Luke.

Soldiers of the Defence Forces of Ireland have been engaged in UN peace-keeping in a number of countries since 1955. In some places they have served side by side with soldiers from Fiji. Please pray for all peacekeepers.

'The Master of the House Washed My Feet!' Holy Thursday.

Jesus washes the feet of the Apostles

Church of St Aignan, Chartres, France [Wikipedia]

Evening Mass of the Lord’s Supper

Readings (New American Bible: Philippines, USA)

Readings(Jerusalem Bible: Australia, England & Wales, India [optional], Ireland, New Zealand, Pakistan, Scotland, South Africa)

Note: The page above has the readings for the Chrism Mass and, below them, those for the Mass of the Lord's Supper. 

Gospel John 13:1-15 (New Revised Standard Version, Anglicised Catholic Edition, Canada)  

Now before the festival of the Passover, Jesus knew that his hour had come to depart from this world and go to the Father. Having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end. The devil had already put it into the heart of Judas son of Simon Iscariot to betray him. And during supper Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands, and that he had come from God and was going to God, got up from the table, took off his outer robe, and tied a towel around himself. Then he poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples’ feet and to wipe them with the towel that was tied around him. He came to Simon Peter, who said to him, ‘Lord, are you going to wash my feet?’ Jesus answered, ‘You do not know now what I am doing, but later you will understand.’ Peter said to him, ‘You will never wash my feet.’ Jesus answered, ‘Unless I wash you, you have no share with me.’ Simon Peter said to him, ‘Lord, not my feet only but also my hands and my head!’ Jesus said to him, ‘One who has bathed does not need to wash, except for the feet, but is entirely clean. And you are clean, though not all of you.’ For he knew who was to betray him; for this reason he said, ‘Not all of you are clean.’

After he had washed their feet, had put on his robe, and had returned to the table, he said to them, ‘Do you know what I have done to you? You call me Teacher and Lord—and you are right, for that is what I am. So if I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. For I have set you an example, that you also should do as I have done to you.

From The Gospel of John

Directed by Philip Saville

'The Master of the House Washed My Feet'
By Fr Gary Walker

In March 2008 I posted this story from The Far East, the magazine of the Columbans in the Region of Australia and New Zealand (now, with Fiji, the Region of Oceania) about a Hindu, Nomo, who proclaimed the gospel after a Holy Thursday experience. What struck me is its similarity to the story of the Samaritan woman at the well, who also became a missionary by telling the people in her town that she had discovered the Messiah. Fr Walker the author, was then editor of The Far East. He is from Brisbane, Australia.

Pray for the soul of Nomo.

An Easter Triduum story comes from Sindh province in Pakistan where the Columbans work. The extraordinary experience of a Hindu man who was caught up in the Holy Thursday liturgy and had his feet washed by the parish priest, Irish Columban Fr Tomás King.

Matli is a town in Sindh where the Columbans have worked for over 30 years. At Easter Catholics come to town from many areas to celebrate the Easter Triduum; they stay in the Catholic compound while they are in the town. At the same time a Hindu man by the name of Nomo came to Matli to visit his relatives from Nagar Parkar, a town right on the eastern extreme of Pakistan near its border with India. These are tribal people, Parkar Kholi people, who are Hindu and Christian as well as Muslim.

Nomo was several hundred kilometres from home and invited to the Holy Thursday night liturgy by a Catholic friend. Fr Tomás King, the resident priest at that time, randomly arranged for some men to have their feet washed at the altar. It just happened that Nomo was chosen and totally unaware of what was going to take place sat up in front of the altar with the other men. But when he saw that Father Tomás was washing their feet, the poor fellow tried to run away - but they managed to persuade him to stay and Father Tomás washed his feet.

This ritual washing had an extraordinary effect on him and he told others after Mass, Now I have seen a true religion - I came into this house, a total stranger and the master of the house washed my feet! Imagine the master of the house washing a stranger's feet.

He returned to Nagar Parkar and related this story, not only to his family but also his neighbours and friends. Nomo was a well-known figure and a prominent person in the Hindu community in Nagar Parkar. Even though he was not baptized he proclaimed this message of love and service as he experienced it at the hands of a Catholic priest.

Sadly he died in questionable circumstances. Some Catholics in the area believe that he was poisoned while trying to bring peace and reconciliation between two parties that were at odds with one another. He had accepted the gospel as his way of life.

Fr Tomás King

One of the antiphons that may be  sung duriing the Washing of the Feet, a ceremony that will not take place this year because of the Covid-19 pandemic

Antiphon John 13:4, 5, 15

Postquam surrexit Dominus a cena, misit aquam in pelvim,

After the Lord had risen from supper, he poured water into a basin

et coepit lavare pedes disciplulorum:

and began to wash the feet of his disciples:

hoc exemplum reliquit eis.

he left them this example.

Ps 47 [48]:2. Magnus Dominus, et laudabilis nimis; in civitate Dei nostri, in monte sancto eius.

Great is the Lord and greatly to be praised in the city of our God, in His holy mountain.

Postquam surrexit Dominus a cena, misit aquam in pelvim,

After the Lord had risen from supper, he poured water into a basin

et coepit lavare pedes disciplulorum:

and began to wash the feet of his disciples:

hoc exemplum reliquit eis.

he left them this example.

Holy Thursday, Jesus said, 'I have set you an example, that you also should do as I have done to you.'

Christ Washing the Feet of his Disciples (detail)

Tintoretto, c.1547. Museo del Prado, Madrid [Web Gallery of Art]

Evening Mass of the Lord's Supper

Readings (New American Bible: Philippines, USA)

  

Readings (Jerusalem Bible: Australia, England & Wales, India [optional], Ireland, New Zealand, Pakistan, Scotland, South Africa) [Readings for morning Mass of the Chrism included.]

Gospel John 13:1-15 (New Revised Standard Version, Catholic Edition, Canada) 

Now before the festival of the Passover, Jesus knew that his hour had come to depart from this world and go to the Father. Having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end. The devil had already put it into the heart of Judas son of Simon Iscariot to betray him. And during supper Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands, and that he had come from God and was going to God, got up from the table, took off his outer robe, and tied a towel around himself. Then he poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples’ feet and to wipe them with the towel that was tied around him. He came to Simon Peter, who said to him, “Lord, are you going to wash my feet?”  Jesus answered, “You do not know now what I am doing, but later you will understand.” Peter said to him, “You will never wash my feet.” Jesus answered, “Unless I wash you, you have no share with me.” Simon Peter said to him, “Lord, not my feet only but also my hands and my head!”  Jesus said to him, “One who has bathed does not need to wash, except for the feet, but is entirely clean. And you are clean, though not all of you.” For he knew who was to betray him; for this reason he said, “Not all of you are clean.”

After he had washed their feet, had put on his robe, and had returned to the table, he said to them, “Do you know what I have done to you? You call me Teacher and Lord—and you are right, for that is what I am. So if I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. For I have set you an example, that you also should do as I have done to you.

Antiphona ad introitum Cf. Galatians 6:14

Nos autem gloriári opórtet in cruce Dómini nostri Iesu Christi, 

in quo est salus, vita et resurréctio nostra, 

per quem salváti et liberáti sumus.

Entrance Antiphon Cf. Galatians 6:14

We should glory in the Cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, 

in whom is our salvation, life and resurrection, 

through whom we are saved and delivered.

The Last Supper (detail), Tintoretto, 1579-81

Scuola Grande di San Rocco, Venice [Web Gallery of Art]

Antiphona ad Communionem 1 Cor 11:24-25

Hoc Corpus, quod pro vobis tradétur: 

hic calix novi testaménti est in meo Sánguine, dicit Dóminus;

 hoc fácite, quotiescúmque súmitis, in meam commemoratiónem.

Communion Antiphon 1 Corinthians 11:24-25

This is the body that will be given up for you; 

this is the Chalice of the new covenant in my blood, says the Lord; 

do this, whenever you receive it, in memory of me.

Pange Lingua Gloriosi

This hymn, written by St Thomas Aquinas for the Feast of Corpus Christi, is sung at the end of the Mass of the Lord's Supper as the Blessed Sacrament is taken in procession from the altar where the Mass has been celebrated to the Altar of Repose.

Holy Thursday. 'I have given you an example, that you also should do as I have done to you.'

Christ Washing the Feet of his Disciples (detail)

Tintoretto, c.1547 (Web Gallery of Art)

Evening Mass of the Lord's Supper

Readings (New American Bible: Philippines, USA)

  

Readings (Jerusalem Bible: Australia, England & Wales, India [optional], Ireland, New Zealand, Pakistan, Scotland, South Africa) [Readings for morning Mass of the Chrism included.]

Gospel John 13:1-15 (Revised Standard Version – Catholic Edition)

Now before the feast of the Passover, when Jesus knew that his hour had come to depart out of this world to the Father, having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end. And during supper, when the devil had already put it into the heart of Judas Iscariot, Simon's son, to betray him, Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands, and that he had come from God and was going to God, rose from supper, laid aside his garments, and girded himself with a towel. Then he poured water into a basin, and began to wash the disciples' feet, and to wipe them with the towel with which he was girded. He came to Simon Peter; and Peter said to him, "Lord, do you wash my feet?" Jesus answered him, "What I am doing you do not know now, but afterward you will understand." Peter said to him, "You shall never wash my feet." Jesus answered him, "If I do not wash you, you have no part in me." Simon Peter said to him, "Lord, not my feet only but also my hands and my head!" Jesus said to him, "He who has bathed does not need to wash, except for his feet, but he is clean all over; and you are clean, but not every one of you." For he knew who was to betray him; that was why he said, "You are not all clean." When he had washed their feet, and taken his garments, and resumed his place, he said to them, "Do you know what I have done to you? You call me Teacher and Lord; and you are right, for so I am. If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another's feet. For I have given you an example, that you also should do as I have done to you. 

Antiphona ad introitum Cf. Galatians 6:14

Nos autem gloriári opórtet in cruce Dómini nostri Iesu Christi, 

in quo est salus, vita et resurréctio nostra, 

per quem salváti et liberáti sumus.

Entrance Antiphon Cf. Galatians 6:14

We should glory in the Cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, 

in whom is our salvation, life and resurrection, 

through whom we are saved and delivered.

The Last Supper (detail)

Tintoretto, 1579-81 (Web Gallery of Art)

Antiphona ad Communionem 1 Cor 11:24-25

Hoc Corpus, quod pro vobis tradétur: 

hic calix novi testaménti est in meo Sánguine, dicit Dóminus;

 hoc fácite, quotiescúmque súmitis, in meam commemoratiónem.

Communion Antiphon 1 Corinthians 11:24-25

This is the body that will be given up for you; 

this is the Chalice of the new covenant in my blood, says the Lord; 

do this, whenever you receive it, in memory of me.

Pange Lingua Gloriosi

This hymn, written by St Thomas Aquinas for the Feast of Corpus Christi, is sung at the end of the Mass of the Lord's Supper as the Blessed Sacrament is taken in procession from the altar where the Mass has been celebrated to the Altar of Repose.

' . . . you also ought to wash one another's feet.' Holy Thursday

From The Gospel of John (2003) http://decentfilms.com/reviews/gospelofjohn Directed by Philip Saville. Jesus played by Henry Ian Cusick; narrator, Christopher Plummer.

John 13: 1-15 (Revised Standard Version - Catholic Edition)

Now before the feast of the Passover, when Jesus knew that his hour had come to depart out of this world to the Father, having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end. And during supper, when the devil had already put it into the heart of Judas Iscariot, Simon's son, to betray him, Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands, and that he had come from God and was going to God, rose from supper, laid aside his garments, and girded himself with a towel. Then he poured water into a basin, and began to wash the disciples' feet, and to wipe them with the towel with which he was girded.
He came to Simon Peter; and Peter said to him, "Lord, do you wash my feet?"
Jesus answered him, "What I am doing you do not know now, but afterward you will understand."
Peter said to him, "You shall never wash my feet."
Jesus answered him, "If I do not wash you, you have no part in me."
Simon Peter said to him, "Lord, not my feet only but also my hands and my head!"
Jesus said to him, "He who has bathed does not need to wash, except for his feet, * but he is clean all over; and you are clean, but not every one of you."
For he knew who was to betray him; that was why he said, "You are not all clean." When he had washed their feet, and taken his garments, and resumed his place, he said to them, "Do you know what I have done to you? You call me Teacher and Lord; and you are right, for so I am. If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another's feet. For I have given you an example, that you also should do as I have done to you”.

Pange lingua, written by St Thomas Aquinas (1225 – 1274) and sung during the solemn procession of the Blessed Sacrament to the Altar of Repose at the end of the Evening Mass of the Lord’s Supper. The last two stanzas are known to us as Tantum ergo, sung at Benediction.

English translation by Fr Edward Caswall

Sing, my tongue, the Savior's glory,
of His flesh the mystery sing;
of the Blood, all price exceeding,
shed by our immortal King,
destined, for the world's redemption,
from a noble womb to spring.


Of a pure and spotless Virgin
born for us on earth below,
He, as Man, with man conversing,
stayed, the seeds of truth to sow;
then He closed in solemn order
wondrously His life of woe.


On the night of that Last Supper,
seated with His chosen band,
He the Pascal victim eating,
first fulfills the Law's command;
then as Food to His Apostles
gives Himself with His own hand.


Word-made-Flesh, the bread of nature
by His word to Flesh He turns;
wine into His Blood He changes;
what though sense no change discerns?
Only be the heart in earnest,
faith her lesson quickly learns.


Down in adoration falling,
This great Sacrament we hail,
Over ancient forms of worship
Newer rites of grace prevail;
Faith will tell us Christ is present,
When our human senses fail.

To the everlasting Father,
And the Son who made us free
And the Spirit, God proceeding
From them Each eternally,
Be salvation, honor, blessing,
Might and endless majesty.
Amen.

Madonna House: The People of the Towel & Water

Video made at Madonna House, Combermere, Ontario, Canada

I have visited the Madonna House community in Whitehorse, Yukon Territory, Canada, a number of times, in 1985 and in 2005. One of many blessings was meeting and working with a priest of Madonna House, the late Monsignor Art Bukowski, from Michigan, USA, in Kentucky during the summers of 1969 and 1970, when I was a young priest studying in the USA. He was much older than me and when I first met him he had just finished 29 years as president of Aquinas College, Grand Rapids. He later, I think, spent some time in Latin America. He died in 1989. I remember him for his quiet, missionary zeal as a priest and his driest of the dry humour. I also remember the Madonna House cross that he wore.

 Monsignor Arthur F. Bukowski

The video, which begins with part of the gospel for Holy Thursday, highlights the consecration of Catherine de Hueck (de HUEeck) Doherty and her husband to Jesus through Mary. This consecration comes from the teachings of St Louis-Marie de Montfort. The film mentions that that saint had a similarly deep influence on the spirituality of Blessed Teresa of Calcutta and Blessed John Paul II. It was also the bedrock of the spirituality of the Servant of God Frank Duff, founder of the Legion of Mary.

Something else emphasised in the video is 'Nazareth spirituality', which deeply influenced Blessed Charles de Foucauld, though in a somewhat different way. It is also implicitly part of the spirituality of Jean Vanier, founder of L'Arche and co-founder of its 'cousin' Faith and Light. Both of these, like Madonna House, are very Marian. Indeed, Faith and Light grew out of an international pilgrimage to Lourdes for persons with learning disabilities and their families in 1971.

The very title of this video also reminds me of something that Jean Vanier places great importance on, the washing of the feet. In a retreat I made under him in Manila in 1995 we spent a whole afternoon reflecting on this, ending in small circles where we washed the feet of one of the persons beside us. The one who washed mine was Lala, about whom I've written a number of times before.

 Lala taking care of Jordan in the 'Nazareth' that is the L'Arche community, Cainta, Rizal, near Manila

Though based in England at the time, I was chaplain to the small Philippine group at the Faith and Light international pilgrimage to Lourdes during Holy Week 2001. After the Evening Mass of the Lord's Supper we had our own washing of the feet ritual in the garden of the hotel where the Filipinos were staying.

'Nazareth spirituality' shows the extraordinary presence of God in the ordinary. Most of us spend our whole lives in 'Nazareth' and yet very few of us are aware of this.

A quiet joy comes through this film, the kind of joy that Pope Benedict spoke about in his message for this year's World Youth Day, observed yesterday, Palm Sunday.

Holy Thursday. 'For I have given you an example, that you also should do as I have done to you.'

Christ Washing the Feet of His Disciples (detail), Tintoretto, c,1547

Readings for the Evening Mass of the Lord's Supper (New American Bible: Philippines, USA)

Gospel (John 13:1-15. RSV-Catholic Edition)

Now before the feast of the Passover, when Jesus knew that his hour had come to depart out of this world to the Father, having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end. And during supper, when the devil had already put it into the heart of Judas Iscariot, Simon's son, to betray him, Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands, and that he had come from God and was going to God, rose from supper, laid aside his garments, and girded himself with a towel. Then he poured water into a basin, and began to wash the disciples' feet, and to wipe them with the towel with which he was girded. He came to Simon Peter; and Peter said to him, "Lord, do you wash my feet?" Jesus answered him, "What I am doing you do not know now, but afterward you will understand." Peter said to him, "You shall never wash my feet." Jesus answered him, "If I do not wash you, you have no part in me." Simon Peter said to him, "Lord, not my feet only but also my hands and my head!" Jesus said to him, "He who has bathed does not need to wash, except for his feet, but he is clean all over; and you are clean, but not every one of you." For he knew who was to betray him; that was why he said, "You are not all clean." When he had washed their feet, and taken his garments, and resumed his place, he said to them, "Do you know what I have done to you? You call me Teacher and Lord; and you are right, for so I am. If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another's feet. For I have given you an example, that you also should do as I have done to you.

AN SOISCÉAL (Eoin 13:1-15. Bíobla Mhaigh Nuad ) [Irish language]

Roimh fhéile na Cásca, ó bhí a fhios ag Íosa go raibh a uair tagtha chun imeacht as an saol seo go dtí an tAthair, agus ó thug sé grá dá mhuintir féin a bhí ar an saol, thug sé grá thar na bearta dóibh feasta.

Le linn an tsuipéir agus tar éis don diabhal a chur ina chroí ag Iúdás, mac Shíomóin Isceiriót, go mbraithfeadh sé é – ó bhí a fhios ag Íosa go raibh gach uile ní tugtha isteach ina lámha dó, ag an Athair, agus gur ó Dhia a ghabh sé amach, agus gur ar Dhia a bhí a thriall, d’éirigh sé ón suipéar, agus leag sé uaidh a chuid éadaigh, agus cheangail sé tuáille faoina choim. Ansin chuir sé uisce sa bháisín agus thosaigh ag ní cosa na ndeisceabal agus á dtiormú leis an tuáille a bhí faoina choim.


Tháinig sé chomh fada le Síomón Peadar agus dúirt seisean leis: “Tusa a ní mo chos-sa, a Thiarna!” D’fhreagair Íosa é: “Ní fios duit anois cad tá ar siúl agam,” ar sé leis, “ach tuigfidh tú ar ball é.” Dúirt Peadar leis: “Ní nífidh tú mo chosa-sa choíche!” D’fhreagair Íosa é: “Mura ndéanfaidh mé thú a ní, ní bheidh aon chuid agat díom.” Dúirt Síomón Peadar leis: “A Thiarna, ní amháin mo chosa, ach nigh fós mo lámha agus mo cheann!” Dúirt Íosa leis: “Duine tar éis a fholctha, ní gá dó a ní [ach a chosa]; tá sé glan go hiomlán. Agus tá sibhse glan, ach níl gach duine agaibh glan.” Mar bhí a fhios aige cé a bhí chun é bhrath; sin é an fáth a ndúirt sé: “Níl gach duine agaibh glan.”


Ansin, tar éis dó a gcosa a ní, agus a chuid éadaigh a chur air, shuigh sé chun boird arís agus dúirt sé leo: “An dtuigeann sibh cad tá déanta agam daoibh? Deir sibh: ‘A Mháistir’ liom agus ‘A Thiarna’, agus is le ceart é, óir is mé sin. Má rinne mise bhur gcosa a ní agus gur mé bhur dTiarna agus bhur Máistir, ba chóir daoibhse chomh maith cosa a chéile a ní. Tá sampla tugtha agam daoibh, faoi mar atá déanta agam daoibhse, go ndéanfadh sibhse mar an gcéanna.

+++

When I see Jesus washing the feet of the apostles, done on the occasion of his instituting the Holy Eucharist, the Mass, I think of Marilyn, one of those who attends my weekday Masses and whose husband Ramonito was incapacitated by a stroke nearly two years ago, and of the loving care she shows him every day although he cannot respond.

I remember my late father who, before he went to work on building sites each day went to early Mass and then came home to prepare my mother's breakfast and bring it to her in bed.

I think of the Capuchin Tertiary Sisters of the Holy Family who welcome young girls who have been traumatized to Holy Family Home here in Bacolod City. I think of the girls themselves, with whom I celebrate Mass most Sundays, and how they welcome a newcomer and stay with a girl full of anger and maybe despair until she begins to see the hope that Jesus offers.

I think of Columban Father Tony Kelly whose obituary I posted here the other day and what the writer said about him: 'in his typical quiet, unobtrusive fashion, provided many small but essential services for his fellow-Columbans in the Retirement Home'.
I think of the Columban priests, and many others, who were jailed in China after the Communist takeover in 1949 before being expelled, celebrating Mass secretly in their cells with the minimum of ceremony but certain that when they said 'This is my body . . . this is my blood', the bread and wine became the Body and Blood of the Risen Lord Jesus Christ.



Fr Thomas Rosica CSB, Toronto, on Holy Thursday