First Sermon for Palm Sunday: On the Procession of the Saviour and Those That Take Part in it

“ And they brought the ass and the colt and laid their garments uton them and made Him sit thereon; and a very great multitude spread theiy garments in the way, and others cut boughs from the trees.” —Matt. xxi. 7, 8.

Not without good reason, my brethren, has the Church, animated as she is by the spirit of her Bridegroom and her God, added to-day, in a novel and wonderful combination, a solemn procession to the reading of the passion. I call this a novel and wonderful combination, because whereas the procession is triumphant and accompanied with songs of joy, the passion is provocative of tears and lamentations. Therefore, since ‘“‘ to the wise and to the unwise I am a debtor’’ (Rom. i. 14), let us see what lesson this conjunction has for both these classes of men. And we must examine first what it suggests to worldlings, because ‘‘not first what is spiritual, but that which is animal ’’ (1 Cor. xv. 46). Accordingly, let the worldly soul consider and understand that “ mourning taketh hold of the end of joy ” (Prov. xiv. 13). It was indeed in order to impress this truth upon us that He Who in all other things likewise “ began to do and to teach ” (Acts i. I), preaching by example as well as by word: it was for this purpose, I say, that He, when made visible in the flesh, was at pains to prove clearly in

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His own Person what long before He had announced through His Prophet: “ All flesh is grass, and all the glory thereof as the flower of the field” (Is. xl. 6). If, then, He willed to receive the honour of a triumphal procession, it was because He knew that the day of His most ignominious passion was now at hand. Who ought now to put his hope in the inconstancy of temporal glory, when even in the Author of time and the Creator of the universe he beholds so great a humiliation after so great an exaltation? For in the same city, by the same people, and in the same week, Christ was one day received with a glorious procession and divine honours, and on another subjected to insult and torture,“ and was reputed with the wicked ” (Is. liii. 2). Such is the end of transitory joy, such the fruit of temporal glory. Wisely therefore does the Prophet pray that his “ glory may sing to the Lord and that he may not have sorrow ” (Ps. xxix. 13), that is to say he asked for a procession which should be followed by no passion.

But as for you, dearest brethren, as “ comparing spiritual things with spiritual ” (r Cor. ii. 13), I want you to see in the procession an image of the glory of our heavenly fatherland, and in the passion the way that leads thereto. If in the procession you call to mind that future joy and exultation exceeding great, when “ we shall be taken up in the clouds to meet Christ, into the air ” (1 Thess. iv. 16): if with all the ardour of desire you long to see the day when Christ the Lord, the Head with all the members, shall bewelcomed into the heavenly Jerusalem, receiving the triumph due to His victory, applauded, not now by the Jewish multitudes, but rather by the angelic powers, whilst the

Il, 9 elect of both Dispensations are crying out from every side, ‘‘ Blessed is He that cometh in the name of the Lord ” (Matt. xx. 19) : if, I say, you have thus suggested to you in the procession the term of our pilgrimage, behold also marked out in the passion the way which conducts to that term. For present tribulation is the way to life, the way to glory, the way to the holy city, the way to the kingdom of God, according to the testimony of the Thief who said from his cross, “Lord, remember me when Thou shalt come into Thy Kingdom ” (Luke xxiii. 42). He beheld Christ on His way to His kingdom, and begged to be remembered by Him when He had arrived there. Thither also came the Thief himself, as the result of his prayer ; and by how short a journey you may infer from the fact that he was deemed worthy to bewith the Lord in Paradise on that very day (ibid. 43). Thus, the glory of the procession renders the pains of the passion easy to endure, because nothing appears difficult to the soul that loves.

Do not be surprised at me, my brethren, for saying that the procession which we commemorate to-day may be regarded as an image of that heavenly procession destined to follow the judgment (z Thess. iv. 16). For it is one and the same Lord Who is received ‘in both, although in widely different ways and by different persons. In the earthly procession Christ is seated upon a beast of burden devoid of reason: He will also have a beast of burden in the heavenly, but a rational one, according to what is written, “ Men and beasts Thou wilt save, O Lord ” (Ps. xxxv. 7), similar to which is this other testimony from the same Prophet, “ I am become as a beast before Thee and I am always with Thee” (Ps. Ixxii. 23). And see if he is not speaking

THE PROCESSION OF THE SAVIOUR 115 here of a procession, since he goes on to say, “ Thou hast held me by my right hand, and by Thy will Thou hast conducted me, and with Thy glory Thou hast received me ” (ibid. 24). Yea, not even the colt shall be wanting in that final procession. For although the heretic * may murmur and try to keep the little ones from coming to Jesus (Matt. xix. 13, 14), denying the validity of infant baptism: He who was born for us as a Little One (Is. ix. 6) and Who chose as His first fruits a throng of little ones,—I speak of the Holy Innocents—does not now exclude the little ones from grace, because it is in accordance with His mercy and certainly within the range of His omnipotence to supply in them by grace for the incapacity of nature. But in that future procession there shall be no crowds strewing the way with branches of palm and worthless garments. Instead, the four Living Creatures shall let down their wings, and the four-and-twenty Ancients shall cast their crowns before the throne of the Lamb, whilst all the angelic spirits shall refer and attribute to Him whatever they possess of splendour and glory (Apoc. iv. 8, 11).

But now that I have mentioned the beast of burden, the garments, and the palm-branches, it may be worth our while to examine more attentively the three kinds of service which I see rendered to the Saviour in this procession : the first by the ass upon which He is seated, the second by the multitude that “spread their garments in the way ” and the third by those who are said to have “ cut boughs from the trees ” (Matt. xxi.

7,). Do you not perceive that amongst all these it is only the poor ass that is self-sacrificed to the Master’s honour, and that the others contribute out of their abundance and without any great inconvenience to themselves? -But here, my brethren, I know not whether I ought to be silent, lest I should expose you by speaking to the temptation of pride, or whether I ought rather to say what I feel for your consolation. I will choose the latter alternative. Be assured, then, that you hold the place of the beast of burden, since, according to the Apostle’s command, you “ glorify and bear God in your body ” (x Cor. vi. 20). The men of this world devote to the service of the Lord, not their own bodies, but only what appertains to the body and is necessary for its support, when they give alms out of their earthly substance. With regard to prelates and religious superiors, we may suppose that they “ cut boughs from the trees,” when, for instance, they preach to their flocks concerning the faith and obedience of Abraham, the chastity of Joseph, the meekness of Moses, and the virtues which were characteristic of other saints. But these likewise contribute out of superabundant stores, and they are commanded to give freely what they have freely received (Matt. x. 8). All, however, as well they who spread their garments or strew the boughs as those that give their bodies like the beast, all, I say, have a place in the procession of the Saviour, and shall enter with Him into the holy city—provided they are faithful and diligent in discharging their several functions. For the Prophet (Ezech. xiv. 14) foresaw that three are to be saved, namely, Noe, who cuts down the boughs to build his ark; Daniel, become as the beast of burden that bore

THE PROCESSION OF THE SAVIOUR 117 the Saviour in the vileness of his food and the labour of his penance; and Job, who uses well his worldly substance and warms the sides of the poor with the fleeces of his flock* (Job xxxi. 20). But I think you can easily perceive for yourselves to which of these three Jesus is closest in the procession to the holy city, and which of the three is nearest to salvation.