Christ's Passion Foretold - Psalm 22

Christ Crucified

Psalm 22: 2-23

My God, my God why have you forsaken me?

You are far from my plea and the cry of my distress.

O My God, I call by day and you give no reply.

I call by night and I find no peace.

Yet you, O God, are holy,

Enthroned on the praises of Israel.

In you our fathers put their trust;

They trusted and you set them free.

When they cried to you, they escaped.

In you they trusted and never in vain.

The rabble mock and ridicule Jesus Crucified

But I am a worm, and no man, scorned by men,

despised by the people.

 All who see me deride me.

They curl their lips, they toss their heads.

“He trusted in the Lord, let him save him;

Let him release him if he is his friend.”

Yes, it was you who took me from the womb,

Entrusted me to my mother’s breast.

To you I was committed from my birth,

From my mother’s womb you have been my God.

Do not leave me alone in my distress;

Come close, there is no one else to help.

Many bulls have surrounded me,

Fierce bulls of Bashan close me in.

Against me they open wide their jaws,

Like lions, rending and roaring.

Like water I am poured out,

Disjointed are all my bones.

My heart has become like wax,

It is melted within my breast.

Parched as burnt clay is my throat,

My tongue cleaves to my jaws.

Christ nailed to the CrossMany dogs have surrounded me,

A band of the wicked beset me.

They tear holes in my hands and my feet

And lay me in the dust of death.

I can count every one of my bones.

These people stare at me and gloat;

They divide my clothing among them.

They cast lots for my robe.

O Lord, do not leave me alone,

My strength, make haste to help me!

Rescue my soul from the sword,

My life from the grip of these dogs.

Save my life from the jaws of these lions,

My poor soul from the horns of these oxen.

I will tell of your name to my brethren

And praise you where they are assembled.

Prayer, Fasting, Mercy sermon by Saint Peter Chrysologus

St. Peter Chrysologus

Prayer knocks, fasting obtains, mercy receives

From a sermon by Saint Peter Chrysologus, bishop

There are three things, my brethren, by which faith stands firm, devotion remains constant, and virtue endures.  They are prayer, fasting and mercy.  Prayer knocks at the door, fasting obtains, mercy receives.  Prayer, mercy and fasting: these three are one, and they give life to each other.

Fasting is the soul of prayer, mercy is the lifeblood of fasting.  Let no one try to separate them; they cannot be separated.  If you have only one of them or not all together, you have nothing.  So if you prayer, fast; if you fast, show mercy; if you want your petition to be heard, hear the petition of others.   If you do not close your ear to others you open God’s ear to yourself.

When you fast, see the fasting of others.  If you want God to know that you are hungry, know that another is hungry.  If you hope for mercy, show mercy.  If you look for kindness, show kindness.  If you want to receive, give.  If you ask for yourself what you deny to others, your asking is a mockery.

Saint Peter Chrysologus, Quote

Let this be the pattern for all men when they practice mercy: show mercy to others in the same way, with the same generosity, with the same promptness, as you want others to show mercy to you.

Therefore, let prayer, mercy and fasting the one single plea to God on our behalf, one speech in our defense, a threefold united prayer in our favor.

Let us use fasting to make up for what we have lost by despising others.  Let us offer our souls in sacrifice by means of fasting.  There is nothing more pleasing that we can offer to God, as the psalmist said in prophecy: A sacrifice to God is a broken spirit; God does not despise a bruised and humbled heart.

Offer your soul to God, make him an oblation of your fasting, so that your soul may be a pure offering, a holy sacrifice, a living victim, remaining your own and at the same time made over to God.  Whoever fails to give this to God will not be excused, for if you are to give him yourself you are never without the means of giving.

To make these acceptable, mercy must be added.  Fasting bears no fruit unless it is watered by mercy.  Fasting dries up when mercy dries up.  Mercy is to fasting as rain is to the earth.  However much you may cultivate your heart, clear the soil of your nature, root out vices, sow virtues, if you do not release the springs of mercy, your fasting will bear no fruit.

When you fast, if your mercy is thin your harvest will be thin; when you fast, what you pour out in mercy overflows into your barn.  Therefore, do not lose by saving, but gather in by scattering.  Give to the poor, and your give to yourself.  You will not be allowed to keep what you have refused to give to others.