The Life of Christ Our Lord: April 2020

Friday, April 24, 2020

Update

The Life of Our Lord Jesus Christ by J-J Tissot concludes with the Ascension. This will be posted here on Ascension Thursday.

Totus tuus ego sum

Et omnia mea tua sunt;

Tecum semper tutus sum:
Ad Jesum per Mariam

Thursday, April 23, 2020

Christ eating with His disciples

Saint John - Chapter 21

Jesus saith to them: Come, and dine. J-J Tissot

Simon, son of John, lovest thou me? J-J Tissot

Totus tuus ego sum

Et omnia mea tua sunt;

Tecum semper tutus sum:
Ad Jesum per Mariam

Christ eating with His disciples (Notes)

Saint John - Chapter 21

Jesus saith to them: Come, and dine. J-J Tissot

[9] Ut ergo descenderunt in terram, viderunt prunas positas, et piscem superpositum, et panem.
As soon then as they came to land, they saw hot coals lying, and a fish laid thereon, and bread.

[12] Dicit eis Jesus : Venite, prandete. Et nemo audebat discumbentium interrogare eum : Tu quis es? scientes, quia Dominus est.
Jesus saith to them: Come, and dine. And none of them who were at meat, durst ask him: Who art thou? knowing that it was the Lord.

Jesus saith unto them, Come and dine. It is probable that some of the fish which the Apostles caught were placed by Christ’s command upon the red-hot coals, when He said, Bring of the fish which ye have now caught.

Observe also that it is probable that Christ upon this occasion dined with His disciples, a thing which He had been accustomed to do, in order to confirm the truth of His resurrection.

Anagogically, S. Cyril says, In like manner after the labours of this life, by which we fish souls for God, Christ will prepare a heavenly dinner, in which we shall eternally feast with Him in Divine delights, according as it is written, That ye may eat and drink at My table in My kingdom (Luke 22:30).

And none of them that sat at meat: Gr. μαθντων, i.e. of His disciples. Whence Jansen thinks we ought to read discentium, disciples, instead of discumbentium, those who sat at meat: but the Roman copies read discum., which seems more suitable to the context.

Durst ask Him, &c. Because, as Chrysostom observes (Hom. 86), Christ was not, as yet, presenting Himself to them in His own proper appearance and form, but in one more august, from which they were hesitating whether it were really Jesus Himself, and were wishing to ask Him, Who art Thou? Yet from His features, from what He did and said, they recognised that it was Jesus Himself, so that at length they could no longer doubt. Wherefore, partly from reverence for Christ, and partly from the confidence of their recognition, they dared not to ask Him.

Less happily, S. Augustine interprets the expression to ask by to doubt. For these differ as effect and cause.

[13] Et venit Jesus, et accipit panem, et dat eis, et piscem similiter.
And Jesus cometh and taketh bread, and giveth them, and fish in like manner.

And Jesus came and took bread, &c. That is, when the disciples by the command of Jesus had sat down at the table, He also came, and sat down with them.

[14] Hoc jam tertio manifestatus est Jesus discipulis suis cum resurrexisset a mortuis.
This is now the third time that Jesus was manifested to his disciples, after he was risen from the dead.

This is now the third time, &c. That is to say, reckoning those appearances which took place when several of the Apostles were present, for of such only S. John here makes mention. For of such this was the third. Otherwise, if we enumerate all the other appearances of which the other Evangelists make mention, this was the seventh in order, as I have shown on Matt. 28:10, where I have enumerated them all in order.

There they shall see Me. In Galilee they shall see Me frequently and openly, and talk with Me face to face, but not so in Judæa, although even there I shall appear to them sometimes. ⬇

For in Judæa on the day of His resurrection Christ appeared six times.

First, He appeared to His mother, as S. Ambrose, S. Anselm, and others teach, and this is the common opinion of the Doctors and of the faithful.
Secondly, He appeared to the Magdalene at the sepulchre (Mark 16:9).
Thirdly, He appeared to her again with the other women as they returned to Jerusalem (Matt. 28:9).
Fourthly, He appeared to Peter (Luke 24:34).
Fifthly, to the two disciples as they went to Emmaus (Luke 24).
Sixthly, to all—that is, to ten of the Apostles, for Thomas was not with them, and Judas had hanged himself.

After the day of the resurrection He appeared,

first, to the eleven Apostles, when Thomas was with them, on the eighth day (John 20:26).
Secondly, He appeared to eleven disciples, among whom were Peter and John, as they were fishing in the Sea of Galilee (John 21).
Thirdly, He appeared on a mountain in Galilee to many—that is, to more than five hundred (Matt. 28:10; 1 Cor. 15:6).
Fourthly, He appeared to James the brother of the Lord in the same place.
Fifthly, He appeared to all the Apostles, and to others of the faithful, on the Mount of Olives, when He was going to ascend into Heaven (Acts 1:9).
Sixthly, He appeared to Saul when He made him Paul.

Christ appeared often on other occasions, which are not mentioned by the Evangelists.

[15] Cum ergo prandissent, dicit Simoni Petro Jesus : Simon Joannis, diligis me plus his? Dicit ei : Etiam Domine, tu scis quia amo te. Dicit ei : Pasce agnos meos.
When therefore they had dined, Jesus saith to Simon Peter: Simon son of John, lovest thou me more than these? He saith to him: Yea, Lord, thou knowest that I love thee. He saith to him: Feed my lambs.

When therefore they had dined, Jesus saith to Simon Peter—“Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou Me more than these?” When Christ was about to go away into heaven, He here appoints Peter His vicar upon earth, and creates him Chief Pontiff, that the one church might be ruled by one shepherd. Christ had promised the same thing to Peter—Matt. 16:18—but in this place He confers the gift, and constitutes him prince and ruler of the whole Church, lest any one, on account of Peter’s threefold denial, should say that Christ had changed His decree concerning him. So Cyril. Mystically, Alcuin here says the Hebrew Simon means—obedient. John is grace. Peter is thus spoken of as obeying the grace of God; because, indeed, he embraces Him with a burning love—the effect, not of human merit, but of a Divine gift.

Lovest thou Me more than these?
First, because this office of feeding and ruling all the faithful which I design to confer upon thee demands the very greatest love of Christ and of the faithful. “Love,” says S. Augustine, “is asked, and labour is commanded, because where love is there is no labour.”

Secondly, that Christ may show how greatly He loved His sheep, forasmuch as He was unwilling to entrust them to any but to one who loved Himself, and consequently His sheep, with a supreme love. Thus S. Chrysostom, Hom. 87, That which especially gains for us the divine favour is the care of our neighbour. Now the Lord, passing over the others, speaks to Peter concerning such things, for he was the chief of the Apostles, and the mouth of the disciples, and the head of the college. Whence also He commits to him precedence over his brethren, as much as to say, The life which thou saidst thou wouldst lay down for Me, this give for My sheep.

Thirdly, because Peter, a little before, had thrice denied Christ, and this triple denial had been forgiven him on his repentance by Christ; hence He rightly demands greater love from him on whom He had bestowed greater indulgence. “For to whom little is forgiven, the same loveth little:” Luke 7:47. So Cyril.

Moreover, Jesus asks, though He knew that Peter loved Him more than they all, says S. Augustine, for although John loved Jesus more tenderly, yet Peter loved Him with a stronger and more ardent love, as is plain from all his deeds and words about Jesus. Thus parents love their little children with a tender love, but those who are youths, or grown up, with a stronger and more solid love; whence also they give greater gifts to them than to the little ones. Listen to S. Augustine (Serm. on the Passion): “When the Lord died, Peter feared and denied; the risen Lord rekindled his love, drove away his fear. He denied fearing to die—when the Lord had risen again why should he fear? Since in Him he found death had died.”

He saith unto Him, Yea, Lord, Thou knowest that I love Thee. “Hence it is plain,” says S. Augustine, “ ‘amo’ and ‘diligo’ here signify the same thing, although in Latin amo means more than diligo. Peter does not dare to say, I love Thee more than the others do, but I love Thee; both because he did not know the hearts of the others—secondly, because his fall had made him more modest and cautious. For he had put himself before the others when he said, ‘Lord, although all should be offended in Thee, yet will I never be offended,’ and yet a little afterwards be fell more shamefully than the others, and denied Christ, which they did not. He saith unto him, ‘Feed My lambs.’ Feed, like as a shepherd feeds sheep by leading them to pasture, and by feeding them, rules and guides them that they may not stray from the flock, nor approach noxious pastures, nor be seized by the wolf. Hence to feed in Scripture signifies to rule, and kings are called shepherds, because, if they would rightly rule their subjects, they ought to do what shepherds do when they feed their sheep. Whence—Psalm 23:1—where the Vulgate has ‘the Lord rules me,’ the Hebrew is ‘Adonai roi,’ i.e. the Lord is my shepherd, or feedeth me. Wherefore it goes on, ‘He maketh me to lie down in green pastures.’ Thus David, from a keeper of sheep, was made by God a king of men—to feed, i.e. to rule, Jacob His servant, and Israel His inheritance. (Ps. 78:71.) Thus Cyrus is called a shepherd, i.e. a prince and king appointed by God—Is 44:28—that saith of Cyrus, ‘He is my shepherd.’ And Ps. 2:9, ‘Thou shalt rule them with a rod of iron.’ Hebrew Tirem, i.e. thou shalt feed them. And generally speaking, the Hebrew raa, the Greek ποίμαινω, and the Latin pasco, signify ‘to rule,’ as may be seen from Mic. 5:2; Act. 20:28; Rev. 2:7, and 12:5, 19:15. Thus Homer calls the Grecian king Agamemnon ποίμενα λαῶν—i.e. a shepherd of the people.”

My lambs. Christ, as the first Shepherd of the sheep, calls here His faithful people at one time sheep, at another, more tenderly, lambs. And that—Firstly, because of the newness of their life, for being regenerate by Baptism they are made as it were young lambs of God. Secondly, because of their lamblike innocence, which by baptism they have obtained, and also on account of their following Christ, who was called by John the Baptist, “the Lamb of God who taketh away the sins of the world.” Therefore the word sheep signifies that Christ is the Shepherd of Christians; the word—lambs—signifies that Christ is their Father, yea indeed their Mother, forasmuch as they are those whom He hath by baptism begotten unto God, and adopted as His own children. Jansen says lambs and sheep, are the same. Whence the Æthiopic version, instead of lambs, has sheep, repeating sheep thrice. Theophylact adds that they are called lambs in order that the very name might indicate those recently converted, and who were tenderer in the faith, of whom there was about to be a great multitude, when the Apostles began to preach. And because these would require greater care, and must be brought up and nourished with greater labour, therefore the Lord saith twice (according to the Vulgate), “feed My lambs,” that by this repetition He might show that He wished Peter to bestow the very greatest care upon them: but those who were stronger in the faith He calls sheep. Again, by lambs He understands simple, faithful souls; by sheep—teachers, pastors, bishops, and apostles, who are, as it were, mothers of the faithful. Thus Bellarmine.

From this place then it is plain that S. Peter and his successor, the Roman Pontiff, is the head and prince of the Church, and that all the faithful, even bishops, patriarchs, and apostles, are subject to him, and ought by him to be fed and ruled. We gather this, first because Christ here interrogates Peter only, and this thrice, as the chief and mouth of the Apostles. So SS. Chrysostom, Theophylact, Euthymius. Moreover Christ here tacitly signifies that Peter loved Him more than the other Apostles, and therefore that he was worthy to succeed Him in the love and care of the flock—that is, of the Church and the faithful. For that power which is not founded upon love comes to naught.

Secondly—this is plain from the word feed, i.e. rule, as I have shown, and from the terms lambs and sheep, for by these words Christ signifies all the members of the Church as it were subject to Himself, the chief Shepherd, for He excepts no one. They therefore who are the sheep of Christ, are likewise the sheep of Peter, for Christ here commits them to him, to be fed and ruled. They therefore who are not Peter’s sheep—namely, heretics—neither are they the sheep of Christ. So all the other Apostles, forasmuch as they were Christ’s sheep, so likewise are they also Peter’s sheep. From whence it was Peter’s right to direct them, to compose their differences, and to govern them in all things. For Christ instituted the most excellent government in His Church, that is the monarchic, both that there might be one Church, and that occasions of schism might be cut off, as S. Cyprian teaches in his book on the unity of the Church. “The primacy,” he says, “is given to Peter, to show that there is one Church of Christ and one chief See;” and S. Jerome says, “Among twelve, one is chosen, that unity might be preserved.” Hear also S. Leontius (Ser. 3, de Assum.): “From the whole world, one Peter is chosen, who is set over the Church, called out of all nations, and over all the Apostles, and all the Fathers of the Church, that although there be in the people of God many priests and many pastors, still Peter may rightly rule all whom Christ also rules in the chief place. A great and wonderful association in His own power, beloved brethren, the Divine condescension gave to this man, and if He wished that anything should be common with him to the other princes of the church, He only gave through him that which He denied not to the rest.”

Hear likewise S. Bernard (L. 3, de Consid. to Pope Eugen: towards the end): “They,” i.e. bishops, “have each their own flocks assigned to them, to thee all have been entrusted,—one shepherd for one flock; nor art thou only the one shepherd of all the sheep, but of all the shepherds. Do you ask how I prove this?—from the word of the Lord: for to whom were absolutely and without distinction all the sheep—I say not merely of Bishops, but of Apostles, committed? ‘If thou lovest Me, O Peter, feed My sheep;’ which?—the people of this or that city or region or kingdom? ‘My sheep,’ He saith: to what man is it not plain that He did not indicate some only, but assigned all? Nothing is excepted where no distinction is made;” and (III. Cap. Solit. De Major, et Obed.) he says, “Now to us the sheep of Christ were committed through Blessed Peter, as the Lord saith, ‘Feed my sheep,’ making no distinction between these sheep and others, that He might show that that sheep-fold which did not recognise Peter and his successors as pastors and masters, did not belong to Him.” See what has been said on S. Matt. 16; see also Bellarmine, who teaches that Christ, by this precept which He gave to Peter, saying, “Feed My sheep,” at the same time founded the Popedom as the Ecclesiastical Head, and gave it to S. Peter and his successors the Bishops of Rome. In chap. xiv. de Pont., he proves that these words were spoken by Christ to Peter only. In chap. xv. he proves that the word—feed—signifies government and power of ruling. In chap. xvi. that sheep signify all the faithful, even the Apostles, and the whole Church: all which things Calvin, Luther, and the heretics deny.

From this passage theologians generally, and especially Suarez on Indulgences, show that the power of granting Indulgences was given by Christ to Peter and the Pontiffs who succeed him. For under that word—feed—is included every act of jurisdiction which may pertain to shutting or opening the kingdom of heaven, that so the gift may be equal to the promise; but the remission of penalties by means of Indulgences is one of the acts by which the kingdom of heaven is opened; it therefore is also comprehended under the general charge of feeding the sheep of Christ.

[16] Dicit ei iterum : Simon Joannis, diligis me? Ait illi : Etiam Domine, tu scis quia amo te. Dicit ei : Pasce agnos meos.
He saith to him again: Simon, son of John, lovest thou me? He saith to him: Yea, Lord, thou knowest that I love thee. He saith to him: Feed my lambs.

He saith to him the second time, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou Me? He saith unto Him, Yea, Lord, Thou knowest that I love Thee. Hear S. Chrysostom: “Again he dreads the former things, lest perchance, thinking himself to love, he should be corrected if he did not love, like as before he was corrected for thinking himself strong, and therefore he takes refuge in Christ Himself.”

He saith unto him the second time, Feed My lambs. Thus the Arabic has it. But the Greek and Syriac instead of lambs have sheep, but it is very probable that the Vulgate, together with the Arabic, read the Greek προβατία inserting iota, i.e. little sheep, or lambs: because the shepherd’s chief care must be for them; and therefore Christ repeats and doubles His injunction concerning them.

As S. Augustine says, “Let it be love’s office to feed the Lord’s flock, like as it was the mark of fear to deny the Shepherd.” Hence S. Gregory (1 Part. Pastor. c. v.) says, “He who is strong in virtue and refuses to feed the flock of God is proved not to love his Pastor.”

Simon, son of John, lovest thou me? J-J Tissot

[17] Dicit ei tertio : Simon Joannis, amas me? Contristatus est Petrus, quia dixit ei tertio : Amas me? et dixit ei : Domine, tu omnia nosti, tu scis quia amo te. Dixit ei : Pasce oves meas.
He said to him the third time: Simon, son of John, lovest thou me? Peter was grieved, because he had said to him the third time: Lovest thou me? And he said to him: Lord, thou knowest all things: thou knowest that I love thee. He said to him: Feed my sheep.

He saith unto him the third time, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest Thou Me? Peter was grieved because He said unto him the third time lovest thou Me, and he said unto Him, Lord, Thou knowest all things; Thou knowest that I love Thee. He saith unto him, Feed My sheep (Syriac, My lambs). Why does Christ thrice ask Peter if he loved Him, and thrice repeat, Feed My sheep? I answer, the first reason is, that Peter, by a triple and constant profession of his singular love, might expiate and change his three-fold denial of Christ. So Cyril, Leontius, Theophylact, Bede, and S. Augustine, which last thus writes (Tract. 123): “For a threefold denial a threefold confession is rendered, that the tongue might not seem to serve love less than fear, and that impending death might not seem to elicit more speech than Present Life. Let it be the office of love to feed the Lord’s flock, if it was the mark of fear to deny the Shepherd. If any feed Christ’s sheep with this disposition, that they wish them to be their own sheep rather than His, they are proved to love not Christ but themselves, either from the desire of boasting, or ruling, or acquiring, not from the love of obeying, and helping, and pleasing God. Against such, therefore, the Word of Christ, many times enjoined, gives warning, and of them the Apostle complains that they seek their own, not the things which be of Jesus Christ. For to say, ‘If thou lovest Me, feed My sheep,’ what else is it but to say, If thou lovest Me, do not study to feed thyself, but My sheep; feed them as Mine, not as thine: seek My glory in them, not thine: My dominion, not thine own? “From hence let bishops learn to examine suspended priests and others a second and third time, concerning their amendment, that they may be safe in restoring them to their office.”

The second cause is that Christ might show what a value He set upon His sheep, and how in the day of judgment He will examine bishops and pastors as to their care for, but especially as to their love for, the sheep. Wherefore S. Bernard (Ser. 18 in Cant.) inveighs against those who, though having little love, are ambitious of being set over others, and so lose themselves and others; or if they save those under them, lose themselves. “Thou, brother,” he says, “whose salvation is not yet strong, who as yet hast not love, or that so weak and like a reed as to yield to every blast, believe every spirit, be carried about with every wind of doctrine, thou, I say, who hast such an opinion of thine own self in what pertains to thine own self, by what madness, I ask, art thou ambitious to have the care of others, or even acquiesce in having it?”

Thirdly—that He may show that pastors ought to feed their sheep, as it were, in a threefold manner—viz.,

by the word of truth,
by example of life, and
by temporal assistance (see S. Greg.)

And S. Bernard (Ser. 2 on the Resurr.) says, that feed was repeated by Christ thrice, in order that a pastor may feed his sheep by mind, by tongue, and by hand. “Feed” he says, “by mind, feed by mouth, feed by works. Feed by mental prayer, by verbal exhortation, by showing example.” The same (Ep. 201) says, “Feed by word, feed by example, feed by the fruit of holy prayers.” Hence that wonderful love and zeal for souls in S. Peter, as well as in S. John, who in his Gospel, and his Epistles, everywhere breathes love and Divine fire. A memorable instance of this was that young man who had been converted by S. John and committed to a certain bishop by whom he had been neglected, and so had become a chief of robbers, whom S. John, when an old man, brought back to repentance and a holy life. Eusebius (L. 3, Hist. c. 23) gives a full account of this matter from Clemens Alexandrinus. Also S. Chrysostom (Ep. 5, to Theodorus, a lapsed person).

Peter was grieved—because from the thrice-repeated question it seemed to him as if his love for Christ were suspected, or verily he was afraid that he had no part in the Passion; and like as he then denied, so now also he did not love Christ. So S. Chrysostom, &c. Whence the Lord consoles him in his grief, and says that Peter, from the love and example of Christ, should, like a true shepherd, be crucified for the sheep.

Feed My sheep, as Mine, not as thine; seek My glory in them, not thine; My profit, not thine. Hear S. Augustine: “Let us not therefore love ourselves but Him, and in feeding His sheep let us seek the things of Christ, not our own: he who loves himself, not God, does not really love himself; for he who is not able to live by himself, dies by loving himself: when He is loved from whom is life, by not loving himself a man the more loves himself, forasmuch as he loveth not himself in order that he may love Him by whom he liveth.” Such a shepherd was S. Paul, the colleague of S. Peter, who said, “for I could wish that myself were accursed from Christ for my brethren, my kinsmen, according to the flesh” (Rom. 9:3). Where S. Chrysostom says, “Broader than any sea, more vehement than any flame was this love, and no speech can worthily express it.” In the first place, this I myself is emphatic. What does this I myself mean? Says S. Chrysostom, “It is I who have been made a teacher of all, I who have collected offices and merits infinite, I who expect infinite crowns.” And then some remarks intervening, he thus explains S. Paul’s wish of anathema: “Willingly would I lose the kingdom of heaven, and be cut off from the hidden glory, considering that it would afford me the highest consolation if only I might no more hear Him reviled, with love of Whom I so greatly burn.”

[18] Amen, amen dico tibi : cum esses junior, cingebas te, et ambulabas ubi volebas : cum autem senueris, extendes manus tuas, et alius te cinget, et ducet quo tu non vis.
Amen, amen I say to thee, when thou wast younger, thou didst gird thyself, and didst walk where thou wouldst. But when thou shalt be old, thou shalt stretch forth thy hands, and another shall gird thee, and lead thee whither thou wouldst not.

Verily, verily, I say unto thee, when thou wast young, &c., whither thou wouldst not, i.e. by thy natural will of sense, or feeling. For by the rational will Peter desired this above all things. S. Chrysostom says, Christ predicts his martyrdom, showing him in what way and how much he ought to love Christ and His sheep, even unto His cross.

When thou wast young: by this is shown, says S. Chrysostom, that Peter was neither a young, nor an old, but a perfect man. For such a one it behoved the Pontiff and prince of the Apostles to be, that his age might win him authority, and yet be apt and strong for apostolic labours.

The meaning is, When thou wast young, and hadst bodily strength, thou wast free, and didst rise from thy couch, and clothedst thyself, and walkedst at thine own pleasure whither thou wouldest; but when thou shalt be old, at the time when men seek rest and ease, thou shalt by no means rest, but shalt have harder labours. For they shall bind thee, and bring thee to the cross, where thou shalt stretch forth thy hands, i.e. shalt be crucified.

Less correctly, therefore, Lyia explains shall gird thee to mean, Another shall bind thee with cords, not nail thee, to the cross. For the words, shall gird, refer not to the cross, but, as the Arabic and Syriac translate, to the loins of Peter, and to his hands and feet. Another, i.e. a lictor or a hangman, shall bind thy loins and thine arms, and carry thee as a criminal to the cross. Besides, S. Peter was not fastened to the cross with cords but with nails, as S. Chrysostom says expressly (Hom. in Princ. Apost.), “Rejoice, O Peter, who hast enjoyed the wood of the cross, and who wouldst not be crucified upright after the example of thy Master, but with thy head downwards, as it were ready for thy journey from earth to heaven. O blessed nails, which passed through those most holy limbs.”

Admirably says S. Augustine, “That denier and lover, puffed up by presumption, cast down by denial, purified by tears, approved by confession, crowned by enduring, found such an end, that he died for perfect love of Christ’s name, with Whom in his perverse precipitance he had promised to die. Made strong by His resurrection, he does what in his weakness he had rashly promised. And now he fears not the destruction of this life, because the Lord having arisen, had shown him the pattern of another life.”

[19] Hoc autem dixit significans qua morte clarificaturus esset Deum. Et cum hoc dixisset, dicit ei : Sequere me.
And this he said, signifying by what death he should glorify God. And when he had said this, he saith to him: Follow me.

This He spake, signifying, &c. Peter therefore by his death upon the cross glorified God, and so his death was not shameful, as Nero and the Romans thought, but was for the honour and glory both of God and Peter. The first reason was because Peter was crucified for the truth of the Faith. And this was glorious.

2. He glorified God, because for God and His Son Jesus Christ, whom he preached, he suffered crucifixion. But what is more glorious than to die for God?

3. Because in the death of the cross he was like Christ, so that as he was like Him in his life and pontificate, he might also be like Him in his cross and death. As S. Chrysostom observes, Christ does not say, thou shalt die, but thou shalt glorify, because to suffer for Christ is honour and glory. Hence the martyrdom of the cross is more honourable than other kinds of martyrdom, for which reason it was desired by many who were crucified. S. Maximus (Serm. 1, de Natal. Apost.) says, “Such was Peter, who when as a disciple of Christ he was brought to the cross, asked that he might be crucified upside down. He feared not the suffering, but he shrunk from equality with the Lord’s cross, manifesting unto all men the power of his marvellous humility, and preserving amidst his torments the discipline of the mystery (of the cross).”

4. Because Peter, dying upon the cross for Christ, has from Him obtained great glory, as well in heaven as upon earth where he glorified God, who was, as it were, the origin and author of his glory. Hence the faithful throughout the world, even kings and princes, flock to Rome, that they may visit and venerate the place of Peter’s crucifixion and burial, and his basilica in the Vatican, which is the wonder of the world. As S. Augustine says (Serm. 28, de Sanct.), “Now at the memory of the Fisherman the emperor bends his knees; there sparkle the gems of his diadem, where shine the benefits of the Fisherman.” And S. Chrysostom says, “Even kings and governors, leaving all things, run to the sepulchres of the Fisherman and the Tent-maker. And at Constantinople our princes deem it a great favour if their bodies may be buried, not near the Apostles, but outside the porches (of their churches). And kings become the doorkeepers of fishermen.”

Morally, learn from hence to glory with SS. Peter and Paul in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, and to congratulate thyself when Christ makes thee a partaker of it, and sends thee some little portion of His cross, whether by sickness, or persecution, or reproach, of by any other affliction. For by no other thing is God more glorified than by martyrdom and the cross, if they be borne patiently and joyfully. The cross therefore is the honour and glory of Christ and Christians, not their shame and disgrace.

And when He had thus said, &c. Observe, with Cyril, Chrysostom, Maldonatus, and others, that Christ here by His action signified to Peter the same thing which He had spoken in word. He therefore rising, and going from the place to the dinner, invites Peter to follow Him, going before him on foot, and to signify that he was to follow Him as his lawfully appointed Vicar, in those things which He had already said to him, namely, in the pastoral care of His sheep, and the punishment of the cross. Therefore He saith to him, Follow Me (1.) As in going, so also by succeeding Me in the government of the Church. Be thou therefore My successor as the Pastor and Ruler of My whole Church.

2. Follow Me, that as I have gone before thee to the cross, so do thou follow Me to the same. And let not the cross seem to thee too hard to undergo for Me, for I first endured it for thee. For thee and for the rest of the faithful I went before to it, and smoothed the way. For it behoves thee to follow Me, as well in thy life and pastoral office, as in death and the cross, that thou shouldest lay down thy life for the sheep, and be a guide to the rest of the faithful to the cross and martyrdom. Whence the Gloss says, “if the Shepherd has been sacrificed as a sheep, let not those who from sheep have become shepherds fear to be sacrificed.” Hence when Peter was shut up in the Mamertine prison at Rome, the Christians were persuading him, and by their entreaties almost compelling him, to flee. To please them he did so. But outside the gate, which is now called the gate of S. Sebastian, Christ met him. Peter asked Him, Lord, whither goest Thou? The Lord answered him, I am going to Rome to be crucified a second time. Peter understood that Christ willed to be crucified, not in His own person, but in the person of Peter, His Vicar. Therefore he immediately returned to prison, and shortly afterwards underwent the death of the cross. The place where Christ thus met and conversed with Peter is still to be seen just outside Rome. It is adorned with a chapel, and is religiously visited, and is commonly known as Domine, quo vadis?

3. Follow Me, in the pastoral care, that thou mayest feed the faithful both by word and example, and especially by super-abounding charity.

Listen to Theophylact: in that He saith, Follow Me, He made him the Prelate of all the faithful. Lastly, He manifested His affection towards him. For we wish those who are more strictly bound to us to follow us.

Admirably saith S. Irenæus, “To follow the Saviour is to partake of salvation: to follow the light is to partake of light: now they who are in the light do not themselves illuminate the light, but are enlightened by it.”

From The Life of Our Lord Jesus Christ, by J-J Tissot (1897)

After the repast, the Saviour rose and moved away, the Apostles following Him with Saint Peter at their head. Jesus then led the latter apart and asked the searching question: "Simon, lovest thou me more than these?" He wished to remind him of his former protestation: "Though all these should be offended because of thee, yet will I not be offended." But He was also anxious to give him a chance of expressing his repentance and receiving forgiveness. Peter, with the humility which came from the remembrance of his fall, replied " Yea, Lord; there are knowest that I love thee." He does not say "More than these", and he does not dare use the word love in its highest and spiritual sense as Jesus Himself had used it; he uses the term signifying rather to cherish or to be personally attached to, than to love. Receiving this answer, Jesus confides to him the care of His sheep. "He trusts those He loves to him who loves Him", says a certain author. It was a repetition of that earlier charge to Peter: "And when thou art converted, strengthened thy brethren". But it was not enough: a second, a third time Jesus asked the same question, substituting the last time the word signifying to cherish for that meaning to love, as if He would assure Himself even of that minimum of affection which is all that Peter in his humility claims. Then "Peter was grieved". He was moved to the very depth of his soul, and, daring no longer to trust his own heart, of which he remembers the weakness all too bitterly, he appeals to Christ Who knows everything, and it is only on meeting His gaze, which is the unmistakable guarantee of His love, that he ventures to say: "Lord, thou knowest that I love thee". And Jesus said to him yet again: "Feed my sheep," thus making him the shepherd of souls.

Totus tuus ego sum

Et omnia mea tua sunt;

Tecum semper tutus sum:
Ad Jesum per Mariam

Wednesday, April 22, 2020

The Second Miraculous Draught of Fishes

Saint John - Chapter 21

The Second Miraculous Draught of Fishes. J-J Tissot

[10] Dicit eis Jesus : Afferte de piscibus, quos prendidistis nunc.
Jesus saith to them: Bring hither of the fishes which you have now caught.

[11] Ascendit Simon Petrus et traxit rete in terram, plenum magnis piscibus centum quinquaginta tribus. Et cum tanti essent, non est scissum rete.
Simon Peter went up, and drew the net to land, full of great fishes, one hundred and fifty-three. And although there were so many, the net was not broken.

Totus tuus ego sum

Et omnia mea tua sunt;

Tecum semper tutus sum:
Ad Jesum per Mariam

The Second Miraculous Draught of Fishes (Notes)

Saint John - Chapter 21

The Second Miraculous Draught of Fishes. J-J Tissot

[10] Dicit eis Jesus : Afferte de piscibus, quos prendidistis nunc.
Jesus saith to them: Bring hither of the fishes which you have now caught.

Jesus saith … bring of the fish, &c. This He did that they all might perceive the multitude of the fish and the greatness of the miracle.

Mystically, S. Augustine (Tract. 123) says, “The broiled fish is Christ in His Passion. He is the Bread which came down from heaven. With Him the Church is incorporated for the attainment of everlasting bliss, according as it is said, Bring of the fish which ye have taken, that all we who have this hope through that seven-fold number of disciples, by which the whole company of the faithful is figured, might know that we have a share in so great a sacrament, and are partakers of the same blessedness.”

[11] Ascendit Simon Petrus et traxit rete in terram, plenum magnis piscibus centum quinquaginta tribus. Et cum tanti essent, non est scissum rete.
Simon Peter went up, and drew the net to land, full of great fishes, one hundred and fifty-three. And although there were so many, the net was not broken.

Simon Peter went up, i.e. into the ship. &c. Peter is mentioned as the leader of the rest. For he could not have drawn the net laden with so many great fishes (to land) by himself. Though indeed S. Gregory and Rupertus think that he did do this alone, though not by his own strength, but by Divine assistance. And thereby Peter’s Primacy is intimated. For he is the first to call his companions to fish. He first came to Christ. He was the first also to draw up the net, that it might be signified that all fishes, that is to say, all the faithful, ought to be drawn and ruled by Peter. John therefore was the more beloved, but Peter the more honoured by Christ, and by Him set over the rest. So subjects (spiritual) are now and again more holy than their rulers, but rulers are more exalted, and more eminent in authority than their subjects.

Fishes, an hundred and fifty and three: Why were there exactly one hundred and fifty-three? S. Jerome gives (in Ezek. 47:9) the literal reason; because there are just that number of different kinds of fish. This is what he says, “Those who have written about animated nature say that there are an hundred and fifty-three kinds of fish. One of each of these kinds was caught by the Apostle, and more remained uncaught. For noble and ignoble, rich and poor, all sorts and conditions of men, are drawn out of the sea of this world to salvation.” You must, however, understand the matter thus, that only the chief genera of fishes are included in this number, for, speaking strictly, there are many more kinds. Therefore by this number, or symbol, Christ signified that all nations were to be gathered up into the net of the Church, whose head and prince is Peter, and his successors, the Roman Pontiffs.

Symbolically, Cyril says the number one hundred signifies the fulness of the Gentiles which was about to enter into the net of Peter and the Church: the fifty signifies the smaller number of the Jews, who would be saved: the three represents the mystery of the Blessed Trinity, by the faith and worship of Whom both Jews and Gentiles are gathered together and saved.

But S. Augustine (Tract. 122) says, “This number is made up of three times fifty plus three, because of the mystery of the Trinity. The fiftieth was the year of Jubilee in which all the people rested from all their labours. The year of Jubilee represented the stale of Gospel grace.”

More particularly and plainly Rupertus and Maldonatus explain thus. By those three numbers is signified the three-fold race of men who are saved. The hundred denotes those who are married, for these are the most numerous. The fifty denotes the widows and the continent, for these are fewer in number. The three denotes virgins, the fewest of all.

And although there were so many, &c. Chrysostom says that in this miracle three miracles were included, by which Christ proved His resurrection and omnipotence. The first was in the taking of the fish. The second, in the production of His own fish, the bread, and the burning coals. The third, in the integrity of the net, which signifies the unity and integrity of the Church, which cannot be broken, or rent by any schism. For they who make a schism separate themselves ipso facto from the Church, and consequently leave the Church to its own unity and integrity.

From The Life of Our Lord Jesus Christ, by J-J Tissot (1897)

Certain authors think that the account quoted above refers to the same miraculous draught of fishes as that described in the fifth chapter of Saint Luke, some saying that Saint John's narrative is but a reproduction of that of Saint Luke, whilst others are of opinion that Saint Luke was a only giving a kind of prophecy of the incident related later by Saint John. They can be no doubt that all are wrong, and that the two accounts referred to two totally different incidents, each with a character so clearly defined that it is impossible to confound the two.

In addition to the difference of the setting of the scene, Peter flinging himself into the water to go to Jesus Who is on the land, could not be a mere variation of Peter falling down at Jesus' knees in the boat and saying: "Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord!" How very superior to any such paltry idea is the thought which naturally occurs to everyone reading Saint John's account, that Jesus wished to make himself known and at the same time to restore Peter to the leadership of the the Apostles, reminding him by the second miraculous take of fishes of the circumstances of his first call, and encouraging him, by this symbol, of the extraordinary results which should attend his efforts, if he devoted himself once more to the task of winning souls. This is how Christian commentators interpret the scene.

We are aware that it was with what is called the seine-net that the disciples fished. One end of a long narrow net was made fast on the land and the boat was then steered out into the offing, gradually paying out the net, the greater portion of which with its weights sank to the bottom, whilst the upper edge, provided with corks, floated freely on the surface of the water. When the net had been stretched out in a straight line towards the offing, the boat described a wide circle round it, taking the other end back to the land. All the fish in the path of the net were taken and were towed in by the fishermen wading in the water. Having reached the shore with their load, the disciples found themselves face to face with Jesus, Who, addressing them in the old familiar way, invited them to eat with Him.

In their astonishment they know not what to say. They recognise Him. It is indeed He, and yet they remember having laid Him in the tomb. Full of emotion, they hold their peace and "None durst to ask him, Who art thou? Knowing that it was the lord." It is indeed a grand scene, and it alone would be enough to prove the authenticity of the Gospel account and the reality of the Resurrection. May we not see in this meal, which is evidently symbolical, an emblem of the spiritual and material aid upon which the disciples could rely in the new era which was about to begin? Even as the miraculous draught of fishes was, as we have seen, a symbol of the marvellous work which would be accomplished by the divine assistance. Others see in the lake an emblem of the field of work and in the firm land one of the eternal reward, so often symbolised in this Scriptures by a feast of which the elect will partake, and over which God Himself will preside.

Totus tuus ego sum

Et omnia mea tua sunt;

Tecum semper tutus sum:
Ad Jesum per Mariam

Tuesday, April 21, 2020

Peter cast himself into the sea

Saint John - Chapter 21

Peter cast himself into the sea. J-J Tissot

Totus tuus ego sum

Et omnia mea tua sunt;

Tecum semper tutus sum:
Ad Jesum per Mariam

Peter cast himself into the sea (Notes)

Saint John - Chapter 21

Peter cast himself into the sea. J-J Tissot

[7] Dixit ergo discipulus ille, quem diligebat Jesus, Petro : Dominus est. Simon Petrus cum audisset quia Dominus est, tunica succinxit se ( erat enim nudus) et misit se in mare.
That disciple therefore whom Jesus loved, said to Peter: It is the Lord. Simon Peter, when he heard that it was the Lord, girt his coat about him, (for he was naked,) and cast himself into the sea.

Therefore that disciple, &c. You will ask, how was it that John was the first to recognise Christ? Cyril attributes it to the keenness of his intellect. So does S. Chrysostom. Peter, he says, was the more fervent, but John had more sagacity, and therefore was the first to recognise Christ. But I reply that whilst Peter was occupied in drawing up the net full of great fishes, John more carefully looked at Jesus, and Jesus first presented His appearance to S. John, because He most chiefly loved him, and because he was most pure. Wherefore S. Jerome rightly says (Epist. ad Pammach.), “First is John’s virginity to recognise the virgin form of Christ. ‘Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.’ ”

Mystically: the more familiar and intimate any one is with God by prayer, the more does he perceive, penetrate, contemplate, and admire God, and the attributes of God. In fine, as John because of his virginity was dear to Christ, so also he himself wonderfully loves those who are chaste and virgins.

Hear what the Abbot Adelred writes in his life of King Edward the Confessor.

St Edward's sapphire (circled)Wilton Diptych. 1395. National Gallery London.

“S. Edward never denied the petition of any one who asked in the name of S. John, for him after the Prince of the Apostles he chiefly loved. Once it happened that in the absence of the chamberlain a certain foreigner importunately asked the king for alms in the name of S. John. So the king gave him a precious ring, because he had nothing else at hand. After this it happened that two Englishmen went to Jerusalem to worship the tomb of the Saviour. One day it came to pass that they missed the high road, and were wandering out of the way when the sun went down, and all was dark. Not knowing what to do, or whither to turn, a certain venerable old man appeared to them, and led them to the city. There they were hospitably entertained; a table was spread, and their weary limbs were refreshed with sleep. When the morning was come, as they went out of the city, the old man said to them, ‘My brethren, doubt not that you will return to your own country in the greatest prosperity, for God will make your way prosperous. And for love of your king I will keep my eyes upon you in all the way by which ye go. I am John, the Apostle of Christ, who entertain the utmost love for your king because of the merit of his chastity. Take back to him this ring which he once gave me in the habit of a pilgrim. Tell him that the day of his departure draws nigh. Within six months I will visit him, that with me he may follow the Lamb whithersoever He goeth.’ When he had said thus he disappeared.”

For this reason those who love virginity and purity are wont to ask S. John to be their patron, and to invoke his aid, especially when they are troubled with assaults of the flesh: and they experience his help. To give a single example out of many: S. Colette, a virgin of wonderful austerity and sanctity, the reformer of the Order of S. Clare, that she might keep her virginity spotless, chose S. John as her patron. And not in vain: for S. John appeared to her, and by a golden ring betrothed her as a virgin spouse to himself.

When Simon Peter heard, &c., he girt, &c. Greek τὸν ἐπενδύτην διεξώσατο, he put on his tunic over his clothes. Whence it is plain that he was not before wholly naked, but only, after the fashion of workmen, stripped of his outer garment.

And cast himself into the sea: either swimming, as Chrysostom and others think, or by wading through the sea, as Bede and Maldonatus say. For the shore was near. Peter being the more fervent came to Christ more promptly than the others. It is improbable that Peter upon this occasion walked upon the waters. For this would have been rash, since Christ did not now bid him do it.

[8] Alii autem discipuli navigio venerunt ( non enim longe erant a terra, sed quasi cubitis ducentis), trahentes rete piscium.
But the other disciples came in the ship, (for they were not far from the land, but as it were two hundred cubits,) dragging the net with fishes.

Two hundred cubits: Mystically, Bede says, by the 200 cubits is expressed the two-fold power of charity. For by love of God and our neighbour we draw nigh to Christ.

From The Life of Our Lord Jesus Christ, by J-J Tissot (1897)

Fishermen when at work, especially in the shallow waters inshore, often wore nothing more than a little linen girt about their loins and reaching halfway down their thighs, as prescribed by the Jewish law. To this, however, they added a net slung over their backs and wound round their bodies, which served as a bag for holding fish. Then nets were, as already stated, of the kind known as sweep-nets. In the winter the upper part of the body was covered, but the climate was so mild that the limbs could be left bare and untrammelled in the spring. At the time of year of which we are speaking it was already warm on the lake.

When Saint Peter heard Saint John say: "It is the Lord", he put his gibeh on again out of respect to the Master and cast himself into the sea. The water was, no doubt, only up to his thighs, for where the seine-net could be used, the lake cannot have been deep, and the beach was not encumbered with rocks as in the north. The hundred steps would bring Peter to the land, whilst his companions also approached to join Him Who had hailed them. The account of Saint John is full of typical details betraying an eye-witness, and, when this is borne in mind, the passage quoted above is pregnant with import. The character of the two Apostles, Saints Peter and John, is clearly brought out. John is the first to see the Lord, Peter takes the first decisive step. John looks on and meditates, Peter acts and rushes forward. Throughout the remainder of their lives the same peculiarities distinguish them, one is fall of the zeal and activity of the missionary, the other of thought for contemplation.

Totus tuus ego sum

Et omnia mea tua sunt;

Tecum semper tutus sum:
Ad Jesum per Mariam

Monday, April 20, 2020

Christ appears at the sea of Tiberias

Saint John - Chapter 21

Christ appears at the sea of Tiberias. J-J Tissot

[1] Postea manifestavit se iterum Jesus discipulis ad mare Tiberiadis. Manifestavit autem sic:
After this, Jesus shewed himself again to the disciples at the sea of Tiberias. And he shewed himself after this manner.

[2] erant simul Simon Petrus, et Thomas, qui dicitur Didymus, et Nathanael, qui erat a Cana Galilaeae, et filii Zebedaei, et alii ex discipulis ejus duo.
There were together Simon Peter, and Thomas, who is called Didymus, and Nathanael, who was of Cana of Galilee, and the sons of Zebedee, and two others of his disciples.

[3] Dicit eis Simon Petrus : Vado piscari. Dicunt ei : Venimus et nos tecum. Et exierunt, et ascenderunt in navim : et illa nocte nihil prendiderunt.
Simon Peter saith to them: I go a fishing. They say to him: We also come with thee. And they went forth, and entered into the ship: and that night they caught nothing.

[4] Mane autem facto stetit Jesus in littore : non tamen cognoverunt discipuli quia Jesus est.
But when the morning was come, Jesus stood on the shore: yet the disciples knew not that it was Jesus.

[5] Dixit ergo eis Jesus : Pueri, numquid pulmentarium habetis? Responderunt ei : Non.
Jesus therefore said to them: Children, have you any meat? They answered him: No.

[6] Dicit eis : Mittite in dexteram navigii rete, et invenietis. Miserunt ergo : et jam non valebant illud trahere prae multitudine piscium.
He saith to them: Cast the net on the right side of the ship, and you shall find. They cast therefore; and now they were not able to draw it, for the multitude of fishes.

Totus tuus ego sum

Et omnia mea tua sunt;

Tecum semper tutus sum:
Ad Jesum per Mariam

Christ appears at the sea of Tiberias (Notes)

Saint John - Chapter 21

Christ appears at the sea of Tiberias. J-J Tissot

[1] Postea manifestavit se iterum Jesus discipulis ad mare Tiberiadis. Manifestavit autem sic:
After this, Jesus shewed himself again to the disciples at the sea of Tiberias. And he shewed himself after this manner.

After these things, &c. From this it appears that Peter and the other Apostles had gone from Judea into Galilee, as Christ had bidden them (S. Matt. 23:10). For this appearance of Christ took place in Galilee, when He, being about to go into heaven, in order that He might provide for the government of the faithful, appointed Peter to be the Head of the Church, and His Vicar upon earth. This is why S. John subjoins these things, and so concludes his Gospel.

[2] erant simul Simon Petrus, et Thomas, qui dicitur Didymus, et Nathanael, qui erat a Cana Galilaeae, et filii Zebedaei, et alii ex discipulis ejus duo.
There were together Simon Peter, and Thomas, who is called Didymus, and Nathanael, who was of Cana of Galilee, and the sons of Zebedee, and two others of his disciples.

He manifested Himself thus, &c. Christ wished a larger number, and the more honourable of His disciples, to be gathered together, in order that His manifestation might be so much the more glorious, and that before them as princes He might declare Peter to be His Vicar on earth, that so the Apostles and the rest of the faithful might acknowledge him to be such.

[3] Dicit eis Simon Petrus : Vado piscari. Dicunt ei : Venimus et nos tecum. Et exierunt, et ascenderunt in navim : et illa nocte nihil prendiderunt.
Simon Peter saith to them: I go a fishing. They say to him: We also come with thee. And they went forth, and entered into the ship: and that night they caught nothing.

Simon Peter saith unto them, &c. Different writers give different reasons for this fishing. S. Chrysostom says, “Because the Lord was not always with them, neither had any (ministry) been committed to them, they employed themselves in fishing.” S. Gregory (Hom. 24.) says, “An employment which was without sin before their conversion was blameless after their conversion. Therefore Peter returned to his fishing, but Matthew did not return to his receipt of custom. For there are many employments which it is impossible, or scarcely possible, to follow without sin. To such a man must not return after he is converted.” Let us add, that this fishing took place before Pentecost and the descent of the Holy Ghost, by whom they were bidden to preach the Gospel. Wherefore, because the Apostles had nothing to occupy them at this time in the way of preaching, and they were at once poor and fishermen, they properly went back to their fishing in order to supply themselves with sustenance. But after the advent of the Holy Spirit we do not read that they employed themselves in fishing, for they were wholly occupied in preaching the Gospel, and in guiding the faithful in the way of all perfection. Whilst the faithful, being studious of evangelical poverty, brought all their property to the feet of the Apostles, that they might distribute it amongst themselves and the rest of the believers. At any time, however, of necessity or want, they might lawfully have returned to their fishing, just as Paul returned to his tent-making that he might not be burdensome to others for his livelihood. For this indeed is a matter of greater perfection, and therefore an evangelical counsel, that one should preach the Gospel free of charge (to the hearers), and provide for his own sustenance by the labour of his hands. Lastly, the disciples went a-fishing to avoid idleness, and as a relaxation. Cassian relates the following story concerning a certain hunter who went to visit S. John, whom he found employed in gently stroking a partridge. Being surprised at this sight, S. John asked him, “What is that in your hand?” “A bow,” he replied. “Why do you not keep it always bent?” He answered, “It would be inexpedient to do so, lest by the continual curvature the strength of the bow should be destroyed, and it should come to pass that when I am shooting a strong arrow at some quarry, the stiffness of the bow being lost through its constant tension, it should not be able to discharge a powerful shaft.” “In like manner,” replied the Blessed John, “let not this brief relaxation of my mind offend you, O my young friend; for unless I afforded some moderate relief to its excessive tension it would lose its vigour, and would not be able to obey when need should call upon it to make some strenuous effort.”

Night: For night is the most suitable time for fishing. For during the day the fish hide themselves in the depths of the sea.

Mystically, Theophylact says, by night, that is, before the presence of Christ the Sun, the prophets caught nothing, because although they attempted to correct but a single nation, it was continually falling into idolatry.

They took nothing: because they were fishing without Jesus, that they might learn that all their success in fishing for souls depended wholly upon Christ, and therefore that they ought to seek for success from Him, according to the words of the Psalmist, “Except the Lord build the house, their labour is but lost that build it.”

[4] Mane autem facto stetit Jesus in littore : non tamen cognoverunt discipuli quia Jesus est.
But when the morning was come, Jesus stood on the shore: yet the disciples knew not that it was Jesus.

When the morning was come, &c. To show that this capture of fish was the result of His grace, not of their own industry. For (naturally) in the morning fish flee away from the light and the noise into the depths of the sea.

They knew not. Because He appeared to them in another form, as He did to the Magdalene (cap. xx. 14). In sooth Christ desired to be recognised rather by the miraculous draught of the fish than by His (human) form; for this was more befitting incarnate God.

Mystically: S. Gregory says, “The sea signifies this present world, which, in the tumults of affairs and the corruptible waves of life, dashes against itself. But the solidity of the shore signifies the perpetuity of the everlasting rest. The disciples therefore as yet were engaged in the waves of this mortal life. But the Lord was now standing on the shore, towards which Peter, to whom the Church was specially committed, draws the fishes, showing to the faithful the stability of eternal peace. This he did by his preaching and his epistles. This he does still by daily signs and miracles.”

[5] Dixit ergo eis Jesus : Pueri, numquid pulmentarium habetis? Responderunt ei : Non.
Jesus therefore said to them: Children, have you any meat? They answered him: No.

Jesus therefore, &c. As though He said, O fishermen, have ye any fish to sell Me? For Christ here appeared to His disciples in an unknown form, like a grave merchantman, wishing to purchase fish. So S. Chrysostom. Wherefore He addresses them as boys (pueros), as though they were labourers. Or “little boys” (παίδια), addressing them as His children out of love.

Any meat: Greek προσφάγιον, Vulgate pulmentarium, meaning any food which is eaten with bread, as we use seasoning. Also by this word pulmentarium Christ meant fish. For, as Plutarch says, although there are many sorts of seasoning, fish is especially so called, because by the nutriment which it affords, and the facility with which it can be cooked, it surpasses other kinds. Also because most of the ancients, indeed all men before the Deluge, as I have shown upon Gen. 9, fed not upon flesh, but upon fish.

[6] Dicit eis : Mittite in dexteram navigii rete, et invenietis. Miserunt ergo : et jam non valebant illud trahere prae multitudine piscium.
He saith to them: Cast the net on the right side of the ship, and you shall find. They cast therefore; and now they were not able to draw it, for the multitude of fishes.

He saith unto them, &c. For indeed Jesus by His hidden power had collected this multitude of fishes on the right side of the boat, and so the Apostles who had been fishing all night at the left side had taken nothing. From thence we learn, moraliter, that we often toil and labour in vain because we fish at the left side without Jesus, instead of at the right with Jesus.

Hearken now to S. Augustine (Tract. 122): “In the capture of the fish is set forth a sacrament of the Church, to wit, what shall be at the last resurrection: to set forth which it is signified that it is as it were the end of a book, which should be, as it were, the proëmium of a narrative which is to follow. And the seven disciples by their number signify the end of time. For all time is included in seven days. The shore signifies the end of the world, for it is the boundary of the sea. And as the Church, such as it shall be at the end of the world, is here meant, so by another fishing is signified the Church such as it is now. Therefore on that occasion Jesus did not stand upon the shore, but went up into the ship. Then the nets were not cast at the right side, in order not to denote the good only; nor yet at the left, not to denote the bad only: but indifferently on both sides, to signify that the good were mingled with the bad. But now the net is cast on the right side, to signify the good only, who are reserved for the resurrection of life. And they will appear on the shore, that is, in the end of the world when they arise. For the Church possesses them at the end of this life in the sleep of peace, lying hid as it were in the deep, until the net shall come to the shore. And what was signified in the first fishing by the two ships in this place is figured by the 153, namely the elect of the two dispensations, the circumcision and the uncircumcision.”

They cast therefore, &c. Behold the reward and fruit of ready obedience, and that obedience to one unknown, and as it seemed, a stranger. But Christ had inwardly inclined their hearts to do this. This multitude of fishes mystically represents the multitude of the faithful which Peter and the Apostles afterwards caught by the net of evangelical preaching, and converted to Christ. So SS. Augustine, Gregory, Chrysostom, &c.

From The Life of Our Lord Jesus Christ, by J-J Tissot (1897)

In speaking to cap Saint Thomas, the Saviour repeast almost word for word that disciples expressions of do

Totus tuus ego sum

Et omnia mea tua sunt;

Tecum semper tutus sum:
Ad Jesum per Mariam

Sunday, April 19, 2020

The Unbelief of Thomas

Saint John - Chapter 20

My Lord, and my God. J-J Tissot

[24] Thomas autem unus ex duodecim, qui dicitur Didymus, non erat cum eis quando venit Jesus.
Now Thomas, one of the twelve, who is called Didymus, was not with them when Jesus came.

[25] Dixerunt ergo ei alii discipuli : Vidimus Dominum. Ille autem dixit eis : Nisi videro in manibus ejus fixuram clavorum, et mittam digitum meum in locum clavorum, et mittam manum meam in latus ejus, non credam.
The other disciples therefore said to him: We have seen the Lord. But he said to them: Except I shall see in his hands the print of the nails, and put my finger into the place of the nails, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe.

[26] Et post dies octo, iterum erant discipuli ejus intus, et Thomas cum eis. Venit Jesus januis clausis, et stetit in medio, et dixit : Pax vobis.
And after eight days again his disciples were within, and Thomas with them. Jesus cometh, the doors being shut, and stood in the midst, and said: Peace be to you.

[27] Deinde dicit Thomae : Infer digitum tuum huc, et vide manus meas, et affer manum tuam, et mitte in latus meum : et noli esse incredulus, sed fidelis.
Then he saith to Thomas: Put in thy finger hither, and see my hands; and bring hither thy hand, and put it into my side; and be not faithless, but believing.

Saint Thomas. J-J Tissot

[28] Respondit Thomas, et dixit ei : Dominus meus et Deus meus.
Thomas answered, and said to him: My Lord, and my God.

[29] Dixit ei Jesus : Quia vidisti me, Thoma, credidisti : beati qui non viderunt, et crediderunt.
Jesus saith to him: Because thou hast seen me, Thomas, thou hast believed: blessed are they that have not seen, and have believed.

[30] Multa quidem et alia signa fecit Jesus in conspectu discipulorum suorum, quae non sunt scripta in libro hoc.
Many other signs also did Jesus in the sight of his disciples, which are not written in this book.

[31] Haec autem scripta sunt ut credatis, quia Jesus est Christus Filius Dei : et ut credentes, vitam habeatis in nomine ejus.
But these are written, that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God: and that believing, you may have life in his name.

Totus tuus ego sum

Et omnia mea tua sunt;

Tecum semper tutus sum:
Ad Jesum per Mariam

The Unbelief of Thomas (Notes)

Saint John - Chapter 20

My Lord, and my God. J-J Tissot

[24] Thomas autem unus ex duodecim, qui dicitur Didymus, non erat cum eis quando venit Jesus.
Now Thomas, one of the twelve, who is called Didymus, was not with them when Jesus came.

But Thomas, one of the twelve, called Didymus, was not with them when Jesus came. Didymus means a twin. See notes on chap. 11:16. But here he is so called (double, doubtful) because he wavered and doubted as to Christ’s resurrection. He was at that time weaker than the other Apostles, but afterwards (after Christ again appeared) was bolder and more full of faith than all of them, inasmuch as he alone traversed nearly the whole world in preaching the Gospel. Stapleton (de Vita Thomœ) says that he went to the furthest part of India, to Abyssinia and China, and even to America.

Was not with them. S. Chrysostom, Theophylact, and Euthymius suppose that having fled away with the other Apostles, he had not yet returned. But S. Augustine, Bede, Lyranus, D. Thomas, and others say in reply that he was with the other Apostles when the two disciples returned from Emmaus, but that he disbelieved their story, and went away. It is supposed that when S. Luke says (24:11), “their words seemed to them as idle tales,” he was referring to S. Thomas.

[25] Dixerunt ergo ei alii discipuli : Vidimus Dominum. Ille autem dixit eis : Nisi videro in manibus ejus fixuram clavorum, et mittam digitum meum in locum clavorum, et mittam manum meam in latus ejus, non credam.
The other disciples therefore said to him: We have seen the Lord. But he said to them: Except I shall see in his hands the print of the nails, and put my finger into the place of the nails, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe.

Saint Thomas. J-J Tissot

The other disciples therefore said unto him, We have seen the Lord. But he said unto them, Except I shall see in His hands the print of the nails, and put my finger into the print of the nails, and thrust my hand into His side, I will not believe.

Thomas seemed in this—(1) by unbelief, (2) by obstinacy, (3) by pride, (4) by irreverence (for when all the other Apostles said that He had risen, he obstinately stood out, and refused to believe, (5) by presumption, because he would not believe, unless he thrust his hands into the wounds (canst thou then presume, O Thomas, to lay down laws for Christ?), (6) by persisting in this unbelief for eight days when, it may be, the Mother of Christ urged him to believe—to be not merely unbelieving as to the mode of the resurrection (as S. Ambrose supposes), but even as to its truth, as though the other Apostles were taken in and deceived, having seen only a ghost or phantom, and not Christ Himself, (See Origen, Lib. ii. Contr. Celsum; S. Augustine, Lib. xvi. Contra Faust, cap. 33; and S. Gregory, Hom. xxvi.)

Besides, this unbelief of S. Thomas’ arose partly from his not believing Christ to be God. For had he believed this, he would easily have understood that Christ could have raised His Body to life again, and it is surprising that Cyril should say that Thomas believed Him to be God; and it partly arose from His excessive sorrow, especially because he alone had not seen Christ at the same time as the other Apostles. This wounded him much, and caused him to utter these bitter words. So Cyril, xii. 57. But God allowed it to be thus, in order that Thomas and we should be confirmed in humility, and in belief in the resurrection by this fresh appearance of Christ. So S. Gregory, Hom. xxvi., S. Augustine, Serm, clxi. (opus spurium), and others.

The print. In Vulgate, fixura, “the driving in” the mark which the nails made. (Pseudo)-Augustine (Serm. clix.) says, “He was seeking for the hands and the side, and while he was too curiously dwelling on the wounds, he risked the death of his faith. The Lord wished him to see Him lest he should lose his soul by unbelief.”

[26] Et post dies octo, iterum erant discipuli ejus intus, et Thomas cum eis. Venit Jesus januis clausis, et stetit in medio, et dixit : Pax vobis.
And after eight days again his disciples were within, and Thomas with them. Jesus cometh, the doors being shut, and stood in the midst, and said: Peace be to you.

And after eight days. The eighth day after the Lord’s resurrection, the Octave of the Passover, when we commemorate this mystery, and read this Gospel. And from this S. Cyril observes that the Apostles, from these appearances of Christ, began from this time to hold the assemblies of the Church on the Lord’s day, and to consecrate it, as it were, because He rose on that day, and thus guided the Apostles to observe the Lord’s day instead of the Sabbath.

Again His disciples were within, in that upper chamber before mentioned. It is therefore far from probable, as S. Jerome (in Matt. ult.), Rupertus, and Ribera here suppose, that Christ appeared to S. Thomas and the Apostles, not in Jerusalem, but in Galilee, where He afterwards appeared, not only to the Apostles, but to all the disciples.

And Thomas with them: then came Jesus, the doors being shut, and stood in the midst and said, Peace be unto you. Notice here, the wondrous condescension of Christ, who, in order to convert this unbelieving and obstinate Thomas, offered Himself a second time, not only to be seen, but also to be handled by him. And this He did, not for his sake only, but for the sake of the other Apostles, to strengthen both them and us also in the belief of His resurrection.

[27] Deinde dicit Thomae : Infer digitum tuum huc, et vide manus meas, et affer manum tuam, et mitte in latus meum : et noli esse incredulus, sed fidelis.
Then he saith to Thomas: Put in thy finger hither, and see my hands; and bring hither thy hand, and put it into my side; and be not faithless, but believing.

Then saith He to Thomas, Reach hither thy finger, and behold My hands, and reach hither thy hand, and thrust it into My side. Behold the kindness of Christ in humbling Himself to all Thomas’ requests, and in all things complying with his wishes, in order to convert him. See, says S. Chrysostom, how for one single soul He displays His wounds, and because he was somewhat dull of comprehension seeks to give him proof by means of the dullest of his senses, I mean his touch.

And be not faithless, but believing. Thou thinkest, forsooth, that I did not know what thou saidst of Me when I was not present. But rest assured that I knew, and was present to hear thy words of unbelief. Do then as thou hast said, I offer thee My wounded hands and side to touch and handle, nay more, that thou mayest measure them with thy hand, that so thou mayest lay aside thy unbelief, and believe henceforth that I have risen, I the very same that hung on the Cross, and no other. And in this way Christ heals another wound of unbelief, for He shows that He knows even all secrets, and is a searcher of hearts, and consequently God. He therefore radically cures the disease, for Thomas did not believe that Christ had risen, because he did not believe Him to be God.

It may be asked whether Thomas really touched Christ’s wounds. The Gloss doubts it. Euthymius denies it. But S. Augustine (in loc.) thinks the contrary. For he says, “He saw and touched the man, and confessed the God, whom he neither saw nor touched; but by means of that which he saw and touched, his doubts were all removed and he believed. So, too, S. Cyril, Theophylact, and Bede, and S. Chrysostom seems to be of the same opinion. Nor can it be thought that when the Lord said, “Reach hither thy finger,” John would have omitted to state, if this had not been done, and that Thomas believed without having touched Him.

Besides, this was an express command, which Thomas doubtless obeyed. And He intended to leave thus a convincing proof of His resurrection to believers of all ages. Whence S. Augustine (Serm. cxlvii. [al. ccxlii.]), “He wished to exhibit in His flesh the scars of His wounds to some who doubted, to heal the wound of their unbelief.” And S. Ambrose (in ult. Lucœ), “He would teach me by His touch, as Paul also taught.” Hear S. Gregory (Hom. xxvi.): “This took place not by chance, but by Divine ordering. For the mercy of God wrought in wondrous wise, so that the doubting disciple, by touching the wounds in his Master’s body, healed in us the wounds of unbelief. For the unbelief of Thomas availed more to confirm our faith, than even the faith of the disciples who believed. For while he is by his touch brought back to belief, our mind, putting aside all doubt, is confirmed in the faith.” Again [Pseudo]-Augustine, Serm. clxi. [clxxii. in Append.], “Thomas being a holy, Believing, and righteous man, carefully inquired into all these points, not as having any doubt himself, but to do away with the slightest suspicion of unbelief. For it would have sufficed for his own faith to have seen Him whom he knew. But it was for us that he brought it about that he touched Him whom lie beheld. So that we might perchance say that our eyes were deceived, but we could not say that our hands had missed their mark. For we might have some doubt as to what we see in the dazzling glory of the resurrection, but we can have no doubt as to what we touch.”

But it may be urged, Christ said, “See My hands.” He did not say, Touch My hands. “Thomas therefore saw, but did not touch them.” I answer, By seeing is meant, you may see by your very touch—may know assuredly that I who was crucified have risen—the very same person. “The sight,” says S. Augustine (in loc.), “is a kind of general sense, and the noblest of all,” and is here taken for any sense, even that of touch. See notes on Ex. 20:10.

2. But it is said, “The glorified Body of Christ is subtile, and cannot be touched.” S. Cyril, Chrysostom, Leontius, Theophylact say that it was by divine ordering here touched by Thomas, to furnish proof of the resurrection. For this kind of resistance, which exists in a body (wherewith one body resists another, and is therefore capable of being touched) which is the property of bulk, is in the power of Christ and the Blessed, so as to remain, or be taken away by God, as they wish. And so also as regards their visibility, so that Christ was seen when He wished it, and not seen when He did not wish it. See notes on Luke ult. ver. 39.

This finger of St. Thomas is said to be preserved, with many other relics, in the Church of Santa Croce at Rome.

From Christ’s own words, “Thrust thy hand into My side,” it appears that this wound was very large, and Thomas, astonished that this wound was inflicted for him, exclaimed “My Lord and my God.” Many Saints, as S. Bernard, S. Francis, and others, have longed to enter through that wound into the heart of Christ. See S. Bernard, Serm. lxii. in Cant.

[28] Respondit Thomas, et dixit ei : Dominus meus et Deus meus.
Thomas answered, and said to him: My Lord, and my God.

Thomas answered and said unto Him, My Lord and my God. This was after he had fully ascertained that it was indeed Christ Himself, who had received these wounds on the cross, and who was now alive again. See Tertullian, de Anima, cap. xxviii.; S. Ambrose, in Ps. 43 (44); S. Hilary, de Trinit. Lib. iii.; S. Cyril, xii. 58; S. Gregory, Hom. xxvi.

My Lord and my God. That is, Thou art my Lord and my God. Thus showing that He was Very and true God by nature. Thomas here humbly and penitently confesses and condemns his former incredulity, with great profession of faith, hope, penitence, and love. By the word “Lord” he confesses Christ’s human nature, by the word “God” His divine nature. “I,” he would say, “because I believed not that thou wast God, did not believe that Thou hadst risen. But now I both believe that Thou art God, and that by the power of Thy Godhead Thou didst raise Thy Body to life again.” So St. Hilary (Lib. vii. de Trinit.), and S. Ambrose (in Ps. 43), who also adds that the word “Lord” signifies that Christ is our Redeemer as having purchased us by His Blood, and thus becoming our Lord by the right of purchase and redemption. By these words, Suarez says that Thomas offered Christ the adoration of Latria. As S. Augustine said, “He saw and touched the man,” &c. (see above on ver. 27). Consequently the fifth Œcumenical Council (in Constit. Vigilii Papœ) anathematise Theodore of Mopsuestia, who maintained that these words were not a confession of Christ’s Godhead, but merely an expression of astonishment. Note the words, “My Lord,” &c. For though Christ is the Lord and God of all, yet He is especially mine, having as the good Shepherd sought me, as a sheep that was lost, and I love and venerate Him in return from my inmost soul, as specially my Lord and my God. Thou, O Jesus, art my God and my Lord, because by these Thy wounds, which I have now touched, and know to be most real, Thou hast procured and obtained for me that faith with which I believe that Thou hast really risen, and this hope of obtaining grace and glory through the merit of Thy wounds, and such fervent charity as to love Thee most ardently as my God and Lord, and to offer and devote myself entirely to Thee as Thy servant for ever, so as henceforth to wish to do nothing, but that which pleases, lauds, and glorifies Thee. Would that I could lay open and breathe forth this my heartfelt feeling to the whole world! Would that I could proclaim and set forth to all the world this my faith, hope, and love towards Thee! Thus S. Francis frequently used to say, “My God and my all;” and the Royal Prophet, “What have I in heaven but Thee,” &c., Ps. 73:24.

[29] Dixit ei Jesus : Quia vidisti me, Thoma, credidisti : beati qui non viderunt, et crediderunt.
Jesus saith to him: Because thou hast seen me, Thomas, thou hast believed: blessed are they that have not seen, and have believed.

Jesus saith unto him, Because thou hast seen Me (that is, touched and thus surely known), thou hast believed. Blessed are they who have not seen, and yet have believed. Because there “faith has greater merit, where human reason does not afford a test,” says S. Gregory. He used the past tense, because many had already believed, but does not exclude the present and the future. They both are, and will be blessed, who believe in Me, without seeing. S. Augustine (in loc.) adds that they who will believe, did already believe in God’s foreknowledge and predestination. But this remark is more subtle and acute than solid.

Hence S. Gregory (Hom. xxvi.), S. Hilary (de Trinit. lib. xii.), and S. Augustine (in loc.), say that Thomas saw one thing and believed another: he saw that Christ had risen, he believed that He was God, and consequently had raised Himself. By touching My human nature which has been raised (Christ would say) thou hast believed My Godhead which lay hid within, and which raised it up. For the resurrection of Christ had confirmed all His teachings, one of which was that He was the Messiah the Son of God, who would die on the cross for the salvation of men, and on the third day rise again. All which Thomas believed. Again, that which comes under our senses, which we see and touch, we can believe on divine authority, but for another formal reason. We see a thing because we behold it with our eyes, but we believe it because God has revealed it, especially if our senses can err, or if the matter involve anything which is not seen, as was the case with the resurrection of Christ, which was already past, for Thomas here doubted and was convinced of Christ’s resurrection.

Thou wilt reply, that S. Augustine says, Tract xl. (on S. John), Faith is believing what thou seest not. I answer, This is true in the sense that the chief material objects of faith are such as cannot be seen. But the formal object of faith, that is to say, divine revelation, is always of such a kind, that is to say invisible. And therefore Thomas, so far as he beheld Christ, did not formally believe it. But because he saw and heard Christ, when raised, assert the same thing, he believed God, who by the mouth of Christ and the Apostles, stated and revealed to him that it was no phantom in the form of Christ (as he had before supposed), but Christ Himself who had really risen and appeared to the Apostles. Just as we say, “Because thou hast seen miracles, because thou hast heard the Gospel preached, therefore thou hast believed.” The word therefore does not signify the reason or the formal cause of belief (for that is only the Divine Revelation), but only the predisposing cause which moves us to believe.

But thirdly, the words can be explained as signifying merely assent, and not properly faith. Just as we believe the things we see and know. So Toletus. Hear S. Gregory: “He touched the man, and confessed Him to be God;” and Theophylact, “He who before was unbelieving, showed himself, after he had touched His side, to be an excellent theologian, in asserting the twofold nature, and the one Person of Christ. For by calling Him Lord he confessed His human nature, and by calling Him God he confessed the divine Nature in one and the same Person.”

[30] Multa quidem et alia signa fecit Jesus in conspectu discipulorum suorum, quae non sunt scripta in libro hoc.
Many other signs also did Jesus in the sight of his disciples, which are not written in this book.

And many other signs truly did Jesus in the presence of His disciples, which are not written in this book. Both through His whole life, and specially after His resurrection (say S. Chrysostom and Theophylact). These latter in the presence of the Apostles only, the others before all the people. Besides these signs which I have just recorded, others were wrought to confirm the truth of the resurrection. And these I have omitted (says S. John) for brevity’s sake, and because many of them are recorded by the other evangelists. So S. Thomas, Lyranus, Cajetan, Ribera, Toletus, and others.

S. John seems here to finish his Gospel, as S. Augustine says. The next chapter relates to the mysteries of the Church, and the primacy of S. Peter, to show how rapidly the disciples multiplied, over whom S. Peter was placed as Vicar. Jansenius considers, most improbably, that S. John added some things here, which subsequently occurred to him. But it would seem that the Holy Spirit, and John too, added them for an express purpose, and not merely from memory.

[31] Haec autem scripta sunt ut credatis, quia Jesus est Christus Filius Dei : et ut credentes, vitam habeatis in nomine ejus.
But these are written, that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God: and that believing, you may have life in his name.

But these are written, that ye may believe that Jesus is the Christ (the long-promised Messiah), the Son of God: and that believing ye might have life (of grace here and glory hereafter) through His name, that is, through the merits and satisfaction of Christ, which are applied to us through the sacraments on our faith and obedience. We must therefore believe—(1.) That He is the Saviour of the world. (2.) The long-expected Messiah. (3.) That He is God the Son of God. (4.) That He will give eternal life to those who believe in, and obey Him. “For,” as S. Gregory says, “He truly believes, who sets forth his belief in his life.”

From The Life of Our Lord Jesus Christ, by J-J Tissot (1897)

In speaking to cap Saint Thomas, the Saviour repeast almost word for word that disciples expressions of doubt, a striking mode of making him blush for his unreasonable demands. Some interpret the words: "Thrust it into my side" to mean that Jesus bid Thomas touch the wound itself by thrusting his fingers into it, whilst others suppose that He really meant: "Thrust thy hand under my robes.'' It matters little which it was. In any case the wound was large enough for it to be probed with several fingers.

Pages

Friday, April 24, 2020

Totus tuus ego sum Et omnia mea tua sunt; Tecum semper tutus sum: Ad Jesum per Mariam

Thursday, April 23, 2020

Saint John - Chapter 21

Totus tuus ego sum Et omnia mea tua sunt; Tecum semper tutus sum: Ad Jesum per Mariam

Saint John - Chapter 21

From The Life of Our Lord Jesus Christ, by J-J Tissot (1897)

Totus tuus ego sum Et omnia mea tua sunt; Tecum semper tutus sum: Ad Jesum per Mariam

Wednesday, April 22, 2020

Saint John - Chapter 21

Totus tuus ego sum Et omnia mea tua sunt; Tecum semper tutus sum: Ad Jesum per Mariam

Saint John - Chapter 21

From The Life of Our Lord Jesus Christ, by J-J Tissot (1897)

Totus tuus ego sum Et omnia mea tua sunt; Tecum semper tutus sum: Ad Jesum per Mariam

Tuesday, April 21, 2020

Saint John - Chapter 21

Totus tuus ego sum Et omnia mea tua sunt; Tecum semper tutus sum: Ad Jesum per Mariam

Saint John - Chapter 21

From The Life of Our Lord Jesus Christ, by J-J Tissot (1897)

Totus tuus ego sum Et omnia mea tua sunt; Tecum semper tutus sum: Ad Jesum per Mariam

Monday, April 20, 2020

Saint John - Chapter 21

Totus tuus ego sum Et omnia mea tua sunt; Tecum semper tutus sum: Ad Jesum per Mariam

Saint John - Chapter 21

From The Life of Our Lord Jesus Christ, by J-J Tissot (1897)

Totus tuus ego sum Et omnia mea tua sunt; Tecum semper tutus sum: Ad Jesum per Mariam

Sunday, April 19, 2020

Saint John - Chapter 20

Totus tuus ego sum Et omnia mea tua sunt; Tecum semper tutus sum: Ad Jesum per Mariam

Saint John - Chapter 20

From The Life of Our Lord Jesus Christ, by J-J Tissot (1897)

Totus tuus ego sum Et omnia mea tua sunt; Tecum semper tutus sum: Ad Jesum per Mariam

Totus tuus ego sum

Et omnia mea tua sunt;

Tecum semper tutus sum:
Ad Jesum per Mariam

Totus tuus ego sum

Et omnia mea tua sunt;

Tecum semper tutus sum:
Ad Jesum per Mariam

Totus tuus ego sum

Et omnia mea tua sunt;

Tecum semper tutus sum:
Ad Jesum per Mariam

Totus tuus ego sum

Et omnia mea tua sunt;

Tecum semper tutus sum:
Ad Jesum per Mariam

Totus tuus ego sum

Et omnia mea tua sunt;

Tecum semper tutus sum:
Ad Jesum per Mariam

Totus tuus ego sum

Et omnia mea tua sunt;

Tecum semper tutus sum:
Ad Jesum per Mariam

Totus tuus ego sum

Et omnia mea tua sunt;

Tecum semper tutus sum:
Ad Jesum per Mariam

Totus tuus ego sum

Et omnia mea tua sunt;

Tecum semper tutus sum:
Ad Jesum per Mariam

Totus tuus ego sum

Et omnia mea tua sunt;

Tecum semper tutus sum:
Ad Jesum per Mariam

Totus tuus ego sum

Et omnia mea tua sunt;

Tecum semper tutus sum:
Ad Jesum per Mariam

Totus tuus ego sum

Et omnia mea tua sunt;

Tecum semper tutus sum:
Ad Jesum per Mariam