Wednesday of the Fourth Week of Lent

From Dom Prosper Guéranger's Liturgical Year:

This day is called the “Feria of the great scrutiny” because in the Church of Rome, after the necessary inquiries and examinations, the list of the catechumens, who were to receive Baptism, was closed. The Station was held in the Basilica of St. Paul outside the walls, both because of the size of the building and also in order to honor the Apostle of the Gentiles by offering him these new recruits, which the Church was about to make from paganism. The reader will be interested and edified by a description of this ceremony.

The Faithful and the Aspirants to Baptism being assembled in the Basilica, about the hour of noon, the names of these latter were written down, and an Acolyte arranged them in order before the people, placing the men on the right, and the women on the left. A Priest then recited over each of them the prayer which made them Catechumens, for it is by anticipation that we have been hitherto giving them this name. He signed their foreheads with the sign of the cross and imposed his hand upon their heads. He then blessed the salt (which signifies Wisdom), and each of them tasted it.

After these preliminary ceremonies, they were made to go out of the Church, and remained under the exterior portico until such time as they were called back. As soon as they had left (the assembly of the Faithful remaining in the Church), the Introit was begun. It is taken from the words of the Prophet Ezekiel, wherein God tells us that he will gather his elect from all nations, and pour upon them a clean water that shall cleanse them from their sins. The Acolyte then read out the names of the Catechumens, and they were brought into the Church by the Porter. They were arranged as before, and the Sponsors stood near them. The Pontiff then sang the Collect; after which, at the intimation given by the Deacon, each Sponsor made the sign of the cross on the forehead of the Catechumen, for whom he or she was responsible. Acolytes followed, and pronounced the exorcisms over each of the elect, beginning with the men.

A Lector next read the Lesson from the Prophet Ezekiel, which we give in its proper place. It was followed by a Gradual, composed of these words of David:

“Come, Children, hearken to me; I will teach you the fear of the Lord. Come ye to him, and be enlightened; and your face shall not be confounded.”

In the Collect, which followed this Lesson, the Church prayed that the Faithful might receive the fruits of their Lenten Fast; and immediately, a second Lesson was read, from the Prophet Isaias, in which is foretold the remission of sins to be granted to those who shall be cleansed in the mysterious laver of Baptism.

A second Gradual gave these words from the Royal Psalmist:

“Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord; the people whom he hath chosen for his inheritance.”

During the reading of these two Lessons, and the chanting of the two Graduals, the mysterious ceremony of the Opening the Ears was being gone through. Priests went to each Catechumen, and touching his ears, said:  Ephpheta, that is, Be thou opened. This rite (which was in imitation of what our Savior did to the deaf and dumb man mentioned in the Gospel) (Mark 7:32-34) was intended to prepare the catechumens to receive the revelation of the mysteries which, up to that time, had only been shown them under the veil of allegory. The first initiation made to them was regarding the holy Gospels.

As soon as the second Gradual was finished, there were seen coming from the Secretarium, preceded by lights and incense, four deacons, each of them carrying one of the four Gospels. They advanced towards the Sanctuary, and placed the sacred volume on the Altar, one on each corner. The Bishop, or if he wished it, a Priest, addressed to the catechumens the following allocution, which we find still in the Gelasian Sacramentary:

Being about to open to you the Gospels, that is, the history of the acts of God, it firstly behooves us, dearly beloved children, to tell you what the Gospels are, whence they come, these words they contain, why they are four in number, and who wrote them; in fine, who are the four men who were announced by the Holy Spirit, and foretold by the Prophet. Unless we were to explain to you these several particulars, we should leave your minds confused; and whereas you have come today that your ears may be opened, it would be unseemly in us to begin by bewildering your minds. Gospel literally means good tidings, because it tells us of Jesus Christ, our Lord. The Gospel came from him, in order to proclaim and show that he, who spoke by the Prophets, is now come in the flesh, as it is written: I myself that spoke, lo, I am here. Having briefly to explain to you what the Gospel is, and who are the four men foretold by the Prophet, we now give you their names, following the order of the figures, under which they are designated. The Prophet Ezekiel says: And as for the likeness of their faces, there was the face of a Man and the face of a Lion on the right side of all the four: and the face of an Ox on the left side of all the four: and the face of an Eagle over all the four. These four figures are, as we know, those of the Evangelists, whose names are: Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John.

After this discourse, a deacon, ascending the ambo, thus addressed the catechumens:

Be silent: hear attentively!

Then, opening the Gospel of St. Matthew, which he had previously taken from the altar, he read the beginning, as far as the twenty-first verse. These verses having been read, a Priest spoke as follows:

“Dearly beloved children, we wish to hold you no longer in suspense; therefore, we expound to you the figure of each evangelist. Matthew has the figure of a Man, because, at the commencement of his book, he gives the genealogy of the Savior; for he begins with these words: The book of the generation of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham. You see, then, that it is not without reason, that ho Matthew has been assigned the figure of the Man, since he begins with the human birth of the Savior.”

Again the Deacon from the ambo:

Be silent: hear attentively!

He then read the beginning of St. Mark’s Gospel, as far as the eighth verse. After which, the Priest spoke as follows:

The Evangelist Mark has the figure of the Lion, because he begins with the Desert, saying: A voice of one crying in the desert: Prepare ye the way of the Lord; or again, because the Savior now reigns, and is invincible. This type of the Lion is frequently mentioned in the Scriptures, and is the application of those words: Juda is a Lion’s whelp: to the prey, my son, thou art gone up; resting, thou hast couched as a Lion, and as a Lioness: who shall rouse him?

The Deacon, having repeated his injunction, next read the beginning of the Gospel according to St Luke, as far as the seventeenth verse; after which the Priest said:

The Evangelist Luke has the figure of the Ox, which re minds us that the Savior was offered in sacrifice. This Evangelist begins by speaking of Zachary and Elizabeth from whom, in their old age, was born John the Baptist.

The Deacon having announced, in the same solemn manner, the Gospel of St. John, of which he read the first fourteen verses, the priest thus continued his instruction:

John has the figure of the Eagle, because he soars aloft in the high places. It is he that says: In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. David also, speaking of the person of Christ, thus expresses himself: Thy youth shall be renewed like the Eagle’s; because our Lord Jesus Christ, having risen from the dead, ascended into heaven. Thus, dearly beloved children, the Church that has begotten you, and still bears you in her womb, exults at the thought of the new increase to be given to the Christian law, when, on the venerable day of Easter, you are to be born again in the waters of baptism, and receive, as all the Saints, from Christ our Lord, the gift of the childhood of faith.

The manifestation of the four evangelists was followed by the ceremony called the Giving the Symbol (Traditio Symboli). It consisted in giving to the catechumens the Apostles’ Creed (or Symbol), and in subsequent ages, that of Nicaea, or, as we call it, the Nicene Creed. The following allocution was first made by a Priest:

Being now admitted to receive the Sacrament of Baptism, and become new creatures in the Holy Ghost, it behooves you, dearly beloved Children, to conceive at once in your hearts the faith whereby you are to be justified: it behooves you, having your minds henceforth changed by the habit of truth, to draw nigh to God, who is the light of your souls. Receive, therefore, the secret of the evangelical Symbol, which was inspired by the Lord, and drawn up by the Apostles. Its words are few, but great are the mysteries it contains: for the Holy Ghost, who dictated this formula to the first masters of the Church, has here expressed the faith that saves us, with great precision of words, in order that truths you have to believe and unceasingly meditate on, might neither surpass your understanding, nor escape your memory. Be, then, attentive, that you may learn this Symbol; and what, having ourselves received, we hand down to you, that same write, not on corruptible things, but on the tablets of your heart. Now the confession of faith, which you have received, begins thus.

One of the catechumens was then told to come forward, and the Priest addressed the following question to the acolyte who accompanied him:

In what language do these confess our Lord Jesus Christ?

The acolyte answered:

In Greek.

It should be remembered, that under the emperors, the use of the Greek language was almost as general in Rome as that of the Latin. The priest then said to the acolyte:

Make known to them the faith they believe.

Here the Acolyte, holding his hand over the Catechumen’s head, pronounced the Creed in Greek, in a solemn tone. One of the female catechumens, whose language was the Greek, was then brought forward, and the acolyte repeated the Creed in the same manner. The Priest then said:

Dearly beloved children, you have heard the Symbol in Greek; hear it now in Latin.

Accordingly, two Catechumens, who spoke the Latin language, were brought forward, first a man, and then a woman. The Acolyte recited the Creed in Latin before each of them, and loud enough for all the others to hear. The Giving the Symbol thus completed, the Priest made the following allocution:

This is the compendium of our faith, dearly beloved Children, and these are the words of the Symbol, drawn up, not according to the conceits of human wisdom, but according to the thoughts of God. There is no one but can understand and remember them. There it is, that is expressed the one and co-equal power of God the Father and the Son; there, that is shown to us the Only Begotten Son of God, born, according to the flesh, of the Virgin Mary, by the operation of the Holy Ghost; there, that are related his crucifixion, his burial, and his resurrection on the third day; there, that is proclaimed his ascension above the heavens, his sitting at the right hand of the majesty of the Father, and his future coming to judge the living and the dead; there, that is announced the Holy Ghost, who has the same divinity as the Father and the Son; there, in fine, that are taught the vocation of the Church, the forgiveness of sins, and the resurrection of the flesh. You, therefore, put off the old man, my dearly beloved Children, that you may be reformed according to the new; once carnal, you begin now to be spiritual; once of earth, now of heaven. Believe with firm and unshaken faith, that the Resurrection which was accomplished in Christ, will likewise be accomplished in you; and that this miracle, which has been achieved in him who is our Head, will be repeated in all them that are members of his body. The Sacrament of Baptism, which you are soon to receive, is the visible expression of this hope; for in it is represented both a death and a resurrection; there the old man is left, there the new man is assumed. The sinner descends into the water, and comes out justified. He, that dragged us into death, is cast off; and He is received that restored us to life, and who, by the grace that he will give you, will make you children of God, not by the flesh, but by the virtue of the Holy Ghost. It is your duty, therefore, to keep this short formula in your hearts, so as to make use of the Confession it contains as a help to you, on all occasions. The power of this armor is invincible against all the attacks of the enemy; it should be worn by the true soldiers of Christ. Let the devil, who tempts man without ceasing, find you ever armed with this Symbol. Triumph over the adversary, whom you have just renounced. By God’s grace, preserve incorruptible and unsullied, even to the end, the grace he is about to give you; that thus, He in whom you are soon to receive the forgiveness of your sins, may bring you to the glory of the Resurrection. Thus, then, dearly beloved Children, you know the Symbol of the Catholic faith; carefully learn it, not changing one word. God’s mercy is powerful; may it bring you to the faith of the Baptism to which you aspire; and may it lead us, who this day reveal to you the mysteries, to the heavenly kingdom together with you; through the same Jesus Christ, our Lord, who liveth and reigneth, for ever and ever. Amen!

The Giving the Symbol was followed by another gift;—the Lord’s Prayer. The Deacon first made the announcement; he urged the Catechumens to silence and attention; and then a Priest delivered the following allocution:

Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, among his other saving precepts, gave to his disciples, on that day when they asked him how they ought to pray, this form of prayer, which we are about to repeat to you, and explain in all its fullness. Let your Charity, therefore, now hear how the Savior taught his disciples to pray to God the Father Almighty. When thou shalt pray, said he, enter into thy chamber; and having shut the door, pray to thy Father. Here, by chamber, he means not a room, but the interior of the heart, which is known to God alone. By saying that we ought to adore God after having shut the door, he signifies that we ought to shut out, with a spiritual key, all bad thoughts from our heart, and speak to God, though our lips may be closed, in purity of soul. What our God hears is not the sound of our words, but our faith. Let our heart, then, be shut, with the key of faith, against the craft of the enemy; let it not be opened save to that God whose Temple we know it is; and the Lord, dwelling thus in our heart, will be propitious and grant our prayers. The Prayer taught us by the Word, the Wisdom of God, Christ our Lord, is this:

OUR FATHER, WHO ART IN HEAVEN.

Observe these words, how full they are of holy liberty and confidence. Live, therefore, in such manner that you may be Children of God, and Brethren of Christ. What rashness would he not be guilty of, who dared to call God his Father, yet proved himself to be degenerate by opposing God’s will? Dearly beloved Children, show yourselves to be worthy of the divine adoption; for it is written: To them that believe in his name, he gave power to be made the Sons of God.

HALLOWED BE THY NAME.

It is not that God, who is ever holy, needs that he be hallowed by us; but what we here ask, is that his name be sanctified in us; so that we, who have been made holy by the Baptism he has given us, may persevere in the new being we have received from him.