FIRE Committee Newsletter Lenten Series The Prayer of St. Ephrem. Caiaphas' Chamber of Horrors

Transcription

1 FIRE Committee Newsletter Lenten Series The Prayer of St. Ephrem O Lord and Master of my life, dispel from me the spirit of slothfulness, indifference, ambition and vain talking. (prostration to ground). Grant instead to me, your servant, the spirit of purity, humility, patience and charity. (prostration to ground) Yes, my Lord and my King, bestow upon me the grace of being aware of my own sins and of not judging others. For you are Blessed for ever and ever. Amen. (prostration to ground) Caiaphas' Chamber of Horrors Sometime around midnight, Holy Thursday, April 2, A.D. 33, Jesus was taken bound down the Mount of Olives, across the Kidron Valley to the home of Annas and then to the home of Caiaphas about 0.8 miles southwest (to what is now known as Saint Peter in Gallicantu). Gallicantu refers to cock s crow, because this is the place where the cock crowed after Peter denied knowing our Lord three times. One of his disciples has just betrayed him, his closest friends have fled from him, and he has been taken into custody by unsympathetic soldiers. Table of Contents The Prayer of St. Ephrem Caiaphas' Chamber of Horrors Seeking Forgiveness During the Season of Lent Quick Links CMA Website Donate Now Contact Us Us Exam of Conscience FIRE COMMITTEE Chair: Kathleen M. Raviele, MD Chair: Kevin Murrell, MD Don D. Bouchard, DO Donna C. Dobrowolsky, MD Sr. Mary Diana Dreger, OP, MD Rev. Matthew J. Gutowski, STL Sr. Edith M. Hart, RSM, DO Cynthia B. Hunt, MD Thomas W. McGovern, MD Anthony S. Oliva, MD

2 View southwest from the Mount of Olives. The Kidron Valley is full of Jewish tombs. On the right is the golden Dome of the Rock, and just on its right you can see a black dome of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. Just left of center behind the walls of the Old City of Jerusalem is the Al Aqsa Mosque. Just to the left of the Mosque on a hill above the horizon is Dormition Abbey, near the site of the Upper Room. At the extreme left of the photo, a little below the horizon is a reddish-orange roof. Just to the right of this is a blue dome on a Romanesque Church. This is St. Peter in Gallicantu, built over the site of Caiaphas house and dungeon. (Photographed October 22, 2014, click to enlarge). Saint Peter in Gallicantu, closer view.

3 Statue at Saint Peter in Gallicantu recalling denial by Peter. During the night, perhaps from midnight to 6 a.m. on Good Friday, the Gospels tell us that Jesus suffered various forms of physical abuse. He was struck by the hand of an officer (John 18:22) spit upon, blindfolded, struck, received with blows by guards (Mark 14:65) spit upon, struck, slapped (Matthew 26:67) beaten, blindfolded, struck (Luke 22:63-64) The Greek word rhapisma or rhapizo is translated in Matthew as 'slapped', in Mark as 'received with blows', and in John as struck. This most often refers to slapping the face with an open hand. The Greek word kolaphizo is translated in Matthew and Mark as struck and means to brutally strike with fists and treat with excessive force. The word translated struck twice in Luke 22:64 is from two Greek words. The first paio means to strike or smite with a fist. The second typto also means to beat, strike, or smite. All three synoptic Gospel writers tell us that Jesus was slapped and punched. As a bonus, though, Luke, the detail-oriented physician (perhaps he had a somewhat melancholic temperament, for he told Theophilus how he wrote an orderly and accurate account for him - see Luke 1:1-4) uses another word for Jesus' night-time terror. As a dermatologist, I am impressed that he now brings up a second dermatologic detail (after sweat falling like drops of blood) about Christ s suffering. The word translated beaten is the Greek derontes which comes from the same root der- as derma meaning skin. Derontes means primarily to flay the skin and then to beat. It reminds me of the martyrdom of Saint Bartholomew who was flayed alive. When I saw that statue, I immediately adopted him as my patron saint as a Mohs surgeon! If indeed Jesus skin was flayed open here, that will make his ensuing sufferings more grave than we had realized, for the skin will indeed become exquisitely sensitive. When I gave medical talks on the Passion years ago, I used to say that the hematidrosis had sensitized his skin. In last week s reflection, however, I showed why this was probably not the case. However, now I find a new and probable reason that Jesus skin would have been hypersensitive before he received the scourging at the pillar.

4 Statue of Saint Bartholomew in Basilica of Saint John Lateran, Rome. While not definitively the house of Caiaphas, there is good evidence going back to the 5th century that the site of St. Peter in Gallicantu was venerated by pilgrims and local Christians as the site where Jesus received his beatings in the early hours of Good Friday. There is no site that has stronger evidence. On the outside of the Church, there is a mosaic that depicts Christ being trussed up by ropes to lower him down some thirty feet into the dungeon or sacred pit. It is thought that it was in this pit he was primarily flayed and beaten. There is an oral tradition from at least the 5th century that Christ was scourged (similar to flayed) during this evening in this location. Mosaic on outside of Saint Peter in Gallicantu.

5 Looking down into Sacred Pit in Saint Peter in Gallicantu. Looking up from Sacred Pit in Saint Peter in Gallicantu. Looking up from Sacred Pit in Saint Peter in Gallicantu.

6 Pilgrims praying Psalm 88 in Sacred Pit in Saint Peter in Gallicantu. Pilgrims today commemorate this by reciting Psalm 88 in the Sacred Pit. You can recite, too, and recall the brutal beating our Lord endured that evening: spat upon slapped, blindfolded, struck, and even flayed. You can also remember that his hand-picked vicar, who was to lead his Church on earth, has just denied that he even knows Jesus! The pain of abandonment is added to the pain of his physical beating. He bleeds, spilling more of his Precious Blood for each of us. [ 1] O LORD, my God, I call for help by day; I cry out in the night before thee. [ 2] Let my prayer come before thee, incline thy ear to my cry! [ 3] For my soul is full of troubles, and my life draws near to Sheol. [ 4] I am reckoned among those who go down to the Pit; I am a man who has no strength, [ 5] like one forsaken among the dead, like the slain that lie in the grave, like those whom thou dost remember no more, for they are cut off from thy hand. [ 6] Thou hast put me in the depths of the Pit, in the regions dark and deep. [ 7] Thy wrath lies heavy upon me, and thou dost overwhelm me with all thy waves. [Selah] [ 8] Thou hast caused my companions to shun me; thou hast made me a thing of horror to them. I am shut in so that I cannot escape; [ 9] my eye grows dim through sorrow. Every day I call upon thee, O LORD; I spread out my hands to thee. [ 10] Dost thou work wonders for the dead? Do the shades rise up to praise thee? [Selah] [ 11] Is thy steadfast love declared in the grave,

7 or thy faithfulness in Abaddon? [ 12] Are thy wonders known in the darkness, or thy saving help in the land of forgetfulness? [ 13] But I, O LORD, cry to thee; in the morning my prayer comes before thee. [ 14] O LORD, why dost thou cast me off? Why dost thou hide thy face from me? [ 15] Afflicted and close to death from my youth up, I suffer thy terrors; I am helpless. [ 16] Thy wrath has swept over me; thy dread assaults destroy me. [ 17] They surround me like a flood all day long; they close in upon me together. [ 18] Thou hast caused lover and friend to shun me; my companions are in darkness. Seeking Forgiveness During the Season of Lent Lent is the perfect time to receive the Sacrament of Penance and Reconciliation. This is a time particularly when we should be examining our consciences for ways in which we have sinned and disrupted our relationship with God. Jesus gave his power to forgive sins when he breathed the Holy Spirit into his apostles after the resurrection: John 20: 19 On the evening of that first day of the week, when the doors were locked, where the disciples were, for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood in their midst and said to them, Peace be with you. 20 When he had said this, he showed them his hands and his side. The disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord. 21 [Jesus] said to them again, Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you. 22 And when he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, Receive the holy Spirit. 23 Whose sins you forgive are forgiven them, and whose sins you retain are retained. (USCCB) We may be embarrassed to confess our sins to a priest, particularly if it has been many years since our last confession, but there is great rejoicing in Heaven and in the Church when a sinner returns to the sacrament of reconciliation. Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen related the following story in one of his television broadcasts:

8 I opened the church door one cold January morning, heavy London fog, and a limp figure fell in, a young woman. I said, How did you happen to be here? Where am I, Father? Oh, Father? Yes, she said, I used to be a Catholic but not anymore." You were drunk. Yes, she said, I was drunk. But, I said, men drink because they like the stuff, women drink because they don t like something else. What were you running away from? Three men, she said. I was in love with each of them, they were beginning to find it out, and so I got drunk. What is your name? And pointing to a billboard opposite of the church on the walls of the Cross and Blackwell Jam office, I said, Is that your picture over there? Yes, I m the leading lady in that musical comedy. I made a cup of coffee for her because she was frozen from the night exposure. She said, Thanks. No, come back this afternoon and thank me, I asked. She said, I will on one condition. That you do not ask me to go to Confession. Very well, I said. I shall not to ask you to go to Confession. I want you to promise me faithfully that you will not ask me to go to Confession, she said. I promise you faithfully that I will not ask you to go to Confession, I said. She came back that afternoon before the matinee and I said, We have two paintings in this church that are very notable. Would you like to see them? As I took her down the side aisle of the church, I pushed her into a confessional. I always keep my promises.

9 Two years later, I gave her veil as a nun in the Convent of Adoration, where she is to this very hour. Therefore, that cold January morning, another choice had to be made and it was a choice for good. And, this is a choice that each and every one of us is making." There is no time like the present to return to the Sacrament of Penance and Reconciliation. Although it is unlikely that we will be pushed into a confessional, let us be attentive to the gentle nudge and inspiration of the Holy Spirit to receive this beautiful healing Sacrament. Below please find an examination of conscience which you may find helpful. If you already have experienced the wonderful graces of confession, consider partaking in this sacrament even more frequently. There is also an App entitled: "CONFESSION A Roman Catholic App version 2.1" with an imprimatur for the iphone, ipad, and Android devices.