Vigils Reading

OUR BOAST

IS THE CROSS OF CHRIST

From a letter by St Paulinus of Nola

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From the beginning of the world Christ suffers in all his own. He is “the

beginning and the end”, who is hidden in the law and revealed in the gospel, a

Lord ever “wonderful” and suffering and triumphant “in his saints”. In Abel he

was slain by his brother, in Noah he was ridiculed by his son, in Jacob he was

reduced to servitude, in Joseph he was sold, in Moses he was abandoned and

rejected, in the prophets he was stoned and torn asunder, in his apostles he was

persecuted on land and sea, and in his countless martyrs he was tortured and

assassinated.

He now also bears our weaknesses and our sicknesses, for he is himself

one like us, exposed on our behalf to all evils and capable of enduring the

weakness which without him we would be totally incapable of bearing. He it is

who bears the weight of the world for us and in us so that he might deliver us

from it; see how he achieves power in weakness! It is he who suffers the taunts

you endure; and it is he whom the world hates in you.

Let us give thanks to the Lord, because he “wins out when he is judged.”

According to this word of Scripture, he it is who triumphs in us when, taking the

condition of slavery, he obtains for his servants the grace of freedom.

Accomplishing the mysterious design of his goodness, he assumes this form of a

slave and consents to humble himself for us even to the death of the cross.

Through the lowliness which all could see he achieves our elevation to heaven,

which is interior and invisible.

Look at the height from which we first fell; understand it well. It is by the

design of God’s wisdom and goodness that we have been restored to life. In

Adam we fell through pride, and in Christ we are humbled so that we may efface

the ancient sin by the practice of the opposite virtue. We have offended the Lord

by pride; we now please him by our humility.

Therefore, let us rejoice and glory in him who made ours both his battle

and his victory when he said: “Take courage! I have overcome the world!”… He

who is unconquered will fight for us and conquer in us. The prince of darkness

shall be cast out, for if he is not expelled from the world where he is everywhere,

he is expelled from the human heart. When faith enters us we shut out the evil

one and provide a place for Christ, whose presence expels sin and spells exile for

the serpent who is dislodged..

Let the orators keep their eloquence, the philosophers their wisdom, the

rich their wealth, and kings their realms. Our glory, riches and kingdom is

Christ. Our wisdom lies in the foolishness of the gospel, our strength in the

weakness of the flesh, and our glory in the stumbling block of the cross.

“Through it the world has been crucified to me and I to the world, so that I may

live for God. And the life I live now is not my own; Christ is living in me.”