That we may be healed from sin, let us now gaze on Christ crucified; for as Moses, says He, lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of man be lifted up; that whosoever believes in Him may not perish, but have everlasting life. Just as they who looked on that serpent perished not by the serpent’s bites, so they who lookContinue reading “Let us now gaze on Christ crucified”
Author Archives: Stefan Gramenz
The Tree of my eternal salvation
This cross is the tree of my eternal salvation, nourishing and delighting me. I take root in its roots, I am extended in its branches, I am delighted by its dews, I am fertilized by its spirit as by a delightful breeze. In my tent I am shaded by its shade, and fleeing the excessiveContinue reading “The Tree of my eternal salvation”
A Holy Trunk
The Devil speaks:Now then, Hades, mourn and I join in unison with you in wailing.Let us lament as we see the tree which we plantedChanged into a holy trunk.Robbers, murderers, tax gatherers, harlots,Rest beneath it, and make nestsIn its branches in order that they might gatherThe fruit of sweetness from theContinue reading “A Holy Trunk”
A child at the Easter Vigil
When I was a child, the Easter Vigil was a profound event for me. I didn’t know what was going on, but I did know they were doing everything I liked. They were playing with fire. They were playing with water. They were singing things I didn’t understand. He was blowing on the water! HeContinue reading “A child at the Easter Vigil”
Three Days
For three days Esther fasted and Judith kept vigil, the exiles came home to Jerusalem and the Hebrews marched to the waters of Marah. For three days darkness afflicted the Egyptians, Hezekiah lay mortally ill, Jonah was entombed in the belly of a fish, and Paul waited in blindness. On the third day Abraham offeredContinue reading “Three Days”
We expect the Resurrection
We expect the Resurrection. We know that Christ’s death is no longer the hopeless, the ultimate end of everything. Baptized into His death, we partake already of His life that came out of the grave. We receive His Body and Blood which are the food of immortality. We have in ourselves the token, the anticipationContinue reading “We expect the Resurrection”
We keep vigil on this night
Dearest brothers and sisters, we keep vigil on this night, on which we recall that our Lord was buried. We ought to keep vigil during that time in which, for our sakes, he slept. Long before, he announced his passion through his prophet: “I slept,” he says, “and I rose up, because the Lord receivedContinue reading “We keep vigil on this night”
The Symbols and Foreshadowings of the Cross
Throughout history the most wonderful events have been only the symbols and foreshadowings of this cross. Consider them, if you are anxious to learn. Did not God decree that Noah should escape from drowning in the flood with his sons and their wives and every kind of animal in a tiny wooden boat? And whatContinue reading “The Symbols and Foreshadowings of the Cross”
Alas, dear Christ, the snake is here again
Alas, dear Christ, the snake is here again.Alas, he is here: terror has seized me, and fear.Alas that I ate of the fruit of the tree of knowledge.Alas that his envy led me to envy too.I did not become like God; I was cast out of paradise.Temper, sword, awhile, the heat of your flamesand letContinue reading “Alas, dear Christ, the snake is here again”
You are incontestably alive
We give glory to you, Lord, who raised up your cross to span the jaws of death like a bridge by which souls might pass from the region of the dead to the land of the living. We give glory to you who put on the body of a mortal and made it the sourceContinue reading “You are incontestably alive”
Locus Communis 