Easter: May 6th
Tuesday of the Third Week of Easter
Other Commemorations: St. Peter Nolasco, Priest (RM); St. John before the Latin Gate (Hist)
MASS READINGS
May 06, 2025 (Readings on USCCB website)
PROPERS [Show]
COLLECT PRAYER
Tuesday of the Third Week of Easter: O God, who open wide the gates of the heavenly Kingdom to those reborn of water and the Holy Spirit, pour out on your servants an increase of the grace you have bestowed, that, having been purged of all sins, they may lack nothing that in your kindness you have promised. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, for ever and ever.
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The Roman Martyrology commemorates St. Peter Nolasco (1182-1258), born in France, but later settled in Barcelona, Spain. After taking part in the Crusades against the Albigensians, he used his inheritance to free Christian prisoners held by the Moors. He later founded the Order of Our Lady of Mercy (Mercedarians) beginning in 1218 devoted to ransoming Christians.
Today marks the older observance of St. John before the Latin Gate. A tradition mentioned by St. Jerome, which goes back to the second century, says St. John the Apostle was taken to Rome under the Emperor Domitian and plunged into a cauldron of boiling oil; by a striking miracle he came out safe and sound from this torture. A church dedicated in honor of St. John was built near the Latin Gate, the spot referred to by the tradition.
Meditation for Tuesday of the Third Week of Easter
Patience in suffering
1. "Who when He was reviled, did not revile; when He suffered, He threatened not" (Epistle). Patience in suffering and the disposition to forgive the persecutor, have always been the true mark of the great servants of Christ. St. Stephen, the first great martyr of the Church imitated Christ in begging for forgiveness for his murderers. He stood staunchly for the truth, even unto death as Christ had done; and although he knew that his assertion that he saw "the heavens opened, and the Son of man standing at the right hand of God" would be used as an excuse for his murder, he would not deny the truth. Although he knew that he was being unjustly put to death, like his divine Master he could exclaim, "Lord, do not lay this sin against them" (Acts 7:60).
This disposition to forgive did not die with St. Stephen, but has continued to be one of the most characteristic virtues of the saint. We read in the life of St. Benedict as related in the Dialogues of St. Gregory, that he was continuously and severely persecuted by a delinquent priest who lived in the neighborhood of the monastery. Finally, in order to protect the virtue and the vocations of his disciples, St. Benedict decided to abandon the site of his monastery and move to another location. He and his monks had hardly left their monastery when word was brought that the persecutor had died suddenly. Contrary to the expectation of the messenger who brought the news, St. Benedict broke out in loud lamentations that his enemy had died suddenly and had not had an opportunity to repent. The saints see so much more clearly than we the relative unimportance of the hardships and injustices we suffer in this world, and the importance before all else of the sinner's being converted and repenting of his sins. How differently we act sometimes! How long and how persistently we harbor grudges in our hearts against those who have offended us. How difficult we find it to forgive freely and from our hearts. Yet we proclaim ourselves to be Christians and to practice all the Christian virtues. Do we forget that our Lord told us that if we expect our prayers to be heard, and our sacrifices to be pleasing in the sight of God, we must, if our brother has anything against us, leave our sacrifice at the altar, and go first and make peace with our brother? (Matt. 5:23.)
Nor is the disposition to forgive our enemies peculiar only to the saints and martyrs of the ancient Church; nor should we expect it to be, for the truth Christ preached was eternal, and if His disciples were commanded to forgive their enemies in His day, that command is still binding. When the Jesuit martyr, Father Pro was executed in Mexico some years ago, he was asked by his executioner if he had anything he wished to do, or anything he wished to say before the sentence was executed. Father Pro said that there was; he wished to be given an opportunity to pray for his executioners and to give them his blessing before he died. During the persecutions in Spain during the late civil war, one of the religious who was to be put to death by the communists was led to his death with his hands bound. When asked if he had any final request, he too, asked to be allowed to give his blessing to the members of the firing squad. It is said that the officer in charge of the guard untied his hands, and then swiftly struck off the hands of the priest with his sword, and said, "Now, Priest, give them your blessing." The Priest, blood streaming from his mangled wrists, raised his right arm and traced the sign of the cross over the heads of his murderers. This is the true sign of the authentic martyr, the characteristic mark of the true saint of the Church.
2. "Who did no sin, neither was guile found in His mouth. Who His own self bore our sins in His body upon the tree" (Epistle). The redemption of man as accomplished by Christ might have been accomplished in other ways, but none of them would have been as perfect as the way Christ chose. God might have forgiven man outright without requiring any satisfaction for sin. This would have been a splendid manifestation of the infinite mercy of God, but it would have ignored His infinite justice. God might have refused redemption and forgiveness altogether, and this would have been in complete conformity with His justice, but it would not have satisfied His infinite mercy. Perfect redemption required that both God's mercy and justice be satisfied. Man was in no position to help himself.
Any act of satisfaction on his part would only have been of limited and finite value, and would not have been adequate. An act of reparation offered by a divine person would have been adequate, but it would not have been authentic, since it would not have been offered by the offending party. The only possibility of a perfect redemption was for the divine person to become incarnate. Christ, since He was God, could perform acts of infinite value; since he was a human being, He could act in the name of the human race, and offer an act of reparation which would be both adequate and authentic.
3. "By whose stripes you are healed" (Epistle). As when he was speaking of the duty of subjection to superiors, so here St. Paul seems to be addressing himself to the servants and the slaves of his time. Slaves were often cruelly treated by their masters in ancient times, and stripes from the scourge were familiar to every slave. The slave understood that the stripes he received from his master were in payment for some offense he had committed. He would understand then, that the debt that was due to almighty God for sin, could be paid by the stripes Christ received. Since St. Paul points out to us that everything in Christ's life, and especially his conduct during His passion should be an example for the Christian, and that the Christian should follow in His footsteps, it might be well for us to remember that we can satisfy for our personal sins by bearing patiently the sufferings that come to us in this world. Much of the misfortune and the suffering we endure in this world is the result of our own foolishness and perversity. Nevertheless, we can offer all of the misfortunes that overtake us in reparation for our sins and for those of our friends and relatives. When sorrow and suffering trouble us we should offer our trials humbly to God thus making a feeble attempt to imitate Christ, "who suffered for us, leaving you an example that you should follow His steps" (Epistle).
—Benedict Baur, OSB, The Light of the World, Vol. 2
St. John before the Latin Gate
One day Salome presented her two sons, James and John, to Jesus, and with a mother’s ambition asked Him to grant them the highest places in his Kingdom. In reply, the Savior spoke of the chalice which He Himself would have to drink, and foretold that these two disciples would also drink of it. The elder, James the Great, was the first to give his Master this proof of his love. John, the younger brother, offered his life in testimony of Jesus’ divinity.
But the martyrdom of the latter Apostle called for a scene worthy of the event. Asia Minor, which his zeal had evangelized, was not a sufficiently glorious land for such a combat. Rome, whither Peter had transferred his Chair and where he died on his cross, and where Paul had bowed down his venerable head beneath the sword, alone deserved the honor of seeing the beloved disciple march on to martyrdom, with that dignity and sweetness which are the characteristics of this veteran of the Apostolic College.
In the year 95 John appeared before the tribunal of pagan Rome. He was convicted of having propagated, in a vast province of the Empire, the worship of a Jew who had been crucified under Pontius Pilate. He was considered a superstitious and rebellious old man, and it was time to rid Asia of his presence. He was, therefore, sentenced to an ignominious and cruel death.
A huge cauldron of boiling oil was prepared in front of the Latin Gate. The sentence ordered that the preacher of Christ be plunged into this bath. The hour had come for the second son of Salome to partake of his Master’s chalice. John’s heart leapt with joy. After cruelly scourging him, the executioners seized the old man, and threw him into the cauldron. But, lo! the boiling liquid lost all its heat; the Apostle felt no scalding. On the contrary, when they took him out again he felt all the vigor of his youthful years restored to him.
The praetor’s cruelty was foiled, and John, a martyr in desire, was to be left to the Church for some few years longer. An imperial decree banished him to the rugged Isle of Patmos, where God revealed to him the future of the Church even to the end of time.
—Excerpted from The Liturgical Year, Abbot Gueranger O.S.B.
Highlights and Things to Do:
- Although not longer a feast on our current liturgical calendar, the tradition still remains. The chapel in Rome opens up once a year for this feast day:
St. Peter Nolasco
One night while Peter Nolasco was praying, the Blessed Virgin appeared (1228) and told him how greatly pleased she and her divine Son would be if a religious order were established in her honor for the express purpose of delivering Christians held in bondage by the infidels. In compliance with her wish, Peter, together with St. Raymond of Penafort and James I, King of Aragon, founded the Order of Our Lady of Mercy for the ransom of captives. Besides the usual vows, all members were required to take a fourth, one by which they bound themselves to become captives of the pagans, if necessary, to effect the emancipation of Christians.
On one occasion Peter Nolasco ransomed 400 at Valencia and Granada; twice he traveled to Africa as "the Ransomer," not without peril to his own life; and records show that through his personal efforts a total of 890 Christians regained their liberty. He died with these words from Psalm 110 on his lips: The Lord has sent redemption to His people.
—Excerpted from The Church's Year of Grace, Pius Parsch
Highlights and Things to Do:
- Read more about St. Peter:
- See St. Peter's statue in the St. Peter's Basilica Colonnade and the Founder Statue in St. Peter's Basilica.
- To find out more about the history of the Mercedarian Order read this account.
