Friday in the Third Week of Easter

We pray through Easter with a daily offering and a striking sermon from Saint Ephraim that portrays Christ’s Cross as the path that breaks death’s power. We end by asking God to raise us into newness of life and to make resurrection faith real in how we live today. 

• Opening prayers, Glory Be, and a daily offering through the Immaculate Heart of Mary 
• Saint Ephraim’s image of Christ turning death into a road 
• The Incarnation as the “chariot” that enters death’s fortress 
• Eve and Mary as the old vine and the new vine 
• The Cross as a bridge spanning the jaws of death 
• “Death, where is your victory?” and the victory given through Jesus Christ 
• A closing prayer for grace, renewal, and steadfast faith 

If you found this time of prayer and reflection fruitful and would like more opportunities to grow in your faith, consider joining the Cristeros and purchasing our publications now available on Amazon.com. The Cristeros app is available on the Apple app and Google Play Store. More information on the Cristeros can be found at thecristeros.org.

Transcript

Saint Ephraim On Death’s Defeat

The Tree Of The Cross Bridge

Victory Over Death And Faith

Closing Prayer And Dismissal

Invitation To Join The Cristeros

SPEAKER_00 0:02

Friday, in the third week of Easter. In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. O God, come to my assistance. O Lord, make haste to help me. Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now and ever shall be, world without end. Amen. O Jesus, through the Immaculate Heart of Mary, I offer you my prayers, works, joys, and sufferings of this day, in union with the holy sacrifice of the Mass throughout the world. For the remission of my sins, for the intentions of my family and friends, and in particular, for the intentions of the Holy Father. Amen. From a sermon by Saint Ephraim, Deacon, Death trampled our Lord underfoot, but he in his turn treated death as a high road for his own feet. He submitted to it, enduring it willingly, because by this means he would be able to destroy death in spite of itself. Death had its own way when our Lord went out from Jerusalem carrying his cross. But when by a loud cry from that cross he summoned the dead from the underworld, death was powerless to prevent it. Death slew him by means of the body which he had assumed. But that same body proved to be the weapon with which he conquered death. Concealed beneath the cloak of his manhood, his Godhead engaged death in combat. But in slaying our Lord, death itself was slain. It was able to kill natural human life, but was itself killed by the life that is above the nature of man. Death could not devour our Lord unless he possessed a body, neither could hell swallow him up unless he bore our flesh. And so he came in search of a chariot in which to ride to the underworld. This chariot was the body which he received from the Virgin. In it he invaded death's fortress, broke open its strong room, and scattered all its treasure. At length he came upon Eve, the mother of all the living. She was that vineyard whose enclosure her hands had enabled death to violate, so that she could taste its fruit. Thus the mother of all the living became the source of death for every living creature. But in her stead Mary grew up, a new vine, in place of the old. Christ, the new life, dwelt within her. When death, with its customary impotence, came foraging for her mortal fruit, it encountered its own destruction in the hidden life that fruit contained. All unsuspecting, it swallowed him up, and in so doing released life itself, and set free a multitude of men. He, who was also the carpenter's glorious son, set up his cross above death's all-consuming jaws, and led the human race into the dwelling place of life. Since a tree had brought about the downfall of mankind, it was upon a tree that mankind crossed over to the realm of life. Bitter was the branch that had once been grafted upon that ancient tree, but sweet the young shoot that has now been grafted in, the shoot in which we are meant to recognize the Lord, whom no creature can resist. 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 single mortal man, and made it the source of life for every other mortal man. You are incontestably alive. Your murderers sowed your living body in the earth, as farmers sow grain, but it sprang up and yielded an abundant harvest of men raised from the dead. Come then, my brothers and sisters, let us offer our Lord the great and all-embracing sacrifice of our love, pouring out our treasury of hymns and prayers before him who offered his cross in sacrifice to God for the enrichment of us all. Death, where is your victory? Death, where is your sting? It is sin that gives death its sting. But thanks be to God who has given us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. We have the spirit of faith by which we believe that he who raised Jesus to life will also raise us up with Jesus. But thanks be to God, who has given us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Grant we pray, Almighty God, that we who have come to know the grace of the Lord's resurrection may, through the love of the Spirit, ourselves rise to newness of life, through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, forever and ever. Amen. Let us praise the Lord and give him thanks. All that I have and all that I am, I give to your hands, Jesus, through the heart of Mary, your blessed mother. Amen. Sacred heart of Jesus, have mercy on us. Our Lady of Guadalupe, pray for us. In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. If you found this time of prayer and reflection fruitful and would like more opportunities to grow in your faith, consider joining the Cristeros and purchasing our publications now available on Amazon.com. The Cristeros app is available on the Apple app and Google Play Store. More information on the Crusaderos can be found at theCristeros.org.