Christ’s Appearance to Mary Magdalene after the Resurrection / / Alexander Ivanov
ACI Prensa Staff, Apr 10, 2023 / 05:00 am (CNA).
On Easter Monday, the Catholic Church celebrates what’s called “Monday of the Angel.” In many countries in Europe and South America, this day, also known as “Little Easter,” is a national holiday.
In a Vatican Radio recording in 1994, Pope John Paul II gave an explanation for Monday of the Angel:
“Why is it called that?” the pope asked, highlighting the need for an angel to call out from the depths of the grave: “He is risen.”
These words “were very difficult to proclaim, to express, for a person,” John Paul II said. “Also, the women that were at the tomb encountered it empty but couldn’t tell ‘he had risen’; they only affirmed that the tomb was empty. The angel said more: “He is not here, he has risen.”
The Gospel of St. Matthew puts it this way: “Then the angel said to the women in reply, ‘Do not be afraid! I know that you are seeking Jesus the crucified. He is not here, for he has been raised just as he said. Come and see the place where he lay. Then go quickly and tell his disciples, ‘He has been raised from the dead, and he is going before you to Galilee; there you will see him.’ Behold, I have told you” (Mt 28:5-7).
Angels are servants and messengers of God. As purely spiritual beings, they have intellects and wills. They are personal and immortal. They surpass all visible beings in their perfection.
Christ himself gives testimony to the angels when he said: “The angels in Heaven always see the face of my father who is in Heaven!” (Mt 18:10).
Christ is the center of the universe and angels belong to him. Even more so, because he made them messengers of his plan of salvation: an angel announced his conception to the Blessed Mother at the Annunciation and an angel proclaimed his Resurrection to Mary Magdalene.
From Easter Monday until the end of Easter at Pentecost, the Church prays the Regina Caeli instead of the Angelus at the noon hour.
On Monday of the Angel in 2008, Pope Benedict XVI said the text of the Regina Caeli “is like a new ‘Annunciation’ to Mary, this time not made by an angel but by us Christians who invite the Mother to rejoice because her Son, whom she carried in her womb, is risen as he promised.”
He continued: “Indeed, ‘rejoice’ was the first word that the heavenly messenger addressed to the Virgin in Nazareth. And this is what it meant: Rejoice, Mary, because the Son of God is about to become man within you. Now, after the drama of the Passion, a new invitation to rejoice rings out: ‘Gaude et laetare, Virgo Maria, alleluia, quia surrexit Dominus vere, alleluia’ — Rejoice and be glad, O Virgin Mary, alleluia. Rejoice because the Lord is truly risen, alleluia!”
Regina Caeli (English)
V. Queen of Heaven, rejoice, alleluia.
R. For he whom you did merit to bear, alleluia.
V. Has risen, as he said, alleluia.
R. Pray for us to God, alleluia.
V. Rejoice and be glad, O Virgin Mary, alleluia.
R. For the Lord has truly risen, alleluia.
V. Let us pray. O God, who gave joy to the world through the resurrection of Thy Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, grant we beseech Thee, that through the intercession of the Virgin Mary, His Mother, we may obtain the joys of everlasting life. Through the same Christ our Lord.
R. Amen.
Regina Caeli (Latin)
V. Regina caeli, laetare, alleluia.
R. Quia quem meruisti portare, alleluia.
V. Resurrexit, sicut dixit, alleluia.
R. Ora pro nobis Deum, alleluia.
V. Gaude et laetare, Virgo Maria, alleluia.
R. Quia surrexit Dominus vere, alleluia.
V. Oremus. Deus, qui per resurrectionem Filii tui, Domini nostri Iesu Christi, mundum laetificare dignatus es: praesta, quaesumus; ut per eius Genetricem Virginem Mariam, perpetuae capiamus gaudia vitae. Per eundem Christum Dominum nostrum.
R. Amen.
This article was originally published by ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news parter. It was translated and adapted by Jeanette De Melo at the National Catholic Register on March 4, 2021, and updated April 6, 2023.
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Acts like this help us understand why there is the dreadful penalty of hell.
Vatican II’s declarations about Muslims and Islam are due for re-evaluation.
Nigerian Christians are facing a full fledged genocide at the hands of Islamic Fascists, and the world doesn’t care, and simply ignores it. Clearly some black lives really do not matter to the Mainstream Media.
Good thing Biden thinks there is no risk of religious persecution in Nigeria worth monitoring. Otherwise it could be a problem there.
Why does it seem like no one cares about the killing of Christians in Nigeria? Why is there no protection for them? Why aren’t the people who do this hunted and punished?
The people who did this are Fulani herdsmen, 99 per cent of whom are Muslims. They number 34 million and can be found everywhere from the Atlantic coast of West Africa to Ethiopia.
To put an end to the violence entails putting an end to Islam among the Fulani. That in turn demands that they be called to Christianity or removed in ways similar to those used against the Cathars.
Wait until the overturning of Roe vs Wade to see what happens to Catholics in the U.S. and the reaction of cowards like Cupich and McElroy. It’s like we are being attacked from within and without. Pray my brothers and sisters.
Science as well as faith help us to know how ‘small ‘ and interconnected we are – in the brothehood in The Mother ..havng read how the dust from the Sahara desert blows into S. America in the balancing of the eco system , we can also wonder how sins against life anywhere also invites in the agents of death and destruction, war and violence , lust and greed – esp. through those who have been blinded by Satan about the truth of the dignity and destiny of human life .
The interconections in these areas being ? willfully denied – the light shared in the powerful homily of the Holy Father on the need to love The Lord to be able to keep the commandments -the 24 Hour Passion meditations , the Flame of Love – adoring the Sacred wounds of our Lord , the indirect light from all such to flow into more hearts to help to love The Lord with His own Love in The Spirit …
Fathers charged to bring up the children in the discipline and instruction in The Lord (Eph 6 :4 ) – that to include fathers of nations too ..
The tears of The Lord and of The Mother shed for the slavation of each of us from the moment of their very beginnning as the Immaculate Conception and Incarnation and for every wound of sin and suffering of His children – to be offered up for all involved to help bring forth conversions as is done in the Holy Mass – to help break the walls around the hearts … along with use of other prudent measures as needed , as The Church continues to persevere in using the weapons given in The Mother ..
Hey, I don’t know what your comments have to with anything, but I do want to make sure that you know that Muslim terrorists killed Christian Nigerians yet again last Sunday. You would not necessarily know that from the four(!) CNA shorts on this story or the heartfelt condolences offered by the Holy Father. Nevertheless, it is seems pertinent.