23. We do not wish to proceed further without duly enhancing the splendour of the grandiose transfiguration of Christ's Deific Body in the Cenacle, in the sight of His Apostles and the others. Glorification which, much greater than on Thabor, was perceived in different degree by each, according to his disposition, including Judas Iscariot despite his sinister spiritual darkness, in order that he might not lack even that opportunity to be converted. The transfiguration of Jesus lasted from the commencement of the Offertory until the conclusion of the Communion of the faithful. However, it was not always of the same intensity. For, according as the Sacrifice neared consummation, Christ's Deific Body appeared ever more resplendent, above all in the crowning moment when He received Himself in Communion and immolated Himself sacramentally. As befitted Her Who was Co-Victim of this eucharistic Sacrifice, Mary Most Holy was also transfigured in the Cenacle, during the same time as Her Divine Son, but was seen in that glorious state only by Her closest relatives, including the Apostles, with the exception of Judas Iscariot. The Body and Blood of Christ, as like wise the Body and Blood of Mary, in their presence in the Sacrament of the Eucharist, were in the Cenacle in the state of glory during the time of their respective transfigurations; and once these had ended, in Jesus and Mary's actual state at each moment. In the mysteries of the Cenacle there is clearly demonstrated how the Blood of Christ shed is a sign of contradiction. For while it avails some, it can serve as condemnation for others, as with Judas Iscariot whom Our Lord Jesus Christ ordained deacon and priest, consecrated bishop and to whom He gave Communion, knowing that it was to be for his greater eternal misfortune. However, with this lavishing of graces, Jesus wished to place on permanent record the mystery that not all avail themselves of the salvific work of Redemption.

24. While Jesus shared with His Apostles certain mysteries about Holy Mass and the Kingdom of God, as we have just seen, He felt His Deific Heart become ever more enraptured with sublime joy. All the more so because He foresaw the most abundant fruits of Calvary through perpetuation in Holy Mass of the painful outpouring of His Most Precious Blood, and an infinite number of souls' availing themselves thereof. Sadly, however, He also saw the ingratitude of many who would fail to take advantage of grace, as was the deplorable case of His unworthy Apostle Judas Iscariot, prototype of infidelity, now burdened with Holy Orders for his greater condemnation. Wherefore Jesus, with pity, gazed anew at the traitor with ineffable tenderness and in secret spoke most loving words to the Iscariot in an endeavour to move him to compunction. But the wretch, far from reciprocating, inwardly held fast to his criminal purpose, with even greater hatred of his Master. That is why the Evangelist Saint John, according to our interpretation, referring to this mysterious communication of the Good Shepherd with the iniquitous Judas, relates that: "When Jesus had said these things, He was troubled in spirit; and He testified, and said: Amen, amen, I say to you, one of you shall betray Me" (John XII, 21), ln this way referring to one of the Twelve. That is why the Evangelist refers to these, saying: "The disciples therefore looked one upon another, doubting of whom He spoke. Now there was leaning on Jesus' bosom one of His disciples, whom Jesus loved" (John XIII, 22-23). We teach that Saint John maintained that mystical posture, with some interruption, until Judas abandoned the Cenacle, and thus consoled the Lord for the wound produced in His Most Divine Soul by the traitor's inexorable behaviour. Saint Mary of Jesus of Agreda says, according to our interpretation, that Saint John, reposing on Jesus' breast, there learnt most elevated mysteries about His Divinity and Humanity, as likewise about His Most Holy Mother the Queen of Heaven; and that, on this occasion, He already confidentially entrusted Her to his care. We add that Saint John, on Jesus' Heart, most beautiful emblem of Calvary, came to know the transcendental mission he would accomplish the following day at the foot of the Cross as Priest and Victim together with Christ and Mary. However, no less consoled was the Deific Heart in the Cenacle by the Apostle Saint Peter, who by a most special light penetrated the sacred mysteries as none other and interiorly reciprocated his Master with effusive tokens of love. For the Prince of the Apostles loved Him more than the others, and of course Christ repaid him in like measure. That Saint John in his Gospel also refers to himself as the disciple whom Jesus loved was to conceal his name out of humility; not, however, because he was Jesus' best loved amongst his companions, but because in the Cenacle and from the Cross, Jesus showed him greater external tokens of affection and love.

25. We teach that Jesus, following that third and final reference in the Cenacle to His betrayal, proceeded to the ablutions or purification of the sacred vessels of Holy Mass. Thus He gathered the remaining fragments of consecrated bread from the tray of the Sacrifice and deposited them in the Chalice. He then took from the table a jar-like vessel containing water and poured a little into His Chalice; and the Apostles did likewise into their goblets, each drinking the contents of his sacred vessel. The Master and the Apostles poured water into their vessels a second time, and in addition He purified His fingers in the Chalice. Although the Twelve drank the contents of their goblets, Jesus did not do so until a mission had been completed, as we shall now see. After the Apostles' ablutions, Saint John once again knelt at Jesus' left. The Master's anguish because one of the Twelve would betray Him began to cause great distress and unrest in the Prince of the Apostles. As Peter saw that Jesus showed special confidence in Saint John, the Evangelist says that "Simon Peter therefore beckoned to him and said to him: Who is it of whom He speaketh?" (John XIII, 24), thus intimating that he disclose the traitor's name, and even ask it of Jesus if he did not know. And, says the Gospel, referring to the <>, that "he therefore, leaning on the breast of Jesus, saith to Him: Lord, who is it?" (John XIII, 25). And that "Jesus answered: He it is to whom I shall reach bread dipped" (John XIII, 26). It was a mark of predilection among the Jews for one of the diners at a banquet to receive from another a piece of bread dipped in the sauce of the bowl in the centre of the table. Jesus, taking advantage of the custom, wished to show His regard for Judas Iscariot. Whereupon, with indescribable tenderness, He cut a piece of bread from a loaf brought to Him and, moistening it in the water of the second ablutions which as yet remained in His Chalice, handed it to the traitor for him to eat, with which act of special affection and with most loving words He desired anew to move the heart of that villain. The Evangelist relates that "after the morsel, Satan entered in to him" (John XIII, 27), that is to say, the more Jesus did for Judas, the greater became the latter's obstinacy in his hatred towards Him, even to the extent of repaying the thoughtfulness of the moistened bread with a terrible blasphemy which he uttered once he had eaten it, without the offence being heard by others, excepting the Divine Mother and Saint John, who in this way already partook of Calvary in advance. Jesus, seeing Judas' inflexible determination to betray Him, limited Himself to saying to him with great meekness: "That which thou dost, do quickly", as the Evangelist (John XIII, 27) recounts, with which words He did not counsel the traitor to carry out the evil, but foretold that the consummation of his deicide was now inevitable, and that it would redound to the salvation of many; but that he would be condemned irremediably on filling to overflowing his contempt for the countless graces he had received, principally during that memorable evening of the first Mass, in which Jesus conferred Holy Orders upon him and gave him His Body and Blood to eat, despite his sacrilegious dispositions. Judas, with this blasphemy towards Christ, sinned against the Holy Ghost in the highest degree, there being from that moment no further possibility of his salvation, despite the meekness and love the Master was to show him when He was seized afterwards in the Garden.

26. Let us examine Saint John's commentary concerning the episode: "Now no man at the table knew to what purpose He said this unto him. For some thought because Judas had the purse, that Jesus had said to him: Buy those things which we have need of for the festival day: or that he should give something to the poor" (John XIII, 28-29). Concerning this text we teach that Saint John the Evangelist, prior to asking Jesus which of the Twelve was the traitor, had already perceived during his mystical repose on the Deific Heart that it would not be himself; and he discovered that it was Judas Iscariot when the Master gave the moistened bread to the latter, coming to fathom, moreover, the meaning of the words "That which thou dost, do quickly" (John XIII, 27). Thus did the <> share in the most painful agony of Jesus caused by Judas' sacrilegious and contemptuous behaviour. As regards the other ten faithful Apostles, though not one of them in his interior could imagine himself a traitor, on account of his love for the Master, nonetheless each, in his humble opinion of himself, admitted the possibility of committing the crime. For at no time were they aware that it would be perpetrated by Judas Iscariot, since Jesus concealed the meaning of what He did and said to him. Through the Holy Mystic of Agreda we know what moved the Prince of the Apostles to question John concerning the traitor's identity. She says that Peter wished to know it so as to avenge or prevent the betrayal, such being his great love of Christ, even though Saint John did not come to declare it to him. Which, we understand, was to avoid possible violent quarrels, not only of Peter, but also of other Apostles with Judas. The Evangelist concludes this lamentable episode, saying of the Iscariot: "He therefore, having received the morsel, went out immediately. And it was night" (John XIII, 30), in this way indicating not only the natural night of this Holy Thursday, but also that which spiritually engulfed Judas' soul, already submerged in the darkness of blind obstinacy and separated forever from the Light of salvation. We teach that before leaving, the traitor passed close by the table where the Mother of Jesus was to be found with the pious women, and with infernal rage stripped off the Carmelite cape he was wearing. He thus displayed his total rejection of the Order of Carmel founded by that Queen and Lady, though nobody saw the contemptuous gesture with which he did so, since She did not permit them to observe it.

27. As soon as Judas left the Cenacle (John XIII, 30) to conclude the betrayal with the Sanhedrin, Jesus, Who until then had felt His Deific Heart oppressed at the traitor's presence, burst into joyous manifestations of triumphant jubilee on deeming His Passion, Death and Resurrection mystically consum-mated, and the Father and Son thus glorified, in virtue of the institutional Sacrifice of the Mass which had anticipated those mysteries. For that reason, with unspeakable vehemence, He uttered the following words which Saint John relates when Judas "was gone out": "Now is the Son of man glorified; and God is glorified in Him. If God be glorified in Him, God also will glorify Him in Himself: and immediately will He glorify Him" (John XIII, 31-32). In other words, what had been anticipated mysteriously in Holy Mass, afterwards, on Calvary, first would have its bloody realization by which Christ would complete the glorification of His Most Sacred Humanity. For at the very instant He expired on the Cross, He would recover forever the beatific vision in the lower part of His Soul, now totally glorified. And later, at His Resurrection, on freeing Himself from His state of passibility, His Body also would be completely glorified.

28. After uttering these moving words, Jesus rose from the table. And, all kneeling, He handed to Peter the ciborium containing His Deific Body in sacramental form, and to John the one containing His Most Precious Blood in sacramental form. The Eleven standing, the others in the Cenacle kneeling, the Apostle Simon the Cananaean took a lighted lamp; and the others following him, two by two, all proceeded in fervent procession to the tabernacle. Jesus, Who presided in the centre, followed, on either side of Him Saint Peter and Saint John with with their respective ciboria, which they reserved shortly afterwards. In the same order they then returned to the table, and the Eleven kneeling, Jesus blessed all present. Then He ordered the disciples headed by Agabus, the pious women led by Seraphia, and the brother and sisters of Bethany, all accompanied by Nicodemus, Joseph of Arimathea and Gamaliel, to make their way to the house Lazarus possessed in Jerusalem, not far from Cedron Brook, to which we referred in Chapter XXX of this Treatise. However, before they departed, He told the three secret disciples to return afterwards to the Cenacle. When the Divine Master was alone with the Divine Mary, the Apostles, Mary Cleophas and Mary Salome, there appeared Elias, Henoch and Moses, hidden until then from the Eleven and the Divine Mary's two sisters. The three interplanetary Apostles knelt before Our Lord and His Divine Mother. The Most Holy Virgin Mary handed the founder of Carmel the half of the cape he had left on earth when he was taken up, brought to the Cenacle by Agabus, and which had been used in Essenian ceremonies. Elias took it and miraculously joined it to the other half he wore and now carried, so that the cape was reconstituted exactly as he had received it from the Queen of Carmel, Who now vested him with it anew. She then placed Her most pure hands, in sign of blessing, upon the capes worn by Henoch and Moses. Next Jesus told Peter to impose his hands, first upon the head of Elias, then upon that of Henoch, and finally upon Moses'. And with a single imposition for each one, he simultaneously conferred upon them the diaconate, the presbyterate and the episcopate; for the Prince of the Apostles, inspired by Jesus, performed the imposition with that triple intention. Then, Elias, Henoch and Moses still kneeling, Peter anointed their hands with Oil of Catechumens and their heads with Holy Chrism, performing both anointings by tracing the sign of the cross. Thereafter the future first Pope, accompanied by John and James, went to the tabernacle. And with the required genuflections, taking the ciborium containing the Deific Body in sacramental form, Peter gave Communion under the species of bread alone to the three Holy Prophets, now bishops, and then replaced the Blessed Sacrament. Elias, Henoch and Moses, after being blessed by Jesus, returned whence they had come. The presence of the Blessed Sacrament in the tabernacle had inundated the Divine Mary's Soul with indescribable and most loving yearning to adore and to make reparation to It. Wherefore, in a transport of heavenly rapture, She fell on Her knees, together with Her two sisters, before the Most Divine Eucharist, in most intimate and sweet colloquy with Her Lord and God, as first and principal Adorer.

29. We shall now treat the Sermon of the Last Supper, narrated by Saint John, which according to our interpretation Christ pronounced at two different places and times. Jesus gave the first part of the Sermon, contained in verses 33 to 38 inclusive of chapter XIII and in the whole of chapter XIV, to His Apostles in the Cenacle. The second part, which embraces chapters XV, XVI and XVII of Saint John's Gospel, was delivered in Lazarus' house at Jerusalem, as we shall see later on, before all present, namely the eleven Apostles and the others from the Cenacle, excepting Joseph of Arimathea, Nicodemus and Gamaliel, who had remained in the Cenacle keeping watch over the tabernacle. We now proceed to comment on the first part of the Sermon of the Last Supper (John XIII, 33-38; XIV, 1-31). While the Divine Mary and Her two sisters prayed in profound recollection before the tabernacle in the Cenacle, Jesus, seated once more at the table with His eleven Apostles, addressed them: "Little children, yet a little while I am with you. You shall seek Me. And as I said to the Jews: Whither I go you cannot come; so I say to you now" (John XIII, 33). Jesus began to speak to His Apostles with paternal love and affection in order thus to soothe the despondency they would feel when told by Him also that He was to be with them but a little while longer, since within a few short hours He would die. Next Jesus, with the same words He had previously used before His enemies, but not now with the same meaning, announced to His Apostles that after His departure from this world they would search for Him with ardent zeal. For whither He went they could not follow Him until they fulfilled the mission He had entrusted them. In other words, their waiting would be temporary, not like that of the perverse Jews who, owing to their obstinate wickedness, would never arrive at where He was going. To demonstrate to His Apostles the need always to remain united in the propagation of the Gospel, He now reminded them, in a more sublime way, of the precept of true fraternal charity, with a new commandment, which is, in short, the perfect application of the contents of the Decalogue: "That you love one another, as I have loved you" (John XIII, 34), words in which Jesus not only summarized all the wisdom of the Gospel towards one's neighbour, but which would in their fulfillment be the distinctive emblem of His disciples, in imitation of the Master, Who loved them in perfect charity even unto death. For Jesus now commands us to love our neighbour, not only as ourselves, but more so, in imitation of Him, since man is His image and likeness in the natural order, and most especially in the supernatural order for those sharing in the life of grace. In both cases, though in different degrees, man is another Christ who must be loved in charity, without which there can be no true love of God. Peter, with his ardent spontaneity, moved by his immense love for Jesus, though aware that He was going to the Father, grieved that He could not take him. That is why he asked: "Lord, whither goest Thou?" (John XIII, 36), as though to ask: `Whither goest thou without me?' And He answered: "Whither I go, thou canst not follow Me now: but thou shall follow hereafter" (John XIII, 36). Peter, comprehending that in order to go with Jesus it was necessary to suffer and to die with Him, felt capable of it. Without invoking divine aid and without reflecting on his weakness and misery, he said: "Why cannot I follow Thee now? I will lay down my life for Thee" (John XIII, 37). This greatly saddened the Master, Who foresaw the Apostle's approaching prevarication. That is why He answered, with unspeakable bitterness: "Wilt thou lay down thy life for Me? Amen, amen, I say to thee, the cock shall not crow, till thou deny Me thrice" (John XIII, 38), this being the first announcement by Jesus that Peter would deny Him.

30. As the eleven Apostles were overwhelmed and depressed by the approaching Passion and Death of their beloved Master, by the consequent separation from Him, and above all by the announcement of a traitor and of Peter's triple denial, Jesus said to them: "Let not your heart be troubled. You believe in God: believe also in Me" (John XIV, 1). He thus tried to encourage them and to inspire them with special confidence in His words, which, though uttered in His Humanity, were those of God Himself, He being the second Person of the Most Holy Trinity. Moreover, even though He was going to the Father, at the same time He would remain with them in the Most Divine Sacrament He had just instituted as food and succour in their trials. He then reminded them of the Kingdom of Heaven that He so frequently had offered them, which was conditional to their corresponding with grace. Thus must the following text be understood: "In My Father's house there are many mansions. If not, I would have told you: because I go to prepare a place for you. And if I shall go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to Myself: that where I am, you also may be" (John XIV, 2-3), referring, with the expression "I will come again", especially to the moment of the Particular Judgement. Then, in order that they might be more aware of the immense responsibility they had taken upon themselves as Apostles, and because of the teaching He had given them and the Holy Orders they had just received, He told them: "And whither I go you know: and the way you know" (John XIV, 4). For which reason nothing now detained Him since He had fulfilled His mission of preparing them as successors to His Work on earth, namely to lead souls who accepted His doctrine to the Father's Kingdom, where He was going, which they knew. The Apostles could not accept the idea of remaining without the Master. While speaking to them of His departure, Jesus tried to detach them from their emotional affection for Him, judging them mature for the apostolate, in which they would have to exercise greater faith. Jesus had previously spoilt them like children but now made them responsible like men in order to face their ministry on their own, albeit with His invisible assistance. This caused them such anxiety and grief that it even partially obscured their knowledge of what Jesus had taught them. That is why Thomas, reacting vehemently, said: "Lord, we know not whither Thou goest. And how can we know the way?" (John XIV, 5), in his bewilderment displaying, rather than ignorance, his desire that Jesus stay longer with them. Jesus, far from being perturbed, exerted yet greater firmness to make them understand the need and importance of His departure from the world after having been with them for the necessary length of time. As answer to Thomas He reminded the Eleven, with some severity, what He bad taught them so often: "I am the Way, and the Truth, and the Life. No man cometh to the Father, but by Me" (John XIV, 6). Then, according to our doctrinal interpretation, He assured them: "If you had known Me, you would without doubt have known My Father also" (John XIV, 7). In other words, as a Divine Person Jesus was identical to the Father in nature, properties and attributes; and as Man, He possessed the Infinite Sanctity of the Father. Hence he who saw Him, saw the Father. This they knew by the light of Faith, though still in a very imperfect manner. That is why Jesus added: "And from henceforth you shall know Him. And you have seen Him" (John XIV, 7). Which was as if to say to them: `That which you already know, once I have departed you will understand more fully, since the mysteries concealed in My Most Sacred Humanity will be revealed to you with greater clarity when you are confirmed in the Faith by the Paraclete'. Some of the Apostles, surprised at Jesus' telling them they had seen the Father, since in their distress they understood these words as if referring to a corporeal vision, when in fact He had spoken of their knowledge of that mystery through Faith, said to the Master through Philip: "Lord, show us the Father; and it is enough for us" (John XIV, 8). Jesus sternly reproached their stubbornness: "Have I been so long a time with you and have you not known Me?" (John XIV, 9), which was to rebuke them for giving the impression not to know what He had taught them. However, with great patience, in His reply to Philip He reminded them anew: "He that seeth Me seeth the Father also. How sayest thou: Show us the Father? Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father in Me? The words that I speak to you, I speak not of Myself. But the Father Who abideth in Me, He doth the works. Believe you not that I am in the Father and the Father in Me?" (John XIV, 9-11). Thus He exhorted them to have greater faith in Him, since He had given clear and definite proofs of His Divinity, and, therefore, of His identity with the Father, both Persons working as one principle.

31. Once Jesus had manifested to His Apostles, without any evasion or ambiguity, His return to the Father, and how from the moment of His departure they, with integrity and heroic faith, would have to face the task of continuing the mission given Him by the Father and which He now entrusted to them on having made them partakers of His Eternal Priesthood, He went on to encourage them, according to our interpretation of the Gospel, promising that He would remain with them in an invisible manner, in order that all might believe in them as His legitimate envoys. He first promised, to the whole Church, a special charism of working miracles in His Most Divine Name, by virtue of His infinite power in her, through faith and trusting prayer: "Amen, amen, I say to you, he that believeth in Me, the works that I do, he also shall do: and greater than these shall he do. Because I go to the Father" (John XIV, 12-13a). In other words, through His death and glorification, superabundant favours would descend upon the Church, not only in the material order, but in a special way in the order of grace, as fruit of the evangelization which they and their successors were to carry out; and which they would continue to spread even to the ends of the earth, and of the universe also. In this sense they would perform, by the the power of Jesus, greater works than He in His Public Life. For even in the material order there are miracles in the lives of the Saints still more impressive than those in the Gospel. Jesus then let the mystery of the suppliant omnipotence of the priest as sacrificing minister in Holy Mass be perceived. Since in the Mass the priest represents Christ, the principal Priest, he makes his own the omnipotent supplication of the Deific Humanity possessed in virtue of the Hypostatic Union. That is why He said: "And whatsoever you shall ask the Father in My Name, that will I do: that the Father may be glorified in the Son" (John XIV, 13). This must also be applied to all prayers of members of the Church Militant in grace, owing to their espousal with the Infinite Sacrifice through the priest's immolation in Holy Mass. For by virtue of this union the faithful share in the priest's suppliant omnipotence. To teach them that all petitions to the Father are directed to Him also as God, since both possess the same nature and attributes, Jesus told them: "If you shall ask Me anything in My Name, that I will do" (John XIV, 14); namely, all that they petitioned of His Divinity by way of His Humanity, they would obtain in virtue of the Latter's infinite merits. But it must be understood that one will obtain only what is in harmony with His will; however, He heeds all petitions made with the right disposition, though we are not always aware of their effects.

32. After Jesus had spoken to His Apostles about the need for the Faith, He wished to teach them that this virtue must be accompanied by good works, which are the expression of true charity towards God: "If you love Me, keep My commandments" (John XIV, 15). With this necessary rule for the life of Grace, Jesus let them penetrate more deeply into the sublime mystery of Calvary with a glimpse of the official gift of the Holy Ghost that the Father, and the Son as God, would make to the Church born there in virtue of the petition which, as Man, the second Divine Person would make from the Cross, together with His Divine Mother. That is why Jesus told them: "And I will ask the Father: and He shall give you another Paraclete, that He may abide with you forever: The Spirit of Truth, Whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth Him not, nor knoweth Him. But you shall know Him; because He shall abide with you and shall be in you" (John XIV, 16-17). Admirable text in which, furthermore, there is masterfully condensed the deifying mission in the Mystical Body of the Holy Ghost, poured out on Calvary in the Most Precious Blood of Jesus, thus to make it possible for that Spirit of Truth, Uncreated Soul of the Church, to vivify and sanctify many of her members by dwelling in them and enabling them to relish the effects of Divine Grace and spiritual consolation. But the lovers of the world are excluded from this heavenly benefit since they are under the dominion of the prince of darkness. Even though the Holy Ghost was officially poured out on Calvary, and continues to be so in every Mass, nevertheless this outpouring had already been taking place, albeit in a restricted way, in the different phases of the Church prior to Christ's death, by virtue of His anticipated merits. As we interpret the sacred text, Jesus, first and foremost Advocate and Consoler of men, promised the Apostles another Consoler, equal to Him as God, but distinct in Person, namely the Holy Ghost, in order perpetually to assist His Church.

33. Jesus, Who at the beginning of the Sermon of the Last Supper had addressed His Apostles using the affectionate expression "little children", now promised them the protection of His loving and continual paternity: "I will not leave you orphans: I will come to you" (John XIV, 18); since, in truth, although Jesus would no longer visibly be with them, after His departure to the Father He would remain in the intimacy of their hearts as long as they corresponded with grace, through the indwelling in them of Mary's most pure Drop of Blood, in which there is present the Deific Drop of Blood of Christ. That Singular Sacrament, later to be given over to the Church officially on Calvary, they already possessed in virtue of Calvary's anticipated merits. Moreover, Jesus would remain with men through His real and true presence in the Sacrament of the Eucharist, instituted for their spiritual nourishment; and in virtue of Its reception He would also dwell in their hearts by way of a Particle of His Deific Heart. What is more, Jesus would remain with men, legitimately represented, in His priests, bishops and in a pre-eminent way in the Pope. With the expression "I will come to you" He spoke to them especially of His eucharistic coming to the altar of the Sacrifice of the Mass through the words of consecration, as likewise to souls by means of Communion and the other Sacraments. The Gospel expression has additional meanings: like the apparitions of the risen Christ to His Divine Mother and to the Apostles and holy women, His intervention in each Particular Judgement, the grandiose manifestation of His Second Coming, and the many other ways in which He has been assisting His Church visibly and invisibly. Moreover, with the words "I will not leave you orphans", Christ promised to His Apostles and the whole Church the help, protection and succour of His Divine Mother, and therefore Mother of the entire Mystical Body, Who, until Her glorious Assumption into Heaven, which took place in the year 57 of the Christian Era, would visibly comfort the Apostles as Divine Shepherdess and Doctoress of the Church, and afterwards continue to assist her invisibly and in perpetuity.

34. Having comforted His Apostles by promising always to remain with them mystically, be it understood as long as they persevered, Jesus wished to give them proof of the special privilege they enjoyed through the Faith they professed, the divine sonship they had acquired and the singular gift of the Priesthood with which they were marked. That they might esteem these graces more highly Jesus drew a contrast with the children of darkness, who would see Him but a little while longer since after His departure to the Father it would be possible only through Faith, which failing conversion they would lack. But the Apostles, even after His departure, would continue to enjoy His consoling presence through the Faith and the participation in the divine life by way of the Sacraments. Thus must Jesus' words be understood: "Yet a little while and the world seeth Me no more. But you see Me: because I live, and you shall live" (John XIV, 19).

35. The Lord next promised the Eleven the Coming of the Holy Ghost, the Pentecost that would confirm them in the Faith and inundate them with sublime gifts, with consequent spiritual strengthening and infusion of heavenly wisdom in order better to penetrate the divine mysteries. This is inferred from the Gospel text: "In that day you shall know that I am in My Father: and you in Me, and I in you" (John XIV, 20). A very brief sentence in which Jesus summarizes the admirable doctrine of His Mystical Body in Its invisible aspect, constituted in virtue of the supernatural presence of Mary's most pure Drop of Blood in the faithful of the Church in the state of grace, by which He and His Divine Mother dwell paternally in their hearts to form with them a single Mystical Body, Christ's, with a single Soul, a single Flesh and a single Blood, those members forming integral parts of that Body. In the present economy of grace, thus must be understood the following words of the Gospel: "And you in Me. " For, as from the Messianic Kingdom, the existing espousal of all the faithful with the Mystical Body will be completed when these are enthroned in Mary, and therefore in Her Divine Son. As we see in the Gospel text, Christ refers exclusively to the members of His Mystical Body in the state of grace, who are the only ones that participate in the divine life. For the dead members thereof, being in mortal sin, belong to that Mystical Body only in Its visible aspect, given that interiorly they are members of the Mystical Body of Satan, who makes them partake of his own satanic life according to the degree of malice of the soul, with the resultant paternal-filial relationship between them and the Evil One, though not depriving them of their own liberty or free will.

36. When He had comforted His Apostles with great promises embracing profound mysteries of grace, Jesus turned His attention to those who would also be called to the Kingdom of God in the future apostolate of the Church. That is why He said: "He that hath My commandments and keepeth them; he it is that loveth Me. And he that loveth Me shall be loved of My Father: and I will love him and will manifest Myself to him" (John XIV, 21). This text contains the basic conditions for participating in the Kingdom of God, these being, in addition to Baptism, full acceptance of the evangelical doctrine and its observance. For without these requisites supernatural life is impossible in souls, which life necessarily implies the manifestation or indwelling in them of the Author of Grace, Christ, and with Him all the Most Blessed Trinity. As some of the Apostles applied these words of Jesus, which referred to men in general, only to themselves, Judas Thaddaeus, voicing the feelings of the others, said: "Lord, how is it that Thou wilt manifest Thyself to us, and not to the world?" (John XIV, 22). The Master answered him confirming, with doctrine even more profound, what He had taught shortly before, saying: "If any one love Me, he will keep My word. And My Father will love him: and We will come to him and will make Our abode with him. He that loveth Me not keepeth not My words. And the word which you have heard is not Mine; but the Father's Who sent Me" (John XIV, 23-24). As we gather, here Jesus revealed the supreme grandeur of the soul in the state of grace, in whom dwells and acts the fullness of the Triune life, with its intimate processions and relations, making the soul partaker of that divine life. For, by virtue of the indwelling of the Trinity in the soul, the latter is continually engendered by the Father in the supernatural life and, consequently; adopted as His child on seeing in the soul the image of His Onlybegotten, Who in turn makes that soul partaker of His most singular sonship of the Father. All of which implies that the Father and the Son make the soul partaker of their reciprocal love, namely the Holy Ghost, in virtue of the indwelling in it of the third Person, and in short make the soul partake of divine life itself, raising it to the Hypostatic Order.

37. In the Sermon of the Last Supper Christ let His Apostles penetrate more deeply into the evangelical doctrine, whose essentials He had already given them during His Public Life as He Himself told them, "These things have I spoken to you, abiding with you" (John XIV, 25); but they did not perfectly grasp the contents of the night's discourse, as the four occasions they interrupted the Master with questions well prove. All this, together with their sadness at His imminent departure, caused them renewed dejection and fear in the face of the future apostolate they would have to carry out on their own. Observing that preoccupation of the Eleven, Jesus wished to encourage them once more, telling them: "But the Paraclete, the Holy Ghost, Whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things and bring all things to your mind, whatsoever I shall have said to you" (John XIV, 26). Thus He insisted on the promise He had made them of the Holy Ghost, Who, with His special inspiration and succour, would come to deepen and consolidate the knowledge they already had about the truths of Faith, and even to remind them of those truths should that be necessary. Which bears relation to what was promised the previous evening in the Escatological Sermon, when He told them that the Holy Ghost would place words and wisdom in their mouths. We teach that the promise of the Church's infallibility is also enclosed in that verse (XIV, 26) of Saint John.

38. Jesus, Who during the three years with the Apostles had always been a living example of spiritual peace amidst the greatest adversities and labour, wished them to be bearers of that message of serenity and steadfastness of spirit, a privilege given exclusively to the children of God as fruit of the action in them of the Holy Ghost, and as reward for their fidelity and the confidence they place in divine providence. Wherefore He said: "Peace I leave with you: My peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, do I give unto you. Let not your heart be troubled: nor let it be afraid" (John XIV, 27). Thereby Jesus also declared that the peace attributed to the children of darkness was external and illusory, and not founded on divine grace but on the interests and pleasures of the world, which implied cowardice not to confront the enemies of the soul. However they, the Apostles, as sons of God, King of Peace, must be prepared for heroic and constant battle, in order to establish amongst men true peace, based on the supernatural life of the soul, which, being by grace of infinite capacity, could only be filled with happiness by God, and not by the perishable things of the world.

39. Since the Apostles were not interiorly reconciled to that spiritual peace announced by the Master without His company, and particularly since to possess it the exercise of patience through steadfastness of purpose in adversity was indispensable, Jesus stressed what He had told them shortly before: "You have heard that I said to you: I go away, and I come unto you. If you loved Me, you would indeed he glad, because I go to the Father: for the Father is greater than I" (John XIV, 28). He thus let them see that they still loved Him with a certain egoism, rather than with the generous surrender and abandonment demanded by true love. For they, far from being sad, ought to rejoice at His departure, because thus He would be fully and definitively glorified in Body and Soul by the Father, greater than the Son as Man, just reward for His absolute submission to the divine plan. Besides, complete and definitive glorification of His Humanity would redound to the benefit of His Mystical Body. He then added: "And now I have told you before it come to pass: that when it shall come to pass, you may believe" (John XIV, 29); that is, that when they should see Him glorified during the days He was to remain with them until His Ascension, they rejoice on that account and be further strengthened in the Faith at the fulfillment of His words.

40. Shortly before 10 o'clock in the evening of Holy Thursday, Jesus concluded the first part of this farewell Sermon, given in the Cenacle, telling the eleven Apostles: "I will not now speak many things with you. For the prince of this world cometh: and in Me he hath not anything. But that the world may know that I love the Father: and as the Father hath given Me commandment, so do I. Arise, let us go hence" (John XIV, 30-31). We know from the previous chapter that, foreboding that Jesus might be the true Messias, Satan desired to delay His capture until he was more certain of it so as not to risk that by His death humanity be redeemed. As we saw, though he did what was possible to restrain Judas Iscariot from his crime as the latter went from Bethany to the Sanhedrin, his efforts came to no avail because the traitor had decided to consummate it. Wherefore Satan, with particular anxiety, was lying in wait in the Cenacle to obtain more details. Although God did not allow him to see anything that took place there, He did permit him to hear, for his greater confusion, the following words of Jesus: "Do this for a commemoration of Me" (Luke XXII, 19). Hence the infernal enemy, without being aware of their importance, in his irremediable hatred of the Master given the damage caused to his iniquitous plans by the Latter and also by His followers, now endeavoured at all costs to obliterate the memory of the Divine Name and of His works. Since to that end, in his rabid impetus, he could conceive no other manner than that of killing Him, he once again goaded, with greater energy, the Sanhedrin and Judas to consummate the planned deicide. As so often before, Satan fell into the trap, this one the most humiliating for him; since by Christ's death the redemption of mankind - which he had been obstructing so much - was made possible. After this preamble, the following words of Jesus are easily understood: "For the prince of this world cometh: and in Me he hath not anything" (John XIV, 30). For when Jesus said this to His Apostles, the Sanhedrin had then almost prepared the mob to seize Him, made up of Roman soldiers, Temple bailiffs and other Jews, all of them instigated by Satan and led by Judas Iscariot. The Master wished to make clear to the Apostles that although the demon and his henchmen in the world could do nothing against Him either spiritually or corporeally, He being the Son of God, nonetheless for love of men He would allow them to kill Him, which is how the following words are to be understood: "And in Me he hath not anything" (John XIV, 30). He thus taught them that with this voluntary surrender to death, He rendered faithful testimony of His love, and of submission, as Man, to the Father's plans, which is the meaning of the following text: "But that the world may know that I love the Father: and as the Father hath given Me commandment, so do I" (John XIV, 3 1).

41. While Jesus concluded the first part of the Sermon, Nicodemus, Joseph of Arimathea and Gamaliel returned, exactly as they had previously been directed by Jesus, Who now charged them with the painstaking custody and protection of the Cenacle, where the Blessed Sacrament was reserved under both species. Jesus then said to the Eleven: "Arise, let us go hence"(John XIV, 31b). And accompanied by His Divine Mother, Her two sisters and the eleven Apostles, He left the Cenacle for Lazarus' house in Jerusalem, where the disciples, holy women and others awaited Him, and arrived at about 10 o'clock in the evening of that same Holy Thursday.

42. Before continuing the farewell Sermon, whose second part Jesus would deliver in Lazarus' house, as we shall see later, let us penetrate more deeply into the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, taking as basis the Dogmatic Definitions and other teachings of His Holiness Pope Gregory XVII, the texts of the present Treatise and mystical-prophetic doctrines. However, first a general clarification is necessary about the Mass celebrated by Christ in the Cenacle, the doctrine of which will gradually be completed as we go on to examine the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, whose celebrant is the ministerial priest.

43. This Holy Council teaches that in the rite of the Mass of the Cenacle there were two real and true sacrifices, the Infinite Sacrifice of Christ and Mary on Calvary and the finite sacrifice of the Church. Two Priests, Christ, the first and principal, Who officiated as visible High Priest and Celebrant, and Mary, Who in the capacity of Co-Priest of Christ acted with Him, albeit invisibly, in virtue of Her most singular presence in His Deific Heart. However, there were three victims, the first and principal, Christ Jesus, Who is Infinite Victim in essence; the second, Mary, Infinite Victim by grace; and the third, finite victim, Saint John, and in him the whole Church. On the night of Holy Thursday, in the rite employed for the Mass, Our Lord Jesus Christ celebrated the complete eucharistic Sacrifice of that day, that is to say, with its three essential parts. At the same time, He performed the first two essential parts of the eucharistic Sacrifice corresponding to Good Friday, which Saint John would complete on Calvary on immolating the Sacred Host conserved in his priestly heart.

44. In the first essential part or Offertory of the rite of the Mass of the Cenacle, when He offered with sacrificial intention for His own Mass the large host on the tray, Jesus offered the Divine Victims, namely Himself and His Mother, and therefore the Infinite Sacrifice of both. He also offered as finite victim the Church or Mystical Body of Christ, and therefore all her finite past, present and future sacrifices and their espousal with the Infinite Sacrifice. However He did not make that offering with the intention of uniting any sacrifice. When He offered, with sacrificial intention for Calvary, the small host intended for Saint John, He offered the Divine Victims, namely Himself and His Mother, and the Infinite Sacrifice of both. He also offered Saint John as victim, and in him the whole Church or Mystical Body of Christ with her finite past, present and future sacrifices and their espousal with the Infinite Sacrifice. With this oblation He realized the first essential part of the Mass which the Apostle would afterwards complete. Though in the rite of the Mass of the Cenacle Christ realized the Offertory of the bread in a single act, nevertheless there were two Offertories of this matter, each corresponding to its respective sacrificial intention. Namely, one for the Mass of Holy Thursday, and another for the Mass which on Friday Saint John would complete on Calvary. In each Offertory of bread Jesus anticipated the supreme, solemn and bloody Fiat which, in union with His Divine Mother, He would utter on the Cross on saying: "Father, into Thy hands I commend My Spirit" (Luke XXIII, 46). That Fiat culminated the whole of the uninterrupted Offertory of Christ and Mary before and after their respective Incarnations, and for eternity of eternities. We teach that when Christ offered, in the rite of the Mass of the Cenacle, the finite sacrifice of the Church, He did not do so in His Deific Heart, since that sacrifice will not be in His Heart until the Messianic Kingdom. Since until Calvary the official depositary of that sacrifice was Most Holy Joseph, it was on the altar of the priestly soul of that Patriarch, who remained outside the essence of the Mass, that Christ offered to the Father the finite sacrifice of the Church. Hence we see that the mission of Most Holy Joseph in the rite of the Mass of the Cenacle was outside the essence of the Mass, and moreover did not entail the giving over of the finite sacrifice. This implies a certain difference between the Masses celebrated by ministerial priests, in which, though Saint Joseph's mission continues outside the essence of the Sacrifice, he nonetheless gives over the finite sacrifices to the priest and empowers him to offer them. Although from the time of Calvary the official depositary of the finite sacrifices of the Church is the ministerial priest, since there Most Holy Joseph officially gave them over to Saint John, nonetheless the virginal Patriarch continues to be the principal depositary of those finite sacrifices. For that reason the celebrant must needs receive them from Saint Joseph in the Mass, called the <> - expression already clarified in this Treatise. When we say that in the Offertory Jesus offered the Divine Victims, it must be understood that He offered Himself in Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity, and offered His Divine Mother in all the elements of Her Person. On offering the finite victim, He offered all members of the Church or Mystical Body of Christ in the state of grace, in soul, body and blood, as well as the angelic spirits.

45. In the second essential part or Consecration, Jesus, bringing to the altar of Sacrifice, under the species of bread and wine, the Divine Victims, namely Himself and His Divine Mother in sacramental form, perpetuated, among other mysteries, Mary's Immaculate Conception, the Incarnation of the Divine Word, the Espousal of their Sacred Hearts and the Conception of Christ's Mystical Body. Although He realized the consecration of the bread in a single act, nevertheless there were, under that species, two Consecrations, each corresponding to its respective sacrificial intention. Namely, that of the large host for the Mass of Holy Thursday, and that of the small host for the Mass which on Friday Saint John would complete on Calvary. Both in the Consecration of bread and wine for the Mass of Holy Thursday, and in the Consecration of the small host intended for Saint John on Calvary, the above mentioned mysteries were perpetuated. As we have already seen, in the rite of Consecration Christ also consecrated, without sacrificial intention, the ciborium containing the particles and the twelve goblets containing wine, in order to administer Communion. After the Consecration, He was present at the Mass of the Cenacle in two ways, sacramentally in the Eucharist under the species of bread and wine, and in the ordinary human way. In both ways Christ was present as Priest and Victim, but not for that reason in His Mass of the Cenacle was He doubly Victim, nor did He act doubly as Priest, given that in both manners of being present He remained a single Christ. In the rite of the Mass of the Cenacle, when Christ consecrated the host reserved for Saint John with sacrificial intention, He accomplished the second essential part of the Mass which the Apostle would afterwards complete on Calvary with the sacrificial immolation. When Our Lord Jesus Christ instituted the Most Holy Sacrament of the Eucharist in the Mass of the Cenacle, at the very instant He converted all the substance of bread and wine into all the substance of His Body and Blood, respectively, He assumed, by His divine virtue, in His eucharistic sacramental presence, all the accidents of bread and wine which, nonetheless, preserved their odour, colour, savour, form, measure, weight, etc. The assumption of these accidents in the eucharistic Christ lasted as long as the sacred species remained incorrupt. All of this continues to occur on each of our altars. Consequently, in the Sacrament of the Eucharist, not only the substance, but also the accidents of each species, are really and truly Christ, Who in this way manifests Himself perceptibly to men. Hence in all truth it must be said, for example, that the odour and savour of bread of the Most Divine eucharistic Body is the odour and savour of the sacramental Christ, and that the odour and savour of wine of the Most Precious eucharistic Blood is the odour and savour of the sacramental Christ.

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