181. That Easter Sunday evening Our Lord Jesus Christ appeared to the ten Apostles present and to all the others gathered in the Cenacle; for as Saint John says: «Now Thomas, one of the Twelve, who is called Didymus, was not with them when Jesus came» (John XX, 24). The prodigious event is narrated by the last two Evangelists whose texts, duly harmonized, we shall now consider. Saint Luke, in connection his previous narrative of the arrival of the two disciples of Emmaus at the Cenacle, relates: «Now, whilst they were speaking these things, Jesus stood in the midst of them and saith to them: Peace be to you. It is I: fear not» (Luke XXIV, 36). That is, Christ appeared to all while they, amidst their enthusiasm, were commenting among themselves upon the various testimonies and signs of the Lord’s Resurrection, as we previously saw. The Evangelist Saint John supplies further details: «Now when it was late that same day, the first of the week, and the doors were shut where the disciples were gathered together for fear of the Jews. Jesus came and stood in the midst and said to them: Peace be to you» (John XX, 19). As we interpret from the sacred text, Christ’s apparition to ten of the Apostles, to the disciples and to the holy women, gathered all in the Cenacle, took place shortly before 6 p.m. on Sunday the 27th of March of the year 34, and therefore the first day of the Jewish week had not yet ended. When the sacred text says that the doors of the Cenacle were shut and that all were gathered together there for fear of the Jews, it must be understood that the windows were shut too; and moreover barred as well as shut, for fear that they might do them some harm; though also out of natural prudence in such critical circumstances. However, the Evangelist at the same time wishes to emphasize the glorious qualities of the Deific Body of the risen Christ, Who, in virtue of subtlety, passed through the walls of the house. That Jesus, after greeting all, said: «It is I: fear not» (Luke XXIV, 36), as is seen in Saint Luke, was because many of those who had not yet seen Him risen, imagining Him to be a phantom, were startled by the sudden appearance of the Body of Christ, that had penetrated the walls of the house whose doors were shut. That is why the Evangelist adds: «But they being troubled and frightened, supposed that they saw a spirit» (Luke XXIV, 37). Saint Luke goes on to say that Jesus «said to them: Why are you troubled, and why do thoughts of doubt arrive in your hearts?» (Luke XXIV, 38), assuring them that it was He, and not what they imagined. As is seen in Saint John: «When He had said this, He showed them His hands and His side» (John XX, 20), at the same time saying, according to Saint Luke: «See My hands and feet, that it is I Myself. Handle, and see: for a spirit hath not flesh and bones, as you see Me to have. And when He had said this, He showed them His hands and feet» (Luke XXIV, 39-40). Saint Luke goes on to say: «But while they yet believed not and wondered for joy, He said: Have you here anything to eat? And they offered Him a piece of a broiled fish and a honeycomb. And when He had eaten before them, taking the remain, He gave to them» (Luke XXIV, 41-43). As we interpret from the sacred text, Jesus, besides speaking to them, exercised other corporal functions in their presence, such as giving them His hands and feet to touch, and also eating in their sight; with the aim of convincing many of the reality of His apparition, which, although seeing it with indescribable joy, appeared to them impossible since it was so very extraordinary an event. By this perceptible demonstration all were fully convinced that the risen Jesus was there in the Cenacle living familiarly with His followers, like before His Passion and Death, and that is why Saint John says: «The disciples therefore were glad, when they saw the Lord» (John XX, 20).
182. Further examining the already cited text of Saint Luke, we teach that in the evening of that Easter Sunday the 27th of March of the year 34, after Christ had eaten a little of the broiled fish and honeycomb proffered Him by the Apostles, He multiplied the left overs of both so that all be able to eat; for which He designated the ten Apostles, Thomas being absent, to distribute the food among those gathered in the Cenacle. When the heartening meal was over, Jesus, in the presence of all, instructed the ten Apostles present on important mysteries of Faith, especially on that of Holy Mass, and also on that of the Sacrament of Penance or Confession which He would institute shortly afterwards. At the conclusion of the divine instructions, at 8 p.m. that Easter Sunday evening, presiding at the table and surrounded by the ten Apostles, Our Lord Jesus Christ celebrated Holy Mass, in the presence also of the Divine Mary, the disciples and the pious women, all receiving from the hands of Christ His Most Sacred Body in sacramental form under the species of bread. That was the second eucharistic Sacrifice celebrated by Christ after His Resurrection. Immediately after the celebration of the Eucharist, there took place the following, related by Saint John: «He said therefore to them again: Peace be to you. As the Father hath sent Me, I also send you» (John XX, 21). By that expression He revived in the Apostles the lofty priestly mission to which they had been called, in order «when he had said this» (John XX, 22) to endow them with the power to forgive sins, instituting the Sacrament of Penance or Confession in the following manner: «He breathed on them: and He said to them: Receive ye the Holy Ghost. Whose sins you shall forgive, they are forgiven them: and whose sins you shall retain, they are retained» (John XX, 22-23). With the institution of the Sacrament of Penance or Confession, the power to forgive sins is an essential part of the priestly ministry; although the Church in her wise and prudent government afterwards imposed restrictions of jurisdictional character. Therefore when the Evangelist says that Christ `breathed on them’, this must be understood as on the whole Apostolic College, even though Thomas was not present in the Cenacle. But we make clear that Elias, Henoch and Moses, being on the Planet of Mary, received at the same time as the eleven Apostles the power to forgive sins. It is well to clarify that the Apostles did not administer the Sacrament of Penance until after Pentecost Sunday, on which day Peter by his papal authority imposed it on the Church with the binding character with which, for the forgiveness of mortal sins, Christ had instituted the Sacrament. Moreover He taught the Apostles that in the rite of the Sacrament of Penance there must be strictly observed: the penitent’s secret declaration of his sins to the confessor; the individual absolution of the penitent by the confessor; and the seal of the Sacrament, binding on the confessor. The formula of absolution taught by Christ to the Apostles and which they put into practice is identical to the one used in the Palmarian Rite. It is also well to state that during the forty days that elapsed between the Resurrection of Christ and His Ascension into Heaven, the Apostles still did not celebrate Holy Mass, for it was the Lord that did so when He appeared to them, in order the more to prepare them concerning those sacred mysteries.
183. Further amplifying the content of the previous
paragraph, this Holy Council teaches that on Easter Sunday, March the 27th
of the year 34, Our Lord Jesus Christ, before celebrating Holy Mass in the
Cenacle, solemnly manifested that, by His glorious Resurrection, Sunday
was reestablished as the day consecrated to the Lord, the observance of
the Jewish Sabbath thus being abolished. In the Palmarian Creed we profess
that the first and only day of the Universal Creation is called Dominica
or Day of the Lord. Therefore, at the beginning of the world the Most High
established the first day of the week or Sunday as a feast day specially
dedicated to divine worship. But the obligation for all to respect Sunday
as most sacred was moreover imposed by God on our first parents Adam and
Eve after their sin, by way of positive laws that were transmitted from
one to another until the consciences of men, through the corruption that
was to give rise to the universal Flood, gradually lost the notion of
specially sanctifying Sunday. And those who remained faithful to God
honoured His Most Holy Name through sacrifices of worship on any day of
the week. In the instructions that, as we know, God gave our first parents
after they had sinned, He promulgated some commandments or primitive
Decalogue, whose content was essentially the same as that of the Decalogue
He would later transmit to Moses. The difference between the two
Decalogues was, then, purely literal and circumstantial, since in both
cases in essence the same immutable Divine Law was promulgated, though its
expression was adapted to the different historic periods. Although we
teach that in the commandments given to our first parents Adam and Eve,
God then established as binding the sanctification of Sunday as the Lord’s
Day, we know that in the Commandments given to Moses, God ordered the
sanctification of the seventh day as the Sabbath, adapting Himself to
Moses’ interpretation of the Work of Creation narrated by him in Genesis,
which literally records that God created the world in six days and rested
on the seventh - deemed the day of rest and therefore called the Jewish
Sabbath. Therefore in what refers to the observance of the Lord’s Day,
the Law given to our first parents was, literally and in its application,
more perfect than that given to Moses. It was Our Lord Jesus Christ Who,
through the Law of the Gospel, applied the Commandments of the Decalogue
in all their perfection, and Who by His glorious Resurrection
reestablished Sunday as the Day consecrated to the Lord. For thus must be
interpreted what His Holiness Pope Gregory XVII magisterially teaches:
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184. When nearly 10 p.m. on Easter Sunday, shortly after Our Lord Jesus Christ had vanished from the Cenacle the Apostle Thomas arrived, having roamed Jerusalem listening to the various commentaries to be heard on events at the sepulchre. Great was his surprise to find all in elated harmony and overflowing joy, and he soon learned why, for as Saint John relates, «the other disciples therefore said to him: We have seen the Lord» (John XX, 25). Their news that in his absence they had been favoured with a visit from Jesus, instead of gladdening the Apostle deeply disturbed him. Which is why Thomas’ immediate reaction was promptly and with stubborn vehemence to deny the extraordinary event of Christ’s Resurrection, then testified to by all, each in his own way and according to the grace received. The Apostle’s incredulity was further hardened when he was told by those in the Cenacle that the Lord had appeared during his absence and instead of humbling himself he endeavoured to embitter the others with futile arguments and protests. The other Apostles, to make it easier for Thomas to accept the risen Christ’s manifestation to them, told him how they had touched the Most Sacred Wounds of His hands and feet. That, far from softening Thomas’ hardened heart, goaded still further his injured pride, to the point where «he said to them: Except I shall see in His hands the print of the nails and put my finger into the place of the nails and put my hand into His side, I will not believe» (John XX, 25). He thereby attempted to set himself above the rest, for if they said they had touched the Divine Wounds of His hands and feet, he would not believe as long as he could not place his hand in the Wound, also, of Christ’s Side. When Saint Peter saw that neither the testimony of the Apostles nor that of the others in the Cenacle was sufficient to convince Thomas, he told him to consult the Most Holy Virgin Mary, Who had been present with all at the Mass celebrated by the Lord, since he could not mistrust Her testimony in the slightest. Nevertheless Thomas paid no heed to Peter’s words and again left the Cenacle. The Divine Mary, seeing with unspeakable sorrow that only the prayers of all would change the Apostle’s blindness, cause of his lack of faith in accepting that Christ had risen, directed that if he returned to the Cenacle they were not to speak further to him about the matter, and that they should pray intensely for him.
185. During the week that elapsed between the day of Christ’s Resurrection and the following Sunday, the life of the Apostles and the rest was centred chiefly in the Cenacle, around the Divine Mary, although some of the disciples and pious women were wont occasionally to go into the city, and others to Bethany, to obtain necessary provisions. The Divine Mary availed Herself of those days of privacy with Her children to instruct them the more in the mysteries, to strengthen them in the Faith and to stimulate the love in their hearts for Our Lord Jesus Christ. During the week he was absent from the Cenacle, Thomas roamed Jerusalem listening to the different commentaries being made: for while some affirmed that Jesus had risen, as the Saints that appeared to many in the City testified, others propagated what the Sanhedrin had invented, namely that the Apostles had stolen the Body of Christ. All this news worried Thomas so greatly that he resolved to return to the Cenacle to hear from the Most Holy Virgin Mary Herself whether or not Jesus truly had risen, and whatever She told him he would revere as the truth. With these good dispositions he arrived at the Cenacle a few minutes before 12 midday on Sunday the 3rd of April of the year 34, when all were about to eat, wherefore he sat down with them at table. Thomas did not have time to make his desired consultation with the Divine Mary, for at exactly 12 midday there took place what the following Evangelists relate. Saint John: «And after eight days, again His disciples were within, and Thomas with them. Jesus cometh, the doors being shut, and stood in the midst and said: Peace be to you» (John XX, 26); Saint Mark says about this apparition that, «at length He appeared to the Eleven as they were at table: and He upbraided them with their incredulity and hardness of heart, because they did not believe them who had seen Him after He was risen again» (Mark XVI, 14). We teach that at exactly 12 midday on the 3rd April of the year 34, Our Lord Jesus Christ appeared in glory to the Eleven and to the others in the Cenacle. Then, as we interpret the sacred texts, after greeting them all and before addressing the Apostle Thomas, to whom His apparition was chiefly directed, Jesus upbraided the Eleven for not having accepted, in their respective moments, the testimonies of His Resurrection, letting it be understood that if Thomas, had resisted the testimony of the other Apostles, they too had been slow to believe. With this general reproach, apart from the fact that none of the Eleven had grounds for boasting, less humiliating for Thomas would be the paternal reprimand that Christ personally would direct at him, and which Saint John relates: «Then He saith to Thomas: Put in thy finger hither and see My hands: And bring hither thy hand and put it into My side. And be not so incredulous, but faithful. Thomas answered and said to Him: My Lord and My God. Jesus saith to him: Because thou hast seen Me, Thomas, thou hast believed: blessed are they that have not seen and have believed» (John XX, 27-29). As we see in the sacred text, the incredulous Apostle believed that Christ had truly risen when he put his right hand in the Deific Side, and that is why he exclaimed professing his faith: «My Lord and My God». Christ, at the same time as He with His words reprimanded Thomas for not having believed until then, gave importance to the heroic merit of those that humbly believe in the mysteries of Faith merely by accepting the Church’s testimony. It is well to state that Thomas put the index finger of his right hand: first, in the wound in Christ’s right hand, and then in the wound in the left; forthwith Thomas put the joined index, middle, ring and little fingers of his right hand into the Wound in the Deific Side. We teach that at this moment Thomas, supernaturally illuminated and contrite, fell to his knees exclaiming «My Lord and My God». Jesus then addressed words of consolation to His Apostles, and at the same time instructed them further in the mysteries of Faith, insisting on the binding nature of keeping Sunday holy, being the Lord’s Day, for the observance of the Sabbath had been abolished. Then, after eating with them, He celebrated Holy Mass in the presence of His Divine Mother and all in the Cenacle, who received Holy Communion from His Most Divine Hands; He concluded by consuming the Blessed Sacrament which, under both species, had been reserved in the Tabernacle since the Mass of Holy Thursday. Finally Jesus told the Apostles to go now to Galilee, where He would appear to them anew, by which He reaffirmed what had been announced to the pious women days previously at the sepulchre by Moses, Elias and Henoch, and later along the way by Himself; though that had not been with the objective that they should then go to Galilee, but rather to manifest to them the great events, already announced shortly before His Passion and Death (Matt. XXVI, 32), that would occur there; and in order that the confirmation by the pious women serve the Apostles as proof that the testimony of Christ’s Resurrection given by them had been true.
186. Jesus’ command to the Apostles to go to Galilee was intended for them and for the two Carmelite communities, since He wished them to get away from Jerusalem in view of the risk they ran from the High Priests, and also because, with the apostolate of all in Galilee, faith in the Gospel, almost extinguished as we know, would be revived in many of the inhabitants there. Moreover, it was in the divine plan for the Apostle Peter to receive in that region the Sacrament of the Papacy and for all to be present at the grand event of the giving over of the Keys. Eager to make the journey as soon as possible, they quickly prepared all that was necessary. Hence at midnight beginning Monday the 4th of April, all who were in the Cenacle set out for Galilee in two somewhat separated groups: in one, Peter, the rest of the Apostles and the disciples, including Joseph of Arimathea, Nicodemus, Gamaliel and Lazarus; in the other, the Divine Mary and the pious women, including the sisters Martha and Mary, as also Mary the wife of Obed. The itinerary to Galilee was across the central region of Samaria, mingling with many of the pilgrims returning from Jerusalem to their homelands after the Passover. On the afternoon of Friday the 8th of April, the two groups of religious arrived at the former conventual houses, situated as we know in Capharnaum and Bethsaida. They devoted that night and part of the following day, Saturday, among other things, to preparing and arranging the convents, left vacant for a little over seven months. Well into Saturday night, close on to Sunday, there took place what Saint John narrates in his Gospel: «After this, Jesus showed Himself again to the disciples at the Sea of Tiberias. And He showed Himself after this manner. There were together: Simon Peter and Thomas, who called Didymus, and Nathanael, who was of Cana of Galilee, and the sons of Zebedee and two other of His disciples. Simon Peter saith to them: I go fishing. They say to him: We also come with thee. And they went forth and entered into the ship: and that night they caught nothing» (John XXI, 1-3). We teach that as Peter had assumed the responsibility for obtaining food for the two communities of religious, he considered it appropriate to fall back on fishing, his former occupation. To do so he sought out a boat among his acquaintances in Capharnaum. Before setting out on the Lake, they made ready in two groups to prepare the nets: one was formed by Peter, Thomas, Bartholomew, James the Greater, John, Philip and Matthew; and the other by Andrew, James the Less, Thaddeus and Simon the Cananean. But the Evangelist, in order to throw into relief the figure of Peter, only mentions him and those in his group. However it must be understood that the other ten were in the boat used for fishing by the Prince of the Apostles. As we interpret from the Holy Gospel, throughout the night and till dawn on Sunday the 10th of April they laboured diligently without making a catch; wherefore, discouraged, they headed for land. Some 100 metres from the shore of the Lake, when it was now dawn, there occurred what the Evangelist Saint John goes on to relate: «But when the morning was come, Jesus stood the shore: yet the disciples knew not that it was Jesus. Jesus therefore said to them: Children, have you anything to eat? They answered Him: No. He saith to them. Cast the net to the right of the boat, and you shall find. They cast therefore: and now they were not able to draw it in, for the multitude of fishes» (John XXI, 4-6). At this prodigy the Apostle John realized that the Man Who had spoken to them from the bank with a powerful voice was Jesus, Whom they had not been able to recognize. That is why he himself writes in his Gospel: «That disciple therefore whom Jesus loved said to Peter: It is the Lord. Simon Peter, when he heard that it was the Lord, girt his coat about him (for he was naked), and cast himself into the sea. But the other disciples came in the ship (for they were not far from the land, but as it were two hundred cubits), dragging the net with fishes» (John XXI 7-8). As we interpret from the Gospel, on learning that Jesus was there, Peter hastily donned his normal outdoor garment, since for fishing he only wore the inner tunic; he then miraculously went walking over the water to where the Master was, reaching land long before the other Apostles who, in the boat, towed the fish-filled net. Saint John continues his narrative thus: «As soon as they came to land, they saw hot coal lying and a fish laid thereon, and bread. Jesus saith to them: Bring hither of the fishes which you have now caught. Simon Peter went up and drew the net to land, full of great fishes, one hundred and fifty - three. And although there were so many, the net was not broken Jesus saith to them: Come and dine. And none of them who were eating durst ask Him: Who art Thou? knowing that it was the Lord. And Jesus cometh and taketh bread and giveth them: and fish in like manner» (John XXI, 9-13). As follows from the sacred text, Jesus’ action was an important teaching for His Apostles concerning how they, as His Priests, should no longer have recourse to occupations not proper to the sacred ministry; for, serving faithfully at the altar, He would provide them with all else necessary to nourish their bodies. That is why, as the sacred text shows, when the Apostles drew near to Christ they saw that over glowing coals He was preparing them a fish not of that catch, as well as bread, in order to feed them; and though He directed them to gather up the fish in the net, it was not in order to eat of them at that moment, since it was Christ Himself Who providentially fed the eleven Apostles with the fish and with the bread He had prepared and now miraculously multiplied. The sacred text of Saint John also conveys the following teaching: we see how the Apostles laboured all night long without making a catch, and that when Christ intervened how abundant was the haul; applied to the apostolate of souls, this teaches us that without Christ’s aid our actions are fruitless. In the Gospel narrative the Evangelist includes the following clarifying commentary: «This is now the third time that Jesus was manifested to His disciples, after He was risen from the dead» (John XXI, 14); for as we know, the other two times occurred at the Cenacle: the first to ten of the Apostles, and the second to the Eleven.
187. Now that the transcendental moment had arrived for
Christ to confer on Peter the Sacrament of the Papacy and thus delegate in
him supreme authority over the Church, it was the Lord’s desire that the
two communities of religious be present at that most solemn event. The
Divine Mary therefore, aware of the will of Her Most Divine Son, saw to
assembling them all and sending them to where Jesus and His eleven
Apostles were, namely on the shore of the Sea of Galilee, near some rocks
which served as a jetty, and where today is to be found the chapel called
‘of the Primacy’. The Evangelist Saint John continues his previous
narrative with the following episode, which we teach took place at 7 a.m.
on that Sunday the 10th of April, after Jesus had fed the eleven Apostles
with the fish and bread He prepared for them over the hot coals. The
Evangelist recounts: «When therefore they had dined, Jesus saith to Simon
Peter: Simon, son of John, lovest thou Me more than these? He saith to
Him: Yea, Lord, Thou knowest that I love Thee. He saith to him: Feed My
lambs. He saith to him again: Simon, son of John, lovest thou Me? He saith
to Him: Yea, Lord, Thou knowest that I love Thee. He saith to him. Feed My
lambs: He, said to him the third time: Simon, son of John, lovest thou Me?
Peter was grieved, because He had said to him the third time: Lovest thou
Me? And he said to Him: Lord, Thou knowest all things: Thou knowest that I
love Thee. He said to him: Feed My sheep» (John XXI, 15-17). As we
interpret from the sacred text, when the Apostle heard the third demand
Christ made him, publicly to profess his love for Him, he grieved
exceedingly as he remembered his triple denial after having pledged never
to abandon Him. We see, then, in the sacred text, that Jesus makes use of
the words ‘lambs’ and ‘sheep’ to signify that the Pope, as Supreme
Shepherd of the Church, must feed all her flock, since his authority is
universal. After saying to Peter a third time, ‘feed My sheep’, Jesus
imposed His most divine hands on the the Apostle’s head, thus conferring
on him the Sacrament of the Papacy, whereby he was invested with supreme
authority over the Church. This imposition, as well as being contemplated
by the Blessed Virgin Mary, was seen by Peter, James and John, the three
being in ecstasy; but it was not seen by the others present, though they -
not in ecstasy - did all see Christ. After the Prince of the Apostles had
been invested with papal authority, Jesus told all present humbly to kiss
the feet of the Church’s Supreme Shepherd in token of submission to his
legitimate authority. The Most Holy Virgin Mary was the first to comply
with this rite, in order to teach us all the submission due to the Vicar
of Christ, the representative of Her Divine Son. The Supreme Palmarian
Pontiff, Gregory XVII, infallibly teaches that <
188. On Tuesday the 12th of April, after a laborious apostolate, Pope Peter and the other Apostles withdrew to a secluded place on the shore of the Sea of Galilee in order to fortify themselves alone in prayer. While they were there, at about 3 p.m. Our Lord Jesus Christ appeared to them to instruct them in many of the mysteries of the Faith and to exhort them to remain united as He had already told them previously. Jesus’ company greatly consoled the Apostles, since from His glorious and Most Divine Wounds there came forth mysterious and comforting emanations that filled them with ardent love for God. As the Eleven felt exceedingly regaled by such heavenly delights, Jesus then wished them also to share in the sufferings those Wounds had caused Him during the Passion, and thus strengthen them the more for their future apostolate. Wherefore the Lord spoke most intimately to them of His Most Sacred Passion and Death, through which due reparation had been made to the Father and mankind redeemed. These meditations so drew Peter to suffer for his Divine Master, that interiorly he even yearned, without any vainglory at all, for the same kind of death that had been His; wherefore Jesus was very pleased, though adverting him as follows: «Amen, amen I say to thee, when thou wast younger, thou didst gird thyself and didst go where thou wouldst. But when thou shalt be old, thou shalt stretch forth thy hands, and another shall gird thee and lead thee whither thou wouldst not. And this He said, signifying by what death he should glorify God» (John XXI, 18-19a). As we interpret from the sacred text, holy and heroic it is to desire the palm of martyrdom for love of God. But there is an abyss between the desire and its fulfillment: and Jesus, to contrast the easiness of desiring martyrdom with the difficulty of suffering it, reminded Peter of how some time before, he, with his fiery vehemence, had even offered to die with Him; and of how when the trial came he had denied Him thrice to free himself from possible death. After reminding the Apostle of his human frailty, Jesus foretold that he would be given the grace to die nailed to a cross; for he would then be strengthened to overcome the natural resistance all men feel towards death, above all when it is violent and painful. The Evangelist goes on to say that «when He had said this, He saith to him: Follow Me» (John XXI, 19b), Jesus manifesting to Peter that the privilege of dying for Him was conditional to his fidelity as Head of the Church and to his correspondence to grace. When Jesus saw that the other Apostles interiorly yearned for the same final destiny as Peter, He announced that they also would crown their apostolic lives with bloody martyrdom; though at the same time manifesting certain reservations about John, as a result of which the others understood that John would not die. Shortly afterwards, while Jesus was conversing alone with Peter, the latter looked back and saw John approaching them both, as we interpret from the following Gospel passage: «Peter turning about, saw that disciple whom Jesus loved following, who also leaned on His breast at supper and said: Lord, who is he that shall betray Thee? Him therefore, when Peter had seen he saith to Jesus: Lord, and what of this man? Jesus saith to him: So I will have him to remain till I come, what is it to thee? Follow thou Me» (John XXI, 20-22), Jesus thus telling Peter that whereas he would die in his old age, John mysteriously would survive until His Second Coming; and that the important thing was to follow Him in order to do His divine will. Although Peter then remembered that the Master some time previously had announced to them that some would not die until His Return (Matt. XVI, 28), nonetheless he remained in doubt as to whether or not John would finally die, which uncertainty the Prince of the Apostles transmitted to the other nine. That is why the Evangelist goes on to say: «This saying therefore went abroad among the brethren, that that disciple should not die. And Jesus did not say to him: He should not die; but: So I will have him to remain till I come, what is it to thee?» (John XXI, 23); in other words, it was not revealed to the other Apostles that John would die at the end of time, thought this latter did indeed know; therefore, the apostolic mystery of John was in large part veiled from the others. Christ vanished shortly afterwards. But the next day, Wednesday the 13th of April, He reappeared to the Eleven, gathered alone near the rock where Peter had been confirmed in the Papacy, and there Christ again celebrated Mass in the presence of the Apostles. Before departing, He told them to expect Him the following day, Thursday the 14th of April, on the Mount of the Beatitudes, where He would be seen not only by them, but also by the disciples, the pious women and the other believers won back through the ministry of Peter and the other Apostles.
189. The evangelist Saint Matthew alludes to that summons of Jesus to the Mount of the Beatitudes when he says: «And the Eleven disciples went into Galilee, unto the mountain where Jesus had appointed them» (Matt. XXVIII, 16). We teach that at 12 midday on Thursday, April the 14th of the year 34, Our Lord Jesus Christ appeared in majesty and glory on the Mount of the Beatitudes, where there were gathered the Divine Mary, the Apostles, the disciples, the pious women, as also the newly-baptized and those rehabilitated in the Faith through the ministry of Peter and the other Ten. In one of his Letters the Apostle Saint Paul refers to the Lord’s manifestation to that gathering, when he says: «Then was He seen by more than 500 brethren at once: of whom many remain until this present, and some are fallen asleep» (I Cor. XV, 6). Saint Matthew says: «And seeing Him they adored: but some doubted» (Matt. XXVIII, 17). We teach that such was the Master’s magnificence that all present prostrated themselves to the ground, to adore Him Whom they acknowledged to be the Onlybegotten of God, though some of those who had not yet seen Him risen were unable to get over their astonishment, for what they saw seemed to them at first to be illusion rather than reality, and thus must be understood the doubt to which the Evangelist refers. Christ, to emphasize the authority of Peter, His Vicar on earth, placed the Apostle at His right and then began to address all, bringing to mind, first, many of the teachings of the Sermon on the Mount He had given in that very place some time back; and besides, there had also taken place there the election of the twelve Apostles, of whom one was no longer among them, having betrayed Him. As Jesus wished to celebrate Holy Mass in the presence of the more than 500 there assembled, He directed the Apostles to make the necessary preparations. Accordingly, at 3 p.m. Jesus celebrated the Eucharistic Sacrifice, and He Himself gave Holy Communion under the species of bread to all present, who were greatly strengthened. Then He announced that soon He would ascend to the Father, but that He would leave Peter on earth as His legitimate representative to rule the Church in His Name. From that apparition on the Mount of the Beatitudes until His Ascension into Heaven, the risen Christ often showed Himself to His Apostles, as we interpret from the Acts of the Apostles: «To whom also He showed Himself alive after His Passion, by many proofs, for forty days appearing to them and speaking of the Kingdom of God» (Acts I, 3). But it is well to indicate that when Christ appeared to His Apostles, He almost always celebrated Holy Mass and nourished them with His Most Sacred Eucharistic Body. In one of those apparitions, on the 28th of April, He directed all to leave Galilee and return to Jerusalem. Consequently the Most Holy Virgin Mary, the two communities of religious and other believers, left that night in the same order and by the same route as days previously from Jerusalem to Galilee; and so arriving at the Cenacle at night on Tuesday the 3rd of May of the year 34.
190. The penultimate apparition of Our Lord Jesus Christ to the eleven Apostles and to the others took place on Wednesday the 4th of May, whilst all were gathered around the Divine Mary at the Cenacle. It was 3 p.m. when He appeared in great majesty in the midst of that first Christian community, to remind them of many of the things He had previously taught them, and above all to enlighten them on mysteries which until then had been concealed. That is why Saint Luke relates that, «He said to them: These are the words which I spoke to you while I was yet with you, that all things must needs be fulfilled which are written in the Law of Moses and in the Prophets and in the Psalms, concerning Me» (Luke XXIV, 44). The Evangelist adds that «then He opened their understanding, that they might understand the Scriptures» (Luke XXIV, 45); in other words, He endowed them - especially the Apostles - with greater capacity to retain and to understand with deeper scholarship the contents of the Sacred Books, in harmony with the Law of the Gospel, in which the Old Law is completed and perfected. That is why, referring to the Scriptures, «He said to them: Thus it is written, and thus it behoved Christ to suffer, and to rise again from the dead the third day: and that penance and remission of sins should be preached in His Name unto all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. And you are witnesses of these things. And I send the Promised of My Father upon you: but stay in the City till you be vested with power from on high» (Luke XXIV, 46-49). In these words He again promised to send them the Paraclete, Who would descend upon them at the Cenacle; therefore, after His Ascension into Heaven all should stay in Jerusalem until that promise be fulfilled. After addressing them, the Lord celebrated Holy Mass. In his Letter to the Corinthians (I Cor. XV, 7), Saint Paul says that Christ appeared to James, referring as we interpret to James the Greater, brother of John. In that apparition to the Apostle, which occurred in the Cenacle on the 4th of May at 5.30 p.m. when he was praying alone, Christ entrusted him with the evangelization of Spain, this nation being singularly predestined to extend the Kingdom of God. On the 25th of July 1976, to the seer of El Palmar de Troya - then Bishop Father Clement Dominguez y Gomez, now His Holiness Pope Gregory XVII, the Apostle James the Greater revealed that by the express wish of Our Lord Jesus Christ it was his mission to preach in Spain.
191. At 9 a.m. on Thursday the 5th of May of the year 34, Our Lord Jesus Christ, full of glory and majesty, appeared in the Cenacle when all were at prayer gathered around the Most Holy Virgin Mary. For three hours He gave them a synthesis of all He had taught them whilst He had been with them and enlightened them on many other mysteries reserved for that moment. Although the Lord instructed all those present, there were mysteries which only the eleven Apostles understood, as pertaining more particularly to their priestly ministry. The Acts of the Apostles mentions this apparition of Christ prior to His ascending into Heaven; we shall arrange and translate the sacred text according to our doctrinal interpretation: «And eating together with them, He commanded them that they should not depart from Jerusalem, but should wait for the Promised of the Father, which you have heard (saith He) by My mouth» (Acts I, 4), here referring to the promise He made the Apostles in the Sermon of the Last Supper (John XIV, 26), that the Father would send them the Holy Ghost the Consoler. Christ then told them: «For John indeed baptized with water» (Acts I, 5a), to remind the Eleven that the baptism administered by the Precursor, being an imperfect sacrament, did not confer the Holy Ghost, though it did confer a reflection of the Same. He then added: «But you shall be inundated with the Holy Ghost, not many days hence» (Acts I, 5b), to indicate that since they had already received, some time before, the Sacrament of Baptism, in which the Holy Ghost had been given to them, days after His ascension they would receive in their souls a greater plenitude of the Paraclete through the grace of Confirmation; which grace would be given to them on Pentecost Sunday through the extraordinary outpouring of the Paraclete; for as we know, even though Christ instituted the Sacrament of Confirmation at the Last Supper, He did not administer it to the Apostles; accordingly they received the grace of that Sacrament on Pentecost Sunday through the selfsame copious effusion of the Most Divine Consoler. In other words, they received in superabundant measure the grace of the Sacrament of Confirmation without the rite proper to the Sacrament. We teach that at 12 o’clock midday on that 5th of May, Jesus, seated with His eleven Apostles at the very table which before His Death had been used for the Last Supper, dined with them alone, for He desired to spend those unforgettable moments in intimacy with those who were the principal pillars of His Church, and to whom He wished to confide secrets related to the Kingdom of God. After dining and before He celebrated Holy Mass, the Lord summoned all who were in the Cenacle to be present at the Eucharistic Sacrifice; and to all He gave Holy Communion. Saint Luke says: «And He led them out as far as Bethany» (Luke XXIV, 50a). This Holy Council teaches that at 2.30 p.m. on that Thursday the 5th of May, Mass having ended, Jesus and all in the Cenacle left by the route passing beside the present Church of Gallicantus, in order then to cross the Cedron Valley in the direction of Bethany; since He wished to honour with His presence, for the last time, the home of His beloved friends, Lazarus and his two sisters Martha and Mary, house then converted into a convent, though unoccupied at the time because all were living at the Cenacle. By special providence no bystander noticed the passage of the retinue along the way. After further teaching at Bethany, at 5 p.m. Christ, accompanied by His Divine Mother, the Apostles, the disciples, the pious women and the rest, left the village and headed for the summit of the Mount of Olives. Once there and before ascending into Heaven, He, transfigured in the sight of all, gave His final instructions to the Apostles, as we interpret from the first two Evangelists, whose texts we harmonize: «And Jesus coming, spoke to them, saying: All power is given to Me in Heaven and on earth» (Matt. XXVIII, 18); «Go ye into the whole world and preach the Gospel to every creature» (Mark XVI, 15); «Going therefore, teach ye all nations: baptizing them in the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost; teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you» (Matt. XXVIII, 19-20a); «He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved: but he that believeth not shall be condemned. And these signs shall follow them that believe: In My Name they shall cast out devils. They shall speak with new tongues. They shall take up serpents: and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them. They shall lay their hands upon the sick: and they shall be cured» (Mark XVI, 16-18), here referring more especially to the supernatural effects of the action of the Holy Ghost upon the Church, in virtue of the priestly ministry, though also to the singular powers the Priest possesses over material things when he exercises such powers with the required faith. Forthwith, Jesus reaffirmed the promise of His continual and indefectible assistance to the Church, in these words: «And behold I am with you all days, even to the consummation of the world» (Matt. XXVIII, 20b). As we have seen, moments before His Ascension in to Heaven, Our Lord Jesus Christ, in a solemn and official manner, confided His Church to the Apostles under the supreme authority of Peter, with the ineluctable responsibility on their part of spreading the Gospel throughout the world, exactly as Christ had taught it; for which He pledged His infallible assistance in the Person of the Pope. Nevertheless, the Apostles would not carry out that evangelization until the Descent of the Holy Ghost upon them.
192. Being, then, on the Mount of Olives, Christ, before ascending into Heaven, also spoke to the Apostles about the triumph of the Gospel and about the future implantation of His Church in the whole world, and in particular about the Messianic Kingdom. But they, while understanding that He spoke principally of a spiritual kingdom, had not ruled out the notion, albeit erroneous, of that kingdom also being temporal. That is why, as we interpret from the Acts of the Apostles, they desired to know whether the moment had now arrived for Christ to implant His visible, complete and absolute reign: «They therefore who were come together asked Him, saying: Lord, wilt Thou at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel? But He said to them: It is not for you to know the times or moments which the Father has put in His own power» (Acts I, 6-7); that is, its fulfillment depended on the secret designs of the Father. But their mission was to spread the Gospel throughout the world as manifestation that the Kingdom of God had already come; for which mission they would be further instructed and strengthened in the Faith by the Divine Paraclete in the promised apotheotic manifestation, and that is why He said to them: «But you shall receive the power of the Holy Ghost coming upon you, and you shall be witnesses unto Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the end of the earth» (Acts I, 8). By these last words, uttered immediately before ascending in to Heaven, Christ made clear to the Apostles that by their teachings and miracles they would bear efficacious testimony to Him, spreading the Gospel through much of the world, evangelization which afterwards would be continued by their successors. The admirable Ascension of Our Lord Jesus Christ into Heaven occurred at exactly 6 p.m. on Thursday the 5th of May of the year 34. Concerning that mystery the Holy Gospels give us some details, which we now harmonize according to our interpretation: «The Lord Jesus, after He had spoken to them...» (Mark XVI, 19a); «And lifting up His hands, He blessed them. And it came to pass, whilst He blessed them, He departed from them and was carried up to Heaven» Luke XXIV, 50b-51); «He was taken up into Heaven and sitteth on the right hand of God» (Mark XVI, 19b); which is confirmed in part in the Acts of the Apostles: «And when He had said these things, while they looked on, He was raised up: and a cloud received Him out of their sight. And while they were beholding Him going up into Heaven, behold two men stood by them in white garments. Who also said: Ye men of Galilee, why stand you looking up to Heaven? This Jesus Who is taken up from you into Heaven shall so come as you have seen Him going into Heaven» (Acts I, 9-11). We teach that when Our Lord Jesus Christ, with majesty and glory, ascended by His own divine power for - «carried up to Heaven» must thus be understood - there came forth to receive Him the Eternal Father, under the form of a majestic white Cloud, in which His Onlybegotten became immersed and concealed; the Apostles and the others, who kneeling contemplated the prodigious event, understood that the Father manifested Himself thus in order to glorify the Son, seating Him on His right hand in the Heavenly Kingdom. At the same instant that Jesus became hidden, there appeared two holy men, one to the right and the other to the left of the very spot whence Christ had ascended, and who as we know were Elias and Henoch, with glorious qualities. -At first invisible to the rest, the two Prophets, one to each side of the Master, had been listening to the final instructions He gave shortly before ascending; since the command to preach the Gospel also applied to them in the mission that was theirs on the different planets, as we have already stated in Chapter XV of this Treatise. But it must be understood that the grandiose event of the Ascension of the Lord, present as well on the Mount of Olives was Moses, also an interplanetary apostle, who, close beside the Most Holy Virgin Mary, was seen too by the eleven Apostles and the others after Jesus became hidden. As we interpret from the sacred text, to Elias and Henoch it pertained to announce that, in the same place and with the majesty and glory with which they had seen Jesus ascend, He would be seen when He returned to the earth to judge all men and to establish His absolute reign. The announcement exceedingly comforted those humble followers of Christ who, with wonder and with yearning joy, had contemplated His departure. As we already taught in Chapter XV, the exact spot whence Christ ascended to Heaven, and to which He will return in His Glorious Second Coming, bears the impress of His Most Divine Feet, and is inside the templette named after the Ascension, on the Mount of Olives. We record that the Divine Virgin Mary, in most sublime rapture and transfigured in the sight of all, contemplated the admirable Ascension of Our Lord Jesus Christ, and participated with all Her Being in His glorious enthronement at the right hand of the Father and in the official opening of the Kingdom of Heaven; wherein Jesus entered in triumph accompanied by the angelic hosts and by all the Blessed.
193. Saint Luke goes on to say that after Jesus had disappeared from sight, «they adoring went back into Jerusalem with great joy» (Luke XXIV, 52); which is also confirmed in the Acts of the Apostles «Then they returned to Jerusalem from the Mount of Olives, which is nigh Jerusalem, within a Sabbath day’s walk» (Acts I, 12). We teach that at the conclusion of their prophetic words, Elias and Henoch together with Moses, disappeared from the Mount of Olives, and that all the rest returned to Jerusalem. As we read in the Acts of the Apostles, «and when they were come in, they went into an upper room, where abode Peter and John, James and Andrew, Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew, James of Alpheus and Simon Zelotes and Jude the brother of James. All these were persevering with one mind in prayer, with the women and Mary the Mother of Jesus and with His brethren» (Acts I, 13-14). Fulfilling His command, as we interpret the sacred text, after the ascension of the Lord the eleven Apostles, the disciples - referred to by the expression `His brethren’, and the pious women, remained in the Cenacle in the company of the Divine Mary, preparing themselves for the Coming of the Holy Ghost; Whose comforting Descent would take place ten days later, that is on Sunday the 15th of May of the year 34. The Evangelist Saint Luke alludes also to the life of the Apostles from the Ascension of the Lord until Pentecost: «And they were always in the Temple, praising and blessing God. Amen» (Luke XXIV, 53), here referring to the Cenacle and not to the Temple of Jerusalem. Saint Mark however presents us the apostolate throughout the world from Pentecost, when he relates: «But they going forth preached everywhere: the Lord working withal, and confirming their doctrine with the miracles that accompanied the same» (Mark XVI, 20). Saint John brings his Gospel to an end with a double epilogue, the first being at the conclusion of chapter XX, and which says: «Many other miracles did Jesus as well in the sight of His disciples which are not written in this book. But these are written, that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God: and that believing, you may have life in His Name» (John XX, 30-31); and the second is contained in chapter XXI, to wit: «This is that disciple who giveth testimony of these things and hath written these things: and we know that this testimony is true. But there are also many other things which Jesus did: which, if they were written every one, the world itself, I think, would not be able to contain the books that should be written» (John XXI, 24-25). We see that in this last verse the Evangelist uses an hyperbolic expression to demonstrate Christ’s imponderable grandeur, which cannot be esteemed in its true dimensions by human understanding; since however much be written and spoken about Jesus, the material would never be exhausted.
