THE WOMEN AT THE CENA

CULUM.

THE Sacrifice of Golgatha is finished; the work of our Redemption is completed. Immense treasures of grace are stored up, awaiting distribution and application to the souls of men. The seed which the Saviour brought into the world and fructified with his own blood is to be scattered over the earth to grow and yield fruit in the soul of every rational

creature.

To prepare His disciples for this task, Jesus, at His Ascension, commanded them. not to depart from Jerusalem, but to await the coming of the Holy Ghost. Mindful of

this command, they stayed together in an upper room of a house belonging to Joseph of Arimathea, situated on Mount Sion, near the ruins of David's palace and the burial place of the kings. That hall had already been hallowed by the institution of the Holy Eucharist, whence it is called up to the present day the "Cenaculum," the "supper room." There, too, in frequent visits, the glorified Saviour had freed the minds of His disciples from the illusion, that the Messiah was to be an earthly ruler or political liberator of His people, and had filled their hearts with a great longing for the Paraclete.

Confiding in the promise of the Saviour, they waited for the baptism of the Holy Ghost. United with them were the holy women who had been so fervent at the Saviour's tomb and so eager to bear His message. The Apostles ceded to them the place which they had hitherto occupied near the Saviour, no longer keeping them separate, as was the Jewish custom, in the Temple and the synagogues. They all prayed together in union with Mary, the Mother of Jesus. From the beginning of Christianity the prayer of the Virgin was what it is to-day, a maternal

help, a perfume of love, that penetrates the hearts and disposes them for the coming of the Holy Ghost. "And all these were persevering in prayer with the women, and Mary, the Mother of Jesus, and His brethren."'*) And when the days of Pentecost were accomplished, they were all together in one place:

"And suddenly there came a sound from Heaven as of a mighty wind coming, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. And there appeared to them parted tongues, as it were of fire, and it sat upon every one of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and they began to speak divers tongues, according as the Holy Ghost gave them to speak."

"All were filled with the Holy Ghost," hence the women also. Tradition tells us that the fulness of the Holy Ghost descended on the Mother of Jesus, and that from her, in the shape of fiery tongues, it spread over each of those present, as if to show that the divine Mother, surrounded by the Apostles, who are the strength of the Church, is the soul thereof, and their common queen.

*) Acts, I-II.

O Virgin of the prophets, full of grace, your presence in this august assembly was to consummate the communion of the faithful in the unity of the Holy Ghost, and to let the liberating grace and truth of the Redemption shed its lustre upon all mankind. Queen

of Heaven and earth, type of purity and moral beauty, you hold there the place of honor, to introduce your sex to the new era of liberty and apostleship.

The admission of women to that holy reunion, on the day of Pentecost, meant the upsetting of universal custom, the end of the old world. Birth is given to a new society, in which woman shall play a roll worthy of her sanctified soul. Woman, she whom Jesus had healed and instructed, pardoned and elevated, consoled and enlightened, is exteriorly and finally consecrated and destined for the sanctification of earth and the vision of Heaven. She, too, is called to share in establishing the reign of truth.

The prophet Joel had predicted it: "And it shall come to pass after this, that I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh: and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy: your old men shall dream dreams, and your young

men shall see visions. Moreover, upon my servants and handmaids in those days I will pour forth my spirit."*)

That is to say: I shall give to my servantmaids and to my daughters the understanding of the word of God, that they may practice and teach it the same as do my servants and sons. Thus, besides having her personal position in the family circle restored, woman is also given an important place in society. By the will of the Redeemer, she is not only to recover all rights of personality and human dignity, but she is also to be associated in the work of the Redemption.

"I recommend to you Phoebe, our sister, who is in the ministry of the Church," writes St. Paul to the Romans, "that you receive her in the Lord, as it becometh Saints: and that you assist her in whatsoever business she shall have need of you. For she also assisted many, and myself also."

"Salute Prisca and Aquilla, my helpers in Christ Jesus."

And the Apostle also sends greeting to his brethren and his sisters, co-operators in his mission: Mary, Persis, Priscilla, Julia, and the mother of Rufus, whom he calls his own. *) Joel, II. 28 -29.