Probably because the Anglo-Saxon temperament is not very tuned to it, is the washing of the feet. The washing of the feet. Now again, you know, the prudence of this whole thing is that the washing of the feet again is not obligatory. Probably those who made these instructions knew that there would be some difficulties. But what I wanted to say in that connection, you see, now that is on Holy Thursday. There you have the washing of the feet. Now that has a completely different character. That has, you know, the character to show the inner structure of the people of God, you see, the inner unity of the people of God, not the people of God in its relation to the, let us say, the world, you know. That's on Sunday.

[01:02]

But this is the inner structure of the people of God. Now, this inner structure of the people of God is a double one. It You know, first of all, it is vertical. In this way, the people of God is constructed, as it were, hierarchically. It's hierarchically constructed. The structure of the church is vertical, because the church is the instrument through which The love which we have been loved by God, you know, before we loved him, reaches us. And that can be done only from above. And therefore the structure of the church is a structure, I would say, from above. And that is what we mean by hierarchical structure. Thank you. The salvation of our Lord comes from those upon whom our Lord has put his hands, the clergy, because he himself is the one who has been sent by his heavenly Father.

[02:11]

And he continues his mission by putting his hands on those whom he sends. And that is the way in which the church is built. That is the structure of the church, hierarchical structure. But, of course, that is only one part of the church. In other days, sometimes, to my mind, it's too much emphasized or too one-sided way, such, you know, everything that the essence, let us say, of the people of God is that each individual, you see, is obedient to the head. It's obedient to the head. That this thing here, let us say, from every individual, the vertical line, that is the line that makes us people of God, or Catholics, or very, let us put it this way, the same folk, you see. And that's what makes us a people of God. That is, of course, only one aspect. The structure of the church is accompanied by the life of the church.

[03:17]

The life of the church is necessarily a feeling with the same people on my plane, with the one who is next to me. as long as you would figure, let us say, the people of God as individuals, and each one of these individuals is related to the upper, to the head, you know, you wouldn't have the life of the church yet. You have to have that connection between one individual and the other individual. You cannot only, as a Catholic, look this way and say, oh, yes, yes, yes, but you also have to say, no, here you see and what is my neighbor you see see that is in every in every uh when we when we offer the holy sacrifice now of course unfortunately it's not double i mean in a break there in monastic community or in all christian times you know you receive the holy eucharist you know from the priest

[04:20]

But, of course, you give the kiss of peace to the one who is next to you. And those two things absolutely belong together. The love of God and the love of neighbor can never be dispensed with, neither one or the other. So, therefore, it's not only the vertical structure which makes the church live, but it's also the horizontal taking on contact with your fellow Christians, you see. And that only makes then the life of the church really full. Now, in the washing of the feet, you have a beautiful, marvelous manifestation of just that thing. First of all, you see, what is this relation from you to the authority? What is that relation? That vertical structure, what is that really?

[05:21]

And in the washing of the feet, you can see it, you know. It is the Lord kneeling down before you to wash your feet. So that in as far as this hierarchical structure goes, the law of our Lord, you know, is valid, that who is the first among you should be your heir. Minister your slave, you know. It is a ministry. The exercise of authority in the church is a ministry. As St. Paul says, not to lord it over your faith, but to be the servant of your joy. See, that's the essence. And it's good, you know, it's good if a pastor washes the feet, you know. That makes that essence of that hierarchical structure absolutely clear. And I say it makes it clear without in any way, let us say, diluting this hierarchical structure.

[06:32]

It would be so wrong, my dear friends, if this whole attempt of the Holy Father for Pius XII to give concrete expression to the active participation of the people in the liturgy would be understood simply, let us say, as a kind of, oh, no, yes, yes, I mean, the priest can't do it all alone anymore, and they realize it, so they need the help of the lay people. Or, for example, this thing, of course, yes, they begin to see, I mean the priest, they begin to see that you really only like the thing where you can be active in, you see. That in order to like something, you have to kind of be participating in making it, you see. That then you really like it because that is kind of part of you, you see. That's kind of part of you, you see, something like that. That would be such a shallow explanation.

[07:36]

Such a pity. Such a pity. No, it isn't. It isn't any psychological trick, I tell you. It really isn't. But it is a serious effort, you know, to make you realize the true essence of the Holy Spirit. And that Holy Spirit is not simply, let us say, an active participation because then people like it more or something like that. No, but it is. simply the expression of that, that this Holy Spirit is essentially, you know, when you receive love, you have to answer. When you receive, you also want to give thanks. So in that realm of the Holy Spirit, the activity of the people has to be understood. Therefore, it is so beautiful, you see, that when all receive, let us say, the washing of the feet from the part of the hierarchy, that means that it becomes absolutely clear of what character the hierarchical power really is.

[08:43]

I mean, that is the power, the same power which made Christ the head of the church, and that power was, in last analysis, his sacrifice. So then that also, you see, that the same inner attitude then also determines your relation with your neighbor, with your brother in the same church. The one who has received love cannot possibly jump at the throat of his neighbor and tell him, now you give me what belongs to me. It's impossible. Therefore, on Holy Thursday, as again, you know, these rubrics and this after instruction recommends, should be a day of real, let us say, a feast of Christian charity. That you should take, you know, let us say, people in, you know, that you should share with them a meal, that you should make this day a day of almsgiving, so that this

[09:47]

that this contact with your fellow Christian may become absolutely manifest. Then there is another participation of the people in Holy Week, and that is the adoration of the cross. And then the possibility of receiving communion on Good Friday. Now that, again, my dear friend, leads us again into a different... into a different field. On Palm Sunday you have the people of God before the world, you see, and the difference there. On Holy Thursday you have the inner structure and life of the people of God, the higher mutual ministry in a love which she seeks not her own. On Good Friday you have the relation of the mystical body as the bride of Christ.

[10:51]

All of us in our most intimate inner relation to Christ as the Lamb of God that has died for us. The adoration of the cross in that way has the character of the response of those who realize that they are only really, in their own power, only guilty of the death of Christ, that we have to carry the guilt of his death. Therefore, we should take up our shoes, you know, and we should go there, really in that inner attitude that they will become absolutely poor, you see. taking part spiritually in the poverty of Christ, kissing the one whom we killed, that again is a completely different, absolutely different sphere, so to speak, in which we there on Good Friday express that inner personal relation of our innermost redeemed self

[12:06]

to the one who gave everything for us. There we remember what we did to him. Therefore, in adoring the cross, we listen to what we call the impure area. That means the reproaches that Christ from his cross addresses to us. I wanted only to say here with one word that this adoration of the cross makes, let us say, any kind of pharisaic attitude impossible. In this day on the adoration of the cross, I would say the church, let us say, in her innermost heart, declares herself as absolute a debtor to the one whom we all kill. There is nothing of parisaic self-assurance.

[13:11]

There is nothing of that spirit in which we say, now, the other one is guilty. If Christianity in our day goes to pots, it's certainly not the fault of the church. You can hear that so often. All that kind of talk is just absolutely buried in the wounds of our Lord Jesus Christ on that day. And therefore also that communion on that day has the same character. It's our union in the spirit of deepest contrition to the one to whom we owe everything. After we have been his enemies and we are guilty of his death. And then comes the last thing then is on in the Paschal Vigil. In that Paschal Vigil, where then everybody, you know, takes the candle.

[14:15]

Again, that's that beautiful thing, you know, anybody who has ever seen it or done it, you know, and participated in it, you know, rejoices in that expanding light, you know, where we make first, you know, we see there that in the midst of the night, See, that's so important. The night is, in that way, the womb of salvation. Because our salvation is a seed which comes absolutely and only from above, you know. Our Lord who died for us. And we, his resurrection takes place in the night. That means then when people, we, in our human nature, absolutely incapacitated. But there then we make, you know, that beautiful, one can say, statue of the risen Saviour, you know. It's made, you know, before our eyes.

[15:16]

Such a wonderful thing. Also this new retus, you know, and the way in which it is done. The blessing of the fire, you see. I mean, the fire, that is the symbol, you know, the symbol of divinity. And then comes, you know, then comes that candle made of beeswax, you know, that is the virginity, you know, that's the virginal flesh. And then there's inside that wick, you know, that is the soul, you know, of that virginal flesh. And then there's the human nature of our Lord Jesus Christ. And then we write in there, you know, we write these wonderful words, you know, our Savior, beginning and end. the one who died for us, beginning and end, his human nature and his divine nature, you know, so beautifully explained. And then around, you know, the cutting, you know, the name, the numbers of the year, you know, around it, around the center of that crops, to put, as it were, that whole our year, this concrete year, 1956, you know, just...

[16:32]

put it into that, you know, group it around the center where these two lines, the lines of eternity and the line of this time, where they cross one another, you see. That point, you know, that signifies the death of our Lord for us and the entrance into eternity. Around that we group the year 1956, writing every number, you see, one, nine, five, six, writing them around it, you know. then these five wounds and putting insects into the five wounds of our Lord, you know, to indicate, you know, that these wounds are the glorification of the Father, the glorification of the Father. So it's so many and wonderful associations that come, and then the thing is, kindred, you know, the Christos, The Savior is before us, enters into the darkness of the church, and then one after the other, first the clergy, then the people, and the light spreading from this one candle.

[17:43]

And then that inner light, as it were, expressed in the solemn renewal of our baptismal vows, in which we again renounce the devil and all his power. and then turn with our entire heart to our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us, and who was buried for us, and then suscitatus, and then he rose from the dead. So there you see again, the people of God is born out of the death of the Savior, out of his open side, and nobody can enter into it without becoming a child, dying with him, dying with him, so that he may be then opened, you know, and the burning candle, the mercy, the agony, the only light that shines in this world, you know, really burns.

[18:49]

Thanks, George. where to begin with Christ here. I think this has given us such a wonderful idea of what the liturgy is, that it's not a historical thing or not a rubric, but our whole life is so intimately bound up with it, and we have such an important part in it. And I think that gives us a wonderful perspective on Holy Week for all of us. So I certainly thank you on behalf of everybody who did it for the benefit. I hope you're all... Can I have a cup of coffee? We would like a coffee. Thank you.

[19:37]

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