Mysteries of Our Lord from the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius in Week 3 (M 298)
Preparatory Prayer: Ask God our Lord for grace that all my intentions, actions, and operations may be directed purely to the praise and service of His Divine Majesty.
(SE 46)
Desire: I pray for the following grace ________________________________
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Lectio: The Gospel of Matthew Chapter 27
57 When it was evening, there came a rich man from Arimathea named Joseph, who was himself a disciple of Jesus.
58 He went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus; then Pilate ordered it to be handed over.
59 Taking the body, Joseph wrapped it [in] clean linen
60 and laid it in his new tomb that he had hewn in the rock. Then he rolled a huge stone across the entrance to the tomb and departed.
61But Mary Magdalene and the other Mary remained sitting there, facing the tomb.
62 The next day, the one following the day of preparation,* the chief priests and the Pharisees gathered before Pilate 63 and said, “Sir, we remember that this impostor while still alive said, ‘After three days I will be raised up.’
64 Give orders, then, that the grave be secured until the third day, lest his disciples come and steal him and say to the people, ‘He has been raised from the dead.’ This last imposture would be worse than the first.”
65 Pilate said to them, “The guard is yours;* go secure it as best you can.”
66 So they went and secured the tomb by fixing a seal to the stone and setting the guard.
3 Points for Contemplation from St. Ignatius
First Point - He was taken down from the cross by Joseph and Nicodemus in the presence of His sorrowful Mother.
Rubens, "La descente de croix" at the Cathedral of Our Lady Antwerp
Second Point - The body was borne to the sepulcher, and anointed, and buried.
Caravaggio, "Deposition" at the Vatican Pinacoteca
Third Point - Guards were stationed outside.
Wyrsch, "The Dead Body of Christ" 1779
Colloquy: __________________________________________________________
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The colloquy is made by speaking exactly as one friend speaks to another, or as a servant speaks to a master. At the end of the prayer, (one) should turn to the person to whom the prayer is directed, and in a few words ask for the virtues or graces which (one) needs most (SE 257).