The Inscape of the Mass

The Inscape of the Mass
a reflection on the Paschal Triduum
by a Marian Sister of Santa Rosa
​
It must be that my soul’s eyes
See the clearer for the fast,
For in the Triduum I see
The inscape of the Mass

Do not Apostle’s gather ‘round
The table where He dines?
Does not He feed us from His hands
The self-same bread and sacrifice?
Does He not stoop to wash me clean
With water from His Side;
And does He not give me to drink
His Precious blood for wine?

Do we not bring onto the altar
All our crosses, and don’t we suffer
From the loss of Him and ask,
“Lama sabachthani?” and
In our sacred task
Of worshiping, do we not like the twelve
Seldom truly understand?

Yes, I see an inscape Lord
Of Your Passion in these three days,
When for the ardor of Your love
You are by Judas betrayed,
(Did you look him in the eyes
When he came, and did he see?
Did tears run down Your Sacred cheeks
When He kissed Your Holy Face?
When you said to them, “I am He?”
Did you mean, “Judas, do you not yet know me?”)

O Lord, I see it, picturesque,
Wherever, for our fault, You are not given
Your Honor in the Mass on earth
As you are by all in heaven.
Lord Jesus, let my heart then be
A mirror, special-made for Thee,
Wherein Your Sacred Eyes can see
Your Mother, at the Foot of Calvary.
That if there be a cruel—or indifferent—passerby
There with she and Magdalene may I be,
Standing firm through all, for love of Thee.

When I receive this Bread, My Lord,
Help me to see clearly
That in every Mass throughout the world
There’s one who loves you dearly:
For Your Mother’s there at every Mass
And the Father, Your Soul receives,
And were it only for their love
That would in truth console Thee. 

And Darling, it’s not yet complete,
This wonder of the Mass,
Without a glorious end: the Pasch.
For after all the sin and suffering
My Precious Jesus bears,
There’s the joy of Resurrection
And we receive the Bread, come down from heaven.

​It must be that my soul’s eyes
See the clearer for the fast,
For in the Triduum I see
The inscape of the Mass