This entry, however, is not about the music but about a rather simple-minded (unsophisticated) understanding this blogger has of the Bible. He took the title of the CD literally, thinking that the composer was expressing with music these last seven words of Christ: "into your hands I commend my spirit." [4] At his fourth Lenten seminar, given by Father Victor Sczurek, O. Praem, Headmaster of Saint Michael's Abbey Preparatory School in Silverado, California, on April 1, 2017, this blogger found out for the first time that "Seven" in the CD title The Seven Last Words is not an exact count of seven; rather, Christ's last seven words are actually seven statements by Christ on the Cross.
Before proceeding, this blogger wants readers to know that he is not a very good note-taker. How he was able to go from one graduation ceremony to another is evidence that God exists and that he had been on the receiving end of God's miracles, but his lack of note-taking talent did not stop him from taking notes during Fr. Victor's presentation. If what he is about to summarize and paraphrase do not comport with what Fr. Victor had actually said and meant, then this blogger apologizes in advance for his errors and omissions (as an aside, he took no notes at the other seminars and wrote the last post from memory, and his memory is just a step behind his note-taking ability).
In his introduction, Fr. Victor said that people's last words on their death beds are attached a certain importance by loved ones who hear them, and more so when those words were spoken by Christ on the Cross. (Even the United States Federal Rules of Evidence provide for a hearsay exception under Rule 804 when a declarant makes a statement under the belief of imminent death [5] even if, presumably, the declarant ultimately does not die, but loved ones would probably not be so kind as to take last words spoken by a dying relative at his/her death bed as being important (other than words that bequeath [6]) if he/she recovers and continues living like normal. The same cannot be said of the last "words" of Christ on the cross because Christ did die, even though He subsequently resurrected. If a relative did speak death-bed words, died, then somehow was later resuscitated and came back to life, those words too, would likely be remembered, perhaps not by the speaker, especially if he/she had willed away all of his/her assets leaving himself/herself with nothing to live on. One would think that Christ would not forget what He had said on the cross before He died because He is perfect. If He did forget, then a lot of people will be in trouble, especially if He had forgotten the first of the last seven "words" He had said on the Cross.)
Christ's last "first word" on the Cross: "'Father, forgive them, they know not what they do.'" [7] Fr. Victor said that these words demonstrate Christ's mercy; without Christ's mercy, everyone would end up in Hell. Based on Fr. Victor's conclusion, nobody would want Christ to forget these words, assuming, of course, that these were the words of Christ [8].
Christ's last "second word" on the Cross: "Amen, I say to you, today you will be with me in Paradise.'" [9] These words, according to Fr. Victor, were heard by the penitent-thief after he acknowledged his sins and repented them with faith, hope, humility and love. (This blogger is not too fond of the word "hope" and tries to limit it to secular usages. When it comes to God, hope, in his opinion, is irrelevant. To give meaning to the words "'Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done'" [10], Jesus had not hoped; He had left everything up to God. When the Blessed Virgin Mary said, "'Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord. May it be done to me according to your word,'" [11] at the Annunciation, She did not hope for anything special, even though She was (and still is) special. When praying for a favor, hope is also irrelevant since a prayer for a favor is a request, and it is up to God to decide whether or not to grant the request, how the request is granted and when it would be granted. A hope is different. A hope seeks actively to influence the outcome of the result; its desire is to shape the outcome even though it cannot. To hope that God would do this and that is to direct God, and God cannot be directed. The first hope can be said was Eve's hope, not to direct God, but to be like God. That did not turn out well. It is prayers of supplication that will be heard, as are intercessory prayers, the most influential of them are the prayers of the Blessed Mother.)
Christ's last "third word" on the Cross: "'Woman, behold, your son,'" and "'Behold, your mother.'" [12] This blogger does not recall hearing Fr. Victor talk about the second part of Jesus' words and has nothing on it in his notes (it is possible that he might have missed what Fr. Victor said). Fr. Victor did talk about the Virgin Mary at length. He focused on the Latin word "fiat" which means "'[b]e it done;' it is the "yes'' of Mary at the Annunciation - 'Be it done unto me according to Thy word,'" [13] which according to Fr. Victor revealed Mary's willingness to let God's will be done and Mary's compassion for sinners.
Christ's last "fourth word" on the Cross: "'My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?'" [14] Fr. Victor explained that Christ is one person, having two natures, man and God, and therefore He felt pain much more "acutely because He was perfect" (quoting Fr. Victor), and that these words were from Psalm 22 [15] which foretold the coming of the Messiah, that it was a prophetic psalm which foretold the great extent of pain that Christ would have to suffer and that Christ was the Messiah.
Christ's last "fifth word" on the Cross: "'I thirst.'" [16] Fr. Victor said that Christ was not thirsting for water but for love, and that these words came from Psalm 69, and like Psalm 22, it too was prophetic and ended in triumph, even though throughout Christ's Passion, people had starved Christ with insults, spitted on Him and gave Him vinegar for His thirst. Fr. Victor then said something this blogger did not catch. After that, Fr. Victor asked people to love God and neighbor. This blogger assumes that loving God and neighbor can serve as reparations for those who insult Christ, causing Him despair. [17] This assumed connection between Psalm 69 and Fr. Victor's call to love God and neighbor is probably too unrealistic and not what Fr. Victor had intended.
Christ last "sixth word" on the Cross: "'It is finished.'" [18] Fr. Victor said that these words confirm that Christ had total control over life and death. Fr. Victor continued to say that Christ also said: "'I lay down my life in order to take it up again,'" [19] and "'No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.'" [20] Fr. Victor said also that Christ took in all the hate in the world and buried it in a tomb and in Heaven the graces flow from the heart of Christ, the fountain of mercy. (At the seminar, after every "word" that was explained, there was a quiet moment of Eucharistic Adoration. The imagery that was formed by Fr. Victor's words here before the Eucharistic Adoration was beautiful; had he expounded on why there was still so much hate in the world and who would be on the receiving end of the fountain of mercy, he would have the ruined the imagery, and it was nice that he had not.)
Christ last "seventh word" on the Cross: "'Father, into your hands I commend my spirit.'" [21] Fr. Victor quoted words by Jean-Baptiste-Marie Vianney (the Curé D'Ars) on death but he spoke too fast and this note-taker could not keep up. The conclusion was that Christ went to His death with peace, and that His death was a peaceful entrance into eternity. Fr. Victor also mentioned that these last words of Christ are said at Compline at St. Michael's Abbey every evening. Although this blogger did not hear Fr. Victor referencing these last words of Christ on the Cross to Psalm 31, he saw it after a Google search for the Gospel verse with the last words of Christ. Line 6 of Psalm 31 has an asterisk (*), and at the end of the psalm next to an asterisk was this comment: "Into your hands I commend my spirit: in Lk 23:46 Jesus breathes his last with this Psalm verse." [Emphasis original] [22]
It was after the final seven quoted words (in bold above) were said when Christ commanded His Spirit to leave His body made and born of flesh, when the last note of Die sieben letzten Worte unseres Erlösers am Kreuze would be played, when in the silence of the tomb, an earth-shattering event took place on the third day after Christ's crucifixion, when Christ's body was resurrected in changed forms not at first recognizable but recognized at last, [23], [24]. [25]. [26], when all doubts about Jesus being the Messiah were erased, including those of the disciple Thomas. [27]
[1] http://www.laphil.com/philpedia/music/seven-last-words-of-our-savior-on-cross-hob-xx1-joseph-haydn
[2] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-cPchmU-pB4
[3] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=perV-ASwyW0 (Part 1) and https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m0Hnugs6chM (Part 2)
[4] http://www.usccb.org/bible/luke/23 at 46.
[5] https://www.law.cornell.edu/rules/fre/rule_804
[6] http://www.alllaw.com/articles/nolo/wills-trusts/oral-spoken-not-written-will-valid.html
[7] http://www.usccb.org/bible/luke/luke23.htm
[8] See http://www.usccb.org/bible/luke/23 at Lk 23:34. Quoted below is the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops ("USCCB") footnote "*[23:34]" at Lk 23:34:
[Then Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, they know not what they do.”]: this portion of Lk 23:34 does not occur in the oldest papyrus manuscript of Luke and in other early Greek manuscripts and ancient versions of wide geographical distribution.That being the case, then where do these first of the "last seven words" attributed to Christ come from? If they were imagined by a scribe, then the scribe who wrote them was nonetheless careful in choosing his words, reserving for Christ His full power to judge by not replacing Christ's authority with blanket mercy for all, and eliminating the need for the Virgin Mary to intercede with Her constant prayers for sinners. Indeed, the scribe could have chosen these words instead: "Father, forgive them all," without seemingly limiting the "they" in the final published version to those who did not know what they were doing. Was everyone ignorant and innocent of what they were doing? And what does the "do" part in "not know what they do" mean, is it the conspiring to have Jesus arrested, is it the calling out for His crucifixion, is it scorning Him, is it the making of the crown of thorns and placing it on Jesus' head, is it the scourging, is it the nailing of Jesus to the cross, is it disbelieving in Jesus, is it being indifferent to Jesus' life, suffering and death and a then-future event called the resurrection, or is it not speaking out on Jesus' behalf before Pontius Pilate, or not coming to Jesus' aid voluntarily on His way to Calvary, or not being present at Jesus' crucifixion? These are questions only God knows how to answer, and possibly the scribe who authored the words who perhaps was directed by Christ to do so.
[9] Ibid.
[10] https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Luke+22%3A42
[11] http://www.usccb.org/bible/luke/1
[12] http://www.usccb.org/bible/john/19 at 26-27.
[13] http://www.fatherjohncatoir.com/fiat.html
[14] http://www.usccb.org/bible/matthew/27 at 46.
[15] http://www.usccb.org/bible/psalms/22
[16] http://www.usccb.org/bible/john/19 at 28.
[17] http://www.usccb.org/bible/psalms/69 at 21.
[18] http://www.usccb.org/bible/john/19 at 30.
[19] http://www.usccb.org/bible/john/10 at 17.
[20] http://www.usccb.org/bible/john/15 at 13 (with footnotes omitted).
[21] http://www.usccb.org/bible/luke/23 at 46.
[22] http://www.usccb.org/bible/psalms/31 at 6 (with footnote "c" omitted).
[23] http://www.usccb.org/bible/john/20 at 14.
[24] http://www.usccb.org/bible/luke/24 at 13-35.
[25] http://www.usccb.org/bible/luke/24 at 36-49.
[26] http://www.usccb.org/bible/john/21 at 1-14.
[27] http://www.usccb.org/bible/john/20 at 24-29.
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