Night Office. Even after Thursday something remains with me from the Monday words, “the conclusion of our prayer we never say "through the Holy Spirit," but rather "through Jesus Christ”. So I read again from Fulgentius "called the best (Western) theologian of his time".
First Reading:
From the letter to the Hebrews (7:11-28)
Second Reading
From a letter by Saint Fulgentius of Ruspe (Ep. 14, 36-37: CCL 91, 429-431)
This extract from a letter written early in the sixth century by a writer who has been called the best (Western) theologian of his time, teaches that it is through Christ that we make our prayer and offer our sacrifice because it is his sacrificial death that has made our offering acceptable to God the Father. The way we conclude our prayers shows the equality of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit
Notice that at the conclusion of our prayer we never say "through the Holy Spirit," but rather "through Jesus Christ, your Son, our Lord." Through the mystery of the incarnation Jesus Christ became man, the mediator between God and men. He is a priest for ever according to the order of Melchizedek. By shedding his own blood he entered once and for all into the Holy Place. He did not enter a place made by human hands, a mere type of the true one; he entered heaven itself, where he is at God's right hand interceding for us. Quite correctly, the Church continues to reflect this mystery in her prayer.
It was in regard to Christ's high-priestly office that the apostle Paul said: Through him, then, let us always offer the sacrifice of praise to God, the fruit of lips that profess belief in his name. We were once enemies of the Father, but have been reconciled through the death of Christ Through him then we offer our sacrifice of praise, our prayer to God. He became our offering to the Father, and through him our offering is now acceptable. It is for this reason that the apostle Peter urges us to be built up as living stones into a spiritual house, a holy priesthood to offer spiritual sacrifices pleasing to God through Jesus Christ; and that is why we offer prayer to God our Father through Jesus Christ our Lord.
When we speak of Christ's priesthood, what else do we mean but the incarnation, by means of which the Son of God, though his state was divine, emptied himself to assume the condition of a slave? As a slave, he humbled himself and in obedience even accepted death. Though he possessed equality with the Father, he became a little less than the angels. Always equal to the Father, the Son became a little less because he became a man. Christ lowered himself when he emptied himself to assume the condition of a slave. It was precisely this self-emptying, this acceptance of a servile condition, that made him a little less than the angels.
By this condition Christ, the only Son of God, became a priest, though he continued to be God by nature. To him with the Father we offer our sacrifice. Yet it is through him as our priest that the sacrifice we now offer is holy, living, and pleasing to God. Indeed. if Christ had not sacrificed himself for us, we could not offer any sacrifice, for it is in him that our human nature becomes a redemptive offering. When we offer our prayers through him, the eternal priest, we profess our faith that he is truly our flesh and blood. Clearly the A postle refers to this when he says: Every high priest is taken from among men. He is appointed to act on their behalf in their relationship to God; he is to offer gifts and sacrifices to God.
We do not, however, only say "your Son" when we conclude our prayer. We also say "who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit" In this way we commemorate the natural unity of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. It is clear, then, that the Christ who exercises a priestly role on our behalf is the same Christ who enjoys a natural unity and equality with the Father and the Holy Spirit
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