“So let us take our part in the Passover prescribed by the law, not in a literal way, but according to the teaching of the Gospel; not in an imperfect way, but perfectly; not only for a time, but eternally.” – St. Gregory Nazianzen
"TRANSITUS" means crossing (transit), changing, alteration, or transfiguration. Transitus is the Latin term for the Hebrew pascha, which means “pass over”. Pascha in Greek is paschein or in Latin passus (passion), which means to suffer.
In the meaning of the term itself––Transitus––we discern the very life, spirit, and way of the Oblates of the Last Martyrdom as it corresponds to salvation history, the economy and means of sanctifying grace, and the love between Our Lord Jesus Christ and His Mystical Bride––the Church:
We see the transitus of the chosen people of Israel, who foreshadowed the Catholic Church, and the necessity of Baptism and obedience to God’s Law for salvation.
We see the celebration of the Passover, which foreshadowed Our Lord’s Last Supper––the first Mass––to be an everlasting observance in the Divine Liturgy, and His institution of the Priesthood to perpetuate His ministry until the end of time.
We see in the life, death, and transitus (the passing from this world to the next) of St. Francis of Assisi, the image of Jesus Christ: a living catechism of the Gospel, a likeness of Our Lord’s passion, resurrection, and ascension, and a model of the Great Commission for the Church to establish Christ’s Kingship throughout all nations.
THE TRANSITUS OF ISRAEL
“And this day shall be for a memorial to you: and you shall keep it a feast (with pilgrimage) to the Lord in your generations with an everlasting observance (as a perpetual institution).” – Exodus 12:14
The celebration of the Passover commemorated the night of the Tenth Plague, when the Angel of Death saw the blood of the Passover lamb on the doorposts of the houses of Israel, and the Angel passed over them killing not their firstborn; as well as the Exodus of Israel, when in their flight from Egypt, they “passed over” the Red Sea.
These two pass-over events prefigure the most necessary sacrament of Baptism for the washing away of the effects of Original Sin and initiation into the life of grace as a member of Christ’s Mystical Body the Church, and the necessity to preserve one’s innocence and purity through obedience to the Commandments and the precepts of the Church, with the power of God’s grace received through the sacraments. This is also a prefigurement of the most supreme sacrament––the Holy Eucharist (the Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity of Our Lord Jesus Christ)––for the nourishment and sanctification of our souls, as well as the necessity of the Ministerial Priesthood and the importance of faithfully following the rubrics of God’s sacred rites.
“Before the festival day of the pasch, Jesus knowing that his hour was come, that he should pass out of this world to the Father.” – John 13:1
The Paschal lamb prefigured Our Lord Jesus Christ––“the Lamb of God”––who was led as a “sheep to the slaughter” through the Way of the Cross, to redeem the world through the shedding of His blood. He is the Passover that is our salvation.
The Passover meal prefigured the Eucharistic banquet––the “new Passover”––that is the Divine Liturgy of the Holy and Eternal Sacrifice of the Mass. “The Lamb that was slain is worthy to receive power, and divinity, and wisdom, and strength, and honor, and glory, and benediction. To Him that sits on the throne, and to the Lamb, benediction, and honor, and glory, and power, for ever and ever.”
The “transitus” from symbolism to Real Presence first took place at the Last Supper––the first Mass––when Our Lord instituted the Holy Eucharist saying, “This is My Body. This is My Blood.” As Saint Paul confirms, “The chalice of benediction, which we bless, is it not the communion of the blood of Christ? And the bread, which we break, is it not the partaking of the body of the Lord?”
Also, on that evening, Our Lord instituted the Holy Orders of the Ministerial Priesthood when He said, “Do this,” and initiated the New Covenant: ordering the Universal Church, through the Apostles and their Successors for the sanctification of God’s People, to commemorate His Passion until He comes again in glory. “For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until He comes.”
This very same Sacrifice of Redemption is perpetuated, though in an unbloody manner, through the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass at the Eucharistic Altar in order to sanctify God’s People. Through the words and actions of the Ministerial Priesthood––who stand in the person of Christ as Head (in persona Christi Capitis)––this very same Sacrifice that took place 2000 years ago is truly and actually made present each time it is validly offered until the end of time. The Christian Faithful offer their sacrifices of praise, good works, and suffering through the Priest in union with the Sacrifice at the Altar that is ONE with the Sacrifice at Calvary, so that by grace they may be sanctified and saved.
The Paschal lamb prefigured Our Lord Jesus Christ––“the Lamb of God”––who was led as a “sheep to the slaughter” through the Way of the Cross, to redeem the world through the shedding of His blood. He is the Passover that is our salvation.
The Passover meal prefigured the Eucharistic banquet––the “new Passover”––that is the Divine Liturgy of the Holy and Eternal Sacrifice of the Mass. “The Lamb that was slain is worthy to receive power, and divinity, and wisdom, and strength, and honor, and glory, and benediction. To Him that sits on the throne, and to the Lamb, benediction, and honor, and glory, and power, for ever and ever.”
The “transitus” from symbolism to Real Presence first took place at the Last Supper––the first Mass––when Our Lord instituted the Holy Eucharist saying, “This is My Body. This is My Blood.” As Saint Paul confirms, “The chalice of benediction, which we bless, is it not the communion of the blood of Christ? And the bread, which we break, is it not the partaking of the body of the Lord?”
Also, on that evening, Our Lord instituted the Holy Orders of the Ministerial Priesthood when He said, “Do this,” and initiated the New Covenant: ordering the Universal Church, through the Apostles and their Successors for the sanctification of God’s People, to commemorate His Passion until He comes again in glory. “For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until He comes.”
This very same Sacrifice of Redemption is perpetuated, though in an unbloody manner, through the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass at the Eucharistic Altar in order to sanctify God’s People. Through the words and actions of the Ministerial Priesthood––who stand in the person of Christ as Head (in persona Christi Capitis)––this very same Sacrifice that took place 2000 years ago is truly and actually made present each time it is validly offered until the end of time. The Christian Faithful offer their sacrifices of praise, good works, and suffering through the Priest in union with the Sacrifice at the Altar that is ONE with the Sacrifice at Calvary, so that by grace they may be sanctified and saved.
THE TRANSITUS OF THE CHURCH
“I Paul am made a minister. Who now rejoice in my sufferings for you, and fill up those things that are wanting of the sufferings of Christ, in my flesh, for His body, which is the Church.” – Colossians 1:23-24
For Christians, it is a most favorable and fruitful “transitus” when, through participation in the Sacrifice of Our Lord Jesus Christ, they pass over from the devil to Christ, from sin to grace, from this kingdom of darkness to the kingdom of light.
They may too be delivered from the eternal damnation awaiting this world as Israel from the bondage and destruction of the Egyptians. They will pass over to the ever-abiding eternal God and not pass away with this temporal and deteriorating world. It is then Christians come to better understand the passage, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life.” For Christ is our end, and in Him and through Him do we pass.
Thus in the Church’s liturgical acts of public worship, heaven and earth are united, the entire history of salvation is re-enacted (in which all the Christian Faithful play a part), and like a living liturgical catechism, the entirety of the Christian Faith is revealed to the whole world, leaving man without excuse before God. The Ecclesiastical Liturgy is the summation of God’s divine plan to share His divine life and love with His chosen People, for which all men are created and to which all men are called.
In the Divine Liturgy (the Mass), from the renewal of their Baptismal vows in the blessing of holy water, in the praying and hearing of God’s Word; through the sharing in the passion, crucifixion, and death of Our Lord Jesus Christ in the Eucharist; to their dismissal to preach the kingdom of God to all nations, the Faithful work out their salvation in fear and trembling, seeking to attain their future participation in Our Lord's resurrection, ascension, and glory in heaven with the Blessed Trinity, the Angels, and the Saints––the beatific vision. And it is to and from the Divine Liturgy that all other liturgies (namely the Divine Office and Eucharistic Adoration), Lectio Divina (Divine Reading), popular devotions (such as the Jesus Prayer, the Rosary, the Way of the Cross, the Divine Mercy Chaplet, etc.), and the very life of the Christian exists.
Therefore the life of Transitus Oblates (and of all Christians) is nothing other than the life of a “bride adorned for her husband”––a life of preparation, participation, and thanksgiving to God in and through the liturgical and sacramental life of the Church. (Introíbo ad altáre Dei) For the life of oblation is not simply an ongoing commemoration, it is a mystical reenactment of the Eternal Sacrifice of Redemption and our actual participation as co-redeemers in God’s divine plan of salvation.
The heavenly sacrifice, instituted by Christ, is the most gracious legacy of His new covenant. This sacrifice is our sustenance on life’s journey; by it we are nourished and supported along the road of life until we depart from this world and make our way to the Lord.
FIRST & LAST RITES
“Is any man sick among you? Let him bring in the priests of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer of faith shall save the sick man: and the Lord shall raise him up: and if he be in sins, they shall be forgiven him.” – James 5:14-15
Just as the sacraments of Baptism, Confirmation, and the Eucharist form a unity called the Sacraments of Christian Initiation, and the sacraments of Holy Matrimony and Holy Orders perpetuate the natural and supernatural life, so too it can be said that Penance and Extreme Unction constitute the end of the Christian life and thus sustain and complete the earthly pilgrimage, preparing and securing the Christian for his heavenly homeland.
For it is through the sacrament of Extreme Unction that Our Lord Jesus Christ distributes to us through the ministry of the Church “the last and most necessary Viaticum”––“the spiritual food by which we are supported in our mortal pilgrimage” in order “to prepare for us a passage (pass-over, transitus) to eternal glory and happiness.”
For it is through the sacrament of Extreme Unction that Our Lord Jesus Christ distributes to us through the ministry of the Church “the last and most necessary Viaticum”––“the spiritual food by which we are supported in our mortal pilgrimage” in order “to prepare for us a passage (pass-over, transitus) to eternal glory and happiness.”
THE TRANSITUS OF ST. FRANCIS
“Almighty, eternal, just, and merciful God, grant us in our misery the grace to do for You alone what we know You want us to do, and always to desire what pleases You. Thus, inwardly cleansed, interiorly enlightened, and inflamed by the fire of the Holy Spirit, may we be able to follow in the footprints of Your beloved Son, Our Lord Jesus Christ. And, by Your grace alone, may we make our way to You, Most High, Who live and rule in perfect Trinity and simple Unity, and are glorified God all-powerful forever and ever. Amen.” – St. Francis of Assisi
Every year on the third of October, in the evening before the feastday of St. Francis (October 4), the Church solemnly commemorates the Transitus of the “Little Poor Man” of Assisi--the passing of our beloved patron’s soul from earth to heaven, which took place at sunset on Saturday October 3, 1226.
This is the prime memorial of Transitus Oblates of the Last Martyrdom from which they take their name. Transitus Oblates not only recall this solemn occasion each Liturgical Year, but daily in their imitation of St. Francis and their constant reliance upon his intercession in communion with God the Holy Trinity, in the company of the Angels and the Saints.
Finally, Oblates of the Last Martyrdom prepare themselves for their own “transitus” from this world to the next through their daily recollection of the Last Four Things (Death, Judgment, Heaven, and Hell). “In all thy works remember thy last end, and thou shalt never sin.”
This is the prime memorial of Transitus Oblates of the Last Martyrdom from which they take their name. Transitus Oblates not only recall this solemn occasion each Liturgical Year, but daily in their imitation of St. Francis and their constant reliance upon his intercession in communion with God the Holy Trinity, in the company of the Angels and the Saints.
Finally, Oblates of the Last Martyrdom prepare themselves for their own “transitus” from this world to the next through their daily recollection of the Last Four Things (Death, Judgment, Heaven, and Hell). “In all thy works remember thy last end, and thou shalt never sin.”
