Alleluia. Christ is risen!!!

To kick of the solemn celebration, here are “5 Things You Didn’t Know About Easter” that you can share with your friends at your next cocktail party:

1. 5 Turns in the Latin Mass. According to Saint Thomas Aquinas, the priest in the old Latin Mass turns around and faces the people in the pews 5 times. Why 5 times? Because Christ appears resurrected exactly 5 times in the Gospels. You can learn more about Thomas Aquinas’s liturgical theology here.
2. Pagan Easter? Huh? Despite what the “experts” in Time, Newsweek, and the History Channel say, Easter was not a pagan holiday baptized by the Catholic Church. Here’s the whole post that I wrote on this subject using the Venerable Bede as a resource: Was Easter a Pagan Holiday? (Venerable Bede comes to the rescue!)
3. 5 Scars. Catholic theology makes a big deal over why our Lord Jesus Christ kept his scars after the resurrection. Hint: one of the reasons has to do with those in Hell. Read the full story from Thomas Aquinas and Venerable Bede by clicking here.
4. 2 Limbos. Traditionally there are 2 Limbos. Thomas Aquinas taught that Christ descended to the Limbus Patrum or “Limbo of the Fathers” to redeem the Old Testament saints who waited for him. The other Limbo according to Thomas Aquinas is the Limbus Infantum or “Limbo of the Infants.” You can read a prior post on Christ’s descent into Hell and how it relates to Limbo by clicking here.
5. Christ can change his resurrected figure. It seems that Jesus (and Mary – she is also resurrected) can change their appearance for the sake of those with whom they communicate. It is written (Mark 16:12): “After that He appeared in another shape to two of them walking, as they were going into the country.”As Augustine says (De Consens. Evang. iii): “Our Lord could change His flesh so that His shape really was other than they were accustomed to behold; for, before His Passion He was transfigured on the mountain, so that His face shone like the sun.” This explains why Jesus appears differently to some people. It also explains why Mary can look like Our Lady of Guadaulpe and Our Lady of Fatima. 

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[reminder]Okay, you are pretty smart. The readers of this blog are intellectuals. Which of these 5 did you already know?[/reminder]

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