Friday, March 14 : Saint Maximus of Turin

We read in the Old Testament that in the times of Noah, since all humankind had been won over by sin, heaven’s floodgates opened and rain poured down for forty days… This was a symbol: it was less about a flood than about a baptism. For it was indeed a baptism that bore away the misdeeds of the sinners and spared the uprightness of Noah. And so today, just as it was then, our Lord has given Lent to us so that the skies can open for the same number of days to inundate us with the floods of divine mercy. Once washed in the saving waters of baptism, this sacrament enlightens us and, just as formerly, its waters bear away the evil of our sins and confirm the uprightness of our virtues. Today’s situation is just the same as in Noah’s time. Baptism is flood to sinners and consecration for the faithful. In baptism the Lord rescues justice and destroys injustice. We can see this in the example of one and the same man: before he was cleansed by the spiritual commands, the apostle Paul was a persecutor and blasphemer (1Tm 1,13). But once he had been bathed with the heavenly rain of baptism, the blasphemer died, the persecutor died, Saul died. Then the apostle, the just man, Paul came to life… Anyone who lives Lent in a religious manner and observes the Lord’s decrees will see sin die in him and grace come to life…; such as these die as sinners and live as righteous persons.

Roman Extraordinary (Tridentine) Daily Readings – rosary,team