The Church Was Born From the Side of Christ

‘That He completed His work on the gibbet of the Cross is the unanimous teaching of the holy Fathers who assert that the Church was born from the side of our Savior on the Cross like a new Eve, mother of all the living.’ —Pope Pius XII

Of the three great Solemnities that follow in the wake of Easter, the Solemnity of Pentecost, falling exactly 50 days after the Lord’s Resurrection, is the one we are most likely to remember. Sandwiched between the prefiguring event of the Ascension, which is one week before, and Trinity Sunday, one week after, it appears to enjoy pride of place in the Church’s calendar of feasts. And yet while clearly surpassing the former, it is totally eclipsed by the latter.

That is because who God is necessarily takes precedence over what God does. Being before doing, as it were. Without the Holy Spirit breathing forth the love of the Father and the Son from all eternity, you can forget about the Spirit’s fiery descent upon anyone, never mind the disciples cowering away in the Upper Room on the morning of Pentecost.

Continued below.