Agnus Dei Part 1 and 2

Agnus Dei Speech

Agnus Dei, qui tollis peccata mundi—in Latin, this means “Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world.” Many of us chant this hymn in Mass every week; however, do we ever truly understand what this phrase means? Jesus was the lamb for the sacrifice, and many art pieces signify that.

I, for one, have misunderstood this phrase for many years because I have always imagined us as God’s sheep who need to be found. This was because there is another metaphor taught widely in Catholicism, typically from “The Lord is my shepherd.”

In the Old Testament, we sacrificed a lamb for our sins, and this was a pleasing sacrifice to God for the longest time. This sacrifice was pleasing because it atoned for the many sins that we committed and also showed reverential obedience to our Lord.¹ This also made way for a foreshadowing to the sacrifice of Jesus.¹

The sacrifice of Jesus was the most perfect sacrifice to our Lord because we were sacrificing his Son, and he was without sin. Even though lambs should not be blemished when they were being sacrificed, Jesus was already physically blemished from the scourging and crowning of thorns. However, he was not blemished spiritually, so he was the perfect sacrifice. During the Crucifixion, they would break the prisoners’ legs to make sure the prisoners were dead, but Jesus was already found dead. The reason the legs were significant in this sacrifice was showing that the prophecy was fulfilled because, in the prophecy, his bones would remain intact. This is also foreshadowed by the Passover in the book of Exodus when they refrain from breaking the legs of the lamb.

This Crucifixion was beautiful and tragic for many reasons. Many people in this level of pain would be cursing out the executioners and even irritable while their time on the cross. However, Jesus remained quiet and even performed a miracle for his death. He forgave the good thief who recognized Jesus as our Lord and uttered the most beautiful phrase of them all: “Remember me when you are in heaven.” Jesus replied with the most reassuring words for a man to receive: “Today, you will be with me in paradise.” We can safely assume that after hearing these words, he was no longer afraid of death. If we are faithful to our Lord, there is no reason for us as men to fear death because, once we die, we should know that life will get much better because we are saved. Even if we spend time in purgatory, we will be happy because we are one step closer to meeting our Lord.

1.      Bible Hub. (n.d.). https://biblehub.com/q/why_is_'pleasing_aroma'_significant.htm#:~:text=Symbol%20of%20Acceptance%20and%20Obedience,purity%20of%20the%20worshiper's%20heart.&text=Proverbs%2021:3%20underscores%20this,to%20the%20LORD%20than%20sacrifice.%E2%80%9D&text=1%20Samuel%2015:22%20similarly,heart%20being%20acceptable%20to%20God.

Agnus Dei Speech Part 2“The Perspective of Mary from The Life of Mary according to the Mystics Compiled by Raphael Brown

Mary’s role in the Crucifixion would make anyone who truly believes in her immaculate heart go into tears. Mary never wanted to see her Son in pain, and she knew from the Angel Gabriel that one day Jesus will sacrifice himself for the sins of man. Mary’s love for Jesus was great even during the Presentation; she wanted God to spare Jesus from this pain, especially because of his sensitive skin. However, Jesus was brought here to set an example for man. Instead, Mary held Jesus during the presentation and comforted him throughout the whole suffering of the circumcision; even after it was done, Mary was by Jesus’ side, comforting him and having to bear the pain of his wound after the ceremony.

During the presentation of Jesus, Mary was told in prophecy by Simeon that her heart will be pierced by a sword. This foreshadowed that Mary would share the pain of Jesus’ passion up to the strike of his heart by the lance. Mary felt every pain interiorly that Jesus physically suffered from every lash of the scourging, every thorn from the crown of thorns, every nail that pierced Jesus’ body, and the lance that struck his heart. Mary was weakened from sorrow of this passion, but thanks to the grace of God, she was able to stay standing at the foot of his cross and completely united with Jesus.

Mary was in union with God since she was his holy spouse, and she wanted to live and serve all of God’s requests—and that included the sacrifice of the Son for the redemption of man. Mary is known as the Co-redemptrix because she was obedient to God in sacrificing her son to him and her love for us to be redeemed from the sin of Adam.

We all can only imagine the suffering Mary had to handle seeing her son crucified, and on top of this suffering as a mother, her immaculate heart had to handle the piercing of the added suffering that she was so willing to take on for us and our Lord. By Mary taking on this suffering, she has proven she will always be there for us, and she is now with us in spirit. She is ready for us to turn to her in time we need her help to handle our sufferings, and she is also ready to intervene for us when it is time for our judgment—and that is why we should live the devotion of the brown scapular to ask for her intercession when it is time for us to receive our judgment.

Another way we can honor our blessed mother is to be consecrated to her through the true devotion, which makes us a slave to her, which is the perfect way to honor her for everything she has done for us by serving God.

Brown, R. (1951). The life of Mary as seen by the mystics : from the revelations of St. Elizabeth of Schoneau, St. Bridget of Sweden, Ven. Mother Mary of Agreda, and Sister Anne Catherine Emmerich. Tan Books And Publishers, Inc.