Sermons for Lent and the Easter Season

Mark A. Scott, OCSO, is a monk of the Trappist-Cistercian Abbey of New Clairvaux, Vina, California, which he entered in 1978. From 2000 to 2008 he served as appointed superior and then abbot of Assumption Abbey, Ava, Missouri.

Contents
Introduction   vii
Editorial Note   lxv
Table of Abbreviations   lxvii
          The Sermons
On the Feast of the Purification of Holy Mary
     Sermon One: On the Canticle: We have received   3
     Sermon Two: On the Manner of the Procession and Its Significance   7
     Sermon Three: On Moses’ Precept and the Offering of the Morning Sacrifice   10
Septuagesima
     Sermon One: Of the Ten Precepts and the Seven Hindrances
          Holding Us Back from Them   14
     Sermon Two: Of the Threefold Sleep   20
Lent
     Sermon One: On the Principle of Fasting, Based on the Lord’s Words,
          Anoint your head and wash your face   24
     Sermon Two: How We Should be Converted to the Lord   30
     Sermon Three: Of Devotion and Fervor in Fasting   36
     Sermon Four: Of What Is Written, Sanctify a fast, call a solemn assembly   39
     Sermon Five: Of the Struggle of the Flesh and the Devil against the Human Spirit,
          and the Efficacy of Prayer   43
     Sermon Six: Of the Pilgrim, the Dead and the Crucified   49 
Sermon for the Feast of Saint Benedict
     On the Birth Day of Saint Benedict [into Heaven]   53
On the Annunciation of the Lord
     Sermon One: On the Verse of the Psalm, That Glory May Dwell in Our Land   63
     Sermon One: Alternate Version 75
     Sermon Two: Of the Sevenfold Spirit   84
     Sermon Three: Of Mary and the Adulteress and Susanna   89
Palm Sunday
     Sermon One: On the Procession and the Passion   99
     Sermon Two: Of the Passion, the Procession, and the Four Ranks in the Procession   103
     Sermon Three: Of the Five Days: the Procession, the Supper, the Passion,
          the Burial, the Resurrection   109
Wednesday in Holy Week
     Of the Lord’s Passion   114
On the Supper of the Lord
     Of Baptism, the Sacrament of the Altar, and the Washing of Feet   127
On the Resurrection of the Lord
     Sermon One: Of the Reproaches of the Jews   132
     Sermon One: Alternate Version   149
     Sermon Two: On the Holy Day of Easter, about the Gospel Reading:
          Mary Magdalene, and so on   159
     Sermon Three: Concerning Naaman’s Leprosy 168
     Sermon Four: On the Days of the Resurrection: How Christ Has Not
          Yet Been Born for Some   175
In the Octave of Easter
     Sermon One: Of the Reading of the Letter of Saint John   177
     Sermon Two: Of the Words of the Same Reading: There are three that testify in heaven   184