Introduction -
Divisio 1) First part: various reasons why Christ went to Jerusalem:
1. Ad presentandum;
2. Ad disputandum;
3. Ad adorandum;
4. Ad extirpandum;
5. Ad predicandum;
6. Ad manifestandum suam divinitatem;
7. Ad sacrificandum seipsum.
Six circumstantiae (or cerimoniae) of which this solemnity consists:
1. Christ wanted to enter Jerusalem riding on a donkey, thus fulfilling the prophecy of Zechariah 9, 9. The interpretation of the Gospel text follows: the asina ligata symbolizes the Jewish people, bound with triple thread (= precepta cerimonialia, precepta iudicialia e precepta moralia) to the Jewish Law; the pullus that had never been tied symbolises the Gentiles. Christ therefore wanted to ride first the asina and then the pullus, that is, he wanted first to free the Jewish people from the bondage of the Mosaic law and then to tame the Gentiles.
2. Christ wanted to enter Jerusalem in a procession (processionaliter), preceded and followed by the people; same pattern as the processions in the Christian ritual (sicut facimus nos hodie in processione, in qua multi precedunt et multi sequuntur, et episcopus vel sacerdos qui representat Christum in medio cum presbyteris). Both the crowd that precedes and the one that follows greet Christ by saying “Osanna filio David", and together they represent the whole of humanity, from the beginning until the end of time, converting to Christ in order to obtain salvation.
3. The whole way from Mount Olivet to Jerusalem was covered by the clothing of the crowd, and this, according to Ferrer, is a figuration of the future martyrs, since in the Scripture the human bodies - which the martyrs sacrificed to bear witness to their faith in God - are referred to as “vestes anime”.
4. It concerns the arborum rami lying on the ground together with their flowers and leaves, a figuration, according to Ferrer, of the good and meritorious works that human beings - defined in the Scripture as arbores (cf. Mark 8, 24) - must offer to Christ.
5. Christ wanted to be praised and blessed by the great as well as the small;
6. Everybody, great as well as small, unanimously said “Benedictus qui venit in nomine domini”, recognising Christ as the redeemer.
2) Second part: Sicut Christus hodie cum solennitate et processione venit ad locum passionis sue, sic etiam nos hodie cum magna solennitate et processione venimus ad passionem que hodie legitur in missa, because Christ's passion must generate sadness and grief in the hearts of the faithful; in this regard, it is pointed out that Christ's passion and death can be considered in four ways (consideration of the first three causes sadness and grief; consideration of the last, on the other hand, causes joy and consolation and is the reason why, on Palm Sunday, Christ's passion is treated with joy):
1. Secundum personalem dignitatem, i.e. considering the person who suffered;
2. Secundum humanalem necessitatem, i.e. considering humanity's need to atone for its sins;
3. Secundum iudaicalem perversitatem;
4. Secudum finalem utilitatem, i.e. the salvation of humanity.
Six Palm Sunday leticiae contrasted with six Good Friday tristiciae:
1. Bell ringing (absent on Good Friday);
2. Chanting of the priests (absent on Good Friday and replaced by the sound of the tabule);
3. Display of the Cross (covered on Good Friday);
4. Joy and gladness in the memory of the Passion of Christ (remembered on Good Friday with weeping and lamentations);
5. People proceeding joyfully (on the contrary, on Good Friday they proceed distressed);
6. Solemn and orderly procession, symbolising humanity united in salvation (in contrast, on Good Friday passio cantatur sine processione et ordine).
3) Third part: six stages of Christ's journey on Palm Sunday, symbolising the path that human beings take by sinning and then returning to grace through penance:
1. Christ leaves Bethany, i.e. human being abandons, by sin, obedience to God;
2. Christ goes to Bethphageque interpretatur domus bucce sive domus oris, ecce hic oris confessio, i.e. human being, once he has abandoned obedience to God, must confess his sins;
3. Christ ascends Mount Olivet, i.e. operis satisfactio; the three characteristic elements of Mount Olivet (the asperitas, the altitudo and the oleum medicinalem) represent the works by which human beings can perform penance, respectively fasting, prayer and almsgiving.
4. Christ goes to the valley of Iosaphat, i.e. human being submits to God's judgement: it’s the moment of the debitorum restitutio (invitation to settle one's debts in two ways, spiritualiter and temporaliter);
5. Christ goes to Jerusalem, which is interpreted as “pacifica”: it’s the moment of the iniuriarium remissio, that is, when human being makes peace with his enemies;
6. Jesus goes to the Temple of the Lord: it’s the moment of the eucharistie communio, that is, when human being, having completed the previous stages, must communicate himself to God.
... in order to obtain salvation. 3. The whole way from
Mount Olivet
to Jerusalem was covered by the clothing of the crowd,...