This Octave [this past week] is entirely consecrated to the neophytes. The week was for them a continual feast, a spiritual feast; and they kept their white baptismal garments, which were not laid aside until the following Sunday (in albis deponendis). The Masses of this Octave allude, like that of Pentecost, sometimes to the Resurrection, sometimes to Baptism. Let us follow the example of the neophytes, let us all be one in mind and heart, in proclaiming together our faith in the risen Christ Jesus our Lord. (The Roman Missal, 1962)Each day this week the Gospel readings have told the amazing stories of the appearances of Jesus to his Apostles and others after His resurrection--on the road to Emmaus, in the Cenacle, on the shore of the sea of Tiberias, to Mary Magdalene at the tomb, to Peter and John at the tomb, and to the eleven in Galilee to whom He gives the Mission. And today, once again Jesus appears to the Apostles in the Cenacle, where he dispels the doubts of Thomas and praises those who believe in Him without having seen Him.
This Sunday is called from the first words of the Introit, the Sunday of Quasimodo, or Sunday in Albis (deponendis) because the neophytes on that day put aside their white garments. In English the term Low Sunday is in contrast with Easter or High Sunday. Another Latin name Pascha clausum is preserved in the French: Paques closes and in the Dutch or Flemish: Beloken Pasen: close of Easter, this Sunday ending the Octave. Let us proclaim our faith in the risen Lord, and in His divine presence in the Holy Eucharist. (The Roman Missal, 1962)
Collect
Grant, we beseech Thee, almighty God, that we who have celebrated the Paschal Feast, may, by Thy bounty, retain its fruits in our daily habits and behaviour. Through our Lord Jesus Christ who lives and reigns with Thee and Thy Holy Ghost, one God now and forever. Amen
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