THE OCTAVE OF EASTER

Deus misericordiae sempiternae, qui in ipso paschalis festi recursu fidem sacratae tibi plebis accendis, auge gratiam quam dedisti, ut digna omnes intellegentia comprehendant, quo lavacro abluti, quo spiritu regenerati, quo sanguine sunt redempti.

God of everlasting mercy,

who in the very recurrence of the paschal feast

kindle the faith of the people you have made your own,

increase, we pray, the grace you have bestowed,

that all may grasp and rightly understand

in what font they have been washed,

by whose Spirit they have been reborn,

by whose Blood they have been redeemed.

From the Missale Gothicum beginning 8^th century, Saturday in Paschal Octave

This prayer is notable in that the petition asks that we be given grace that we might have a proper understanding of the sacrament of Baptism, the Spirit by which are reborn, and the redemption of the sacrifice of the Cross. We might expect that the prayer would be edited or a new prayer created to ask for the experience of the paschal mystery. However, something cannot be experienced unless there is first an understanding of the thing and not just any understanding but a digna intelligentia. St. Thomas the Apostle is not simply being skeptical about the Resurrection but is seeking understanding of it, fides quaerens intellectum.