29 JANUARY – SAINT FRANCIS DE SALES (Bishop and Confessor)

 

 

Francis was born of pious and noble parents in the town Sales, from which the family took their name. From his earliest years he gave pledge of his future sanctity by the innocence and gravity of his conduct. Having been instructed in the liberal sciences during his youth, he was sent early to Paris that he might study philosophy and theology, and in order that his education might be complete, he was sent to Padua where he took, with much honour, the degree of doctor in both civil and canon law. He visited the sanctuary of Loreto where he renewed the vow he had already taken in Paris, of perpetual virginity, in which holy resolution he continued till death despite all the temptations of the devil and all the allurements of the flesh. He refused to accept an honourable position in the Senate of Savoy and entered into the ecclesiastical state. He was ordained priest and was made Provost of the Diocese of Geneva, which charge he so laudably fulfilled that Granier, his Bishop, selected him for the arduous undertaking of labouring, by the preaching of God’s word, for the conversion of the Calvinists of Chablais and the neighbouring country round about Geneva. This mission he undertook with much joy. He had to suffer the harshest treatment on the part of the heretics who frequently sought to take away his life, caluminated him and laid all kinds of plots against him, but he showed heroic courage in the midst of all these dangers and persecutions and by the divine assistance, converted, as it is stated, 72,000 heretics to the Catholic faith, among whom were many distinguished by the high position they held in the world and by their learning.

After the death of Granier who had already made him his Coadjutor, he was made Bishop of Geneva. Then it was that his sanctity showed itself in every direction, by his zeal for ecclesiastical discipline, his love of peace, his charity to the poor and every virtue. From a desire to give more honour to God he founded a new Order of nuns which he called the Visitation, taking for their Rule that of Saint Augustine, to which he added Constitutions of admirable wisdom, discretion and sweetness. He enlightened the children of the Church by the works he wrote, which are full of a heavenly wisdom, and point out a path which is at once safe and easy to Christian perfection. In his fifty-fifth year, whilst returning from France to Annecy, he was taken with his last sickness, immediately after having celebrated Mass on the Feast of Saint John the Evangelist. On the following day his soul departed this life for Heaven in 1622. His body was taken to Annecy and buried with great demonstration of honour, in the Church of the nuns of the Order of the Visitation. Immediately after his death miracles began to be wrought through his intercession, which being officially authenticated, he was canonised by Pope Alexander VII and his Feast was appointed to be kept on the 29th of January.

Dom Prosper Gueranger:

The angelical Bishop Francis of Sales has a right to a distinguished position near the crib of Jesus on account of the sweetness of his virtues, the childlike simplicity of his heart and the humility and tenderness of his love. He comes with the lustre of his glorious conquests on him — seventy-two thousand heretics converted to the Church by the ardour of his charity, an Order of holy servants of God, which he founded, and countless thousands of souls trained to piety by his prudent and persuasive words and writings.

God gave him to his Church at the very time that heresy was holding her out to the world as a worn-out system that had no influence over men’s minds. He raised up this true minister of the Gospel in the very country where the harsh doctrines of Calvin were most in vogue, that the ardent charity of Francis might counteract the sad influence of that heresy. “If you want heretics to be convinced of their errors,” said the learned Cardinal Du Perron, “you may send them to me. But if you want them to be converted, send, them to the Bishop of Geneva.” Francis of Sales was sent, then, as a living image of Jesus, opening his arms and calling sinners to repentance, the victims of heresy to truth, the just to perfection and all men to confidence and love.

The Holy Spirit had rested on him with all his divine power and sweetness. A few days back we were meditating on the Baptism of Jesus, and how the Holy Ghost descended on Him in the shape of a dove. There is an incident in the life of Francis which reminds us of this great Mystery. He was singing Mass on Whit Sunday at Annecy. A dove, which had been let into the Cathedral, after flying for a long time round the building, at length came into the sanctuary and rested on the Saint’s head. The people could not but be impressed with this circumstance, which they looked on as an appropriate symbol of Francis’s loving spirit, just as the globe of fire which appeared above the head of Saint Martin when he was offering up the Holy Sacrifice, was interpreted as a sign of his apostolic zeal. The same thing happened to our Saint on another occasion. It was the Feast of our Lady’s Nativity and Francis was officiating at Vespers in the Collegiate Church at Annecy. He was seated on a throne, the carving of which represented the Tree of Jesse, which the Prophet Isaias tells us produced the virginal branch from which sprang the divine flower on which there rested the Spirit of love. They were singing the Psalms of the Feast when a dove flew into the Church through an aperture in one of the windows of the choir on the epistle side of the altar. It flew about for some moments and then lighted first on the Bishop’s shoulder, then on his knee, where it was caught by one of the assistants. When the Vespers were over, the Saint mounted the pulpit and ingeniously turned the incident that had occurred into an illustration which he hoped would distract the people from himself. He spoke to them of Mary, who, being full of the grace of the Holy Spirit, is called “the dove that is all fair, in whom there is no blemish” (Canticles vi. 8, iv. 7).

If we were asked which of the disciples of our Lord was the model on which this admirable prelate formed his character, we should mention, without any hesitation, the Beloved Disciple, John. Francis of Sales is, like him, the Apostle of charity and the simplicity of the great Evangelist caressing an innocent bird is reflected with perfection in the heart of the Bishop of Geneva. A mere look from John, a single word of his, used to draw men to the love of Jesus. And the contemporaries of Francis were wont to say: “the Bishop of Geneva is so amiable, what, Lord, must not you be!”

A circumstance in our Saint’s last illness again suggests to us the relation between himself and the Beloved Disciple. It was on the 27th of December, the Feast of Saint John, that Francis, after celebrating Mass and giving Communion to his dear Daughters of the Visitation, felt the first approach of the sickness which was to cause his death. As soon as it was known, the consternation was general but the Saint has already his whole conversation in Heaven, and on the following day, the Feast of the Holy Innocents, his soul took its flight to its Creator and the candour and simplicity of his spirit made him a worthy companion of those dear little ones of Bethlehem. But on neither of these two days could the Church place his Feast, as they were already devoted to the memory of St. John and the Holy Innocents. But she has ordered it to be kept during the forty days consecrated to the Birth of our Lord, and this 29th of January is the day fixed for it.

Saint Francis, then, the ardent lover of our new-born King, is to aid us, like all these other Christmas Saints, to know the charms of the Divine Babe. In his admirable Letters, we find him expressing, with all the freedom of friendly correspondence, the sweetness which used to fill his heart during this holy Season. Let us read a few passages from these confidential papers — they will teach us how to love our Jesus. Towards the end of the Advent of 1619, he wrote to a Religious of the Visitation, instructing her how to prepare for Christmas:

“My very dear Daughter, our sweet Infant Jesus is soon to be born in our remembrance, at the coming Feasts. And since He is born on purpose that He may visit us in the name of His Eternal Father, and is to be visited in His crib by the shepherds and the kings, I look on Him as both the Father and the Child of our Lady of the Visitation. Come, then, load Him with your caresses. Join all our Sisters in giving Him a warm welcome of hospitality. Sing to Him the sweetest carols you can find and, above all, adore Him very earnestly and very sweetly and, with Him, adore His poverty, His humility, His obedience and His meekness, as did His most holy Mother and Saint Joseph. Take one of His divine tears which is the dew of Heaven, and put it on your heart so that you may never admit any other sadness there than the sadness which will gladden this sweet Infant. And when you recommend your own soul to Him, recommend mine also, for you know its devotedness to yours. I beg of you to remember me affectionately to the dear Sisters whom I look upon as simple shepherdesses keeping watch over their flocks, that is, their affections, and who, being warned by the Angel, are going to pay their homage to the Divine Babe and offer Him, as an earnest of their eternal loyalty, the fairest of their lambs, which is their love, unreserved and undivided.”

On Christmas Eve, filled by anticipation with the joy of the sacred Night which is to give the world its Redeemer, Francis writes to Saint Jane Frances de Chantal, and thus invites her to profit by the visit of the Divine Infant received from the contemplation of the great Mystery:

“Oh the sweetness of this night! The Church has been singing these words — honey has dropped from the Heavens. I thought to myself that the Angels, not only come down on our Earth to sing their admirable Gloria in excelsis, but to gaze also on this sweet Babe, this Honey of Heaven resting on two beautiful Lilies, for sometimes He is in Mary’s arms, and sometimes it is Joseph that caresses Him. What will you say of my having the ambition to think that our two Angel Guardians were of the grand choir of blessed Spirits that sang the sweet hymn on this night? I said to myself — oh happy we if they would deign to sing once more their heavenly hymn and our hearts could hear it! I besought it of them that so there might be glory in the highest heavens, and peace to hearts of good will. Returning home from celebrating these sacred Mysteries, I rest awhile in thus sending you my Happy Christmas! for I dare say that the poor shepherds took some little rest after they had adored the Babe announced to them by the Angels. And as I thought of their sleep on that night, I said to myself: How sweetly must they not have slept, dreaming of the sacred melody with which the Angels told them the glad tidings, and of the dear child and the Mother they had been to see!”

We will close our quotations by the following passage of another of his Letters to Saint Jane Frances de Chantal in which he speaks of the Most Holy Name of Jesus which the Divine Child of Mary received at His circumcision:

“O my Jesus! fill our hearts with the sacred balm of your Holy Name so that the sweetness of its fragrance may penetrate our senses and perfume our every action. But that our hearts may be capable of receiving this sweetness, they must be circumcised: take, therefore, from them whatever could displease your divine sight. O glorious Name! Named by the heavenly Father from all eternity, be you forever written on our souls that, as you, Jesus, are our Saviour, so may our souls be eternally saved. And you, O Holy Virgin, that were the first among mortals to pronounce this saving Name, teach us to pronounce it as it behoves us, that so we may merit the salvation which you brought into this world! My dear Daughter! it was but right that my first letter of this year should be to Jesus and Mary: my second is to you, to wish you a Happy New Year and exhort you to give your whole heart to God. May we so spend this year as that it may secure to us the years of eternity! My first word on waking this morning was: Jesus! and I felt as though I would gladly pour out on the face of the whole Earth the oil of this sweet Name. As long as balm is shut up in a well-sealed vase, no one knows its sweetness, save him who put it there: but as soon as the vase is opened and a few drops are sprinkled around, all who are present say: what sweet balm! Thus it was, my dear daughter, with our Jesus. He contained within Himself the balm of salvation, but no one knew it until His divine Flesh was laid open by the fortunate wound of that cruel knife. And then people knew Him to be the Balm of the world’s Salvation, and first Joseph and Mary, then the whole neighbourhood, began to cry out: Jesus! which means Saviour.”

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Peaceful conqueror of souls! Pontiff beloved of God and man! We venerate you as the perfect imitator of the sweetness and gentleness of our Jesus. Having learnt of Him to be meek and humble of heart, you did, according to His promise, possess the land (Matthew v. 4). Nothing could resist you. Heretics, however obstinate; sinners, however hardened; tepid souls, however sluggish — all yielded to the powerful charm of your word and example. We love to see you standing near the crib of our loving Jesus and sharing in the glory of John and the Innocents, for you were an Apostle like John and simple like the children of Rachel. Oh that our hearts might be filled with the spirit of Bethlehem and learn how sweet is the yoke, and how light the burden of our Emmanuel! (Matthew xi. 30).

Pray for us to our Lord that our charity may be ardent like yours; that the desire of perfection may be ever active within us; that we may gain that introduction to a devout life which you so admirably taught; that we may have that love of our neighbour without which we cannot hope to love God; that we may be zealous for the salvation of souls; that we may be patient and forgive injuries, in order that we may love one another, not only in word and in tongue, but as your great model says, in deed and in truth (1 John iii. 18). Bless the Church Militant whose love for you is as fresh as though you had but just now left her. You are venerated and loved throughout the whole world.

Hasten the conversion of the followers of Calvin. Your prayers have already miraculously forwarded the great work and the Holy Sacrifice has long since been publicly offered up in the very city of Geneva. Redouble those prayers, and then, even we may live to see the grand triumph of the Church. Root out too, the last remnants of that Jansenistic heresy which was beginning to exercise its baneful influence at the close of your earthly pilgrimage. Remove from us the dangerous maxims and prejudices which have come down to us from those unhappy times when this odious sect was at the height of its power.

Bless with all the affection of your paternal heart the holy Order you founded and which you offered to Mary under the title of her Visitation. Maintain it in its present edifying fervour, give it increase in number and merit and direct it that so your family may be ever animated by the spirit of its father. Pray, also, for the venerable episcopate of which you are the ornament and model: ask our Lord to bless His Church with pastors endowed with your spirit, inflamed with your zeal, and imitators of your sanctity.

Also on this day according to the ROMAN MARTYROLOGY:

At Rome, on the Via Nomentana, the birthday of the holy martyrs Papius and Maurus, soldiers under the emperor Diocletian. At their first confession of Christ their mouths were bruised with stones and they were thrown into prison by order of Laodicius, prefect of the city. Afterwards they were beaten with rods and with leaded whips until they expired.

At Perugia, in the time of Marcus Aurelius, St. Constantius, bishop and martyr, who together with his companions, received the crown of martyrdom for the defence of the faith.

At Edessa in Syria, the holy martyrs Sarbelius and his sister Barbea, who were baptised by the blessed bishop Barsimseus, and crowned with martyrdom in the persecution of Trajan under the governor Lysias.

In the territory of Troyes, St. Sabinian, martyr, who was beheaded for the faith of Christ by the command of the emperor Aurelian.

At Milan, St. Aquilinus, priest, who was crowned with martyrdom by having his throat pierced with a sword by the Arians.

At Treves, the demise of the blessed bishop Valerius, a disciple of the blessed Apostle St. Peter.

At Bourges, St. Sulpicius Severus, bishop, distinguished by his virtues and erudition.

And in other places, many other holy martyrs, confessors and virgins.

Thanks be to God.

28 JANUARY – BLESSED CHARLEMAGNE (Emperor)

 

The father of the Blessed Charles was Pepin who was the son of the Duke of Brabant (afterwards elected to the throne of France) and of Bertrade, daughter of the Greek Emperor. He merited, by his glorious deeds and his zeal for the Christian religion, the surname of Great. And by one of the Councils held at Mayence he was called the Most Christian Monarch. Having driven the Lombards out of Italy, he was the first to have the honour of being crowned Emperor by the Vicar of Christ, Pope Leo III. At the request of Adrian, Leo’s predecessor, he entered with an army into Italy and restored to the Church her patrimony, and to the West the Empire. He avenged the injuries done to Pope Leo by the Romans during the chanting of the Litany, and he expelled from the city such as had taken part in this sacrilege. He passed many laws tending to the honour of the Church. Among the rest, he re-established the law which provide that civil suits should be referred to the judgement of the Church in case of one of the parties demanding it. Though of a most gentle disposition, he was very severe in suppressing vice, more especially adultery and idolatry, for which he established special tribunals vested with extraordinary powers.

After having waged war for 33 years with the Saxons, he at length brought them into subjection, imposing no other law upon them, than that they should become Christians. He obliged all land owners to erect a cross of wood in their fields as an open confession of their faith. He rid Gascony, Spain and Gallicia of idolaters and restored the sepulchre of Saint James to what we see it at this day. He upheld the Christian religion in Hungary by an eight years campaign, and in fighting against the Saracens, he always made use of the victorious spear with which with one of the soldiers opened our Saviour’s side. God seemed to favour, by many miracles, all these efforts made for the spreading of the faith. Thus the Saxons who were laying siege to Sigisburgh were struck by God with fear and took to flight. And in the first rebellion of the same people, there sprang up from the earth a plentiful stream with which was refreshed Charles’ whole army, which had been without water for three days. And yet, this great Emperor could scarce be distinguished by his dress from the rest of the people and almost always wore a hair-shirt, never appearing in his gilded robes save on the principal Feasts of our Lord and the Saints.

He gave alms to the poor and to pilgrims, not only at his regal residence, but in every part of the world, by sending them money. He built 24 monasteries, to each of which he sent what is called the Golden Letter, weighing 200 pounds. He founded two Metropolitan and nine Episcopal Sees. He built 27 churches and founded two universities, one in Pavia, the other in Paris. As Charles himself was fond of study, in which he had Alcuin as his master, so, likewise, would he have his sons trained in the liberal sciences before he permitted them to turn either to war or to the chase. In the sixty-eighth year of his age, he had his son Louis crowned king, and devoted himself wholly to prayer and alms-deeds. Each morning and evening he visited the Church, and often he repaired there also in the night, for he was exceedingly fond of the Gregorian Chant and was the first to introduce it into France and Germany. He had obtained cantors from Pope Adrian I and took care to have the hymns of the Church copied in every place. He made copies of the Gospels with his own hand and collated them with the Greek and Syriac versions.

Charlemagne was extremely sparing in what he took to eat and drink. If he fell sick, he sought a remedy in fasting, which he sometimes observed for seven continuous days. At length, after suffering much from malicious men, being then in his seventy-second year, he fell sick. He received the consolation of Holy Communion at the hands of Bishop Hildebald. He signed his whole body with the sign of the Cross, singing the words, “Into your hands,” which done, he rendered to God his soul rich in merit, on the fifth of the Calends of February (January 28th). He was buried in the Basilica of Aix-la-Chapelle which he had built and enriched with relics of the Saints. There he is honoured by the devotion of numerous pilgrims and by the favours granted by God through his intercession. His Feast is kept in most of the dioceses of Germany by the consent of the Church ever since the time of Pope Alexander III. It is kept as the Feast of the principal propagator of the faith in the North.

Dom Prosper Gueranger:

In many Churches, especially in Germany, there is kept, on the second Feast of the Martyr Agnes, the Feast of the pious Emperor Charlemagne. The Emmanuel who is come into this world is to receive the title of King of kings and Lord of lords. He is to gird Himself with the sword and bring all nations into subjection. What could be more fitting than that He should lead to His crib the greatest of Christian princes who ever made it his glory to use his sword in the service of Christ and His Church? Charlemagne was held as a Saint by the people, and the decree of his canonisation was given by the Antipope Paschal III in the year 1165, at the request of Frederic Barbarossa, on which account the Holy See has permitted this public veneration to be continued in all those places where it prevailed, though it has never given its approbation to the informal procedure of Paschal, nor made it valid by its own sentence, which it would, in all probability, have done had the request been made. At the same time, the many Churches which, now for [nine] centuries have honoured the memory of Charlemagne, keep his Feast under the simple title of Blessed out of respect to the Roman Martyrology where his name is not inserted.

Before the Reformation the name of Blessed Charlemagne was inscribed in the Calendar of a great many of the Churches in France. The Breviaries of Rheims and Rouen are the only ones that have retained it. The Church of Paris ceased to keep his Feast in order to satisfy the prejudices of several Doctors of the University in the early part of the sixteenth century. Protestantism had, naturally enough, an antipathy for a man who was the noblest type of a Catholic prince, and they who were tainted with the spirit of Protestantism defended their blotting out the name of Charlemagne from the Calendar, not so much by the informality of his canonisation, as by the scandal which they affected to find in his life. Public opinion was formed on this, as on so many other matters, with extreme levity. And among those who will be surprised at finding the name of Charlemagne in this volume, we quite expect that they will be the most astonished who have never taken the trouble to inquire into the holiness of his life.

More than 30 Churches in Germany still keep the Feast of the great Emperor. His dear Church of Aix-la-Chapelle possesses his relics and exposes them to the veneration of the people. The University of Paris, strange to say, chose him for its patron in 1661. But his Feast, which had been given up for more than a century, was only restored as a national holiday without the slightest allusion being made to it in the Liturgy. It does not enter into the plan of this work to discuss the reasons for which public veneration has been paid to the Saints whose feasts we keep during the year. Our readers must not, therefore, expect from us anything in the shape of a formal defence of the saintly life of Charlemagne. Nevertheless, we cannot refrain from making a few remarks which our subject seems to require. And firstly, we affirm, with the great Bossuet, that the morals of Charlemagne were without reproach, and that the contrary opinion, which is based on certain vague and contradictory expressions of a few writers of the Middle Ages, has only gained ground by Protestant influence.

Dom Mabillon, after having given the history of the Emperor’s repudiation of Hermengarde and his return to Himiltrude his first wife, concludes his account of Charlemagne in his Benedictine Annals by acknowledging that this Prince’s plurality of wives has never been proved to have been simultaneous. Natalis Alexander and Le Cointe — authors who cannot be taxed with partiality and who have gone into all the intricacies of the question — prove most clearly that the only reproach to be laid to Charlemagne’s charge on the subject of his wives, is his having repudiated Himiltrude, out of complaisance to the mother of Hermengarde, a fault which he repaired the following year in compliance with the remonstrances of Pope Stephen IV. We grant, that after the death of Luitgarde, the last of his wives who was treated as Queen, Charlemagne married several others whom Eginhard calls concubines, because they did not wear the crown and their children were not considered as princes of the blood. But we say with Mabillon that Charlemagne may have had these wives successively, and that it is difficult to believe the contrary, regarding so religious a Prince, and one who had a singular respect for the laws of the Church.

But independently of the opinion of the grave authors whom we have cited, there is an incontestable proof of Charlemagne’s innocence on the score of the simultaneous plurality of wives, at least from the time of his separation from Hermengarde. The Prince was then in his twenty-eighth year. The severity of the Roman Pontiffs relative to the marriages of sovereigns is too well known to require proof. The history of the Middle Ages abounds with the struggles they had, on this essential point of Christian morals, with the most powerful monarchs, some of whom were most devoted to the Church. How, then, we would ask, would it be possible that Saint Adrian I who governed the Church from 772 to 795, and whom Charlemagne treated as a father, asking his advice in everything he undertook — how, we repeat, would this holy Pontiff allow Charlemagne to indulge in the most scandalous crimes without remonstrating, while Stephen IV who only sat three years and had not the same influence on this Prince, could induce him to dismiss Hermengarde? Or again, would Saint Leo III who reigned as Supreme Pontiff from 795 till after Charlemagne’s death, and who recompensed his virtuous conduct by crowning him Emperor — would he have made no effort to induce him to abandon the concubinage in which some writers would make us believe he lived after the death of his last Queen Luitgarde? Now, we find not the shadow of any such remonstrances made by these two Popes who governed the Church for more than forty years, and have been placed on her altars. The honour of the Church herself is at stake in this question, and it is the duty of every Catholic to suspect the imputations cast on the name of Charlemagne as calumnies.

It would seem, from the letter of Pope Stephen IV, that the marriage with Himiltrude was suspected, though falsely, of nullity. And it is not improbable that this suspicion may have satisfied Charlemagne’s conscience when he divorced her. However this may be, we find Charlemagne afterwards legislating against public immorality with all the zeal and energy of a man whose own life was not tainted with anything of the kind. We will cite but one example of this Christian firmness in repressing scandal, and we put it to the conviction of any honest heart, if a Prince whose life had been a series of public scandals, could have dared to express himself with the simplicity and confidence of an innocent conscience in an assembly of the Bishops and Abbots of his Empire and in the presence of the princes and barons whose licentiousness he wished to repress, and who might so justly have excused their own disorders by the lewd example of the very man who exhorted them to virtue and threatened to chastise their vices?

In a Capitulary given during the Pontificate of Saint Leo III, he thus decrees: “We forbid, under pain of sacrilege, the seizure of the goods of the Church, and injustices of whatever sort, adultery, fornication, incest, illicit marriage, unjust homicide, etc, for we know, that by such things kingdoms and kings, yes and private subjects, do perish. And whereas, by God’s help and the merit and the intercession of the Saints and Servants of God whom we have at all times honoured we have gained a goodly number of kingdoms and won manifold victories, it behoves us all to be on our guard lest we deserve the forfeiture of these gains by the aforementioned crimes and shameful lewdnesses. We know, of a truth, that sundry countries in which have been perpetrated these seizures of the goods of the Church, these injustices, these adulteries, and these prostitutions, have lost their courage in battle, and their firmness in the faith. Anyone may learn from history how the Lord has permitted the Saracens and other peoples to conquer the workers of such like iniquities. Nor doubt we that the like will happen likewise to us unless we abstain from such misdeeds, for God is wont to punish them. Be it therefore known to all our subjects that he who will be taken and convicted of any of these crimes will be deposed of all his honours if he has any, that he will be thrown into prison till he repents and make amends by a public penitence, and, moreover, that he will be cut off from all communication with the faithful, for we will grievously fear the pit in which we see others be fallen.” Again, we ask, would Charlemagne have spoken such language as this if, as has been asserted, his old age was being disgraced with debauchery at the very time that he passed this Capitulary, that is, after the death of Luitgarde?

Granting, then, that this great Prince had sinned, we must allow that it was only in the early part of his reign, and we ought to remember that the remainder of his life was so holy as to be more than an ample penance. Is it not a sight worthy of our admiration to see this brave warrior when he had become the mighty Sovereign unceasingly practising not only sobriety, which was a rare virtue among his countrymen, but fastings which would bear comparisons with those of the most fervent anchorets — wearing a hair-shirt even to the day of his death, assisting at the Offices of the Church day and night even during his various campaigns when he had the Divine services performed in his tent — and giving abundant alms (which, as the Scripture tells us, covers a multitude of sins), not only to all the poor of his dominions who besought his charity, but likewise to the Christians of Africa, Egypt, Syria and Palestine, for whose sakes he more than once exhausted his royal treasury? But what is above all this and, in the absence of every other proof, would testify to Charlemagne possessing every virtue that could adorn a Christian Prince, is his making no other use of his sovereign power than that of spreading the Kingdom of Christ on the Earth. It is the one single end he proposed to himself in every battle he fought, and every law he made.

This monarch, to whom were subject France, Catalonia, Navarre, and Aragon; Flanders, Holland, and Friesland; the provinces of Westphalia, Saxony, as far as the Elbe; Franconia, Suabia, Thuringia, and Switzerland; the two Pannonias (that is, Austria and Hungary) Dacia, Bohemia, Istria, Libumia, Dalmatia, and even Sclavonia; and finally, the whole of Italy, as far as southern Calabria — this Monarch signs himself, in his glorious Capitularia: “I, Charles, by the grace of God and the giving of His mercy, King and governor of the Kingdom of the French, devoted defender of God’s Holy Church, and her humble Champion.” So many other Kings and Emperors — who are not to be compared with him in power, and yet are objects of men’s admiration in spite of all their crimes which are artfully palliated by every possible excuse — have made it their one grand aim to enslave the Church. History tells us of even some otherwise pious kings who were jealous of her Liberty and sought to curtail it: Charlemagne ever respected that Liberty as though it were his own mother’s honour. It was he, that, following the example of Pepin, his father, so nobly secured the independence of the Apostolic See. Never had the Roman Pontiffs a more devoted or a more obedient son. Scorning petty political jealousies, he restored to the clergy and people the episcopal elections which were in the hands of the sovereign when he began his reign. He waged war mainly with a design to favour the propagation of the faith among infidel nations. He marched into Spain that he might free the Christians from the yoke of the Moors. He brought the Churches of his kingdom into closer union with the Apostolic See by establishing the Roman Liturgy in all the States that were under his sceptre. In the whole of his legislation, which he framed in assemblies where Bishops and Abbots had the preponderance, there is not a single trace of what have been called Galilean Liberties, which consist in the interference of the Sovereign or civil Magistrate in matters purely ecclesiastical. “So great was Charlemagne’s love for the Roman Church,” says Bossuet, “that the main point of his Last Will was the recommending to his successors the defence of the Church of Saint Peter, a defence which was the precious heirloom of his house, handed down to him by his father and his father’s father, and which he was resolved to leave also to his children. It was this love of the Church which prompted him to say, and the saying was afterwards repeated in a full Council held during the reign of one of his descendants, that “if the Church of Rome were, by an impossibility, to put on us a burden which was well near insupportable, we ought to bear it.”

What could prompt this spirit of Christian moderation which made Charlemagne so respectful to the moral power of the Church — what could temper down the risings of pride which, as a general rule, increases with the increase of power — what save a most saintly tenor of life? Man, unless he be endowed with the help of a powerful grace, cannot attain, much less can he maintain himself his whole life long in such perfect dispositions as these. Charlemagne, then, has been selected by our Emmanuel Himself to be the perfect type of a Christian Prince, and we Catholics should love to celebrate his glory during this Christmas season during which is born among us the Divine Child who is come to reign over all nations and guide them in the path of holiness and justice. Jesus has come from Heaven to be the model of kings, as of the rest of men. And so far no man has so closely imitated this divine model as “Charles the Victorious, the ever-August, the Monarch crowned by God.”

*****

All hail faithful and beloved servant of God, Apostle of Christ, Defender of His Church, Lover of justice, Guardian of the laws of morality, and Terror of them that hate the Christian name! The hand of the Vicar of Christ purified the diadem of the Caesars and put it on your venerable head. The imperial sceptre and globe are in your hands. The sword of the victories won for God is girt on your side. The Supreme Pontiff has anointed you King and Emperor. Bearing thus in yourself the figure of Christ in His temporal Kingship, you so used your power as that He reigned in and by you. And now He recompenses you for the love you had for Him, for the zeal you had for His glory, and for the respect you ever evinced to the Church, His Spouse. He has changed your earthly and perishable royalty into that which is eternal, and in this heavenly kingdom you are surrounded by those countless souls whom you converted from idolatry to the service of the one true God.

We are celebrating the birth of the Son of that Virgin-Mother in whose honour you built the glorious Church which still excites the admiration of all nations. It was in that sacred edifice that you placed the swathing-clothes with which she clad her Divine Babe. And it is here, too, that our Emmanuel would have your own relics enshrined, so to receive the honour they deserve. admirable imitator of the faith of the three Eastern Kings, present us to Him who deigned to be clothed in these humble garments. Ask Him to give us a share of your humility which made you love to kneel near His crib — of your devotion for the Feasts of the Church — of your zeal for the glory of His divine Majesty — and of the courage and earnestness with which you laboured to spread His Kingdom on Earth.

Pray for our Europe which was once so happy under your paternal rule and is now divided against itself. The Empire which the Church confided to your care, has now fallen in just punishment for its treachery to the Church that gave it existence. The nations of that fallen Empire are now restless and unhappy. The Church alone can satisfy their wants, for she alone can give them Faith. She alone has not changed the principles of justice. She alone can control power and teach subjects obedience. Oh pray that nations, both people and their governments, may return to what can alone give them liberty and security, and cease to seek these blessings by revolution and discord. Protect France, that fairest gem of your crown, protect her with a special love, and show her that you are ever her King and her Father.

28 JANUARY – SAINT AGNES (Second Feast)

Dom Prosper Gueranger:

Five days after the martyrdom of the Virgin Emerentiana, the parents of the glorious Saint Agnes visited the tomb of their child during the night, there to weep and pray. It was the eighth day since her martyrdom. While they were thinking upon the cruel death which, though it had enriched their child with a Martyr’s palm, had deprived them of her society — Agnes suddenly appeared to them: she was encircled with a bright light and wore a crown on her head, and was surrounded by a choir of virgins of dazzling beauty. On her right hand there stood a beautiful white lamb, the emblem of the Divine Spouse of Agnes. Turning towards her parents, she said to them: “Weep not over my death: for I am now in Heaven together with these virgins, living with Him whom I loved on Earth with my whole soul.” It is to commemorate this glorious apparition that the holy Church has instituted this Feast which is called Saint Agnes’ Second Feast (Sancte Agnetis secundo.) Let us pray to this fervent spouse of the Divine Lamb that she intercede for as with Him, and present us to Him in this life until it be given to us to possess Him face-to-face in Heaven.

Also on this day according to the ROMAN MARTYROLOGY:

At Rome, St. Flavian, martyr, who suffered under Diocletian.

At Apollonia, the holy martyrs Thyrsus, Leucius and Callinicus who were made to undergo various torments in the time of the emperor Decius. Thyrsus and Callinicus consummated their martyrdom by being beheaded. Leucius, being called by a heavenly voice, yielded his soul to God.

In Thebais, the holy martyrs Leonides and his companions, who obtained the palm of martyrdom in the time of Diocletian.

At Alexandria, the commemoration of many holy martyrs, who, while they were at Mass in the church on this day, were put to death in various manners by the followers of Syrian, an Arian general.

Also St. Cyril, bishop of the same city, a most celebrated defender of the Catholic faith who rested in peace with a great reputation for learning and sanctity.

At Saragossa, St. Valerius, bishop.

At Cuenca in Spain, the birthday of St. Julian, bishop, who went to his God with the reputation of working miracles after bestowing the goods of the Church on the poor, and, like the Apostles, supporting himself by the work of his hands.

In the monastery of Rheims, the demise of a holy priest named John, a man of God.

In Palestine, St. James, a hermit, who hid himself a long time in a sepulchre to do penance for a fault he had committed, and being celebrated for miracles, departed for Heaven.

And in other places, many other holy martyrs, confessors and virgins.

Thanks be to God.

27 JANUARY – SAINT JOHN CHRYSOSTOM (Bishop and Doctor of the Church)

 

John, surnamed Chrysostom on account of his golden eloquence, was born at Antioch. Having gone through the study of the law and the profane sciences, he applied himself, with extraordinary application and success, to the study of the Sacred Scriptures. Having been admitted to holy orders and made a priest of the Church at Antioch, he was appointed Bishop of Constantinople after the death of Nectarius by the express wish of the Emperor Arcadius. No sooner had he entered upon the pastoral charge, than he began to inveigh against the licentious lives led by the rich. This his courageous preaching procured him many enemies. He likewise gave great offence to the Empress Eudoxia because he had reproved her for having appropriated to herself the money belonging to a widow name, Callitropa, and for having taken possession of some land which was the property of another widow. At the instigation, therefore, of Eudoxia, several Bishops met together at Chalcedon. Chrysostom was cited to appear, which he refused to do, because it was not a Council either lawfully or publicly convened. He was sent into exile. He had not been gone long before the people rose in sedition on account of the Saint’s banishment and he was recalled to the immense joy of the whole city. But, his continuing to inveigh against the scandals which existed, and his forbidding the games held before the silver statue of Eudoxia which was set up in the space opposite Sancta Sophia, were urged by certain Bishops, enemies of the Saint, as motives for a second banishment. The widows and the poor of the city bewailed his departure as that of a father.

It is incredible how much Chrysostom had to suffer in this exile and how many he converted to the Christian faith. At the very time that Pope Innocent I, in a Council held at Rome, was issuing a decree ordering that Chrysostom should be set at liberty — he was being treated by the soldiers who were taking him into exile with unheard of harshness and cruelty. While passing through Armenia, the holy Martyr Basiliscus, in whose Church he had offered up a prayer, thus spoke to him during the night: “Brother John! We will be united together tomorrow.” On the following morning Chrysostom received the sacrament of the Eucharist and signing himself with the sign of the cross, he breathed forth his soul to his God, on the eighteenth of the Calends of October (September 14th). A fearful hailstorm happened at Constantinople after the Saint’s death, and four days later the Empress died. Theodosius, the son of Arcadius, had the Saint’s body brought to Constantinople with all due honour where, amid a large concourse of people, it was buried on the sixth of the Calends of February (January 27th). Theodosius, while devoutly venerating the Saint’s relics, interceded for his parents that they might be forgiven. The body was at a later period translated to Rome, and placed in the Vatican Basilica. All men agree in admiring the unction and eloquence of his sermons, which are very numerous, as indeed of all his other writings. He is also admirable in his interpretation of the Sacred Scriptures, which he explains in their genuine sense. It has always been thought that he was aided in his writings and sermons by Saint Paul the Apostle, to whom he entertained an extraordinary devotion.

Dom Prosper Gueranger:

Before our Emmanuel came upon this our Earth, men were as sheep without a shepherd. The flock was scattered, and the human race was hastening on to perdition. Jesus would, therefore, not only be the Lamb that was to be slain for our sins. He made Himself, moreover, a shepherd so that He might bring us all back to the divine fold. But as He had to leave us when He ascended into Heaven, He has provided for the wants of His sheep by providing us with a succession of Pastors who should, in His name, feed the flock, even to the end of the world. Now instruction, which is the light of life, is what the flock of Christ needs above all other things, and therefore our Emmanuel required that the Pastors of his Church should also be Doctors of sacred science.

The Pastor owes two things to his people: namely, the Word of God and the Sacraments. He is under the obligation of dispensing, personally and unceasingly, this twofold nourishment to his flock, and of laying down his very life, if needed, in the fulfilment of a duty on which rests the whole work of the world’s salvation.

But since the disciple is not above His Master, the Pastors and Doctors of the Christian people, if they are faithful in the discharge of their duties, are sure to be hated by the enemies of God, for they cannot spread the Kingdom of Christ without, at the same time, taking from the power of Satan. Hence it is that the history of the Church is filled with the persecutions endured by her Pastors and Doctors who continued the ministry of zeal and charity begun by Christ upon the Earth. These contests have been threefold, and gave occasion to three admirable victories.

The Pastors and Doctors of the Church have had to struggle with paganism which sought, by inflicting tortures and death, to oppose the preaching of the law of Christ. It was this sort of persecution which gave the Church such Saints as those whom we celebrate during this Season of Christmas — Polycarp, Ignatius, Fabian, Marcellus, Hyginus and Telesphorus. When the era of Persecution was over, the Pastors and Doctors of the Christian people had to engage with enemies of another kind. Kings and princes became children of the Church and then sought to make her their own slave. They imagined that it would serve their political interests to interfere with the liberty of the Word of God which, like the light of the sun, was intended to be carried without hindrance throughout the whole Earth. They usurped the priestly power, as did the pagan Caesars, and presumed to set limits to the administration of those sources of life which become corrupt as soon as they are touched by a profane hand. This usurpation gave rise to an incessant contest between the temporal and spiritual powers, and produced a second class of Martyrs. God has glorified His Church during this long period of struggle, and has given her, from time to time, a brave defender of ecclesiastical Liberty. We have met two of these champions of the Word and the holy ministry during our Christmastide — Thomas of Canterbury and Hilary of Poitiers.

But there is a third sort of battle in which the Pastors and Doctors of the flock of Christ have had to fight: it is the battle with the world and its vices. It began when Christianity began, and will continue to the day of Judgement. It was their courage in this battle that made so many saintly Prelates be hated for the name of Jesus Christ. Neither their charity, nor their services to mankind, nor their humility, nor their meekness, protected them from ingratitude, spleen, calumny and persecution. And what was their offence? They had been faithful in their duty of preaching the doctrines of their Divine Master, of encouraging virtue, and of chiding the sins of men. The amiable Francis of Sales was as much disliked and even hated by bad men as was John Chrysostom himself, whose triumph gladdens the Church today, and who stands near the crib of his Lord as one of the most illustrious Martyrs of pastoral duty courageously discharged.

Fervent in the service of his Saviour, even to the observance of the divine Counsels (for he had embraced the monastic life) this golden-mouthed Preacher made no other use of his wonderful gift of eloquence than that of urging men to the observance of the virtues taught in the Gospel, and of reproving every vice. Satan sought to have his revenge against our Saint by raising him many enemies. Among these were an Empress whose vanities and sins he had rebuked, men in power whose wickedness he had held up to notice, women of influence who would have him preach a morality more in accordance with their own depravity, a Bishop of Alexandria and certain Prelates of the court who were jealous of his virtues and still more so of his reputation. He is exceedingly loved by his people but neither that nor his great virtues protect him from persecution. He whose eloquence had enraptured the people of Antioch and won for him the enthusiastic admiration of the citizens of Constantinople, was deposed in a council convened for the purpose, his name was ordered to be cancelled from the diptychs of the altar notwithstanding the energetic protest of the Roman Pontiff, and at length he was condemned to exile and died on the way, worn out by the hardships and fatigues he had to go through. But, this Pastor, this Doctor, was not vanquished. He said in the midst of all his persecutions, “Woe is to me if I preach not the Gospel!” (1 Corinthians ix. 16). He made use, too, of those other words of the great Apostle: “The word of God is not bound” (2 Timothy ii. 9). The Church triumphed in him. She was more glorified and more consoled by the unflinching courage of Chrysostom who was led into captivity for having preached the Gospel of Christ, than she had been by the success achieved by his eloquence, an eloquence which Libanius was heard to covet for his pagan orators. Let us hearken to the thrilling words of Chrysostom which he addressed to the Faithful immediately before his last banishment. He had been sent into exile once before, but a terrific earthquake happening immediately after his departure, and which was looked upon as sent by Heaven to punish the authors of so crying an injustice — the Empress herself went, with tears in her eyes, to ask the Emperor to recall him. Accordingly, he was permitted to return. Shortly after, fresh occasions were sought for and John is again sentenced to exile. He receives the intimation with all the calmness of a Saint who knows that the whole Church is on his side. Let us study this glorious model of a Bishop trained in the school of our Jesus, who is, as the Apostle calls him, “the Shepherd and Bishop of our souls” (1 Peter ii. 25):

“Many are the waves and threatening are the storms which surround me, but I fear them not, for I am standing on the Rock. Let the sea roar. It cannot wash away the Rock: Let the billows mount as they will. They cannot sink the barque of our Lord Jesus Christ. And tell me, what would you have me fear? Death? To me, to live is Christ and to die is gain (Philippians i. 21). Exile? “The Earth is the Lord’s, and the fullness thereof” (Psalm xxiii. 1). Confiscation of my goods? We brought nothing into this world and, certainly, we can carry nothing out (1 Timothy vi. 7). No — the evils of this world are contemptible, and its goods deserve but to be laughed at. I fear not poverty, I desire not riches; I neither fear to die, nor wish to live, save for your advantage sake. Your interest alone induces me to speak of these things, and to ask of you by the love you bear me to take courage. For no-one can separate us. No human power can part what God has united. It is said of husband and wife: Wherefore, a man shall leave father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife and they shall be two in one flesh (Genesis ii. 24): therefore, what God has joined together, let no man put asunder (Matthew xix. 6). You cannot, man, dissolve the nuptial tie — how do you hope to divide the Church of God? It is she whom you attack, because you cannot reach Him whom you fain would strike. You make me more glorious and you but waste your strength in warring against me, for it is hard for you to kick against the sharp goad (Acts ix. 6). You cannot blunt its point, and you make your own foot bleed, just as the billows when they dash against the rock, fall back mere empty froth. Believe me, O man, there is no power like the power of the Church. Cease your battling, lest you lose your strength. Wage not war with Heaven. When it is with man you war, you may win or lose, but when your fighting is against the Church it is impossible you should conquer, for God is above all in strength. Do we provoke the Lord to jealousy? Are we stronger than He? (1 Corinthians x. 22). God founded, God gave firmness: who will be so bold as to attempt to pull down? Know you not His power? He looks upon the Earth and makes it tremble (Psalm ciii. 32). He gives His order, and that which trembled is made firm again. If He made firm the city after an earthquake had shaken it, how much more could He not give firmness to the Church? The Church is stronger than Heaven itself: “Heaven and Earth will pass, but my words will not pass” (Matthew xiv. 35). What words? “You are Peter, and upon this Rock I will build my Church, and the gates of Hell will not prevail against it” (Matthew xvi. 18).

If thou will not believe His word, believe facts. How many tyrants have sought to crush the Church? They had their gridirons, and fiery furnaces, and wild beasts, and swords — and all failed. Where are those enemies now? Buried and forgotten. And the Church? Brighter than the sun. All they had is now past, but her riches are immortal. If the Christians conquered when they were but few in number, can you hope to vanquish them now that the whole Earth is filled with the holy religion? Heaven and Earth will pass, but my words will not pass. Wonder not at it, or the Church is dearer to God than the very heavens. He took flesh not from Heaven, but from His Church on Earth. And Heaven is for the Church, not the Church for Heaven.

Be not troubled at what has happened. I ask this favour of you: be firm in your faith. Have you not observed, that,when Peter was walking on the waters and began to fear, he was in danger of sinking not because the sea was rough, but because his faith was weak? Have I been raised to this dignity by human intrigue? Was it man that brought me to it, or can man now depose me? I say not this from arrogance or boasting. God forbid I say it from the desire of calming your trouble. The devil no sooner saw that your city was tranquillised, than he plotted how he might disturb the Church. You wicked and most impious spirit! You could not throw down the walls of a city and you think you can make the Church fall? Does the Church consist of walls? he Church consists of the multitude of the Faithful. Look at her pillars and see how solid they are fastened, not by iron, but by faith. Not only is the great multitude itself more vehement than fire, but even one single Christian would conquer you. Have you forgotten the wounds you received from the Martyrs? Often the combatant was a tender maiden delicate as a flower, yet firmer than a rock. You mangled her flesh, but her faith was proof against all your tortures. Her blood fell as nature felt the wounds, but her faith fell not. Her body was torn, but her manly soul flinched not. What was material was spoilt, what was spiritual was untouched. You could not vanquish one woman and yet you hope to vanquish a whole people? Have you not heard these words of the Lord: “Where there are two or three gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them”? (Matthew xviii. 20). And do you think He will not be in the midst of a numerous people, united together by the ties of charity? I have his pledge, and on that I trust, not on my own strength. I have His written promise. That is my staff, and my guarantee, and my tranquil port. What matters it to me if the whole world be upset — ave I not His written word? Have I not his letters? There is my rampart and there my defence. What letters? “I am with you all days, even to the consummation of the world” (Matthew xxviii. 20). Christ is with me — of whom shall I be afraid? Though stormy billows should rise up against me, though the sea should open to swallow me, though the wrath of kings should be kindled against me — I will heed them no more, than if they were so many spider’s webs. Had not my love for you kept me, I would have started this very day on my exile, for this is my constant prayer: O Lord! Your will be done (Matthew vi. 10). I will do your will. Not what such or such an one may will, but what you will. This is my tower of strength, this is my firm rock, this is my trusty staff. If God wills that I go, I will go. If He wills me to remain here, I will give Him thanks. Yes, wherever He wills me to go, I will bless His holy name.”

What humility and courage in this saintly minister of Christ! What a consolation for the Church when God sends her men like this! He has given four to the Eastern Church: Athanasius, Gregory of Nazianzum, Basil and Chrysostom. In spite of the immense dangers to which faith was exposed during the age in which they lived, these four Holy Doctors, by their sanctity, learning and courage kept it alive among the people. Athanasius and Gregory appear to us in that period of the Ecclesiastical Year when the Church is radiant with her Easter joy and celebrates the Resurrection of her Divine Spouse. Basil’s feast gladdens us in the season of Pentecost when the Church is filled with the gifts of the Holy Ghost. Chrysostom comes at Christmastide and adds to the joy of the dear Mystery of Bethlehem. Let us, the favoured children of the Latin Church which alone has preserved the primitive faith because Peter is with her — let us honour these four faithful guardians of Tradition: let us today pay the homage of our devotion to Chrysostom, the Doctor of the universal Church, the conqueror of the world, the dauntless Pastor, the successor of the Martyrs, the Preacher by excellence, the admirer of Saint Paul, and the fervent imitator of our Lord Jesus Christ.

*****

What a crown is yours, O Chrysostom! Oh how glorious is your name in the Church of both Heaven and Earth! You preached the gospel in truth, you fought the battle of your Lord with courage, you suffered for the cause of justice and you gave up your life in defence of the liberty of God’s word. The applause of men did not make you less stern in claiming the rights of God, and the gift of apostolic eloquence with which the Holy Ghost had enriched you was but a feeble image of the divine fire which burned within your heart, and which made you love the Word Incarnate, Christ Jesus our Lord, more than your own glory, or happiness, or life. You were calumniated by wicked men. Your name was erased from the tablets of the holy altar and like your divine Master, you were condemned as a criminal and deposed from the episcopal throne. But as well might men strive to eclipse the sun, as efface your loved name from the memory of the Christian world. Rome defended you and has ever honoured your admirable virtues, just as she now venerates your sacred relics which repose near the tomb of the Prince of the Apostles. She and all her children throughout the world consider you as one of the most faithful dispensers of divine Truth.

Recompense the devotion we have for you, O Chrysostom, by watching over us from Heaven. Instruct us, convert us, make us earnest Christians. Like your beloved master Saint Paul, you careed for no knowledge save that which would make you know Christ Jesus — but is it not in Christ Jesus that are hidden all the treasures of knowledge and wisdom? Teach us to know this dear Saviour who has come down to us with all His infinite perfections. Teach us to know His spirit. Tell us how we may please and imitate Him. Ask Him to receive the offering of our faithful love. In one thing we resemble you, great Saint!We are exiles, but, alas, we are so often tempted to love our exile as though it were our home. Detach us from this Earth and its vanities. May we long to be united with you (as you were united with the holy Martyr Basiliscus) in order that we may be with our Jesus.

Faithful Pastor, pray for our Pastors. Obtain for them your own spirit, and pray that their flocks may be docile to their teachings. Bless the Preachers of God’s word so that they may preach not themselves but Jesus Christ. Ask our Lord to give them that Christian eloquence which comes from the study of the Sacred Volume and from prayer, that thus the Faithful may be allured to virtue by the charm of an unearthly language, and may give glory to God. Protect the Roman Pontiff, whose predecessor was your sole defender. May he ever be the protector of the Bishops of the Church who are persecuted for justice sake. Pray for your Church of Constantinople. Show, too, your love for the Western Church which has ever revered and loved you. Hasten the fall of the heresies which have so long laid waste large portions of her inheritance. Dispel the dark clouds of incredulity and obtain for us all, by your powerful intercession, a lively faith and the fervent practice of every virtue.

Also on this day according to the ROMAN MARTYROLOGY:

At Sora, St. Julian, martyr, who, being arrested in the persecution of Antoninus, was beheaded, because a pagan temple had fallen to the ground while he was tortured. Thus did he win the crown of martyrdom.

In Africa, St. Avitus, martyr.

In the same country, the holy martyrs, Datius, Reatrus and their companions, who suffered in the persecution of the Vandals.

Also the holy martyrs Dativus, Julian, Vincent and twenty-seven others.

At Rome, St. Vitalian, pope.

At Le Mans, the demise of St. Julian, the first bishop of that city, who was sent there by the blessed Apostle St. Peter to preach the Gospel.

In the monastery of Bobacum, St. Maur, abbot.

At Brixen, St. Angela Merici, virgin, foundress of the Order of the Nuns of St. Ursula, whose principal aim is to direct young girls in the ways of the Lord. By an indult of Pope Pius VII her feast is celebrated on the thirty-first of May.

And in other places, many other holy martyrs, confessors and virgins.

Thanks be to God.

26 JANUARY – SAINT POLYCARP (Bishop and Martyr)

 

Polycarp, a disciple of the Apostle John who ordained him Bishop of Smyrna, was looked up to by all the Churches of Asia inasmuch as he had not only known some of the Apostles and those who had seen our Lord, but had been trained by them. He went to Rome, during the reign of the Emperor Antoninus Pius, and under the Pontificate of Anicetus, to have an answer to certain questions regarding Easter. While there he brought back to the faith several Christians who had been misled by the teaching of Marcion and Valentine. Having, on a certain occasion, casually met Marcion who said to him: “Do you know us?” Polycarp replied: “Yes, I know you as the first-born of Satan.” Some time after, under the reign of Marcus Antoninus and Lucius Aurelius Commodus, in the fourth persecution after that under Nero, he was cited before the Proconsul of Smyrna who condemned him to be burnt alive. The sentence was carried into effect in the amphitheatre amid the clamours of the whole people. He wrote an important Letter to the Philippians which is still read in the Churches of Asia.

Dom Prosper Gueranger:

Amid the sweetness he is enjoying from the contemplation of the Word made Flesh, John the Beloved Disciple beholds coming towards him his dear Polycarp, the Angel of the Church of Smyrna (Apocalypse ii. 8), all resplendent with the glory of martyrdom. This venerable Saint has on his soul the fervent love that made him say in the amphitheatre when asked by the Proconsul to curse his Divine Master: “Six-and-eighty years have I served Him, and He has never done me any wrong — nay, He has laden me with kindness. How could I blaspheme my King who has saved me?” After having suffered fire and the sword, he was admitted into the presence of this King, his Saviour, in reward for the eighty-six years of his faithful service, for the labours he had gone through in order to maintain faith and charity among his flock, and for the cruel death he endured. He was a disciple of Saint John the Evangelist whom he imitated by zealously opposing the heretics who were then striving to corrupt the faith. In obedience to the command of his holy Master (2 John i. 10), he refused to hold intercourse with Marcion, the heresiarch whom he called the first-born of Satan. This energetic adversary of the proud sect that denied the mystery of the Incarnation wrote an admirable Epistle to the Philippians in which we find these words: “Whoever confesses not that Jesus Christ came in the flesh, is an Antichrist.” Polycarp, then, had a right to the honour of standing near the crib in which the Son of God shows Himself to us in all His loveliness, and clothed in flesh like our own.

Let us honour this disciple of John, this friend of Ignatius, this Bishop of the Apostolic Age, whose praise was pronounced by Jesus Christ Himself in the Revelations of Patmos. Our Saviour said to him by the mouth of Saint John: “Be faithful unto death, and I will give you the crown of life” (Apocalypse ii. 10). Polycarp was faithful even unto death, and has received his crown. And while we are celebrating the coming of his King among us, he is one of the Saints who assist us to profit of the holy season.

* * * * *

How well you bore out the full meaning of your name, Polycarp, for you produced many fruits for your Saviour during your six-and-eighty years spent in his service. The numerous souls won over to Christ, the virtues which adorned your life, and your life itself, which you presented to your Lord in its full maturity — these were your fruits. And what happiness was yours to have received instruction from the Disciple that leaned upon Jesus’s breast! After being separated from Him for more than sixty years, you are united with Him on this the day of your martyrdom, and your venerable master receives you in a transport of joy. You adore, with Him, that Divine Babe whose simplicity you had imitated during life, and who was the single object of your love. Ask of Him, for us, that we too may be faithful unto death.

Fertilise by your prayers, now that you are throned in Heaven, the vineyard of the Church which, when on Earth, you cultivated by your labours and watered with the blood of your glorious martyrdom. Re-establish faith and unity in the Churches of Asia which were founded by your venerable hand. Hasten, by your prayers, the destruction of that degrading slavery of Mahometanism which has kept the East in bondage so long because her once faithful children severed themselves from Rome by the great schism of Byzantium. Pray for the Church of Lyons which regards you as its founder, through the ministry of your disciple Pothinus and takes itself so glorious a share in the apostolate of the Gentiles by the work of the Propagation of the Faith.

Watch over the purity of our holy Faith and preserve us from being deceived by false teachers. The error which you combated and which teaches that all the mysteries of the Incarnation are but empty symbols, has risen up again in these our days. There are Marcions even now who would reduce all religion to myths, and they find some few followers. May your powerful prayers rid the world of this remnant of so impious a doctrine. You paid homage to the Apostolic Chair, for you too would see Peter, and journeyed to Rome in order to consult its Pontiff on questions regarding the interests of your Church of Smyrna. Defend the rights of this august See from which alone are derived both the jurisdiction of our Pastors and the authoritative teachings of Faith. Pray for us that we may spend the remaining days of this holy Season in the contemplation and the love of our new-born King. May this love, accompanied with purity of heart, draw down upon us the merciful blessings of our God and at length, after our course is run, obtain for us the Crown of Life.

25 JANUARY – THE CONVERSION OF SAINT PAUL

Dom Prosper Gueranger:

We have already seen how the Gentiles in the person of the Three Magi offered their mystic gifts to the Divine Child of Bethlehem, and received from Him, in return, the precious gifts of faith, hope and charity. The harvest is ripe. It is time for the reaper to come. But who is to be God’s labourer? The Apostles of Christ are still living under the very shadow of mount Sion. All of them have received the mission to preach the gospel of salvation to the uttermost parts of the world, but not one among them has, as yet, received the special character of Apostle of the Gentiles. Peter, who had received the Apostleship of Circumcision (Galatians ii. 8) is sent specially, as was Christ Himself, to the sheep that are lost of the house of Israel (Matthew xv. 24). And yet, as he is the Head and the Foundation, it belongs to Him to open the door of Faith to the Gentiles (Acts xiv. 26), which he solemnly does by conferring Baptism on Cornelius, the Roman centurion. But the Church is to have one more Apostle — an Apostle for the Gentiles — and he is to be the fruit of the martyrdom and prayer of Saint Stephen. Saul, a citizen of Tarsus, has not seen Christ in the flesh and yet Christ alone can make an Apostle. It is then, from Heaven, where He reigns impassible and glorified, that Jesus will call Saul to be His disciple just as, during the period of His active life, He called the fishermen of Genesareth to follow Him and hearken to His teachings. The Son of God will raise Saul up to the Third Heaven, and there will reveal to him all His mysteries: and when Saul, having come down again to this Earth, will have seen Peter (Galatians i. 18) and compared his Gospel with that recognised by Peter (Galatians ii. 2) — he can say, in all truth, that he is an Apostle of Christ Jesus (Galatians i. 1) and that he has done nothing less than the great Apostles (2 Corinthians xi. 5).

It is on this glorious day of the Conversion of Saul, who is soon to change his name into Paul, that this great work is commenced. It is on this day that is heard the Almighty voice which breaks the cedars of Libanus (Psalm xxviii. 5) and can make a persecuting Jew become first a Christian, and then an Apostle. This admirable transformation had been prophesied by Jacob when, on his death-bed, he unfolded to each of his sons the future of the tribe of which he was to be the father. Judah was to have the precedence of honour. From his royal race was to be born the Redeemer, the Expected of nations. Benjamin’s turn came. His glory is not to be compared with that of his brother Judah, and yet it was to be very great — for, from his tribe is to be born Paul, the Apostle of the Gentile nations.

These are the words of the dying Prophet: Benjamin, a ravenous wolf, in the morning will eat the prey, and in the evening will divide the spoil (Genesis xlix. 27). Who, says an ancient writer, “is he that in the morning of impetuous youth goes like a wolf in pursuit of the sheep of Christ, breathing threats and slaughter against them? Is it not Saul on the road to Damascus, the bearer and doer of the high priest’s orders, and stained with the blood of Stephen whom he has stoned by the hands of all those over whose garments he kept watch? And he, who, in the evening, not only does not despoil, but with a charitable and peaceful hand, breaks to the hungry the bread of life — is it not Paul, of the tribe of Benjamin, the Apostle of Christ, burning with zeal for his brethren, making himself all to all, and wishing even to be an anathema for their sakes?

Oh the power of our dear Jesus! how wonderful! How irresistible! He wishes that the first worshippers at His crib should be humble Shepherds — and He invites them by His Angels, whose sweet hymn was enough to lead these simple-hearted men to the stable where lies, in swaddling-clothes, He who is the hope of Israel. He would have the Gentile Princes, the Magi, do him homage — and bids to arise in the Heavens a star whose mysterious apparition, joined to the interior speaking of the Holy Ghost, induces these men of desire to come from the far East and lay, at the feet of a humble babe, their riches and their hearts. When the time is come for forming the Apostolic College, He approaches the banks of the sea of Tiberias, and with this single word “Follow me,” He draws after Him such as He wishes to have as His Disciples. In the midst of all the humiliations of His Passion, He has but to look at the unfaithful Peter, and Peter is a penitent. Today, it is from Heaven that He evinces His power: all the mysteries of our redemption have been accomplished, and He wishes to show mankind that He is the sole author and master of the Apostolate, and that His alliance with the Gentiles is now perfect: He speaks. The sound of His reproach bursts like thunder over the head of this hot Pharisee who is bent on annihilating the Church. He takes this heart of the Jew and by His grace, turns it into the heart of the Apostle, the Vessel of election, the Paul who is afterwards to say of himself: “I live not I, but Christ lives in me” (Galatians ii. 20).

The commemoration of this great event was to be a Feast in the Church, and it had a right to be kept as near as might be to the one which celebrates the martyrdom of Saint Stephen, for Paul is the Proto-martyr’s convert. The anniversary of his martyrdom would, of course, have to be solemnised at the summer solstice. Where, then, place the Feast of his Conversion if not near Christmas, and thus our own Apostle would be at Jesus’ crib and Stephen’s side? Moreover, the Magi could claim him as being the conqueror of that Gentile-world, of which they were the first-fruits.

And lastly, it was necessary, in order to give the court of our Infant-King its full beauty that the two Princes of the Church — the Apostle of the Jews and the Apostle of the Gentiles —should stand close to the mystic crib: Peter, with his Keys, and Paul, with his Sword. Bethlehem thus becomes the perfect figure of the Church, and the riches of this season of the Cycle are abundant beyond measure.

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We give you thanks, O Jesus, who has this day prostrated your enemy by your power and raised him up again by your mercy. Truly are you the Mighty God, and your victories will be praised by all creatures. How wonderful are you in your plans for the world’s salvation! You make men your associates in the work of the preaching of your word and in the dispensing of your Mysteries, and in order to make Paul worthy of such an honour you use all the resources of your grace. It pleased you to make an Apostle of Stephen’s murderer so that your sovereign power might be shown to the world, your love of souls be evinced in its richest gratuitous generosity, and grace abound where sin had so abounded. Sweet Saviour! Often visit us with this grace which converts the heart, for we desire to have the life of grace abundantly, and we feel that its very principle is often in danger within us. Convert us, as you did your Apostle, and after having converted us, assist us: for, without you, we can do nothing. Go before us, follow us, stand by our side. Never leave us, but as you have given us the commencement, secure to us our perseverance to the end. Give us that Christian wisdom which will teach us how to acknowledge, with tear and love, that mysterious gift of grace which no creature can merit and to which, nevertheless, a creature’s will may put an obstacle. We are captives: you alone are master of the instrument with which we can break our chains. You put it into our hands, bidding us make use of it so that our deliverance is your work, not ours — but our captivity, if it continues, can only be attributed to our negligence and sloth. Give us, O Lord, this your grace, and graciously receive the promise we now make, that we will render it fruitful by co-operating with it.

Assist us, holy Apostle of Jesus, to correspond with the merciful designs of God in our regard. Obtain of Him, for us, that we may be overcome by the sweetness of an Infant-God. His voice does not make itself heard. He does not blind us by the glare of His divine light. But this we know — He often complains that we persecute Him! Oh that we could have the courage to say to Him, with a heart honest like yours: “Lord! what will you that we do?” He would answer and tell us to be simple, and to become little children, like Himself — to recognise now, after so many Christmases of indifference, the love He shows us in this mystery of Bethlehem — to declare war against sin — to resist our evil inclinations — and to advance in virtue, by walking in His divine footsteps. You have said in one of your Epistles: “If any man love not our Lord Jesus Christ, let him be anathema!” (1 Corinthians xvi. 22)

Oh teach us to know this dear Jesus more and more that so we may grow in His love, and by your prayers preserve us from that ingratitude which turns even the sweet Mysteries of this holy season into our own greater condemnation. Glorious Vessel of election, pray for the conversion of sinners who have forgotten their God. When on this Earth you spent yourself for the salvation of souls. Continue your ministry now that you are reigning in Heaven and draw down upon them that persecute Jesus the graces which triumph over the hardest hearts. Apostle of the Gentiles, look with an eye of loving pity on so many nations that are still sitting in the shadow of death. During your mortal life, you were divided between two ardent desires — one, to be with Christ, the other, to remain longer on Earth labouring for the salvation of immortal souls: now that you are united forever with the Jesus you preached to men, forget not the poor ones to whom their God is a stranger. Raise up in the Church apostolic men who may continue your work. Pray to our Lord that He bless their labours and the blood of such among them as are Martyrs of zeal. Shield, with your protection, the See of Peter, your Brother-Apostle and your Leader. Support the authority of the Church of Rome which has inherited your power and looks on you as her second defence. May your powerful intercession lead her enemies into humble submission, destroy schisms and heresies and fill her Pastors with your spirit, that, like you, they may seek, not themselves, but solely and in all things the interests of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Also on this day according to the ROMAN MARTYROLOGY:

At Damascus, the birthday of St. Ananias, who baptised Saint Paul. After he had preached the Gospel at Damascus, Eleutheropolis and elsewhere, he was scourged under the judge Licinius, had his flesh torn, and lastly being overwhelmed with stones, ended his martyrdom.

At Antioch, in the time of Julian the Apostate, the holy martyrs Juventinus and Maximus, who were crowned with martyrdom. On their birthday, St. John Chrysostom preached a sermon to his people.

At Clermont in Auvergne, the Saints Projectus, bishop, and Marinus, a man of God, who were murdered by the leading men of that city.

Also the holy martyrs Donatus, Sabinus and Agape.

At Tomis in Scythia, St. Bretannion, bishop, who by his great sanctity and his zeal for the Catholic faith shone in the Church, under the Arian emperor Valens, who he opposed with fortitude.

At Arras in France, St. Poppo, abbot, renowned for miracles.

And in other places, many other holy martyrs, confessors and virgins.

Thanks be to God.

25 JANUARY – THIRD SUNDAY AFTER EPIPHANY

Epistle – Romans xii. 16‒21

Brethren, be not wise in your own conceits. To no man rendering evil for evil: providing good things not only in the sight of God, but also in the sight of all men. If it be possible, as much as is in you, having peace with all men; not revenging yourselves, my dearly beloved: but give place to wrath for it is written, “Revenge is mine; I will repay, says the Lord.” But if your enemy be hungry, give him to eat; if he thirst, give him to drink; for doing this, you will heap coals of fire on his head. Be not overcome by evil, but overcome evil by good.

Thanks be to God.

Dom Prosper Guéranger:

This love of our neighbour recommended to us by the Apostle is a consequence of that universal brotherhood which our Saviour by his birth brought us from Heaven. He came to establish peace between Heaven and Earth. Men, therefore, ought to be at peace one with another. Our Lord bids us not to be overcome by evil, but to overcome evil by good — and did not He first practise this by coming among us, who were children of wrath, that He might make us children of adoption by His humiliations and His sufferings?

Gospel – Matthew viii. 1‒13

When Jesus had come down from the mountains, great multitudes followed Him. And behold, a leper came and adored Him, saying, “Lord, if you will it, you can make me clean.” Jesus stretching forth his hand, touched him, saying, “I will; be made clean,” and forthwith his leprosy was cleansed. And Jesus said to him, “Tell no man: but go, show thyself to the priest, and offer the gift which Moses commanded for a testimony to them.” And when he had entered into Capharnaum, there came to him a centurion, beseeching him, and saying, “Lord, my servant lies at home sick of the palsy, and is grievously tormented.” Jesus said to him, “I will come and heal him.” The centurion replying, said, “Lord, I am not worthy that you should enter under my roof; but only say the word, and my servant will be healed. For I also am a man subject to authority, having under me soldiers: and I say to this man, Go, and he goes; and to another, Come, and he comes; and to my servant, Do this, and he does it.” Jesus hearing this, marvelled; and said to them that followed him, “Amen I say to you, I have not found so great faith in Israel. And I say to you that many will come from the East and the West, and will sit down with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven; but the children of the kingdom will be cast into the exterior darkness: there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” Jesus said to the centurion, “Go, and as you have believed, so be it done to you,” and the servant was healed at the same hour.

Praise be to you, O Christ.

Dom Prosper Guéranger:

The human race was infected with the leprosy of sin: the Son of God touches it by the mystery of the Incarnation and restores it to health. But He requires that the sick man, now that He is healed, will go and show himself to the priest and comply with the ceremonies prescribed by the law. And this, to show that He allows a human priesthood to co-operate in the work of our salvation. The vocation of the Gentiles of which the Magi were the first-fruits is again brought before us in the faith of the Centurion. A Roman soldier, and millions like him, will be reputed as true children of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, while they who are the sons of this Patriarch according to the flesh will be cast out from the feast chamber into the gloom of blindness. And their punishment will be given as a spectacle to the whole Earth.

Let man, then, saved as He has been by the coming of the Emmanuel, sing a hymn of praise to the power of the God who has wrought our salvation by the strength of His almighty arm. Man had been sentenced to death but now that he has God for a brother he will not die: he will live: and could he spend his life better than in praising the works of this God that has saved him?

24 JANUARY – SAINT TIMOTHY (Bishop and Martyr)

 

Timothy was born at Lystra in Lycaonia. His father was a Gentile and his mother a Jew. When the Apostle Paul came into those parts Timothy was a follower of the Christian religion. The Apostle had heard much of his holy life and was thereby induced to take him as the companion of his travels. But on account of the Jews who had become converts to the faith of Christ and were aware that the father of Timothy was a Gentile, he administered to him the rite of circumcision. As soon as they arrived at Ephesus, the Apostle ordained him Bishop of that Church. The Apostle addressed two of his Epistles to him — one from Laodicea, the other from Rome — to instruct him how to discharge his pastoral office. He could not endure to see sacrifice which is due to God alone, offered to the idols of devils. And finding that the people of Ephesus were offering victims to Diana on her festival, he strove to make them desist from their impious rites. But they, turning upon him, stoned him. The Christians could not deliver him from their hands till he was more dead than alive. They carried him to a mountain not far from the town and there, on the ninth of the Calends of February (January 24), he slept in the Lord.

Dom Prosper Gueranger:

Before giving thanks to God for the miraculous conversion of the Apostle of the Gentiles, the Church assembles us together for the Feast of his favourite disciple. Timothy — the indefatigable companion of Saint Paul — the friend to whom the great Apostle, a few days before shedding his blood for Christ, wrote his last Epistle — comes now to await his master’s arrival at the crib of the Emmanuel. He there meets John the Beloved Disciple, together with whom he bore the anxieties attendant on the government of the Church of Ephesus. Stephen, too, and the other Martyrs, welcome him, for he also bears a Martyr’s palm in his hand. He presents to the august Mother of the Divine Babe the respectful homage of the Church of Ephesus which Mary had sanctified by her presence and which shares with the Church of Jerusalem the honour of having had her as one of its number, who was not only, like the Apostles, the witness, but moreover, in her quality of Mother of God, the ineffable instrument of the salvation of mankind.

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In you, holy Pontiff, we honour one of the disciples of the Apostles — one of the links which connect us immediately with Christ. You appear to us all illumined by your intercourse with Paul the great Doctor of the Gentiles. Another of his disciples, Dionysius the Areopagite, made you the confidant of his sublime contemplations on the Divine Names, but now, bathed in light eternal, you yourself are contemplating the Sun of Justice in the face-to-face vision. Intercede for us, who enjoy but a glimpse of His beauty through the veil of His humiliations that we may so love Him as to merit to see Him, one day, in His glory. In order to lessen the pressure of the corruptible body which weighs down the soul (Wisdom ix. 15), you subjected your outward man to so rigorous a penance that Saint Paul exhorted you to moderate it: assist us in our endeavours to reduce our flesh to obedience to the spirit. The Church reads without ceasing the counsels which the Apostle gave to you and to all Pastors through you for the election and the conduct of the clergy: pray that the Church may be blessed with Bishops, Priests and Deacons endowed with all those qualifications which he requires from the dispensers of the mysteries of God. Lastly, we beseech you, who ascended to Heaven decked with the aureola of martyrdom, encourage us who are also soldiers of Christ that we may throw aside our cowardice and win that kingdom, where our Emmanuel welcomes and crowns His elect for all eternity.

Also on this day according to the ROMAN MARTYROLOGY:

At Antioch, in the persecution of Decius, the bishop St. Babilas, who frequently glorified God by his sufferings and torments and ended his holy life in chains, with which he ordered his body to be buried. Three boys whom he had instructed in the faith of Christ, Urbanus, Philidian and Epolonius, are said to have suffered with him.

At Neocaesarea, the holy martyrs Mardonius, Musonius, Eugenius and Metellus, who were burned to death, their remains being thrown into the river.

At Foligno, in the time of Decius, St. Felician, consecrated bishop of that city by Pope Victor. After many labours, he was crowned with martyrdom in extreme old age. Also, the holy martyrs Thyrsus and Projectus.

At Bologna, St. Zamas, the first bishop of that city, who was consecrated by Pope St. Denis, and there wonderfully propagated the Christian faith.

Also blessed Suranus, abbot, who lived in the time of the Lombards.

And in other places, many other holy martyrs, confessors and virgins.

Thanks be to God.