26 APRIL – SAINTS CLETUS AND MARCELLINUS (Popes and Martyrs)

Cletus, the son of Emilianus, was a Roman from Region V, and of the patrician street. He governed the Church during the reigns of the emperors Vespasian and Titus. Agreeably to the order given him by the Prince of the Apostles, he established 25 priests in the city. He was the first who in his letters used the words “Health and Apostcolic benediction.” Having put the Church into admirable order and having governed it 12 years, 7 months and 2 days, he was crowned with martyrdom under the emperor Domitian in the Second Persecution following that of Nero, and was buried in the Vatican near the body of Saint Peter.

Marcellinus, a Roman by birth, was overcome by fear in the terrible persecution under the emperor Diocletian, and offered incense to the idols of the gods. But such was his sorrow for his fall that he immediately repaired to Sinuessa where a council of several bishops was being held and, entering in, covered with sackcloth and shedding floods of tears, he publicly confessed his sin. No one, however, dared to condemn him, but all, with one voice, exclaimed: “Judge yourself by your own lips, not by our judgement, for the first See is judged by no-one. They added that Peter, too, sinned through the same weakness and by the like tears, obtained pardon from God. Having returned to Rome, Marcellinus went to the emperor and severely reproached him for having driven him to so great a crime. Whereupon, the emperor ordered him to be beheaded, together with three other Christians, Claudius, Cyrinus and Antoninus. Their bodies, by the emperor’s order, were left 36 days without burial, after which the blessed Marcellus (in consequence of his receiving while asleep, an admonition from Saint Peter) had them buried in the Cemetery of Priscilla on the Via Salaria, at which burial were present many Priests and Deacons who, with torches in their hands, sang hymns in honour of the martyrs. Marcellinus governed the Church 7 years, 11 months and 23 days. During this period, he gave two ordinations in December, at which four were made Priests and five were made Bishops.

Dom Prosper Guéranger:

Two bright stars appear this day on the Ecclesiastical Cycle proclaiming the glory of our Jesus, the Conqueror of death. Again, they are two Pontiffs and Martyr-Pontiffs. Cletus leads us to the very commencement of the Church, for he was a disciple of Peter and his second Successor in the See of Rome. Marcellinus was a witness of the great Persecution under Diocletian. He governed the Church on the eve of her triumph. Let us honour these two fathers of Christendom who laid down their lives in its defence, and let us offer their merits to Jesus, who supported them by His grace and cheered them with the hope that, one day, they would share in His Resurrection.

In the short notice on the life of Saint Marcellinus the reader will meet with a circumstance which, by some learned historians, is rejected as utterly untrue, whilst, by others equally learned, it is considered as authentic. The holy Pontiff is said to have flinched before his persecutors and to have gone so far as to offer incense to the idols, but the statement adds that he repaired his fault by a second and courageous profession of his faith which secured for him the crown of martyrdom. The plan of our work does not admit critical disquisitions. We will therefore not attempt to clear up this difficulty of history. It is enough for us to know that all are agreed upon the martyrdom of this holy Pope. At the time when the Lesson, which is now in the Breviary, was drawn up, the fall of Marcellinus was believed as a fact. Later on, it was called in question and the arguments used against it are by no means to be despised. The Church, however, has not thought well to change the Lesson as it first stood, the more so as questions of this nature do not touch upon faith. We scarcely need to remind the reader, that the fall of Marcellinus, supposing it to be a fact, would be no argument against the infallibility of the Roman Pontiff. The Pope cannot teach error, when he addresses himself to the Church. But he is not impeccable in his personal conduct.

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Pray for us, O holy Pontiffs, and look with fatherly love upon the Church on Earth which was so violently persecuted in your times and, at the present day, is far from enjoying peace. The worship of idols is revived, and though they be not of stone or metal, yet they that adore them are as determined to propagate their worship as were the pagans of former days to make all men idolaters. The gods and godesses now in favour are called Liberty, Progress and Modern Civilisation. Every measure is resorted to in order to impose these new divinities upon the world. They that refuse to adore them are persecuted. Governments are secularised, that is, un-Christianised. The education of youth is made independent of all moral teaching. The religious element is rejected from social life as an intrusion: and all this is done with such a show of reasonableness that thousands of well-minded Christians are led to be its advocates, timid perhaps, and partial, but still its advocates.

Preserve us, O holy Martyrs, from being the dupes of this artful impiety. It was not in vain that our Jesus suffered death and rose again from the grave. Surely, after this He deserves to be what He is — King of the whole Earth under whose power are all creatures. It is in order to obey Him that we wish no other Liberty save that which He has based upon his Gospel; no other Progress save that which follows the path He has marked out; no other Civilisation save that which results from the fulfilment of the duties to our fellow men, which He has established. It is He that created human nature and gave it its laws. It is He that redeemed it and restored it to its lost rights. Him alone, then, do we adore. O holy Martyrs, pray that we may never become the dupes or slaves of the theories of human pride, not even should they that make or uphold them, have power to make us suffer or die for our resistance.

Also on this day according to the ROMAN MARTYROLOGY:

At Amasea in Pontus, St. Basileus, bishop and martyr, whose illustrious martyrdom occurred under the emperor Licinius. His body was thrown into the sea, but being found by Elpidiphorus through the revelation of an angel, it was honourably entombed.

At Braga in Portugal, St. Peter, martyr, the first bishop of that city.

At Venice, St. Clarence, bishop and confessor.

At Verona, St. Lucidius, bishop.

In the monastery of Centula, St. Richarius, priest and confessor.

At Troyes, St. Exuperantia, virgin.

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

Thanks be to God.

26 APRIL – FRIDAY IN THE FOURTH WEEK AFTER EASTER

Dom Prosper Gueranger:

Praise be to our Risen Jesus for His having said to us: “He that believes and is baptised, will be saved” (Mark xvi. 16). Thanks to His infinite mercy we believe and have been baptised. We are therefore in the path of salvation. It is true that Faith will not save us without good works, but, on the other hand, good works without Faith cannot merit eternal salvation. With what transport of joy ought we not to give thanks to God for His having produced in us, by His grace, this unspeakable gift, (2 Corinthians ix. 15), this first pledge of our everlasting happiness! How carefully ought we not to strive to keep it pure, and increase it by our fidelity! Faith, like other virtues, has its degrees: we should therefore frequently use the prayer addressed to Jesus by His Apostles: “Lord, increase our faith!” (Luke xvii. 15).

We are living in an age when Faith is weak among the majority of even them that believe, and it is one of the greatest dangers that could befal us in this world. When Faith is weak, Charity must needs grow cold. Our Saviour one day asked His disciples if they thought that He would find Faith upon the earth when He should come to judge mankind? (Luke xviii. 8)

Have we not reason to fear that we are fast approaching that awful time when the want of Faith will paralyse men’s hearts? Faith proceeds from our will moved by the Holy Ghost. We believe, because we wish to believe and, for this reason, it is a happiness to believe. The blind man to whom Jesus restored his sight said to him, when he bade him believe in the Son of God: “Who is he, Lord, that I may believe in him?” (John ix. 36) These same dispositions ought to animate us when there is question of our making an act of faith —we should believe in order that we may know that which, without faith, we could not know. Then will God manifest Himself to both our mind and heart.

You will meet with Christians who seem to make it their business to keep down the Faith of their friends as much as possible. They seem to be jealous of Faith getting too much, are ever talking about the rights of Reason, and will have it that they who are so ready to believe are guilty of underrating the dignity, range and divine origin of Reason. Let them that are thus accused, answer: “We are far from denying the existence of that natural light within us, which is called Reason. The teaching of the Church is too express on this point to admit of any doubt, " but she also teaches us, that this light, even had it retained its primal power, and had not been obscured by original sin, is incapable of discovering by itself alone the end for which man was created, and the means whereby that end is to be gained. Faith alone can enable man to attain to such sublime knowledge as this.”

Others, again, maintain that as soon as a Christian comes to the full age of Reason, he has a right to suspend the exercise of his Faith in order that he may examine for himself whether it be reasonable or not to continue believing. Such an opinion is most false, and has made many an apostate. The Church has ever taught from the days of the Apostles down to our own times, and will so teach to the end of the world — that the child who has received holy Baptism has also, and at that same instant, received the gift of infused Faith. That he thereby became a member of Christ and child of His Church and that if, when he comes to the age of Reason, he should be tempted with doubts regarding matters of Faith, he receives grace to resist those doubts by Faith, and that he would be risking his salvation were he to suspend his Faith. This does not imply that the Church forbids him to confirm his Faith by study and science. Far from it. This is a totally different thing from suspension of one’s faith. It is, according to the admirable saying of the great Saint Anselm, “Faith seeking understanding,” and, we may add, finding it, for God gives this recompense to Faith. You may probably meet with persons who think it right that there should be found among us a class of men, called Free-thinking Philosophers, that is to say, men without Faith, who hold, with regard to God and creatures, doctrines which are wholly independent of Revelation, and who teach a morality that entirely ignores the supernatural element. Is it possible that Catholics can not only countenance and praise such men as these, but even defend them, and be partial towards them? And what must we say of the sad effects resulting from the living with heretics? Most of us could give instances of the dangerous compromises and deplorable concessions made in consequence of much intercourse with those who are not of the Faith. The terrible line of demarcation specified by Saint John in His second Epistle (2 John 10), is being forgotten. The very mention of it is offensive to modern ears. A strong indication of this is to be found in the frequency of mixed marriages which begin with a profanation of a Sacrament and often, though it may be imperceptibly, lead the Catholic party to religious indifference. Let us listen to the energetic language of that illustrious ascetical writer, Father Faber:

“The old fashioned hatred of heresy is becoming scarce. God is not habitually looked at as the sole Truth, and so the existence of heresies no longer appals the mind. It is assumed that God must do nothing painful, and His dominion must not allow itself to take the shape of an inconvenience or a trammel to the liberty of His creatures. If the world has outgrown the idea of exclusiveness, God must follow our lead and lay it aside as a principle in His dealings with us. What the many want they must have at last. This is the rule and the experience of a constitutional country. Thus discord in religion, and untruth in religion, have come to be less odious and less alarming to men, simply because they are accustomed to them. It requires courage, both moral and mental, to believe the whole of a grand nation in the wrong, or to think that an entire country can go astray. But theology, with a brave simplicity, concludes a whole world under sin, and sees no difficulty in the True Church being able to claim only a moderate share of the population of the earth. The belief in the facility of salvation outside the Church is very agreeable to our domestic loves and to our private friendships. Moreover, if we will hold this, the world will pardon a whole host of other superstitions in us, and will do us the honour of complimenting the religion God gave, as if it were some literary or philosophical production of our own. Is this such a huge gain? Many seem amazingly pleased with it, and pay dear for it quite contentedly. Now it is plain that this belief must lower the value of the Church in our eyes. It must relax our efforts to convert others. It must relax our efforts to convert ourselves. Those who use the system of the Church least, will of course esteem it least, and see least in it; and are therefore least fitted to be judges of it. Yet it is just these men who are the most forward and the most generous in surrendering the prerogatives of the Church to the exigencies of modern smoothness and universalism.”

Another sign of the decay of the spirit of Faith, even among many of those who do not neglect their religion, is the disregard for, one might almost say the ignorance of, holy practices recommended by the Church. How many Catholic houses are there not,where there is never to be seen either a drop of Holy Water, or a blessed Candle, or a Palm? These sacred objects, given to us to be a protection, deserve from us that same reverence and love which our forefathers had when they defended them, even at the risk of their lives, against the Protestants of the sixteenth century. What a jeering look of incredulity is evinced by many among us when mention is made of any miracle that is not found in the Bible! With what an air of contemptuous disbelief they hear or read of anything in connection with the Mystic Life, such as ecstasies, raptures or revelations! How uneasy they seem when the subject of the heroic acts of penance done by the Saints, or of the simplest practices of bodily mortification, happens to come across them! How loudly and pathetically do they not protest against the noble sacrifices which some favoured souls are inspired to make, by which they break asunder the dearest ties, and shut themselves out of the world, behind the grille of a monastery or convent! The spirit of Faith makes a true Catholic appreciate the beauty, the reasonableness and the sublimity of all these practices and acts, while the want of this spirit makes them be condemned as extravagant, unmeaning and folly.

Faith longs to believe, for believing is its life. It limits not itself to the strict Creed promulgated by the Church. It knows that this Spouse of Christ possesses all truths, though she does not solemnly declare them all, nor under the pain of anathema. Faith forestalls the declaration of a dogma. It believes piously, before believing under obligation. A secret instinct draws it towards this as yet veiled truth, and when the dogma is published by a Definition of the Supreme Pontiff, then does this same Faith rejoice in the triumph of the truth which was revealed from the very commencement of the Church, and its joy is great in proportion to the fidelity with which it honoured the truth, when only generous and loyal hearts embraced it.

Glory, then, be to our Risen Jesus, who requited His Mother’s faith, who strengthened that of the disciples and the holy women, and who, as we humbly pray, will mercifully reward ours.

25 APRIL – THE GREATER LITANIES

Dom Prosper Gueranger:

This day is honoured in the Liturgy by what is called Saint Mark’s Procession. The term, however,is not a correct one, inasmuch as a Procession was a privilege peculiar to the twenty-fifth of April previously to the institution of our Evangelist’s feast, which, even so late as the sixth century, had no fixed day in the Roman Church. The real name of this Procession is The Greater Litanies. The word Litany means Supplication, and is applied to the religious rite of singing certain chants while proceeding from place to place, and this in order to propitiate Heaven. The two Greek words Kyrie eleison (Lord have mercy on us) were also called Litany, as likewise were the invocations which were afterwards added to that cry for mercy, and which now form a Liturgical prayer used by the Church on certain solemn occasions.

The Greater Litanies (or Processions) are so called to distinguish them from the Minor Litanies, that is, Processions of less importance as far as the solemnity and concourse of the faithful were concerned. We gather from an expression of Saint Gregory the Great that it was an ancient custom in the Roman Church to celebrate, once each year, a Greater Litany at which all the Clergy and people assisted. This holy Pontiff chose the twenty-fifth of April as the fixed day for this Procession and appointed the Basilica of Saint Peter as the Station.

Several writers on the Liturgy have erroneously confounded this institution with the Processions prescribed by Saint Gregory for times of public calamity. It existed long before his time, and all that he had to do with it was the fixing it to the twenty-fifth of April. It is quite independent of the feast of Saint Mark which was instituted at a much later period. If the twenty-fifth of April occur during Easter Week, the Procession takes place on that day (unless it be Easter Sunday) but the feast of the Evangelist is not kept till after the Octave.

The question naturally presents itself — why did Saint Gregory choose the twenty-fifth of April for a Procession and Station in which everything reminds us of compunction and penance, and which would seem so out of keeping with the joyous Season of Easter? The first to give a satisfactory answer to this difficulty was Canon Moretti, a learned Liturgiologist of [the eighteenth] century. In a dissertation of great erudition he proves that in the fifth, and probably even in the fourth, century, the twenty-fifth of April was observed at Rome as a day of great solemnity. The faithful went on that day to the Basilica of Saint Peter in order to celebrate the anniversary of the first entrance of the Prince of the Apostles into Rome, upon which he thus conferred the inalienable privilege of being the Capital of Christendom. It is from that day that we count the twenty-five years, two months and some days that Saint Peter reigned as Bishop of Rome. The Sacramentary of Saint Leo gives us the Mass of this Solemnity, which afterwards ceased to be kept. Saint Gregory, to whom we are mainly indebted for the arrangement of the Roman Liturgy, was anxious to perpetuate the memory of a day which gave to Rome her grandest glory. He, therefore, ordained that the Church of Saint Peter should be the Station of the Great Litany, which was always to be celebrated on that auspicious day. The twenty-fifth of April comes so frequently during the Octave of Easter that it could not be kept as a feast, properly so called, in honour of Saint Peter’s entrance into Rome. Saint Gregory, therefore, adopted the only means left of commemorating the great event.

But there was a striking contrast resulting from this institution, of which the holy Pontiff was fully aware, but which he could not avoid: it was the contrast between the joys of Paschal Time, and the penitential sentiments with which the faithful should assist at the Procession and Station of the Great Litany. Laden as we are with the manifold graces of this holy Season and elated with our Paschal joys, we must sober our gladness by reflecting on the motives which led the Church to cast this hour of shadow over our Easter sunshine. After all, we are sinners, with much to be sorry for, and much to fear. We have to avert those scourges which are due to the crimes of mankind. We have, by humbling ourselves and invoking the intercession of the Mother of God and the Saints, to obtain the health of our bodies and the preservation of the fruits of the Earth. We have to offer atonement to Divine justice for our own and the world’s pride, sinful indulgences and insubordination. Let us enter into ourselves, and humbly confess that our own share in exciting God’s indignation is great. And our poor prayers, united with those of our holy Mother the Church, will obtain mercy for the guilty, and for ourselves who are of the number.

A day, then, like this, of reparation to God’s offended Majesty, would naturally suggest the necessity of joining some exterior penance to the interior dispositions of contrition which filled the hearts of Christians. Abstinence from flesh meat has always been observed on this day at Rome, and when the Roman Liturgy was established in France by Pepin and Charlemagne, the Great Litany of the twenty-fifth of April was, of course, celebrated and the abstinence kept by the faithful of that country. A Council of Aix-la-Chapelle in 836 enjoined the additional obligation of resting from servile work on this day: the same enactment is found in the Capitularia of Charles the Bald. As regards Fasting — properly so called — being contrary to the spirit of Paschal Time, it would seem never to have been observed on this day, at least not generally. Amalarius, who lived in the ninth cntury, asserts that it was not then practised even in Rome.

During the Procession, the Litany of the Saints is sung, followed by several Versicles and Prayers. The Mass of the Station is celebrated in the Lenten Rite, that is, without the Gloria in excelsis, and in purple vestments. We have inserted the Litany of the Saints in the following volume, for the Rogation Days.

We take this opportunity of protesting against the negligence of Christians on this subject. Even persons who have the reputation of being spiritual, think nothing of being absent from the Litanies said on Saint Mark’s and the Rogation Days. One would have thought that when the Holy See took from these Days the obligation of Abstinence, the faithful would be so much the more earnest to join in the duty still left — the duty of Prayer. The people’s presence at the Litanies is taken for granted and it is simply absurd that a religious rite of public reparation should be one from which almost all should keep away. We suppose that these Christians will acknowledge the importance of the petitions made in the Litanies, but God is not obliged to hear them in favour of such as ought to make them and yet do not. This is one of the many instances which might be brought forward of the strange delusions into which private and isolated devotion are apt to degenerate. When Saint Charles Borromeo first took possession of his See of Milan, he found this negligence among his people, and that they left the clergy to go through the Litanies of the twenty-fifth of April by themselves. He assisted at them himself, and walked bare-footed in the Procession. The people soon followed the sainted Pastor’s example.

Also on this day according to the ROMAN MARTYROLOGY:

At Syracuse, the holy martyrs Evodius, Hermogenes and Callistus.

At Antioch, St. Stephen, bishop and martyr, who suffered much from the heretics opposed to the Council of Chalcedon and was precipitated into the river Orontes in the time of the emperor Zeno.

In the same city, the Saints Philo and Agathopodes, deacons.

At Alexandria, the bishop St. Anian, a disciple of the Evangelist St. Mark, and his successor in the episcopate. With a great renown for virtue, he rested in the Lord.

At Lobbes, the birthday of St. Erminus, bishop and confessor.

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

Thanks be to God.

25 APRIL – SAINT MARK (Evangelist)

Dom Prosper Gueranger:

The Cycle of holy mother Church brings before us today the Lion, who, together with the Man, the Ox and the Eagle, stands before the Throne of God (Ezechiel i. 10). It was on this day that Mark ascended from Earth to Heaven, radiant with his triple aureola of Evangelist, Apostle and Martyr.

As the preaching made to Israel had its four great representatives Isaias, Jeremias, Ezechiel and Daniel, so likewise would God have the New Covenant to be embodied in the four Gospels which were to make known to the world the life and teachings of His divine Son. The Holy Fathers tell us that the Gospels are like the four streams which watered the Garden of pleasure (Genesis ii. 10) and that this Garden was a figure of the future Church. The first of the Evangelists — the first to register the actions and words of our Redeemer — is Matthew, whose star will rise in September. The second is Mark, whose brightness gladdens us today. The third is Luke, whose rays will shine upon us in October. The fourth is John, whom we have already seen in Bethlehem at the crib of our Emmanuel.

Mark was the beloved disciple of Peter. He was the brilliant satellite of the Sun of the Church. He wrote his Gospel at Rome under the eyes of the Prince of the Apostles. The Church was already in possession of the history given by Matthew, but the faithful of Rome wished their own Apostle to narrate what he had witnessed. Peter refused to write it himself, but he bade his disciple take up his pen, and the Holy Ghost guided the hand of the new Evangelist. Mark follows the account given by Matthew. He abridges it, and yet he occasionally adds a word or an incident which plainly prove to us that Peter, who had seen and heard all, was his living and venerated authority. One would have almost expected that the new Evangelist would pass over in silence the history of his master’s fall, or, at least, have said as little as possible about it, but no — the Gospel written by Mark is more detailed on Peter’s denial than is that of Matthew. And as we read it we cannot help feeling that the tears elicited by Jesus’ look when in the house of Caiphas were flowing down the Apostle’s cheeks, as he described the sad event. Mark’s work being finished, Peter examined it and gave it his sanction. The several Churches joyfully received this second account of the mysteries of the world’s redemption, and the name of Mark was made known throughout the whole Earth.

Matthew begins his Gospel with the human genealogy of the Son of God, and has thus realised the prophetic type of the Man. Mark fulfils that of the Lion, for he commences with the preaching of John the Baptist, whose office as precursor of the Messiah had been foretold by Isaias where he spoke of the Voice of one crying in the wilderness — as the Lion that makes the desert echo with his roar. Mark having written his Gospel, was next to labour as an Apostle. Peter sent him first to Aquileia, where he founded an important Church: but this was not enough for an Evangelist. When the time designed by God came and Egypt — the source of countless errors — was to receive the truth, and the haughty and noisy Alexandria was to be raised to the dignity of the second Church of Christendom — the second See of Peter — Mark was sent by his master to effect this great work. By his preaching the word of salvation took root, grew up and produced fruit in that most infidel of nations. And the authority of Peter was thus marked, though in different degrees, in the three great Cities of the Empire: Rome, Alexandria and Antioch.

Saint Mark may be called the first founder of the monastic life by his instituting, in Alexandria itself, what were called the Therapeutes. To him, also, may be justly attributed, the origin of that celebrated Christian school of Alexandria, which was so flourishing even in the second century. But glorious as were these works of Peter’s disciple, the Evangelist and Apostle Mark was also to receive the dignity of martyr. The success of his preaching excited against him the fury of the idolators. They were keeping a feast in honour of Serapis, and this gave them an opportunity which they were not likely to lose. They seized Mark, treated him most cruelly and cast him into prison. It was there that our Risen Lord appeared to him during the night and addressed him in these words, which afterwards formed the Arms of the Republic of Venice: “Peace be to you, Mark, my Evangelist!” To which the disciple answered “Lord,” for such were his feelings of delight and gratitude that he could say but that one word as it was with Magdalene when she saw Jesus on the morning of the Resurrection. On the following day Mark was put to death by the pagans. He had fulfilled his mission on Earth and Heaven opened to receive the Lion who was to occupy near the throne of the Ancient of days the place allotted to him as shown to the Prophet of Patmos in his sublime vision (Apocalypse iv.).

In the ninth century the West was enriched with the relics of Saint Mark. They were taken to Venice, and under the protection of the sacred Lion, there began for that city a long period of glory. Faith in so great a Patron achieved wonders, and from the midst of islets and lagoons there sprang into existence a city of beauty and power. Byzantine art raised up the imposing and gorgeous Church which was the palladium of the Queen of the Seas, and the new Republic stamped its coinage with the Lion of Saint Mark. Happy would it have been for Venice, had she persevered in her loyalty to Rome and in the ancient severity of her morals!

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You, O Mark, are the mystic Lion which with the Man, the Ox and the Eagle are yoked to the chariot on which the King of kings pursues His triumphant course through the Earth. Ezechiel, the Prophet of the Ancient Testament, and John, the Prophet of the New Law, saw you standing near the Throne of Jehovah. How magnificent is your glory! You are the historian of the Word made Flesh, and you publish to all generations His claims to the love and adoration of mankind. The Church reveres your writings and bids us receive them as inspired by the Holy Ghost. It was you that on the glad Day of Easter announced to us the Resurrection of our Lord: pray for us, O holy Evangelist, that this divine Mystery may work its effects within us, and that our hearts, like your own, may be firm in their love of our Risen Jesus, that so we may faithfully follow Him in that New Life which He gave us by His Resurrection. Ask Him to give us His Peace, as He did to His Apostles when He showed Himself to them in the Cenacle, and as He did to yourself when He appeared to you in your prison. You were the beloved disciple of Peter. Rome was honoured by your presence: pray for the successor of Peter, your master. Pray for the Church of Rome against which the wildest storm is now venting its fury. Pray to the Lion of the Tribe of Judah: He seems to sleep, and yet we know that He has but to show Himself, and the victory is gained.

Apostle of Egypt, what has become of your flourishing Church of Alexandria, Peter’s second See, the hallowed scene of your martyrdom? Its very ruins have perished. The scorching blast of heresy made Egypt a waste, and God, in His anger, let loose upon her the torrent of Mahometanism. [Fourteen] centuries have passed since then, and she is still a slave to error and tyranny: is it to be thus with her till the coming of the Judge? May we not hope that the great movement now preparing may be the dawn of her conversion? Pray, we beseech you, for the countries you so zealously evangelised, but whose deserts are now the image of her loss of Faith. And can Venice be forgotten by you, her dearest Patron? Her glory is fallen, it may be forever, but her people still call themselves yours, as did the Venetians of old. Let her not swerve from the Faith. Bless her with prosperity.

25 APRIL – THURSDAY IN THE FOURTH WEEK AFTER EASTER

Dom Prosper Gueranger:

The Apostles have received their mission. The Sovereign Master has bade them divide among themselves the nations of the earth and preach everywhere the Gospel, that is, the Good Tidings — the Tidings of man’s Redemption wrought by the Son of God who was made Flesh, was crucified, and arose again from the dead. But what is to be the grand support of these humble Jews who have been suddenly transformed into Conquerors, and have to go winning the whole world to Christ? Their support is the solemn promise made to them by Jesus, when, after saying: “Go, teach all nations!” He adds: “Lo! I am with you all days, even to the consummation of the world!” Hereby he promises never to leave them, and ever to direct and guide them. They will see Him no more in this life, and yet He assures them that He will be ever in their midst.

But these men with whom Christ thus promises that He will abide forever and preserve them from every fall and from every error in the teaching of His doctrine — these Apostles are not immortal. We will find them, one after the other, laying down their lives for the faith, and so leaving this world. Are we, then, condemned to uncertainty and darkness like men who have been abandoned by the light? Is it possible that the appearance of our Emmanuel upon the earth has been but like that of a meteor, which we sometimes behold in the night, emitting a lurid light, and then suddenly disappearing, leaving us in greater darkness than before?

No: the words of our Risen Jesus forbid us to fear such a calamity. He did not say to His Apostles: “Lo! I am with you even to the end of your lives,” but “Lo! I am with you all days, even to the consummation of the world.” So that those to whom He addressed Himself were to live to the end of the world! What means this, but that the Apostles were to have successors in whom their rights were to be perpetuated? Successors, whom Jesus would ever assist by His presence, and uphold by His power. The work founded by a God, out of His love for man, and at the price of His own Precious Blood, oh surely it must be imperishable! Jesus by His presence amidst His Apostles preserved their teaching from all error. By His presence He will also, and forever, guide the teaching of their successors.

O precious and necessary gift of Infallibility in the Church! Gift, without which the mission of the Son of God would have been a failure! Gift, by which Faith — that essential element of man’s salvation — is preserved upon the earth! Yes, we have the promise and the effects of this promise are evident even to them that are not of the Church. Where is there an unprejudiced man who would not recognise the hand of God in the perpetuity of the Catholic Symbol of Faith, whereas everything else on earth is forever changing? Can we attribute to natural causes, such a result as this, that a society, whose link is unity of belief, should live through so many ages, and yet lose nothing of the truth it possessed at its commencement, nor imbibe anything of the falseness of the world around it? That it should have been attacked by thousands of sects, and yet have triumphed over them all, survived them all, and be as pure in the faith now, at this present day, as it was on the day when first formed by its divine founder? Is it not an unheard-of prodigy that hundreds of millions of men, differing from each other in country, character, and customs, yes, and frequently enemies to each other — should be united in one like submission to one same authority, which, with a single word, governs their reason in matters of faith?

How great is your fidelity to your promises, O Jesus! Who could help feeling that you are in the midst of your Church, mastering, by your presence, the warring elements and, by irresistible yet sweet power, subjecting our pride and fickleness to your dear yoke? And they are men, men like ourselves, who rule and guide our Faith! It is the Pope, the Successor of St. Peter, whose Faith cannot fail (Luke xii. 32) and whose sovereign word is carried through the whole world, producing unity of mind and heart, dispelling doubt, and putting an end to disputation. It is the venerable body of the Bishops united with their Head, and deriving from this union an invincible strength in the proclamation of the one same truth in the several countries of the universe. O yes, men are made infallible because Jesus is with and in them! In everything else, they are men like ourselves, but the Chair on which they are throned is supported by the arm of God. It is the Chair of Truth upon the earth.

How grand is our Faith! Miracles gave it birth, and this continued miracle (of which we have been speaking, and which disconcerts all the calculations of human wisdom). directs it, enlightens it, and upholds it. How stupendous are the wondrous works done by our Risen Jesus during these forty days! So far, he had been preparing His work. Now He carries it into effect. May the Divine Shepherd be ever praised for the care He takes of his Sheep! If He exacts their Faith as the first pledge of their service, we must own that He has made the sacrifice, not only meritorious by our reason’s submitting to it, but most attractive to our heart’s acceptance.

24 APRIL – SAINT FIDELIS OF SIGMARINGEN (Martyr)

Fidelis was born at Sigmaringen, a town of Swabia. His parents were of a respectable family called Rey. He was remarkable, even when a child, for his extraordinary gifts both of nature and grace. Blessed with talent of a high order and trained to virtue by an excellent education, he received at Friburg the well merited honours of Doctor in Philosophy and in Civil and Canon Law, at the same time that, in the school of Christ, he strove to attain the height of perfection by the assiduous practice of all virtues. Being requested to accompany several noblemen in their travels through various countries of Europe, he lost no opportunity of encouraging them, both by word and example, to lead a life of Christian piety. In these travels, he moreover mortified the desires of the flesh by frequent austerities. And such was the mastery he gained over himself, that in the midst of all the trouble and excitement, he was never seen to lose his temper in the slightest degree. He was a strenuous upholder of law and justice, and, after his return to Germany he acquired considerable reputation as an advocate. But finding that this profession was replete with danger, he resolved to enter on the path that would best lead him to eternal salvation. Thus enlightened by the divine call, he shortly afterwards asked to be admitted into the Seraphic Order among the Capuchin Friars Minors. His pious wish being granted, he, from the very commencement of his Noviciate, showed how thoroughly he despised the world and himself. And when with spiritual joy, he had offered to God the vows of solemn profession, his regular observance was such as to make him the admiration and a model to all around him.

He devoted himself to prayer and to sacred studies, as also to preaching, for which he had a special grace, and by which he not only converted Catholics from a life of wickedness to one of virtue, but he also drew heretics to a knowledge of the truth. He was appointed superior in several convents of his Order and fulfilled his office with admirable prudence, justice, meekness, discretion and humility. His zeal for strict poverty was so great that he would allow nothing to be in the convent which was not absolutely necessary. He practised severe fasting, watching and disciplines, out of holy hatred against himself, whereas his love towards others was that of a mother for her children. A contagious fever having broken out among the Austrian soldiers causing frightful mortality, he devoted his whole energies to untiring acts of charity in favour of the sick, whose sufferings were extreme. So admirable was he, both in advice and action, in settling disputes and relieving everyone in trouble or trial, that he won for himself the name of the Father of his country. He was extremely devout to the Virgin Mother of God and a zealous promoter of the Rosary. He besought of God, through the intercession of this Blessed Mother firstly, and then through that of all the Saints, that he might be allowed to shed his blood and lay down his life for the Catholic faith.

This ardent desire was increased by the daily and devout celebration of the Holy Sacrifice. And, at length, by the wonderful providence of God, this valiant soldier of Christ was placed at the head of the missions recently established among the Grisons by the Congregation of the Propagation of the Faith. Fidelis undertook this arduous task with a ready and cheerful heart, and laboured in it with such earnestness that he converted many heretics to the true Faith and inspired the hope that the whole of that people would be reconciled to the Church and to Christ. He had the gift of prophecy and frequently predicted the calamities that were to befall the Grisons, as also his own death by the hands of the heretics. Being fully aware of the plot laid against him, he prepared himself for the combat, and on the twenty-fourth day of April in 1622, he repaired to the church of a place called Sevis. To there had the heretics, on the previous day, invited him to come and preach, pretending that they wished to be converted. While he was preaching, he was interrupted by their clamours. They rushed on him, cruelly struck and wounded him even to death. He suffered it with courage and joy, thus consecrating by his blood the first-fruits of the martyrs of the Congregation of the Propagation of the Faith. His name was rendered illustrious by many miracles, especially at Coire and Weltkirchen, where his relics are kept and honoured with exceeding great veneration of the people.

Dom Prosper Guéranger:

Our Risen Lord would have around Him a bright phalanx of Martyrs. Its privileged members belong to the different centuries of the Church’s existence. Its ranks open today to give welcome to a brave combatant who won his palm, not in a contest with paganism — as those did whose feasts we have thus far kept — but in defending his mother, the Church, against her own rebellious children. They were heretics that slew this day’s Martyr, and the century that was honoured with his triumph was the seventeenth. Fidelis was worthy of his beautiful name. Neither difficulty nor menace could make him fail in his duty. During his whole life he had but the glory and service of his divine Lord in view. And when the time came for him to face the fatal danger, he did so calmly but fearlessly, as behoved a disciple of that Jesus who went forth to meet his enemies. Honour, then, be today to the brave son of Saint Francis! Truly is he worthy of his seraphic Patriarch who confronted the Saracens and was a Martyr in desire!

Protestantism was established and rooted by the shedding of torrents of blood. And yet Protestants count it as a great crime that, here and there, the children of the true Church made an armed resistance against them. The heresy of the sixteenth century was the cruel and untiring persecutor of men, whose only crime was their adhesion to the old Faith — the Faith that had civilised the world. The so-called Reformation proclaimed liberty in matters of religion and massacred Catholics who exercised this liberty and prayed and believed as their ancestors bad done for long ages before Luther and Calvin were born. A Catholic who gives heretics credit for sincerity when they talk about religious toleration proves that he knows nothing of either the past or the present. There is a fatal instinct in error which leads it to hate the Truth. And the True Church, by its unchangeableness, is a perpetual reproach to them that refuse to be her children. Heresy starts with an attempt to annihilate them that remain faithful. When it has grown tired of open persecution, it vents its spleen in insults and calumnies. And when these do not produce the desired effect, hypocrisy comes in with its assurances of friendly forbearance. The history of Protestant Europe, during the last [five] centuries, confirms these statements. It also justifies us in honouring those courageous servants of God who, during that same period, have died for the ancient Faith.

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How truly could you, O Fidelis, say with the Apostle: “I have finished my course!” (2 Timothy iv. 7). Yes, your death was even more beautiful than your life, holy as that was. How admirable the calmness with which you received death! How grand the joy with which you welcomed the blows of your enemies — yours, because they were those of the Church! Your dying prayer, like Stephen’s, was for them, for the Catholic, while he hates heresy, must love the heretics who put him to death. Pray, O holy Martyr, for the children of the Church. Obtain for them an appreciation of the value of Faith, and of the favour of God bestowed on them when He made them members of the true Church. May they be on their guard against the many false doctrines which are now current through the world. May they not be shaken by the scandals which abound in this our age of effeminacy and pride. It is Faith that is to bring us to our Risen Jesus, and He urges us to it by the words He addressed to Thomas: “Blessed are they that have not seen, and have believed” (John xx. 29). Of this number we wish to be, and therefore is it that we cling to the Church, the sovereign mistress of Faith. We wish to believe her, and not Human Reason, which has neither the power to fathom the Word of God, nor the right to sit in judgement over it. Jesus has willed that this holy Faith should come down to us bearing on itself the strengthening testimony of the martyrs, and each age has had its martyrs. Glory to you, Fidelis, who won your palm by combating the errors of the pretended Reformation! Take a martyr’s revenge and pray without ceasing to our Jesus that He would bring all heretics back to the Faith and to union with the Church. They are our brethren by Baptism. Pray for them that they may return to the Fold, and that we may one day celebrate with them the true Paschal Banquet in which the Lamb of God gives Himself to be our food, not figuratively, as in the Old Law, but really and truly, as becomes the New Covenant.

Also on this day according to the ROMAN MARTYROLOGY:

At Rome, St. Sabas, a military officer, who bravely confessed Christ before the judge when he was accused of visiting the Christians in prison. For this he was burned with torches and thrown into a cauldron of boiling pitch out of which he came uninjured. Seventy men were converted to Christ at the sight of this miracle, and as they all remained unshaken in the confession of the faith, they were put to the sword. Sabas, however, terminated his martyrdom by being cast into the river.

At Lyons, in France, during the persecution of Verus, the birthday of St. Alexander, martyr. After being imprisoned, he was so lacerated by the cruelty of those who scourged him that his ribs and the interior of his body were exposed to view. Then he was fastened to the gibbet of the cross, on which he yielded up his blessed soul. Thirty four others who suffered with him are commemorated on other days.

The same day, during the persecution of Diocletian, the holy martyrs Eusebius, Neon, Leontius, Longinus and four others, were slain with the sword after enduring great torments.

In England, the demise of St. Mellitus, bishop. Being sent there by St. Gregory, he converted to the faith the East Saxons and their king.

At Elvira in Spain, St. Gregory, bishop and confessor.

At Brescia, St. Honorius, bishop.

In Ireland, St. Egbert, priest and monk, a man of admirable humility and continence.

At Rheims, the holy virgins Bona and Doda.

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

Thanks be to God.

24 APRIL – WEDNESDAY IN THE FOURTH WEEK AFTER EASTER

Dom Prosper Gueranger:

The Son of God is soon to ascend to His Father. He has said to his Apostles: “Going, teach all nations: preach the Gospel to every creature.” Thus, then, the Nations are not to receive the Word from the lips of Jesus, but through His Ministers. The glory and happiness of being instructed directly by the Man-God were for none but the Israelites, and even for them for only three short years.

The impious may murmur at this and say in their pride: “Why should there be men between God and us?” God might justly answer: “And what right have you to expect me to speak to you myself, seeing that you can otherwise be as certain of my Word as though you heard it from myself?” Was the Son of God to lose His claim to our Faith unless he remained on this earth to the end of time? If we reflect on the infinite distance there is between the Creator and Creature, we will detest such a blasphemy. If we receive the testimony of men, the testimony of God is greater (1 John v. 9), and how can we reject it? Can we call that testimony human, which was given by the Apostles, when, in proof of their being sent by God, they showed the power conferred on them by their Divine Master of working miracles? Of course, the pride of reason may rebel. It may protest and refuse to believe men who speak in God’s name. Did not the very Son of God meet with more unbelievers than believers? And why? Because He affirmed Himself to be God, yet showed nothing exteriorly but His human nature. So that there was an act of faith to be made, even when Jesus Himself spoke, and pride might rebel and say: “I will not believe,” just as it will do when the Apostles speak in His name. The two cases are alike. God demands of us, as long as we are in this world, that we give Him our faith, and faith is not possible without humility. God confirms His word by miracles, but man has always the power to resist, and for that very reason faith is a virtue.

If it be asked why, when God took His Son from this earth, He did not commission His Angels to teach us in His name, instead of giving such a sublime office to men, frail and mortal as we ourselves are who receive their teaching? The reason is that man could not be raised up from the state of degradation into which he had fallen by pride except by submission and humility, and consequently it was fitting that the ministry of the Divine Word should not be entrusted to Angels, inasmuch as our pride might have been flattered by our having, for our teachers, beings so noble and exalted. We believed the Serpent when he spoke to us, and we had the pride to think that we might one day become Gods: our merciful Creator, in order to save us, has imposed it as a law on us that we should yield submission to men when they speak in His name. These men, therefore, are to preach the Gospel to every creature, and he that believes not, will be condemned.

O Word of God! You heavenly seed planted in the field of the Church, how fruitful have you not been! Yet one little while, and the harvest will be ripe. Faith will have spread throughout the world. The faithful shall be found in every land. And how came they by the faith? By hearing, answers the great Apostle of the Gentiles (Romans x. 17). They heard the Word and they believed. How honoured above the rest of our senses is our hearing, at least in this present life! Let us listen to Saint Bernard speaking on this subject. “One would have thought that the Truth would have entered into our souls by that noblest of our senses, the eye: but no, my soul! That is reserved for the future life, when we will see, face to face. For the present, let the remedy come in by the same door through which crept the malady. Let life, and light, and the antidote of truth, come to us in the track previously taken by death, and darkness, and the serpent’s poison. Thus the troubled eye will be cured by the ear, and will see, when calm, what she cannot when troubled. The ear was the first door of death. Let it be the first to be opened to life. The ear took away our light. Let it now restore our light, for unless we believe, we will not understand. Hearing, therefore, is the instrument of our merit. Sight is to be our reward. Observe, too, how the Holy Ghost follows this order in the spiritual education of the soul: he forms the ear before he gladdens the eye. He says to her: “Hearken, Daughter, and see! Forget your eye, for the present: it is your ear I now ask for. Do you wish to see Christ? First hear him. Hear what is said of Him: that so, when you see Him, you may say: As we have heard, so have we seen! (Psalms xlvii. 9) The brightness is immense. Your eye is weak and you cannot bear the splendour. But what your eye cannot do, your ear can. Only let this ear of yours be fervent, and watchful, and faithful. Faith will give to your eye the clearness it lost by sin. Disobedience shut it, but obedience will open it.”

23 APRIL – SAINT GEORGE (Martyr)

Dom Prosper Guéranger:

Clad in his bright coat of mail, mounted on his warsteed and spearing the dragon with his lance — George, the intrepid champion of our Risen Jesus, comes gladdening us today with his feast. From the East where he is known as The great Martyr, devotion to Saint George soon spread in the Western Church, and our Christian armies have always loved and honoured him as one of their dearest Patrons. His martyrdom took place in Paschal Time and thus he stands before us as the Guardian of the glorious Sepulchre, just as Stephen, the Proto-martyr, watches near the crib of the Infant God.

The Roman Liturgy gives no Lessons on the life of Saint George, but in their stead reads to us a passage from Saint Cyprian on the sufferings of the Martyrs. This derogation from the general rule dates from the fifth century. At a celebrated Council held in Rome in 490, Pope Saint Gelasius drew up, for the guidance of the Faithful, a list of books which might or might not be read without danger. Among the number of those that were to be avoided he mentioned the “Acts of Saint George” as having been compiled by one, who besides being an ignorant man, was also a heretic. In the East, however, there were other “Acts” of the holy Martyr, totally different from those current in Rome, but they were not known in that City. The cultus of Saint George lost nothing, in the Holy City by this absence of a true Legend. From a very early period a church was built in his honour. It was one of those that were selected as Stations, and gave a Title to a Cardinal. It exists to this day, and is called Saint George in Velabro (the Veil of Gold). Still the Liturgy of today’s feast, by the exclusion of the Saint’s Life from the Office, perpetuates the remembrance of the severe Canon of Gelasius.

The Bollandists were in possession of several copies of the forbidden “Acts.” They found them replete with absurd stories, and, of course, they rejected them. Father Papebroke has given us other and genuine “Acts” written in Greek and quoted by Saint Andrew of Crete. They bring out the admirable character of our martyr who held an important post in the Roman army during the reign of the Emperor Diocletian. He was one of the first victims of the Great Persecution, and suffered death at Nicomedia. Alexandra, the Emperor’s wife, was so impressed at witnessing the Saint’s courage that she professed herself a Christian and shared the crown of martyrdom with the brave soldier of Christ.

As we have already said, devotion to Saint George dates from a very early period. Saint Gregory of Tours gives us several proofs of its having taken root in Gaul. Saint Clotilde had a singular confidence to the holy Martyr, and dedicated to him the Church of her dear Abbey of Chelles. But this devotion became more general and more fervent during the Crusades when the Christian armies witnessed the veneration in which Saint George was held by the Eastern Church, and heard the wonderful things that were told of his protection on the field of battle. The Byzantine historians have recorded several remarkable instances of the kind, and the Crusaders returned to their respective countries publishing their own experience of the victories gained through the Saint’s intercession. The Republic of Genoa chose him for its Patron, and Venice honoured him as its special Protector after Saint Mark. But nowhere was Saint George so enthusiastically loved as in England. Not only was it decreed in a Council held at Oxford in 1222 that the feast of the Great Martyr should be observed as one of Obligation, not only was devotion to the valiant Soldier of Christ encouraged throughout Great Britain by the first Norman Kings — but there are documents anterior to the invasion of William the Conqueror which prove that Saint George was invoked as the special Patron of England even so far back as the ninth century. Edward III did but express the sentiment of the country when he put the Order of the Garter, which he instituted in 1330, under the patronage of the Warrior Saint. In Germany, King Frederic III founded the Order of Saint George in 1468.

Saint George is usually represented as killing a Dragon. And where the representation is complete, there is also given the figure of a Princess whom the Saint thus saves from being devoured by the monster. This favourite subject of both sacred and profane Art is purely symbolical and is of Byzantine origin. It signifies the victory won over the devil by the Martyr’s courageous profession of faith. The Princess represents Alexandra who was converted by witnessing the Saint’s heroic patience under his sufferings. Neither the “Acts” of Saint George nor the Hymns of the Greek Liturgy allude to the Martyr having slain a Dragon and rescued a Princess. It was not till after the fourteenth century that this fable was known in the West, and it arose from the putting a material interpretation on the emblems wherewith the Greeks honoured Saint George, and which were introduced among us by the Crusaders.

* * * * *

You, George, are the glorious type of a Christian soldier. While serving under an earthly monarch you did not forget your duty to the King of Heaven. You shed your blood for the faith of Christ and He, in return, appointed you Protector of Christian armies. Be their defender in battle and bless with victory them that fight in a just cause. Protect them under the shadow of your standard. Cover them with your shield. Make them the terror of their enemies. Our Lord is the God of Hosts and He frequently uses war as the instrument of his designs, both of justice and mercy. They alone win true victory who have Heaven on their side, and these, when on the battlefield, seem to the world to be doing the work of man whereas it is the work of God they are furthering. Hence are they more generous, because more religious, than other men. The sacrifices they have to make, and the dangers they have to face, teach them unselfishness. What wonder, then, that soldiers have given so many Martyrs to the Church!

But there is another warfare in which we Christians are all enlisted, and of which Saint Paul speaks when he says: “Labour as a good soldier of Christ, for no man is crowned save he that strives lawfully” (2 Timothy ii. 5). That we have thus to strive and fight during our life the same Apostle assures us of it in these words: “Take to you the Armour of God, that you may be able to resist in the evil day, and to stand in all things perfect. Stand, therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the Breastplate of justice, and your feet shod with the preparation of the Gospel of peace. In all things taking the Shield of Faith, with which you may be able to extinguish all the fiery darts of the most wicked one. And take to you the Helmet of the hope of salvation, and the Sword of the spirit, which is the word of God” (Ephesians vi. 13, 17). We, then, are soldiers, as you were, holy Martyr! Before ascending into Heaven our divine Leader wishes to review His troops. Present us to Him. He has loaded us with honours notwithstanding our past disloyalties. We must, henceforth, prove ourselves worthy of our position. In the Paschal Communion which we have received we have a pledge of victory. How can we ever be so base as to permit ourselves to be conquered? Watch over us, O sainted warrior! Let your prayers and example encourage us to fight against the dragon of Hell. He dreads the armour we wear, for it is Jesus Himself that prepared it for us, and tempered it in His own Precious Blood: oh that like you we may present it to Him whole and entire when He calls us to our eternal rest.

There was a time when the whole Christian world loved and honoured your memory with enthusiastic joy. But now, alas, this devotion has grown cold, and your feast passes by unnoticed by thousands. O holy Martyr, avenge this ingratitude by imitating your Divine King who makes His sun to rise on both good and bad. Take pity on this world, perverted as it is by false doctrines, and tormented at this very time by the most terrible scourges. Have compassion on your dear England which has been seduced by the Dragon of Hell, and by him made the instrument for effecting his plots against the Lord and His Christ. Take up your spear as of old. Give the Monster battle and emancipate the Isle of Saints from his slavish yoke. Heaven and Earth join in this great prayer. In the name of our Risen Jesus, aid your own and once devoted people to a glorious resurrection!

Also on this day according to the ROMAN MARTYROLOGY:

At Valence in France, the holy martyrs Felix, priest, Fortunatus and Achilleus, deacons, who were sent there to preach the word of God by blessed Irenseus, bishop of Lyons, and converted the greater portion of that city to the faith of Christ. These martyrs were cast into prison by the commander Cornelius, were a long time scourged, had their legs crushed, were bound to wheels in motion, and stifled with smoke while stretched on the rack, and finally died by the sword.

In Prussia, the birthday of St. Adalbert, bishop of Prague, and martyr, who preached the Gospel to the Poles and Hungarians.

At Milan, St. Marolus, bishop and confessor.

At Toul in France, St. Gerard, bishop of that city.

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

Thanks be to God.

23 APRIL – TUESDAY IN THE FOURTH WEEK AFTER EASTER

Dom Prosper Gueranger:

We are bound to believe the Word of God, but this Word is accompanied with every proof of its really coming from God. When Jesus told men that He was the Son of God, He gave ample proof of His being such: in the same manner He insists on our believing what He reveals, but He gives us a guarantee of its being the truth. What is this guarantee? Miracles. Miracles are the testimony which God bears to himself. A miracle rouses man’s attention, for he knows that it is by God’s will alone that the laws of nature can be suspended. If God employ a miracle to make His will known, He has a right to find man obedient. The Israelites were convinced that it was God who was leading them, for the sea opened a passage to them immediately that Moses stretched forth his hand over its waters. Now Jesus, the author and finisher of faith, (Hebrews xii. 2) did not demand our belief in the truths He revealed to us until He had proved the divinity of His mission by miracles. “The works which I do,” said He, “give testimony of me.” (John v. 36) And again: “If you will not believe Me, believe my works.” (John x. 38) And what are these works? When Saint John the Baptist sent some of his disciples to Jesus, that they might ask Him if He were the promised Messiah, Jesus gave them this answer: “Go and relate to John what you have heard and seen. The blind see, the lame walk, the lepers are made clean, the deaf hear, the dead rise again, the poor have the Gospel preached to them.” (Luke vii. 22)

Such is the motive of our faith. Jesus requires of us that we receive His Word as being that of the Son of God, for He has proved Himself to be so by the works He has wrought. Truly may we exclaim with the Psalmist: “Your testimonies, Lord, are become exceedingly credible.” (Psalm xcii. 5) Whom shall we believe, if we refuse to believe Him? And what must be the guilt of them who refuse to believe! Let us hearken to our Jesus speaking of those proud men who, though they had witnessed His miracles, rejected His teaching: “If,” says He, “I had not done among them the works that no other man has done, they would not have sin.” (John xv. 24) It is their incredulity that led them astray, but their incredulity showed itself when, after witnessing such miracles as the raising Lazarus to life, they refused to acknowledge the Divinity of Him who bore testimony to Himself by such works as these.

But our Risen Jesus is soon to ascend into Heaven. The miracles He wrought will be things of a long past. Are we, henceforth, to have no testimony for His Word, which is the object of our faith? Let us not fear. Do we forget that historical documents, when genuine, bring the same conviction to our minds with regard to past events, as though we ourselves had been witnesses of those events? Is it not a law of the human mind — is it not a basis of certainty, that we yield assent to the testimony of our fellow-men as often as we have evidence that they are neither deceived themselves, nor wish to deceive us? The miracles wrought by Jesus will be handed down to the end of time, supported by guarantees of authenticity which no facts of history could possibly have. If the authority of history is what all acknowledge it to be, then is he a fool who doubts the miracles which we are told were worked by our Saviour. Though we have not been eye-witnesses of them, yet such is our certainty of their having been done, that our faith is as strong and as docile as though we had assisted at the admirable scenes described in the Gospel.

Our Lord had sufficiently provided for our yielding our faith to His Word, by letting us know that He had confirmed His teaching by His miracles. But He would do more. He gives His disciples the power to do what He Himself had done, and this in order that our faith might be strengthened by these supernatural evidences. It was on one of the forty days spent with His Apostles before His Ascension that He spoke these words to them: “Go into the whole world, and preach the Gospel to every creature. He that believes and is baptised, will be saved; but He that believes not, will be condemned.” (Mark xvi. 15, 16) We have already stated the basis on which this faith was to rest — the miracles of the God-Man who demands our faith. But, there were to be other miracles super-added to His own. Let us continue the text just quoted: “And these signs will follow them that believe: in my name they will cast out devils, they will speak with new tongues, they will take up serpents, and if they will drink any deadly thing it will not hurt them. They will lay their hands on the sick, and they will recover” (Mark xvi. 17) Here, then, we find the power of working miracles given to Jesus’ Disciples. He bids them go and preach His Word to men, and men must yield their faith. He, therefore, gives His disciples a power over nature which will prove them to be the Ambassadors of the Most High. Their word is not their own: it is that of God. They are the Ministers of the Incarnate God, and we must believe their teaching. By believing them, we are, in reality, believing Him who sends them, and who, to make us sure of their rightful authority, gives them the credentials which He Himself deigned to show to men when He spoke with His own lips.

Neither is this all. If we carefully weigh His words, we will see that He does not intend the gift of miracles to cease with His first disciples. It is true that history proves how faithfully Jesus fulfilled His promise and that, when the Apostles went forth commanding the world to believe what they preached, they gave testimony of their divine mission by countless miracles — but our Risen Lord promised more than this. He said not: “These are the signs which will follow my Apostles,” but “These are the signs which will follow them that believe.” By these words He perpetuated in His Church the gift of miracles. He made it one of her chief characteristics, and one of the grounds of our faith. Before His Passion, He had gone so far as to say: “He that believes in me, the works that I do, he also will do, and greater than these will he do” (John xiv. 12). It is now that He graces her with this prerogative so that, dating from that hour, we must not be surprised at finding that His Saints perform miracles, greater even, at times, than His own. He promised that it should be so, and He has kept His word, thus showing us, how desirous He is that Faith (which is one of the main objects of a miracle), should be fostered and made vigorous in His Church. Far, then, be from every loyal child of the Church that fear, that uneasy feeling, yes, that indifference, which some people evince when they hear or read of a miracle. The only thing we should look to is — are the witnesses trustworthy? If so, a true Catholic should receive the account with joy and gratitude. He should give thanks to our Jesus who thus mercifully fulfils His promise and keeps such a watchful eye over the preservation of Faith.

22 APRIL – SAINTS SOTUS AND CAIUS (Popes and Martyrs)

Soter was born at Fondi in Campania. He passed a decree forbidding virgins consecrated to God to touch the sacred Vessels and Palls, or to exercise the office of Thurifer in the Church. He also decreed that on Maundy Thursday, the Body of Christ should be received by all, excepting those who were forbidden to do so by reason of some grievous sin. His Pontificate lasted 3 years, 11 months and 18 days. He was crowned with martyrdom during the reign of the emperor Marcus Aurelius and was buried in the Cemetery which was afterwards called the Cemetery of Caliixtus. In the month of December, according to the custom observed by his predecessors, he ordained 18 Priests, 9 Deacons, and 11 Bishops.

Caius was a native of Dalmatia and a relation of the emperor Diocletian. He decreed that the following ecclesiastic orders or honours should precede the ordination of a Bishop: Door-keeper, Lector, Exorcist, Acolyte, Sub-deacon, Deacon and Priest. For some time he concealed himself in a cave in order to escape the cruelty exercised against the Christians by Diocletian, but after eight years, he, together with his brother Gabinus, received the crown of martyrdom. He governed the Church 12 years, 4 months and 5 days. He ordained in the month of December, 25 Priests, 8 Deacons and 5 Bishops. He was buried in the Cemetery of Callixtus on the 10th of the Calends of May (April 22nd). Urban VIII revived his memory in Rome, restored his Church, which was in ruins, and honoured it with a Title, a Station, and the relics of the Saint.

Dom Prosper Guéranger:

The palms of two martyred Popes are intertwined and grace this day of the Calendar. Soter suffered for Christ in the second, and Caius in the third century. A hundred years separate them, and yet we have the same energy of faith, the same jealous fidelity to keep intact the depositum left by Christ to His Church. What human society ever existed that produced heroes for century after century? The society, however, which was founded by Christ — in other words, the Church — is based on that traditional devotedness which consists in laying down one’s life for the Faith. And if so, we may be sure that the spirit of martyrdom would show itself in them that were the Heads and Fathers of this Society. The first thirty successors of Saint Peter paid dearly for the honour of the Supreme Pontificate: they were martyrs. How grand the throne of our Risen Jesus, surrounded as it is by all these kings clad in their triumphant scarlet robes!

Soter was the immediate successor of Anicetus whose feast we kept on the 17th of this month. Time has effaced the details of his life. Eusebius, however, gives us a fragment of a Letter written by Saint Diooysius, Bishop of Corinth, in which thanks are expressed to the Pontiff for the alms he sent to the faithful of that Church during a famine. An Apostolic Letter was sent with these alms and Saint Dionysius tells us that it was read in the assemblies of the Faithful, together with the one addressed to the same Church, in the preceding century, by Saint Clement. The Roman Pontiffs have ever united charity to their fidelity in preserving pure the Deposit of our Faith. With regard to Caius, he suffered death in the terrible persecution under Diocletian, and little more than a mere mention of his name is given in the annals of Christian Rome.

* * * * *

O holy Pontiffs, you are of the number of those who went through the great tribulation (Apocalypse vii. 14) and passed, through fire and water (Psalm lxv. 12), to the eternal shores of Heaven. The thought of Jesus’ victory over death gave you courage: you remembered how His Passion was followed by a glorious Resurrection. By imitating Him in laying down your lives for your sheep, you have taught us how we also should think no sacrifice too great to be made for our Faith. Get us this heroic courage. Baptism has numbered us among the soldiers of Christ. Confirmation has given us the Spirit of Fortitude. We must, then, be ready for battle. It may be that even in our own times a persecution may rage against the Church. At all events, we have to fight against ourselves, the spirit of the world and Satan: support us by your prayers. You were once the Fathers of the Christian people. You are still animated with the pastoral charity which then filled your hearts. Protect us and make us loyal to the God whose cause was so clear to you when here on Earth.

Also on this day according to the ROMAN MARTYROLOGY:

At Smyrna, the Saints Apelles and Lucius who were among the first disciples of Christ.

The same day, many holy martyrs who, the year following the death of St. Simeon, and on the anniversary of the Passion of Our Lord, were put to the sword for the name of Christ throughout Persia under king Sapor. Among those who then suffered for the faith were the eunuch Azades, a favourite of the king; Milles, a bishop renowned for sanctity and miracles; the bishop Acepsimas, with one of his priests named James; also Aithalas and Joseph, priests; Azadan and Abdiesus, deacons, and many other clerics; Mareas and Bicor, bishops, with twenty other bishops, and nearly two hundred and fifty clerics; many monks and consecrated virgins, among whom was the sister of St. Simeon, called Tarbula, with her maid-servant, who were both killed in a most cruel manner by being tied to stakes and sawed in two.

Also in Persia, the Saints Parmenius, Helimenas and Chrysotelus, priests, Lucas and Mucius, deacons, whose triumph is related in the Acts of Saints Abdon and Sennen.

At Alexandria, the birthday of the martyr St. Leonides who suffered under Severus.

At Lyons, in the persecution of Antoninus Verus, St. Epipodius who was arrested with Alexander, his companion, and after undergoing severe torments consummated his martyrdom by decapitation.

At Sens, St. Leo, bishop and confessor.

At Anastasiopolis, St. Theodore, a bishop renowned for miracles.

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

Thanks be to God.

22 APRIL – MONDAY IN THE FOURTH WEEK AFTER EASTER

Dom Prosper Gueranger:

Our Risen Jesus is not satisfied with establishing His Church and constituting the hierarchy which is to govern it in His Name to the end of time. He also confides to His disciples His divine word, that is, the truths He is come to reveal to mankind, and into which truths He has given them an insight during the three years preceding His Passion. The Word of God, which is also called Revelation, is, together with grace the most precious gift that Heaven could bestow on us. It is by the Word of God that we know the mysteries of His Divine Essence, the plan according to which He framed the Creation, the supernatural end He destined for such of His creatures as He endowed with understanding and free-will, the sublime work of redemption by the Incarnation of the Second Person of the Blessed Trinity: in a word, the means by which we are to honour and serve Him, and attain the end for which we were made.

From the very commencement of the world God revealed His Word to man. Later on He spoke by the Prophets. But when the fullness of time came, He sent upon the earth His Only Begotten Son, that He might complete this first Revelation. We have seen how for three years Jesus has been teaching men, and how, in order that He might make them the more easily understand His words, He has stooped to their littleness. Though His teaching was of the sublimest possible character, yet did He make it so intelligible that no instruction could be compared to His in clearness. It was for this reason that He made use of simple parables by which He conveyed His divine truths to the mind of His hearers. His Apostles and disciples who were afterwards to preach His Gospel to the world received from Him frequent special instructions although, until the accomplishment of the mysteries of His Death and Resurrection, they were slow in understanding His teaching. Since His Resurrection, they are better able to appreciate His instructions, for not only are His words more telling now that He is in the glory of His triumph over death, but the minds of His hearers have become more enlightened by the extraordinary events that have occurred. If He could say to them at the Last Supper: “I will not now call you servants, but I have called you my friends: because all things whatever I have heard from my Father I have made known to you,” (John xv. 15) how must He not treat them now that He has repeated to them the whole of His teaching, given them the whole Word of God, and is on the eve of sending the Holy Spirit upon them in order to perfect their understanding and give them power to preach the Gospel to the entire world?

O holy Word of God! O holy Revelation! Through you are we admitted into divine mysteries which human reason could never reach. We love you and are resolved to be submissive to you. It is you that gives rise to the grand virtue without which it is impossible to please God, (Hebrews xxi. 6), the virtue which commences the work of man’s salvation, and without which this work could neither be continued nor finished. This virtue is Faith. It makes our reason bow down to the Word of God. There comes from its divine obscurity a light far more glorious than are all the conclusions of reason, however great may be their evidence. This virtue is to be the bond of union in the new society which our Lord is now organising. To become a member of this society, man must begin by believing. That he may continue to be a member, he must never, not even for one moment, waver in his faith. We will soon be hearing our Lord saying these words: “He that believes and is baptised, will he saved. But he that believes not, will be condemned.” (Mark xvi. 16) The more clearly to express the necessity of faith, the members of the Church are to be called by the beautiful name of the Faithful: they who do not believe are to be called Infidels.

Faith, then, being the first link of the supernatural union between man and God, it follows, that this union ceases when faith is broken, that is, denied. And that he who after having once been thus united to God breaks the link by rejecting the word of God, and substituting error in its place, commits one of the greatest of crimes. Such a one will be called a Heretic, that is, one who separates himself, and the faithful will tremble at his apostasy. Even were his rebellion to the Revealed Word to fall upon only one article, still he commits enormous blasphemy, for he either separates himself from God as being a deceiver, or he implies that his own created, weak and limited reason is superior to eternal and infinite Truth. As time goes on, heresies will rise up, each attacking some dogma or other, so that scarcely one truth will be left unassailed: but all this will serve for little else than to bring out the Revelation purer and brighter than before. There will, however, come a time, and that time is our own, when heresy will not confine itself to some one particular article of faith, but will proclaim the total independence of reason, and declare Revelation to be a forgery. This impious system will give itself the high-sounding name of Rationalism, and these are to be its leading doctrines: Christ’s mission, a failure and His teaching false. His Church, an insult to man’s dignity: the [twenty] centuries of Christian civilisation, a popular illusion! The followers of this school, the so-called Philosophers of modern times, would have subverted all society, had not God come to its assistance, and fulfilled the promise He made, of never allowing His Revealed Word to be taken away from mankind, nor the Church to whom He confided his Word, to be destroyed.

Others go not so far as this. They do not pretend to deny the benefits conferred on the world by the Christian Religion — the facts of history are too evident to be contested: still, as they will not submit their reason to the mysteries revealed by God, they have a way peculiar to themselves for eliminating the element of Faith from this world. As every revealed truth, and every miracle confirmatory of divine interposition, is disagreeable to them, they attribute to natural causes every fact which bears testimony to the Son of God being present among us. They do not insult religion, they simply pass it by. They hold that the Supernatural serves no purpose. People, they say, have taken appearances for realities. The laws of history and common sense count for nothing. Agreeably to their system, which they call Naturalism, they deny what they cannot explain. They maintain that the people of the past [twenty] centuries have been deceived, and that the Creator cannot suspend the laws of nature, just as the Rationalists teach that there is nothing above Reason.

Are Reason and Nature, then, to be obstacles to our Redeemer’s love for mankind? Thanks be to His infinite power, He would not have it so! As to Reason, He repairs and perfects her by Faith, and He suspends the laws of Nature that we may cheerfully believe the word whose truth is guaranteed by the testimony of miracles. Jesus is truly risen. Let Reason and Nature rejoice, for He has ennobled and sanctified them by the glad Mystery!