22 DECEMBER – EMBER SATURDAY IN ADVENT

Dom Prosper Guéranger:

The Lessons from the Prophet Isaias are interrupted today also, and a Homily on the Gospel of the Mass is read in their place. As this Gospel is repeated in the Mass of the fourth Sunday of Advent, which is tomorrow, we will for the present omit it and be satisfied with mentioning the reason of the same Gospel being assigned to the two days. The primitive custom in the Roman Church was to hold Ordinations in the night between Saturday and Sunday, just as Baptism was administered to the Catechumens in the night between Holy Saturday and Easter Sunday. The ceremony took place towards midnight, and Sunday morning was always far advanced before the termination so that the Mass of Ordination was considered as the Mass of Sunday itself. Later on, discipline relaxed, and these severe vigils were given up. The Ordination Mass, like that of Holy Saturday, was anticipated. And, as the fourth Sunday of Advent and the second of Lent had not hitherto had a proper Gospel, since they had not had a proper Mass, it was settled about the tenth or eleventh century, that the Gospel of the Mass of Ordinations should be repeated in the special Mass of the two Sundays in question.

Gospel – Luke iii. 1‒6

Now in the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, Pontius Pilate being governor of Judea, and Herod being tetrarch of Galilee, and Philip his brother tetrarch of Judea, and the country of Trachonitis, and Lysanias tetrarch of Abilina; Under the high priests Annas and Caiphas; the word of the Lord was made unto John, the son of Zachary, in the desert. And he came into all the country about the Jordan, preaching the baptism of penance for the remission of sins; as it was written in the book of the sayings of Isaiah the prophet: “A voice of one crying in the wilderness: Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make straight his paths. Every valley will be filled; and every mountain and hill will be brought low; and the crooked will be made straight; and the rough ways plain; And all flesh will see the salvation of God.”

Praise be to you, O Christ.

Homily – Saint Gregory the Great:

The date at which the Fore-runner of our Redeemer entered on his public office of preaching is indicated to us by the name of the ruler of the Roman Commonwealth, and by those of the princes of Palestine. The time of his preaching is indicated by these names because he came as the Fore-runner of Him who was to be the Redeemer of some Jews and many Gentiles. Moreover in the enumeration of these worldly monarchs there is a foreshadowing of the fact that the Gentiles were about to be gathered into one, and the Jews to be scattered abroad in punishment of their unbelief. In the whole heathen Commonwealth we find the title of one Emperor, but in the small kingdom of Judaea are mentioned four masters.

21 DECEMBER – EMBER FRIDAY IN ADVENT

Dom Prosper Guéranger:

The Church does not read anything from the Prophet Isaias today. She merely gives, in the Office of Matins, a sentence of that chapter of Saint Luke’s Gospel which relates the mystery of our Lady’s Visitation: and to this she subjoins a fragment of Saint Ambrose’s Homily upon that passage. The considerations and affections with which this important event of our Lady’s life ought to inspire the faithful will be given further on in the Proper of the Saints.

The Station for today is in the Church of the Holy Apostles, which many suppose to have been first built by Constantine, and in which the glorious bodies of the two holy Apostles Philip and James the Less, buried under the altar, await the second Coming of Him who chose them as his co-operators in the work of the first and who, on the last day, will give them to sit upon thrones near His own, judging the twelve Tribes of Israel (Matthew xix.).

Gospel – Luke i. 39

At that time: Mary arose, and went into the hill country with haste, into a city of Judah, and entered into the house of Zacharias, and saluted Elizabeth.

Praise be to you, O Christ.

Homily – Saint Ambrose of Milan:

When anyone asks another for credence he is bound to give some reasonable ground. And so the Angel, when he announced to Mary the counsel of God, gave as a proof the conception of Elizabeth, then aged and barren, that Mary might perceive by this example that with God nothing is impossible. When the holy Virgin had heard it she arose and went to visit her cousin. She did not go to see if what she had heard was true, because she did not believe God or because she knew not who the messenger had been, or yet because she doubted the fact adduced in proof. She went joyfully as one who has received a mercy in answer to his vows goes to pay the same. She went with devotion, as a godly person goes to execute a religious duty. She went into the hill country in joyful haste. And is it not something that she went up into the hills? God was already in her womb, and her feeling bore her continually upward. The grace of the Holy Spirit knows no slow working.

20 DECEMBER – THURSDAY OF THE THIRD WEEK OF ADVENT

Lesson at Matins – Isaias xxxiii. 2‒17

O Lord, have mercy on us: for we have waited for you: be you our arm in the morning and our salvation in the time of trouble. At the voice of the Angel the people fled, and at the lifting up yourself the nations are scattered. And your spoils will be gathered together as the locusts are gathered, as when the ditches are full of them. The Lord is magnified, for He has dwelt on high: He has filled Sion with judgement and justice. And there will be faith in your times, riches of salvation, wisdom and knowledge: the fear of the Lord is his treasure. The sinners in Sion are afraid: trembling has seized upon the hypocrites. Which of you can dwell with devouring fire? Which of you will dwell with everlasting burnings? He that walks injustices, and speaks truth, that casts away avarice by oppression, and shakes his hands from all bribes, that stops his ears lest he hear blood, and shuts his eyes that he may see no evil. He will dwell on high, the fortifications of rocks will be his highness: bread is given him, his waters are sure. His eyes will see the King in his beauty; they will see the land far off.

Thanks be to God.

Dom Prosper Guéranger:

Happy he whose eyes will thus contemplate the new-born King in the sweet majesty of His love and his Humility! He will be so taken with this His beauty that the Earth with all its magnificence, will appear as nothing in his eyes. The only thing he will care to look upon, will be upon Him that will be laid in a manger and wrapped in swaddling clothes. But that we may have this happiness of closely contemplating the divine King who is coming to us, that we may merit to enter His court, we must do as the Prophet bids us: we must walk injustice and speak truth. Let us listen to the pious Rabanus Maurus who expresses this with much unction in his first Sermon on Preparation for the feast of Christmas:

“If at all times it behoves us to be adorned with the comeliness of good works, we should be so, with a special care, on the day of our Saviour’s birth. Consider within yourselves, my brethren, what you would do were a king or prince to invite you to come to celebrate his birthday. Your garments would be as new, as elegant, even as magnificent, as you could procure them, for you would think it an insult to him who invited you, were you to appear before him with anything upon you that was torn, or poor, or unclean. Show a like solicitude on the occasion of the coming Feast, and let your souls, beautified with the several ornaments of virtue, go forth to their King. He loves the pearls of simplicity and the flowers of chaste sobriety: wear them therefore. Let your consciences be composed in a holy calm now that the solemn feast of Jesus’ Nativity is so close upon us. Assist at it lovely in your chastity, gorgeous in your charity, beauteous by your alms-deeds, brilliant with justice and humility and, above all, radiant in the love of God. If the Lord Jesus will see you thus when you keep His feast, believe me, He will do more than visit your souls. He will treat you with such familiarity that He will choose them for his favourite abode, and there He will dwell forever, as it is written: Behold! I will come, and I will dwell with them; and they will be my people, and I will be their God.”

Christians, you have no time to lose: quickly prepare yourselves for this great visit. Let sinners be converted and become just: let the just become more just. Let the holy become more holy, for He that is coming is the Lord our God, and none else.

Dom Prosper Guéranger:

This, the eighth day from that on which we kept the Feast of the Immaculate Conception, is the Octave properly so called, whereas the other days were simply called days within the Octave. The custom of keeping up the principal Feasts for a whole week is one of those which the Christian Church adopted from the Synagogue. God had thus spoken in the Book of Leviticus: “The first day will be called most solemn and most holy, you must do no servile work therein... The eighth day also will be most solemn and most holy, and you must offer holocausts to the Lord, for it is the day of assembly and congregation; you must do no servile work therein” (Leviticus xxiii. 35, 36). We also read in the Book of Kings that Solomon having called all Israel to Jerusalem, for the dedication of the Temple, suffered not the people to return home until the eighth day. We learn from the Books of the New Testament that this custom was observed in our Saviour’s time, and we find Him authorising, by His own example, this solemnity of the Octave. Thus, we read in Saint John that Jesus once took part in one of the Jewish Festivals, about the midst of the Feast (John vii. 14) of Zachary opened, and He prophesied, saying, and the same Evangelist relating how our Lord cried out to the people: “If any man thirst, let him come to me, and drink”: observes, that it was on the last and great day of the festivity (John vii. 37).

In the Christian Church, there are two kinds of Octaves: Privileged Octaves and Non-privileged Octaves. The first are so solemn that no feast of a Saint, occurring during them can be kept, but must be transferred to some other time out of the Octave. Neither, during these Octaves, can a Mass De Requiem be said unless the corpse be present for burial. Non-privileged Octaves admit the Feasts of Saints which occur during them, provided they are semi-doubles or of higher class. But a commemoration of the Octave must be made both in the Office and the Mass of the Feast, which thus takes precedence of the Octave, unless this Feast be itself one of a first or second Class. The Octave of the Immaculate Conception, the first that occurs in the Liturgical Year, is not privileged. It gives place, not only to the Sunday, but also to the feasts of Saint Damasus and Saint Lucy, and to the various local feasts which are of a double or semi-double rite.

Let us once more devoutly reverence the Mystery of Mary’s Immaculate Conception: our Emmanuel loves to see His Mother honoured. After all, is it not for Him and for His sake that this Bright Star was prepared from all eternity, and created when the happy time fixed by the divine decree came? When we honour the Immaculate Conception of Mary, it is really to the divine Mystery of the Incarnation that we are paying our just homage. Jesus and Mary cannot be separated, for Isaias tells us that She is the Branch, and He the Flower (Isaias xi. 1).

*****

We give you thanks, O Jesus our Emmanuel, because you have granted us to live during the time that the privilege of your Blessed Mother was proclaimed on this Earth: the glorious privilege with which you enriched the first instant of the life of the happy creature from whom you took upon yourself our human nature! This Definition of your Church has given us a clearer knowledge of your infinite holiness. It has taught us to see more distinctly the harmony there is in all your divine mysteries. But it also has impressed upon us the great truth that we ourselves, being destined to the most intimate union with you here, and to the face-to-face vision of your infinite Majesty hereafter, must labour without ceasing to purify ourselves from the smallest stains of sin. You have said: “Blessed are the clean of heart for they shall see God” (Matthew v. 8) and you show us by the dogma of your Blessed Mother’s Immaculate Conception, what is the purity which your sovereign sanctity demands of us. By the love which led you to preserve her from every stain of sin, have mercy on us who are her devoted children. You are so soon to be among us! Before many days are past, we will have yielded to yourinvitations and have presumed to approach your sacred crib. We are not yet ready, dear Jesus! The effects of original sin are still so plainly upon us, and, what is worse, there are so many of our own sins which we have added to this of our first parent: Oh prepare our hearts and our senses, for we will not approach to Bethlehem unworthily. The sinless purity of your Mother is not for us. We ask not for that , but we ask for forgiveness of our countless sins, for conversion, for hatred of the world and the world’s maxims, and for perseverance in your holy love.

O Mary! Created Mirror of divine Justice and purer than the Cherubim and Seraphim, in return for the homage paid you by this our generation, on that blissful day when the glory of your Immaculate Conception was proclaimed throughout the world, give us that abundant richness of your protecting love which you reserved till now. The world is shaken to its very foundations: your hand can help it to rest again. Hell has let loose upon mankind the most terrible of its spirits of wickedness who breathe but blasphemy and destruction, but at the same time the Church of your Jesus feels that her youth has been renewed within her, and that the seed of the divine word is broadcast and healthy in a thousand fresh portions of the Earth. Never was the battle more fierce on both sides: so that we need all our hope to make us feel that Hell will not prevail. Is this the great struggle which is to be followed by the day of judgement ?

O Blessed Mother of Jesus! O Queen of the universe! Can it be that the Star of your Immaculate Conception has shone in the heavens only to light up the ruin and wreck of this Earth? The sign foretold by the Beloved Disciple Saint John of the Woman that appeared in the heavens clad with the Sun, bearing on her head a crown of twelve stars, and crushing the Crescent beneath her feet (Apocalypse xii. 1) — has it not more brightness and power than that other which appeared in the heavens telling men that God’s anger was appeased, and that the deluge was over?

The light which shines upon us is from a Mother. It is our Mother that comes to console and heal us. It is Heaven that smiles upon poor guilty Earth. We have deserved the chastisement we have received, and more than we have received but the anger of God will give way, and He will spare us. The graces which God poured out upon the world on that great Day of the Church's Definition of Mary’s Immaculate Conception were not to be without their effect: a new period then commenced. Mary, on whom heresy had heaped its blasphemies for [four] hundred years, will again reign in the love of those whom her Son redeemed. Countries will abandon those errors which have made them slaves and dupes of men’s doctrines. The old serpent will again writhe under that crushing pressure which God set up from the beginning, and the divine Sun of Justice will pour out on the regenerated world the floods of a light more than ever dazzling and resplendent. We may not live to see that time but we have signs of its near approach.

It was in the last century that your devout servant whom the Church has placed upon her altars, Leonard of Porto-Maurizio, predicted that when this dogma of your Immaculate Conception should be defined, the world would enjoy a long period of peace. The troubles of the present time in which we are living are, we doubt not, a prelude to that happy peace during which the divine word will traverse the whole world unimpeded, and the Church Militant will reap her harvest for the Church in Heaven. Sweet Mother of our Jesus! The world was also in agitation in those times which preceded the birth of your divine Son, but peace reigned throughout the whole Earth when you gave it its Saviour in Bethlehem. Until that grand time comes when you will show to the world the magnificence of the power which God has given to you, assist us, each year, to prepare for the glorious solemnity of Christmas: pray for us that we may be cleansed from all our sins when that splendid Night comes, during which will be born of you Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the Light eternal.

On this day according to the ROMAN MARTYROLOGY:

The consecration of St. Eusebius (315‒371 AD), bishop of Vercelli, whose birthday is commemorated on the first of August. His feast is kept on the sixteenth of this month by order of Pope Benedict XIII.

At Rome, the holy martyrs Irenaeus, Anthony, Theodore, Saturninus, Victor and seventeen others, who suffered for Christ in the persecution of Valerian.

In Africa, the martyrdom of the Saints Faustinus, Lucius, Candidus, Caelian, Mark, Januarius and Fortunatus.

In the same country, the holy bishop Valerian, who, being upwards of eighty years old, in the persecution of the Vandals under the Arian king Genseric, was asked to deliver the vessels of the church, and as he constantly refused, an order was issued to drive him all alone out of the city, and all were forbidden to allow him to stay either in their houses or on their land. For a long time he remained lying on the public road, in the open air, and thus, in the confession and defence of the Catholic verity, closed his blessed life.

In the diocese of Orleans, St. Maximinus, confessor.

In Georgia, beyond the Euxine sea, St. Christiana, who, though a slave, was so gifted with the power of working miracles that she converted the inhabitants of that country to the faith of Christ in the time of Constantine.

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

Thanks be to God.

1 DECEMBER – FERIA

Dom Prosper Guéranger:

The Church of Rome does not keep this day as a feast of any Saint. She simply recites the Office of the Feria unless it happen that the first Sunday of Advent fall on this first day of the month, in which case, the Office of that Sunday is celebrated. But should this first day of December be a simple Feria of Advent, we will do well to begin at once our considerations upon the preparations which were made for the merciful Coming of the Saviour of the world. Four thousand years of expectation preceded that Coming, and they are expressed by the four weeks of Advent, which we must spend before we come to the glorious festivity of our Lord’s Nativity. Let us reflect upon the holy impatience of the Saints of the Old Testament, and how they handed down, from age to age, the grand hope which was to be but hope to them since they were not to see it realised.

Let us follow, in thought, the long succession of the witnesses of the promise: Adam, and the first Patriarchs, who lived before the deluge. Then, Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and the twelve Patriarchs of the Hebrew people. Then Moses, Samuel, David and Solomon. Then, the Prophets and the Maccabees and, at last, John the Baptist and his disciples. These are the holy ancestors of whom the book of Ecclesiasticus speaks,where it says: “Let us praise men of renown, and our fathers in their generation” (Ecclesiasticus xliv. 1), and of whom the Apostle thus speaks to the Hebrews: “All these being approved by the testimony of faith, received not the promise. God providing some better thing for us, that they should not be perfected without us:” their faith was tried and approved, and yet they received not the object of the promises made to them. It was for us that God had reserved the stupendous gift, and therefore did not permit them to attain the object of their desires (Hebrews xi. 39, 40).

Let us honour them for their faith. Let us honour them as our veritable fathers, since it was in reward of their faith that our Lord remembered and fulfilled His merciful promise. Let us honour them, too, as the ancestors of the Messiah in the flesh. We may imagine each of them saying, as he lay on his dying bed, this solemn prayer to Him who alone could conquer death: “I will look for your salvation, O Lord!” It was the exclamation of Jacob, at his last hour, when he was pronouncing his prophetic blessings on his children: “and then,” says the Scripture, “he drew up his feet upon his bed, and died, and he was gathered to his people” (Genesis xlix. 32).

Thus did all these holy men, in quitting this life, go to await, far from the abode of eternal light, Him who was to come in due time and re-open the gate of Heaven. Let us contemplate them in this place of expectation, and give our grateful thanks to God who has brought us to His admirable Light without requiring us to pass through a Limbo of darkness. It is our duty to pray ardently for the Coming of the Deliverer who will break down by His Cross the gates of the prison, and will fill it with the brightness of His glory. During this holy season the Church is continually borrowing the fervent expressions of these Fathers of the Christian people, making them her own prayer for the Messiah to come. Let us turn to those great Saints and beg of them to pray that our work of preparation for Jesus’ coming to our hearts may be blessed by God.

On this day according to the ROMAN MARTYROLOGY:

The prophet Nahum, who was buried in Begabar.

At Rome, the holy martyrs Diodorus, priest, and Marian, deacon, with many others, who by the command of the emperor Numerian, were made partakers of the glory of martyrdom.

In the same city, the martyrdom of the saints Lucius, Rogatus, Cassian and Candida.

The same day, St. Ansanus, martyr, who confessed Christ at Rome and was cast into prison in the time of the emperor Diocletian. Being afterwards conducted to Siena in Tuscany, he there ended the course of his martyrdom by decapitation.

At Amelia in Umbria, St. Olympias, ex-consul, who was converted to the faith by blessed Firmina, and being tortured on the rack, consummated his martyrdom under Diocletian.

At Arbele in Persia, St. Ananias, martyr.

At Narni, St. Proculus, bishop and martyr, who after performing many good works, was beheaded by order of Totila, king of the Goths.

At Casale, St. Evasius, bishop and martyr.

At Milan, St. Castritian, bishop, who was eminent for virtues and the practice of pious and religious deeds in very troubled times for the Church.

At Brescia, St. Ursicinus, bishop.

At Noyon, St. Eligius, bishop, whose life is rendered illustrious by a considerable number of miracles.

At Verdun, St. Agericus, bishop.

The same day, St. Natalia, wife of the blessed martyr Adrian, under the emperor Diocletian. For a long time she served the holy martyrs detained in prison at Nicomedia, and when their combats were at an end, she repaired to Constantinople where she went peacefully to her repose in the Lord.

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

Thanks be to God.

18 NOVEMBER – LAST SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST (SIXTH AFTER EPIPHANY RESUMED)

Epistle – 1 Thessalonians i. 2‒10

Brethren, we give thanks to God for you all, making a remembrance of you in our prayers without ceasing; being mindful of the work of your faith, and labour and charity, and of the enduring of the hope of our Lord Jesus Christ before God and our Father: knowing, brethren, beloved of God, your election; for our gospel has not been unto you in word only, but in power also, and in the Holy Ghost, and in such fullness, as you know what manner of men we have been among you for your sakes. And you became followers of us and of the Lord; receiving the word in much tribulation, with joy of the Holy Ghost: so that you were made a pattern to all that believe, in Macedonia and in Achaia. For from you was spread abroad the word of the Lord, not only in Macedonia and in Achaia, but also in every place, your faith, which is towards God, is gone forth; so that we need not to speak anything. For they themselves relate of us what manner of entering in we had unto you; and how you turned to God from idols, to serve the living and true God; and to wait for His Son from heaven (whom He raised from the dead), Jesus, who has delivered us from the wrath to come.

Thanks be to God.

Gospel – Matthew xiii. 31–35

At that time, Jesus spoke this parable to the multitude: “The kingdom of heaven is like a grain of mustard-seed, which a man took, and sowed in his field: which is the least indeed of all seeds; but when it is grown up, it is greater than all herbs, and becomes a tree; so that the thirds of the air come, and dwell in the branches thereof.” Another parable He spoke to them: “The kingdom of heaven is like leaven, which a woman took and hid in three measures of meal, until the whole was leavened.” All these things Jesus spoke in parables to the multitudes, and without parables He did not speak to them; that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, saying, “I will open my mouth in parables, I will utter things hidden from the foundation of the world.”

Praise be to you, O Christ.

4 NOVEMBER – FOURTH SUNDAY AFTER EPIPHANY (RESUMED)

Epistle – Romans xiii. 8‒10

Brethren, owe no man anything, but to love one another, for he that loves his neighbour has fulfilled the Law. For, “You must not commit adultery: You must not kill. You must not steal. You must not bear false witness. You must not covet.” And if there be any other commandment it is comprised in this word: “You must love your neighbour as yourself.” The love of our neighbour works no evil. Love, therefore, is the fulfilling of the Law.

Thanks be to God.

Dom Prosper Guéranger:

During this holy season when the very Son of God is giving so great a proof of His love for man, whose nature He has assumed — the Church is continually exhorting the faithful, in the words of the Apostle, to practise charity towards each other. The Emmanuel comes to us as our Lawgiver: now, He has resumed His whole Law in the precept of love. He is come in order to unite what sin had divided. Let us comply with His divine intentions and accomplish, with earnestness, the Law He has imposed on us.

Gospel – Matthew viii. 23‒27

At that time, when Jesus entered into the boat His disciples followed Him. And behold a great tempest arose in the sea, so that the boat was covered with waves, but He was asleep. And His disciples came to Him, and awakened Him, saying: “Lord, save us, we perish.” And Jesus said to them: “Why are you fearful, O ye of little faith?” Then rising up He commanded the winds and the sea, and there came a great calm. But the men wondered, saying: “What manner of man is this, for the winds and the sea obey him?”

Praise be to you, O Christ.

Dom Prosper Guéranger:

Let us adore the power of our Emmanuel who is come to calm the tempest which threatened the human race with death. In the midst of their danger the successive generations of men had cried out: “Lord! Save us. We perish.” When the fullness of time had come, He awoke from his rest. He had but to command, and the power of our enemies was destroyed. The malice of the devils, the darkness of idolatry, the corruption of paganism — all yielded. Nation after nation was converted to Jesus. They had said when in their misery and blindness: “Who is this Jesus whom no power can resist?” and then, they embraced His Law. This power of Jesus to break down every obstacle —and that, too, at the very time when men were disquieted at His apparent slumbering — has often shown itself in the past ages of the Church. How many times has He not chosen that period for saving the world which seemed the least likely for rescue! The same happens in the life of each one among us. Often we are tossed to and fro by violent temptations. It would seem as though the billows must sink us, and yet our will is firmly anchored to our God! And what is all this, if not Jesus sleeping in the heaving barque —nay, protecting us by this His sleeping? And if our cry for help at length awakens Him, it is only to proclaim His own and our victory, for He has already conquered and we have conquered in Him.

27 OCTOBER – FERIA

On this day according to the ROMAN MARTYOLOGY:

The vigil of the holy Apostles Saints Simon and Jude.

At Avila in Spain, the Saints Vincent, Sabina and Christeta, who were first stretched on the rack in such a manner that all their limbs were dislocated. Then stones being laid on their heads, and their brains beaten out with heavy bars, they terminated their martyrdom under the governor Dacian.

At Tilchatel, St. Florentius, martyr.

In Cappadocia, the holy martyrs Capitolina, and Erotheides, her handmaid, who suffered under Diocletian.

In India, St. Frumentius, bishop. While he was a captive there he was consecrated bishop by St. Athanasius and preached the Gospel in that country.

In Ethiopia, St. Elesbaan, king, who, after having defeated the enemies of Christ and sent his royal diadem to Jerusalem in the time of the emperor Justin, led a monastical life, as he had vowed, and went to his reward.

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

Thanks be to God.

20 APRIL – FERIA

On this day according to the ROMAN MARTYROLOGY:

At Rome, the holy martyrs Sulpicius and Servilian who were converted to the faith of Christ by the discourses and the miracles of the holy virgin Domitilla. Having refused to sacrifice to the idols, they were beheaded by Anian, prefect of the city, in the persecution of Trajan.

The same day, the holy martyrs Victor, Zoticus, Zeno, Acindinus, Caesareus, Severian, Chrysophorus, Theonas and Antoninus who suffered martyrdom after undergoing various trials.

At Tomis in Scythia, St. Theotimus, bishop, whose great sanctity and miracles procured him the veneration of unbelieving barbarians.

At Embrun in France, St. Marcellin, first bishop of that city, who by divine inspiration came from Africa with his holy companions Vincent and Domninus and converted to the faith of Christ the greatest portion of the inhabitants of the maritime Alps, by his preaching and the wonderful prodigies, which he still continues to work.

At Auxerre, St. Marcian, a priest.

The same day, St. Theodore, confessor, surnamed Trichinas, from the rough hair garment which he wore. He was renowned for many miracles, but especially for his power over demons. From his body issues a liquid which imparts health to the sick.

At Monte-Pulciano, St. Agnes, a virgin, of the Order of St. Dominic, celebrated for miracles.

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

Thanks be to God.

19 APRIL – FERIA

On this day according to the ROMAN MARTYROLOGY:

The birthday of St. Timon, one of the first seven deacons, who taught first at Berea. Afterwards while preaching the word of the Lord at Corinth, he was delivered to the flames by the Jews and Greeks, but remaining uninjured he ended his martyrdom by crucifixion.

At Melitine in Armenia, the holy martyrs Hermogenes, Caius, Expeditus, Aristonicus, Rufus and Galatas, crowned on the same day.

At Collioure in Spain, the holy martyr Vincent.

The same day, the holy martyrs Socrates and Denis who were transpierced with lances.

At Jerusalem, St. Paphnutius, martyr.

At Canterbury in England, St. Elphege, bishop and martyr.

At Antioch in Pisidia, St. George, a bishop, who died in exile for the worship of sacred images.

At Rome, Pope St. Leo IX, illustrious for his virtues and miracles.

In the monastery of Lobbes, St. Ursmar, bishop.

At Florence, St. Crescent, confessor, a disciple of the blessed bishop Zenobius.

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

Thanks be to God.

18 APRIL – FERIA

On this day according to the ROMAN MARTYROLOGY:

At Rome, St. Apollonius, a senator under the emperor Commodus and the prefect Perennius. Having been denounced as a Christian by one of his slaves, and being commanded to give an account of his faith, he composed an able work which he read in the Senate. He was nevertheless decapitated for Christ by the sentence of that body.

At Messina, the birthday of the holy martyrs, Eleutherius, bishop of Illyricum, and Anthia, his mother. Illustrious by his holiness of life and his power of working miracles, he was, in the reign of Hadrian, laid on a bed of red-hot iron, on a gridiron, in a pan filled with boiling oil, pitch and rosin. He was cast to the lions but remaining unhurt, he finally had his throat pierced with a sword. His mother suffered a similar punishment.

In the same place, St. Corebus, prefect, who was converted to the faith by St. Eleutherius and died by the sword.

At Brescia, St. Calocerus, a martyr, who was converted to Christ by Saints Faustinus and Jovita, and under the same Hadrian terminated his glorious combat for the confession of the faith.

At Cordova, St. Perfect, priest and martyr, killed by the Moors for inveighing against the followers of Muhammed.

At Milan, St. Galdini, cardinal and bishop of that city who, at the conclusion of a discourse against heretics, gave up his soul to God.

At Mount Senario in Tuscany, blessed Amideus, one of the seven Founders of the Order of the Servites of the Blessed Virgin Mary, very celebrated for an ardent love of God

.

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

Thanks be to God.

17 APRIL – SAINT ANICETUS (Pope and Martyr)

Anicetus, a Syrian by birth, governed the Church during the reign of Marcus Aurelius Antoninus. He passed a decree which forbade clerics to nourish their hair. The ordinations which he held in five Decembers gave 17 Priests, 4 Deacons and 9 Bishops. His Pontificate lasted 8 years, 8 months and 24 days. He was crowned with martyrdom for the Christian faith and was buried on the fifteenth of the Calends of May (April 17th), in the Cemetery afterwards called the Cemetery of Callixtus, which is on the Via Appia.

Dom Prosper Guéranger:

A Pope and Martyr of the second century appears on the Calendar today. The Martyrs stand in clusters near our Risen Lord. They are the eagles of which He speaks in His Gospel, as gathering together around their longed-for object (Matthew xxiv. 28). Anicetus is not the only Pope whose Martyrdom has to be celebrated during Paschal Time. Others will come, adding to our Easter joy. The Saint who claims our attention today is one of those whose holy actions are shrouded in the venerable gloom of the Church, and yet his memory will be held in veneration to the end of time, not only as being the eleventh successor of Saint Peter in the See of Rome, but as having imitated him also in holiness of life. Saint Polycarp, whose feast we kept on the twenty-sixth of January, came from Smyrna to Rome in order to visit him and receive his advice. There have also been transmitted to us one or two instances of the zeal with which he defended the Church against the heresiarchs Valentine and Marcion. In a word, we know that he was a Martyr, and that is enough to immortalise his name.

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Holy Pontiff who so many long ages ago was made partaker of the glory of Him whose Vicar and Martyr you had the privilege to be, we this day celebrate your blessed memory with filial affection. In you we venerate one of the pillars of the early Church. And though your name has been handed down to us without the history of those holy deeds which merited for you a martyr’s palm, we at least know that it was dear to the faithful of the age in which you lived. Now that you are in Heaven your zeal for the glory of God is greater than it was when you were on this Earth. Pray, then, for the Church of these sad times. Upwards of two hundred Pontiffs have followed you on the Chair of Peter, and Christ has not yet come to judge the world. Assist your Successor who is our Father. Assist the Flock entrusted to his charge, for the dangers that now threaten us are extreme. Your Pontificate was during a stormy period. Pray to our Risen Jesus that He would quell the tempest that is now howling round the Barque of Peter. Beseech Him to give us perseverance and courage. Obtain for us that we may fix our hearts on our heavenly country so that when God calls us hence, we may be prepared as you were. We are the descendants of the Martyrs. Their faith is ours. The hope that cheered them must be our consolation.

Also on this day according to the ROMAN MARTYROLOGY:

In Africa, the birthday of blessed Mappalicus, and many others who were crowned with martyrdom, as is related by St. Cyprian in his Epistle to the Martyrs and Confessors.

In the same country, the holy martyrs Fortunatus and Marcian.

At Antioch, the holy martyrs Peter, a deacon, and Hermogenes, his servant.

At Cordova, the holy martyrs Elias, a priest, Paul and Isidore, monks.

At Vienne, St. Pantagathus, bishop.

At Tortona, St. Innocent, bishop and confessor.

At Citeaux in France, the abbot St. Stephen who was the first to live in the desert of Citeaux, and who joyfully welcomed St. Bernard and his companions when they came there.

In the monastery of Chaise-Dieu in the diocese of Clermont, St. Robert, confessor, founder and first abbot of that monastery.

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

Thanks be to God.

16 APRIL – FERIA

On this day according to the ROMAN MARTYROLOGY:

At Corinth, the birthday of the holy martyrs Callistus and Charisius, with seven others, who were cast into the sea.

At Saragossa in Spain, the birthday of eighteen holy martyrs, Optatus, Lupercus, Successus, Martial, Urbanus, Julia, Quinctilian, Pubilus, Fronto, Felix, Caecilian, Eventius, Primitivus, Apodemius and four others, who, it is said, bore the name of Saturninus. Under Dacian, governor of Spain, they were all together subjected to torments and slain. The glory of their martyrdom has been celebrated in verse by Prudentius.

In the same place, St. Encratis, a virgin and martyr who had her body lacerated, her breasts cut off, and her liver plucked out. As she survived these torments she was confined in a prison until her ulcerated flesh putrefied.

In the same city, the Saints Caius and Crementius, who twice confessed the faith of Christ, and persevering in it, drank of the chalice of martyrdom.

Again in the same place, the martyr St. Lambert.

At Palencia, St. Turibius, bishop of Astorga, who with the aid of Pope St. Leo, drove the heresy of Priscillian entirely out of Spain and went to rest in the Lord with a great renown for miracles.

At Braga, in Portugal, the bishop St. Fructuosus.

The same day, St. Paternus, bishop of Avrauches.

In Belgium, near Valenciennes, St. Drogo, confessor.

At Siena in Tuscany, blessed Joachim, of the Order of the Servites of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

At Rome, the birthday of St. Benedict Joseph Labre, confessor, who was renowned for his contempt of self and his great voluntary poverty.

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

Thanks be to God.

15 APRIL – FERIA

On this day according to the ROMAN MARTYROLOGY:

At Rome, the saints Basilissa and Anastasia. Of noble family, they were disciples of the Apostles, and as they persevered courageously in the profession of their faith in the time of the emperor Nero, they had their tongues and feet cut off, were put to the sword, and thus obtained the crown of martyrdom.

The same day, the holy martyrs Maro, Eutyches, and Victorinus who, with blessed Flavia Domitilla, were banished to the island of Pontia for the confession of Christ. Being recalled in the reign of Nerva, and having converted many to the faith, they were put to death in different manners by the judge Valerian during the persecution of Trajan.

In Persia, in the reign of the emperor Decius, the holy martyrs Maxinius and Olympiades who were beaten with rods and whips, and struck on their heads with clubs until they breathed their last.

At Perentino in Campania, St. Eutychius, martyr.

At Myra in Lycia, St. Crescens who consummated his martyrdom by fire.

Also the holy martyrs Theodorus and Pausilippus who suffered under the emperor Hadrian.

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

Thanks be to God.

14 APRIL – SAINTS TIBURTIUS, VALERIAN AND MAXIMUS (Martyrs)

Valerian, a Roman by birth and of a noble family, was married to the blessed Caecila who was of equal nobility. By the advice of this virgin he and his brother Tiburtius were baptised by the holy Pope Urban during the reign of the emperor Alexander Severus. Almachius, the City Prefect, having been informed that they had become Christians, had distributed their patrimony among the poor and were burying the bodies of the Christians, summoned them before him and severely rebuked them. Finding, however, that they persevered in confessing Christ to be God and in proclaiming the gods to be but vain images of devils, he ordered them to be scourged. But they were not to be induced by this scourging to adore the idols of Jupiter. They continued firm in the profession of the true Faith: they were, therefore, beheaded four miles out of Rome. One of the Prefect’s officials named Maximus, who had been appointed to lead them to execution, was filled with admiration at seeing the courage with which they suffered, and professed himself to be a Christian, as did likewise several other servants of the Prefect. Not long after, they were all beaten to death with whips loaded with plummets of lead: and thus, from being slaves of the devil, they became Martyrs of Christ our Lord.

Dom Prosper Guéranger:

Let us affectionately welcome the brave triumvirate of Martyrs presented today to our Risen Jesus by the Roman Church of the second century. The first is Valerian, the chaste and noble spouse of Caecila. He wears on his brow a wreath of roses and lilies. The second is Tiburtius, Valerian’s brother, and, like him, a convert of Caecila’s. He shows us the triumphant palm he so speedily won. Maximus is the third. He witnessed the combat and the victory of the two brothers, imitated their example and followed them to Heaven. The immortal Caecila is the queen of this holy group. She taught them to be Martyrs. She has a right to our remembrance on this day of their Feast. She herself shared in their privilege of being martyred during Paschal Time, but her Feast is not kept till November when we will find her imparting an exquisite loveliness to the close of the Liturgical Year.

For many centuries, the Church admitted none but secondary Feasts into the present Season, and this in order the more to concentrate the attention of the Faithful on the mystery of our Lord’s Resurrection. Hence the feast of Saint Caecilia which was formerly kept with a Vigil was deferred to a Season when it could be solemnised as it deserved. The Church now makes a commemoration only of our three great Martyrs.

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Holy and precious fruits of the great Caecilia’s apostolate! We this day unite with the blessed Spirits in celebrating your entrance into the court of Heaven. You, O Valerian, were led to Faith, and to the sublimest of all virtues, by your noble spouse. You were the first to enter into the joy of the Lord. But in a few days your Caecilia followed you, and the love begun on Earth was made eternal in Heaven. Speaking of you and her, an Angel said that your Roses and Lilies should never fade. Their fragrance of love and purity is sweeter by far now than when they bloomed here below. You, O Tiburtius, brother of these two angels of Earth! You owe to them your beautiful Martyr’s palm. You are a sharer in their eternal happiness, and the three names Caecilia, Valerian and Tiburtius are to be for ever united in the admiration of Angels and men. The sight of the two brothers suffering so bravely for Christ inflamed your ambition, O Maximus, to imitate them. The God of Caecilia became yours. You shed your blood for Him, and He in return has put you in Heaven near Caecilia, Valerian and Tiburtius to whom, while on Earth, you were so inferior by birth and position. Now, therefore, O holy Martyrs, be our protectors and hear the prayers we address to you. Speak in our favour to the Immortal King for whom you so bravely fought and died. Ask Him to fill our hearts with His love, and make us generous like you. You despised this fleeting life. We, too, must despise it if we would share in the happiness you now enjoy — the sight of our Risen Lord. The battle we have to fight may, perhaps, be different from yours but the reward that awaits us is, like your own, everlasting. Rather than betray Christ, you laid down your lives. Our duty is the same. We must die rather than sin. Pray for us, O holy Martyrs, that our lives may henceforward be such as will honour this year’s Pasch. Pray, also, for the Church of Rome, your Mother. Her days of trial have returned. She has a right to count on your intercession for obtaining the help she needs.

Also on this day according to the ROMAN MARTYROLOGY:

The feast of St. Justin, martyr, who is mentioned on the thirteenth of this month.

At Teramo, St. Proculus, bishop and martyr.

Also St. Domnina, virgin and martyr, crowned with other virgins, her companions.

At Alexandria, St. Thomaides, martyr.

The same day, St. Ardalion, an actor. One day, in the theatre, while mocking the holy rites of the Christian religion, he was suddenly converted and bore testimony to it, not only by his words, but also with his blood.

At Lyons, St. Lambert, bishop and confessor.

At Alexandria, St. Fronto, an abbot, whose life was adorned with sanctity and miracles.

At Rome, St. Abundius, resident sacristan of the church of St. Peter.

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

Thanks be to God.

12 APRIL – FERIA

On this day according to the ROMAN MARTYROLOGY:

At Verona, the martyrdom of the bishop St. Zeno, who governed that Church with great fortitude amid the storms of persecution and was crowned with martyrdom in the days of Gallienus.

In Cappadocia, in the reign of the emperor Valens, in the persecution raised against Christians by Athanaric, king of the Goths, St. Sabas, a Goth, who was cast into a river after undergoing cruel torments. According to St. Augustine, many other Christian Goths were at that time adorned with the crown of martyrdom.

At Braga in Portugal, St. Victor, martyr, who although only a catechumen, refused to adore an idol and confessed Jesus Christ with great constancy. After suffering many tortures he was beheaded and thus merited to be baptised in his own blood.

At Fermo in the Marches of Ancona, St. Vissia, virgin and martyr.

At Rome, on the Via Aurelia, the birthday of Pope St. Julius, who combated vigorously for the Catholic faith against the Arians. After a life of brilliant deeds and great sanctity he rested in peace.

At Gap, St. Constantine, bishop and confessor.

At Pavia, St. Damian, bishop.

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

Thanks be to God.

11 APRIL – SAINT LEO THE GREAT (Pope and Doctor of the Church)

Leo I, a Tuscan by birth, governed the Church at the period when Attila, the king of the Huns, (surnamed the Scourge of God), was invading Italy. Attila pillaged and burned the city of Aquileia which he took after a three years’ siege. This done, he rushed on towards Rome as a wild firebrand. He had reached the place where the Mincio joins the Po, and was on the point of ordering his troops to pass the river, when he was met by Leo who was moved with compassion at the misfortunes that were threatening Italy. Such was his superhuman eloquence that he induced Attila to retrace his steps. When asked by his people how it was that contrary to his custom he had yielded such ready obedience to the demands of the Roman Pontiff, the king answered that he beheld, while Leo was speaking, a personage clad in priestly robes, who stood near with a naked sword in his hand and threatened him with death unless he obeyed the Pontiff. Attila then returned to Pannonia.

Leo was welcomed back to Rome amid the exceeding joy of all. A short time after, when Rome was invested by Genseric, the Pontiff’s eloquence and reputation for sanctity had such influence on the barbarian that he abstained from setting fire to the buildings, and forbade his troops to insult or massacre the inhabitants. Seeing the Church attacked by several heresies, mainly by the followers of Nestorius and Eutyches, Leo called the Council of Chalcedon to remove error and vindicate the Catholic faith. Six hundred and thirty bishops assisted at this Council in which Eutyches, Dioscorus and Nestorius were condemned for the second and last time. The Decrees of the Council were confirmed by the authority of Leo.

The holy Pontiff then turned his attention to the reparation and building of churches. It was through his persuasion that a pious lady called Demetria built the Church of Saint Stephen on her own land on the Via Latina, three miles out of Rome. He himself built one on Via Appia and dedicated it to Saint Cornelius. He repaired several others and refurnished them with all the sacred vessels needed for the divine service. He built vaults under the Basilicas of Saint Peter, Saint Paul, and Saint John Lateran. He appointed guards, to whom he gave the name of Cubicularii, to watch at the tombs of the Apostles. He ordered that these words should be added to the Canon of the Mass: Holy Sacrifice, spotless Host. He decreed that a nun should not receive the blessed veil unless she had observed virginity for forty years.

After these and other similar admirable acts, and after writing much that was replete with piety and eloquence, Leo slept in the Lord on the third of the Ides of April (April 11th). He reigned as Sovereign Pontiff for 20 years, 10 months and 28 days.

Dom Prosper Guéranger:

One of the grandest Saints in the Church’s Calendar is brought before us today. Leo, the Pontiff and Doctor, rises on the Paschal horizon and calls for our admiration and love. As his name implies, he is the Lion of holy Church, thus representing, in his own person, one of the most glorious of our Lord’s titles. There have been twelve Popes who have had this name, and five of the number are enrolled in the catalogue of Saints. But not one of them has so honoured the name as he whose feast we keep today: hence, he is called “Leo the Great.” He deserved the appellation by what he did for maintaining the faith regarding the sublime mystery of the Incarnation. The Church had triumphed over the heresies that had attacked the dogma of the Trinity, when the gates of Hell sought to prevail against the dogma of God having been made Man. Nestorius, a Bishop of Constantinople, impiously taught that there were two distinct Persons in Christ — the Person of the Divine Word and the Person of Man. The Council of Ephesus condemned this doctrine which, by denying the unity of Person in Christ, destroyed the true notion of the Redemption.

A new heresy, the very opposite of that of Nestorianism but equally subversive of Christianity, soon followed. The monk Eutyches maintained that in the Incarnation the Human Nature was absorbed by the Divine. The error was propagated with frightful rapidity. There was needed a clear and authoritative exposition of the great dogma which is the foundation of all our hopes. Leo arose and, from the Apostolic Chair on which the Holy Ghost had placed him, proclaimed with matchless eloquence and precision the formula of the ancient faith — ancient, indeed, and ever the same, yet ever acquiring greater and fresher brightness. A cry of admiration was raised at the General Council of Chalcedon which had been convened for the purpose of condemning the errors of Eutyches. “Peter,” exclaimed the Fathers, “Peter has spoken by the mouth of Leo!” As we will see further on, the Eastern Church has kept up the enthusiasm thus excited by the magnificent teachings given by Leo to the whole world.

The barbarian hordes were invading the West. The Empire was little more than a ruin, and Attila, “the Scourge of God,” was marching on towards Rome. Leo’s majestic bearing repelled the invasion, as his word had checked the ravages of heresy. The haughty king of the Huns before whose armies the strongest citadels had fallen, granted an audience to the Pontiff on the banks of the Mincio and promised to spare Rome. The calm and dignity of Leo who, thus unarmed confronted the most formidable enemy of the Empire and exposed his life for his flock, awed the barbarian, who afterwards told his people that during the interview he saw a venerable person standing, in an attitude of defence, by the side of Rome’s intercessor: it was the Apostle Saint Peter. Attila not only admired, he feared the Pontiff. It was truly a sublime spectacle, and one that was full of meaning — a priest, with no arms save those of his character and virtues, forcing a king, such as Attila was, to do homage to a devotedness which he could ill understand and recognise, by submission, the influence of a power which had Heaven on its side. Leo, single-handed and at once, did what it took the whole of Europe several ages to accomplish later on.

That the aureola of Leo’s glory might be complete, the Holy Ghost gifted him with an eloquence which, on account of its majesty and richness, might deservedly be called Papal. The Latin language had, at that time, lost its ancient vigour. But we frequently come across passages in the writings of our Saint which remind us of the golden age. In exposing the dogmas of our holy Faith he uses a style so dignified and so impregnated with the savour of sacred antiquity that it seems made for the subject. He has several admirable Sermons on the Resurrection, and speaking of the present Season of the Liturgical Year, he says: “The days that intervened between our Lord’s Resurrection and Ascension, were not days on which nothing was done: on the contrary, great were the Sacraments then confirmed, and great were the mysteries that were revealed.”

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Glory be to you, Jesus, Lion of the Tribe of Judah, that has raised up in your Church a Lion to defend her in those dark times when holy Faith was most exposed to danger. You charged Peter to confirm his Brethren (Luke xxii. 32), and we have seen Leo, in whom Peter lived, fulfil this office with sovereign authority. We have heard the acclamation of the holy Council which, in admiration at the heavenly teachings of Leo, proclaimed the signal favour you conferred on your flock when you bade Peter to feed both Sheep and Lambs. O holy Pontiff Leo! You worthily represented Peter in his Chair from which your apostolic teaching ceased not to flow, ever beautiful in its truth and majesty. The Church of your own day honoured you as the great Teacher of Faith, and the Church of every succeeding age has recognised you as one of the most learned Doctors and preachers of the divine Word. From your throne in Heaven where now you reign, pour forth upon us the understanding of the great Mystery which you were called on to defend. Under your inspired pen this mystery grows clear. We see how sublimely it harmonises with all other mysteries, and Faith delights at gaining so close a view of the divine object of its belief. Oh strengthen this Faith within us. The Incarnate Word is blasphemed in these our own times. Avenge His glory by sending us men of your zeal and learning. You triumphed over barbarian invaders: Attila acknowledged the influence of your sanctity and eloquence by withdrawing his troops from the Christian land they infested. In these our days there have risen up new barbarians — civilised barbarians who would persuade us that religion should be eliminated from education, and that the State, in its laws and institutions, should simply ignore our Lord Jesus Christ, the King to whom all power has been given, not only in Heaven but on Earth also (Matthew xxviii. 18). Oh help us by your powerful intercession, for our danger is extreme. Many are seduced, and are apostates while flattering themselves that they are still Christians. Pray that the light that is left within us, may not be extinguished, and that the public scandals which now exist may be brought to an end. Attila was but a pagan. Our modern statesmen and governments are, or, at least call themselves, Christians: have pity on them, and gain for them light to see the precipice to which they are hurrying society.

Also on this day according to the ROMAN MARTYROLOGY:

At Pergamus in Asia, St. Antipas, a faithful witness of whom St. John speaks in the Apocalypse. Under the emperor Domitian, he was shut up in a red-hot brazen ox and thus consummated his martyrdom.

At Salona in Dalmatia, the holy martyrs Domnion, a bishop and eight soldiers.

At Gortina in Crete, in the time of Marcus Antoninus Verus and Lucius Aurelius Commodus, St. Philip, a bishop most renowned for merit and doctrine, who defended the church entrusted to his care against the fury of the Gentiles and the wiles of the heretics.

At Nicomedia, St. Eustorgius, a priest.

At Spoleto, St. Isaac, monk and confessor, whose virtues are recorded by Pope St. Gregory.

At Gaza in Palestine, St. Barsanuphius, an anchoret, in the time of the emperor Justinian.

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

Thanks be to God.

10 APRIL – FERIA

On this day according to the ROMAN MARTYROLOGY:

The prophet Ezechiel, who was put to death in Babylon by the Judge of the people of Israel because he reproved him for worshipping idols. He was buried in the sepulchre of Sem and Arphaxad, Abraham’s ancestors. To his tomb many were used to resorting for the purpose of prayer.

At Rome, the birthday of many holy martyrs who Pope St. Alexander baptised while he was detained in prison. The prefect Aurelian had them all put in an old ship, taken to the deep sea and plunged into it with stones tied to their necks.

At Alexandria, the holy martyrs Apollonius, priest, and five others who in the persecution of Maximian were drowned in the sea.

In Africa, under the emperor Decius and the prefect Fortunian, the holy martyrs Terentius, African, Pompey and their companions, who were scourged, racked and subjected to other torments. Their martyrdom ended by decapitation.

The same day, St. Macarius, bishop of Antioch, celebrated for virtues and miracles.

At Valladolid in Spain, St. Michael of the Saints, confessor, of the Order of Discalced Trinitarians for the Redemption of Captives, a man remarkable for integrity of life, for the penitential spirit, and for great love of God. Blessed Pius IX solemnly canonised him on Pentecost Sunday in 1862 and ordered his festival to be kept on the fifth of July.

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

Thanks be to God.

7 APRIL – FERIA

On this day according to the ROMAN MARTYROLOGY:

In Africa, the birthday of the holy martyrs Epiphanius, bishop, Donatus, Rufinus and thirteen others.

At Sinope in Pontus, two hundred holy martyrs.

In Cilicia, under the prefect Maximian, St. Calliopius, martyr. After undergoing other torments, he was fastened to a cross with his head downward and gained the noble crown of martyrdom.

At Nicomedia, St. Cyriacus and ten other martyrs.

At Alexandria, St. Peleusius, priest and martyr.

At Rome, St. Hegesippus, who lived near the time of the Apostles. He came to Rome while Anicetus was Sovereign Pontiff and remained till the accession of Eleutherius. He wrote the history of the Church in a simple style, from the Passion of Our Lord to his own time, and delineated in his narrative the character of those whose lives he imitated.

At Verona, St. Saturninus, bishop and confessor.

In Syria, in the time of Valens, St. Aphraates, an anchoret, who defended the Catholic faith against the Arians by the power of miracles.

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

Thanks be to God.

6 APRIL – FERIA

On this day according to the ROMAN MARTYROLOGY:

In Rome, the birthday of blessed Sixtus, pope and martyr, who governed the Church in the time of the emperor Hadrian. Under Antoninus Pius he joyfully endured a corporal death in order to gain Christ.

In Macedonia, the holy martyrs Timothy and Diogenes.

In Persia, one hundred and twenty holy martyrs.

At Ascalon, the holy martyrs Platonides and two others.

At Carthage, St. Marcellin, who was slain by the heretics for defending the Catholic faith.

At Rome, Pope St. Celestine, who condemned Nestorius, bishop of Constantinople, and put Pelagius to flight. It was also by his authority that the holy ecumenical Council of Ephesus was convoked against Nestorius.

In Ireland, the holy bishop Celsus who preceded blessed Malachy in the episcopate.

In Denmark, St. William, an abbot renowned for his saintly life and miracles.

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

Thanks be to God.

2 APRIL – SAINT FRANCIS OF PAOLA (Confessor)

Francis was born at Paula in Calabria. His parents, who were for a long time without children, obtained him from Heaven after having made a vow and prayed to Saint Francis. Then very young, being inflamed with the love of God, Francis withdrew into a desert where for six years he led an austere life, but one that was sweetened by heavenly contemplations. The fame of his virtues having spread abroad, many persons went to him out of a desire to be trained in virtue. Out of a motive of fraternal charity, he left his solitude, built a Church near Paula and there laid the foundation of his Order. He had a wonderful gift of preaching. He observed virginity during his whole life. Such was his love for humility that he called himself the last of all men, and would have his disciples named Minims. His dress was of the coarsest kind. He always walked barefooted and his bed was the ground. His abstinence was extraordinary: he ate only once in the day and not until after sunset. His food consisted of bread and water to which he scarcely ever added those viands which are permitted even in Lent. And this practice he would have kept up by his Religious under the obligation of a fourth vow. God bore witness to the holiness of His servant by many miracles, of which this is the most celebrated: that when he was rejected by the sailors, he and his companion passed over the straits of Sicily on his cloak, which he spread out on the water. He also prophesied many future events. King Louis XI France had a great desire to see the Saint and treated him with great respect. Having reached his ninety-first year, he died at Tours in 1507. His body, which was unburied for eleven days, so far from becoming corrupt, yielded a sweet fragrance. He was canonised by Pope Leo X.

Dom Prosper Guéranger:

The founder of a Religious Order whose distinguishing characteristics were humility and penance comes before us today: it is Francis of Paola. Let us study his virtues and beg his intercession. His whole life was one of great innocence, and yet we find him embracing, from his earliest youth, mortifications which nowadays, would not be expected from the very worst sinners. How was it that he could do so much? And we, who have so often sinned, do so little? The claims of Divine Justice are as strong now as ever they were, for God never changes, nor can the offence we have committed against Him by our sins be pardoned unless we make atonement. The Saints punished themselves with life-long and austere penances for the slightest sins, and the Church can scarcely induce us to observe the law of Lent, though it is now reduced to the lowest degree of severity.

What is the cause of this want of the spirit of expiation and penance? It is that our Faith is weak, and our love of God is cold because our thoughts and affections are so set upon this present life that we seldom if ever consider things in the light of eternity? How many of us are like the King of France, who having obtained permission from the Pope that Saint Francis of Paola should come and live near him, threw himself at the Saint’s feet and besought him to obtain of God that he, the King, might have a long life! Louis XI had led a most wicked life, but his anxiety was, not to do penance for his sins, but to obtain, by the Saint’s prayers, a prolongation of a career which had been little better than a storing up wrath for the day of wrath. We, too, love this present life. We love it to excess. The laws of Fasting and Abstinence are broken not because the obeying them would endanger life or even seriously injure health, for where either of these is to be feared, the Church does not enforce her Lenten penances: but people dispense themselves from Fasting and Abstinence because the spirit of immortification renders every privation intolerable, and every interruption of an easy comfortable life insupportable. They have strength enough for any fatigue that business or pleasure calls for, but the moment there is question of observing those laws which the Church has instituted for the interest of the body as well as of the soul, all seems impossible. The conscience gets accustomed to these annual transgressions and ends by persuading the sinner that he may be saved without doing penance.

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Apostle of penance! Your life was always that of a Saint and we are sinners: yet do we presume during these days to beg your powerful intercession in order to obtain of God that this holy Season may not pass without having produced within us a true spirit of penance which may give us a reasonable hope of receiving His pardon. We admire the wondrous works which filled your life — a life that resembled in duration that of the Patriarchs, and prolonged the privilege the world enjoyed of having such a Saint to teach and edify it. Now that you are enjoying in Heaven the fruits of your labours on Earth, think upon us and hearken to the prayers addressed to you by the faithful. Get us the spirit of compunction which will add earnestness to our works of penance. Bless and preserve the Order you have founded. Your holy relics have been destroyed by the fury of heretics. Avenge the injury thus offered to your name by praying for the conversion of heretics and sinners, and drawing down upon the world those heavenly graces which will revive among us the fervour of the Ages of Faith.

Also on this day according to the ROMAN MARTYROLOGY:

At Caesarea in Palestine, during the persecution of Galerius Maximian, the birthday of the martyr St. Amphian, who, because he reproved the governor Urban for sacrificing to idols, was cruelly lacerated and, with his feet wrapped in a cloth saturated with oil, was set on fire. After these painful tortures, he was plunged into the sea. Thus through fire and water he reached everlasting repose.

In the same city, the passion of St. Theodosia, a virgin of Tyre, who, in the same persecution, for having publicly saluted the holy confessors as they stood before the tribunal and begged of them to remember her when they should be with God, was arrested and led to the governor Urban. By his order, her sides and breasts were lacerated to the very vitals and she was thrown into the sea.

At Lyons, St. Nizier, bishop of that city, renowned for his saintly life and miracles.

At Como, St. Abundius, bishop and confessor.

At Langres, St. Urban, bishop.

In Palestine, the decease of St. Mary of Egypt, surnamed the Sinner.

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

Thanks be to God.