27 MARCH – SAINT JOHN OF DAMASCUS (Confessor and Doctor of the Church)

The last of the Greek Fathers, John was born at Damascus where his father was the Caliph’s Vizier. He was educated with great care by Cosmas, a Greek monk who had been brought into Syria as a slave. On his father’s death he succeeded him as Vizier, and had thus all that the world could give him — wealth, honours, power, learning. But realising the danger of his high position at a Muslim court, he divided his riches among the poor and went as a pilgrim to Jerusalem, eventually settling in the famous Laura or monastery of Saint Sabbas. His life henceforth is a simple record of humility, prayer, labour and obedience. He passed away 6 May 780 AD, being as is asserted one hundred and four years old. On account of the flowing eloquence of his writings Saint John acquired the surname “Chrysorrhoes” (Golden Stream). His chief work, that on the Orthodox Faith, is the first systematic Treatise on Dogmatic Theology we possess and has been a model to the writers of succeeding ages. His convincing discourses in defence of the veneration of icons marked him out as a champion of the faith against Leo the Isaurian, the iconoclast emperor of Constantinople, through whose machinations he was sentenced to have his right hand cut off. It was afterwards miraculously restored to him by Our Blessed Lady, whose devout client he ever was. Venerated from his own age as a Saint, Pope Leo XIII numbered him among the Doctors of the Church.

Also on this day according to the ROMAN MARTYROLOGY:

At Drizipara in Pannonia, St. Alexander, a soldier, in the time of emperor Maximian. Having overcome many tribulations for Christ, and wrought many miracles, he completed his martyrdom by decapitation.

The same day, the Saints Philetus, senator, his wife Lydia, and their sons Macedon and Theoprepides. Also Amphilochius, an officer in the army, and Chronidas, a notary, who were put to death for the confession of Christ.

In Persia, in the reign of King Sapor, the holy martyrs Zanitas, Lazarus, Marotas, Narses, and five others, who merited the palm of martyrdom by being barbarously murdered.

At Salzburg, St. Rupert, bishop and confessor, who spread the Gospel extensively in Bavaria and Austria.

In Egypt, the hermit St. John, a man of great holiness, who among other virtues, was replenished with the spirit of prophecy, and predicted to the emperor Theodosius that he would gain the victory over the tyrants Maximus and Eugenius.

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

Thanks be to God.

20 MARCH – FERIA

On this day according to the ROMAN MARTYROLOGY:

In Judaea, St. Joachim, father of the Most Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of God, whose festival is kept on the sixteenth of August.

In Asia, the birthday of St. Archippus, fellow-labourer of the blessed Apostle St. Paul, who mentions him in his Epistles to Philemon and the Colossians.

In Syria, the holy martyrs Paul, Cyril, Eugenius and four others.

The same day, the Saints Photina, a Samaritan, and her sons Joseph and Victor. Also Sebastian, military officer, Anatolius, and Photius. Photides, Parasceves and Cyriaca, sisters, were all martyred for confessing Christ.

At Amisus in Paphlagonia, seven holy women, Alexandra, Claudia, Euphrasia, Matrona, Juliana, Euphemia and Theodosia, who were put to death for the confession of the faith. They were followed by Derphuta and her sister.

At Apollonia, the bishop St. Maetas, who breathed his last in exile where he had been sent for upholding the worship of holy images.

In the monastery of Fontanelle, St. Wulfran, bishop of Sens, who after having resigned his bishopric and performed miracles, departed out of this life.

In England, the demise of St. Cuthbert, bishop of Lindisfarne, who from his childhood to his death was renowned for good works and miracles.

At Siena in Tuscany, blessed Ambrose of the Order of Preachers, celebrated for sanctity, eloquence and miracles.

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

Thanks be to God.

16 MARCH – FERIA

On this day according to the ROMAN MARTYROLOGY:

At Rome, the martyrdom of the deacon St. Cyriacus, who, after a long imprisonment, was covered with melted pitch and stretched on the rack to have his limbs distended with ropes, was beaten with clubs, and finally beheaded with Largus, Smaragdus and twenty others, by order of Maximian. Their feast, however, is kept on the eighth of August, the day on which their bodies were taken up by the blessed Pope Marcellus and reverently entombed.

At Aquileia, in the time of the emperor Numerian and the governor Beronius, the birthday of the holy bishop Hilary, and the deacon Tatian, who terminated their martyrdom with Felix, Largus and Denis, after being subjected to the rack and other tortures.

In Lycaonia, the holy martyr Papas, who was scourged for the Christian faith, torn with iron hooks, then compelled to walk with shoes pierced with nails, and finally bound to a barren tree. In leaving this world to go to God, he rendered the tree fruitful.

At Anazarbum in Cilicia, under the governor Marcian, the martyr St. Julian, who was a long time tortured, then put into a sack with serpents and cast into the sea.

At Ravenna, St. Agapitus, bishop and confessor.

At Cologne, St. Heribert, a bishop, celebrated for sanctity.

At Clermont in Auvergne, the demise of St. Patrick, bishop.

In Syria, St. Abraham, hermit, whose life has been written by the blessed deacon Ephrem.

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

Thanks be to God.

15 MARCH – FERIA

On this day according to the ROMAN MARTYROLOGY:

At Caesarea in Cappadocia, the martyrdom of St. Longinus, the soldier who is said to have pierced our Lord’s side with a lance.

The same day, the birthday of St. Aristobulus, a disciple of the Apostles who terminated by martyrdom a life spent in preaching the Gospel.

At Thessalonica, St. Matrona, servant of a Jewess, who, worshipping Christ secretly, and stealing away daily to the church to pray, was detected by her mistress and subjected to many trials. Being at last beaten to death with heavy clubs, she gave up her pure soul to God in confessing Christ.

The same day, St. Menignus, a dyer, who suffered under Decius.

In Egypt, St. Meander, who, seeking diligently for the remains of the holy martyrs, merited to be made a martyr himself, under the emperor Diocletian.

At Cordova, St. Leocritia, virgin and martyr.

At Rome, the birthday of Pope St. Zachary, who governed the Church of God with great vigilance, and renowned for merits, rested in peace.

At Rieti, the bishop St. Probus, at whose death the martyrs Juvenal and Eleutherius were present.

At Rome, St. Speciosus, a monk, whose soul his brother saw carried up to heaven.

At Vienna in Austria, St. Clement Mary Hofbauer, a professed priest of the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer, remarkable for his energy in promoting the glory of God and the salvation of souls. As he became illustrious by his virtues and miracles, Pope St. Pius X placed him in the Martyrology.

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

Thanks be to God.

13 MARCH – FERIA

On this day according to the ROMAN MARTYROLOGY:

At Nicomedia, the birthday of the holy martyrs Macedonius, his wife Patritia, and their daughter Modesta.

At Nicaea, the holy martyrs Theuseta, and Horres, his son, Theodora, Nimphodora, Marcus and Arabia, who were burned to death for Christ.

At Hermopolis in Egypt, the martyr St. Sabinus, who after many sufferings, terminated his martyrdom by being precipitated into a river.

In Persia, St. Christina, virgin and martyr.

At Cordova, the holy martyrs Rudericus, priest, and Solomon.

At Constantinople, the bishop St. Nicephorus. In defence of the traditions of his forefathers and of the worship of sacred images, he opposed firmly the Iconoclast emperor Leo the Armenian, by whom he was sent into exile, where he underwent a long martyrdom of fourteen years, and departed for the kingdom of God.

At Camerino in Umbria, St. Ansovinus, bishop and confessor.

In Thebais, St. Euphrasia, virgin.

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

Thanks be to God.

5 MARCH – FERIA

On this day according to the ROMAN MARTYROLOGY:

At Antioch, the birthday of the martyr St. Phocas who triumphed over the old serpent after many injuries which he suffered for the name of the Redeemer. That triumph is still manifested to the people in our days, for if any one stung by a serpent touches with faith the door of the martyr’s basilica, the power of the venom disappears and he is immediately cured.

At Caesarea in Palestine, in the persecution of Diocletian, St. Adrian, martyr, who, being first exposed to a lion for the faith of Christ and then killed with the sword by order of the governor Firmilian, received the crown of martyrdom.

The same day, the passion of the holy martyrs Eusebius, officer of the imperial palace, and nine others.

At Caesarea in Palestine, in the time of the emperor Severus, St. Theophilus, bishop, who was conspicuous by his wisdom and the purity of his life.

Also in Palestine, on the banks of the Jordan, the anchoret St. Gerasimus, who lived in the time of the emperor Zeno.

At Naples, the decease of St. John Joseph of the Cross, Promoter and first Provincial of the Italian branch of the Order of Discalced Friars Minor of St. Peter of Alcantara, who, by emulating the virtues of St. Francis of Assisi and St. Peter of Alcantara, became a new ornament of the Seraphic Order. He was canonised by Pope Gregory XVI.

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

Thanks be to God.

4 MARCH – SAINT CASIMIR OF POLAND (Confessor)

Casimir was the son of King Casimir of Poland and Elizabeth of Austria. He was put, when quite a boy, under the care of the best masters who trained him to piety and learning. He brought his body into subjection by wearing a hair-shirt and by frequent fasting. He could not endure the soft bed which is given to kings, but lay on the hard floor, and during the night he used privately to leave his room and go to the church, where, prostrate before the door, he besought God to have mercy on him. The Passion of Christ was his favourite subject of meditation and when he assisted at Mass his mind was so fixed on God that he seemed to be in one long ecstasy. Great was his zeal for the propagation of the Catholic faith. He persuaded the king, his father, to pass a law forbidding schismatics to build new churches, or to repair those which had fallen to ruin. Such was his charity for the poor and all sufferers that he went under the name of the Father and Defender of the Poor. During his last illness he nobly evinced his love of purity, which virtue he had maintained unsullied during his whole life. He was suffering a cruel malady but he courageously preferred to die rather than suffer the loss by which his physicians advised him to purchase his cure — the loss of his priceless treasure. Being made perfect in a short space of time, and rich in virtue and merit, after having foretold the day of his death, he breathed forth his soul into the hands of his God in the twenty-fifth year of his age, surrounded by priests and religious. His body was taken to Vilna and was honoured by many miracles. A young girl was raised to life at his shrine, the blind recovered their sight, the lame the use of their limbs, and the sick their health. He appeared to a small army of Lithuanians who were unexpectedly attacked by a large force, and gave them the victory over the enemy. Pope Leo X was induced by all these miracles to insert his name among the Saints.

Dom Prosper Guéranger:

It is from a court that we are to be taught today the most heroic virtues. Casimir is a Prince. He is surrounded by all the allurements of youth and luxury. And yet he passes through the snares of the world with as much safety and prudence as though he were an Angel in human form. His example shows us what we may do. The world has not smiled on us as it did on Casimir, but how much we have loved it! If we have gone so far as to make it our idol, we must now break what we have adored and give our service to the Sovereign Lord who alone has a right to it. When we read the Lives of the Saints, and find that persons who were in the ordinary walk of life practised extraordinary virtues, we are inclined to think that they were not exposed to great temptations, or that the misfortunes they met in the world made them give themselves up unreservedly to God’s service. Such interpretations of the actions of the Saints are shallow and false, for they ignore this great fact — that there is no condition or state, however humble, in which man has not to combat against the evil inclinations of his heart, and that corrupt nature alone is strong enough to lead him to sin. But in such a Saint as Casimir, we have no difficulty in recognising that all his Christian energy was from God and not from any natural source. And we rightly conclude that we who have the same good God may well hope that this Season of spiritual regeneration will change and better us. Casimir preferred death to sin. But is not every Christian bound to be thus minded every hour of the day? And yet, such is the infatuation produced by the pleasures or advantages of this present life that we, every day, see men plunging themselves into sin, which is the death of the soul. And this, not for the sake of saving the life of the body, but for a vile and transient gratification which is often times contrary to their temporal interests. What stronger proof could there be than this, of the sad effects produced in us by Original Sin? The examples of the Saints are given us as a light to lead us in the right path: let us follow it, and we will be saved. Besides, we have a powerful aid in their merits and intercession: let us take courage at the thought that these friends of God have a most affectionate compassion for us their brethren who are surrounded by so many and great dangers.

*****

Enjoy your well-earned rest in heaven, O Casimir! Neither the world with all its riches, nor the court with all its pleasures, could distract your heart from the eternal joys it alone coveted and loved. Your life was short, but full of merit. The remembrance of Heaven made you forget the Earth. God yielded to the impatience of your desire to be with Him and took you speedily from among men. Your life, though most innocent, was one of penance, for knowing the evil tendencies of corrupt nature, you had a dread of a life of comfort. When will we be made to understand that penance is a debt we owe to God, a debt of expiation for the sins we have committed against Him? You preferred death to sin. Get us a fear of sin, that greatest of all the evils that can befall us, because it is an evil which strikes at God Himself. Pray for us during this holy Season which is intended as a preparation for penance. Impress our minds with the truths now put before us. The Christian world is honouring you today: repay its homage by your blessing.

Also on this day according to the ROMAN MARTYROLOGY:

At Rome, on the Via Appia, during the persecution of Valerian, the birthday of St. Lucius, pope and martyr, who was first exiled for the faith of Christ, but being permitted by divine Providence to return to his church, he suffered martyrdom by decapitation after having combated the Novatians. His praises have been published by St. Cyprian.

Also at Rome, on the Via Appia, nine hundred holy martyrs who were buried in the same cemetery as St. Cecilia.

The same day, St. Caius, a member of the imperial household, who was drowned in the sea with twenty-seven others.

At Nicomedia, in the reign of the emperor Diocletian, the holy martyr Adrian and twenty-three others, who endured martyrdom by having their limbs crushed. St. Adrian is especially commemorated on the eighth of September when his body was conveyed to Rome.

Also the martyrdom of the Saints Archelaus, Cyril and Photius.

In Chersonesus, the passion of the saintly bishops Basil, Eugenius, Agathodorus, Elpidius, Jetherius, Capito, Ephrem, Nestor and Arcadius.

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

Thanks be to God.