31 JULY – SAINT IGNATIUS (Confessor)

Saint Ignatius of Loyola, the founder of the Jesuit Order, was born Inigo Lopez de Bicalde in 1491, Loyola being name of his family and the castle and estates belonging to his family in Spain. Until the age of 30 Inigo served as a soldier, but after being wounded seriously in the leg at the seige of Pamplona, he was given books about the life of Christ and the saints. When he recovered, he laid down his sword at the feet of the Virgin Mary in the famous Benedictine monastery at Montserrat. He then watched the whole night in prayer, and thus entered upon his knighthood in the Army of Christ. Next he retired to Manresa, dressed as he was in sackcloth, for he had a short time before given his costly garments to a beggar. Here he stayed for a year, and during that time he lived on bread and water, given to him in alms. He fasted every day except Sunday, subdued his flesh with a sharp chain and a hair-shirt, slept on the ground, and scourged himself with iron disciplines. God favoured and refreshed him with such wonderful spiritual lights, that afterwards he was wont to say, that even if the sacred Scriptures did not exist, he would be ready to die for the faith, on account of those revelations alone which the Lord had made to him at Manresa. It was at this time that he, a man without education, composed that admirable book of the Exercises, which has been approved by the judgement of the Apostolic See, and by the benefit reaped from it by all.

However, in order to make himself more fit for gaining souls, he determined to procure cure the advantages of education, and began by studying grammar among children. Meanwhile he relaxed nothing of his zeal for the salvation of others, and it is marvellous what sufferings and insults he patiently endured in every place, undergoing the hardest trials, even imprisonment and stripes almost to death. But he ever desired to suffer far more for the glory of his Lord. In Paris in 1534 he and six friends, including Saint Francis Xavier and Blessed Pierre Favre, professed vows of poverty and chastity, and later of obedience, with a special vow of obedience to the Pope. In 1537 he was ordained a priest and celebrated his first Mass on Christmas Day in 1538 at the Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore. In 1540 Pope Paul III approved the Rule of the Company (or Society) of Jesus. Ignatius sent Francis Xavier to preach the Gospel in the Indies, and dispersed others of his children to spread the Christian faith in other parts of the world, thus declaring war against paganism, superstition and heresy. This war he carried on with such success that it has always been the universal opinion, confirmed by the word of Pontiffs, that God raised up Ignatius and the Society founded by him to oppose Luther and the heretics of his time, as formerly he had raised up other holy men to oppose other heretics.

Ignatius made the restoration of piety among Catholics his first care. He increased the beauty of the sacred buildings, the giving of catechetical instructions, the frequentation of sermons and of the Sacraments. He everywhere opened schools for the education of youth in piety and letters. He founded at Rome the German College, refuges for women of evil life, and for young girls who were in danger, houses for orphans and catechumens of both sexes, and many other pious works. He devoted him self unweariedly to gaining souls to God. Once he was heard saying, that if he were given his choice, he would rather live uncertain of attaining the Beatific Vision, and in the meanwhile devote himself to the service of God and the salvation of his neighbour, than die at once certain of eternal glory. His power over the demons was wonderful. Saint Philip Neri and others saw his countenance shining with heavenly light. At length in the sixty-fifth year of his age in 1556 he passed to the embrace of his Lord, whose greater glory he had ever preached and ever sought in all things. He was celebrated for miracles and for his great services to the Church and Gregory XV enrolled him among the Saints in 1623.

Dom Prosper Guéranger:

Although the cycle of the time after Pentecost has shown us many times already the solicitude of the Holy Spirit for the defence of the Church, yet today the teaching shines forth with a new lustre. In the sixteenth century Satan made a formidable attack upon the holy city by means of a man who, like himself, had fallen from the height of Heaven, a man prevented in early years by the choice graces which lead to perfection, yet unable in an evil day to resist the spirit of revolt. As Lucifer aimed at being equal to God, Luther set himself up against the Vicar of God, on the mountain of the covenant. And soon, falling from abyss to abyss, he drew after him the third part of the stars of the firmament of holy Church. How terrible is that mysterious law by which the fallen creature, be he man or Angel, is allowed to keep the same ruling power for evil, which he would otherwise have exercised for good. But the designs of Eternal Wisdom are never frustrated: against the misused liberty of the Angel or man, is set up that other merciful law of substitution by which Saint Michael was the first to benefit.

The development of Ignatius’ vocation to holiness followed step-by-step the defection of Luther. In the Spring of 1521 Luther had just quitted Worms and was defying the world from the Castle of Wartburg, when Ignatius received at Pampeluna the wound which was the occasion of his leaving the world and retiring to Manresa. Valiant as his noble ancestors, he felt within him from his earliest years the warlike ardour which they had shown on the battle fields of Spain. But the campaign against the Moors closed at the very time of his birth. Were his chivalrous instincts to be satisfied with petty political quarrels? The only true King worthy of his great soul revealed Himself to him in the trial which put a stop to his worldly projects: a new warfare was opened out to his ambition. Another crusade was begun, and in the year 1522, from the mountains of Catalonia to those of Thuringia, was developed that divine strategy of which the Angels alone knew the secret.

In this wonderful campaign it seemed that Hell was allowed to take the initiative, while Heaven was content to look on, only taking care to make grace abound the more, where iniquity strove to abound. As in the previous year Ignatius received his first call three weeks after Luther had completed his rebellion, so in this year, at three weeks’ distance, the rival camps of Hell and Heaven each chose and equipped its leader. Ten months of diabolical manifestations prepared Satan’s lieutenant in the place of his forced retreat which he called his Patmos. And on the 5th March the deserter of the altar and of the cloister left Wartburg. On the 25th of the same month, the glorious night of the Incarnation, the brilliant soldier in the armies of the Catholic kingdom, the descendant of the families of Ognes and Loyola, clad in sackcloth, the uniform of poverty, to indicate his new projects, watched his arms in prayer at Montserrat. Then hanging up his trusty sword at Mary’s altar, he went forth to make trial of his future combats by a merciless war against himself. In opposition to the already proudly floating standard of the free thinkers, he displayed upon his own this simple device: To the greater glory of God!

At Paris where Calvin was secretly recruiting the future Huguenots, Ignatius, in the name of the God of armies, organised his vanguard which he destined to cover the march of the Christian army to lead the way, to bear the brunt, to deal the first blows. On the 15th August 1534, five months after the rupture of England from the Holy See, these first soldiers sealed at Montmartre the definitive engagement which they were afterwards to solemnly renew at Saint Paul’s outside the Walls. For Rome was to be the rallying place of the little troop which was soon to increase so wonderfully, and which was, by its special profession, to be ever in readiness, at the least sign from the Head of the Church, to exercise its zeal in whatever part of the world he should think fit, in the defence or propagation of the faith, or for the progress of souls in doctrine and Christian life. An illustrious speaker of our own day (Cardinal Pie) has said: “What strikes us at once in the history of the Society of Jesus, is that it was matured at its very first formation. Whoever knows the first founders of the Company knows the whole Company, in its spirit, its aim, its enterprises, its proceedings, its methods. What a generation was that which gave it birth! What union of science and activity, of interior life and military life! One may say they were universal men, men of a giant race, compared with whom we are but insects: de genere giganteo, quibus comparati quasi looustce videbamur” (Numbers xiii. 34).

All the more touching then, was the charming simplicity of those first Fathers of the Society, making their way to Rome on foot, fasting and weary, but their hearts overflowing with joy, singing with a low voice the Psalms of David. When it became necessary on account of the urgency of the times for the new institute to abandon the great traditions of public prayer, it was a sacrifice to several of these souls. Mary could not give way to Martha without a struggle. For so many centuries, the solemn celebration of the Divine Office had been the indispensable duty of every religious family, its primary social debt, and the principal nourishment of the individual holiness of its members. But new times had come, times of decadence and ruin, calling for an exception as extraordinary as it was grievous to the brave company that was risking its existence amid ceaseless alarms and continual sallies upon hostile territory. Ignatius understood this, and to the special aim imposed upon him, he sacrificed his personal attraction for the sacred chants. Nevertheless, to the end of his life, the least note of the Psalmody falling on his ears drew tears of ecstasy from his eyes. After his death, the Church, which had never known any interest to outbalance the splendour of worship due to her Spouse, wished to return from a derogation which so deeply wounded the dearest instincts of her bridal heart. Paul IV revoked it absolutely, but Saint Pius V, after combating it for a long time, was at last obliged to give in. In the latter ages so full of snares, the time had come for the Church to organise special armies. But while it became more and more impossible to expect from these worthy troops, continually taken up with outside combats, the habits of those who dwelt in security, protected by the ancient towers of the holy city, at the same time Ignatius repudiated the strange misconception which would try to reform the Christian people according to this enforced, but abnormal manner of life. The third of the eighteen rules which he gives as the crowning of the Spiritual Exercises, to have in us the true sentiments of the orthodox Church, recommends to the faithful the chants of the Church, the Psalms, and the different Canonical Hours at their appointed times. And at the beginning of this book, which is the treasure of the Society of Jesus, where he mentions the conditions for drawing the greatest fruit from the Exercises, he ordains in his twentieth annotation that he who can do so, should choose for the time of his retreat a dwelling from where he can easily go to Matins and Vespers as well as to the Holy Sacrifice. What was our Saint here doing, but advising that the Exercises should be practised in the same spirit in which they were composed in that blessed retreat of Manresa where the daily attendance at solemn Mass and the evening Offices had been to him the source of heavenly delights?

“This is the victory which overcomes the world, our faith” (1 John v. 4). And you proved this truth once more to the world, O great conqueror of the age in which the Son of God chose you to raise up again His ensign that had been humbled before the standard of Babel. Against the ever-increasing battalions of the rebels you long stood almost alone, leaving it to the God of armies to choose His own moment for engaging you against Satan’s troops, as He chose His own for withdrawing you from human warfare. If the world had then been told of your designs, it would have laughed them to scorn. Yet now no one can deny that it was a decisive moment in the history of the world when, with as much confidence as the most illustrious general concentrating his forces, you gave the word to your nine companions to proceed three and three to the holy city. What great results were obtained in the fifteen years during which this little troop, recruited by the Holy Ghost, had you for its first General! Heresy was trampled out of Italy, confounded at Trent, checked everywhere, paralysed in its very centre. Immense conquests were made in new worlds as a compensation for the losses suffered in our West. Sion herself, renewing the beauty of her youth, saw her people and her pastors raised up again, and her sons receiving an education befitting their heavenly destiny. In a word, all along the line, where he had rashly cried victory, Satan was now howling, overcome once more by the name of Jesus, which makes every knee to bow, in Heaven, on Earth and in Hell! Had you ever, O Ignatius, gained such glory as this in the armies of earthly kings?

From the throne you have won by so many valiant deeds, watch over the fruits of your works, and prove yourself always God’s soldier. In the midst of the contradictions which are never wanting to them, uphold your sons in their position of honour and prowess which makes them the vanguard of the Church. May they be faithful to the spirit of their glorious Father, “having unceasingly before their eyes: first, God. Next, as the way leading to Him, the form of their institute, consecrating all their powers to attain this end marked out for them by God, yet each following the measure of grace he has received from the Holy Ghost, and the particular degree of his vocation.” Lastly, O head of such a noble lineage, extend your love to all religious families whose lot in these times of persecution is so closely allied with that of your own sons. Bless, especially, the monastic Order whose ancient branches overshadowed your first steps in the perfect life, and the birth of that illustrious Society which will be your everlasting crown in Heaven.

Have pity on France, on Paris, whose University furnished you with foundations for the strong, unshaken building raised by you to the glory of the Most High. May every Christian learn of you to fight for the Lord, and never to betray His standard. May all men, under your guidance, return to God, their beginning and their end.

Also on this day according to the ROMAN MARTYROLOGY:

At Caesarea, the martyrdom of the blessed martyr Fabius. As he refused to carry the ensign of the governor of the province, he was thrown into prison for some days, and as he persisted twice in confessing Christ when brought before the judge, he was condemned to capital punishment.

At Milan, during the persecution of Antoninus, St. Calimerius, bishop and martyr, who was arrested, covered with wounds, and pierced through the neck with a sword. He terminated his martyrdom by being precipitated into a well.

At Synnada in Phrygia, the holy martyrs Democritus, Secundus and Denis.

In Syria, three hundred and fifty monks, who became martyrs by being slain by the heretics for defending the Council of Chalcedon.

At Ravenna, the departure from this world of St. Germanus, bishop of Auxerre, a man most renowned for his birth, faith, learning and glorious miracles, who freed England completely from the heretical doctrines of the Pelagians.

At Tagaste in Africa, St. Firmus, bishop, illustrious by a glorious confession of the faith.

At Siena in Tuscany, the birthday of blessed John Colombini, founder of the Order of the Jesuati, renowned for sanctity and miracles.

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

Thanks be to God.

30 JULY – SAINTS ABDON AND SENNEN (Martyrs)

Abdon and Sennen were two nobles born in Persia early in the third century. They were brought to Rome by Decius as captives on his return from his first campaign against the Persians. Abdon and Sennen devoted themselves to the service of imprisoned Christians and to giving the bodies of martyrs reverent burial. They were cruelly tormented and martyred in 250 AD. Their feast day is the day on which their bodies were interred in the Catacombs of Saint Pontianus on the Via Portuensis. In the ninth century Pope Gregory IV translated the remains of Saints Abdon and Sennen to the ancient Basilica of Saint Mark at the Capitol.

Dom Prosper Guéranger:

The decrees of Eternal Wisdom ordained that the West should be honoured before the East with the glory of martyrdom. Yet when the hour had come, Jesus was to have, beyond the Tigris, millions of witnesses by no means inferior to their forerunners, astonishing Heaven and Earth by new forms of heroism. Impatient of the delay, two noble Persians won their palm on this day by the command of Rome. By shedding their blood they paid tribute for their native land to the eternal City, and now they protect our Latin Churches and receive the prayers and praise of the West. France received a goodly portion of their sacred relics, and the city of Arles-sur-Tech, in Roussillon, can show to an incredulous generation the sarcophagus, from which flows a mysterious liquor, a symbol of the continual benefits bestowed on us by these holy martyrs.

Hearken to our earnest prayers, O blessed martyrs! May the faith at length triumph in that land of Persia whence so many flowers of martyrdom have been culled for Heaven. Before the time appointed for the struggle to begin in your native land, you went to meet death elsewhere, and thus you gained a new fatherland on which to bestow your love. Bless us, the fellow-citizens of your choice, and bring us all to the eternal fatherland of all the children of God.

Also on this day according to the ROMAN MARTYROLOGY:

At Tuberbum Lucernarium in Africa, the holy virgins and martyrs Maxima, Donatilla, and Secunda. The first two, in the persecution of Valerian and Gallienus, were forced to drink vinegar and gall, then scourged most severely, and stretched on the rack, burned on the gridiron, rubbed over with lime, afterwards exposed to the beasts with the virgin Secunda, twelve years old, but being untouched by them, they were finally beheaded.

At Assisi, in Umbria, St. Rufinus, martyr.

At Caesarea in Cappadocia, St. Julitta, martyr. As she sought to recover through the courts the restitution of goods seized by an influential personage, the latter objected that, being a Christian, her cause could not be pleaded. The judge commanded her to offer sacrifice to the idols, that she might be heard. With great firmness she refused, and being thrown into the fire, yielded her spirit to God, though her body remained uninjured by the flames. St. Basil the Great proclaimed her praise in an excellent eulogy.

At Auxerre, St. Ursus, bishop and confessor.

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

Thanks be to God.

30 JULY – NINTH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST

Epistle – 1 Corinthians x. 6‒13

Brethren, let us not covet evil things, as they also coveted. Neither become idolaters, as some of them, as it is written: “The people sat down to eat and drink, and rose up to play.” Neither let us commit fornication, as some of them committed fornication, and there fell in one day three and twenty thousand. Neither let us tempt Christ, as some of them tempted, and perished by the serpents. Neither murmur, as some of them murmured, and were destroyed by the destroyer. Now all these things happened to them in figure, and they are written for our correction, upon whom the ends of the world are come. Therefore he that thinks himself to stand, let him take heed lest he fall. Let no temptation take hold of you, but such as is human and, God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that which you are able to bear, but will make also with temptation issue that you may be able to bear it.

Thanks be to God.

Dom Prosper Guéranger:

“I have great sadness,” cries out the Apostle of the Gentiles, as he thought of the malediction which was about to fall on the Jews: “Continual sorrow have I in my heart, for I wished myself to be an anathema from Christ for my brethren, who are my kinsmen according to the flesh, who are Israelites to whom belongs the adoption of children, and the glory, and the covenant,and the giving of the Law, and the service (the worship of God, prescribed by Himself) and the promises; whose are the Fathers, and of whom is Christ according to the flesh, who is over all things, God blessed forever!” (Romans ix. 2‒5). But now, they are gone astray by their own fault. They see nothing, they understand nothing (Isaias vi. 9; Matthew xiii. 14, 15). The royal banquet of the Scriptures, on which their Fathers feasted (Matthew iv. 4) is now turned by them into an occasion of error. They have made those Scriptures a snare for their own destruction, darkness covers their understanding, and chastisement for all future ages is their own making (Psalms lxviii. 23, 24).

Gentiles! You that have been substituted for those broken branches, and are grafted on the stem of the Covenant, (Romans xi. 17), learn a lesson from their fall. God, who has shown you so much and so great gratuity of mercy, and that at the very time he was inflicting on them the chastisements they so richly merited, — no, this good God, will not allow his loving designs on you to be frustrated against your own will. If you are faithful to the call of His grace, He will be faithful to you and preserve you from temptations which you could not resist, or He will so watch the combat that His divine help will make your soul rise superior to the trial and thus in every temptation you will find, not defeat, but the merit of a victory, all the more glorious, as it seemed so much above the power of human strength to bear. And yet, never forget that the same causes which brought about the destruction of the Jews, would also lead you to ruin. They fell, because of their unbelief (Romans xi. 20). You who once had no faith and yet God showed mercy to you (Romans xi. 30) — it is by faith that you now are what you are. Be not, therefore, high-minded with self-complacency but remember how that God, who broke off the natural branches from the glorious tree, will not spare you if you cease to be faithful. And while you do well to admire His mercy, you do not wisely if you forget His inexorable justice (Romans xi. 20‒22).

Well, therefore, does our Mother the Church instruct us in today’s Epistle, as to the lamentable antecedents of the Jew. She tells us of that list of sins and chastisements which gradually led on to the final crime and total ruin of the apostate nation. We who live in what the Church calls the “evening of the world”have this great advantage: that we can profit by what the past ages have experienced. The Holy Spirit had no other end in view when He would have the history of the ancient people written. He would have the future ages there learn lessons of salvation: by the various episodes of that history, which form so many groups of prophetic events, He would show us the economy of God’s providence in His government of the world and His Church. Founded, as she has been, by her Divine Spouse, in immutable truth, and maintained by the Holy Ghost in unfailing and ever increasing holiness, the Church has nothing to fear of that which happened to the Synagogue — we mean, of that total wreck which the Liturgy brings forward for our consideration today: no, the ruin of the Jews is a prophetic image of the destruction of the world (Matthew xxiv. 3) (which will have rejected the Church) — not of the Church herself, who will then ascend to her Lord, perfected, as she will then He, in love and holiness, by the trials endured in those latter days (Apocalypse xxii. 17). But the assurance of salvation granted to the Bride of the Son of God does not extend to her children, taken either individually or collectively, that is, men and nations. On each one of us it is incumbent that we meditate on the sad fate which befell Jerusalem, as also on what happened ages before to those ancestors of the Jewish people that scarce one of those who were living when Moses led them out of Egypt, lived to enter into the Promised Land.

And yet, as the Apostle argues, they were all journeying in the path of life, protected by the mysterious cloud beneath which Divine Wisdom shaded them by day, and served them as a pillar of fire by night (Wisdom x. 17). Led on by Moses, who was a type of the future divine Head of the Christian people, they had all passed through the sea. All of them thus baptised in that symbolic cloud and in those saving waters which had engulfed their foes, just as the water of the Christian font destroys the sins of them that are washed in it — all of them were fed by the same spiritual food, and all drank at the same holy source which issued from the rock, which was Christ. Yet, were there very few out of all those thousands with whom God was pleased (1 Corinthians x. 1‒6). But how much more grievous would the sins of Christians be, who are blessed with the resplendent and solid realities of the Law of Grace, than were the evil desires, and idolatry, and fornication, and murmurings of the Israelites, who had but the figures and foreshadowings of our privileges?

Gospel – Luke xix. 41‒47

At that time, when Jesus drew near to Jerusalem, seeing the city, He wept over it, saying, “If you also had known, and that in this your day, the things that are to your peace, but now they are hidden from your eyes. For the days will come upon you, and your enemies will cast a trench about you, and compass you round, and straiten you on every side, and beat you flat to the ground, and your children who are in you: and they will not leave in you a stone upon a stone, because you have not known the time of your visitation.” And entering into the Temple, He began to cast out them that sold in it, and them that bought, saying to them, “It is written, My House is the House of prayer, but you have made it a den of thieves.” And He was teaching daily in the Temple.

Praise to you, O Christ.

29 JULY – SAINT MARTHA (Virgin)

Martha was the sister of Lazarus and Mary Madgalen. She was one of the holy women who attended Jesus in His Passion and rejoiced with Him after His Resurrection. After His Ascension into Heaven, she was seized by the Jews, together with her brother and sister, Marcella her handmaid, and Maximin, one of the 72 disciples of our Lord, who had baptised the whole family and many other Christians. They were put on board a ship without sails or oars, and left helpless on the open sea, exposed to certain shipwreck. But God guided the ship, and they all arrived safely at Marseilles. This miracle, together with their preaching, brought the people of Marseilles, of Aix, and of the neighbourhood to believe in Christ. Lazarus was made Bishop of Marseilles and Maximin of Aix. Magdalene, who was accustomed to devote herself to prayer and to sit at our Lord’s feet in order to enjoy the better part which she had chosen, that is, contemplation of the joys of Heaven, retired into a deserted cave on a very high mountain. There she lived for thirty years, separated from all human intercourse, and every day she was carried to Heaven by the Angels to hear their songs of praise. But Martha, after having won the love and admiration of the people of Marseilles by the sanctity of her life and her wonderful charity, withdrew in the company of several virtuous women to a spot remote from men, where she lived for a long time, greatly renowned for her piety and prudence. She foretold her death long before it occurred, and at length, famous for miracles, she passed to our Lord in 84 AD. Saint Martha is the patroness of housewives, domestics and servants.

Dom Prosper Guéranger:

Magdalene this time was the first to meet our Lord. Scarce a week had elapsed since her glorious passage, when she repaid her sister’s former kind office, and came in her turn saying: “The Beloved is here and calls for you.” And Jesus preventing her, appeared Himself and said: “Come, my hostess. Come from exile, you will be crowned.” Hostess of the Lord, then, is to be Martha’s title of nobility in Heaven, as it was her privileged name on Earth.

“Into whatever city or town you will enter,” said the Man-God to His disciples, “inquire who in it is worthy, and there abide” (Matthew x. 11). Now Saint Luke relates that as they went, our Lord Himself entered into a certain town, and a certain woman named Martha received Him into her house (Luke x. 38). How could we give greater praise to Magdalene’s sister than by bringing together these two texts of the holy Gospel? This certain town where she was found worthy to give Jesus a lodging, this village, says Saint Bernard, is our lowly Earth, hidden like an obscure borough in the immensity of our Lord’s possessions. The Son of God had come down from Heaven to seek the lost sheep. He had come into the world He had made, and the world knew Him not. Israel, His own people, had not given Him so much as a stone on which to lay His head, and had left Him in His thirst to beg water from the Samaritan. We, the Gentiles, whom He was thus seeking amid contradictions and fatigues, ought we not, like Him, to show our gratitude to her who, braving present unpopularity and future persecution, paid our debt to Him?

Glory then be to this daughter of Sion, of royal descent, who, faithful to the traditions of hospitality handed down from the patriarchs and early fathers, was blessed more than all of them in the exercise of this noble virtue! These ancestors of our faith, pilgrims themselves and without fixed habitation, knew more or less obscurely that the Desired of Israel and the Expectation of the nations was to appear as a way farer and a stranger on the earth. And they honoured the future Saviour in the person of every stranger that presented himself at their tent door, just as we, their sons, in the faith of the same promises now accomplished, honour Christ in the guest whom His goodness sends us. This relation between Him that was to come and the pilgrim seeking shelter made hospitality the most honoured handmaid of divine charity. More than once did God show His approval by allowing Angels to be entertained in human form.

If such heavenly visitations were an honour of which our Earth was not worthy, how much greater was Martha’s privilege in rendering hospitality to the Lord of Angels! If before the Coming of Christ it was a great thing to honour Him in those who prefigured Him, and if now to shelter and serve Him in His mystical members deserves an eternal reward, how much greater and more meritorious was it to receive in Person that Jesus, the very thought of whom gives to virtue its greatness and its merit. Again, as the Baptist excelled all the other Prophets by having pointed out as present the Messiah whom they announced as future, so Martha, by having ministered to the Person of the Word made Flesh, ranks above all others who have ever exercised the works of mercy. While Magdalene, then, keeps her better part at our Lord’s feet, we must not think that Martha’s lot is to be despised. “As in one body we have many members, but all the members have not the same office” (Romans xii. 4), so each of us has a different work to perform in Christ, according to the grace we have received, whether it be to prophesy or to minister. And the Apostle explaining this diversity of vocations, says: “I say, by the grace that is given me, to all that are among you, not to be more wise than it behoves to be wise, but to be wise unto sobriety, and according as God has divided to every one the measure of faith” (Romans xii. 3). How many losses in souls, how many shipwrecks even, might be prevented by discretion, the guardian of doctrine and the mother of virtues.

“Whoever,” says Saint Gregory with his usual discernment, “gives himself entirely to God, must take care not to pour himself out wholly in works, but must stretch forward also to the heights of contemplation. Nevertheless, it is here very important to notice that there is a great variety of spiritual temperaments. One who could give himself peacefully to the contemplation of God, would be crushed by works and fall. Another, who would be kept in a good life by the ordinary occupations of men, would be mortally wounded by the sword of a contemplation above his powers: either for want of love to prevent repose from becoming torpor, or for want of fear to guard him against the illusions of pride or of the senses. He who would be perfect must, therefore, first accustom himself on the plain to the practice of the virtues, in order to ascend more securely to the heights, leaving behind every impulse of the senses which can only distract the mind from its purpose, every image whose outline cannot adapt itself to the figureless light he desires to behold. Action first then, contemplation last. The Gospel praises Mary, but does not blame Martha, because the merit of the active life is great, though that of contemplation is greater.”

If we would penetrate more deeply into the mystery of the two sisters, let us notice that though the preference is given to Mary, nevertheless it is not in her house, nor in that of their brother Lazarus, but in Martha’s house that the Man-God takes up His abode with those He loves. Jesus, says Saint John, loved Martha, and her sister Mary, and Lazarus (John xi. 5). Lazarus, a figure of the penitents whom his all-powerful mercy daily calls from the death of sin to divine life; Mary, giving herself up even in this life to the occupation of the next; and Martha, who is here mentioned first as being the eldest, as first in order of time mystically, according to what Saint Gregory says, and also as being the one upon whom the other two depend in that home of which she has the care. Here we recognise a perfect type of the Church in which, with the devotedness of fraternal love and under the eye of our heavenly Father, the active ministry takes the precedence and holds the place of government over all who are drawn by grace to Jesus. We can understand the Son of God showing a preference for this blessed house. He was refreshed from the weariness of His journeys by the devoted hospitality He there received, but still more by the sight of so perfect an image of that Church for whose love He had come on Earth.

Martha, then, understood by anticipation, that he who holds the first place must be the servant, as the Son of Man came not to be ministered to, but to minister. And as later on the Vicar of Jesus, the Prince of Prelates in the holy Church, was to call himself the Servant of the servants of God. But in serving Jesus, as she served also with Him and for Him her brother and her sister, who can doubt that she had the greatest share in these promises of theMan-God: “He that ministers to me will follow me, and where I am, there also will my minister be, and my Father will honour him.” And that beautiful rule of ancient hospitality which created a link like that of relationship between the host and a guest once received, could not have been passed over by our Emmanuel on this occasion, since the Evangelist says: “As many as received Him, He gave them power to be made the sons of God” (John i. 12). And He himself declares that whoever receives Him, receives also the Father who sent Him.

The peace promised to every house deemed worthy of receiving the apostolic messengers, that peace which cannot be without the Spirit of adoption of sons, rested on Martha with surpassing fullness. The too human impetuosity she at first showed in her eager solicitude had given our Lord an opportunity of showing His divine jealousy for the perfection of a soul so devoted and so pure. The sacred nearness of the King of peace stripped her lively nature of the anxiety, while her service grew even more active and was well pleasing to Him. Her ardent faith in Christ, the Son of the living God, gave her the understanding of the one thing necessary, the better part which was one day to be hers. What a master of the spiritual life Jesus here showed Himself to be! What a model of discreet firmness, of patient sweetness, of heavenly wisdom in leading souls to the highest summits!

As He had counselled His disciples to remain in one house, the Man-God Himself, to the end of His earthly career, continually sought hospitality at Bethania: it was from there He set out to redeem the world by His dolorous Passion. And when leaving this world, it was from Bethania that He ascended into heaven. Then did this dwelling, this Paradise on Earth, which had given shelter to God Himself, to His Virgin Mother, to the whole college of Apostles, seem too lonely to its inmates. Holy Church will tell us presently how the Spirit of Pentecost, in loving kindness to us Gentiles, led into Gaul this blessed family of our Lord’s friends.

On the banks of the Rhone, Martha was still the same: full of motherly compassion for every misery, spending herself in deeds of kindness. Always surrounded by the poor, says the ancient historian of the two sisters, she fed them with tender care, with food which Heaven abundantly supplied to her charity, while she herself, the only one she forgot, was contented with herbs. And as in the glorious past she had served the Head of the Church in Person, she now served Him in His members, and was full of loving kindness to all. Meantime she delighted in practices of penance that would frighten us. Martyred thus a thousand times over, Martha with all the powers of her holy soul yearned for Heaven. Her mind lost in God, she spent whole nights absorbed in prayer. Ever prostrate, she adored Him reigning gloriously in Heaven, whom she had seen without glory in her own house. Often, too, she would travel through towns and villages, announcing to the people Christ the Saviour.

Avignon and other cities of the province of Vienne were thus evangelised by her. She delivered Tarascon from the old serpent, who in the shape of a hideous monster, not content with tyrannising over the souls of men, devoured even their bodies. It was here at Tarascon, in the midst of the community of virgins she had founded, that she heard our Lord inviting her to receive hospitality from Him in Heaven, in return for that which she had given Him on Earth. Here she still rests, protecting her people of Provence, and receiving strangers in memory of Jesus. The peace of the blessed, which seems to breathe from her noble image, fills the heart of the pilgrim as he kisses her apostolic feet. And coming up from the holy crypt to continue his journey in this land of exile, he carries away with him, like a perfume of his fatherland, the remembrance of her simple, touching epitaph: SOLLICITA NON TURBATUR; ever zealous, she is no longer troubled.

Now that, together with Magdalene, you have entered forever into possession of the better part, your place in heaven, O Martha, is very beautiful. “For they that have ministered well,” says Saint Paul, “will purchase to themselves a good degree, and much confidence in the faith which is in Christ Jesus” (1 Timothy iii. 13). The same service which the deacons here alluded to by the Apostle, performed for the Church, you rendered to the Church’s Head and Spouse. You ruled well your own house, which was a figure of that Church so dear to the Son of God. But “God is not unjust that He should forget your work and the love which you have shown in His name, you who have ministered and do minister to the saints” (Hebrews vi. 10). And the Saint of saints Himself, your indebted guest, gave us to understand something of your greatness, when, speaking merely of a faithful servant set over the family to distribute food in due season, He cried out: “Blessed is that servant whom when his lord will come, he will find so doing. Amen I say to you, he will place him over all his goods” (Matthew xxiv. 46, 47).

O Martha, the Church exults on this day on which our Lord found you thus continuing to serve Him in the persons of those little ones in whom He bids us seek Him. The moment had come for Him to welcome you eternally. Henceforth the most most faithful of all to the laws of hospitality, makes you sit at His table in His own house, and girding Himself, ministers to you as you ministered to Him. From the midst of your peaceful rest, protect those who are now carrying on the interests of Christ on Earth in His mystical Body, which is the entire Church, and in His wearied and suffering members, the poor and the afflicted. Bless and multiply the works of holy hospitality. May the vast field of mercy and charity yield ever-increasing harvests. May the zeal displayed by so many generous souls lose nothing of its praiseworthy activity, and for this end, O sister of Magdalene, teach us all as our Lord taught you, to place the one thing necessary above all else, and to value at its true worth the better part. After the word spoken to you, for our sake as well as your own, whoever would disturb Magdalene at the feet of Jesus, or forbid her to sit there, would deserve to have his works frustrated by offended Heaven.

Also on this day according to the ROMAN MARTYROLOGY:

At Rome, on the Via Aurelia, St. Felix II, pope and martyr. Being expelled from his See by the Arian emperor Constantius for defending the Catholic faith, and being put to the sword privately at Cera in Tuscany, he died gloriously. His body was taken away from that place by clerics, and buried on the Via Aurelia. It was afterwards brought to the church of the Saints Cosmas and Damian, where, under Pope Gregory XIII, it was found beneath the altar with the relics of the holy martyrs Mark, Marcellian and Tranquillinus, and with these was put back in the same place on the thirty-first of July. In the same altar were also found the bodies of the holy martyrs Abundius, priest, and Abundantius, deacon, which were shortly after solemnly transferred to the church of the Society of Jesus (the Gesù) on the eve of their festival.

Also at Rome, on the road to Porto, the holy martyrs Simplicius, Faustinus and Beatrix, in the time of the emperor Diocletian. The first two, after being subjected to many different torments, were condemned to suffer capital punishment. Beatrix, their sister, was smothered in prison.

Again, at Rome, the holy martyrs Lucilla and Flora, virgins, Eugenius, Antoninus, Theodore and eighteen companions who underwent martyrdom in the reign of the emperor Gallienus.

At Gangra in Paphlagonia, St. Callinicus, martyr, who was scourged with iron rods, and given over to other torments. Being finally cast into a furnace, he gave up his soul to God.

In Norway, St. Olaf, king and martyr.

At Troyes in France, St. Lupus, bishop and confessor, who went with blessed Germanus to England to combat the Pelagian heresy, and by assiduous prayer defended the city of Troyes from the furore of Attila who was devastating all France. At length, having religiously discharged the functions of the priesthood for fifty two years, he rested in peace.

At St. Brieuc, St. William, bishop and confessor.

Also the demise of blessed Prosper, bishop of Orleans.

At Todi, St. Faustinus, confessor.

At Mumia, St. Seraphina.

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

Thanks be to God.

28 JULY – SAINTS INNOCENT I (Pope and Confessor) AND VICTOR I (Pope and Martyr)

Innocent, an Albanian, lived in the time of Saints Jerome and Augustine. Jerome, writing to the virgin Demetrias, says of him: “Hold fast to the faith of holy Innocent, who is the son of Anastasius of blessed memory and his successor on the Apostolic throne. Receive no strange doctrine, however shrewd and prudent you may think yourself.” Orosius writes that like the just Lot, he was withdrawn by God’s providence from Rome, and preserved in safety at Ravenna, that he might not be a witness of the ruin of the Roman people. After the condemnation of Pelagius and Celestinus, he decreed, contrary to their heretical teaching, that children, even though born of a Christian mother, must be born again by water in order that their second birth may cleanse away the stain they have contracted by the first. He also approved the observance of fasting on the Saturday in memory of the burial of Christ our Lord. He ruled the Church 15 years, one month, and 10 days.

Victor, an African, succeeded Pope Saint Eleutherius to the See of Peter in 189 AD during the rule of the emperor Severus. He confirmed the decree of Pius I which ordered Easter to be celebrated on a Sunday. Later on, Councils were held in many places in order to bring this rule into practice, and finally the first Council of Nicea commanded that the feast of Easter should be always kept after the 14th day of the moon, lest the Christians should seem to imitate the Jews. Victor ordained that in case of necessity, baptism could be given with any water, provided it were natural. He expelled from the Church the Byzantine, Theodosius the Currier, who taught that Christ was only man. He wrote on the question of Easter, and some other small works. Victor suffered martyrdom in about 202 AD and was buried in the Vatican on the 5th of the Calends of August, after having governed the Church 9 years, one month, and twenty-eight days.

Dom Prosper Guéranger:

“That great Babylon is fallen is fallen, which made all nations to drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication: and in her was found the blood of prophets and of saints, and of all that were slain upon the earth (Apocalypse xiv. 8; xviii. 24).

The great Pope Innocent I whose memory seems to have been purposely united with that of the martyrs, bears witness to the deluge in which during his Pontificate pagan Rome at length perished utterly, and made way for the new Jerusalem come down from Heaven. Like the ancient Sion, the Rome of the Caesars would not yield to the offers of that God, who alone could fulfil her desires of immortality. Even since the triumph of the Cross under Constantine, no city of the empire had remained so obstinately given to the worship of idols, or shed so much of that noble blood which might have renewed her youth. And yet after the defeat of her vain idols, God, in His patience, determined to wait a century longer, the last decade of which was a series of salutary threats and merciful interventions, the evident work of the Christ whom she still obstinately repulsed. The incursions of the Goths, allies one day, enemies the next, everywhere spreading anarchy, gave her an opportunity of returning to superstitions which the Christian Emperors had not tolerated. And in her dotage she welcomed the Tuscan soothsayers who had come to help her against Alaric, and allowed them to re-establish the worship of idols. Terrible was her awakening when, on the morning of August 24th 410, the true God of armies took His revenge, and while the barbarians were engaged in wholesale massacre and pillage, lightning set fire to the town and destroyed the statues in which she had so long placed her confidence and her glory.

The avengers of God, destroying Babylon, spared the tombs of the two founders of the Eternal Rome. On these Apostolic foundations Innocent began to rebuild the holy City. Soon on her seven hills, purified by fire, she rose again, more brilliant than ever, the destined centre of the world of mind. It was in the year 417, the last of Innocent’s Pontificate, that Saint Augustine, hearing that the Pelagian heresy was condemned, cried out: “Letters have arrived from Rome; the dispute is at an end.” The Councils of Carthage and Milevum, which on this occasion had requested the confirmation of their decree by the Apostolic See, did in this but continue the uninterrupted tradition of the Churches with regard to the supremacy of their Mother and Mistress. This fact is eloquently attested by the holy Pope Victor who shares with the martyrs the honours of today. His great name calls to mind the Councils of the second century, held by his orders throughout the Church to treat of the celebration of Easter: the condemnation he pronounced, or intended to pronounce, against the Churches of Asia, without any one questioning his right to do so. Lastly, the uncontroverted anathemas he hurled against Montanus and the precursors of Arius.

VICTOR, jealous guardian of that divine praise with regard to the Solemnity of solemnities, and avenger of the Man-God in his divine nature, and INNOCENT, infallible teacher concerning the grace of Christ and witness too of His inexorable justice, teach us to unite confidence with fear, uprightness of belief with the susceptibility a Christian ought to have with regard to his faith, the only foundation of justice and love. Martyrs and Pontiffs, may your united attraction draw us along the straight road which leads to Heaven.

Glorious Saints who, either by shedding your blood in the arena or by promulgating decrees from the Apostolic Chair, have exalted the faith of the Lord, bless our prayers. Give us to understand the teaching conveyed by your meeting today on the sacred cycle. We, who are neither martyrs nor pontiffs, may, nevertheless, merit to share in your glory, for the motive which explains your union today must be for us, each in his degree, the cause of salvation: the Apostle tells us that in Christ Jesus nothing avails “but faith that works by charity” (Galatians v. 6). It is only by that faith for which you laboured or suffered that “we wait for the hope of justice” (Galatiansv. 5) and expect the crown.

Also on this day according to the ROMAN MARTYROLOGY:

In Thebais in Egypt, the commemoration of many holy martyrs who suffered in the persecution of Decius and Valerian. At this time, when Christians sought death by the sword for the name of Christ, the crafty enemy devised certain slow torments to put them to death, wishing much more to kill their souls rather than their bodies. One of these Christians, after suffering the torture of the rack, of hot metal plates and of seething oil, was smeared with honey and exposed in the broiling heat of the sun with his hands tied behind him, to the stings of wasps and flies. Another was bound and laid among flowers, when a shameless woman approached him with the intention of exciting his passions, but he bit off his tongue and spat it in her face.

At Ancyra in Galatia, the holy martyr Eustathius. After various torments, he was plunged into a river, but being delivered by an angel, was finally called to his reward by a dove coming from heaven.

At Miletus, in the time of the emperor Licinius, the holy martyr Acatius, who completed his martyrdom by having his head struck off, after having undergone different torments and been thrown into a furnace, from which he came out uninjured through the assistance of God.

In Bretagne, St. Sampson, bishop and confessor.

At Lyons, St. Peregrinus, priest, whose happiness in heaven is attested by glorious miracles.

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

Thanks be to God.

28 JULY – SAINTS NAZARIUS AND CELSUS (Martyrs)

Nazarius was the son of the heathen Africanus and his Christian wife Perpetua. He was baptised by Pope Saint Linus and preached the Gospel at Milan, at Genoa, and then at Cimia, near Nice in Gaul (France), where a lady entrusted to his care her child Celsus whom Nazarius at once adopted as his son. Together they preached the Gospel at Embrun, Geneva, and Treves. In Nero’s persecution Nazarius and Celsus were thrown into the sea, but were saved by a miracle. They proceeded to Milan, where they spread the faith of Christ. And as they with great constancy confessed Christ to be God, the prefect Anolinus, condemned them to death. Their bodies were buried outside the Roman gate, and for a long time remained unknown. But through a divine revelation they were found by Saint Ambrose, sprinkled with fresh blood, as if they had but just suffered martyrdom. They were translated to the city and buried in an honourable tomb.

Dom Prosper Guéranger:

Nazarius and Celsus bring glory to the Church of Milan by appearing on the cycle today. After lying forgotten for three centuries in the obscure tomb that had received their precious remains in the time of Nero, they now receive the united homage of East and West. It was nine years since the triumphal day when Gervase and Protase, no less forgotten by the city once witness of their combat, had come to console and strengthen an illustrious Bishop who was persecuted for his profession of the Divine consubstantiality of the same Christ who had had all their love and faith. Ambrose, loved by the martyrs, though denied their palm, was soon to receive the white wreath of confession in reward for his holy works when Heaven revealed to him a new treasure, the discovery of which was again “to illustrate the times of his episcopate.” Theodosius was no more. Ambrose was about to die. The barbarians were at the gates. But as if, simultaneous with the threat of imminent destruction to the ancient world, the hour for the first resurrection spoken of by Saint John had sounded, the martyrs rose from their tombs to reign a thousand years with Christ on the renovated earth.

O NAZARIUS, who, leaving all things, carried name of Christ to countries that knew Him not, and you Celsus, who, though a mere child, did not fear to sacrifice, like him, for Jesus’ sake, your family, your country and your very life: obtain for us the right appreciation of the treasure of faith, which every Christian is called upon to show to advantage by the confession of good works and of praise.

27 JULY – SAINT PANTALEON (Martyr)

Pantaleon Nicomediensis, a physician, was the son of the pagan Eustorgius and his Christian wife Eubule. Pantaleon was attached to the person of the Emperor Maximian, but having been converted to Christianity by the priest Hermolaus, he was denounced to the emperor, who ordered him to be subjected to torture and burned with torches, during which torments he was comforted by an apparition of Our Lord. His martyrdom ended by a stroke of the sword at the royal palace in Nicomedia in 303 AD. A church was dedicated to him at Constantinople at an early age but by the sixth century it was so old and out of repair that Justinian completely rebuilt it in 532 AD.

Dom Prosper Guéranger:

The East celebrates today one of her great martyrs who was both a healer of bodies and a conqueror of souls. His name, which recalls the strength of the lion, was changed by heaven at the time of his death into Panteleemon, or all-merciful: a happy presage of the gracious blessings our Lord would afterwards bestow on the Earth through His means. The various translations and the diffusion of his sacred relics in our West have made his cultus widespread, together with his renown as a friend in need, which has caused him to be ranked among the saints called “helpers.”

“What is stronger than a lion, and what is sweeter than honey?” (Judges xiv. 18). Greater than Samson, you, O Martyr, did in your own person propose and solve the riddle: Out of the strong came forth sweetness (Judges xiv. 14) O lion, who followed so fearlessly the Lion of Judah, you imitated his ineffable gentleness, and as He deserved to be called eternally the Lamb, so did He will His Divine Mercy to shine forth in the everlasting heavenly name into which He changed your earthly name. Justify that title more and more for the honour of Him who gave it to you. Be merciful to those who call on you: to the sufferers whom a weary consumption brings daily nearer to the tomb; to physicians, who, like you, spend themselves in the care of their brethren: assist them in giving relief to physical suffering, in restoring corporal health; teach them still better to heal moral wounds, and lead souls to salvation.

Also on this day according to the ROMAN MARTYROLOGY:

In Nicomedia, St. Hermolaus, priest, by whose instructions the blessed Pantaleon was converted to the faith.

Also the Saints Hermippus and Hermocrates, brothers. After many sufferings borne for the confession of Christ, they were condemned to capital punishment by the same Maximian.

At Nola, the holy martyrs Felix, Julia and Jucunda.

At Biseglia, in Apulia, the holy martyrs Maurus, bishop, Pantaleemon and Sergius, who suffered under Trajan.

In the country of the Homerites (Arabia), the commemoration of the holy martyrs who were delivered to the flames for faith of Christ under the tyrant Dunaan.

At Cordova in Spain, during the persecution of the Arabs, the holy martyrs George, deacon, Felix, Aurelius, Natalia and Liliosa.

At Ephesus, the birthday of the seven holy sleepers, Maximian, Malchus, Martinian, Denis, John, Serapion and Constantine.

At Auxerre, the demise of blessed Ætherius, bishop and confessor.

At Constantinople, blessed Anthusa, a virgin. Under Constantine Copronymus, after being scourged and banished, she rested in the Lord.

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

Thanks be to God.

26 JULY – SAINT ANNA (Mother of the Blessed Virgin Mary)

Anna, of the tribe of Judah and of the royal house of David, is venerated by the Church as the mother of the Blessed Virgin Mary. It is believed that Mary was the only child of Anna and her husband Joachim. Saint Anna is often portrayed in art teaching Mary to read. She is the patroness of mothers and women in labour.

 

Dom Prosper Guéranger:

Uniting the blood of kings with that of pontiffs, the glory of Anna’s illustrious origin is far surpassed by that of her offspring, without compare among the daughters of Eve. The noblest of all, who have ever conceived by virtue of the command to “increase and multiply,” beholds the law of human generation pause before her as having arrived at its summit at the threshold of God: for, from her fruit God Himself is to come forth, the fatherless Son of the Blessed Virgin and the grandson of Anna and Joachim.

Before being favoured with the greatest blessing ever bestowed on an earthly union, the two holy grandparents of the Word made Flesh had to pass through the purification of suffering. Traditions which, though mingled with details of less authenticity, have come down to us from the very beginning of Christianity, tell us of these noble spouses subjected to the trial of prolonged sterility, and on that account despised by their people: of Joachim cast out of the temple and going to hide his sorrow in the desert, of Anna left alone to mourn her widowhood and humiliation. For exquisite sentiment this narrative might be compared with the most beautiful histories in Holy Scripture.

“It was one of the great festival days of the Lord. In spite of extreme sorrow, Anna laid aside her mourning garments, and adorned her head and clothed herself with her nuptial robes. And about the ninth hour she went down to the garden to walk. Seeing a laurel she sat down in its shade, and poured forth her prayer to the Lord God, saying: ‘God of my fathers, bless me and hear my supplication, as you blessed Sarah and gave her a son!’ And raising her eyes to Hheaven, she saw in the laurel a sparrow’s nest, and sighing she said: ‘Alas! Of whom was I born to be thus a curse in Israel? To whom will I liken me? I cannot liken me to the birds of the air, for the birds are blessed by you, O Lord. To whom will I liken me? I cannot liken me to the beasts of the earth, for they too are fruitful before you. To whom will I liken me? I cannot liken me to the waters, for they are not barren in your sight, and the rivers and the oceans full of fish praise you in their heavings and in their peaceful flowing. To whom will I liken me? I cannot liken me even to the earth, for the earth too bears fruit in season and praises you, O Lord.’ "And behold an Angel of the Lord stood by and said to her: ‘Anna, God has heard your prayer. You will conceive and bear a child, and your fruit will be honoured throughout the whole inhabited earth.’ And in due time Anne brought forth a daughter and said: ‘My soul is magnified this hour.’ And she called the child Mary, and giving her the breast, she intoned this canticle to the Lord: ‘I will sing the praise of the Lord my God: for He has visited me and has taken away my shame, and has given me a fruit of justice. Who will declare to the sons of Ruben that Anna is become fruitful? Hear, hear, O you twelve tribes: behold Anna is giving suck!” (Proto-evangelium Jacobi).

The feast of Saint Joachim, which the Church celebrates on the Sunday within the octave of his blessed daughter’s Assumption, will give us an occasion of completing the account of these trials and joys in which he shared. Warned from Heaven to leave the desert, he met his spouse at the golden gate which leads to the Temple on the east side. Not far from here, near the Probatica piscina, where the little white lambs were washed before being offered in sacrifice, now stands the restored basilica of Saint Anna, originally called Saint Mary of the Nativity. Here, as in a peaceful paradise, the rod of Jesse produced that blessed branch which the Prophet hailed as about to bear the flower that had blossomed from eternity in the bosom of the Father. It is true that Sephoris, Anna’s native city, and Nazareth, where Mary lived, dispute with the holy city the honour which ancient and constant tradition assigns to Jerusalem. But our homage will not be misdirected if we offer it today to Blessed Anna in whom were wrought the prodigies, the very thought of which brings new joy to Heaven, rage to Satan, and triumph to the world. Anna was, as it were, the starting-point of Redemption, the horizon scanned by the prophets, the first span of the heavens to be purpled with the rising fires of aurora; the blessed soil whose produce was so pure as to make the Angels believe that Eden had been restored to us. But in the midst of the aureola of incomparable peace that surrounds her, let us hail her as the land of victory surpassing the most famous fields of battle as the sanctuary of the Immaculate Conception where our humiliated race took up the combat begun before the throne of God by the Angelic hosts; where the serpent’s head was crushed, and Michael, now surpassed in glory, gladly handed over to his sweet Queen, at the first moment of her existence, the command of the Lord’s armies.

What human lips, unless touched like the prophet’s with a burning coal, could tell the admiring wonder of the Angelic Powers, when the Blessed Trinity, passing from the burning Seraphim to the lowest of the nine choirs, bade them turn their fiery glances and contemplate the flower of sanctity blossoming in the bosom of Anna? The Psalmist had said of the glorious City whose foundations were now hidden in her that was once barren: “The foundations thereof are in the holy mountains” (Psalms lxxxvi. 1) and the heavenly hierarchies crowning the slopes of the eternal hills, beheld in her heights to them unknown and unattainable, summits approaching so near to God, that he was even then preparing his throne in her. Like Moses at the sight of the burning bush on Horeb, they were seized with a holy awe on recognising the mountain of God in the midst of the desert of this world, and they understood that the affliction of Israel was soon to cease. Although shrouded by the cloud, Mary was already that blessed mountain whose base, i.e., the starting point of her graces, was set far above the summits where the highest created sanctities are perfected in glory and love.

How justly is the mother named Anna, which signifies grace, she in whom for nine months were centred the complacencies of the Most High, the ecstasy of the Angelic Spirits and the hope of all flesh! No doubt it was Mary, the daughter, and not the mother, whose sweetness so powerfully attracted the heavens to our lowly Earth. But the perfume first scents the vessel which contains it, and even after it is removed, leaves it impregnated with its fragrance. Moreover, it is customary to prepare the vase itself with the greatest care. It must be all the purer, made of more precious material, and more richly adorned, according as the essence to be placed in it is rarer and more exquisite. Thus Magdalene enclosed her precious spikenard in alabaster. The Holy Spirit, the preparer of heavenly perfumes, would not be less careful than men. Now the task of blessed Anna was not limited, like that of a material vase, to passively containing the treasure of the world. She furnished the body of her who was to give flesh to the Son of God. She nourished her with her milk. She gave to her, who was inundated with floods of divine light, the first practical notions of life. In the education of her illustrious daughter, Anna played the part of a true mother: not only did she guide Mary’s first steps, but she co-operated with the Holy Ghost in the education of her soul, and the preparation for her incomparable destiny until, when the work had reached the highest development to which she could bring it, she, without a moment’s hesitation or a thought of self, offered her tenderly loved child to him from whom she had received her.

“Sic fingit tabernaculum Deo,” thus she frames a tabernacle for God. Such was the inscription around the figure of Saint Anna instructing Mary, which formed the device of the ancient guild of joiners and cabinet makers. For they, looking upon the making of tabernacles in which God may dwell in our churches as their most choice work, had taken Saint Anna for their patroness and model. Happy were those times when the simplicity of our fathers penetrated so deeply into the practical understanding of mysteries which their infatuated sons glory in ignoring. The valiant woman is praised in the Book of Proverbs for her spinning, weaving, sewing, embroidering and household cares: naturally then, those engaged in these occupations placed themselves under the protection of the spouse of Joachim. More than once, those suffering from the same trial which had inspired Anna’s touching prayer beneath the sparrow’s nest, experienced the power of her intercession in obtaining for others, as well as for herself, the blessing of the Lord God.

The East anticipated the West in the public cultus of the grandmother of the Messiah. Towards the middle of the sixth century, a Church was dedicated to her in Constantinople. The Typicon of Saint Sabbas makes a liturgical commemoration of her three times in the year: on the 9th September, together with her spouse Saint Joachim, the day after the birthday of their glorious daughter; on the 9th December, on which the Greeks, a day later than the Latins, keep the feast of our Lady’s Immaculate Conception under a title which more directly expresses Saint Anna’s share in the mystery, and lastly, the 25th July, not being occupied by the feast of Saint James, which was kept on the 30th April, is called the Dormitio or precious death of Saint Anna, mother of the most holy Mother of God: the very same expression which the Roman Martyrology adopted later.

Although Rome, with her usual reserve, did not until much later authorise the introduction into the Latin Churches of a liturgical feast of Saint Anna, she nevertheless encouraged the piety of the faithful in this direction. So early as the time of Leo III (795-816) and by that illustrious Pontiff’s express command, the history of Anna and Joachim was represented on the sacred ornaments of the noblest basilicas in the Eternal City. The Order of Carmel, so devout to Saint Anna, powerfully contributed, by its fortunate migration into our countries, to the growing increase of her cultus. Moreover, this development was the natural outcome of the progress of devotion among the people to the Mother of God. The close relation between the two worships is noticed in a concession by which in 1381 Urban VI satisfied the desires of the faithful in England by authorising for that kingdom a feast of the blessed Anna. The Church of Apt in Provence had been already a century in possession of the feast, a fact due to the honour bestowed on that Church of having received almost together with the faith, the Saint’s holy body, in the first age of Christianity.

Since our Lord, reigning in Heaven, has willed that His blessed Mother should also be crowned there in her virginal body, the relics of Mary’s mother have become doubly dear to the world, first, as in the case of others, on account of the holiness of her whose precious remains they are, and then above all others, on account of their close connection with the mystery of the Incarnation. The Church of Apt was so generous out of its abundance that it would now be impossible to enumerate the sanctuaries which have obtained, either from this principal source or from elsewhere, more or less notable portions of these precious relics. We cannot omit to mention as one of these privileged places, the great Basilica of Saint Paul outside the walls. Saint Anna herself, in an apparition to Saint Bridget of Sweden, confirmed the authenticity of the arm which forms one of the most precious jewels in the rich treasury of that Church.

It was not until 1584 that Gregory XIII ordered the celebration of this feast of 26th July throughout the whole Church, with the rite of a double. Leo XIII in our own times (1879) raised it, together with that of Saint Joachim, to the dignity of a solemnity of second class. But before that, Gregory XV, after having been cured of a serious illness by Saint Anna, had ranked her feast among those of precept, with obligation of resting from servile work. Now that Saint Anna was receiving the homage due to her exalted dignity, she made haste to show her recognition of this more solemn tribute of praise. In the years 1623, 1624 and 1625, in the village of Keranna near Auray in Brittany, she appeared to Yves Nicolazic, and discovered to him an ancient statue buried in the field of Bocenno, which he tenanted. This discovery brought the people once more to the place, where, a thousand years before, the inhabitants of ancient Armorica had honoured that statue. Innumerable graces obtained on the spot spread its fame far beyond the limits of the province, whose faith, worthy of past ages, had merited the favour of the grandmother of the Messiah. And Saint Anne d’Auray was soon reckoned among the chief pilgrimages of the Christian world.

More fortunate than the wife of Elcana, who prefigured you both in her trial and by her name, you, O Anna, now sing the magnificent gifts of the Lord. Where is now the proud synagogue that despised you? The descendants of the barren one are now without number and all we, the brethren of Jesus, children like Him, of your daughter Mary, come joyfully led by our Mother to offer you our praises. In the family circle the grandmother’s feast day is the most touching of all, when her grandchildren surround her with reverential love, as we gather around you today. Many, alas, know not these beautiful feasts where the blessing of the earthly paradise seems to revive in all its freshness. But the mercy of our God has provided a sweet compensation. He, the Most High God, willed to come so near to us as to be one of us in the flesh to know the relations and mutual dependences which are the law of our nature; the bonds of Adam, with which He had determined to draw us and in which He first bound Himself. For, in raising nature above itself, He did not eliminate it. He made grace take hold of it and lead it to Heaven so that, joined together on earth by their Divine Author, nature and grace were to be united for all eternity. We, then, being brethren by grace of Him who is ever your grandson by nature, are, by this loving disposition of Divine Wisdom, quite at home under your roof. And today’s feast, so dear to the hearts of Jesus and Mary, is our own family feast.

Smile then, dear mother, on our chants and bless our prayers. Today and always be propitious to the supplications which our land of sorrows sends up to you. Be gracious to wives and mothers who confide to you their holy desires and the secret of their sorrows. Keep up, where they still exist, the traditions of the Christian home. Over how many families has the baneful breath of this age passed, blighting all that is serious in life, weakening faith, leaving nothing but languor, weariness, frivolity, if not even worse, in the place of the true and solid joys of our fathers. How truly might the Wise Man say at the present day: “Who will find a valiant woman?” She alone by her influence could counteract all these evils, but on condition of recognising in what her true strength lies: in humble household works done with her own hands; in hidden, self-sacrificing devotedness; in watchings by night; in hourly foresight; working in wool and flax, and with the spindle; all those strong things which win for her the confidence and praise of her husband; authority over all, abundance in the house, blessings from the poor whom she has helped, honour from strangers, reverence from her children; and for herself, in the fear of the Lord, nobility and dignity, beauty and strength, wisdom, sweetness and content, and calm assurance at the latter day (Proverbs xxxi. 10-31).

O blessed Anna, rescue society, which is perishing for want of virtues like yours. The motherly kindnesses you are ever more frequently bestowing on us have increased the Church’s confidence. Deign to respond to the hopes she places in you. Bless especially your faithful Brittany. Have pity on unhappy France, for which you have shown your predilection: first, by so early confiding to it your sacred body; later on, by choosing in it the spot where you would manifest yourself to the world, and again, quite recently entrusting to its sons the Church and seminary dedicated to your honour in Jerusalem. O you who love the Franks, who deign still to look on fallen Gaul as the kingdom of Mary, continue to show it that love which is its most cherished tradition. May you become known throughout the whole world. As for us, who have long known your power and experienced your goodness, let us ever seek in you, O mother, our rest, security, strength in every trial: for he who leans on you has nothing to fear on Earth, and he who rests in your arms is safely carried.

Also on this day according to the ROMAN MARTYROLOGY:

At Philippi in Macedonia, the birthday of St. Erastus, who was appointed bishop of that place by the blessed Apostle St. Paul, and there crowned with martyrdom.

At Rome, on the Via Latina, the holy martyrs Symphronius, Olympius, Theodulus and Exuperia, who (as we read in the Acts of Pope St. Stephen) were burnt alive and thus obtained the palm of martyrdom.

At Porto, St. Hyacinth, martyr, who was first thrown into the fire, and then precipitated into a stream without being injured. Afterwards, under the emperor Trajan, being struck with the sword by the ex-consul Leontius, he terminated his life. His body was buried by the matron Julia on her own estate near Rome.

Also at Rome, St. Pastor, priest. His name is used to designate a cardinal’s title in the church of St. Pudentiana on the Viminal Hill.

At Verona, St. Valens, bishop and confessor.

In the monastery of St. Benedict, near Mantua, St. Simeon, monk and hermit, who was renowned for many miracles and at an advanced age rested in the Lord.

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

Thanks be to God.

25 JULY – SAINT CHRISTOPHER (Martyr)

Christopher was a convert to Christianity, baptised by Saint Babylas of Antioch, and was martyred in the great persecution of Decius in 250 AD. It is believed that Christopher suffered in Lycia in Asia Minor. He was a popular saint during the Middle Ages, and around his memory grew many legends. The most beautiful is that he carried an unknown child across a ford, and was borne down by the child's weight, despite his huge stature and great strength. The child was Jesus, carrying in His hands the weight of the whole world. Saint Christopher is the patron of travellers.

Dom Prosper Guéranger:

The name of Christopher, whose memory enhances the solemnity of the son of thunder, signifies one who bears Christ. Christina yesterday reminded us that Christians ought to be in every place the good odour of Christ (2 Corinthians ii. 15). Christopher today puts us in mind that Christ truly dwells by faith in our hearts (Ephesians iii. 17). The graceful legend attached to his name is well known. As other men were, at a later date, to sanctify themselves in Spain by constructing roads and bridges to facilitate the approach of pilgrims to the tomb of Saint James, so Christopher in Lycia had vowed for the love of Christ to carry travellers on his strong shoulders across a dangerous torrent. Our Lord will say on the last day: “What you did to one of these my least brethren you did it to me.” One night, being awakened by the voice of a child asking to be carried across, Christopher hastened to perform his wonted task of charity when suddenly, in the midst of the surging and apparently trembling waves, the giant who had never stooped beneath the greatest weight was bent down under his burden, now grown heavier than the world itself. “Be not astonished,” said the mysterious child, “you bear him who bears the world.” And he disappeared, blessing his carrier and leaving him full of heavenly strength.

Christopher was crowned with martyrdom under Decius. The aid our fathers knew how to obtain from him against storms, demons, plague, accidents of all kinds, has caused him to be ranked among the saints called helpers. In many places the fruits of the orchards were blessed on this day under the common auspices of Saint Christopher and Saint James.

Also on this day according to the ROMAN MARTYROLOGY:

At Barcelona in Spain, during the persecution of Diocletian and under the governor Dacian, the birthday of the holy martyr Cucuphas. After overcoming many torments, he was struck with the sword and thus went triumphantly to heaven.

In Palestine, St. Paul, a martyr, in the persecution of Maximian Galerius under the governor Firmilian. He was condemned to capital punishment, but having obtained a short respite to pray, he besought God with all his heart, first for his own countrymen, then for the Jews and Gentiles, that they might embrace the true faith, next for the multitude of the spectators, and finally for the judge who had condemned him and the executioner that was to strike him, after which he received the crown of martyrdom by being beheaded.

In the same country, St. Valentina, a virgin, who was led to an altar to offer sacrifice, but overturning it with her foot, she was cruelly tortured, and being cast into the fire with another virgin, her companion, she went to her spouse.

At Forcono in Abruzzo, the holy martyrs Florentius and Felix, natives of Sipontum.

At Cordova, St. Theodemirus, monk and martyr.

At Treves, St. Magnericus, bishop and confessor.

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

Thanks be to God.

25 JULY – SAINT JAMES THE GREATER (Apostle and Martyr)

The Apostle James who we honour today is the son of Zebedee and Salome, the brother of Saint John the Evangelist, called with him to follow Jesus. He is known as James the Greater, to distinguish him from his fellow Apostle, James the Lesser (or James the Just), the son of Alphaeus and cousin of Jesus who wrote the canonical Epistle. James the Greater was one of the first to be called to the Apostolate together with his brother and, leaving his father and his nets, he followed the Lord. Jesus called them both Boanerges, that is, sons of Thunder. He was one of the three Apostles whom our Saviour loved the most, and whom he chose as witnesses of His transfiguration, and of the miracle by which he raised to life the daughter of the ruler of the Synagogue, and whom He wished to be present when He retired to the Mount of Olives to pray to His Father before being taken prisoner by the Jews.

After the Ascension of Jesus into Heaven James preached His Divinity in Judea and Samaria, and led many to the Christian faith. Soon, however, he set out for Spain, and there made some converts to Christianity. Among these were the seven men who were afterwards consecrated bishops by Saint Peter, and were the first sent by him into Spain. James returned to Jerusalem and, among others, instructed Hermogenes the magician in the truths of faith. Herod Agrippa, who had been raised to the throne under the emperor Claudius, wished to curry favour with the Jews. He therefore condemned the James to death for openly proclaiming Jesus Christ to be God. When the man who had brought him to the tribunal saw the courage with which he went to martyrdom, he declared that he too was a Christian. As they were being hurried to execution, he implored James’ forgiveness. The Apostle kissed him, saying: “Peace be with you.” Thus both of them were beheaded, James having a little before cured a paralytic.

His body was afterwards translated to Compostella, where it is honoured with the highest veneration. Pilgrims flock there from every part of the world to satisfy their devotion or pay their vows. The memory of his natalis is celebrated by the Church today, which is the day of his translation. But it was near the feast of the Pasch in 43 AD that, first of all the Apostles, he shed his blood at Jerusalem as a witness to Christ.

Dom Prosper Guéranger:

Let us today hail the bright star which once made Compostella so resplendent with its rays that the obscure town became, like Jerusalem and Rome, a centre of attraction to the piety of the whole world. As long as the Christian empire lasted, the sepulchre of Saint James the Great rivalled in glory that of Saint Peter himself.

Among the Saints of God there is not one who manifested more evidently how the elect keep up after death an interest in the works confided to them by our Lord. The life of Saint James after his call to the Apostolate was but short. And the result of his labours in Spain, his allotted portion, appeared to be a failure. Scarcely had he, in his rapid course, taken possession of the land of Iberia when, impatient to drink the chalice which would satisfy his continual desire to be close to his Lord, he opened by martyrdom the heavenward procession of the twelve which was to be closed by the other son of Zebedee. O Salome, who gave them both to the world and presented to Jesus their ambitious prayer, rejoice with a double joy: you are not repulsed. He who made the hearts of mothers is your abettor. Did He not, to the exclusion of all others except Simon His Vicar, choose your two sons as witnesses of the greatest works of His power, admit them to the contemplation of His glory on Thabor, and confide to them His sorrow to death in the garden of His agony? And today your eldest born becomes the first-born in Heaven of the sacred college: the protomartyr of the Apostles repays, as far as in him lies, the special love of Christ our Lord.

But how was he a messenger of the faith, since the sword of Herod Agrippa put such a speedy end to his mission? And how did he justify his name of son of thunder, since his voice was heard by a mere handful of disciples in a desert of infidelity? This new name, another special prerogative of the two brothers, was realised by John in his sublime writings in which, as by lightning flashes, he revealed to the world the deep things of God. It was the same in his case as in that of Simon, who having been called Peter by Christ, was also made by Him the foundation of the Church: the name given by the Man-God was a prophecy, not an empty title. With regard to James too, then, Eternal Wisdom cannot have been mistaken. Let it not be thought that the sword of any Herod could frustrate the designs of the Most High upon the men of His choice. The life of the Saints is never cut short. Their death, ever precious, is still more so when in the cause of God it seems to come before the time.

It is then that with double reason we may say their works follow them. God Himself, being bound in honour, both for His own sake and for theirs, to see that nothing is wanting to their plenitude. “As a victim of a holocaust He has received them, says the Holy Ghost, and in time there will be respect had to them. The just will shine, and will run to and fro like sparks among the reeds. They will judge nations, and rule over peoples. And their Lord will reign forever” (Wisdom iii. 6‒8). How literally was this Divine oracle to be fulfilled with regard to our Saint! Nearly eight centuries, which to the heavenly citizens are but as a day, had passed over that tomb in the north of Spain where two disciples had secretly laid the Apostle’s body. During that time, the land of his inheritance, which he had so rapidly traversed, had been overrun first by Roman idolaters, then by Arian barbarians, and when the day of hope seemed about to dawn, a deeper night was ushered in by the Crescent. One day lights were seen glimmering over the briars that covered the neglected monument. Attention was drawn to the spot which henceforth went by the name of the field of stars. But what are those sudden shouts coming down from the mountains, and echoing through the valleys? Who is this unknown chief rallying against an immense army the little worn out troop whose heroic valour could not yesterday save it from defeat? Swift as lightning, and bearing in one hand a white standard with a red cross, he rushes with drawn sword upon the panic stricken foe, and dyes the feet of his charger in the blood of 70,000 slain.

Hail to the chief of the holy war, of which this Liturgical Year has so often made mention! Saint James! Saint James! Forward, Spain! It is the reappearance of the Galilaean Fisherman, whom the Man-God once called from the barque where he was mending his nets; of the elder son of thunder, now free to hurl the thunderbolt on these new Samaritans who pretend to honour the unity of God by making Christ no more than a prophet.

Henceforth, James will be to Christian Spain the firebrand which the Prophet saw “devouring all the people round about, to the right hand and to the left, until Jerusalem will be inhabited again in her own place in Jerusalem” (Zacharias xii. 6). And when after six centuries and a half of struggle, his standard bearers, the Catholic kings, had succeeded in driving the infidel hordes beyond the seas, the valiant leader of the Spanish armies laid aside his bright armour, and the slayer of Moors became once more a messenger of the faith. As fisher of men, he entered his barque and gathering around it the gallant fleets of a Christopher Columbus, a Vasco di Gama, an Albuquerque, he led them over unknown seas to lands that had never yet heard the name of the Lord. For his contribution to the labours of the twelve, James drew ashore his well-filled nets from West and East and South, from new worlds, renewing Peter’s astonishment at the sight of such captures. He, whose apostolate seemed at the time of Herod III to have been crushed in the bud before bearing any fruit, may say with Saint Paul: “I have no way come short of them that are above measure Apostles, for by the grace of God I have laboured more abundantly than all they” (2 Corinthians xii. 11; 1 Corinthians xv. 10).

PATRON of Spain, forget not the grand nation which owes to you both its heavenly nobility and its earthly prosperity. Preserve it from ever diminishing those truths which made it, in its bright days, the salt of the earth. Keep it in mind of the terrible warning that if the salt lose its savour, it is good for nothing any more but to be cast out and to be trodden on by men (Matthew v. 13). At the same time remember, O Apostle, the special cultus wherewith the whole Church honours you. Does she not to this very day keep under the immediate protection of the Roman Pontiff both your sacred body, so happily rediscovered in our times, and the vow of going on pilgrimage to venerate those precious relics? Where now are the days when your wonderful energy of expansion abroad was surpassed by your power of drawing all to yourself? Who but he that numbers the stars of the firmament could count the Saints, the penitents, the kings, the warriors, the unknown of every grade, the ever-renewed multitude, ceaselessly moving to and from that field of stars where you shed your light on the world?

Our ancient legends tell us of a mysterious vision granted to the founder of Christian Europe. One evening after a day of toil, Charlemagne, standing on the shore of the Frisian Sea, beheld a long belt of stars which seemed to divide the sky between Gaul, Germany and Italy, and crossing over Gascony, the Basque territory, and Navarre, stretched away to the far-off Province of Galicia. Then you appeared to him and said: “This starry path marks out the road for you to go and deliver my tomb. And all nations will follow after you.” And Charles, crossing the mountains, gave the signal to all Christendom to undertake those great Crusades which were both the salvation and the glory of the Latin races, by driving back the Muslim plague to the land of its birth.

When we consider that two tombs formed, as it were, the two extreme points or poles of this movement unparalleled in the history of nations: the one in which the God-Man rested in death, the other where your body lay, O son of Zebedee, we cannot help crying out with the Psalmist: “Your friends, O God, are made exceedingly honourable!” (Psalms cxxxviii. 17). And what a mark of friendship did the Son of Man bestow on His humble apostle by sharing His honours with him when the military Orders and Hospitallers were established to the terror of the Crescent for the sole purpose, at the outset, of entertaining and protecting pilgrims on their way to one or other of these holy tombs? May the heavenly impulse now so happily showing itself in the return to the great Catholic pilgrimages, gather once more at Compostella the sons of your former clients. We, at least, will imitate Saint. Louis before the walls of Tunis, murmuring with his dying lips the Collect of your feast, and we will repeat in conclusion: “Be, O Lord, the sanctifier and guardian of your people that, defended by the protection of your Apostle James, they may please you by their conduct, and serve you with secure minds.”