Dom Prosper Guéranger:
The Church of Rome does not keep this day as a feast of any Saint. She simply recites the Office of the Feria unless it happen that the first Sunday of Advent fall on this first day of the month, in which case, the Office of that Sunday is celebrated. But should this first day of December be a simple Feria of Advent, we will do well to begin at once our considerations upon the preparations which were made for the merciful Coming of the Saviour of the world. Four thousand years of expectation preceded that Coming, and they are expressed by the four weeks of Advent, which we must spend before we come to the glorious festivity of our Lord’s Nativity. Let us reflect upon the holy impatience of the Saints of the Old Testament, and how they handed down, from age to age, the grand hope which was to be but hope to them since they were not to see it realised.
Let us follow, in thought, the long succession of the witnesses of the promise: Adam, and the first Patriarchs, who lived before the deluge. Then, Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and the twelve Patriarchs of the Hebrew people. Then Moses, Samuel, David and Solomon. Then, the Prophets and the Maccabees and, at last, John the Baptist and his disciples. These are the holy ancestors of whom the book of Ecclesiasticus speaks,where it says: “Let us praise men of renown, and our fathers in their generation” (Ecclesiasticus xliv. 1), and of whom the Apostle thus speaks to the Hebrews: “All these being approved by the testimony of faith, received not the promise. God providing some better thing for us, that they should not be perfected without us:” their faith was tried and approved, and yet they received not the object of the promises made to them. It was for us that God had reserved the stupendous gift, and therefore did not permit them to attain the object of their desires (Hebrews xi. 39, 40).
Let us honour them for their faith. Let us honour them as our veritable fathers, since it was in reward of their faith that our Lord remembered and fulfilled His merciful promise. Let us honour them, too, as the ancestors of the Messiah in the flesh. We may imagine each of them saying, as he lay on his dying bed, this solemn prayer to Him who alone could conquer death: “I will look for your salvation, O Lord!” It was the exclamation of Jacob, at his last hour, when he was pronouncing his prophetic blessings on his children: “and then,” says the Scripture, “he drew up his feet upon his bed, and died, and he was gathered to his people” (Genesis xlix. 32).
Thus did all these holy men, in quitting this life, go to await, far from the abode of eternal light, Him who was to come in due time and re-open the gate of Heaven. Let us contemplate them in this place of expectation, and give our grateful thanks to God who has brought us to His admirable Light without requiring us to pass through a Limbo of darkness. It is our duty to pray ardently for the Coming of the Deliverer who will break down by His Cross the gates of the prison, and will fill it with the brightness of His glory. During this holy season the Church is continually borrowing the fervent expressions of these Fathers of the Christian people, making them her own prayer for the Messiah to come. Let us turn to those great Saints and beg of them to pray that our work of preparation for Jesus’ coming to our hearts may be blessed by God.
On this day according to the ROMAN MARTYROLOGY:
The prophet Nahum, who was buried in Begabar.
At Rome, the holy martyrs Diodorus, priest, and Marian, deacon, with many others, who by the command of the emperor Numerian, were made partakers of the glory of martyrdom.
In the same city, the martyrdom of the saints Lucius, Rogatus, Cassian and Candida.
The same day, St. Ansanus, martyr, who confessed Christ at Rome and was cast into prison in the time of the emperor Diocletian. Being afterwards conducted to Siena in Tuscany, he there ended the course of his martyrdom by decapitation.
At Amelia in Umbria, St. Olympias, ex-consul, who was converted to the faith by blessed Firmina, and being tortured on the rack, consummated his martyrdom under Diocletian.
At Arbele in Persia, St. Ananias, martyr.
At Narni, St. Proculus, bishop and martyr, who after performing many good works, was beheaded by order of Totila, king of the Goths.
At Casale, St. Evasius, bishop and martyr.
At Milan, St. Castritian, bishop, who was eminent for virtues and the practice of pious and religious deeds in very troubled times for the Church.
At Brescia, St. Ursicinus, bishop.
At Noyon, St. Eligius, bishop, whose life is rendered illustrious by a considerable number of miracles.
At Verdun, St. Agericus, bishop.
The same day, St. Natalia, wife of the blessed martyr Adrian, under the emperor Diocletian. For a long time she served the holy martyrs detained in prison at Nicomedia, and when their combats were at an end, she repaired to Constantinople where she went peacefully to her repose in the Lord.
And in other places, many other holy martyrs, confessors and virgins.
Thanks be to God.
