17 MAY – FRIDAY AFTER THE OCTAVE OF THE ASCENSION

Dom Prosper Guéranger:

The Octave is over. The mystery of the glorious Ascension is completed, and our Jesus is never again to be seen upon this Earth until He comes to judge the living and the dead. We are to see Him only by faith. We are to approach Him only by love. Such is our probation, and if we go well through it, we will, at last, be permitted to enter within the Veil as a reward for our faith and love.

Let us not complain at our lot. Rather let us rejoice in that hope, which, as the Apostle says, “confounds not” (Romans v. 5). And how can we be otherwise than hopeful when we remember that Jesus has promised to abide with us “even to the consummation of the world” (Matthew xxviii. 20). He will not appear visibly, but He will be always really with us. How could He abandon His Spouse the Church? And are not we the children of this His beloved Spouse?

But this is not all: Jesus does something more for us. One of His last words was this, and it shows us how dearly He loved us: “I will not leave you orphans” (John xiv. 18). When He used those other words upon which we have been meditating during the last few days: “It is expedient for you that I go,” He added: “For if I go not, the Paraclete will not come to you” (John vii. 39). This Paraclete, this comforter, is the Holy Ghost, the Spirit of the Father and Son. He is to descend upon us in a few short hours hence. He will abide with us (making us feel His presence by His works) until Jesus will again come from Heaven that He may take His elect from a world which is to be condemned to eternal torments for its crimes. But the Holy Ghost is not to come until He be sent. And, as the sacred text implies, He is not to be sent until Jesus “will have been glorified” (John xvi. 7). He is coming that He may continue the great work, but this work was to be begun by the Son of God, and carried on by Him as far as the eternal decrees had ordained (John xvii. 4).

Jesus laboured in this work, and then entered into His rest, taking with Him our Human Nature, which, by His assuming it, He had exalted to the Divine. The Holy Ghost is not to assume our Humanity, but He is coming to console us during Jesus’ absence. He is coming to complete the work of our sanctification. It was He that produced those prodigies which we have been admiring — the faith and love of men in and for Jesus. Yes, it is the Holy Ghost who produces faith in the soul. It is the Holy Ghost who pours the charity of God into our hearts. So, then, we are about to witness fresh miracles of God’s love for man! In a few hours hence, the reign of the Holy Ghost will have begun on Earth. There is but the interim of this one short day for, tomorrow evening, the Solemnity of Pentecost will be upon us.

Let us then linger in our admiration of our Emmanuel. The holy Liturgy has daily gladdened us with His presence, beginning with those happy weeks of Advent when we were awaiting the day on which the Virgin-Mother was to give us the ever Blessed Fruit. And now He is gone! Sweet memories of the intimacy we enjoyed with our Jesus when we were permitted to follow Him day by day — we have you treasured within us! Yes, the Holy Spirit Himself is coming to impress you still deeper on our hearts, for Jesus told us, that when the Paraclete should come to us, He would help us to remember all that we have heard, and seen and felt in the company of the God who deigned to live our life, that so He might teach us to live His for all eternity (John xiv. 26).

Neither let us forget how, when quitting this His earthly home where He was conceived in Mary’s womb, where He was born, where He spent the three and thirty years of His mortal life, where He died, where He rose from the grave, and from which He ascended to the right hand of His Father — He left upon it an outward mark of His love. He left the impress of His sacred Feet upon Mount Olivet, as though He felt separating Himself from the Earth to which so many years and mysteries had endeared him. Saint Augustine, Saint Paulinus of Nola, Saint Optatus, Sulpicius Severus, and the testimony of subsequent ages, assure us of the prodigy. These venerable authorities tell us that when the Roman army under Titus was encamped on Mount Olivet, while besieging Jerusalem, Divine Providence protected these holy marks, the farewell memorial left by our Lord to His Blessed Mother, to His Disciples and to us: it is here that He stood when last seen on Earth, it is here that we will again see Him when He comes to judge mankind.

Neither the rude tramp of the soldiers, nor the ponderous chariots, nor the horses’ hoofs, were permitted to efface or injure the sacred footsteps. Yes, it was on this very Mount, forty years after the Ascension, that the Roman banner was first unfurled when the time of God’s vengeance came upon the City of Deieide. Let us call to mind, firstly, how the Angels announced that the same Jesus who had just ascended would again come to judge us, and secondly, how our Lord Himself had compared the two awful events, the destruction of Jerusalem, and the end of the world. These sacred marks of Jesus’ feet, are therefore the memorial of His affectionate farewell, and the prophecy of His return as our terrible Judge. At the foot of the Hill lies the Valley of Josaphat, the Valley of the Judgment, and the Prophet Zacharias has said: “His feet will stand in that day, upon the Mount of Olives, which is over against Jerusalem, towards the East” (Zacharias xiv. 4)

Let us humbly give admission to the feeling of fear with which our Lord thus inspires us, that we may be more solidly grounded in His love, and let us affectionately venerate the spot on which our Emmanuel left the impress of His feet. The holy Empress Saint Helena was entrusted with the sublime mission of finding and honouring the objects and places that our Redeemer had sanctified by His visible presence. Mount Olivet was sure to elicit her devoted zeal. She ordered a magnificent church of a circular form to be built upon it, but when the builders came to pave the church with rich marble, they were prevented by a miraculous power from covering the spot on which were imprinted the holy footmarks. The marble broke into a thousand pieces, which struck them on the face and after several attempts, they resolved to leave that part of the rock uncovered.

This fact is attested by many holy and creditable authors, several of whom lived in the fourth century when it occurred. But our Lord would do more than keep open to our view these His last footprints, which seem to be ever saying to us, “Your Jesus is but now gone, and will soon return.” He would, moreover, have them teach us that we are to follow Him to Heaven. When the time came for roofing the church, the men found that they had not power to do so: the stones fell as often as they attempted to put them up, and the building was left roofless, as though it had to be our reminder that the way opened by Jesus on the summit of Mount Olivet is ever open for us, and that we must be ever aspiring to rejoin our Divine Master in Heaven.

In his first Sermon for the Feast of the Ascension, Saint Bernardine of Sienna relates an edifying story which is in keeping with the reflections we have been making. He tells us, that a pious nobleman, desirous to visit the places that had witnessed the mysteries of our Redemption, passed the seas. Having reached Palestine, he would begin his pilgrimage by visiting Nazareth, and there, on the very spot where the Word was made Flesh, he gave thanks to the infinite love that had drawn our God from Heaven to Earth in order that He might save us from perdition. The next visit was to Bethlehem where our pilgrim venerated the place of our Saviour’s birth. As he knelt on the spot where Mary adored her new-born babe, the tears rolled down his cheeks, and as Saint Francis of Sales says, (for he also has related this affecting story), “he kissed the dust on which the divine infant was first laid.”

Our devout pilgrim who bravely travelled the country in every direction, went from Bethlehem to the banks of the Jordan. He stopped near Bethabara, at a little place called Bethany where Saint John baptised Christ. The better to honour the mystery, he went down into the bed of the river and entered with much devotion into the water thinking within himself how that stream had been sanctified by its contact with Jesus’ sacred body. Thence he passed to the desert, for he would follow, as nearly as might be, the footsteps of the Son of God. He contemplated the scene of our Master’s fasting, temptation and victory. He next went on towards Thabor. He ascended to the top, that he might honour the mystery of the Transfiguration by which our Saviour gave to three of His Disciples a glimpse of His infinite glory. At length, the good pilgrim entered Jerusalem. He visited the Cenacle, and we can imagine the tender devotion with which he meditated on all the great mysteries that had been celebrated there, such as Jesus washing His Disciples’ feet, and the Institution of the Eucharist. Being resolved to follow His Saviour in each Station, he passed the Brook Cedron, and came to the garden of Gethsemani, where his heart well-nigh broke at the thought of the Bloody Sweat endured by the Divine Victim of our sins. The remembrance of Jesus’ being manacled, fettered and dragged to Jerusalem, next filled his mind. “He at once starts off,” says the holy Bishop of Geneva, whom we must allow to tell the rest of the story:

“He at once starts off, treading in the footsteps of his beloved Jesus. He sees Him dragged to and fro, to Annas, to Caiphas, to Pilate, to Herod; buffeted, scoffed at, spit upon, crowned with thorns, made a show of to the mob, sentenced to death, laden with a Cross, and meeting, as He carries it, with his heart-broken Mother and the weeping daughters of Jerusalem. The good Pilgrim mounts to the top of Calvary where he sees in spirit the Cross lying on the ground, and our Saviour stretched on it, while the executioners cruelly nail Him to it by His hands and feet. He sees them raise the Cross and the Crucified in the air, and the blood gushing from the wounds of the sacred body. He looks at the poor Mother who is pierced through with the sword of sorrow. He raises up his eyes to the Crucified and ' listens with most loving attention to His Seven Words. And at last, sees Him dying and dead, and His side opened with a spear, so that the Sacred Heart is made visible. He watches how He is taken down from the Cross and carried to the tomb, and as he treads along the path all stained with His Redeemer’s blood, he sheds floods of tears. He enters the sepulchre, and buries his heart side by side by his Jesus’ corpse. After this, he rises again together with Him. He visits Emmaus and thinks on all that happened between Jesus and the two disciples. Finally, he returns to Mount Olivet, the scene of the Ascension, and seeing there the last footprints of his dear Lord, he falls down and covers them with untiring kisses. Then, like an archer stretching his bow-string to give his arrow speed, he concentrates into one intense act the whole power of his love, and stands with his eyes and hands lifted up towards heaven: ‘Jesus!’ he says, ‘my sweet Jesus! where else am I now to go on earth seeking you? Ah Jesus! my dearest Jesus, let this heart of mine follow you yonder!’ Saying this, his heart kept darting upwards to heaven, for the brave archer had taken too sure an aim to miss his divine object.”

Saint Bernardine of Siena tells us that the companions and attendants of the noble pilgrim, seeing that he was sinking under the vehemence of his desire, hastened to call a physician, that they might bring him to himself again. But it was too late: the soul had fled to her God, leaving us an example of the love that the mere contemplation of the divine mysteries can produce in man’s heart. And have not we been following all these same mysteries under the guidance of the holy Liturgy? God grant that we may now keep within us the Jesus, whom we have had so truly given to us! and may the Holy Spirit, by His coming visit, maintain and intensify in our souls the resemblance we have thus received with our Divine King!

17 MAY – SAINT PASCHAL BAYLON (Confessor)

Paschal Baylon was born of poor and pious parents at Torre-Hermosa, a small town of the Diocese of Seguenza in Aragon, Spain. Even from his infancy he gave many signs of future sanctity. Being endowed with a good disposition and having a great love for the contemplation of heavenly things, he passed the years of boyhood and youth in tending flocks. He loved this kind of life more than any other because it seemed to him best for fostering humility and preserving innocence. He was temperate in his food and assiduous in prayer. He had such influence over his acquaintance and companions and was so dear to them, that he used to settle their disputes, correct their faults, instruct their ignorance, and keep them out of idleness. He was honoured and loved by them as their father and master and even then, was often called the Blessed Paschal. Thus did this flower of the valley bloom in the world — that desert and parched land. But once planted in the house of the Lord, he shed everywhere around him a wondrous odour of sanctity.

Having embraced the severest sort of life by entering the Order of the Discalced Friars Minor of strict observance, Paschal rejoiced as a giant to run his way. Devoting himself wholly to the service of his God, his one thought, both day and night, was how he could further imitate his Divine Master. His brethren, even they that were most advanced, soon began to look on him as a model of seraphic perfection. As for him, he put himself in the grade of the Lay-Brothers. Looking on himself as the off-scouring of all, he, with humility and patience, cheerfully took on himself the most tiring and menial work of the house which work he used to say belonged to him by a special right. He mortified and brought into subjection his flesh which, at times, would strive to rebel against the spirit. As to his spirit, by assiduous self-denial he maintained its fervour and daily stretched himself forward to the things that were more perfect. He had consecrated himself, from his earliest years, to the Blessed Virgin Mary. He honoured her as his Mother by daily devotions, and prayed to her with filial confidence.

His devotion to the most holy Sacrament of the Eucharist seemed to linger in his body even after his death, When laid in his coffin his eyes were seen to open and shut twice during the elevation of the sacred host. He publicly and openly professed before heretics his faith in the dogma of the Real Presence, and had much to suffer on that account. His life was frequently attempted, but by a special providence of God he was rescued from those who sought to kill him. Frequently, when at prayer he was in ecstasy and swooned away with the sweetness of love. On these occasions he was supposed to have received that heavenly wisdom by which, though uneducated and illiterate, he was able to give answers on the profoundest mysteries of Faith and write several books. Being rich in merit, he passed to Heaven at the hour which he had foretold: on the sixteenth of the Calends of June (May 17), on the Feast of Pentecost (the same on which he was born), being in his fifty-second year in 1592. These and other virtues having procured him a great reputation and being celebrated for miracles both before and after his death, he was beatified by Pope Paul V and canonised by Alexander VIII.

Dom Prosper Guéranger:

The Seraph of Assisi was sure to depute some of his children to pay their court to his Risen Master. The one he sends today is the humblest and most unknown of men. Another will follow, three days hence, powerful in word and work and holding a palm in his hands, as a most devoted preacher of the Gospel. Paschal BayIon was a simple peasant. He was a shepherd boy, and it was in tending his flock that he found the Lord Jesus. He had a great love for contemplation. Forests and fields spoke to him of their great Creator and, in order that he might be the more closely united with him, he resolved to seek him in the highest paths of perfection.

He was ambitious to imitate the humble, poor and suffering life of the Man-God. The Franciscan cloister offered him all this, and he flew to it. On that blessed soil he grew to be one of Heaven’s choicest plants, and the whole Earth has now heard the name of the humble Lay-Brother of a little convent in Spain. Holy Church brings him before us today, and shows him enraptured in the contemplation of his Jesus’ Resurrection. He had trod the path of humiliation and the cross. It was but just that he should share in his Master’s triumph. It was of him, and of such as he, that this Divine Saviour spoke, when He said: “Ye are they that have continued with me in my temptations; and I dispose to you, as my Father has disposed to me, a Kingdom; that ye may eat and drink at my table, in my Kingdom, and may sit upon thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel” (Luke, xxii. 28, 29, 30).

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Heaven opened to receive you, Paschal! Even when here below, the fervour of your contemplations often gave you a foretaste of the delights of eternal bliss. But now every veil is drawn aside and you are face-to-face with Him you so ardently desired to possess. You have no further need to unite yourself with Him by humiliation and suffering. What you enjoy, and what He, for all eternity, will have you to enjoy, is His own glory, His own happiness, His own triumph. Deign to cast an eye of pity on us who have not the eagerness you had to walk in our Redeemer’s footsteps and who, as yet, have but the hope of being united with Him for eternity. Get us courage. Get us that love which leads straight to Jesus, which surmounts every obstacle of flesh and blood and gives to man an admirable resemblance to his Divine Model. The pledge of this happy transformation has been given to us by our being permitted to partake of the Paschal Mystery. Oh that it might be perfected by our fidelity in keeping close to our Divine Conqueror and Lord! Though He leaves us some time further in this vale of tears, His eye is ever on us, He longs to see us persevere in our loyalty to Him. Yet a little while, and we will see Him! “Behold!” says he, “come quickly. Hold fast that which you have. Behold! I stand at the gate, and knock. If any man will hear my voice and open to me the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me” (Apocalypse iii. 11, 20). Thus will the Pasch of time be changed into the Pasch of eternity. Pray for us, O Paschal, that, like you, we may hold fast that which by the grace of our Risen Jesus we already possess.

Also on this day according to the ROMAN MARTYROLOGY:

At Pisa in Tuscany, the holy martyr Torpes who filled a high office in the court of Nero and was one of those of whom the blessed Apostle St. Paul wrote from Rome to the Philippians: “All the saints salute you, especially those that are of the house of Caesar.” For the faith of Christ, he was, by order of Satellicus, buffeted, cruelly scourged and delivered to the beasts to be devoured, but being uninjured, he at last terminated his martyrdom by decapitation on the twenty-ninth of April. His feast, however, is kept on this day on account of the translation of his body.

The same day, St. Restituta, virgin and martyr, who was subjected to various kinds of tortures in Africa by the judge Proculus in the reign of Valerian, and then put in a boat filled with pitch and tow, to be burnt to death on the sea. But the flame turned on those who had kindled it, and the saint yielded her spirit to God in prayer. Her body was, by divine Providence, carried in the boat to the island of Ischia near Naples, where it was received by Christians with great veneration. A church was afterwards erected in her honour in that city by Constantine the Great.

At Noyon, the holy martyrs Heradius, Paul, and Aquilinus, with two others.

At Chalcedon, the holy martyrs Solochanus and his companions, soldiers under the emperor Maximian.

At Alexandria, the holy martyrs Adrio, Victor and Basilla.

At Wurzburg, St. Bruno, bishop and confessor.

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

Thanks be to God.

16 MAY – SAINT JOHN NEPOMUCEN (Martyr)

 

John was born at Nepomuk in Bohemia (from which he took the name of Nepomucen) and of parents who were advanced in years. His future sanctity was foretold by the appearance of bright rays miraculously shining over the house in which he was born. When an infant he was seized with a dangerous illness but was delivered from death by the protection of the Blessed Virgin Mary, to whom his parents considered themselves indebted for his birth. He was blessed with an excellent disposition, and received a pious training in keeping with the indications given from Heaven. He spent his boyhood in the practice of religious exercises, among which it was his delight to be frequently at church and serve the priests when saying Mass. He went through the humanities at Zatek, and the higher studies at Prague, where he took his degrees in philosophy, theology and canon law. He was ordained a priest and being, by his proficiency in the science of the Saints, well fitted for gaining souls, he devoted himself entirely to preaching the word of God.

In consideration of the great fruits produced by his eloquence and piety which extirpated vice and brought sinners back to the way of salvation, John was made a Canon of the Metropolitan Church of Prague. Being afterwards chosen as preacher to King Wenceslaus IV, he so far succeeded that the king did many things through his advice and had a great regard for his virtue. He offered him several high dignities but John peremptorily refused to accept them, fearing that they would interfere with his preaching the divine word. He was entrusted with the distribution of the royal alms to the poor, and Queen Jane chose him as her own spiritual director. Wenceslaus having given himself up to vices which disgraced both his kingly and Christian character, and being displeased at the entreaties and counsels of his wife, he even dared to insist on John revealing to him the secrets, told to him as priest, by the queen in the sacrament of Penance. The minister of God courageously resisted the king’s impious request, and neither bribes, nor tortures, nor imprisonment, could make him yield.

Seeing that the king had got to such a pitch of rage that the laws of neither man nor God made him relent, the soldier of Christ plainly foretold in one of his sermons his own approaching death, and the calamities that were to befall the kingdom. He then set out for Buntzel, where is kept an image of the Blessed Virgin that has been venerated for centuries. There in in fervent prayer John implored Heaven to grant him the assistance he needed in order to fight the good fight. As he was returning home on the evening before the Vigil of the Ascension, the king, who was standing at the palace window, saw him and sent him word that he was to repair to the king. The king was more than ever urgent in his demand and threatened John with immediate drowning if he continued to refuse compliance. John was not to be conquered and showed the king that he was not afraid of his threats. By the King's orders John was thrown that same night into the river Moldau which flows through Prague, and he obtained the glorious crown of martyrdom. The sacrilegious crime, thus privately committed, was miraculously revealed, as was also the martyr’s great glory.

As as soon as life was extinct, and the corpse of John began to float down the stream, flaming torches were seen following on the surface of the water. The next morning the Canons went and took the body from the sand on which it lay, and heedless of the king’s displeasure, they had it carried with much solemnity to the Metropolitan Church, and gave it burial. The memory of this courageous priest became gradually most venerable, both by the miracles that were wrought, and by the devotion of the Faithful, of those especially whose good name is injured by evil report. After upwards of 300 years, a juridical examination was made of his body (which, during all that time, had lain under the ground) and his tongue was found to be incorrupt and as though it were that of a living man. Six years later on the tongue was shown to judges delegated by the Apostolic See when, by a fresh miracle, it immediately resumed the fullness of life and, from being of a brownish colour, it became perfectly red. These and other miracles having been authentically proved, John was canonised by Pope Benedict XIII on 19 March 1729 as the defender of the Sacramental Seal, and the first martyr who shed his blood for the maintenance of its holy secrecy.

Dom Prosper Guéranger:

To the martyrs who were slain because they refused to adore false gods, to the Martyrs whose blood was shed by heretics, there is added today another brave soldier of Christ who won his crown in a very different sort of combat. The Sacrament of Penance by which sinners regain the Heaven they had lost claims John Nepomucen as its glorious defender. A holy secrecy shrouds the reconciliation made between God and the Penitent. This Sacramental secrecy deserved to have its martyr. When Jesus instituted the Sacrament of Penance — that second Baptism in which the Blood of our Redeemer washes away the sins of the Christian soul — he willed that man should not be deterred from confessing his humiliations to his spiritual physician by the fear of their ever being revealed. How many hidden martyrdoms have there not been, during these [two thousand] years, for the maintenance of this secret which, while it gives security to the Penitent, exposes the Confessor to obloquy, injustice and even death! But the martyr we honour today was not one of these hidden sufferers. His testimony to the inviolability of the Sacramental Seal was public. He gave it amid cruel tortures. It cost him his life. All praise, then, to the brave and faithful priest!

Right worthy was he to hold in his hands the keys that open or shut the gate of Heaven! In this great fact of the observance of the Seal of Confession on which depends the salvation of millions of souls we have a permanent miracle. But there was one thing wanting to it —the glory of martyrdom. The holy priest of Prague gave it that glory, and he offers the fair palm to our Risen Jesus whom we have seen, during these days between His Resurrection and Ascension, mercifully instituting the Sacrament of Penance in which He communicates to men His own power of forgiving sin.

* * * * *

How great, glorious Martyr, was the honour reserved for you by the Son of God when He chose you to be the one who was to attest, by laying down his life, the sacredness of the secret which protects the Sacrament of Penance! Other priests, as well as yourself, have bravely suffered persecution for the sake of the secrecy of the mystery of Reconciliation. But you were the one chosen by Heaven to give a solemn testimony of priestly discretion. Your sufferings were known to more than to Angels. Your martyrdom was a public one, and the faithful honour your courage as an eloquent proof of how truly our good Shepherd, Jesus, removes every difficulty that could deter the strayed sheep from returning to the fold.

We address ourselves to you, holy Martyr, on this the day of your triumph, and we beg of you to intercede for sinners. Admirable minister of the Sacrament of Penance, you see how many Christians there are who neglect to avail themselves of the means of salvation prepared for them by our Risen Saviour. Instead of laying hold of this “second plank after shipwreck,” they let themselves be carried on to the deep abyss by the tide of their sinful habits. There are thousands who have turned a deaf ear, even this Easter, to the call of holy Church who invited them, as an affectionate Mother, to approach the tribunal of mercy and Reconciliation. We beseech you, intercede for these blind, these unwary, these ungrateful men. Get them that grace which will lead them to the feet of the God of Mercy who is ever ready to grant pardon.

There are others, again, who go to Confession but who have not the dispositions requisite for receiving the grace of the Sacrament —the justification of their souls. Pray also for these that they may see the danger they thus incur of profaning the Blood of Christ. Obtain for all them who approach the holy tribunal an honest avowal of their sins and contrition of heart, that thus the life of our Risen Jesus may be imparted to them, and that they may never again lose it. By your powerful intercession, raise up zealous and faithful ministers of this great Sacrament of which you were the martyr. Draw down on their arduous labour the blessing of Heaven: then will the number of the children of God be increased and the grace of the Holy Ghost triumph in souls that have long been dead in sin.

Cast, too, an eye of compassion on your fatherland of Bohemia where there are so many faithful hearts that love and honour thee. Alas, there are tares which disfigure that portion of the Church. The enemy came, not many years after your glorious martyrdom and sowed the baneful weeds of heresy in your native land. The good seed claims your protection, but take pity also on the cockle, for even it may be turned by the True Faith, into wheat and be garnered into the House of our Heavenly Father.

Also on this day according to the ROMAN MARTYROLOGY:

In Isauria, the birthday of the holy martyrs Aquillinus and Victorian.

At Auxerre, the passion of St. Peregrinus, first bishop of that city. He was sent into Gaul with other clerics by the blessed Pope Sixtus, and having accomplished his work of preaching the Gospel, he merited an everlasting crown by being condemned to capital punishment.

At Uzalis in Africa, the holy martyrs Felix and Gennadius.

In Palestine, the martyrdom of the holy monks massacred by the Saracens in the monastery of St. Sabas.

In Persia, the holy martyrs Audas, a bishop, seven priests, nine deacons and seven virgins who endured various kinds of torments under king Isdegerdes, and thus gloriously consummated their martyrdom.

At Amiens in France, the bishop St. Honoratus.

At Le Mans, St. Domnolus, bishop.

At Mirandola in Æmilia, St. Possidius, bishop of Calamae, discple of St. Augustine, and the writer of his glorious life.

At Troyes, St. Fidolus, confessor.

In Ireland, St. Brendan, abbot.

At Frejus, St. Maxima, virgin, who rested in peace with a reputation for many virtues.

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

 

Thanks be to God.

16 MAY – SAINT UBALDUS (Bishop and Confessor)

Ubald (or Ulbadus) was born to noble parents in Gubbio in Umbria, Italy (then a Papal State). On reaching adulthood he was frequently urged to marry, but nothing could shake his resolution of leading a life of celibacy. He was appointed Prior of the Cathedral Chapter by the bishop, who was his uncle. The condition of the chapter being scandalous, Ubald reformed it despite opposition from some of the canons. He lived with them in strict discipline and visited the Canons Regular instituted by Peter de Honestis in the territory of Ravenna to learn how to run a religious house. But after a fire in which the cathedral and cloisters were reduced to ruins, he left the cathedral. The fame of his virtue spread far and wide. Pope Honorius II compelled him to accept the charge of the Church of Gubbio and accordingly he was consecrated Bishop in 1128.

Having taken possession of his See, he changed little or nothing of his mode of life but he began to apply himself more than ever to the practice of every virtue, in order that he might the more effectually, both by word and example, procure the salvation of souls, for he was a pattern of the flock in all earnestness. His food was scanty, his dress unpretending, his bed hard and most poor. While always hearing about, in his body, the mortification of the Cross, he every day refreshed his spirit with prayer, in which he seemed insatiable. The result of such a life was meekness of so admirable a nature, that he not only bore the worst injuries and insults with patience but treated his persecutors with surprising affection, and showed them all possible kindness.

During the last two years of his life, Ubald suffered much from sickness. In the midst of the most acute pains he ceased not to give thanks to God. He died in 1160 on the feast of Pentecost and was canonised by Pope Celestine III in 1192. God has given him a special power for driving away unclean spirits. His body, which has remained uncorrupt for several centuries, is honoured with much devotion by the faithful of the city of Gubbio which he has more than once rescued from the calamities that threatened it.

Dom Prosper Gueranger:

In order to honour her Eternal High Priest, the Church presents to Him this day the merits of a Pontiff, who, after his mortal career, was admitted into a happy immortality. Ubaldus, here on Earth was the image of our Lord Jesus Christ. Like his Divine Master, he received the holy Anointing of Priesthood. He was a Mediator between God and man. He was the Shepherd of a flock. And now he is united with our Risen Jesus — the great Anointed, the Mediator, the Shepherd. In proof of his influence in Heaven, our Ubaldus has had given to him a special power against the wicked spirits who lay snares for our perdition. It has frequently happened that the simple invocation of his name has sufficed to foil their machinations. It is with the view of encouraging the faithful to have recourse to his protection that the Church has fixed this day as his feast.

O blessed Pontiff, be our protector against the spirits of Hell. They are devoured by envy at seeing how man, that lowly and feeble creature, has become the object of God’s predilection. The Incarnation of the Son of God, His Death on the Cross, His glorious Resurrection, the Sacraments which give us the life of Grace — all these sublime means by which the infinite goodness of God has restored us to our lost dignity, have excited the rage of the old enemy, and he seeks revenge by insulting, in us, the Image of our Creator. At times, he attacks man with all the frenzy of angry jealousy. To mimic the operations of Sanctifying Grace — which, so to speak, makes us the instruments of God’s good pleasure — Satan sometimes takes possession of our fellow creatures, and makes them his slaves. Your power, O Ubaldus, has often manifested itself by rescuing these unhappy victims of the Devil’s jealousy, and holy Church, on this day, celebrates the special prerogative conferred on you by our Heavenly Father. Relent not in the exercise of your charitable office. And yet, O holy Pontiff, you know that the snares of the wicked spirits are more injurious to the souls than to the bodies of men. Have pity, then, on the unhappy slaves of sin, who, though the divine Sun of the Pasch has risen upon them, are still in the darkness of guilt. Pray for them that they may become once more Children of the Light, and share in the Easter Resurrection which Jesus offers to all.

16 MAY – THURSDAY, THE OCTAVE OF THE ASCENSION

 

Dom Prosper Guéranger:

We have already seen how the Ascension of our Emmanuel won Him the empire over our understanding: it was the triumph of Faith. The same mystery gave Him a second victory — the victory of Love, which makes Him reign in our hearts. For [two thousand] in whom have men believed, firmly and universally, except in Jesus? In what else have men agreed, except in the dogmas of Faith? What countless errors has not this divine torch dispelled? What light has it not given to the nations that received it? And in what darkness has it not left those which rejected it after having once received it?

In like manner, no one has been loved as our Jesus has been ever since the day of His Ascension: no one is so loved now or ever will be, as He. But, that He might thus win our love, He had to leave us, just as He had to do in order to secure our Faith. Let us return to our text, that we may get deeper into the beautiful mystery. “It is expedient for you that I go!” (John xvi. 7) Before the Ascension, the Disciples were as inconstant in their love, as they were in their faith. Jesus could not trust them. But no sooner had He left them, than they became warmly devoted to Him. Instead of complaining at their bereavement, they returned full of joy to Jerusalem. The thought of their Master’s triumph made them forget their own loss, and they hastened, as He bade them, to the Cenacle, where they were to be endued with Power from on high. Watch these men during the subsequent years. Examine what their conduct was from that time to the day of their death. Count, if you can, their acts of devotedness in the arduous labour of preaching the Gospel. And say, if any other motive than love for their Master, could have enabled them to do what they did? With what cheerfulness did they not drink His chalice? (Matthew xx. 23) With what raptures did they not hail His Cross, when they saw it being prepared for themselves?

But let us not stop at these first witnesses. They had seen Jesus, and heard Him, and touched Him (1 John i. 1). Let us turn to those who came after them, and knew Him by faith only. Let us see if the love which burned in the hearts of the Apostles has been kept up by the Christians of the past [twenty] centuries. First of all, there is the contest of martyrdom, which has never been altogether interrupted since the Gospel began to be preached. The opening campaign lasted three hundred years. What was it that induced so many millions to suffer, not only patiently but gladly, every torture that cruelty could devise? Was it not their ambition to testify how much they loved their Jesus? Let us not forget how these frightful ordeals were cheerfully gone through, not only by men hardened to suffering, but also by delicate women, by young girls, yes even by little children. Let us call to mind the sublime answers they gave to their persecutors, by which they evinced their generous ardour to repay the death of Jesus by their own. The Martyrs of our own times, in China, Japan, the Korea and elsewhere have repeated, without knowing it, the very same words to their judges and executioners as were addressed to the Proconsuls of the third and fourth centuries by the martyrs of those days.

Yes, our divine King who has ascended into Heaven, is loved as no other ever was or could be. Think of those millions of generous souls who, that they might be exclusively His, have despised all earthly affections, and would know no other love than His. Every age, even our own, in spite of all its miseries, has produced souls of this stamp, and only God knows how many. Our Emmanuel has been, and to the end of time will ever be loved on this earth. Have we not reason to say so when we consider how many there have always been, even among the wealthiest ones of the world, who, in order that they might bear a resemblance to the babe of Bethlehem, have given up everything they possessed? What an irresistible proof of the same truth have we not in the countless sacrifices of self-love and pride, made with a view to imitate the Obedience of the God-Man on earth? And what else but an ardent love of Jesus could have prompted those heroic acts of mortification and penance by which the sufferings of His Passion have been emulated and, as the Apostle says, “filled up?” (Colossian i. 24)

But grand as all this is, it was not enough to satisfy man’s devoted love of his absent Lord. Jesus had said, at least, implicitly: “Whatever you do to the leas of your brethren, you do it to me” (Matthew xxv. 40). Love is ever quick at catching the meaning of our Redeemer’s words. It took advantage of these, and saw in them another means for reaching its Jesus, reaching Him through the poor. And as the worst of poverties is the ignorance of divine truths, because it would make a man poor and miserable for eternity — therefore have there risen up, in every age, zealous apostles who, bidding farewell to home and fatherland, have carried the light of the Gospel to them that sat in darkness and in the shadow of death. They heeded not the fatigues or the perils of such a mission: what cared they for all these things, if they could but make Jesus known and honoured, and loved, by one poor savage or Hindu?

But what of those other poor ones — the sick — in whom Jesus suffers? Fear not: He is too much loved to be forgotten there. Once let the Church be free enough to develop her plans of charity, and there will be an Institute of relief for every class of sufferers. The poor, the sick — all will be cared for and comforted. There will be vocations to charity to meet every want, and women, too, urged by the love of their Divine Lord, will deem it an honour to be the nurses and attendants of a suffering or dying Lazarus. The world itself is in admiration at their heroism, and though it knows not the divine principle which originates these charitable Institutions, yet is it obliged to acknowledge the extraordinary good they effect.

But man’s observation can only reach the exterior. The interior is the far grander reality, and it is beyond his notice. What we have said so far is, therefore, but a very feeble description of the ardour with which our Lord Jesus Christ has been, and still is, loved on this Earth. Let us picture to ourselves the millions of Christians who have lived since the first foundation of the Church. Many, it is true, have had the misfortune to be unfaithful to the object of their existence. But, what an immense number have loved Jesus with all their heart, and soul and strength? Some have never flagged in their love. Others have needed a conversion from vice or tepidity, returned to Him, and slept in the kiss of peace. Count, if you can, the virtuous actions, the heroic sacrifices, of those countless devoted servants of His, who are to be arrayed before him in the Valley of Josaphat. His memory alone can hold and tell the stupendous total of what has been done. This well-nigh infinite aggregate of holy deeds and thoughts — from the seraphic ardour of the greatest Saint, down to the cup of cold water given in the name of the Redeemer, what is it all but the ceaseless hymn of our earth to its beloved Absent One, its never-forgotten Jesus ?

Who is the man, however dear his memory may be, for whom we would be devoted, or sacrifice our interests, or lay down our lives, especially if he had been ten or twenty ages gone from us? Who is that great Dead, the sound of whose name can make the hearts of men vibrate with love, in every country, and in every generation? It is Jesus, who died, who rose again, who ascended into Heaven. But we humbly confess, Jesus, that it was necessary for us that you should go from us, in order that our faith might soar up to you in Heaven, and that our hearts, being thus enlightened, might burn with your love. Enjoy your Ascension, you King of Angels and men! We, in our exile, will feast on the fruits of the great mystery, waiting for it to be fulfilled in ourselves. Enlighten those poor blind infidels whose pride will not permit them to recognise you, notwithstanding these most evident proofs. They continue in their errors concerning you, though they have such superabundant testimony of your Divinity, in the faith and love you have received in every age. The homage offered you by the universe represented, as it has ever been, by the chief nations of the earth, and by the most virtuous and learned men of each generation — all this is, to these unbelievers, as though it had never happened. Who are they to be compared with such a cloud of faithful witnesses? Have mercy on them, Lord! Save them from their pride. Then will they unite with us in saying: “It was indeed expedient for this world to lose your visible presence, Jesus, for never were your greatness, your power, and your Divinity, so recognised and loved, as when you departed from us. Glory, then, be to the mystery of your Ascension, by which as the Psalmist prophesied, you received gifts that you might bestow them upon men” (Psalms lxvii. 19).

15 MAY – SAINT JOHN BAPTIST DE LA SALLE (Confessor)

Jean-Baptiste was born in 1651 at Reims in France to the noble parents Louis de la Salle and Nicolle de Moet de Brouillet. He entered Holy Orders in 1662 and in 1667 was installed as a canon of the Metropolitan See of Reims. After graduating in 1669 with a Master of Arts degree from the University of Reims, Jean-Baptiste entered the Seminary of Saint-Sulpice, but while he was studying there both his parents died and he returned home to care for his brothers and sisters. In 1678 he was ordained a priest and in 1680 he graduated as a Doctor of Theology.

Jean-Baptiste founded the Institute of the Brothers of Christian Schools (Fratres Scholarum Christianarum) for the Christian education of youth. With patience he overcame the many obstacles which stood in the way of the establishment of his institute, which was formally approved by the Holy See a few years after his holy death on Good Friday in 1719. Jean-Baptiste de La Salle was canonised by Pope Leo XIII in 1900 and the Venerable Pope Pius XII declared him the patron saint of teachers in 1950.

Also on this day according to the ROMAN MARTYROLOGY:

In Spain, the Saints Torquatus, Ctesiphon, Secundus, Indaletius, Caecilius, Hesychius and Euphrasius, who were consecrated bishops at Rome by the holy Apostles and sent to Spain to preach the word of God. When they had evangelised various cities and brought innumerable multitudes under the yoke of Christ, they rested in peace in various parts of that country: Torquatus at Cadiz, Ctesiphon at Vierco, Secundus at Avila, Indaletius at Portilla, Caecilius at Elvira, Hesychius at Gibraltar, and Euphrasius at Anduxar.

At Evora in Portugal, St. Mancius, martyr.

In the island of Chio, the birthday of blessed Isidore, martyr, in whose church is a well into which he is said to have been thrown. By drinking of the water from this well the sick are frequently cured.

At Lampsacum in Hellespont, the martyrdom of the Saints Peter, Andrew, Paul and Dionysia.

At Fausina in Sardinia, in the time of Diocletian and the governor Barbarus, St. Simplicius, a bishop, who consummated his martyrdom by being transpierced with a lance.

At Clermont in Auvergne, the holy martyrs Cassius, Victorinus, Maximus and their companions.

In Brabant, St. Dympna, virgin and martyr, daughter of an Irish king. By order of her father she was beheaded for the faith of Christ and the preservation of her virginity.

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

Thanks be to God.

14 MAY – SAINT BONIFACE (Martyr)

 

Boniface, a citizen of Rome, had held illicit sexual relations with a rich lady, by name Aglaë. He afterwards was so grieved for this immoral conduct that, by way of penance, he devoted himself to the looking for and burying the bodies of martyrs. In one of his travels he left his companions and finding, on arriving at Tarsus, that many were being put to various tortures for the Christian Faith, he approached them, kissed their chains, and did all in his power to urge them to bear patiently the short labour of sufferings which were to be followed by eternal rest.

 

For this he was seized, and his flesh was torn by iron hooks. Sharp reeds were also thrust up his fingernails, and melted lead was poured into his mouth. His only exclamation, in the midst of these tortures, was: “I give you thanks, Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God!” He was then put, head foremost, into a cauldron of boiling pitch, and when he was taken out, and found to be unhurt, the judge, in a fit of anger, ordered him to be beheaded. During his execution a great earthquake was felt, and many of the pagans were converted to the Faith of Christ our Lord.

 

On the day following, his companions, who were in search of him, were told that he had suffered martyrdom. They bought his body for five hundred pieces of silver, and having embalmed and shrouded it, they had it taken to Rome. All this was made known to Aglaë, who had devoted herself to penance and good works. She therefore went to meet the martyr’s relics. She built a Church which was named after the Saint, and in which he was buried on the Nones of June (June 5). The martyr’s soul passed into Heaven on the day before the Ides of May (May 14), at Tarsus in Cilicia under the emperors Diocletian and Maximian.

Dom Prosper Guéranger:

The Apostle of the Gentiles, explaining the mystery of the Pasch, tells us that Baptism is the sepulchre of our sins, and that we rise from it together with our Redeemer, having our souls radiant with the life of grace (Romans vi.). Our holy Faith teaches us that he who gives his life for Christ or his Church, washes away, in his own blood, every stain from his soul and rises to life everlasting: it is as though he received a second Baptism which reproduces all the effects belonging to the great Sacrament of Regeneration. We have today a sinner who, being purified by martyrdom and re-baptised in his own blood, is numbered among the privileged ones who share in the glory of our Risen Jesus. Boniface, by his immoralities, had scandalised the city where he lived. But his repentance was most complete. He longed to suffer the crudest tortures for the love of the God he had offended, and thus make atonement for the sinful pleasures in which he had indulged. His wish was granted, suffering transformed him into the Saint whose feast is kept on this day, and whose virtues are a homage to the Divine Conqueror of sin and death.

* * * * *

The Angels rejoiced more at your conversion, O Boniface, than at the fidelity of the ninety-nine just. But their joy was redoubled when they found that Heaven gained in you, not only a Penitent, but a Martyr too. Receive, also, the congratulations of holy Church which celebrates the memory of your victory. Rome is still in possession of thy holy relics which repose in the Church on Mount Aventine where once stood the house of her that imitated your repentance. In both her and you, we have a proof of the infinite mercy of our Risen Jesus who called the two sinners from spiritual death to the life of grace. Have compassion, O holy Martyr, on those poor sinners, whom this Easter has not yet brought back to their Redeemer. The Alleluia has resounded through the whole universe, and yet it has failed to rouse them from their sleep of sin. Pray for their resurrection. Their days are numbered and perhaps they are not to see another Easter. Yet do we hope in the Divine Mercy which has shown us its power by making you and Aglaë to be vessels of election.

We, therefore, unite our prayers with yours, O Boniface, that our Lord may grant a resurrection to our brethren. Hope is our armour in this peaceful contest with Divine Justice which delights in being vanquished by prayer. Present our prayer before the throne of God, and many of those that are now spiritually dead will come to life again, and their conversion will cause joy to the Angels, as yours did.

Also on this day according to the ROMAN MARTYROLOGY:

In France, St. Pontius, martyr. Having by his preaching and his zeal converted to the faith of Christ the two Caesars Philip, he obtained the palm of martyrdom under the emperors Valerian and Gallienus.

In Syria, the holy martyrs Victor and Corona, under the emperor Antoninus. Victor was subjected to various horrible torments by the judge Sebastian. As Corona, the wife of a certain soldier, was proclaiming him happy for his fortitude in his sufferings, she saw two crowns falling from heaven, one for Victor, the other for herself. She related this to all present, and was torn to pieces between two trees. Victor was beheaded.

In Sardinia, the holy martyrs Justa, Justina and Henedina.

At Rome, Pope St. Paschal who took up from the crypts many bodies of the holy martyrs and placed them honourably in various churches.

At Ferentino in Tuscany, the holy bishop Boniface who was renowned from his childhood for holiness and miracles, as was related by Pope St. Gregory.

At Naples in Campania, St. Pomponius, bishop.

In Egypt, St. Pachomius, an abbot, who erected many monasteries in that country, and wrote a monastic rule which was dictated to him by an angel.

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

Thanks be to God.

13 MAY - SAINT ROBERT BELLARMINE (Bishop and Doctor of the Church)

Robert Bellarmine was born in 1542, at Montepulciano in Italy, to Vincenzo Bellarmino and Cynthia Cervini, the sister of Cardinal Marcello Cervini who became Pope Marcellus II. Robert entered the Jesuit Order (Society of Jesus) in 1560 and after studying philosophy and theology, quickly acquired a reputation as a professor and preacher. In 1570 he was ordained a priest and in 1576 he was entrusted with the chair of Controversies just established at the Roman College which later became the Pontifical Gregorian University. Bellarmine’s lectures led to his monumental work De Controversiis which proved such a challenge to Protestantism in Germany and England that special chairs were founded to reply to it.

In 1592 Bellarmine was made Rector of the Roman College, and in 1595 Provincial of Naples. In 1597 Pope Clement VIII made him his own theologian and Examiner of Bishops and Consultor of the Holy Office. In 1599 he was made Cardinal-Priest Titular of the Church of Santa Maria in Via Lata. Bellarmine successfully promoted the cause for the beatification of Aloysius Gonzaga who had died in 1591 at the Roman College. He also sat on the final commission that was responsible for the revision of Saint Jerome’s translation of the Bible into Vulgate Latin. Bellarmine died on the 17th of September 1621, the day which at his request had been set aside for the feast of the Stigmata of Saint Francis of Assisi.

Robert Bellarmine was canonised in 1930 and declared to be a Doctor of the Church in 1931 by Pope Pius XI.

O God who filled blessed Robert, your bishop and doctor, with wondrous learning and virtue that he might break the snares of errors and defend the Apostolic See: grant us by his merits and intercession that we may grow in the love of truth and that the hearts of those in error may return to the unity of your Church. Through our Lord ...

Also on this day according to the ROMAN MARTYROLOGY:

At Rome, in the time of the emperor Phocas, the dedication of the church of St. Mary of the Martyrs, formerly a temple of all the gods called the Pantheon, which was purified and dedicated by the blessed Pope Boniface IV to the honour of the Blessed Mary ever-Virgin, and of all the martyrs.

At Constantinople, under the emperor Diocletian and the proconsul Laudicius, the blessed Lucius, a priest and martyr, who first at Amphipolis endured many tribulations and torments for the confession of Christ, and then being led to Byzantium, suffered capital punishment.

At Heraclea, the martyr St. Glyceria, a native of Rome, who suffered under the emperor Antoninus and the governor Sabinus.

At Alexandria, the commemoration of many holy martyrs who were killed by the Arians for the Catholic faith in the church of St. Theonas.

At Maestricht, St. Servatius, bishop of Tongres, whose grave, as a public sign of his merit, was free from snow during winter (though everything around was covered with it), until the inhabitants built a church over it.

In Palestine, St. John the Silent.

At Valladolid, St. Peter Regalati, confessor, of the Order of Friars Minor, restorer of regular discipline in the monasteries of Spain. He was numbered among the saints by Pope Benedict XIV.

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

Thanks be to God.

13 MAY – OUR LADY OF FATIMA

Our Lady of Fatima, Queen of Heaven and earth, I consecrate myself to Your Immaculate Heart.

 

To You I consecrate my heart, my soul, my family, and all that I have.

 

I renew today the promises of my Baptism; and promise to live as a good Christian — faithful to God, by always believing and living the Catholic faith.

 

I resolve to pray the Rosary every day, to receive in a worthy manner the Holy Eucharist, to participate in the First Saturdays of the month, and offer sacrifices for the conversion of sinners.

 

O Most Holy Virgin, I pray that devotion may spread to Your Immaculate Heart so that all souls may be truly consecrated to You, and that through Your own intercession, the coming of the Kingdom of Our Lord Jesus Christ in this world may be hastened.

 

Accept this dear Mother and bless me and my family. Amen.

13 MAY - MONDAY IN THE OCTAVE OF THE ASCENSION

Dom Prosper Gueranger:

The Kingship over men is not the only diadem given to our Emmanuel at His Ascension. The Apostle expressly tells us that He is, moreover, the Head of all Principality and Power (Colossians ii. 10). Noble indeed is man, but nobler far are the glorious Choirs of the Angelic Hierarchy. We have already seen that in the great trial by which God tested the love of His Angels, many rebelled and were cast into Hell. The rest, who were faithful, entered at once into the possession of their sovereign good and began, round the throne of God, their ceaseless hymns of adoration, love and thanksgiving. But a portion of their happiness was reserved till the fulfilment of one of God’s decrees. Laden as they are with the most magnificent gifts, they await another. It is to be the completion of their joy and glory. God revealed to them, at the first instant of their coming into existence, that He intended to create other beings, of a nature inferior to their own, and that of these beings, who were to be composed of body and soul, there should be one whom the Eternal Word would unite to Himself in unity of Person. It was also revealed to them that this human nature (for whose glory and for God’s, all things were made), was to be the FIRST-BORN “of every creature” (Colossians i. 15); that all Angels and men would have to bend their knee before Him; that after suffering countless humiliations on Earth, He would be exalted in Heaven; and, finally, that the time would be when the whole hierarchy of heaven, the Principalities and Powers, yes, even the Cherubim and Seraphim, would have Him placed over them as their King.

The Angels, then, as well as men, looked forward to the coming of Jesus. The Angels awaited Him as He that was to confer on them their final perfection, give them unity under Himself as their head, and bring them into closer union with God by the union of the Divine and created natures in His own Person. As to us men, we awaited Him as our Redeemer and our Mediator: as our Redeemer, because sin had closed Heaven against us and we needed one that would restore us to our inheritance; as our Mediator because it was the eternal decree of God to communicate His own glory to the human race, and this was to be by union with Himself. While, therefore, the just ones on earth who lived before the Incarnation were pleasing to God by their faith in this future Redeemer and Mediator, the Angels in heaven were offering to the Divine Majesty the homage of their proffered service of this Man-God, their future King, who, in virtue of the eternal decree, was ever present to “the Ancient of Days” (Daniel vii. 9).

At length, “the fullness of time came” (Galatians iv. 4), and God, as the Apostle expresses it, “brought into the world His first-begotten” (Hebrews i. 6), the prototype of creation. The first to adore the New-born King were not men, but the Angels, as the same Apostle assures us. The Royal Prophet had foretold that it would be so (Psalms xcvi. 7). And was it not just? These blessed Spirits had preceded us in their longings, not indeed of a Redeemer — for they had never sinned — but of a Mediator, who was to be the link of their closer union with infinite Beauty — the object of their eternal delight — in a word, the realization of the want there seemed to be even in Heaven, that is, of Jesus’ taking and filling up the place destined for Him.

Then was accomplished that act of adoration of the Man-God, which was demanded of the Angels at the first moment of their creation and which, according to its being complied with or refused, decided the eternal lot of those noble creatures. With what love did not the faithful Angels adore this Jesus, the Word made Flesh, when they beheld Him in His Mother’s arms at Bethlehem? With what transport of joy did they not announce to the shepherds, and to us through them, the Glad Tidings of the Birth of our common King. As long as He lived on this Earth and submitted to every humiliation and suffering in order to redeem us from sin and make us worthy to become His Members, the Blessed Spirits ceased not to contemplate and adore Him. The Ascension came and, from that day forward, it is on the throne prepared at the Father’s right hand that they behold and adore their Lord and King. At the solemn moment of Jesus’ Ascension, a strange joy was felt in each choir of the heavenly hierarchy, from the burning Seraphim to the Angels who are nearest to our own human nature. The actual possession of a good, whose very expectation had filled them with delight, produced an additional happiness in those already infinitely happy Spirits. They fixed their enraptured gaze on Jesus’ beauty, and were lost in astonishment at seeing how Flesh could so reflect the plenitude of grace that dwelt in that Human Nature as to outshine their own brightness. And now, by looking on this nature (which, though inferior to their own, is divinised by its union with the Eternal Word), they see into further depths of the uncreated Sea of Light. Their love is more burning, their zeal is more impetuous, their hymns are more angelic. For, as the Church says of them, the Angels and Archangels, the Powers and Dominations, the Cherubim and Seraphim, praise the majesty of the Father through His Son, Jesus Christ: per quem majestatem tuam laudant Angeli.

Add to this the joy these heavenly Spirits must have experienced at seeing the immense multitude that accompanied Jesus from Earth to Heaven. According to their respective merits, they were divided among the various choirs, and placed on thrones left vacant by the fallen angels. Their bodies are not yet united to their souls but, is not their flesh already glorified in that of Jesus? When the time fixed for the general Resurrection comes, the trumpet of the great Archangel will be heard (1 Thessalonians iv. 15), and then these happy souls will again put on their ancient vesture, the mortal made immortal. Then will the holy Angels, with fraternal enthusiasm, recognise in Adam’s features a likeness of Jesus, and in those of Eve a likeness of Mary, and the resemblance will even be greater than it was when our First Parents were innocent and happy in the Garden of Eden.

Come quickly, glorious day on which the bright mystery of the Ascension is to receive its final completion, and the two choirs of Angels and men are to be made one in love and praise under the one head, Christ Jesus!

12 MAY – SAINTS NEREUS AND ACHILLEUS (Martyrs) AND FLAVIA DOMITILLA (Virgin and Martyr)

The brothers Nereus and Achilleus served Flavia Domitilla, a niece of Flavius Clemens and member of the imperial family of the Domitii. Nereus and Achilleus were baptised, together with Flavia and her mother Plautilla, by Saint Peter. They persuaded Domitilla to consecrate her virginity to God in consequence of which they were accused of being Christians. After confessing their faith they were banished to the island of Pontia. There they were condemned to be flogged after refusing to renounce their religion. Shortly afterwards they were taken to Terracina and hoisted on the rack and tormented with burning torches. Upon declaring that, having been baptised by the Apostle Peter no tortures could enduce they to sacrifice to idols, they were beheaded. Their bodies were taken to Rome by their disciple Auspicius who was Domitilla’s tutor, and were buried on the Via Ardeatina.

Flavia Domitilla received the veil of virginity from Pope Saint Clement. Accused of being a Christian by her betrothed Aurelian who was a a son of the consul Titus Aurelius, Domitian banished her to the island of Pontia where she suffered a long martyrdom in prison. After being taken to Terracina, she again confessed her faith and refused to be shaken from it, for which the judge ordered that the house where she lived be set on fire. Flavia completed her martyrdom together with her virgin foster sisters Theodora and Euphrosyna on the ninth of the nones of May (May 7th) during the reign of Trajan. Their bodies were found entire and were buried by the deacon Caesarius. On this day, the 12th of May, the relics of Nereus, Achilleus and Flavia were translated to the Basilica called the Fasciola, on the Via Appia.

Dom Prosper Gueranger:

So far in our Paschal Season the choir of Martyr-Virgins has not yet offered to Jesus its crown of roses and lilies. It does so today by presenting to Him the noble Flavia Domitilla — the fairest flower of Rome, that was cut down by the sword of martyrdom in the first age of the Christian Faith. It was under the persecution of Domitian — the same that condemned John the Evangelist to be burned alive in the caldron of boiling oil — that Flavia Domitilla was honoured with banishment and death for the sake of our Redeemer whom she had chosen as her Spouse. She was of the Imperial family, being a niece of Flavins Clemens who adorned the consular dignity by martyrdom. She was one of the Christians belonging to the court of the Emperor Domitian, who show us how rapidly the religion of the poor and humble made its way to the highest classes of Roman life. A few years previous to this, Saint Paul sent to the Christians of Philippi the greetings of the Christians of Nero’s palace (Philippians iv. 22). There is still extant, not far from Rome, on the Via Ardeatina, the magnificent subterraneous Cemetery which Flavia Domitilla ordered to be dug on her Praedium, and in which were buried the two martyrs, Nereus and Achilleus, whom the Church honours today together with the noble virgin who owes her crown to them.

Nereus and Achilleus were in Domitilla’s service. Hearing them one day speaking on the merit of virginity, she there and then bade farewell to all worldly pleasures, and aspired to the honour of being the Spouse of Christ. She received the veil of consecrated virgins from the hands of Pope Saint Clement: Nereus and Achilleus had been baptised by Saint Peter himself. What glorious reminiscences for one day! The bodies of these three saints reposed for several centuries in the Basilica called the Fasciola on the Via Appia, and we have a Homily which Saint Gregory the Great preached in this Church, on their Feast. The holy Pontiff dwelt on the vanity of this Earth’s good. He encouraged his audience to despise them by the example of the three martyrs whose relics lay under the very altar around which they were that day assembled. “These saints” said he, “before whose tomb we are now standing, trampled, with contempt of soul, on the world and its flowers. Life was then long, health was uninterrupted, riches were abundant, parents were blessed with many children. And yet, though the world was so flourishing in itself, it had long been a withered thing in their hearts.”

Later on, the Fasciola having been almost reduced to ruins by the disasters that had befallen Rome, the bodies of the three saints were translated in the thirteenth century to the Church of Saint Adrian in the Forum. There they remained till the close of the sixteenth century, when the great Baronius who had been raised to the Cardinalate with the Title of Saints Nereus and Achilleus, resolved to repair the church that was thus entrusted to his care. Through his munificence the naves were restored, the history of the three martyrs was painted on the walls, the marble pulpit, from which Saint Gregory preached the Homily was brought back, the Homily itself was graven from beginning to end on the back, and the Confession was enriched with mosaics and precious marbles, preparatory to its receiving the sacred relics of which it had been deprived for three hundred years.

Baronius felt that it was high time to put an end to the long exile of the holy martyrs whose honour was now made so specially dear to him. He organised a formal triumph for their return. Christian Rome excels in the art of blending together the forms of classic antiquity and the sentiments inspired by Faith. The chariot, bearing a superb canopy, under which lay the relics of the three martyrs, was first led to the Capitol. On reaching the top of the clivus Capitolinus the eye met two Inscriptions placed parallel with each other. On one, were these words: “To Saint Flavia Domitilla, Virgin and Martyr of Rome, the Capitol, purified from the wicked worship of demons, and restored more perfectly than by Flavius Vespasian and Domitian, Emperors, kinsmen of the Christian Virgin.” On the other: “The Senate and People of Rome to Saint Flavia Domitilla, Virgin and Martyr of Rome, who, by allowing herself to be put to death by fire for the Faith of Christ, brought greater glory to Rome, than did her kinsmen, the Emperors Flavius Vespasian and Domitian, when, at their own expense, they restored the Capitol, that had twice suffered from fire.”

The reliquaries of the martyrs were then put on an altar that had been erected near the equestrian statue of Marcus Aurelius. After being venerated by the faithful, they were replaced on the chariot which descended by the opposite side of the Capitol. The procession soon reached the triumphal arch of Septimus Severus, on which were hung these two inscriptions: “To the holy Martyrs, Flavia Domitilla, Nereus and Achilleus, the best of citizens, the Senate and People of Rome, for their having honoured the Roman name by their glorious death, and won peace for the Roman commonwealth by shedding their blood.” “To Flavia Domitilla, Nereus and Achilleus, the invincible Martyrs of Christ Jesus, the Senate and People of Rome, for their having honoured the City by the noble testimony they bore to the Christian Faith.”

Following the Via Sacra, the procession was soon in front of the triumphal Arch of Titus, the monument of God’s victory over the deicide nation. On one side there were inscribed these words: “This triumphal Arch, formerly dedicated and raised to the Emperor Titus Flavius Vespasian, for his having brought the rebellious Judea under the yoke of the Roman people, is now, by the Senate and People of Rome, more auspiciously dedicated and consecrated to Flavia Domitilla, kinswoman of the same Titus, for having, by her death, increased and furthered the Christian Religion.” On the other side of the Arch, there was the following inscription: “To Flavia Domitilla, Virgin and Martyr of Rome, kinswoman of the Emperor Titus Flavius Vespasian, the Senate and People of Rome, for her having, by the shedding her blood and laying down her life for the Faith, rendered a more glorious homage to the death of Christ, than did the said Titus, when, by a divine inspiration, he destroyed Jerusalem, to avenge that same Death.”

Leaving on the left the Colosseum — the hallowed ground on which so many martyrs had fought the battle of Faith — they passed under the triumphal Arch of Constantine, which so eloquently speaks of the victory of Christianity, both in Rome and the Empire, and which still bears on it the name of the Flavia family, of which the first Christian Emperor was a member. The two following inscriptions were attached to the Arch. “To Flavia Domitilla, Nereus and Achilleus, the Senate and People of Rome. On this Sacred Way — on which so many Roman Emperors received triumphal honours for having brought various provinces into subjection to the Roman People — these Martyrs are receiving today a more glorious triumph, for that they conquered, by a greater courage, the conquerors themselves.” “To Flavia Domitilla, the Senate and People of Rome. Twelve Emperors, her kinsmen, conferred honour on the Flavia family and on Rome herself, by their deeds of fame; but she, by sacrificing all human honours and life itself, for Christ’s sake, rendered greater service to both family and City than they.”

The procession then continued its route along the Via Appia and at length reached the Basilica. Baronius, assisted by a great number of Cardinals, received the precious relics and took them with great respect to the Confession of the High Altar. Meanwhile, the Choir sang this Antiphon of the Pontifical” “Come in, ye Saints of God! for a dwelling has been prepared for you by the Lord. The faithful people have followed you on your way, that ye may intercede for them with the Majesty of the Lord. Alleluia!”

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How grand was the triumph which Rome gave to you, O holy martyrs, so many centuries after your glorious deaths! How true it is that there is no glory here on Earth which can bear comparison with that of the saints! Where are now those twelve Emperors, your kinsmen, O Domitilla? Who cares about their remains? Who even cherishes their memory? One of them was surnamed “the delight of mankind,” and now how many are there who never heard of his existence? Another, the last of the twelve, had the glory of proclaiming the victory won by the Cross, over the Roman Empire. Christian Rome honours and loves his name, but the homage of religious devotion is not given to him, but to you, O Domitilla, and to the two martyrs whose names are now associated with yours.

Who does not recognise the power of Jesus’ Resurrection, in the love and enthusiasm with which with a whole people welcome your holy relics, Martyrs of the Living God? [Seventeen] hundred years had elapsed, and yet your lifeless remains were greeted with a transport of joy as though you yourselves were there and living. It was because we Christians know that Jesus, who is the first-born of the dead, has risen from the grave and that you, also, are one day to rise glorious like Him. Therefore do the faithful honour, by anticipation, the immortality which, at a future period is to be given to your bodies, slain as they were for Jesus’ sake. They already see, by faith, the future brightness which is to be imparted to your flesh and, in all this, they are proclaiming the dignity which the Redemption has given to man, to whom death is now but a transition to true life, and the tomb but a resting place where the body is consigned, as seed to the earth, to be restored in a hundred-fold of richer beauty.

Happy they, who, as the prophecy says, have washed their robes, and have made them white in the Blood of the Lamb! But happier they, says holy Church, who, after being thus purified, have mingled their own blood with that of the Divine Victim, for, by so doing, they have filled up in their flesh those things that are wanting of the sufferings of Christ. Hence, their intercession is powerful and we should address our prayers to them with love and confidence. Befriend us, then, O holy martyrs Nereus, Achilleus and Domitilla! Obtain for us an ardent love for our Risen Jesus,perseverance in the new life that He has gained for us, detachment from the things of this world, and a determined resolution to trample them beneath our feet, should they become a danger to our eternal salvation. Pray for us that we may be courageous in resisting our spiritual enemies, ever ready to defend our holy faith, and earnest in our endeavours to gain that kingdom, which is to be borne away by violence. Be you the Defenders of the holy Roman Church, which fervently celebrates your memory each year.

12 MAY – SAINT PANCRAS (Martyr)

 

Pancras was born in Phrygia of a noble family. When only 14 years old he went to Rome during the reign of the emperors Dioclesian and Maximian. He there received Baptism from the Roman Pontiff, and was instructed in the Christian Faith. Shortly afterwards he was seized as being a Christian, but on his firmly refusing to offer sacrifice to the gods, he was condemned to be beheaded. He suffered death with manly courage and obtained the glorious crown of martyrdom. During the night the matron Octavilla took away his body and had it buried, after embalming it, on the Via Aurelia.

Dom Prosper Guéranger:

A fourth martyr claims our veneration on this twelfth day of May. Like the three others, he culled his palm at Rome. But while they died for the Faith at the very commencement of the Christian Era, Pancras (Pancratius) was not called to the glorious combat till the Persecution under Diocletian, the last and greatest effort of pagan Rome against the Church. Our young hero was only fourteen years of age but he was old enough to be a brave martyr, and he has been honoured by his name being placed on the Cycle of Paschal Time. The venerable Church in the Holy City which is dedicated to him, and which gives one of the Cardinalate Titles, was built on the site of the Cemetery where his body was buried.

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Divine Grace, which called you to the crown of martyrdom, selected you, O Pancras, from the distant land of Phrygia, and led you to the Capital of the Empire — the centre of every vice and every error of paganism. Your name, like that of millions of others who were better known to the world, had else been quite forgotten. But now, though your earthly career was soon ended, the name of Pancras is loved and venerated throughout the whole Earth: it is breathed at the altar in the prayers which accompany the Sacrifice of the Lamb. How came you, dear youthful martyr, by this celebrity which will last to the end of the world? It was because having imitated Jesus’ Death by suffering and shedding your blood for His Name, you have been made a sharer in the glory of His immortality. In return for the honour we pay you, deign to aid us by your protection. Speak of us to Jesus who is our Divine Master, as he was yours. In this valley of our exile, we sing our Alleluia for His Resurrection which has filled us with hope. Obtain for us, by your prayers, that we may sing Alleluia with you in Heaven where it will be eternal, and be prompted not by the gladness of hope, but by the bliss of possession.

Also on this day according to the ROMAN MARTYROLOGY:

Also at Rome, St. Denis, uncle of the same blessed Pancratius.

In Sicily, St. Philip Argyrio who was sent to that island by the Roman Pontiff and converted to Christ a great portion of it. His sanctity is particularly manifested by the deliverance of possessed persons.

At Salamis in Cyprus, St. Epiphanius, a bishop of great erudition and profound knowledge of the holy Scriptures. He was also admirable for the sanctity of his life, his zeal for the Catholic faith, his charity to the poor and the gift of miracles.

At Constantinople, St. Germanus, a bishop distinguished by virtues and learning, who with great courage reprehended Leo the Isaurian for promulgating an edict against holy images.

At Treves, St. Modoaldus, bishop.

At Calzada, St. Dominic, confessor.

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

Thanks be to God.