12 MARCH – SAINT GREGORY THE GREAT (Pope and Doctor of the Church)

 

Gregory the Great, a Roman by birth, was son of the Senator Gordian. He applied early to the study of philosophy and was entrusted with the office of Praetor. After his father’s death he built six monasteries in Sicily, and a seventh, under the title of Saint Andrew, in his own house in Rome near the Basilica of Saints John and Paul, on the hill Scaurus. In this last named monastery he embraced the monastic life under the guidance of Hilarion and Maximian and was, later on, elected Abbot. Shortly afterwards he was created Cardinal-Deacon, and was sent by Pope Pelagius to Constantinople as Legate to confer with the Emperor Constantine. While there he achieved that celebrated victory over the Patriarch Eutychius who had written against the resurrection of the flesh, maintaining that it would not be a real one. Gregory so convinced him of his error that the Emperor threw his book into the fire. Eutychius himself fell ill not long after, and when he perceived his last hour had come, he took between his fingers the skin of his hand, and said before the many who were there: “I believe that we will all rise in this flesh.”

On his return to Rome, Gregory was chosen Pope by unanimous consent, for Pelagius had been carried off by the plague. He refused, as long as it was possible, the honour thus offered him. He disguised himself and hid himself in a cave, but he was discovered by a pillar of fire shining over the place, and was consecrated at Saint Peter’s. As Pontiff he was an example to his successors by his learning and holiness of life. He every day admitted pilgrims to his table, among whom he received, on one occasion, an Angel and, on another, the Lord of Angels, who wore the garb of a pilgrim. He charitably provided for the poor, both in and out of Rome, and kept a list of them. He re-established the Catholic faith in several places where it had fallen into decay. Thus, he put down the Donatists in Africa, and the Arians in Spain, and drove the Agnoites out of Alexandria. Gregory refused to give the pallium to Syagrius, Bishop of Autun, until he should have expelled the Neophyte heretics from Gaul. He induced the Goths to abandon the Arian heresy. He sent Augustine and other monks into Britain and, by these learned and saintly men, converted that island to the faith of Christ Jesus, so that Saint Bede called him the “Apostle of England.”

Gregory checked the haughty pretensions of John, the Patriarch of Constantinople who had arrogated to himself the title of “Bishop of the Universal Church.” He obliged the Emperor Mauritius to revoke the decree by which he had forbidden any soldier to become a monk. He enriched the Church with many most holy practices and laws. In a Council held at Saint Peter’s, he passed several decrees. Among these, the following may be mentioned: That in the Mass, the Kyrie eleison should be said nine times; that the Alleluia should always be said, except during the interval between Septuagesima and Easter; that these words should be inserted in the Canon: Diesque nostras in tua pace disponsas (And may you dispose our days in your peace). He increased the number of Processions (Litanies) and Stations, and completed the Office of the Church. He would have the four Councils, of Nicaea, Constantinople, Ephesus and Chalcedon, to be received with the same honour as the four Gospels. He allowed the Bishops of Sicily, who, according to the ancient custom of their Churches, used to visit Rome every three years, to make that visit once every fifth year. He wrote several books, and Peter the Deacon assures us that he frequently saw the Holy Ghost resting on the head of the Pontiff while he was dictating. It is a matter of wonder that with his incessant sickness and ill health he could have said, done, written and decreed as he did.

At length, after performing many miracles, Gregory was called to his reward in Heaven after a pontificate of 13 years, 6 months and 10 days. It was on the fourth of the Ides of March (March 12th), which the Greeks also observe as a great Feast, on account of this Pontiff’s extraordinary learning and virtue. His body was buried in the Basilica of Saint Peter near the Secretarium.

Dom Prosper Guéranger:

Among all the Pastors whom our Lord Jesus Christ has placed as His Vice-regents over the universal Church, there is not one whose merits and renown have surpassed those of the holy Pope whose feast we keep today. His name is Gregory, which signifies watchfulness. His surname is the Great, and he was in possession of that title when God sent the Seventh Gregory, the glorious Hildebrand, to govern His Church.

In recounting the glories of this illustrious Pontiff it is but natural we should begin with his zeal for the Services of the Church. The Roman Liturgy, which owes to him some of its finest Hymns, may be considered as his work, at least in the sense that it was he who collected together and classified the prayers and rites drawn up by his predecessors and reduced them to the form in which we now have them. He collected also the ancient chants of the Church and arranged them in accordance with the rules and requirements of the Divine Service. Hence it is that our sacred music is called the Gregorian Chant, which gives such solemnity to the Liturgy and inspires the soul with respect and devotion during the celebration of the great Mysteries of our Faith.

He is, then, the Apostle of the Liturgy, and this alone would have immortalised his name. But we must look for far greater things from such a Pontiff as Gregory. His name was added to the three who had hitherto been honoured as the great Doctors of the Latin Church. These three were Ambrose, Augustine and Jerome. Who else could be the fourth but Gregory? The Church found in his writings such evidence of his having been guided by the Holy Ghost, such a knowledge of the Sacred Scriptures, such a clear appreciation of the Mysteries of Faith, and such unction and authority in his teachings, that she gladly welcomed him as a new guide for her children.

Such was the respect with which everything he wrote was treated, that his very Letters were preserved as so many precious treasures. This immense correspondence shows us that there was not a country, scarcely even a city, of the Christian world, on which the Pontiff had not his watchful eye steadily fixed: that there was not a question, however local or personal, which, if it interested religion, did not excite his zeal and arbitration as the Bishop of the universal Church. If certain writers of modern times had but taken the pains to glance at these Letters written by a Pope of the sixth century, they would never have asserted, as they have done, that the prerogatives of the Roman Pontiff are based on documents fabricated, as they say, two hundred years after the death of Gregory.

Throned on the Apostolic See, our Saint proved himself to be a rightful heir of the Apostles, not only as the representative and depository of their authority, but as a fellow-sharer in their mission of calling nations to the true faith. To whom does England owe her having been, for so many ages, the Island of Saints? To Gregory who, touched with compassion for those Angli of whom, as he playfully said, he would fain make Angeli, sent to their island the monk Augustine with forty companions, all of them, as was Gregory himself, children of Saint Benedict. The faith had been sown in this land as early as the second century, but it had been trodden down by the invasion of an infidel race. This time the seed fructified, and so rapidly that Gregory lived to see a plentiful harvest. It is beautiful to hear the aged Pontiff speaking with enthusiasm about the results of his English mission. He thus speaks in the twenty-seventh Book of his Morals: “Lo! the language of Britain, which could once mutter nothing save barbarous sounds, has long since begun to sing, in the divine praises, the Hebrew Alleluia! Lo! That swelling sea is now calm and saints walk on its waves. The tide of barbarians which the sword of earthly princes could not keep back, is now hemmed in at the simple bidding of God’s priests.”

During the fourteen years that this holy Pope held the place of Peter he was the object of the admiration of the Christian world, both in the East and West. His profound learning, his talent for administration, his position — all tended to make him beloved and respected. But who could describe the virtues of his great soul? — that contempt for the world and its riches which led him to seek obscurity in the cloister; that humility which made him flee the honours of the Papacy and hide himself in a cave where, at length, he was miraculously discovered and God Himself put into his hands the Keys of Heaven, which he was evidently worthy to hold because he feared the responsibility; that zeal for the whole flock of which he considered himself not the master, but the servant, so much so indeed that he assumed the title, which the Popes have ever since retained, of Servant of the Servants of God; that charity which took care of the poor throughout the whole world; that ceaseless solicitude which provided for every calamity, whether public or private; that unruffled sweetness of manner which he showed to all around him, in spite of the bodily sufferings which never left him during the whole period of his laborious pontificate; that firmness in defending the deposit of the Faith, and crushing error wherever it showed itself: in a word, that vigilance with regard to discipline which made itself felt for long ages after in the whole Church? All these services and glorious examples of virtue have endeared our Saint to the whole world, and will make his name be blessed by all future generations, even to the end of time.

*****

Father of the Christian people, Vicar of the charity, as well as of the authority, of Christ! O Gregory, vigilant Pastor! The Church which you have so faithfully loved and served turns to you with confidence. You cannot forget the flock which keeps up such an affectionate remembrance of you. Hear the prayer she offers you on this your solemnity. Protect and guide the Pontiff who now holds the place of Peter, as you did. Enlighten and encourage him in the difficulties with which he is beset. Bless the hierarchy of the Pastors which has received from you such magnificent teachings and such admirable examples. Assist it to maintain inviolate the sacred trust of Faith. Bless the efforts it is now making for the restoration of ecclesiastical discipline, without which, all is disorder and confusion. God chose you as the regulator of the Divine Service, the Holy Liturgy. Foster, by your blessing, the zeal which is now rising up among us for those holy traditions of prayer which have been so neglected. Teach us the long-forgotten secret that the best way of praying is to use the prayers of the Church. Unite all Churches in obedience to the Apostolic See, which is the ground and pillar of Faith and the fountain of Spiritual Authority. The terrible schism, which has separated the East from Catholic unity, began to show itself during your Pontificate.

Apostle of England, look down with affection on this island which has now rebelled from Rome and has become the resort of countless false religions. But now, after [five] centuries of apostasy from the true Faith, the hand of God’s mercy is pressing her to conversion. She is your own child in Christ Jesus: will you not aid her return to Him? Will thou not guide her, by your prayers, to come forth out of the darkness which still so thickly clouds her and follow the light which Heaven holds out to her? Oh if England were once more Catholic, who can tell the good she would do? For what country is there that can do grander things for the Propagation of the Faith? Pray for her, then. She may regain her glorious title of Isle of Saints, for she has you for her Apostle!

These are the days of salvation. Lent is upon us. Pray for the faithful who are now entering on their career of penance. Obtain for them compunction of heart, love of prayer and an appreciation of the Liturgy and its Mysteries. The solemn and devout Homilies which you addressed at this Season to the people of Rome are still read to us. May they sink into our hearts and fill them with fear of God’s Justice and hope in His Mercy, for His Justice and Mercy change not to suit the time. We are weak and timid, and this makes us count as harsh the laws of the Church which oblige us to fasting and abstinence. Get us brave hearts, brave with the spirit of mortification. Your holy life is an example to us, and your writings are our instruction. What we still want is to be made true Penitents, and this your intercession must do for us so that we may return, with the joy of a purified conscience, to the divine Alleluia which you have taught us to sing on Earth, and which we hope to chant together with you in Heaven.

Also on this day according to the ROMAN MARTYROLOGY:

At Rome, St. Mamilian, martyr.

At Nicomedia, the passion of the blessed martyr Peter, chamberlain of the emperor Diocletian. For complaining openly of the atrocious torments inflicted on the martyrs, he was, by order of the emperor, first suspended and a long time scourged, then, salt and vinegar being rubbed into his wounds, he was burned on a grate over a slow fire. Thus did he become truly the heir of St. Peter’s name and faith.

In the same city, St. Egdunus, priest, and seven others who were strangled one by one, on successive days, to terrify those who remained.

At Constantinople, St. Theophanes, who gave up great wealth to embrace poverty in the monastic state. By Leo the Armenian he was kept in prison two years for the worship of holy images, then exiled in Samothracia, where, overwhelmed with afflictions, he breathed his last and wrought many miracles.

At Capua, St. Bernard, bishop and confessor.

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

Thanks be to God.

12 MARCH – EMBER WEDNESDAY IN THE FIRST WEEK OF LENT

Dom Prosper Guéranger:

The Fast of today is prescribed by a double law: it is Lent, and it is Ember Wednesday. It is the same with the Friday and Saturday of this week. There are two principal objects for the Ember days of this period of the year: the first is, to offer up to God the Season of Spring, and, by fasting and prayer, to draw down His blessing upon it; the second is, to ask Him to enrich with His choicest graces the Priests and Sacred Ministers who are to receive their Ordination on Saturday. Let us, therefore, have a great respect for these three days; and let those who violate, on them, the laws of Fasting or Abstinence, know that they commit a two-fold sin.

Up to the eleventh century, the Ember Days of Spring were kept in the first week of March; and those of Summer, in the second week of June. It was St. Gregory the Seventh who fixed them as we now have them; that is, the Ember Days of Spring in the first week of Lent, and those of Summer in Whitsun Week.

The Epistle of the Mass for all the Ember Wednesdays consists of two Lessons from Sacred Scripture. Today the Church brings before us the two great types of Lent —Moses and Elias —in order to impress us with an idea of the importance of this Forty Days’ Fast, which Christ Himself solemnly consecrated when He observed it, and thus fulfilled, in His own person, what the Law and the Prophets had but prefigured.

First Lesson – Exodus xxiv. 12‒18

In those days, the Lord said to Moses: “Come up to me into the mount, and be there; and I will give you tables of stone, and the law, and the commandments which I have written, that you may teach them.” Moses rose up, and his minister Joshua; and Moses going up into the mount of God, said to the ancients: “Wait here till we return to you, you have Aaron and Hur with you: if any question will arise, you will refer it to them.” And when Moses was gone up, a cloud covered the mount. And the glory of the Lord dwelt upon Sinai, covering it with a cloud six days, and the seventh day He called him out of the midst of the cloud. And the sight of the glory of the Lord, was like a burning fire upon the top of the Mount, in the eyes of the children of Israel. And Moses entering into the midst of the cloud, went up into the mountain; and he was there forty days and forty nights.

Second Lesson – 3 Kings xix. 3‒8

In those days, Elias came into Bersabee of Judah, and left his servant there. And he went forward one day’s journey into the desert. And when he was there, and sat under a juniper tree, he requested for his soul that he might die, and said: “It is enough for me, Lord: take away my soul, for I am no better than my fathers.” And he cast himself down, and slept in the shadow of the juniper tree; and behold an Angel of the Lord touched him, and said to him: “Arise and eat.” And he looked, and behold there was at his head a hearth-cake and a vessel of water; and he ate and drank, and he fell asleep again. And the Angel of the Lord came again the second time, and touched him, and said to him: “Arise, eat; for you have yet a great way to go.” And he arose, and ate, and drank, and walked in the strength of that food forty days and forty nights, to Horeb, the mount of God.

Thanks be to God.

Dom Prosper Guéranger:

Moses and Elias fast for forty days and forty nights, because God bids them come near to Him. Man must purify himself, he must unburden himself, in some measure at least, of the body which weighs him down, if he would enter into communication with Him who is the Spirit. And yet the vision of God, granted to these two holy personages, was very imperfect: they felt that God was near them, but they beheld not His glory. But, when the fullness of time came, (Galatians iv. 4) God manifested Himself in the flesh; and man saw, and heard, and touched him (1 John i. 1) We indeed, are not of the number of those favoured ones who lived with Jesus, the Word of Life; but in the Holy Eucharist He allows us to do more than see Him: He enters into our breasts, He is our Food. The humblest member of the Church possesses God more fully than either Moses on Sinai, or Elias on Horeb. We cannot, therefore, be surprised that the Church — in order to fit us for this favour, at the Easter Solemnity — bids us go through a preparation of Forty Days, though its severity is not to be compared with the rigid fast which Moses and Elias had to observe, as the condition of their receiving what God promised them.

Gospel – Matthew xii. 38‒50

At that time, some of the scribes and Pharisees answered Him, saying: “Master we would see a sign from you.” Who answering said to them: “An evil and adulterous generation seeks a sign: and a will shall not be given it, but the sign of Jonas the prophet. For as Jonas was in the whale’s belly three days and three nights: so will the Son of man be in the heart of the earth three days and three nights. The men of Niniveh will rise in judgement with this generation, and will condemn it: because they did penance at the preaching of Jonas. And behold a greater than Jonas here. The queen of the south will rise in judgement with this generation, and will condemn it: because she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon, and behold a greater than Solomon here. And when an unclean spirit is gone out of a man he walks through dry places seeking rest, and finds none. Then he says: ‘I will return into my house from where I came out.’ And coming he finds it empty, swept, and garnished. Then he goes, and takes with him seven other spirits more wicked than himself, and they enter in and dwell there: and the last state of that man is made worse than the first. So will it be also to this wicked generation.” As He was yet speaking to the multitudes, behold His mother and His brethren stood without, seeking to speak to Him. And one said to Him: “Behold your mother and your brethren stand without, seeking you.” But He answering him that told him, said: “Who is my mother, and who are my brethren?” And stretching forth his hand towards His disciples, He said: “Behold my mother and my brethren.” For whoever will do the will of my Father, that is in heaven, he is my brother, and sister, and mother.”

Praise be to you, O Christ.

Dom Prosper Guéranger:

Our Lord forewarns Israel of the chastisements, which its voluntary blindness and hardness of heart will bring upon it. The men of Israel refuse to believe, unless they see signs and prodigies; they have them in abundance, but will not see them. Such are the unbelievers of the present day. They say, they want proofs of the divine origin of the Catholic Religion. What is History, but a tissue of proof? What are the events of the present age, but testimony of the truth? — and yet, they remain incredulous. They have their own views and prejudices, and they intend to keep to them; how, then, can it be wondered at, that they never embrace the true Faith? Infidels, who have not had the like opportunities, will rise in judgement with such a generation and condemn it for its resistance to grace. Let us Catholics remember, that amidst the great religious movement which is now going on, it is our duty to be not only most firm in our faith, but also most zealous in the observance of the Laws of the Church, such, for example, as Lent. The apostolate of example will produce its fruits; and if a mere handful of Christians was, to the Roman Empire, like that leaven of which our Saviour speaks, and which leavened the whole mass — what results may we not expect in a country like our own (which has retained so much catholic practice and doctrine) — if the Catholics themselves were but zealous in the exercise of their duties?

11 MARCH – FERIA OF LENT

On this day according to the ROMAN MARTYROLOGY:

At Carthage, the holy martyrs Heraclius and Zosimus.

At Alexandria, the passion of the Saints Candidus, Piperion and twenty others.

At Laodicea in Syria, during the persecution of Diocletian, the holy martyrs Trophimus and Thalus, who obtained crowns of glory, after undergoing many severe torments.

At Antioch, the commemoration of many holy martyrs, some of whom by order of the emperor Maximian were laid on red-hot gridirons, not to be burned to death, but to suffer a longer time. Others were subjected to different horrible torments and won the palm of martyrdom.

Also the saints Gorgonius and Firmus.

At Cordova, St. Eulogius, a priest, who deserved to be associated with the martyrs of that city from the persecution of the Saracens because in writing of their combats for the faith he had envied their happiness.

At Sardis, the bishop St. Euthymius, who was banished by the Iconoclast emperor Michael for the worship of holy images. He consummated his martyrdom during the reign of Theophilus.

At Jerusalem, the bishop St. Sophronius.

At Milan, St. Benedict, bishop.

In the diocese of Amiens, the abbot St. Firmin.

At Carthage, St. Constantine, confessor.

At Babueum in Campania, St. Peter, confessor, renowned for miracles.

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

Thanks be to God.

11 MARCH – TUESDAY OF THE FIRST WEEK OF LENT

Epistle – Isaias lv. 6‒11

In those days, Isaias the prophet spoke, saying: “Seek ye the Lord while He may be found; call upon Him while He is near. Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unjust man his thoughts; and let him return to the Lord, and He will have mercy on him, and to our God, for he is bountiful, to forgive. For my thoughts are not your thoughts, nor your ways my ways, says the Lord. For as the heavens are exalted above the earth, so are my so are my ways exalted above your ways, and my thoughts above your thoughts. And as the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and return no more there, but soak the earth, and water it, and make it to spring, and give seed to the sower, and bread to the eater: So will my word be, which will go forth from my mouth: it will not return to me void, but it will do whatever I please, and will prosper in the things for which I sent it,” says the Lord Almighty.

Thanks be to God.

Dom Prosper Guéranger:

The Prophet, speaking to us in God’s name, assures us, that, if we sincerely desire our conversion, we will find mercy. The infinite distance which lies between the sovereign holiness of God and the soul that is defiled by sin is no obstacle to the reconciliation between the creature and the Creator. The goodness of God is omnipotent; it can create a clean heart (Psalm l. 12) in him that repents, and, where sin abounded, it can make grace abound more than ever sin abounded (Romans v. 20) The Lord of pardon will come down from Heaven; like plentiful rain on parched land, and that land will yield a rich harvest. But, let the sinner give ear to the rest of the prophecy. Is man at liberty to accept or refuse this word that comes from heaven? May be, for the present, neglect it, in the hope that be will give it a welcome later on, when his life is at its close? No; God says to us by the Prophet: Seek ye the Lord, while He may be found; call on Him, while He is near. We cannot, therefore, find the Lord just when it suits our fickle humour; His nearness to us is not always the same. Let us take heed; God has His times; the time for mercy may be followed by the time for justice. Jonas went through the streets of the proud city, and cried out: Yet forty days, and Niniveh will be destroyed (Jonas iii. 4). Niniveh did not allow the forty days to pass without returning to the Lord; she put on sackcloth and ashes, she fasted, and she was spared. Let us imitate the earnest repentance of this guilty city; let us not set Divine Justice at defiance by refusing to do penance, or by doing it negligently. This Lent is, perhaps, the last God‒s mercy will grant us. If we put off our conversion, God may refuse us another such opportunity. Let us meditate on these words of the Apostle, which repeat the truth told us in today’s Epistle: The earth that drinks in the rain which comes often upon it, and brings forth herbs, meet for them by whom it is tilled, receives blessing from God; but that which brings forth thorns and briers is reprobate, and very near unto a curse, whose end is to be burnt (Hebrews vi. 7, 8).

Gospel – Matthew xxi. 10‒17

At that time: When He was come into Jerusalem, the whole city was moved, saying: “Who is this?” And the people said: “This is Jesus the prophet, from Nazareth of Galilee.” And Jesus went into the temple of God, and cast out all them that sold and bought in the temple, and overthrew the tables of the money-changers, and the chairs of them that sold doves. And He said to them: “It is written, My house shall be called the house of prayer; but you have made it a den of thieves.” And there came to Him the blind and the lame in the temple; and He healed them. And the chief priests and scribes, seeing the wonderful things that He did, and the children crying in the temple, and saying, “Hosanna to the son of David” were moved with indignation. And said to Him: “Hear you what these say?” And Jesus said to them: “Yes, have you never read: Out of the mouth of infants and of sucklings you have perfected praise?”And leaving them, he went out of the city into Bethany, and remained there.

Praise be to you, O Christ.

Dom Prosper Guéranger:

Our Forty Days have scarcely begun, and we find the implacable enemies of Jesus showing their hatred against Him: that hatred will soon work His death. But how is this? Have they not been witnesses of His wonderful works? True, but pride and jealousy have made them lose their senses. These faithless guardians of God’s Temple have seen Jesus exercise His authority in the holy place, and they opened not their lips; they were astonished at what He did, and they feared Him. They did not even protest when He called the Temple His house, for they were awed by His great virtue and superhuman power. But, these first impressions having subsided, their bold impiety returns. They hear the little children greeting our Saviour with Hosanna, and they are indignant. They affect to be shocked at this honour which is paid to the Son of David, who went about everywhere doing good. These doctors of the Law are blinded by passion, and can neither understand the prophecies, nor their fulfilment. It is the verification of the words of Isaias, which we have just been reading in the Epistle: they would not seek the Lord, while He was near them, and now that they are even speaking with Him, they do not recognise Him for their Messiah. Little children know him and bless Him; the sages of Israel see in Him but an enemy of God, and a Blasphemer! Let us, at least, profit by the visit He is now granting us; lest He should treat us, as He did the Chief Priests and Scribes, and leave us. He withdrew His presence from them, He went out of the city, and returned to Bethany, which was near Jerusalem. It was there that Lazarus was living with his two sisters, Martha and Mary Magdalene. Mary, the Mother of Jesus had, also, retired there, awaiting the terrible event. St. Jerome observes here, that the word Bethania signifies the Rouse of Obedience: this, says the holy Doctor, should remind us, that our Saviour withdraws from them who are rebels to His grace, and that he loves to be with them that are obedient. Let us learn the lesson well and, during these days of salvation, let us show, by our obedience to the Church and our submission to the guide of our conscience, that we are thoroughly convinced of this truth — that there is no salvation for us, except in humility and simplicity of heart.

10 MARCH – THE FORTY MARTYRS OF SEBASTE

 

During the reign of the Emperor Licinius, and under the presidency of Agricolaus, the city of Sebaste in Armenia was honoured by being made the scene of the martyrdom of forty soldiers whose faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and patience in bearing tortures were so glorious. After having been frequently confined in a horrid dungeon, shackled with chains, and having had their faces beaten with stones, they were condemned to pass a bitter winter night in the open air, and on a frozen pool, that they might be frozen to death. When there, they united in this prayer: “Forty have we entered on the battle. Let us, O Lord, receive Forty Crowns, and suffer not our number to be broken. The number is an honoured one, for you fasted for forty days, and the divine law was given to the world after the same number of days was observed. Elias, too, sought God by a forty days fast, and was permitted to see Him.” All the guards except one were asleep. He overheard their prayer and saw them encircled with light, and Angels coming down from Heaven like messengers sent by a king, who distributed crowns to thirty-nine of the soldiers. Whereupon, he thus said to himself: “There are forty men. Where is the fortieth crown?” While so pondering, one of the number lost his courage. He could bear the cold no longer and threw himself into a warm bath which had been put near at hand. His saintly companions were exceedingly grieved at this.

But God would not suffer their prayer to be void. The sentinel, astonished at what he had witnessed, went immediately and awoke the guards. Then, taking off his garments, he cried out, with a loud voice that he was a Christian, and associated himself with the Martyrs. No sooner did the governor’s guards perceive that the sentinel had also declared himself to be a Christian, than they approached the Martyrs and, with clubs, broke their legs. All died under this torture except Melitho, who was the youngest of the forty. His mother, who was present, seeing that he was still living after his legs were broken, thus encouraged him: “My son, be patient yet awhile. Lo! Christ is at the door, helping you.” But as soon as she saw the other bodies being placed on carts that they might be thrown on the pile, and her son left behind (for the impious men hoped that if the boy survived, he might be induced to worship the idols) she lifted him up into her arms and, summing up all her strength, ran after the wagons on which the Martyrs’ bodies were being carried. Melithon died in his mother’s arms and the holy woman threw his body on the pile where the other martyrs were, that as he had been so united with them in faith and courage, he might be one with them in burial and go to Heaven in their company. As soon as the bodies were burnt, the pagans threw what remained into a river. The relics miraculously flowed to one and the same place, just as they were when they were taken from the pile. The Christians took them and respectfully buried them.

Dom Prosper Guéranger:

We know the mystery of the number Forty. This tenth of March brings it before us. Forty new advocates! Forty encouraging us to enter bravely on our career of Penance! On the frozen pool which was their field of battle these Martyrs reminded one another that Jesus had fasted for Forty Days, and that they themselves were Forty in number! Let us, in our turn, compare their sufferings with the Lenten exercises which the Church imposes upon us and humble ourselves in seeing our cowardice. Or, if we begin with fervour, let us remember that the grand thing is to be faithful to the end, and bring to the Easter Solemnity the crown of our perseverance. Our Forty Martyrs patiently endured the cruellest tortures. The fear of God, and their deep-rooted conviction that He had an infinite claim to their fidelity, gave them the victory. How many times we have sinned and had not such severe temptations as theirs to palliate our fall? How can we sufficiently bless that Divine Mercy which spared us instead of abandoning us as he did that poor apostate who turned coward and was lost! But on what condition did God spare us? That we should not spare ourselves but do penance. He put into our hands the rights of His own justice. Justice, then, must be satisfied, and we must exercise it against ourselves. The Lives of the Saints will be of great help to us in this, for they will teach us how we are to look upon sin, how to avoid it and how strictly we are bound to do penance for it after having committed it.

*****

Valiant Soldiers of Christ who meet us, with your mysterious number, at this commencement of our Forty Days’ Fast, receive the homage of our devotion. Your memory is venerated throughout the whole Church, and your glory is great in Heaven. Though engaged in the service of an earthly prince, you were the Soldiers of the Eternal King: to Him were you faithful, and from Him did you receive your crown of eternal glory. We, also, are His soldiers. We are fighting for the kingdom of Heaven. Our enemies are many and powerful but, like you, we can conquer them if, like you, we use the arms which God has put in our hands. Faith in God’s word, hope in His assistance, and humility and prudence —with these we are sure of victory. Pray for us, Holy Martyrs, that we may keep from all compromise with our enemies, for our defeat is certain if we try to serve two masters. During these Forty Days we must put our arms in order, repair our lost strength and renew our engagements. Come to our assistance and get us a share in your brave spirit. A crown is also prepared for us: it is to be won on easier terms than yours, and yet we will lose it unless we keep up within us an esteem for our vocation. How many times, in our past lives, have we not forfeited that glorious crown? But God in His mercy has offered it to us again, and we are resolved on winning it. Oh for the glory of our common Lord and Master, make intercession for us.

Also on this day according to the ROMAN MARTYROLOGY:

At Apamea in Phrygia, during the persecution of Marcus Antoninus and Lucius Verus, the birthday of the holy martyrs Caius and Alexander who were crowned with a glorious martyrdom as is related by Apollinaris, bishop of Hierapolis, in his book against the Cataphrygian heretics.

In Persia, the passion of forty-two holy martyrs.

At Corinth, the holy martyrs Codratus, Denis, Cyprian, Anecetus, Paul and Crescens, who were slain with the sword in the persecution of Decius and Valerian under the Governor Jason.

In Africa, the martyr St. Victor, on whose festival St. Augustine delivered a discourse to his people.

At Jerusalem, St. Macarius, bishop and confessor, at whose request the holy places were purified by Constantine and Helena, and beautified with sacred edifices.

At Paris, the decease of the abbot St. Droctoveus, who was a disciple of the blessed bishop Germanus.

In the monastery of Bobio, the abbot St. Attalus, renowned for miracles.

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

Thanks be to God.

10 MARCH – MONDAY OF THE FIRST WEEK OF LENT

Dom Prosper Guéranger:

Each feria of Lent has a proper Mass, whereas in Advent the Mass of the preceding Sunday is repeated during the week. This richness of the Lenten Liturgy is a powerful means for our entering into the Church’s spirit, since she hereby brings before us, under so many forms, the sentiments suited to this holy time.

Epistle – Ezechiel xxxiv. 10‒16

Thus says the Lord God: Behold I myself will seek my sheep, and will visit them. As the shepherd visits his flock in the day when he will be in the midst of his sheep that were scattered; so will I visit my sheep, and will deliver them out of all the places where they have been scattered in the cloudy and dark day. And I will bring them out from the peoples, and will gather them out of the countries, and will bring them to their own land; and I will feed them in the mountains of Israel, by the rivers, and in all the habitations of the land. I will feed them in the most fruitful pastures, and their pastures will be in the high mountains of Israel: there will they rest on the green grass and be fed in fat pastures on the mountains of Israel. I will feed my sheep; and I will cause them to lie down, says the Lord God. I will seek that which was lost, and that which was driven away I will bring again; and I will bind up that which was broken, and I will strengthen that which was weak, and that which was fat and strong I will preserve; and I will feed them in judgement, says the Lord Almighty.

Thanks be to God.

Dom Prosper Guéranger:

Our Lord here shows Himself to us as a Shepherd full of love for His Sheep. Such, indeed, He truly is to men, during this Season of mercy. A portion of His flock had gone astray, and was wandering to and fro amid the darkness of this world; but Jesus did not forget them. He went in search of them, that He might gather them together. He sought them through lonely deserts, and rocky places, and brambles. He now speaks to them through His Church, and invites them to return. He sweetly encourages them, for perhaps they might fear and be ashamed to appear before Him, after so many sins. He promises them, that if they will but return to him, they will be fed on the richest pastures, near the river bank, and on the mountains of Israel. They are covered with wounds, but He will bind them up; they are weak, but He will strengthen them. He will once more give them fellowship with the faithful ones who never left Him, and He Himself will dwell with them for ever. Let the sinner, then, yield to this tender love; let him not refuse to make the efforts required for his conversion. If these efforts of penance seem painful to nature, let him recall to mind those happy days, when he was in grace, and in the fold of his Good Shepherd. He may be so again. The gate of the fold is open; and thousands, who, like himself, had gone astray, are going in with joy and confidence. Let him follow them, and remember how his Jesus has said: There will be joy in heaven upon one sinner that does penance, more than upon ninety-nine who need not penance (Luke xv. 7).

Gospel – Matthew xxv. 31‒46

At that time, Jesus said to His disciples: “When the Son of man will come in His majesty, and all the Angels with Him, then will he sit on the seat of His majesty. And all nations will be gathered together before him, and He will separate them one from another, as the shepherd separates the sheep from the goats; and He will set the sheep on His right hand, but the goats on His left. Then will the King say to them that will be on His right hand: ‘Come, you blessed of my Father, possess the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry, and you gave me to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave me to drink; I was a stranger, and you took me in; naked, and you clothed me; sick, and you visited me: I was in prison, and you came to me.’ Then will the just answer Him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry, and fed you? Thirsty, and gave you drink? And when did we see you a stranger, and took you in? Or naked, and clothed you? Or when did we see you sick or in prison, and came to you?’ And the King answering, will say to them: ‘Amen, I say to you, as long as you have done it to one of these my least brethren, you did it to me.’ Then will He say to them also that will be on His left hand: ‘Depart from, me, you cursed, into everlasting fire, which was prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry, and you gave me not to eat: I was thirsty, and you gave me not to drink. I was a stranger, and you took me not in: naked, and you covered me not: sick and in prison, and you did not visit me.’ Then they also will answer Him, saying: Lord, when did we see you hungry, or thirsty, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not minister to you? Then He will answer them, saying: ‘Amen I say to you, as long as you did it not to one of these least, neither did you do it to me.’ And these will go into everlasting punishment: but the just, into life everlasting.”

Praise be to you, O Christ.

Dom Prosper Guéranger:

We have just been listening to a Prophet of the Old Testament, inviting us to return to the Good Shepherd — Our Lord there put forth every argument, which love could devise, to persuade His lost sheep to return to Him: and here, on the very same day that the Church speaks to us of our God as being a gentle and compassionate Shepherd, she describes Him as an inflexible Judge. This loving Jesus, this charitable Physician of our souls, is seated on his dread tribunal, and cries out in His anger: Depart from me, you cursed, into everlasting fire! And where has the Church found this awful description? In the Gospel, that is, in the very Law of Love.— But, if we read our passage attentively, we will find, that He who pronounces this terrible anathema, is the same God, whom the Prophet has been just portraying as a Shepherd full of mercy, patience, and zeal for His Sheep. Observe how He is still a Shepherd, even on his judgement-seat: He separates the sheep from the goats; He sets the sheep on His right hand, and the goats on His left; the idea, the comparison of a Flock is still kept up. The Son of God will exercise His office of Shepherd even to the Last Day: only, then, time will be at an end, and eternity will have begun; the reign of Justice, too, will have succeeded the reign of Mercy, for it will be Justice, that will reward the good with the promised recompense, and that will punish impenitent sinners with eternal torments. How can the Christian, who believes that we are all to stand before this tribunal, refuse the invitation of the Church, who now presses him to make satisfaction for his sins? How can he hesitate to go through those easy penances, with which the Divine Mercy now deigns to be satisfied? Truly, man is his own worst enemy, if he can disregard these words of Jesus, who now is his Saviour, and then will be his Judge: Unless you do penance, you will all perish.

9 MARCH – SAINT FRANCES OF ROME (Widow)

 

Frances, a noble lady of Rome, led a most virtuous life even in her earliest years. She despised all childish amusements and worldly pleasures, her only delight being solitude and prayer. When eleven years old she resolved on consecrating her virginity to God and seeking admission into a monastery. But she humbly yielded to the wishes of her parents and married a young and rich nobleman, Lorenzo Ponziani. As far as it was possible, she observed in the married state the austerities of the most perfect life to which she had aspired. She carefully shunned theatrical entertainments, banquets and other such amusements. Her dress was of serge and extremely plain. Whatever time remained after she had fulfilled her domestic duties was spent in prayer and works of charity. But her zeal was mainly exercised in endeavouring to persuade the ladies of Rome to shun the world, and vanity in dress. It was with a view to this that she founded, during her husband’s lite, the House of Oblates of the Congregation of Monte-Oliveto under the Rule of Saint Benedict. She bore her husband’s banishment, the loss of all her goods and the trouble which befell her whole family, not only with heroic patience, but was frequently heard to give thanks, saying with holy Job: “The Lord has given, and the Lord has taken away: blessed be the name of the Lord!”

At the death of her husband, Frances fled to her House of Oblates and there, barefooted, with a rope tied round her neck and prostrate on the ground, she humbly and with many tears begged admission. Her petition being granted, she, though mother of the whole community, gloried in calling herself everyone’s servant and a worthless woman, and a vessel of dishonour. She evinced the contempt she had for herself by her conduct, as well as by her expressions. Thus, when returning from a vineyard in the suburbs, she would go through the city, sometimes carrying faggots on her head, sometimes driving an ass laden with them. She looked after, and bestowed abundant alms upon the poor. She visited the sick in the hospitals and consoled them not only with corporal food, but with spiritual advice. She was untiring in her endeavours to bring her body into subjection, by watchings, fasting, wearing a hair-shirt and an iron girdle, and by frequent disciplines. Her food, which she took but once in the day, consisted of herbs and pulse, and her only drink was water. But she would somewhat relent in these corporal austerities as often as she was requested to do so by her confessor, whom she obeyed with the utmost exactitude.

Her contemplation of the divine mysteries, and especially of the Passion, was made with such intense fervour and abundance of tears that she seemed as though she would die with grief. Frequently, too, when she was praying, and above all after Holy Communion, she would remain motionless with her soul fixed on God and rapt in heavenly contemplation. The enemy of mankind seeing this, endeavoured to frighten her out of so holy a life by insults and blows, but she feared him not, invariably baffled his attempts and, by the assistance of her Angel Guardian whose visible presence was granted to her, she gained a glorious victory. God favoured her with the gift of healing the sick, as also with that of prophecy, by which she foretold future events and could read the secrets of hearts. More than once, when she was intent on prayer, either in the bed of a torrent or during a storm of rain, she was not touched by the water. On one occasion when all the bread they had was scarcely enough to provide a meal for three of the sisters, she besought our Lord, and He multiplied the bread so that after fifteen persons had eaten as much as they needed, there was sufficient left to fill a basket. At another time, when the sisters were gathering wood outside the city walls in January, she amply quenched their thirst by offering them bunches of fresh grapes which she plucked from a vine, and which she had miraculously obtained.

Her virtues and miracles procured for her the greatest veneration from all. Our Lord called her to Himself in the fifty-sixth year of her age, and she was canonised by Pope Paul V.

Dom Prosper Guéranger:

The period intervening between the Purification of our Blessed Lady and Ash Wednesday (when it occurs at its latest date), gives us thirty-six days. And these offer us a Feast of every order of Saint. The Apostles have given us Saint Matthias and Saint Peter’s Chair. The Martyrs have sent us, from their countless choir, Simeon, Blase, Valentine, Faustinus and Jovita, Perpetua and Felicitas, and the Forty Soldiers of Sebaste, whose Feast is kept tomorrow. The holy Pontiffs have been represented by Andrew Corsini and Peter Damian who, together with Thomas Aquinas, is one of the Doctors of the Church. The Confessors have produced Romuald of Camaldoli, John of Matha, John of God and the angelic prince Casimir. The Virgins have gladdened us with the presence of Agatha, Dorothy, Apollonia and Scholastica, three wreathed with the red roses of martyrdom, and the fourth with her fair lilies of the enclosed garden (Canticles iv. 12) of her Spouse. And lastly, we have had a Penitent-Saint, Margherita of Cortona. The state of Christian marriage is the only one that has not yet deputed a Saint during this season which is the least rich in Feasts of the whole year. The deficiency is supplied today by the admirable Frances of Rome.

Having for forty years led a most saintly life in the married state upon which she entered when but twelve years of age, Frances retired from the world where she had endured every sort of tribulation. But she had given her heart to her God long before she withdrew to the cloister. Her whole life had been spent in the exercise of the highest Christian perfection, and she had ever received from our Lord the sublimest spiritual favours. Her amiable disposition had won for her the love and admiration of her husband and children: the rich venerated her as their model, the poor respected her as their devoted benefactress and mother. God recompensed her angelic virtues by these two special graces: the almost uninterrupted sight of her Guardian Angel, and the receiving most sublime revelations. But there is one trait of her life which is particularly striking and reminds us forcibly of Saint Elizabeth of Hungary, and of Saint Jane Frances Chantal: her austere practices of penance. Such an innocent, and yet such a mortified life, is full of instruction for us. How can we think of murmuring against the obligation of mortification when we find a saint like this practising it during her whole life? True, we are not bound to imitate her in the manner of her penance, but penance we must do if we would confidently approach that God who readily pardons the sinner when he repents, but whose justice requires atonement and satisfaction.

*****

O Frances, sublime model of every virtue! You were the glory of Christian Rome and the ornament of your sex. How insignificant are the pagan heroines of old compared with you! Your fidelity to the duties of your state, and all your saintly actions, had God for their one single end and motive. The world looked on you with amazement as though Heaven had lent one of its Angels to this Earth. Humility and penance put such energy into your soul that every trial was met and mastered. Your love for those whom God Himself had given you, your calm resignation and interior joy under tribulation, your simple and generous charity to every neighbour — all was evidence of God’s dwelling within your soul. Your seeing and conversing with your Angel Guardian and the wonderful revelations granted you of the secrets of the other world — how much these favours tell us of your merits? Nature suspended her laws at your bidding. She was subservient to you as to one that was already face to face with the Sovereign Master, and had the power to command. We admire these privileges and gifts granted you by our Lord and now beseech you to have pity on us who are so far from being in that path in which you so perseveringly walked. Pray for us that we may be Christians, practically and earnestly; that we may cease to love the world and its vanities; that we may courageously take up the yoke of our Lord and do penance; that we may give up our pride; that we may be patient and firm under temptation. Such was your influence with our Heavenly Father that you had but to pray, and a vine produced the richest clusters of fruit, even in the midst of winter. Our Jesus calls Himself the True Vine. Ask Him to give us of the wine of His divine love which His Cross has so richly prepared for us. When we remember how frequently you asked Him to let you suffer and accept your sufferings for poor sinners, we feel encouraged to ask you to offer your merits to Him for us. Pray, too, for Rome, your native city, that her people may be staunch to the faith, edifying by holiness of life, and loyal to the Church. May your powerful intercession bring blessings on the Faithful throughout the world, add to their number, and make them fervent as were our fathers of old.

Also on this day according to the ROMAN MARTYROLOGY:

At Sebaste in Armenia, under the governor Agricolaus in the time of the emperor Licinius, the birthday of forty holy soldiers of Cappadocia. After being loaded with chains and confined in foul dungeons, after having their faces bruised with stones, and being condemned to spend the night naked during the coldest part of winter on a frozen lake, where their bodies were benumbed and laid open by the frost, they ended their martyrdom by having their limbs crushed. The noblest of them were Cyrion and Candidus. Their glorious triumph has been celebrated by St. Basil and other Fathers in their writings. Their feast is kept on the tenth of this month.

At Nyssa, the demise of St. Gregory, bishop, brother of blessed Basil the Great, whose life and erudition have rendered him illustrious. He was expelled from his own city for having defended the Catholic faith during the reign of the Arian emperor Valens.

At Barcelona in Spain, the bishop St. Pacian, distinguished by his life and preaching. He ended his career in extreme old age in the time of the emperor Theodosius.

In Moravia, the saintly bishops Cyril and Methodius, who brought to the faith of Christ many nations in those regions with their kings. Pope Leo XIII prescribed that their feast should be celebrated on the seventh of July.

At Bologna, St. Catherine, virgin, of the Order of St. Clare, illustrious by the holiness of her life. Her body is greatly honoured in that city.

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

Thanks be to God.

9 MARCH – FIRST SUNDAY OF LENT

Dom Prosper Guéranger:

This Sunday, the first of the six which come during Lent, is one of the most solemn throughout the year. It has the same privilege as Passion and Palm Sundays ― that is, it never gives place to any Feast, not even to that of the Patron, Titular Saint, or Dedication of the Church. In the ancient Calendars it is called Invocabit from the first word of the Introit of the Mass. In the Middle Ages it was called Brand Sunday because the young people who had misconducted themselves during the carnival, were obliged to show themselves today at the Church with a torch in their hands as a kind of public satisfaction for their riot and excess.

Lent solemnly opens today. We have already noticed, that the four preceding days were added since the time of Saint Gregory the Great, in order to make up Forty days of fasting. Neither can we look on Ash Wednesday as the solemn opening of the Season, for the Faithful are not bound to hear Mass on that day. The Holy Church, seeing her children now assembled together, speaks to them, in her Office of Matins, these eloquent and noble words of Saint Leo the Great:

“Having to announce to you, dearly beloved, the most sacred and chief Fast, how can I more appropriately begin, than with the words of the Apostle, (in whom Christ himself spoke,) and by saying to you what has just been read: Behold! now is the acceptable time; behold! now is the day of salvation. For although there be no time, which is not replete with divine gifts, and we may always, by God’s grace, have access to His mercy — yet ought we all to redouble our efforts to make spiritual progress and be animated with unusual confidence, now that the anniversary of the day of our Redemption is approaching, inviting us to devote ourselves to every good work, that so we may celebrate, with purity of body and mind, the incomparable Mystery of our Lord’s Passion.

It is true, that our devotion and reverence towards so great a Mystery should be kept up during the whole year, and we ourselves be, at all times, in the eyes of God, the same as we are bound to be at the Easter Solemnity. But this is an effort which only few among us have the courage to sustain. The weakness of the flesh induces us to relent our austerities; the various occupations of everyday life take up our thoughts; and thus, even the virtuous find their hearts clogged by this world’s dust. Hence it is that our Lord has most providentially given us these Forty Days, whose holy exercises should be to us a remedy by which to regain our purity of soul. The good works and the holy fastings of this Season were instituted as an atonement and obliteration of the sins we commit during the rest of the Year.

Now, therefore, that we are about to enter on these days, which are so full of mystery and were instituted for the holy purpose of purifying both our soul and body, let us, dearly beloved, be careful to do as the Apostle bids us, and cleanse ourselves from all defilement of the flesh and the spirit: that thus the combat between the two substances being made less fierce, the soul, which, when she herself is subject to God, ought to be the ruler of the body, will recover her own dignity and position. Let us also avoid giving offence to any man, so that there be none to blame or speak evil things of us. For we deserve the harsh remarks of infidels, and we provoke the tongues of the wicked to blaspheme religion, when we, who fast, lead unholy lives. For our Fast does not consist in the mere abstaining from food; nor is it of much use to deny food to our body, unless we restrain the soul from sin.” Saint Leo the Great (Fourth Sermon for Lent)

Epistle – 2 Corinthians vi. 1‒10

Brethren, we exhort you that you receive not the grace of God in vain. For He said, “In an accepted time have I heard you, and in the day of salvation have I helped you.” Behold, now is the acceptable time; behold, now is the day of salvation. Giving no offence to any man, that our ministry be not blamed: but in all things let us exhibit ourselves as the ministers of God: in much patience, in tribulations, in necessities, in distresses, in stripes, in prisons, in seditions, in labours, in watchings, in fastings, in chastity, in knowledge, in long suffering, in sweetness, in the Holy Ghost, in charity unfeigned, in the word of truth, in the power of God: by the armour of justice on the right hand and on the left, by honour and dishonour, by evil report and good report; as deceivers, and yet true; as unknown, and yet known; as dying, and behold we live; as chastised, and not killed; as sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; as needy, yet enriching many; as having nothing, and possessing all things.

Thanks be to God.

Dom Prosper Guéranger:

These words of the Apostle give us a very different idea of the Christian Life from that which our own tepidity suggests. We dare not say that he is wrong, and we right; but we put a strange interpretation on his words, and we tell both ourselves and those around us, that the advice he here gives is not to be taken literally nowadays, and that it was written for those special difficulties of the first age of the Church when the Faithful stood in need of unusual detachment and almost heroism because they were always in danger of persecution and death. The interpretation is full of that discretion which meets with the applause of our cowardice, and it easily persuades us to be at rest, just as though we had no dangers to fear, and no battle to fight; whereas, we have both: for there is the devil, the world, flesh and blood. The Church never forgets it; and hence, at the opening of this great Season, she sends us into the desert, that there we may learn from our Jesus how we are to fight. Let us go; let us learn, from the Temptations of our Divine Master, that the life of man upon earth is a warfare, (Job vii.1) and that, unless our fighting be truceless and brave, our life, which we would fain pass in peace, will witness our defeat. That such a misfortune may not befall us, the Church cries out to us, in the words of St. Paul: Behold! now is the acceptable time. Behold! Now is the day of salvation. Let us, in all thing comport ourselves as the servants of God, and keep our ground unflinchingly to the end of our holy campaign. God is watching over us, as He did over His Beloved Son in the desert.

Gospel – Matthew iv. 1‒11

At that time, Jesus was led by the Spirit into the desert, to be tempted by the devil. And when He had fasted forty days and forty nights, afterwards He was hungry. And the tempter coming, said to Him, “If you are the Son of God command that these stones be made bread.” Who answered and said, “It is written, Not in bread alone does man live; but in every word that proceeds from the mouth Of God.” Then the devil took Him up into the holy city, and set Him upon the pinnacle of the temple, and said to Him, “If you are the Son of God, cast yourself down: for it is written, That He has given His Angels charge over you, and in their hands they will bear you up, lest perhaps you dash your foot against a stone.” Jesus said to him, “It is written again, You must not tempt the Lord your God.” Again the devil took Him up into a very high mountain; and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them; and said to Him, “All these will I give you, if, falling down, you will adore me.” Then Jesus said to him, “Begone, Satan, for it is written, The Lord your God will you adore, and Him only will you serve.” Then the devil left Him; and behold, Angels came, and ministered to Him.

Praise be to you, O Christ.

Dom Prosper Guéranger:

Each Sunday of Lent offers to our consideration a passage from the Gospel, which is in keeping with the sentiments wherewith the Church would have us be filled. Today she brings before us the Temptation of our Lord in the Desert. What light and encouragement there is for us in this instruction!

We acknowledge ourselves to be sinners; we are engaged, at this very time, in doing penance for the sins we have committed; — but, how was it that we fell into sin? The devil tempted us; we did not reject the temptation; then, we yielded to the suggestion, and the sin was committed. This is the history of our past; and such it would, also, be for the future, were we not to profit by the lesson given us, today, by our Redeemer.

When the Apostle speaks of the wonderful mercy shown us by our Divine Saviour, who vouchsafed to make Himself like us in all things, save in sin, he justly lays stress on His temptation (Hebrews iv. 15). He, who was very God, humbled Himself even so low as this, to prove how tenderly He compassionated us. Here, then, we have the Saint of Saints allowing the wicked spirit to approach Him, in order that we might learn, from His example, how we are to gain victory under temptation.

Satan has had his eye on Jesus; he is troubled at beholding such matchless virtue. The wonderful circumstances of His Birth — the Shepherds called by Angels to His Crib, and the Magi guided by the Star; the Infant’s escape from Herod’s plot; the testimony rendered to this new Prophet by John the Baptist — all these things which seem so out of keeping with the thirty years spent in obscurity at Nazareth, are a mystery to the infernal serpent, and fill him with apprehension. The ineffable mystery of the Incarnation has been accomplished unknown to him; he never once suspects that the humble Virgin, Mary, is she who was foretold by the Prophet Isaias, as having to bring forth the Emmanuel (Isias vii. 14) but he is aware that the time is come, that the last Week spoken of to Daniel has begun its course, and that the very Pagans are looking towards Judea for a Deliverer. He is afraid of this Jesus; he resolves to speak with Him, and elicit from Him some expression which will show him whether He be or not the Son of God; he will tempt Him to some imperfection or sin which, should He commit, will prove that the object of so much fear is, after all, but a mortal Man.

The enemy of God and men was, of course, disappointed. He approached Jesus; but all his efforts only turn to his own confusion. Our Redeemer, with all the self-possession and easy majesty of a God-Man, repels the attacks of Satan; but He reveals not his heavenly origin. The wicked spirit retires, without having made any discovery beyond this — that Jesus is a prophet, faithful to God. Later on, when he sees the Son of God treated with contempt, calumniated and persecuted; when he finds, that his own attempts to have Him put to death, are so successful; — his pride and his blindness will be at their height: and not till Jesus expires on the Cross, will he learn, that his victim was not merely Man, but Man and God. Then will he discover, how all his plots against Jesus have but served to manifest, in all their beauty, the Mercy and Justice of God; — His Mercy, because He saved mankind: and His Justice, because He broke the power of Hell forever.

These were the designs of Divine Providence in permitting the wicked spirit to defile, by his presence, the retreat of Jesus, and speak to Him, and lay his hands on Him. But, let us attentively consider the triple temptation in all its circumstances; for our Redeemer only suffered it, in order that He might instruct and encourage us.

We have three enemies to fight against; our soul has three dangers; for, as the Beloved Disciple says: All that is in the world, is the concupiscence of the flesh, and the concupiscence of the eyes, and the pride of life! (1 John ii. 16). By the concupiscence of the flesh, is meant the love of sensual things, which covets whatever is agreeable to the flesh, and, when not curbed, draws the soul into unlawful pleasures. Concupiscence of the eyes expresses the love of the goods of this world, such as riches, and possessions; these dazzle the eye, and then seduce the heart. Pride of life is that confidence in ourselves, which leads us to be vain and presumptuous, and makes us forget that all we have — our life and every good gift, we have from God.

Not one of our sins but what comes from one of these three sources; not one of our temptations but what aims at making us accept the concupiscence of the flesh, or the concupiscence of the eyes, or the pride of life. Our Saviour, then, who would be our model in all things, deigned to subject Himself to these three temptations.

First of all, Satan tempts Him in what regards the flesh — he suggests to Him to satisfy the cravings of hunger by working a miracle and changing the stones into bread. If Jesus consents and show an eagerness in giving this indulgence to His body, the tempter will conclude that He is but a frail mortal, subject to concupiscence like other men. When he tempts us, who have inherited evil concupiscence from Adam, his suggestions go further than this; he endeavours to defile the soul by the body. But the sovereign holiness of the Incarnate Word could never permit Satan to use on Him the power which he has received of tempting man in his outward senses. The lesson, therefore, which the Son of God here gives us, is one of temperance: but we know, that, for us, temperance is the mother of purity, and that intemperance excites our senses to rebel.

The second temptation is to pride; Cast thyself down; the Angels shall bear thee up in their hands. The enemy is anxious to see if the favours of heaven have produced in Jesus’ soul that haughtiness, that ungrateful self-confidence, which makes the creature arrogate God’s gifts to itself, and forget its benefactor. Here, also, he is foiled; our Redeemer’s humility confounds the pride of the rebel angel.

He then makes a last effort: he hopes to gain over by ambition Him who has given such proofs of temperance and humility. He shows Him all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them; and says to Him: All these will I give thee, if falling down, thou wilt adore me. Jesus rejects the wretched offer and drives from Him the seducer, the prince of this world; (John xiv. 30) hereby teaching us, that we must despise the riches of this world, as often as our keeping or getting them is to be on the condition of our violating the law of God and paying homage to Satan.

8 MARCH – SAINT JOHN OF GOD (Confessor)

 

John of God was born of Catholic and virtuous parents in Montemor, Portugal. At his birth a bright light shone on the house and the church bell was heard to ring of itself, God thus evincing to what great things he destined his servant. For some time he fell into a lax way of living but was reclaimed by God’s grace and led a very holy life. His conversion was effected by his hearing a sermon, and so fervently did he practise the exercises of a devout life that from the very first he seemed to have attained the height of perfection. He gave whatever he possessed to the poor who were in prison. Extraordinary were the penances he inflicted on himself, and the contempt he had for himself induced him to do certain things which led some people to accuse him of madness, so that he was for some time confined in a madhouse. His charity only increased by such treatment.

John collected alms sufficient to build two large hospitals in Granada where also he began the new Order with which he enriched the Church. This Order was called the Institute of Friars Hospitallers. Its object was to assist the sick, both in their spiritual and corporal wants. Its success was very great and it had Houses in almost all parts of the world. The Saint often carried the sick poor on his own shoulders to the hospital, and there he provided them with everything they could want, whether in soul or body. His charity was not confined within the limits of his hospitals. He secretly provided food for indigent widows, and girls whose virtue was exposed to danger. Nothing could exceed the zeal with which he laboured to reclaim such as had fallen into sins of impurity. On occasion of an immense fire breaking out in the royal Hospital of Granada, John fearlessly threw himself into the midst of the flames. He went through the several wards, taking the sick upon his shoulders and throwing the beds through the windows, so that all were saved. He remained half an hour amid the flames which raged with wildest fury in every part of the building. He was miraculously preserved from the slightest injury, and came forth to the astonishment of the whole city, teaching the people who had witnessed what had happened that, in the disciples of charity, there is a fire within their hearts more active than any which could burn the body.

Among the virtues in which John wonderfully excelled may be mentioned his many practices of bodily mortification, profound obedience, extreme poverty, love of prayer, contemplation and devotion to the Blessed Virgin. He also possessed, in an extraordinary degree, the gift of tears. At length, falling seriously ill, he fervently received the last Sacraments. Though reduced to a state of utter weakness, he dressed himself, rose from his bed, fell on his knees, devoutly took the Crucifix into his hands, pressed it to his heart, and kissing it, died on the eighth of the Ides of March (March 8th), in 1550. He remained in this same attitude, with the Crucifix still in his hands, for about six hours after his death. The entire city came to see the holy corpse which gave forth a heavenly fragrance. The body was then removed in order that it might be buried. God honoured his servant by many miracles, both before and after his death, and he was canonised by Pope Alexander VIII.

Dom Prosper Guéranger:

This day in the month we were keeping the feast of Saint John of Matha whose characteristic virtue was charity. Our Saint of today was like him. Love for his neighbour led him to devote himself to the service of them that most needed help. Both are examples to us of what is a principal duty of this present Season: they are models of Fraternal Charity. They teach us this great lesson — that our love of God is false if our hearts are not disposed to show mercy to our neighbour, and help him in his necessities and troubles. It is the same lesson as that which the Beloved Disciple gives us when he says: “He that has the substance of this world, and will see his brother in need, and will put up his mercy from him, how does the charity of God abide in him? (1 John iii. 17).

But if there can be no love of God where there is none for our neighbour, the love of our neighbour itself is not genuine unless it be accompanied by a love of our Creator and Redeemer. The charity which the world has set up, which it calls Philanthropy, and which it exercises not in the name of God but solely for the sake of man, this pretended virtue is a mere delusion, is incapable of producing love between those who give and those who receive, and its results must necessarily be unsatisfactory. There is but one tie which can make men love one another: that tie is God who created them all and commands them all to be one in Him. To serve mankind for its own sake is to make a god of it and even viewing the workings of the two systems in this single point of view, the relief they afford to temporal suffering, what comparison is there between mere Philanthropy and that supernatural Charity of the humble disciples of Christ who make Him the very motive and end of all they do for their afflicted brethren? The Saint we honour today was called John of God because the Name of God was ever on his lips. His heroic acts of charity had no other motive than that of pleasing God. God alone was the inspirer of the tender love he had for his suffering fellow-creatures. Let us imitate his example, for our Lord assures us that He considers as done to Himself whatever we do even for the least of His disciples.

*****

What a glorious life was yours, O John of God! It was one of charity, and of miracles wrought by charity. Like Vincent of Paul, you were poor and, in your early life, a shepherd-boy like him. But the charity which filled your heart gave you a power to do what worldly influence and riches never can. Your name and memory are clear to the Church. They deserve to be held in benediction by all mankind, for you spent your life in serving your fellow-creatures for God’s sake. That motive gave you a devotedness to the poor, which is an impossibility for those who befriend them from mere natural sympathy. Philanthropy may be generous and its workings may be admirable for ingenuity and order, but it never can look upon the poor man as a sacred object because it refuses to see God in Him. Pray for the men of this generation that they may at length desist from perverting charity into a mere mechanism of relief. The poor are the representatives of Christ, for He Himself has willed that they be such: and if the world refuse to accept them in this their exalted character, if it denies their resemblance to our Redeemer, it may succeed in degrading the poor, but this very degradation will make them enemies of its insulter. Your predilection, O John of God, was for the sick. Have pity, therefore, on our times which are ambitious to eliminate the supernatural and exclude God from the world by what is called secularisation of society. Pray for us that we may see how evil a thing it is to have changed the Christian for the worldly spirit. Kindle holy charity within our hearts, that during these days, when we are striving to draw down the mercy of God upon ourselves, we also may show mercy. May we, as you did, imitate the example of our Blessed Redeemer who gave Himself to us who were His enemies and deigned to adopt us as His brethren. Protect also the Order you instituted and which has inherited your spirit, that it may prosper and spread in every place the sweet odour of that charity which is its very name.

Also on this day according to the ROMAN MARTYROLOGY:

At Antinous in Egypt, the birthday of the holy martyr Philemon, and the deacon Apollonius. As they firmly refused to sacrifice to the idols when they were apprehended and brought before the judge, they had their heels transpierced, were barbarously dragged through the city and finally consummated their martyrdom by the edge of the sword.

Also in the same place, the passion of the Saints Arianus, governor, Theoticus and three others, who were submerged in the sea by order of the judge. Their bodies were brought to the shore by dolphins.

At Nicomedia, St. Quinctilis, bishop and martyr.

At Carthage, St. Pontius, deacon of bishop St. Cyprian, who remained in banishment with him until his death, and composed an excellent history of his life and martyrdom. By ever glorifying God in his own sufferings he merited the crown of life.

Also in Africa, the Saints Cyril, bishop, Rogatus, Felix, another Rogatus, Beata, Herenia, Felicitas, Urbanus, Sylvanus and Mamillus.

At Toledo in Spain, the demise of blessed Julian, bishop and confessor, most celebrated for his sanctity and learning.

In England, St. Felix, bishop, who converted the East Angles to the faith.

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

Thanks be to God.

8 MARCH – SATURDAY AFTER ASH WEDNESDAY

Lesson – Isaias lviii. 9‒14

Thus say the Lord God: “If you will take away the chain out of the midst of you, and cease to stretch out the finger, and to speak that which is good for nothing. When you will pour out your soul to the hungry, and will satisfy the afflicted soul, then will your light rise up in darkness, and your darkness will be as the noonday. And the Lord will give you rest continually, and will fill your soul with brightness, and deliver your bones, and you will be like a watered garden, and like a fountain of water, whose waters will not fail. And the places that have been desolate for ages will be built in you: you will raise up the foundations of generation and generation: and you will be called the repairer of the fences, turning the paths into rest. If you turn away your foot from the Sabbath, from doing your own will in my holy day, and call the Sabbath delightful, and the holy of the Lord glorious, and glorify Him, while you do not your own ways, and your own will is not found, to speak a word: then will you be delighted in the Lord, and I will lift you up above the high places of the Earth, and will feed you with the inheritance of Jacob your Father. For the mouth of the Lord has spoken it.”

Thanks be to God.

Dom Prosper Guéranger:

Saturday is a day replete with mystery. It is the day of God’s rest. It is a figure of the eternal peace which awaits us in Heaven after the toils of this life are over. The object of the Church in giving us today this Lesson from Isaias is to teach us how we are to merit our eternal Sabbath. We have scarcely entered on our campaign of penance when this affectionate Mother of ours comes to console us. If we abound in good works during this holy Season in which we have taken leave of the distracting vanities of the world, the light of grace will rise up even in the darkness which now clouds our soul. This soul, which has been so long obscured by sin and by the love of the world and self, will become bright as the noonday. The glory of Jesus’ Resurrection will be ours too and, if we are faithful to grace, the Easter of time will lead us to the Easter of eternity. Let us, therefore, build up the places that have been so long desolate. Let us raise up the foundations, repair the fences, turn away our feet from the violation of holy observances, do not our own ways and our own will in opposition to those of our Divine Master, and then He will give us everlasting rest, and fill our soul with His own brightness.

Gospel – Mark vi. 47‒56

At that time, when it was late, the ship was in the midst of the sea, and Jesus was alone on the land. And seeing them labouring in rowing (for the wind was against them) and about the fourth watch of the night, He comes to them, walking upon the sea, and He would have passed by them. But they seeing Him walking upon the sea, thought it was an apparition and they cried out. For they all saw Him and were troubled. And immediately He spoke with them, and said to them: “Have a good heart, it is I, fear not.” And He went up to them into the ship, and the wind ceased. And they were far more astonished within themselves: for they understood not concerning the loaves: for their heart was blinded. And when they had passed over, they came into the land of Genesareth, and set to the shore. And when they were gone out of the ship, immediately they knew Him, and running through that whole country, they began to carry about in beds those that were sick, where they heard He was. And wherever He entered, into towns, or into villages, or cities, they laid the sick in the streets, and besought Him that they might touch but the hem of His garment: and as many as touched Him were made whole.

Praise be to you, O Christ.

Dom Prosper Guéranger:

The Ship, the Church, has set sail. The voyage is to last Forty Days. The disciples labour in rowing, for the wind is against them. They begin to fear lest they may not be able to gain the port. But Jesus comes to them on the sea. He goes up to them in the ship. The rest of the voyage is most prosperous. The ancient Liturgists thus explain the Church’s intention in her choice of today’s Gospel. Forty Days of penance are, it is true, little enough for a long life that has been spent in everything save in God’s service. And yet our cowardice would sink under these Forty Days unless we had Jesus with us. Let us not fear. It is He. He prays with us, fasts with us and does all our works of mercy with us. Was it not He that first began these Forty Days of expiation? Let us keep our eyes fixed on Him and be of good heart. If we grow tired, let us go to Him, as did the poor sick ones of whom our Gospel speaks. The very touch of His garments sufficed to restore health to such as had lost it. Let us go to Him in His adorable Sacrament, and the divine life whose germ is already within us will develop itself, and the energy, which was beginning to droop in our hearts, will regain all its vigour.

7 MARCH – SAINT THOMAS AQUINAS (Confessor and Doctor of the Church)

 

Thomas was born of noble parents, his father being Landulph, Count of Aquino, and his mother a rich Neapolitan lady called Theodora. When he was five years old he was sent to Monte Cassino that he might receive his first training from the Benedictine monks. Thence he was sent to Naples where he went through a course of studies and, young as he was, joined the Order of Friars Preachers. This step caused great displeasure to his mother and brothers, and it was therefore deemed advisable to send him to Paris. Thomas was waylaid by his brothers who seized him and imprisoned him in the castle of Saint John. After having made several unsuccessful attempts to induce him to abandon the holy life he had chosen, they assailed his purity by sending to him a wicked woman, but he drove her from his chamber with a fire-brand. The young saint then threw himself on his knees before a crucifix. Having prayed some time, he fell asleep and it seemed to him that two Angels approached to him, and tightly girded his loins. From that time forward Thomas never suffered the slightest feeling against purity. His sisters, also, had come to the castle, and tried to make him change his mind, but he persuaded them to despise the world and devote themselves to the exercise of a holy life. It was contrived that he should escape through a window of the castle and return to Naples. He was thence taken by John the Teutonic, the general of the Dominican Order, first to Rome, and then to Paris, in which city he was taught philosophy and theology by Albert the Great.

At the age of twenty-five Thomas received the title of Doctor and explained in the public schools, and in a manner that made him the object of universal admiration, the writings of philosophers and theologians. He always applied himself to prayer before reading or writing anything. When he met with any difficult passage in the Sacred Scriptures, he both fasted and prayed. He used often to say to his companion Brother Reginald that if he knew anything, it was more a gift from God than the fruit of his own study and labour. One day, when at Naples, as he was praying, with more than his usual fervour before a crucifix, he heard these words: “Well have you written of me, Thomas! What reward would you have me give you?” He answered: “None other, Lord, but yourself.” There was not a book which he had not most carefully read. His favourite spiritual book was the Conferences of the Fathers. He was most zealous in preaching the Word of God. On one occasion during Easter Week, as he was preaching in the Church of Saint Peter, a woman touched the hem of his habit and was cured of an issue of blood. His writings are so extraordinary, not only for their number and their variety, but also for their clearness in the explaining difficult points of doctrine that he has received the title of Angelical Doctor. He was invited to Rome by Pope Urban IV, but nothing could induce him to accept the honours which were offered him. He refused the Archbishopric of Naples, which Pope Clement IV begged him to accept. Thomas was sent by Pope Gregory X to the Council of Lyons, but having got as far as Fossa Nova, he fell sick. He was received as a guest in the monastery there and wrote a commentary on the Canticle of Canticles. There he died aged 50 in 1274 on the Nones of March (March 7th). His sanctity was made manifest by miracles both before and after his death. He was canonised by Pope John XXII in 1323 and his body was translated to Toulouse during the Pontificate of Pope Urban V.

Dom Prosper Guéranger:

The Saint we are to honour today is one of the sublimest and most lucid interpreters of Divine Truth. He rose up in the Church many centuries after the Apostolic Age, long after the four great Latin Doctors, Ambrose, Augustine, Jerome and Gregory. The Church, the ever young and joyful Mother, is justly proud of her Thomas, and has honoured him with the splendid title of The Angelical Doctor, on account of the extraordinary gift of understanding with which God had blessed him, just as his co-temporary and friend Saint Bonaventure has been called the Seraphic Doctor on account of the wonderful unction which abounds in the writings of this worthy disciple of Saint Francis. Thomas Aquinas is an honour to mankind, for perhaps there never existed a man whose intellect surpassed his. He is one of the brightest ornaments of the Church, for not one of her Doctors has equalled him in the clearness and precision with which he has explained her doctrines. He received the thanks of Christ Himself for having well written of Him and His mysteries. How welcome ought not this Feast of such a Saint to be to us during this Season of the Year when our main study is our return and conversion to God? What greater blessing could we have than the coming to know this God? Has not our ignorance of God, and His claims, and His perfections been the greatest misery of our past lives? Here we have a Saint whose prayers are most efficacious in procuring for us that knowledge which is unspotted and converts souls, and gives wisdom to little ones, and gladdens the heart, and enlightens the eyes (Psalm xviii. 8, 9). Happy we if this spiritual wisdom be granted us! We will then see the vanity of everything that is not eternal, the righteousness of the divine commandments, the malice of sin and the infinite goodness with which God treats us when we repent.

*****

How shall we worthily praise you, most holy Doctor! How shall we thank you for what you have taught us? The rays of the Divine Sun of Justice beamed strongly upon you, and you have reflected them upon us. When we picture you contemplating Truth, we think of those words of our Lord: “Blessed are the clean of heart, for they will see God” (Matthew v. 8). Your victory over the concupiscence of the flesh merited for you the highest spiritual delights, and our Redeemer chose you because of the purity of your angelic soul to compose for His Church the Office by which she should celebrate the Divine Sacrament of His Love. Learning did not impair your humility. Prayer was ever your guide in your search after Truth, and there was but one reward for which, after all your labours, you were ambitious — the possession of God.

Your life, alas, was short. The very masterpiece of your angelical writings was left unfinished. But you have not lost your power of working for the Church. Aid her in her combats against error. She holds your teachings in the highest estimation because she feels that none of her Saints has ever known so well as you the secrets and Mysteries of her Divine Spouse. Now, perhaps more than in any other age, Truths are decayed — they are diminished among the children of men (Psalm xi. 2). Strengthen us in our Faith, get us Light. Check the conceit of those shallow self-constituted philosophers who dare to sit in judgement over the actions and decisions of the Church and force their contemptible theories upon a generation that is too ill-instructed to detect their fallacies. The atmosphere around us is gloomy with ignorance: loose principles and truths spoilt by cowardly compromise are the fashion of our times. Pray for us, bring us back to that bold and simple acceptance of truth which gives life to the intellect and joy to the heart.

Pray, too, for the grand Order which loves you so devoutly, and honours you as one of the most illustrious of its many glorious children. Draw down upon the family of your Patriarch Saint Dominic the choicest blessings, for it is one of the most powerful auxiliaries of God’s Church. We are on the eve of the holy season of Lent. We are preparing for the great work of earnest conversion of our lives. Your prayers must gain for us the knowledge both of the God we have offended by our sins, and of the wretched state of a soul that is at enmity with its Maker. Knowing this, we will hate our sins. We will desire to purify our souls in the Blood of the spotless Lamb. We will generously atone for our faults by works of penance.

Also on this day according to the ROMAN MARTYROLOGY:

At Tuburbum in Mauritania (Barbary), in the reign of the emperor Severus, the birthday of the Saints Perpetua and Felicitas whose festival is kept on the sixth of this month. St. Augustine relates that Felicitas, being with child, her execution was deferred according to the laws until after her delivery, and while she was in labour she mourned, and when exposed to the beasts, she rejoiced. With them suffered Revocatus, Saturninus and Secundulus. This last died in prison. All the others were delivered to the beasts.

At Caesarea in Palestine, the passion of St. Eubulus, the companion of St. Adrian. Two days after the latter, being mangled by the lions and killed with the sword, he was the last of all those who received the crown of martyrdom in that city.

At Nicomedia, St. Theophilus, bishop, who was driven into exile for the worship of holy images, and there closed his life.

At Pelusium in Egypt, St. Paul, bishop, who for the same cause also died an exile.

At Brescia, St. Gaudiosus, bishop and confessor.

In Thebais, St. Paul, surnamed the Simple.

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

Thanks be to God.