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