20 FEBRUARY – FERIA

On this day according to the ROMAN MARTYROLOGY:

 

At Tyre in Phoenicia, the commemoration of many blessed martyrs whose number is known to God alone. Under the emperor Diocletian they were put to death after a long and varied series of torments by the military commander Veturius. They were first lacerated with whips, and then delivered to several kinds of beasts. But, through the interposition of Providence, remaining unhurt, they consummated their martyrdom by the torment of fire and by the sword. This glorious multitude were incited to victory by the bishops Tyrannic, Silvanus, Peleus and Nilus, and the priest Zenobius, who, together with them, won the palm of martyrdom by a successful combat.

On the island of Cyprus, the holy martyrs Pothamius and Nemesius.

At Constantinople, St. Eleutherius, bishop and martyr.

In Persia, in the time of king Sapor, the birthday of St. Sadoth, bishop, and one hundred and twenty-eight others, who refused to adore the sun, and by a cruel death purchased for themselves bright crowns.

At Catania in Sicily, St. Leo, bishop, illustrious for virtues and miracles.

The same day, St. Eucherius, bishop of Orleans, whose miracles increased in proportion to the slanders of the envious.

At Tournai in Belgium, St. Eleutherius, bishop and confessor.

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

Thanks be to God.

13 FEBRUARY – FERIA

On this day according to the ROMAN MARTYROLOGY:

At Antioch, the holy prophet Agabus, of whom mention is made by St. Luke in the Acts of the Apostles.

At Ravenna, in the time of the emperor Decius and the governor Quinctian, the Saints Fusca, virgin, and her nurse, Maura, who endured many afflictions, were transpierced with a sword, and thus ended their martyrdom.

At Meletine in Armenia, in the persecution of the same Decius, St. Polyeuctus, martyr, who after many sufferings obtained the crown of martyrdom.

At Lyons, St. Julian, martyr.

At Todi, St. Benignus, martyr.

At Rome, Pope St. Gregory II, who strenuously opposed the impiety of Leo the Isaurian and sent St. Boniface to preach the Gospel in Germany.

At Angers, the demise of the holy bishop Lucinius, a man venerable for his sanctity.

At Lyons, St. Stephen, bishop and confessor.

At Rieti, the abbot St. Stephen, a man of wonderful patience at whose death, as is related by Pope St. Gregory, the holy angels were present and visible to all.

At Prato in Tuscany, St. Catherine de Ricci, a Florentine virgin, of the Order of St. Dominic, replenished with heavenly gifts, whom Pope Benedict XIV inscribed in the catalogue of holy virgins. She died rich in virtues and merits on the second of this month, but her festival is celebrated on this day.

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

Thanks be to God.

3 MARCH – FERIA

On this day according to the ROMAN MARTYROLOGY:

At Caesarea in Palestine, during the persecution of Valerian, the holy martyrs Marinus, soldier, and Asterius, senator. The former was examined by the judge on the charge laid against him by his fellow soldiers of being a Christian, and as he admitted the accusation in no uncertain tone, he was beheaded and thus received the crown of martyrdom. His mutilated body was taken up by Asterius on his shoulders and wrapped in the garment which he himself wore. This service gained for Asterius immediately the palm of martyrdom as a reward for the honours which he had given to a martyr.

In Spain, the birthday of the holy martyrs Hemeterius and Cheledonius, soldiers in the army at Leon, a city of Galicia. On the approach of a persecution they went to Calahorra, in order to confess the name of Christ, and after enduring many torments there they were crowned with martyrdom.

The same day, the passion of the Saints Felix, Luciolus, Fortunatus, Marcia and their companions.

Also the holy soldiers Cleonicus, Eutropius and Basiliscus, who gloriously triumphed by the death of the cross under the governor Asclepiades during the persecution of Maximian.

At Brescia, St. Titian, bishop and confessor.

At Bamberg, the empress St. Cunegundes, who preserved her virginity with the consent of her husband, the emperor Henry I. She terminated a life rich in meritorious good deeds with a holy death and worked many miracles afterward.

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

Thanks be to God.

23 JANUARY – SAINT EMERENTIANA (Virgin and Martyr)

Dom Prosper Gueranger:

Three days have scarcely passed since the martyrdom of Saint Agnes when the Liturgy, so jealous of every tradition, invites us to visit the Martyr’s tomb. There we will find a young Virgin named Emerentiana. She was the friend and foster-sister of our dear little heroine, and has come to pray and weep at the spot where lies her loved one, so soon and so cruelly taken from her. Emerentiana has not yet been regenerated in the waters of Baptism. She is going through the exercises of a Catechumen, but her heart already belongs, by faith and desire, to Jesus. While the young girl is pouring forth her grief over the tomb of her much-loved Agnes, she is surprised by the approach of some pagans. They ridicule her tears and bid her pay no more of this sort of honour to one who was their victim. Upon this, the child, longing as she was to be with Christ and to be clasped in the embraces of her sweet Agnes, was fired with holy courage — as well she might near such a Martyr’s tomb — and turning to the barbarians she confesses Christ Jesus and curses the idols, and upbraids them for their vile cruelty to the innocent Saint who lay there.

This was more than enough to rouse the savage nature of men who were slaves to the worship of Satan. And scarcely had the child spoken, when she falls on the tomb, covered with the heavy stones thrown on her by her murderers. Baptised in her own blood, Emerentiana leaves her bleeding corpse upon the earth, and her soul flies to the bosom of her God where she is to enjoy, for ever, union with Him, in the dear company of Agnes. Let us unite with the Church, which so devoutly honours these touching incidents of her own history. Let us ask Emerentiana to pray that we may have the grace to be united with Jesus and Agnes in Heaven, and congratulate her on her own triumph, by addressing her in the words of the holy Liturgy.

17 JANUARY – SECOND SUNDAY AFTER EPIPHANY

Dom Prosper Guéranger:

The third Mystery of the Epiphany shows us the completion of the merciful designs of God on the world, at the same time that it manifests to us, for the third time, the glory of our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ. The Star has led the soul to faith. The sanctified waters of the Jordan have conferred purity on her. The marriage feast unites her to her God. We have been considering, during this Octave, the Bridegroom revealing Himself to the Spouse. We have heard Him calling her to come to Him from the heights of Libanus. And now, after having enlightened and purified her, He invites her to the heavenly feast where she is to receive the wine of His divine love.

A feast is prepared (John ii). It is a marriage feast and the Mother of Jesus is present at it, for it is just that having co-operated in the mystery of the Incarnation of the Word, she should take part in all that her Son does and in all the favours He bestows on His elect. But in the midst of the feast, the wine fails. Wine is the symbol of Charity or Love, and Charity had failed on the Earth, for the Gentiles had never tasted its sweetness. And as to the Synagogue, what had it produced but wild grapes? (Isaias v. 2) The True Vine is our Jesus, and He calls Himself by that name (John xv. 1). He alone could give that wine which gladdens the heart of man (Psalm ciii. 15). He alone could give us that chalice which inebriates (Psalm xxii. 5) and of which the Royal Psalmist prophesied.

Mary said to Jesus: “They have no wine.” It is the office of the Mother of God to tell Him of the wants of men, for she is also their Mother. But Jesus answers her in words, which are apparently harsh: “Woman! What is it to me and to you? My hour is not yet come.” The meaning of these words is that in this great Mystery He was about to act not as the Son of Mary, but as the Son of God. Later on the hour will come when, dying on the Cross, He will do a work in the presence of His Mother, and He will do it as man, that is, according to that human nature which He has received from her. Mary at once understands the words of her Son and she says to the waiters of the feast what she is now ever saying to her children: “Do whatever He will say to you.”

Now, there were six large water pots of stone there, and they were empty. The world was then in its Sixth Age, as Saint Augustine and other Holy Doctors tell us. During these six ages the Earth had been awaiting its Saviour who was to instruct and redeem it. Jesus commands these water pots to be filled with water, and yet water does not suit the Feast of the Spouse. The figures and the prophecies of the ancient world were this water, and until the opening of the Seventh Age when Christ, who is the Vine, was to be given to the world, no man had contracted an alliance with the Divine Word.

But, when the Emmanuel came He had but to say, “Now draw out,” and the water pots were seen to be filled with the wine of the New Covenant, the wine which had been kept to the end. When He assumed our human nature — a nature weak and unstable as water— He effected a change in it. He raised it up even to Himself, by making us partakers of the divine nature (2 Peter i. 4). He gave us the power to love Him, to be united to Him, to form that one Body of which He is the Head, that Church of which He is the Spouse, and which He loved from all eternity, and with such tender love, that He came down from Heaven to celebrate His nuptials with her.

O the wonderful dignity of man! God has vouchsafed, says the Apostle, to show the riches of His glory on the vessels of mercy which had no claim to, nay, were unworthy of such an honour. Jesus bids the waiters fill them with water, and the water of Baptism purifies us. But not satisfied with this, He fills these vessels, even to the brim, with that heavenly and new wine which was not to be drunk save in the kingdom of His Father (Romans ix. 23). This divine charity which dwells in the Sacrament of Love is communicated to us. And that we might not be unworthy of the espousals with Himself to which He called us, He raises us up even to Himself. Let us, therefore, prepare our souls for this wonderful union and, according to the advice of the Apostle, let us labour to present them to our Jesus with such purity as to resemble that chaste virgin who was presented to the spotless Lamb (2 Corinthians xi. 2).

Saint Matthew, the Evangelist of the Humanity of our Lord, has received from the Holy Ghost the commission to announce to us the Mystery of Faith by the Star. Saint Luke, the Evangelist of Jesus’ Priesthood, has been selected by the same Holy Spirit to instruct us in the Mystery of the Baptism in the Jordan. But the Mystery of the Marriage Feast was to be revealed to us by the Evangelist John, the Beloved Disciple. He suggests to the Church the object of this third Mystery by this expression: “This beginning of miracles did Jesus in Cana of Galilee, and He MANIFESTED His glory” (John ii. 11). At Bethlehem the gold of the Magi expressed the Divinity of the Babe. At the Jordan, the descent of the Holy Ghost and the voice of the Eternal Father proclaimed Jesus (known to the people as a carpenter of Nazareth) to be the Son of God. At Cana, it is Jesus Himself that acts, and He acts as God for, says Saint Augustine, He who changed the water into wine in the water pots could be no other than the same who every year works the same miracle in the vine. Hence it was that from that day, as Saint John tells us, His disciples believed in Him and the Apostolic College began to be formed.

Epistle – Romans xii. 6‒16

Brethren, having different gifts, according to the grace that is given us: either prophecy, to be used according to the rule of faith; or ministry, in ministering: or he that teaches, in doctrine; he that exhorts, in exhorting; he that gives, with simplicity; he that rules, with carefulness; he that shows mercy, with cheerfulness. Let love be without dissimulation. Hating that which is evil, cleaving to that which is good. Loving one another with the charity of brotherhood, in honour preventing one another. In carefulness, not slothful. In spirit fervent: Serving the Lord: Rejoicing in hope: Patient in tribulation: Instant in prayer: Communicating to the necessities of the Saints: Pursuing hospitality. Bless them that persecute you: bless, and curse not. Rejoice with them that rejoice, weep with them that weep. Being of one mind one towards another: not minding high things, but consenting to the humble.

Thanks be to God.

Gospel – John ii. 1‒11

At that time, there was a marriage in Cana of Galilee: and the mother of Jesus was there. And Jesus also was invited, and His disciples, to the marriage. And the wine failing, the mother of Jesus said to Him, “They have no wine.” And Jesus said to her, “Woman, what is it to me and to you? My hour is not yet come.” His mother said to the waiters, “Whatever He says to you, do it.” Now there were set there six water pots of stone, according to the manner of the purifying of the Jews, containing two or three measures apiece. Jesus said to them, “Fill the water pots with water.” And they filled them up to the brim. And Jesus said to them, “Draw put now, and carry to the chief steward of the feast.” And they carried it. And when the chief steward had tasted the water made wine, and knew not from where it came, but the waiters knew who had drawn the water: the chief steward called the bridegroom, and said to him, “Every man at first sets forth good wine; and when men have well drunk, then that which is worse: but you have kept the good wine until now.” This beginning of miracles did Jesus in Cana of Galilee: and manifested His glory, and His disciples believed in Him.

Praise be to you, O Christ.

Saint Augustine of Hippo:

Even setting aside any mystical interpretation, the fact that the Lord was pleased to be asked and to go to a marriage shows plainly enough that He is the Author and Blesser of marriage. There were yet to be those of whom the Apostle has warned us as “forbidding to marry” (1 Timothy iv. 3) who say that marriage is a bad thing in itself and a work of the devil. Yet we read in the Gospel that when the Lord was asked, “Is it lawful for a man to put away his wife for every cause?” (Matthew xix. 3) He answered that it was not lawful, except it were for fornication. In which answer you will remember that He used these words: “What God has joined together, let not man put asunder.” They who are well instructed in the Catholic religion know that God is the Author and Blesser of marriage and that, whereas joining together in marriage is of God, divorce is of the devil. But it is lawful for a man to put away his wife in case of fornication, for by not keeping a wife’s faith to her husband she herself has first willed not to be wife. They also who have made a vow of their virginity to God and have thereby attained to an higher degree of honour and holiness in the Church, are not unmarried, for they are a special part of the marriage of the whole Church, which is the Bride of Christ. The Lord, being asked, went to the marriage to strengthen the marriage tie and to shed light on the hidden meaning of matrimony. In that marriage feast the bridegroom to whom it was said, “You have kept the good wine until now,” was a figure of the Lord Christ who has kept until now the good wine, namely the Gospel.

9 JANUARY – FERIA

Dom Prosper Guéranger:

The Star foretold by Balaam having risen in the East, the three Magi whose hearts were full of the expectation of the promised Redeemer are immediately inflamed with the desire of going in search of Him. The announcement of the glad coming of the King of the Jews is made to these holy Kings in a mysterious and silent manner, and hereby it differs from that made to the shepherds of Bethlehem who were invited to Jesus’ crib by the voice of an Angel.

But the mute language of the Star was explained to them by God Himself, for He revealed His Son to them, and this made their vocation superior in dignity to that of the Jewish shepherds who, according to the dispensation of the Old Law, could know nothing save by the ministry of Angels.

The divine grace which spoke directly and by itself to the souls of the Magi, met with a faithful and unhesitating correspondence. Saint Luke says of the shepherds that they came with haste to Bethlehem (Luke ii. 16), and the Magi show their simple and fervent eagerness by the words they addressed to Herod: “We have seen his Star in the East,” they say, “and we are come to adore him” (Matthew ii. 2).

When Abraham received the command from God to go out of the land of Chaldea, which was the land of his fathers and kindred, and go into a strange country, he obeyed with such faithful promptitude as to merit the being made the Father of all them that believe (Romans iv. 11): so, likewise, the Magi, by reason of their equally docile and admirable faith, have been judged worthy to be called the Fathers of the Gentile Church.

They, too, or at least one or more of them, went out from Chaldea if we are to believe Saint Justin and Tertullian. Several of the Fathers among whom are the two just mentioned assert that one, if not two, of these holy Kings was from Arabia. A popular tradition, now for centuries admitted into Christian art, tells us that one of the three was from Ethiopia, and certainly, as regards this last opinion, we have David and other Prophets telling us that the coloured inhabitants of the banks of the Nile were to be objects of God’s special mercy.

The term Magi implies that they gave themselves to the study of the heavenly bodies, and that too for the special intention of finding that glorious Star whose rising had been prophesied. They were of the number of those Gentiles who, like the centurion Cornelius, feared God, had not been defiled by the worship of idols, and maintained, in spite of all the ignorance which surrounded them, the sacred traditions of the religion that was practised by Abraham and the Patriarchs. The Gospel does not say that they were Kings, but the Church applies to them those verses of the Psalm where David speaks of the Kings of Arabia and Saba that should hereafter come to the Messiah, bringing their offerings of gold. The tradition of their being Kings rests on the testimony of Saint Hilary of Poitiers, of Saint Jerome, of the Poet Juvencus, of Saint Leo and several others. And it would be impossible to controvert it by any well-grounded arguments. Of course, we are not to suppose them to have been monarchs whose kingdoms were as great as those of the Roman Empire, but we know that the Scripture frequently applies this name of King to petty princes, and even to mere governors of provinces. The Magi, therefore, would be called Kings if they exercised authority over a considerable number of people, and that they were persons of great importance, we have a strong proof in the consideration and attention showed them by Herod, into whose palace they enter, telling him that they are come to pay their homage to the new-born King of the Jews.

The city of Jerusalem is thrown into a. state of excitement by their arrival, which would scarce have occurred had not the three strangers, who came for a purpose which few heeded, been attended by numerous retinue, or had not attracted attention by their imposing appearance. These Kings, then, docile to the divine inspiration, suddenly leave their country, their riches, their quiet, in order to follow a Star: the power of that God who had called them unites them in the same path, as they were, already, one in faith. The Star goes on before them, marking out the route they were to follow: the dangers of such a journey, the fatigues of a pilgrimage which might last for weeks or months, the fear of awakening suspicions in the Roman Empire towards which they were evidently tending —all this was nothing to them. They were told to go, and they went.

Their first stay is at Jerusalem, for the Star halts there. They, Gentiles, come into this Holy City (which is soon to have God’s curse on it) and they come to announce that Jesus Christ is come! With all the simple courage and all the calm conviction of Apostles and Martyrs, they declare their firm resolution of going to Him, and of adoring Him. Their earnest inquiries constrain Israel, who was the guardian of the divine prophecies, to confess one of the chief marks of the Messiah — His birth in Bethlehem. The Jewish Priesthood fulfils, though with a sinful ignorance, its sacred ministry, and Herod sits restlessly on his throne plotting murder. The Magi leave the faithless City, which has turned the presence of the Magi into a mark of its own reprobation. The Star re-appears in the heavens, and invites them to resume their journey. Yet a few hours, and they will be at Bethlehem, at the feet of the King they are in search of.

*****

Dear Jesus! We, also, are following you. We are walking in your light, for you have said in the Prophecy of your beloved Disciple: “I am the bright and morning Star” (Apocalypse xxii. 16). The meteor that guides the Magi is but thy symbol, divine Star! You are the morning Star, for your birth proclaims that the darkness of error and sin is at an end. You are the morning Star, for, after submitting to death and the tomb, you will suddenly arise from that night of humiliation to the bright morning of your glorious Resurrection. You are the morning Star for, by your birth and the Mysteries which are to follow, you announce to us the cloudless day of eternity. May your light ever beam upon us! May we, like the Magi, be obedient to its guidance and ready to leave all things in order to follow it! We were sitting in darkness when you called us to your grace by making this your light shine on us. We were fond of our darkness, and you gave us a love for the Light! Dear Jesus! keep up this love within us. Let not sin, which is darkness, ever approach us. Preserve us from the delusion of a false conscience. Avert from us that blindness into which fell the City of Jerusalem and her king, and which prevented them from seeing the Star. May your Star guide us through life, and bring us to you, our King, our Peace, our Love!

We salute you, too, Mary, Star of the Sea that shines on the waters of this life, giving calm and protection to your tempest-tossed children who invoke you! You prayed for the Magi as they traversed the desert: guide also our steps, and bring us to Him who is your child and your Light eternal.

On this day according to the ROMAN MARTYROLOGY:

At Antioch, in the reign of Diocletian and Maximian, the birthday of the Saints Julian, martyr, and Basilissa, his virgin wife. Having lived in a state of virginity with her husband, she reached the end of her days in peace. But after the death by fire of a multitude of priests and ministers of the Church of Christ who had taken refuge in his house from the severity of the persecution, Julian was ordered by the governor Marcian to be tormented in many ways and executed. With him suffered Anthony, a priest, and Anastasius, who Julian raised from the dead and made partaker of the grace of Christ.

Also Celsus, a boy, with his mother Marcionilla, seven brothers and many others.

In Mauritania Caesariensis (now Algeria), St. Marciana, virgin, who consummated her martyrdom by being condemned to the beasts.

At Smyrna, the holy martyrs Vitalis, Revocatus and Fortunatus.

In Africa, the holy martyrs Epictetus, Jucundus, Secundus, Vitalis, Felix and seven others.

At Sebaste in Armenia, St. Peter, bishop, brother of St. Basil the Great.

At Ancona, St. Marcellinus, bishop, who, according to Pope St. Gregory, miraculously delivered that city from destruction by fire.

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

Thanks be to God.

2 JANUARY – FERIA

On this day according to the ROMAN MARTYROLOGY:

At Rome, the commemoration of many holy martyrs, who, despising the edict of the emperor Diocletian which ordered that the sacred books should be delivered up, preferred to surrender themselves to the executioners rather than to give holy things to dogs.

At Antioch, the passion of blessed Isidore, bishop.

At Tomis in Pontus, in the time of the emperor Licinius, three holy brothers, Argaeus, Narcissus, and the young man Marcellinus. This last, being enrolled among the new soldiers and refusing to serve, was beaten almost to death, and for a long time kept in prison. Being finally cast into the sea, he finished his martyrdom, but his brothers were beheaded.

At Milan, St. Martinian, bishop.

In Nitria in Egypt, blessed Isidore, bishop and confessor.

The same day, St. Siridion, bishop.

In Thebais, St. Macarius of Alexandria, abbot.

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

Thanks be to God.

28 NOVEMBER – FERIA

On this day according to the ROMAN MARTYROLOGY:

At Rome, St. Rufus, who, with all his family, was made a martyr by Diocletian.

At Corinth, the birthday of St. Sosthenes, a disciple of the blessed Apostle St. Paul, who is mentioned by that Apostle in his Epistle to the Corinthians. He was chief of the synagogue when converted to Christ, and, as a glorious beginning, consecrated the first fruits of his faith by being scourged in the presence of the proconsul Gallio.

In Africa, under the Arian king Genseric in the persecution of the Vandals, the holy martyrs Papinian and Mansuetus, bishops, who, for the Catholic faith, were burned in every part of their bodies with hot plates of iron, and thus ended their glorious combat.

At this time also, other holy bishops. Valerian, Urban, Crescens, Eustachius, Cresconius, Crescentian, Felix, Hortulanus and Florentian, terminated the course of their lives in exile.

At Constantinople, in the time of Constantine Copronymus, the holy martyrs Stephen the Younger, Basil, Peter, Andrew and their companions, numbering three hundred and thirty-nine monks, who were subjected to various torments for the worship of holy images, and confirmed the Catholic truth with the shedding of their blood.

At Rome, blessed Pope Gregory III, who departed for heaven with a reputation for sanctity and miracles.

At Naples, the departure from this world of St. James de La Marca, confessor, of the Order of Friars Minor, celebrated for the austerity of his life, his apostolic manner of preaching, and his many legations undertaken for the success of the affairs of Christianity. His name was added to the Calendar of the Saints by Pope Benedict XIII.

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

Thanks be to God.

15 NOVEMBER – TWENTY-FOURTH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST (6TH SUNDAY AFTER EPIPHANY RESUMED)

Epistle – 1 Thessalonians i. 2–10

We give thanks to God always for you all, making a remembrance of you in our prayers without ceasing, being mindful of the work of your faith, and labour, and charity, and of the enduring of the hope of our Lord Jesus Christ before God and our Father: Knowing, brethren beloved of God, your election: for our Gospel has not been to you in word only, but in power also, and in the Holy Ghost, and in much fulness, as you know what manner of men we have been among you for your sakes. And you became followers of us, and of the Lord, receiving the word in much tribulation, with joy of the Holy Ghost: So that you were made a pattern to all that believe in Macedonia and in Achaia. For from you was spread abroad the word of the Lord, not only in Macedonia, and in Achaia, but also in every place, your faith which is towards God, is gone forth, so that we need not to speak any thing. For they themselves relate of us, what manner of entering in we had to you, and how you turned to God from idols, to serve the living and true God. And to wait for his Son from heaven (whom he raised up from the dead) Jesus, who has delivered us from the wrath to come.

Thanks be to God.

Gospel – Matthew xiii. 31‒35

At that time Jesus spoke to the multitudes this parable: The kingdom of heaven is like a grain of mustard seed, which a man took and sowed in his field: which is the least indeed of all seeds, but when it is grown up, it is greater than all herbs, and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come, and dwell in the branches thereof. Another parable he spoke to them: The kingdom of heaven is like leaven which a woman took and hid in three measures of meal until the whole was leavened. All these things Jesus spoke in parables to the multitudes: and without parables he did not speak to them that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, saying: I will open my mouth in parables, I will utter things hidden from the foundation of the world.

Praise be to you, O Christ.

14 NOVEMBER – SAINT JOSAPHAT (Bishop and Martyr)

Josaphat Kuncewicz was born of noble Catholic parents at Vladimir in Volhynia. When a child, as he was listening to his mother telling him about the Passion of Christ, a dart issued from the image of Jesus crucified and wounded him in the heart. Set on fire with the love of God, he began to devote himself with such zeal to prayer and other works of piety, that he was the admiration and the model of his older companions. At the age of 20 he became a monk under the Rule of Saint Basil and made wonderful progress in evangelical perfection. He went barefoot even in the severe winter of that country. He never ate meat, drank wine only when obliged by obedience, and wore a rough hair-shirt until his death. Tho flower of his chastity, which he had vowed in early youth to the Virgin Mother of God, he preserved unspotted. He soon became so renowned for virtue and learning that in spite of his youth he was made superior of the monastery of Byten.

Soon afterwards he became archimandrite of Vilna, and lastly, much against his will, but to the great joy of Catholics, he was chosen Archbishop of Polock. In this dignity he relaxed nothing of his former manner of life and had nothing so much at heart as the divine service and the salvation of the sheep entrusted to him. He energetically defended Catholic faith and unity, and laboured to the utmost of his power to bring back schismatics and heretics to communion with the See of blessed Peter. The Sovereign Pontiff and the plenitude of his power he never ceased to defend, both by preaching and by writings full of piety and learning, against the most shameless calumnies and errors of the wicked. He vindicated episcopal rights, and restored ecclesiastical possessions which had been seized by laymen. Incredible was the number of heretics he won back to the bosom of Mother Church, and the words of the Popes bear witness how greatly he promoted the union of the Greek and Latin churches. His revenues were entirely expended in restoring the beauty of God’s house, in building dwellings for consecrated virgins, and in other pious works. So bountiful was he to the poor, that, on one occasion having nothing with which to supply the needs of a certain widow, he ordered his Omophorion or episcopal pallium to be pawned.

The great progress made by the Catholic faith so stirred up the hatred of wicked men against the soldier of Christ that they determined to put him to death. He knew what was threatening him and foretold it when preaching to the people. As he was making his pastoral visitation at Vitebsk, the murderers broke into his house, striking and wounding all whom they found. Josaphat meekly went to meet them, and accosted them kindly, saying: “My little children, why do you strike my servants? If you have any complaint against me, here I am.” Hereupon they rushed on him, overwhelmed him with blows, pierced him with their spears, and at length despatched him with an axe and threw his body into the river. This took place on the twelfth of November 1623, in the forty-third year of his age. His body surrounded with a miraculous light was rescued from the waters. The martyr’s blood won a blessing first of all for his murderers for, being condemned to death, they nearly all abjured their schism and repented of their crime. As the death of this great bishop was followed by many miracles, Pope Urban VIII granted him the honours of beatification. On the third of the Calends of July 1867 when celebrating the centenary of the Princes of the Apostles, Pius IX. in the Vatican Basilica, in presence of the College of Cardinals, and of about 500 Patriarchs, Metropolitans and Bishops of every rite, assembled from all parts of the world, solemnly enrolled among the Saints this great defender of the Church’s unity, who was the first Oriental to be thus honoured. Pope Leo extended his Mass and Office to the universal Church.
 

Dom Prosper Guéranger:

Josaphat Kuncewicz, contemporary with Saint Francis de Sales and Saint Vincent de Paul, might have been taken for a Greek monk of the eleventh century, or an ascetic of the Thebaid. A stranger to the intellectual culture of the West, he knew only the liturgical books and sacred texts used in his own church. As a priest, an archimandrite, a reformer of his Order of Saint Basil, and lastly as Archbishop, he combated all his life against the consequences of the schism of Photius, and closed the struggle by culling the palm of martyrdom. Yet all this took place in the heart of Europe, in the countries then subject to Catholic Poland during the reign of the most pious of its kings. How is this mystery to be explained?

Immediately after the Mongolian invasions Poland received into her arms, rather than conquered, the Ruthenian nation, that is to say the Slavs of the Greek rite from the Dnieper and the Dwina, who had formed around their capital and religious metropolis, Kiev, the nucleus of the power now known as Russia. Had she granted a participation in her own national life to these brethren separated from, but not enemies to, the Roman unity, who came to her full of confidence in her strength and her justice, Poland would have secured the triumph of the Catholic cause, and her own dominion throughout Slavonia. The union of the newcomers with the Roman Pontiff, which a little more political insight and religious zeal might have brought about in the fourteenth century, was not concluded until l595. This was the union of Brzeso. By the compact signed in this little town of Lithuania, the metropolitan of Kiev and the other Greek bishops declared that they returned to the communion of the holy Apostolic See. Being the spiritual superiors of half the nation, they thus completed the union of the three peoples, Ruthenian, Lithuanian and Polish, then subject to Sigismund III. Now, a religious reform, even if decreed by a council, does not become a reality until men of God, true apostles, and if need be martyrs, come forward to consummate it. This was the vocation of Saint Josaphat, the apostle and martyr of the Union of Brzesc. What he did not himself carry out was completed by his disciples. A century of glory was secured to the nation, and its political ruin was delayed for two hundred years.

* * * * *

“Stir up, O Lord, we beseech you, in your Church the Spirit with which the blessed Josaphat your Martyr and Pontiff was filled.” Thus prays our Mother today, and the Gospel likewise points to her desire of obtaining pastors like you, O holy Bishop! The sacred text speaks of the false shepherd who flees at first sight of the wolf, but the Homily which explains it in the Night Office, brands equally with the title of hireling the keeper who, though he does not flee, suffers the enemy unresisted to work havoc in the fold. May the divine Shepherd, whom you imitated to the end, even to laying down your life for the sheep, live again in all those whom He calls, like Peter, to exercise a greater love.

Also on this day according to the ROMAN MARTYROLOGY:

At Heraclea in Thrace, the birthday of the holy martyrs Clementinus, Theodotus and Philomenus.

At Alexandria, St. Serapion, martyr, whom the persecutors under the emperor Decius subjected to torments so cruel that all his limbs were disjointed. He became a martyr of Christ by being hurled down from the upper part of his house.

At Troyes in France, St. Venerandus, martyr, under the emperor Aurelian.

Also in France, the holy virgin Veneranda, who received the crown of martyrdom under the emperor Antoninus and the governor Asclepiades.

At Gangres in Paphlagonia, St. Hypatius, bishop, who on his way home from the great council of Nice, was attacked with stones by the Novatian heretics, and died a martyr.

At Algiers in Africa, blessed Serapion, of the Order of Our Blessed Lady of Ransom. For the redemption of the faithful in captivity and the preaching of the Christian faith, he was the first of his Order to deserve the palm of martyrdom by being crucified and cut to pieces.

At Emesa, the passion of many holy women, who were barbarously tortured and massacred under Mady, a savage Arabian chief.

At Bologna, St. Jucundus, bishop and confessor.

In Ireland, St. Lawrence, bishop of Dublin.

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

Thanks be to God.

7 NOVEMBER – FERIA

Dom Prosper Guéranger:

“A great mystery” says Saint John Chrysostom, “is accomplished in our dead. A mystery of praise and of joy, when, summoned by the King of kings, the soul goes to meet her Lord, accompanied by Angels sent from Heaven for the purpose! And you lament? When the bridegroom, to whom you have given your daughter, carries her to a far country, you do not complain, provided he makes her happy. Although her absence is a grief to you, the sadness is tempered. And now, because it is not a man, a fellow-slave, but the Lord Himself that claims one of your family, is your grief to be without measure? I do not forbid you to shed a tear. Weep, but be not disconsolate even as others who have no hope (1 Thessalonians iv. 12) And be ready also to return thanks as is meet, honouring thereby your dead, as well as glorifying God, and thus giving them magnificent obsequies.”

With such sentiments were our fathers inspired, in those farewells of the primitive liturgy, which contrasted so strangely with the sad pomp of pagans and which made the funeral train resemble a bridal procession. First, loving hands respectfully washed the body, which had been sanctified by the waters of Baptism and the holy oil, and so often honoured by the visit of our Lord in his blessed Sacrament. It was then clothed in the robes of honour in which it had served its divine Spouse, and, like Him in the tomb, it was surrounded with fragrant spices. Often the sacred Host itself was laid upon the breast after the holy sacrifice of thanksgiving and propitiation. Thus, during an admirable succession of prayers and triumphant chants, amid clouds of incense and numberless torches, the body was carried to the place of rest where Christian burial was to associate it to the last mystery of our Saviour’s mortal career. There, as over the garden of Golgotha on the great Saturday, the naked Cross, despoiled of its divine Burden, looked down upon the graves where the Man-God in His mystic members still awaited the hour of resurrection.

On this day according to the ROMAN MARTYROLOGY:

At Padua, the demise of St. Prosdocimus, first bishop of that city, who was ordained bishop by the blessed Apostle St. Peter, and sent there to preach the word of God, where, celebrated for many virtues and prodigies, he happily ended his life.

At Perugia, St. Herculanus, bishop and martyr.

The same day, St. Amaranthus, martyr, who was buried in the city of Albi, after the termination of combats faithfully sustained, but lives in eternal glory.

At Melitine in Armenia, the martyrdom of the Saints Hieron, Meander, Hesychius and thirty others, who were crowned in the persecution of Diocletian under the governor Lysias.

At Amphipolis in Macedonia, the holy martyrs Auctus, Taurio and Thessalonica.

At Ancyra, the passion of the Saints Melasippus, Anthony and Carina, under Julian the Apostate.

At Cologne, St. Engelbertus, bishop, who did not hesitate to suffer martyrdom in defence of ecclesiastical liberties, and for obedience to the Roman Church.

At Alexandria, blessed Achillas, a bishop renowned for erudition, faith and purity of life.

In Friesland, the decease of St. Willibrord, bishop of Utrecht, who was consecrated bishop by the blessed Pope Sergius, and preached the Gospel in Friesland and Denmark.

At Metz, St. Eufus, bishop and confessor.

At Strasburg, St. Florentius, bishop.

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

Thanks be to God.

8 AUGUST – SAINT JEAN-BAPTISTE MARIE VIANNEY (Confessor)

The famous “Cure d’Ars” was born at Dardilly near Lyons in France in 1786 to Matthieu Vianney and Marie Beluze. He was ordained a priest after the French Revolution and the Napoleonic wars, and spent his life as a pastor in an obscure village (Ars) in Central France, converting sinners and guiding souls to God. His reputed sanctity drew crowds of people from all parts to seek help and spiritual comfort from him. He died in 1859, was beatified by Pope Saint Pius X in 1905 and was canonised by Pope Pius XI in 1925.

Almighty and merciful God, by whose working blessed Jean-Baptiste Marie became a marvel of pastoral solicitude and constant ardour in prayer and penitence, grant, we beseech you, that we, after his example, and through his intercession, may be enabled to win to Christ the souls of our brethren and with them attain to everlasting glory. Through the same ...

20 JUNE – SAINT SILVERIUS (Pope and Martyr)

Silverius, a native of Campania, was the son of Pope Saint Hormisdas who had been married before becoming a bishop. Silverius entered the Church as a subdeacon on the death of Saint Agapetus I and succeeded him to the See of Peter in 536. During his pontificate the emperor Justinian recovered Rome and most of Italy from the Ostrogoths. Silverius’ doctrine and holiness shone forth in his pursuing of the Monophysite heretics, and his strength of soul in his firmness regarding the upholding of the sentence passed by Agapitus, who had deposed Anthimus from the Patriarchate of Constantinople for defending the heresy of Eutyches. Silverius would never allow his restoration, although the Empress Theodora repeatedly asked him to do so. For that Silverius was expelled from Rome and persecuted. After having been taken to Constantinople, he was ordered by Belisaurius into exile to the Italian island of Pandataria (now Ponza), which had become infamous as a place of banishment to which the enemies of pre-Christian emperors had been sent. From there he wrote to Bishop Amator: “I am fed upon the bread of tribulation, and the water of affliction, but nevertheless, I have not given up, and I will not give up, doing my duty.” Silverius died in 538 AD and his body was taken to the Vatican for burial there.

Dom Prosper Guéranger:

Papal succession is one of the principal facts in which is demonstrated the working of the Holy Ghost from the very first day of His descent upon our Earth. The legitimacy of the Popes as successors of Peter is indeed closely linked with the legitimacy of the Church herself in her character of Bride of the Man-God, and therefore His mission being to lead the Bride to the Spouse, the Holy Ghost cannot suffer her to wander in the footprints of intruders. The inevitable play of human passions, interfering in the election of the Vicar of Christ, may perchance for a while render uncertain the transmission of spiritual power, but when it is proved that the Church still holding, or once more put in possession of her liberty, acknowledges in the person of a certain Pope, until then doubtful, the true Sovereign Pontiff, this her very recognition is a proof that, from that moment at least, the occupant of the Apostolic See is as such invested by God Himself. This doctrine the Holy Ghost confirms by giving thereunto, in the Pontiff we are celebrating today, the consecration of martyrdom.

Saint Agapitus I died at Constantinople to which Theodorat the Goth had persuaded him to go in order to appease the anger of Justinian excited against this king by reason of his treasons. Scarcely had the news of this death reached the Arian prince than he, in terror of perhaps seeing some one unfavourable to his pretentions, raised to the pontificate, imperatively designated as successor to the deceased Pope, the deacon Silverius. Two months later the Justice of God struck the tyrant and the Church was set free. Doubtless Rome would have but exercised her proper right had she rejected the Head thus imposed on her by main force, for not to earthly princes has the Lord consigned the election of His Vicar upon Earth. But Silverius who had been an utter stranger to the violence used on his personal account, was in reality a man in every way fitted to the Supreme Pontificate: therefore, when the Roman clergy became free to act, they had no wish to withdraw from him their adhesion, until then certainly disputable. From that moment undoubtedly Silverius could not but be Head of the Church, the true successor of Agapitus, the Lord’s Elect. In the midst of a period thronged with snares, he proved how well he understood the exigences of duty in his exalted office, and preferred an exile which would eventually cost him his life, to the abandoning of a post in which the Holy Ghost had truly placed him.

* * * * *

THE waters of tribulation passed indeed over your soul, holy Pontiff. Your persecutors were not pagan Caesars: nor was it even (as in the case of John I who so shortly preceded you on the papal throne and in the arena of martyrdom), a heretical prince that over-powered you with sectarian hatred. No, a worthless woman having in her service treason emanating from the very Sanctuary was your oppressor. Even before death had done its work in you, there was to be found a son of yours coveting your dominion, heavy though such a burden was. But how could man rend asunder the indissoluble bond that bound you to Holy Church? The usurper could but be an intruder until such time as the all-powerful merits of your glorious death had obtained the transformation of the hireling into the legitimate Pastor, and had made this Vigilius become the heir of your own courage. Thus did the Invisible Head of the Church permit to Hell’s confusion that ambition should carry scandals even into the very Holy of Holies. The unshaken Faith of nations, in the age in which you lived, suffered nothing from all this, and the light resulting from these lamentable facts would but all the better serve to teach future ages that the personal character of a Pope, no, even his faults, cannot in any way affect the heavenly prerogative assured by God to the Vicar of His Christ. Keep up within us, dear Saint, the fruit of these teachings. If the Faithful be but well penetrated with true principles, they will never see waning in them that respect due to God in His representatives, whoever or whatever they may be, and scandal, no matter from where it comes, will be powerless to trammel their faith.

Also on this day according to the ROMAN MARTYROLOGY:

At Rome, the demise of St. Novatus, son of the blessed senator Pudens and brother of the saintly priest Timothy, and of the holy virgins of Christ Pudentiana and Praxedes, who were instructed in the faith by the Apostles. Their house was converted into a church and bore the title of Pastor.

At Tomis in Pontus, the holy martyrs Paul and Cyriacus.

At Petra in Palestine, St. Macarius, a bishop who suffered much from the Arians and was banished to Africa where he rested in the Lord.

At Seville in Spain, the holy virgin Florentina, sister of the holy bishops Leander and Isidore.

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

Thanks be to God.

18 JUNE – SAINT EPHREM OF SYRIA (Confessor and Doctor of the Church)

Ephrem was born in about 306 AD in Nisibis in Roman Mesopotamia. He was baptised as a youth and became a monk, being present at the the first Council of Nicea, probably as a deacon or attendant to Bishop Jacob of Nisibis who appointed him as a teacher. Ephrem taught principally in the schools of Edessa (modern day Urfa in Turkey) where he became famous for his skill as an orator. Ephrem is popularly credited as the founder of the School of Nisibis which later became the centre of learning of the Syriac Orthodox Church. Ephrem left a large body of writings, including hundreds of hymns, poems and sermons, and an exposition of the Bible. Ephrem died in 378 and was proclaimed a Doctor of the Church in 1920 by Pope Benedict XV.

29 APRIL – SAINT PETER OF VERONA (Martyr)

Peter was born at Verona of parents who were infected with the heresy of the Manichees. But he himself, almost from his very infancy, fought against heresies. When he was seven years old he was one day asked by an uncle, who was a heretic, what they taught him at the school he went to. He answered that they taught him the Symbol of the Christian Faith. His father and uncle did all they could, both by promises and threats, to shake the firmness of his faith, but all to no purpose. When old enough, he went to Bologna in order to prosecute his studies. While there he was called by the Holy Ghost to a life of perfection, and obeyed the call by entering into the Order of Saint Dominic. Great were his virtues as a religious man. So careful was he to keep both body and soul from whatever could sully their purity, that his conscience never accused him of committing a mortal sin.

He mortified his body by fasting and watching, and applied his mind to the contemplation of heavenly things. He laboured incessantly for the salvation of souls and was gifted with a special grace for refuting heretics. He was so earnest when preaching that people used to go in crowds to hear him and numerous were the conversions that ensued. The ardour of his faith was such that he wished he might die for it, and earnestly begged that favour from God. His death, which he foretold a short time before in one of his sermons, was inflicted on him by the heretics. While returning from Como to Milan in the discharge of the duties of the holy Inquisition, he was attacked by a wicked assassin who struck him twice on the head with a sword. The Symbol of Faith which he had confessed with manly courage when but a child, he now began to recite with his dying lips, and having received another wound in his side, he went to receive a martyr’s palm in Heaven in 1252. Numerous miracles attested his sanctity. He was canonised by Pope Innocent IV in 1253.

Dom Prosper Guéranger:

The hero deputed this day by the Church to greet our Risen Lord was so valiant in the Good Fight that martyrdom is part of his name. He is known as Peter the Martyr, so that we cannot speak of him without raising the echo of victory. He was put to death by heretics and is the grand tribute paid to our Redeemer by the thirteenth century. Never was there a triumph hailed with greater enthusiasm than this. The martyrdom of Saint Thomas of Canterbury excited the admiration of the faithful of the preceding century, for nothing was so dear to our forefathers as the Liberty of the Church. The martyrdom of Saint Peter was celebrated with a like intensity of praise and joy. Let us hearken to the fervid eloquence of the great Pontiff, Innocent IV, who thus begins the Bull of the martyr’s canonisation:

“The truth of the Christian Faith, manifested, as it has been, by great and frequent miracles, is now beautified by the new merit of a new Saint. Lo! a combatant of these our own times comes, bringing us new and great and triumphant signs. The voice of his blood shed (for Christ) is heard, and the fame of his martyrdom is trumpeted through the world. The land is not silent that sweats with his blood. The country that produced so noble warrior resounds with his praise. Yes, the very sword that did the deed of parricide proclaims his glory... Mother Church has great reason to rejoice, and abundant matter for gladness. She has cause to sing a new canticle to the Lord, and a hymn of fervent praise to her God: the Christian people has cause to give forth devout songs to its Creator. A sweet fruit, gathered in the garden of Faith, has been set upon the table of the Eternal King: a grape-bunch, taken from the vineyard of the Church, has filled the royal cup with new wine... The flourishing Order of Preachers has produced a red rose whose sweetness is most grateful to the King, and from the Church here on Earth there has been taken a stone which, after being cut and polished, has deserved a place of honour in the temple of Heaven.”

Such was the language wherewith the supreme Pontiff spoke of the new martyr, and the people responded by celebrating his feast with extraordinary devotion. It was kept as were the ancient festivals, that is, all servile work was forbidden upon it. The Churches served by the Fathers of the Dominican Order were crowded on his feast, and the faithful took little branches with them that they might be blessed in memory of the Triumph of Peter the Martyr. This custom is still observed, and the branches blessed by the Dominicans on this day are venerated as being a protection to the houses where they are kept.

How are we to account for all this fervent devotion of the people towards Saint Peter? It was because he died in defence of the Faith, and nothing was so dear to the Christians of those days as Faith. Peter had received the charge to take up all the heretics who, at that time, were causing great disturbance and scandal in the country round about Milan. They were called Cathari but in reality were Manicheans. Their teachings were detestable, and their lives of the most immoral kind. Peter fulfilled his duty with a firmness and equity which soon secured him the hatred of the heretics, and when he fell a victim to his holy courage a cry of admiration and gratitude was heard throughout Christendom. Nothing could be more devoid of truth than the accusations brought by the enemies of the Church and their indiscreet abettors, against the measures formerly decreed by the public law of Catholic nations, in order to foil the efforts made by evil-minded men to injure the true Faith. In those times no tribunal was so popular as that whose office it was to protect theFaith, and to put down all them that attacked it.

It was to the Order of Saint Dominic that this office was mainly entrusted, and well may they be proud of the honour of having so long held one so beneficial to the salvation of mankind. How many of its members have met with a glorious death in the exercise of their stern duty! Saint Peter is the first of the martyrs given by the Order for this holy cause: his name, however, heads a long list of others who were his brethren in religion, his successors in the defence of the Faith, and his followers to martyrdom. The coercive measures that were once, and successfully, used to defend the Faithful from heretical teachers have long since ceased to be used. But for us Catholics, our judge ent of them must surely be that of the Church. She bids us today honour as a martyr one of her Saints who was put to death while resisting the wolves that threatened the sheep of Christ’s fold. Should we not be guilty of disrespect to our Mother if we dared to condemn what she so highly approves? Far, then, be from us that cowardly truckling to the spirit of the age which would make us ashamed of the courageous efforts made by our forefathers for the preservation of the Faith! Far from us that childish readiness to believe the calumnies of Protestants against an institution which they naturally detest! Far from us that deplorable confusion of ideas which puts truth and error on an equality and, from the fact that error can have no rights, concludes that truth can claim none!

* * * * *

The victory was yours, Peter, and your zeal for the defence of holy Faith was rewarded. You ardently desired to shed your blood for the holiest of causes and by such a sacrifice to confirm the faithful of Christ in their religion. Our Lord satisfied your desire. He would even have your martyrdom be in the festive season of the Resurrection of our Divine Lamb that His glory might add lustre to the beauty of your holocaust. When the death-blow fell upon your venerable head and your generous blood was flowing from the wounds, you wrote on the ground the first words of the Creed for whose holy truth you were giving your life.

Protector of the Christian people, what other motive had you, in all your labours, but charity? What else but a desire to defend the weak from danger induced you not only to preach against error, but to drive its teachers from the flock? How many simple souls who were receiving divine truth from the teaching of the Church have been deceived by the lying sophistry of heretical doctrine, and have lost the Faith? Surely the Church would do her utmost to ward off such dangers from her children: she would do all she could to defend them from enemies who were bent on destroying the glorious inheritance which had been handed down to them by millions of martyrs! She knew the strange tendency that often exists in the heart of fallen man to love error, whereas Truth, though of itself unchanging, is not sure of its remaining firmly in the mind, unless it be defended by learning or by faith. As to learning, there are but few who possess it. And as to faith, error is ever conspiring against and, of course, with the appearance of truth. In the Christian Ages it would have been deemed not only criminal, but absurd, to grant to error the liberty which is due only to truth. And they that were in authority considered it a duty to keep the weak from danger by removing from them all occasions of a fall — just as the father of a family keeps his children from coming in contact with wicked companions who could easily impose on their inexperience and lead them to evil under the name of good.

Obtain for us, O holy Martyr, a keen appreciation of the precious gift of Faith — that element which keeps us in the way of salvation. May we zealously do everything that lies in our power to preserve it, both in ourselves and in them that are under our care. The love of this holy Faith has grown cold in so many hearts, and frequent intercourse with heretics or free-thinkers has made them think and speak of matters of Faith in a very loose way. Pray for them, O Peter, that they may recover that fearless love of the Truths of Religion which should be one of the chief traits of the Christian character. If they be living in a country where the modern system is introduced of treating all religions alike, that is, of giving equal rights to error and to truth, let them be all the more courageous in professing the truth and detesting the errors opposed to the truth. Pray for us, O holy Martyr, that there may be kindled within us an ardent love of that Faith without which, it is impossible to please God (Hebrews xi. 6). Pray that we may become all earnestness in this duty which is of vital importance to salvation, that thus our Faith may daily gain strength within us, till at length we will merit to see in Heaven what we have believed unhesitatingly on Earth.

Also on this day according to the ROMAN MARTYROLOGY:

At Paphos in Cyprus, St. Tychicus, a disciple of the blessed Apostle St. Paul, who called him in his epistles most dear brother, faithful minister and fellow-servant in the Lord.

At Cirtha in Numidia, the birthday of the holy martyrs Agapius and Secundinus, bishops, who, after a long exile in that city, added to the glory of their priesthood the crown of martyrdom. They suffered in the persecution of Valerian during which the enraged Gentiles made every effort to shake the faith of the just. In their company suffered Æmilian, soldier, Tertulla and Antonia, consecrated virgins, and a woman with her twin children.

The same day, seven robbers, who, being converted to Christ by St. Jason, attained to eternal life by martyrdom.

At Brescia, St. Paulinus, bishop and confessor.

In the monastery of Cluny, the abbot St. Hugh.

In the monastery of Molesmes, St. Robert, first abbot of the Cistercians.

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

Thanks be to God.

4 APRIL – SAINT ISIDORE OF SEVILLE (Bishop and Doctor of the Church)

Isidore, by birth a Spaniard, was an illustrious Doctor of the Church. He was born at Carthagena and his father Severianus was governor of that part of the country. He was solidly trained to piety and learning by his two brothers, Leander, Bishop of Seville, and Fulgentius, Bishop of Carthagena. He was taught Latin, Greek and Hebrew. He was put through a course of canon and civil law, and there was no science or virtue in which he did not excel. While yet a youth, he so courageously combated the Arian heresy which had long before infested the Goths who had entered Spain, that he with difficulty escaped being put to death by the heretics. After the death of Leander, he was, in spite of himself, raised to the episcopal See of Seville by the influence of king Eeccared, and with unanimous consent of both clergy and people. His election was not only confirmed by Apostolic authority, but Saint Gregory the Great, when sending him as usual, the Pallium, is said to have appointed him his own vicar, and that of the Apostolic See throughout all Spain.

It would be impossible to describe the virtues of Isidore as Bishop: how firm, humble, patient and merciful; how zealously he laboured for the restoration of Christian morals and ecclesiastical discipline, and how untiring he was in his efforts, both by word and writing, to establish them among his people; and, finally, how he excelled in every virtue. He was a fervent promoter of the monastic life in Spain and built several monasteries. He also built colleges in which he himself applied himself to the teaching the sacred sciences to the many disciples that flocked to him, among whom may be mentioned those two glorious Pontiffs, Ildephonsus Bishop of Toledo, and Braulio Bishop of Saragossa. In a Council held at Seville, he spoke with such power and eloquence that he may be said to have destroyed the heresy of the Acephali who were threatening to destroy the true faith in Spain. So great, indeed, was the universal reputation he had gained for piety and learning, that he had scarcely been dead sixteen years when, in a Council held at Toledo at which 52 bishops were present, Saint Ildephonsus himself among them, he was called the Illustrious Doctor, the new Glory of the Catholic Church, the most learned man who had been seen in those ages, and one whose name should never be mentioned but with great respect.

Saint Braulio not only compared him to Saint Gregory the Great, but said that he looked on him as having been sent by Heaven as a second Saint James the Apostle, to instruct the people of Spain. Isidore wrote a book On Etymologies, and another On Ecclesiastical Offices, and several others of such importance to Christian and ecclesial discipline that Pope Saint Leo IV hesitated not to say, in a letter addressed to the Bishops of Britain, that one ought to adhere to the words of Isidore with that same respect as is shown to those of Jerome and Augustine, as often as a difficult case should arise which could not be settled by Canon Law. Several sentences of his works have been inserted into the body of the Canon Law. He presided over the Fourth Council of Toledo, which is the most celebrated of all those that have been held in Spain. At length, after having driven the Arian heresy out of Spain, he publicly foretold the day of his death, and the devastation of the country by the Saracens. And having governed his See for about forty years, he died at Seville in 636. His body was first buried, as himself had requested, between those of his brother and sister, Leander and Florentina.

Afterwards, Ferdinand I, King of Castille and Leon, purchased it, for a large sum of money from Enetus, the Saracen governor of Seville, and had it translated to Leon. Here, a Church was built in his honour, and the miracles that are wrought by his intercession, have led the people to honour him with great devotion.

Dom Prosper Guéranger:

The Church presents to us today, for our devout admiration, the memory of one of the holiest of her Bishops — Isidore, the Bishop of Seville, the most learned man of his age and, what is a still greater praise, the most zealous patriot and friend of his noble country. Let us study his virtues and confide in his patronage: both will help us to fervour during this holy Season.

Among Christian lands, there is one that has gained for herself the glorious name of the Catholic Kingdom. Towards the close of the seventh century Divine Providence subjected her to a most severe trial by permitting the Saracen hordes to invade her, so that her heroic children had to struggle for eight hundred years for the recovery of their country. Contemporaneously with Spain, Asia, also, and Africa fell under the Mussulman yoke, and have continued in their slavery up to the present day. Whence comes it that Spain has triumphed over her oppressors and that tyranny has never been able to make her children degenerate? The answer is easily given: Spain, at the period of her invasion, was Catholic, and Catholicity was the very spirit of the land: whereas those other nations that yielded themselves slaves to the Saracens were already separated from the Christian Church by heresy or schism. God abandoned them because they had rejected both the truth of Faith, and unity with the Church. They fell an easy prey to the infidel conqueror.

Nevertheless, Spain had incurred an immense risk. The race of the Goths, by their long invasion of her territory, had sowed the seeds of heresy: Arianism had set up its sacrilegious altars in Iberia. But God did not permit this privileged country to be long under the yoke of error. Before the Saracens came upon her, she had been reconciled to the Church, and God had chosen one family to be the glorious instrument in the completion of this great work. Even to this day, the traveller through Andalusia will find the squares of its cities adorned with four statues: they are those of three brothers and a sister: Saint Leander, Bishop of Seville; Saint Isidore, whose feast we are keeping today; Saint Fulgentius, Bishop of Carthagena; and their sister, Saint Florentina, a nun. It was by the zeal and eloquence of Saint Leander that King Reccared and his Goths were converted from Arianism to the Catholic Faith in 589. The learning and piety of our glorious Isidore consolidated the great work. Fulgentius gave it stability by his virtues and erudition, and Florentina co-operated in it by her life of sacrifice and prayer.

Let us unite with the Catholic Kingdom in honouring this family of Saints, and today in a special manner, let us pay the tribute of our devotion to Saint Isidore.

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Faithful Pastor! The Christian people honour your virtues and your services. They rejoice in the recompense with which God has crowned your merits. Hear the prayers that are offered to you during these the days of salvation. When on Earth your vigilance over the flock entrusted to thy care was untiring. Consider us as a part of it, and defend us from the ravenous wolves that cease not to seek our destruction. May your prayers obtain for us that fullness of graces needed for our worthily completing the holy Season which is so near its close. Keep up our courage. Incite us to fervour. Prepare us for the great mysteries we are about to celebrate. We have bewailed our sins, and though feebly, we have done penance for them. The work of our conversion has, therefore, made progress, and now we must perfect it by the contemplation of the Passion and Death of our Redeemer. Assist us, his faithful and loving Servant! Do thou, whose life was ever pure, take sinners under your care, and hear the prayers offered to you on this day by the Church. Look down from Heaven on your beloved Spain which honours thee with such earnest devotion. Revive her ancient ardour of Faith. Restore to her the vigour of Christian morality. Remove from her the tares that have sprung up among the good seed. The whole Church reveres your noble country for her staunch adhesion to the truths of Faith. Pray for her that she may come unhurt from the ordeal she is now being put through, and ever prove herself worthy of that glorious title of The Catholic Kingdom, which you helped her to gain.

Also on this day according to the ROMAN MARTYROLOGY:

At Thessalonica, in the time of the emperor Maximian and the governor Faustinus, the holy martyrs Agathopodes, a deacon, and Theodulus, a lector, who, for the confession of the Christian faith, were thrown into the sea with stones tied to their necks.

At Milan, the demise of St. Ambrose, bishop and confessor, through whose labours, learning and miracles almost all Italy returned to the Catholic faith at the time when the perfidious Arian heresy was widely diffused.

At Constantinople, St. Plato, a monk, who for many years combated with invincible courage the heretics that were breaking sacred images.

In Palestine, the anchoret St. Zozimus, who buried the remains of St. Mary of Egypt.

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

Thanks be to God.

3 APRIL – FERIA

On this day according to the ROMAN MARTYROLOGY:

At Taormina in Sicily, the bishop St. Pancratius, who sealed with a martyr’s blood the Gospel of Christ which the blessed Apostle St. Peter had sent him there to preach.

At Tomis in Scythia, the birthday of the holy martyrs Evagrius and Benignus.

At Thessalonica, the martyrdom of the holy virgins Agape and Chionia, under the emperor Diocletian. As they would not deny Christ, they were first detained in prison, then cast into the fire, but being untouched by the flames, they gave up their souls to their Creator while praying to Him.

At Tyre, the martyr St. Vulpian, who was sewn up in a sack with a serpent and a dog and drowned in the sea during the persecution of Maximian Galerius.

In the monastery of Medicion, in the East, the abbot St. Nicetas, who suffered much for the worship of holy images in the time of Leo the Armenian.

In England, St. Richard, bishop of Chichester, celebrated for holiness and glorious miracles. In the same country, St. Burgundofora, abbess and virgin.

At Palermo, St. Benedict, of St. Philadelphus, confessor, surnamed the Black, on account of his colour. He was of the Order of Friars Minor, and rested in the Lord on the third of April, with a reputation for miracles. Pope Pius VII placed him in the number of the saints.

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

Thanks be to God.

2 APRIL – SAINT FRANCIS OF PAOLA (Confessor)

Francis was born at Paula in Calabria, Italy. His parents, who were for a long time without children, obtained him from Heaven after having made a vow and prayed to Saint Francis. Then very young, being inflamed with the love of God, Francis withdrew into a desert where for six years he led an austere life, but one that was sweetened by heavenly contemplations. The fame of his virtues having spread abroad, many persons went to him out of a desire to be trained in virtue. Out of a motive of fraternal charity, he left his solitude, built a Church near Paula and there laid the foundation of his Order. He had a wonderful gift of preaching. He observed virginity during his whole life. Such was his love for humility that he called himself the last of all men, and would have his disciples named Minims. His dress was of the coarsest kind. He always walked barefooted and his bed was the ground. His abstinence was extraordinary: he ate only once in the day and not until after sunset. His food consisted of bread and water to which he scarcely ever added those viands which are permitted even in Lent. And this practice he would have kept up by his Religious under the obligation of a fourth vow. God bore witness to the holiness of His servant by many miracles, of which this is the most celebrated: that when he was rejected by the sailors, he and his companion passed over the straits of Sicily on his cloak, which he spread out on the water. He also prophesied many future events. King Louis XI France had a great desire to see the Saint and treated him with great respect. Having reached his ninety-first year, he died at Tours in 1507. His body, which was unburied for eleven days, so far from becoming corrupt, yielded a sweet fragrance. He was canonised by Pope Leo X.

Dom Prosper Guéranger:

The founder of a Religious Order, whose distinguishing characteristics were humility and penance comes before us to-day: it is Francis of Paula. Let us study his virtues and beg his intercession. His whole life was one of great innocence, and yet we find him embracing, from his earliest youth, mortifications which nowadays, would not be expected from the very worst sinners. How was it that he could do so much? And we, who have so often sinned, do so little? The claims of Divine Justice are as strong now as ever they were, for God never changes, nor can the offence we have committed against Him by our sins be pardoned unless we make atonement. The Saints punished themselves with life-long and austere penances for the slightest sins, and the Church can scarcely induce us to observe the law of Lent, though it is now reduced to the lowest degree of severity.

What is the cause of this want of the spirit of expiation and penance? It is that our Faith is weak, and our love of God is cold because our thoughts and affections are so set upon this present life that we seldom if ever consider things in the light of eternity? How many of us are like the King of France, who having obtained permission from the Pope that Saint Francis of Paula should come and live near him, threw himself at the Saint’s feet and besought him to obtain of God that he, the King, might have a long life! Louis XI had led a most wicked life, but his anxiety was, not to do penance for his sins, but to obtain, by the Saint’s prayers, a prolongation of a career which had been little better than a storing up wrath for the day of wrath. We, too, love this present life. We love it to excess. The laws of Fasting and Abstinence are broken not because the obeying them would endanger life or even seriously injure health, for where either of these is to be feared, the Church does not enforce her Lenten penances: but people dispense themselves from Fasting and Abstinence because the spirit of immortification renders every privation intolerable, and every interruption of an easy comfortable life insupportable. They have strength enough for any fatigue that business or pleasure calls for, but the moment there is question of observing those laws which the Church has instituted for the interest of the body as well as of the soul, all seems impossible. The conscience gets accustomed to these annual transgressions and ends by persuading the sinner that he may be saved without doing penance.

*****

Apostle of penance! Your life was always that of a Saint and we are sinners: yet do we presume during these days to beg your powerful intercession in order to obtain of God that this holy Season may not pass without having produced within us a true spirit of penance which may give us a reasonable hope of receiving His pardon. We admire the wondrous works which filled your life — a life that resembled in duration that of the Patriarchs, and prolonged the privilege the world enjoyed of having such a Saint to teach and edify it. Now that you are enjoying in Heaven the fruits of your labours on Earth, think upon us and hearken to the prayers addressed to you by the faithful. Get us the spirit of compunction which will add earnestness to our works of penance. Bless and preserve the Order you have founded. Your holy relics have been destroyed by the fury of heretics. Avenge the injury thus offered to your name by praying for the conversion of heretics and sinners, and drawing down upon the world those heavenly graces which will revive among us the fervour of the Ages of Faith.

Also on this day according to the ROMAN MARTYROLOGY:

At Caesarea in Palestine, during the persecution of Galerius Maximian, the birthday of the martyr St. Amphian, who, because he reproved the governor Urban for sacrificing to idols, was cruelly lacerated and, with his feet wrapped in a cloth saturated with oil, was set on fire. After these painful tortures, he was plunged into the sea. Thus through fire and water he reached everlasting repose.

In the same city, the passion of St. Theodosia, a virgin of Tyre, who, in the same persecution, for having publicly saluted the holy confessors as they stood before the tribunal and begged of them to remember her when they should be with God, was arrested and led to the governor Urban. By his order, her sides and breasts were lacerated to the very vitals and she was thrown into the sea.

At Lyons, St. Nizier, bishop of that city, renowned for his saintly life and miracles.

At Como, St. Abundius, bishop and confessor.

At Langres, St. Urban, bishop.

In Palestine, the decease of St. Mary of Egypt, surnamed the Sinner.

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

Thanks be to God.