15 APRIL – FERIA

On this day according to the ROMAN MARTYROLOGY:

At Rome, the saints Basilissa and Anastasia. Of noble family, they were disciples of the Apostles, and as they persevered courageously in the profession of their faith in the time of the emperor Nero, they had their tongues and feet cut off, were put to the sword, and thus obtained the crown of martyrdom.

The same day, the holy martyrs Maro, Eutyches, and Victorinus who, with blessed Flavia Domitilla, were banished to the island of Pontia for the confession of Christ. Being recalled in the reign of Nerva, and having converted many to the faith, they were put to death in different manners by the judge Valerian during the persecution of Trajan.

In Persia, in the reign of the emperor Decius, the holy martyrs Maxinius and Olympiades who were beaten with rods and whips, and struck on their heads with clubs until they breathed their last.

At Perentino in Campania, St. Eutychius, martyr.

At Myra in Lycia, St. Crescens who consummated his martyrdom by fire.

Also the holy martyrs Theodorus and Pausilippus who suffered under the emperor Hadrian.

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

Thanks be to God.

13 APRIL – SAINT HERMENEGILD (Martyr)

King Hermenegild, son of Leovigild king of the Visigoths, was converted from the Arian heresy to the Catholic faith by the preaching of the venerable Leander, Bishop of Seville. His father, who continued in the Arian heresy, did his utmost, both by promises and threats, to induce him to apostatise. But Hermenegild returned him ever the same answer, that he never could abandon the true faith after having once known it. The father, in a fit of displeasure, deprived him not only of his right to the throne, but of everything he possessed. And when even this failed to break the energy of his soul, he had him put into close confinement with chains on his neck and hands. Hereupon the youthful king Hermenegild began to despise the earthly, and ardently to long for the heavenly, kingdom. Thus fettered and wearing a hair-shirt, he besought the Omnipotent God to support him. As to the glory of this fleeting world, he nobly looked on it with disdain, the more so as his captivity taught him the nothingness of that which could thus be taken from him.

It was the Feast of Easter. At an early hour of the night when all was still, his wicked father sent an Arian Bishop to him with this message: that if he would receive Communion from his hands (the Communion of a sacrilegious consecration!) he should be restored to favour. True to his Creator, the man of God gave a merited reproof to the Arian Bishop and with holy indignation rejected his sinful offer, for though his body lay prostrate in chains, his soul stood on ground beyond the reach of tyranny. The Bishop therefore returned from where he had come. The Arian father raged, and immediately sent his lictors, bidding them repair to the prison of the unflinching Confessor of the Lord and murder him on the spot. They obeyed. They entered the prison. They cleft his skull with a sword. They took away the life of the body, and slew what he, the slain one, had sworn to count as vile. Miracles soon followed by which Heaven testified to the true glory of Hermenegild, for during the night, there was heard sweet music near to the body of the King and Martyr — King indeed, because he was a Martyr.

It is said that lights were seen at the same time burning in the prison. The Faithful were led by these signs to revere the body as being that of a martyr. As to the wicked father, he repented for having imbrued his hands in his son’s blood, but his repentance was not to salvation inasmuch as, while acknowledging the Catholic Faith to be the true one, he had not the courage to embrace it, for he feared the displeasure of his subjects. When in his last sickness and at the point of death he commended his son Reccared, a heretic, to the care of Leander the Bishop whom he had hitherto persecuted, but from whom he now asked that he would do for this son what he had by his exhortations, done for Hermenegild. Having made this request, he died and was succeeded on the throne, by Reccared who, taking not his wicked father but his martyred brother as his model, he abandoned the impious Arian heresy and led the whole Visigoth nation to the true Faith. He would not allow any man to serve in his armies who dared to continue the enemy of the God of hosts by heresy. Neither is it to be wondered at that, being the brother of a Martyr, he should have become a propagator of the true Faith, for it was by Hermenegild’s merits that he has succeeded in reconciling so many thousands to the great God of Heaven.

Dom Prosper Guéranger:

It is through a Martyr’s palm-branch that we must today see the Paschal Mystery. Hermenegild, a young Visigoth Prince, is put to death by his heretical father because he courageously refused to receive his Easter Communion from an Arian Bishop. The Martyr knew that the Eucharist is the sacred symbol of Catholic unity and that we are not allowed to approach the Holy Table in company with them that are not in the true Church. A sacrilegious consecration gives heretics the real possession of the Divine Mystery, if the priestly character be in him who dares to offer Sacrifice to the God whom he blasphemes. But the Catholic who knows that he may not so much as pray with heretics, shudders at the sight of the profanation, and would rather die than share, by his presence, in insulting our Redeemer in that very Sacrifice and Sacrament which were instituted that we might all be made one in God.

The blood of the Martyr produced its fruit: Spain threw off the chains of heresy that had enslaved her, and a Council held at Toledo completed the work of conversion begun by Hermenegild’s sacrifice. There are very few instances recorded in history of a whole nation rising up in a mass to abjure heresy. But Spain did it, for she seems to be a country on which Heaven lavishes exceptional blessings. Shortly after this she was put through the ordeal of the Saracen invasion. She triumphed here again by the bravery of her children,  and ever since then her Faith has been so staunch and so pure as to merit for her the proud title of The Catholic Kingdom.

* * * * *

We offer you, O brave witness to the truth of holy Faith, our admiration and gratitude. Your courageous death was proof of the love you had for Christ, and your contempt of earthly honours teaches us to despise them. Heir to a throne, a prison was your abode here below. It was from your prison that you ascended to Heaven, wearing on your brow the laurels of Martyrdom — a crown far brighter than that which was offered you on condition of your apostatising from the Faith. Pray now for us: the Church asks it of you by inserting your name in the Calendar of her Saints. The Pasch was the day of your triumph: obtain for us that this may be a true Pasch to us — a real resurrection, which may lead us to the Heaven above where we may enjoy, with you, the sight of our Risen Jesus. Intercede for us, that we may be firm in the Faith, obedient to the teachings of holy Church and enemies to every error and innovation. Protect Spain, your fatherland, which owes to your Martyrdom long centuries of loyalty to the true Faith. Pray for her that she may ever continue to merit her glorious title of The Catholic Kingdom.

Also on this day according to the ROMAN MARTYROLOGY:

At Pergamus in Asia, the birthday of the holy martyrs Carpus, bishop of Thyatira, Papylus, deacon, and his sister Agathonica, an excellent woman, Agathadorus, their servant, and many others, who after various torments were for their blessed confession crowned with martyrdom in the persecution of Marcus Antoninus Verus and Lucius Aurelius Commodus.

In this same persecution, there suffered at Rome that remarkable man, Justin the Philosopher, who had addressed to the emperors his second Apology in defence of our religion, and upheld it by strong arguments. Being accused of professing Christianity by the intrigues of the Cynic Crescens, whose conduct and immorality he had reproved, he obtained the reward of a martyr as a remuneration for his faithful confession.

The same day, the martyrdom of the Saints Maximus, Quinctillian and Dadas during the persecution of Diocletian.

At Ravenna, St. Ursus, bishop and confessor.

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

Thanks be to God.

12 APRIL – FERIA

On this day according to the ROMAN MARTYROLOGY:

At Verona, the martyrdom of the bishop St. Zeno, who governed that Church with great fortitude amid the storms of persecution and was crowned with martyrdom in the days of Gallienus.

In Cappadocia, in the reign of the emperor Valens, in the persecution raised against Christians by Athanaric, king of the Goths, St. Sabas, a Goth, who was cast into a river after undergoing cruel torments. According to St. Augustine, many other Christian Goths were at that time adorned with the crown of martyrdom.

At Braga in Portugal, St. Victor, martyr, who although only a catechumen, refused to adore an idol and confessed Jesus Christ with great constancy. After suffering many tortures he was beheaded and thus merited to be baptised in his own blood.

At Fermo in the Marches of Ancona, St. Vissia, virgin and martyr.

At Rome, on the Via Aurelia, the birthday of Pope St. Julius, who combated vigorously for the Catholic faith against the Arians. After a life of brilliant deeds and great sanctity he rested in peace.

At Gap, St. Constantine, bishop and confessor.

At Pavia, St. Damian, bishop.

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

Thanks be to God.

6 APRIL – FERIA

On this day according to the ROMAN MARTYROLOGY:

In Rome, the birthday of blessed Sixtus, pope and martyr, who governed the Church in the time of the emperor Hadrian. Under Antoninus Pius he joyfully endured a corporal death in order to gain Christ.

In Macedonia, the holy martyrs Timothy and Diogenes.

In Persia, one hundred and twenty holy martyrs.

At Ascalon, the holy martyrs Platonides and two others.

At Carthage, St. Marcellin, who was slain by the heretics for defending the Catholic faith.

At Rome, Pope St. Celestine, who condemned Nestorius, bishop of Constantinople, and put Pelagius to flight. It was also by his authority that the holy ecumenical Council of Ephesus was convoked against Nestorius.

In Ireland, the holy bishop Celsus who preceded blessed Malachy in the episcopate.

In Denmark, St. William, an abbot renowned for his saintly life and miracles.

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

Thanks be to God.

23 MARCH – FERIA OF LENT

On this day according to the ROMAN MARTYROLOGY:

In Africa, the holy martyrs Victorian, pro-consul of Carthage, and two brothers, of Aquaregia. Also two merchants, named Frementius, who, bishop Victor Africanus tells us, were subjected to most atrocious torments for their courageous confession of the Catholic faith, and gloriously crowned under the Arian king Hunneric, during the persecution of the Vandals.

Also in Africa, St. Fidelis, martyr.

In the same country, St. Felix, and twenty others.

At Caesarea in Palestine, the holy martyrs Nicon, and twenty-nine others.

Also the crowning of the holy martyrs Domitius, Pelagia, Aquila, Eparchius and Theodosia.

At Lima in Peru, the archbishop St. Turibius, through whose labours faith and ecclesiastical discipline were diffused through America.

At Antioch, St. Theodulus, priest.

At Caesarea, St. Julian, confessor.

In Campania, St. Benedict, a monk, who was shut up by the Goths in a burning furnace, but was the next day found uninjured.

At Barcelona, in Spain, St. Joseph Oriol, priest and beneficiary of the church of St. Mary of the Kings. He was remarkable for his love of poverty and his charity towards the needy and the infirm. Distinguished both in life and after death by the working of miracles, he was placed in the Martyrology by Pope St. Pius X.

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

Thanks be to God.

16 MARCH – FERIA OF LENT

On this day according to the ROMAN MARTYROLOGY:

At Rome, the martyrdom of the deacon St. Cyriacus, who, after a long imprisonment, was covered with melted pitch and stretched on the rack to have his limbs distended with ropes, was beaten with clubs, and finally beheaded with Largus, Smaragdus and twenty others, by order of Maximian. Their feast, however, is kept on the eighth of August, the day on which their bodies were taken up by the blessed Pope Marcellus and reverently entombed.

At Aquileia, in the time of the emperor Numerian and the governor Beronius, the birthday of the holy bishop Hilary, and the deacon Tatian, who terminated their martyrdom with Felix, Largus and Denis, after being subjected to the rack and other tortures.

In Lycaonia, the holy martyr Papas, who was scourged for the Christian faith, torn with iron hooks, then compelled to walk with shoes pierced with nails, and finally bound to a barren tree. In leaving this world to go to God, he rendered the tree fruitful.

At Anazarbum in Cilicia, under the governor Marcian, the martyr St. Julian, who was a long time tortured, then put into a sack with serpents and cast into the sea.

At Ravenna, St. Agapitus, bishop and confessor.

At Cologne, St. Heribert, a bishop, celebrated for sanctity.

At Clermont in Auvergne, the demise of St. Patrick, bishop.

In Syria, St. Abraham, hermit, whose life has been written by the blessed deacon Ephrem.

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

Thanks be to God.

5 MARCH – FERIA OF LENT

On this day according to the ROMAN MARTYROLOGY:

At Antioch, the birthday of the martyr St. Phocas who triumphed over the old serpent after many injuries which he suffered for the name of the Redeemer. That triumph is still manifested to the people in our days, for if any one stung by a serpent touches with faith the door of the martyr’s basilica, the power of the venom disappears and he is immediately cured.

At Caesarea in Palestine, in the persecution of Diocletian, St. Adrian, martyr, who, being first exposed to a lion for the faith of Christ and then killed with the sword by order of the governor Firmilian, received the crown of martyrdom.

The same day, the passion of the holy martyrs Eusebius, officer of the imperial palace, and nine others.

At Caesarea in Palestine, in the time of the emperor Severus, St. Theophilus, bishop, who was conspicuous by his wisdom and the purity of his life.

Also in Palestine, on the banks of the Jordan, the anchoret St. Gerasimus, who lived in the time of the emperor Zeno.

At Naples, the decease of St. John Joseph of the Cross, Promoter and first Provincial of the Italian branch of the Order of Discalced Friars Minor of St. Peter of Alcantara, who, by emulating the virtues of St. Francis of Assisi and St. Peter of Alcantara, became a new ornament of the Seraphic Order. He was canonised by Pope Gregory XVI.

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

Thanks be to God.

2 MARCH – FERIA

On this day according to the ROMAN MARTYROLOGY:

At Rome, on the Via Latina, the holy martyrs Jovinus and Basileus, who suffered under the emperors Valerian and Gallienus.

Also at Rome, under the emperor Alexander and the prefect Ulpian, many holy martyrs, who were a long time tortured and then condemned to capital punishment.

At Porto, the holy martyrs Paul, Heraclius, Secundilla and Januaria.

At Caesarea in Cappadocia, the holy martyrs Lucius, bishop, Absalom and Lorgius.

In Campania, the commemoration of eighty holy martyrs who were barbarously killed by the Lombards because they would not eat meat which had been offered to the idols, nor adore a goat’s head.

At Rome, St. Simplicius, pope and confessor.

In England, St. Chad, bishop of Mercia and Lindisfarne, whose brilliant virtues are mentioned by the Venerable Bede.

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

Thanks be to God.

27 FEBRUARY – FERIA

On this day according to the ROMAN MARTYROLOGY:

At Rome, the birthday of the holy martyrs Alexander, Abundius, Antigonus and Fortunatus.

At Alexandria, the passion of St. Julian, martyr. Although he was so afflicted with the gout that he could neither walk nor stand, he was taken before the judge with two servants who carried him in a chair. One of these denied his faith, but the other named Eunus persevered with Julian in confessing Christ. Both were set on camels, led through the whole city, scourged and burned alive in the presence of the people.

In the same city, St. Besas, a soldier, who was denounced to the judge, because he had reproved those who insulted the martyrs just mentioned. As he continued to proclaim his attachment to the faith, he was beheaded.

At Seville in Spain, the birthday of St. Leander, bishop of that city, by whose preaching and labours, with the assistance of King Recared, the nation of the Visigoths was converted from the Arian impiety to the Catholic faith.

At Constantinople, in the time of the emperor Leo, the holy confessors Basil and Procopius, who fought courageously for the worship of holy images.

At Lyons, St. Baldomer, a man of God, whose tomb is made illustrious by frequent miracles.

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

Thanks be to God.

10 FEBRUARY – SATURDAY OF SEXAGESIMA WEEK

Lesson – Genesis xi. 10‒30

These are the generations of Sem: Sem was a hundred years old when he begot Arphaxad, two years after the flood. And Sem lived after he begot Arphaxad, five hundred years, and begot sons and daughters. And Arphaxad lived thirty-five years, and begot Sale. And Arphaxad lived after he begot Sale, three hundred and three years; and begot sons and daughters. Sale also lived thirty years, and begot Heber. And Sale lived after he begot Heber, four hundred and three years; and begot sons and daughters. And Heber lived thirty-four years, and begot Phaleg. And Heber lived after he begot Phaleg, four hundred and thirty years: and begot sons and daughters. Phaleg also lived thirty years, and begot Reu. And Phaleg lived after he begot Reu, two hundred and nine years, and begot sons and daughters. And Reu lived thirty-two years, and begot Sarug. And Reu lived after he begot Sarug, two hundred and seven years, and begot sons and daughters. And Sarug lived thirty years, and begot Nachor. And Sarug lived after he begot Nachor, two hundred years: and begot sons and daughters. And Nachor lived nine and twenty years, and begot Thare. And Nachor lived after he begot Thare, a hundred and nineteen years: and begot sons and daughters. And Thare lived seventy years, and begot Abram, and Nachor, and Aran. And these are the generations of Thare: Thare begot Abram, Nachor, and Aran. And Aran begot Lot. And Aran died before Thare his father, in the land of his nativity in Ur of the Chaldees. gAnd Abram and Nachor married wives: the name of Abram’s wife was Sarah: and the name of Nachor's wife, Melcha, the daughter of Aran, father of Melcha, and father of Jescha. And Sarah was barren, and had no children.

Thanks be to God.

Dom Prosper Guéranger:

On the Saturday of the preceding week which was devoted to the consideration of the Fall of our First Parents, both in its own malice and in its sad consequences upon us, we turned our thoughts towards our Blessed Lady who, though a Daughter of Eve, was by the special mercy of God preserved from the stain of Original Sin. Let us end this week with a like act of veneration and love towards this Immaculate Queen of Heaven. We, even the most saintly among us, have not only been stained with Original Sin. We have our actual sins to grieve over and do penance for. This should give us a higher appreciation of Her, the one single member of the human family who never committed the slightest sin. Let us turn towards her and give expression to our feelings.

We, O Mary, have corrupted our way. We have disobeyed our Lord. We have broken His Law. We have preferred our own selfish gratifications to the service we owed Him. But you were ever filled with His holy love, and there passed not even a shadow of sin upon your soul, O spotless Mirror of Justice and holiness! Virgin most Faithful ! The grace of your Son ever triumphed in your Heart. Mystical Rose! The fragrance of your virtues unceasingly ascended to His throne, changing only in its daily increase of sweetness. Tower of Ivory! Fair beyond measure, without one spot to mar your purity! House of Gold! You ever reflected the precious Gifts of the Holy Ghost. Have pity, then, on us, for we are sinners. We have obliged our God to repent that He made us: but in you, dear Mother, He has ever been well pleased. You are the good land in which His Divine Seed yielded its thousand-fold of fruit: pray for us that He give fresh fertility to our hearts and root up from them the thorns which choke the heavenly plant. We are denied by sin. May He, through the merit of the tears you shed at the foot of the Cross mercifully cleanse us. If your Divine Son has already pardoned us, there are the consequences of our sins which still weaken and humble us like the sores of wounds that have been cured: take us, sweet Mother of our Jesus, under the mantle of your tender care. We have too little dread of sin. We are so often on the verge of offending our God. Oh get courage for these poor children of yours, and firmness of resolution and ambition for holiness of life. Your intercession must win for us that precious devotedness to God’s honour which kills the root of sin — love of our own selves. Oh accursed self-love which may lead us to Hell who are now perhaps in the grace of your Divine Son! The deluge, brought on by our sins, is hurrying its vengeance against mankind, and we, O Mary, are resolved to seek our refuge in the Ark of the Church, the safe shelter created for us by your Jesus. But we presume to pray to you for our brethren throughout the world. Our God has given you a power to stay His anger and to win for guilty mortals an extension of mercy: show this power now, for our world is provoking its Maker to destroy it. If the floodgate of His just indignation burst upon the face of our Earth, millions of souls that have been redeemed by the Blood of your Divine Son would be lost eternally. If the sweet Dove of Peace bring her olive-branch, only when that terrible Justice is appeased, it would be too late for your loving Heart. Come before the Deluge, beautiful Rainbow of our Father’s Reconciliation! A Mother’s love — a Mother who is the very Queen of Mercy — emboldens us to sue for universal mercy. Can the prayer of Her in whose purity and innocence the very God of Holiness finds no blemish be denied? Pray Him, then, to pardon us and all sinners.

12 JANUARY – FERIA

Dom Prosper Guéranger:

Having laid their offerings at the feet of Jesus as the sign of the alliance they had in the name of all mankind contracted with him, and laden with His graces and blessings, the Magi take their leave of the Divine Babe, for such was His will. They take their departure from Bethlehem, and the rest of the world seems a wilderness to them. Oh if they might be permitted to fix their abode near the new-born King and His incomparable Mother! But no: God’s plan for the salvation of the world requires that everything savouring of human pomp and glory should be far from Him who had come to take upon Himself all our miseries.

Besides, they are to be the first messengers of the Gospel. T hey must go and tell to the Gentiles that the Mystery of Salvation has begun, that the Earth is in possession of its Saviour, and that their salvation is near at hand. The Star does not return to them. They needed it to find Jesus, but now they have Him in their hearts and will never lose Him. These three men are sent back into the midst of the Gentile world as the leaven of the Gospel which, notwithstanding its being so little, is to leaven the whole paste (Matthew xiii. 33). For their sakes, God will bless the nations of the Earth. From this day forward infidelity will lose ground and faith will progress. And when the Blood of the Lamb having been shed, Baptism will be promulgated, the Magi will be not merely men of desire, but perfect Christians initiated into all the Mysteries of the Church.

The ancient tradition which is quoted by the author of The Imperfect Work on Saint Matthew, which is put in all the editions of Saint John Chrysostom and was probably written about the close of the sixth century, tells us that the three Magi were baptised by Saint Thomas the Apostle and devoted themselves to the preaching of the Gospel. But we scarcely need a tradition on such a point as this. The vocation of these three Princes could never be limited to the mere privilege of being the first among the Gentiles to visit the eternal King who had come down from Heaven to be born on this Earth and show Himself to His creatures. A second vocation was the consequence of the first, the vocation of preaching Jesus to men.

There are many details relating to the life and actions of the Magi after they had become Christians, which have been handed down to us. But we refrain from mentioning them as not being sufficiently ancient or important traditions to have induced the Church to give them place in her Liturgy. We would make the same observation with regard to the names assigned to them of Melchior, Gaspar and Balthassar. The custom of thus naming them is too modern to deserve credit, and though it might be indiscreet to deny that these were their true names, it seems very difficult to give proofs of their correctness.

The relics of these holy Kings were translated from Persia to Constantinople under the first Christian Emperors and for a long time were kept in the Church of Saint Sophia. At a later period they were translated to Milan, when Eustorglus was Bishop of that city. There they remained till the twelfth century when, through the influence of the Emperor Frederick Barbarossa, they were translated to the Cathedral Church of Cologne by Reynold, Archbishop of that metropolitan See. The relics are in a magnificent shrine, perhaps the finest specimen now extant of medieval metallic-art, and the superb Cathedral where it is religiously kept is, by its size and architectural beauty, one of the grandest churches of the Christian world.

* * * * *

Thus have we followed you, O Blessed Magi, Fathers of the Gentile world, from your first setting out from the East for Bethlehem, to your return to your own country, and even to your sacred resting place, which the goodness of God has made to be in this cold West of ours. It was the love of children for their parents that made us thus cling to you. Besides, were we not ourselves in search of that dear King whom you so longed for and found? Blessed be those ardent desires of yours, blessed be your obedience to the guidance of the Star, blessed be your devotion at the crib of Jesus, blessed be the gifts you made Him which while they were acceptable to God were full of instruction to us! We revere you as Prophets, for you foretold the characters of the Messiah by the selection of your three gifts. We honour you as Apostles, for you preached, even to Jerusalem herself, the birth of the humble Jesus of Bethlehem, of that Jesus whom His Disciples preached not till after the triumph of His Resurrection. We hail you as the Spring Flowers of the Gentile world, but Flowers which produced abundant and rich fruits, for you brought over entire nations and countless people to the service of our divine King. Watch over us and protect the Church. Be mindful of those Eastern countries whence rises to the Earth the light of day, the beautiful image of your own journey towards Bethlehem.

Bless this Western world of ours, which was buried in darkness when you first saw the Star, and is now the favoured portion of God’s Earth, and on which the Divine Sun of Justice pours forth His brightest and warmest rays. Faith has grown weak among us. Rekindle it. Obtain of the divine mercy that the West may ever send forth her messengers of salvation to the south, and north, and even to that infidel East where are laid the tents of Sem, and where the light that you gave her has been long extinguished by her apostasy. Pray for the Church of Cologne, that illustrious sister of our holiest Churches in the West. May she preserve the faith, may she defend her sacred rights and liberty. May she be the bulwark of Catholic Germany, and be ever blessed by the protection of her Three Kings and the patronage of the glorious Ursula and her virginal army. Lastly, we beseech you, venerable Magi, to introduce us to the Infant Jesus and His Blessed Mother. And grant us to go through these forty days, which the Church consecrates to the Mystery of Christmas, with hearts burning with love for the Divine Child, and may that same love abide with us during the pilgrimage of our life on this Earth.

On this day according to the ROMAN MARTYROLOGY:

At Rome, in the time of the emperor Alexander, St. Tatiana, martyr, who was torn with iron hooks and combs, thrown to the beasts and cast into the fire, but, having received no injury, was beheaded and thus went to heaven.

In Achaia, St. Satyrus, martyr. As he passed before an idol, and breathed on it, making the sign of the cross on his forehead, the idol immediately fell to the ground. For this reason he was beheaded.

The same day, St. Arcadius, martyr, illustrious by his noble birth and miracles.

In Africa, the holy martyrs Zoticus, Rogatus, Modestus, Castulus and forty soldiers gloriously crowned.

At Constantinople, the Saints Tygrius, priest, and Eutropius, lector, who suffered in the time of the emperor Arcadius.

At Tivoli, St. Zoticus, martyr.

At Ephesus, under Constantine Copronymus, the passion of forty-two holy monks who endured martyrdom after being most cruelly tortured for the defence of sacred images.

At Ravenna, St. John, bishop and confessor.

At Verona, St. Probus, bishop.

In England, St. Benedict, abbot and confessor.

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

Thanks be to God.

15 DECEMBER – FERIA

Dom Prosper Guéranger:

This, the eighth day from that on which we kept the Feast of the Immaculate Conception, is the Octave properly so called, whereas the other days were simply called days within the Octave. The custom of keeping up the principal Feasts for a whole week is one of those which the Christian Church adopted from the Synagogue. God had thus spoken in the Book of Leviticus: “The first day will be called most solemn and most holy, you must do no servile work therein... The eighth day also will be most solemn and most holy, and you must offer holocausts to the Lord, for it is the day of assembly and congregation; you must do no servile work therein” (Leviticus xxiii. 35, 36). We also read in the Book of Kings that Solomon having called all Israel to Jerusalem, for the dedication of the Temple, suffered not the people to return home until the eighth day. We learn from the Books of the New Testament that this custom was observed in our Saviour’s time, and we find Him authorising, by His own example, this solemnity of the Octave. Thus, we read in Saint John that Jesus once took part in one of the Jewish Festivals, about the midst of the Feast (John vii. 14) of Zachary opened, and He prophesied, saying, and the same Evangelist relating how our Lord cried out to the people: “If any man thirst, let him come to me, and drink”: observes, that it was on the last and great day of the festivity (John vii. 37).

In the Christian Church, there are two kinds of Octaves: Privileged Octaves and Non-privileged Octaves. The first are so solemn that no feast of a Saint, occurring during them can be kept, but must be transferred to some other time out of the Octave. Neither, during these Octaves, can a Mass De Requiem be said unless the corpse be present for burial. Non-privileged Octaves admit the Feasts of Saints which occur during them, provided they are semi-doubles or of higher class. But a commemoration of the Octave must be made both in the Office and the Mass of the Feast, which thus takes precedence of the Octave, unless this Feast be itself one of a first or second Class. The Octave of the Immaculate Conception, the first that occurs in the Liturgical Year, is not privileged. It gives place, not only to the Sunday, but also to the feasts of Saint Damasus and Saint Lucy, and to the various local feasts which are of a double or semi-double rite.

Let us once more devoutly reverence the Mystery of Mary’s Immaculate Conception: our Emmanuel loves to see His Mother honoured. After all, is it not for Him and for His sake that this Bright Star was prepared from all eternity, and created when the happy time fixed by the divine decree came? When we honour the Immaculate Conception of Mary, it is really to the divine Mystery of the Incarnation that we are paying our just homage. Jesus and Mary cannot be separated, for Isaias tells us that She is the Branch, and He the Flower (Isaias xi. 1).

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We give you thanks, O Jesus our Emmanuel, because you have granted us to live during the time that the privilege of your Blessed Mother was proclaimed on this Earth: the glorious privilege with which you enriched the first instant of the life of the happy creature from whom you took upon yourself our human nature! This Definition of your Church has given us a clearer knowledge of your infinite holiness. It has taught us to see more distinctly the harmony there is in all your divine mysteries. But it also has impressed upon us the great truth that we ourselves, being destined to the most intimate union with you here, and to the face-to-face vision of your infinite Majesty hereafter, must labour without ceasing to purify ourselves from the smallest stains of sin. You have said: “Blessed are the clean of heart for they shall see God” (Matthew v. 8) and you show us by the dogma of your Blessed Mother’s Immaculate Conception, what is the purity which your sovereign sanctity demands of us. By the love which led you to preserve her from every stain of sin, have mercy on us who are her devoted children. You are so soon to be among us! Before many days are past, we will have yielded to yourinvitations and have presumed to approach your sacred crib. We are not yet ready, dear Jesus! The effects of original sin are still so plainly upon us, and, what is worse, there are so many of our own sins which we have added to this of our first parent: Oh prepare our hearts and our senses, for we will not approach to Bethlehem unworthily. The sinless purity of your Mother is not for us. We ask not for that , but we ask for forgiveness of our countless sins, for conversion, for hatred of the world and the world’s maxims, and for perseverance in your holy love.

O Mary! Created Mirror of divine Justice and purer than the Cherubim and Seraphim, in return for the homage paid you by this our generation, on that blissful day when the glory of your Immaculate Conception was proclaimed throughout the world, give us that abundant richness of your protecting love which you reserved till now. The world is shaken to its very foundations: your hand can help it to rest again. Hell has let loose upon mankind the most terrible of its spirits of wickedness who breathe but blasphemy and destruction, but at the same time the Church of your Jesus feels that her youth has been renewed within her, and that the seed of the divine word is broadcast and healthy in a thousand fresh portions of the Earth. Never was the battle more fierce on both sides: so that we need all our hope to make us feel that Hell will not prevail. Is this the great struggle which is to be followed by the day of judgement ?

O Blessed Mother of Jesus! O Queen of the universe! Can it be that the Star of your Immaculate Conception has shone in the heavens only to light up the ruin and wreck of this Earth? The sign foretold by the Beloved Disciple Saint John of the Woman that appeared in the heavens clad with the Sun, bearing on her head a crown of twelve stars, and crushing the Crescent beneath her feet (Apocalypse xii. 1) — has it not more brightness and power than that other which appeared in the heavens telling men that God’s anger was appeased, and that the deluge was over?

The light which shines upon us is from a Mother. It is our Mother that comes to console and heal us. It is Heaven that smiles upon poor guilty Earth. We have deserved the chastisement we have received, and more than we have received but the anger of God will give way, and He will spare us. The graces which God poured out upon the world on that great Day of the Church's Definition of Mary’s Immaculate Conception were not to be without their effect: a new period then commenced. Mary, on whom heresy had heaped its blasphemies for [four] hundred years, will again reign in the love of those whom her Son redeemed. Countries will abandon those errors which have made them slaves and dupes of men’s doctrines. The old serpent will again writhe under that crushing pressure which God set up from the beginning, and the divine Sun of Justice will pour out on the regenerated world the floods of a light more than ever dazzling and resplendent. We may not live to see that time but we have signs of its near approach.

It was in the last century that your devout servant whom the Church has placed upon her altars, Leonard of Porto-Maurizio, predicted that when this dogma of your Immaculate Conception should be defined, the world would enjoy a long period of peace. The troubles of the present time in which we are living are, we doubt not, a prelude to that happy peace during which the divine word will traverse the whole world unimpeded, and the Church Militant will reap her harvest for the Church in Heaven. Sweet Mother of our Jesus! The world was also in agitation in those times which preceded the birth of your divine Son, but peace reigned throughout the whole Earth when you gave it its Saviour in Bethlehem. Until that grand time comes when you will show to the world the magnificence of the power which God has given to you, assist us, each year, to prepare for the glorious solemnity of Christmas: pray for us that we may be cleansed from all our sins when that splendid Night comes, during which will be born of you Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the Light eternal.

On this day according to the ROMAN MARTYROLOGY:

The consecration of St. Eusebius (315‒371 AD), bishop of Vercelli, whose birthday is commemorated on the first of August. His feast is kept on the sixteenth of this month by order of Pope Benedict XIII.

At Rome, the holy martyrs Irenaeus, Anthony, Theodore, Saturninus, Victor and seventeen others, who suffered for Christ in the persecution of Valerian.

In Africa, the martyrdom of the Saints Faustinus, Lucius, Candidus, Caelian, Mark, Januarius and Fortunatus.

In the same country, the holy bishop Valerian, who, being upwards of eighty years old, in the persecution of the Vandals under the Arian king Genseric, was asked to deliver the vessels of the church, and as he constantly refused, an order was issued to drive him all alone out of the city, and all were forbidden to allow him to stay either in their houses or on their land. For a long time he remained lying on the public road, in the open air, and thus, in the confession and defence of the Catholic verity, closed his blessed life.

In the diocese of Orleans, St. Maximinus, confessor.

In Georgia, beyond the Euxine sea, St. Christiana, who, though a slave, was so gifted with the power of working miracles that she converted the inhabitants of that country to the faith of Christ in the time of Constantine.

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

Thanks be to God.

15 DECEMBER – FRIDAY OF THE SECOND WEEK OF ADVENT

Lesson at Matins – Isaias xxiv. 1‒15

Behold the Lord will lay waste the Earth, and will strip it: and will afflict the face thereof, and scatter abroad the inhabitants thereof. And it will be as with the people, so with the priest; and as with the servant, so with his master; as with the handmaid, so with her mistress; as with the buyer, so with the seller; as with the lender, so with the borrower as with him that calls for his money, so with him that owes. With desolation will the Earth be laid waste, and it will be utterly spoiled: for the Lord has spoken this word. The Earth mourned, and faded away, and is weakened: the world faded away, the height of the people of the Earth is weakened. And the Earth is infected by the inhabitants thereof: because they have transgressed the laws, they have changed the ordinance, they have broken the everlasting covenant. Therefore will a curse devour the Earth and the inhabitants thereof will sin, and therefore they that dwell therein will be mad, and few men will be left. The vintage has mourned, the vine has languished away, all the merry hearted have sighed. The mirth of timbrels has ceased, the noise of them that rejoice is ended, the melody of the harp is silent. They will not drink wine with a psalm: the drink will be bitter to them that drink it. The city of vanity is broken down, every house is shut up, no man comes in. There will be a crying for wine in the streets: all mirth is forsaken, the joy of the Earth is gone away. Desolation is felt in the city, and calamity will oppress the gates. For it will be thus in the midst of the Earth, in the midst of the people, as if a few olives that remain should be shaken out of the olive tree: or grapes, when the vintage is ended. These will lift up their voice, and will give praise, when the Lord will be glorified, they will make a joyful noise from the sea. Therefore glorify ye the Lord in instruction: the name of the Lord God of Israel in the islands of the sea. From the ends of the Earth we have heard praises, the glory of the just one.

Thanks be to God.

Dom Prosper Guéranger:

Thus was the Earth in desolation when the Messiah came to deliver and save it. So diminished, so decayed, were truths among the children of men (Psalm xi. 2) that the human race was bordering on its ruin. The knowledge of the true God was becoming rarer as the world got older. Idolatry had made everything in creation an object of its adulterous worship. The practical result of a religion which was but gross materialism, was frightful immorality. Man was for ever at war with man, and the only safeguards of what social order still existed in the world were the execrable laws of slavery and extermination. Among the countless inhabitants of the globe, a mere handful could be found who were seeking God. They were as rare as the olives that remain on the tree after a careful plucking, or as grape-bunches after the vintage is ended. Of this happy few were among the Jewish people those true Israelites whom our Saviour chose for His disciples and, among the Gentiles, the Magi that came from the East, asking for the new-born King, and later on, Cornelius the Centurion, whom the Angel of the Lord directed to Saint Peter.

But, with what faith and joy did they not acknowledge the Incarnate God! And what their hymns of glad gratitude when they found that they had been privileged above others, to see, with their own eyes, the promised Saviour! Now, all this will again happen when the time draws near of the second Coming of the Messiah. The Earth will once more be filled with desolation and mankind will be again a slave of its self-degradation. The ways of men will again grow corrupt and this time the malice of their evil will be the greater because they will have received Him who is the Light of the world, the Word of Life. A profound sadness will sit heavy on all nations, and every effort for their well-being will seem paralysed. They and the Earth they live on will be conscious of decrepitude, and yet it will never once strike them that the world is drawing to an end. There will be great scandals. There will fall stars from Heaven, that is, many of those who had been masters in Israel will apostatise and their light will be changed into darkness. There will be days of temptation and faith will grow slack, so that when the Son of Man will appear, faith will scarce be found on the Earth.

Let it not be, O Lord, that we live to see those days of temptation. Or, if it be your will that they overtake us, make our hearts firm in their allegiance to your holy Church, which will be the only beacon left to your faithful children in that fierce storm. Grant, O Lord, that we may be of the number of those chosen olives, of those elect bunches of grapes, with which you will complete the rich harvest which you will garner forever into your house. Preserve intact within us the deposit of faith which you have entrusted to us. Let our eye be fixed on that Orient of which the Church speaks to us, and where you are suddenly to appear in thy majesty. When that day of yours comes and we behold your triumph, we will shout our glad delight and then, like eagles which cluster round the body, we will be taken up to meet you in the air, as your Apostle speaks, and thus will we forever be with you (1 Thessalonians iv. 16). Then we will hear the praises and glory of the Just One, from the ends of this Earth, which it is your good will to preserve until the decrees of your mercy and justice will have been fully executed. Jesus! We are the work of your hands: save us and be merciful to us on that great day.