23 APRIL – SAINT GEORGE (Martyr)

Dom Prosper Guéranger:

Clad in his bright coat of mail, mounted on his warsteed and spearing the dragon with his lance — George, the intrepid champion of our Risen Jesus, comes gladdening us today with his feast. From the East where he is known as The great Martyr, devotion to Saint George soon spread in the Western Church, and our Christian armies have always loved and honoured him as one of their dearest Patrons. His martyrdom took place in Paschal Time and thus he stands before us as the Guardian of the glorious Sepulchre, just as Stephen, the Proto-martyr, watches near the crib of the Infant God.

The Roman Liturgy gives no Lessons on the life of Saint George, but in their stead reads to us a passage from Saint Cyprian on the sufferings of the Martyrs. This derogation from the general rule dates from the fifth century. At a celebrated Council held in Rome in 490, Pope Saint Gelasius drew up, for the guidance of the Faithful, a list of books which might or might not be read without danger. Among the number of those that were to be avoided he mentioned the “Acts of Saint George” as having been compiled by one, who besides being an ignorant man, was also a heretic. In the East, however, there were other “Acts” of the holy Martyr, totally different from those current in Rome, but they were not known in that City. The cultus of Saint George lost nothing, in the Holy City by this absence of a true Legend. From a very early period a church was built in his honour. It was one of those that were selected as Stations, and gave a Title to a Cardinal. It exists to this day, and is called Saint George in Velabro (the Veil of Gold). Still the Liturgy of today’s feast, by the exclusion of the Saint’s Life from the Office, perpetuates the remembrance of the severe Canon of Gelasius.

The Bollandists were in possession of several copies of the forbidden “Acts.” They found them replete with absurd stories, and, of course, they rejected them. Father Papebroke has given us other and genuine “Acts” written in Greek and quoted by Saint Andrew of Crete. They bring out the admirable character of our martyr who held an important post in the Roman army during the reign of the Emperor Diocletian. He was one of the first victims of the Great Persecution, and suffered death at Nicomedia. Alexandra, the Emperor’s wife, was so impressed at witnessing the Saint’s courage that she professed herself a Christian and shared the crown of martyrdom with the brave soldier of Christ.

As we have already said, devotion to Saint George dates from a very early period. Saint Gregory of Tours gives us several proofs of its having taken root in Gaul. Saint Clotilde had a singular confidence to the holy Martyr, and dedicated to him the Church of her dear Abbey of Chelles. But this devotion became more general and more fervent during the Crusades when the Christian armies witnessed the veneration in which Saint George was held by the Eastern Church, and heard the wonderful things that were told of his protection on the field of battle. The Byzantine historians have recorded several remarkable instances of the kind, and the Crusaders returned to their respective countries publishing their own experience of the victories gained through the Saint’s intercession. The Republic of Genoa chose him for its Patron, and Venice honoured him as its special Protector after Saint Mark. But nowhere was Saint George so enthusiastically loved as in England. Not only was it decreed in a Council held at Oxford in 1222 that the feast of the Great Martyr should be observed as one of Obligation, not only was devotion to the valiant Soldier of Christ encouraged throughout Great Britain by the first Norman Kings — but there are documents anterior to the invasion of William the Conqueror which prove that Saint George was invoked as the special Patron of England even so far back as the ninth century. Edward III did but express the sentiment of the country when he put the Order of the Garter, which he instituted in 1330, under the patronage of the Warrior Saint. In Germany, King Frederic III founded the Order of Saint George in 1468.

Saint George is usually represented as killing a Dragon. And where the representation is complete, there is also given the figure of a Princess whom the Saint thus saves from being devoured by the monster. This favourite subject of both sacred and profane Art is purely symbolical and is of Byzantine origin. It signifies the victory won over the devil by the Martyr’s courageous profession of faith. The Princess represents Alexandra who was converted by witnessing the Saint’s heroic patience under his sufferings. Neither the “Acts” of Saint George nor the Hymns of the Greek Liturgy allude to the Martyr having slain a Dragon and rescued a Princess. It was not till after the fourteenth century that this fable was known in the West, and it arose from the putting a material interpretation on the emblems wherewith the Greeks honoured Saint George, and which were introduced among us by the Crusaders.

* * * * *

You, George, are the glorious type of a Christian soldier. While serving under an earthly monarch you did not forget your duty to the King of Heaven. You shed your blood for the faith of Christ and He, in return, appointed you Protector of Christian armies. Be their defender in battle and bless with victory them that fight in a just cause. Protect them under the shadow of your standard. Cover them with your shield. Make them the terror of their enemies. Our Lord is the God of Hosts and He frequently uses war as the instrument of his designs, both of justice and mercy. They alone win true victory who have Heaven on their side, and these, when on the battlefield, seem to the world to be doing the work of man whereas it is the work of God they are furthering. Hence are they more generous, because more religious, than other men. The sacrifices they have to make, and the dangers they have to face, teach them unselfishness. What wonder, then, that soldiers have given so many Martyrs to the Church!

But there is another warfare in which we Christians are all enlisted, and of which Saint Paul speaks when he says: “Labour as a good soldier of Christ, for no man is crowned save he that strives lawfully” (2 Timothy ii. 5). That we have thus to strive and fight during our life the same Apostle assures us of it in these words: “Take to you the Armour of God, that you may be able to resist in the evil day, and to stand in all things perfect. Stand, therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the Breastplate of justice, and your feet shod with the preparation of the Gospel of peace. In all things taking the Shield of Faith, with which you may be able to extinguish all the fiery darts of the most wicked one. And take to you the Helmet of the hope of salvation, and the Sword of the spirit, which is the word of God” (Ephesians vi. 13, 17). We, then, are soldiers, as you were, holy Martyr! Before ascending into Heaven our divine Leader wishes to review His troops. Present us to Him. He has loaded us with honours notwithstanding our past disloyalties. We must, henceforth, prove ourselves worthy of our position. In the Paschal Communion which we have received we have a pledge of victory. How can we ever be so base as to permit ourselves to be conquered? Watch over us, O sainted warrior! Let your prayers and example encourage us to fight against the dragon of Hell. He dreads the armour we wear, for it is Jesus Himself that prepared it for us, and tempered it in His own Precious Blood: oh that like you we may present it to Him whole and entire when He calls us to our eternal rest.

There was a time when the whole Christian world loved and honoured your memory with enthusiastic joy. But now, alas, this devotion has grown cold, and your feast passes by unnoticed by thousands. O holy Martyr, avenge this ingratitude by imitating your Divine King who makes His sun to rise on both good and bad. Take pity on this world, perverted as it is by false doctrines, and tormented at this very time by the most terrible scourges. Have compassion on your dear England which has been seduced by the Dragon of Hell, and by him made the instrument for effecting his plots against the Lord and His Christ. Take up your spear as of old. Give the Monster battle and emancipate the Isle of Saints from his slavish yoke. Heaven and Earth join in this great prayer. In the name of our Risen Jesus, aid your own and once devoted people to a glorious resurrection!

Also on this day according to the ROMAN MARTYROLOGY:

At Valence in France, the holy martyrs Felix, priest, Fortunatus and Achilleus, deacons, who were sent there to preach the word of God by blessed Irenseus, bishop of Lyons, and converted the greater portion of that city to the faith of Christ. These martyrs were cast into prison by the commander Cornelius, were a long time scourged, had their legs crushed, were bound to wheels in motion, and stifled with smoke while stretched on the rack, and finally died by the sword.

In Prussia, the birthday of St. Adalbert, bishop of Prague, and martyr, who preached the Gospel to the Poles and Hungarians.

At Milan, St. Marolus, bishop and confessor.

At Toul in France, St. Gerard, bishop of that city.

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

Thanks be to God.

23 APRIL – THURSDAY OF THE THIRD WEEK AFTER EASTER

Dom Prosper Gueranger:

This Church, founded and maintained by Christ, is it nothing more than a society of minds that know, and of hearts that love, the truths revealed to it by heaven? Have we adequately defined it when we call it “a spiritual society”? No, most assuredly, for we are told that it was to spread, and actually has been spread, throughout the whole world. Now, how could such progress and conquest have taken place if the spiritual society founded by our Redeemer had not also been exterior and visible? On earth souls cannot hold inter-communication without the bodies. “Faith comes by hearing,” says the Apostle, “and how will they hear without a preacher?” (Romans x. 17, 24).

When, therefore, our Risen Jesus says to His Apostles: “Go, teach all nations,” (Matthew xxviii. 19), He distinctly implies that the word of God will be heard, that it will resound throughout the world, and that its sound will be heard both by them that obey, and by them that reject, the teaching of his ministers. Has this word a right to circulate thus freely independently of any permission from earthly powers? Yes, for the Son of God has said: “Go, teach all nations!” He must be obeyed. The word of God cannot be fettered (2 Timothy ii. 9).

The word, then, the exterior word is free, and being free it obtains numerous disciples. Will these disciples live isolated? Will they not rather group around their apostle, the better to profit by his teaching? Will they not look on one another as brethren and members of the same family? And if so, they must hold their assemblies. Thus, the new people is brought before the notice of the world. It was necessary that this should be, for if this people which is to attract all others to itself be not visible, how can it do its work?

But the people thus assembled must have their buildings, their temples. Therefore do they erect houses of preaching and prayer. The stranger — that is, he who is not a Christian — seeing these new places of worship, asks: “What means all this? From where come these people who pray aloof from their fellow-citizens? Would not one be inclined to say, that we have a nation within the nation?” The stranger is right: there is a nation within the nation, and it will continue to be so until the whole nation itself have passed into the ranks of this new people.

Every society stands in need of laws. The Church therefore will not be long without giving outward proof of her internal government. There are her festivals, her solemnities, which denote a great people. Her ritual rules, forming a visible bond of union between the members of her society, and this not merely during the hours of divine service. There are commandments and orders made by the various degrees of the hierarchy, which are promulgated and claim obedience. There are institutions and corporations existing within the great society itself, and they add to her strength and beauty. In a word, there is everything that is needed, even penal laws against offending and refractory members.

But it does not suffice to the Church that she have places where her children can assemble together; provision must also be made for the support of her clergy, for the expenses attendant on the divine worship, for the necessities of her indigent members. Aided by the generosity of her children, she enters into possession of certain landed properties which become sacred by reason of their use, as also because of the superhuman dignity of her who owns them. Nay more, when the princes of this earth, tired of their vain efforts to stay the Church’s progress, will ask to be admitted as her children, a new necessity will arise from this: the supreme Pontiff can be no longer the subject of any temporal sovereign, and he himself must become King. The Christian world hails with joy this crowning of the work of Christ to whom all “power has been given in heaven and in earth,” (Matthew xxviii. 18) and who was one day to reign, with temporal power, in the person of his vicar.

Such is the Church: a spiritual, but, at the same time, an exterior and visible Society, just in the same way as man is spiritual because of his soul, and yet is material because of his body, which is an essential part of his being. The Christian, therefore, should love the Church such as God has made her: he should detest that false and hypocritical spiritualism which, with a view to subvert the work of Christ, would confine religion within the exclusively spiritual domain. We never can admit such a limitation. The Divine Word has assumed our flesh. He permitted His creature man to hear and see and handle Him, (John i. 1) and when He organised his Church on earth He made it speaking, visible and, so to say, palpable. We are a vast State. We have our King, our magistrates, our fellow-citizens, and we should be willing to lay down our lives for this supernatural country whose excellence is as far superior to that of our earthly country, as Heaven is better than the whole earth. Satan has an instinctive hatred for this country, which is to bring us to the Paradise from which he has been driven. He has used every means in his power to ruin it. He began by attacking the liberty of the word which is preached to men, and leads them to the Church. Did not his first agents forbid the Apostles to speak at all in the name of Jesus to any man? (Acts iv. 17, 18) The strategy was shrewd enough, and although it failed to arrest the progress of the Gospel, it has ever been resorted to by the enemy, even to this very day.

The powers of the world have always been jealous of the Christians assembling together. The jealousy began early, and has periodically manifested its fury during these [twenty] centuries. Frequently during a fit of persecution we have been obliged to flee to caves and forests, and seek the hours of night for our celebrations of the mysteries of light, and for our singing the praises of the Divine Sun of Justice. Our dearest churches, which had been erected by the piety of our ancestors, and were sacred by innumerable memories, how many times have they not been made ruins! Satan’s ambition is to efface every vestige of Christ’s kingdom on earth, for that kingdom is his defeat. The laws promulgated by the Church, and the communications of the pastors with one another and with the Sovereign Pontiff — these also have excited the most tyrannical jealousy. The right of self-government has been denied to the Church. Servile men have aided emperors and kings to fetter the Spouse of Christ. Her temporal possessions, too, have tempted the avarice of sovereigns. These possessions procured her independence. It was therefore considered necessary to rob her of them, that she might become the creature of the State. Wicked as the attempt was, and one which has brought the most terrible chastisements upon the countries where it was perpetrated, yet there is one more wicked still, which is even now being plotted, and aims at depriving of his Throne, venerable by its thousand years’ duration, the Pontiff who holds in his sacred hands the keys of the Kingdom of God. Meanwhile, the most detestable errors are being propagated. Among these we would mention one, which in spite of its impious absurdity, finds favour with thousands: we mean the doctrine that the Church should be purely spiritual, or, if it is to be a visible Church, that it should be an instrument in the hands of government for political purposes. Let us hold such doctrine in execration. Let us think of those countless martyrs who have shed their blood in order to the maintaining and securing to the Church of Christ her position as a society, visible, external, independent of every human power, in a word, complete in herself. It may be, that we are the last inheritors of the promise, and if so, it would be an additional reason for our proclaiming the rights of the Spouse of Christ, upon whom He has conferred the empire of the world, which only exists because of her, and will be destroyed as soon as it refuses her a resting place.

22 APRIL – WEDNESDAY OF THE THIRD WEEK AFTER EASTER

Dom Prosper Gueranger:

There is nothing on Earth so grand, nothing so exalted, as the Princes of the Church, the Pastors appointed by the Son of God who are to follow on, in unbroken succession, to the end of time. But let us not suppose that the subjects of this vast empire called the Church are devoid of dignity and greatness. The Christian People (in which both prince and beggar are equally subjects), is superior to every other, in intellectual and moral worth. It carries civilisation with it, wherever it goes, for it carries with it the true notion of God and of the supernatural end of man. Barbarism recedes. Pagan institutions, however ancient they may be, are forced to give way. Even Greece and Rome laid down their own to adopt the laws of the Christian Code — the Code which was based on the Gospel.

The Apostle Saint Peter, the universal Shepherd, into whose hands the Divine Shepherd placed the keys, thus describes the Flock entrusted to his care: “You are a chosen generation, a kingly priesthood, a holy nation, a purchased people, that you may declare his virtues, who has called you out of darkness into his marvellous light” (1 Peter ii. 9). So indeed it is. Divine truth is entrusted to this People, and its light can never be extinguished among them. When the teaching authority has, with its infallibility, to proclaim a solemn definition in doctrinal matters, it first appeals to the faith of the Christian People, and the sentence declares that to be the truth which has been believed “everywhere, always, and by all.” Amid the Christian People there exists that strangest phenomenon under Heaven, union of mind, by which there is one common faith amid nations the most opposite to each other in every other respect. Let them be as hostile to one another as you please — in matters of faith, in submission to their Pastors, they are all one and the same great family. The most admirable, at times the most heroic virtues are to be found amid this People, for Jesus has given it a large share of that element of holiness with which His grace has enriched human nature.

Observe, too, how affectionately it is protected and honoured by its Pastors. Every Pastor, no matter what may be his rank in the Church is bound in virtue of his office to lay down his life for his sheep, if called upon to do it. The sacrifice is not even counted as an act of heroism. It is a strict duty. Shame and curse upon the Pastor who flees through cowardice! The Redeemer stigmatises such an one with the name of Hireling. Hence it is that during these last [two thousand] years, there have been so many thousands of Pastors who have given their lives for their flocks. One or other of their names are to be found in every page of the Church’s history. The list is headed by Saint Peter who was crucified like His Divine Master. It continues down to the Bishops of Cochin-China, Tonkin, and the Korea, whose recent martyrdoms attest that the Pastor has not ceased to consider himself as a victim for his flock. Thus, before confiding His lambs and sheep to Peter, Jesus asks him if he have greater love than the rest. If Peter love his Master, he will love his Master’s lambs and sheep. He will love them even to the laying down his life for them. For this reason, after entrusting him with the care of the whole flock, our Saviour tells Peter that he is to die a martyr. Happy is that people whose rulers only exercise their authority on the condition of their being ready to die for these their Master’s sheep! If one of these should evince in his life the marks which denote sanctity, and this so far as to deserve to be proposed to the Faithful as a model and intercessor — you will see not only the Priest whose word calls down the Son of God upon the altar, not only the Bishop whose sacred hands wield the pastoral staff, but the very Vicar of Christ, humbly kneeling before the tomb or statue of the Servant of God, how poor or despised soever he or she may have been on this Earth.

The sacred Hierarchy testifies the same sentiments of respect for the sheep of Christ, on every occasion. Thus in a baptised babe that knows not how to utter a single word, that is not counted among the citizens of the State, that, like a tender flower, may perhaps have faded before the close of day — yet does the Pastor recognise in it a worthy member of the Body of Christ, the Church. He reverences it as a being that is enriched with gifts so sublime, as to be an object of Heaven’s love, and a source of blessing to all around it. When the Faithful are assembled in the House of God, and the sacred oblations and altar have been thurified, the Celebrant, as the representative of Christ, and any others of the Clergy who may be in the Sanctuary are also honoured with the same mysterious tribute of homage. But the Incense is to go beyond the Sanctuary. The Thurifer advances towards the People, and, in the name of the Church, gives them the same honour as that just given to the Pontiff and the Clergy, for the Faithful People are also members of Christ. Again: when the corpse of a Christian, even though he may have been the poorest of the poor, is carried into the House of God — observe what honour is paid to his mortal remains! On this occasion, also, the Incense is made to express the affectionate homage with which the Church honours the Christian character of her children. O Christian People! How truly may we say of you what Moses said of Israel: “There is no other nation so great as you!” (Deuteronomy iv. 7).

21 APRIL – SAINT ANSELM (Bishop and Doctor of the Church)

 

Anselm was born at Aosta, a town on the confines of Italy, of noble and Catholic parents, Gondolphe and Hermenberga. From his early childhood he gave great promise of future holiness and learning by his love of study and his longing after a life of perfection. The ardour of youth made him indulge for a while in worldly pleasures, but he speedily returned to his former virtuous life. And then, leaving his country and all that he possessed, he repaired to the Monastery of Bec, of the Order of Saint Benedict. There he made his religious profession under the Abbot Herluin, a most zealous lover of monastic discipline, and (Prior) Lanfranc, a man of great repute for learning. Such was the fervour of his piety, his application to study, and his desire to advance in virtue, that everyone held him in the highest veneration as a model of holiness and learning.

So mortified was he in eating and drinking, and so frequent were his fasts, that he seemed to have lost the sense of taste. He spent the day in the performance of monastic duties and in giving answers, both by word of mouth and by letters, to the several questions proposed to him concerning matters of religion. He passed a considerable portion of the time allotted to sleep in nourishing his soul with holy meditations, during which he shed abundant tears. Being made Prior of the Monastery, certain of his brethren were jealous at his promotion but he so far gained them over by charity, humility and prudence that their jealousy was changed into love both of their Prior and their God, to the great advantage of regular discipline.

At the death of the Abbot Anselm was chosen to succeed him, and reluctantly accepted the office. It was then that his reputation for learning and virtue began to spread far and wide, and secured him the respect of kings and bishops. Not only so, but even Gregory VII who, at that time, was suffering much from persecution, honoured him with his friendship and wrote to him letters full of affection begging of him to pray for him and the Church. At the death of Lanfranc, Archbishop of Canterbury, who had been his former master, Anselm was compelled, much against his own will, to accept the government of that See. William, king of England, the clergy and the people all urged him to it. He immediately set himself to reform the corrupt morals of the people.

By word and example, first, and then by his writings, and by the holding Councils, he succeeded in restoring ancient piety and ecclesiastical discipline. But it was not long before King William attempted, both by violence and threats, to interfere with the rights of the Church. Then did Anselm resist him with priestly courage, for which his property was confiscated and he himself banished from the country. He turned his steps towards Rome, where Pope Urban II received him with great marks of honour, and passed a high enconium upon him at the Council of Bari where Anselm proved against the Greeks, by innumerable quotations from the Scriptures and the Holy Fathers, that the Holy Ghost proceeds also from the Son.

After William’s death, Anselm was recalled to England by King Henry, William’s brother. Shortly after his return, he slept in the Lord. He was justly venerated on account of his miracles and his virtues. among which latter may be mentioned his great devotion to the Passion, and to the Holy Mother of Jesus. He moreover acquired a high reputation by his learning which he used in the defence of the Christian religion, and for the good of souls. He first set the example to those theologians who have followed the scholastic method in treating on the sacred sciences. The works he wrote prove that his wisdom was a gift bestowed on him by Heaven.

Dom Prosper Guéranger:

A Monk, a Bishop, a Doctor of the Church — such was the Saint whose feast comes gladdening us on this twenty-first day of April. He was a Martyr, also, at least in desire, and we may add, in merit too, for he did enough to earn the glorious palm. When we think of Anselm, we picture to ourselves a man in whom are combined the humility and meekness of the cloister with the zeal and courage of the episcopal dignity: a man who was both a sage and a saint; a man whom it was impossible not to love and respect. He left his native country of Piedmont for the Monastery of Bec in France where he became a Benedictine monk. Being elected Superior, he realised in himself the type of an Abbot as drawn by Saint Benedict in his Rule: “He that is made Abbot,” says the holy Patriarch, “should study to give help rather than to give commands.” We read that the love entertained for Anselm by his brethren was beyond description. His whole time was devoted to them, either in giving them spiritual direction, or in communicating to them his own sublime knowledge of the sacred sciences. After governing them for several years, he was taken from them and compelled to accept the dignity of Archbishop of Canterbury. He was a worthy successor of Augustine, Dunstan, Elphege and Lanfranc. And by his own noble example of courage he prepared the way for the glorious Martyr Thomas, who succeeded him in less than a century.

As Bishop, his whole life was spent in fighting for the Liberty of the Church. Though gentle as a lamb by nature he was all energy for this great cause. He used to say: “Christ would not have His Spouse be a slave. There is nothing in this world that God loves more than the Liberty of His Church.” There was a time when the Son of God allowed Himself to be fettered with bonds in order that He might loosen us from the chains of our sins, but now that He has risen in triumph from the dead, He wills that His Spouse should be, like Himself, free. She cannot otherwise exercise the ministry of salvation confided to her by her Divine Lord, and yet there is scarcely a single hundred years of her existence in which she has not had to fight for this holy Liberty. The rulers of this Earth, with a very few exceptions, have ever been jealous of her influence, and have sought to lessen it by every possible means. In our own times there are numbers of her children who do not even know that she has any rights or privileges. They would be at a loss to understand you if you told them that she is the Spouse of Christ, and therefore a Queen. They think it quite enough for her if she enjoy the same amount of Freedom and Toleration as the Sects she condemns, and they cannot see how, under such conditions as these, the Church is not the kingdom He wished her to be, but a mere slave. Saint Anselm would have abominated all such theories as these. So does every true Catholic. He is not driven into disloyalty to the Church by the high-sounding words Progress and Modern Society. He knows that there is nothing on Earth equal to the Church. And when he sees the world convulsed by revolutions he knows that all comes from the Church having been deprived of her rights. One of these is that she should not only be recognised in the secret of our conscience as the one only true Church, but that, as such, she should be publicly confessed and outwardly defended against every opposition or error. Jesus, her Divine Founder, promised to give her all nations as her inheritance. He kept his promise, and she was once the Queen and Mother of them all. But nowadays a new principle has been asserted, to the effect that the Church and all Sects must be on an equal footing as far as the protection of the State goes. The principle has been received with acclamation and hailed as a mighty Progress achieved by modern enlightenment. Even Catholics, whose previous services to religion had endeared them to our hearts and gained our confidence, have become warm defenders of the impious theory.

Trying as were the times when Saint Anselm governed the See of Canterbury, they were spared the humiliation of producing and ratifying such doctrine as this. The tyrannical interference of the Norman Kings was an evil far less injurious than the modern system which is subversive of the very idea of a Church. Open persecution would be a boon compared to the fashionable error of which we are speaking. A winter torrent brings desolation in its track, but in the summer when the flood is over nature brings back her verdure and flowers. The errors which now prevail are like a great sea that gradually sweeps over the whole Earth. And when the Church can find no spot whereon to rest, she will take her flight to Heaven, and men must expect the speedy Coming of the Judge.

Anselm was not only the zealous and heroic defender of the rights and privileges of the Church. He was also a light to men by his learning. The contemplation of revealed truths was his delight. He studied them in their bearings one upon the other, and his writings occupy a distinguished place in the treatises of Catholic Theology. God had blessed him with extraordinary talent. Amid all the troubles and anxieties and occupations of his various duties, he found time for study. Even when passing from place to place as an exile he was intent on the meditation of the Mysteries of Religion, thus preparing those sublime reflections which he has left us on the Articles of our Faith.

* * * * *

O holy Pontiff Anselm! Beloved of God and men! The Church whose cause you so zealously defended on Earth celebrates, this day, your praise, and honours you as one of her dearest Saints. Your meekness, condescension and charity gave you a resemblance to Jesus, the Good Shepherd. Like Him, you could truly say: “I know my sheep, and my sheep know me” (John x. 14). You watched over them day and night, lest the wolf should come and find them unprotected. Far from fleeing at his approach, you went forth to meet him, and nothing could induce you to yield to his sacrilegious tyranny. Heroic Champion of the Church’s Liberty! Protect it in these our days when there is not a country left where it is not insulted or ignored. Raise up in every place Pastors with a spirit of holy independence such as you had, that thus the faithful may take courage, and that every Christian may boldly and proudly confess that he himself is a member of the Church, and that the interests of this our spiritual Mother are far more deserving of our solicitude than those of the whole world besides.

God had gifted you, Anselm, with that Christian philosophy which bows down to the teachings of Faith, and which, being thus purified by humility, is elevated to the intelligence of the sublimest truths. The Church, in acknowledgement of the benefits she derived from your learning has conferred on you the title of Doctor, which for a long time was confined to those great men who lived in the early Christian Ages, and whose writings are the reflex of the preaching of the Apostles. Your teaching has been deemed worthy of being numbered with that of the ancient Fathers, for it came from the same Divine Spirit, and was the result of prayer rather than of study. Obtain for us, holy Doctor, that “our faith,” like yours, “may seek understanding.” Nowadays there are many who blaspheme what they know not (Jude 10), but there are many also who know little or nothing of what they believe. Hence, a deplorable confusion of ideas, compromises made between truth and error, and the only true doctrines despised, scouted, or, at least, undefended. Pray to our heavenly Father, Anselm, that He would bless the world with holy and learned men who may teach the path of truth, and dispel the mists of error, that thus the children of the Church may not be led astray.

Look down with affection, O holy Pontiff, on the venerable Order which, when God called you from the vanities of the world, received you, made you one of her children, gave your soul its life, and to your mind the light of wisdom. She claims thy protection. You are a son of the great Patriarch Benedict. Forget not your brethren. Bless them in France, where you first embraced the monastic life. Bless them in England, where you were Primate, and yet still the humble monk. Pray for the two countries, for both are dear to you. Faith is weak in one, and heresy reigns supreme in the other. Beseech our Lord to show His mercy to both: He is all-powerful and He turns not a deaf ear to the prayers of His Saints. If, in His justice, He has decreed not to restore to these two countries their ancient Catholic Constitution, pray that at least the number of souls saved may be great, that conversions may be frequent, and that the labourers sent at the eleventh hour to the Vineyard may emulate the zeal of them that were the first called!

Also on this day according to the ROMAN MARTYROLOGY:

In Persia, the birthday of St. Simeon, bishop of Seleucia and Ctesiphon. He was arrested by order of Sapor, king of Persia, loaded with irons and presented to the iniquitous tribunals. As he refused to adore the sun and openly and courageously bore testimony to Jesus Christ, he was confined a long time in a dungeon with one hundred other confessors, among whom were bishops, priests and clerics of various ranks. Afterwards Usthazanes, the king’s foster-father, who had been converted from apostasy by Simeon, endured martyrdom with great constancy. The day after, which was the anniversary of Our Lord’s Passion, the companions of Simeon whom he had feelingly exhorted were beheaded before his eyes, after which he met the same fate. With him suffered also several distinguished men: Abdechalas and Ananias, his priests, with Pusicius, the chief of the royal artificers. This last having encouraged Ananias, who seemed to falter, died a cruel death, having his tongue drawn out through a perforation made in his neck. After him, his daughter who was a consecrated virgin was put to death.

At Alexandria, the holy martyrs Arator, priest, Fortunatus, Felix, Silvius and Vitalis who died in prison.

Also the Saints Apollo, Isacius and Crotates who suffered under Diocletian.

At Antioch, St. Anastasius Sinaita, bishop.

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

Thanks be to God.

21 APRIL – TUESDAY OF THE THIRD WEEK OF EASTER

Dom Prosper Gueranger:

The Church which our Risen Jesus is organising during these days, and which is to be spread throughout the whole world, is a true and complete society. It must, consequently, have within it a power to govern, and be able, by the obedience of its subjects, to maintain order and peace. As we have already seen, our Saviour supplied this want by establishing a Shepherd of both sheep and lambs, a Vicar of His own divine authority. Yet Peter, after all, is but a man and however sublime his authority, he cannot exercise it directly and personally over each member of the flock. The new society, has need therefore, of magistrates of a lower rank, who, as Bossuet so well expresses it, “are to be sheep with regard to Peter, and Shepherds with regard to the people.”

Jesus has provided for everything. He has chosen twelve men whom He calls His Apostles, and to them He is about to entrust the magistracy of His Church. By His having made Peter the head, and, as it were, His second self, He does not intend the rest of the Twelve to have no share in the great work He has come from heaven to achieve. Far from this, He destines them to be the pillars of the building of which He has already made Peter the foundation.

They are Twelve in number, as heretofore were the children of Jacob, for the ancient people was in everything a figure of the new. Before ascending into Heaven, Jesus gives them power to teach in every part of the world, and appoints them Pastors of the Faithful in every place wherever they may happen to be. They are all on an equality, save with regard to Peter, and the very fact of these wonderful depositories of Christ’s power being subject to Peter, is one of the clearest indications of the extraordinary authority committed to him by our Lord.

This unlimited delegation of pastoral power given to all the Twelve was intended as a means of the solemn promulgation of the Gospel, but it was to cease at their deaths save in the case of Peter, for his successor was alone to enjoy the apostolic power in its fullest extent. With this one exception, no lawful Pastor has ever been allowed to exercise an unlimited territorial authority. And yet, by creating the College of the Apostles, our Redeemer founded that sacred and venerable dignity which we call the Episcopacy. Although Bishops have not inherited either the universal jurisdiction, or the personal infallibility in teaching, of the Apostles, yet do they really hold, in the Church, the place of the Apostles.

Jesus puts into their hands, through the ministry of Peter’s successor, the keys of spiritual power, and these they use, that is, they therewith open and shut, throughout the whole extent of the territory placed under their jurisdiction. How magnificent is this Episcopal magistracy! See those thrones, on which are seated the Pontiffs of the whole Christian world! Leaning on their pastoral staff — the symbol of their power — they govern their respective flocks. Go where you will, you will find the Church, and a Bishop busily engaged in governing the flock entrusted to his charge. And when you reflect that all these Pastors are Brethren, that they all govern their flocks in the name of the same common Lord, and that all are united in obedience to one head, you will understand how the Church in which is exercised such an authority as this has everything that constitutes a complete society.

Under the Bishops, we find other subordinate magistrates in the Church. The reason of their being appointed is self-evident. Placed over a territory of greater or less extent, the Bishop stands in need of co-operators, who may represent his authority and exercise it in his name and under his orders, wherever he himself cannot personally do so. These are Priests, who have the care of souls. They correspond to the seventy-two Disciples chosen by our Saviour, and from whose number He selected the Twelve Apostles. Thus is completed the government of the Church. By means of this Hierarchy, everything works in the most admirable harmony: authority is derived from the one supreme Head, thence it flows to the Bishops, and these delegate it to the lower ranks of the Clergy.

We are now at the very season of the year when the spiritual jurisdiction which Jesus had promised to communicate to men, emanates from His own divine power. He thus solemnly confers it: “All power is given to one in heaven and in earth: going, therefore, teach all nations” (Matthew xxviii.18, 19). He communicates a portion of His own power to the Pastors of His Church: it is an emanation of His own authority in Heaven and on earth: and that we may have no doubts as to the source whence it flows, He says to them during these his last days on earth: “As the Father has sent me, I also send you” (John xx. 21).

So that the Father has sent the Son, and the Son sends the Pastors of the Church: nor will this mission ever be interrupted, so long as the world lasts. Peter will ever institute the Bishops. The Bishops will ever delegate a portion of their own authority to the Priests who have the charge of souls. No human power will ever be able to intercept this transmission, or have power to set up as Pastors them that have not partaken of it. Caesar (we mean, mere temporal sovereignty), will govern the State, but he will not have power to create a single Pastor, for Caesar has no share in the sacred Hierarchy out of which the Church recognises but subjects. He may command, as King or Emperor, in temporal matters, but he must obey, and as submissively as the last and poorest of the Faithful, the Pastor who has to govern him in what regards his soul. There will be times when Caesar will be jealous of this superhuman power. He will strive to intercept it, but it will elude his grasp, for it is a purely spiritual power. At other times, he will despise and persecute them that are invested with this power. Nay, he will occasionally attempt to exercise it himself, but his efforts will be as vain as they will be wicked, for this power, which emanates from Christ, cannot be confiscated nor interrupted. It is the salvation of the world, and, on the Last Day the Church will have to restore it intact to Him who deigned to entrust it to her before ascending to His Father.

20 APRIL – MONDAY OF THE THIRD WEEK AFTER EASTER

 

Dom Prosper Gueranger:

The first stone of the Church is laid, and on this foundation Jesus now begins to build. The Shepherd of the Sheep and Lambs has been proclaimed: it is time to form the Fold. The Keys of the Kingdom have been given to Peter: it is time to inaugurate the Kingdom. Now this Church, this Fold, this Kingdom, designate a society which is to be called Christian, after the name of its Founder. This society, composed of the disciples of Christ, is destined to receive within it every individual of the human race, and if all do not actually enter, it is not in consequence of any ban of exclusion. It will subsist to the end of time, for there can be no elect out of her pale. It will be One, for Christ says not: “I will build my Churches,” He speaks but of One. It will be Holy, for all the means of sanctification are in her keeping. It will be Catholic, that is, Universal, in order that being known in all times and places, men may be able to hear her teachings and follow them. It will be Apostolic, that is to say, that how long so ever this world may last, it will come down by lawful succession from these men with whom Jesus is, during these forty days, arranging everything that is connected with its establishment.

Such is to be the Church out of which there is to be no salvation for those, who, having known her, have refused to become her members. A few days hence, and the world will hear of her existence. The spark, that is now but in Judea, will soon become a fire spread throughout the whole earth. Before the close of the century, not only will there be members of the Church in every province of the vast Roman Empire, but even in countries where Rome has never planted the standard of her proud eagles. Nay more, this miraculous propagation is to be perpetual — in every age, new apostles will set forth and win new victories for this immortal Church. Nothing human is lasting, but the Church’s ceaseless duration will excite the spleen of incredulity and baffle all its calculations. Persecutions, heresies, schisms, apostacies and scandals — all will strive to work her ruin, but she will survive them all. The descendants of her bitterest foes will call her “Mother.” Thrones and dynasties, nations and even whole races will be carried away by the tide of time. She alone will subsist throughout the ages, stretching out her arms to receive all men, teaching ever the same truths, repeating, even to the last day, the same Symbol of Faith, and ever faithful to the instructions given her by our Risen Jesus during these forty days preceding His Ascension.

How shall we worthily thank you, O God, our Saviour, for your having, even at our first entrance into life, made us members of this your immortal Spouse, which alone possesses your heavenly teachings and the means by which is wrought salvation! We have no need to search for your Church. It is in and by her that we live the supernatural life even here below, and of which the perfection is to be given to us in heaven, provided we be faithful to grace. Oh! show your mercy to those countless souls who have not had the privilege we have enjoyed, and whose entrance into your Church is to cost them many a painful sacrifice. Strengthen them with light. Give them courage. Rouse them from indifference. Bless their efforts that thus, Divine Shepherd, your Fold may increase and your Church, your Spouse, may be as you have promised she ever will be, the joyful Mother of Children!

19 APRIL – SECOND SUNDAY AFTER EASTER (Good Shepherd Sunday)

Dom Prosper Gueranger:

This Sunday goes under the name of the Good Shepherd Sunday because in the Mass there is read the Gospel of Saint John in which our Lord calls Himself by this name. How very appropriate is this passage of the Gospel to this present Season when our Divine Master began His work of establishing and consolidating the Church by giving it the Pastor, or Shepherd, who was to govern it to the end of time!

In accordance with the eternal decree, the Man-God, on the fortieth day after His Resurrection, is to withdraw His visible presence from the world. He is not to be again seen on the earth till the Last Day when He will come again to judge the living and the dead. And yet, He could never abandon mankind for which He offered Himself on the Cross, and which He delivered from death and Hell by rising triumphantly from the grave. He will continue to be its Head after His Ascension into heaven: but what will we have on earth to supply His place? We will have the Church. It is to the Church that He will leave all His own authority to rule us. It is into the hands of the Church that He will entrust all the truths He has taught. It is the Church that He will make the dispenser of all those means of salvation which He has destined for the world.

This Church is a society to which all mankind is invited. It is composed of two classes of members: the governing and the governed, the teaching and the taught, the sanctifying and the sanctified. This society is the Spouse of Christ. It is by her that He produces His elect. She is the one only Mother of the elect. Out of her bosom there is no salvation. But how is this society to subsist? How is it to persevere through the long ages of time, even to the Last Day? Who is to give it unity and adhesion of its parts? What is to be the visible link between its members, the palpable sign of its being the true Spouse of Christ in the event of other societies rising up and disputing her titles? If Jesus Himself could have remained with us, we should have had nothing to fear, for where He is, there also are truth and life. But as He says, He is going, and we may not as yet follow Him. Give ear, then, and learn what is the primary quality of the true Spouse of Christ.

Jesus was one day, previous to His Passion, in the country of Caesarea Philippi. His Apostles were standing around Him, and He began questioning them about what they thought of Him. One of them, Simon the son of John or Jonas, and brother to Andrew, answered in the name of all, and said: “You are Christ, the Son of the living God!” (Matthew xvi. 16). Jesus expressed His pleasure at receiving Simon’s testimony, which was not the result of any human knowledge, but the expression of a divine revelation there and then granted to him. And He immediately told this Apostle that from that time forward he was to be, not Simon, but Peter (which means a Rock). Christ had been spoken of by the Prophets under the name of a Rock, or Stone (Isaias xxviii. 16). By thus solemnly conferring on His disciple a title so characteristically that of the Messiah, Jesus would give us to understand that Simon was to have a something in common with Himself which the other Apostles were not to have. After saying to him: “You are Peter, (that is, you are the Rock)” — He added: “And upon this Rock I will build my Church” (Matthew xvi. 18).

Let us weigh the force of these words of the Son of God: “He will build my Church.” He has, then, a project in view — He intends to build a Church. It is not now that He will build it, but at some future period. But one thing we already know as a certainty — it is, that this Church will be built on Peter. Peter will be its foundation and whoever is not on that foundation will not belong to the Church. Let us again give ear to the Text: “And the gates of Hell will not prevail against my Church.” In scriptural language gates signify the powers: the Church of Christ, therefore, is to be proof against all the efforts of Hell. And why? Because the foundation, which Jesus is to give to it, will be one that no power can shake. The Son of God continues: “And I will give you the keys of the kingdom of Heaven.” In the language of the Jews, keys signify the power of governing, and in the Gospel Parables the kingdom of Heaven is the Church built by Christ. By saying to Peter (which is henceforth to be Simon’s name), “I will give you the keys of the kingdom of Heaven,” Jesus implied this: “I will make you the king of my Church, of which you are to be the foundation!” Nothing could be clearer. But let us remember that all these magnificent promises regard the future.

That future has now become the present. We are now come to the last days of Jesus’ visible presence here below. The time is come for Him to make good His promise and found the Kingdom of God — that Church which he was to build on the earth. The Apostles, in obedience to the order sent them by the Angels, are come into Galilee. Our Lord appears to them on the shore of the lake of Tiberias: after providing them with a mysterious repast, and while they are all attentive to His words, He suddenly addresses Himself to Peter: “Simon, son of John, do you love me?” (John xxi. 15) Observe, He does not call Him Peter. He, as it were, goes back to the day when He said to him: “Simon, son of Jonas, you are Peter.” He would have His disciples note the connection between the promise and its actual fulfilment. Peter with his usual eagerness answers His Master’s question: “Yes Lord, you know that I love you.” Jesus resumes with a tone of authority: “Feed my lambs!” Then repeating the question, He says: “Simon, son of John, do you love me?” Peter is surprised at His Master’s urging such an inquiry. Still, he answers with the same simplicity as before: “Yes, Lord, you know that I love you”: and as soon as he had given answer, Jesus repeats the words of investiture: “Feed my lambs!” The disciples respectfully listen to this dialogue. They see plainly that, here again, Peter is made an object of Jesus’ partiality, and is receiving a something which they themselves are not to receive. They remember what happened at Cesarea Philippi, and how, ever since that day, Peter has been treated by their Master with especial honour. And yet, there is another privilege or office to be added to this of feeding the lambs. A third time, then, Jesus says to Peter: “Simon, son of John, do you love me?” This is too much for the Apostle. These three questionings of his love bring to his mind the three denials he had so sinfully made to the servant girl of Caiphas. He feels the allusion to his recent infidelity, and this third time his answer implies a prayer for forgiveness. His reply bespeaks humility rather than assurance: “Lord!” says he, “you know all things! You know that I love you!” Then, making Peter’s authority complete, Jesus pronounces these imposing words: “Feed my sheep!” (John xxi. 17)

Here, then, we have Peter made Shepherd by Him who says of Himself: “I am the good Shepherd.” Firstly, our Lord gives His Apostle, and twice over, the care of his lambs. This does not make him the complete Shepherd, but when He bids him feed His sheep too, the whole flock is subjected to his authority. Now, therefore, let the Church show herself, let her take her stand, let her spread herself through the length and breadth of the nations. Simon, the son of John, is proclaimed its visible head. Is the Church a building? He is the Foundation-Stone, the Petra, the Rock. Is she a kingdom? he holds the keys, that is, the sceptre. Is she a fold? He is the Shepherd. Yes, this Church which Jesus is now organising, and is to be proclaimed to the world on the day of Pentecost, is to be a fold. The Word, the Second Person of the Blessed Trinity, is come down from heaven that He may gather together in one the children of God, that were dispersed (John xi. 52) and the time is at hand when there will be but one Fold and one Shepherd (John x. 16). O Jesus! our Divine Shepherd! We bless you, we give you thanks. It is by you that the Church you are now founding subsists and lives through every age, congregating and saving all that put themselves under her guidance. Her authority, her strength, her unity, all come from you, her infinitely powerful and merciful Shepherd! We likewise bless and thank you for that you have secured this authority, this strength, this unity, by giving us Peter as your Vicar, Peter our Shepherd in and by you, Peter to whom all, both Sheep and Lambs, owe obedience, Peter in whom you, our Divine Head, will be forever visible, even to the end of the world!

Epistle – 1 Peter ii. 21‒25

Dearly beloved, Christ suffered for us, leaving you an example that you should follow His steps. Who did no sin, neither was guile found in His mouth. Who, when He was reviled, did not revile; when He suffered, He threatened not, but delivered Himself to him that judged Him unjustly. Who His own self bore our sins in His body upon the tree, that we being dead to sins, should live to justice. By by whose stripes you were healed. For you were as sheep going astray, but you are now converted to the Shepherd and Bishop of your souls.

Thanks be to God. 

Dom Prosper Gueranger:

It is the Prince of the Apostles, the visible Shepherd of the universal Church, who addresses these words to us. Observe how he ends by turning our thoughts to the invisible Shepherd whose Vicar he is, and how carefully he avoids any allusion to himself. So, also, when assisting his disciple Mark to write his Gospel, he would not allow him to relate the history of Christ’s having made him the Shepherd of the whole Flock, whereas, he insisted on his telling every circumstance of his thrice denying Jesus to be his Master. See, too, how feelingly the Apostle here speaks of his Saviour — of the sufferings He endured, of His patience, of His devotedness for those poor straying sheep of whom He was to form His fold! These words will one day be verified in Peter himself. The hour will come when, like his Master, He will be fastened to a cross and patiently endure every insult and cruelty. Jesus told him that it was to be so. After entrusting him with the care of the Sheep and Lambs, our Lord told him that when he should have grown old, he would stretch forth his hands on a cross, and suffer violence from men (John xxi. 18) This is to happen not merely to Peter, but to a considerable number of his successors who are one with himself, and whom future generations are to see continually persecuted, exiled, imprisoned and put to death. Let us, also, follow Jesus’ steps by cheerfully suffering for justice’ sake: we owe it to Him, who, from all eternity, being equal in glory to God the Father, deigned to come down to our earth that He might be the Shepherd and Bishop of our souls.

Gospel – John x. 11‒16

At that time, Jesus said to the Pharisees, “I am the Good Shepherd. The Good Shepherd gives his life for the sheep. But the hireling, and he that is not the shepherd, whose own the sheep are not, seeing the wolf coming, leaves the sheep and flees; and the wolf catches and scatters the sheep: and the hireling flees, because he is a hireling, and he has no care for the sheep. I am the Good Shepherd; and I know mine, and mine know me; as the Father knows me, and I know the Father. And I lay down my life for my sheep. And other sheep I have, that are not of this fold: them also I must bring, and they will hear my voice, and there will be one fold and one Shepherd.

Praise be to you, O Christ. 

Dom Prosper Gueranger:

Divine Shepherd of our souls! How great is your love for your sheep! You give even your life to save them. The fury of wolves does not make you flee from us. You become their prey that we may escape. You died in our stead because you were our Shepherd. We are not surprised at your requiring from Peter a greater love than thou required from his brother Apostles. You willed to make him their and our Shepherd. Peter answered you without hesitation that he loved you, and you conferred on him your own name, together with the reality of your office, in order that he might supply your place after your departure from this world. Be blessed, Divine Shepherd, for your having thus provided for the necessities of your flock which could not be one, were it to have many shepherds without one supreme Shepherd. In obedience to your command, we bow down before Peter with love and submission. We respectfully kiss his sacred feet, for it is by him that we are united to you. It is by him that we are your sheep. Preserve us, O Jesus, in the fold of Peter, which is yours. Keep far from us the hireling who usurps the place and rights of the Shepherd. He has intruded himself, or been intruded by violence, into the fold, and would have us take him as the master, but he knows not the sheep, and the sheep do not know him. Led, not by zeal, but by avarice and ambition, he flies at the approach of danger. He that governs through worldly motives is not a man to lay down his life for others. The schismatic Pastor loves himself. He does not love your sheep. How could he give his life for them Protect us, O Jesus, from this hireling! He would separate us from you by separating us from Peter who you have appointed your Vicar, and we are determined to recognise no other. Anathema to him who would command us in your Name, and yet not be sent by Peter! Such a Pastor could be but an impostor. He would not rest on the Foundation. He would not have the Keys of the Kingdom of Heaven. To follow him would be our ruin. Grant, then, Good Shepherd, Jesus, that we may ever keep close to you, and to Peter, that as he rests on you, we may rest on him and thus we may defy every tempest, for you, dear Lord, have said: “A wise man built his house on a rock. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and they beat on that house, and it fell not, for it was founded on a rock” (Matthew vii. 24, 25).

18 APRIL – SATURDAY OF THE SECOND WEEK OF EASTER

 

Dom Prosper Gueranger:

This being Saturday, let us once more think of Mary and of the joy she feels at the Resurrection of her Son. She had been His companion in His sufferings. There was not one that she had not endured and suffered as far as a mere creature could suffer: so, too, there is not a single glory or gladness of the Resurrection in which she is not now made to participate. It was meet that she to whom God had granted the grace and merit of sharing in the work of the Redemption should take her part in the prerogatives which belong to her Jesus, now that He is risen. Her soul is raised to a higher state of perfection. Grace loads her with new favours. Her actions and sentiments become more than ever heavenly. She was the first to receive a visit from Jesus after His Resurrection — the first, consequently, to receive from Him His own New Life. Can we be astonished at her receiving it when we remember that every Christian, who, being purified by his having compassionated with Jesus in His Passion, unites himself afterwards with holy Church in the sublime mystery of the Pasch, becomes a sharer in the life of His Risen Lord?

This transformation which in us is weak and often, alas! of short duration, was perfect in Mary, for her high vocation and her incomparable fidelity deserved that it should be so of her, then, far more truly than of us, it may be said, that she was indeed risen in her Jesus. The thought of these forty days during which Mary still possesses her Divine Son on this earth reminds us of those other forty of Bethlehem when we paid our affectionate homage to the young Virgin-Mother who fed her divine babe at her breast. We heard the Angels singing their Gloria, we saw the shepherds and the Magi. All was exquisite sweetness. What mainly impressed us then was the humility of our Emmanuel. We recognised Him as the Lamb that had come to take away the sins of the world. There was nothing that betokened the Mighty God. What changes have happened since that dear time! What sorrows have pierced Mary’s heart before her reaching this blissful season of Paschal joy! The sword foretold by Simeon is now indeed, sheathed, yea, broken for ever, but oh how sharp and cruel have been its thrusts! Well may Mary now say with the Psalmist: “According to the multitude of my sorrows in my heart, your comforts, Lord, have given joy to my soul!” (Psalms xciii. 19). The Lamb, the gentle little Lamb has become the Lion of the tribe of Judah and Mary, the Mother of the babe of Bethlehem, is equally the Mother of the glorious conqueror.

With what delight does He not show the glories of His victories to His Mother! His work is done and now He is the beautiful crowned King of Ages. Yes, this is He whom she held for nine months within her womb, whom she fed at her breast, and who, for all eternity, will honour her as His Mother. He honours her during these his last Forty Days on earth with every possible mark of affection. He satisfies her maternal love by frequently visiting her. How admirable must not these interviews be between such a Son and Mother! How delightedly must not Mary look upon her Jesus now? The same dear one, it is true, but oh so changed from what He was a few days ago! That face, so familiar to Mary, beams with a light which is new even to her. The wounds that remain on His hands, feet and side dart forth a brightness which effaces every recollection of sadness. But how shall we speak of the joy with which Jesus gazes on Mary, His Immaculate Mother — His companion in the work of man’s salvation — the creature who is more perfect and more worthy of love than all other creatures put together? Who could describe the conversations of such a Son with such a Mother during these days preceding His Ascension when another long separation is to follow? Eternity will tell us what they were but, even now, if we love the Son and the Mother, we can imagine some little of what passed between them. Jesus would offer to Mary some compensation for the prolongation of her stay on earth, which is required of her by her ministry as Mother of men. More privileged than was heretofore Martha’s sister, she hears His every word and feeds on its sweetness in an ecstasy of love. O happy hours, to be followed by long years of absence, flow slowly by! Give this Blessed Mother time to satiate her love with the sight and caresses of this dearest and most beautiful of the sons of men! O Mary! by these hours of joy which repaid you for those long bitter ones of your Jesus’ Passion, pray to Him for us that He permit us to feel and relish His presence in our hearts during this our exile in which we are absent from Him (2 Corinthians v. 6). Thus will we persevere in our devoted service until the arrival of that blissful moment when we are to be united with Him in Heaven, never again to be separated from Him.

17 APRIL – FRIDAY OF THE SECOND WEEK OF EASTER

Dom Prosper Gueranger:

Let us honour the Resurrection of our divine Messiah by offering Him this Easter Sequence of the ancient Missals of Saint Gall’s.

Let our most beautiful praise magnify the new victory of the great King on the Cross.

On the Cross was conquered the empire of death.
On the Cross was made void the hand-writing of the sin that was of old.
On the Cross was sacrificed the Paschal Lamb for the flock.

On the Cross was the winepress trodden by him that came from Edom and Bosra.
It is the antidote that cures the sting of the serpent’s wound.

By the Cross is the world brought back into God’s favour: it was, in Adam, sold by a tree, and by a tree is now redeemed.
By the Cross, the last made of creatures is associated with the Morning Stars, and repairs Heaven’s losses.

Cross! You Tree of Life that bears the Life and Ransom of the world: you are the staff, bearing upon you the Cluster of Grapes from the vineyards of Engaddi.

Christ is our Peace who takes enmities away and gives peace to them that are afar off, and to them that are near.

O mighty Cross! You draw the whole world to yourself and, with your two arms, embraces all mankind.

O lofty Cross! You penetrate into the depths below and raise to Heaven the captives you loose.

On you Christ offered the Temple of His Flesh which had been built in the number of days expressed by the four Greek letters composing Adam’s name — He offered it that it might be destroyed, but He raised it up again in three days, that He might save the four quarters of the world.

O Lamb of the Sovereign Father that, by the Cross, takes away the sins of the world, grant that by our growth in faith, hope and charity, we may be able to comprehend, with all the Saints, the measure of the Holy Cross.

That having compassion on our neighbours and mortifying our flesh we may carry the dear Cross, and be drawn by you to walk in your footsteps.

Thus safe and protected in this life, grant, O Divine Judge that, by the sign of the holy Cross, we may be so, when standing before your tribunal, and may proclaim aloud to all nations, “that the Lord has reigned from the Wood.” Amen.