8 JANUARY – FERIA

On this day according to the ROMAN MARTYROLOGY:

At Beauvais in France, the holy martyrs Lucian, priest, Maximian and Julian. The last two were killed with the sword by the persecutors, but blessed Lucian who had come to France with St. Denis, not fearing, after the slaughter of his companions, to confess the name of Christ openly, received the same sentence of death.

Also in France, St. Eugenian, martyr.

In Lybia, the holy martyrs Theophilus, deacon, and Helladius, who, after being lacerated and cut with sharp pieces of earthenware were cast into the fire and rendered their souls to God.

At Venice, the demise of blessed Lawrence Justinian, confessor, first patriarch of that city. Eminent for learning and abundantly filled with the heavenly gifts of divine wisdom, he was ranked among the saints by Pope Alexander VIII. He is again mentioned on the fifth of September.

At Hierapolis in Asia, St. Apollinaris, bishop, who was conspicuous for sanctity and learning, under Marcus Antoninus Verus.

At Naples in Campania, the birthday of the bishop St. Severin, brother to the blessed martyr Victorinus, who, after working many miracles, went to rest, replenished with virtues and merits.

At Pavia, St. Maximus, bishop and confessor.

At Metz, St. Patiens, bishop.

The same day, among the inhabitants of Noricum (now Austria), the abbot St. Severin, who preached the Gospel in that country and is called its apostle. By divine power his body was carried to Lucullanum near Naples, and from there transferred to the monastery of St. Severin.

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

Thanks be to God.

7 JANUARY – FERIA

On this day according to the ROMAN MARTYROLOGY:

The bringing back of the Child Jesus from Egypt.

The same day, the birthday of blessed Lucian, a priest of the church of Antioch and martyr, who was distinguished for his learning and eloquence. He suffered at Nicomedia for the confession of Christ in the persecution of Galerius Maximian and was buried at Helenopolis in Bithynia. His praises have been proclaimed by St. John Chrysostom.

At Antioch, St. Clerus, deacon, who, for having professed faith in Christ, was seven times tortured, a long while kept in prison, and at length ended his martyrdom by decapitation.3

In the city of Heraclea, the holy martyrs Felix and Januarius.

The same day, St. Julian, martyr.

In Denmark, St. Canute, king and martyr. His feast is celebrated on the nineteenth of this month.5

At Pavia, St. Crispin, bishop and confessor.

In Dacia, St. Nicetas, bishop, who made fierce and barbarous nations humane and meek by preaching the Gospel to them.

In Egypt, St. Theodore, a saintly monk, who flourished in the time of Constantine the Great. He is mentioned by St. Athanasius in his Life of St. Anthony.

At Barcelona, St. Raymond of Pennafort, of the Order of Preachers, celebrated for sanctity and learning. His festival is kept on the twenty-third of this month.

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

Thanks be to God.

6 JANUARY – THE EPIPHANY OF OUR LORD

Dom Prosper Guéranger:

The Feast of the Epiphany is the continuation of the mystery of Christmas, but it appears on the Calendar of the Church with its own special character. Its very name, which signifies Manifestation, implies that it celebrates the apparition of God to His creatures.

For several centuries the Nativity of our Lord was kept on this day, and when in the year 376 the decree of the Holy See obliged all Churches to keep the Nativity on the 25th December, as Rome did — the Sixth of January was not robbed of all its ancient glory. It was still to be called the Epiphany, and the Baptism of our Lord Jesus Christ was also commemorated on this same Feast, which Tradition had marked as the day on which that Baptism took place.

The Greek Church gives this Feast the venerable and mysterious name of Theophania, which is of such frequent recurrence in the early Fathers as signifying a divine Apparition. We find this name applied to this Feast by Eusebius, Saint Gregory Nazianzum and Saint Isidore of Pelusium. In the liturgical books of the Melchite Church the Feast goes under no other name. The Orientals call this solemnity also the holy Lights, on account of its being the day on which Baptism was administered (for, as we have just mentioned, our Lord was baptised on this same day.) Baptism is called by the holy Fathers Illumination, and they who received it Illuminated. Lastly, this Feast is called in many countries King’s Feast: it is, of course, an allusion to the Magi whose journey to Bethlehem is so continually mentioned in today’s Office.

The Epiphany shares with the Feasts of Christmas, Easter, Ascension and Pentecost the honour of being called, in the Canon of the Mass, a Day most holy. It is also one of the cardinal Feasts, that is, one of those on which the arrangement of the Christian Year is based for, as we have Sundays after Easter, and Sundays after Pentecost, so also we count six Sundays after the Epiphany.

The Epiphany is indeed a great Feast, and the joy caused us by the birth of our Jesus must be renewed on it for, as though it were a second Christmas Day, it shows us our Incarnate God in a new light. It leaves us all the sweetness of the dear Babe of Bethlehem who has appeared to us already in love. But to this it adds its own grand manifestation of the divinity of our Jesus. At Christmas it was a few shepherds that were invited by the Angels to go and recognise THE WORD MADE FLESH. But now, at the Epiphany, the voice of God Himself calls the whole world to adore this Jesus and hear Him.

The mystery of the Epiphany brings on us three magnificent rays of the Sun of Justice, our Saviour. In the calendar of pagan Rome this sixth day of January was devoted to the celebration of a triple triumph of Augustus, the founder of the Roman Empire: but when Jesus, our Prince of peace, whose empire knows no limits, had secured victory to His Church by the blood of the Martyrs — then did this His Church decree that a triple triumph of the Immortal King should be substituted in the Christian Calendar for those other three triumphs which had been won by the adopted son of Caesar.

The Sixth of January, therefore, restored the celebration of our Lord’s birth to the Twenty-Fifth of December. But in return there were united in the one same Epiphany three manifestations of Jesus’ glory: the mystery of the Magi coming from the East under the guidance of a star and adoring the Infant of Bethlehem as the divine King; the mystery of the Baptism of Christ who, while standing in the waters of the Jordan, was proclaimed by the Eternal Father as Son of God, and thirdly, the mystery of the divine power of this same Jesus, when He changed the water into wine at the marriage feast of Cana.

But did these three Mysteries really take place on this day? Is the Sixth of January the real anniversary of these great events? As the chief object of this work is to assist the devotion of the Faithful, we purposely avoid everything which would savour of critical discussion, and with regard to the present question we think it enough to state that Baronius, Suarez, Theophilus Raynaldus, Honorius De Sancta-Maria, Cardinal Gotti, Sandini, Benedict XIV and an almost endless list of other writers assert that the Adoration of the Magi happened on. this very day.

That the Baptism of our Lord, also, happened on the Sixth of January, is admitted by the severest historical critics, even by Tillemont himself, and has been denied by only two or three. The precise day of the miracle at the marriage feast of Cana is far from being as certain as the other two mysteries, though it is impossible to prove that the Sixth of January was not the day. For us the children of the Church it is sufficient that our Holy Mother has assigned the commemoration of these three manifestations for this Feast. We need nothing more to make us rejoice in the triple triumph of the Son of Mary.

If we now come to consider these three mysteries of our Feast separately, we will find that the Church of Rome in her Office and Mass of today is more intent on the Adoration of the Magi than on the other two. The two great Doctors of the Apostolic See, Saint Leo and Saint Gregory in their Homilies for this Feast take it as the almost exclusive object of their preaching. though together with Saint Augustine, Saint Paulinus of Nola, Saint Maximus of Turin, Saint Peter Chrysologus, Saint Hilary of Arles and Saint Isidore of Seville, they acknowledge the three mysteries of today’s Solemnity. That the mystery of the Vocation of the Gentiles should be made thus prominent by the Church of Rome is not to be wondered at for, by that heavenly vocation which in the three Magi called all nations to the admirable light of Faith, Rome, which till then had been the head of the Gentile world, was made the head of the Christian Church and of the whole human race.

The Greek Church makes no special mention in her Office of today of the Adoration of the Magi, for she unites it with the mystery of our Saviour’s birth in her celebration of Christmas Day. The Baptism of Christ absorbs all her thoughts and praises on the solemnity of the Epiphany.

In the Latin Church, this second mystery of our Feast is celebrated unitedly with the other two, on the Sixth of January, and mention is made of it several times in the Office. But as the coming of the Magi to the crib of our new-born King absorbs the attention of Christian Rome on this day, the mystery of the sanctification of the waters was to be commemorated on a day apart. The day chosen by the Western Church for paying special honour to the Baptism of our Saviour is the Octave of the Epiphany.

The third mystery of the Epiphany being also somewhat kept in the shade by the prominence given to the first (though allusion is several times made to it in the Office of the Feast) a special day has been appointed for its due celebration, and that day is the second Sunday after the Epiphany.

Several Churches have appended to the Mystery of changing the water into wine that of the multiplication of the loaves, which certainly bears some analogy with it, and was a manifestation of our Saviour’s divine power. But while tolerating the custom in the Ambrosian and Mozarabic rites, the Roman Church has never adopted it in order not to interfere with the sacredness of the triple triumph of our Lord which the Sixth of January was intended to commemorate as also, because Saint John tells us in his Gospel, that the miracle of the multiplication of the loaves happened when the Feast of the Pasch was at hand (John vi. 4) which, therefore, could not have any connection with the season of the year when the Epiphany is kept.

We propose to treat of the three mysteries, united in this great Solemnity, in the following order. Today, we will unite with the Church in honouring all three. During the Octave we will contemplate the Mystery of the Magi coming to Bethlehem. We will celebrate the Baptism of our Saviour on the Octave Day, and we will venerate the Mystery of the Marriage of Cana on the Second Sunday after the Epiphany, which is the day appropriately chosen by the Church for the Feast of the Most Holy Name of Jesus.

Let us, then, open our hearts to the joy of this grand day, and on this Feast of the Theophany, of the Holy Lights, of the Three Kings, let us look with love at the dazzling beauty of our Divine Sun who, as the Psalmist expresses it (Psalm xviii. 6) runs His course as a Giant, and pours out upon us floods of a welcome and yet most vivid light. The shepherds who were called by the Angels to be the first worshippers have been joined by the Prince of Martyrs, the Beloved Disciple, the dear troop of Innocents, our glorious Thomas of Canterbury, and Sylvester the Patriarch of Peace. And now, today, these Saints open their ranks to let the Kings of the East come to the babe in his crib, bearing with them the prayers and adorations of the whole human race. The humble stable is too little for such a gathering as this, and Bethlehem seems to be worth all the world besides. Mary, the Throne of the divine Wisdom, welcomes all the members of this court with her gracious smile of Mother and Queen. She offers her Son to man for his adoration, and to God, that He may be well pleased. God manifests Himself to men because he is great, but He manifests Himself by Mary, because He is full of mercy.

The great Day which now brings us to the crib of our Prince of Peace has been marked by two great events of the first ages of the Church. It was on the Sixth of January in the year 361 and Julian (who, in heart, was already an apostate,) happened to be at Vienne in Gaul. He was soon to ascend the imperial throne which would be left vacant by the death of Constantius, and he felt the need he had of the support of that Christian Church in which it is said he had received the order of Lector and which, nevertheless, he was preparing to attack with all the cunning and cruelty of a tiger. Like Herod, he too would fain go, on this Feast of the Epiphany and adore the new-born King. His panegyrist Ammianus Marcellinus tells us that this crowned hilosopher who had been seen, just before, coming out of the pagan temple where he had been consulting the soothsayers, made his way through the porticoes of the Church and, standing in the midst of the faithful people, offered to the God of the Christians his sacrilegious homage.

Eleven years later, in the year 372, another Emperor found his way into the Church on the same Feast of the Epiphany. It was Valens, a Christian, like Julian, by baptism, but a persecutor in the name of Arianism of that same Church which Julian persecuted in the name of his vain philosophy and still vainer gods. As Julian felt himself necessitated by motives of worldly policy to bow down on this day before the divinity of the Galilean, so on this same day the holy courage of a saintly Bishop made Valens prostrate himself at the feet of Jesus the King of kings.

Saint Basil had just then had his famous interview with the Prefect Modestus in which his episcopal intrepidity had defeated all the might of earthly power. Valens had come to Caesarea and, with his soul defiled with the Arian heresy, he entered the Basilica when the Bishop was celebrating, with his people, the glorious Theophany. Let us listen to Saint Gregory Nazianzum, thus describing the scene with his usual eloquence:

“The Emperor entered the Church. The chanting of the psalms echoed through the holy place like the rumbling of thunder. The people, like a waving sea, filled the house of God. Such was the order and pomp in and about the sanctuary that it looked more like Heaven than Earth. Basil himself stood erect before the people as the Scripture describes Samuel —his body and eyes and soul motionless as though nothing strange had taken place and, if I may say so, his whole being was fastened to his God and the holy Altar. The sacred ministers who surrounded the Pontiff were in deep recollectedness and reverence. The Emperor heard and saw all this. He had never before witnessed a spectacle so imposing. He was overpowered. His head grew dizzy, and darkness veiled his eyes.”

Jesus, the King of Ages, the Son of God and the Son of Mary had conquered. Valens was disarmed. His resolution of using violence against the holy Bishop was gone, and if heresy kept him from at once adoring the Word consubstantial to tho Father, he, at least, united his exterior worship with that which Basil’s flock was paying to the Incarnate God. When the Offertory came, he advanced towards the sanctuary and presented his gifts to Christ in the person of his holy priest. The fear lest Basil might refuse to accept them took such possession of the Emperor that had not the sacred ministers supported him, he would have fallen at the foot of the Altar. Thus has the Kingship of our new-born Saviour been acknowledged by the great ones of this world.

The Royal Psalmist had sung this prophecy — the Kings of the Earth will serve Him, and His enemies will lick the ground under His feet (Psalm lxxi. 9, 11). The race of Emperors like Julian and Valens was to be followed by Monarchs who would bend their knee before this Babe of Bethlehem and offer Him the homage of orthodox faith and devoted hearts. Theodosius, Charlemagne, our own Alfred the Great and Edward the Confessor, Stephen of Hungary, Emperor Henry II, Ferdinand of Castile, Louis IX of France, are examples of Kings who had a special devotion to the Feast of the Epiphany. Their ambition was to go, in company with the Magi, to the feet of the Divine Infant and offer Him their gifts. At the English Court the custom is still retained, and the reigning Sovereign offers an ingot of gold as a tribute of homage to Jesus the King of kings: the ingot is afterwards redeemed by a certain sum of money.

But this custom of imitating the Three Kings in their mystic gifts was not confined to Courts. In the Middle Ages the Faithful used to present on the Epiphany, gold, frankincense, and myrrh, to be blessed by the priest. These tokens of their devotedness to Jesus were kept as pledges of God’s blessing on their houses and families. The practice is still observed in some parts of Germany, and the prayer for the blessing was in the Roman Ritual until Pope Paul V suppressed it, together with several others, as being seldom required by the Faithful.

There was another custom which originated in the Ages of Faith and which is still observed in many countries. In honour of the Three Kings who came from the East to adore the Babe of Bethlehem, each family chose one of its members to be King. The choice was thus made. The family kept a feast which was an allusion to the third of the Epiphany Mysteries — the Feast of Cana in Galilee — a cake was served up, and he who took the piece which had a certain secret mark was proclaimed the King of the day. Two portions of the cake were reserved for the poor in whom honour was thus paid to the Infant Jesus and His Blessed Mother, for, on this Day of the triumph of Him who, though King was humble and poor, it was fitting that the poor should have a share in the general joy. The happiness of home was here, as in so many other instances, blended with the sacredness of Religion. This custom of King’s Feast brought relations and friends together and encouraged feelings of kindness and charity. Human weakness would sometimes, perhaps, show itself during these hours of holiday-making, but the idea and sentiment and spirit of the whole feast was profoundly Catholic, and that was sufficient guarantee to innocence.

The King’s Feast is still a Christmas joy in thousands of families, and happy those where it is kept in the Christian spirit which first originated it! For the last [four] hundred years, a puritanical zeal has decried these simple customs in which the seriousness of religion and the home enjoyments of certain festivals were blended together. The traditions of Christian family rejoicings have been blamed under pretexts of abuse as though a recreation in which religion had no share and no influence, were less open to intemperance and sin! Others have pretended (with little or no foundation) that the Twelfth Cake and the custom of choosing a King are mere imitations of the ancient pagan Saturnalia. Granting this to be correct (which it is not) we would answer that many of the old pagan customs have undergone a Christian transformation, and no one thinks of refusing to accept them thus purified. All is mistaken zeal has produced the sad effect of divorcing the Church from family life and customs, of excluding every religious manifestation from our traditions, and of bringing about what is so pompously called (though the word is expressive enough) the secularisation of society.

But let us return to the triumph of our sweet Saviour and King. His magnificence is manifested to us so brightly on this Feast! Our Mother the Church is going to initiate us into the mysteries we are to celebrate. Let us imitate the faith and obedience of the Magi: let us adore, with the holy Baptist, the divine Lamb over whom the heavens open. Let us take our place at the mystic feast of Cana where our dear King is present, thrice manifested, thrice glorified. In the last two mysteries, let us not lose sight of the Babe of Bethlehem, and in the Babe of Bethlehem let us cease not to recognise the Great God (in whom the Father was well pleased) and the supreme Ruler and Creator of all things.

Lesson – Isaias lx. 1‒6

Arise, be enlightened, O Jerusalem: for your light is come, and the glory of the Lord is risen upon you. For behold darkness will cover the earth, and a mist the people. But the Lord will arise upon you, and His glory will be seen upon you. And the Gentiles will walk in your light, and Kings in the brightness of your rising. Lift up your eyes round about, and see: all these are gathered together, they are come to you: your sons will come from afar, and your daughters will rise up at your side. Then will you see and abound, and your heart will wonder and be enlarged, when the multitude of the sea will be converted to you, the strength of the Gentiles will come to you. The multitude of camels will cover you, the dromedaries of Madian and Epha: all they from Saba will come, bringing gold and frankincense, and showing forth praise to the Lord.

Thanks be to God.

Dom Prosper Guéranger:

Oh the greatness of this glorious Day on which begins the movement of all nations towards the Church, the true Jerusalem! Oh the mercy of our heavenly Father who has been mindful of all these people that were buried in the shades of death and sin! Behold! The glory of the Lord has risen upon the Holy City, and kings set out to find and see the Light. Jerusalem is not large enough to hold all this sea of nations. Another city must be founded and towards her will be turned the countless Gentiles of Madian and Epha. You, O Rome, are this Holy City, and your heart will wonder and be enlarged. Heretofore your victories have won you slaves, but from this day forward you will draw within your walls countless children. Lift up your eyes, and see — all these, that is, the whole human race, give themselves to you as your sons and daughters. They come to receive from you a new birth. Open wide your arms and embrace them that come from North and South, bringing gold and frankincense to Him who is your King and ours.

Gospel – Matthew ii. 1‒12

When Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judah in the days of King Herod, behold there came wise men from the East to Jerusalem, saying: “Where is he that is born King of the Jews? For we have seen his star in the East, and are come to adore him.” And Herod hearing this was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him. And assembling together all the chief priests and the scribes of the people, he enquired of them where Christ should be born. But they said to him: “In Bethlehem of Judah: for it is written by the Prophet: And you, Bethlehem, the land of Judah, are not the least among the princes of Judah: for out of you will come forth the captain that will rule my people Israel.” Then Herod privately calling the Wise Men, learned diligently of them the time of the star which appeared to them: and sending them into Bethlehem, said: “Go, and diligently enquire after the child: and when you have found him, bring me word again, that I also may come and adore him.” Who, having heard the king, went their way. And behold the star which they had seen in the east went before them until it came and stood over where the child was. And seeing the star, they rejoiced with exceeding great joy. And entering into the house, they found the Child with Mary, his Mother (here all kneel) and falling down, they adored him. And, opening their treasures, they offered him gifts, gold, frankincense and myrrh. And having received an answer in sleep that they should not return to Herod, they went back another way into their own country.

Praise be to you, O Christ.
 

Dom Prosper Guéranger:

The Magi, the first-fruits of the Gentile world, have been admitted into the court of the great King whom they have been seeking, and we have followed them. The child has smiled upon us, as He did upon them. All the fatigues of the long journey — which man must take to reach his God — all are over and forgotten. Our Emmanuel is with us, and we are with Him. Bethlehem has received us, and we will not leave her again — for, in Bethlehem, we have the Child and Mary His Mother. Where else could we find riches like these that Bethlehem gives us? Oh let us beseech this incomparable Mother to give us this child of hers (for He is our light, and our love, and our Bread of life) now that we are about to approach the altar, led by the star of our faith. Let us, at once, open our treasures. Let us prepare our gold, our frankincense, and our myrrh for the sweet babe, our King. He will be pleased with our gifts, and we know he never suffers Himself to be outdone in generosity. When we have to return to our duties we will, like the Magi, leave our hearts with our Jesus And it will be by another way, by a new manner of life, that we will finish our sojourn in this country of our exile, looking forward to that happy day when life and light eternal will come and absorb into themselves the shadows of vanity and time which now hang over us.

* * * * *

We also, Jesus, come to adore you on this glorious Epiphany which brings all nations to your feet. We walk in the footsteps of the Magi, for we too have seen the Star, and we are come to you. Glory be to you, dear King! to you who said in the Canticle of David your ancestor: “I am appointed King over Sion, the holy mountain, that I may preach the commandment of the Lord. The Lord has said to me that He will give me the Gentiles for my inheritance, and the utmost parts of the Earth for my possession. Now, therefore, O ye kings, understand: receive instruction, ye that judge the Earth” (Psalm ii. 6, 8, 10).

You will say, O Emmanuel, with your own lips: “All power is given to me in Heaven and on Earth (Matthew xxviii. 18), and a few years after the whole Earth will have received your Even now Jerusalem is troubled. Herod is trembling on his throne. But the day is at hand when the heralds of your coming will go throughout the whole world proclaiming that He, who was the Desired of nations (Aggeus ii. 8), is come. The word that is to subject the Earth to you will go forth (Psalm xviii. 5) and, like an immense fire, will stretch to the uttermost parts of the universe. In vain will the strong ones of this world attempt to arrest its course. An Emperor will propose to the Senate, as the only means of staying the progress of your conquests, that thy Name be solemnly enrolled in the list of those gods whom you come to destroy. Other Emperors will endeavour to abolish your kingdom by the slaughter of your soldiers. But, all these efforts are vain. The day will come when the Cross, the sign of your power, will adorn the imperial banner. The Emperors will lay their crown at your feet, and proud Rome will cease to be the Capital of the empire of this world’s strength and power in order that she may become, forever, the centre of your peaceful and universal kingdom.

We already see the dawn of that glorious day. Your conquests, King of ages, begin with your Epiphany. You call, from the extreme parts of the unbelieving East, the first-fruits of that Gentile world which hitherto had not been your people and which is now to form your inheritance. Henceforth there is to be no distinction of Jew and Greek, of Barbarian and Scythian (Colossians iii. 11). You have loved Man above Angel, for you have redeemed the one, while you have left the other in his fall. If your predilection, for a long period of ages, was for the race of Abraham, henceforth your preference is to be given to the Gentiles. Israel was but a single people. We are numerous as the sands of the sea, and the stars of the firmament (Genesis xxii. 17). Israel was under the law of fear. You have reserved the law of love for us.

From this day of your Manifestation, divine King, begins your separation from the Synagogue which refuses your love. And on this same day you take, in the person of the Magi, the Gentiles as your Spouse. Your union with her will soon be proclaimed from the Cross, when, turning your face from the ungrateful Jerusalem, you will stretch forth your hands towards the nations of the Gentiles. Ineffable joy of your birth! But O still better joy of your Epiphany in which we, the once disinherited, are permitted to approach to you, offer you our gifts, and see you graciously accept them, O merciful Emmanuel! Thanks be to you, O Infant God, for that unspeakable gift (2 Corinthians ix. 15) of Faith which, as your Apostle teaches us, has delivered us from the power of darkness and has translated us into your kingdom, making us partakers of the lot of the Saints in Light (Colossians i. 12, 13). Give us grace to grow in the knowledge of this your Gift, and to understand the importance of this great day on which you make alliance with the whole human race, which you would afterwards make your bride by espousing her. Oh the Mystery of this Marriage Feast, dear Jesus! “A Marriage,”' says one of your Vicars on Earth (Pope Innocent III), “that was promised to the Patriarch Abraham, confirmed by oath to King David, accomplished in Mary when she became Mother, and consummated, confirmed and declared on this day, consummated in the adoration of the Magi, confirmed in the Baptism in the Jordan, and declared in the miracle of the water changed into wine.”

Also on this day according to the ROMAN MARTYROLOGY:

In the diocese of Rheims, the martyrdom of St. Macra, virgin, who, in the persecution of Diocletian, was cast into the fire by order of the governor Rictiovarus. As she remained uninjured, she had her breasts cut off, was imprisoned in a foul dungeon, rolled upon broken earthenware and burning coals, and finally she gave up her soul while engaged in prayer.

In Africa, the commemoration of many holy martyrs who were burned at the stake in the persecution of Severus.

At Rennes in France, St. Melanius, bishop and confessor, who, after a life remarkable for virtues innumerable with his thoughts constantly fixed on heaven, gloriously departed from this world.

At Florence, St. Andrew Corsini, a Florentine Carmelite and bishop of Fiesoli. Being celebrated for miracles, he was ranked among the saints by Pope Urban VIII. His festival is kept on the fourth of February.

At Geris in Egypt, St. Nilammon, anchoret, who, while he was carried to a bishopric against his will, gave up his soul to God in prayer.

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

Thanks be to God.

5 JANUARY – VIGIL OF THE EPIPHANY

The Mass of the Vigil of the Epiphany is that of the Sunday within the Octave of Christmas, except the Commemoration of Saint Telesphorus and the Gospel.

Dom Prosper Guéranger:

The Feast of Christmas is over... and we are on the Eve of the Solemnity of our Lord’s Epiphany. We must spend this fifth of January in preparing ourselves for the Manifestation which Jesus, the Angel of the Great Counsel, is about to make to us of His glory. A few more hours and the star will stand still in the heavens, and the Magi will be seeking for admission into the stable of Bethlehem.

This Vigil is not like that of Christmas, a day of penance. The child whose coming we were then awaiting in the fervour of our humble desires is now among us, preparing to bestow fresh favours on us. This eve of tomorrow’s Solemnity is a day of joy like those that have preceded it and therefore we do not fast, nor does the Church put on the vestments of mourning, even in those churches where the Octave Day of Saint Thomas of Canterbury is not observed. If the Office of the Vigil be the one of today, the colour used is white. This is the Twelfth day since the Birth of our Emmanuel. If the Vigil of the Epiphany fall on a Sunday, it shares, with Christmas Eve, the privilege of not being anticipated, as all other Vigils are, on the Saturday: it is kept on the Sunday, has all the privileges of a Sunday, and the Mass is that of the Sunday within the Octave of Christmas Day. Let us, therefore, celebrate this Vigil in great joy of heart and prepare our souls for tomorrow’s graces.

The Greek Church keeps this a fasting day in memory of the preparation for Baptism which used formerly to be administered, especially in the East, on the night preceding the feast of the Epiphany. She still solemnly blesses the water on this Feast. We will in our next volume speak of this ceremony of which some vestiges still remain in the Western Church.

Gospel – Matthew ii. 19‒23

When Herod was dead, behold an Angel of the Lord appeared in sleep to Joseph in Egypt, saying: “Arise and take the child and His Mother, and go into the land of Israel: for they are dead that sought the life of the child.” Who arose, and took the child and His Mother, and came into the land of Israel. But hearing that Archelaus reigned in Judea in the room of Herod his father, he was afraid to go there: and being warned in sleep retired into the quarters of Galilee. And coming he dwelt in a city called Nazareth: that it might be fulfilled which was said by the prophets: “That He will be called a Nazarene.”

Praise be to you, O Christ.

Dom Prosper Guéranger: 

The last words of our Advent were those of the Spouse recorded in the prophecy of the Beloved Disciple: “Come, Lord Jesus, come!” (Apocalypse xxii. 20). We will close this first part of our Christmas with those words of the Prophet Isaias which the Church has so often spoken to us: “unto us a child is born!” (Isaias ix. 6). The heavens have dropped down their Dew, the clouds have rained down the Just One, the Earth has yielded its Saviour, THE WORD IS MADE FLESH, the Virgin has brought forth her sweet Fruit — our Emmanuel, that is, God with us. The Sun of Justice now shines on us. Darkness has fled. In Heaven there is Glory to God. On Earth there is Peace to men. All these blessings have been brought to us by the humble yet glorious birth of this child. Let us adore Him in His crib. Let us love Him for all His love of us, and let us prepare the gifts we intended to present to Him with the Magi on tomorrow’s Feast. The joy of the Church is as great as ever. The Angels are adoring in their wondering admiration. All nature thrills with delight: Unto us is born a little child!

On this day according to the ROMAN MARTYROLOGY:

At Rome, in the time of Antoninus Pius, St. Telesphorus, pope, who, after many sufferings for the confession of Christ underwent a glorious martyrdom.

In Egypt, during the persecution of Diocletian, the commemoration of many holy martyrs who were put to death in Thebais by various kinds of torments.

At Antioch, St. Simeon, monk, who lived many years, standing on a pillar, and was, for that reason, called Stylites. His whole life was an unbroken series of wonders.

In England, St. Edward, king, illustrious by the virtue of chastity and the gift of miracles. His feast, by order of Pope Innocent XI, is celebrated on the thirteenth of October when his sacred body was translated.

At Alexandria, St. Syncletica, whose noble deeds have been recorded by St. Athanasius.

At Rome, the holy virgin Emiliana, aunt of Pope St. Gregory. Being called to God by her sister Tharsilla who had preceded her, she departed for heaven on this day.

The same day, St. Apollinaris, virgin.

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

Thanks be to God.

4 DECEMBER – SAINT BARBARA (Virgin and Martyr)

 

Barbara, a virgin of Nicomedia, the daughter of Dioscorus, a nobleman but a superstitious pagan, came readily, by the assistance of divine grace, from the contemplation of the visible things of creation to the knowledge of the invisible. Wherefore, she devoted herself to God alone and to the things of God. Her father, desirous to preserve her from all danger of insult to which he feared her great beauty might expose her, shut her up in a tower. There the pious virgin passed her days in meditation and prayer, studying to please God alone, whom she had chosen as her Spouse. She courageously rejected several offers of marriage which were made to her through her father by rich nobles.

But her father hoped that by separating himself by a long absence from his child, her intentions would easily change. He first ordered that a bath should be built for her in the tower so that she might want for nothing, and then he set out on a journey into distant countries. During her father’s absence, Barbara ordered that to the two windows already in the tower a third should be added, in honour of the Blessed Trinity, and that on the edge of the bath the sign of the most holy Cross should be drawn. When Dioscorus returned home and saw these changes, and was told their meaning, he became so incensed against Barbara that he went in search of her with a naked sword in his hand and, but for the protection of God, he would cruelly have murdered her.

Barbara had taken to flight: an immense rock opened before her, and she found a path by which she reached the top of a mountain, and there she hid herself in a cave. Not long after, however, she was discovered by her unnatural father, who savagely kicked and struck her, and dragging her by the hair over the sharp rocks, and rugged ways, he handed her over to the governor Marcian, that he might punish her. He, therefore, having used every means to shake her constancy, and finding that all was in vain, gave orders that she should he stripped and scourged with thongs, the wounds to be then scraped with potsherd, and so dragged to prison. There Christ, surrounded by an immense light, appearing to her, strengthened her in a divine manner for the sufferings she was yet to endure.

A matron named Juliana who witnessed this was converted to the faith and became her companion in the palm of martyrdom. At length Barbara had her body torn with iron hooks, her sides burnt with torches, and her head bruised with mallets. During these tortures she consoled her companion and exhorted her to fight manfully to the last. Both of them had their breasts cut off, were dragged naked through the streets and beheaded. The head of Barbara was cut off by her own father, who in his excessive wickedness had hardened his heart thus far. But his ferocious cruelty was not long left unpunished, for instantly and on the very spot, he was struck dead by lightning.

The Emperor Justinus had the body of this most holy virgin translated from Nicomedia to Constantinople. It was afterwards obtained by the Venetians from the Emperors Constantine and Basil, and having been translated from Constantinople to Venice, was deposited with great solemnity in the Basilica of Saint Mark. Lastly, at the earnest request of the Bishop of Torcello and his sister who was abbess, it was translated in 1009 to the Conventual Church of Saint John the Evangelist in the diocese of Torcello, where it was placed in a worthy sepulchre, and from that time has never ceased to be the object of most fervent veneration.

Dom Prosper Guéranger:

Although in the Roman Liturgy Saint Barbara is merely commemorated in the Office of Saint Peter Chrysologus, yet the Church has approved an entire Office for the use of those Churches which honour the memory of this illustrious Virgin in a special manner. The Legend although of considerable weight, has not consequently the authority of those which are promulgated for the use of the whole Church in the Roman Breviary. Let us not, on this account, be the less fervent in honouring this glorious Martyr, so celebrated in the East and whose feast has been for so many ages admitted, with more or less solemnity, into the Roman Church. The Acts of her martyrdom, though not of the highest antiquity, contain nothing in them but what redounds to the glory of God and the honour of the Saint. We have already shown the liturgical importance which attaches to Saint Barbara in the season of Advent. Let us admire the constancy with which this Virgin waited for her Lord, who came at the appointed hour, and was for her, as the Scripture speaks, a Spouse of blood, because He put the strength of her love of Him to the severest of all tests.

*****

The courageous Virgin of Nicomedia is invoked in the Church against lightning on account of the punishment inflicted by divine justice on her execrable father. This same incident of the Saint’s history has suggested several Catholic customs: thus, her name is sometimes given to the hold of men-of-war where the ammunition is stowed. She is the Patroness of artillery-men, miners, etc and she is invoked by the faithful against the danger of a sudden death.

*****

To the voice of so many Churches we join ours, O faithful Virgin! And though we are unworthy, yet do we offer you our praise and our prayers. Behold our Lord comes, and the darkness of the night is upon us. Give to our lamp both the light which will guide us, and the oil which will keep in the light. You know that He who came for love of you and with whom you are now united for all eternity, is coming to visit us too. Pray for us that nothing may keep us from receiving Him. May we go towards Him courageously and swiftly as you did, and being once with Him, may we never be separated from Him again, for He is the centre where we creatures find our only rest. Pray also, glorious Martyr, that the faith in the Blessed Trinity may be ever increasing in this world. May our enemy, Satan, be confounded by every tongue’s confessing the Threefold light and the triumphant Cross which sanctifies the waters of Baptism. Remember, O blessed Barbara, Spouse of Jesus, that He has put in your gentle hands the power not of burling but of staying and averting the thunderbolt. Protect our ships against the fires of heaven and of war. Shield by your protection the arsenals where are placed the defence of our country. Hear the prayers of them that invoke you, whether in the fierceness of the storm, or in the dark depths of the earth, and save us all from the awful chastisement of a sudden death.

Also on this day according to the ROMAN MARTYROLOGY:

At Constantinople, the saints Theophanes and his companions.

In Pontus, blessed Meletius, bishop and confessor, who joined to an eminent gift of knowledge the more distinguished glory of fortitude and integrity of life.

At Bologna, St. Felix, bishop, who previously had been deacon of the church of Milan under St. Ambrose.

In England, St. Osmund, bishop and confessor.

At Cologne, St. Annan, bishop.

In Mesopotamia, St. Maruthas, bishop, who restored the churches of God that had been ruined in Persia by the persecution of king Isdegerdes. Being renowned for many miracles, he merited to be honoured even by his enemies.

At Parma, St. Bernard, cardinal and bishop of that city. He belonged to the Congregation of Vallumbrosa, of the Order of St. Benedict.

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

Thanks be to God.

4 JANUARY – THE HOLY NAME (OF JESUS)

At the Name of Jesus, let every knee bend in Heaven, on Earth, and under the Earth; and every tongue confess that the Lord Jesus Christ is in the glory of God the Father.

Dom Prosper Guéranger:

In the Old Covenant the Name of God inspired fear and awe: nor was the honour of pronouncing it granted to all the children of Israel. We can understand this. God had not yet come down from Heaven to live on Earth and converse with men. He had not yet taken upon Himself our poor nature and become man like ourselves. The sweet Name, expressive of love and tenderness, the Name given by the Spouse to her Beloved, could not be applied to Him.

But when the fullness of time had come — when the mystery of love was about to be revealed — then did Heaven send down the Name of “Jesus” to our Earth as a pledge of the speedy coming of Him who was to bear it. The Archangel Gabriel said to Mary: “You will call his Name Jesus.” Jesus means Saviour. How sweet will this Name not be to poor lost man! It seems to link Earth to Heaven!

No name is so amiable, none is so powerful. Every knee in Heaven, on Earth and in Hell bows in adoration at hearing this Name! And yet, who can pronounce it and not feel love spring up within his heart? But we need such a Saint as Bernard to tell us of the power and sweetness of this blessed Name. He thus speaks of it in one of his Sermons:

“The Nature of Jesus is Light, and Food, and Medicine. It is Light when it is preached to us. It is Food when we think upon it. It is the Medicine that soothes our pains when we invoke it. Let us say a word on each of these. Tell me, whence came there into the whole world, so bright and sudden a light, if not from the preaching of the Name of Jesus? Was it not by the light of this Name that God called us to His admirable Light? Wherewith being enlightened, and in this light, seeing the Light, we take these words of Paul as truly addressed to ourselves: ‘Heretofore you were darkness, but now light in the Lord’ (Ephesians v. 8).

Nor is the Name of Jesus Light only. It is also Food. Are you not strengthened as often as you think of this Name? What is there that so feeds the mind of him that meditates upon this Name? What is there that so restores the wearied faculties, strengthens virtue, gives vigour to good and holy habits, and fosters chastity? Every food of the soul is dry that is not steeped in this unction. It is insipid, if it be not seasoned with this salt. If you write, I relish not your writing unless '' I read there the Name of Jesus. If you teach me, or converse with me, I relish not your words, unless I hear you say the Name of Jesus. Jesus is honey to the mouth, and music to the ear, and gladness to the heart.

It is also Medicine. Is any one among you sad? Let but Jesus come into his heart and the mouth echo him, saying Jesus! and lo! the light of that Name disperses every cloud and brings sunshine back again. Have any of you committed sin? and is despair driving you into the snare of death? Invoke the Name of life, and life will come back to the soul. Was there ever a man, that hearing this saving Name could keep up that common fault of hardness of heart, or drowsiness of sluggishness, or rancour of soul, or languor of sloth ? If anyone, perchance, felt that the fountain of his tears was dry, did it not gush forth more plentifully than ever, and flow more sweetly than ever, as soon as he invoked the Name of Jesus? If any of us were ever in danger and our heart beat with fear, did not this Name of power bring us confidence and courage the moment we pronounced it? When we were tossed to and fro by perplexing doubts, did not the evidence of what was right burst on us as we called upon the Name of light? When we were discouraged and well near crushed by adversity, did not our heart take courage when our tongue uttered the Name of help? All this is most true, for all these miseries are the sicknesses and faintings of our souls, and the Name of Jesus is our Medicine.

But let us see how all this comes to pass. ‘Call upon me in the day of trouble,’ says the Lord. ‘I will deliver you, and you will glorify me’ (Psalm xlix. 15). There is nothing which so restrains the impulse of anger, calms the swelling of pride, heals the wound of envy, represses the insatability of luxury, smothers the flame of lust, quenches the thirst of avarice and dispels the fever of uncleanliness, as the Name of Jesus. For when I pronounce this Name, I bring before my mind the Man who, by excellence, is meek and humble of heart, benign, sober, chaste, merciful and filled with everything that is good and holy, nay, who is the very God Almighty — whose example heals me, and whose assistance strengthens me. I say all this, when I say Jesus. Here have I my model, for He is Man; and my help, for He is God; the one provides me with precious drugs, the other gives them efficacy; and from the two I make a potion such as no physician knows how to make.

Here is the electuary my soul, hid in the casket of this Name Jesus. Believe me, it is wholesome and good for every ailment you can possibly have. Ever have it with you in your bosom and in your hand, so that all your affections and actions may be directed to Jesus.”

This is the sweet and powerful Name which was given to our Emmanuel on the day of His Circumcision. But, as that day was the Octave of Christmas and was already sacred to the Maternity of Mary, the present Sunday, the Second after the Epiphany, was chosen for celebrating the mystery of the Name of the Lamb. The first promoter of the Feast was Saint Bernardine of Siena who lived in the fifteenth century. This holy man established the practice of representing the Holy Name of Jesus surrounded with rays, and formed into a monogram of its three first letters, IHS. The custom spread rapidly through Italy and was zealously propagated by the great Saint John of Capistrano who, like Saint Bernardine of Siena, was of the Order of Friars Minors. The Holy See gave its formal approbation to this manner of honouring the Name of our Saviour and, in the early part of the sixteenth century. Pope Clement VI, after long entreaties, granted to the whole Franciscan Order the privilege of keeping a special Feast in honour of the Most Holy Name of Jesus.

Rome extended the same favour to various Churches, and at length the Feast was inserted in the universal Calendar. It was in the year 1721, at the request of Charles VI, Emperor of Germany, that Pope Innocent XII decreed that the Feast of the Most Holy Name of Jesus should be kept throughout the whole Church. He also chose the Second Sunday after the Epiphany as the day. We have already explained how appropriately their respective mysteries have been thus blended into the one solemnity.

Note: in the General Roman Calendar of 1962 the Feast of the Most Holy Name of Jesus is celebrated on the Sunday between the Octave of Christmas and the Epiphany or, if there is none, the 2nd of January.

Epistle – Acts iv. 8‒12

In those days Peter, filled with the Holy Ghost, said “you princes of the people and ancients, hear: if we this day are examined concerning the good deed done to the infirm man, by what means he has been made whole, be it known to you all, and to all the people of Israel, that by the Name of our Lord Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God has raised from the, dead, by Him this man stands here before you whole. This is the stone-which was rejected by you the builders; which has become the head of the corner; neither is there salvation in any other; for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved.”

Thanks be to God.

Dom Prosper Guéranger:

Oh how true is this, dear Jesus! No other Name but yours could give us salvation, and your Name means Saviour. Be praised for having taken such a Name! Be praised for having saved us! The admirable alliance which you reveal to us in the mysterious Feast at Cana is all expressed in your most sweet and holy Name. You are of Heaven heavenly, and yet you take a Name of Earth, and one which our mortal lips can say. You have truly made an alliance between the two natures, the Divine and the Human, and your Name imports this mystery of thine Incarnation. Oh make us worthy of the sublime alliance to which you have hereby raised us, and never permit us to break it.

Gospel – Luke ii. 21

At that time, after eight days were accomplished that the child should be circumcised; his name was called Jesus, which was called by the Angel before he was conceived in the womb.

Praise be to you, O Christ.

Dom Prosper Guéranger:

It is during the first shedding of your Blood by the Circumcision that you received this Name of Jesus, dear Lord! And it was fitting that it should be so, for this Name signifies Saviour, and we could not be saved but by your Blood. The glorious alliance you have contracted with us is, one day, to cost you your Blood! The nuptial ring you put on our finger is to be steeped in your Blood! Our immortal life is to be purchased at the price of your Death! All these truths are expressed to us by your Name, Jesus! Saviour! You are the Vine, and you invite us to drink of your delicious Wine, but the heavenly Fruit must be first unsparingly pressed in the wine-press of your Eternal Father’s justice. We cannot drink of its juice until it will have been torn from the branch and bruised for our sakes. May your sacred Name ever remind us of this sublime Mystery, and may the remembrance keep us from sin and make us always faithful.

3 JANUARY – FERIA

On this day according to the ROMAN MARTYROLOGY:

At Rome, on the Via Appia, the birthday of Pope St. Anterus, who suffered under Julius Maximinus and was buried in the cemetery of Callistus.

The same day, St. Peter, who was crucified at Aulane.

In Hellespont, the holy martyrs Cyrinus, Primus and Theogenes.

At Caesarea in Cappadocia, St. Gordius, centurion, in whose praise is extant a celebrated discourse delivered by St. Basil the Great on the day of his festival.

In Cilicia, the holy martyrs Zozimus, and the notary Athanasius. Also, the Saints Theopemptus and Theonas, who suffered a glorious martyrdom in the persecution of Diocletian.

At Padua, St. Daniel, martyr.

At Vienne in France, St. Florentius, bishop, who was sent into exile and consummated his martyrdom in the time of the emperor Gallienus.

At Paris, St. Genevieve, virgin, who was consecrated to God by St. Germanus, bishop of Auxerre, and became famous for her admirable virtues and miracles.

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

Thanks be to God.

2 JANUARY – FERIA

On this day according to the ROMAN MARTYROLOGY:

The Octave of St. Stephen, the first martyr.

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

At Antioch, the passion of blessed Isidore, bishop.

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

At Milan, St. Martinian, bishop.

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

The same day, St. Siridion, bishop.

In Thebais, St. Macarius of Alexandria, abbot.

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

Thanks be to God.