3 OCTOBER – SAINT TERESA OF LISIEUX (Virgin and Doctor of the Church)

 

Teresa, the “Little Flower of Jesus,” was born at Alençon in 1873 to the saintly Louis and Zélie Martin, both of whom had wished to consecrate their lives to God in the cloister. Five of their nine children became members of religious orders. At the age of 15 Teresa applied to join the Carmelites but was refused and went to Rome with her father to seek the consent of Pope Leo XIII. Consent was given in 1888 and Teresa entered the convent of Lisieux where two of her sisters were already nuns. Teresa died in 1897 and was canonised in 1925 by Pope Pius XI. She was declared a Doctor of the Church by Saint John Paul II in 1997.

O Lord who said “unless you become as little children you will not enter into the kingdom of heaven,” grant us, we beseech you, so to follow in humility and simplicity of heart, the footsteps of the blessed virgin Teresa, that we may obtain everlasting rewards.

Also on this day according to the ROMAN MARTYROLOGY:

At Rome, near the spot called Ursus Pileatus, St. Candidus, martyr.

The same day the holy martyrs Denis, Faustus, Cains, Peter, Paul and four others, who suffered much under Decius, and under Valerian, being a long time subjected to torments by the governor Æmilian, merited the palm of martyrdom.

Among the ancient Saxons in Westphalia, two holy martyrs of the name of Ewaldus, who being priests and preaching Christ in that country, were seized by pagans and put to death. During the night a great light appeared for a long time over their bodies showing where they were, and how distinguished were their merits.

In Africa, St. Maximian, bishop of Bagay, who, after having frequently endured great cruelties from the Donatists, was finally cast headlong from a high tower and left for dead. Illustrious by a glorious confession, he afterwards rested in the Lord.

In Palestine, St. Hesychius, confessor, a disciple of St. Hilarion, and the companion of his travels.

In Belgium, in the diocese of Namur, St. Gerard, abbot.

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

Thanks be to God.

2 OCTOBER – THE HOLY GUARDIAN ANGELS

Dom Prosper Guéranger:

Although the solemnity of the 27th September celebrates the praises of all the nine glorious choirs, yet the piety of the faithful in the latter ages desired to have a special day consecrated to the Guardian Angels. Several churches having taken the initiative, and kept the Feast under various rites and on different days, Paul V (1608) authorised its celebration ad libitum. Clement X (1670) established it by precept as a Feast of double rite on the 2nd October, the first free day after Michaelmas, on which it thus remains in some way dependent.

It is of faith, on the testimony of the Scriptures and of unanimous tradition, that God commits to His Angels the guardianship of men, who are called to contemplate Him together with these blessed spirits in their common fatherland. Catholic theology teaches that this protection is extended to every member of the human race without any distinction of just and sinners, infidels and baptised. To ward off dangers, to uphold man in his struggle against the demons, to awaken in him holy thoughts, to prevent him from sinning and even at times to chastise him, to pray for him and present his prayers to God: such is the office of the Guardian Angel. So special is his mission that one Angel does not undertake the guardianship of several persons simultaneously. So diligent is his care that he follows his ward from the first day to the last of his mortal existence, receiving the soul as it quits this life and bearing it from the feet of the sovereign Judge to the place it bas merited in Heaven, or to its temporary sojourn in the place of expiation and purification.

It is from the lowest of the nine choirs, the nearest to ourselves, that the Guardian Angels are for the most part selected. God reserves to the Seraphim, Cherubim and Thrones the honour of forming His own immediate court. The Dominations, from the steps of His throne, preside over the government of the universe. The Virtues watch over the course of nature’s laws, the preservation of species, and the movements of the heavens. The Powers hold the spirits of wickedness in subjection. The human race in its entirety, as also its great social bodies, the nations and the churches, are confided to the Principalities: while the Archangels, who preside over smaller communities, seem also to have the office of transmitting to the Angels the commands of God, together with the love and light which come down even to us from the first and highest hierarchy. O the depths of the wisdom of God! Thus, then, the admirable distribution of offices among the choirs of heavenly spirits terminates in the function committed to the lowest rank, the guardianship of man, for whom the universe subsists. Such is the teaching of the School, and the Apostle, in like manner, says: “Are they not all ministering spirits, sent to minister for them who will receive the inheritance of salvation?” (Hebrews i. 14).

But God, magnificent as He is towards the whole human race, honours in a special manner the princes of His people, those who are most favoured by His grace, or who rule the Earth in His name. The Saints testify that a super-eminent perfection, or a higher mission in Church or State, ensures to the individual the assistance of a superior spirit without the Angel that was first deputed being necessarily removed from his charge. Moreover, with regard to the work of salvation, the Guardian Angel has no fear of being left alone at his post. At his request, and at God’s command, the troops of his blessed companions who fill Heaven and Earth are ever ready to lend him their aid. These noble spirits, acting under the eye of God whose love they desire to second by all possible means, have secret alliances between them which sometimes induce between their clients even on Earth, unions the mystery of which will be revealed in the light of eternity.

“How profound a mystery,” says Origen, “is the apportioning of souls to the Angels destined for their guardians! It is a divine secret, part of the universal economy centred in the Man-God. Nor is it without ineffable order that the ministries of Earth, the many departments of nature, are allotted to the heavenly Virtues: fountains and rivers, winds and forests, plants, living creatures of land and sea, whose various functions harmonise to gather, by the Angels directing them all to a common end.” Again, on these words of Jeremias: “How long will the lamb mourn? (Jeremias xii. 4) Origen, supported by the authority of his translator Saint Jerome, continues: “It is through each one of us that the earth rejoices or mourns, and not only the earth, but water, fire, air, all the elements: by which name we must here understand not insensible matter, but the Angels who are set over all things on Earth. There is an Angel of the land who, with his companions, mourns over our crimes. There is an Angel of the waters to whom are applied the words of the Psalm: The waters saw you, and they were afraid, and the depths were troubled. Great was the noise of the waters. The clouds sent out a sound, for your arrows pass” (Psalm lxxvi. 17, 18).

How grand is nature, viewed in this light! It is thus the ancients, more truthful as well as more poetical than our generation, always considered the universe. Their error lay in adoring these mysterious powers to the detriment of the only God, under whom they stoop that bear up the world (Job ix. 3). “Air and earth and ocean, everything is full of Angels,” says Saint Ambrose. “Eliseus, besieged by a whole army felt no fear, for he beheld invisible cohorts assisting him. May the prophet open your eyes also. May the enemy, be he legion, not terrify you. You think yourself hemmed in, and you are free: there are more with us than with them.” But let us return to our own specially deputed Angel, and meditate on this other testimony: “The noble guardian of each one of us sleeps not, nor can he be deceived. Close your door, and make the darkness of night. But remember, you are never alone. He has no need of daylight in order to see your actions.” And who is it that speaks thus? Not a Father of the Church, but a pagan, the slave philosopher Epiotetus.

In conclusion, let us listen to the Abbot of Clairvaux who here gives free rein to his eloquence: “In every place show respect to your Angel. Let gratitude for his benefits incite you to honour his greatness. Love this your future co-heir, the guardian appointed for you by the Father during your childhood. For though we are sons of God, we are as yet but children, and long and dangerous is our journey. But God ‘has given His Angels charge over you, to keep you in all your ways. In their hands they will bear you up, lest you dash your foot against a stone. You will walk upon the asp and the basilisk, and you will trample under foot the lion and the dragon’ (Psalm xc. 11‒13). Where the road is smooth enough for a child, they will content themselves with guiding you, and sustaining your footsteps, as one does for children. But, if trials threaten to surpass your strength, they will bear you up in their hands. Oh those hands of Angels! Thanks to them, what fearful straits we have passed through, as it were without thinking, and with no other impression left upon us than that of a nightmare suddenly dispelled!”

And in his commentary on the Canticle of canticles, Saint Bernard thus describes the triumph of the Angel: “One of the companions of the Spouse, sent from Heaven to the chosen soul as mediator, on witnessing the mystery accomplished, how he exults, and says: ‘I give you thanks, O God of majesty, for having granted the desire of her heart!’ Now it was he that, as a persevering friend, had not ceased on the way to murmur into the soul’s ear: ‘Delight in the Lord, and He will give you the requests of your heart.’ And again: ‘Expect the Lord, and keep His way.’ And then: ‘If he make any delay, wait for him, for he will surely come and will not tarry.’ Meanwhile he represented to our Lord the soul’s desire, saying: ‘As the hart pants after the fountains of water, so this soul pants after you, O God.’ Have have pity on her, hear her cries, and visit her in her desolation. And now the faithful paranymph, the confidant of ineffable secrets, is not jealous. He goes from the Spouse to the bride, offering desires, bringing back gifts. He incites the one, he appeases the other. Sometimes, even in this world, he brings them into each other’s presence, either by raising up the Bride in ecstasy, or by bringing down the Bridegroom: for he is one of the household and well known in the palace, and he fears no rebuff, for every day he beholds the face of the Father.”

* * * * *

BLESSED be you, O holy Angels, for that your charity is not wearied out by the crimes of men. Among so many other benefits, we thank you for keeping the Earth habitable by deigning to dwell always there. Solitude often weighs heavily on the hearts of God’s children: in the great towns, and in the paths of the world where one meets only strangers or enemies. But if the number of the just grows less, yours never diminishes. In the midst of the excited multitude, as well as in the desert, not a human being that has not beside him an Angel, the representative of universal Providence over wicked and good alike. O blessed spirits, you and we have the same fatherland, the same thought, the same love. Why should the confused noises of a frivolous crowd disturb the heavenly life we may lead even now with you? Does the tumult of public places hinder you from holding your choirs there, or prevent the Most High from hearing your harmonies? We also, beholding by faith the face of our heavenly Father which you ever delightedly contemplate, we wish to sing in every place the praise of our Lord and to unite at all times our adorations with yours. Thus, when our manners have become altogether angelic, the present life will be full of peace, and we will be well prepared for eternity.

Lord, have mercy on us.

Christ, have mercy on us.

Lord, have mercy on us.

Christ, hear us.

Christ, graciously hear us.

God the Father of heaven, have mercy on us.

God the Son, Redeemer of the world, have mercy on us.

God, the Holy Spirit, have mercy on us.

Holy Trinity, one God, have mercy on us.

Holy Mary, Queen of Angels, pray for us.

Holy Angel, my guardian, pray for us.

Holy Angel, my prince, pray for us.

Holy Angel, my monitor, pray for us.

Holy Angel, my counsellor, pray for us.

Holy Angel, my defender, pray for us.

Holy Angel, my steward, pray for us.

Holy Angel, my friend, pray for us.

Holy Angel, my negotiator, pray for us.

Holy Angel, my intercessor, pray for us.

Holy Angel, my patron, pray for us.

Holy Angel, my director, pray for us.

Holy Angel, my ruler, pray for us.

Holy Angel, my protector, pray for us.

Holy Angel, my comforter, pray for us.

Holy Angel, my brother, pray for us.

Holy Angel, my teacher, pray for us.

Holy Angel, my shepherd, pray for us.

Holy Angel, my witness, pray for us.

Holy Angel, my helper, pray for us.

Holy Angel, my watcher, pray for us.

Holy Angel, my conductor, pray for us.

Holy Angel, my preserver, pray for us.

Holy Angel, my instructor, pray for us.

Holy Angel, my enlightener, pray for us.

Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world, spare us, O Lord.

Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world, graciously hear us, O Lord.

Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world, have mercy on us, O Lord.

V. Pray for us, O holy guardian angel.

R. That we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ.

Let us pray. Almighty and everlasting God, who, in the counsel of your ineffable goodness, has appointed to all the faithful, from their mother's womb, a special guardian angel of their body and soul, grant that I may so love and honour him who you have so mercifully given me, that, protected by the bounty of your grace, and by his assistance, I may merit to behold, with him and all the angelic host, the glory of your countenance in the heavenly country. Who lives and reigns, world without end. Amen.

Also on this day according to the ROMAN MARTYROLOGY:

At Nicomedia, St. Eleutherius, soldier and martyr, with numberless others. They were falsely accused of having set fire to the palace of Diocletian and, by order of this most cruel emperor, were barbarously massacred in groups. Some were put to the sword, some consumed by fire, while others were precipitated into the sea. But the principal one, Eleutherius, having endured long tortures, and being found stronger after each one, terminated his victorious martyrdom by fire, as well-tried gold.

In the vicinity of Arras, the martyrdom of blessed Leodegarius, bishop of Autun. After being subjected to various insults and torments for the truth, he was put to death by Ebroin, chief minister of Theodoric.

Also the holy martyr Gerinus, brother of the blessed Leodegarius, who was overwhelmed with stones in the same city.

At Antioch, the holy martyrs Primus, Cyril and Secundarius.

At Constantinople, St. Theophilus, a monk, who was most cruelly scourged by Leo the Isaurian for the defence of holy images, was driven into exile, and went gloriously to heaven.

At Hereford in England, St. Thomas, bishop and confessor.

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

Thanks be to God.

1 OCTOBER – SAINT REMIGIUS (Bishop and Confessor)

Saint Remigius baptising King Clovis of the Franks

Remigius (also called Remedius) was born in about 435 AD at Laon of noble parents, Emilius and Cylinia. They were far advanced in age and renowned among their own people for their virtue when the birth of this child was foretold to them by a blind hermit named Montanus who afterwards recovered his sight by applying to his eyes some of the milk with which the infant Remigius was nourished. His mother Cylinia is included in the Roman Martyrology as a saint with a feast on the 21st of October, and the translation of her relics is noted in some martyrologies on the 5th of April. The brother of Remigius was Saint Principius, the Bishop of Soissons. His nurse in infancy was Balsamia, venerated as a saint in the Church of Rheims.

Remigius devoted his youth to prayer and study in retirement, but the more he shrank from the company of men, the more his fame spread throughout the province. He was ordained in 457 and at the age of 22 became the Bishop of Rheims on the death of Bennadius. Remigius, who had the mature character of an old man, was unanimously elected, or rather forcibly installed as Archbishop. He endeavoured to escape the burden of the episcopate, but was obliged by the command of God to submit. Having been consecrated by the Bishops of the province, he governed his church with the wisdom of an experienced veteran. He was eloquent and learned in the Scriptures, and a pattern to his people, fulfilling in deed what he taught by word. According to Saint Gregory of Tours, Remigius was a man of great knowledge, imbued with love of rhetorical studies, and so illustrious for his sanctity, as to equal Pope Saint Silvester I.

He carefully and laboriously instructed his own flock in the mysteries of faith, and established discipline among his clergy. Then he undertook to spread the kingdom of Christ in Belgium, and having converted the people to the faith, he founded several new bishoprics and appointed them pastors: at Terouanne Saint Antimund or Aumont, at Arras Saint Vedast, and at Laon Saint Genebald. The wonderful works of Remigius, being divulged far and wide, filled with astonishment the minds of Clovis and his still pagan Franks. When Clovis, who had already conquered the Gauls, triumphed over the Alemanni at the battle of Tolbiac by the invocation of the name of Christ, he sent for Remigius and willingly listened to his explanation of the Christian doctrine. Remigius urged the king to embrace the faith, but he replied that he feared the opposition of his people. When this was reported to the Franks, they cried out with one voice: “We renounce mortal gods, O pious king, and are ready to follow the immortal God whom Remigius preaches.” Then the Bishop imposed a fast on them, according to the custom of the Church, and having, in the presence of the Queen Saint Clotilde, completed the king’s religious instruction, he baptised him on Christmas Day, addressing him in these words: “Bow down your head in meekness, O Sicambrian. Adore what you have until burnt, burn what you have adored.” After the baptism, he anointed him with holy chrism with the sign of the cross of Christ. Moro than three thousand of the army were baptised, as was Albofleda, Clovis’s sister, who died soon after. On this occasion Remigius wrote to console the king. His other sister, Lanthilda was reclaimed from the Arian heresy, anointed with sacred chrism, and reconciled to the Church.

Remigius was exceedingly liberal to the poor and merciful towards sinners. “God has not placed us here,” he would say, “to exercise wrath, but to take care of men.” During a council, he once by divine power struck an Arian bishop with dumbness until he begged forgiveness by signs, when he restored him his speech with these words: “In the Name of our Lord Jesus Christ, if you hold the right belief concerning Him, speak and confess the faith of the Catholic Church.” The bishop recovering his voice, protested that he believed and would die in that faith. Towards the end of his life Remigius lost his sight, but recovered it shortly before his death. Knowing the day of his departure, he celebrated Mass and fortified his flock with the sacred Body of Christ. Then he bade his clergy and people farewell, giving to each one the kiss of our Lord’s peace. Remigius died on the 13th of January 533 and has ever since been venerated as one of the greatest glories of the French Church. His festival is generally kept on this day which is the anniversary of the translation of his relics.

Dom Prosper Guéranger:

Scarcely had two centuries elapsed since the triumph of the Cross over Roman idolatry when Satan began to cry victory once more. While Eutychianism was crowned at Byzantium in the person of Anastasius the Silent, Arianism was rife in the West. Throughout the whole ancient territory of the empire, heresy was supreme, and almost everywhere was persecuting the Church, who had now none but the vanquished for her sons. “But fear not. Rather rejoice,” says Baronius at this point in his Annals: “it is Divine Wisdom still delighting to play in the world. The thoughts of men count for little before Him who holds the light in His hands, to hide it when He pleases and, when He wills, to bring it forth again. The darkness that now covers the earth marks the hour when the dawn is about to break in the hearts of the Franks, and the Catholic faith is to shine there in all its glory.”

Little known in our days is such a manner of writing history. Yet this was the view taken by the first historian of the Church, and the greatest. On such a feast as this we could not do better than repeat summarily his account of the Franks. “How,” says he “can we help admiring that Providence which is never wanting to the Church? From the midst of tribes still pagan, on the morrow of the irremediable fall of the Empire, God forms to Himself a new people, raises to Himself a prince: against these must break the rising tide of heretics and Barbarians. Such, in truth, appeared in the course of ages the divine mission of the Frankish kings. What energy has faith to uphold kingdoms, and what fatal power has heresy to uproot every plant that is not set by our heavenly Father! In proof hereof, see how the principalities of the Goths, Vandals, Heruli, Alani, Suevi and Gepidi have utterly disappeared, while the Franks behold their little spot of earth blessedly fertilised and encroaching far upon the surrounding territories.

Henceforth appeared the might of the Franks, when preceded to battle by the Cross. Hitherto obscure and struggling for existence, they were now everywhere victorious. They had only had to acknowledge Christ in order to reach the highest summit of glory, honour and renown. In so speaking I say nothing but what is known to the whole world. If they have been more favoured than other nations, it is because they were super-eminent in faith, and incomparable in piety, so that they were more eager to defend the Church than to protect their own frontiers. Moreover, a privilege unique and truly admirable was theirs: never did the sins of kings bring upon this people, as upon so many others, subjection to a foreign yoke. The promise of the Psalm would seem to have been renewed in favour of this nation: If his children forsake my law.. and keep not my commandments, I will visit their iniquities with a rod... but my mercy I will not take away from him.”

All honour, then, to the saintly Pontiff who merited to be the instrument of such heavenly benefits! According to the expression of the holy Pope Hormisdas, “Remigius converted the nation, and baptised Clovis, in the midst of prodigies similar to those of the apostolic age.” The prayers of Clotilde, the labours of Genevieve, the penances of the monks who peopled the forests of Gaul, had doubtless a great share in a conversion which brought such joy to the Angels. Did space allow, we might relate how it was also prepared by the great Bishops of the fifth century, Germanus of Auxerre, Lupus of Troyes, Anian of Orleans, Hilary of Arlee, Mamertus and Avitus of Vienne, Sidonius Apollinaris and so many others who, in that age of darkness, held up the Church to the light of day, and commanded the respect of the Barbarians. Remigius, contemporary and survivor of most of them, and their rival in eloquence, nobility and holiness, seemed to personify them all on that Christmas night forestalled by so many desires, and prayers, and sufferings.

In the baptistery of Saint Mary’s at Rheims, the Frankish nation was born to God. As heretofore on the banks of Jordan the dove was again seen over the waters honouring this title, not the Baptism of Jesus, but that of the Church’s eldest daughter, it brought a gift from Heaven, the holy vial containing the chrism which was to anoint the French kings in future ages into the most worthy of all the kings of the Earth. Two churches in the city of Rheims claim the honour of these glorious souvenirs: the grand church of our Lady, and the venerable basilica where Remigius lay, with the vial of chrism at his feet, and guarded by the twelve Peers surrounding his splendid mausoleum. This church of Saint Remigius bore the name of caput Francia, head of all France, until three days of October 1793when, from its desecrated pulpit was proclaimed the word that the days of darkness were at an end: when the holy ampulla was broken, and the relics of the Apostle of France were thrown into a common grave.

After an episcopate of seventy-four years, the longest ever recorded in history, Remigius took his flight to Heaven on the 13th January, the anniversary of his episcopal consecration and also of his birth. Yet in the same century, the first of October was chosen for his Feast, this being the day on which his relics were first translated to a more honourable place, in the midst of miracles such as those which had graced his life. The Translation of Saint Remigius is the name still given to this day by the church of Rheims which, by a special privilege, celebrates on the Octave day of the Epiphany the principal festival of its glorious patron.

Saint Leo IX said to his contemporaries, and we echo his words, concerning the land of France: “Be it known to your charity that you must solemnly celebrate the Feast of the blessed Remigius, for if to others he is not an Apostle, he is such with regard to you at least. Pay such honour, then, to your Apostle and Father, that you may merit, according to the divine promise, to live long upon the earth and, by his prayers, may obtain possession of eternal beatitude.” When he thus spoke, the sovereign Pontiff had just consecrated your church, then for the third time rebuilt with the magnificence required by the growing devotion of the people. The nine centuries since elapsed have augmented your claims to the gratitude of a nation, into which you infuse such vigorous life that no other has equalled it in duration. Accept our thanks, you who were as a new Sylvester to a new Constantine.

* * * * *

Glory be to our Lord who showed forth His wonders in you! Remembering those gestes of God accomplished in all climes by her sons the Franks, the Church recognises the legitimacy of applying to you the beautiful words which announced the Messiah: “Give ear, ye islands, and hearken, ye people,from afar. The Lord has called me from the womb... And He said: Behold I have given you to be the light of the Gentiles, that you may be my salvation even to the farthest part of the earth.” Truly it was a day of salvation, that Christmas day, on which it pleased our Lord to bless your labours and grant the desires of your long episcopate. By the holy faith you taught, you were then the covenant of the people, the new people composed of the conquerors and the conquered in that land of France which, when once itself raised up, soon restored to God the inheritances that had been destroyed.

O true Church, the one only Bride, captive and destitute, behold Remigius rises to say to your sons that are bound: “Come forth, and to them that are in darkness: Show yourselves!” From North and South, from beyond the sea, behold they come in multitudes: “all these are come to you. Therefore, give praise, O ye heavens, and rejoice O earth, because the Lord has comforted His people.” After a whole century of heresy and barbarity, God has once more demonstrated that they will not be confounded that wait for Him. Our confidence in God will again be rewarded if you, O Remigius, deign to present to our Lord the prayer of the Franks who have remained faithful in honouring thy memory. The renegades sold over to Satan may tyrannise for a time over the deluded crowd, but they are not the nation. A day will come when Christ, who is ever King, will say to the Angels of His guard those words of His lieutenant Clovis: “It displeases me that these Goths possess the good land of France. Expel them, for it belongs to us.”

Also on this day according to the ROMAN MARTYROLOGY:

At Rome, blessed Aretas and five hundred and four other martyrs.

At Tomis in Pontus, the holy martyrs Priscus, Crescens, and Evagrius.

At Lisbon in Portugal, the holy martyrs Verissimus, and his sisters, Maxima and Julia, who suffered in the persecution of Diocletian.

At Tournay, St. Piaton, priest and martyr, who, with blessed Quinctinus and his companions, went from Rome to Gaul to preach the faith and afterwards, in the persecution of Maximian, having consummated his martyrdom, passed from earth to heaven.

At Thessalonica, St. Domninus, martyr, under the same Maximian.

At Ghent, St. Bavo, confessor.

At Orvieto, St. Severus, priest and confessor.

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

Thanks be to God.

OCTOBER – THE MONTH OF THE HOLY ROSARY

According to tradition the Rosary was revealed to Saint Dominic (1170‒1221), the founder of the Dominican Order (the Order of Friar Preachers), by the Blessed Virgin Mary as a means of overcoming the heresies and vices of his times. “The Earth will remain barren”, she told Saint Dominic, “until it is watered by the heavenly dew of this devotion”. The Rosary spread quickly through France and Spain, and then through the rest of Europe.

Apart from the Eucharist and other Sacraments of the Church, the Rosary is probably the most powerful means of personal sanctification. It is a key to the most intimate knowledge of Jesus and Mary, and is an effective way to attain to the perfection of Christian charity.

October is dedicated by the Church to the Most Holy Rosary of the Blessed Virgin Mary. In 1883 Pope Leo XIII decreed that to win the assistance of Heaven for the Church in her trials, the Mother of God should be honoured by means of the Rosary during the entire month of October.

In his encyclical letter Laetitiae Sanctae Commending Devotion to the Rosary His Holiness Pope Leo XIII told the bishops of the Church:

“We are convinced that the Rosary, if devoutly used, is bound to benefit not only the individual but society at large. No one will do Us the injustice to deny that in the discharge of the duties of the Supreme Apostolate We have laboured ― as, God helping, We shall ever continue to labour — to promote the civil prosperity of mankind. Repeatedly have We admonished those who are invested with sovereign power that they should neither make nor execute laws except in conformity with the equity of the Divine mind. On the other hand, we have constantly besought citizens who were conspicuous by genius, industry, family, or fortune, to join together in common counsel and action to safeguard and to promote whatever would tend to the strength and well-being of the community. Only too many causes are at work, in the present condition of things, to loosen the bonds of public order, and to withdraw the people from sound principles of life and conduct”.

He went on as follows:

“There are three influences which appear to Us to have the chief place in effecting this downgrade movement of society. These are ― first, the distaste for a simple and labourious life; secondly, repugnance to suffering of any kind; thirdly, the forgetfulness of the future life.

 THE DISTASTE FOR A SIMPLE AND LABOURIOUS LIFE

We deplore ― and those who judge of all things merely by the light and according to the standard of nature join with Us in deploring ― that society is threatened with a serious danger in the growing contempt of those homely duties and virtues which make up the beauty of humble life. To this cause we may trace in the home, the readiness of children to withdraw themselves from the natural obligation of obedience to the parents, and their impatience of any form of treatment which is not of the indulgent and effeminate kind. In the workman, it evinces itself in a tendency to desert his trade, to shrink from toil, to become discontented with his lot, to fix his gaze on things that are above him, and to look forward with unthinking hopefulness to some future equalization of property. We may observe the same temper permeating the masses in the eagerness to exchange the life of the rural districts for the excitements and pleasures of the town. Thus the equilibrium between the classes of the community is being destroyed, everything becomes unsettled, men’s minds become a prey to jealousy and heart-burnings, rights are openly trampled under foot, and, finally, the people, betrayed in their expectations, attack public order, and place themselves in conflict with those who are charged to maintain it.

For evils such as these let us seek a remedy in the Rosary, which consists in a fixed order of prayer combined with devout meditation on the life of Christ and His Blessed Mother. Here, if the joyful mysteries be but clearly brought home to the minds of the people, an object lesson of the chief virtues is placed before their eyes. Each one will thus be able to see for himself how easy, how abundant, how sweetly attractive are the lessons to be found therein for the leading of an honest life. Let us take our stand in front of that earthly and divine home of holiness, the House of Nazareth. How much we have to learn from the daily life which was led within its walls! What an all-perfect model of domestic society! Here we behold simplicity and purity of conduct, perfect agreement and unbroken harmony, mutual respect and love not of the false and fleeting kind ― but that which finds both its life and its charm in devotedness of service. Here is the patient industry which provides what is required for food and raiment; which does so “in the sweat of the brow”, which is contented with little, and which seeks rather to diminish the number of its wants than to multiply the sources of its wealth. Better than all, we find there that supreme peace of mind and gladness of soul which never fail to accompany the possession of a tranquil conscience. These are precious examples of goodness, of modesty, of humility, of hard-working endurance, of kindness to others, of diligence in the small duties of daily life, and of other virtues, and once they have made their influence felt they gradually take root in the soul, and in course of time fail not to bring about a happy change of mind and conduct. Then will each one begin to feel his work to be no longer lowly and irksome, but grateful and lightsome, and clothed with a certain joyousness by his sense of duty in discharging it conscientiously. Then will gentler manners everywhere prevail; home-life will be loved and esteemed, and the relations of man with man will be loved and esteemed, and the relations of man with man will be hallowed by a larger infusion of respect and charity. And if this betterment should go forth from the individual to the family and to the communities, and thence to the people at large so that human life should be lifted up to this standard, no one will fail to feel how great and lasting indeed would be the gain which would be achieved for society.

REPUGNANCE TO SUFFERING OF ANY KIND

A second evil, one which is specially pernicious, and one which, owing to the increasing mischief which it works among souls, we can never sufficiently deplore, is to be found in repugnance to suffering and eagerness to escape whatever is hard or painful to endure. The greater number are thus robbed of that peace and freedom of mind which remains the reward of those who do what is right undismayed by the perils or troubles to be met with in doing so. Rather do they dream of a chimeric civilisation in which all that is unpleasant shall be removed, and all that is pleasant shall be supplied. By this passionate and unbridled desire of living a life of pleasure, the minds of men are weakened, and if they do not entirely succumb, they become demoralised and miserably cower and sink under the hardships of the battle of life.

In such a contest example is everything, and a powerful means of renewing our courage will undoubtedly be found in the Holy Rosary, if from our earliest years our minds have been trained to dwell upon the sorrowful mysteries of Our Lord’s life, and to drink in their meaning by sweet and silent meditation. In them we shall learn how Christ, “the Author and Finisher of Our faith”, began “to do and teach”, in order that we might see written in His example all the lessons that He Himself had taught us for the bearing of our burden of labour and sorrow, and mark how the sufferings which were hardest to bear were those which He embraced with the greatest measure of generosity and good will. We behold Him overwhelmed with sadness, so that drops of blood ooze like sweat from His veins. We see Him bound like a malefactor, subjected to the judgment of the unrighteous, laden with insults, covered with shame, assailed with false accusations, torn with scourges, crowned with thorns, nailed to the cross, accounted unworthy to live, and condemned by the voice of the multitude as deserving of death. Here, too, we contemplate the grief of the most Holy Mother, whose soul was not merely wounded but “pierced” by the sword of sorrow, so that she might be named and become in truth “the Mother of Sorrows”. Witnessing these examples of fortitude, not with sight but by faith, who is there who will not feel his heart grow warm with the desire of imitating them?

Then, be it that the “earth is accursed” and brings forth “thistles and thorns”, — be it that the soul is saddened with grief and the body with sickness; even so, there will be no evil which the envy of man or the rage of devils can invent, nor calamity which can fall upon the individual or the community, over which we shall not triumph by the patience of suffering. For this reason it has been truly said that “it belongs to the Christian to do and to endure great things”, for he who deserves to be called a Christian must not shrink from following in the footsteps of Christ. But by this patience, We do not mean that empty stoicism in the enduring of pain which was the ideal of some of the philosophers of old, but rather do We mean that patience which is learned from the example of Him, who “having joy set before Him, endured the cross, despising the shame” (Hebrews xvi. 2). It is the patience which is obtained by the help of His grace; which shirks not a trial because it is painful, but which accepts it and esteems it as a gain, however hard it may be to undergo. The Catholic Church has always had, and happily still has, multitudes of men and women, in every rank and condition of life, who are glorious disciples of this teaching, and who, following faithfully in the path of Christ, suffer injury and hardship for the cause of virtue and religion. They re- echo, not with their lips, but with their life, the words of St. Thomas: “Let us also go, that we may die with him” (John xi. 16).

May such types of admirable constancy be more and more splendidly multiplied in our midst to the weal of society and to the glory and edification of the Church of God!

THE FORGETFULNESS OF THE FUTURE LIFE

The third evil for which a remedy is needed is one which is chiefly characteristic of the times in which we live. Men in former ages, although they loved the world, and loved it far too well, did not usually aggravate their sinful attachment to the things of Earth by a contempt of the things of Eeaven. Even the right-thinking portion of the pagan world recognised that this life was not a home but a dwelling-place, not our destination, but a stage in the journey. But men of our day, albeit they have had the advantages of Christian instruction, pursue the false goods of this world in such wise that the thought of their true Fatherland of enduring happiness is not only set aside, but, to their shame be it said, banished and entirely erased from their memory, notwithstanding the warning of St. Paul, “We have not here a lasting city, but we seek one which is to come” (Hebrews xiii. 4).

When We seek out the causes of this forgetfulness, We are met in the first place by the fact that many allow themselves to believe that the thought of a future life goes in some way to sap the love of our country, and thus militates against the prosperity of the commonwealth. No illusion could be more foolish or hateful. Our future hope is not of a kind which so monopolises the minds of men as to withdraw their attention from the interests of this life. Christ commands us, it is true, to seek the Kingdom of God, and in the first place, but not in such a manner as to neglect all things else. For, the use of the goods of the present life, and the righteous enjoyment which they furnish, may serve both to strengthen virtue and to reward it. The splendour and beauty of our earthly habitation, by which human society is ennobled, may mirror the splendor and beauty of our dwelling which is above. Therein we see nothing that is not worthy of the reason of man and of the wisdom of God. For the same God who is the Author of Nature is the Author of Grace, and He willed not that one should collide or conflict with the other, but that they should act in friendly alliance, so that under the leadership of both we may the more easily arrive at that immortal happiness for which we mortal men were created.

But men of carnal mind, who love nothing but themselves, allow their thoughts to grovel upon things of earth until they are unable to lift them to that which is higher. For, far from using the goods of time as a help towards securing those which are eternal, they lose sight altogether of the world which is to come, and sink to the lowest depths of degradation. We may doubt if God could inflict upon man a more terrible punishment than to allow him to waste his whole life in the pursuit of earthly pleasures, and in forgetfulness of the happiness which alone lasts for ever.

It is from this danger that they will be happily rescued, who, in the pious practice of the Rosary, are wont, by frequent and fervent prayer, to keep before their minds the glorious mysteries. These mysteries are the means by which in the soul of a Christian a most clear light is shed upon the good things, hidden to sense, but visible to faith, “which God has prepared for those who love Him”. From them we learn that death is not an annihilation which ends all things, but merely a migration and passage from life to life. By them we are taught that the path to Heaven lies open to all men, and as we behold Christ ascending thither, we recall the sweet words of His promise, “I go to prepare a place for you”. By them we are reminded that a time will come when “God will wipe away every tear from our eyes”, and that “neither mourning, nor crying, nor sorrow, shall be any more”, and that “We shall be always with the Lord”, and “like to the Lord, for we shall see Him as He is”, and “drink of the torrent of His delight”, as “fellow-citizens of the saints”, in the blessed companionship of our glorious Queen and Mother. Dwelling upon such a prospect, our hearts are kindled with desire, and we exclaim, in the words of a great saint, “How vile grows the earth when I look up to heaven!” Then, too, shall we feel the solace of the assurance “that which is at present momentary and light of our tribulation worketh for us above measure exceedingly an eternal weight of glory” (2 Corinthians iv. 17).

Here alone we discover the true relation between time and eternity, between our life on earth and our life in heaven; and it is thus alone that are formed strong and noble characters. When such characters can be counted in large numbers, the dignity and well-being of society are assured. All that is beautiful, good, and true will flourish in the measure of its conformity to Him who is of all beauty, goodness, and truth the first Principle and the Eternal Source”.

 

30 SEPTEMBER – SAINT JEROME (Confessor and Doctor of the Church

Jerome, son of Eusebius, was born at Stridonium in Dalmatia, during the reign of the emperor Constantius. He was baptised at Rome while still young, and was instructed in the liberal arts by Donatus and other learned men. His love of knowledge led him to travel in Gaul where he made the acquaintance of several pious men learned in divinity and copied many sacred books with his own hand. He then proceeded to Greece to study eloquence and philosophy. Here he won the friendship of some great theologians, in particular of Gregory Nazianzen, under whom he studied at Constantinople, and whom he called his master in sacred learning. Drawn by religious motives, he visited the crib of Christ our Lord, and the whole of Palestine. And he tells us that this pilgrimage, made in the company of some learned Jews, was of the greatest service to him for the understanding of holy Scripture.

After this Jerome retired into the lonely desert of Syria where he spent four years in reading the holy Scriptures, and in the contemplation of heavenly beatitude, afflicting his body by abstinence, weeping and every kind of penance. He was ordained a priest by Paulinus, bishop of Antioch, in whose company and that of Epiphanius, he went to Rome to settle the disputes that had arisen between certain bishops. Here Pope Damasus engaged him to assist in writing his ecclesiastical letters. But yearning for his former solitude, he returned to Palestine and settled at Bethlehem in a monastery built by the Roman lady Paula near our Lord’s crib. Here he led a heavenly life and though much afflicted with sickness and sufferings he devoted himself, in spite of his bodily weakness, to works of piety and to ceaseless study and writing.

From all parts of the world Jerome was referred to as an oracle for the decision of questions concerning the sacred Scriptures. Pope Damasus and Saint Augustine often consulted him on difficult passages of holy Writ, on account of his remarkable learning and his knowledge, not only of Latin and Greek but also of Hebrew and Chaldaic. According to Saint Augustine Jerome had read almost every author. In his writings he severely censured heretics, but always lent his support to faithful Catholics. He translated the Old Testament from the Hebrew, and at the command of Pope Damasus, revised the New Testament, collating it with the Greek. He also commented the greater part of holy Scripture. Besides this, he translated into Latin the writings of many learned men and enriched Christian science with other works from his own pen.

At length, having reached extreme old age, and being renowned for learning and holiness, Jerome passed to Heaven in the reign of Honorius. His body was buried at Bethlehem but was afterwards translated to Rome and laid in the basilica of Santa Mary ad Praesepe.

Dom Prosper Guéranger:

“I know not Vitalis, I reject Meletius, I pass by Paulinus. He that cleaves to the Chair of Peter, he is mine.” Thus, about the year 376, when the whole cast was disturbed by the competitions for the episcopal See of Antioch, wrote an unknown monk to Pope Saint Damasus. It was Saint Jerome, a native of Dalmatia, who implored “light for his soul redeemed by the Blood of our Lord.”

Far from Stridonium, his semi-barbarous native place, whose austerity and vigour he never lost: far from Rome, where the study of literature and philosophy had not had sufficient ascendancy to withhold him from the seductions of pleasure: the fear of God’s judgements had led him into the desert of Chalcis. Here, under a burning sky, in the company of wild beasts, for four years he tormented his body with fearful macerations. And then, as a yet more efficacious remedy, and certainly a more meritorious mortification for one passionately fond of classical beauties, he sacrificed his Ciceronian tastes to the study of the Hebrew language. Such an undertaking was far more laborious then than in our days of lexicons and grammars and scientific works of every description. Many a time was Jerome discouraged and almost in despair. But he had learnt the truth of the maxim he afterwards inculcated to others: “Love the science of the Scriptures, and you will not love the vices of the flesh.” So he took up his Hebrew alphabet again, and continued to spell those ‘hissing and panting syllables’ until he had so mastered them as even to spoil his pronunciation of Latin. For the rest of his life, all the energy of his spirited nature was spent on this labour. God amply repaid the homage thus rendered to His sacred word: Jerome hoped to obtain by his toil the cure of his moral sickness. He moreover attained the lofty holiness that we now admire in him. Other heroes of the desert remain unknown: Jerome was one of those to whom it is said: “You are the salt of the earth. You are the light of the world” and God willed that in due time this light should be set upon a candlestick that it might shine to all that are in the houses (Matthew v. 13, l4, l5).

The once brilliant student returned to Rome an altered man, for his holiness, learning and humility, he was declared by all to be worthy of the episcopal dignity. Pope Damasus, the virgin doctor of the virgin Church, commissioned him to answer, in his name, the consultations sent from East and West, and caused him to begin, by the revision of the Latin New Testament upon the original Greek text, those great scriptural works which have immortalised his name and entitled him to the undying gratitude of the Christian world. Meanwhile Helvidius dared to call in question the perpetual virginity of the Mother of God: Jerome’s refutation revealed that talent for polemics of which Jovinian, Vigilantius, Pelagius and others were also to feel the force. Mary rewarded him for thus avenging her honour, by bringing to him a number of holy souls, whom he was to lead in the paths of virtue and instruct in the mysteries of holy Scripture.

Here was a phenomenon inexplicable to the infidel historian: at the very time when the Rome of the Caesars was perishing, suddenly around this Dalmatian were gathered the fairest names of ancient Rome. They were thought to have died out when the lower classes made themselves supreme, but at the critical moment when Rome was to rise again purified from the flames kindled by the barbarians, they reappeared to claim their birthright and refound the city for its true eternal destiny. The combat was of a new kind, but they were at the head of the army that was to save the world. Four centuries earlier, the apostle had said there were not many wise, and powerful and noble. Jerome declared that, in his day, they were numerous, “numerous among the monks.”

The monastic army in the West was, at its origin, chiefly recruited from the patricians whose character of ancient grandeur it ever afterwards retained. Its ranks included noble virgins and widows, and sometimes husband and wife would enlist together. Marcella was the first to inaugurate the monastic life at Rome in her palace on the Aventine. She obtained Saint Jerome’s direction for her privileged community, but after his departure she herself was consulted by all as an oracle on the difficulties of holy Scripture. She was joined in her retreat by Furia, Fabiola and Paula, worthy descendants of Camillus, of the Fabii, and of the Scipios. But the old enemy could ill brook such losses to his power: Jerome must be forced to leave Rome.

A pretext was soon found for raisin a storm. The Treatise on Virginity addressed to Paula’s daughter Eustochium, and written in Jerome’s fearless and pointed style, evoked the animosity of false monks, foolish virgins and unworthy clerics. In vain did the prudent Marcella predict the tempest: Jerome would make hold to write what others dared to practise. But he had not reckoned on the death of Pope Damasus at that very juncture, an event for which the ignorant and the envious had been waiting in order to give full vent to their stifled hatred. Driven away by the storm, the lover of justice returned to the desert. Not this time to Chalcis, but to the peaceful Bethlehem where the sweet recollection of our Saviour’s infancy attracted the strong athlete. Paula and her daughter soon followed him in order not to forgo the lessons they prized above all else in the world. Their presence was a consolation to him in his exile, and an encouragement to continue his labours. All honour to these valiant women! To their fidelity, their thirst for knowledge, their pious importunities, the world is indebted for a priceless treasure, viz: the authentic translation of the sacred Books, which was necessitated by the imperfections of the old Italic Version and its numberless variations, as also by the fact that the Jews were accusing the Church of falsifying the Scripture.

“Paula and Eustochium, may the labours of my poor life be pleasing to you, useful to the Church and worthy of posterity. As for contemporaries, I care but little for their judgement.” So said the holy solitary. Yet he felt the envious attacks of his bitter enemies more keenly than he would own to himself. “Handmaids of Christ,” he said, “shield me with the buckler of your prayers from those who malign me.” Every book he translated brought on him fresh criticisms, and those not only from enemies. There were the timid, who were alarmed for the authority of the Septuagint, so sacred both to the Synagogue and to the Church. There were the possessors of precious manuscripts, written on purple vellum and adorned with splendid uncials, and with letters of silver and gold, all which would now lose their value. “Well, let them keep their precious metal and leave us our poor papers,” cried Jerome exasperated. “And yet, it is you,” he said to the fair inspirers of his works, “who force me to endure all this folly and all these injuries. To put an end to the evil, it were better you enjoined silence on me.” But neither the mother nor the daughter would hear of such a thing, and Jerome yielded to constraint. Finding that the text of his first revision of the Psalter on the Greek Septuagint had become corrupted through careless transcriptions, they induced him to undertake a second. This version is inserted in our present Vulgate, together with his translation of the other Books of the Old Testament from Hebrew or Chaldaic. In all these works the saint appealed to Paula and Eustochium as guarantees of his exactitude, and begged them to collate his translations word for word with the original. All his old friends in Rome took part in this learned intercourse. Jerome refused to none the light of his knowledge, and pleasantly excused him self for giving one half of the human race a preference over the other: “Principia, my daughter in Jesus Christ, I know that some find fault with me for writing to women. Let me say, then, to these detractors: If men questioned me on the Scripture, they should receive my answers.”

There was great joy in the monasteries at Bethlehem when news arrived that another Paula was born in Rome. Eustochium’s brother had married Laeta, the Christian daughter of the pagan pontiff Albinus. They had vowed their child to God before her birth and now they rejoiced to hear her lisp into the ear of the priest of Jupiter the Christian Alleluia. On hearing of her grandmother beyond the seas, and of her aunt consecrated to God, the little one would beg to go and join them. “Send her,” wrote Jerome delightedly, “I will be her master and foster-father. I will carry her on my old shoulders. I will help her lisping lips to form her words, and I will be prouder than Aristotle, for he indeed educated a king of Macedon, but I will be preparing for Christ a handmaid, a bride, a queen predestined to a throne in Heaven.” The child was, in fact, sent to Bethlehem where she was destined to solace the last hours of the aged saint, and to assume, while yet very young, the responsibility of carrying on the work of her holy relatives.

But Jerome had still more to suffer, before leaving this world. The elder Paula was the first to be called away, singing: “I have chosen to be an abject in the house of my God, rather than to dwell in the tabernacles of sinners” (Psalm lxxxiii. 11). So great a langour then took possession of Saint Jerome, that it seemed his end was approaching. Eustochium, though broken hearted, repressed her tears and implored him to live and fulfil his promises to her mother. He therefore aroused himself, finished his translations and took up again his commentaries on the text. He had completed Isaias, and was engaged on Ezechiel, when the most awful calamity of those times came upon the world: “Rome is fallen. The light of the Earth is extinguished. In that one city the whole universe has perished. What can we do, but hold our peace and think upon the dead?” He had, however, to think about the living also, for numberless fugitives, destitute of all things, made their way to the holy places and the uncompromising wrestler was all tenderness to these unfortunates. Loving the practice of the holy Scripture no less than its teaching, he spent his days in discharging the duties of hospitality. In spite of his failing sight, he gave the night hours to his dear studies in which he forgot the troubles of the day and rejoiced to fulfil the desires of the spiritual daughter God had given him. The prefaces to his fourteen books on Ezechiel bear witness to the share taken by the virgin of Christ in this work undertaken despite the misfortunes of the times, his own infirmities, and his last controversies with heretics.

Heresy seemed indeed to be profiting of the troubled state of the world, to rise up with renewed audacity. The Pelagians, supported by bishop John of Jerusalem, assembled one night with torches and swords, and set fire to the monastery of Saint Jerome, and to that of the sacred virgins then governed by Eustochium. Manfully seconded by her niece Paula the younger, the saint rallied her terrified daughters, and they escaped together through the midst of the flames. But the anxiety of that terrible night was too much for her already exhausted strength. Jerome laid her to rest beside her mother, near the crib of the Infant God, and leaving his commentary on Jeremias unfinished, he prepared himself to die.

* * * * *

You complete, O illustrious saint, the brilliant constellation of doctors in the heavens of holy Church. The latest stars are now rising on the sacred Cycle. The dawn of the eternal day is at hand. The Sun of Justice will soon shine down on the valley of judgement. O model of penance, teach us that holy fear which restrains from sin, or repairs its ravages. Guide us along the rugged path of expiation. Historian of great monks (Saint Paul the Hermit, Saint Hilarion and Saint Malchus), yourself a monk and father of the solitaries attracted like you to Bethlehem by the sweetness of the divine Infant, keep up the spirit of labour and prayer in the monastic Order of which several families have adopted your name. Scourge of heretics, attach us firmly to the Roman faith. Watchful guardian of Christ’s flock, protect us against wolves and preserve us from hirelings. Avenger of Mary’s honour, obtain for our sinful world that the angelic virtue may flourish more and more.

O Jerome, your special glory is a participation in the power of the Lamb to open the mysterious Book. The key of David was given to you to unclose the many seals of holy Scripture and to show us Jesus concealed beneath the letter. The Church, therefore, sings your praises today, and presents you to her children as the official interpreter of the inspired writings which guide her to her eternal destiny. Accept her homage and the gratitude of her sons. May our Lord, by your intercession, renew in us the respect and love due to His divine word. May your merits obtain for the world other holy doctors, and learned interpreters of the sacred Books. But let them bear in mind the spirit of reverence and prayer with which they must hear the voice of God in order to understand. God will have His word obeyed, not discussed: although, among the various interpretations of which that divine word is susceptible, it is lawful, under the guidance of the Church, to seek out the true one. And it is praiseworthy to be ever sounding the depths of beauty hidden in that august doctrine. Happy is he who follows your footsteps in these holy studies! You did say: “To live in the midst of such treasures, to be wholly engrossed in them, to know and to seek nothing else, is it not to dwell already more in Heaven than on Earth? Let us learn in time that science which will endure forever.”

Also on this day according to the ROMAN MARTYROLOGY:

The holy martyr Leopardus, of the household of Julian the Apostate. He was beheaded at Rome and his body was subsequently taken to Aix-la-Chapelle.

At Soleure in Switzerland, in the time of the emperor Maximian, the passion of the holy martyrs Victor and Ursus of the glorious Theban legion, who were subjected to horrid tortures, but a heavenly light shining over them, and causing the executioners to fall to the ground, they were delivered. Being then cast into the fire without sustaining any injury, they finally perished by the sword.

At Piacenza, the holy martyr Antoninus, soldier of the same legion.

The same day, St. Gregory, bishop of Greater Armenia, who after many sufferings under Diocletian, rested in peace.

At Canterbury in England, St. Honorius, bishop and confessor.

At Rome, the birthday of St. Francis Borgia, of the Society of Jesus. His feast is celebrated on the tenth of October.

In the same city, St. Sophia, widow, mother of the holy virgins Faith, Hope and Charity.

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

Thanks be to God.

29 SEPTEMBER – THE DEDICATION OF SAINT MICHAEL THE ARCHANGEL

Dom Prosper Guéranger:

The glorious Archangel appears today at the head of the heavenly army: “There was a great battle in Heaven, Michael and his angels fought with the dragon, and the dragon fought and his angels” (Apocalypse xii. 7). In the sixth century the dedication of the churches of Saint Michael on Monte Gargano and in the Roman Circus increased the celebrity of this day which had however been long before consecrated by Rome to the memory of all the heavenly Virtues.

The East commemorates on the sixth of September an apparition of the victorious Prince at Chonea in Phrygia, while the eighth of November is their solemnity of the angels corresponding to our feast of today, and bearing the title: ‘Synaxis of Saint Michael prince of the heavenly host, and of the other spiritual Powers.’ Although the term synaxis is usually applied only to religious assemblies here on Earth, we are informed that in this instance it also signifies the gathering of the faithful angels at the cry of their chief, and their union eternally sealed by their victory.

Who, then, are these heavenly Powers whose mysterious combat heads the first page of history? Their existence is attested by the traditions of all nations as well as by the authority of holy Scripture. If we consult the Church, she teaches us that in the beginning God created simultaneously two natures, the spiritual and the corporal, and afterwards man who is composed of both. The scale of nature descends by gradation from beings made to the likeness of God, to the very confines of nothingness. And by the same degrees the creature mounts upwards to his Creator. God is infinite being, infinite intelligence, infinite love. The creature is forever finite: but man, endowed with a reasoning intellect, and the angel, with an intuitive grasp of truth, are ever, by a continual process of purification, widening the bounds of their imperfect nature, in order to reach, by increase of light, the perfection of greater love.

God alone is simple with that unchangeable productive simplicity, which is absolute perfection excluding the possibility of progress. He is pure Act in whom substance, power and operation are one thing. The angel, though entirely independent of matter, is yet subject to the natural weakness necessary to a created being. He is not absolutely simple, for in him action is distinct from power, and power from essence. How much greater is the weakness of man’s composite nature, unable to carry on the operations of the intellect without the aid of the senses!

“Compared with ours,” says one of the most enlightened brethren of the angelic doctor, “how calm and how luminous is the knowledge of pure spirits! They are not doomed to the intricate discoursings of our reason, which runs after the truth, composes and analyses, and laboriously draws conclusions from premisses. They instantaneously apprehend the whole compass of primary truths. Their intuition is so prompt, so lively, so penetrating, that it is impossible for them to be surprised, as we are, into error. If they deceive themselves, it must be of their own will. The perfection of their will is equal to the perfection of their intellect. They know not what it is to be disturbed by the violence of appetites. Their love is without emotion, and their hatred of evil is as calm and as wisely tempered as their love. A will so free can know no perplexity as to its aims, no inconstancy in its resolutions. Whereas with us long and anxious meditation is necessary before we make a decision, it is the property of the angels to determine by a single act the object of their choice. God proposed to them, as He does to us, infinite beatitude in the vision of His own Essence, and to fit them for so great an end, He endowed them with grace at the same time as He gave them being. In one instant they said Yes or No. In one instant they freely and deliberately decided their own fate.”

Let us not be envious. By nature the angel is superior to us, but to which of the angels has He said at any time, “You are My Son?” (Hebrews i. 6; Psalm ii. 7) The only begotten Son of God did not take to Himself the angelic nature. When on Earth He acknowledged the temporary subordination of humanity to those pure spirits and deigned to receive from them, even as do His brethren in the flesh, the announcements of the divine will (Matthew ii. 13‒15), and help and strength (Luke xxii. 43). But “God has not subjected to angels the world to come,” says the Apostle (Hebrews ii. 15). How can we understand this attraction of God towards what is feeblest? We can only worship it in humble, loving faith. It was Lucifer’s stumbling-block on the day of the great battle in Heaven. But the faithful angels prostrated themselves in joyous adoration at the feet of the Infant-God foreshown to them enthroned on Mary’s knee, and then rose up to sing: ‘Glory to God in the highest, and on Earth peace to men of good will.’

* * * * *

O Christ, my Christ, as Saint Denis calls you, the Church today delightedly proclaims you the beauty of the holy angels. You, the God-Man, are the lofty height from which purity, light and love flow down on the triple hierarchy of the Nine Choirs. You are the supreme Hierarch, the centre of worlds, controller of the deifying mysteries at the eternal feast. Flaming Seraphim, glittering Cherubim, steadfast Thrones, court of honour to the Most High, and possessed of the noblest inheritance: according to the Areopagite, you receive your justice, your splendour and your burning love by direct communication from our Lord: and through you, all grace overflows from Him upon the Holy City.

Dominations, Virtues and Powers: sovereign disposers, prime movers and rulers of the universe: in whose name do you govern the world? Doubtless in His whose inheritance it is; in the name of the King of glory, the Man-God, the Lord strong and mighty, the Lord of hosts. Angels, Archangels and Principalities: Heaven’s messengers, ambassadors and overseers here below: are you not also, as the Apostle says, ministers of the salvation wrought on Earth by Jesus, the heavenly High Priest? We also, through this same Jesus, O most Holy Trinity, glorify you, together with the three princely hierarchies which surround your Majesty with their nine immaterial rings as with a many-circled rampart.

To tend to you, and to draw all things to you, is their common law. Purification, illumination, union: by these three ways in succession, or simultaneously, are these noble beings attracted to God, and by the same they attract those who strive to emulate them. Sublime spirits, it is with your gaze ever fixed on high that you influence those below and around you. Draw plentifully, both for yourselves and for us, from the central fires of the Divinity. Purify us from more than the involuntary infirmities of nature. Enlighten us. Kindle us with your heavenly flames. For the same reason that Satan hates us, you love us: protect the race of the Word made Flesh against the common enemy. So guard us that we may hereafter be worthy to occupy among you the places left meant by the victims of pride.

Also on this day according to the ROMAN MARTYROLOGY:

In Thrace, the birthday of the holy martyrs Eutychius, Plautus and Heracleas.

In Persia, under king Sapor, the holy martyr Gudelia. After having converted many to the faith, and refused to adore the sun and fire, she was subjected to numerous torments. Then having the skin torn off her head, and being fastened to a post, she deserved an eternal triumph.

In the same country, the holy martyrs Dadas, a blood relation of king Sapor, Casdoa, his wife, and Gabdelas, his son. After being deprived of their dignities, and subjected to various torments, they were for a long time imprisoned and finally put to the sword.

In Armenia, the holy virgins, Ripsimus and her companions, martyrs, under king Tiridates.

At Auxerre, St. Fraternus, bishop and martyr.

At Pontecorvo, near Aquino, St. Grimoaldus, priest and confessor.

In Palestine, St. Quiriacus, anchoret.

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

Thanks be to God.

28 SEPTEMBER – SAINT WENCESLAUS (Martyr)

Wenceslaus, duke of Bohemia, was born of a Christian father, Wratislaus, and a pagan mother, Drahomira. Brought up in piety by the holy woman Ludmilla his grandmother, he was adorned with every virtue and with the utmost care preserved his virginity unspotted throughout his life. His mother, having murdered Ludmilla, seized the reins of government, but her wicked life and that of her younger son Boleslas excited the indignation of the nobles. These, wearied of a tyrannical and impious rule, threw off the yoke of both mother and son and proclaimed Wenceslaus king at Prague. He ruled his kingdom rather by kindness than authority. He succoured orphans, widows and all the poor with the greatest charity, sometimes even carrying wood on his shoulders by night to those in need of it. He frequently assisted at the funerals of poor persons, liberated captives and often visited the prisoners during the night, assisting them with gifts and advice. It caused great sorrow to his tender heart to condemn even the guilty to death. He had the greatest reverence for priests and with his own hands he would sow the wheat and prepare the wine to be used in the sacrifice of the Mass.

At night he used to go the round of the churches barefoot, through ice and snow, while his bloodstained footprints warmed the ground. The angels formed his bodyguard. In order to spare the lives of his soldiers he undertook to fight in single combat with Radislaus, duke of Gurima. But when the latter saw angels arming Wenceslaus, and heard them forbidding him to strike, he was terrified and fell at the saint’s feet begging his forgiveness. On one occasion, when he had gone to Germany, the emperor, at his approach, saw two angels adorning him with a golden cross, whereupon, rising from his throne, he embraced the saint bestowed on him the regal insignia, and presented him with the arm of Saint Vitus. Nevertheless, instigated by their mother, his wicked brother invited him to a banquet and then, together with some accomplices, killed him as he was praying in the church, aware of the death that awaited him. His blood is still to be seen sprinkled on the walls. God avenged his saint. The earth swallowed up the inhuman mother, and the murderers perished miserably in various ways.

Dom Prosper Guéranger:

Wenceslaus recalls to us the entrance into the Church of a warlike nation, the Czechs, the most indomitable of the Slavonic tribes, which had penetrated into the very midst of Germany. It is well known with what bitterness and active energy this nation upholds its social claims as though its struggle for existence in the early days of its history had made it proof against every trial. The faith of its apostles and martyrs, the Roman faith, will be the safeguard, as it is the bond of union, of the countries subject to the crown of Saint Wenceslaus. Heresy, whether it be the native Hussite, or the ‘reform’ imported from Germany, can but lead the people to eternal ruin. May they never yield to the advances and seductions of schism! Wenceslaus the martyr, grandson of the holy martyr Ludmilla and great-uncle of the monk bishop and martyr Adalbert, invites his faithful subjects to follow him in the only path where they may find honour and security both for this world and for the next. The conversion of Bohemia dates from the latter part of the ninth century when Saint Methodius baptised Saint Ludmilla and her husband Borziwoi the first Christian duke of the line of Premislas. The pagan reaction during which Saint Wenceslas gained the palm of martyrdom was but short-lived.

* * * * *

You won your crown, O holy martyr, in the church of Saints Cosmas and Damian to which their feast had attracted you. As you honoured them, we now in turn honour you. We are also hailing the approach of that other solemnity which you greeted with your last words at the fratricidal banquet: “In honour of the Archangel Michael let us drink this cup, and let us beseech him to lead our souls into the peace of eternal happiness.” What a sublime pledge, when you were already grasping the chalice of blood! O Wenceslaus, fire us with that intrepid valour which is ever humble and gentle, simple as God to whom it tends, calm as the angels on whom it relies. Succour the Church in these unfortunate times. The whole Church honours you. She has a right to expect your assistance. But especially cherish for her the nation of which you are the honour, as long as it remains faithful to your blessed memory and looks to your patronage in its earthly combats, its wandering from the truth will not be without return.

Also on this day according to the ROMAN MARTYROLOGY:

At Rome, St. Privatus, martyr, who was cured of ulcers by the blessed Pope Callistus. For the faith of Christ he was scourged to death with leaded whips in the time of the emperor Alexander.

In the same place, St. Stacteus, martyr.

In Africa, the Saints Martial, Lawrence and twenty other martyrs.

At Antioch in Pisidia, the holy martyrs Mark, shepherd, Alphius, Alexander and Zosimus, his brothers, Nicon, Neon Heliodorus, and thirty soldiers, who were converted to Christ on seeing the miracles of blessed Mark, and were crowned with martyrdom in different places and in various manners.

The same day, the martyrdom of St. Maximus under the emperor Decius.

At Toulouse, St. Exuperius, bishop and confessor. St. Jerome bore to this blessed man a memorable testimony, relating how severe he was towards himself and how liberal towards others.

At Genoa, St. Solomon, bishop and confessor.

At Brescia, St. Silvinus, bishop.

The same day, the holy virgin Eustochium, daughter of blessed Paula, who was brought up at the manger of Our Lord with other virgins, and being celebrated for merits, went to Our Lord.

In Germany, St. Lioba, virgin, renowned for miracles.

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

Thanks be to God.