8 MARCH – SAINT JOHN OF GOD (Confessor)

 

John of God was born of Catholic and virtuous parents in Montemor, Portugal. At his birth a bright light shone on the house and the church bell was heard to ring of itself, God thus evincing to what great things he destined his servant. For some time he fell into a lax way of living but was reclaimed by God’s grace and led a very holy life. His conversion was effected by his hearing a sermon, and so fervently did he practise the exercises of a devout life that from the very first he seemed to have attained the height of perfection. He gave whatever he possessed to the poor who were in prison. Extraordinary were the penances he inflicted on himself, and the contempt he had for himself induced him to do certain things which led some people to accuse him of madness, so that he was for some time confined in a madhouse. His charity only increased by such treatment.

John collected alms sufficient to build two large hospitals in Granada where also he began the new Order with which he enriched the Church. This Order was called the Institute of Friars Hospitallers. Its object was to assist the sick, both in their spiritual and corporal wants. Its success was very great and it had Houses in almost all parts of the world. The Saint often carried the sick poor on his own shoulders to the hospital, and there he provided them with everything they could want, whether in soul or body. His charity was not confined within the limits of his hospitals. He secretly provided food for indigent widows, and girls whose virtue was exposed to danger. Nothing could exceed the zeal with which he laboured to reclaim such as had fallen into sins of impurity. On occasion of an immense fire breaking out in the royal Hospital of Granada, John fearlessly threw himself into the midst of the flames. He went through the several wards, taking the sick upon his shoulders and throwing the beds through the windows, so that all were saved. He remained half an hour amid the flames which raged with wildest fury in every part of the building. He was miraculously preserved from the slightest injury, and came forth to the astonishment of the whole city, teaching the people who had witnessed what had happened that, in the disciples of charity, there is a fire within their hearts more active than any which could burn the body.

Among the virtues in which John wonderfully excelled may be mentioned his many practices of bodily mortification, profound obedience, extreme poverty, love of prayer, contemplation and devotion to the Blessed Virgin. He also possessed, in an extraordinary degree, the gift of tears. At length, falling seriously ill, he fervently received the last Sacraments. Though reduced to a state of utter weakness, he dressed himself, rose from his bed, fell on his knees, devoutly took the Crucifix into his hands, pressed it to his heart, and kissing it, died on the eighth of the Ides of March (March 8th), in 1550. He remained in this same attitude, with the Crucifix still in his hands, for about six hours after his death. The entire city came to see the holy corpse which gave forth a heavenly fragrance. The body was then removed in order that it might be buried. God honoured his servant by many miracles, both before and after his death, and he was canonised by Pope Alexander VIII.

Dom Prosper Guéranger:

This day in the month we were keeping the feast of Saint John of Matha whose characteristic virtue was charity. Our Saint of today was like him. Love for his neighbour led him to devote himself to the service of them that most needed help. Both are examples to us of what is a principal duty of this present Season: they are models of Fraternal Charity. They teach us this great lesson — that our love of God is false if our hearts are not disposed to show mercy to our neighbour, and help him in his necessities and troubles. It is the same lesson as that which the Beloved Disciple gives us when he says: “He that has the substance of this world, and will see his brother in need, and will put up his mercy from him, how does the charity of God abide in him? (1 John iii. 17).

But if there can be no love of God where there is none for our neighbour, the love of our neighbour itself is not genuine unless it be accompanied by a love of our Creator and Redeemer. The charity which the world has set up, which it calls Philanthropy, and which it exercises not in the name of God but solely for the sake of man, this pretended virtue is a mere delusion, is incapable of producing love between those who give and those who receive, and its results must necessarily be unsatisfactory. There is but one tie which can make men love one another: that tie is God who created them all and commands them all to be one in Him. To serve mankind for its own sake is to make a god of it and even viewing the workings of the two systems in this single point of view, the relief they afford to temporal suffering, what comparison is there between mere Philanthropy and that supernatural Charity of the humble disciples of Christ who make Him the very motive and end of all they do for their afflicted brethren? The Saint we honour today was called John of God because the Name of God was ever on his lips. His heroic acts of charity had no other motive than that of pleasing God. God alone was the inspirer of the tender love he had for his suffering fellow-creatures. Let us imitate his example, for our Lord assures us that He considers as done to Himself whatever we do even for the least of His disciples.

*****

What a glorious life was yours, O John of God! It was one of charity, and of miracles wrought by charity. Like Vincent of Paul, you were poor and, in your early life, a shepherd-boy like him. But the charity which filled your heart gave you a power to do what worldly influence and riches never can. Your name and memory are clear to the Church. They deserve to be held in benediction by all mankind, for you spent your life in serving your fellow-creatures for God’s sake. That motive gave you a devotedness to the poor, which is an impossibility for those who befriend them from mere natural sympathy. Philanthropy may be generous and its workings may be admirable for ingenuity and order, but it never can look upon the poor man as a sacred object because it refuses to see God in Him. Pray for the men of this generation that they may at length desist from perverting charity into a mere mechanism of relief. The poor are the representatives of Christ, for He Himself has willed that they be such: and if the world refuse to accept them in this their exalted character, if it denies their resemblance to our Redeemer, it may succeed in degrading the poor, but this very degradation will make them enemies of its insulter. Your predilection, O John of God, was for the sick. Have pity, therefore, on our times which are ambitious to eliminate the supernatural and exclude God from the world by what is called secularisation of society. Pray for us that we may see how evil a thing it is to have changed the Christian for the worldly spirit. Kindle holy charity within our hearts, that during these days, when we are striving to draw down the mercy of God upon ourselves, we also may show mercy. May we, as you did, imitate the example of our Blessed Redeemer who gave Himself to us who were His enemies and deigned to adopt us as His brethren. Protect also the Order you instituted and which has inherited your spirit, that it may prosper and spread in every place the sweet odour of that charity which is its very name.

Also on this day according to the ROMAN MARTYROLOGY:

At Antinous in Egypt, the birthday of the holy martyr Philemon, and the deacon Apollonius. As they firmly refused to sacrifice to the idols when they were apprehended and brought before the judge, they had their heels transpierced, were barbarously dragged through the city and finally consummated their martyrdom by the edge of the sword.

Also in the same place, the passion of the Saints Arianus, governor, Theoticus and three others, who were submerged in the sea by order of the judge. Their bodies were brought to the shore by dolphins.

At Nicomedia, St. Quinctilis, bishop and martyr.

At Carthage, St. Pontius, deacon of bishop St. Cyprian, who remained in banishment with him until his death, and composed an excellent history of his life and martyrdom. By ever glorifying God in his own sufferings he merited the crown of life.

Also in Africa, the Saints Cyril, bishop, Rogatus, Felix, another Rogatus, Beata, Herenia, Felicitas, Urbanus, Sylvanus and Mamillus.

At Toledo in Spain, the demise of blessed Julian, bishop and confessor, most celebrated for his sanctity and learning.

In England, St. Felix, bishop, who converted the East Angles to the faith.

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

Thanks be to God.

8 MARCH – THIRD SUNDAY OF LENT

Epistle – Ephesians v. 1‒9

Brethren, be followers of God, as most dear children; and walk in love, as Christ also has loved us, and has delivered Himself for us, an oblation, and a sacrifice to God, for an odour of sweetness. But fornication, and all uncleanness, or covetousness, let it not as much as be named among you, as becomes saints; nor obscurity, nor foolish talking, nor scurrility, which is to no purpose; but rather giving of thanks: for know this and understand, that no fornicator, nor unclean, nor covetous person, which is a serving of idols, has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God. Let no man deceive you with vain words; for because of these things comes the anger of God on the children of unbelief Be not therefore partakers with them. For you were heretofore darkness; but now light in the Lord. Walk, then, as children of the light; for the fruit of the light is in all goodness, and justice, and truth.

Thanks be to God.

Dom Prosper Guéranger:

The Apostle, speaking to the faithful of Ephesus, reminds them how they once were darkness, but note, he says, you are Light in the Lord...

We were sanctified almost as soon as we came into the world. Have we been faithful to our Baptism? We, heretofore, were Light. How comes it that we are now darkness? The beautiful likeness to our Heavenly Father, which was once upon us, is perhaps quite gone! But, thanks to Divine Mercy, we may recover it. Let us do so, by again renouncing Satan and his idols. Let our repentance and penance restore within us that Light, whose fruit consists in all goodness, justice, and truth.

Gospel – Luke xi. 14‒28

At that time, Jesus was casting out a devil, and the same was dumb. And when He had cast out the devil, the dumb spoke and the multitudes were in admiration at it. But some of them said, “He casts out devils by Beelzebub the prince of devils.” And others tempting, asked of Him a sign from heaven. But seeing their thoughts, He said to them, “Every kingdom divided against itself will be brought to desolation, and house upon house will fall. And if Satan is also divided against himself, how will his kingdom stand? Because you say that through Beelzebub I cast out devils. Now if I cast out devils by Beelzebub, by whom do your children cast them out? Therefore, they will be your judges. But if I, by the finger of God, cast out devils, doubtless the kingdom of God has come upon you. When a strong man armed keeps his court, those things which he possesses are in peace. But if one stronger than he comes upon him and overcomes him, he will take away all his armour in which he trusted and will distribute his spoils. He that is not with me, is against me, and he that gathers not with me, scatters. When the unclean spirit is gone out of a man, he walks through places without water, seeking rest, and not finding, he says, ‘I will return into my house from where I came out,’ and when he has come, he finds it swept and garnished. Then he goes and takes with him seven other spirits more wicked than himself, and entering in they dwell there, and the last state of that man becomes worse than the first.” And it came to pass, as He spoke these things, a certain woman from the crowd raising her voice said to Him, “Blessed is the womb that bore you, and the breasts that gave you to suck.” But He said, “Yea rather, blessed are they who hear the word of God, and keep it.”

Praise be to you, O Christ.

Dom Prosper Guéranger:

As soon as Jesus had cast out the devil, the man recovered his speech, for the possession had made him dumb. It is an image of what happens to a sinner who will not, or dare not, confess his sin. If he confessed it and asked pardon he would be delivered from the tyranny which now oppresses him. Alas! How many there are who are kept back by a dumb devil from making the Confession that would save them! The holy Season of Lent is advancing. These days of grace are passing away. Let us profit by them, and if we ourselves be in the state of grace, let us offer up our earnest prayers for sinners that they may speak, that is, may accuse themselves in Confession and obtain pardon.

Let us also listen, with holy fear, to what our Saviour tells us with regard to our invisible enemies. They are so powerful and crafty that our resistance would be useless unless we had God on our side, and his holy Angels who watch over us and join us in the great combat. It was to these unclean and hateful spirits of Hell that we delivered ourselves when we sinned: we preferred their tyrannical sway to the sweet and light yoke of our compassionate Redeemer. Now we are set free, or are hoping to be so. Let us thank our Divine Liberator, but let us take care not to re-admit our enemies. Our Saviour warns us of our danger. They will return to the attack. They will endeavour to force their entrance into our soul after it has been sanctified by the Lamb of the Passover. If we be watchful and faithful, they will be confounded and leave us, but if we be tepid and careless, if we lose our appreciation of the grace we have received and forget our obligations to Him who has saved us, our defeat is inevitable, and as our Lord says, our last state is to be worse than the first.

Would we avoid such a misfortune? Let us meditate on those other words of our Lord in today’s Gospel: He that is not with me is against me. What makes us fall back into the power of Satan and forget our duty to our God is that we do not frankly declare ourselves for Jesus when occasions require us to do so. We try to be on both sides, we have recourse to subterfuge, we temporise: this takes away our energy. God no longer gives us the abundant graces we received when we were loyal and generous. Our relapse is all but certain. Therefore, let us be boldly and unmistakeably with Christ. He that is a soldier of Jesus, should be proud of his title!

HAVING now passed the fourteenth day of this Season which forms the tithe of our year, we lift up our eyes to you, O Lord, who dwells in Heaven. Show mercy to the miserable, and heal them that are wounded. Grant that the journey we have begun may be prosperous. Direct our hearts in the way of your commandments. Through you may we find the way of light: through you may we be inflamed with the bright burning of your love. Grant rest to our labours, and a home to us that labour, that having gained your good pleasure by our observance of these days, we may deserve to be partakers of your glory. Amen.

7 MARCH – SAINT THOMAS AQUINAS (Confessor and Doctor of the Church)

 

Thomas was born of noble parents, his father being Landulph, Count of Aquino, and his mother a rich Neapolitan lady called Theodora. When he was five years old he was sent to Monte Cassino that he might receive his first training from the Benedictine monks. Thence he was sent to Naples where he went through a course of studies and, young as he was, joined the Order of Friars Preachers. This step caused great displeasure to his mother and brothers, and it was therefore deemed advisable to send him to Paris. Thomas was waylaid by his brothers who seized him and imprisoned him in the castle of Saint John. After having made several unsuccessful attempts to induce him to abandon the holy life he had chosen, they assailed his purity by sending to him a wicked woman, but he drove her from his chamber with a fire-brand. The young saint then threw himself on his knees before a crucifix. Having prayed some time, he fell asleep and it seemed to him that two Angels approached to him, and tightly girded his loins. From that time forward Thomas never suffered the slightest feeling against purity. His sisters, also, had come to the castle, and tried to make him change his mind, but he persuaded them to despise the world and devote themselves to the exercise of a holy life. It was contrived that he should escape through a window of the castle and return to Naples. He was thence taken by John the Teutonic, the general of the Dominican Order, first to Rome, and then to Paris, in which city he was taught philosophy and theology by Albert the Great.

At the age of twenty-five Thomas received the title of Doctor and explained in the public schools, and in a manner that made him the object of universal admiration, the writings of philosophers and theologians. He always applied himself to prayer before reading or writing anything. When he met with any difficult passage in the Sacred Scriptures, he both fasted and prayed. He used often to say to his companion Brother Reginald that if he knew anything, it was more a gift from God than the fruit of his own study and labour. One day, when at Naples, as he was praying, with more than his usual fervour before a crucifix, he heard these words: “Well have you written of me, Thomas! What reward would you have me give you?” He answered: “None other, Lord, but yourself.” There was not a book which he had not most carefully read. His favourite spiritual book was the Conferences of the Fathers. He was most zealous in preaching the Word of God. On one occasion during Easter Week, as he was preaching in the Church of Saint Peter, a woman touched the hem of his habit and was cured of an issue of blood. His writings are so extraordinary, not only for their number and their variety, but also for their clearness in the explaining difficult points of doctrine that he has received the title of Angelical Doctor. He was invited to Rome by Pope Urban IV, but nothing could induce him to accept the honours which were offered him. He refused the Archbishopric of Naples, which Pope Clement IV begged him to accept. Thomas was sent by Pope Gregory X to the Council of Lyons, but having got as far as Fossa Nova, he fell sick. He was received as a guest in the monastery there and wrote a commentary on the Canticle of Canticles. There he died aged 50 in 1274 on the Nones of March (March 7th). His sanctity was made manifest by miracles both before and after his death. He was canonised by Pope John XXII in 1323 and his body was translated to Toulouse during the Pontificate of Pope Urban V.

Dom Prosper Guéranger:

The Saint we are to honour today is one of the sublimest and most lucid interpreters of Divine Truth. He rose up in the Church many centuries after the Apostolic Age, long after the four great Latin Doctors, Ambrose, Augustine, Jerome and Gregory. The Church, the ever young and joyful Mother, is justly proud of her Thomas, and has honoured him with the splendid title of The Angelical Doctor, on account of the extraordinary gift of understanding with which God had blessed him, just as his co-temporary and friend Saint Bonaventure has been called the Seraphic Doctor on account of the wonderful unction which abounds in the writings of this worthy disciple of Saint Francis. Thomas Aquinas is an honour to mankind, for perhaps there never existed a man whose intellect surpassed his. He is one of the brightest ornaments of the Church, for not one of her Doctors has equalled him in the clearness and precision with which he has explained her doctrines. He received the thanks of Christ Himself for having well written of Him and His mysteries. How welcome ought not this Feast of such a Saint to be to us during this Season of the Year when our main study is our return and conversion to God? What greater blessing could we have than the coming to know this God? Has not our ignorance of God, and His claims, and His perfections been the greatest misery of our past lives? Here we have a Saint whose prayers are most efficacious in procuring for us that knowledge which is unspotted and converts souls, and gives wisdom to little ones, and gladdens the heart, and enlightens the eyes (Psalm xviii. 8, 9). Happy we if this spiritual wisdom be granted us! We will then see the vanity of everything that is not eternal, the righteousness of the divine commandments, the malice of sin and the infinite goodness with which God treats us when we repent.

*****

How shall we worthily praise you, most holy Doctor! How shall we thank you for what you have taught us? The rays of the Divine Sun of Justice beamed strongly upon you, and you have reflected them upon us. When we picture you contemplating Truth, we think of those words of our Lord: “Blessed are the clean of heart, for they will see God” (Matthew v. 8). Your victory over the concupiscence of the flesh merited for you the highest spiritual delights, and our Redeemer chose you because of the purity of your angelic soul to compose for His Church the Office by which she should celebrate the Divine Sacrament of His Love. Learning did not impair your humility. Prayer was ever your guide in your search after Truth, and there was but one reward for which, after all your labours, you were ambitious — the possession of God.

Your life, alas, was short. The very masterpiece of your angelical writings was left unfinished. But you have not lost your power of working for the Church. Aid her in her combats against error. She holds your teachings in the highest estimation because she feels that none of her Saints has ever known so well as you the secrets and Mysteries of her Divine Spouse. Now, perhaps more than in any other age, Truths are decayed — they are diminished among the children of men (Psalm xi. 2). Strengthen us in our Faith, get us Light. Check the conceit of those shallow self-constituted philosophers who dare to sit in judgement over the actions and decisions of the Church and force their contemptible theories upon a generation that is too ill-instructed to detect their fallacies. The atmosphere around us is gloomy with ignorance: loose principles and truths spoilt by cowardly compromise are the fashion of our times. Pray for us, bring us back to that bold and simple acceptance of truth which gives life to the intellect and joy to the heart.

Pray, too, for the grand Order which loves you so devoutly, and honours you as one of the most illustrious of its many glorious children. Draw down upon the family of your Patriarch Saint Dominic the choicest blessings, for it is one of the most powerful auxiliaries of God’s Church. We are on the eve of the holy season of Lent. We are preparing for the great work of earnest conversion of our lives. Your prayers must gain for us the knowledge both of the God we have offended by our sins, and of the wretched state of a soul that is at enmity with its Maker. Knowing this, we will hate our sins. We will desire to purify our souls in the Blood of the spotless Lamb. We will generously atone for our faults by works of penance.

Also on this day according to the ROMAN MARTYROLOGY:

At Tuburbum in Mauritania (Barbary), in the reign of the emperor Severus, the birthday of the Saints Perpetua and Felicitas whose festival is kept on the sixth of this month. St. Augustine relates that Felicitas, being with child, her execution was deferred according to the laws until after her delivery, and while she was in labour she mourned, and when exposed to the beasts, she rejoiced. With them suffered Revocatus, Saturninus and Secundulus. This last died in prison. All the others were delivered to the beasts.

At Caesarea in Palestine, the passion of St. Eubulus, the companion of St. Adrian. Two days after the latter, being mangled by the lions and killed with the sword, he was the last of all those who received the crown of martyrdom in that city.

At Nicomedia, St. Theophilus, bishop, who was driven into exile for the worship of holy images, and there closed his life.

At Pelusium in Egypt, St. Paul, bishop, who for the same cause also died an exile.

At Brescia, St. Gaudiosus, bishop and confessor.

In Thebais, St. Paul, surnamed the Simple.

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

Thanks be to God.

7 MARCH – SATURDAY IN THE SECOND WEEK OF LENT

Lesson – Genesis xxvii. 5‒40

In those days, Rebecca said to her son Jacob: “I heard your father talking with Esau your brother, and saying to him, ‘Bring me of your hunting, and make me meats that I may eat, and bless you in the sight of the Lord before I die.’ Now, therefore, my son, follow my counsel and go your way to your flock, bring me two kids of the best, that I may make of them meat for your father, such as he gladly eats; which when you have brought in, and he has eaten, he may bless you before he dies.” And he answered her: “You know that Esau my brother is a hairy man, and I am smooth. If my father feels me and perceives it, I fear lest he will think I would have mocked him, and I will bring on me a curse instead of a blessing.” 

And his mother said to him: “On me be this curse, my son; only hear you my voice, and go, fetch me the things which I have said.” He went, and brought, and gave them to his mother. She dressed meat such as she knew his father liked. And she put on him very good garments of Esau, which she had at home with her; and the little skins of the kids she put about his hands and covered the bare of his neck. And she gave him the savoury meat, and delivered him bread that she had baked. Which when he had carried in, he said: “My father?” But he answered: “I hear; who are you my son?” And Jacob said: “I am Esau your first-born; I have done as you commanded me; arise, sit, and eat of my venison that your soul may bless me. And Isaac said to his son: “How could you find it so quickly, my son?” He answered: “It was the will of God that what I sought came quickly in my way.” And Isaac said: “Come here, that I may feel you my son, and may prove whether you are my son Esau or not.” He came near to his father, and when he had felt him Isaac said: “The voice, indeed is the voice of Jacob, but the hands are the hands of Esau.” And he knew him not, because his hairy hands made him like the elder. Then blessing him, he said: “Are you my son Esau?” He answered: “I am.” Then he said: “Bring me the meats of your hunting, my son, that my soul may bless you.” And when they were brought and he had eaten, he offered him wine also, which after he had drunk, he said to him: “Come near me, and give me a kiss, my son.” He came near, and kissed him. And immediately as he smelled the fragrant smell of his garments, blessing him, he said: “Behold the smell of my son is as the smell of a plentiful field, which the Lord has blessed. God give you of the dew of heaven, and of the fatness of the earth, abundance of corn and wine. And let peoples serve you, and tribes worship you; be lord of your brethren, and let your mother’s children bow down before you. Cursed be he that curses you, and let him that blesses you be filled with blessings.” 

Isaac had scarce ended his words when Jacob having now gone out abroad, Esau came and brought into his father meats made of what he had taken in hunting, saying: “Arise, my father, and eat of your son’s venison that your soul may bless me.” And Isaac said to him: “Why! Who are you?” He answered: “I am your first-born son Esau.” Isaac was struck with fear, and astonished exceedingly, and wondering beyond what can be believed, said: “Who is he that even now brought me venison that he has taken, and I ate of all before you earned? and I have blessed him, and he will be blessed.” Esau having heard his father’s words, roared out with a great cry, and being in a consternation said: “Bless me also, my father.” And he said: “Your brother came deceitfully and got your blessing.” But he said again: “Rightly is his name called Jacob, for he has supplanted me, lo! This second time, my first birthright he took away before, and now this second time he has stolen away my blessing.” And again he said to his father: “Have you not reserved me also a blessing?” Isaac answered: “I have appointed him your lord, and have made all his brethren his servants: I have established him with corn and oil, and after this, what shall I do more for you, my son?” And Esau said to him: “Have you only one blessing, father? I beseech you, bless me also.” And when he wept with a loud cry, Isaac being moved, said to him: “In the fat of the earth, and in the dew of heaven from above, will your blessing be.”

Thanks be to God.

Gospel – Luke xv. 11‒32

At that time, Jesus spoke to the Scribes and Pharisees this parable: “A certain man had two sons, and the younger of them said to his father: ‘Father, give me the portion of substance that falls to me.’ And he divided to them his substance. And not many days after, the younger son, gathering all together, went abroad into a far country and there wasted his substance with living riotously. And after he had spent all there came a mighty famine in that country, and he began to be in want. And he went and cleaved to one of the citizens of that country. And he sent him into his farm to feed swine. And he would fain have filled his belly with the husks the swine did eat, and no man gave to him. And returning to himself he said: How many hired servants in my father’s house abound with bread, and I here perish with hunger! I will arise, and will go to my father, and say to him: ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven, and before you. I am not now worthy to be called your son. Make me as one of your hired servants.’ And rising up, he came to his father. And when he was yet a great way off, his father saw him and was moved with compassion, and running to him fell on his neck, and kissed him. And the son said to him: ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven, and before you. I am not now worthy to be called your son.’ But the father said to his servants: ‘Bring forth quickly the first robe, and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet, and bring here the fatted calf and kill it, and let us eat and make merry, because this my son was dead and has now come to life again, was lost, and is found.’ And they began to be merry. Now his eldest son was in the field, and when he came and drew near to the house, he heard music and dancing, and he called one of the servants, and asked what these things meant. And he said to him: ‘Your brother has come, and your father has killed the fatted calf, because he has received him safe.’ And he was angry and would not go in. His father therefore coming out began to entreat him. And he answering, said to his father: ‘Behold, for so many years do I serve you, and I have never transgressed your commandment, and yet you have never given me a kid to make merry with my friends. But as soon as this your son has come, who has devoured his substance with harlots, you have killed for him the fatted calf.’ But he said to him: ‘Son, you are always with me, and all I have is yours. But it was fit that we should make merry and be glad, for this your brother was dead and has come to life again; he was lost, and is found.’”

Praise be to you, O Christ.

Saint Ambrose of Milan:

You see how that the heavenly goods are given to such as seek them. Neither ought you to think the father to blame because he gave to his younger son. In the kingdom of God there is no age of weakness, neither does faith wax infirm with years. He, surely, who asked, deemed himself of sufficient age. And would that he had not left his father! then had he been ignorant of the obstacle of his age! But after that he had left his father’s house and had gone into a far country, he began to be in want. Well is he said to have wasted his substance, who has cut himself off from the Church!

He took his journey into a far country. No man can go further than to abandon his own better self, to leave, not his country, but his morals and, as it were, in an hideous fever of lust after the world, to divorce himself from the ties that bind him to holy things. Yes, he that turns his back on Christ, banishes himself from his Fatherland and becomes a citizen of the world. But we “are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellow-citizens with the saints, and of the household of God,” since we “who sometimes were afar off, are made near by the Blood of Christ” (Ephesians ii. 19, 13). Let us not envy the pleasures of them who remain in the far country. We too have once been there, but, as says Isaias, “they that dwelt in the land of the shadow of death, upon them has the light shined” (ix. 2.). And that far country is the land of the shadow of death.

But we to whom the Lord Christ is the breath of life, are alive under the shadow of Christ. And therefore it is that the Church says: “I sat down under His shadow with great delight” (Canticles ii. 3). The prodigal son by riotous living wasted all the gifts of nature. Take warning, you who are made in the image and likeness of God, lest you waste the same by brutish wallowing. You are the work of God; say not “to a stock: You are my father,” (Jeremias ii. 27), lest you grow into the likeness of a stock, as it is written: “hey that make them are like them” (Psalm cxiii. 16).

6 MARCH – SAINTS PERPETUA AND FELICITAS (Martyrs)

 

During the reign of the Emperor Severus, several catechumens were apprehended at Carthage in Africa. Among these were Revocatus and his fellow servant Felicitas, Saturninus and Secundulus, and Vivia Perpetua, a lady by birth and education, who was married to a man of wealth. Perpetua was about twenty-two years of age, and was suckling an infant. She has left us the following particulars of her martyrdom:

“As soon as our persecutors had apprehended us, my father came to me and, out of his great love for me, he tried to make me change my resolution. I said to him: ‘Father, I cannot consent to call myself other than what I am — a Christian.’ At these words he rushed at me, threatening to tear out my eyes. But he only struck me, and then he left me, when he found that the arguments suggested to him by the devil were of no avail. A few days after this, we were baptised and the Holy Ghost inspired me to look on this baptism as a preparation for bodily suffering. A few more days elapsed, and we were sent to prison. I was terrified, for I was not accustomed to such darkness. The report soon spread that we were to be brought to trial. My father left the city, for he was heartbroken, and he came to me, hoping to shake my purpose. These were his words to me: ‘My child, have pity on my old age. Have pity on your father, if I deserve to be called Father. Think of your brothers, think of your mother, think of your son, who cannot live when you are gone. Give up this mad purpose, or you will bring misery upon your family.’ While saying this, which he did out of love for me, he threw himself at my feet and wept bitterly, and said he besought this of me, not as his child, but as his lady. I was moved to tears to see my aged parent in this grief, for I knew that he was the only one of my family that would not rejoice at my being a martyr. I tried to console him and said: ‘I will do whatever God will ordain. You know that we belong to God, and not to ourselves.’ He then left me and was very sad. On the following day, as we were taking our repast, they came upon us suddenly and summoned us to trial. We reached the forum. We were made to mount a platform. My companions were questioned and they confessed the faith. My turn came next and I immediately saw my father approaching towards me, holding my infant son. He drew me from the platform, and besought me, saying: ‘Have pity on your baby!’ Hilarian, too, the governor, said to me: ‘Have pity on your aged father, have pity on your baby! Offer up sacrifice for the Emperors.’ I answered him: ‘I cannot. I am a Christian.’ Whereupon, he sentences all of us to be devoured by the wild beasts and we, full of joy, return to our prison. But as I had hitherto always had my child with me in prison and fed him at my breast, I immediately sent word to my father, beseeching him to let him come to me. He refused, and from that moment neither the baby asked for the breast, nor did I suffer inconvenience, for God thus willed it.”

All this is taken from the written account left by the blessed Perpetua, and it brings us to the day before she was put to death. As regards Felicitas, she was in the eighth month of her pregnancy when she was apprehended. The day of the public shows was near at hand, and the fear that her martyrdom would be deferred on account of her being with child made her very sad. Her fellow-martyrs, too, felt much for her, for they could not bear the thought of seeing so worthy a companion disappointed in the hope, she had in common with themselves, of so soon reaching Heaven. Uniting, therefore, in prayer, they with tears besought God in her behalf. It was the last day but two before the public shows. No sooner was their prayer ended than Felicitas was seized with pain. One of the gaolers who overheard her moaning, cried out: “If this pain seem to you so great, what will you do when you are being devoured by the wild beasts, which you pretended to heed not when you were told to offer sacrifice?” She answered: “What I am suffering now, it is indeed I that suffer. But there, there will be another in me, who will suffer for me, because I will be suffering for Him.” She was delivered of a daughter, and one of our sisters adopted the infant as her own. The day of their victory dawned. They left their prison for the amphitheatre, cheerful, and with faces beaming with joy, as though they were going to Heaven. They were excited, but it was from delight, not from fear.

The last in the group was Perpetua. Her placid look, her noble gait, betrayed the Christian matron. She passed through the crowd and saw no one, for her beautiful eyes were fixed upon the ground. By her side was Felicitas, rejoicing that her safe delivery enabled her to encounter the wild beasts. The devil had prepared a savage cow for them. They were put into a net. Felicitas was brought forward the first. She was tossed into the air and fell upon her back. Observing that one side of her dress was torn, she adjusted it, heedless of her pain, because thoughtful for modesty. Having recovered from the fall, she put up her hair which was dishevelled by the shock, for it was not seemly that a martyr should win her palm and have the appearance of one distracted by grief. This done, she stood up. Seeing Felicitas much bruised by her fall, she went to her and giving her her hand, she raised her from the ground. Both were now ready for a fresh attack but the people were moved to pity, and the martyrs were led to the gate called Sana-Vivaria. There Perpetua, like one that is roused from sleep, awoke from the deep ecstasy of her spirit. She looked around her, and said to the astonished multitude: “When will the cow attack us?” They told her that it had already attacked them. She could not believe it until her wounds and torn dress reminded her of what had happened. Then beckoning to her brother, and to a catechumen named Busticus, she thus spoke to them. “Be staunch in the faith, and love one another, and be not shocked at our sufferings.”

God soon took Secundulus from this world, for he died while he was in the prison. Saturninus and Revocatus were exposed first to a leopard, and then to a bear. Saturus was exposed to a boar, and then to a bear, which would not come out of its den. Thus was he twice left uninjured, but at the close of the games he was thrown to a leopard, which bit him so severely that he was all covered with blood, and as he was taken from the amphitheatre, the people jeered at him for this second baptism, and said: “Saved, washed! Saved, washed!” He was then carried off, dying as he was, to the appointed place, there to be despatched by the sword with the rest. But the people demanded that they should be led back to the middle of the amphitheatre, that their eyes might feast on the sight, and watch the sword as it pierced them. The Martyrs hearing their request, cheerfully stood up and marched to the place where the people would have them go. But first they embraced one another, that the sacrifice of their martyrdom might be consummated with the solemn kiss of peace. All of them, without so much as a movement or a moan, received the swordman’s blow, save only Saturus, who died from his previous wounds, and Perpetua, who was permitted to feel more than the rest. Her executioner was a novice in his work, and could not thrust his sword through her ribs: she slightly moaned, then took his right hand, and pointing his sword towards her throat, told him that that was the place to strike. Perhaps it was that such a woman could not be otherwise slain than by her own consent, for the unclean spirit feared her.

Dom Prosper Guéranger:

The real Feast of these two illustrious heroines of the Faith is tomorrow, which is the anniversary of their martyrdom and triumph. But the memory of the Angel of the Schools, Saint Thomas Aquinas, shines so brightly on the seventh of March that it almost eclipses the two glorious stars of Africa. In consequence of this, the Holy See allows certain Churches to anticipate their Feast and keep it today. We take advantage of this permission and at once offer to the Christian reader the glorious spectacle of which Carthage was the scene in the year 203. Nothing could give us a clearer idea of that spirit of the Gospel according to which we are now studying to conform our whole life. Here are two women, two mothers. God asks great sacrifices from them. He asks them to give Him their lives, nay, more than their lives. And they obey with that simplicity and devotedness which made Abraham merit to be the Father of Believers.

Their two names, as Saint Augustine observes, are a presage of what awaits them in Heaven: a perpetual felicity. The example they set of Christian fortitude, is, of itself, a victory, which secures to the true Faith a triumph in the land of Africa. Saint Cyprian will soon follow them with his bold and eloquent appeal to the African Christians, inspiring them to die for their Faith. But his words, grand as they are, are less touching than the few pages written by the hand of the brave Perpetua who, though only twenty-two years of age, relates with all the self-possession of an angel, the trials she had to go through for God. And when she had to hurry off to the amphitheatre, she puts her pen into another’s hand, bidding him go on where she leaves off, and write the rest of the battle. As we read these charming pages, we seem to be in the company of the Martyrs. The power of divine grace, which could produce such heroism amidst a people demoralised by paganism, appears so great that even we grow courageous. And the very fact that the instruments employed by God for the destruction of the pagan world were frequently women, we cannot help saying with Saint John Chrysostom: “I feel an indescribable pleasure in reading the Acts of the Martyrs. But when the Martyr is a woman, my enthusiasm is doubled. For the frailer the instrument, the greater is the grace, the brighter the trophy, the grander the victory. And this, not because of her weakness, but because the devil is conquered by her by whom he once conquered us. He conquered by a woman, and now a woman conquers him. She that was once his weapon, is now his destroyer, brave and invincible. That first one sinned, and died. This one died that she might not sin. Eve was flushed by a lying promise and broke the law of God. Our heroine disdained to live, when her living was to depend on her breaking her faith to Him who was her dearest Lord. What excuse, after this, for men, if they be soft and cowards? Can they hope for pardon when women fought the holy battle with such brave, and manly, and generous hearts?”

* * * * *

Perpetua! Felicitas! Oh glorious and prophetic names which come like two bright stars of March, pouring out upon us your rays of light and life! You are heard in the songs of the Angels, and we poor sinners, as we echo them on Earth, are told to love and hope. You remind us of that brave woman who, as the Scripture says, kept up the battle begun by men: The valiant men ceased: who will follow them? A Mother in Israel (Judges v. 7). Glory be to that Almighty power which loves to choose the weak things of the world that it may confound the strong! (1 Corinthians i. 27). Glory to the Church of Africa, the daughter of the Church of Rome. And glory to the Church of Carthage, which had not then heard the preachings of her Cyprian, and yet could produce two such noble hearts!

As to you, Perpetua, you are held in veneration by the whole Christian world. Your name is mentioned by God’s priests in the Holy Mass, and thus your memory is associated with the Sacrifice of the Man-God, for love of whom you laid down your life. And those pages written by your own hand, how they reveal to us the generous character of your soul! How they comment those words of the Canticle: Love is strong as death! (Canticles viii. 6). It was your love of God that made you suffer, and die, and conquer. Even before the water of Baptism had touched you, you were enrolled among the Martyrs. When the hard trial came of resisting a father who wished you to lay down the palm of martyrdom, how bravely you triumphed over thy filial affection in order to save that which is due to our Father who is in Heaven! Nay, when the hardest test came — when the baby that fed at your breast was taken from you in your prison — even then your love was strong enough for the sacrifice, as was Abraham’s, when he had to immolate his Isaac.

Your fellow-martyrs deserve our admiration. They are so grand in their courage. But you, dear Saint, surpass them all. Your love makes you more than brave in your sufferings, it makes you forget them. “Where were you” we would ask you in the words of Saint Augustine, “where were you, that you did not feel the goading of that furious beast, asking when it was to be, as though it had not been? Where were you? What did you see that made you see not this ? On what were you feasting that made you dead to sense? What was the love that absorbed, what was the sight that distracted, what was the chalice that inebriated you? And yet the ties of flesh were still holding you, the claims of death were still upon you, the corruptible body was still weighing you down! But our Lord had prepared you for the final struggle by asking sacrifice at your hands. This made your life wholly spiritual, and gave your soul to dwell by love, with Him, who had asked you for all and received it. And thus living in union with Jesus, your spirit was all but a stranger to the body it animated. It was impatient to be wholly with its Sovereign Good. Your eager hand directs the sword that is to set you free. And as the executioner severs the last tie that holds you, how voluntary was your sacrifice, how hearty your welcome of death! Truly, you were the Valiant, the Strong Woman (Proverbs xxxi. 10) that conquered the wicked serpent! Your greatness of soul has merited for you a high place among the heroines of our holy Faith, and for [eighteen] hundred years you have been honoured by the enthusiastic devotion and love of the servants of God.

And you, too, Felicitas, receive the homage of our veneration, for you were found worthy to be a fellow-martyr with Perpetua. Though she was a rich matron of Carthage, and you a servant, yet Baptism and Martyrdom made you companions and sisters. The Lady and the Slave embraced, for Martyrdom made you equal. And as the spectators saw you hand in hand together, they must have felt that there was a power in the Religion they persecuted which would put an end to slavery. The power and grace of Jesus triumphed in you, as it did in Perpetua. And thus was fulfilled your sublime answer to the pagan who dared to jeer you — that when the hour of trial came, it would not be you that would suffer, but Christ, who would suffer in you. Heaven is now the reward of your sacrifice. Well did you merit it. And that baby that was born in your prison, what a happy child to have for its mother a Martyr in Heaven! How would you not bless both it and the mother who adopted it! Oh what fitness in such a soul as yours for the Kingdom of God! (Luke ix. 62) Not once looking back, but ever bravely speeding onwards to Him that called you. Your felicity is perpetual in Heaven. Your glory on Earth will never cease.

And now, dear Saints, Perpetua and Felicitas, intercede for us during this season of grace. Go with your palms in your hands to the throne of God, and beseech Him to pour down His mercy upon us. It is true, the days of paganism are gone by and there are no persecutors clamouring for our blood. You and countless other Martyrs have won victory for Faith, and that Faith is now ours. We are Christians. But there is a second paganism which has taken deep root among us. It is the source of that corruption which now pervades every rank of society, and its own two sources are indifference which chills the heart, and sensuality which induces cowardice. Holy Martyrs, pray for us that we may profit by the example of your virtues, and that the thought of your heroic devotedness may urge us to be courageous in the sacrifices which God claims at our hands. Pray, too, for the Churches which are now being established on that very spot of Africa which was the scene of your glorious martyrdom: bless them, and obtain for them, by your powerful intercession, firmness of faith and purity of morals.

Also on this day according to the ROMAN MARTYROLOGY:

At Nicomedia, the birthday of the holy martyrs Victor and Victorinus, who were, with Claudian and his wife Bassa, subjected to many torments during three years and were then thrust into prison where they ended the pilgrimage of life.

At Tortona, St. Marcian, bishop and martyr, who received the crown of immortality by being killed under Trajan for the glory of Christ.

At Constantinople, St. Evagrius, who was elected bishop by the Catholics in the reign of Valens, and being exiled by that emperor, departed for heaven.

In Cyprus, in the time of the emperor Decius, St. Conon, martyr, who, being compelled to run before a chariot with his feet pierced with nails, fell on his knees, and breathing a prayer expired.

Also the passion of forty-two holy martyrs, who were arrested in Amorium and taken to Syria where they received the palm of martyrdom after a valiant combat.

At Bologna, St. Basil, bishop, who was consecrated by Pope St. Sylvester, and by word and example governed with great holiness the church entrusted to his care.

At Barcelona in Spain, blessed Ollegarius, who was first a canon and afterwards bishop of Barcelona and archbishop of Tarragona.

At Ghent in Flanders, St. Colette, virgin, who at first professed the rule of the Third Order of St. Francis, and afterwards, by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, restored the primitive discipline in a great number of monasteries of Nuns of the Second Order. As she was adorned with heavenly virtues and performed innumerable miracles, she was inscribed on the list of the saints by Pope Pius VII.

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

Thanks be to God.

6 MARCH – FRIDAY IN THE SECOND WEEK OF LENT

Lesson – Genesis xxxvii. 6‒22

In those days Joseph said to his brethren: “Hear my dream which I have dreamed. I thought we were binding sheaves in the field, and my sheaf arose, as it were, and stood, and your sheaves, standing about, bowed down before my sheaf.” His brethren answered: “Will you be our king? or will we be subject to your dominion?” Therefore this matter of his dreams and words ministered nourishment to their envy and hatred. He dreamed also another dream which he told his brethren, saying: “I saw in a dream, as it were, the sun and the moon and eleven stars worshipping me.” And when he had told this to his father and brethren, his father rebuked him and said: “What means this dream that you have dreamed? Will I and your mother, and your brethren, worship you on the earth?” His brethren therefore envied him, but his father considered the thing with himself. And when his brethren abode in Sichem, feeding their father’s flocks, Israel said to him: “Your brethren feed the sheep in Sichem; come, I will send you to them.” And when he answered: “I am ready,” he said to him: “Go, and see if all things be well with your brethren and the cattle, and bring me word again what is doing.” So being sent from the valley of Hebron, he came to Sichem. And a man found him there wandering in the field and asked him what he sought. But he answered: “I seek my brethren; tell me where they feed their flocks.” And the man said to him: “They are departed from this place, for I heard them say: Let us go to ‘Dothain.’” And Joseph went forward after his brethren and found them in Dothain. And when they saw him afar off, before he came near them, they thought to kill him, and said one to another: “Behold the dreamer comes; come, let us kill him, and cast him into some old pit: and we will say: Some evil beast has devoured him: and then it will appear what his dreams avail him.” And Ruben hearing this, endeavoured to deliver him out of their hands, and said: “Do not take away his life, nor shed his blood; but cast him into this pit that is in the wilderness, and keep your hands harmless.” Now he said this, being desirous to deliver him out of their hands, and restore him to his father.

Thanks be to God.

Gospel – Matthew xxi. 33–46

At that time, Jesus spoke to the multitude of the Jews, and to the chief priests this parable: There was a householder who planted a vineyard and made a hedge round about it, and dug in it a press, and built a tower, and let it out to husbandmen, and went into a strange country. And when the time of the fruits drew near, he sent his servants to the husbandmen, that they might receive the fruits thereof. And the husbandmen laying hands on his servants, beat one, and killed another, and stoned another. Again he sent other servants, more than the former; and they did to them in like manner. And last of all he sent them his son, saying: “They will reverence my son.” But when the husbandmen saw the son, they said among themselves: “This is the heir, come, let us kill him and we will have his inheritance.” And taking him, they cast him forth out of the vineyard and killed him. When, therefore, the lord of the vineyard will come, what will he do to those husbandmen? They say to him: “He will bring those evil men to an evil end, and will let out his vineyard to other husbandmen that will render him the fruit in due season.” Jesus said to them: “Have you never read in the Scriptures: ‘The stone which the builders rejected, the same is become the head of the corner? By the Lord this has been done, and it is wonderful in our eyes.’ Therefore I say to you, the kingdom of God will be taken from you and will be given to a nation yielding the fruits thereof. And whoever will fall on this stone will be broken, but on whoever it will fall, it will grind him to powder.” And when the chief priests and Pharisees had heard His parables, they knew that He spoke of them. And seeking to lay hands on him, they feared the multitude because they held him as a prophet.

Praise be to you, O Christ.

Saint Ambrose of Milan:

Many derive divers spiritual meanings from the term vineyard, but Isaias gives us to know that “the vineyard of the Lord of Sabaoth is the house of Israel,” (v. 7.) Who but God planted that vineyard? He it was that let it out to husbandmen, and went into a far country; not that the Lord, Who is everywhere present, moves from place to place; but because He is near to them that seek Him, and from such as regard Him not He stands far away. For a long time He tarried away, lest He might seem to ask too early for the fruits of His vineyard. For where kindness is greatest, there ingratitude is worst.

Therefore it is well written in Matthew for our instruction that He “hedged it round about,” that is, He girded it with the fortifications of His own Divine protection that it might not easily lie open to the ravages of spiritual wild beasts. “" And dug a wine-press in it.” What sense are we to put upon the wine-press unless it be that the Psalms are here described under that title because in them the mysteries of the Lord’s Passion flow over like new wine, working under the power of the Holy Ghost ? Whence also, they upon whom the Holy Ghost was out-poured, were deemed to be drunken (Acts ii. 13) God therefore dug a wine-press into which the reasonable grapes of inward fruitfulness poured their spiritual richness.

“And built a tower”—that is, He raised up the goodly structure of the Law. And so this His vineyard, thus fortified, furnished and garnished, He gave over to the Jews. “And when the time of the fruit drew near, He sent His servants to the husbandmen.” Well does He call it the time of the fruit, not the time of the in-gathering. For the Jews yielded Him no fruit; the Lord had no in-gathering from that vineyard of which He said: “When I looked that it should bring forth grapes, it brought forth wild grapes.” (Isaias v. 4) Not with wine that makes glad the heart of man, not with the new wine of the spirit, reeked that wine-press, but with the blood of the Prophets, brutally shed.

5 MARCH – THURSDAY OF THE SECOND WEEK OF LENT

Lesson – Jeremias xvii. 5‒10

Thus says the Lord: “Cursed be the man that trusts in man, and makes flesh his arm, and whose heart departs from the Lord. For he will be like tamarick in the desert, and he will not see when good will come; but he will dwell in dryness in the desert, in a salt land and not inhabited. Blessed be the man that trusts in the Lord, and the Lord will be his confidence. And he will be as a tree that is planted by the waters, and spreads out its roots towards moisture; and it will not fear when the heat comes. And the leaf thereof will be green, and in the time of drought it will not be solicitous, neither will it cease at any time to bring forth fruit. The heart is perverse above all things, and unsearchable; who can know it? I am the Lord that searches the heart, and proves the reins; who gives to everyone according to his way, and according to the fruit of his devices,” says the Lord Almighty.

Thanks be to God.

Dom Prosper Guéranger:

The Epistle and Gospel for today are intended as instructions on Christian morality. Let us, for a moment, turn away our eyes from the sad spectacle of the plot which is being got up against our Redeemer by His enemies. Let us today think of our own sins, and how to apply a remedy. The Prophet Jeremias here gives us the description of two classes of men: to which class do we belong? There are some men who make flesh their arm; that is to say, they only care for this present life and for created things; and this disposition of mind necessarily leads them to frequent violations of the commandments of their Creator. It was so with us, when we sinned: we lost sight of our last end, and the threefold concupiscence blinded us. Let us lose no time, but return to the Lord our God; a delay might bring on us that curse which our Prophet says overtakes the unrepenting sinner: he will not see good, when good will come. The holy Season of Lent is fast advancing. The choicest graces are being daily offered us; woe to the man whose mind is distracted by the fashion of this wolrd that passes away, (1 Corinthians vii. 31) and takes no thought for eternity and heaven, and, even in this time of grace, is like tamarick, a worthless weed of the desert. Oh! how numerous is this class! and how terrible is their spiritual indifference! Pray for them, O ye faithful children of the Church, pray for them without ceasing. Offer up your penances and your alms-givings for them. Despair not and remember that each year many straying sheep are brought to the fold by such intercession as this.

The Prophet next describes the man that trusts in the Lord: his whole hope is in God, and his whole care is to serve Him and do His blessed will. He is like a beautiful tree that is planted near a stream of water, with its leaf ever-green, and its fruit abundant. I have appointed you, says our Redeemer, that you shou1d go, and should bring forth fruit, and your fruit should remain (John xv. 16). Let us become this favoured and ever fruitful tree. The Church during this holy time is pouring out on our hearts rich streams of God’s grace. Let us faithfully welcome them. The Lord searches the heart: if he find that our desire to be converted is sincere, what an Easter will not the coming one be to us!

Gospel – Luke xvi. 19‒31

At that time, Jesus said to the Pharisees: “There was a certain rich man who was clothed in purple and fine linen, and feasted sumptuously every day. And there was a certain beggar, named Lazarus, who lay at his gate, full of sores, desiring to be fed with the crumbs that fell from the rich man’s table, and no-one did give him: moreover the dogs came and licked his sores. And it came to pass that the beggar died and was carried by the Angels into Abraham’s bosom. And the rich man also died, and he was buried in hell. And lifting up his eyes, when he was in torments, he saw Abraham afar off and Lazarus in his bosom. And he cried, and said: ‘Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus that he may dip the tip of his finger in water, to cool my tongue, for I am tormented in this flame.’ And Abraham said to him: ‘Son, remember that you received good things in your lifetime, and likewise Lazarus evil things: but now he is comforted, and you are tormented. And besides all this, between us and you there is fixed a great chaos; so that they who would pass from hence to you, cannot, nor from there come here.’ And he said: ‘Then father, I beseech you that you would send him to my father’s house; for I have five brethren that he may testify to them, lest they also come into this place of torments.’ And Abraham said to him: ‘They have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them.’ But he said: ‘No, father Abraham: but if one went to them from the dead, they will do penance.’ And he said to him: ‘If they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they believe, if one rise again from the dead.’”

Praise be to you, O Christ.

Dom Prosper Guéranger:

The commandments of God cannot be broken with impunity. He that sins will be punished. This is the teaching of today’s Gospel, and after reading it, we exclaim with the Apostle: How fearful a thing it is to fall into the hands of the living God! What a terrible truth is here told us! A man is in the enjoyment of every comfort and luxury this life can give when suddenly death surprises him, and he is buried in hell! In the midst of those eternal burning, he asks far a drop of water, and that drop is refused him. Other men, who he knew on earth a few hours ago are now in the abode of eternal happiness, and a great chaos separates him from them forever.

Oh what misery to be in despair for endless ages! And yet there are men that live and die without giving so much as one day to think upon hell! Happy, then, are they that fear! for this fear will aid them to lighten that weight of their sins which would drag them into the bottomless pit. Alas! what strange darkness has come upon the mind of man as a consequence of sin! People that are shrewd and prudent and far-sighted in everything that regards their temporal concerns, are mere idiots and fools in every question that regards eternity. Can we imagine anything more frightful than their surprise when they awaken in the next world and find themselves buried in hell!

Observe too, that our Saviour in order to make his instruction more impressive, has not here described the condemnation of one of those whose crimes scandalise the neighbourhood, and make even worldlings look upon him as a sure prey of hell. The history He gives us is that of a man who led a quiet life; he was agreeable in company, and sought after; he was respected, and did honour to the position he held in society. He is not accused of any public scandals; there is no mention made of any atrocious crime; our Saviour simply says of him: he was clothed in purple and fine linen, and feasted sumptuously every day. It is true, he was not charitable to the poor man who lay at his gate; but he did not ill-treat him: he allowed him to lie there, and did not even insult his misery.

Why, then, was this rich man condemned to burn eternally in that fire which God created for the wicked? It is because a man who leads a life of luxury and feasting, such as he lived — never thinking of eternity — caring for nothing but this world, which we are told to use as though we used it not (1 Corinthians vii. 31) — with nothing about him of the spirit of the Cross of Christ — such a man as this is already a victim to the triple concupiscence of pride, avarice and luxury. He is their slave and seems determined to continue so, for he never makes an effort to throw off their tyranny. He has yielded himself up to them, and they have worked their work in him the death of the soul. It was not enough that he should not ill-treat the poor man that sat at his gate, he ought to have shown him kindness and charity, for such is God’s commandment. His very dogs had more compassion than he. Therefore, his condemnation and perdition were most just. But had he been told of his duty? Yes, he had the Scriptures. He had Moses and the Prophets. Nay more, he had Jesus and the Church.

Men who are leading a life like him, are now surrounded by the graces of the holy Season of Lent. What excuse will they have, if they so far neglect them, that they do not even give themselves the trouble to think of them? They will have turned their Lent into judgement against themselves, and it will have been but one great step nearer to eternal misery.

4 MARCH – SAINT CASIMIR OF POLAND (Confessor)

Casimir was the son of King Casimir of Poland and Elizabeth of Austria. He was put, when quite a boy, under the care of the best masters who trained him to piety and learning. He brought his body into subjection by wearing a hair-shirt and by frequent fasting. He could not endure the soft bed which is given to kings, but lay on the hard floor, and during the night he used privately to leave his room and go to the church, where, prostrate before the door, he besought God to have mercy on him. The Passion of Christ was his favourite subject of meditation and when he assisted at Mass his mind was so fixed on God that he seemed to be in one long ecstasy. Great was his zeal for the propagation of the Catholic faith. He persuaded the king, his father, to pass a law forbidding schismatics to build new churches, or to repair those which had fallen to ruin. Such was his charity for the poor and all sufferers that he went under the name of the Father and Defender of the Poor. During his last illness he nobly evinced his love of purity, which virtue he had maintained unsullied during his whole life. He was suffering a cruel malady but he courageously preferred to die rather than suffer the loss by which his physicians advised him to purchase his cure — the loss of his priceless treasure. Being made perfect in a short space of time, and rich in virtue and merit, after having foretold the day of his death, he breathed forth his soul into the hands of his God in the twenty-fifth year of his age, surrounded by priests and religious. His body was taken to Vilna and was honoured by many miracles. A young girl was raised to life at his shrine, the blind recovered their sight, the lame the use of their limbs, and the sick their health. He appeared to a small army of Lithuanians who were unexpectedly attacked by a large force, and gave them the victory over the enemy. Pope Leo X was induced by all these miracles to insert his name among the Saints.

Dom Prosper Guéranger:

It is from a court that we are to be taught today the most heroic virtues. Casimir is a Prince. He is surrounded by all the allurements of youth and luxury. And yet he passes through the snares of the world with as much safety and prudence as though he were an Angel in human form. His example shows us what we may do. The world has not smiled on us as it did on Casimir, but how much we have loved it! If we have gone so far as to make it our idol, we must now break what we have adored and give our service to the Sovereign Lord who alone has a right to it. When we read the Lives of the Saints, and find that persons who were in the ordinary walk of life practised extraordinary virtues, we are inclined to think that they were not exposed to great temptations, or that the misfortunes they met in the world made them give themselves up unreservedly to God’s service. Such interpretations of the actions of the Saints are shallow and false, for they ignore this great fact — that there is no condition or state, however humble, in which man has not to combat against the evil inclinations of his heart, and that corrupt nature alone is strong enough to lead him to sin. But in such a Saint as Casimir, we have no difficulty in recognising that all his Christian energy was from God and not from any natural source. And we rightly conclude that we who have the same good God may well hope that this Season of spiritual regeneration will change and better us. Casimir preferred death to sin. But is not every Christian bound to be thus minded every hour of the day? And yet, such is the infatuation produced by the pleasures or advantages of this present life that we, every day, see men plunging themselves into sin, which is the death of the soul. And this, not for the sake of saving the life of the body, but for a vile and transient gratification which is often times contrary to their temporal interests. What stronger proof could there be than this, of the sad effects produced in us by Original Sin? The examples of the Saints are given us as a light to lead us in the right path: let us follow it, and we will be saved. Besides, we have a powerful aid in their merits and intercession: let us take courage at the thought that these friends of God have a most affectionate compassion for us their brethren who are surrounded by so many and great dangers.

* * * * *

Enjoy your well-earned rest in heaven, O Casimir! Neither the world with all its riches, nor the court with all its pleasures, could distract your heart from the eternal joys it alone coveted and loved. Your life was short, but full of merit. The remembrance of Heaven made you forget the Earth. God yielded to the impatience of your desire to be with Him and took you speedily from among men. Your life, though most innocent, was one of penance, for knowing the evil tendencies of corrupt nature, you had a dread of a life of comfort. When will we be made to understand that penance is a debt we owe to God, a debt of expiation for the sins we have committed against Him? You preferred death to sin. Get us a fear of sin, that greatest of all the evils that can befall us, because it is an evil which strikes at God Himself. Pray for us during this holy Season which is intended as a preparation for penance. Impress our minds with the truths now put before us. The Christian world is honouring you today: repay its homage by your blessing.

Also on this day according to the ROMAN MARTYROLOGY:

At Rome, on the Via Appia, during the persecution of Valerian, the birthday of St. Lucius, pope and martyr, who was first exiled for the faith of Christ, but being permitted by divine Providence to return to his church, he suffered martyrdom by decapitation after having combated the Novatians. His praises have been published by St. Cyprian.

Also at Rome, on the Via Appia, nine hundred holy martyrs who were buried in the same cemetery as St. Cecilia.

The same day, St. Caius, a member of the imperial household, who was drowned in the sea with twenty-seven others.

At Nicomedia, in the reign of the emperor Diocletian, the holy martyr Adrian and twenty-three others, who endured martyrdom by having their limbs crushed. St. Adrian is especially commemorated on the eighth of September when his body was conveyed to Rome.

Also the martyrdom of the Saints Archelaus, Cyril and Photius.

In Chersonesus, the passion of the saintly bishops Basil, Eugenius, Agathodorus, Elpidius, Jetherius, Capito, Ephrem, Nestor and Arcadius.

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

Thanks be to God.

4 MARCH – WEDNESDAY IN THE SECOND WEEK OF LENT

Lesson – Esther xiii. 8‒17

In those days Mardochai besought the Lord, and said, “O Lord, Lord, Almighty King, for all things are in your power, and there is none that can resist your will, if you determine to save Israel. You have made heaven and earth, and all things that are under the cope of heaven. You are Lord of all, and there is none that can resist your majesty. And now, O Lord, O King, O God of Abraham, have mercy on your people, because our enemies resolve to destroy us, and extinguish your inheritance. Despise not your portion, which you have redeemed for yourself out of Egypt. Hear my supplication, and be merciful to thy lot and inheritance, and turn our mourning into joy, that we may live and praise your name, O Lord, and shut not the mouths of them that sing to you, O Lord our God.”

Thanks be to God.

Dom Prosper Guéranger:

This petition, which Mardochai presents to God, in favour of a whole nation that was doomed to destruction, represents the prayers which the saints of the Old Testament offered for the salvation of the world. The human race was, to a great extent, in the power of Satan, who is figured by Aman. The Almighty King had given sentence against mankind: Ye shall die the death. Who was there, that could induce him to revoke the sentence? Esther made intercession with Assuerus, her lord, and she was heard. Mary presented herself before the throne of the Eternal God: and it is she that, by her Divine Son, crushes the head of the serpent, who was to have tormented us for ever. The sentence, then, is to be annulled; all will live that wish to live. Today, we have the Church praying for her children, who are in the state of sin. She trembles at seeing them in danger of being eternally lost. She intercedes for them, and she uses Mardochai’s prayer. She humbly reminds her Divine Spouse, that he has redeemed them out of Egypt and, by Baptism, has made them His members, His inheritance. She beseeches Him to change their mourning into joy, even into the great Easter joy. She says to him: Oh! shut not the mouths of them that sing to you! It is true, these poor sinners have, in past times, offended their God by word, as well as by deed and thought; but now they speak not but words of humble prayers for mercy, and, when they will have been pardoned, how fervently will they not sing to their divine deliverer, and bless Him in canticles of grateful love!

Gospel – Matthew xx. 17‒28

At that time, Jesus going up to Jerusalem, took the twelve disciples apart and said to them: “Behold we go up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be betrayed to the chief priests and the scribes, and they will condemn him to death, and will deliver him to the Gentiles, to be mocked, and to be scourged, and to be crucified, and the third day he will rise again.” Then came to Him the mother of the sons of Zebedee, with her sons, adoring and asking something of Him. Who said to her: “What wilt thou?” She said to Him: “Say that these my two sons may sit, the one on your right hand, and the other on your left, your kingdom.” And Jesus answering, said: “You know not what you ask. Can you drink the chalice that I will drink?” They said to Him: “We can.” He said to them: “Of my chalice, indeed, you will drink; but to sit on my right hand, or left hand, is not mine to give to you, but to them for whom it is prepared by my Father.” And the ten hearing it, were moved with indignation against the two brethren. But Jesus called them to him, and said “You know that the princes of the gentiles lord it over them; and they that are the greater, exercise power on them. It will not be so among you, but whoever will be the greater among you, let him be your minister; and he that will be first among you, will be your servant. Even as the Son of Man is not come to be ministered to, but to minister, and to give his life a redemption for many.”

Praise be to you, O Christ.

Dom Prosper Guéranger:

This is He that gave his own life in order to appease the anger of the Almighty King, and redeem His people from death. It is Jesus, the Son of the new Esther, and the Son of God, who comes forward to humble the pride of Aman, at the very time that this perfidious enemy of ours is making sure of his victory. He goes up to Jerusalem, for it is there that the great battle is to be fought. He foretells His Disciples all that is to happen. He will be delivered up to the chief priests, who will condemn Him to death, and hand Him over to the Roman Governor and soldiers. He will be mocked, scourged and crucified, but He will rise again on the third day. The Apostles heard this prophecy, for the Gospel says that Jesus took the twelve apart in order to tell them these things. Judas, consequently, was present; so were Peter, James, and John, the three that had witnessed the Transfiguration of their Master on Thabor, and had a clearer knowledge of His Divinity. And yet, all abandoned him. Judas betrayed Him, Peter denied Him, and the whole flock fled away in fear, when the Shepherd was in the power of His enemies. Not one of them recollected how He had said that on the third day He would rise again; unless it were Judas, who was perhaps encouraged to commit his crime by the reflection, that Jesus would soon triumph over His enemies and be again free. The rest could see no further than the scandal of the Cross; that put an end to all their faith, and they deserted their Master. What a lesson for all future generations of Christians! How very few there are, who look on the Cross, either for themselves or for others, as a sign of God’s special love!

We are men of little faith; we cannot understand the trials God sends to our brethren, and we are often tempted to believe that He has forsaken them, because He sends them the cross. We are men of little love, too; worldly tribulation seems an evil to us, and we think ourselves hardly dealt with at the very time that our God is showing us the greatest mercy. We are like the mother of the sons of Zebedee: we would hold a high and conspicuous place near the Son of God, forgetting that we must first merit it by drinking of the chalice that He drank, that is, the chalice of suffering. We forget, too, that saying of the Apostle: That we may be glorified with Jesus, we must suffer with him! (Romans viii. 17) He, the just by excellence, entered not into His rest by honours and pleasures ― the sinner cannot follow Him, save by treading the path of penance.

3 MARCH – TUESDAY OF THE SECOND WEEK OF LENT

Lesson – 3 Kings xvii. 8‒16

In those days the word of the Lord came to Elias the Thesbite, saying, “Arise and go to Sarephta of the Sidonians and dwell there, for I have commanded a widow woman there to feed you.” He arose and went to Sarephta, and when he was come to the gate of the city, he saw the widow woman gathering sticks, and he called her, and said to her, “Give me a little water in a vessel, that I may drink.” And when she was going to fetch it, he called after her, saying, “Bring me also, I beseech you, a morsel of bread in your hand.” And she answered, “As the Lord your God lives, I have no bread but only a handful of meal in a pot, and a little oil in a cruse; behold I am gathering two sticks that I may go in and dress it, for me and my son, that we may eat it, and die.” And Elias said to her, “Fear not, but go and do as you have said; but first make for me of the same meal a little heart cake and bring it to me; and after make for yourself and your son. For thus says the Lord the God of Israel, ‘The pot of meal will not waste, nor the cruse of oil be diminished, until the day on which the Lord will give rain on the face of the earth.’” She went and did according to the word of Elijah, and he ate, and she, and her house. And from that day the pot of meal wasted not, and the cruse of oil was not diminished, according to the word of the Lord, which he spoke in the hand of Elijah.

Thanks be to God.

Gospel – Matthew xxiii. 1‒12

At that time, Jesus spoke to the multitudes and his disciples, saying, “The scribes and the Pharisees have sat on the chair of Moses. All things therefore whatever they will say to you, observe and do; but do not do according to their works, for they say and do not. For they bind heavy and insupportable burdens and lay them on mens’ shoulders; but with a finger of their own they will not move them. And all their works they do for to be seen by men, for they make their phylacteries broad and enlarge their fringes. And they love the first places at feasts and the first chairs in the synagogues, and salutations in the market place, and to be called by men Rabbi. But be not you called Rabbi; for one is your master, and all you are brethren. And call none your father on earth, for one is your father, who is in heaven; neither be called masters; for one is your master, Christ. He that is the greatest among you will be your servant. And whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and he that will humble himself will be exalted.”

Praise be to you, O Christ.

Saint Jerome:

Was there ever man gentler and kinder than the Lord? The Pharisees tempted Him; their craft was confounded, and, in the words of the Psalmist, “The arrows of babes have pierced them,” (Psalm lxiii. 8) and nevertheless, because of the dignity of their Priesthood and name, He exhorts the people to be subject to them, by doing according to their words, though not according to their works. By the words “Moses’ seat” we are to understand the teaching of the law. Thus also must we mystically take, “Sits in the seat of the scornful,” (Psalm i. 1) and likewise, “overthrew the seats of them that sold doves,” (Matthew xxi. 10) to describe doctrine.

“For they bind heavy burdens, and grievous to be borne, and lay them on men’s shoulders, but they themselves will not move them with one of their fingers.” This is generally directed against all teachers who command things hard, and themselves do not even things easy. But it is to be remarked that the “shoulders,” the “fingers,” and the “binding” of the burdens, have a spiritual interpretation. “But all their works they do for to be seen of men.” Whoever therefore does anything for to be seen of men, the same is, so far, a Scribe and a Pharisee.

“They make broad their phylacteries, and enlarge the borders of their garments. And love the uppermost rooms at feasts, and the chief seats in the synagogues, and greetings in the markets, and to be called of men, Rabbi.” Woe to us miserable sinners who have inherited the vices of the Pharisees! When the Lord had given the commandments of the law to Moses He added afterwards: “You will bind them for a sign upon your hand, and they will be as frontlets between your eyes” (Deuteronomy vi. 8). The sense of these words is: “My Law will be in your hand to order whatever you do, and ever before your eyes that you may meditate therein day and night.” But the Pharisees, by a bad interpretation, were accustomed to write on pieces of parchment the Decalogue of Moses, that is, the Ten Words of the Law, and to tie these pieces of parchment, plaited in a peculiar manner, on their foreheads, so as to make a sort of crown round their heads, which projected in front of their eyes, and always moved before them.

2 MARCH – MONDAY OF THE SECOND WEEK OF LENT

 Epistle – Daniel ix. 15‒19

In those days Daniel prayed to the Lord, saying: “O Lord our God, who has brought forth your people out of the land of Egypt with a strong hand, and has made you a name as at this day; we have sinned, we have committed iniquity, O Lord, against all your justice. Let your wrath and indignation be turned away, I beseech you, from your city Jerusalem, and from your holy mountain. For, by reason of our sins and the iniquities of our fathers, Jerusalem and your people are a reproach to all that are round about us. Now, therefore, our God, hear the supplication of your servant, and his prayers, and show your face on your sanctuary which is desolate, for your own sake. Incline, my God, your ear and hear; open your eyes and see our desolation, and the city on which your name is called; for it is not for our justifications that we present our prayers before your face, but for the multitude of your tender mercies. Lord, hear; Lord, be appeased; listen, and do; delay not for your own sake, my God; because your name is invoked on your city and on your people, Lord our God.”

Thanks be to God.

Gospel – John viii. 21‒29

At that time Jesus said to the multitude of the Jews: “I go, and you will seek me, and you will die in your sin. Where I go, you cannot come.” The Jews, therefore said: “Will He kill himself, because he said: ‘Where I go, you cannot come?’ And He said to them: “You are from beneath, I am from above. You are of this world, I am not of this world. Therefore I say to you that you will die in your sins. For if you believe not that I am He, you will die in your sin.” They said therefore to Him: “Who are you?” Jesus said to them: “The beginning, who also speak to you. Many things I have to speak, and to judge of you. But He that sent me is true; and the things I have heard of Him, the same I speak in the world.” Now they understood not that He called God His Father. Jesus therefore said to them: “When you will have lifted up the Son of man, then will you know that I am He, and that I do nothing of myself, but as the Father has taught me, these things I speak: and He that sent me is with me, and He has not left me alone: for I do always the things that please Him.”

Praise be to you, O Christ.

Saint Augustine of Hippo:

The Lord spoke to the Jews, saying: “I go My way”—for, to the Lord Christ, death was a departure to that place from where He had come, and from which He had never departed. “I go My way,” says He, “and you will seek Me"—not from love, but from hatred. Yes, after He had withdrawn Himself from the sight of men, two classes sought Him, even they that loved, and they that hated Him; the one because they longed for His presence, the other because they were fain to hunt Him down. In the Psalms the Lord Himself says by His Prophet: “Refuge failed me, and no man cared for my soul.” (Psalms cxli. 5) And again He says in another Psalm: “Let them be confounded and put to shame that seek after my soul." (Psalms xxxiv. 5)

Thus does He blame them that seek not, and condemn such as seek. Yes, it is a good thing to seek the soul of Christ, as the disciples sought it; and an evil thing to seek it, as the Jews sought it; the first sought it to possess, the second to destroy it. What then does He bid us know will be the reward of such as seek it evilly in a perverse heart. “You will seek Me, and”—lest you think that you will do well so to seek Me, I tell you that you will die in your sins.” To seek Christ with bad intent, is as much as to die in sin, for it is to hate Him through Whom alone we can be saved.

Whereas men whose hope is in God ought to return good even for evil, those men returned evil for good. The Lord therefore told them beforehand, and, because He knew it, He let them know their coming end, how that they should die in their sins. Then He said further: “Where I go, you cannot come.” This He said in another place (xiii. 33) to His disciples, but He never said to them: “You will die in your sins.” What said He? The same words as to the Jews: “Where I go, you cannot come.” Yet, to the disciples, these words only deferred, they cut not away hope—for they, though for a little while they could not come where He was to go, were yet in the end to go there. Not so they to whom He foretold and said: “You will die in your sins.”