20 APRIL – FERIA

On this day according to the ROMAN MARTYROLOGY:

At Rome, the holy martyrs Sulpicius and Servilian who were converted to the faith of Christ by the discourses and the miracles of the holy virgin Domitilla. Having refused to sacrifice to the idols, they were beheaded by Anian, prefect of the city, in the persecution of Trajan.

The same day, the holy martyrs Victor, Zoticus, Zeno, Acindinus, Caesareus, Severian, Chrysophorus, Theonas and Antoninus who suffered martyrdom after undergoing various trials.

At Tomis in Scythia, St. Theotimus, bishop, whose great sanctity and miracles procured him the veneration of unbelieving barbarians.

At Embrun in France, St. Marcellin, first bishop of that city, who by divine inspiration came from Africa with his holy companions Vincent and Domninus and converted to the faith of Christ the greatest portion of the inhabitants of the maritime Alps, by his preaching and the wonderful prodigies, which he still continues to work.

At Auxerre, St. Marcian, a priest.

The same day, St. Theodore, confessor, surnamed Trichinas, from the rough hair garment which he wore. He was renowned for many miracles, but especially for his power over demons. From his body issues a liquid which imparts health to the sick.

At Monte-Pulciano, St. Agnes, a virgin, of the Order of St. Dominic, celebrated for miracles.

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

Thanks be to God.

20 APRIL – SATURDAY IN THE THIRD WEEK AFTER EASTER

Dom Prosper Gueranger:

The Saturday brings us back to Mary. Let us again contemplate her prerogatives and yet, while so doing, let us still keep our thoughts on holy Church, which has been the subject of our meditations during this week. Let us today consider the relations existing between Mary and the Church: they will make us the better understand these two Mothers of mankind.

Before taking possession of the Church, which was to be proclaimed before all nations on the day of Pentecost, the Man-God made a worthy prelude to this kingly possession by uniting himself with Her, who is so deservedly styled the Mother and representative of the human race. This was Mary. Of the family of David, Abraham and Sem. Immaculate from the first moment of her existence, as were our First Parents when they came from their Creator’s hands, and destined for the grandest honour which could be conferred on a mere creature. Mary was, during her sojourn here on earth, the inheritance and co-operatrix of the Incarnate Word: she was the Mother of all the living (Genesis iii. 20). She, in her single person, was what the Church, collectively, has been from the day of its foundation. Her office of Mother of God surpasses all her other glories. Still, we must not overlook, but, on the contrary, admire and love them. Mary was the first creature that fully corresponded with the intentions which induced the Son of God to come down from Heaven. He found in her the most lively faith, the firmest hope and the most fervent love. Never had human nature, perfected by grace, offered to God an object so worthy of His acceptance. Before celebrating his union with the human race as its Shepherd, Jesus was the Shepherd of this single sheep whose merits and dignity surpass those of the rest of mankind, even supposing it to have been always, and in all things, faithful to its God.

Mary, therefore, represented the Christian Church, before it existed in itself. The Son of God found in her, not only a Mother, but the faithful worshipper of His Divinity from the first moment of His Incarnation. We saw on Holy Saturday how Mary’s faith withstood the test of Calvary and the tomb, and how this faith which never faltered kept alive on the earth the light which was never to be quenched, and which was soon to be confided to the collective Church whose mission was to win over all nations to the Divine Shepherd. It was not Jesus’ will that His Blessed Mother should exercise a visible and outward apostolate, save in a limited degree. Besides, He was not to leave her here till the end of time. But, just in the same way as from the day of His Ascension Hhe made his Church co-operate with Him in all that He does for His elect, so likewise did He will, during His mortal life, that Mary should have her share in all the works done by Him for our salvation. She, whose formal consent had been required before the Eternal Word took Flesh in her womb, was present, as we have already seen, at the foot of the Cross, in order that she, as a creature, might offer Him, who offered Himself as God, our Redeemer. The Mother’s sacrifice blended with that of the Son, and this raised her up to a degree of merit which the human mind could never calculate. Thus it is, though in a less perfect manner, the Church unites herself in unity of oblation with her Divine Spouse in the Sacrifice of the Altar. It was to be on the day of Pentecost that the Church’s maternity would be proclaimed to the world. Mary was invested with the office of Mother of men as Jesus was hanging upon His Cross. When His side was opened with the spear that the Church born from the Water and Blood of Redemption might come forth, Mary was there to receive into her arms this future mother, whom she had hitherto so fully represented.

In a few days we will behold Mary in the Cenacle. The Holy Ghost will enrich her with new gifts, and we will have to study her mission in the early Church. Let us close the considerations we have been making today by drawing a parallel between our two Mothers, who, though one is so far above the other in dignity, are nevertheless closely united to each other. Our heavenly Mother, who is also the Mother of Jesus, is ever assisting our earthly Mother, the Church, with heavenly aid. Mary exercises over her, in each of her existences — Militant, Suffering or Triumphant — an influence of power and love. She procures to the Church the victories she wins. She enables her to go through the tribulations and trials which beset her path. The children of one are children of the other. Both have a share in giving us spiritual birth —one, the “Mother of Divine Grace,” by her all-powerful prayers. The other, by the Word of God and Holy Baptism. If, when we depart this life, our admission to the beatific vision is to be retarded on account of our sins, and our souls are to descend to the abode of Purgatory, the suffrages of our earthly Mother will follow us and alleviate or shorten our sufferings. But our heavenly Mother will do still more for us during that period of expiation, so awful and yet so just. In heaven the elect are rejoiced at the sight of the Church Triumphant, though she be still Militant on earth, and who can describe the joy these happy children must feel at seeing the glory of the Mother that begot them in Christ? But with how much gladder ecstasy must not these same citizens of heaven gaze upon Mary, that other Mother of theirs, who was their Star on the stormy sea of life, who never ceased to watch over them with most loving care, who procured them countless aids to salvation, and who, when they entered heaven, received them into those same maternal arms, which heretofore carried the Divine Fruit of her womb — that First-Born (Luke ii. 7) whose Brothers and Joint-Heirs we are all called to be!

19 APRIL – FERIA

On this day according to the ROMAN MARTYROLOGY:

The birthday of St. Timon, one of the first seven deacons, who taught first at Berea. Afterwards while preaching the word of the Lord at Corinth, he was delivered to the flames by the Jews and Greeks, but remaining uninjured he ended his martyrdom by crucifixion.

At Melitine in Armenia, the holy martyrs Hermogenes, Caius, Expeditus, Aristonicus, Rufus and Galatas, crowned on the same day.

At Collioure in Spain, the holy martyr Vincent.

The same day, the holy martyrs Socrates and Denis who were transpierced with lances.

At Jerusalem, St. Paphnutius, martyr.

At Canterbury in England, St. Elphege, bishop and martyr.

At Antioch in Pisidia, St. George, a bishop, who died in exile for the worship of sacred images.

At Rome, Pope St. Leo IX, illustrious for his virtues and miracles.

In the monastery of Lobbes, St. Ursmar, bishop.

At Florence, St. Crescent, confessor, a disciple of the blessed bishop Zenobius.

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

Thanks be to God.

19 APRIL – FRIDAY IN THE THIRD WEEK OF EASTER

Dom Prosper Gueranger:

Church of Jesus that was promised by Him to the Earth during the days of His mortal life, that earnest forth from His sacred Side when wounded by the spear on the Cross, that was organised and perfected by Him during the last days of His sojourn here below— we lovingly greet you as our Mother. You are the Spouse of our Redeemer, and it is through you that we were born to Him. It is you that gave us life by Baptism. It is you that gives us the Word which enlightens us. It is you that ministers to us the helps by which we are led through our earthly pilgrimage to Heaven. It is you that governs us in the spiritual order by your holy ordinances. Under your maternal care, we are safe. We have nothing to fear. What can error do against us? You are the “pillar and ground of the truth” (1 Timothy iii. 15).

What effect can the revolutions of our earthly habitation have upon us? We know, that if everything else should fail us, you will ever be with us. It was during these very days which precede the Ascension that our Lord Jesus said to his Apostles, and through them, to their successors: “Behold! I am with you all days, even to the consummation of the world” (Matthew xxviii. 20). What a promise of duration was not this! If we consult the history of these last [two thousand] years, it will tell us that this promise has never once been broken. The gates of Hell have risen up against you innumerable times, but they have never prevailed against you, no, not for one single moment! And thus it is, Church, that being founded on Christ your Spouse, you give us a share in your own divine immutability! Established as we are in you there is not a truth which the eye of our faith cannot see. There is not a blessing which, despite our weakness, we may not make our own. There is no object shown us by hope, which we may not attain. You hold us in your arms, and from the height to which you raise us, we see the mysteries of time and the secrets of eternity. Our eye admiringly follows you, whether we consider you as Militant on earth, Suffering in your dear ones who are in the temporary state of expiation, or Triumphant in Heaven. You are with us in our exile, and already are you, in millions of your children, heiress of the eternal kingdom. Keep us near us, nay, within you, O you our Mother, who are the beloved Spouse of our Lord! To whom shall we go but to you? Is it not to you, and to you alone, that He has entrusted the words of eternal life?

How much they are to be pitied, O Church, who do not know you! And yet, if they are seeking God with all their heart they will one day know you. How much they are to be pitied, who once knew you, and afterwards, in their pride and ingratitude, denied you! And yet, no one ever fell into such misery unless he first voluntarily shut his eyes against the light that was within him. How much they are to be pitied who know you and still live enjoying what you give your children, and who yet take side with your enemies in insulting and betraying you! They are men whose character is shallowness of mind. They speak their opinions as though they were oracles. They have contracted the flippant effrontery of our age, and to hear them speak of you one would suppose that they look on you as a human institution which they may approve or blame according to their humour. Instead of revering whatever you have taught regarding yourself and your rights, instead of revering what you have ordained, regulated and practised, these Catholics, whose sympathies are all with your enemies, would have you conform your teachings and conduct with the so-called Progress of the times. The whole world is given to you as your inheritance, and yet these insolent children would have you be content with what they think proper to assign to you. You, the Mother of mankind, must be under their wise care! It is from them, you must, henceforth, learn how best to fulfil your mission! Godless men, adorers of what they called the rights of man, dared, a century back, to expel you from political life which up till then you had kept in harmony with its Divine Master. These men have left disciples who would have you withdraw from everything that regards the outward world, and look on as a mere stranger. You must no longer exercise the rights given you by the Son of God over both soul and body. This royalty of yours is out of date, and you must be satisfied to enjoy the liberty which in virtue of the law of Progress, is granted alike to error and to truth. The wise and powerful ones of this world are discussing the question of dethroning, now after a thousand years’ reign, the Vicar of your Spouse, and instead of resenting such a project with holy indignation as tending to the destruction of the last bulwark of Christendom, there are many among us who approve of it, and this on principles which are, it is true, in favour with rationalistic politicians, but which are formally condemned by your teachings, your acts, nay, by your very existence. How short sighted are such Catholics as these who hope to make you acceptable to the world by giving you the semblance of a human institution! The world is too shrewd: it knows you to be essentially supernatural, and this is what it can never tolerate.

Wiser and more Christian by far are they, who detesting such profane theories, have, like devoted Machabees, drawn the sword against your enemies, Church of Christ! And even in an age like this, when faith has grown weak, have so well understood their Christian duty as to die in your defence and, by so dying, to win the crown of martyrdom. Yes, it is our duty to confess you: to disguise you, is to belie you. You are one of the articles of our Creed: “I believe in the holy Catholic Church.” You have been known these [two thousand] years, and will men now pretend that you must conform to the world’s capricious views? This cannot be. Jesus made you be like Himself, a sign of contradiction (Luke ii. 34), and as such we must receive you. We must listen to your protestations against false principles and practices, and not attempt to remodel you. Only God has power to give His Church a form other than that He has already given her.

Blessed are they who share your lot, dear Church of our Redeemer! In these un-Christian times you are unpopular. You were so in ages long gone by when men could not become your children, save at the risk of being despised. It is the same now, and we are resolved to espouse your cause. We confess you to be our Mother, inaccessible to the changes of this world. Whether honoured or persecuted, you continue your mission here below. Thus will it be until the time comes when this earth, which was created to be your kingdom, will see you ascend to Heaven and flee from a world which will deserve the severest chastisements of God’s anger, because of its having despised and rejected you.

18 APRIL – FERIA

On this day according to the ROMAN MARTYROLOGY:

At Rome, St. Apollonius, a senator under the emperor Commodus and the prefect Perennius. Having been denounced as a Christian by one of his slaves, and being commanded to give an account of his faith, he composed an able work which he read in the Senate. He was nevertheless decapitated for Christ by the sentence of that body.

At Messina, the birthday of the holy martyrs, Eleutherius, bishop of Illyricum, and Anthia, his mother. Illustrious by his holiness of life and his power of working miracles, he was, in the reign of Hadrian, laid on a bed of red-hot iron, on a gridiron, in a pan filled with boiling oil, pitch and rosin. He was cast to the lions but remaining unhurt, he finally had his throat pierced with a sword. His mother suffered a similar punishment.

In the same place, St. Corebus, prefect, who was converted to the faith by St. Eleutherius and died by the sword.

At Brescia, St. Calocerus, a martyr, who was converted to Christ by Saints Faustinus and Jovita, and under the same Hadrian terminated his glorious combat for the confession of the faith.

At Cordova, St. Perfect, priest and martyr, killed by the Moors for inveighing against the followers of Muhammed.

At Milan, St. Galdini, cardinal and bishop of that city who, at the conclusion of a discourse against heretics, gave up his soul to God.

At Mount Senario in Tuscany, blessed Amideus, one of the seven Founders of the Order of the Servites of the Blessed Virgin Mary, very celebrated for an ardent love of God.

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

Thanks be to God.

18 APRIL – THURSDAY IN THE THIRD WEEK AFTER EASTER

Dom Prosper Gueranger:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

17 APRIL – SAINT ANICETUS (Pope and Martyr)

Anicetus, a Syrian by birth, governed the Church during the reign of Marcus Aurelius Antoninus. He passed a decree which forbade clerics to nourish their hair. The ordinations which he held in five Decembers gave 17 Priests, 4 Deacons and 9 Bishops. His Pontificate lasted 8 years, 8 months and 24 days. He was crowned with martyrdom for the Christian faith and was buried on the fifteenth of the Calends of May (April 17th), in the Cemetery afterwards called the Cemetery of Callixtus, which is on the Via Appia.

Dom Prosper Guéranger:

A Pope and Martyr of the second century appears on the Calendar today. The Martyrs stand in clusters near our Risen Lord. They are the eagles of which He speaks in His Gospel, as gathering together around their longed-for object (Matthew xxiv. 28). Anicetus is not the only Pope whose Martyrdom has to be celebrated during Paschal Time. Others will come, adding to our Easter joy. The Saint who claims our attention today is one of those whose holy actions are shrouded in the venerable gloom of the Church, and yet his memory will be held in veneration to the end of time, not only as being the eleventh successor of Saint Peter in the See of Rome, but as having imitated him also in holiness of life. Saint Polycarp, whose feast we kept on the twenty-sixth of January, came from Smyrna to Rome in order to visit him and receive his advice. There have also been transmitted to us one or two instances of the zeal with which he defended the Church against the heresiarchs Valentine and Marcion. In a word, we know that he was a Martyr, and that is enough to immortalise his name.

* * * * *

Holy Pontiff who so many long ages ago was made partaker of the glory of Him whose Vicar and Martyr you had the privilege to be, we this day celebrate your blessed memory with filial affection. In you we venerate one of the pillars of the early Church. And though your name has been handed down to us without the history of those holy deeds which merited for you a martyr’s palm, we at least know that it was dear to the faithful of the age in which you lived. Now that you are in Heaven your zeal for the glory of God is greater than it was when you were on this Earth. Pray, then, for the Church of these sad times. Upwards of two hundred Pontiffs have followed you on the Chair of Peter, and Christ has not yet come to judge the world. Assist your Successor who is our Father. Assist the Flock entrusted to his charge, for the dangers that now threaten us are extreme. Your Pontificate was during a stormy period. Pray to our Risen Jesus that He would quell the tempest that is now howling round the Barque of Peter. Beseech Him to give us perseverance and courage. Obtain for us that we may fix our hearts on our heavenly country so that when God calls us hence, we may be prepared as you were. We are the descendants of the Martyrs. Their faith is ours. The hope that cheered them must be our consolation.

Also on this day according to the ROMAN MARTYROLOGY:

In Africa, the birthday of blessed Mappalicus, and many others who were crowned with martyrdom, as is related by St. Cyprian in his Epistle to the Martyrs and Confessors.

In the same country, the holy martyrs Fortunatus and Marcian.

At Antioch, the holy martyrs Peter, a deacon, and Hermogenes, his servant.

At Cordova, the holy martyrs Elias, a priest, Paul and Isidore, monks.

At Vienne, St. Pantagathus, bishop.

At Tortona, St. Innocent, bishop and confessor.

At Citeaux in France, the abbot St. Stephen who was the first to live in the desert of Citeaux, and who joyfully welcomed St. Bernard and his companions when they came there.

In the monastery of Chaise-Dieu in the diocese of Clermont, St. Robert, confessor, founder and first abbot of that monastery.

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

Thanks be to God.

17 APRIL – WEDNESDAY IN THE THIRD WEEK AFTER EASTER

Dom Prosper Gueranger:

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

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

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

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

16 APRIL – TUESDAY IN THE THIRD WEEK OF EASTER

Dom Prosper Gueranger:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

15 APRIL – FERIA

On this day according to the ROMAN MARTYROLOGY:

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

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

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

At Perentino in Campania, St. Eutychius, martyr.

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

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

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

Thanks be to God.

15 APRIL – MONDAY IN THE THIRD WEEK AFTER EASTER

Dom Prosper Gueranger:

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

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

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

14 APRIL – SAINTS TIBURTIUS, VALERIAN AND MAXIMUS (Martyrs)

Valerian, a Roman by birth and of a noble family, was married to the blessed Caecila who was of equal nobility. By the advice of this virgin he and his brother Tiburtius were baptised by the holy Pope Urban during the reign of the emperor Alexander Severus. Almachius, the City Prefect, having been informed that they had become Christians, had distributed their patrimony among the poor and were burying the bodies of the Christians, summoned them before him and severely rebuked them. Finding, however, that they persevered in confessing Christ to be God and in proclaiming the gods to be but vain images of devils, he ordered them to be scourged. But they were not to be induced by this scourging to adore the idols of Jupiter. They continued firm in the profession of the true Faith: they were, therefore, beheaded four miles out of Rome. One of the Prefect’s officials named Maximus, who had been appointed to lead them to execution, was filled with admiration at seeing the courage with which they suffered, and professed himself to be a Christian, as did likewise several other servants of the Prefect. Not long after, they were all beaten to death with whips loaded with plummets of lead: and thus, from being slaves of the devil, they became Martyrs of Christ our Lord.

Dom Prosper Guéranger:

Let us affectionately welcome the brave triumvirate of Martyrs presented today to our Risen Jesus by the Roman Church of the second century. The first is Valerian, the chaste and noble spouse of Caecila. He wears on his brow a wreath of roses and lilies. The second is Tiburtius, Valerian’s brother, and, like him, a convert of Caecila’s. He shows us the triumphant palm he so speedily won. Maximus is the third. He witnessed the combat and the victory of the two brothers, imitated their example and followed them to Heaven. The immortal Caecila is the queen of this holy group. She taught them to be Martyrs. She has a right to our remembrance on this day of their Feast. She herself shared in their privilege of being martyred during Paschal Time, but her Feast is not kept till November when we will find her imparting an exquisite loveliness to the close of the Liturgical Year.

For many centuries, the Church admitted none but secondary Feasts into the present Season, and this in order the more to concentrate the attention of the Faithful on the mystery of our Lord’s Resurrection. Hence the feast of Saint Caecilia which was formerly kept with a Vigil was deferred to a Season when it could be solemnised as it deserved. The Church now makes a commemoration only of our three great Martyrs.

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Holy and precious fruits of the great Caecilia’s apostolate! We this day unite with the blessed Spirits in celebrating your entrance into the court of Heaven. You, O Valerian, were led to Faith, and to the sublimest of all virtues, by your noble spouse. You were the first to enter into the joy of the Lord. But in a few days your Caecilia followed you, and the love begun on Earth was made eternal in Heaven. Speaking of you and her, an Angel said that your Roses and Lilies should never fade. Their fragrance of love and purity is sweeter by far now than when they bloomed here below. You, O Tiburtius, brother of these two angels of Earth! You owe to them your beautiful Martyr’s palm. You are a sharer in their eternal happiness, and the three names Caecilia, Valerian and Tiburtius are to be for ever united in the admiration of Angels and men. The sight of the two brothers suffering so bravely for Christ inflamed your ambition, O Maximus, to imitate them. The God of Caecilia became yours. You shed your blood for Him, and He in return has put you in Heaven near Caecilia, Valerian and Tiburtius to whom, while on Earth, you were so inferior by birth and position. Now, therefore, O holy Martyrs, be our protectors and hear the prayers we address to you. Speak in our favour to the Immortal King for whom you so bravely fought and died. Ask Him to fill our hearts with His love, and make us generous like you. You despised this fleeting life. We, too, must despise it if we would share in the happiness you now enjoy — the sight of our Risen Lord. The battle we have to fight may, perhaps, be different from yours but the reward that awaits us is, like your own, everlasting. Rather than betray Christ, you laid down your lives. Our duty is the same. We must die rather than sin. Pray for us, O holy Martyrs, that our lives may henceforward be such as will honour this year’s Pasch. Pray, also, for the Church of Rome, your Mother. Her days of trial have returned. She has a right to count on your intercession for obtaining the help she needs.

Also on this day according to the ROMAN MARTYROLOGY:

The feast of St. Justin, martyr, who is mentioned on the thirteenth of this month.

At Teramo, St. Proculus, bishop and martyr.

Also St. Domnina, virgin and martyr, crowned with other virgins, her companions.

At Alexandria, St. Thomaides, martyr. 

The same day, St. Ardalion, an actor. One day, in the theatre, while mocking the holy rites of the Christian religion, he was suddenly converted and bore testimony to it, not only by his words, but also with his blood.

At Lyons, St. Lambert, bishop and confessor.

At Alexandria, St. Fronto, an abbot, whose life was adorned with sanctity and miracles.

At Rome, St. Abundius, resident sacristan of the church of St. Peter.

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

Thanks be to God.