16 FEBRUARY – FERIA

On this day according to the ROMAN MARTYROLOGY:

The birthday of blessed Onesimus, concerning whom the blessed Apostle St. Paul wrote to Philemon. He made him bishop of Ephesus after St. Timothy, and committed to him the office of preaching. Being led a prisoner to Rome, and stoned to death for the faith of Christ, he was buried in that city, but his body was afterwards carried to the place where he had been bishop.

At Cumae in Campania, the Translation of St. Juliana, virgin and martyr. Under the emperor Maximian she was first severely scourged by her own father, Africanus, then made to suffer many torments by the prefect, Evilasius, whom she had refused to marry. Later being thrown into prison, she encountered the evil spirit in a visible manner. Finally, as a fiery furnace and a cauldron of boiling oil could do her no injury, she terminated her martyrdom by decapitation.

In Egypt, St. Julian, martyr, with five thousand other Christians.

At Caesarea in Palestine, the holy martyrs Elias, Jeremias, Isaias, Samuel and Daniel, Egyptians, who of their own accord served the confessors of Christ condemned to labour in the mines of Cilicia, but were arrested on their return, and after being cruelly tortured by the governor Firmilian under the emperor Galerius Maximian, were put to the sword. After them, St. Porphyry, servant of the martyr Pamphilus, and St. Seleucus, a Cappadocian, who had been victorious in several combats, being again exposed to torments, won the crown of martyrdom, the one by fire, the other by the sword.

At Arezzo in Tuscany, blessed Pope Gregory X, a native of Piacenza, who was elected Sovereign Pontiff while he was archdeacon of Liege. He held the second Council of Lyons, received the Greeks into the unity of the Church, appeased discords among Christians, made generous efforts for the recovery of the Holy Land, and governed the Church in the most holy manner.

At Brescia, St. Faustinus, bishop and confessor.

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

Thanks be to God.

15 FEBRUARY – SAINTS FAUSTINUS AND JOVITA (Martyrs)

 

The two brothers, Faustinus and Jovita were born of a noble family in Brescia. During the persecution under Trajan they were led captives through various cities of Italy, in each of which they were made to endure most cruel sufferings by reason of their brave confession of the Christian faith,which nothing could induce them to deny. At Brescia, they were for a long time confined in chains, then were exposed to wild beasts and cast into fire, from neither of which tortures did they receive hurt or harm. From Brescia they were sent to Milan, still fettered with the same chains: and there their faith was put to the test of every torment that cruelty could devise. But like gold that is tried by fire, their faith shone the brighter by these sufferings. After this, they were sent to Rome where they received encouragement from Pope Evaristus, but there, also, were made to endure most cruel pains. At length, they were taken to Naples, and there again put to sundry tortures, after which they were bound hand and foot and cast into the sea but were miraculously delivered by Angels. Many persons were converted to the true faith by seeing their courage in suffering and the miracles they wrought. Finally they were led back to Brescia at the commencement of the reign of the Emperor Hadrian. There they were beheaded and received the crown of a glorious martyrdom.

Dom Prosper Guéranger:

The two brothers whom we are to honour today suffered martyrdom in the beginning of the second century, and their memory has ever been celebrated in the Church. The glory of the great ones of this world passes away, and men soon forget even their very names. Historians have often a difficulty in proving that such heroes ever existed or, if they did exist, that they flourished at such a period or achieved anything worth notice. Brescia, the capital of one of the Italian Provinces, can scarcely mention the names of those who were its governors or leading men in the second century. And yet here are two of her citizens whose names will be handed down, with veneration and love, to the end of the world and the whole of Christendom is filled with the praise of their glorious martyrdom. Glory, then, to these sainted brothers whose example so eloquently preaches to us the great lesson of our Season, fidelity in God’s service.

*****

When we compare our trials with yours, noble Martyrs of Christ, and our combats with those that you had to fight, how grateful ought we not to be to our Lord for His having so mercifully taken our weakness into account! Should we have been able to endure the tortures with which you had to purchase Heaven, we that are so easily led to break the law of God, so tardy in our conversion, so weak in faith and charity? And yet, we are made for that same Heaven which you now possess. God holds out a crown to us also, and we are not at liberty to refuse it. Rouse up our courage, brave Martyrs! Get us a spirit of resistance against the world and our evil inclinations that thus we may confess our Lord Jesus Christ, not only with our lips, but with our works too, and testify, by our conduct, that we are Christians.

Also on this day according to the ROMAN MARTYROLOGY:

At Rome, St. Craton, martyr. A short time after being baptised with his wife and all his household by the holy bishop Valentine, he was put to death with them.

At Teramo, St. Agape, virgin and martyr.

Also the birthday of the holy martyrs Saturninus, Castulus, Magnus and Lucius.

At Vaison in France, St. Quinidius, bishop, whose death was precious in the sight of God, as is shown by frequent miracles.

At Capua, St. Decorosus, bishop and confessor.

In the province of Valeria, St. Severus, a priest, of whom Pope St. Gregory says, that by his tears he recalled a dead man to life.

At Antioch, St. Joseph, deacon.

At Clermont in Auvergne, St. Georgia, virgin.

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

Thanks be to God.

15 FEBRUARY – QUINQUAGESIMA (SHROVE) SUNDAY

Epistle – 1 Corinthians xiii. 1‒13

Brethren, if I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not charity, I am become as sounding brass or a tinkling cymbal. And if I should have prophecy, and know all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I should have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, and have not charity, I am nothing. And if I should distribute all my goods to feed the poor, and if I should deliver my body to be burned, and not have charity, it profits me nothing. Charity is patient; is kind: charity envies not; deals not perversely; is not puffed up; is not ambitious; seeks not her own; is not provoked to anger; thinks no evil; rejoices not in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Charity never falls away: whether prophecies will be made void, or tongues will cease, or knowledge will be destroyed. For we know in part, and we prophesy in part. But when that which is perfect is, come, that which is in part will be done away. When, I was a child, I spoke as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child; but when I became a man, I put away the things of a child. We see now through a glass in a dark manner; but then face to face. Now I know in part; but then I will know even as I am known. And now there remain faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity.

Thanks be to God.

Dom Prosper Guéranger:

How appropriate for this Sunday is the magnificent eulogy of charity here given by our Apostle! This virtue, which comprises the love both of God and our neighbour, is the light of our souls. Without charity, we are in darkness and all our works are profitless. The very power of working miracles cannot give hope of salvation, unless he who does them has charity. Unless we are in charity the most heroic acts of other virtues are but one snare more for our souls. Let us beseech our Lord to give us this light. But let us not forget, that however richly He may bless us with it here below, the fullness of its brightness is reserved for when we are in Heaven, and that the sunniest day we can have in this world is but darkness when compared with the splendour of our eternal charity. Faith will then give place, for we will be face to face with all Truth. Hope will have no object, for we will possess all Good. Charity alone will continue and, for this reason, is greater than Faith and Hope, which must needs accompany her in this present life. This being the glorious destiny reserved for man when redeemed and enlightened by Jesus —is it to be wondered at that we should leave all things in order to follow such a Master? What should surprise us, and what proves how degraded is our nature by sin, is to see Christians who have been baptised in this Faith and this Hope, and have received the first-fruits of this Love, indulging during these days in every sort of worldliness which is only the more dangerous because it is fashionable. It would seem as though they were making it their occupation to extinguish within their souls the last ray of heavenly light like men that had made a covenant with darkness. If there be charity within our souls, it will make us feel these offences that are committed against our God, and inspire us to pray to Him to have mercy on these poor blind sinners, for they are our brethren.

Gospel – Luke xviii. 31‒43

At that time, Jesus took to Him the twelve, and said to them, “Behold, we go up to Jerusalem, and all things will be accomplished which were written by the prophets concerning the Son of man: for He will be delivered to the Gentiles, and will be mocked, and scourged, and spit upon; and after they have scourged Him, they will put Him to death; and the third day He will rise again.” They understood none of these things, and this word was hidden from them, and they understood not the things that were said. Now it came to pass when He drew near to Jericho that a certain blind man sat by the wayside, begging. And when he heard the multitude passing by, he asked what this meant. They told him that Jesus of Nazareth was passing by. And he cried put, saying, “Jesus, son of David, have mercy on me.” They that went before rebuked him, that he should hold his peace: but he cried out much more, “Son of David, have mercy on me.” And Jesus standing commanded him to be brought to Him; and when he had come near, He asked him, saying, “What do you want me to I do to you?” But he said, “Lord, that I may see.” And Jesus said to him, “Receive your sight; your faith has made you whole.” Immediately he saw, and followed Him, glorifying God: and all the people, when they saw it, gave praise to God.

Praise be to you, O Christ.

Dom Prosper Guéranger:

Jesus tells His Apostles that His bitter Passion is at hand. It is a mark of His confidence in them, but they understand not what He says. They are as yet too carnal-minded to appreciate our Saviour’s mission. Still, they do not abandon Him. They love Him too much to think of separating from Him. Greater by far than this is the blindness of those false Christians who during these three days not only do not think of the God who shed His Blood and died for them, but are striving to efface from their souls every trace of the divine image! Let us adore that sweet Mercy which has drawn us, as it did Abraham, from the midst of a sinful people. And let us, like the blind man of our Gospel, cry out to our Lord, beseeching Him to grant us an increase of His holy light. This was his prayer: “Lord! that I may see.” God has given as His light but He gave it us in order to excite within us the desire of seeing more and more clearly. He promised Abraham that He would show him the place He had destined for him. May He grant us also to see the land of the living! But our first prayer must be that He show us Himself, as Saint Augustine has so beautifully expressed it, that we may love Him and show us our own selves that we may cease to love ourselves.

14 FEBRUARY – SAINT VALENTINE (Priest and Martyr)

  At Rome, on the Via Flaminia, in the time of the emperor Claudius, the birthday of blessed Valentine, priest and martyr, who after having cured and instructed many persons, was beaten with clubs and beheaded.

Dom Prosper Guéranger:

The Church honours on this fourteenth day of February the memory of the holy Priest Valentine who suffered martyrdom towards the middle of the third century. The ravages of time have deprived us of the details of his life and sufferings so that extremely little is known of our Saint. This is the reason of there being no Lessons of his Life in the Roman Liturgy. His name, however, has always been honoured throughout the whole Church, and it is our duty to revere him as one of our protectors during the Season of Septuagesima. He is one of those many holy Martyrs who meet us at this period of our Year and encourage us to spare no sacrifice which can restore us to, or increase within us, the grace of God.

Pray, then, holy Martyr, for the Faithful, who are so persevering in celebrating your memory. The day of Judgement will reveal to us all your glorious merits: oh intercede for us that we may then be made your companions at the right hand of the Great Judge and be united with you eternally in Heaven.

Antiphon: This Saint fought, even unto death, for the law of his God, and feared not the words of the wicked, for he was set upon a firm rock.

Let us pray: Grant, we beseech you, O Almighty God, that we who solemnise the festival of blessed Valentine, your Martyr, may, by his intercession, be delivered from all the evils that threaten us. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.

Also on this day according to the ROMAN MARTYROLOGY:

Also at Rome, the holy martyrs Vitalis, Felicula and Zeno.

At Teramo, St. Valentine, bishop and martyr, who was scourged, committed to prison, and as he remained unshaken in his faith, was taken out of his dungeon in the dead of night and beheaded by order of Placidus, the prefect of the city.

In the same place, the holy martyrs Proculus, Ephebus and Apollonius, who, while watching by the body of St. Valentine, were arrested and put to the sword by the command of the ex-consul Leontius.

At Alexandria, the holy martyrs Bassus, Anthony and Protolicus, who were cast into the sea.

Also the holy martyrs Cyrion, priest, Bassian, lector, Agatho, exorcist, and Moses, who perished in the flames and took their flight to heaven.

In the same city, the Saints Denis and Ammonius, who were beheaded.

At Ravenna, St. Eleuchadius, bishop and confessor.

In Bithynia, the abbot St. Auxentius.

At Sorrento, St. Anthony, abbot, who, when the monastery of Monte Cassino was devastated by the Lombards, withdrew into a solitude of the neighbourhood, where, celebrated for holiness, he passed calmly to his repose in God. His body is daily glorified by many miracles, particularly by the deliverance of possessed persons.

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

Thanks be to God.

13 FEBRUARY – FERIA

On this day according to the ROMAN MARTYROLOGY:

At Antioch, the holy prophet Agabus, of whom mention is made by St. Luke in the Acts of the Apostles.

At Ravenna, in the time of the emperor Decius and the governor Quinctian, the Saints Fusca, virgin, and her nurse, Maura, who endured many afflictions, were transpierced with a sword, and thus ended their martyrdom.

At Meletine in Armenia, in the persecution of the same Decius, St. Polyeuctus, martyr, who after many sufferings obtained the crown of martyrdom.

At Lyons, St. Julian, martyr.

At Todi, St. Benignus, martyr.

At Rome, Pope St. Gregory II, who strenuously opposed the impiety of Leo the Isaurian and sent St. Boniface to preach the Gospel in Germany.

At Angers, the demise of the holy bishop Lucinius, a man venerable for his sanctity.

At Lyons, St. Stephen, bishop and confessor.

At Rieti, the abbot St. Stephen, a man of wonderful patience at whose death, as is related by Pope St. Gregory, the holy angels were present and visible to all.

At Prato in Tuscany, St. Catherine de Ricci, a Florentine virgin, of the Order of St. Dominic, replenished with heavenly gifts, whom Pope Benedict XIV inscribed in the catalogue of holy virgins. She died rich in virtues and merits on the second of this month, but her festival is celebrated on this day.

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

Thanks be to God.

13 FEBRUARY – FRIDAY OF SEXAGESIMA WEEK

 

Lesson – Genesis x. 1–6; xi. 1–8

These are the generations of the sons of Noah: Sem, Cham, and Japheth: and unto them sons were born after the flood. The sons of Japheth: Gomer, and Magog, and Madai, and Javan, and Thubal, and Mosoch, and Thiras. And the sons of Gomer: Ascenez and Riphath and Thogorma. And the sons of Javan: Elisa and Tharsis, Cetthim and Dodanim. By these were divided the islands of the Gentiles in their lands, every one according to his tongue and their families in their nations. And the sons of Cham: Chus, and Mesram, and Phuth, and Canaan.

And the earth was of one tongue, and of the same speech. And when they removed from the east, they found a plain in the land of Sennaar and dwelt in it. And each one said to his neighbour: “Come, let us make brick, and bake them with fire.” And they had brick instead of stones, and slime instead of mortar. And they said: “Come, let us make a city and a tower, the top whereof may reach to heaven: and let us make our name famous before we be scattered abroad into all lands.” And the Lord came down to see the city and the tower which the children of Adam were building. And He said: “Behold, it is one people, and all have one tongue: and they have begun to do this, neither will they leave off from their designs, till they accomplish them in deed. Come ye, therefore, let us go down, and there confound their tongue, that they may not understand one another’s speech.” And so the Lord scattered them from that place into all lands, and they ceased to build the city.

Thanks be to God.

Dom Prosper Guéranger:

God chastises the world by the Deluge, but he is faithful to the promise made to our First Parents that the head of the Serpent should be crushed. The human race has to be preserved, therefore, until the time will come for the fulfilment of this promise. The Ark gives shelter to the just Noah and to his family. The angry waters reach even to the tops of the highest mountains, but the frail yet safe vessel rides peacefully on the waves. When the day fixed by God will come, they that dwell in this Ark will once more tread the Earth, purified as it then will be, and God will say to them as heretofore to our First Parents: “Increase, and multiply, and fill the Earth” (Genesis ix. 1).

Mankind, then, owes its safety to the Ark! O saving Ark that was planned by God Himself and sailed unhurt amid the universal wreck! But if we can thus bless this contemptible wood (Wisdom x. 4), how fervently should we not love that other Ark of which Noah’s was but the figure, and which for now [two thousand] years has been saving and bringing men to their God? How fervently should we not bless that Church, the Spouse of our Jesus, out of which there is no salvation, and in which we find that Truth which delivers us from error and doubt (John viii. 32) that Grace which purifies the heart, and that Food which nourishes the soul and fits her for immortality!

O sacred Ark! You are inhabited, not by one family alone, but by people of every nation under the sun. Ever since that glorious day when our Lord launched you in the sea of this world, you have been tossed by tempests, yet never wrecked. You will reach the eternal shore, witnessing, by your unworn vigour and beauty, to the divine guidance of the Pilot who loves you both for your own sake, and for the work you are doing for His glory. It is by you that He peoples the world with His elect, and it is for them that He created the world (Matthew xxiv. 22), When He is angry, He remembers mercy (Habacuc iii. 2) because of you, for it is through you that He has made His covenant with mankind.

Venerable Ark, be our refuge in the deluge. When Rome’s great Empire that was drunk with the blood of the Martyrs (Apocalypse xvii. 6) sank beneath the invasion of the Barbarians, the Christians were safe because sheltered by you. The waters slowly subsided and the race of men that had fled to you for protection, though conquered according to the flesh, was victorious by the spirit. Kings who till then had been haughty despots and barbarians kissed reverently the hand of the slave who now was his Pastor and baptised him. New people sprang up and, with the Gospel as their Law, began their glorious career in those very countries which the Caesars had degraded and forfeited.

When the Saracen invasion came, sweeping into ruin the Eastern world and menacing the whole of Europe which would have been lost had not the energy of your sons repelled the infidel horde, was it not within you, O Ark of salvation, that the few Christians took refuge, who had resisted schism and heresy and who, while the rest of their brethren apostatised from the faith, still kept alive the holy flame? Under your protection they are even now perpetuating, in their unfortunate countries, the traditions of Faith until the divine Mercy will bring happier times and themselves be permitted to multiply, as did of old the sons of Sem, in that land once so glorious and holy.

Oh happy we, dear Church of God, that are sheltered within you, and protected by you against that wild sea of anarchy which the sins of men have let loose on our Earth! We beseech our Lord that He check the tempest with that word of His omnipotence: “Thus far you will come, and no further, and here will you break your swelling waves” (Job xxxviii. 11). But if it be decreed by His Divine Justice that it prevail for a time, we know that it cannot reach such as dwell in you. Of this happy number are we. In your peaceful bosom, dear Mother, we find those true riches, the riches of the soul, of which no violence can deprive us (Matthew vi. 19). The life you give us is the only real life. Our true Fatherland is the kingdom formed by you. Keep us, O Ark of our God! Keep us, and all that are dear to us, and shelter us beneath your roof until the deluge of iniquity be passed away (Psalm lvi. 2). When the Earth, purified by its chastisements, will once more receive the Seed of the Divine Word which produces the Children of God, those among us whom you will not have led to our eternal home will then venture forth and preach to the world the principles of authority and law, of family and social rights: those sacred principles which came from Heaven, and which you, O Holy Church, are commissioned to maintain and teach even to the end of time.

12 FEBRUARY – THURSDAY OF SEXAGESIMA WEEK

 

Lesson – Genesis ix. 8‒29

Thus also said God to Noah, and to his sons with him: “Behold I will establish my covenant with you, and with your seed after you. And with every living soul that is with you, as well in all birds as in cattle and beasts of the earth, that are come forth out of the ark, and in all the beasts of the earth. I will establish my covenant with you, and all flesh will be no more destroyed with the waters of a flood, neither will there be from henceforth a flood to waste the earth.” And God said: “This is the sign of the covenant which I give between me and you, and to every living soul that is with you, for perpetual generations. I will set my bow in the clouds, and it will be the sign of a covenant between me, and between the earth. And when I will cover the sky with clouds, my bow will appear in the clouds: And I will remember my covenant with you, and with every living soul that bears flesh: and there will no more be waters of a flood to destroy all flesh. And the bow will be in the clouds, and I will see it and will remember the everlasting covenant that was made between God and every living soul of all flesh which is upon the earth.” And God said to Noah: “This will be the sign of the covenant which I have established between me and all flesh upon the earth.” And the sons of Noah who came out of the ark were Sem, Cham and Japheth: and Cham is the father of Canaan. These three are the sons of Noah: and from these was all mankind spread over the whole earth. And Noah, a husbandman, began to till the ground and planted a vineyard. And drinking of the wine was made drunk and was uncovered in his tent. Which when Cham the father of Canaan had seen, to wit, that his father’s nakedness was uncovered, he told it to his two brethren without. But Sem and Japheth put a cloak upon their shoulders, and going backward, covered the nakedness of their father: and their faces were turned away, and they saw not their father’s nakedness. And Noah awaking from the wine, when he had learned what his younger son had done to him, said: “Cursed be Canaan, a servant of servants will he be to his brethren.” And he said: “Blessed be the Lord God of Sem, be Canaan his servant. May God enlarge Japheth, and may he dwell in the tents of Sem, and Canaan be his servant.” And Noah lived after the flood three hundred and fifty years: And all his days were in the whole nine hundred and fifty years: and he died.

Thanks be to God.

Dom Prosper Guéranger:

God promised Noah that He would never more punish the Earth with a Deluge. But in His justice He has many times visited the sins of men with a scourge which, in more senses than one, bears a resemblance to a Deluge: the invasion of enemies. We meet with these invasions in every age and each time we see the hand of God. We can trace the crimes that each of them was sent to punish, and in each we find a manifest proof of the infinite justice with which God governs the world.

It is not requisite that we should here mention the long list of these revolutions which we might almost say make up the history of mankind, for in its every page we read of conquests, extinction of races, destruction of nations and violent amalgamations which effaced the traditions and character of the several peoples that were thus forced into union. We will confine our considerations to the two great invasions which the just anger of God has permitted to come upon the world since the commencement of the Christian era.

The Roman Empire had made itself as pre-eminent in crime as it was in power. It conquered the world and then corrupted it. Idolatry and immorality were the civilisation it gave to the nations which had come under its sway. Christianity could save individuals in the great Empire, but the Empire itself could not be made Christian. God let loose upon it the deluge of Barbarians. The stream of the wild invasion rose to the very dome of the Capitol. The Empire was engulfed. The ruthless ministers of Divine Justice were conscious of their being chosen for this mission of vengeance, and they gave themselves the name of “God’s Scourge.”

When, later on, the Christian Nations of the East had lost the Faith which they themselves had transmitted to the Western World — when they had disfigured the sacred Symbol of Faith by their blasphemous heresies — the anger of God sent upon them from Arabia the deluge of Mahometanism. It swept away the Christian Churches that had existed from the very times of the Apostles. Jerusalem, the favoured Jerusalem on which Jesus had lavished His tenderest love, even she became a victim to the infidel hordes. Antioch and Alexandria, with their Patriarchates were plunged into the vilest slavery, and at length Constantinople that had so obstinately provoked the divine indignation was made the very Capital of the Turkish Empire.

And we, the Western nations, if we return not to the Lord our God, will we be spared? Will the floodgates of Heaven’s vengeance — will the torrent of fresh Vandals — ever be menacing to burst upon us yet never come? Where is the country of our own Europe that has not corrupted its way as in the days of Noah? That has not made conventions against the Lord and against His Christ? (Psalm ii. 2) That has not clamoured out that old cry of revolt: “Let us break their bonds asunder, let us cast away their yoke from us”? (Psalm ii. 3) Well may we fear, lest the time is at hand when, despite our haughty confidence in our means of defence, Christ our Lord to whom all nations have been given by the Father, will rule us with a rod of iron and break us in pieces like a potter’s vessel? (Psalm ii. 9). Let us propitiate the anger of our offended God and follow the inspired counsel of the Royal Prophet: “Serve the Lord with fear. Embrace the discipline of His Law lest, at any time, the Lord be angry, and you perish from the just way” (Psalm ii. 13)

11 FEBRUARY – OUR LADY OF LOURDES

O Mary, Mother of God, who to reanimate the faith of the world and draw men to your divine Son, Jesus Christ our Lord, deigned to appear at Lourdes, you who, in order to render more manifest your maternal tenderness, and to inspire our hearts with greater confidence, chose a simple little child as the confidant of your mercy, you who said, “I am the Immaculate Conception,” to make us understand the priceless value of that innocence which is the pledge of the friendship of God, you who by eighteen successive apparitions did not cease by your actions and words to urge men to prayer and penance, which alone can appease Heaven and ward off the blows of divine justice, you who, by a moving appeal to the world, has reunited before the miraculous Grotto an innumerable multitude of your children, behold us, Our Lady of Lourdes, prostrate at your feet, and confident of obtaining blessings and graces from God by your most powerful intercession.

Those who love you, O Mother of Jesus Christ, Mother of men, desire above everything to serve God faithfully in this world, so as to have the happiness of loving Him eternally in Heaven.

Listen to the prayers which we this day address to you. Defend us against the enemies of our salvation, and against our own infirmities, together with the pardon of our sins, obtain for us perseverance in the determination never to fall away again.

We implore you also to take under your protection our friends and benefactors, and of these in a very special manner those who have abandoned the practice of their Christian duties. May they be converted and become your faithful servants.

We beseech you also to bless our country. She has many failings, for which we must implore pardon, but in the midst of her wanderings from the right path, she has never ceased to proclaim through the best of her sons that you are forever her Mother and her Sovereign.

You have always shown her your love, and we hope that you will not abandon her after having heaped your favours and benefits on her.

While we pour forth our hearts in prayer at your feet, O Virgin Immaculate, Our Lady of Lourdes, we cannot forget our Holy Father, the Supreme Pontiff, and in his person the whole Catholic Church, which your divine Son has entrusted to him to lead along the paths of eternal salvation.

He, too, places his whole trust in you. Protect and bless him. Be his support and consolation in the midst of his trials, and help him to extend the Kingdom of God.

O Mother of mercy, be for us all “the cause of our joy,” and “show to us” Jesus Christ, as your gift in this life and in eternity. Amen.

Also on this day according to the ROMAN MARTYROLOGY:

In Africa, during the persecution of Diocletian, the birthday of the holy martyrs Saturninus, a priest, Dativus, Felix, Ampelius and their companions. They had, as was their custom, assembled for Mass, when they were seized by the soldiers and put to death under the proconsul Anolinus.

In Numidia, in the same persecution, the commemoration of many holy martyrs, who, refusing after their apprehension to deliver the holy Scriptures, conformably to the imperial edict, were given over to most painful torments and slain.

At Adrianople, the holy martyrs Lucius, bishop, and his companions. Lucius suffered much from the Arians under Constantius and terminated his martyrdom in prison. The others, who were among the principal citizens, refusing to communicate with the Arians, just then anathematised in the Council of Sardica, were condemned to capital punishment by Count Philagrius.

At Lyons, St. Desiderius, bishop of Vienne, and martyr.

At Ravenna, St. Calocerus, bishop and confessor.

At Milan, St. Lazarus, bishop.

At Capua, St. Castrensis, bishop.

At Chateau-Landon, St. Severin, abbot of the monastery of Agaune, by whose prayers the Christian king Clovis was delivered from a long sickness.

In Egypt, St. Jonas, a monk, eminent for virtues.

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

Thanks be to God.

11 FEBRUARY – WEDNESDAY OF SEXAGESIMA WEEK

Lesson – Genesis viii. 15‒22; ix. 1‒6

And God spoke to Noah, saying: “Go out of the ark, you and your wife, your sons, and the wives of your sons with you. All living things that are with you of all flesh, as well in fowls as in beasts, and all creeping things that creep upon the earth, bring out with you, and go upon the earth: increase and multiply upon it.” So Noah went out, he and his sons: his wife, and the wives of his sons with him. And all living things, and cattle, and creeping things that creep upon the earth, according to their kinds, went out of the ark. And Noah built an altar to the Lord: and taking of all cattle and fowls that were clean, offered holocausts on the altar. And the Lord smelled a sweet savour, and said: “I will no more curse the earth for the sake of man: for the imagination and thought of man’s heart are prone to evil from his youth: therefore I will no more destroy every living soul as I have done. All the days of the earth, seed time and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, night and day, will not cease.” And God blessed Noah and his sons. And He said to them: “Increase and multiply, and fill the earth. And let the fear and dread of you be on all the beasts of the earth, and on all the fowls of the air, and all that move on the earth: all the fishes of the sea are delivered into your hand. And every thing that moves and lives will be meat for you: even as the green herbs have I delivered them all to you: Saving that flesh with blood you must not eat. For I will require the blood of your lives at the hand of every beast, and at the hand of man, at the hand of every man, and of his brother, will I require the life of man. Whoever will shed man’s blood, his blood will be shed: for man was made to the image of God.”

Thanks be to God.

Dom Prosper Guéranger:

O God of Infinite Justice! We have sinned. We have abused the life you have given us. And when we read in your Scriptures how your anger chastised the sinners of former days, we are forced to acknowledge that we have deserved to be treated in like manner. We have the happiness to be Christians and Children of your Church. The light of Faith and the power of your Grace have brought us once more into your friendship. But how can we forget that we were once your enemies? And are we so deeply rooted in virtue that we can promise ourselves perseverance in it to the end? Pierce, O Lord! pierce my flesh with your fear! (Psalm cxviii. 120). Man’s heart is hard, and unless it fears your Sovereign Majesty, it may again offend you. We are penetrated with fear when we remember that you buried the world and destroy mankind by the waters of the Deluge, for we learn by this how your patience and long-suffering may be changed into inexorable anger. You are just, O Lord, and who will presume to take scandal or to murmur when your wrath is kindled against sinners? We have defied your justice, we have braved your anger, for though you have told us that you will never more destroy sinners by a Deluge of water, yet do we know that you have created, in your hatred for sin, a fire which will eternally prey on them that depart this life without being first reconciled with your offended Majesty.

O wonderful dignity of our human nature! We cannot be indifferent towards that Infinite Being that created us. We must be His friends or His enemies! It could not have been otherwise. He gave us understanding and free will: we know what is good and what is evil, and we must choose the one or the other. We cannot remain neutral. If we choose good, God turns towards us and loves us. If evil, we separate from Him who is our Sovereign Good. But, whereas He bears most tender mercy towards this frail creature whom He created out of pure love, and because He wills that all men should be saved, He waits with patience for the sinner to return to Him and, in countless ways, draws his heart to repentance. But, woe to him that obeys not the divine call when that call is the last! Then justice takes place of mercy, and revelation tells us how fearful a thing it is to fall into the hands of the living God (Hebrews x. 31). Let us then flee from the wrath to come (Matthew iii. 7) by making our peace with the God we have offended. If we be already restored to grace, let us walk in His fear until love will have grown strong enough in our hearts to make us run the way of the commandments (Psalm cxviii. 32).

10 FEBRUARY – SAINT SCHOLASTICA (Virgin)

 

Scholastica was the sister of Saint Benedict of Norcia. She had been consecrated to Almighty God from her very infancy, and was accustomed to visit her brother once a year. The man of God came down to meet her at a house belonging to the monastery, not far from the gate. It was the day for the usual visit, and her venerable brother came down to her accompanied by some of his brethren. The whole day was spent in the praises of God and holy conversation. At night fall they took their repast together. While they were at table and it grew late as they conferred with each other on sacred things, the holy nun thus spoke to her brother: “I beseech you, stay the night with me and let us talk till morning on the joys of Heaven.” He replied: “What is this you say, sister? On no account may I remain out of the monastery.” The evening was so fair that not a cloud could be seen in the sky. When, therefore, the holy nun heard her brother’s refusal, she clasped her hands together and, resting them on the table, she hid her face in them and made a prayer to the God of all power. As soon as she raised her head from the table, there came down so great a storm of thunder and lightning and rain, that neither the venerable Benedict, nor the brethren who were with him could set foot outside the place where they were sitting. The holy virgin had shed a flood of tears as she leaned her head upon the table, and the cloudless sky poured down the wished-for rain. The prayer was said, the rain fell in torrents. There was no interval, but so closely on each other were prayer and rain, that the storm came as she raised her head. Then the man of God, seeing that it was impossible to reach his monastery amid all this lightning, thunder and rain, was sad and said complainingly: “God forgive you, sister! What have you done?” But she replied: “I asked you a favour, and you would not hear me. I asked it of my God, and He granted it. Go now, if you can, to the monastery, and leave me here!” But it was not in his power to stir from the place, so that he who would not stay willingly, had to stay unwillingly and spend the whole night with his sister, delighting each other with their questions and answers about the secrets of spiritual life.

On the following day the holy woman returned to her monastery, and the man of God to his. When three days after he was in his cell, and raising his eyes, he saw the soul of his sister going up to Heaven in the shape of a dove. Full of joy at her being thus glorified, he thanked his God in hymns of praise, and told the brethren of her death. He immediately bade them go and bring her body to the monastery, which having done, he had it buried in the tomb he had prepared for himself. Thus it was that, as they had ever been one soul in God, their bodies were united in the same grave.

Dom Prosper Guéranger:

The sister of the Patriarch Saint Benedict comes to us today, sweetly inviting us to follow her to Heaven. Apollonia the Martyr is succeeded by Scholastica the fervent daughter of the cloister. Both of them are the Spouses of Jesus, both of them wear a crown, for both of them fought hard and won the palm. Apollonia’s battle was with cruel persecutors, and in those hard times when one had to die to conquer. Scholastica’s combat was the life-long struggle whose only truce is the soldier’s dying breath. The Martyr and the Nun are sisters now in the Heart of Him they both so bravely loved.

God in His infinite wisdom gave to Saint Benedict a faithful co-operatrix — a sister of such angelic gentleness of character that she would be a sort of counterpoise to the brother whose vocation, as the legislator of monastic life, needed a certain dignity of grave and stern resolve. We continually meet with these contrasts in the lives of the Saints, and they show us that there is a link of which flesh and blood know nothing, a link which binds two souls together, gives them power, harmonises their differences of character and renders each complete. Thus it is in Heaven with the several hierarchies of the Angels: a mutual love which is founded on God Himself, unites them together and makes them live in the eternal happiness of the tenderest brotherly affection.

Scholastica’s earthly pilgrimage was not a short one, and yet it has left us but the history of the Dove, which told the brother, by its flight to Heaven, that his sister had reached the eternal home before him. We have to thank Saint Gregory the Great for even this much which he tells us as a sequel to the holy dispute she had with Benedict, three days previous to her death. But how admirable is the portrait thus drawn in Saint Gregory’s best style! We seem to understand the whole character of Scholastica: an earnest simplicity and a child-like eagerness, for what was worth her desiring it; an affectionate and unshaken confidence in God; a winning persuasiveness, where there was opposition to God’s will, which, when it met such an opponent as Benedict, called on God to interpose and gained its cause. The old poets tell us strange things about the swan, how sweetly it can sing when dying. How lovely must not have been the last notes of the Dove of the Benedictine Cloister as she was soaring from Earth to Heaven! But how came Scholastica, the humble retiring nun, by that energy, which could make her resist the will of her brother whom she revered as her master and guide? What was it told her that her prayer was not a rash one, and that what she asked for was a higher good than Benedict’s unflinching fidelity to the Rule he had written, and which it was his duty to teach by his own keeping it? Let us hear Saint Gregory’s answer: “It is not to be wondered at that the sister who wished to prolong her brother’s stay should have prevailed over him for, whereas Saint John tells us that God is Charity, it happened by a most just judgement that she that had the stronger love, had the stronger power.”

Our Season is appropriate for the beautiful lesson taught us by Saint Scholastica — fraternal charity. Her example should excite us to the love of our neighbour, that love which God bids us labour for, now that we are intent on giving Him our undivided service and our complete conversion. The Easter Solemnity we are preparing for is to unite us all in the grand Banquet where we are all to feast on the one Divine Victim of Love. Let us have our nuptial garment ready, for He that invites us insists on our having union of heart when we dwell in His House.

*****

Dear Spouse of the Lamb! Innocent and simple Dove! How rapid was your flight to your Jesus when called home from your exile! Your brother’s eye followed you for an instant, and then Heaven received you with a joyous welcome from the choirs of the Angels and Saints. You are now at the very source of that love which here filled your soul and gained you everything you asked of your Divine Master. Drink of this fount of life to your heart’s eternal content. Satiate the ambition taught you by your brother in his Rule when he says that we must “desire Heaven with all the might of our spirit.” Feed on that sovereign Beauty who Himself feeds, as He tells us, among the lilies (Canticles ii. 16). But forget not this lower world which was to you what it is to us — a place of trial for winning heavenly honours. During your sojourn here you were the Dove in the clifts of the rock (Canticles ii. 14), as the Canticle describes a soul like your own. There was nothing on this Earth which tempted you to spread your wings in its pursuit, there was nothing worthy of your giving it the treasure of the love which God had put in your heart. Timid before men and simple as innocence ever is, you knew not that you had wounded the Heart of the Spouse (Canticles iv. 9). Your prayers were made to Him with all the humility and confidence of a soul that had never been disloyal, and He granted you your petitions with the promptness of tender love so that your brother — the venerable Saint — he who was accustomed to see nature obedient to his command — yes, even Benedict was overcome by you in that contest in which your simplicity was more penetrating than his profound wisdom.

And who was it, O Scholastica, that gave you this sublime knowledge and made you, on that day of your last visit, wiser than the great Patriarch who was raised up in the Church to be the living rule of them that are called to perfection? It was the same God who chose Benedict to be one of the pillars of the Religious State but who wished to show that a holy and pure and tender charity is dearer to Him than the most scrupulous fidelity to rules which are only made for leading men to what you had already attained. Benedict, himself such a lover of God, knew all this. The subject so dear to your heart was renewed, and brother and sister were soon lost in the contemplation of that Infinite Beauty who had just given such a proof that He would have you neglect all else. You were ripe for Heaven, O Scholastica! Creatures could teach you no more love of your Creator. He would take you to Himself. A few short hours more, and the Divine Spouse would speak to you those words of the ineffable Canticle which the Holy Spirit seems to have dictated for a soul like yours: “Arise, make haste, my Love, my Dove, my beautiful one, and come! Show me your face. Let your voice sound in my ears, for your voice is sweet and comely is your face” (Canticles ii. 10, 14).

You have left us, O Scholastica, but do not forget us. Our souls have not the same beauty in the eyes of our God as yours, and yet they are called to the same Heaven. It may be that years are still needed to fit them for the celestial abode where we will see your grand glory. Your prayer drew down a torrent of rain upon the Earth. Let it now be offered for us and obtain for us tears of repentance. You could endure no conversation which had not eternity for its subject. Give us a disgust for useless and dangerous talk, and a relish for hearing such as are on God and Heaven. Your heart had mastered the secret of fraternal charity, yes of that affectionate charity which is so well-pleasing to our Lord. Soften our hearts to the love of our neighbour, banish from them all coldness and indifference, and make us love one another as God would have us love.

Dear Dove of holy solitude! remember the Tree whose branches gave you shelter here on Earth. The Benedictine cloister venerates you not only as the sister, but also as the Daughter of its sainted Patriarch. Cast your eye on the remnants of that Tree which was once so vigorous in its beauty and its fruits, and under whose shadow the nations of the West found shelter for so many long ages. Alas, the hack and hew of impious persecutions have struck its root and branches. Every land of Europe, as well as our own, sits weeping over the ruins. And yet, root and branches, both must needs revive, for we know that it is the will of your Divine Spouse, Scholastica, that the destinies of this venerable Tree keep pace with those of the Church herself. Pray that its primitive vigour be soon restored. Protect, with your maternal care, the tender buds it is now giving forth. Cover them from the storm. Bless them. Make them worthy of the confidence with which the Church deigns to honour them.

Also on this day according to the ROMAN MARTYROLOGY:

At Rome, the holy martyrs Zoticus, Irenaeus, Hyacinthus and Amantius.

In the same place, on the Via Labicana, ten holy soldiers, martyrs.

Also at Rome, on the Via Appia, St. Soteres, virgin and martyr, who was descended of a noble race, as St. Ambrose testifies, but for the love of Christ set at naught the consular and other dignities of her family. On her refusal to sacrifice to the gods, she was for a long time cruelly buffeted. After she had overcome various other torments, she was struck with the sword and joyfully went to her heavenly spouse.

In Campania, St. Silvanus, bishop and confessor.

At Maleval, in the diocese of Siena, St. William, a hermit.

In the diocese of Rouen, St. Austreberta, a virgin renowned for miracles.

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

Thanks be to God.

10 FEBRUARY – TUESDAY OF SEXAGESIMA WEEK

Lesson – Genesis viii. 1‒13

And God remembered Noah and all the living creatures, and all the cattle which were with him in the ark, and brought a wind upon the earth, and the waters were abated. The fountains also of the deep, and the flood gates of heaven were shut up, and the rain from heaven was restrained. And the waters returned from off the earth going and coming: and they began to be abated after a hundred and fifty days. And the ark rested in the seventh month, the seven and twentieth day of the month, on the mountains of Armenia. And the waters were going and decreasing until the tenth month: for in the tenth month, the first day of the month, the tops of the mountains appeared. And after that forty days were passed, Noah, opening the window of the ark which he had made, sent forth a raven: which went forth and did not return till the waters were dried up on the earth. He sent forth also a dove after him to see if the waters had now ceased on the face of the earth. But she, not finding where her foot might rest, returned to him into the ark: for the waters were on the whole earth: and he put forth his hand, and caught her and brought her into the ark. And having waited yet seven other days, he again sent forth the dove out of the ark. And she came to him in the evening, carrying a bough of an olive tree with green leaves in her mouth. Noah therefore understood that the waters were ceased on the earth. And he stayed yet other seven days: and he sent forth the dove, which returned no more to him. Therefore in the six hundredth and first year, the first month, the first day of the month, the waters were lessened on the earth, and Noah opening the covering of the ark, looked, and saw that the face of the earth was dried.

Thanks be to God.

Dom Prosper Guéranger:

When we reflect upon the terrible events which happened in the First Age of the world, we are lost in astonishment at the wickedness of man, and at the effrontery with which he sins against his God. How was it that the dread words of that God which were spoken against our First Parents in Eden could be so soon forgotten? How could the children of Adam see their father suffering and doing such endless penance without humbling themselves and imitating this model of repentance? How was it that the promise of a Mediator who was to re-open the gate of Heaven for them could be believed and yet not awaken in their souls the desire of making themselves worthy to be His ancestors and partakers of that grand regeneration which he was to bring to mankind? And yet, the years which followed the death of Adam were years of crime and scandal. Nay, he himself lived to see one of his own children become the murderer of a brother. But why be thus surprised at the wickedness of these our first brethren? The Earth is now six thousand years old in the continued reception of divine blessings and chastisements, and are men less dull of heart, less ungrateful, less rebellious towards their Maker?

For the generality of men, we mean of those who deign to believe in the Fall and Chastisement of our First Parents and in the destruction of the world by the Deluge —what are these great Truths? Mere historical facts which have never once inspired them with a fear of God’s justice. More favoured than these early generations of the human race, they know that the Messiah has been sent, that God has come down upon the Earth, that He has been made Man, that He has broken Satan’s rule, that the way to Heaven has been made easy by the graces embodied by the Redeemer in the Sacraments — and yet, sin reigns and triumphs in the midst of Christianity. Undoubtedly the just are more numerous than they were in the days of Noah but then what riches of grace has not our Redeemer poured out on our degenerate race by the ministry of His Spouse, the Church? Yes, there are Faithful Christians to be found upon the Earth and the number of the Elect is every day being added to, but the multitude is living at enmity with God, and their actions are in contradiction with their Faith.

When, therefore, the Holy Church reminds us of those times in which all flesh had corrupted its way, she is urging us to think about our own conversion. Her motive in relating to us the history of the sins committed at the beginning of the world is to induce us to examine our own consciences. Why, too, does she read to us those pages of Sacred Writ which so vividly describe the floodgates of Heaven opening and deluging the guilty Earth, if not that she would warn us against mocking that great God who thus chastised the sins of His rebellious creatures? Last week we were called upon to consider the sad consequences of Adam’s sin — a sin which we ourselves did not commit, but the effects of which lie so heavy upon us. This week we must reflect upon the sins we ourselves have committed. Though God had loaded us with favours, guided us by His light, redeemed us with His Blood, and strengthened us against all our enemies by His grace, yet have we corrupted our way, and caused our God to repent His having created us. Let us confess our wickedness and humbly acknowledge that we owe it to the mercies of the Lord that we have not been consumed (Lamentations iii. 22).