6 MARCH – SAINTS PERPETUA AND FELICITAS (Martyrs)

 

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

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

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

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

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

Dom Prosper Guéranger:

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

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

* * * * *

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

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

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

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

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

Also on this day according to the ROMAN MARTYROLOGY:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Thanks be to God.

6 MARCH – FRIDAY IN THE SECOND WEEK OF LENT

Lesson – Genesis xxxvii. 6‒22

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

Thanks be to God.

Gospel – Matthew xxi. 33–46

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

Praise be to you, O Christ.

Saint Ambrose of Milan:

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

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

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

5 MARCH – THURSDAY OF THE SECOND WEEK OF LENT

Lesson – Jeremias xvii. 5‒10

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

Thanks be to God.

Dom Prosper Guéranger:

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

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

Gospel – Luke xvi. 19‒31

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

Praise be to you, O Christ.

Dom Prosper Guéranger:

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

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

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

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

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

4 MARCH – SAINT CASIMIR OF POLAND (Confessor)

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

Dom Prosper Guéranger:

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

* * * * *

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

Also on this day according to the ROMAN MARTYROLOGY:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Thanks be to God.

4 MARCH – WEDNESDAY IN THE SECOND WEEK OF LENT

Lesson – Esther xiii. 8‒17

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

Thanks be to God.

Dom Prosper Guéranger:

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

Gospel – Matthew xx. 17‒28

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

Praise be to you, O Christ.

Dom Prosper Guéranger:

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

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

3 MARCH – TUESDAY OF THE SECOND WEEK OF LENT

Lesson – 3 Kings xvii. 8‒16

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

Thanks be to God.

Gospel – Matthew xxiii. 1‒12

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

Praise be to you, O Christ.

Saint Jerome:

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

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

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

2 MARCH – MONDAY OF THE SECOND WEEK OF LENT

 Epistle – Daniel ix. 15‒19

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

Thanks be to God.

Gospel – John viii. 21‒29

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

Praise be to you, O Christ.

Saint Augustine of Hippo:

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

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

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

1 MARCH – ST. DAVID OF WALES (Bishop)

Rev. Sabine Baring-Gould:

St. David, or Dewi, as the Welsh call him, was born about 446, at Mynyw, which was named St David’s after him. His father was Sandde, son of Ceredig, who was the son of Cunedda, the great conqueror of North Wales. His mother's name was Non; she was the daughter of Gynyr of Caergawch. Giraldus says he was baptized at Forth Clais by Alveas, Bishop of Munster, “who by divine providence had arrived at that time from Ireland.” The same author says he was brought up at Henmenen, which is probably the Roman station Menapia.

St. David was educated under Iltyt at Caerworgon. He was afterward ordained priest, and studied the Scriptures for ten years with Paulinus at Ty-gwyn-ar Daf, or Whitland, in Caennarthenshire. He then retired for prayer and study to the Vale of Ewias, where he raised a chapel, and a cell on the site now occupied by Llanthony Abbey. The river Honddu furnished him with drink, the mountain pastures with meadow-leek for food. His legendary history states that he was advised by an angel to move from under the shadow of the Black Mountains to the vale of Rhos, and to found a monastery at Mynyw, his birth place.

He built a monastery on the boggy land which forms nearly the lowest point of that basin-shaped glen: on, or near its site stands the present Cathedral of St. David. He practised the same rigorous austerities as before. Water was his only drink, and he rigorously abstained from animal food. He devoted himself wholly to prayer, study, and to the training of his disciples. He, like many other abbots at that time, was promoted to the episcopate. A wild legend makes him to have started on a pilgrimage to Jerusalem, and to have received consecration at the hands of the patriarch John III. This tale was invented by some British monk to show that the Welsh bishops traced their succession to the oldest, if not the most powerful, of the patriarchates. Except when compelled by unavoidable necessity he kept aloof from all temporal concerns. He was reluctant even to attend the Synod of Brefi. This was convened by Dubricius about 519 at Llandewi Brefi, in Cardiganshire, to suppress the Pelagian heresy, which was once more raising its head. The synod was composed of bishops, abbots, and religious of different orders, together with princes and laymen. Giraldus says, “When many discourses had been delivered in public, and were ineffectual to reclaim the Pelagians from their error, at length Paulinus, a bishop with whom David had studied in his youth, very earnestly entreated that the holy, discreet, and eloquent man might be sent for. Messengers were therefore despatched to desire his attendance: but their importunity was unavailing with the holy man, he being so fully and intently given up to contemplation, that urgent necessity alone could induce him to pay any regard to temporal or secular concerns. At last two holy men, Daniel and Dubricius, persuaded him to come. After his arrival, such was the grace and eloquence with which he spoke, that he silenced the opponents, and they were utterly vanquished. But Father David, by common consent of all, whether clergy or laity, (Dubricius having resigned in his favour), was elected primate of the Cambrian Church.” Dubricius retired to the Isle of Bardsey.

A beautiful yet wild legend tells us:—“While St. David’s speech continued, a snow white dove descending from heaven sat upon his shoulders; and moreover the earth on which he stood raised itself under him till it became a hill, from whence his voice was heard like a trumpet, and was understood by all, both near and far off: on the top of which hill a church was afterwards built, and remains to this day.”

St. David at first strenuously declined the primacy; at last he accepted it on the condition that he was to be allowed to transfer the archiepiscopal chair from the busy city of Caerleon upon the Usk—the former capital of Britannia Secunda—to the quiet retreat of Mynyw. Arthur, the famous king, and Pendragon, who is said to have been a nephew of our saint, assented to this. Doubtless the advances westward which the heathen English were making, filled St. David with dread lest the seat of the primacy should one day fall into their hands. So he thought it prudent to remove it to the iron-bound shores of Pembroke, where the English could not so easily land. After his elevation, St. David, in spite of his retiring disposition, proved a vigorous and hard-working prelate. He occasionally resided at Caerleon, and in 529 he convened a synod, which exterminated the Pelagian heresy, and was in consequence named “The Synod of Victory.” It ratified the canons and decrees of Brefi, as well as a code of rules which he had drawn up for the regulation of the British Church, a copy of which remained in the Cathedral of St. David’s until it was lost in an incursion of pirates. Giraldus says, “In his times, in Cambria, the Church of God flourished exceedingly, and ripened with much fruit every day. Monasteries were built everywhere; many congregations of the faithful of various orders were collected to celebrate with fervent devotion the Sacrifice of Christ. But to all of them Father David, as if placed on a lofty eminence, was a mirror and pattern of life. He informed them by words, and he instructed them by example; as a preacher he was most powerful through his eloquence, but more so in his works. He was a doctrine to his hearers, a guide to the religious, a light to the poor, a support to the orphans, a protection to widows, a father to the fatherless, a rule to monks, and a path to seculars, being made all things to all men that he might bring all to God.”

He founded several churches and monasteries. It is also generally agreed that Wales was first divided into dioceses in his time.

Geoffrey of Monmouth states that he died in his monastery at Mynyw, St. David’s, where he was honourably buried by order of Maelgwn Gvvynedd. This event is recorded by him as if it happened soon after the death of Arthur, who died 542. According to the computations of Archbishop Usher, St. David died 544, aged 82. The Bollandists agree with Usher on the date of his death, but they put his birth back as far as 446, so that according to their calculation he lived to the age of 98. Numerous legends have gathered round the history of St. David. Thus an angel is said to have foretold his birth thirty years before to his father in a dream. “On the morrow, said the angelic voice, thou wilt slay a stag by a river side, and wild find three gifts there, to wit, the stag, a fish, and a honeycomb. Thou shalt give part of these to the son who shall be born thirty years hence. The honeycomb proclaims his honied wisdom, the fish, his life on bread and water, the stag his dominion over the old serpent.” The mention of the stag doubtless arose from the old fancy that that animal kills serpents by trampling on them: thus did David trample the Pelagian heresy under foot. When St. Patrick settled in the vale of Rhos, a voice bade him depart, for it was reserved for the abode of a child who should be born thirty years after. At his baptism, St. David splashed some water on to the blind eyes of the bishop who was baptizing him, and restored their power of sight. His schoolfellows at Henmenen saw a dove teaching him, and singing hymns with him. After studying with Paulinus, he journeyed to Glastonbury. He was intending to dedicate afresh the church which had been re-built, when the Lord appeared to him in a dream, and told him that He had already dedicated it: as a sign that He had spoken unto him He pierced the saint’s hand with His fingers. So our saint contented himself with building a Lady Chapel at the east end. He is said to have founded twelve monasteries on this journey. He returned to Wales, and then established a monastery at Mynyw, which was soon filled with monks and disciples. They worked hard with their own hands in the fields; they harnessed themselves to the plough instead of using oxen for that purpose; they tended bees that they might have some honey to give to the sick and the poor. The bees became so attached to one monk, Modemnoc, that they followed him on board ship when he was about to set sail for Ireland. He returned to the monastery and made several attempts to embark unobserved by his winged friends; but all his efforts failed. So at last he asked St. David’s leave to take them with him; the saint blessed the bees, and bade them depart in peace, and be fruitful and multiply in their new home. Thus Ireland, where bees had been hitherto unable to live, was enriched by their honey.

He opened many fountains in dry places, healed many brackish streams, raised many dead to life, and had many visions of God and of Angels. In one of these visions he was warned that he should depart, March 1st. Thenceforth he was more zealous in the discharge of his duty: on the Sunday before his death he preached a sermon to the assembled people, and after consecrating and receiving the Lord’s Body, he was seized with a sudden pain: then turning to the people he said, “Brethren, persevere in the things which ye have heard of me: on the third day hence I go the way of my fathers.” On that day, while the clergy were singing the Matin Office, he had a vision of his Lord; then, exulting in spirit, he exclaimed, “Raise me after Thee.” With these words he breathed his last. He was canonized by Pope Callixtus II, A.D. 1120; who is also said to have granted an indulgence to all those who made a pilgrimage to his shrine. Three kings of England—William the Conqueror, Henry II., and Edward I.—are said to have undertaken the journey, which when twice repeated was deemed equal to one pilgrimage to Rome; whence arose this saying:— Roma semel quantum, dat bis Menevia tantum. A noble English matron, Elswida, in the reign of Edgar, transferred his relics, probably in 964, from St. David’s to Glastonbury. St. David’s plain but empty shrine stands now in the choir of St. David’s Cathedral to the north of Edward Tudor’s altar tomb.

Also on this day according to the ROMAN MARTYROLOGY:

At Rome, two hundred and sixty holy martyrs condemned for the name of Christ. Claudius II ordered them to dig sand beyond the Porta Salaria, and then to be shot dead with arrows by soldiers in the amphitheatre.

Also the birthday of the holy martyrs Leo, Donatus, Abundantius, Nicephorus and nine others.

At Marseilles, the holy martyrs Hermes and Adrian.

At Heliopolis, in the persecution of Trajan, St. Eudoxia, martyr, who, being baptised by bishop Theodotus and fortified for the combat, was put to the sword by the command of the governor Vincent and thus received the crown of martyrdom.

The same day, St. Antonina, martyr. For deriding the gods of the Gentiles in the persecution of Diocletian, she was, after various torments, shut up in a cask and drowned in a marsh near the city of Cea.

At Kaiserswerth, the bishop St. Swithbert, who, in the time of Pope Sergius, preached the Gospel to the inhabitants of Friesland and Holland, and to other Germanic peoples.

At Angers, St. Albinus, bishop and confessor, a man of most eminent virtue and piety.

At Le Mans, St. Siviard, abbot.

At Perugia, the translation of St. Herculanus, bishop and martyr, who was beheaded by order of Totila, king of the Goths. Forty days after his decapitation his body, as Pope St. Gregory relates, was found as sound and as firmly joined to the head as if it had never been touched by the sword.

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

Thanks be to God.

1 MARCH – SECOND SUNDAY OF LENT

Dom Prosper Guéranger:

The subject offered to our consideration on this Second Sunday is one of the utmost importance for the holy Season. The Church applies to us the lesson which our Saviour gave to three of His Apostles. Let us endeavour to be more attentive to it than they were.

Jesus was about to pass from Galilee into Judea, that He might go up to Jerusalem and be present at the Feast of the Pasch. It was that last Pasch, which was to begin with the immolation of the figurative lamb, and end with the sacrifice of the Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world. Jesus would have His disciples know Him. His works had borne testimony to Him, even to those who were, in a manner, strangers to him. But as for His disciples, had they not every reason to be faithful to Him, even to death? Had they not listened to His words which had such power with them that they forced conviction? Had they not experienced His love, which it was impossible to resist? And had they not seen how patiently He had borne with their strange and untoward ways?

Yes, they must have known Him. They had heard one of their company, Peter, declare that He was the Christ, the Son of the Living God (Matthew xvi. 16). Despite this, the trial to which their faith was soon to be put, was to be of such a terrible kind that Jesus would mercifully arm them against temptation by an extraordinary grace. The Cross was to be a scandal and stumbling block (1 Corinthians i. 23) to the Synagogue, and, alas, to more than it. Jesus said to His Apostles at the Last Supper: “All of you will be scandalised in me this night” (Matthew xxvi. 32).

Carnal-minded as they then were, what would they think when they should see Him seized by armed men, handcuffed, hurried from one tribunal to another, and He doing nothing to defend Himself! And when they found that the High Priests and Pharisees, who had till now been so often foiled by the wisdom and miracles of Jesus, had now succeeded in their conspiracy against Him — what a shock to their confidence! But, there was to be something more trying still: the people who but a few days before greeted him so enthusiastically with their hosannas would demand His execution, and He would have to die, between two thieves, on the Cross, amid the insults of His triumphant enemies.

Is it not to be feared that these disciples of His, when they witness His humiliations and sufferings, will lose their courage? They have lived in His company for three years, but when they see that the things He foretold would happen to Him are really fulfilled — will the remembrance of all they have seen and heard keep them loyal to Him? Or will they turn cowards and flee from Him? — Jesus selects three out of the number, who are especially dear to him: Peter, whom He has made the Rock, on which His Church is to be built, and to whom He has promised the Keys of the kingdom of heaven; James, the son of Thunder, who is to be the first Martyr of the Apostolic College; and John, James’s brother, and His own Beloved Disciple. Jesus has resolved to take them aside and show them a glimpse of that glory which until the day fixed for its manifestation He conceals from the eyes of mortals. He therefore leaves the rest of His disciples in the plain near Nazareth and goes in company with the three privileged ones, towards a high hill, called Thabor, which is a continuation of Libanus, and which the Psalmist tells us was to rejoice in the Name of the Lord (Psalm lxxxviii. 13) No sooner has He reached the summit of the mountain than the three Apostles observe a sudden change come over Him: His face shines as the sun, and His humble garments become white as snow. They observe two venerable men approach and speak with Him upon what He was about to suffer in Jerusalem. One is Moses, the lawgiver. The other is Elias, the Prophet, who was taken up from earth on a fiery chariot, without having passed through the gates of death. These two great representatives of the Jewish Religion, the Law and the Prophets, humbly adore Jesus of Nazareth. The three Apostles are not only dazzled by the brightness which comes from their Divine Master, but they are filled with such a rapture of delight, that they cannot bear the thought of leaving the place. Peter proposes to remain there for ever and build three tabernacles, for Jesus, Moses, and Elias. And while they are admiring the glorious sight and gazing on the beauty of their Jesus’s human nature, a bright cloud overshadows them, and a voice is heard speaking to them: it is the voice of the Eternal Father, proclaiming the Divinity of Jesus, and saying: “This is my beloved Son!” This transfiguration of the Son of Man, this manifestation of His glory, lasted but a few moments. His mission was not on Thabor.

It was humiliation and suffering in Jerusalem. He therefore withdrew into Himself the brightness He had allowed to transpire, and when He came to the three Apostles, who, on hearing the voice from the cloud, had fallen on their faces with fear —they could see no one save only Jesus. The bright cloud was gone. Moses and Elias had disappeared. What a favour they have had bestowed on them! Will they remember what they have seen and heard? They have had such a revelation of the Divinity of their dear Master! — is it possible that when the hour of trial comes they will forget it and doubt His being God? And when they see Him suffer and die, be ashamed of Him and deny Him? Alas! the Gospel has told us what happened to them. A short time after this, our Lord celebrated His Last Supper with His disciples. When the Supper was over, He took them to another mount, Mount Olivet, which lies to the east of Jerusalem. Leaving the rest at the entrance of the Garden, He advances with Peter, James, and John, and then says to them: “My soul is sorrowful even unto death: stay here and watch with me.” He then retires some little distance from them and prays to His Eternal Father. The Heart of our Redeemer is weighed down with anguish. When He returns to his three disciples, He is enfeebled by the agony He has suffered, and His garments are saturated with blood. The Apostles are aware that He is sad even unto death, and that the hour is close at hand when He is to be attacked are they keeping watch? Are they ready to defend Him? No: they seem to have forgotten Him. They are fast asleep, for their eyes are heavy (Matthew xxvi. 38). Yet a few moments, and all will have fled from Him, and Peter, the bravest of them all, will be taking his oath that he never knew the man.

After the Resurrection our three Apostles made ample atonement for this cowardly and sinful conduct, and acknowledged the mercy with which Jesus had sought to fortify them against temptation, by showing them his glory on Thabor a few days before His Passion. Let us not wait till we have betrayed Him. Let us at once acknowledge that He is our Lord and our God. We are soon to be keeping the anniversary of His Sacrifice; like the Apostles, we are to see Him humbled by His enemies and bearing, in our stead, the chastisements of Divine Justice. We must not allow our faith to be weakened when we behold the fulfilment of those prophecies of David and Isaias, that the Messias is to be treated as a worm of the earth, (Psalm xxi. 7) and be covered with wounds, so as to become like a leper, the most abject of men, and the Man of sorrows (Isaias liii. 3, 4). We must remember the grand things of Thabor, and the adorations paid Hhim by Moses and Elias, and the bright cloud, and the voice of the Eternal Father. The more we see Him humbled, the more must we proclaim His glory and divinity. We must join our acclamations with those of the Angels and the Four-and-Twenty Elders, whom St. John, (one of the witnesses of the Transfiguration), heard crying out with a loud voice: “The Lamb that is slain, is worthy to receive power and divinity, and wisdom, and strength, and honour, and glory, and benediction!” (Apocalypse v. 12).

The Second Sunday of Lent is called, from the first word of the Introit, Reminiscere; and also Transfiguration Sunday, on account of the Gospel which is read in the Mass.

Epistle – 1 Thessalonians iv. 1‒7

Brethren, we pray and beseech you in the Lord Jesus, that as you have received of us, how you ought to walk, and to please God, so also you would walk, that you may abound the more. For you know what precepts I have given to you by the Lord Jesus. For this is the will of God, your sanctification; that you should abstain from fornication, that every one of you should know how to possess his vessel in sanctification and honour; not in the passion of his lust, like the Gentiles that know not God: and that no man overreach nor circumvent his brother in business; because the Lord is the avenger of all these things, as we have told you before, and have testified. For God has not called us to uncleanness, but to sanctification, in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Thanks be to God.

Dom Prosper Guéranger:

Here the Apostle shows what manner of life should be followed by Christians, and the Church, by repeating his words, exhorts the faithful to profit of the present season of grace, and regain all the beauty of the image of God, which the grace of Baptism first gave them. A Christian is a vessel of honour, formed and enriched by the hand of God; let him therefore shun whatever would degrade his noble origin and turn him into a vessel of dishonour, fit only to be broken and cast with the unclean into the sink of hell. The Christian religion has so far ennobled man, that even his very body may share in the soul’s sanctity. On the other hand, she teaches us that this sanctity of the soul is impaired, yes altogether effaced, by the loss of the body’s purity. The whole man, therefore, both body and soul, is to be reformed by the practices of this holy Season. Let us purify the soul by the confession of our sins, by compunction of heart, by the love of God. And let us give back its dignity to the body by making it bear the yoke of penance, that so it may be, henceforth, subservient and docile to the soul, and, on the day of the general Resurrection, partake in her endless bliss.

Gospel – Matthew xvii. 1‒9

At that time, Jesus took Peter, and James, and John his brother, and brought them up into a high mountain apart. And He was transfigured before them. His face shone like the sun, and His garments became as white as snow. And behold, there appeared to them Moses and Elijah talking with Him. And Peter answering, said to Jesus, “Lord, it is good for us to be here; if you wish, let us make here three tabernacles, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.” As he was speaking, a bright cloud overshadowed them and a voice spoke out of the cloud, saying, “This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. Listen to Him.” And the disciples hearing this fell on their faces and were very much afraid. Jesus came and touched them, and said to them, “Arise, and fear not.” And they lifting up their eyes saw no-one but Jesus. As they came down from the mountain, Jesus charged them, saying, “Tell the vision to no man, till the Son of man has risen from the dead.”

Praise be to you, O Christ.

Dom Prosper Guéranger:

Thus did Jesus encourage His Apostles when the time of temptation was near. He sought to impress them with His glory that it might keep up theirfaith in that trying time when the outward eye would see nothing in His person but weakness and humiliation. Oh! the loving considerateness of divine grace, which is never wanting, and shows us, in so strong a light, the goodness and the justice of our God! Like the Apostles, we also have sinned. Like them, we have neglected to profit of the help that was sent us from heaven. We have shut our eyes against the light. We have forgotten the fair vision that was granted us, and which made us so fervent and happy — and we fell. We have not, then, been tempted above our strength (1 Corinthians x. 13), and it is indeed our own fault that we committed sin. The three Apostles were exposed to a terrible temptation when they beheld their Divine Master robbed of all His majesty, but how easy for them to resist the temptation by thinking of what they had seen but a few days before? Instead of that, they lost their courage and forgot prayer which would have brought their courage back ; and thus the favoured witnesses of Thabor became cowards and deserters in the Garden of Mount Olivet. There was but one thing left them to do — throw themselves on the loving mercy of their Jesus, as soon as He had triumphed over His enemies; they did so, and His generous Heart pardoned them.

Let us imitate them here too. We have abused the grace of God and rendered it fruitless by our want of correspondence. The fountain of this grace, is not yet dried up. As long as we are in this world we may always draw from this source which comes from the Blood and merits of our Redeemer. It is grace that is now urging us to the amendment of our lives. It is given to us in abundance during the present time, and it is given mainly by the holy exercises of Lent. Let us go up the mountain with Jesus. There we will not be disturbed by the noise of earthly things. Let us there spend our forty days with Moses and Elias who, long before us, sanctified this number by their fasts. Thus, when the Son of Man will have risen from the dead, we will proclaim the favours He has mercifully granted us on Thabor.

We may close our Sunday by reciting the following beautiful prayer taken from the Mozarabic Breviary:

O JESUS, our God, eternal first beginning of light, who willed that your servants should devote the seventh day to sanctification rather than to work, we come seeking how we may find you, but we are prevented by the habitual darkness of our conscience. We make efforts to arise, but we fall back again and are dejected. Therefore, we beseech you, cast not away from your face those who seek you, for you deigned to show yourself to those who did not seek you. Now is the season of the year when we are offering to your holy Name a tithe of our days. And of these days, seven have passed. Grant us your assistance in the path of this fatiguing journey, so that our proffered homage may be without blemish. Sweeten our toil by filling us with an ardent love of your Majesty, and awaken us from the sluggishness of the body by the fervent abundance of your charity. May our life, being thus in you, know no faltering, and our faith find its reward. Amen.

28 MARCH – EMBER SATURDAY IN THE FIRST WEEK OF LENT

Dom Prosper Guéranger:

This day was called Twelve-Lesson-Saturday, because, formerly, twelve passages from the Holy Scriptures used to be read, as on Holy Saturday. The Mass during which the Ordinations were given was celebrated during the night, so that by the time it was over, the Sunday had begun. Later on the Ordination Mass was said early on the Saturday as we now have it, but, in memory of the ancient practice, the Gospel for Saturday is repeated on the Sunday. The same is observed on the Saturday in the Advent Ember Week because the Ordination Mass of that Season was also anticipated.

Epistle – Deuteronomy xxvi. 12‒19

In those days Moses spoke to the people, saying: “When you have made an end of tithing all your fruits, that they may eat within your gates, and be filled; and you will speak thus in the sight of the Lord your God: ‘I have taken that which was sanctified out of my house, and I have given it to the Levite and to the stranger, and to the fatherless and to the widow, as you have commanded me; I have not transgressed your commandments, nor forgotten your precepts. I have obeyed the voice of the Lord my God, and have done all things as you have commanded me. Look from your sanctuary, and your high habitation of heaven, and bless your people Israel, and the land which you have given us, as you swore to our fathers, a land flowing with milk and honey.’ This day the Lord your God has commanded you to do these commandments and judgements, and to keep and fulfil them with all your heart, and with all your soul. You have chosen the Lord this day to be your God, and to walk in His ways and keep His ceremonies, and precepts, and judgements, and obey His command. And the Lord has chosen you this day to be His peculiar people, as He has spoken to you, and to keep all His commandments; and to make you higher than all nations which He has created, to His own praise, and name, and glory; that you may be a holy people of the Lord your God, as He has spoken.”

Thanks be to God.

Dom Prosper Guéranger:

God here assures us that a nation which is faithful in observing the laws regarding the Divine Service will be blessed above other nations. History is one long illustration of the truth of this promise. Of all the nations which have fallen, there is not one that has not brought the chastisement on itself by its neglect of the Law of God. At times, the Almighty delays to strike, but it is only that the chastisement may be the more evident and produce a more salutary effect upon mankind. When we would know the future of a country, we need only observe how it comports itself with regard to the Laws of the Church. If its own Laws are based on the principles and practices of Christianity, that country is sound, in spite of certain weaknesses here and there: Revolutions may disturb its peace, but it will triumph over all. If the bulk of its people is faithful in the observance of external practices prescribed by the Church; for example, if they observe the Lord’s Day, and the holy Fast of Lent — there is a fund of morality in that country which is sure to draw down on it the blessings of heaven. Irreligious men will scoff at all this and call it superstition, prejudice of weak minds, and out of date for an age of Progress like ours; but if their theories were to rule, and a country, which up to this time had been practically Catholic, were to seek progress by infringing the law of Christian Ritual, it would, in less than a hundred years, find that public and private morality had lost ground, and its own security would be menaced. Man may talk and write as he likes — God wishes to be served and honoured by His people, and it is for Him to prescribe what are to be the forms of this service and adoration. Every injury offered to external worship, which is the great social link, is an injury to the interests of mankind. Even were there not the word of God for it, it is but just that such a consequence should follow.

Gospel – Matthew xvii. 1‒9

At that time, Jesus took Peter, and James, and John his brother, and brought them up into a high mountain apart. And He was transfigured before them. His face shone like the sun, and His garments became as white as snow. And behold, there appeared to them Moses and Elijah talking with Him. And Peter answering, said to Jesus, “Lord, it is good for us to be here; if you wish, let us make here three tabernacles, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.” As he was speaking, a bright cloud overshadowed them and a voice spoke out of the cloud, saying, “This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. Listen to Him.” And the disciples hearing this fell on their faces and were very much afraid. Jesus came and touched them, and said to them, “Arise, and fear not.” And they lifting up their eyes saw no-one but Jesus. As they came down from the mountain, Jesus charged them, saying, “Tell the vision to no man, till the Son of man has risen from the dead.”

Praise be to you, O Christ.

Dom Prosper Guéranger:

This Gospel, which, as we have already explained, is to be repeated tomorrow, is the one that is read in the Mass of today’s Ordinations, The following is the interpretation given by the ancient liturgists, among whom we may especially mention the learned Abbot Rupert.

The Church would have us think upon the sublime dignity which has been conferred on the newly ordained Priests. They are represented by the three Apostles who were taken by Jesus to the high mountain, and favoured with the sight of His glory. The rest of the disciples were left below; Peter, James and John were the only ones permitted to ascend to Thabor, and they, when the time should come, were to tell their fellow Apostles, and the whole world, how they had seen the glory of their Master, and heard the words of the Father declaring the Divinity of the Son of Man. This voice, says St. Peter, coming down to him from the excellent glory: This in my Beloved Son, in whom I have pleased myself; hear him. And this voice we heard, brought from heaven, when we were with him on the holy mount (2 Peter I. 17, 18).

In like manner, these Priests, who have just been ordained, and for whom you have been offering up your prayers and fast, will enter into the cloud with the Lord. They will offer up the Sacrifice of your salvation in the silence of the sacred Canon. God will descend into their hands, for your sakes, and though they are mortals and sinners, yet will they, each day, be in closest communication with the Divinity.

The forgiveness of your sins, which you are now preparing to receive from your Heavenly Father, is to come to you through their hands; their superhuman power will bring it down from heaven upon your souls. It is thus that God has cured our pride. The Serpent said to us, through our first parents: “Eat of this fruit, and you will be as gods.” We unfortunately believed the tempter, and the fruit of our transgression was death. God took pity on us and resolved to save us, but it was to be by the hands of men that He would save us, and this in order to humble our haughtiness. His own Eternal Son became man, and He left other men after Him, to whom He said: “As the Father has sent me, I also send you” (John xx. 21). Let us, then, show honour to these men who have this very day been raised to so high a dignity. One of the duties imposed on us by our holy religion is respect to the priesthood.

This is Saturday: let us have recourse to Mary, the Refuge of Sinners. Let us put under her maternal protection the humble penances we are now going through, and for this end, we may make use of the following Sequence taken from the Cluny Missal.

Hail Mary, full of grace! Dear Mother of Jesus, and hope of the world!

O Gate of heaven! Temple of God! Haven of the sea, where sinners confidently seek shelter and repose.

You are the worthy Spouse of the Great King, and, by your powerful prayers, you are kind and loving to all.

You are light to the blind, and a sure path to such as are lame.

You are by your loving affection, both Martha and Mary to the needy.

You were the Flower among the thorns; the Flower that, by its rich graces, bloomed to the divine Flower, your Jesus.

You did speak your word, and then conceived the Word; you gave birth to the King of kings, you who were a pure Virgin.

You were ever faithful to this King, your Child; and, using a mother’s privilege, you fed Him at your breast.

Now, you are united with Him, and in reward for your merits, you are made the Queen of heaven and earth.

Then pray for us, O Queen, to Him that is our King, beseeching Him to pardon us poor fallen sinners. Show us your wonted clemency, and, having obtained us the new life of remission of our sins, bring us to the kingdom, there to reign forever. Amen.