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).

9 FEBRUARY – SAINT APOLLONIA (Virgin and Martyr)

 

 

Apollonia was a virgin of Alexandria. In the persecution under the Emperor Decius, when she was far advanced in years, she was brought up to trial and ordered to pay adoration to idols. She turned from them with contempt, and declared that worship ought to be given to Jesus Christ, the true God. Whereupon the impious executioners broke and pulled out her teeth. Then, lighting a pile of wood, they threatened to burn her alive unless she would hate Christ and adore their gods. She replied that she was ready to suffer every kind of death for the faith of Jesus Christ. Upon this, they seized her, intending to do as they said. She stood for a moment, as though hesitating what she should do. Then, snatching herself from their hold, she suddenly threw herself into the fire, for there was within her the flame of the Holy Ghost. Her body was soon consumed, and her most pure soul took its flight and was graced with the everlasting crown of martyrdom in 249 AD.

Dom Prosper Guéranger:

The holy virgin who this day claims the homage of our devotion and praise is offered to us by the Church of Alexandria. Apollonia is a Martyr of Christ. Her name is celebrated and honoured throughout the whole world, and she comes to us on this ninth day of February to add her own example to that which we have so recently had from her sister Saints, Agatha and Dorothy. Like them, she bids us fight courageously for Heaven. To her this present life was a thing of little value, and no sooner does she receive God’s inspiration to sacrifice it than she does what her would-be executioners intended doing — she throws herself into the flames prepared for her. It is no unusual thing nowadays, for men that are wearied of the trials, or afraid of the humiliations, of this world, to take away their own lives and prefer suicide to the courageous performance of duty: but Apollonia’s motive for hastening her death by a moment’s anticipation was to testify her horror of the apostasy that was proposed to her. This is not the only instance we meet with during times of Persecution of the Holy Spirit’s inspiring this lavish sacrifice to saintly virgins who trembled for their faith or their virtue. It is true, such examples are rare, but they teach us, among other things, that our lives belong to God alone, and that we should be in a readiness of mind to give them to Him when and as He pleases to demand them of us. There is one very striking circumstance in the martyrdom of Saint Apollonia. Her executioners, to punish the boldness with which she confessed our Lord Jesus Christ, beat out her teeth. This has suggested to the faithful, when suffering the cruel pain of tooth-ache, to have recourse to Saint Apollonia, and their confidence is often rewarded, for God would have us seek the protection of His Saints, not only in our spiritual, but even in our bodily, sufferings and necessities.

*****

What energy was yours, Apollonia! Your persecutors threaten you with fire, but far from fearing it, you are impatient for it as though it were a throne, and you ambitious to be queen. Your dread of sin took away the fear of death, nor did you wait for man to be your executioner. This your courage surprises our cowardice, and yet the burning pile into which you threw yourself when asked to apostatise, and which was a momentary pain leading your soul to eternal bliss, was nothing when we compare it with that everlasting fire to which the sinner condemns himself almost every day of his life. He heeds not the flames of Hell, and deems it no madness to purchase them at the price of some vile passing pleasure. And with all this worldlings can be scandalised at the Saints and call them exaggerated, extravagant, imprudent, because they believed that there is but one thing necessary! Awaken in our hearts, Apollonia, the fear of sin, which gnaws for eternity the souls of them who die with its guilt upon them. If the fire which had a charm for you seems to us the most frightful of tortures, let us turn our fear of suffering and death into a preservative against sin which plunges men into that abyss from which the smoke of their torments will ascend forever and ever (Apocalypse xiv. 11) as Saint John tells us in his Revelations. Have pity on us, most brave and prudent Martyr. Pray for sinners. Open their eyes to see the evils that threaten them. Get us the fear of God so that we may merit His mercies and begin in good earnest to love Him.

Also on this day according to the ROMAN MARTYROLOGY:

At Alexandria, St. Cyril, bishop and Doctor of the Church. He is mentioned on the twenty-eighth of January.

At Rome, the passion of the holy martyrs Alexander, and thirty eight others crowned with him.

At Solum in Cyprus, the holy martyrs Ammonius and Alexander.

At Antioch, under the emperor Valerian, St. Nicephorus, martyr, who was beheaded and thus received the crown of martyrdom.

In Africa, in a village called Lemelis, the holy martyrs Primus and Donatus, deacons, who were killed by the Donatists for defending an altar in the church.

In the monastery of St. Vandrille, St. Ansbert, bishop of Rouen.

At Canossa in Apulia, of St. Sabinus, bishop and confessor.

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

Thanks be to God.

9 FEBRUARY – MONDAY OF SEXAGESIMA WEEK

 

Lesson – Genesis vii. 1‒17

And the Lord said to Noah: “Go in thou and all your house into the ark: for you I have seen just before me in this generation. Of all clean beasts take seven and seven, the male and the female. But of the beasts that are unclean two and two, the male and the female. Of the fowls also of the air seven and seven, the male and the female: that seed may be saved upon the face of the whole earth. For yet a while, and after seven days, I will rain upon the earth forty days and forty nights; and I will destroy every substance that I have made, from the face of the Earth.” And Noah did all things which the Lord had commanded him. And he was six hundred years old, when the waters of the flood overflowed the earth. And Noah went in and his sons, his wife and the wives of his sons with him into the ark, because of the waters of the flood. And of beasts clean and unclean, and of fowls, and of every thing that moves upon the earth, two and two went in to Noah into the ark, male and female, as the Lord had commanded Noah. And after the seven days were passed, the waters of the flood overflowed the earth. In the six hundredth year of the life of Noah, in the second month, in the seventeenth day of the month, all the fountains of the great deep were broken up, and the flood gates of heaven were opened: And the rain fell upon the earth forty days and forty nights. In the selfsame day Noah, and Sem, and Cham, and Japheth his sons: his wife, and the three wives of his sons with them, went into the ark: They and every beast according to its kind, and all the cattle in their kind, and every thing that moves upon the earth according to its kind, and every fowl according to its kind, all birds, and all that fly, went in to Noah into the ark, two and two of all flesh, wherein was the breath of life. And they that went in, went in male and female of all flesh, as God had commanded him: and the Lord shut him in on the outside. And the flood was forty days upon the earth, and the waters increased, and lifted up the ark on high from the earth.

Thanks be to God.

Dom Prosper Guéranger:

“All flesh had corrupted its way upon the earth” (Genesis vi. 12). The terrible lesson, then, which men had received by being driven out of Paradise in the person of our First Parents had been without effect. Neither the certainty of death, when they would have to stand before the Divine Judge — nor the humiliations which attend man’s first coming into this world — nor the pains and fatigues and trials which beset the whole path of life — had subdued men’s hearts or brought them into submission to that Sovereign Master whose hand lay thus heavy upon them. They had the divine promise that a Saviour should be given to them and that this Redeemer (who was to be the Son of Her that was to crush the Serpent’s head) would not only bring them salvation, but would moreover re-instate them in all the happiness and honours they had lost. But even this was not enough to make them rise above the base passions of corrupt nature. The example of Adam’s nine hundred years’ penance, and the admonitions he could so feelingly give that had received such proofs of God’s love and anger began to lose their influence upon his children. And when he at last descended into the grave, his posterity grew more and more heedless of what they owed to their Creator. The long life which had been granted to man in this the first Age of the World was made but a fresh means of offending Him who gave it. When, finally, the sons of Seth took to themselves wives of the family of Cain, the human race reached the height of wickedness, rebelled against the Lord and made their own passions be their god.

Yet all this while they had had granted to them the power of resisting the evil propensities of their hearts. God had offered them His grace by which they were enabled to conquer pride and concupiscence. The merits of the Redeemer to come were even then present to Divine Justice, and the Blood of the Lamb, slain, as Saint John tells us, from the beginning of the world (Apocalypse xiii. 8) was applied, in its merits, to this, as to every generation, which existed before the Great Sacrifice was really immolated. Each individual of the human family might have been just as Noah was, and like him have found favour with the Most High, but the thought of their heart was bent upon evil, and not upon good, and the Earth grew covered with enemies of God. Then it was that it repented God that He made man (Genesis vi. 6), as the Sacred Scripture forcibly expresses it. He decreed that man’s life on Earth should be shortened in order that the thought of death might be ever before us. He, moreover, resolves to destroy, by a universal Deluge, the whole of this perverse generation, saving only one family. The world would thus be renewed and man would learn from this awful chastisement to serve and love this his Sovereign Lord and God.

8 FEBRUARY – SEXAGESIMA SUNDAY

 

Epistle – 2 Corinthians xi. 19 to xii. 9

Brethren, you gladly suffer the foolish, whereas yourselves are wise. For you suffer if a man brings you into bondage, if a man devours you, if a man takes from you, if a man is lifted up, if a man strikes you on the face. I speak according to dishonour, as if we had been weak in this part, therein if any man dare (I speak foolishly), I dare also. They are Hebrews. So am I. They are Israelites. So am I. They are the seed of Abraham. So am I. They are the ministers of Christ: (I speak as one less wise). I am more; in many, more labours, in prisons more frequently, in stripes above measure, in deaths often. From the Jews five times did I receive forty stripes save one. Thrice was I beaten with rods, once I was stoned, thrice I suffered shipwreck, a night and a day I was in the depth of the sea. In journeying often, in perils of waters, in perils of robbers, in perils from my own nation, in perils from the Gentiles, in perils in the, city, in perils in the wilderness, in perils in the sea, in perils from false brethren. In labour and painfulness, in much watchings, in hunger and thirst, in fasting often, in cold and nakedness. Besides these external things, there is my daily concern, the solicitude for all the churches. Who is weak, and I am not weak? Who is scandalised, and I am not on fire? If I must needs glory, I will glory of the things that concern my infirmity. The God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who is blessed forever, knows that I lie not. At Damascus the governor of the nation under Aretas the king, guarded the city of the Damascenes to apprehend me, and through a window in a basket was I let down by the wall, and so escaped his hands. If I must glory (it is not expedient indeed), but I will come to the visions and revelations of the Lord. I know a man in Christ above fourteen years ago (whether in the body, I know not, or but of the body, I know not. God knows): such an one rapt even to the third heaven. And I know such a man (whether in the body or out of the body, I cannot tell. God knows), that he was caught up in paradise and heard secret words which it is not granted to man to utter. For such an one I will glory, but for myself I will glory nothing but in my infirmities. For though I should have a mind to glory, I will not lie foolish, for I will say the truth. But I forbear, lest any man should think of me above that which he sees in me, or anything he hears from me. And lest the greatness of the revelations should exalt me: there was given me a sting in my flesh, an Angel of Satan, to buffet me. Wherefore thrice I besought the Lord that it might depart from me. And he said to me, my grace is sufficient for you, for power is made perfect in infirmity. Gladly therefore will I glory in my infirmities that the power of Christ may dwell in me.

Thanks be to God.

Dom Prosper Guéranger:

The Epistle is that admirable passage from one of Saint Paul’s Epistles in which the great Apostle, for the honour and interest of his sacred ministry, is necessitated to write his defence against the calumnies of his enemies. We learn from this his apology what labours the Apostles had to go through in order to sow the Word of God in the barren soil of the Gentile world and make it Christian.

Gospel – Luke viii. 4‒15

At that time, when a very great multitude was gathered together and hastened out of the cities to Him, He spoke by a similitude. “The sower went put to sow his seed. And as he sowed, some fell by the wayside and it was trodden down, and the fowls of the air devoured it. And other some fell upon a rock, and as soon as it was sprung up, it withered away, because it had no moisture. And other some fell among thorns; and the thorns growing up with it, choked it. And other some fell upon good ground, and being sprung up, yielded fruit an hundredfold.” Saying these things, He cried out, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear.” And his disciples asked Him what this parable might be. To whom He said, “To you it is given to know the mystery of the kingdom of God, but to the rest in parables; that seeing, they may not see, and hearing, may not understand. Now, the parable is this: The seed is the word of God. And they by the wayside are they that hear; then the devil comes and takes the word out of their heart, lest believing they should be saved. Now they upon the rock are they who, when they hear, receive the word with joy, and these have no roots, for they believe for a while, and in time of temptation they fall away. And that which fell among thorns are they who have heard, and going their way, are choked with the cares and riches and pleasures of this life, and yield no fruit. But that on good ground are they who, in a good and very good heart, hearing the word, keep it, and bring forth fruit in patience.”

Praise be to you, O Christ.

Dom Prosper Guéranger:

Saint Gregory the Great justly remarks that this parable needs no explanation since Eternal Wisdom Himself has told us its meaning. All that we have to do is to profit by this divine teaching and become the good soil in which the heavenly seed may yield a rich hardest. How often have we not, hitherto, allowed it to be trampled on by them that passed by, or to be torn up by the birds of the air? How often has it not found our heart like a stone that could give no moisture, or like a thorn plot that could but choke? We listened to the Word of God. We took pleasure in hearing it. And from this we argued well for ourselves. Nay, we have often received this Word with joy and eagerness. Sometimes, even, it took root within us. But, alas, something always came to stop its growth. Henceforth it must both grow and yield fruit. The seed given to us is of such quality that the Divine Sower has a right to expect a hundred-fold. If the soil, that is, if our heart, be good — if we take the trouble to prepare it. by profiting of the means afforded us by the Church — we will have an abundant harvest to show our Lord on that grand day when, rising triumphant from His tomb, He will come to share with His faithful people the glory of His Resurrection.

7 FEBRUARY – SATURDAY OF SEPTUAGESIMA WEEK

Lesson – Genesis v. 15‒31

And Malaleel lived sixty-five years, and begot Jared. And Malaleel lived after he begot Jared, eight hundred and thirty years, and begot sons and daughters. And all the days of Malaleel were eight hundred and ninety-five years, and he died. And Jared lived a hundred and sixty-two years, and begot Henoch. And Jared lived after he begot Henoch, eight hundred years, and begot sons and daughters. And all the days of Jared were nine hundred and sixty-two years, and he died. And Henoch lived sixty-five years, and begot Mathusala. And Henoch walked with God: and lived after he begot Mathusala, three hundred years, and begot sons and daughters. And all the days of Henoch were three hundred and sixty-five years. And he walked with God, and was seen no more: because God took him. And Mathusala lived a hundred and eighty-seven years, and begot Lamech. And Mathusala lived after he begot Lamech, seven hundred and eighty-two years, and begot sons and daughters. And all the days of Mathusala were nine hundred and sixty-nine years, and he died. And Lamech lived a hundred and eighty-two years, and begot a son. And he called his name Noah, saying: “This same will comfort us from the works and labours of our hands on the earth, which the Lord has cursed.” And Lamech lived after he begot Noah, five hundred and ninety-five years, and begot sons and daughters. And all the days of Lamech came to seven hundred and seventy-seven years, and he died.

Thanks be to God.

Dom Prosper Guéranger:

The sentence pronounced by the Almighty on our First Parents was to fall upon their children to the end of time. We have been considering, during this Week of Septuagesima, the penalties of the great sin. But the severest and most humiliating of them all remains to be told. It is the transmission, to the whole human race, of Original Sin. It is true that the merits of the promised Redeemer will be applied to each individual man in the manner established by God at various periods of time: still, this spiritual Regeneration — while cleansing us from the leprosy which covered us, and restoring us to the dignity of children of God — will not remove every scar of the old wound. It will save us from eternal death and restore us to life. But as long as our pilgrimage lasts, we will be weak and sickly.

Thus it is, that Ignorance makes us to be short-sighted in those great truths which should engross all our thoughts. And this fills us with illusions which, by an unhappy inclination of our will, we cling to and love. Concupiscence is ever striving to make our soul a slave to the body, and in order to escape this tyranny, our life has to be one continual struggle. An unruly love for Independence is unceasingly making us desire to be our own masters and forget that we were born to obey. We find pleasure in sin, whereas virtue rewards us with nothing in this life, save with the consciousness of our having done our duty.

*****

Knowing all this, we are filled with admiration and love when we think of you, O Mary, you purest of God’s creatures! You are our Sister in nature. You are a Daughter of Eve. But you were conceived without sin and are therefore the honour of the human race. You are of the same flesh and blood as ourselves, and yet you are Immaculate. The divine decree which condemned us to inherit the disgrace of Original Sin could not include your most pure Conception, and the serpent felt, as your foot crushed his haughty head, that you had never been under his power. In you, Mary, we find our nature such as it was when our God first created it. Hail, then, spotless Mirror of Justice! O Mary! Beautiful in your unsullied holiness, pray for us who are weighed down by the consequences of that sin of our First Parents which God would not suffer to approach you. You are the implacable enemy of the Serpent. Watch over us, lest his sting inflict death on our souls. We were conceived in sin and born in sorrow. Pray for us that we may so live as to merit blessing. We are condemned to toil, to suffering and to death. Intercede for us that our atonement may find acceptance with our Lord. We are exposed to the treachery of our evil inclinations. We are in love with this present life. We forget eternity. We are ever striving to deceive our own hearts — how could we escape Hell, were the grace of your Divine Son not unceasingly offered to us, enabling us to triumph over all our enemies? You, O Immaculate Mother of Jesus, are the Mother of Divine Grace! Pray for us that we who glory in being your kindred by nature may be daily more and more enriched with this priceless gift.

7 FEBRUARY – SAINT ROMUALD (Abbot)

 

Romuald was the son of a nobleman named Sergius. He was born at Ravenna and while still a boy withdrew to the monastery of Classis, there to lead a life of penance. The conversation of one of the religious increased in his soul his already ardent love of piety, and after being twice favoured with a visit of Saint Apollanaris who appeared to him during the night in the church which was dedicated to him, he entered the monastic state, agreeably to the promise made him by the holy Martyr. A few years later on he went to a hermit named Marinus, who lived in the neighbourhood of Venice and was famed for his holy and austere life that, under such a master and guide, he might follow the narrow path of high perfection. Many were the snares laid for him by Satan, and envious men molested him with their persecutions. But these things only excited him to be more humble, and assiduous in fasting and prayer. In the heavenly contemplation with which he was favoured, he shed abundant tears. Yet such was the joy which ever beamed in his face, that it made all who looked at him cheerful. Princes and Kings held him in great veneration, and his advice induced many to leave the world and its allurements and live in holy solitude. An ardent desire for martyrdom induced him to set out for Pannonia, but a malady which tormented him as often as he went forward and left him when he turned back, obliged him to abandon his design. He wrought many miracles during his life, as also after his death, and was endowed with the gift of prophecy. Like the Patriarch Jacob, he saw a ladder that reached from Earth to Heaven on which men, clad in white robes, ascended and descended. He interpreted this miraculous vision as signifying the Camaldolese Monks, whose founder he was. At length, having reached the age of 120, after having served his God by a life of most austere penance for 100 years, he went to his reward in 1027. His body was found incorrupt five years after it had been in the grave and was then buried, with due honour, in the church of his Order at Fabriano.

Dom Prosper Guéranger:

The Calendar’s list of Martyrs is interrupted for two days. The first of these is the feast of Romuald, the hero of penance, the Saint of the forests of Camaldoli. He is a son of the great Patriarch Saint Benedict and, like him, is the father of many children. The Benedictine family has a direct line from the commencement, even to this present time. But from the trunk of this venerable tree there have issued four vigorous branches, to each of which the Holy Spirit has imparted the life and fruitfulness of the parent stem. These collateral branches of the Benedict Order are: Camaldoli, by Romuald. Cluny, by Odo. Vallombrosa, by John Gualbert. And Citeaux, by Robert of Molesmes.

The Saint of this seventh day of February is Romuald. The Martyrs whom we meet with on our way to Lent give us an important lesson by the contempt they had for this short life. But the teaching offered us by such holy penitents as the great Abbot of Camaldoli, is even more practical than that of the Martyrs. They that are of Christ, says the Apostle, have crucified their flesh with its vices and concupiscences (Galatians v. 24) and in these words he tells us what is the distinguishing character of every true Christian. We repeat it — what a powerful encouragement we have in these models of mortification who have sanctified the deserts by their lives of heroic penance! How they make us ashamed of our own cowardice which can scarcely bring itself to do the little that must be done to satisfy God’s justice and merit His grace! Let us take the lesson to heart, cheerfully offer our offended Lord the tribute of our repentance, and purify our souls by works of mortification.

*****

Faithful servant and friend of God! How different was your life from ours! We love the world and its distractions. We think we do wonders if we give each day a passing thought to our Creator, and make Him, at long intervals, the sole end of some one of our occupations. Yet we know how each hour is bringing us nearer to that moment when we must stand before the divine tribunal with our good and our evil works to receive the irrevocable sentence we will have merited. You, Romuald, did not thus waste life away. It seemed to you as though there were but one thought and one interest worth living for — how best to serve your God. Lest anything should distract you from this infinitely dear object, you fled into the desert. There, under the Rule of the great Patriarch Saint Benedict, you waged war against the flesh and the devil. Your tears washed away your sins, though so light if compared with what we have committed. Your soul, invigorated by penance, was inflamed with the love of Jesus for whose sake you would fain have shed your blood. We love to recount these your merits, for they belong to us in virtue of that Communion which our Lord has so mercifully established between Saints and Sinners. Assist us, therefore, during the penitential Season which is soon to be upon us. Divine Justice will not despise our feeble efforts, for He will see them beautified by the union He allows them to have with such glorious works as yours. When you were living in the Eden of Camaldoli, your amiable and sweet charity for men was such that all who came near you were filled with joy and consolation: what may we not expect from you, now that you are face to face with the God of Love? Remember, too, the Order you have founded. Protect it, give it increase, and ever make it, to those who become its children a Ladder to lead them up to Heaven.

Also on this day according to the ROMAN MARTYROLOGY:

At London in England, the birthday of the blessed bishop Augulus, who terminated his career by martyrdom and deserved to receive an eternal recompense.

In Phrygia, St. Adaucus, martyr, an Italian of noble birth, who was honoured by the emperors with almost every dignity. While he was still discharging the office of quaestor, he was judged worthy of the crown of martyrdom for his defence of the faith. Also many holy martyrs, inhabitants of the same city, whose leader was Adaucus, just named. As they were all Christians and persisted in the confession of the faith, they were burned to death by the emperor Galerius Maximian.

At Heracles, in the reign of Licinius, St. Theodore, a military officer, who was beheaded after undergoing many torments, and went victoriously to heaven.

In Egypt, St. Moses, a venerable bishop, who first led a solitary life in the desert, and being afterwards made bishop, at the request of Mauvia, queen of the Saracens, converted to the faith the greater part of that barbarous people, and, rich in merits, passed peacefully to his reward.

At Lucca in Tuscany, the demise of St. Richard, king of England.

At Bologna, St. Juliana, widow.

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

Thanks be to God.