14 MAY – THE ASCENSION OF OUR LORD

Dom Prosper Gueranger:

The sun of the fortieth day has risen in all his splendour. The earth which shook with gladness at the birth of our Emmanuel (Psalms xcv. xcvi. xcvii.)now thrills with a strange emotion. The divine series of the mysteries of the Man-God is about to close. Heaven has caught up the joy of earth. The Angelic Choirs are preparing to receive their promised King, and their Princes stand at the Gates, that they may open them when the signal is given of the mighty Conqueror’s approach. The holy souls that were liberated from Limbo on the morning of the Resurrection are hovering round Jerusalem, waiting for the happy moment when Heaven’s gate, closed by Adam’s sin, will be thrown open and they will enter in company with their Redeemer: a few hours more, and then to Heaven! Meanwhile, our Risen Jesus has to visit His Disciples and bid them farewell, for they are to be left for some years longer in this vale of tears.

They are in the Cenacle impatiently awaiting His coming. Suddenly He appears in their midst. Of the Mother’s joy, who would dare to speak? As to the Disciples and the holy women, they fall down and affectionately adore the Master who has come to take His leave of them. He deigns to sit down to table with them. He even condescends to eat with them, not, indeed, to give them proof of His Resurrection, for He knows that they have no further doubts of the mystery, but now that He is about to sit at the right hand of the Father, He would give them this endearing mark of familiarity. Admirable repast, in which Mary, for the last time in this world, is seated side by side with her Jesus, and in which the Church (represented by the Disciples and the holy women), is honoured by the visible presidency of her Head and Spouse.

What tongue could describe the respect, the recollected mien, the attention of the guests? With what love must they not have riveted their eyes on the dear Master? They long to hear Him speak. His parting words will be so treasured! He does not keep them long in suspense. He speaks but His language is not what they perhaps expected it to be — all affection. He begins by reminding them of the incredulity wherewith they heard of His Resurrection (Mark xvi. 14). He is going to entrust His Apostles with the most sublime mission ever given to man. He would, therefore, prepare them for it by humbling them. A few days hence, and they are to be the lights of the world. The world must believe what they preach, believe it on their word, believe it without having seen, believe what the Apostles alone have seen. It is by faith that man approaches His God: they themselves were once without it, and Jesus would have them now express their sorrow for their former incredulity, and thus base their Apostolate on humilty. Then, assuming a tone of authority, such as none but a God could take, He says to them: “Go into the whole world, and preach the Gospel to every creature. He that believes and is baptised, will be saved: but he that believes not will be condemned” (Mark xvi. 15, 16). And how will they accomplish this mission of preaching the Gospel to the whole world? How will they persuade men to believe their word? By miracles. “And these signs,” continues Jesus, “will follow them that believe: in my name they will cast out devils; they will speak with new tongues; they will take up serpents; and if they shall drink any deadly thing, it will not hurt them; they will lay their hands upon the sick, and they will recover” (Mark xvi. 17, 18). He would have miracles to be the foundation of His Church, just as He had made them the argument of His own divine mission. The suspension of the laws of nature proves to us that it is God who speaks. We must receive the word and humbly believe it. Here, then, we have men unknown to the world and devoid of every human means, and yet commissioned to conquer the earth and make it acknowledge Jesus as its King! The world ignores their very existence. Tiberius, who sits on the imperial throne, trembling at every shadow of conspiracy, little suspects that there is being prepared an expedition which is to conquer the Roman Empire. But these warriors must have their armour, and the armour must be of Heaven’s own tempering. Jesus tells them that they are to receive it a few days hence. “Stay,” says He, “in the City, till you be indued with power from on high” (Luke xxiv. 49). But what is this armour? Jesus explains it to them. He reminds them of the Father’s promise, “that promise,” says He, “which you have heard by my mouth; for John indeed, baptised with water; but you will be baptised with the Holy Ghost not many days hence” (Acts i. 4, 5).

But the hour of separation is come. Jesus rises: His blessed Mother and the hundred and twenty persons assembled there prepare to follow Him. The Cenacle is situated on Mount Sion, which is one of the two hills within the walls of Jerusalem. The holy group traverses the city, making for the eastern G-ate, which opens on the Valley of Josaphat. It is the last time that Jesus walks through the faithless city. He is invisible to the eyes of the people who denied Him, but visible to His Disciples, and goes before them, as heretofore, the pillar of fire led on the Israelites. How beautiful and imposing a sight! Mary, the Disciples, and the Holy Women, accompanying Jesus in His Heavenward journey, which is to lead him to the right hand of His Eternal Father! It was commemorated in the Middle Ages by a solemn Procession before the Mass of Ascension Day. What happy times were those, when Christians took delight in honouring every action of our Redeemer. They could not be satisfied as we are, with a few vague notions, which can produce nothing but an equally vague devotion. They reflected on the thoughts which Mary must have had during these last moments of her Son’s presence. They used to ask themselves which of the two sentiments was uppermost in her maternal heart — sadness, that she was to see her Jesus no more, or joy, that he was now going to enter into the glory He so infinitely deserved. The answer was soon found: had not Jesus said to his Disciples: “If you loved me, you would indeed be glad, because I go to the Father” (John xiv. 28). Now, who loved Jesus as Mary did? The Mother’s heart, then, was full of joy at parting with Him. How was she to think of herself when there was question of the triumph of her Son and her God? Could she that had witnessed the scene of Calvary do less than desire to see Him glorified, whom she knew to be the Sovereign Lord of all things — Him whom, but a short time ago, she had seen rejected by His people, blasphemed, and dying the most ignominious and cruel of deaths? The holy group has traversed the Valley of Josaphat. It has crossed the brook Cedron and is moving onwards to Mount Olivet. What recollections would crowd on the mind! This torrent, of which Jesus had drunk on the day of His humiliation, is now the path He takes to triumph and glory. The Royal Prophet had foretold it (Psalms cix. 7). On their left are the Garden and cave where He suffered His agony and accepted the bitter chalice of His Passion. After having come as far as what Saint Luke calls the distance of the journey allowed to the Jews on a Sabbath day (Acts i. 12), they are close to Bethania, that favoured village where Jesus used to accept hospitality at the hands of Lazarus and his two sisters. This part of Mount Olivet commands a view of Jerusalem. The sight of its temple and palaces makes the disciples proud of their earthly city: they have forgotten the curse uttered against her. They seem to have forgotten, too, that Jesus has just made them citizens and conquerors of the whole world. They begin to dream of the earthly grandeur of Jerusalem, and, turning to their Divine Master, they venture to ask Him this question: “Lord, will you, at this time, restore again the kingdom to Israel?”

Jesus answers them with a tone of severity: “It is not for you to know the times or moments which the Father has put in His own power” (Acts i. 7). These words do not destroy the hope that Jerusalem is to be restored by the Christian Israel, but, as this is not to happen till the world is drawing towards its end, there is nothing that requires our Saviour’s revealing the secret. What ought to be uppermost in the mind of the disciples is the conversion of the pagan world, the establishing the Church. Jesus reminds them of the mission He has just given to them: “You will receive,” says He, “the power of the Holy Ghost coming upon you, and you will be witnesses unto me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and Samaria, and even to the uttermost part of the Earth” (Acts i. 8).

According to a tradition which has been handed down from the earliest ages of Christianity, it is midday, the same hour that He had been raised up, when nailed to His Cross. Giving His Blessed Mother a look of filial affection, and another of fond farewell to the rest of the group that stand around Him, Jesus raises up His hands and blesses them all. While thus blessing them, He is raised up from the ground on which He stands and ascends into Heaven (Luke xxiv. 51). Their eyes follow Him until a cloud comes and receives Him out of their sight (Acts i. 9).

Yes, Jesus is gone! The Earth has lost her Emmanuel — for [thousands of] years had He been expected: the Patriarchs and Prophets had desired His coming with all the fervour of their souls: He came: His love made him our captive in the chaste womb of the Virgin of Nazareth. It was there He first received our adorations. Nine months after, the Blessed Mother offered Him to our joyous love in the stable at Bethlehem. We followed Him into Egypt. We returned with Him. We dwelt with Him at Nazareth. When He began the three years of His public life, we kept close to His steps. We delighted in being near Him, we listened to His preaching and parables, we saw His miracles. The malice of His enemies reached its height, and the time came in which He was to give us the last and grandest proof of the love that had brought Him from Heaven — His dying for us on a Cross. We kept near Him as he died, and our souls were purified by the Blood that flowed from His Wounds. On the third day, He rose again from His grave, and we stood by exulting in His triumph over Death, for that triumph won for us a like Resurrection. During the Forty days He has deigned to spend with us since His Resurrection, our faith has made us cling to Him: we would fain have kept Him with us forever, but the hour is come. He has left us. Yes, our dearest Jesus is gone! Happy the souls that He had taken from Limbo! They have gone with Him and, for all eternity, are to enjoy the Heaven of His visible presence.

The Disciples are still steadfastly looking up towards heaven, when lo! two angels, clad in white robes, appear to them, saying: “You men of Galilee! Why stand you looking up to Heaven? This Jesus, who is taken up from you into Heaven, will so come as you have seen Him going into Heaven! (Acts i. 10, 11) He has ascended a Saviour. He is to return as Judge. Between these two events is comprised the whole life of the Church on Earth. We are therefore living under the reign of Jesus as our Saviour, for He has said: “God sent not His Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved by Him” (John iii. 17), and to carry out this merciful design He has just been giving to His Disciples the mission to go throughout the whole world and invite men, while yet there is time, to accept the mystery of salvation.

What a task is this he imposes on the Apostles! And now that they are to begin their work, He leaves them! They return from Mount Olivet, and Jesus is not with them! And yet, they are not sad: they have Mary to console them. Her unselfish generosity is their model, and well do they learn the lesson. They love Jesus. They rejoice at the thought of His having entered into His rest. “They went back into Jerusalem with great joy” (Luke xxiv. 52). These few simple words of the Gospel indicate the spirit of this admirable Feast of the Ascension: it is a Festival, which, notwithstanding its soft tinge of sadness, is, more than any other expressive of joy and triumph. During its Octave we will endeavour to describe its mystery and magnificence: we would only observe, for the present, that this Solemnity is the completion of the Mysteries of our Redemption, that it is one of those which were instituted by the Apostles, and finally, that it has impressed a character of sacredness on the Thursday of each week — the day already so highly honoured by the institution of the Eucharist.

We have alluded to the procession by which our Catholic forefathers used, on this Feast, to celebrate the journey of Jesus and His Disciples to Mount Olivet. Another custom observed on the Ascension was the solemn blessing given to bread and to the new fruits: it was commemorative of the farewell repast taken by Jesus in the Cenacle. Let us imitate the piety of the Ages of Faith when Christians loved to honour the very least of our Saviour’s actions and, so to speak, make them their own by thus interweaving the minutest details of His life into their own. What earnest reality of love and adoration was given to our Jesus in those old times when His being Sovereign Lord and Redeemer was the ruling principle of both individual and social life! Nowadays we may follow the principle, as fervently as we please, in the privacy of our own consciences or, at most, in our own homes, but publicly, and when we are before the world, no! To say nothing of the evil results of this modern limitation of Jesus’ rights as our King, what could be more sacrilegiously unjust to Him who deserves our whole service, everywhere and at all times? The Angels said to the Apostles: “This Jesus will come, as you have seen Him going into Heaven”: happy we if during his absence we will have so unreservedly loved and served Him as to be able to meet Him with confidence when He comes to judge us!

Epistle – Acts i. 1‒11

The former treatise I made, O Theophilus, of all things which Jesus began to do and to teach, until the day on which, giving commandments by the Holy Ghost to the Apostles whom He had chosen, He was taken up. To whom also He showed Himself alive after his Passion, by many proofs, for forty days appearing to them and speaking of the kingdom of God. And eating together with them, He commanded them that they should not depart from Jerusalem, but should wait for the promise of the Father, which you have heard (said He) by my mouth: for John indeed baptised with water, but you will be baptised with the Holy Ghost, not many days hence. They, therefore, who were come together, asked Him, saying, “Lord, will you at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?” But He said to them, “It is not for you to know the times or moments which the Father has put in his own power; but you will receive: the power of the Holy Ghost coming upon you, and you will be witnesses to me in Jerusalem and in all Judea, and Samaria, and even, to the uttermost part of the earth.” And when He had said these things, whiles they looked on He was raised up and a cloud received Him out of their sight. And while they were beholding Him going up to heaven, behold, two men stood by them in white garments, who also said, “You men of Galilee, why do you stand looking up to heaven? This Jesus who is taken up from you into heaven, will so come, as you have seen Him going into heaven.”

Thanks be to God.

Dom Prosper Gueranger:

This admirable description of our Jesus’ Ascension brings the mystery so vividly before us that we almost seem to see the happy group on Mount Olivet. With what affection the Disciples gaze on the Divine Master as they see Him rising up towards Heaven, and stretching out His hand to bless them! Their eyes, though full of tears, are riveted on the cloud which has come between themselves and Jesus. They are alone on the Mount. Jesus’ visible presence is taken from them. How wretched would they not feel in the desert land of their exile, were it not for His supporting grace, and for that Holy Spirit who is about to come down and create within them a new being? So then, it is only in Heaven that they can ever again see the face of Jesus, who, God as He is, deigned to be their Master for three long happy years, and, on the evening of the Last Supper, called them His friends!

Neither are they the only ones who feel this separation. Our Earth leaped with joy as the Son of God walked upon it. That joy is now past. It had looked forward, for [thousands of] years, for the glory of being the dwelling-place of its Creator. That glory is now gone. The nations are in expectation of a Deliverer and though, with the exception of the people of Judea and Galilee, men are not aware that this Deliverer has come and gone again, it will not long be so. They will hear of His birth, and His life, and His works. They will hear of His triumphant Ascension too, for holy Church will proclaim it in every country of the earth. [Two thousand] years have elapsed since He left this world, and our respectful and loving farewell blends with that which His Disciples gave Him when He was mounting up to Heaven. Like them, we feel His absence. But like them, we also rejoice in the thought that He is seated at the right hand of His Father, beautiful in His kingly glory.

You, dear Jesus, have entered into your rest! We adore you on your throne, we are redeemed and the fruit of your victory! Bless us! Draw us to yourself, and grant that your Last Coming may be to us a source of joy rather than of fear!

Gospel – Mark xvi. 14‒20

At that time Jesus appeared to the eleven as they were at table, and He upbraided them for their incredulity and hardness of heart because they did not believe those who had seen Him after He had risen again. And He said to them, “Go into the whole world and preach the gospel to every creature. He who believes and is baptised will be saved, but he who believes not will be condemned. And these signs will follow those who believe: in my Name they will cast out devils; they will speak with new tongues; they will take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it will not hurt them; they will lay their hands on the sick, and they will recover.” And the Lord Jesus, after He had spoken to them, was taken up into heaven and sits at the right hand of God. But they going forth preached everywhere, the Lord working still and confirming the word with signs that followed.

Praise be to you, O Christ.

Dom Prosper Gueranger:

Alas, how short was His stay here below! At least, how quickly the time passed! How many ages have gone by, and how many must still come over this poor Earth of ours before she can again behold His face. The Church languishes after Him in this dreary exile of the vale of tears, taking care of us, the children her Jesus has given her by His Holy Spirit. She feels His absence and, if we are Christians, we will feel it too. Oh when will the day come, that re-united to our bodies, “we will be taken up in the clouds to meet Christ, and be with our Lord forever!” (1 Thessalonians iv. 16) Then, and then only, will we have attained the end for which we were created.

All the mysteries of the Word Incarnate were to close with His Ascension. All the graces we receive are to end with ours. This world is but “a figure that passes away” (1 Corinthians vi. 31), and we are hastening through it to rejoin our Divine Leader. In Him are our life and happiness: it is vain to seek them elsewhere. Whatever brings us nearer to Jesus is good. Whatever alienates us from Him is evil. The mystery of the Ascension is the last ray of light given to us by our Creator, by which He shows us the path to our heavenly country. If our heart is seeking its Jesus, and longs to come to Him, it is alive with the true life. If its energies are spent upon created things, and it feels no attraction for its Jesus, it is dead.

Let us, therefore, lift up our eyes, as did the disciples, and follow, in desire. Him who this day ascends to Heaven, and prepares a place there for each of his faithful servants. Sursum corda! Hearts on Heaven! It is the parting-word of our brethren who accompany the Divine Conqueror in His Ascension. It is the hymn with which the Angels, coming down to meet their King, invite us to ascend and fill up the vacant thrones: Sursum corda!

A tradition handed down from the early ages and confirmed by the revelations of the saints, tells us that the Ascension of our Lord took place at the hour of noon. The Carmelites of St. Teresa’s Reform honour this pious tradition by assembling in the choir at the hour of midday on the Ascension, and spend it in the contemplation of this last of Jesus’ mysteries, following Him, in thought and desire, to the throne of His glory. Let us also follow him, but before looking on the bright noon which smiles on His triumph, let us go back in thought to His first coming among us. It was at midnight, in the stable of Bethlehem. That dark and silent hour was an appropriate commencement to the three and thirty years of His life on earth. He had come to accomplish a great mission: year by year, and day by day, He laboured in its fulfilment. It was nigh to its fulfilment when men laid their sacrilegious hands on Him and nailed Him to a Cross. It was midday when He was thus raised up in the air, but the Eternal Father would not permit the sun to shine on Jesus’ humiliation. Darkness covered the face of the earth, and that day had no noon. Three hours after, the sun re-appeared. Three days after, the Crucified rose again from the tomb, and it was at the early dawn of light. On this day, yes, at this very hour, His work is completed. He has redeemed us by His Blood from our sins. He has conquered death by His Resurrection to life: had he not a right to choose, for His Ascension, the hour when the sun is pouring forth his warmest and brightest beams?

Hail, holy hour of Noon, sacred with your double consecration which reminds us daily of the mercy and of the Triumph of our Emmanuel, of salvation by His Cross, and of Heaven by His Ascension! But are you not, Jesus, Sun of Justice! Are you not yourself the noontide of our souls? Where are we to find that fullness of Light for which we were created — where that burning of eternal Love which alone can satisfy our longing hearts — but in you, who earnest down upon the earth to dispel our darkness and our cold? It is in this hope that we venture to address you in the sublime words of your faithful spouse Gertrude:

“O Love, Noontide, whose ardours are so soothing! You are the hour of sacred rest, and the unruffled peace I taste in you is all my delight. You whom my soul loves, you who are my chosen and my elect above all creatures, tell me, show me, where you feed your flock, where you lie to rest in the midday. My heart kindles with rapture at thought of your tranquil rest at Noon! That it were given me to come so near to you, that I might be not only near you, but in you! Beneath your genial ray, Sun of Justice, the flowers of all the virtues would spring forth from me, who am but dust and ashes. Then would my soul, rendered fruitful by you, my Master and my Spouse, bring forth the noble fruit of every perfection. Then should I be led forth from this valley of sorrows and be admitted to behold your face, so long, so wistfully longed for. And then would it be my everlasting happiness to think that you have not disdained, you spotless Mirror, to unite yourself to a sinner like me!”

The Lord Jesus has disappeared from our Earth, but His memory and His promises are treasured in the heart of the Church. She follows, in spirit, the glorious triumph of her Spouse, a triumph so well deserved by his having accomplished the world’s Redemption. She keenly feels her widowhood, but she awaits with unshaken confidence, the promised Comforter.

O JESUS our Emmanuel! Your work is done, and this is the day of your entering into your rest. In the beginning of the world you spent spend six days in harmonising the varied portions of the creation, after which you entered again into your rest. When later on you would repair your work which Satan’s malice had deranged, your love induced you to live among us for three and thirty years, during which you worked our redemption and restored us to the holiness and honour from which we had fallen. Whatever had been assigned you in the eternal decrees of the Blessed Trinity, whatever had been foretold of your by the Prophets, all was done, dear Jesus. Not an iota of it all was forgotten. Your triumphant Ascension was the close of the mission you had so mercifully undertaken. It was your second entrance into your rest, but this time it was with our Human Nature which you had assumed, and which was now to receive divine honour. You would have companions in your Ascension — the souls you had liberated from Limbo. And when about to leave us, you said this word of consolation to us: “I go go to prepare a place for you!” (John xiv. 2). Confiding, Jesus, in this promise, resolved to follow you in all the mysteries achieved by you for our sakes — in the humility of your birth at Bethlehem, in your sufferings on Calvary, in the joy of your Resurrection — we hope, also, to imitate you when our mortal course is run, in your glorious Ascension. Meanwhile, we unite with the holy Apostles who rejoiced at your triumph, and with the ransomed captives of Limbo who entered Heaven in your company. Watch over us, Divine Shepherd, while we are in our exile! Tend your faithful sheep. Let none be lost. Lead them all to your fold. The mystery of your Ascension shows us the object of our existence. it re-animates us to study more attentively and love more warmly all your other mysteries: our one ambition, then, our one desire, will henceforth be our own Ascension to Heaven and to you It was for this you came into the world: by humbling yourself to our lowliness, to exalt us to your own majesty, and by making yourself Man, to make man a partaker of your divinity. But until the happy day of our union with you, what would become of us without that power of the Most High which you have promised to send us, that He may bring us patience during our pilgrimage, fidelity to our absent King, and that solace of a heart exiled from its God, love? Come, then, Holy Spirit! Support our weakness. Fix the eye of our souls on the heaven where our King awaits us, and never permit us to set our hearts on a world which, had it every other charm, has not the infinite one of Jesus’ visible presence!

Only Begotten Son of God who, having conquered death, passed from Earth to Heaven: who, as Son of Man, are seated in great glory on your throne, receiving praise from the whole Angelic host, grant that we, who in the jubilant devotion of our faith, celebrate your Ascension to the Father, may not be fettered by the chains of sin to the love of this world, and that the aim of our hearts may unceasingly be directed to the Heaven to which you ascended in glory after your Passion. Amen.

13 MAY – OUR LADY OF FATIMA

Our Lady of Fatima, Queen of Heaven and earth, I consecrate myself to Your Immaculate Heart.

 

To You I consecrate my heart, my soul, my family, and all that I have.

 

I renew today the promises of my Baptism; and promise to live as a good Christian — faithful to God, by always believing and living the Catholic faith.

 

I resolve to pray the Rosary every day, to receive in a worthy manner the Holy Eucharist, to participate in the First Saturdays of the month, and offer sacrifices for the conversion of sinners.

 

O Most Holy Virgin, I pray that devotion may spread to Your Immaculate Heart so that all souls may be truly consecrated to You, and that through Your own intercession, the coming of the Kingdom of Our Lord Jesus Christ in this world may be hastened.

 

Accept this dear Mother and bless me and my family. Amen.

13 MAY – WEDNESDAY OF THE FIFTH WEEK AFTER EASTER

Dom Prosper Gueranger:

We now come to the fourth Sacrament, which may be justly called the Sacrament of Mercy. Jesus knew the weakness of man. He knew that the great majority of Christians would not persevere in the grace they received at Baptism, and that sin would, in most cases, spoil the beautiful plant which had been watered by the dew of heaven, and which, after growing and flowering, was to be transplanted into the garden of eternal life. Like grass that lies withered on the field, so would be this once fair plant. How could it ever revive, unless He that made it gave it life again? Thanks to His infinite mercy! — this is what He has the will to do. Consulting the sinner’s salvation rather than His own glory, He prepared, as the holy Fathers express it, a second plank after shipwreck. The first was Baptism, but mortal sin came, and the soul was again plunged into the wild abyss. She had fallen once more into the hands of her enemy. She was fettered by chains, which it was out of her power to break.

During His mortal life on Earth Jesus, who came not to judge the world, but to save it, (John xii. 47) declared that these fetters, forged by the sinner’s malice, should be broken by a power which He would one day establish in His Church. Speaking to His Apostles, He told them that whatever they should loosen on Earth should be loosed also in Heaven (Matthew xviii. 18). Since making that solemn promise, our Redeemer has offered His sacrifice on the Cross. His infinitely Precious Blood has been shed for the superabundant expiation of the sins of the world. He that loved us to such a degree as this, could never forget the promise He had made. On the contrary, He was most anxious to keep it, for He knew the fearful dangers to which our salvation is exposed.

On the very day of His Resurrection, He appears to His Apostles, and His first words evince His eagerness to fulfil the promise He had previously made. It seems as though His mercy were impatient to break asunder the humiliating and terrible bonds of sin, which held us captives. No sooner has He breathed the Holy Ghost on His Apostles, than He adds these words: “Whose sins you will forgive, they are forgiven them” (John xx. 23). Observe here, as the holy Fathers have done, the strength of the words spoken by our Lord: They are forgiven. He says not, “they will be forgiven.” It is no longer the promise of a gift, but the gift itself. Before the Apostles have exercised the divine power conferred on them by Jesus, every absolution which they and their successors in this sacred ministry will pronounce, even to the end of time, is already confirmed.

Glory, then, be to our Risen Jesus, who has removed the barriers of His Justice, that His Mercy might inundate the world! Let mankind unite and sing to Him the sublime canticle of David, in which foreseeing the wondrous events that were to take place under the New Law, this Royal Psalmist prophesied the forgiveness of sins, which the Apostles were afterwards to teach us as an Article of our Creed.

“Bless the Lord, my soul! and let all that is within you bless His holy Name. Who forgives all your iniquities, who heals all your diseases, who redeems your life from destruction. Your youth will be renewed like the eagle’s. The Lord is compassionate and merciful, long-suffering and plenteous in mercy. He will not always be angry. He has not dealt with us according to our sins. As far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our iniquities from us. As a father has compassion on his children, so ha the Lord compassion on them that fear Him, for He knows our frame. He remembers that we are dust, man’s days are as grass. As the flower of the field, so will he flourish, for the spirit will pass in him, and he will not be, and he will know his place no more. But the mercy of the Lord is from eternity and to eternity upon them that fear Him. My soul! Bless the Lord.” (Psalm cii.)

And yet we, the children of the promise, know even better than David did, the greatness of God’s mercy. Jesus was not content with giving us His assurance, that if, after having sinned, we have recourse with humble repentance to the Divine Majesty, we will obtain pardon: as the sentence of God’s mercy would thus be without any outward sign, a cruel anxiety would have ever been upon us, leaving us in doubt of our forgiveness. Therefore did this loving Saviour ordain that men should give us pardon in His Name. That we might know that the Son of Man has power on earth to forgive sins (Luke v. 24), He gave power to His delegates to pronounce over us a sentence of absolution which our very ears might hear, and which would convey to our souls the sweet confidence of pardon.

O ineffable Sacrament, by whose means Heaven is peopled by countless numbers who else had been lost, and who will for ever sing the mercies of the Lord! (Psalms lxxxviii. 2) O irresistible power of the words of absolution, which, deriving their efficacy from the Blood of our Redeemer, take away all our iniquities, and plunge them into the abyss of Divine Mercy! The eternity of torments due to these iniquities would never have expiated them, and yet these few words of the Priest: “I absolve you,” have utterly annihilated them. Such is the Sacrament of Penance. In return for the humble confession of our sins and the sincere sorrow for having committed them, we receive pardon, and this not for once or twice only, but as often as we approach the sacred tribunal: not for this or that kind of sin only, but for every sin whatsoever. It is not to be wondered at that Satan should envy man this gift, and strive to throw such doubts and difficulties in the way as to prevent his profiting by it. What has not heresy said against this Sacrament? It began by teaching that it takes from the glory of holy Baptism, whereas, on the contrary, it honours that first Sacrament by repairing the injuries done to it by sin. Later on it exacted, as absolutely necessary for the Sacraments, such perfect dispositions that Absolution would find the soul already reconciled with God. It was by this dangerous snare of Jansenism that so many were ruined, either by pride or by discouragement. And lastly, it has set up that Protestant dictum: “I confess my sins to God,” just as though God had not the right to lay down the conditions for pardon.

The Sacraments, being, as they are, such divine institutions, demand our faith. Without faith, they are simply impossibilities. Though this be true of all the Seven, yet the Sacrament of Penance is especially welcome to a man of faith because it so thoroughly humbles human pride. It sends man to ask of his fellow-man what God could have given directly Himself. Jesus said to the lepers, whom He wished to cure: “Go, show yourselves to the priests!” (Luke xvii. 14). Surely He has a right to act in the same manner when there is question of spiritual leprosy.

12 MAY – SAINTS NEREUS AND ACHILLEUS (Martyrs) AND FLAVIA DOMITILLA (Virgin and Martyr)

The brothers Nereus and Achilleus served Flavia Domitilla, a niece of Flavius Clemens and member of the imperial family of the Domitii. Nereus and Achilleus were baptised, together with Flavia and her mother Plautilla, by Saint Peter. They persuaded Domitilla to consecrate her virginity to God in consequence of which they were accused of being Christians. After confessing their faith they were banished to the island of Pontia. There they were condemned to be flogged after refusing to renounce their religion. Shortly afterwards they were taken to Terracina and hoisted on the rack and tormented with burning torches. Upon declaring that, having been baptised by the Apostle Peter no tortures could enduce they to sacrifice to idols, they were beheaded. Their bodies were taken to Rome by their disciple Auspicius who was Domitilla’s tutor, and were buried on the Via Ardeatina.

Flavia Domitilla received the veil of virginity from Pope Saint Clement. Accused of being a Christian by her betrothed Aurelian who was a a son of the consul Titus Aurelius, Domitian banished her to the island of Pontia where she suffered a long martyrdom in prison. After being taken to Terracina, she again confessed her faith and refused to be shaken from it, for which the judge ordered that the house where she lived be set on fire. Flavia completed her martyrdom together with her virgin foster sisters Theodora and Euphrosyna on the ninth of the nones of May (May 7th) during the reign of Trajan. Their bodies were found entire and were buried by the deacon Caesarius. On this day, the 12th of May, the relics of Nereus, Achilleus and Flavia were translated to the Basilica called the Fasciola, on the Via Appia.

Dom Prosper Gueranger:

So far in our Paschal Season the choir of Martyr-Virgins has not yet offered to Jesus its crown of roses and lilies. It does so today by presenting to Him the noble Flavia Domitilla — the fairest flower of Rome, that was cut down by the sword of martyrdom in the first age of the Christian Faith. It was under the persecution of Domitian — the same that condemned John the Evangelist to be burned alive in the caldron of boiling oil — that Flavia Domitilla was honoured with banishment and death for the sake of our Redeemer whom she had chosen as her Spouse. She was of the Imperial family, being a niece of Flavins Clemens who adorned the consular dignity by martyrdom. She was one of the Christians belonging to the court of the Emperor Domitian, who show us how rapidly the religion of the poor and humble made its way to the highest classes of Roman life. A few years previous to this, Saint Paul sent to the Christians of Philippi the greetings of the Christians of Nero’s palace (Philippians iv. 22). There is still extant, not far from Rome, on the Via Ardeatina, the magnificent subterraneous Cemetery which Flavia Domitilla ordered to be dug on her Praedium, and in which were buried the two martyrs, Nereus and Achilleus, whom the Church honours today together with the noble virgin who owes her crown to them.

Nereus and Achilleus were in Domitilla’s service. Hearing them one day speaking on the merit of virginity, she there and then bade farewell to all worldly pleasures, and aspired to the honour of being the Spouse of Christ. She received the veil of consecrated virgins from the hands of Pope Saint Clement: Nereus and Achilleus had been baptised by Saint Peter himself. What glorious reminiscences for one day! The bodies of these three saints reposed for several centuries in the Basilica called the Fasciola on the Via Appia, and we have a Homily which Saint Gregory the Great preached in this Church, on their Feast. The holy Pontiff dwelt on the vanity of this Earth’s good. He encouraged his audience to despise them by the example of the three martyrs whose relics lay under the very altar around which they were that day assembled. “These saints” said he, “before whose tomb we are now standing, trampled, with contempt of soul, on the world and its flowers. Life was then long, health was uninterrupted, riches were abundant, parents were blessed with many children. And yet, though the world was so flourishing in itself, it had long been a withered thing in their hearts.”

Later on, the Fasciola having been almost reduced to ruins by the disasters that had befallen Rome, the bodies of the three saints were translated in the thirteenth century to the Church of Saint Adrian in the Forum. There they remained till the close of the sixteenth century, when the great Baronius who had been raised to the Cardinalate with the Title of Saints Nereus and Achilleus, resolved to repair the church that was thus entrusted to his care. Through his munificence the naves were restored, the history of the three martyrs was painted on the walls, the marble pulpit, from which Saint Gregory preached the Homily was brought back, the Homily itself was graven from beginning to end on the back, and the Confession was enriched with mosaics and precious marbles, preparatory to its receiving the sacred relics of which it had been deprived for three hundred years.

Baronius felt that it was high time to put an end to the long exile of the holy martyrs whose honour was now made so specially dear to him. He organised a formal triumph for their return. Christian Rome excels in the art of blending together the forms of classic antiquity and the sentiments inspired by Faith. The chariot, bearing a superb canopy, under which lay the relics of the three martyrs, was first led to the Capitol. On reaching the top of the clivus Capitolinus the eye met two Inscriptions placed parallel with each other. On one, were these words: “To Saint Flavia Domitilla, Virgin and Martyr of Rome, the Capitol, purified from the wicked worship of demons, and restored more perfectly than by Flavius Vespasian and Domitian, Emperors, kinsmen of the Christian Virgin.” On the other: “The Senate and People of Rome to Saint Flavia Domitilla, Virgin and Martyr of Rome, who, by allowing herself to be put to death by fire for the Faith of Christ, brought greater glory to Rome, than did her kinsmen, the Emperors Flavius Vespasian and Domitian, when, at their own expense, they restored the Capitol, that had twice suffered from fire.”

The reliquaries of the martyrs were then put on an altar that had been erected near the equestrian statue of Marcus Aurelius. After being venerated by the faithful, they were replaced on the chariot which descended by the opposite side of the Capitol. The procession soon reached the triumphal arch of Septimus Severus, on which were hung these two inscriptions: “To the holy Martyrs, Flavia Domitilla, Nereus and Achilleus, the best of citizens, the Senate and People of Rome, for their having honoured the Roman name by their glorious death, and won peace for the Roman commonwealth by shedding their blood.” “To Flavia Domitilla, Nereus and Achilleus, the invincible Martyrs of Christ Jesus, the Senate and People of Rome, for their having honoured the City by the noble testimony they bore to the Christian Faith.”

Following the Via Sacra, the procession was soon in front of the triumphal Arch of Titus, the monument of God’s victory over the deicide nation. On one side there were inscribed these words: “This triumphal Arch, formerly dedicated and raised to the Emperor Titus Flavius Vespasian, for his having brought the rebellious Judea under the yoke of the Roman people, is now, by the Senate and People of Rome, more auspiciously dedicated and consecrated to Flavia Domitilla, kinswoman of the same Titus, for having, by her death, increased and furthered the Christian Religion.” On the other side of the Arch, there was the following inscription: “To Flavia Domitilla, Virgin and Martyr of Rome, kinswoman of the Emperor Titus Flavius Vespasian, the Senate and People of Rome, for her having, by the shedding her blood and laying down her life for the Faith, rendered a more glorious homage to the death of Christ, than did the said Titus, when, by a divine inspiration, he destroyed Jerusalem, to avenge that same Death.”

Leaving on the left the Colosseum — the hallowed ground on which so many martyrs had fought the battle of Faith — they passed under the triumphal Arch of Constantine, which so eloquently speaks of the victory of Christianity, both in Rome and the Empire, and which still bears on it the name of the Flavia family, of which the first Christian Emperor was a member. The two following inscriptions were attached to the Arch. “To Flavia Domitilla, Nereus and Achilleus, the Senate and People of Rome. On this Sacred Way — on which so many Roman Emperors received triumphal honours for having brought various provinces into subjection to the Roman People — these Martyrs are receiving today a more glorious triumph, for that they conquered, by a greater courage, the conquerors themselves.” “To Flavia Domitilla, the Senate and People of Rome. Twelve Emperors, her kinsmen, conferred honour on the Flavia family and on Rome herself, by their deeds of fame; but she, by sacrificing all human honours and life itself, for Christ’s sake, rendered greater service to both family and City than they.”

The procession then continued its route along the Via Appia and at length reached the Basilica. Baronius, assisted by a great number of Cardinals, received the precious relics and took them with great respect to the Confession of the High Altar. Meanwhile, the Choir sang this Antiphon of the Pontifical” “Come in, ye Saints of God! for a dwelling has been prepared for you by the Lord. The faithful people have followed you on your way, that ye may intercede for them with the Majesty of the Lord. Alleluia!”

* * * * *

How grand was the triumph which Rome gave to you, O holy martyrs, so many centuries after your glorious deaths! How true it is that there is no glory here on Earth which can bear comparison with that of the saints! Where are now those twelve Emperors, your kinsmen, O Domitilla? Who cares about their remains? Who even cherishes their memory? One of them was surnamed “the delight of mankind,” and now how many are there who never heard of his existence? Another, the last of the twelve, had the glory of proclaiming the victory won by the Cross, over the Roman Empire. Christian Rome honours and loves his name, but the homage of religious devotion is not given to him, but to you, O Domitilla, and to the two martyrs whose names are now associated with yours.

Who does not recognise the power of Jesus’ Resurrection, in the love and enthusiasm with which with a whole people welcome your holy relics, Martyrs of the Living God? [Seventeen] hundred years had elapsed, and yet your lifeless remains were greeted with a transport of joy as though you yourselves were there and living. It was because we Christians know that Jesus, who is the first-born of the dead, has risen from the grave and that you, also, are one day to rise glorious like Him. Therefore do the faithful honour, by anticipation, the immortality which, at a future period is to be given to your bodies, slain as they were for Jesus’ sake. They already see, by faith, the future brightness which is to be imparted to your flesh and, in all this, they are proclaiming the dignity which the Redemption has given to man, to whom death is now but a transition to true life, and the tomb but a resting place where the body is consigned, as seed to the earth, to be restored in a hundred-fold of richer beauty.

Happy they, who, as the prophecy says, have washed their robes, and have made them white in the Blood of the Lamb! But happier they, says holy Church, who, after being thus purified, have mingled their own blood with that of the Divine Victim, for, by so doing, they have filled up in their flesh those things that are wanting of the sufferings of Christ. Hence, their intercession is powerful and we should address our prayers to them with love and confidence. Befriend us, then, O holy martyrs Nereus, Achilleus and Domitilla! Obtain for us an ardent love for our Risen Jesus,perseverance in the new life that He has gained for us, detachment from the things of this world, and a determined resolution to trample them beneath our feet, should they become a danger to our eternal salvation. Pray for us that we may be courageous in resisting our spiritual enemies, ever ready to defend our holy faith, and earnest in our endeavours to gain that kingdom, which is to be borne away by violence. Be you the Defenders of the holy Roman Church, which fervently celebrates your memory each year.

12 MAY – SAINT PANCRAS (Martyr)

 

Pancras was born in Phrygia of a noble family. When only 14 years old he went to Rome during the reign of the emperors Dioclesian and Maximian. He there received Baptism from the Roman Pontiff, and was instructed in the Christian Faith. Shortly afterwards he was seized as being a Christian, but on his firmly refusing to offer sacrifice to the gods, he was condemned to be beheaded. He suffered death with manly courage and obtained the glorious crown of martyrdom. During the night the matron Octavilla took away his body and had it buried, after embalming it, on the Via Aurelia.

Dom Prosper Guéranger:

A fourth martyr claims our veneration on this twelfth day of May. Like the three others, he culled his palm at Rome. But while they died for the Faith at the very commencement of the Christian Era, Pancras (Pancratius) was not called to the glorious combat till the Persecution under Diocletian, the last and greatest effort of pagan Rome against the Church. Our young hero was only fourteen years of age but he was old enough to be a brave martyr, and he has been honoured by his name being placed on the Cycle of Paschal Time. The venerable Church in the Holy City which is dedicated to him, and which gives one of the Cardinalate Titles, was built on the site of the Cemetery where his body was buried.

*****

Divine Grace, which called you to the crown of martyrdom, selected you, O Pancras, from the distant land of Phrygia, and led you to the Capital of the Empire — the centre of every vice and every error of paganism. Your name, like that of millions of others who were better known to the world, had else been quite forgotten. But now, though your earthly career was soon ended, the name of Pancras is loved and venerated throughout the whole Earth: it is breathed at the altar in the prayers which accompany the Sacrifice of the Lamb. How came you, dear youthful martyr, by this celebrity which will last to the end of the world? It was because having imitated Jesus’ Death by suffering and shedding your blood for His Name, you have been made a sharer in the glory of His immortality. In return for the honour we pay you, deign to aid us by your protection. Speak of us to Jesus who is our Divine Master, as he was yours. In this valley of our exile, we sing our Alleluia for His Resurrection which has filled us with hope. Obtain for us, by your prayers, that we may sing Alleluia with you in Heaven where it will be eternal, and be prompted not by the gladness of hope, but by the bliss of possession.

Also on this day according to the ROMAN MARTYROLOGY:

Also at Rome, St. Denis, uncle of the same blessed Pancratius.

In Sicily, St. Philip Argyrio who was sent to that island by the Roman Pontiff and converted to Christ a great portion of it. His sanctity is particularly manifested by the deliverance of possessed persons.

At Salamis in Cyprus, St. Epiphanius, a bishop of great erudition and profound knowledge of the holy Scriptures. He was also admirable for the sanctity of his life, his zeal for the Catholic faith, his charity to the poor and the gift of miracles.

At Constantinople, St. Germanus, a bishop distinguished by virtues and learning, who with great courage reprehended Leo the Isaurian for promulgating an edict against holy images.

At Treves, St. Modoaldus, bishop.

At Calzada, St. Dominic, confessor.

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

Thanks be to God.

12 MAY – TUESDAY OF THE FIFTH WEEK AFTER EASTER

Dom Prosper Gueranger:

The third Sacrament — the Holy Eucharist — is so intimately connected with our Redeemer’s Passion that its institution could not be deferred till the Resurrection had taken place. On Maundy Thursday we honoured the solemn act by which our Jesus prepared for the morrow’s sacrifice by instituting the mystery of His Body and Blood, which are really immolated in the Eucharistic Supper. The Apostles were not only admitted, as all future generations were to be, to partake of the Divine Food, which gives life to the world, (John vi. 33) but they moreover received power from Jesus, the Priest forever (cix. 4), to do what He Himself had just done. The great Mystery was inaugurated. The new Priesthood was instituted, and now that Jesus is rise n from the dead, He makes known to His Apostles the whole importance of the gift bestowed on mankind at the Last Supper. He bids them begin the exercise of the sublime power conferred on them as soon as the Holy Ghost, by descending on the Earth, will give to the Church the signal for her using the prerogatives with which she has been endowed. And, finally, He teaches how they are to perform this special function of their Priesthood.

At the Last Supper the Apostles were still carnal minded men. They were taken up with the sad event that was about to happen, and overcome with grief at their Divine Master’s telling them that that was the last Pasch He was to keep with them. They were not, therefore, in a fit state to appreciate what it was that Jesus had done for them, when He uttered those words: “Take and eat; this is my Body — Drink all of this, for this is my Blood.” Still less did they understand the greatness of the power they received, of doing what their Lord Himself had just done in their presence. Now that Jesus is risen from the grave, He unfolds all these mysteries to them. The Sacrament of the Eucharist was not instituted during these days, but it was made known, explained and glorified by its Divine Institute: and this circumstance gives a fresh lustre to the sacred season we are now going through.

Of all the Sacraments, there is not one that can be compared, in dignity, to that of the Eucharist. The others give grace. This gives us the very Author of grace. The others are only Sacraments. This is both a Sacrament and a Sacrifice. We will endeavour to explain it in all its magnificence, when we come to the bright feast of Corpus Christi. Let us for the present, pay the tribute of our loving adorations to our Jesus, the Living Bread, that gives life to the world. Let us acknowledge His immense love for His Sheep. He seems to be on the point of leaving them that He may return to His Father, and yet His love retains Him among them by means of this august Mystery in which He is truly though invisibly present.

11 MAY – MONDAY OF THE FIFTH WEEK AFTER EASTER

Dom Prosper Gueranger:

Jesus bestows an inestimable gift upon His Apostles, and from this gift there proceed two Sacraments. On the sixth day of the Creation, the Divine Word infused his breath into Man, whose body he had formed out of the slime of the earth, and immediately this body was animated by a soul, bearing upon it the image of God. On the evening of the day of His Resurrection, the same Divine Word, then made visible in the flesh He had assumed, suddenly appeared in the midst of His Apostles, and said to them: “Peace be to you! As the Father has sent me, I also send you.” (John xx. 21) Then breathing on them, He added in a tone of command: “Receive the Holy Ghost!” (John xx. 22)

What is this breath which is not given to all men but only to a few chosen ones? Jesus Himself explains it by the words He speaks: this breath imparts the Holy Ghost to them that receive it. The Holy Ghost is given to the Apostles because they are sent by Jesus, as Jesus is sent by the Father. The Apostles, then, receive this Divine Spirit, in order that they may communicate him to men, just as they themselves have had him given to them by Jesus. The Church’s tradition fills up the brief account of the Gospel. Two Sacraments, as we have already stated, take their origin from this act of our Risen Jesus who, afterwards, instructed His Apostles as to the rites wherewith each of the two was to be administered.

The first of these two Sacraments is Confirmation, for whose institution we will return our humble thanks today. The other is Holy Orders, which we will explain further on in the week: both of them belong, in their administration, to the Episcopal character, which is the source from which flow the gifts conferred on the Apostles for man’s sanctification. Such is the importance of the Sacrament of Confirmation that until such time as we have received it, we cannot be considered as perfect Christians. It is true that, by virtue of our Baptism, we are Children of God, Members of Christ and His Church, but as Christians we are Soldiers: we have to Confess our faith, sometimes before tyrants, and even to the shedding of our blood. Sometimes before the world whose false seductive maxims are the occasion of so many apostasies. Sometimes against Satan and his wicked angels, whose power is so justly feared by the servants of Christ. The seal of the Holy Ghost confers on us a degree of strength which Baptism does not give. Baptism made us citizens of the Church. Confirmation makes us Soldiers of God and of His Christ.

Again, it is true, that we can fight and conquer with the armour of Baptism. Such is God’s will, who knows that the Sacrament which perfects the Christian is often-times an impossibility, but woe to them that neglect to receive the completion of their Baptism! Hence, after administering the Sacrament of regeneration on Holy Saturday, the Bishop at once proceeded to give the Holy Ghost to all those who had been just born in the Son, and had been adopted by the Father. Yes, Confirmation is administered by a Bishop, it is for him to say to the baptised: “Receive the Holy Ghost!” It was just that this Divine Spirit should be thus honoured. Even when, in cases of necessity, a Priest is delegated by the Pope to administer this Sacrament, he cannot validly do so except on the condition of his using Chrism consecrated by a Bishop: and thus, the Episcopal power is always uppermost in the conferring of the Holy Ghost.

What a solemn moment is that, in which the Spirit of Power, who strengthened the Apostles, descends on the Neophytes kneeling before the Bishop! The Pontiff stretches his hands over them. He pours out upon them the Spirit he has received in order to his communicating him to others and, that he may give all possible solemnity to the gift he is about to bestow, he cites the words of Isaias, which prophesy the descent of the Spirit on the Branch that was to spring up from the Root of Jesse — a prophecy which was fulfilled in our Jesus when He received Baptism in the river Jordan from the hands of Saint John the Baptist: “O Almighty and Eternal God, who has vouchsafed to regenerate these your servants by water and the Holy Ghost: send forth from heaven upon them your seven-fold Spirit, the Holy Paraclete: the Spirit of wisdom and understanding; the Spirit of counsel and fortitude; the Spirit of knowledge and godliness; fill them with the Spirit of your fear, and sign them with the sign of the Cross of Christ.” Then is brought the sacred Chrism, of whose virtue we heard so much on Maundy Thursday. Confirmation was anciently called the Sacrament of Chrism — of Chrism in which dwells the power of the Holy Ghost. The Pontiff anoints with it the foreheads of the Neophytes, and, at that same instant, the Holy Ghost imprints on their souls the sign of a perfect Christian. They are confirmed, and forever. Let them but listen to the voice of the Sacrament which is now within them, and no trial, no danger, can master them. The holy Oil with which the Cross has been signed on their forehead has imparted to them that firmness of adamant which was given to the Prophet Ezechiel, and enabled him to withstand all his enemies (Ezechiel iii. 9).

To a Christian strength is salvation, for man’s life on earth is a warfare (Job vii. 1) Glory, then, be to our Risen Jesus who, foreseeing the attacks that would be made against us, has armed us for the battle and in this admirable Sacrament of Confirmation has given us the Divine Spirit who proceeds from Himself and the Father, that we might be strong and invincible! Let us thank Him, with all our hearts, for His having thus completed the grace already given us in Baptism. The Father who so graciously adopted us has delivered up his Only-Begotten Son for us. The Son gives us the Spirit that He may dwell within us — oh how wonderful a creature is Man, who is so loved by the Trinity! And yet Man is a sinner, and unfaithful creature and, but too frequently, all these graces are rendered fruitless by his negligence or malice! Let us, at least, be faithful by keeping ourselves closely united to the Holy Church, and by devoutly celebrating with her the mysteries of God’s goodness which the Liturgical Year brings successively before us.

10 MAY – SAINT ANTONINUS (Bishop and Confessor) AND SAINTS GORDIAN AND EPIMACHUS (Martyrs)

Antoninus was born at Florence of respectable parents. He gave great promise, even when quite a child, of his after sanctity. Having at the age of 16 entered the Order of Friars Preachers, he at once became an object of admiration by the practice of the highest virtues. He declared ceaseless war against idleness. After taking a short sleep at night, he was the first at the Office of Matins, which over, he spent the remainder of the night in prayer, or reading, or writing. If at times, he felt himself oppressed with unwelcome sleep owing to fatigue, he would lean his head for a while against the wall and then, shaking off the drowsiness, he resumed his holy vigils with renewed earnestness.

Being a most rigid observer of Religious discipline, Antoninus never ate flesh-meat except in the case of severe illness. His bed was the ground, or a naked board. He always wore a hair shirt and sometimes an iron girdle next to his skin. He observed the strictest chastity during his whole life. Such was his prudence in giving counsel, that, he went under the name of Antoninus the Counsellor. He so excelled in humility that even when Prior and Provincial, he used to fulfil, with the utmost self-abjection, the lowest duties of the monastery. He was made Archbishop of Florence by Pope Eugenius IV. Great was his reluctance to accept such a dignity, nor would he have consented had it not been out of fear of incurring the spiritual penalties with which he was threatened by the Pope.

It would be difficult to describe the prudence, piety, charity, meekness and apostolic zeal with which Antoninus discharged his episcopal office. He learned almost all the sciences to perfection, and he accomplished this by his own extraordinary talent without having any master to teach him. Finally, after many labours and after having published several learned books, he fell sick. Having received the Holy Eucharist and Extreme Unction, embracing the Crucifix, he joyfully welcomed death on the sixth of the Nones of May (May 10th) in 1459. He was illustrious for the miracles which he wrought during his life, as also for those which followed after his death. He was canonised by Adrian VI in 1523.

Dom Prosper Guéranger:

The Order of St. Dominic, which has already presented to our Triumphant Jesus Peter the Martyr and Catherine the seraph of Siena, sends Him today one of the many bishops trained and formed in its admirable school. It was in the fifteenth century, a period when sanctity was rare on the Earth, that Antoninus realised, in his own person, the virtues of the greatest bishops of ancient times. His apostolic zeal, his deeds of charity, his mortified life, are the glory of the Church of Florence which was confided to his care. Heaven blessed that illustrious city with temporal prosperity on account of its saintly Archbishop. Cosmas of Medici was frequently heard to say that Florence owed more to Antoninus than to any other man. The holy prelate was also celebrated for his great learning. He defended the Papacy against the calumnies of certain seditious bishops in the Council of Basle, and at the General Council of Florence he eloquently asserted the truth of the Catholic Faith which was assailed by the abettors of the Greek schism. How beautiful is our holy Mother the Church that produces such children as Antoninus, and has them in readiness to uphold what is true, and withstand what is false!

*****

We give thanks to our Risen Jesus for the sublime gifts bestowed by Him on you, O Antoninus! When He confided a portion of His flock to your care, He enriched you with the qualities of a Shepherd according to His own Heart. He knew that he could trust to your love. He therefore gave you charge over His Lambs. The age in which you lived was one of great disorder, and one that prepared the way for the scandals of the following century. And yet you were one of the brightest lights the Church has ever had. Florence still cherishes your memory as the man of God and the father of your country. Aid her by thy prayers. The preachers of heresy have entered within her walls. Watch over the field on which your own hands sowed the good seed. Let not the cockle take root there. You were the defender of the Holy See. Raise up in unhappy Italy imitators of your zeal and learning. You had the happiness of witnessing, under the grand cupola of your Cathedral, the re-union of the Greek Church with Rome. You had a share in bringing about this solemn reconciliation which, alas, was to be of short duration.

Pray, O holy Pontiff, for the descendants of them that were faithless to the promise sealed on the very altar on which your hands so often offered up the Sacrifice of unity and peace. Disciple of the great Dominic, inheritor of his burning zeal, protect the holy order which he founded and of which you are so bright an ornament. Show that you still love it. Give it increase and procure for its children the holiness that once worked such loveliness and fruit in the Church. Holy Pontiff, be mindful of the faithful who implore your intercession at this period of the Year. Your eloquent lips announced the Pasch, so many years, to the people of Florence, and urged them to share in the Resurrection of our Divine Head. The same Pasch, the immortal Pasch, has shone once more upon us. We are still celebrating it. Oh pray that its fruits may be lasting in us, and that our Risen Jesus, who has given us Life, may, by His grace, preserve it in our souls for all eternity.

*****

During the reign of Julian the Apostate, Januarius, a priest, was brought before Gordian, a judge, that he might be condemned, but Gordian, after receiving instructions concerning the Christian Faith from this same priest, was baptised by him at Rome, together with his wife and 53 other members of his family. The Prefect, then having sent Januarius into exile, ordered his deputy Clementianus to imprison Gordian. The deputy, after some time, had Gordian led in chains before his tribunal and sought to induce him to deny the Faith. But failing in his attempt, he ordered him to be first scourged with whips laden with plummets of lead, and then beheaded. His body was exposed before the temple of Apollo that it might be devoured by dogs, but during the night the Christians took it and buried it on the Via Latina, in the same crypt in which had previously been laid the relics of the holy martyr Epimachus when brought from Alexandria, in which city he had endured a long imprisonment for the Christian Faith and was finally crowned with martyrdom by being burned to death

Dom Prosper Guéranger:

Two fresh martyrs ascend from our Earth on this day and are admitted to share of Jesus’ glory. Again it is Rome that deputes them to bear her homage to the Conqueror of Death. Gordian was one of the magistrates under Julian the Apostate who were commissioned to persecute the Christians. One day, while exercising his office, he suddenly descended from the tribunal and took his place among the criminals. He was soon called upon to shed his blood for the Faith. His martyrdom, together with that of the illustrious brothers, John and Paul, whose feast we will keep in June, closes the period of the Pagan Persecutions in the West. The fact of his being buried in the crypts on the Latin Way awakened the memory of another martyr whose relics, half consumed by fire, had long before been brought there from Alexandria. His name was Epimachus, and on this day the two martyrs were united inseparably in the devotion of the faithful. Neither the place nor the period of their combat was the same, but both of them fought for the one cause and won the same victory. The two Conquerors are buried in Peace in the Eternal City but He for whose name they delivered their bodies to death, is mindful of their precious remains. Yet a little while, and He will fulfil, in their regard, the promise He made when He said: “I am the Resurrection and the Life. He that believes in me, although he be dead, will live” (John xi. 25).

*****

Sleep your sleep of Peace, O holy Martyrs! Rest yet a little time, till your fellow-servants and brethren who are to be slain, even as you, will be filled up (Apocalypse vi. 11). The number has been added to in every century, but the world is now near its end and its last period is to be rich in martyrdom. When the reign of the Man of Sin (2 Thessalonians ii. 3) begins its course, and the final tempest rages against the barque of holy Church, then, O Martyrs of Christ, protect the Christian people in return for the yearly tribute of honour that it has paid to your venerable names. Pray also for us who are living during these sad times, whose miseries seem like the distant howling of the storm that is to precede the end of the world. Strengthen our hearts, O holy Martyrs, and whatever may be the lot prepared for us by Providence, obtain for us that we may be faithful to Him who would be to us, what He has been to you — the Resurrection and the Life (John xi. 25).

Also on this day according to the ROMAN MARTYROLOGY:

In the land of Hus, the holy prophet Job, a man of wonderful patience.

At Rome, the blessed priest and martyr Calepodius who was killed with the sword by order of the emperor Alexander. His body was dragged through the city and thrown into the river Tiber. It was afterwards found and buried by Pope Callistus. The consul Palmatius was also beheaded with his wife, his sons and forty-two of both sexes belonging to his household. Likewise, the senator Simplicius with his wife, and sixty eight of his house, Felix also with his wife Blanda. The heads of all these martyrs were exposed over different gates of the city to terrify Christians.

Also at Rome, on the Via Latina, the birthday of the holy martyrs Quartus and Quinctus whose bodies were translated to Capua.

At Lentini in Sicily, the holy martyrs Alphius, Philadelpus and Cyrinus.

At Smyrna, St. Dioscorides, martyr.

At Bologna, blessed Nicholas Albergati, a Carthusian monk, bishop of that city and Cardinal of the holy Roman Church, celebrated for his holiness and Legations Apostolic. His body was buried at Florence in the monastery of the Carthusians.

At Taranto, St. Cataldus, a bishop renowned for miracles.

At Milan, the finding of the bodies of the holy martyrs Nazarius and Celsus. The blessed bishop Ambrose found the body of St. Nazarius covered with blood still fresh, which he translated to the Basilica of the Apostles, together with the body of the blessed boy Celsus who Nazarius had brought up and who Anolinus, in the persecution of Nero, had ordered to be struck with the sword on the twenty-eighth of July, the day when their martyrdom is commemorated.

At Madrid, St. Isidore, a labourer. Being renowned for miracles, Pope Gregory XV placed him in the number of the saints at the same time with St. Ignatius, St. Francis, St. Theresa and St. Philip.

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

Thanks be to God.

10 MAY – FIFTH SUNDAY AFTER EASTER

Epistle – James i. 22‒27

Dearly beloved, Be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves. For if a man is a hearer of the word, and not a doer, he will be compared to a man beholding his own countenance in a glass. For he beheld himself, and went his way, and presently forgot what manner of man he was. But he who has looked into the perfect law of liberty, and has continued therein, not becoming a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the word, this man will be blessed in his deed. And if any man thinks himself to be religious, not bridling his tongue, but deceiving his own heart, this man’s religion is vain. Religion, clean and undefiled before God and the Father is this: to visit the fatherless and widows in their tribulation, and keep one’s self unspotted from this world.

Thanks be to God.

Dom Prosper Gueranger:

The holy Apostle, whose instructions these are, had received them from our Risen Jesus: hence the authoritative tone with which he speaks. Our Saviour, as we have already seen, honoured him with a special visit: it proves that he was particularly dear to his divine Master, to whom he was related by the tie of consanguinity on his mother’s side, whose name was Mary. This holy woman went on Easter morning to the sepulchre, in company with her sister, Salome, and Magdalene. Saint James the Less is indeed the Apostle of Paschal Time, in which everything speaks to us of the new life we should lead with our Risen Lord, He is the apostle of good works, for it is from him that we have received this fundamental maxim of Christianity — that though faith be the first essential of a Christian, yet without works, it is a dead faith and will not save us.

He also lays great stress on our being attentive to the truths we have been taught, and on our guarding against that culpable forgetfulness which plays such havoc with thoughtless souls. Many of those who have this year received the grace of the Easter mystery will not persevere, and the reason is that they will allow the world to take up all their time and thoughts, whereas they should use the world as though they did not use it (1 Corinthians vii. 31) Let us never forget that we must now walk in newness of life in imitation of our Risen Jesus who dies now no more.

Gospel – John xvi. 13‒30

At that time Jesus said to His disciples, “Amen, amen, I say to you, if you ask the Father anything in my name, He will give it to you. Until now you have not asked anything in my name: ask and you will receive, that your joy may be full. These things I have spoken to you in proverbs: the hour comes that I will no more speak to you in proverbs, but will speak to you plainly of the Father. In that day, you will ask in my name; and I say not to you that I will ask the Father for you, for the Father Himself loves you, because you have loved me, and have believed that I came from God. I came forth from the Father, and have come into the world: again I leave the world and go to the Father.” His disciples said to Him, “Behold, now you speak plainly, and speak no proverbs. Now we know that you know all things and you need not that any man should ask you: by this we believe that you came forth from God.”

Praise be to you, O Christ.

Dom Prosper Guéranger:

When, at His Last Supper, our Saviour thus warned His Apostles of His having soon to leave them, they were far from knowing Him thoroughly. True, they knew that He came forth from God, but their faith was weak and they soon lost it. Now that they are enjoying His company after His Resurrection, now that they have received such light from His instructions, they know Him better. He no longer speaks to them in proverbs. He teaches them everything they required to know in order to their becoming the teachers of the whole world. It is now they might truly say to Him: “We believe that you came forth from God!” So much the more, then, do they understand what they are going to lose by His leaving them.

Our Lord begins now to reap the fruit of the word He has sown in their hearts: oh how patiently has He not waited for it! If He praised them for their faith when they were with Him on the night of the Last Supper, He may surely do so now that they have seen Him in the splendour of His Resurrection, and have been receiving such teaching from His lips. He said to them at the Last Supper: “The Father loves you, because you have loved Me” — how much more must not the Father love them now when their love for Jesus is so much increased? Let us be consoled by these words. Before Easter our love of Jesus was weak, and we were tepid in His service, but now that we have been enlightened and nourished by His Mysteries, we may well hope that the Father loves us, for we love Jesus better, far better, than we did before. This dear Redeemer urges us to ask the Father, in His name, for everything we need. Our first want is perseverance in the spirit of Eastertide. Let it be our most earnest prayer. Let it be our intention now that we are assisting at the holy Sacrifice which is soon to bring Jesus upon our altar.

We will close our Sunday with the admonition with which the Gothic Church of Spain warned the faithful during Paschal Time. It is a Season of joy, and yet we need to be cautious, for our enemy is sure to lay snares for us in the new life we have received.

“Dearly beloved brethren, let there be caution in your devotion, watchfulness in your festivity, modesty in your gladness. We should rejoice in that we have risen, but we should fear lest we may fall. We have been rescued from the death of old, and it behoves us to know how evil it was. We have been gifted with the new life, and we must cling to it as worthy of our love. To commit the sin we have been admonished to shun is not an error, but contempt. They that have been pardoned and relapsed, deserve the greater punishment. Nor is there excuse for them that have been once ransomed if they again become slaves. The mercy of God implies power. And power, fear. And fear, chastisement. He would not have been merciful to man unless He had first been angry with the devil. He strengthens us with His gratuitous gifts, that we may not be corrupted by our evil inclinations. No one spares another but with a hope of correction. Forgiveness can do no harm, when the offence is not repeated. He that pardoned us our sins, thereby admonished us to sin no more. Mercy has not been lost on us, if our conduct is what it should be. Grace has, indeed, made man the adopted child of God, but the devil is not yet shut up in Hell. Sin, not nature, has been defeated. What we have gained is the power of fighting, not the privilege of inaction. Our enemy has been despoiled, not slain. His anger must be greatest against those who were once subject to his tyranny, but now are dis-enthralled. Faith has given us bulwarks: the Cross, armour. The flesh (assumed by Christ), a standard: and His Blood, a banner. The battle then is to be fought. The God who willed us to have the battle, willed us to have the hope of victory. We have already received the gift of adoption. Our conduct is to decide what sentence is to be passed upon us in judgement. In this world we have the promise of reward. In the next, our lot will be decided according to our works. Let us therefore be mindful of the tender mercy of our Lord, who, as the price of our ransom, gave not sums of silver or gold, nor granted princely favours, but subjected Himself to the infamy of the Cross, and suffered His body to be humbled even to being buried in a tomb. He could give nothing greater or better. So that the more it cost Him to redeem us, the more diligently should we serve Him. And it is this He demands of us. Therefore, in order that the work of His Redemption be perfected in us, it behoves us to pray with constancy and perseverance.”