30 SEPTEMBER – SAINT JEROME (Confessor and Doctor of the Church

Jerome, son of Eusebius, was born at Stridonium in Dalmatia, during the reign of the emperor Constantius. He was baptised at Rome while still young, and was instructed in the liberal arts by Donatus and other learned men. His love of knowledge led him to travel in Gaul where he made the acquaintance of several pious men learned in divinity and copied many sacred books with his own hand. He then proceeded to Greece to study eloquence and philosophy. Here he won the friendship of some great theologians, in particular of Gregory Nazianzen, under whom he studied at Constantinople, and whom he called his master in sacred learning. Drawn by religious motives, he visited the crib of Christ our Lord, and the whole of Palestine. And he tells us that this pilgrimage, made in the company of some learned Jews, was of the greatest service to him for the understanding of holy Scripture.

After this Jerome retired into the lonely desert of Syria where he spent four years in reading the holy Scriptures, and in the contemplation of heavenly beatitude, afflicting his body by abstinence, weeping and every kind of penance. He was ordained a priest by Paulinus, bishop of Antioch, in whose company and that of Epiphanius, he went to Rome to settle the disputes that had arisen between certain bishops. Here Pope Damasus engaged him to assist in writing his ecclesiastical letters. But yearning for his former solitude, he returned to Palestine and settled at Bethlehem in a monastery built by the Roman lady Paula near our Lord’s crib. Here he led a heavenly life and though much afflicted with sickness and sufferings he devoted himself, in spite of his bodily weakness, to works of piety and to ceaseless study and writing.

From all parts of the world Jerome was referred to as an oracle for the decision of questions concerning the sacred Scriptures. Pope Damasus and Saint Augustine often consulted him on difficult passages of holy Writ, on account of his remarkable learning and his knowledge, not only of Latin and Greek but also of Hebrew and Chaldaic. According to Saint Augustine Jerome had read almost every author. In his writings he severely censured heretics, but always lent his support to faithful Catholics. He translated the Old Testament from the Hebrew, and at the command of Pope Damasus, revised the New Testament, collating it with the Greek. He also commented the greater part of holy Scripture. Besides this, he translated into Latin the writings of many learned men and enriched Christian science with other works from his own pen.

At length, having reached extreme old age, and being renowned for learning and holiness, Jerome passed to Heaven in the reign of Honorius. His body was buried at Bethlehem but was afterwards translated to Rome and laid in the basilica of Santa Mary ad Praesepe.

Dom Prosper Guéranger:

“I know not Vitalis, I reject Meletius, I pass by Paulinus. He that cleaves to the Chair of Peter, he is mine.” Thus, about the year 376, when the whole cast was disturbed by the competitions for the episcopal See of Antioch, wrote an unknown monk to Pope Saint Damasus. It was Saint Jerome, a native of Dalmatia, who implored “light for his soul redeemed by the Blood of our Lord.”

Far from Stridonium, his semi-barbarous native place, whose austerity and vigour he never lost: far from Rome, where the study of literature and philosophy had not had sufficient ascendancy to withhold him from the seductions of pleasure: the fear of God’s judgements had led him into the desert of Chalcis. Here, under a burning sky, in the company of wild beasts, for four years he tormented his body with fearful macerations. And then, as a yet more efficacious remedy, and certainly a more meritorious mortification for one passionately fond of classical beauties, he sacrificed his Ciceronian tastes to the study of the Hebrew language. Such an undertaking was far more laborious then than in our days of lexicons and grammars and scientific works of every description. Many a time was Jerome discouraged and almost in despair. But he had learnt the truth of the maxim he afterwards inculcated to others: “Love the science of the Scriptures, and you will not love the vices of the flesh.” So he took up his Hebrew alphabet again, and continued to spell those ‘hissing and panting syllables’ until he had so mastered them as even to spoil his pronunciation of Latin. For the rest of his life, all the energy of his spirited nature was spent on this labour. God amply repaid the homage thus rendered to His sacred word: Jerome hoped to obtain by his toil the cure of his moral sickness. He moreover attained the lofty holiness that we now admire in him. Other heroes of the desert remain unknown: Jerome was one of those to whom it is said: “You are the salt of the earth. You are the light of the world” and God willed that in due time this light should be set upon a candlestick that it might shine to all that are in the houses (Matthew v. 13, l4, l5).

The once brilliant student returned to Rome an altered man, for his holiness, learning and humility, he was declared by all to be worthy of the episcopal dignity. Pope Damasus, the virgin doctor of the virgin Church, commissioned him to answer, in his name, the consultations sent from East and West, and caused him to begin, by the revision of the Latin New Testament upon the original Greek text, those great scriptural works which have immortalised his name and entitled him to the undying gratitude of the Christian world. Meanwhile Helvidius dared to call in question the perpetual virginity of the Mother of God: Jerome’s refutation revealed that talent for polemics of which Jovinian, Vigilantius, Pelagius and others were also to feel the force. Mary rewarded him for thus avenging her honour, by bringing to him a number of holy souls, whom he was to lead in the paths of virtue and instruct in the mysteries of holy Scripture.

Here was a phenomenon inexplicable to the infidel historian: at the very time when the Rome of the Caesars was perishing, suddenly around this Dalmatian were gathered the fairest names of ancient Rome. They were thought to have died out when the lower classes made themselves supreme, but at the critical moment when Rome was to rise again purified from the flames kindled by the barbarians, they reappeared to claim their birthright and refound the city for its true eternal destiny. The combat was of a new kind, but they were at the head of the army that was to save the world. Four centuries earlier, the apostle had said there were not many wise, and powerful and noble. Jerome declared that, in his day, they were numerous, “numerous among the monks.”

The monastic army in the West was, at its origin, chiefly recruited from the patricians whose character of ancient grandeur it ever afterwards retained. Its ranks included noble virgins and widows, and sometimes husband and wife would enlist together. Marcella was the first to inaugurate the monastic life at Rome in her palace on the Aventine. She obtained Saint Jerome’s direction for her privileged community, but after his departure she herself was consulted by all as an oracle on the difficulties of holy Scripture. She was joined in her retreat by Furia, Fabiola and Paula, worthy descendants of Camillus, of the Fabii, and of the Scipios. But the old enemy could ill brook such losses to his power: Jerome must be forced to leave Rome.

A pretext was soon found for raisin a storm. The Treatise on Virginity addressed to Paula’s daughter Eustochium, and written in Jerome’s fearless and pointed style, evoked the animosity of false monks, foolish virgins and unworthy clerics. In vain did the prudent Marcella predict the tempest: Jerome would make hold to write what others dared to practise. But he had not reckoned on the death of Pope Damasus at that very juncture, an event for which the ignorant and the envious had been waiting in order to give full vent to their stifled hatred. Driven away by the storm, the lover of justice returned to the desert. Not this time to Chalcis, but to the peaceful Bethlehem where the sweet recollection of our Saviour’s infancy attracted the strong athlete. Paula and her daughter soon followed him in order not to forgo the lessons they prized above all else in the world. Their presence was a consolation to him in his exile, and an encouragement to continue his labours. All honour to these valiant women! To their fidelity, their thirst for knowledge, their pious importunities, the world is indebted for a priceless treasure, viz: the authentic translation of the sacred Books, which was necessitated by the imperfections of the old Italic Version and its numberless variations, as also by the fact that the Jews were accusing the Church of falsifying the Scripture.

“Paula and Eustochium, may the labours of my poor life be pleasing to you, useful to the Church and worthy of posterity. As for contemporaries, I care but little for their judgement.” So said the holy solitary. Yet he felt the envious attacks of his bitter enemies more keenly than he would own to himself. “Handmaids of Christ,” he said, “shield me with the buckler of your prayers from those who malign me.” Every book he translated brought on him fresh criticisms, and those not only from enemies. There were the timid, who were alarmed for the authority of the Septuagint, so sacred both to the Synagogue and to the Church. There were the possessors of precious manuscripts, written on purple vellum and adorned with splendid uncials, and with letters of silver and gold, all which would now lose their value. “Well, let them keep their precious metal and leave us our poor papers,” cried Jerome exasperated. “And yet, it is you,” he said to the fair inspirers of his works, “who force me to endure all this folly and all these injuries. To put an end to the evil, it were better you enjoined silence on me.” But neither the mother nor the daughter would hear of such a thing, and Jerome yielded to constraint. Finding that the text of his first revision of the Psalter on the Greek Septuagint had become corrupted through careless transcriptions, they induced him to undertake a second. This version is inserted in our present Vulgate, together with his translation of the other Books of the Old Testament from Hebrew or Chaldaic. In all these works the saint appealed to Paula and Eustochium as guarantees of his exactitude, and begged them to collate his translations word for word with the original. All his old friends in Rome took part in this learned intercourse. Jerome refused to none the light of his knowledge, and pleasantly excused him self for giving one half of the human race a preference over the other: “Principia, my daughter in Jesus Christ, I know that some find fault with me for writing to women. Let me say, then, to these detractors: If men questioned me on the Scripture, they should receive my answers.”

There was great joy in the monasteries at Bethlehem when news arrived that another Paula was born in Rome. Eustochium’s brother had married Laeta, the Christian daughter of the pagan pontiff Albinus. They had vowed their child to God before her birth and now they rejoiced to hear her lisp into the ear of the priest of Jupiter the Christian Alleluia. On hearing of her grandmother beyond the seas, and of her aunt consecrated to God, the little one would beg to go and join them. “Send her,” wrote Jerome delightedly, “I will be her master and foster-father. I will carry her on my old shoulders. I will help her lisping lips to form her words, and I will be prouder than Aristotle, for he indeed educated a king of Macedon, but I will be preparing for Christ a handmaid, a bride, a queen predestined to a throne in Heaven.” The child was, in fact, sent to Bethlehem where she was destined to solace the last hours of the aged saint, and to assume, while yet very young, the responsibility of carrying on the work of her holy relatives.

But Jerome had still more to suffer, before leaving this world. The elder Paula was the first to be called away, singing: “I have chosen to be an abject in the house of my God, rather than to dwell in the tabernacles of sinners” (Psalm lxxxiii. 11). So great a langour then took possession of Saint Jerome, that it seemed his end was approaching. Eustochium, though broken hearted, repressed her tears and implored him to live and fulfil his promises to her mother. He therefore aroused himself, finished his translations and took up again his commentaries on the text. He had completed Isaias, and was engaged on Ezechiel, when the most awful calamity of those times came upon the world: “Rome is fallen. The light of the Earth is extinguished. In that one city the whole universe has perished. What can we do, but hold our peace and think upon the dead?” He had, however, to think about the living also, for numberless fugitives, destitute of all things, made their way to the holy places and the uncompromising wrestler was all tenderness to these unfortunates. Loving the practice of the holy Scripture no less than its teaching, he spent his days in discharging the duties of hospitality. In spite of his failing sight, he gave the night hours to his dear studies in which he forgot the troubles of the day and rejoiced to fulfil the desires of the spiritual daughter God had given him. The prefaces to his fourteen books on Ezechiel bear witness to the share taken by the virgin of Christ in this work undertaken despite the misfortunes of the times, his own infirmities, and his last controversies with heretics.

Heresy seemed indeed to be profiting of the troubled state of the world, to rise up with renewed audacity. The Pelagians, supported by bishop John of Jerusalem, assembled one night with torches and swords, and set fire to the monastery of Saint Jerome, and to that of the sacred virgins then governed by Eustochium. Manfully seconded by her niece Paula the younger, the saint rallied her terrified daughters, and they escaped together through the midst of the flames. But the anxiety of that terrible night was too much for her already exhausted strength. Jerome laid her to rest beside her mother, near the crib of the Infant God, and leaving his commentary on Jeremias unfinished, he prepared himself to die.

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You complete, O illustrious saint, the brilliant constellation of doctors in the heavens of holy Church. The latest stars are now rising on the sacred Cycle. The dawn of the eternal day is at hand. The Sun of Justice will soon shine down on the valley of judgement. O model of penance, teach us that holy fear which restrains from sin, or repairs its ravages. Guide us along the rugged path of expiation. Historian of great monks (Saint Paul the Hermit, Saint Hilarion and Saint Malchus), yourself a monk and father of the solitaries attracted like you to Bethlehem by the sweetness of the divine Infant, keep up the spirit of labour and prayer in the monastic Order of which several families have adopted your name. Scourge of heretics, attach us firmly to the Roman faith. Watchful guardian of Christ’s flock, protect us against wolves and preserve us from hirelings. Avenger of Mary’s honour, obtain for our sinful world that the angelic virtue may flourish more and more.

O Jerome, your special glory is a participation in the power of the Lamb to open the mysterious Book. The key of David was given to you to unclose the many seals of holy Scripture and to show us Jesus concealed beneath the letter. The Church, therefore, sings your praises today, and presents you to her children as the official interpreter of the inspired writings which guide her to her eternal destiny. Accept her homage and the gratitude of her sons. May our Lord, by your intercession, renew in us the respect and love due to His divine word. May your merits obtain for the world other holy doctors, and learned interpreters of the sacred Books. But let them bear in mind the spirit of reverence and prayer with which they must hear the voice of God in order to understand. God will have His word obeyed, not discussed: although, among the various interpretations of which that divine word is susceptible, it is lawful, under the guidance of the Church, to seek out the true one. And it is praiseworthy to be ever sounding the depths of beauty hidden in that august doctrine. Happy is he who follows your footsteps in these holy studies! You did say: “To live in the midst of such treasures, to be wholly engrossed in them, to know and to seek nothing else, is it not to dwell already more in Heaven than on Earth? Let us learn in time that science which will endure forever.”

Also on this day according to the ROMAN MARTYROLOGY:

The holy martyr Leopardus, of the household of Julian the Apostate. He was beheaded at Rome and his body was subsequently taken to Aix-la-Chapelle.

At Soleure in Switzerland, in the time of the emperor Maximian, the passion of the holy martyrs Victor and Ursus of the glorious Theban legion, who were subjected to horrid tortures, but a heavenly light shining over them, and causing the executioners to fall to the ground, they were delivered. Being then cast into the fire without sustaining any injury, they finally perished by the sword.

At Piacenza, the holy martyr Antoninus, soldier of the same legion.

The same day, St. Gregory, bishop of Greater Armenia, who after many sufferings under Diocletian, rested in peace.

At Canterbury in England, St. Honorius, bishop and confessor.

At Rome, the birthday of St. Francis Borgia, of the Society of Jesus. His feast is celebrated on the tenth of October.

In the same city, St. Sophia, widow, mother of the holy virgins Faith, Hope and Charity.

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

Thanks be to God.

29 SEPTEMBER – THE DEDICATION OF SAINT MICHAEL THE ARCHANGEL

Dom Prosper Guéranger:

The glorious Archangel appears today at the head of the heavenly army: “There was a great battle in Heaven, Michael and his angels fought with the dragon, and the dragon fought and his angels” (Apocalypse xii. 7). In the sixth century the dedication of the churches of Saint Michael on Monte Gargano and in the Roman Circus increased the celebrity of this day which had however been long before consecrated by Rome to the memory of all the heavenly Virtues.

The East commemorates on the sixth of September an apparition of the victorious Prince at Chonea in Phrygia, while the eighth of November is their solemnity of the angels corresponding to our feast of today, and bearing the title: ‘Synaxis of Saint Michael prince of the heavenly host, and of the other spiritual Powers.’ Although the term synaxis is usually applied only to religious assemblies here on Earth, we are informed that in this instance it also signifies the gathering of the faithful angels at the cry of their chief, and their union eternally sealed by their victory.

Who, then, are these heavenly Powers whose mysterious combat heads the first page of history? Their existence is attested by the traditions of all nations as well as by the authority of holy Scripture. If we consult the Church, she teaches us that in the beginning God created simultaneously two natures, the spiritual and the corporal, and afterwards man who is composed of both. The scale of nature descends by gradation from beings made to the likeness of God, to the very confines of nothingness. And by the same degrees the creature mounts upwards to his Creator. God is infinite being, infinite intelligence, infinite love. The creature is forever finite: but man, endowed with a reasoning intellect, and the angel, with an intuitive grasp of truth, are ever, by a continual process of purification, widening the bounds of their imperfect nature, in order to reach, by increase of light, the perfection of greater love.

God alone is simple with that unchangeable productive simplicity, which is absolute perfection excluding the possibility of progress. He is pure Act in whom substance, power and operation are one thing. The angel, though entirely independent of matter, is yet subject to the natural weakness necessary to a created being. He is not absolutely simple, for in him action is distinct from power, and power from essence. How much greater is the weakness of man’s composite nature, unable to carry on the operations of the intellect without the aid of the senses!

“Compared with ours,” says one of the most enlightened brethren of the angelic doctor, “how calm and how luminous is the knowledge of pure spirits! They are not doomed to the intricate discoursings of our reason, which runs after the truth, composes and analyses, and laboriously draws conclusions from premisses. They instantaneously apprehend the whole compass of primary truths. Their intuition is so prompt, so lively, so penetrating, that it is impossible for them to be surprised, as we are, into error. If they deceive themselves, it must be of their own will. The perfection of their will is equal to the perfection of their intellect. They know not what it is to be disturbed by the violence of appetites. Their love is without emotion, and their hatred of evil is as calm and as wisely tempered as their love. A will so free can know no perplexity as to its aims, no inconstancy in its resolutions. Whereas with us long and anxious meditation is necessary before we make a decision, it is the property of the angels to determine by a single act the object of their choice. God proposed to them, as He does to us, infinite beatitude in the vision of His own Essence, and to fit them for so great an end, He endowed them with grace at the same time as He gave them being. In one instant they said Yes or No. In one instant they freely and deliberately decided their own fate.”

Let us not be envious. By nature the angel is superior to us, but to which of the angels has He said at any time, “You are My Son?” (Hebrews i. 6; Psalm ii. 7) The only begotten Son of God did not take to Himself the angelic nature. When on Earth He acknowledged the temporary subordination of humanity to those pure spirits and deigned to receive from them, even as do His brethren in the flesh, the announcements of the divine will (Matthew ii. 13‒15), and help and strength (Luke xxii. 43). But “God has not subjected to angels the world to come,” says the Apostle (Hebrews ii. 15). How can we understand this attraction of God towards what is feeblest? We can only worship it in humble, loving faith. It was Lucifer’s stumbling-block on the day of the great battle in Heaven. But the faithful angels prostrated themselves in joyous adoration at the feet of the Infant-God foreshown to them enthroned on Mary’s knee, and then rose up to sing: ‘Glory to God in the highest, and on Earth peace to men of good will.’

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O Christ, my Christ, as Saint Denis calls you, the Church today delightedly proclaims you the beauty of the holy angels. You, the God-Man, are the lofty height from which purity, light and love flow down on the triple hierarchy of the Nine Choirs. You are the supreme Hierarch, the centre of worlds, controller of the deifying mysteries at the eternal feast. Flaming Seraphim, glittering Cherubim, steadfast Thrones, court of honour to the Most High, and possessed of the noblest inheritance: according to the Areopagite, you receive your justice, your splendour and your burning love by direct communication from our Lord: and through you, all grace overflows from Him upon the Holy City.

Dominations, Virtues and Powers: sovereign disposers, prime movers and rulers of the universe: in whose name do you govern the world? Doubtless in His whose inheritance it is; in the name of the King of glory, the Man-God, the Lord strong and mighty, the Lord of hosts. Angels, Archangels and Principalities: Heaven’s messengers, ambassadors and overseers here below: are you not also, as the Apostle says, ministers of the salvation wrought on Earth by Jesus, the heavenly High Priest? We also, through this same Jesus, O most Holy Trinity, glorify you, together with the three princely hierarchies which surround your Majesty with their nine immaterial rings as with a many-circled rampart.

To tend to you, and to draw all things to you, is their common law. Purification, illumination, union: by these three ways in succession, or simultaneously, are these noble beings attracted to God, and by the same they attract those who strive to emulate them. Sublime spirits, it is with your gaze ever fixed on high that you influence those below and around you. Draw plentifully, both for yourselves and for us, from the central fires of the Divinity. Purify us from more than the involuntary infirmities of nature. Enlighten us. Kindle us with your heavenly flames. For the same reason that Satan hates us, you love us: protect the race of the Word made Flesh against the common enemy. So guard us that we may hereafter be worthy to occupy among you the places left meant by the victims of pride.

Also on this day according to the ROMAN MARTYROLOGY:

In Thrace, the birthday of the holy martyrs Eutychius, Plautus and Heracleas.

In Persia, under king Sapor, the holy martyr Gudelia. After having converted many to the faith, and refused to adore the sun and fire, she was subjected to numerous torments. Then having the skin torn off her head, and being fastened to a post, she deserved an eternal triumph.

In the same country, the holy martyrs Dadas, a blood relation of king Sapor, Casdoa, his wife, and Gabdelas, his son. After being deprived of their dignities, and subjected to various torments, they were for a long time imprisoned and finally put to the sword.

In Armenia, the holy virgins, Ripsimus and her companions, martyrs, under king Tiridates.

At Auxerre, St. Fraternus, bishop and martyr.

At Pontecorvo, near Aquino, St. Grimoaldus, priest and confessor.

In Palestine, St. Quiriacus, anchoret.

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

Thanks be to God.

28 SEPTEMBER – SAINT WENCESLAUS (Martyr)

Wenceslaus, duke of Bohemia, was born of a Christian father, Wratislaus, and a pagan mother, Drahomira. Brought up in piety by the holy woman Ludmilla his grandmother, he was adorned with every virtue and with the utmost care preserved his virginity unspotted throughout his life. His mother, having murdered Ludmilla, seized the reins of government, but her wicked life and that of her younger son Boleslas excited the indignation of the nobles. These, wearied of a tyrannical and impious rule, threw off the yoke of both mother and son and proclaimed Wenceslaus king at Prague. He ruled his kingdom rather by kindness than authority. He succoured orphans, widows and all the poor with the greatest charity, sometimes even carrying wood on his shoulders by night to those in need of it. He frequently assisted at the funerals of poor persons, liberated captives and often visited the prisoners during the night, assisting them with gifts and advice. It caused great sorrow to his tender heart to condemn even the guilty to death. He had the greatest reverence for priests and with his own hands he would sow the wheat and prepare the wine to be used in the sacrifice of the Mass.

At night he used to go the round of the churches barefoot, through ice and snow, while his bloodstained footprints warmed the ground. The angels formed his bodyguard. In order to spare the lives of his soldiers he undertook to fight in single combat with Radislaus, duke of Gurima. But when the latter saw angels arming Wenceslaus, and heard them forbidding him to strike, he was terrified and fell at the saint’s feet begging his forgiveness. On one occasion, when he had gone to Germany, the emperor, at his approach, saw two angels adorning him with a golden cross, whereupon, rising from his throne, he embraced the saint bestowed on him the regal insignia, and presented him with the arm of Saint Vitus. Nevertheless, instigated by their mother, his wicked brother invited him to a banquet and then, together with some accomplices, killed him as he was praying in the church, aware of the death that awaited him. His blood is still to be seen sprinkled on the walls. God avenged his saint. The earth swallowed up the inhuman mother, and the murderers perished miserably in various ways.

Dom Prosper Guéranger:

Wenceslaus recalls to us the entrance into the Church of a warlike nation, the Czechs, the most indomitable of the Slavonic tribes, which had penetrated into the very midst of Germany. It is well known with what bitterness and active energy this nation upholds its social claims as though its struggle for existence in the early days of its history had made it proof against every trial. The faith of its apostles and martyrs, the Roman faith, will be the safeguard, as it is the bond of union, of the countries subject to the crown of Saint Wenceslaus. Heresy, whether it be the native Hussite, or the ‘reform’ imported from Germany, can but lead the people to eternal ruin. May they never yield to the advances and seductions of schism! Wenceslaus the martyr, grandson of the holy martyr Ludmilla and great-uncle of the monk bishop and martyr Adalbert, invites his faithful subjects to follow him in the only path where they may find honour and security both for this world and for the next. The conversion of Bohemia dates from the latter part of the ninth century when Saint Methodius baptised Saint Ludmilla and her husband Borziwoi the first Christian duke of the line of Premislas. The pagan reaction during which Saint Wenceslas gained the palm of martyrdom was but short-lived.

* * * * *

You won your crown, O holy martyr, in the church of Saints Cosmas and Damian to which their feast had attracted you. As you honoured them, we now in turn honour you. We are also hailing the approach of that other solemnity which you greeted with your last words at the fratricidal banquet: “In honour of the Archangel Michael let us drink this cup, and let us beseech him to lead our souls into the peace of eternal happiness.” What a sublime pledge, when you were already grasping the chalice of blood! O Wenceslaus, fire us with that intrepid valour which is ever humble and gentle, simple as God to whom it tends, calm as the angels on whom it relies. Succour the Church in these unfortunate times. The whole Church honours you. She has a right to expect your assistance. But especially cherish for her the nation of which you are the honour, as long as it remains faithful to your blessed memory and looks to your patronage in its earthly combats, its wandering from the truth will not be without return.

Also on this day according to the ROMAN MARTYROLOGY:

At Rome, St. Privatus, martyr, who was cured of ulcers by the blessed Pope Callistus. For the faith of Christ he was scourged to death with leaded whips in the time of the emperor Alexander.

In the same place, St. Stacteus, martyr.

In Africa, the Saints Martial, Lawrence and twenty other martyrs.

At Antioch in Pisidia, the holy martyrs Mark, shepherd, Alphius, Alexander and Zosimus, his brothers, Nicon, Neon Heliodorus, and thirty soldiers, who were converted to Christ on seeing the miracles of blessed Mark, and were crowned with martyrdom in different places and in various manners.

The same day, the martyrdom of St. Maximus under the emperor Decius.

At Toulouse, St. Exuperius, bishop and confessor. St. Jerome bore to this blessed man a memorable testimony, relating how severe he was towards himself and how liberal towards others.

At Genoa, St. Solomon, bishop and confessor.

At Brescia, St. Silvinus, bishop.

The same day, the holy virgin Eustochium, daughter of blessed Paula, who was brought up at the manger of Our Lord with other virgins, and being celebrated for merits, went to Our Lord.

In Germany, St. Lioba, virgin, renowned for miracles.

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

Thanks be to God.

27 SEPTEMBER – SAINTS COSMAS AND DAMIAN (Martyrs)

The brothers Cosmas and Damian were Arabians of noble extraction, born in the town of Aegae. They were physicians, and during the reign of Diocletian and Maximian healed even incurable maladies by Christ’s assistance rather than by their knowledge of medicine. The prefect Lysias, being informed of their religion, ordered them to be brought be fore him, and questioned them on their faith and their manner of life. They openly declared that they were Christians, and that the Christian faith is necessary to salvation, upon which Lysias commanded them to adore the gods, threatening them, if they refused, with torture and a cruel death. But as the prefect saw his threats were in vain: “Bind their hands and feet,” he cried, “and torture them with the utmost cruelty.” His commands were executed but Cosmas and Damian remained firm. They were then thrown, chained as they were, into the sea, but came out safe and loosed from their bonds. The prefect attributing this to magical arts ordered them to prison. The next day he commanded them to be led forth and thrown on a burning pile, but the flame refused to touch them. Finally, after several other cruel tortures, they were beheaded, and thus confessing Jesus Christ, they won the palm of martyrdom.

Dom Prosper Guéranger:

“Honour the physician for the need you have of him: for the Most High has created him. For all healing is from God, and he will receive gifts of the king. The skill of the physician will lift up his head, and in the sight of great men he will be praised. The Most High has created medicines out of the earth, and a wise man will not abhor them. Was not bitter water made sweet with wood? The virtue of these things is come to the knowledge of men, and the Most High has given knowledge to men, that He may be honoured in His wonders. By these he will cure and will allay their pains, and of these the apothecary will make sweet confections, and will make up ointments of health, and of his works there will be no end. For the peace of God is over the face of the Earth. My son, in your sickness neglect not yourself, but pray to the Lord, and He will heal you. Turn away from sin and order your hands aright, and cleanse your heart from all offence. Give a sweet savour, and a memorial of fine flour, and make a fat offering, and then give place to the physician. For the Lord created him: and let him not depart from you, for his works are necessary. For there is a time when you must fall into their hands: and they will beseech the Lord, that He would prosper what they give for ease and remedy, for their conversation” (Ecclesiasticus xxxviii. 1‒14).

These words of the Wise Man are appropriate for this feast. The Church obeying the inspired injunction, honours the medical profession in the persons of Cosmas and Damian who not only, like many others, sanctified themselves in that career. But, far beyond all others, demonstrated to the world how grand a part the physician may play in Christian society. Cosmas and Damian had been Christians from their childhood. The study of Hippocrates and Galen developed their love of God whose invisible perfections they admired reflected in the magnificences of creation, and especially in the human body His palace and His temple. To them, science was a hymn of praise to their Creator, and the exercise of their art a sacred ministry. They served God in His suffering members, and watched over His human sanctuary, to preserve it from injury or to repair its ruins. Such a life of religious charity was fittingly crowned by the perfect sacrifice of martyrdom.

East and west vied with each other in paying homage to the Anargyres, as our saints were called on account of their receiving no fees for their services. Numerous churches were dedicated to them. The emperor Justinian embellished and fortified the obscure town of Cyrus out of reverence for their sacred relics there reserved. And about the same time, Pope Felix IV built a church in their honour in the Roman Forum, thus substituting the memory of the twin martyrs for that of the less happy brothers Romulus and Remus. Not long before this Saint Benedict had dedicated to Saints Cosmas and Damian his first monastery at Subiaco, now known as Saint Scholastica’s. But Rome rendered the highest of all honours to the holy Arabian brethren by placing their names, in preference to so many thousands of her own heroes, in the solemn litanies and on the sacred dyptichs of the Mass.

* * * * *

In you, O illustrious brethren, was fulfilled this saying of the Wise Man: “The skill of the physician will lift up his head, and in the sight of great men he will be praised” (Ecclesiasticus xxxviii. 3). The great ones, in whose sight you are exalted, are the princes of the heavenly hierarchies, witnessing today the homage paid to you by the Church Militant. The glory that surrounds your heads is the glory of God Himself, of that bountiful King who rewards your former disinterestedness by bestowing on you His own blessed life. In the bosom of divine love, your charity cannot wax cold. Help us, then, and heal the sick who confidently implore your assistance. Preserve the health of God’s children so that they may fulfil their obligations in the world, and may courageously bear the light yoke of the Church’s precepts. Bless those physicians who are faithful to their baptism, and who seek your aid, and increase the number of such. See how the study of medicine now so often leads astray into the paths of materialism and fatalism to the great detriment of science and humanity. It is false to assert that simple nature is the explanation of suffering and death, and unfortunate are those whose physicians regard them as mere flesh and blood. Even the pagan school took a loftier view than that, and it was surely a higher ideal that inspired you to exercise your art with such religious reverence. By the virtue of your glorious death, O witnesses to the Lord, obtain for our sickly society a return to the faith, to the remembrance of God, and to that piety which is profitable to all things and to all men, having the promise of the life that now is and of that which is to come (1 Timothy iv. 8).

Also on this day according to the ROMAN MARTYROLOGY:

At Rome, St. Epicharis, wife of a senator, who, in the same persecution was scourged with leaded whips and struck with the sword.

At Todi, the holy martyrs Fidentius and Terence, under the same Diocletian.

At Cordova, the holy martyrs Adulphus and John, brothers, who won the martyr’s crown in the Arabian persecution.

At Sion in Switzerland, St. Florentinus, martyr, who was put to the sword with blessed Hilary after his tongue had been cut out.

At Byblos in Phoenicia, St. Mark, bishop, who is also called John by blessed St. Luke.

At Milan, the holy bishop Caius, a disciple of the blessed Apostle St. Barnabas, who passed calmly to rest after suffering severely in the persecution of Nero.

At Ravenna, St. Aderitus, bishop and confessor.

At Paris, St. Vincent de Paul, priest, and founder of the Congregation of the Mission and of the Daughters of Charity, an apostolic man and a father to the poor. His feast is celebrated on the nineteenth of July.

In the same city, St. Eleazar, count.

In Hainaut, St. Hiltrude, virgin.

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

Thanks be to God.

26 SEPTEMBER – SAINTS CYPRIAN (Martyr) AND JUSTINA (Virgin and Martyr)

Cyprian, who was first a magician and afterwards a martyr, attempted by charms and spells to make Justina, a Christian virgin, consent to the passion of a certain young man. He consulted the devil as to the best way to succeed and was told in reply that no art would be of any service to him against the true disciples of Christ. This answer made so great an impression on Cyprian that, grieving bitterly over his former manner of life, he abandoned his magical arts and was completely converted to the faith of Christ our Lord. Accused of being a Christian, he was seized together with the virgin Justina, and they were both severely scourged. They were then thrown into prison to see if they would change their mind. But on being taken out, as they remained firm in the Christian religion, they were cast into a cauldron of boiling pitch, fat and wax. Finally they were beheaded at Nicomedia. Their bodies were left six days unburied, after which some sailors carried them secretly by night to their ship and conveyed them to Rome. They were first buried on the estate of a noble lady named Rufina, but afterwards were translated into the city and laid in Constantine’s basilica, near the baptistery.

Dom Prosper Guéranger:

“Whoever you be that are seduced by the mysteries of the demons, none of you can equal the zeal I once had for these false gods, nor my researches into their secrets, nor the vain power they had communicated to me, to me Cyprian, who from my infancy was given up to the service of the dragon in the citadel of Minerva. Learn from me the deceitfulness of their illusions. A virgin has proved to me that their power is but smoke. The king of the demons was arrested at the door of a mere child, and could not cross the threshold. He who promises so much is a liar. A woman makes sport of the boaster who vaunted he could shake Heaven and Earth. The roaring lion becomes a startled gnat before the Christian virgin Justina” (Confessio Cypriani Antiocheni, I. 2).

* * * * *

He who sought to ruin you is now, O virgin, your trophy of victory. And for you, O Cyprian, the path of crime turned aside into the way of salvation. May you together triumph over Satan in this age when spirit-dealing is seducing so many faltering, faithless souls. Teach Christians, after your example, to arm themselves against this and every other danger with the Sign of the Cross. Then will the enemy be forced to say again: “I saw a terrible sign and I trembled. I beheld the sign of the Crucified and my strength melted like wax” (Acta Cypriani et Justinoe).

Also on this day according to the ROMAN MARTYROLOGY:

At Rome, the holy martyr Callistratus and forty-nine other soldiers, who endured martyrdom together in the persecution of Diocletian. The companions of Callistratus were converted to Christ on seeing him miraculously delivered from drowning in the sea, where he had been thrown sewn up in a bag.

Also at Rome, Pope St. Eusebius.

At Bologna, St. Eusebius, bishop and confessor.

At Brescia, St. Vigilius, bishop.

At Albano, St. Senator.

In the territory of Frascati, the blessed abbot Nilus, founder of the monastery of Crypta-Ferrata, a man of eminent sanctity.

At Città-di-Castello, St. Amantius, a priest distinguished for the gift of miracles.

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

Thanks be to God.

25 SEPTEMBER – FERIA

On this day according to the ROMAN MARTYROLOGY:

At Emmaus, the birthday of blessed Cleophas, a disciple of Christ. It is related that he was killed by the Jews for the confession of Our Lord in the same house in which he had entertained Him, and where he was honourably buried.

At Rome, under the emperor Antoninus, St. Herculanus, soldier and martyr, who, being converted to Christ by the miracles wrought during the martyrdom of the blessed bishop Alexander, was put to the sword after enduring many torments.

At Amiens in France, in the persecution of Diocletian, blessed Firmin, bishop. Under the governor Rictiovarus, after various torments, he suffered martyrdom by being beheaded.

At Damascus, the holy martyr Paul, Tata, his wife, and Sabinian, Maximus, Rufus, and Eugenius, their sons. Accused of professing the Christian religion, they were scourged and tortured in other ways until they gave up their souls to God.

In Asia, the holy martyrs Bardomian, Eucarpus and twenty-six others.

The same day, St. Anathalon, bishop, who was a disciple of the blessed Apostle St. Barnabas and succeeded him in the See of Milan.

At Lyons, the decease of St. Lupus, at one time an anchoret, but later a bishop.

At Auxerre, St. Anacharius, bishop and confessor.

At Blois, St. Solemnius, bishop of Chartres, renowned for miracles.

The same day, St. Principius, bishop of Soissons, brother of the blessed bishop Remigius.

At Anagni, the holy virgins Aurelia and Neomisia.

At San Severino, the decease of St. Pacificus of St. Severin, confessor, of the Order of the Reformed Friars Minor of the Observance of St. Francis, illustrious by his extraordinary patience and love of solitude. He was placed in the Calendar of the Saints by Pope Gregory XVI.

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

Thanks be to God.

24 SEPTEMBER – OUR LADY OF RANSOM

At the time when the Saracen yoke oppressed the larger and more fertile part of Spain, and great numbers of the faithful were detained in cruel servitude, at the great risk of denying the Christian faith and losing their eternal salvation, the most blessed Queen of Heaven graciously came to remedy all these great evils and showed her exceeding charity in redeeming her children. She appeared with beaming countenance to Peter Nolasco, a man conspicuous for wealth and piety, who in his holy meditations was ever striving to devise some means of helping the innumerable Christians living in misery as captives of the Moors. She told him it would be very pleasing to her and her only begotten Son, if a religious Order were instituted in her honour, whose members should devote themselves to delivering captives from Turkish tyranny.

Animated by this heavenly vision, the man of God was inflamed with burning love, having but one desire at heart: that both he and the Order he was to found, might be devoted to the exercise of that highest charity, the laying down of life for one’s friends and neighbours. That same night, the most holy Virgin appeared also to blessed Raymund of Pennafort and James king of Aragon, telling them of her wish to have the Order instituted, and exhorting them to lend their aid to so great an undertaking. Meanwhile Peter hastened to relate the whole matter to Raymund who was his confessor, and finding it had been already revealed to him from Heaven, submitted humbly to his direction.

King James next arrived, fully resolved to carry out the instructions he also had received from the Blessed Virgin. Having therefore taken counsel together and being all of one mind, they set about instituting an Order in honour of the Virgin Mother under the invocation of our Lady of Mercy for the Ransom of Captives. On the tenth of August in 1218 king James put into execution what the two holy men had planned. The members of the Order bound themselves by a fourth vow to remain, when necessary, as securities in the power of the pagans, in order to deliver Christians. The king granted them licence to hear his royal arms on their breast, and obtained from Pope Gregory IX the confirmation of this religious institute distinguished by such eminent brotherly charity.

God Himself gave increase to the work through His Virgin Mother, so that the Order spread rapidly and prosperously over the whole world. It soon reckoned many holy men remarkable for their charity and piety who collected alms from Christ’s faithful, to be spent in redeeming their brethren, and sometimes gave themselves up as ransom for many others. In order that due thanks might be rendered to God and His Virgin Mother for the benefit of such an institution, the apostolic See allowed this special feast and Office to be celebrated, and also granted innumerable other privileges to the Order.

Dom Prosper Guéranger:

The Office of the time gives us at the close of September the Books of Judith and Esther. These heroic women were figures of Mary, whose birthday is the honour of this month, and who comes at once to bring assistance to the world. “Adonai, Lord God, great and admirable, who has wrought salvation by the hand of a woman:” the Church thus introduces the history of the heroine who delivered Bethulia by the sword, whereas Mardochai’s niece rescued her people from death by her winsomeness and her intercession. The Queen of Heaven, in her peerless perfection, outshines them both, in gentleness, in valour and in beauty. Today’s feast is a memorial of the strength she puts forth for the deliverance of her people. Finding their power crushed in Spain, and in the East checked by the Latin kingdom of Jerusalem, the Saracens in the twelfth century became wholesale pirates and scoured the seas to obtain slaves for the African markets. We shudder to think of the numberless victims of every age, sex and condition suddenly carried off from the coasts of Christian lands, or captured on the high seas, and condemned to the disgrace of the harem or the miseries of the bagnio. Here, nevertheless, in many an obscure prison, were enacted scenes of heroism worthy to compare with those witnessed in the early persecutions. Here was a new field for Christian charity. New horizons opened out for heroic self-devotion. Is not the spiritual good thence arising a sufficient reason for the permission of temporal ills? Without this permission, Heaven would have forever lacked a portion of its beauty.

When in 1696 Innocent XII extended this feast to the whole Church, he afforded the world an opportunity of expressing its gratitude by a testimony as universal as the benefit received. Differing from the Order of Holy Trinity which had been already 20 years in existence, the Order of Mercy was founded as it were in the very face of the Moors, and hence it originally numbered more knights than clerks among its members. It was called the Royal, Military and Religious Order of Our Lady of Mercy for the Ransom of Captives. The clerics were charged with the celebration of the Divine Office in the commandaries. The knights guarded the coasts and undertook the perilous enterprise of ransoming Christian captives. Saint Peter Nolasco was the first Commander or Grand Master of the Order. When his relics were discovered, he was found armed with sword and cuirass.

* * * * *

Blessed be thou, O Mary, the honour and the joy of your people! On the day of your glorious Assumption you took possession of your queenly dignity for our sake, and the annals of the human race are a record of your merciful interventions. The captives whose chains you have broken, and whom you have set free from the degrading yoke of the Saracens, may be reckoned by millions. We are still rejoicing in the recollection of your dear birthday, and your smile is sufficient to dry our tears and chase away the clouds of grief. And yet, what sorrows there are still upon the Earth where you yourself drank such long draughts from the cup of suffering! Sorrows are sanctifying and beneficial to some, but there are other and unprofitable griefs springing from social injustice: the drudgery of the factory, or the tyranny of the strong over the weak, may be worse than slavery in Algiers or Tunis. You alone, O Mary, can break the inextricable chains in which the cunning prince of darkness entangles the dupes he has deceived by the high-sounding names of equality and liberty. Show yourself a Queen by coming to the rescue. The whole Earth, the entire human race, cries out to you, in the words of Mardochai: “Speak to the king for us, and deliver us from death!” (Esther xv. 3).

Also on this day according to the ROMAN MARTYROLOGY:

At Autun, the birthday of the holy martyrs, Andochius, priest, Thyrsus, deacon, and Felix, who were sent from the East by blessed Polycarp, bishop of Smyrna, to preach in Gaul where they were most severely scourged, hanged up a whole day by the hands, and cast into the fire. Remaining uninjured, they had their necks broken with heavy bars, and thus won a most glorious crown.

In Egypt, the holy martyrs Paphnutius and his companions. While leading a solitary life, St. Paphnutius heard that many Christians were kept in bonds, and, moved by the spirit of God, he voluntarily offered himself to the prefect, and freely confessed the Christian faith. By him he was bound with iron chains, and a long time tortured on the rack. Then, being sent with many others to Diocletian, he was fastened by his order to a palm tree, and the rest were struck with the sword.

At Chalcedon, forty-nine holy martyrs, who, after the martyrdom of St. Euphemia, under the emperor Diocletian, were condemned to be devoured by the beasts, but being miraculously delivered, were finally struck with the sword and went to heaven.

In Hungary, St. Gerard, bishop and martyr, called the Apostle of the Hungarians. He belonged to the nobility of Venice and was the first to shed on his country the glory of martyrdom.

At Clermont in Auvergne, the departure out of this life of St. Rusticus, bishop and confessor.

In the diocese of Beauvais, St. Geremarus, abbot.

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

Thanks be to God.

24 SEPTEMBER — SEVENTEENTH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST

Dom Prosper Guéranger:

The Gospel which is now assigned to the Mass of the Seventeenth Sunday has given it the name of the Sunday of the Love of God, dating, that is, from the time when the Gospel of the cure of the dropsy and of the invitation to the wedding-feast was anticipated by eight days. Previously, even, to that change, and from the very first, there used to be read on this seventeenth Sunday another passage from the New Testament which is no longer found in this serial of Sundays: it was the Gospel which mentions the difficulty regarding the resurrection of the dead, which the Sadducees proposed to our Lord.

Epistle – Ephesians iv. 1–6

Brethren, I, a prisoner in the Lord, beseech you that you walk worthy of the vocation in which you are called, with all humility and mildness, with patience, supporting one another in charity. Careful to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. One body and one Spirit; as you are called in one hope of your calling. One Lord, one faith, one baptism. One God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in us all.

Thanks be to God.

Dom Prosper Guéranger:

The Church, by thus giving these words from Saint Paul’s Epistle to the Ephesians, again takes up the subject so dear to her — the dignity of her children. She beseeches them to correspond, in a becoming manner, to their high vocation. This vocation, this call, which God gives us is, as we have been so often told, the call or invitation made to the human family that it would come to the sacred nuptials of divine union. It is the vocation given to us to reign in Heaven with the Word who had made Himself our Spouse, and our Head (Ephesians ii. 5). The Gospel read to us eight days ago which was formerly the one appointed for this present Sunday, and was thus brought into close connection with our Epistle, that Gospel, we say, finds itself admirably commented by these words of Saint Paul to the Ephesians and it, in turn, throws light on the Apostle’s words about the vocation. When you are invited to a Wedding (“cum vocatus fueris”) sit down in the lowest place! These were our Lord’s words to us, last Sunday and now we have the Apostle saying to us: Walk worthy of the vocation in which youare called, yes, walk in that vocation with all humility.

Let us now attentively hearken to our Apostle telling us what we must do in order to prove ourselves worthy of the high honour offered to us by the Son of God. We must practise, among other virtues, these three: humility, mildness and patience. These are the means for gaining the end that is so generously proposed to us. And, what is this end? It is the unity of that immense body which the Son of God makes His own by the mystic nuptials He vouchsafes to celebrate with our human nature. This Man-God asks one condition from those whom He calls, whom He invites, to become, through the Church, His Bride, bone of his bones and flesh of his flesh (Ephesians v. 30). This one condition is that they maintain such harmony among them, that it will make one body and one spirit of them all, in the bond of peace. “Bond most glorious!” cries out Saint John Chrysostom, “bond most admirable, which unites us all mutually with one another, and then, thus united, unites us with God.” The strength of this bond is the strength of the Holy Spirit Himself, who is all holiness and love. For it is that Holy Spirit who forms these spiritual and divine ties.

He it is who, with the countless multitude of the Baptised, does the work which the soul does in the human body, that is, it gives it life, and it unites all the members into oneness of person. It is by the Holy Ghost that young and old, poor and rich, men and women, distinct as all these are in other respects, are made one, fused, so to say, in the fire which eternally burns in the blessed Trinity. But in order that the flame of infinite love may thus draw into its embrace our regenerated humanity, we must get rid of selfish rivalries, and grudges, and dissensions, which, so long as they exist among us, prove us to be carnal, and therefore that we are unfit material for either the divine flame to touch, or for the union which that flame produces. According to the beautiful comparison of Saint John Chrysostom, when fire lays hold of various species of wood which have been thrown into it, if it find the fuel properly dry, it makes one burning pile of all the several woods. But if they are damp and wet it cannot act on them separately, nor reduce the whole to one common blaze: so is it in the spiritual order. The unhealthy humidity of the passions neutralises the action of the sanctifying Spirit, and union, which is both the means and end of love, becomes an impossibility.

Let us, therefore, bind ourselves to our brethren by that blessed link of charity which, if it fetters at all, fetters only our bad tempers but in all other respects it dilates our hearts by the very fact of its giving free scope to the Holy Ghost to lead them safely to the realisation of that one hope of our common vocation and calling, which is to unite us to God by love. Of course, charity, even with the Saints is, so long as they are on this Earth, a laborious virtue because even with the best, grace seldom restores to a perfect equilibrium the faculties of man which were put out of order by original sin. From this it follows that the weaknesses of human nature will sometimes show themselves, either by excess or by deficiency. And when these weaknesses do crop up, it is not only the saint himself is humbled by their getting the better of him, but, as he is well aware, they who live with him have to practise kindness and patience towards him. God permits all this in order to increase the merit of us all, and make us long more and more for Heaven. For it is there alone that we will find ourselves not only totally, but without any effort, in perfect harmony with our fellow-men. And this, because of the perfect peaceful submissiveness of our entire being under the absolute sway of the thrice holy God who will then be all to all. In that happy land, it will be God Himself who will wipe away the tears of His elect, for their miseries will all be gone. And their miseries will be gone because their whole being will be renovated, because united with Him, who is its infinite source (1 Corinthians iii. 3).

The eternal Son of God having then conquered in each member of His mystical Body the hostile powers and death itself, will appear in the fullness of the mystery of His Incarnation as the true Head of humanity, sanctified, restored, and developed in Him. He will rejoice at seeing how, by the workings of the sanctifying Spirit, there has been wrought the destined degree of perfection in each of the several parts of that marvellous Body which He vouchsafed to aggregate to Himself by the bond of love. And all this in order that He might eternally celebrate, in a choir composed of Himself, the Incarnate Word and all creation, the glory of the ever adorable Trinity. How will not the sweetest music of Earth be then surpassed! How will not our most perfect choirs seem to us then to have been almost like the noise of children singing out of tune, compared with the concord and harmony of that eternal song! Let us get ourselves ready for that heavenly concert. Let us put our voices in order by now attuning our hearts to that plenitude of love which, alas, is not often enjoyed here below, but which we should ever be trying to realise by that patiently supporting the faults of our brethren and ourselves, which the Epistle so earnestly impresses upon us.

One would almost say that in the ecstasy of her delight, at hearing these few sounds of heaven’s music brought to her by such a singer as her Apostle, our Mother the Church feels herself carried away far beyond time, and boldly joins a short song of her own to that of her Jesus and His Paul. Yes, it looks like it, for by way of a conclusion to the text of our Epistle, she adds an ardent expression of praise, which is not in the original, and thus she forms a kind of doxology to the inspired words of her apostolic Chanter.

Gospel – Matthew xxii. 35–46

At that time, one of them, a doctor of the law, asked Him, tempting Him: “Master, which is the great commandment in the law?” Jesus said to him: “You must love the Lord your God with your whole heart, and with your whole soul, and with your whole mind. This is the greatest and the first commandment. And the second is like this: “You must love your neighbour as yourself. On these two commandments depends the whole law and the prophets.” And the Pharisees being gathered together, Jesus asked them, saying: “What think you of Christ? whose son is he?” “They said to Him: “David’s” He said to them: “How then, does David in spirit call him Lord, saying: ‘The Lord said to my Lord, Sit on my right hand, until I make your enemies your footstool? If David then calls him Lord, how is he his son?” And no man was able to answer Him a word; neither did any man from that day forth ask Him any more questions.

Praise be to you, O Christ.
 

Dom Prosper Guéranger:

The Man-God allowed temptation to approach His sacred person in the desert (Matthew iv. 1‒11). He disdained not to sustain the attacks which the devil’s spiteful cunning has from the world’s first beginning been suggesting to him as the surest means of working man’s perdition. Our Jesus permitted the demon thus to tempt Him, in order that He might show His faithful servants how they are to repel the assaults of the wicked spirit. Today our adorable Master, who would be a model to his children in all their trials (Hebrews ii. 17, 18; iv. 15) is represented to us as having to contend, not with Satan’s perfidy, but with the hypocrisy of His bitterest enemies, the Pharisees. They seek to ensnare Him in His speech (Matthew xxii. 15) just as the representatives of the world, which He has condemned (John xvi. 8‒11) will do to His Church, and that in all ages right to the end of time.

But as her divine Spouse triumphed, so will she, for He will enable her to continue His work on Earth, and amid the same temptations and the same snares. She is ever to come off with victory by maintaining a most inviolable fidelity to God’s law and truth. The tools of Satan, who are the heretics, and the princes of the world, chafing at the restraint put by Christianity on their ambition and lust, will always be studying how best to outwit the guardian of the divine oracles by their captious propositions or questions. When necessity requires her to speak, she is quite ready, for as Bride of that divine Word who is His Father’s eternal and substantial utterance, what can she be but a voice, either to announce Him on Earth, or sing Him in Heaven? That word of hers, endowed as it is with the power and penetration of God Himself, will not only never be taken by surprise but, like a two-edged sword, it will generally go much deeper than the crafty questioners of the Church anticipated. It will not only refute their sophistry, it will also expose the hypocrisy and wickedness of their intentions (Hebrews iv. 12). By their sacrilegious attempts they will have gained nothing but disgrace and shame, and the mortification of having occasioned a fresh lustre to Truth by the new light in which it has been put, and of having procured a clearer knowledge of dogma or morals for the devoted children of the Church.

It was thus with the Pharisees of today’s Gospel. As the Homily upon it tells us, they wanted to see if Jesus, who had declared Himself to be God, would not consequently make some addition to the commandment of divine love. And if He did, they would be justified in condemning Him as having tried to change the letter of the law in its greatest commandment. Our Lord disappoints them. He met their question by giving it a longer answer than they had asked for: that is, having first recited the text of the great commandment as given in the Scripture, He continued the quotation and, by so doing, showed them that He was not ignorant of the intention which had induced them to question Him: He continued the quotation by reminding them of the second commandment which is like the first — the commandment, that is, of love of the neighbour, and that condemned their intended crime of deicide. Thus were they convicted of loving neither their neighbour, nor God Himself, for the first commandment cannot be observed if the second, which flows from, and completes it, be broken.

But, our Lord does not stop there. He obliges them to acknowledge, at least, implicitly, the divinity of the Messiah. He puts a question, in His turn, to them, and they answer it by saying, as they were obliged to do, that the Christ was to be of the family of David. But if he be His Son, how comes it that David calls him “his Lord,” just as he calls God Himself, as we have it in the 109th Psalm, where he celebrates the glories of the Messiah? The only possible explanation is, that the Messiah, who in due time and as Man, was to be born of David’s house, was God and Son of God even before time existed, according to the same Psalm: “From my womb, before the day-star, I begot you” (cix. 3). This answer would have condemned the Pharisees, so they refuse to give it. But their silence was an avowal and, before very long, the eternal Father’s vengeance on these vile enemies of His Son will fulfil the prophecy of making them His footstool in blood and shame: that time is to be the terrible day when the justice of God will fall on the deicide city.

Let us Christians, out of contempt for Satan, who stirred up the expiring Synagogue to thus lay snares for the Son of God — let us turn these efforts of hatred into an instruction which will warm up our love. The Jews, by rejecting Christ Jesus, sinned against both of the commandments which constitute charity and embody the whole law. And we, on the contrary, by loving that same Jesus, fulfil the whole law. This Jesus of ours is the brightness of eternal glory (Hebrews i. 3) one, by nature, with the Father and the Holy Ghost. He is the God whom the first commandment bids us love. And it is in Him also that the second has its truest and adequate application. For, not only is He as truly Man as He is truly God, but He is the Man by excellence (John xix. 5) the perfect Man, on whose type, and for whom, all other men were formed (Romans viii. 29). He is the model and brother to all of them (Hebrews ii. 17). He is, at the same time, the leader who governs them as their King (John xviii. 37) and offers them to God as their High Priest (Hebrews x. 14). He is the Head who communicates to all the members of the human family both beauty and life, and movement and light. He is the Redeemer of that human family when it fell, and on that account He is, twice over, the source of all right, and the ultimate and highest motive, even when not the direct Object, of every love that deserves to be called love here below. Nothing counts with God, excepting so far as it has reference to this Jesus. As Saint Augustine says, “God only loves men inasmuch as they either are, or may one day become, members of His Son. It is his Son that He loves in them. Thus He loves, with one same love, though not equally, both His Word and the Flesh of His Word, and the members of His Incarnate Word. Now, Charity is love — love such as it is in God, communicated to us creatures by the Holy Ghost. Therefore what we should love by charity, both in our own selves and in others, is the divine Word as either being, or, as another expression of the same Saint Augustine adds, “that it may be,” in others and in ourselves.

Let us take care, also, as a consequence of this same truth, not to exclude any human being from our love, excepting the damned who are thereby absolutely and eternally cut off from the body of the Man-God. Who can boast that he has the Charity of Christ if he do not embrace His Unity? The question is Saint Augustine’s again. Who can love Christ without loving, with Him, the Church which is His Body? Without loving all His members? What we do, be it to the least or be it to the worthiest, be it of evil or of good, it is to Him we do it, for he tells us so (Matthew xxv. 404‒45). Then, let us love our neighbour as ourselves because of Christ, who is in each of us, and gives, to us all union and increase in Charity (Ephesians iv. 15, 16).

That same Apostle who says: “The end of the law is charity” (1 Timothy i. 5) says also “The end of the law is Christ” (Romans x. 4) 6 and we now see the harmony existing between these two distinct propositions. We understand, also, the connection there is between the word of the Gospel: “On these two commandments depends the whole law and the prophets,” and that other saying of our Lord: “Search the Scriptures, for the same are they that give testimony of me” (John v. 39). The fullness of the law, which is the rule of men’s conduct, is in Charity (Romans xiii. 10), of which Christ is the end, just as the Object of the revealed Scriptures is no other than the Man-God who embodies in His own adorable unity, for us His followers, all moral teaching, and all dogma. He is our faith and our love, “the end of all our resolutions,” says Saint Augustine, “for all our efforts tend but to this — to perfect ourselves in Him. And this is our perfection — to reach Him: having reached Him, seek no farther, for he is your End.” The holy Doctor gives us, when we have reached this point, the best instruction as to how we are to live in the divine union: “Let us cling to One, let us enjoy One, let us all be one in Him:” hoereamus Uni, fruamur Uno, permaneamus unum.

23 SEPTEMBER – EMBER SATURDAY IN SEPTEMBER

Lesson – Luke xiii. 6 – 13

He spoke also this parable: A certain man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard, and he came seeking fruit on it, and found none. And he said to the dresser of the vineyard: Behold, for these three years I come seeking fruit on this fig tree, and I find none. Cut it down therefore: why cumbereth it the ground? But he answering, said to him: Lord, let it alone this year also, until I dig about it, and dung it. And if happily it bear fruit: but if not, then after that you shall cut it down. And he was teaching in their synagogue on their sabbath. And behold there was a woman, who had a spirit of infirmity eighteen years: and she was bowed together, neither could she look upwards at all. Whom when Jesus saw, He called her to him, and said to her: “Woman, you are delivered from your infirmity”. And He laid his hands on her, and immediately she was made straight, and glorified God.

Praise be to you, O Christ.

Pope St. Gregory the Great:

Our Lord and Redeemer speakes to us sometimes by words, and sometimes by deeds, sometimes one thing by words, and another by deeds, and sometimes the same thing both by word and deed. In the portion of the Gospel which has this day been read, you have heard, my brethren, two things, the parable of the fig-tree and the history of the woman which was bowed together. In both is a manifestation of the Lord’s mercy, but in the one by a parable, in the other by an example. But the barren fig tree signifies the same thing as does the woman bowed together, and the patience shown to the fig tree the same thing as does the healing of the woman bowed together.

Of what is the fig tree a type, but of mankind? Of what is the woman bowed together by a spirit of infirmity a type, but of the same mankind? Man was originally placed in a garden like the fig tree, and created upright like the woman, but man fell away by his own wilful fault; like the fig tree he brought forth no fruit; like the woman he ceased to stand straight. When he wilfully went into sin, because he would not bring forth the fruit of obedience, he lost his uprightness. The nature which had been created in the image of God, continued not in honour, but cast aside the state in which it had been placed and made. The lord of the vineyard came thrice to the fig tree, for God has come in hope, and in warning, seeking fruit from mankind under three successive dispensations, that is to say, before the law, under the law, and under grace.

He came before the law, in that by natural understanding. He let all know by example of Himself, what and how they should do toward their neighbour. In the law He came teaching. After the law He came by grace, opening, manifesting His merciful Presence. But after all these three years He yet has to complain that He finds no fruit on the fig tree, for there are still some degraded minds which the inborn voice of the natural law does not control, which the commandments do not teach, and which the wonders of the Incarnation itself do not convert. Of what is the dresser of the vineyard a type, but of the Episcopacy? For these are they who have the government in the Church, and are therefore truly called the dressers of the Lord’s vineyard.

22 SEPTEMBER – EMBER FRIDAY IN SEPTEMBER

Epistle – Osee xiv. 2‒10

Return, O Israel, to the Lord your God: for you have fallen down by your iniquity. Take with you words, and return to the Lord, and say to Him: Take away all iniquity, and receive the good: and we will render the calves of our lips. Assyria will not save us, we will not ride on horses, neither will we say any more: The works of our hands are our gods, for you will have mercy on the fatherless that is in you. I will heal their breaches, I will love them freely: for my wrath is turned away from them. will be as the dew, Israel will spring as the lily, and his root will shoot forth as that of Libanus. His branches will spread, and his glorywill be as the olive tree: and his smell as that of Libanus. They will be converted that sit under his shadow: they will live on wheat, and they will blossom as a vine: his memorial will be as the wine of Libanus. Ephraim will say, What have I to do any more with idols? I will hear him, and I will make him flourish like a green fir tree: from me is your fruit found. Who is wise, and he will understand these things? prudent, and he will know these things? for the ways of the Lord are right, and the just will walk in them: but the transgressors will fall in them.

Thanks be to God.

Gospel – Luke vii. 36‒50

At that time, one of the Pharisees desired Jesus to eat with him. And He went into the house of the Pharisee, and sat down to meat. And behold a woman that was in the city, a sinner, when she knew that He sat at meat in the Pharisee’s house, brought an alabaster box of ointment; and standing behind at His feet, she began to wash His feet, with tears, and wiped them with the hairs of her head, and kissed His feet, and anointed them with the ointment. And the Pharisee, who had invited Him, seeing it, spoke within himself, saying: “This man, if he were a prophet, would know surely who and what manner of woman this is that touches him, that she is a sinner.” Jesus answering, said to him: “Simon, I have somewhat to say to you.” But he said: “Master, say it.” “A certain creditor had two debtors, the one owed five hundred pence, and the other fifty. And whereas they had not wherewith to pay, he forgave them both. Which therefore of the two loves him most?” Simon answering, said: “I suppose that he to whom he forgave most.” And He said to him: “You have judged rightly.” And turning to the woman, He said to Simon: “Do you see this woman? I entered into your house, you gave me no water for my feet; but she with tears has washed my feet, and with her hairs has wiped them. You gave me no kiss; but she, since she came in, has not ceased to kiss my feet. My head with oil you did not anoint; but she with ointment has anointed my feet. Wherefore I say to you: Many sins are forgiven her, because she has loved much. But to whom less is forgiven, he loves less.” And He said to her: “Your sins are forgiven.” And they that sat at meat with Him began to say within themselves: “Who is this that forgives sins also?” And He said to the woman: “Your faith has made you safe, go in peace.”

Praise be to you, O Christ.

22 SEPTEMBER – SAINT THOMAS OF VILLANOVA (Bishop and Confessor)

Thomas was born at Fuenllana, a town in the diocese of Toledo in Spain, in 1488. From his earliest youth his excellent parents instilled into him piety and extraordinary charity to the poor. Of this virtue he gave while still a child many proofs, among the most remarkable of which was his more than once taking off his own garments to clothe the naked. As a youth he was sent to Alcala to study humanities in the great college of Saint Ildephonsus. He was recalled home by the death of his father, upon which he devoted his whole fortune to the support of destitute virgins and then returned to Alcala. Having completed his course of theology, he was promoted for his eminent learning to a chair in the University and taught philosophy and theology with wonderful success. Meanwhile he besought God, with assiduous prayers, to teach him the science of the saints, and a virtuous rule of life and conduct. He was therefore divinely inspired to embrace the institute of the hermits of Saint Augustine.

After his profession Thomas excelled in all virtues which should adorn a religious man: humility, patience and continence. But he was especially remarkable for ardent charity. In the midst of his many and varied labours, his unconquered spirit was ever intent on prayer and meditation of divine things. On account of his reputation for learning and holiness, he was commanded to undertake the duty of preaching and, by the assistance of heavenly grace, he led countless souls from the mire of vice to the way of salvation. In the government of the brethren to which he was next appointed he so united prudence, equity and sweetness, to zeal and severity, that in many places he restored or confirmed the ancient discipline of his Order. When elected to the archbishopric of Granada, he rejected that high dignity with wonderful firmness and humility. But not long after, he was obliged by his superiors to undertake the government of the Church of Valencia, which he ruled for about eleven years as a most holy and vigilant pastor.

Thomas changed nothing of his former manner of life but gave free scope to his insatiable charity, and distributed the rich revenues of his church among the needy, keeping not so much as a bed for himself. For the bed on which he was lying when called to Heaven was lent to him by the person to whom he had shortly before given it in alms. He fell asleep in our Lord on the sixth of the Ides of September at the age of 68. God was pleased to bear witness to his servant’s holiness by miracles both during life and after death. A barn which was almost empty, the grain having been distributed to the poor, was by his intercession suddenly filled, and a dead child was restored to life at his tomb. These and many other miracles having rendered his name illustrious, Pope Alexander VII enrolled him among the saints and commanded his feast to be celebrated on the fourteenth of the Calends of October.

Dom Prosper Guéranger:

In 1517 a cruel blow fell upon the great Augustinian family. Luther, one of its members, raised the cry of revolt which was to be echoed for centuries by every passion. But the illustrious Order which had unwittingly nurtured this child of evil, was nonetheless acceptable to God and He deigned, before long, to demonstrate this for the consolation of institutes whose very excellence exposes unworthy subjects to more dangerous falls. It was at the First Vespers of All Saints that Luther broached, at Wittenburg, his famous theses against indulgences and the authority of the Roman Pontiff. Within a month, on November 25 of the same year, Thomas of Villanova pronounced his vows at Salamanca and filled up the place left vacant by the heresiarch. Amid the storms of social disorder and the noise of the world’s disturbances, the glory rendered by one saint to the ever-tranquil Trinity outweighs all the insults and blasphemies of Hell.

* * * * *

Your name, as well as your justice, will remain forever, O Thomas, because you have distributed and given to the poor (Psalm cxi.). All the church of the saints will declare your alms (Ecclesiasticus xxxi. 11). Teach us to show mercy to our brethren so that, by your prayers, we may obtain for ourselves the mercy of God. You have great power with the Queen of Heaven, whose praises you loved to celebrate and whose birthday on Earth was your birthday in Heaven. Give us an ever increasing knowledge of her, and an ever growing love. You are the glory of Spain. Watch over your country, over your Church of Valencia, and over the Order adorned with such saints as Nicholas of Tolentino, John of San Facundo, and yourself. Bless the religious women who have inherited your charity and who, for well-near [four] centuries, have caused your name, and that of your father Saint Augustine, to be held in veneration. May the preachers of the divine word throughout the world profit by the writings you have fortunately left us, monuments of that e1oquence which made you the oracle of princes, the light of the poor and the mouth-piece of the Holy Ghost.

Also on this day according to the ROMAN MARTYROLOGY:

At Sion in Valais, at a place called Agaunum, the birthday of the holy martyrs Maurice, Ewuperius, Candidus, Victor, Innocent, and Vitalis, with their companions of the Theban legion who were massacred under Maximian for the name of Christ, and fitted the whole world with the renown of their martyrdom.

Dom Prosper Guéranger:

Let us unite with Rome in paying honour to these valiant soldiers, the glorious patrons of Christian armies as well as of numerous churches. “Emperor,” said they, “we are your soldiers, but we are also the servants of God. To Him we took our first oaths. If we break them, how can you trust us to keep our oaths to you?” No command, no discipline can overrule our baptismal engagements. Every soldier is bound, in honour and in conscience, to obey the Lord of hosts rather than all human commanders, who are but His subalterns.

At Rome, the martyrdom of the holy virgins and martyrs Digna and Emerita, under Valerian and Gallienus. Their relics are kept in the church of St. Marcellus.

At Arpajon near Paris, St. Jonas, priest and martyr, who went to France with St. Denis, and after being scourged by order of the prefect Julian, ended his martyrdom by the sword.

At Ratisbon in Bavaria, St. Emmeramus, bishop and martyr, who, to deliver others, endured patiently a most cruel death for the sake of Our Lord.

At Antinoopolis in Egypt, the holy martyrs Irais, an Alexandrian virgin, and her companions. Having gone out to draw water at a fountain near by, and seeing a boat loaded with Christian confessors, she immediately left her vessel and joined them. Being conducted to the city with them, after many torments, she was the first to have her head struck off, and after her, priests, deacons, virgins, and all others underwent the same kind of death.

At Meaux, blessed Sanctinus, bishop, a disciple of St. Denis, the Areopagite, who, being consecrated by him bishop of that city, was the first to preach the Gospel there.

In the territory of Coutances, St. Lauto, bishop.

In Poitou, the holy priest Florentius.

In the territory of Bourges, St. Sylvanus, confessor.

At Laon, St. Salaberga, abbess.

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

Thanks be to God.