26 JANUARY – SAINT PAULA (Widow)

 

Paula, a Roman lady of a most noble senatorial family, but still more noble by the holiness of her life, was married to Toxotius, of an equal noble race, and bore him five children. After her husband’s death, she devoted her whole self to the service of God and distributed her great wealth to the poor of Christ, but with so much charity that she would go through the city in search of them, and (as Saint Jerome relates of her) would count herself a loser if any poor needy person were fed by any other than herself. This zeal for the poor continued till her death, and she would sometimes say that she longed to die as a poor mendicant and to be buried in a borrowed winding-sheet.

Certain dissensions having arisen between some of the Churches under the pontificate of Saint Damasus, several Bishops, both of the East and West, came to Rome. Paula gave hospitality to Saint Epiphanius, Bishop of Salamina in Cyprus. She also loaded Paulinus of Antioch with every sort of kindness. Their virtues made such an impression on her that she determined to leave her country and spend the rest of her days in the desert. Therefore, without delay, she fled from the noise and bustle of the city and from the flattery of admirers. And preferring the humble Bethlehem to Rome, she set out for Porto and there embarked for Palestine. Her brother, relatives and children did their utmost to dissuade her from her resolution and made use of every argument that could weigh with a mother’s heart. But while feeling all the keenness of sorrow, Paula raised her tearless eyes to Heaven and conquered by her love for God, the love that would have kept her with her children. She was a mother but she was also the handmaid of Christ, and that was before all else.

Having, therefore, embarked, accompanied by her daughter Eustochium who had imitated her in her holy purpose, Paula set sail, longing, with all the ardour of faith and love, to visit Jerusalem and the Holy Places. After touching at Cyprus and Selucia, she landed at Syria and Palestine, visiting each hallowed spot with so much joy and devotion that nothing less than the resolution of seeing the others could have torn her from it. Having, at length, reached Bethlehem, there she remained and built four monasteries, one for men, over which Saint Jerome presided, and the three others for women.

The remainder of her life was spent in Bethlehem in the exercises of the most admirable sanctity. Humility was her favourite virtue. Her meekness was extraordinary, as also was her love for the poor. She was calumniated by certain envious tongues and was tried by numerous crosses, but she bore all with invincible patience and forbearance. She was slow to speak and swift to hear. She knew the Sacred Scriptures by heart, for she was most assiduous in reading both the Old and New Testament. She applied herself to the study of Hebrew, which she so perfectly mastered that she used to sing the Psalms in that language and spoke it as though it had been her native tongue. She slept on a haircloth thrown on the floor, and even such sleep as this was interrupted by such long and frequent prayers that it seemed as though her nights were prayer rather than sleep. Even when suffering the most violent fever, she would not allow herself anything that could make her bed less comfortless. Her abstinence was so great that it bordered on imprudence. She added to the weakness of her frame by severe fasting and hard work. Excepting the feast days, she would scarcely allow herself a drop of oil with her food. No argument could induce her to take wine as a means for restoring her to strength. It would be difficult to describe the tender care with which she nursed the sick. She lavished on them whatever she had, while to herself, when in sickness, she allowed no indulgence so that she had two measures: one of commiseration for others, and one of severity towards herself.

At length, Paula fell into a dangerous sickness, and saw that her death was approaching. A chill was over her whole body, her heart alone retaining a spark of life. Then, as though she were going to her home and was leaving a place of banishment, she ceased not, until she breathed forth her soul, to repeat these verses of the Psalm: “O Lord! I have loved the beauty of your house, and the place where your glory dwells. How lovely are your tabernacles, O Lord of Hosts! My soul longs and faints for the courts of the Lord.” Signing her lips with the sign of the cross, she yielded her most holy soul to her God on the seventh of the Calends of February (January 26), in the fifty-sixth year of her age. Her remains were carried by bishops into the Church of the Holy Cave. From all the towns of Palestine there came to her funeral a multitude of monks, virgins, widows and poor who, as at the death of Dorcas, showed the garments she had given them. On the third day she was buried under the Church, close to the Grotto of our Lord.

Dom Prosper Gueranger:

The noble and pious widow who left all the pomps of Rome and bade adieu to her children to lead a life of retirement in Bethlehem, comes before us today as one of the Saints that have a special right to be near the crib of the Infant Jesus. She was, during her life, irresistibly attracted to it as to something far richer in her eyes than all the palaces of kings. There did she find her God who had rendered Himself poor for our sakes, and whose poverty she, in the days of her opulence, used to console by relieving the wants of the indigent. It was through her zeal that several monasteries were founded in the neighbourhood of the holy cave, where the Word made Flesh first appeared to men. She spent her days in prayer, in works of penance and charity, and in the meditation of the Holy Scriptures which she studied under the guidance of the great Saint Jerome. It is a sight worthy of our admiration to behold these Christian ladies and virgins filled with the sublime spirit of the gospel of Jesus Christ while everything around them was corrupted by the grossest sensuality of pagan Rome. We find them retiring either to the deserts of Egypt, there to study the virtues of the monks and hermits, or to the Holy Land, there to venerate the scenes of our Lord’s life. Paula is one of the foremost of these noble Christian women, and it is with extreme regret that we are obliged to omit the account of her pilgrimage, given with so much spirit and unction by Saint Jerome in letters addressed to the illustrious virgin Eustochium, the daughter of Saint Paula. We must limit ourselves to the following quotation in which the Holy Doctor describes the arrival at Bethlehem:

“Having divided among the poor and her attendants what little money she had still remaining, Paula left Jerusalem and proceeded to Bethlehem. After paying a short visit to the tomb of Rachel which lies on the right hand of the road, she arrived at the city she so much longed to see, and she entered into the Grotto of our Lord. As soon as she beheld the sacred spot in which our Lady sought shelter and saw the stable “where the ox knew his owner, and the ass his master’ crib” (Isaias i. 3) she told me, with much emotion, that she saw, with the eyes of her faith, the infant wrapped in swaddling clothes and sleeping in the manger: the Magi adoring, the Star brightly shining over the stable, the Virgin-Mother, Joseph eager to render her his service, the shepherds arriving at midnight, the Innocents massacred, Herod enraged and Joseph and Mary fleeing into Egypt. Tears of joy trickled down her cheeks and she exclaimed: ‘Hail, O Bethlehem! house of bread in which was born the Bread that came down from Heaven! Hail, O Ephrata! fertile land whose fruit is our very God. It is of you that the Prophet Micheas spoke when he said: Bethlehem, Ephrata! You are not the least of the thousand cities of Judah, for out of you will come He that is to be the Ruler in Israel, and His going forth is from the beginning, from the days of eternity (Micheas v. 2) Yes, it was in you that was born the Prince who was begotten before the day-star, and whose birth in the bosom of the Father was before all ages. I, a poor wretched sinner, even I have been permitted to kiss the crib in which the infant Saviour shed His first tears. I have been permitted to pray in that cave in which the Virgin-Mother brought forth our Lord. Here, henceforth, will I rest, for this is the country of our Master. Here will I dwell, for our Lord chose it for His own dwelling-place.’”

*****

You loved the crib of your Lord, O generous hearted Paula! You preferred the humble Grotto of Bethlehem to all the riches of Rome, and Jesus, to reward your love and the sacrifice you made for Him, has united you to Himself for eternity. May we learn from your example to go in search of the infant Jesus, and to relish the mysteries of His divine birth. May we break down every obstacle whenever He calls us to Himself. May He mercifully teach us to acknowledge the rights He has acquired over us by the sacrifices He made for our sakes, and be, thereby, disposed to give Him whatever He may ask at our hands. May your eagerness to sacrifice the strongest affections of your heart in order that you might be united to Him alone animate us to moderate and regulate ours.

May your prayers help us to keep our hearts faithful to Him who made them, and ready, at all times, to follow Him in the path to which He may call us. May we stand on our guard against that spirit of the world which is ever seeking to enter into a compact with Christianity, and by calling into question the counsels of our Lord to deny even the obligation of all men to obey His precepts. May the light of the Holy Ghost shine upon us, and the love of Jesus inflame our hearts. Then will we understand the conduct of the Saints. Their examples may, indeed, make us feel ashamed at our weakness, but they will also bring light to our soul, and will encourage us to fulfil those duties which God puts upon us, nor will self-love be able to cheat us into tepidity.

Pray for the Church of Syria which you sanctified by your virtues. Watch over the sanctuaries of the Holy Land. Protect the pilgrims who, after your example, visit the Holy Places where were achieved the Mysteries of our Redemption. Excite throughout Christendom a love of the Holy Land, and may we be inflamed in the love of Jesus by following devoutly the Stations He marked for us in His sacred Passion.

Also on this day according to the ROMAN MARTYROLOGY:

At Hippo Regius in Africa, the holy bishop Theogenes and thirty-six others, who, despising temporal death, obtained the crown of eternal life in the persecution of Valerian.

In the diocese of Paris, the saintly queen Bathildis, illustrious by her sanctity and glorious miracles.

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

Thanks be to God.

20 JANUARY – SAINT FABIAN (Pope and Martyr)

 

Fabian, a Roman by birth, governed the Church from the reign of Maximin to that of Decius. He divided the city into seven parts which he consigned to as many Deacons and to them he gave the charge of looking after the poor. He created also a like number of Subdeacons who were to collect the Acts of the Martyrs, written by seven Notaries. It was he who decreed that every year, on the fifth Feria, our Lord’s Supper, the Chrism should be renewed, and the old should be burnt. At length, on the thirteenth of the Calends of February (January 20), he was crowned with martyrdom in the persecution of Decius and was buried in the cemetery of Callixtus on the Via Appia after reigning 15 years and 4 days. He held 5 ordinations in the month of December, in which he made 22 Priests, 7 Deacons and 11 Bishops for various places.

Dom Prosper Gueranger:

Saint Fabian, like Saint Clement and Saint Antheros, two of his predecessors, was extremely zealous in seeing that the Acts of the Martyrs were carefully drawn up. This zeal was no doubt exercised by the clergy in the case of our holy Pontiff himself, and his sufferings and martyrdom were carefully registered. But all these interesting particulars have been lost, in common with an immense number of other precious Acts which were condemned to the flames by the imperial edicts during the persecution under Diocletian. Nothing is now known of the life of Saint Fabian, save a few of his actions as Pope. But we may have some idea of his virtues by the praise given him by Saint Cyprian who, in a letter written to Saint Cornelius, the immediate successor of Saint Fabian, calls him “an incomparable man.” The Bishop of Carthage extols the purity and holiness of life of the holy Pontiff who so peaceably governed the Church amid all the storms which then assailed her. There is an interesting circumstance related of him by Eusebius. After the death of Saint Antheros, the people and clergy of Rome assembled together for the election of the new Pontiff. Heaven marked out the successor of Saint Peter: a dove was seen to rest on the venerable head of Fabian and he was unanimously chosen. This reminds us of the event in our Lord’s life which we celebrated a few days back when, standing in the river Jordan, the Dove came down from Heaven and showed Him to the people as the Son of God. Fabian was the depository of the power of regeneration which Jesus, by His Baptism, gave to the element of water. He zealously propagated the Faith of His Divine Master and, among the Bishops he consecrated for divers places, one or more were sent by him into these western parts of Europe.

*****

Thus did you live out the long tempestuous days of your Pontificate, O Fabian! But you had the presentiment of the peaceful future reserved by God for His Church, and you zealously laboured to hand down to the coming generations the great examples of the Martyrs. The flames have robbed us of a great portion of the treasures you prepared for us and have deprived us of knowing the Fabian who so loved the Martyrs and died one himself. But of you, Blessed Pontiff, we know enough to make us thank God for having set you over His Church in those hard times, and keep this day as a feast in celebration of your glorious triumph. The dove which marked you out as the one chosen by Heaven showed you to men as the visible Christ on Earth. It told you that you were destined for heavy responsibilities and martyrdom. It was a warning to the Church that she should recognise and hear you as her guide and teacher. Honoured thus with a resemblance to Jesus in the mystery of His Epiphany, pray to Him for us that He mercifully manifest Himself to our mind and heart. Obtain of Him for us that docility to His grace, that loving submissiveness to His every will, that detachment from all created things, which were the support of your life during those fifteen years of your ever threatened and anxious pontificate. When the angry persecution at length broke on you, it found you prepared and martyrdom carried you to the bosom of that God who had already welcomed so many of your martyred children. We, too, are looking for that last wave which is to break over us and carry us from the shore of this present life to eternity — pray for us that it may find us ready! If the love of the Divine Babe, our Jesus, be within us. If, like you, we imitate the simplicity of the dove — we will not be lost! Here are our hearts — we wish for nothing but God — help us by your prayers.

11 JANUARY – FERIA

Pope St. Hyginus 

Dom Prosper Guéranger:

The Magi were not satisfied with paying their adorations to the great King whom Mary presented to them. After the example of the Queen of Saba who paid her homage to the Prince of Peace in the person of King Solomon, these three Eastern Kings opened their treasures and presented their offerings to Jesus. Our Emmanuel graciously accepted these mystic gifts, and suffered them not to leave Him until He had loaded them with gifts infinitely more precious than those He had vouchsafed to receive. The Magi had given Him of the riches which this Earth produces. Jesus repays them with heavenly gifts. He strengthened in their hearts the virtues of faith, hope and charity. He enriched, in their persons, the Church of which they were the representatives. And the words of the Canticle of Mary were fulfilled in them: “He has filled the hungry with good things, and the rich He has sent empty away” (Luke i. 53). for the Synagogue refused to follow them in their search after the King of the Jews.

But let us consider the gifts made by the Magi, and let us, together with the Church and the Holy Fathers, acknowledge the Mysteries expressed by them. The gifts were three in number in order to honour the sacred number of the Persons in the divine Essence, as likewise to express the triple character of the Emmanuel. He had come that He might be King over the whole world. It was fitting that men should offer gold to Him, for it is the emblem of sovereign power. He had come to be High Priest and, by His mediation, reconcile Earth to Heaven. Incense, then, was an appropriate gift, for the priest uses it when He offers sacrifice. But, thirdly, it was only by His own death that He was to obtain possession of the throne which was prepared for his glorified Human Nature, and the perpetual Sacrifice of the Divine Lamb was to be inaugurated by this same His death. The gift of Myrrh was expressive of the Death and Burial of an immortal Victim. The Holy Ghost, who inspired the Prophets, had guided the Magi in their selection of these three gifts. Let us listen to Saint Leo, who speaking of this Mystery, says with his usual eloquence:

“O admirable Faith, which leads to Knowledge and perfect Knowledge, and which was not taught in the school of earthly wisdom, but was enlightened by the Holy Ghost Himself! For, whence had they learnt the supernatural beauty of their three Gifts? — they that had come straight from their own country, and had not as yet seen Jesus, nor beheld in His infant face the Light which directed them in the choice of their offerings? While the Star met the gaze of the bodily eye, their hearts were instructed by a stronger light — the ray of Truth. Before setting out on the fatiguing journey they knew Him to whom were due, by gold, the honours of a King; by incense, the worship of God; by myrrh, the faith in His 'Mortal Nature.”

But these three gifts which so sublimely express the three characters of the Man-God are fraught with instruction for us. They signify three great virtues which the divine infant found in the souls of the Magi, and to which He added increase by His grace. Gold signifies charity, which unites us to God; frankincense, prayer, which brings God into man’s heart, and myrrh self-abnegation, suffering and mortification by which we are delivered from the slavery of corrupt nature. Find a heart that loves God, that raises herself up to Him by prayer, that understands and relishes the power of the cross — and you have in that heart the worthiest offering which can be made to God, and one which He always accepts.

*****

We, too, O Jesus, offer you our treasure and our gifts. We confess you to be God, and Priest, and Man. We beseech you to accept the desire we have of corresponding to the love you show us by giving you our love in return. We love you, dear Saviour! Increase our love. Receive, also, the gift of our prayer for, though of itself it be tepid and poor, yet it is pleasing to you because united with the prayer of your Church: teach us how to make it worthy of you and how to give it the power of obtaining what you desire to grant: form within us the gift of prayer that it may unceasingly ascend up like sweet incense in your sight. And, lastly, receive the homage of our contrite and humble hearts, and the resolution we have formed of restraining and purifying our senses by mortification and penance.

The sublime Mysteries which we are celebrating during this holy season have taught us the greatness of our own misery, and the immensity of your love for us, and we feel more than ever the obligation we are under of fleeing from the world and its concupiscences, and of uniting ourselves to you. The Star will not have shone on us in vain: it has brought us to you, dear King of Bethlehem, and you will be King of our hearts. What have we that we prize and hold dear, which we can hesitate to give you in return for the sweet infinite treasure of yourself which you have given to us?

Dear Mother of our Jesus, we put these our offerings into your hands. The gifts of the Magi were made through you, and they were pleasing to your Son. You must present ours to Him, and He will be pleased with them in spite of their poverty. Our love is deficient. Fill up its measure by uniting it with your own immense love. Second our prayer by your maternal intercession. Encourage us in our warfare against the world and the flesh. Make sure our perseverance by obtaining for us the grace of a continual remembrance of the sweet Mysteries which we are now celebrating. Pray for us that, after your own example, we may keep all these things in our hearts. That must be a hard and depraved heart which could offend Jesus in Bethlehem, or refuse Him anything now that he is seated on your lap, waiting for our offering! O Mary, keep us from forgetting that we are the children of the Magi, and that Bethlehem is ever open to receive us.

***** 

Dom Prosper Guéranger:

The holy Pope and Martyr Hyginus held the Apostolic Chair under the reign of Antoninus and closed his four years’ Pontificate by martyrdom. We have no history of his life, but we venerate in him one of the links of that grand chain of Pontiffs which unites us by Saint Peter to our Lord Jesus Christ. The whole weight of the government of the Church was on his shoulders, and he was courageous and faithful in the discharge of his duties. His reign was during the age of Persecution when to be Pope was to be a victim of tortures and death. As we have already said, he soon won his palm and was associated in heaven with the three Magi who had, before leaving this world, preached the gospel in Greece, the country of our Saint. Let us ask him to bless the offerings we are making to the Divine Infant of Bethlehem, and to pray for us that we may obey this sweet King who asks us to give Him, not our blood by martyrdom, but our hearts by charity.

Also on this day according to the ROMAN MARTYROLOGY:

In Africa, blessed Salvius, martyr, on whose birthday St. Augustine preached to the people of Carthage.

At Alexandria, the holy martyrs Peter, Severus and Leucius.

At Fermo in the Marches of Ancona, St. Alexander, bishop and martyr.

At Amiens, St. Salvius, bishop and martyr.

At Brindisi, St. Leucius, bishop and confessor.

In Cappadocia, in a village called Magariassum, St. Theodosius, abbot, who, after great sufferings for the Catholic faith, finally rested in peace.

In Thebais, St.Palaemon, abbot, who was the teacher of St. Pachomius.

At Suppentonia near Mount Soractes, the holy monk Anastasius and his companions, who were called by a voice from heaven to enter the kingdom of God.

At Pavia, St. Honorata, virgin.

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

Thanks be to God.

4 JANUARY – FERIA

On this day according to the ROMAN MARTYROLOGY:

In Crete, the birthday of St. Titus, who was consecrated bishop of that island by the blessed Apostle St. Paul. After having faithfully performed the duty of preaching the Gospel, he reached the end of his blessed life and was buried in the church of which he had been made a worthy minister by the holy Apostle.

At Rome, in the reign of Julian the Apostate, the holy martyrs Priscus, priest, Priscillian, cleric, and Benedicta, a religious woman, who ended their martyrdom by the sword.

Also at Rome, under the same emperor, blessed Dafrosa, wife of the martyr St. Flavian. After her husband had been killed, she was first banished, and then beheaded.

At Bologna, the Saints Hermes, Aggoeus and Caius, martyrs, who suffered under the emperor Maximian.

At Adrumetum in Africa, in the persecution of Severus, the commemoration of St. Mavilus, martyr, who, being condemned by the most cruel judge Scapula to be devoured by wild beasts, received the crown of martyrdom.

Also in Africa, the most renowned martyrs Aquilinus, Geminus, Eugenius, Marcian, Quinctus, Theodotus and Tryphon.

At Langres, St. Gregory, a bishop renowned for miracles.

At Rheims in France, St. Rigobertus, bishop and confessor.

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

Thanks be to God.