27 FEBRUARY – SAINT GABRIEL OF THE MOST SORROWFUL VIRGIN

Saint Gabriel of the Most Sorrowful Virgin (Francis Possenti) was born on 1 March 1838 in Assisi, Italy, to Sante and Agnes Possenti. He was one of thirteen children, several of whom died in infancy. His mother died in 1842 when he was only four years old. Francis was educated at a Jesuit college in Spoleto.

While still a student he became dangerously ill and promised to enter a religious order if he recovered. He did not keep his vow and after a few years he became seriously sick again. He renewed his promise and was again cured. Believing this to be a miracle which he attributed to the intercession of the Polish Jesuit priest Blessed Andrzej Boboba (1591–1657), he applied to the Society of Jesus and was accepted. However, he delayed entering the Jesuits. Then his sister Maria Louisa was stricken with cholera and died. After seeking the advice of a priest, Francis decided to join the Congregation of the Passion of Jesus Christ (the Passionists). In 1856 he entered the noviceship at Morrovalle in the Marche and was given the religious name of Brother Gabriel of Our Lady of Sorrows:

“The rest of Gabriel's career is simply a record of an extraordinary effort to attain perfection in small things. His brightness, his spirit of prayer, his charity to the poor, his consideration for others, his exact observance of every rule, his desire (constantly checked by wise superiors) to adopt forms of bodily mortification which were beyond his strength, his absolute submission in all matters in which he could practise obedience evidently made an ineffaceable impression upon all who lived with him. Their testimony in the process of his beatification is most convincing. It was a life of continual self-surrender, but the most charming feature of the whole was the cheerfulness with which the offering was made”.

(Butler's Lives of the Saints, Vol 1, page 430)

After four years in the Passionists, Gabriel became ill with tuberculosis. He died on 27 February 1862 at the age of 23 at Isola di Gran Sasso near Teramo in the Abruzzi. He was beatified by Pope St. Pius X in 1908 and canonised by Pope Benedict XV in 1920. St. Gabriel is a patron saint of Catholic youth, of students, and of those studying for the priesthood.

In leap years, his feast day is observed on 28 February.

Also on this day according to the ROMAN MARTYROLOGY:

At Rome, the birthday of the holy martyrs Macarius, Rufinus, Justus and Theophilus.

At Alexandria, the passion of the Saints Caerealis, Pupulus, Caius and Serapion. In the same city, in the reign of the emperor Valerian, the commemoration of the holy priests, deacons and other Christians in great number who encountered death most willingly by nursing the victims of a most deadly pestilence then raging. They have been generally revered as martyrs by the pious faithful.

In the territory of Lyons, on Mount Jura, the demise of St. Romanus, abbot, who was the first to lead the heremitical life there. His reputation for virtues and miracles brought under his guidance numerous monks.

At Pavia, the translation, from the island of Sardinia, of the body of St. Augustine, bishop, by Luitprand, king of the Lombards.

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

Thanks be to God.

26 FEBRUARY – SAINT MARGARET OF CORTONA (Penitent)

 

Margaret of Cortona (so called from the town where she died) was born at Alviano in Tuscany. In her early youth she was a slave to the pleasures of this world and led a vain and sinful life in the city of Montepulciano. Her attention was one day attracted by a dog which seemed to wish her to follow it. She did so, and it led her to a pile of wood which covered a large hole. Looking in, she saw the body of her lover whose enemies had murdered him and thrown his mangled body into that place. She suddenly felt that the hand of God was upon her, and being overwhelmed with intense sorrow for her sins, she went forth and wept bitterly.

Margaret returned to Alviano, cut off her hair, laid aside her trinkets and, putting on a dark-coloured dress, she abandoned her evil ways and the pleasures of the world. She was to be found in the churches with a rope tied round her neck, prostrated on the ground and imploring pardon of all whom she had scandalised by her past life. She shortly afterwards set out for Cortona and there, in sackcloth and ashes, she sought how she might appease the divine anger. For three years she tried herself in the practice of every virtue and at the end of that time she obtained permission from the Friars Minors (under whose spiritual guidance she had put herself) to receive the habit of the Third Order.

From that time forward, her tears were almost incessant and the sighs which deep contrition wrung from her heart were such as to leave her speechless for hours. Her bed was the naked ground and her pillow, a stone or piece of wood so that she frequently passed whole nights in heavenly contemplation. Evil desires no longer tormented her, for her fervent spirit was so prompt that the weak flesh was made to labour and obey. The devil spared neither snares nor violent assaults by which to lead her from her holy purpose but she, like a strong woman, detected him by his words and drove him from her. This wicked spirit having tempted her to vain glory, she went into the streets and cried out with a loud voice that she had been a great sinner and deserved the worst of punishments. It was obedience to her confessor that alone prevented her from disfiguring her features, which had been the cause of much sin: for the long and severe penance she had imposed on herself had not impaired her beauty.

By these and such like exercises of a mortified life, Margaret cleansed her soul from the stains of her sins and gained such a victory over herself that the allurements of the world had not the slightest effect upon her, and our Lord rewarded her by frequently visiting her. She also received the grace she so ardently desired, of being allowed to have a share in the sufferings of Jesus and Mary: so much so, indeed, that at times she lay perfectly unconscious as though she were really dead. All this made her be looked up to as a guide in the path of perfection, and persons would come to her, even from distant countries, in order to seek her counsel. By the heavenly light granted her she could read the hearts and consciences of others, and could see the sins committed against our Lord in various parts of the world, for which she would offer up, in atonement, her own sorrow and tears.

Great indeed was the good Margaret effected by the ardent charity she bore to God and her neighbour. She healed the sick who came to her and drove out the devil from those possessed. A mother besought her, with many tears, to restore her child to life, which she did. Her prayers more than once averted war when on the point of being declared. In a word, both the living and the dead experienced the effects of her unbounded charity. While engaged in these manifold holy works, she relented not in the severity of her bodily mortifications, or in her contemplation of heavenly things. The two lives of Mary and Martha were admirably blended together in her, and rich in the merits of each, she besought our Lord to take her from this valley of tears and give her to enter the heavenly country. Her prayer was heard and the day and the hour of her death were revealed to her.

Laden with meritorious works and divine favours, her bodily strength began to fail. For the last seventeen days of her life her only food was that of conversation with her Creator. At length, after receiving the most holy Sacraments of the Church, with a face beaming with joy and her eyes raised lip to Heaven, her happy soul fled to its divine Spouse on the eighth of the Calends of March (February 22nd), in the fiftieth year of her age, the twenty-third of her conversion, in 1297. Her body, which even to this day is fresh, incorrupt and unaltered and sheds a sweet fragrance, is devoutly honoured in the Church called after her belonging to the Friars Minors. The many miracles which have been wrought at her shrine, have induced the Sovereign Pontiffs to promote devotion to Saint Margaret by the grant of many spiritual favours. She was canonised with great solemnity by Pope Benedict XIII on the 16th of May, which was the Feast of Pentecost in 1728.

Dom Prosper Guéranger:

Close to the faithful Virgins who form the court of Jesus, there stand those holy women whose repentance has merited for them a prominent place in the Calendar of the Church. They are the bright trophies of God’s mercy. They expiated their sins by a life of penance. The tears of their compunction wiped away their guilt. He that is Purity itself has found them worthy of His love, and, when Pharisees affect to be shocked at His allowing them to be near Him, He warmly defends them. Foremost among these is Mary Magdalene to whom much was forgiven because she loved much (Luke vii. 47), but there are two on the list of Penitent Saints whose names shine most brightly on the Calendar of this portion of the year and were, like Mary Magdalene, ardent in their love of the Divine Master whom they had once offended: these are Mary of Egypt and Margherita of Cortona. It is the second of these who today tells us the consoling truth, that if sin separate us from God, penance has the power of not only disarming His anger, but of forming between God and the sinner that ineffable bond of love which the Apostle alludes to when he says: “Where sin has abounded, grace has more abounded” (Romans v. 20).

*****

If the Angels of God rejoiced on the day of your conversion, when Margherita the sinner became the heroic and saintly Penitent, what a grand feast must they not have kept when your soul left this world and they led you to the eternal nuptials with the Lamb! You are one of the brightest trophies of Divine Mercy, and when we think of the Saint of Cortona, our hearts glow with hope. We are sinners. We have deserved Hell. And yet when we hear your name, Heaven and mercy seem so near to us. Yes, even to us, Margherita of Cortona! See how we are like you in your weakness and your wanderings from the fold, but you force us to hope that we may, like you, be converted, do penance and reach Heaven at last. The instrument of your conversion was death, and is not death busy enough around us? The sight of that corpse taught you, and with an irresistible eloquence, that sin is madness, for it exposes the soul to fall into infinite misery. How comes it that death is almost daily telling us that life is uncertain and that our eternal lot may be decided at any hour, and yet the lesson is so lost upon us? We are hard-hearted sinners, and we need your prayers, O fervent Lover of Jesus! The Church will soon preach to us the great Memento. She will tell us that we are but dust, and into dust must speedily return. Oh that this warning might detach us from the world and ourselves, and man us to the resolution of Penance, that port of salvation for them that have suffered shipwreck. Oh that it might excite within us the desire of returning to that God who knows not how to resist the poor soul who comes to Him, after all her sins, throws herself into the bosom of His mercy, and asks Him to forgive! Your example proves that we may hope for every grace. Pray for us, and exercise in our favour that maternal charity which filled your heart, even when you were living here below.

Also on this day according to the ROMAN MARTYROLOGY:

At Pergen in Pamphylia, during the persecution of Decius, the birthday of the blessed bishop Nestor, who, praying night and day for the preservation of the flock of Christ, was put under arrest. As he confessed the name of the Lord with great joy and freedom, he was most cruelly tortured on the rack by order of the governor Pollio, and still courageously proclaiming that he would ever remain faithful to Christ, he was suspended on a cross and thus triumphantly went to heaven.

In the same place, the passion of Saints Papias, Diodorus, Conon and Claudian who preceded St. Nestor to martyrdom.

Also the holy martyrs Fortunatus, Felix and twenty-seven others.

At Alexandria, the bishop St. Alexander, an aged man held in great honour, who succeeded blessed Peter as bishop of that city. He expelled from the Church Arius, one of his priests, tainted with heretical impiety, and convicted by divine truth, and subsequently was one of the three hundred and eighteen Fathers who condemned him in the Council of Nicaea.

At Bologna, the bishop St. Faustinian, whose preaching strengthened and multiplied the faithful of that Church, which had been much afflicted during the persecution of Diocletian.

At Gaza in Palestine, in the time of the emperor Arcadius, St. Porphyry, bishop, who overthrew the idol Marnas and its temple, and after many sufferings went to rest in the Lord.

At Florence, St. Andrew, bishop and confessor.

In the territory of Arcis, St. Victor, confessor, whose eulogy was written by St. Bernard.

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

Thanks be to God.

24 FEBRUARY – SAINT MATTHIAS (Apostle)

Dom Prosper Guéranger:

An Apostle of Jesus Christ, Saint Matthias is one of the Blessed choir which the Church would have us honour during the Season of Septuagesima. Matthias was one of the first to follow our Saviour, and he was an eye-witness of all His divine actions up to the very day of the Ascension. He was one of the seventy-two Disciples, but our Lord had not conferred on him the dignity of an Apostle. And yet, he was to have this great glory, for it was of him that David spoke when he prophesied that another should take the bishopric (Psalm cviii. 8; Acts i. 16) left vacant by the apostasy of Judas the Traitor. In the interval between Jesus’ Ascension and the Descent of the Holy Ghost, the Apostolic College had to complete the mystic number fixed by our Lord Himself, so that there might be “The Twelve” on that solemn day when the Church, filled with the Holy Ghost, was to manifest herself to the Synagogue. The lot fell on Matthias (Acts i.). He shared with his Brother-Apostles in the Jerusalem persecution and, when the time came for the Ambassadors of Christ to separate, he set out for the countries allotted to him. Tradition tells us that these were Cappadocia and the provinces bordering on the Caspian Sea.

The virtues, labours and sufferings of Saint Matthias have not been handed down to us: this explains there being no proper Lessons on his Life, as there are for the Feasts of the rest of the Apostles. Clement of Alexandria records in his writings several sayings of our holy Apostle. One of these is so very appropriate to the spirit of the present Season that we consider it a duty to quote it. “It behoves us to combat the flesh and make use of it without pampering it by unlawful gratifications. As to the soul, we must develop her power by faith and knowledge.” How profound is the teaching contained in these few words! Sin has deranged the order which the Creator had established. It gave the outward man such a tendency to grovel in things which degrade him that the only means left us for the restoration of the likeness and image of God to which we were created is the forcibly subjecting the body to the spirit. But the spirit itself, that is, the soul, was also impaired by Original Sin and her inclinations were made prone to evil: what is to be her protection? Faith and knowledge. Faith humbles her, and then exalts and rewards her, and the reward is knowledge. Here we have a summary of what the Church teaches us during the two Seasons of Septuagesima and Lent. Let us thank the holy Apostle, in this his Feast, for leaving us such a lesson of spiritual wisdom and fortitude. The same traditions, which give us some slight information regarding the holy life of Saint Matthias, tell us that his Apostolic labours were crowned with the palm of martyrdom.

Also on this day according to the ROMAN MARTYROLOGY:

At Rome, St. Primitiva, martyr.

At Caesarea in Cappadocia, St. Sergius, martyr, of whose life a beautiful account still exists.

In Africa, the holy martyrs Montanus, Lucius, Julian, Victoricus, Flavian and their companions. They were disciples of St. Cyprian and suffered martyrdom under the emperor Valerian.

At Rouen, the passion of St. Prætextatus, bishop and martyr.

At Treves, St. Modestus, bishop and confessor.

In England, St. Ethelbert, king of Kent, converted to the faith of Christ by St. Augustine, bishop of the English.

At Jerusalem, the first finding of the head of Our Lord’s Precursor.

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

Thanks be to God.

23 FEBRUARY – SAINT PETER DAMIAN (Cardinal and Doctor of the Church)

Peter was born at Ravenna of respectable parents in 988 AD. His mother, wearied with caring for a large family, abandoned him when he was a baby. However, one of her female servants found him in an almost dying state and took care of him until his mother, repenting of her unnatural conduct, consented to treat him as her child. After the death of his parents, one of his brothers, a most harsh man, took him as a servant or slave. It was about this period of his life that he performed an action which evinced his virtue and his filial piety. He happened to find a large sum of money, but instead of using it for his own wants, he gave it to a priest, begging him to offer up the Holy Sacrifice for the repose of his father’s soul. Another of his brothers, called Damian (after whom, it is said, he was named), had Peter educated. So rapid and great was the progress he made in his studies that he was the admiration of his masters. He became so proficient in the liberal sciences that he was made to teach them in the public schools, which he did with great success. During all this time it was his study to bring his body into subjection to the spirit, and to this end he wore a hair-shirt under an outwardly comfortable dress, and practised frequent fasting, watching and prayer. Being in the very ardour of youth, and being cruelly buffeted by the sting of the flesh, during the night he would go plunge himself into a frozen pool of water to quench the impure flame which tormented him. He would also make pilgrimages to holy sanctuaries and recite the entire Psaltery. His charities to the poor were unceasing, and when frequently he provided them with a meal, he would wait upon them himself.

Out of a desire to lead a still more perfect life, Peter became a religious in the Monastery of Avellino in the diocese of Gubbio of the Order of the Monks of Holy Cross of Fontavellana which was founded by the blessed Ludolphus, a disciple of Saint Romuald. Being sent by his Abbot first to the Monastery of Pomposia, and then to that of Saint Vincent of Pietra-Pertusa, he edified both houses by his preaching, admirable teaching and holy life. At the death of the Abbot of Avellino he was recalled to that monastery and was made its superior. The institute so benefited by his government, not only by the new monasteries which he founded in several places, but also by the very saintly regulations he drew up, that he was justly regarded as the second founder of the Order and its brightest ornament. Houses of other Orders, Canons and even entire congregations of the faithful benefited from Peter’s enlightened zeal. He was a benefactor, in more ways than one, to the diocese of Urbino. He aided the Bishop Theuzo in a most important suit, and assisted him by advice and work in the right administration of his diocese. His spirit of holy contemplation, corporal austerities and saintly tenor of his whole conduct gained for him so high a reputation that Pope Stephen IX, in spite of Peter’s extreme reluctance, created him a Cardinal of the holy Roman Church and appointed him Bishop of Ostia. The saint proved himself worthy of these honours by the exercise of the most eminent virtues, and by the faithful discharge of his episcopal office.

It would be impossible to describe the services Peter rendered to the Church and the Sovereign Pontiffs during those most trying times by his learning, his prudence as legate and his untiring zeal. His life was one continued struggle against simony and the heresy of the Nicolaites. He purged the Church of Milan of these disorders and brought her into subjection to the Holy See. He courageously resisted the anti-popes Benedict and Cadolaus. He deterred King Henry IV of Germany from an unjust divorce of his wife. He restored the people of Ravenna to their allegiance to the Roman Pontiff and absolved them from interdict. He reformed the abuses which had crept in among the Canons of Velletri. There was scarcely a single Cathedral Church in the Province of Urbino that had not experienced the beneficial effects of Peter's holy zeal. Thus, that of Gubbio, which was for some time under his care, was relieved by him of many evils. And other Churches that needed his help found him as earnest for their welfare as though he were their own bishop. When he obtained permission to resign as Cardinal and Bishop, he relented nothing of his former charity but was equally ready in doing good to all. He was instrumental in propagating many devout practices including fasting on Fridays in honour of the Holy Cross, reciting the Little Office of our Lady, the keeping the Saturday as a day especially devoted to Mary, and the taking the discipline in expiation of past sins.

After a life which had edified the world by holiness, learning, miracles and glorious works, on his return from Ravenna to which he had been sent as legate, Peter fell asleep in Christ on the eighth of the Calends of March (February 23rd) at Faenza in 1072 AD. His relics, which are kept in the Cistercian Church of that town, are devoutly honoured by the faithful and many miracles are wrought at the holy shrine. The inhabitants of Faenza chose him as the patron of their city, having several times experienced his protection when threatened by danger. His Mass and Office, which were kept under the rite of Confessor and Bishop, had been long observed in several Dioceses and by the Camaldolese Order, but they were extended to the whole Church by a decree of the Congregation of Sacred Rites which was approved by Pope Leo XII who also added to the name of the Saint that of Doctor.

Dom Prosper Guéranger:

It is the feast of the austere reformer of the eleventh century, Peter Damian, the precursor of the holy Pontiff Gregory VII, that we are called upon to celebrate today. To him is due a share of that glorious regeneration which was effected at that troubled period when judgement had to begin at the House of God. The life he had led under the monastic Rule had fitted him for the great contest. So zealously did he withstand the disorders and abuses of his times that we may attribute to him, at least in great measure, the ardent faith of the two centuries which followed the scandals of the tenth. The Church ranks him among her Doctors on account of his admirable writings, and his penitential life ought to excite us to be fervent in the work we have in hand, the work of our conversion.

*****

Your soul was inflamed by the zeal of God’s House, O Peter! God gave you to His Church in those sad times when the wickedness of the world had robbed her of well nearly all her beauty. You had the spirit of an Elias within you, and it gave you courage to waken the servants of the Lord: they had slept, and while they were asleep, the enemy came and the field was oversown with tares (Matthew xiii. 25). Then did better days dawn for the Spouse of Christ. The promises made her by our Lord were fulfilled, but who was the Friend of the Bridegroom? (John iii. 29). Who was the chief instrument used by God to bring back to His House its ancient beauty? A Saint who bore the glorious name of Peter Damian! In those days the Sanctuary was degraded by secular interference. The Princes of the Earth said: “Let us possess the Sanctuary of God for an inheritance” (Psalm lxxxii. 13). The Church which God intended to be free was but a slave in the power of the rulers of this world, and the vices which are inherent to human weakness defiled the Temple. But God had pity on the Spouse of Christ, and for her deliverance he would use human agency: he chose you, Peter, as his principal co-operator in restoring order. Your example and your labours prepared the way for Gregory, the faithful and dauntless Hildebrand into whose hands the keys once placed, and the work of regeneration was completed. You have fought the good fight. You are now in your rest, but your love of the Church and your power to help, are greater than ever. Watch, then, over her interests. Obtain for her Pastors that Apostolic energy and courage which alone can cope with enemies so determined as hers are. Obtain for her Priests the holiness which God demands from them that are the salt of the Earth (Matthew v. 13). Obtain for the faithful the respect and obedience they owe to those who direct them in the path of salvation. You were not only the Apostle, you were moreover the model, of penance in the midst of a corrupt age. Pray for us that we may be eager to atone for our sins by works of mortification. Excite within our souls the remembrance of the sufferings of our Redeemer so that His Passion may urge us to repentance and hope. Increase our confidence in Mary, the Refuge of Sinners, and make us, like yourself, full of filial affection towards her and of zeal that she may be honoured and loved by those who are around us.

Also on this day according to the ROMAN MARTYROLOGY:

The vigil of the Apostle St. Matthias.

At Sirmium, St. Sirenus, monk and martyr. By order of the emperor Maximian he was arrested and beheaded for confessing that he was a Christian.

In the same place, the birthday of seventy-two holy martyrs who ended the combat of martyrdom in that city and took possession of the everlasting kingdom.

At Rome, St. Polycarp, priest, who with blessed Sebastian converted many to the faith of Christ, and by his exhortations led them to the glory of martyrdom.

In the city of Astorga, St. Martha, virgin and martyr, under the emperor Decius and the pro-consul Paternus.

At Constantinople, St. Lazarus, a monk whom the Iconoclast emperor Theophilus ordered to be put to the torture for having painted holy images. His hand was burned with a hot iron, but being healed by the power of God, he painted anew the holy pictures that had been defaced, and finally rested in peace.

At Brescia, St. Felix, bishop.

At Seville in Spain, St. Florentius, confessor.

At Todi, St. Romana, virgin, who was baptised by Pope St. Sylvester. She led a heavenly life in caves and dens, and wrought glorious miracles.

In England, St. Milburga, virgin, daughter of the king of Mercia.

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

Thanks be to God.

22 FEBRUARY – THE CHAIR OF SAINT PETER

Dom Prosper Guéranger:

The Archangel Gabriel told Mary in the Annunciation that the Son who was to be born of her should be a king, and that of His kingdom there should be no end. Hence, when the Magi were led from the East to the crib of Jesus, they proclaimed it in Jerusalem that they came to seek a king. But this new Empire needed a Capital and whereas the king who was to fix His throne in it was, according to the eternal decrees, to re-ascend into Heaven, it was necessary that the visible character of His royalty should be left here on Earth, and this even to the end of the world. He that should be invested with this visible character of Christ our King would be the Vicar of Christ.

Our Lord Jesus Christ chose Simon for this sublime dignity of being His Vicar. He changed his name into one which signifies the Rock, that is “Peter” and in giving him this new name, He tells us that the whole Church throughout the world is to rest upon this man, as upon a Rock, which nothing will ever move (Matthew xvi. 18). But this promise of our Lord included another — namely, that as Peter was to close his earthly career by the Cross, he would give him successors in whom Peter and his authority should live to the end of time.

But, again — there must be some mark or sign of this succession to designate to the world who the Pontiff is, on whom, to the end of the world, the Church is to be built. There are so many Bishops in the Church — in which one of them is Peter continued? This Prince of the Apostles founded and governed several Churches, but only one of these was watered with his blood, and that one was Rome. Only one of these is enriched with his tomb, and that one is Rome. The Bishop of Pome, therefore, is the Successor of Peter and consequently the Vicar of Christ. It is of the Bishop of Rome alone that it is said: “Upon you will I build my Church:” (Matthew xvi. 18), and again: “To you will I give the keys of the kingdom of Heaven,” (Matthew xvi. 19), and again: “I have prayed for you that your faith fail not — confirm your brethren,” (Luke xxii. 32), and again: “Feed my lambs; feed my sheep” (Luke xxi. 15, 17).

Protestantism saw the force of this argument and therefore strove to throw doubts on Saint Peter having lived and died in Rome. They who laboured to establish doubts of this kind rightly hoped that if they could gain their point, they would destroy the authority of the Roman Pontiff and even the very notion of a Head of the Church. But History has refuted this puerile objection and now all learned Protestants agree with Catholics in admitting a fact which is one of the most incontestable, even on the ground of human authority.

It was in order to nullify, by the authority of the Liturgy, this strange pretension of Protestants that Pope Paul IV in 1558 restored the ancient Feast of Saint Peter’s Chair at Rome, and fixed it on the 18th of January. For many centuries the Church had not solemnised the mystery of the Pontificate of the Prince of the Apostles on any distinct feast, but had made the single Feast of February 22nd serve for both the Chair at Antioch and the Chair at Rome.

Today, therefore, the kingship of our Emmanuel shines forth in all its splendour, and the children of the Church rejoice in finding themselves to be brethren and fellow-citizens, united in the Feast of their common capital, the Holy City of Rome. When they look around them and find so many sects separated from each other, and almost forced into decay because they have no centre of union — they give thanks to the Son of God for His having provided for the preservation of His Church and Truth by His instituting a visible Head who never dies, and in whom Peter is for ever continued, just as Christ Himself is continued in Peter. Men are no longer sheep without a Shepherd. The word, spoken at the beginning, is uninterruptedly perpetuated through all ages. The primitive mission is never suspended and, by the Roman Pontiff the end of time is fastened on to the world’s commencement.

“What a consolation for the children of God!” cries out Bossuet in his Essay on Universal History, “and what conviction that they are in possession of the truth when they see that from Innocent XI who now (1681) so worthily occupies the first See of the Church, we go back in unbroken succession even to Saint Peter whom Jesus appointed Prince of the Apostles. That from Saint Peter we come, traversing the line of the Pontiffs who ministered under the Law, even to Aaron, yea, even to Moses. Thence even to the Patriarchs, and even to the beginning of the world!”

When Peter enters Rome, therefore, he comes to realise and explain the destinies of this Queen of Cities. He comes to promise her an Empire even greater than the one she possesses. This new Empire is not to be founded by the sword, as was the first. Rome has been, hitherto, the proud mistress of nations. Henceforth she is to be the Mother of the world by charity, and though all peaceful, yet her Empire will last to the end of time. Let us listen to Saint Leo the Great describing to us, in one of the finest of his Sermons and in his own magnificent style, the humble yet all-eventful entrance of the Fisherman of Genesareth into the capital of the pagan world:

“The good, and just, and omnipotent God who never refused His mercy to the human race and instructed all men, in general, in the knowledge of Himself by His super-abundant benefits —took pity, " by a more hidden counsel and a deeper love, on the voluntary blindness of them that had gone astray, and on the wickedness which was growing in its proneness to evil, and sent, therefore, into the world His co-equal and co-eternal Word. The which Word being made Flesh did so unite the divine to the human nature, as that the deep debasement of the one was the highest uplifting of the other. But that the effect of this unspeakable gift might be diffused throughout the entire world, the providence of God had been preparing the Roman Empire, which had so far extended its limits, as to embrace in itself all the nations of the earth. For nothing could be better suited to the divine plan than the confederation of various kingdoms under one and the same Empire, and the preaching of the Gospel to the whole world would the more rapidly be effected by having the several nations united under the government of one common city. But this city, ignoring the author of this her promotion, while mistress of almost every nation under the sun, was the slave of every nation’s errors and prided himself on having got a grand religion because she had admitted every false doctrine. So that the faster the devil’s hold of her, the more admirable her deliverance by Christ. For, when the twelve Apostles after receiving by the Holy Ghost the gift of tongues divided among themselves the world they had to evangelise, the most blessed Peter, the Prince of the Apostolic order, was sent to the capital of the Roman Empire in order that the light of truth, which had been revealed for the salvation of all nations, might the more effectively flow from the head itself into the whole body of the world. The fact was that there were in this city people belonging to every nation, and the rest of the world soon learnt whatever was taught at Rome. Here, therefore, were to be refuted the opinions of philosophy. Here, the follies of human wisdom to be exploded. Here, the worship of devils to be convicted of blasphemy. Here, the impiety of all the sacrifices to be first abolished. For it was here that an official superstition had systematised into one great whole the fragmentary errors of every other portion of the Earth.

To this city, therefore, O most blessed Apostle, Peter, you fear not to come! The companion of your glory, Paul the Apostle, is not with you, for he is busy founding other Churches. Yet, you enter this forest of wild beasts and, with greater courage than when walking on the waters, you set foot on this deep stormy sea! You that trembled before a servant girl in the house of Caiphas, are fearless now before this Rome, this mistress of the world. Is it that the power of Claudius is less than the authority of Pilate? Or the cruelty of Nero less than the savageness of the Jews? Not so, but the vehemence of your love made you heedless of your risks, and having come that you might love, you forgot to fear. You imbibed this sentiment of fearless charity on that day when the profession of your love for your Master was made perfect by the mystery of His thrice put question. And what asks He of you after thus probing your heart, but that you feed the sheep of Him you love, with the food on which yourself had feasted? Then, too, there were the miracles you had wrought, the gifts of grace you had received, the proofs of the great works you had achieved — all giving you fresh courage. You had taught the truth to such of the children of Israel as had embraced the faith. You had founded the Church of Antioch where first began the glorious Christian title. You had preached the gospel in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia and Bithynia, and assured of the success of your work and of the many years you had yet to live, you brought the trophy of the Cross of Christ into the very walls of Rome where the counsels of God had already determined that you should have both the honour of power, and the glory of martyrdom.”

The future of the human race, now under the guidance of the Church, is therefore centred in Rome, and the destinies of that city are interwoven with those of her undying Pontiff. We, the children of the Church, though differing in race, and tongue, and character, yet are we all Romans by holy religion. As Romans, we are united by Peter to Christ, and this our glorious name is the link of that great fraternity of Catholics throughout the world. Jesus Christ by Peter, and Peter by his successor — these are our rulers in the order of spiritual Government. Every Pastor whose authority emanates not from the See of Rome is a stranger to us and an intruder. So likewise, in the order of our Faith, that is, of what we believe, Jesus Christ by Peter, and Peter by his successor, teach us divine doctrine and how to distinguish truth from error.

Every Symbol of Faith, every doctrinal judgement, every teaching, contrary to the Symbol, and judgements, and teachings of the See of Rome, is of man, and not of God, and must be rejected, hated and anathematised.

Today we will consider and honour the Chair at Rome as the source and rule of our Faith. Here, again, let us borrow the sublime words of Saint Leo and hear him discuss the claims of Peter to Infallibility of teaching. The Holy Doctor will teach us how to understand the full force of those words which were spoken by our Lord, and which He intended should be, for all ages, the grand charter of Faith.

“The word made Flesh was dwelling among us, and He, our Saviour, had spent His whole self for the reparation of the human race. There was nothing too complicated for His wisdom, nothing too difficult for His power. The elements were subject to Him. Spirits ministered to Him. Angels obeyed Him, nor could the mystery of human Redemption be ineffectual, for God, both in His Unity and Trinity, was the worker of that mystery. And yet, Peter is chosen from the rest of the entire world to be the one, the only one, put over the vocation of all nations, and over all the Apostles, and over all the Fathers of the Church: that so, while there were to be many Priests and many Pastors in the people of God, Peter should govern, by the special power given to him, all those whom Christ also rules by His own supreme power. Great and wonderful, dearly Beloved, is this fellowship with Christ’s power granted, by divine condescension, to this man! Moreover, if our Lord willed that there should be something in common to Peter and the rest of the Princes of his Church, it was only on this condition — that whatever He gave to the rest, He gave it to them through Peter.

Again: our Lord questions all the Apostles as to what men say of Him, and as far as the telling Him the opinions of human ignorance goes, they all, indifferently, join in making answer. But as soon as the sentiment of the disciples themselves is called for, he is the first to confess our Lord’s divinity, who is the first in dignity among the Apostles. These were his words: “You are Christ, the Son of the living God (Matthew xvi. 16), which when he had said, our Lord thus answered him: “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah, because flesh and blood has not revealed it to you, but my Father who is in Heaven” (Matthew xvi. 17) that is, blessed are you in that my Father has taught you, and human opinion has not misled you, but heavenly inspiration has instructed you. Not flesh and blood, but He whose Only Begotten Son I am, has shown me to you. And I say to you: that is, as my Father has manifested to you my divinity, so do I now declare to you your own dignity. That you are Peter (the Rock): that is, though I am the immoveable Rock (1 Corinthians x. 4), the Corner-Stone (Ephesians ii. 20) who make both one (Ephesians ii. 14) and the Foundation, other than which no man can lay (1 Corinthians iii. 11), yet are you also a Rock, because you are solidly based by my power, and what I have by right, you have by participation. And upon this Rock I will build my Church, and the gates of Hell will not prevail against it (Matthew xvi. 18), that is, I will construct an everlasting temple upon your strength, and my Church, which is to reach to Heaven, will grow up on the firmness of this your faith.

On the eve of His Passion which was to test the courage of His disciples, our Lord said to Peter: “Simon, Simon, behold Satan has desired to have you, that he sift you as wheat. But I have prayed for you that your faith fail not. And you, being once converted, confirm your brethren” (Luke xxii. 31, 32). All the Apostles were in danger of being tempted to fear, and all stood in need of the divine help, for the devil desired to sift and crush them all. And yet, it is especially for Peter that our Lord is careful. It is for Peter’s faith that He offers an express prayer, as though the others would be sure to be firm if the mind of their leader were unflinching. So that, the strength of all the rest is in Peter, and the assistance of divine grace is distributed in this order — Peter is to receive firmness through Christ, and he himself then give it to the Apostles.”

In another of his Sermons the same holy Doctor explains to us how it is that Peter ever lives and ever teaches in the Chair of Rome. After having cited the passage from the sixteenth chapter of Saint Matthew, (verses 16-19) he says:

“This promise, of Him who is truth itself, must, therefore, be a permanent fact — and Peter, the unceasing Rock of strength, must be the ceaseless ruler of the Church. For we have only to consider the pre-eminence that is given him, and the mysterious titles conferred on him, and we at once see the fellowship he has with our Lord Jesus Christ: he is called the Rock (Peter). He is named the Foundation. He is appointed keeper of the gates of Heaven. He is made judge, with such power of loosing and binding that his sentence holds even in Heaven. These commissions, and duties, and responsibilities with which with he was invested, he discharges with fuller perfection and power, now that he is in Him and with Him, from whom he received all these honours. If, therefore, we do anything that is right, if we decree anything that is right, if, by our daily supplications, we obtain anything from the divine mercy — it is his doing and his merit, whose power lives, and whose authority is supreme, in this his own Chair. All this, dearly Beloved, was obtained by that confession which, being inspired into the Apostle’s heart by God the Father, soared above all the incertitudes of human opinions and drew upon him who spoke it the solidity of a Rock that was to be proof against every attack. For, throughout the whole Church, Peter is every day still proclaiming: Thou are Christ, the Son of the living God. And every tongue that confesses the Lord is guided by the teaching of this word. This is the faith which conquers the devil and sets his captives free. This is the faith which delivers men from the world and takes them to Heaven, and the gates of Hell cannot prevail against it. For such is the solidity with which God has strengthened it that neither heretical depravity has been able to corrupt, nor pagan perfidy to crush, it.”

Thus speaks Saint Leo. “Let it not, therefore, be said,” observes Bossuet, in his Sermon on the Unity of the Church, “let it not be said or thought that this ministry of Peter finishes with his life on Earth. That which is given as the support of a Church which is to last forever, can never be taken away. Peter will live in his successors. Peter will speak in his Chair to the end of time. So speak the Fathers. So speak the six hundred and thirty Bishops of the Council of Chalcedon.” And again: “Thus the Roman Church is ever a Virgin-Church. The Faith of Rome is always the Faith of the Church. What has once been believed will be forever believed. The same voice is heard all over the world, and Peter, in his successors, is now, as he was during his life, the foundation on which the faithful rest. Jesus Christ has said that it will be so, and Heaven and Earth will pass away rather than His word.”

Full of gratitude, therefore, to the God of truth who has vouchsafed to raise up this Chair in His Church, we will listen, with submission of intellect and heart, to the teaching which emanates from it. Rejecting with indignation those dangerous theories which can only serve to keep up sects within the Church, and confessing with all the past ages that the promises made to it. Peter continue in his successors — we will conclude, aided by the twofold light of logic and history, that the teachings, addressed to the Church by the Roman Pontiff, can never contain error and can contain nothing but the doctrine of truth. Such has always been the sense of the Church, and her practice has been the expression of her spirit. Now if we acknowledge a permanent miracle in the uninterrupted succession of the Bishops of Rome in spite of all the revolutions of [twenty] centuries — we acknowledge it to be a still higher prodigy that, notwithstanding the instability of man’s opinions and judgements, the Chair of Rome has faithfully preserved the truth without the slightest admixture of error, whereas the sees of Jerusalem, Antioch, Alexandria and Constantinople, were scarcely able to maintain the true Faith for few centuries, and have become, so frequently, those Chairs of pestilence spoken of by the Royal Prophet (Psalm i. 1).

We are in that season of the Ecclesiastical Year which is devoted to honouring the Incarnation and Birth of the Son of God, and the Maternity of the Blessed Virgin: it behoves us to remember, especially on this present Feast, that it is to the See of Peter that we owe the preservation of these dogmas which are the very basis of our holy religion. Rome not only taught them to us when she sent us the saintly missionaries who evangelised our country but, moreover, when heresy attempted to throw its mists and clouds over these high Mysteries, it was Rome that secured the triumph to truth by her sovereign decision. At Ephesus — when Nestorius was condemned and the dogma which he assailed was solemnly proclaimed, that is, that the Divine Nature and the Human Nature which are in Christ make but one Person, and that Mary is consequently, the true Mother of God — the two hundred Fathers of that General Council thus spoke: “Compelled by the Letters of our Most Holy Father Celestine, Bishop of the Roman Church, we have proceeded, in spite of our tears, to the condemnation of Nestorius.” At Chalcedon — where the Church had to proclaim, against Eutyches, the distinction of the two Natures in the Incarnate Word, God and Man — the six hundred and thirty Fathers, after hearing the Letter of the Roman Pontiff, gave their decision and said: “Peter has spoken by the mouth of Leo.”

*****

We are founded on Christ in our faith and our hopes, because O glorious Prince of the Apostles, we are founded on you, who are the Rock He has set. We are the sheep of the flock of Jesus because we obey you as our shepherd. By following you, O Peter, we are made sure of our being admitted into the kingdom of Heaven, because our Lord gave the keys of His kingdom to you. Having the happiness of being your members, we may also count ourselves as the members of Jesus Christ Himself, for He, the invisible Head of the Church, recognises none as His members save those that are members of the visible Head whom He appointed. So, too, when we adhere to the faith of the Roman Pontiff and obey his orders, we are professing your faith, Peter. We are following your commands, for if Christ teaches and governs by you, you teach and govern by the Roman Pontiff.

Eternal thanks, then, to our Emmanuel for that He has not left us orphans but before returning to Heaven vouchsafed to provide us with a Father and a Shepherd even to the end of time! On the evening before His passion, keeping up His love for us even to the end, He left us His sacred Body and Blood for our food. After His glorious Resurrection, and a few hours before ascending to the right hand of His Father, He called His Apostles around Him, and constituted His Church (His Fold) and said to Peter: “Feed my Lambs, Feed my Sheep” (John xxi. 15, 17). Thus, dear Jesus, did you secure perpetuity to your Church. You gave her unity, for that alone could preserve her and defend her from both external and internal enemies. Glory be to you, O Divine Architect, for that you built the House of your Church on the Rock which was never to be shaken, that is, on Peter! Winds and storms and waves have beat upon that House, but it has stood, for it was built on a Rock (Matthew vii. 25).

O Rome, on this day when the whole Church proclaims your glory by blessing God for having built her on your Rock, receive the renewal of our promise to love you and be faithful to you. You will ever be our Mother and our Mistress, our guide and our hope. Your faith will ever be ours, for he that is not with you is not with Jesus Christ. In you all men are brethren. You are not a foreign city to us, nor is your Pontiff a foreign Sovereign to us, for he is our Father. It is by you that we live the spiritual life, the life of both heart and intellect, and you it is that prepares us to dwell one day in that other city of which you are the image —the city of Heaven into which men enter by you. Bless, O Prince of the Apostles, the flock committed to your care, but forget not them that have unfortunately left the fold. There are whole nations whom you brought up and civilised by the hands of your successors who now have alienated themselves from you and are living on their wretched existence, the more miserable because they feel not the unhappiness of being separated from the Shepherd. They are victims either of schism, or of heresy. Without Christ made visible in His Vicar, Christianity becomes sterile and at last extinct. Those indiscreet doctrines, which tend to throw a doubt on the richness of the prerogatives bestowed by Christ on you, that is, on you who was to hold his place to the end of time — such doctrines produce a cold heart in those who profess them and dispose them, but too frequently, to give to Caesar that spiritual and religious obedience which they owe, yet refuse, to Peter. O supreme Pastor, cure all these evils. Hasten the return of the nations that have separated themselves from you. Let the heresy of the sixteenth century soon become a thing of the past. Open your arms, and again press to your heart the country once so dear to you —England — and pray for her that she may regain her right to be called the beautiful “Island of Saints.” Stir up the people of our northern Europe to redouble their ardour in the search of the Faith of their Fathers, and let them learn the great truth that a religion out of union with the Chair at Rome is powerless to give salvation to its members. Reclaim the East to her ancient fidelity, and let her Patriarchal Sees regain their dignity by submission to the one Apostolic See.

And we, Blessed Apostle, who, by the mercy of God, and the watchfulness of your paternal love, are still faithful, preserve us in the faith of Rome and submission to your successor. Instruct us in the mysteries which have been confided to your teaching. What the Father revealed to you, you reveal to us: show us our Jesus, your beloved Master, Lead us to His crib and let us, after your own example, be blessed by not being scandalised at His deep humiliations, and by ever saying your beautiful confession: “You are Christ, the Son of the living God” (Matthew xvi. 16).

Also on this day according to the ROMAN MARTYROLOGY:

At Hierapolis in Phrygia, blessed Papias, bishop of that city, who had been, with St. Polycarp, a disciple of St. John in his old age.

At Salamis in Cyprus, St. Aristion, who the same Papias says was one of the seventy-two disciples of Christ.

In Arabia, the commemoration of many holy martyrs who were barbarously put to death under the emperor Galerius Maximian.

At Alexandria, St. Abilius, bishop, who was the second pastor of that city after St. Mark and administered his charge with eminent piety.

At Vienna, St. Paschasius, bishop, celebrated for his learning and holy life.

At Cortona in Tuscany, St. Margaret, of the Third Order of St. Francis, whose body miraculously remained uncorrupt for more than four centuries, giving forth a sweet odour and producing frequent miracles. It is honoured in that place with great devotion.

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

Thanks be to God.

21 FEBRUARY – FERIA

On this day according to the ROMAN MARTYROLOGY:

In Sicily, in the reign of Diocletian, the birthday of seventy-nine holy martyrs who deserved by various torments to receive an immortal crown for the confession of their faith.

At Adrumetum in Africa, during the persecution of the Vandals, the holy martyrs Verulus, Secundinus, Syricius, Felix, Servulus, Saturninus, Fortunatus and sixteen others who were crowned with martyrdom for the confession of the Catholic faith.

At Scythopolis in Palestine, St. Severian, bishop and martyr.

At Damascus, St. Peter Mavimenus, who was killed by some Arabs who visited him in his sickness because he said to them, “Whoever does not embrace the Christian and Catholic faith is lost, like your false prophet Muhammed.”

At Ravenna, St. Maximian, bishop and confessor.

At Metz, St. Felix, bishop.

At Brescia, St. Paterius, bishop.

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

Thanks be to God.

20 FEBRUARY – FERIA

On this day according to the ROMAN MARTYROLOGY:

At Tyre in Phoenicia, the commemoration of many blessed martyrs whose number is known to God alone. Under the emperor Diocletian they were put to death after a long and varied series of torments by the military commander Veturius. They were first lacerated with whips, and then delivered to several kinds of beasts. But, through the interposition of Providence, remaining unhurt, they consummated their martyrdom by the torment of fire and by the sword. This glorious multitude were incited to victory by the bishops Tyrannic, Silvanus, Peleus and Nilus, and the priest Zenobius, who, together with them, won the palm of martyrdom by a successful combat.

On the island of Cyprus, the holy martyrs Pothamius and Nemesius.

At Constantinople, St. Eleutherius, bishop and martyr.

In Persia, in the time of king Sapor, the birthday of St. Sadoth, bishop, and one hundred and twenty-eight others, who refused to adore the sun, and by a cruel death purchased for themselves bright crowns.

At Catania in Sicily, St. Leo, bishop, illustrious for virtues and miracles.

The same day, St. Eucherius, bishop of Orleans, whose miracles increased in proportion to the slanders of the envious.

At Tournai in Belgium, St. Eleutherius, bishop and confessor.

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

Thanks be to God.

19 FEBRUARY – FERIA

On this day according to the ROMAN MARTYROLOGY:

At Rome, the birthday of St. Gabinus, priest and martyr, brother of the blessed Pope Caius. Being loaded with chains and kept a long time in prison by Diocletian, he obtained the joys of heaven by a precious death.

In Africa, the holy martyrs Publius, Julian, Marcellus and others.

In Palestine, the commemoration of the holy monks and other martyrs, who were barbarously massacred for the faith of Christ by the Saracens under their leader Almondhar.

At Jerusalem, St. Zambdas, bishop.

At Soli, St. Auxibius, bishop.

At Benevento, St. Barbatus, a bishop illustrious for sanctity, who converted the Lombards and their chief to the faith of Christ.

At Milan, St. Mansuetus, bishop and confessor.

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

Thanks be to God.

18 FEBRUARY – SAINT SIMEON (Bishop and Martyr)

 

Simeon, the son of Cleophas (Matthew xiii. 55), was ordained Bishop of Jerusalem in 62 AD and was Saint James’ immediate successor in that See. In the reign of the Emperor Trajan he was accused to the Consul Atticus of being a Christian and a relation of Christ for, at this time, all they, that were of the House of David were seized. After having endured various tortures, Simeon was put to death by the same punishment which our Saviour suffered, and all the beholders were filled with astonishment to find how at his age (for he was 120 years old) he could go through the intense pains of crucifixion without showing a sign of fear or irresolution.

Dom Prosper Guéranger:

How venerable our Saint of today, with his hundred and twenty years, and his episcopal dignity, and his Martyr-crown! He succeeded the Apostle Saint James in the See of Jerusalem. He had known Jesus and had been His disciple. He was related to Jesus, for he was of the House of David. His father was Cleophas, and his Mother that Mary whom the tie of kindred united so closely to the Blessed Mother of God that she has been called her sister. What grand titles these of Simeon who comes with all our other Martyrs of Septuagesima to inspirit us to penance! Such a veteran who had been a contemporary of the Saviour of the world and was a Pastor who could repeat to his flock the very lessons this Jesus had given him — such a Saint, we say, could never rejoin His Divine Master save by the path of martyrdom, and that martyrdom must be the Cross. Like Jesus, then, he dies on a Cross and his death, which happened in the year 106, closes the first period of the Christian Era or, as it is called, The Apostolic Age. Let us honour this venerable Pontiff whose name awakens within us the recollection of all that is dear to our Faith. Let us ask him to extend to us that fatherly love which nursed the Church of Jerusalem for so many long years. He will bless us from that throne which he won by the Cross, and will obtain for us the grace we so much need — the grace of conversion.

*****

Receive, most venerable Saint, the humble homage of our devotion. What is all human glory compared with yours! You were of the family of Christ. Your teaching was that which His divine lips had given you. Your charity for men was formed on the model of His Sacred Heart, and your death was the closest representation of His. We may not claim the honour you had of calling ourselves brothers of the Lord Jesus, but pray for us that we may be of those of whom He thus speaks: “Whoever will do the will of my Father that is in Heaven, he is my brother, and sister, and mother” (Matthew xii. 50). We have not, like you, received the doctrine of salvation from the very lips of Jesus, but we have it in all its purity by means of holy Tradition, of which you are one of the earliest links. Obtain for us a docility to this word of God, and pardon for our past disobedience. We have not to be nailed to a cross, as you were, but the world is thickly set with trials to which our Lord Himself gives the name of the Cross. These we must bear with patience, if we would have part with Jesus in His glory. Pray for us, O Simeon, that henceforth we may be more faithful; that we never more become rebels to our duty, and that we may repair the faults we have so often committed by infringing the law of our God.

Also on this day according to the ROMAN MARTYROLOGY:

At Ostia, the holy martyrs Maximus and his brother Claudius, and Praepedigna, the wife of Claudius, with her two sons Alexander and Cutias, all of an illustrious family. By the order of Diocletian, they were apprehended and sent into exile. Afterwards being burned alive, they offered to God the sweet-smelling sacrifice of martyrdom. Their remains were cast into the river, but Christians found them and buried them near that city.

In Africa, the holy martyrs Lucius, Sylvanus, Rutulus, Classicus, Secundinus, Fructulus and Maximus.

At Constantinople, the holy bishop Flavian, who for having defended the Catholic faith at Ephesus, was buffeted and kicked by the partisans of the impious Dioscorus, and being banished, ended his life within three days.

At Toledo, St. Helladius, bishop and confessor.

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

Thanks be to God.

17 FEBRUARY – FERIA

On this day according to the ROMAN MARTYROLOGY:

At Rome, the passion of St. Faustinus, whom forty-four others followed to receive the crown of martyrdom.

In Persia, during the persecution of Decius, the birthday of blessed Polychronius, bishop of Babylon, who, being struck in the mouth with stones, stretched out his hands, lifted up his eyes to heaven and expired.

At Concordia, the holy martyrs Donatus, Secundian, and Romulus, with eighty-six others, partakers of the same crown.

At Caesarea in Palestine, St. Theodulus, an aged man, in the service of the governor Firmilian. Moved by the example of the martyrs, he confessed Christ with constancy, was fastened to a cross, and thus by a noble victory merited the palm of martyrdom.

In the same place, St. Julian, a Cappadocian, who, because he had kissed the relics of the martyrs, was denounced as a Christian and led to the governor who had him consumed with a slow fire.

In the territory of Terouanne, St. Silvinus, bishop of Toulouse.

In Ireland, St. Fintan, priest and confessor.

At Florence, blessed Alexius Falconieri, confessor, one of the seven Founders of the Order of the Servites of the Blessed Virgin Mary, who, in the one hundred and tenth year of his age, terminated his blessed career in the consoling presence of Jesus Christ and the angels.

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

Thanks be to God.

12 FEBRUARY – THE SEVEN FOUNDERS OF THE SERVITE ORDER

 

In the thirteenth century when the more cultured parts of Italy were rent by the dread dissension of the Emperor Frederick II and by bloody civil wars, the mercy of God set forth various men eminent for holiness, and among others raised up seven nobles of Florence who were bound one to another in charity and gave an illustrious example of brotherly love. Their names were Bonfiglio Monaldi, Bonajuncta Manetti, Manetto Antalli, Amadeo de’ Amidei, Uguccio de’ Uguccioni, Sosteneo de’ Sostenei and Alexis de’ Falconieri. On the holiday of the Assumption of the Virgin into Heaven in 1233 they were praying in the oratory of a guild called the Guild of Praise when the same Mother of God appeared to each one of them and bade them embrace a life of greater holiness and perfection. These seven men discussed the matter with the Bishop of Florence and then, considering neither the nobility of their birth nor their wealth and clad in haircloth under vile and worn-out garments, they withdrew into a little house in the country on the eighth of September that they might begin their holier life on the same day on which the Mother of God herself had by her birth begun her life of holiness upon Earth.

God showed by a miracle how acceptable in His sight should be their manner of life, for a short while after, when these seven men were begging alms from door to door through Florence, it came to pass that some children, among whom was holy Philip Benizi who had then scarcely entered the fifth month of his age, called them blessed Mary’s servants, by the which name they were called ever after. To avoid meeting people and in the desire to be alone, they all withdrew together to the solitude of Monte Senario, and there began a kind of heavenly life. They lived in caves and on herbs and water only, while they wore out their bodies with watching and other hardships while they contemplated unweariedly the sufferings of Christ and the woes of His most sorrowful Mother. One Good Friday when their thoughts were fixed on it more than ever, the Blessed Virgin Mary appeared to them twice and showed them her garments of mourning as those in which they should clothe themselves. She bade them know that she would take it right well that they should raise up in the Church a new order to recall the memory of the sorrows which she bore beneath the Cross of the Lord. Holy Peter, the illustrious martyr of the Order of Friars Preachers, learnt this not only from his familiar converse with these holy men, but also from a special vision of the Mother of God, and it was on his incitement that they founded the regular Order called that of the Servites, or Servants of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the which Order was afterward approved by the Pope Innocent IV.

These holy men, when they had gathered to themselves some companions, began to go through the cities and towns of Italy, especially of Tuscany, everywhere preaching Christ crucified, stilling contests among the citizens and calling back almost countless backsliders into the path of grace. Neither did they make Italy only the field of their Gospel labours, but also France, Germany and Poland. They passed away to be ever with the Lord when they had spread far and wide a sweet savour of Christ and were famous also for the glory of signs and wonders. As one love of brotherhood and of the monastic life had joined them together upon Earth, so one grave held their dead bodies and one honour was paid them by the people. For this reason the Popes Clement XI and Benedict XIII confirmed the honour which had for centuries been paid to them individually, and Pope Leo XIII, after proof of their miracles which had been wrought by God on the common invocation of these saints, after their veneration had been sanctioned in the jubilee year of his priesthood, decreed to them the honours paid to Saints and ordered that their memory should every year be kept throughout the universal Church with an Office and Mass.

Also on this day according to the ROMAN MARTYROLOGY:

At Barcelona in Spain, in the time of the emperor Diocletian, St. Eulalia, virgin, who, being racked, torn with iron hooks, cast into the fire and crucified, received the glorious crown of martyrdom.

In Africa, St. Damian, soldier and martyr.

At Carthage, the holy martyrs Modestus and Julian.

At Benevento, St. Modestus, deacon and martyr.

At Alexandria, the holy children Modestus and Ammonius.

At Antioch, St. Meletius, a bishop, who often suffered exile for the Catholic faith, and finally died at Constantinople and went to his reward. His virtues have been highly extolled by St. John Chrysostom and St. Gregory of Nyssa.

At Constantinople, St. Anthony, a bishop in the time of the emperor Leo VI.

At Verona, St. Gaudentius, bishop and confessor.

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

Thanks be to God.

9 FEBRUARY – FIFTH SUNDAY AFTER EPIPHANY

Epistle – Colossians iii. 12‒17

Brethren, put on therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, the bowels of mercy, benignity, humility, modesty, patience; bearing with one another, and forgiving one another, if any have a complaint against another, even as the Lord has forgiven you, so do you also. But above all these things have charity, which is the bond of perfection. And let the peace of Christ rejoice in your hearts, wherein also you are called in one body; and be thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you abundantly, in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another in psalms, hymns and spiritual canticles, singing in grace in your hearts to God. Whatever you do in word or in work, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, giving thanks to God and the Father by Him.

Thanks be to God.

Gospel – Matthew xiii. 24‒30

At that time, Jesus spoke another parable to the multitudes: The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field. But while men were asleep, his enemy came and over-sowed cockle among the wheat and went his way. And when the blade had sprung up, and had brought forth fruit, then appeared also the cockle. And the servants of the good man of the house coming said to him: “Sir, did you not sow good seed in your field? From where then has it cockle?” And he said to them: “An enemy has done this.” And the servants said to him: “Do you want us to go and gather it up?” And he said: “No, lest perhaps gathering up the cockle, you root up the wheat also together with it. Suffer both to grow until the harvest, and in the time of the harvest I will say to the reapers: Gather up first the cockle, and bind it into bundles to burn, but the wheat gather into my barn.”

Praise to you, O Christ.

8 FEBRUARY – SAINT JOHN OF MATHA (Confessor)

 

John of Matha, the institutor of the Order of the Most Holy Trinity for the Ransom of Captives, was born at Fancon in Provence, France, of parents conspicuous for their nobility and virtue. He studied first at Aix, and afterwards at Paris where, after having completed his theological course, he received the degree of Doctor. His eminent learning and virtues induced the Bishop of Paris to promote him in spite of his humble resistance to the holy order of priesthood that, during his sojourn there, he might be a bright example to young students by his talents and piety. While celebrating his first Mass in the Bishop’s chapel in the presence of the Prelate and several assistants, there appeared to John an Angel clad in a white and brilliant robe. He had on his breast a red and blue cross, and his arms were stretched out, crossed one above the other, over two captives, one a Christian, the other a Moor. Falling into an ecstasy at this sight, the John immediately understood that he was called to ransom captives from the infidels. But that he might the more prudently carry out so important an undertaking, he withdrew into a solitude. There, by divine appointment, he met with Felix of Valois who had been living many years in that same desert. They agreed to live together, and for three years John devoted himself to prayer, contemplation and the practice of every virtue.

One day, as they were seated near a fountain, conferring with each other on holy things, a stag came towards them, bearing a red and blue cross between his antlers. John, perceiving that Felix was surprised by so strange an occurrence, told him of the vision he had had in his first Mass. They gave themselves more fervently than ever to prayer, and having been thrice admonished in sleep, they resolved to set out for Rome to obtain permission from the Sovereign Pontiff to found an Order for the ransom of captives. Innocent III who had shortly before been elected Pope received them kindly, and while deliberating on what they proposed it happened that as he was celebrating Mass in the Lateran Church on the second feast of Saint Agnes, there appeared to him, during the elevation of the sacred Host, an Angel robed in white, bearing a two-coloured cross, and in the attitude of one that was rescuing captives. The Pontiff then gave his approbation to the new institute, and would have it called the Order of the Most Holy Trinity for the Ransom of Captives, bidding its members wear a white habit, with a red and blue cross.

The Order being thus established, its holy founders returned to France and erected their first Monastery at Cerfroid in the diocese of Meaux. Felix was left to govern it, and John returned, accompanied by a few of his brethren, to Rome. Innocent III gave them the house, church and hospital of Saint Thomas de Formis, together with various revenues and possessions. He also gave them letters to Miramolin, king of Morocco, and thus was prosperously begun the work of Ransom. John afterwards went into Spain, a great portion of which was then under the Saracen yoke. He stirred up kings, princes and others of the faithful to compassion for the captives and the poor. He built monasteries, founded hospitals and saved the souls of many captives by purchasing their freedom. Having, at length, returned to Rome, he spent his days in doing good. Worn out by incessant labour and sickness, and burning with a most ardent love of God and his neighbour, it was evident that his death was at hand.

Calling his brethren round him, John eloquently besought them to labour in the work of Ransom which Heaven had entrusted to them, and then slept in the Lord on the sixteenth of the Calends of January (December 17th) in 1213. His body was buried with the honour that was due to him in the same Church of Saint Thomas de Formis.

Dom Prosper Guéranger:

We were celebrating, not many days ago, the memory of Peter Nolasco who was inspired by the Holy Mother of God to found an Order for the ransoming of Christian captives from the infidels. Today we have to honour the generous Saint to whom this sublime work was first revealed. He established, under the name of the Most Holy Trinity, a body of religious men who bound themselves by vow to devote their energies, their privations, their liberty, nay, their very life, to the service of the poor slaves who were groaning under the Saracen yoke. The Order of the Trinitarians, and the Order of Mercy, though distinct, have the same end in view, and the result of their labours during the [eight] hundred years of their existence has been the restoring to liberty and preserving from apostasy upwards of a million slaves. John of Matha, assisted by his faithful cooperator, Felix of Valois (whose feast we will keep at the close of the Year) established the centre of his grand work at Meaux in France. We are preparing for Lent when one of our great duties will have to be that of charity towards our suffering brethren: what finer model could we have than John of Matha, and his whole Order, which was called into existence for no other object than that of delivering from the horrors of slavery brethren who were utter strangers to their deliverers, but were in suffering and in bondage. Can we imagine any alms-giving, let it be ever so generous, which can bear comparison with this devotedness of men who bind themselves by their Rule not only to traverse every Christian land begging alms for the ransom of slaves, but to change places with the poor captives, if their liberty cannot be otherwise obtained? Is it not, as far as human weakness permits, following to the very letter, the example of the Son of God Himself who came down from Heaven that He might be our ransom and Redeemer? We repeat it: with such models as these before us we will feel ourselves urged to follow the injunction we are shortly to receive from the Church, of exercising works of mercy towards our fellow-creatures as being one of the essential elements of our Lenten penance.

*****

And now, generous hearted Saint, enjoy the fruits of your devoted charity. Our Blessed Redeemer recognises you as one of His most faithful imitators, and the whole court of Heaven is witness of the recompense with which He loves to honour your likeness to Himself. We must imitate you. We must walk in your footsteps, for we, too, hope to reach the same eternal resting place. Fraternal charity will lead us to Heaven, for the works it inspires us to do have the power of freeing the soul from sin, as our Lord assures us (Ecclesiasticus iii. 33). Your charity was formed on the model of that which is in the heart of God, who loves our soul, yet disdains not to provide for the wants of our body. Seeing so many souls in danger of apostasy, you ran to their aid and men were taught to love a religion which can produce heroes of charity like you. Your heart bled at hearing of the bodily sufferings of these captives, and your hand broke the chains of their galling slavery. Teach us the secret of ardent charity. Is it possible that we can see a soul in danger of being lost, and remain indifferent? Have we forgotten the divine promise, told us by the Apostle: “He that causes a sinner to be converted from the error of his way will save his soul from death and will cover a multitude of his own sins”? (James v. 20). Get us also a tender compassion for such as are in bodily suffering and poverty, so that we may be generous in comforting them under these trials which are but too often an occasion of their blaspheming Providence. Dear friend and Liberator of slaves! Pray, during this holy Season, for those who groan under the captivity of sin and Satan: for those, especially, who, taken with the frenzy of earthly pleasures, feel not the weight of their chains but sleep on peacefully through their slavery. Ransom them by your prayers, convert them to the Lord their God, lead them back to the land of freedom. Pray for France which was your country, and save her from infidelity. Protect the venerable remnants of your Order so that it may labour for the present wants of the Christian world, since the object for which you instituted it has ceased to require its devotedness.

Also on this day according to the ROMAN MARTYROLOGY:

St. Jerome Aemiliani, confessor, founder of the Congregation of Somascha, who slept in the Lord on the eighth of this month. He was numbered among the saints by Pope Clement XIII, his feast being assigned to the twentieth of July.

At Rome, the holy martyrs Paul, Lucius and Cyriacus.

In Lesser Armenia, the birthday of the holy martyrs Denis, Aemilian and Sebastian.

At Alexandria, under the emperor Decius, the martyr St. Cointha, whom the pagans seized, led to the idols and urged to adore them. As she refused with horror, they put her feet in chains and dragged her through the streets of the city, mangling her body in a barbarous manner.

At Constantinople, the birthday of the holy martyrs, monks of the monastery of Dins, who, bringing the letter of Pope St. Felix against Acacius, were barbarously killed for their defence of the Catholic faith.

In Persia, in the time of king Cabades, the commemoration of the holy martyrs who were put to death by various kinds of torments on account of their faith in Christ.

At Pavia, the bishop St. Juventius, who strenuously laboured in preaching the Gospel.

At Milan, the demise of St. Honoratus, bishop and confessor.

At Verdun in France, St. Paul, a bishop renowned for miracles.

At Muret near Limoges, the birthday of the abbot St. Stephen, founder of the Order of Grandimont, celebrated for his virtues and miracles.

In the monastery of Vallombrosa, blessed Peter, cardinal-bishop of Albano, of the Congregation of Vallombrosa, of the Order of St. Benedict, surnamed Igneus, because he passed through fire uninjured.

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

Thanks be to God.