28 MARCH – SAINT JOHN OF CAPISTRANO (Confessor)

St. John was born at Capistrano in the Abruzzi in Italy on 24 June 1385 and entered the Order of Friars Minor at the age of 18. God chose him to help deliver Europe from the Turks who threatened to invade in the fifteenth century. Mohammed II had taken Constantinople and was marching to Belgrade, Serbia. Pope Callistus III decreed a Crusade, and St. John preached the Gospel in Pannonia and other provinces and managed to enrol 70,000 Christians to fight the Turks and defeat them. St. John died in 1456.

Also on this day according to the ROMAN MARTYROLOGY:

At Caesarea in Palestine, the birthday of the holy martyrs Priscus, Malchus and Alexander. In the persecution of Valerian they were dwelling in the suburbs of Caesarea, but knowing that in the city the heavenly crown of martyrdom was to be gained, and burning with the divine ardour of faith, they went to the judge of their own accord, rebuked him for shedding the blood of the faithful in torrents, and were forthwith condemned to be devoured by beasts for the name of Christ.

At Tarsus in Cilicia, the holy martyrs Castor and Dorotheus.

In Africa, the holy martyrs Rogatus, Successus and sixteen others.

At Rome, St. Sixtus III, pope and confessor.

At Norcia, the abbot St. Speus, a man of extraordinary patience, whose soul at its departure from this life was seen by all his brethren to ascend to heaven in the shape of a dove.

At Chalons in France, the demise of St. Gontram, king, who devoted himself to exercises of piety, renounced the pomps of the world, and bestowed his treasures on churches and the poor.

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

Thanks be to God.

27 MARCH – SAINT JOHN OF DAMASCUS (Confessor and Doctor of the Church)

The last of the Greek Fathers, John was born at Damascus where his father was the Caliph’s Vizier. He was educated with great care by Cosmas, a Greek monk who had been brought into Syria as a slave. On his father’s death he succeeded him as Vizier, and had thus all that the world could give him — wealth, honours, power, learning. But realising the danger of his high position at a Muslim court, he divided his riches among the poor and went as a pilgrim to Jerusalem, eventually settling in the famous Laura or monastery of Saint Sabbas. His life henceforth is a simple record of humility, prayer, labour and Obedience. He passed away 6 May 780 AD, being as is asserted one hundred and four years old. On account of the flowing eloquence of his writings Saint John acquired the surname “Chrysorrhoes”(Golden Stream). His chief work, that on the Orthodox Faith, is the first systematic Treatise on Dogmatic Theology we possess and has been a model to the writers of succeeding ages. His convincing discourses in defence of the veneration of icons marked him out as a champion of the faith against Leo the Isaurian, the iconoclast emperor of Constantinople, through whose machinations he was sentenced to have his right hand cut off. It was afterwards miraculously restored to him by Our Blessed Lady, whose devout client he ever was. Venerated from his own age as a Saint, Pope Leo XIII numbered him among the Doctors of the Church.

Also on this day according to the ROMAN MARTYROLOGY:

At Drizipara in Pannonia, St. Alexander, a soldier, in the time of emperor Maximian. Having overcome many tribulations for Christ, and wrought many miracles, he completed his martyrdom by decapitation.

The same day, the Saints Philetus, senator, his wife Lydia, and their sons Macedon and Theoprepides. Also Amphilochius, an officer in the army, and Chronidas, a notary, who were put to death for the confession of Christ.

In Persia, in the reign of King Sapor, the holy martyrs Zanitas, Lazarus, Marotas, Narses, and five others, who merited the palm of martyrdom by being barbarously murdered.

At Salzburg, St. Rupert, bishop and confessor, who spread the Gospel extensively in Bavaria and Austria.

In Egypt, the hermit St. John, a man of great holiness, who among other virtues, was replenished with the spirit of prophecy, and predicted to the emperor Theodosius that he would gain the victory over the tyrants Maximus and Eugenius.

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

Thanks be to God.

25 MARCH – THE ANNUNCIATION

Dom Prosper Guéranger:

This is a great day, not only to man, but even to God Himself, for it is the anniversary of the most solemn event that time has ever witnessed. On this day the Divine Word by which the Father created the world was made flesh in the womb of a virgin and dwelt among us (John i. 14). We must spend it in joy. While we adore the Son of God who humbled Himself by thus becoming Man let us give thanks to the Father who so loved the world as to give His Only Begotten Son (John iii. 16). Let us give thanks to the Holy Ghost whose almighty power achieves the great mystery. We are in the very midst of Lent and yet the ineffable joys of Christmas are upon us: our Emmanuel is conceived on this day, and nine months hence will be born in Bethlehem, and the Angels will invite us to come and honour the sweet babe.

During Septuagesima Week we meditated on the fall of our First Parents and the triple sentence pronounced by God against the serpent, the woman and Adam. Our hearts were filled with fear as we reflected on the divine malediction, the effects of which are to be felt by all generations, even to the end of the world. But in the midst of the anathemas then pronounced against us, there was a promise made us by our God. It was a promise of salvation, and it kindled hope within us. In pronouncing sentence against the serpent, God said that his head should one day be crushed, and that, too, by a woman.

The time has come for the fulfilment of this promise. The world has been in expectation for four thousand years, and the hope of its deliverance has been kept up in spite of all its crimes. During this time God has made use of miracles, prophecies and types as a renewal of the engagement He has entered into with mankind. The blood of the Messiah has passed from Adam to Noah; from Sem to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob; from David and Solomon to Joachim. And now it flows in the veins of Mary, Joachim’s daughter. Mary is the woman by whom is to be taken from our race the curse that lies upon it. God has decreed that she should be Immaculate, and thereby has set an irreconcilable enmity between her and the serpent. She, a daughter of Eve, is to repair all the injury done by her mother’s fall. She is to raise up her sex from the degradation into which it has been cast. She is to co-operate, directly and really, in the victory which the Son of God is about to gain over His and our enemy.

A tradition which has come down from the Apostolic Ages tells us that the great mystery of the Incarnation was achieved on the twenty-fifth day of March. It was at the hour of midnight when the most Holy Virgin was alone and absorbed in prayer that the Archangel Gabriel appeared before her and asked her, in the name of the Blessed Trinity, to consent to become the Mother of God. Let us assist, in spirit, at this wonderful interview between the Angel and the Virgin. And at the same time let us think of that other interview which took place between Eve and the serpent. A holy Bishop and Martyr of the second century, Saint Irenaeus — who had received the tradition from the very disciples of the Apostles — shows us that Nazareth is the counterpart of Eden. In the garden of delights there is a virgin and an angel. And a conversation takes place between them. At Nazareth, a virgin is also spoken to by an angel, and she answers him. But the angel of the earthly Paradise is a spirit of darkness, and he of Nazareth is a spirit of light. In both instances it is the Angel that has the first word. “Why,” said the serpent to Eve, “why has God commanded you that you should not eat of every tree of paradise?” His question implies impatience and a solicitation to evil. He has contempt for the frail creature to whom he addresses it, but he hates the image of God which is upon her.

See, on the other hand, the Angel of light. See with what composure and peacefulness he approaches the Virgin of Nazareth, the new Eve. And how respectfully he bows himself down before her: “Hail, full of grace! The Lord is with thee! Blessed art thou among women!” Such language is evidently of Heaven: none but an Angel could speak thus to Mary.

Eve imprudently listens to the tempter’s words. She answers him. She enters into conversation with one that dares to ask her to question the justice of God’s commands. Her curiosity urges her on. She has no mistrust in the serpent. This leads her to mistrust her Creator.

Mary hears what Gabriel has spoken to her, but this Most Prudent Virgin is silent. She is surprised at the praise given her by the Angel. The purest and humblest of virgins has a dread of flattery, and the heavenly Messenger can get no reply from her until he has fully explained his mission by these words: “Fear not, Mary, for you have found grace with God. Behold, you will conceive in your womb, and will bring forth a son: and you will call his name Jesus. He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give him the throne of David his father: and he will reign in the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.” What magnificent promises are these, which are made to her in the name of God! What higher glory could she, a daughter of Judah, desire? knowing, too, as she does, that the fortunate Mother of the Messiah is to be the object of the greatest veneration! And yet, it tempts her not. She has forever consecrated her virginity to God in order that she may be the more closely united to Him by love. The grandest possible privilege, if it is to be on the condition of her violating this sacred vow, would be less than nothing in her estimation. She thus answers the Angel: “How will this be done because I know not man?”

The first Eve evinces no such prudence or disinterestedness. No sooner has the wicked spirit assured her that she may break the commandment of her divine benefactor and not die, that the fruit of her disobedience will be a wonderful knowledge which will put her on an equality with God Himself, than she immediately yields. She is conquered. Her self-love has made her at once forget both duty and gratitude: she is delighted at the thought of being freed from the two-fold tie which binds her to her Creator.

Such is the woman that caused our perdition! But how different is She that was to save us! The former cares not for her posterity. She looks but to her own interests. The latter forgets herself to think only of her God, and of the claims He has to her service. The Angel, charmed with this sublime fidelity, thus answers the question put to him by Mary and reveals to her the designs of God: “The Holy Ghost will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. And therefore also the Holy which will be born of you will be called the Son of God. And behold your cousin Elizabeth, she also has conceived a son in her old age. And this is the sixth month with her that is called barren, because no word will be impossible with God.” This said, he is silent and reverently awaits the answer of the Virgin of Nazareth.

Let us look once more at the Virgin of Eden. Scarcely has the wicked spirit finished speaking than Eve casts a longing look at the forbidden fruit: she is impatient to enjoy the independence it is to bring her. She rashly stretches forth her hand. She plucks the fruit. She eats it and death takes possession of her: death of the soul, for sin extinguishes the light of life, and death of the body, which, being separated from the source of immortality, becomes an object of shame and horror, and finally crumbles into dust.

But let us turn away our eyes from this sad spectacle and fix them on Nazareth. Mary has heard the Angel’s explanation of the mystery. The will of Heaven is made known to her and how grand an honour it is to bring upon her! She, the humble maid of Nazareth, is to have the ineffable happiness of becoming the Mother of God, and yet the treasure of her virginity is to be left to her! Mary bows down before this sovereign will and says to the heavenly Messenger: “Behold the handmaid of the Lord: be it done to me according to your word.”

Thus, as the great Saint Irenaeus and so many of the Holy Fathers remark, the obedience of the second Eve repaired the disobedience of the first: for no sooner does the Virgin of Nazareth speak her fiat — be it done — than the Eternal Son of God (who, according to the divine decree, awaited this word) is present by the operation of the Holy Ghost in the chaste womb of Mary, and there He begins his human life. A Virgin is a Mother, and Mother of God. And it is this virgin’s consenting to the divine will that has made her conceive by the power of the Holy Ghost.

This sublime Mystery puts between the Eternal Word and a mere woman the relations of Son and Mother. It gives to the Almighty God a means by which He may, in a manner worthy of His Majesty, triumph over Satan who had hitherto seemed to have prevailed against the divine plan. Never was there a more entire or humiliating defeat than that which was this day gained over Satan. The frail creature, over whom he had so easily triumphed at the beginning of the world, now rises and crushes his proud head. Eve conquers in Mary. God would not choose man for the instrument of his vengeance. The humiliation of Satan would not have been great enough. And therefore she who was the first prey of Hell, the first victim of the tempter, is selected as the one that is to give battle to the enemy. The result of so glorious a triumph is that Mary is to be superior not only to the rebel angels, but to the whole human race, yes, to all the Angels of Heaven. Seated on her exalted throne, she, the Mother of God, is to be the Queen of all creation. Satan, in the depths of the abyss, will eternally bewail his having dared to direct his first attack against the woman, for God has now so gloriously avenged her. And in Heaven the very Cherubim and Seraphim reverently look up to Mary and deem themselves honoured when she smiles upon them, or employs them in the execution of any of her wishes, for she is the Mother of their God.

Therefore is it that we, the children of Adam who have been snatched by Mary’s obedience from the power of Hell, solemnise this day of the Annunciation. Well may we say of Mary those words of Deborah when she sang her song of victory over the enemies of God’s people: “The valiant men ceased, and rested in Israel, until Deborah arose, a Mother arose in Israel. The Lord chose new wars, and He Himself overthrew the gates of the enemies” (Judges v. 7, 8). Let us also refer to the holy Mother of Jesus these words of Judith who by her victory over the enemy was another type of Mary: “Praise the Lord our God, who has not forsaken them that hope in Him. And by me, His handmaid, He has fulfilled His mercy, which He promised to the house of Israel; and He has killed the enemy of His people by my hand this night... The Almighty Lord has struck him, and has delivered him into the hands of a woman, and has slain him” (Judith xiii. 17, 18; xvi. 7).

Lesson – Isaias vii.

In those days the Lord spoke to Achaz, saying: “Ask a sign of the Lord your God, either to the depth of Hell, or to the height above.” And Achaz said: “I will not ask, and I will not tempt the Lord.” And he (Isaias) said: “Hear, therefore, O house of David: Is it a small thing for you to to be grievous to men, that you are grievous to my God also? Therefore the Lord Himself gives you a sign. Behold: “a Virgin will conceive and bear a son, and his name will be called Emmanuel. He will eat butter and honey, that he may know to refuse the evil, and to choose the good.”

Thanks be to God.

Dom Prosper Guéranger:

The Prophet is speaking to a wicked king who refused to accept a miraculous proof of God’s merciful protection over Jerusalem. And he makes this an opportunity for announcing to Judah the great portent which we are celebrating today: “A Virgin will conceive and bear a son.” And when was it that God fulfilled the prophecy? It was in an age when mankind seemed to have reached the highest pitch of wickedness, and when idolatry and immorality reigned throughout the whole world. The fullness of time came, and the tradition which had found its way into every country, that a Virgin should bring forth a Son, was exciting much interest. This is the day on which the mystery was accomplished. Let us adore the power of God and the fidelity with which He fulfils His promises. The author of the laws of nature suspends them. He acts independently of them: Virginity and Maternity are united in one and the same creature, for the child that is to be born is God. A Virgin could not bring forth other than God Himself: the Son of Mary is therefore called Euunanuel, that is, God with us.

Let us adore this God, the Creator of all things visible and invisible, who thus humbles Himself. Henceforth, He will have every tongue confess not only His Divinity, but also His Human Nature, which He has assumed in order that He might redeem us. From this day forward He is truly the Son of Man. He will remain nine months in His Mother’s womb, as other children. Like them, He will, after His birth, be fed on milk and honey. He will sanctify all stages of human life, from infancy to perfect manhood, for He is the New Man who has come down from Heaven that he might restore the Old. Without losing anything of His Divinity, He shares in our weak finite being that He may make us partakers of the divine nature (1 Peter i. 4).

Gospel – Luke i.

At that time the Angel Gabriel was sent from God into a city of Galilee called Nazareth, to a virgin espoused to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. And the virgin’s name was Mary. And the Angel being come in, said to her: “Hail, Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee: blessed art thou among women.” Who having heard, was troubled at his saying, and thought with herself what manner of salutation this should be. And the Angel said to her: “Fear not, Mary, for you have found grace with God. Behold you will conceive in your womb, and will bring forth a son, and you will call his name Jesus. He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give him the throne of David his father: and he will reign in the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.” And Mary said to the Angel: “How will this be done, because I know not man?” And the Angel answering, said to her: “The Holy Ghost will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. And therefore also the Holy which will be born of you will be called the Son of God. And behold your cousin Elizabeth she also has conceived a son in her old age, and this is the sixth month with her that is called barren: because no word will be impossible with God.” And Mary said: “Behold the handmaid of the Lord, be it done to me according to your word.”

Praise be to you, O Christ.

Dom Prosper Guéranger:

By these last words of yours, Mary, our happiness is secured. You consent to the desire of Heaven, and your consent brings us our Saviour. Virgin-Mother! Blessed among women! We unite our thanks with the homage that is paid you by the Angels. By you is our ruin repaired. In you is our nature restored, for you have wrought the victory of man over Satan! Saint Bernard, in one of his Homilies on this Gospel thus speaks: “Rejoice, our father Adam! But you, mother Eve, still more rejoice! You were our Parents, but you were also our destroyers. And what is worse, you had wrought our destruction before you gave us birth. Both of you must be consoled in such a Daughter as this: but you, Eve, who was the first cause of our misfortune, and whose humiliation has descended upon all women, you have a special reason to rejoice in Mary. For the time is now come when the humiliation is taken away, neither can man any longer complain against the woman as of old when he foolishly sought to excuse himself, and cruelly put all the blame on her, saying: “The woman whom you gave me, gave me of the Tree, and I did eat. Go, Eve, to Mary. Go, Mother, to your Daughter. Let your Daughter take your part, and free you from your disgrace, and reconcile you to her father: for, if man fell by a woman, he is raised up by a woman. What is this you say, Adam? The woman whom you gave me, gave me of the Tree, and I did eat? These are wicked words. Far from effacing your fault, they aggravate it. But divine Wisdom conquered your wickedness by finding in the treasury of His own inexhaustible mercy a motive for pardon which He had in vain sought to elicit by questioning you. In place of the woman of whom you complain He gives you another: Eve was foolish, Mary is wise. Eve was proud, Mary is humble. Eve gave you of the tree of death, Mary will give you of the Tree of life. Eve offered you a bitter and poisoned fruit, Mary will give you the sweet Fruit she herself is to bring forth, the Fruit of everlasting life. Change, then, your wicked excuse into an act of thanksgiving, and say: The woman whom you have given me, Lord, has given me of the Tree of Life, and I have eaten thereof. And it is sweeter than honey to my mouth, for by it you have given me life.”

Also on this day according to the ROMAN MARTYROLOGY:

At Rome, St. Quirinus, martyr, who after losing his goods, suffering imprisonment in a dark dungeon, and being severely scourged, was put to death with the sword and thrown into the river Tiber. Christians found his body on the Island of St. Bartholomew and buried it in the Pontian cemetery.

In the same city, two hundred and sixty-two holy martyrs.

At Sirmium, the martyrdom of St. Irenaeus, bishop. In the time of the emperor Maximian under the governor Probus, after undergoing bitter torments and a painful imprisonment for many days, he was beheaded.

At Nicomedia, St. Dula, the servant of a soldier, who was killed for the preservation of her chastity and deserved the crown of martyrdom.

At Jerusalem, the commemoration of the Good Thief who confessed Christ on the cross and deserved to hear from Him the words, “This day you will be with Me in Paradise.”

At Laodicea, St. Pelagius, bishop, who having endured exile and other afflictions for the Catholic faith under Valens, rested in the Lord.

At Pistoja, the holy confessors Barontius and Desiderius.

In Indre, an island of the Loire, the abbot St. Hermelandus, whose glorious life is attested by signal miracles.

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

Thanks be to God.

24 MARCH – SAINT GABRIEL THE ARCHANGEL

 Dom Prosper Guéranger:

So far in the Church’s Calendar we have not met with any feast in honour of the Holy Angels. Amid the ineffable joys of Christmas night, we mingled our timid but glad voices with the hymns of these heavenly Spirits who sang around the crib of our Emmanuel. The very recollection brings joy to our hearts, saddened as they now are by penitential feelings and by the near approach of the mournful anniversary of our Jesus’ death. Let us, for a moment, interrupt our sadness and keep the feast of the Archangel Gabriel. Later on we will have Michael, Raphael and the countless host of the Angel Guardians. But today, the seventh from the Annunciation, it is just that we should honour Gabriel. Yes, a week hence and we will see this heavenly Ambassador of the Blessed Trinity coming down to the Virgin of Nazareth. Let us, therefore, recommend ourselves to him and beseech him to teach us how to celebrate, in a becoming manner, the grand Mystery of which he was the Messenger.

Gabriel is one of the first of the Angelic Kingdom. He tells Zachary that he stands before the face of God (Luke i. 19). He is the Angel of the Incarnation because it is in this Mystery, which apparently is so humble, that the power of God is principally manifested and Gabriel signifies the strength of God. We find the Archangel preparing for his sublime office even in the Old Testament. First of all, he appears to Daniel after this Prophet had the vision of the Persian and Grecian Empires. And such was the majesty of his person that Daniel fell on his face trembling (Daniel vii. 17). Shortly afterwards he appears again to the same Prophet, telling him the exact time of the coming of the Messiah: “Know and take notice: that from the going forth of the word to build up Jerusalem again, to Christ the Prince, there will be seven weeks and sixty-two weeks (Daniel ix. 25) that is, sixty-nine weeks of years.

When the fullness of time had come and Heaven was about to send the last of the Prophets — he, who after preaching to men the approach of the Messiah is to show Him to the people, saying: “Behold the Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world” — Gabriel descends from Heaven to the Temple of Jerusalem and prophesies to Zachary the birth of John the Baptist (Luke i. 13) which was to be followed by that of Jesus Himself. Six months later on the holy Archangel again appears on the Earth, and this time it is Nazareth that he visits. He brings the great message from Heaven. Angel as he is, he reveres the humble maid whose name is Mary. He has been sent to her by the Most High God to offer her the immense honour of becoming the Mother of the Eternal Word. It is Gabriel that receives the great Fiat, the consent of Mary. And when he quits this Earth, he leaves it in possession of Him, for whom it had so long prayed in those words of Isaiah: “Drop down dew, ye heavens!” (Isaias xlv. 8).

The hour at length came when the Mother of the Emmanuel was to bring forth the Blessed Fruit of her virginal womb. Jesus was born amid poverty, but Heaven willed that His crib should be surrounded by fervent adorers. An Angel appeared to some shepherds, inviting them to go to the stable near Bethlehem. He is accompanied by a multitude of the heavenly army sweetly singing their hymn: “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men of good will” Who is this Angel that speaks to the shepherds, and seems as the chief of the other blessed Spirits that are with him? In the opinion of several learned writers, it is the Archangel Gabriel who is keeping up his ministry as Messenger of the Good Tidings (Luke ii. 10).

Lastly, when Jesus is suffering His Agony in the Garden of Gethsemani, an Angel appears to Him, not merely as a witness of His suffering, but that He might strengthen Him under the fear His human nature felt at the thought of the chalice of the Passion He was about to drink (Luke xxii. 42, 43) Who is this Angel? It is Gabriel, as we learn not only from the writings of several holy and learned authors, but also from a hymn which the Holy See has permitted to be used in the Liturgy. These are the claims of the great Archangel to our veneration and love. These are the proofs he gives of his deserving his beautiful name — the Strength of God. God has employed him in each stage of the great work in which He has chiefly manifested His power, for Jesus, even on His Cross, is the power of God (1 Corinthians i. 24), as the Apostle tells us. Gabriel prepares the way for Jesus. He foretells the precise time of His Coming. He announces the birth of His Precursor. He is present at the solemn moment when the Word is made Flesh. He invites the shepherds of Bethlehem to come to the crib and adore the Divine Babe and when Jesus, in His Agony, is to receive strength from one of His own creatures, Gabriel is found ready in the Garden of Gethsemani, as he had been at Nazareth and Bethlehem.

* * * * *

The whole human race is indebted to you, Gabriel, and on this day we would fain pay you the honour and gratitude we owe you. You were moved to holy compassion when seeing the miseries of the world, for all flesh had corrupted its way, and the forgetfulness of God increased with each new generation of men. Then did the Most High commission you to bring to the world the good tidings of its salvation. How beautiful your steps, Prince of the heavenly court, as you came down to this our humble sphere! How tender and fraternal is your love of man whose nature, though so inferior to your own, was to be raised by the mystery of the Incarnation to union with God Himself! With what respectful awe did you not approach the Virgin who surpassed all the Angels in holiness! Blessed Messenger of our Redemption whom God selects as His Minister when He would show His power, we beseech you, offer the homage of our gratitude to Him that thus sent you. Help us to pay the immense debt we owe to the Father who so loved the world as to give it His only begotten Son (John iii. 16): to the Son, who emptied Himself, taking the form of a servant (Philippians ii. 7), and to the Holy Ghost who rested on the Flower that sprang up out of the root of Jesse (Isaias xi. 1).

’Twas you, Gabriel, that taught us the salutation with which we should greet Mary full of grave. You were the first to pronounce these sublime words, which you brought from Heaven. The children of the Church are now, day and night, repeating these words of yours. Pray for us that we may say them in such a manner as that our Blessed Mother may find them worthy of her acceptance.

Angel of Strength, Friend of Mankind, relent not in your ministry of aiding us. We are surrounded by terrible enemies. Our weakness makes them bold. Come to our assistance, get us courage. Pray for us during these days of conversion and penance. Obtain for us the knowledge of all we owe to God in consequence of that ineffable mystery of the Incarnation of which you were the first witness. We have forgotten our duties to the Man-God, and we have offended Him: enlighten us, that so, henceforth, we may be faithful to His teachings and examples.

Raise up our thoughts to the happy abode where you dwell. Assist us to merit the places left vacant by the fallen Angels, for God has reserved them for His elect among men. Pray, Gabriel, for the Church Militant, and defend her against the attacks of Hell. The times are evil. The spirits of malice are let loose, nor can we make stand against them unless with God’s help. It is by His holy Angels that He gives victory to His Spouse. Be thou, Strength of God, foremost in the ranks. Drive heresy back, keep schism down, foil the false wisdom of men, frustrate the policy of the world, arouse the well-minded from apathy that thus, the Christ whom you announced may reign over the Earth He has redeemed, and that we may sing together with you and the whole angelic choir: Glory be to God! Peace to men!

On this day according to the ROMAN MARTYROLOGY:

At Rome, the holy martyrs Mark and Timothy, who were crowned with martyrdom under the emperor Antoninus.

In the same city, St. Epigmenius, priest, who consummated his martyrdom by the sword in the persecution of Diocletian under the judge Turpius.

Also at Rome, in the time of Julian the Apostate, the passion of blessed Pigmenius, a priest, who was killed for the faith of Christ by being precipitated into the river Tiber.

At Caesarea in Palestine, the birthday of the holy martyrs Timolaus, Denis, Pausides, Romulus, Alexander, another Alexander, Agapius and another Denis, who merited the crown of life by being beheaded in the persecution of Diocletian under the governor Urban.

In Mauritania (Barbary), the birthday of the saintly brothers Romulus and Secundus, who suffered for the faith of Christ.

At Trent, the martyrdom of the holy child Simeon, who was barbarously murdered by the Jews. He became celebrated for many miracles.

At Synnadas in Phrygia, St. Agapitus, bishop.

At Brescia, St. Latinus, bishop. In Syria, St. Seleucus, confessor.

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

Thanks be to God.

21 MARCH – SAINT BENEDICT OF NORCIA (Abbot)

 

Benedict was born of a noble family at Norcia. He was sent to Rome that he might receive a liberal education, but not long after he withdrew to a place called Subiaco and there hid himself in a very deep cave, that he might give himself entirely to Jesus Christ. He passed three years in that retirement, unknown to all save to a monk named Romanus, who supplied him with the necessaries of life. The devil having one day excited him to a violent temptation of impurity, he rolled himself amid prickly brambles and extinguished within himself the desire of carnal pleasure by the pain he thus endured. The fame of his sanctity, however, became known beyond the limits of his hiding-place and certain monks put themselves under his guidance. He sharply rebuked them for their wicked lives, which rebuke so irritated them that they resolved to put poison in his drink. Having made the sign of the Cross over the cup as they proffered it to him, it broke and he, leaving that monastery, returned to his solitude.

But whereas many daily came to Benedict, beseeching him to take them as his disciples, he built twelve monasteries and drew up the most admirable rules for their government. He afterwards went to Monte Cassino, where he destroyed an image of Apollo which was still adored in those parts. And having pulled down the altar and burnt the groves, he built a chapel in that same place in honour of Saint Martin, and another in honour of Saint John. He instructed the inhabitants in the Christian religion. Day by day did Benedict advance in the grace of God and he also foretold, in a spirit of prophecy, what was to take place. Totila, the King of the Goths, having heard of this and being anxious to know if it were the truth, went to visit him but first sent his sword-bearer who was to pretend that he was the king and who, for this end, was dressed in royal robes and accompanied by attendants. As soon as Benedict saw him, he said: “Put off, my son, put off this dress, for it is not yours.” But he foretold to Totila that he would reach Rome, cross the sea, and die at the end of nine years.

Several months before Benedict departed from this life, he foretold to his disciples the day on which he should die. Six days previous to his death he ordered them to open the sepulchre in which he wished to be buried. On the sixth day, he desired to be carried to the church, and there having received the Eucharist with his eyes raised in prayer towards Heaven, and held up by his disciples, he breathed forth his soul. Two monks saw it ascending to Heaven, adorned with a most precious robe and surrounded by shining lights. They also saw a most beautiful and venerable man who stood above the saint’s head, and they heard him thus speak: “This is the way by which Benedict, the beloved of the Lord, ascended to Heaven.”

Dom Prosper Guéranger:

Forty days after the white dove of Cassino had mounted to Heaven, Benedict, her glorious brother, ascended by a bright path to the blissful abode where they were to be united forever. Both of them reached the heavenly country during that portion of the year which corresponds with the holy Season of Lent. It frequently happens, however, that Saint Scholastica’s feast is kept before Lent has begun whereas Saint Benedict’s day, the twenty-first of March, always comes during the Season of penance. God who is the Sovereign Master of time willed that the faithful, while practising their exercises of penance, should always have before their eyes a Saint whose example and intercession should inspire them with courage.

With what profound veneration ought we not to celebrate the festival of this wonderful Saint who, as Saint Gregory says, “was filled with the spirit of all the Just!” If we consider his virtues, we find nothing superior in the annals of perfection presented to our admiration by the Church. Love of God and man, humility, the gift of prayer, dominion over the passions, form him into a masterpiece of the grace of the Holy Ghost. Miracles seem to constitute his life: he cures the sick, commands the elements, casts out devils and raises the dead to life. The spirit of prophecy unfolds futurity to him and the most intimate thoughts of men are not too distant for the eye of his mind to scan. These superhuman qualifications are heightened by a sweet majesty, a serene gravity and a tender charity which shine in every page of his wonderful Life, and it is one of his holiest children who wrote it —Saint Gregory the Great. It is this holy Pope and Doctor who had the honour of telling posterity all the wonders which God vouchsafed to work in His servant Benedict.

Yes, posterity had a right to know the life and virtues of a man whose salutary influence on the Church and society has been so observable during the ages of the Christian era. To describe the influence exercised by the spirit of Saint Benedict we should have to transcribe the annals of all the nations of the Western Church from the seventh century down to our own times. Benedict is the Father of Europe. By his Benedictines, numerous as the stars of Heaven and as the sands of the sea-shore, he rescued the last remnants of Roman vigour from the total annihilation threatened by the invasion of Barbarians. He presided over the establishment of the public and private laws of those nations which grew out of the ruins of the Roman Empire. He carried the Gospel and civilisation into England, Germany and the Northern countries, including Sclavonia. He taught agriculture. He put an end to slavery. And to conclude, he saved the precious deposit of the arts and sciences from the tempest which would have swept them from the world and would have left mankind a prey to a gloomy and fatal ignorance.

And Benedict did all this by that little book which we call his “Rule.” This admirable code of Christian perfection and prudence disciplined the countless legions of Religious by whom the Holy Patriarch achieved all these prodigies. During the ages which preceded the promulgation of this “Rule” — so wonderful in its simple eloquence —the monastic life in the Western Church had produced some few saintly men. But there was nothing to justify the hope that this kind of life would become, even more than it had been in the East, the principal means of the Christian regeneration and civilisation of so many nations. This “Rule” once written — and all others gradually give place to it, as the stars are eclipsed when the sun has risen. The West was peopled with monasteries, and from these monasteries flowed upon Europe all those blessings which have made it the privileged quarter of the globe.

An incredible number of Saints, both men and women, who look up to Benedict as their father purify and sanctify the world which had not yet emerged from the state of semi-barbarism. A long series of Popes who had once been Novices in the Benedictine cloister preside over the destinies of this new world and form for it a new legislation which, being based exclusively on the moral law, is to avert the threatening prevalence of brutal despotism.

Bishops innumerable, trained in the same school of Benedict, consolidate this moral legislation in the provinces and cities over which they are appointed. The Apostles of twenty barbarous nations confront their fierce and savage tribes and, with the Gospel in one hand, and the “Rule” of their Holy Father in the other, lead them into the fold of Christ. For many centuries the learned men, the Doctors of the Church and the instructors of youth, belong, almost exclusively, to the Order of the great Patriarch who, by the labours of his children, pour forth on the people the purest beauty of light and truth.

This choir of heroes in every virtue, of Popes, of Bishops, of Apostles, of holy Doctors, proclaiming themselves as his disciples and joining with the universal Church in glorifying that God whose holiness and power shine forth so brightly in the life and actions of Benedict, what a corona, what an aureola of glory for one Saint to have!

*****

O Benedict! Vessel of Election! Palm of the Wilderness! Angel of Earth! We offer you the salutation of our love! What man was ever chosen to work on the Earth more wonders than you have done! The Saviour has crowned you as one of His principal co-operators in the work of the salvation and sanctification of men. Who could count the millions of souls who owe their eternal happiness to you, your immortal Rule having sanctified them in the cloister, and the zeal of your Benedictines having been the means of their knowing and serving the great God, who chose you? Around you, in the realms of glory, a countless number of the Blessed acknowledge themselves indebted to you, after God, for their eternal happiness. And upon the Earth whole nations profess the true faith because the Gospel was first preached to them by your disciples.

Father of so many people, look down on your inheritance and once more bless this ungrateful Europe which owes everything to you, yet has almost forgotten your name! The light which your children imparted to it has become dimmed. The warmth they imparted to the societies they founded and civilised by the Cross, has grown cold. Thorns have covered a large portion of the land in which they sowed the seed of salvation. Come and forward your own work. And by your prayers keep in its expiring life. Give firmness to what has been shaken. May a new Europe — a Catholic Europe — spring up in place of that which heresy and false doctrines have formed. Patriarch of the Servants of God, look down from Heaven on the vineyard which your hand has planted and see into what a state of desolation it has fallen. There was a time when your name was honoured as that of a Father in thirty thousand monasteries from the shores of the Baltic to the borders of Syria, and from the green Erin to the steppes of Poland. Now, alas, few and feeble are the prayers that ascend to you from the whole of that immense patrimony which the faith and gratitude of the people had once consecrated to you. The blight of heresy and the rapaciousness of avarice have robbed you of these harvests of your glory. The work of sacrilegious spoliation is now centuries old and unceasingly has it been pursued. At one time, having recourse to open violence, and at another, pleading the urgency of political interests. Sainted Father of our Faith, you have been robbed of those thousands of sanctuaries which, for long ages, were fountains of life and light to the people. The race of your children has become almost extinct: watch over them that still remain, and are labouring to perpetuate your Rule. An ancient tradition tells us how our Lord revealed to you that your Order would last to the end of the world, and that your children would console the Church of Rome and confirm the faith of many in the last great trials. Deign to protect, by your powerful intercession, the remnants of that Family which still calls you its Father. Raise it up again. Multiply it. Sanctify it: let the Spirit which you have deposited in your Holy Rule flourish in its midst, and show, by thus blessing it, that you are ever “Benedict,” the servant of God.

Support the Holy Church by your powerful intercession, dear Father! Assist the Apostolic See which has been so often occupied by disciples of your School. Father of so many Pastors of your people, obtain for us Bishops like those sainted ones whom your Rule has formed. Father of so many Apostles! Ask for the countries which have no faith preachers of the Gospel who may convert the people by their blood and by their words, as did those who went out missionaries from your cloisters. Father of so many holy Doctors, pray that the science of sacred literature may revive to aid the Church and confound error. Father of so many sublime Ascetics, rekindle the zeal of Christian perfection which has grown so cold among the Christians of our days. Patriarch of the Religious Life in the Western Church, bless all the Religious Orders which the Holy Spirit has given successively to the Church. They all look on you with admiration as their venerable predecessor. Pour out upon them the influence of your fatherly love.

Lastly, Blessed favourite of God, pray for all the Faithful of Christ during these days which are consecrated to thoughts and works of penance. It was in the midst of the holy austerities of Lent that you mounted to the abode of everlasting delight. Help us Christians who are, at this very time, in the same campaign of penance. Rouse our courage by your example and precepts. Teach us to keep down the flesh and subject it to the spirit, as you did. Obtain for us a little of your blessed spirit, that turning away from this vain world, we may think on the eternal years. Pray for us that our hearts may never love, nor our thoughts ever dwell, on joys so fleeting as are those of time.

Catholic piety invokes you as one of the patrons, as well as one of the models, of a dying Christian. It loves to tell men of the sublime spectacle you presented at your death when standing at the foot of the altar, leaning on the arms of your disciples and barely touching the earth with your feet, you gave back, in submission and confidence, your soul to its Creator. Obtain for us, dear Saint, a death courageous and sweet as was yours. Drive from us, at our last hour, the cruel enemy who will seek to ensnare us. Visit us by your presence, and leave us not till we have breathed forth our soul into the bosom of the God who has made you so glorious a Saint.

Also on this day according to the ROMAN MARTYROLOGY:

At Alexandria, under the emperor Constantine and the governor Philagrius, the commemoration of the holy martyrs who were attacked and murdered by the Arians and the Gentiles while they were in church on Good Friday.

The same day, the holy martyrs Philemon and Domninus.

At Catania, St. Birillus, who was consecrated bishop by the blessed Apostle St. Peter. After converting many Gentiles to the faith, in extreme old age he rested in peace.

At Alexandria, blessed Serapion, anchoret and bishop of Thmuis, a man of great virtue, who being forced into exile by the enraged Arians, went to heaven.

In the territory of Lyons, the abbot St. Lupicinus whose life was resplendent with the lustre of holiness and miracles.

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

Thanks be to God.

20 MARCH – FERIA OF LENT

On this day according to the ROMAN MARTYROLOGY:

In Judaea, St. Joachim, father of the Most Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of God, whose festival is kept on the sixteenth of August.

In Asia, the birthday of St. Archippus, fellow-labourer of the blessed Apostle St. Paul, who mentions him in his Epistles to Philemon and the Colossians.

In Syria, the holy martyrs Paul, Cyril, Eugenius and four others.

The same day, the Saints Photina, a Samaritan, and her sons Joseph and Victor. Also Sebastian, military officer, Anatolius, and Photius. Photides, Parasceves and Cyriaca, sisters, were all martyred for confessing Christ.

At Amisus in Paphlagonia, seven holy women, Alexandra, Claudia, Euphrasia, Matrona, Juliana, Euphemia and Theodosia, who were put to death for the confession of the faith. They were followed by Derphuta and her sister.

At Apollonia, the bishop St. Maetas, who breathed his last in exile where he had been sent for upholding the worship of holy images.

In the monastery of Fontanelle, St. Wulfran, bishop of Sens, who after having resigned his bishopric and performed miracles, departed out of this life.

In England, the demise of St. Cuthbert, bishop of Lindisfarne, who from his childhood to his death was renowned for good works and miracles.

At Siena in Tuscany, blessed Ambrose of the Order of Preachers, celebrated for sanctity, eloquence and miracles.

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

Thanks be to God.

19 MARCH – SAINT JOSEPH (Patron of the Universal Church)

 

Dom Prosper Guéranger:

With a view to her children’s interests the Church would, on this day, excite their confidence in this powerful and ever ready helper. Devotion to Saint Joseph was reserved for these latter times. Though based on the Gospel, it was not to be developed in the early ages of the Church. It is not that the faithful were, in any way, checked from showing honour to him who had been called to take so important a part in the mystery of the Incarnation. But Divine Providence had its hidden reasons for retarding the Liturgical homage to be paid each year to the spouse of Mary. As on other occasions, so here also. The East preceded the West in the special cultus of Saint Joseph, but in the fifteenth century the whole Latin Church adopted it, and since that time it has gradually gained the affections of the faithful.

The goodness of God and our Redeemer’s fidelity to His promises have ever kept pace with the necessities of the world so that in every age appropriate and special aid has been given to the world for its maintaining the supernatural life. An uninterrupted succession of seasonable grace has been the result of this merciful dispensation, and each generation has had given to it a special motive for confidence in its Redeemer. Dating from the thirteenth century when, as the Church herself assures us, the world began to grow cold, each epoch has had thrown open to it a new source of graces. First of all came the feast of the Most Blessed Sacrament with its successive developments of Processions, Expositions, Benedictions and the Forty Hours. After this, followed the devotion to the Holy Name of Jesus (of which Saint Bernardine of Sienna was the chief propagator) and that of Via Crucis or Stations of the Cross, with its wonderful fruit of compunction. The practice of frequent Communion was revived in the sixteenth century owing principally to the influence of Saint Ignatius and the Society founded by him. In the seventeenth, was promulgated the devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus which was firmly established in the following century. In the nineteenth, devotion to the Holy Mother of God has made such progress as to form one of the leading supernatural characteristics of the period. The Rosary and Scapular, which had been handed down to us in previous ages, have regained their place in the affections of the people. Pilgrimages to the sanctuaries of the Mother of God, which had been interrupted by the influence of Jansenism and rationalism, have been removed. The Arch-confraternity of the Sacred Heart of Mary has spread throughout the whole world. Numerous miracles have been wrought in reward for the fervent faith of individuals. In a word, [the nineteenth] century witnessed the triumph of the Immaculate Conception — a triumph which had been looked forward to for many previous ages.

Now, devotion to Mary could never go on increasing as it has done without bringing with it a fervent devotion to Saint Joseph. We cannot separate Mary and Joseph, were it only for their having such a close connection with the mystery of the Incarnation: Mary, as being the Mother of the Son of God and Joseph, as being guardian of the Virgin’s spotless honour, and foster-father of the Divine Babe. A special veneration for Saint Joseph was the result of increased devotion to Mary. Nor is this reverence for Mary’s spouse to be considered only as a just homage paid to his admirable prerogatives. It is, moreover, a fresh and exhaustless source of help to the world, for Joseph has been made our Protector by the Son of God Himself. Hearken to the inspired words of the Church’s Liturgy: “You, O Joseph, are the delight of the Blessed, the sure hope of our life, and the pillar of the world!” Extraordinary as is this power, need we be surprised at its being given to a man like Joseph whose connections with the Son of God on Earth were so far above those of all other men? Jesus deigned to be subject to Joseph here below. Now that He is in heaven, He would glorify the creature to whom he consigned the guardianship of His own childhood and His Mother’s honour. He has given him a power which is above our calculations.

Hence it is that the Church invites us, on this day, to have recourse, with unreserved confidence to this all-powerful Protector. The world we live in is filled with miseries which would make stronger hearts than ours quake with fear. But let us invoke Saint Joseph with faith and we will be protected. In all our necessities, whether of soul or body — in all the trials and anxieties we may have to go through — let us have recourse to Saint Joseph and we will not be disappointed. The king of Egypt said to his people when they were suffering from famine: “go to Joseph!” (Genesis xli. 55). the King of Heaven says the same to us: the faithful guardian of Mary has greater influence with God than Jacob’s son had with Pharaoh.

As usual, God revealed this new spiritual aid to a privileged soul that she might be the instrument of its propagation. It was thus that were instituted several feasts, such as those of Corpus Christi and of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. In the sixteenth century Saint Teresa (whose writings were to have a world-wide circulation) was instructed by Heaven as to the efficacy of devotion to Saint Joseph. She has spoken of it in the Life (written by herself) of Teresa of Jesus. When we remember that it was by the Carmelite Order (brought into the Western Church in the thirteenth century) that this devotion was established among us, we cannot be surprised that God should have chosen Saint Teresa, who was the Reformer of that Order, to propagate the same devotion in this part of the world. The holy solitaries of Mount Carmel — devoted as they had been, for so many centuries, to the love of Mary —were not slow in feeling the connection that exists between the honour paid to the Mother of God and that which is due to her virginal spouse. The more we understand Saint Joseph’s office, the clearer will be our knowledge of the divine mystery of the Incarnation. As when the Son of God assumed our human nature, He would have a Mother. So also, would He give to this Mother a protector. Jesus, Mary and Joseph — these are the three whom the ineffable mystery is continually bringing before our minds. The words of Saint Teresa are as follows:

“I took for my patron and lord the glorious Saint Joseph, and recommended myself earnestly to him. I saw clearly that he rendered me greater services than I knew how to ask for. I cannot call to mind that I have ever asked him at any time for anything which he has not granted, and I am filled with amazement when I consider the great favours which God has given me through this blessed Saint, the dangers from which he has delivered me, both of body and soul. To other Saints, our Lord seems to have given grace to succour men in some special necessity, but to this glorious Saint, I know by experience, to help us in all. And our Lord would have us understand that, as He was Himself subject to him upon Earth — for Saint Joseph having the title of father and being his guardian, could command Him — so now in Heaven he performs all his petitions. I have asked others to recommend themselves to Saint Joseph and hey too know this by experience. And there are many who are now of late devout to him, having had experience of this truth.”

We might quote several other equally clear and fervent words from the writings of this seraphic virgin. The faithful could not remain indifferent with such teaching as this. The seed thus soon produced its fruit. Slowly, it is true, but surely. Even in the first half of the seventeenth century there prevailed amid the devout clients of Saint Joseph a presentiment that the day would come when the Church, through her Liturgy, would urge the faithful to have recourse to him as their powerful Protector. In a book published in 1645 we find these almost prophetic words: “O bright sun, father of our days, speed your onward course and give us that happy day on which are to be fulfilled the prophecies of the Saints. They have said that in the latter ages of the world the glories of Saint Joseph will be brought to light; that God will draw aside the veil which has hitherto prevented us from seeing the wondrous sanctuary of Joseph’s soul; that the Holy Ghost will inspire the faithful to proclaim the praises of this admirable Saint and to build monasteries, churches and altars in his honour; that throughout the entire kingdom of the Church Militant he will be considered as the special Protector, for he was the Protector of the very founder of that kingdom, namely, our Lord Jesus Christ; that the Sovereign Pontiffs will, by a secret impulse from Heaven, ordain that the feast of this great Patriarch be solemnly celebrated through the length and breadth of the spiritual domain of Saint Peter; that the most learned men of the world will use their talents in studying the divine gifts hidden in Saint Joseph, and that they will find in him treasures of grace incomparably more precious and plentiful than were possessed by every the choicest of the elect of the Old Testament during the whole four thousand years of its duration.”

Let us then, henceforth, have confidence in the Patronage of Saint Joseph. He is the Father of the Faithful, and it is God’s will that he, more than any other Saint, should have power to apply to us the blessings of the mystery of the Incarnation, the great mystery of which he, after Mary, was the chief earthly minister.

*****

O glorious Saint Joseph! Father and Protector of the Faithful! We bless our Mother the Church for that she, now that the world is drawing to the close of its existence, has taught us to confide in you. Many ages passed away and your glories had not been made known to the world. But even then you were one of mankind’s most powerful intercessors. Most affectionately did you fulfil your office as head of the great human family of which the Incarnate Word was a member. Nations and individuals experienced the benefit of your prayers, but there was not the public acknowledgement of your favours — there was not the homage of gratitude which is now offered to you. The more perfect knowledge of your glories and honouring you as the Protector of mankind — these were reserved for our own unhappy times when the state of the world is such as to require help beyond that which was granted to former ages.

We come before you, O Joseph, to honour the unlimited power of your intercession and the love you bear for all the children of the Church, the brethren of Jesus. You, O Mary, are pleased at seeing us honour him whom you so tenderly loved. Never are our prayers so welcome to you as when they are presented to you by his hands. The union, formed by Heaven between yourself and Joseph will last for all eternity, and the unbounded love you have for Jesus is an additional motive for you to love him who was the foster-father of your child and the guardian of your virginity. Joseph, we also are the children of Mary, your Spouse. Treat us as such, bless us, watch over us and receive the prayers which now more than ever the Church encourages us to present to you. You are “the pillar of the world” (columen mundi). You are one of the foundations on which it rests. Because of your merits and prayers our Lord has patience with it in spite of the iniquities which defile it. How truly may we say of these our times: “There is now no saint; truths are decayed from among the children of men!” (Psalm xi. 2). How powerful then must not your intercession be to avert the indignation of God and induce Him to show us His mercy!

Grow not weary of your labour, universal Protector! The Church of your Jesus comes before you on this day, beseeching you to persevere in thy task of love. See this world of ours, now it is become one great volcano of danger by the boasted liberty granted to sin and heresy! Delay not your aid, but quickly procure for us what will give us security and peace. Whatever may be our necessities, you are willing and able to assist us. We may be the poorest and last among the children of the Church. It matters not. You love us with all the affectionate compassion of a father. What a joy is not this to our hearts, O Joseph! We will therefore turn to you in our spiritual wants. We will beg you to assist us in the gaining the virtues we stand in need of, in the battles we have to fight against the enemies of our souls, and in the sacrifices which duty asks at our hands. Make us worthy to be called your children, O Father of the Faithful! Nor is your power limited to what regards our eternal welfare. Daily experience shows us how readily you can procure for us the blessing of God upon our temporal interests, provided they are in accordance with His Divine Will. Hence it is that we hope for your protection and aid in what concerns our worldly prospects. The house of Nazareth was confided to your care. Deign to give counsel and help to all them that make you the Patron of all that regards their earthly well-being.

Glorious Guardian of the Holy Family! The family of Christendom is placed under your special Patronage. Watch over it in these troubled times. Hear the prayers of them that seek your aid when about to choose the partner who is to share with them the joys and the sorrows of this world, and help them to prepare for their passage to eternity. Maintain between husbands and wives that mutual respect which is the safeguard of their fidelity to each other. Obtain for them the pledge of Heaven’s blessings. Fill them with such reverence for the holy state to which they have been called, that they may never deserve the reproach given by Saint Paul to certain married people of that day whom he compares to heathens who know not God (Thessalonians iv. 5).

Grant us, also, O Joseph, another favour. There is one moment of our lives which is the most important of all, since eternity depends on it: it is the moment of our death. And yet we feel our fear abated by the thought that God’s mercy has made you the special Patron of the Dying. You have been entrusted with the office of making death happy and holy to those who invoke you. To whom could such a prerogative have been given more appropriately than to you, O Joseph, whose admirable death was one of the sublimest spectacles ever witnessed by Angels or by men, for Jesus and Mary were by your side as you breathed forth your soul. Be, then, our helper at that awful hour of our death. We hope to have Mary’s protection, for we daily pray to her that she would aid us at the hour of our death. But we know that Mary is pleased at our having confidence in you, and that where you are, she also is sure to be. Encouraged by your fatherly love, O Joseph, we will calmly await the coming of our last hour. For if we are careful in recommending it to you, you will not fail to take it under your protection.

Also on this day according to the ROMAN MARTYROLOGY:

At Sorrento, the holy martyrs Quinctus, Quinctilla, Quartilla and Mark, with nine others.

At Nicomedia, St. Pancharius, a Roman, who was beheaded under Diocletian and thus received the crown of martyrdom.

The same day, the holy bishops Apollouius and Leontius.

At Ghent, the Saints Landoaldus, a Roman priest, and the deacon Amantius, who were sent to preach the Gospel by Pope St. Martin, and after their death became illustrious by many miracles.

At Cività-di-Penna, the birthday of blessed John, a man of great holiness, who came from Syria into Italy, where he constructed a monastery, and, after having been the spiritual guide of many servants of God for forty-four years, rested in peace, renowned for great virtue.

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

Thanks be to God.

18 MARCH – FERIA OF LENT

On this day according to the ROMAN MARTYROLOGY:

At Jerusalem, St. Cyril, bishop and doctor, who suffered many injuries from the Arians for the faith. Often exiled from his church, he at length rested in peace with a great reputation for sanctity. A magnificent testimony of the purity of his faith is given by a general Council in a letter to Pope St. Damasus.

At Caesarea in Palestine, the birthday of the blessed bishop Alexander, who from his own city, in Cappadocia, where he was bishop, coming to Jerusalem to visit the holy places, took upon himself, by divine revelation, the government of that Church in the place of the aged Narcissus, its bishop. Some time afterwards, when he had become venerable by his age and grey hairs, he was led to Caesarea and shut up in prison, where he ended his martyrdom for the confession of Christ during the persecution of Decius.

At Augsburg, St. Narcissus, bishop, who was the first to preach the Gospel in the Tyrol. Afterwards, setting out for Spain, he converted many to the faith of Christ at Gerona, where, with the deacon Felix, he received the palm of martyrdom during the persecution of Diocletian.

At Nicomedia, ten thousand holy martyrs, who were put to the sword for the confession of Christ.

Also the holy martyrs Trophimus and Eucarpius.

In England, the holy king Edward, who was assassinated by order of his treacherous stepmother, and became celebrated for many miracles.

At Lucca in Tuscany, the birthday of the holy bishop Frigdian who was illustrious by the power of working miracles. His feast is more especially celebrated on the eighteenth of November when his body was translated.

At Mantua, St. Anselm, bishop and confessor.

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

Thanks be to God.

17 MARCH – SAINT PATRICK (Bishop and Confessor)

Patrick, called the Apostle of Ireland, was born in Great Britain. His father was was Calphurnius. Conchessa, his mother, is said to have been a relation of Saint Martin, Bishop of Tours. He was several times taken captive by the barbarians when he was a boy, and was put to tend their flocks. Even in that tender age, he gave signs of the great sanctity he was afterwards to attain. Full of the spirit of faith, and of the fear and love of God, he used to rise at dawn of day, and spite of snow, frost, or rain, go to offer up his prayers to God. It was his custom to pray a hundred times during the day, and a hundred during the night. After his third deliverance from slavery, he entered the ecclesiastical state and applied himself, for a considerable time, to the study of the Sacred Scriptures. Having made several most fatiguing journeys through Gaul, Italy and the islands of the Mediterranean, he was called by God to labour for the salvation of the people of Ireland. Pope Saint Celestine gave him power to preach the Gospel and consecrated him Bishop.

Patrick had to suffer much in the mission entrusted to him. He had to bear with extraordinary trials, fatigues and adversaries. But by the mercy of God, that land which until then had worshipped idols, so well repaid the labour with which Patrick had preached the Gospel, that it was afterwards called the Island of Saints. He administered holy Baptism to many thousands. He ordained several bishops and frequently conferred Holy Orders in their several degrees. He drew up rules for virgins and widows who wished to lead a life of continence. By the authority of the Roman Pontiff, he appointed Armagh the Metropolitan See of the whole island and enriched that church with the relics of the saints which he had brought from Rome. God honoured him with heavenly visions, the gift of prophecy and miracles, all which caused the name of the saint to be held in veneration in almost every part of the world.

Besides his daily solicitude for the churches, his vigorous spirit kept up an uninterrupted prayer. For it is said that he was wont to recite every day the whole Psaltery, together with the Canticles and the Hymns and two hundred prayers: that he every day knelt down three hundred times to adore God, and that at each Canonical hour of the day, he signed himself a hundred times with the sign of the Cross. He divided the night into three parts: the first was spent in the recitation of a hundred Psalms, during which he genuflected two hundred times: the second was spent in reciting the remaining fifty Psalms, which he did standing in cold water, and his heart and hands lifted up to Heaven. The third he gave to a little sleep, which he took laid upon a bare stone. Being a man of extraordinary humility, he imitated the Apostles and practised manual labour.

At length, being worn out by his incessant fatigues in the cause of the Church, powerful in word and work, having reached an extreme old age, Patrick slept in the Lord after being refreshed with the holy Mysteries. He was buried at Down, in Ulster, in the fifth century of the Christian era.

Dom Prosper Guéranger:

The Saint we have to honour today is the Apostle of that faithful people whose martyrdom has lasted [four] hundred years. It is the great Saint Patrick, he that gave Erin the Faith. There shone most brightly in this Saint that gift of the Apostolate which Christ has left to His Church, and which is to remain with her to the end of time. The Ambassadors or Missionaries sent by our Lord to preach His Gospel are of two classes. There are some who have been entrusted with a small tract of the Gentile world. They had to sow the divine seed there, and it yielded fruit, more or less according to the dispositions of the people that received it. There are others, again, whose mission is like a rapid conquest that subdues a whole nation and brings it into subjection to the Gospel. Saint Patrick belongs to this second class, and in him we recognise one of the most successful instruments of God’s mercy to mankind.

And then, what solidity there is in this great Saint’s work! When is it that Ireland receives the Faith? In the fifth century, when Britain was almost wholly buried in paganism, when the race of the Franks had not as yet heard the name of the true God, when Germany had no knowledge of Christ’s having come upon the Earth, when the countries of northern Europe deeply slumbered in infidelity. Yes, it was before these several nations had awakened to the Gospel, that Ireland was converted. The Faith, brought to her by her glorious Apostle, took deep root and flourished and fructified in this isle, more lovely even by grace than she is by nature. Her Saints are scarcely to be numbered, and went about doing good in almost every country of Europe. Her children gave, and are still giving, to other countries, the Faith that she herself received from her beloved Patron. And when the sixteenth century came with its Protestantism, when the apostasy of Germany was imitated by England, Scotland and the whole north of Europe, Ireland stood firm and staunch: no persecution, however cleverly or however cruelly carried on against her, has been able to detach her from the Faith taught her by Saint Patrick.

*****

Your life, great Saint, was spent in the arduous toils of an Apostle, but how rich was the harvest you reaped! Every fatigue seemed to you light if only you could give to men the precious gift of Faith, and the people to whom you left it have kept it with a constancy which is one of your greatest glories. Pray for us that this Faith, without which it is impossible to please God (Hebrew xi. 6) may take possession of our hearts and minds. “It is by Faith that the just man lives” (Habucuc ii. 4) says the Prophet, and it is Faith that during this holy Season of Lent is showing us the justice and mercy of God in order that we may be converted and offer to our offended Lord the tribute of our penance. We are afraid of what the Church imposes on us simply because our Faith is weak. If our principles were those of Faith, we should soon be mortified men. Your life, though so innocent and so rich in good works, was one of extraordinary penance: get us your spirit, and help us to follow you, at least at an humble distance. Pray for Erin, that dear country of yours which loves and honours you so fervently. She is threatened with danger even now, and many of her children have left the Faith you taught. An odious system of proselytism has disturbed your flock. Protect it, and suffer not the children of Martyrs to be Apostates. Let your fatherly care follow them that have been driven by suffering to emigrate from their native land. May they keep true to the Faith, be witnesses of the True Religion in the countries to which they have fled, and ever show themselves to be the obedient children of the Church. May their misfortunes thus serve to advance the Kingdom of God. Holy Pontiff, intercede for England. Pardon her the injustice she has shown to your children, and by your powerful prayers, hasten the happy day of her return to Catholic unity. Pray, too, for the whole Church. Your prayer, being that of an Apostle, easily finds access to Him that sent you.

On this day (18 March) according to the ROMAN MARTYROLOGY:

At Jerusalem, St. Cyril, bishop and doctor, who suffered many injuries from the Arians for the faith. Often exiled from his church, he at length rested in peace with a great reputation for sanctity. A magnificent testimony of the purity of his faith is given by a general Council in a letter to Pope St. Damasus.

At Caesarea in Palestine, the birthday of the blessed bishop Alexander, who from his own city, in Cappadocia, where he was bishop, coming to Jerusalem to visit the holy places, took upon himself, by divine revelation, the government of that Church in the place of the aged Narcissus, its bishop. Some time afterwards, when he had become venerable by his age and grey hairs, he was led to Caesarea and shut up in prison, where he ended his martyrdom for the confession of Christ during the persecution of Decius.

At Augsburg, St. Narcissus, bishop, who was the first to preach the Gospel in the Tyrol. Afterwards, setting out for Spain, he converted many to the faith of Christ at Gerona, where, with the deacon Felix, he received the palm of martyrdom during the persecution of Diocletian.

At Nicomedia, ten thousand holy martyrs, who were put to the sword for the confession of Christ.

Also the holy martyrs Trophimus and Eucarpius.

In England, the holy king Edward, who was assassinated by order of his treacherous stepmother, and became celebrated for many miracles.

At Lucca in Tuscany, the birthday of the holy bishop Frigdian who was illustrious by the power of working miracles. His feast is more especially celebrated on the eighteenth of November when his body was translated.

At Mantua, St. Anselm, bishop and confessor.

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

Thanks be to God.

15 MARCH – FERIA OF LENT

On this day according to the ROMAN MARTYROLOGY:

At Caesarea in Cappadocia, the martyrdom of St. Longinus, the soldier who is said to have pierced our Lord’s side with a lance.

The same day, the birthday of St. Aristobulus, a disciple of the Apostles who terminated by martyrdom a life spent in preaching the Gospel.

At Thessalonica, St. Matrona, servant of a Jewess, who, worshipping Christ secretly, and stealing away daily to the church to pray, was detected by her mistress and subjected to many trials. Being at last beaten to death with heavy clubs, she gave up her pure soul to God in confessing Christ.

The same day, St. Menignus, a dyer, who suffered under Decius.

In Egypt, St. Meander, who, seeking diligently for the remains of the holy martyrs, merited to be made a martyr himself, under the emperor Diocletian.

At Cordova, St. Leocritia, virgin and martyr.

At Rome, the birthday of Pope St. Zachary, who governed the Church of God with great vigilance, and renowned for merits, rested in peace.

At Rieti, the bishop St. Probus, at whose death the martyrs Juvenal and Eleutherius were present.

At Rome, St. Speciosus, a monk, whose soul his brother saw carried up to heaven.

At Vienna in Austria, St. Clement Mary Hofbauer, a professed priest of the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer, remarkable for his energy in promoting the glory of God and the salvation of souls. As he became illustrious by his virtues and miracles, Pope St. Pius X placed him in the Martyrology.

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

Thanks be to God.

12 MARCH – SAINT GREGORY THE GREAT (Pope and Doctor of the Church)

 

Gregory the Great, a Roman by birth, was son of the Senator Gordian. He applied early to the study of philosophy and was entrusted with the office of Praetor. After his father’s death he built six monasteries in Sicily, and a seventh, under the title of Saint Andrew, in his own house in Rome near the Basilica of Saints John and Paul, on the hill Scaurus. In this last named monastery he embraced the monastic life under the guidance of Hilarion and Maximian and was, later on, elected Abbot. Shortly afterwards he was created Cardinal-Deacon, and was sent by Pope Pelagius to Constantinople as Legate to confer with the Emperor Constantine. While there he achieved that celebrated victory over the Patriarch Eutychius who had written against the resurrection of the flesh, maintaining that it would not be a real one. Gregory so convinced him of his error that the Emperor threw his book into the fire. Eutychius himself fell ill not long after, and when he perceived his last hour had come, he took between his fingers the skin of his hand, and said before the many who were there: “I believe that we will all rise in this flesh.”

On his return to Rome, Gregory was chosen Pope by unanimous consent, for Pelagius had been carried off by the plague. He refused, as long as it was possible, the honour thus offered him. He disguised himself and hid himself in a cave, but he was discovered by a pillar of fire shining over the place, and was consecrated at Saint Peter’s. As Pontiff he was an example to his successors by his learning and holiness of life. He every day admitted pilgrims to his table, among whom he received, on one occasion, an Angel and, on another, the Lord of Angels, who wore the garb of a pilgrim. He charitably provided for the poor, both in and out of Rome, and kept a list of them. He re-established the Catholic faith in several places where it had fallen into decay. Thus, he put down the Donatists in Africa, and the Arians in Spain, and drove the Agnoites out of Alexandria. Gregory refused to give the pallium to Syagrius, Bishop of Autun, until he should have expelled the Neophyte heretics from Gaul. He induced the Goths to abandon the Arian heresy. He sent Augustine and other monks into Britain and, by these learned and saintly men, converted that island to the faith of Christ Jesus, so that Saint Bede called him the “Apostle of England.”

Gregory checked the haughty pretensions of John, the Patriarch of Constantinople who had arrogated to himself the title of “Bishop of the Universal Church.” He obliged the Emperor Mauritius to revoke the decree by which he had forbidden any soldier to become a monk. He enriched the Church with many most holy practices and laws. In a Council held at Saint Peter’s, he passed several decrees. Among these, the following may be mentioned: That in the Mass, the Kyrie eleison should be said nine times; that the Alleluia should always be said, except during the interval between Septuagesima and Easter; that these words should be inserted in the Canon: Diesque nostras in tua pace disponsas (And may you dispose our days in your peace). He increased the number of Processions (Litanies) and Stations, and completed the Office of the Church. He would have the four Councils, of Nicaea, Constantinople, Ephesus and Chalcedon, to be received with the same honour as the four Gospels. He allowed the Bishops of Sicily, who, according to the ancient custom of their Churches, used to visit Rome every three years, to make that visit once every fifth year. He wrote several books, and Peter the Deacon assures us that he frequently saw the Holy Ghost resting on the head of the Pontiff while he was dictating. It is a matter of wonder that with his incessant sickness and ill health he could have said, done, written and decreed as he did.

At length, after performing many miracles, Gregory was called to his reward in Heaven after a pontificate of 13 years, 6 months and 10 days. It was on the fourth of the Ides of March (March 12th), which the Greeks also observe as a great Feast, on account of this Pontiff’s extraordinary learning and virtue. His body was buried in the Basilica of Saint Peter near the Secretarium.

Dom Prosper Guéranger:

Among all the Pastors whom our Lord Jesus Christ has placed as His Vice-regents over the universal Church, there is not one whose merits and renown have surpassed those of the holy Pope whose feast we keep today. His name is Gregory, which signifies watchfulness. His surname is the Great, and he was in possession of that title when God sent the Seventh Gregory, the glorious Hildebrand, to govern His Church.

In recounting the glories of this illustrious Pontiff it is but natural we should begin with his zeal for the Services of the Church. The Roman Liturgy, which owes to him some of its finest Hymns, may be considered as his work, at least in the sense that it was he who collected together and classified the prayers and rites drawn up by his predecessors and reduced them to the form in which we now have them. He collected also the ancient chants of the Church and arranged them in accordance with the rules and requirements of the Divine Service. Hence it is that our sacred music is called the Gregorian Chant, which gives such solemnity to the Liturgy and inspires the soul with respect and devotion during the celebration of the great Mysteries of our Faith.

He is, then, the Apostle of the Liturgy, and this alone would have immortalised his name. But we must look for far greater things from such a Pontiff as Gregory. His name was added to the three who had hitherto been honoured as the great Doctors of the Latin Church. These three were Ambrose, Augustine and Jerome. Who else could be the fourth but Gregory? The Church found in his writings such evidence of his having been guided by the Holy Ghost, such a knowledge of the Sacred Scriptures, such a clear appreciation of the Mysteries of Faith, and such unction and authority in his teachings, that she gladly welcomed him as a new guide for her children.

Such was the respect with which everything he wrote was treated, that his very Letters were preserved as so many precious treasures. This immense correspondence shows us that there was not a country, scarcely even a city, of the Christian world, on which the Pontiff had not his watchful eye steadily fixed: that there was not a question, however local or personal, which, if it interested religion, did not excite his zeal and arbitration as the Bishop of the universal Church. If certain writers of modern times had but taken the pains to glance at these Letters written by a Pope of the sixth century, they would never have asserted, as they have done, that the prerogatives of the Roman Pontiff are based on documents fabricated, as they say, two hundred years after the death of Gregory.

Throned on the Apostolic See, our Saint proved himself to be a rightful heir of the Apostles, not only as the representative and depository of their authority, but as a fellow-sharer in their mission of calling nations to the true faith. To whom does England owe her having been, for so many ages, the Island of Saints? To Gregory who, touched with compassion for those Angli of whom, as he playfully said, he would fain make Angeli, sent to their island the monk Augustine with forty companions, all of them, as was Gregory himself, children of Saint Benedict. The faith had been sown in this land as early as the second century, but it had been trodden down by the invasion of an infidel race. This time the seed fructified, and so rapidly that Gregory lived to see a plentiful harvest. It is beautiful to hear the aged Pontiff speaking with enthusiasm about the results of his English mission. He thus speaks in the twenty-seventh Book of his Morals: “Lo! the language of Britain, which could once mutter nothing save barbarous sounds, has long since begun to sing, in the divine praises, the Hebrew Alleluia! Lo! That swelling sea is now calm and saints walk on its waves. The tide of barbarians which the sword of earthly princes could not keep back, is now hemmed in at the simple bidding of God’s priests.”

During the fourteen years that this holy Pope held the place of Peter he was the object of the admiration of the Christian world, both in the East and West. His profound learning, his talent for administration, his position — all tended to make him beloved and respected. But who could describe the virtues of his great soul? — that contempt for the world and its riches which led him to seek obscurity in the cloister; that humility which made him flee the honours of the Papacy and hide himself in a cave where, at length, he was miraculously discovered and God Himself put into his hands the Keys of Heaven, which he was evidently worthy to hold because he feared the responsibility; that zeal for the whole flock of which he considered himself not the master, but the servant, so much so indeed that he assumed the title, which the Popes have ever since retained, of Servant of the Servants of God; that charity which took care of the poor throughout the whole world; that ceaseless solicitude which provided for every calamity, whether public or private; that unruffled sweetness of manner which he showed to all around him, in spite of the bodily sufferings which never left him during the whole period of his laborious pontificate; that firmness in defending the deposit of the Faith, and crushing error wherever it showed itself: in a word, that vigilance with regard to discipline which made itself felt for long ages after in the whole Church? All these services and glorious examples of virtue have endeared our Saint to the whole world, and will make his name be blessed by all future generations, even to the end of time.

*****

Father of the Christian people, Vicar of the charity, as well as of the authority, of Christ! O Gregory, vigilant Pastor! The Church which you have so faithfully loved and served turns to you with confidence. You cannot forget the flock which keeps up such an affectionate remembrance of you. Hear the prayer she offers you on this your solemnity. Protect and guide the Pontiff who now holds the place of Peter, as you did. Enlighten and encourage him in the difficulties with which he is beset. Bless the hierarchy of the Pastors which has received from you such magnificent teachings and such admirable examples. Assist it to maintain inviolate the sacred trust of Faith. Bless the efforts it is now making for the restoration of ecclesiastical discipline, without which, all is disorder and confusion. God chose you as the regulator of the Divine Service, the Holy Liturgy. Foster, by your blessing, the zeal which is now rising up among us for those holy traditions of prayer which have been so neglected. Teach us the long-forgotten secret that the best way of praying is to use the prayers of the Church. Unite all Churches in obedience to the Apostolic See, which is the ground and pillar of Faith and the fountain of Spiritual Authority. The terrible schism, which has separated the East from Catholic unity, began to show itself during your Pontificate.

Apostle of England, look down with affection on this island which has now rebelled from Rome and has become the resort of countless false religions. But now, after [five] centuries of apostasy from the true Faith, the hand of God’s mercy is pressing her to conversion. She is your own child in Christ Jesus: will you not aid her return to Him? Will thou not guide her, by your prayers, to come forth out of the darkness which still so thickly clouds her and follow the light which Heaven holds out to her? Oh if England were once more Catholic, who can tell the good she would do? For what country is there that can do grander things for the Propagation of the Faith? Pray for her, then. She may regain her glorious title of Isle of Saints, for she has you for her Apostle!

These are the days of salvation. Lent is upon us. Pray for the faithful who are now entering on their career of penance. Obtain for them compunction of heart, love of prayer and an appreciation of the Liturgy and its Mysteries. The solemn and devout Homilies which you addressed at this Season to the people of Rome are still read to us. May they sink into our hearts and fill them with fear of God’s Justice and hope in His Mercy, for His Justice and Mercy change not to suit the time. We are weak and timid, and this makes us count as harsh the laws of the Church which oblige us to fasting and abstinence. Get us brave hearts, brave with the spirit of mortification. Your holy life is an example to us, and your writings are our instruction. What we still want is to be made true Penitents, and this your intercession must do for us so that we may return, with the joy of a purified conscience, to the divine Alleluia which you have taught us to sing on Earth, and which we hope to chant together with you in Heaven.

Also on this day according to the ROMAN MARTYROLOGY:

At Rome, St. Mamilian, martyr.

At Nicomedia, the passion of the blessed martyr Peter, chamberlain of the emperor Diocletian. For complaining openly of the atrocious torments inflicted on the martyrs, he was, by order of the emperor, first suspended and a long time scourged, then, salt and vinegar being rubbed into his wounds, he was burned on a grate over a slow fire. Thus did he become truly the heir of St. Peter’s name and faith.

In the same city, St. Egdunus, priest, and seven others who were strangled one by one, on successive days, to terrify those who remained.

At Constantinople, St. Theophanes, who gave up great wealth to embrace poverty in the monastic state. By Leo the Armenian he was kept in prison two years for the worship of holy images, then exiled in Samothracia, where, overwhelmed with afflictions, he breathed his last and wrought many miracles.

At Capua, St. Bernard, bishop and confessor.

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

Thanks be to God.