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

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

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

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

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

Dom Prosper Guéranger:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Also on this day according to the ROMAN MARTYROLOGY:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Thanks be to God.

29 SEPTEMBER – THE DEDICATION OF SAINT MICHAEL THE ARCHANGEL

Dom Prosper Guéranger:

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

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

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

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

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

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

* * * * *

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

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

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

Also on this day according to the ROMAN MARTYROLOGY:

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

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

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

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

At Auxerre, St. Fraternus, bishop and martyr.

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

In Palestine, St. Quiriacus, anchoret.

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

Thanks be to God.

28 SEPTEMBER – SAINT WENCESLAUS (Martyr)

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

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

Dom Prosper Guéranger:

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

* * * * *

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

Also on this day according to the ROMAN MARTYROLOGY:

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

In the same place, St. Stacteus, martyr.

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

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

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

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

At Genoa, St. Solomon, bishop and confessor.

At Brescia, St. Silvinus, bishop.

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

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

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

Thanks be to God.

28 SEPTEMBER – SIXTEENTH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST

Epistle – Ephesians iii. 13‒21

Brethren, I pray you not to faint at my tribulations for you, which is your glory. For this cause I bow my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, of whom all paternity in heaven and earth is named, that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened by His Spirit with might unto the inward man. That Christ may dwell by faith in your hearts; that being rooted and founded in charity, you may be able to comprehend, with all the saints, what is the breadth, and length, and height, and depth. To know also the charity of Christ, which surpasses all knowledge, that you may be filled unto all the fullness of God. Now to Him who is able to do all things more abundantly than we desire or understand, according to the power that works in us, to Him be glory in the church, and in Christ Jesus unto all generations, world without end. Amen.

Thanks be to God.
 

Dom Prosper Guéranger:

“My heart has uttered a good word! I speak my works to my King!” (Psalm xliv. 2) The enthusiasm of the royal Psalmist when singing the glorious Nuptial Song has taken possession of our Apostle’s whole soul, and inspires him with this marvellous Epistle which seems to put into music, into a song of love, the sublime teachings of all his other Letters. When he wrote this to his Ephesians he was Nero’s prisoner, but it shows that the word of God is anything but hampered by the chains that make an Apostle a captive (2 Timothy ii. 9).

Although the Epistle to the Ephesians is far from being the longest of his Letters, yet it is from it that the Church borrows most during these Sundays after Pentecost, and we may argue from such choice that it gives, more than any other of Saint Paul’s Epistles, that leading subject on which the Church is particularly anxious to direct her children’s thoughts during this season of the Liturgical Year. Let us therefore thoroughly master the mystery of the Gospel (Ephesians vi. 19) by hearkening to the herald who received it, as his special mission, to make known to the Gentiles the treasure that had been hidden from eternity in God (Ephesians iii. 8, 9). It is as Ambassador that he comes to us (Ephesians vi. 20), and the chains which bind him, far from weakening the authority of his message, are but the glorious badge which accredits him with the disciples of the Christ who died on Calvary.

For God alone, as he tells us in the music we have just heard, can strengthen in us the inward man enough to make us understand, as the Saints do, the “dimensions” (breadth, length, height and depth) of the great mystery of Christ dwelling in man, and dwelling in him for the purpose of filling him with the plenitude of God. Therefore is it, that falling on his knees before Him from Whom flows every perfect gift, and who has begotten us in the truth by His love (James i. 17, 18) he, Paul, our Apostle, asks this God to open, by faith and charity, the eyes of our heart so that we may be able to understand the splendid riches of the inheritance He reserves to his children, and the exceeding greatness of the divine power used in our favour, even in this life (Ephesians i. 18, 19).

But if holiness is requisite in order to obtain the ull development of the divine life spoken of by the Apostle — let us also take notice how the desire and the prayer of Saint Paul are for all men, and how therefore no one is excluded from that divine vocation. Indeed, as Saint John Chrysostom observes, the Christians to whom he sends his Epistle are people living in the world, married, having children and servants, for he gives them rules of conduct with regard to each point (Ephesians v. 22; vi. 1, 5). The Saints of Ephesus, as of all other places, are no others than the Faithful of Christ Jesus (Ephesians i. 1) that is to say, they are those who faithfully follow the divine precepts in the condition of life proper to each. Now it depends on us to follow God’s grace. Nothing else but our own resistance prevents the Holy Ghost from making Saints of us. Those sublime heights to which the progressive movement of the sacred Liturgy has since Pentecost been leading the Church are open to all of us. If the new order of ideas introduced by this movement strike us at times as being beyond our practical attainment, the probable reason of such cowardice is, and a short examination of conscience will bear witness against us, that we neglected, ever since Advent and Christmas, to profit, as we should have done, of the teachings and graces of every kind which were given us as means for advancing in light and Christian virtue. The Church, at the commencement of the Cycle offered her aid to every one of us, and that aid she adapted to each one’s capabilities, but she could never remain stationary because some of us were too lazy to move onwards. She could never consent, out of a regard for our laggings and sluggishness, to neglect leading men of good will to that divine Union which, they were told, “crowns both the Year of the Church, and the faithful soul that has spent the Year under the Church's guidance.”

But on no account must we lose courage. The Cycle of the Liturgy runs its full course in the heavens of the Church each Year. It will soon be starting afresh, again adapting the power of its graces to each one’s necessities and weaknesses. If, with that new Year of Grace, we learn a lesson from our past deficiencies, if we do not content ourselves with a mere theoretical admiration of the exquisite poetry, and loveliness and charms of its opening seasons, if we seriously set ourselves to grow with the growth of that light (which is no other than Christ Himself) (John i. 5) — if that is, we profit of the graces of progress which that Light will again infuse into our souls — then the work of our sanctification having been this time prepared, has a cheering and “a new chance of receiving that completeness which had been retarded by the weakness of human nature.”

Even now, though our dispositions may not be all they should be, yet the Holy Ghost, that Spirit of loving mercy who reigns over this portion of the Cycle, will not refuse the humble prayer we make to Him, and will supply at least in some measure our sad shortcomings. Great after all has been our gain in this, that the eye of our faith has had new supernatural horizons opened out to it, and that it has reached those peaceful regions which the dull vision of the animal man (1 Corinthians ii.14) fails to discover. It is there, that divine Wisdom reveals to the perfect that great secret of love, which is not known by the wise and the princes of this world — secret, which the eye had not before seen, nor the ear heard, nor the heart even suspected as possible (1 Corinthians ii. 6‒9). From this time forward we will the better understand the divine realities which fill up the life of the servants of God. They will seem to us, as they truly are, a thousand times preferable, both in importance and greatness, to those vain frivolities and occupations in the midst of which is spent the existence of so-called practical men.

Let us take delight in thinking upon that divine choice which, before time was selected us for the fullness of all spiritual benedictions (Ephesians i. 3) of which the temporal blessings of the people of old (Deuteronomy xxviii. 1‒14) were but a shadow. The world was not as yet existing, and already God saw us in His Word (Ephesians i. 4). To each one among us He assigned the place He was to hold in the Body of His Christ (1 Corinthians xii. 12‒31; Ephesians iv. 12‒16). Already His fatherly eye beheld us clad with that grace (Ephesians i. 6) which made Him well pleased with the Man-God, and He predestinated us (Ephesians i. 4‒5) as being members of this His beloved Son, to sit with Him, on His right hand, in the highest heavens (Ephesians I. 20‒23; ii. 6).

Oh how immense are our obligations to the Eternal Father whose good pleasure (Ephesians i. 9) has decreed to grant such wondrous gifts to our Earth! His will is His counsel (Ephesians i. 11). It is the one rule of all His acts, and His will is all love. It is from the voluntary and culpable death of sin (Ephesians i. 7; ii 1‒5) that He calls us to that Life which is His own Life. It is from the deep disgrace of every vice that, after having cleansed us in the Blood of His Son (Ephesians i. 7), He has exalted us to a glory which is the astonishment of the Angels and makes them tremble with adoring admiration. Let us then be holy (Ephesians i. 4) for the sake of giving praise to the glory of such grace (Ephesians i. 6).

Christ, in His divinity, is the substantial brightness and eternal glory of His Father (Hebrews i. 3). If He has taken to Himself a Body, if He has made Himself our Head, it was for no other purpose than that He might sing the heavenly canticle in a new way. Not satisfied with presenting in His sacred Humanity a sight most pleasing to His Father — that is, the sight of the created reflex of divine, and therefore infinite, perfections — He wished, moreover, that the whole of creation should give back to the adorable Trinity an echo of the divine harmonies. It was on this account that He, in His own Flesh, broke down the old enmities existing between Gentile and Jew (Ephesians ii. 14‒18), and then, bringing together these that were once enemies, He made of them all one spirit and one body, so that their countless human voices might, through Him, blend in unison of love with the angelic choirs, and thus, standing around God’s throne, might attune the one universal song of their praise to that of the infinite Word Himself. Thus will we become forever to God, like this divine Word, the praise of His glory, as the Apostle thrice loves to express himself in the beginning of this his Epistle to the Ephesians (Ephesians i. 6, 12, 14).

Thus too is to be wrought that mystery which, from all eternity, was the object of God’s eternal designs, mystery, that is, of divine union, realised by our Lord Jesus uniting in His own one Person, in infinite love, both Earth and Heaven (Ephesians i. 9, 10).

Gospel – Luke xiv. 1‒11

At that time, when Jesus went into the house of one of the chief of the Pharisees on the Sabbath day to eat bread, they watched Him. And behold, there was a certain man before Him that had the dropsy. Jesus answering, spoke to the lawyers and Pharisees, saying: “Is it lawful to heal on the sabbath day” But they held their peace. He taking him, healed him, and sent him away. And answering them, He said: “Which of you will have an ass or an ox fall into a pit, and will not immediately draw him out, on the sabbath day?” They could not answer Him to these things. And He spoke a parable also to them that were invited, marking how they chose the first seats at the table, saying to them: “When you are invited to a wedding, sit not down in the first place, lest perhaps one more honourable than you be invited by him. And he that invited you and him, come and say to you, ‘Give this man place,’ and then you begin with shame to take the lowest place. But when you are invited, go sit down in the lowest place that when he who invited you comes, he may say to you: ‘Friend, go up higher.’ Then you will have glory before them that sit at table with you. Because every one that exalts himself, will be humbled; and he that humbles himself, will be exalted.”

Praise be to you, O Christ.

Dom Prosper Guéranger:

Holy Church here tells us, and in a most unmistakeable way, what has been her chief aim for her children ever since the Feast of Pentecost. The Wedding spoken of in today’s Gospel is that of Heaven, and of which there is a prelude given here below by the Union effected in the sacred banquet of Holy Communion. The divine invitation is made to all, and the invitation is not like that which is given on occasion of earthly weddings, to which the Bridegroom and Bride invite their friends and relatives as simple witnesses to the union contracted between two individuals. In the Gospel Wedding Christ is the Bridegroom, and the Church is the Bride (Apocalypse xix. 7). These nuptials are ours, inasmuch as we are members of the Church, and the banquet hall in this case is something far superior to that of a common place marriage.

But that this Union be as fruitful as it ought to be, the soul, in the sanctuary of her own conscience, must bring along with her a fidelity which is to be an enduring one — a love which is to be active even when the feast of the sacred mysteries is past. Divine Union, when it is genuine, masters one’s entire being. It fixes one in the untiring contemplation of the Beloved Object, in the earnest looking after His interests, in the continual aspiration of the heart towards Him, even when He seems to have absented Himself from the soul. The Bride of the divine Nuptials, could she be less intent on her God than those of Earth are on their earthly Spouse? (1 Corinthians vii. 34). It is on this condition alone that the Christian soul can be said to have entered on the Unitive Life, or can show its precious fruits.

But for the attaining all this — that is, that our Lord Jesus Christ may have that full control over the soul and its powers which makes her to be truly His and subjects her to Him as the Bride is to her Spouse (1 Corinthians xi. 8‒10) — it is necessary that all alien competition be entirely and definitively put aside. Now, there is one sad fact which every one knows: the divinely noble Son of the Eternal Father (Wisdom viii. 3), the Incarnate Word whose beauty enraptures the heavenly citizens, the Immortal King, whose exploits and power and riches are beyond all that the children of men can imagine (Psalm xliv.). Yes, He has rivals, human rivals, who pretend to have stronger claims than He to creatures whom He has redeemed from slavery and, that done, has invited them to share with Him the honours of His throne. Even in the case of those whom His loving mercy succeeds in winning over wholly to Himself, is it not almost always the way that He is kept waiting, for perhaps years, before they can make up their minds to be wise enough to take Him? During that long period of unworthy wavering, He loses not his patience, He does not turn elsewhere as He might in all justice do, but He keeps on asking them to be wholly His (Apocalypse iii. 20), mercifully waiting for some secret touch of one of his graces, joined with the unwearied labour of the Holy Ghost, to get the better of all this inconceivable resistance.

Let us not be surprised at the Church’s bringing the whole influence of her Liturgy to bear on the winning souls over to Christ, for every such conquest she makes for Him is a fresh and closer bond of union between herself and her Lord. This explains how, in some of these previous Sundays, she has given us such admirable instructions regarding the efforts of the triple concupiscence. Earthly pleasures, pride and covetousness are really the treacherous advisers who excite within us, against God’s claims, those impertinent rivals of whom we were just now speaking.

Having now reached the sixteenth week of this Season of the reign of the Holy Ghost, and taking it for granted that her Sons and Daughters are in right good earnest about their Christian perfection, the Church hopes that they have fairly unmasked the enemy. She comes, therefore, to us today hoping that her teaching will not fail to impress us, and that we will no longer put off that most loving Jesus of ours whose great mystery of love is preached to us in the allegory of our Gospel, and of which He Himself said: “The Kingdom of Heaven is likened to a King who made a marriage for his Son” (Matthew xxii. 2).

But, after all, her anxiety as Mother and Bride never allows her to make quite sure of even her best and dearest children, so long as they are in this world. In order to keep them on their guard against falling into sin, she bids them listen to Saint Ambrose whom she has selected as her homilist for this Sunday. He addresses himself to the Christian who has become a veteran in the spiritual combat, and tells even him that Concupiscence has snares without end, even for him! Alas, yes, he may trip any day. He has got far, perhaps very far, on the road to the Kingdom of God, but even so he might go wrong and be forever shut out from the Marriage Feast, together with heretics, pagans and Jews. Let him be on the watch, then, or he may get tainted with those sins from which, hitherto, he has kept clear thanks to God’s grace. Let him take heed or he might become like the man mentioned in today’s Gospel, who had the dropsy. And dropsy, says our saintly preacher of Milan, is a morbid exuberance of humours which stupify the soul and induce a total extinction of spiritual ardour. And yet, even so, that is, even if he were to get such a fall as that, let him not forget that the heavenly physician is ever ready to cure him. The Saint, in this short Homily, condenses the whole of Saint Luke’s 14th chapter, of which we have been reading but a portion. And he shows, a little further on, that attachment to the goods of this life is no less opposed to the ardour, which should carry us on the wings of the spirit, towards the Heaven where lives and reigns our Love.

But, above all, it is the constant attitude and exercise of Humility to which he must especially direct his attention, who would secure a prominent place in the divine Feast of the Nuptials. All Saints are ambitious for future glory of this best kind but they were well aware that in order to win it they must go low down, during the present life, into their own nothingness. The higher in the world to come, the lower in this. Until the great day dawns when each one is to receive according to his works (Matthew xvi. 27), we will lose nothing by putting ourselves, meanwhile, below everybody. The position reserved for us in the kingdom of Heaven depends not in the least either on our own thoughts about ourselves, or on the judgement passed on us by other people. It depends solely on the will of that God who exalts the humble and brings down the mighty from their seat (Luke i. 52). Let us hearken to Ecclesiasticus. “The greater you are, the more humble yourself in all things, and you will find grace before God; for great is the power of God alone, and He is honoured by the humble” (Ecclesiasticus iii. 20, 21). Were it only, then, from a motive of self-interest, let us follow the advice of the Gospel and in all things claim, as our own, the last place. Humility is not sterling and cannot please God unless, to the lowly estimation we have of ourselves, we join an esteem for others, preventing every one with honour (Romans xii.10), gladly yielding to all in matters which do not affect our conscience: and all this from a deep-rooted conviction of our own misery and worthlessness in the sight of Him who searches the reins and heart (Apocalypse ii. 23) The surest test of our Humility before God is that practical charity for our neighbour which, in the several circumstances of every day life, induces us and without affectation, to give him the precedence to ourselves.

On the contrary, one of the most unequivocal proofs of the falseness of certain so-called spiritual ways into which the enemy sometimes leads incautious souls, is the lurking contempt with which he inspires them for one or more of their acquaintance: dormant, perhaps habitually — but which, when occasion offers, and it frequently offers, they allow it to influence their thoughts, and words, and actions. To a greater or less extent, and it may be with more or less unconsciousness, self-esteem is the basis of the structure of their virtues. But as for the illuminations and mystical sweetnesses which these people sometimes tell their intimate friends they enjoy, they may be quite sure that such favours do not come to them from the Holy Spirit. When the substantial light of the Sun of Justice will appear in the valley of the Judgement, all counterfeits of this kind will be made evident (1 Corinthians iv. 5), and they who trusted to them and spent their lives in petting such phantoms, will find them all vanishing in smoke. The having then to take a much lower place than the one they dreamt of, may have this one solace, that some place may be still given them in the divine banquet. They will have to thank God that their chastisement goes no further than the one of seeing, with shame, those very people passing high up in honour above them, for whom, during life, they had such utter contempt.

27 SEPTEMBER – SAINTS COSMAS AND DAMIAN (Martyrs)

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

Dom Prosper Guéranger:

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

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

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

* * * * *

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

Also on this day according to the ROMAN MARTYROLOGY:

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

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

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

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

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

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

At Ravenna, St. Aderitus, bishop and confessor.

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

In the same city, St. Eleazar, count.

In Hainaut, St. Hiltrude, virgin.

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

Thanks be to God.

27 SEPTEMBER – EMBER SATURDAY IN SEPTEMBER

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Lesson – Luke xiii. 6 – 13

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

Praise be to you, O Christ.

Pope St. Gregory the Great:

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

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

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

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

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

Dom Prosper Guéranger:

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

* * * * *

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

Also on this day according to the ROMAN MARTYROLOGY:

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

Also at Rome, Pope St. Eusebius.

At Bologna, St. Eusebius, bishop and confessor.

At Brescia, St. Vigilius, bishop.

At Albano, St. Senator.

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

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

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

Thanks be to God.

26 SEPTEMBER – EMBER FRIDAY IN SEPTEMBER

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Epistle – Osee xiv. 2‒10

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

Thanks be to God.

Gospel – Luke vii. 36‒50

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

Praise be to you, O Christ.

25 SEPTEMBER – FERIA

On this day according to the ROMAN MARTYROLOGY:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

At Auxerre, St. Anacharius, bishop and confessor.

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

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

At Anagni, the holy virgins Aurelia and Neomisia.

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

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

Thanks be to God.

24 SEPTEMBER – EMBER WEDNESDAY IN SEPTEMBER

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Lesson – Mark ix. 16–28

And one of the multitude, answering, said: “Master, I have brought my son to you, having a dumb spirit. Who, wherever he takes him, dashes him, and he foams and gnashes with the teeth, and pines away; and I spoke to your disciples to cast him out and they could not”. Who answering them, said: “O incredulous generation, how long shall I be with you? How long shall I suffer you? Bring him to me”. And they brought him. And when he had seen Him, immediately the spirit troubled him; and being thrown down upon the ground, he rolled about foaming. And He asked his father: “How long time is it since this has happened to him?” But he said: “From his infancy: And often he has cast him into the fire and into waters to destroy him. But if you can do any thing, help us, having compassion on us”. And Jesus saith to him: “If you believe, all things are possible to him that believes”. And immediately the father of the boy crying out with tears said: “I do believe, Lord: help my unbelief”. And when Jesus saw the multitude running together, He threatened the unclean spirit, saying to him: “Deaf and dumb spirit, I command you, go out of him and enter not any more into him”. And crying out, and greatly tearing him, he went out of him, and he became as dead, so that many said: “He is dead”. But Jesus taking him by the hand, lifted him up; and he arose. And when He was come into the house, His disciples secretly asked Him: “Why could not we cast him out?” And He said to them: “This kind can go out by nothing, but by prayer and fasting”.

Praise be to you, O Christ.

The Venerable St. Bede:

Concerning this possessed person whom the Lord healed, after that He was come down from the mount, Mark said that he was deaf and dumb, and Matthew (xvii. 15) that he was lunatic. He was a figure of them of whom it is said: “A fool changes as the moon” (Ecclesiastes xxvii. 12.) These are they who continue never in one stay, but change now to one sin, and now to another, waxing and waning — dumb, in that they confess not the faith; deaf, in that they have no ears for the word of truth. They foam at the mouth also, and pine away with folly. For it is the way with idiots, and swooners, and stupified, to foam their spittle out at their mouths. They gnash their teeth when they are inflamed with the heat of passion. They wither up in the paralysis of sloth and live nerveless lives unbraced by any strong exercise.

The father said: “And I spoke to your disciples, that they should cast him out, and they could not”. Here he makes a sort of accusation against the Apostles. But that cures cannot be wrought is sometimes owing not to the powerlessness of them that would heal, but to the want of faith in them that are to be healed — as says the Lord: “According to your faith be it done to you” (Matthew ix. 29.) He answereth him, and said: “O faithless generation, how long shall I be with you?” The meek and lowly One, Who, as a lamb before his shearers, is dumb, so opened not His Mouth, was not wearied out of patience, nor did He break out into words of passion, but He spoke as a physician might speak, who saw that the sick man did contrary to his commands: “Wherefore should I come to your house? How long am I to throw away the exercise of my skill, while I order one thing and you do another?”

And He said to them: “This kind can come forth by nothing but by prayer and fasting”. While He teaches the Apostles how the very worst kind of devil must be driven out, He gives to all of us an instruction to life, that we may know that the most grievous trials, either from unclean spirits, or from men, are to be overcome by fasting and prayer. The wrath of the Lord also, when it is kindled to take vengeance of our sins, can be turned away by this remedy only. To fast, in a general sense, is not only to abstain from meats, but to restrain oneself from all the inticements of the flesh, and from all evil passions. So also, to pray, is not only to call in words for the mercy of God, but also, in all things which we do, in earnestness of faith to worship our Maker.

23 SEPTEMBER – SAINT THECLA (Virgin and Martyr)

Dom Prosper Guéranger:

While honouring the first successor of Saint Peter, Rome commemorates the proto-martyr of the female sex. Together with holy Church, then, let us unite in the concert of praise unanimously lavished upon Thecla by the fathers of East and West. When the martyr pontiff Methodius gave his ‘Banquet of virgins’ to the Church about the end of the third century, it is on the brow of the virgin of Iconium that he placed the fairest of the crowns distributed at the banquet of the Spouse. And justly so, for had not Thecla been trained by Paul who had made her more learned in the Gospel than she was before in philosophy and every science? Heroism in her kept pace with knowledge. Her magnanimity of purpose was equalled by her courage while, strong in the virginal purity of her soul and body, she triumphed over fire, wild beasts and sea monsters, and won the glory of a triple martyrdom. A fresh triumph is hers at the mysterious banquet. Wisdom has taken possession of her, and, like a divine harp, makes music in her soul, which is echoed on her lips in words of wondrous eloquence and sublime poetry. When the feast is over, and the virgins rise to give thanks to the Lord, Thecla leads the chorus, singing:

For you, O Bridegroom, I keep myself pure, and with burning lamp I come to meet you.

I have fled from the bitter pleasures of mortals and the luxurious delights of life and its love. Under your life-giving arms I desire to be protected and to gaze forever on your beauty, O blessed One.

For you, O Bridegroom, I keep myself pure, and with burning lamp I come to meet you.

I have contemned union with mortal man. I have left my golden home for you, O King. I have come in undefiled robes, that I may enter with you into your happy bridal chamber.

For you, O Bridegroom, I keep myself pure, and, with burning lamp I come to meet you.

Having escaped the enchanting wiles of the serpent and triumphed over the flaming fire and the attacks of wild beasts, I await you from Heaven.

For you, O Bridegroom, I keep myself pure, and with burning lamp I come to meet you.

Through love of you, O Word, I have forgotten the land of my birth. I have forgotten the virgins my companions, and even the desire of mother and of kindred, for you, O Christ, are all things to me.

For you, O Bridegroom, I keep myself pure, and with burning lamp I come to meet you.

Also on this day according to the ROMAN MARTYROLOGY:

In Campania, the commemoration of blessed Sosius, deacon of the church of Misenum. The holy bishop Januarius, seeing a flame arise from his head as he was reading the Gospel in the church, foretold that he would be a martyr, and not many days after, when he was thirty years of age, he and the holy bishop suffered martyrdom by decapitation.

In Africa, the holy martyrs Andrew, John, Peter and Anthony.

In the diocese of Coutances, St. Paternus, bishop and martyr.

At Ancona, St. Constantius, sacristan of the Church, renowned for the gift of miracles.

In Spain, the holy women Xantippa and Polyxena, who were disciples of the Apostles.

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

Thanks be to God.